Aug. 12, 2010
In Attendance: Bill Wagner (Annapolis Capital), David Ausiello (gomidshipmen.com), Mark Foglesong (Comcast SportsNet)
Wagner: It looks the defense was giving the offense all it could handle. For a team where the offense wasn't a question mark and the defense was is that surprising to you?
Niumatalolo: No and obviously you weren't here for the morning practice.
Wagner: The offense was killing the defense in the morning?
Niumatalolo: No, it goes back and forth. You can't come to two periods (of practice) and make an assessment of what's going on.
Ausiello: Coach, prior to the last time that Navy played Maryland your predecessor said that on paper Maryland should win, they are bigger, faster and stronger.
Niumatalolo: Who are you talking about?
Ausiello: Your predecessor, Coach Johnson. Prior to the Maryland game he said, and I quote, "that Maryland is bigger, faster and stronger, they should win." Do you agree with that sentiment in 2010?
Niumatalolo: No comment.
Ausiello: So you don't have any sense whether or not that has changed on paper?
Niumatalolo: Nope, I have no comment on that.
Ausiello: Can you talk about Navy five years ago compared to now?
Niumatalolo: No, different year and different team.
Ausiello: So you don't see that Navy has made strides since then?
Niumatalolo: I don't look at that. I just look at the 2010 team.
Ausiello: Do you think that going into this game there's an expectation to win that wasn't there five years ago?
Niumatalolo: We expect to win all the time.
Ausiello: That hasn't changed at all?
Niumatalolo: No, I've been trying to win since high school. Everything I do I try to win and that goes for all of our players and coaches. We try and win at everything we do.
Ausiello: You have five kids right now on the roster from Maryland. Can you talk about recruiting in Maryland and the emphasis you have made in the state?
Niumatalolo: Coach Speed did a great job previously and Coach Sykes, who we just hired, has done a wonderful job so far in the state. We want to get in-state kids and we are going to continue to try and do that.
Foglesong: Are you guys just focusing on yourselves right now and taking it day-to-day and just trying to get better?
Niumatalolo: We are trying to get ourselves better. We can't control what Maryland is doing and how they are practicing; all we can control is ourselves. We are just worried about the 2010 Navy Football Team and trying to get ready. We are trying to get ready the best we can and hopefully it will be enough. We know they are a good team. I don't even look at their record from last year, that's over with. Maryland has a brand new team with a new quarterback and everybody starts 0-0. I expect a tough game. They are still an ACC team and everybody we play is going to be bigger than us so that hasn't changed.
Ausiello: So overconfidence isn't an issue
Niumatalolo: I don't think so. Hopefully our coaches can keep the team from thinking that way and hopefully our seniors can keep the other guys from thinking that way. We are forgetting about last year. Our focus is the here and now. I think we are doing OK with that, but it's always a challenge. Guys want to start thinking about they did this or did that, but we haven't done anything this year.
Ausiello: I guess what I was getting at is that people would say that other teams are bigger, stronger and faster and that used to be something where Navy was the underdog and you could say we aren't supposed to beat these guys, but now there is a mentality that, wait a minute, Navy is not an automatic W anymore.
Niumatalolo: You might be right, but that's not our thought process. We know the other teams are going to be bigger than us, but we are still going to come ready to play whether we are expected to win or not by the outside we always try to win and we expect to win.
Ausiello: It has only been a week of practice, but do you expect some shuffling of the depth chart?
Niumatalolo: We shuffle the depth chart every day. We know who three of our four secondary guys are going to be and obviously we know who our quarterback is going to be, but there are some positions we juggle every day. Slot back and linebacker changes all the time.
Ausiello: After the scrimmage on Saturday will you put a new depth chart out?
Niumatalolo: We are going to try and get a good look at a lot of young guys on Saturday. The depth chart will continue to change. We may not know who the slot backs are going to be until the week of the game, because they are so close and we have so many of them.
Foglesong: Is there an advantage in that?
Niumatalolo: I think the competition level is up there. Guys know that every day is important, every period is important. I definitely think that competition helps raises the level of play.
Ausiello: Earlier David Hong left the team and you had said you left the door open for his return, can you talk about how you handle when kids leave and if they are welcome back?
Niumatalolo: David left for personal reasons with his family. I tried hard to get him to stay, but his heart wasn't in it. I left the door open for him, but it's hard to do that. It's hard to come back after being away that long. Realistically he probably won't come back.
Ausiello: But if somebody leaves the team is it a case-by-case basis if they are welcomed back? I think I saw before that the team has voted if they wanted somebody back or not.
Niumatalolo: Players have voted or you might have done something that was detrimental to the team or you broke an Academy rule and we don't want you around. David's was a personal case, which I try to respect, and if he tried to come back that would be great but it would be hard.
Ausiello: Do you have the plebes out here now? What have you seen from them so far? Have they lost a lot of weight?
Niumatalolo: When they first came out they probably thought it was good that they weren't in plebe summer, but they quickly realized this isn't a cakewalk. They are working hard and we have young guys that we think can help us, but we will see.
