Opening Statement
“It doesn't feel a whole lot better than it did yesterday when I talked with you (after the game). A lot of things I said, I still feel. As a football team, that's a game we believe we should win. Yet, I give Akron credit for doing a great job and we really weren't able to come up with a way to win that football game in the fourth quarter. I'm disappointed with it, but, it was game two. We have 10 games to go and we can only focus on each one, one at a time. We have to take from this game all that we can to work to improve and really, that's what it comes down to…to improve our team.”
Can the team become significantly better at tackling?
“I think we can. I know where some of our issues were. We had our biggest problems in the secondary. Two of our biggest defenders were two players who have never played defense before a year ago. That's something you can train and develop. There were other missed tackles where it's just positioning where you're there, but you're not there, and your arm tackling. If you can key and diagnose a little bit quicker, you're just that much closer to the football. There's a point in time where sometimes it's the athlete, but there's also the ability to coach and develop and some people have really developed into good tacklers. One example is Jake Flaherty. I had an issue with him for awhile with his style of tackling. He's a much improved tackler this fall than he's been in the past. I suspect there are others who have improved, as well. It can be improved, but it's also about getting to that football. When you're a step or two behind, it's a lot harder to tackle properly.”
Was this a low point in your career? Having slept on it…what's your sentiment?
“I haven't gone back and said this feels worse than anything … I can't tell you that. I don't feel good about this game. I can tell you that. It's a lousy feeling, really lousy feeling. I really have not given it any thought if it feels worse. It feels bad enough. That may be the best way to put it.”
Do you think a school like Syracuse should lose to Akron?
“On paper, you say no, but I've learned to not say that. In this day in age, it's different. It's different than it was 15 years ago. The parity has definitely taken hold in college football and it's been that way the last eight to nine years. It's no different than Appalachian State or James Madison or whoever else upset teams yesterday. It happens. It usually happens because they have good players. I knew going into the game and I didn't want to make a big deal out of it because so often what it sounds like is you're setting the stage. I knew that quarterback was a very good player. I knew that running back was a good player. I knew the offensive line was an experienced offensive line. They were big and physical and four starters for number of years. I knew that the wide receiver they brought in from junior college was a good player. I watched him on film from the Wisconsin game. On the defense, I was impressed with their safeties the week before. There was talent. I talked with J.D. (Brookhart) before the game and told him I saw the weapons he had. They're a good offensive football team. So, that part of it, at the same time, I think we should've won that football game. The way they played compared to the way we played? They earned it. They outplayed us.”
Do you still think the team improved since these 24 hours have elapsed?
“I definitely think the offense improved. I could point out some individuals on defense who I thought got better. But as a total defense, we did not improve. We did not play as well as we did in week one. I don't know if it was because of Akron or because of us. All-in-all, we didn't play as well as we did the week before.”
In regard to practice, it's all about execution now. You can't change your defensive scheme, now, can you?
“You can look at certain things you're doing in regard to the game plan. There are things we've worked on in Spring ball and in camp that we maybe haven't used at this time on both sides of the ball and special teams, as well. That's what training camp is for. You install things so you've at least touched on certain things for a period of time and then you move on and come back to that so it's not the first time. Your foundation is what you are and it's a matter of executing. I think on the offensive side of the ball, it was improved from one week to the next. You're not going to change a whole bunch. You just have to get better at what you're doing.”
Tackling is something you addressed last week. What do you do differently this week?
You keep working at it. What else can you say? If you have to change people, you change people. If you have to change something schematically, you change something schematically. All those things are possibilities you have to consider. Is it the person or the technique or can you develop? They are the decisions you have to make.
What do you believe has to happen better from a coaching standpoint?
“We have to get better results. We have to get our guys to do it better. I analyze that and I look at certain things and Akron did some things well at times. What happened is they were able to run the ball this week. Last week (against Wisconsin), they couldn't do that. They stayed one in personnel with four-wide receivers. They were in several different personnel groupings this week. They got to use a little bit more of a complete offense because they were in the game, and that worked against us. As for schematics, you try and have so much ready and prepared. This is a young group and you have to be careful with how much you do with them. They have to grow and develop and there's been some limitation in that regard. Sometimes what happens is it catches up with you later in the game. When they were pretty methodical on the 28-28 drive, they hit on certain things that weren't big and explosive, but there was a lot of effective consistency in their drive. I give them credit. I think that they did a lot of good things – a lot of the right things.”
What is it like sitting in your chair right now, as the head coach of the Syracuse team in a college football town?
“If I spent a lot of time dwelling on it, it's terrible. I really have to be strong enough not to dwell on it right now, because really, I can't control it. I understand it, but I can't control that. I have to focus truly on the things that I can control and that is to get this team it play better. That has to be my mindset. Do you have moments where you have concerns? Absolutely. I really work hard to try to dispel it, because it doesn't do any good.”
What are your plans for (quarterback) Cam Dantley?
“Just as I told you yesterday and after watching film, I thought that Cam did a great job. I thought he made some excellent plays, a couple times under duress. He made a bad decision on the bootleg, unfortunately. He should've gotten rid of it right away, instead, he tried to stay alive, and all of a sudden he got his arm hit and the ball came out. All-in-all, I think he did a very good job. He also did a good job at the line of scrimmage, controlling the clock. I'm not going to say what our decision is, but I'd be surprised if we made a change right now. I think Cam did enough to deserve another chance.”
What can your staff do to be more accountable in terms of making players more accountable?
“I think it's a lot of things. When you talk about accountability, I go through that film and I evaluate. What are we asking our guys to do? When I watch it, I ask, why are they doing things well and why are they not? Then it's a question of coaching or a particular athlete. There's an evaluation process you have to go through. I think that's what it comes to. I'm not big on talking about individuals. I think there must be accountability as an athlete, always. When players take accountability for their actions, that's when you have the room for the most growth. The same goes for the coaches.”