JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The Eagles are back at home one final time on Saturday as the Limestone Saints come to town. Carson-Newman head coach Mike Clowney took some time to address the media before a Saturday contest between the Eagles and Saints.
Mike Clowney Opening Statement: For us and the military appreciation, we are just grateful for the people who serve our country and glad we are able to do something to give back to them. The big one for us is Senior Day with a group of guys who have been here for four years and we're grateful for what they've done here at Carson-Newman. This time around, we also have a lot of grad transfers who have already graduated from somewhere and have only been here for a year. Still, once you're part of this family, you are part of this family. We're grateful for all those guys and what they've done for us here at Carson-Newman.
Q1It's been refreshing to watch someone like Justice Alexander insert himself into this program. What about him and other guys like come in and be a part of this program?
Yeah, you got guys like Justice, BT, Dudley who are names we are getting familiar with this year. Unfortunately, it will be gone soon but we are just really grateful for those guys. They had a little bit more time than they would have had normally here because you're looking at the scenario and they probably would have only been here for a semester. With COVID, they've been here over a year and a half, so hopefully we've done a good job of pouring into those guys.
Q2 Small senior class by Carson-Newman standards with only 15. Does that make the senior speeches a little more intimate as you're not trying to cram 30 in throughout the week?
That's one thing we'll really be doing next week. This week is about celebrating them on the field and then next week, we do a little bit more with them and talk to them about trying to leave something with the program. It is a little bit more intimate as some of the guys may not know a whole lot, but hopefully there's still some conversion there while they've been here that they can share to help push the young guys along. That's part of what we've talked about all year with there not being a whole lot of seniors there. Last time in 2019, we graduated with a ton of guys. So, we've talked about playing with a lot of young guys because there weren't a lot of older guys to begin the year.
Q3 When talking about the Saints, you have to mention Jerko'ya Patton. What capabilities does he have in the backfield to add to this run-heavy conference this season?
He's a good back as we talked about him being Freshman of the Year a while back. Overall, we have persistently talked about the running game for teams and it's amazing how that transformation happened after one point where everyone was throwing the ball around. There's a lot of quality back and he is coming off a great game last week. He had a long run for a touchdown and is just able to be a productive back coming out of the backfield. He does a lot of things well and you have to be conscious of where he's at. He's a hard runner and just a good football player.
Q4 Alonzo Houston is probably having the best season by a Carson-Newman linebacker since 2013 and Jacob Coleman. Can you draw any similarities between the two? What kind of leader has he blossomed into this year?
Having coached Jacob, they're honestly really different. Jacob was more an outside guy that really was a DB that were converted to linebacker and put him outside. He was able to be productive and play back into the box a lot. Alonzo is kind of the opposite of that. He's an inside guy who has done a good job of just trying to spread himself across the field. A lot of the time when you look at those numbers, the thing it really boils down to is effort. You have to learn how to do your job and if you are going to make plays, you have to learn how to get to other places after you get your job done. I think it speaks to his character that he is willing to go out and play every play so you can finish a game with double digit tackles.
I think this year for him has been a lot more about example. He was a little unproven coming into the year and he's done a good job of taking this year and working his tail off. He's been able to work his tail off in order to give himself a kind of megaphone and be able to talk in the future. Hopefully he can go back and look at this season and say what can I take from what I learned and what I was able to accomplish this season to help going forward.
Q5 We've talked about defensive players who have led the way by example and Trayzel Jureidini-Wyche is another one with his mentality and mindset. How has he been a leader on the edge for your group?
Trayzel is fun because he is one of those guys that does everything he is asked to do. He is a dual sport athlete here, so for him, we get a lot of guys who do track and football. Most of the time, they tend to favor one over the other but with Trayzel, he is a kid that has really worked to be productive and be involved and engaged as much as he can on both ends. When the kids go out there, they know Trayzel is going to give a great effort. He's a little bit more vocal, like Alonzo Houston, and a little more encouraging. He's a leader on campus so the leadership qualities for him are obvious.
Q6 From an offensive standpoint, turnovers have been a major factor for that group. Is there anything you can do as a coaching staff to ensure those guys protect the ball a little more this week?
One thing is you go look and we didn't actually fundamentally carry the ball. Didn't have one of those last week. That's one thing coming out of last week's game that we were proud of the guys holding onto the ball. Now, what we did do is make a couple throws that we need to put in better places or go to a different place with it. We had the two interceptions and then the miscommunication on the snap, which is something that there is not a whole lot of blame to put there. The turnovers in this last game were a little bit different than some of the ones we've had before, but same thing is that we have to take care of the football. Biggest thing for us on that is a lot about focus and making sure we do detailed things right.
Q7 We talk about the success of the return unit and how teams should start doing onside kicks, like Mars Hill did. How much of a challenge is it for the coaching staff to try and prepare that unit for anything?
Coach Goss has that task, but it's amazing with the one thing you always want is them to buy in. So, when you talk about a group of literally 11 guys and whoever goes on, they are bought into figuring out ways to make it happen. It's been challenging because they'll fire each other because that's something that group has taken pride in. We worked on the onside kick repeatedly, but their kicker did a great job of getting the ball over our heads and have us chase the guy out of bounds. Mars Hill was bold enough to do it and one of them worked out for them. We'll spend a ton of time watching video. and in that meeting, they're coming up with ideas. You're starting to see them interact with coaches, which is what you want to get out of your entire team long-term where players and coaches can interact.
Q8 You are so beat up in some positions such as offensive line and defensive secondary. How challenging is it to navigate to that end goal when you haven't maintained a level of consistency due to guys being hurt?
It's a challenge but it's a challenge both ways. It's a challenge when it makes it complicated week in and week out to push yourself forward and go where you want to. It's also a challenge in the sense that guys come to practice every week and know there may be an opportunity to play out there. We had a couple guys who had opportunities to play this last game who probably wouldn't have had it otherwise. It makes what you do during the week even more and more important. Now those guys can visually see they have a chance to get into the game and play quality snaps. The challenge is something you always want your guys to rise to and accept. Overall, for both of those groups, we've made some mistakes along the way but they haven't backed away from the challenge.
