Friedgen Visits With Media Monday at ACC Football Kickoff
7/23/2007 8:00:00 AM | Football
July 23, 2007
PINEHURST, N.C. - Head football coach Ralph Friedgen, who is entering his seventh season with the University of Maryland, had a chance Monday afternoon to visit with members of the media at the annual ACC Football Kickoff.
Friedgen, along with members of the media, fellow head coaches and bowl partners, spent the morning on one the many plush Pinehurst golf courses before spending three hours visiting with local, regional and national media.
The Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association pegged the Terps for fifth in the Atlantic Division in its annual preseason poll. Florida State was tabbed to win the Atlantic Division, with Virginia Tech chosen to capture the Coastal Division.
Last season, the Terps were picked fourth before going on to finish 9-4, including a 5-3 league mark that was good for a tie for second place. Wake Forest, picked to finish last in the Atlantic Division, went on to capture the ACC Championship and represent the league in the FedEx Orange Bowl.
Head coach Ralph Friedgen quotes:
On being picked fifth in the division in the preseason poll...
"That's where they usually pick us. The year we won the ACC Championship, that's where they picked us. When we played Wake Forest (last season) we had a chance to win the division and play in the ACC Championship and maybe the Orange Bowl."
On the new rule which moves the position of the ball on kickoffs from the 35- to 30-yard-line...
"The other thing I think is a challenge is moving the kickoff back, I think that's going to be a very big play in the game right now. You better have a guy who can kick off and guys who can cover. And on the other side you want to have a good return game because that's going to establish field position. You're not going to be kicking the ball out of the end zone all the time."
On last year's winning record despite the team's statistics...
"I definitely see it as a positive. If we won games on stats, we would keep score that way. A lot of times I'm trying to manage the game to win it. We found a way to win. We didn't turn it over as much (as 2005), but the games we turned it over we got beat. But I said last year, we won the moment of truth in games more than we did in 2005. There comes a point in time in every game where it's a matter of wills to decide who's going to win every game. We won that last year and I tried to emphasize that to our players. As time went on they got pretty confident."
On the way last season ended...
"That was one of the things I that was very proud of last year. We were 9-4 last year, and in a way I was disappointed because I felt we had a chance to win the championship. We lost to Boston College and Wake Forest, but then I felt we played our best game of the year against Purdue. Our guys could have folded there but they didn't. They went after that with the right attitude. They could have been really disappointed about losing the Wake Forest game, but they didn't take it like that. They regrouped and went back to work, and I'm pretty proud of them for that. It really made a difference in the season."
On whether the momentum from last season will carry over...
"I think it does. I hope it does. I had a bunch of kids last year who had never been to a bowl. In their exit interviews I had a bunch of kids tell me that was the best experience they had in their college lives. Now I don't know if that speaks much to their college life, but to a man they want to go back."
On the responsibility he gives his quarterbacks...
"I teach the quarterbacks to recognize the coverages and make decisions. I'm confident enough to put that responsibility on an 18- to 20-year-old kid, but I want to teach him that, so when he goes to the next level he can recognize what that is."
