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CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPJanuary 6, 2018Jim ChaneyAtlanta, Georgia Q. First of all, I hope you can hear me? JIM CHANEY: I can hear you, we're good. We're ready to roll. Q. Incredible game Monday night. You got to get that behind you. Talk about the turn around this year? JIM CHANEY: Well, we didn't take too long. We're on airports on the way back with our laptops moving along with the ball game. Once we found out the victory of that ball game we knew what we had to get done. Most of the coaching staff was working throughout the flight on the way home. Got home, got a little sleep, went back to the office and got it on. It's fun. You don't do this very often, so let's roll with it. We can sleep the rest of your lives. Q. Best of truck. JIM CHANEY: I appreciate it very much. Thank you. Q. Seems like every game there's a couple of plays -- (Indiscernible question). JIM CHANEY: Oh, I think those kids will play good football from the beginning to the end. They have, from the App State game until today. We've never lacked confidence in those kids making plays. They do it in practice and they do it out in the field when they're called upon. We just haven't had to throw the ball a heck of a lot. But when they've been asked to do it they've done a nice job. Development, they've gotten more confidence. Kids always play better and play faster when they play confidently, and I think that's where those guys are right now. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: You remember, every game plan is set up to what that defense does. So whatever we do, it isn't always about us, it's about attacking what they do. I think Jay can do most every throw we need him to do. So I feel comfortable doing whatever we have to do to strategically attack him. Q. You worked with a lot of quarterbacks. How far is Jake -- (indiscernible). JIM CHANEY: He's pretty -- he's advanced now. He was advanced when he walked in here, and God blessed him with a wonderful mind and good vision, the ability to process the field very well. I mean, that's the things that are innate in him. He sees the field very well and can make quick good decisions. That's something that's difficult. It's hard to coach that. And he has that ability to do it, and he's playing good football right now. Q. What stands out to you about -- (indiscernible)? JIM CHANEY: Fast, big, strong. That's about it. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: Well, there's no question. You want to stay on schedule against these guys. You get behind the stakes, it's a difficult task. They can bring a lot of speed on you, a lot of quickness in their front seven. They can put you in pressure situations on third down. You really like to be able to dictate third downs with them as they've been able to throughout the season do what they want to do on third down. So you're right, first and second down will be critical, can we put ourselves in manageable third down deals throughout the ball game. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: I lost. You know, those guys, they do a wonderful job. Coach Saban and their staff are fantastic. They recruit very good football players, they are a difficult team to challenge. They are strategically sound. They are just a tough opponent to play. I'm excited about the opportunity. Look forward to it. Q. (Indiscernible) -- guys coming out of high school, seems like high school guys are so much -- JIM CHANEY: I think coaches are more acceptable of -- we accept that more, it seems like. It started when the scholarship limits went down. You're forced to play a lot of young kids, and we kind of adjusted our lives to that, and at the University of Georgia, we've been able to recruit talented kids that come in and been able to compete for those spots, and we're all about people putting the pest people on the field. When you make up your mind that that's going to be your philosophy and that's what Coach Smart's is, we are going to play the best players and we're going to tilt it a little bit to get the best players on the field. We might not get to do everything we want to do if that freshman might happen to be the best player. But I'm pleased. You think about the kids we have playing on offence, with Jake, Andrew at tackle and swift production in the backfield. They have one thing in common, they are bright kids. These kids got really good minds on them. They have good football intellect about them. They get the game of football. For them to step in, they're both -- all three of them of very mature beyond their years. So they haven't had to go through all that maturity development which some kids do. They stepped right in and did a hell of a job for us. Q. Are quarterbacks more developed than high school? JIM CHANEY: I think they throw the ball more than they did 20 years ago. The seven on seven passing leagues all of the time. I think you understand situational football a little bit better down the red zone. Some of these seven on seven leagues throwing in the red zone most of the time. They are probably a little more advanced when it comes to that. But they probably have some flaws when they come in, too, because of it. I don't know, it appears to me like they are, but the mechanics of playing under center is probably what you miss a little bit, because they do it much anymore in high school football. Q. (Indiscernible question). JIM CHANEY: I haven't thought much about it. I really haven't. I gave up years ago thinking about statistics. You know, our -- I can't say that. That would be stupid to say, but I don't look at them that way. I look at -- my job is to score one more point than the opponent gets and I'm blessed to have those two guys playing running back for us, which has happened us a lot. I don't know. Have I thought much about it? No. I thought about their character and what they bring to us and what will be missed. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: Schematically, they do a lot of the same things. Obviously, Coach is from that tree. That's what they do. They're a three-four team. Their sub packages are similar to what we've seen. That, from a schematic standpoint has been a good thing. Both teams play very great -- very, very good defense. They both play fast. They both challenge every pass. There's a lot of similarities. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: I don't know. I look back a little more this week about what's been good about our own defense. You can watch the all of the tame you want, but when playing against a similar team, what works for Kirby and Mel, you can only go against one another and I tend to lean a little more that way than what I'm seeing in that video. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: I would agree with that. I think they played with a very -- a large amount of confidence in that ball game. They were very physical. They flew around. They hit Clemson hard, and they did a lot of really good things, and I'm sure Clemson liked to play it again. We all would when we get defeated. But at the end of the day, they took away most -- a lot of things that Clemson was trying to do. They did it with scheme, they did it with out and out hustle and physical play, and that's what they built their defense on. They have a bunch of really talented football players that do their jobs very well and when you mix that with the talent they have, they're very good. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: I'm all right with it. You know, I don't know. Coming back from the west coast, that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday's tough to get going. What we had to do, we had to force ourselves -- I had to put a week on the calender behind me. Here's my week. I put it on my grease board behind. I got to have this done by here, this done by that. This done by that as you're doing your game plan. You still have X amount of hours to get your game plan set. It's like a regular in-season game. But coming back from the west coast that was tougher, to be honest, a little bit. Would you like to have a couple more days? I don't know. We both have the same amount of days. That's all I care about. As long as everything's fair and the field is level, let's go and play. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: I tell you, Riley is an unselfish football player that does everything we ask him to do. He's been forced to play on a lot of special teams. He does an exceptional job there. I think Riley is like a lot of our other wide receiver s that like to play in the passing game, like to throw the ball at him more. But he doesn't say anything. He goes to go to work every day. He's a physical presence out there, loves to play football. Love him to death. I think the sky's the limit for him and I'm excited for him to be put in this opportunity for him to play against his brother. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: I haven't felt restricted from an X and O standpoint since post Notre Dame game. We all, as a staff, offensively left that Notre Dame game feeling pretty comfortable that we weren't going to be restricted by this freshman quarterback. He has the aptitude to push it through different heights, so he hasn't been the reason we have been less or more, and I feel comfortable that we haven't ever been restricted that way. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: In a lot of ways, everybody's similar schematically. They wear a different color and they have differ numbers but they are still big and fast and strong. But they are schematically very similar. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: The same thing we just talked about. It's hard to score points on their defense. When Kirby was there from my Tennessee days to Michigan State days to -- you know, we've battled a lot of times and they win a lot of them. They are very good at what they do. Nick -- Coach Saban, can't say enough about him. He's a good football coach. They win a lot of ball games, so it's an opportunity for us to go out and see what we can get done. I think our offense is going to be excited about that opportunity when we get there Monday night. I know I am. Q. Is there any sense -- (indiscernible)? JIM CHANEY: Oh, yes. Yeah. That's always -- discipline's paramount in any successful organization. I think you guys can attribute that in our own business. If you didn't have discipline you won't get to where you need to be. We preach it all of the time. We had two penalties in the previous ball game. We're trying to get rid of those. You got to play clean. The way you got to go against playing these teams like this, in my opinion, you can't be your own worst enemy. You got to go out there, you got to play clean, play loose and have some fun playing football, and making doggone sure that you're not the problem. Make sure you're playing clean football. Get rid of the pre snap penalties and see what happens. Q. A big part of that is the focus, you guys; preparation and stuff like that. With all of the travel and everything going on, how has practice been this week? JIM CHANEY: Practice has been fine. Our kids are mature. They understand it. They get it, they know what they have had to get done. They know what a Monday practice is. They know what Tuesday practice is. They know what we have to do on Wednesday. They know what they got to do Thursday. They understand. You're this deep in the season, they understand it routine and we trite to get through it as much as we can. Q. You talked about the emotional energy you guys had to spend in the Rose Bowl. Is there any signs of them being drained there? JIM CHANEY: I think every team at this stage in the season could say yeah, probably. You're 15 games into this bad boy. There's -- you'd be remiss in saying there isn't. Surely there is. Now what team can identify that problem, and put it over there and say I'm not going to let that affect me will be the team that comes out successfully. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: We haven't had a talk about that. Our kids play pretty calm. You know, I have never been here. I'm more worried about my big butt up there being nervous. I want to take care of my business. I want to farm my own field. Our kids, our players, have been able to do that. So let's all just do our jobs and do the best that we can. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: You see the same thing I see. I see a very physical football team that with quality depth, you know that had been on play around. Even their back-up players came in and made a lot of plays. There's a reason they give up what, 10, 12, 11, whatever it is. Not many points in the ball game. They are very good. They are schematically challenging and they are just good. I mean, they're good in the front seven, they're good in the back half. Trying to find -- as a coach, you spend your whole Sunday and Monday trying to find the fleas, where's their weaknesses. Any time you play a Alabama defense you might spend all week trying to find those fleas. There aren't very many of them out there. They're there. You just got to search and find. Q. Jim, you talk about the player, the program, the system, as part of the journey for you, what's this whole experience been like for you? JIM CHANEY: You know, it's kind of -- you know, Sam and I were talking about that. He and I have never been in these situations like this to play in these ball games. We've coached a lot of football, been a lot of places, but never at this high level, that we had an opportunity to coach in a championship game. I think we're just kind of grinning and rolling with the punches and enjoying every moment of it and trying to stay awake as you keep working your way through it, and making sure you're putting these kids in the best position they can to have success. That's cliche but as this season goes on, that's our ultimate job, and we want to stay focused on what we're doing. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: You dream about things like this, but, I don't know, you go to work every day and sometimes you end up right where you want to be and other time, you don't. Q. You came in, and you tutored and mentored a true freshman quarterback. Second year you turn around, you're doing the same thing. Challenging? JIM CHANEY: Challenging, but college football. It is what it is. That's not going to change. I don't see that changing anywhere. Sam had to do it with the O-line. James does it at wide-out. We all have to do that when you have a young freshman that's a talented player, or due to injuries. You're always going to have to play those young kids seems like. That's kind of the way the world is right now. We kind of expect that. If we keep doing the job we need to do recruiting in Georgia, we feel we'll continue to bring in talented freshman that are worthy of getting on the field. Q. What's your favorite part of the whole coaching business? JIM CHANEY: I love setting here right now. This is my favorite thing in the whole wide -- I don't know. I love -- I love game day. Sometimes it doesn't turn out the way you want it to, but there's something about game day when you have an opportunity to go up there and call plays, and it's a -- it's unique. When it's -- when it quits being unique, it's time for me to step down and let someone else do it. But that's a fun, fun time, and I really cherish those moments. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: I'm have my two or three moments during the game where I want to go down on the field and strangle someone. Seldom the opponent. Yes, I have those moments, but I true to do the best I can at staying calm. I think the brain works better if you don't load it up with a bunch of chemicals. Q. What do you think about your personality that makes you so successful with every quarterback? JIM CHANEY: I've said this a million times. I guarantee you, there's a hundred quarterback coaches out there better than I am. I feel like what we've done as a staff and what we'll continue to do, I think we recruit the right player. If you have the right player in that room and you do all your due diligence on the front, and and you're making sure you bringing in the right stuff, you'll end up with a good player there. I don't know how good of a quarterback -- I never would say I'm a great quarterback coach but I'd say we do a pretty good job picking the right one to bring in. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: Well, Ben and Andrew, all those kids -- Ben's development late in the season, you know, it's funny to me and knowing things about this, but these young kids come in and when are they going to be ready to play? You never know. And Ben it took all of the way to second season here to game seven before we felt like all right, Big Ben's, it's going now. Put him in and played wonderful and has since. Andrew, was early in training camp. It was obvious he got it. He understood it. We needed him to play. He did. He battled through some injuries midway through the season. He was like, hey, this hurts, you know. This is not fun right now. I don't feel real good but he has been a tough sucker for us all year and really proud of what he's been able to do as a freshman playing in the offensive line in this conference, that's quite an accomplishment. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: We've been seeing things in practice. Usually it's about practice. Q. Jim, as you prepare the game plan, you look across at No. 29 (indiscernible), what are your impressions of him? JIM CHANEY: Another one of that long line of great defensive backs that Alabama's had, can make plays in coverage, can make plays as a blitzer, can make plays anywhere. When you're not expecting him to be there, all of a sudden he shows up, just a play-making fool back there in the back half that they've had an abundance of, and he's just the next one, seems to me like. Q. When you look at 94 for Alabama, Da'Ron Payne, what's he able to do for them and how does the offense -- (indiscernible)? JIM CHANEY: I think sometimes people want those nose guards to eat up a couple blocks and not get pushed around. I think a lot of the three-four people I been around would be perfectly happy with that. I'm sure Alabama has had those nose guards that have been really good on defense. I think what Payne gives you is a kid that can do that and also make a lot of plays. He's a play-making nose guard where some of the other ones did their job exceptionally well, but he can separate and make plays. He runs so extremely well. He's so strong, he can get off and make plays. I think that's what differentiates him from other noses in my world. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: I hope not. I hope they go back to those big giant slow guys. Probably. I mean, in a nutshell, the game of football is so spread out as we have offensively also. I would say that's probably happening down there. They're getting away from the larger body, going to a little bit -- you're talking smaller. Come on. He ain't little. He's just smaller than like Cody and some of the other kids. But I would say you're probably right. That has something to do with the evolution of the game. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: Well, A, they love one another and are great friends. They trust in what we're trying to get done. I think the last year has been really special for both of them. We've been able to not have one, have to carry it 30 times a game so they're fresh when they get into the games. I think they're each other's best supporters, and they care about each other a lot. Q. Indiscernible question. JIM CHANEY: I don't know that you ever realize when that happens what the ramifications are going to be. But you got to say, if all of the things that have taken place this year, with Georgia football, that decision of theirs in January, arguably, might have been the most profound that they decided to stay. I know from our side of the ball for sure. They are staying really impacted what is taking place this year. So I'm indebted to them internally. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: You have a young man who can play in the backfield, who can detach, who can do a lot of different things, creates problems for the defense, I think. He has a skill set that not a lot of tail backs have, the ability to catch the ball and run. I think any time you have that that puts a little pressure on the defense. Q. Jim, speaking of Kirby he basically knows the personnel on both of these rosters as does Jeremy Pruitt given the last two years. How unique is that? Can you over -- JIM CHANEY: I think Coach went out of his way not to. And I'm constantly, come on now, talk to people. This week it's been fun, you know, setting in -- Kirby saying, thinking about this, thinking about this, thinking about that. Yeah, tell me about him. Tell me about him. You're right. It's been a dynamic that is unique. Doesn't happen very often. It's been fun. I hope we've utilized it to the best of your abilities. When we look back on this in retrospect we use that to our advantage, or did we not enough. So I feel comfortable where we're setting at now. But proof's in the pudding. Q. I also wanted to ask about Jake. There's been that story line that this moment may be too big for Jake. I mean, at this point has that story line come and gone now that he's played 14 games that are pretty big? JIM CHANEY: This is a different one now. I want to say yeah. But, heck, I can't judge the future. There's a lot of us that have never been in this game, including Jake. So, who knows how things are going to take place. I'm glad to say that I'm one that wants to try it. I am just tickled to death with it. So we'll find out. I hope and trust that he'll be ready to play and he's yet to show any signs. It's just another ball game for that boy. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: Passionate, very passionate. In all -- 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, passionate and intense. And if you don't look at it like that, A, you shouldn't coach down here. B, you won't win the recruiting battles that you need to win, and there's very few days that you can set around and not do anything. You better -- it's a year-round deal that if you want to stay on top down here, it's so competitive. Q. Style of play any different from what you see throughout the country? JIM CHANEY: I don't know. You know, I think that we have incredible amount of talented players in the S.E.C., front seven, secondary guys, defensive guys. You know, they are all over the place in our league. I'm not that guy that's going to say, oh, we have all of this and they don't. But you're kidding me. Anybody that says that is a fool. There's great teams in every conference in our country, because there's great players from sea to shining sea. I'm really happy with the competitive nature of our conference and my personal opinion. It is one of the post competitive conferences and that's why I find myself here. I like that. Q. Does it mean anything to you that -- (indiscernible). JIM CHANEY: I really had nothing to do with that and it really wouldn't have mattered who that team was. Q. Jim, win or lose, what are you going to remember most about this season and this experience? JIM CHANEY: I don't know. It would be interesting to think. You go to work every day. You don't get to reflect. When I get time for reflection, I'll ask that. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: Yeah. Exactly. I can't have reflection when I haven't gad a chance -- I'm too busy worrying about the now to even contemplate what's taking place. I know I'm proud of these kids. We couldn't be more proud than to represent Georgia in this game. Other than that, right now, that's about all I have to say. I'll look back on it personally and feel good about it. I'm sure. How can you not. I'm really proud of the improvements we've made from year one and year two with the staff and how we blended together, get along well. And the kids, we have a really good chemistry of coaches and players, and it's been a fun thing, and next year will be a whole different team, so -- Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: It's going to be a brawl, there's no question about it. It's all about physical play. It's about doing your job and playing clean. I would suggest to you that both teams have adequate talent. The team that probably gets on top one way are at other will be the team that makes the fewest mistakes. That's usually the case. Whoever plays the cleanest will feel like they will like what they got done in the run game. Q. Do you have any experience in this game at this level, what does he -- (indiscernible)? JIM CHANEY: We'll just stay focused on the game. You know, the game is the most important part. There's so much stuff that goes on, as you see. Just look around you. That can be distractions to the ball game. He's talked a lot about the slowness of the season for these kids, and just staying fresh and keeping your mind going the right direction and how bad you want something. You got to be careful. If you want something bad enough, you are going to have to give up something once in a while. So that and just going to play the ball game. I think more than anything, just focusing on the game, being real critical of how you play. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: I don't know that it's any more of an advantage than practicing somewhere else. We felt like it was. That's why we chose to do it. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: Well, you just got to know where he's at. He's exceptional blitzing, he came off the edge and you better have someone account for him all of the time. When he blitzes, he gets there. He's very good at what he does. He's a talented kid, man. You got to be careful when you're throwing around him because he's got great range. If he's pressing on someone, you better throw it the other way. You know? Just don't let him be the wrecking ball. Just let somebody else try to be. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: I don't know. But a lot of them have been down there. Landon was in college, it was that way. There's been safeties out there. I think South Carolina had a kid a few years ago I thought was a hell of a player. This kid's as good as all of them. Who's better, I don't know. But he's very good. You better know where he's at on the field. Q. You had a lot of chances to approach different style of offense (indiscernible) with Drew Brees as your quarterback, and now you're coaching an offence where you're running the ball two thirds of the time and you have an elite running back. What style is easier to coach? JIM CHANEY: The style with the best players. That's what I would say. I don't know that there's one that I would say is easier than the other. I think the toughest ones to coach are when you're trying to run a style of play that doesn't fit your kids. That's the hardest one. I would say being able to morph yourself into whatever your personnel is and your type of players, is what you should do. I think coaches say that. I think that's kind of cliche, but I don't know that coaches do that all of the time. I think that -- it's hard to throw it 50 times a game and be very good at it and win a lot of games. That's difficult to do. If you have a foundation of physical style of run game. I think that's something you hang your hat on and always go to work with that. I'd rather have that than the other way, in my opinion, right now. Because if that's what you're hanging your hat on, that's okay. I'll good with that. Q. I understand Nick considered hiring you a time or two at Alabama. Did he ever talk to you about -- JIM CHANEY: We don't want to get into all of that. I would rather not even discuss any of that. Thank you, though. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: He's a pain in my butt at practice. A, first off. No, I love Terry. He's a fun-loving kid, always keeps it light. He's made the plays throughout the season. We needed two hands. Javon, both stepped up in times of need. They both want to catch more balls as all of our wide receiver does. When called upon they make plays, clutch plays, and I think he's had a heck of a season for us. His physical play goes unnoticed but early in that ball game last week, he made some blocks that were critical to our success running the ball. No one wants to talk about that. My wide outs want to catch all of the time, but we don't throw every play. So, but he's done a wonderful job adjusting his game, and he's good football player, very good football player. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: Right. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: Well. I don't know. I think you have to with the kids we got setting in those rooms. I mean, they demand the touches. They have to get the ball. How do we get the ball to them? I always thought somewhere along the line I'm not going to be able to hand it to them. I'm going to have to have a bigger screen game. So every game I'm carrying it different ways to make sure they ensure their touches. I haven't had to use a lot of them yet. I'm sure Jeremy and Nick will try to have something to say about that, too. At the end of the day, that's been our balance. Our balance has been able to stay in front of the chains, running the ball, throwing when we want to. I think early downs throwing is the difference. We like to run on early downs now. Where I like to try to stay balanced prior to that. I've been okay with it. Because I think we're staying on the field and scoring enough points to win up to now. We'll see what happens next. Q. Is there balance between the two running backs? Is that something that's in your game plan -- JIM CHANEY: Dell handles all I a lot of that, coach McGee does. When he feels one's fresh and one's ready to go, he goes and flips it around. We do specific plays we like for Nick a little bit more than we like for Sony and Sony more for Nick on certain plays. Dell's aware of that. He handles all of that substitution, but at the end of the day, we are trying to make sure those two are big time important in our success or failures, one way or the other. Q. Do you think they are they interchangeable? JIM CHANEY: I think so. They are. If I go out there and call a play that was tagged for Sony, I'm okay with it. They can both do the same things. Q. What do you think of coordinators now making $2 million a year? JIM CHANEY: I think it's a hell of a good idea. Q. You coached against Alabama defense for years, obviously and the personnel changes. What are some of the constants that you know you're going to run into? JIM CHANEY: Sound, physical play, heavy body, good hands up front, and complications in the back half. That's it. You got to -- you better know what they're trying to do in the back half, or they'll get you in the heartbeat. They're going to be physical and heavy up front. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: I think they're one of the best defenses we played all year, so, yeah, I would say that would be true. They are good in the back half. They can create pressure up front, which, if they weren't good in the back half, which they are, but if they weren't, that front seven can get after you pretty good. So, you got to get the ball out of your hand pretty quick. It's difficult to throw the ball down the field, because you ain't got enough time to hang onto it. They do a hell of a job with their pass rush and getting after the quarterback. Q. Considering such drastic defense, how much is -- (indiscernible) -- and how much is let's do what we did. JIM CHANEY: Well, I think every game you do the same protocol. You run through everything the same way. We've schemed the plays we feel like are going to be beneficial. It's helped us that we play against our own defense all of the time. There's a lot of similarities, but it helps them, too. It's the same -- it's a unique situation, this game, I think. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: There is a lot of that. There is a lot of that. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: What keeps me up at night? Not much. I mean, I'll be honest. I get in early, go home late, like every other coach in the world. When you go home you're usually tired enough to go to sleep. It's usually just thinking about your family and stuff like that, worries me more than football sometimes. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: Probably that I've been in, I would say yeah. It's an interesting dynamic when you look at all of the commonality between the two teams. I would say so. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: The devil is in the details. The film -- you watch that film, what foot is he stepping with? Where is he located? Is he a foot inside or foot outside or inches. The details and nuances of what these people do defensively and what we do offensively are the key to everything, and so trying to understand those details, and giving yourself an advantage, that's the key. Q. How challenging is it with a short week? JIM CHANEY: Very tough, I mean, it's like a regular game week for us, so you just stay -- hold true to your protocol throughout the regular game week, and you go to work. We're used to this type of seven-day turn around. Q. Are you prepared between the long lay-up between Oklahoma, are you looking a different game plan -- (indiscernible)? JIM CHANEY: Well, we knew who the other two guys were going to do. It wasn't like we didn't have a lot of prep work on Clemson and Alabama prior to the ball game. We were ready to go with one or the other. Now, as far as nailing down a plan, we haven't done that until this week. So, that's a little different. But as far as time constraint, I don't know, I guess some people are complaining about that. I don't know. I always say if it's the same amount of time for each team, I'm good with it. I just like level playing fields. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: Well, you don't want to be. We don't want to be unless it's one dimensional our way. I think it's difficult to be one dimensional against Alabama. The year in, year out history would say that's not a winning deal, unless you can run the football. If you can run the football, a lot of good things come your way. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: I thought so. That worked for them. I don't know how this one will transpire. We'll wait and sigh. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: I love them. I'll go to bat with them any time. We'll see what happens. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: A lot of it. There's a lot of it. We've been talking about that all day here, so, there's a lot of commonality -- no, that's okay. There's a lot of that. Same defense in a lot of situations. Obviously, Coach Pruitt does things a little different than Kirby did, but at the end of the day, it's a lot of the same stuff. Q. Are you picking fellow coaches' minds about -- (indiscernible)? JIM CHANEY: Every chance we can. I like information. My little feeble brain, though, you get too much in there, and it bogs me down. But, yeah, you'd be a fool if you didn't ask Kirby and the defensive coaches for some insight. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: I think his future is unbelievably bright. He's a giant body, a bright kid. He's just got to continue to grow and develop as a football player and when he figures out the speed of the game, he's going to be a real good player. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: Well, I think you'd have to ask him. He's done better as the seasons went on, as he's gotten more used to it. I think the benefit of him not playing this year will pay off dividends for us in the long run. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: I envision him getting an opportunity to be a part of that. There's no reason why he shouldn't. If he goes out and competes like he's capable of. Q. Alabama had those three linebackers go down early in the year. Recently they come back. JIM CHANEY: Yeah. Q. How has the game -- (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: Well, schematically they didn't change anything. So you're still going at schemes. You're looking at them and then looking at people, and their people are back, so, not a lot. Q. And then again, it seems like they just loaded box, running the ball. How do you see that happen? How does that change your game, if at all? JIM CHANEY: I fully expect them to do that. I mean, every team we played thus far does. They're going to load the box, try to stop the run game. That's pretty comfortable. That's what we're used to seeing. So we'll find out if we can get it done or they can get it done. Q. Just from the time you started playing Jake, how has he felt this year? JIM CHANEY: I think he's a lot more confident now than he was when he walked on the field the first game. He was confident then. But obviously the more you play, the more comfortable you get, the more familiar you get with the schemes that we're running. A year in, obviously you like to think he's playing better now than he did day one. Q. (Indiscernible) Sonny Smart, father and son. I don't know how well you know Sonny -- JIM CHANEY: Yeah, I know him. Q. How would you put into context who he is in the State of Georgia? JIM CHANEY: You know, I don't know Coach Smart that way. I know him as Kirby's father being around. I'm not a native Georgia boy. So, I'm familiar with what he's been able to do, and everybody thinks really highly of him throughout the state, and when he's around he's always fun to be around. That's why I know about him. I know him being around practice a lot and having a good demeanor about him. Q. That's got to be pretty neat for Kirby. JIM CHANEY: I think any time when you're setting here at this level of ball, or any level of profession, if your parents are alive to watch you enjoy your life, that's a special deal, real special deal. Q. Hey, Coach. Tell me about living in Athens. What do you love about it? JIM CHANEY: Well, my kid's getting a good education. That's a good thing. I love downtown. I like to go down there, a lot of good places to eat. Like to have a cocktail down there once in a while. It's a lot of fun. I think our players and our University students love Georgia and love Athens. I think it kind of works hand in hand. Q. Huge sell? JIM CHANEY: I feel that way. I think most of the kids that come on campus enjoy that in recruiting. Q. Let's talk about eating downtown. What are two or three spots you love? JIM CHANEY: I'm not going down that path. No. No. As soon as I do, I'm going to have another buddy and another place ripping me for not saying his name. So I like them all. Q. Who is the best chef in the Chaney family? JIM CHANEY: My wife. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: Rigatoni. I love her rigatoni. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: Yes, she does. Q. Tell me play calling in overtime. Do you feel any play calling late in the game, play calling overtime, is there any element that you start to feel nerves separate than a second quarter call? Is your blood pressure higher? JIM CHANEY: No. I think that's when you go out of your way to try to take deep breaths and relax. That's when you need to be at your best. What you do, you lean on your compadres. We don't call plays in a vacuum. I mean, coordinators, we get a lot of blame when it does go good, not too much damn credit when it does go good. But at the end of the day, you talk, and I got a bunch of good coaches on my staff that work with me, and they bring a lot of peace. Q. Who called the play when you were on the elevator? JIM CHANEY: Probably James. I'm not even sure. I think it was James. James or Kirby. We run that same play all of time. We need five yards. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: Yeah. We did. Yeah, same play. Q. What play in the Rose Bowl were you most -- did you get most excited -- are there one or two plays that you thought you saw something and it worked out the way you ran it up? JIM CHANEY: Probably Kirby's long -- not Kirby, Sony's long run. And second quarter, I guess it would have been when he went whatever he went, 50, 60 yards that one. That one. Q. What about with the wildcat -- (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: I felt like that. I felt like when they had to go to try to push us back. I thought the first call was a god one when we lost three regards on them. We didn't execute the play the way I wanted them to. I thought the second one went about -- I didn't know we'd score, but I thought it would be a good play. Q. Did you see Sony and Nick, does that keep them energized to know they're going to be under center at times? JIM CHANEY: I think they enjoy part of it. Some things Sony doesn't enjoy doing. I make them doing it. Both of them are comfortable back there now in the wildcat. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: Probably if I was making him read a bunch of stuff as quarterback. He doesn't want to do that. He just wants to take it and Iran. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: I think Javon has a great amount of confidence in himself. I think he believes he belongs here, and he's excited about demonstrating everybody else he belongs here. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: I think when he started making plays this year, he started feeling a lot more confident. And when the ball is thrown up, he feels like he's going to make every play now. So that's a good thing. Q. What is the advantage of being on the practice field -- (Indiscernible)? JIM CHANEY: Not much. I can't find any advantage having Cooley around at all. No. He's sharp. He's a great coach. He's fun. You can't say enough about James Cooley. He's a wonderful guy. Q. (Inaudible question.) JIM CHANEY: Yeah. But none that have played quite like he has. Q. You said Jake said, the Notre Dame touchdown was when he knew he had the confidence to do that. When he saw him do that, was it kind of the same thing for you? JIM CHANEY: I don't know if it was a touchdown at Notre Dame. It was postgame at Notre Dame that I felt real comfortable that we could do about what we needed to do with him, and he wasn't ever going to be the reason we couldn't do something. Q. Why so? JIM CHANEY: I knew the game that I called at Notre Dame was pretty conservative and he was clicking. It was like, he was -- many come on, Chaney, come on, come on catch up with me. I'm like, all right, kid. Let's go. Q. (Inaudible question.) JIM CHANEY: Hell, no. I'll never catch up with that boy. He's too sharp for me. Q. Was it the same thing in the Rose Bowl last week during the game time drive? Was it just he was -- he seemed like he was one step ahead? JIM CHANEY: Well, he's a good football player. I've always said this that if we ever got in a situation we had to go throw it, I wasn't the one worried about it. You guys are all, what happens if Georgia has to throw it. I was never too worried about it. I think he can demonstrate what he can do. That's what he did his whole high school career, set there and throw it. So I wasn't worried do much about it. He went down and executed and put the ball in the end zone. It didn't shock me a bit. I just called the play. He executed it. He's a good player. Q. (Indiscernible question ). JIM CHANEY: I think we all you are. At the end of the day, at the end of the day if you can control the line of scrimmage you got a hell of a shot of being successful. And if you don't, you're going to struggle. That isn't playing Alabama. That would be playing Clemson or anybody in this situation. You got to win in the line of scrimmage to win championships. I do believe that. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: You know, I have not watched much Alabama offense, so I don't know the answer to that. I know defense when I see it practiced, and what I'm seeing now there's a lot of similarities, a lot of similarities. They do a lot of the same stuff that we do. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: You know, someone was talking about that earlier. And I look back on it, and I say the one thing that took place is when those two boys decided to stay. I don't know, it was kind of an unwritten thing that they had the confidence to stay. That meant a lot. It was unspoken. But it meant a lot. And I think we went to spring, we freshened up a lot of the things that we did offensively and gave them some new stuff to hang their hat on, and they kind of ran with the ball from that point on but as far as a sell, I don't know. Kids come to Georgia to play winning football, and we didn't win at the rate we wanted to a year ago so there was a hunger. I think when you underachieve, none of us like underachievement. I think it's one of the dirtiest words in college athletics. So we fought our butts off not to let that happen again. That measured with some good, talented kids, we find ourselves here today. Q. Kirby was talking about not winning enough -- (indiscernible)? JIM CHANEY: You know, I try not to go that way. I have tried to move forward. I would say they've done -- Georgia's had a history of winning a lot of football games, you know? I'm tickled to be setting here in a championship game, so -- Q. You talked about the decision of Sony Michel to come back. You've had a lot of meetings with him over the course of the last 12 months, so I'm not asking you to reveal what was said in those meetings, but you saw the competitive nature of what they wanted their football to be and what they want their final carries as running back to be? JIM CHANEY: They understand that. We don't sit around and talk about those things. I understand they're good football players and they got to get the ball in their hands and just making sure that takes place is my job. Those kids, man, you can't say no good about them. Q. I'm assume you have more confidence in the offensive line this year. They seem to be playing better than 2016.) Does that change your dynamic as play caller knowing that you have a line that you can do that stuff? JIM CHANEY: No question about it. If you feel like your line is going to move people, they you're going to do it. Q. How did you coach Jake Fromm differently because he's a true freshman than maybe the other two quarterbacks you worked with? JIM CHANEY: I would argue probably nothing, nothing. Just schematically, you don't feel handcuffed at all. You can do whatever you want to do. So probably the word I would say is freedom. There's not a lot of, I don't feel like I'm obligated to anything. I feel like we can do about what we want to do. Q. Quick final question. Most fans would assume you're coaching a different game against Alabama than Oklahoma because their styles are different. How true is that? JIM CHANEY: I think you follow a protocol through the week to put a plan together to score enough points to win. We're following that protocol to the tee. We've done it for 15 weeks. We ain't changing now. We're going to try to put a plan together that can score enough and hopefully it does. Thank you. Q. What's the first play? JIM CHANEY: First play's going to be a triple reverse pass. Q. Is there even a concept of what it takes for a student-athlete - (indiscernible)? JIM CHANEY: I think so. I think people do. I think that -- I think sometimes people get a little sensitive about the message boards. But I do believe the message boards is about 2 percent of the people that are proud to be Georgia people. So, you got to have thick skin through that. I don't know that the lay person understands the pain that some of these boys have to play through, and it hurts. It physically hurts to play some of these things. That would be what I would say that people don't quite always grasp. All of a sudden your right guard is out there you're not running the ball. It's boo, you're horrible. He's playing with an ankle bigger than a beach ball. Those are the things I want to tell people to temper down a little bit on. As far as going after coaches on messaged boards, go for it. I'm not going to control any of that. Do what you got to do, man. Q. (Indiscernible question.) JIM CHANEY: Huh? In the end, it's like all of them. I don't treat any of them differently. They're all the same. It's a home game. I'm here. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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