Arizona State Head Coach Kenny Dillingham
On the early memories of the ASU/UA Rivalry & being on Todd Graham’s staff:
“My real memories were just like it was the thing to do, like it was the talk of the town. Every sports bar, every game was all over the place. That's what you did. My nephew was actually born on this game, so his birthday was this game, my nephew, my sister's son. So this game is very close to our family, the people in the state, people who went here and I feel like the earliest memories is that everything shuts down. I just remember that, from that perspective. It comes down to the will power to win. In rivalry games, it doesn't matter what records are. It's essentially, I told our guys there's two seasons when you play at ASU. There's the 1st 11 games and that's one season, and then there's the team down south week, and that's an entirely another season. You only play 11 regular season games and then you play one other entire season, it takes seven days to play it.”
On what fans and boosters have told him about this week:
“That this is the game, obviously, that this is like all the cares you beat them, which as we all know, that's not true, right? But we also do know that that is the level of importance of this game to the valley, to the history of the game. I mean, I could get into the history of why this game is competitive before when we were a teaching school, the vote, and all that stuff. We showed a video to our players to kind of explain and teach them a little bit about the rivalry and the history and it's the oldest trophy amongst all the collegiate trophies. So, everybody has said since I got here, this is the game, but it is something that I knew, and unless you've been in it, unless you've been a part of it or unless you're from here and do not know it, you don't understand how intense the rivalry really is.”
On showing a video and making players understand the rivalry:
“I think it was educational for them to understand the deep history of the rivalry and I showed it this morning. We have a meeting to kind of go over the last game and then to move forward and like I said, usually the last games of the year you don't really talk about. I said this is a whole new season, so we're going to clean up things we gotta fix, fundamentally. This is it right here.”
On explaining the importance of the rivalry to new players:
“I think the intensity level of everything just has to increase. Your intensity level should always be high, but you should be able to show and even heightened intensity in different ways, shapes or forms. So, we're gonna continue to educate, and kids are smart. Kids know when you're fake, kids know when you're real, kids know when you're saying something, it means something. Kids know when you're saying something just because you're supposed to say it. So, the kids and the players are going to be able to feed off of real energy and real passion and real competitiveness and they're going to feel it. And I think how do you educate them on it? You've got to show them that it matters, and how do you show them that it matters? It matters to me. So they're naturally going to get and feel that vibe I would say from myself.”
On the returning players in this rivalry:
??“When we were going to sit down in the meeting today, I was playing the highlight video from the team down south after they won the game last year. That's what was playing in the meeting room, on loud, whatever cinematic recap, right? Just to show these guys, that we have to come and we have to prepare at a high level to get ready to compete and get the cup back”
On what Arizona’s done well recently which has contributed to their success:
“Their quarterback is playing at a high level. They have a wide receiver, two wide receivers that are first round, top two to three round draft picks. Their offensive line is big, defensive line is big. A lot of transfers to the defensive line. That they're stout up front, they stop the run and they're very simple. They don't bust. There's not many, I shouldn't say flaws but not many wide open people on the tape because they're simple defensively and I think some of the best. There's two ways to play defense. You can either be really aggressive and attack, and you can be really simple. They are aggressive in attack with their front defensive coordinator being a defensive line guy by the core, but they're super simple with their back end to prevent the big plays. So they have a little bit of a balance of creating negatives and creating explosives on defense through being a multiple front, but they're simple enough on defense to cover that multiple front up with not having explosive plays in the back end.”
On the approach to stay disciplined with a rivalry game:
“Yeah, I told the guys today, we gotta play with a passion and intensity of fire in our belly to go out there to win the football game. But you also have to play with poise and composure. I said, one thing that we've struggled with this year is when things haven't gone our way early, on the defensive side of the ball in that category particularly is we either play really, really, really good defense or really, really, really bad defense. It's not that our defense just all of a sudden becomes bad, we can't bounce back when we get punched in the face right now. That was what I challenged our guys with. We've got to be able to take a punch, right? And keep our composure and keep our eyes where they're supposed to be. Keep running to the football. Keep communicating. You can't say: oh, so we gave up something, I just have to play so passionately with so much intensity that I'm just gonna make every play. That doesn't solve the problem, that hurts the problem. You have to take a deep breath. You have to go do your job and you go off to do it full speed, right?. But you still have to do your job, and I think that was the emphasis I made from. Why we've struggled in two of the games where it's really good football teams is that it wasn't just that we played poorly. We just lost focus when we got on our heels. We've got to learn how to rebalance ourselves and be a team when somebody scores on us and we respond. Then offensively same thing, we've had more adversity from a negative standpoint on offense this year. So our guys have actually, in my opinion, they're responding better to those scenarios, and I think the last few weeks we've been playing better on offense even though we didn't score last week in the first half. I mean, we drove down the field on a really good defense twice and could have scored. So I think they're growing in that category. I think our defense needs to learn how to respond better in game to those scenarios and we're going to face that a lot this week because of the emotion of the game.”
On what part of this rivalry stands out to him:
“I remember my first time obviously playing it and I remember watching it when I knew I was coming here as a coach and they were running the double arc cage grab routes from double tight off the zone and throwing the double arc to Mario Nelson back when that was really popular with 210 end zone read and arc throws. There are a lot of good memories from just me professionally and coaching and being around it and then also personally being around it. So, obviously, I've watched this game. If I haven't been able to watch it live, I've recorded it to make sure I watch it every single year. This game means a lot to everybody in the valley, everybody associated with Arizona, and the state as a whole. I mean this game is its own season.”
On the memories of being apart of the Territorial Cup in 2014:
“They're about keeping your composure through play cause you're gonna play with a passion. lf you don't come out there and are ready to practice this week more than other weeks then something's wrong. And so there's not gonna be a lack of, emotion there's not gonna be a raw-raw speech. There's not going to need to be me getting up there and try to motivate. This is gonna be us keeping our focus, us being fresh and ready to play a football game in week 12 with all of our guys. A lot of our guys are banged up and being fresh in this football game. It's about going to execute at a high level and play with a passion.”
On what this team will look back on in a few years:
“Yeah, it's the foundation.I mean, when people look back on this team in 5, 10, 15, 20 years, these guys are gonna be able to come back and they're gonna hopefully gonna be able to see me still here. They're gonna be able to come and talk to our guys and say, ‘Man, you don't understand what it took to get us to this point. You don't understand that. You know, we were the people who had to dig the ditches and we were the people who had to lay the cement and do all the work that nobody likes to do. We were the people who had to convince the freshman to clean the locker room and tell people to show up early even when we were losing games and we were on a four-game losing streak. We were the people having to convince people to still show up early and to be on time.’ They were the people that have to do all of the hard stuff to establish the culture. And I don't think people ever give those groups of people enough credit because it's an entertainment business. So people just want to see the actual result of a group of people, but they don't see what goes into getting that result 2 to 3 years down the road. And I remember this group as a group of people that laid the foundation for the success of this program to new reach heights.”
On if any players with remaining eligibility to participate this weekend:
“Player eligibility is interesting right now because you have to file waivers for some guys and some guys haven't filed COVID waivers.Some guys have, so you technically have existing eligibility unless you file a waiver. So to answer your question, guys that could come back, are they gonna participate? I would anticipate most guys that we would have to file a waiver for, to come back, will probably participate. And then if we choose to file a waiver for them to bring them back, then they would still come back. So if there's guys that are gonna participate in it and then happen to come back, they happen to come back.”
On the theme of struggling in the red-zone:
“Then last week, it was a horrible call by me putting Cam Scattebo in a position to do that. I shouldn't have ever put him in a position to do that. So 100% my fault on that interception and then we've missed a few field goals, but I'll take that as well. You know, we saved a redshirt year for a kid and so we forced Dario Longhetto to kick and punt in two games and those are the games that he's really missed his field goals. When he's had to both punt and kick throughout the game and that's something you never want to do with a punter or a kicker. He won't have to do that this week, which will be nice. We've missed a few easy kicks combined with us being too creative and not just letting our guys see if we can go win.”
On if the big moments in the game will be difficult this week:
“When you get in the game it's emotional, but the actual winning the game is the same. To win the game you gotta win fourth downs. You gotta win third downs. You gotta score when you get inside the red zone. All those things stay the same. So I wouldn't say those things are less important because I think for this game as a whole, everything is more important. When you actually talk about like what it takes to win, I think those are the same. What it takes to win is what it takes to win and if you look at the games that we've won, it's really easy. Look at fourth-down conversions. We lose at Washington right on a fourth and three, right? Well, we won at UCL A on a fourth and three. So damned if you do damned if you don't, but you win or lose games based on those moments. They converted a 3rd and 15 to start last week and then converted three fourth downs in the first half. We missed a field goal in the first half and didn't score at the end of the second quarter. So when you really look at games even last week, you flip three of those four of those defensive plays in the first half. Well, that's three times we would have stopped them.You have us score those two times and it's a one-possession game going into the second half. Even though we were down 35 you flip five plays in a football game, five moments and games change.And that's why football is so fun because you're never as far as it looks from really turning a corner and that's what makes it fun when you turn it because people are like, whoa what happened? Well, we just played like four plays better and everybody thinks like the world just changed. No, it's just part of it.”
On how difficult it is to know what matters when watching film at this part of the year:
“When you’re watching so much film you gotta understand your opponent. You see Copycat guys. You see a guy who just copycats formation and copycats play from other people, which a lot of people have success with in college football. Is he a guy that runs where he runs from different formations? Is he a guy that does both? Are they a team that just does what they do? We're in a lineup in two-by-one. We're gonna run inside zone encounters and throw RPO slant routes to the boundary. There's really not much you can do to defend. I mean, it is what it is. You have to be able to figure out what the identity of the guy is calling it on both sides of the ball. And when you figure out the identity of the guy calling it, then you say, OK, is this a copycat guy? If this is a copycat guy, then you better drink some coffee because you're going to be up here having to watch everything that they have done to what your plan is offensively and defensively because copycat guys go into the archives. We're copycats and everybody knows it so I can say it right? So you better go into the archives and figure out what has anybody ever done to me that was good because if there's a structural reason behind it then there's a chance you see it. So, I think you've got to really find out who is this guy? What kind of caller is he? What kind of system do they run? And that dictates how big of a rabbit hole you go down. It’s based on the type of defense or offense or play-caller that you're playing. “
On how important a redshirt year is for a quarterback:
“Coming into college football and trying to play at a super high level as a true freshman is very very very very difficult. Just the speed of the game, to learning the system, the changing and having to know protections for most collegiate systems or half of them. Having to know the protections. All that goes into it the pressure of the media and what you read about, you try to get your guys to not worry about it but the reality is that they read everything. So all of it, just compounds so i think a redshirt year is huge for a freshman to come in here and learn. Get their balance about everything, live away from home, there’s so much too it. He’s done a phenomenal job for them, he obviously played high school with a really good wide out that’s on their roster and he throws a good ball which is a positive for them.”
On watching Arizona’s offense evolve:
“More consistent and he doesn’t take sacks. He’s hard to sack. So when you’re hard to sack, it sounds like a really fundamental thing, you can throw the ball deep more. Because you’re not going to take sacks. When you’re easier to sack at quarterback, you can’t take shots more because if you complete a shot at a 40-percent rate, you’re really really good. If you call two shots or ten shots a game and if you complete four, and if you complete those for 35-yards apiece, you’re going to keep calling the shots. Unless three-to-four of those are sacks. So when you don’t get sacked like he’s not getting sacked. When you move around and prevent those negatives like he’s doing, it allows you to call the game so aggressively and without fear, you’re going to have more explosive plays offensively. Those explosive plays are going to open up the run game. So I think what he’s doing right now at such a high level is that he’s not turning the ball over and he’s not taking sacks and those little two things seem like they’re small pieces of his puzzle, that what’s allows them to run the ball, that’s what is allowing them to take shots. If can run the ball, if you can take shots, that’s what allows you to throw the ball quickly to wide-outs and wide receivers screens. They have great balance and it all starts through running the ball, play-action shots and his ability to make people miss and not take sacks which allows them to take more play-action shots.”
On Cam Skattebo taking a step back in the offense this week:
“One-hundred percent. I agree. Hopefully we’re going to get DeCarlo’s (Brooks) back this week. So that’s going to help us from that perspective of not doing as much which is huge. Because some of our best football games that we’ve played on offense have been with DeCarlo’s back there and having that balance so we have to get Skattebo a break. I definitely agree with that.”
On getting over the hump and playing with passion but also discipline:
“I think eventually it just happens. Like eventually guys realize in their own head that ‘all-right its not an energy thing’ we’re still playing hard, still playing with passion or its this. And it’s a focus thing. Continuing to hammer that. The biggest moments are won by the people who can play with a passion but still play with the mental presence of the detail. Let’s say its fourth and one. The back is on my side, zone-opposite is coming. I have a field pressure called to the back. Scape, tight as possible. Right, and if I’m the guy who plays the quarterback I better come down if the quarterback is going to pull it since we know what they do on third and short. That’s not what Arizona does but it’s an example. Being able to take all that emotion and say ‘Okay, this is what they do on third and short, boom! Coach called this, got it! Stay tight, stay tight, stay tight, scrape, scrape, scrape! Play the quarterback, play the quarterback!’ Being able to say that in your mind while playing with that passion is difficult. Most people can do one or the other. But it’s hard to do them both and you usually lean on what you’re good at. So if you play with passion and passion and passion, and in those moments you get really passionate, all of a sudden somebody is wide open in the corner on fourth and one. So I would say that’s the challenge is really re-focusing yourself in those moments of adversity and focusing on the detail, the prep and the plan. Then you still have to play with the same passion that you would’ve.”
On Florida state and QB Jordan Travis:
“It was super unfortunate that happened during the game. I actually called his Dad before I got in this press conference about the game to check in and see how he was doing. I’m not going to get too much into the scenario but he’s in good spirits. I facetimed him yesterday, I talked to the dad 3-or-4 times on the phone since it happened. So, you know, he's in great spirits. That's an unbelievable kid who's battled through so much and to have that happen is absolutely heartbreaking. but say this, anybody who's been around him knows is an incredible leader and his presence will still be felt around that program. Even with him, not on the field, his presence will be felt and he's still going to make an impact for that football team.
On Florida State being in national title contention:
It's unbelievable. it's cool because, you know, I actually got to see like seven of the kids were on facetime the other night when I was, you know, talking to Jordan and they were in, in the room with them and I'm like, how are you still there? Like you're like 32 like, how are you? But it's so cool to see that group of people who laid the foundation who were there to lay the foundation now get to live in the house that was built and that's, that doesn't always happen. Most times in college football, you go somewhere and you either go to a nice house and you move in and you go to a bad house and you live in the bad house. Very few times you get to go to no house and build it like from scratch, essentially, very few times you get that opportunity. And when you get those rare opportunities in college football, even most coaching changes, they're not like that. It's usually just, you know, you haven't achieved as much success as other people would like, it's not building a new house. And when you get to build it from scratch, essentially, the reward is so much greater because there was, you know, what you start with your players, know where it started and then they get to be there for the ending of it. it's a really cool feeling to just watch those guys and see their joy in excitement because I've seen the other side of that, of those faces and I saw them battle and battle and battle and walk in and coach Norvell would say the same thing. ‘Good morning every single day.’ That's what he said to everybody. Same exact thing. People like this dude's crazy, but he was the same person every single day. There was no wavering. It didn't matter if we lost to Wake Forest by 35 points at home or whatever that was. It was ‘good morning back to work and process continues.’ And now you look at him and it's just testament to that if you do things over and over again, the right way and if you believe in your vision and that this is the right way to do it, eventually you'll reap what you sow.
On leaving places better than you found it and the impact of that:
“I think pouring into people and making them know that you’re important and the joy of playing the game. Just sharing the knowledge that I believe I have and can help. With quarterbacks and teaching them things in a way to look at a game in a way that may be unique. I think in college athletics, coaches move around so much. I mean I was one of them so I’m not above it. I was one of them, hopefully not anymore. Everybody wants to help themselves, its human nature. Leaving places then you go help them, you recruit and then you leave and then a lot of people take the players when they leave and they wish poor will on the place that they left because they want people to think they were the greatest thing on the planet. And I couldn’t just have a more opposite belief that I believe if somebody gives you the option to do something, you should go there and do your best job possible and if you get another opportunity because of them, you should try to leave that place better than you found it. And if you don't leave places better than you found it there, did you actually do a good job? And the answer is no, if you can't leave a place and say, man, they're better now without me, that's actually a sign of leadership, right? Leaders build leaders. And when a good leader or somebody leads leaves, there should be somebody that can step up to lead because you trained them to lead correctly. And I just believe that you lead places better than you found them. And that's the testament of somebody who tries to do it the right way. And I'm not saying I have, I'm just saying that's what I tried to do.”
On looking at Arizona’s turnaround and knowing it’s possible to win a lot of football games quickly:
“I think our players believe right now we can win a bunch of football games and we can, I mean, we've showed it, I mean, we just beat a team who went out the next week and played a good football team and I don't know how much they beat them by, but played really good football against UCLA, two weeks ago, we went on the road and beat them. We just played a team in Washington State and they just beat a team by 30-something points. So, we can play really good football. The challenge is when things don't go our way early, we've got to respond better. And that's really what we, because we've gotten to a point, we know how to win when things are going well. We don't get that down by 14, right? Or get that moment. We don't know how to respond in the moment yet. We can respond on Sunday, we can respond on Monday, we can regather ourselves and go back and compete and understand that we can win any football game that we play. but at the same token, we've got to learn how to respond in the game better. So I believe our players, I believe that we can go out and win. I don't care if he put it on our schedule, we're going to go into that game, believing we can win the football game. And if you win 5 to 7 moments in the game, any team can beat any team on any given night. I don't care, the talent discrepancy. I don't care if you're playing the New York Giants, right? You win nine different plays in the game, nine times seven, it’s 63. So it’s pretty clean.
On fans getting more involved in NIL this past week:
“Yeah, huge growth just in the valley, in the community in the last week. Unbelievable growth. I mean, you just said it. I think 300 to 400 people, I don't know the exact numbers, I don't get told, I'm not really allowed to be told that type of stuff, but I just hear that it's been absolutely head over heels growth from that perspective, which is huge. But you know, when you think 300 to 400 people, those people, unbelievable supporters for us, I don't care how much you give. That's still 300 to 400 people in this gigantic community. Can you get 1 to 2 of your friends to get involved? And that's really the challenge. If you need an excuse, it's Thanksgiving and then Christmas and the holidays coming up, give somebody a donation to ASU football on behalf of them, from you, right?. Make that the excuse for why you donated again to your wife when she asked you, right? Tell her I got it from my buddy, right? Or something like that. But do something that's a little unique. Get somebody else involved. Let's sell this place out this week.”
On the early memories of the ASU/UA Rivalry & being on Todd Graham’s staff:
“My real memories were just like it was the thing to do, like it was the talk of the town. Every sports bar, every game was all over the place. That's what you did. My nephew was actually born on this game, so his birthday was this game, my nephew, my sister's son. So this game is very close to our family, the people in the state, people who went here and I feel like the earliest memories is that everything shuts down. I just remember that, from that perspective. It comes down to the will power to win. In rivalry games, it doesn't matter what records are. It's essentially, I told our guys there's two seasons when you play at ASU. There's the 1st 11 games and that's one season, and then there's the team down south week, and that's an entirely another season. You only play 11 regular season games and then you play one other entire season, it takes seven days to play it.”
On what fans and boosters have told him about this week:
“That this is the game, obviously, that this is like all the cares you beat them, which as we all know, that's not true, right? But we also do know that that is the level of importance of this game to the valley, to the history of the game. I mean, I could get into the history of why this game is competitive before when we were a teaching school, the vote, and all that stuff. We showed a video to our players to kind of explain and teach them a little bit about the rivalry and the history and it's the oldest trophy amongst all the collegiate trophies. So, everybody has said since I got here, this is the game, but it is something that I knew, and unless you've been in it, unless you've been a part of it or unless you're from here and do not know it, you don't understand how intense the rivalry really is.”
On showing a video and making players understand the rivalry:
“I think it was educational for them to understand the deep history of the rivalry and I showed it this morning. We have a meeting to kind of go over the last game and then to move forward and like I said, usually the last games of the year you don't really talk about. I said this is a whole new season, so we're going to clean up things we gotta fix, fundamentally. This is it right here.”
On explaining the importance of the rivalry to new players:
“I think the intensity level of everything just has to increase. Your intensity level should always be high, but you should be able to show and even heightened intensity in different ways, shapes or forms. So, we're gonna continue to educate, and kids are smart. Kids know when you're fake, kids know when you're real, kids know when you're saying something, it means something. Kids know when you're saying something just because you're supposed to say it. So, the kids and the players are going to be able to feed off of real energy and real passion and real competitiveness and they're going to feel it. And I think how do you educate them on it? You've got to show them that it matters, and how do you show them that it matters? It matters to me. So they're naturally going to get and feel that vibe I would say from myself.”
On the returning players in this rivalry:
??“When we were going to sit down in the meeting today, I was playing the highlight video from the team down south after they won the game last year. That's what was playing in the meeting room, on loud, whatever cinematic recap, right? Just to show these guys, that we have to come and we have to prepare at a high level to get ready to compete and get the cup back”
On what Arizona’s done well recently which has contributed to their success:
“Their quarterback is playing at a high level. They have a wide receiver, two wide receivers that are first round, top two to three round draft picks. Their offensive line is big, defensive line is big. A lot of transfers to the defensive line. That they're stout up front, they stop the run and they're very simple. They don't bust. There's not many, I shouldn't say flaws but not many wide open people on the tape because they're simple defensively and I think some of the best. There's two ways to play defense. You can either be really aggressive and attack, and you can be really simple. They are aggressive in attack with their front defensive coordinator being a defensive line guy by the core, but they're super simple with their back end to prevent the big plays. So they have a little bit of a balance of creating negatives and creating explosives on defense through being a multiple front, but they're simple enough on defense to cover that multiple front up with not having explosive plays in the back end.”
On the approach to stay disciplined with a rivalry game:
“Yeah, I told the guys today, we gotta play with a passion and intensity of fire in our belly to go out there to win the football game. But you also have to play with poise and composure. I said, one thing that we've struggled with this year is when things haven't gone our way early, on the defensive side of the ball in that category particularly is we either play really, really, really good defense or really, really, really bad defense. It's not that our defense just all of a sudden becomes bad, we can't bounce back when we get punched in the face right now. That was what I challenged our guys with. We've got to be able to take a punch, right? And keep our composure and keep our eyes where they're supposed to be. Keep running to the football. Keep communicating. You can't say: oh, so we gave up something, I just have to play so passionately with so much intensity that I'm just gonna make every play. That doesn't solve the problem, that hurts the problem. You have to take a deep breath. You have to go do your job and you go off to do it full speed, right?. But you still have to do your job, and I think that was the emphasis I made from. Why we've struggled in two of the games where it's really good football teams is that it wasn't just that we played poorly. We just lost focus when we got on our heels. We've got to learn how to rebalance ourselves and be a team when somebody scores on us and we respond. Then offensively same thing, we've had more adversity from a negative standpoint on offense this year. So our guys have actually, in my opinion, they're responding better to those scenarios, and I think the last few weeks we've been playing better on offense even though we didn't score last week in the first half. I mean, we drove down the field on a really good defense twice and could have scored. So I think they're growing in that category. I think our defense needs to learn how to respond better in game to those scenarios and we're going to face that a lot this week because of the emotion of the game.”
On what part of this rivalry stands out to him:
“I remember my first time obviously playing it and I remember watching it when I knew I was coming here as a coach and they were running the double arc cage grab routes from double tight off the zone and throwing the double arc to Mario Nelson back when that was really popular with 210 end zone read and arc throws. There are a lot of good memories from just me professionally and coaching and being around it and then also personally being around it. So, obviously, I've watched this game. If I haven't been able to watch it live, I've recorded it to make sure I watch it every single year. This game means a lot to everybody in the valley, everybody associated with Arizona, and the state as a whole. I mean this game is its own season.”
On the memories of being apart of the Territorial Cup in 2014:
“They're about keeping your composure through play cause you're gonna play with a passion. lf you don't come out there and are ready to practice this week more than other weeks then something's wrong. And so there's not gonna be a lack of, emotion there's not gonna be a raw-raw speech. There's not going to need to be me getting up there and try to motivate. This is gonna be us keeping our focus, us being fresh and ready to play a football game in week 12 with all of our guys. A lot of our guys are banged up and being fresh in this football game. It's about going to execute at a high level and play with a passion.”
On what this team will look back on in a few years:
“Yeah, it's the foundation.I mean, when people look back on this team in 5, 10, 15, 20 years, these guys are gonna be able to come back and they're gonna hopefully gonna be able to see me still here. They're gonna be able to come and talk to our guys and say, ‘Man, you don't understand what it took to get us to this point. You don't understand that. You know, we were the people who had to dig the ditches and we were the people who had to lay the cement and do all the work that nobody likes to do. We were the people who had to convince the freshman to clean the locker room and tell people to show up early even when we were losing games and we were on a four-game losing streak. We were the people having to convince people to still show up early and to be on time.’ They were the people that have to do all of the hard stuff to establish the culture. And I don't think people ever give those groups of people enough credit because it's an entertainment business. So people just want to see the actual result of a group of people, but they don't see what goes into getting that result 2 to 3 years down the road. And I remember this group as a group of people that laid the foundation for the success of this program to new reach heights.”
On if any players with remaining eligibility to participate this weekend:
“Player eligibility is interesting right now because you have to file waivers for some guys and some guys haven't filed COVID waivers.Some guys have, so you technically have existing eligibility unless you file a waiver. So to answer your question, guys that could come back, are they gonna participate? I would anticipate most guys that we would have to file a waiver for, to come back, will probably participate. And then if we choose to file a waiver for them to bring them back, then they would still come back. So if there's guys that are gonna participate in it and then happen to come back, they happen to come back.”
On the theme of struggling in the red-zone:
“Then last week, it was a horrible call by me putting Cam Scattebo in a position to do that. I shouldn't have ever put him in a position to do that. So 100% my fault on that interception and then we've missed a few field goals, but I'll take that as well. You know, we saved a redshirt year for a kid and so we forced Dario Longhetto to kick and punt in two games and those are the games that he's really missed his field goals. When he's had to both punt and kick throughout the game and that's something you never want to do with a punter or a kicker. He won't have to do that this week, which will be nice. We've missed a few easy kicks combined with us being too creative and not just letting our guys see if we can go win.”
On if the big moments in the game will be difficult this week:
“When you get in the game it's emotional, but the actual winning the game is the same. To win the game you gotta win fourth downs. You gotta win third downs. You gotta score when you get inside the red zone. All those things stay the same. So I wouldn't say those things are less important because I think for this game as a whole, everything is more important. When you actually talk about like what it takes to win, I think those are the same. What it takes to win is what it takes to win and if you look at the games that we've won, it's really easy. Look at fourth-down conversions. We lose at Washington right on a fourth and three, right? Well, we won at UCL A on a fourth and three. So damned if you do damned if you don't, but you win or lose games based on those moments. They converted a 3rd and 15 to start last week and then converted three fourth downs in the first half. We missed a field goal in the first half and didn't score at the end of the second quarter. So when you really look at games even last week, you flip three of those four of those defensive plays in the first half. Well, that's three times we would have stopped them.You have us score those two times and it's a one-possession game going into the second half. Even though we were down 35 you flip five plays in a football game, five moments and games change.And that's why football is so fun because you're never as far as it looks from really turning a corner and that's what makes it fun when you turn it because people are like, whoa what happened? Well, we just played like four plays better and everybody thinks like the world just changed. No, it's just part of it.”
On how difficult it is to know what matters when watching film at this part of the year:
“When you’re watching so much film you gotta understand your opponent. You see Copycat guys. You see a guy who just copycats formation and copycats play from other people, which a lot of people have success with in college football. Is he a guy that runs where he runs from different formations? Is he a guy that does both? Are they a team that just does what they do? We're in a lineup in two-by-one. We're gonna run inside zone encounters and throw RPO slant routes to the boundary. There's really not much you can do to defend. I mean, it is what it is. You have to be able to figure out what the identity of the guy is calling it on both sides of the ball. And when you figure out the identity of the guy calling it, then you say, OK, is this a copycat guy? If this is a copycat guy, then you better drink some coffee because you're going to be up here having to watch everything that they have done to what your plan is offensively and defensively because copycat guys go into the archives. We're copycats and everybody knows it so I can say it right? So you better go into the archives and figure out what has anybody ever done to me that was good because if there's a structural reason behind it then there's a chance you see it. So, I think you've got to really find out who is this guy? What kind of caller is he? What kind of system do they run? And that dictates how big of a rabbit hole you go down. It’s based on the type of defense or offense or play-caller that you're playing. “
On how important a redshirt year is for a quarterback:
“Coming into college football and trying to play at a super high level as a true freshman is very very very very difficult. Just the speed of the game, to learning the system, the changing and having to know protections for most collegiate systems or half of them. Having to know the protections. All that goes into it the pressure of the media and what you read about, you try to get your guys to not worry about it but the reality is that they read everything. So all of it, just compounds so i think a redshirt year is huge for a freshman to come in here and learn. Get their balance about everything, live away from home, there’s so much too it. He’s done a phenomenal job for them, he obviously played high school with a really good wide out that’s on their roster and he throws a good ball which is a positive for them.”
On watching Arizona’s offense evolve:
“More consistent and he doesn’t take sacks. He’s hard to sack. So when you’re hard to sack, it sounds like a really fundamental thing, you can throw the ball deep more. Because you’re not going to take sacks. When you’re easier to sack at quarterback, you can’t take shots more because if you complete a shot at a 40-percent rate, you’re really really good. If you call two shots or ten shots a game and if you complete four, and if you complete those for 35-yards apiece, you’re going to keep calling the shots. Unless three-to-four of those are sacks. So when you don’t get sacked like he’s not getting sacked. When you move around and prevent those negatives like he’s doing, it allows you to call the game so aggressively and without fear, you’re going to have more explosive plays offensively. Those explosive plays are going to open up the run game. So I think what he’s doing right now at such a high level is that he’s not turning the ball over and he’s not taking sacks and those little two things seem like they’re small pieces of his puzzle, that what’s allows them to run the ball, that’s what is allowing them to take shots. If can run the ball, if you can take shots, that’s what allows you to throw the ball quickly to wide-outs and wide receivers screens. They have great balance and it all starts through running the ball, play-action shots and his ability to make people miss and not take sacks which allows them to take more play-action shots.”
On Cam Skattebo taking a step back in the offense this week:
“One-hundred percent. I agree. Hopefully we’re going to get DeCarlo’s (Brooks) back this week. So that’s going to help us from that perspective of not doing as much which is huge. Because some of our best football games that we’ve played on offense have been with DeCarlo’s back there and having that balance so we have to get Skattebo a break. I definitely agree with that.”
On getting over the hump and playing with passion but also discipline:
“I think eventually it just happens. Like eventually guys realize in their own head that ‘all-right its not an energy thing’ we’re still playing hard, still playing with passion or its this. And it’s a focus thing. Continuing to hammer that. The biggest moments are won by the people who can play with a passion but still play with the mental presence of the detail. Let’s say its fourth and one. The back is on my side, zone-opposite is coming. I have a field pressure called to the back. Scape, tight as possible. Right, and if I’m the guy who plays the quarterback I better come down if the quarterback is going to pull it since we know what they do on third and short. That’s not what Arizona does but it’s an example. Being able to take all that emotion and say ‘Okay, this is what they do on third and short, boom! Coach called this, got it! Stay tight, stay tight, stay tight, scrape, scrape, scrape! Play the quarterback, play the quarterback!’ Being able to say that in your mind while playing with that passion is difficult. Most people can do one or the other. But it’s hard to do them both and you usually lean on what you’re good at. So if you play with passion and passion and passion, and in those moments you get really passionate, all of a sudden somebody is wide open in the corner on fourth and one. So I would say that’s the challenge is really re-focusing yourself in those moments of adversity and focusing on the detail, the prep and the plan. Then you still have to play with the same passion that you would’ve.”
On Florida state and QB Jordan Travis:
“It was super unfortunate that happened during the game. I actually called his Dad before I got in this press conference about the game to check in and see how he was doing. I’m not going to get too much into the scenario but he’s in good spirits. I facetimed him yesterday, I talked to the dad 3-or-4 times on the phone since it happened. So, you know, he's in great spirits. That's an unbelievable kid who's battled through so much and to have that happen is absolutely heartbreaking. but say this, anybody who's been around him knows is an incredible leader and his presence will still be felt around that program. Even with him, not on the field, his presence will be felt and he's still going to make an impact for that football team.
On Florida State being in national title contention:
It's unbelievable. it's cool because, you know, I actually got to see like seven of the kids were on facetime the other night when I was, you know, talking to Jordan and they were in, in the room with them and I'm like, how are you still there? Like you're like 32 like, how are you? But it's so cool to see that group of people who laid the foundation who were there to lay the foundation now get to live in the house that was built and that's, that doesn't always happen. Most times in college football, you go somewhere and you either go to a nice house and you move in and you go to a bad house and you live in the bad house. Very few times you get to go to no house and build it like from scratch, essentially, very few times you get that opportunity. And when you get those rare opportunities in college football, even most coaching changes, they're not like that. It's usually just, you know, you haven't achieved as much success as other people would like, it's not building a new house. And when you get to build it from scratch, essentially, the reward is so much greater because there was, you know, what you start with your players, know where it started and then they get to be there for the ending of it. it's a really cool feeling to just watch those guys and see their joy in excitement because I've seen the other side of that, of those faces and I saw them battle and battle and battle and walk in and coach Norvell would say the same thing. ‘Good morning every single day.’ That's what he said to everybody. Same exact thing. People like this dude's crazy, but he was the same person every single day. There was no wavering. It didn't matter if we lost to Wake Forest by 35 points at home or whatever that was. It was ‘good morning back to work and process continues.’ And now you look at him and it's just testament to that if you do things over and over again, the right way and if you believe in your vision and that this is the right way to do it, eventually you'll reap what you sow.
On leaving places better than you found it and the impact of that:
“I think pouring into people and making them know that you’re important and the joy of playing the game. Just sharing the knowledge that I believe I have and can help. With quarterbacks and teaching them things in a way to look at a game in a way that may be unique. I think in college athletics, coaches move around so much. I mean I was one of them so I’m not above it. I was one of them, hopefully not anymore. Everybody wants to help themselves, its human nature. Leaving places then you go help them, you recruit and then you leave and then a lot of people take the players when they leave and they wish poor will on the place that they left because they want people to think they were the greatest thing on the planet. And I couldn’t just have a more opposite belief that I believe if somebody gives you the option to do something, you should go there and do your best job possible and if you get another opportunity because of them, you should try to leave that place better than you found it. And if you don't leave places better than you found it there, did you actually do a good job? And the answer is no, if you can't leave a place and say, man, they're better now without me, that's actually a sign of leadership, right? Leaders build leaders. And when a good leader or somebody leads leaves, there should be somebody that can step up to lead because you trained them to lead correctly. And I just believe that you lead places better than you found them. And that's the testament of somebody who tries to do it the right way. And I'm not saying I have, I'm just saying that's what I tried to do.”
On looking at Arizona’s turnaround and knowing it’s possible to win a lot of football games quickly:
“I think our players believe right now we can win a bunch of football games and we can, I mean, we've showed it, I mean, we just beat a team who went out the next week and played a good football team and I don't know how much they beat them by, but played really good football against UCLA, two weeks ago, we went on the road and beat them. We just played a team in Washington State and they just beat a team by 30-something points. So, we can play really good football. The challenge is when things don't go our way early, we've got to respond better. And that's really what we, because we've gotten to a point, we know how to win when things are going well. We don't get that down by 14, right? Or get that moment. We don't know how to respond in the moment yet. We can respond on Sunday, we can respond on Monday, we can regather ourselves and go back and compete and understand that we can win any football game that we play. but at the same token, we've got to learn how to respond in the game better. So I believe our players, I believe that we can go out and win. I don't care if he put it on our schedule, we're going to go into that game, believing we can win the football game. And if you win 5 to 7 moments in the game, any team can beat any team on any given night. I don't care, the talent discrepancy. I don't care if you're playing the New York Giants, right? You win nine different plays in the game, nine times seven, it’s 63. So it’s pretty clean.
On fans getting more involved in NIL this past week:
“Yeah, huge growth just in the valley, in the community in the last week. Unbelievable growth. I mean, you just said it. I think 300 to 400 people, I don't know the exact numbers, I don't get told, I'm not really allowed to be told that type of stuff, but I just hear that it's been absolutely head over heels growth from that perspective, which is huge. But you know, when you think 300 to 400 people, those people, unbelievable supporters for us, I don't care how much you give. That's still 300 to 400 people in this gigantic community. Can you get 1 to 2 of your friends to get involved? And that's really the challenge. If you need an excuse, it's Thanksgiving and then Christmas and the holidays coming up, give somebody a donation to ASU football on behalf of them, from you, right?. Make that the excuse for why you donated again to your wife when she asked you, right? Tell her I got it from my buddy, right? Or something like that. But do something that's a little unique. Get somebody else involved. Let's sell this place out this week.”