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BC Draft's Interview with Ron McBride Part II
By BCMike and Wesley
Eagle Insider Contributors
Posted Aug 17, 2010
In PART II of the Ron McBride interview, the Weber State coach talks about old player in the NFL, his focus on defense and playing on red turf. [Eds note: the following is a transcription from a phone interview that took place on August 11, 2010. Any errors are to be assumed our fault, not his.]
BC Draft: On the flip side of things, both BC and Weber State have something in common: both programs lost their career leaders in receiving yards. Rich Gunnell for Boston College and Tim Toone for Weber State. Talk to me a little about Tim Toone and who you think is going to be able to step up to try to fill his shoes.
RM: Tim was a heck of a player here, he's now with the Detroit Lions. He was just one of those guys who could make a lot of plays, and had deceivingly good speed. A lot faster than he looked. Just a real fine football player. We have two or three guys who are good receivers, we have Joe Collins, who is probably the heir apparent to Tim, then a guy named Mike Phillips who's started here for now three years, got a kid named Kamana who is an inside slot player. Then we have some young guys behind those guys. The WR corps will kind of have a different look this year. Phillips is the speed guy, Joe [Collins]'s the powerful type receiver, and Kamana is an inside threat because he's good in the middle of the field.
BCD: Sounds like you have good replacements in place for Toone!
RM: You hope so, but they have to prove it on the field! You can talk about it all you want, but until they can do it against a real good football team, they just have to prove it on the field.
BCD: Coach, I don't think it's likely you're going to play another team with fans that are as passionate about O-Line play as Boston College's are, and it looks like you've got a special one in your Junior Guard J.C. Oram (pronounced Ore-umm). Tell us a little about him.
RM: Yes, J.C. Oram, he's a good player he's the leader of the offensive line. What makes him special is that he's tough. He's a tough guy. He's a mauler-type kid. He's started here since he was a true freshman.
BCD: In addition to Higgins and Oram you've been at the helm when some pretty special players have been at your program(s). Most readers recognize the names like (former Denver Broncos RB) Mike Anderson and (former Atlanta Falcons RB) Jamaal Anderson. Can you talk a little about them or some of the other special guys you've seen in your time coaching?
RM: Over my career, I've had over 70 guys go on to the NFL. Heck, we had Steve Smith (Carolina Panthers WR, Pro Bowler), Jordan Gross (Carolina Panthers OT, Pro Bowler), [Chris] Kemoeatu at Pittsburg, Maake [Kemoeatu] with Washington, Paul McQuistan in Jacksonville (brother Pat in Dallas), a guy at Miami (LB J.D. Folsom from Weber State), a corner with the Jets (DB Bo Smith), a WR in Detroit (earlier mentioned Rookie Tim Toone)...
BCD: Wow, that's a pretty incredible list by anyone's standards. Any guys this year that could play in the NFL next year?
RM: I think the Higgins kid has a shot, he would be the one from this class. However, I'd say the strength of this particular team is in the underclassmen. The sophomores, freshman, red shirt freshmen.
BCD: So you would say it's definitely a young team?
RM: Yes, we're a young team.
BCD: Another stat that BC fans might not know about is how good the Weber State defense is. In fact, your team finished 2nd in the conference last year in scoring defense. How has the Wildcat D managed to be so stingy with the points?
RM: If you had your choice of whether you're good on offense or good on defense, I'd take defense. You try to establish the fact that you can play defense, you try to recruit the kind guys who can play defense inside and out. We've been in the same system defensively since I've been in Utah. When I came here we installed the same defense. It's basically the same defense I've had since Utah, but with some wrinkles. We recruit to the defense, and hopefully you've stout enough up front where the linebackers can make the plays and you can put enough pressure on the quarterback to make early decisions and you can get some turnovers.
Defense is an important item to me. When I went to Utah, that's the first thing I did. For the first three years I didn't care what kind of offense we played. I recruited everything for defense. 'Cause nobody in that conference played defense at the time. And then once we established the defense, then we started structuring the offense to kind of equal itself out. In the last 15, 16 years Utah has played very good defense. Hopefully we can do the same thing here, where we get enough good players that there's a tradition that you play good solid defense and do the things that good defensive teams do. And then you kind of bring the offense along the best you can, but I think in any sport, you have to play good defense to have a chance.
BCD: Well I certainly agree with a lot of that. Many BC fans are very proud of the Eagles defense and there's certainly a lot to the old saying that defense wins championships.
Before we go, I do have one last off topic question for you, and it's about a fellow Big Sky conference member, Eastern Washington who has been in the news a good bit lately. Now, I'm not sure if you've seen this or not, but much like how Boise State put down that blue Astroturf, Eastern Washington has laid down a BRIGHT RED new field turf. Does the staff or the players have a nickname for the field? We're suggesting "The Red Sea" or Brian suggested (from BCI) "The Lava Pit".
RM: You know, I spent almost 22 years at the University of Utah, and that was all red...So it's a nice color for me. I had a lot of success with that color. I've seen a lot of weird stuff over the years. Back when we used to play Iowa Haden Fry would paint the away locker room pink, the guy from Ohio State who was at Colorado State also colored the locker room pink...it's just one of those things if you worry about those things, then it becomes a factor.
The Boise State factor is that they've got a darn good football team, the carpet has nothing to do with it. Eastern has good players, and I don't know, maybe the red carpet will give them some sort of psychological advantage, who knows. I'm not going to worry about it. I'm going to worry about what we're doing.
If I thought it would give us any kind of edge, I'd paint out grass purple.
BCD: I think you should do it!!
(both laugh)
Well Coach, I appreciate the time and opportunity to speak with you.
RM: I appreciate it, and you know it's going to be a nice trip for us, we look forward to playing a good Boston College team. I know they're physical, and they're tough, and they have good players. It'll be fun to see if we can hang in there.
BCDraft wishes to thank Weber State's Brad Larsen for his assistance in facilitating this interview, and of course Head Coach Ron McBride for his time and candor. We'll be pulling for the Wildcats every game except the first one this year!
BCMike and Wesley are the founders and editors of BC
BC Draft's Interview with Ron McBride Part II
By BCMike and Wesley
Eagle Insider Contributors
Posted Aug 17, 2010
In PART II of the Ron McBride interview, the Weber State coach talks about old player in the NFL, his focus on defense and playing on red turf. [Eds note: the following is a transcription from a phone interview that took place on August 11, 2010. Any errors are to be assumed our fault, not his.]
BC Draft: On the flip side of things, both BC and Weber State have something in common: both programs lost their career leaders in receiving yards. Rich Gunnell for Boston College and Tim Toone for Weber State. Talk to me a little about Tim Toone and who you think is going to be able to step up to try to fill his shoes.
RM: Tim was a heck of a player here, he's now with the Detroit Lions. He was just one of those guys who could make a lot of plays, and had deceivingly good speed. A lot faster than he looked. Just a real fine football player. We have two or three guys who are good receivers, we have Joe Collins, who is probably the heir apparent to Tim, then a guy named Mike Phillips who's started here for now three years, got a kid named Kamana who is an inside slot player. Then we have some young guys behind those guys. The WR corps will kind of have a different look this year. Phillips is the speed guy, Joe [Collins]'s the powerful type receiver, and Kamana is an inside threat because he's good in the middle of the field.
BCD: Sounds like you have good replacements in place for Toone!
RM: You hope so, but they have to prove it on the field! You can talk about it all you want, but until they can do it against a real good football team, they just have to prove it on the field.
BCD: Coach, I don't think it's likely you're going to play another team with fans that are as passionate about O-Line play as Boston College's are, and it looks like you've got a special one in your Junior Guard J.C. Oram (pronounced Ore-umm). Tell us a little about him.
RM: Yes, J.C. Oram, he's a good player he's the leader of the offensive line. What makes him special is that he's tough. He's a tough guy. He's a mauler-type kid. He's started here since he was a true freshman.
BCD: In addition to Higgins and Oram you've been at the helm when some pretty special players have been at your program(s). Most readers recognize the names like (former Denver Broncos RB) Mike Anderson and (former Atlanta Falcons RB) Jamaal Anderson. Can you talk a little about them or some of the other special guys you've seen in your time coaching?
RM: Over my career, I've had over 70 guys go on to the NFL. Heck, we had Steve Smith (Carolina Panthers WR, Pro Bowler), Jordan Gross (Carolina Panthers OT, Pro Bowler), [Chris] Kemoeatu at Pittsburg, Maake [Kemoeatu] with Washington, Paul McQuistan in Jacksonville (brother Pat in Dallas), a guy at Miami (LB J.D. Folsom from Weber State), a corner with the Jets (DB Bo Smith), a WR in Detroit (earlier mentioned Rookie Tim Toone)...
BCD: Wow, that's a pretty incredible list by anyone's standards. Any guys this year that could play in the NFL next year?
RM: I think the Higgins kid has a shot, he would be the one from this class. However, I'd say the strength of this particular team is in the underclassmen. The sophomores, freshman, red shirt freshmen.
BCD: So you would say it's definitely a young team?
RM: Yes, we're a young team.
BCD: Another stat that BC fans might not know about is how good the Weber State defense is. In fact, your team finished 2nd in the conference last year in scoring defense. How has the Wildcat D managed to be so stingy with the points?
RM: If you had your choice of whether you're good on offense or good on defense, I'd take defense. You try to establish the fact that you can play defense, you try to recruit the kind guys who can play defense inside and out. We've been in the same system defensively since I've been in Utah. When I came here we installed the same defense. It's basically the same defense I've had since Utah, but with some wrinkles. We recruit to the defense, and hopefully you've stout enough up front where the linebackers can make the plays and you can put enough pressure on the quarterback to make early decisions and you can get some turnovers.
Defense is an important item to me. When I went to Utah, that's the first thing I did. For the first three years I didn't care what kind of offense we played. I recruited everything for defense. 'Cause nobody in that conference played defense at the time. And then once we established the defense, then we started structuring the offense to kind of equal itself out. In the last 15, 16 years Utah has played very good defense. Hopefully we can do the same thing here, where we get enough good players that there's a tradition that you play good solid defense and do the things that good defensive teams do. And then you kind of bring the offense along the best you can, but I think in any sport, you have to play good defense to have a chance.
BCD: Well I certainly agree with a lot of that. Many BC fans are very proud of the Eagles defense and there's certainly a lot to the old saying that defense wins championships.
Before we go, I do have one last off topic question for you, and it's about a fellow Big Sky conference member, Eastern Washington who has been in the news a good bit lately. Now, I'm not sure if you've seen this or not, but much like how Boise State put down that blue Astroturf, Eastern Washington has laid down a BRIGHT RED new field turf. Does the staff or the players have a nickname for the field? We're suggesting "The Red Sea" or Brian suggested (from BCI) "The Lava Pit".
RM: You know, I spent almost 22 years at the University of Utah, and that was all red...So it's a nice color for me. I had a lot of success with that color. I've seen a lot of weird stuff over the years. Back when we used to play Iowa Haden Fry would paint the away locker room pink, the guy from Ohio State who was at Colorado State also colored the locker room pink...it's just one of those things if you worry about those things, then it becomes a factor.
The Boise State factor is that they've got a darn good football team, the carpet has nothing to do with it. Eastern has good players, and I don't know, maybe the red carpet will give them some sort of psychological advantage, who knows. I'm not going to worry about it. I'm going to worry about what we're doing.
If I thought it would give us any kind of edge, I'd paint out grass purple.
BCD: I think you should do it!!
(both laugh)
Well Coach, I appreciate the time and opportunity to speak with you.
RM: I appreciate it, and you know it's going to be a nice trip for us, we look forward to playing a good Boston College team. I know they're physical, and they're tough, and they have good players. It'll be fun to see if we can hang in there.
BCDraft wishes to thank Weber State's Brad Larsen for his assistance in facilitating this interview, and of course Head Coach Ron McBride for his time and candor. We'll be pulling for the Wildcats every game except the first one this year!
BCMike and Wesley are the founders and editors of BC
