Oklahoma Sooners College Football Pregame Quote, 12/22/2020

With this match up in Florida, you have built up not just you, but the entire program has built up its defensive reputation quite a bit in the last year or so. This seems like a prime opportunity to do even more of that, playing against the Florida offense coming off the year that it had. Is that a good thing you think for this season, at this point in time for this bowl matchup? After such a great performance, you get an even bigger test in the bowl game?

Yeah, I think it’s a tremendous challenge. There’s no question about it, to be one of the like the best offense we’ve faced this year. Obviously, you talk about a quarterback playing as well as anybody in the country, skill across the board.

And we ran into that in a bowl game last year, that very elite offense in a lot of ways. And I don’t know all the numbers or records in that, but borderline historic type of numbers. And so that’s a challenge certainly for us defensively. And as a competitor, you’ve got about 24 hours to enjoy a Big 12 championship and a pretty good performance on the defensive side of the ball, only to find out that the next challenge is waiting for you.

So we’ll attack it that way. I think certainly what you don’t want to do is circle one game, one opponent, and say that dictates an entire season’s worth of work that way. But, in the same token, the next challenge is a tremendous one, get a chance to play in a great bowl against a great opponent and have a great challenge. What a way to end 2020.

We all saw the news yesterday about Tre Brown’s decision. Can you talk about what he’s meant to this defense and then also how you plan on making up for that, losing such a key guy here in when you’re up against a great offense.

Yeah, Tre’s made some big time plays over the course of, obviously, his career here, certainly highlighted by the interception at the tail end of the game this past weekend. That kind of serves as kind of a walk off home run for Tre, which is great for him and obviously great for us.

Anytime someone’s down or, in this case obviously, for different reasons but that’s your immediate mentality as a coach. 2020 has highlighted that to the extreme in terms of we don’t have this individual available, what a great opportunity for someone else.

And so this year has taught us that. And I think it’s a reminder to all of us, too, that it’s not coach speak when you say “next man up.” That’s been our reality, will continue to be. So it’s a tremendous opportunity for the guys on the secondary to step up, and certainly expect them to.

But to lose a senior at this point, obviously, in some ways, specific to our side of the ball, it’s unfortunate. But, again, wish him the best of luck. And I’m sure glad he made that play on Saturday.

How much did Woodi Washington’s late season playing time last year help him in 2020, and is it exciting as a coach just to see the growth of D.J. Graham and possibly speculate where he could be next season?

I’ve highlighted Woodi in the past. He kind of went to a very difficult situation in a Playoff Semifinal last year against an elite opponent and by no means looked out of place. And there’s some other guys on our roster that did that night, quite frankly.

So I think it spring-boarded him in a lot of ways. I think being in the fire that way on that stage didn’t seem too big for him, which was a positive. And then just, as the season went on, trying to find the best position for him as you evaluate things, what’s the best spot for an individual, ultimately what’s best for the team. And he was a guy with some position flexibility. And finding him at corner has, without question, helped us.

I’ve said this before, just wait until he gets good because we have not seen his best football by any stretch of the imagination. But he’s a freshman.

And then you mentioned D.J. Graham, another freshman that we’re excited about. And there’s obviously some other guys in the mix. D.J. is another of those guys. I think, a little bit to your point, ultimately, after we flip the calendar into 2021, we’ll really look to the reps that he had and the quality reps that he had over the course of this year. And nothing he can’t get better at. But you hope that he can have gain some confidence that way. And, specifically, for us, in the immediate future is gain some confidence from those reps as we approach the bowl game.

I’m curious, one thing we haven’t asked you a lot, we’ve talked a lot about your ends, but your interior defensive line, developing a rotation there, how big has that been for your defense to see guys like Cory [Bizzarro] and Jordan [Kelley] and guys like that step up?

That’s a great point. And we’ve been very fortunate this year, rotating six guys on the interior of our defensive line, I think somewhere in the vicinity of 26 guys. Maybe one of you reminded me of this on Saturday.

I think 26 guys played just on defense, and that’s not including on special teams. And the top position of rotation would have been the interior of our defensive line. So all those guys, you earn those reps. Those aren’t gifts. Those aren’t just an opportunity to spell someone else. We’ve been in that mode before, quite frankly. But we haven’t found ourselves there this year.

We’ve gotten quality reps from those individuals. It’s helped us. It’s something that’s got to continue to happen for us to have the type of defense that we expect. I think it’s also a great visual to guys we recruit. You don’t have to be a starter to play at Oklahoma. We’re trying to find roles for everybody.

For those individuals like you mentioned, whether it’s a [Josh] Ellison or a Cory [Bizzarro] or really, all those guys are making sure that the production that you have, the game week, practice, making sure you’re not content with that particular role.

We want all of those guys pushing for more reps and those individuals in front of them saying, “Wait, Coach, don’t take me out now.” And ultimately that’s not just doing what you’re supposed to do; ultimately, that comes with production. And so all those guys have had their had their moments, and we expect them to, but it’s been tremendous to be able to rotate those guys.

In your experience, what challenges come to first or second year defensive backs when they prepare for a tough SEC team like Florida?

Yeah, I think what you can’t do is the “awe” factor. You’ve got to do the best you can trying to eliminate that. You’ll obviously see explosive plays, and you see playmakers, and you see tremendous catches, competitive catches, which is credit to all of them.

It’s not like you can circle one individual and say, okay, that’s the guy. And then a quarterback that’s playing as good as anybody that’s played the position, not just this year, you know the ball’s going to be in the air. You know that competitive plays are going to have to be made. And you’ve got to rise to the challenge.

I mean, it’s one of those things that you have to be accepting of the fact that they’re going to make some of theirs. You have to make sure that you’re making some of yours. And what’s that ultimately, that percentage is going to have a big indicator in terms of what the outcome is.

I liken it to, in basketball, they’re going to make some three pointers. They’re going to make their shots. You have to be somewhat accepting of those as a competitor. Are you making them work for those things? Not every completion is equal to another. A great ball can beat you. A great catch can beat you. It’s our responsibility to make sure those are the only ones that beat you in terms of a given play or a given drive.

And then, with that, whether young or old, you have to make your share. There’s no scenario where you can come out of the game and just hope they miss. Again, I use the basketball analogy. Maybe they just won’t make shots that day. Hope being a strategy is probably not the appropriate one against an elite opponent like Florida.

On Nik Bonitto, you’re seeing him make even though he was only honorable mention on All Big 12, you’re seeing him make some First Team All American teams. Wonder if you could comment on his progress. It sure seemed sudden this year. I know he played a lot last year and got some good experience. But to become the pass rusher that he has, maybe you could describe the work that he’s put in or the way you’ve emphasized his skills in your system to have him stand out like this.

Yeah, I mean, you mentioned honorable mention. I guess it speaks to just how the quality of defenses that are in the Big 12 now for someone like that to not even be on the First or Second Team. The standard must have gone up exponentially in the last 12 months. So I would give some credit to the individuals that are recognizing him because he deserves it.

I’ve talked about this before. My biggest thing with all those guys is they deserve the critique. And, obviously, as coaches, we do put it on us. But people are more than willing to throw darts at Oklahoma defense and individuals. And I want those guys when they have success and they put it on film, it’s really important to me that those guys reap those benefits.

And so I think, in that particular case for Nik, I’m glad some people noticed because certainly we notice. And we’ll hang a banner in our indoor because of guys like Nik and the performance that he had.

But speaking to his growth, he’s a guy that has come as far as anybody and was redshirted here prior to this staff coming on board defensively. You saw potential. I think the biggest thing that you’ve seen over the last year is a guy that isn’t hanging onto that thin rope that is potential, a guy that’s throwing work at it, a guy that has raised his expectations, obviously understands the defense, all that stuff, the game slows down.

Without question, all those things take place in a second year guy, especially as many reps as he took a year ago. But you also just see a guy committed to playing at a certain level. And it’s consistent throughout the week of practice. It’s showing up on Saturdays.

And so that rush position, we call him “The Rush” for a reason. If you have an impact from guys on your edges, it certainly makes it not easier to play defensive football but it gives you a chance to play defensive football, quite frankly. You’ve got to find production somewhere, so in your front, on the edge.

So thrilled for Nik and thrilled for us that still a young player in our program.

I think you were referring to one of the young DBs when you talked about they weren’t as good as they were now, they weren’t what they would be. That’s sort of similar to what Lincoln [Riley] had to say about Perrion Winfrey. I wanted to ask you about his development and how much better can he get moving forward.

Well, for us, we need it to happen in, whatever it is, eight or nine days, for us to have a chance in the Cotton Bowl. We need production from those guys, specifically an individual as disruptive as Perrion is.

The biggest change for him is going to be that whether it’s over the mountaintop or taking that next step, is going from disruption to production. And that leap for some individuals is greater than for others. I don’t think it’s a giant leap for him, but you’ve seen the disruption.

What will come with that ultimately is production. And it’s a little bit of missed opportunity. Probably if you asked him, I think he would echo that in terms of some plays in the backfield that’s so close to make.

And so that’s something that, for him, has to we have to take that step. And for us, obviously, we need individuals to not be content with just being the backfield but ultimately getting ball carriers on the ground. And he’s done that certainly at times.

But, no, I think that’s the thing that has kind of become consistent for us, is disruption without production. That will come. We believe in that. We believe in him.

Obviously, Coach Thibs (Calvin Thibodeaux) does a great job with those guys in the front. But that’s going to be the big step for him. And that’s a daily. And I’m not willing to say that won’t happen until next year. I think it’s something that can happen sooner rather than later.

With Nik Bonitto, earlier this season, you previously talked about that mugging technique. How important is that going up against a guy like Kyle Trask in disguising and layering your pass rush?

The magic word you used there is “layering.” There’s times where you want that first wave to have an impact on the throw. That’s pressure, that’s blitz, bringing possibly more than four.

And then there’s other instances where you want to hold up early in coverage and have an opportunity for a quarterback to put a football in the backfield, then with the opportunity to possibly flush him out, creating a play that has to be a throw that has to be made on the run or an opportunity for still a sack from someone in our front, talking as you described in our mug technique.

So that’s something that can be a little bit too enticing sometimes defensively, which then creates, in theory, only bringing three in your rush. And then there’s there’s an opportunity now for actually more time for a quarterback if it becomes something that, I guess, me as coordinator, that you get kind of fall into that trap and you get too enticed by it.

So it’s using it but not maybe falling in love with it. But you see the impact that he can have. Some guys have a better knack than others. The timing of it is critical.

So it’s something certainly that we use. It’s not unique to us. Other people do. Maybe we coach it a little bit different at times. In any event, no, that’s one of the ways Nik has been a major piece to our defense this year.

Ronnie Perkins had mentioned a few weeks ago just how important it was to him to get out on the field, get stuff on tape. I’m curious, have you had many conversations about him, what his future looks like at OU? But, also on that same note, have you seen a more motivated Ronnie Perkins, as intense as he already is, but more motivated than usual just as far as how he’s approached each and every week?

I don’t think more motivated. I think, as you mentioned, he’s always been that guy for us, very intense. Had a really good year for us a year ago. Had some real moments in some key games where and I think I’ve said it, where you just say Ronnie is going to go make a play, and you just know it. And I think he expects it.

So you still obviously see that same guy this year. He’s certainly improved. I think he’s improved in every area. I think he’ll continue to as you go through it.

Obviously, what a great stage for him here in the next week. And he has a tendency to rise up to that occasion. But, no, a guy all those guys, when you play at that level, have to make career decisions at some point and all that. So that’s stuff that is always ongoing.

But, no, I think Perk’s one of those guys, when he’s on the field and we’re finding ways to get him to be productive for our defense.

Second year in kind of a post season game, you’re going to be facing what is a prolific offense. What kind of benchmark I know these are games you’re specifically looking forward to, to kind of see where your guys are at within the process of you bringing defense back to Oklahoma and this and that. How do you see games like this? Is it a test? Is it a litmus test? Is it a benchmark? Or is it something that you’re not going to hold too much weight on heading into next year?

Yeah, I look at it as an opportunity to compete at the highest level in a tremendous bowl game. Don’t for one second look at the Cotton Bowl as anything but that. This is to put yourself in an elite bowl match up against an elite team, an elite offense, as you mentioned. You’ve earned the right to be in these situations.

And so what you’re not going to do is take the victim mindset, Oh, my God, this is who this is our reward for the type of season? Because it is. When you’re at the University of Oklahoma, the expectation is to win championships. And we’ve been very fortunate to win two in our time here as the defense.

And the next one, again, lies in wait. Every mountain you climb, there’s another mountain that’s waiting for you. And that’s why you go and coach at a place like an Oklahoma. It’s why kids play at places like Oklahoma. And I think, conversely, you look at the other side of the ball, it’s why guys go to the University of Florida as well.

Tremendous challenge. Excited for it. When things go your way, you have a tendency to circle that and champion yourself. And when things don’t, you have a tendency to dismiss it. What you ultimately do is be a competitor, have a standard by which you play, and evaluate it based on that standard.

And I think the standard continues to rise here from the standpoint of Oklahoma defense. And the expectations are beginning to change. So every opportunity we take the field is one more opportunity to do those things.

When the day comes for you to be running your own program, I’m just curious what you’ll take from this year specifically to help you do that job. All of the challenges and the hardships that you and the program have had to overcome, how is that, you think, going to serve you when the time comes?

I think it applies to your question, what I would highlight is preloading the standard in your program. I look at it that way. And I think, specific to us, you know, not going into the future in terms of what somewhere down the line you call yourself head coach.

But I think this answers your question. I think just as I evaluate this last year, when you’re 1 2 to begin the season, if then you start commenting on how you’re going to respond to adversity, for instance, or you start talking about, Okay, what’s our how do we make our response bigger than the events that we find ourselves in, if you’re on a Zoom meeting trying to instill culture for the first time in fall camp because you can’t meet that particular day as opposed to something you’ve been doing for a year at that point or a year and a half at that point.

And then when you find yourself in an adverse situation, that you can draw from that. It’s not it’s a reminder on some of the things that, again, you’ve I’d say preload, kind of put in the operating system. Put it in there and say this is who we are, this is what we do. Whatever comes our way, we can draw from these core values, for instance.

Or it’s an approach. What’s our plan when adversity hits? We have event plus response equals outcome. We want different we want the appropriate outcome, then we have the appropriate response. We’ve got to make our R bigger than our E. How many times did I say that over the course of the offseason?

All of a sudden that didn’t apply to football. Then all of a sudden it applied to football the Monday after we lost to Iowa State. And so you draw from that. And so I think that’s the biggest thing just as you go through this.

And I think the final thing I would tell you is to inspire and motivate guys. What a unique challenge. And I think about Coach [Lincoln] Riley as the head coach and then us as position coaches. This year was proof positive. If it’s just about Xs and Os, it’s going to be tough sledding because, believe me, that play is not going to get you to overcome a pandemic. You know, you wish it was that simple, or some of the things that our society faced over this year.

So the ability to, again, inspire guys, despite maybe some of the things on the outside, and motivate them to perform despite the fact that you’re down numbers. And those are the things I think you draw from in a year like this. And the fortunate thing, again, just an elite leadership by Coach Riley and on down is the proof is when you can call yourself champion at the end of the year, you must have been doing some things right. So it just gives you confidence that the approach works.

I think this is a great match up. They’ve got a really good offense. You’ve got a really good defense. The game within the game. What’s your early thoughts on Florida’s offense? [Kyle] Trask looks like a pro quarterback. They have some skill.

Without question, you turn the film on, it doesn’t matter what opponent you watch them against. And, obviously, the first one you throw on is them against Alabama from this past weekend. Why do you do that? Tremendous respect for Alabama. And you’re saying, Now, wait a second. To put up those numbers, to have that type of production, to see it on that stage, you’re saying, now, this is one of the best in our country.

And so could not say enough good things. What’s the word when you’re talking about what very well could be a Heisman Trophy winner at quarterback? Elite receivers across the board. A run game to complement it. Obviously, an elite coach in Coach [Dan] Mullen and a track record to win high level football games on national stages and obviously also just from a sheer numbers standpoint.

And then, again, you start with the Alabama game, and then you work backwards. And then you’re saying, Well, this is a pretty elite defense too. This is a good defense, too. I have a lot of respect for the SEC, now on the outside but also being in the conference several years ago.

And so I know that the quality of talent. I know the quality of coaches and their ability to just have an elite offense in that type of climate. Also Oh, by the way, in 2020 with guys being out at certain times, this is as extreme a challenge as you’re going to get. And we might be facing the best offense of all the teams that are out there, we might be facing the best offense in a bowl game.

Lincoln [Riley] revealed earlier that everyone is going home for Christmas, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. I’m wondering, from a coaching perspective, how worrisome can that be in the COVID era going into a bowl game? And what do you think the process is going to be like having everyone come back into seclusion?

Yeah, I think it’s just where we find ourselves. I think that you weigh certain things. I think, certainly, as the months have gone on, our guys are well versed in terms of what’s the expectation, wearing masks, the understanding that any issue that you have or if you’re one moment, one interaction can be the difference in you playing and not playing. And we’ve faced that. We’ve been in that.

So I think our guys have an understanding, wanting to play in this game, that you’re going to have to do right by yourself and, obviously, right by the people that you’re around in order to get that done.

And I think, also, it stems from the fact that the most appropriate thing for our guys is to allow these guys to have Christmas. If you think about again, we keep talking about this year, but to take that away from them after just winning the championship and say “Be in the dorm on Christmas Day” is something certainly we weren’t willing to do, and it’s not fair to them.

So we’re excited to have those guys. They’ve earned it. They deserve that. And we’ll get going back once they get back.