8/7/2003 - Football
Paul Johnson Press Conference For Thursday, Aug. 7
Transcript of Navy Head Coach Paul Johnson's Press Conference
Thursday, August 7, 2003
Q. What were your impressions of today?s practice?
A. I think that they are working pretty hard. There?s some times today where we had some lapses, but I think overall the guys have a pretty good attitude and they are working hard.
Q. Any injuries yet?
A. Well, we?ve been in shorts up to yesterday and then shells so not really. Bobby McClarin broke his hand, but he should be back in a week.
Q. How did he do that?
A. Just in a drill, hitting the sled. It was a freak thing. He can run around, he just won?t be in any contact for a week.
Q. Is Magee going to be limited for a while?
A. He?s going to be good to go probably Saturday. We have to throw him out there to see what he can do.
Q. Is tomorrow full contact?
A. We put the pads on tomorrow. We will probably ease into it.
Q. So far Barry is the only player that has switched positions, right?
A. So far.
Q. Was that because of your depth at fullback?
A. We have a lot of depth at fullback and Ryan?s a big guy that can run and I was just trying to find a place for him to get on the field some. We lost some depth at slot back over the summer. That hurt our depth a little bit.
Q. Who else do you envision at slot back. Obviously you have Roberts and Lane, but who else do you see there?
A. Frank Divis played a little bit on the varsity last season. Marco Nelson and Luke Penrose played for the JV. You have a couple of freshmen that could play there as well. We will just have to wait and see how it plays out.
Q. Is that an area of concern for you as far as depth?
A. Yeah, it?s a concern. We still have three weeks to sort that out. We may have a quarterback or two that might play there.
Q. Are you thinking about moving Lamar to slot back?
A. I don?t have anybody in particular in mind. We have four or five freshmen quarterbacks that are pretty good athletes.
Q. Are there any freshmen you want to talk about yet?
A. I don?t think so. I don?t think that there has been one that has stood out. We have two or three that might play some, but I don?t want to put any undo pressure on them.
Q. How about the receivers? Who behind Amir Jenkins and Lionel Wesley are some guys to keep an eye on?
A. Corey Dryden. He could have played last year but he had to sit out. Yokitis is another guy that might play some at receiver. He played on the JV team last year. We have a freshman that may play some there.
Q. How about the offensive line? You don?t have many guys up front that have played much. Who are some guys that are going to have to step up this year and play?
A. We have a bunch of guys that didn?t play last year who are going to have to step up and play. We have to sort that out in the next couple of weeks. Phillips is a guy who is going to play; Casey Hughes is another guy who hasn?t played much. McLaughlin is another guy. We don?t have anybody behind Roitsch at center that has played. We just have a lot of sorting out to do the next couple of weeks. We probably aren?t going to be too deep there. That?s not unusual at a lot of places. What you try to do is find you three tackles, three guards and two centers and play with that group. It?s a big luxury if you can be a solid two-deep anywhere, but especially on the offensive line.
Q. Who are the tackles behind Goodin and Wilson?
A. Right now it?s Casey Hughes and Tyson Stahl. Bennett is another one.
Q. Is that the area that you have to make the most decisions on before the first game?
A. Probably. There are some positions on defense where we have to make some decisions. We have a lot of guys over there that have played a little bit. You look at nose tackle. Schwind?s played a lot before he got hurt. Akingbemi played last year. Wendolowski is a sophomore that I think has a chance, Szurovy played really well on the JV team last year. There are a lot of positions that need to be sorted out.
Q. I know this is a bone of contention but can you address the fact that this team hasn?t won a home game the last three years?
A. I can address one year, that?s all I know about. I?m sure it?s frustrating for the guys; it?s frustrating for us. Last year we had a chance against Northwestern, but we didn?t finish it. We didn?t get it done. N.C. State was just better than us. We lost to Rice by seven. UConn beat us; we played very poorly in that game. We?re in the game against Duke and we let them throw a long touchdown pass with 20 seconds left in the half, which kind of sealed that one.
Q. Do you think that the renovations and the new look of the stadium will have a positive effect on the team?
A. I hope so. I think we have a positive outlook just because it?s a new season. Everybody is 0-0. The way you have a good year and a good program is you worry about one game at a time. You try to win one game then you try and win two and go from there.
