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DIVISION I FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP: EASTERN WASHINGTON VS NORTH DAKOTA STATE

December 27, 2018

Aaron Best

Frisco, Texas

J.D. HAMILTON: Coach, can you just give us an opening statement really quick, and we'll open it up for questions for you.

AARON BEST: Well, like you said, we're humbled and excited about the opportunity to represent the university, the department, and obviously the football program at a national level. In terms of this, we've been on the cusp of this for a few years and just couldn't finish the deal at home on our home field, a few of those semifinals that I was a part of as an assistant coach.

So we're back. We're facing a more than a formidable opponent in North Dakota State. They've been there, they've done that, they've walked the roads, they know what they're doing. They do it well. It should be a great game at eleven o'clock in Frisco on January 5th.

We'll bring everybody we've got, we'll shoot everybody we can, and we'll bring a rabbit's boot to foot. Always packing a little bit of good luck on the plane as well.

J.D. HAMILTON: Good stuff, Coach. We appreciate it. We'll now open it up for questions.

Q. I know we've talked throughout the last couple years about you getting this chance to lead your alma mater. But now you're heading to Frisco, playing for a National Championship. What's this experience been like for you? What has this meant for you?
AARON BEST: We're still living the dream right now. We're still in the moment. It's kind of like when people say how is the Big Sky Championship, your first as a head coach? It's like, I don't really want to experience those reminiscing moments yet until it's all done and we kind of can be reflective. Because trying to stay in the moment is kind of the hardest thing to do, as you know, in any sport or life for that matter.

It's special, there is no question about it, in all caps. Like I said, I'm humble at the opportunity Bill Chaves gave myself to lead my alma mater. I think we've got a well-rounded team in all three phases -- special teams, offense and defense. We've got a quarterback that went down mid-season, overcame that adversity, which no one, including yourself, thought we could do. Which was okay. That drove us to greater lengths. And he's a pretty special player in Eric Barriere.

We've replaced a special player with an up-and-coming special player, and it helps when that quarterback has a run game and a defense around him. Those are quarterback's two best friends, like we've talked about all season long.

So we'll stay in the moment, we'll appreciate the moment, but we're not going to settle for second place. That's not why we do what we do. So we're going down there to win the game. Like we do every week, we want to be 1-0 come Saturday.

Q. You've been close to a lot of guys that have really helped build the foundation of Eastern Washington, playing for Mike Kramer and getting your coaching start under Paul Wulff, and coaching for Beau Baldwin. What sort of influences do you think those guys have had on your progression to this point?
AARON BEST: Well, I tell you, you mentioned a few names, and I would even add -- I didn't play for him, but I was around him as an athletic director -- Dick Zornes, one of the figureheads of Big Sky Conference play in the mid-80s, early '90s. All those gentlemen you mentioned, including Coach Kramer, who coached myself as a player, Coach Wulff who gave me the opportunity to be a college football coach, and then Beau Baldwin, learning a ton from him. Bill Chaves, obviously, I've got to give a ton of credit to him for allowing me to be in the chair that I am and lead this team.

All of those guys possess a lot of very great qualities. Some -- I took some from some people from the field, off the field, management skills, organizational skills. But when you really -- when you really look at all those people that were mentioned, they all are great men. We all stay in contact with each other, whether it be phone call, email, text message. Once an Eagle, always an Eagle. Kind of what Jim McElwain said one time, Eagle born, Eagle bred.

Those guys know how special not only this program is, but this university, this city, this community.

I can't say enough. I grabbed some from all of those guys, and hopefully enough of that stuff stuck on the wall to lead to future success with this program and this university for years to come.

Q. Everybody knows about the red turf. But what else do you think makes Eastern Washington a unique place, and what have been some of the key factors to help bring you to this point with having so much success over the last two decades?
AARON BEST: Yeah, I think the field certainly helps. I think our fan base helps. There's no doubt about it. When tough 2,000 students, the 11,000 that go to school here, that's pretty impressive when you're packing in close to almost 20% of your student population. So that certainly helps.

Winning breeds winning, and the way we've done that is to develop players. We've been able to identify players that people have scratched their heads about, not over just the last couple years, but the last decade, decade and a half, and develop them into people that are nationally known.

When you have a walk-up quarterback that up-ends Washington State in his first start and has an Eastern record in total yards in a game, everybody wonders who he was. He was a walk-on from McMinnville, Oregon, McMinnville High School.

Those are the stories that are the loudest and proudest, when you can identify a guy out of high school, to be not only a good player but also a good person and a good student, and then develop him while he's here on campus at your alma mater, and see his growth, not only on the field but off the field, that's exponential. Can't say enough about it.

We do a lot with less, and we're proud of that fact. We continue that mindset as we drive forward, the byproducts on the field, but just the development of the guys that are not no-brainers on film, if you will, that we think will become no-brainers given a little bit of development. That's what we pride ourselves on.

Q. So many people would say North Dakota State, all the pressure is on North Dakota State being number one all year and the defending champ. How would you react to that statement that all the pressure is on North Dakota State?
AARON BEST: Well, I don't know if I believe in the "P" word to begin with. Panic and pressure are two things that I don't necessarily buy into. I know they're thrown around. I do think it's harder to stay on top when you are the top dog. I really do believe that. But I don't know if that equates to pressure, if that makes sense.

I think that's allowed them to really hone in on focusing in to be able to do it over and over and over again. I'm not talking about annually, I'm talking about weekly. You look at their slate this year, and they played in the highly regarded Missouri Valley Conference. They're facing some formidable opponents at home, on the road, and they hold serve at home and they do what they need to do on the road to get wins.

So I certainly think it's harder to stay on top when you're on top this long. But I don't know that that's necessarily pressure. I think those guys challenge probably from top to bottom, seniors to incoming freshmen, of what their DNA is all about, their belief system, what their philosophy is, and that kind of drives the next class and the next year.

So looking at they're two-deep, they're 15-senior starters, so they develop people too. That's a testament to the staff and Coach Klieman believing in the players out of high school, developing them when they get to campus, and them understanding how to win before they got there and continue to win when they do wear their school logo and their colors.

Q. When you were over two years making your offense more balanced, did you have to turn people into believers in a sense that was there ever a feeling that too much running the ball would rob the offense of its identity?
AARON BEST: I know where you're going with that. Anytime you send a message, you've got to get people to believe. Some people are going to believe you right away, and those people might have been the offensive line, because they've been in the room with me for X-amount of time. Whenever you have the microphone or the podium, you're going to have to get people to believe, whether you're a parent and you're sending a message to your 10-year-old, and it's a matter of not only saying it, but doing it. Having a little luck along the way, but truly buying into the process.

Having been in a lot of situations, within in a lot of big ballgames, albeit I was an offensive line coach, that doesn't make me not understand how to throw verticals or how to get in five-wide, or how to utilize, you know, receivers in the screen game. I've been around some minds in offensive coordinators, Tim Rosenbaugh, Todd Sturdy, and Beau Baldwin. Those guys are fascinating minds. Not to mention Troy Taylor for a year. Those are guys that I've leaned on, learned from, and tried to implement not just talking to the offensive line.

I think the hardest piece as an offensive line coach turned head coach is to have the rest of the 85 guys on the team talk to me and get to know me instead of just being the offensive line coach. It's not their job, it's my job.

So I walk down the halls and put my arm around people and wink to people and high five people and give people knuckles and smile. I want guys to want to be here just like I want to be here. So I think it's less about a belief and more about fostering relationships and getting to know the people that you haven't spent a ton of time with. And here we are. I love each and every one of them. I feel it's a mutual love coming back from them.

Q. What have the Kupp brothers meant to your program?
AARON BEST: They've meant a ton, number one. The question is usually are all about Cooper, obviously, for obvious reasons; right? Arguably one of the best players in FCS history, number one, and again, arguably one of the best players in the Big Sky history, two or 1B.

But I think the thing that's most interesting between Cooper and Ketner is Ketner gets to play for a National Championship. Cooper never did. That's unfortunate, but it's one of those deals where I kind of winked at Ketner and said now everybody can ask you about -- or ask your brother about you instead of everybody asking you about your brother.

So he gets to experience something that Cooper never did. Very similar people, but very different people. Great mindset. Their mindset is very similar. The way they handle themselves on the field are very professional. They have leadership skills second to none. They don't say a ton, they do a ton.

But I think they've meant a ton. Just the legacy of two brothers having been here since, I think, 2013 until 2018, and the crossover between the two to be able to play with each other I think is incredible. I think it's phenomenal.

They're better people than they are players, and they're pretty damn good players.

Q. I think you addressed on how you went to a more run-oriented attack. Why did you do that?
AARON BEST: I think you get to this stage of the year, and I watch football just like everybody out there. There's very few teams over and over that play for national titles that are 65 or 70% pass based. It can happen, yes. But when you get in the elms, the wind starts blowing, the snow starts coming, the wind gets colder and hand warmers start coming out in the skill position area. I think you have more of an opportunity to do work in late November and early December, and your identity truly is created by running the football and playing good defense.

That's not to say -- when we said balance, we weren't searching for 50% run, 50% pass. We're more concerned with yards per carry. So it may be 30 in one game, it may be 50 in another, maybe 42 in one, 46 in another. We're trying to get five yards per carry to get us to second and five, and the playbook is still open.

Is it more balance than I had anticipated? Yes. I thought it would take a little bit more time. But the guys we've got at running back are arguably some of the best top to bottom in the conference. They're 1 through 4, any guy is relied upon.

So like anything, you rely on some of your best players, and some of our best players are running backs, and the most productive players that we have are running backs and we'll utilize them a bit more and add a defense and quarterback that's dynamic and now we're cooking.

But every year is going to be a touch different. Our identity is going to be move the football, core touchdowns and play defense. Whether we move the ball on the ground or through the air, we'll mix that up occasionally and see what's best for us in game situations.

But at the end of the day, the balance is best, because I think you're more respected as a team when offensively you run and pass the ball equally as effective.

Q. What is the status of J.T.?
AARON BEST: It's out of my hands right now. I'm working with the university officials on the protocol with that. So unfortunately, Jeff, I'm not able to touch upon that at this moment because it's out of the program's hands and into the university's hands.

Q. Despite whatever J.T.'s status is, how many guys are you down on defense from the start of the year? I know you've had a couple of injuries that have kind of sidetracked you on that side of the ball. Do you have a number?
AARON BEST: Your definition of a couple is way different than my definition of a couple, Mike (laughter). I mean, how many fingers and toes do you have? We're talking upwards of probably 10 to 12 guys that either started, were starters or were going to be starters from probably the start of fall camp. Guys that weren't just role players and special teams, or weren't a fourth-quarter cornerback.

So we're not treading on thin ice. We're fine. That's what North Dakota State has as well. Everybody asks what the top teams have. They have not just depth, they have competitive depth. And we've closed the gaps from our ones to our twos, and that makes the team as a whole better.

So about mid-way point through the season, I quit counting. It seemed to be one a week or two every other week. It's just that's kind of the mentality that we have. It's unfortunate guys are put in that situation. A lot of those guys were seniors that ended their careers with injuries. Unfortunately, that's the crappy part of it all.

But the opportunistic part of it all is someone gets to step up that's a younger individual and show kind of their meddle on Saturdays, and they've prepared for the tun and done well doing it.

Q. Is that one of the biggest differences, if not thee biggest difference to where you were a year ago when you played NDSU early in the season? In the second half of the game they were able to handle you pretty well physically up front on both sides of the ball. Is that a major difference between this team and that team?
AARON BEST: I wouldn't say a major difference. It's a difference. You've got to remember, that was our second -- regardless of the outcome of the game or the setting we had, we looked at that as a team the Sunday after that game. And if you looked back at those stats, we had more yards in the first quarter than we did the rest of the game. We had more time of possession in the first quarter than we did in the rest of the game, if you can believe that.

So if you take the first quarter stats versus the rest of those three quarters, we're hanging there pretty tough. But you know as well as I do, it's a four-quarter game against an awesome outfit. A team that's relentless in their pursuit of winning, and they controlled the clock. It started with the run game, and they run power better than anybody at our level, and whether it's a one-yard gain for three straight plays, they're going to continue to run power, because at some point that's going to be a 50-yard gain if you don't bring people down.

They just do the little things really well over and over and over. And they dot every I and cross every T. So along with, obviously, not playing well, that was our staff's second game. Make no bones about it, that's not an excuse. But when you have your second spelling test in third grade, that probably didn't go well for us either. We took the 10th or 12th spelling test, and usually practice makes permanent.

So we're getting a feel for each other. But, yeah, they came in here and they whooped us pretty good that early part of September last year for sure. But we'll see how it all unfolds this next week and a half, and we'll give them everything we've got. We trust our players and we trust our scheme. The coach has been around for two years, so there's never going to be excuses to why we're on the short end of things. They just played way better that day and had their way with us in 2017.

Q. How is Barriere different now than he was when he first got the chance whenever it was, eight games ago? Have you seen growth in terms of maturity or what have you seen from Eric?
AARON BEST: Yeah, he smiles more. If you can imagine that. He was a smiler before he ended up being the starter, and now he smiles even more. He's a kid that loves to have fun. Loves to compete. So don't get fooled by the smile. He's ornery. He's ornery, and competitive juices flow in his body even behind that bright smile of his. But he's grown like any guy that is thrust into the spotlight at quarterback, where you can't hide. Every snap you get the ball, and every snap you're forced to make decisions in meaningful games.

You know, as we got into Weber and took one on the chin in Ogden, and then got into our bye week, no one outside of our walls believed anything could be done to get to this point.

But the only people that matter are the people within our walls. Those are the people that believed. He's progressively gotten better. He's made smarter decisions. He's still going to take chances. Heck, you want a quarterback with confidence. You want him to take chances, you just don't want him to take risks, if you will. If there's a difference.

He's mad at things he left out there. He'll come back on Sunday and be bothered by it, but he'll be mad with a smile. So he's unflappable that way. He's a competitor shall, his communication has gotten better, and the Sky's the limit with him as long as he stays in the moment.

Q. Following up on Barriere. Was there kind of a moment that you knew he would be able to handle that pressure that kind of gave you confidence in him?
AARON BEST: Probably the minute he stepped on campus. He's such a generous kid, a competitive kid. You see how people interact with people, regardless of keeping score. Then you get to the practice field, and you see his skillset is unquestioned. He's a very skilled athlete from that standpoint.

But it's a matter of like the higher up you go as far as sports, when you talk about you're a junior out of high school, high school to college, college to pro, the more the game becomes more mental.

So that is always the challenge in college. In high school, guys get away with flat talent. And you can beat people with talent. In college, you can beat people on a play with talent, but not over the course of the game. There has to be decision-making and guys you rely on, because everybody's good at this level.

But we knew he had a chance. His first year as a red-shirt year, that was Gage's first year on the scene. He didn't get a lot of TLC because he wasn't the guy, he was red-shirting. But you knew he cared more than most even though he was red-shirting. He got his jump start in his career a little sooner than he anticipated this year, and we're better off for it.

So you've got to see what we were predicting to see in 2019, but we got to see it mid-2018. I think we'd agree he's probably a keeper, so we'll keep him around a few more years.

Q. Do you feel like your defense having to go against Barriere in practice is helpful with a mobile quarterback like Easton Stick?
AARON BEST: I do. But I would take it to further lengths and say it's no different than J.T. against Spencer Blackburn. Iron sharpens iron. When you're facing -- that's why good teams are usually well-rounded on both sides of the ball. Because when good goes against good, good is going to lose to good sometimes and good is going to beat good sometimes. But you get better not every day, but it's almost every rep, every series, every individual drill.

So I do think it helps. Albeit our quarterbacks were never live in practices. But I do think it allows those guys to understand to stay in coverage, to not come out of coverage yet. He can throw the ball deeper than the deep ball further than any guy I've been around.

I've been around some pretty good quarterbacks, and his effort is just effortless when he does it. But certainly it does. He's a scary guy. He can move and beat you with his legs and beat you with his arm as long as he's making continuous good decisions.

But I certainly think it helps. It definitely doesn't hurt. He's different than Gage, but similar to Gage. He's probably not as crafty as Gage. Gage kind of grew into being a crafty old veteran, and Eric will get there at some point.

Now, he's, like I said, staying in the moment, living in the moment, and relying on his teammates to do something with the ball when he gives it to them. When his number is called, he's willing to take advantage of it and try to move the sticks for us.

Q. How important is it, with ND State's kind of unprecedented level of success, to not try and, you know, figure out what they're doing and copy what they're doing, we should do this like NDSU does it, and do things like Eastern Washington does it?
AARON BEST: Well, I don't think you copy anything. It's no different than me copying Coach Baldwin's script of being a head coach. When you think something is good -- and it goes along with life. When you think something is good or know something's good or smell something good, you want to take part of that and apply it to you and your surroundings. So naturally wanting to be more balanced is something that North Dakota State does.

Naturally, North Dakota State is a really, really good defensive outfit. Always has been. Faces some serious competition in their league. So how do you mimic that? I don't know that we want to mimic that as much as taking parts from it and trying to apply it, and how can we apply it to ourselves? Because they have different looking players than we do. Their tackles aren't 275, 280 pounds. Their tackles are bigger than our guys.

So how do you apply it but get the same result? That's the fun of college coaching. That's the fun of being a parent. What works for the 10-year-old may not work for the 8-year-old, but may then work for the 5-year-old. It's the end result that we're driven by, and trying to get there in creative ways is always something.

We don't really follow blueprints. We just look at them and take them piece by piece. It's like coaching. It's never your idea. It's an idea you stole from somebody and they stole from somebody else.

So history repeats itself. We're just trying to be the best Eastern Washington outfit we can be year in and year out, and we like where we're at right now. We'll continue to drive further.

Q. I wanted to clarify something. I know you can't say anything about J.T., but I want to clarify, is he with the team, is he practicing?
AARON BEST: He's with the team right now. I'm waiting to hear back. It's tough during the winter break. We're a quarter school, so we got out a couple weeks ago. So administratively we're waiting on a few things. It's really out of our control like I said.

So as much as I'd love to delve into it further, I just can't. I can't go any further just because, you know...

Q. I understand. I just wanted to clarify, I know you said you don't know if he's going to play. But I was just wondering if he was still -- so is suspended the proper term or up in the air?
AARON BEST: Yeah, I would say right now he's where he was post-Maine or prior to Maine at this point. Nothing has changed at this moment. Things could change, but that's in the university's hands at this point.

Q. Have they given you any indication on when they might give you word?
AARON BEST: I don't. Like I said, I let them do their gig. They let me do my gig. So by no means am I trying to meddle in any way, shape or form, because I want to make sure that everybody on this university campus is protected and vetted properly.

So once I hear from them, we'll head forward with the decision.

J.D. HAMILTON: Thank you everyone for joining us. Coach Best, thank you.

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