Mike Norvell Weekly Press Conference Highlights

Link to full press conference video

Opening statement
"Football season is here. Game week is upon us. It's an exciting time for Memphis Tiger football. I am so proud of this team for how they have approached our fall camp and approached all of the preparation. From January when we got back to work preparing through the offseason, the spring practice, summer workouts and then building each and every day with the addition of the newcomers that we have added into our program.

We were at the stadium last night for picture day and ran through a mock game. Our team is excited. We are excited about the opportunity that is in front of us. We are excited about being able to take the field with this group and really try to establish an identity of what we are going to be all about. I'm really proud of the young men that I get to coach and the coaches I get to work with each and every day. We are excited about the first oppontent, excited about kicking off the season at home in the Liberty Bowl in a nationally televised game. There are a lot of things to be looking forward to if you are Memphis Tiger fan. I'm looking forward to seeing a whole lot of them in the stands come Thursday night. We are going to continue to work hard to do everything we can to represent this community, this university and our football program and the great tradition that we have. We will push forward and try to go 1-0 next week."

Are you ready for the first game?
"We still have a week to go. We had a great practice this morning. It was a modified Sunday work day for us. Our guys had a great approach to it and it was one of the best practices that we have had through fall camp, which is exciting for me because the last two practices we have been progressing. I've seen the intensity, the desire and the focus on the details. That's what you hope to see as a coach. You go through 29 practices of fall camp and everything is a single day now. We have been practicing since July 28 and it has been a long haul getting to this point. To see that our guys are continuing to get better and progress, I like where we are but there is still some work to be done."

On Louisiana Monroe…
"You see a team that was in a very similar situation to us last year with a new coaching staff. As they were going through their season last year they were trying to put themselves in the best position to be successful with new personnel. I have a lot of respect for their coaching staff and the program that is at ULM. We know that this is a team that is going to return a lot of experienced players. They have three guys that started at quarterback for them last season. Everything that you read is talking about the growth that they have had in the offseason. They are returning so many starters on this team that we know we are going to get a team that is much improved and one that is excited to get back on the field much like we are."
On playing at a higher tempo…
"I definitely think we are playing faster. That is something that we saw this spring and going into year two our guys have a much better understanding of what our expectation was. The confidence that our guys have and the comfort that they have in what we are asking them to do is allowing them to play faster. When you look at our offense and the skill position players that we have, we have a lot more depth than we had at this time last year. We think we can play more players and more guys can be involved and that allows us to stay fresh and push the pace."

Anything change for you going into game week?
"Nothing radically changes. Our main focus is still on ourselves. We have done a lot of things this last week that has introduced ULM and their concepts, schemes, personnel but at the end of the day we have to maintain a focus on ourselves and making sure that we can go out there and properly communicate, properly execute, play at a fast tempo and have all 11 hats on defense running relentlessly to the ball. Those are things that if we don't do that, it doesn't matter who you are playing. We have to be concerned on the details that we can control. Anytime that you go into a first game of the season, you study past years and look at as much film as you can but sometimes it almost gets to be too much because we really have no clue what we are going to see. As we are moving forward, as long as we can trust our rules and do the things that are necessary for us to be successful then I like where we are.

Is the depth chart set?
"For the most part we are pretty set but there is still some movement that can happen. Every week as you are going through practice, our job as coaches is to put the guys on the field that give us the best opportunity to be successful. This week of preparation is big for a lot of guys. Whether they are going to start in a specific personnel package, whether they are going to be a backup or someone that can be counted on if their number is to be called. I have to see that in their preparation this week. I think for the most part we have a pretty good sense of where we are.

Talking with Coach (Chris) Ball our defensive coordinator, this is one of the first times I've gone into a season where I see 22 guys on defense that I think can really help us. To be able to play more guys, that's going to help alleviate playing too many snaps on defense and to keep guys fresh. The same thing goes for receiver, running back and all of our different skill positions. Even up front, Harneet Gill and Roger Joseph have come in and really pushed and Lio Lafaela in his second season with us. I feel good about seven, eight or maybe even nine offensive linemen that have the potential to help us. That is a great compliment to the work that they have put in and the competition that we now have. If we can do that it really helps this team play at a higher level but also push each."

On opening the season on a Thursday night…
"I love giving our players, our program and our community an opportunity to be showcased. To play on a Thursday night to essentially kick off college football is big for us. I'm excited about the opportunity that we are going to have. I am looking forward to seeing the fans dressed in blue. You can feel the excitement within our community. We are so grateful and honored for the opportunity to represent this community and this school. It is exciting to get it all started. Quite frankly I don't want to wait a couple more days. I'm glad we are getting it done on Thursday and being able to run through that tunnel and represent this community and all of the people that are watching for us to try to be successful."

University of Memphis Athletics

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