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BOSTON COLLEGE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 3, 2017

Harold Landry

Boston, Massachusetts

Q. What are you hoping at the end of the year?
HAROLD LANDRY: I mean, best-case scenario, leave here with the all-time sack record, but also with that scenario, our team exceeding the success we had last season with going to a bowl game. I think this year with our schedule, we have a lot of marquee match-ups that will help us show case the work we've put in this whole off-season, and I think our schedule just sets up perfectly for us to be able to showcase the talent we have here at BC.

Q. Does it hurt a little bit? You got such a good record and you won a bowl game, but some awfully lopsided losses against the truly elite teams. What are your thoughts on not being able to hang with the big boys?
HAROLD LANDRY: Well, I mean, we definitely went to work this off-season, and obviously, like I said, we have the ninth-ranked hardest schedule in college football this season. Definitely we have the opportunity this year to show that we're not that team anymore and that we can compete with these guys. I think we have a lot of talent on this team, and I mean, yeah, it hurt last season, but you've got to have a short-term memory in this game, and we're definitely ready to attack our schedule this year.

Q. A lot went into the decision to come back. Take us through it. Did it weigh on you for a while? How long did it take to make that decision?
HAROLD LANDRY: Yeah, I mean, after the bowl game, I took a little time to myself, and I was just -- wasn't really thinking about it. I was just trying to enjoy the win and let it all sink in, and then once I started thinking about it, it was a really tough decision. I said in the past a lot of memory members wanted me to declare, but after a long process of thinking about it, it was just best for me to come back. A lot of things played into that, getting my degree. That's the number one thing. Number two, like I said, last season, the year before, we didn't have that much success, so last season it was almost like a reinvention, I guess. I had forgotten how much fun it was being with my boys and like playing this game. We'd get caught up in all the hype, we'd just forget how much fun it was being out there with your boys and seeing all the success you can have from all the work you put in, and when we made it to that bowl game, that was definitely a stepping-stone for this program to get back on track with what we were doing before, and me coming back definitely helps this program a lot, and keeping the program going upward, keeping ascending, and we're definitely looking forward to this season for that to continue to happen, building off the success of last season and then also finally draft stock is obviously one of the major things, obviously looking at top 20 this year, top pick this year, and I think coming back definitely helped me out a lot, especially with the coaching staff we have here and the way Coach Addazio has our schedules and everything set up for off-season workouts and training and everything that just goes into it. Definitely gave me a best chance of me taking my game to a whole 'nother level.

Q. Where do you think you would have been taken last year? It's tough and you're guessing, but in your heart of hearts, how do you think it would have played out?
HAROLD LANDRY: I don't know to be honest, but maybe late second, early third.

Q. Has it just become a money thing? Why leave millions of dollars on the table?
HAROLD LANDRY: Because I wanted to make sure that when I go to the NFL that I was actually ready to play. I don't want to be just a third (indiscernible), I want to prove that I'm an every-down player, and I want to make sure when I go to the NFL I can actually contribute to the team and that I'm ready to produce at that level. I don't want to be just another developing player. I want to be ready to go when I get there, and coming back with Coach Pasqualoni and Coach Reid definitely gives me the best chance to be that player.

Q. How about the injury thing? There was that kid from ND who was supposed to be a top-ten pick and blew his knee out. Was that ever in the back of your mind?
HAROLD LANDRY: I mean, if it's in God's plans, it's in God's plans, but you can't worry about that. Coach Addazio does a great job taking care of me and taking care of his players. You've just got to go out and play the game. You can't worry about that because if you start worrying about stuff like that, you put that negative energy out in the air, that's when stuff starts happening. Just got to think positive and keep rolling.

Q. You mentioned Coach Pasqualoni. In terms of your development, in terms of where you were when you started working with him, what are some of the things that he's done with you either on the field, making adjustments, in the meeting room? What are some of the things that's helped him make you a better player and what have you learned from him?
HAROLD LANDRY: Just his approach to like coaching is just -- it's something that I had never really experienced before. You know, he was coming from the NFL to here and our past coaches are left, I didn't know what to expect. But he's taught me so much about the game that I never thought that I would know at this level of football, on the field and off the field, just his approach in general, how seriously he takes the game every single day and how serious you need to take the game to be able to perform at the level that you ultimately can. Yeah, he's just helped me out tremendously.

Q. 16 sacks or so; does it ever get old?
HAROLD LANDRY: No, not at all. Not at all, no. It's just -- it's so awesome. It's an awesome feeling when you're able to sack the quarterback and help your team out and make that big play in a big-time moment, there's nothing better.

Q. Is there any one particular defensive play that you enjoy playing or that you feel better, whether you're going around an edge or cutting back inside or occupying space? Is there anything you prefer as a player that really gets you going on the line?
HAROLD LANDRY: I love it all, to be honest. I love when teams run at me. I love when I can prove that I can stop the run, whether they're running at me, away from me or whatever the situation is. I just love proving people wrong. I just love everything that comes with being at my position.

Q. You changed your number last year?
HAROLD LANDRY: Yeah.

Q. What was the thought process there?
HAROLD LANDRY: Nothing really. I just liked 7, and they gave it to me.

Q. Was 7 your number in high school?
HAROLD LANDRY: No, my number was 40, but there was no way I was getting that when I came here.

Q. Why do you like 7 better than 8? Is it an NFL player or a North Carolina legend?
HAROLD LANDRY: No, I just thought the number was nice. You know, I thought I'd try it out, and it clicked.

Q. Take us back, your recruiting from North Carolina, coming to BC, kind of rare going up north. I remember at first you backed out, then you were back in. Give us the play-by-play of how that all played out, and are you happy you're here three years later?
HAROLD LANDRY: Well, I'm definitely happy. Everything has definitely worked out for the best football-wise, fiancÃ©-wise, school-wise. Everything is just awesome right now. But yeah, during my recruitment, BC was the first to offer me. They had faith in me when no one else did at the time, and then once all these other schools started coming in, I started listening to the noise, the outside noise, all the hype from the schools down south, so yeah, I backed off a little bit. But I got so close with my recruiter coach Washington who's now at Cincinnati, he's like a second father to me now, I talk to him almost weekly, but yeah, the environment is just different here. The feeling is different. It's like you have a second family here versus just football coaches that you see every day.

Q. Was it going to be Duke or Florida or Miami? Was it up in the air? Was there a school that if you didn't go to BC you were talking to?
HAROLD LANDRY: Yeah, well, it would have been between either Miami or Ohio State or NC State.

Q. And you can look at it various ways, you've had this marvelous career and are probably going to make a lot of money and do all these legendary things, maybe go to Miami and win the national title and kids coast to coast saying I want to be Harold Landry when I grow up. Are there any trade-offs that maybe you regret you didn't go to Ohio State and party with the Bosa boys?
HAROLD LANDRY: No, I don't regret none of that. The name of those schools, it sounds nice and all, but there's a place for everybody, and BC was the place for me. I made the best decision possible for me, and as you can see, it definitely worked out tremendously in my favor. But yeah, I'm not that type of kid. I'm not worried about -- I was never really worried about the parties and the girls and everything. I just like football.

Q. Is your fiancÃ© a BC student?
HAROLD LANDRY: Yeah.

Q. What game sticks out for you on the schedule now looking ahead? Is there one that's circled?
HAROLD LANDRY: 100 percent, NIU Friday night, season opener. We've got to go out and make a statement. There would be nothing greater than starting out 2-0, then taking on Notre Dame at home here. Yeah, it would definitely be a tremendous atmosphere here, but yeah, right now just focused on NIU on Friday night at their place.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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