Aug. 28, 2007
Georgia Tech Football
Weekly Press Conference Quotes
August 28, 2007
Head Coach Chan Gailey
Are you ever truly ready/ready to get tested?
“As a coach, you are always wishing that you had a little more time to work on something. Whatever that is, I’m not sure that we’d even know, but you’d find something. Even if you had another day, you’d find something. That’s just part of coaching. At the same time, you can only talk about a game so much. You can only prepare so much. When the routine is one week, for the most part, your whole life, when you have two-plus weeks that you’re thinking about somebody it gets tiresome at some point. You’re just ready to play.”
Is there a different mindset of the team going against Notre Dame this year?
“Yes, I think so. But I think it has as much to do with our team and its seniors, guys that have been places and been in tough venues before, more than it does who we are playing and what they are doing.”
On this game this year feeling like you belong vs. last year’s being a measuring stick:
“I don’t think we looked at last year’s (game vs. Notre Dame) as a measuring stick. They had a lot of really good football players last year. Quinn may have even been on the cover of one of those magazines. This year, there just isn’t as much hype surrounding their personnel as there was last year. I think it has more to do with us than them.”
On it being about just two teams now:
“There are always some sidebars about who is playing quarterback for them, on how Taylor (Bennett) is going to play, and on what their defense is going to look like. All of those things are going to come into play, but it’s more about teams rather than individuals (now).”
How much did the Gator Bowl help Taylor headed into this year?
“It helped him tremendously. I think it helped everybody tremendously. The more experience you have, and the more positive experiences you have, it helps you.”
How did the defense prepare for Notre Dame’s offense?
“It looks like, from everything that we can tell, there are going to be two different types of offenses – not only different quarterbacks, but different types of offenses. When Jones is in there, you may end up with the option/quarterback run sprint-out game, whereas when the other two are in there you will end up with the traditional Charlie Weiss offense.”
On the fact that there are upperclassmen on the defense to deal with the multiple offenses of Notre Dame:
“Anytime you have guys on the field that have gotten that kind of experience and that have adapted on the field previously, you have the feeling that they can adapt during the course of this ballgame.”
Does it give you an upper hand that you feel good about the experience?
“Yes, and I think that our guys can make the adjustments that are necessary. The experience factor really plays a big part into that.”
On the relationship to playing in South Bend:
“I’ve been there one time. We played there when I was coaching at the Air Force Academy.”
Thoughts on the environment in South Bend:
“It holds a great deal of history, and it’s obviously a great place to play. But it’s a place that you have to go try to win. I don’t get chills when I walk into the stadium. You can’t let the situation get to you.”
Have you conveyed that to your team?
“No. I might say it one time, and I might not. Our guys have been in some pretty tough places to play in and have been successful, so I don’t think I have to go make a long speech about the four horsemen or anything.”
How does a 3-4 defense affect the game?
“It changes a lot of the thought process. It changes protection schemes, running game thoughts, secondary disguise, etc. You wouldn’t think it would have that big of a variable, but it does. Because of the spacing on the line, who can rush and who can drop, there are a lot of the positives that come out of the 3-4.”
Have the receivers been able to replace Calvin Johnson?
“Any team that was to lose a Calvin Johnson would worry about replacing that type of player. But if you don’t have confidence in your own players and what they bring to the table, then you are wrong as well. We have a great deal of confidence in our guys. They have shown in spring practice and in the preseason that we have the chance to be a very good receiving corps this year. I think it’s hard to put them any higher than that because of the lack of experience. If we start to add people and get experience, we might be able to take it to the next level.”
What does James Johnson bring?
“He is extremely quick. He’s got better speed than I think people give him credit for. He’s able to make the tough catch. I know that he dropped a couple late in the season (in 2006), but most every great receiver has dropped some at some point. He’s worked very hard in the spring and fall to become a good receiver and I’m anxious to see what he can do.”
Is it more guesswork than normal?
“A lot more than normal. Unless you have a totally new head coach, this is about as much guesswork as you can have going into a season.”
