SU Hosts 2001 Football Media Day
8/5/2001 4:54:16 PM | Football
"We have really big games against Georgia Tech in the top 10 and Tennessee in the top 10," Freeney said. "A lot of teams don’t have a schedule like that. We want to get the motor going early and have it help us through the rest of the season."
The SU veterans had time off last week and many student-athletes went home to prepare for the season. Junior quarterback Troy Nunes travelled to Pittsburgh to visit with his family, but he had football on his mind.
"Definitely, sitting at home this last week was hard," Nunes said. "I was really excited to come back. I’ve always wanted to come back, see the guys and strap it up, but this year was the first time I’ve been really excited to get started again. I can’t wait until practice starts tomorrow."
Coach Pasqualoni Quotes
On what the next three weeks of preseason camp will include:
"We have 29 practice opportunities. We’re going to work hard to maximize each practice. We have an installation schedule for every single one of those practices. You try to get as many repetitions as you can. And hope that when you scrimmage no one gets hurt."
On how hard it is for a true freshman to come in and start immediately at the quarterback position:
"It’s hard for a young guy to come in and start at any position. To come in and start at the quarterback position is more difficult because of the complexity of everything the quarterback has to do. It’s hard."
On qualities that could help Cecil Howard be successful:
"He is a very special kid. He is tremendously polite. He’s very respectful. He comes in here with a great work ethic and passion to work hard at learning. He enjoys talking about football, whether technically about the x’s and o’s of a play or just something about football like the mascot or the fight song of a team. He has a passion for being bright-eyed."
On offensive line experience:
"When you have a good football team, you have excellent leadership. I think you have your best chance of that type of leadership when you have seniors, most especially in this game, those fifth-year seniors. On our offensive line we have four or five fifth-year guys coming back. I think that when you have four or five fifth-year seniors on the offensive line you have a real chance to have leadership in that very critical area. Hopefully that permeates throughout the team."
On depth in at the running back position:
"I think the system we’ve been in here, as any I-formation team would be in, you go into the season hoping to have three guys you can get in there. You hope that you’d be able to win a game with the alleged third guy being in the game. We’ve played with two guys and I think you have to because we’re playing 12 games. We’re playing arguably the toughest schedule in the country. I just don’t know if one guy can hold up."
On health of Kyle Johnson:
"I think Kyle is ready to go. I don’t think there will be any restrictions on him but we’re going to use caution during the early going. I would like to start off easy and ease him into it."
On what he is looking for in preseason camp from Justin Sujansky and the other kickers:
"I’m looking for Justin, like I’m looking for Mike (Shafer), and like I’m looking for Collin Barber, to display some consistency with the field goals. I’m looking for hang time and distance on kickoffs. We’re looking for the same kind of thing from all of them."
On issue of heat during practice:
"I have never in my career as a coach tried to practice medicine. I tell the trainers that they don’t coach and I don’t practice medicine. The two should never mix. So if they say something to me, I listen to what they say. I don’t try to overrule them, I don’t offer my opinion. That’s the way I would handle it."
On the wide receivers:
"We have a wide variety of talents out there. We have different styles of wide receivers. Obviously, (Johnnie) Morant, (David) Tyree, (Malik) Campbell and (Andre) Fontenette go in the category of being in big guys. You might want to use them more against the smaller defensive backs. Then you have the smaller guys, including Maurice Jackson and Jamel Riddle. Those are the small, quick guys that the linebackers will have a difficult time with. Kwazi Leverette is a solid guy who’s kind of in between. We have a lot of different styles of receivers out there who eventually will have a chance to contribute."
Player Quotes
Cecil Howard, Fr., Quarterback
On competing for the starting job as a freshman:
"I’m going to try to compete this year, but obviously the two older guys know a lot more than the freshmen do."
On adjusting to the college game:
"Everybody’s so much bigger, stronger and faster. That’s the main difference. In high school, you have a couple guys who are big and fast, but here everybody’s big, everybody’s fast, and everybody’s strong. It is going to take me some time to catch up on things in the weight room and to build my speed. The mental part of the game is the biggest adjustment. I think when I catch up on that part I’ll be ready to compete."
On starting over as a freshman:
"It isn’t really anything that I didn’t expect. You’ll hear it from experienced guys like coaches. They always told me, ‘When you go to college, you’re not going to be the big shot. You have to start over again just like you did in high school. You have to show what you can do instead of everyone knowing what you can do.’"
Troy Nunes, Jr., Quarterback
On Paul Pasqualoni working with the quarterbacks:
"He wants to get it back to where we’re performing like Syracuse quarterbacks should be. He’s going to be there to watch us stride for stride. Every coach has their own style and Coach P is a teacher. He teaches and teaches and teaches. You’re going to know what the defenses are. You’re going to know what you’re supposed to do in our offense. He’s going to make sure of it because that’s the only real way you can be effective."
Dwight Freeney, Sr., DE
On what he’s done to prepare for the season:
"My diet has been a big thing. Eating well, drinking a lot of water. The strength and conditioning staff has done a lot of work with me running and lifting."
On the recent heat-related incidents around football:
"As a football player, you never know when to stop. You think you can always go the extra step. Everyone stresses to go to your limits, but you don’t know where that limit is. If you stop before it, you could be holding yourself back. If you strive for it, now these are rare occasions, but bad things can happen. You just never know."
On sitting out the last four games of 2000:
"I learned a few things. I got to see little things that I may have overlooked. I was able to get myself mentally prepared. Obviously, I wasn’t able to do the physical things so I was getting my mental game straight so I could come back strong."
On what he expects from opposing offenses this season:
"Duke (Pettijohn) saw a lot of the doubleteams and a lot of the traffic last season, and that opened it up for me. This year I’m expecting to get a lot of that, so hopefully Josh (Thomas) will have a big year, and hopefully, I can have a big year."
Clifton Smith, Jr., LB
On improving on last year’s finish:
"There’s definitely some unfinished business. My fellow Freeportian, Morlon Greenwood, left here with rings and I don’t have any. It is definitely a challenge for us to accomplish that goal."
Kyle Johnson, Graduate Student, FB
On difficulty of leading the team while sitting out:
"It was difficult. I had to be more of an emotional leader since I couldn’t lead by example. It was a lot more stressful at times because you can’t go out there and run the ball or try and block somebody. I think it helped me grow in other ways as a human being, and it definitely helped me in terms of working with the team. Hopefully, I can use that this year to help lead in other ways after the pads are off."
On what he tells the younger players just starting their careers:
"You have to be happy to be here and soak it all in. I’m in my sixth year here and there are still things I want to remember 25 or 30 years from now that I don’t know if I’m going to remember. Days like this for example, with guys sitting around leaning on their helmets and passing out after they get their pictures taken. You’re going to what remember stuff like that as you get older. I tell them just to stay aware and soak it all in."
Sean O’Connor, Sr., OG
On the anonymity of the offensive line:
"We’re not a glamour position. We’re a bunch of fat guys who work really hard. The only time we’re on Sportscenter is if we give up a sack at the end of the game or we happen to be in a shot where a running back or quarterback does something. That’s just how it is, but we knew what we were getting into when we signed up for it."
