Instant Interview Replay: John Thompson (Oct. 14)

Instant Interview Replay: John Thompson (Oct. 14)

10/14/2003

ECU head football coach John Thompson was our guest on ECUpirates.com's exclusive Instant Interview on Tuesday morning. Following is the complete transcript of his responses from the live chat.

ECUpirates.com : Welcome to Instant Interview. Coach John Thompson has joined us and is ready to take your questions.

Scott : Why the short kickoffs? Do we not have anyone who can kick the ball into the endzone?
John Thompson : That's just a strategy that we use sometimes. It helps your coverage and throws their timing off. It gives us a better chance of covering, basically.

J. Marshall : Can you help explain the amount of penalties in Saturday's game?
John Thompson : I'm very disappointed in the amount of penalties. That was a critical factor in the game and something we cannot tolerate.

Malt : We are getting better every game. My question is how is recruiting going. Did we get any new committments last weekend.
John Thompson : Recruiting is going very, very well. As of last night, we are getting tremendous response from some of the top guys all across this part of the country. I really believe we are going to have a great recruiting year.

Keith Hobbs : Why not go for two points at the point in the UNC game when the score was 16-21 to set up a possible tie with a field goal had things turned out that way. Thanks. Good luck for the rest of the season.
John Thompson : If you can predict what the scoring is going to be, then you know whether to go for two or not. With eight minutes, we felt at the time we'd get the ball back a couple of times. Again, with eight minutes, that may be a time to go for two. We will never know, but I cannot disagree with anybody that says we should have gone for two. But, you have to be able to prophecize on the amount of scoring, because that one point could have made a difference in them trying to kick a field goal or trying to score. You just never know. I will say that in hindsight, as they kept the ball that last drive, if I had it to do over again, I'd go for two.

William : Do we adjust our offensive game plan based on our opponent? The offense looked good between the 20s, but it seems like we should have thrown the ball more. We believe in you -- Hang tough!
John Thompson : Thank you. Keep believing in this team because it's going to pay off. You always adjust your gameplan based on your own players and your opponent. I felt like we had our best offensive output. We had some critical mistakes again that cost us in terms of penalties, third downs, and lack of big plays that ultimately cost us the football game.

FC Buc : Hey Coach Thompson, how do you feel the new snapper faired this week in his first start?
John Thompson : I think he did very well. That's why we practice every day. I was very proud of Michael Yartin stepping in there and doing a very good job.

Rick : Hi Coach, tough game on Saturday. Good luck this week. I didn't see McCoy on the field in the second half, is he OK? I enjoy watching him play. Thanks.
John Thompson : Mickey played the whole second half. He keeps getting better and better.

jim gernon : Jim Greenville,SC - Looks like we were out of gas on the defensive line in the last quarter. Are short of players at these positions? I'm very proud to have you in charge of ECU football and determination and togetherness of this team and staff. I know if the Pirate Nation will continue to support this team, we will get it turned around before the year is over. GO PIRATES!
John Thompson : Thank you for your kind comments. We are going to stay together. I wish we could get a game where we kept all of our guys healthy. It's always that we're missing one or two guys each week. I keep thinking we're going to have a solid game out of our defensive line and we will, but I don't think we were out of gas as much as we did get banged up late in the game.

Mike G : Coach, tough question. I hope you are willing to answer it. With our offensive production producing only 9 points a game, don't you think it is time for you or someone to get more involved in the play calling? And what happened to the vertical passing game we were promised?
John Thompson : One, I am involved and responsible. I think that we are doing what we should do with this football team. I know there has been some concern about being conservative, but with our horrible field position Saturday night, that gave us a chance to win the game. Secondly, I wish we had more of a vertical passing game. We need it, our staff wants it, we have to continue to find a way to develop it.

Seth : Coach, It has been reported that the Army head coach has been fired. How will this affect the game plan this week?
John Thompson : I'm sad to say that is a fact. It will not affect our gameplan. We have no control over anything anybody else does, but that is the landscape and business of college football now, as sad as it is.

Chris C : What is your take on the rest of the season?
John Thompson : I'm looking forward to the rest of the season. I'm looking forward to going to Army this weekend and I'm excited about the rest of this season and this team getting better and winning some games.

Sally Parker : I noticed that the WR positions are being played by freshmen. Why aren't the seniors playing more- especially some that have proven they can catch the ball?
John Thompson : We're doing our best to give everybody an opportunity. The guys that perform well in practice and in the games will get an opportunity.

NDPirate : Coach, Do you think that our inability to stop their rushing attack in the second half was due to a lack of depth and/or the fact that our offense was leaving them on the field for too long? Thanks and best of luck in West Point! Go PIRATES!
John Thompson : I think our lack of depth in the D-line did play somewhat of a factor, but we've got to find a way to play that much better. When you look at this game, the one single factor in the difference in the game was that in the first half, they ran for 42 yards, in the second half they ran for 147. Our rushing offense production, on the other hand, went down in the second half. To me, that was the difference in the game. We have to find more ways to stop the run.

Adam Stayton : Hey coach, Just from watching the games i think one of our problems on offense is the lack of big play ability. What changes can we expect to be made to get some people open and take some pressure off Terrance which is obveously our number one threat?
John Thompson : You are exactly right. We have got to create more big plays. That was another reason we lost this game. Carolina had three big plays; we had zero. We did have a drop that would have been a huge play. We had a 78-yard run that was called back. That changes the whole football game if we produce on those two plays.

Robert : What do you think of the offensive line play so far this year and who has been the most consistent?
John Thompson : I think our offensive line has consistently gotten better. An unsung guy in our offense has probably been Charlie Dempsey. He's played better and better throughout the year.

Tom : What are your thoughts on us losing the BCA game next season, in part based on our performance this season?
John Thompson : Let me just say that everything that you read in the newspaper sometimes is not the whole story. I do know this situation has been going on for quite some time, even back in the spring. The networks have an awful lot of input in what goes on.

ECUpirates.com : Unfortunately, we have run out of time this morning. We thank all the fans for the hundreds of questions we have received today. Coach Thompson, do you have any closing comments you'd like to share?
John Thompson : Saturday was a tough, tough loss for this program. I'm sure there is a tremendous amount of disappointment, but this is a determined team, staff, program, and we still have a lot out there in front of us. We will focus on getting this job done. Thank you for your support.

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