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Rice University Athletics
Todd Graham Press Conference transcript
11/13/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 13, 2006
(On the next week)
"Naturally we were really pleased with how we played, and our kids are getting better. If we continue to improve, that's the key. We've been improving every week. The kids are getting closer to doing what they're coached to do on a higher percentage, and we're playing good as a unit and doing the the things we've got to do to win games. I'm really pleased with where we're at right now, but we're not done we haven't accomplished anything that's down there on our wall. We've got to win the next two to do that. The next step is East Carolina which is a team that's playing for a bowl game as well as a berth in the championship game, so they'll come in here really focused. They're a very well coached team. It should be an exciting game. I invite people to come out and watch. It's going to be a very exciting home game. Actually it's homecoming. This is a very very important game to our kids. Our kids are extremely focused and ready to take the next step. We've got two steps left to get to where we want to be."
(On the progress that the program and players have made this season)
"I came in here January the 2nd, we did have a plan, we did have a vision for where we wanted to go. The hard thing about those plans is what are you getting done every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month with your kids? Our kids are trained well. We work them extremely hard and they have an investment. I told the kids that that game I felt like was won long before Saturday afternoon.
This time of the year is the time of the year where all that preparation and all that work, all that pushing and all that straining, all that stuff starts to pay off because people are getting better or they're getting worse. You don't stay the same. We're a team that's getting better. We're getting closer to developing a hard edge. What I call a hard edge is a team that plays very physical, plays very hard, plays with a lot of confidence, and plays the next play. That's been the big emphasis with our kids, and our kids are extremely confident right now and they should be.
When we play, we can play with anyone in this league. I've got a great deal of confidence in these kids. This time of year people get worn down mentally. The mentally tough survive this game, especially with a 12 game season and as you get through all the different things you go through in a season. We've got a good football team. We're playing really good right now, but our kids know that we have not accomplished anything. Beating Tulsa I can tell you was just another win, another step on our way to accomplishing our goals."
(On being at home for the last two games of the season)
"I really haven't given it much thought. Kind of like (Marcus) Rucker said, it seems like I pack my bag and go on the road every week with the schedule that we've had. Rich Rodriguez taught me a lot about preparation and how you go about preparing kids to go on the road.
Our kids go through a lot harder situations than being on the road. They're strained in camp and in the summer and in spring training. We put them in a whole bunch of adverse situations where they learn to respond. Our kids don't seem to be affected by it because of the training and the preparation and how hard we work.
These kids have an extremely large investment in how hard we work. We've got it on our wall that we're going to be the hardest working, most disciplined, best conditioned team in the country. That's our objective every day that we come to work. When you have that kind of investment it's not hard to go on the road and be focused and win. I think the more you've got invested, the easier it is. But the hardest thing in college football to do is do that. I know that. Our kids have done well and stayed focused.
One of the things too of the plan was here that we have smart kids so we should be able to do more schematically. We do an awful lot schematically. That last play that we ran. We hadn't run that formation. Our kids are smart enough to say, 'Hey, look. Here's what we need to do: We need to put Jarett in this position. We're going to run this. This is how we're going to do it. We're going to throw it. We're going to catch it.' Our kids are smart enough to handle a lot schematically. We're starting to understand them better, and they're definitely understanding what we're trying to do schematically. And we've got talented guys, talented players. Players win games, coaches lose them."
(On the last play of the game)
"I don't get involved a whole lot, but I do get involved in those situations. When the game's on the line, you put the ball in your best player's hands. What we do a really good job of as a staff is that we interact with each other. We don't have an offense and a defensive staff. We interact. We knew that if we emptied it out, put trips into the boundary, put twins to the field, that they would match their best guy up with him and there wouldn't be a safety over the top. If that happens, he's going to win those. He did it. People ask me if I was surprised or was I impressed. No, I expect it because he's a great player he should make great plays."
(On East Carolina)
"East Carolina has great skill kids. Their quarterback, Allison the receiver, Johnson who plays tailback and receiver. They have the best kick returner in the league. Great skill kids, they play very physical on defense, and they're well coached. I think Coach Holtz has done a tremendous job of turning that program around and has got them poised. They need one win to get in the championship game. The strength of their team is their athleticism. We've got to put pressure on the quarterback, we've got to stop the run game, we've got to play good on defense. The strength of their team is that they've got a good solid defense and really good skill kids which can hurt you in the kicking game and on offense as far as putting the ball down the field.
Same old plan. We've got to not give up big plays. We take care of the football. I believe we're one of the top teams in the country in doing that, one of the top teams in the country in turnover ratio. That's the key for us. If we don't turn the football over and we don't have stupid penalties, we're going to score. I'm really proud of the strides we're making in the kicking game. We punted the ball better, we placed the ball better on kickoffs, our coverage teams were better, we had a blocked punt for two consecutive weeks in a row. We're getting better with our special teams. It's going to take a complete effort. They're a good football team coming in here. We're playing our best ball right now. They're playing their best ball. They're 4-0 in the last four games. We're 4-0, so it should be an exciting game to watch. Skip's done a great job, he's a good football coach."
