September 8, 2015

Ken Sparks press conference Shorter week.

The following is a listed transcript from the Ken Sparks press conference regarding this Saturday's game against Shorter University.

Ken Sparks

Press Conference #2- Shorter

9-8-15

SPARKS opening statement: Well, don't know too much about this year's edition because they didn't get challenged too much in their first game. Consequently, I don't know how much we saw of the real Shorter. They were very dominate in the first ball game. I know all 11 defensive starters from a year ago are back and I know they have speed on offense. Size and speed on offense. They have a new quarterback that's gifted, it looks like. Their kicking game is changeable but sound. In other words, changeable as in they are liable to do something we haven't seen before. They get real creative with their kicking game. So anyway, I think that it's going to be a great challenge especially considering how we played in phases and played in certain conditional mindsets like we did Thursday night. We have a great, great challenge on our hands.

Q1: You brought up the returners coming back on the defensive unit. Not only the from last year, but last time you played them, a lot of their two-deep, probably 80 percent of their two-deep was on the field when you played them in 2013. What about that veteran status- they gave up a lot of points last year- but you have a bunch of players at every position that are three year starters.

SPARKS: Yes, and you cant beat experience and we found that out Thursday night. Experience is very important. They have the tools, there's no questions about it. They have a good looking squad. I'm sure after watching the video they will be pretty confident coming in here. It will be a good challenge for us.

Q2: Jordan Shaw, All-American safety for them had eight interceptions last year. What makes him tick?

SPARKS: He's got it- whatever it is. It seems like he has that sick sense knowing where the ball is going to be and he'll be there, too. So, I think that he has some things you can't coach. He's got size and speed. He has some intangibles and is a very gifted football player.

Q3: Can you compare him to any others. You have seen some great safeties these past few years between L.J. McCrea from Catawba, who is now with the 49ers, and Michael Green over there at L-R. Can you compare him to anybody you have faced these past few years?

SPARKS: Well, he's a lot like McCrae probably in the fact that he's big and runs real well and then he's a lot like Green in a lot of ways because he has that sick sense Green had. He seemed to always be at the right place at the right time it seemed like. If he was the player of the year in the Gulf South Conference-defense player of the year- then he must be pretty good because they've got some pretty good players in the Gulf South Conference. So, I'd have to say he must be a pretty good play maker.

Q4: Defensively, obviously, a lot to get corrected from week one. You've always said that the biggest jump a team makes is between week one and two. What have you seen this week that leads to believe that that will occur again?

SPARKS: Well, I've just got confidence in our kids in the fact that they have worked really hard. They went through the Seals challenge. They have been through a real intense summer program. They have poured themselves into what we've asked them to do. I just believe that are going to continue to improve. I know one thing that hurts us, and there's really nothing we can do about, but we have a lot of people who didn't play that I wish were playing. But they may not play all year because of injuries- for various reasons. You know, we are thin and there's no questions about it in the wrong places, but at the same time we can play a whole lot better. We are not an exciting young football defensive team anymore. We are a veteran football team now because we have a game under our belt so that makes us veterans, so we are going to hopefully play like veterans.

Q5: We still don't have a veteran punter yet. Can you solve that mystery on who will be punting?

SPARKS: We will actually go through some stuff today that will help us decide again, but last week Christian Ramirez was going to be our first punter. He might not have been our second punter but he was going to punt our first one. We have two or three good options there I think.

Q6: Along the lines of special teams, you have said your kickoff unit has some of your best players on it. Looking back at the game tape, was it a personal issue or a schematic issue?

SPARKS: Well, it probably had something to do with getting blocked. They did a couple of schemes on us that we weren't expecting. We made a mistake as far as coaching wise by the last 10 days of fall camp- we had some guys who could run that we decided that would be really good on kickoff team that probably didn't have the previous two weeks of drills and fundamentals we out everybody through on the kicking units. They did not have the opportunity to do all the drills. We probably thought that speed and maybe some kill would overcome being fundamentally sound and we were not very fundamentally sound on kickoff coverage. There was times where were dodging blocks and getting so far out of our lanes that a triple wide trailer could have gone through it. All it takes on kick coverage or on the defensive side of the ball, if one guy is not in his gap responsibility or in his lane responsibility, then the whole group tears down. All it take sis a crease for a guy, especially a guy that can run a 10. 3 (100-yard dash), to get in that seam and then your schemes break down pretty quick. Even our backside safety and our kicker were shocked the speed of how he came through open space without slowing down. On kickoff coverage you want three layers. We got two wild man that have no responsibilities except to go and make something happen. The second is the eight guys who are responsible for their lanes. And then you have a safety- that's the kicker- and another safety that's the offside that is supposed to be coming when the ball goers that way. So we have two safeties. So you got three levels of attacking the return. Our third layer was nonexistent because we couldn't run fast enough to get where he was because it was so wide open. The second layer was getting gapped like crazy. The first layer was those new guys that were avoiding blocks. We didn't have a point man at all in this deal. So, it was pretty ugly. It was real ugly.

Q7: Damien Baker. Three Touchdowns. You've said that he has humbled himself. What have you seen from him in his transformation to come and bring stability to the running back position?

SPARKS: I think it's one of the great success stories of Carson-Newman football. I think he's real. I don't think it's put on to try and temporary please people. I think it's a change of heart. I think it's very special. When you put heart that wants to honor the lord in a gifted person like him that can run and is as tough as a pine knot it's pretty special.

Q8: You have a lot of play makers on offense that was shown on Thursday night. Darvia Dubose had a touchdown in his first reception. What does the coaching staff do to try to get everyone involved?

SPARKS: I'm glad you said that because that brings up something that I haven't talked to the staff about. The third series we sent the offense in and on the third defensive series we sent the second team defense in, because we wanted them to get exposure and to get an opportunity to get playing time when it counted. It was good and as some of our younger guys a little bit more comfortable with the system, we will get more playing. We did play quite a few, but not enough. The only place we didn't substitute freely was the offensive line and now we are getting a couple of guys well this week that can play and hopefully get a little bit more done there as far as getting some other guys ready to play that doesn't take us backwards on what we are trying to do.

Q9: Shorter. Flex bone. Probably a truer version that what you saw Thursday night. You mentioned the competition in their exhibition game. What all did you learn and can be taken from against the University of the Faith?

SPARKS: Not much. We are going back to 2013 when we played them to try and get an idea of what they did that was successful against us. We can maybe get their train of thought about what they are going to try and do. I'm sure they are turning cartwheels after watching the Cumberlands game because it didn't matter what Cumberlands lined up in-it worked. When you're the offensive coordinator there, that's pretty excited. We didn't tackle the quarterback real well. We didn't tackle the speed sweep real well. We weren't very good on the backside with stopping the reverse. On third down we were nine of 11 failures. So, Id say that offensive coaching staff down there is sleeping pretty good at night.

Q10: How much emphasis have you put on getting off the field on third down.

SPARKS: Well the first thing we did yesterday in practice after we stretched was work on kickoff coverage. The second thing we worked on yesterday was trying to get off blocks and holding blocks and getting to the football. The third thing we did yesterday in practice was third down offense and defense against each other. The fourth thing we did was kickoff return because it was bad too, it just didn't show up as bad in the statics like the kickoff did. Our kickoff return was ugly. So, that was one, two, three, and four in the practice schedule yesterday.

Q11: Do you draw any comparisons from that game all the way back to 2012 against Glenville State when the Pioneers put up 46 points on you just in terms of an opening game giving up a lot of points?

SPARKS: I haven't thought about that too much. I think the only comparisons I can think of is the fact of we, at times, was not a very good football team. We got so much to correct and so much to grow with. We did a lot of good things too- don't hear me all negative. We didn't punt, we scored every position on offense. We had no offensive turnovers. We did get two stops on defense. We did turn the ball over two times on defense. We did a lot of positive things. Here's what happens when you have a game that's poorly played in places like we did in that ball game. Number one you get out personelled. Number two you get schemed, where their schemes are better than the schemes you are lining up against them. Number three, you get out motivated. There was times on Thursday night where all three of those were against us. Overall, I think there key is the 80 percent of the motivation. When you watched Cumberlands on film they didn't jump out at you too much. I'm sure that's what our kids saw. I helped them. I helped set up Cumberland sin a way. I must have not gotten our guys' attention real well. That wasn't our full motor I hope. I hope our motor is a lot more fuller than that and we will find out this week.

-CN-