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Head Coach Scott Shafer Quotes
Syracuse vs. Wagner
September 14, 2013
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Opening Statement:
“It’s good to be home, that’s for sure. We played a good Wagner team. They are a NEC championship team from last year with a good football coach. They had a good plan coming into this thing. They presented some things early against our offense and I thought they did a really good job. Any time you play a team that won a championship the year before, regardless of what size school it is, you’ve got to look at them. It’s tough to win championships. It’s tough to win games. I want to make sure that it’s understood that Wagner is a good football team and I wish them all the luck in the world. I thought they were well prepared and I thought their kids played extremely hard. Looking at our situation, I’m obviously proud of the way we played up front on defense and really across the board there were a lot of good things to build off of.”
“I was pleased with the way (quarterback) Terrell (Hunt) came in and played. I believe in both of those kids (Hunt and Drew Allen). It’s a long season so we have to keep the position strong by continuing to work both of those kids and make good decisions. I’m anxious to watch the tape, not only at the quarterback position, but at all of them to see where we are. We had some target points that were extremely important to me as an offense and a defense, and I know I sound like a broken record but first down is so key. I think we did a good job. You target those small areas and then you go to work and I was really pleased with that.”
“We’ve got a great group of kids. We’ll fight back. We have a good Tulane team next that will be prepared for us. They have two extra days to prepare. We have a great challenge in front of us. It is great to be home in the Dome and to see the student body out there, especially the freshmen. I know they were excited. I look forward to ramping things up here in the Dome and making this a difficult place to play and we need all the help we can get. I want to start off right now by inviting the community and fans to come out and support this team. We’ve got a great group of high-character kids that do things right on and off the field and we would like to ramp things up and get more in the stands against Tulane.”
On quarterback Terrel Hunt:
“First of all, I love the hell out of Terrel, as I do (quarterback) Drew Allen, as I do (quarterback) Charley Loeb and all of these kids. I think you have to be careful. It’s never as good as it seems and it’s never as bad as it seems, somewhere in between is the reality. I think really you have to look at it with clean, realistic eyes and expectations. (We started against) two BCS schools, a 10-win team at Northwestern, and Penn State won eight the year before and you have to be careful, looking at the talent that you are going against and that’s not to begrudge Wagner because they are a good football team. But we have to be smart about how we look at it. With that being said, I’m extremely proud of the way Terrel played and I look forward to seeing him progress.”
On his first win:
“I didn’t think about it (the win) too much until they dumped the Gatorade on me and then it felt good. It felt great to turn around and see my son Wolfgang back there. It feels great. Let’s get number two as fast as possible.”
On the defense:
“Early in the week, because we were extremely mad, kids and coaches alike were mad coming out of Evanston. We felt like we were a better football team than we showed and we felt like we gave plays up in Evanston. As a coach and as players you have to gristle up and say ‘How are we going to go about work?’ It’s the way you bounce back that shows your real character.”
“They went to work and they were kind of pissed. The Tuesday and Wednesday practice got a little physical at times. I kind of felt bad for the scout team at times because they (the starters) were taking out their frustrations on them. To me, it was a culmination of being upset and frustrated because we didn’t get a victory in those first two (games), but going back to work and staying steady as we go with what we know is important, and that staying with the formula that we set up months ago and staying with the plan that we believe in and not ever being derailed by any outside forces. Understanding that if we do a few things better in each of those games, we give ourselves a chance to win, and win well.”
On the Orange running backs:
“We have some talented kids and the expectation was that we would gain five yards per play running the ball. They stuffed the box pretty well. That’s why you saw a lot of throws to the outside, but we still got some runs. We’ve got good backs. We just have to keep getting better up front.”
September 14, 2013
Carrier Dome, Syracuse, N.Y.
Opening Statement:
“It’s good to be home, that’s for sure. We played a good Wagner team. They are a NEC championship team from last year with a good football coach. They had a good plan coming into this thing. They presented some things early against our offense and I thought they did a really good job. Any time you play a team that won a championship the year before, regardless of what size school it is, you’ve got to look at them. It’s tough to win championships. It’s tough to win games. I want to make sure that it’s understood that Wagner is a good football team and I wish them all the luck in the world. I thought they were well prepared and I thought their kids played extremely hard. Looking at our situation, I’m obviously proud of the way we played up front on defense and really across the board there were a lot of good things to build off of.”
“I was pleased with the way (quarterback) Terrell (Hunt) came in and played. I believe in both of those kids (Hunt and Drew Allen). It’s a long season so we have to keep the position strong by continuing to work both of those kids and make good decisions. I’m anxious to watch the tape, not only at the quarterback position, but at all of them to see where we are. We had some target points that were extremely important to me as an offense and a defense, and I know I sound like a broken record but first down is so key. I think we did a good job. You target those small areas and then you go to work and I was really pleased with that.”
“We’ve got a great group of kids. We’ll fight back. We have a good Tulane team next that will be prepared for us. They have two extra days to prepare. We have a great challenge in front of us. It is great to be home in the Dome and to see the student body out there, especially the freshmen. I know they were excited. I look forward to ramping things up here in the Dome and making this a difficult place to play and we need all the help we can get. I want to start off right now by inviting the community and fans to come out and support this team. We’ve got a great group of high-character kids that do things right on and off the field and we would like to ramp things up and get more in the stands against Tulane.”
On quarterback Terrel Hunt:
“First of all, I love the hell out of Terrel, as I do (quarterback) Drew Allen, as I do (quarterback) Charley Loeb and all of these kids. I think you have to be careful. It’s never as good as it seems and it’s never as bad as it seems, somewhere in between is the reality. I think really you have to look at it with clean, realistic eyes and expectations. (We started against) two BCS schools, a 10-win team at Northwestern, and Penn State won eight the year before and you have to be careful, looking at the talent that you are going against and that’s not to begrudge Wagner because they are a good football team. But we have to be smart about how we look at it. With that being said, I’m extremely proud of the way Terrel played and I look forward to seeing him progress.”
On his first win:
“I didn’t think about it (the win) too much until they dumped the Gatorade on me and then it felt good. It felt great to turn around and see my son Wolfgang back there. It feels great. Let’s get number two as fast as possible.”
On the defense:
“Early in the week, because we were extremely mad, kids and coaches alike were mad coming out of Evanston. We felt like we were a better football team than we showed and we felt like we gave plays up in Evanston. As a coach and as players you have to gristle up and say ‘How are we going to go about work?’ It’s the way you bounce back that shows your real character.”
“They went to work and they were kind of pissed. The Tuesday and Wednesday practice got a little physical at times. I kind of felt bad for the scout team at times because they (the starters) were taking out their frustrations on them. To me, it was a culmination of being upset and frustrated because we didn’t get a victory in those first two (games), but going back to work and staying steady as we go with what we know is important, and that staying with the formula that we set up months ago and staying with the plan that we believe in and not ever being derailed by any outside forces. Understanding that if we do a few things better in each of those games, we give ourselves a chance to win, and win well.”
On the Orange running backs:
“We have some talented kids and the expectation was that we would gain five yards per play running the ball. They stuffed the box pretty well. That’s why you saw a lot of throws to the outside, but we still got some runs. We’ve got good backs. We just have to keep getting better up front.”
