BYU Cougars College Football Pregame Quote, 11/18/2019

On his contract extension:

I’m excited to keep coaching and keep working. I’m just thankful, first of all to our players and for their hard work and the belief they have in our system and program. I’m thankful for the administration, Tom Holmoe and President Worthen, for all their hard work and their belief in my coaches and me. Everyone that’s been involved at BYU, there is so much gratitude on behalf of my family and me. My family and I love it here in Provo and we’re looking forward to spending more time here.

On negotiations for the extension:

I was just focused on football. Tom asked me to trust him in the whole process, so he can probably tell you more of the details on that. My focus has been on trying to win games, trying to keep this team going and trying to keep building the momentum. If you have more details you can ask Tom, but I thought they allowed me the opportunity to keep coaching and that’s what I’m thankful for.

On the locker room reveal for the extension:

It surprised me, but it was cool. I liked the way he delivered it. It was a good moment, our guys had the opportunity to dance again in the locker room. Whenever that happens it’s a good sign for us and a good sign for the program. It was a lot of fun for the fans and in this specific weekend, it was a lot of fun for the seniors.

On the mood of the team now versus a month ago:

You can guess on what it was. If you take the results out of the equation, meaning the wins and losses, these guys have worked extremely hard every week, every day. The players have been focusing on each other and growing closer as a group. That hasn’t changed. The guys have been really hard workers and they understand what it takes to be successful. That’s a huge indicator coming from their families, so I have great young men to work with, a great fan base to entertain and it’s a really cool mix right now.

On Zach’s performance:

It’s nice for him to get back on the field. The one thing that I really liked, was after he threw the interception, he was back in there making the tackle. That’s how he injured himself from the beginning, so it seems like that’s not something that’s still living up there in his head, he’s just playing football. It was really good for him to get those reps and to be in there and get the feel for the game and get in variety of plays. I’m looking forward to him getting better and improving on how he did. The mistakes cloud a lot of the issues and when you’re trying to look at momentum or at some of the big games and big plays. The penalties take away from a lot of that and that’s something that we’re working on. The things that we can really control are the administrative ones, like false starts and offsides on defense that should not have happened. That’s our job as coaches to make sure we get that done.

On keeping the team locked in and motivated for UMass:

We’re going to keep building on what we do. I’ve mentioned this before and we’re really focused on what we can get done and being at our best. This is another opportunity for us to go see our fans on the East Coast and we’re looking forward to our players being at their best for our fans and for themselves. We’re creating momentum and we’re creating belief in each other, so this is something that is more focused on what we’re trying to get done. I have a ton of respect for our opponents. That’s just how football goes, a lot of guys do what our players do, they work hard and put a lot of time into the game. This will be their last game of the season, so we know it’s going to mean a lot to them. We’re going to get their best shot, so we’re going to make sure they get ours as well.