Maryland Football 8/27/24 Press Conference

e see that's crazy e Sou AB e do e spe know for what's happening what's happening fighting over the phone's face you left your phone open is this picture supposed to be up just kidding sure um again always great to to have you guys here joining us um great to be back with a a game uh game week I mean I know our players are excited I know I'm excited about the opportunity to go uh see what we have see what this 24 iteration of of Maryland the Maryland football family looks like um Camp was a super super competitive Camp um when you look around and you see the depth that we've been able to add to our team and what I found over the the last few years is that the competition is is what really has helped us improve and and it helps you get better when you compete um really healthy competition at a number of spots quarterback corner uh the tight end position the left side of the offensive line um you know great great healthy competition we got a lot of guys young players reps in practice and if you watch the way we practice and the development of our young uh guys especially the young old linemen you know this was one of the biggest classes we signed in Old lineman and I can tell you that those guys were coached and you know when you have three guys working with those guys and Brian brazwell and and then obviously uh Damen robowski and as as well as Brian frence I saw the immediate Improvement and the development of those young linemen and we're going to need to need that depth you know obviously we open up with Yukon I've got a ton ton of respect for Coach MOA um he's been really successful at the NFL level he's had success at the college level um he's done a pretty good job you look at how they finish uh last year with two wins at the end of the year uh to get momentum going into this year very similar to how we finished our season um we get a chance to be back inside the shell as you guys know I I really love having an opportunity to play at home I think as our program has grown and as we've developed the championship mentality and habits I've seen our fans try to do the same and I expect and hope um that we're able to fill the shell I know myself and uh some of our game captains had an opportunity to speak to our incoming friendes freshman class this Saturday and we got a small taste of what the energy is like and and I can tell you the class of 28 did a tremendous job Saturday night with how they responded and and and I'm excited to see you know as we work to get better as a football program the challenges for our fans and our supporters to work to be better at supporting the program and and I I see it uh I saw it in in the Freshman that reported here Saturday but I really what I really hope is that this entire area can get behind this team uh we need it we need the entire area to support uh Maryland athletics to support Maryland football I know today is our fall uh fall Sports what is this press conference media day and so we we need this area to get behind you know when the governor came he talked about six million people behind our programs and and not just football but all the fall sports that have opened up or opening up uh this week um we've waited eight months for 12 weeks of a season we've worked hard for eight months to get 12 guaranteed opportunities to play uh and I've seen total Buy in from our players total buying when you talk about a player Le team there's no doubt in my mind that what what I have seen and what I've what I've told you is really what's happening and I'm excited uh that now we get the opportunity to show what this team is all about and and it starts Saturday um our game captains going into this game Ruben hippolite Rob Smith and Roman and HBY uh all three guys have really been a major part in what this program has become in their own special ways and I'm excited for them to lead us uh against Yukon on Saturday um so with that I open it up to questions about the quarterback again Mike and what's been the regular weekly question what is the the state of the quarterback room right now going into the opener and I assume the plan is still what it was before you told the team Sunday and the rest of us have to wait till Saturday to find out yeah um what I've learned from this quarterback competition that we've got a room full of guys that we can win with that we've recruited the right guys to the room um the three guys that have competed for the position during fall Camp I come out of the meeting Sunday I met with all three together I come out of the meeting with a really strong confidence that we'll have the ability to win with all three um obviously we're not going to get three quarterbacks ready can't that's not the nature of of how you build a team and how you develop it um it gives us no competitive advantage to to name it publicly um they know who it is uh we're preparing the way we typically prepare we're you know our starter gets you know a good good portion line share of the Reps and then we get a number two guy ready and then the third guy gets a lot of visual reps and and and is up and I can tell you there's no doubt in my mind that I can win with all three and they all competed uh we got better collectively and and I'm excited you know with the starter our team is going to get behind the starter rally behind that guy the guy doesn't have to win the game for us what we've got to do is uh play to the standard practice and prepare to our standard and I feel good about the quarterback room as a whole how much different is the the thought process going into a season with a different quarterback after having Leah here for four years and accomplish what he did yeah it's been a luxury to have TOA Tong ofal and our program and like I said he kind of set the standard and the foundation for how you prepare as a quarterback um he's put put a solid foundation in place to where I think all three of these guys have have benefited um from how we prepare how we practice how we develop because I've seen them all really really improve uh their games from the eight months that they've been here working and and it was a healthy competition and like I said I leave we leave out of it feeling really good about what we've been able to get accomplished in the QB room afternoon Mike Dave what's up not much regardless of who plays happen to your ey man you should see the other guy who don't mess with the bull you get the horns hey man be careful man don't put your hands on people regardless of who is your starting quarterback he's got to stay upright what with your offensive line what gives you cause for confidence that the Five Guys or the 10 guys the ho will be greater than the sum of its parts yeah we got we got two deep 10 guys um you know we've got a smattering of some true freshmen in that two deep uh that have earned the right to be in it um we've expedited the growth of some of these guys I mean really when you look at the job that that we've been able to get done over the last three weeks uh now we got to go play um you know but when you look at the competition of the front seven on defense which is one of the strengths of our team and the way we've come along up front on the o line um we're gonna have some Growing Pains but I feel good that we've got the right guys in the right places and what we've got to do now is uh get the continuity and and and get those guys playing you know together when you have a quarterback competition the one negative is you don't have a consistent voice in the Huddle or on the sideline and they've all kind of had to adapt as those three guys have competed and you know now that we've got the consistent voice in there um I expect you'll see the the o line kind of jail and get better with each game and you know up front is the the the toughest and the the the longest to develop players and we've done everything based on the resources that we've been given to be able to try to expedite the how how we develop our our guys up front yeah kind of following up on Dave the boxer's question um you know you've won 23 games in the last three years seven eight and eight three three bowls is there a specific part of the team that you can point to where there's Improvement to that gives you confidence that you can get to that next level that you talked about in your opening press conference before the season began yeah it starts with playing good defense um been a part of championship teams whether it's National Championships conference championships in this league you got to win up front and we knew that uh the way we've constructed our team over the last five years it's been how do we get depth up front on the dline how do we develop the depth to get through tough a tough Big 10 schedule on the o line and you know everybody knows we got skill we've had receivers DB speed very few teams in our league you know have the ability to recruit the speed that we have in this area and where we've struggled is getting the big guys and and I think anybody that's seen us practice says hey we kind of look like a big 10 team now we've got length and size on the o line and D line um now it does take three years typically to grow a offensive lineman to be able to play and be productive in this league just like we've been able to do on defense the gradual incremental development of our defense has shown uh offensively we were a little ahead of schedule because we had a quarterback that had the ability to make plays and we always recruited skill our coaches did a really good job of of doing what the players are capable of getting executed well now on the Comfort level is that um our defense is is salty a lot of veteran players that have played a lot of football we still got to go play it I mean I mean this is like Christmas for me to to open up Saturday against Yukon and really see who we are and we got to play the game to see who we are and start the the chess match of making the moves and the adjustments we need to make to get the program uh to continue to move forward hey coach Sam Jane D Sam what's up how we doing um last year you guys forced a lot of turnovers on defense I think you're like second in the Big 10 in interceptions what on that side of the ball do you kind of want to carry over from last year and where are you looking to improve um on the defensive unit well I think it starts with sto the Run um you know anytime you stop the running and that's been a big emphasis for us to take the next step on offense we got to rush the ball better we we know we can line up on First and 10 possession pass RPO get the ball in space we know how to do that but there comes a time where you going to have to get in the phone booth with a tough guy stand toe to- toe and fight him and in a big 10 it typically happens is the weather changes and so we want to develop a mentality of stopping the run and being able to run the ball while also still creating any explosives that it takes to win uh on offense while limiting on defense so what I'd like to see us do to answer your question on the defensive side continue to tackle the way we've tackled the ball uh because most big plays start with missed tackles and then the next starts with the missed assignments making sure everybody's on the same page and not giving up the explosives we did that pretty well a year ago um and we need to continue that Trend hey Coach P gilbertt P good to see you up man Roman heni from the time he got on the field here he's been an impactful impressive player now in his third year what do you where have you seen him grow and how has he gotten better from even that time where he you know he was special when he got here yeah you know what even more than what you talked about Roman HBY on the football field Roman HBY is the real deal as a person man you know kudos to his mom and dad the job they've done uh from the time that kid got on campus here and again he came in a three running back class if you remember Kobe him and Antoine and much like some of the other guys you know he didn't play very much as a freshman and red shirt and then all of a sudden boom he shows up in the bowl game and people starting to see the things that we knew about him but the thing we talk about Roman a football player but Roman the person Roman the Maryland turp representative is a unbelievable guy and that's how you win championships when you recruit guys like Roman because you know what Roman going to do he's going to bring in other good players which he has and I I expect Roman uh to continue to build oning the Legacy that he started here and he's been a tremendous leader I mean that's the reason why you know when we start the year off this kind of like a the the liftoff of a rocket you know it takes hundreds of hours to build this rocket to take off and go places that's never been before a lot of people play roles not everybody gets to make the trip up but they all play a role in it and so this is kind of liftoff and we're were able to do it because of players like Roman HBY coach you uh kind of LED with this in your opening here we know how important the X's and O's are and the Johnny and Joe's that are in your program but why is it important to your program that the students and that the community come out here and feel the shell for your team you trying to push my buttons aren't you come on man I just we need them I mean we we really do like I've said this before and again I'm not going to be the dead horse but we've tried to do our part as a team to recruit the right kids to build this program uh my boss is Damon and Colleen have given me the resources we've navigated Co we've navigated nil transfer portal and we we've done our part or have tried to do our part to the liking well to take the program to a championship level we got to have Championship level support fans people coming in I mean there's no reason in this area that there a Saturday familyfriendly environment man it should be a block party like all the local kids whether the youth football programs that play on Saturday morning they should be here supporting the turps we're the flagship University we're the the the marketing arm for the state when you leave this state people talk about your Flagship University football team and you know what when we bring some of these top players I mean we have some of the top players in the country in recruiting and they they need to come and see that we have Championship caliber fans we've tried to do our part to put the product on the field uh we got to do our part by you know winning sure win some big games lock shut your mouth and win some games I get it but it'll be a lot easier to win some games and shut my mouth if I can keep the top players here because we got fans in the stands early staying late rabbit fans that don't care Win Lose or Draw they love their turps I know I love my turps and I know our turps love representing the state of Maryland hey coach hey's UPG um so since you've been head coach you guys are the team is 14- one and um against non-conference opponents including 12 straight wins against them so I was wondering what has gone into the success that you guys have had in non-conference play I mean our standard how we practice uh good players that that believe in each other and Believe in Us as coaches uh the support staff you know getting through a tough training camp and we practice the right way our our training room staff getting our players healthy uh the former coaches and players that have worked here that have gone on and maybe doing different things or better things there been a lot that has gone into it the support that I get from you know Administration and to to win is a a a culmination of good habits coming together and and we we've had good habits in a non-conference um we're building and we've looked at what we've got to do to kind of uh compete for all three parts of our season the beginning the middle and the finish and uh feel good about this team because of the player Le culture that they've created these guys want to win and they want to win now hey Mike's George what's up G herbo good to see you since the beginning of Camp to now is there a a position group you can identify or players you can identify that have made the biggest Improvement since when you started practice the beginning of August to this point yeah I would say I think it's the o line um just because when you look and see I think how many true freshman we got in this the two deep up up from two three yeah and we got some on defense but I I I have seen I mean that that young old line when you watch him work and and I've seen him work like those guys kind of get it and and they kind of got like a little bit of a edge to them and and that's what you need in this league I keep going back to you know there goingon to come a time where you're gonna have to line up and and and go toe totoe and get in the phone booth with a tough guy and maybe have to take a couple punches and you have to give a couple and in that area you know we put you achieve what you in for size and I put a big emphasis on developing and making sure how do we develop them quicker because it takes three years but I ain't got three years do I boss I got three years because I I got to get it done now and so BRZ the old line and and those coaches that we've added I mean I've been I've been bragging about I hope they they prove themselves right and prove me right how's it going Alex clay with WJZ back here start with start with the quarterback let's end with it might as well yeah let's do it uh I was just wondering if you could peel back the curtain a little bit and was there a characteristic that the guy that you ultimately select to be the starter that is that this person has that this trait that they shown or is there something on the field that they showed you throughout this uh this camp that that separated them just kind of peel back the curtain on that decision-making process for us yeah I mean going into it I was pretty clear on what what it would take to be the starting quarterback and it starts with who gives us the best chance to win now all right not preparing for later down the road but who gives us the best chance to win against Yukon and it starts with the metrics that I've used unfortunately I've been part of a lot of quarterback battles uh whether it was that Alabama Jaylen came in as a true freshman and whether it was when Tua came in and him and Mack are in the same room uh it's not my first rodeo trying to figure it out and one of the biggest metrics I always look at is the drive chart you know when we chart live drives and practices and games with the ones the twos the threes you know they all mixed and they they played with different players and the thing you want from your quarterback is he has to have the mind of a coach and the skill of a player and the ability to mitigate risk so when you're going when you're practicing with the threes and they don't really know what they're doing how do you manage that group and so the guy that we picked team I I couldn't tell which group he was going with because he managed the groups to where I didn't know if he was with the ones twos or threes and so the the metrics of the drive chart and the drives ending in kicks punts field goals and extra points the next piece is is is protection of the football you know who does the best job of taking care of the football and then the third is who elevates the play of the players around him because we've got Playmakers on offense to where our quarterback is not necessarily on him he just has to mitigate the bad plays and make sure he does a good job of getting it to the right guys and I have to have a trust level I mean some of it is trust who do I trust most going into this game and as our starter and and so the guy picked met those metrics thank you very much Flor right good to see you [Music] girl e e e e e e for