8/12/2003 - Football
Craig Candeto Press Conference For Tuesday, Aug. 12
Q. Talk about last year?s Army-Navy game. What was that like for you?
A. It was pretty exciting. It?s obviously one of the biggest rivalries in all of college football, if not the biggest, and to be able to go out and have a good game like we did was pretty special. Especially with the game being on national TV and playing in front of 70,000 fans and to do what we did, which hasn?t really been done in the rivalry, was pretty special. Especially when you start looking at the record books and the fact that some of the records we broke had been there for a while. It was pretty exciting.
Q. Do you think the Army game gave you a springboard going into this year? It was a disappointing year, but did it send you into the off-season with a good taste in your mouth? Did that provide an impetus for the guys to work harder in the summer?
A. I think so. It?s a lot better than losing your last game and winning in that fashion was pretty exciting for everybody. One, it showed that we can do it and two it made everyone want to work that much harder over the summer. It showed that good things can happen and it was a reminder how good it feels to win.
Q. How much feedback did you get after the Army-Navy game from fans around the country?
A. I got a lot of e-mails from people I didn?t even know, people from home or people that were in the Navy. I got letters from people out West that took the time to clip newspaper articles from out there and send them to me. A lot of kids sent stuff to me. It was pretty neat. It was very humbling and it was another reminder of how big that game actually is and how many people actually watch it.
Q. Wasn?t there a unit that named a plane after you after the Army-Navy game?
A. It was the VFA-83 Rampagers. They saw that I had worn their patch during the Army-Navy game and they invited me down right before Christmas and I got to meet the pilots. They were an F-18 squadron out of Oceana, Va. They had written on one of the planes, ?Candeto?s Ride.?
Q. What was it like to see your name on a plane?
A. It was pretty neat. I didn?t expect it at all. I got to talk to the Commanding Officer of the squadron and presented him with a football and got to see my name on the side of a plane.
Q. Was it even more exciting for you since you want to be a pilot?
A. Definitely. Hopefully one day my name will be on my own jet.
Q. Talk a little bit about your recruitment to Navy. Who else recruited you?
A. My big thing was to play both sports and do it at the Division I-A level. I thought Navy was my best chance to do that. I looked at other schools that said I could walk-on for one of the sports but they mainly were recruiting me for just one sport. I probably could have gone somewhere else if I had just concentrated on one sport, but I had the opportunity to do both here. I looked at a few I-AA schools, The Citadel and Furman in particular. When it came down to making a decision I talked to Coach Weatherbie, who was the head coach here at the time, and he said they would let me play both sports here. When I came up on my recruiting trip in January it was freezing cold and there was snow all over the ground. I?m surprised I still wanted to come after that, but I saw the campus and the tradition and I prayed about it a lot and felt like this was where God wanted me.
Q. What?s the best thing about being at Navy?
A. The tradition and no matter what, it can be a good thing or it can be a bad thing, but you?re in the spotlight here. You?re right near D.C. and we are in a big media market and you?re going to get coverage no matter what you?re doing, whether it?s good or bad. I tend to like that. If we are 2-10 anywhere else in the nation we aren?t getting two nationally televised games a year and I think that?s special. Plus, it doesn?t get any better than the Army-Navy game. You also have the great academics, the school itself and all the distinguished graduates that this place has produced. The long line of people who have graduated from here that went on to be war heroes is pretty special.
Q. At any point of your career did you second-guess your decision?
A. Not at all. I feel like this is where God wanted me. It?s been tough, but everything has worked out. Obviously we haven?t had too much success in football, but it?s where I?m supposed to be and it?s evident by God helping me through this place.
Q. What did it mean to you to be elected captain?
A. It?s pretty special. It means the guys feel like you?re the right man for the job. It would be one thing to be selected by the coaches, but to be selected by the players is quite an honor. It shows that the guys look up to you and they feel comfortable having you in a leadership position. It?s definitely going to be a challenge, but I think myself and Eddie (Carthan) can do a pretty good job this year and hopefully turn some things around for us.
Q. Obviously as a quarterback you were already a leader on the field, but what kind of extra responsibilities come with being named team captain at Navy?
A. Just a lot of small things outside of football. Stuff in the Hall (Bancroft), non-related football stuff. Getting guys to do the right thing and taking care of other issues.
Q. What are some of your goals going into this year?
A. Definitely to have a winning season and to come together as a team, have everyone understand what it takes to win. Have the attitude to where people are willing to give everything they have to get a win and I think we still need to work on that here. It would be great to go out with a winning record my senior year; it?s been a tough three years here. It would be great to go to a bowl game, but if we have a winning season we will let everyone else take care of that.
Q. How important is the first game against VMI as far as setting the tone for the season and ending the home losing streak?
A. It?s big. Every first game is important. You always want to start off on the right foot. It?s no different for us. There are high expectations for us this year. We have a schedule that we?re capable of doing very well with and we need to get off on the right foot. That games very important and then the next game is just as important (TCU). It?s important to come out and let people know that we?re going to be for real this year in our home stadium, the new stadium, and get great fan support from that game.
Q. Obviously the Army-Navy football game was the high point of your career, was the low point the Notre Dame game? I know you really looked forward to that game and to get hurt on the first series had to have been tough?
A. I don?t know if it was the low point, it was pretty disappointing to be knocked out of that game, especially since it turned out to be such a great game. I thought that game was very exciting. It was hurting me to be on the sidelines and not being able to play, but just to see the team and how well we played that game and just to be a part of that and cheering on the sidelines was exciting. I wouldn?t say it was a low point. There have been a couple of low points though. The Georgia Tech game my sophomore year was pretty disappointing and then I really took the Wake Forest loss last year pretty hard, because I felt like we were turning the corner in a lot of areas and we had that game won and they came back and beat us in the final minute.
Q. What was more disappointing, losing one of those two games or losing the Patriot League Baseball Championship last year when you were only four outs away from going to the NCAA Baseball Championship?
A. I don?t know. That?s a tough one to answer. The baseball loss was pretty disappointing. The championship was right there in our grasp. It was a lot like the Wake Forest game. We were right there, winning the game, and then it just turns on you. That?s a tough call to say which one was more disappointing.
Q. Athletes talk sometimes about being in the ?zone.? Were you in the same type of zone at the Patriot League Baseball Tournament, where it seemed like you hit a double or home run every time up, that you were in during the Army-Navy football game?
A. I would say I was in the zone. You tend to dial in a little bit more when it?s a big game. I was ready and I was focused. Hopefully I and us as a team can have that kind of focus for the whole season and not let up.
Q. How difficult has it been to not only be a two-sport athlete but also hold down close to a 3.0 GPA in the classroom?
A. It?s been a lot tougher than I imagined it would be. I played both sports in high school, but it?s a different ballgame in high school. To come and play both sports in college and then to do it at the Naval Academy when you?re taking 17-19 hours each semester while you?re in season has been very tough. The toughest months were when we had spring football and baseball going on at the same time. Just trying to balance both sports and then after that?s done going back to the Hall and working on your academics was pretty tough.
Q. You had your best season in baseball last year as well. Did it help that Coach Johnson gave you some time off during spring football practice and you didn?t get hit as much this spring?
A. Yes. Coach put me in the red jersey (which means do not hit) in the spring and that was nice because I wasn?t coming to baseball games all banged up after scrimmages. Not only did it help physically, but mentally as well. I was not as tied down with football this spring as I had been in the past and I think that helped me with my baseball a lot.
Q. Who are some of your good friends on the football and baseball team?
A. On the baseball team I?m pretty close to Chris Ashinhurst and Dean Farmer and on the football team I would say Bronston Carroll and Lane Montgomery. Those are just a couple of guys.
Q. Do you ever have to remind Ashinhurst that he?s just the sprint team quarterback and not the varsity quarterback?
A. We joke around because he has all the passing yards and I have the rushing yards. He always kids me that I?m lucky that he doesn?t come out and play with the big boys, as he likes to call us.
Q. What are some of your goals this year in baseball?
A. I would like to go back to the NCAA Regionals. That was pretty special two years ago to go down and play at Wake Forest. I also want to have a winning record. We?ve been right around .500 the last three years. I want to get off to a good start, because we tend to get off to bad starts because of the weather and having to practice inside,
Q. What?s harder to do, hit a home run or throw a touchdown pass?
A. Being an option quarterback touchdown passes are hard to come by, but I would have to say hitting a home run because I think hitting a baseball is pretty difficult.
Q. Can you believe that this is your senior year?
A. It?s gone fast, it really has. It?s been tough, but it?s hard to believe I only have one year left. Looking back though it?s been a good experience and I wouldn?t trade it. I wouldn?t have gone anywhere else knowing what I know now.
