University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com
Coach Will Hall Media Conference – Northwestern State Week
9/13/2022 1:44:00 PM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- Football head coach Will Hall met with members of the media Tuesday morning following practice to discuss this week's home game against Northwestern State as well as looking back at last Saturday's road contest against nationally ranked Miami.
Southern Miss entertains the Demons for a 6 p.m. CT kickoff at The Rock this Saturday. The game can be streamed through ESPN3 and also be heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Network from Learfield.
Here is some of what Hall said the media on Tuesday:
Opening Statement…
"Just a great competition Tuesday. Beautiful weather and our kids had great energy. Our kids see how close we are to getting this thing over the hump. We had great energy—great juice today—a great punt period, great kickoff cover period. We split the reps of our quarterbacks right down the middle today—1s and 2s—and let those two battle. They both had really good days. We'll get in here and see the tape and we'll go from there. I'm not happy about where we're at, not happy about why we're where we're at, but I am happy and hopeful with the future and the progress we're making, but we've got to get there. This is Southern Miss. This is the most proud group of five program in America and we've got to get that back and we're inching towards it. I'd like to, instead of taking inches towards it, I'd like to maybe take yards towards it and get there faster. So, we've got to do that."
On Why He is Unhappy…
"I'm unhappy with how we played. I'm unhappy that we could be 2-0 right now. I'm unhappy that we don't take advantage of opportunities. I'm unhappy that we're not playing good enough. I'm unhappy we're not coached well enough. I hate losing, you know what I mean. We're at the point in our program where we're right there learning how to win. We're really close, but close is not good enough in football. It's definitely not good enough at Southern Miss and it's not good enough for me. I'm just not happy about being 0-2."
On Zach Wilcke's Saturday Showing…
"[He's] a really, really accurate passer. He showed what we knew when we recruited him and signed him. He showed what we saw in spring. When the ball leaves his hand, it goes right where it's going—he's like a professional dart thrower—it goes right where you want it to go. He showed great poise in the pocket. He had some boneheaded plays that we'd like to have back that could have turned it. It's kind of where we're at. He's played one game where he made some really good plays and made some boneheaded plays. Ty [Keyes] did the same thing in game one. We go two young guys that are really talented and we're developing them and moving forward."
On What Wilcke Learned After Not Converting a Close Third Down…
"I hope he learned a lot from it, and I hope I did. We work a drill every day on that—it obviously is not resonating good enough, so we've go to do a better job coaching. He is young, maybe that's an excuse, but man, you've got to get the first down on third down. Not just him, but everybody in our whole program. If we get the first right there, the game might have been different, and he knows that. He accepts that responsibility. He's an intense competitor that's a great human being that loves Southern Miss and loves his teammates. So, he'll learn from that. He had to accept that on Monday and he's learned from it and hopefully he'll never do it again the rest of his life."
On Wilcke's Interception in Endzone Intended for Jason Brownlee…
"If they [Zach Wilcke & Jason Brownlee] were both standing in front of us, they would both take ownership for it because that's the kind of kids they are. Brownlee could've gotten a better release and battled for it. Zach threw the ball too quick. We're on the 6-yard line, we're not on the three. He could've held it a little longer and given Brownlee a little more time to get a release. It's probably about a 50-50 on each of them, but it's inexcusable and it was just bad, bad football."
On Current Differences from Previous Experiences with Freshman Quarterbacks and Two Quarterback Systems…
"We've won three conference titles with two quarterbacks before. The thing about them is that they're uniquely different. Zach can run, but Ty is a great runner. Ty can throw it accurately, but Zach is extremely accurate. Their skill sets compliment. They're both intense competitors. It's not different as far as the development, we've done the same thing. We didn't play them until the time was right. When you look at Ty last year, we didn't play him until he was ready, and he proved that. We didn't play Zach until he was ready, and we proved that. Southern Miss has had quarterbacks that were played too early here in the past and we saw what happened to their career and that's all over the country. I just don't do that. I played the position and I know the demands of it. I know what we're developing and growing. We've got a lot to grow with right there and I'm excited about how they're developing and what we can do with them."
On Brandon Hayes' Overall Health…
"Good. We've got what we got. I'm not a guy to make excuses. We'd like to have Brandon Hayes; we'd like to have Hayes Maples. It was good to get DMo [Demarcus Jones] back and he made a play. It's what it is, it's college football and we've got game three coming up."
On a Possibility of a Two Quarterback System…
"Right now, I don't take anything off the table as far as trying to get this program over the hump. Anything we can do to get a win and to get some momentum going, we're willing to think about and do. We're an out-of-the-box program with a big toolbox. What we've got to do is start executing better offensively and we've got to start scoring some more points. We're on the verge of an explosion right there and it could be fun once it does."
On Chandler Pittman's Progress After Return from Injury…
"It's good—he's doing really well. He's just behind a guy that's playing better than him right now in Rambo [Antavious Willis]. It's not a deal where Chandler is doing anything wrong. Chandler does everything right all the time. Chandler is young, he's going to be a really good player. He's coming off a knee injury and Rambo is playing at a really, really high level. He's a dynamic player. We've got two good players right there that are great kids that love Southern Miss."
On Not Accepting Moral Victories…
"We're Southern Miss. Last year it was what it was. We were playing with half a team. This year we're playing with a full team, it's year two. You can cut that tape on and Miami's a good team that's going to have a good year and I got a lot of respect for their coaching staff. But we've got to play better. We've got to run out of bounds for a first down. We've got to not throw picks in the redzone. When they drop that punt, we've got to have more than one guy there to pick that up. We make all three of those plays, we're in the fourth quarter in a tied game. We've got to accept accountability for that as coaches and players and we've got to do that better."
On Run Game's Struggles Against Miami…
"They whipped us up front. Their D-line is really good. Number six [Miami's Darrell Jackson, Jr.] is going to be an NFL guy. We had some things that were there and there were some spots where we got whipped."
Southern Miss entertains the Demons for a 6 p.m. CT kickoff at The Rock this Saturday. The game can be streamed through ESPN3 and also be heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Network from Learfield.
Here is some of what Hall said the media on Tuesday:
Opening Statement…
"Just a great competition Tuesday. Beautiful weather and our kids had great energy. Our kids see how close we are to getting this thing over the hump. We had great energy—great juice today—a great punt period, great kickoff cover period. We split the reps of our quarterbacks right down the middle today—1s and 2s—and let those two battle. They both had really good days. We'll get in here and see the tape and we'll go from there. I'm not happy about where we're at, not happy about why we're where we're at, but I am happy and hopeful with the future and the progress we're making, but we've got to get there. This is Southern Miss. This is the most proud group of five program in America and we've got to get that back and we're inching towards it. I'd like to, instead of taking inches towards it, I'd like to maybe take yards towards it and get there faster. So, we've got to do that."
On Why He is Unhappy…
"I'm unhappy with how we played. I'm unhappy that we could be 2-0 right now. I'm unhappy that we don't take advantage of opportunities. I'm unhappy that we're not playing good enough. I'm unhappy we're not coached well enough. I hate losing, you know what I mean. We're at the point in our program where we're right there learning how to win. We're really close, but close is not good enough in football. It's definitely not good enough at Southern Miss and it's not good enough for me. I'm just not happy about being 0-2."
On Zach Wilcke's Saturday Showing…
"[He's] a really, really accurate passer. He showed what we knew when we recruited him and signed him. He showed what we saw in spring. When the ball leaves his hand, it goes right where it's going—he's like a professional dart thrower—it goes right where you want it to go. He showed great poise in the pocket. He had some boneheaded plays that we'd like to have back that could have turned it. It's kind of where we're at. He's played one game where he made some really good plays and made some boneheaded plays. Ty [Keyes] did the same thing in game one. We go two young guys that are really talented and we're developing them and moving forward."
On What Wilcke Learned After Not Converting a Close Third Down…
"I hope he learned a lot from it, and I hope I did. We work a drill every day on that—it obviously is not resonating good enough, so we've go to do a better job coaching. He is young, maybe that's an excuse, but man, you've got to get the first down on third down. Not just him, but everybody in our whole program. If we get the first right there, the game might have been different, and he knows that. He accepts that responsibility. He's an intense competitor that's a great human being that loves Southern Miss and loves his teammates. So, he'll learn from that. He had to accept that on Monday and he's learned from it and hopefully he'll never do it again the rest of his life."
On Wilcke's Interception in Endzone Intended for Jason Brownlee…
"If they [Zach Wilcke & Jason Brownlee] were both standing in front of us, they would both take ownership for it because that's the kind of kids they are. Brownlee could've gotten a better release and battled for it. Zach threw the ball too quick. We're on the 6-yard line, we're not on the three. He could've held it a little longer and given Brownlee a little more time to get a release. It's probably about a 50-50 on each of them, but it's inexcusable and it was just bad, bad football."
On Current Differences from Previous Experiences with Freshman Quarterbacks and Two Quarterback Systems…
"We've won three conference titles with two quarterbacks before. The thing about them is that they're uniquely different. Zach can run, but Ty is a great runner. Ty can throw it accurately, but Zach is extremely accurate. Their skill sets compliment. They're both intense competitors. It's not different as far as the development, we've done the same thing. We didn't play them until the time was right. When you look at Ty last year, we didn't play him until he was ready, and he proved that. We didn't play Zach until he was ready, and we proved that. Southern Miss has had quarterbacks that were played too early here in the past and we saw what happened to their career and that's all over the country. I just don't do that. I played the position and I know the demands of it. I know what we're developing and growing. We've got a lot to grow with right there and I'm excited about how they're developing and what we can do with them."
On Brandon Hayes' Overall Health…
"Good. We've got what we got. I'm not a guy to make excuses. We'd like to have Brandon Hayes; we'd like to have Hayes Maples. It was good to get DMo [Demarcus Jones] back and he made a play. It's what it is, it's college football and we've got game three coming up."
On a Possibility of a Two Quarterback System…
"Right now, I don't take anything off the table as far as trying to get this program over the hump. Anything we can do to get a win and to get some momentum going, we're willing to think about and do. We're an out-of-the-box program with a big toolbox. What we've got to do is start executing better offensively and we've got to start scoring some more points. We're on the verge of an explosion right there and it could be fun once it does."
On Chandler Pittman's Progress After Return from Injury…
"It's good—he's doing really well. He's just behind a guy that's playing better than him right now in Rambo [Antavious Willis]. It's not a deal where Chandler is doing anything wrong. Chandler does everything right all the time. Chandler is young, he's going to be a really good player. He's coming off a knee injury and Rambo is playing at a really, really high level. He's a dynamic player. We've got two good players right there that are great kids that love Southern Miss."
On Not Accepting Moral Victories…
"We're Southern Miss. Last year it was what it was. We were playing with half a team. This year we're playing with a full team, it's year two. You can cut that tape on and Miami's a good team that's going to have a good year and I got a lot of respect for their coaching staff. But we've got to play better. We've got to run out of bounds for a first down. We've got to not throw picks in the redzone. When they drop that punt, we've got to have more than one guy there to pick that up. We make all three of those plays, we're in the fourth quarter in a tied game. We've got to accept accountability for that as coaches and players and we've got to do that better."
On Run Game's Struggles Against Miami…
"They whipped us up front. Their D-line is really good. Number six [Miami's Darrell Jackson, Jr.] is going to be an NFL guy. We had some things that were there and there were some spots where we got whipped."
Players Mentioned
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