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ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL MEDIA CONFERENCEDecember 4, 2011Brady HokeTHE MODERATOR: We're going to start off with Coach Brady Hoke from the University of Michigan. Coach, a brief opening statement. COACH HOKE: I can tell you that Team 132 of Michigan is extremely excited to be given this opportunity to play in the Allstate Sugar Bowl. It's the second time that Michigan has been in the Sugar Bowl. And we've got an outstanding opponent and a tremendously well‑coached football team we're going to play in Virginia Tech and what Coach Beamer and his staff does. We're very excited about it. And we look forward to it and can't wait to get down there. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. Are you familiar at all with Frank Beamer? Do you know him at all? Do you know anything about his coaching style, coaching philosophy? COACH HOKE: Believe me, I've not had the privilege of meeting Coach. But you watch his football teams play and the toughness and the execution they play with, you know, being a football junkie like I think most of us are in this profession, it's a well‑coached football team, disciplined football team, a team that's going to give you everything they've got for 60 minutes. Q. Were you nervous at all that you guys wouldn't get into the top four teams? What was that like for the last 24, 48 hours? COACH HOKE: We don't control any of that. So the things that we can't control we really don't worry about, because we've got enough things as a program and how we want to represent Michigan on a daily basis that we worry about. Q. When you took over this job about a year ago, in the middle of a lot of controversy and chaos, could you have imagined that your team would have achieved what it has this season? And how rewarding has that been to you? COACH HOKE: Well, it's so rewarding for our seniors. I mean, our seniors have done everything with our program and their leadership and how they've led this football team and how they've worked together. And I don't know if we went in with any expectations besides the normal expectations that you have at the University of Michigan. And that's to win Big Ten championships. We didn't do that. And we've got to obviously go back to work after this Bowl game. Q. I want to ask about the spotlight this puts on the program. You talk about the players were excited. What kind of reward is it playing in a BCS Bowl game, and how do you anticipate the spotlight of things going forward with how prestigious a game it is? COACH HOKE: I think our guys have done a great job of staying pretty steady and being consistent. And it's a great reward for our players and what they've achieved and how they've played and how they've represented the University of Michigan all year long. So it's going to be fun. But like everyone else, you don't want to lose that last football game that you play. So you want to go out and work hard and do the things as a team that we need to do to prepare to go win a Bowl game. Q. You've talked about being part of the excitement after the Ohio State game and seeing the senior faces and seeing the emotion. What was it like to be around that team tonight and to kind of see kind of the payoff of their hard work and when the announcement was made when you're going to the Sugar Bowl? COACH HOKE: Well, you know, Jeff, I wasn't there with the team. I'm in New York City. Coach Carr is being inducted into the National Football Hall of Fame. So I knew the excitement that they were going to have and the feeling that they were going to have as a team. And we were very fortunate that we get this opportunity as a team to play one more time. And we're going to make the most of it. Q. How rewarding and satisfying is it for you to see this team improve so much on defense not only from just last year but also as this year has gone on? COACH HOKE: Well, our defensive coaches have done a tremendous job. Greg Mattison and Curt Mallory and Mark Smith and Jerry Montgomery, and the way our seniors, Mike Martin and Ryan Van Bergen and Troy Woolfolk and those guys on the defensive side of the ball, how they've taken every day at heart and they've learned and the fundamentals and how they play together as a team. Believe me, it's been fun to watch them. It's been fun to watch the growth. We're not obviously where we need to be yet. But we have one more opportunity. Q. You talked a couple times, mentioned your seniors. Can you talk about when you are coming into a program as a first‑year coach and building a relationship with those seniors, how vital was that to your team's success? COACH HOKE: When we met with them the first day a year ago January and the first thing we talked about was our seniors and how important, and they understand the struggles, because of what they've been through in any program from the winter conditioning, the spring balls, the summer workouts. And we're always going to coach and we're always going to play for our seniors. And those young guys, they start to understand that hopefully they're going to have the opportunity to represent Michigan as a senior on a football team and they're just going to play a little harder and do a little more due diligence in their work. Q. I know you were probably paying attention to your situation, but when the matchup came up and it was Virginia Tech, were you surprised it was the Hokies, considering they lost yesterday in the SEC championship game? COACH HOKE: You know, if I try and figure it all out I think I'd get a headache, to be honest with you. And I just know that they're a terrific program. They have great tradition. Frank Beamer and that staff for a number of years have done a tremendous job. No matter who we played, it still comes down to it's about Michigan and how we represent the University of Michigan as a program. So really for me to try and figure it out and worry about who we're playing and matchups and everything like that, we're just so grateful to have a great opportunity to play one more game together. Q. Just want to ask again about your preparation for the Bowl game. Now you know when you're going to playing, and how you know who you're playing how do you specifically prepare the team for the Bowl game? Can you talk about what you focus in practice leading up to the game? COACH HOKE: Well, we're going to practice this week in two days, and then we'll take the week off a little bit as far as the end of the school year and finals coming up and then we'll practice the following weekend and then that next week and send them home for a couple of days and board that charter and go down to New Orleans. But there's different ways you can do it. I've done it a couple different ways. But the thing that we want to stress is the fundamentals and getting back into the fundamentals and the techniques that we want to play with. Q. We haven't talked in a week, is everybody still healthy? Are they all still good? COACH HOKE: Yeah. We're fine as a football team. And Brennen Beyer was really the only guy who was out for the last game. And he should be okay by the time the Bowl gets here. Q. You talked about how you don't want to lose that last game of the year. Can you tell us what you said to your guys in preparation for this game? Because the whole season they had been building up towards the Big Ten championship towards that Ohio State game. Now you have to shift focus and this one is not for a month and it's against a top 12 team in the country, and what do you say to the team to prep them for an opponent like Virginia Tech? COACH HOKE: We're going to talk about consistency that we've approached everything from, from how we prepare and how every day we come in and we have work to do as a team and the accountability that we want to have for each other. And the respect. And so that won't change much. I mean, that Ohio game's long gone. It's been a while ago. So we get to look forward and we've got to work towards our forward of the Bowl game. THE MODERATOR: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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