|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SEMIFINAL AT THE CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL: CLEMSON VS OKLAHOMADecember 27, 2015Jeff ScottTony ElliottMiami Gardens, Florida Q. A year ago when you guys were kind of learning the ropes, you figured out what you wanted to do your first bowl game, how much have you changed personally, both of you, in the last year? JEFF SCOTT: Obviously the experience through those 14 games are very valuable, but I would say deep down, philosophy-wise and really the same mentality and goals that we had going into that bowl game last year and kind of the foundation of what we wanted to do offensively really has not changed. I think probably we've become a little bit better in our planning and scripting and doing those type of things, and then obviously on game day the communication and all that, you're going to get better each game that you go, so that's helped. But I think philosophy of what we were doing offensively and what we wanted to do each game really has not changed. TONY ELLIOTT: Think the biggest thing for me is just growing in confidence prior to the game last year, I think all the way up in preparation I was fine, and then we had our final meeting in the hotel before we sent the kids back to the room before pregame, and that's when I started to get nervous, and I don't quite get as nervous because I know that, one, I've got a great staff and a great group of players that believe in me. The coaches are prepared. The call sheet is not too big. That's what we learned last year I think coming out of that bowl game is we looked at the call sheet from last year and there wasn't a whole lot on it. Obviously it was our first time and we just wanted to give our kids an opportunity to be successful. I think learning that and the challenge of staying as simple as possible but also making sure that you're not predictable but then just getting back to the foundation of the system and being committed to running the football, and a lot of that has to do with the guys up front and Wayne and how they perform this year. Q. Did you guys feel more pressure last year going into your first game as OCs or this year going into a playoff game? JEFF SCOTT: I would probably say last year with it being the first one. There were a lot of questions, not just with the promotion of Tony and myself to co-offensive coordinator, but obviously we had some injuries. We were short at tight end. Deshaun had just played a great game versus South Carolina, and now he's going to be out, and so there were a lot of questions going into that game, playing a very tough opponent, and I don't remember the exact dynamics of it, but I think Oklahoma popped up out of nowhere on our radar screen for the bowl game, and we went, wow, from the outside, I think there were a lot of people maybe doubting how that bowl game was going to turn out. But I think the confidence that -- just like we coach our players, you never arrive as a player. You always are continuing to learn and get better, and as coaches we're the same way. We don't feel like we've arrived and we have all the answers. But we feel like we're a lot more prepared, and so I think with preparation kind of alleviates a little bit of the pressure, and really we kind of try to live in a little submarine right there within the walls of what we do and try not to get caught up with all the outside stuff, and obviously having time over the break to kind of sit back and think about the position you're in and the possibilities that lie ahead, really we try to use all of our energy and time in our preparation because you waste some time thinking about all the outside stuff, it will not help us. TONY ELLIOTT: Coach Swinney does an unbelievable job of kind of insulating us and protecting us from the outside pressure, and then the same way preparing our guys that every game is the biggest game of the season, so this game right here that we we're preparing for, we're not going to do anything different. I wish we would have a little bit more time, so we'll go back and study ourselves to make sure our tendencies are not too predictable, but it will be the same approach. We'll have the same practice plan. I think that helps us from a confidence standpoint and it helps us to not get caught up in ourselves and put more pressure on ourselves by focusing on what's going on outside. I'd say the more pressure was last year because it was the first time not knowing what to expect my first time up in the box, but now I've got a little bit more experience, but also at the same point I understand that I haven't arrived like Jeff said. I've got a lot to learn. I've made some bad calls this season. There's some things I'd like to do differently. There's more efficiency that I'd like to get into the game planning process that's going to come over the next couple years as we continue to go forward. So just focusing on what we do, how we do it, alleviates a lot of the pressure? Q. Just being up in the box, this is your first year with that vantage point. TONY ELLIOTT: I think it's allowed me to be in a situation where it's a lot calmer and so I can listen to Jeff and hear what he's saying, I can hear what Coach Swinney is saying, Coach Streeter, Coach Caldwell and take all the information in between series and kind of formulate a plan like, okay, this is what we're all seeing and let's get to this. So it's not so much that it's all me. It's just being able to be up where I'm out of the battlefield environment with a lot calmer, so I can just be focused on the call sheet, and take in all the information, processing it and then getting it back out to the guys so we can make the proper adjustments. Q. How different is this Oklahoma defense from the team you played last year at this time? TONY ELLIOTT: I'd say structurally it's very similar. They have added a few wrinkles which makes them a little more multiple, but they're playing with a lot more confidence. It looks like up front they're moving a little bit better. They had a really, really big nose guard that causes problems, but now you've got to account for all three of their down linemen. The linebackers are very experienced, very skilled in the secondary. Their corners are very dangerous. They can play you in off coverage and be effective. They can come up and play you bump and run, man coverage in your face, so they are little bit more multiple, but they are just playing at a higher level, a lot more confidence, communicating better and you don't see any busted assignments. You see them all on the same page. Q. Coach Stoops was saying he feels like Deshaun is about as advanced as you can be more a sophomore. You obviously had him committed for a long time and had a plan for him. Where is he right now when you look at him from the big picture at the end of his sophomore year? JEFF SCOTT: Well, I mean, we knew talent standpoint wise that he was going to be a very talented player early on, and we were very fortunate that he came to our football camp maybe before he went to anybody else's football camp so we could see that part. But the part that you don't know until they get there inside the meeting room is the mental aspect, and I think we found out pretty quickly his freshman year being put in some games, his very first game at Georgia has been talked about a little bit already, but it was a huge check that he made against a very exotic blitz, and to be able to get it checked and throw his first touchdown pass in his first game in his home state of Georgia, that was probably the first moment when we went, wow. And then later on in the season there was a run where he started three or four games there and had a lot of success, and just the decision making as coaches, I said last year we set the record for most times using the word wow on the headsets. I mean, his freshman year, we're sitting here, a lot of these plays that are run-pass tags and they're combo plays that he can throw it to the boundary, he can throw it to the field or he can hand it off or run it up the middle, and based off the defense he's got a decision to make, and he's sitting here as a true freshman, and a lot of times obviously we know the offensive play call and we can see the defense start moving, so in our mind we've done this for four years, we know what the end result, where the ball should go. We're just watching this freshman go in there and make the right decision every single time, and even though we've seen this 10 times over the last four years, this is the first time this 18-year-old quarterback has ever seen it and he's getting it right. So I think we knew really early on that not only does he have great physical talents, but his mental strength and decision making is going to be a huge advantage. But Deshaun would tell you, as every competitor, he's not -- he hasn't reached his ceiling. I mean, I think he's obviously an elite talent, one of these guys that as coaches you may not coach another guy like that, but I think he still has things that he wants to work on and improve. But we're obviously very pleased with where he is, especially missing the games that he missed last year with all the injuries and all that. I mean, he picked right back up this fall like he was a second-year starter, played all season last year. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|