April 21, 2004
Read excerpts from head coach Ralph Friedgen's press conference and his comments on Saturday's spring football game. The game will be held at 4 p.m. at Byrd Stadium as part of Maryland Day.
On the youth of the team
"We've got a very young but enthusiastic group. If anything, we've had to calm the team down. They are aggressive and they love playing football, and it's been good to see them getting better each and every practice.
"Last year's team was much more veteran than this year's, but when you have a young team it creates a lot of excitement. Everybody's got to be ready to play. There are a lot of times in spring practice when I don't want contact, but there has been some. But, from a coach's standpoint, it is better to have to calm them down than turn them on.
I have really enjoyed the spring."
On the quarterback position
"We have made progress at quarterback. Joel Statham is the starting quarterback. Sam Hollenbach is his back up. It is still a fight for the third position between Dan Gronkowski and Ryan Mitch.
"Joel has made progress. He's seeing things very well and he's making very good decisions. We just have to get better at our total execution of throwing and catching the football."
On players who have had strong spring practices
"On defense, Shawne Merriman has had an outstanding spring and so has Domonique Foxworth and Chris Kelley. Chris has come on and played very well for us at the safety position. Raymond Custis is another guy who has been playing very well.
"On offense, one of the most improved players on our team is Rob Abiamiri. He and Vernon Davis are playing the same position and sometimes we'll have both of them in the game at the same time. They are two big, fast guys who are wide receivers but also give us a lot of flexibility.
"Rich Parson is another guy who has had a very good spring. Paschal Abiamiri has had some good scrimmages. Consistency is a big thing with him, but I would say he's had a good spring. He's gotten a lot of repetitions and he's been at every practice.
"With the kicking game, we are strong with Nick Novak, Adam Podlesh and Steve Suter all returning."
On Saturday's spring game
"This Saturday is going to be an exciting day. The NFL draft is on, and we're hoping all our players get drafted and start a new career. Also though, we hope to have a very good game here with good attendance. We are unveiling our new uniforms and there will be a lot of excitement on campus because it is Maryland Day. It will be a fun day for everyone."
On the format of the spring game
"We'll break the guys up into two teams. We'll put the first-team offense against the second-team defense and the first-team defense with the second-team offense. Then we'll alternate in other players. I'm looking for effort. I'm looking for improvement in our wide receivers in catching the ball. Joel and our quarterbacks should be making good decisions. We will have pressure in the game, I want to find out who can handle the pressure. The quarterbacks will be off-limits, but other than that everything will be live. This scrimmage will be evaluated very carefully as far as how we line up next fall."
On the expectations he has for the upcoming season
"There is an expectation that wasn't here before. They want to be good and expect to be good. When I talk in terms of youth, they don't really want to hear that. There's going to be some growing pains that you go through, but they're learning experiences. I can honestly say that we are ahead of what I thought we would be at this point in time."
On Joel Statham's progress throughout the spring
"When he makes a mistake now, he knows he made it. There was a point in time when he was having trouble seeing things. Now, he's first to point out what he did wrong. He sees things. The next question is, can he do it in a game? Scott McBrien would do it in practice, but it took him awhile to get it right in games.
"What we have done in the past is try to get as much of our offense in as we possibly could in the spring, so you have something to pull from next season. But we took a different approach this year. We put enough in to play our first few games. Maybe this is the right approach, and maybe why we haven't done well in the beginning of the season in the past.
"I wanted our quarterbacks to come out of the spring with something tangible; something to feel good about themselves.
"We've simplified things for Joel. He can run the option - he's bigger than Scott (McBrien) was, and he's probably faster. He has close to the same arm strength."
On the importance of the spring season
"The spring is critical. Our philosophy at practice is to do a lot of repetitions. It is my philosophy that you learn by doing. We analyze practices thoroughly, so players can come in and see their mistakes. Without the opportunity that spring practice provides, I don't see how we could possibly be ready for the fall."
