Kent State head coach Doug Martin joined me for a few questions last week. The Oak Ridge, Tenn., native played at Kentucky from 1981-84 and then embarked on a long coaching career with the Wildcats in 1986. After spending four years at ETSU, including the final three as offensive coordinator, he joined Steve Logan at East Carolina, spending the final two-thirds of his 12 years in Greenville as offensive coordinator. Here are some of the highlights of that interview:
Q. I assume you're very familiar with the Carolinas after spending all that time at East Carolina, correct?
A. Yes. That was a great time. What a great place to be. We had a great run. ... I was a perfect fit. I would have never left honestly. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. It was fantastic. ... I would have [stayed even had I gotten a head coaching job]. My family loved living in the Carolinas and being close to the beach. Steve was great to work for. It was just a great environment.
Q. Do you have a prior relationship with David Bennett?
A. No I don't. I just know the great job he's done starting a program from scratch. He's obviously done a fantastic job.
Q. What are your preseason thoughts on your football team?
A. I like our team. I think we've helped our team, especially at the wide receiver position. We haven't been very good there the last couple of years, and I think we upgraded a little bit with Tyshon Goode, who came in for spring practice. He's jumped up to a starter role for us. Another kid we brought in was Anthony Bowman, a JUCO kid who started out at Iowa. That was a big improvement for us. I like where our team is right now. We're healthy No. 1, and we've got a little more team speed than what we've had. If we could ever get some consistency, we could have a nice season. Our problem is that we play well one week and the next week it looks like we haven't practiced. That's something our guys have to get over.
Q. Does it all start with tailback Eugene Jarvis?
A. Oh, no question. He's our offensive captain and our leader. The rest of our players know he can change the game in one snap. He's a great lead-by-example guy and he has the be the feature.
Q. What has made him so effective?
A. What I don't think people understand is how strong he is. He's not small. He's short. He's got tremendous strength in his legs and great vision as a runner. He just has an incredible ability to make the first tackler miss. It hasn't mattered who we've played. He's done it against Ohio State and Boston College and whoever.
Q. Does his size help him at all?
A. Our defensive coaches say it all the time practicing against him -- he's hard to find. He gets behind those big linemen, especially when people are pulling in front of him, and it's hard to see him. He's so quick and explosive that before you know it he's through the hole. It probably does play to his advantage.
Q. Inexperienced sophomore Giorgio Morgan will start at quarterback. Does that put any added pressure on Eugene to have a good season?
A. I think it puts a lot of pressure on our offensive line to make sure they do a good job of taking care of him. ... At least he's not a first-time starter. He's been in some games before.
Q. Based on the numbers he played really well at quarterback two years ago. Did you redshirt him in 2008 to space your quarterbacks out?
A. Yeah. And actually he played really well until he got hurt. Last year our starting quarterback was Julian Edelman, who was drafted by the Patriots and is with them now. So, it gave us and opportunity to redshirt Giorgio and prepare him for this year. I think it really was a benefit to him.
Q. Talk about your better defensive players.
A. [Safety Brian] Lainhart has been a really good player here for us for three years. He's got lots of game experience. He's a coach on the field for us. He knows our defense inside and out and gets everybody lined up. He's a very valuable piece. Cobrani Mixon is a linebacker for us. He was a transfer for Michigan and played really well for us last season. [Linebacker] Anthony Mirando is the other guy that is overlooked by people up here I think. I think he plays really solid for us.
Q. I assume you're very familiar with the Carolinas after spending all that time at East Carolina, correct?
A. Yes. That was a great time. What a great place to be. We had a great run. ... I was a perfect fit. I would have never left honestly. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life. It was fantastic. ... I would have [stayed even had I gotten a head coaching job]. My family loved living in the Carolinas and being close to the beach. Steve was great to work for. It was just a great environment.
Q. Do you have a prior relationship with David Bennett?
A. No I don't. I just know the great job he's done starting a program from scratch. He's obviously done a fantastic job.
Q. What are your preseason thoughts on your football team?
A. I like our team. I think we've helped our team, especially at the wide receiver position. We haven't been very good there the last couple of years, and I think we upgraded a little bit with Tyshon Goode, who came in for spring practice. He's jumped up to a starter role for us. Another kid we brought in was Anthony Bowman, a JUCO kid who started out at Iowa. That was a big improvement for us. I like where our team is right now. We're healthy No. 1, and we've got a little more team speed than what we've had. If we could ever get some consistency, we could have a nice season. Our problem is that we play well one week and the next week it looks like we haven't practiced. That's something our guys have to get over.
Q. Does it all start with tailback Eugene Jarvis?
A. Oh, no question. He's our offensive captain and our leader. The rest of our players know he can change the game in one snap. He's a great lead-by-example guy and he has the be the feature.
Q. What has made him so effective?
A. What I don't think people understand is how strong he is. He's not small. He's short. He's got tremendous strength in his legs and great vision as a runner. He just has an incredible ability to make the first tackler miss. It hasn't mattered who we've played. He's done it against Ohio State and Boston College and whoever.
Q. Does his size help him at all?
A. Our defensive coaches say it all the time practicing against him -- he's hard to find. He gets behind those big linemen, especially when people are pulling in front of him, and it's hard to see him. He's so quick and explosive that before you know it he's through the hole. It probably does play to his advantage.
Q. Inexperienced sophomore Giorgio Morgan will start at quarterback. Does that put any added pressure on Eugene to have a good season?
A. I think it puts a lot of pressure on our offensive line to make sure they do a good job of taking care of him. ... At least he's not a first-time starter. He's been in some games before.
Q. Based on the numbers he played really well at quarterback two years ago. Did you redshirt him in 2008 to space your quarterbacks out?
A. Yeah. And actually he played really well until he got hurt. Last year our starting quarterback was Julian Edelman, who was drafted by the Patriots and is with them now. So, it gave us and opportunity to redshirt Giorgio and prepare him for this year. I think it really was a benefit to him.
Q. Talk about your better defensive players.
A. [Safety Brian] Lainhart has been a really good player here for us for three years. He's got lots of game experience. He's a coach on the field for us. He knows our defense inside and out and gets everybody lined up. He's a very valuable piece. Cobrani Mixon is a linebacker for us. He was a transfer for Michigan and played really well for us last season. [Linebacker] Anthony Mirando is the other guy that is overlooked by people up here I think. I think he plays really solid for us.
Recent Comments