Tommy Bowden Weekly Press Conference

by TigerNet Staff - Tue Nov 01 13:23:36 GMT-04:00 2005

Tommy Bowden Weekly Press Conference, Windows Media, (27:52)

Charlie Whitehurst on his hurt shoulder, Windows Media, (9:58)

Tye Hill on some finger pointing on the team and keeping the team together, Windows Media, (6:43)

Dustin Fry on being 4-4, Windows Media, (5:03)

Bowden Quotes

"We will have to wait and see how Charlie Whitehurst practices this week. We'll have to see if he can practice and how much he can practice, and then make that decision before the game. It has not been decided on whether or not he'll play Saturday and it has been that way now for about three or four weeks.

"Last week we stayed with Charlie because the score was close and I went with experience. We should have gone with practice experience, which is the lesson that I have learned. The determining factor this week will be the amount of practice time Charlie gets. If he practices a lot then I would think that his shoulder is not sore, but if he can't practice then I'd say its pretty sore.

"You try to paint a mental picture in practice in the quarterback's mind of every situation he could face. You try to present as many mental images as you can during the week and hope that stays with your quarterback. Therefore, in a game, you make the decisions through habit. You develop a habit through repetition. The more repetition you get then the better the habit becomes and the quicker you can make decisions. If you eliminate the repetition then its harder to make decisions.

"If you have a flat route by the inside receiver and a curl route by the outside receiver, then there is obviously a lot of coverages you can throw at a quarterback. He needs to see those different coverages so he can make the right decisions. Not practicing eliminates those opportunities. Film study helps, but again the number one teaching tool in this profession is on the field with practice time.

"You'd have to ask Charlie how sore his shoulder is. I do know right now that he is on pace to have the school record passing percentage in a season. As far as passing efficiency he is on pace to better than he did as a sophomore, when he was really effective. Again, its now a new offense and there are different decisions that are more efficiently made with practice time.

"Cullen Harper is our third-string quarterback, and if we went with Will (Proctor) and he were to get injured I would only go back with Charlie if I was assured that there was no risk of further injury or damage to his shoulder.

"I get into conversations with all of our coaches during the game and during the week as far as plan of attack and personnel, just like I have so far this week with personnel. The conversations I have had this week have been no different than the conversations I have had in nine years as a head coach."