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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Football Press Conference Transcript
6/21/1999 | Football
August 31, 1998
OLE MISS FOOTBALL PRESS CONFERENCE
Head Coach Tommy Tuberville
Opening Comments
Well, it's (football season) finally here. Our players are really looking forward to beginning the season.
Just to update you on any injuries that we have. It looks like everybody has a chance to be back (for Saturday's game) except for Syniker Taylor. He is coming off knee surgery which he had two weeks ago. He's been working out some, but he won't be ready for Saturday's game. Syniker is the only player who won't be available for us. Everybody else has got a chance to play.
Practices have been going good. It's been hot, and we've been trying to get as much time out in the sun as possible. We will kind of pull off now. The next few days will be polish days, going through every facet of the kicking game and everything that we need to look at. On Wednesday night, we will go into the stadium and have a basic walk-through with the Jumo-Tron, public address system, 25-second clock and sideline phones -- all the things you want to try to do before you get into the first game. So far, so good on the injuries.
As a football team, we basically ran into a wall a week ago. We haven't improved much since then. I think it is the practice time with 15 practices in the spring and 30 in the preseason. We need to play somebody else (other than each other in practice). It's time we lined up and see where we are at offensively and defensively and also see which guys will execute when you turn the lights on. We'll find some good things, and we'll probably find some things that won't work. That's going to happen when you have a young team, and it's also going to happen -- whether you are young or not -- because it's the first game of the season.
You are always leery about the first game no matter who you play or the competition. Anybody can beat anybody. This is going to be an evenly-matched game. They (Memphis) are strong on defense. They have a lot of experience coming back plus depth, and that is a concern of ours. Offensively, they are a lot like us with a young quarterback. He'll make some mistakes as our quarterback will make some mistakes. I think a lot will depend on the coverage teams, kickoff teams and return teams. The kicking game will play a major role in this game.
Again, we are looking forward to the season opener, and our guys are ready to go.
Q&A
Q: Coach, talk about your back-up situation at quarterback.
A: Our back-up that we decided to go with and would get all the snaps as Romaro did last year with the second team offense and sometimes with the first team offense for this first game is David Morris. It may change after this game, but he is our second team quarterback this week. David is a walk-on from Mobile (Ala.). He's done a good job. He's mobile, and he can throw the ball. He has a lot to learn, but has showed improvement every day in practice. We felt that he was just a little farther along than anyone else. Our third quarterback who will see action if need be is Tim Gallahan. I feel good about Tim. He has struggled a little bit. Tim didn't have as much scrimmage time as David did, and that is another reason that we went with David. Right now, we are giving David all the snaps with the first and second team that Romaro doesn't take. Tim will be in on the game plan, but we have to get another guy all the snaps with the second team. If you split up the second team snaps between David and Tim, both would be far from being a true second team quarterback. So, David Morris will be our second team quarterback going into this game.
Q: Give a little background on Morris.
A: David walked on this year and is a true freshman. We heard a lot of good things about him. He called us up last spring and liked our offense and wanted to be a part of our program. He's done a good job, but has a lot to learn. He can go out and run a certain amount of our plays, but he won't be near what Romaro knows. If David were to have to go into the game, he would be limited in what he could do. We would run what we thought he could handle, so we will have a game plan just for him that he will practice this week. Hopefully, each week we can add a little more to that.
Q: Have you seen the progress that you have been looking for since the last day of spring with Romaro?
A: Romaro has had his good and bad days. He is going to be a much better quarterback when we play South Carolina and Alabama or even against Auburn. He is going to make his mistakes being a young guy, but hopefully, they are not mistakes that will cost us. Romaro is everything that we thought he would be, but that has been in practice. Now, we got to put him in the game, under the center, and he's going to have 25 seconds to get us out of the huddle, to get to the line of scrimmage and get the right play called and execute that play. Whether he makes a mistake or not, is going to rebound and get back in the huddle and be able to perform on the next play? That's what you have to find out able young quarterbacks. Can they take their licks? Can they get up from having their bell rung, get back in the huddle, take control of the huddle move the team down the field and score points?
Q: Where is the program now to how it was when you took over in 1995?
A: We are a lot further in one area and that is enthusiasm with the fans. They have stayed with and have been a big part of our success. We are really a lot further in that area. Who would have ever thought that we would have the expectations of playing seniors that were our 13 scholarship signees. Matt Luke and Gary Thigpen were members of the first class that we recruited. Back then, we were just trying to keep our head above water. Now, we are picked in some polls to finish second or third (in the SEC Western Division). I think those predictions are unrealistic at the present time until we find out how this team is going to play. We are definitely farther along with the expectations. Our players believe in what they can do. They work very hard. I think that we have got to a point now where we have got to build our program instead of just maintaining it like we did a couple of years ago. Now, we have a chance to get better and better, and add on a recruiting class and go from there. I think the area of expectations are where we are a little farther ahead than people thought. We are not a great football team. We are a team that is going to struggle, and we're going to make mistakes. We're going to win some games, and if we make mistakes, we're going to lose some games because of youth. But, the thing we are going to do is get better every week. We have young guy who really love being here. The thing we need the fans to do is stay positive -- good or bad -- this weekend or next weekend. Come back and be positive because it's going to get better.
Q: How do you attack the Tiger defense?
A: It's hard to tell. You look at last year's film, and you see that they made a lot of plays. They run very well. The thing that really scares you -- for us -- going into the game is that we have only 68 scholarship players and barely a two-deep team. They're three deep on the defensive line, and they are guys who have played. Of course, if you have been outside at 11:30 in the morning lately, you know how hot it is, and there is going to be a lot of participation from a lot of players. That really concerns us. They have good depth on the line, and can still keep the level of competition as a first team unit. We won't attack them any different than we do anybody else. We're going to run our offense. We tell our team every week that no matter who we're playing, we have to overcome ourselves most of the time. We just need to go out and execute, and if we do that, good things will happen to you.
Q: Who will be the starting tailback?
A: We haven't made a decision yet. It is going to be either Deuce McAllister, Tony Cannion or Joe Gunn. They've all practiced well. Charles Stackhouse is close, but is not as far along with the offense as the others. All four will see playing time.
Q: Going into preseason drills, leadership was a concern. Has certain players stepped forward to be leaders for this team?
A: It's gotten better. We've looked at different scenarios. We've tried to put players in situations where they have to be leaders. Some have stepped up and some have not. I think we will find our true leaders once we get into the gameweek preparations. This is when guys should step up. It's hard to practice in this heat, and try to do your job and help people do theirs. I think now that we are in a game situation week, it's not as tough. You don't have as much conditioning. You don't have as much contact. I think your leaders will step up now and try to get this team ready to play this week. We'll have meetings with the seniors all week, and they will have meetings with their teammates. This will be a big test for our leadership this week.
Q: How do you not rest on last year's accomplishments with this season's squad?
A: I really don't know. That's one thing that we have struggled with to convince this team that they are not last year's team because they are not. Every team is different and has its own personality. You hope a lot of that confidence carries over, but you also have to be realistic and tell them every day, "You have to create your own personality. You have to go out and build your own team around 11 guys on the field at the same time." It's been tough to overcome some people's thoughts that we are to a point that we can win every game. The best thing that we have going for us to overcome is a little big-headedness,' so to speak with guys who think they have it made. The competition is a lot better at every position. We have competition even at kickers, and punters. We've not had much competition at quarterback, but we really haven't had a problem with Romaro's competitiveness. The offensive and defensive lines have really pushed each other. The competitiveness that we have at each position has helped guys get better and practice without thinking about last year's team.
Q: Which newcomers will play?
A: Eddie Strong will play on defense. We're looking at possibly Desmon Johnson playing at cornerback, depending upon injury. We would like to redshirt him. As for junior college players, Dexter Hines will see time. We haven't made a decision on Shawn Johnson. He isn't 100 percent back from his knee injury. Offensively, we're looking at Maurice Flournoy as a punt returner in a back-up situation at the present time. He may see some time at wide receiver. German Bello at guard and Augustus Carwell at tackle could see some action. Charles Stackhouse could see some playing time at running back. Those guys have a chance to play, but none in starting roles.
Q: How does the defensive line look?
A: We've gotten better, but we still have an identity problem because they have heard how bad the defensive line has been since we have been here. They are going to have to make a name for themselves. I think we have guys who can run and have talent, but haven't played certain positions because we have moved people around. We've moved Derrick Burgess to defensive end. Comone Fisher, a former tight end, is now playing at defensive tackle. Kendrick Clancy is at defensive tackle, but all we have seen from him is what we watched in scrimmages. Antionne Scott is moving from tight end to defensive line. The only guy who we know quite a bit about is Morris Scott, who is the only consistent player that we have had at that one position. Shane Elan has moved from linebacker to the defensive line. It is a make-shift' defensive line. Luckily, they are all back next year with the exception of Morris Scott and Robert Gates. I think we have got some good prospects and have some depth, but again they haven't been tested in 100-degree heat chasing a quarterback around for four hours.
Q: How intense is the rivalry between Ole Miss and Memphis?
A: I think the rivalry is more for the fans than anybody else. Our players know some of their players. I've been on a couple of television shows with (Memphis) Coach (Rip) Scherer. This is not another game. This is the first game of the year -- no matter who you are playing. You have got to get ready to play, and our players look at it that way. You have to prepare yourself a lot different because you don't know what to expect. I hope it turns into a big rivalry. I'm a little disappointed in our ticket sales. I thought we would have a full stadium. We're playing Memphis not only for the rivalry, but also to make money. This is a cross-town rival game, and we need to evaluate continuing the series if we're not going to make money. I think both teams should evaluate it. Both teams should be well represented, and if not, then we should look at it down the road whether we want to play this or not. It's good for the teams. It's close by and there's not a lot of travel. Enthusiasm will be real high on the field, but it also has to go up in the stands. People have got to come and be a part of it and make this a rivalry. Fans make rivalries, teams don't. We have 7,000 tickets still remaining, and I've been in a lot of opening games and that is unheard of in a cross-town rival game. I'd like to challenge everyone who hasn't bought a ticket to come to the game because we want to keep this thing going.
Q: How does having a young quarterback affect the defensive plan?
A: We have been preparing for this game, but we -- like Memphis -- have also been preparing for the year. You just can't defend the quarterback, you have to defend the entire team, their formations, their running plays, their passing plays. You can't think of this quarterback as a new guy. You have to defend as if he is the best quarterback to ever play because you don't know how he is going to react. Sure, you are going to pressure a quarterback who hasn't been on the field much, but you're also going to have to defend because you have to be prepared for everything. We don't go into any game saying we have to defend this one player. We go in to defend every player, and put a game plan in and hopefully it comes together.
Q: Talk a little about what Memphis did last year.
A: I go more by what they did when we played them the first time. When we look back, they are a lot different than what they were the first time. They have different formations, different running plays. What you do when you break down an offense is that you can't defend the entire offense. It's almost impossible. What you do is take their top formations and you make a plan to defend those, and then you hope through adjustments and experience -- which concerns us -- you can cover the rest of it. We defend the opponent by what they do best, and hopefully everything will take care of itself.
Q: How do you prepare for life after John Avery?
A: Life after John Avery is tough. He is a great football player. No one can replace a John Avery, I don't care what football team it is. We felt great going into last year's Central Florida game, and on the third play of the contest, Avery gets injured and is out for three games. Our players learned from that. We beat a good Central Florida team with a true freshman (Deuce McAllister) and Tony Cannion at running back. Our team knows that. Central Florida had a good defense that does similar things that Memphis does. They move things around and try to confuse you. Offensively, we knew what Culpepper could do, but we weren't really prepared for how good their receivers were. They were a good football team. A lot of that will carry over to this year. We talked to our team about playing a good Central Florida team, and we've tried to carry that over with guys who played in that game. We'd love to have John Avery, but he is not going to be here. He's not going to be here next week unless we can trade for him.
Q: Memphis has a couple of players who will miss Saturday's game for disciplinary reasons. Do you think you can work that to your advantage?
A: You don't really know. I know that because of our depth situation, if we had to sit one of our cornerbacks down, that's an area that we are not deep at because any time you move a safety there you lose depth. I'm sure with the scholarships that they have they have somebody who can step in. Sure, we'll probably look over there and attack that side. You are going to look and see who they play early, but once you get into a game plan, you're not just going to that side. We're going to run our game plan that we have made. Hopefully, it will be effective.
Q: Talk about Timothy Strickland's move to cornerback.
A: He has played cornerback all his life. We just made a safety out of him during our probation time. He has wanted to go back. He had a good spring at safety for the first five days and then we moved him to corner. It has worked real good for us. I would rather have a more experienced corner than a more experienced safety. You can cover up a safety because you have two of them back there. You can move one up or you put one on a tight end. But, when you have a wide receiver out there who can run routes, you need somebody -- whether he is a corner or not -- out there who has been in the game and knows the speed of the game. So, I think it is going to help us to have a more experienced guy at the that position whether he has played corner or not in the past.
Q: You have talked about practicing in the heat. How do you prepare for playing in the middle of the day?
A: There is really no way to prepare for it. We actually don't talk about it. You can't control the heat, and you can't go out and condition yourself. To a certain point, you probably can. If it is as hot as it was last Saturday at 11:30 a.m., then it is going to be brutal on both teams. We are going to have to play a lot of players. Each team will probably have to play at least a true two deep and maybe go into their three deep to be successful. Just watching the games on television the past couple of days, I've noticed how many players those teams have played, and I've made calls to some of the teams that have played to discuss what they did on the sidelines in preparation of water, all the juices and fans. There is not a lot you can do. Hopefully, because it is a television game, it will be better for the players. We usually complain about the television timeouts. We won't complain this time because we'll use them to get players rested and cooled off. It (playing in the heat) could be a dangerous situation.
Q: Talk about Memphis' Marquis Bowling.
A: He is a real good player. He has excellent feet. He is very aggressive and makes plays on all parts of the field. He is the type of player you are looking for to play in a four-man front like they run. He's got good speed. It is hard to compare him to anyone, but he has the opportunity to play on the next level.
