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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 29, 2014Steve AddazioCOACH ADDAZIO: We obviously have a great challenge ahead of us here. We have to go down to Blacksburg and play Virginia Tech at home. I have an awful lot of respect, as does our staff, for Coach Beamer. Without question, one of the finest coaches in the country, and proven over time. A lot of respect for both his coordinators. Coach Foster on defense, and Scot Loeffler on offense, who I've worked with, these are really sharp guys that know how to dissect an offense and defense. We know we're going to go against a very prepared football team. Watched a lot of tape. They're explosive as all get out on defense. Dadi Nicolas is such an unbelievable athlete. They have power and explosion with Corey Marshall and Nigel Williams inside, Chase Williams, a veteran player. I think their secondary is one of the finer secondaries in the country. On offense, Sam Rogers is just an outstanding football player. Michael Brewer is an good play maker. Marshawn Williams is back. I think he's a really great big back. A handful of receivers that are extremely talented. We're playing a very fine team. We have a lot of respect. Our program has a great deal of respect for Virginia Tech and what they've accomplished, the style that they play with, with toughness and speed. It will be quite a matchup. With that, any questions. Q. I spoke recently with your quarterback Tyler Murphy. He talked about wanting to be a coach or athletic director one day. Have you had conversations with him about what it takes to be in one of those chairs? How does that demeanor shine through in the locker room with his teammates? COACH ADDAZIO: He's a great teammate. Tyler is a phenomenal human being. He's a guy that always comes with a smile on his face, eager to learn, loves football, loves people, very smart. Getting his graduate degree right now. Just a pleasure to be around really genuinely. I think really enjoying and doing well in the atmosphere here at Boston College. Certainly if he wants to become a coach, he would have a great opportunity with us because I just like people that have that kind of mindset, that kind of attitude, love of the game. Q. How advanced is he compared to other people you've coached in terms of the questions he asks, the way he tries to understand the game? COACH ADDAZIO: While he hasn't played a lot of football, so he's getting better every week. He's really becoming just a terrific player. But he's been around football at the collegiate level. Probably haven't been around so many coordinators in a different kind of a way has probably helped him how to learn offenses and adjust. Might not be easy to play in that situation but certainly can help you in terms of your exposure. I think his age, his maturity, his intelligence really helps him in his preparation. Q. How much have you kind of stressed finishing games? A little bit of a struggle in some of them for you this season. Have you talked about that a lot with the team? COACH ADDAZIO: I mean, there's no doubt that I knew at the beginning of the season we'd be on a bit of a rollercoaster ride. I probably said that here in this press conference and certainly in other ones. So many young players, so many losses that we had last year. They've been a different kind of rollercoaster ride for different reasons. Last week I give all the credit in the world to Wake. They played well. As you were mentioning, I don't think we particularly finished strong. But then the week before, we had a chance to win it in the end, but we just played so strong in that game. So for different reasons I think you're right. I think for different reasons there's a real focus on being able to close it out. But I think that's got a lot to do with where we are right now. Q. Are you surprised with the fact that you're sitting here about to become bowl‑eligible, knowing you've had to overcome some youth and inexperience on this team? COACH ADDAZIO: I'm proud of our kids the way they battled. I look at it one game at a time. Our non‑conference schedule, we're playing USC in conference, Clemson, Florida State, cross over playing Virginia Tech, we're playing Louisville. We really get challenged. So to answer your question, I mean, I think we're scratching and clawing. There are should‑have, could‑haves. Sitting here at 5‑3, with an opportunity to get 6, we're focused on that. We know we're racing the clock because we have a few depth issues. We're operating right now with, I might misquote it, about around 73 scholarships right now, which is pretty low. So we've got to really get after it. We've got to go really scratch every week. For that, I like that style of team. As you mentioned, I wish that we could close a little bit better, but I think that will come with maturity. Q. Talk about your defense. Is this like the ones you had during your time in Gainesville or Philadelphia? Talk about players that might be playing Sundays in a couple years. COACH ADDAZIO: Well, we're certainly a different style. In Florida we were an under‑man free team, which we kind of brought with us to Temple. Donnie Brown, we're a 4‑3 base, I guess. But we're so multiple in our two‑ and three‑down looks, our multiplicity, our coverage and blitz packages. We're certainly a much different style of defense than the last two stops I've been at. We've got some very talented guys. I think you're looking at Josh Keyes, who is very, very active on our defense. He plays a lot of spots, a lot like Kevin Pierre‑Louis did last year, who is having success in the NFL right now. We have some big offensive linemen that are pretty talented guys, some big hybrid receiver/tight end guys. So we have some talent. Depth is an issue right now. We've lost now our two corners. We've lost our best interior defensive lineman. We lost one of our best starting offensive lineman. We're fighting that right now, as is everybody. I don't know if I answered your question. Q. Talk about playing down in Blacksburg. Why is it visiting teams have problems playing down there? COACH ADDAZIO: I mean, I haven't been there since my days at Syracuse. I remember when we were at Syracuse, we would go down there, the walls were so close to you on the sidelines. It was usually at night. It was usually cold. There were frozen oranges. It was crazy, noisy. It's just a wild environment. It's a great home‑field advantage with a bunch of passionate, energized fans that love football. I think those combinations really make it a tough place to play. That's exciting. That's what I love about college football. They have that there. It will be a great challenge to us, for sure. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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