University of Massachusets Athletics
Whipple Speaks on Atlantic 10 Teleconference
August 26, 2002 | Football
Aug. 26, 2002
UMass Football Head Coach Mark Whipple spoke this morning on the Atlantic 10 Coaches Teleconference phone call about a number of issues, including transfer quarterback Jeff Krohn, last year's season and his thoughts of playing Division I-A schools.
Moderator: How's practice been going? What have you liked and what haven't you liked?
Whipple: Well, we're a week behind everyone else. They're all getting ready for a game, and we're just trying to get through doubles. They've worked hard, and they came in good shape and I think certainly we were so young last year, that the promising thing is that we are stronger and bigger than we were last year, because all those freshman and sophomores have got another year under their belt and we've made some gains in the offseason, and that's promising.
Moderator: You've mentioned you don't start this weekend like everyone else. You've got a 12-game schedule with no breaks in it. Is that kind of daunting?
Whipple: First of all, it's a little like '99 when we did the same thing. We played 13 games in a row also in '98. I thought it was better than opening last week with North Carolina State and then having an open week, and I didn't think that was very good in 2000. We had our open week early, and we'll go from here and go 12 straight and see what happens. I think it'd be a good thing if anyone gets banged up, you'd like to see an open week, but if you're on a roll and playing well then you'd like to extend the same schedule, so I think only time will tell.
Moderator: I guess the guy that everyone has been talking about, at least in practice, has been your quarterback, Jeff Krohn, a transfer from Arizona State. Obviously, quarterback last year was a problem for you guys. Can you talk about what Jeff brings to the table after a very successful career at Arizona State?
Whipple: He's pretty good. He brought Arizona State to a bowl game as a freshman and led the Pac-10 in passing last year, and signs are that he's that good. He makes all the right decisions, he's stronger and bigger than he's ever been, he's throwing the ball as well as he ever has, according to him, and he makes throws that guys I've had in camp make. We're still behind schedule in the fact that I don't think our receivers are running the way they should be, because a lot of times they ran routes last year and maybe the year before and they didn't expect the ball and now the ball's coming at them. We've got a ways to go, and I'm glad we've got two weeks, but Jeff practiced in the spring and that really helped. He only threw the first four days because of shoulder surgery, but that really helped him. I'm trying to get some things that he likes and he's fit in nicely and has certainly been a great addition.
Moderator: One guy that your quarterbacks last year didn't have a chance to throw to is Adrian Zullo. He's back this year after sitting out with the injury. How is Adrian and how is he looking in practice?
Whipple: He hasn't missed a beat. He is better than he has ever been. He's as fast and under 4.3 (40-yard dash), more experienced, he's not much bigger so he's not growing. He's maybe under 150 (pounds). But he's great to be around and great to have him back. We scrimmaged a half yesterday; he had a big play and about 100 yards receiving on five catches. He's knows what's going on and can play every position, so we can move him around. We'll use him maybe on returns, but we've got some other guys that are good on returns. He wants to do that, but we'll wait and see. He's fine, he was scout team player of the year probably in the country the last seven weeks of the year, so he hasn't missed a beat and he is better than he has ever been.
Moderator: One of the things you talked about earlier was that you were concerned about chemistry and attitude. How has it been this year?
Whipple: That's always a concern when you got a group, and were still really young. We have only one senior on defense, captain Corey Potter, and everyone else is a sophomore or junior and about 3 or 4 redshirt freshman and same with our offense. Everyone was concerned how Jeff (Krohn) was going to be and Matt Guice is a great kid, but he wasn't ready last year. On offense, our chemistry has been good and on defense its been good, and camp has gone really well. We've only been here a week, week-and-a-half, so I think its been a positive and the guys have learned from last year. Last year, we reached goals by being starters and not knowing what it takes to win, and certainly in the A-10 it takes more than showing up for a game. There has been more intensity and we have been much more physical with this group than we have at any time since I've been at UMass. You can get some guys banged up and hurt or you can get tougher and I think we've gotten tougher. We've got some guys banged up, but that's been our approach and we're going to continue that way.
Moderator: One of the things we've talked about a lot last year was the growing pains you went through last year because you decided to play a lot of younger guys. Five true freshman and 21 sophomores that saw significant playing time. I know that are only a week into camp now, but can you see if that paid off having to suffer through last season to get these guys the experience they needed?
Whipple: Well, I think time will tell. You can talk about it all you want, but it comes down to wins and losses. I hope next week I still don't have to talk about last year. But that's part of it and I've been there before, and I know it will pay dividends the next couple of years. We started five true freshmen and about 17 or 18 freshmen and sophomores and luckily we redshirted four or five freshman that are going to play two weeks from now and three of them are going to start. I think the future looks really good for UMass football. I don't think the first five games are going to show anything, but we feel really good about where we are heading. Those guys have grown up a lot and they'll be names that people will hear about in the next two or three years, so that's promising.
Moderator: One last question. We've asked each of the coaches who are playing I-A's, what are your thoughts about playing a 1-A? You've got North Carolina State four games into the season.
Whipple: It sounds great on paper until you see them play on Saturday. It was 103 degrees with a heat index of 110 and they run up and down the field on New Mexico. I watched the game late last night on TV. They have different kinds of athletes than we all have here. That's so far down the road. We're going to do it, we want to do it every week, and I think that's where I-AA football has gone. When I first got into the league, maybe only a couple of people were playing them, and now about seven or eight teams and I think that's what everyone is going to do. We certainly want to do it. I'd like to move around and play other teams, but we'll see what's going to happen down at North Carolina State. That's down the road. I've got other problems to worry about right now.
Whipple: Good luck to the rest of the guys, especially the guys that are playing I-A's this week.
