Coach Montgomery’s Weekly Press Conference Quotes
September 26, 2017 | Football
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Second-year ECU Head Football Coach Scottie Montgomery addressed members of the media on Monday prior to Saturday's home game against No. 18 USF. The following are selected comments:
Opening Statement:
"I'll start with a quick recap on the UConn game. I thought it was a hard-fought victory for the Pirates on a very hot day in Connecticut. Boy, I didn't realize how hot it was going to be. We got out there in pregame and I looked at a lot of our guys and I could see how wet they were and knew it was going to be a hot one. But our guys persevered and thank goodness we came out on top.
"Our defensive superlatives for the game went to Cannon Gibbs and Korrin Wiggins, they continue to grow. Two guys in our program really for the first year have grown and help Jordan [Williams] and help the rest of the team. They stood up in some situations that were very critical in the game and especially at the end when they bowed their neck and held them to a field goal attempt.
"Our offensive superlatives were Thomas Sirk, of course, I thought he had a fantastic game. He's starting to get his feet back under him a little bit more and his report with his receivers is starting to show up more. We missed a few runs with Thomas but we are going to continue to grow him. He is in the building as much as he can be to continue to be a good football player. Another offensive superlative was Davon Grayson. I just thought he had a great game. Not only in the passing game but I thought he did a good job in the run game. He did some good things on the perimeter as well and stepped into a big role in the game and we had to move him around at the receiver position a lot. It's always good when you've got experience because he didn't miss a step.
"Special teams I thought we had a better day. We can continue to grow and get better every single week at that. But I am looking for our special teams to take the next step and to have a momentum-changing play in the game. Whether that be some kind of created touchdown or turnover, we need to make sure that our special teams go from good to great, which can be very hard to do."
On USF:
"Moving forward to USF, they are a very, very talented football team. They've done a good job of recruiting. On offense, they are led by of course their quarterback, Quinton Flowers who can run it, can throw it, has the ability to be very allusive in the pocket and causes people all kinds of trouble. He's been a really good football player down there for them and in the back field standing right beside him you'll have [D'Ernest] Johnson or [Darius] Tice. It's a struggle trying to get all those guys stopped in the run game. As you can see, they're doing some things better now than they've ever done them. I think that the reason why they are so good in their run game is the athletic ability of the offensive line. I think they've done a good job on the left and right side of the line getting these guys a lot of running lanes so when they do get a chance to get down the field you are watching some really, really athletic people in the run game. The passing game, boy, you've just got to keep him [Flowers] contained because if he breaks the pocket on you, you've got to cover forever. And covering those guys they have at receiver with all that speed, skill and size cause some hard matchups for people down the field. But all of this is connected to Flowers and how he plays and gets the game going.
"On defense I think the word that comes to mind is experience. They only have one player on their defense that will be a second-year player. Everybody else has either been there three, four or five years. That's very important. The other thing about their defense is that at every level I feel they have an impact player. In the defensive front Deadrin Senat, at linebacker Auggie [Sanchez], and then one of my favorite players to watch play the game in their secondary Deatrick Nichols. Last year they played him at corner, this year they can play him at corner, nickel and safety. If you throw the ball to him he's going to catch it and make a play with it. But he is so run game sound too - a very, very good player. It's a position that we want to grow our PIRATE to be more and more like. I think that he has given them the flexibility to have a guy that can go out in the run game but also outside at the receiver position and cover.
"On special teams, what you see from them is just an inordinate amount of speed on the field. I think that is what they try to do whether to create space in their return game or in their cover game just seeing guys get down a yard or two quicker than you normally see them. But we are really excited to get going in our second game of the conference and have it here. Our guys have a lot of energy. It's always easier as a coach off of a victory and they are excited to see a very talented football team, one of the best teams in the country coming here and play against us, and a team that is definitely the most talented team in our conference."
On The Banged Up Secondary:
"I think we are getting better. Corey [Seargent] came in this morning feeling a lot better which is always a good feeling for us. Hopefully we will get to see him maybe tomorrow in practice. Tim [Irvin] is doing much better than he was, that's not to say that he is ready to go; I don't know if he will be ready to go today. He will be in treatment pretty much all day today and will be on the field in some capacity. I am not sure if he will be able to go the full day and I don't know if he will be able to make it through individuals. Those two guys are banged up. Outside of that, we are just doing okay. We really need those two body types. I thought one of the biggest differences last year during that game was that we lost a couple of guys in the secondary. Defense was playing pretty good, we lost a couple of guys in the secondary and they threw a bomb on us when we had some backups playing some positions that they hadn't played. We lost a guy for an injury and we also got an ejection I believe in that game and that made it tough. So we are doing better, we are going to get those guys back as soon as we possibly can. Some of those opportunities that Tim would have had in the game we could have had some big plays made."
On How To Improve Tackling:
"Well there's a couple of ways you get guys to tackle better. You've got to get different people tackling or you have just got to continue to stress what we always stress: wrap and roll. The one thing that I saw, not just tackling, but also its fatigue tackles. In the midst of a long drive we've got to get better at that. We've also got to get a lot better on offense and our skill position. Because if they can tackle our guys in practice on offense then that lets us know that we need to recruit a lot better and need to develop a lot better. The guys that we have here can help our guys by seeing more good on good in practice. But it is hard to tackle any more than we already are in practice. One of the things I saw in missed tackles was we got a lot of people to the ball, but nobody tackled. Everybody ran to the ball but nobody tackled. We've got to tackle the football. What I am impressed about is before; you saw a missed tackle and the guy scored. What you saw in this game was a lot more people to the ball; we just didn't tackle the football. That is frustrating but the good part is we won the game and we can correct them in a manner that they see it and understand it. Of course, all of them came right back over the next day because it is easy for guys to see when you are there in the scheme and you missed a tackle how you get better at that. They put a lot of that on themselves and you don't have to wonder about what happened. So we've got to continue to work on it. But I really do think that we need to get better offensively at our skill positions so that our defensive players are seeing the same type of skill that they are always seeing when they get to games. I think that is something that we have to do as coaches. Program building, we've got to t get better at developing the guys that we have here and carrying the ball in space and putting them in space situations so we can get guys on the ground at a better rate than we did this past weekend."
On Added Pressure For The Offense Because Defense Gives Up So Much:
"We are a team so we don't necessarily feel it as one side of the ball has the pressure. Defense has the pressure to get better and offense has the pressure to get better. So when you get out there you want to make sure that you score more points than the other team. This locker room, it was great, as I came in all the defensive guys were rallying around the offensive guys and the offensive players were rallying around the defensive players. But it was an understanding that we need to get better on defense.
"Offensively there were a whole lot of things in that game that we could have done better. We could have executed at a higher level than we ever have executed in that game. With a quarterback that is in his second start, basically for us and some offensive linemen that have had some experience are starting to get a better understanding of what we are doing, we could have executed a lot better. So for anybody to feel pressure it goes to you doing your job, you executing your assignments because there have been several times where the defense could have said 'that ball should have been caught', 'that should have been a great play.' So we are really united right now, this is one of the good things about building the team chemistry. When you build team chemistry you are building it for times that don't necessarily go well. It is easy for everybody to be close to each other when things are going right but I have got a feeling that our defense will grow. There are things that we have done to help them but if they tackle guys in some crucial situations, on third and long, second and long, just tackle them at the spot then we are not having this conversation. It's not like we are in the earlier part of the year where we had some guys just running free wide open. We will worry about our own jobs; we won't feel pressure offense to defense. We've all got to get better and special teams has got to give us a boost."
On The Four-Man Running Back Rotation:
"Each one of them hit a groove, got a little fatigued and tapped out. Then the next guy will come in for a play or two and have a big play and it's another guy's series and he will have a big play and I'm like 'hey that's a huge play, let's leave him in.' So it's just really hard because they're just fighting and clawing trying to get every rep that they can. I don't think we have found it yet [the rotation] but what I've told those guys is that if you get hot with the football you control the rotation. If you get in there and you are really good in protection and you are really good running the ball and blocking on the perimeter, you will control the rotation. I do want to see our young back [Darius Pinnix] in the game playing a little bit more, I think he has earned it. Some of the things he did on fourth down, you don't ask backs to do. Darius, we asked him to go iso-lead as an 18-year-old kid on a middle linebacker and he wanted to do it. After he did it the first time I thought he took the physical battle to them. So when guys excel on things they are not used to doing like blocking and protection that is what gets my attention. I really like the way he finished some of those runs on the perimeter. Also Hussein [Howe], you'd like to see him get into the rotation more. That run he had was amazing."
On Having Four Running Backs In A Game:
"I'm good with having four. I love to have four in a game. That doesn't bother me at all because it's going to benefit us down the road. You never make it through the season with all four backs so we want to get these guys as many reps as we can."
On Anyone Being Impatient About Having Four Running Backs Play:
"Well, running backs are the same way their whole life, they want the ball. It's always been one guy in the backfield. If they were patient, I wouldn't want them here. If a guy was sitting on the sideline and when I turn around and his eyes weren't looking right at me like 'coach, I am ready' then they don't deserve to be here. But there is love in the room, so when they aren't out there its 'man, I'm glad that Tyshon is out there, 'I'm glad that Darrell is out there'. So it's tough but those are problems that are good problems. I've been in situations before where we've got one back tapping out and we turn around and there's no one else behind us. So I would much rather have the problem of dealing with four guys versus two."
On The One Less Day Of Preparation And Similar Coaching Experience:
"We aren't really concerned with what they [USF] are doing. Sometimes when you have an extra day of work the whole thing the coach is worrying about is the focus of the team with the two extra days. It's a weekend that you don't have control over. So we have had to prepare for Thursday night games, the biggest deal is to make sure that you are rested and you are playing another game. Sunday night for us is normally a practice, well it was a game this week so we got a chance to get a lot better on Sunday and then now we will get back to work today. We won't be in full pads today like we normally would be on this day because we have got to get them back a little bit. Coach C [Connors] is not lifting with them this week the same way we would normally, it will be pool exercises versus a lift. So there are a few things we are going to do to get them back physically and mentally to become sharp when you are feeling good. I worry about 10-day or 9-day weeks especially if they have a Saturday or Sunday in them that I am not really accounted for."
On USF's Talent Level Compared To Other Teams ECU Has Played:
"They are a really good football team. I can't really compare them because we haven't played them. We've played some really good teams, you know, we've played some great quarterbacks to this point and so it is hard to compare them because they are so uniquely different. The passing game for other people have been used completely different than the passing game for USF. They are very different but talented and athletic talent all over the place."
On The Importance Of Scoring Early To Gain Momentum:
"I think the most important thing is when we get to third downs. A lot of people didn't realize in that game [UCONN] that we were about 50 percent on third downs. If we can execute, that is where we are going to get the most energy from, on third downs. Execution on third down offense and execution on third down defense is what is going to get the crowd going and our guys are going to love it. They're also going to have an edge coming into this game because, you know, this is one of the best teams in the country. We are looking forward to it coming off of a victory. You always have a lot more energy and you feel like you've had a little bit of success. And you still know that you could have gotten a lot better in that game or played a lot better and everyone will feel the energy of the crowd, of course."
On Deondre Farrier's Status:
"Farrier is back, he is back in practice and rolling. He should be available. A couple of weeks ago he did have an injury and didn't practice so we haven't seen him. He should be back and ready to go. All of them are ready to catch balls now. It was really tough on seeing some of them not play or not be available. It's always tough when you walk into a room and your buddy catches 11 balls for 220 yards and three touchdowns and you are reading his name and seeing his name everywhere. So as a receiver that gives you a little bit of a push to get back out there."
Opening Statement:
"I'll start with a quick recap on the UConn game. I thought it was a hard-fought victory for the Pirates on a very hot day in Connecticut. Boy, I didn't realize how hot it was going to be. We got out there in pregame and I looked at a lot of our guys and I could see how wet they were and knew it was going to be a hot one. But our guys persevered and thank goodness we came out on top.
"Our defensive superlatives for the game went to Cannon Gibbs and Korrin Wiggins, they continue to grow. Two guys in our program really for the first year have grown and help Jordan [Williams] and help the rest of the team. They stood up in some situations that were very critical in the game and especially at the end when they bowed their neck and held them to a field goal attempt.
"Our offensive superlatives were Thomas Sirk, of course, I thought he had a fantastic game. He's starting to get his feet back under him a little bit more and his report with his receivers is starting to show up more. We missed a few runs with Thomas but we are going to continue to grow him. He is in the building as much as he can be to continue to be a good football player. Another offensive superlative was Davon Grayson. I just thought he had a great game. Not only in the passing game but I thought he did a good job in the run game. He did some good things on the perimeter as well and stepped into a big role in the game and we had to move him around at the receiver position a lot. It's always good when you've got experience because he didn't miss a step.
"Special teams I thought we had a better day. We can continue to grow and get better every single week at that. But I am looking for our special teams to take the next step and to have a momentum-changing play in the game. Whether that be some kind of created touchdown or turnover, we need to make sure that our special teams go from good to great, which can be very hard to do."
On USF:
"Moving forward to USF, they are a very, very talented football team. They've done a good job of recruiting. On offense, they are led by of course their quarterback, Quinton Flowers who can run it, can throw it, has the ability to be very allusive in the pocket and causes people all kinds of trouble. He's been a really good football player down there for them and in the back field standing right beside him you'll have [D'Ernest] Johnson or [Darius] Tice. It's a struggle trying to get all those guys stopped in the run game. As you can see, they're doing some things better now than they've ever done them. I think that the reason why they are so good in their run game is the athletic ability of the offensive line. I think they've done a good job on the left and right side of the line getting these guys a lot of running lanes so when they do get a chance to get down the field you are watching some really, really athletic people in the run game. The passing game, boy, you've just got to keep him [Flowers] contained because if he breaks the pocket on you, you've got to cover forever. And covering those guys they have at receiver with all that speed, skill and size cause some hard matchups for people down the field. But all of this is connected to Flowers and how he plays and gets the game going.
"On defense I think the word that comes to mind is experience. They only have one player on their defense that will be a second-year player. Everybody else has either been there three, four or five years. That's very important. The other thing about their defense is that at every level I feel they have an impact player. In the defensive front Deadrin Senat, at linebacker Auggie [Sanchez], and then one of my favorite players to watch play the game in their secondary Deatrick Nichols. Last year they played him at corner, this year they can play him at corner, nickel and safety. If you throw the ball to him he's going to catch it and make a play with it. But he is so run game sound too - a very, very good player. It's a position that we want to grow our PIRATE to be more and more like. I think that he has given them the flexibility to have a guy that can go out in the run game but also outside at the receiver position and cover.
"On special teams, what you see from them is just an inordinate amount of speed on the field. I think that is what they try to do whether to create space in their return game or in their cover game just seeing guys get down a yard or two quicker than you normally see them. But we are really excited to get going in our second game of the conference and have it here. Our guys have a lot of energy. It's always easier as a coach off of a victory and they are excited to see a very talented football team, one of the best teams in the country coming here and play against us, and a team that is definitely the most talented team in our conference."
On The Banged Up Secondary:
"I think we are getting better. Corey [Seargent] came in this morning feeling a lot better which is always a good feeling for us. Hopefully we will get to see him maybe tomorrow in practice. Tim [Irvin] is doing much better than he was, that's not to say that he is ready to go; I don't know if he will be ready to go today. He will be in treatment pretty much all day today and will be on the field in some capacity. I am not sure if he will be able to go the full day and I don't know if he will be able to make it through individuals. Those two guys are banged up. Outside of that, we are just doing okay. We really need those two body types. I thought one of the biggest differences last year during that game was that we lost a couple of guys in the secondary. Defense was playing pretty good, we lost a couple of guys in the secondary and they threw a bomb on us when we had some backups playing some positions that they hadn't played. We lost a guy for an injury and we also got an ejection I believe in that game and that made it tough. So we are doing better, we are going to get those guys back as soon as we possibly can. Some of those opportunities that Tim would have had in the game we could have had some big plays made."
On How To Improve Tackling:
"Well there's a couple of ways you get guys to tackle better. You've got to get different people tackling or you have just got to continue to stress what we always stress: wrap and roll. The one thing that I saw, not just tackling, but also its fatigue tackles. In the midst of a long drive we've got to get better at that. We've also got to get a lot better on offense and our skill position. Because if they can tackle our guys in practice on offense then that lets us know that we need to recruit a lot better and need to develop a lot better. The guys that we have here can help our guys by seeing more good on good in practice. But it is hard to tackle any more than we already are in practice. One of the things I saw in missed tackles was we got a lot of people to the ball, but nobody tackled. Everybody ran to the ball but nobody tackled. We've got to tackle the football. What I am impressed about is before; you saw a missed tackle and the guy scored. What you saw in this game was a lot more people to the ball; we just didn't tackle the football. That is frustrating but the good part is we won the game and we can correct them in a manner that they see it and understand it. Of course, all of them came right back over the next day because it is easy for guys to see when you are there in the scheme and you missed a tackle how you get better at that. They put a lot of that on themselves and you don't have to wonder about what happened. So we've got to continue to work on it. But I really do think that we need to get better offensively at our skill positions so that our defensive players are seeing the same type of skill that they are always seeing when they get to games. I think that is something that we have to do as coaches. Program building, we've got to t get better at developing the guys that we have here and carrying the ball in space and putting them in space situations so we can get guys on the ground at a better rate than we did this past weekend."
On Added Pressure For The Offense Because Defense Gives Up So Much:
"We are a team so we don't necessarily feel it as one side of the ball has the pressure. Defense has the pressure to get better and offense has the pressure to get better. So when you get out there you want to make sure that you score more points than the other team. This locker room, it was great, as I came in all the defensive guys were rallying around the offensive guys and the offensive players were rallying around the defensive players. But it was an understanding that we need to get better on defense.
"Offensively there were a whole lot of things in that game that we could have done better. We could have executed at a higher level than we ever have executed in that game. With a quarterback that is in his second start, basically for us and some offensive linemen that have had some experience are starting to get a better understanding of what we are doing, we could have executed a lot better. So for anybody to feel pressure it goes to you doing your job, you executing your assignments because there have been several times where the defense could have said 'that ball should have been caught', 'that should have been a great play.' So we are really united right now, this is one of the good things about building the team chemistry. When you build team chemistry you are building it for times that don't necessarily go well. It is easy for everybody to be close to each other when things are going right but I have got a feeling that our defense will grow. There are things that we have done to help them but if they tackle guys in some crucial situations, on third and long, second and long, just tackle them at the spot then we are not having this conversation. It's not like we are in the earlier part of the year where we had some guys just running free wide open. We will worry about our own jobs; we won't feel pressure offense to defense. We've all got to get better and special teams has got to give us a boost."
On The Four-Man Running Back Rotation:
"Each one of them hit a groove, got a little fatigued and tapped out. Then the next guy will come in for a play or two and have a big play and it's another guy's series and he will have a big play and I'm like 'hey that's a huge play, let's leave him in.' So it's just really hard because they're just fighting and clawing trying to get every rep that they can. I don't think we have found it yet [the rotation] but what I've told those guys is that if you get hot with the football you control the rotation. If you get in there and you are really good in protection and you are really good running the ball and blocking on the perimeter, you will control the rotation. I do want to see our young back [Darius Pinnix] in the game playing a little bit more, I think he has earned it. Some of the things he did on fourth down, you don't ask backs to do. Darius, we asked him to go iso-lead as an 18-year-old kid on a middle linebacker and he wanted to do it. After he did it the first time I thought he took the physical battle to them. So when guys excel on things they are not used to doing like blocking and protection that is what gets my attention. I really like the way he finished some of those runs on the perimeter. Also Hussein [Howe], you'd like to see him get into the rotation more. That run he had was amazing."
On Having Four Running Backs In A Game:
"I'm good with having four. I love to have four in a game. That doesn't bother me at all because it's going to benefit us down the road. You never make it through the season with all four backs so we want to get these guys as many reps as we can."
On Anyone Being Impatient About Having Four Running Backs Play:
"Well, running backs are the same way their whole life, they want the ball. It's always been one guy in the backfield. If they were patient, I wouldn't want them here. If a guy was sitting on the sideline and when I turn around and his eyes weren't looking right at me like 'coach, I am ready' then they don't deserve to be here. But there is love in the room, so when they aren't out there its 'man, I'm glad that Tyshon is out there, 'I'm glad that Darrell is out there'. So it's tough but those are problems that are good problems. I've been in situations before where we've got one back tapping out and we turn around and there's no one else behind us. So I would much rather have the problem of dealing with four guys versus two."
On The One Less Day Of Preparation And Similar Coaching Experience:
"We aren't really concerned with what they [USF] are doing. Sometimes when you have an extra day of work the whole thing the coach is worrying about is the focus of the team with the two extra days. It's a weekend that you don't have control over. So we have had to prepare for Thursday night games, the biggest deal is to make sure that you are rested and you are playing another game. Sunday night for us is normally a practice, well it was a game this week so we got a chance to get a lot better on Sunday and then now we will get back to work today. We won't be in full pads today like we normally would be on this day because we have got to get them back a little bit. Coach C [Connors] is not lifting with them this week the same way we would normally, it will be pool exercises versus a lift. So there are a few things we are going to do to get them back physically and mentally to become sharp when you are feeling good. I worry about 10-day or 9-day weeks especially if they have a Saturday or Sunday in them that I am not really accounted for."
On USF's Talent Level Compared To Other Teams ECU Has Played:
"They are a really good football team. I can't really compare them because we haven't played them. We've played some really good teams, you know, we've played some great quarterbacks to this point and so it is hard to compare them because they are so uniquely different. The passing game for other people have been used completely different than the passing game for USF. They are very different but talented and athletic talent all over the place."
On The Importance Of Scoring Early To Gain Momentum:
"I think the most important thing is when we get to third downs. A lot of people didn't realize in that game [UCONN] that we were about 50 percent on third downs. If we can execute, that is where we are going to get the most energy from, on third downs. Execution on third down offense and execution on third down defense is what is going to get the crowd going and our guys are going to love it. They're also going to have an edge coming into this game because, you know, this is one of the best teams in the country. We are looking forward to it coming off of a victory. You always have a lot more energy and you feel like you've had a little bit of success. And you still know that you could have gotten a lot better in that game or played a lot better and everyone will feel the energy of the crowd, of course."
On Deondre Farrier's Status:
"Farrier is back, he is back in practice and rolling. He should be available. A couple of weeks ago he did have an injury and didn't practice so we haven't seen him. He should be back and ready to go. All of them are ready to catch balls now. It was really tough on seeing some of them not play or not be available. It's always tough when you walk into a room and your buddy catches 11 balls for 220 yards and three touchdowns and you are reading his name and seeing his name everywhere. So as a receiver that gives you a little bit of a push to get back out there."
Players Mentioned
Wide Receiver
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Inside Linebacker
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Wide Receiver
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Running Back
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Quarterback
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Defensive Back
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