MEET THE PRESS: Fritz Previews Temple at Weekly Press Conference

NEW ORLEANS – Listed below is the complete transcript from Green Wave head coach Willie Fritz’s weekly press conference leading up to Tulane’s matchup vs. Temple on Saturday.

Opening Statement:
“We had a bye week this past week and it is really a good time to recruit. It is awfully fun to go watch some of the quality football that we have in the Greater New Orleans area and that is kind of where I went this week. I saw a couple of great games, which is always fun. They were well-coached. Often times you hear that Louisiana, New Orleans has great athletes, you hear about it all the time. They have excellent coaching. When you get the chance to go stand on the sidelines and watch the guys coaching, you really appreciate the level of coaching you have in this area. Temple, we are heading out there. It is going to be a noon kick, 11 a.m. our time. We thought it was going to rain today, but it did not. We still went down to the Superdome. We are fortunate we are able to go down there and workout. It is probably a blessing for us that we are going to get a little chilly weather here in New Orleans for the next few days so that it can prepare us for the cold weather we are going to face in Philadelphia. They are a big strong team, like they have always had. Offensively, they are going to run the ball at you. They have really good stable receivers, four or five guys. I think three of the guys have 40+ catches. Defensively, they are one of the leaders in the conference. They are 6-3, just like us. It is going to be a tremendous test for us this weekend at noon on Saturday.”

On past offense failure against Temple…
“I do remember, 31-0 right out here. They were very kind that day too, it could have been a lot worse than that. They are a big, strong physical team. We did not match up very well against them. I think we match up better now.”

On what Temple does well defensively…
“They have some very disruptive defensive linemen. They have three linebackers that are pro prospects. They have a tradition there if you wear a single digit jersey that means you are one of the tougher guys on the team. Those guys are numbers three, four and five I think, so I guess they are pretty tough guys. They have good movement. They will mix it up a little bit. They are not real complex, they feel very confident in what they do defensively and they just execute well.”

On difficulty of the rest of this season’s schedule…
“We are playing three really good teams. I talked to our guys on Monday, we talked about putting everything into these next 20 days that we possibly can. I showed them the schedule, but since then, all we have been talking about is Temple. I think just dedicating yourself mentally and physically and just worrying about classes and football these next 20 days because they are very, very important for our program. All three of the teams we have left are very good teams. They are all bowl eligible. They are all teams that have had a lot of success this season. We have to start off this weekend with Temple and play the very best we can. If we play well, we have the opportunity to be successful all three of these games. You have to play well.”

On possibility of tying the eight-game win record of 1998 should Tulane win this weekend…
“Well there are a lot of things that have not happened around this program very often. That is one of them. It starts this weekend. I think our players are tight. They have not seen any difference in me. Our preparation and how we do things, I am very consistent with that. One thing that we are doing a little bit more of this week, today in particular and tomorrow, is a little bit more good-on-good since we had a bye week last week. We are trying to simulate game reps. Eighteen plays on good-on-good today and O-7 on 7 in pass gully. We had a lot of one-on-one on offensive line and defensive line. We also did some team work as well, so our guys can get caught up with the speed of the game so there will not be an adjustment on Saturday.”

On Will Hall and keeping him around…
“He is an excellent football coach. He has done a fantastic job. Will [Hall] made the comment to me the other day that he was so impressed with the guys who are working with him and how enjoyable it is to come into work every day and those kind of things. We are doing an excellent job. Obviously, there are some positions that are look-and-check a little bit more with what you do offensively, than maybe some other positions do, but there is a lot to sell there. I think there is a lot to sell defensively with our style of play defensively, with the defensive line and backers and our secondary. One of the things we try to do in our off-season is try to visit as many places as well can. For the most part, the best teachers and coaches are at the NFL level, we are so fortunate we are able to go over to the Saints. Coach Sean Payton has given us pretty close to full access to the Saints. It is a nice, easy drive over there.”

On Darius Bradwell and Amare Jones playing this week…
“Should be good to go. We did a little bit of team stuff yesterday and that was one of the comments I made in our meeting, Amare Jones looks ready to go. I think Darius Bradwell is full speed. He is getting ready to come up here and visit with you here in a moment. We are excited to get those two guys back. Darius Bradwell went almost 1,200 yards for us last year. We are fortunate we have quite a few backs, quality backs.”