Oct. 9, 2012

Butch Jones Press Conference 10/9/12

Press Conference Video

Opening statement:

“Good Afternoon, everyone’s wearing their red today so there must be an important game today.  You know I said it at the beginning of the week, a good program win.  I think anytime you can have a great rivalry game, we work so hard to play in front of a sellout stadium and obviously the results we liked.  I am very proud of our seniors to go undefeated, we always talk in our program about leaving your legacy, and that just helps them move one step closer to leaving their legacy.  We have to continue to strive and become a better football team.   I didn’t think we played Cincinnati football in the first half I wasn’t pleased with it, too many turnovers that’s not our style of play that’s not in our standards.  There were too many pre-snap penalties.   I thought defensively we started to get a little bit hesitant and I also think that is a by-product of Zac Dysert and some of the things that Miami did.  But I think we got better as the game went on; I thought our play improved, I thought our overall strain and effort improved, I thought our intensity level improved and so that was great to see.  I think as we continue to move forward we have to take great strides and it’s about our pride and performance.  It’s pride and performance; it’s the standard, it’s the expectations, but even more importantly it’s consistency level.  It’s consistency in our performance and having a team that buys into playing consistent each and every day, each and every practice, each and every game regardless of the circumstances and that’s what we are going to focus on this week.  I think our special teams have to take tremendous strides this week, our overall execution, the small details add up to the big things.  Munchie has to become much more consistent, I thought he played a very good second half, I was not pleased with the first half.  We are leaving way too many yards out there, we have to be able to play pitch and catch and it gets back to that word of consistency and having a team that’s committed to a consistent performance each and every week.”

On post game video, in particular Munchie:

“It’s all fundamentals, it’s over-striding, you know the first one on the third down to start the game his eyes aren’t on the snap he drops the snap and he kind of panics a little bit.  Then he over-strides and we have Kenbrell wide open on the dig route and those are the routine throws that we have to execute. It comes down to execution and we have challenged every single player in our program about the intensity level in which they are going to approach practice this week.  You know game day intensity, that is the only way you get better week in and week out is intensity every day.”

Working on mechanics with a quarterback midseason:

“We work that every day, last week Munchie didn’t practice until Wednesday.  We talk about the maturation of a football team and of a quarterback and you know it’s understanding the scrutiny.  Last week he was under much scrutiny, he was having all of the different interviews and he was being loved up around the country.  That’s part of the scrutiny and praise and blame that’s all the same and understanding how you manage those expectations.  It’s also by the way you work and then how do you make up for that lost day of practice? Tuesday is a big work day for us; it’s usually full pads, it’s very physical, it’s game-like conditions, and I think as we go through this maturation phase of understanding the day to day intensity that it takes to perform at a very high level.”

On watching the Big East play while still playing non-conference opponents:

“I think there is benefit to that, because the conference race is sorting itself out.  There are some teams that are gaining great momentum and there are other teams that are still trying to figure things out which they will.  It’s also great to know that right now we are 1-0 in the BIG EAST Conference, so to have that one game under our belt is big.  You know for us, I’ve said it, is especially with a young football team but it’s the case with any football team we have to continue to focus on the bulls eye we have to focus on the process and not the end result.  You know and that’s the big thing is the small details the microscope, the telescope, and I know everyone is excited for a baseball game but I will give you an analogy with small details: you take a .250 hitter as opposed to a .350 hitter there is a study that comes out that throughout the course of a baseball season to go from .250 to .350 that’s 1.7 hits extra per week, that’s just 1.7 per week and you see the difference between that.  That’s kind of the focus that we are talking about in the details and the small details lend themselves to the big details.  We have to start taking better care of the small details.  And it starts with everything in our football program; the way we go to class, the way we conduct ourselves, the way we approach the week, you know everything and that’s going to be like I said under a microscope this week.”

On Fordham:

“Great challenge in terms of third down defense.  They have taken great strides they know how to win they are 4-2.  Joe Moorhead has done a tremendous job with that football team, he understands the BIG EAST Conference being at UCONN, most of their staff comes from UCONN.  They have great experience, their defense coordinator has been at Clemson and USF and he is a guy I have admired throughout watching his defenses play.  They are an execution based system, you look at their third down defense, offensively they are comprised of a lot of seniors so they are coming here obviously with great confidence.  I think there is so much that we have learned already through four games this season the way we approach things the way we conduct our business and they are going to present some challenges but just like any opponent it’s about us.  You know it’s about this week and taking care of ourselves on a day to day basis and getting ready to play our A game, our best game this Saturday and we have to in order to improve.  We can’t go backwards this week, we have to be a better football team stepping off the football field at the end of the game Saturday then we were at the conclusion of the Miami game last Saturday night.”

On if he’s focusing on small details because of the opponent this week:

“No absolutely not, it goes back to being my job to really look at everything on a day to day basis of where we are at charting the course of this football team.  We have some great dynamic players who are playing exceptionally well; the Walter Stewarts, the Dan Giordanos, the George Winns of the world, it’s not those individuals that are going to make a difference between winning and losing it’s the next year players and getting them now to perform on more of a consistent basis.  I think it’s just where we are at and like I said it’s regardless of our circumstances or who our opponent is.  If we are playing Louisville, if we were playing Pittsburgh, or if we are playing Toledo it doesn’t matter the same message would be brought forward to our team this week.”

On where the defense is:

“Well I think we are still working to create some depth I’m not pleased where we are at right now, I’ve done a study through the first four games of how many repetitions each player has performed. And we need some players quite frankly to step up a little bit more.  We are going to challenge Brandon Mills this week, he needs to step up a little bit more and give us a little bit more that a senior needs to.  We need more depth at the linebacker position, from Solomon Tentman, from Clemente Casseus, Nick Temple, you know those individuals.  Same thing at the safety position but I think we are still searching for depth.  But I think our players understand the standard and expectation of how we are going to play great defense and I think we have done a good job for the most part of tackling in space.   I just think it’s the small details of playing to that standard on every single snap but I like what I’ve seen so far in the leadership and the expectations of which we are performing.”

On giving up passing yards:

“I think it’s a by-product of a number of things I think first and foremost it’s on your opponent, you know of what they do philosophically and you look at a lot of the teams that we have played in the past have been throw-oriented football teams.  Take for instance Miami, Miami is a throw first football team so I think it’s basically it’s based on the psychological and philosophical point of your opponent on what they are doing. I think also it may be where you are at in the game.  You know if you are way ahead are teams throwing the ball more against you at the end? So I don’t think you can just look at statistically of where you are at I think it’s the flavor of the week the flavor of the game.”

On looking at passing statistics:

“You know I look at more important statistics in terms of red zone efficiency, what are we doing points after turnovers those are the big things.  Our defense did a great job, I thought we were opportunistic last week but we had way too many mistakes as an offense in the red zone area.  We need to score touchdowns and the one that really sticks out to me is second goal on the one and we have to kick a field goal and we have a pre-snap penalty.  That’s overall discipline, that’s being locked into the situation, so when I talk about the small details in order for us to progress we have to take care of those.”

On what statistics he studies:

“Scoring defense is the big thing.  I look at that, I look at sacks per pass attempt. I think that’s the other thing, we have some really competitive individuals in the defensive line and I think at times we have become frustrated because we are not getting sacks.   Well there are others ways that you impact the quarterback; there’s tipped balls in the red zone, there’s hits on the quarterbacks, there’s changing his passing lane, it’s overthrows those are ways also and those are the things that I watch that maybe don’t show up in statistics but that I chart is how we impact the quarterback sacks per pass attempt. I look at yards with completion, not completion percentage because the naked eye looks at your completion percentage, but sometimes a throw away is a great play or how many dropped passes we have so those are the things, the more self-scout things, that we do that I pay much more attention to.”

On the Reds game tonight:

“I think is one of the greatest benefits of being in a great city and everyone excited about the Reds and I’ve had about eight invites but obviously we are preparing for Fordham so I will not be able to attend. I know there’s a game Thursday and that’s our night off but I’m hoping that they sleep. It’s exciting when we take a look at the success of the Bengals, look at the success of the Reds and look at the success that we as a football team are having; it’s extremely healthy for the city and all pre-entities come together as one and we are still under one umbrella of Cincinnati and it is great to see.“

On if it’s tempting to go to the Reds game

“No because I am focused on preparing our football team. This game is critical for us and we are putting all our effort and energy this week like we do every week but don’t think when we step off the football field today after practice I won’t be score board watching and taking a peek at the score.”

On UC’s seven-game win streak

“It’s the focusing in on the process and not the end result. I think our players understand what it takes to win but our big thing is our goal to win. Do we deserve to win by the work we put in on a day to day basis and the mentality that our players bring; it’s one thing to expect a win but it’s another to deserve to win. Last week was probably the most physical week of practice we had. Looking at Travis Kelce, he’s played the best football he has played and I used the example of John Hughes to the entire team yesterday and Travis Kelce wasn’t going to practice on Tuesday but he practiced and his performance in practice was a direct correlation to how he is playing in games and it’s great to see because we are really going to need him down the stretch.”

On TE Travis Kelce's performance:

“I would say getting his priorities in order and understanding the expectations that we are going to have in our football program not only the field but off the field. Also the work ethic that it takes and I saw a transformation start last year and it has really carried over into this season. I’m very proud of him but now his challenge is that maturation process. He has handled success and has come to be expected of it or it is a motivating factor for him to continue to get better and better as time progresses. As a tight end he is asked to do so much blocking and being that pass protection of the football and he is being a complete player. He has improved his blocking skills drastically and his tight end coach Dave Johnson who has coached a number of NFL tight ends; he’s been at the University of Georgia and has really helped aid in his development. Dave has a special temperament to be able to coach Travis and it comes down to details. One of his areas we challenge with him is ball security. In this past week he made some great catches and again that’s why I don’t look at stats. I thought he did a really good job at taking care of the football in high traffic areas on Saturday and we are going to continue to challenge him. My team is like my children; they all have different personalities and it’s that mental conditioning of how they perceive things, how they react to things and how they interpret things. I’ve been extremely pleased with Travis and we are going to continue to push him because I do thing the sky’s the limit for him.

On the kickoff team doing the Down the Drive chant:

“It was spontaneous and was in the heat of the moment. Our student section has been tremendous and is sold out again for this Saturday. We are just giving back to the student section and to say hey we are in it with you and that those are their peers.”

On his use of Walt Stewart as a quarterback spy:

“Absolutely; That’s the thing about the couple teams we played, we spread out the offense and their quarterbacks have been well coached and well school because all the sudden if we play coverage and being in a spread offense it starts with what we call numbers angles and grass; is it a three man side or four man side; is it a shade or one man technique and then do we want to go to the field or boundaries. We talk to our players about that all the time and when we are playing a spread offense sometimes you’re forced to widen the backers and play the team so they have the ability to run the quarterback so we’ve asked to stop the run and play some man coverage and spying the quarterback. So yes, and that’s been because of the skills in the quarterbacks that we have faced.”

On freshmen running backs:

“We continue to progress and you mentioned Tion Green but also Deionte Buckley have played and they are going to continue to get more reps. The running back position and the way we want to play football here is a position of physicality and we are going to need those individuals and to get them the game speed repetitions. Tion didn’t play as fast as we’d like him to. We want him to speed up his feet a little bit and work on ball security; I had the whole team chant to him yesterday because that ball was all over the place but we are going to continue to progress with him because we are going to need him down the long stretch. The big thing is the overall knowledge of past games and passes protections; that is usually where a running back is going to play distinctly with a run game. It’s the overall fundamentals of pass protection and this is where they are progressing in those areas."