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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 20, 2010

Jim Grobe

COACH GROBE: Thank you. We got worn out pretty good this past week with the Virginia Tech team that I think is playing great football right now. I couldn't have been more impressed with their football team. I was very disappointed that we didn't play very well, and at the same time though, I think we played a heck of a team in Virginia Tech.

Q. Coach Grobe, last week at this time, I said it appeared Tyrod Taylor was flying under the national radar. You commented he wasn't flying under your radar. Now that you've had a chance to face him and see him, your thoughts on Virginia Tech's quarterback, please?
COACH GROBE: Well, I thought we took his best shot on Saturday. He has shown, I think, significant improvement from the start of the year. I think he's very comfortable throwing the football right now. He made some great throws against us Saturday. But I think the thing that he's doing a really good job of is he senses when you're bringing pressure.
He's just got a really good feel right now for running the football when he gets pressure. When you don't pressure him, he's comfortable in the pocket, waiting for the receivers to run their routes and develop their patterns. When you do bring pressure, he hurts you with his feet.
So I think he's really dangerous right now. I think he's playing really good, and his supporting cast is really doing a good job.

Q. Wanted to get your opinion as to the problem with the helmets flying off so frequently this season. You see it multiple times in a game, and I was wondering if you had any theory as to why it may be occurring?
COACH GROBE: My first thought is it's probably got something to do with the buckles on the chinstraps. You know, for a while we were using last year actually had plastic buckles. The buckles you've got to be careful about because they can actually cut the defenders if they're metal and catch a defender on the arm or the hand.
But I think the metal buckles are better. But I think at times they pop off too easily. Kids buckle them and unbuckle them so much that sometimes those are a problem then I think sometimes there's an issue with having enough air in the helmets.
I think at times kids like comfortable helmets, and they don't have enough air in them, and I think that makes it a little easier for the helmets to come off. But I'm guessing that we're just having a problem with the buckles wearing out and not being firm enough when they snap. Does the.

Q. Does the spearing rule now where kids can't lead with their head, they have to come with their faces up, is that contributing to it at all?
COACH GROBE: I can't tell you for sure. I wouldn't think so. We've tried to teach -- you I think all coaches have taught for years kids keeping their head up and, you know, having their face mask, if any part of the helmet's in contact that it's the face mask rather than the top of the helmet. Of course kids get into situations sometimes where they're not very disciplined and they drop their head. Sometimes you just end up in a position where you can't get your head up quick enough.
That could be that if you're getting hit at the face mask or under the face mask that that has more tendency to push the helmet off. But my guess is that it's got a little bit more to do with the chinstrap and the buckles than anything else.

Q. What is the main thing you guys have to work on during the bye week if there was one thing you really wanted to zero in on and turn around for this stretch?
COACH GROBE: I think as much as anything we've got to just continue to find out what our kids can handle. I think we started six freshmen at Virginia Tech, and that's not us. We typically don't start a lot of young kids.
We're trying to do some of the same things that we've done offensively and defensively in the past, but we've always had a more veteran football team. So, I think from a coaching perspective, that's where we've got to start.
And we've got to look at the mistakes we made I thought on Saturday at Virginia Tech we had some silly penalties. We had some missed assignments on both sides of the football. You can always look at the players and say, well, you know, they've got to, you know, be smarter.
But I think from our standpoint we may be asking our young guys to do some of the things that have been successful in the past, but they're not handling that very well.
So I think that's where we've got to start. We've got to try to give them a game plan that gives them a chance to win physically, but more importantly, it gives them a chance to know their assignments and not make mental mistakes.

Q. How challenging is that as a staff though to try to simplify some packages for younger guys while obviously not making things too vanilla for the opponents?
COACH GROBE: It's a hard problem for us. I think one of the things that we've been able to do in the past as a coaching staff, we've been able to come up with some things scheme-wise, X and O-wise that have helped us be successful. But in the past we've typically relied a strong junior, senior class and we just don't have that right now.
We've got very few seniors starting for us. For us to start six freshmen is just unheard of for us. I think they've earned the opportunity, but at the same time, they're not as experienced as some of the teams that we've had. So we're having to learn with this group. We're having to try to approach it from a standpoint that it doesn't do you any good if the coaches know what's going on if approximate the kids out on the field or making mistakes.

Q. I've got Tanner Price's bio up in front of me, and I'm assuming you did not have him in the spring. I'm curious whether you think that makes a difference when kids graduate at mid year and they're there in the spring, and how much have you had of that at Wake?
COACH GROBE: I don't think there's any question if you have a kid go through spring practice, we don't treat January admits like a true freshman. We feel like if a kid has the opportunity to go through your winter program and spring practice, that, you know, he's a guy that we're going to look at really strongly in the fall to play right away, because we don't treat those guys as true freshmen.
In Tanner's case, he wasn't here in January, really didn't get started until August with us as far as being coached. So he's a real, for real true freshmen.

Q. Wanted to check with you on what exactly followed with Josh Harris that you sensed this was the time to give him the big opportunity or more of an opportunity?
COACH GROBE: Well, I think we've kind of tried to play all three running backs. But the thing that happened is nobody was really standing out. I think it was just a situation where we feel like, number one, I think Josh Harris has improved mentally. I think he got to where he had a pretty good understanding of what we were trying to do offensively. And that's probably been the biggest thing for us is that we felt confident that he knew his assignments both in the run and the throw game.
I think it was a situation where none of the three running backs had really stood out, ask Josh was the guy getting the least amount of work and reps in games. So we just felt like it was his turn to get the opportunity, and he certainly took advantage of it.

Q. You said last week that Bill Mitchell was kind of making the decision. But when he passed that 200-yard Mark, do you want to take credit for that decision now?
COACH GROBE: (Laughing). Yeah, I think I'll have to say that I took over last week and worked with Josh and let Mitch make the decision, again, for Maryland.
No, I think Mitch has really liked Josh. He's liked all three of our running backs, but with Brandon Pendergrass hurting his shoulder and being out physically last week and we were down to two running backs.
I just didn't feel like Josh Adams had kind of run away from anybody being the senior guy. It was just one of those situations where you had to give the rookie a chance to see what he could do. And when he got that opportunity, he sure took advantage of it.

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