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PURDUE UNIVERSITY MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 27, 2009Danny HopeCOACH HOPE: Exciting, no Halloween is going to make it a lot of fun, it's a great Holiday. Q. Do you remember that 2000 game where I believe Craig Terrell blocks the field goal, and I think Adrian Beasley picked it up and ran it in for a touchdown? COACH HOPE: Yeah, I sure do. It was a great moment. A great game. I remember that. Q. Will you ever forget it? COACH HOPE: No way. Celebrated in the end zone with them. Q. When you look at this Wisconsin game, would you say one of the keys is how well your defensive front gets off the block, especially facing that man with the offensive line? COACH HOPE: It's going to have to be. They are a very physical football team. They were last go around, still are. Great running back and great run offense, big physical offensive line. They don't utilize a whole lot of schemes, so they are real good at what they do and allows them to be even more physical. Certainly that's going to be a key this Saturday, you have to go out there and play physical or they are going to go beat you up. Q. You touched on Wisconsin's running back, John Clay, just how good is he, and would you go so far as to say he might be the best you've faced all season? COACH HOPE: I think that would be a true statement. You know, without giving thought to it, he's a great player, no question about it. Real physical back, he has great speed and they do a great job manufacturing the blocking scheme. Q. Inaudible? COACH HOPE: As far as this season, it's probably better for him -- -- operator interruption) -- in that stadium as far as the thickness of the grass and how it's held up. It's been exceptional. Q. So you can still practice on it? COACH HOPE: Certainly. Q. Just a clarification, that was a shot they would use to return the field goal in 2000? I remember that. Just forgot the name. COACH HOPE: I thought it was Beasley, too. He got one at what, Notre Dame? There you go. Q. First off, if you can talk a little about Wisconsin's defense and what kind of problems they present. COACH HOPE: Well, they are real big and real physical and they are very detailed with their alignments and their assignments and their techniques. They are a very good football team, and they are coached well. They don't have something Todd do quite as much as some football teams but they are very good at what they do. They are big across the defensive line and have a great defensive ends, one of the best players at his position and they all cause football, fast in the secondary, the secondary, very, very physical tacklers, particularly at the linebacker spot. They have lost one of their top tacklers, but they are replacing him with another player that's a great player, as well. So they are very physical and wide open defensive front with speed and physicality behind it in the secondary. Q. Do they do a lot of blitzing? COACH HOPE: No. They mix it up. They press you with their front quite a bit and mix their defensive line. They can blitz and will blitz. But they do a lot of stuff with their front. Q. You addressed this a little after the game on Saturday, but Joey to run the ball, how key is that? COACH HOPE: Well, it's important. It's just as important in the passing game as it is in the run game because he takes some plays and manufactures some first downs out of it. He has made some good decisions in the last couple of days that's kept our offense on the field the last couple of games. Kept our offense on the field and moved the sticks and kept the defense off balance some. I like the decision making that he's doing. Q. The play of your secondary seems to have picked up the last couple weeks, can you talk about that? COACH HOPE: The whole defense has. You know, we are healthy and we feel good and we have got better and better, throughout the course of the season. And we are healthy down in the secondary for a couple of weeks in a row and have gotten some great continuity back. And that's the position on the football team, where continuity is critical and we have that at the secondary, four starters back and have some guys banged up and some guys and in and out of the lineup first part of the season. We have for the most part the same five guys playing out there. We are mixing in some of the younger guys a little bit but the four starters, and Albert Evans for me is like a starter, those guys have played the bulk of the games the last few games, they have played well and fresh and done very well. Q. Can you talk about the possibility of perhaps going to a Bowl game if you keep this run going. Is that something that you talk about as a goal even now? COACH HOPE: We haven't addressed that topic specifically like you just did. We talked about all of the great things that were out there for us this season before it started, all of the great opportunities out there, and how achieving some of those opportunities would help us have a special season, something that we all wanted to do but we haven't addressed the Bowl season for our football team at present. We are doing a better job of just staying focus and ready and getting ready to play the next opponent. That's the most important thing we can do right now. They can do the math, they read. Q. You know, with the Ohio State game, there was a lot of excitement about this, the win and then after Illinois imagine the mood is a little different maybe confidence, what do you sense in their approach after a much more workman-like victory and now heading into Wisconsin? COACH HOPE: I think we are excited about getting ready to play and they look forward to the ability to go out there and compete at a great place against a great football team, and we like our chances to do well and match up and win. We are excited about it. I think we are gaining some momentum as a football team and we are probably the best we have been all season long right now in all three phases, offense, defense and special teams and there's still some room for I am movement. We are the same as we have been for all season long. I they these guys really want to win and really enjoy playing. We have a monkey on our back right now, and so we go out and play loose and have fun and are doing it for a while and getting better as a football team. So the team is excited, very excited, and a couple of wins has helped us some to put some more wind in our sails, if you will. But we are excited about playing and look forward to the opportunity. It's a competitive group and they have always played to win. We will be ready to go again this Saturday. We have to improve as a football team. You know, the competition is stepping up and there are some challenges. We have to step up some as a football team. We have to get better and take care of the football. What we have been doing the last two or three weeks and if we do that again, then we will certainly compete. Q. Last thing from me, the running game got going last week, had been maybe a little less of a factor in the previous weeks because of circumstances as such, it was nice to get a chance to establish, and still show that part of your football team? COACH HOPE: It was good in a lot of ways. I like the fact that we could earmark it or pencil it as a key to victory; that we were going to be committed to the run and go out on the field and execute the run game and play physical and establish a strong running game like that. We chose to do that and went out there and got that done. I thought it was a good sign for our football team. There were some times through the course of the season we chose to pass the football and been very successful with it. We are coming of age in some ways on the offensive side of the football where we can run the football and pass the football and be able to keep the defense off balance, to be a double-edged sword, if you will, in some ways. It was a good thing for us to be able to run the ball and establish the run in the game last week. We decided we were going to hang out hat on that and went out and got that done so it was good for us in a lot of ways. Q. Black-on-black, is that something you'll do for all home games; is that like putting the names back on the jersey, something that players prefer? COACH HOPE: We like it. (Laughs). Q. Was it your idea? COACH HOPE: We all like it. Q. The players asked for? COACH HOPE: I liked it. They really liked it. But we like it. That's. Q. That's something we talked a lot about last week was pulling guys out of redshirt midseason. Now that Dennis Kelly has played this whole season, just can you look back on that decision, how you think that benefitted him? COACH HOPE: Well, we wouldn't be here, the offensive unit that we are right now without the experience of Kenny Plue and last year in '08. That was some rough sledding, was right there with them. It was quite a challenge for us. But they are really good players right now as a result of that. It was a great decision and they helped us last year, toward the end of the season played better and got those guys in position this year. And the same thing will be true of the redshirts we pull off the freshmen this year. They will help us some this season and have to prepare for next year. Q. Dennis Kelly specifically, what has he done this season that's impressed you? Is his development further along than you might have expected? COACH HOPE: Well, he played winning football. You can play and try hard and do some good things, and then you can play winning football. And they played winning football on the offensive line this season, not at any point in time of the season across the front didn't play winning football in any game. Sometimes the grades are higher than others, but Dennis Kelly played winning football all season long. And so has Kenny Plue, some games better than others but they had not been in a position to play winning football for all of the season if they had not played last year. They played a lot last year and very seldom did they play winning football last year. So just that alone is a huge step. That's a big part of it. A lot of people don't give a lot of thought to, some of the time we assess how we are doing, and he's a consistent player in regards to winning football goes now. Q. You obviously coached him last year, was it just a situation where those two guys were kind of surviving? COACH HOPE: No, they were getting better the whole time. We were down numbers-wise and the pool was real slim and a lot of the guys were hurt and out. And some of the ones we were playing with had been hurt and not had a whole lot of time to rehab or recover or gain strength, and it was a lean offensive line, I remember couple times in my coaching career, not even close. They were big, strong bodies, getting ready to try hard -- and they helped us some and they are better this year. Q. Inaudible. COACH HOPE: He's won others and loves football and always upbeat and the enthusiasm is contagious. He's good for us in a lot of ways even though he's only a freshman, he's a good player but his enthusiasm catches on to the people around him. Q. After watching the film, what kinds of things did you look about what Dierking playing fullback for you on Saturday? COACH HOPE: He gets the job done just about every time, just like he does in practice. I need to see things in front of him and makes good decisions. Now he what you're going to get from him before the snap and after the snap, it's usually what you thought, very consistent. Really consistent. Q. Mclean has been here for a year and a half, do you see him as a player who is getting a little bit, you know, more and more comfortable as one of those guys? Do you feel in his second year, you feel like he's playing better and better? COACH HOPE: He and all of the junior college guys I think are really improving right now, a shame we can't keep them for a couple more years but they are all good players and great guys to be around, guys that really love football. Excellent teammate. He, particularly, the last two or three weeks to me is playing a with lot more confidence a lot more ease and making plays. He's always been a great try-hard guy. If you're choosing guys to go to war with, those are the first ones you pick because he comes ready to go, physical guy, tough guy, you like to have him on your football team. He's playing better and better and the whole defense is in my mind. Q. Is the coverage where he's made the biggest strides? COACH HOPE: It always is. It always is. Have to be detailed in pass coverage, but that's with every defensive back. He had a little more work to do than some of the others but that's with every defensive back. Q. What do you think it means winning on the road? COACH HOPE: The same thing to winning at home, take care of the football and playing hard for 60 minutes. It's really a pretty simple thing. We have a plan and they do a great job of practicing and preparing and they will give you their all and take care of the football. You know, we have keys on offense, keys on defense, keys on special teams, and can't elaborate a whole lot on those sometimes giving away game-planning but the bottom line is they are a very physical football team, and we have to find a chin strap to get ready to play, because if you don't, you negate your thoughts of winning significantly; and if we don't turn the football over, we are a good football team. We are playing well on offense right now, we are playing well on defense right now, and doing a lot of good things on special teams right now; and if we take care of the football, we'll compete and compete very well, on any Saturday. Q. How does the routine change during the week, if at all, when you are playing on the road? COACH HOPE: It won't change any at all. We are doing a great job of managing our guys and keeping them fresh and keeping them healthy. And that's a difference-maker for our football team right now, particularly talking to some of the veteran players. They feel the best they ever have at this point in time in the season, and so I don't think it's going to affect our preparation at all. Won't change anything. Q. What will you do on Friday whether you're home or way? COACH HOPE: We come in as a staff and looked at some of the -- each of the players, and go over anything that wasn't correct on Thursday and go over all of their tips and reminders. And then they bring in the players and meet with them a little bit, position-coach wise, show them the film from Thursday's practice, if there's any errors on it, review and polish up on the opponent. And then we go out and practice just for a little bit, not a whole lot more, in and out of there in an hour. And half of it is making sure we have the right personnel on the field, every kicking situation and every type of defensive or offensive call. And then we either travel or eat and walk to our place, do it all Friday. We don't go to the movies. We get to the hotel earlier, have meetings earlier, get them off their feet. We have a lot of noon games, we lose a lot of time, practice on Thursday afternoon and around supper time. You're eating the pre-game meal at 7:30, 8:00 in the morning, so cut back some from a preparation standpoint because of all the number of noon games that we are having. It's helped our football team. No question about that. Q. When you talk about "managing" the guys, is it reps? When you say "managed," do you mean some guys mean they won't play or practice, you'll give them a day off? COACH HOPE: No, they won't get the day off. Just how much we go out in pads and how much we run into each other and how many reps that they get. Each one is counted and calculated to make sure that it's going to be a duplicate of something we are going to do in the game for the starters. And knowing how much they have trained and finished on each play, that gives you an idea and gauge of what you should do the next day, how much they should run at full speed and how much they should walk through to polish up. Lots of things; could go on forever. But how smart and how do you train them. The fact that they are training all summer long has changed what you do in preparation during camp and during the season in some ways, too. Guys are around here more in the summer than they were ten or 15 years ago. That has changed. Our thoughts and practice and intensity during the season, as well. Q. Having Brandon King and David Pender at both the corner back spots, does that change anything that you do? Is it kind of a luxury that those guys have experienced? COACH HOPE: It is a luxury because it's more chances as far as disguising coverages and have some confidence that guys will end up in the right spots, the right zones, the right assignments. But the biggest advantage is having some guys play together, and the confidence. That's huge back in the second; some guys don't have confidence to put break on the ball. Have some confidence, make sure he catches it, they will do a good job, with that, too. So I think just the confidence back for is a big difference maker, look how many times Pender gets his hand on the ball. He does the same thing in practice; he gets his hands on ball in practice more than anybody does and does the same thing in the game, and I think he does more that be anybody in the league. Y'all would probably know better than I would but he was the leader a week ago. He's got the confidence factor in my mind in a lot of ways. Q. Must have mean you liked the way both of those guys are playing. COACH HOPE: Right now, absolutely. They are more physical now than they were at the beginning of the season and they are healthier now. They are playing like we expected them to, very well, very talented and with their experience, they should play very well and they are. Q. What about the passing game did you like -- COACH HOPE: Most of the time they don't need it. They are really good at the play-action pass, and you look at tight ends, they shift and a lot of the things they do formation-wise with the tight end, great players and great players in their offense and how they utilize their tight ends in the passing game, it's a different football team. Q. They have a pretty good defense in Schofield, just does he compare to Kerrigan at all? Is that a fair assessment of him? COACH HOPE: They are both great players, if you compare them that way and they both play the same position. I've never seen him physically what he looks like. I know what Ryan looks like physically, though, so until you see them both physically, it's hard to make a comparison in some ways but he has exceptional quickness and is a great rusher of the edge and a real playmaker. They are both great players, even if he's an exceptional player, he's as good a player in his position, no question about it. Q. Against Ohio State -- inaudible. COACH HOPE: The players are playing well, there were not many starters coming back, experienced over there. Joey has made a huge difference. Q. And since the game is on Halloween, what was your favorite Halloween costume growing up? COACH HOPE: Wow, I have to think about that. How do you know I still don't do that? (Laughter). Q. To follow up the questions about what you do on the road for a game, do you visit the stadium at all? COACH HOPE: We don't do that. A lot of coaches do and I've been a part of programs and away games that that was part of it. The amount of time that it takes to get to the town and then to go to the stadium and get out of the bus and get dressed and go through the little bit of practice that you're going to do on Friday and get cleaned up and back on the bus everyone and loaded back up, it makes a difference in two or three hours on the trip and the student athlete life right now is different than what it was back when I played. They are a lot busier. There are many, many days they get up and they pull 15-, 18-hour days by the time they get up, go to class, lift weights, go to treatment, go to study hall and go to practice and watch film and do weights. Their days are as long as anybody and I think getting to the hotel, eating, having fun, resting, relaxing, get up in the room a couple hours before lights and bed check, give them a chance to get on their feet and watch TVs and get on their cell phones and rest some. That's why I choose to rest, rather than going down there and seeing if the field is the same size as the rest of them. I'm sure it is. Q. Basketball has many more games but a lot of coaches change their practices as it gets late in the season. They use less time, try to have a fresh approach to the potential NCAA Tournament. Do you change anything as the continue goes along? COACH HOPE: I change it a lot all the time anyway. I'm not real big on monotony on the practice field. I like a lot of energy on the field and I like to be out there and I try to be out there and get things, the speed of things up. If we have the same old practice routine all the time, it can become monotonous and guys won't go quite as fast. So we change ours around a bunch but the later it gets in the season, the shorter the practice schedule gets. We cut back on a lot of things much we have not been out in full pads some weeks. We have been out in shells and upper pads in Tuesdays and part of Wednesday and half of Wednesday and Thursday we have them in shorts. It keeps us fresh and I think it's made a difference on Saturdays. We have to cut back. Q. To the untrained eye, it seems that the tackling has been getting better. Do you believe that it has, missed tackles going down and how do you attribute it to that? Is it just the experience of the season or you talked about wanting to change things at practice. COACH HOPE: No, the tackling has gotten a lot better. Being healthy has a lot to do with it. Not being out there on the field defensively has a lot to do with that when you're out there for 95 plays compared to 65 plays and 30 percent chance of increase of making a tackle, you're not out there as much. So not being out there as long has impacted tackling in a lot of ways and I think out her doing in our practice routine, and from the defensive side, doing tempo practices where we have shells or shoulder pads and helmets on and pads from the waist up and how we are coming downhill and fitting up in practice has I think increased our ability to practice well and tackle well in games, how we are going about practicing in shells. I think it's making a difference, coming downhill hard, getting up better and emphasizing that more, two or three weeks ago, and it's stayed the course last two or three weeks and I think that's helped a lot. I really do. I think it's made a big difference. A lot of things, playing very well on defense right now for a lot of reasons, we really are, and they are all things we have been earmarked and working hard, and players are getting it done. Players are playing well on defense right now and still getting better. End of FastScripts |
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