ACC Football Kickoff Notebook
Coaches and media met on Monday to discuss 2000 season.



July 25, 2000

Hot Springs, Va. - On Monday, all nine ACC head football coaches met with the media at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va. to discuss the upcoming 2000 football season. Below are some of the things that were disussed.

Tigers Hope To Fulfill Expectations
After a 6-6 finish in Tommy Bowden's first season, expectations are high at Clemson these days. Fans are talking about heading into the Florida State game with a 9-0 record, but Bowden warns his program is taking it step by step.

Bowden can be described as a historian of Clemson football. He often notes that the Tigers haven't finished a season in the top-25 in seven years. That is what he describes as the next step for the program.

"Finishing in the top-25 is a step you eventually have to take. It has been seven years since we finished in the top-25, that is the next step. I think that is a realistic step. Playing Nebraska in the Orange Bowl and finishing up 9-2 or 10-1, I don't know if that is realistic, but finishing in the top-25 needs to be accomplished pretty quick."

Bowden Has No Long Term Plans
Tommy Bowden said he has no five to seven year plans to make Clemson a national power again. The second-year coach said the Tiger faithful aren't that patient. Bowden stated that was one of the reasons he took the job.

"You come to a school like this because they have high expectations. There are some schools that have a sense of urgency and there are some that do not. Clemson is one of those schools with a sense of urgency. There is no five or seven year plans here."

Bowden Wants More Productive Ground Attack
Tommy Bowden noted on Monday, the Tigers needed to be more productive on the ground in 2000. Clemson finished the 1999 season with 1,812 yards rushing. Bowden feels the team should gain at least 2,000 yards rushing in 2000 and that the team should have at least one 1,000-yard rusher.

Franks Wants Continuity In Duke Program
One of the things Duke head coach Carl Franks feels that the Blue Devils need is continuity in the program. He explained that during spring practice a lot of the players expressed satisfaction that for the first time in along time, they weren't learning a new offensive system. Franks was also happy to have his staff return for another campaign.

When asked the why the coaches stayed at Duke, Franks joked, "because they like working for me. I don't know the answer. I think a lot of reasons...I think they enjoy where they live, where they work. They work in a work environment that they wanted to continue to be around."

Bobby Bowden Lists Replacing The Janikowski As Biggest Obstacle
When Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden takes a look at the road ahead as his Seminoles attempt to defend the National Championship, he list the replacement of placekicker Sebastian Janikowski at the top of his list of concerns.

"I think that is going to be the hardest thing to replace is Janikowski. All close games are won with a kick and there is a guy you are losing. We have a high school kicker coming in that I hope can do the job."

His other concerns include defensive tackles and his depth at linebackers.

Chris Weinke Factor
When asked about the return of quarterback Chris Weinke, coach Bowden's eyes lit up as he merely said, "that's big."

Weinke has a 21-1 record as FSU's starting QB. Weinke spurned the NFL for one more season and elected to return to Tallahassee for his senior campaign and the chance to defend the National Championship.

"The key is Chris Weinke, no doubt about it. All you have to do is go back and look at the last two bowl games. Playing in the Sugar Bowl, Peter Warrick breaks a record for scoring points and he can't do that if somebody can't get him the ball. If you can't hit him with the ball, what good is a wide receiver. Now in the year before in the Fiesta Bowl, you don't have Weinke and we hit (Warrick) two times all day long. We threw it to him nine something times and we only got it to him twice, so you would have never known who Peter Warrick was that night."

FSU Versus The Rest Of The ACC
Bowden was asked to give his analysis of why FSU has continually dominated the ACC since it joined the league in 1992. The topic was brought up a lot among the ACC coaches during the day at the media meetings. Bowden only repeated what all the other coaches said all day.

"If their 11 were playing our 11, I wonder how many games we would have lost. We would have lost some games. But, while they are out there playing 11, we are playing 22. When they are playing 22 we are playing 44. I think we played 50 guys in the first half against Virginia Tech. So if we can hang close to the fourth quarter we are going to win, because we are going to be fresh. We probably have more players than they do, but they are gaining ground."

Georgia Tech's Surrounding Cast
Despite the loss of multi-talented quarterback Joe Hamilton, Georgia Tech head coach George O'Leary likes where his program is heading into the 2000 season.

"Who replaces Joe Hamilton? Nobody. But we are at the point in the program now where we return 34 of 44 players. The surrounding cast now is so much better than it was when Joe came in."

O'Leary Looking Forward To Opener
Georgia Tech opens the 2000 season on the road at Virginia Tech, last season's runner-up in the National Championship hunt.

"I took the Virginia Tech game because this is the first time we have been on semesters, normally we have been on the quarter system. We used to get out of school the first week of June. Now we have been out since April 28. So we have had a lot of time. I wanted to set the barometer high for the summer workouts and goals for the season. I think that is a great opening game for us. I always like playing good competition."

Terps Look To Build On 1999
On Monday, head coach Ron Vanderlinden told the media that Maryland's goal for 2000 was to have a winning season. A winning season for the program correlates into becoming bowl eligible, the Terps were one game from achieving that goal last season.

"A year ago we started out 5-2 and we lost two heartbreakers down the stretch. I think as a result of that, our team has learned that we can win, I think our confidence level is higher than it has been. Our work ethic is better than it has been and I think our guys are excited about the season and excited about our chances."

Lamont Jordan?
Tailback Lamont Jordan is being promoted by the school as a Heisman Trophy candidate and under normal circumstances Jordan would be here as part of that campaign, but he is not. Instead he is back on the Maryland campus making sure his academics are in order.

"The reason Lamont is not here today is because he is in school. I would guess that there are 25 percent of all college football players right now in summer school working on eligibility issues. So it is really not that unique...I think Lamont will make it academically."

Jordan led the ACC and was 12th nationally last season in rushing yards per game (238.1). The senior is a consensus first-team All-American heading into the 2000 campaign.

What's Needed In 2000 For Maryland To Have Success
Vanderlinden feels the Terrapin air attack needs improvement. With Jordan, Maryland will have a solid ground attack, but Vanderlinden would like to see improvement in the passing game that will compliment Jordan's ablities.

"Now what we need to do is throw the ball more effectively. We return the quarterback who started nine games for us last year as a red-shirt freshman. Calvin (McCall) will be a better player for us this year than he was last year. We also signed a junior college quarterback Shaun Hill, who had a very strong spring for us and he is very much in the mix at quarterback. We'll be better at the QB position, which is so critical."

Ronald Curry Will Return In 2000
The first topic North Carolina head coach Carl Torbush went into was the return of quarterback Ronald Curry. Curry is returning from a ruptured right achilles' tendon.

"If he is not 100 percent, he is right at 100 percent. I understand he has been running real well this summer. He has been playing a lot of pick-up basketball. I know he has been playing a lot against Vince Carter and some of those guys, so I know if he doesn't want to get embarrassed, he better be at about full speed...I expect him to come back and be better than he was."

Torbush Looking For Success Early
During his first two years as North Carolina's head coach, Carl Torbush has seen the Tar Heels lose in the season opener. Torbush is looking to change that in 2000.

"We need to come out of the blocks fast. We need to win early. That is something we have not been able to do the last two years. We lost the first game of the season the last two years on the last play of the game. That takes a lot out of your heart and your spirit, so I think it is important for us to be successful early in the season."

Without FSU National Championship, Amato May Not Be At NC State
NC State first-year head coach Chuck Amato said on Monday, that if Florida State had not won the National Championship last season, he may not have come to NC State.

"Had we not won a National Championship, I may not have come. Because that is something that we (FSU) had been trying to do, go undefeated, and they had never done it before. And go wire-to-wire and win it undefeated and win the National Championship, it was really rewarding for all parties involved."

Amato Likes NC State's Commitment
One of the reasons Amato came to NC State is because he felt the commitment from the university was there. Amato wanted to go out and get a top-notch crew of assistant coaches and the NC State administration gave him the resources to do that.

"Do you have the resources? If you have that, that means that there is a commitment and they did. They were just open to the fact that (we needed) to get the best that we can get. I think we did a good job and now we have to get these good coaches some good players because we have a lot of work to do here, but that is why we are here."

Virginia Is Reinventing The Program
George Welsh made the statement that Virginia is "reinventing the program." What does all this mean, really not as much as it sounds according to Welsh.

"I just borrowed that from some book I read. What I did was take a closer look at all aspects of what we were doing. I changed the staff back to where it was before. I took a closer look at our winter program and our spring practice...I sent my coaches to a lot of different pro and college teams to compare organizational structures and X's and O's. But, that is basically what we did in February and March and implemented it in spring practice."

"The changes weren't dramatic. All I meant was that I was going to take a close look at how we were doing things."

Replacing Thomas Jones
Welsh said that he doesn't have one player that can replace All-American tailback Thomas Jones. Welsh said he would possibly play three players at the position to try and generate the ground yardage that Jones was able to produce.

Jim Caldwell Analyzes C.J. Leak
Sophomore quarterback C.J. Leak is expected to be the main cog in Wake Forest's offense for the remaining time that he spends on the Winston-Salem campus. Demon Deacon head coach Jim Caldwell admits that Leak is a very talented player, but he warns people not to expect to much too soon.

"He is going to be an outstanding player. I am not going to beat around the bush and tell he's not because he is going to be a good player. He's physical, he's 6-4, 235. He runs extremely well, he's smart, he has a great passion for the game, but he is not just going to come out and play like Joe Montana the first year...it is certainly going to take a little time and a little maturity, but he certainly is a good player."