The University of Alabama at Birmingham Athletics
Brown, UAB Players Discuss 2006 Season at Media Day
8/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 4, 2006
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ----- The UAB football team hosted its annual Media Day on Friday afternoon to kick off the 2006 season. Head coach Watson Brown and several Blazer players met with the local media for the first time this year. Various topics were discussed and the overall sentiment of Brown and the players seemed to be excitement and anticipation for the possibilities of this year's squad.
UAB opens the season on Saturday, Sept. 2 when the Blazers travel to Norman, Okla., to take on Big XII opponent, Oklahoma. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CDT at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The matchup will be televised on TBS.
Below are some thoughts from Brown, as well as several players who attended the press conference.
UAB head coach Watson Brown
On how important the health of the team is:
"I think the health of this team is going to be very critical. It's a long season. If we make it to the GMAC bowl, you could be playing over five months of football from start to finish. We have to learn how to handle that. It is getting similar to an NFL-type year where you're playing more games and the season is lasting longer. Those are some of the things you have to think about and health is going to be very important. Every year I have been in this league, the team that wins the championship wins the close games and stays healthy. It is consistent every year."
On what needs to happen in order to win the close games:
"That's the tough part for me. If you go back and look at the close games before last season, we have won two-thirds of them. Last year we were 0-6 and if we had just won one, we would have been in a bowl. We just can't let that happen again to us. It is so out of character for a UAB team because we have always been able to win the close games. I think the SMU game started the slide because we entered that game with a 3-1 record and we were 23 seconds from improving to 4-1 and 2-0 in the league and we lose. From there on, we didn't win another close one. Every game we won last season was not a blow out, but it wasn't close. We didn't do the little things to win games last year and this year's team has got to do the little things in order to be successful."
On the pressure of winning:
"As far as I am concerned there isn't any pressure because I don't look at it that way. All the speculation and what everyone says is all here say. As far as winning, nobody wants to win more than I do and we have won here. I am very proud of what we accomplished here. Every job is different and this is a very tough job with a lot of underlying things that people don't know about. There is a lot we have left to do in order to get this program to the next level and we have to get those things done."
On playing a tough schedule and BCS opponents:
"We have one of the toughest schedules in the league this year, but we have to win some of those games. Think about how much it would mean to beat a big-time program and not just play them close. If you play a BCS school close, you get some credit, but if you beat one of those types of schools, you will get credit forever. Our wins over LSU and Mississippi State have meant a lot to us. Look at what our image has improved just by playing those types of teams. When we went to Georgia three years ago and had a chance to win at the end, we got a lot out of it - mentally and financially."
On the financial advantages of playing BCS teams:
"We are drawing 22,000 people per game and I am proud of that. Three or four years ago we were only drawing approximately 9,000 a game. It has come up a lot, but it still isn't enough and that's why we have to play those BCS teams. I felt like we lost a great opportunity last year to make something special and I am very disappointed in that. I don't think that was anything but us. There was games we should have won but for whatever the reason, we did not win them."
On the running backs heading into the 2006 season:
"We have to rely on our strengths and this year, our strength is going to be the running game. I am not the believer of running the same type of offense every year and recruiting to it, because you never know who you're going to get. I think every year you have to adapt to what your players do best, and right now the running game is our strength."
Senior Defensive End Jermaine McElveen
On the lessons the team learned after last season's close losses:
"After the close losses last year, we learned that the small things matter a lot. It's the little things that can make a big difference in games."
On the things that he has done during the offseason to prepare for the upcoming season:
"The last few seasons, I had wrist problems. I had a good workout this year. I got a lot more exercise work on my wrist, to get it stronger for the season. I ran a lot more too this year to get myself in better shape."
On the effect of having a new quarterback this season after the departure of record-setting quarterback Darrell Hackney:
"I know what Chris (Williams) can do at quarterback. I haven't had a chance to see what Sam Hunt can do yet, but I know we are going to be all right. With the running backs and O-Line that we have, we are going to be all right."
Senior Quarterback Chris Williams
His thoughts on getting a chance to play at quarterback this season after spending much of the past few years as the backup quarterback:
"My thoughts are to just come in, be productive and do what coach tells me to do."
 Senior quarterback Chris Williams hopes to use his leadership and experience to guide to 2006 Blazers.  |
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On this season's new offensive scheme:
"The last couple years, we have been a pass first team. This year, we will be a run first, pass second team."
His thoughts on using two quarterbacks, himself and transfer Sam Hunt, during the upcoming year:
"It doesn't matter to me, I just want to play. Sam can come in and give me a breather and I can go in and give him a breather. It will keep up both fresh and we are playing to win. As long as it's working, I don't have a problem with it."
Senior Linebacker Orlandus King
On new defensive coordinator, Rick Christophel:
"He's a player's coach. He's the type of coach that you can trust with anything. He's a good fit for us. I like him a lot. He's brought a lot of new things to the table and we are going to try to eliminate some of the confusion we had before."
On the high expectations of this year's linebackers:
"We're ready. We're experienced. We can run. We get more physical everyday. We expect a lot out of ourselves too."
Senior Running Back Corey White
His thoughts about last year, and the changes he hopes to see this year:
"It was tough last year, most of the games we lost came down to the end. I hope this year's team, with the senior class, will be different. We have a lot of leaders on the team now. We shouldn't run into a problem if we go out and play hard all four downs."
 Senior running back Corey White has accounted for 1,553 yards and 19 touchdowns during his Blazer career. |
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His thoughts about if he feels that the things the team went through last season has helped the team grow and become stronger:
"I really think so because we have been through that. I think with last year, we just want to correct those mistakes this year. We just have to pull through in the end. We have to find it somewhere in our hearts, all of us together, and fight to win games. We have to pick each other up. For example, if the offense is down, the defense has to pick it up, and the other way."
On the different offense this season, which will feature more of the running game with himself and fellow runningback, Dan Burks:
"It feels good, knowing a lot of the attention is on us. We have a good relationship with each other, so that will help us out. We have goals, we're both trying to make it to the next level, so we figure that we will help each other out to get there."
