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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 22, 2014Steve AddazioCOACH ADDAZIO: Certainly we're really anxious to be able to play again and get down and play Wake Forest. I'm really impressed with Wake Forest in a lot of areas. I know Dave Clawson for a long time. I know what kind of staff he has. I know they're very, very smart in terms of how they game plan both sides of the ball. They're going to really look at where your tendencies are, weaknesses are. They're going to have a good game plan put together. On defense I think they're very good. When you watch the film, not a lot of people drive the ball on Wake. That's what I look for. They are strong internally with Tylor Harris, their nose guard. I think he's a big, strong, powerful guy. I love their corners. Merrill Noel, Kevin Johnson. I think they have really strong linebackers. But they have a bunch of good players. Zach Allen. I think they're really good on defense. I think they have a good scheme. I think they're well‑coached, well put together. On special teams when you look at the mark of how well a team is coached, you look at special teams. Dave has done an unbelievable job there. I think they're dynamic on special teams. They make plays. I'm very impressed with them. On offense they have a young quarterback in John Wolford, whose brother plays for us. You really see he's going to be a fine player here in the ACC. Really has done some good things. Probably had one of their most productive drives prior to getting hurt last week against Syracuse. They're playing a bunch of young players. But you can see over time they're going to get where they want to be. Dave Clawson is going to get them there. I look at a hungry team. I look at a well‑coached team. I look at a team that's being maximized where they are right now. I know we're going to walk into a buzz saw down there. I'm trying to prepare our team mentally how physical and tough this contest will be. Sorry I dribbled on, but go ahead with questions. Q. Tyler Murphy for you obviously being most successful as far as passing and running the ball, what can you say about his dual threat, how you assess his talent so far? COACH ADDAZIO:  First off, he's a leader for our team. He has great leadership skills, which is important as a quarterback. Dual threat quarterback. A guy that can throw it and run it. He gets better every week. He hadn't played a lot of football before coming here. That's unique. He played a few games at Florida. As a quarterback, you need more than that. He's getting better every week. You can see the development not only in games but in practice. So I'm really excited about him. Q. As far as Dave Clawson, he described you a little bit earlier on, obviously has known you for a while, you talked about Wake Forest itself. What can you say about him as a coach and leader? COACH ADDAZIO: Listen, Dave Clawson has been successful everywhere he's been. He's won everywhere and he will win at Wake Forest. He's a great football coach. He's a tremendous guy, number one. But he's really a great football coach. Having played against him when I was at Temple, but I knew Dave long before that and have watched his teams. I think they're really well‑coached. I think he's really bright and smart. I think he has a great handle not just on offensive and defensive schemes but the development of a football team. We're both young programs in terms of I've been here a year, Dave just got there. You watch the tape and you can already see he's maximizing his football team right now. He will continue to do that. He's a sincere, honest guy. I have the most respect for him. Really that's what I've told our team. I know getting ready for this game, they're going to have a great plan, be meticulous and well‑prepared. That's what I'm worried about right there. He and his staff will have a great plan put together for his team. Q. Steven Daniels, he had a really big game against Clemson. Is that a function of a scheme or did he have a breakout performance? Am I misjudging it? COACH ADDAZIO: You're not misjudging it. He played really well. I think it's all of the above. Steven is developing. Our scheme puts him in a position to make those plays. I like his demeanor, attitude, approach. He's playing really hard. That's what we had hoped for and need to continue doing. Don Brown does a great job in terms of scheming different things, scheming protections, run games and things to put our players in positions to be able to make negative‑yardage plays. Q. Going up against Wake's offense, for most of the season they really have struggled to run the ball. They've started with a little spark with Dez Wortham.  Can you talk about the challenges they present. COACH ADDAZIO: They're young. The run game starts up front. I think Dez is a really good player. I've watched him. I think Wolford is going to be a really good player. I think when you come in, you're trying to get continuity in our offensive line, trying to work to the talent and skill you have that given year. But they're getting better. That's a fact on the film. It's only a matter of time. I just don't need that time to happen this week. I know Dave, they're coaching like crazy down there. They got good players. They got smart players. They're just going to get better. That's just the way it is. So we're fully aware of that. You're right on the money. You can see the improvement on offense. Just watch the tape and it's there. Q. I know everybody's teams are like six games in, they have a bye. Can you grade your team so far, the greatest and the worst for you guys? COACH ADDAZIO: Well, I'm not into grading my team right now. Just getting better. I would say to you I think we're playing really hard. I think we're a tough, physical, competitive team. We need to learn how to close things out. We have had an opportunity to close two games out and we did not do that. That was Clemson last week and that was Colorado State. That's a step now in year two that we need to take. Those games need to become Ws and need to be closed out. The only thing we can do right now is really strain to play with the intensity and the physicalness and the attention to detail we've been doing right now. We're improving. What you can't do now is get into this part of the season where players are getting fatigued, you lose that edge, your play drops off. We can't be that team. We have to continue to improve. Q. What did you see on film that might give you problems on Saturday? COACH ADDAZIO: A lot of things. I see a defense that doesn't allow you to run the ball that much. That bothers me. I see some very opportunistic special teams play. That's got my attention. I see an offense that's improving each week. There's a lot of things. We're just a scrappy team, up and down. We have a veteran offensive line that's lost one player for the year and had another player that missed a game and is dealing with injuries. We're still a developmental team in a lot of ways. Starting with our leadership, which creates your consistency and your intensity, the ability to sustain that. We're a work in progress. When you're a work in progress, you're on the road in the ACC, you got to be careful. We're just a few plays away from really looking darn good, and also a few plays from not looking so good. We're battling every day. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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