McNeill's Weekly Press Conference
October 04, 2010 | Football
Oct. 4, 2010
GREENVILLE, N.C. – First-year East Carolina University Head Football Coach Ruffin McNeill addressed members of the media prior to this week's game against Southern Miss. The following are selected comments:
On The North Carolina Game
“Just to wrap up the last game, it was a tough loss. There were a lot of disappointed players and coaches in the locker room after the game. I mentioned to them that watching the film was the most important thing in evaluating to see where we were.
“After watching the film, I saw considerable improvement, which is what we’re looking for. One of the biggest things I saw is improving playing for four quarters and 60 minutes, which we’ve emphasized for two weeks in practice. The only way we’ll be able to do that is through live, game competition. That’s what we’re doing.
“If you looked at the game out of 60 minutes, it was 21-17 with about two minutes to go in the third quarter. From that point is when the execution on our part began to falter. They scored late in the third after a turnover, making it 28-17. The fourth quarter was not what we wanted, of course.
“I saw some improvement from Virginia Tech to UNC. We now have to make sure we continue that this week in practice.”
On The Penalties
“The penalties are something we’ve talked about and addressed. We had 12 penalties for 91 yards in the first two games and we’ve had 24 for 220 yards in the last two. We have to make sure we continue pressing that issue and working on those things. Whether its fundamental or technique, we have to keep improving and cut down on penalties. I think that’s where we get ourselves in trouble.
“We have to do a better job as players and coaches. This is a dual assignment. Players have to do a better job of technique and fundamentals and we as coaches have to do a better job emphasizing in practice. We started doing that during the off week and I thought we had it handled. We had some big ones Saturday, though.
“We’re not coaching anything different technique wise from the first two games. We just have to keep working on it and getting better. We have to watch film and keep correcting.
“Most of the time, penalties come from being out of position, having the pad level too high and from a technique flaw.”
On The Second Halves Of The Last Two Games
“In the second half, it’s nothing Virginia Tech or UNC has done differently. As a matter of fact, they have simplified what they are doing. Their execution in the second half has been better in both games. After looking at the film and evaluating it as a staff, the teams we’re playing haven’t changed or done something magical coaching wise. They have simplified what they’ve done. It comes down to execution at that point and out-executing your opponent. That’s something we need to emphasize this week.”
On Making Routine Plays
“Penalties and execution are big things for us. The next is the routine play. Making routine play, after routine play, after routine play is what we talked about and preached and will continue to talk about and preach.
“In the second half versus UNC and Virginia Tech, it was the routine play. We did not make enough routine plays. That’s something we emphasize, making the routine catch, block, throw and tackle and those kinds of things.”
On Fundamentals And Technique
“I saw continued improvement in fundamentals and technique. That’s what we’re looking for. With the team we have, the want-to and desire is there. They’re very resilient. After our team meeting yesterday, we refocused ourselves on what we talked about all through fall camp.
“I saw a very spirited practice last night. I had no doubt there would be and I was very pleased with that. The coaches worked hard and the players worked even harder than they had before.”
On Assignment Focus
“The last big thing for us this week is assignment focus. This is something you have to keep addressing with a team. When some adversity hit, the players started trying to do too many things and somebody else’s job. That’s what I’m talking about when I saw assignment focus. We addressed that yesterday and will keep progressing.”
On North Carolina’s Butch Davis
“My hat goes off to Butch Davis and his staff. It’s a program that has been through some tough times the last few months. I have to give credit where credit is due. Butch and his staff have that team together with the loss of players and what they’ve gone through. They’ve done a good job. I told Butch that after the game. We talked before the game, too.”
On Southern Miss
“The North Carolina game is in the box now as we have to get ready for Southern Miss. It is a very talented football team and conference rival.
“We have to play in Hattiesburg. Having played there before when I was at ECU, it’s a tough location.”
On Southern Miss’ Offense
“They have a group of guys returning from last year’s team, including nine starters on defense. Watching them last night and today, they’re very athletic.
“Quarterback Austin Davis is very solid. We met him at the Conference USA Media Day. He’s a good player who understands the offense. It’s a tempo offense, just like we play. They have talented athletes. The running backs V.J. Floyd and Desmond Johnson are really good athletes with foot speed.
“At receiver, they have a plethora of guys like we do here. They play a bunch of men. DeAndre Brown is the one everybody talks about but Quentin Pierce is another one who stands out on film. They’ve gone to the spread and an up-tempo screen game, similar to what we do on offense. They’re doing a good job executing it.
“They did a really good job against Marshall and you saw them improve against Louisiana Tech, Prairie View A&M and Kansas. You saw them against South Carolina in that first game and they had a tough time against Coach Spurrier and his group. You can clearly see them improve offensively when you watch the games in sequence.”
On Southern Miss’ Defense
“Defensively, they have nine returning starters and a lot of speed and athleticism. They also have good size up front. A lot of those kids, I remember we liked watching them on film even before I came to East Carolina. The state of Mississippi has been a recruiting area where Ole Miss and Mississippi State get a lot of players, but Southern Miss hangs around and gets a lot of really, really special football players. That’s no disrespect to Ole Miss and Mississippi State at all.
“You can tell Southern Miss’ talent on defense up front with Cordarro Law and Terrance Pope. They are really big guys inside who have great movement. Korey Williams and Martez Smith, the linebackers, move around well. Those guys have been around the program and been in the system for a few years now. They do a good job for them. The best player on the back end is the safety Justin Wilson.”
On Southern Miss’ Special Teams
“The specialists have also been around the program. Danny Hrapmann is nine-for-nine kicking field goals and has a long of 51 yards. The punter, Peter Boehme, is not really booming it, but still has a 37.1-yard average. The returners have plenty of athleticism in Tracy Lampley, Francisco Llanos and Jeremy Hester.
“This week’s main focus is continuing to emphasize playing for four quarters and 60 minutes, making routine plays, doing a good job executing and making sure we stay focused on our assignments. I’m looking forward to continuing watching the film and getting a good look at Southern Miss to learn and study them.”
On Jonathan Williams’ Carries Against North Carolina
“We give [quarterback] Dominique Davis the option to run or pass. [Offensive coordinator] Lincoln [Riley] and I talked about it and we’ll give the ball to Jonathan more this week.”
On ECU’s Defensive Improvement
“We have to keep growing. On our line we have Josh Smith, who was a journeyman here last year who moved from end, Jimmy Booth, Michael Brooks, Antonio Allison and Robert Jones. I wish I could magically sprinkle some dust on them to make them grow up and get stronger, but that’s not going to happen.
“The only time you can develop the things we have to work on is through game experience. I wish I could do it differently, but I can’t and we can’t. We just have to be patient. I wish we could rush it, but we can’t. Those guys are working hard and even getting extra work. Our opponents have done a good job attacking where they should attack. But our guys will get better and improve. You have to believe in them and I do.”
On The Injury To Justin Dixon
“Dixon is a big loss. He was coming on. The things we emphasized with practice play and mentality, he was doing and had a great two weeks. We had different packages to get him in the game Saturday. He’s a young guy we really couldn’t afford to use, to be honest with you.
“The next person now has to step up and take the flag. That takes us down to four defensive ends, but there is not a young one to bring up or take off a redshirt right now.
“Losing Justin was tough. He has worked very hard to get where he wanted to be. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. The next thing for him is to get better and to grow and get ready for the spring if possible and, if not, be ready for fall. That’s a lot of athletic ability up front that we’ll be missing.”
On Derrell Johnson
“When you watch the film and can watch plays from the endzone, from wide angles and then rewind, you can see Derrell has the strength, power, speed and athleticism you’ll need. He’ll get better with reps. He got better from the Virginia Tech game to the UNC game.
“He was better with fundamentals and technique. He played with lower pad level and used his hands better. Those are the things I’m talking about. He has the ability that, with time, experience and getting knocked down and getting up, he’ll learn what to rely on. He has done a good job with that. We’ll be counting on him heavily to play even more reps. He had 60 plays against UNC. We had not figured for him to play that many, but we upped his reps and he did a good job.”
On Interceptions Returned For Touchdowns And The Stage Of The Team
“Yes, I’ve seen it and teams have bounced back. It’s a transition stage we’re at now. This is not my first transition job. As a head coach it is, but I’ve been in these situations before as an assistant. At this part, you’re going to see some things like that happen. You have two choices, though, you can stay down or get up and start fighting.
“The second half is a big thing we’ve been emphasizing. I can try to simulate it in practice, but you can’t do it. You can only do it with the whistles, referees and fans during a game. Once we go through it time and time again, they’ll learn to finish. Our execution wavered and we have to keep working on execution under stress. You have to believe in your fundamental technique when it’s that time.
“It’s not anything the opponents are doing. They’re executing their offense and defense better than we are. We have to continue to make sure we continue to execute.
“Dominique is a first-year starter and will continue to get better. He will do a great job and has done a great job. The offensive line had great pass protection Saturday and we have to make sure we run block well. We had some routine plays that we should have made offensively and defensively that we didn’t make.
“The pick-six and the other turnover that made the defense go right back on the field was a tough job against a good football team. UNC has lost some players but they still have a lot of depth and good players. They have a lot of guys who played in that game who will play at the next level. But I can’t worry about them. I worry about us and making sure we get better at the things I mentioned.”
On The Emotional State Of The Team
“After last night’s practice and the team meeting, I’m not worried. We have a bunch of guys with whom I believe we should win every game and I tell them that. I think our team is as good as any we play and I tell them that. There are some goals we’ve set that we can reach and I tell them that.
“You want a team and coaching staff that it bothers them to lose. It does bother us to lose. We don’t believe we’re going to lose any game. That’s certainly no disrespect to opponents, but that’s just my belief in our team, our staff and the way we work.
“We work and go at it and do a good job preparing. Our mental resilience has been very good; last night was an indication of that. We had a short practice Sunday after the Virginia Tech loss and I was pleased with that one, too.”
On If The Game’s Tempo Is Where He Wants It To Be
“Not yet. I talked with [offensive line coach] Brandon Jones about it this morning. That point is when assignment, assignment focus and execution started breaking down a little bit.
“It took us a while to get the tempo where it was before I came here. It wasn’t done there overnight. I saw this before when we first got to Texas Tech. Once they understand the tempo, the conditioning part and what we want, they’ll get it. As a matter of fact, they’re actually ahead of where we were before with other teams I’ve been part of.”
On Third Down Conversions
“With this team, our percentages on third-and-seven, third-and-six and reasonable downs are pretty good. But the third-and-extras that we’ve gotten into after the half at Virginia Tech and North Carolina are very hard to make. We have to do a great job on that. We emphasized it last night and will do it throughout the week.
“I only know one way how to dig out of something and that’s work. That’s what we’ll do. We’ll work harder and I’m looking forward to it.”
On Returning To Conference USA Play
“We spoke about that yesterday during the team meeting. We have some goals and focus items that we have concentrated on during team meetings all throughout the fall. We’re back in conference now. I think the nonconference games prepared us as they were both on the road in hostile environments. If you’ve been to Hattiesburg, you know they have a very good crowd. It’ll be exciting. I’m looking at it as an advantage for us that we’ve been in some tough games.
“We’ve had some things we found from film of the games that we need to get better at to improve our football team. Now we’re back into conference playing another very good team and a rival. Southern Miss has a history of always being a very physical and athletic team. It’ll be a tough test, but I’m looking forward to getting back into conference play. We know we’re facing a tough opponent.”
On Potential Offensive Changes
“Will Towery will get more playing time at center. We started that last night. Dalton Faulds has done a good job but Will should get some more reps there trying to develop depth. We have worked Will at guard and center to try and develop depth. Pass protection wasn’t the problem Saturday. I thought we protected Dominique pretty well.
“Mike Price at the ‘Z’ receiver spot got some more reps. Even though Joe Womack didn’t play as much, he still caught a touchdown pass off the flee-flicker from Dwayne Harris. Mike is a guy you’ll see keep climbing. Andrew Bodenheimer is also doing a real solid job at the ‘Z.’
“We try to rest Dwayne as much as we possibly can, but he’s too valuable. You did see us sub him a couple returns because he goes at it all the time.
“Justin Jones has a role and we have to continue to identify it within the system. We have to make sure we utilize him. He got a little frustrated yesterday. With young guys, we have to teach them to play the next play. They’re going to make mistakes. You have to make sure you grab them and tell them it’s not the end of the world.
“They want to do well. That’s what I like about this group. They feel like they’re letting me down. I have to tell them they’re not letting me down. It’s very touching and emotional, but don’t worry about that – just play the next play.
“Justin is one we have to get playing the next play. He made a mistake, had a penalty and then felt like he let the team down. That’s not a bad thing, we just have to learn to move past it. That’s all a part of the development. That’s part of our jobs as coaches. I relish the challenge and teaching opportunities to do that.”
