UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 14, 2004

Tyrone Willingham

COACH WILLINGHAM: You know, what I would say is that Michigan State believes that it plays its best football against Notre Dame. And I would think that that belief has been passed on going back probably many, many years, that they just feel like that is a game they play great in.

COACH WILLINGHAM: That was a part of the process, very much so.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I would say that, without question, those two ballgames will be two of the more physical ballgames you play, especially the Michigan State game. As you mentioned, I have history with that game. You know what's said in the locker room, you know what they think, what they want to do in that particular game.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No, I don't think so. The whole key is where your mind's at. That's the whole key. So when you are thinking a certain thought process and you have confidence in that thought process, you play to a certain manner, to a certain level. And I think for Notre Dame, that's the way Michigan State plays.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I think their play in that threesome, and we've tried to alternate them fairly equally, I don't know if the numbers indicate that, but first of all we have a great deal of confidence in each guy, that they can step in and play to a high level. When you talk about having a successful defense, it usually starts right up the middle. If you can have great play in the center of your defense, then you create havoc, you cause things to happen, you make it better for your backers, you make it better for your ends, you make it better for the secondary. Those guys have done that. Their play has been good, even though we want it and expect it to be better.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No, I thought his play really dictated what took place during the course of the game. I felt all along at some point this year he would have some impact on a football game, and this one turned out to be, I guess, the perfect debut for him and for our football team.

COACH WILLINGHAM: You're not supposed to say that (laughter).

COACH WILLINGHAM: The most difficult thing, when you talk about a passing offense - and this is everyone involved - is the word "protections," okay? In high school, in most cases, they only had one protection. Maybe it was a play-action pass, and you got one responsibility, and that doesn't change based on the defense very much. At this level and the next level, the complexity of protection is huge. What you see, learning to adjust to that, visualizing, seeing all the right things, identifying all the right people, and then to be able to physically do that is a little bit different. I don't have any idea what Derek had to pass protect against in high school, but I know it wasn't a 246-pound middle linebacker.

COACH WILLINGHAM: We're not sure yet. It will all be dictated by our game plan and how our guys practice, et cetera. There are going to be a lot of things that go into that decision before we get to the weekend.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No, no. It was just about what I expected to see from him.

COACH WILLINGHAM: It's not just another team. I think I've got some pretty good memories from my days at Michigan State. You have a fondness for that, you have a fondness for the University and you have great respect for it. But, once again, when the official blows that whistle, there will be no thoughts about the fondness of Michigan State.

COACH WILLINGHAM: We've agreed to it. We've agreed to it. I've been overall pleased, especially with the start we received this year from the officiating of the Big-10 crews. I think they've done an excellent job. If it assists them in doing their job better, then I'm all for it.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Gosh, you're going back to '91, '92, '93. I'm not sure. I don't think so.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No. I practiced against it every Sunday (laughter).

COACH WILLINGHAM: Nothing.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Nothing. It was the right time.

COACH WILLINGHAM: That was really a pretty easy one. That one wasn't really difficult at all. I don't think it required anything on the coach's part. If you know Carlyle history, I think he at some point played baseball, and the ability to catch flies is not that different than the ability to catch a punt, to some degree - except you don't have a glove. If you have those ball skills, it's pretty easy to go back there and do it. He wanted to be back there, he wanted to go back there and have success. Again, you're just bringing him along at the right time.

COACH WILLINGHAM: There's a possibility, okay? I think you have to look at styles, styles of runners, things of that nature, in who will be the appropriate guy to handle those roles.

COACH WILLINGHAM: It depends on your team a little bit. I mean, there have been teams that I've coached that the only thing you needed that guy to do was just make sure it got caught. And if that's all you need, then you got to find a very secure guy. You're not looking for the runner at that particular time. You would like to have it, but you don't have it, so you use the skills available. No, I think there's certain skills that can be developed there. The great ones - no, the great ones are always special. They always have qualities that no one else has. But I think you can develop guys to go back there and be very good punt returners.

COACH WILLINGHAM: He is no longer a member of the team.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I cannot.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, I had the opportunity to just kind of watch his style, watch his ability to see things, and just make yardage out of things that didn't seem to have much yardage, so you knew then that that is not based on just his skill but his ability to see things. And he sees things just a little bit different than some other backs.

COACH WILLINGHAM: There were a lot of things that I considered in that situation. So I tried to factor them all in. I think I deduced that the best opportunity was this week against Michigan, or last week against Michigan.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Nope (laughter).

COACH WILLINGHAM: It depends (laughter).

COACH WILLINGHAM: Probably not (laughter).

COACH WILLINGHAM: In all honesty, I'm considering all of them. It depends on really their development, how fast it comes, and at what point of the season. There is probably a point, probably about Game 5, Game 6, that it may not be advantageous for us to consider if they haven't played at that point. But, no, I'm still looking at every guy on our roster to find a guy that can help us and make a contribution to us winning. And some people have reservations about that because you say, "Gosh, a guy only got in, Coach, for maybe 30 plays, his year was wasted." You know what? If those 30 plays help us win games, then it's probably the right thing to do.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I don't look at it as burning a year. If a guy plays, he gains experience. He understands how to get himself ready and prepared for a football game. And I think that's very precious. So I don't see it as burning a year. Would you like to get more time out of him, maximize that time? Absolutely. But that time he plays will be invaluable.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Which one would make the better story (laughter)?

COACH WILLINGHAM: I'm curious also. Every now and then, I am curious.

COACH WILLINGHAM: If it makes a better story today, that's exactly what I'm going to do.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, that's it.

COACH WILLINGHAM: See, you're not supposed to have a vindictive nature, gosh.

COACH WILLINGHAM: You told me I would regret that. What does that sound like (laughter)? Hmm...

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, first of all, you want your players to have as much spotlight as they can. That's important. But you want to balance that with their understanding of what it takes to actually have them have that kind of spotlight and have that kind of performance. So we will do the same things with Derek that we do with every member of our football team in this particular situation. We will make sure he understands that every yard he gained, it took 10 other guys to help him do it.

COACH WILLINGHAM: That one they would have to do on their own (laughter).

COACH WILLINGHAM: We don't know. I mean, you're only talking about, what, 24 hours, 48 hours? We're just getting started in this process.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I can confirm that I'm doing fine.

COACH WILLINGHAM: So you are assuming that it did take place?

COACH WILLINGHAM: Okay, I will be vindictive versus your sources (laughter).

COACH WILLINGHAM: No, we stayed the course more than anything else. We have always believed in our football team. We believe in their ability to do things. And I think I've been on record as saying that at some point our offense will start to step up and will start to play better. We're still not there. We still have a long way to go before we can beat a team that I would hope and expect we can. No, we stayed the course. We believe. We'll keep working hard every day to be the best team we can be.

COACH WILLINGHAM: First of all, you have to have the belief that you can make it. There's really no other reason to start that process. When you look at it, if you did feel at that stage of the ballgame, feeling that our defense was playing well, you felt you could hold them in that area. That's also a drill that we practice called "backed up," that we practiced, trying to hold an opponent in that territory, forcing them to punt. Now we've got a great field position. We're once again right back at being the aggressor. So we felt like those things could take place. Are they guarantees? No. But hopefully they could take place and we could keep the pressure on them.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I think Maurice Stovall is playing very, very good football. What is very good football for me is just that he's giving the absolute effort. And you see that not just in his receiving abilities, which I think he's made some key catches for us this year, but you see it in how he's contributed in special teams, blocking, all the other areas. So I think he's playing excellent football.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Absolutely. And that was probably more his coach that took the leadership in that, Coach Miles, that really just addressed those things. But, no, we love it when you're aggressive. I mean, that's the way the game has to be played. And he's doing that. He's being a great leader for our team, he's making big plays.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, I would say yes, I think he has. I think he stepped that up as well as his physical leadership. That often comes with maturity. It comes with the absence of others to do it because now you say, "It's my turn, it's my responsibility." So he's doing I think an excellent job there also.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Brandon is one of the many examples I think we have of young men that are, in my view, completing the mission of Notre Dame, which is not just to be excellent athletes, but also to be excellent people and excellent students, and to provide leadership in the community. His Tackle The Arts program, that Brandon was a part of this summer, some of the other guys, is a marvelous way to enhance this community. And they continually do that. So, yes, he is one of those guys. Hopefully it is a model that you'll see many times over on our football team.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I think when you make some of the hits he's made this year, I think you get everybody's attention. Before you go, I am going to present you with your own depth chart.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No. Only you and I will have copies of this, okay? So I wanted to make sure you had one. It is the same one I get, alphabetical and numerical, so you will know.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Okay.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No. Because my players see it from me all the time. I mean, every day we practice, every day that I'm with our guys, I think they sense my intensity, my love of life, my joy for the game of football. So I don't think that's missing. Now, do you say other people need too see it? They might. But usually if they do, they're missing the game.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, I would think that if you are the leader, then everything I do sends some kind of signal, okay, and is received in some manner from our players, and as you noted from fans also. But it's always nice to give those players what they need, is the best way to say it.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, first of all, we're still early, okay? We've got a lot of growing to do in Darius, we've got a lot of growing to do in our back field. Hopefully performances like this clear the air a little bit, starts to stack things a little bit so you know who you can depend on.

COACH WILLINGHAM: If we were probably healthy today, okay, both Darius, Ryan, Marcus, Travis, I would probably start Ryan.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, he had the ability to make things happen, probably more than just one particular game; you like to look at a young man for a career. The thing that most excites me is winning. I think his team, if not won three in a row, won two and played in three state championships. So that's what attracts me. I like guys that win. There's just something about them. They make plays at the right time and they step it up. I think he did a great job of stepping in and stepping up in his performance against Michigan.

COACH WILLINGHAM: He was very positive, but he wanted to play. He wanted to be in there. And that excites me.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Again, when you look at his career, you look at being in three straight championships, it's not the same, definitely. Playing in a state championship is not the same as lining up in Notre Dame Stadium with Michigan on the other side. But he's had some bright lights in front of him, so I didn't think he would get starstruck by the lights. I thought he would step in and do pretty much exactly what he did.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, if you can keep your defense on the sideline, then what you've done already is made them a better defense statistically. That also should be reflected in their physical conditioning. The fewer plays you play, the more energy you should have, and you don't wear down that if by chance the ballgame comes down to those critical moments, that you have just one more step advantage on your opponents.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I think any time you can gain physically, in most cases you will gain mentally.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, it really makes it -- the luxury it gives us is it really forces the opponent into one dimension in this game. Any time you can force an opponent into one dimension, then you can kind of slowly take apart that other dimension. In the game of football, it is important that that dimension that you take away be the run. That's repeated after years and years after football because even on most good days with a passer, you're talking about him completing 70% of his passes. Now if you can get that 3 out of 10 to be the right ones for you, maybe it's an interception, okay, now you've really turned the tide in a football game. Being able to take away the run is very, very important.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, Dwight has really stepped up his play. He came into this season very focused, committed to being even better than he had been in our program. And so far his work ethic and his desire to improve has really led him to be, I think his first two ballgames are pretty good, give or take a few plays here or there, but his play has been really good. And, of course, we came into the season believing that that was kind of a green area for us. Those guys are starting to kind of shore up the play in the back end.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, I would think that that confidence starts with our up-front guy, I would think with Tuck, Budinscak, Pauly, that group of leaders, with our linebackers, Curry, Goolsby, Hoyte and Mays, they are the ones that really set the level and tone of confidence for our defensive team. I think it spreads from that group back to the back end where Dwight grabs it, Quentin Burrell grabs it, Preston Jackson grabs it. Now you've got a team that believes they can be a good, sound defensive football team.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, again, I go a lot of places. When you start talking about the success we've had on defense, I start with our defensive coaches, Coach Baer, Coach Madison, Coach Simmons, and Coach Wilkes, I think they're doing an excellent job of getting our guys in the right mindset, getting them in the right position. And our guys are doing their job by following through and making plays.

COACH WILLINGHAM: If you've been around me any amount of time, I've said that both the negative and the positive can be detrimental to your success. To me that's a life lesson. If you let good things go to your head, you usually fall flat on your face. If you let negative things beat you down, you usually fall flat on your face. Life is about maintaining kind of what I tell our guys often that pursuit of perfection, knowing you'll never be perfect, but every day you go out in pursuit of it. If we can have and develop that kind of mindset, I think you always guarantee yourself success.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I think we were able to do more. When you have the ability to run the football, and once we got to I think it was the second quarter, we started to pick up the pace a little bit with our run. That was accompanied by the insertion of Darius Walker into the lineup. That gave us a lot more balance. It gave us an opportunity to keep our opponent on their heels just a little bit. They had to defend the perimeter, they had to defend the interior. Now he had to defend the deep pass zones. Now they had to defend the intermediate pass zones. When they blitzed we recognized the blitz and were able to get the throws to the quick receiver, the hot receiver. So when you have the ability to do those things, you make it very difficult for your opponent.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I don't know if the fans and media will ever adjust to that one. From a coach and player standpoint, it is really true probably more so now than ever before. If you don't take the right mindset into a game, I can guarantee you're going to get beat, and it doesn't matter who you play.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I'm thinking on this one. Give me a little bit more time with that one, will you, please (laughter)? Tomorrow be soon enough?

COACH WILLINGHAM: No. When you're in charge of a program of this nature, there is - without question - a great deal of pressure. But I've always said that the pressure really should come from within, that there's no one that has higher expectations for this program and what we're about or should be accomplishing than Coach Willingham.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I guess I'm lucky, I did have head coaching experience before I got here. So I think that was part of the training and the adjustment time.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Yes. I've used the word "more." And I think that thoroughly applies.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, the first thing is I usually look at the game in segments. I usually start on one particular day with one phase of it. The phase I started with this week was their defensive phase, defensive team. I was extremely impressed with their front seven, really thought it could be the best front seven that we've seen so far this year. That should be saying a lot because I think Michigan's group is highly touted in terms of their skill, their size, their ability. But I was really impressed with Michigan State's defensive front seven. Looking at their offensive team, I think pretty soon they're going to be settling on a quarterback, which will give them maybe a little bit more comfort level. But their ability to run the ball and what they're doing there, especially out of their one-back sets, has been excellent.

COACH WILLINGHAM: It's more satisfying winning.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I wouldn't trade a win, whether a player or a coach.

COACH WILLINGHAM: We know he is a very physical and a very smart player, and very much the leader of their secondary. So he adds dimensions that you like out of a safety. He is physical. That means you can drop him down, involve him in the run. He's a leader, which means he gives the rest of the group great direction so they can get a line and do the things you need to do.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, it would really be inappropriate for me to comment on how we would plan to attack him or what we would prepare to do for him. But I do know that we respect his skills, his ability, and what they've done in their system. We know Coach Smith and Coach Baldwin, who probably head up their offensive group, have a great plan for us.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I think it's what's in the best interest of the team. I would like to be able to lean to that individual and have him have an opportunity to get his position back. But if that next player is playing clearly above the level of someone else, that would be a disservice to your team not to have that guy in the lineup.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Yes.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Based on him climbing the mountain (laughter)?

COACH WILLINGHAM: Not outgoing, not fun-loving?

COACH WILLINGHAM: You wouldn't want to see how good it is (laughter).

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, I simply label it as just a very good coach that's been very successful with his program and the things that he's tried to implement. I don't know where else to carry it.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No. You want a balance, okay? You want an awareness of what happened in the past, but you don't ever want to linger on it. If those players from the past were going to play for Michigan State, then I would put more emphasis on it. But I don't think any of them are in the lineup. It's going to be their 2004 team against our 2004 team. It simply will come down to this: the team that plays the best will win.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, what I recognize is that you deal with humans, and humans have flaws, okay? I have flaws. You know, it's impossible for me to just totally keep all of my attention on this moment. At some point I'm going to reflect back somewhere in my life to something that took place or project forward. So we have to deal with that. Hopefully our system gives us enough stability, okay, that we can stay grounded, we can stay focused. But that's human nature. Gosh, you're going to think back to a birthday you had when you were 13 or something of that nature. It could have been a game that you played a great game five years ago, whenever it happened. That's going to happen. We know that. The key is for us to be successful, if you can stay in the moment, it gives you your best chance. Hopefully the stability and the lack of mood swings, okay, from those in leadership, hopefully aids our guys in being very consistent and very focused. Thank you.