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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 7, 2011

Mike London

MIKE LONDON: Yeah, excited about the opportunity to travel, our first road game of the season, and very thankful that this past -- previous Saturday had an opportunity to open another home win opportunity and had a chance to play a lot of players, a lot of -- about 12 true freshmen and 10 red shirt freshmen that saw their first college action, and looking forward to them getting better as the season goes on.

Q. In the press conference Monday you mentioned that Indiana's offense looked a little bit more up tempo, a little less time in between snaps than maybe a typical offense would. Can you give us a sense of how much quicker Indiana's offense is in between snaps from what you guys had seen on tape compared to some other offense, a typical offense? And have you guys done anything unique in practice this week to kind of simulate or prepare for that?
MIKE LONDON: You know, in looking at the offense, as I say, up tempo, a lot of times what they do is as soon as a play is over, they get right back at the line of scrimmage, which sometimes precludes you from substituting, and because we run people on the field, then they have the ability to run up to the ball and run a play and catch you with the personnel that you don't want in the game. And so by doing that, it forces you to call a defense, and knowing that they have the capability of hurrying up, it forces you to call a defense that might be with your regular or base personnel in there. And then based on your pre-snap read look that you get, they look to the sideline and get the call from the sideline or upstairs or whoever gives it, and says, all right, safety is down, run this, two safeties high, we're going to do this. So it all just depends.
I think that type of offense can also take up a lot of the clock because when you do check with me, look to the sideline and get those type of indicators from your coaching staff or whoever is calling the plays, you can still utilize the full 40-second time on the clock. So I think the way you at least try to practice it is try to mimic as much as possible those scenarios where there's a hurry-up aspect to it. You have a base coverage, a base where you play things, or there's an opportunity if they look and we look to the sideline and have a couple things to do.
So you try to do as much as you can in practice. Then again, the only way you can really simulate it and adapt to it is when it happens in a game. But we're doing the best we can to try to simulate something like that.

Q. Who's running the scout team offense for you guys this week?
MIKE LONDON: Everyone. Everyone that's --

Q. But the quarterback, who's the quarterback for the scout team?
MIKE LONDON: Every quarterback runs plays. We have two offensive huddles that go at the same time, and all four quarterbacks, even Kyle McCartin, they alternate as a quarterback. Best way to continue to get quarterbacks reps. Even though it might be another team's system, they're still making throws, they still have to move their feet in the pocket, still use the fundamentals of it, so we use everybody.

Q. Just wanted to check with you, with what you're trying to build there, how important -- this is looking ahead, but how important is that Thursday night game for you guys, and how do you balance being knocked off your routine with the opportunity for national TV exposure?
MIKE LONDON: Yeah, you're way ahead there. I'm worried about today's practice and corrections on that. But any time you're afforded an opportunity, to be candid, to be on national TV, kind of a highlight, a focal point, then you always want to play well, because if you play well and people are watching, then you can continue your strategies as far as recruiting and getting people to see the changes that you're making with the program.
So you look at it from that standpoint, but as I said, the next thing that we need to do is go on the road, have an opportunity to play well on the road and be successful there and then worry about doing it again the next week after that.
You know, that Thursday night game is down the road, not underscoring the significance of it, but at the same time, with this team this year, the mindset that we're thinking about is just trying to win games, and the next one, the next opportunity is this Saturday night.

Q. Is it important for a young team to learn how to win when they're knocked out of their routine, when they don't have the typical six days to get ready?
MIKE LONDON: I think it's important for a team to learn how to execute and how to win is a result of either great preparation and execution or poor preparation and execution, and you find out how you did or if you did the right thing that week leading up to it. We'll find out and we'll make all the necessary arrangements to have a productive practice to get the most out of a Thursday night game.
I think the preparation and the productivity of that game leading up to Thursday and then the outcome of the game dictates whether or not, okay, you're there, do you need to tweak it some more or whatever you have to do to make it a successful event for you.

Q. What are the biggest things that you had to sort of adjust when you took over this program, and how far do you feel like you guys have come in just over a year as a program?
MIKE LONDON: This is the same thing with the coach there at Indiana is you have to assess what the culture and the climate is when you get there, and you bring your own type of philosophy about what your expectations are in the classroom, on the field and in the community, and you have to match that to what you want. And if there are players that don't subscribe to what you believe in, then it's going to be a rough time to be an active participant in your program.
So you come in, you assess the climate, culture, and those that are willing to abide by your rules and regulations, that are willing to get a great degree from this university, and if they buy that, if they're in the program lockstep with you, then you can continue on with your expectations. If not, then those young men, you help them find places that they can play and be successful in their own endeavors.
I think that's probably the biggest thing, changing the culture and the climate, and then having an opportunity to get out and recruit young men that match the mission statement of the University. You find that in here, young men that went academics and want a chance to play and compete for championships, and you go out and you do that. You engage your community, you engage other coaches, your high school coaches in your area, and there's just so many different things. You engage the professors on grounds here and the deans and show them that you are interested in making sure your guys become student athletes.
There's a whole bunch. We could continue to talk all day about that. But I think those are some of the things that after the first year that we continue to strive to make sure that we keep improving.

Q. Has it been easier in year two? What do you feel like you got accomplished in year one? I don't want to say you don't have to worry about it in year two, but what are some of the aspects that now that you've had these guys for a year, now that you've had a chance to teach them schemes and systems and everything else and provide that culture?
MIKE LONDON: Well, like you said, the terminology, the consistency of the staff is important because it's the same, and the example of what's being set continues to be the same.
And I think that the expectations are set. You know, you're always worried about what your players do and how they respond. You look nationally, there's so many different things going on about decisions that they make. You could have a lot of good things, procedures in place, and then one night, one decision, one poor decision or one decision about a relationship with someone could just -- could ruin everything for them. So you're continually trying to educate these guys about what's going on and decisions that they make, who they surround themselves by.
So I think in year two that there continues to be a consistent message from the program, from the athletic administration, from President Sullivan, that we want to continue to do things the right way, give these guys an academic opportunity to be successful and to be successful on the field. That's what year two has been able to do is be consistent with the message.

Q. A lot gets talked about Morgan Moses and passed over some of your other offensive linemen. Mihota was the ACC offensive lineman of the week, and I guess the information said that he had 16 knock-down blocks on 67 plays. Can you put that in any kind of context? What's a good game in terms of knock-down blocks, et cetera?
MIKE LONDON: Well, I think that's an outstanding statistic for a center, having a guy that's either directly over him or off to the side, or he has to combination block with the guard to go to the next level. And I think, like Anthony was a true starter last year. I think he has benefitted, again, from Coach Marcus in the weight room and gotten bigger, stronger, and I think his technique has improved, which has allowed him to get guys, get him in the proper blocking position, although he did get, I believe, a false start snap and perhaps even a holding penalty.
But for a lineman to have that many knock-downs and grade out technically well, you know, you expect that out of an older guy, and it's good to see, as you said, between Morgan and Austin about all the accolades and the attention that they get, that the guy that snaps the ball and touches it 100 percent of the time also has an accomplishment.

Q. The people here in Lynchburg and Roanoke are pretty excited about the start of Mike Rocco. What's your assessment and how much did you ask him to do in game 1, and what are your thoughts on Rocco?
MIKE LONDON: Well, we're happy about his ability to go into the game, and based on trying to distribute the ball and not trying to do too much but adhering to the game plan, that he was accurate, he was efficient, which led to productivity. He ran the offense out there, so he did things to show some of the capabilities and the leadership style that we thought he had when we were trying to go through this whole process of who.
And so he continues to get reps in practice, he continues to improve every day. We continue to get David Watford reps. Also we continue to get Ross Metheny some reps in there. I think the development of Michael and putting him in that position weeks and weeks ago has led to his development now, and hopefully has he gets better, even the team starts to improve and starts to execute better.

Q. Do you think he's developing any swagger? Is that the right word?
MIKE LONDON: I think they cut it in half and say "swag." But if you know Michael Rocco, he's a strong, faith-based young man, and he's not very -- he's very quiet. He's very confident in himself and his ability. But I think what he can and what he is developing, if things continue for us, is confidence. And that's the thing that you want a quarterback to have is confidence to make that throw, to get the right check, to run the huddle, and I think those are the things that are improving for him.

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