Army West Point Athletics
Jeff Monken Press Conference Quotes: Michigan
September 03, 2019 | Football
WEST POINT, N.Y. -Â 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 travel to No. 7 Michigan on Saturday for a game at 12 p.m. The contest will be carried live on Fox with Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and Jenny Taft on the call.
(Ref.: Opening statement)
"I am proud of our guys for the effort they put in on Friday night. It was a good win and a real battle for us. The coach from Rice has done a great job in changing that team around from a year ago until now. They sure played us tough. They are a physical team, and he said leading up to the game that they were going to be a team that was willing to go toe to toe with us and they sure did. I'm glad our guys were willing to go toe-to-toe with them all the way through because that's what it took. It took a 60-minute battle and a heck of a drive by our offense in the fourth quarter, and a stand by our defense, to finish that game off. I'm proud of our guys and I thought it was a great victory. To start the season 1-0 is certainly a confidence booster and hopefully that will help us as we continue through.
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"We have a huge test this week obviously to play the No. 7 team in the country and the winningest team in college football history with all the tradition there. Our guys are really excited to have the opportunity to play at this level. I think it's one of the reasons that so many of our guys choose to come to school here is to play in games like this. For guys who are very competitive and have dreamed of playing college football, to play in venue like this and in games like this is what they've always wanted. It's a great opportunity and it's going to be a heck of a challenge. They have an incredible team and they are incredibly"" well coached."
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(Ref.: On importance of marquee opponents)
"I think it's important to play games like this. I don't know that we need to play games like that every single week, but to play a game like that each year is really important to this program. It certainly is to the guys that play here, but it's also important to the legacy of the guys who play here to play those kind of games and challenge the very best teams in America. We've played some outstanding opponents in the six years that I've been here: Oklahoma, Ohio State, Penn State, Stanford, Notre Dame. We have a list of outstanding opponents that, it won't matter the time or era of college football, when people see those names on the list of opponents, there's going to be instant respect for these teams and for us challenging those top programs."
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(Ref.: On the opportunity to play Michigan)
"It is an opportunity to measure ourselves against the very best in college football. It is a privilege to play a team like this. Not everyone in college football gets to play in atmospheres like this or play teams as talented and as well coached and well respected as Michigan. Our guys are excited, and I think it is something that attracts our players in coming to school here. They see these games as their opportunity to play with the best. As they look into our future schedules there are more games like this, and I think that excites the guys who are part of this program and those making decisions about joining this program."
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(Ref.: On Jim Harbaugh's successes)
"He's won everywhere he's been. His first head coaching job was at the University of San Diego and he won there. He went to Stanford and won there. Went to the NFL and took his team to the Super Bowl and now he's at Michigan and he's winning there. The guy wins. As a player he led his teams up and down the field and found a way to win. I have a great respect for Coach Harbaugh and the success he's had on the football field. He is a coach's son. His dad is a long-time coach. He has brothers in the profession. It is really important to them. I admire the career he's had. My dad was my high school coach, my brother is a coach and I have relatives in football. I haven't spent any time with him, but I'm sure he loves football and it is really important to him. He is passionate about it and he's had great success."
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(Ref.: On preparing the younger guys for Saturday's atmosphere)
"I think I just want them to try and enjoy it. It's one of the great experiences they'll have as college football players — to be able to play at Michigan. Forever [they'll] be able to say they played in that stadium in front of 100,000 plus people. I hope they don't get all worked up over it. There's a billion people in China that couldn't care less about what happens in this game on Saturday, so let's just have fun and play our very best and try and execute the schemes and the fundamentals that we teach and go play and try and measure yourself against the very best. Like I said, hopefully we'll play well enough and it will be good enough to be right there at the end of the game."Â
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(Ref.: On improvements to Army's running game)
"I noticed that same thing, little concerning at the same time. I was much more encouraged by our last drive. Thought we did a better job of getting some movement for our runners, and I thought we improved as the game went along and hopefully that trend will continue into this week. It's not easy to block guys that are big and talented and athletic. Our guys are playing hard and we try to play with great fundamentals because we think that's going to give us a chance to at least hold our own in a one-on-one battle.
Â
"We're very aware that at times we're going to have guys that are more talented than the ones we're playing with, and on occasion, we'll have a guy that'll be more talented than the guy he's lined up against. As I said, I don't know if that's the case in any of our one-on-one matchups this coming week, so we're going to have to play great fundamentally. We saw the same thing you did, and we're doing our best to improve as a team and improve each of those guys fundamentally individually so they can perform at their highest level against what we know is going to be a very talented, very big, very athletic team."
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The Black Knights travel to No. 7 Michigan on Saturday for a game at 12 p.m. The contest will be carried live on Fox with Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt and Jenny Taft on the call.
(Ref.: Opening statement)
"I am proud of our guys for the effort they put in on Friday night. It was a good win and a real battle for us. The coach from Rice has done a great job in changing that team around from a year ago until now. They sure played us tough. They are a physical team, and he said leading up to the game that they were going to be a team that was willing to go toe to toe with us and they sure did. I'm glad our guys were willing to go toe-to-toe with them all the way through because that's what it took. It took a 60-minute battle and a heck of a drive by our offense in the fourth quarter, and a stand by our defense, to finish that game off. I'm proud of our guys and I thought it was a great victory. To start the season 1-0 is certainly a confidence booster and hopefully that will help us as we continue through.
Â
"We have a huge test this week obviously to play the No. 7 team in the country and the winningest team in college football history with all the tradition there. Our guys are really excited to have the opportunity to play at this level. I think it's one of the reasons that so many of our guys choose to come to school here is to play in games like this. For guys who are very competitive and have dreamed of playing college football, to play in venue like this and in games like this is what they've always wanted. It's a great opportunity and it's going to be a heck of a challenge. They have an incredible team and they are incredibly"" well coached."
Â
(Ref.: On importance of marquee opponents)
"I think it's important to play games like this. I don't know that we need to play games like that every single week, but to play a game like that each year is really important to this program. It certainly is to the guys that play here, but it's also important to the legacy of the guys who play here to play those kind of games and challenge the very best teams in America. We've played some outstanding opponents in the six years that I've been here: Oklahoma, Ohio State, Penn State, Stanford, Notre Dame. We have a list of outstanding opponents that, it won't matter the time or era of college football, when people see those names on the list of opponents, there's going to be instant respect for these teams and for us challenging those top programs."
Â
(Ref.: On the opportunity to play Michigan)
"It is an opportunity to measure ourselves against the very best in college football. It is a privilege to play a team like this. Not everyone in college football gets to play in atmospheres like this or play teams as talented and as well coached and well respected as Michigan. Our guys are excited, and I think it is something that attracts our players in coming to school here. They see these games as their opportunity to play with the best. As they look into our future schedules there are more games like this, and I think that excites the guys who are part of this program and those making decisions about joining this program."
Â
(Ref.: On Jim Harbaugh's successes)
"He's won everywhere he's been. His first head coaching job was at the University of San Diego and he won there. He went to Stanford and won there. Went to the NFL and took his team to the Super Bowl and now he's at Michigan and he's winning there. The guy wins. As a player he led his teams up and down the field and found a way to win. I have a great respect for Coach Harbaugh and the success he's had on the football field. He is a coach's son. His dad is a long-time coach. He has brothers in the profession. It is really important to them. I admire the career he's had. My dad was my high school coach, my brother is a coach and I have relatives in football. I haven't spent any time with him, but I'm sure he loves football and it is really important to him. He is passionate about it and he's had great success."
Â
(Ref.: On preparing the younger guys for Saturday's atmosphere)
"I think I just want them to try and enjoy it. It's one of the great experiences they'll have as college football players — to be able to play at Michigan. Forever [they'll] be able to say they played in that stadium in front of 100,000 plus people. I hope they don't get all worked up over it. There's a billion people in China that couldn't care less about what happens in this game on Saturday, so let's just have fun and play our very best and try and execute the schemes and the fundamentals that we teach and go play and try and measure yourself against the very best. Like I said, hopefully we'll play well enough and it will be good enough to be right there at the end of the game."Â
Â
(Ref.: On improvements to Army's running game)
"I noticed that same thing, little concerning at the same time. I was much more encouraged by our last drive. Thought we did a better job of getting some movement for our runners, and I thought we improved as the game went along and hopefully that trend will continue into this week. It's not easy to block guys that are big and talented and athletic. Our guys are playing hard and we try to play with great fundamentals because we think that's going to give us a chance to at least hold our own in a one-on-one battle.
Â
"We're very aware that at times we're going to have guys that are more talented than the ones we're playing with, and on occasion, we'll have a guy that'll be more talented than the guy he's lined up against. As I said, I don't know if that's the case in any of our one-on-one matchups this coming week, so we're going to have to play great fundamentally. We saw the same thing you did, and we're doing our best to improve as a team and improve each of those guys fundamentally individually so they can perform at their highest level against what we know is going to be a very talented, very big, very athletic team."
Â
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