Jeff Monken Press Conference Quotes: Navy

WEST POINT, N.Y. - Army West Point football head coach Jeff Monken met with members of the local media on Tuesday afternoon for his weekly press conference inside Nowak Auditorium. The Black Knights are preparing to play Navy in the 116th Army-Navy Game presented by USAA on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

(Ref.: opening statement)
"Good afternoon. We are all looking forward to this game. It is a great rivalry. I don't know if there is a better one in sports and it really is a lot of fun to be a part of. It is an honor and a privilege to be part of this team and to be able to compete in this rivalry and our kids are excited as well. We are working the rest of this week in order to try and play our very best football, which we will have to do in order to win, and hopefully we will be able to go out and execute on Saturday and give ourselves a chance. It would be a great victory for our football team after having a lot of disappointing close losses this year. We have a one-game season we are facing and it would be great for our seniors to have that legacy and for our football team to go into the offseason and for our young guys to have that motivation as they continue their careers."

(Ref.: how do you contain Navy QB Keenan Reynolds)
"To try and contain Keenan is extremely difficult. Every coach, every defensive staff that they have faced will tell you the same thing. Their offense is designed so that he can run the ball and make plays and throw the ball to their receivers and slot backs and he does a really good job of all of that. He is an outstanding leader, a strong runner and has a great knack for finding an opening or a crease and wiggling his way through to find extra yards. That is a unique talent in itself, he turns some gains that would be a yard or two for one guy into some really long runs. He is an outstanding player, very talented, and all the other things he does for his team make him so valuable."

(Ref.: being an underdog)
"There is going to be great emotion and two teams competing very fiercely in this rivalry. If the prognosticators were right, there would be no reason to play the game. We are going to go out and play our best. The team that is favored doesn't always win and hopefully that will be the case this Saturday. I know that nobody is giving us a chance besides us, but we are the only ones that matter. We are the ones playing the game. Our guys believe and they believe in each other and I believe in this team. We have come close enough in enough ball games this year for me to feel like I'm not absolutely crazy in thinking we are a much better football team than 2-9. But, I don't think that matters for this football game. They are physically talented, they are a good football team and a well-coached football team. I have great respect for them, but I don't think we have a football team with a bunch of zeros. Guys who can't play, can't tackle, block or run the ball. We have guys who will play really hard and give us a chance on Saturday."

(Ref.: quarterback situation)
"For the first time in many weeks we have five healthy quarterbacks. The three who have played are all healthy and capable of playing in the game on Saturday, and we have three more days of practice until we play on Saturday. I think we owe it to ourselves to make sure we are putting the right guy in there. I trust all of them, I think all of them will play hard and operate within the offense. Perhaps that will be an advantage for us to have three guys who we feel like can go into the game. This week we will see how they operate as they get closer to the game and see how well they are executing and making their reads, and taking care of the ball, all of the things that will matter on Saturday."

(Ref.: Teams with a winning streak and the mindset)
"There's a different mindset, but it doesn't always make it easier. The team that hasn't been winning can certainly have a real chip on their shoulder with something to prove. I hope we play that way, with something to prove. There's also a sense of confidence that a team has when they've been winning just as they have and in any rival. When I was a part of the other program, we had lost to Notre Dame 44 years in a row and we went there and beat them finally, but it took 44 years to get that first one. I'd say physical superiority had a lot to do with that streak, Paul Johnson used to say that Notre Dame has 12 parade All-Americans, and we have 12 guys that marched in a parade. So that was the physical disparity, but I don't think there is that same type of physical disparity this Saturday in terms of our ability and theirs. Some of it may be a mindset, but that is something that is my job; to get our guys to put that aside and just go play."

(Ref.: What this game means for the program's future)
"To win the last game of the year and certainly the biggest rivalry game that there is would help us moving forward, starting with the guys on our team. The excitement for those seniors to end their careers with a victory and the guys returning to have that confidence going into the next season, kind of getting that behind us and making it a rivalry again. It's not a rivalry unless you win sometimes so that would do wonders for us. The pride of this program and West Point and what the game means to the Institution and the U.S. Army, those are all things that everyone feels a sense of responsibility to. I certainly do as the head coach of this program, I feel a sense of responsibility to get it turned. For our guys, I don't want to put the pressure on them that they're overcoming a decade of adversity. It is not on them. The one game is on our team. This is the only time that this team as it is right now will face Navy. We are responsible for this game and we have to do our best to win this game and that has been my message to the team. I know Kenny very well and I know he is telling his team something very similar. You don't get any points for past football games. You have to go play this game, it is this team. That is what makes every game special and certainly this game with all the attention that it gets. It is two teams just playing their hearts out for the pride in the other guys in the room. It would mean a lot to us to feel like we're making progress for where we want to be and where I know we are going to be. Winning the Academy rival games are a big part of measuring success in Academy football and Academy sports."

(Ref.: Successful season if you beat Navy)
"No, if you do the math that would make us 3-9 and that wouldn't make it a successful season. That would make it a successful game against Navy, but not a successful season as a whole."

(Ref.: On the future of the program)
"There are no guarantees of anything. I can't guarantee we're going to win. I can only guarantee that I'm going to work as hard as I can and try to motivate and inspire everybody that's part of this program to get it turned around. I believe it's going to happen. I think just the fact that we've been competitive with such a young group of kids. We're with so many young players. We have several senior players, several letterman players that have been a big part of our season and played a lot of football for us. I'm glad we got them on our team. There are a lot of guys playing a lot of snaps that hadn't played college football before this year. To be as close as we have, to be as competitive as we have, I think that's a really good sign. If you just look at programs historically and you go and find a coach you really admire and respect, and just look up his record and when he went to a new program that hadn't been winning and just see how long it took, you'll find a lot of coaches you really admire and respect and that a lot of people talk about in sports had a lot of growing pains too and we're probably questioned along the way. What progress are you showing everybody that strides are being made and that there is going to be a change? What are they going to say? Just trust me and believe that we're doing it right and it'll happen. If you ask Mike Krzyzewski, or Greg Schiano, Nick Saban when he went to Michigan State, or Mack Brown, David Cutcliffe, Barry Alvarez, Bill Snyder. Go look at their records. It wasn't instant success. It took some time and I'm sure they were all questioned about whether or not progress was being made. Mack Brown was here last spring, talked to our staff and coaches and said that very same thing. He went to fill his car up, and it was probably a joke, but he is there in North Carolina and walked in to pay for the gasoline and saw a North Carolina football poster and said 'hey, what do you think of that North Carolina team?' and the guy behind the counter said, 'well if we could get rid of that Mack Brown guy we could probably win some football games around here.' Like I said, he was only making light of what the truth is that sometimes it takes some time to build a championship program. There are no quick fixes here. You have to build it with the people in the program and I believe we are. I believe we're a better football team and a more competitive football team this year than we were a year ago. It's hard to see from the outside in but certainly we recognize that."

(Ref.: Stopping Navy's rushing)
"I think one of the things is a tactic used by both programs is that we try to keep away from the other team. I know that Kenny and the Navy offense are trying to play keep away from the other team and that's what makes this game interesting. We're both trying to play the same game and limit the opportunities of the opponent. We're certainly trying to keep the ball away from Keenan Reynolds who is a tremendously talented player. He is very effective with the ball in his hands whether he runs it or throw it. And he can throw the ball if you watch him throughout his career or this year. His ability to hit those open receivers and hit guys that aren't open. He hits guys in-between defenders and has guys that go up and get it between defenders. He's not the only guy. Keenan has a really good supporting cast and we're certainly cognoscente of his ability. We want and desire to keep the ball away from him. We know they are going to get some cracks at it and they'll have their chances and hopefully we can do a good job of defending him."

(Ref. Preparation of freshmen linebackers)
"The good thing that we've got going for us is that each day throughout the year we've continued to spend a little time defending the option, and that's something that we continue to stay committed to because we want to be ready for these games against our academy rivals. Gibby Gibson and Kenneth Brinson are both very talented, young players. They're both very athletic, and I think they've both improved tremendously throughout the season, as I've seen a lot of our freshmen do, which has been encouraging. I think that Jay will keep the schemes and calls simple enough for those guys so they won't have any confusion. They will be able to play their assignment, which I think is important. I don't have a desire to be too multiple to where our guys are playing slow and having to guess. I want them to be confident about their assignments and play really fast. I think when both of those guys do that, they're two pretty good players. I'm confident in those guys."

(Ref. Offensive line's preparation)
"Well we've got some guys who have played in the game before. Certainly, Matt Hugenberg, Ryan Alexander and Jaryn Villegas all played in this game a year ago. Justin Gilbert obviously didn't play last year, but he has played in this game, so there are so veteran guys who have been in the game. The challenge is, as it has always been, the athleticism of the defensive lineman as opposed to an offensive lineman and being able to stay on blocks and move your feet. That's something that we challenge our guys with every day. It's their job to get the offense started, and I told our offensive line that our team will go as they go. They've got to be the ones to win the football game for us. I know that there's a great sense of urgency. Our offensive line coaches do a great job and coach with exact detail. When you watch us practice, whether it's a drill or a scrimmaged snap, there's a lot of coaching going on. I think those guys have really battled, and I think they will play hard. I've got a lot of confidence in those guys, and I think it will be interesting to see how we perform against what I think is a very good Navy offensive line."

(Ref.: what he has seen from Chris Carter since the Rutgers game)
"He played with a lot of confidence against Rutgers. That's not always the case when a guy gets his first start, regardless of what position it is. Certainly at that position. What's unique is that the kid had never played a college football snap before. The way the games went this year, we didn't have any games where you could just be experimental and say 'hey let's put this quarterback in for a series or two, we're winning the game by 30 points, we'll see what he can do.' Usually those young guys get seasoned by doing that. Other places that start freshman quarterbacks, sometimes have been able to redshirt them so the coaches have been able to coach them for a year, they've been on your practice field and they've been through spring ball and you've got a little better idea. Sometimes you put a guy in the game and you've got no idea what he's going to do. Chris Carter, as I said going into the Rutgers game, the Thursday prior we were talking about what we were going to do if we continue to drop snaps. He and Matthew Kauffman and Luke Langdon, the other freshman who had never played a snap before the Rutgers game, were the only healthy quarterbacks we had. At one point on Thursday, we dropped four out of five snaps, just trying to take the snap, we couldn't even run a play. When you get in the game it was a question of what do you do? We were talking about our shotgun plays and what we could do out of that in case that was the problem. That's what you face when you've got a freshman quarterback that's never played before. We didn't know going into that game what we were going to get, if he was going to drop the first four out of five snaps, which would have been disastrous. But, as it turned out, he did a great job, had the one contact fumble, which was disappointing, we got that one back, but really, for his first time out, he took care of the ball and played very poised. We got a chance to see him as an athlete. He's quick, he's got good feet, he ran the ball with confidence, delivered the ball, pitched it and handed it off and did all of the things that we do in the offense, I thought he just handled it remarkably well for a young guy and gave us the confidence that we could put him in the game again. Whether that's starting a game or putting him in the game if we needed to, and that's kind of where we're at with him now, working all three of them and feel confident enough that he could trot out there and be the starter if that's what we decide to do."

(Ref.: if extended preparation time is helpful in taking on the Navy offense)
"I think it is good in a game like this to be able to prepare for this offense. It's difficult to defend that offense, even though we run the offense, it's still difficult for a defense to transition to prepare for something that is very unique. It's been beneficial, it certainly has gotten a lot of guys healthy who weren't completely healthy. In some ways too it can be counterproductive. The first week out of the box after the Rutgers game we didn't practice on Monday, we came back and practiced on Tuesday and Wednesday and neither one of them were good practices. We weren't going to practice on Thanksgiving or that weekend, we gave the guys off, which that too was good for our rest, we don't get very many long weekends like that where they don't practice throughout the season. The practices weren't very good, I don't know how much headway we made and I was a bit disappointed, frankly. We came back last week and, I thought, practiced pretty well on four of the five days. I don't think we had a great Wednesday practice last week, but just being able to do the same things over-and-over, even if the practices weren't up to our standard, at least the actions and angles coming at us from a defensive standpoint are similar, when you're doing them over-and-over again, it's the same calls and the guys get a lot more comfortable with their run fits and how we're rotating the secondary or picking up all of the play action routes and can time the coverage to the front. I think that really helps to have that time. We'll find out Saturday if it pays off."

(Ref.: whether or not early week bad practice was caused by a lack of urgency)
"I absolutely think so and that's human nature unfortunately. They start doing the math and they see that we're 19 days away from the game so that's a long time. To me, the game could be tomorrow, it's that sense of urgency. That's from experience, because I've been through it many times and they haven't. That's a challenge. It's a challenge for every leader and it's a challenge for every coach to motivate the organization to do their very best. The one thing is, they know when the test day is. They know it was 19 days away and then 18 days away and we know how important each one of those practices is. There were some things we did on each one of those days, it wasn't a complete wash, where we didn't get anything out of the day, it just wasn't up to the standard that we needed it to be."

(Ref.: on whether or not Army-Navy game is different being on the Army staff opposed to the Navy staff)
"I think they all are very exciting. Every year there's a great sense of excitement surrounding this game and to be a part of it is really a privilege. It's really a lot of fun to be a part of a rivalry like this because you realize how many people pay attention to this game because of the history of this game, the tradition of the two schools and the great teams and great games that have been a part of this rivalry. It's a lot of fun, I think each one of them is exciting. It never gets old, it never gets boring to get prepared for this or get ready for it. That competitive spirit in us, that are a part of the game, that boils up every year just the same. You want to win."

Jeff Monken Press Conference Quotes: Navy

Players Mentioned

Ryan Alexander

Kenneth Brinson

Chris Carter

James Gibson

Justin Gilbert

Matt Hugenberg

Luke Langdon

Jaryn Villegas

Army West Point Athletics