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Murray: We Have To Keep The Crowd Quiet

June 16, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Central Valley Coyotes News Release


Editor's Note: One of the most significant moves the Coyotes made during the 2004 off-season was acquiring Doug Murray as defensive coordinator. Murray spent the pas two seasons at UC Davis as the secondary coach.

In Central Valley, Murray inherits a defense that finished 3rd in the af2 last season. The team also acquired talented players in the off-season, including linebacker Kevin Nelson and defensive specialist Jermaine Smith to add to the veteran leadership of defensive end Ricky Leung-Wai, defensive specialist VonKeith Spencer and linebacker Howard Maxwell.

Murray enters this Week 12 contest with the best pass defense in the West Division. His comments will appear regularly on Centralvalleycoyotes.com throughout the 2004 season.

Coming back from Hawaii on Monday, what do you do this week to catch up and get back on some sort of normal schedule?

"I think this week we need to pay attention to the things we did well and make sure we can stay consistent with those things heading into this week. Then I think we need to correct the mental mistakes that we tend to continue to make."

Is it good to be playing a rivalry game this week?

"Of course, obviously we're almost at a point of desperation, but certainly with a team like Bakersfield being so close and the history of the team makes the game that much more exciting. I know it gets really loud out their and their fans support the team, so we're going to have to make big plays to keep them quiet. We need to control the clock and we need to limit our mental mistakes, like offsides penalties on key third down plays."

Are you going to make any lineup changes this week?

"We're going to take a hard look at personnel, although I think we're capable of winning games with the personnel we have right now. We'll bring in some guys that hopefully can strengthen our team a little more. We always need to put ourselves in a position to improve."

When you are preparing for a team does it make it tougher in your preparation when you have so many questions about your own team?

"Yes, so what I tend to do is focus more on our team and make sure everything is right with us before anything else. Then if there is time or energy to take a strong look at the other team then I will go ahead and do that. Right now though it is all about getting the Coyotes right first."

Do you try to do what you've been doing all along, only better, or do you adjust how you try to attack the offense?

"We have to be careful about doing to many things because we're not clean and precise right now with things we are doing. Again it's just cleaning up some of the things we do well and then if we're able add some things, we will. Right now we need to get back to the fundamentals and make sure we know our alignments and assignments."

Since you first played Bakersfield, what are they doing to get better and where are they now?

"They are capable because of their maturity and experience to get better and grow and learn more then a team like us. I would expect them to be better then they we're from a week before regardless of whether they won or lost. They will do a good job of studying and preparing for us and this game will be tougher then the first two we played. Again we know their crowd is going to be a factor so we have to silence them as much as possible."

How impressed are you with rookie head coach Rick Van Horne and the job he has done with the Blitz?

"I'm extremely impressed. Obviously I know his resume and he's a very accomplished coach along with his staff. They really know what they are doing down there and we respect them as a coaching staff."

Can you get into Eric Mahanke's head?

"Absolutely not. He's a real pro, last time I thought we did a real sufficient job against him, but I thought that might have been a lot more luck then skill. You can't get inside a guys head like that and you can't stop him, but you can play your coverage's and techniques right to limit his catches."

Is your job equal parts football and equal parts mastering psychology?

"You could take it like that, I think you need more psychology when you are losing then there normally would be when you are winning because I tend to think the players take care of that. When in doubt you just need to focus on hard work and football and the other things hopefully will take care of themselves."

Do you buy into the theory that a coach's message can get old after so many weeks? How do you keep it fresh with the players?

"The message only gets old if it's not a good message. I think if you believe in something and you have a strong philosophy then you need to keep harping on it. You still need to keep the focus on the players but not to the point where you lose them. I think we're getting on the same page with the players in terms of understanding what we need to do and why we're doing it."

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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