Bielema Talks to the Press
September 10, 2007 | Football
Wisconsin head football coach, Bret Bielema, talked with reporters Monday discussing the game against UNLV and the upcoming game with The Citadel, among other topics. Below is the transcript of his press conference.
BRET BIELEMA OPENING COMMENTS: Thanks, Justin. After reviewing the game film from Saturday night, I give a lot of credit to UNLV, but we also realize that we didn't play very well. And for us to leave Las Vegas as a winner is always a good thing to say, so it was really good for us to get out of there the way we did.
Offensively, we recognized P.J. Hill as our MVP. Defensively, it was a tough decision. We thought that Jason Chapman was our MVP, but also noted that Elijah Hodge played extremely well compared to the way he played the week before. Matt Shaughnessy played well.
And a side note with Matt, some of you may have seen him leave the sideline early. Last week, Matt's brother was taken ill and went through some procedures back home and was really struggling just to basically make it through the week. And one of the things we were able to do was send Matt, as soon as that last series was over, he didn't even know it. I told him on the sidelines we had gotten him a plane ticket. By NCAA rules we could do that. He could fly home and see his brother, and he'll be with him until Wednesday morning.
He'll fly back Wednesday and get an opportunity to be with us for the rest of the week, if everything still is improving. His brother, I talked to his dad every day last week, and his brother, towards the latter part of the week, Thursday and Friday, had really improved, so with that, we give him our thoughts and prayers with him and his family. Special teams-wise, Taylor Mehlhaff, another great performance obviously with the field goals as well as the way he's kicking the ball. Offensive scout MVP was Maurice Moore. Defensive scout MVP was Ben Landgraf.
A couple updates, Paul Hubbard, we were fortunate that there was no ACL tear. He sprained his knee, and we're looking at anywhere from a six- to eight-week recovery for him. Returning to practice this week, Daven Jones and Quincy Landingham, don 't know if they'll play this week, but we'll begin to incorporate them into practice and basically see how their knees respond accordingly. And with Lance Smith, he'll be back with us now for the next three weeks.
And then as a special note, I know a lot was wrote last week after our home contest about our red on red. One of the things that we'll be is all red on Camp Randall 's field, and I'd love to see that, any way we could get that out to the general fans. I love the red and white, but if we could leave the white caps, the white t-shirts, the gray t-shirts behind, I'd love to walk into Camp Randall and see a sea of red for everybody in the stands.
I think one of the things I began to see and experience in college football is if you can walk into an environment like that with everybody in one color, it's kind of an overwhelming thing for everybody to be a part of.
In addition to that, the Citadel brings in a great club, have won six out of their last seven, their only loss being to Appy State [Appalachian State], and a good quarterback who 's a senior starter and with an enrollment that the Citadel has, their players play very disciplined. They're very aggressive, hard-nosed players, and they 're definitely buying into what the coaches are telling them over the last three years and appear to be a very good football team. With that, I'll take any questions.
QUESTION #1: Coach, could you talk a little bit about the ascension of Garrett Graham, how he's come along' He's had a couple of big games. Also the status of Andy Crooks as well.
BIELEMA: Well, Andy Crooks, I'll address that one first off. Andy is kind of, over the last two weeks, we kept feeling that he was going to be in the game. Last week basically on Wednesday, we pushed him as hard as we had at that point and realized that he probably wasn't going to be ready for what we needed to take place on Saturday.
So from a practice standpoint, that's why we just went ahead and fully practiced like we had been without him. Tuesday he'll go through some tests and basically decide if we want to practice him Tuesday afternoon, which will determine whether or not we're going to play him in this ballgame. But every indication is, if we don't play him this week, which we think we will, should be back in full go for Iowa.
As far as Garrett Graham, even going back to last spring, he began to make plays during practice. And like we've said all along to our players, how you practice is how you play, and Garrett really had a great fall camp. I would say offensively he was probably the MVP of camp of the unknowns. Jeff Stehle was on defense. And what you see out of Garrett during the game is exactly what he does every day.
QUESTION #2: Bret, with regarding the guys that are going to have to step in in Hubbard's absence, what do you expect you can get out of some people' And also, with Jones and Landingham, are they back sooner than you had anticipated when you talked about them in camp when they were having surgery '
BIELEMA: Well, first off, with who will step in, you know, if you just look at the depth chart, it's going to be Kyle Jefferson and Marcus Randle El, but Xavier spent time over at the Z position during fall camp. We kind of jockeyed it ourselves so we could get certain things out of each guy, but I think it 'll be by committee. But in addition to that, you hope that some guys will take advantage of this opportunity and don't let go of it.
Obviously with Hubb [Paul Hubbard] being gone for a while, that's going to be the case. It'll be an opportunity for someone over an extended period of time to step into that role. As far as, you know, Daven and Quincy, they both, after the procedures, were very, very, the doctors were very excited about how, the minimal swelling, how the recovery was taking place. And both basically too, as long as I've been in this, those kids are pretty athletic kids and they just take care of their bodies. They 're well fit.
The more I'm into it, the guys that really kind of seem to be freaks of nature heal fastly or more at an accelerated rate than doctors tend to look at things if they 're just operating on guys like Justin or something, that maybe aren't of the norm in recovery or athletic ability.
QUESTION #3: Bret, it seems to the untrained eye, the non-coach's eye, that Tyler's a beat away from hitting even more open receivers than he has already. And while he's hit a lot, is that a concern of you, to you at all, that he might have missed a few throws that he should make, and will that get better'
BIELEMA: Well, you know, the only guy that throws that ball on game day is Tyler, and, you know, the one thing that he's shown us over time is, you know, he can make those throws. Obviously there was a few on Saturday that were maybe uncatchable, but on the same account, there were some that were catchable that weren't caught. They all go down as an incomplete pass. So, you know, there's two parts to every piece of the puzzle.
On that note, I think the thing that Tyler brings to the table is he is a guy that really plays well on game day and in certain situations, and a classic example is that last play. So we hope it's going to improve, and obviously we can work on it during practice, but bottom line, you know, what happens in the game is how it unfolds.
QUESTION #4: Following up on Tyler, after the first game, there was a lot of praise and everybody talked about his great play in the first game. But is it fair to say that you can learn more as a coach, a team about a guy in a situation when maybe it wasn't his best day, it wasn't the team 's best day, but what he was able to do when his team needed it the most, that you can learn more and give more credit for that'
BIELEMA: Well, I tend to focus on the positives, absolutely. I mean, there's enough negative things in today's society, but people want to dwell on that and that's the things people want to talk about. But I think in particular, when I read, I wasn't in the offensive huddle. I 'm not out there on the field.
I saw the reactions and the results, but it was great when, you know, I saw guys give quotes about the way Tyler handled himself in the huddle, which ultimately no coach is going to be in there. Unless they change the rules to the NFL, we're not going to have a way to talk to them. So what he does out there with his teammates is ultimately going to decide if we win or lose.
QUESTION #5: Coach, can you quickly talk a little bit about John Clay's and Zach Brown's progress, and also a little bit about whether Saturday's game is going to be the norm as far as P.J. basically picking up . . . slack and, or if Clay and Brown are going to see a little bit more time '
BIELEMA: Well, first off, Zach Brown, you know, didn't practice on Tuesday but did on Wednesday, and we felt going into the game he was our best shot to be the number two running back. That's why he got it. We never got a situation to go to our third back, which would have been John. I think, you know, P.J. took every carry except for two because he showed he could do it and because this is something that, due to the flow of the game, that's where we kept it.
As always, coaches come back in and say, you know, I wish I would have got Zach a few more carries, but with the situation that we had and obviously keeping the ball in our hands, I reflect back earlier in the day, I was watching a game where a team had moved the ball right down the field with their starting running back, who was a very, very good football player.
Another guy came in the game and put the ball on the ground the very next play, and you kind of sit there and go why was he in there. So, you know, for us to win that football game, P.J. had to carry the load. And now if that's going to be the same in every game, I'll tell you after each game.
QUESTION #6: It seemed that was a pretty good test of P.J.'s new conditioning. Did you see a noticeable difference in him from last year'
BIELEMA: I thought for all of our guys, not just P.J. Obviously, I don't know if he would have, to be quite honest, Tom, if he would have been able to do that a year ago at this time, but he didn't show me any signs of fatigue. He was asking for the football, which as a running back they're all going to do, but I think he really, really believes it. Part of that helps us obviously then when we ran the naked because all eyes were on 39.
But I do feel very, very good about our back-up situation with Zach and John have done things very, very well. Now with this week, being at home for the next three, we 'll have Lance, but again, Zach Brown has continued to make progress and every day just seems to be a better picture for him overall.
QUESTION #7: Are you seeing what you had hoped at this point you would have seen from your return game'
BIELEMA: Well, we faced two very unusual punt formations in the first two games, so punt return has been a little difficult because they, as you saw on Saturday, they jump around. Every look that they give you is different, so, and they have eligible receivers on the backside of formations who are lining up at guards and tackles. So it's a little bit difficult.
The main thing we were trying to do was possess the football and not get a fake. Every one of those looks has a fake attached to it, so it's a little bit unique preparation. No one in our conference runs that formation. This week, what we've seen on film on Citadel will give us a better chance to have a picture that we're used to seeing.
Kickoff return, actually the second to last kickoff return was a mental bust by four of our guys that were on the field. If they had run the last return, which we called both times, that would have been another big hit. So we've got some young guys on that team, and I definitely know this, 85 can run with the ball in his hands, and we've got guys that can block.
QUESTION #8: Bret, another game, another spread option offense. Is Citadel similar to what you've seen so far'
BIELEMA: Well, a little bit of a combination. All of them have been unique. I think Washington State, you know, we had prepared in a certain way, but they came in and did a lot more variation from what they had done a year ago at this time. UNLV was a unique spread option. They basically started every play in empty and then would motion into, you know, one back sets or remain in empty. These guys are kind of a combination of both, and, but have really relied on their senior quarterback to be just as much of effective in the passing game as in the running game.
QUESTION #9: The spread has been kind of popular here over the last 10 years. Has it changed in the last 10 years' Has it . . .
BIELEMA: Well, obviously more people are running it, and there's variations. I think when it first started off, people actually spread the football, or spread the formation to run the football, but now you've got teams that spread it to throw it. And these guys are probably a balance in between the two.
QUESTION #10: Bret, there was a play I guess in the first half where Hodge, it looked like he was about 10 yards behind the play and he ran the guy down from behind. Is his speed a little underestimated maybe, and can you comment further about what, you know, how you saw him progress on Saturday'
BIELEMA: Well, first off, this is the first time he's practiced the entire week since he's started fall camp. He 's kind of had some injuries nagging him along. We were, Coach Doeren was giving him a little bit of heat on the bus about running that guy down, and I said, man, I didn 't know that guy was that slow, you know, and kind of threw it back at him.
But Elijah, you know, played with a little bit of a step and ran that guy down. That guy broke, and I think it was Tank, if I'm not mistaken, he ran him down from behind and made a very similar play to what Jack did in the ballgame. Now it's two different speeds that the both of them were running at, but Elijah showed me some things on Saturday that we were eager to see.
QUESTION #11: We've talked a lot about your success offensively at the end of halves, and how do you work on that in practice ' What do you do specifically' And why does that always seem to be so pivotal in games, you know, late in the . . .
BIELEMA: Well, I think, first off, it shows a sign of conditioning, first and foremost. I remember when I was a player, one of the things we always used to hear from Coach Fry's mouth was start fast and end fast, and that carried forward. I heard that same thing here when I was working for Coach Alvarez. I know Paul [Chryst] really believes in it, and I do as well.
So offensively, if there's any time where we feel we can get one more possession at the end of the half, two things, I think it excites your players. It makes them feel like you're never going to surrender. On the same account, defensively, you kind of get that woe is me coming out on the field, oh, they're going to try and score here, and you can get a flinch out of them.
I thought it was interesting, last night there was, when I got back home, I was listening to ESPN, doing some work, and Chris Berman commented on the end of one of the halves that someone made a score with less than a minute left in the half and he said good teams always score at the end of the half, and I believe we're up to 11 of the last 14, if I'm not mistaken, 2 for 2 this year. So those are some things that are encouraging.
QUESTION #12: Bret, after Appalachian State-Michigan, is there any need, even any need to give the Division I-AA speech '
BIELEMA: You know, I think that, you know, the part that I take from it, on Sunday, I'll go in and I'll talk about the world of college football, and obviously, you know, I pointed out certain things that happened in the world of college football within our conference and outside of our conference.
But as we have a certain ranking in the polls, as we are looked at nationally as a program, as you are noted as having the longest winning streak in college football, which isn't a small thing to say. That's a big thing. And I knew they were going to hear it, so I wanted them to hear it out of my mouth first. I got on the PA system when we landed at the airport and said it because I knew they were going to hear it, but I wanted them to have it in the context of the way we think around here.
The reason you're at that position is because of who you are, and it gives me an opportunity to ingrain in their mind one more time it's a 1-0 mentality that has got you to this point. If you didn't think that way, you probably would never be here. It's hardworking mentality on the football field. It's, you know, how you handle things that happen on the field. That's how you react to what happens.
And then last and foremost, it's the next man in. I mean, there's been guys that have stepped up and played for us to win a football game that we're never, even thought of before the game started, and that's why we're at this position in college football.
QUESTION #13: Bret, this is a follow-up to the Matt Shaughnessy situation. How much time in general do you spend, do you think, during the season dealing with matters like that'
BIELEMA: Well, in that one particular case, we actually found out, Matt told us about that after last Saturday's game and how much it affects him. If you knew Matt and his family, they're very, very close. And so what we tried to do is I basically got clearance from the NCAA to find out what the situation is. His brother was heavily sedated, and every time he came out, he'd ask for Matt. So you wanted to do anything you could to make that situation right.
Because of the situations I've had in college football myself, as many of you know, I lost my sister during my playing experience, and for me, the next two weeks of that season were the hardest two weeks of my life, and I really relied on people in the program to help me through that. And then last year with the experience that Joe Thomas, Ben Strickland and Steve Johnson went through with the passing of their friend, those are the things that probably determine your success and your longevity as a football team. And they come up more than you think.
Last week I had a conversation with Jay Valai, I believe on Sunday after Saturday 's game, I didn't think he played particularly well on special teams, and he came in and we had a great conversation for about an hour, and I just expressed to him how much it would help us if he could be a good football player, and you guys may not even see it.
His stats didn't go down. He didn't make one play. But he probably positively affected 12 different special teams plays just because of how well he prepared and played, and I thought that might come out of him and it did. So there's a little bit of a testimonial to, you're exactly right, Andy.
If you can kind of take care of all the little details away from football, like I think a head coach should probably do, and not get so involved in the X's and O 's, offense, defense, obviously I've got special teams to worry about, but that's the stuff that probably makes a big difference in the long run. I couldn't tell you how many hours a day, you know. I could tell you I probably worried about red-on-red uniforms for about eight hours of non-sleep for two weeks leading into the game, but that's about it.
QUESTION #14: The job Taylor has done kicking, I know it's nothing new, but is there anything he can't do' You move him back five yards, he reaches the end zone. You change the tees, whatever, he still seems to do it. What impresses you the most about him and how much of the credit for his success goes to the attention he gets from his special teams coach'
BIELEMA: Yeah, it's all coaching (laughs). He, the thing that probably anybody that's around Taylor, and what he's bringing to the table right now is just his mental toughness. There is not one thing, you kind of said it, Rob, there's not one thing he doesn't think he can do. If I would have asked him to kick that 55-yard field goal at the end, he would have went out there with every intention of making it. Now I wasn't quite sure as a head coach.
He said 55 was his max, and we were about 55 ', which is why we went for it on fourth and one. But the way he approaches things, I'd love to have the reaction mechanism that he has where, okay, you're going to lower my tee by an inch, I 'm going to hit it further. All right, you're going to move me back five yards, I'm going to kick it deeper. And if you can get people to think like that consistently at all positions, you'll have the same type of performance.
QUESTION #15: Bret, can you talk about your defensive play against the passing game with two new safeties and a new middle linebacker in there' A lot of bend, but no break.
BIELEMA: Well, in particular I thought the first week, you know, we know that . . . a guy in my past who always used to say, you know, if you throw for 300 yards, you might win the football game, but if you run for 300, you 'll always win the game. So last week, one of the things we said is they 're not going to run the football on us, and we probably overly committed. There was a running game on that first series.
But on the same account, the quarterback made some good throws and catches. I don 't know how much you could do to defend two of those big pass plays. But you know, when you're bringing in new safeties that haven't ever been in that position, Aubrey Pleasant had never played safety in his entire life in a competitive football game. He'd always kind of been down in the box , a will linebacker for the most part in high school.
Those guys are going through some learning curves, but every game, they definitely were better Saturday than they were the Saturday before, and the name of the game is to improve. And, you know, we've got to have good corner play and good underneath play by our linebackers. Really Elijah's only negative play in the game was when he didn 't hook up to No. 3 and they got a first-down completion. So I think he 'll correct that and move forward next week.
QUESTION #16: You talked about Stehle's development in camp. You played him early in the game. Is he a regular part of the rotation now, and how much does that help your defensive line depth'
BIELEMA: Well, he's going to be in a rotation because of the way he's playing. Early on in camp, we said, we kind of challenged him, you know, hey, you're a guy that can step in and be a factor here for us. Just a simple thing, I put him in on punt return. You know, him and Kirk [DeCremer] were, that was their first two rushes as football players, is when we put them in on punt return.
They rush the A gap, you know, and Kirk got a blocked punt and Jeff was right there next to him. So I think that got their feet wet, and now it's just a little bit of a taste. You know, if you've got a good football player, if they have a couple plays and they do, well that's kind of like, you know, the first taste of anything you really, really like. You want to keep going back for it more and more.
QUESTION #17: You mentioned the red on red again. Are we to assume it's going to be all-red uniforms Saturday'
BIELEMA: Yeah, you can assume that. That 's why I said we're going to be on the field and I, I'm an old defensive coach, so I love to see just red just swarming the football. And, you know, I think if you look out and you see a sea of red out there in the stands, with all the activities that our fans do and the creation that, our student sections are very, very creative, you know, so I think as this thing hopefully gains the momentum, it'll be a huge effect at Camp Randall.
QUESTION #18: Bret, much was expected of your defense. How would you assess their play in the first two games'
BIELEMA: Well, I know this. Early on in camp, if you have some guys that are starting for the first time, it takes awhile to do things as we like them as coaches. But on the same account, the same progression I think is happening right now with our defense happened a year ago. Had new guys starting and guys had to, you know, develop things for the first time. We had to find out what their strengths are.
A little bit unusual preparations in these first three ballgames, but I thought our guys, the one thing, we definitely are playing our best football in the third and fourth quarters, which as a coach, that's the one thing you always really want to have. You definitely don't want to see it going the other way. Our kids are hungry. They take knowledge and they absorb everything that our coaches say.
One of my points to our guys last Sunday was, they don't know how good they have it, our players. They've been part of a winning program. They've been recruited that way. There's a way that they're getting coached right now that doesn't happen in every program. And I'm not trying to sound overly confident or cocky. I know they're getting coached the right way.
I know that they're being told the right things Monday through Saturday, and they're being told the right things when things happen bad on Saturday which puts them in a position to have success. Our kids, when they watch film, oh, yeah, this is going to be a good call, or, you know, they get excited when they hear things in the huddle because they know it's going to have success based off what they've seen in the past.
QUESTION #19: Coach, I think you brought in some new guys since school started. Have any of those guys caught your eye, or are they still kind of just learning the ropes here'
BIELEMA: Well, they're basically just breaking in. It's tough. You know, one of the rules the NCAA passed is you can only bring 105 in, and then we brought in 15 other guys. Some had been with us previously. Others hadn't. It's tough because they're basically, if they get in at all, it's on a scout team basis, and it's real difficult. Those guys will pop out usually during bowl preparation, if we're fortunate to get that, or in spring football.
QUESTION #20: With the small margin of error there is in college football with on the field and in the polls as well, and I realize . . . you 're not at BCS standings time yet, but in the Coaches' Poll, you 're down to seven. Is there a level of concern for you as a head coach even after a win dropping in the polls like that, and, or do you just say to yourself, hey, we have enough games to state our case down the road'
BIELEMA: Well, I don't even worry about stating the case. I worry about one game at a time. And I think, you know, I told our guys after the game, and I said this on Friday in the meeting, every Saturday is a fork in the road. You can lose or you can win. We've won this past Saturday. We're going to do everything we can to stay on the correct path.
What we do will handle how we handle or where we stand in college football at the end of the year. If we ever begin to think about a statement or, you know, thinking beyond where we're at right now, we'll never get there. If you skip a step to get to where you want to be, you'll never get there in the end.
QUESTION #21: Bret, it's the most memorable play of Saturday might, Donovan's touchdown. Have you talked to him about the exposure of the ball' Were you, I mean, does that worry you, or is there a discussion of that at any point'
BIELEMA: Well, the only way that, you know, that play came about was our offensive coordinator saw something there that would give us the opportunity to do that. And then, you know, Tyler is going to make some plays. I said, he 's a holy-cow player, you know, and that was a holy cow, you know.
But I think that gamesmanship he showed there, I think he realized the guy wasn 't going to get a shot on him. All he needed to do was break the plane, and he got it across, you know. And if something bad would have happened, then everybody would have said what about ball security, but it got across the pylon and we got a W.
