Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell met with the media on Tuesday morning as he recapped the Flames win over Buffalo and looked ahead to this week’s game at FIU. You can also watch the press conference on our YouTube channel, the video is also below. We will plan on live streaming each of Coach Chadwell’s press conferences this season.
Here is everything Coach Chadwell had to say, beginning with his opening statement.
“Very thankful for the win. Anytime you get a win it’s hard, especially on the road. I’m pleased with being able to come out of a tough environment there against another conference, a quality opponent from the MAC conference, to get a win. A lot of good things we did, but if we look back there were a lot of things there we could definitely improve on. We’ve got to learn how to play four quarters consistently, that’s our big thing this week is just being consistent through four quarters. Anytime you win it’s a positive.”
KAIDON SALTER WITH 6 TOUCHDOWNS AND A LOT OF NOTORIETY, HOW DO YOU THINK HE IS HANDLING THE SUCCESS SO FAR?
“The first two weeks pretty well. This is the first week where he had astronomical numbers, got national attention. The key for him now will be that there’s a lot of things he knows he can do better, as well, and making sure you don’t read your press clippings. I don’t think he will, I’m not saying he’s that guy. Now that you get more attention like that, that’s when you really got to dig in deeper, continue to do that. The first three weeks, every week, he has gotten better and better with what we’re asking him to do and playing with a lot of confidence. The team around him is playing with a lot of confidence. Anytime you get your quarterback to play with a lot of confidence, it’s a good thing.”
HOW DID YOU GUYS CONNECT WITH HIM SO QUICKLY?
“Coach Korn, Coach Dixon have spent a lot of time pouring into just helping him become a complete quarterback, what that looks like, building trust with him, and letting him know that it’s ok to make mistakes. Don’t go out there and be fearful of making mistakes. As a player, if you know your coach has confidence in you, regardless of how you’re playing, then that sort of frees you up to let your ability go and play. They’ve done a really good job just pouring in and investing in him. Off the field, just the things, the intangible pieces that it means to be a quarterback. By doing that, he’s gained confidence in himself and his team has gained confidence in him and that’s helped him continue to play better.”
HOW DO YOU GUARD AGAINST COMPLACENCY AFTER A 3-0 START?
“Well, we talk a lot about that all the time. Our big thing is good or bad, you flush it and move on. Our focus is we have not played our best game. What we are trying to accomplish, is we are trying to be our best for four quarters and let the scoreboard take care of itself. We have obviously won some games but we have not played our best consistently. Our big push is let’s learn how to play our best, let’s learn how to practice our very best and see how good we can get. That’s been our talk. We know we have a great opponent this week and if we don’t play our best then they can beat us. They are playing well, they are playing with a lot of confidence, especially in a conference game and on the road.”
“For us, we have no reason to be complacent because we have not played our best game. Until we play our best game, I won’t worry about that.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE REASON IS BEHIND ALL OF THE PENALTIES?
“(A lack of discipline) is part of it. Offensively we had four. We had a 12 man on the field, we had an illegal snap, I can’t remember what the other two were right now off the top of my head, but those were foolish penalties, things we can correct. Defensively, the majority of those were pass interference calls. Those are judgement calls sometimes, you have to judge some of those a little bit here and there, but way too many. We’ve got to learn how to play the game the right way and adjust to how they are calling it. Ones you don’t get upset on are the ones where you are being aggressive, you get upset on the ones you can control. From an offensive standpoint, we had too many of those. That’s what we’ve got to fix and correct. We talk about that all the time. This was the worst game that we’ve had because of that. We will continue to emphasize it.”
HOW IS JORDAN WHITE ADJUSTING TO PLAYING AT CENTER?
“I think he’s done well. That guy handles the ball, him and the quarterback, handle it every snap. It’s hard to snap, set, and move and do all those things. He’s done a nice job through the first three weeks. He’s played some college football before but never at that position, and that’s a big deal. He has earned the trust of his teammates and done a nice job. Obviously Kaidon has a comfort level with him with is good as well.”
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THIS RECEIVER GROUP?
“They did a nice job. What you’re seeing is they’ve gotten healthier and are getting more practice opportunities. Our execution, the confidence level in each other has gotten better and better. We’re still making some mistakes as far as route running and some certain things. Last couple of weeks they have definitely stepped up. If we can continue to do it at that pace, I’m not saying we’re throwing for 350 every game or whatever it is, but if we continue to do it at that pace and play at a high level, that gives us great balance and makes us hard to defend.”
WITH VAUGHN’S INJURY, WHAT’S YOUR APPROACH AT RUNNING BACK?
“It’s a challenge because Vaughn was unique among our group right now because he’s somebody that can do some inside-outside stuff for us. We’ve obviously got James Jointer, who you saw come in and do some nice things, Victor Venn came in. Those guys, as they’ve grown through Fall camp to now, they’ve got to step up their play. Obviously you know about Cooley and Billy, but James and Victor need to really step up and take more ownership for what their role is as far as getting themselves ready to go and building that trust with coaches. They are going to play some more. It’s going to be by committee, but Vaughn is a big loss because he was the one that could sort of do both. It’s unfortunate for him but he will be out quite a while.”
DO YOU SEE AARON BEDGOOD STILL AS A SLOT GUY?
“That’s something that we’ve used him obviously in that position. We will continue to do that. Obviously, he is a receiver and you will try to mix and match where he’s at. There’s certain formations, certain play calls where we could use him in some of those motion calls because he does have ability. As you guys have seen he can get out there on the perimeter and make some things happen.”
DO YOU HAVE A PROGNOSIS FOR BLUE’S RETURN, IS IT SEASON ENDING?
“It will be very late, very late in the season.”
WHAT STICKS OUT TO YOU ABOUT FIU?
“Two; one, just their overall team speed. They can run in all three phases. They will be the most athletic team we have seen to this point. Secondly, they are playing with unbelievable confidence everywhere. You can tell they are playing for each other. With the athleticism they have and the confidence they are playing with, they are challenging. They’re not going to beat themselves. They are going to be where they are supposed to be. They are well coached in all three phases. Our biggest challenge to date.”
WHAT DO YOU THINK COACH MACINTYRE HAS BEEN ABLE TO DO TO TURN THINGS AROUND THERE?
“What I think he’s done is he’s an excellent coach and a great person. I think what he’s done is he’s established the culture that he wants to have with those guys playing for each other and you can see that. He’s letting them be themselves and play with confidence and personalities they have down there. I think what he’s done more than anything is he’s got the right people. In his two years there, the change they’ve made from last year to this year, just in the video and things, it’s the way they’re playing, the confidence. He’s got them believing. If you can believe, good things are going to happen. He’s done a good job. It will be a tough place for us to play. Anytime you go on the road and play it’s tough but especially in conference. I think we are homecoming down there, as well. We know we’ve got to go play our best to be able to come out with a win.”
IF YOU COULD GIVE YOURSELF AND YOUR STAFF A SELF EVALUATION, WHAT HAS GONE RIGHT AND WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO IMPROVE UPON?
“I think our players have done a really good job of playing for each other and buying in to what we’re trying to do. They get the credit for going out there and winning. They are doing a nice job of that. I’ve been pleased that we’re not beating ourselves for the most part. We’ve creating a lot of turnovers, we’re not turning the ball over. Except for last week we weren’t having a lot of penalties. I think we are playing some disciplined football. The biggest thing for us going forward is we have to learn as a group, as a team, how to prepare consistently throughout the week so we can play consistently throughout a game for four quarters. If you look at our season, we’ve won those three games. We’ve played a half of football consistently in all three phases, the rest of them have been up and down. The offense might be playing good, the defense might be down a little bit and vice-versa. That’s our big improvement. From where we started to where we are now, the players get all the credit for that with what they’ve been able to do and buy in with each other.”
HOW CLOSE IS KENDY TO BEING ABLE TO GET BACK ON THE FIELD?
“Close. We are hoping that you will see him this week, is the hope. If practice goes well for him, he will travel and be ready to play.”
WHAT ARE THE CHANCES CHAD SCOTT HAS A FUTURE AS A MATADOR?
“If you saw him with his shirt off, he’s got some work to do. I think he’s going to have to get on – is Jenny Craig still out there?”
YOUR CRITIQUE OF SPECIAL TEAMS, SPECIFICALLY NICK BROWN?
“Nick was huge. From a competition standpoint, he did a nice job throughout the week and got the job. He knocked the two field goals in which was big. You get out there and you stop and you’re not able to score but you get those points it makes you feel a little better. He made all the extra points. More importantly, he got the ball up in the air a little bit which was nice. That was great. He believed in himself, that was good confidence for coaches as well. Him going out there and knocking it through gave confidence to our offense and our defense.”
FIU QB JENKINS, WHAT TYPE OF CHALLENGES DOES HE PRESENT?
“I don’t know if he’s lost a game. From middle school, high school, all that, he comes from a winning program down there in Miami. As he’s taken over the job here, they are undefeated since he’s taken over the job here. He’s got confidence in what they do. He’s going to attack our secondary. He can make things happen with his feet, as well. He’s just playing with the utmost confidence in himself and belief in himself. When that happens, then you have to be, from a defensive standpoint, you have to be ready for anything. Rather something is covered or not, he believes he can get the ball in there. Which hopefully gives us opportunities, but you also have to be prepared for that. He’s really given them really a jolt of energy and you can see that by how they’re playing.”
