April 12, 2000
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -
Press conference comments from Maryland football coach Ron Vanderlinden two days prior to the Terps' spring finale Friday, April 14 in Byrd Stadium:
"As we entered spring football we set the goal that we had to improve in our passing game and pass defense, and I feel we have overwhelmingly accomplished both. The quarterback position is better than at any time in my brief tenure. It is a very competitive position. I'm sure I will be asked who is No. 1, 2 and 3 exiting spring ball, and I can say that it is too close to call. Latrez Harrison, Calvin McCall and Shaun Hill have all played well and gotten better. I feel as if we are better at this position than at any time since I've been here. Calvin McCall, for instance, is better right now than at any time last year. Basketball helped Calvin. He is a more assertive player, and he picked things up pretty quickly upon his arrival back to football. Mike Gundy, who moved over from the wide receiver unit to coach quarterbacks and coordinate the passing game, has done a good job bringing the quarterbacks along.
"We are better at the wide receiver position than at any time in my three years. Right now we have five players that I feel very good about -- Guilian Gary, Moises Cruz, Jason Hatala, Scooter Monroe, and Omar Cheeseboro. I feel we have the depth, speed and size that we haven't had.
"At tight end Mike Hull has improved, and redshirt freshman Jeff Dugan has really stepped up. He is not where he needs to be but he is on his way to becoming a very good player at the tight end position.
"The offensive line is thin, and we're not as good as we were a year ago right now. I am concerned, but I believe [coaches] Bob Heffner and Elliot Uzelac will have this group ready to move the ball and protect [the passer]. Plus, we have better skill around the offensive line than ever before, which will help in the transition of the offensive line.
"Our fullback, Matt Kalapinski, continues to play like we have come to expect. He had a good spring. Tailback LaMont Jordan is progressing academically. His absence [from spring drills to concentrate on academics] created opportunities for Marc Riley, Bruce Perry and Mukala Sikyala. Riley is a big, strong player who we moved back to tailback, he runs with authority and is challenging the tackle. Bruce Perry has outstanding speed, hips and toughness and has had a very good spring as well. Sikyala has played much like he did a year ago, he is a solid performer.
"On defense we went into the spring with two corner prospects. Tony Okanlawon, who has started off and on the past two years, is playing better than any corner we've had. That is very encouraging. Our coaches on both sides of the ball feel he is developing into a very good ACC corner. Remember, he missed all of last spring and then all of fall with an injury. Curome Cox has the ability to be a good corner and is making a lot of improvement. He still has a ways to go, but I'm encouraged by his ability. We will need some help from the freshmen ranks, but we anticipated that coming in. That is where the departure of Lewis Sanders [who declared for the NFL draft] thins us."
"At the safety positions we have a good solid two-deep with Shawn Forte, who had a very good spring, Rod Littles, Randall Jones and Tony Jackson. Randall started several games for us at safety and never had the benefit of a spring camp or preseason camp on defense.
"At linebacker, I think we surprised a lot of people last year how quickly we recovered from losing Eric Barton and Kendall Ogle. Marlon Moore is back and is on his way to becoming a very good player. Aaron Thompson returns for his third year as a starter. Kevin Bishop is still out with a knee injury but is progressing ahead of schedule. E.J. Henderson, who started the last few games last year, has had a good spring. Two redshirt freshmen I'm very excited about are Leon Joe, who actually ran down Scooter Monroe on a reverse to make a very nice play, and Leroy Ambush. I'm very encouraged by what they are showing.
"On the defensive line Kris Jenkins had a very good spring, which is a good sign. I want to hold back on my praise because I thought he had a very good spring last year but didn't meet expectations during the season. But he had a good spring, and that is a good sign. Charles Hill moved to nose guard and has made improvement. The best thing about him is he is competitive and has played a lot of football. He's also working against a pretty good football player in Melvin Fowler every day. William Shime had a very good spring and really stepped up his game. Durrand Roundtree has improved, as has Scott Smith. Landon Jones I believe is going to be a player. We needed young guys to step up in the defensive line.
On tackle Tim Howard and guard Bob Krantz: "I think Tim has stepped things up and is in good position [at left tackle]. Bob Krantz is still battling at a guard position. It's still too close to say who will be a starter at the right guard spot."
On rush linebacker Mike Whaley: "With Ryan Swift missing most of spring ball with an injury, Mike Whaley has spent most of the spring running with the first unit. He is going to be a good player, very similar to Erwyn Lyght."
On free safety Tony Jackson: "He's been solid, although he pulled a muscle last week and has been out. He will probably miss the spring game.
On backup center Sam Marvis: "He got hurt the first day of practice. He's had a chronic shoulder problem, and had it scoped again. That has been a disappointment, because we are in need of a second team center.
On offense: "I've been very encouraged with how we have executed during the spring. I think we have taken the next step in the evolution of Maryland football. We established the line of scrimmage two years ago and became a force on the ground by leading the ACC in rushing and allowing an ACC-low 11 sacks. We still did not throw the ball effectively last year. We put a premium on protection to make sure we didn't do bad things with the football. I think we ended up 12th nationally in turnover margin, and a number of those came in the last few games with Calvin out. Our next step is to get five receivers out and throw in the drop-back game, the third-down game. We've added to our package, and our quarterbacks have to do a little more, but I think we're ready for that."
