Liberty head coach Jamey Chadwell met with the media on Tuesday as he recaps the game against Middle Tennessee as well as look ahead to the upcoming contest against UMass. Check out the full video and transcript from his press conference below.
“It was a great Saturday. Obviously, when you lost a couple in a row you want to do everything you can to get back into the win column. I thought our guys were hungry and played well, prepared well, and it was good to be in the locker room and get back to singing the victory song and seeing excitement and joy. Then, anytime that you can get bowl eligible, that’s obviously one of the goals that you have, a checkpoint that you have, and it’s awesome to do that six years in a row. You don’t want to be the team that breaks that streak. So that was awesome as well. And the thing that I’m excited about was, we’re playing, competing the way that we want to, but also there’s some room for improvement. If our players will seek to get better and see those areas that we need to improve, I think we can get better as a team.”
“There’s areas in that game, whether that was offense turning the ball over two times in the first half. I thought our defense played extremely well, but then came out in the second half and sort of maybe relaxed a little bit. So there’s things there that we can really improve on, if our team will embrace that and pursue that then we got a chance to continue to get better.”
Was that the most complete game that you have played as a team so far this year?
“Probably, which is sad because that was game eight. I thought we played the last two weeks, we played really better for four quarters. Obviously, Jax state didn’t end the way we wanted. As far as just the intensity you need to play with, the focus you need to play with, but I thought we improved from that week to last week, and if we can continue to do that and eliminate some of the things that are still hurting us, then we got a chance to hopefully finish strong.”
Was that the role you envisioned for Juju Gray before he got hurt?
“It was. Trying to mix and match. And obviously, once he got hurt there, I mean, he missed so many games, and then his first game back, he’s still trying to find his way. And so we really, this past week, limited the things that we’re going to ask him to do, and make sure he can be good at what he does. And as you can see, he’s got a lot of ability, and it’s a shame that he got hurt and was not able to continue improving and really find a role in the offense earlier. I think it would definitely help us, but it was good to have him out there.”
You talked about getting back to your identity on offense, what does that look like for this team?
“Well, I think just more trying to control the line of scrimmage and being able to use the run game to open up a lot of passing games and play actions and different things, and with all the different injuries and the different things that we’ve had, it’s been an up and down season, but I think, and I thought that our coaches did a really nice job of: who do we have available? How can we use them? How do we put them in a position to be successful? And they did a good job of that. Not that we have to run for 300 yards every week by any means, but being able to control it and use the time of possession to rest the defense. First half, the two turnovers, we score every drive, and then you come out in the third quarter, we had the three and out, but after that, I mean, with the exception of the last drive where we took a knee, we scored as well. I’m not saying we can do that every time, but just being able to move the ball and put ourselves in position to score touchdowns consistently is the goal. We’re getting closer to that.”
Stepping out of conference play, are you concerned about focus for your team this week?
“Well, I wasn’t till you mentioned it so but since you brought it up. But no, I mean, I think anytime you’re dealing with younger people, and you’ve laid out a vision that you want to achieve, anytime you maybe go out of conference game and you go on the road, and maybe you’re looking at the opponent, looking at the schedule, or looking at the record thinking, Oh, hey, we can do this, or that. We’ve been there, done that, right? We lost to a 1-7 team that we were supposed to beat by so many points. And so our guys will understand that, we gotta show up and play well to beat anybody truth be told. I think our leadership will do a good job of making sure that we want to improve from where we’re at and not go backwards. I think that’s been a big key for us. We’ve been slowing down and at least the last two weeks, we’ve been more consistent with the effort and the focus that we need to have. I do believe they’re hungry to continue to do that. It doesn’t mean we’re going to win the game but I do expect to go up there and play and play hard and play well. I think our opponent, obviously their records what it is but they’ve played an unbelievable schedule. If you look at it, played a really tough schedule, and been in a lot of games with some MAC schools that are similar, as far as ability wise to us, and had some chances. They’re playing a Northern Illinois team, who beat Notre Dame, and they’re right there in it on the last play of the game. So, I think they’ve improved tremendously, and our guys need to play well to go and get a victory.”
Ethan Crisp played three times as many snaps as h e had in any game prior, what did you see from him that made you feel like he was ready for that and is that what we should expect moving forward with him?
“Ethan’s part of a package, and so depending on how a team tries to attack us his package is either bigger or smaller. Most of the teams prior to this game tried to try to play us in a different personnel grouping and things. Middle used a different personnel grouping for a decent amount of time, and he was able to get a lot of plays, and he showed up. We think he’s got a chance to be a really good player here in the future. He’s gotten better and better each week. He understands his role, and he does a great job on special teams. When he had more opportunities, he really showed up. I mean, the the play to be able to pick the football up, most people thought that was an incompletion. He picked it up and ran it down there, a huge play. Anytime we needed some momentum, they might have had some momentum, he got a first down stop, a tackle for loss. I thought he played really well. He was back home, he’s from that area, but he’s gotten better each week. His confidence has improved, the confidence the coaches have and the trust in him. He shows up every day. Never complains. He loves to play. Loves to play and it’s exciting because he gets himself worked up, paints his face, looks like Mel Gibson on Braveheart. He’s got a great personality for the game of football, which you love.”
How do you think your team handled it’s first early kickoff?
“It was good to actually play early. I thought we started pretty well, and we stayed consistent for that. I think our guys, I don’t think, they are better, more excited when it is early, because that’s what we do all the time. I think that was good for us. We’re gonna have a few of those here the next couple two-three weeks, and so hopefully that continues to help us, because that’s in our wheelhouse, as far as our body clock and all the things that I won’t get into because I understand it that much, but it was good. I thought we came out, got off the bus and was ready to go.”
How would you assess the offensive line play?
“I think we’ve improved there. We’re playing some more people. Austin Anderson got to play a lot, he’s been out. He’s got four games he can play so we played him some. I think we understand the roles there now and how we’re trying to use people. This is, I think, the third week now that we’ve actually stayed healthy and not had some one banged up. So I think you’ve seen some improvement with those guys, some ownership and some better leadership up there as far as just holding themselves to a high standard. There’s some things we got to improve from there. We still have got to make sure that we don’t do things to hurt ourselves, if that makes sense, and hurt drives, whether that’s penalties or something like that. But I am pleased with how they’ve developed, especially with trying to find who are your guys and then also, guys have earned some playing time. What’s that rotation look like? Coach Durkin has done a nice job with that.”
Is Reese Smith close?
“No. I would say probably a couple, two or three more weeks.”
James Jointer got some more carries, is that a competition or just a different package?
“Billy’s been banged up and didn’t practice a lot. We took him. He was dressed. He was going to be an emergency in case something happened. But James has gotten better. He’s practiced, and we got trust in him. I think he ended up with 7 or 8 carries, which was good, and some key situations too there. He’s gotten better as far as each week, and doing what we need to do. Coach Isaac has some trust in him there. Billy’s a little banged up. James has done a good job. If we can hold Billy and give him another week to try to get healthy. And I thought James did a nice job for us.”
UMass QB is out for the year, what do the two quarterbacks that could play look like?
“They are two different They got a big, strong kid that has a big time arm, can really can throw it. Then, the other one can really run, very quick. It scares you, because they can send some guys deep, and then he can just get out of the pocket and make some things happen. The starter was a great player, that’s unfortunate he’s out for the season. But I think it gives us a challenge, our defense a challenge, because now you gotta prepare for two different types, right? One guy’s in, maybe expect something else. Other guys in, you know? You gotta maybe change some calls. Our defense this week’s gonna have to do a really good job of making sure they’re locked in and who’s in there and what the expectation is. Then, once we’re up there, being able to adjust, as far as this is what they’re trying to do to you, to adjust and follow our rules and the fundamentals that we played with. That, I think to me, is going to be the key for our defense. No matter who’s back there, we got to make sure we’re doing the things, fitting the gaps and all the things that we’re supposed to do no matter who you’re playing.”
How do you prepare your team for this trip and the atmosphere of what they are going to see?
“Well, the one thing about the place it’s always windy, and so we’ve talked to our guys about that, from the standpoint as far as kickers and doing some things that we make sure we know there’s usually a wind. We’ve had some close games up there, we’ve had some games that went our way. I always think it’s a challenge, because it’s going to be cooler, later in the season. Who’s gonna be hungry, right? Who’s got more to play for? I just think it’s a hard place to play. They got a lot of tradition, a lot of pride. Coach Durkin is a graduate of UMass, and so he talks about all the time how they used to lock the gates up there when you came in there. So there’s a lot of pride in that program. If we don’t go up with a mindset of finding a way to do everything we can to win, it’s gonna be a challenge for us. It can get loud. They’ll have a good crowd. I’m pretty sure it’s their senior day there, and so they’ll have a good crowd. We gotta make sure we handle our business.”
