Coach Johnson Holds Weekly Press Conference

10/6/2003

Coach Johnson Holds Weekly Press Conference 10-6-03

Coach Johnson will address the local Nashville media every Monday of game week. Click below for audio of the press conference, transcript, and game notes for the upcoming game.

Game Notes | Archived Audio of press conference

Bobby Johnson Press Conference in preparation for Navy

Monday, October 6, 2003

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Opening statement?

“It was another tough game for the Commodores. At times we played really well, at times we just made crucial errors that put us in tough positions that we could not overcome. A couple of offensive errors put our defense in positions from which they could not recover. Our defense allowed them some pretty big plays — probably the biggest plays we have given up consistently over one game all year. So, the opportunities were there; we didn’t take advantage of them and we didn’t come out with a win.”

On the pass ruled incomplete in the end zone?

“It’s hard to say. We got a pretty good view of it from our camera angle and I think it was a good call. He had it for a second, but those two guys hit him right exactly at the same time. It would have been a great catch. We sort of expect those things from Erik (Davis). We expect him to make those kind of great catches. Unfortunately he didn’t make that one, but I can’t argue with that call.”

On Navy Head Coach Paul Johnson, formerly the head coach at Furman-rival Georgia Southern?

“[Navy is] doing the same thing [as Georgia Southern]. We go back a long, long time. Paul is a great coach and does a great job with his system. I don’t think anybody knows it any better than Paul Johnson. He runs that offense about as good as you can run it. Paul’s a good coach both offensively and defensively. Georgia Southern had great offenses, but they also had great defenses. I think he’s putting his mark on both sides of the football. [Navy is] greatly improved from last year. They’ve had some big wins this year. The win against Air Force — Air Force is used to winning. They expect to win. Navy going and winning that game was a great achievement.”

On the Navy running attack?

“Well, it is tough to defend because they do so many great things. It is the true triple option — the fullback could get it, the quarterback could keep it or they could pitch it out on the perimeter. The other great thing is that they have so many passes off of those same actions. I can’t tell you over the years how many wide-open passes I’ve seen Georgia Southern and/or Navy complete — people not even near them. They’ve done a great job of seeing what the other teams do, what they’re trying to do to defend against that system, and they take advantage of it. I guarantee that Paul Johnson has seen every defense imaginable against that offense, so there’s nothing magical that we can do. We have to go out, beat blocks and make tackles. There are going to be a lot of one-on-one situations where we are going to have to make tackles out there by ourselves. We’re going to have to beat a block and then make a tackle. So, it’s going to be a tough game for us.”

On how the young offensive line affects play calling?

“Obviously we don’t want to overburden them with any kind of checks that have multiple schemes when we can avoid it. That is the toughest place to play, except maybe quarterback, with what you have to learn and what you have to react to. In a normal situation, we could come up to the line and have a choice of one-to-three plays, and then either left or right. The quarterback has to decide which one we’re going to run and then communicate it to them. They have to decide who to block, and then all of a sudden the defense shifts and they have to re-think everything. It’s a tough position, and I think those guys have done remarkably well. Coach Caldwell has done a good job of getting those guys ready. But, it does limit what you can do.”

On safety Andrew Pace?

“Andrew is a guy who does everything in practice just right. He tries very hard to do what the coaches tell him to do. He’s rarely out of place. He has enough talent that he can make plays. Those are the kind of guys you want. Sometimes those ‘great’ athletes coming out of high school, you can’t get them in the right place or doing the right thing. I’d much rather have a guy who is dependable and who you can count on every play to do what he is supposed to do. He’s smart and he knows what we are trying to get accomplished and what defense we want to get in, and he helps us.”

On facing a game after a loss?

“That game was a good opportunity, but Mississippi State is not going to lay down and just let us come over there because we want to break a streak. This is a situation where we are trying to win every football game we play and we prepare that way. We don’t go out in practice and say ‘alright, guys, let’s break the streak.’ We say ‘alright, guys, let’s execute and do the best we can and win the football game.’ We’re not doing this for a purpose except to win. Streaks take care of themselves if you play well.”

On preparing his team?

“It’s not like our guys are laying down in the dressing room and won’t come out and play and compete. Georgia Tech beat N.C. State last week; we had Georgia Tech in a situation where we had a very, very good chance to win the game. We didn’t have them beat, because we didn’t win. But we had a chance to win the game. Our guys are preparing to win games. That’s all we ask them to do. We’re not upset. We’re not saying our guys are not responding. They are. They’re working hard.”

On the differences in TCU and Navy?

“The situations they present to you are totally different. TCU ran a lot of option, but it normally did so out of conventional sets, sort of like we do. Navy is totally balanced. They have two split ends, two slots and one fullback, so you have to be able to play equally on both sides of the football. It presents a lot of problems.”

On Coach Paul Johnson’s style at Navy?

“He has a system that, with the limited practice time they have with all the other stuff they have to do as Midshipmen, he’s got it honed down to certain things that they have to learn and have to do over and over again, and they don’t vary. They don’t care that you know what they’re doing.”

On his familiarity with the Navy coaching staff?

“We know what they like to do. They know we know? and so forth, and so on. It’s going to be an advantage, I think, that we have faced it before. If I had not seen this offense before, I think we’d been in really big trouble.”

On using the pass to set up the run?

“We always try to do that. It supposedly works both ways. We want to try to control the clock, but if people are doing certain things we have to react to that. We can’t pass if they have eight or nine dropping off, we can’t run if they have 10 or 11 of them up there. It’s always a process where we try to choose the play that we think we have the most chance of succeeding with — that’s what every play call is predicated on.”

On completing passes to nine receivers versus Miss. State?

“Well, we were substituting a great deal. Marlon (White) and Chris (Young) were on a good rotation with Brandon (Smith) and Erik (Davis). We like to throw to the backs, and since we play two tailbacks, they both have a chance to catch it. The fullbacks, we have confidence in them, they can catch. So we’re not adverse to throwing to all those people. It makes us more difficult to defend when we spread it out like that.”

On the homecoming atmosphere?

“Homecoming is special wherever you are. It won’t make us work any harder — we’re going to work as hard as we can possibly work. I don’t think it will make the players play any harder. But there is a nice atmosphere. That’s what college football is all about. Friends, alumni come back to see them play. And it may [help the team play better]. We’ll declare homecoming every week if it does.”

On QB Jay Cutler’s interception against Miss. State?

“That was not a forced throw. It was wide open. He was not pressured. He just threw it badly. It was about the only bad throw he had, and it cost us. But I’ve seen (the Green Bay Packers’ future hall of fame quarterback) Brett Favre throw them badly.”