Football: Coach Bill Stewart Quotes
October 04, 2009 03:18 PM | General
By MSNsportsNET.com
October 4, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - West Virginia University football coach Bill Stewart quotes from Sunday's teleconference.
Opening statement
After reviewing the film and meeting with the staff this morning, we’re very pleased to be 3-1 at this time. Always wish it were better, but we’re not pleased with how we’re getting it down. By that I mean, we’re playing very hard. We’re straining. We’re playing physical, and I know we’re playing tough. I’m just not excited with the miscues we’re having. I can’t fault young men for giving effort and reaching for extra yardage and losing the ball, maybe cutting back over the middle and trying to make the big play when he should just get the first down.
Sometimes, you have to play more conservative, more aware and more responsible. Responsibility is the biggest word I’m going to hit on this week. All of those “ability” words – responsibility, accountability, dependability. We have great ability on this football team, but it seems like we are forgetting some of those buzz words.
That being said, we know the mistakes we made. We know how to correct them, and we just have to go out now and play a game. No one ever is going to play a perfect game, and no one is going to coach a perfect game. But you can always give an All-America effort to do that – you can strive for that. I’ve always said I would never be upset after a win, about a win or over a win, and I’m not going to do that. I’m just frustrated that we’re not polished right now.
Last season, after our East Carolina and Colorado losses, our team came together. Since then, we’re 11-3. That’s good. I’m just frustrated that we aren’t winning as polished as we can and as convincingly as we can. I’ll let it go at that.
Battle of turnovers against Syracuse
I hope not. We had 16 turnovers all of last year, and we have 14 right now. We have had an interception every game, so we have four turnovers for us. But, we aren’t forcing any fumbles; we’re not getting the turnovers. I just hope that we can finally play a polished game, or we’re going to get beat, because they’re good.
On the play of Mike Williams
He’s a talent. He’s a major college football player. He’s in a storied program that’s finding itself and reviving itself to get back. He’s one of the main key players.
I like to watch talented players, I just don’t want them to do the talented things against us. He’s fun to watch. As a player, you want to play against the best. This guy is a great talent, as is (quarterback Greg) Paulus. They have some weapons - offensively, defensively and special teams.
I just see that he is a big boy. That’s a concern. We got out-jumped in the end zone for the last touchdown against Colorado. Brandon (Hogan) and Robert (Sands) got beat when a guy went in the hole between them at Auburn. There are good players out there, but that is why you come to play Division I football. Our guys will be excited to play against them. They have really good players, and they’re starting to gel. I recruited some of those players.
On minimizing turnovers
I can make them go to class with a ball, and I’m sure that’s quite humbling. I could stand and hit them right in the mouth when they come off the field – I’m sure some of the fans would appreciate that. I could make them go run up in the stands and go up in the press box. I could really be a jerk.
The last thing you tell a guy after he drops a pass is scream in his face like everyone wants to see. That’s the dumbest thing a coach could do. What you do is pull him aside and tell him to strain himself a bit more mentally and that he is letting himself, his team and the school down. You tell him to play tougher. They are giving us 90-95 percent effort, but they aren’t closing the deal. Just hold the ball high and tight.
Jarrett Brown doesn’t want those turnovers – he likes to throw it to the guys in our jersey. But, to meet him with the numbers and rant and rave like I’m some real, tough disciplined coach? Forget it! I’m not doing that to my quarterback. Would I like to see him hold it high and tight? Yes. Is he going to get his heart broken again, and break some of ours? Probably. You’d hate it, but in his life, he will fumble again and throw another interception.
The fine line between playing all out and playing too conservative
You can’t harness these guys and have them walking on eggshells. I want them to play. I don’t like receivers dropping the ball. There are times when you have got to let these young guys make plays – you can’t harp them to death. You have to let them make plays. That to me is a fine line.
Can you let them go out there and run wild? No, but you know how we coach, and we won’t let them do that.
Look at (the Steelers’) Hines Ward – he got hit, and the ball pops out. There is not a more dependable guy – it happens. The guys are not perfect.
Am I accepting it? No. It’s going to be a tough day today. I have already started on these guys. They know the head coach is not a happy camper. Am I going to run around and scream during the football game? No. Right now, we’re 3-1. I have to just get in these guys’ heads and tell them to play their game, but just be more responsible. Take care of the ball. And, on defense, they have to go and get us the ball. We aren’t doing that. That frustrates me just as much. We have four interceptions, but we’re not getting the ball.
I want the team to put the ball in their arms and run. Don’t try to make the Super Man play. There’s a fine line. We’re still going to sling it and throw that ball deep. We’re going to mix it up and do reverses.
I made that reverse call with Brad Starks. After he made that play, I was going to get him, and he looked at me and said, ‘I know, I didn’t look it in.’ Don’t tell me that, do it. You think I won’t call a reverse with him again? The ball has to go into playmakers hands.
How do you get them to stop fumbling? Well, we’ll put them in gauntlets today. We have ways. We have ways to make them pay for putting the ball on the ground, but there are constructive ways to make them pay. Don’t just scream at them and tell them not to fumble – that’s not coaching. I’m going to run them, and I’m going to run them hard tonight after practice. I’m going to put them through gauntlets and try to punch the balls out and every day this week, we’re going to work on ball security. That’s all I know to do.
You can’t believe the coaches I’ve called this weekend – I want to know what they did when they were faced with what I’m faced with now. I’ve had some great answers, and I appreciate those that are sharing.
I know this – to look like some tough, raven maniac on the sideline to scream at them ‘Don’t fumble’ is not how you coach. End of story.
On third downs, both offensively and defensively
We’ve practiced our fanny off. We started with our mat drills. We tell the team it’s third-and-two, and they have to go out there and wrestle for 10 hard seconds.
We started that in January.
Had Ryan Clarke not been on the stadium steps last year, by my instruction, we might have had that last year too, but I’ll bring him along as I see fit. Now he’s turned out to be a good lad.
I’m upset this week by 4-of-9. I want to 6-of-9. If we don’t fumble the ball, we would be. Colorado was 10-of-21 on third down. That’s not good. I want them to be 7-of-21. We’re just not finishing, but we are a whole lot better.
We did that during spring ball. I went out there one day and did 40 isolations – 20 to the right, 20 to the left. Someone had to win, and the losers had to do up-downs. That’s what we did to our football team. They thought I was crazy, but that’s OK, because it’s paying off now.
On the play of Scott Kozlowski
He really did a great job this week. He hit a 56-yarder, and he had one inside the 20 at the seven. That ball may have rolled into the end zone. He has really done a great job. Scotty has matured, and he has persevered. He is having a banner season, and I hope for his sake and for the Mountaineers that it continues.
He is just mentally tougher. He could have packed it in, but he stayed the course. He didn’t want to leave West Virginia without having proven to himself first that he could play at this level. He’s a great young man, and he’s going to be a success. I just hope, for his sake, for the rest of the games, he continues to punt well, because he’s very deserving. He has done all of the work himself.
On the play of Ryan Clarke
He’s brought a toughness to this team. He’s brought back a running back mentality. He’s also learning to become a model Mountaineer citizen. He’s laughing, he’s having a good time, he’s serious when he needs to be, and he’s physical.
What surprises me about him is that he is so hard-headed and that it took him this long to get here. He went through some tough times last year; I wouldn’t have wanted to be him. What Bill Stewart, Coach Doc Holliday and Coach Garrett Ford brought to the table – I wouldn’t have wanted to be him.
On Syracuse against the run
They are coming from everywhere. These guys are pressure defense. When you are restarting a program, you have two schools of thought. You can just go base and try to get better, or you do what they’re doing right now. Their coordinator’s thought is to be helter-skelter, line up infront and go after that.
They are just loading the box and coming. If we can protect them, we’re going to push them down the field. We are going to push the ball down the field. It’s going to be a chess match.
On play of Syracuse’ Arthur Jones
He is tough. He is a big, redshirt senior. (Jared) Kimmel is a big, redshirt senior. (Derrell) Smith is a senior. They have some young guys, but their secondary is all juniors and seniors. I recruited some of them. We know these guys. They are tough and they play very well. They just haven’t finished the deal and they have had some turnovers, and that is what has hurt them.
Syracuse was in that ball game on Saturday (against USF). Paulus scared me to death. We’re going to have to play tough, solid and conservative. We can’t turn the ball over. We have to tighten it up.
On noise at Carrier Dome
We played at Auburn and in the Fiesta Bowl. We’re used to noise, and we’ll do the same stuff. I’m hoping it’s not as loud, but I’m sure they’ll be cranked up.
