Maryland Terrapins Football

Maryland AD: Thank you all and welcome. When Coach Friedgin(sp?) was offered a job closer to his familys hometown and took it, we were left with a coaching vacancy of the football program. Well we very quickly got interviews together and we believe we have found the right man for the job here at Maryland. Please welcome in coach Jeff Hickerson.

Coach Hick: Well first off, it is an honor to stand in front of you all today wearing this Maryland football apparel. Im very grateful for the opportunity I have been given, and my staff and I plan to do the best we can do for this program. Im not a man of many words so Ill go ahead and make this short and sweet for you all. We are inheriting a great deal of talent, a GREAT deal. We have a pretty experienced team. I believe there are 20 seniors on our roster and I believe everyone of them will make an impact on our team this season. I feel that it is my duty to help send these guys out on top as I am sure it is hard for them dealing with a coaching change their last season on campus. We will make that as smooth as possible, and that is done by winning football games. And winning football games leads to championships. That is our ultimate goal here at the University of Maryland and that goal starts this season. Thank you all again and have a great day.

Coach Hickerson press conference after 59-14 victory over BYU to open season.

Coach Hick: Wow, what a great feeling. To get a win like that, to start a college head coaching career, amazing. I cant put that into words. I can however, say that we just set our barrier. This staff and I came here to do one thing, and thats win... we started out on the right note I would say. I could not have asked for a better effort from our guys out there today.


Reporter: Coach, two running backs over 100 yards today, any controversy over who will get a bulk of the carries in closer games?

Coach Hick: Well, we defnitely plan on splitting time between Meggett and Porzel. Both are great running backs that bring different strengths to the table and I believe we will utilize them both depending on the situation we are in.


Reporter: What do you think of Torrey Smith?

Coach Hick: Great hands, great speed, great route runner, great leaping ability... need me to keep going?


Reporter: Anything change in the lineup for next weeks ACC opener against Clemson?

Coach Hick: We just won by 40 something points, why would I want to change anything about what we just did? I am sure Clemson will be very prepared for what they watched us do offensively and defensively in the game, but I feel if we execute our gameplan and do what we want to do we will be just fine.


Reporter: Looking ahead to Clemson, what are your expectations for the game?

Coach Hick: Looking ahead, its that time.... (with a grin) I gotta get out of here and start preparations... yall have a good day.

Coach Hickerson press conference after 27-0 win over Clemson

Coach Hick: I would like to start off by saying it feels better to be 2-0 than it does 1-0. Who would have thunk it? lol I would have never guessed it, it also feels better standing up here after one hell of a performance from the guys on the field. My hats off to them for basically shutting down a damn good Clemson football team. Should put us in the top 25 and that would reach us our first goal of the season.

Reporter: What are the goals for the season?

Coach Hick: Well reaching the top 25 was our first goal, finishing in the top 25 is another. There is absolutely no reason we should not be able to do that with the talent we have on our team. Then of course there are the goals of making the conference championship, winning it, national championship, yadda yadda... you all know the answers to these questions.

Reporter: Caled Porzel did not have as much success this week, any reason for this you know of?


Coach Hick: Well, if i had to guess the main reason, it would be becuase Clemson has a very fast defense, and that is Calebs strength.... getting into space, making a man or two miss and going. He is just a sophomore and has plenty of time to mature in to that every down back. He has a damn good guy playing in front of him that he can learn a lot from and I believe he is taking in every bit of that experience.

Reporter: What do you think of Jamarr Robinsons play through the first 2 games of the season?


Coach Hick: He is doing everything we asked of him thus far, taking care of the ball.... not taking too many sacks but at the same time not taking too many risks which is very hard to do. He is managing the game well through our first 2 games and I am very proud of him for that... that big receiver named Torry makes things easier for him as well lol.

Reporter: Defense, what do you think of it after this week?


Coach Hick: The same thing i thought of it last week.... time to go, yall have a great day, thank you.

Coach Hickerson's press conference after the loss:

Coach Hick: Hell of a game, would have been a hell of a lot better if our locker room was there locker room, but that is a great team we played out there. This was one of those games that neither team deserved to lose, but hats off to Miami, they are a great team and I am sure they will go pretty far and have a great season. Would love a rematch with them in the conference championship.

Reporter: Conference championship, are you saying you will be there?

Coach Hick: No, im saying we have a great team and anything less than a conference championship appearance would be a great disappointment to our team.

Reporter: Do you think Miami will be there?

Coach Hick: I would sure think they would have a great chance, they are a hell of a football team. This is my first year in the conference, so I wouldnt listen to me too much. But yes, Miami is a very, very good team.


Reporter: Is Meggett ok?

Coach Hick: Yes, just a little banged up... he had to leave the game two separate occasions but he will be fine this week for practice and for the next weeks game.

Reporter: Defensively are you worried about giving up that many points?

Coach Hick: No we played three overtimes, and gave up a kick return to start the game. I actually think our defense played very well, wish we could have gotten a stop there in overtime but we didnt. Thats all the questions im taking today. Thanks and see you next week.