I'm going to use a lot of these quotes for stories, but here's my "raw" transcript of what Fitz had to say in the hallway at McCormick Place, once he got done with his 15 minutes at the podium...
Regret playing Stanford in opener with a new QB? “I wish I could have predicted that. When you set the schedule back however many years ago, you can’t predict where exactly where your roster is going to be. So no, I don’t. …”We kick it off and see where you’re at. Then you make your tweaks.”
Is he considering playing with more than one QB? “With three quarterbacks? Sure, absolutely. We’ve done the two-quarterback thing, why not three? Maybe then I’ll have more cameras around me than Jim (Harbaugh) did.”… “We’ve gotta win football games. And we’re going to do whatever it takes to win football games.”
On losing close games the last two years: “I said it up on the podium, one of the areas we’ve really looked hard at is the why we have not won the close games over the last two years that have been the calling card, really, of my 10 years. We’ve won an overwhelming majority of the close games…“I think 10 of our 12 games last year went into the fourth quarter as a one- or two-score game. The bottom line is we are going to be in those kinds of games. I don’t know why, but we are. And we’ve got to do the little things…to do that.”
On this offseason: “We’ve had some semblance of normalcy this offseason. I like where our chemistry is at. They’re holding each other accountable again and talking about things related to our team and football. I think that’s going to make those bonds tighter and stronger when we’re in football situations.
“We’ve made way too many self-inflicted errors that have cost ourselves – and I don’t want to discredit our opponents – but in the last two years we’ve beaten ourself. And as a coach, that makes you want to jump off the tower at Ryan Field because that’s on us as coaches….On top of it, are we doing the right things in practice?...There’s areas we have got to fix as coaches if we are going to win those games. “
On the freshmen: “I think I have a pretty good idea and I really like our freshman class. Six weeks or five weeks I guess I’ve been around them. We’re going to play young guys. We’re going to play more young guys maybe then we ever have. We’re talking freshmen and redshirt freshmen. I like those two classes a lot. They got a little…swag. It will be interesting to see in a couple weeks what happens when someone hits them back, but I like how they look in shorts.”
On getting freshmen ready: “No. 1 is to get over homesickness” but “the bad thing is that phone. Now your girlfriend just won’t leave you alone. She’s FaceTiming you….But you have to give them their time because they go through withdrawal.”
Any chance the QB competition goes into season? “I’d really prefer that that does NOT happen. I’d prefer that we have some semblance of separation. (When we rotated Kain and Trev) we thought coming out of camp that’s what we needed to do. (People said) ‘when Trevor goes in, all you do is throw it. When Kain goes in, all you do is run it.’ Well, no foolin’. That’s what they do well. What do you want me to do, have a guy (Kain) throw with his other arm?
“Two of the three guys are very similar. Their qualities, from a standpoint of skill set, are very, very similar. Zack is a little more traditional. He can run around a little bit, but I don’t think he can run as well as Trevor, when he was healthy. We’ve got some things to work out. It will play itself out.”
On how to generate big plays on offense: (This was my question) “We’ve got have the guys that are our dynamic playmakers get the ball in their hands. I see a guy like Miles Shuler. He’s got to make big plays. Getting Christian Jones back, he’s got to make big plays. Danny Vitale’s got to make big plays for us. Those three guys…are all dynamic guys that have made big, explosive plays and we’ve got to find ways to get them the ball in those types of settings.
“We saw glimpses of that last year from Justin. We saw glimpses of that from Solomon Vault. You guys just absolutely adored Auston Anderson in camp. I mean, you couldn’t have put an ego on a higher level of a guy who’s never played a Big Ten game in Auston Anderson, and that’s cool and I’m happy for him. But now somebody’s gotta smack him back, but he’s got those types of qualities. I like what Warren Long did. I really think that Garrett Dickerson is coming on. I think he’s a guy that has big play potential. And then we’ll see some of the young guys that maybe you haven’t seen yet in Big Ten play, or stadium play, I think have explosiveness.
You know, a lot of those plays in the past have been bubble screens. They haven’t been max-protect, throw a 40-yard post. They’ve been throw a bubble, get a block, make two guys missed and then, here we go, we’ve got a 40-yard gain. We were almost void of that last year, and that’s not just on the guy catching the ball. It’s as much as the guy blocking for him and winning at the point of attack. We were just way too inconsistent there.
“We were just way too inconsistent with the level of drops, especially early (in the season). We had way too many dropped passes, and that just can’t happen. So, you know, a million catches on the Jugs, building different things in individual periods, accountability, depth, competition are some of those areas, with that skill set on offense, I think is going to be a theme overall on our offense.
On players who have that big-play potential: “The two guys in our running back room are Warren and Solomon that have don’t things enough for me to say they have explosive play potential in the backfield. Superback Garrett Dickerson, I think he’s had a great offseason. He has done terrific, and I’ve been very, very impressed by him.
“I’m not yet ready to talk about the redshirt freshmen and the freshmen receivers. I like them in shorts, but so does Rivals.com (attaboy, Fitz!). That’s my point. We don’t play our game in shorts. Do I predict a lot of those guys will be in the mix and in the mix quickly based on what I’ve seen in shorts? Absolutely. It’s going to be fun to watch those guys. We’ve recruited well at those positions.
“I think the biggest guy is Christian Jones. He’s a difference maker. He’s a mismatch size-wise and he’s a mismatch from the standpoint of experience. It’s going to be great to get him back out there.” (He added that Jones should be ready for camp, though he’ll be on a “pitch count” regarding reps in Kenosha.)
Regret playing Stanford in opener with a new QB? “I wish I could have predicted that. When you set the schedule back however many years ago, you can’t predict where exactly where your roster is going to be. So no, I don’t. …”We kick it off and see where you’re at. Then you make your tweaks.”
Is he considering playing with more than one QB? “With three quarterbacks? Sure, absolutely. We’ve done the two-quarterback thing, why not three? Maybe then I’ll have more cameras around me than Jim (Harbaugh) did.”… “We’ve gotta win football games. And we’re going to do whatever it takes to win football games.”
On losing close games the last two years: “I said it up on the podium, one of the areas we’ve really looked hard at is the why we have not won the close games over the last two years that have been the calling card, really, of my 10 years. We’ve won an overwhelming majority of the close games…“I think 10 of our 12 games last year went into the fourth quarter as a one- or two-score game. The bottom line is we are going to be in those kinds of games. I don’t know why, but we are. And we’ve got to do the little things…to do that.”
On this offseason: “We’ve had some semblance of normalcy this offseason. I like where our chemistry is at. They’re holding each other accountable again and talking about things related to our team and football. I think that’s going to make those bonds tighter and stronger when we’re in football situations.
“We’ve made way too many self-inflicted errors that have cost ourselves – and I don’t want to discredit our opponents – but in the last two years we’ve beaten ourself. And as a coach, that makes you want to jump off the tower at Ryan Field because that’s on us as coaches….On top of it, are we doing the right things in practice?...There’s areas we have got to fix as coaches if we are going to win those games. “
On the freshmen: “I think I have a pretty good idea and I really like our freshman class. Six weeks or five weeks I guess I’ve been around them. We’re going to play young guys. We’re going to play more young guys maybe then we ever have. We’re talking freshmen and redshirt freshmen. I like those two classes a lot. They got a little…swag. It will be interesting to see in a couple weeks what happens when someone hits them back, but I like how they look in shorts.”
On getting freshmen ready: “No. 1 is to get over homesickness” but “the bad thing is that phone. Now your girlfriend just won’t leave you alone. She’s FaceTiming you….But you have to give them their time because they go through withdrawal.”
Any chance the QB competition goes into season? “I’d really prefer that that does NOT happen. I’d prefer that we have some semblance of separation. (When we rotated Kain and Trev) we thought coming out of camp that’s what we needed to do. (People said) ‘when Trevor goes in, all you do is throw it. When Kain goes in, all you do is run it.’ Well, no foolin’. That’s what they do well. What do you want me to do, have a guy (Kain) throw with his other arm?
“Two of the three guys are very similar. Their qualities, from a standpoint of skill set, are very, very similar. Zack is a little more traditional. He can run around a little bit, but I don’t think he can run as well as Trevor, when he was healthy. We’ve got some things to work out. It will play itself out.”
On how to generate big plays on offense: (This was my question) “We’ve got have the guys that are our dynamic playmakers get the ball in their hands. I see a guy like Miles Shuler. He’s got to make big plays. Getting Christian Jones back, he’s got to make big plays. Danny Vitale’s got to make big plays for us. Those three guys…are all dynamic guys that have made big, explosive plays and we’ve got to find ways to get them the ball in those types of settings.
“We saw glimpses of that last year from Justin. We saw glimpses of that from Solomon Vault. You guys just absolutely adored Auston Anderson in camp. I mean, you couldn’t have put an ego on a higher level of a guy who’s never played a Big Ten game in Auston Anderson, and that’s cool and I’m happy for him. But now somebody’s gotta smack him back, but he’s got those types of qualities. I like what Warren Long did. I really think that Garrett Dickerson is coming on. I think he’s a guy that has big play potential. And then we’ll see some of the young guys that maybe you haven’t seen yet in Big Ten play, or stadium play, I think have explosiveness.
You know, a lot of those plays in the past have been bubble screens. They haven’t been max-protect, throw a 40-yard post. They’ve been throw a bubble, get a block, make two guys missed and then, here we go, we’ve got a 40-yard gain. We were almost void of that last year, and that’s not just on the guy catching the ball. It’s as much as the guy blocking for him and winning at the point of attack. We were just way too inconsistent there.
“We were just way too inconsistent with the level of drops, especially early (in the season). We had way too many dropped passes, and that just can’t happen. So, you know, a million catches on the Jugs, building different things in individual periods, accountability, depth, competition are some of those areas, with that skill set on offense, I think is going to be a theme overall on our offense.
On players who have that big-play potential: “The two guys in our running back room are Warren and Solomon that have don’t things enough for me to say they have explosive play potential in the backfield. Superback Garrett Dickerson, I think he’s had a great offseason. He has done terrific, and I’ve been very, very impressed by him.
“I’m not yet ready to talk about the redshirt freshmen and the freshmen receivers. I like them in shorts, but so does Rivals.com (attaboy, Fitz!). That’s my point. We don’t play our game in shorts. Do I predict a lot of those guys will be in the mix and in the mix quickly based on what I’ve seen in shorts? Absolutely. It’s going to be fun to watch those guys. We’ve recruited well at those positions.
“I think the biggest guy is Christian Jones. He’s a difference maker. He’s a mismatch size-wise and he’s a mismatch from the standpoint of experience. It’s going to be great to get him back out there.” (He added that Jones should be ready for camp, though he’ll be on a “pitch count” regarding reps in Kenosha.)
