Tulane Green Wave College Football Pregame Quote, 12/30/2022

Dorian, as you get ready for Southern California, how much of a difference does it make if Caleb Williams plays for them or not?

LB DORIAN WILLIAMS: I think it’s a huge difference. He does a great job moving around the pocket, making great throws. He didn’t win the Heisman for no reason. He’s an excellent player for sure.

Do you have to prepare that he is going to play, and then if he doesn’t, you worry about that then?

LB DORIAN WILLIAMS: Yes, sir, for sure.

For the rest of the USC offense, what have you seen from them?

LB DORIAN WILLIAMS: A lot of skill guys. Quick, fast receivers out there. Big tight ends. I think we match up pretty well against that. O-line does a good job of blocking and getting their hands on guys. It’s a nice challenge for sure. We love to compete.

How important is it to finish off this season right for you guys? Especially coming back from 2-10 last year to being in the position you guys are in, how important is it to finish it off right?

LB DORIAN WILLIAMS: It’s major. The biggest thing, we went to the [Famous] Idaho Potato Bowl 2020 year. And we didn’t win that one. We kind of had an ill taste in our mouth. Came out 2-10 next year.

Having that winning taste after a season, it carries over to the next season. Helps with recruiting. Helps with a lot of things. This is the biggest stage. That’s something we’re preparing to do for sure.

Could you imagine, what you’ve been through at Tulane, that you would be in this spot? Obviously, this is what you want to do?

LB DORIAN WILLIAMS: Yes, sir.

But for it to actually happen and come together like that?

LB DORIAN WILLIAMS: It’s major. I thought it was always something Tulane could do with the right pieces, with the right mentality. And I felt the guys in the locker room, we all did a great job committing to each other. That was our biggest thing, committing to one another. And I thought we did a great job of doing that. And I mean, I’ve always felt like it was something we could do, be on this stage. I love competing against bigger names.

Obviously, you guys don’t get a lot of chances against Power 5 teams. You did play Kansas State that won the Big 12 Championship in this building a few weeks ago. You won there. You held them to seven points. What did that game do you for you guys confidence-wise?

LB DORIAN WILLIAMS: It built our confidence a lot. We love our motto, 1-0. That’s been really big this week. Yeah, I mean, that’s the biggest thing. The games before last year, the years before, those close games, when we wouldn’t come out on top of those. And we knew it was going to be a special year once we did that at Kansas State. Yeah, we rolled that momentum.

Your Defensive Coordinator (Chris Hampton) described Caleb Williams, that he has the ability to make you miss, Ja Morant or Kyrie Irving, two really shifty basketball players. Do you see that slipperiness in him? And how do you go about combating that?

LB DORIAN WILLIAMS: For sure, he makes a lot of guys miss all the time. Just scrambling around the pocket. It’s amazing to see on film. And I know we got a lot of guys. We want to get after him. You got to come in here, cool, calm, collected. If you miss, it’s okay. Get back up and keep going.

Your Defensive Coordinator (Chris Hampton) said that at times this year, your tackling has been the thing that saved you guys. You’ve had a lot of tackles, obviously. How does your guys’ tackling emphasis, did that really begin this season? How much different is it from last year? Being just good tacklers?

LB DORIAN WILLIAMS: It began really in spring ball. Just everybody putting bodies on bodies. And that’s the only way you can really out-tackle. So I think we did a great job, through mistakes last year, making the tackles this year. And guys making shoelace tackles. Getting guys, having guys rally to the ball, I’d say that’s the big thing. One guy misses, there should be two other guys hit. We’ve done a good job doing that.

What has Kurt Hester meant to the program? He came in as the strength and conditioning coordinator this year.

LB DORIAN WILLIAMS: Coach Kurt, that’s our guy. He’s another one of the guys, man. The mentality he brought, the family, everything he brings to the program. His intelligence is out of this world. And we knew we were getting great with him. We didn’t know how good he was going to be. You heard stuff about him, but you never really know how good he’s going to be. He’s been a great addition.

How quickly did you realize what an addition he was going to be?

LB DORIAN WILLIAMS: Maybe the third day he was there. This guy’s legit, man. Yeah, we did that. And in the summer, we had the great surge. We had that at night, 11:00 at night. Everybody was like 11:00? Why are you doing this? Guys dressing up in different costumes, diapers and stuff. We had a good time out there. It brought us all closer together. You really care for one another, it actually makes you play better on the field.

What makes him different than other strength and conditioning coordinators?

LB DORIAN WILLIAMS: He attacks you. Not only physical but your mental approach to games. He really gives in the locker room; he gives pregame speeches and stuff. He will fire us up. Man, he will say what he has to say, and it’ll fire us up just hearing him speak. It’s a pleasure for sure.

Do you guys do any unique tackling drills? Or is there like, Hey, on Mondays we always tackle?

LB DORIAN WILLIAMS: Yeah, this last week, we’ve been tackling Monday, Tuesday, every time of the day as well. Biggest thing in bowl games are just tackling. So the guys are usually tackling the best guys. That’s something we pride ourselves on for sure.