USC Trojans College Football Pregame Quote, 01/01/2023

CHARLIE FISS, MODERATOR: We want to extend a welcome to our head coaches. Coach [Willie] Fritz and Coach [Lincoln] Riley. First, Happy New Year, and thank you for taking time out of your last day of preparation to join us at the Omni (Dallas Hotel) for our final news conference before we kick off the 87th Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. We will begin by asking Coach Fritz and Coach Riley for an opening statement about their week in North Texas. And then we will move to questions from the floor. Coach Fritz, we’ll come to you first.

COACH FRITZ: I said it yesterday, just the hospitality has been outstanding. I know our players, coaches, support staff, everybody has enjoyed it. We seem like we’ve brought about half of the university over here as well. But it’s just been an excellent experience. Being able to go down and practice every day at AT&T Stadium is also something that’s outstanding. And then getting an opportunity to play a prestigious program like USC and the great season they’ve had is just a dream come true for us at Tulane. So we’re very, very excited about the ball game.

CHARLIE FISS, MODERATOR: Coach, thank you. Coach [Lincoln] Riley?

COACH RILEY: I want to thank everybody involved with the Cotton Bowl [Classic]. Thank Goodyear for their support. Thank everybody on the Cotton Bowl staff. I said yesterday in our game, the hospitality and really the entire event and how organized it is, among coaching circles, it has a little bit of a legendary status. It always has. There’s a lot of great bowl games out there, but this one is unique and different from the support, from how well organized it is, and as Coach [Willie] Fritz said, the hospitality shown to our players, staff, and family is second to none.

It’s been a great week. It’s been great to get into a little bit of a normal bowl schedule and be able to enjoy it, be able to get to work. And obviously excited for the game coming up. These weeks ‚Äì the week is great. Then the anticipation for the game certainly starts to build. And we’re looking forward to playing a great Tulane team. Certainly, one of the best venues there is in sports.

CHARLIE FISS, MODERATOR: Thank you so much, Coach Riley and Coach Fritz. Let’s go to questions from the floor.

Lincoln [Riley], it was a month ago tomorrow Caleb [Williams] got hurt, and he’s indicated he’s gotten well. What have you seen in his prep? And he’s ready to go?

COACH RILEY: He is ready to go. He has progressed maybe a little faster than what we anticipated. Certainly, very fortunate on our part that we had the opportunity to have a month, really, before this game. I mean, had it been even two weeks, I doubt he would have been available. And so that extra time has helped.

And he’s done a good job, along with our medical staff, from the second that the Pac-12 [Football Championship] game was over, really working hard to get back to it. And he’s practiced well really with no limitations, and we expect that he’ll play very well.

Watching a lot of these bowl games, very unpredictable. I know a lot is made that you all are a Group of Five team. They’re a Power Five team. Just talk about what happens in these bowl games. It doesn’t really matter where you’re from. You’ve shown against Kansas State and others that you can tussle with anybody in America.

COACH FRITZ: When you get to this point, you have a body of work. The guys have shown what they can do. It’s obviously a tremendous challenge playing a team like USC. We’re proud to represent our conference and university and New Orleans.

We’re going to have to play great tomorrow. There’s no doubt about it. We know that. But it’s a tremendous opportunity. And we’re real excited about it.

Hi, Coach Willie [Fritz]. You were just named the Dodd Trophy winner. Can you talk a little bit about this honor and what it means to you kind of coming at the end of a really historic season?

COACH FRITZ: Well, it’s a great honor. I’ve read up quite a bit on Coach [Bobby] Dodd and what he emphasized when he was the head coach.

It’s a team award ‚Äì everybody knows that ‚Äì with the players, and really my coaches on my staff. They’ve done a tremendous job this season. And all the support staff, so many people go into having success with your team, strength coaches, athletic trainers, equipment people, the academic support. I mean, I could go on and on and on. So it’s an award for the whole team. I’m honored to have received it.

Lincoln [Riley], USC has a bit of a history, especially recently, of kind of letdowns in this bowl game. Especially after such a long layoff. What’s been the key, in terms of messaging with the team, to just ensure that motivation is still there heading into a game like this?

COACH RILEY: Yeah, we haven’t gotten too caught up in the recent history. This is different. And certainly, our expectations have been, first, to prepare very well. And I think part of our job as coaches and as leaders on the team is to be able to articulate to our team that this is very important. Why it’s important. And there’s a lot of reasons. And, honestly, the preparation and the way the guys have approached the last 27 days would suggest to me that they are very excited to play this game. And they understand the significance, both for this team and future teams.

Because games like this certainly ‚Äì I mean, of course they matter. This is the Cotton Bowl [Classic]. It’s a New Year’s Six bowl. It’s one of the biggest games in the country. And it will be for players on both teams. This will be one of the games that you ‚Äì that they’ll remember more than any other. 30, 40 years down the line, you’ll remember playing in the Cotton Bowl. For USC, you’ll remember playing a championship Tulane squad. You’ll remember kind of the last moments that those teams will ever have together.

So it’s very, very important to us. Our preparation suggests that we understand that, and, hopefully, our play does as well.

Lincoln [Riley], in your experience how much does a win in a bowl game impact momentum and energy heading into an off-season for a team?

COACH RILEY: I mean, if you win, you’re going to use it positively. And if you don’t win, you’re going to use it as fuel, right? Like, we’d rather win. I think Coach [Willie] Fritz would too. That’s probably pretty safe to say.

But it’s a great thing, certainly, for this team and a chance to close out a great season. If we don’t win the game, then ‚Äì we’ve had years when we didn’t win a playoff game, and we came back, and were right back in it the next year.

So I think next year’s team will be next year’s team. I think this is about this year’s team. But hopefully, we can take this as steps. We’ve got to see this as a journey ourselves from the day we started. So hopefully we can take some positive steps in the way we play and prepare, and we learn some great lessons that hopefully will help us tomorrow and also in the future.

Lincoln [Riley], obviously, you guys have had a month to kind of sit on the Utah game. As a defense, what next step do you want to see them take tomorrow and going into this off-season?

COACH RILEY: I would just say as a team we – you know, that football game, we got away from a lot of what we had done well to be in that football game.

And we’ve tried to identify the reasons of why that happened and why some of the trust in what we were doing wasn’t there. Specifically, in the second half. And we’ve tried to learn from it and kind of vowed to be better in this game and to be the team that we were the previous 12 games.

And so that’s been a big point of emphasis for us. And again, kind of a learning experience in that venue with that opportunity. Something that we can learn from and grow from. And again, there’s been a ‚Äì we’ve certainly vowed to not repeat that again.

Willie [Fritz], you have an opportunity to have a 10-1 improvement over last year. From where you guys were a year ago to now, how important is it to finish off right?

COACH FRITZ: Like Lincoln [Riley] said, obviously, we want to do that, and all of our preparation has been geared towards doing that.

It’s really an honor for us to play against a team like USC in the Cotton Bowl [Classic]. The last time Tulane was in a game like this was 1940. A couple years ago. Anybody at that game? (Laughter)

I don’t think anybody was.

CHARLIE FISS, MODERATOR: I guess I was.

COACH FRITZ: We want to finish the game off great, and all of our preparation has been toward doing that. So we’re excited about the opportunity. I know I keep saying that, but we are pumped about being able to play the ball game tomorrow, 12:10.

Last week, Michael Pratt and Sincere Haynesworth decided to return for another year with this program. What have you seen out of those two from the last few years and building this team to where it is today, and how important is it to keep those cornerstones of the program going into 2023?

COACH FRITZ: Well, I think it’s very important. They’re both great players, great leaders, both captains. They’ve been two‚Äëyear captains. They’ll be three‚Äëyear captains next year. I think Michael [Pratt], more or less, did it because there’s a lot of people asking him about it. He came to me and said, Hey, can I go ahead and say something? I said, You betcha.

We’re very excited. They’ll both have degrees here. I guess they got their degrees a couple of weeks ago. So they’ll be working on their graduate degrees coming up. So we’re very, very excited about having two quality student‚Äëathletes like Sincere [Haynesworth] and Michael come back for us.

Willie [Fritz], when you hired Kurt Hester in January as strength and conditioning coordinator, what has he brought to the program? It’s a two‚Äëpart question. Then you had the senior co‚Äëcaptains be present for your interview process for that. What was the thought process there, and had you done that before?

COACH FRITZ: Well, he’s done just an outstanding job. He’s got a tremendous amount of energy and juice. But more importantly, he’s highly intelligent. He’s got a couple of degrees from Tulane. I remember during the interview process, I asked him about sprint mechanics. He went for about ten minutes. I had to tell him to shut up and let’s move on to something else. And every question, he just would go on and on. And it’s way over my head. I know that.

But he’s done an excellent job of instilling discipline. But more importantly, I think getting the guys better physically, you know, faster and quicker and stronger and helping them with recovering. He’s just always available to them, as well. So he’s been a big part of our success.

Lincoln [Riley], condolences on the passing of Mike Leach. What has the past month been like for your staff kind of rallying together, and what has it meant to see all the different tributes to him throughout the bowl season?

COACH RILEY: It was a tough, emotional time for our staff. I think we took 15 different members down to Starkville, [Mississippi] for a memorial service. You can obviously trace the roots of the majority of our staff back to Mike [Leach] in one way or another. And so, yeah, it was certainly an emotional time, getting to communicate with his family some. Certainly, getting down there to Starkville and seeing so many faces of the people that he impacted. So many of them that have become colleagues and lifelong friends and it’s honestly a little crazy to think how much he’s impacted the game and probably more so just so many people and their families.

So, yeah, it’s certainly been tough, but we’ve tried to all rally together. It’s been great to see the outpouring of support, and then certainly, pretty special to see that in this year, that one of the guys off the tree with Coach [Sonny] Dykes at TCU is going to get the chance to play for the championship here in nine or ten days. So very, very fitting there as well.

This has obviously been a historic season coming from a 4‚Äë8 record last year. It has the potential to be the first 12‚Äëwin team for USC since 2008 and the best turnover in team history. How special would that be for you and this team?

COACH RILEY: It would be very special. It’s always ‚Äì this has been a different challenge and we knew it would be coming here. And I think the ability to ‚Äì for a team to rally and come together certainly in the way that we have and to be able to experience some of the success has been great. The best part about it has been seeing that the guys have been able to be rewarded or see some success after they’ve put the work in and after they’ve bought in. And for them to be able to experience some of that has been, I think, the best part for us as a staff.

And so that’s been ‚Äì it’s been a fun season. As fun a season as I’ve had coaching in a long time. And I think a lot of our staff members would say the same thing and certainly don’t want it to end. But it’s obviously a great opportunity to try to finish on a high note.

Lincoln [Riley], you’re going to miss a couple of veteran leaders on the offensive line. How has the offense prepared for the last couple of weeks preparing for the Cotton Bowl?

COACH RILEY: They’re certainly ‚Äì they’re two big losses. Certainly saw a little bit of that with not having [Andrew] Vorhees for the championship game and losing Brett Neilon, who’s been a cornerstone of this team and offensive line was a big loss as well. I think we’ve benefited from having time, being able to bank a lot of practices with these groups as we’ve had to shuffle some guys around to make it work. And it certainly would have been a much bigger challenge on a ‚Äì maybe on a normal game week or normal seven‚Äëday window, especially when you’re playing a really good defense like we’re getting ready to play.

I think our guys have tried to take advantage of the time, create continuity over the last months. As it is in every game, that will be a very, very important matchup.

Willie [Fritz], I sat down with you last week, you talked about bowl games you coached that I had never even heard of back in your long career. Have you noticed a difference in the kids from past bowl games? Have you noticed they’re taking on the enormity of the situation that this is one of the biggest bowls they’ll probably play in in their life?

COACH FRITZ: Yeah, this one certainly has been different. We’ve been to some great bowl games at Tulane. And I’ve been to some others that are fantastic. As Lincoln said, this is a reward for a great season.

We came here. We wanted our guys to have fun but also focus on football. I think they’ve done both. The Cotton Bowl [Classic] has allowed us to do both by putting on these fantastic events. As Coach (Lincoln Riley) said, it’s a once‚Äëin‚Äëa‚Äëlifetime experience coming to the Cotton Bowl, playing it January 2, 2023. And I’m sure these guys will never forget it. And we want this to be something that springboards us into consistent success year after year after year.

When I came to Tulane, they had great teams and great players. Just hadn’t done it consistently. And that’s always been our goal. We’ve come close a few years back, but, obviously, we’d like to be on this stage as much as possible.

Coach [Lincoln] Riley, yesterday at the breakfast, you spoke very fondly of Muleshoe (Texas). And I was just wondering how often you get back there? And what do the folks of Muleshoe say about their favorite son?

COACH RILEY: After yesterday, I may not be the favorite son. I try to get back. My parents relocated recently back to Lubbock (Texas). I probably won’t go back there as much as I did in previous years. Typically, it was once or twice a year to get back to see everybody.

Yeah, the town’s been great. A lot of support. We’ll have several people from our hometown at the game tomorrow. It’s nice to ‚Äì with us now being in LA (Los Angeles, California), it’s nice to have a game here a little bit closer to home where some of those people that have been a part of our lives and, certainly, a part of our growth can come and celebrate this moment with us.

So yeah, as I said yesterday, it’s a place that’s meaningful to me. I wouldn’t change it for anything.

Coach [Willie] Fritz, the Tulane defense has been stingy all season long. Talk to me about facing, and what you can do to slow down, the Southern California offense led by Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams.

COACH FRITZ: I don’t want to say too much. They have skilled players. It starts with the quarterback. He can extend plays. I heard somebody comparing him to Patrick Mahomes, and I’m an old Kansas City guy. Did you coach Patrick?

COACH RILEY: I left right before him.

COACH FRITZ: That’s a fair comparison. He is unbelievable. A lot of times guys get out of the pocket and can’t throw the ball accurately. And he can do that time and time again. So that’s going to be part of it.

Just try to mix some things up. Do some things a little bit differently. I think we’re quite a bit different than maybe last year when we played Coach [Lincoln Riley] when he was at Oklahoma, with what we’re doing. Just a very, very explosive offense. And it, obviously, starts with the quarterback.

Lincoln [Coach Riley], I know you guys had practice during the first half of the TCU game yesterday. What was it like watching Garrett [Riley] and them? And what was that conversation like with him after the game?

COACH RILEY: Yeah, it was awesome. I got back to the room, was able to catch the fourth quarter. I kind of flipped from the football coach into just the nervous brother, watching the end of the game. And it was awesome. It was. I was ‚Äì I was really proud of him. You know, what a great run that they’ve had and went to a game that really nobody kind of gave them a chance.

And to see them play the way they did and make so many of the big plays, just a really complete football team, and then obviously, yeah, even works out better that the championship game is about 30 minutes from my house.

So we’ll be excited to get over there and support him. He’s been at a lot of our championship games and bowl games throughout the years, and schedule‚Äëwise, it’s never really worked out for me to be able to be at some of his events. And so to get there and to be able to watch him and those guys compete in that game will be phenomenal.

But I’m just really, really proud of him. He’s carved his own way and worked really hard, and he’s working for a great head coach at a great program. And they’ve had, really, just a magical run. And so I’ll be ‚Äì here in a little over a week, I’ll be a big, big TCU fan.

Coach [Lincoln] Riley, you guys have said all season long that good teams are run by coaches and great teams are run by players. In this past month, who have you seen step up especially, and who are you hoping to step up into next season?

COACH RILEY: Yeah, we’ve ‚Äì I think our leaders have remained pretty consistent throughout the year. We’ve had to ‚Äì you know, with the losses of a couple of guys coming into this game, we’ve had to have a few others step up. I know the offensive line we’ve certainly talked about and we’ll still rely on certainly [Justin] Dedich, and I think Jonah Monheim is a young leader, has been a really good player for us in the program all year that’s been kind of forced to but is also ready to take on more of a leadership role. And I think our captains. You know, certainly Tuli [Tuipulotu] has been very involved in, I think, the preparation for this game in terms of just the mentality of the team. Shane Lee is certainly always somebody that’s right in the middle of that conversation.

So our guys have taken it personally, and the player‚Äëled groups, like Coach [Willie] Fritz spoke about this yesterday at the breakfast, those are typically your best teams. And honestly, probably neither one of us are sitting up here right now if our teams didn’t have some pretty strong internal leadership. We’ve certainly been blessed with that this year, and it’s been a very important part of our bowl preparation.