Jump to content
  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt
  • advertisement_alt
Sign in to follow this  
mat1992

Media Day Comments

Recommended Posts

All comments from Rob Ambrose

http://towsontigers.com/news/2018/7/24/football-fenner-and-kauffman-enjoy-imfactful-media-day-experience.aspx

Ambrose on being picked 10th place
It's always about how you finish but you need to start fast enough. Preseason is preaseason. It's kind of like pre-date. It's like you are dating somebody new. You have no idea how that date is going to go. I don't worry about it too much. But we don't have a player on the All-Conference team, we were picked 10th out of 12th and we were about .500. That's a large aspect of disrespect and that's fine. As a program, we've been in those shoes before and as a program we tend to respond quite well. 

On competition
Is this a veteran team? No, it's an experienced team. We have tons of guys with experience in a couple of positions, it's going to be a brutal competition. With the new redshirt rules, that allows some of the young guys...usually if they think they aren't going to play early in camp, they shut it down. Basically practice is an All-Star game and everybody is involved.

On redshirt rules (true freshmen can play four games)
If you are good enough and I know you're going to get hurt, I'm not going to do it. But if you are good enough and not going to get hurt, you'll have a chance to play. This is the first year, I'm not giving the blueprint for this so we can discuss it later. I like what that brings in terms of number of guys that bring and makes practice more interesting.

On quarterback
It's been hard. The competition is going to be good. The goal is to give the keys to somebody and let them run with it. Tommy (Flacco) has played in games and has had success but hasn't worked within the system. Stover has proven that he can play and has had some success in this league. This will be probably the most interesting summer quarterback race since Grant (Enders) and Peter (Athens).

On each QB
Flacco brings experience and speed. Not his speed but the understanding on 1-A (FBS) game-speed, which is different. He was a baseball prospect. He's an athlete. He can throw and run. He brings maturity and experience, savyness with athleticism. I've seen him run and he's fast. He can also throw it. Rose is an experienced kid and juco. Can do both (run and pass). Haven't seen much of him on video. We'll see. He can play quarterback and if not, he can play about five other positions. (On Miller). I haven't had a quarterback his height since Dan Orlovsky. Jeff is bigger and he's technically more sound. He's a 4.0 type of student. He's a little bit of a throwback. He took a special needs kid to the prom, not for publicity, because that's who he is. We're lucky that we're going to have a guy representing our program that way.

On now and coming out of the spring on the QBs?
Oh God yes, not only do I feel better about it than coming out of the spring but I feel better about it for the next couple of years. With Morgan (Mahalak) not finishing last year and not coming back, it put a huge curveball into what we were doing at that position in terms of roster management. I thought the kids and staff did a solid job in-season adjusting but we had to re-set a plan at that position. I think we're going to be already.

On Offensive line
Garnett goes to left tackle. All those guys on the inside played a lot and in the second half of the season. Those five guys played together. Now at least four have played. They are all experienced and older. There is still some competition at left guard and center. (Player to be named later on the interior).

On running backs
Shane is healthy and Kobe is experienced. Jaelan Thompson had a good offseason and has a chance to play. Platt had experience. Thompson has to gain confidence and understanding. He's a smart kid and is great at certain concepts.

On fullbacks
Two true freshmen and Bryce Perkins moved to fullback. That was an experiment that turned out very well. Luke Hamilton and Fox. Luke played a Fort Hill and he's really good at hitting things.

On tight ends
Joe Green, Zach Herron. Zach was supposed to be the starter and got hurt right before the season. Joe has gotten better and will be the fifth-year senior. Add so much in terms of special teams. He might be our best teammate. Ellis Knudson can do some stuff at H-Back. We've added some players to that position as well (can't mention Clark, the Pitt/UCLA transfer).

On WR corps
We knew we were going to have to throw it, especially with Morgan. In the early part of the season, we did not get the best out of the wide receiver position with Ryan struggling. Give the kids and the staff a lot of credit, the second half of the season was an entirely different story. There's a lot of returners and competition and expectations.

Chris Greaves
He was one of the few true freshmen that had a chance to be in the mix. He had a bad hamstring right at the end of camp. That changed what he could do the rest of the year. He had a great offseason and his expectations are pretty high. He's one of the kids that people would say, you go him? How did you do that?

On additions to the staff
At some point of time, we only had so few people that were on the road due to the changes. Those guys did an exceptional job with the recruiting class. Matt Applebaum is the new offensive line coach. He played for more at Connecticut. Justin Harper is coaching wideouts, a former Ravens player. Has really done a great job. Tyree Foreman is coaching the fullbacks and tight ends. Local Maryland guy has done well. We lost D.J. but Scott Lakatos has replaced him. He's coaching the secondary at the FBS level for a long time. Was at Georgia and Rutgers, UConn. Colin Bauer is a Middletown boy that was at The Citadel, Rutgers. Is a Towson grad. Recruiting-wise that has paid off. We have more commits from big guys at this time than we ever have since I've been here. If the team that was in the locker room in 2009 that saw these guys that we committed next year, they'd be worried about the size of these guys. Constantly trying to move the needle. I think we've done a really good job in the offseason.

On new enthusiasm from changes
It kind of has. You put good guys together and they do good things for good people. Losing (strength coach) Jeremy (Pick) and John Donatelli was two of the hardest personal losses ever. I love both of these men. They are great leaders. Great coaches. Great men. This is a crazy business. It's not for normal people. We've been lucky to have some continuity. Those things do happen. Change brings change. There's been a different energy. It has been the most enjoyable offseason since 2011.

On nutrition
That has been harped on for a couple of years and the kids have finally started listening. It's not about gaining or losing weight. It's about being at the right weight. Put the right gas in your car to run as efficiently as possible. Guys that are 320 are now 305, and are running more efficiently.

On D-Line
Losing Zain Harps-Upshur was tough. Getting him back will help. His presence physically, his voice makes our team better. He's the guy that everybody listens to and he doesn't say much. When he does, everybody listens. I listen. He's earned it. Garrett was brought here to be in the mix. Tibo is the top three most versatile players on the team. He can play at least three positions and on offense. He's really smart. He gets an A in English and that's his third language. He's multi-lingual. Bryce, Malik, Nicquo. We can finally put the guys at their regular spot. There's competition. They are all going to play. 

On linebacker
It's the most experienced spot. I told them at the end of the season, that this was their year. All three should be all-league players (Paye, Heyward, Wallace). They need more consistency. They understand it now. They had a tremendous offseason. Nygill Johnson has put on 15-20 pounds. He's a high-brain guy. Parker has had a very good summer. He's hungry. We're going to have a chance to be pretty good. We just need to stay healthy. In this league, it's whoever stay healthy.

On secondary
Troy Vincent has been around but hasn't been on the field. He has a chance to play at boundary corner or safety. J. Love had a terffic spring. Tippett showed he can make plays. Every single guy that we brought in in recruiting, was brought in to compete for playing time, not to sit (in secondary). We got smart guys, who can make the transition from high school to college immediately. 

Brandon Shuman (Purdue transfer) has played and will compete for starting job. Terrell Gillette had a great juco career and is from Philadelphia. We went from having questions on the back end to having talented depth. We just need to put the right guys at the right spot. The old guys are doing a great job of leading and leaving a legacy (like Monty Fenner). There's so much ridiculous, intelligent talent back there. Mitchell Boals (bad shoulder last year) looks as good as we've seen since we got him. He's saying he's not coming out this year. I like these guys.

On how to get to the playoffs
The last 2 1/2 years, we can't be hurt. We can get beat up here and there, but can't just lose eight guys that are starters to season-ending injuries when six of the dudes score all the touchdowns. We have to stay healthy. We have to secure who we are up front defensively in the run game. We have to develop a better run game and protect the damn football. You take Ryan's seven turnvovers in seven plays between Richmond and Villanova and it's an entirely different season just because of that. Turnovers, especially at the quarterback position, and securing that front on both sides of the ball is key. The talent is there. This group, their team chemistry, is as good as I've seen it in five years. It's not about the injuries, it's how we responded. We almost beat Elon and beat Delaware, two ranked teams. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
1 hour ago, TigerFan54 said:

When talking about TEs, he made no mention of Myles Wright. Is he still rehabbing?

Wright did not have a very good spring but he's definitely in the mix. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

Footer title

This content can be configured within your theme settings in your ACP. You can add any HTML including images, paragraphs and lists.

Footer title

This is an example of a list.

Footer title

This content can be configured within your theme settings in your ACP. You can add any HTML including images, paragraphs and lists.

Footer title

This content can be configured within your theme settings in your ACP. You can add any HTML including images, paragraphs and lists.

×