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FIVE WITH FEDORA – JAMES MADISON
1.) You told the defense at halftime to change their mindset, change the look in their eyes. What did you mean by that and were you happy with how that translated onto the field? – “It was a simple message from the coaches. Gene came in and told them plain and simple, “We don’t need to draw up a new game plan. We’re going to call what we worked on all week.” What he wanted them to do was to start playing with the mental intensity needed to bring those calls to life. We discussed before the game that perfection is impossible, but that chasing perfection can produce greatness. This defense has not reached that yet, and it was time for them to step up and start chasing it. I wanted to see the look in their eyes that told me they were locked in and ready to chase it. And in the end, I feel like enough guys took that challenge and brought a different mindset to the second half on defense. We ended up keeping them scoreless on seven out of their last eight drives. I was happy they tightened some things up, but moving forward they have to bring that mindset into the opening series and establish their momentum early in the game.”
2.) Last week you mentioned how disruptive Nazair Jones was to the Illinois offense. Do you think his absence disrupted the momentum the defensive line had built up in that previous game? – “I don’t think that was it. Obviously we missed having Naz out there. No team likes to enter a game with some of its best players out. But I don’t think his absence threw off the rhythm of the defensive line. I think it goes back to what I mentioned earlier about having the mental intensity needed to get the job done. The effort was there but our guys needed to diagnose what was going on and execute what we worked on all week. One guy being gone doesn’t take away the need for everybody to do their job. That’s all we talked about all week was the need for each guy on this team to just do his job. Don’t do his job or his job. Just do your job. If one guy doesn’t do his job, it can screw up what the other 10 guys are doing. I think that’s what happened early in the game, and that’s what got cleaned up later. No matter who’s out or who’s in, we need this group to do their job this week.”
3.) Did you get the guys to focus on building off of that positive play from the second half today in practice as you moved into prepping for the next game? – “You bet. We make sure we go over all of the positive things that happened in the game. You can’t just ignore what they did well and focus completely on corrections. Ignoring the positive plays would be missing the opportunity to build habits around doing things right. You can’t just brow-beat them the whole time. Do we spend time going over mistakes and how to correct them? No doubt. But that can’t be the only thing you do. Again, you want guys to know what they did wrong, show them how to correct it, and then move forward. Getting stuck with negativity will do nothing to move your team forward towards the next opponent.”
4.) Have you ever had a game before where the quarterback was as efficient with completions as Mitch Trubisky was today? – “You know, I can’t answer that with 100% certainty. But I do know that going 24-for-27 is impressive, and Nathan Elliott was 5-for-6 too, so that tells me that they were efficient in their reads and didn’t put the ball in harm’s way. They threw the ball well. I think we saw what kind of player Mitch can be. Now I think a lot of their efficiency started up front with the protection. I thought the offensive line did a nice job keeping the pressure off the quarterbacks. The receivers and running backs understood what we were trying to accomplish against different looks and they executed that well too. I think the offense’s production was a great example of all of the parts moving together in their roles. When that happens, you’re usually looking at a productive day.”
5.) What was your message to the team on Sunday as you all started preparing for your first conference game this week against Pittsburgh? – “This week starts conference play and it starts the fight to win the Coastal Division again. Our goals are still sitting right in front of us. Pittsburgh is a critical game for us and we need to prepare as hard as we do every week. Our guys can’t have the mental mistakes we saw in this week’s game. If there are players that aren’t yet playing up to their standard, then they need to create a personal plan to accomplish that this week. I think the demeanor today of the team was good.”
Bonus: You had a lot of family and friends in town this weekend, including your mother. What does that support mean to you? – “It’s always great to have them here. Knowing they’re all in my office after the game is a good feeling. I don’t get to see them all that often and I really only get to see my Mother once a year so it’s important to me. After the game is really the only time I have to spend with most of them. It was nice to have a 3:30 p.m. kickoff. That allowed us to get home with time to relax and watch some games on television and just get a chance to talk and catch up. I mean, my friend Jay and I have been friends with each other since about eighth grade. He’s been coming to my games everywhere I’ve ever coached. He’s a lifelong friend who I know always has my back and will do anything for me. And I feel the same way about him. So when I was done with everything after the game it was great to walk in and see them all there.”
FIVE WITH FEDORA – JAMES MADISON
1.) You told the defense at halftime to change their mindset, change the look in their eyes. What did you mean by that and were you happy with how that translated onto the field? – “It was a simple message from the coaches. Gene came in and told them plain and simple, “We don’t need to draw up a new game plan. We’re going to call what we worked on all week.” What he wanted them to do was to start playing with the mental intensity needed to bring those calls to life. We discussed before the game that perfection is impossible, but that chasing perfection can produce greatness. This defense has not reached that yet, and it was time for them to step up and start chasing it. I wanted to see the look in their eyes that told me they were locked in and ready to chase it. And in the end, I feel like enough guys took that challenge and brought a different mindset to the second half on defense. We ended up keeping them scoreless on seven out of their last eight drives. I was happy they tightened some things up, but moving forward they have to bring that mindset into the opening series and establish their momentum early in the game.”
2.) Last week you mentioned how disruptive Nazair Jones was to the Illinois offense. Do you think his absence disrupted the momentum the defensive line had built up in that previous game? – “I don’t think that was it. Obviously we missed having Naz out there. No team likes to enter a game with some of its best players out. But I don’t think his absence threw off the rhythm of the defensive line. I think it goes back to what I mentioned earlier about having the mental intensity needed to get the job done. The effort was there but our guys needed to diagnose what was going on and execute what we worked on all week. One guy being gone doesn’t take away the need for everybody to do their job. That’s all we talked about all week was the need for each guy on this team to just do his job. Don’t do his job or his job. Just do your job. If one guy doesn’t do his job, it can screw up what the other 10 guys are doing. I think that’s what happened early in the game, and that’s what got cleaned up later. No matter who’s out or who’s in, we need this group to do their job this week.”
3.) Did you get the guys to focus on building off of that positive play from the second half today in practice as you moved into prepping for the next game? – “You bet. We make sure we go over all of the positive things that happened in the game. You can’t just ignore what they did well and focus completely on corrections. Ignoring the positive plays would be missing the opportunity to build habits around doing things right. You can’t just brow-beat them the whole time. Do we spend time going over mistakes and how to correct them? No doubt. But that can’t be the only thing you do. Again, you want guys to know what they did wrong, show them how to correct it, and then move forward. Getting stuck with negativity will do nothing to move your team forward towards the next opponent.”
4.) Have you ever had a game before where the quarterback was as efficient with completions as Mitch Trubisky was today? – “You know, I can’t answer that with 100% certainty. But I do know that going 24-for-27 is impressive, and Nathan Elliott was 5-for-6 too, so that tells me that they were efficient in their reads and didn’t put the ball in harm’s way. They threw the ball well. I think we saw what kind of player Mitch can be. Now I think a lot of their efficiency started up front with the protection. I thought the offensive line did a nice job keeping the pressure off the quarterbacks. The receivers and running backs understood what we were trying to accomplish against different looks and they executed that well too. I think the offense’s production was a great example of all of the parts moving together in their roles. When that happens, you’re usually looking at a productive day.”
5.) What was your message to the team on Sunday as you all started preparing for your first conference game this week against Pittsburgh? – “This week starts conference play and it starts the fight to win the Coastal Division again. Our goals are still sitting right in front of us. Pittsburgh is a critical game for us and we need to prepare as hard as we do every week. Our guys can’t have the mental mistakes we saw in this week’s game. If there are players that aren’t yet playing up to their standard, then they need to create a personal plan to accomplish that this week. I think the demeanor today of the team was good.”
Bonus: You had a lot of family and friends in town this weekend, including your mother. What does that support mean to you? – “It’s always great to have them here. Knowing they’re all in my office after the game is a good feeling. I don’t get to see them all that often and I really only get to see my Mother once a year so it’s important to me. After the game is really the only time I have to spend with most of them. It was nice to have a 3:30 p.m. kickoff. That allowed us to get home with time to relax and watch some games on television and just get a chance to talk and catch up. I mean, my friend Jay and I have been friends with each other since about eighth grade. He’s been coming to my games everywhere I’ve ever coached. He’s a lifelong friend who I know always has my back and will do anything for me. And I feel the same way about him. So when I was done with everything after the game it was great to walk in and see them all there.”
