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Al Groh |
On his Cavalier Call-In radio show tonight, Al Groh talked with host Mac McDonald about the FSU victory and the upcoming game at North Carolina. He also took questions from fans about halftime adjustments, crowd noise, the offensive gameplan, trick plays, Chris Long ‘s roughing-the-quarterback penalty, zone blitzes, the possibility of using Utah’s spread option, and more.
Callers and Questions
1) Cathy in Charlottesville asked how the coaches make halftime adjustments.
Groh said once the players go into the locker room, he usually will address them briefly, then meet with the coaches to “redefine the game” and strategize for the second half. He said he has learned to be “succinct and definitive with the information you give the players,” focusing on “three or four power points” that will lead to a victory.
2) Ginger in Roanoke asked about the “unbelievable” noise at Scott Stadium on Saturday and asked if the crowd “was loud enough for you guys?”
Groh said he’s usually so focused during games that he doesn’t notice crowd noise, but he said it “cracked into my consciousness” at times Saturday. “It was great. It was a terrific atmosphere for us.”
3) Diana in Roanoke asked what was better: watching the Rolling Stones or beating Florida State.
“Mick Jagger says he can’t get no satisfaction,” Groh said. “The greatest motivator for doing this is the satisfaction in the achievement of what you’ve been working toward all week.”
So, of course, beating the Seminoles was better. “Although you don’t get to see Mick Jagger very often,” Groh joked.
4) Nathan in Richmond said Groh deserves the game ball because of his preparation before the FSU game.
“That’s nice of you to say,” Groh said, “but I tried to give the game balls to the people who really made it happen.”
Game balls were awarded to defensive coordinator Al Golden, offensive coordinator Ron Prince, OT D’Brickashaw Ferguson, QB Marques Hagans, RB Wali Lundy, S Tony Franklin, DE Brennan Schmidt and K Connor Hughes.
5) Brad in Salem congratulated Groh on the gameplan and asked to “see more of that offense.”
Groh related a quote from Bill Parcells that he said he told the team Friday night: “Here’s another thing that’s overrated: gameplans. The most underrated thing in football is execution. People don’t go into games with bad gameplans.”
Groh said the planning part is important but he wanted his players to understand their importance in determining the outcome. The role of the coaches, he said, is to “give the players a sound scheme and put them in position where if they execute well, the result is going to be very positive. So by the time you get to Saturday, it passes the baton of the result squarely to the players. That’s a great thing for them and it should be a liberating thing for them, and they went out and did a great job with it. So all the things that looked good and that people liked and this and that, that’s because the players made them look good. And they deserve all the credit for it.”
6) Matt in Virginia Beach said he felt the trick plays were effective in setting a tone of fearlessness and creativity. He said the offense hasn’t been as “nimble, adaptive and creative” since Bill Musgrave left.
“I would have been a lot more impressed, Matt, if they had been completed,” Groh said of the three trick plays, two passes by Emmanuel Byers and one by Wali Lundy. He didn’t comment on Musgrave.
7) Henry in Tampa, Fla., asked about the roughing-the-passer penalty on Chris Long .
“I really don’t know what to tell him he could do differently,” Groh said. “So I’ve asked the ACC office: What should I tell my player? He’s already got his arms around the quarterback. What’s he supposed to do? Is he supposed to back off?”
Henry noted that Long is coming close to making big plays and asked if Groh expected that to happen in the future.
“Chris is doing a very nice job for us and is an integral part of what we’re trying to do,” Groh said. “But Chris has only started six college football games. He’s really a neophyte in terms of getting started with his career. So yes, I would expect with the skills that he has, the energy that he brings and the passion that he has for football, his game will continue to go upwards.”
8) Rick in Charlottesville wondered if UVa’s defense would continue to run more zone blitzes and if it was possible to run Utah’s spread option offense with Marques Hagans.
“We do have zone blitzes in our package,” Groh said. “We did use a number of them the other day – none of them in the nickel but a couple on the regular downs. The pressure that we used was bringing us some success.
“I think if you’re going to run that Utah offense, which is very intriguing and very unique, you have to commit fully to it. We’ve kind of gone down a particular path. It’s not an offense where you can say, well, we’ll run a little of that. It’s a full-package deal. We’re aware of some of the things they do in the passing game and we’ve tried to put a couple of those principles into our passing game. But in terms of the shotgun option offense they have with the quarterback being the principle ball-carrier, I don’t think we’re going to do that. ”
Notes and Quotes
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