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BIG TEN CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCEApril 12, 2011Marqueis GrayJerry KillTHE MODERATOR: We're joined by Coach Kill. Coach, thanks for joining us. COACH KILL: You bet. THE MODERATOR: Start with an opening statement, we'll take a few questions. COACH KILL: Well, you know, we're about I guess getting ready to start our 10th practice here today. I've told all along we're kind of taking infant steps, not baby steps. We're trying to get better on a daily basis. We certainly have a long way to go. Our kids are working hard at this point in time. But we're probably, like everybody in spring ball, we have a lot of things to fix before we get into the season. We're certainly trying to use every single practice to make sure that they adjust to the new style and new things that we're doing here at the University of Minnesota. So with that any questions I certainly will take. THE MODERATOR: Let's go to questions. Q. How are you going about enforcing your expectations for players' accountability when you go through spring ball? COACH KILL: Well, I think the big thing is that we're making sure, and I think anybody that goes into a new job, a new situation, is to make sure our kids are accountable not only on the field but off the field. If it's missing class or late to class, things of that nature, we're going to make sure we take care of it immediately. Same on the field. I believe in winning football games. You lose more than you win because of turning the ball over, jumping off-sides, dumb things. We're pretty tough on them. When they make a mistake, they know that we're going to hold them accountable. So far this spring, I think the kids are starting to understand that. Q. Are you still using those T-shirts from time to time for guys that fall short of expectations? COACH KILL: Yeah, I think everybody has their own style of what they do as far as holding people accountable. We've used some unique things as far as what we do with the shirts and so forth. But I think every coach has their way of doing things. Q. Minnesota lost 9 straight games last year then winning 2 games against teams that went to bowl games. COACH KILL: I certainly think Coach Horton did a fantastic job of holding things together. I think anytime you lose a coach in the middle of a season, it's tough on kids, tough on the program. But I think coach did a great job of holding the thing in there. He certainly helped us out. I think he's a tremendous football coach, a guy that I've known for a while. I think that the last two games, certainly something we can build off of and carry on to the next season. Q. Now that you've had a chance to see the talent that's really in the program that's been recruited, do you think pundits are underestimating your team a little bit? COACH KILL: You know, again, it's hard for me to say because I haven't been in the Big Ten Conference. I certainly know a lot of the teams in it. I know what we had at Northern Illinois. We were a pretty talented team for a mid-major team. I know we had some kids on that football team that could certainly play here at the University of Minnesota right now. I think we have to improve our talent pool. I don't think there's any question about that. I've always said coaches don't win games, players do, and the team with the best players usually wins. We have a lot of work to do. But I think the kids we have here are working hard. All we can do, that's what we can control is what we have. So hopefully we work hard enough and invest enough into it through spring ball and this summer, through two-a-day camp, that we can have a good football team. Q. Talk about the transition of MarQueis Gray moving back to quarterback. COACH KILL: I will say I look at some things that haven't gone so well in spring football and I look at something that's gone well. He's certainly one of them. He's done a great job. He's really surprised me for a kid that was hurt his high school senior year, then hasn't played quarterback, then making the transition to the position. He's learned very well. He's a very quick learner. He doesn't make the same mistake twice. He's a tremendous athlete. No question about that. I think Coach Zebrowski, our quarterback coach, has done a heck of a job with him. I'm very pleased with his progress and pleasantly surprised. Q. Is this a bigger challenge than you thought coming in or has it been to your expectations, getting this team back on track? COACH KILL: I've been at other places, certainly not here in the Big Ten. But at Southern Illinois, it was a different type of challenge. Northern was. Now coming here. I think when teams are struggling and not winning, there's a lot of the same problems within the structure. We just got to change the culture here a little bit. That's not going to be easy. It's hard for me to say, it really is. But I knew that it wasn't going to be easy when I took the job. I know our work's cut out for us. But that's okay. I think we've got a plan. We've got a vision. We've done it before. I got most of the same staff that we've been together forever. So I think we understand what we need to do and we're going to stay on track. How quick things go, I don't know. But we're going to work at it, try to be fundamentally sound and get better on a day-to-day basis. Q. Jerry, you don't play Ohio State. Is this something you're happy about or not happy about? COACH KILL: As good as Ohio State is, I'm pretty happy about that (laughter). You know, there's been a lot of talk about the divisions, how things are matched up and so forth. I learned a long time ago you can't control who you play or what you do. The schedules are made. I worry more about our team than I do everybody else's team because I can't control that. I can't control scheduling for the most part. I've got to worry about what we do from a day-to-day basis with our team. That's the only group that I can get better. That's what we try to focus on. I did notice, when you don't play a team, that's a little bit unique. I don't think there's any question about that. Certainly we know how good Ohio State is, has been for a long time, certainly have a great deal of respect for that program and how good it is. Q. Obviously there was a lot of movement in the off-season of assistant coaches within the conference. You lost Thomas. Was that hard to accept, the timing of it, or did you understand his reasoning? COACH KILL: I think anytime when you lose a coach, when I came here I brought everybody with me except for Thomas. I retained the staff. When I visited Thomas, he made it pretty clear he wanted to be here and those kind of things. So I kept Thomas. With respect to him, he did a great job for us through that transition. I think he made us better, helped me through it. Was I completely caught off guard when he was asked to go to Wisconsin? Not really. I know he'd been there before, had a relationship with the University of Wisconsin. You're never happy about losing a coach. But I do respect Thomas to this day and have talked to him. He has to do ultimately what's best for him and his family and those type of things. I think he felt it was better for his career. Sometimes stability hurts you. I've had stability on our staff with our coordinators. We've all been together a long time. I think he looked at that and said, Hey, I think I got a better chance of being an offensive coordinator down the road at Wisconsin than I'm going to have here. I think that's the biggest reason he made that move. That's what he shared with me. Q. Has anybody at Minnesota emphasized the rivalries with Wisconsin and Iowa or has it been just win 'em all and they fit in the puzzle? COACH KILL: I think they just want to see us get better. I think they want to get us better. I don't think there's any question the state of Minnesota is hungry for a good football team. I think they want us to get better. Do they talk about the rivalries here? You bet. I do. That's college football. That's important. That's all a part of it. Right now our concentration better not be on anything but our football team getting better from a coaching staff standpoint. I think the fans understand that. We certainly had a lot of people out at practice. I think they're understanding what we're trying to do. I don't think there's any question we've got to get fundamentally better, we've got to get a lot tougher. We got to get better on defense. We're doing the same things everybody else is doing in our conference. I'm sure they're telling their kids the same thing. We certainly know we have to do that here. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, coach. Appreciate the time. COACH KILL: Thank you. Appreciate it. THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Minnesota's MarQueis Gray. Thanks for joining us. MARQUEIS GRAY: Thanks for having me. THE MODERATOR: If you could talk a little bit about how spring football practice is going, then we'll take some questions. MARQUEIS GRAY: Spring ball is going really well so far. Coach Kill and his staff are doing a great job of getting every guy to compete and getting it installed in our head that no one's job is safe. We're just having fun so far. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. Let's go to questions. Q. How did Coach Kill and his staff emphasize accountability and their demands on you guys when spring ball got going? MARQUEIS GRAY: Once Coach Kill got the job, he told us that he'll believe what we do. That's what everyone on our team is focusing on now, doing the little things that will make us better and having everyone buy into what we're trying to do. Q. I know they're using those Gopher T-shirts. What was your reaction when you first saw those? MARQUEIS GRAY: When I first heard about it, in my head, I don't want to be a part of that. Those letters don't look too good. Hopefully I can stay out of that and get some teammates not to go back into that. Q. When you look at last year's season finale against Iowa, based on the wild season you had, do you look back and does it show courage or commitment that the team had, and does that transition to what you think of the future based on how you finished the season? MARQUEIS GRAY: The way we finished the season last year was very tremendous on our part. Coach Horton did a great job of bringing our team together and winning those two games instilled confidence in us going into spring ball. Now that we have a new coach, Coach Kill and those guys, we're looking forward to going into the fall this fall. Q. Talk about the transition from playing wide receiver and heading back to quarterback. MARQUEIS GRAY: For one, it feels great. I haven't played quarterback a whole year since my junior year. Unfortunately I didn't get to play once I got up here, but I got a chance to learn from our quarterback Adam Weber, a leader on and off the field. Just playing receiver was fun, getting my feet wet playing Big Ten football. I'm looking forward to playing quarterback this year, waiting for the upcoming season. Q. Talk about how it's going to help you to have a couple runningbacks like DeLeon Eskridge and Duane Bennett? MARQUEIS GRAY: Just the experience that those two guys bring into the backfield. Duane Bennett having more experience is going to trickle down to the younger guys. He's going to teach them what to read, how to protect. Overall, it's the leadership that's going to help. Q. What are some of the things you're working on this spring individually? MARQUEIS GRAY: Basically I'm focusing mostly on balance. I haven't been passing very much since I've been in college. But coach has been patient with me and is coaching me on getting my balance back under my feet and following through with throws so I can make tough passes while standing in the pocket. Q. How are the wide receivers looking? You were one of them last year. Are you looking for other options around DaJon? MARQUEIS GRAY: DaJon is doing a great job. Marcus Jones, he's a freshman that got in this semester. Ge'Shun Harris, a receiver, he's also making plays for us. The receiver core are all coming along great and they're going to be able to make some great plays for us. Q. You lost three starting offensive linemen from last year. Talk about how the new offensive linemen are looking in front of you. MARQUEIS GRAY: Those guys are looking great. The guys that played last year are going to be more vocal leaders to help the younger guys get ready to play. Let them know, they're going to have to play the next play. They're moving along pretty well right now. The guys have some great feet on them. That's what we're going to have to have. They're doing a great job. THE MODERATOR: We appreciate the time. Best of luck the rest of spring. MARQUEIS GRAY: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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