Florida Gators College Football Pregame Quote, 12/22/2020

As we said the other day, we’re excited to be part of the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. It’s exciting for us and for Florida to be a part of it.

It’s exciting to get to play a great opponent in Oklahoma, a very quality football team, well coached, a lot of skilled players, a lot of talent, a team that’s built a program that we’re trying to make sure that we get on that same level, which is competing for championships on a regular basis. They’ve been able to do that over the last several years. And, hopefully, we’re getting to that same level of competing for championships as well. It should be a lot of fun. Should be an exciting game.

So Kyle Trask was named Second Team All SEC earlier. Question now is if he’s even going to be a Heisman finalist. Can you make a case for the guy? I was surprised by the non First Team selection personally.

Yeah, I mean, make a case, he leads the nation by far in touchdown passes. He leads the nation by far in passing yards. Hard to say anyone has meant more to their team than Kyle Trask has to our team this year.

So I don’t know. I don’t know what criteria people are looking for. If the Heisman Trophy is looking for somebody that is the player that means the most to their team, most outstanding player in college football, I mean, I guess the guy that has a double digit lead in touchdown passes double digit.

Hard to say. I think the record last year was set by Joe Burrow is that right? with 50 in a season? Does that sound about right? Four less games? It was 60? 60. Oh, we still got a ways to go. But Kyle [Trask] has played a lot less football games and to do it all against SEC opponents.

But I don’t know, I don’t have a vote for any of those awards. The All Conference team, I don’t know. I mean, there’s a bunch of different things that you guys vote for.

Did you vote for him for first in All Conference, Edgar?

It was coaches.

It was coaches. I can’t vote for my own. So I guess that’s what people think of him. That’s what the other coaches must have felt. I don’t have a lot of those votes. I think he’s well deserving. You’re talking about a guy that didn’t start in high school. And you look at his career and what he’s been able to do, I think it’s an unbelievable story. But, again, that’s for the people in these different awards to figure out what the award means to them and what how they view it.

Obviously, talk about Oklahoma. Since Lincoln [Riley] has been at Oklahoma since 2015, it’s been about not having a defense and having an offense that obviously puts up a ton of points. It seems like that conversation has changed. Has your perspective on Oklahoma changed from a defensive perspective after watching them the last two years?

I don’t know much about last year, to be honest. We haven’t played them in a couple of years. It would be something from kind of a far off kind of view of it all. If I did, it was the LSU game maybe last year.

But I don’t know. I think they’re a team that’s a very explosive offense that’s won a lot of football games that puts up a lot of points. So I think a lot of times that can skew your defense statistically wise. Teams play you very different when you’re playing with a big league. You play differently when you’re playing with a big league.

From what I’ve seen from them, they have an excellent defense. I don’t know that that’s ever really changed since Lincoln [Riley] took over for Bob [Stoops] a couple years ago.

I think they’ve been a team over the last going back, the last time we played them in 2008, they were an explosive offense. But they’ve always played and had a lot of good, talented defensive players that sometimes those their offensive style, those stats get skewed a little.

I was just curious, I mean, as we’ve gone through today, we’ve kind of established that AT&T Stadium is Oklahoma’s home away from home with the Big 12 title game. They’ve been down there more than any other college team since it opened. I was curious what kind of familiarity you had with AT&T Stadium. It’s kind of an interesting place. And the players, is that something you go over with them, “Don’t pay attention to the big scoreboard,” or anything like that?

I’ve seen Dak [Prescott] play there twice. So I think that was I’ve been there. Me and my son, Cannon, we’ve been there to cheer on Dak.

I think that was kind of cool to experience, to see it. It’s a great and awesome stadium. I think for our guys, we play in some of the best venues in the world, sporting venues in the world here in the Southeastern Conference with different home stadiums.

So I know it’s an awesome stadium. I know our guys are excited to go play in it and to see that to get the experience of playing in it. But to be honest with you, we play in some of the greatest venues in the sporting world here in the Southeastern Conference. So I think they’ll they’re excited to see it, but I don’t know if that’s a big factor.

Starting with Kadarius [Toney], when he arrived it was very easy to compare him to Percy [Harvin]. Has he done enough now to set himself apart and be his own comparison, if that makes sense?

I don’t like comparing guys because they all have very different traits. When you look at the reasons for comparison, they are the playmaking abilities. You know what I mean? He’s a guy that when the ball’s in his hands, special things happen. Percy, we put the ball in his hands, special things happened. Kadarius, put the ball in his hands, special things happen.

You know, it just so happens they played ended up their careers ended up rolling out. They played in a similar offense. I want to say we’ve evolved through the years, so we’re a little bit different than we were back then, but a very similar offense.

So you can see the similarities in styles. But K.T. (Kadarius Toney) is K.T. And he’s an amazing not just athlete, but I think one of the things that’s changed about him this year that everybody can see is he went from a guy that was a playmaker into a guy that is, in every down, one of the best wide receivers in the country. You know what I mean?

He’s a return specialist on punting kick offs. You can bring him into the backfield and have him run the ball. We haven’t had him throw it a ton, but he might have the strongest arm on the team. You know what I mean? Because he can really throw the ball if we want to put him in quarterback. And he’s become a a very technical route runner that has great hands and playmaking ability.

So I think the similarities are there because they’re both outstanding playmakers. You put the ball in their hands, that early in their career, they developed into being great, every down football players at the back end at the later end of their career. And to be honest with you, Percy had an extremely successful NFL career. And I imagine K.T. is going to have an equally good NFL career as well.

It was announced today that Keyontae Johnson was going to be able to be released from the hospital and spend Christmas with his family. How much can you point to him and what he’s gone through the past couple weeks to remember there’s a lot of things

I think for everybody, you always put everything in perspective. We get to go out there and play a game and have fun, but there’s a lot more serious issues out there in the world.

I talk to our guys all the time. I mean, guys make mistakes or bad things happen or something goes wrong on the field, and you’ve got to say, Hey, if that’s the worst thing that happens to you just today, you’re pretty blessed, you know?

I dropped a pass. I made a bad throw. I had a bad coverage. I missed an assignment. Whatever, this happened to me in the game, I made a mistake that maybe that goes wrong, if that’s the worst thing that happens to you today, you know what I mean? Life’s not all that bad when you put things in perspective.

So I know our prayers have been with him. It’s great to see that. It’s awesome that he gets to go home to be with his family. I know everybody here in the at the University of Florida family is praying for him and supporting him. And I know over at Shands Hospital System, he’s getting some of the best care he possibly can get. And, hopefully I don’t know all the medical details of it all, but hopefully he has a full, healthy recovery here in the near future.

I know that, obviously, Kyle Pitts is opting out. I know that you said that guys would need a little bit of time to speak with their family. Are you expecting any other opt outs at this point?

I think we might have one or two more, but I’ll let those guys handle that. That’s on them. I’m not going to give, like, all the details because I don’t know how guys want to handle all of that stuff individually. I let them do it.

I’ve spoken to a bunch of guys. I know of one to two more, but I’ve also had a lot of confirmations of guys that are playing. I’m not going to get into the specifics of all of them.

If you say, well, who’s playing, then it’s a process of elimination. And the guys that aren’t playing, I want them to be able to handle it in their way. They’ve handled it everybody has communicated with me, but publicly I kind of want to leave that up to them.

I mean, I could have told you Kyle Pitts wasn’t going to play, like, a week ago; but I wanted to let him handle it.

When you were working with Urban Meyer back in 2008, or when you played Oklahoma, are they different between that squad and right now with Lincoln Riley, or are they both the same?

(Laughter.) I’ll tell you, I’ll be brutally honest with you. I’ve got no idea. I don’t remember. You know, offensively, obviously they’re different. Kevin Wilson was calling the plays back then. They’re up tempo and similar styles. Schematically, they’re different from Bob [Stoops] running the defense to now.

But the similarities, they’re one of the premier programs in the country. They’ve got great, talented players. You see the guys, and they have great pride in wearing that uniform and the standard it looks like that they play with. And so those similarities are all still there.

But to compare the schemes and all that stuff, they’re very different, I assume. I couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t even tell you a lot about the game in 2008. I remember certain plays, but that’s a long time ago.

Concerning 2008, not the game itself, but at that point Florida and LSU had won the previous two national titles. The SEC was starting to exert its dominance and become what it became, but it really hadn’t achieved that level yet. How much did winning that game and making it three in a row sort of elevate the SEC status and sort of turn it into the nation’s best conference that it sort of remains?

Well, I think a lot, you go back I think you really go back to the 2006 national championship here, Florida was just such going into the game such massive underdogs and were able to win that game. LSU coming back the next year winning, I think, sort of started to build.

But that 2008 was because, if I’m not mistaken, going into the game, into the SEC championship game, Alabama was the number one team in the country in 2008. Florida, we were either two or three. So it was kind of where the SEC championship game got to be the first version of the playoff back then, with your two it seemed to be kind of a run.

The next year was Number 1 against Number 2, Alabama Florida again in the SEC championship. It kind of got to be that way where it wasn’t not just whoever not just the one SEC team but multiple SEC teams.

And I think that’s one of the things that makes this conference so different. In that time frame that you’re looking at, Florida with multiple national championships, Alabama with multiple national championships, LSU with multiple national championships. Auburn has a national championship. Georgia has competed for national championships.

And it’s not just the one or the two teams, but it is the ability for multiple teams to go compete on a national stage for national championships. It is what has made this conference so huge. And I do think it really goes back to that I think 2006 started it, but you’re probably right, that 2008 year, where it was Florida and Alabama, we were like 1 and 2 going into the championship games or 1 and 3, wherever I don’t know where we are. But, right there, it kind of started this trend that was almost the SEC championship game became the first playoff game.

With how bowl games have changed throughout the years and opt outs and this year the different preseason for 2020, will you approach this bowl game much different, especially with the smaller time frame as well?

Absolutely. There’s so many differences this year. One, you usually have kind of a build up to the game, where you kind of get some guys that haven’t maybe got a lot of reps, some reps at practice, and you kind of build up to the game.

There’s a lot of, usually, extracurricular activities that you’re doing, not just here with your team I’ve always been a big believer in making bowl game a reward for a great season, whether it’s the activities you do while you’re on campus before you get there, and then the opportunity.

I think that the sad part this year is, for our guys, the opportunity to go out to the Dallas Fort Worth area, that whole area and to experience every part of the Cotton Bowl and the history and the tradition and everything that kind of that goes with bowl games and that you expect and what makes bowl games and college football so special, that’s all disappeared this year as well.

So you’re kind of in this really short window, almost like a kind of a one week for us, we’re really by the time you knew what the game was and where you’re going, you’re under a nine day preparation before the game. So you’re almost in, like, just a regular game week. And then you take away all a lot of the festivities that go with a bowl game. So it is very different for sure.

Kind of building off what you and David were talking about, how much is this an opportunity just for young guys? And are there any young guys in particular you want to see get extra practice time, maybe even extra playing time next week?

We’re not going to have extra practice time because of the windows that we have. So the practice time is extremely limited for us. In fact, it will be even shorter than a regular game week. Our guys, with the mental and physical recovery I think that we had from the season, to get ready for this game, I wanted to make sure we’re prepared for the game as best we could.

So the practice time, no. But spring ball will be upon us soon here for all those young guys and their futures.

In the game, you know me, I love rotating guys through. If guys are not playing, it’s going to be a great opportunity for Kemore Gamble and Keon Zipperer. And they have got that opportunity. In several games earlier this season, I took advantage of it. I’m sure there will be some other opportunities for some other guys to take advantage of the playing time and game experience.

I know we’ve kind of hammered this one, but I know you’re aware of the external pressure about the defense and complaints. Why are fans wrong, I guess, would be the easiest way to say it.

I think it’s very easy to just jump to a conclusion of “Oh, we gave up this many points or this many yards and so this must be the problem.” And I kind of look at things very, very differently.

I’m here on a daily basis dealing with every aspect of the program. So as we evaluate every aspect of the program, you do the same things. As I’ve said all along, you can look and say Okay, boy, we must a huge problem because we don’t put up big running stats. Or we’re very run efficient, we just don’t run the ball very often.

Okay. Well, because we gave up this many points or this many yards, boy, our defense must be terrible. Or we’re playing with a lead and changing our style of how we were going to play. Boy, you know what? That Alabama game, we’re just we just gave up all those points. Or we had some opportunities to make some stops and we had a couple mental errors along the way that hurt that, against one of the premier offenses in college football. So it’s very easy to punt and say, Defense bad, everything we’ve got to change everything.

Or you look at what the issues are. I mean, it’s like, hey, if my wrist hurts, I don’t just cut off my arm. Let’s go figure out what the problem is. And if I have to cut off my arm, I cut off my arm. But that’s not where I’m starting. So we’ve got to evaluate every aspect of it and after the season, see where we’re at, and then we’ll go from there.

With you guys not having quite as much practice time as even a normal game week, the fact that you guys are coming off a championship game where you’ve kind of built the whole year into, how much do you worry about, I guess, not only being able to get up for this game mentally but just having it be safe for the players from that standpoint?

I mean, we’ve played a lot of football. So, obviously, the game itself is the game itself. I’m not worried about that aspect. It’s playing another game.

And then the build up is that we have competitors. We have guys who want to compete. We have guys who want to play. And for the love of the game, guys are going to play in this game. Guys love playing football. They love to compete. They love to be out there playing. And it’s an opportunity to go do that. It’s an opportunity to do it in a huge game on a national stage against a great opponent.

That’s why you come to Florida. That’s what it’s all about, is the opportunity to go play in this game. So I don’t think the motivation is a big factor. And, hopefully, a little bit of the rest and recovery gives us a little break physically and mentally fresher for the game.

I don’t know how much you’ve been briefed on it, but the Cotton Bowl is basically going to a bubble concept for this game, with you, Oklahoma, and the Cotton Bowl staff all at the same hotel and nobody else there, security around the place, all sorts of contingencies in place. I just wanted to get your thoughts on the bowl game using that concept.

I know all about it. I’ve been to the Anatole a bunch of times for the American Football Coaches Association convention. Being there throughout the years, I know it’s a pretty massive complex. So I have I think it’s a pretty smart idea, to be honest with you. I think it will work.

Again, we’re not there it’s not like we’re going to be there for a whole week, like in a traditional time. We’re there in a very much smaller, shorter window. I think kind of because of that, it makes it much easier to manage all being in one area. I’m sure it’s much easier to manage. And probably more of a question for the Cotton Bowl staff, but for them of just, Hey, we have this one location, we’ve got it all under control, we’ve got it taken care of.

And I think they’re actually going to be responsible for the next game afterwards, the playoff game following this. So I think it just kind of makes it a much easier transition with everything being at one location, get it all done in that one area, keep everybody safe in a bubble.

We’ve been trying to operate I think a lot of people have all year in that way. You’re going from testing multiple times a week, trying to be safe and smart in everything you do and the precautionary reasons. So I think it’s a great idea. I’m pretty comfortable with it.

I’ve got to ask, since you did have a result in the infractions case, just your reaction to it. Do you feel like everything has been resolved, and are you satisfied with what’s happened?

I think we’ve put out our statement. It’s been resolved as something that happened a while back and something we worked through for a while and will continue to work through within our program to make sure that we strive to do everything the right way here at the University of Florida.