Tulane Green Wave College Football Pregame Quote, 12/04/2022

SCOTTIE RODGERS: I’m Scottie Rodgers, Director of Communications for the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. And I’ll be your faceless moderator for today’s media session.

Each head coach will appear separately with Coach [Lincoln] Riley and Coach [Willie] Fritz at approximately 4:35 p.m.

Coach Riley will begin with an opening statement, and then we will go to questions. Please use your “raise hand” function to indicate you want to ask a question. When you are called on for your question, please state your name and affiliation before asking your question.

Coach Riley, please start us off with an opening statement.

Hey, Lincoln. Obviously, you have a little familiarity with AT&T Stadium. What are you going to tell your guys about it? And if you are going to have to play someone, not a bad place for you to go, right?

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HEAD COACH LINCOLN RILEY: Yeah, it’s one of the best venues in sports. Fortunate to be able to play in a couple of championship games there and got to play in the Cotton Bowl during the COVID season, which, you know, you combine that stadium, one of the greatest stadiums in the world.

And on top of it, one of the most storied bowl games that there’s ever been. It’s very special. It is. It’s not easy to get to a game like that. And so yeah, excited to share with our guys the history of this game. Obviously, the opportunity to get down there and play in AT&T Stadium is very special. And it means a lot to us.

And so, it will be cool to get back to that area and play, and our guys will certainly be looking forward to it.

Obviously, knowing you guys were that close to the playoff, what’s the process to getting your guys re-engaged? And do you think that’s a problem? Or do you think it’s just part of the growth process?

COACH RILEY: No, I think we’ll definitely get re-engaged. We’re going to play a great football team that won a big-time game yesterday with the head coach there that I have a ton of respect for, the job that he’s done.

And yeah, I think from where this program was to playing in the New Year’s Six game is a great accomplishment. We’re certainly disappointed that we didn’t take care of business the other night, but that’s the nature of these big-time games.

And we understood when we signed on to this that it was going to be a continual process, and we’re disappointed with the other nod. But certainly, very proud of the season that our football team has had. And if we’re truly serious about being the kind of program that we feel like we can be, then this Cotton Bowl game against Tulane will be a great opportunity for us. We need to embrace it and be ready to be at our best.

What’s your expectation for Caleb’s [Williams] availability for this game? And did you get more clarity on the extent of the hamstring injury?

COACH RILEY: Yeah, he’s got a significant hamstring injury. It’s good we’re not playing probably the next two to three weeks. So, we’ll try to rehab that. Those things ‚Äì you know, hamstrings are different for everybody. But the nature of his is pretty severe. I mean, if we played in the next couple weeks, he most likely would not be available. We will have to see how it progresses.

We obviously hope to have him. He’s a warrior. He fought through it the other night when a lot of guys wouldn’t. But he’s pretty sore, as you would expect. And we’ll rehab him hard and hope to have him available. And if we don’t, we’ll have the other guys ready to go.

Is there anybody else that you know right now whether health-wise or opt-out-wise that will not be taking part in the game?

COACH RILEY: Not at this point. We’ve had some conversations with a few of the guys already. But other than Brett Neilon, we know Brett won’t be available. And obviously disappointed to not have him for the last one. He’s been such a big part of this run and this turnaround here. Hate that we won’t have Brett available. But right now, our expectation is everybody else will be.

Last year you played Tulane and Willie Fritz in Oklahoma. What do you remember about that game? And can you speak to what sort of program Willie Fritz is building in New Orleans?

COACH RILEY: Willie’s building a tremendous program. And it’s no surprise to me at all that they’ve had the season they’ve had. I remember leaving the field last year in that game thinking, you know, that obviously it was a very kind of up-and-down game. Tulane made a great run at the end.

I remember thinking, a lot of really good football players on that team. And they may not get the respect they deserve or the national narrative. May just be that Oklahoma didn’t show up and play well. I recognized that there was a good football team on the other sideline, quarterback, a lot of really good players.

And you can tell they’re very well-coached. To see them make the run this year in the league, play the way they have, is no surprise to me. I think Coach Fritz is one of the best coaches that there is. I think he’s proven that with what he’s done with their football program. So ultimate respect for him. The players there, they’ve had a really fantastic year. And just, yeah, ultimate respect for those guys.

SCOTTIE RODGERS: We’ve been joined now by Tulane Head Coach Willie Fritz. He will begin with an opening statement and then go to questions from the media. Please use the “raise hand” function to indicate you want to ask a question. When you’re called on to ask a question, please state your name and affiliation before asking your question.

Coach Fritz, get us started with an opening statement, please.

TULANE HEAD COACH WILLIE FRITZ: Well, we’re very, very excited to be participating in the Cotton Bowl. Obviously, I watched this game from when I was a little kid up until now. So, we’re pumped and excited about this opportunity. Playing a great USC team and can’t wait for the game to come around.

Coach, just the turnaround this season, when this year started, what did you think was possible? And what’s been the biggest ingredient or factor from taking it as drastically as you have from last year to this year?

COACH FRITZ: Well, we had a lot of obstacles to overcome last year. We had a ton of injuries in specific positions that are hard to overcome, mainly quarterback. And then we got translated over to Birmingham for a month and different things like that.

So, it was a tough year, without question. But the guys never stopped believing. I was just very impressed with their resolve in everything that we were doing, both on and off the field, in the classroom. I’ve got 19 guys who have already graduated for us.

So, a lot of guys that put their faith in myself, our program, and decided to come back and play another year. So, a lot of veteran leadership.

Obviously you guys have had your big turnaround with nine more wins than last year. Southern Cal with Lincoln [Riley] has done almost similar, not quite as good. Talk about two teams that are playing each other that have had so much improvement over the last year.

COACH FRITZ: Well, I’m just getting familiar with USC right now when we found out we were playing them. But you’re right, Coach [Lincoln] Riley’s engineered a fantastic turnaround for them also. And they’re highly talented. And in order to do this, you’ve got to have good coaching. And I really feel like I’ve hired and have got some excellent coaches.

And then the kids have got to go out and execute the plan each week. And our guys have done a phenomenal job of that. And I’m sure that would be the case with Coach Riley and his crew as well.

And what about playing at AT&T Stadium. Have you guys even played in the (Caesars) Superdome in recent years or not?

COACH FRITZ: Tulane used to play in the Superdome. But we moved to the on-campus stadium, I believe, nine years ago. Haven’t played in there since.

So you got guys that haven’t played in a facility like the Superdome. Talk about playing at AT&T Stadium then.

COACH FRITZ: Oh, that’s going to be big. We’re very fortunate that we get to practice down at the Superdome quite a bit. So, I imagine we’ll work down in the Superdome. And I think they’re going to allow us to practice at AT&T Stadium when we’re preparing for the bowl game. So, I know it’s a beautiful venue. I haven’t had a chance to be in it. But I’ve seen it on TV many, many times. So that will be tremendous for our guys to experience that.

I know you guys have that new campus stadium. It’s not really new anymore, but it’s a great thing for you guys. And I appreciate your time, Coach.

COACH FRITZ: Thank you.

 You’re potentially facing the Heisman favorite in Caleb Williams at quarterback from the (SC) Trojans. Can you talk about what that’s like and talk about Caleb Williams as a player.

COACH FRITZ: Well, what a talented quarterback. And I watched a little bit of the Utah game. And what a competitor. You can tell that he was hurting, and he was still fighting and scratching and clawing.

Again, I just started to watch a little bit of tape. Going to mostly be recruiting over the next few days. But everything I’ve heard about him, if he’s not the top quarterback in the country, he’s on the short list, without question.

SCOTTIE RODGERS: Coach, can you talk about the turnaround your team had from last season to this season and how remarkable that’s been and how you’ve seen this team grow from last season to this season.

COACH FRITZ: Well, we thought going into last season, we had an opportunity to have a good squad. We had a really tough schedule. And then we had some curve balls thrown at us. And obviously, I didn’t do a real good job as a head coach getting our guys to play up to the standards that we’ve set here.

But as I said before, no one wavered in their faith in our program. And lost very few guys to the portal. Really had the same team that we had three years ago, a lot of veteran leadership. A lot of guys who played a tremendous amount of snaps at the Division I level. So good experience in a lot of key positions for us.

SCOTTIE RODGERS: Coach, doesn’t look like we have anymore questions for you, so we’re going to let you go. Thank you for joining us today. And we’ll see you here in North Texas.

COACH FRITZ: Thank you, Scottie.

SCOTTIE RODGERS: That concludes today’s news conference. A couple items before we let everyone go. A full transcript with audio and video files will be distributed via email and posted on the Goodyear Cotton Classic section of the College Football Playoff Media Portal. To gain access to the portal, send an email to [email protected].

Information on applying for media credentials will be sent later today via the participating team’s Athletic Communications offices. If you have questions, please feel free to send me an email at [email protected]. Thanks for joining us. Please stay safe. And safe travels during Bowl Season. Thank you.