University Southern California Trojans
Hackett, Jones Preview Football Game
August 31, 1999 | Football
Aug. 31, 1999
LOS ANGELES - Following is a transcript from USC Coach Paul Hackett's weekly press luncheon with the Los Angeles media, and a teleconference conducted by Hawaii Coach June Jones.
USC COACH PAUL HACKETT PRESS CONFERENCE
It's a good day. Yesterday we moved to No. 5 in the country. They put graduation rates with football ability and we moved from 21st to fifth. So I'll refer to us as the No. 5 team in the country now instead of 21st.
(On the Arizona game) I don't think that's even close to what Arizona is. I've had the misfortune to play in Happy Valley before. If they get on a roll they just don't ease up and it snowballs. Arizona will bounce back and still be a very good team. It's just one game.
We came back from camp fairly healthy. We practiced on Sunday and almost no one missed it. Frank Strong was held out. Other than that, I'm very pleased. We start our normal procedure today. On Sunday we began preparing for Hawaii. We looked a little ragged after having them taking a couple days off. I would anticipate a better practice today.
(On Hawaii) They have a very good punter who's been there for four years. He won't be rattled or intimidated. They have good solid returners. Their field-goal situation is similar to ours. We're not sure who it will be either. We'll se at game time. You look at their offense, and you start with their offense because of June Jones' history. He is really a run-and-shoot guru. It's based on on four wide receivers and a quarterback who makes quick decisions. It's also a superb running formation. If we think they're going to throw the ball every down, well they're not. It's a tough thing to manage because we will be prepared for the passing game but they'll come with the running game. The offensive line is clearly the strength of the offense. They lost some wide receivers to graduation so we'll see some new people. I'm curious about someone from San Francisco City College that they're saying can be the next Randy Moss. Dan Robinson has won the job at quarterback. He's experienced and if you can throw for 300 yards against Michigan, you've had some success. The question, like we faced last year, is can the offense make the transition to a different style in a short period of time. That's the question Coach Jones has to face. We're not used to playing the run-and-shoot, although we come from a passing conference. It's a really interesting matchup: our inexperienced defense against their run-and-shoot. They have a premier defensive coordinator, Greg McMackin. We played against him in the NFL and he won a national championship at Miami. But we're not really sure. There's been some movement in the two deep. I suspect they will have some fast, but not heavy guys at linebacker. It's more of a mystery what they'll do defensively than offensively.
Like I've said all along, in the first half there will be a lot of strategy and you can't do until the game starts. That puts pressure on the staff. Those are the realities of the first game. I feel like our staff will be more comfortable, more poised than last year. It's been a long, long offseason. Now's the time to go for it.
(On a second-string tailback) Probably now Jabari Jackson and Malaefou MacKenzie are as healthy as Frank Strong and Sultan MacCullough. We'll go with Chad (Morton), but I can't tell you how it will develop right now. Malaefou was excellent on Sunday so he's back in there now. Chad tells me he can play the entire game. He's done a great job of preparing himself for the season.
(On improving the running game) I would like to think the whole game will be improved. We were poor offensively last year. A lot of that was because of learning new things with new coaches. Our coaches have done a great job in the offseason of analyzing 1998. That's the first step to getting better. It's a lot more competitive now on the offensive side. We feel like we'll be a better running team. Part of it depends on the quarterback, because if people respect the quarterback, it allows the running game to reap the benefits. Last year there were so many unknowns, but this year we have established players. We should be, and expect to be, a better running team. But we're inexperienced at wide receiver, so there's going to be some growing pains there. We know Windrell Hayes and R. Jay Soward are our prime guys.
(On Windrell Hayes) He's a young man that sat out a year after he left San Jose and went through some difficult issues. When he got to USC he was overweight and out of shape, and came into a deep receiving corps. He held his own and really and really developed through his year in the system. He then made this offseason his mission. As a senior, and his final year, it's time for him to come alive. He's been at the forefront of everything we've done. I see him as a premier, go-to, clutch guy. The team has confidence in him. He's ready to make critical plays. He may not be the fastest player, but he has the best hands. He's a tremendous complement to R. Jay, because he won't allow people load up on R. Jay like they did last year.
(On June Jones) Everyone knows June by his reputation. We've talked and visited at various events. We never coached together, so we don't have that relationship. But I've respected him from a distance, probably because we're both quarterback-oriented. There's a common ground there. I called him the first day he took the job and I was thrilled that he did the same thing that I did. It's a great move for Hawaii. He had an experience at Hawaii like I had at USC, and you only appreciate it after you leave it. You go into the NFL and it's a different world. And you sort out what's important. It appears to me that it's important to him to build something up.
(On newcomers contributing) There will be a large contribution from our receivers. That group has been everything that we thought it would be. They'll have to jump right in there. We'll see some other players. Markus Steele worked his way into the lineup quickly. We expect big things from him. He's a delightful guy. There are a couple of other spots. On the defensive line Omar Nazel and Bernard Riley could play. In the secondary, Darrell Rideaux, Kevin Arbet and DeShaun Hill will be involved. Troy Polamalu is another one. It depends on how the game unfolds. The offensive line will be the most difficult place for them to make a contribution. I'm excited about working them in. Last year we only had one or two guys who did that.
(On not taking Hawaii for granted) I really don't have to say much. Because of El Paso, they understand the magnitude of not preparing and the consequences. This is where something good can come out of El Paso. We will be very serious about this game.
(On using multiple alignments) We'll go out and run our offense, which is multiple more than last year. Our quarterback can handle more situations. You can't go too far, it's a sophomore quarterback and we have a lot of new people. You can't be too fancy. But we need to expand on what we did in 1998. The defense is going the other way. We'll start this season and we won't want to do too much. We'll just line up and play and let the defense feel comfortable. I want to get them to improve each week.
HAWAII COACH JUNE JONES TELECONFERENCE
(On returning to Hawaii) It's something I've thought about for 20-25 years, since I had first been here. Since I got into coaching, it was something I've wanted to do. It's a great place to live and raise a family. People are so supportive.
(On the reception he's received) It's awesome, but I knew it would be. People are very loyal here. People want to help the program. It's not where we need to be, and we shouldn't be playing USC in our first game, but there's a lot of excitement. There are a lot of games where we have a shot at winning. This is Hawaii's team, not just the university's team.
(On the offense) We're not very deep. We recruited players to fill the holes. But a lot of JC players haven't practiced and we can't rely on them the first game. Right now we're kind of thin. We haven't been able to practice the way we want for fear of injuries.
(On the run-and-shoot) It's a lot of the things we did in San Diego and Atlanta. We're trying to find a niche as to what we can do. A lot of times the talent has to dictate it, so we need to get all the pieces in place to be fully efficient.
(On Paul Hackett) Everyone speaks highly on Paul. He's a great football coach. There's no question he'll put SC back where they want to tbe. Right now I'd say they're underrated. He probably has them right where he wants them.
(On why he returned to college coaching) If it wasn't Hawaii, I probably wouldn't have come back. But I got married here, I had two kids here and it's like my second home. The college game is like the pro game from when I played. But free agency has changed the pro game. You have to be a psychologist more than a head coach. The exciting thing about college are the relationships and the impact you make. I like that more. That's why we get into coaching.
