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NCAA MEN'S COLLEGE WORLD SERIES

June 17, 2016

Omaha, Nebraska

THE MODERATOR: This afternoon session we have Josh Holliday, coach at Oklahoma State, winner of Clemson Regional, eliminated No. 7 national seed Clemson in the Columbia Super Regional. Andrew Checketts from UC Santa Barbara, winner of the Nashville Regional and Louisville Super Regional, in which they eliminated No. 2 Louisville. Jay Johnson from Arizona, winner of the Lafayette Regional and the Starkville Super Regional, eliminated No. 6 Mississippi State. And Jim Morris from Miami, No. 3 national seed, winner of the Coral Gables Regional and Super Regional.

Opening statements. Josh, we'll start with you and come down the line.

COACH HOLLIDAY: Thank you. It goes without saying we're thrilled to be here. And we've enjoyed two days here in Omaha. And it was great to get out on the field this morning. Amazing how fast the time goes once you actually land, all the excitement and kind people that greet you and the opportunity for your players to just soak in being part of the College World Series.

As I've said before, it gets better every time you come. And when you come back, after having not been here for a while, it makes you realize why this place is so special and why you do the things you do each day to try to build a team and build your players and programs to have a chance to come here and compete for a national championship.

So we're thrilled to be here. And we recognize the awesome field, listening to the journeys these teams and our bracket have taken. This is an unbelievable bracket of teams and coaches and some awesome individual efforts to get here.

So we look forward to the competition, and we're very proud to be here. Thank you.

COACH CHECKETTS: It's been a whirlwind for us to get to this point. And we've had a tremendous couple of weeks. It hasn't felt as quick as I guess it was to Josh, because we've been on the road for 20 straight days. We've had a lot of hotel food and a lot of beds.

It's been a fantastic experience. This is my first time to Omaha. So 20 years of coaching and playing, and my first opportunity to be here as a coach, player, or even fan. So it's all new for me, all new for our players. We're trying to soak it all in and enjoy it.

Really proud of this group, what they've been able to accomplish. I wouldn't have guessed this six months ago that I would be sitting here with this group. And they've really done a tremendous job of playing and representing our university.

I'm really happy for our alumni and our fans. And one of the things when you walk into our clubhouse, the first thing you see on the wall is a sign that says "There's no free trips to Omaha." We've used that more as a motivation for our players in terms of the work they need to put in on a daily basis to get to this point.

But besides the player and work part of it, we're a bit of a grassroots team, and the funding for this and donors that have stepped up to help build our program over the last five years is something that's unique, I think, about our program, and I'm really happy for those people that have got behind us and supported us over the last few years.

COACH JOHNSON: Extremely honored to be here to bring Arizona back to the College World Series. I'm very proud of my team and very happy for them. We actually only have one player on our roster that's ever played in the NCAA Tournament let alone the College World Series. And they've earned the right to be here, had a great non-conference schedule. Navigated the Pac-12, and then going on the road in two hostile environments and being able to play the game one pitch at a time and really stay in our best character.

And we couldn't be more excited to be here. Like Andrew mentioned, this is my first time here -- player, coach, or fan. I was going to ask Coach Morris for some tips, but he wasn't too willing to give them, since he's been here 13 times.

But couldn't be happier to be here. And thank you.

COACH MORRIS: I want to congratulate you guys. I'm glad that the host team in Coral Gables didn't get upset like everyplace else. You guys come through a tough road. I know the places you guys have played and want to congratulate you on that.

It's exciting for us to be back here. And I think something's great for our team is half of our guys played in the World Series last year. They feel a little more at ease, a little more at home, and I think that's an advantage for any team to do that.

And I can tell them what it's about or whatever, but for them to be able to experience that and relate that, we have a lot of veteran players, and they've battled hard all year.

We've had 23 come-from-behind wins out of our 50 wins. So they come back in the ninth and walk-offs and everything else to get here. So it's been a very, very exciting year to watch it, and it's been a very good team effort, 1 through 9, hitters getting hits to win games and our pitchers and our bullpen. It's been a total team effort.

I mean, I know we've got Zack Collins, has been a star, but he's been walked 74 times. Some other guys have had to come through, and they have.

Just very proud of our players as a group, because I know they've hard and earned an opportunity to be back here. The greatest time here in Omaha has got to be June, and I'm excited to be back.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Coach Holliday, having been here as a player, do you have any memories of Rosenblatt and how this compares to Rosenblatt?
COACH HOLLIDAY: Yeah, I remember Rosenblatt. I remember coming I think for seven or eight straight years as a little boy. I remember the ice cream in the helmets. I remember the cotton candy guy. I just remember the players were bigger than life.

I remember every year we would come, the different emblems on the T-shirts. Yeah, it was -- that's what you lived for as a little kid. Then you get old enough to realize you just don't get to come every year somebody actually had to earn their way here.

Then getting to play in Rosenblatt twice was a dream come true. To hear that gentleman's voice call your name, it was like: Wow, that guy just said my name.

So, yeah, my memories of baseball, being an athlete, are all built around my time in college and playing in the College World Series, that's what it's all about.

The setting now is just as special in a different way. I think this is a gorgeous stadium, and one thing hasn't changed. The fans are the same. They come and they root for good baseball and embrace the players and the teams.

Seems like every year they'll get behind some team that catches fire and there's a chance to be part of that Cinderella story or that team.

So I think it's just new time, new faces, but the same spirit of competition that makes Omaha what it is.

Q. Jay and Jim, the way these two teams manufacture runs, how different of styles do you think there is between the two teams?
COACH JOHNSON: When I watch Miami on film, I see a lot of great players that play the game the right way, extremely fundamentally sound. As Coach mentioned, they had a bunch of comeback wins and really have won in a lot of different ways -- great pitching, good bullpen, one-run games, slugfest.

That's something we've tried to pride ourselves on all year, is that whatever the game dictates or says needs to be done on that day to be successful, to be able to execute that. And if somebody said that our team or our style looked like Miami, I would take that as a huge compliment.

COACH MORRIS: Well, from watching Arizona on tape, what they do, they bunt a lot. They play California baseball. That's what it reminds me of. California played at Long Beach State last week. And I can't believe they were a No. 3 seed, by the way. Outstanding club.

They do the little things. They're well coached. They move guys around, they pitch, their hitters go right after people. I mean, to me, we were an independent, so for many years we were able to go to Southern California and play Long Beach and Fullerton and UCLA and the schools there in that area and played home in home. So we got used to playing guys and watching, and it was a challenge for us because we felt if we played guys like a California guy -- I know he's in Arizona, but he's a California guy and plays that type of baseball -- it gets us ready to play because you've got to play well if you're going to beat these guys.

Q. Could you guys just offer up your starting pitcher for the openers?
COACH HOLLIDAY: Thomas Hatch.

COACH CHECKETTS: Shane Bieber.

COACH JOHNSON: We haven't made a decision yet. Make a decision Saturday morning.

COACH MORRIS: Saturday morning. I guess we need to make a decision Saturday morning. We're pitching Mediavilla.

Q. The ballpark plays big. I know everybody talks about hitting and pitching, but sometimes defense makes the difference in these tournaments. Talk a little bit about the personality of your team defensively, for every coach?
COACH HOLLIDAY: That's definitely been a part of the recipe, I think, of quality play. Quality pitching but excellent defense to limit the pitch count and take advantage of balls put in play. Our kids have done a great job with the ball on the ground. We run well in the outfield collectively. We'll be able to cut down on some of the space that you have to cover out there.

Then I think it's a matter of throwing the ball to the right base, limiting extra bases and giving your pitchers a chance to maybe minimize situations if a team gets something going by being fundamentally sound. But our kids have done a good job. I think that's definitely a piece of our team that has helped us get to this point.

COACH CHECKETTS: It's our strength. We're hitting .260 and we've got a team ERA of 37. To be in Omaha with those numbers means you probably are playing pretty good defense. Our shortstop is special. Clay Fisher is, in my mind, elite. I said it when we were on the West Coast, I said I think this guy is probably one of the best defenders on the West Coast. As we continue to play, he continues to be one of the better defenders we see. So I'm really interested in seeing how he compares to the rest of the shortstops in the College World Series. I think he'll stack up well.

Infield defense I think is something we're good at. We have three shortstops playing second, short and third base, and then we've got Andrew in the centerfield doing an absolute wonderful job running the balls down for us. I think that's our biggest strength.

COACH JOHNSON: I would agree. That's one of the strengths of our team. And playing in our facility, the way it plays, if you don't play good defense, you're going to have a hard time because it can play offensive at times, a lot of extra base hits.

It starts up the middle for us. We have a freshman catcher in Cesar Salazar who is mature beyond his years. And he does a great job handling our pitching staff, containing the running game, all of those types of things.

It took us a little while to settle on what we were doing with the infield by moving Louis Boyd to shortstop every day, and solidifying Cody Ramer at second has changed things for us. Jared Oliva in centerfield is a great runner. He runs about a 6.38 60. I'm sure he's one of the fastest players in the tournament.

And then we made a position switch with Ryan Aguilar to first base in January when we got back, which helped us offensively and defensively. And he's gotten better as the year has gone on and been a real staple for us.

COACH MORRIS: Well, I think our strength is defense. If I'm not mistaken, I think we're leading the country in defense. So I think it's -- is that right? We're leading the country in our fielding percentage. I think it's the best fielding team I've had at Miami.

We're a veteran club, with a junior behind the plate, fourth-year guy at first, third-year guy at second, fourth-year guy at short, a fourth-year guy at third, third-year guy in right and left.

So we're definitely a veteran club. I think you'll like watching our infielders and our outfielders. We made more diving plays in the outfield than any team I've ever seen. And we've come through in the clutch defensively, infield or outfield. So definitely one of the strengths of our club.

Q. Andrew, you took some significant dents to your pitching staff after last year. How is the makeup different than this one maybe and who is a couple of guys you leaned on to help change that?
COACH CHECKETTS: Done a little bit different. Last year our starting pitching was pretty spectacular. Obviously with Dillon Tate on Friday and Justin Jacome on Saturday. And Shane, who throws for us, he's our No. 1 starter, has been really good. He's put together the best year that we've had in five years. As good as Dillon Tate's stuff was, Shane's performance has been better than anybody we've had over the last five years.

We've been really good on Fridays, along with Kyle Nelson coming in at the back end and being pretty spectacular for us.

After that, it's been a bit of a coin toss with our starting pitching. We've had seems like just enough starting pitching the other two days to win a game and win a series.

And we've gotten healthy in the last couple of weeks with James Carter and Justin Kelly who both had elbow injuries coming back. That's really bolstered our bullpen. And they've thrown a lot of innings over the last two weeks and made a lot of clutch pitches.

Q. Coach Checketts, can you talk about your team's mentality when it comes to trailing in games this season? They never feel like they're out of it. They've overcome some pretty big deficits to win games. Can you talk about how important that is to mentally believe that you're always in the game?
COACH CHECKETTS: It's been a unique group. I don't think we have the statistics that Miami has after hearing that about coming back after being down. But our guys have done a good job hanging in there, and we've come back from quite a few games.

I think part of that is we've had our second two starters have been a little hit or miss over the course of the year. So we've been chasing some runs. But the guys have gravitated to that. They've got a bit of a mentality of when down by two or three runs, you'll hear a lot in the dugout, we've got them right where we need them.

So it's been fun to watch. And that's hard to coach. It's hard to instill in your guys. Sometimes it has to come from them.

Q. Jay, you guys have been an underdog since the Pac-12 Coaches' Poll came out. You were picked to finish ninth. In what ways does that underdog identity suit your team?
COACH JOHNSON: You know, we did talk about that. And I think it just speaks -- we're sitting here as one of the last eight teams in the country playing. I think it speaks to the quality of baseball in the west and in the Pac-12, is really all that meant to us.

And something we try to impress upon our players from day one when our staff got there is you have to recruit well. But it's not always the team with the best players. It's the team that plays the best that day. And so we went to work on the play. They've done a great job of taking each game as it comes. And it's really, if you were to ask me one of the strengths of our team, I would say our mindset. And they've done a good job embracing that, and that's who we are.

Q. Question for the two new guys here. I'm sure you know that there's a history, I guess, of teams getting here and being a little overwhelmed by the stage. How do you combat that? And what's the best piece of advice that both of you have gotten from somebody about how to handle this whole experience?
COACH CHECKETTS: We haven't played in front of a lot of big crowds this year. Louisville was the largest crowd we played in front of. And I wasn't quite sure what to expect out of the guys there.

I thought they handled it very well. And this particular group, sometimes I feel like I'm coaching 12-year-olds because they're so loose and so squirrelly and I'm wound a lot tighter than they are.

And they've really thrived by just going out and playing and having fun. So the message to these guys about the fans and the atmosphere and all that stuff, it's just enjoy it, soak it in, embrace the moment, have fun with it, and make sure that you're playing hard and going for it.

So far they've been able to respond in those big moments with some -- in Louisville they did a great job with the crowd and thought were even energized by it. So hopefully that will continue.

COACH JOHNSON: Yeah, we actually hit that head on with our team and talked about it Sunday when we got back to Tucson, is it's well documented that teams struggle with that the first time. So I thought last weekend being in Starkville with the draft going on while we were trying to play, first time for me with that, too, and I thought about how to handle it.

I said we're just going to let it play out. If they need to talk to somebody on the phone, we'll let them talk on the phone. Ryan Aguilar went like the 38th round. We were actually taking batting practice while he got drafted. I know it's different, but we were just taking yesterday, flying in, taking the day, all the events that go along with it and embrace it. They tell us to be somewhere, we'll be somewhere.

I mentioned the mindset of our team being our strength, they have an understanding of what it's taken to be successful and get here. And there will be a time where we'll flip the switch and we'll try to make it as normal as possible.

The advantage of this weekend is, unless Coach Morris brought the whole state of Florida down here, we had 14,000 people that were not wearing Arizona stuff and yelling "bear down" last weekend.

So I think the last two weekends playing in the environment that we have should help.

Q. I hate to keep piling on you, the new guys here, but was the perception that out west that baseball was down a little bit this year with the ACC and SEC games, so much attention? Do you guys feel like you're flying the flag for the west a little bit?
COACH CHECKETTS: It's on a tee, Jay. Do you want to swing?

COACH JOHNSON: They asked for you first. (Laughter).

COACH CHECKETTS: I think some of the -- I guess flying the flag for the west, yeah, I would say there's a bit of that feeling, considering two teams from the west made it to the World Series when there wasn't a host on the west. And I think that's very difficult and challenging to do.

And it's hard to say whether the west was down or not. If you look at the RPI, it says it was. But when you're talking about Oregon, Oregon State, Cal, USC, UCLA, and Stanford not being in the postseason, I think it's pretty easy to look at it and say it's down, because those are traditional powers that you're used to seeing.

But I don't know if that really means that the baseball was down. Maybe those particular teams didn't have great years. But as you heard Coach Morris say, Long Beach was a 3 seed, and we played them as well. And they didn't look like a 3 seed when we played them either. And Fullerton was very, very good this year, and the other teams we played in our conference were competitive.

So I would have to say in terms of feeling like we're flying the flag, I would say there's a little bit of that. And because we do take a little bit of pride in California baseball.

COACH JOHNSON: Yeah, I think what I've learned over the past year, and particularly the last couple of weeks, there's good baseball throughout college baseball. I mean, the teams that we played to get here, every one of them was a conference champion. And every one of them had over 40 wins. And the respect that I have for Sam Houston State, Louisiana, Mississippi State is as high as it possibly could be. Going through the Pac-12 schedule for the first time as a coach, you really got to appreciate what you have to do on a day-in, day-out basis just to get to .500.

We won our last game at Oregon to go to 16 and 14. And I've never been so happy to be 16 and 14 in my life. And hearing that the west is down and this and that, it's like if you're in the trenches of competing the way this team had to every weekend to have success, I don't look at it that way.

I know how good a coach Coach Checketts is. I know the quality in the Big West, I've coached in the Mountain West and West Coast Conference and now in the Pac-12. It's great baseball out there, and I think college baseball is in a great place where there's a lot of baseball being played.

Q. Early this morning and throughout the afternoon you guys all got to step on the practice field. For all the coaches, what was your favorite part seeing your players to get on that field, a lot of them for the first time?
COACH HOLLIDAY: Just the bounce in their step, the smiles, the energy. It's what you want to see your kids doing: Living in the moment and having a blast on the baseball field. So it's the purity of it. It's just being out there and checking out the grass and dirt and looking around and soaking it in. It's a great feeling.

COACH CHECKETTS: I think my favorite moment was when I was in the dugout getting some water and Kyle Nelson, our closer, came up next to me, and I was kind of gazing out on the field, he kind of nuzzled up next to me and said: Pretty sweet, huh? I went: Pretty sweet.

COACH JOHNSON: I mentioned last week winning that Super Regionals was the greatest day of my life. And part of that changed when we walked in the stadium yesterday. Because these guys signed with Arizona or committed to them probably on the heels of the last time Arizona was here. And none of them had a chance to be here.

And just the feeling of appreciation that they earned it. And they deserve this opportunity. So seeing them get to get here and see it was pretty special.

COACH MORRIS: For me, it was just looking at the players and looking in their eyes and watching, knowing they had done what they've done and the guys that are returning, you know, looking at the other guys. And your eyes can get big walking in there. It's just a great situation.

But tomorrow -- or tonight is even going to be a different deal. When they walk out through the gates and the fireworks and the people are hollering, there's a lot of folks in there, tonight is going to be like: Wow.

I remember our guys said that last year. No matter what you said before we got here, when you walk through the gates for the ceremonies, they were like: This is something special.

So it's a great thing for our players. I love watching the players, see them enjoy the things, because we've been there a lot of times, and it's something our guys always talk about.

They always talk about it, coming here playing in the World Series. Our guys always say it's the best thing they've ever done, unless they play in the Major League World Series. And that's what makes it how special it is.

Q. Josh, is it an advantage or disadvantage to be outside the bracket of other Big 12 schools like TCU and Texas Tech, and can you talk about the success the league has had in getting to this point?
COACH HOLLIDAY: I think it's probably, for the kids, enjoyable to see different opponents, especially when you've played somebody three or four times already. Certainly familiarity takes care of some of the time spent preparing. So you know each other well.

But, yeah, I think it's exciting for the kids to see different teams and play teams that you've never seen before. I think that's part of the national experience of an NCAA tournament, certainly World Series.

As far as the conference, I'm happy for the other two schools. We're proud of the success the Big 12 has had in the postseason and teams went out, they took their opportunities. They played well and they earned their way here.

That's a strong statement of the types of talent and coaches and just the overall success of the program. I guess it's two of the last three years our league has put three teams in the College World Series. So very proud of what the other schools in the conference have done.

And glad to see fine competitors and coaches that we play against year-round here sharing this experience. I think for the players probably nice to play or have a chance to compete against some ball clubs we haven't seen before.

Q. Jim, how important is it to get that first game here in Omaha, stay out of that loser's bracket early, and your confidence in Michael Mediavilla pitched in all three games, pitched pretty well, just your confidence in him to get you to Game 2?
COACH MORRIS: It's a different game when you get here, I gotta tell you. How you fielded and all the things you did during the regular season, it's different. You have to have confidence to field ground balls and throw strikes, and you have to have guys mentally strong.

That first game is important, playing well. That first inning is important for us to put up a goose egg and play the game the way we play because we don't normally score that many runs. We've got to play good defensive pitch and get that game and play well. It's something that's very, very important if you're going to have a chance to win.

Q. Josh, one of the most famous Oklahoma baseball players of all time is Robin Ventura, who's from Santa Maria, about an hour north of Santa Barbara. Has he reached out to you, congratulated you for getting them back after 17 years?
COACH HOLLIDAY: Yeah, we've heard from Robin two or three times since last weekend. He's great. Obviously he's a great player, but he's been a great supporter and been behind our kids and has stopped by a couple of times. And just his interest in what we're doing and support is very meaningful.

And that's one of those guys for us as a program that you can show your current players what some of the best ever looked like to play college baseball. He's certainly one of them. Proud of what he did and proud of what he's done as a manager. His involvement and his interest in what's going on here means a lot to us.

Q. Jim, talking to Bryan Garcia, he mentioned this year it almost felt like a business trip compared to last year being more overwhelmed by the experience. How much does last year's experience help veterans like him, and do you see veterans helping some of the younger guys through this experience this year?
COACH MORRIS: To me it's very important. And Bryan's one of the captains on our team and of course an All-American and he's very well respected by our team. He was the captain last year and captain again. His leadership is very important.

And may be a business trip, but he's a closer and he's a little loosey-goosey at times, and I think that's a good thing because to me that's the toughest role on the team is to be a closer. If you can get a guy that can come in, be confident enough to do that job and confident enough to talk and share that with the other players, it's definitely going to help us.

Q. Jay, now that you know who Miami is throwing, is there a special way that you prepare to face a power lefty like that?
COACH JOHNSON: I know he's really good. Their whole pitching staff is really good. And I can -- I remember it very vividly. I was still at San Diego like three summers ago or four summers ago seeing his coaches out on the road, and this junior class they've put together is pretty impressive. It's no surprise they've been here a couple of times.

But we'll go to work on that and put together a good plan and try to make them work as much as we can. And understand that he's going to get you sometimes. Coach Morris probably has him on a great scholarship. He's paid to get hitters out, and that's going to happen. Just try to take good at-bats and make them work.

Q. Jay, Tyler Crawford, I know he's coming back from injury, had to miss last year, but he was on that 2012 title team. Only pitched, what, three innings this year. Could you discuss what his role is? I know he threw in the Super Regional, but what has his role been for you guys as kind of the elder statesman?
COACH JOHNSON: His nickname is like "Grandcrawther" because he is like 24 years old. Yeah, he's got a lot of adversity. Got his career off to a good start at Arizona. But has had a couple of injuries, surgeries. He's just kind of stuck with it. Been a good mentor to some young players. I'm very happy that his career from a team standpoint is finishing up the way that it is, because he's been a total team guy from the start.

And he's been a good example for our younger players, and I'm very happy for him. Happy we were able to get him in the game in a spot we needed him to pitch good. We felt he was a good matchup. So he's definitely been a part of this.

Q. Coach Checketts, you've coached and developed some great pitchers at UC Riverside, at Oregon, and obviously as the head coach here. How does Shane Bieber rank in terms of some of the best arms you've ever had?
COACH CHECKETTS: His command is elite. The only other guy that I've coached that had similar command was James Simmons, first rounder at Riverside in 2007. And Shane's fastball is probably not as slippery as James'. James had a fastball that hitters didn't see.

And but his command's elite. He doesn't throw very many balls. He's in the strike zone. He's down. He can throw it to four spots with his fastball.

So he's up there with some of the other guys. And maybe some of the other guys might have had bigger stuff than him, but in terms of the command, he's the best if not -- he's one of the best if not the best.

Q. Jim, we mentioned all these variables, all these different things, but you have a lot of experience here. Can you talk about the nature of unpredictability? There's a lot of favorites and underdogs, but sometimes you get in here, everybody's red hot, anything can happen?
COACH MORRIS: It doesn't matter how you play before you get here. Everybody's played good or they wouldn't be here, that's for sure. When you step in here, it's a different deal. Different deal. A lot of fans, more media, more everything than we're used to. And all our games are televised and we have press, but this is at a different level.

How those kids handle that and just the fact that any one of these eight teams can win it, in my opinion, any one of the eight teams can win it, I don't think there's necessarily a favorite. Somebody that can come in and settle down and do what they're capable of doing, play good defense and do all the things they did to get where they've gotten in this thing is something that as coaches we've got to figure out a way to get our guys to do that.

If they can do that, get that confidence rolling and get hot, anybody can win it. I've seen that over the years.

Q. Coach Morris, do you have any rituals or favorite things you do when you come to this, because you've been to the College World Series so often?
COACH MORRIS: I don't know whether it's rituals, but I love coming here. Of course you've got to go out sometime and have a nice steak dinner, but I enjoy taking our guys to Boys Town and taking them to Children's Hospital and doing some of those things.

We've practiced at a lot of different facilities, and all the places are -- they're really good. Everybody's great, do anything they can to help us. But want them to have a great experience while they're here and get back, because this is something they'll remember for the rest of their life.

Because most of our guys, most of our guys won't play in the Big Leagues. I don't care how many good players we have. We've had a lot of good players at Miami, but most of our guys will not play in the Major Leagues. That's just the way it is. And we try to prepare them for it and try to keep their emotions in tact.

Just like during the draft that Jay was talking about, which is crazy to me that it would be at that time, I'd like to say that, right in the middle of the Regionals. We had players finding out where they're drafted right in the middle of the game. In the middle of the game, they're finding out: I'm drafted in the 30th round by so-and-so. Geez.

When I was here in 1998, I remember Pat Burrell was in the on-deck circle when he found out he was drafted No. 1. I don't know how Pat Burrell hit. I wouldn't be able to talk let alone hit. Knowing Pat, he probably hit a home run. I can't remember. I'll have to ask him that.

But the emotions of everything and being able to keep everything under control and just play well and have a great week or two is just something that you never forget. No matter how many times. And I'm just as excited to be here with these guys and enjoy that experience with them.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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