Wednesday Presser Transcript 10-5-11: Brady Hoke Comment Count

Heiko

(No jump because this was a pretty short presser.)

News bullets and other important things:

  • Barnum isn't "out", but didn't practice much yesterday.
  • Hemingway's arm wrap sounds about as concerning as Denard's arm wrap.

Brady Hoke

from file

Opening remarks: “We had a good day yesterday, I thought, on both sides of the ball. One of the big things in this football game is going to be field position and turnovers. They’re plus five and we’re plus seven. They’re taking care of the football, and they’ve done a nice job defensively of creating some opportunities. The other part of it is the field position in the kick game, when you look at their returns on punt and on kickoffs, they’re significantly higher than the average. Both of those things I think are a big part of it. We had some struggles with kickoff coverage last week. We haven’t done great in kickoff returns. I think we had some opportunities in the punt game punt-return wise, but we have to be better at those two things to create some things for us offensively. Obviously defensively, when you look at helping your offense out so they can get another -- steal another possession.”

How much do you physically practice coverage? “We always do coverage teams Tuesdays, plus our return games on Wednesdays, plus we always do another five-minute segment with the punt because that’s such an important play in football. Statistically, if you believe in statistics, if you look at teams with a punt return against them or a punt block, your percentages go way down to win a football game, so we work pretty physical with it. We’re going to do some kickoff live at the end tonight, and we have to send a message. We also have to do a better job of coaching and teaching.”

How much success on kickoff coverage is location of the kick? “I think it’s always part of it. When we’ve had really good locations, usually we’ve had good coverage. I can think back to last week, there were three of them that were really located pretty daggone well. And then two of them, one of them was in the middle of the field where we didn’t want it, and the other one was -- if I’m coming down the field -- right-middle, which wasn’t far enough. There’s all kind of things you look at. I think their returner is very good, quick, and he does punts and kickoffs. We just have to be more sound.”

You pitched a shutout on third downs defensively last week. What’s your target percentage for third-down stops? “I think if you can be successful defensively 63-, 64-percent of the time, maybe a little higher than that -- but I don’t know where we are right now. I don’t really look at that stuff much. I don’t think we’re where we need to be. I think last week helped, but that’s an anomaly a little bit.”

How much is Junior Hemingway limited by arm wrap? “He’s all right. He’s just got a little boo-boo on his elbow. He’s fine. We did punt yesterday and he’s one of our wings and did a great job protecting. We serve them live bullets.”

Have you talked to players about road game and traveling expectations? “A little bit. We’ll talk more about it tomorrow. It’s more when we, on Thursdays, you cover some more of those administrative things. Where they sit on the plane, all those kinds of things that go along with it. How we’ll dress, getting to the hotel, knowing where you’re at, knowing where the stairs are, because that’s important. Elevators sometimes don’t, you know, bode too well.”

Are you pleased with how healthy this team is given how physical you practice? “Yeah. Yeah. No question about it. And I will knock [on wood] a bunch (knock knock). Understanding that Tuesdays are going to be heavy work days and today will be a heavy work day where we’re going to get as good a look as we can, as physical a look as we can so that the reactions on both sides of the ball and even on the kicking game are what we want come Saturday. And the mentality of how we play.”

Is Barnum out for Saturday? “No, I don’t think he’s out. ”

How much is he practicing? “He didn’t do much yesterday, but today’s Wednesday.”

Countdown clocks … have you caught anyone talking about Michigan State yet? “No. Heck no. No way. The seniors have done a nice job. They’ve done a nice job.”

How is Will Heininger doing? “I think Will has come along when you look from the fundamental side of playing the position and what we ask those guys to do up front. He has always wanted to do it. I think there is a confidence thing at times that he had to, in my opinion, push through. Being a little more confident in this is how we’re teaching this and how we want you to do it from a physical standpoint. But I think we do some two-on-one live drills on Tuesdays and Wednesday that are really good for our guys up front on both sides of the ball.”

Craig Roh was dropping back in coverage. What does his versatility do for your defense? “I think it helps. When you have a guy that can do a couple different things, it can keep an offense off balance. Craig’s greatest asset is he’s a smart kid and he’s a smart football player, and he picks up things well and he has good recognition of if he has to wall the second receiver or if he’s on what we call train and he has to take the guy out of the backfield. He has a good understanding of it.”

Do you see your players getting more comfortable with Mattison’s defense? “Last two weeks they feel more comfortable. I think this week we have a different challenge because of pace and tempo that we’ll get from Northwestern. They’re going to snap the ball at times with 30 seconds still on a 40-second clock. So that’s getting to the line of scrimmage and making a decision. At other times they’re going to slow it down, so all those things that are things that will disrupt you defensively, and that’s where our discipline, our communication, our urgency to look into the sideline and getting set -- that’s all part of it.”

Mattison talked about players taking ownership of defense. What does that mean to you? “I think there’s a lot of pride. There’s a unit pride by position. I think it’s always important. I think the personal pride you have, how much you really study the game and study the oponent and look at tape and all of those things. I think they’ve done a pretty good job of that.”

What kind of effect will having a whole lot of Michigan fans in the crowd have on the game? “Well I think it’s always nice to play in front of folks that are behind you. It may help a little bit with crowd noise if we have a lot of Michigan people there. I know there’s a ton of alums who live in the Chicago area, so we welcome them all.”

Comments

mgokev

October 5th, 2011 at 2:46 PM ^

Wow, knowing where to sit on the plane, hotel rooms, stair locations, etc?  That's leaving no stone unturned.  I can only imagine how well Hoke prepares for an opponent if he puts that much effort into those details.

oriental andrew

October 5th, 2011 at 2:47 PM ^

I think this week we have a different challenge because of pace and tempo that we’ll get from Northwestern. They’re going to snap the ball at times with 30 seconds still on a 40-second clock. So that’s getting to the line of scrimmage and making a decision.

This is, I think, going to be critical.  I wonder if NW will try to take advantage of our frequent last-second defensive shifts with some quick snaps.  I would, if I were them. 

mgokev

October 5th, 2011 at 3:09 PM ^

Is there a rule where you have to be fully set as an offense for at least a second before you can snap the ball?  I recall something like that being mentioned.  I'm always wondering during the games why the other team wouldn't just snap it sooner during our musical chairs DL shifts.

Either way, I agree with you, I think the varying pace could be the biggest challenge the defense could face.  There is potential to get stuck in a certain defensive package then exploited in the hurry-up.