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CHICK-FIL-A PEACH BOWL: FLORIDA VS MICHIGANDecember 29, 2018Dan MullenLamical PerineChauncey Gardner-JohnsonFeleipe FranksAtlanta, Georgia THE MODERATOR: Coach, start with an opening statement from you, and then we'll get right into questions. DAN MULLEN: First, I want to thank everybody at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl for an amazing experience for our players. The hospitality, the sacrifices they've made, all through the holiday season. It was a great experience for us. We got to be together as a family, as a football family for the Christmas holidays, but they made a lot of sacrifices this week to put this game on and the hospitality was unbelievable. One of the things that I think is so special about the bowl system, and everybody always asks me why I'm such a believer in the bowl system is we had a bunch of seniors that a year ago were coming off a not very good year, and there's a whole new program starting up. And they got to come here and finish their college football career. A lot of them aren't going to play. A lot of them, this was the last time they put those pads on, and they get to walk off the field as champions today. They get to walk off, says it right here, it says champions. And I know everybody, when they talk about it, that's what makes the bowl system so special is the educational aspect of getting to come spend a week here in Atlanta, come build as a team, see things you haven't gotten to see, and that opportunity to finish your football career as champion is pretty special. I want to thank all those seniors, also, for believing in me. I told our guys, the sooner everybody bought in, the sooner we'll start winning. It's evident. It started with the seniors. Those guys believed from day one. Nobody questioned, nobody resisted, everybody tried to do whatever we asked them to do. And you see, and I told everybody, you know, today we wanted to peak today. That's what you want to do, peak on the final game of the season. You're always getting better. We want to continue to improve. You ask what a successful season is, and it's you got better every single day. I would call this season a success. I'm proud of all these guys up here on stage with me. But the whole team and those guys bought in to believing what we're trying to build and to get that Gator standard back. THE MODERATOR: Open up to questions for Coach or the student-athletes. Q. Feleipe and Chauncey, you were on the bench when you came out of the game finally and were both kind of overwhelmed with emotion. Just the thoughts that were running through your head for both of you. FELEIPE FRANKS: I think for me, like Coach Mullen said, coming off a season like last season to where we're at now, winning a New Year's Six bowl, and that's kind of like where I was at with being overwhelmed. Just filled with emotion and just on how much I felt like I've improved from last season under Coach Mullen and Coach Johnson, and how much this team's improved from last season as well. So it's just a great feeling, tears of joy, that I've always wanted to be in the middle of confetti falling down on me, winning championships. Coach Mullen's bringing that back to Florida. THE MODERATOR: Chauncey. CHAUNCEY GARDNER-JOHNSON: Same as Feleipe said. Last year, we was at home, you know, Coach Mullen came in. He was happy to be back, and we was like this guy's weird, all the smiling and all laughing. Like he said, we bought in quickly, because we knew it was going to be a big turnaround if we just bought in. We had some balks during the season. We took our losses, got back up, and kept fighting. A lot of people looked down on us. Everything, we fought for, you know. Like he said, we champions now, and we thrive on that, being a champion, not only on the field but off the field. I think that got carried over into this game. We did everything a champion is supposed to do, and we deserve this win, and that's what it came out to. Q. Dan, you mentioned peaking. I was going to ask you about that. What has the team done these last -- three 25-point plus wins. I'm sure you don't want the season to end, the way you guys are playing right now. DAN MULLEN: Unfortunately, how it shapes up, we're done. And I don't know anybody -- I don't know a lot of teams that would be lining up to play us right now. But I also think you look at what we've done. You look at the schedule you have to play, and you get in and that's part of playing in the Southeastern Conference. Week in, week out, you don't have an off week. You got to show up and play your A-game every week. You're prepared to play, and play big games like the one we played in today. That's what kind of playing in a league does for you. Q. You've been in a lot of big wins with this program and Mississippi State too. Is this one special to you? DAN MULLEN: It really is. In year one, to come here and to know where we were this time a year ago to where we are today, it's special to me. Because you come in, and like I said, these guys -- as Chauncey said, I'm my own person. Got our own way of doing things. They didn't have to buy in. They didn't have to believe. I told them, I didn't recruit you. You didn't come here to play for me, but you did come here to be a Florida Gator. And there's a certain standard that's expected if you're going to do that. So it's really special for me that these guys all bought in and believed in that, and we had to finish a ten-win season, finish as a top-ten team in the country, that's pretty special. Q. Chauncey, with this being your final game, how would you define your career at the University of Florida? CHAUNCEY GARDNER-JOHNSON: It's been a ride. First year with a bowl game to the after not winning nothing to winning a bowl game now, a New Year's Six bowl, it just shows you like the growth, because you gonna take some bumps along the road. Last year was the most painful for us, not just for me, because seeing my teammates down, it hurt me. Like I said, this year was nothing but joy, you know. Like I said, we took some losses, but the majority of them, we won. All my teammates are smiling. We got that feeling back we had my freshman year. I came with Perine and Feleipe. Like he said, Coach Mullen didn't recruit us, but we all made a collective effort, we're going to buy in, this is our team. A lot of the guys will be around next year, and they can lead the younger guys. We told them all week, the playoff's going to be here. Like Coach Mullen said, the playoff's going to be here so if you act like a big-time team, perform like a big-time team, you'll be here next year on a bigger stage. This game right here, like I said, one step closer to the program being back to where it was. Q. Coach, we talked earlier in the week just about coming here with Franks and just him not having to be conservative but just fit into the offense. Can you just talk about this season, what it means to Franks, just for everything he's been through? DAN MULLEN: He's pretty emotional. I think everybody saw that, right? He don't hold back a whole lot in anything that he does. But I think he's really grown. I think you saw that today. We weren't very -- people were asking, we weren't real conservative, because you look at how he's grown, how he's improved throughout the year. Still has a lot to improve on, you know what I mean. He's still a young player, right? You're a redshirt sophomore? He's still a young guy. But I think the steps that he's taken, it just shows how you can improve. He didn't worry about anything. Didn't worry about all the outside stuff, whether it's good or bad. I mean, none of that -- I always tell our guys, that don't matter. You watch the film so you know. Whether someone thinks you played good or bad is irrelevant. Watch the film and judge yourself. You know how to get better. And I think he really did that. Grew up, matured, and really understood the offense, understood the game plan coming in today. You saw, I don't think, at any point during the game we got conservative in what we were doing because we just trusted he'd make good decisions and get the win for us. Q. Feleipe, I'm just wondering, what's the biggest thing that Coach Mullen and his staff did for you to help you grow as you did throughout this season? FELEIPE FRANKS: The biggest thing that they helped me do, I would say just gain my confidence back. I mean, Coach Mullen and Chauncey both said it from last year, you know, I think that -- especially me, I don't think my confidence could have got any lower, where there had been a bunch of different things. Just coming back this year under a new staff. Like he said, he didn't recruit us. We bought in to trusting in him and trusting in the staff. With me trusting Coach Johnson and Coach Mullen, they helped me bring back confidence day in and day out, whether it be in practice or on game day. Being able to come out here and, like he said, not play conservative. Just go out and play the game I've been playing my whole life. And it just made football fun again. That's kind of what it did for me. Q. Chauncey, talk about your interception return early in the game. Did you see anything that they threw? Seemed like you were playing the center field on this play and also winning the defensive MVP of the game. CHAUNCEY GARDNER-JOHNSON: We wanted the shots. They went after our freshmen early because they knew they could pick on them. We said hold your ground, somebody's going to be over the top. It was a one high with me and the safety exchanging. He read it as the safety would sit there. We rolled, and I just speed turned, ball came right to me. And, I mean, dang. LAMICAL PERINE: He made a play. CHAUNCEY GARDNER-JOHNSON: Basically, just getting the ball back to Feleipe and Lamical, because they running hot. Wanted to get the ball back, keep running them. They kept us up the whole game. If it wasn't for them two, the whole offense, there wouldn't be no points on the board. We wanted to go out there and hold our ground and give us a blade of grass and we'll defend it. That's what we did, and give them boys back the ball. Q. Lamical, the play you scored on the crossing pattern, I guess it was an under pattern, was that something you guys put in for this game? Had it been there all year long? Was it something special? Also, why do you think you've really come on so well later in the year and had all these big runs? LAMICAL PERINE: Well, ever since Coach Mullen got here, man, he put me in the position to, like, make plays and he do that for everybody on the offense. So I just been -- just been listening to him, man. Every time he had something to say to me, I just listen to him, man, because he -- he's a great offensive coach, man, and he seen I can catch out of the backfield and he can put me in the slot. He can put me out wide and do whatever, man. So he did that, and I did that. Q. Was that a play you had for all year? Was that something new this week? LAMICAL PERINE: No, we been had it. DAN MULLEN: Secrets. Maybe it was new, maybe it wasn't. LAMICAL PERINE: The world may never know. DAN MULLEN: That's inside info right there. Q. (No microphone)? DAN MULLEN: You never know what we have off of that too from Miami. Q. On that point, just how much fun do you have drawing up plays? Two examples, the QB draw and that jet sweep to Toney. Those seemed like two real critical plays. DAN MULLEN: I tell you what, the first, the jet sweep that was Brian called that upstairs. So I got -- I told him, I said fourth down and one. He said call the jet -- we looked at the look. We had another play called. We didn't like the look so we took a time-out. It's like run the jet sweep. I said okay. I said, well, this one's on you so I gotta give him the credit. If it goes bad in post-game press conference, I'm going to blame you for calling it. If it goes well, you're getting the full credit. I think our offensive staff, we have guys that have been together for quite a long time, work really well together. We have some really, really good coaches on offense. So everybody, I mean, we take turns. I love to say I sit there -- I mean, I guess I'm kind of the guy that calls the play right when it goes in the game most of the time. But everybody contributes a lot of that of how we work together. So they did a nice job with that call. Q. And the QB draw? DAN MULLEN: He called that, right? FELEIPE FRANKS: Changed it. DAN MULLEN: He changed it. We had a different play called. Q. So you didn't call anything? DAN MULLEN: I really didn't do a whole lot today. (Laughter.) No I think our guys, you just see the guys understanding and working together in the system. It's a look that they gave us. They walked everybody out of the box. He has the green light. If he sees something like that, that they're giving us -- we'll go in the game maybe not with checks, but with automatics. If you see a look they're going to give us a play, you can take it at any time. Feleipe did a good job of calling that right there. Q. (No microphone). FELEIPE FRANKS: They told me earlier in the week, then seen it and did it. Q. Feleipe, at one point during the year, especially during the Missouri loss, the fans were really critical towards the performance of you and the team. At what point would you say was the turning point? And with that in mind, what does this victory mean to you? FELEIPE FRANKS: I think first, I'm not really too much worried about like what Coach Mullen said, what everybody else thinks about me. So many people in the world, you can't worry about what everybody thinks about you. Some people will like you, some people won't like you. The mindset I go into each and every day is the mindset to get better, trusting the coaches, the players and my family. That's what I try to do every day. We have a great support staff at UF, and that's what I try to do. I try to get better every day and not worry about the things I can't control. Q. It's hard to imagine finishing this season with a better win and now you get to go home with the trophy. What's going to be the reaction? What is Gainesville -- what is the campus going to feel like? LAMICAL PERINE: Turned up. CHAUNCEY GARDNER-JOHNSON: Yeah, turned up. DAN MULLEN: I hope we got the trophy. Did we get the trophy? LAMICAL PERINE: It's in the locker room. DAN MULLEN: I handed it to Martez and haven't seen it since. I know what it will be like. Start it on -- January 7th, 2019 starts. We'll enjoy this until then, and we'll get back to work. It's going to be the hardest off-season anybody's been through. We've got to take it to another step this off-season. Another level. I don't know what you're laughing about right there. You better turn it up too. Life don't get any easier for you. Q. You guys have been here all week. Can you describe your Bowl Week experience here in Atlanta? FELEIPE FRANKS: I'll start that. Coach Mullen did a job of explaining how grateful we are from the courteous people from the Chick-fil-A bowl being courteous through Christmas and the holidays, giving up time they could have been spending with their families and spending it with us and helping us have meals, taking us around. Whether it been from the littlest thing to the big thing, all of our players are super grateful. They treated nothing -- they gave us nothing but respect the whole week we've been here, and I can tell you that all these players had a great experience since we've been here. My first time ever experiencing a New Year's Six bowl, a big bowl like the Peach Bowl. And we're just all super grateful for the opportunity to come that they gave us. Super grateful for the guys that worked through the holidays and volunteered, took time out of their days and their families to help us. DAN MULLEN: I had a lot of fun. I had a nice time. I'm going to have a great time tonight too. Partying in Atlanta one more night. CHAUNCEY GARDNER-JOHNSON: I felt like he changed our perspective of how this game's going to really be. Because when you look up in the stadium, it don't just say Peach Bowl. It says the semifinal hosts. So for the young guys, I mean, you been here before. So you know what's expected of you. And for the older guys, you know -- like he said, we left, older guys, seniors, they left as a champion. They'll probably never get this opportunity ever again. It just changed our perspective playing in a semifinal hosting stage, picturing yourself in the playoffs and go out and play like it, as I said earlier. A lot of guys did. A lot of guys stepped up. We already knew what was expected from us. A lot of people thought they were just going to come out, punch us in the mouth, push us around because they're bigger than us. We showed a lot of heart and a lot of fight and treated it like a regular week. I don't know how they prepared. But I don't think they prepared too well. Definitely came out there and won the game on both sides of the ball. THE MODERATOR: Lamical, your Bowl Week experience? LAMICAL PERINE: It was nice. The first thing I had on my mind was to win the game. Before we even walked on the bus, before we got to Atlanta, Coach Mullen said this is not no vacation. This is a business trip. So we did that. I've never been away from my family on Christmas, but it was good to be with my teammates, man. People who really care about you. And it was just something different I've never experienced. I had a great experience being here. Q. Dan, what message did you kind of look to send with the captain selection and the way you sent all the seniors out there? DAN MULLEN: Well, you know, Martez is a guy that has done everything great since the day we got here. He's highly recruited, has played a lot of football here. I met with him last January. He made the decision to come back. I told -- I said, hey, whatever you do, be all in in what you're doing. I know he loves being a Gator. Loves being a Florida Gator. I think he's bought in from day one. He's a guy that has done everything correct in the classroom, done everything right for the team, has worked his tail off and has earned, during his career of what it is. When a guy looks at you and said Coach, I love the program. I wish I could come back for one more year and be part of the program for the future. That's who he is and he represents the Gator standard. For me, as a senior, that's why we selected him to be the team captain for the year. We voted on it early in the year, but I wasn't comfortable at that point. We kind of have game captains each week. To be honest with you, when we voted at the beginning of the year, he was the highest vote-getter at the beginning of the year and lived up to that through the entire season. I'm proud of him. I'm proud of everybody in the program and what they did and how the bought in. Coach, when we were down there selecting you, they were told how much you love Chick-fil-A cookies. DAN MULLEN: Oh, look at this. Championship Chick-fil-A cookies. The victory Chick-fil-A cookie. Cheers. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, gentlemen. Appreciate your time. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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