Page 28 - Toledo Football Media Guide - 2012

28 2012 OUTLOOK

Campbell: One change is that instead of being in charge of 40 guys, you are now in charge of the attitude and efort of a football teamof 105 players. I think that getting all 105 guys on the same page with the same mission and being able to excite them and get them ready to go on a day-to-day basis is the challenge for any head football coach. Then the second part of it is identifying what gets the team going. What does the defense need to do to be successful? What does the special teams need to do to be successful? What does the ofense need to do to be successful?

Q: I would imagine another difference is now you have to motivate your coaching staf, too.

Campbell: Exactly. I think you need the ability to motivate the staff and give them the fexibility to express themselves in their own way but to ultimately have one unifed direction. That is how I approach it. What are our goals and how do we express them? I think that when you are unifed as a staf, your team ismoreunifed. Ofensively, defensively and special teams, we are one. I think

when you get to that point you’ve got a chance to be pretty good.

Q: There is probably no better place to start talking about this year’s team than quarterback. You have two accomplishedquarterbacks,TerranceOwensandAustin Dantin, who have split time pretty evenly the past two seasons. Lots of teams have two quarterbacks but you have twowho are very even, and very efcient, in their production.

Campbell: We are blessed at quarterback, that’s for sure. Terrance ranked No. 6 in the country in quarterback efciency and Austin was No. 21. They have both done a great job of being productive in our system. Both of them have led our team to victory in big games. Our team is confdent with either one of them at quarterback. I give a

lot of credit to the work of our quarterbacks coach, Scott Isphording, who has workedwith those guys fromday one. He has been a greatmentor indeveloping our quarterbacks and having both of them ready to go.

Q: Are you committed to a two-quarterback system, or are you just going to let them compete and see how it all shakes out?

Campbell: I’m committed to two guys competing. We’ve been upfront and honest with both kids since this has started. The great thing is that those two have continued

to raise the bar for each other and for our football program with the way they have competed for the job. One of the things that I’m proud of is the unselfshness of those two players. It’s almost unheard of in today’s society. And I think the intensity of that competition has spread throughout our team, making everybody work that much harder. It sends a message: if you work hard and can help us win, we will fnd a place for you to play.

Q: That sounds like you are describing your third-string quarterback, Dwight Macon.

Campbell: Dwight Macon is a very talented football player. We moved him around a bit during bowl practices to see what he could do at wide receiver and running back. But he’s such a good quarterback that wewere leery of moving him out of there. I’ll be honest with you, he may have had the best practices of any of our quarterbacks after the frst three practices last spring. But we sat down as a staf and asked, who are our best 11 players on ofense? I told our staf that I don’t want to see another practice without Dwight Macon on the feld in our top 11, so let’s fgure it out. So we moved him to receiver and he did a great job. He catches the ball, he makes plays and he’s tough. He got better with each practice. He still has some things to learn

With Coach Campbell

“ I told our staf that I don’t want to see another prac-tice without Dwight Macon on the feld in our top 11, so let’s fgure it out...He catches the ball, he makes plays and he’s tough. He got better with each practice. He still has some things to learn but I think he’s going to raise some eyebrows this fall.”

- Matt Campbell on sophom-roe QB/WR Dwight Macon