Reed Stringer Media Availability – The James Madison Game
10/22/2024 11:30:00 AM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss interim head football coach Reed Stringer spoke with members of the media following practice at the Joe P. Park Practice Facility on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. Stringer discussed the changes within the program and his new role as interim head coach as the Golden Eagles prepare to take on James Madison.
Kickoff between the Golden Eagles (1-6, 0-3 Sun Belt) and Dukes (5-2, 1-2 Sun Belt) is set for 2:30 p.m. CT (3:30 p.m. ET) on Saturday, October 26, at James Madison's Bridgeforth Stadium/Zane Showker Field in Harrisonburg, Va.
Fans wishing to attend Saturday's game can call the Southern Miss Ticket Office at 1-800-844-TICK (8425), by visiting SouthernMissTickets.com or by stopping by the Ticket Office in the Pat Ferlise Center on the corner of West 4th Street and Golden Eagle Avenue.
Saturday's contest can be heard on any station of the Southern Miss Sports Network with the Voice of the Golden Eagles, John Cox, and Lee Roberts starting the day at 1 p.m. CT with their pregame show. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and produced by James Madison.
Here is what Stringer said to the media:
Opening Statement…
"I was proud of our guys today in the way that they came out. It's been a tough 48 hours with everything that our kids and our coaches and really the administration and a lot of people involved with this. We got them out yesterday, normally we don't practice on Monday's, but we brought them out to the field for about 40 minutes, ran them around just to kind of get past the game and past Sunday and they've responded really well. Kids are resilient, they really are. We've got a lot of guys that love playing football and that really helps, so we were able to get that done and we got them out there today and we had a really really physical, hard-nosed practice. I think that's what we've got to continue to do. We've got to continue to go good-on-good and continue getting better as a football team. We've actually got a lot of guys on this team that haven't played a ton of football, so the more we play, the more we get after each other going good-on-good, we're just going to continue to get better and better. I'm just really proud of them. You never know how people are going to respond, but as a team in general and everybody that touches this team has responded in the right way. We're just going to keep working and keep trying to become a better football team and make something of the last five games our fans and our administration and our university can be proud of."
On being named interim head coach…
"[Jeremy] McClain reached out to me, and I went and met through him, and we talked through what was going on and asked me if I was willing to take the responsibility and I was. Then, we had a chance to have a staff meeting before we had a team meeting. For me, it all happened in about two hours. It's a tough day, but I've been a part of four of these transitions of coaches. I've never had the interim role, but I've been a part of it, so there's some things in the past to do, there's some things I've seen in the past to not to do. We're just going to stick together and continue to care about one another. We're going to hold these kids accountable and just continue to progress. Like I said, they're responding well. I think we're going to have an excited team that's going to go up to James Madison this weekend."
On players' emotional journey over the last few days…
"Sunday was a tough day for this whole program. The one thing we're going to focus on here going forward is that we're going to make this about us. We're beating ourselves right now. We're not playing the type of football that we can play and a lot of that is because we're not taking care of us. I don't really care what James Madison does right now, or the teams going forward, I want us to get better at what we're doing and working to improve ourselves on a daily basis. Our new motto for the rest of the year is 'do your job.' Do your job, that's it. Don't worry about anybody else's job, you do yours and if you do your job and you do it well, you can go home at night and lay your head on your pillow and sleep well. We're going to focus on us and we're going to get better as a football team. We've taken two steps to do that and I just hope we continue to practice like we're practicing and carry it over. I don't want to beat ourselves. I want to run the ball, I want to stop the run, and give us the chance to win football games and we can do that. We've got the players capable of doing that, we've just got to be better at what we ask them to do and we're going to ask them to do what they can. That's important too. I don't care how many plays we run on offense or defense, I just want our guys to know what they're doing and to execute and if, in the next five games, we go out there and they're just better than us, then I'll take that as the guy that recruited all these players as we didn't recruit good enough players, but I don't believe that. We're going to continue to work on us and I think they're on the right path. To answer your question, we're on the right path of getting ready for a game and I'm really proud of our kids and we'll keep pushing them."
On his first message to the team…
"Really, the first thing I told them was like, guys this is a tough day, but you can't be mad. Don't be mad at the administration, don't be mad at coach, don't be mad at each other, we haven't been playing good football, and that's on everybody. Coach Hall had a chance to talk to the team and he did a great job just reiterating that this is life and in life you've got to produce in whatever you do and when you don't, things like this happen. We just told them, look guys, let's just band together. We all have a hand in this and we can all be a part of fixing it. So, that's just where we're going with them and I told them right off the bat that that's our motto do your job. It won't be anything else. We're just going to start holding kids, really everybody in the program, including myself, accountable for what your job is and getting it done and executing well."
On getting the most out of his players…
"The most important thing is sticking together. I don't think the answer is wholesale changing things, especially this late in the season. Our kids were hurt. They were hurt for a lot of reasons. They're hurting because we're 1-6. They're hurting because of the head coaching change because they loved Coach Hall. Our job is to keep them together. Do things that you are capable of doing and doing well. We still are going to continue to practice hard, I did cut back a little bit of practice. It's late in the year anyway, you've got to start doing that, but we're not going to be miserable. We're not going to be miserable. We're going to keep doing what we're doing. It was said yesterday by Coach McClain, a lot of things on the inside of this program that people don't get to see is really really good. We've fixed our academic problem. We've recruited really, really well. Our kids treat people the right way. We have great relationships with the administration and the people on campus. We're doing things the right way and we're going to continue to do that. We're going to step up the accountability a little bit to make sure that we don't fall off of some of those things here at the very end. For the most part, you've just got to stick together. I'm not trying to change up anything. There will be some tweaks here and there, but just continuing to love on these kids. I've talk to the coaches about that too. Let's not make it miserable and we're not because I'm not a miserable person and I'm not going to be a part of that. Just keep doing what we're doing and getting better at what we do and getting better at us."
On if this is his first time in a head coaching role…
"Yes, it's the first time. It's the first time that I've had these responsibilities, but I've been a part of and been able to watch other people do it too, that I was really close with. So, I lived that life with them as they did it. I saw people do things that I do like and some things that I didn't like. I've got to be me and I'm going to continue to do that. We've got five more games and an off day. It's a lot of time. It's a lot of time to get better as a football team. I think this job is really really good job and whoever has a chance to come in and take this job is taking over something that's where it needs to be academically. The young players, the freshmen and sophomores on this team are really, really talented and I'm going to hold these guys together. I'm going hold this staff together and I'm going to get it to where the next person that's ready to come in and let them choose how they want to go forward. That's ultimately my job, to make sure that our team is intact and we're playing hard and all the intangibles are working together so when Coach McClain and them go out and find the right fit, they're taking over something we can be proud to pass over to them."
Kickoff between the Golden Eagles (1-6, 0-3 Sun Belt) and Dukes (5-2, 1-2 Sun Belt) is set for 2:30 p.m. CT (3:30 p.m. ET) on Saturday, October 26, at James Madison's Bridgeforth Stadium/Zane Showker Field in Harrisonburg, Va.
Fans wishing to attend Saturday's game can call the Southern Miss Ticket Office at 1-800-844-TICK (8425), by visiting SouthernMissTickets.com or by stopping by the Ticket Office in the Pat Ferlise Center on the corner of West 4th Street and Golden Eagle Avenue.
Saturday's contest can be heard on any station of the Southern Miss Sports Network with the Voice of the Golden Eagles, John Cox, and Lee Roberts starting the day at 1 p.m. CT with their pregame show. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and produced by James Madison.
Here is what Stringer said to the media:
Opening Statement…
"I was proud of our guys today in the way that they came out. It's been a tough 48 hours with everything that our kids and our coaches and really the administration and a lot of people involved with this. We got them out yesterday, normally we don't practice on Monday's, but we brought them out to the field for about 40 minutes, ran them around just to kind of get past the game and past Sunday and they've responded really well. Kids are resilient, they really are. We've got a lot of guys that love playing football and that really helps, so we were able to get that done and we got them out there today and we had a really really physical, hard-nosed practice. I think that's what we've got to continue to do. We've got to continue to go good-on-good and continue getting better as a football team. We've actually got a lot of guys on this team that haven't played a ton of football, so the more we play, the more we get after each other going good-on-good, we're just going to continue to get better and better. I'm just really proud of them. You never know how people are going to respond, but as a team in general and everybody that touches this team has responded in the right way. We're just going to keep working and keep trying to become a better football team and make something of the last five games our fans and our administration and our university can be proud of."
On being named interim head coach…
"[Jeremy] McClain reached out to me, and I went and met through him, and we talked through what was going on and asked me if I was willing to take the responsibility and I was. Then, we had a chance to have a staff meeting before we had a team meeting. For me, it all happened in about two hours. It's a tough day, but I've been a part of four of these transitions of coaches. I've never had the interim role, but I've been a part of it, so there's some things in the past to do, there's some things I've seen in the past to not to do. We're just going to stick together and continue to care about one another. We're going to hold these kids accountable and just continue to progress. Like I said, they're responding well. I think we're going to have an excited team that's going to go up to James Madison this weekend."
On players' emotional journey over the last few days…
"Sunday was a tough day for this whole program. The one thing we're going to focus on here going forward is that we're going to make this about us. We're beating ourselves right now. We're not playing the type of football that we can play and a lot of that is because we're not taking care of us. I don't really care what James Madison does right now, or the teams going forward, I want us to get better at what we're doing and working to improve ourselves on a daily basis. Our new motto for the rest of the year is 'do your job.' Do your job, that's it. Don't worry about anybody else's job, you do yours and if you do your job and you do it well, you can go home at night and lay your head on your pillow and sleep well. We're going to focus on us and we're going to get better as a football team. We've taken two steps to do that and I just hope we continue to practice like we're practicing and carry it over. I don't want to beat ourselves. I want to run the ball, I want to stop the run, and give us the chance to win football games and we can do that. We've got the players capable of doing that, we've just got to be better at what we ask them to do and we're going to ask them to do what they can. That's important too. I don't care how many plays we run on offense or defense, I just want our guys to know what they're doing and to execute and if, in the next five games, we go out there and they're just better than us, then I'll take that as the guy that recruited all these players as we didn't recruit good enough players, but I don't believe that. We're going to continue to work on us and I think they're on the right path. To answer your question, we're on the right path of getting ready for a game and I'm really proud of our kids and we'll keep pushing them."
On his first message to the team…
"Really, the first thing I told them was like, guys this is a tough day, but you can't be mad. Don't be mad at the administration, don't be mad at coach, don't be mad at each other, we haven't been playing good football, and that's on everybody. Coach Hall had a chance to talk to the team and he did a great job just reiterating that this is life and in life you've got to produce in whatever you do and when you don't, things like this happen. We just told them, look guys, let's just band together. We all have a hand in this and we can all be a part of fixing it. So, that's just where we're going with them and I told them right off the bat that that's our motto do your job. It won't be anything else. We're just going to start holding kids, really everybody in the program, including myself, accountable for what your job is and getting it done and executing well."
On getting the most out of his players…
"The most important thing is sticking together. I don't think the answer is wholesale changing things, especially this late in the season. Our kids were hurt. They were hurt for a lot of reasons. They're hurting because we're 1-6. They're hurting because of the head coaching change because they loved Coach Hall. Our job is to keep them together. Do things that you are capable of doing and doing well. We still are going to continue to practice hard, I did cut back a little bit of practice. It's late in the year anyway, you've got to start doing that, but we're not going to be miserable. We're not going to be miserable. We're going to keep doing what we're doing. It was said yesterday by Coach McClain, a lot of things on the inside of this program that people don't get to see is really really good. We've fixed our academic problem. We've recruited really, really well. Our kids treat people the right way. We have great relationships with the administration and the people on campus. We're doing things the right way and we're going to continue to do that. We're going to step up the accountability a little bit to make sure that we don't fall off of some of those things here at the very end. For the most part, you've just got to stick together. I'm not trying to change up anything. There will be some tweaks here and there, but just continuing to love on these kids. I've talk to the coaches about that too. Let's not make it miserable and we're not because I'm not a miserable person and I'm not going to be a part of that. Just keep doing what we're doing and getting better at what we do and getting better at us."
On if this is his first time in a head coaching role…
"Yes, it's the first time. It's the first time that I've had these responsibilities, but I've been a part of and been able to watch other people do it too, that I was really close with. So, I lived that life with them as they did it. I saw people do things that I do like and some things that I didn't like. I've got to be me and I'm going to continue to do that. We've got five more games and an off day. It's a lot of time. It's a lot of time to get better as a football team. I think this job is really really good job and whoever has a chance to come in and take this job is taking over something that's where it needs to be academically. The young players, the freshmen and sophomores on this team are really, really talented and I'm going to hold these guys together. I'm going hold this staff together and I'm going to get it to where the next person that's ready to come in and let them choose how they want to go forward. That's ultimately my job, to make sure that our team is intact and we're playing hard and all the intangibles are working together so when Coach McClain and them go out and find the right fit, they're taking over something we can be proud to pass over to them."
– #SMTTT –
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