|
 Q
& A with Carson
By: Garry Paskwietz
Date: 8/25/2000
Before the injury I may not have gone out and tried to be as good as I
could every single practice but this year my mentality is to do whatever
I can to learn more and develop more and that is what I am excited about.
WeAreSC.com caught up with Trojan quarterback Carson Palmer to get
his thoughts on the upcoming season.
What did you work on the most this off-season?
CP: "I think I learned a lot. I had a chance to break down a lot
of film with Coach Jackson and Coach Hackett as well. I mean those guys
both know this offense inside and out and I just learned so much and hopefully
it will show this season."
What have you learned in these film sessions?
CP: "When I came in I think the thing that I lacked the most was
my understanding of football. I didn't know how to watch film, didn't
know how to break it down. I would watch film and just focus on the quarterback
to see how good he was and not really focus on the defense to see things
that could tip me off to different coverages. Coach Jackson had me up
there all the time this summer, he gave me a schedule of what I had to
watch and when I had to watch it. He was all over me. We would break down
each game and learn what the opponents weaknesses were and what their
strengths were. That's what I need, though, that's what I need to get
better. I think helping Coach Jackson to plan things out and going through
our offenses mentality for each game, I learned a lot from just doing
that."
What is one lesson that you learned from the injury?
CP: "Before the injury I may not have gone out and tried to be
as good as I could every single practice but this year my mentality is
to do whatever I can to learn more and develop more and that is what I
am excited about.
What player is going to surprise people the most this year?
CP: "I know the unit that is going to shock people, the offensive
line. They are going to shock everybody. Everybody is doubting them, everybody
thinks they are a question mark but what they did this off-season was
incredible. Up every morning at 6:00am lifting and the best thing that
they did was work together. That's something different that what we had
in the past."
What can we expect to see from you this season?
CP: "I think I need to offer leadership. To be more of a vocal
leader, that is something I need to do. If we come out and really do jell
together, there isn't a team on our schedule that can beat us. A lot of
times in the past we beat ourselves in so many situations but I think
we are close to being a complete team."
What is the midset of the team right now?
CP: "We expect to win every game. Everybody on this team knows
that if we play together, if we work together, then we can win every game.
Last year we had the expectations that we wanted to win every game but
we didn't have a reason why or a purpose. This year I think our purpose
is we've got to become a team. One solid team. Coach Hackett is always
teaching that. One team. One goal. One year. This is the year and our
goal is to win every game. I think that's something that hasn't been at
SC in a long time."
What's been the biggest change that has brought about that change in
mindset?
CP: "After my freshman year we always kind of sat around
and said, "Man, these guys weren't that good, we should have
beat those guys, we beat ourselves." Then last year we heard
so many times, "Man, the Pac-10 is bad, we should be in the
Rose Bowl," but six teams beat us so we didn't play in the Rose
Bowl. Every year we know we're going to have more talent that
a lot of the teams we play but you can have a team full of Pro
Bowl guys and if they don't play together they aren't going
to beat anybody. We need to realize that without each other
and without playing like a team we aren't going to beat anybody."
|
