Muschamp's Monday Press Conference Video and Transcription
Monday, November 24, 2014 | Football
Florida Gators head football coach Will Muschamp spoke with the media on Monday about Florida's 52-3 victory over Eastern Kentucky in The Swamp and preparing to take on Florida State in one of the greatest rivalries in college football.
Opening statement…
Recap the last weekend, explosive plays were outstanding. Had 12 explosive plays, they only had one. The way they played us defensively allowed us to be able to create some of those down the field, so we were able to capitalize on those. Attempted several of them against South Carolina, didn't connect. You've got to connect on those opportunities 1-on-1 down the field. Didn't run the ball as well as we like, but I think, again, I think the way they played us created the explosive plays down the field. Really happy for our 24 seniors. The guys came out and to get that win and to be able to enjoy that locker room as seniors, really proud of them. Injury-wise, Treon [Harris] is the only guy and there is no injury really. He had a contusion on the lower part of his kneecap there and it just got a little tight in the game and we felt like we didn't want to risk any further injury with his situation there. He'll be fine. He'll start the game and be ready to go.
On to FSU, one of the great rivalries in all of college football. Got a really good football team. Got tremendous respect for [head coach] Jimbo [Fisher] and the job he's done, and his staff deserves a lot of credit for the games they've won. They won a bunch of games in a row. Last time they lost was when the Gators were up there. They've done an outstanding job. They've got a very good team in all three phases. Offensively, really with their team starts with Jameis Winston. He's a great player, a Heisman Trophy winner. Arm talent, he can throw it really any way you want it. He's just got a great, strong arm. He's able to throw the touch throws, take the ball to the right spots. He's got a great pocket presence. He's a very hard guy to tackle in the pocket. You've got to tackle him high. Great toughness for the position. You see the guy take some shots. He's got a bad ankle, he keeps battling, he keeps playing and keeps playing. At the end of the game, he's won a bunch of games for them, especially this year putting the game on his shoulders and winning the football game. Tremendous respect for him.
The two running backs, Karlos Williams and Dalvin Cook, have been very explosive for them. Both guys are top-end speed guys. Dalvin's a little more of a power guy inside for a smaller back, but a very powerful back. Great change of direction. Rashad Greene has been an outstanding player for them. He's caught over 80 balls this year and runs great routes. He's got good speed. Catches the ball extremely well. Nick O'Leary is a tough matchup for you, especially with the intermediate routes. He does an outstanding job at creating separation. They've got four seniors on the offensive line, so they're very experienced up front. Defensively, Eddie Goldman is probably one of the better tackles in the country. He's a very good player, very disruptive. Mario Edwards has played a lot of ball for them. Jalen Ramsey is an outstanding defensive back. He can play the nickel position. He can play safety. He can play corner. He's a good cover guy. And P.J. Williams and Ronald Darby are two very good corners. So they do a nice job, extremely talented on the defensive side of the ball. Roberto Aguayo missed for the first time in a long time Saturday. I don't know if he'll miss again. But he is an outstanding kicker. He's very accurate. I think he's missed two this year, right? Maybe. But he is really good. He is an outstanding kicker. The return game's great with [Kermit] Whitfield who can create explosive plays. Looking forward to going to Tallahassee. Our guys will prepare well. Our guys look forward to this game every year and it'll be a great atmosphere and environment.
On beating FSU in 2012 and the confidence it builds for this game…
I think so. We still got a lot of guys on the team that went up there. It was a great game, they had an outstanding football team, and we played well, got out to a fast start in the game. It's going to be critical for us there, take care of the football. We did that, we were able to run the ball, you know, and I think that's something that we're going to need to be able to do, you know, come Saturday. But there's no question that, you know, we've been a pretty good road team as far as handling ourselves on the road and that certainly is a very SEC-like atmosphere in Tallahassee.
On the susceptibility of Florida State and Jameis Winston being the “X-factor”…
Well, again, I think that, you know, anytime you win, it may not be exactly what you want it to look like, and certainly all the experts are taking their shots, but they've still won 27, 28, 29 games in a row, and that's hard to do. That's really hard to do. So, you know, again, you see a very well-coached, good football team in all three phases that have talented players. They've won a bunch of games, they know how to win and that's a talent too, so, again, I see a very talented football team on tape.
On taking risks at Florida State…
We're going to do what we need to do to win the football game.
On Nick O'Leary…
He does. He's just a really hard matchup. He's got really good balance and body control. He's got really good ball skills. He creates separation on a lot of his routes as far as when you try and bump him a little bit. He creates some separation on you, does a nice job of that. Especially in the high red zone, he's a guy they really target as far as getting him on the nub side, backside, matched up against a smaller DB, creating some matchups for him. You're always concerned about putting a linebacker on him in coverage because he runs well. There's no question he's a very difficult matchup. He's always a guy you have to consider in your pressure situations and what your matchup's going to be on him.
On the support of the players last Saturday in The Swamp…
I really appreciate it. You spend a lot of time with these young men and that's part of your job when you want to be a football coach. It's not just about Saturday afternoon. It's about Monday through Friday, it's about a grandmother passing away and handling it the right way. It's about doing a lot of things that people have no idea that your job entitles. That's something that, you know, you enjoy being a mentor, slash father figure, slash friend, slash coach. You wear a lot of hats in our job and that's part of it.
On what the emotions will be like on Saturday…
It doesn't really change for me. It's preparation -- it's a good football team. You turn on the tape and you don't get real emotional. I can tell you that, they've got a good team. When the game starts, you enjoy the competition, sitting on the sidelines in Baton Rouge with Jimbo [Fisher] for four or five years, for a long time. We won a national championship together. I enjoy that competition. I know he does as well.
On comparisons being made to Ron Zook's final game with UF at Florida State…
It is what it is. I mean, that isn't going to help us win the game. I can assure you of that. So we'll prepare well and we'll go up there and play well. That's what we need to do.
On extra motivation needed for Saturday…
They don't need fireworks to get ready for this one. They'll be ready to go. Our guys are excited about this game. I was concerned Saturday, I'll be honest with you, going into that ballgame. Our guys aren't dumb. They turn the tape on. They're able to see. But we got some competitive young men in that locker room and they'll turn the tape on and understand the type of team we're going against and the preparation that's going to take place. I told them in the locker room when the game was over. We've had a week to feel sorry about this, that or the other when all we can control is the controllable and that's getting ready for Florida State, a really good football team. We need to prepare better than we did this past week. We need to practice better than we did last week and they all agreed to that. They understood that. We need to prepare much better than we did this past week.
On conversations with staff last week…
I told the staff, 'Do your job, do your job. You get hired by the University of Florida to do your job, and that's to coach and to recruit and that's to represent this university first class, and that's what you do.' I haven't been involved in any recruiting since it happened. But our staff needs to continue to recruit and represent Florida. It's a great place to come to school and play football and that's what those guys are doing. They continue the phone calls and all that, and Sunday after Florida State, they'll be out recruiting for the University of Florida and getting ready for a bowl game. You get hired to do a job and that's your job. Go do your job.
On D.J. Durkin as interim head coach for the bowl game…
He'll do an outstanding job. He's a really good football coach, he sees the big picture, he's an outstanding recruiter, he's got a tireless work ethic and he does a great job with our players. He will do a fabulous job.
On managing players' emotions…
Well, we talk about it and we'll hit it again today. It's really no different than when you go to Jacksonville and play and play in some of these games. Just play the game. All the other stuff, we don't need that. Just play the game. Talking's not going to help you make a play, that's for sure. There will be high emotions. They need to manage that. They can't let it overtake them, especially early in the game getting very emotional. There are going to be a lot of ups and downs in the game, and you've got to play through them. Any big game, that's what you need to be able to do.
On blaring the FSU war chant at practice this week…
Yeah, they'll hear that a couple of times this week.
On Jeff Driskel's performance Saturday earning him a larger role this weekend…
We'll see as the game [goes on]. We always have some sort of package for him in the game. He performed the way we felt he certainly is capable of performing. Depending in the situation, we'll see how the week goes and where our preparation is at. I haven't sat down with the offensive staff today and gone through anything in what we're looking at and what they want to do. We'll move forward in the week and see where that progresses.
On Treon Harris' performance through the last few games…
Well, I don't think we've thrown it as well as we needed to throw it. That's the bottom line. We had some opportunities against South Carolina for some deep shots and we missed on a couple. Got to give the guy an opportunity to make a play on the ball. A little bit shaky. There is no question in the South Carolina game he was affected throwing by his hand. That was very evident, especially later in the game. But the corner ball he threw to Demarcus [Robinson] was probably as well as you could throw it. It dropped right in and Demarcus made a fabulous play. Just more consistent in the throwing game is what we're going to need, and he knows that.
On the Florida/Florida State rivalry…
I think this is one of those… a lot of guys know each other. A lot of guys either played with another player on the other team from high school or against. Very familiar from a standpoint of players on the roster. Guys know each other. Any time you're going to compete against somebody you know, the worst thing you can do is not play well. You want to go play well in front of your buddies and that sort of thing. It's a very intense rivalry. It's a very emotional game as far as that's concerned. Again, it's one of the great rivalries in all of college football.
On challenges in facing a talented, second half team…
As far as playing in the second half, we need to continue to play to our strengths and what we do. We make adjustments, too. They've done a really nice job and I think a little bit of being in the position they're in, everybody is taking their shot. And everybody comes out excited in the first half and everybody usually gives you a different wrinkle in those situations and they are trying to do something a little different. Sometimes you have to make those adjustments as the game goes. So they've done a good job in the second half. A lot of the success they've had is attributed to the quarterback position. The guy is making plays. He's making a bunch of plays. Maybe teams are giving him different looks in the first half -- I can't really go and tell you that. I know in the second half his numbers are really good when the game is on the line. That's a credit to him and how he's played.
On staying aggressive in the second half…
With him [Winston] on the field, you've got to stay aggressive. There are situations in how you possibly could end the game. You've got to go try and win the game when he is on the field. That's the bottom line.
On Jeff Driskel's confidence level…
There is no question he should be confident after the way he threw the ball, the timing, got the ball out and those sorts of things. I don't think there's any question.
On anyone reaching out to Muschamp for future opportunities…
No one has reached out to me.
On whether it's out of respect as the season is not yet over…
I don't have any idea but no one has reached out to me.
On what it takes to slow down Jameis Winston…
You've got to change things up. He's a guy that when he knows what he's getting -- he's good, regardless -- but he's really good when he knows what he's getting, whether it's pressure or coverage, middle field or split safety. I think you've just got to continue to change up and have creative looks that you are playing multiple things out of. Those are some things we do anyway. You can't wholesale changes against a really good player. And then you make a mistake and all of a sudden you cut a guy loose down the field. We've got to stay within what we do. We've got enough in our package to be able to manufacture some things.
On Jameis Winston going to Rashad Greene when the game is on the line…
Yeah, I would too. He's a really good player. He runs great routes. He's got good top-end speed. He catches the ball really well in traffic, but he is an outstanding football player.
On whether he's ever been fired anywhere…
No. Maybe the paper route.
On advice to players planning to carry Muschamp off the field after a win…
Nah.
On the secondary…
I think we've steadily improved throughout the year. On third-and-25 against LSU wasn't good, but past that since the Alabama game, we've played extremely well. Justin Worley was playing at Tennessee, I thought at the time was playing really well as far as throwing the football was concerned. We went up there and they've got some skill on the outside and I thought we played well that day. We kind of progressed throughout the year and still played well against some guys who throw the ball pretty well. South Carolina was throwing the ball as good as anybody and I think he was under 50 percent and 200 yards passing and some very talented guys on the edges. I feel very comfortable about where we are in the secondary and how we've played and how we've improved as the year has gone on. So we certainly have a huge challenge in front of us with the experience and talent at the quarterback position, and with the talent they have on the edges, there's no question about that. It's our biggest challenge on the year.
On the magnitude of playing at Florida State…
You can't overthink it. We're in there going through the breakdown from their games this year and our game last year and I'm in there drawing up something that probably happened 10 years ago and D.J. [Durkin] is looking at me and goes, 'That's not in the breakdown.' I said, 'Well, I know it's in his package. I know he runs it.' So, those are the type of things. But you can't overthink those things. You start to get cute and overthink something and you try and change something, you've got to be who you are and what your players can execute. It's like what you said, it's going to come down to the players on game day. The worst thing you can do is put them in a situation where you know they're not sure what they have and they're not sure who to cover down on and all of a sudden you don't get what you want in those situations. He's got a pretty good feel for how we're going to play some things and we've got a pretty good feel how they'll play some things and at the end of the day it comes down to execution.
