Muschamp's Press Conference Video and Transcription
Wednesday, October 8, 2014 | Football
Florida Gators head football coach Will Muschamp addressed the media Wednesday leading up to Saturday's matchup with LSU.
Senior Associate Athletics Director Steve McClain:
Thank you for being here today. We appreciate your patience as we moved Monday's regularly scheduled press conference until today. We didn't figure it was appropriate to stand up here Monday and talk about football. I know only 48 hours has passed, and I respect that you have a job to do and have some questions for coach, so we'll turn it over to him.
Head Coach Will Muschamp:
Opening statement…
I know a lot of you guys will have questions about the Treon Harris situation. The statement that the university released Monday I think was pretty self-explanatory. It's a very serious charge and there's been no change in his status. So that's kind of where we are. I don't have anything additional to add. I know some of you still will ask questions, but I'm not going to have any other comment on the situation. To reiterate what Steve said, sorry to inconvenience you guys, but with the situation Monday and the seriousness of it, I felt like it was a little insensitive to have a football press conference. I think it is today, too. But we've got to move forward.
I'll recap the Tennessee game and talk a little bit about LSU and our preparation which started on Sunday. Tennessee was a big win for us. I thought offensively we improved on third down, we had seven conversions on third down. I think in the two previous games against two good football teams, their defense had only allowed three. So that was a good improvement. I thought we ran the ball well. We need to continue to throw it better, and be more efficient in the throwing game, timing, ball placement and catching the football. I think we protected well in the game, but must continue to make some progress there. Defensively, it was a total team effort. We had eight red zone snaps, had negative 11 yards, three incompletions, an interception and a sack, so I think our guys played extremely well. We made it a one-dimensional game, we were able to get pressure on the quarterback with four guys rushing, three guys at times. We picked our spots to pressure and I thought D.J. [Durkin] did a good job and our defensive staff. Special teams, Kyle [Christy] had five punts inside the 20-yard line. And Austin Hardin hitting the 49-yarder, which would have been good for 60, I'm really proud of him. His confidence level has really taken a step forward and it needs to continue.
Player of the game offensively was Matt Jones. I thought Matt ran extremely hard, extremely well in the game. Offensive line, Max Garcia continues to have an amazing year. Defensively, we gave it to our defensive unit. We felt like from a front standpoint we had some guys who could rush and get pressure with four, we were able to do so. We covered well on the back end. There were so many positives. Within each group, we had some guys that had productive days: Bryan Cox had a great day. Jalen Tabor, for a freshman, had an outstanding -- for any player -- had an outstanding game. Bryan went through a very tough time with his grandfather last week and managing that situation.
Ball hawks: [Jalen] Tabor and Keanu Neal, who continues to play outstanding football. The interception at the end was a big time play. Dante Fowler continues to play well. Marcus Maye played his best football for us this year. Vernon Hargreaves and Alex McCalister. Special teams players of the game, Austin Hardin with a big field goal and also Marcus Maye and Jabari Gorman. They're two guys that started the previous game, didn't start on defense, but they didn't' hang their head and went out and worked extremely hard and were huge contributors for us on special teams. So very proud of their efforts.
As far as injuries right now, Leon [Orr], I would say, is questionable for the game. He has worked out with us the last two days but we'll see how he continues to progress through the week. Mike Taylor, his knee is fine. He's got the flu. He's missed the last 48 hours with us but he'll be at practice today and will practice and will play in the game. He's ready to go. Brandon Powell looks great. He's moved extremely well. Will Grier is good. He'll be ready to go. Matt Jones, a little swelling on the knee but should be fine at game time. Valdez Showers is out with a high ankle but we will get him back next week. I feel very confident in that. And C.J. Worton is back and he will play in the game Saturday. So it's good to get him back.
On to LSU. You know Les [Miles] is going into his 10th season. Typical LSU team. You look at their offensive line, they're big, they're athletic, they're 320 across the board, plus. Very physical on the offensive line. Running backs, [Terrence] Magee's a guy that's been there a long time, but a heck of a football player obviously. A very unselfish player, does a lot of things for them on special teams, really enjoy watching this young man play. Leonard Fournette, outstanding player. Darrel Williams we recruited as well. Kenny Hilliard we recruited as well. Whoever's in there, they're physical, they compete, they run it hard, they have great ball security, they take care of the football. Receiving-wise they've lost a lot of good players from last year who they replaced with long, athletic guys that can go get the football down the field. [Travin] Dural's averaging 26 yards a reception. Malachi Dupre's averaging 24 yards a reception.
A lot of those have been contested 50-50 balls. They are longer guys who have gone up there and gotten the football. Trey Quinn's done a nice job for them in the slot. At quarterback, you know, [Anthony] Jennings and [Brandon] Harris have both played. Both of them have live arms. They can throw it. Any throw you need them to make, they both can make all the throws. They are athletic. They do have legs. That always concerns you in that situation when you play against a quarterback like these two guys. But they're two talented young men.
Defensively, [defensive coordinator] John Chavis has been in our league a long time, a guy who I've got tremendous respect for. They've had 13 turnovers so far this season, scored twice on defense. But they're long. They're athletic. They run extremely well. [Danielle] Hunter and [Jermauria] Rasco, the two ends, are the two guys who you see up front with their pass rush ability and can create some one-on-ones. [Tre'Davious] White, [Rashard] Robinson and [Jalen] Mills are guys on the back end that make a bunch of plays for them. They cover extremely well. Don't get fooled by last week's game. They had two 50-50 balls down the field that were big chunk plays for Auburn, which resulted in 14 points. Auburn puts another drive together and you give them credit. It's 24-7 before you've taken a bite out of your hot dog yet. So those guys are extremely athletic on defense. They're outstanding on special teams. We ought to have a special environment here at 7:30 in the Swamp, and I know our guys are extremely excited to get back out here and play. I'll open it up for any questions.
On the Treon Harris situation becoming a distraction…
Again, you handle things in life and you move forward. That's what we're going to do.
On how the team is handling the Treon Harris situation…
I feel very comfortable in how we've approached this situation.
On the depth chart at the quarterback position…
Well, Jeff [Driskel] will start the game. Jeff was going to [start], no question. We had not made a decision off the last game about who would start the game. Jeff was going to play in the game, I do know that. As we continue to practice today and tomorrow, right now Skyler [Mornhinweg] and Will [Grier] are swapping the reps with the second group. We'll make the decision game time.
On the need for the receivers to step up and make plays…
Yeah, fifteen drops at the position, you know, which is...I would probably look at Austin Hardin. A guy who has practiced extremely well and had a very good fall camp. He goes out in a pressure situation. He hits a 49-yarder to take the lead on the road, would've been good from 60. But here's a guy that's practiced extremely well, prepared himself, given himself the opportunity. Now, from a confidence level, watching him hit the ball these last two days is like a different person. It's amazing what confidence can do for you as an athlete. I look at the situation with the receivers, we're trying to get some things going in the throwing game. We drop a slant on the first drive. It's like the air comes out of you a little bit. We've got to overcome those situations. We've got to finish on some plays. We've got to be able to place the ball on 3rd and 6 to an out route, to a tight end on the money. There's a lot of things involved in it, but I think from a standpoint of us making some plays, creating some confidence for our guys right now, it's critical.
On utilizing Ahmad Fulwood…
We need to get Ahmad more involved. We certainly do. Right now, who knows depending on taking upwards of 70-80 snaps in a game, he needs to be more involved. C.J. [Worton] will be more involved in the slot this week. Quinton [Dunbar] and Demarcus [Robinson] and Latroy [Pittman, Jr.], with that combination of guys, and Brandon Powell, getting him back and using him in some different roles will be very good for us. We wanted to expand his role in the off week, and we were unable to when he pulled his hamstring. But he looks great.
On considering playing two quarterbacks in the game…
We're going to do what we need to win the game.
On Jeff Driskel's confidence…
Jeff's a tough young man. He's resilient. I met with him Sunday and I talked to him after the game and talked to him Monday. He understands the situation. He needs to play better. He takes full responsibility to be the quarterback at the University of Florida. The way he has handled this has been outstanding.
On addressing the Treon Harris situation with the team…
I really don't have any further comment on the situation right now.
On the plan for Will Grier prior to the Treon Harris suspension…
You know, Tom, we hadn't really made a decision considering the length we still had to go in the season. So, you know, we had not had that discussion as far as a redshirt at that time. Given the situation of having two guys that had played to that point in the season, that's probably where we were headed. Certainly given the situation right now, obviously not.
On Treon Harris' character…
I don't have any other comment about the situation.
On difficulty focusing on preparation for LSU…
Well, you handle the situation and you move forward. That's what we've done. We'll be fine.
On watching Jeff Driskel on film…
I think we've taken a lot of the positive things we've done within his career here at the University of Florida, which there's been a lot. Played in some big games. Played in a big game against LSU here two years ago and won and made some plays in that game that helped us. Those are all things that we've tried to accentuate at this time, and that's what we're doing.
On decision not to try a “Hail Mary” before the end of the first half at Tennessee…
Well, given the situation, we had an offensive penalty for a chop block down on the field. It wasn't in what they call the 10 to 2 range in front of the defender. In that situation, they reset the clock to an administrative timeout, so the play clock now goes to 25 seconds. We would have tried a Hail Mary had the clock run down. Given there were 10 seconds left in the game, we had run the clock down, a Hail Mary may last eight seconds. They may have two seconds to shoot another ball down the field on our end. I didn't want to get into that situation. And then on the administrative delay of game, the clock was still running in the situation. He took the 10-second runoff and didn't make us punt, which I thought he would do. I wanted to see how they responded to the situation. They took the 10-second runoff. I didn't want them to have another opportunity to shoot the ball in our end zone either since the ball was at midfield. And with [Justin] Worley's arm strength, he can throw it 70 yards.
On whether the defense was faster without Leon Orr and Mike Taylor…
Well I don't think our game plan makes them play any faster. I think we did a good job of executing our assignments and I think that maybe that had something to do with us looking faster on the field. Guys communicated much better in executing the plan, so maybe that attributed to that. But no question, Leon and Mike have played very good football here for us and we're excited to get both of them, hopefully, back this week.
On whether the team has lost confidence in Jeff Driskel…
Well, I think the number one thing you do, and what I addressed with our offense on Monday, is taking ownership in your job. The passing game takes a lot of components to work well, starting with protection, which I think we've protected extremely well this year. When you go down to a tipped-ball interception, we have an A-gap blitz, which the running back doesn't pick up, Jeff's got to force the ball a little bit quicker than he would like to, and we have a receiver coming across the middle that is open. It's off his hands, probably should have caught the ball, and it's an interception, so we're all going to blame that on Jeff Driskel. That's not all Jeff Driskel's fault. We took about 15 plays from the game and illustrated that to our players, and not to defend Jeff, but to defend the quarterback position. People around him need to execute better and take ownership in what they need to do better. You've got 15 drops at the receiver position in four games. That's a bunch. You want to talk about confidence and timing, and getting things going. Those are things we've addressed within the ownership in the position. Take ownership in your play and how you play and how you perform instead of pointing a finger at somebody else, which is the easiest thing to do and what we do in our society in most situations.
On C.J. Worton's status and if he can contend for the starting position…
He'll play in the slot. Absolutely. He's a good football player and it's good to get him back. He will play Saturday.
On defending the slot…
Well I think in four games [Marcus Maye] did play his best ballgame. We lost our eyes in a situation where we always tell our players in an injury situation, stay down. We had a substitution deal on the wheel route on their sideline and that wasn't all Marcus' fault. We had two situations where we should've slid the defender underneath and forced the ball high. And two of them were pretty good throws. They've got scholarships too. In those situations, you've got to tip your hat and play the next down. Now the interception to end the game, Keanu Neal is going to get the credit for it but [Marcus] is in underneath coverage in what we call a trail position, which elevates the ball and Keanu has an opportunity to intercept it and that's what I call a caused interception. We need to continue to work on eye control. That's the biggest issue we have right now. In man coverage, unfortunately, some players like to stare at the quarterback, and they're going to stare at the quarterback and watch him complete passes. In man coverage, you have to cover the man and what I talk about is working in phase with the receiver in order to play the ball. I've seen tremendous improvement from him and we're expecting tremendous improvement to continue.
On Jalen Tabor's role this Saturday…
I hope he's that productive. That would be nice, but not many times are you going to come off the edge on a blitz and nobody blocks you. He played the deep ball well. We outnumbered them in the box and they took a shot at the end zone in the red zone. I thought he made a really nice play against a very good player and a very good throw. He had a couple opportunities to defend balls. The first third down I thought was a very good play, outstanding coverage. I think he's a guy who just continues to improve. That's the natural progression of a young player. I want to see improvement week to week, really day to day. And that's where I think I see him headed.
On Daniel McMillian's status…
He had a head injury that we're dealing with right now. I expect him to be back.
On Daniel McMillian's progression…
We've gotten very good production with Antonio Morrison. This game will be a little different than our first four ball games. Other than a little 50-50 probably with Alabama, we've been a nickel team where we've had only two linebackers on the field. We've had very good production from Antonio Morrison, Michael Taylor, Jarrad Davis and Neiron Ball. Those guys are playing well for us right now. Daniel needs to continue to work as far as assignments and those things, be more consistent in his performance. He's a guy that we've got a lot of confidence in. He's played well on special teams. He'll continue to improve.
On Duke Dawson and Jalen Tabor…
One of the hardest things for a young player to understand is the importance of practice. They've been better than anyone they've ever played against, so they didn't have to work hard in practice and they can show up for the game and flip it on and everything works and goes well for them. That's not the way it works at this level. You have to build confidence and trust in your coaches that when you put them in the game, they can know what to do, especially in the secondary situation when you've got a guy with eight busted assignments in one practice. That's not good. That doesn't give you any confidence he'll be able to go out and execute on game day. I've been in situations where guys never have any busts and go out in the game and can't figure anything out. Those are situations you never know until they get in those situations. In Duke's case especially, he has practiced better. He has come out and has had consistently good practices to build confidence to put himself in that situation too, and I thought he played well. He did some nice things. There are some things we need to clean up, but for a first start on the road in that environment against a pretty good throwing football team, I was proud of him.
On Will Grier returning from injury…
He threw the ball well on Monday and yesterday. I feel he'll continue to progress through the week. Not ready to make a decision on who will be the backup in the game at this time. I didn't see a lot of rust from him as far as those things. He's been involved in all the meetings.
On the argument between Skyler Mornhinweg and Gerald Willis…
It was a tremendous misunderstanding. I tell you what, we've made a big one out of this. We've got an air thing that takes the wetness out of the cleats. Skyler last year was No. 17 and Jordan Sherit's No. 17 this year. Gerald was coming from class and trying to get ready for practice. Couldn't find his cleats on the air thing, and he grabbed No. 17 because he's buddies with Jordan Sherit and he thought that'd be okay. Went out to practice, and there was a disagreement on the cleats and whose cleats they were. Nobody stole anything. If anybody stole anything, they wouldn't be on this football team anymore. I can assure you of that. They had a disagreement and I wish it would have been handled a little bit differently. Me and my brother, Mike, used to fight all the time. It happened in our family. Maybe our family is really different from everybody else's. Me and my brother, Pat, I never won. Took swings. Never won. That's the way it goes. In families, it's what happens.
On whether or not Matt Jones is practicing…
He's not practiced so far. We hope to get him out there and get some reps today. He had some swelling on his knee, the knee he has injured before, twice.
On whether or not Matt Jones will play Saturday…
Yeah, I fully expect him to play, certainly do.
On the evaluation of D.J. Humphries' return…
It's a little rusty. He and I talked after the game. That's one thing about D.J. He's a hard self-evaluator and came to me and said, 'Boy, we need to tighten some things up.' He'll get back into the swing. I've been pleased with his practice so far this week. Chaz [Green] played well at right tackle. Rod [Johnson] gave up one thing on an inside stunt that was a critical play for us there in the game, but continues to improve and get better. He's going to continue to take steps forward and be a very valuable member of our offensive line. David Sharpe continues to improve, so we feel pretty comfortable where we are as we move forward this season, especially when you get in this run in the season where there are going to be some injuries and things that happen. Right now Trip [Thurman] has done some nice things, Tyler [Moore]. Trenton [Brown] played his best game Saturday and Max [Garcia] is playing extremely well for us at center.
On response from Kelvin Taylor and Mack Brown to Matt Jones owning the starting spot…
They have both been outstanding. And they're both competitive guys and they both want to play, but there's one ball. Both of those guys, I expect their roles to maybe, depending on how we move forward in the next 72 hours with Matt, which I expect him to play, but I've got confidence in Kelvin. I've got confidence in Mack Brown. Adam Lane has been over repping with our guys the last couple of days just in case, a guy that I have tremendous confidence in as well. Talk about a hard guy to tackle, a low center of gravity, a strong, tough back who catches the ball well out of the backfield. And then you add Brandon Powell to the mix, a guy who's going to get some snaps Saturday in some different roles. So we're excited about that position. I think it's pretty obvious to everyone in that ballgame Matt Jones gets heavy as the game goes and he ran extremely well.
On feelings about when a player gets into trouble…
Well, it always hurts anytime a young man goes through a tough situation. I'm not referring to that situation individually, but anytime you see our players hurt, you see a young man hurt, you spend a lot of time with him, it's hard. It's very hard. You get emotionally attached in all situations, absolutely.
On LSU losing players to the NFL draft…
I don't think there's any question. They've lost 18 players to the NFL draft in the last two years. You can't recruit, in my opinion, to replace players that quickly. No different than how we lost three players in the secondary that have played a bunch of football and a bunch of quality football for us. It's very difficult to overcome those, but nobody wants to hear that. At the end of the day, I can say it for Les [Miles], he can't say it. It's hard. It's hard to replace that. It's hard to recruit for that, and a lot of situations you're finding out the first of January the young man wants to try the NFL and you're saying, 'You've got to be kidding me.' But that's the life of where we are now in college football. We're working with the National Football League to amend those situations where young men aren't ready for that step. But there's no question they've probably faced some growing pains. I can't speak for them, but I know losing the amount of players they've lost in two years certainly takes a toll on your roster, no question.
