Bo Pelini Press Conference Quotes

Coach Bo Pelini
Nebraska Football Press Conference
Monday, Sept. 8, 2014
Memorial Stadium (Lincoln, Neb.)
Pre-Fresno State 

Opening Statement:
“I thought we had a productive Sunday. We really dissected everything that happened in the game on Saturday. Talked about some things. I didn’t really talk about it on Saturday, but I don’t know if I’ve ever been a part of a locker room right after a win that was a quiet as that. It definitely got out attention as far as what’s necessary to what this football team is and the type of the approach you have to have. As I said the other day, I’m responsible for how we played. I wasn’t happy with it. I was embarrassed by it to be plain. I think our football team felt the same way. It was interesting. You can talk and get the guys’ attention. And I’ve said this all along. We have an interesting mix on this team. A good group of leaders, but a small group. 13 seniors. It’s a really interesting mix of youth and experience. Shawn (Eichorst) brought in a guest speaker today, John Gordon. He was talking about Team USA and West Point, and how Coach (Mike) Krzyzewski brought the basketball team there to get them to understand what it is to play for a country. Obviously that isn’t our situation, but he brought up the point that at one point, they got to talk to some people who had lost family members and people who had died for their country. He said at that point it was one thing to talk about it, but to feel at that point it would feel what it’s like. Really it got me thinking about our football team because we can talk about what’s necessary. The type of mindset, the type of preparation, the type of discipline, the type of focus you have to have to play great, which we didn’t have on Saturday. Like I said, that starts right here. There’s one thing to talk about it and then there’s another thing to feel it. And believe me, Saturday they felt it. Going forward, like I told our football team, I don’t feel any different as far as what this football team is capable of today as I did a week ago. We played at an extremely higher level in the first game. But some of the same things we did in the first game, we took turns breakdown after breakdown. Basic things. It wasn’t what we were doing, it was how we did it. What our approach was and how we did it. Obviously we didn’t pay the price during the week. We didn’t have that mindset when we walked out there on Saturday. In my opinion, we were lucky to walk out of there with a win.  At this point, you use that and learn from it, and hopefully become a better football team because of it. That’s what I expect to happen. We broke it down and went through every single snap in detail. And then we talked about it. I think we have a football team and we got their attention. You can’t ride the waves of being way up and way down, how you feel when you win. The approach has to stay the same. Whether you win by 50 or whether you win with 20 seconds to go. At the end of the day, you’re approach has to be the same. My message is you have to go out for what you see on film. You can’t buy into things that don’t matter. There’s a certain level of detail you have to play with in this game. That’s why it’s a humbling sport because it’s probably the greatest team sport. You need a bunch of guys doing the same thing. When you’re breaking down here and there across the board, one guy taking his turn here and there, you’re going to have your problems. There was plenty out there for us. Our level of detail wasn’t there on both sides of the football. Now special teams I saw a lot of good things. We made a big jump. I saw a lot of good things on special teams. We made a huge emphasis last week because that was an area we had struggled with in the first game. It’s an example of those guys responding to this challenge. I expect the same to happen offensively and defensively this week. And like I told them, it can’t be a one-day thing or one-week thing. It has to be an everyday constant approach. Because otherwise you won’t be humbled and we’ll be having that talk on another Sunday. That’s kind of where we are and where I am. I was excited to get back to work yesterday, and I’m looking forward to getting back on the field with this team and taking them on the road for the first time. I’m not worried about where we’re playing, what time we’re playing or anything else. I’m worried about seeing this football team execute a level they’re capable of doing. And I said it after the game, and I’ll say it again. It starts at the top. It’s my job to get this football team prepared.”

On the number of missed tackles on Saturday:
“You know what, it wasn’t as much missed tackles as it was leaky yardage. I mean when we made contact maybe for no gain, it was sloppy tackling. A lot of times we got them down when it should have been 2nd-and-10 or 2nd-and-11, when it really was 2nd-and-7 and 2nd-and-6. It just constantly happened. Most of the time it was because of our technique and our fundamentals. It was because we were not playing. My message is that there’s only one way to play. There’s a reason why we’re asking you to do it the way we’re asking you to do it. And when you’re supposed to close, when you’re supposed to play the tackle, you play the tackle. It doesn’t mean you’re two or three steps outside because then you’re head’s not going to be in front and your fundamentals are going to suffer because of it. Like I told our guys, it was real obvious when we watched the film. It’s not what we were doing, it’s how we were doing it. It wasn’t just like we went out there and missed a bunch of tackles. We were in bad positions because our eyes were in the wrong place, we were not playing fundamentally the way we needed to play. We weren’t playing with the level of detail it takes to play great. It wasn’t like we were dripping off and missing, like we just flailed missed tackles. That wasn’t the case. It was leaky yardage. Instead of having teams in 3rd-and-8 and 3rd-and-9, you know it started and went 3rd-and-2 when it should not have been that way.”

On the struggle of the passing game:
“You know, protection was pretty good. For the most part the protection was good. A couple of details of the passing game though were terrible. And it wasn’t that guys were running the routes at the wrong depths. At times, misreads by the quarterback. Believe it or not, not a lot of those. A lot of them were not knowing the details of what we were supposed to do and how were supposed to run the routes. There were some big plays to be had. Sometimes it wasn’t the intended receiver, it was the other receiver who was bringing a safety over when he shouldn’t have, which makes the quarterback have to throw it was outside the hash when the ball should’ve been thrown on the hash. There were so many instances of lack of detail. And there were a couple where Tommy (Armstrong Jr.) made his mind up before the play happened, where he was going to throw the football and he didn’t go through his progression. And he didn’t take the receiver that he should have taken. Whereas in the first week, the detail in the passing game was very good. A couple times where we had some big plays to be had, Tommy reverted back, and I know Coach (Tim) Beck talked a lot to him, he’s been getting very good in his three-step footwork. And he just reverted back to some bad habits. Those bad habits may have gotten his feel off kilter in some of our quick game. Conversely, when that happens, when you’re stepping the way he was and not getting your feet driving through the throw, you’re going to throw the ball low. It happened a number of times when we could’ve has some enormous plays. I mean there were big plays to be had. And the other reason that we struggled on first down was that in the running game, one guy after another on our front missed targets and weren’t playing with the fundamentals and technique. It’s letting guys run through, lacking communication in what they say. If the front side saw it one way, and you make a call, you better transfer it to the back side so that everyone’s on the same page. We didn’t have five guys on the same page. And it hurt us. Like I said, in the running game, there were big plays to be had. But when one guy after another is missing his target, not putting a body on somebody, then you’re going to have problems. It wasn’t anything different than what we saw the week before. I mean we got some good movement. But when there’s one guy running free because our guy misses his assignment, I don’t care who you’re playing, you’re going to struggle.”

On the status of senior wide receiver Kenny Bell:
“Kenny is still day-to-day. He was a little bit sore yesterday, but he’s had a groin thing before. I expect that he’ll respond quickly.”

On the status of junior defensive end Randy Gregory:
“Randy, he ran yesterday. He looked great and he looked great today. I expect him to practice probably tomorrow. We’ll see how he went through his treatment today. I’d say Wednesday at the very latest. But he’ll be ready to go this weekend.”

On the statuses of junior wide receiver Sam Burtch and sophomore wide receivers Brandon Reilly and Jordan Westerkamp:
“Westy (Jordan Westerkamp) is okay. He’s just sore. Burtch and Reilly I’d say are day-to-day. Reilly I’m hoping to have back by Wednesday or Thursday. And Burtch like I said is just day-to-day. They both kind of had the same lingering problem.”

On how he plans to use sophomore wide receiver Alonzo Moore moving forward:
“More detail in their game. You know I thought Westy (Jordan Westerkamp) made some great catches, but he can still learn a lot from that tape. Alonzo’s just got to go turn it loose. He’s tremendously talented. At times I see him going out there more worried about making a mistake. He needs to just let his talent take over. He’s a tremendous competitor and plays hard, but there are times he’s playing tentatively. He’s just got to let it loose.”

On if the last thirteen minutes of the game were acceptable:
“No. And it’s my fault, too. They were crowding the box and daring us to throw it. When they’re doing that, we had multiple opportunities in the passing game and we didn’t take advantage of it. There are other ways to get Ameer (Abdullah) the ball and should get him the ball.”

On the difficulty of making adjustments in just a week’s time:
“It’s not hard. We did it a week ago. It comes back to this. When you make the kind of mistakes that we made in the football game, somewhere along the line our guys lost the focus and the discipline of doing things the way they should, the way they have to for us to be a good football team. As the head coach, I look at myself in the mirror and say, for whatever reason, I don’t care why it happened. It happened. And it starts with me. I got to get them in a better mindset. We as a staff have to get them in a better mindset to be that much more detailed and demanding in everything that we do, saying this isn’t up for debate. There’s only one way. We’re going to coach it a certain way, and there’s an expectation to do that exactly how we’re asking you to do it. For whatever reason, you’ve got to walk out there and you think you can get away with taking shortcuts or ‘hey, I’m going to do this’ or ‘I’m going to do my own thing,’ then you’re going to have a problem. Football does not work that way. There’s a lot of instances when you’ve been coaching as long as I have, you guard against it and talk about it. But sometimes you need something to get their attention. You know, I was thinking driving in today the year we won the Super Bowl when I was with the 49ers, and I don’t remember if it was week 2 or week 3, but we got beat 40-7 at home by the Philadelphia Eagles. I mean it was as bad a performance as I’ve ever been around. Fortunately that year it got their attention. It happens. You want to guard their attention, but when it happens, you want a football team that’s going to respond. I feel confident that we have a group that’s going to respond.”

On how it is his fault that senior IB Ameer Abdullah struggled Saturday:
“It starts with me. It’s all our faults. But at the end of the day, he’s our best football player. We have to make sure to get the ball in his hands. I mean he’s our best football player. We better make sure we get the ball in his hands. It takes a conservative effort to do so.”

On possibly putting in other quarterbacks in the game in the future:
“I didn’t think that was the right time. Trust me when I tell you, the problems in that passing game went well beyond that quarterback position. Like I said, our lack of detail from some of the other positions but our quarterback in bad positions. If we would have done it the way it’s been coached to do, and our details there, there were going to be some big plays and big throws. Guys were open. But when you’re not creating space for those guys that are open, it’s pretty hard for any quarterback to make those strokes.”

On if they are in a position to play backups on defense:
“We should have rotated a little bit more, especially early on. Our guys weren’t gassed. We rotated three guys. It will help when we get Kevin Williams back because we’re still young with the fourth defensive tackle. At the end position, our guys felt pretty good. They felt fresh. Looking at the film, I wish we would have subbed a little bit more because we didn’t play well enough at the end position. But yeah, I thought we should have subbed a little bit more. I also thought that Johnathan Rose should have gotten some more snaps.”

On who he else he would rotate in behind the top two defensive guys:
“I feel good about (Joe) Keels and (A.J.) Natter. I feel good about those guys. Obviously getting Randy (Gregory) back will help, too. I’m not afraid to play those guys, because like I said hindsight is 20/20. But did I think anyone was gassed? No, they weren’t. And until the end, we really didn’t have that many long drives.”

On if he thinks this team will perform well on the road:
“I do. Like I said, we didn’t show it Saturday, but what I like about this team is the business-like approach that they have. Somewhere along the line, I was concerned last week. I’m always concerned going into the second game. The second game is always the one to me, since I’ve been coaching college football, and sometimes even pro football, that is the trap game. You have that hype and excitement and everything in the first game. You get into a second game, and that’s kind of out the window a little bit. We talked about it all last week. Believe me, all we had to do is look at the film for the first game. We haven’t arrived. I’m not buying into the hype, the excitement or how we played the first game. That’s irrelevant. You have to go out to do what you do and play the way you play. And execute at a high level. That was what my whole talk was on Frida night. Disappointingly, we didn’t play with that level of maturity. I don’t think I’m going to have to do much, seeing as how our guys responded yesterday. I don’t think I need to say any more about it, because believe me, there’s a tension that was there.”

On how many players they will take on the trip since some teams can take up to 80:
“We’ll take the full lot of what we can take. I like it. I wish that could happen in league play. It’s a good thing for special teams and for so many different areas. I remember when I first started coaching college we could take 70. We were like a kid in the candy store. I was so used to the 53-man roster. Then you get spoiled. Man, I remember thinking that it gives you a chance to bring a lot of guys and especially help out teams.”

On what he know about the Fresno State venue:
“I don’t know much about the stadium, but I coached out there. I understand what it’s going to be like. It’s at night, so I don’t think it’s going to be too bad. But our guys, we’ve practiced it. Last week alone it was probably a hundred degrees in the first couple days. Our guys are in really good shape. I’m not really concerned with that. I’m concerned with our level of execution. We’ll be ready to play. I’m not worried about going to California or anything else. We have some things in place, we’ve thought a lot about it. I like our schedule going out there a little bit later. We’re going to do our normal Friday routine at home, then we’ll get on a plane and go out there. They’ll go to bed at the right time, we’ll get them up and make sure we get them moving on Saturday. So I’m not concerned about all that.”

On if they will apply for a medical redshirt for senior wide receiver Jamal Turner:
“Yes. I’ve been wrong before, but I think it’s going to be a slam dunk. I feel bad for the kid. It’s one of those deals where, same thing, he’s just running down the field and there goes his Achilles. I don’t see that a lot in football. I see that more in basketball. It’s kind of a weird deal. But I know it’s an injury he’ll come back from 100 percent. We’ll get him back again for another year.”

On if wide receiver/punt returner De’Mornay Pierson-El has a bigger potential role in the receiving game:
“Yes. I think we would have used him more the other day, but he got a bruise during one of his punt returns. He was a little bit sore and a little bit gimpy towards the end of the game. I have a lot of confidence in him. Obviously we’ll get Kenny (Bell) back. We expect to have Kenny back. We’re going to start practicing (Glenn) Irons and (Jariah) Tolbert with us a little bit more. We’ll get them ready. Both of those guys are talented kids. I think they’ll bring something and help us, too. Once we get (Brandon) Reilly and (Sam) Burtch back obviously that will help.”

On if they will travel freshmen wide receivers Glenn Irons and Jariah Tolbert:
“We’ll see how the week goes I would anticipate there’s a good chance that will happen.”

On if he thinks Fresno State will be hungry for a win after two tough road games:
“Yeah, somebody was telling me that they’ve won 13 in a row at home or something. I don’t know if this coach has ever lost a home game. It’s going to be a pretty crazy environment out there and they’ll be pretty hyped up. But we’ve got pretty good success on the road. I think our guys will respond very well. I’m not worried about what’s happened to Fresno, what their record is or how they’ve played. Our challenge is to play and execute at a high level. Our focus is on us. On the way we’ll get ready for Fresno.”

On what he remembers about Fresno State head coach Tim DeRuyter:
“It was a little bit different back then. It’s unusual. They do a lot of different things. They move a ton. A lot of blitzes. It’s pretty unusual defense. If you’re going to see us this week, you’ll see some resemblance of some of the things they do, but not the way they do it. It’s very unusual. It’s going to require a lot of good film study. Like I said, a lot of attention to detail.”

On how Fresno State is different without their former quarterback:
“Well I think (Derek) Carr started yesterday. It’s not easy to replace a guy like that. The guys they have in there are capable. They lost some good football players. But they got basically their whole offensive line back.”

On making sure a game like Saturday doesn’t happen again:
“I think I’ve just kind of addressed that. It’s our job to coach at a higher level of detail. I’m not worried about dropping out of the top 25. If we take care of our business, we’ll move up. We won the football game. I’m glad we won the football game. I don’t like the way we did it. So I understand why we dropped a little bit. But like I said, if we respond the right way and we get this going along, then we’ll be just fine.”