.png&type=webp)
University of Massachusets Athletics
Don Brown's Weekly Teleconference Quotes
December 05, 2006 | Football
Dec. 5, 2006
Here is the transcription of the teleconference head coach Don Brown held with the media on Monday afternoon.
What have you seen of the Montana Grizzlies on video? Don Brown Well, obviously a very very, fine football team. Sound on offense. Has an outstanding quarterback in Josh Swogger--a really strong-armed guy. I think he has a good handle on what coach is trying to get done. They play a myriad of running backs, all very talented and all have a great understanding of what is going on upfront. Three very very good receivers. Really impressed with: Eric Allen, Ryan Bagley and Craig Chambers. I think the young tight ends, they all look like they are good players. On defense, their two defensive ends, I really love their foot speed, they get after the quarterback. They are very solid inside. Their three linebackers all can run and cover. I really like both the safties. I think they have good coverage skills and are great tacklers. And their corners, again complement their safties extremely well. They are very stingy on defense. Just a very balanced football team with no weaknesses so we are going to have to be at our best to have a chance on Saturday.
You have the longest to wait and travel here. Are you making any special preparations in that regard? Don Brown We are going to practice Wednesday and then after practice we will eat dinner and fly out Wednesday night at about 8 o'clock our time. We should get in their about midnight which will be about ten o'clock. We will let the guys sleep-in for a little bit Thursday morning and then get them up about 9:45 and get their day started from there. I am trying to get us out there on Wednesday night to give us little bit of a full-day on Thursday and really a full-day on Friday before we play.
Do you think the Grizzlies will go downfield on you, you really haven't seen that this year? DB Well, that's part of it. They have been a nice pass team. They'll run what we call the bunch sets. They can throw the ball on rhythm. They are very solid on their play action piece. They can throw the ball in the seams and on the turn-in routes extremely well. I don't know if there is a throw that Josh can't make so we are certainly going to have our hands full. We are who we are so we will just play our stuff and hope that's good enough.
What match-up has you the most concerned about this game? DB Well, they are playing very good defense right now, especially over the past three weeks, so that is obviously a concern. But we are equally as concerned about the match up of their offense on our defense. They are certainly playing at a high level. I watched them now today and playing their best football of the season and late in the season. It looks like they are functioning with all cylinders. Our key has been trying to be solid in all three phases: offense, defense and kicking. All three groups are going to have to play well for us to have a chance on Saturday.
How concerned are you about the crowd and the noise you are going to have to contend with there? DB: Well, we are just going to have to prepare our guys the best we can for it. Hand signals, silent cadence, but it will certainly be tough to assimilate during practice week. But on the flip side of that coin, on the positive side, we had a great crowd at our place last week, it was extremely loud. To be honest with you, our guys feed off that high energy type stuff. Even though it will be somewhat hostile, I know our guys will be excited to play in a great environment.
How impressed are you with what they have done with Whitlock? Don Brown Yes, they certainly did. I thought their front four was extremely physical, tough to deal with on the edges. Both tackles, Mullan, Mettler and they are playing Cain too. Those guys are all good players. Their linebackers fit in well on their gaps and they involve the safties, so they are playing good conceptual defense. Their leverage is excellent. We are going to have to be very sharp if we are going to go ahead and keep out balanced. That has been key to us, being balanced. We are going to have to be at the top of our game to maintain our balance on offense.
On the other side of the ball, are you concerned with the height of their receivers? Don Brown To be honest, we have got a couple of guys here that are pretty big so we practice against big guys everyday. Our corners are not small. We got four of five corners who play in packages. We are 5-11 and 6-1 so we do not have small corners, but it is always a concern when you are playing big receivers. I am pretty confident in my guys and in the way they've played against big receivers.
Can you talk about the different kinds of things you do on defense? Don Brown We have a particular style that we play. We are based out of the 4-3. We will jump into several packages to try to match personnel groups. We're aggressive in nature. That has been kind of our approach, starting in the 4-3 and then we kind of go from there. We will play 18 or 19 guys and based on what personnel groups are on the field, we will try to create match-ups that are in our favor. Obviously, we have got to contend with a very good Montana offensive line. They are very big and they have got several receivers who are good players so it is not like we can focus on one guy. They got a lot of guys involved in that program.
Can you talk about the short preparation week and how is even shorter for you guys? Don Brown That is a concern, but you have no control over it so you try to do the best you can. We are trying to have as normal a Monday and Tuesday as possible. Thursday will be a little bit more involved than we would like it to be at this time of the year. Since we are playing at night, we will do a short walk-through Friday morning to kind of get the guys out of the hotel for a short period of time and just get feel for the facility then go back and begin our pre-game preparations.
The Grizz has been susceptible at giving up sacks, how important is it going to be for you to stop Montana's offense and put pressure on Josh? Don Brown All good quarterbacks, you can't be one-dimensional in other words, give them a constant diet of one thing whether it be a three-man rush, four-man rush or come after them all the time. The guy is accomplished, he has a good feel. We are aggressive in nature anyway so that is part of our philosophy. We are just going to try to do what we do best. In this short week, you try to emphasize what you do as a team and try to match it up the best you can against Montana. So that is really going to be our approach, just try to emphasize the things we do best and hopefully, that is good enough
Can you give us a picture of Steve Baylark and Liam Coen? Don Brown Steve Baylark is playing the best football of his career at this point in time. He was 15 pounds lighter coming into camp this year and isnjust playing at a high level. The difference is he is finishing plays. He has had a lot more long runs because he is probably a tenth to two tenths faster than he was a year ago. We were able to rest him earlier in the year at times due to the lopsided scores and I think that has paid off because he looks fresh at this time of the year. Liam Coen is just a cool customer. Last year he was learning our system. This year he is spending a lot more time paying attention to what people are trying to do to him. I think he is the complete package. He is a cool customer. Our kids have tremendous confidence in his abilities. He has made all the right decisions for us so we just keep our fingers crossed that he has another solid effort this week.
How many UMass kids had you tried to recruit to Northeastern before moving back here? Don Brown Probably about six or seven, Liam was a guy we were involved with, Jason Leonard was a guy we were involved with. Probably less than you think. Not all that many, but obviously we were aware of some of them. In our situation we were having to go elsewhere, we did not compete very often with UMass head-to-head.
Having beaten UNH last week and being the only New England team left, do you talk to your kids about representing the Northeast and showing your brand of football? Don Brown I think it is important that every region take that approach, but we have kind of popped on the scene. I remember when I was a defensive coordinator when I was here in 1998 and we were the new kid on the block in terms of that piece. We have had three teams from the A-10 win the conference, but New Hampshire from New England certainly burst on the scene the last couple of years. Our game this past weekend was really a great testament to New England college football and the type of football that is played here in the Northeast. I think it is a source of pride, but going out to Montana we are going out to a perennial power, a team that has been there many times over. All we are focusing on is getting ready to play the Grizzlies.
Brandon London--how key is a guy like him in this game and how do you look back on his year? Don Brown I think he has had a great year. The one thing he does every game, I think he is the best wide receivers blocking on the field. You can watch him in every football game. He gives great football game and tries to make that run game go. We have asked make him to make plays in the throwing game. His individual effort in the second half of Saturday's game, I thought, was a very, very special play. It was a key to our win for sure. It was a great individual effort. He was hit on the five squarely by two guys, but made out getting to the end-zone. HE is playing at a high level. He is a tremendous young man in terms of his work ethic. I do not know of there is a wide receiver in the county that works harder at his conditioning. I think he has really flourished and has had a nice year for us. He is a big reason why we are here, why we are going to Mizzoula this weekend.
Can you expect him to have a big effect on this game? Don Brown I think he will have a big impact on the game or have the potential to. I think there are a number of receivers on both teams that have that potential. You just have to practice well and you have to prepare well. When his opportunities come he has got to make the most of them. One thing, he has not caught 100 balls, but the thing that he
