Terry Hoeppner Quotes (37 Quotes)

It's a challenge, but -- and this is unique for me because I haven't been in this position in the college level,

It takes a special athlete to compete at such a high level in both football and basketball. James came here to play both sports, and I admire the way he handles the dual role. Wide receiver is one of the more complex positions on the football field, so to have that much success in his first season speaks volumes about James' talent and potential.

He's making all of the reads and hearing all of the calls. That's going to pay off.

We knew we had to do it right now and not delay. So I threatened, cajoled and pleaded this winter, and our guys seem to have really responded. They spend a lot of time in the weight room and I think that shows.

James was truly an unknown quantity. He was really, physically drained in the spring and he got dinged in the fall. We brought him along slowly, but he has a great future. He's a natural receiver.

To me, it was a done deal -- Big Ben in the Big Apple. I was wanting the best for Ben. I thought he was the best quarterback available and the best player.

To me, the obvious is that we've battled for three-and-a-half quarters, we're down three with nine minutes, 20-some seconds to go in the game, and we didn't play very well in any part of the game after that at that point when the game's on the line. What you don't want is guys looking for excuses. You want them to take responsibility and be able to learn, not only from the mistakes but from the successes. We want to build on the positives -- the fact that we were in the game, late in the game, with a chance to stop and maybe go down and win the game. Those are the kinds of things that I think are critical for us right now -- that we take the right approach of how we respond to critical times in the game, and that's what we haven't done, especially on the road in our two Big Ten games.

They are mostly a triple-option type of team. They have a veteran quarterback as one of their captains. They have had a number of transfers. The advantage of being I-AA is that there are guys from LSU, Toledo and Cincinnati that are eligible to play on their team.

If you watch his tape from high school, you'll see what we were thinking.

Many people will say, Division I-AA, gosh, why did Indiana struggle But this is really a good football team. They played very well. Their defense gave us problems, and obviously they ran the ball way too much.

There are a lot of dimensions to Lance Bennett. He's deep and wide.

That was a pretty athletic move. I don't know if a lot of quarterbacks make that play.

Some of those throws were great. Just because the guys were a little bit open you've still got to make that throw and that catch, and I thought we did that several times today.

I've said that crowds win games and this crowd helped us win this game,

First of all I want to congratulate Nicholls State for a tremendous effort, ... Thats a good football team thats going to win a lot of games. Its a well-coached team and they had their offense in form today. We made a lot of adjustments through the course of the game to try and stop their running game. Tracy Porter stealing the ball is a play that will go down in history. We are 2-0 right now. There are a lot of teams that would love to be 2-0 and the Hoosiers are.

You lose a guy like that who, even though he hasn't been 100 percent every game, has found ways to make plays most games. It was a big deal not to have him, but we're confident we'll have him Saturday.

We were made aware of the situation early this morning. We're currently in the process of gathering all the facts in the situation. We will proceed when the facts are complete.

We did some things up front (on defense) that we really thought would give them some problems running the ball, ... We played a lot of guys on defense and they came through. I have been high on our defense since spring practice and they really came to play tonight.

We'd like to have had him out there, we need every rep we can get, but discretion was the better part. He'll have a great summer working with the quarterbacks. Like I told him, if he keeps doing what he's doing, he's going to be illegal.

I would invite (skeptics) to go ahead and line up against these guys,

I think we won a bunch of our games (over the years) for him on his birthday, so this one was for him, ... All he ever asked for was a win, and that's what we were able to do.

We've had a rich history of success in national championships, not only in basketball but also in men's soccer. One of the perks is that I get to go to basketball games, and I can use that as a recruiting tool for potential players. There is no reason that we both can't be successful.

I need to coach better, and they need to play better, ... Part of it has been the opposition, and part of it has been us. ... I think the passing game will continue to grow, and if the running game picks up a couple notches that changes everything.

It's not anything you can check out of the equipment room and give the guys. You can wish for it, (but) they have to gain that confidence themselves.

Some of the patterns he runs you kind of marvel at because he really appears to be a natural at the position and I haven't seen too many of those, especially as a young guy in college. It's a pretty mental position.

They do some good things. Now we are going into a second game with the unknown. What are they going to do this year I would rather have the advantages we have than the disadvantages they have.

I said it to somebody in the spring, we didn't know if we were going to be able to throw the ball. We thought we might have to run every play. ... It wasn't Blake, it was the terminology and learning.

I saw James yesterday and he said it felt good. ... For a guy that has not played in a game, to be able to phase him in, even if it is 10 or 12 snaps, I think it will be a bonus for James and for us.

Compared to where we were last year, you can measure that in 40(-yard dash) times and bench presses and all of that, but how does that translate to whether we're better on the field I think it's obvious to a certain degree right now that we're much better, but it won't be fully revealed until Sept. 2 when we open the season.

I just told James they paid him the ultimate compliment by paying so much attention to him.

They really need to play the game, as you can imagine. Just for the mental health of their players and everyone else involved. They want to play a football game. Obviously, we want to play a football game.

The prognosis for recovery is great, and I just want to thank my wife, Jane, my wonderful family, my incredible friends, the amazing doctors who treated me, and especially, the Good Lord. I feel badly that I have not had the chance to talk to the players, but I want them to know that this is going to be a special year for us.

That's how much ahead you have to work.

It's an old adage. You think about players not plays. You think about players. You think about a guy who can make a play that you need at that point. Blake Powers, James Hardy. We got good protection. Players make plays.

You can't coach tall. A 6-7 guy who has a knack for going up and getting the ball, he's got a great, great future ahead of him. We really feel one of our strength positions now is becoming wide receiver. ... But they've all got to be a threat.

We are light years ahead of where we were at this time last spring. I think that's evident, but we have a long way to go before Sept. 2.

You have to physically execute and pick up the blitz. They didn't sack Michigan State 12 times just with their line rush.