University Southern California Trojans
Quotes From Paul Hackett Press Conference
September 19, 2000 | Football
Sept. 19, 2000
SAN JOSE STATE HEAD COACH DAVE BALDWIN
Are you happy how your team has played through the first three games?
Right now I'm extremely happy with the attitude of this football team. We went into Nebraska - a very hostile environment - and I like how our team played in the second half. We didn't quit. Then we went up to Stanford and played a tremendous football game. This last week against Southern Utah, playing an option type football team, we were worried about a letdown because they're a I-AA team. But we didn't let down and we dominated the game. At this point, I like what I see. I like the camaraderie and attitude of this team.
What's your secret against Stanford?
You know, I've been at both places - an assistant at Stanford, then an assistant here - and I've been involved in 13 of those games. Our kids, because we're 22 miles down the road, have a different feeling about that game. Before the game I let the kids know the difference and importance of it, and we really played well. The last two years we were a little bit lucky, but this year we just played a better game and were a better team.
Deonce Whitaker...
He's a special player. He has tremendous character and leadership. He's 5-6, 180 pounds... I call him my pied piper because this team follows him not only at practice, but also during the games. He's really strong for a kid that size. He's close to 500 on the squat and 400 on the bench. He has great quickness to go with that and he just loves to compete. I think his vertically challenged size helps him because since our offensive line is pretty big he gets lost sometimes.
Passing Attack...
We're young at quarterback, but we know that he's progressing and we like the progression we've already seen. Marcus Arroyo's play action is a little more than we're used to... we'd like to spread it out and get it to our wide receivers more. We're really pleased with that group, especially Rashied Davis, a young man from Kennedy High School who did not play high school football. Edell Shepherd is another wideout from West Los Angeles Junior College whose play has been sporadic but he has tremendous speed and we're hoping to open it up. Casey LeBlanc is a very versatile player who can run reversals, so our wideouts have some speed but I don't know if we can match USC.
Is this a 'bend but don't break defense'?
When you look at our first two opponents... Nebraska is a tremendous football team and we knew that they were going to pound us, but I thought we got better in that second half. Then against Stanford we gave up a lot of yards but there were three major breakdowns and with those three, there were about 180 yards of total offense. If we can contain it a little better I think our defense will improve. We face a tremendous opponent this week, but our players are improving and starting to learn the system
Since you grew up in LA, is this a special game?
Yes it is. I grew up in L.A. - in the San Fernando Valley - and have always been a fan of USC. I had a signed photo of Mike Garrett and always wanted to be a tailback but found out that I was one of those slow guys and ended up playing at wide receiver. Then I went on to play at Cal State Northridge but I always considered USC to be the premier program. I have about 24-25 relative coming to the game.
On USC Football...
Tremendous football team. I think Paul Hackett really has them moving in the direction he wants to go in. Their defensive team speed is incredible... their two inside linebackers are the best pair of tandem inside linebackers that I have ever seen. We've watched film and one moment you'll think Zeke Moreno is the better one, then you watch Markus Steele and think he looks better. They are tremendous together. Ennis Davis and Ryan Nielsen are also playing extremely well. They have tremendous speed at the corners so it's a great defensive unit. I think that offensive unit is coming on very strong and starting to gel. Again, he's a quarterback that's very talented, they have speed at wideout and they probably have the fastest kid in the country at running back because he's very explosive. They have tuned-up to enter the Pac-10 and win a conference title. I believe they have the talent because they're unbelievably skilled at every position.
Does their team speed cause a lot of problems?
A lot of problems, especially containing their tailback. With his speed to the outside we have to make sure to turn him inside because if he gets to the sideline it will be like the Nebraska runningback did to us. We have to contain him and keep him inside. We also worry about their speed at wideout. Kareem Kelly can really run and the others also run really well. I think our biggest fear is at corners because they've locked up man-on-man on a lot of people and no one has run away from them. They have tremendous coverage and reaction speed - they're just great cover corners.
A little more about Deonce's personality and leadership...
Why I call him the pied piper is because when he was recruited, he walked into the office for the first time and really made me believe in him. I had doubts because of his size, but I started following him on that recruiting weekend. He has a character and a charisma that people follow. Ever since he stepped on our field that has been the case. People just follow him. As he goes, we go. We need to keep him healthy and able to play because last year after he went down, our season crumbled. We credit him playing this season to your team doctor (Dr. Robert Watkins) down there and the surgery he performed. We're looking forward to seeing him and thanking him.
USC HEAD COACH PAUL HACKETT
Summary
It's nice to be here again. I missed last week having to sit on the bye table. You have to watch all the games that are going on and you look at it and say to yourself 'that should be us out there playing'. We didn't get a chance to last week and that certainly was a disappointment. I feel that the momentum that we were able to build through the end of last year and into this year, has been somewhat minimized because we haven't had a chance to play. We had a good spirited practice on Sunday. We're certainly rested... we're certainly fresh. But can we get this energy going again? Can we get re-geared up, if you will, to play against a solid San Jose State football team? That's really going to be the question.
I'm impressed with San Jose State. I think Dave Baldwin has done an excellent job and I think he said it very well... No. 21 is really the spark for their football team. You can see that when you see him run against Nebraska, and you see him bounce off of everyone. He has great balance and excellent quickness. Stanford tried to tackle him and he posed a big problem. The program kind of goes the way he goes. The quarterback is probably the biggest difference for them. He has showed some poise. They've only had two sacks in three games. One receiver caught seven balls against Stanford. So you just can't zero-in on their offense, you've got to have a game plan that will slow them down, collectively.
This is about the development of our team early in our season. Yes we are fresh, yes we are fairly injury free (knock on wood), but where is the momentum? Can we gain the momentum? I thought we were ready to play against Colorado. Can we do that again? Can we be ready to play a team that wants to make a name for themselves. They beat Stanford and then Stanford goes out to beat Texas. It is going to be a good challenge for us. It's going to be an exciting afternoon. I just want us to continue to improve because there's a long season ahead of us.
The next week we'll face another runner who falls in the same mold as Whitaker. So this will be a very important gate for us in the next two weeks. How do we handle the pass-happy, spread-them-out offenses, because we've played against two, two-back offenses in the last two weeks. It's going to be different.
Is this a game to make a statement?
We'll the biggest thing we're interested in is getting a win. Statements are for you guys to make, what we need to do is go out and get a win. I think offensively we've made a step forward in the passing game. I would just like to see us put together our best effort to date on Saturday. It's a long season with a lot of games ahead of us and I'm interested in our improvement. It's about how the USC football team is coming together. We need to continue to develop and work together as a football team. We want to find a way to win.
After the layoff, how is Carson Palmer progressing?
I think when you spend a whole year on the sideline, it takes you at least a half a year to get back in the groove. He worked very hard the first bye week because he was very disappointed in his performance against Penn State. I think he responded with extra work, concentration and focus. I think he obviously played well against Colorado... to complete about 80 percent of your passes with a couple drops is rather extraordinary. That was him proving to himself that Penn State was a fluke and this is the Carson Palmer that we all believe he can be. It's still premature to say that Carson Palmer has arrived. He has to put together a number of games, a number of fourth-quarter wins, before you can say that. This is a year for him to show what he can do before we say he's ready to move to the next level. He has to do it one step at a time. He's had a great week this week and I'm delighted with the signs.
Has the flu bug run its course?
Well we have a couple guys that are still under the weather, but for the most part no one will miss practice. We appear to be out of the woods in that area.
After San Jose State, is there enough time to prepare for Oregon State?
Fortunately, both defensively and offensively, there are a lot of similarities between Oregon State and San Jose State. Rather than prepare for Oregon State, we spent the whole two weeks concentrating on San Jose State with the idea that most of what we do against them, we'll be able to use against Oregon State. When you have the spread-it-out type team that they are, with an extraordinary runner who is not going to be concerned with the crowds, we really have to be on the top of our game to contain them. It is a style of play that we're going to face a lot the rest of this year, and we have to be able to stop those wide-open offenses. We're becoming the balanced kind of team that I like to think we can become. We love running the ball but we have to present a balanced front to their defense. They are a skilled defense, not very big, but they play hard.
After starting against two big programs, is this game a bit of a letdown?
Well the thing that I've tried to say is that we're not far enough into this season, or accomplished enough, to allow the opponent to effect how we play. Maybe when you're Florida State, you can afford to say that this in an underdog. To us, this is just another opportunity to play and we can't start saying this and that. We have to prepare the same way - they just beat the conference champion. We have to approach this game the same as we did the first two. I think it's about us and our preparation. We have to talk a lot about our standards. The opponent is not the most important issue - it's how we play.
I thought that fans at the Colorado game came alive. And I've said this a thousand times - the fans don't understand how important they are to the coach and to the team. They make a huge difference... we hear everything that they're about. The pulse of the Coliseum effects how we play on the field. I hope that it will continue.
Does San Jose State present a different defensive challenge?
I think the big difference is that we've played two, two-back teams. This team doesn't even lineup in that formation. They're going to have one tight end, sometimes. The rest of the time, they're going to be spread out all over the place with very good athletes, and a quarterback who's not going to be intimidated. This team is strategically, totally different. One of our problems is how do we correctly prepare for that? That's not our nature so how do you go out to the practice field and simulate that? That speed and tempo that we're going see on Saturday is going to be the biggest thing. We're going to be spread out and we're going to have to tackle in space much better than we've done the last two games.
How will it effect the secondary that's a little banged up?
They do not play into the strength of our two linebackers. We're hoping that we're going to be fairly healthy, but there's no question that this will test a different area of the USC defense. We've been practicing against a two-back offense for two months now, and now all of a sudden it's going to be all spread out.
Does Deonce Whitaker's height present its own special problems?
He's not small, he's short. But so is Barry Sanders, and so is Chad Morton. The guy has remarkable balance. If you want to talk about toughness, you're talking about a guy that had neck surgery. He had fusion in the neck to come back and play football. We have the best doctors here, but we share him. Our doctor has had an impact on many, many athletes and this is one of them. I wasn't aware of the things Coach Baldwin said about (Whitaker's) personality, but this is an extraordinary young man... he's just short.
Is Sultan McCullough ready to break out?
I think that if a runner runs for the home run on every play, he does himself a real disservice. I think if a runner runs for four, five, six yards - then the breakouts come. You have to handle the toughness. You have to see the cracks and see the opening s and worry about getting through there with power before you can worry about the long runs. The option game also allows for a few more of those long runs. I think it's going to come. He's proven that he's tough and durable, and now it's just a matter of putting his best game together. Once again, this is a young sophomore who has started two games in his career and so he's still developing.
