Hugh Freeze Q&A recapping ODU, previewing UMass

Liberty is now 4-1 on the season following their win on Saturday at Old Dominion, 38-24. This week, the Flames head north to take on UMass for a 3:30 p.m. kick in a game that will be streamed on ESPN+. On Monday, Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze held his weekly press conference, here’s everything he had to say, including audio of his press conference:

“The truth of today with our team was that they found a way to grind and win another very difficult, pretty evenly matched game on the road against a team that I think is getting better and better, particularly offensively. They were always really good defensively. Man, just really proud of a lot of individual players, but obviously it is a team effort. I’m really pleased with that.”

“Special teams had a huge punt where we flipped the field, changed the field position. So did theirs. One of the biggest positives was the 99 yard drive that I thought JB was very excellent on in his decision making. Obviously we were able to run the football too with two backs going over 100 yards, those are positives.”

“Defensively, we had a lot of positives. Five three and outs, it’s hard for me to fathom how we can do that and then play like we did on some, but truthfully we’ve got to have a better plan as coaches for the third and fourth down long plays. We did not have a good plan. That was the glaring negative defensively.”

“I thought we got a little tired defensively. We didn’t run to the football late in the game like we typically have. Something that Dom and I spent a lot of time yesterday talking about what it should look like this week for us because we really had first five games being all night games, physical, tough long games. We’re kind of at that point where we’ve got to make sure we are doing what’s best for us physically, also.”

“Special teams was pretty solid other than the kickoff return. We’ve got to get consistent in the field goal unit. We’ve got a chance to put it totally away, a chance to put us up 17 with 2 minutes or so left and he’s been kicking it well night. His whole technique was totally different. I’ve got to help him be the same, but Nick kicked it well all night until that point, certainly. Offensively, a negative is we should have put it away ourselves and not depend on the kicker. I could have called some better plays there towards the end when we are trying to milk the click.”

“Again, excited we can sit here after five games with another difficult win. It’s not always pretty, but man they are finding a way. I think offensively, I told our guys this morning, ‘If we can just make our bad plays not disaster where it changes the field, changes possession, where it just means we punt. If we can just stop having our bad ones be a disaster, I think we would be so much better off.’ Hopefully we can make improvements in that this week.”

“Glad to put Old Dominion in the rear view mirror for 2022 with a win over there. Got to say to our bus drivers, I think they were heroes on this trip. I wrote them all a letter this morning. I hope they get it this week. That was a hard trip both ways, particularly in that wind and rain on Friday. The closer we got, there were wrecks everywhere and the buses are swaying. Our guys, I’m sure that was unsettling for them, because we are carrying valuable cargo. I don’t have many fears in life, I really don’t, maybe for my children. The one fear I’ve had for 30 years is these night bus trips. I can’t shake it. No matter when I was at Lambuth and we had those 10 hour NAIA bus rides or high school or even here. You get on that bus at 10:30, 11 o’clock at night and know you got a three and a half, four hour drive, and there’s so many people on the road that you can’t trust. So, I’m just thankful, thankful, I don’t know how I got on that tangent, but they were heroes on this trip. They took great care of us and did an awesome job.”

“Good to put Old Dominion behind us here with a win, and now we get to move on to another road game, another team that I think we would be favored in. I don’t know how all that works, but I tell our kids the truth. I think we should be favored. That means absolutely zero. It means nothing. You have to earn the right to win college football games. They all have players. I was hoping I would turn the tape on yesterday and feel great, but I don’t. I think Don Brown is one of the better defensive minded coaches in the history of the game. They are playing really good defense. They’ve struggled offensively to score points, I hope that continues. We’re going to have to play really well on that side, but defensively they are not giving up a whole lot. I see why when I put on the tape. They are very athletic and boy do they do a lot of stuff. We’ve got our work cut out for us as coaches as we go through today and tonight, trying to get a plan in place that makes sense against everything that they do. They are ranked in the top 50 in the country defensively and have had some really good transfers in to play. It’s got my full attention and hopefully our players will respond accordingly. I don’t think it’s going to be an easy task to walk up there and just walk out with a win, we’re going to have to earn it.”

WHAT’S THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE YOU HAVE SEEN IN THEM FROM LAST YEAR TO THIS YEAR?

“It is totally different. Don Brown is legendary, Michigan, Arizona, other places. He has brought in his system. His system is totally different than what they ran, it’s totally different. Then you add the transfers that they have from Power Five schools that make an immediate impact. He is so multiple. I don’t know what his plan will be, we will have to figure that out when we get in the game. It’s odd, it’s even, it’s an extra hat in the box all the time, it seems. He is going to force your hand to have to block a lot of different looks.”

HOW IS KAIDON DOING THIS MORNING AND HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR WHICH QB WILL START AGAINST UMASS?

“I said it in our postgame interview that Kaidon’s going to be a really good player. He’s young. I truthfully think after the first play when he realized, ‘Hey, I’m not 100% with my groin and I can’t outrun this guy like I normally do,’ I really think it played with his mind. He actually told me on the bus ride home, ‘After that play, I was so antsy to get rid of the ball because I didn’t think I could maneuver like normal.’ It showed. Some of his throws were like 30 yards overthrown, everything seemed rushed. I think that it’s just part of the learning process for him. We’ve got to somehow make his bad plays not disaster. We will have to see how this week goes with him health wise, obviously. He wants to play, but I want him to be ready to play. He had good treatment yesterday and felt better, but we will see how the week progresses. I have confidence in the others that we can win football games with them. JB was really solid in the second half. Nate has not had a full chance to really see what he would do yet, but I’m confident. We’ve got to play with who we have. If Kaidon is healthy, great. If he’s not, then next man up and let’s try to figure out what’s the best play for those guys.”

WOULD YOU CALL IT A QUARTERBACK BY COMMITTEE AND HOW DIFFICULT DOES THAT MAKE IT ON YOU?

“That’s been our season so far. It’s kind of been quarterback by committee. Now, Charlie Brewer is begging me to let him play yet. He doesn’t have his cast off yet. He’s going to the doctor this week and hopefully gets the pins out. I don’t know that it’s possible, but in his mind it is. He is itching to get back. To this point, it has been quarterback by committee. Some of it has been in the middle of games, several of them, have been in the middle of the games which is uncomfortable for a player. I’ve never really experienced a season at quarterback and calling plays, quite like this year so far, but it’s part of the growing process. I told our kids this morning, ‘Football is the game we play. Winning is the business.’ When you are growing up, me included, the game was what the scoreboard said and that was kind of what mattered. Certainly, not saying the scoreboard doesn’t matter, but I am saying what we become through the game matters more. I think as we continue to get older we are constantly evolving to be better hopefully and maybe being able to handle those moments with a little more grace and humility and wisdom than we did when we were younger. I failed to do that a little bit in the first half the other night. I usually am pretty composed. I was not at halftime. I was not composed at all and I wasn’t happy with myself for not being composed. I don’t know, I’m off on a tangent right now, but we have great team meetings on Monday mornings where I teach our kids. We had some good stuff this morning. I don’t know if I answered your questions or not.”

4 QUARTERBACKS AND 4 WINS, WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT HOW YOU HAVE BEEN ABLE TO IDENTIFY THOSE PLAYERS?

“I said back in fall camp I felt like we had four guys that could contribute to the football team. I think that has proven to be true. Give credit to Kent Austin also for being able to adjust from week to week and help coach them individually within the game plan that I really decide I like. It’s a group effort, but they have all proven to have great value for our team.”

WHAT DOES THAT SAY ABOUT THE CULTURE OF YOUR OVERALL PROGRAM TO NOT LET THAT RATTLE THEM EVEN WHEN CHANGES ARE MADE IN-GAME?

“We take great pride in trying to build a culture that is built on confidence and composure and grit. I think the best test of where your culture is at is number one the locker room and number two how do they respond on the field when things aren’t going particularly well. I would say that based on those two criteria, y’all don’t see the locker room like I do but you do see how we respond when we don’t particularly play well, we have disaster plays, or we’re playing sloppy. I think you have been eye-witnesses to five games where you would have to say if you base it on the composure and the components of grit and battle and fight that you would have to say our culture is pretty good.”

HOW DO YOU DIVIDE THE QB REPS IN PRACTICE?

“Let’s base it on the fact that we had three quarterbacks that got reps. Kaidon, we anticipated him being the starter, he got all four reps with the rack, the ones. Then, we would divide the other’s reps with the twos, which the twos get equal reps. We would divide those reps up among JB and Nate based on what we kind of thought the packages would be. That would be that case. If we’re down to two, obviously it is pretty easy. One gets four and the other gets four and they would get equal reps on the day.”

IS EVERYTHING GOING OK WITH CHARLIE?

“According to him, he is ready to play. He sees the doctor Wednesday. We will go from there.”

LOFTON’S CATCH BEING #1 ON SPORTSCENTER, DOES THAT HELP WITH EXPOSURE FOR THE PROGRAM?

“I don’t know that it does a whole lot for exposure. You are happy because we are on SportsCenter. You are happy for Jaivian, what a phenomenal play that it was. I don’t know that it means a whole lot moving forward. We challenge them all the time, when you get in one on one and our quarterback gives you a catchable ball you gotta compete to make that play or to at least make sure, if we trust you in a one on one, I hate, I despise overthrows in one on ones. I just despise them. We had way too many of those the other night. That’s why I said Kaidon was just in too big of a hurry. We had several the other night, even some of them I thought we were winning and the balls were just uncatchable. I like catchable footballs and depending on our receivers at worst case to make sure it is incomplete and to fight for it and win some battles. JB came in there and threw some catchable ones to CJ Yarbrough on the long drive and he was tight coverage. CJ won his one on ones, made his catch because it was a catchable ball. We’ve got a chance then.”

EDDIE OGLE WAS ON CRUTCHES, HOW DIFFICULT WAS THAT AFTER HE WAS PUT ON SCHOLARSHIP?

“What a sickening feeling you have, somebody that has worked so hard that he has gotten to the point where he is on all four special teams and doing a good job for us, gets a scholarship, and he’s ruptured his Achilles’. He’s going to have to have surgery. That’s a long rehab. We hate that for him, but like true Eddie, he handled that great.”

HOW FAR HAS AIDAN ALVES COME?

“I didn’t think he was any good when I got here. I said we gotta find us a durn punter, this guy can’t punt. Now, I trust him immensely. He’s punting really solid.”

BRAYDEN BECK ANY CLOSER TO GETTING BACK?

“We thought last week he would be. He went out and tried Tuesday and said he couldn’t. He’s got something going on with his lower back to his hip. We will see what he feels like tomorrow.”

IF BRAYDEN CAN’T GO, DO YOU HAVE ANYBODY BEHIND NICK BROWN THAT YOU FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH?

“I ask Tanner that all the time, but he believes Nick can be the best of the group. The other night, again, I thought he was really solid until the last kick, and again he’s young. He’s like Kaidon at quarterback and he’s a kicker. I don’t know if he’s been in enough of those situations to just take the same swing. It’s nothing different. You don’t have to speed up and hurry. Trust the protection, trust the snap, hold, and knock it through.”

CJ YARBROUGH, IS HE SETTLING IN MORE AFTER BEING AWAY FOR A YEAR?

“I think it’s taken him this long to get back in the swing of just playing the game. He sat out a long time, really doing nothing, other than working, which he’s a hard worker. This guy, he’s something, now he’s a different breed. He doesn’t mind working at all. I had one of my friends in Mississippi hire the guy to drive a truck down to Mississippi from here for him because in his mind he has his own trucking business. He doesn’t mind work. I didn’t even know he was doing it. He said, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve been hired by this guy down there. I’m going to take his furniture down there to him.’ I said who is the guy? I said oh my gosh, but he’s working at it. I love his leadership. He’s on our culture council. I think he’s just starting to get back into the real football shape and playing the game.”

WHAT DOES AUSTIN MOCK MEAN?

“We should (talk about him). We take for granted how consistent he is, just steady. Man, that’s valuable. We’re going to miss him when he leaves, for sure.”

WHAT DOES UMASS DO IN THE DEFENSIVE RUNNING GAME THAT CAN BE A PROBLEM?

“Well, it’s simple. They try to take the run game away from you. They are going to have an extra hat that you don’t have enough people to block them. It seems like he is one of the old school like some of my uncles were and my dad, where a lot of bad things can happen when you throw it. He wants you to have to throw the football to win the game.”

THEY HAVE HAD 10 TAKEAWAYS, HAVE 8 SACKS, IS IT ALL 3 PHASES OF THAT UNIT THAT HAS BEEN WORKING IN UNISON TO AT LEAST KEEP THEM COMPETITIVE?

“I think they are a really good defense. They are so multiple, so many different looks, so many different pressures. It’s not easy to prepare for on a short week. You’re going to make some mistakes. You’re going to identify it wrong and our guys are going to block the wrong people at some point, they are going to have an extra guy. It can make you look really bad, it can cause sacks and it can cause turnovers.”

HOW DID THE OFFENSIVE LINE GRADE OUT AT ODU?

“If you take away about four plays from them, really really good, but the four were awful. They weren’t just a sack. Like the one right before half. It was a total, absolute, total MA, whiff, whatever you want to call it. We had a shot on that wheel route. Demario is going to be on top. Worst case it’s incomplete and we miss the field goal. We turn a guy scott free and it caused an interception. That’s not Kaidon’s fault, he can’t see that guy coming. That’s the stuff I’m talking about. It’s not just a bad play, it’s disaster. That’s the way the four really were, other than those it was pretty dang solid. They picked up a lot of really good movements, creased them on a lot of really good runs. It was a solid effort, we just got to eliminate these really bad ones.”

DID YOU GUYS DO ANYTHING TO CHANGE UP PROTECTIONS ON THE OLINE?

“I don’t know. We just block our protections, but yeah we are constantly trying to change and get in better protections.”

IS IT BETTER TO BE 4-1 WHEN LEARNING FROM MISTAKES?

“You’ve got that right, there’s no doubt. The defensive staff wasn’t really happy with me nor was I real happy with some of our play in critical downs. In the locker room I said, ‘Listen, we will get it fixed tomorrow. I’m not real happy with what we did on these critical third and fourth downs, but it sure is a lot better to fix them when you won the game.’ There is no question, you are right. Our kids are finding a way to win some difficult battles and it is a lot easier, a lot more fun, any way, to try and correct things with a win.”