Moorhead: "It's Going To Be A Physical Game"
December 15, 2018 | Football
STARKVILLE -- Mississippi State head football coach Joe Moorhead addressed the media on Saturday as the Bulldogs prepare for the Iowa Hawkeyes in the Outback Bowl on New Year's Day.
Head Coach Joe Moorhead – Media Session
December 15, 2018
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On his first bowl camp at Mississippi State …
"It feels good to be kind of back in the flow. It's been two seasons since I've been in a bowl game coaching. We've utilized the past two weeks for meetings, developmental practices and a little bit of Iowa preview. Starting on Monday, we will be full steam ahead on Iowa game preparation."
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On if all players that are eligible for the NFL draft plan to participate in the Outback Bowl …
"Yes, sir."
Â
On when conversations regarding participating in the bowl game occurred with those players …
"It was some point a couple days after the Ole Miss game. I can't pinpoint exactly the day, but it was somewhere in that timeframe."
Â
On what the goal of those conversations was …
"It was to determine whether they were going to play in the game or not. I let the position coaches take care of it. Then they forwarded the information on to me. There really wasn't much need for a follow-up conversation because they all said they were going to play. That was certainly exciting and a good testament to their commitment to our team and our program to finish this thing the right way."
Â
On if practices or game plans will differ with those players planning to participate in the bowl game …
"I think it is really based on the player to be honest with you. Johnathan Abram is a guy that you're going need to walk out on the field and drag him off for him to skip a rep. D-line, I think, takes care of itself cause Coach (Brian) Baker rotates guys throughout the course of the game. I'm not sure there's been an instance this season where guys played over 40 or 50 plays, so that kind of takes care of itself. It's going into it with a plan, but then seeing how it goes on game day."
Â
On balancing bowl prep between game preparation and player development …
"Kind of the standard and what we've done is to utilize – last Thursday and Saturday, we practiced. That was a split between fundamentals and technique and developmental for the non-travel squad. Today we introduced a little bit of Iowa and had some developmental stuff again for the younger guys. Next week, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday we'll practice. About three quarters of the practice will be devoted to Iowa and the other quarter will be devoted to player development. When you get these extra opportunities, particularly with a New Year's Day game, I think it's something you're excited to take advantage of to get these guys some extra work prior to spring ball."
Â
On how important extra weeks are for preparing against a tough defense like Iowa …
"I feel fortunate because I've got two years of game planning for them. The big thing about facing Iowa's defense is on first and second downs, they don't do a ton of stuff, but they are tremendous. The sum is greater than the parts, I guess is a way to say it. They have a very sound scheme. They play with incredible physicality. I think Coach (Phil) Parker and his staff do a great job knowing how you're going to attack and making in-game adjustments. On third down, they get a little more creative – and in the goal line and red zone. More than anything it's going to be a physical game where you have to be great with fundamentals and technique and be ready for adjustments."
Â
On Tony Hughes' role during bowl prep …
"For bowl prep, just because we're not able to get him up to speed and teach him some of the schemes prior to us playing the game, he's in more of an evaluation process kind of like I was last year. He's involved with recruiting even though it's going to go dead here in a few days. We just have him getting around the guys, getting to see how we operate and what we do and be involved with recruiting."
Â
On if Coach Hughes has a specific position assignment …
"I'm hoping nothing else happens with the staff. Like I said, we're going to allow him to evaluate through the rest of practices and get him down to the bowl game. Let the dust settle from there. Coach is kind of like a Swiss Army knife. He's coached both sides of the ball, multiple positions. He's a great teacher, great mentor, awesome with his fundamentals and techniques. Certainly, his recruiting ability speaks for itself. I'm confident wherever we end up putting him in terms of position, he'll exceed our expectation."
Â
On if the early signing period interferes with bowl preparation …
"I wouldn't say it's harder. It's really about time management, organization and kind of compartmentalizing things where you are devoting some of your time during the day to game preparation and film review and the other part to making sure that everything's on point for the recruiting plan. I wouldn't say more difficult, but you have to be a bit more organized."
Â
On James Jackson's performance since moving to offensive line …
"It's a very exciting move. We've been fortunate with our depth at that position. It's been a luxury that we were able to slide him over. Towards the tail end of the year had been mostly individual stuff, fundamentals and techniques. He went down and worked with the scout team. Now as we transition into Iowa preparation, he's up working with our guys on Iowa prep. Lot of athletic ability, very smart. There's a long tradition of defensive linemen moving over to the other side of the ball with lots of success. Hopefully he can continue along those lines."
Â
On if any other players will be exploring options at different positions …
"We have made the depth charts without the seniors on them and are looking at those things. But certainly, there's a lot of guys that have positional flexibility and a lot of it will be need based. That will be something we'll address as we get closer to spring ball."
Â
On his review of the new redshirt rule …
"I like it. All of the guys will be green lighted for the bowl game outside of Whop (Devonta Jason), who has played throughout the season, Marcus Murphy and then (Scott) Goodman. All the other ones have played in three or less heading into the bowl game. That doesn't mean we're going to go in and play them because they are able to. Those guys are going to have to earn their reps throughout the week, but to have the ability to put them in the last game of the year, try to get them in a little on special teams and give them a little valuable game experience. I like the new rule."
Â
On if everyone is academically squared away on the team …
"I hope so. Miguel (Negron) and his staff do a fantastic job with our team. Heading into finals, we had met and felt good about it. We're going to meet on Thursday once all the grades are in and calculated and tabulated and see where we are at. But everything was very positive heading into finals."
Â
On his feeling about the late momentum heading into signing day …
"I love our plan. I love the effort that our staff is putting forth on the road. I think we made a lot of investment in creating relationships with the coaches, prospects and their parents. We have a lot to sell here at Mississippi State from a school and academic opportunity and certainly a football standpoint. I think the feedback that we are getting and the results in terms of commitments and things like that are in line with the effort that we are putting forth."
Â
On Marcus Johnson's ability to manage and rotate the offensive line …
"The thing that I like the most with what Coach Johnson is doing is it really mirrors what we're doing from the defensive line. You're getting a bunch of guys in there and the ability to keep people fresh, particularly in the later stages of the game. What he's talked about is playing people who have earned the right to be on the field. I think that is a great motivator through the course of the week in practice where a guy comes out and does a good job. He's capable of performing against the opponent, he's going to play. It's not always the case. You can't distribute playing time equally, but I think he's done a good job playing the guys who've earned the right during the week."
 Â
On if any juniors have submitted their names for NFL evaluation …
"We are still talking that through with those guys. Jeffery (Simmons) is really the only one we've kind of had major discussions with. We're anticipating that answer, but he hasn't made any determination as of yet."
Â
On if it is surprising for potential first or second-round draft picks to play in bowl games …
"I guess it is a relatively recent phenomenon. I don't want to speak for other teams or other players that are choosing not to play. I'm just excited that our guys are in the mindset of finishing what we started this season, paying for each other, playing for the team, playing for Mississippi State. They're going to finish this thing the right way. I don't know if there will be more or less of it, but I'm just happy on our end that they've decided to play."
Head Coach Joe Moorhead – Media Session
December 15, 2018
Â
On his first bowl camp at Mississippi State …
"It feels good to be kind of back in the flow. It's been two seasons since I've been in a bowl game coaching. We've utilized the past two weeks for meetings, developmental practices and a little bit of Iowa preview. Starting on Monday, we will be full steam ahead on Iowa game preparation."
Â
On if all players that are eligible for the NFL draft plan to participate in the Outback Bowl …
"Yes, sir."
Â
On when conversations regarding participating in the bowl game occurred with those players …
"It was some point a couple days after the Ole Miss game. I can't pinpoint exactly the day, but it was somewhere in that timeframe."
Â
On what the goal of those conversations was …
"It was to determine whether they were going to play in the game or not. I let the position coaches take care of it. Then they forwarded the information on to me. There really wasn't much need for a follow-up conversation because they all said they were going to play. That was certainly exciting and a good testament to their commitment to our team and our program to finish this thing the right way."
Â
On if practices or game plans will differ with those players planning to participate in the bowl game …
"I think it is really based on the player to be honest with you. Johnathan Abram is a guy that you're going need to walk out on the field and drag him off for him to skip a rep. D-line, I think, takes care of itself cause Coach (Brian) Baker rotates guys throughout the course of the game. I'm not sure there's been an instance this season where guys played over 40 or 50 plays, so that kind of takes care of itself. It's going into it with a plan, but then seeing how it goes on game day."
Â
On balancing bowl prep between game preparation and player development …
"Kind of the standard and what we've done is to utilize – last Thursday and Saturday, we practiced. That was a split between fundamentals and technique and developmental for the non-travel squad. Today we introduced a little bit of Iowa and had some developmental stuff again for the younger guys. Next week, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday we'll practice. About three quarters of the practice will be devoted to Iowa and the other quarter will be devoted to player development. When you get these extra opportunities, particularly with a New Year's Day game, I think it's something you're excited to take advantage of to get these guys some extra work prior to spring ball."
Â
On how important extra weeks are for preparing against a tough defense like Iowa …
"I feel fortunate because I've got two years of game planning for them. The big thing about facing Iowa's defense is on first and second downs, they don't do a ton of stuff, but they are tremendous. The sum is greater than the parts, I guess is a way to say it. They have a very sound scheme. They play with incredible physicality. I think Coach (Phil) Parker and his staff do a great job knowing how you're going to attack and making in-game adjustments. On third down, they get a little more creative – and in the goal line and red zone. More than anything it's going to be a physical game where you have to be great with fundamentals and technique and be ready for adjustments."
Â
On Tony Hughes' role during bowl prep …
"For bowl prep, just because we're not able to get him up to speed and teach him some of the schemes prior to us playing the game, he's in more of an evaluation process kind of like I was last year. He's involved with recruiting even though it's going to go dead here in a few days. We just have him getting around the guys, getting to see how we operate and what we do and be involved with recruiting."
Â
On if Coach Hughes has a specific position assignment …
"I'm hoping nothing else happens with the staff. Like I said, we're going to allow him to evaluate through the rest of practices and get him down to the bowl game. Let the dust settle from there. Coach is kind of like a Swiss Army knife. He's coached both sides of the ball, multiple positions. He's a great teacher, great mentor, awesome with his fundamentals and techniques. Certainly, his recruiting ability speaks for itself. I'm confident wherever we end up putting him in terms of position, he'll exceed our expectation."
Â
On if the early signing period interferes with bowl preparation …
"I wouldn't say it's harder. It's really about time management, organization and kind of compartmentalizing things where you are devoting some of your time during the day to game preparation and film review and the other part to making sure that everything's on point for the recruiting plan. I wouldn't say more difficult, but you have to be a bit more organized."
Â
On James Jackson's performance since moving to offensive line …
"It's a very exciting move. We've been fortunate with our depth at that position. It's been a luxury that we were able to slide him over. Towards the tail end of the year had been mostly individual stuff, fundamentals and techniques. He went down and worked with the scout team. Now as we transition into Iowa preparation, he's up working with our guys on Iowa prep. Lot of athletic ability, very smart. There's a long tradition of defensive linemen moving over to the other side of the ball with lots of success. Hopefully he can continue along those lines."
Â
On if any other players will be exploring options at different positions …
"We have made the depth charts without the seniors on them and are looking at those things. But certainly, there's a lot of guys that have positional flexibility and a lot of it will be need based. That will be something we'll address as we get closer to spring ball."
Â
On his review of the new redshirt rule …
"I like it. All of the guys will be green lighted for the bowl game outside of Whop (Devonta Jason), who has played throughout the season, Marcus Murphy and then (Scott) Goodman. All the other ones have played in three or less heading into the bowl game. That doesn't mean we're going to go in and play them because they are able to. Those guys are going to have to earn their reps throughout the week, but to have the ability to put them in the last game of the year, try to get them in a little on special teams and give them a little valuable game experience. I like the new rule."
Â
On if everyone is academically squared away on the team …
"I hope so. Miguel (Negron) and his staff do a fantastic job with our team. Heading into finals, we had met and felt good about it. We're going to meet on Thursday once all the grades are in and calculated and tabulated and see where we are at. But everything was very positive heading into finals."
Â
On his feeling about the late momentum heading into signing day …
"I love our plan. I love the effort that our staff is putting forth on the road. I think we made a lot of investment in creating relationships with the coaches, prospects and their parents. We have a lot to sell here at Mississippi State from a school and academic opportunity and certainly a football standpoint. I think the feedback that we are getting and the results in terms of commitments and things like that are in line with the effort that we are putting forth."
Â
On Marcus Johnson's ability to manage and rotate the offensive line …
"The thing that I like the most with what Coach Johnson is doing is it really mirrors what we're doing from the defensive line. You're getting a bunch of guys in there and the ability to keep people fresh, particularly in the later stages of the game. What he's talked about is playing people who have earned the right to be on the field. I think that is a great motivator through the course of the week in practice where a guy comes out and does a good job. He's capable of performing against the opponent, he's going to play. It's not always the case. You can't distribute playing time equally, but I think he's done a good job playing the guys who've earned the right during the week."
 Â
On if any juniors have submitted their names for NFL evaluation …
"We are still talking that through with those guys. Jeffery (Simmons) is really the only one we've kind of had major discussions with. We're anticipating that answer, but he hasn't made any determination as of yet."
Â
On if it is surprising for potential first or second-round draft picks to play in bowl games …
"I guess it is a relatively recent phenomenon. I don't want to speak for other teams or other players that are choosing not to play. I'm just excited that our guys are in the mindset of finishing what we started this season, paying for each other, playing for the team, playing for Mississippi State. They're going to finish this thing the right way. I don't know if there will be more or less of it, but I'm just happy on our end that they've decided to play."
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