University of Minnesota Athletics
Tim Brewster Michigan Press Conference Highlights
10/23/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
“It’s a tremendous opportunity for us to be going to Michigan to play in a stadium in front of 100,000 people against one of the great teams in the country. It is a tremendous challenge and a tremendous opportunity for us.”
On the recent play of Deon Hightower:
“Deon’s played really well, and I couldn’t be happier for the young guy, because he works extremely hard. One of our stated goals was to make these kids better students of the game, and Deon is really working hard studying the game and studying the game plan, and I think that’s what gives you confidence to go out and play well in the game. It doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because you practice well, and that’s the thing that we’re striving for each and every game.”
“He’s a very physical guy. He’s an excellent tackler, he’s got some real snap and strike to him; he’s got what I call twitch.’ He’s got fast-twitch stuff, and that’s very exciting.”
On the importance of trophy games:
“To me, it’s a lot of fun (to play in trophy games); it’s a lot of fun for the fans, it’s a lot of fun for the players. To me, it’s added incentive for our football team to go play for the Little Brown Jug; to go play for the Floyd of Rosedale or Paul Bunyan’s Axe. The people of this state love those games, and our players love the games. We’re going to play with tremendous pride and tremendous determination to try and go win those trophies. We’ve got one of them here now, and we’re going to try to go win the other two.”
On the importance of defense in winning championships:
“For us to win a championship here at the University of Minnesota, we are going to play great defense. I’m 100 percent committed to that... We’re going to recruit defense, and recruit defense and recruit defense. To win a championship you have to play great defense, irregardless of sport basketball, baseball, whatever it may be you’ve got to play great defense to win a championship. We’ve got to play great defense to win a championship for the first time in 40 years. That’s a tremendous, tremendous emphasis for me and our coaching staff to improve in all areas, defense, offense and the kicking game.”
On going on the road to Michigan:
“I think about my favorite movie of all-time: Hoosiers. I think about that basketball court where they go with the tape measure, and it’s certain feet high... I think it’s going to be exciting for our kids. A tremendous environment, we all know that. It’s going to be a tremendous environment for our kids, and I don’t anticipate them being nervous at all. It’s still a football field 100 yards long.”
On the success of teams like Appalachian State against Michigan:
Appalachian state is a great football team. Jerry Moore has been a great football coach for a long time. I spent 10 years in the state of North Carolina, and I understand what a great football team Appalachian State is. That’s going to happen every once and a while. It’s not going to happen often, but tremendous credit goes to Appalachian State. They went in there and won the football game. I don’t think it’s a miraculous-type thing as much as people make it out to be. And then last week, us playing North Dakota State. North Dakota State has a great football team. Craig Bohl has done a great job of putting that team together, and they’re really, really good. In both those instances, I thought both of those teams (NDSU and Appalachian State) went in there and won the games; I don’t think either one of us ourselves or Michigan gave anything to them.”
On the recent play of Deon Hightower:
“Deon’s played really well, and I couldn’t be happier for the young guy, because he works extremely hard. One of our stated goals was to make these kids better students of the game, and Deon is really working hard studying the game and studying the game plan, and I think that’s what gives you confidence to go out and play well in the game. It doesn’t happen by accident. It happens because you practice well, and that’s the thing that we’re striving for each and every game.”
“He’s a very physical guy. He’s an excellent tackler, he’s got some real snap and strike to him; he’s got what I call twitch.’ He’s got fast-twitch stuff, and that’s very exciting.”
On the importance of trophy games:
“To me, it’s a lot of fun (to play in trophy games); it’s a lot of fun for the fans, it’s a lot of fun for the players. To me, it’s added incentive for our football team to go play for the Little Brown Jug; to go play for the Floyd of Rosedale or Paul Bunyan’s Axe. The people of this state love those games, and our players love the games. We’re going to play with tremendous pride and tremendous determination to try and go win those trophies. We’ve got one of them here now, and we’re going to try to go win the other two.”
On the importance of defense in winning championships:
“For us to win a championship here at the University of Minnesota, we are going to play great defense. I’m 100 percent committed to that... We’re going to recruit defense, and recruit defense and recruit defense. To win a championship you have to play great defense, irregardless of sport basketball, baseball, whatever it may be you’ve got to play great defense to win a championship. We’ve got to play great defense to win a championship for the first time in 40 years. That’s a tremendous, tremendous emphasis for me and our coaching staff to improve in all areas, defense, offense and the kicking game.”
On going on the road to Michigan:
“I think about my favorite movie of all-time: Hoosiers. I think about that basketball court where they go with the tape measure, and it’s certain feet high... I think it’s going to be exciting for our kids. A tremendous environment, we all know that. It’s going to be a tremendous environment for our kids, and I don’t anticipate them being nervous at all. It’s still a football field 100 yards long.”
On the success of teams like Appalachian State against Michigan:
Appalachian state is a great football team. Jerry Moore has been a great football coach for a long time. I spent 10 years in the state of North Carolina, and I understand what a great football team Appalachian State is. That’s going to happen every once and a while. It’s not going to happen often, but tremendous credit goes to Appalachian State. They went in there and won the football game. I don’t think it’s a miraculous-type thing as much as people make it out to be. And then last week, us playing North Dakota State. North Dakota State has a great football team. Craig Bohl has done a great job of putting that team together, and they’re really, really good. In both those instances, I thought both of those teams (NDSU and Appalachian State) went in there and won the games; I don’t think either one of us ourselves or Michigan gave anything to them.”
Players Mentioned
LB
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