October 6, 2009

Tim Murphy Quotes From Ivy Football Teleconference

Photo: Dave Silverman

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Tim Murphy, the Thomas Stephenson Family Head Coach for Harvard Football, recently took part in the Ivy League's weekly teleconference. Below are his quotes from the event.

Additionally, coach Murphy will give more insight into his Crimson as he takes part in the weekly New England Football Writers' Association Luncheon Wednesday afternoon at Harvard's Dillon Field House.

The event - the nation's oldest weekly football media gathering, now entering its 81st season - begins at noon and features head coaches, players and administrators from around the region from all levels of NCAA competition. For the first time, this year's event will be streamed live via the web on GoCrimson.com.

Fans can login to Harvard's Multimedia section of the website to watch the streams. Recaps of the event will be posted in the afternoon and will be sent to media and area schools as well. Local fans can do even better as the event is open to the public for a fee of $10 per person.

Each school's coach/administrator will speak briefly about his team's last game, a preview up the upcoming games and an assessment of his team's top players. Additionally, the weekly Gold Helmet Award is given to the preceding week's top players. The award is sponsored by the Gridiron Club of Greater Boston and the weekly winners - one from Divisions I and one from Divisions II/III - are presented with a plaque.

Tim Murphy Quotes from the weekly Ivy League Teleconference
Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009 

Harvard Head Coach Tim Murphy opening statement:
Cornell is always a tough place to play. They are always a tough, physical team. They've got some juice, they've got some energy. They have had two dominating defensive wins against Yale and Bucknell. They're a very good defensive team; offensively they give you an awful lot to prepare for.

On the impact of Cheng Ho at running back:
Chen did a great job (at Lehigh). We're fortunate to have a good deal of depth at the running back position. We've got three guys we try to work into the rotation. We felt we could get the job done (against Lehigh) with Cheng. The bottom line is, he had to get it done. Gino was out... and Treavor was out. He gave us tremendous leadership and energy. He's a valuable player in a lot of different ways.  

On entering the heart of Ivy League play and the difficulty in repeating as a front runner/ champion:
The challenge is always that there are so many good teams in our league year in and year out. There is a lot of parity. There are no weak teams in our league. In this particular year there are no dominating teams so there may be more parity than ever.

On the impact of Collier Winters at quarterback:
I would have to say that, on a scale of 1-10, we have to give Collier an 8.5 - minimum. We didn't think Collier would be this far along (at this stage of the season). He makes good decisions, he makes quick decisions. He's thrown one interception; for a rookie QB to do that, you know that he's a good decision maker. He can improvise and make plays that are tough to defend and tough to coach.

On trying to make Cornell one dimensional:
I think any teams' philosophy is to stop the run. Wanting to stop the run and doing it are two different things.  Teams know that we are going to put a lot of emphasis on the run. They're got a good offensive line, they've got good running backs and a talented quarterback. They are a bit like us in that they are a bit of a pass-first team but we want to defend the run first.

On Harvard's early start:
We haven't played a bad game yet but we haven't played great either. We're a solid football team, we have a lot of improvement we need to do if we are going to be a dominant team.

On James Williams' play:
James is a guy you don't have to worry about . He's one of those kids that, unlike most offensive linemen in general, he's extremely physical. He just doesn't like to execute a block - he likes to execute a very physical brand of football. When you have a guy that not only can block people but occasionally demoralize a guy, that makes everyone on your team better.

How James Williams' NFL projections:
I think it's still difficult to tell. There are so many great guys at that level (in the NFL). He has three things going for him though: one, he is a tall guy; two, he has very long arms and three, he has dominated at this level. I think he has a solid shot to be an NFL player but he's got to take the next step. It's no slam dunk when making that transition.