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UNIVERSITY OF TULSA FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 15, 2015Philip MontgomeryTulsa, Oklahoma An Interview With: COACH PHILIP MONTGOMERY COACH MONTGOMERY: I'm excited for our football team. You know, big road win, complete team effort, offensively, defensively, special teams. We had some guys that really stepped up and played significant roles in all of those things. You know, we're still a team that's growing, trying to get better each and every day, each and every game that we have. We're still learning about ourselves and learning about our football team. Got a lot of things that we still gotta correct, but overall, excited the direction that we're pushing. We got a great opponent this week in Oklahoma, Coach Stoops and his staff have done a tremendous job there for a number of years. They've got great athletes, great schemes. It'll be tough going down there obviously playing in their environment, and so our guys will have to have a great week of work and excited about the opportunity to go town there and see how we match up. Q. This obviously isn't your first trip to Norman. How would you kind of describe the experiences of playing there? COACH MONTGOMERY: You know, they got a great crowd. You know, they do a great job. They're loud; they're involved. You know, the stadium sits pretty tight. You don't have a whole lot of room on the sidelines, so everything is kind of back down on top of you. You know, been there a bunch of times now, and it's always been the same. It's a great place to play a college football game. You know, when you talk about going to different venues, this is one you like to go to because it is going to be exciting and it'll be loud and it'll be a great opportunity for our guys to go and have an opportunity to prove themselves. Q. You mentioned being excited with the start so far. The fact that it's not just one side of the ball carrying things, the defense has pitched in, special teams scored points for you guys in Albuquerque. Run game and pass game, how gratifying has that been that everybody's pitched in? COACH MONTGOMERY: Well, you know, I think it's something that we've talked about all the way through, from the start of spring ball throughout fall camp, how everybody's gotta do their job and we're relying on each other. And you know, I think it's really showed up in our first two ball games. We've won them differently and guys have played different schemes and had to do different things and certain guys had to step up. So our team I think is believing in each other. They're believing in what we do and how we do it. And that part of it is always the biggest hurdle anytime you're starting with a new staff and new program. Q. You talked about the belief and that's what I wanted to ask you about. It's only been two games but what you've seen does it give you the confidence that they've bought in to the message that you've brought to the program? COACH MONTGOMERY: Yeah, I think they really have. I mean something as small as when you start talking about our conditioning and the way we practice and the way we do things. Those things have been factors in the last two ball games. And so they understand it. They see it. They've seen the results from it. Even Saturday when, you know, New Mexico takes the first drive right down the field our defense is coming off, they're not panicked. We go to the sideline. They're defensive guys do a great job of making some adjustments. They go out there and execute them. We had to do some of those same things offensively. So our guys are handling situations the way I want them to. Q. Two games in, put up 600 yards in both games. Is offense kind of where you hoped it would be at this point? COACH MONTGOMERY: We're getting there. You know, I'm not big on all the stat part of it. I mean it's good for our guys and it's good for our program. You know, we didn't do a very good job in the red zone the other night. Those are things we gotta continue to work on. I thought Dane played really well at times and then we missed a couple of things at times. We didn't throw the deep ball quite as well as I wanted to last week. If we hit those it's a totally different game a lot earlier. In the run game part of it, I thought our backs did a good job being patient, and the really gelled and came together. Anytime we have to start a new right tackle, I thought Willie played a heck of a game for his first start at a new spot. We moved him in the spring. He was a defensive tackle and now all of a sudden he's starting game 2 at right tackle. So those guys have stepped up and I'm pleased with where we're at. We just got a lot of work to do. Q. After two games when you sit there and look at it, are you -- I don't want to say surprised, but I would suppose you're pretty pleased with the way you've played everywhere, defensively, your offense. I mean through two games, are you maybe ahead of where you thought you might be or, you know, where you think you hoped you would be? COACH MONTGOMERY: You know, I think it's where we hoped we would be. As far as being surprised by it, you know, there was a whole lot of surprises before game one because you've never been on the field with them. You've never been in battle with them, never been to war with them. The way they've responded is the way that we would hope they had, and I think those guys, they're gaining confidence as we're going through. And I think that's one of the biggest keys. I think the belief part of it's there. I think we're continuing to gain confidence, and we gotta continue to take steps. I mean we're still fighting for respect. We're still looking for ways that we can continually get better, and you know, the only way that we're going to do that and they know the only way we're going to do that is go back out on the practice field and continue to keep working on the little things. Q. Can you walk me through your mindset once you leave the film room and you see what OU's got, do you think if we do this and this, we have a chance or do you feel like if we -- we have to play a perfect game? Where are you at once you watch them on film? COACH MONTGOMERY: You know, I never looked at it that way. They're our next opponent. They're obviously an outstanding opponent. I think they're ranked, what, 16 in the country. They're 16 in the country and I think in a lot of people's minds they probably could be higher. They're a good football team. It's going to be a great opportunity and a great test for us. But you don't approach any game with the thoughts of, you know, hey, they're a lot better than us or they're this, they're that. We still gotta line up between the lines. We're going to play the football game and when that clock expires, we'll figure out what happened. And so we're in there breaking it down trying to give our guys the best opportunity to make plays on both sides of the football and in special teams. I'm sure they're doing the same thing. Saturday we'll line up and go to work. Q. On the reputation of your offense is up tempo, throw the ball, open the field but the first two games you run it 110 times and thrown it 63. Is that a product of the game situations or how would you characterize that? COACH MONTGOMERY: I think if you went back and looked at it yearly, it's probably around that same mark. The flip side of it is I thought our offensive line and our conditioning took over late in both of these games, and you know, if running the football, if they're going to play coverage where they give us a light box and we got a chance to run it, we're going to run it. To me, and I told it from day one. I don't care if we win 3 to nothing or 70 to 63. I don't care if we throw it 100 times and don't run it or vice versa. As long as our guys are having opportunities to be successful and we got a chance to win football games, the stats and everything else doesn't matter. As long as we get Ws. Q. I think the run game has been a pleasant surprise for most of us. Has it been for you, the way you guys were able to push the pile and move the chains? COACH MONTGOMERY: You know, I've just been excited about the way our offensive line has taken that challenge each and every week. Those guys have done a good job. We spent a lot of time on it, we work on it tremendously hard. Our backs I think have been real patient. They gotta continue to keep doing that. But I've been really pleased with where we are offensive line wise in the way they've attacked each and every game. Q. The last couple times that you faced OU, you guys had success on the offensive side of the ball. Should the fans expect similar -- I know you don't want to give away your game plan, but do you expect similar sort of athletes in this locker room or the same kind of mindset as you go in on the offensive side as well? COACH MONTGOMERY: I think each year and each team is a little different, whether there or here. So you've gotta play your strengths. You've gotta figure out how you can help guys get open, find soft areas to sit in, continue to keep working, and again, still having a one-two punch of what you're trying to do. And so you know, their team is different defensively as well. I mean they've got some new faces out there, some guys that have played extremely well obviously last week. So it'll be a chess match there for a while trying to figure out where we want to set guys and put guys. But that's the fun part of it for us. Q. Coach, obviously different personnel, but when you were at Baylor you had success against OU and also Defensive Coordinator Bill Young has also had -- he's familiar with Oklahoma as well. Talk about just how you guys both having a little familiarity can kind of help the team as they go to Norman. COACH MONTGOMERY: I just don't think you're going to be surprised by things. The atmosphere, you've played in it. You've been to Norman and you know what you're going to get out of that part of it. Coach Stoops and his whole staff he's got a bunch of new faces on it this year but some of those same ones are still there that probably have still the majority of control of what's going on as far as the calls and working against him. And so, you know, it is -- I don't know if comforting is the right word. We do have experience going against each other. I think that same thing holds true for them. They've seen Bill, they've seen me. They've seen Brian. So I don't think there's going to be any shocking moments as you walk into the football field on either side. Q. Looking at the primary objective for Oklahoma defense, how do you plan to utilize the rest of the receiving court? COACH MONTGOMERY: Well, I think we try to do that each and every week. We know guys are going to have opportunities to make plays and so our job is to make sure that we're spreading the ball around and taking what they give us. You know, the one thing that I've been really happy about with our football team and I think you could ask any of them, we've been very unselfish throughout this year so far. I know we're only two games into it. But you know, Keevan had a huge game game one. He had a good game last week. Probably didn't have the stats to show that part of it. But then you got Josh that stepped up. Kee had another good game. We ran the ball really well, and you hear those guys, especially receivers and hopefully you in this room understand, those receivers, they want the football. And at some point in the second half they walked up to me, coach, we're killing them running, just keep handing it to them and when you have guys that are unselfish like that and are more concerned about the w than they are, you know, them touching the football and doing things, then we're making the right headway. Q. The guys in that locker room were kind of shocked, shell shocked by last year's Florida Atlantic game, and the question to them was how do you, you know, build off of that or get past that or whatever, you know, build on the memories of that, learn from that. Same question, then, about OU. The guys were able to put the Florida Atlantic game, last year's behind them and learn from it. What lessons from the OU game? COACH MONTGOMERY: I think we take the same approach. We're a new football team. They're a new football team and they're going to put the same amount of time up on the clock and we're going to step between the white lines and we're going to go to work and we're going to do what we do and we've gotta continue to keep believing in what's got us to this point and continue to keep growing and getting better in the areas that we target throughout the week. And so we can't get shellshocked. You can't get in there and get wowed by the crowd or any of those things. We've gotta go in there and focus on the little things and do the things that we know what to do and how to do and do those things really well. Q. What is the biggest, most important thing coach young and coach nor wood have been able to get out of this defense already? COACH MONTGOMERY: You know, I think No. 1, belief in what they're doing. No. 2, I think the adjustments they've made and we've made from a personnel standpoint, moving some guys around, getting us, you know, a little bit more speed on the field here, making sure we're schematically putting guys in a position that they can handle, that we're not asking them to do something they can't athletically or physically do. And then the mesh between the two of them from a scheme standpoint, from a coverage and a front look, I think they've really adjusted that well between the two of them. And you know, I think our defense believes in our defensive coaches. You know, they come to the sidelines, we make adjustments, they go out and they execute them. I think you saw that evidence in last week's game. You know, the first drive they take it right down the field. The next drive they're three and out. And we made a couple of adjustments, those guys go in there, they execute those things and we go to work. Q. I asked you last week what questions you still had after the Florida Atlantic win. Were those answered in New Mexico or do you still have questions going forward? COACH MONTGOMERY: We still got areas that we gotta improve on and get better. We gotta do a better job in the red zone offensively. When you get down there, you gotta get points in, and we did that. But you're letting people hang around that you don't need to let hang around. Things happen that way. So we've gotta do a better job there defensively. Still didn't start the second half the way they wanted to. They came out and made some good adjustments at halftime. Give New Mexico credit. But they took it down the field, they got a touchdown, and they got points and now we've gotta go back and answer. I thought we did a good job last week of playing off of each other, you know, as things started twisting you had to answer some things. If we got a stop then our defense got a stop. If they got points or a touchdown here or there, then I thought offensively our guys stepped up and went and answered. So I think as a team we're playing well right now. Q. You inherited a schedule with OU. You have a series with OSU coming up in a few years. How do you feel about scheduling the other in-state schools? COACH MONTGOMERY: You know, I'm fine with it. Anytime you have an opportunity to go against those guys, they're great programs. They got extremely good coaching staffs. You know, but I feel good about where we're at. I believe in our staff; I believe in our school, and I believe in our kids. And so when we step on the field, we're going to battle, no matter who's on the other sideline. Q. I'm not asking this to put you in OU's locker room or anything but if you had your choice of when to face a team, would you rather face them coming off a big road win against a ranked opponent, I mean human nature, maybe a big head or something like that? COACH MONTGOMERY: You know, that's a tough question because again, I'm not in their shoes. The flip side of it is I don't believe Coach Stoops and his staff are going to let them have a bad day, you know. I don't think they're going to sit around and, you know, lick their wounds or beat their chest or whatever. I think they're going to go out and they're going to have a great week of work and they're going to give them a great plan and those guys are going to go out and we're going to get the best they got and we're going to try to give them ours. Q. You mentioned in several press conferences already playing with a chip on your shoulder and that kind of a thing of yours. A week like this, you even need to talk about it with the guys? Do they already, do you think, carry a chip on their shoulder playing OU? COACH MONTGOMERY: You know, again, they're our next opponent. They're a great opponent, but they're our next one on the schedule and our guys are going to be excited to play each and every week. They're going to prepare that way each and every week. You know, we're fighting for respect in a lot of different areas. We're fighting for respect across the country. We're fighting for respect within our own conference and we're fighting for respect in our own state. So anytime we got a chance to go out and try to prove ourselves we're going to take that opportunity and get after it. Q. Is there any chanting or dancing in New Mexico? COACH MONTGOMERY: Yes. There was. (Laughs). Yes, there was. Those guys enjoyed it. And they should. I mean having a happy plane ride home, you know, come on. It's hard to turn those down. Those guys enjoyed the locker room and enjoyed the flight home and now it's time to go back to work. Q. Earlier you mentioned enjoying the chess match. I don't know if anybody -- well, we have never seen looks on faces like we did last year at Owen field. So what is the chess match with Mike Stoops like? He's obviously done a ton, accomplished a ton. What is that chess match? COACH MONTGOMERY: Yeah, I mean just pull up his bio and he'll -- I mean bowl games. He's been a head coach. He's a defensive coordinator. He's got a national championship. He's got all those things, you know. And their whole staff is a mixture of guys that are very talented. And you know, the fun part of it is is we're both going to develop a plan and we're going to set that in motion and then throughout the game things are going to change and you've gotta be able to adjust and continue to keep looking for opportunities to get your guys success, and so as coaches, that's what we do. That's the fun part of it. Y'all get to talk about it and scrutinize it and say how dumb we are and do all of those things. But that's the point that makes it fun for us. And then when you see your guys go out and perform well, there's no better feeling than to see happy faces in the locker room and see them have success on the field. Q. If it works, we'll say you're smart. COACH MONTGOMERY: That's true, too. I shouldn't have said it the other way. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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