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CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL: ALABAMA VS OKLAHOMA

December 27, 2018

Austin Seibert

Miami Gardens, Florida

Q. My first question is kind of a random question, but I notice that sometimes last season, you had been wearing these shoes that have like a blue part on them, and then it looked like you changed shoes, and for so long I just have been randomly curious about why you did that.
AUSTIN SEIBERT: Yeah, so one of our equipment guys just asked if I wanted them painted. I was like, why not, so we painted them all black, and we had to do that every week because the paint would start chipping off and the blue would start coming back out. Just something new.

Q. So they're the same shoes?
AUSTIN SEIBERT: Last year's, yeah. They don't make them anymore, so I'm on a different cleat right now, the Jordan cleat.

Q. Do you feel any difference with the different cleats?
AUSTIN SEIBERT: Yeah, there's a difference in the styles, I guess, but you get used to it over time. It's nothing major.

Q. Also, I've also always wondered, why did you pick a blue cleat?
AUSTIN SEIBERT: Just the style of cleat that I liked the best, and they came like that.

Q. You and Connor McGinnis have been like the kicking and holding pair for like three years now. As a kicker, is it important and good to have that kind of continuous relationship with your holder?
AUSTIN SEIBERT: Yeah, the chemistry that we have is -- it's great. It's flawless, really. I can trust him enough to where that ball is going to be down, set in the right place and laces forward every time. I don't have to think about, gosh, the ball is not going to be there, things like that. He makes my job easier, and having a good snapper or a reliable snapper makes the whole process easier, as well. It's definitely a fine routine that we've got going, and it's been well.

Q. What's it been like working with Kasey and kind of bringing a new person into your dynamic?
AUSTIN SEIBERT: He's done really well. Field goal snaps have been perfect most of the year, and can't really complain for a young guy coming in like that and stepping up. So I think being around Wesley and learning from him a lot has really helped him, and I brought him under my wing, too, and helped him get ready to roll and things like that. He's done a phenomenal job this year.

Q. As the kicker and really all three of you as like a field goal, extra-point kicking unit, you guys can really change the game. You can win games and things like that, but as you've seen at these media events, you don't necessarily get the most attention. Why do you think that is that you guys can be so big in these really big key moments, but until something is either really on the line or something bad happens, no one is really paying much attention?
AUSTIN SEIBERT: I mean, when you have guys like Kyler, CD, Marquise Brown, Kenneth Murray, those guys, they can have the spotlight, and that's fine. For being a specialist, it's good when you don't have your name called a whole bunch. It means you're doing your job, and you're doing your job good. With that being said, I mean, we have our moments and we'll get our glory. We've had a lot more here at Oklahoma than other schools have had because the media likes to talk to us and things like that.

But no, I think that's just part of it. I mean, those guys are the ones who are getting hit and making the big plays, and we go out there and just do our job with the field position and they score points and things like that. A lot of what we do goes under the radar, and it shows in big games and things like that if you've been working and putting time in to get better and help the team.

Q. I did try to kick a field goal once in high school as part of a thing, but I don't know a lot about kicking. Can you just kind of tell me about how hard it is and maybe the mental aspect of it, too?
AUSTIN SEIBERT: Yeah, it's definitely not easy. You can take almost any one of these guys and ask them to kick, and they won't be able to. So it's definitely a skill set you have to work on and form over years and years of practice. It's good to have a soccer background because of the foot position and everything like that is the hardest part to master. Yeah, the mental aspect, too, when you get playing in these big games like this and you miss a kick or you're under that stressful environment, it's hard to come back, and plus you have to get that process going and have that strong mental aspect of your game so you can come back and bounce back from kicks.

Q. Do you have a soccer background?
AUSTIN SEIBERT: Yeah, I played soccer growing up.

Q. For how long?
AUSTIN SEIBERT: Shoot, I started when I was five, and I stopped playing my freshman year of high school.

Q. Why did you stop?
AUSTIN SEIBERT: Football. I wanted to play football.

Q. How did you get interested in kicking specifically, just because you had played soccer?
AUSTIN SEIBERT: Yeah, well, since I was five, I've always had a big leg, like superior to others, and when I played football, I played other positions and I just kicked for the team just to do something. I mean, that's where it started. My dad punted in high school, so he pushed me into doing that, as well, and I just fell in love with it.

Q. When did you think that this was something that you could go to college and do and be really successful long-term at?
AUSTIN SEIBERT: I'd say -- well, I had goals throughout my whole kicking career. In eighth grade, I wanted to start varsity my freshman in high school, and I think doing that and just following the goals and following that path of setting the goals and accomplishing them really helped and led me to where I am today. Plus my parents made it very clear that if I didn't get a scholarship, they weren't going to help me pay for college with financial status and things like that, so that was another aspect that really pushed me to get out of Belleville and get a good education.

Q. And I guess what other positions did you play when you were in high school?
AUSTIN SEIBERT: In high school, I messed around at backup quarterback my junior year, and then I played a little tight end my senior year, but senior year was just goof off. I didn't really do anything in practice but kick, but junior year I did take reps at quarterback.

Q. So last year you and Wesley and Connor made that video, and he was on his way to being kicker of the year, and it was pretty funny. I saw Kasey come up and take a picture of you. You guys seem like you have a lot of fun together. Can you talk about how you guys have kind of like a fun relationship?
AUSTIN SEIBERT: Yeah, no, we've got a lot of free time and downtime and things like that, so we're always goofing off and just messing around and doing funny things and pranking each other. But no, I think that's a good culture to have within a specialists' group, being able to joke, mess around with each other, because if not, it's going to be a pretty tense environment because everyone is going for that one spot. So I think it's good to have that within a specialists' group.

Q. Do you have a favorite prank or funny moment between you and Kasey and Connor?
AUSTIN SEIBERT: Oh, man. I can't really think of one off the top of my head. It's probably just like spur of the moment stuff, just making jokes off of little things, honestly.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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