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ROSE BOWL GAME: IOWA VS STANFORD

December 27, 2015

Greg Davis

Pasadena, California

An interview with:

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR

GREG DAVIS

Q. It seems your team finishes really well late in ballgames. What do you attribute that to? Is it maturity?
COACH DAVIS: I think part of finishing can be attributed to our off-season program and our strength and conditioning. Chris Doyle and his staff does such a tremendous job. It's easy to mentally want to finish, but if your body won't allow you to do that, you don't finish. So I think it goes all the way back to starting over in January in the off-season program. But to me, that would be a big part of it.

Then I think maybe the second thing is the number of situational opportunities that we give our players in fall camp. You're at the 18-yard line, 13 seconds, no timeout, and everybody does that. The thing that Kirk does, which is a little bit different, is a lot of times we don't know what that's going to be. We think practice is over and he'll say, okay, here it is. You've got the ball is on the 13 and you've got 20 seconds and it takes a touchdown to win. So both sides of the ball have to immediately go out there, and so I think that's also a part of it.

Q. How about C.J.'s skill set? You named him as the guy in the off-season. What about him makes him unique?
COACH DAVIS: Well, he's got an extremely quick arm. I was asked to describe that, and the best way I can describe it is from the time the mind says open until the ball leaves the hand it does not take him long. The ball comes out, he's a tough guy. He's very smart. He can extend plays. He can make plays with his feet.

So he's got a lot of the tools that you look for in outstanding quarterbacks. On top of all of that he's a winner.

Q. Does the personnel you have now from when you first started, does that sit better with what you like to do and what you like to call?
COACH DAVIS: Well, I think the personnel is better. I think guys like Tevaun Smith have been here four years now. As I alluded to a while ago, there's a lot of flexibility that the players have once the ball is snapped in the passing game, and it just takes a while for them to understand that flexibility. It takes a while to get on the same page with the quarterback.

Then I think the fact that we're able to run the ball so much better this year than we have in the last couple of years. Part of that is the offensive line, which was a huge question in August. I mean, every question I took in August was about the tackles, and they certainly have done a good job. Then Cole Croston was a guy who nobody knew in August, and he's actually played more snaps at tackle for us this year than either Boone or Ike, Austin Blythe being the anchor in the middle.

And then I think it would be -- it would certainly be wrong of me not to mention Brian Ferentz and the job he's done with the people up front.

Then Jordan for the most part stayed healthy, even though he missed a little bit, he stayed healthy. LeShun's been in and out a little bit.

But also Akrum Wadley. Wadley is a guy that we knew at the end of last year can do things that you can't coach. He's got great vision. He's got lateral movement. But last year he had a hard time remembering that that football was pretty important. So he really dedicated himself, especially through fall camp, of understanding and how to take care of the ball.

Then I think Chris White pointed some things out to him about not just ball security but Akrum was a big spinner. As he would enter into the darkened alley, so to speak, he was always spinning. When he was doing that, a lot of times he was making people miss. But the ball was also coming away from the body. So it was just a matter of showing him that we want you to run naturally, but as you do that, we also want you to realize how to take care of the ball.

Q. Do you envision there being a role call for running back?
COACH DAVIS: Yeah, what we do is we go into the game with Derrick Mitchell is our third down back. He's been another guy that was a receiver last -- not in August, but in spring training. He was a receiver that we moved to the running back position. So he's really done a good job. So he'll be the third down back.

So we'll just kind of rotate LeShun, Jordan, assuming Jordan doesn't have a setback while we're out here, and Akrum, and kind of who gets a hot hand and how does the game -- what kind of temperament the game takes on.

Q. What makes VandeBerg so successful? You look at him and you wouldn't think he'd be that successful, and he is.
COACH DAVIS: He's smart. First of all, he's really smart. Our slot receiver is a guy that is always coming across the middle. Either sit down, run, those kind of things. So he understands. He understands where the spots are. I think C.J. has a lot of confidence in him, especially in third down situations. And he's a tough guy, so I think all those things are the reason he's had a good year.

Q. How gratifying has this year been for you? I mean, when you first came here, even last year there were people saying your system doesn't fit this team and their personnel. Obviously, you proved that wrong.
COACH DAVIS: Well, it's been gratifying to see the players have success. I mean, from January, and I know it gets old talking about being resilient and next man in and one day at a time, but when you have really good teams, that's what they do.

And so Kirk just kept talking about that and the players took that mindset. So that has been really gratifying to see this team come together and not worry about -- C.J. doesn't worry about it are we going to throw it 40 times or are we going to throw it 20? Just what gives us the best opportunity to win.

Q. Kirk is extremely loyal, what's that mean to you?
COACH DAVIS: Well, Kirk is a ball guy. I mean, he enjoys the day-to-day grind of being a football coach. So he enjoys that part of it more than a lot of head coaches in today's world. He likes ball guys. He likes players that play hard. Josey Jewell comes to mind and Austin Blythe and the guys that just enjoy playing the game the right way. He's a fun guy to be around.

Q. Just about everybody else here, I know Kirk's been in one of those bowls, but this is old hat to you, so to speak, but, I mean, what does it take for a team to be Rose Bowl caliber, you having been on four of them now?
COACH DAVIS: I think it starts out you have to be pretty good. You've got to have some good players because you can't get here without that. I think you have to be fortunate along the way. You've got to either stay healthy or the next guy in, which we've been very fortunate this year.

I was telling somebody coming over here, we went into Northwestern this year, both our tackles that we started the opening ballgame did not play. We were playing a true freshman, James Daniels, at tackle. LeShun was on the mend. Jordan Canzeri got hurt. So C.J. was limping around with a groin. Just that attitude of it really doesn't matter who's in the ballgame, we have to play well. So I think you have to be good. I think you have to either stay healthy or the next man in has to come in there. And without question, you have to have a break or two. You've got to have some things that go your way.

Q. Do you think people understand that, what a thin line it is between being 12-0 and 8-4?
COACH DAVIS: Well, I think the people who study the game do. I was watching the ballgame the other day, Central Florida, and George O'Leary had done a tremendous job. In 2013 they won the conference. And I believe I heard this right. In 2014 they won 11 ballgames and this year they did not win any. I certainly don't know their situation, but winning consistently is hard to do, and it takes a team with focus. It takes a team with a mindset that we're going to do whatever it takes.

Q. Of all your three Rose Bowl trips, what are the most vivid things? Besides winning a National Championship, just what really strikes you when you think about it?
COACH DAVIS: When people ask me about the Rose Bowl, to me when you're arriving with your football team, you're kind of coming through this little neighborhood and you're thinking there is no way there could be a big stadium out here, and you come over this little knoll and you look down to a mass sea of humanity and people.

It's almost like a state fair mentality and the mountains are in the background, and then you realize, okay, this is why they call it "The Granddaddy of Them All." It's really a tremendous environment. And you're always playing a quality football team.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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