Lee Hull – Morgan State
Highlighted that the last three losses his team suffered have been by a combined 7 points. Said he has been trying to instill “trust” into the minds of his team. He wants to continue to focus on each player to “just do your job.” Said that he hopes Saturday’s loss to Norfolk State will be a learning experience that will not happen again.
Earle Holmes – Florida A&M
Coming off of a 27-7 loss to Florida A&M, Holmes said his team needs to find a way not to beat itself. Said that the Rattlers will enter their first conference game of the year as if the team is “0 and 0” for the season.
Brian Jenkins – Bethune-Cookman
B-CU struggled to get a 34-33 over Florida Tech, a DII program that is currently in its second year of existence. He said his team did not look pass Florida Tech simply because it is a DII team. Now that the non-conference schedule is complete, Jenkins said his team will not make any major adjustments to prepare for conference play.
Kermit Blout – Delaware State
Said Bethune-Cookman “is where we want to be” as a program as his Hornets prepare to face the Wildcats on Saturday in Daytona Beach, Fla.
Gary Harrell – Howard
Howard lost to North Carolina A&T 38-22 on Saturday. Harrell said A&T is a team that possesses a lot of speed, and commented that it is the third time this year his team has had to fight back from a 14 point deficit. Said they “need to take care of some in-house issues as a team”, but made it clear that the issues are all related to the team’s play and has nothing to do with issues that are non-football related.
Pete Adrian – Norfolk State
Norfolk State earned its first win of the season over Morgan State 15-14. Adrian commented on the Spartans’ upcoming game this Saturday at Savannah State and the homecoming environment his team will have to endure. Adrian addressed the need to exploit SSU’s defensive weakness in stopping the run.
Connell Maynor – Hampton
Maynor said there is no moral victory in the Pirate’s 17-10 loss to South Carolina State on Saturday. Despite the fact that Maynor will be headed back to face his alma mater in North Carolina A&T (on Oct. 9), he said he still has to “take care of business and try to get a W”.
Earnest Wilson – Savannah State
Wilson said one of his concerns about his team’s upcoming game against Norfolk State is not to allow them to “jump out on us” as has been the case in previous games. Said that redshirt sophomore Leon Prunty will likely start at QB after serving a 3 1/2 game suspension.
Buddy Pugh – South Carolina State
Pugh celebrated his 100th win as head coach at S.C State after beating Hampton 17-10 last Saturday. He said his team didn’t play quite as well as it should have against Hampton despite the win. He added that the Bulldogs will need to play better against North Carolina A&T Saturday in the Atlanta Classic, and that NCA&T “is about as good as anyone has seen in a while.” He thinks (NCA&T) Coach Broadway has done a good job in turning the program around since he arrived in Greensboro. Pugh commented that he is encouraged by the fact that the MEAC teams “are making strides” in beating teams out of conference. “I’m proud of our league,” Pugh added.
Rod Broadway – North Carolina A&T
Despite a 38-22 the win over Howard, Broadway expressed displeasure in the 14 penalties his team committed. Despite being 12 scholarships down due to APR related issues, Broadway says he is pleased with the progress the team is making. Says the “character of this team has really shown up” in several situations during the season. He said the key to stopping S.C. State is “stopping the run.”
Jerry Mack – North Carolina Central
Coach Mack said he used the bye week “to get back to the basic fundamentals” of football. He said the team is “headed in the right direction” as a program based on the team’s performance against non-conference teams. He indicated that his team will have its hands full dealing with Howard QB Greg McGhee in the Eagles’ contest against the Bison this Saturday in Durham, N.C.
Audio comments from coaches during the MEAC football coaches teleconference recorded on 9/30/2014.
0:00 – Lee Hull – Morgan State
11:40 – Earl Holmes – Florida A&M
17:20 – Brian Jenkings – Bethune-Cookman
31:30 – Kermit Blount – Delaware State
41:15 – Gary Harrell – Howard
1:03:05 – Pete Adrian – Norfolk State
1:06:50 – Connell Maynor – Hampton
1:13:55 – Earnest Wilson – Savannah State
1:22:00 – Buddy Pugh – South Carolina State
1:42:00 – Rod Broadway – North Carolina A&T
1:55:30 – Jerry Mack – North Carolina Central