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00:00 Thank you everybody for coming out today. We have a big challenge this weekend
00:04 versus Iowa. Second Big Ten game, first road game of the year. So excited about
00:10 going on the road and in a challenging environment and and playing our best
00:14 football. So every week we're trying to play our best football so here's another
00:18 opportunity to do just that. Any questions?
00:27 I was wondering is there anything you take away from you guys saw Cade
00:32 McNamara two years ago here. So you I mean I know completely different teams
00:36 and all that but just from having faced him before is there any carry over?
00:40 Well the offenses are different you know you can just watch how he throws the ball
00:44 and those type of things but it's the talent around him is different guys you
00:48 know it's just different people so other than watching his mechanics of throwing
00:52 and all that not a whole lot to get out of that if I'm honest with you and
00:57 so that's the feeling on that yeah good player. We just saw you at seven o'clock
01:03 Saturday but what have you learned about that game and your team in the last 41
01:08 hours? So we talked about today Jack about the penalties so went from 11 to
01:15 6 okay so we showed those. Then we talked about the missed
01:20 opportunities. We had some missed opportunities to make plays
01:25 offense, defense, and special teams. Then we did the last thing and then
01:30 positively we said things we can build on so things that we did well and we can
01:35 build on and that's what we watched today. So we're close we're very very
01:40 close and I was I told them at the practice today I really like this team
01:46 there they just keep moving forward there they were energized today at
01:50 practice they were running you know guys you know not talking about you know
01:57 other things outside of football just locked in on what we have to do for
02:01 football wise. What were some of those things you saw that you can build on and
02:04 want to? So interception Angelo Gross got an interception that's something to
02:10 build on and that's two interceptions in a row just thinking positively the week
02:14 before Jada Mangum had an interception. We showed where we were one
02:18 block away from a big I mean a huge kickoff return and it was it was it was
02:24 there. Building on the the pass Jaron Clever caught from Noah down the middle
02:31 that was an explosive play they can build on that. He put it on target a lot
02:36 of times and we were making plays so those type of things like that we had a
02:41 punt that was a great hang time and we had great coverage he had the fair catch
02:45 so you can build on those type of things and so our guys see it we're right there
02:50 we're we're sowing we keep sowing sowing sowing seeds it's time for us to reap
02:55 we're gonna reap here soon. Hey Arlen excuse me I have a two-part question so
03:01 bear with me for a second. You talked about after the game the conversation
03:04 with your team with the team about being all in and what they said we were just
03:09 with JD and he talked about that. I want to take you back in time a little bit to
03:12 your '87 team that happened to be at this time of the season you guys were
03:17 two and two after win over Iowa. So do you have any memory of what that
03:21 experience was like right around that time were you on the cusp and secondly
03:25 JD talked about how these guys want to really win a game for you and what does
03:29 that mean to? Oh so first of all playing up at Iowa in '87 the first thing that
03:35 comes to my mind thinking about that I remember us talking about it was a new
03:40 game it's crazy I remember all this a new game because we talked about how the
03:44 Sun came up over the stadium at noon right around noon so when they when a
03:51 punt happened we wanted we wanted to get the ball to punt it a certain way I
03:55 remember all of that and it could get in the guys eyes and fumble so y'all check
04:00 me on this we punted the ball to them the direction we wanted at the time it
04:05 was and guy he fumbled he muffed the ball we got the ball check me on that
04:09 check me on that I remember that very vividly so that's what I remember about
04:13 going up to Iowa to play my very first time up there playing really really
04:18 great place to play a great venue far as JD saying winning for me I want us to
04:24 win for Spartan Nation that we all win for for each other and and that's I
04:29 appreciate it but it's not it's not about me and it never will be it's not
04:33 about me it's about us and that's how it always will be. Harlan you've had
04:39 home cooking here for four straight weeks can a road trip especially under
04:43 the circumstances galvanize a team at all? I think so not not that we're
04:49 preaching that but I think so Fred because it's all we have is all we got
04:53 right here you know we we can come together close we find up you know all
04:57 on bus rides then getting down on the plane together we're closer longer if
05:01 that makes sense we're together around each other in a more intimate fashion on
05:05 the road then you are a lot of times when you're at home and so excited about
05:10 this this this this trip this road trip to a very hostile environment I told
05:15 them though it's still 11 on 11 I mean the fans out there but it's still 11
05:20 they're not playing all right so if you don't get caught up in that then you're
05:24 good always just love to play on the road personally so it should be a lot of
05:28 fun and we we enjoy the the atmosphere enjoy Big Ten football for what it is
05:34 it's a one-time deal meaning to play it I know for you for five years you can
05:40 play but it's a one-time lifetime experience of playing college football
05:43 enjoy it enjoy it. I'm also wondering you know the shock of a coach leaving is
05:50 kind of old news to the players now isn't it I mean do you sense they're
05:54 still adjusting to new leadership or is that in the past? I think it's in the
05:59 past they you all heard JD up here I think earlier today and then you see
06:05 them that's how they all are they've all accepted what it is for what it is and
06:11 have moved on and ready to go out and compete and that's why I'm excited about
06:15 this team I still I told him today I love this team I love this team you know
06:20 guys could have said I'm shutting it down I'm done and we haven't had any of
06:24 that and so I said y'all are true Spartan dogs that's what I told him
06:27 today that's y'all keep fighting through keep pushing and it's gonna turn this
06:31 thing is going to turn. You talked about some of the positives from Saturday's
06:37 game I was wondering you know defensively specifically in the second
06:39 half you know going getting down 21-0 you know the turnovers that put the
06:43 defense in a bad situation I guess more specifically what you saw defensively to
06:48 build on and you know going to Iowa where they had 76 yards I believe
06:53 against Penn State. I saw a group of guys that started believing that hey we do
06:58 have a good defense. They knew it at one time but you know then got a little set
07:02 back I think in their own minds but as they kept playing on Saturday they say
07:07 we do have a good defense I kept telling them when they came back from the
07:11 sideline in the second half I said that's defense that's defense I just
07:14 kept saying it now that's defense we getting we playing great defense first
07:18 second down third down getting off the field that's defense and so they were
07:22 excited about that and still want to finish the game got to finish but there's
07:28 that is definitely something to build on. Harlan over here. You played all three
07:34 quarterbacks in the game and I'm wondering what when you looked at the
07:37 film of those three guys what did you see and did what you see impact anything
07:42 in terms of your plan for this week with those three guys? No we're gonna stick
07:46 with how we have it right now with Noah being our quarterback you know he you
07:52 see the the glaring things the interceptions but he did some he put
07:55 some balls on the money man where guys got to make those plays and I like the
08:00 nice run I like him running a little bit personally that's just me all right but
08:04 we'll see if that that can happen because he's fast you know so he can he
08:07 can put pressure on the defense or running the football as well and then
08:11 Caden came in and and did his job and did what he what we asked him to do and
08:15 try to come in and help us and I thought it was good is to get Sam in there and
08:18 get some get some minutes and get a feel so but right now we're gonna be status
08:23 quo if that changes will let you let you guys know. There's been a lot of
08:29 conversation about Jordan Hall and his leadership for a true freshman to be
08:33 able to step up and lead in that way during this time what can you say about
08:37 him and just maybe how he's been such a pivotal force in in this? That's that's
08:42 who he is like so he was a three-time captain at IMG just think about that he
08:47 was a three-time captain at IMG that's where all the stars go right and they
08:51 all play down there he's a leader he's a natural-born leader extremely
08:56 intelligent he understands he cares and and that's what it is that's what it is
09:02 for him that's just who he is as a person a natural leader and that doesn't
09:08 mind speaking up saying the right things and doing the right things so we're
09:13 excited that he's here with us and on our team and playing for us you know he
09:16 did a good job out there as a true freshman playing on Saturday and so did
09:20 Chance Rucker as well.
09:23 How important is it for him to be in a place like Kinnick Stadium?
09:29 Very important it'll be his first time and like you know that's why I keep
09:35 saying I'm gonna keep saying it's 11 on 11 it's 11 on 11 because it's gonna be
09:39 a night game up there they have a great fan base they do a great job of with the
09:43 crowd noise and all that kind of stuff and just they focus on 11 on 11 I think
09:48 he can but still it's the first time experience going there so you you look
09:52 around a little bit you know and you got to be locked in and focus and go get the
09:56 job done.
09:58 Harlan, Iowa's offense for a couple years has been struggling to score points I'm
10:02 just wondering where you sort of see maybe where some of their issues are I
10:07 guess as you know as far as you can go there and also you know just just part
10:10 of your message or you're thinking this week like don't let us be the one that
10:14 lets them heat up or you know do you see them on the cusp of turning a corner or
10:17 making sure that you know we're not the team they turn a corner on type of thing?
10:20 I got you first I'm never gonna tell you what I think their issues are I don't
10:25 know that they don't have issues they're really really good right but no
10:29 seriously um coach Farrance who I know from back in Cleveland Brown days is a
10:34 great dude great coach great offensive line coach and and they pride themselves
10:39 on running the football and so we're gonna have to be able to know it stop
10:43 the run that's it this is every week stop the run and then also control the
10:47 passing game we're gonna put together a plan that we hope will allow us to do
10:52 just that you know what I mean so we know they're a tough team especially at
10:57 home and don't pay attention to what you've seen in the past you know each
11:01 game is a new game has a life of itself life of its own so we're taking them
11:06 very very seriously the last time we were up there we got our butts kicked so
11:09 we were taking them very very seriously
11:13 not necessarily we were because we're focused on ourselves trying to just play
11:27 well down after down the series after series so we just really about us trying
11:33 to just play better football consistently and and that's that's where
11:36 the focus is yeah after you know two losses I guess the natural instinct I
11:42 guess from the outside is to make you know massive changes whole sales changes
11:46 sounds like you kind of want to stay the course why is that with this why do you
11:51 want to maintain the status quo essentially because you see like I said
11:55 the Miss ops you see we're that close it's not like way big old gap where now
12:00 this guy needs to be out of here this guy you see it you see it on film as you
12:04 watch the film very closely and so you know we're there we're there we just
12:09 have to start making those plays as the games go on and doing because do it
12:13 consistently and I like I said you know you you so you so you so eventually it's
12:18 the time to reap the harvest so we're gonna reap the harvest here very very
12:22 soon Harlan in the back you've not been the guy everyone's kind of looking at
12:26 for the past couple weeks I guess do you feel like things have slowed down in
12:29 your world a little bit when you're now more in like a normal week-to-week
12:32 operation at practice especially yes I'm getting yeah exactly right getting more
12:36 comfortable doing this it is a change it was a big change and so just getting
12:41 comfortable and and it's doing it my way you know doing it being me I can't be
12:46 anybody else I'm only Harlan Barnett so that's how I have to operate I'm not
12:50 trying to operate like anybody else and in doing so I think with anything you
12:54 have to you have to catch a rhythm I've said this before and just like you know
12:57 you back there doing the camera whatever you have to catch a rhythm how to do
13:01 this and you know you catch that once you catch that rhythm of it then you
13:04 know how to flow with it and everything goes smooth from there in my opinion in
13:09 that regard Harlan how much are you enjoying this it's not a loaded question
13:13 you don't enjoy losing but you've waited for this for a long time how much do you
13:18 enjoy coming to work and trying to get this thing right I love it I love it and
13:24 it's that you know alma mater and and I love this place I said that before
13:28 anybody knows me knows that so I'm loving it for it as we just got to get
13:33 in and get some W's but but that's that's the focus and that's the goal to
13:38 get it done and help these guys keep getting better and better and better so
13:41 but I'm loving it I really am it's two things you said Saturday that you hadn't
13:49 had a chance to really see what happened on the fake punt and then you had a
13:53 shank punt and you got to win special teams in situation or what happened on
13:57 that fake punt we had we had a guy that ran too far up the field he's supposed
14:02 to set it down okay and then he would the guy with a punt at the ball he saw
14:06 that we were up the field the guy gets pushed up the field that had that
14:09 contained and they took off for the run so we had it we saw it it was it was
14:16 playing guy just discipline discipline discipline so that was a discipline
14:21 thing your first year here was Phil's senior season mm-hmm for George what is
14:28 it about his defense that allows them to be as perplexing to offenses and how do
14:33 they intercept so many passes in that zone well that's that's pretty much all
14:38 they do so when it's all you do you can lock in on on people because you know
14:45 all the adjustments I there's a saying I say sometimes you coach can be having
14:50 this defense or offense for that matter but defense learning defense as opposed
14:56 to defending offense so they're defending offense because they know the
15:01 defense by the like the back of their hand so they're there they're steady
15:05 defending offense they looking for different certain formations mean this
15:09 certain things the quarterback doing this or a certain lineman they look of
15:13 all that because the defense is like hey we doing what we do for the most part
15:17 and so I think that's that's what has made them very successful consistently
15:22 throughout the years I was wondering if you think if you anticipate getting any
15:28 guys back and being healthier this Saturday whether it's Chuck or Chris or
15:32 Jacoby or your to backup running backs or your other mangamu who was injured on
15:38 Saturday on any of those guys you anticipate day to day but we should be
15:44 getting some guys back hopefully. Harlan you just mentioned it doing it your way
15:49 can you elaborate on that a little bit some of the notable changes notable
15:52 differences? Notable changes and differences well doing my way is not a
15:57 so I mean just being who I am when I said that initially about doing my way
16:01 you I can't I don't think come in and just change up everything we're in the
16:07 midst of the season so a lot of it I tried to keep us as normal as possible
16:11 but I mentioned this before like we pray at the practice now we used to do that
16:15 with Coach Deeds so we do that's something that we do differently we
16:18 address every player on home games that's something that we that's a little
16:22 different we we moved so this past Friday we moved we moved Chapel to
16:30 Saturday mornings as opposed to Friday nights and we used to do it on Saturdays
16:34 of the game before so that's I like that but I and I also installed a what we
16:41 call team bonding on Saturday evening I mean Friday excuse me Friday evenings
16:46 after dinner just like and have a speaker come in and we had a speaker
16:49 come in this week and he did a great job and we'll have somebody else come in and
16:53 speak this week so you get a combination of a Friday Saturday deal but that's
16:57 just some of the things that I've done but nothing too crazy where they feel
17:02 like what's going on you know where I change the schedule up too much. Harlan
17:07 wondering with why was Chance the guy that you guys went with in that spot and
17:12 and how do you think he went or how do you how do you grade out in your
17:15 evaluation him in that first game? Absolutely so he was the guy believe it
17:18 or not he was the guy going into the first game. Coach Salgado felt that good
17:23 about him and and he's a talented young man he ended up getting hurt the week of
17:28 that first game so it didn't work out for him to be the guy in there as the
17:32 first guy and then we just after after some injuries last week we said we going
17:39 with him let's go put him out there you know and and he did a good job so now he
17:45 just keep playing like that confidence grows and he'll just keep getting better
17:49 and better and better but he's a really good football player very talented long
17:54 can run he has to get a little bit stronger but that'll come and when he
17:58 does watch out.
18:01 How much do you have to balance taking care of the goals in the here and now with also setting yourself up for the future of the program?
18:13 Well like you said we the here and now is what we have to have to deal with um
18:19 we're trying to we're doing our best at um because because if we handle here and
18:24 now that's going to help the future obviously right so we have to just handle
18:30 here and now and focus on that far as the future is concerned when I hear you
18:35 say future I'm thinking recruiting and and you have to also balance that as
18:41 well like you know continue to let them know that guys are working hard we're
18:46 gonna eventually make this thing happen and then they'll feel comfortable I
18:51 think with us getting on a roll and winning games and things like that so
18:55 that's that's what I think future that's what I'm thinking other than that it's
18:58 all focused on the here and now.
19:02 How do you choose the personnel though and maybe get guys to work with that?
19:04 You may want to see two or three years down the road.
19:06 I got you I got you whoever can help us win that's what that's what we're going
19:14 to use we're going to use whoever can help us win ball games so everybody is
19:18 wide open to being able to play and that's that's the mindset.
19:23 Any questions for coach?
19:25 Alright.