	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

POINSETTIA BOWL: BYU VS WYOMING

December 20, 2016

Kalani Sitake

San Diego, California

THE MODERATOR: Good morning everyone I'm Gina Beckman welcome to the 2016 San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl Press Conference. We have both head coaches here today. We will start with the head coach for BYU, Kalani Sitake, then we will take questions. Then we will turn it over to Coach Bohl and then we will do a breakout session.

Q. We're excited to be here and enjoy the festivities and everything that's been organized by the Bowl, by Poinsettia Bowl and I just want to thank everyone that's been involved in helping us have this great experience, and I can tell you from our players and our coaching staff and support staff, it's been a wonderful experience for them and they've made great memories.
So much, in fact, that our families wonder if this is how we travel at every game which makes us not look as great as coaches, but we assure them this is way different than what we do during the regular season, but it's a good way to celebrate the end to the season and looking forward to the game. Looking forward to having one more game with our players and with our coaches and enjoying this moment. We have great senior leadership, so looking forward to one last game and a great opponent like Wyoming. We're excited to take the field against them and honored that they will be on the field with us. I've spoken about how much admiration I have for Coach Craig Bohl and what he does as a teacher and motivator, a great inspiration.

For me as a coach, being the coaching nerd that I am I followed his career and we crossed paths when I was at southern Utah and he was at Fargo, so to see what he's done in college football has been impressive, especially at North Dakota State and I think he's going to do great things at Wyoming and obviously from the season, so I want to congratulate them on a great year, and really looking forward to the game and we'll see what happens tomorrow, but excited about Wyoming being our opponent and excited to be here at the Poinsettia Bowl.

Q. Coach, what have you seen from Tanner these last couple of weeks as he takes on the role of being the starter?
COACH SITAKE: Coach Bohl is here, he's horrible, not doing great! (Chuckles.) There is enough film on him from last year and I think I've said it before that him being on the headsets has been great for his -- for him maturing as a quarterback, being on the head set and listening to Ty during the games is something that's valuable for his progress as a quarterback and I think now that he's had the opportunity to lead this team and this game with the unfortunate injury to Taysom, we will see what happens. I think he has a lot of skill and a little different than what Taysom does, but hopefully with what we have practiced and things we have implemented, it's not like it's a huge departure from what we do offensively, but he is a different skill set so we will see what happens in the game.

He's done well.

Q. Coach, what stands out about this particular team and what Coach Bohl has done?
COACH SITAKE: If you look at the football-wise, I'm impressed with how hard they play and the fundamental and technique that's being taught, which means that they're well coached.

I also like the way they take the field. You see they show sportsmanship and class on the field and that's something I'm really big on. I've heard people say that's "old school" with Coach being from the tree of tomorrow Osborne and myself from LaVell Edwards it makes sense that this would be an "old school" type of game with a lot of respect and big-time competition. It'll be a physical game, but for us a game that we will respect. We watched them during the season, as a team. We watched them and the progress that they've made and we have been impressed with what they've done on the field and I think they're balanced.

If you look at their offense they throw for 200 or so yards and run for 200 and some yards and they're physical at the line of scrimmage, as a football coach that's something you really admire in a football program. You can see the changes and the things that's true doing as a program. I think people involved with Wyoming football should be really excited that they have great head coach leading the charge.

Q. Coach, this is a series that dates back to the 1920s. Have you talked to your players about the series and the "rivalry" that this game was in the past?
COACH SITAKE: Well, I think a lot of them know about it, that our past in the WAC and also the Mountain West and I think it's more for guys like myself that played in that game and Ty Detmer and a number of our coaches played against Wyoming, but this generation is different. You kind of have to teach them all and we're dating ourselves when we talk about back when I played against Wyoming. But it's also a cool experience to share and talk about players and places that have passionate fans.

Laramie is one of those places. I've been really impressed with them and there is a lot of pride that comes from the state of Wyoming. I mentioned that I was speaking with LaVell Edwards and his wife Patty and she reminded me she is from Big Piney, Wyoming and she is proud of being a Wyoming girl and there's great people there, just like how we feel about people in our fan base, so when you have a great place with great history behind it and you become familiar with playing a great game like this, I think it's a great setting.

Q. Having played in so many close games this season how do you feel that's prepared your guys for this bowl setting?
COACH SITAKE: Just extremely proud of the way our players take the field. Regardless of what the scoreboard says we're just proud of playing hard all the time. I think there is so much -- you work so hard for 60 minutes of a game. Waste a second doesn't work with our players and they have taken ownership and leadership of that and close games, that's -- the outcome is the outcome, you know what I mean?

Regardless of win or loss we function the same way, stay the course and keep working hard, but we also appreciate the fact that we get to play this game and our players take the field with that type of mind-set that this is something they're proud to do, they worked hard and you don't want to waste one second of it.

Q. In your first year did everything go as you thought? Were there a lot of -- obviously probably a lot of new experiences but anything that caught you by surprise? What are your thoughts of completing your first year as a head coach and has it been everything that you thought it would be?
COACH SITAKE: Yeah, it's everything I thought it would be. I grew up a BYU fan, I was lucky enough to be a BYU football player for a great Coach like LaVell Edwards and now I get to come back and be a head coach. I've lived every moment and enjoyed every second of this job. I like coaching ball and I like being around football. Being around such great young men and it's gone every way I wanted it to. But I've been really surprised with how much support we received and myself as a head coach from our fans and our administration. It's been awesome. It's been a great experience and let's keep this thing going.

Q. Coach, Wyoming has terrific skill position players on offense, 3000-yard passer, 1700-yard rusher and 1200 yard receiver. As a coach how much do you enjoy the challenge of how to slow these guys down and contain them?
COACH SITAKE: I think it's been difficult for a lot of people to do. When they have so many different weapons, they have big targets and receivers and tight ends and they're able to go into a power set, they're also skilled enough to spread you out a little bit and do some things and that's all based around a physical big "O" line and a quarterback that knows how to run. He's under rated when it comes to his running, but you can see the things he does with his legs and he's a big, young man and physical. He has a lot of poise, you know, he's only, is he only a sophomore, coach?

THE MODERATOR: Correct.

COACH SITAKE: So he's got a great, bright future and I'm impressed with their team. I think Coach has done a great job of recruiting the guys that fit what Wyoming football is all about and I'm impressed with how balanced they are and on defense their fundamentals are awesome, they're a joy to watch as a coach. I've been impressed with them and even before they were our opponents we watched them play Boise and San Diego State, us twice, and these different games and was able to see how they play and how much they improve every week and they've actually got more depth than you think. They're a good, talented team and they've proved a lot of people wrong and it's been fun to watch from our point of view and now that they're our opponents it's been fun to prepare for.

Q. What's it mean to you personally and to your program to compete in the Poinsettia Bowl?
COACH SITAKE: Personally? We've been here -- I've been here before when I was an assistant at Utah and we had a great time. The bowl committee, the red coats and everyone that's been involved have done a great job as far as giving us another opportunity to have great memories.

It's great that we get to extend our season and play one more game in the year, but really enjoyed being here and the weather is awesome. I talked to a buddy of mine in Provo and it was 5 degrees at the moment that I was talking time and he sounded cold. It's nice to be out in the warm weather and, you know, it's a great way to end the season with great opponent. We're looking forward to this game tomorrow.

Q. Coach this isn't your typical game week, you've got the zoo, you've got Sea World. Is there a formula to try and keep that balance knowing you have competition on Wednesday while being able to have fun throughout the week? Is there a balance of preparation with the game?
COACH SITAKE: No, just have fun and live the moment. There is a balance for me because my feet get tired when I stand for more than 5 minutes. Trying to take breaks and sit down at the zoo, whether it's being around the giraffes and elephants, so I have to pace myself, but the players are young and they're excited because finals are over with and they have nothing on their plate but football and going to the zoo and Sea World. You live the moment and enjoy what's going on. They're young, they recover quickly.

Q. You played in a couple of NFL venues this year. What's it like playing in these type of facilities?
COACH SITAKE: I think that it's a story for young men when they warm up they know that the Chargers play there, that the Raiders and Chargers played this Sunday. It's something that they see, they will be able to see these venues and say I played in that stadium and had a great experience doing it. That's a cool part of the story.

This game could be in any field that's 100 yards long and Coach Bohl and myself would show up and play it. The fact that we have a nice venue we appreciate it and have great fans to fill it. It's going to be fun. Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297