	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 31, 2018

Larry Fedora

Greensboro, North Carolina

LARRY FEDORA: As everybody knows, we're busily preparing for the triple option and Paul Johnson's offense that looks like it's running on all cylinders now. Our defense is going to have to do a great job. In a game like this, it's all about the possessions and making sure you're efficient when you have the ball and trying to steal a possession or two somewhere on the defensive side.

Q. Just what you can say about -- I know you've spoken to you about the running attack before, but what you can say about the development of that offensive line and the guys in front of your backs and just what they've done for you this season and how they've come along in your opinion.
LARRY FEDORA: Well, I think they've gotten better week in and week out. I think that fortunately we've been able to put in the last few weeks the same guys up there, and I think that's paid off for us. We had some problems against Virginia, but hopefully we'll get those things ironed out this week against Georgia Tech. But those guys have definitely progressed as a unit as we've come along during the season.

Q. And then kind of the adversity and ebb and flow of the season, just what you've taken away from the team, what you've seen from them and kind of the environment in practice this week coming off of some of the adversity that you've had this season, just how they've responded to it and what you've seen that we can't see that's off the field.
LARRY FEDORA: Yeah, first of all, my hats off to our leaders because our leaders are doing a good job day in and day out, just with what they need to do when the coaches aren't involved. And so they're doing a good job of that. I think our team is very resilient. I think they've shown that they've got a lot of fire in them and that they're going to play hard, and they know we're extremely close. I've challenged them to just decide that you're going to be the guy that makes the play that ends this slide, and they -- I'm expecting that this Saturday.

Q. If I could ask you to just look back, we know what kind of talent Michael Carter is; what did Virginia do effectively to limit your run game, and what needs to improve for you guys there?
LARRY FEDORA: Yeah, I thought they did a really nice job of mixing their fronts. They did a good job with their stunts and their twists, you know, that kept us off balance, and what they did probably best was in 1st and 10, so we were behind the chains, which limited the run production, and so we've got to do a much better job of staying in front of the chains and being much more efficient on 1st down.

Q. And from that same game, they were able to run the ball effectively. I know a lot of that was the quarterback. Does any of what you saw in that game translate this week, or is it so different that it's a whole different animal?
LARRY FEDORA: No, the triple option and what Virginia does is totally different. Now their quarterback -- I think the running backs had 66 yards rushing, I believe. The quarterback is the guy there. I mean, he's the guy that makes plays. He just turns something into nothing -- I mean, nothing into something. But the triple option is totally different.

Q. If I could ask a couple different questions, what do you recall from the first time you faced the triple option, Georgia Tech's triple option, as a coach?
LARRY FEDORA: Yeah, one thing I recall -- well, that game, the first game, they score, we score, they score, we score. It was a very high-scoring game, which is unusual. I mean, you usually don't -- one, you usually don't get that many possessions in a game against them, so you have to be very efficient. What Paul is going to do is -- Paul has been running this offense -- he's been a head coach with this offense for I think 22 years now, and so he's been running it longer than that, but he's got an answer for whatever you're going to do. I mean, he doesn't get to watch film about how you play his style of offense because you don't face it any other time. He knows -- he's got answers for what you're going to do, what front you're going to be in. That means he's already determined what runs he's going to run against that front. He's got -- depending on how you stunt it and how you twist it, he's got answers for that because he's been doing it for a long time.

He's going to get a feel for how you're trying to defend it, and then he's going to attack it in a different way.

Q. Can you take me back to the time when you were making a decision whether you wanted to switch Dazz Newsome from defensive back when he got to you to wide receiver, and why you thought he was the right person for that move?
LARRY FEDORA: Yeah, well, as we were looking at our personnel and what we had, we felt like we really were -- with Switzer leaving, felt like we were going to need some depth and some help at the slot position. And Dazz was pretty electric with the ball in his hands in high school. Never really saw him run routes. I mean, he was just -- they threw him the ball, go down the field and get open and throw him the ball, those kind of deals. But he had a lot of athleticism. When the ball was in his hands, he could make plays. So we decided to get him over there and see if we could teach him the spot and put the ball in his hands in a variety of ways, and he's -- I think he's excelled in it.

Q. To follow up on something you said about the Georgia Tech offense earlier, when you look at their film from their game against Virginia Tech, what jumped out at you to make you think, wow, they're really operating on all cylinders now? What kind of made you think, okay, this is what I'm really worried about this week?
LARRY FEDORA: Well, you know, one thing is they didn't run any triple option in the game. I mean, they didn't run any triple option in that game, and so the freshman quarterback came in and they found some things that Virginia Tech didn't have an answer for, and they just kept running it over and over and over and over again, and the freshman quarterback did a great job. I don't know if there was ever a time that they were in a long-yardage situation other than the one pass that they threw. They stayed way out ahead of the chains. I don't know what their average per carry was, but it had to be way up there because I'm not sure that Virginia Tech ever slowed them down.

Q. Have all the teams that you've worked with since Baylor stayed at a hotel the name before the game, and what do you think the advantage of doing that is?
LARRY FEDORA: Yes, everywhere I've ever been, every team I've ever been involved with has been in that situation. I think the night before the game, just having the team together, the guys that are traveling, the guys that are playing, so that you can have meetings and you can -- dinner and relax, but they're all together. I think that's the -- to me, I like the focus that you get from your players in that type of situation, and I think it's good for the camaraderie, also, of a football team.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297