8/18/2003 - Football
Paul Johnson Press Conference For Monday, August 18
Q. How do you think Candeto and the offense will be improved with a year of your system under their belts?
A. Hopefully we will be able to do a few more things. I think Craig is more comfortable in the system, there's no question about that. He has a good understanding of the offense. Really, so do Aaron (Polanco) and Lamar (Owens) so we're way ahead of where we were a year ago at this time.
Q. What's Craig showing you that shows he's making progress?
A. He's got some awareness; he knows where you're supposed to go. Sometimes he may throw it and not get it there all the time, but he knows where he's supposed to be throwing and in the option game he understands the numbers and which side to run and what is a better play to be in.
Q. What are some of the things you can phase in to the offense in your second year?
A. Just being able to adjust. It's easier to adjust during the game, because they have a better concept of the basics. Last year, especially early, we had four or five basic plays that we ran and if we needed to make a little tweak here or a little tweak there, sometimes it would blow peoples mind. This year I think the guys that have played have a good enough understanding that it's easier to adjust.
Q. The kicking situation. I notice you have Blumenfeld number one at the present time, but I get the feeling that's going to be wide open right up until the first game.
A. We're going to kick some here in the next couple of weeks. Actually Blumenfeld and Rolfs are probably even. We really haven't made a decision yet. We've kicked a lot, but not in live situations. We're going to start kicking a lot more in live situations, probably starting tomorrow.
Q. Have any of these freshmen shown you anything?
A. Yes sir, they've got some strong legs. That's why we kept three plebe kickers in camp, there's a chance that one of them could be the kicker.
Q. So currently there are five kickers trying to win the job.
A. Yeah, and they all have a chance.
Q. At this point, why is Blumenfeld listed number one? Is there anything in particular that he's done?
A. Yeah, I think seeing him kick out here that he's gotten stronger over the summer and he's kicked really well in camp. They have been competing every day and I go over and watch them kick and we chart them every day. He's probably done the best. If he continues to do that in live situations he will probably be the kicker.
Q. Last year you didn't get a lot of kicks into the end zone on kickoffs, is that something that any of them have improved on?
A. Yeah, I think so. We did special teams yesterday and we kicked several in the end zone. We would love to kick them all out of the end zone if we could. You got what you got, we aren't going to trade them or put them on waivers.
Q. Do you feel like the kicking game is one of the areas you need to improve on from last year?
A. Special teams weren't a strong point for us at all last year. We had a kickoff return for a touchdown against us, which probably in all honesty cost us the Notre Dame game. We gave up a couple of fumbles, one for a touchdown, on the kickoff return team, we got two punts blocked, there's a lot of room for improvement on special teams.
Q. Obviously defense was a problem last year, how important is it for that area to be improved?
A. We have to do a better job of stopping people or we aren't going to win any games. You can't give up over 40 points per game and expect to win. Having said that you can't turn the ball over, you help out on special teams and you do some of those things too. It's not all one sided, but there's no question we have to get better on defense.
Q. How about the switch to the 3-4?
A. I think switching maybe helps us personnel wise to get a few more guys on the field that can run. Defense is like everything else on the team, we have to get better. If we are going to win more games we have to get better at all of it, offense, special teams and defense.
Q. How has Carthan responded to the 3-4 defense? It's a little different for him isn't it?
A. He played a lot there last year, really. It's not a whole lot different from what we did last year in a lot of ways. We played a lot of nickel with it last year, we played a stack defense against Rice, and we did some things with it at times last year. Against Notre Dame he might as well have been an outside linebacker. We had him rushing from the outside. Wake Forest was the same type of deal. He's been out there; it's not a totally new position for him. Whether you're a 3-4, 4-3, or an eight-man front you still have to play gap control. It's not a big change and it's not an excuse. We just have to play better. It doesn't matter how you line up, you have to control your gap and tackle guys and not let them throw it over your head, stop the run and get a little heat on the passer. It doesn't matter where you're coming from.
Q. Do you think your personnel is better in general on defense? Do you have more guys that can run and make plays? It looks like you have some good young guys.
A. We'll see, I think we have more speed. A lot of it's young. Gosh, we might dress 12, 14, 15 freshmen on the varsity. I don't think that's ever happened around here. We have a lot of young guys. There's a chance that four or five freshmen are going to play a whole lot. They are in the two-deep. Another seven or eight are right on the borderline of the two-deep and will be on special teams and as the season goes along they're probably going to show their face. I think we've improved our speed, but we will have to see how it carries over to the field.
Q. How unusual is it to have that many freshmen dress for the opener compared to the other places you've coached?
A. I was the head coach at Georgia Southern for five years and we played two freshmen. Every other freshman redshirted. We didn't even play Adrian Peterson when he was a freshman, he redshirted.
Q. So this is different.
A. Yeah. What you would like to do once you get a program built up, here you're not going to redshirt so it's a little different anyway because they only have four years, but if you get your program build up to the way you want it you would be a junior and senior dominated football team. We're just in the process of that; we still have a pretty young team this year, especially depth wise.
