UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 29, 2002

Tyrone Willingham

COACH WILLINGHAM: It's an exciting time for me as a head coach at the University of Notre Dame to have the opportunity to be in the Kickoff Classic. I think the one disappointing thing about this is that this is the last Kickoff Classic. You kind of like to have these things to kick off the season and add to the excitement. But we're eager to start playing someone else and stop hitting ourselves. It is great to be in this area especially this time of the year as we start to move toward a very unfortunate anniversary. At this point I'll take any and all questions that you have.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, you know, it's unfortunate that this is coming to an end. I'm not sure of all the factors of why it's coming to an end. But there's no question that when you have some premiere games and premiere teams to kind of kick off the season, it has a great start to it. It just adds so much to the excitement of starting the college football season. For that reason I think we're excited to be here, to be able to participate. Yet at the same time you're disappointed it's coming to an end. In reference to Ryan Grant, he has been most pleasing in not only his performance but his attitude. I am a big person on attitude, how a young man works at doing anything that he attempts to do. Ryan really wants to be a great player, and he works every day toward that goal. So it's exciting when you have a young man that has that kind of attitude. He's not limited by attitude. He has some ability, too. It's exciting to work with him and kind of incorporate him into our total offense.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, he reminds me of a young man that was at North Carolina State, which was Von Johnson (phonetic). I think he went on and played with New Orleans for a lot of years. He's big, he's aggressive, he's one of those guys that can play all aspects of the football game. He's a great leader for their team. He is most impressive in all categories.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I wouldn't be able to really estimate what that percentage is. But to say it is significantly greater, different, yes. I think it's long been recognized by anyone that's coached against Notre Dame that it is kind of the premiere school, the premiere program. You want to play your best game. I can remember days at Michigan State when our coaches spoke to us. They talked about young men making a name for themselves, becoming All-American, because all the eyes of the world would be on you when you played Notre Dame. It carries greater impact than playing just any other University.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No, I haven't addressed that with our football team, but that is just a personal observation that I have. I think we all have been blessed to be a part of this country. But I think there's some areas that might appreciate that blessing a little more than others because of the events and the proximity to those events. For me, as I said, I have always been a great fan of this country, okay? To be able to be a part of it now in an area that has a greater appreciation for how special this country is is a great start. Then you add the Kickoff Classic to that, it kind of brings everything together for Coach Willingham.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, some of that I never focus on that you mention. My focus is simply very simple: for us to be a good football team, for us to take the next step, level that we want to reach. We're playing a Top 20 football team. When you play them, you have to beat them, otherwise you cannot be considered a great football team or move in the direction we would like to go. A lot of things that you may factor in, I don't ponder, don't think about, don't even consider, except that this game is the most important game we play because it is the next game we play.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No, I haven't. But that popularity extends well beyond this area. You can take this team almost anywhere in the country, and everyone will tell you you have a great draw. When we were at Stanford, it was almost a home game, probably was a home game for us at Stanford. It's not just unique to this area. This is what this team brings. It brings it everywhere in this country.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No, there are a lot of things. I think they're all very -- all as important as recognizing that this is the premiere program in the country. Obviously, the attendance that was just mentioned is one big thing. The TV audience that you have each and every weekend following this team. No, I think all of that points in the right direction. It was amazing because someone said this the other day, they can't remember another University having a feature film made about their football program. I think all that points that, yes, this is a premiere program and well thought of around this country.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Our game plan will include thoughts on both quarterbacks. You have to, especially at this time because they're both different in terms of their delivery with the ball, if nothing else. So, yes.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, that's something that I think you find with time. In three to four, five, six, seven months, I don't know if I can measure that. I would say you probably would be better served asking our players that question than Coach Willingham, to kind of establish how deep or how strong that bond is, or if one even exists.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Chris has done very well. I say that in light that you have to kind of qualify that. Most freshmen that enter a program in a style of offense like ours, it's very difficult for them as a quarterback. There's more decisions and more information they have to process. He has done well with that. But he is still learning. Even though he has a very rich background in that style of offense, it is still new to him to be at this level and have to exercise all the things that we've asked him to exercise. But he's done very well.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I think our confidence level will be high. I think our young men will be well-prepared to come out and play a football game. Even though there may have been something in the past, you have to understand, this still is a program that has the deepest, richest history and tradition in college football. It's times when you have difficult times, that's when you draw on that kind of history and that kind of tradition. Our guys are well aware of that.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I hope it will be this year, especially on Saturday. "Always" sounds pretty good, also. Now, our defense has been solid. You look at last year, it ranked very high in the country in terms of what is done. What we've tried to do is add subtle dimensions to it, not overhaul the whole defense, think there's something wrong with it, but at the same time try to add some things to it that will enhance our play. That has been the goal of our defensive staff, to kind of add subtle differences, subtle changes, to add to the performance level of our guys.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No, no (laughter). Well, I mean, that is it: no, it hasn't. You know, I guess I'm often amazed, if I might use that word, by the direction of that question to some degree because I think most coaches are interested in winning, okay? That's what you want to do. And the pressure to that is the same. We want to win. That's self-driven, okay? So being African American, being I think -- what position did you put me in in terms of being in that race to accept the job? Did you have a number for me?

COACH WILLINGHAM: I was curious. It's different everywhere you go. But, gosh, you just want to win. You can go three, five, seven, doesn't make any difference. You just want to win. That's the goal. So, no, those things don't have any bearing on my thought process and what I'm interested in doing, other than winning.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Gosh, you guys are going to crucify me because it's sad to answer a question with a question. You're not supposed to do that, okay? But why not?

COACH WILLINGHAM: The part of that is you don't really know as a coach because that's inside the locker room, the stuff that goes on that creates the chemistry. Obviously, he brought in a different system, okay, to his liking, things that they did. At the same time it's those inner workings with the players. I think the question came about the bond, okay, how that's developed. Those kind of relationships establish what happens with a football team on the field. The X's and O's in many cases will be very similar. You might even guess tomorrow we might run an offensive play that looks like one that Maryland runs. But it's how it's executed, the real zeal with which the team goes about executing those plays, the bond they have for each other, their coaches, what they believe they can accomplish as a program. To me, that's something from one coach to another you really can't see or get a sense of, of how that took place, what they did to do it, if you can take anything from that and bring it into your own team.

COACH WILLINGHAM: It is if I have to spend more afternoons answering that question because you can't help -- you can't run away from it. Every time it's brought up, you have to have some thought along those lines. But for the most part, no. I mean, it won't -- we'll still hopefully be able to keep all of it in the right perspective and be well-prepared - I'm speaking of myself now - to go out and execute the football game.

COACH WILLINGHAM: It's one of those things that you don't ever allow yourself to appreciate at the time. It's probably better served if sometime in the future you sit back in your lounge chair, relax, say, "Wow, that wasn't bad." Maybe some point down the road.