Walt Harris Talks About the Insight.com Bowl
12/22/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Walt Harris Talks About the Insight.com Bowl
12/22/2000
PITTSBURGH - Walt Harris Press Conference Dec. 20, 2000 Insight.com Bowl
I can't tell you how excited I am to be at this press conference. This is one I think a lot of people didn't expect us to have probably four years ago. We're thrilled that this football team has earned its right to participate in a bowl game.
We know we have a tough challenge in Iowa State. They're very similar to us in a lot of ways, they fought the hard fight, they've fought a little longer than we have. Their administration's home with their coach and their football team. They have 25 seniors and they play like they're very focused, very motivated and they will be a tremendous challenge for our football team. But we're looking forward to having to worry about suntan lotion.
On the postseason workouts: We've had, really, our last three practices, very spirited practices. Maybe it's because we're ready to play somebody else already, and that's the hard part, we've got a lot of practices left to go and they've got to be awfully good. I don't think this is "coach speak," I think this is "coach worry." The coaches are always worried. Are we going to have enough days to get right and timed up for this kind of game? We've had good practices the last couple of days, and I respect our football players that way. And I really respect our seniors because they set the pace in the locker room and on the practice field. I respect all of them because we have a lot of guys that play for us and at this place they play young. So there's a lot of guys who put a lot on the line to get us into this situation, so I believe that it's important to everybody besides just the seniors. We've had good practices so far.
On the players' holiday break: I told them don't forget that we're going to run on Christmas night when they arrive in Phoenix, and I told them to really be careful when they're back home, what they do, who they ride with, how they drive, what they do because you know their safety is paramount to us. You know, we're all family. We want to make sure they arrive all safe and sound.
On the bowl game have a positive effect on recruiting: I don't think it's any big change and yet it's everything. We wouldn't be in on a lot of these guys if it wasn't for the fact of about four or five factors and that's one of the most important ones. I think that a lot of the kids that we're recruiting are being recruited by a lot of other places, and that have good reputations. And I think we've given ourselves a better chance with these young men because we are going bowling which these kids are being recruited by other schools that are going or have gone quite often, so I think it's one of the things that they check off on their list, you know? If you're not a bowl team, if you don't have great facilities, if you don't have staff continuity, you know in the head coach primarily, if you don't throw the ball, if you don't whatever, you know, I think some of those things are very important and right now we can check them all off finally.
On practicing in Phoenix: We'll have three actual practices. We'll have a run on Monday which is usually our off day, but as I see it, we have just a regular work week to get ready. You know, and that's fine if you've been practicing all season long, but you know we've taken quite a bit of time off, and maybe that's just because I, you probably don't realize this but I worry a little bit, that's just cause of my personality. And you know, that's the hard part, but the critical thing that needs to come out is we could have gone earlier out there, but remember this is a reward for our players, and we wanted to make sure that they spend time at home with their families even though it was impossible to have them spend Christmas at home. We felt that they deserved that kind of loyalty out of us (to go home).
Our game plan is set. There will be very few game plan meetings with regards to changes in our plan. That's one thing I know Paul (Rhoads) being off the road the last two weeks has done with our defense. I know J.D. Brookhart has done a job with our offense making sure that our game plans also set. Tom Freeman's our run game coordinator. We gave Tom a computer, a laptop computer that he took with him, so he was working on the run game while he was out on the road recruiting. Welcome to the 21st century, you know for us, and that was good, that really helped Tom get a lot done while he was on the road for all of this time.
You know, I do want to state one thing, I think that our coaching staff has really done an outstanding job. I think our five new coaches have really made a great impact, but really, a big reason why they did besides the kind of people that they are is the guys what you would call "holdover coaches." Those guys have done a fabulous job of letting them know what this place is all about and what I'm all about and what we expect. The guys, J.D. Brookheart, Bob Junko, Tom Freeman and Chris LaSala, I don't think are getting anywhere near enough credit for us being in this bowl game. Those guys have done a tremendous job coaching our new coaches up so to speak and breaking them in and so, I couldn't be more appreciative of what our holdover guys have done to withstand the test of time here because it's been a battle. I've not said too much about it because it's not really public knowledge, but we've had to overcome a lot of adversity during these times, and I couldn't have made it personally if it wasn't for the support as well as the hard work and the intelligent work that I've got out of the coaches that are still here.
On Kevan Barlow's progresss: Kevan is a work in progress. After the West Virginia game, you'd have to say he'd be one of the greatest works in progress, you know the way he played. He was a man-child out there and obviously we needed it. Kevan I think has probably had a good year all the way this year in more games than just that if it wasn't for the fact that we had some young lineman playing a lot of times. You've always heard me say that the two hardest positions to play are quarterback and offensive line. And offensive line takes so much grooming and nurturing, and so Kevan had to play behind that, and I think a lot of times he made some great runs, but I think a lot of times it would only be for two or three yard gains. Obviously our line on a couple of games really did a great job, and I think that the other problem that Kevan had is turning the ball over.
But Kevan has really been exciting to see him change, and I think what really made the turnaround in his career, from my perspective, is when he was suspended. And a lot of people had a lot to do with him making it through besides Kevan. I think you've heard me say that not many guys on our staff would have bet that he'd have done fourteen days of penance so to speak. But we've got great support from his high school coach, Bob Flaus, Rod Kirby did an outstanding job counseling his family, I believe, so has Bob Junko talking to his mother as well as Kevan, and Vincent White was there as well, his running back coach. So, a lot of people who participated in helping him understand that this is really for Kevin, and what he had to do to be a member of this football team, and I think it's helped us in the long run that our football players know that they are accountable for their actions. So, we're real proud of what he's done. Kevan's got a chance to have another game, you know that's the great thing about having a bowl, he's got a chance to have another good game, hopefully and then he's got the Senior Bowl that he's earned. So, what he does with that these last two chances, you know, time will tell. We're optimistic.
On a bowl game victory's impact on next season: I like separating them personally. This is a one-game season for us. I don't pack it onto the next year, and I don't pack it onto the last year. It's a one game season for us, and that's how I look at it. How great it would be to win? It would be outstanding. I think anytime you win any game it would be outstanding. The difference between a 6-5, 5-6 and 7-4 football team is everything, you know, so to have an ending season, one game season victory would be great. We're not going down there, just as I'm sure Iowa State's not going down there to keep it close. Time will only tell that way.
On Antonio Bryant's recent honors: I think he's handling it tremendously. It's amazing what's happened, and there's another thing I didn't include in the check list that you've got to have in order to recruit good football players, you know, I'm sure one of the ways that we've gotten slammed by other schools that were recruiting against us, is well you can't go there and go to bowls, you can't go there and be All-American, you can't go there and win individual awards, and so that's not true anymore. You can come here and you can make it happen in any way that want to make it happen. Antonio has handled it as well as anyone I think. I was fortunate along with J.D. Brookhart to be there in Orlando (at the ESPN Awards Show), and the young man was shocked, you know, and I think why he was shocked was maybe not because he didn't think he deserved it, but because he thought he was at a school that didn't get those kind of awards. I think that he was so good and our team had legitimized us by winning seven games that it provided the committee to just evaluate the receivers for the receivers. Not anything, like well he's at Pitt or he's just a sophomore, I think that our football program did what you had to do so they could evaluate him even up. And he's by far the best football player and that's why he won the award.
On the starting quarterback assignment: We're going to start John Turman, and the guy that coached those guys reserves the right to always have a relief pitcher, a mid-inning relief pitcher and we'll go with it. I'd love to play John the whole way, but we're going to do what we have to do to win and that's why we practice and that's why we don't practice one guy. Wwe practice three because we're going to do what we gotta do to win. Give our team the best chance to be successful.