11/25/2002 - Football
Paul Johnson Press Conference For Monday, Nov. 25

Transcript of Navy head football coach Paul Johnson's Press Conference Following Practice on Monday, November 25

Q. Did you think it was important to stress to the team after the game that a moral victory isn?t good enough?

A. They knew it. I didn?t have to stress it to them. I think they knew. As I said, I think we?re making progress that way. They want to win and they aren?t satisfied to play close.

Q. You had some success throwing the ball on Saturday.

A. We didn?t throw it any more than normal, we just caught more.

Q. Were you pleased that you were more effective in the passing game?

A. Yeah, I think any time you get big plays that?s good. Somebody else asked me about how much we threw the ball, we only threw it 11 times. That?s just about what we?ve been throwing it.

Q. Hitting those plays though, did that make it easier to open up the running game?

A. Sure, any time you hit plays that?s good. We hit some fullback plays so nobody complained about us diving the fullback up the middle. When they go for touchdowns or big plays everybody likes them.

Q. What was the difference in being able to connect on some passes. Was Craig throwing the ball better?

A. We just had some guys make some plays. Chandler made a nice play. Craig made a nice throw on that one. We had thrown the stop route in front of that corner about three times there and on third down we got him to bite and Lionel ran a nice route and got behind him for a touchdown.

Q, How about Michael Brimage?

A. He did some really good things. I said before that I thought he had pretty good feet, we just really had never given him a chance. That was a positive, but that?s just one game.

Q. He?s not exactly big

A. We don?t have anyone that?s big

Q. What does he do that makes him effective?

A. He has good feet and good vision. He runs with his head up as opposed to just putting your head down and plowing into the line. He?s got good feet. He can see and maybe make some cuts.

Q. Are you going to give him a chance to start?

A. Sure. He deserves a chance.

Q. In terms of injuries are you going to get anybody back? Will Brindel be able to play?

A. No, I don?t think so.

Q. How about Lenter?

A. We hope to get him back, we will have to wait and see.

Q. This is going to be your first Army-Navy game as a head coach, are you going to do anything special? Are you going to bring anyone back to talk to the team to fire them up?

A. I think everybody understands the magnitude of the Army-Navy game. Everybody here understands. I?m sure we will have all kinds of people stopping by, we always do. It?s going to come down to just like any other game, the team that blocks and tackles the best and takes care of the ball is the team that?s going to win. What we have to do is prepare. Golly, you would hope you would be ready emotionally. The experience I have from the two games that I?ve coached in as a coordinator is that it wasn?t hard getting everybody jacked up, it was trying to calm them down so they could play. I feel reasonably sure that we will be ready to play as will Army.

Q. Do things kind of change on Monday? Is there a buzz next week?

A. I think everyone needs a giddy-up in their step about getting ready to play. Everybody understands the importance of the game. If they don?t, they shouldn?t be playing football. We?re representing more than just us. We?re representing our Brigade, the Navy and the Marine Corps. It?s bragging rights for everybody out there. It?s a big, big game.

Q. Did you think the defense made some progress last week? It seemed like you had guys in position to make plays even if they didn?t always make them.

A. I think we had a chance. If you look at our schedule, six of the last seven teams we played our bowl eligible. And if you throw out the UConn game, which I still haven?t figured out.

Q. They beat Iowa State

A. I?m talking about the way we played. I knew they were better than everybody was saying. Everybody was going, Uconn? I knew they had a pretty good quarterback and a pretty good running back. I think we are making progress. We are a better football team than when we started. I guarantee you that. Now the win-loss record may not show it, but we are a better team. We are making progress on all the things that we need to make progress on. I don?t have to tell the guys anymore that a moral victory is unacceptable. Our younger guys were really upset after that game. We had a couple of guys stand up in the locker room after the game and try and show some leadership. That?s the first time I?ve seen that all year. We?re making progress.