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ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL: OHIO STATE v ALABAMADecember 28, 2014Kirby SmartNEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA COACH SMART: First and foremost, really appreciate the Sugar Bowl committee and trustees of the Sugar Bowl. They've done a great job making us feel welcome from the time we got here. Got off the plane, had the band out there, and it's great to shake everybody's hand and see everybody. Obviously we've been very fortunate since being in Alabama. It's our fourth Sugar Bowl. I was part of two prior to that. One at University of Georgia. Actually was in Atlanta. And also part of a Sugar Bowl at FSU. So being from the Southeast, this is the premier bowl in the southeast. Excited to be here. It's an honor to be here. They do a great job hosting us, with a great city to do it in. A little bit about this year's team: We're excited. These guys have played their butt off ever since the Ole' Miss loss. They've never turned back. Kept fighting, done everything we've asked them to do. Proud of this group. A lot of good seniors. Especially the group I've got in the secondary. Some good kids that have worked hard to overcome a lot of things. But they've responded well and competed, that we've asked them to do. We've got a lot of respect for Ohio State. Obviously I admire the coach and team. They've done a great job. Scoring 45 points and around 500 yards per game. It's made for a rough 20, 30 days watching that tape of what they do offensively. Great challenge. They block well. Hit you in the mouth. Throw the ball well. Do a good job, really great group of skilled receivers. So the challenge is in front of us defensively to play well and execute against a really good offense. But we're excited and we're happy to be here. I'll open it up to any questions. Q. Kirby, one thought, the fact they're playing a quarterback who has really only started one game. He did play other opportunities during the season. Just your thoughts on Cardale Jones' one full game and what did you learn about him and maybe how do you anticipate he'll play in this game? COACH SMART: Well, I hope he doesn't play like he played in that game. He did a great job. Very unflappable. Not affected easily. He does a good job in the pocket. Throws the ball really well. He really threw the deep ball as well in that game. Kind of proved himself as a passer. And Wisconsin really challenged the guys outside and forced him to throw it and he did. So what he's been asked to do, he's done. And he's done it at a really high level. He's got a lot of good players around him, which makes it easy for a quarterback. When you've got really good players around you, and they manage the game well for him, they do a great job of what they asked him to do in that game he did well. The guy's proven to me he's a very quality quarterback. Q. When you get ready to prepare a defense to face an offense that's very multiple, that can do a lot of things in a lot of formations, take us through that process, what is that like, to try to prepare for, frankly, a million different looks or things, how do you go about making guys so they don't overlook? COACH SMART: Take it part by part. It's harder on a bowl game. Because you gotta focus on one thing a day. Can't get ready for everything every day. We try to take a part of what they do, work on it each day, get better at it. There's a lot of material. We have a lot of games on the season. We've got a lot of time. You have to be careful. You can overthink things. We tried really hard to work on us, us meaning we've got to get better, not focus on what they do the whole time. Here in the last seven, eight days, focus on what they do and getting better at what they do. It's a challenge, especially when you are seeing them running up and down the field like a track meet on every play. Daunting task that hopefully we'll be up to. Q. Talking about running up and down the field, they have speed. And the Big Ten has always been, in a sense, has always been slow, is this more like an SEC game? COACH SMART: We've talked to several coaches in their league and every coach to a T said‑‑ these are coaches that have been in the SEC. From their league said, without a doubt, they've got an SEC team, they've got SEC speed and SEC size. They just don't play in the SEC. These guys are out to prove something. They've got a chip on their shoulder. And they look on film just like one of the teams we play, if not better, because they've got big, fast receivers. Big, fast skilled guys. They do a really good job with their tight ends and their offensive line is really quality, too. Q. (Indiscernible)? COACH SMART: I wouldn't tell you that, I wouldn't be fair. Several. Several. Q. What's the biggest disadvantage when you've only really had that one piece of tape on their quarterback? COACH SMART: Well, not knowing how he reacts to different things would be the toughest thing. You don't know how he's going to react in certain situations. You haven't seen enough tape to know. That's probably the hardest thing for us to get prepared for is we're watching one quarterback in a lot of games, yet we're going to face a different quarterback. So knowing what they want to do with that guy makes it harder, tougher to get ready for. Q. Who is the time element on? Does it make it help you more preparing for Ohio State or does it help Cardale Jones more preparing to face your defense? COACH SMART: I don't really know that. I think it helps both of us. It's who takes advantage of that time better. If you manage that time right, he manages the time better, it could pay off for either one of us. He has a lot of time to watch tape and prepare for our defense. We've got a lot of time to get prepared for them and what they might do. Q. Up front, it's a team that has four new offensive linemen. And at the beginning of the year, shaky up front. In terms of the tapes you've done, can you analyze up front from where they started to where they are now? COACH SMART: Got a lot better. You talk to people. That's what they say. They've got new starters. They're not new starters now. They started all year. They played really well together. They have seen a lot of different looks from teams in their league. Pretty much what you could see, they've seen. They do a great job communicating. You can tell they're well coached up front. They pick up things and communicate well. They've kind of gelled and played better. They got a hat on a hat. And do a good job blocking people up front. Improved throughout the year tremendously. Q. (Question about Trey and his leadership growth). COACH SMART: Trey is a great leader. Enjoyed recruiting Trey. Coach (indiscernible) was the lead recruiter on him. I was coaching the linebackers at the time. Very intelligent, sharp linebacker. Does a great job commanding the huddle. Makes a lot of checks for us. He's grown. Played with Donte and played with C.J. Now he's put himself in that role as a leader. Does a great job day in, day out. Just a quality person overall and came a long way to play for us and has had a good career. Q. (Indiscernible). COACH SMART: The biggest thing taken away is the leadership role. He may be a different player, may be better playing block, playing the run. But the biggest thing that he does is lead our team. Every day we're struggling not having a good practice. He's not afraid to speak up. That's what C.J. did. That's what Nico did and Donte did. He's the bell cow in there. He does a good job leading for us, great person, great family. Q. What's it like having that family come down for every single game, talking about Trey came a long way. They make that journey every week? COACH SMART: Says a lot for them. They think a lot of him, quality group of people that come down‑‑ a lot of the games they've come to they're all over the country. Not just home games. They're always there to see him and support him. He's been a great asset for us and a great kind of ambassador for our program. Q. Talk about the defensive line. Obviously Nick's talked about how deep it is this year. How do you compare to some previous seasons? Seems like this is the deepest rotation you've had. COACH SMART: It's the healthiest we've been. We've had some of this kind of depth before, but we usually lose a guy in the season, have a guy hurt. Dalvin was an ACL guy. I guess it was last year. Lost guys on the defensive line in years past. This year, haven't really lost guys. Been able to rotate guys and play a lot of guys. That helps us. Anytime you've got depth at that position, allows you to play more guys. That's what we like to do is play a bunch of guys. Q. One thing I know that's disappointed both you and Coach Saban, the secondaries (indiscernible), and they have an opportunity to throw the ball well. They've got some big receivers, you talked about. How much improvement have you made the last few weeks on that? COACH SMART: We'll find out. I don't think you ever know how much improvement you've made until you play. We've obviously worked on it, tried to attack that area, tried to help those guys some. And at the end of the day we have a lot of situations where if we can make the play and finish the play, then we're probably not talking about it. It's a big part of what we do. We talked about explosive plays in bowl games to determine the outcome probably more than turnovers do. So we can't give up explosive plays in the run game or pass game. And Ohio State is really good at both. They've got more explosive plays than anybody we've played this year and I'm sure they're trying to exploit that weakness. So we'll have to do a good job on the back end to be successful in this game. Because at the end of the day, against Ohio State, you've got to make them one dimensional one way or the other. It's hard to do without putting guys in one‑on‑one situations. So we'll have to do that and we'll have to make some plays. Q. Do they remind you of any senior face of the SEC this year maybe like Mississippi State? COACH SMART: You like to say Mississippi State. There's some differences there. But obviously Urban and Dan being together, it makes a little bit of similarities. But the quarterbacks are a little different, makes the offense a little different. But they're both very senior‑laden. Lots of seniors on Mississippi State's team and a lot of seniors on Ohio State's team. A little bit of the same flavor. A little bit of Ole' Miss too. They do a good job of mixing it up and make you account for every square inch of the field. They throw it all over the field. Q. Can you look a little at Florida to get a feel for how Urban likes to attack a Nick Saban team? COACH SMART: I think you can a little bit. I think it's tough. A long time since that game. I don't know how much of that they'll use. We'll see. Different offensive coordinator for them. So you it will be interesting to see. Q. You said compared to Mississippi State, would you compare Cardale Jones to (indiscernible)? COACH SMART: I'm saying the quarterbacks are different. Different players. Similar plays but different kind of players. So I don't know if that overlaps or not. I'm sure they'll use the tape. I'm sure they'll talk to Coach Mullen, too. Q. You obviously had a long career, very successful career as a coordinator. I want to hear your appreciation for what Tom Herman accomplished this year as a coordinator and now a head football coach. COACH SMART: Houston got a good one. I still remember to this day, I don't know what year it was‑‑ you all have to help me with that, ‑‑ but watching maybe it was a Thursday or Friday night game. Ohio State was playing Oklahoma State, I guess it was. Man, he did a phenomenal job. I remember having a lot of respect for him then, thinking who is this guy. Then he got on with Ohio State. I knew right away they were going to be a good team. Coach Meyer made a great hire and the guy does an unbelievable job. As good a job as anybody I've seen in all my years of being a coordinator of mixing it up, changing it up and keeping you off balance. No real tendencies, outstanding coach. Houston got them a good one. Q. You talked about talking with several Big Ten coaches about getting ready for Ohio State. And you mentioned Urban and Dan Mullen. Where do the conference loyalties lie in terms of‑‑ COACH SMART: I think you have coach loyalties. When all things are closed, and you're behind closed doors, you have coach loyalties, not conference loyalties. And he's got a lot of loyalty to our conference because he did a good job in it. He's been around it. The same way with some of the guys in his. So it's mixed emotions there. But at the end of the day it doesn't matter what they tell you, it's what you do. Q. Within the SEC, don't you guys have an agreement like if somebody would fall in a game like this, that you wouldn't talk to another conference? COACH SMART: I don't know of any agreement like that. Q. Nothing there? COACH SMART: I wouldn't know. Q. What would be their incentive to help you if they're in the same league? COACH SMART: I don't know, maybe they like Urban Meyer. Maybe they're good friends with him. You tell me why they would want to help him. I don't know. Q. People say that Urban Meyer and Nick Saban are a lot alike in a lot of ways. What do you think makes Nick Saban so successful in situations? COACH SMART: His leadership qualities. Development of young men. I think the both of them, overall ability to run a football program. Day‑to‑day decisions where they focus on the here and now. They don't get caught up in the long term. They're sitting there saying I've got to win today. Both of them do a great job running their programs. Very sound. Good leadership at the top. Q. Quite a bit of success there against Missouri in the SEC championship game. How tough is it to carry‑‑ COACH SMART: It's tough, because Ohio State's got really good wideouts and a good quarterback. And they can run the ball really well. I think it makes it tougher because they've got better overall players right now than Missouri does. Q. Are you mentally conditioned enough to‑‑ COACH SMART: I hope so. We'll find out. We've tried to work really hard. It's a long layover. You don't know what you'll get when you go back out there. But obviously we challenged our guys. We know it's going to be a great challenge to play these guys, because they do such a good job offensively. We've got to keep them off balance and expect them to go up‑tempo and go fast and hopefully we can play well. Q. You said several Big Ten coaches have given you some information. COACH SMART: I wouldn't say information. I wouldn't say information. I think everybody wants to talk about that and focus on that. Where all we're saying is you share different ideas as far as how good is this team, are they good. Because we're going to do what we do defensively. We're not going to go get ideas from somebody else. When you say information, it's do they look like an SEC team? Are they built like an SEC team? Yes, they're fast and big and they're physical. That kind of information. Not defensive information or secrets. There are no secrets to this game. You've got to block. You've got to tackle. You've got to be physical. You've got to be fast. That's what we hope to do. Q. Did that surprise you, even that, because usually you think‑‑ COACH SMART: Doesn't surprise me that anybody in the SEC would talk to Coach Meyer either. Q. Why? COACH SMART: Because in the league, if they know him and trust him, they're going to talk‑‑ coaches talk. You know what you believe. Coaches that are friends talk. That's what friends do. The loyalties lie within the coaching, not necessarily within conference. Q. (Indiscernible). Not much background. About the secondary. With the extra faculties, same guys, maybe a Tony Brown steps up, and maybe make more of an impact in a game like this where you might need more corners to step up and make good plays? COACH SMART: You know, we work hard on developing our young players during this time. We're trying to get them better for next year. We have a lot of practices to get ready for next year. A lot of guys have grown up and played more. At the end of the day, the guys that are starters gotta play best because they're the guys that are going to play. We're not necessarily going to play more guys in the secondary. We've just got to play better in the secondary. We've challenged them to do that. Q. I know you guys worked so hard during the season to form an identity in your defense. At the end of the season what would you say is the identity of this team? COACH SMART: I think it's a real resilient group. Really good job in the red area, stopping people. Holding the field goals. I think the identity has been a mixed bag of tricks. Because we've been good sometimes and sloppy sometimes. At the end of the day I hope they finish on the note that we started with, stopping people in the red area being physical at the run and not giving up the big plays. We gotta force more turnovers. We haven't been able to do that. I hope we can finish with that identity of the typical Alabama defense. Stop the run first, don't give up big plays and force turnovers. Q. (Indiscernible) a lot of people think the Arkansas game was the turning point for your team. Do you remember, probably so, Coach on one day went on this rant about employing victory. Can you talk about that message he gave and (indiscernible) the different players? COACH SMART: I certainly think it helped. I think it helped just as much when he told the team, before the Arkansas game, leading into the game, to play, have fun, compete, go win the game. Don't worry about losing the game. Go win the game.  And that's the way they played against Arkansas. It didn't matter how many times we went back out there. Our defense was not going to be denied. We weren't going to give up a score. And we had to stop them about four times in the second half. And each time they did. And I didn't feel like they were playing not to lose like I felt like the Ole' Miss game. That's why I say it was probably a turning point going into Arkansas that, hey, we were going to play to win not play not to lose and that was probably the biggest difference. Q. Also said they seemed to come alive in that game in terms of (indiscernible)? COACH SMART: I agree. I agree. They enjoyed‑‑ every time they went out, there were guys in the huddle like here we go, we'll stop them again. Whereas, I felt like Ole' Miss, there was a lot of nervous energy, when is something going to go wrong instead of let's go stop them. Q. The other thing, when Coach goes on those‑‑ COACH SMART: I've seen him before. Q. Give me your opinion of those. COACH SMART: I think it's great. Gets everybody's attention. You obviously pay attention more. You talk about it. So it has an effect. At the end of the day, that's what you want to do is have an effect on your coaches, players, media, whatever it is. Q. What's the biggest difference for an Urban at Florida and an Urban at Ohio State, what they're doing offensively? COACH SMART: Tough question. There's a lot of similarities. Especially with the other quarterback. Between him and Tebow. Really good runner. Tim always commanded the offense well. So did Rex and J.T. All those guys have done a great job. There's some similarities there between both of them. But really good skill guys. Good offensive line. Good backs. Probably got more power backs than I remember him having at Florida, might be the biggest difference. But does a good job. Q. Do you get help in your preparation because you had to game plan against an Urban Meyer team? COACH SMART: Again, I don't know how much, is this Urban Meyer, is this Coach Herman? I don't know. I've never had to go against Tom Herman before. And he's the one calling the plays. So obviously there's some similarities in the offense. I'm not saying that. But for us, we can't copycat their Florida game plan, because we're not what we were when we played Florida. We're a different team. Football is different now. There's a lot of kind of different plays coming out there. Q. Who does Cardale Jones remind you of that you may have faced this season? COACH SMART: Tough comparison. I don't really know. He's a really accurate passer. Does a great job passing the ball. Does a great job commanding the huddle. And I really don't have enough information with the one game to pinpoint him with somebody else. Tell you what he's got, he's got great poise. Played in a great high school program. Very intelligent. Very good leader. You can tell he's well prepared. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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