Jack Siedlecki Quotations

Mike's one of those guys. He's going to make you miss. You're not going to get Mike every time even with that safety coming down.

Mike has picked things up very quickly -- he is an excellent pass blocker, which allows us to keep him in the game in all our one back formations. He is still a work in progress.

Obviously, the quarterback being elected the captain of the team shows that our players have confidence in him, they think he's going to be the right guy and a leader. He has lined up as the number one guy for 12 practices in the spring. I think our players have confidence in him.

Getting Ryan (Fodor) and Mike (McLeod), two of the most publicized kids in the state last year, the two MVPs, really helps us.

He looks great. To be that big and run that time is pretty impressive.

I think we?re one of those teams that questions are going to be answered as we go along.

I think there?s a lot of viable candidates and a lot of times they look at somebody that?s done more, shown more ... It?s a real commitment for a kid, in the short term, to come back for a fifth year. And I think that makes an impression on (the players).

Junior running back Jordan Spence played in a utility role last year and must become a prominent part of our offense.

We can?t get frustrated. We made a lot of big plays last week. There might not be as many big-play opportunities in this game. They?re going to back up and not let you run by them. They?re going to make you earn it.

We handled adversity well last week. Now we find out how we handle success. Some teams don?t handle it too well.

We get more inquiries from California kids than anywhere else. California and Texas, I?d say, make up for almost 50 percent of the inquiries.

We didn't play the complete game we needed to play but give Holy Cross credit. They got the lead and played hard. Now we've got an opportunity to be 2-0 in the league. That's the way we've got to look at it.

We called timeout and I actually walked out to see if you could kick a field goal there. There was no way. It was an absolute quagmire. That was out of the question.

We will miss Rory Hennessey, Rob Carr and Alvin Cowan, but other players are ready for their turn to play. Our success will depend on many juniors and seniors that are getting their first opportunity to start.

Being up just 6-0 that long was scary. When we scored on that fourth-down play, our sideline erupted. That was a big weight off our shoulders. We finally made that big play. We were a pretty excited team in that huddle after the game.

The running part is easy. The challenge comes with picking up the system, learning formations, reading defenses and knowing blocking assignments. All indications are he has very good natural football instincts. But we have to be realistic. He is just a freshman, a very talented freshman. We need to put him in situations where he can succeed, not situations where he?s not ready. That falls on the coaching staff.

Sometimes a player stands out when he is under adverse conditions. Chandler knew he couldn't play, but he took on a role of helping the younger players instead of feeling sorry for himself. He's gone above and beyond the call of duty, and that's something our players admire.

Our sideline erupted with that one. It was like the weight of the world went off our shoulders.

Our defense stood up each time we turned it over.

The bottom line is, their best player beat us. He made the biggest play of the game, and he beat us.

It will be another great year of Ivy football with a lot of close games. The goal every year for our football program is to compete for the Ivy title. We play in a league that is very balanced. Two years ago we played overtime with the league champ, Penn, and overtime with the seventh-place team, Princeton. Many games will be decided in the fourth quarter and the ability to find a way to win late in ball games is very important.

It?s confidence. The confidence level of this team built through the whole game on both sides of the ball and in the kicking game. You could feel it at halftime. We were just such a different team than we were last week. We were excited. These kids felt good about themselves.

It?s a neurological problem being evaluated as we go along under doctors? care.

They both did some good things. Ryan had the longest drive and ran the ball better than he had. Matt has the quick feet. Ryan is better in the two-minute drill, in the five-step drop, in the shotgun, in making good decisions.

The nature of college football is that players graduate.

In terms of front-line players, it's the worst since I've been here. Last year, we probably had 10 more guys injured at this stage of practice.

He brings a football work ethic that may be one of the most detailed that I have seen. He?s got all these drills that he does for concentration. You always say when your best players do the most, it sets an example for everyone else.

The coaches have voted unanimously for the 11th game and for postseason play every time it has been brought forward at our meetings. It then has to go to the athletic directors, the policy committee and then the presidents. Neither proposal has ever gotten approval from all groups.