Press Conference with Brent Key after victory over Wake Forest
Post-game interview with Brent Key
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00:00 >> Everybody ready?
00:02 Open it up with, it's great to come on the road,
00:07 get an ACC win versus a really good football team, a well coached football team.
00:12 I have a lot of respect for Dave Clawson and the job he's done and
00:16 the program he's built over the last ten years here at Wake Forest.
00:19 So we knew we were going against a good football team.
00:23 We knew the things we had to do.
00:24 We had to play to lose that field position.
00:26 We had to generate some explosives on offense.
00:30 And the biggest thing was we knew that we had to start generating some negative
00:34 plays on the defensive front.
00:35 We had to be able to affect the quarterback.
00:39 And we had to start flipping the turnover margin.
00:42 That was something that we take a lot of pride in working on.
00:46 It had not happened yet for us.
00:49 And so it was good to see some of those things take place.
00:52 The turnovers, the negative plays and sacks generated on the defensive side
00:57 of the football.
00:58 Some disappointing things, obviously the penalties are something that is
01:02 extremely uncharacteristic, but when you do it, it is characteristic.
01:07 So you're as good as your last game, and
01:13 that's the mark that you have and that you leave.
01:16 That's what we'll be addressing when we get back and
01:21 start to put together that and move forward to the next week.
01:25 But there's a lot of good things to grow on in the game.
01:29 I thought we made some improvements in a lot of areas and
01:31 forced a fumble on special teams, which was good.
01:37 It was good to get Shanahan back out there and healthy and kicking the ball.
01:42 We don't have a field position, but then there's, like I said,
01:44 there's some things we gotta address.
01:46 The penalties are the most concerning of them.
01:50 We've gotta do a better job of being able to consistently run the football.
01:52 We can't sit back there and have to throw it every single time versus defense.
01:58 They're a good defense.
01:59 We've gotta get consistency in the running game so
02:04 we're not the one dimensional team.
02:07 We can put games to bed when we need to put them to bed.
02:09 Starting with negative field position on offense,
02:15 when you get a penalty on the first play and you're a first and
02:19 20 situation, then those are hard to overcome.
02:22 And we can't put ourselves in those positions.
02:24 So it's good to get a win.
02:27 Excited for the team.
02:29 Excited for the team to be able to build on the good things and have a win.
02:36 So whether you win a game, whether you lose a game,
02:41 you've gotta address things that are wrong, address things that you have to fix.
02:45 But it's a heck of a lot better to do it after a win, I'll tell you that.
02:49 So with that, open for any questions.
02:51 >> Coach, I'm sorry to interject.
02:53 Both of the touchdowns for the offense came from 30 yards out.
02:57 And you got some good field position because of a couple of mishaps on
03:00 their special teams, but weren't able to get touchdowns with some of
03:03 the red zone possessions.
03:04 What went into some of the, maybe the struggles with the offense in the red zone
03:06 and not being able to put it in the end zone?
03:08 >> Yeah, that's something that when you get in the red area and
03:11 coverage starts to shrink on you, the windows are tighter.
03:15 You've gotta be able to create some room running the football and doing it.
03:19 Because your neck edge, your boot game, some of the action throws that you use
03:25 down there to affect those tight safeties, if you're out on the ball,
03:28 those won't become effective at all.
03:30 So that's the way we've been built down there.
03:33 And we've gotta be able to sustain some of those drives and get them into,
03:37 we were a lot of youth, to make a lot of long yardage situations.
03:40 And that's something we've gotta really address.
03:43 And those first down plays, first down, second down,
03:47 and get out of some of these, at least one third down.
03:49 >> Kelly.
03:51 >> Pete Sacks today, a lot of pressure on Griffis.
03:57 He hasn't struggled with that coming into the game, getting Sacks,
04:01 at least you were getting pressures, but not Sacks.
04:02 How important was it to finally kind of break through for those guys to see that?
04:06 >> Yeah, very important.
04:08 It's something you can build on.
04:10 You're coaching things, we wanna be aggressive.
04:14 We took an aggressive mindset in some of the situations.
04:17 A lot of the situations really defensively tonight, and
04:22 wanted to be able to affect and slow down the measurement game that they have,
04:27 with the RPOs, and throw that off.
04:29 It is something we can build on, but now we set that expectation.
04:32 We've been able to do that, we've gotta consistently do that, build on it,
04:34 be able to do it week in, week out.
04:37 >> Chad. >> Is this closer to the complimentary
04:38 football you've been looking for, at least in the right direction?
04:41 >> Yeah, it was, there was ups and downs on both sides of the football.
04:45 You've gotta be able to have each other's back.
04:46 You can't rely on one side of the ball or
04:50 one unit to be the one that produces.
04:52 When you do that, it becomes a hard game to play, a hard game to manage.
04:57 And it's good when you have a negative series about one side of the ball,
05:03 and the other one can answer and get them out of it.
05:06 We had some timely turnovers tonight, too,
05:08 the defenses that were game for us, and present a good field position for
05:13 the offense, and we've gotta go capitalizing on those things.
05:17 >> Chad. >> Only one pass play of 20 yards or
05:22 more that had to be good to see as well, given the explosives relatively limited.
05:25 >> Yeah, we did, but at the same time, there's a lot of things within that that
05:30 we've gotta continue to work on.
05:33 And really, the biggest frame to a DB is a pass rush, and it helps those guys out.
05:39 But at the same time, we're in position, we've gotta stay in position,
05:42 and be able to make plays on the ball and on the man.
05:45 >> Okay.
05:46 >> How valuable is Haynes' willingness to throw downfield,
05:49 even when he's not connecting, just testing the defense that way?
05:52 >> Yeah, well, I mean, you're always looking,
05:55 we've got some guys on the outside that can run, and then we throw it up there.
06:00 And every throw's not gonna be a comfortable throw, and
06:03 we're gonna try to push it downfield.
06:07 And we want those 50/50 balls to come out on our side, and
06:12 we want to be able to connect in those big plays.
06:15 And that's what college football is.
06:17 We've got guys that can be explosive, we've got quarterback that can
06:19 deliver football, and we've gotta continue to find ways to be explosive offense.
06:23 >> Chuck.
06:24 >> I thought with the corners, there were maybe some questionable VI calls there,
06:28 and they bounced back, and obviously, at the big interception that sort of game.
06:33 Can you just talk about how they kind of stayed with it,
06:37 despite the penalties, and then Miles with the tip on the last one?
06:40 >> Yeah, some of the coverage we were playing,
06:44 based on the pressures that we were bringing, you're gonna get some one-on-one
06:47 situations there, and you've gotta really go back and
06:51 learn your technique in those things.
06:54 And we had some that were timely errors on our part that led to some
06:59 continued possessions for them, and positive field position for them.
07:05 And then at the same time, we were able to come up with some of those plays,
07:08 and with the aggressive mindset, it helped us build the game for us.
07:12 >> Jackson.
07:14 >> The kicking game's had its share of ups and downs this year, but
07:16 how good was it to see the consistency in that going three for
07:20 three and not having any misses or blocks or anything like that?
07:23 >> Yeah, yeah, dang, you say it's bad?
07:29 Holy cow, I'm gonna look at my Apple Watch during every field goal to make sure
07:34 it's not buzzing off like, like I'm having a blood pressure attack or something.
07:39 >> [LAUGH] >> So, the doctor was swarming around me.
07:43 No, it's good, and really, when you look at overall special teams,
07:47 we've made a lot of positive strides in all the teams.
07:49 There's things we still gotta work on, obviously,
07:52 the field goal was something that we've been addressing.
07:55 From the protection and the kicking part, it was good to see,
07:58 to see us be able to convert on those tonight.
08:01 I think the punt team's doing a nice job, not only the punter,
08:07 but the varying formations that Ricky is creating and giving and
08:11 creating basically extended offensive play there to help with the field position.
08:16 So, we're like, I'll see on tape,
08:20 we're about a shoestring away from breaking a big one on the kickoff return
08:23 early in the game, which was a positive scene, like to be able to get those.
08:27 But a lot of that goes back to the discipline, and
08:30 discipline your fundamentals and discipline in your play before,
08:35 through, and then after the whistle as well.
08:37 >> Jake.
08:38 >> You mentioned addressing the penalties, how do you do that?
08:41 >> [LAUGH]
08:45 >> Very calm.
08:48 >> No, I'll leave that between the walls.
08:53 >> On the field?
08:55 >> I have to call your mom, right?
08:59 >> She'll be calling me here in a minute.
09:01 >> Okay.
09:02 >> You were, I guess, not thrilled with maybe your defense and
09:05 practice this week, it seemed like, and you seemed like you challenged them.
09:10 They certainly rose to the occasion in the first half and
09:13 then came up with clutch plays in the second half as well.
09:15 Can you kind of talk about seeing that from them,
09:18 seeing them respond to the coaching piece?
09:21 >> Yeah, I mean, I'm not gonna sugar coat things.
09:25 When things are not right, I'm gonna tell them, and we're gonna fix them.
09:30 Because it's not fair to go back and sit there on a Sunday and say, man,
09:35 I saw that, I knew that was gonna happen.
09:37 I mean, there's a lot of uncontrollables in the game as it is.
09:41 When something happens in the week and you don't necessarily have a great practice.
09:46 It was the D-line, it was the D-line, and they didn't practice well on Wednesday.
09:54 And so I just told them locker room, I said,
09:56 I guess we'll have to go to developmental practice every Thursday morning.
09:59 And I don't know if they got a kick out of that or not, but they responded.
10:05 And that's what you want.
10:06 You want guys to listen to what you say,
10:11 to understand that, hey, look, there's good and there's bad.
10:17 There's right and there's wrong.
10:18 There's a right way to do things if you wanna win.
10:20 And we're not gonna take shortcuts or make exceptions when it comes to that.
10:25 The process is what it is.
10:27 And we're gonna stick to the process of what it takes.
10:31 And it comes with hard work, it comes with hard practice,
10:34 it comes with preparation and preparing the right way.
10:37 And when that doesn't take place, we're gonna be too aggressive and
10:41 make sure that we do everything we can to get back on track in order to have
10:45 success on Saturdays.
10:46 >> Anything else for coach?
10:48 Talk to you tomorrow.
10:49 >> How important was this?
10:50 You get back to 500 and you get an opportunity to play your last non-conference
10:55 game next week before the Oregon game, obviously.
10:58 But just in terms of trying to reset things after two tough losses or
11:04 a season?
11:05 >> Yeah, it's again, not to be cliche with everything, but it is one day at a time.
11:11 It's one game at a time.
11:12 We treat every game as a season in itself.
11:16 And that's the biggest challenge when you're dealing with 18 to 22,
11:20 23 year old young men.
11:21 But it's not just them, it's coaches as well.
11:24 It's us as adults.
11:25 We all wanna live either in the past or the future and
11:30 be able to keep the mindset of staying one play at a time and playing for 60 minutes.
11:33 That was a big challenge.
11:34 I mean, Lake was a great second half football team this year.
11:37 And to be able to challenge them at halftime,
11:41 who's gonna be able to play a second half and sustain for another 30 minutes?
11:46 That's the challenge, challenging each position group,
11:49 individual players and challenging those guys to do that.
11:52 The records come, they are what they are really.
11:58 And yeah, it's great.
12:00 It's a lot better to be on one side than the other.
12:02 But we're gonna stick true to what we're doing.
12:05 We're gonna stick true to how we're preparing.
12:07 We're gonna stick true to being truthful with the kids and
12:11 being truthful with each other.
12:12 Being able to look ourselves in the mirror and self assess and
12:15 admit when things aren't right and aren't the right way.
12:18 That's the only way to build a program and to build it in the right way.
12:23 >> Okay, thank you, coach.