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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 6, 2008Rich RodriguezTHE MODERATOR: Questions for coach. Q. After looking at the film, did anything change from your initial corrections? COACH RODRIGUEZ: No, watching the film, it was about what I thought. That we didn't execute well. We made a lot of, I guess, mistakes in key times, key areas, big mistakes on lots of big plays on both sides of the ball and thought we played a little soft. That was the most disappointing part about it. You know, MAs are going to happen, and you make a few mistakes. You shouldn't be making them each and every game the same mistakes. But to play a little soft was disappointing, and we've got to get tougher. Q. What did you feel was soft? COACH RODRIGUEZ: If ever you can run full speed and still be soft -- I mean, it's a physical ballgame, and there comes a point in time where you have to play physically. You can't catch people, you can't allow them to block you. You've got to want to block them, you know. When you don't, to me it's not that they're not trying, they sometimes don't realize it. But unless we become a tougher football team mentally and physically, we'll have a lot of problems. Q. You see that on both sides of the ball? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yep, all three phases. Q. What did you talk to the team about in regard to that? How did you emphasize that? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Like I do every day. I showed it on film, like we do every day. They understand. The one thing about it they always say that film doesn't lie. So we watched the whole special teams, because that, to me, there's offense and defensive players both involved in special teams. So the whole team watched the special teams together, which we normally do anyway on Sunday. They could see that on film. So I didn't have to point it out, but I did. But they could see it. It's just not indicative of this program or certainly not the type of things that we want to have on film or during the game. Q. After all you've gone through preseason, how does a team get tough or play tough or play less soft starting mid season? COACH RODRIGUEZ: It's a mindset you have to have each and every day. We talked about it last night. You don't just wake up and say, "I feel good today, I'm going to play tough," or "I feel good today, I'm going to play physical." It's a mindset you have to carry when you go to practice. When practice is over, you switch it back off. You've got to cross that line and flip the switch. And that's not to hit guys dirty or cheap and get stupid penalties. I'm not talking about that. It's an inevitable point of contact or collision. I should say collision. If I'm a coach you are either the hammer or the nail. I'd rather be the hammer. We want the hammer. Q. Does this mean that practices are going to get rougher for these guys? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Well, that's a good question. I told the team that. I said, Do you want to bang the heck out of each other in practice? We only go full pads on Tuesday. You know, as a coach you don't want to do that. You don't want to beat each other up in practice, and not have your team ready on Saturday. So the times that we do go physically on Tuesday, we have to go, you know, we have to be a little bit more physical. But I think it's also a mindset and an aggressive mentality that you've got to have. It's just being more aggressive. You think, Well they're not being aggressive because they're thinking. Well, okay, that's an excuse for a little while. But we're five games into it, y'all know what we're what you're doing. So as coaches we've got to do a better job. If thinking is part of the equation, we've got to eliminate that thinking as coaching and do a better job coaching. Q. You said last week the most embarrassing thing for you as a coach is if someone said your team wasn't playing hard enough? COACH RODRIGUEZ: That's right. Q. This isn't that, but is one of the next worst things to be that they're not tough enough? COACH RODRIGUEZ: I don't remember exactly, but I said the worst thing you can do is watch us on film and say these guys are soft and lazy. I'm not saying we're being lazy, but we've played soft. Softer than we have or can. Not that we have soft guys. I'm not saying we have soft guys. But if there's one guy, 1 out of 11 guys play soft on one play, that's unacceptable, and it will never be acceptable. Q. Did you play a lot tougher at times? COACH RODRIGUEZ: I don't know. I think probably at times. And that's why I was probably more pleased with it. I thought we did play tougher at times. Again, it's not an indictment. We've got to do a better job coaching, too. Maybe if that tentativeness is because of thinking, we've got to do a better job coaching so they ain't thinking as much. That's part of the deal. I don't want to sit here and say that's the only problem we have and then we're still dropping the ball, still have more MAs than we've had. We had more blown coverages in that one ballgame, the play-action things than we'd had in all the other games combined. So it's not just that, but that's an issue that's easily correctable, or at least it needs to be. Q. Do you correct it with personnel changes or anything like that? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Well, you know, that's the final thing, I guess, the last thing to do. I think you're better off if you don't have a new guy that you think are your best guys that have that philosophy. Q. When you diagnose the big plays, what is it that keeps on showing up week after week? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Well, the one defensively -- we had given up a few in a couple of other games, but not to this regard. This one there were guys that were so wide open that they were easily completed. It wasn't like -- you know, they executed it well, but they could have underthrown it or overthrown it and still completed it because they were so wide open. It was just total blow on the side. You know, those are veteran guys and those are things that can't happen if you want a chance to win. Q. What are some of the steps forward specifically that you would like to see the offensive line take over the next week? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Well, we've got to be on the offensive line we've been mixing and matching because of injuries and all that, trying to get a cohesive unit. I think we'll continue to progress with what we're doing. There are a lot of things you can try to do this or try to do that. But again, we don't want to slow them down, we want to play faster. We're not as fast of a football team. We saw that Saturday. We've got to get faster; we've got to get tougher. Q. Do you think the "O" line will stay like you had it? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, probably depends on this week in practice. Q. What did you think of Threet after seeing the film? COACH RODRIGUEZ: He played okay at times, other times he didn't. He competed. You know, he's a tough guy, and he completed, but he didn't make great decisions sometimes. Sometimes he did some nice stuff. So it was a little inconsistent, but he's battling. Q. You've had a dramatic win over a Big Ten opponent followed by a pretty nasty loss against a Big Ten opponent. Now you have Toledo coming in. Do you have to guard against a mental letdown for your players? COACH RODRIGUEZ: If you're guys letdown, they shouldn't be playing football for Michigan or anybody. You work all year to play 12 Saturdays with the hope to play 13. So all that talk about letdown, whatever, maybe it happens, but I'm not used to it. I'm used to guys that can't wait to play. If it's a game, then get somebody else. Right now I hope our guys all feel we have something to prove each time we play. You should do that anyway whether you're undefeated or no matter what your record is. You should go out there with something to prove, and, hopefully, our guys have that mentality that they have something to prove each and every time you tee it up. Practice and in the games. Games should be the fun part. But we've got to adopt that same philosophy in practice this that they feel every play in practice they should have something to prove. That's part of the problem. You know, we've got to get that mentality. But that's not just us. Everybody across the country, that's a natural thing. I've told that to the team. What I've discovered is we're not, you know, mentally, this is not an indictment on our guys or on our team. I said what I figured out is we're like just about every other college football team in America. You know, they need to be motivated to give their best each and every day on the field and off the field - in the classroom and on the field. Some guys are self-motivated. You don't have to tell them, they're going to try as hard as they can in the classroom, and they're going to try as hard on every single play. But there ain't a lot of that kind, most of them need help. That's what coaches are there for, that's what we're here for and that's what we're going to do. Q. Injury-wise, Coach, where are you? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Odoms is a little bit of a sprained shoulder. He didn't practice yesterday, but we're hoping he'll be back tomorrow. Dorrestein got dinged in the head. He's seeing a doctor today. So if he doesn't practice tomorrow, he should be okay by Wednesday. Carlos Brown is still out, and Hemingway is obviously out with mono. And Austin Panter hurt his shoulder a little bit, and he'll be questionable for tomorrow's practice. Outside of that, I think we've gotten out of the game okay. Brandon Graham still has a leg infection, and we'll limit him a little bit and see how that progresses. Q. And Terrence Robinson? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Terrence, this is the last time if we're going to be able to medical red shirt him. I don't know if he'll be able to go this week or not. He moved a little bit better yesterday, but this week will be the determination of whether he'll be ready to play. Q. Mark Martin this week? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Mike will be better. He didn't do much yesterday, but he'll be fine by tomorrow. Q. Will he play this week? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yet to be determined. I haven't decided that yet. Q. What do you know about this Toledo team? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Just watching a little film this morning and last night, they've got very talented skill players. Their wide receivers are big, tall guys that can really run. They've got a lot of junior college players that are helping them and very athletic. They played a very good team. The score was misleading with Ball State, it was 3-0 at halftime, and Toledo had a couple of chances to score. I know they're going to be excited to come in there. We've got two issues, one we have to prepare for them, and two we have to get our football team right. So that's kind of a combination of things. Q. (Indiscernible)? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, I think so. We've got to do a great job. Toledo runs a lot of play-action, boot legs and nakeds. They run a whole bunch of screens, a whole bunch of screens, all kinds of varieties of screens. The two things that hurt us in the last game play-action and screens. So we better do a great job preparing for that and be a little bit more, I guess, assignment sound and aggressive on those type of plays. Q. Up until the final return, did Martavious give you what you wanted to see? COACH RODRIGUEZ: A little bit, but we didn't do a good job blocking. We were soft. On our kickoff rush, our wedge blocking was embarrassing. And Neil Martavious hit a couple. He had the one turnover, and we'll have some other guys hit up in there. But if we don't block a little tougher, if we ain't willing to stick a hat on a hat, they'll still be a mess. So we've got to get tougher. Q. Does Martavious have a lead on that job? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, he has the lead. His shoulder was hurt, but he still needs some help. Q. What's made Martavious a guy that's been able to fit in quickly this year? COACH RODRIGUEZ: He's a very competitive guy. He's a quick learner. He's not phasing. He's a true freshman. A year ago this time he was down in the muck playing in Pahokee and Belle Glade and all that. Now he's playing on a bigger stage, and nothing's really fazed him. But he loves to compete. He's a tough little guy. He's 100-whatever he is. Not much taller than this podium. 165 pounds and he's blocking 220 pound linebackers. He's one of those guys that is tough. He is competitive. That's why he's playing as a true freshman. He's got talent, too. That's the reason he's playing as a true freshman because he has some of those other things. A lot of those guys from that area have that mentality. Had a few guys play in the past, and they just love playing football. They have a passion for it. I want 125 guys like that that have that passion and that desire to play. We've got a lot of them that have it, but I want everyone. I don't want 119 that do and 10 that don't. Q. How is Sam after that game? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, he's better this week, Sam, than he was last week. He wasn't 100%. He battled through it. But talking to our trainer this morning, Smitty, feels he's in better shape today than he was a week ago. So hopefully with a good week of rehab. Donovan is the guy that's really battled. He's battled his tail off. If he can't go 100%, obviously, we need to rest him some. But I think he's going to be better this week. Q. Can you talk about Kevin Koger and the offense? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Yeah, Kevin's playing well. He's playing better than any tight end, that's why he's starting. He's a smart guy. Again, he's a true freshman, a year ago he was playing high school ball. So I've been proud of him. He's done some good things both in the pass game and the run game. Q. How do they make that transition from high school to college? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Koger's a really talented guy. That's what's so exciting. These guys are learning quickly now and playing as freshmen. Their potential is going to keep getting better. There is more and more things we can do with him. He's a very intelligent guy. He's always got physical skills. But the reason Kevin, like Martavious, is playing is because he picked up the system so quickly. Q. You've talked since day one about how the offense may struggle and it's going to take time. Does that mean that you were more disappointed that you had to talk about a soft defense, and a defense that's not making plays? COACH RODRIGUEZ: The softness is not just -- I don't want to say it's just defense. It's special teams, it's offensive guys and it's not all the guys all the time. But it's not acceptable to have one guy be soft on any play. That part of it is just a small part. I told you several times several of the problems we have didn't occur overnight and won't be solved overnight. The key for us is to identify them and work as hard as we can each and every day to get better. The players know that. They're pretty conscientious, you know. We show them examples on film, we talk to them. We tell them we're going to keep coaching them up. And I've been proud of them. We played a bad game. We had some pretty good moments on both sides of the ball, even on special teams in the last game. They're a talented team. Take nothing away from Illinois, they deserved to win the game. They were better than us on that day. But I don't think we had our best effort, and I don't think we played with the type of aggressiveness and aggressive mentality and intensity that you need to have to win games against quality teams. Q. What do you think of your tailbacks play? COACH RODRIGUEZ: The tailbacks? Okay. You know, we missed some reads. We dropped the ball on the ground. We could be better, you know. Dropped the ball on the ground a couple times. But we had pretty good competition there and we'll keep rolling those guys in and out. Q. How do you cut down on the negative yardage plays? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Some of it is decision, some of it is blocking it. But the negative yardage plays are really hurting us as far as limiting what we can call on the 3rd and 20s, and 2nd and 18s. It's a little limited. I've never had this many. We've probably had more negative yardage plays in five games than I've had in five years. Again, we've got to get that fixed and I think we will. It's frustrating because we're be on offense they can overcome that right now. Hopefully, in the future we will. But, as disappointed as I am in things, what is it? Five games in. So it's not the time to panic, it's time to get better. Q. Can you talk about Warren and the injuries and the long pass to Cumberland, the 77-yarder. Was he affected by that? COACH RODRIGUEZ: I think a little bit. He didn't have the coverage screen he probably would normally have. But there was a misjudgment in coverage by safety, and 3rd down and long, it shouldn't happen. It did. Q. Is it an ankle or a knee? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Well, it's a little bit of ankle, but he's bothered a little bit by the quad muscles, the bruise and those things take time. That's why he'll be better this week than last week. He should be fine. I'm hoping just based on reports that he'll be healthier than he's been in a couple weeks this weekend. Q. What's Van Bergen given you? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Ryan's been very solid. You'll probably see him play more and more, particularly with the injury situation, whatever. But Ryan has been a very solid player. He can play inside and out, and as a defensive end, really first time I've been playing him, I've been really pleased with him. Q. Have you ever had to find yourself reminding yourself not to panic. That this is a young team and they'll get it? COACH RODRIGUEZ: My wife does. Rita keeps telling me, Hey, it's your first year. Five games in, you know. She mentions a few other schools. Because I was Saturday and all day yesterday for 24 hours she said look at this school and their first year, and they're having problems. This school's got first year and they're having problems. She'll rattle off - I'm not going to mention them - but she rattled off four or five of them. She must have done her research. It didn't make me feel any better, you know. It didn't. I've got my own problems I don't want to worry about someone else. But I do see -- look at all the negative things. You guys are probably writing all the negative stuff, maybe, and everybody's talking about the negative things, but there are a lot of positive things, too. As far as the guys are working on it at a pretty good level. They're trying to do the right things, I think. Until I get the grade reports, they're all sincere about getting the Michigan degree, and recruiting is going very, very well. There are a lot of positive things. All the instruction and support we've had. When the crowds are there, the people have been supportive. If I'm getting a lot of negative mail, I'm not reading it, because my secretary screens it, so... So despite all the negative things we've been saying, there are a lot of positive things going on. Unfortunately, you'd like it to be the win that's come with that. Q. Problems are not going to be solved this year just because of talent? COACH RODRIGUEZ: Oh, sure. Yeah, we've got to be a faster football team. Mike Barwis and his staff are the best in business as far as developing speed. We've got some fast guys but not enough. We need to get a lot faster as a football team, and we need to be a lot more physical. Physical is more mentality. Faster, some of it is developed, which I think our guys do a great job of it. Some of it is in recruiting. We've got to be a faster team, and we're not fast enough right now. Q. As much as you would hate for this to be the case, is it possible that because it's the first year running the spread some of the guys think we're in the spread we don't need to be as physical as we used to be? COACH RODRIGUEZ: No, that's an argument that I've said for 18 years now that. You know, being physical and tough, whatever, has nothing to do with schemes whatsoever. For somebody to say you're a spread, you're a finesse team would be the one thing that the teams that I've been fortunate to coach over the years would take the most personal. Say, what do you mean? When you're running for 300 yards a game or whatever the heck it was, that's not finesse. That's not finesse whatsoever. The mentality has nothing to do with scheme. Whether you're an I-formation, West Coast, or spread team, that has nothing to do with what scheme you run. It's the mentality you take on every play. Q. You play in the MAC, they come in with a great opportunity, is there an element of danger? COACH RODRIGUEZ: I think there's an element of danger when you play any school that's probably not one of the so-called BCS conferences. You're seeing that more and more nowadays because the players get really, really excited about going into somebody else's stadium, the big stadium, the big arena and having a little chip on their shoulders to prove themselves. I think that's always been the case, but the talent gap has narrowed. The gap between the haves and have-nots has narrowed as far as the ability and so-called upsets. You've seen it now. You're seeing 1AA teams that are upsetting 1As, let alone teams that are fully funded with 85 scholarships like the MACS and some of the other non-BCS conferences. So there is an element of danger to that. Your players have to be aware of that. We've already played one. But you go across the country and look, and coaches will tell you you've got to schedule those games, because you've got to have home games. Home games are the revenue. But those games are ones as coaches you've got to make sure your guys are focused on playing and not just showing up. End of FastScripts |
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