Skip Holtz' 2006 Spring Football Press Conference Transcript
March 01, 2006 | Football
March 1, 2006
GREENVILLE, N.C. - East Carolina University Head Football Coach Skip Holtz addressed members of the media Wednesday afternoon to talk about the opening of spring drills and other related matters concerning the Pirates. The following are selected comments:
On hiring special teams coach:
"Greg McMahon left to take a job with the New Orleans Saints as their special teams coach and we are excited for Coach McMahon. We went into a search and interviewed a number of people. Some of the things that were important to me in this whole process was finding someone that had special teams experience, someone that had done it and been there before. I didn't want somebody that could learn it and put it together, I wanted somebody that had coordinated it before. We went out and interviewed four different coaches, went through it, and took our time with this. We made the commitment that we weren't going to rush, we weren't going to settle for anything less and we were going to make the decision on the person that was the best fit. After sitting down and interviewing a number of people, I really have come to the conclusion and feel great about the new addition to the staff ... (introducing) Don Yanowsky."
On Don Yanowsky:
"We are really excited about gaining his experience, his expertise, not only about special teams but also because he has been at East Carolina and he understands what this place is about. He is an excellent recruiter, married, a family man, everything that really fits in right now as far as the staff chemistry."
On the spring depth chart:
"It was very hard to sit down right now and release a two-deep. It is very hard because there are a lot of positions that I can say I know where we are in terms of the tackle positions, the quarterback and even where some of the backups are, but there are several positions that we just don't know yet. When you look at the center position, that position will be done by committee this spring. There may be five or six different guys playing there as we have to put a lot of people there to find out where the best chemistry is going to be and where that is going to work. We will release the two-deep at the first scrimmage right after spring break."
On offensive injuries:
"On the offensive side of the ball, Drew Sutton had a surgical procedure done on his ankle and he will be miss spring practice. Stephen Heis, a freshman offensive lineman, had shoulder surgery at the end of the season and he will miss spring practice at least until spring break. Lance Neisz had his knee scoped and he is progressing along nicely but will likely be out until spring break for about the first week or two. Aundrae Allison has been cleared right now to run straight ahead but has not been cleared to do a lot of lateral movement. He will be going through individual work but will likely not be cleared to get involved in team play till at least spring break."
On defensive injuries:
"On the defensive side of the ball, Marcus Hands had shoulder surgery, so he is out and will be re-evaluated later but we do not anticipate him coming back for spring ball. Craig Harper, a defensive end, is out right now with a medical condition while (linebacker) Pierre Bell is out the entire spring after having foot surgery. In addition to that, Ryan Howard and Julius Hill are both out with knee injuries."
On offensive personnel changes:
"Fred Hicks has moved from the defensive line over to center. Davon Drew has moved from quarterback to the tight end position. Davon weighs about 242 pounds right now and he really looks good since putting on weight. I think he has a chance to really help us there. We lost both fullbacks from last year so we have moved both Pat Dosh and Kort Shankweiler to the fullback position. Both will be seniors and I see both playing more of an h-back role than a true fullback. Those are the only offensive moves that have been made at this point."
On defensive personnel changes:
"On the defensive side of the ball, there have been two moves that have been made. Johnnie McCoy, a gray-shirt that came in mid-year as a linebacker at 245 pounds, has moved down to the defensive end position. Jerek Hewett, who played receiver for us last year, has moved back into the secondary to help us with the loss of a couple of the defensive backs. Defense is where his heart is and I commend him for what he did last year when we needed some help at wide receiver. He moved over and played there but his heart has been at defensive back the entire time and I made the promise to him that I would give him the opportunity to go back into the secondary. When you look at Kasey Ross on one side and what he has done, I think having some speed in a guy like Jerek Hewett (to be able to put him on the other side) really gives you some weapons over there on the defensive side of the ball."
On future position changes:
"I am sure there will be more as we get into this. Anytime we sit down and move a player, we move them to give them an opportunity to climb up the depth chart and give them an opportunity to get on the field and contribute. I feel like every one of these moves is going to give these young men an opportunity to step on the field for us."
On mid-year players:
"We have four mid-year players right now that have been going through everything. The three linebackers, I am really excited about when I look at Orlando Farrow, Danny Muhwezi and Fred Wilson. Right now, going through spring drills and winter workouts, I think they move very well. They look the part. I don't know if they can play, but we are going to look pretty good in a uniform when we walk out onto the football field. I am really excited about those three guys, watching them develop with everything. The other guy that came in with them was Andrew Farr, an offensive lineman. He works hard, bends extremely well and I am anxious to see him out there. I think he is going to have to continue to get bigger before he is going to step on the field. I don't see him making an immediate contribution right now but I am anxious to see him and get him going through the spring. The other three (linebackers), right now from what I have seen, I think have a chance to step in and make an immediate impact. With Bell not being there for spring practice, it will really give them an opportunity to get a lot of reps in and learn the defense with what we are doing."
On red-shirted wide receivers:
"There is going to be a lot of battles going on. We red-shirted some excellent football players and I really think Kyle Johnson and Alex Taylor have a chance to go through spring practice and compete. Right now we have got Kevin Roach, Bobby Good, Aundrae Allison and Will Bland, a lot of seniors who are sitting there, so it might be hard for them to find there niche as a receiver, but I think they have a chance to get in there and compete for it. Yet, they are going to have to win it."
On red-shirted safeties:
"When you look at Van Eskeridge and Chris Mattocks, I think those two guys have an opportunity to be excellent safeties. I expect them to be competing right away with the seniors like Kyle Chase, Jamar Flournoy, Pierre Parker and some of those guys. They might not be able to step right in and be your starters right away but I think they have a chance to step in and play, so I am really anxious to see some guys coming out of that class."
On strength coach Mike Golden:
"I think Mike does an excellent job. He is a no-nonsense guy, a bottom-line results guy. When you look at our team right now, they are not fat, they are getting stronger and they are in shape. They have great respect for him and they love him. Mike is a unique individual, I will put it that way. He is very emotional, very passionate about what they do in the weight room. I think the players love him because he loves what he does so much. He cares about them, he pushes them but I just look at the strength results and it is impressive with some of the gains that some of these players have made. Josh Coffman was 245 pounds or whatever he was when we moved him to offensive line and now he is around 292. All of a sudden when, a lot of these younger players start lifting, getting stronger and gaining more confidence, they start feeling like they can get out there and compete. I think he does a great job with the strength gains, the weight gains and all those type of things but I think more than anything else, he does a great job of building mental toughness. He pushes them hard, extremely hard, both in the weight room and out on the field when they are running and conditioning and doing those things. I think it goes a long way with what he is doing to build mental toughness. You have to be committed to go through this program. There aren't many guys that are going through what he is putting them through who aren't committed. You find out a lot of answers right there when you find who is willing to pay that price and who is willing to make that commitment in order for us to climb this ladder and be where we need to be. You hear people say it all the time that he is one of your assistant coaches and he may be the most important one. He has the opportunity to spend more time with these players in the off-season than we do."
On back-up quarterbacks:
"It is going to be one heck of a competition. When we first started to talk about putting a two-deep together, we had James Pinkney in as our starting quarterback and three guys as our No. 2. You have Rob Kass, Brett Clay and Patrick Pinkney, and none of them have done anything to say they should be ahead of the other ones. Right now you have a big pile there and I also think that this spring practice is going to be an important one for James. He missed spring practice last year and now he has an opportunity to take his game to another level as a senior understanding the offense. This is his opportunity to really start progressing and take that next step. The spring will be important to James but I think the real competition at the quarterback position will be what is going on at No. 2. They are all going to get a lot of reps, all going to be in a battle and it is going to be who does the best job of putting the football team in the end-zone at the end of the day. All three of those guys are going to be lining up and competing for No. 2."
