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FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE
November 2, 2015
Tallahassee, Florida
COACH FISHER: Very proud of our team the way we competed this weekend in the game. We asked our guys not to worry about the scoreboard or anything else, but how you played the game, the way you competed in the game, play the next play, play the man in front of you, do the simple things that get results.
I think our team did a tremendous job of that in all three phases, offense, defense, special teams. We had good focus, played with great leverage on the ball in defense and special teams, for the most part till the end right there on that one.
Offensively put hats on hats, gave our skill guys chances to make plays, got the ball where it needed to be gotten to, picked up blitzes. That was a very physical football team. They played physical. Big-body guys.
I was proud of the way new guys on offense stepped up and started. Some of the new guys that are getting incorporated into it, McFadden, some of those other young freshmen, 19, A.J. Westbrook, all those guys. The young receivers getting back in, the young backs, linemen, all those guys making contributions. Very proud of them.
I think we did a real nice job in how we prepared for the week, how we played during the game. From that standpoint with the passion they played with, the enthusiasm, the fire, tremendously happy with that.
Now we got to have another great week going to play Clemson. Play an outstanding football team. Good in all three phases right now. Playing probably as well as anybody in the country. They got great skill guys, big guys on defense, secondary, linebackers, got guys everywhere.
Coached very well. Good special teams. Be a tremendous challenge going up there to play them. We play them every year. Seems like it's always a critical game in the year, but all games are critical. No one game is any more critical than any other because they all count the same.
We got to prepare well, get ready to play well, and hopefully we will.
Questions.
Q. On that note, how much has this game become a defining game of the season?
COACH FISHER: I don't think it's a defining game of the season. I don't think any part of that's defining. I think all games are defining. I think you have to play them all the same. They're all the same responsibility as far as wins and losses, what they stand for.
It's how you play in the game. At the end of the year that's the two teams that have usually had the best record at the end of the year. But as far as defining games in the season, I don't ever look at things like that.
Q. How is Everett feeling health-wise?
COACH FISHER: I don't care. I haven't seen him yet, haven't been able to meet with him. He'll be evaluated, see where we stand from there.
Q. Any idea how much he'll practice today?
COACH FISHER: No, I don't. I think from what I'm hearing, I have to sit down with him and Jake when we get out of here, after the doctors have seen him, see exactly how many reps or what we'll do there.
Q. How did Sean grade out?
COACH FISHER: Graded out well. Had game management checks, did things very well, made plays. Good decision with the football.
Even a couple throws he missed, he still is going to the right place with the ball. So the decision making was very good. Still some plays we could have made we left on the field. Couple big plays, a couple touchdowns possibly.
Also part of that I like is how he rebounded back from that miss, what that next play was like, which is important for young guys. They get frustrated, they want to make every play. Guys that don't play a lot, when they don't get a lot of opportunities, can get frustrated very easily when they miss a play. Didn't do that. Played with a lot of maturity in the game.
Q. If Everett is cleared, will he be the starter?
COACH FISHER: I can't judge that till I see the health of Everett. I hate to say that, decline the question. I don't have enough information. 'Cause it's not just health-wise. Is he healthy enough to play? Is he playing well during practice? Has he responded well? We'll have to wait and see.
We feel very confident. We have two guys, we know now they can come in and play very well. Both have had outstanding games throughout this season. Everett has had a 370-yeard game. Sean has had a 350-yard game. As I said before, we feel very comfortable with the two quarterbacks in our system.
Q. If Everett is healthy, can you see a two-quarterback system?
COACH FISHER: I'll do whatever we have to do to win.
Q. (No microphone.)
COACH FISHER: We'll see. Have to wait and see how his injury goes. He is healing up. Dalvin is a miraculous guy but we'll have to wait and see.
Q. If he is able to go, Dalvin, it would be nice he got the extra week to rest the hamstring?
COACH FISHER: The hamstring is actually good. He had no problem with it in the game with Georgia Tech. It was just the ankle, where he was. It was good he did get off of that as far as that goes. Now he's got to get the ankle healed up.
Q. You see a possibility of Dalvin and Patrick in the backfield at the same time?
COACH FISHER: We could. We've done that in the past with all of our tailbacks, done that a bunch. It's just a matter of what they're capable of handling and the new guys are capable of handling, not when the ball is going to, but when it's going away from you, and you take a fullback's role.
We've done that with two tailbacks. We don't know if Dalvin will play. We have to see if Jacques can handle that.
Q. I don't know the last time a freshman has had 12 tackles in a game. He was everywhere.
COACH FISHER: Then caused a fumble. Caused a fumble. Then on special teams, watch him running down the field causing chaos.
I think the more he gets out there, the more comfortable he gets playing. It's more natural. He feeds off that. He's a competitor. He's a guy that loves ball in every shape and form, loves to compete. He's playing so much, his confidence just keeps growing in what he's doing. He's got a chance to be a really, really good player.
Q. When Nate got hurt, did you think he was about ready?
COACH FISHER: We felt good. What we ask him to do, the amount of volume of things. Safety is a lot like quarterback. Check here, this here. All of a sudden you get in the wrong part of the field, which he did once or twice, got two-wide, new assignment, but the technique is bad. Easy to say, Put him in there. Those mistakes can cause you six points. It's hard.
That's the thing about him that impresses me the most. Not only his instincts, but he's a very, very intelligent guy. He learns well. Learns from mistakes well. We felt comfortable he was getting to that point.
Q. Did Jacques play as well as it looked like he played?
COACH FISHER: He played pretty well. He missed a cut or two on runs. As the game went on you saw him run with more confidence and power. Sometimes when you're young like that, you're getting hit, like I said, When you're your size, guys don't like hitting you. Just remember that. You're young, you got to fight through that.
He played well, caught the ball well, and he picked up blitzes well. All of his blitz pickups were there. Caught the ball, what, I think six catches, six catches out of the backfield. We use Dalvin a lot out of the backfield.
That's the thing I say about our offense, they're not all designed to him, but if the reads take him there, that's where they go. We have a lot of ability to do that. That's why it's important not only to be able to run the ball but catch the ball. He played well.
Q. (No microphone.).
COACH FISHER: Just executing. They're getting hats on hats, they're playing with great confidence. You can see them playing fast, making those tight plays, contested plays. Quarterback plays with a lot of confidence. They are blocking well. They can run the football. They have play-makers. They're confident. You can see them playing more and more confident each week.
Q. How much better is Deshaun better?
COACH FISHER: You see a totally different demeanor on him because of knowledge, presence, poise, at the line of scrimmage. As much as Kaaya produced last year, as I watched him approach the line of scrimmage, how he controlled things as a quarterback guy, this guy knows what he's doing. He's in control of things. You just see that out of him.
Q. The defense has been playing really well second half. How pleased have you been with their effort in the second half?
COACH FISHER: Good. We haven't been that bad in the first half either. A few things, but I think our defense has had a very good year. We're going to have to play an outstanding game in this one. These guys are outstanding, too. I've been extremely pleased with our defense and the way they've been playing.
Q. How is Mario and Terrance doing? Any other injuries?
COACH FISHER: Mario, he'll practice, but he won't have no contact. Terrance will be just a matter if we can see this week can he change direction. He has strength, he can run straight ahead, but those high ankles, when you have to change and go laterally, because the bone split up inside, up in there, those ligaments, they get stretched. That's the thing about a high ankle. Not a lot of swelling. We have to get the power back in it.
Q. Everybody else come out of the Syracuse game okay?
COACH FISHER: Relatively. Just normal nicks and nacks.
Q. You always talk about the importance of executing in the red zone. Against a team as good as Clemson is offensively, how do you avoid putting more pressure on yourself in the red zone?
COACH FISHER: You put pressure on yourself every time. It's no different. It's all about what you do. You put pressure on yourself all the time anyway no matter who your opponent is.
They won't score as much, so we won't have to score as much in the red zone. I don't mean that to be smart. We just approach it the same way we always do. We keep the same amount of pressure no matter what the situation.
Q. Were you pleased with the red zone offense?
COACH FISHER: We punched it in, got it in the end zone, had a critical third down we threw. Picked up a critical third down once on a slant. Third down conversions in the red zone are extremely hard. When you get to third and seven or more, the red zone, there's not a lot of room to operate in there.
We picked two of those up, which are very critical for those plays. We scored on the other. We worked on it. We'll continue to get better.
Like I said before, the things before were execution. What we're doing isn't broke, what we're do we have to do it better, we have to coach it better. We did it last week.
Q. Having a big guy like Jacques...
COACH FISHER: It can help you at times. It can. The ones we converted on, he had two goal line runs down there, we blocked them on first down. Dalvin ran it in at Georgia Tech. It does help having a big back, no doubt.
Q. Syracuse coaches said they felt like from watching film that Everett didn't check out of plays a lot. Is that accurate?
COACH FISHER: Huh-uh. He checks out a bunch. He checked out a bunch. He checked out of a bunch of plays, what he did, where he was. Exactly the same.
Q. Was that a breakthrough game for Rudolph?
COACH FISHER: I don't know what a breakthrough game is. I don't mean that to be... Play like you're capable of playing. Breakthrough games, what you do, your opportunity is presented in front of you. Like I said before, to me I thought Travis was outstanding. I thought the first play set the tone. It thought he made plays down the field. I thought he did a great job.
Also, Bobo, as far as a coaching standpoint, didn't make very many big plays, but I thought Bobo played as well as Travis did. He didn't have the opportunity for big plays, but critical plays, catches, blocks, little things he did.
To me, people say 'breakthrough games', what I like to say is a guy plays up to his capabilities and his opportunities. When he has the opportunities to make plays, he's making them. He did in that game. I'm very happy. I think he's extremely capable and I hope he continues because we need him to because he can make a ton of those plays.
Q. Punt returns haven't been fantastic this season. Two good ones in the game that got called back. What are you doing to turn to around?
COACH FISHER: Guy is punting the ball. You can argue all you want, people don't return them against us until the end. We didn't cover.
Guys are kicking the ball so well that the game's changed. I mean, field goal, field goal kickers. Used to be if a guy kicked the ball to the end zone, you had one, two, three guys in the country. Now everybody kicks them in the dang-gone end zone.
Look at punters in the NFL, they don't miss field goals. Punters, every guy can kick with it 40-plus yards with a 4.0 hang, 4.3 hang. I think that has to do with anymore the quality of the kickers themselves. Just like in the passing game, how numbers have become skewed to old-time numbers. It's hard to compare.
The quality of quarterbacks, if you go numbers, yes. Remember Ray Guy, when he could kick it like that, him and Reggie Roby and a couple guys were considered freaks at the time. Now everybody kicks the dag-gone thing like that.
I think the quality of kickers makes that very tough to cover. We hold up. But when they're getting 4.0 hangs, 4.2 hangs... The reason we got both returns, if you think about it, they actually out-kicked the coverage. Both were kicks we went back and caught deep, then circled back.
I mean, if they kick it 40, 42 yards, kick a 4.0, 4.2 hang, there isn't a lot you're going to do in return. I think you're seeing that across the country everywhere because of the quality of kickers.
When you do have them, for instance in ours, we didn't cover as well, we had a bad kick. Kicked the ball in the middle of field, about a 3.3 hang, 3.4 hang. We work on our gunners, holdup, block, we've done a ton of things. If that guy hits it good, hits it right, it's really hard to get a really good return.
Q. Florida State had a lot of trouble winning at Clemson before two years ago. It's a different team. That has to help, the guys who have gone up there and won?
COACH FISHER: Yeah, confidence. Knowing you can win anywhere. That is one of the toughest places to play in the country, just like our place is. It's a great atmosphere. It's a great environment. Everybody says it's a tough place to play. The toughest place to play is the ones that have real good players (laughter). They've got real good players, too.
I mean, that all comes into it. But, yeah, you have to have confidence and know you can win there. We have done it before.
Q. If Everett is healthy, (indiscernible) during camp when you're trying to decide on a quarterback for the week?
COACH FISHER: Again, I can't answer that till I know where his health is, what he's doing on the field, how consistent he is. Again, I refuse the question because until I get all the information. I'm not trying to avoid it. I can't answer it. I really can't answer it honestly.
I don't know till I see him what I'll do, see where he's at. He may be full to go. We'll practice. I don't know. We'll have to wait and see.
Q. Considering Jacques, going forward with a healthy (indiscernible), how can you incorporate him in?
COACH FISHER: Both. I think you can do both. I think you will get quality reps. You feel comfortable putting him in the game knowing what he can do in situations, that he's finally capable and gotten over that hump in what he's doing. You feel comfortable with that. I think that rotation will help both of them.
Q. Talk about Deshaun Watson, where is he most dangerous, in the pocket, out of the pocket?
COACH FISHER: Both. Out of the pocket he's dangerous with his arm and his legs. In the pocket he's dangerous with his arms and his legs. He can move within, has time and arm strength and accuracy to make throws across the field at all levels.
He's a great instinctive football player, tough guy, competitor. He's a very, very, very, very good player.
Q. We talked a little bit about the offense. What do you see most from Clemson's offense?
COACH FISHER: They got big guys up front. They have 24 sacks I believe it is. They got a bunch of tackles for loss, over 70 tackles for loss. They cause chaos. They're big inside with interior guys. They got edge pressure with Shaq and Dodd and those guys can pressure the passer. The backers are experienced. They play a lot of nickel. They blitz you in different looks. Coverages with Alexander and Kearse and Green, Tankersley, all those guys, they all cover well. They're a very talented group across the board at all levels. All those guys will play in the NFL.
Q. As far as someone like Marquez White, what role do you see him playing at?
COACH FISHER: Marquez is huge. He's playing really well right now. I think he's had an outstanding year. We speak of Jalen so much who is having a great year. Marquez is a very talented ball skill guy that can cover and run. He's like we thought. He's developing into the player we really thought he could be. Very happy.
All of our guys everywhere on defense, all those guys, everybody is going to have critical roles.
Q. With the recent success of both your teams, how has the stage changed for you guys as far as this game? The last three years have been prime time.
COACH FISHER: It is. It's what you want. I think it's great for our conference that you have two teams that have had so much success over the years. That's what your conference and your league and everything wants. Then it becomes a prime time national game not just a conference game. I think that's quality of the players in the ACC, what kind of league we have.
I'm proud to be a part of it. There's a lot of great teams in this league. But the Clemson-Florida State rivalry has been one of the best. It has a lot of implications as far as our division in the conference, being able to get to a conference title game.
Even when they haven't, both our teams have played in BCS games in the same year, different things. It's a great opportunity for us. It's a great opportunity for them. It's great for our league.
Q. Speaking of the conference, what did you think of the Miami play, the fallout the next day?
COACH FISHER: You wish officials made all the right calls. But, again, they don't do them on purpose. I don't know all the circumstances. Didn't see all of it totally. Don't understand the whole thing.
Sometimes we relish on one play, which was their last play of the game, which is critical. I always say this, there's a lot of plays during the game that can cause it to get to that point, too, that are just as critical to me as a coach, too. You have to look at all the things. It's a shame it has to come down to that. I don't know all the details. I don't want to make a comment on that.
You wish all games were called perfect. It can't. That's human error. That's part of it. You wish you could get it right. Not for the fan's sake, media's sake, coach's sake, you know who for, the players. At the end of the day it's all about the kids. It's all about the kids.
Q. Would you ever be in favor in general of a conference or whoever being able to overturn a result?
COACH FISHER: No, because it's what I said before. It may be the last play of the game, it can be controversial. What about the play that happened in the first quarter that was just as controversial that caused that situation to be there? I may rethink that in time if I really think through it. As of right now, if someone asked me that today, my first thing is no.
There may have been one or two or three plays in the first quarter or second quarter that turned the game just as much as that play did, even though it was the last play. You start going down that road, you're going down a heck of a road. We put it all on one play.
Earlier plays dictate what happens later in the game. If we can't fix all of them, we can't just fix one of them. That's my first thought now. That's quickly. Somebody asked me that, How can they do that? The play in the first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, two plays before that. Basically you're basing it off one play, the last play of the game. How is that play any more important than other plays in the game?
Q. When it comes to lateral plays like that, is there any way to practice that or almost like a scramble drill?
COACH FISHER: You can practice it, but you can't do it organized. That's instinct and intuition as you go. You draw it up and practice it, tell me how to do it, I'll be happy to.
You work on the thing. You may try to work on things like that. But that's hard to do. How do you work against it? Just like how many times you going to really work like the punt that happened, the situation that happened at Michigan, as far as a dropped punt or the blocked kick with us, you cover it, but do you cover it live, all the things that happen, the different people.
You do it when everybody is fine, they fan out across the field. These four guys get knocked down, these three guys stand up, these two guys go in the wrong lane, there's things like that, that's going to be that gray area of ball that you hope your guys figure out.
You talk through them. You talk about it. You talk about all the scenarios. You pray to God they get it right.
Q. When you have horse collars, plays like that, do you email directly to the commissioner?
COACH FISHER: There's a head of officials. He responds back. He'll respond back and say yes, it's a missed call, not a missed call. They have a grading system. I'm happy with him. He does a great job, as far as handling and communicating with you, addressing issues. He has done a tremendous job of that.
Q. On the road the offense production hasn't been what it's been at home. Is there one or two things you point to for that?
COACH FISHER: I don't know. Communication can be there. I think experience. Just knowledge. We've had young guys, multiple starting lineups. There can be tons of things that cause it.
But at the end of the day you just got to do your job. At the end of the day, it all gets down to one thing: do your job. You got a job to do, do it individually. One game it's this, one game it's that, one game it's penalties. What makes a guy miss a throw on the road and get it at home? Some guys like sleeping on their own couch, some guys don't like sleeping on their own couch. I think you can get back to that.
I think just experience, knowledge, the repetition of doing it over and over, and confidence, going on the road with confidence. It will be huge challenge for us because that's a tough place to play.
Q. Kickoff returns, anything in particular you can try to emphasize to take advantage of that?
COACH FISHER: I think you got to do that in the kicking game, every phase of a game when you're playing great teams like that. You have to maximize every yard. You have to look at things in every part of your game that you can maximize in the special teams, too. We'll look at every avenue, I promise.
Q. Roberto is a naturally confident guy. Any issues?
COACH FISHER: I hope not. I'm going to say this. All quarterbacks are confident. They miss a few throws. Oh, Lord, you realize it's not as good as it seems, never as bad as it seems. Go back to the fundamentals, what got you there, kick the ball, throw the ball, catch the ball.
Like Travis, had a couple plays he could have made, all of a sudden makes tremendous plays. You have to go back to fundamentals. Go back to his fundamentals, hopefully he'll kick it.
Q. (No microphone.)
COACH FISHER: Yeah, well, you go back, three of the last four games we've had over 500 yards now. The Georgia Tech game is the only one we've been under 500 in the last three games.
They've gotten more consistent, much better throughout the year. Running ball, doing things, than what we were doing.
But I still think their confidence grows as they do. When you can run it and pass it like we did the other day, their confidence grows because they see the results of what they're doing. Hopefully we can keep their confidence growing.
Q. How did Eberle do on his first start?
COACH FISHER: Really well. Couple missed plays, a couple bad angles he took on one things. For the most part he did one heck of a job. Tough, got a great demeanor, got a great demeanor. I think he's got a chance to be a really good player.
Q. You say every game is the same. How difficult is it to work with so many young guys and remind them not to do too much?
COACH FISHER: We'll coach it. We'll let the older guys reinforce that. It has to be part of our talk, our reinforcement all week. Hopefully they'll handle that and listen.
Understanding that Georgia Tech was a huge game, just as critical, you got to play that one. You got to play this one. Play that one this way, this way, maybe our way is the best way, your mindset going in. That's what you have to train, is their minds, get them to trust and believe in everything. Again, that comes with experience and time. You got to keep preaching it.
Q. When you watch film against Clemson, what stands out?
COACH FISHER: That's called being human. I mean, there's no team that can't be beaten, there's no team that can't win. It goes both ways. The point being, it's about attitude, demeanor, situation, how you play on certain days. That's what makes athletics, we don't know the results, also what the next guy is going to do. The next guy on the other team, he's on scholarship, too. You have to give him credit.
We look at all things, all phases. I know this, they're a extremely talented football team that plays well and has played very well for a long time.
Q. You coached with some of the great venues, LSU, Florida several times. How does Clemson's stadium rank?
COACH FISHER: It ranks right in there. You get eight, 10, 12 places across the country they say are the greatest. Man, when it gets so loud, what else you want? You know what I mean? The environment, hostility.
But it's a great environment to play a college football game. It's one of the best, it really is.
Q. What was your reaction to Frank Beamer?
COACH FISHER: Happy and sad. I mean it, sad because I think college football lost a tremendous coach and a better man. I don't say that with disregard to his coaching. 270 some wins or something like that. Am I off on that?
Q. 277.
COACH FISHER: 277. Think about how many football games that is, how many seasons. But also extremely happy for him. If this is what he wants to do, when he wants to do it for the right reasons, everything is okay. Finally gets to enjoy it. All the hard work, be with his family, his loved ones.
That's tough because that's what you do your whole life. But the grind of this job, the demands of this job, the time it takes away from family and friends. At the end of the day we think this job is the most important thing in the world, but it really isn't. Family, friends, health, all those kind of things are.
For him to hopefully be able to enjoy the great years of his life that he has left, enjoy that, to be part of it, I'm happy for him because I know what kind of grind it is in this business. I understand the years and time he's done. At the same time it's sad because of what he's been able to do. One of the great pioneers, what he did at Virginia Tech, how he built them into a national power, the consistency.
Frank is one of my favorite guys. Tremendously, tremendously classy guy in every regard. I hope everything he's doing it for all the reasons he wants to do. If not, God bless him any other way. He's a tremendous guy for football, coaching and everything else.
There's a family out there that sacrificed a lot for him to do those things, too. Hopefully they'll get to be with him for a long time.
Q. Not a lot of people in your profession get to leave on their own terms.
COACH FISHER: No. I think that's going to be fewer and fewer and fewer as time goes on. Shows you how great he is, because very few do.
Q. Do you remember that program before him?
COACH FISHER: Yeah. Being from West Virginia, they would play them every year. They had their good years, when Bill Dooley was coaching there. Some good years in the '80s, coming through there. He left, then Frank came in.
They struggled for his first four or five years. He didn't have a lot of success till about that sixth year. That was pushing the envelope of when to do something. All of a sudden they took off. He really built it into a heck of a place.
Q. (No microphone.)
COACH FISHER: If it works, it will. Tight punt formation, now you're in spread, all the different things.
Q. Is it better to play them in the afternoon or night up there?
COACH FISHER: I don't know. Play them anywhere. We look forward to playing them. It's a great game. The atmosphere is going to be tough either way.
Q. You've been hit with injuries.
COACH FISHER: We've been hit through the whole year, camp. At the end of the day, nobody wants to hear that. We probably had, what, 18, 22, 24 starters out all year. Like I say, somebody asked me which team is better, the team sitting out or the team playing. I had to think about it. I didn't know.
Again, that's part of ball. That's why you recruit well. That's why I think that kids that look at depth charts so much, You got three players. Guys, if you're in that 85, I promise, you're a good player, you're going to have tons of opportunities to play, tons of chances to play because of injuries, bangs up, they way football is. People don't want to hear that.
Your job is the next guy up, you have to coach them and figure out how to play. Our assistant coaches have done a tremendous job with the amount of different starting lineups, guys we've had to pull out of the key positions during games, after games, before games, two days short of games. I think our staff has done one heck of a job in keeping the team progressing, getting better, getting a lot of these young players developed at an early stage so they can contribute.
We played, what, 28 freshmen this year. A lot of freshmen. Probably top two or three teams in the country as far as playing freshmen.
So that's exciting and encouraging for what we got going on in the future. Keep going.
Q. (No microphone.)
COACH FISHER: And making plays consistently now. This guy locks in and does it. He's doing a really nice job. Again, it wasn't a deal that he was the only guy we had left. This guy earned the scholarship. This guy can be a contributor, this guy is in the game, we feel comfortable, he can play. He can play at this level.
Q. Syracuse tried to take shots on him.
COACH FISHER: They took two or three on him. He got there, made the position on the ball. Did a really nice job.
Q. With all the different openings that are going on, these different schools, do you think people are starting to kind of understand how hard it is to win?
COACH FISHER: I hope so. I hope so. And consistency in a program. I mean, I say this. You have to have consistency. It's good to have a little change. You got to get that lifeblood going. I think it is. People say that all the time. This guy needs to go, that guy needs to go. Who you going to hire? Who do you know that's going to guarantee you come in and win, that can guarantee those things? When you start getting to that other end of it, it don't matter. Let your butt be on the line for firing that guy, hiring the next guy.
Frank is a great example. He goes four or five years, had good seasons. By today's standards, they'd be trying to throw you out of the business. They give him time to build the program, get his players in there. You saw what Virginia Tech took off to. I use that as an example.
Even Coach (indiscernible) early stages, had a lot oc success, had some really good areas. Not 10, 11, wins, they went through some seven, eight win seasons, but he was the same coach.
Players are like that. I want to transfer here. I ain't playing immediately. I ain't doing this. Two guys get hurt two weeks later, all of a sudden you're the starter.
Our world is such a quick-change world, we want to change, but we don't think about what that change causes, who you going to hire, who you going to bring in. There's so many moving parts to so many things today, I mean, there really are.
I know as a coach... If I'm an AD, you're the AD, whatever, pay all those guys off, pay that guy. You going to get that guy from that job, you're going to have to pay him another $3 million, more to get him away from that job.
When you get good people, be patient. Who is one of the best organizations in pro football, consistently year in, year out?
Q. New England. Steelers.
COACH FISHER: Steelers. How many head coaches they all had?
Q. Four, three.
COACH FISHER: Pittsburgh has had three. Noll, Cowher, Tomlin. All of them had a couple years in there .500, didn't make the playoffs. That organization stayed strong. New England, had Parcells, went to Carroll, then went back to Belichick. You know what I'm saying?
Guys who just don't panic, you know what I'm saying? You get spoiled. We all want to win. Sometimes the other guy's on scholarship, sometimes you have injuries, sometimes you have this, that. There's reasons things happen. Sometimes you just don't win them all.
But it is, I think it's getting harder and harder. I say this, Who are those guys going to hire? That's the key.
Q. You started out 12-6.
COACH FISHER: Bad break, a bunch of injuries in 2011. We had a good 2010, lost two of those games. We knocked the ball out of a guy's hand and missed a field goal. In 2011 we get our quarterback hurt in a game, we're good. Playing Clemson this week. You going to play with Maguire? Three out of the five years we played them, we've played with a backup quarterback. Out of the five years we have played Clemson, three of the five we played with a backup quarterback. First year was E.J. 2011 we played with Clint. Last year we played with Sean.
So, I mean, it would be normal. I mean, only two games we ever played were the ones we played here with E.J. and the one we played up there. That's the only time we played with our starting quarterback in the five years we played them.
Then you miss another field goal here, you miss this. If you see the direction and the intent on how teams... Like I said in that game, what I measured our team by wasn't the score last week, how they played, the tenacity they played with, how the program is going. You got to give it time.
Like players, He's a young guy. Well, didn't make any mistakes when you were young? Didn't make them on purpose.
But, again, not complaining. It's just the world we live in. That's the rules that are made and that's the world we live in. It's a great point. Never thought about it like that, like you were saying it right there. There is a lot of them this year for some reason. They come in streaks for some reason.
Q. Whoever replaces Beamer replaces a legend.
COACH FISHER: I get a few calls every now and then who do that.
Q. Is it tougher now with the Internet and 24/7 and?
COACH FISHER: No doubt. Social media makes it 10 times tougher when you're replacing guys like that. Everybody knows more about it, talks more about it. They can group up about it. He didn't do it this way.
Any time you can get more people together socially, through Internet or whatever, you can create more drama and more things that come up. It's much harder to coach play.
I keep joking about this. The amount of pressure on players today, even compared to six, eight years ago, it's scary. I know people, That's a big deal. That's fine. I'm just telling you, though, from the kids' standpoint, the things they go through now is nothing like what they went through 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, even 2009, '10, '11.
It is changing drastically every year, the amount of pressure on these kids, the pressure to perform. You wonder why there's so much depression and issues with children today, inconsistencies, the things that go on. We put them in that way through society because of the importance of sports.
That is why I have nobody talks to the media as a freshman. I set a lot of rules. Guys, I would love for you to talk to all of them, know all of them. You got to bring these kids, the amount of pressure, situations they're in, things that are happening in their lives, there's a ton. It's hard. Then expectations.
I know we all want them, but at the end of the day it's about the kids. It's extremely, extremely different than it's ever been. But that's the world we live in. We have to manage it. That's our job as coaches, to figure out how to help them.
I know people don't believe it, but it is now. It almost pinches me sometimes. Three years ago, it wasn't nothing like that. I've said that four times in the last two weeks. Three years ago that would have never. I'm talking three years. I'm not going like my parents, Back in 1942. I used to get tired of hearing that. I said to Trey the other day, The old story, how bad you had it. Like Pap had it, now you had it. I said, All right.
I see it in the last two, three, four years. I really do. It's not nobody's fault. You guys got to keep up, get stories out, get things out. It's just the world we live in, man. Everything is (snapping fingers).
Kids can't be kids. You don't let them grow up. It's fun we see them grow up early, but what are the damages we doing to them? Wouldn't you like to be a kid again? You wouldn't.
Q. No. Life is better now.
COACH FISHER: You're crazy (laughter). That's each individual. For me, I'd go back be a freshman in high school two seconds. Not college, I go back to high school, middle school. I would.
We all had our trials and tribulations. Just the joy of how the world was then. I loved the simplicity of it back then, I really did. I mean, it's great. It's going to be complicated enough for them all their life. Let them be kids for a while.
Who's preaching now. Put your donations, pass the plate around. All right. We good? Thank you, guys.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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