UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 29, 2002

Ralph Friedgen

COACH FRIEDGEN: I glad for everybody to be here. It's really a pleasure. It's really a great event coming up. We've worked really hard. We're excited for Saturday night. We can go ahead and take questions.

COACH FRIEDGEN: I think there's a lot of things that make this a special game for us. That's one of them. I think the fact that I'm from this area, it's a special game, you know, playing such a fine opponent as Notre Dame. The fact that I think we're going to have a sellout, there will be a lot of people here, a lot of Maryland Terrapins coming up for this game. When I took the job that Dr. Yow offered us an opportunity to play in this game, I thought it would be a very good thing for our program, kind of pointed in the direction that I wanted to go. Of course, that was about two weeks after I got the job, and a lot has happened since then. It's probably taken on more significance now than what it was at the time we got into this. Yes, this game is very special to us.

COACH FRIEDGEN: Everybody knows about the history of Notre Dame. I mean, you grow up with "One for the Gipper." That's there. I played against Notre Dame twice. I thought they were both great experiences. One we won; one we lost. It's exciting to be in this game.

COACH FRIEDGEN: Well, you know, I was just looking at it today at a practice. I mean, we're such a very young team, we have a lot of guys, this is their first college game, even if they're not true freshman - we have a lot of redshirt freshmen playing in this game also. There's that excitement. To them, this is their first college game. It's in the Kickoff Classic with 80,000 people on national TV playing Notre Dame. That's a pretty big statement. From my point of view, it's a little scary. These kids are going to be very, very excited. Since Monday they've been excited in practice. I think they're really looking forward to it.

COACH FRIEDGEN: You mean our fans?

COACH FRIEDGEN: I think our fans are excited. Obviously, they're coming to it. This is the second big game they've supported. At the Orange Bowl, I think we had 25,000, 30,000 fans. I think we'll bring that here this week. I think we're developing a reputation that Maryland travels. That's good; that's what I want. I think a lot of the Bowl people will take notice of that also.

COACH FRIEDGEN: You know, you can talk to EJ later. From what I see, he's playing just as good as he did last year. He's moving very well. Without EJ, we're not the same defense. I mean, he's an impact player. I think he's the best middle linebacker in the country, without a doubt. He's graduated from college. He's taking another major this year. He's a good student; he's a good person; he's a good football player. If I had 20 more of him, I'd probably have more hair on my head than I do right now.

COACH FRIEDGEN: I don't know if you can make up for it. I think the experience is just that. You learn through your mistakes. You know, what I try to do is give the kids a lot of reps. We run a very high-tempo practice. They'll get a lot of repetitions. Hopefully they make those mistakes. We correct them on tape. Hopefully we improve. You know, you never know how they're going to perform when the lights come on. You know, that's just part of college football. That's something that I enjoy because you do see kids mature and develop, and you can remember when they were young freshmen. Then you see them as seniors, now they're young men. I think it's kind of neat.

COACH FRIEDGEN: Well, you know, I mean, I did a lot of clinics. I spoke at the American Football Coaches Association. I was very honored that the room was, you know, packed. I must have had 4,000, 5,000 people. You know, what I told them is it's not me; it's us. We have a very good administration who allowed me to have very good coaches. I was fortunate to come across a bunch of kids who were willing to work and pay the price that was necessary to win, wanted to win, and with every win became more confident. We were very unselfish. There were a lot of intangibles. The ball bounced our way. I don't look at it as what I've done; it's what we've done.

COACH FRIEDGEN: Well, you know, when George got the Notre Dame job, I called him. You know, he was really excited. Then when he looked to the first game, he said, "Oh, it's you again." I told him I was back. In a way, I would have looked forward to George being here, but in another way, you know, it would have been tough again. I don't like playing my friends. I'm a pretty competitive guy. You know, I played a lot of golf with George this summer. We never once mentioned the Georgia Tech game last year. You know, to me that's business, that's not pleasure.

COACH FRIEDGEN: Actually, we're playing 13 games. Depth is a problem when you have 85 scholarships. We've had tough two-a-days. I'm going to learn how to pace ourselves for the rest of this season. I think we're in condition right now. What we have to do is we have to get some of our young kids ready for the second half of the season. But you can't go at it like you do for a 10- or 11-game season and expect guys to be around.

COACH FRIEDGEN: Well, I like starting off with a tough game. I think it helps your preparation during the winter, during the summer. It's something you can point to. I think it's something to look forward to. In that light, I think it's a way also to get your kids ready to play for the season. You know, that's one of the reasons why I wanted the game.

COACH FRIEDGEN: I think it's changed our expectations. When I got to Maryland, I felt we needed to raise our expectations. How realistic that is, we'll have to see. I think we have a confidence right now that we didn't have a year ago at this time. I think our kids know what it takes to win, the work. I see how they practice. This team practices very hard. And they're a young team, you know, which is a little bit unusual because normally young teams have to learn how to practice. So I think some of the residual from last year is knowing what it took to get there last year and having that same thing this year. I like having high expectations. I think that's where we want to go. We want to be a Top 20 team every year, at least. So to do that you need to raise your expectations.

COACH FRIEDGEN: Well, there's no question it hurts us. I mean, Bruce is the offensive player of the year in the conference. Bruce carried us offensively for the first four games last year with his running. But, you know, if you're going to be good, you have to have other players to be able to step up and take his place. I'm very confident in the kids we have. They're young, but they have the ability to do it, they have the desire to do it. What they don't have is the experience. That's what they're going to get Saturday night.

COACH FRIEDGEN: Well, I think you go in knowing that you're going to have to make on-the-field adjustments. We played the "what if" game a lot. What if they do this? What if they do that? How does this guy fit into their scheme? Can they do this with this guy? You try to see what they did at Stanford, then look at who they have to do it with at Notre Dame, how the pieces are going to fit. It's a difficult process. I mean, sometimes I find myself looking at Stanford film and thinking those are the people that are going to play. I realize we need to look at a Notre Dame film, see what they are personnel-wise and how we match up in certain areas. It makes it difficult. But, I mean, I've done it before. It's something you have to do.

COACH FRIEDGEN: Well, you know, I like both the kids, okay? They both have strong arms. Probably Chris (Kelley) is a little more mobile than Scott (McBrien) is. But Scott has had some experience. He's played before. He's my only quarterback that's played in the college game. Unfortunately, it hasn't been for us, it was for West Virginia. I like both of them. I think they're going to have real fine careers. We just have to see how they fit into our system. We put a lot on our quarterback. He has to read the defense and put us in the right play, both running and passing, be able to get us out of a bad play. So that learning curve, last year for Sean Hill, really didn't kick in until the fifth or sixth game. I'm hoping it's going to be faster with these kids, but you never know until it happens. It will be exciting Saturday night because I got a young -- two young guys at tailback, haven't played a lot, two guys that haven't played a lot at quarterback, and those are the guys handling the ball most of the time. That's what I'm a little concerned about, that we don't put the ball onto the ground, that we can hold onto the football.

COACH FRIEDGEN: Jamahl has had a really, really good camp, two-a-day camp. Jamahl came to us and he was a defensive lineman. He's about 240 pounds, about six foot tall. I was the guy that suggested we move him to our rush end, outside linebacker. He played the run this spring very, very well, but he had problems in coverage because he was a defensive lineman. He has worked very hard on that over the summer and has done a very good job for us in this camp in coverage. We're pretty pleased with the way he's playing right now. I know he's excited to be back in New Jersey. I know he'll have a lot of people here seeing him play.

COACH FRIEDGEN: I don't know. You might ask some of the players that. I haven't asked him that. His mother told me over the summer, she said after the first couple plays, you realize those gold helmets are worn just like anybody else. Maybe he has, I don't know.

COACH FRIEDGEN: Well, I got a George Foreman grill in my office. Don't laugh (laughter). My biggest problem is I've got to wash the dishes at night. I don't go over to the trainer table. Every now and then I'll go over just to see what's going on over there. Actually, when I finish, I deal with the press, I go and take a shower. Sometimes I put the chicken or fish or whatever I'm eating on while I'm taking a shower. It's usually done just as I get out of the shower. I have a lot of salads. I'm surprised my ears are not getting bigger. You know, really, I don't eat as much anymore. You know, if I just stay away from it, eat what I need to it... I seem to lose it in plateaus. I'll go for, you know, three weeks at a certain weight, then all of a sudden four or five pounds will come off, do the same thing. It gets a little frustrating, because I'm not eating at all, I don't lose any weight. But eventually it comes off. I think I went on this diet April 1st. Come September 1st, I think I'm 43, 44 pounds right now.

COACH FRIEDGEN: Well, this game, you know, it was kind of the original one. I played back here I guess it was in '91 after we won the National Championship at Georgia Tech, played Penn State. It's kind of like a mini Bowl game. You know, it's something I think the kids look forward to. In a way, I think it will be sad to see it go.

COACH FRIEDGEN: Well, you know, it's going to give us the exposure in this area, but it's also going to give us national exposure. We're on national television. That's the reason I wanted to take the game. You know, anytime you play in New York, I think it's a tremendous experience. New York, New Jersey metropolitan area. I mean, it's the Big Apple. This is where a lot of things happen. I like for our kids to experience what it's like to be at the top of the ring, so to speak.

COACH FRIEDGEN: He's made the trip. It's doubtful whether he'll play. That's the latest on that. (Rich) Parson seems to be fine.

COACH FRIEDGEN: We may play both quarterbacks. It's that close. Probably depend how the game goes. You'll find that out tomorrow night. (reminded that game is Saturday) All right, Saturday night (laughter). Not used to these two-day trips.