Head Coach Randy Edsall

COLLEGE PARK, Md. –

Opening Statement

"I'm looking forward to Saturday's game and also looking forward to Senior Day, for the 22 seniors we have. We have a tough opponent in Rutgers. We have to make sure we have a good week of practice and get prepared. We have to make sure we learn the game plan and do the things necessary in order to try to get win number eight."

On the significance of Senior Day this season:

"The seniors mean a lot to me. They came in and persevered and understood what we were doing. They were able to reap the benefits that they were able to get. Life isn't always going to be the way you want it to be, but like I said, these kids are great kids who have worked hard. It'll pay off for them. When things don't go the way you wanted, you don't just turn around and quit. By them sticking to it, you can see the type of young men they have developed into and you can see the kind of leadership they have in terms of what we've been able to do in the four years of the program that they've been here. I'm extremely happy for them and proud of them. I feel it's a very good group."

On what this senior class means to the program:

"You take a look at what they went through and what they've done and you take a look at this year, and they were the group that led us into the Big Ten. Maryland football has gone to some places it's never been before, and beaten some teams we've never beaten before. I think that's special. These are the guys that have really laid the groundwork and built the foundation for what the program is all about and what the program stands for. I am always going to be indebted to them.

“For C.J. [Brown] in particular, you just take a look at what he's been through with the injuries since he's been here. Some of the ups and downs he's had, but I think the one thing is, he's been an outstanding leader and has been a guy who's gotten better. To see him come back and play the way he's capable of playing last week, it just tells you who he is and what he's got inside him. I just hope him along with all the other seniors, go out and play a really good game on Saturday. There is a guy who can write a book about overcoming adversity, in terms of the injuries and the ups and downs. The thing is, he is a young man that you'd want on your team and you'd want in your organization because he epitomizes what a team player is and epitomizes hard work and character. All of those things. All of the qualities you want in a teammate. He embraces every one of them." 

On the team's improvement through its first season in the Big Ten:

"I think the thing with the team is we had something we wanted to prove this year. There were a lot of doubters that said that we couldn't compete and win in the Big Ten. I think we proved we can compete and win in the Big Ten and I think it is just a great lesson for everybody that you play the games and see what happens at the end of the season. That's what our guys did. They were on a mission, and wanted to prove people wrong. They had a chip on their shoulder from the very beginning of the season, they still have a chip on their shoulder, and the thing that I really like, is that they are a team. They love each other. They care about each other and they want to win for each other. It's not about individuals. We had to overcome a lot of adversity ourselves this year, with injuries and other things, and all those things. Nobody can crack us, people have tried, but nobody could. That's the true moniker of the team, regardless of who was in there, we felt we'd win. We'd give it everything we had and that's all part of establishing a program. Guys believe in it, they understand it and they know the level of expectation we have. It's a credit to them to be able to go out and put it all together."

On defensive lineman Keith Bowers' time at Maryland:

"You saw him on high school film and you saw a guy who had a great motor and played hard. He did the things you asked him to do and he's carried that over here at Maryland. He's a good leader and a guy that is vocal and not afraid to step up and say things. Between how hard he plays and how hard he works, his leadership, he's been a tremendous asset to our program. You are going to get every ounce out of Keith Bowers. He's very prideful in terms of how he plays and he's well respected by his teammates."

On the teams practice schedule this week:

"We are going to practice the way we've practiced all week, which is good, because we have the morning practices. In years past, when we've had a game over Thanksgiving, we have to move the practice from the afternoon to the morning, but now we just do it in the morning. Once we get done with practice on Thursday, our guys will be off until the travel squad comes back around 12:30 and 2:00. Guys get treatment and a snack and have our regular meetings that we normally have on Friday from 3:00 to 4:00 and our walkthrough from 4:10 to 5:10. Then we'll have our meetings in our hotel. The non-travel squad guys can go home as well. They don't have to be back here until 1:30 on Saturday. They get that time off. I think it's important that a lot of guys locally will spend Thanksgiving with their families, which they should, and guys that don't have a place to go, we will make sure they have a place to go for Thanksgiving. That's really our schedule.”

On moving to morning practices this season:

"I think it's been great. Our kids like it, it helps us from an academic standpoint. We get off the field and we're done for the day with football. We don't bring them back for meetings. So, at 10:25, 10:15, 10:05; Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday we're done. They have the rest of the day that's devoted to academics and doing the things that they need to do. I wanted to do it when I first got here, but our academic folks didn't think it was feasible due to the number of courses that would be available to us. Then, they came to me prior to last spring and said 'hey we've done some more research, we feel like we can do this and it will be more advantageous from an academic standpoint'. So I said great. We did it last spring and just carried it over to this fall. I think it's better for the players, I think it's better for the coaches, and I think obviously when you take a look I think we've been fresher this season for some reason. When you take a look at the record I think that indicates that it has been positive as well."

On the performance of offensive lineman Jake Wheeler:

"I thought Jake played well last weekend. He's going to start again this weekend. It's just a great testimony to Jake just to continue to go out there and work hard every day; and that's what he did. You see things as a coach and you say okay, I think he can make our team better because this is what's going on, this is what I see. We inserted him in there and I think he did a very good job. I think it's a great lesson for our younger guys. Here was a guy that hadn't played hardly at all in his career, but he has stayed positive and came back for a fifth year. Now you take a look at where he is in the last two and three games of his career. His first career start at Michigan at the Big House was pretty darn good. He'll be telling that story to his kids and grandkids and all of those things. Jake's a good guy. He's a good guy. He works, he does the things you ask him to do, and he's graduated already. I'm just very, very pleased and proud of him in terms of how he's handled his whole career here. He's always been a team guy, he's always tried everything he can to try to make the team better. It's great to see him getting these opportunities that he's getting.”

On the impact of the new indoor practice facility in terms of recruiting:

"It helps tremendously in recruiting, coupled with winning on the field. When you win on the field and then the University steps up to make the commitment to the program, to the student-athletes, to all the students here at the University of Maryland it makes a huge difference. All the kids saw that, they're going to see it when they come on campus. They're going to see the shovel in the ground, they're going to see the dirt moved and all those things. It's a big bonus for us, a big plus for us, and something that we're very, very thankful for all the people that had a hand in this to make sure that this gets done. The announcement came, and then going out and beating Michigan it shows that they're making a wise investment. The thing I like about it is, is that it enhances everybody. It's a University project. There's so many different factions within the University that is involved in this. Its academics, its athletics, its University of Maryland-Baltimore. That's what teamwork is all about. It's everybody doing their little part to make things better, You're taking all those great resources and all that great knowledge that we have here at the University of Maryland and you're combining it into the new Cole Field House, the Academy for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and Sports Medicine. Everybody benefits from it that is to me what's really neat. I saw that first hand when I was at Connecticut and we built a facility. The students used it and everything else. That's what's really neat, when you can bring every part of campus together and you can combine all those disciplines and departments for a common goal that's going to benefit students, faculty, student-athletes, everybody. I think that's neat."

On if he's reached out to Morgan State head coach Lee Hull on his success this season:

"Yeah, I talked to Lee. I texted him after the game and congratulated him and texted him during the season. I'm really happy for him. I'm happy for him, I'm happy for Greg Gattuso. Greg Gattuso had a great year too at Albany. Lee did a good job. It's great to see guys who have worked for you who get their opportunities to go be head coaches and have success. I'm just happy for those guys. I felt they would do a good job being head coaches and they proved that. Now they have to understand that they put more pressure on themselves with what they've done in their first year to improve next year. Like I said, Lee did an outstanding job at Morgan State this year."

On getting the running game going vs. Michigan:

"I think the biggest thing when you run the ball, one thing we tried to stress all of last week is finishing on a body. I thought our guys did a better job of finishing on the body of the Michigan defenders. C.J. [Brown] was running a little bit, and what Wes [Brown] did there at the end of the game. Your running game is usually good when you don't turn people loose and you give your running back a chance to get to the second level or through the first level to the second level."

On the impact of offensive lineman Sal Conaboy:

"Sal's a guy that epitomizes what hard work really does for you and a guy that is just Maryland through and through. A vocal leader, a guy that makes a lot of calls for us at the line of scrimmage. I'm happy to see him have the kind of year that he's having and getting better. He's doing a good job of being a leader as well with a young group that was in there this year. I just thought he did a good job of being a leader and doing the things that you have to do to hold that group together and that's what you expect out of a center. He's a tough kid, he's a great kid, and he'll be getting married. I'm happy for him with the career he's had.”

On Rutgers:

"You see a good football team. You see a good quarterback, a good wide receiver, an offensive line that plays well together. You see a defense that's very aggressive and runs to the ball and tries to create havoc with all the movement, and all the stunting and pressure they put on you."

-Maryland-