Quick Lane Bowl Press Conference Quotes
12/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football, Terrapin Athletics
ALLEN PARK, Mich. - Maryland head coach DJ Durkin and Director of Athletics Kevin Anderson met with the Detroit media at the 2016 Quick Lane Bowl press conference at the Lions team headquarters on Wednesday morning.
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND QUICK LANE BOWL PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
KEVIN ANDERSON – MARYLAND ATHLETIC DIRECTOR
Opening statement: “Well, first I want to thank the Quick Lane folks for having us, we're very excited. Coach (DJ) Durkin and I, this is the culmination of everything we've worked for and particularly for our seniors, to have them come in here and be able to participate in such a great bowl, great facilities at Ford Field, we're very excited. But I want to congratulate the Detroit Lions and Coach (Jim) Caldwell for the great year they're having so far. Jim's a good friend of mine and I'm so happy for him to have the season that he's having so far. You know, this year started off for us very quickly, we got off to a great start and then with our conference, as Brad said, we ran into some very difficult competition. Our kids were up for it, you know, we had a couple injuries that kind of sidetracked us for a while, but we got right back on track. We got bowl qualified and it's very important, particularly for a first-year coach to be able to establish himself and DJ Durkin has done that and we're quite proud of him. So coming to a bowl game this year and particularly this bowl, this is very good for the Terp nation and we're happy to be here.”
DJ DURKIN – MARYLAND HEAD COACH
On what he was able to accomplish in his first year as Maryland Head Coach: “You know, the biggest thing when you're coming in, trying to establish, the word 'culture' is used a lot. There's a lot that goes into that, but it was very important, I think just trying to establish it with our guys of how we do things, the type of mindset, how we practice, how we train, how we play. I'm very pleased with the amount of buy-in we had from our seniors and our team and this is a great reward for them. They deserve it because they've been put through a lot, they've gone through a lot of adversity throughout their career and so, to be able to play in the postseason, you know, that's one of the great things about college football, when you get to go to a bowl game and all the rewards that they come with, It's one of the cool parts about the sport we get to coach, and so I'm excited for our guys, for our seniors in particular that they stayed the course with us and bought into what we were doing and really became leaders of that. So I'm very grateful of them for that and happy they're able to play in this game.”
On beating Michigan State this year: “Yeah, that was a great home win for us. It was a great atmosphere, night game, we played Michigan State at our place and, you know, that was a big win for us. We needed it at the time, we had taken a couple losses before that and it was great to see our guys bounce back. That was a big game for us. You know, just obviously me being in this area just a year ago and living right down the road, Detroit's such a neat sports town. Like, there's great pride taken in all sports teams, there's great following, great backing, everyone loves the teams. I think it makes it such a great city and so, with football in particular I know that there's a tremendous amount of excitement around this area just with any football going on. It's great for our guys, great for our team, they understand that and I'll continue to educate them on that as we come in here and obviously being able to play a program like Boston College. There's not a guy I have more respect for in the country than Steve, in terms of coaching. You know, he and I have worked together. He's a guy I look up to in the profession, you know, so we know we have a big test ahead of us in that game. They're a tough, physical team that does things the right way, and so it's a great test for our guys and that's the beauty of what we get to do in this sport, you know. We have a lot of tests and challenges throughout the year and as a competitor, that's what you want. So we embrace that and we'll work hard to get ourselves prepared.”
On if they played an opponent this year that prepared them for Boston College: “You know, I think really when you look at the teams we've played in our conference, for instance, Michigan was a team at the line of scrimmage that I thought was very, very good this year. I don't know, it's always hard to draw comparisons and what not. I just know that playing these guys, they're very well coached and they're very sound and they're physical at the line of scrimmage. I think really, the story of football is that. You've got to win at the line of scrimmage. If you can be effective there on either side of the ball, you've got a chance and if not it's an up-hill battle.”
On his relationship with Coach Addazio: “Obviously, sitting here now it seems like, “OK we're playing each other so you're going to build up the other coach or team or whatever,” but I couldn't agree with Steve more. A lot of our program, what we do and what is based on is right in line with Steve and to be honest with you, the things I learned from Steve. I can't say enough. I said earlier, Steve's a guy I look up to in the profession. It's probably true in life, too. There's certain people that you know don't give you BS and he's one of them and there's few of those people in the world. It's hard to find those, have conversations and be around someone that's not giving you BS and I can say with 100 percent certainty, Steve is not one of those people. He's a guy I've counted on for advice in my career and like I said, learned a lot from, look up to and I know how he coaches his team, runs his program. I follow BC or wherever he's at, want them to do well. Same thing, when we get to the 26th, obviously one of the hard parts of our profession is sometimes you've got to play people that are your friends and that's not an easy thing. The good thing is that the players (are) playing the game and we're going to prepare our team like crazy like I know he will and have our guys go out there and they'll compete for it.”
On if anything surprised him in his first season as a head coach: “The word surprise takes on different definitions. No, there's nothing shocking or surprising. The longer you're around coaching, you have those moments where you say, “That's a first,” not ever quite surprised. I think the biggest thing for me going through this is we've been able to acquire a great staff with Kevin's (Anderson) assistance and allow me to do some things to get quality staff. We have some great coaches on our staff that have really helped in a lot of ways. I think as a head coach you're only as good as the people that are around you and I can't say enough about our staff. Just tremendous men and coaches and they've been very helpful in a lot of circumstances and a lot of ways. We have guys on the staff that have head coaching experience as well and that's been helpful to me. One of the great parts about our job, I think, is every day is different. There's no two days that are the same and I think you just have to enjoy that and embrace that. Sometimes a lot of things are flying at you and you just keep taking them one by one. It's been enjoyable. There's great people at the University of Maryland, that's for sure. From our administration to Kevin and Damon (Evans) on down, there's great people that provide support. That's the best part about it for me.”
On his biggest takeaway of Lions Defensive Coordinator Teryl Austin when he worked with him on staff at Florida: “It was a great year of working with TA. I think he's outstanding, one of the best coaches in the country, obviously. I think his track record speaks for that. He's doing a great job here. He's got a great mind for football, defense in particular. He's got good energy about him. I mean, TA's a positive guy. Every day he's got a smile on his face and has great enthusiasm. He had really good rapport with the players and the coaching staff. It's fun to watch him and how his career's taken off and doing really well here.”
On which Maryland players Detroiters should watch in this game: “I think for us it probably all starts with our quarterback, Perry Hills. He's a guy that's a senior. We think he's been a really good player for us this year when he's been healthy. We've had some ups and downs based on his health. He was back for us the last game of the year. He's back healthy now. That's where it starts I think. Our receiving corps, D.J. Moore is a guy that's been very productive for us, as well as Levern Jacobs. Those are guys when we've been healthy and we've been able to stretch the field and get the ball to them downfield, that's helped us in our run game. Both teams I think want to establish and run the ball. That's our backbone. We go about it, I think, different ways, but we want the same outcome in terms of being able to be physical and move the ball on the ground upfront. Then on defense, Jermaine Carter is our inside linebacker, our leader, been very productive for us. He's a guy that's an experienced player, that's done well in leading our team and leading our defense. It'll be big for us, again, at the line of scrimmage to be able to establish the run game and/or handle their physicality in their run game as well.”
-Maryland-
