Gary Pinkel, Chase Daniel Press Conference Quotes
8/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 25, 2008
COLUMBIA, Mo. - Head Coach Gary Pinkel addressed the media Monday afternoon at the Mizzou Athletic Training Complex; here are some of his comments:
"Good afternoon, I appreciate you all being here the Monday before our first game against Illinois. We're certainly all excited about the game. I'll update injuries like I usually do: Van Alexander is doubtful for this game. He's working very hard to rehab, it's remarkable actually what he's accomplished thus far, but he's not definitely out. He will travel, we'll have to make a decision certainly by Thursday whether we'll actually play him or not. He's close, if he doesn't play this week it's very likely the next couple of weeks he will play. Danario Alexander is recovering from knee surgery, and is also really doing well. We think we posssibly might get him back at the end of September, a little earlier than what we thought. He's having an MRI today so they can kind of look at it, because he's doing so many different things at a high level for having such a difficult surgery. And so we're pleased with that. We anticipated both certainly as the last couple of weeks have been going down, but certainly Chase Coffman is a player that had three small pins put in his large hand and he's doing fine. He's catching fine, he's been 100 percent, full-speed since Saturday. And Jared Perry had a little bit of a shoulder (injury) he practiced full Saturday and Sunday evening. He'll practice with full pads on tomorrow also.
"With our football team right now, our goal is just to prepare and that's what we do with our first games every year. We get several more practices in in preparation for our first game, so we're doing what we always do. We had a good practice on Saturday, we had a good practice last night underneath the lights, and we'll have what we call a "Tuesday", it's a work day, full pads tomorrow, it's a really intense, physical practice. And we'll have shoulder pads Wednesday which is typically what we do, it's a very intense practice where we stay up, we stay on our feet. We take the bottom pads off. And Thursday, we've got shells on. We'll go down Friday and get a quick practice in the (Edward Jones) Dome. We don't usually practice on Fridays unless there's a reason why, and we'll have about a 20-minute practice and get our punt returners and kick returners and also our receivers underneath the lights in the Dome so that we've done all the things we can from a preparation standpoint.
"The big thing is just to prepare. We're playing a really good football team. I remember, a year ago, at the press conference after that game we were fortunate to win, I talked about what an entirely different team Illinois was. Oh, by the way, they did go to the Rose Bowl. They did great, they've done a great job with that program. They've got six starters back on each side of the ball. I think they have a lot of impact players, Juice Williams and (Arrelious) Benn, two high-level players who can change the game at any time. Their offensive line is good. Defensively, they have an impact defensive end, defensive corner. They run a good defense, they're very well coached. He's done a great job recruiting, we expect a very difficult game. It will be quite a challenge for us. Our goal is to try and play our best game, and then we've got a chance. That's what we're going to work really hard to do.
"I think also every team in the country is tired of hitting each other. Illinois is the same way as we are. Every team is, and they've done so much. We got back from the Cotton Bowl, the kids got back around the 20th of January and we had a team meeting in preparation for this year to start the work and look at all they put into it. I remind my players of that all the time--the sacrifices they've made, and what they've put into it. I think the more kids put into it, the more they want out of it. So, game week is here, we're excited. We're going to work really hard to play our best game.
On being successful in the first game of the season:
"I think when you go into a game like this, and every first game is the same way, this first game with your new team, you don't want to do things to beat yourself...That's it. You don't want to have a lot of turnovers. You want to have a kicking game that's very sound. You don't want mental errors, you don't want penalties, all those things that supposedly in first games happen. You know what, if we allow those things to happen, we're not going to have a chance. That being said, we're in the same boat. Everyone in the country is the same way. Nobody has an advantage, but we got the chance to work in practices over the summer. So the teams that can mature, the teams that can do it best, those are the teams that will have the most success."
On mental preparation for big games:
"There are many lessons from a year ago. I think one of the things our players have learned is how you prepare will definitely carry over to how you play. It doesn't mean you'll win all your games, but you have a chance to win all your games. That was probably the lesson of a year ago if you wanted any consistency. I would like to think anytime you come out of a season whether it's a winning season or a losing season, whatever the record is, there are things you learn. We talk about that in preparing our football team. There are definitely reasons why you win, why you lose and there's lessons...I think one of the things that we did a good job of a year ago was when there was all that pressure to win game after game after game hopefully we learned what it takes to have an opportunity to do that. Doesn't mean we'll do it all the time, but just to put yourself in the position to do it. Hopefully all those experiences, those pressure-packed games, will help us as we prepare for this game."
On the similarities and differences between Illinois' and Missouri's spread offenses:
"Well I think it's the uniqueness of the spread offense...I think Illinois is proving you can run the spread offense and run the football and be very effective. It's just dependent on the personality of your quarterback, the receivers you might have, the running backs you might have...I think that's one of the great things about college football and the spread offense is the creativity of a lot of people...Will they make adjustments this year losing their tailback? I don't know. Those are all first game things we're not sure sure. They do a great job running that offense. They were a great rushing team last year."
On Jeremy Maclin on year after his debut:
"He's got a great work ethic, he's got great practice habits...He's stronger, faster, quicker. He's much more experienced. One thing you're going to get out of him, is he loves to play. You're going to get the greatest effort out of him, along with all the improvements he's made on the mental side of it and reading defenses, it should be exciting to watch him...He was a lot different player when he came back for two-a-days (last year). To expect any player to play like that in his first game ever, I'd be lying if I told you he could play like that. But that really defines him. Because he's got all the stuff, other things that go with it other than being this great athlete that can catch. He's got the brains, he's mature as a competitor, and he can utilize all his skills."
On improvements to the defense over the course of last year:
"I think we were a talented team going in. Last year, I said if I can say in October that this team is better than it was in October, every month this team is getting better and better, I think we'll have a pretty good year. And that's exactly what happened. It's a team playing well together, obviously there was some talent there that just needed experience, and as you all know, by the end of the year we were a pretty good defense. The key is this, myself and my staff are responsible for this. Can we get all our starters back on defense playing better than they were a year ago? Ultimately, if we want to have a really good year, that's what we need to do. I look at myself, at the coaches and the players and I say 'We've got to do this. We've got to get this done.'"
On Chase Daniel:
"Do I think Chase Daniel will become a coach? Yeah, if you ask him that, he'd like to be a coach in about 10 years. He'd be a great coach. He could run company, too. He's a very smart guy. He had a great high school coach, and I think he had a tremendous influence on him. But there's not question about it, he's a leader. He's got a great football mind. That's probably an understatement. And he's very smart. He's so smart, he's probably smart enough not to be a coach...We like his input...We need to keep him down a little bit, so he's not running everything."
Opening Statement:
"First of all, I just want to say thanks to all of you guys for coming out. It makes it a lot easier on me and the rest of the players.Illinois, defensively, they are a year more in their system. They are a year more experienced. When you look at it, we're going to have a hard task at our hands, and Coach Zook is going to have them coming for us. We have a long week preparation going. I'd just like to say that it's finally here, the season is finally here. We've been to camp, we've had 23 practices over 17 days, something like that. And we've been busting our butt to get out here and do some good things, and I think we have. I think we've gotten a lot more experience on the offense side of the ball. We've had to break in a couple new starters on the (offensive line) and I think we're picking up some good things there but for the most part we're good to go."
On his questions of the team at this time vs. this time last year:
"Every single year it's different. You look at all the questions that need to be answered. It's all about comraderie, and how this team is going to gel in the heat of battle. But I don't think you can really answer any of these questions until you go out on that field. It's just how you're going to gel and how you're going to handle adversity when it strikes."
On Jeremy Maclin's performance last year:
"Probably after the Illinois game, probably after the first half of the Illinois game. He's just such an explosive playmaker, that it just gives us another dynamic on the offensive side of the ball. You look at other teams and they wish that they had someone like that because that opens other people up. They're going to have to double or triple team guys like that and we still find ways to get him the ball, and that's something special when he's still finding ways to get the ball."
On offense being tweaked to fit his strengths:
"Coach Pinkel would say that the offense is only as good as what your quarterback can do. With me or with Chase Patton, we throw. So we're going to throw the ball more and hand the ball off to our tailbacks more."
On the team's fourth consecutive national TV appearance:
"We played into January 1st for the first time in 40 years, people get to see us out there. That's what it takes with winning, that's what you get with winning. There's more national exposure, there's more media exposure and I think that we're mature enough to do that now."
On blocking out the expectations of himself and the team this season:
"You don't have too much time to think about anything in camp. It's a very long camp. They make practices harder than games, I can truthfully say that. We're excited about the task at hand, and it's going to take a lot of effort mentally, physically, emotionally on everybody's part."
On if the feeling is different since being nationally ranked:
"It feels a lot like last year. We have expectations, internally, that no one knows. And I think all that really matters to us 80 guys playing football or the strength staff or the coaching staff is that we know what we're capable of and we just need to go out there and do it."
On defense:
"It's been helpful. It takes a tremendous pressure off the offense. You know last year and two years ago, we thought we had to score every single time we had the football. But last year at the end of the season our defense led in big 12 games as a defense, so they're going to pick up right where they left off last year. And it makes us not have a lot of pressure to go out and score 40 points a game, where as we can win the 21-14 games if need be."
