On Arizona State's Commitment to Salute Service…
“This week is an important week to me. I have family who have served in the armed forces and it is something that I try to work hard teaching my players and my kids how important it is to respect the price that has been paid for us to do this. I am very grateful to the selfless soldiers who fight for our country and I don’t think we spend enough time thinking about that. Guys like Christian (Hill) and Jake (Sheffield) have been such a remarkable example. It has been such a learning experience to have men like them on your team because it isn’t anything that they say, you can just tell the price that they have paid. I am really proud of both Christian and Jake. We pride ourselves on discipline, but when you see Christian or Jake walk into the room, it is just a completely different level. I am very grateful to coach at the school that Pat Tillman played at, and other veterans who attended Arizona State because they put their lives on the line so that we could be free. At the end of our practices we make a point to count our blessings and take a moment to realize how blessed we are to get to do what we do because somebody else paid the price. So few have paid the price for so many.”
On Tramel Topps…
“He has tremendous respect from the guys in the locker room. He is a young man of incredible faith. If you ask me what I will miss most about Topps, I will miss his sermons before the games. What is interesting is how that group has grown. It used to be D-Linemen, now it is defensive linemen, linebackers and secondary. He is a guy that overcame tremendous obstacles to even stay here by pulling out loans. He hasn’t played many snaps, but he has practices and prepared the team in a very big way. When I think of this senior class, he will be one of the guys that I think has been an example for what a leader should be. It is not necessarily if he has gotten tremendous benefit out of it, but he has benefitted other people. He has made our team a better team. He is a special guy who has worked extremely hard. I can’t tell you the amount of times I have told him, “it’s not going to happen” and he didn’t care what I said or what my evaluations were, he was going to do it. So many people let other people put parameters on their dreams and that is what I’ll always think about when I think about Topps because he is not one of those people.”
On the importance of recorvery during the bye week…
“Right now, we are focused on beating Utah and then going to the next game. We feel like we are going to have more than half of our guys back so that will help us tremendously. We will research why we have had so many injuries. Coming into this season, we were fourth in the country in consistent starts (fewest injuries). Overtraining, not enough flexibility or warm ups could be challenges we have been faced with. A lot of the injuries could have resulted from it just being a part of the game. I really thought that our guys were in great condition coming in, but we will look at that too. Right now, we are doing everything we can around the clock to get them healthy. We have more than half of them back practicing so that is a positive.”
On Laiu Moeakiola’s impact on the team…
“Laiu is a very special young man. He is a man of faith and a man of very few words. He is a wonderful example of how to live life on and off the field. He is a student of the game who will be a great coach. Whenever he is done playing football, I will hire him in a heartbeat. He is a defensive Taylor Kelly. There are not many other people that I have coached that I have that type of respect for like Taylor and Laiu for the kind of person they are. He comes from a great family and a great football background. He has tremendous heart and has meant a lot to our program and to me personally. I am very proud of him because he has had a great senior year. He will be a champion in life, no doubt.”
On the advantage of playing at home…
“Our guys have taken a great deal of pride over the past five years in defending this stadium. We are 26-7. This senior bunch is very important. It is an unusually early senior day for us, but still very significant. Home field advantages is big and what makes it that way are the fans. We have incredible student support in the student section. We will need everybody there this week with the 16th-ranked team in the country coming in here. I love playing here, I wish we could play every game at home.”
On Utah’s strength and physicality…
“I have tremendous respect for Kyle Whittingham as a head coach. Our players have a lot of mutual relationships. We have a lot of respect for the discipline that team has. When you play them, you better bring it because it is going to be tough. It will be a whole lot of blocking and tackling and you better win that. It is a physical war and our guys know that. They are going to run the football and you have to run the football on them which is a challenge to do. Programs like Utah and Colorado are very likeminded for what we are trying to accomplish. They play with character and are smart, disciplined and tough. They are one of the top 2-3 teams in the PAC-12. Their offensive and defensive lines are the anchors of their team as well as tremendous special teams. The punter is the best in the nation right now so this is the biggest challenge we have had from a special team’s standpoint. They can be very explosive in their kickoff return and punt units and are great at flipping the field. When I think of Utah, I think of special teams and defense. Where they have really improved is their ability to dominate a run game on offense and throwing the ball deep.”
On senior day emotions…
“I really try to focus on not being real emotional. It is a special day and we do a great job introducing them and recognizing them. It hits me more afterwards and after the season. We have a special group of guys who have been a part of building this team up. I am extremely grateful for what they have done for this program.”
“This week is an important week to me. I have family who have served in the armed forces and it is something that I try to work hard teaching my players and my kids how important it is to respect the price that has been paid for us to do this. I am very grateful to the selfless soldiers who fight for our country and I don’t think we spend enough time thinking about that. Guys like Christian (Hill) and Jake (Sheffield) have been such a remarkable example. It has been such a learning experience to have men like them on your team because it isn’t anything that they say, you can just tell the price that they have paid. I am really proud of both Christian and Jake. We pride ourselves on discipline, but when you see Christian or Jake walk into the room, it is just a completely different level. I am very grateful to coach at the school that Pat Tillman played at, and other veterans who attended Arizona State because they put their lives on the line so that we could be free. At the end of our practices we make a point to count our blessings and take a moment to realize how blessed we are to get to do what we do because somebody else paid the price. So few have paid the price for so many.”
On Tramel Topps…
“He has tremendous respect from the guys in the locker room. He is a young man of incredible faith. If you ask me what I will miss most about Topps, I will miss his sermons before the games. What is interesting is how that group has grown. It used to be D-Linemen, now it is defensive linemen, linebackers and secondary. He is a guy that overcame tremendous obstacles to even stay here by pulling out loans. He hasn’t played many snaps, but he has practices and prepared the team in a very big way. When I think of this senior class, he will be one of the guys that I think has been an example for what a leader should be. It is not necessarily if he has gotten tremendous benefit out of it, but he has benefitted other people. He has made our team a better team. He is a special guy who has worked extremely hard. I can’t tell you the amount of times I have told him, “it’s not going to happen” and he didn’t care what I said or what my evaluations were, he was going to do it. So many people let other people put parameters on their dreams and that is what I’ll always think about when I think about Topps because he is not one of those people.”
On the importance of recorvery during the bye week…
“Right now, we are focused on beating Utah and then going to the next game. We feel like we are going to have more than half of our guys back so that will help us tremendously. We will research why we have had so many injuries. Coming into this season, we were fourth in the country in consistent starts (fewest injuries). Overtraining, not enough flexibility or warm ups could be challenges we have been faced with. A lot of the injuries could have resulted from it just being a part of the game. I really thought that our guys were in great condition coming in, but we will look at that too. Right now, we are doing everything we can around the clock to get them healthy. We have more than half of them back practicing so that is a positive.”
On Laiu Moeakiola’s impact on the team…
“Laiu is a very special young man. He is a man of faith and a man of very few words. He is a wonderful example of how to live life on and off the field. He is a student of the game who will be a great coach. Whenever he is done playing football, I will hire him in a heartbeat. He is a defensive Taylor Kelly. There are not many other people that I have coached that I have that type of respect for like Taylor and Laiu for the kind of person they are. He comes from a great family and a great football background. He has tremendous heart and has meant a lot to our program and to me personally. I am very proud of him because he has had a great senior year. He will be a champion in life, no doubt.”
On the advantage of playing at home…
“Our guys have taken a great deal of pride over the past five years in defending this stadium. We are 26-7. This senior bunch is very important. It is an unusually early senior day for us, but still very significant. Home field advantages is big and what makes it that way are the fans. We have incredible student support in the student section. We will need everybody there this week with the 16th-ranked team in the country coming in here. I love playing here, I wish we could play every game at home.”
On Utah’s strength and physicality…
“I have tremendous respect for Kyle Whittingham as a head coach. Our players have a lot of mutual relationships. We have a lot of respect for the discipline that team has. When you play them, you better bring it because it is going to be tough. It will be a whole lot of blocking and tackling and you better win that. It is a physical war and our guys know that. They are going to run the football and you have to run the football on them which is a challenge to do. Programs like Utah and Colorado are very likeminded for what we are trying to accomplish. They play with character and are smart, disciplined and tough. They are one of the top 2-3 teams in the PAC-12. Their offensive and defensive lines are the anchors of their team as well as tremendous special teams. The punter is the best in the nation right now so this is the biggest challenge we have had from a special team’s standpoint. They can be very explosive in their kickoff return and punt units and are great at flipping the field. When I think of Utah, I think of special teams and defense. Where they have really improved is their ability to dominate a run game on offense and throwing the ball deep.”
On senior day emotions…
“I really try to focus on not being real emotional. It is a special day and we do a great job introducing them and recognizing them. It hits me more afterwards and after the season. We have a special group of guys who have been a part of building this team up. I am extremely grateful for what they have done for this program.”