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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCENovember 22, 2011Al GoldenCOACH GOLDEN: Obviously excited for a great opportunity Friday to see our seniors play for the last time, and obviously see the chapter close on the 2011 Miami Hurricanes. We're aware of the type of games that we've had with Boston College over the years. If you go back to even '84, 1991, 19‑14, 1995, 17‑14, '91, 31‑28, and of course the National Championship here in 2001, 18‑7, we understand what we're in for in terms of a battle. Obviously we have an opportunity to close out the year this year with a win and a great challenge at Boston College on Friday. So with that I'll open it up to any questions you have. Q. Do your guys look at this game as their bowl game? Guys like Jacory and Travis Benjamin and all the seniors since they won't have a chance to extend their careers by one more game? What kind of approach do you take to that? COACH GOLDEN: I think the final games, irrespective if it's your bowl game are special. I think the difference here is you're not on site. They know now this is the final game. So they will enjoy their last Tuesday practice. They will enjoy their last Wednesday practice. They will enjoy their last walk‑through, their last team meeting Thursday night or the last team meeting the night before the game or the last time they address the team as captains or the last time they walk out. So I think the finality of it kind of puts it in that category. I think there is urgency, clearly, and I'm really proud of the way our seniors have led us all year and certainly leading us through this, what we hope is our last piece of adversity in this year. Q. Having had to go through so much prior to the beginning of the season through now, what are the things‑‑ the best things to have come out of this season for you? COACH GOLDEN: I don't think there's any question when you look at the leadership that these seniors provided, the competitive toughness. We lost five games by a total that was less than we lost to one team last year, and that is Florida State. I think our kids know that we're more competitive. We're more disciplined. We've improved in a lot of areas in terms of our infrastructure and our foundation and the seniors deserve that credit for helping us build that. Certainly that will be their legacy, and it's up to the rest of us to carry on and move forward. I think we've made great strides. It's not going to be complete unless we finish this season on Friday. Q. I don't know exactly how to word this correctly. I'm just going to do the best I can. If you have absolutely no interest in the Penn State job, this might be a good chance to say so. COACH GOLDEN: I'm sorry now? Q. If you have absolutely no interest in the Penn State job, this might be a good chance to say so. COACH GOLDEN: I don't understand. Is there a question there? Q. Well, I'm just asking you, do you have absolutely no interest in the Penn State job? That's the question. COACH GOLDEN: The question has been posed the last couple of weeks, and I said over and over again, I'm happy here. I'm excited about what we're doing with our program. I'm excited about the recruiting class that we're putting together, and clearly excited about what our team has done. Q. So does that mean you're absolutely going to coach at Miami in 2012? COACH GOLDEN: I believe I'm going to be the head coach of Miami in 2012. That's correct. Q. I know you have a lot of work to do in this area over the next couple of months, but from the looks of it, you and your staff have done a pretty remarkable job of putting that recruiting class that you mentioned together over in some adverse circumstances. Can you just talk about the challenges that you face there and also the response that you have gotten from kids out there as a result of some different types of circumstances at Miami right now? COACH GOLDEN: I think, number one, a lot of the credit has to go to our staff and our coaches. Our coaches have done a great job. I think we have a personable staff, and we're very genuine. We kind of wear our core values on our sleeves, so to speak. I don't think there's any question that our coaches and our current players are the reason why we're doing well in recruiting. Why you come to the University of Miami, and why you take the University of Miami job is you have access to a great number of student‑athletes, densely populated area, very fertile, rich area. If you come that with a small, private institution and a top‑40 institution in the country in our tradition, I think that's a very formidable piece. So obviously we're excited about the direction our recruiting is going. We're fixing to get started on getting out and meeting with families and seeing all the recruits we can on Sunday, and I'm really anxious to bring in a great recruiting class. Q. Have you got a good sense of the mood and the emotion of the team this week? Are guys so disappointed and frustrated about not going to a bowl game that they're not into it this week? Or do you get a sense that they are really into it because this is the last game of the season? COACH GOLDEN: They've taken the lead of the seniors because we've got to maintain focus. It's going to be important now that the physical terms and the mental here in the last 72 hours for the most part. All I can say is we've practiced twice, and we've practiced well twice. That doesn't mean we're going to play well on Friday. That means we've got to play better tonight and tomorrow and continue to do that and don't get distracted on Thanksgiving. Those are the things that we're looking forward to moving forward on. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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