Emassion at Big Red Breakfast

[Red November]

Big Red Breakfast 10/29/04

 

So today the coach was Phil Emassion, the secondary coach. Phil has about 30 years of coaching experience. His list of schools is long and includes Purdue, West Virginia, Boston College and Virginia Tech. Phil started out by noting that if we don’t start playing better they’ll probably add another school to his list of former schools. Phil opened his discussion talking about Nebraska, and had these comments to make.

 

NU is an extremely special place. It has a mystique, the best way to describe it is special. The people, the enthusiasm, the passion. NU fans are passionate and knowledgeable about the game. In fact I think we will take any helpful suggestions right now. J Especially during these times of adversity you find out about the support. I’ve been to universities where the support crowds wean when you’re not winning. When we recruit we tell them this is a special place, we encourage them to come and bring their parents to the campus. TO told us that we really need to do that. After 30 years of doing this, I can say that I’ve never been to a place like NU. We will get the ship righted I guarantee it. There are few opportunities you get where you can carry 2 losses and still carry the glimmer of a CCG. The kids really had a great week of practice. They have been absolutely amazing. We’re getting to know each other pretty good, because of all the adversity. These are the times you find out who you are, what you want, what your goals are. You have to stick with the plan and the players have been great. Sometimes as a defensive coach you don’t like the interceptions, but I really admire Joe Daily. He’s done a fantastic job, thank God we’ve got him. He’s an outstanding young man, he’ll have his day. You can see signs of it. There are times he goes out there and executes and gets the job done. It’s a tough business (coaching), what keeps us coaches going is the players. Kids like Joe make you proud. They’re going to fight and bring you back.

 

As a coach I hate to lose. Even in Lubbock we were in the game by ten points. But now everybody is giving us their best game. Lou Holtz asked the Question once, “If you play at your worst and they play at their best, can you still win the game?”. The answer is not any more. In the old days, Ohio State would prepare for Michigan all year. It was a 2 team conference to them and that’s who they would prepare for. You can’t do that any more. There are so many good teams in this conference now.

 

We want these kids to go out with a championship. We won’t give up on them. This game with Missouri is huge. We’re sitting here with a chance to go to the CCG even with a 2 game loss. We’ve got things we need to work at and get right. I can assure you, the players have been absolutely fabulous. They have been great for recruiting. When you lose in college football there isn’t a lot of good that occurs. But these young men, they have been great, they’ve been fantastic. I know this, you will see a real NU football team this Saturday. As a defensive coach I usually say I am the guy responsible for the other team’s touchdowns. Last year Josh was in the right place to make interceptions, but this year they haven’t thrown them his way as much and a lot of that has to do with the type of zone defense they used last year. Daniel has been in the right place more this year. He has also dropped a few balls that hit him in the hands, but I’ve never been around a pair of kids that play like these guys. These kids (entire team) can’t wait to hit the practice field, and as coaches that’s the greatest compliment. In this business you don’t get many 2nd chances, but we do right now. In the recruiting process we tell kids if you come here you will get the chance to play for a NC. We will be competing at that level.

 

Coach opened up the floor for questions and these are almost all of them.

 

How are the injuries going to impact the team this week?

We are fairly healthy. Josh last week was a game time decision. He had a slight dislocation of the shoulder; he took a helmet to the shoulder. He warmed up and then he said “Coach I can do this”. I knew better, and if I had to do it again I would have held him out. He wasn’t 100%. But he had his best week of practice this week, he’s ready!

 

How’s Fabian doing?

Baylor was a real wake up call for him. He had opportunities to make big plays, and he had 2 or 3 opportunities to finish the job with interceptions and he didn’t get it done. He knows what he has to do. In the first 3 games he was in great position, but the last 3 have not been the same. I feel like I’ve coached 2 different teams this year. If you look at the defense, in 14 turnovers we had 11 stops, that’s a record. I’ve never been around a team that responded that well, never, never. We were batting about 80% and stopping them, and that’s not happening now and that has to be righted. After a while it does catch up to you, (all the turnovers wearing on the defense) but we’ll get it back.

 

How does Missouri suspension change our game plan?

It doesn’t change us. If the QB changed, that would really help us. J There is a slight drop off with the new kid, but he is a good back too. When that QB is in the shotgun, he is a running back. When he’s under center, it’s a passing offense. Our job is to make sure he’s contained. They would like to run the ball 50 times, but we need to keep them to 25.

 

The pass rush isn’t helping the defensive backs

When it’s a 3, 4 or 5 man rush the coverage has to be good and the rush has to be good. They work hand in hand. Against Purdue one time they threw the ball 80 times with Drew Brees. Our defense had no sacks, but we won the game. Now we do have to force those QBs to move and we’re not getting that done. Remember it’s a player’s game, and when it becomes a coach’s game it’s not a good thing. This week we will not use any nickel on 3rd down because it’s not worth it. He’ll keep the ball and run it, it doesn’t matter if its 3rd and 5, he can keep it and run. When you have a QB that is essentially a running back, you have to come up and make sure he’s accountable.

 

The defense is less effective after 3 or 4 games, why?

It’s one of those things where if we had all those answers none of us would need an agent. We are working our tails off to fix that. It is really baffling, but remember, with all the music in the world there are only 7 notes. It comes down to one guy knocking the crap out of the other guy. It’s like the English language, there are only 26 letters in the alphabet but look at all the words we have in the dictionary. It’s like I said, it’s almost like we’ve coached at 2 different schools this year. Our kids haven’t quit, I don’t know if we started right away at TT however. The game that has really baffled me as a coach was the 3rd quarter of the Baylor game. We have a chance to play well if we play on all cylinders. We’ve been lethargic in the 3rd quarter and we need to get that fixed. The thing about KSU, and it’s well documented, is that their players don’t like their coach. He’s a great football coach, but he’s a grinder. I wish our players would hate us sometimes… J They were 0-3 and they were ready for a mutiny. They come out against us and now their playing at their best and we’re not. That’s the picture, not a statement. We’re not playing at our best. But if we win this game, the championship has to come through Lincoln, there is no way around it. There are no guarantees, but you will be proud of this team this week.

 

A question about recruiting (I couldn’t hear the person asking the question)

The best thing to do at NU is to bring the players here for a game. You can talk about the tunnel walk etc, but you have to bring them here. A recruit getting his name chanted in the stadium? I’ve never and I mean never heard that before. My wife couldn’t believe it. You just can’t duplicate that type of atmosphere. Years ago I could have been recruiting a kid for 2 years and then NU would walk in and bang, the kid was gone. That doesn’t happen any more. Those days are over. We’re not taking time away from our football game either. Our goal is 15 recruits by December and we’re right on track. Because our kids have been working with the recruits and have been so positive we’re having great recruiting success.

 

Jeff Suiter (spelling?), are you looking at him?

We’re not allowed by the NCAA to comment on that. I will say, we will get the best players. Grixby last year, he was going to Notre Dame. When Callahan got this job, the next day BC went to his school and got him to come to NU. He’s a special kid, he’s a great player. We need to get him on the field more.

 

Talk about tackling

It’s been real poor. We’re seeing what you’re seeing. It’s technique, you’ve got to keep your head up when you’re making a tackle. We’ve had some guys with their bodies not in the right position. You’re not out there all by yourself, if you miss the tackle you want to make sure he has to go back to the inside where your pursuit is coming from. We are addressing this. Josh didn’t tackle well last week, but that’s because he was playing hurt. I can answer any questions, but statements are hard to answer. I don’t have to be back until noon so we can take more questions if you have questions. J

 

How many kids in the secondary are we recruiting?

I’m going after 4 or 5. Fabian started as a freshman, but then there were some dry years recruiting. We need to have some big time corners. If they don’t make it there we can move them to safety. J We’re working hard to sign a 6’ 1” or 2” corner, we’re going to sign big time players.

 

What about using Courtney for punt returns?

We’ve thought about it. The young man we have now, he’s able to catch the ball. We love Courtney, if Josh had worked at it he would have been great, but you really have to want to do it.

 

What about Donald DeFrand?

He’s been hurt in the fall and the spring. He’s got a hip problem and a back injury. I’m not a trainer so I’m not too good on the exact problem. For the first time now he’s healthy. I like this kid, he’s tough but he’s spending more time with the trainers than the coaches. He’s finally healthy now and we want him to make a contribution.

 

What about Titus Brothers?

Courtney is a much better player so that’s why he’s playing.

 

Are we looking for larger or faster players?

All of the above. With BC’s experience, and Dennis Wagner, they will get the right guys for the position. When we lost Ritchie, God bless that young man, but when he left, our chemistry on the offensive line got better. You really have to give credit to those guys. The great lineman are big, long arm guys. In the offensive line, big is good. When you walk down the hall at the university and look at the pictures of the championship lineman and all the wins, and when you look at those kids, they were so much bigger. Our kids are doing a great job, but they’re not those big kids of the past.

 

What happened to the defense statistically?

I told my wife when I took this job, we’re in a no win situation. Pelini did a lot of man coverage. When you’re playing zone, you’re interception opportunities go way up. We wanted to play mixing it up. I think structurally, the transition is such that they are not suited to do what we’re trying to get them to do. I told Josh my job is not to get him 11 interceptions; it’s to make him better. I’ve always asked the players, “Are you improving?”. Some kids won’t say anything; you know they’re not improving. But these kids can look me in the eye and tell me they are improving. Those first 3 games they were incredible. We’ve had the opportunity to win these games; they were down to only 3 points at one time.

 

How is our conditioning?

Our conditioning is fantastic. We are physically fine, but mentally we are not. Kennedy is outstanding, if there was one area that really needed improvement, that was it. We’re as good of a conditioned team as they’ve been in the last 3 years, and that’s a fact.

 

Where is Michael Keenan?

He’s had some off field situations. We’re working hard to get him back. It wouldn’t be fair to him to comment on that right now. It’s not drug or academic related, he just needs some time.

 

Phil went a little longer than the coaches have so far this year so we didn’t have time to watch the entire KSU film. Before he was grabbed up and whisked out to get interviewed with Jim Rose, he made a few comments while watching the film.

 

Cory, he’s a very explosive player.

 

When we can run the ball, it really takes pressure off Joe.

 

Brandon, he’s a very powerful young man, he has an excellent future here. For a freshman he’s got excellent leg strength.

 

Terrence Nunn, that young man is something else, another great freshman.

 

We were in that game, and we’re not playing as well as we can. We have to get that worked out.

 

In order to win this in league, you’ve got to be able to run the ball.

 

Our offensive line, we’re really proud of them, they’ve done a fantastic job. They’re playing with intensity.

 

Special teams, Busch has done an excellent job of working with our special teams and adjusting.

 

This punt (the snap that deflected off the up back), this is something we practice. I wish I could tell you we planned that; but here we are, suddenly we’re back in the game.

 

If we go into a game and we know they are going to throw the ball all day, we’ll play cover 2 all day. But this is not a good coverage if they run the ball.

 

A great QB can keep the play alive even when it’s busted. A lot of QBs would eat the ball, but you have to hand it to Joe, he keeps the play alive. You have to give that young man credit.

 

Anything below 21 yards is on the corner, after that it’s on the safety, that’s our rule.

 

Phil also talked a little about the roughing the passer calls last week and he seemed to disagree with them. He made the comment that things like these are what makes him glad he won’t be in this business much longer. I wasn’t really sure how to take that comment, but he did say that 5 years ago those would not have been roughing the passer calls. Phil also commented that he thought that after the KSU vs. OU game the week before that Snyder was probably on the phone complaining about how OU was killing his quarterback. Phil also joked that if he was that quarterback and his coach left him out there in the open like that all day he would have sued him! I also didn’t know that it is well known that the players don’t like Snyder. I found that interesting.