Instant Interview Replay: Rick Stockstill

Instant Interview Replay: Rick Stockstill

10/28/2003

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- East Carolina's offensive coordinator Rick Stockstill was the featured guest on ECUpirates.com's Instant Interview on Tuesday. Following is the complete transcript of the assistant football coach's live internet chat session:

ECUpirates.com : Coach Stockstill is here to answer your questions. Let's get started!
Rick Stockstill : Thanks, I'm ready to go.

bob : Why is Vonta still a afterthought in the running game and why does Dez still throw to Copper @ 50 percent of the time? Also why did Hourigan drop out of site for the first 7 games and then reappear?
Rick Stockstill : Vonta is our inside, short-yardage runner. As good as Marvin has been running the ball, you'd be hard-pressed to give Vonta some carries when you could be giving it to Marvin who has a chance to make a bigger play. But Vonta is a guy that we need to get the ball to whether it's running or catching, 7-8 times a game. Richard Hourigan got hurt right before the Cincinnati game and was really slow to recover from the injury. I think now he's worked his way back into being healthy and being able to play more than he did the first part of the year. Copper is our best receiver. He's a play-maker and we're going to call plays where he is the first look for Des. If he's there, Des will go to him.

wilm pirate : Coach Stockstill its looks as if the offense has finally turned the corner. Was the reason because of new personnel and players coming together for the first time and finally clicking? What will the pirates see in the next few games to continue this sucess?
Rick Stockstill : I wouldn't say we've turned the corner, but we're making progress and I think this offense has improved each week. This week will be a difficult task because of the defense that we're playing. So we're gonna have to be really sound in picking up their blitzes and stunts. They make you be very accurate throwing the ball and we're gonna have to make some plays when the opportunity presents itself.

Charlie Owens : First off, Coach, I thought undoubtedly had our best game plan of the year versus Louisville Saturday. We didn't win but everyone could see the difference and we loved it. Why did we wait so long to spread the field?
Rick Stockstill : Our kids are continuing to work and get better each week. It's just a growing process that you go through in building a program.

Piratelooksat30 : Hi Coach, can you tell us a little about James Pinkney? What are the chances of seeing him get a few reps?
Rick Stockstill : James is coming along in practice. He's getting a lot of snaps. He continues to improve. Him getting reps in a game will just depend on how Des is doing.

Seth : Coach Stock, How pleased have you been with your nephew Bobby Good?
Rick Stockstill : I think Bobby has really worked hard since he got here. The last three weeks, he's stepped up and gotten a lot of playing time and has made some really nice catches for us. He's been dependable. He's a good competitor and he's a guy that gives you 100% everyday in practice and in the game and that's what we ask for.

Matt from Raleigh : We are losing quite a few OL's to graduation this year. How have our young O-Linemen coming along (Black, Bumgarner, ect..._) ?
Rick Stockstill : Both those guys are on the scout team and are working hard. This spring will be critical for them and for us because they will be thrown into the fire and we'll get an opportunity to see how they do.

DBONE : Hey coach, that no huddle offense was working good against Louisville. Will we see it again this week?
Rick Stockstill : Yes, hopefully. We thought we could change the pace of the game against Louisville as they were substituting personnel with our personnel. So we went no-huddle to keep them from subbing with us.

GilfromVA : Coach, with the offense starting to click and putting more points on the board, have you decided on a more pass or running game for Memphis??
Rick Stockstill : Memphis really makes you execute in the passing game. They're going to press our wide receivers and put pressure on the QB. So we're going to have to be able to make plays on the perimeter because they overload the box in the running game. But our strength is our running game and we have to find ways to do that.

ecufish : I was just wondering why with 1:53 left on the clock in the first half, why we decided not to run the two-minute offense? It seems like that would have been a big momentum boost for our guys to go in to the locker room with a late score and get the ball back in the second half. I look forward to the rest of the season and many more successful seasons with this staff. Keep up the great work!
Rick Stockstill : We got the ball on the 10 yard line with less than two minutes to go in the half. It was only a one-touchdown game at the time and I thought it would be a mistake for us to try to go 90 yards for a touchdown or 65 yards for a field goal. And if we don't do that, we could give Louisville the ball in excellent field position where they now would have a chance to go up by two scores at halftime. I thought we were playing well both offensively and defensively and we could go in at 10-3 with some confidence that we could come out and do something on our first possession in the second half.

Steve (piranha) : I think it is great to hear you still keep in touch with your players, Does Dantzler have a brother coming to ECU and is that what your phone call with him was all about?
Rick Stockstill : I have heard that this has gotten a lot of message board time. So let me clarify the phone call. There is not a week that goes by that I don't talk to Woody, Rod Gardner, Brian Dawkins, Trevor Price, or the guys at Clemson now. Especially this time of the year. They will either call and wish me good luck or I'll call and wish them good luck and find out how they played. Saturday morning, Woody called me while we were in a meeting and left a message wishing us good luck. Then I came to the office, got dressed, and while I was walking to my office, I returned Woody's call. We talked for maybe 5-10 seconds and got disconnected. He then called me back about five minutes later saying he was being interviewed. We talked about the Clemson game and he wished us good luck. No, Woody does not have a brother, but I sure wish he did!

Greg : Coach, I know this has been asked a million times, but can you describe your ideal offense?
Rick Stockstill : The ideal offense to me would be an offense that has the ability to run the football out of a two-back set and a one-back set. I would like to be able to run a little option, just to keep people honest, and a high-percentage, intermediate passing game with the ability to go deep with speed receivers. I would like to include the tight end in the bootlegs and nakeds, but also be able to get to him in the dropback game.

pirate brandon : hey coach! i would like to start by saying i loved the play calling! the deep balls really looked good. my question is simple, was the roughing the passer call correct? it looked like the running back was the passer. please coment on this situation if you can.
Rick Stockstill : To me, it was the correct call. I don't think it was roughing the passer. I believe they called a helmet-to-helmet hit, which you are not allowed to do.

PiratePride : Coach, I know that since this is your first year as a offensive coordinator, it takes a while to get comfotable and adjusted to that respnsiblity. I thought that on Saturday, you had your "breakout" game and did a great job of calling the plays. Would you agree with that?
Rick Stockstill : This is not my first year as OC. Actually, it is my fifth. I think the credit for whatever success we had on Saturday goes directly to the players.

Matt from Raleigh : This has been a tough year for everyone involved thus far. Can you descibe the overall mood of the coaches and the players? Has it remained positive?
Rick Stockstill : Yes. Coach Thompson has done a great job of keeping this team motivated and playing hard each week. Yes, it has been frustrating, but as coaches, you have to remain positive and continue to work and believe in what you're doing is right. We will get this program back to where it deserves to be.

Jay : Hey coach. I realize there are things you would like to do offensively that you simply don't have the personel to execute right now. How do you see our offense evolving over the next few years? Good luck against Memphis!
Rick Stockstill : The biggest areas where we need to improve offensively is depth in the offensive line and improving our team speed. Especially next year because we lose so many linemen. We'd like offense to be able to go vertical more often with the improvement of our speed.

Wondering Pirate : Coach Stockstill, Hang in there. I was wondering when the Best Running Back in the conference in my eyes return next season, how will Brown and Townes split time? Because it is noticeably that Townes is a great back but us fans can see that we are missing that excitement and big play ability that brown has cause he has a chance to break that thirty yard run or even a touchdown every time he touches it!!!!!!!!!! And are you excited about having the both of them next season? We believe in you and the coaches!!
Rick Stockstill : Yes. Even in the spring when Art was here, we had both of them in the backfield at the same time. They both have great hands and would help us in the passing game as well as the running game. With both of them in the backfield, it can present some problems to the defense.

Pirate Alum : Hang in there. Most of us Pirate Alum know that change takes time. The staff is doing a great job and staying up beat. Turn overs seem to be under control the last two games, are you all still focusing on them in practice so they don't come back? With the momentum from last week's great offensive showing, we'd hate to see turnovers come back this week.
Rick Stockstill : We have continued to emphasize ball security during practice. But really, we did that throughout two-a-days and we didn't do a good job of it during the games. I think our players have a better understanding of the offense and realizing that they don't have to make a play that they're not capable of making, which usually turns into a turnover.

Luke : The offense looked much improved against UofL. The team has improved every single week, keep it up! How does Memphis' secondary compare to UofL's? Will we see similar game plan? Also, how is their defensive line?
Rick Stockstill : I think their secondary is better that Louisville's. They play more press man-to-man coverage which makes the quarterback and receiver have to make plays. Their defensive line is bigger than Louisville's but probably not as fast.

NutzPirate : First off I want to say that ECU is lucky to have you as a part of their coaching staff. I have heard rumors that UCF would like to hire you as their head coach...any truth to this rumor? Good luck this week!
Rick Stockstill : This time of the year, you hear all kinds of rumors and that's all they are. I have a lot of friends still at UCF and only wish them the best.

FC Buc : I know you have had many influences in your coaching career, Who would you say had the most? Also im going to swing through Yulee and see if i can find Brandon a pair of those boots!!!!(ha ha)
Rick Stockstill : The biggest influence has been my father, who was a high school and college coach. Also, Bobby Bowden, from whom I learned a tremendous amount about being positive, motivating and staying the course. Tommy West, Danny Ford, Les Herrin, Tommy Bowden and Ken Hatfield have also been very helpful.

ECUpirates.com : That's all the time we have for today. Thanks for joining us, Coach. Any closing comments?
Rick Stockstill : Everyone on the coaching staff is continuing to work extremely hard to give all the Pirate fans a program that they will be proud of. Thanks for your support!

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