UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 8, 2002

Tyrone Willingham

COACH WILLINGHAM: I'm always disappointed. I think frustration doesn't enter in because I believe if you're frustrated, then you can't change it. Obviously, we believe we can change most of the things that take place in our program. But you're always disappointed when you have penalties because those are what I call in some cases unforced errors. When you make unforced errors, you don't have a lot of success. Disappointment in those any time.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Again, I'm disappointed at the number. I didn't quite notice the statistic that you were putting forward that we're on pace for. I hope we don't get anywhere near that.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Those are factors that you hope will contribute to your success that particular weekend. There are things that you point to that you want to accomplish. But the ultimate goal is always listed first at the top of that chart, or any chart that we have, and that's "win."

COACH WILLINGHAM: It should be noted that we'll take winning any way we can get it, okay? But you always want to perform in every year as best you can. Our offense is doing some good things, and those things should be acknowledged. I think rushing for near 250 yards is a pretty good thing.

COACH WILLINGHAM: You need both. It all depends on your scheme. There's times you want your defensive line to excel and make plays, and there's times you want your linebackers well-protected so they can make the plays. Really what you want is a team full of play-makers that are playing disciplined football within the structure of your team.

COACH WILLINGHAM: First of all, I haven't seen a kicker that's been in a slump. The one we have is not in a slump. He's missed a couple of field goals.

COACH WILLINGHAM: One, I don't believe in kicking slumps. That's a personal thing. Two, sometimes you can notice certain things, but usually the young men themselves, because they are so well-taught in their fundamental skills, will notice some things during films that may be off. But there is always that possibility that they just missed it.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I'm trying to go back and remember when he was a featured player. In my time as a player, he was always a secondary guy, most of the offenses I was familiar with. When was that?

COACH WILLINGHAM: I think we had one year in my playing days, a fullback, Levi Jackson, that did pretty good. Other than that, most of the time they were the guy that did the blocking and a few hand-offs. At that time we didn't throw, so he didn't receive very many passes. But I think in most cases, you try to find ways to balance it out based on the ability that you have there. We would like a balance in ours, a fair amount of balance in ours.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I'm trying to remember. I can't remember where Bettis played entirely. If you ran split-backs, you downplayed the true role of a fullback. I want to stay Alstadt might have been more of a halfback, somewhat what we did with Tommy Vardell at Stanford. He became a fullback in pro football, but really he was a halfback for us when he had his best days as a back at Stanford.

COACH WILLINGHAM: First of all, it doesn't take many minutes or seconds in viewing your film to realize this is a pretty good football team. Obviously, their record jumps out at you right at the bat. But you look at what they've been able to do, especially what they were able to do last weekend going into the Carrier Dome, which most people have said is a tough place to play. They really just took that team apart. To play A&M right down to the wire I think is pretty good. But I think first of all you need to start with what they are doing extremely well, which is their defense. It is an aggressive, get-after-it group that has a lot of confidence. They were really limiting what you can do offensively. Then their quarterback, probably jumps out at me, their three receivers, their ability to perform and make plays.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I never get into full critical evaluations in public of our players. But I thought Pat did a fine job, looking at the film. There are some things, as always, he would like to have over again, but I thought he did an excellent job. What our focus always is is winning. You want to improve in all areas, you want to do good in this area, et cetera, but the goal is to win. I think the latter part of that was, what is the status of the group? We'll be working day to day to determine what and who will start at the quarterback position.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, I think to answer that question, there has always been in-season recruiting for as long as I can remember. But the scale of it now is much larger. It seems as though the northern schools are trying to take advantage of weather and other conditions that really favor their recruitment of young people at that time. It's on a larger scale than it was I think some time ago.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I'd probably suggest that you would time them and then I could accurately comment on that.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Gosh, put a percentage on it? I think you're asking, if I'm correct, like how much of the play book, how much of the offense is in place?

COACH WILLINGHAM: I think you always have more to offer because it's constantly changing, the offense, from week to week, year to year. What goes in it, what comes out of it, what works, what doesn't work, what is suitable for the personnel that you have, it's constantly evolving. But what you hope that you establish is a foundation that you can do the expansion from, that there's certain things that the guys learn today that will always be in the program tomorrow. Now, how you modify and change that week to week, game to game, year to year always changes.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I'd say that caught me off guard, yes (laughter). I think it was not only Shane, but I think also Preston Jackson did the same thing.

COACH WILLINGHAM: We'll discuss that.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Does it violate the rule of keeping it in the locker room?

COACH WILLINGHAM: Maybe in some regards, yes. But I don't think it's anything that I'm concerned about.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I thought that was a neat play that they put in. More than anything else, the timing for it was great. They came off a big game, if I am correct, were hustling. Usually the opponent is kind of spinning at that point, trying to gather his faculties to try to figure out how to stop the next play. You move quickly, get everything going. I thought it was great timing on their part.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No, I hadn't.

COACH WILLINGHAM: There's a couple things there. One, in case, just as with the fumble-rusky, just in case you're a little relaxed, confused, not together, you can have a quick strike. Two, it forces them to adjust, then readjust when we go to position for our extra point, which may slow down the rush. They may not be set quickly or know where they want to come from. From those two standpoints, it has some advantages.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No, we haven't. Past years when I've been at Stanford and had very similar situations, we maintained our schedule. It's just a tough grind for the young people to work through. But it's also a great skill to have the ability to work through those situations.

COACH WILLINGHAM: The number one thing that I think I love about our defensive line is their attitude and the way they go about playing the game. That is I think very consistent with the way the entire defense is played. I think one of the comments you'll get from most people that watch that defense is they fly around. The defensive line has been some of the leaders in doing that.

COACH WILLINGHAM: We don't want mistakes. We do want them going a hundred miles an hour. It's always good if they're going in the right direction.

COACH WILLINGHAM: There's no part of our play that's where we want it to be. Hopefully the goal is to continually get better, whether it's our passing game, whether it's our running game, whether it's our special teams and/or our defense. Obviously, in some of those areas, we're doing some good things. You can't be 5-0 without doing some good things. But we'd like to be a lot better.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, number one, we have a great respect for Brandon. I mean, he brings something to the table. He played well. We hope that he continues to play well. We've got to find ways to rotate him in, get him involved in the rotation. At the same time, we think we have an excellent player in Courtney Watson. I think the players would be the first to tell you that, that there's some things he does very well based on his experience and based on his skill that they're learning how to do. You just have to find ways to hopefully develop your guys and keep them coming.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, he's not entirely healthy. He is gradually getting better. With that hopefully we'll have him also in the rotation, which will give us another little jump.

COACH WILLINGHAM: That's okay. You'll get the same answer (laughter).

COACH WILLINGHAM: Each day that he is practicing and working with the group, it gives him an opportunity to start to get back to the level he was, and hopefully exceed that. We'll be looking forward to getting him involved more and more each day. The number one thing you want to do is make sure that a player is able to protect himself when he plays.

COACH WILLINGHAM: You're not running out of terms, are you (laughter)?

COACH WILLINGHAM: How would I like to see it evolve? I'd like us to eliminate the penalties. I'd like to see our rushing game remain extremely strong and be even more consistent, or consistent, and our passing game.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Oh, yes. I'd like to see our defense find even more ways to score.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, it's amazing that when you talk about so many of our guys, it's almost like talking about a mirror image. When you talk about Gerome, you're talking about Shane, you're talking about Vontez, you're talking about Glenn Earl in that secondary. They're all intense, fierce competitors that are giving us great leadership and great play on the field. It's nice to be able to reflect on them, you see so many of the same qualities in those guys.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I do remember him. That would be one program that probably featured the fullback pretty good. About the same time, though, I think it was Michigan that was probably tailback dominated.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I think there are phases of a game that more than other phases help a quarterback grow. I think usually those involve the most intense situations where you really have a chance to put yourself under pressure. But there's always learning situations throughout the entire ballgame. But I would prefer to be involved from a quarterback standpoint in those situations that demand the most. To say that he learned a great deal in closing out the football game, yes or no, but when the game is really on the line, that's when that quarterback grows the most.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I think that was apparent in the spring. But you didn't have, I didn't have, we didn't have the opportunity to really work with him a great deal at that time because at that time we had I think three or almost maybe four other guys involved in the quarterback position that were in front of Pat.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I think it's pure athleticism. Justin is one of those rare young men that has great size and great size potential and is extremely explosive. It's almost like having a young man with linebacker speed playing down. Those kind of guys make great pass-rushers and provide great pressure off the edge.

COACH WILLINGHAM: No. I think God gave him something that he didn't give everybody else (laughter).

COACH WILLINGHAM: I really have been pleased with Derek. Derek has been one of those guys that's been a starter for us at backup position. He's been a guy that put the team first by volunteering being on a lot of special teams. When you get a young man that steps up to the plate in that manner, he's giving you not only on-field play but leadership in areas that sometimes your team is reluctant to step forward in, which is a special teams involvement.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, the first thing is to fit in the defense, you have to do your job, the consistent across the board that every player first has to do that if we're going to have a successful defense. For someone else to get tackles and interceptions, that means along the line others has to do their job. He does that. He performs his job well. He's been consistent for the most part in his play. That's allowed to us have other guys make plays.

COACH WILLINGHAM: It's not easy to do for any position because that means you have to defeat the guy across from you in doing your job. As I was told some time ago, they're on scholarship, too.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I think in my statement about him volunteering to be involved in the special teams is something that you don't get from a lot of starters. Most of them would probably prefer to spend their time starting and focusing on that particular role. But to have him step forward and volunteer to be a part of our special teams says a whole lot, says a great deal about his leadership.

COACH WILLINGHAM: That's a pretty good term.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I don't spend a lot of time on that one. Maybe that's what happened on that center call.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, if the talent level is there and the guys are contributing, making the plays, we will try to involve as many people in our offensive scheme as possible. You're starting to see I think the emergence of Marcus a little bit with his plays at the latter part of the ballgame. He's shown that he has that make-you-miss ability. That's something you always need in the offense because hopefully that gives that you home run, that big-play threat that every offense needs. If you can generate five to six really big runs over the course of a ballgame, that has the ability to change a football game. But I'm pleased because the group we're having right now, Ryan Grant is giving us, that Rashon is giving us that. It's great to see that kind of ability display itself from all of those guys. It would be a welcomed addition with Marcus.

COACH WILLINGHAM: In some cases, it's difficult. Probably in all cases it's difficult because the backup can never get the number of snaps that the starter gets. They've got to be bright young men that pay attention during practice and kind of learn through the eyes and the body actions of the other player. It makes it difficult in some regards, but it also focuses a young man to concentrate, which should help them any time they're involved in a play.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I've got to be careful here because I'm not sure exactly what you heard about my emotions. I don't want to be speaking about things I'm not sure of. It probably goes better without saying from both of us on that. Like a story I was told once by another coach I was with, he said, "If you can imagine that little Johnny is in the middle of the street, there's a speeding car coming down the street, and Johnny is definitely in harm's way, do you say 'Little Johnny, please get out of the road'"? (State in a low, calm voice) I'm not sure that would be appropriate.

COACH WILLINGHAM: We were in harm's way (laughter).

COACH WILLINGHAM: Yes.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, what we'll try to do there is find those things that we think make Pittsburgh vulnerable. That's number one. We have to figure out the best way to attack them within our offensive structure. Then you let the athletes' abilities take over, which means on some cases there's some things that definitely would be in for Carlyle because of his running ability, in addition to his passing skills, and some things that will be taking out for Pat because he doesn't have those skills and you focus on what he can do.

COACH WILLINGHAM: We're thinking about that. We haven't laid it down in terms of concrete numbers exactly what they'll be. We know we probably have to get this week a lot more work.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I laughed. I mean, no, it's the same thing. You're not as good as people say you are, and you're not as bad as they say you are. Sometimes if you're in this business long enough, you experience both of those, okay? So, no, I didn't pay honestly any attention to that at all.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, I think it is both. I think it's something that we have a group of young men that are playing a very aggressive style of football and have great confidence in their skills to make things happen that they can take balls and put them in the end zone, intercept balls, pick up fumbles, et cetera. But I also think we have a coaching staff that is doing a fine job of teaching those young men those skills. I think it is a combination of the two that's allowed us to have some success at it.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, in helping the team, it certainly helps me. I think if you even go back as short a time as just this past Saturday and look at that ballgame, there was a stretch in there that our crowd and that passion really displayed itself. I think it started, gosh, may have been with Darrell Campbell's sack down near the goal line. All of a sudden they just raised the bar in terms of their energy. That kind of intensity and that kind of passion, your team just feels it. Therefore, our team raised the bar. I think at that point the offense might have taken the next drive in or within a couple of series took one in, then all of a sudden the defense gets one, the defense gets another one, the offense goes on another drive. Any time you can create energy, emotion in a positive manner, it helps. Our fans have done a great job with that.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, first of all, thank you. We've been blessed to have some quality young men on the campus when we arrived. We've just tried to work with them within the structure of our system, the way we do things, believing in them, believing in our structure, and tried to get them to see that we could be successful.

COACH WILLINGHAM: Well, I think attitude is a key to life. How you approach this world makes all the difference in it. I think we have a very positive, positive approach and a very positive attitude about our teachings and our young men have a very positive attitude about themselves.

COACH WILLINGHAM: It does create some problems, especially if the two young men are drastically different. In a lot of systems you will see very similar quarterbacks simply because that program recruits to a certain type of personality, as I would call it. But it can be a very difficult thing to prepare for.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I'm not sure how tough it will be for them.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I'm trying to document those years exactly because I think that might have been about the time that I was either finishing up as a player and/or becoming a graduate assistant in the program at that time. Walt at that time was a very professional coach, had a great rapport with his players, and demanded a great deal of them. I don't think that's changed in his coaching style at the University of Pittsburgh. He is very demanding of his team, has great knowledge and expertise, and his put together I think a very, very talented team.

COACH WILLINGHAM: I honestly can't tell you. The word I use is "flexible." I think you have to be. I have said this many times. I have children that are teenagers. I don't think discipline goes a long way. I think you have to have some discipline, but you have to be flexible. I think when you deal with young adults and teenagers, you have to be able to do that. Do they need ground rules? Yes, they do. Do they need structure? Yes, they do. But at the same time you have to bend a little, give a little, and help them through a tremendous growth period in their lives.