UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 19, 2002

Tyrone Willingham

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, first of all, thank you for beginning and asking a question about Rutgers. Second of all, I think you are absolutely right. They have played their best football against the best teams, and, of course, they have played some of the really better teams in this country. So it is a frightening thought that a team that has the skill that they have will play their best game against us this Saturday. But I think the one drawback that they have had is that they have committed those kind of self-inflicted wounds that really do all the damage, the turnovers and things of that nature, that kept them from being successful. You eliminate those and you have a difficult time understanding why they are not winning.

COACH WILLINGHAM: That was an important goal for us, to see if we could get our football team a lot healthier than in previous weeks, and also to get them refreshed and mentally energized so we could make this stretch run that we have got in two ballgames. We'll begin to find that out and all of those medical questions we'll begin to answer today, because we get them back today. During the bye week, they were off Saturday and also Friday, and then we gave them off their normal day off at the beginning of any week on Monday. So today we'll start to get some of the answers to those questions.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, I've said all along that our players have been very eager to be successful that and that has not changed from the initial arrival until today. They are still very eager to be successful, and I think it is reflected in the success that we have had. And hopefully what we really have going for us is that appetite to be successful that we are not satisfied with where we are today and want to do just a little bit better.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I don't say I did anything, really, other than be ourselves and try to coach the way that we've coached prior to arriving at Notre Dame, which is to be very honest with our young men, to give them a plan and hopefully that they will be willing to follow that plan and have success in that plan.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, it is a very kind thing for Coach Bray to say, having the success that he's had. It's really a valued comment. But he has done such a great job; it's probably us that's reflected more in the success that he's had, than, of course, the limited success we're having on his program. Anything we can do to make all of the programs stronger we are eager to do. And success, I think, in most cases, breeds more success and everybody gets excited and it just creates a great environment. Hopefully we can in some small way help everyone.

COACH WILLINGHAM: That's always a very difficult question. I kind of back away from putting percentages off what we've installed and what we haven't installed and how well they have adapted in all of these things. We are still in the learning process and we'll probably be in the learning process for some time. But that still does not qualify itself as placing any limitations on us in terms of the most important category, which is to win.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, Brandon is one of our inside linebackers and got his first starts when Courtney Watson was ill earlier in the year, and he stepped in and did a fantastic job and really showcased himself as what we believe to be one of our players that we'll be able to count on in the future. Since that time, he's probably had limited playing time since Courtney's return and limited playing time and been a real feature player on a lot of our special teams. But we expect great things from him because he has the ability to not only be a physical player, but also to be an outstanding leader and also a fine student at the university.

COACH WILLINGHAM: To answer the latter part of that, no/ I think Arnaz is still learning the position of being a wide receiver. But some days, he makes it seem as though he knows everything about the position, and that is really wonderful. But he's meant a great deal because you count on your seniors, your better players to be the leaders of your squad, not only to play well, but to also help the younger players and to help mold the team attitude in a very positive direction.

COACH WILLINGHAM: There's no question that it is a long season, and playing the physical teams that we play week-in and week-out takes its toll. So hopefully that's why this past bye week will serve as a welcome relief for us and allow us to get energized and allow us to get back in that very aggressive mode that we were in earlier in the year.

COACH WILLINGHAM: One never knows the future; that's why I never dare to project what the future to be. But we are excited about Chris. We think he will be an excellent quarterback in our system. He's a young man that has an idea coming from the high school program that he had, which was coached, if I'm correct, by his father, and has a real idea about the passing game and the kind of strong arm you like to see in the system. He just has to kind of get into the system, really start to learn it, understand it and then be given the opportunity to do some great things.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I can't give you much more than I gave earlier, simply because the majority of the injures within our own meetings -- but we don't get a chance to see them until Tuesday afternoon. So I'm reserved about what I say about them prior to having a good chance to look at them.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Not surprising, but I think it is noteworthy that Ryan has had, I think, an excellent year. When we started this season, no one would have given Ryan or any of our other backs to be a thousand-yard gainer. Yet Ryan sits, if I'm correct, roughly ten yards away from that plateau. So. I think he's had an exciting year and hopefully we'll be poised to finish very strong in these last two games that we've had.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I find it very hard to see some differences when I watch the film. So I don't really know how to answer that question.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I probably say I'm still learning, and probably will be continuing the learning process for some time, because I think there's a great deal to this university that is not superficial. So therefore, you've got to dig a lot deeper to find out all of the meanings, all of the traditions and how everything fits together.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, first of all, I don't believe you have a camera in front of you. So you can't see me smiling at the mention of Maurice's name. He is, I think, a football-playing young man that has an extreme upside and that always makes most coaches smile. So we're excited about what we believe his future holds, but we are also excited about what he's already given us to date and the progress that he's made as a first-year player in our system.

We don't have a reluctance to play freshman. Our only guide is that we'll play the best player, and if that's the case, and a freshman fits in that category, then we welcome him on to the field.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I would think with the change in attitude of our communities, it is a genuine certain, and no, I have not.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Is that color okay?

COACH WILLINGHAM: Then we won't choose that one.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No, I haven't. (Laughter).

COACH WILLINGHAM: I saw that. I think the first time you do any job, you usually don't do it as well as do you it the tenth time or the 11th time, and I hope that's the case with coaches. I'm not speaking to our opponent this week, but I'm speaking primarily for myself. I think each day you're at the job, you learn something new and hopefully allows you to be better.

COACH WILLINGHAM: There's no question that Courtney wanted to prove and showed to a great many people the skills that he possesses, and I think it's reflected in the fact that you have a player that missed that many games and is still leading the team in tackles, but his desire and also what he adds to the team. But I think his focus is not necessarily individual focus. I think he's really focused on the team and the team accomplishment, and I think that by -- and I think that he believes that by elevating his play he can best serve the team to be successful.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, the growth has been tremendous because we've asked our linebackers to do a few different things than they did, I think, it was in the past year, and Courtney has accepted that challenge. But he also has accepted probably the most important challenge of being a linebacker, which is kind of being like a quarterback and directing the rest of the team and getting other people in place, along with playing well yourself. And that's a very difficult task for a lot of young people to accept because it involves leadership.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I think more writers see archrival in USC the next week, and they write it, which helps my kids get distracted. (Laughter).

COACH WILLINGHAM: No, no, there's no blame. No blame.

COACH WILLINGHAM : That has always been the difficult side of coaching, is how can you get your young men to focus and concentrate on what's important now. To do that, you really have to count on not only the leadership of your coaches, but the leadership of your players. They have to understand what's important. It's amazing that around the country, no matter how many times, how many years coaches have said it before, teams get distracted because it's human nature. What we try to work very diligently toward is making sure our young men try to stay focused on what's important. We will use any trick and any tool that we can to get them focused on what we are doing this week and not the following week.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No. Okay, no. Not that assignment. I welcome --

COACH WILLINGHAM: I would welcome your insight on that. So if you don't mind, if I place that responsibility on you and I'll call you and get that information.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I don't know what those individual plays would be. Probably one that jumps out at me, just to throw in that category, would be Arnaz Battle's play at Michigan State would probably fit in that category. But I would say that every game we play, every game we play, there are two or three decisions that the head coach has to make, four or five plays that if they go the right way, you win and if they don't got right way, you lose and they are always critical. Sometimes they are hidden. You don't dare not be thinking Arnaz Battle catches and runs for a touchdown, and there may be something changes in momentum or something that impacts the football game. I would say that includes every game and not just looking at a season.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, I think he's had a steady football season. I think he's been a steady football player for us, and that's what we expect out of our fifth-year guys. But I think he would be the first to say he wants to contribute more and wants to give more to the football team in these last remaining games.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I've always tried to be very consistent about our approach and the things that we tell our young men and the goals that we set for them, believing that eventually that consistency will allow us to have success week-in and week-out. So there's not going to be a great deal of change. Yes, some small things we'll try to alter, to make sure that we get their attention. But more for the most part we'll stay fairly consistent with the things that we've done.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I would think that, one, teams are looking at kind of the things that have been successful for us and are trying to avoid those as much as possible. And I think that's not anything new. I think every coach starts every week with his sermon about, get turnovers, create them and don't turn the football over. We are no different. We will say the same thing four weeks ago that we'll be saying this week in terms of turnovers. We've got to win the turnover margin. If you win that, you've got a great chance to win the football game. And if winning that turnover margin, if you can score off a turnover, then you enhance significantly your ability to be successful. So that is preached every week.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No, because I think he'll bounce back and play very well for us.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No, I don't know whether it's mental or whether it's physical. All we know is that they did -- he did have some turnovers, but the young man has had an excellent football season. He is, if I am correct, ten yards away or something of that effect from being a thousand-yard rusher, and may even have an opportunity to rush for 1,200 yards or something along that line. That's a very productive season. I'm very pleased with what he's done and he himself would say no, he wouldn't want to have turnovers, the football team does not want to have turnovers, but he was not alone in having some of those turnovers.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I haven't seen that side of it, so I won't dare comment on that. But, you know, the term "steady" I think can kind of be down played to a degree when you hear that about a young man. I think we're so eager to hear someone flashier, flamboyant in the way they play, and I think steady is a great thing and Ryan has been that for us. He is a guy we can count on to make plays in the ballgame; a guy in the locker room that has provided some excellent leadership. The character part of that I'm not sure of, but he's provided some excellent leadership for this football team.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, I think the one thing I've noticed when looking at the film, they are athletic, especially at their skill positions, and that is inclusive of the tight end. And this might be the better tight end that we've seen in the country. They have the ability to make things happen. On defense, they are aggressive and you have not seen very many teams run the football against them very well. They have given up big plays occasionally, but you have not seen the consistent kind of grind-it-out that you would think you would see with some dominant teams where they just take the ball and march it, march it, march it right down the field. It's a team that we have to gear up for, to play a very physical game. And it's been noted, they play their best against the ranked teams.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I think Shane would be the first to say it, he is excited about the individual honor, but he recognizes that you don't get individual recognition unless you usually have a core of teammates around you to support you and do things very well. So he's excited. He's had an exceptional year. I think he's looking to elevate his play, along with that of his teammates.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Yes, I did.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Won't say. (Laughter).

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, it's been an up-and-down and process to be very honest about it. Yet at the same time we have done some good things in that learning phase. The offensive line compared to what it had to do a year ago, it's just doing more, okay. At some point last year, they threw the football. This year, we are hopefully doing it more. We are doing it in a variety of manners, a variety of protections and that's challenged them from learning and being able to make the adjustments that are necessary to be a good pass protection and pass execution football team. So as I always say, offense is not just about the offensive line, success or failure. It's about all of the components working very well together because you can have great protection and run the wrong route and end up with a sack.

COACH WILLINGHAM: There will be some of that. And there will be some new players that will be getting their first start and they will be lining up in the game for the first time, and they will have that "deer in the headlights" look when they do that, and that's just natural. You GO through a different learning curve with them, as compared to having a whole team go through it at the same time.

COACH WILLINGHAM: It's always difficult to get your team to perform at a high level all the time. That's whether from the underdog role or the championship position, and that's always a challenge of a coach. It's always the challenge of a player. Really, what you're trying to do, is defeat human nature in both of those categories. So it's always that struggle. It's always there. That's the challenge of trying to be the best.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Yeah.

COACH WILLINGHAM: It's an amazing thing because our goal has been to try to find a way to be the best team in the country. But yet at the same time, our focus has been one game at a time, because it's the accumulation, I've always said, of each of the individual contests that will allow you to get the final product. The goal this week will be to beat Rutgers, and it we can do that, that puts us in line to have an opportunity to accomplish something good if we are able to defeat USC. And then we'll look at our season and people will line us up and put us -- and I'll call on David, matter of fact, to make sure that we are lined up at the right place.

COACH WILLINGHAM: It is the best system we have.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, I think any time you have a football team that's 9-1 to date, the quarterback takes, I think, a huge portion of that success. Of course, we know he can't do it alone, but the quarterback, his leadership, his play aids the football team in having success and Carlyle has done that. He has done, in my opinion, an excellent job of helping this football team be successful. His growth in the system has been, I think, tremendous. I've said all along that it is not the physical skills that will excite ; it will be his ability to make the right decisions. And I think he has done an excellent job in the decision process and seems to get better and better and better as we progress through the season.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I think every day he's on the field adds to his confidence, and as long as our team continues to win and has success, I think he grows in the success of the football team.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I think that's problem the right way to describe Darrell. He's becoming a playmaker. That is a guy that really steps up large when you need it most, and I think Darrell has grown from a year ago, really, to be that kind of player that we can count on and that we can depend on not only for his play on the field, but for some solid leadership off the field.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I think it started pretty early. I think it was about in the first two or three games that he started to really gain some confidence from making some plays and being instrumental in the success of the defense, even though in some cases, his success was not reflected in his own individual play, but in the play of Courtney and some of our linebackers.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I must have missed his quotes then. (Laughter). I think we have a group of guys, hopefully that loves to have fun and enjoy life and play football with that kind of attitude. I can't dare comment on his quotability because I've not seen anything that's registered on my radar, yet. But he should be and is a fun guy to be around.

COACH WILLINGHAM: We show them what Rutgers and who Rutgers is, and that includes all of the games. You just can't limit it to those teams to use it as attention-getters. Our young men are smarter than this and they have more resources than that. So we have to show them what Rutgers is, okay. And the first thing is, our young men should be competitors and a competitor understands that you've got to prepare the right way every time you go out, and if you don't, then you're preparing to fail, and that's what the formula is. So that's the first thing we have to understand. Then we have to have respect for our opponent, because we know that if you've played the game long enough that any team can beat you. It doesn't matter who you are; you can get beat if you don't play well. So if we start with those things, and hopefully our young men have enough wisdom and experience to understand that message, and then prepare themselves the right way along with our leadership.

COACH WILLINGHAM: You have to be prepared to alter game plans with the weather conditions, because there are certain things that may not work in the weather, or certain things you may not be able to do against the wind if it's such a stature that it really affects the football game. So all of those things you have to be prepared to adjust and hopefully try to do that in practice. If you know you are going to be in a climate with rain in the game, you work on slippery ball fields; you incorporate those that into your practice plan. So you do have to alter and change just a little bit, yes.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I'm glad you went that direction. I was trying to see if you were going to say this is my last game here. (Laughter) Whew, I feel better now. When you mention Lou Holtz, you are talking about one of the finest coaches in all of college football that's had success every place that he's been and has done a great job; one of the most respected in college football, along with his coaching skills. So, I mean, any association that I can draw from Lou Holtz or anything that I can take from him that's of a learning sequence, I'm delighted to do. But obviously, he had, I think, a fantastic run here. If I can do half of that, maybe I'll be happy.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Earlier in the year, yes.