Marshall Football: Charles Huff Weekly Press Conference (Week 2 | at Virginia Tech)

all righty y all thank you all for being here uh know it's an exciting week as Marshall hits the road a couple of notes from last week that I wanted to point out thanks to Steve cotton for looking this up first time Marshall has had three quarterbacks throw a touchdown pass in a game since 1932 um I don't think anybody in here was born so uh maybe Walsh was closer right but um but yeah uh nice little nugget for you all there without further Ado we'll get coach off up here thanks how's everybody doing good afternoon good to see you guys um always good to see you guys after a win I don't know about the other side of it but um definitely excited um to stand up here um after a great team win great organizational win um great administrative win with the weather delay and everybody kind of managing their areas really well um hats off to the fans who came left came back um Beed with us through not only the safe to serve project but also the weather delay and still was was there in the stadium we got back out um really great weekend to show what Marshall um in this community was really about so that's awesome again thanks to our administrative team Andrew Brown his crew for managing um the weather and safety um Ben asford sherro Everett um Aaron Estus and his crew of putting our plan in place when we went in with the weather delay of what we were doing the times um that's the second time since I've been here that we've had a weather delay and uh we came back out with a little more energy and Juice than the other team which I think is a huge organizational win that's the goal of when those things happen hats off to the players for trusting the process um so it was really good um the first thing I thought about when we kick the ball off is how can I break the record from 1932 um so the whole game that was on my mind I was bound to break that record um I didn't find out until Sunday at about noon after the great Steve cotton did his research but no it was awesome um got a chance to play a lot of players um got a chance to learn a little bit about our team um I still think there's a lot that we need to learn I still think there's a lot we need to clean up we go back and we look at the film um players coaches everybody in the building excited about the win but understand uh we have got to continue to improve in order um to continue to make this season a success um on to Virginia Tech a tremendous challenge that's coming up uh first road game of the year um first home game in Lane stadium for them uh Virginia Tech has won 70% of their games in Lane Stadium um so it's not an easy place to play for the opponent um it's been four years since a group of five school has gone to Lane stadium and won um so this is a daunting task um you combine that with um obviously the fan base and and all the um history and tradition with Virginia Tech this is going to be a daunting task um when you look at their film you don't see an 0 in-one football team you see a team that is flying around you see a team that's aggressive um going into this year uh Virginia Tech has the has returned the most production of any team in college football meaning they were able to retain most if not all of their players um the ones they lost to graduation obviously last year they were a bit younger um they've done a really good job in the nil space of retaining their players um they returned the most production in college football meaning they got guys to stay they got guys to buy in which ultimately in the long run means they get guys to develop and that's the key how can you develop guys um in this new world of college football um again when you're talking about retaining that type of production that that type of debt um you're talking about development and continuity they've been able to also retain their staff um coach pry does a phenomenal job obviously coach pry and I have a history um a lot of respect for Coach pry and what he does um you can see the growth in that team you know you look at where you know we viewed them at last year and you look at how they ended the year you look at where they are now uh um the the culture is right the development is right um they're continuing to improve um you look at you know their their coordinators obviously I know a bunch of their coordinators I know a bunch of their staff members um I know they're doing it the right way um and you can see on film um obviously in today's college football world where everyone is in the you know instant gratification but when you watch the film this team has improved um I think when you go through obviously drones I think is one of the top quarterbacks in college football um and the amount of um production and success that he had last year him being able to come back and build off that with the same guys around them you know I think that's huge um at any position when you talk start talking continuity you start talking returning guys that you played multiple years with um it it goes a long way they their running back does a really good job um number 33 toan I believe his name is I don't want to miss pronounce that disrespect him um but as a running back um coach I kind of look at things from that perspective when I start watching filmm uh really good B Body and Balance control does a lot of really good job of breaking tackles getting Yak um really good balance and leverage um can catch the ball out of the back field can burst um he's got it all and you can see that the offense um is is a lot better when he's in the game they got three receivers that can go um you know Felton Lane and Ali Jennings um really long athletic Lane is the slot speed guy um I think drones does a good job at getting the ball to those guys those guys all have big playability uh when you look at the o line you're talking about again a group that's been together and starting to play together I think you know we came into our season that was one of the things that uh was a question for me going into the game you know is how are those guys going to play together I'm not sure we answered the question I think it's going to be something that's going to continue um you know to to develop um but they've got a group that's been together for a while which really helps um and then you flip it over to the defense and Coach pry being a defensive background coach you can tell his team is is is built around the defense um they did a really good job of one retaining their players and going out and getting some really good pieces to fill the voids of the guys that graduated um UPF front this may be you know no disrespect to anybody else this this may be one of the better D lines that I've seen I haven't watched every team on our roster or on our schedule um but these guys are good and they were good last year um number six fuga does a really good job um pal Roland um railan excuse me does a really good job McCrae does a really good job they went and got um an allconference guy from duke on the inside um they went and got a guy from um Oklahoma Gillum how do I know cuz we recruited these same guys they just chose to go to Virginia Tech um so when you're talking with you know this portal we're all in this for the same guys and we're all in it for you know trying to fill the voids of the o line and dline cuz that's where the game is usually swung um obviously um they ended up there but have you know a knowledge base over those guys that done really well um and then their linebackers they were young last year but they were long and athletic um and they were fast and they're a year older um you can tell on film they're a year wiser same system you know kind of like we talked about here use that second third year in the system um players get a little bit more comfortable um and then on the back end obviously they've got some guys who can go um I think strong is probably one of the better DBS in the country um he can run I know he can run cuz I had him at a camp at another school and he ran 44 on grass so he can run run which is which is really good um and then obviously the tradition of special teams that Virginia Tech has been there for a very long time um and it continues to show up so um we got a very daunting task coming up um it's really going to come down to how well we prepare this week in practice um how hard we play on Saturday and then executing consistently which what it's going to come down to um but it's not going to be an easy task our guys are up for it they understand um this is not last year's team either side Marshall or uh Virginia Tech um so we've got to do a really good job this week um and go go battle in a very hostile environment have you been there yourself as a coach against them okay I have not so I got a great story this would be great um I went to camp at Virginia Tech as a sophomore um my dad took me dropped me off I'm playing linebacker probably one of the worst linebackers in a 600 person Camp I didn't know that at the time um and they've got a bunch of fields and you know they got the guys who really can't play like myself we're over on another field and you look over there and it's like that looks like a pro team over there well that's all the five stars well um Bud Foster is the defense coordinator he comes around you know to kind of do the political hey we saw everybody did whatever and I'm going as hard as I can I mean I'm probably on the ground probably 53 at best I mean slow butd Foster comes up to me and says hey look I've been over here for about 10 minutes and you're the hardest working kid in this Camp he said come on over this field hang out with me so I got to hang out with Bud Foster for I was probably in 11th grade I didn't take a rep with the five stars because they didn't want me to hurt them but I got to watch what it really felt like so that's the only time um that I've been to Virginia Tech I've not been there to play a game um but obviously the the history and tradition that place is is phenomenal when you look at you mentioned some about their wide receivers but uh kind of a unique situation because there's two of those top three guys you've faced before with different schools um you know dayquon felon was here with Norfolk State a couple years ago Oly Jennings of course came from Old Dominion um do do you kind of look at how they played how how they've played over across their careers to to kind of come up with a game plan or or do they look different with Virginia yeah they they look totally different obviously you're talking probably three years development in general right just age um but what I think obviously when you're at those when you're at other places you may be the only guy so you may have to do it all or you may have to um you know kind of do more than you're capable of just because you're the the best player they're trying to get the ball to you well now they've got three guys that are really really good so you can really specialize in what you do which almost makes it a little bit harder to defend it's easy to say you know you go in the backyard okay you cover him wherever he goes you got him wherever he goes you got him it's hard when you might swing the coverage to to one guy but the other guy's taking advantage of that you know you may swing the coverage to the other guy but the other guy's taking advantage so those three guys together are really complimenting each other um and then when you add the fact that drones is a really good quarterback now you can't say well he only throws to his right or his left or he only throws Slants or go balls he can do it all so what it does is it really stresses you defensively because um you know you're trying to say what do we take away you know well if you take this away you got this and drones can run um so that's another element that you add to it so it really put you in a defensive position where um you you're kind of spread thin you know if you think back last year and I don't know drones that was his first start against us so he hadn't really gotten into the groove of what it was they had another quarterback who was supposed to start drone gets to start and then as the year went on they started kind of really molding the offense to what Dron strengths were and they ended the season really well well now they've got all summer to kind of mold it to his strengths with those pieces so it makes it really difficult defensively pretty much the same from what you saw last year a little bit you have a wrinkle or two you pick up on well it's it's tough to see because it's a one game um it's a one game sample size and um vanderbelt is is a is a um modified version of triple option so it would almost be like if somebody watched us play Navy you know so you're little bit a little bit skewed you can see some of the core fundamental pieces um and again I think again when whenever you were able to retain your players you have continuity you're not trying to recre re recreate the wheel you're trying to get guys to be more comfortable in what they're trying to do and now you can start to add layers right so maybe now there's you know a couple different progressions for the linebackers or maybe now safety wise they're holding the shell a little bit more so still similar Foundation obviously a year older um you know when you start adding those type of D linemen there there's you you can do some things and you don't have to do some things that create a lot of problems for offenses because you got a lot of new players but obviously got some guys back who were here last season when you won that game do you rely on those guys now to kind of just talk about the atmosphere and just what uh what it was well it's a little different um you know we were talking about it um with the leadership group you know six players on that team are in the NFL right now from last year for us one of them's in the CFL five of those guys are starting at other division one schools so you're talking you know 12 13 guys that that that made a huge impact on the game that are no longer here so the other guys that were here is kind of like the fans they watched the game but they really weren't in the game you know I mean so it's it's a totally different deal um I know from a fan perspective and you know the human eye perspective oh well same teams a year apart but with the way college football is now it's it's it's totally different you know I would I would bed I would beg to differ when they say it's the same because I bet you Virginia Tech's looking at us saying well that ain't the same team you know they're doing different things they got so many more new guys in different positions um yeah are we still wearing green are we still structurally wise defensively the same because we kept the coordinator yeah um but you know when you look at that film there's a lot of guys I would love to have that were in that game last year um that are no longer here which is I mean it is what it is but you can't really rely on that because some of the guys that were there just didn't have the game experience and I think it's totally different when you're preparing for a game and you know you're the starter you know you're going to play and when you know hey I'm you I'm down the line I'm still you know developing or whatever so we've taken a different approach this team is totally different um their their focus is different their connectivity is different um I I would I would I would say it's it's two different ends if that makes sense and I try not to you know we did the same thing a couple years ago we Tred not to say well remember last year's game because it's different and and a lot of these guys it was tough for me this offseason really preaching about the things that you know force you to go six and seven that are little things that add up because a lot of these guys were like well coach I wasn't here you know I mean I don't know what that means so you have to be really explanatory with hey we lost the game or we missed some opportunities in the game because we did these things and a lot of guys are like well you got to show me because I didn't see it so you have to be careful when you start saying well hey remember last year remember what happened you know two years ago or whatever because the the the the EVs and flows and the change in college football now you'll lose half the room cuz they're like I I don't know what you're talking about Coach we played Tulsa last year I don't know we didn't play Virginia Tech so it changes a little bit coach do you you've gone in some good places in one obviously Notre Dame NC State was a great atmosphere it gets loud there you know that and her sand man the whole thing is that something your kids look forward to and you Embrace you've always said hey it's a 100 yard field let's go play yeah you know I think the the the positive of you know with the way college football is now a lot of these kids have probably already played um you know some of the schools that we get to play um you know when we went to Notre Dame we had five guys that were at Florida State the year before they played them the year before you know so it was no it was no you know big shadeo um we've got guys now that that went to school with some of these guys I mean devie was at o ODU with Jennings you know so he he he knows exactly who he is um you know I mean so there there's so much crossover now that the the all and the arena really doesn't have the same effect because some of these kids were playing in bigger stadiums last year than they did last weekend for us you know so it's a little bit different um I still think again anytime you're a competitor you want as many people there as loud as it can be you know that that that's the energy and the emotion and the um passion of college football excuse me I think anytime you can get that it helps um it helps motivate you a little bit um I think even now with the way every game's on TV you know when I played if you got a game on TV man you were tightening up your cleat you were shining your helmet because this may be the only time in three years that Hampton was on TV you know so this was big to me now I mean we're on every weekend we got you know coverage some way somehow so even that doesn't really you know move the guys you know like it used to just because it's something that now has become um routine if that makes sense you when you look at um kind of a slower start last week obviously you said after the weather delay can't always depend on you know an hour and a half um you know delay after the first 10 minutes but um you know H how do you how do you change that mentality and you know you talked about adaptability last week um how how do you kind of enforce that um in the in the days leading up to well I think it's totally different moving forward because we're going to be looking at who we're playing you you're going to know what they're going to do pretty much because you're going to have a game two games three games four games you're going to know what the Mike linebacker looks like because you're going to have seen him on film all week you know I think when you go into those games where the coordinator change the Personnel change and you have nothing you're really out there kind of paddling for the first two or three series and and you know everyone couple people ask me man who what quarterback are you going to start and I said to be honest guys I don't know because their numbers are almost identical when you look at you know completions by Stone completions by brailin completions by Cold they're almost identical when you sit in the stadium and you go the first three series and you punt it's like oh well boo that quarterback well Stone got the short end of the stick because he had to run out there first without the okay this is what they're going to do so when he came back to the sideline it was like no they weren't playing that coverage be like yeah you're right okay let's get on the iPad and figure it out boom you're up again okay well no they're not playing that coverage okay hey now we got it rain delay so now brilin goes in he's sitting in we're sitting in there he's watching the iPad he's like oh yeah no they're not any of the coverages we talked about all week this is what they're doing oh I'm good so now he gets in he's good well Cole does the same thing Cole gets to sit there he gets to look at this is what they doing so again when you get further into the season now you have actual film of the current guy you know how fast that linebacker is you know what structure defense they're going to play are there always going to be changes yes that's game planning um but you're not going to get hey this is what this coordinator has been for the last three games and all of a sudden they're totally different like we're not coming out um this game maybe next week or the week after in Wing T you know triple option Navy offense well people know that now we may have different formations but again I think as the season goes on and you're able to get more current film you're able to kind of eliminate some of those laws now we did talk about again in our offense um it's it's simplistic so we should be able to get through our reads even if it's not exactly what we're anticipating a in um so we've got to be better from that perspective not just at the quarterback position but all positions receivers got to be able to adjust routes obviously o Line's got to be able to adjust blocking um I won't tell you what it was but we spent probably 50 hours on one Blitz that they ran over and over and over and over at St Francis they didn't run it one time I looked at the guy I was like run your Blitz like we're ready for it you know but that just happens when you're preparing blind almost um so now that you kind of got some film you kind of know okay this is their tendency this is what they do which I think will help with that but we still as an offense got to be able to adjust quicker than waiting for an hour and a half rain delay if that makes sense not to ask you who the starting quarterback will be but will you use the same process to determine who's going to get the start go through game week for Preparation yeah I think so um you know we we really haven't talked about that because we've been kind of just trying to figure out what do we want to do against Virginia Tech um I do think there is some there's going to be a point in time where we've got to make a decision and give a guy a chance in a backing right you can't be hey you're just starting pitcher as soon as you throw a ball here I come you know with the old hook but I do think right now we've got three capable quarterbacks and we've got to be able to get it's no different if you got three capable running backs you got to find a way to get those guys in the game now who runs out there first no one knows but we got to figure out who can do what and if you got capable depth you got to find a way to play it now I'm not idiot I get it at some point you can't just rotate quarterbacks like you do ride receivers um but right now and I feel good about the room you know I feel as good about the room coming out of Camp as I do coming out of the first game now I'm not going to sit here and and you know make it seem like we just played the 85 Bears you obviously we got to still continue to evaluate as competition changes as the level of expectancy changes um of the level of complexity we we ran I know we probably ran six plays Saturday because we felt like okay hey if they're only playing these two coverages well these are the six plays we need to win um so you know obviously this week we're not going to be able to do that we got to continue to build but we weren't trying to you know run every play in the air raid Playbook you know we were trying to let kids go out and play Under The Lights that that was the goal for me 40 new players new team new season all these things let these guys go out and play Under the light so I can see who can just cut it Loose once you show me you can cut it Loose I can move you around I can call it you know hey call this blitz call this pass route hey run this reverse hey run this whatever but I got to be able to see you go out there without anxiety under the lights in front of this great crowd in this great atmosphere and play full speed I've seen you do it in practice I've seen you do it you know in walkthroughs but now I got to see you do it in the game so what I didn't want to do is paraly I our guys with hey we're trying to run so many plays that now they're thinking and the lights I I didn't want to do that um moving forward we're going to have to be a little more creative we're going to have to help them put them in advantageous spots obviously this week is going to be a huge piece of that but last week was trying to just just go out and play Fast guys you know go out and play fast now we know who we have and we can can adjust coaches will often say that the the most growth happens between weeks one and two obviously in college football there's no preseason games or anything like that where do you want to see on field growth uh from your guys um between this between those Saturdays yeah I I think our our our consistency has got to get get better um there were times Saturday we looked really really good and and I felt really really good there was a rhythm um and then there were times Saturdays where we kind of Spun our wheels in the mud self-inflicted um I did think we played a very clean game we didn't have a lot of penalties we didn't have a lot of turnovers um but I do think from an offensive perspective we can get into a a better Rhythm quicker I do think from a defensive perspective there's still way too many times in my opinion maybe two or three where we get them in third and plus seven we got to get off the field um that that's something that you got to hang your hat on as a defense you get them in third down and long you got to get off the field couple times we didn't did we didn't do that obviously it didn't hurt us Saturday but those are the things that catch up to you you know when you play better competition further in the year um and then special teams wise I thought we did a really good job we played a bunch of guys um our consistency and our kicking game has got to continue to improve we need those points and we need the locations to be consistent I think you saw Alec really helped us out with a you know punt on the one yard line that's combination between Alec and the Gunners doing a really good job I think you saw Totton who had not played before got some good kickoffs a couple of them were line drives but they were deep um you know Reese was one for two on field goal so there were some positives but if we're going to be the team we need to be those things got to be more consistent you know we got to be able um to to control the kickoff game he's got a strong leg but you can't hit a line drive because if they catch it it's coming back at you um obviously Reese has worked his tail off you know we've got to be able to use those points um and then Alec has got to be able to help us flip the field for our defense um so there's there's a few things that you know maybe not to the common eye just sitting in the stands but as a coach you're like okay we still got work to do um because it doesn't get any easier now we've got stuff on film so they know who we are um I got a call the other day they everybody's asking who the starting quarterback's going to be because we played three I was trying to break the 1932 record so that was the goal for me on that no but we've got film out there they know who we are so now we're going to start to get different adjustments right they're going to start to cover certain guys they're going to start to double team certain guys they're going to start to throw at certain guys so we've got to continue to improve so we can complement that when it happens any further questions for Coach all right thank you all thanks guys I look forward to seeing everybody up in blackburg please travel safe um and look forward to seeing you guys on Saturday thanks go her