Everything From Geoff Collins Press Conference Before UCF Game
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Tuesday is when Georgia Tech head coach Geoff Collins spoke to the media before the team heads down to Orlando to face UCF in what will be the first road game of the season for the Yellow Jackets.
Georgia Tech is coming off of a 42-0 loss to Ole Miss and there are a lot of questions about the football program currently.
Here is everything that Collins had to say today to the media.
Opening Statement
"Obviously the things after the game that I said were accurate. We got outcoached and we got outplayed against a very good Ole Miss team and we got in Sunday, watched the film, made the corrections and have moved on to get ready to play a very good UCF team on the road. Obviously, I see a lot of you here and I appreciate you guys coming out and covering the guys, covering the program. Obviously disappointed in the way that we played and fully committed and invested every day to get it right. Very proud of the guys in the locker and the way that they handled the corrections and the things that we gotta get better on and the way they came out there and practiced today and we have a lot of work to do till Saturday but I appreciate you guys being here."
1. On what he sees from UCF...
"I mean they have speed all over the field. They are one of the top rushing offenses in all of college football and one of the top offenses in the country. They are playing at a high level on defense as well. Tempo will be a factor offensively and obviously, we did not handle that well Saturday vs Ole Miss very and UCF will see that on tape and we have to make the corrections and we have taken the necessary steps in preparation to handle those things better."
"They have a very good team and a very good roster and a very good coaching staff so it is a challenge and we have to be ready for it."
2. On handling the tempo and the heat in Florida...
"Just the awareness and the focus and the things and mechanisms that we have in place to get lined up with the calls and get our eyes to the sideline, hurry back to the line of scrimmage and get ready to play and just understanding that its coming and everybody be on the same page. We went through in detail with the guys on the plays that were explosive and hurt us, not having our feet set, not having our eyes on our keys, not playing with proper leverage, misfitting interior gaps, whatever the case might be."
"With the tempo, all of those issues get compounded and we can't allow that to happen and just the sense of urgency when we do have a situation where there is an explosive play, getting the call, getting lined up and ready to go."
3. On his message to the team with all of the noise around the program...
"The biggest thing is just the internal focus that we have been building and creating within the program, focus on those things. That is what I am trying to do every single day that I wake up and come in here and pour myself into this program, pour myself into these players and that will never change and we just asked the guys to do the same thing. Pour themselves into the process, pour themselves into the preparation, practicing at a high level, being great teammates, all of those things and I know it's hard. It is a little bit easier for me to block out the noise since I am not on social, I don't check my emails, I don't do any of those things so it is a little bit easier, but I am not an 18, 19, 20 or 22 year old young man who has social media and those things. The conversations that I have had intimately and privately with the guys, I will leave that between us. I am just really thankful for the guys that I am blessed to coach every single day. You guys that are out here every single day, you saw their response today and the way that they attacked, the way they prepared and we have to continue to do that in order to put a better product on the field and I am surrounded by a group of guys that is committed to doing that."
4. On if he still sees fight in the players in the game...
"Absolutely. Absolutely I do. The way they talk and the way they lead out there today, the way they speak and after the tough losses. The development of the program and getting to that point where the guys are exerting their leadership and the ability to do that and the want to do that. That is what we have been building towards and Zamari Walton in the defensive unit meeting this morning, Zamari Walton started it off by talking to the defense and saying... I will leave it in there, but it was very poignant, powerful, positive, messaging to the guys and the guys went out there and practiced that way and did it. Now the challenge is to continue to do it through Saturday. I was proud of the way the guys did it today."
5. On why Saturday turned out the way it did given all the changes in the staff and other things in the program...
"A bad series of events from the opening drive in their tempo and their opening script was really good and we went down and allowed them to score a touchdown. We get a stop and a punt and we have a failure in the process in the punt team and we gave up a blocked punt and from there, we could never get back on track and that is obviously disappointing and that part is completely on me as the head football coach, I take great responsibility for it. You guys that know me very well, nobody is more self critical, nobody wants us to be a really good football team more than I do. The amount of investment that I have put into every single one of these players, the amount of investment that I have put into every person in this program, how much I love this program, how much I love this place and you guys know how much I love the players in this program and in this locker room. It hurts and I am committed to fixing those things and when we do have adversity like we did on Saturday, we are able to respond much better than we did. We get a good challenge on Saturday as well to be able to play a really good team."
6. On how to balance changing what he thinks he needs to and sticking to the fundamental things that he believes in...
"That is the constant thing as a coach and being very introspective and going out and finding out the best ways to do things. So we are constantly on that battle, under that internal scrutiny to make sure that we are doing all of the things necessary to give our guys a chance to have success, to win football games, all of those things. That is the constant battle and that is every single year and every single week and the greater the adversity, the more challenging in overcoming those challenges become so we just have work to do."
7. On whether or not going running back by committee was a plan going into the game...
"A little bit. Just trying to get certain runs for certain guys but we have to do better on all phases with the run game, I thought the week prior, that was a focus, we were able to get it done. We were not able to get it going this past week on Saturday. Now again, I will give credit to Ole Miss, they have really good players, they have a really good scheme, it was difficult for us to move the ball and compounding that is the sacks that happened and that made it hard as well so a lot of work to do to get ready for Saturday."
8. On whether he understands that people felt that he has had long enough and can't do this...
"I understand all of that but there's.... I am going to try and say this the right way... I have tremendous amount of confidence based on demonstrated ability. Now, has that shown up while I have been here, no it has not. Do I have faith and belief in the process that we are going about to do it? Absolutely. Do I have faith and belief in the young men in that locker room that we have recruited and have developed to be able to take that next step? Absolutely."
9. On what he means by demonstrated ability....
"Just the confidence and knowing that we can do what we set out to do and keep working to get that done, I do have confidence in that, absolutely.
10. On if the miscommunication on the blocked punts was between the players and coaches or between two players...
"No. I will leave it there. What we do on our Sunday process, when we put the film on, offense watches that as an offensive unit and defense watches as a defensive unit and then we have a team meeting and watch every single special teams play in front of the entire team and it is to educate and correct and so we all see, here is the things that should have happened, here is the breakdown, here is how it should have been done and here is how we get it corrected, go through the educational process so that does not happen."
11. On the improvements that he has seen with him being more hands on with the defense and what needs to be improved...
"I thought we had a good plan and then it is frustrating when the plan does not work out as well as you worked to have it work out and that is on the coaches and that is on myself and we will continue to work to put our guys in the best position so they can have success. Were there moments of things that went well? Sure. Getting off the field on third down, creating turnovers, those kind of things we did not have happen and then the tempo compounded the issues off of some of the explosive plays."
12. On Jeff Sims...
"The thing that I want to express is confidence and belief in Jeff and obviously we all want to play better across the board at every single position and then around the quarterback position, playing better as well, so it is all of us. It falls on me as the head coach to get all of the surrounding pieces to play at a high level as well but we have another week to out and prepare to play at a high level and I am expecting and confident in Jeff to play at a high level and the people around him to do that as well."
13. On the pressure to show people where things are at before the next home game...
"The biggest piece is playing a consistent brand of football. We have played at a high level at times in spurts. The biggest piece is the consistency in keeping that football played at a high level the entire time and that is the challenge and that is the focus for me as the head coach and for the guys as well, is playing a consistent brand of really good football and it started today with the preparation of getting work done against each other, we did a lot of good on good work for the speed of the game because there are some similar looks on both sides and then the developmental reps are key as well."
14. On the offensive line...
"I know that there is nobody more committed and more passionate about this place than Brent Key and having the offensive line play at a very high level. Obviously when you give up a lot of sacks and don't have the rushing yards that we want and expect, that fuels to respond at a high level and I expect the offensive line to respond at a high level on Saturday. It is a challenging defensive unit that is defending the run and the pass very well but the focus and the intensity and the execution of that position, I expect to be really good on Saturday."
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