Wake Forest Athletics
Weekly Football Press Conference Video & Quotes
9/17/2013 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 17, 2013
Head Coach Jim Grobe
On staying positive heading into the Army game...
"We've got an answer. We've got to work harder. We thought we worked hard enough, but obviously we didn't. And maybe we didn't work smart enough. I think everybody takes responsibility; coaches and players. We're not apt to point fingers at the players. The coaches have to coach better, and we've got to work a little harder. The only answer I know is you just work harder."
On making adjustments following the loss to ULM...
"The thing you hate most in team sports is an "I" guy. Somebody that is me, me, me (and) gimme, gimme, gimme more; that kind of stuff. But at the same time, I am the head coach and it all comes back to me. If we're not working hard enough, it's my fault. If the x's and o's aren't good, it's my fault. And the assistants have to take responsibility and the players have to go play the game, but ultimately I'm the guy that makes those decisions. I'm trying to figure out better ways to do things, better ways to use our personnel, better ways to practice, better ways to teach. We're all in this thing together, but ultimately it's my responsibility."
On what improvements are being made...
"I think for one thing we're going to push our guys a little harder than before. We've probably been a little bit too nice. You know, in my career, I've played and coached with some real old school guys and some really laid back guys. We're going to try and be a little bit more old school with the guys right now, and they want that. I think they want to be challenged. We're trying to do a better job at practice then we have been. I think we maybe spent a little too much time on the grease board and maybe a little bit too much time in film sessions. We'll see. We're really no different than the teachers here in Wake Forest in English, math or science. We're trying to figure out the best ways to teach. We're trying to find out better ways to get better and some guys are visual, some guys are see things on a grease board, some guys can see things when you watch video and some guys just need to see things on a practice field. We're just trying to figure out better ways to coach our guys."
On facing the option offense of Army...
"A real problem for us last year was we didn't slow these guys down that much. We had a real high scoring game. You kind of wondered whichever team could make the other team kick a field goal was probably going to win because it was touchdown after touchdown. I don't think we want to be in one of those games again this week. (With) the struggles we've had offensively, Army is playing better defense this year. They changed their scheme a little bit and they're playing really good football, hustling to the football and playing good fundamental football, and we know their offense is still going to drive us crazy. We've got to do a better job defensively and offensively we're going to have to find a way to move the football against these guys because they're going to have some rushing yards."
Junior Flanker Orville Reynolds
On the mood of the team...
"We're just trying to put ULM in the past because there is nothing we can do about that. We just have to learn from it and move forward to Army."
On how the final drive of the ULM game can build momentum for Army...
"When negative things were happening with the offense, it could have been a time where we went in the tank, but Tanner (Price) just kept us confident and he just said, "Let's just keep going. This is our chance. This is our chance. We got to do this. We got to make it happen." Finally it just popped, so we know that we can do it. It kind of gives us a boost going into the next game, knowing that when the pressure is up, we can make it happen."
Senior Defensive End Zach Thompson
On the beginning of the season...
"That's definitely not the start that we wanted to have, but I don't think the mood of the team or the morale of the team has changed at all. We're treating every week like a work week, whether it's on the practice field, weight room, film. I've never seen so many guys in the film room. Each week is going to be a battle, and that's how we're treating it."
On Army...
"This game is huge. Going into this game 1-2, this is a must-win. Playing (an option team) here for three years now, so I'm comfortable. It's just getting a lot of the young guys knowing what they're doing. Against a team like this, it's all about doing your job, and we'll be good."
Redshirt Freshman Tailback Dominique Gibson
On the morale of the team after the ULM loss...
"We know we have to stay together as a family. We know we have to keep fighting. We have to come out and play with more passion and more heart. We can't let the coaches just put it on themselves, because everyone wants to win. We can't let them say it was all on them, because we have to catch the ball and we have to make some plays. You know on third down, we can't keep getting three-and-outs. We have to keep playing hard."
On the accountability of the players...
"We have to do better as a team. We have to help the defense out. I feel like we let the defense down a lot, and we have to help them. That's the main thing about it.
On practice this week...
"Practices are longer. We are going to help our defense a lot more seeing that they have to go against a misdirection offense. So we're going to send all our running backs down there to help them (in practice). We have to get ready for this game."
On translating the urgency from the last drive to the entire game...
"Like I said, we have to play with more passion. We have to play like our back is against the wall all the time. Our games are not going to get easier as the schedule goes on. We're going into ACC play, and we have to continue to fight hard and be one as family."
Junior Cornerback Merrill Noel
On what he's doing to keep team morale up...
"It's a team sport. I'm a vocal person, as are many others on the team. Personally, I just try to keep a positive word in people's ears and just try to move forward. We worked in the offseason that nobody expected us to be having this type of problem going into the season."
On Army...
"We're playing a different type of offense this week. You need to be on your P's and Q's with this team because they run a misdirection, and if your eyes aren't in the right place, the ball will get past you in a split second. The longer practices are a key for us."
On getting off the field on third down...
"It was tough. Before going into (ULM) we were executing on third down pretty well. You know, everyone has a scheme to beat the defense. ULM did a great job of converting on third downs when they had to, so we're going back to the drawing board and seeing what we missed on third downs that we could have gotten off the field with, and doing a better job this week trying to get (Army) off the field."
On the coaches taking the blame for the loss last week...
"We're all grown men here - we're not little boys anymore. Coach Grobe is a great guy, and he treats us like his kids. He's not going to let people point the finger at his players, because he sees us as his kids. He did a great job taking the blame on that, but at the same time, we're the guys out there that made the plays on the field. They do a great job of coaching us week-in and week-out, so it's up to us to go out there and execute the plays that they give us."
