Another ACC season is underway. Over the past few days coaches from around the ACC held their press conferences to discuss last weekend’s games and look forward to their next opponent.
In this edition of What we heard we bring you some of the highlights from the head coach press conferences from around the ACC.
Florida State
Q. It seems like a lot of heavily favored teams struggle the second week. Is there something about that second week?
COACH FISHER: You look forward to playing your first game. You’re emotional. You want to do things. So then it’s like, oh, okay, it’s here. Maybe this ain’t so bad, that release syndrome. Then you go back to the one-week routine. It’s the first time they’ve only had one week to get ready for a game. So preparation time, young players, who you’re playing in the third week.
I know people don’t want to hear it — and I don’t want to hear that. It doesn’t matter. I only want to worry about this week. That’s how people think. That’s what kids — that’s our society. That’s what human beings do. That’s what fans do. That’s what writers do.
You ask me, do you think this week will be tough with the big game coming up? Wait a minute, how is this not a big game? Every game is a big game. Well, that’s a big loss. A loss is a big loss. No loss is big until it happens. You know what I’m saying? My point is I think its human nature to have to defend against that, and it’s just — could be a lot of reasons. But there was a lot of them..
Q. What do you think of Friday night games?
COACH FISHER: I mean, it’s what we do. I’m not a huge fan. I’m not going to say I’m a fan of it. I’m a Saturday guy, period. I think for the kids’ benefit, the welfare of getting back, academic, the whole ball of wax and everything you do. I think Friday nights are for high school football. I think that’s one of our great things we have in this country. But at the same time, it is what it is. We’re looking forward to going up there and playing. I’m not going to sit here and say I’m a huge fan of it. I’m not.
Georgia Tech
Q. On how the team will respond to the leap in competition after the first two games:
COACH JOHNSON: It is going to be a step up. We have just have to go do our thing. It does not matter. It is as much about us as it is who we play. We have got to go and be dialed in. We were not as sharp to start this game [Tulane] as we were the first game. The first game on the road, the older guys who have played and who have been in that situation, we need them to step to the forefront and be leaders this week. And we need to have a great week at practice.
Q. On if there is something special about playing in South Bend:
COACH JOHNSON: They have got a lot of tradition, a lot of history, and they have had some really good teams. But, it is just like going to play anybody else. You have got to get ready to go play. We never made a big deal about going there to play. It is just like going to Clemson to play or going to somewhere else. You will be playing against good players. But, it ought to be fun, you ought to embrace it – a chance to compete.
NC State
Q. On where team currently is in line with expectation:
COACH DOEREN: We’ve gotten better from week one to week two, and that’s where we’re at. I can’t tell you until we keep going, other than we have gotten better. I don’t want to compare it last year’s team because it’s not last year’s team. We were better in week two than we were in week one, and the things we’re asking the guys to do you see them trying those things they’re very coachable. I’m impressed with our returning game from last year. Bra’Lon Cherry has really helped us and guys are straining to block him. We’ve got a lot of things we need to do before I can tell you where were at though.
Virginia
Q. I’m curious, games like Saturday, how do you get over them? How much do they hurt you? What is it going to take for this team and you to get over this hump and win one of these games?
COACH LONDON: When it happens, you hurt more for the players with all the hard work that goes into that preparation and the back and forth, the ebb and flow of the game. Obviously – you’re very proud of the effort. Leading that team at halftime, going down to the wire.
You just remind them that we’ve come a long way. There’s still yet a ways to go. I was very pleased with the improvement from game one to game two. We talked about that after the UCLA game. The biggest improvement was about us.
Moving forward, it’s about improving from this game we just played, regardless of the opponent. I believe this team, we have the mindset, we have the will, so many things that we have that need to manifest itself into playing out on the field, and then win games like that, close games out like that.
So to me it’s been the mindset, it’s been the will, it’s been the desire. We talked about the opportunity that slipped through our hands. At the same time now we can create opportunities and moments and belief that this team can play with the best teams that are out there. Now we have to do it on the field.
You got to get over it and you’ve got to move on to the next game. The great thing about a season, at the beginning of the season there’s always the next game.
Q. After games like Saturday’s, are you able to sleep? Given everything that goes into coaching, how do you sleep during the week? How do you keep coming in here with such a positive outlook? If there’s a prescription involved, can we get the name of your doctor?
COACH LONDON: It’s tough. It’s tough when you lose games like that right on the cusp of something great happening for these young men and the amount of time they put into it. I love these guys. When they hurt, I hurt.
Part of life and part of coaching is the fact that you never can define who you are at this particular moment, particularly when you’re on the opposite end of the ledger. You always have to keep coming back. You always have to stand up and face the fact that life goes on, the next opportunity’s going to present itself. There’s a never quit, never die attitude.
You guys know me. Faith, family, football, that’s who I am. You can wallow in self-pity of what might have happened, what could have happened, or you can say, that’s happening, now how do you embrace the next challenge? For us the next challenge is the next game. The next game, regardless of the opponent, I have a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Laycock, I coached for him – I think he’s a great man. He gave me my opportunity to be a full-time college football coach. Actually Lou Anderson hired me at Virginia Sate for about a cup of coffee, then Coach Laycock hired me.
Again, adversity strikes at all times anyplace. You guys know the personal stories, the life stories and stuff like that. But there’s got to be a model hopefully to the players of resiliency. I believe I’m a resilient guy. I understand the importance of this season and what’s going on. If I don’t model that to these guys, I don’t know who will. We embrace the next challenge. The next challenge is William & Mary. Out there in life there’s so many challenges that people crumble on. This is a game. I love this game. I talk to the players about the way the game is played, the ebbs and flows of it. That’s life that’s outside there. Things happen in life – we lose people – we gain people.
This is something we do because we love it and there’s a passion for it. But we all have to understand to keep things in perspective. So for us, game over, next game, William & Mary, chance to win a football game. That’s what we’re focused on.
Virginia Tech
Q. On this week’s contest at Purdue:
COACH BEAMER: Another Big Ten school. I think the coach is a proven winner, Coach (Darrell) Hazell. I think you see good things happening in this program, progress. They play hard. They have good players, getting better all the time. It’s one of those that’s going to be a real test for us. Going on the road is always a big deal. I think when you have a lot of young guys that haven’t been on the road, it gets bigger. Going into a new stadium, new surroundings, how do you treat that? Our big deal is you play the same way. I don’t care what stadium, what day, how many people in the stands. I’m not sure this football team is ready for that. I’ll know more after Saturday. It’s another big week, another week to see where we are with this football team.