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Florida Atlantic University Athletics
Monday Morning with Head Coach Charlie Partridge
10/3/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 3, 2016
BOCA RATON, Fla. - Opening Remarks
We need to get better on all three phases. We have to coach better. We have to play better. It is that simple. We have to make plays in key moments and we didn't do that on Saturday night. We need to improve. It is really that simple. Moving on to Charlotte. That is our current focus. I think they have a disruptive defense. I think their D tackle/Nose guard, #65 [Larry Ogunjobi], he is a fifth-year senior. He is one of the better ones, maybe one of the best ones we have seen, up to this date, as far as an active disruptive defensive lineman getting ready for this week. He creates a challenge on their defense. They have a great running back, I think one of the best we will see in the conference, #3 [Kalif Phillips], and they have three quarterbacks, which normally wouldn't create challenges but all three of them are very different in the styles that they play, so we have to account for that.
Obviously the season is not going the way you want it to go. How would you describe your level of frustration or disappointment in how it is going?
We don't have time to even focus on that. What we do is attack the things that we need to get better at and there are things, across all three phases, which we will continue to practice and fight to get better.
How do you reverse a trend?
To be honest, I think you build on the things that are positives. We started both halves with explosive plays. You have to build on those explosive plays. It really comes down to our kids continuing to learn football. That is our job, to continue to teach football, so that we make those plays in those key moments.
How different are the three quarterbacks and in what ways?
#8 [Matt Johnson] has true plays designed for him to run the ball. His is a big running back that can throw it. #2 [Kevin Olsen] is more of a pro-ish style guy, a pocket passer. #16 [Hasaan Klugh] is a true dual threat that can throw or run. All three create different challenges and you have to account for the differences.
Are there adjustments you need to make on defense?
There were two plays, there in the second half. We had a blitz and didn't execute where we needed to go and they hit it for a touchdown. And, there was, after the fumble, we jumped on a bubble and left the guy uncovered on what we refer to as a bubble and go. Those were the two big plays. They score a touchdown, then we fumble it, and they score the next touchdown on that bubble and go that I'm referring to. It is not change the defense. We have to execute it better and we have to coach it better, so that they can do that.
What do you think needs to improve in terms of defending the running quarterback?
There are two plays that jump out to you. The first play, they were in what we call a single width, tight end wing to the boundary. The person that was responsible for tackling him got sucked in on the run handoff to the dive and he was late to get out on the quarterback. The second one was the blitz that I was referring to before. Again, assignment football and it is on us to help these kids perform better in those moments.
Progress of Kelly Parfitt?
The same. He is hopeful. He is further along. He is questionable technically but we are more hopeful than we were last week.
Andrew Soroh?
He was hobbled up. That is why you didn't see him in near as much action, last week. I think he is in a better place going into this week than he was going into last week.
What is it like to see them continue to fight and to continue to want to improve?
Makes me really proud. This is when you find out how all the leadership training and all the things that you have done, how it pays off, in moments like this that they continue to fight for each other. For that, I'm very proud. I will tell you what…if you want to find out if your kids are still fighting, look at a PAT block. One of the toughest plays emotionally in football. Because they just scored a touchdown and the strain there at the end of the game. Trey [Hendrickson] got the block yes, but it wasn't a one-man effort. All of them are continuing to fight.
If you said going in behind your fifth different line combination, if you got 236 ground yards you would like your chances. I'm assuming for the most part those guys [offensive line] did a pretty good job.
They did, three of the five really played winning football. Two were close to it, but not quite good enough. Again, I have complemented both Garin [Justice] and Travis [Trickett] and I will do it again. The O line with all the things you are talking about they did well enough to put us in position to win a game at the end, which we didn't.
Does it feel like you are getting to a semblance of stability on the offensive line?
It does. Getting Roman Fernandez back was big. Getting Roman back was big. We needed Roman back. It was good to have him back out there. You also have some kids in there that aren't ready that are getting better out on the game field when you are hoping to get them better on the practice field because we already have kids in there. So, you are seeing us get better right in front of your eyes. The run game was a testament to that.
What is it like to see Devin Singletary grow and to continue to get better as a runner?
If you look at the drive when we went up, I think it was 31-27, that was the drive when he had a lot of carries. The O line was doing some nice things. We were getting hats on hats and getting some movement. We knew he was a special talent and it was exciting to see him really do some nice things on that drive and I'm not surprised.
Has he surpassed Kerrith Whyte in that role?
We will still evaluate and use all of those guys…
Does that depend on the opponent and what you see?
It all plays into it. What the opponent does so what kind of runs we feel like we have the best chance for success. Again, I mentioned last week as these younger guys grow in their pass protection, it allows you to leave them on the field for a run or a pass. That plays into it too. If you are running a guy off when it is a pass, they are going to make a check with that in mind. That is an easy thing for a defense to pick up. As they grow in their pass protection, which is one of the more complex things for running backs to learn at this level, when you have all sort of different blitz patterns and mike IDs and things like that as they grow in that their roles will increase. So, that all ties in. Also, the performance at the time. If there is someone really performing well that is going to play into how much we are continuing to feed them the ball.
50-yard field goal must have been very encouraging that you have someone with that range.
I'm proud of Greg [Joseph]. He didn't have a great week of practice and I complimented him yesterday in front of the team when we went through a lot of film as a full team. Because he missed a few on Thursday and had a below-par for him pregame warmup. But, I still had all the confidence in the world because of the big picture performance that Greg has shown me, since I walked in the door. So, I really had no hesitation putting him out there on the field for the 50-yarder and was confident he would make it. It was fun to see the team's reaction. They were excited for him.
What is like to see the defense get those turnovers and start putting points on the board?
It was great to see a defensive score by Azeez [Al-Shaair] to start off the second half. It was electric. It was exciting. I wish we had kept that momentum, obviously. But, excited to see that happen and excited to see the tip interception by Jalen [Young], there in the first half. Those are signs of good things but we have a lot to get better at on defense before we feel good about where we are at on that side of the ball.
If there was one thing we could fix on that side of the ball what would it be?
There are a couple of things we need to work on. There is - again I referred to the two plays - that is execution. There is, at times, that we still are not tackling at the clip that we want to so there are a couple of things that we need to get better at.
That bubble and go that you are talking about is that a mental thing or making the wrong read or having your eyes in the wrong place?
Eyes in the wrong place. In that coverage, it is common coverage, when bubble goes your eyes transfer to the next receiver out. He kept his eyes on the bubble and went to trigger a tackle to the bubble when his eyes did go where they needed to.
Close game the last two weeks. Is it good that you had a chance to win those games or bad because you aren't getting those close games?
There are a lot of ways to look at that, right. It is painful to lose a close game. It is painful. It is painful for the coaches, for the players, the fans, the supporters. It hurts because we have put a lot into this. The players have put a lot into this and the fans are invested emotionally and I hurt for them as well. But, again you see things. You are happy to be in position at the end of the game but we are not happy because we are here to win games and we need to find a way to perform better - all three phases throughout the course of the game. There is a lot of points left on the board in terms of a run we can hit here, a block we get there, a catch that we don't make. There was a lot of opportunities missed. That is the thing that we have got to get figured out because there was a lot of points that we left on the field, which we didn't take advantage of the way we could.
There are 60 some games each week and 80% of them come down to where you can look at four or five plays in the course of the game that if you make them as opposed to not making them, that is the difference. Is it hard for a young team to understand that?
It is. That is what we spent a lot of time on yesterday, as a full team watching all three phases. I selected 87 of I think there was 178 total plays, throughout the whole game. I selected 87 of them and we coached the entire team with that in mind. Opportunities that we didn't take advantage of. We need to again, coach better and play better to take advantage of those opportunities. Make the catch, make the block, make the read, get your eyes in the right place on the bubble and go, go to where you are supposed to on the blitz and that is on us as coaches to help them figure that out. So that we can perform better in those moments.
You are saying there were 87 missed opportunities?
No, there were 87 plays that I showed good and bad. I showed all the third downs. Don't read into the number 87. I'm glad you asked that question. No, there were 87 plays that I wanted to teach, here is how this helped us and look at what we left on the field.
Is that a normal process that you go through every Sunday?
We don't watch that many as a full team. But, I wanted both sides of the ball to see where it went right and where it went wrong so that they can be behind each other, which we are. I wanted them to see it on film. So often, I show a dozen clips and we go into special teams and then divide into unit. We took more time to show the whole team, again teach a young team football.
Jalen Young is leading you guys in tackles. Is that ideal to have your safety leading you in tackles?
In today's game, it is not uncommon because of the game. Because of the style of play. It is a spread game now and your safeties are going to be involved in tackles.
What did you think of Jason Driskel's performance?
He did a nice job. He threw some nice balls, protected the ball. There were a lot of missed opportunities not due to him. He was efficient.
What do you attribute drops to?
That is something we have got to get a handle on. Nerves. Guys that really want to win that are pressing to win. I have to find a way to make them relax and do all the things that we all know they can do. There were some guys that had some drops that are very, very capable with very clean balls in their frame. Those are some of the plays that we took a look at. Guys that I have a ton of faith in. I believe in them. So, we are going to do everything we can this week to catch some extra balls and build some confidence so that they don't press in moments. That they do what they have been trained to do. That they have done their whole lives and that is catch the ball. These are guys that have caught the ball very well. I have confidence that they are going to calm down, take a deep breath and do what you know you can do. Do what we all know you can do. If we do that, it is going to pay dividends.
How do you walk the line of getting them to relax and instilling a sense of urgency?
I worry about going to talk to them about relaxing. Different guys are in different ways. Our urgency level has not changed. We are running to the ball. We are straining. Special teams is a bright spot. Coverage, obviously the 50-yard field goal. [Dalton] Schomp being himself again. There is someone who - there is an example - he relaxed. He simplified his thought process, Saturday, he really did. We talked about it through the course of the week, that he has a few key phrases. Specialist are a lot like golfers. It is the same swing. It is the same motion. It is catch, mold over my foot, up and through. He simplified his thought process and he bombed some punts. As a pass catcher, get around, keep my eye on the ball, look it in all the way to the tuck, simplify the process. Don't think about, I have to get this first down. Because right now our kids so desperately want to win for their family, their fans, their coaches and each other. That we need to do a good job as coaches and as teammates of reminding them to look it all the way to the tuck and do what you have done eight million times and we need to get them a ton of reps at those kind of things to help them in those moments.
How was Trey [Hendrickson] on Sunday?
Demanding of his teammates. He came in and we had a good talk about 15 minutes before the team meeting…he came up after his lift and before the team meeting and we had a good talk. He just wants to know what he can do to help. If you guys put anything on T.V. or in your articles, Trey is about this team. All he cares about is winning. That is what I love about Trey. That is what he wanted to do, come in and say how can I help? He was getting triple teamed on Saturday night: tackle, guard flying out there, running back or Jonnu Smith sitting there as well. That is the challenge. So, he's looking for ways to help the football team, not by doing something outside of his job, by helping other people get better. He wants to know how he can help. So, in this team meeting, I have assistant coaches also coaching. I gave players the opportunity to help as well. He is really becoming special beyond the just number of sacks last year and the number of disruptions and how many people they have to commit to him. I'm proud of Trey's approach right now in what is a challenging times for all of us here.
Players Mentioned
QB
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DL
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OL
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RB
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DB
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