Live Audio from the ACC Football Kickoff
GREENSBORO, Ga. -
Games are still over a month away, but the Atlantic Coast Conference got the 2008 season underway Sunday with the opening of its annual Football Kickoff at Reynolds Plantation, a resort about 90 minutes east of Atlanta.
Players and coaches from all 12 teams are visiting with members of local, regional and national media over the course of the next two days.
Senior defensive end Jeremy Navarre and senior offensive lineman Edwin Williams represented the Terps Sunday, spending over three hours with members of the print and electronic media.
Head coach Live Audio from the ACC Football Kickoff to listen live to each of the 12 head coaches during Tuesday's interview session.
The 2008 ACC Preseason media poll will be announced Monday.
The Terps open preseason camp on Monday, Aug. 4 and the regular season on Saturday, Aug. 30 vs. Delaware.
Season tickets for this fall's seven-game home slate start as low as $189 and are on sale through the Maryland Athletics Ticket Office. Call 1-800-IM-A-TERP or click here for information.
Maryland Player Quotes
On whether the offensive line will be a strength of the team this season:
"Most definitely. We have experience on the line. We just have to build confidence with each other, and also with the rest of the offense, especially at the running back position. Da'Rel Scott got a pretty good amount of reps last year. He's a very smart player, and all we need to do is get him some holes. He and Morgan Green both do a good job of playing off of our strengths on the line."
On the injuries sustained by the offensive line last season:
"I thought about that for about two seconds, and then realized that no other team that we play against cares about that. We just had to come together and realize that we couldn't have a `pity-me' mentality. We had to reload and go out there and play football. I think the guys that stepped in played well, and I think it will be to our benefit this year to have a full and healthy line."
On what the offense needs to do to be successful:
"We need to get the ball in our playmakers' hands. We want our guys to go out there and win games. We want to put points up on the board and win games, but that comes from gaining confidence in each other."
On playing for new offensive coordinator James Franklin:
"Coach Franklin and I had a previous relationship. He actually recruited me to play at Maryland. I remember he was very passionate and very confident, and nothing has changed since he came back. The good thing he's done for us now is that he's given us ownership of the offense. He has a lot of confidence and trust in us. Whatever happens, we know that we, as seniors, are responsible for what happens because he's given us that personal responsibility."
On Coach Ralph Friedgen's decision to hire an offensive coordinator:
"He's an offensive genius, there's no doubt about that. But I think as a head coach you can't really be focused on one section of the team. You've got to be focused on offense, defense and special teams, so I think this will be better for him."
On the quarterback situation:
"Right now we have three quarterbacks back there - Jordan Steffy, Chris Turner and Josh Portis. Jordan, he's a very technical player. He's a smart guy, and he's big on technique. Chris, he's more of a laid-back player, but when it's time to play, he's ready. He played tremendously well toward the end of last season. Josh, he's definitely the most athletic quarterback we've had. They're all very good quarterbacks, and we can play with all three of them. It's going to be interesting going into the camp to see how it pans out, but I personally like all three of them."
On Maryland wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey:
"He's an older guy now - a junior. He's a playmaker, and he adds a lot to our offense. He's obviously one of the guys we're going to try to get the ball to. But we have a lot of other great receivers in addition to Darrius"
On his thoughts regarding the 2007 season:
"I think a 6-7 season was kind of bittersweet. Being invited to a bowl game was nice, but actually ending up with a losing season was upsetting for us. There were games that we should've won, regardless of the scores. We need to learn to be more consistent and learn to finish games."
On having a large senior class this season:
"The thing that I think is going to carry us this season is the fact that we have over 30 seniors here. Maturity is important because the more mature you are, the better your preparation will be. Whatever new scheme the coaches want to throw at us, I think we'll be able to adapt."
On the benefits of playing a new defensive scheme:
"Most teams haven't gone against that defense much, so when a team plays us, they're going to have to change everything up. They won't know where we're going and they won't know which linebacker is coming up."
On practicing against an offensive line featuring five seniors:
"We go against Edwin (Williams) and those guys in practice all the time so we know they're a great line. They have a lot of experience, and they're only going to make us better and more prepared."
On the leaders of the defense:
"Being a senior who's been around a while, I need to be a leader of the defense, but we have a number of leaders on that side of the ball. Dave Philistin is a leader for the linebackers and Kevin Barnes has been playing in our secondary for quite some time now."
On switching positions during the off-season:
"I played defensive end my first three years but now I'm at d-tackle. It seems like a good fit for me. I've put on a bit more weight, but overall it's not too different from what I'm used to."
On the state of Atlantic Coast Conference football:
"There are so many good teams in the conference, and what's happening is we're beating up on each other. We don't have a team like (Louisiana State University) that just blows the rest of the competition out of the water. This year I think we're one of the better conferences overall from the top team to the bottom team."
On playing host to California on Sept. 13:
"That's an opportunity for us to showcase our team and the ACC. It's a great chance for us to perform well against a good team from another conference and to get ready to play ACC teams."
On how the seniors are approaching the season:
"Our class right now, we've been all over the map. We've been 5-6, 9-4 and 6-7. We're at the point where we all know this is our last chance to prove ourselves. We know can play with every team in the ACC."
On learning how to win close games:
"Our attitude is that we've all played together for so long and this is our last season together, so we don't want to put ourselves in a situation like last year where we're losing by three points here and by a touchdown there. We don't want that to happen again. Everybody seems really caught up in preparing for this season and we're all really excited right now."
