April 5, 2000
ON THE PROSPECTS FOR 2000:
I expect us to challenge for the Mountain West Conference championship. I know from the outside looking in that may not seem reasonable in that we lost four starters in the offensive line, three starters in the defensive line, two starting linebackers and two defensive backs. But we have quality young players returning who have seen reserve action the past two seasons. I have confidence in their abilities plus I'm encouraged with the talent level of some of our younger players. We have size, speed and improved depth in most areas. The only thing we lack is experience. Well, last year we had experience and ended up with a 5-6 record. I can't wait to get into spring and see how things evolve.
ON LAST YEAR:
In 1998, it seemed like all the bounces and breaks went our way and we had a winning season and a bowl appearance. Last year, even with all the seniors back, we didn't get the breaks. In nine of our 11 games, we had a chance to win in the fourth quarter. However, whether it was a fumble, an interception, a missed assignment or a penalty, we ended up on the short end of the scoreboard too many times. The major area that must be improved upon is we have to minimize our turnovers. We committed 23 turnovers a year ago and all but four of them came in the passing game. In other words, we had 19 turnovers via interceptions, quarterback fumbles or receiver fumbles. Too often, those came in critical situations on our side of the field and resulted in points for the other team that determined the outcome.
ON DEFENSIVE OUTLOOK WITH KEN DELGADO AS COORDINATOR:
There could be modest adjustments as we evolve and build more elements into our defensive package. You also have to adapt what you can do to the strengths and weaknesses of your players. We'll basically have a similar philosophy with Ken Delgado as defensive coordinator as we did with Claude the past few seasons. Ken has been a part of our staff since we've been here so the transition will be easy. I do want to allow Ken, or any coordinator, the chance to build his own "personality" into the package but basically, we'll have a similar approach.
ON QUARTERBACK JACK HAWLEY:
There's no reason Jack can't be as good a quarterback as there is in the Mountain West Conference. If he can do a better job of protecting the ball and be more consistent in his decision-making, he has all the tools to maximize the potential in our offense. If you just look at his statistics alone, they were pretty good for a first-year, Division I-A starting quarterback. It's just that some of the errors he did make came in such critical spots and affected the game's outcome. A lot of that indecision has to do with inexperience.
ON RUNNING BACK LARRY NED:
Larry has a chance to be as good a back as there is on the West Coast. In two years, he's gained almost 2,000 yards and that's while splitting time at the position with Jonas Lewis. Now that Jonas has graduated, Larry will be the marquee back. He's very durable. He can run with power and he has enough speed to be a threat to break a long run.
SCHEDULE:
I believe we've got as good a schedule as the school's had. There are six bowl teams from a year ago that we go up against. I think it's a great schedule and our players are excited about the challenge.