Army West Point Athletics
Jeff Monken Press Conference Quotes: Colgate
November 13, 2018 | Football
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 welcome Colgate on Saturday at noon for their final home game of the 2018 season. That contest will be carried live on CBS Sports Network with Ben Holden, Jay Feely and Tina Cervasio on the call.
(Ref.: Opening Statement)
"Good afternoon. This is another week of getting prepared for an opponent we've not seen before and don't know a whole lot about. Gosh, they have a good football team. They play in the same league as Lafayette, the team we played on Saturday, and I was really glad to get a win. Frankly it didn't feel like we played as well as we are capable of. Credit Lafayette. They did a nice job of controlling the football on offense against us. They were letting the time tick down and really kept the ball away from us. We had some really good individual plays and some plays that I'd like to get back and do over again. Hopefully we'll play a lot better. Once again, I thought Lafayette did a great job and now we're playing the number one team in their league in Colgate on Saturday.
"What's impressed me so much is seeing their scores. They've had four shutouts this year and have given up 29 points total for the season on defense. They average over 30 points per game and when you're beating people and shutting them out, there's times when you are sending your second team guys in there and emptying the bench. But, they still manage to score a bunch of points. They have a really good football team. They are very well coached, very physical and we've watched a lot of film on these guys in preparation for this game. I assume it's going to be a very hard-fought battle on our senior day and I'd sure like for our seniors to play a great game to remember Michie Stadium as being a place where they felt like they played their best football. We talk a lot about winning at home and how important that is. To be able to do that, you have to play your best. Hopefully, we'll do a good job of sending our seniors out with a memory that's a positive one. We're going to have a lot of parents and family here to honor those guys. We have family members traveling in from all over the country to see these guys so hopefully it's going to be a memorable day."
(Ref.: On what the firstie class has meant to him)
"I can't say enough about these guys. I can talk about each one of them individually for a good while and would enjoy having the opportunity to do that. They're all great guys. This class has completely changed the course of this program. To go from 2-10 as freshmen to now 8-2 as seniors, and have 18 wins in between, is really incredible. They have set the bar for the program for the guys that are in the room with them and for the future. What the expectation is, what the standard is for the way we work and the way we prepare and I'm really proud. This is a great group of young men. I know they are going to be tremendous officers in the Army. They've led this program so effectively and have meant so much to our success. They are great guys and really care about each other. They are a close knit group and I think they've followed a couple good senior classes. I think what's been great to see in this program is that we have had leaders in front of these guys kind of pave the way. It wasn't easy for those seniors in the 2016 season. It was the first time that any of them had been to a bowl game and had a winning season. The guys last year came back and improved off of an eight-win season and a bowl trip to get a 10-win season. It's not an easy act to follow and early on, I think this senior class probably struggled looking around to find the guys who were going to stick out and be the leaders of this group because there are a lot of leaders in this group. When you have such strong leadership, it's hard to step out of the pack sometimes. But, the personality of this group has been really clear since the end of preseason camp and especially after the first game. We lost to Duke and that was really disappointing for all of us, particularly for this senior class, who set the goals for our team. I really saw them step up following that game and I think we've played really well the rest of the year. We did have that setback at Oklahoma, but I think we've played really hard."
(Ref.: On what Saturday's game means for this season)
"I don't want to lose any game. Ever. I'm disappointed any time we don't get a victory. Certainly, at this point of the season and this being the game right before the Army-Navy game, you'd like to carry some confidence into that game. That's really what we're hoping for.
"I think Colgate has an outstanding team and a very well-coached team. It's going to be a challenge for us to play our very best. I've watched them play. They're going to put up a fight and battle. They score a bunch of points and keep people from scoring. You look at 29 points allowed for the entire season and you scratch your head. You're hoping you can score 29 points, and that would be two less than their average. If they score 31 points, which is their average, and we score as much as they've given up the entire year, we'd still lose the game. I look at this game as a real challenge for us, and it would be a big victory for this team."
(Ref.: On what attracts Army football players to the infantry branch)
"How much our guys value being part of a team, how much they care about each other and the investment they make in each other are most prevalent in the Army in an infantry unit. That's a team. It's a group of men and women who must work together, cooperate, communicate, invest in each other and really be accountable to everybody else in the unit. The stakes are a lot higher in an infantry unit than they are on a football team, and I think that appeals to our guys. They want to be in a high-stakes game. They feel a sense of loyalty and responsibility to this team. And I think they want to put themselves in a position to lead people and be in that same position of responsibility. To build soldiers who are loyal to each other and loyal to their unit. I think that's what they value, and, frankly, I think they're a great fit for that branch of the Army.
"There are 17 branches of the Army, and everyone needs strong leaders and people with toughness and grit. I don't just mean physical toughness either, but mental toughness. I think that's what these guys learn here as Cadets, and hopefully as part of our football program."
The Black Knights welcome Colgate on Saturday at noon for their final home game of the 2018 season. That contest will be carried live on CBS Sports Network with Ben Holden, Jay Feely and Tina Cervasio on the call.
(Ref.: Opening Statement)
"Good afternoon. This is another week of getting prepared for an opponent we've not seen before and don't know a whole lot about. Gosh, they have a good football team. They play in the same league as Lafayette, the team we played on Saturday, and I was really glad to get a win. Frankly it didn't feel like we played as well as we are capable of. Credit Lafayette. They did a nice job of controlling the football on offense against us. They were letting the time tick down and really kept the ball away from us. We had some really good individual plays and some plays that I'd like to get back and do over again. Hopefully we'll play a lot better. Once again, I thought Lafayette did a great job and now we're playing the number one team in their league in Colgate on Saturday.
"What's impressed me so much is seeing their scores. They've had four shutouts this year and have given up 29 points total for the season on defense. They average over 30 points per game and when you're beating people and shutting them out, there's times when you are sending your second team guys in there and emptying the bench. But, they still manage to score a bunch of points. They have a really good football team. They are very well coached, very physical and we've watched a lot of film on these guys in preparation for this game. I assume it's going to be a very hard-fought battle on our senior day and I'd sure like for our seniors to play a great game to remember Michie Stadium as being a place where they felt like they played their best football. We talk a lot about winning at home and how important that is. To be able to do that, you have to play your best. Hopefully, we'll do a good job of sending our seniors out with a memory that's a positive one. We're going to have a lot of parents and family here to honor those guys. We have family members traveling in from all over the country to see these guys so hopefully it's going to be a memorable day."
(Ref.: On what the firstie class has meant to him)
"I can't say enough about these guys. I can talk about each one of them individually for a good while and would enjoy having the opportunity to do that. They're all great guys. This class has completely changed the course of this program. To go from 2-10 as freshmen to now 8-2 as seniors, and have 18 wins in between, is really incredible. They have set the bar for the program for the guys that are in the room with them and for the future. What the expectation is, what the standard is for the way we work and the way we prepare and I'm really proud. This is a great group of young men. I know they are going to be tremendous officers in the Army. They've led this program so effectively and have meant so much to our success. They are great guys and really care about each other. They are a close knit group and I think they've followed a couple good senior classes. I think what's been great to see in this program is that we have had leaders in front of these guys kind of pave the way. It wasn't easy for those seniors in the 2016 season. It was the first time that any of them had been to a bowl game and had a winning season. The guys last year came back and improved off of an eight-win season and a bowl trip to get a 10-win season. It's not an easy act to follow and early on, I think this senior class probably struggled looking around to find the guys who were going to stick out and be the leaders of this group because there are a lot of leaders in this group. When you have such strong leadership, it's hard to step out of the pack sometimes. But, the personality of this group has been really clear since the end of preseason camp and especially after the first game. We lost to Duke and that was really disappointing for all of us, particularly for this senior class, who set the goals for our team. I really saw them step up following that game and I think we've played really well the rest of the year. We did have that setback at Oklahoma, but I think we've played really hard."
(Ref.: On what Saturday's game means for this season)
"I don't want to lose any game. Ever. I'm disappointed any time we don't get a victory. Certainly, at this point of the season and this being the game right before the Army-Navy game, you'd like to carry some confidence into that game. That's really what we're hoping for.
"I think Colgate has an outstanding team and a very well-coached team. It's going to be a challenge for us to play our very best. I've watched them play. They're going to put up a fight and battle. They score a bunch of points and keep people from scoring. You look at 29 points allowed for the entire season and you scratch your head. You're hoping you can score 29 points, and that would be two less than their average. If they score 31 points, which is their average, and we score as much as they've given up the entire year, we'd still lose the game. I look at this game as a real challenge for us, and it would be a big victory for this team."
(Ref.: On what attracts Army football players to the infantry branch)
"How much our guys value being part of a team, how much they care about each other and the investment they make in each other are most prevalent in the Army in an infantry unit. That's a team. It's a group of men and women who must work together, cooperate, communicate, invest in each other and really be accountable to everybody else in the unit. The stakes are a lot higher in an infantry unit than they are on a football team, and I think that appeals to our guys. They want to be in a high-stakes game. They feel a sense of loyalty and responsibility to this team. And I think they want to put themselves in a position to lead people and be in that same position of responsibility. To build soldiers who are loyal to each other and loyal to their unit. I think that's what they value, and, frankly, I think they're a great fit for that branch of the Army.
"There are 17 branches of the Army, and everyone needs strong leaders and people with toughness and grit. I don't just mean physical toughness either, but mental toughness. I think that's what these guys learn here as Cadets, and hopefully as part of our football program."
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