OPENING STATEMENT:

“First off, I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, hope everyone gets a chance to enjoy the special holiday with their family. We had an experience of playing at Fenway Park, which was once in a lifetime for our kids and coaches. It was unique in terms of the coaching situation with both teams on the same sideline. The people from Fenway and the Red Sox, they just did a tremendous job. It’s one of those things where our kids came out ready to play with a lot of fire and had opportunities early in the game offensively to get some points and we came up short. Defensively we came out and played very, very well, but in the 2nd quarter, we just weren’t able to move the ball consistently as we had four three-and-outs. We gave up a couple big plays defensively which is something that has been our bugaboo all year long as we went down 14-3 at the half. Some big plays against us in the second half, a pick-6 and just couldn’t get that consistency going, but the kids fought and did everything they could to try to get themselves back in the game. This week with Cincinnati, we are going to be facing a very athletic and senior-laden team on offense. They have an aggressive and attacking defense, so all we are going to do is try to get better and improve this week and go out there to work to get a win.”

ANYTHING YOU WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK OR PERSONNEL YOU WANT TO GET A LOOK AT THAT’S DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOU’VE BEEN DOING ALL YEAR?:

“No. What we want to do is continue to get better. There may be a couple changes we might have due to injury. We won’t have Junior Joseph in the first half because of the targeting call that he had on him in the second half, but really the only changes we’ll have is if we do have some injuries. We are kind of a young team with the guys that we are playing and we just want to continue to get them to play better. I’m not just going to take a senior out, sit him down to put somebody else in there. To me, they have to earn the right to be in there and I wouldn’t do that to a senior that deserves to play to take a look at somebody that doesn’t play to find something out.”

HOW MUCH OF CULTURE CHANGE IS REASONABLE TO EXPECT TO SHOW IN THE FIRST SEASON?:

“It’s a process. There’s a lot that goes into that process. I’ll talk to everyone after the season is over about things, but the thing I appreciate is the kids working and doing the things we are asking them to do. I know we have gotten better from the beginning of the season to the end, it doesn’t show maybe in terms of the number of wins, but when you’re here every day, getting them to compete for sixty minutes and playing hard, there are things we need to get better at in terms of fundamentals and techniques, but when you see guys getting better, you see the effort and enthusiasm they bring to practice each and every day. Now we need to go get them bigger, faster, stronger and add to what we are doing. In terms of certain things, we’ve made a lot of strides and there are a lot of strides we still have to make and that’s going to be an ongoing process as we finish this game against Cincinnati, we head on the road recruiting and then we get through the holidays and they come back and we get into the offseason program.”

WINS MAY NOT SHOW WHERE STRIDES HAVE BEEN MADE, BUT BEING THANKSGIVING WEEK, WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR WITH THIS TEAM THAT SHOWS WHAT YOU CAN BUILD OFF OF?:

“I think a couple things. Number one, as you go through a change and a season, the one thing that I do think is the upperclassmen, they are staying together as a team. Sometimes when things don’t go well, it gets divided. Guys are really working, trying to get better. We know there are certain things we can’t do to help them during the season because that’s going to take the weight room. We aren’t a big enough, strong enough or fast enough team yet, those are things that are all ongoing. In terms of the stuff that you can control, how hard you play and the effort that you give, we are getting that. We are doing good things, but we are shooting ourselves in the foot. Those are the things we need to get better at in terms of our football instincts and football knowledge. Just understanding to do your job to the best of your ability each and every play. We’ve gotten better at that, but we aren’t near where I want us to be in that regard yet.”

MOVING FORWARD, WHAT KEEPS YOU ENERGIZED PERSONALLY AS A HEAD COACH AND MAKES YOU EXCITED?:

“I like the youth that we have in our program. We have some pretty good freshmen and some underclassmen that I’m excited to work with. What’s on the horizon in terms of what we are doing so far from a recruiting standpoint and the enthusiasm the kids have that want to come into this program. The other thing is and they got away from this here, I’m just being truthful, just being around the former players that I coached and recruited for all those years, them coming back and being around because they haven’t been involved in this program for basically six years since I left. Seeing the enthusiasm and pride they have for this program, it just drives me a little more each and every day to make sure we get that pride back that was here before for those guys. They are the ones that really set the example, built the foundation and the program to what it was. It’s sad that it’s kind of slipped in those six years, but now what I wan to do not only for the kids that are here, but I want to do everything I can for those kids that took this program from 1-AA, to 1-A, to the Fiesta Bowl, so they can get that pride back and feel good talking about UConn again. All those guys in the NFL, they keep me going as well, those guys coming back telling me, ‘it’s gonna happen Coach, it’s gonna happen,’ that reinforcement. It’s the players, that’s the driving force. It’s what you can do for those young men to help them go and achieve their goals. For me, I’m a has-been, but I can help these young men achieve their goals and as long as I have the energy and keep getting the support, then we are going to keep doing that because I know you can do certain things here and that’s what we are going to try to continue to accomplish.”

FENWAY PARK, HOW UNIQUE WAS IT AND WAS IT THAT MUCH DIFFERENT THAN A REGULAR GAME?:

“It was neat. We were the home team so we had their locker room, so my areas was the manager’s office. Pretty neat to sit in the skippers office with all the pictures of all the managers up there on the wall. You go down the steps and down to the dugout, all the signage they have on there, you walk out and I’ve been in that ballpark many, many times to watch a game, but never in the locker room, down in the dugout or coming through there to see those things, just the historic nature of that park and playing in there. The thing that’s different, when you’re both on the same sideline, it makes it interesting when the ball is down at the other end in terms of coaching and subsitutions and everything else. It was one of those bucket list things that you can cross off that you played a football game at Fenway Park. Couldn’t have been happier with the turnout we had with our fans was just unbelievable.”

MATT SCHONVISKY / SITE CREATOR