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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 4, 2013Randy EdsallRANDY EDSALL: Well, I was pleased with getting the win against Florida International and thought our guys played well and also got a chance to be able to clean up some things that we didn't do, and then we know we've got a tremendous challenge this weekend with Old Dominion coming in. Taylor Heinicke, the Walter Peyton Award winner from 2012 at the FCS level, which is the equivalent of the Heisman Trophy candidate at the FBS level, so we've got to make sure we have a good week of preparation in order to make sure that we go out and play the way we know we're capable of playing. Q. How much do you concern yourself with Maryland's financial struggles, and what do you see your role in trying to raise attendance and interest in sponsorships along those lines? RANDY EDSALL: Well, you know, that's somebody else's job, worrying about the financial problems. I wasn't the one that got us into those problems. But all I try to do is make sure that we put the best product on the field that we possibly can and go out into the community to bang the drum for support and what we're trying to do and let people know how important it is to have people here in the stands to support us. We're recruiting kids here locally so the fans can get behind the kids that are from here and kids that we bring in from other places. Like I said, I've got to coach our football team to make it the best we can, and that's really what my focus is on, and I think I've done, and I'll continue to do anything that I can to help our athletic department promote the program and to continue to draw as many people as we can. Q. Does that require you to do constant off‑season speaking and banquet appearances, things along those lines? RANDY EDSALL: Well, there's a lot of things that you do. I mean, it's kind of year‑round. I went and spoke to the freshman group last week, our incoming freshmen, and we had a great turnout with the student group. We had 3,200 of the freshmen out of the 4,000 that were here for the game. We had close to 9,700 students that were here. That's one of the things that you have to do. It's an ongoing battle, and again, as a coach you try to do whatever you can to help, but ultimately my job is to get our team prepared and to win as many games as we possibly can, and then it's up to our marketing people to do their job, as well. Q. You mentioned facing the Old Dominion quarterback. How do you feel about your pass defense and your pass rush coming off the first game? RANDY EDSALL: Well, I think it's going to be a tremendous challenge for us. He's very good. He gets the ball out of his hands really, really quick. He's elusive. He's very smart, knows where to go with the ball. You know, we've got to just make sure that we put a game plan together, and our kids go out and execute it. Q. I mean, do you like how your pass defense and pass rush played in that first game? RANDY EDSALL: Yeah, I think any time you only give up maybe 80 yards passing, but we know we've got a different challenge this week, and we look forward to that challenge. Q. Talk about Old Dominion. What have you seen on film so far? RANDY EDSALL: Well, they're a team that is a spread team. They go four wide receivers and they do a great job of throwing the football. They know exactly what they want to do. They've got a veteran offensive line. They've got nine starters coming back on offense, three of the four starting wide receivers, four of the five offensive linemen, quarterback, running back, so again, they're very experienced. Defensively they're a team that is very athletic, gets after you, and they play very sound, and overall they're a very well‑coached team that does a great job. Q. Talk about CJ. It looked like everything was clicking on Saturday. Is that something you saw a lot during spring and summer practice? RANDY EDSALL: Well, in the spring he wasn't out there, but during summer practice I thought that he did a very good job. He worked extremely hard, and you could see that he was well prepared. It's always good to have a guy of CJ's ability and his leadership out there under the center, and we just hope that we can continue to build on that and continue to get better each week. Q. What's one thing you've got to work on for Saturday's game? RANDY EDSALL: We've got more than one thing we've got to work on. I wouldn't be able to stay on the phone long enough to tell you all the things we've got to work on. Q. I noticed Saturday Nigel probably didn't maybe the targets that he wanted, but do you think that might be what his role is this year, where one game it's catch and a lot of blocks, another game he might be the feature guy if they're keying on Deon and Stefon? RANDY EDSALL: Well, I think that's the one thing that our people have to know, and it's something that I addressed with our team on Sunday, is that I think we have some quality skill players on offense, and when you talk about CJ, Brandon Ross and Deon, Stephon, David Stinebaugh and Nigel, there's going to be times where depending on what a defense does, somebody might not get the ball as much. But what they have to do is just go out there every play, do their job, and whatever the defense gives us, that's what we've got to take. If you're out there and they're doing something to take you away, that means somebody else is going to get that opportunity and you're doing your job. You're contributing to the success of the team, and it's not‑‑ for our guys they've got to understand, and this is what we talk to them, it's not about how many catches they have or whatever, it's about the bottom line is do we win or we lose. That's what they should be happy about. They might only catch one pass or whatever, and that pass could be a crucial 3rd down pass, and they're doing all those things to be successful. You know, those are the things that we see, and I'm just glad that we have all the quality skill guys that we have. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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