Take Aways From Navy HC Brian Newberry’s Weekly Press Conference
Following a much needed win against North Texas this past weekend Navy Football head coach Brian Newberry talked to the media on Monday to answer questions and give updates surrounding this team. Here are a few of the key take aways from what Brian Newberry said.
1. Recap of the Win Against UNT
Coach Newberry started right away talking about the win against UNT. He repeated what he’s been saying for the past several weeks in that it’s hard to win games. He stated that multiple times along with saying his team played “well enough to win, probably not well enough to win moving forward.”
Newberry also stated that the defense “had something like 25 missed assignments” and that they need to execute better going forward.
2. Navy’s Quarterback Situation
Last week’s starting QB Blake Horvath went down with an injury in the game. Senior QB Tai Lavatai, who had started all previous games this season, came in off the bench to lead the Midshipmen to a victory. When asked about Horvath’s injury Newberry stated that “he’s going to be out, he banged up his thumb pretty good”. Newberry also clarified that the injury was to Horvath’s left thumb (his non-throwing hand) and that he was unable to take snaps as a result of the injury.
Moving forward Newberry stated that they’re going to continue to try and work in Freshman QB Braxton Woodson but that Tai Lavatai brings a level of experience to this team. Newberry seemed to be leaning in the direction of sticking with Lavatai going forward but that both will likely play this weekend.
3. Other Injuries
Newberry also confirmed that team captain Jacob Busic is likely out for the remainder of the season. Newberry stated that it is tough to lose another team captain to injury and that he feels really bad for him but is also really proud of Busic.
4. On This Week’s Match Against Charlotte
Both teams are coming into this game really desperate for a win. When talking about the Charlotte team Newberry said “they’re a reflection of their head coach. They’re tough, gritty, physical football team.” He talked about how they were big and physical up front.
When talking about the Charlotte scheme he stated that “mostly 11 and 12 personnel, a QB that’s athletic, they like to run a lot of gap scheme type of stuff. They’re a team that likes to run the ball”.
He also added “this is a good Charlotte football team, pry a lot better than people are giving them credit for.”
