CARBONDALE (SIU ATHLETICS/WSIL) -- Salukis head coach Nick Hill met with the media on Zoom on Monday morning as the team prepares for Saturday's spring season opener at North Dakota.
Opening Statement:
"I'm excited we are here and having a game week press conference. It's been a long trek to get to this point and the season. So, I'm excited for everyone that's involved in the program 鈥� mainly the players. I'm excited for the opportunity to get out there and play this week. The virus has obviously affected games and it already has in our conference, so we have to continue to do a great job, control what we can control, and stay diligent. We're excited to get this Missouri Valley Conference season started against a great opponent, North Dakota.
On North Dakota:
"They are a team that has been in the playoffs, two out of the last four years. A team that had made the playoffs over us last year right on the bubble. They are a team that went undefeated at home in 2019 and I'm familiar with their head coach, Bubba Schweigert, who spent some time here at SIU and has done a great job and continuing to do a great job at North Dakota.
It's going to be a tough task 鈥� going on the road. All the things that go along with traveling and winning games in this league on the road, it's not easy. We have to be ready to play, we have to do all the things right. We have to be disciplined in the details if you want to go on the road and win a game, but ultimately we are excited to get going."
On quarterbacks:
"Any coach would tell you, you want to have multiple quarterbacks, but it's a great feeling to settle in and know who your quarterback is going to be. Going back into this camp and all the way to the fall, Kare [Lyles] has taken the first team reps and he is our starting quarterback and we have full confidence in him. We spent a lot of time together with him in these extra months, knowing where his strengths are, what he does well, us getting to know him, and us putting together a plan around his strengths. I'm looking forward to Kare getting the ball this season and taking another step forward in his progress."
On North Dakota's first MVFC game:
"They know what Valley football is like, they haven't played a full season yet but they played in the Big Sky [Conference] 鈥� another great conference, but not as good as what we feel like ours is or the style of play might be a bit different after watching their last season. But they have played North Dakota State and the other Dakota schools. With Bubba [Schweigert] spending so much time in our league as our defensive coordinator, and Austin Flyger [former defensive line coach, 2012-2018] spending some time in the league, they know what the Valley is like. We have to go out there ready to play if we want to come out with a win."
On practice in snow:
"We haven't missed a day outside, it's just part of the routine. We don't have an indoor facility in this part of the country 鈥� you usually don't have to deal with things like this [weather], but we've dealt with all kinds of things so far and our guys are resilient. On Sunday, it was about zero degrees and a negative wind chill and we practiced for about an hour outside. We'll do a great job on being smart with it and consider what playing surfaces are safe and continue some extra groupings and walk-through's that you can take care of inside."
On game week anticipation:
"Even for myself, I talked about in our team meeting about game week. I like that our approach has been committed to the process about what it takes to get here. A lot of it is coaches' talk, but this team has really been focused in on practice, installs, and what each day brings. You put in the work and once you get to game day, you trust your preparation and that is what will get you through. You don't rise to the occasion all of the sudden, if you put in the work and you are prepared, you will go out there and play that way. There's an extra sense of "we finally get to play right here, it's Monday and we play Saturday", it's an exciting thing to think about. We only got one game day in 2020, so we are appreciative of the opportunity to play."
On North Dakota's defense:
"[On attacking defense, 3-4 scheme]鈥t really goes back to Coach (Dale) Lennon, Bubba was the architect of his defense. It's a defense that'll give you a lot of different looks. People are moving around, angling at the line of scrimmage, and bringing pressures, so you have to be disciplined to beat them. It's a new year too, a lot of guys coming back and a new defensive coordinator, but Bubba is a great defensive mind.
On Kare's decision making:
"It's really been continuing to be at practice and focusing on detail and what we are expecting out of him and on each play. You have to take care of the football as a quarterback, it's rare to make it through the season without an interception, but it's been about the decision making. We talked about this with SEMO 鈥� he threw two interceptions 鈥� the first one could have been a better throw, but that's where it needed to go and we'll live with those. The second one was a bad read and shouldn't have been on that side of the field. We've watched the film and that's where he's really taken the next step, seeing that we are designing plays on where the ball needs to go and through his progressions."
On Javon Williams, Jr.:
"He's a special talent. I'm really most excited about Javon about his unselfish attitude. He wants the ball in his hands, but he is a good teammate. He's willing to go and fight for those extra tough yards. We're going to get all different types of looks of ways to stop Javon, they'll have their plan and practice. Sometimes there's going to be an extra guy in the box, Javon's聽special talent is usually making that guy either have to tackle him or he makes a miss.
On veteran returners:
"That's been key. I would be feeling a little bit different right here if we didn't have a veteran team or if we had lost a lot more off of our team. We've had some great guys lost after that 2019 team, but we have a lot of guys playing in this game Saturday who have played a lot of snaps for us in the past. They know the routine, we've traveled together, won games on the road together. That means a lot. The maturity and experience is what has carried us through this time and I'm 100% confident we'll be ready to go on Saturday."
