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SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 24, 2017Rocky LongSan Diego, California SDSU - 35, New Mexico - 10 Q. Describe the past four years coaching Rashaad Penny? COACH LONG: Well, as the head coach, I'm not his position coach, so Coach Horton knows him a whole lot better than I do. What I know about him, he's a very talented young man that was raised right by his parents and his family and he's a good guy, not only he's a talented football player, but he's a good guy, good teammate. He does well in school. He's never a problem. And he's the best thing about anybody on our team is when they're team guys first. I mean, he's as good as any running back in the country. I don't care what they say. He's as good as any of them. And he doesn't probably it's not going to get the recognition he deserves because he's one of us. But I don't think that in the back of his mind I don't think it bothers him very much because he likes being one of us. And he would have done the same thing if he had gone to SC or someplace like that, he would have done the same thing and he would be in the Heisman Trophy ballot. He would have done the same thing if he went to SC or some place like that. He would have done the same thing and he'd be in the Heisman Trophy ballot. Q. Talk about back to back years, 2,000 yard rushers? COACH LONG: I heard that was a record or something. We're not in this for records. Well, except for one; we're in this for winning games. It's a pretty unique program when you can win double digit wins year after year after year. What that means is you have a lot of really good kids and a lot of really good players in your program. You don't win without good players. And we've been lucky to have a lot of really good players in our program and a lot of really good kids that have been raised right, so we don't have much trouble with them. And then I have an unbelievable coaching staff that not only recruits those guys, they get the best out of them, the most out of them. So, I mean there's a lot of reasons you win games -- number one it's the players, and number two it's the organization. Q. (Inaudible)? COACH LONG: I think it might help in recruiting running backs. But outwardly, no. I've come to the conclusion that before you're considered nationally you have to be like we've been the last three or four years, you have to be like that about 10 years. And then if you're like that for 10 years then they actually recognize you. And then you don't have to be that good anymore because it lasts for another 10 years. There's another school in our league that has that right now. Q. (Question about Rashaad)? COACH LONG: I wish I would have been brave enough to predict it on Tuesday. I mean, he's a good player, but he's going to have a day like that because the rest of the team was upset, not because he was upset because of the rest of the team was upset. So you never know if they're able to do it or not, but they went out there to make a statement, and make sure he had a good day. And that's because he's a good guy. He's a good guy and he's a team guy. If he was an ego guy and a me guy, they wouldn't have cared. They would have just gone about their business, they wouldn't have cared. They were more upset than he was, by far. Q. On all the long runs that Penny broke today -- COACH LONG: There were probably about six more that maybe he could have broke because he got tripped, yeah. Q. Did he kind of take note of just how wide open the holes he had to run through, and does it kind of excite you for the future? COACH LONG: Yeah, I think the offensive line has improved as the season has gone along. They have their ups and downs like everybody does. They'll be better next year, and the year after that they'll be the best offensive line on the West Coast, I think. Q. Did you try or did Tony Rosales try -- COACH LONG: He's not ready. He can't do it. We're trying to get so that he can get well for the bowl game so he can go out the right way. Like all the seniors did today. They'll remember this the rest of their lives, their last game at home, and it's always a much better memory when you win. Q. Any prediction what bowl game you're going to be in? COACH LONG: I have no idea. We want to play the very best competition we can play no matter where it is. We want to play the best competition we can play. That's going to be up to a lot of other people besides us. Q. With all the records that Rashaad has either set or tied both school-wise and NCAA, granted you have one more game left, as a head coach which one stands out for you? COACH LONG: I don't know. I thought what I saw last week was pretty amazing. Not only did he have a great day rushing the football and had a 70-yarder called back so he would have had over 300 yards rushing, he ran a kickoff back for a touchdown. And the very first punt he's returned in a live action for a game he turned that for a touchdown, too. That was pretty amazing. I'll have -- it will be a long time before I forget that performance. Q. The play of Tariq today as lot of tackles and two picks, what's the upside given -- COACH LONG: I thought Tariq played average. I mean, you didn't see the other things he didn't do well. But he has a knack -- for a freshman, he has a knack for being in the right place most of the time. There were a couple other times that they had some big gains where maybe he was supposed to be there. I'm not saying that, though, because I haven't watched the film yet. But I make pretty good guesses from the sideline. I can make a pretty good guess. But he made some nice plays. He's really played well for a true freshman. I don't know without him I don't know what we would have done in the secondary, because the other one that was competing with him, missed the whole year because of an injury he had to have operated on. So I don't know what we would have done without Tariq playing over his head. He didn't play like a freshman. He's played much better than a true freshman normally plays. Q. And obviously really big for the future? COACH LONG: I think he's going to be an outstanding player if this is any indication as a freshman he'll be an outstanding player. Let's not pat him on the back too hard now being a freshman and he's already heard about the ones he didn't do well. Q. Were you referring to Darren Hall and what's his status? COACH LONG: Darren Hall, we haven't played him because we're trying to redshirt him. He hasn't played yet. I was talking about Trenton Thompson. Darren Hall, we're trying to save his year. Even though he would have to go in, if we got two or three guys hurt, he'd have to go in. Q. Compared to before when the season began to now has the team exceeded your expectations where does this fall? COACH LONG: In fact, I had that discussion with my family the other day, the other night. Going into this season, to be very honest with you, I thought we were going to be disappointed if we didn't make a bowl game, but I didn't think that getting in a bowl game was a sure thing. And we were our own worst enemies by winning the first six, because then all of a sudden everybody thought we were better than we really were. But we do have kids that will fight and we do have kids that will come back and we do have kids that want to win and they -- we've got a pretty good feeling about winning too. They know how to win. The best part it hurts them when we lose. There's a lot of schools around that they celebrate those wins, but it doesn't hurt them very bad when they lose. Q. (Inaudible)? COACH LONG: I don't know, because the DBs are out there in the open. They're much easier to see when they mess up. I think since Kyahva has been playing, he's been playing really, really well, which is good for the future, too, because that gives us more depth at linebacker. And we've had some problems at linebacker with injuries and some other things. So if he hadn't stepped up we wouldn't have been near as good on defense as statistically we are. Q. What about having Tyler Morris starting, was it his performance, or because of senior night? COACH LONG: It was mostly because he deserved it because he's a senior, and he's been in our program and has gone through some gruesome injuries and is healthy this year and has been a really good player on special teams for us this year. He deserved to start since this was his last home game. Q. What's the situation with Lakalaka? COACH LONG: He'll be back for the bowl game. Unless there's something else, there's some other problems. Q. Was he in attendance? COACH LONG: Yeah, he was in attendance. Q. On the field? COACH LONG: No, he was not on the field. Q. He's not injured? COACH LONG: No, he's not. He has a slight shoulder injury but that's not why he didn't play. Q. Can you speak to why he -- COACH LONG: Yeah, team rules. Q. What words did you have for Rashaad either before or after the game with this being senior night? COACH LONG: I'm boring. Before the game, I shake all the seniors' hands and tell them good luck. After the game, I made him come in the middle of the circle in the locker room and he started us off on what to say after the game. I forget what he said. It wasn't earth shattering, but the players, they enjoy when he talks to them. Q. Anything in the senior meetings this week that you did special with them? COACH LONG: No, they're all the same in the senior meetings. In fact, there's no holds-barred in there and they can say whatever they want to say to whoever they want to say it. And it's a very democratic society to a point. It's very democratic when they're discussing things. It's very democratic until I put a stop to it. Q. Did they discuss the awards in senior meetings? COACH LONG: Oh, yeah, that's why I know they were so upset. And I was supposed to explain to them why Rashaad was being disrespected like that. And I have no answer. I mean, I tried to tell them the way the world is and the reality of the world that didn't appease them one bit. Q. Did you think something like this might send a message later on down the road for the people of Doak Walker or any other awards that, hey -- COACH LONG: I think it will be forgotten. I think by this time next year, it will be completely forgotten. I hate to be honest. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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