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BOSTON COLLEGE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 19, 2018

Steve Addazio

Boston, Massachusetts

HEAD COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: Well, we've got a great Saturday coming here. We've got Senior Day for our seniors, which is always a very emotional day when you have your senior class that's leaving and you have so much invested with these guys and been through so much with them and such great kids; that this day is always an emotional day.

Obviously playing a rival game against Syracuse which is a lot of fun and a lot of intensity and being home here and the whole Thanksgiving week and football just seems to be at its very best in this week.

So looking forward to a great week. I know our kids are very, very excited and anxious for this game, as I'm sure they are.

This is a very good football team. They have some very good players. You know, offensively, they are Top-10 in scoring. Defensively, they are Top-10 in sacks and interceptions. I think they are playing with a lot of confidence, and so it should be two good teams clashing against each other here, you know, and kind of the way it should be.

Boston College, Syracuse, both teams are talented and both have a lot of on the line. Even when there's not a lot on the line, they are certainly unbelievably competitive games that myself, Reggie Terry, a lot of guys have been involved with, so certainly as a staff and as a program and as a team, it's a fun week. It's a big-time week.

So really, really anxious to get on with that week and get going with our players.

So happy to answer any of your questions.

Q. When you play a team like Syracuse, do you run into them at all on the northeast on the recruiting trail?
HEAD COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: I mean, seems like lately, not so much. You know, we are heavy into New Jersey. We are heavy into Connecticut, Mass, and PA and Maryland. I think they might dip into that Maryland area a little bit, and I'm not saying they are in these other areas.

I can remember when I had this area and I was at Syracuse; it was a battle for the same guys. I think if you look at their roster, they probably have guys from different parts of the country type of thing, maybe more junior college guys, stuff like that.

You know, every once in a while. Every once in a while. But probably not what I remember the level that it used to be. I think we're pretty entrenched and embedded in north Jersey and certainly in Mass and Connecticut, and like I said, the places I mentioned, and of course we also have that niche of the national level Catholic school deal. So not as much as you might think, no.

Q. On the field, playing a team like Syracuse, I know you guys use tempo, but with how fast they like to go, how does that kind of -- how do you prepare for that from a defensive standpoint and from a tempo standpoint?
HEAD COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: Well, we practice against it every day. You know, there are times they go faster than us and there are times they don't.

I think the vertical throw game is the component that is added in there. They have got a big -- you know, different styles are big bubble, vertical game off them.

The run game is kind of the run game. It's tight zone, gap scheme run game, much like we have some different formations, but we've seen a lot of this through the year. But it's the sideline-to-sideline bubble game coupled with the vertical game.

You know, the quarterback is an elite player. I would say Eric is probably, maybe the best quarterback in the conference, and I've said that. I'm not saying something new. You know, you could argue but I'm saying that guy has got great, great throwing capability, great running capability but he's got the intangibles. He's tough and he's competitive and he's relentless and he just keeps the chains moving for them. I think he's a unique exceptional player. You know, Tommy DeVito, the backup, is very, very good, as well.

But I mean, Eric's unique. I've seen him too long, too much, and that guy has got "it." So I think it makes their whole deal go, as it would for any offense or any team.

You know, a lot is said about scheme, this and that. I've got a lot to say about him: I think he's a difference maker, an equalizer, that's my opinion and I think they have another good one right behind him that is a New Jersey guy, you know, and I think he's a real good player that clearly is a big piece of who they are.

I think Dino has done a great job of trying to add a few more pieces to their offense. Clearly trying to establish more of run game, and I'll tell you, I think that Syracuse, they are a more physical team, and I think they have done a good job on defense. I think they have got good players and they have really improved.

I don't know this; maybe that's got to do with the fact that they have more of a power run game attachment to them, so they can work more against each other and get that component. I don't know that. I don't live there.

But I'm impressed with the improvement in the run game and I'm also impressed with their defense.

Q. Same deal with AJ?
HEAD COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: Well, AJ gets better every week.

Q. Okay.
HEAD COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: I mean, every week he's gotten better. Last week he practiced on Tuesday. He full-practiced on Wednesday and he full-practiced on Thursday.

This Sunday, he felt the best he's felt on any Sunday since he's been hurt.

So clearly, it's been incremental but clearly there's improvement each week. I thought in the game last week he carried the ball 30 some-odd times for roughly 130 yards and you could see more of those runs just starting to percolate now, some of those extra-effort, AJ runs; that he's feeling a little better.

Is he still accelerating and cutting the way that he's capable of? Not yet. But I think he's gaining ground on this now. Now, tomorrow, we could, God forbid, have a tweak. It's a process with this, right.

But right now, I can honestly tell you, he's gaining ground on this injury, and I feel like we're going to see another level up this week of him. You know, barring anything else.

I mean, it's just hard to -- and so, you know, it takes a while to groove back in. He had a little more practice last week and he got more carries and I think we're starting -- you know, no matter how talented you are, no matter what, you still, when you're a young player, practice and repetitions become really, really important because in our run game, we have a lot of different run fits and what you might think is not blocked well maybe blocked well, but the run fit wasn't right.

So we need the repetitions to get all of that right. It's timing. It's everything else. It's the ability to make those cuts. So I think we're starting to see him come back around with that with sheer practice representation and physically feeling better.

You know, certainly not 100 percent, but that's unrealistic to expect from what he was dealing with. I mean, it's just pretty textbook on these deals that it's pretty time intensive, and it's been time intensive. We're talking about Game 4. In Game 4 this happened -- I believe I'm right when I say that, right? Game 4, I mean, that was a chunk of our season right there, you know, but that's the way it is.

Q. Kind of simplistic, but how do you keep them this focused on this opponent and not worried about eight wins and Bowls and rivalry week?
HEAD COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: It's fair. You know, I think when you're dealing with young guys, there's a lot of components to motivation, right. But this is the last game of the regular season. So I think it is good to focus on rivalry week and focus on eight wins.

I mean, you know, it's about -- I mean, these kids know. I mean, here we are. This is it. This is the last home game. I think the key is not -- sometimes in some of these, in these types of games is not get too emotionally high, too much and sometimes when you do that, you don't play real good in the first half. You're kind of dealing with a lot of emotion, and you know, sometimes the emotion is a good thing but sometimes the emotion can get you out of the details of your job, you know, and you make mistakes.

So I think as the week goes by, I've got to do a good job of trying to make sure we don't get too far on that edge of the thing. That will probably handle itself.

But in the beginning of the week, I think you're coming off of a tough deal, and I think, you know, part of the process is, we've got all this great stuff in front of us. It's meaningful. I mean, just like if you had a team that had two wins, I mean, it's hard to get them to look at what's ahead of them, meaningful. That's a whole different dynamic.

You know, I think I would anticipate our guys will play really hard. I think our goal is not worrying about how hard we'll play; it's playing really well, early, and being really -- we use the word around our program, "competitive excellence." At the most competitive moments, you have your most competitive play.

You know, don't let your most competitive play be on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in practice. When the bright lights are shining, you're making the very best decisions and plays that you can make.

Q. Getting into the last game of the season, I know the whole year everyone is focused on how to improve week-to-week, but when you get into the last week, does it provide more perspective of how time goes during the year?
HEAD COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: Yeah, it's hard for me to imagine here we are. I think I said to them yesterday, it's like the hourglass thing, man, it's just like all of a sudden, wow, it's empty. You're down.

And we've spent so much time building this program and painstakingly building it brick by brick, if you will, and so many of these guys have been so instrumental in this -- I mean, everybody is instrumental but these guys have been here through the real bulk of this deal.

So I'm really close with these guys, like really close with them. That's hard. I have such a great appreciation and love for these kids and what they have been able to endure and what they have done.

I mean, you're talking about Bowl eligibility for the fifth time in six years, when this thing was as down as any program in Power Five football was, and yet that's what's been done here; and brought us back into national spotlight this year; and we'd like to close this thing off; and had to deal, once again with some critical curveball injuries.

But these guys are pretty resilient and they have managed all that. So you know, I just think that, yes, it seems like you look around and it's like, wow, this went by fast. Like where did these six years go, holy moly.

I've got to fight all that emotionally, too. I'm trying not to go down that path on Monday, because I know I'll be down that path on Friday and Saturday.

So we just want the so-very-best for these kids. They have worked so hard. You kind of feel like a parent, and sometimes, though, you can't be parent-driven. You want to enable, but this one, I think we've got to put a plan in place and let them handle it.

Q. How do you monitor AJ in-game with his injury? Looked like he was limping by the third quarter with his 30th carry.
HEAD COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: I mean, "How do you feel?"

"I feel great."

"All right." You're going to limp a little bit. A limp doesn't mean anything. Sometimes you come out and it's just what it is. If he feels like he's been great -- if he feels like he can't go -- use the word "can't go." If he feels like he's not going at the level he should be going, he tells us and we get him out.

The last thing we do is keep him in there because we feel like, Hey, oh, you've got to go. That's not what goes on. I think Brian White does a phenomenal job and I think AJ does a phenomenal job. We know exactly how he's feeling and where he's at.

I thought he was playing his best ball towards the end of that game. I mean, that's where we started seeing some of those runs again of his. You know, those extra effort, just hard to bring down, punishing style of runs, and I think he was gaining.

Then the fact that he felt his very best yesterday, Sunday, following the game, that he has since he got hurt, tells you that all of that in-game stuff was appropriate, right. If something had happened significantly, he would have backtracked a little bit and he would have had a little bit of setback, and that can happen, too, but that wasn't the case.

I think we're fine there. I think we've got very capable guys behind him and certainly willing and ready, but I think at the end of the day, we're trying to get him back to his peak performance and that's a process.

As long as he's healthy and feeling healthier, we're going to continue to bring him back to where he was prior to this injury. If you don't give him the work, then he's not going to get back that way because of the timing.

I'm telling you, that's the issue is sometimes you've got to get back into that timing issue and the feels of where those cuts are, and I think he knows that and he wants more. He wants more practice. He wants more because he's feeling a little bit better, and I think that's critical as we move forward.

The last thing we want to do is do less right now. You know, we had enough of less. We're trying to do a little more as long as he's safe and can handle it and it appears as though he's starting to really turn that corner now.

Q. Eric Dungey is one of the best dual-threat quarterbacks in the country, and Tommy is more of a pocket passer. Knowing that Eric might not start on Saturday, how does that present challenges for preparing for both?
HEAD COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: I think Tommy runs their offense. Eric, you know, I certainly understand why we call him dual-threat because he is a good runner. I think he's an NFL thrower.

I mean, that guy is accurate now, you're talking about, he has a strong arm, he's highly accurate, he throws a deep ball, he sees the field really well. He just happens to have great legs. And, by the way, he's a vicious competitor.

So I mean, like, you know, I guess that makes him dual-threat but when I watch Tommy, he runs pretty good, too. And he throws the ball pretty good.

So I think they got what they want. No two guys are exactly the same. I mean, but at the end of the day, they don't appear to me that they are changing their offense for Tommy DeVito.

I think they are running the same offense and Tommy, when it's time to pull the ball down -- a lot of times, with Eric, I'm sure he has some QB design runs, but he has a whole lot of third-down, go-pull-the-ball-down, get-a-first-down runs. That's just, quarterback, and that guy wants to get first downs, you know.

It's something that I think we need to do a little bit more of is have the ability, from when it breaks down on third down, you've got those chunks of yards to be had, that breaks the defense back a little bit. I think that's something that I think is very, very important.

I think Tommy DeVito will do the same thing. You know, he's not as experienced as Eric, but it's hard to get a lot of guys more experienced than Eric, right.

Q. A couple guys, couple days ago --
HEAD COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: Well, yeah, that's a good question. You know, winning every week is really important, and having the opportunity to -- we want to get nine -- we still can get nine, have an opportunity, but it's one game at a time. I mean, our goals are still our goals, are all out there right now.

When we dropped to Clemson, we lost a realistic opportunity for the conference championship, right.

Now after that, you're just trying to win as many games as you can win down the home stretch for the obvious reasons: One, to get as many win totals as you can; and two, your placement in post-season. So we're still going down that same path right now.

So it's really, at the end of the day, we try to talk about it. I try to say in here, each week, I try to talk about the week ahead, because if you just talk about the week you're playing, the rest of that stuff will work itself; what it's going to be is what it's going to be.

I try not to get too far out because if you do that and something doesn't go right, like you said, you're reframing. I think you might skim a little bit big picture, but you try to focus on near picture.

We still have so much opportunity ahead of us. I think it's good when you're having that conversation I guess, because you know, to this point, to this point, we're able to bring a national spotlight to Boston College Football and we're able to bring ourselves to the elite of college football and now we're trying to sustain that level.

That's the challenge that we have in the side of the division we are on. It's the challenge we have in the conference we're in, like everybody. And being able to hold your injury factor with your level of play, and don't get too distorted as you go down the home stretch to try to finish.

And we still have an opportunity to finish at the very elite of the total conference, not just our side, which is the best side but I'm talking about the total conference. That's very, very much there. So here we are. We're playing for win No. 8. That's a good thing. That's a real good thing. I'm excited about it.

Q. Bigger picture --
HEAD COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: Every situation's different. That's why we have analytics here and a lot of the teams are using analytics and we have that. The analytics is great. But like anything else, there comes those gray areas where, you know, it's one thing to have a mathematical analytic and it's another thing to understand and try to have a feel for what's going on and what's the course of the game been.

So we have a chart. You guys have probably seen it. When I do the post game interviews, it's up on the wall. You have a 90 percent chance -- you have a 10 percent chance of scoring points when you're inside your 10-yard line. That means to go the long field, there's a 10 percent chance of scoring points. That's what the field position analytics would tell you. Now, every year that can adjust a little bit.

But the big picture thought process is, really, you don't have a high percentage of a team going 90 yards on you. It's a very, very -- it's a low percentage. Of course, it doesn't make any difference; if they do it, they do it.

But if you're going by the analytics, the analytics will tell you that. Obviously the more you work up the field, the more percent chance of scoring points becomes, and of course not just scoring points, but scoring touchdowns, and you just follow that chart right you.

So when you make these decisions, like I had to make on Saturday, you want to say: Okay, how is your defense playing; what kind of defense are you playing against, okay; and then you factor in the percentages. And you've got to do that pretty quickly.

Clearly, in that game, I thought our defense was playing pretty well that game. I thought, as I said to you all week long, that defense is a very stout, big, athletic defense.

Listen, I would tell you, if I thought even differently; that was clearly the right decision to make by every measure that was right, except for one: It doesn't work out in the end. You punt the ball, you pin the team, you play defense and that's what you do, unless, you can't play defense and you saw it during the game, like we are getting gored, we can't play defense, or unless you're dominating their defense, you know and those factor your decisions.

Had that ball been ten yards closer, there's no doubt I would have went for it on fourth down. That's easy. Ten more yards. But when you start getting that thing up towards midfield, that's when you run the risk: You don't get it, you give them that momentum boost, and you give them a short field like that, a half-field, basically; that's hard in the end to justify.

So I think we believe in -- our plan to win, you've heard me state this several times here. You probably can tell me. No. 1 in our plan to win is play, what? Great defense. No. 1 in our plan to win and we've been playing damn good defense.

So and then we weren't playing against a, what you would call a juggernaut offense, okay. So that's Clemson, might be a different decision.

But that right there, as I told the players yesterday, man, this is what happens when you're the man in the arena, as a team, as a player, as a coach. You know, you've got to make those decisions and you've got to feel great about what you did. You do them for the right reasons and you roll.

It's just like I'm not going to sit there and pick apart a player's decision, because it is what it is. I would make that again and again and again, and that's not being stubborn. That's just being real. I would say most everybody would.

However, when it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out, and then it always brings upon, yeah, but -- yeah, but.

I go for a lot of fourth downs around here, a lot. And every one is an independent contractor. I know what our field goal kicker's range is -- at least I think I do, but I'm not always right there, either. That influences my fourth down decision-making.

Although the analytics will try to factor that in a little bit, the history of kicks. So you know, that's where we're at with it, man. There's a lot of tough decisions that happen in line, and I think you have your thought process in mind, and it's just like sometimes -- I'll give you another one. Like pregame, you have to make a decision: Do we defer or take the ball, right. That's a decision. And you make those decisions and you've got to go with them.

Why do you make them? Well, what kind of offense are you playing against? What kind of defense are you playing against? Are you on the road? Are you at home? What's your gut feeling? Because what are you trying to gain in the beginning of that decision? Field position.

If you feel like you can play great defense, and then all of a sudden they are punting you and you get the short field and you get the momentum early, right. You make that decision, all of a sudden they flip the field on you, might end up being the wrong decision.

There's so many of those that happen in every game, it's crazy, the amount of that stuff that goes on. That's why, you know, we age so much in such a short period of time. Six years might as well be 42. I'm like a 100 right now.

Q. These games historically have been intense --
HEAD COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: Yeah, that's a $60 million question. I think there's, you know, I pay a lot of attention to motivation. I think in games like these, I think you start the week out, and really hit it out there with what are we playing for, the energy, the passion, the juice, the history of the game.

Then I think you go about your business and you become more workmanlike and towards the end of the week, you make a decision, do you need more and more fight for the maroon and gold, or is it, don't bring it too far over that way; this will be enough for these guys and these are the decisions you make.

And how much does all that matter? You know, I don't know. It matters. You know, some -- some teams, that's the greatest thing in the world is to play at this high emotional peak.

With other teams it's better to find a good level but not too far that way because sometimes too many mistakes, you get bound up. That's what we're working on and striving for is to find the right mix.

I would say it again, I would say this game, this team, I think they know exactly what we're going for here, exactly what this game means and I think they will certainly understand that.

Now, what is that emotion when they come out of the tunnel and they meet their parents and hug them and kiss them? As a football player, that is an extremely emotional time. I remember that back when I was in high school -- and that was a lot of years ago. I just remember like being overwhelmed by emotions. You know, you spend your whole life and your parents have been with you all through your growing up and football and what football has meant to you.

And then you get to college and you've got your whole college experience and you're getting ready to get out of this sheltered, if you will, environment, and go into having become responsible for yourself and maybe for a lot, never playing football again, I tell you -- and I find myself because I'm emotional to begin with, so I like feel that when they are coming out.

It's just so emotional. While that can be energizing, it's also draining in its own way. It's one of my favorite, yet least favorite, you know what I mean. It's a weird dynamic, you know. It's like, I love it but I hate it.

And so I'm saying for these players, it's about management and some people are like -- we are all different here, right. Some are very emotional. Some cry easier than others, right. If you're on the emotional end of things, it can roller roaster ride you a little bit, and some people weren't quite so emotional. I guess they don't ride the roller coaster as much.

I ride it like I'm at the amusement park, you know, so that's just the way I'm wired, you know. Maybe that's the way I was raised in my Italian house, I'm not sure. That's the way it is.

Q. Comment on Coleman and Robinson, the rushers.
HEAD COACH STEVE ADDAZIO: Talented guys. Numbers speak for themselves and I think they are excellent. I think they have done a great job with those guys. Kind of like our guys have really developed.

But I would say to you, I think our guys get a fair amount of notoriety. I don't know if they get as much notoriety and I think they are very deserving because I think they are outstanding players. You know, that's a real problem.

That's why they are up there in sacks and that's why they are up there in interceptions just like we were. You know, those guys disrupt the flow of the game, without a doubt, without a doubt.

I think they are talented and I think that's a big part of what -- there's a number of factors on their defense. They are a heavy, heavy pressure defense and I think they have done a great job in man coverage and I think they have elevated their level of defense but those two guys are really at the top of that, as well.

All right, guys, thank you. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

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