Boston College Athletics
2011 Football Media Day: Head Coach Frank Spaziani Transcript
August 12, 2011 | Football
Aug. 12, 2011
Opening Remarks ...
"Well, thank you very much and it's great to see you all. It's good to get started. We're excited about the 2011 season. We are in our fifth practice today, our first practice in pads. So far, we've been enthusiastic. We have shown some leadership out there. We have a good work ethic, but we still have a long way to go in camp, obviously. There is an interesting blend in our team this year. We have a limited number of fourth and fifth year players that have a lot of experience at their positions. We have some upper-class players with playing experience that have been part-time starters, if you will, and backups. We have an injection of young people in our program, who now have some experience. True-freshmen that played last year that now have a year under their belts. We have some red-shirt freshmen, who are now ready to contribute. We have some more big boys in our program. We have the right number of big players, linemen, if you will. All be it, not physical enough yet and young, but we have the right numbers to work with and move forward.
"We feel that, since I've been the head coach, we have more speed. You never have enough speed, but we're faster, more athletic, and we're looking forward to moving forward. We also have two of the premiere football players in the country. Montel Harris, of course, at tailback, who is as good of a running back as there is in the country, and we're look for a tremendous year from Montel. We also have the boy wonder on defense, the human eraser, Luke Kuechly. With that blend of players going forward, we're looking forward to the remainder of preseason because there are a lot of other hurdles that have to be overcome. Obviously, the dog-days of preseason are there and that's where your character and foundation for your season are laid, in what kind of preseason you have. We need to have a great preseason because we need to be ready, we need to be good early and often next year.
"We have a tremendous excitement around the team. I have a good feeling that there's chemistry here. Once again, it's early and we need to maintain that, but I think the players understand the challenge ahead and that's the way it should be, that's why it's exciting. It's a real challenge and we're going to live up to it.
"Now one other thing I'd like to say is why we're here. You know, we're at Boston College and we're not trying to be 34th in the country. We're not trying to be 16th in the country, alright. We are trying to be the best we possibly can be. We want to win the Atlantic Division in our conference, in the ACC. It's a tough conference. We want to win that. We want to go to the championship game in Charlotte [North Carolina] on December 3rd, and then we want to go to the Orange Bowl and we want to win that. Now where we finish up, as far as what numbers there are, I don't know, but that's what we're here for in this program, not to be mediocre, not to be in the middle of the pack. Now that's not easy and that's not a prediction because those of you that know me and have been around me know I'm not about predicting, I'm about affecting the future, but that's what we're striving to do in this program. I think the players understand that and that's what we're doing to move forward.
On Chase Rettig'sprogress in the offseason ...
"Well, that's the other thing I was remiss in. We're more settled at quarterback this season than we have been because of Chase. Chase was thrown in the fire last year as a true freshman. I believe he started about seven games, eight games, it doesn't matter what number it was, but we're solidified there. He's made tremendous progress in the offseason mentally and physically. He had a great spring; he's had a great summer. He's highly motivated. He has to take the next step, but we feel very good about where he's at right now. It's good to have a quarterback that's played and has some experience and moving forward. It makes everybody around him better, the players, the coaches and myself."
On Montel Harris returning to full strength after his injury last year...
Well, we haven't done that much to say whether he's - once again, until we get some scrimmage situations and he gets into games, then I'll be able to tell you whether he's all the way back. I do know this, that I've seen a different aura about him. It's back to where it was before he got injured. Not that there was anything negative, but obviously there was something bothering him. He looks like the old Montel, enthusiastic like he's always been, working as hard as he's always been, making cuts like he's always made, but once again, it's four practices and we need to go on and scrimmage and move forward. Like I said in my opening statement, we're excited to have Montel on our football team.
On the team's selection of captains for this season...
Well, this is what we say to our team - it is their team and they've selected those four individuals. They obviously feel that they have the qualities to lead them. I happen to agree with them, but its now a responsibility on those four men to move forward. You're only as good your leadership within the team. Once again, we can set examples as coaches and point them in the right direction, but they all have to be accountable to themselves. Just like the Jesuit [saying], "Accountability for your education is when you start to really understand what it is to be educated." When you're accountable as an athlete and a football player on a football team, that's when you have a chance to be really good.
On John Wetzel's performance and progress...
Well, John Wetzel is one of those individuals that have been in our program. John wasn't red-shirted. He's a true junior and obviously, there's a young man that's played 50-someodd games in a row and was a first-round draft pick by the [Indianapolis] Colts. John is getting an opportunity and that's what life's all about. He works hard, he knows he doesn't have to be anybody else besides John Wetzel, and that's good enough to win. So, once again, John's made progress, but it's a little bit different in the psychology of now where that opportunity it there. It's one thing to say you've got to be ready, like on your mark, get set, don't go yet, but now he's got to go and he's ready for it. That's what camp is about and we'll find out where he's at.
On whether any of the true freshmen standout...
I hesitate to single out at this point, but we like the influx of young people on our team, especially the true freshmen. We liked them when we signed them, we liked them when they got here during the summer, we've liked them for four practices, and they're all at different levels, but we like what they're bringing to the table right now. Once again, there are a bunch of hoops to jump through and in a couple weeks, I'll have different answers.
On where the new found speed is coming from...
Well, some of the younger guys are faster, the wideouts for example, those three guys that played last year for us. Your true freshmen, it takes a toll on them. Now they're a year older, they're stronger, they're faster, they understand the program, they understand the conditioning, and their true speed is starting to come out. Then, we have some younger guys that have been in the program, some red-shirt guys that have been on the scout team that are fast and now they are going to be asked to contribute. That speed now has to translate into being a football player, you know, we're not having a track meet against Northwestern. They have to be football players, but we like their speed.
On seeing an improvement in the defensive line...
We lost a couple veteran players and we have younger guys that need to step up. Obviously, [Brad] Newman's gone, Damik [Scafe] is gone, Alex [Albright] is gone and we have a couple players that played when they were hurt that need to step up. Then we have some younger guys that I alluded to earlier that we feel have some talent. It's up to us as coaches to get them in the right positions and get them to perform. We'll move forward over there with who we have and take it as it comes. Now having said that, as far as struggling, there's one stat that really matters on defense and that's keeping them out of the end zone and in the last six years, we've been in the top 20 for keeping people out of the end zone. If we can improve a pass rush and do some other stuff there, I'm sure that will help in a few other areas.
On the wide receivers' improvements...
Once again, the receivers are part of the whole offense and we understand exactly what the operation needs to be over there. You have Colin Larmond, who wasn't there last year and is now there and seems to be healthy. You have [Ifeanyi Momah], who's been elected captain and is 20 pounds lighter and has done a great job for us. You have the young receivers, but really when you're a true freshman thrust into doing that, it's a big challenge and it's a very complicated issue of their production and we certainly want players to be in the right position to be able to execute. That's our responsibility, but going forward, they'll be better and we'll be better on offense because of a lot of things.
