LARRY SCOTT: We got back here after the North Carolina deal, obviously were a little disappointed in the outcome of that game. However, we came in, made some evaluations and had to close that chapter rather quickly and move on to Georgia Tech, who obviously brings in -- a very different week for us. When you get ready to play those guys it's like opening up a new playbook for your defense and getting those guys tied into what they have to do as far as alignment and responsibilities and those different things like that. Went right to work on Georgia Tech. Team come back, really worked hard over the past two days with our Tuesday and Wednesday practice, and really looking forward to having senior day here for our seniors. It'll be the last time they play a home game as a University of Miami Hurricane. They're excited. Obviously the team is excited about them and going to help go out and represent them, and hopefully we can send them out the right way. Good week for the Miami Hurricanes. We have excited about having Georgia Tech at noon, and looking forward to playing the best that we can against them.
Q. How difficult has recruiting been because of the interim tag? Does it make it close to impossible to get things done?
LARRY SCOTT: No, it's really just you keep moving and make it business as usual. With our recruiting right now, we're out and it's all about the brand, it's all about the University of Miami and the brand that we're offering to kids at this time and the great opportunity they have to come and get a great education at a private school and play for one of the most traditional-rich college football programs in the country. Obviously those are the things that we sell. We have a lot of great things to sell to the young people right now, so that's the approach, and we're going out and just attacking it from that angle and doing the job that we're still enlisted here to do.
Q. Do you get the question, though, from every kid that you talk to of how am I supposed to know who's going to be there next year?
LARRY SCOTT: Yeah, I mean, sure, obviously you get that question, and again, you try to steer that deal back to the opportunity that the University of Miami is going to provide for you, and they're going to always -- the administration and everybody here is going to always make sure that they put the right people in place to ensure that these student-athletes have the success that they should have during their experience at the University of Miami. Right now that's what you're doing and that's how we're proceeding with business in the recruiting area.
Q. Christopher Henderson had three catches for you last week, looked like he's starting to kind of get his footing. What growth have you seen from him this year, and how do you see his role going forward?
LARRY SCOTT: Chris has done a really good job of just really growing into the complete tight end that he has to be in our offense. You know, whether it's in-line, whether it's playing from the backfield, whether it's motioning and playing in different spots. Just the overall knowledge of the offense and what we're asking him to do, he's really getting a stronghold on, so that's allowing his natural talent and ability to start to come through. You know, he's a true sophomore that only played a little bit as a true freshman, so really his curve, his learning curve and timetable, he's really starting to just really settle into a complete understanding of the offense and understanding defenses and what they're trying to do. He's just beginning to scratch the surface of how good he can be, and once his natural talent skill set and ability can come through, the sky's the limit for how good he can be.
Q. I wanted to ask you about the resiliency of this team in the sense that they bounced back from a pretty bad loss to Clemson with a tough win on the road at Duke and then you won again. Can they do it again coming off a pretty tough loss to North Carolina?
LARRY SCOTT: Yeah, I think we can. I think the guys will. They're starting to realize that there's a bigger picture to handling adversity, and it's not what actually happens to you, it's how you react to it, and that's what we're teaching and that's what we're honing in on now is that we have our pitfalls and we hit our adversity, but the answer to it is to put one foot in front of the other and keep fighting, keep competing, keep believing, keep trusting and doing those things, and they've shown some of that resiliency this week in their approach to this game and the way that they've worked and practiced and been studious in the film room and been really -- had a good energy and passion about what they're doing this week. We're going to put this thing all together and hopefully go out on Saturday afternoon, and you'll see that resiliency come through again.
Q. It's still possible to win eight games and I'm sure the last two will determine the level of bowl game you get. There's still goals; have you had to sell that to your team or have they kind of understood that?
LARRY SCOTT: No, you know, they're young people, and of course you still have to put things in front of them so that they understand. I think a lot of them understand what we're playing for as far as the level of bowl that we can play in, but I think there was a bigger message for our young men this week, which was first you play football for the pride individually that you have and what you do and how you do things, so there's a certain level of pride individually. And then you also play for the commitment that you made to this team and the commitment that you made to each other as teammates to always do things the right way and finish what you started. It's not how you start, it's how you finish. So those are the two things, major points we're trying to drive home from a human element side of it that, guys, it's about that pride and what you do and the commitment that you made to each other, and if we take that approach these next two games, we'll be placed right where we need to be in a level of bowl that we get an opportunity to play in.
Q. You mentioned senior day and guys who will be playing their last game in a Miami uniform. When you were at South Florida, what was senior day like for you, and what kind of emotions ran through your mind? It hasn't been all that long ago.
LARRY SCOTT: No, it's a very emotional time. You go through -- it allows you to go back and kind of revisit day one when you stepped foot on campus. I had a unique experience there at South Florida being part of one of the first-ever recruiting class there. For us things were -- we were still in trailers when I graduated from there, but you go back to where there was only a single trailer, you go back to where there was no practice fields and those things. A lot of things go through your head, and it's a special time, and I think it just takes you back to where you started and to where you are now as a person, as a player, and some of your blood, sweat and tears have helped put the program where it is now, and I think with these seniors now, they have a lot to be proud of. On their backs are some of these new facilities that we have here, going through the NCAA investigation and battling back through that and continuing to go through some of the things we went through this year. This group has been resilient. They've stood and been through a lot, and they're still standing, and I think this weekend gives them an opportunity to look back on some of those things, and it's up to us to help them celebrate some of the accomplishments that they've made since they've been here.
Q. How difficult has recruiting been because of the interim tag? Does it make it close to impossible to get things done?
LARRY SCOTT: No, it's really just you keep moving and make it business as usual. With our recruiting right now, we're out and it's all about the brand, it's all about the University of Miami and the brand that we're offering to kids at this time and the great opportunity they have to come and get a great education at a private school and play for one of the most traditional-rich college football programs in the country. Obviously those are the things that we sell. We have a lot of great things to sell to the young people right now, so that's the approach, and we're going out and just attacking it from that angle and doing the job that we're still enlisted here to do.
Q. Do you get the question, though, from every kid that you talk to of how am I supposed to know who's going to be there next year?
LARRY SCOTT: Yeah, I mean, sure, obviously you get that question, and again, you try to steer that deal back to the opportunity that the University of Miami is going to provide for you, and they're going to always -- the administration and everybody here is going to always make sure that they put the right people in place to ensure that these student-athletes have the success that they should have during their experience at the University of Miami. Right now that's what you're doing and that's how we're proceeding with business in the recruiting area.
Q. Christopher Henderson had three catches for you last week, looked like he's starting to kind of get his footing. What growth have you seen from him this year, and how do you see his role going forward?
LARRY SCOTT: Chris has done a really good job of just really growing into the complete tight end that he has to be in our offense. You know, whether it's in-line, whether it's playing from the backfield, whether it's motioning and playing in different spots. Just the overall knowledge of the offense and what we're asking him to do, he's really getting a stronghold on, so that's allowing his natural talent and ability to start to come through. You know, he's a true sophomore that only played a little bit as a true freshman, so really his curve, his learning curve and timetable, he's really starting to just really settle into a complete understanding of the offense and understanding defenses and what they're trying to do. He's just beginning to scratch the surface of how good he can be, and once his natural talent skill set and ability can come through, the sky's the limit for how good he can be.
Q. I wanted to ask you about the resiliency of this team in the sense that they bounced back from a pretty bad loss to Clemson with a tough win on the road at Duke and then you won again. Can they do it again coming off a pretty tough loss to North Carolina?
LARRY SCOTT: Yeah, I think we can. I think the guys will. They're starting to realize that there's a bigger picture to handling adversity, and it's not what actually happens to you, it's how you react to it, and that's what we're teaching and that's what we're honing in on now is that we have our pitfalls and we hit our adversity, but the answer to it is to put one foot in front of the other and keep fighting, keep competing, keep believing, keep trusting and doing those things, and they've shown some of that resiliency this week in their approach to this game and the way that they've worked and practiced and been studious in the film room and been really -- had a good energy and passion about what they're doing this week. We're going to put this thing all together and hopefully go out on Saturday afternoon, and you'll see that resiliency come through again.
Q. It's still possible to win eight games and I'm sure the last two will determine the level of bowl game you get. There's still goals; have you had to sell that to your team or have they kind of understood that?
LARRY SCOTT: No, you know, they're young people, and of course you still have to put things in front of them so that they understand. I think a lot of them understand what we're playing for as far as the level of bowl that we can play in, but I think there was a bigger message for our young men this week, which was first you play football for the pride individually that you have and what you do and how you do things, so there's a certain level of pride individually. And then you also play for the commitment that you made to this team and the commitment that you made to each other as teammates to always do things the right way and finish what you started. It's not how you start, it's how you finish. So those are the two things, major points we're trying to drive home from a human element side of it that, guys, it's about that pride and what you do and the commitment that you made to each other, and if we take that approach these next two games, we'll be placed right where we need to be in a level of bowl that we get an opportunity to play in.
Q. You mentioned senior day and guys who will be playing their last game in a Miami uniform. When you were at South Florida, what was senior day like for you, and what kind of emotions ran through your mind? It hasn't been all that long ago.
LARRY SCOTT: No, it's a very emotional time. You go through -- it allows you to go back and kind of revisit day one when you stepped foot on campus. I had a unique experience there at South Florida being part of one of the first-ever recruiting class there. For us things were -- we were still in trailers when I graduated from there, but you go back to where there was only a single trailer, you go back to where there was no practice fields and those things. A lot of things go through your head, and it's a special time, and I think it just takes you back to where you started and to where you are now as a person, as a player, and some of your blood, sweat and tears have helped put the program where it is now, and I think with these seniors now, they have a lot to be proud of. On their backs are some of these new facilities that we have here, going through the NCAA investigation and battling back through that and continuing to go through some of the things we went through this year. This group has been resilient. They've stood and been through a lot, and they're still standing, and I think this weekend gives them an opportunity to look back on some of those things, and it's up to us to help them celebrate some of the accomplishments that they've made since they've been here.
