Aug. 6, 2007

Head coach Ralph Friedgen Quotes:

Opening Statement ...
"It's the start of a new season and I'm really excited about it. I think the kids have had good winter workouts and good spring and summer workouts. Now it's the fourth quarter and it's time to find out what kind of work we've really done in preparation for the upcoming season."

On the quarterback battle ...
"I feel good about our talent. We just don't have the experience that we would like to have. I feel like once we get that experience, I'll feel pretty good about our quarterback situation. I'm not going to take a long time on making a decision (on choosing a starting quarterback). I'm going to see where we are and see where they are with coming back after the summer. I haven't seen them since spring practice, so I'm anxious to see how much improvement has been made."

On talent for the upcoming season ...
"I'm really excited about this season. If you look at us offensively we have our top two running backs coming back and our top fullback. We have three of our best wide receivers back, plus I'm pretty excited about some of our backups. All of our tight-ends are back and four out of five starters on the offensive line are back. On our defensive line, two out of our three starters are back, but all of the kids there have played quite a bit. Our only linebacker returning is Erin Henderson, but I think we have speed at that position. As for special teams, we have to replace Dan Ennis and Adam Podlesh, which is not an easy task. They were two of the best kickers in the country. But we have talent there and much like our quarterback position, we've got to go out and do it."

On quarterback Jordan Steffy ...
"I've really seen Jordan mature as a person. He's much more serious academically than when he first came here. He's very confident in his ability, not only as a football player but as a student and as a person. I think he's ready for this challenge. I've been very impressed with him."

On repeating last year's success ...
"I think our kids are very excited about going back to a bowl and being successful in a bowl game, and I think they want to do it again. You have to understand that on last year's team, only the seniors had experienced that, so I think they got a taste of it and I think they liked it, so they want to go back.

On trying to reach new goals ...
When you look back on the whole season, last year was very close to being a very special season. If we had one won of those last two games, we could've been in Jacksonville playing for the ACC Championship and then maybe even the Orange Bowl. That was my goal, so in some ways I was disappointed, but after we came back I was pretty proud of our kids. Every year I set goals and I want to win an ACC Championship, that's what my goal is and that's what their goal needs to be also. We came close but we didn't get it done last year, so we're going to see if we can do it this year."

On the success of sophomore Darrius Heyward-Bey ...
"I don't think Darrius has even scratched the surface of his potential. The thing I like about Darrius is that he is such a giving kid. Even though he's only a sophomore he's like one of the oldest guys in the wide receivers group. He's turned into a coach among the receivers. I've seen Darrius develop not only as a player, but as a person too. I'm pretty proud of that kid."

On Keon Lattimore's return after his injury ...
"He appears to be doing well. He's running well. He only was released about four weeks ago and he just passed his conditioning test today. He doesn't seem to have any pain but he hasn't hit anybody yet either."

On Erin Henderson's role in the upcoming season ...
"I think he'll be a leader for our defense. He's bigger and stronger right now and his leg is fully recovered. He's very similar in development to E.J. He's not the same type of player as E.J., but what they both have is an instinct to fine the football. I think like just as quarterbacks need to see, linebackers need to be able to have that instinct to know where the ball is. I would expect that Erin's going to have a very big year for us. Erin and E.J.'s personalities are quite different. E.J. wouldn't say a whole lot. I would say that E.J. didn't like the camera, and Erin hasn't found a camera that he didn't like. They're both wonderful kids."

On serving as offensive coordinator again ...
"Most of my organization was done last year, so it's just a matter of readjusting for this year. Last year, John Donovan, who works with the quarterbacks, was in all the meetings. The last four games I kind of turned it over to him. He's doing a wonderful job. I hardly say anything in our meetings anymore, so I don't have to prepare for all of that. He's really helped me tremendously. I've seen him really develop as a coach. He's been around me enough to know how I want a meeting run. It's kind of like I personally trained him to do it how I want to do it. There will come a point when I feel good enough when I won't sit on those meetings. Right now, I need to be around our guys and they need to know what I'm thinking."

On what he's learned over his seven years at Maryland ...
"I think you're always continuing to learn. Kids change and dealing with kids can always be different. There are always some things I want to try and do differently. We've consistently always had a slow start, so I've looked at myself and tried to think of what we can do differently that way."