Colorado Buffaloes College Football Pregame Quote, 09/10/2019

We’ve turned the page, obviously, to prepare for this game. I was really proud of our guys when we play Saturday. They showed a lot of grit, a lot of toughness, a lot of effort. But, this is a totally different challenge this week for us and we’ve had a couple of really good days of preparation so far. I was pleased with the effort that we gave today, in practice this morning. With this team, it’s always interesting to see how the guys are going to come in. Are you going to come into work, on a Monday after a big game, win, lose or draw? Yesterday, I felt the focus and the sense of urgency that I was looking for from this group of guys. Talking to the coaches on both sides of the ball, they all agree that they haven’t sensed any type of complacency or anything like that, which was good to see. And then today, we had a hard, physical, Tuesday practice with the type of effort that we were looking for, and the focus on our opponent. Those are things you have to do to prepare week in and week out. At this point in the week, we’re doing what we need to do to prepare. There’s still more that we can do, behavior precedes success.

On Getting The Team Refocused After A Big Win:

It wasn’t difficult this week, I didn’t sense that. I was looking for that because human nature is to relax. What we’re doing is not always the easiest thing to do. Discipline is 75% anticipation, so we tell the team ahead of time, you’ve got 24 hours to enjoy the win, and make sure you come in here ready to work. This is what needs to be done.

On What He Has Learned About The Team Through The First Two Games:

Before the first radio show, Mark asked me,’ What is the one thing you want to know, you want to look forward to finding out about your team?’ and I said I want to know how they’re going to handle adversity because we haven’t had any. We try to create adverse situations in practice with the intensity in which we practice and the sense of urgency and attention to detail on a day to day to day basis. There are ups and downs, and I’ve seen guys respond. So I thought that they will respond well to adversity, we talked about momentum swings and creating your own momentum and the pendulum swinging back and forth in games, and how do you respond? The words you use? How do you talk? How do you behave? But to actually see them do it in the game, I know that they understand that. It’s just a matter of when those things happen because it’s inevitable every game, there’s some type of momentum swing, so how are you going to respond? I know that these guys believe in what we’re doing and I know that they will play hard for each other. I know they’re unselfish. I know that it’s important to them. I know that they understand the magnitude of the situation that we don’t get that many opportunities to actually play games.

On Coaching Against A Triple Option Offense:

It’s not what you know, it’s what the players know, and what they can execute in the fourth quarter. It does help to have experience going against the option because we know what to expect, we know what the challenges are, how we have to practice. But just because we have coached against it before, that doesn’t mean that it’s automatic for the guys, there’s just so much work that has to be done. We put in a lot of work already preparing for this opportunity, there’s nothing fun about it. The way that we practice is generally taxing on our players. We want to make practices harder than the games, we’re not quite there yet but we’re working to get there. When you prepare for a team like Air Force, the looks you get from your scout team is critical. We have to get the same or similar looks that we’re going to get on Saturday. We’ve got to go full speed and we’ve got to run and we have to hit. We’ve got to get off blocks, we’ve got to stay alive, we’ve got to stay in the hunt, we’ve got to get to the ball, we’ve got to swarm to the ball.”

On How The Scout Team Prepares The Starters In An Offense They’ve Never Ran Before:

They study tape and get it done. You have to do what you see to the best of your ability and take pride in it. Everyone has a role to play, whatever that role may be. If you go to a Broadway musical, a guy may have one role, might not have any lines, but just come walk across the stage with a broom, sweep the floor and walk off the other side. But if he doesn’t do that, then you don’t have a show. And so everyone’s got to kind of pitch in and do their job and play a role for the team to the best of their ability.

On Air Force Being A “Trap Game”:

You have to be totally clueless to get caught off guard by a team like Air Force. This particular game I don’t see as a trap game. I think everybody in America and the world who knows anything about football knows that when you play Air Force, you better strap it up. They know what the heck they’re doing. They’ve got talented guys that are tough, that are physical, that are disciplined. They attack people and they get after it and their belief factor is at the highest level. So, if we don’t realize that, then shame on us.

On Air Force’s Defense:

They’ve got some really good defensive ends that can rush the passer. Their secondary has experience and talent. They have really good size and length and they attack and they pressure. They have a good football team, there’s no doubt about that, on offense, defense, and special teams. Everyone’s got players. We’ve got players and Air Force has players, so it’s going to really come down to execution, running and hitting. (We have to) be disciplined, play clean football, take care of the football, try to take the ball away, and win time of possession. It’s going to be a gut check.

On How He Got The Team To Buy Into His Philosophy So Quickly:

Well, I have a great staff. This is not a one man show by any stretch of the imagination. I’ve got great coaches on both sides of the ball and on special teams. Our support staff is outstanding. It’s a group effort. We’re all on the same page, which I think helps a lot. We have a united front that we present to our players in terms of our program, the expectation of standards, our protocol, how we go about our business and culture, and how we live every day. From the first day that I got here, I posed a question to the players in the team meeting and I said, ‘Do we want to be relevant? Do we want to win?’ They all said yes. Everyone wants to win, but not everyone is willing to do what it takes to be in a position to win, and I give credit to our players. They’re willing to do that.

On Jaylon Jackson’s Battle Through Adversity:

He’s a good player, he’s explosive, and he works hard. He goes after it and doesn’t really say a whole lot. He puts his best foot forward, he’s working to get better, and he competes. When he gets opportunities, he makes the most of them. That’s what I’ve seen from him. I think that says a lot about his character and his desire. I’m pulling for him, just like I’m pulling for all these guys.

On Facing A Team Like Air Force:

We have our hands full focusing on what these guys do. However, every week you have a game. I don’t care who you’re playing, everyone is trying to win, right? Everyone is trying to get their guys in the best position to win. When you play this type of offense that you don’t see on a regular basis, it’s a huge challenge to prepare for. We’re going to continue to educate our players and go over their personnel and their schemes. That’s where our focus is.

On Starting Out Playing Fast:

The goal is not to play bad football. We’ve talked to the players about how to remain consistent because that’s what this is about, consistency and performance. That’s how you become successful at a high level. I believe it’s in the details of what we’re doing. Drilling down into doing what I’m supposed to do when I’m supposed to do it, how I’m supposed to do it, and understanding why it’s important to do it that way every time. We have to embrace the details more, and not just on the field or in practice, but off the field as well. It’s all about habits. If we can become more consistent overall in everything we do, then I believe it will carry over onto the field.

On The Origins Of His Calm Demeanor:

I’m not sure about that, except that I try to be myself. I believe there’s a time and a place for everything. In a game situation, when we have our guys on this sideline and their guys on the other sideline, we’re doing everything we can to impose our will upon that team and beat them. When we’re down, that’s not a time for me to lose my mind. There are too many things going on where we need to focus on certain things. The players don’t want to play bad. They want to play well. They want to put their best foot forward, so what can I do? What can we do as a staff to help them play better? Whatever that is, I’m willing to do it. If I don’t think it’s going to help, I’m not going to do it. I don’t know whether that’s being cool or what. I’m not trying to be cool. I’m just trying to lead in the best way that I know how, relative to what I think my players need and this team needs. Every team is different and every player is different. It’s important that we as coaches understand what our guys need. Our job is to teach, motivate, and develop players. That’s in practice, that’s throughout games, and during games. That’s my approach and I have confidence in it. I have confidence in our system, our structure.