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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 14, 2011

Randy Edsall

THE MODERATOR: We now welcome Maryland head coach football Randy Edsall.
COACH EDSALL: Well, we have a tremendous challenge on our hands with West Virginia coming in here ranked 18th and 20th in the polls and one that we have to really prepare well for.
They have playmakers on offense and very fast athletic on defense and tremendous return, and we really have to have a great week of preparation and go out and play very, very well in order to have an opportunity to win.

Q. Yesterday you mentioned you had the biggest improvement in week one to week two, what areas are you honing in on this week in practice for a particular improvement?
COACH EDSALL: Really in all areas. I think we have got to get better in every area. Offensively, I think it was just from the game where we need to be able to score touchdowns when we get down inside the red zone.
Defensively we have to do a better job in terms of getting off the field in third down and making sure that we hit the gaps and on special teams, kickoff -- returning kickoff coverage teams have to be better.

Q. Is there any particular area that Tavon Austin seems to give you more problems, or is it punt kicking and being wide receiver that you need to stop him?
COACH EDSALL: Well, you have to stop him in both regards. He's an athlete who is very fast and quick and elusive, so you've just got to hopefully not give him too much room when he's in space. But he's a threat as a receiver, and he's a threat as a return guy.

Q. What are the challenges of the offense that West Virginia is using this year?
COACH EDSALL: Well, it's very similar to what we do here at Maryland. It's up-tempo. It's a lot of three-wide receivers, four-wide receivers in there, and again, trying to -- they are trying to get the ball in playmakers hands in space is what they are trying to do.
Again, they spread you out and you've got to be able to do things that hopefully can slow them down. But you know, they do a good job of trying to spread the ball out, spreading you out and attacking your formation into the boundaries, so there's a lot that we have to prepare for.

Q. With some big non-conference opponents coming this week --
COACH EDSALL: There are and again, every week we are out there playing for Maryland first and foremost, and then we are playing for the conference. So hopefully we can prepare well and we can go out there and do a good job this weekend.

Q. Do you have a target date or game yet for the return of either Coxson, Anderson or Gilbert?
COACH EDSALL: No. You know -- well, Coxson's practiced this week. But again, once those guys, they start practicing, then they have got to go and show that they are better than the guys that we have in front of them if they are going to move in in front and garner any playing time.

Q. Could he potentially play this weekend?
COACH EDSALL: I don't know that yet. Still too early in the week.

Q. What are the things that jump out to you about West Virginia?
COACH EDSALL: As I said in my opening statement, they are a team offensively that Geno Smith, the quarterback, is very athletic, accurate thrower. They have got Tavon Austin and they have got -- they have got good skill people, and they are good up front, and you can see that they are well coached.
Defensively, they have got a lot of speed and athleticism that you have to content with and of course they have got Tavon Austin as their return guy on special teams.

Q. How is preparing for them different from, say, preparing for Miami?
COACH EDSALL: Well, it's a whole different offense. You know, Miami is more the West Coast offense. This is more of a spread-you-out offense, even though the quarterback really doesn't run the ball unless its protection breaks down or nobody's open.
Again you have the same type of speed and athleticism from both teams that we have faced so far.

Q. At different times, Maryland and West Virginia have employed the head-coach-in-waiting type of arrangements and I just wonder as a head coach yourself, do you have any opinion about whether these sorts of arrangements work, or does it seem perhaps that they are on the decline?
COACH EDSALL: You know, I really have no opinion on it, and I have not been involved with it. And like I said, I really have no opinion on it. So I've got nothing to say.

Q. On the bye week you had a lot of opportunity to go recruiting, what's been the main feedback you've gotten from high school coaches or folks in the area when you were out on the trail this week, just how the season has started and all of the buzz about the uniforms and so forth. What kind of feedback have you gotten from prospects and coaches?
COACH EDSALL: It's been a tremendous feedback in terms of, first of all, I think beating Miami, that was the No. 1 goal for us was beating Miami.
And then when you throw in the added addition of the Maryland pride uniform and coming out with that, I think just the people here in this region and most especially this state, are really starting to feel a little bit more sense of pride I think.
You know, trying to get this to where we are known as Maryland and have everybody from one corner of the state to the other, from north to south, involved with what we are doing. And you know, so that -- that was what the feedback was and it was very, very positive.

Q. I know Alex got in very late in that opener, what was your impression of how well he handle that had situation and is he a guy, that especially on special teams we might see more of, especially now that he's gotten into the game as a true freshman?
COACH EDSALL: Yeah, he's a guy that will play for us. He's one snap away from going in there and playing.
You know, he's got to be ready, and again the way he went in there and played, he did good for a freshman. But again, Alex is a guy that we like, and I think the thing is, he's just got to keep working very, very hard in practice, because, you know, when his opportunity comes, and he's got to go in and play as good as somebody that replacing.
So he's going to have to grow very, very fast in terms of understanding everything and doing all of the things expected of him at the linebacker position.
And then also now, we know from the standpoint that we will work to try to get him involved a little bit more with some of the special teams.

Q. A little offbeat here, but I noticed you're one of the most active coaches in the conference on Twitter, and I wondered if you could explain a little bit how you think utilizing social media can benefit you as a head coach, and also the football program?
COACH EDSALL: I think in this day and age, especially with this situation that I came into, we needed to generate some more excitement, more enthusiasm for the program. And by being out there in the social media world, and just kind of bringing people a little bit closer to the program and letting them know what's going on, I think it helps to generate interest and it helps to generate more fans.
So that's what we are trying to do, and you know, the numbers that we have on Twitter and on Facebook, following us on Facebook and everything else, has just been unbelievable. It's all part of the marketing plan that we have here to try to increase our fan base and increase the interest in Maryland football.

Q. And you will be revealing the uniform combination today on Twitter?
COACH EDSALL: Yeah, every Wednesday. Every Wednesday we are going to do that in terms of what we are going to be wearing for that particular week, so I think it's going to be around five or six o'clock in that range that it will be coming out.

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