Latest / Coaches Corner / Jim Mora - Weekly Presser Oct 3

Transcript

Jim Mora - Weekly Presser Oct 3 · Coaches Corner

0:07
Good morning. I appreciate you guys being here. I go ahead and talk
0:13
about last week real quick. I hate doing that, but I know you
0:15
have questions. So you know, rarely in a game can you put your
0:20
finger on you know, a handful of plays it really made the difference in
0:25
the game. But I think last week it was really easy to see where
0:28
the breakdowns occurred, because we played as hard as I've seen a team play
0:35
in a long time, at least this team for sure. But we had
0:39
about five or six breakdown plays that really cost us in that game, you
0:43
know, the four throws and then obviously the blocked pat attempt, and then
0:49
a couple of plays on offense where maybe we would have had a chance to
0:52
get the ball in the end zone instead of kicking field goals. But you
0:57
know, I know, I say every week, but I do see a
1:02
team that's getting better. We're just not. We haven't put it together together
1:07
yet, you know, we haven't. We haven't been able to play a
1:11
complementary football game where all three phases play at a high level at the same
1:15
time. And last week, when the offense got it rolling, we had
1:21
those four defensive breakdowns that you know are not not really something that we've seen
1:27
in the last nineteen games that have been here but or fifty eighteen. But
1:34
we saw them on Saturday, so there's no excuse for him because they happened.
1:38
So we've got to get those fixed and we've worked towards that. And
1:42
some of that is scheme, some of its communications, some of its execution,
1:46
some of its techniques, some of its skill set. So you know,
1:51
the goal is always to get better every week and then the goal,
1:53
the ultimate goal is to win. And so that's our objective. This week.
1:57
We go to Rice. They're good team. They throw the ball all
2:00
over the field. JT. Daniels, who's their quarterback, actually met him
2:05
when he's in eighth grader. Came to a camp at UCLA. Looked like
2:08
he was a twelfth grader. Through the ball like he was in college.
2:13
Guy, extremely talented passer. I would say that he's the most talented high
2:20
school quarterback I'd ever seen. He's transferred around, he's got a lot of
2:24
experience, he's got a lot of you know, uh, action in big
2:29
games, and and they're doing a really good job with him. Marcus Tuiasa
2:32
Sopo, who's their offensive coordinator, I've worked with at UCLA twice. Actually
2:38
I've known him his whole life. His dad, Manu Tuiasa Sopo, played
2:42
for my dad with the Seahawks and at UCLA, and then when two he
2:46
was born, my mom was a realtor driving Manu and his wife around.
2:52
Why two he was in a in a car seat, in the back of
2:53
a car. And now he's the oc at rice. So you know,
2:57
this this game just kind of you know, there is so intertwined, but
3:02
we're anxious to go down there and play again. I think that after looking
3:07
at the film, the players realize how close they are and now it's just
3:12
closing that gap to nothing, you know, So there's no gap, and
3:15
that's our objective they had. Once again, you're always kind of gauging where
3:19
your team is emotionally by the way they come back from a loss. Hopefully
3:23
we'll find a way to see how we respond to a win here first,
3:27
but when you come back from a loss, you know just where are they
3:30
emotionally, where's their commitment level, what's their concentration level, and all those
3:36
things are still on point, and so you know, in the midst of
3:38
a you know of a of a start. That's not what we wanted.
3:43
I still see guys that that believe in what we're doing, believe in each
3:46
other, believing themselves, continuing to work hard. And if you don't have
3:51
that, you've got no chance. And so we've got that, so that
3:53
gives us a chance. So another great challenge this week, and you know,
3:58
from what I saw today, go out there and we'll we'll play hard
4:00
again and hopefully we can put it together in all three phases and come out
4:04
victorious. What did you see to take a while? And he did that
4:09
in the last game? Why it was some production. Okay, Well,
4:13
this is an interesting statistic and it was kind of mind boggling to me.
4:16
Actually, Uh, it's been it's been since two thousand and seventeen, so
4:23
six and a half seasons since a Yukon quarterback has completed over seventy percent of
4:27
his passes and thrown for over two hundred and fifty yards. And he did
4:30
that on Saturday. So that's like, you know, someone told me that.
4:33
I was like, so that happens all the time. They said it
4:36
hadn't happened here since twenty seventeen, which was like, what you know?
4:40
So, uh, that's a positive. You know, he did a great
4:45
job of recovering from the interception. You know, he played right through it.
4:50
He didn't let him get it down. He didn't let that play get
4:54
him down. He made plays when he had to make plays down the stretch,
4:57
which is what good players do. And I think we he said this
5:00
for the last couple of weeks, he's you know, he hasn't played a
5:01
lot. And as he continues to play more and more and get more reps,
5:04
which are so important for any player, but especially a quarterback, you're
5:08
gonna see his his his skills start to shine because he can throw the ball.
5:14
You know, he's got a really good arm. Now he's seeing things
5:16
better. The game's moving slower for him. And when he had to make
5:21
a play, he made a play and that was with his legs and his
5:24
arm, and then his decision making was good. So very very excited about
5:29
direction that he's going in it at this level now because you said previously it's
5:34
been in the multiple years since played. Yeah, is it a allowing him
5:39
Nick really calling the offense the way he wants to call out later the school
5:43
later You saw that during can Yeah, for sure. You know, I
5:46
think I think that's completely accurate. Is as a play caller, you have
5:50
to play calls that your players feel comfortable executing. And as Taekwon gets more
5:57
and more experience in this offense, Nick can do more more things with him
6:00
and he can go back into is like you said, the things we were
6:02
doing in training camp, you know where you're experimenting and you're learning, and
6:06
now you know he's got that knowledge based from training camp, and now he's
6:11
got the confidence to apply it going forward. Victor and Camp ran the ball
6:15
well against Utacitate. What did you like about the way they work together,
6:19
way they compliment each other. They both run very hard, and they're they're
6:25
not easy tackles. They both fall forward, you know, rather than getting
6:30
picked up and thrown back. They both have good hands, which you know
6:34
you want to see because we try to throw the ball to the backs out
6:36
of the backfield. And they both did a really good job in pass protection.
6:41
But with regard to just running, I like that they run hard and
6:44
they're not easy to tackle and they fall forward. Talk about racist passing All
6:48
offense on the sy prepared for that is There a lot of adjustments from the
6:54
defense from the last few reserves. Well, there has to be some you
6:58
know, I think good defense always starts with being able to stop the run,
7:02
and they're going to come out and try to establish the run. You
7:04
know, That's that's what good teams do, That's what offenses try to do.
7:09
If we can, if we can do a good job against the run
7:13
early and force it into a one dimensional game, then the game kind of
7:17
looks and feels a little bit differently in terms of what you're playing on defense.
7:20
So you always have to make some adjustments in terms of what your emphasis
7:25
is, you know, offensively and defensively, dependent upon who you're playing.
7:28
So you know, this is a team that in the last couple of games
7:31
is not run the ball as many times and has relied on their passing game,
7:36
and it's been pretty darn effective for him. I mean, this guy,
7:40
you know, he's throwing thirteen touchdowns, he's only sacked ten times.
7:43
You know, he uh, he gets the ball out of his hand quickly.
7:47
He can make every throw he can make, you know, off platform
7:51
throw throws, he can you know, make different arm slot throws. He
7:55
can throw a move into his left to his right. He's not a scrambler,
7:58
but he's a guy that can find throwing lanes. And then I think
8:01
he's got really good receivers. You know, you think that, you know,
8:03
you look at Luke McCaffrey, Ed's son and Christian's brother. He's a
8:09
very good football player. You know, Connor, they're they're running back number
8:13
zero. They use him in the past game. He's a very good player.
8:16
A matter of fact, I told the players, I said, he
8:18
reminds me. I played against Christian McCaffrey, a coach, against him several
8:22
times when he's at Stanford, and he reminds me of a Christian McCaffrey type
8:24
of guy. You know, he's a hard runner, he's got great hands,
8:28
he's versatile. So you know, you have to you have to make
8:31
adjustments and you have to count for people because is this the worst finds we're
8:39
facing the best passing offense you'd calling up against because of the defensive mistakes or
8:43
are those so fresh and correctable that maybe this is a good time because you
8:48
can get you guys they're correctable. The problem right now in the secondary is
8:52
also personnel. You know, we have we have guys that are out.
8:56
You know, Malik got a concussion, so he wasn't able to play,
9:01
or Monty Archer, you know, he didn't play. Hopefully those guys come
9:03
back. Uh you know, I don't know, but you know, playing
9:09
without two of yours starting defensive backs, you know that that has an impact.
9:13
Guys are starters for a reason. It's usually because they're the most productive
9:16
players. So I wouldn't know. I think it's we like challenges, you
9:22
know, I mean, we do. We like challenges. In DBS,
9:24
they want the bonnier, you know, that's what that's how they make their
9:26
money. Man. And I use that, you know, rhetorically, but
9:30
or metaph whatever the word is. But uh no, I mean, I
9:33
think it's a great opportunity for us. You know, we've we've played good
9:37
pass defense around here, you know, and but we've had some breakdowns in
9:41
the last couple of day games. And if we can correct those and we'll
9:43
get back to playing good pass defense. And hopefully we've correct him schematically,
9:48
and hopefully we coached our guys through them and they understand them, and we'll
9:50
put them through the paces on the on the practice field to make sure that
9:54
they're really you know, uh, they really are emphasized. Who can really
10:01
help your way in the past the game. Yeah, you got a couple
10:05
one on one. He's gotten better every week. I think is his understanding
10:09
what we want him to do defensively is improved. He really studies the game
10:13
hard. It's important to him. He's tough, he's physical, he's got
10:16
quickness and speed, and he makes plays on the ball. You know,
10:20
he's probably made the most plays on the ball of anyone back there. So
10:22
yeah, it's it's nice to have him available and playing with the confidence he's
10:26
playing with. He's he's making good decisions, and uh, I'm glad he's
10:30
on our team. You know, he's a he's a good kid, and
10:31
he's you know, he hadn't played a lot, right, he's a young
10:35
guy, but he's he's learning fast. Creating said your first two in your
10:39
social season, it was more mistakes, but that w honestly great plays.
10:43
Jackson's daughter Jackson's play was a great play. Chriss was you know, tip
10:50
ball and that was an effort play. So I'd say that was a hell
10:52
of a play. I don't think they're really mistakes by them. Maybe the
10:54
maybe the second the second one, but uh, you know, we have
11:01
to be opportunistic, right, I think we have to we have to help
11:03
our offense by creating field position with takeaways. So it's a it's a constant,
11:09
constant point of emphasis. I think turnovers come in bunches, you know,
11:13
and you start to feel momentum that way. So hopefully we're feeling a
11:16
little momentum. Is your back here, you your entire situation where the liars
11:24
sold on every single week the game comes down to four first Yes. For
11:30
twenty eight years in the National Football League, every single game basically was that.
11:35
If you watch the NFL games, they come down to the last drive,
11:39
they come down to the last couple of plays. They got overtime.
11:41
I mean, I've never been an overtime game. I don't believe, but
11:45
uh yeah, so I spent twenty eight years in the NFL where every game
11:48
was like that. You coached your first complicate a right to saty members.
11:52
Yeah, Brett Henley very first play the game, taking a seventy six I
11:56
believe seventy six yards. You have to check me on that for a touchdown,
12:00
and uh that was pretty fun to see that. Yeah, and we
12:03
won. No, I've never I've never no, I know you're being facetious.
12:09
But now there's nothing easy about about this game. It's a competitive game.
12:11
You know, there are no easy games. You know, you watch
12:16
the games on Saturdays, and you know you watch SC and Colorado on SC
12:18
you look up at the scoreboard and air up whatever they were up, you
12:22
know, a bunch and then the next thing you know, it's forty eight
12:24
to forty or whatever. So, you know, competitors on both sides of
12:28
the ball. Football games. It's hard to win a football game. Man,
12:33
it's hard to win a football game. It was that teams Joe.
12:39
Yeah, that went on him. Yeah, that went on Joe. He
12:43
made two field goals and he hit hit every kick off into the end zone.
12:46
You can't ask for anymore from a young man. Then, Joe gave
12:50
us seen a different spirit in him since that happened. You know. I
12:54
think that after the knee injury in the year and just to struggle to get
12:58
back and how hard he worked and then missing a couple early. You know,
13:01
we talked about this last week. I think he was a little bit
13:03
in the tank and he needed a game like that to get his momentum back.
13:07
You guys saw him kick when he was a freshman, I didn't,
13:11
but he's a really good kicker, you know, and so you know today
13:16
man, he was booming him. He looked like and he had a little
13:18
he actually Joe actually had a little smile on his face, which is he's
13:20
a pretty serious guy. So that was really good to see. And and
13:24
you know what, noway, now he's going to push him and push him
13:26
and push him and push him and push him, and uh, you know,
13:28
we go out there and if if, if Joe makes a kick,
13:31
man Noey tries to drop one right on top of it, right after him.
13:35
So it's good to see that coverage. Is there any way to improve
13:39
that? It did? Actually, it improved last week the punk coverage,
13:43
because that's been a real concern. You know, Chris Hudson gave us a
13:46
spark there. You know, the speed that he has getting down the field.
13:50
He made you know, he made a couple of tackles and he made
13:52
the guy miss. Still not where we wanted. That first punt return was
13:56
not very good. You know, we got blocked up inside. They doubled
13:58
some guys. So it's just about trying to come up with different formations to
14:01
shake guys loose while still being uh sound in our in our punt protection and
14:07
not getting one blocked. But you know, trying to get more speed on
14:11
the field is something that's important because you know, those are those are big
14:15
yards, like those are hidden yards that have a you know, have a
14:18
profound impact on the game. And then the other thing I'd like to see
14:20
is our kickoff return game needs to be better. You know, we need
14:24
We're not We're not doing a good enough job there of getting yards up the
14:26
field and putting our offense in better field position and to expect to leeds and
14:31
need backers. I think it's very questionable. You know, hopefully he is.
14:39
We're well there. Number one, there's concussion protocols that are followed.
14:43
But number two, so it's my personal philosophy, and I know the philosophy
14:46
this university and certainly our doctors and and UH and our athletic trainers that you
14:52
don't mess with head, neck and spine injuries. There's just you just don't
14:54
mess with him. You always err on the side of caution. So uh,
14:58
if he's cleared to play by our medical staff, than he can play.
15:03
But they will make that determination and they will make it with great care.
15:07
And concern for him make care because a little bit. Yeah, well
15:16
he uh when when uh, when Alex went out, you know, he
15:20
started to play a more prominent role. And he's actually been really kind of
15:22
the starting tight the tight end, you know, at why tight end since
15:26
that second game of the year. But he's just becoming more and more confident
15:31
doing it. You remember, he was a receiver in high school, went
15:33
to defensive end, and then we moved him to tight end and uh,
15:37
and he's doing a good job. And so it was great to see him
15:39
getting the end zone. It's really good to see him sustaining blocks and moving
15:43
people out on the line of scrimmage. He's an athletic guy, and I
15:46
think he's found his niche finally. You know, I was worried about him
15:48
defensive line. He just at ten times he seemed like, I don't I
15:52
didn't know. They loved it. I see like that love for the game
15:56
coming back with him at that position. And that's that's what you want,
16:00
you know, because he'll be productive that way. Is that was done?
16:03
Ye, yes, he had. I thought I told you guys that.
16:07
I thought I told you after that Georgia State game. Maybe I didn't.
16:10
He had to have season ending surgery the Tuesday, a week a week after
16:15
that game, and he had some significant damage in there, but it was
16:18
really successful surgery. Yeah, I thought I told you guys that. I'm
16:22
sorry. Ope, you saw it. You said you saw the team that's
16:26
a senate Huh, what can you point to specifically because you saw it the
16:30
Pea State Saturday? What can you point to when they can you see that
16:33
same name? The speed? I think you know it sounds cliche, but
16:37
attitude and effort in better execution spoiled by really, you know, five very
16:45
visible plays. So you can't take those plays away, right, you can't.
16:52
You can't. And so it's really hard to say, well, we're
16:55
getting better when something like that happens. But if you if you just if
17:00
you just look at the game objectively and you say, okay, play to
17:03
play to play to play. Are we playing with great effort? Are we
17:06
playing with great energy? Are we executing better more consistently? Do we understand
17:11
what to do than The answer is yes, but it's so hidden and tarnished
17:17
by the obvious plays that everybody sees, you know. And so the first
17:23
time I've gotten a call from my dad this week with Actually usually it's it's
17:27
just hanging there and and keep it up. And this week I got a
17:32
text right after the game. He goes it says, Hey, I have
17:36
some thoughts on the game if you want to talk about it. The reason
17:38
you lost wasn't the blocked field goal. And I said, I didn't want
17:41
to talk to him right after the game about that, but I did Monday,
17:45
and he saw it exactly the way it should be seen. It's good
17:48
to have someone like that that can, you know, help you through those
17:52
times. Its coach a lot of games, so follow you definitely the golden
17:57
too. What's that I'm to follow up like that? You had never been
18:02
overing too before? Yeah? How many you're holding up personally? Like,
18:07
how do you get from you? I just focus on the task at hand,
18:11
minute by minute, day by day. Really honestly, you know the
18:15
next one's coming at you, right, so you got to learn from the
18:18
past one. You gotta apply those lessons and you gotta put it behind.
18:21
You got to focus on the next one. And when you're the head coach
18:25
and the leader of the team and the program, people take their cues from
18:30
you. And uh, if you're gonna walk around with a hangdog look on
18:33
your face and woe is me? Then everyone else is, you know,
18:36
and quite frankly, this isn't about me at all. You know, my
18:38
job is to help these young men prepare for the next game, Prepare for
18:44
you know, adversity they're going to face in life, learn lessons. It's
18:48
just always it's it's always about teaching, you know. So uh, I'm
18:52
fine. You know, I got I got a great wife that I get
18:56
to go home to every night, who's very encouraging and upbeat, and you
19:00
know, she keeps me on point. She asked a lot of good questions
19:03
too, So you know, I just I just keep the focus on what's
19:07
really important here, and that's our players and staff. You know, that's
19:11
our players and staff. I say, was that game for the offense?
19:18
See changing their mental as Joe? I hope you're right, man, I
19:25
feel that, but we'll see right, you know, I feel it.
19:27
I believe it. I want him to go out and show it, you
19:32
know, Like I watched him practice to day and there was just a different
19:33
kind of confidence. A game like that, I'll get you confident, you
19:37
know. You go down there and you score with what thirty five or forty
19:40
seconds left to you know, hopefully tie the game. And that's a hard
19:44
drive. And uh and they'd had to do it earlier. I mean they
19:48
had to you know, they had to keep bailing defense out. I mean
19:49
that builds confidence, especially when you struggle a little good. You know,
19:52
you kind of find you find your rhythm, you find your identity, you
19:56
know, like you said, Nicks and I'll call some things that he's that
20:00
we've worked on in the past and the players feel comfortable with, and so
20:03
you know, let's just let's just keep going with it. Right. He
20:04
got a great balance between running the ball and throwing the ball. You know,
20:07
your quarterbacks making plays with his arm, with his feet. Receivers are
20:11
you know, consistent catching the ball. That's that's how it's supposed to look,
20:15
you know, so we got to make sure it looks like that and
20:18
keeps getting better. What was the reason he lost? Was the four big
20:22
plays? Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, Jimmy, you know,
20:25
it wasn't that block extra point. I said, I know, Dad,
20:27
I know what it was. I tried to pre empt him, you know,
20:30
I said, I know, it was the four big plays. Well,
20:32
what the hell is going on back there, you know, so I
20:34
had to explain each one to him, and you know it can't happen.
20:40
I go, Dad, I know, you know he's been really good this
20:44
year. That was the first time and he wasn't negative. That was the
20:45
first time when he's really kind of you know, I I felt it.
20:48
I need that. You know, he's always done that to him. He's
20:52
always been He's always been, you know, really good at constructive criticism,
20:56
and he's always been very supportive. He's obviously been very successful. He won
21:00
one hundred and eighty five games in his coaching career. You know, he's
21:04
he's been three time Coach of the Year. He's you know, he's done
21:10
a lot of things. He's played a lot of games, seeing a lot
21:11
of good, a lot of bad, been through some tough times. So
21:14
anytime you have a guy like that in your life that can give you advice,
21:18
it's great. Let's tell you that thing. That's it's it's fun.
21:19
As you know, I've told the players this, But first text I got
21:23
after the game, very first text I got when I walked into the locker
21:26
room was from Charles Barkley. I know Charles a little not a lot,
21:30
three or four times a season. He texts and says, you're you know,
21:33
tells me what he sees, you know, and he and this is
21:36
a guy that's a great competitor, and he's a great he's a great athletic
21:40
mind. Right, he knows sports, he knows players. And he said,
21:45
your team is really fighting and playing hard. Keep it going in it'll
21:48
turn you know. And so when you hear from someone that that has credibility
21:52
like that, it kind of reinforces how you feel internally play auble the Parkers.
22:00
Have you seen the team coming closer together, especially when you go on
22:02
through university on the tour as well. Yeah, and how big a team
22:06
is in terms of which way to press together To answer your first question,
22:12
Uh, yeah, I've seen us come together. You know, everyone's in.
22:17
You know, everyone made a commitment. Uh, everyone reinforced that commitment.
22:21
And you know the guys that left, they had their reasons for leaving,
22:25
and they're gone. And you know they don't necessarily matter to us as
22:27
a team. That matters individuals, but they don't matter as a team anymore
22:30
to the team anymore. But yeah, we've closed ranks. That's what you
22:33
have to do. And number two, I don't really subscribe to the next
22:37
game is the most important. It's the most important because it's the next game,
22:41
and then the next game after that would be the most important. So,
22:44
you know, we just want to go out and just play as well
22:47
as we can and just find a way to get a win, you know.
22:52
But but there are more games to play after that, so regardless of
22:56
what happens, you have to be able to get refocused. That's that's what
22:59
a season's all about. Out all right, Thanks for everybody. Have a good debt