Comments From Michigan Head Coach Lloyd Carr
12/25/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
(Upon Michigan's Arrival at The Peabody)
On his retirement being the focus of the week... "No, it isn't (about me). I want this to be about this team and there's always a lot of guys playing their last game. Even that can be a distraction. What we're trying to focus on is an outstanding Florida team and there really is not much room for anything else if you're going to play your best. So, as coaches, we're trying to focus and do the best job we can to prepare this team. There have been a lot of things happen in the past month and there's also a lot of things that happen at a bowl site. We want the players to have a good time and we want to have a good time but it's the age-old story of trying to prepare for a bowl game."
About his staff getting fired... "The guys that are on my staff are very talented people who, every one of them, has had a lot of success and very capable people and are going to find very good jobs. Right now, the big movement in coaching positions will come after the first of the year. So I don't think there's anybody worried about getting a great job because I think they all will."
On the recent bowl losses... "What I look at is we've played against a lot of Heisman Trophy winners, against a lot of great football teams, and I think that's the biggest part of it. We all know and we'll all be made aware this week of all those things. It's no different than any other issue. We've got to focus on the things that will help us win and not the things that don't."
On the change in the practice schedule this year... "The biggest issue was, when we get our indoor building that will never be an issue.
"These guys have not been home for Christmas, ever. The majority of our players would prefer to do this. Now, we have had to work our practices around final exams, which I don't like to do and is very difficult on the players, but you can't have it both ways."
On Florida quarterback Tim Tebow... "It gets worse every time I watch him. I think he got bigger and stronger as the year went on. There are some things he does you just cannot control, you know going in. This other guy they have is pretty good too (Percy Harvin). He's as talented as anybody in the country in my opinion. What we have to try to do is prevent big plays. The remarkable thing I see is 56 percent completion rate on third down and executing to get the first down. I don't know if that's an NCAA record but if it's not it's close to it. It tells you what Tebow's capable of doing. He is so dangerous and they are so good at getting into third-down-and-short situations. It's difficult to stop them on third-and-long situations, much less third-and-short. We've got to do some things offensively. We've got to play better offensively than we did in the last two games. We've got to score some points. We've got to try to help ourselves in the kicking game with some field position. You've got a better chance to stop Florida if they've got to go 80 yards than if they have to go 50."
On the health of Mike Hart and Chad Henne... "I'm not going to measure it. I don't know if they know or anybody knows. They've benefited form some rest. In the Ohio State game Chad did not have much on the ball. He didn't practice. He has practiced now. Mike had some time off. They'll be better. The question is how much better."
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