Aug. 26, 2008

In Attendance: Bill Wagner (Annapolis Capital), Mike Fratto (Washington Times) and Camille Powell (Washington Post)

Wagner: I guess I will ask the inevitable question, where is Kaipo at health wise?

Niumatalolo: He actually did more than I thought he would be able to do today. He threw the ball some and I got a little nervous about him pushing off, but he actually looked good. Right now he probably wouldn’t be ready, but if he continues to make progress like he did over the weekend we will see. I was pleasantly surprised with him today.

Wagner: Was the plan today to not have him involved in contact drills no matter what?

Niumatalolo: Yes. We are just trying to work him back. If we didn’t feel confident in Jarod we would probably push the issue a little bit more. We just want to make sure he takes his time and is 100 percent healthy. He did do some things today that I was quite pleased with.

Powell: So do you push him a little more tomorrow?

Niumatalolo: We will have to see how his leg feels tomorrow. We will listen to what Doc Fair has to say. I probably pushed him more today than I was supposed too today, I kind of got a little overzealous, but we will see what Doc Fair says and how his leg feels tomorrow and we will play it by ear.

Wagner: Will he wear pads tomorrow?

Niumatalolo: That all depends on how he feels. Doc Fair comes to our staff meeting every morning and gives us a report on how guys are progressing. We will make the decision based on how he feels tomorrow.

Powell: Since it is early and you have the luxury of having Jarod do you wait until he’s completely 100 percent?

Niumatalolo: As soon as Doc Fair says he can go we are going to let him play.

Fratto: Do you hope that happens this weekend?

Niumatalolo: Yeah, but I’m always on the pessimistic side. If he comes back it will be a great Christmas gift, if he doesn’t we will move forward. We are preparing as if he’s not coming back and if he does come back it will be a plus.

Wagner: You mentioned during the luncheon today that they are different players, Jarod and Kaipo, and the game would be called differently depending on who the quarterback is. Can you elaborate on that?

Niumatalolo: Just from the standpoint that Kaipo is a great facilitator. He is not a between the box runner, but he can get the ball dealt and if you give him the ally he can take it to the house. Jarod is more of a between the box runner, he hits the little crevices inside and picks up seven or eight yards. Offensively we broke a ton of records last year and didn’t have a 1,000-yard rusher. That kind of tells you what kind of quarterback he is. He’s a great orchestrater of what we do.

Wagner: It was obvious that when Jarod was in the game last year there were a lot more mid-line option and quarterback draws. Is that what you are referring too?

Niumatalolo: Yeah, but we will still run the triple a ton. Jarod is a guy that if you slow play him and try to give him the angle he will take it. Kaipo will try to facilitate a little more, where Jarod will just hit the hole you give him.

Fratto: Can you throw with him more or less than with Kaipo?

Niumatalolo: I don’t know. We will call the game based on the way it is going. If you look at Kaipo’s numbers last year he threw the ball pretty decent. We will call plays based on what the defense is doing.

Powell: It seems like everyone is calm about the quarterback situation, is that a testament to Jarod and the confidence people have in him?

Niumatalolo: I think so. I think it is that and the fact we have a system. Kaipo is a great quarterback, but the team has seen what Jarod can do and they trust him. Football is a team sport so when one guy goes down the next guy has to step up.

Wagner: You mentioned at the press conference today something I wasn’t aware of and that is the alteration of the chop block rule. Chop block has never been legal, but can you expound on this rule and how it can affect Navy, because you do a lot of cut blocking.

Niumatalolo: Before if you simultaneously hit high and low it wasn’t a chop block and now it is. We’ve had to adjust a little bit and make sure we got our pads low.

Wagner: Do you think that is going to hurt you?

Niumatalolo: I don’t think so. There are different schemes we can do.

Wagner: Is that a rule aimed at a team like Navy that cuts a lot?

Niumatalolo: Probably. They are trying to protect players and I don’t have a problem with that.

Wagner: For years though opposing coaches have complained about Navy’s “chop” blocking when it wasn’t, it was cut blocking. It is amazing how many Division I coaches acted like nobody ever blocked below the legs. It happens all the time.

Niumatalolo: We aren’t going to worry about it. They try to redefine the rule every year, but we don’t worry about it.