Cincinnati Bearcats College Football Pregame Quote, 12/05/2021

On making the College Football Playoff:

To have this moment with the seniors and their families, I don’t think I can ask for anyone else I’d rather do it with. To be able to be with the seniors and their families, it makes it that much more special.

On seeing his players’ reactions:

All the hard work and the things that they’ve done‚Ķ A lot of people doubted us. I think that’s where the gratification comes. We don’t worry about what the outside says, don’t worry about style, we’ve just got to find a way to play our best ball at the end of the year. I told them that if we take care of business, things will take care of themselves.

One how he felt prior to the announcement:

Everyone said we were going to be in, but as we know, this is not normal, things can happen. Nothing is for sure. Until it flashes onto the screen‚Ķ it’s like the game last night. Until there was 10 seconds left, I don’t think I was ready to smile. It’s kind of the same way with this. But the opportunity is unbelievable.

On what representing the Group of Five means for them:

Well, that’s what we didn’t want to carry. All year, we never really talked about it. We’re not carrying the flag for anyone outside of who we are. Our fans, our city, our community, our program. I didn’t want the weight of anything else on their backs, we just wanted to be us. In my mind, there’s still no difference. There’s a very small chance to get in a four-team playoff, and we’re one of them. We’re not carrying a flag for anyone but the UC Bearcats, our community, our campus, our university and our city.

On changing the standard at Cincinnati:

When you talk about blind faith, as we grew the program, they started to see it, as opposed to being blind. A lot of these things that we do, we just have to believe in the things that we do. We got the trust, respect and love in that locker room. For us and our program, we’re now able to see it right there in front of you. Regardless of where you come from, it’s just about what you do together. We say we want to play for championships, well, we have another opportunity to play for a championship.

On his thoughts about playing Alabama:

They’re pretty good. I’m not going to worry about that a whole lot just yet, but whatever it is that they do, they do well. Obviously, they won yesterday and played well. I think the most important thing is that our guys recognize that they’ve done something and there’s another opportunity ahead of them. It’s about us, not what Alabama’s done. That’s not what it’s going to be about for us. We’ll continue to focus on us like we’ve done all year.