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Opening statement:
“The interesting thing for our guys when you come to the last of whatever it is, you have a bunch of seniors that are looking at it that way. Their last Tuesday of a regular season practice, their last Wednesday or whatever it might be. It’s a unique time when you look at those guys and think of all they’ve put in and invested into this program. As a coach, you hope for the entire team to put their total focus on getting it done for those seniors. Our guys have obviously been through a lot in their career with ups and downs and what not. They’ve done an outstanding job since my staff and myself have come in with really buying into doing things in a different way and embracing change and embracing what we’re doing. Nothing would be pleasing to me, our staff or team than to handle our business on Saturday and go get a win. Their last game in this stadium can be a win. Also with that, we’ll get a postseason game, which is something we’re shooting for. One of the great perks of college football, you get that opportunity to take your team to a bowl game and treat them right and reward them for all the work they put in, because they’ve put a lot in. It’s always something you have to earn, you have to go do it, and we have to opportunity to do it this weekend. That’s our goal, to go get that done and be able to reward not only our seniors but our entire team for all they’ve done together. That’s what we’re focusing on and preparing for.”
On the energy of the team:
“There will be a special energy, it’ll be created by the players. That’s my hope. You get a team that’s been through a lot of goods and bads, ups and downs together. They feel for each other so I think they’re going to come together and understand what’s a stake and go have great energy and play a great game.”
On the importance of Perry Hills:
“That’s hard to put into words what Perry [Hills] has meant to me, our staff, this program and University. You can’t really think of a better example of someone who has done a lot for their team. He has put everything he has into this program and his team. He’s certainly fought through a lot of things. He’s tough minded and a physically tough guy. You wish he was healthier throughout the whole year. In many ways our team and our season would have reflected that too. I look for Perry to continue to improve this week, get him back healthy and hopefully go out there to help our senior class and go get a win.”
On the play of quarterback Max Bortenshlager in his first start:
“We’re really pleased with how Max played last week. Obviously we were in a tough situation with a hostile environment and all of that in his first real game time other than some time early in the season when the game was no longer in doubt (against Howard). I think he performed with some poise. There’s plenty of things I know he’ll tell you he could do better and we believe he can do better too, but he was executing and played well. Max has certainly put himself in a position where if Perry’s not able to go, he’s a guy we feel can really function at a high level and move our offense. We can operate the run game as well as the pass game with him in. We need to have that element about us to be successful.”
On Rutgers:
“They’re a group that is playing with good effort, it shows up on tape. They’ve had a few games that have gotten away from them but they’ve have some really close games. I know they’re well coached, they’re playing hard and do some things that give you problems. They have good schemes with what they do. We’re anticipating and expecting their best effort on Saturday and a tough ball game. That’s what we’re prepared for, that’s how you always have to prepare. We have to really focus on ourselves and what we need to do. That’s always the message to our team. We’re going to prepare scheme-wise and game plan and go through some things we need to be prepared for. It comes down to if we’re going to be able to execute and play with an energy level and effort level that’s to our standard, we’re going to put ourselves in a good position to have a chance on Saturday. If we don’t, you put that at risk. That’ll continue to be the message for us. There’s a lot for our guys to play for.
On Will Likely’s impact on the program:
“That’s a hard one for me to talk about without getting emotional about. There’s not a finer young man and competitor and a great player as well. It’s tough. We see him everyday rehabbing, getting his knee ready. Will’s got a bright future ahead of him. I totally believe he has a football career left and also believe no matter what he does in life, he’ll be successful. He just has that about him. It’s hard when you see a guy that has put so much into it and he’s really good at it get this temporarily taken away from him. We certainly feel for Will. He’ll be out there on the field for Senior Day before the game.”
On looking back at the progress the team as made:
“We’re very honest and self aware of where we are and what we’re doing. I believe with our team healthy and able to play, we’re further along than where we think we are and that’s a testament to our players and how they’ve bought in to what we’ve done. There’s so many positives. It was about this time last year when I got here and began to look at the team and identify who’s staying, who’s leaving, watching film. To see where we are, it shows tremendous strides. People close to the program know that. We have great momentum going into recruiting and we’re going to continue that. You look at the young guys that are playing now and are coming in, and we have a great core group of older guys that we need to continue to build around and cultivate their leadership skills.”
On the message to the team:
“You have to regroup and attack every Saturday and do the best you can to win the game. You can’t talk about the last three or four weeks. It’s about the next game. Every week is different, every opponent is different. As a coach you get everyone to focus on the task at hand and do what they need to do. That’s how it is this week. There’s a lot to be excited about and focused on for this Saturday”
On Thanksgiving:
“I enjoy the holiday. It’s around football time so you’re always with your team. You have sort of Thanksgiving together with your team and then with your family later on in that evening. It’s a neat time of the year. It’s football in November so it’s something about it, it’s a little more chill in the air. There’s usually more importance on the games this time of year. This is what you do it for.”
On the possible rivalry between Maryland and Rutgers:
“I can’t say that this is a rivalry and no one else can say that either. Rivalries are built, they don’t happen that way. If this opponent or any other opponent becomes a big rivalry for us, then great, but that’s not going to be my choice or anyone else’s. It’s not real when you make it that way. We can stamp anything and say, ‘lets make this a rivalry,’ but it’s not that until all the fans, the Universities, the communities and everyone has a feeling of animosity between the two teams. That’s how rivalries are built.”
Opening statement:
“The interesting thing for our guys when you come to the last of whatever it is, you have a bunch of seniors that are looking at it that way. Their last Tuesday of a regular season practice, their last Wednesday or whatever it might be. It’s a unique time when you look at those guys and think of all they’ve put in and invested into this program. As a coach, you hope for the entire team to put their total focus on getting it done for those seniors. Our guys have obviously been through a lot in their career with ups and downs and what not. They’ve done an outstanding job since my staff and myself have come in with really buying into doing things in a different way and embracing change and embracing what we’re doing. Nothing would be pleasing to me, our staff or team than to handle our business on Saturday and go get a win. Their last game in this stadium can be a win. Also with that, we’ll get a postseason game, which is something we’re shooting for. One of the great perks of college football, you get that opportunity to take your team to a bowl game and treat them right and reward them for all the work they put in, because they’ve put a lot in. It’s always something you have to earn, you have to go do it, and we have to opportunity to do it this weekend. That’s our goal, to go get that done and be able to reward not only our seniors but our entire team for all they’ve done together. That’s what we’re focusing on and preparing for.”
On the energy of the team:
“There will be a special energy, it’ll be created by the players. That’s my hope. You get a team that’s been through a lot of goods and bads, ups and downs together. They feel for each other so I think they’re going to come together and understand what’s a stake and go have great energy and play a great game.”
On the importance of Perry Hills:
“That’s hard to put into words what Perry [Hills] has meant to me, our staff, this program and University. You can’t really think of a better example of someone who has done a lot for their team. He has put everything he has into this program and his team. He’s certainly fought through a lot of things. He’s tough minded and a physically tough guy. You wish he was healthier throughout the whole year. In many ways our team and our season would have reflected that too. I look for Perry to continue to improve this week, get him back healthy and hopefully go out there to help our senior class and go get a win.”
On the play of quarterback Max Bortenshlager in his first start:
“We’re really pleased with how Max played last week. Obviously we were in a tough situation with a hostile environment and all of that in his first real game time other than some time early in the season when the game was no longer in doubt (against Howard). I think he performed with some poise. There’s plenty of things I know he’ll tell you he could do better and we believe he can do better too, but he was executing and played well. Max has certainly put himself in a position where if Perry’s not able to go, he’s a guy we feel can really function at a high level and move our offense. We can operate the run game as well as the pass game with him in. We need to have that element about us to be successful.”
On Rutgers:
“They’re a group that is playing with good effort, it shows up on tape. They’ve had a few games that have gotten away from them but they’ve have some really close games. I know they’re well coached, they’re playing hard and do some things that give you problems. They have good schemes with what they do. We’re anticipating and expecting their best effort on Saturday and a tough ball game. That’s what we’re prepared for, that’s how you always have to prepare. We have to really focus on ourselves and what we need to do. That’s always the message to our team. We’re going to prepare scheme-wise and game plan and go through some things we need to be prepared for. It comes down to if we’re going to be able to execute and play with an energy level and effort level that’s to our standard, we’re going to put ourselves in a good position to have a chance on Saturday. If we don’t, you put that at risk. That’ll continue to be the message for us. There’s a lot for our guys to play for.
On Will Likely’s impact on the program:
“That’s a hard one for me to talk about without getting emotional about. There’s not a finer young man and competitor and a great player as well. It’s tough. We see him everyday rehabbing, getting his knee ready. Will’s got a bright future ahead of him. I totally believe he has a football career left and also believe no matter what he does in life, he’ll be successful. He just has that about him. It’s hard when you see a guy that has put so much into it and he’s really good at it get this temporarily taken away from him. We certainly feel for Will. He’ll be out there on the field for Senior Day before the game.”
On looking back at the progress the team as made:
“We’re very honest and self aware of where we are and what we’re doing. I believe with our team healthy and able to play, we’re further along than where we think we are and that’s a testament to our players and how they’ve bought in to what we’ve done. There’s so many positives. It was about this time last year when I got here and began to look at the team and identify who’s staying, who’s leaving, watching film. To see where we are, it shows tremendous strides. People close to the program know that. We have great momentum going into recruiting and we’re going to continue that. You look at the young guys that are playing now and are coming in, and we have a great core group of older guys that we need to continue to build around and cultivate their leadership skills.”
On the message to the team:
“You have to regroup and attack every Saturday and do the best you can to win the game. You can’t talk about the last three or four weeks. It’s about the next game. Every week is different, every opponent is different. As a coach you get everyone to focus on the task at hand and do what they need to do. That’s how it is this week. There’s a lot to be excited about and focused on for this Saturday”
On Thanksgiving:
“I enjoy the holiday. It’s around football time so you’re always with your team. You have sort of Thanksgiving together with your team and then with your family later on in that evening. It’s a neat time of the year. It’s football in November so it’s something about it, it’s a little more chill in the air. There’s usually more importance on the games this time of year. This is what you do it for.”
On the possible rivalry between Maryland and Rutgers:
“I can’t say that this is a rivalry and no one else can say that either. Rivalries are built, they don’t happen that way. If this opponent or any other opponent becomes a big rivalry for us, then great, but that’s not going to be my choice or anyone else’s. It’s not real when you make it that way. We can stamp anything and say, ‘lets make this a rivalry,’ but it’s not that until all the fans, the Universities, the communities and everyone has a feeling of animosity between the two teams. That’s how rivalries are built.”
