SWC75
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Every Thursday night of the football season at 7PM, Head Coach Scott Shafer does a call0in show with Matt Park on TK99, (99.5 FM) in Syracuse. To submit a question during the show, you can call 1-888-746-2873 or, locally 315-424-8599. You can send a question to Matt Park via Twitter at Matt Park 1. You can also send one in ahead of time with this link:
http://suathletics.syr.edu/sb_output.aspx?form=4
Eventually, (use a broad definition), the show gets podcasted on this site:
http://suathletics.syr.edu/podcasts.aspx
Please note that my summary is not verbatim and I will combine statements made from different parts of the show that were on the same or similar subjects.
MY QUESTION
“Coach, our last four games have been one-sided. We’ve seen both sides of it. What is your view of what I’ll call “blow-out etiquette”? In this high scoring era, when can a game be regarded as decided? What sort of decisions do you make at that point? And do you make those decisions for the benefit of the other team or for the benefit of your own team?”
COACH SHAFER
Matt Park said “You knew what you were gonna get with Clemson and they were as advertised.” Coach Shafer talked about how disappointed the team was that they couldn’t play better.” They mentioned Keon Lyn’s season and SU career ending injury. “It’s a tough deal. I recruited him and he’s given a lot to the program, including his body.”
Coach liked what he saw in practice early in the week about the team’s attitude and willingness to bounce back. “They are loyal to the game, loyal to the school and, most importantly, loyal to each other.” Later a 9 year old patron of The Red Robin named Katherine asked the coach how the rest of the season is likely to go. Coach gave her an SU hat and told her “We have a bunch of good kids who love football and will fight to get better. They have high character and lover for each other. They will perform better each week. We want to create a culture in Central New York that it’s fun to come out and see us play. We want to look back and be able to say that we changed it.”
One the positive side “I was impressed with our offensive line. Nick Robinson got to the second level and on one play he cut both a linebacker and the referee. (Coach seemed pleased with that.) Mackey McPherson played like a man possessed and obliterated a guy to set up Jerome Smith’s long run. Riley Dixon is punting extremely well. That punt technique forces the return man to go east-west and then find his pocket. Our coverage teams are getting better every week.”
Matt mentioned That Tajh Boyd had a lengthy stretch of games without a turnover but we got to him twice, with two really athletic interceptions. (I would add they almost got a third from Cam Lynch.) Matt said the pass Julian Whigham got to “seemed to be headed toward the band” and that he was convinced that Desir’s wasn’t a catch until he saw the replay and he got both feet in. Coach noted both came from North Miami Beach High School where” Coach (Jeff) Bertani must practice getting balls like that because the ball is in the air so often.”
I called in my question. Coach said that if a game “looks like it could get a little ugly, you get your young kids in and maybe 4th or 5th year seniors that haven’t had much of a chance to get on the field. You don’t want to embarrass the other team. Sometimes these upper eschelon teams like to score some style points. You always have to have a plan both ways.”
Matt pressed him on his actions just before the half. Coach: “I’ve been a sore loser since I was a little kid playing in the back yard. It’s the emotional side of things. Our job is to defend the field and I was excited that we did.” I got the impression that Shafer wasn’t so much complaining that Dabo Sweeney tried for it on fourth down as he was just aggressively happy that we stopped them.
They went on to discuss the third quarter and what might have happened if we’d punched in another score or two in. “It would have changed things. The momentum would have shifted. Stranger things have happened. It would have been one heck of a comeback. The kids did a great job blocking and running behind those blocks. We just screwed up too many big plays.”
Matt asked about the trick plays SU used in the second half. “We practice them in the spring and in the fall, although we don’t use them much. They are in the package. Those mis-direction throws and double passes can work against teams with great pursuit.”
They discussed the receivers and the impact of their play on Terrel Hunt’s numbers. Coach said that whatever the receivers do, “it always comes back to the quarterback….they were all over our wide-outs. As a former quarterback I can sympathize. It’s tough trying to get a read when they are struggling vs. press coverage. There weren’t a lot of opportunities. He said that Ashton Broyld “gets better with every game” and that the wide-outs are “working to improve.” Matt noted that Jarrod West had had an 18 game streak of receptions broken and that that had been one of the longer stretches in school history.
They talked about playing on the road. “I enjoy going on the road, seeing a new stadium, a new atmosphere and a different culture. You’ve gotta be road warriors and deal with the crowd and your emotions: and us vs. the world mentality.” He said they’ve been playing NC State fight songs on a boom box to prepare for the environment. “It a big learning opportunity for Terrel Hunt to focus on he can control and handle and trust the coaching. This can be an experience they will remember for the rest of their lives.”
He is concerned about North Carolina State’s “jet sweeps where they are averaging 10 yards a carry” and their bubble screens. He also said that they would use “copycat plays from what they’ve seen on film.” Their offensive coordinator (Matt Canada) is one of Coach Shafer’s better friends and he’s E-mailed him about how he wishes they didn’t have to face eachother. He also knows head Coach Dave Doeren from when they both were assistants recruiting in South Florida. “It’s a little bit of a family feud”.
Matt noted that NC State has more starting quarterbacks in the NFL than any other team, (Philip Rivers, Russell Wilson- who played there before he transferred to Wisconsin and Mike Glennon, who has taken over the Tampa Bay job). Coach noted that we have some similar offensive statistics to the Wolfpack- 188 rushing yards per game to 192, 443 total yards to 418, 27 points to 32. He also said that “the kicking game will be huge. Our cover teams had better be ready. (They are 111th in kickoff returns but 13th in the country in punt returns with 15.5 thanks to Rashard Smith).
Matt said that the Coach is trying to build depth at the linebacker, (which includes three linebackers so far). Coach said he likes those “middleweight bodies”, which includes linebackers and the strong safeties. He pointed out that those guys are often key guys not only on defense but in kick coverage. Matt noted that Lewellyn Coker may be “short of things in terms of a starter” but that he’s a key play on special teams a as a goal-line blocker. “He probably gets on the field as much as our starting linebackers”. Coach is also excited about our leading tackler, Durell Eskridge. He’s made a lot of tackles one-on-one in the flat and on bubble screens where “it was him and no one else”. “There’s not a greater kid and he will become a great player for us.”
I was pleased to hear the coach talk about recruiting in South Florida because in our commits so far there’s nobody from south of North Carolina and Tennessee.
http://suathletics.syr.edu/sb_output.aspx?form=4
Eventually, (use a broad definition), the show gets podcasted on this site:
http://suathletics.syr.edu/podcasts.aspx
Please note that my summary is not verbatim and I will combine statements made from different parts of the show that were on the same or similar subjects.
MY QUESTION
“Coach, our last four games have been one-sided. We’ve seen both sides of it. What is your view of what I’ll call “blow-out etiquette”? In this high scoring era, when can a game be regarded as decided? What sort of decisions do you make at that point? And do you make those decisions for the benefit of the other team or for the benefit of your own team?”
COACH SHAFER
Matt Park said “You knew what you were gonna get with Clemson and they were as advertised.” Coach Shafer talked about how disappointed the team was that they couldn’t play better.” They mentioned Keon Lyn’s season and SU career ending injury. “It’s a tough deal. I recruited him and he’s given a lot to the program, including his body.”
Coach liked what he saw in practice early in the week about the team’s attitude and willingness to bounce back. “They are loyal to the game, loyal to the school and, most importantly, loyal to each other.” Later a 9 year old patron of The Red Robin named Katherine asked the coach how the rest of the season is likely to go. Coach gave her an SU hat and told her “We have a bunch of good kids who love football and will fight to get better. They have high character and lover for each other. They will perform better each week. We want to create a culture in Central New York that it’s fun to come out and see us play. We want to look back and be able to say that we changed it.”
One the positive side “I was impressed with our offensive line. Nick Robinson got to the second level and on one play he cut both a linebacker and the referee. (Coach seemed pleased with that.) Mackey McPherson played like a man possessed and obliterated a guy to set up Jerome Smith’s long run. Riley Dixon is punting extremely well. That punt technique forces the return man to go east-west and then find his pocket. Our coverage teams are getting better every week.”
Matt mentioned That Tajh Boyd had a lengthy stretch of games without a turnover but we got to him twice, with two really athletic interceptions. (I would add they almost got a third from Cam Lynch.) Matt said the pass Julian Whigham got to “seemed to be headed toward the band” and that he was convinced that Desir’s wasn’t a catch until he saw the replay and he got both feet in. Coach noted both came from North Miami Beach High School where” Coach (Jeff) Bertani must practice getting balls like that because the ball is in the air so often.”
I called in my question. Coach said that if a game “looks like it could get a little ugly, you get your young kids in and maybe 4th or 5th year seniors that haven’t had much of a chance to get on the field. You don’t want to embarrass the other team. Sometimes these upper eschelon teams like to score some style points. You always have to have a plan both ways.”
Matt pressed him on his actions just before the half. Coach: “I’ve been a sore loser since I was a little kid playing in the back yard. It’s the emotional side of things. Our job is to defend the field and I was excited that we did.” I got the impression that Shafer wasn’t so much complaining that Dabo Sweeney tried for it on fourth down as he was just aggressively happy that we stopped them.
They went on to discuss the third quarter and what might have happened if we’d punched in another score or two in. “It would have changed things. The momentum would have shifted. Stranger things have happened. It would have been one heck of a comeback. The kids did a great job blocking and running behind those blocks. We just screwed up too many big plays.”
Matt asked about the trick plays SU used in the second half. “We practice them in the spring and in the fall, although we don’t use them much. They are in the package. Those mis-direction throws and double passes can work against teams with great pursuit.”
They discussed the receivers and the impact of their play on Terrel Hunt’s numbers. Coach said that whatever the receivers do, “it always comes back to the quarterback….they were all over our wide-outs. As a former quarterback I can sympathize. It’s tough trying to get a read when they are struggling vs. press coverage. There weren’t a lot of opportunities. He said that Ashton Broyld “gets better with every game” and that the wide-outs are “working to improve.” Matt noted that Jarrod West had had an 18 game streak of receptions broken and that that had been one of the longer stretches in school history.
They talked about playing on the road. “I enjoy going on the road, seeing a new stadium, a new atmosphere and a different culture. You’ve gotta be road warriors and deal with the crowd and your emotions: and us vs. the world mentality.” He said they’ve been playing NC State fight songs on a boom box to prepare for the environment. “It a big learning opportunity for Terrel Hunt to focus on he can control and handle and trust the coaching. This can be an experience they will remember for the rest of their lives.”
He is concerned about North Carolina State’s “jet sweeps where they are averaging 10 yards a carry” and their bubble screens. He also said that they would use “copycat plays from what they’ve seen on film.” Their offensive coordinator (Matt Canada) is one of Coach Shafer’s better friends and he’s E-mailed him about how he wishes they didn’t have to face eachother. He also knows head Coach Dave Doeren from when they both were assistants recruiting in South Florida. “It’s a little bit of a family feud”.
Matt noted that NC State has more starting quarterbacks in the NFL than any other team, (Philip Rivers, Russell Wilson- who played there before he transferred to Wisconsin and Mike Glennon, who has taken over the Tampa Bay job). Coach noted that we have some similar offensive statistics to the Wolfpack- 188 rushing yards per game to 192, 443 total yards to 418, 27 points to 32. He also said that “the kicking game will be huge. Our cover teams had better be ready. (They are 111th in kickoff returns but 13th in the country in punt returns with 15.5 thanks to Rashard Smith).
Matt said that the Coach is trying to build depth at the linebacker, (which includes three linebackers so far). Coach said he likes those “middleweight bodies”, which includes linebackers and the strong safeties. He pointed out that those guys are often key guys not only on defense but in kick coverage. Matt noted that Lewellyn Coker may be “short of things in terms of a starter” but that he’s a key play on special teams a as a goal-line blocker. “He probably gets on the field as much as our starting linebackers”. Coach is also excited about our leading tackler, Durell Eskridge. He’s made a lot of tackles one-on-one in the flat and on bubble screens where “it was him and no one else”. “There’s not a greater kid and he will become a great player for us.”
I was pleased to hear the coach talk about recruiting in South Florida because in our commits so far there’s nobody from south of North Carolina and Tennessee.
