Mike Leach Monday press conference
A transcription of coach Mike Leach's remarks is after the jump.
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(Was the last time you guys played in Salt Lake a low point for the team and did the program grow from that?)
Well, this isn't the last time. This is this time so we're just worried about that.
(What have you seen out of Utah this time?)
Very similar to what they always are: strong, physical team, very fundamentally sound and the biggest thing you notice about Utah is they're physical, they're always physical.
(In your first year coaching at Washington State what was the biggest change you felt the program needed to make?)
I'm not talking about the first year, we're talking about this year.
(After looking at the tape what were the positives you saw from the Oregon game?)
Thought we played extremely hard, I thought we took a step, I thought we improved as a team. Every week is a step, it was very disappointing that we didn't win but I thought we improved as a team, I thought we took a step as a team. We've got a very young group but I thought a lot of them played beyond their age a little bit, which was pleasing to see. I think we've got to build on that, keep it better and do it longer and more often and make that consistent, make it a habit. I thought that we mixed some stuff in there defensively, took a step there, which I think some of that's been overdue. I thought we played really well there were just key opportunities and things we could get our hands on and stuff like that, which would make a difference. We have to work on the ability to seize that and there's some elements that were out of our control that we just have to live with.
(Was that the most complete game WSU has played this season?)
For offense and defense, maybe. Portland State might have been. I thought we had a better special teams performance against Portland State. I thought we could have done better on special teams against Oregon.
(Is the offensive line's athleticism becoming more apparent in games?)
I think they improved. We only gave up one sack and I think they are big guys, they're pretty athletic. I think they're a group that it was very important for us to come together, they are starting to come together. And for a group that's played together as short a period of time as they have I thought they played together really good against a team the quality of Oregon. You just constantly try to improve. It's not a moral victory or anything, it's just now we've raised our bar and we'll raise it further.
(Do they get downfield more, maybe in the screen game?)
I suppose. The biggest thing, our biggest emphasis on improvements have been in pass protection and in run blocking.
(Suliaman Hameed was on scout team for a while. What stuck out to you when you were facing him?)
Yep, stuck out, played well. Very physical, a guy that football means a lot to and I thought he played very mature for a guy who got his first college snap against Oregon. How about that?
(In what regard has he improved from when he was on scout team to now?)
I thought we should have put him in sooner. Thought we should have played him sooner.
(Moving forward, what would stop you guys from playing at that level in every game?)
Well we should, and we just have to improve. We just have to keep getting better and keep playing together better and, like I say, make up for the time that we haven't had together, be more focused and concentrate better than the other teams because we're not going to be able to manufacture the fact that we've played two years together. We just have to focus better in practice and better in games.
(In your experience is it tough transitioning from a highly-hyped game and focusing on a new opponent?)
I would like to think that we ignored the hype. This business that there are different speeds for different levels of hype is crazy. I mean, if we're doing that then we're a team that hasn’t made a lot of progress and we don't have very good focus. We need to play to top ability every time we go out there regardless of the opponent and focus on ourselves and our own efforts
(What's the biggest difference you see between this team now and two weeks ago?)
I think the most significant step was Portland State we were able to get what we were doing and seeing on the practice field onto the game field. Then that happened again this last week so we need to keep having the ability to do that.
(Did you get much feedback from recruits about the atmosphere on Saturday?)
Everybody thought the atmosphere was very impressive. It's a gorgeous stadium. A lot of electricity, a lot of incredible fans, a lot of noise. It's a great game day environment. At the rate new stuff keeps popping up I can't wait to see what they stick in their next time.
(Are you guys using the heavy package with seven offensive linemen because now you have the personnel?)
We've got more offensive linemen than we used to. We played the hwole season last year with something like seven.
(Is that a package that can be used for both running and passing plays?)
Well, I assume you can. It's nothing that we haven't done over the years. We haven’t done much of it here. It's a little more personnel-based. We haven't done much of it here but over the years I've done quite a bit of it.
(What does River Cracraft bring to the table and how does he separate himself form the other receivers?)
I think focus, I think from the day he got here he was always very focused, very driven, worked very hard. Didn't allow distractions, which I think one good thing about him is, he does it naturally, I don't know what all his hobbies are but I think all his hobbies involve something football-related. Because everytime I see him he's either thinking or doing football. He's not one of those guys after a good play or a bad play has a whole lot of dialogue. I think he does a pretty good job focusing on his job the next play, which I think is very key. I think it's very key and it's allowed him to accelerate at an early age.
(Can you talk about your relationship with coach Kyle Whittingham and when you first go to know him?)
Well, when I first became aware of him he was a total football icon there at BYU. You know, there were the haves and the have-nots and Kyle was definitely a have and played on a very good football team and he had bigger muscles than most people. So I was aware of him then and then as I've gotten into coaching I've gotten to know him and just a great guy, smart guy, very aware of what he's doing and just personifies defensive toughness. A very interesting guy to talk to, has other interests, stuff like that. I think it really started out before we knew each other particularly well. We knew a lot of people the other knew.
(Can you talk about Luke Falk's progress at WSU?)
Good player, very good player. I think he came in, won the No. 2 spot, he's an incredibly hard worker. Very focused, has the ability to draw a lot from watching film and duplicate it out there on the field. Big, strong arm. A guy that I truly think schools overlooked in the recruiting process. Some of it had to do with the fact that he didn't play his junior year of high school.
(Will you try and kick away from Utah's Kaelin Clay, who has three return touchdowns already?)
Shoot, I hope we don't kick it at all. But let's try to keep the glass half full here. Good player, he's a good player. You've got to kind of balance what you lose by him having it and balance what you lose by kicking it away from him because either way you're giving up something. We'll look at that and plus it would pretty much be a secret, something we wouldn't tell you anyways.
(What have you thought of Connor's performance?)
Pleased but not surprised. He's gotten better and better as time's gone on and he deserves some credit for that but his receivers improving deserve credit for it, his offensive line improving deserve credit for it, his running backs playing well deserve credit for it because they all work together. But that was something that really started to take off midway through last year and I think Connor's done a better and better job of being the same guy every day so these guys can all draw from him and what he's going to do by position and whatnot. And actually, too, he's kind of a leader out there.
(What have you seen from Utah quarterback Travis Wilson?)
Good player, good solid player.
(Any chance the Oregon game could be a distraction?)
Well, we're not a very good team if it's a distraction for us. If it's a distraction for us we're not a very good team and we have to have the ability to mentally focus and just worry about the next game.
(Is there anything the coaches have done differently over the last couple weeks that you think has been effective?)
The biggest thing is just really focused on duplicating practice and I think one play at a time.
(Student Question: Who is your favorite football player?)
Growing up, Bart Starr. I had an autographed Bart Starr picture next to my bed. Of course Green Bay, Vince Lombardi and all that. I read all the books I could get on Bart Starr.
For one, one thing was he got to Alabama when they had a coaching transition so he really didn’t get to play much, and if it were today he never would have been drafted. I mean, because that was back when they had a ridiculous number of rounds. I can't remember the round. Something like the 27th round he's drafted. Goes to Green Bay and then they of course were awful. So for as unlucky as he was in college he was pretty lucky in the NFL because before too long Vince Lombardi came to Green bay and that was nearly the perfect match because you had a very disciplined, mentally tough guy in Bart Starr, which is what I think would be required to match up with Vince Lombardi and then of course they went on to win NFC championships and the first two Super Bowls. I think everybody had talked about he's kind of the guy that held it together. Very tough, would play hurt, also just very precise.
There were teams that threw it more but they kind of had a hand in some of the short passing game. Sweep this way, sweep that way and throw underneath. The other thing, and I guess Lombardi had more to do with this, that it's necessary to have an identity. You need to be good at something, and not just a mishmash of plays. You need to be good at something and they were determined to be good at that sweep and everything else they did built off it.
And then Bart Starr on the field and that was back when quarterbacks had a hand in calling most of their own plays and all that and just a brilliant guy.
