"I'm disappointed with the performance of the game. I have never seen anything like what's going on in the SEC East. I guess it's only my third year, so it's not like I have that many years of wisdom to share with you, but at this point we have everything in the world to play for. I've heard that comment, which it's kind of silly to even say that. We have not very many seniors, but we have some seniors that have a chance to play in their final homecoming game, which we make a big deal out of. We have Gator Growl, where we get to introduce them for the last time to their selves and their families. We have a captains' dinner, so there are a lot of great things.
"We're going against one of the more talented teams in the SEC. This team's excellent. This is by far the best Vanderbilt team we've faced. I saw the statistic where almost every SEC team is close to being bowl eligible, so it's a fight. It's a street fight, and we've got to finish it off. This will be a heck of a game, and we've got to get healthy.
"We've got some injuries. Javier (Estopinan) is out for the year. It's his third ACL injury in three years, and there's not a tougher guy and not a better guy. Brandon Antwine is probably out for the year (with a back problem). Terron Sanders is out for a while, so that kind of depletes an area. Clint McMillan was probably three-quarters speed, so we've got to get him healthy. We're dealing with some issues on defense. I don't know how much playing time Major Wright (broken hand) will get. He was just on kickoff for us last week. Riley Cooper we're hoping to get back, but he had surgery on his finger last week and wasn't able to go on Saturday. That's where we are, but we had a good meeting today. We'll go out at 4 o'clock and bust our tails."
How do you build confidence on defense after the games you've had, plus the complicating factor with the injuries?
"Confidence is one of the most overused words. Confidence is the result of success and performance and right now videotape, that's hard to show. Earlier in the year it was not, but there are some guys, Jermaine Cunningham is playing well and some other guys are playing well. We just have to practice extremely well this week and get a little bit of that chemistry we had going. The expectation level of playing defense at Florida, that bar's pretty high. Nine months ago we held a team to 82 yards. We gave up more than that on one play Saturday.
"We just have to coach better and play better. I don't know if we have to be more prepared. We're pretty prepared. We just have to execute. When you're number's called, you've got to make the play. That's three losses where all you have to do is get off the field one time. I don't want to pin it all on the defense because it's certainly not that at all. If you outscore them, you win the game, but the Plan to Win, number one is always play great defense. If you make a stop in any one of those three games, there's a chance you win that game."
Is Torrey Davis going to start?
"We'll know more after this week of practice. He's certainly in the rotation. We have (Lawrence) Marsh. We have Clint McMillan. And we have Torrey Davis. I believe that's it. (Justin) Trattou might be a guy we move in there, and we're thinking about Derrick Harvey. That's going on upstairs right now."
How did Torrey do against Georgia?
"It was not one of his better days, certainly not against the run. He's not ready to play that many snaps, but we're just working like crazy to get him ready."
You talk a lot during the offseason when the strength coaches put these guys in fight or flight situations. How can they use what they learn then now?
"The ones that have been through it for quite a while happen to be the ones that played very well. Just to use an example, Brandon Siler was one of those ultimate fighter guys, and when it got tough, he played better. But there are other guys on our team. Derrick Harvey is an ultimate fighter and plays hard in some very tough situations. Jim Tartt, there are some other guys that played well. The negative thing is a lot of these guys, Torrey Davis doesn't have any idea when you talk about offseason program. He was doing whatever he was doing. Most of the 07 (guys) didn't experience it. A lot of the 06 (guys) who are playing, a lot of the post-national championship have-all-the-answer (guys), we made it extremely hard, and not all of them passed it with flying colors. That's what we're dealing with right now. That's why the foundation's got to be great because they've been through it. Normally speaking you're not playing with as many young people, and then we have injuries to some of the seniors. We're just not playing with very many guys who have gone through two or three years, where a year before you had a whole bunch of guys who had the heck knocked out of them for two years."
Is your policy with Kestahn Moore going to be that somebody has to beat him out in practice?
"Yes. That is the policy. That position is wide open."
Will Chevon Walker be available in the game if you need to call on him?
"I don't believe so."
How have the rash of injuries on defense affected the game-planning?
"It's affecting what's going on right now. I don't know whether it's going to be more of a three-down front. We're evaluating that right now. The biggest thing is do you take one of the younger players, put him inside and move him? What significance does that have? The majority of our time spent is defending them and also putting your puzzle together and your game plan together for guys to go make plays. That's what everybody is spending their time on right now and yesterday."
Is Estopinan's injury a right knee or a left knee, and what is Sanders' injury?
"Left knee. Sanders has a high (left) ankle sprain."
You've said several times you need to play tighter coverage, but it's still so loose out there. Is that because they are calling tighter coverages and the corners are not playing it, or are they not calling tighter coverages?
"No, they should be playing tighter coverage. The one that stood out to me and I'm sure everybody else was that third down with Markihe Anderson there. He hasn't played, and I checked with our defensive backs coach and said if he's not a hundred percent, he shouldn't be out there. The other guy got beat a little bit, so we're trying to find the right match out there with two young players who haven't played a lot. We're trying to get them tighter, but when you get them tighter, a guy gets beat on a deep ball. That's that fine line out there. We've got to get the confidence level back there. Joe Haden is playing very well. Not playing perfect, but he's playing very well. He'll be one of the better corners in the SEC as he grows up. It's the other one. Markihe is a good corner. He's just not a hundred percent and hasn't played this year."
Could there be more changes in the secondary?
"Yes. I'm not sure what the options are. We're still evaluating that right now."
The Terron Sanders injury looked like a definite cheap shot. Was there a lot of that stuff going on in the game?
"I don't believe so. Our defensive coaches were pretty irritated by it. I have a hard time believing someone would do that."
What are the pros and cons of bringing in John Brown at this point?
"John Brown's primary focus is to get academically set, and that's not all complete yet, so the chance of him playing is not going to happen. I don't believe it's going to happen."
Are you in a similar situation on defense to where you were two years ago when you were banged up on offense and you built the scheme around the players? How much work is there to do in a week or two to pull that off?
"We had the bye week (two years ago) and had to make some changes. You just ripped over a flesh wound there when you remember that. That was tough because your personnel was so depleted, and you're just trying to line up in this and can this guy beat this guy. We had a real hard time with that. And then defensively right now with everybody healthy, we knew when those four underclassmen left and all those players, we were going to have get the development. The disappointing thing is there are some guys that should be playing better than they are, and they now have eight games under their belt. They redshirted or did play a little bit as a freshman, and the development of those guys has to be much greater. Injuries are going to happen. It's part of the game, so you don't have to worry about that. To change a defense is darn near impossible in a week's period of time."
Have you talked to Javier Estopinan after his injury, and how is he doing?
"Yeah, he's coming back. He's going to be one of our leaders next year. His family was here yesterday. I relate that to the day I sat in my office when Ray McDonald got the phone call (about his need for two ACL surgeries). Especially with invested people, and I hate to say it because it's probably not the right thing to day, but the people who are completely invested in your program, it grabs at me like that because that kid would not come out of that game. The doctor said we're hoping it's a meniscus, but I looked at the kid's face on the sideline (and knew it was an ACL injury). He's smart guy. He's been through it a couple of times. There's no one better than Javier."
You're facing a team that leads the SEC in sacks and coming off a game when you gave up more sacks than you have all year. Are there any changes that will be made on the offensive line?
"They (Georgia) did a nice job. They had a week to prepare and they blitzed us more than we've been blitzed, and Tim maybe held on to it too long and we got beat on a couple of missed assignments. Tim has gotten us out of a lot of bad situations. He does feel better. It (his right shoulder) is better than it was last week as far as his ability. He has to be mobile this week because they are going to burn him from every (angle). They are a 75-percent pressure team."
Do have final script approval for your wife (the MC) at Gator Growl this week?
"I'll tell you what she does. She loves the University of Florida and she loves the students. When I heard that, I said, 'What are you doing?' She said the students asked me, what am I going to say, no? I said, 'yeah, say no.' She's all about the students at this campus."
Is Carlos Dunlap at all in the picture on the defensive line?
"He'll be in the mix. He's just got to go. He should be in the mix. He played a handful of plays Saturday, not particularly well, but he's a guy that has a lot of talent."