Morriss Comments From Monday Press Conference
3/17/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
March 17, 2003
On his knowledge of the team now:
I think we know them a little better, obviously from spending some time around them in the weight room and watching them condition and do some drills and that kind of stuff. But as far as who will step up and hit you or whatever, we don't know anything about that. I know who can throw the heck out of a tennis ball. I'm sick of looking at tennis balls.
On the team's depth chart:
Well, you've got to kind of line them up. We put a little bit of a depth chart based on last year, what we've seen in the weight room, what we've seen conditioning-wise and who's kind of shown a little athleticism. But everybody's going to have a chance to earn a starting job. We came in the first day and wiped the slate clean of any past transgressions. And we'll do the same thing as far as competing for a starting job. Every position is wide open right now going into spring.
On evaluating so much talent:
I don't know if so much talent is the right phrase or not. We've got to find out what we do have and what we don't have. We've got to find out what we've got so we can make a plan for what we need to go out and find. But yeah, just because you started last year doesn't mean you're going to start in the fall. Everybody's got to earn a job. And we're pretty much that way every year. I really believe in competing for a job. I believe it brings out the best in athletes. And it's something I went through in the NFL. There is no job security on the football field.
On configuring his system:
Well, I guess as a staff, our philosophy is that we're going to try to fit the kids into our style of play and into our schemes. And obviously if we just don't have enough talent to do certain things we like to do, then we'll make those adjustments and we'll adjust to our talent level.
On his system compared to the team's previous system:
Probably during the course of last year's season, they had quite a bit of offense in from a staff that had been in place for four or five years. We will be very limited in what we do this spring. We're going to teach nothing but the basic things. As we get comfortable that they're grasping what we want them to understand and execute, then we can start adding a little bit more. but we'll be very limited in the spring.
On getting started with practices:
We are excited. I know all the coaches were buzzing last night and today about getting out and getting started and finding out what we got. You can only do so much drill work and all that sort of stuff. And then you've got to put on the pads.
