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UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA MEDIA CONFERENCEOctober 17, 2010Jeff HortonAdam WeberCOACH HORTON: Good afternoon. I guess it's probably great that the Vikings are playing at 3:00 or 3:15 today, otherwise it would probably be a pretty empty room. But this is not the ideal circumstances that both Adam and I would want to be here. I want to thank Coach Brewster for giving me the opportunity to come here as a coordinator. I think he has great passion for this university, for this city, and for this program. That was second to none. He was great to be around every day. I know a lot of times he got beat up because of his energy and because of being positive, but I think that's a great trait, and I respect him for that. He never wavered in what he believed in. I feel as a coach, that because I'm here right now, that I let him down. That I didn't do my job good enough so that we're not having this press conference. I told him that this morning. I've said that to Adam and to our staff. Yet, I'm thankful for Joel Maturi for having the faith in me to lead this program over the last five games. Obviously, it's a challenging schedule. Three teams in the Top 10 out of the last five, but yet I can't think of what an exciting opportunity for our players. The bottom line is we have to instill confidence in our players over these last five weeks, and we need to find a way to let them have the excitement and the thrill of winning football games. I don't think people realize the kind of commitment and time and effort that they put in to the program, day-in and day-out. Nobody hurts like they hurt and like the staff. I've got a young man like Adam Weber next to me. He leaves it on the field every Saturday. He empties his tank. He tries to do as much as he can, and play as hard as he can for the University of Minnesota. My sole job is to be the calming influence on this team, to help lead us in the right direction, and to win a football game starting this Saturday morning at 11:00 against Penn State. What a great opportunity for our fans now, our students, this city, to rally behind this football team. Because, again, in the long run it's all about the kids. We all know in this business coaches come and go. My motto is, you know what, when you're a coach, you get on the train. Eventually they ask you to get off the train, then you've got to buy another ticket to get on the next train. But the kids are the ones, through their four years, five years that they're here, that those experiences when we talk to them are lifetime memories. We need to, over the last five games, do everything in our power to make those memories positive. I'll do everything I can. Our staff is committed to having our team as prepared as we possibly can starting this Saturday against Penn State. But it's a tremendous opportunity. Obviously, I've been in the press box calling the plays from up there. I'll come down on the sideline. I've been meeting with the offensive staff just a little bit. Lot of things have happened this morning. Obviously, we haven't ironed everything out yet, we'll see how we work through those situations. But we'll have the best plan available to give to our offensive football team and meet with Coach Cosgrove and the defensive side to put it all out there on the field Saturday morning and do everything in our power to beat Penn State. It's a tremendous opportunity and one that we relish. I'll open it up for questions at this time. Q. Adam, what's it been like for this whole season and the last couple weeks as more and more reports started spreading about coach's job security and leading into this last game? What's it been like for you guys to deal with? ADAM WEBER: It's been a disappointment. Week in and week out, you know, you take it one week at a time and you have 100% confidence that you're going to go into that week and win. You give it all you can out there. When you fall short, it hurts. Every week hurts a little bit more. I don't think anyone cared as much as Coach Brewster, so I feel very, very bad for his family and for him that he takes all the responsibility. But it's a team sport, and so we'll rally around each other. We'll rally around Coach Horton, and we'll finish out this season on a high note. Q. You were at Wisconsin and were always comparing Minnesota and Wisconsin. Why can't Minnesota do what Wisconsin does? Give us some insight into that because we keep asking that question? COACH HORTON: Well, Minnesota obviously, it's been quite a while now, but they had that success. Somewhere along the line, for whatever reasons, they haven't been able to sustain that. I was here in 1984 as a grad assistant, my first college coaching position with Coach Holtz when he came in. Got it going a little bit there and then he left. I think a lot of times it's continuity. When you change coaches, you lose recruiting. You're starting over. Yet, we all know as a coach, you know that when you sign up, it's the bottom-line business, and the bottom line is victories. You cut it any way you want it. In the long run, you're going to be judged by the wins and the losses. There were times when Wisconsin struggled back in the mid to late '80s. Coach Alvarez obviously did a tremendous job building that program. I think it was built on physical and toughness. That's what we're trying to do here. I know whoever the next head coach coming in will have an outstanding group of players to work with. They'll have an outstanding, best stadium in the country, as far as I know of that I've been in, and, trust me, in 30 years, I've been in a lot of stadiums. And the city of Minneapolis and the University, I don't think you can get a better package than that. Hopefully the next guy, things will turn better for him, but he'll have a great chance here to be a successful program. You just have to stick with it. Q. Adam, can you talk a little bit about the burden? Was there talk in the locker room at all knowing the situation on Coach Brewster that his job was on the line? Did that play out on the football field on Saturday? ADAM WEBER: We didn't really talk about it. It wasn't really brought up or mentioned. I believe a few of the older guys understood the magnitude of what has happened this season, and possibly what might happen if we lose to Purdue. But, no, you try not to think about that. You try to just go out there and play. But ultimately, as Coach Horton said, it's about wins and losses, and if you're not winning football games, something has to change. Ultimately, it falls on the head coach. But as players, we didn't discuss it. We didn't talk about it. Only until today, this morning, were things talked about. Q. What was your general reaction to the teammates? ADAM WEBER: Disappointment. As Coach Horton stated, I feel that most people put on their own shoulders, because football is the ultimate team sport. You know, you have your figure head, you have Coach Brewster who takes the blame, but it's all 110 guys out there, all the coaches. So a lot of us feel disappointed that we weren't able to win football games for Coach Brewster. But now we have to move on. We have to focus on Penn State and focus on having a great game plan and trying not to dwell too much on the situation and focus on the positives. Q. You opted not to talk to the media yesterday after the loss. Can you talk about why that was and did you have any idea this decision was coming? ADAM WEBER: I was very disappointed in our performance. Felt like we had a great game plan; we were ready to go. I was just too frustrated to address the media at that moment. There is nothing I had to say, really. No, I had no clue that this decision was happening. Obviously, the way the season was going, there was rumblings about a possible change, but not until this morning did I realize that a change would happen. Q. Nobody's been a bigger supporter of your guys than myself. I was wrong in this. I didn't think the University of Minnesota would do a stupid thing like this, fire the guy in the middle of the season. But you look back at your game on Saturday, Tinsley's running for a touchdown and he winds up in a touchback, you have a bad pass from center, that winds up in a touchdown. Bennett scores a touchdown, and somebody's offsides. Brewster made all those mistakes? Unfortunately, he's the coach and he gets fired. Q. Presumably you heard the rumors that Brewster was fired and he was going to be allowed to continue until the end of the season. Is this a better outcome? Would it have been difficult for players to be with a coach who you knew it was inevitable that he was not going to be here next year? It's somewhat of a fresher start? ADAM WEBER: I'm not sure how it would have played out. But, ultimately, this is the hand that we've been dealt, and we'll make the most of it. That's always been my attitude. No matter what you're faced with, try to stay positive and keep on moving forward. We'll continue to do that. Now with Coach Horton as our leader, we'll rally behind him and we'll rally around each other. We want to end the season on a high note, and I believe we can do that. Q. Obviously, for this season to be salvaged, some things are going to have to change. On the other hand you can't probably do a whole lot of wholesale changes while you're in the flow of this. What can you do -- what tools are at your hand to be able to make things different, and what do you plan on changing if anything? And the other question I have is did coach talk to the staff and the team on the way out, and, if so, can you share what his message was? COACH HORTON: I think the biggest thing for me is instilling confidence in the players that our big motto, we wear it on wrist bands, is finish. There are still five games out there out of 12. There is a lot of football still to be played with some exciting challenges. My job is to instill confidence in them. Get them to go out and play as hard as they can for as long as they can, and help them try to achieve victory. It's not like you're going to change the offense or the defense here with five weeks left in the season. I think we have to play better. We haven't played, obviously, well enough. That's a known fact. We've got to find a way to give more. We talked to the team about that. But our job, our motto is to finish, and we're not finishing. We punch in every day. That's what we talk about. We're certainly going to continue to punch in and represent this university the right way. Coach Brewster, we're going to meet later today with the team and with the players. We met with him as a staff earlier this morning but it was tough on him. He's a good man, and he's a damn good coach. Sometimes things don't work, and that's unfortunate. ADAM WEBER: I haven't had a chance to speak privately with Coach Brewster, but I will. Unfortunately, this is my second time going through something like this. But the relationship you create with your head coach is life long. And he'll always be my head coach. You know, it's just too bad that as Joel Maturi said and Coach Horton, we haven't won enough games. But, ultimately, the relationships you create are life long, and he'll always be a special person to me. Q. You mentioned that this is the second time, I think this will be -- Jeff will be your third head coach here, that is correct? ADAM WEBER: Correct. Q. Can you reflect a little about has it been a strange experience for you your career here? There's always been controversy, it seems, yet you've been a starter for four years and played well. Can you talk a little about that? ADAM WEBER: Yes, it's been strange, but it's all I know. So, you know, I just kind of like how football is, you take it one play at a time. So I take it one day at a time, try not to dwell on the past and just focus on the present and the future. Like I said before, whatever cards I'm dealt or we're dealt, try to make the most of it. Whether it be a coaching change or different offense, whatever, you just try to take it on with 100% of your effort, and with a positive attitude and try to make the most of it. That's what I'm going to try to tell the young players who will be impacted by this morning I will, because I'm leaving, that you have to stay positive and make the most of it and continue to play for the University of Minnesota. In their four years or three years, however many years they have left, that you'll win football games and you'll have success. Q. Your four years here you've had pretty much three different offensive philosophies. How much do you think that figures in the struggles that the team has had? ADAM WEBER: Well, yeah, a lot, I believe. But as Coach Horton said, the secret to winning football is having that same kind of formula. Once you find that formula, it's about keeping it. That's what I think Wisconsin has and what they've done so well. They have a great formula, and they just keep it going. They bring in new players and they keep it going. We haven't had enough of that continuity, that collectiveness of a pattern. I think that reflects in our wins and losses. But we have a good thing going now. We had a great recruiting class in this freshman class. We have good things going, and now it's about to try to build on that. The next coach that comes in here will be very lucky with the players that he inherits. Q. What is the team's plan as far as recruiting for next year, and who is going to be taking over that role? COACH HORTON: Well, I think the main thing is the guys that we have committed, I'll talk to them, have the assistants talk to them. Obviously that will be the decision of the new you head coach coming in. We won't bring anybody else in on trips. I don't think it's wise to do that without knowing what a new coach's philosophy or the kind of players he's looking at. We'll encourage the kids to stay with their commitment, because hopefully you talk to kids when they choose universities. You can't really choose it all the time because of the coach, because the coach might not be there the whole time you're there. So make sure you're making your decision based on where you feel the most comfortable academically, athletically, socially, and then go from that direction. Q. Can you talk about your experience on Lou Holtz staff? Maybe talk about why this this program could possibly attract another type of coach like that? COACH HORTON: Well, I think Lou came in, obviously, a lot of people out here -- there's not a bunch of us that have been around that long. Some of you were probably very young when he was obviously a dynamic speaker. I never saw anybody that could turn on a crowd like he could. Very demanding coach, relentless recruiter. You know, still to this day, obviously, he's paid very well to speak, and we all know doctor Lou and the things he brought. I think this program, I think you'll have hundreds. There wouldn't be a coach out there that wouldn't want to be the head coach at the University of Minnesota. Not necessarily maybe some head coaches, there are some head coaches out there that would probably like that opportunity. Obviously there would be a ton of coordinators that want that opportunity, because this is a big time university, big time stadium, big time city. It's got the whole package. There's not a coach out there that wouldn't want to be a part of that opportunity coming in and coaching in the Big Ten and have a chance to do the things that you can do. I think Joel and everybody else involved in the process, they won't have any trouble attracting highly, highly visible candidates. Q. Do you feel as a guy who has been here four years and now you're in the new stadium, that the Gophers are deprived of anything that would prevent them from winning and competing with Wisconsin and Iowa, academic support, anything like that? Do you feel like it's in place? ADAM WEBER: I believe everything is in place, definitely. Ultimately, it comes down to a football team coming together and finding a way to win. Once you start winning, it kind of snow balls. And that's what we've been trying to do over the past four seasons. We had a taste of it, but we weren't able to keep that thing going. But everything is here. The university gives everything a student-athlete needs to be successful, not only academically but athletically. It's just a matter of time. We will win football games here at the University of Minnesota. It's too bad that we haven't had the success, but ultimately, we will. That's a promise. It will happen here. End of FastScripts |
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