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CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL: FLORIDA VS VIRGINIADecember 30, 2019Jonathan GreenardVan JeffersonDan MullenLamical PerineKyle TraskMiami Gardens, Florida Florida - 36, Virginia - 28 DAN MULLEN: You know what, first I want to thank Capital One. Unbelievable event. I want to thank everybody at the Orange Bowl, the Orange Bowl staff, the hospitality was fantastic, unbelievable week, unbelievable experience for the coaches, for the players. Unbelievable atmosphere here in the stadium tonight. You know, I want to thank all the Gator fans, the Gator Nation showing up, giving us, even though we weren't the home team, giving us the home field advantage out there on the field tonight. A great atmosphere. They showed out. Supported this team all year long. When I got hired here a couple years ago, I told everybody, if you pack the stadium, if you create the atmospheres, we're going to win football games, and the Gator Nation has done that all year long, our student body, our band, everybody. I want to congratulate Virginia. Obviously a great program. You look at a program on the rise. Coach Mendenhall took that program over a couple years ago in that short time, and here they are playing the Capital One Orange Bowl. You see how tough, how they compete, how they play hard, play hard for four quarters in everything that they do, and congratulate them on such a great year. And I'm really -- I really want to congratulate our team. I'm really proud of our players. Just under a year ago, this team was born, and we talked about going from four wins to 10 wins was special, but to go from 10 wins to 11 is going to be a lot harder, and those guys bought into it. They started working last January, and they worked, they grinded all season long in everything that they did. You know, to come out here and finish with a win, a couple years ago this senior class, a new coach got brought in and we told them, hey, if you buy into what we're doing, just buy into what we're doing, believe we're going to be successful, they've done that, they've bought in, back-to-back 10-win seasons, back-to-back top-10 teams, back-to-back New Year's Six bowl victories, they've bought in and they've restored that Gator standard, and they get to walk out the door knowing they've restored the Gator standard to what it is, building that foundation of a team that expects to -- yeah, we haven't got to where we need to be yet to compete, to go win an SEC and a National Championship, but they're certainly living up to that Gator standard of being one of the best teams and best programs in the country. Q. The 4th-down call that you made there -- DAN MULLEN: Which one? Q. The one that you get the 1st down, 4th-and-1 at the 44 -- DAN MULLEN: We got a couple of them, didn't we? The one on our own -- yeah. Q. The pitch play that -- DAN MULLEN: Yeah, we checked to that. Good check on the play. Went up to the line of scrimmage, they were pound -- they had everybody pinned inside, he checked to the pitch to the outside because they had everybody lined up inside. It was a great check by Kyle, great job by Lamical, obviously a veteran player knowing what he needed to do to get the 1st down and all those things. You're at that moment, you have 4th-and-1, we felt comfortable, felt like we should be able to get that yard, and if not, our defense playing hard, they make plays and we've been aggressive all year long. Q. And the pass play to Van Jefferson from the 3? DAN MULLEN: Yeah, I mean, that's a run-pass option right there. They were playing soft, they were playing off on him. They played really soft all night long, almost forcing us to run the ball the whole time. That was one of the ones, know going in if they are going to give the big cushion and leave him one-on-one out there. We were going to get the ball out there quick to him and Kyle did a great job giving him a catchable ball, and then Van made the guy miss and a great play, great run. Q. Dan, back-to-back New Year's Six bowl wins for you, a first 11-win season in years. Can you expand on what you were mentioning before, bringing back the Gator standard? DAN MULLEN: Well, to me that's what's special. I know these guys all came to Florida expecting to be at one of the premier -- not just academic but also premier football universities in the country, and that's what the Gator standard is about, trying to be the best at whatever it is you're doing. When you look at it, you look at our whole athletic department, that standard is pretty high. One thing I think, again, you look at this in the world of college football today, to have two of the top 10 academic universities, only two schools ranked in the top 10 academically playing in New Year's Six bowls, playing each other out there on the field in a great game and you saw the talent, the guys battling and the effort they give is special. But for our program, this is why those guys came to Florida, to play in big games, play on the biggest stage, to be one of the best programs in the country, and to do that in back-to-back years -- if you want to be able to be a championship program, you've got to win consistently. You don't see teams -- you look at the playoff teams, the guys that made the playoffs this year, they're not teams that just came out of nowhere and hadn't been winning and finally won. You're looking at teams -- I think all of them were in New Year's Six bowl games last year. You've got to be a consistent winner to go be a championship program, and I think the guys here in our program are helping us build that. Q. Dan, what will it take to get to that next step and then the season next year in this stadium but not in the Orange Bowl? DAN MULLEN: Yeah, you've got to grind. Like I said, it was tough to go from four to 10 wins, it was tough to go from 10 to 11, it's even harder to go from 11 to 12, the mental and physical toughness that it takes, the preparation that it takes starting January 6th when we get back and when the 2020 team is born, we're going to try to enjoy this for a couple days, but January 6th we have a team meeting and that 2020 team will be born, and the mental toughness that it takes to come in day after day, work, push, get yourself better. We have to do more than we did last year, get better than we were last year, and then the mental toughness it takes from every single game, every single practice throughout the year to be exact, because you look at the margin for error is so small. You look at the two games we lost this year, close games, that we're battling, battling, battling, that margin for error is really tiny in those games, it's one or two plays can make a difference. And so the attention to detail, to grind, that's what we have to continue to work on, continue to make the step and we're going to work harder starting January 6th. We've got to work harder next year than we did this year and try to get from 11 to 12. Once you get to 12, you might get a couple extra ones in there. Q. Dan, just for this team to buy in as quickly as they did, you talked about how special it is to go from four to 10, but for guys like the guy next to you, for those seniors to do what they've -- 21 wins is incredible two years. DAN MULLEN: It really is. There are guys that came in, taking over that first team meeting, I knew there were guys that they'd won four games the year before, and looking at guys in the room and they were saying that's not why I came to Florida, I came to Florida to be a great football team. It takes a lot of trust. It takes a lot of trust. In that first team meeting I said I'm going to earn your trust and you're going to earn my trust as a coach and how we're going to run this program and build this program. I think right now you know there's great trust. This is a great family with these upperclassmen that we believed in, that bought in to what we were doing here as a program. I mean, watching those guys play -- right from day one, they wanted to compete. They wanted to work, and they were willing to believe in what we were doing, and you saw it right from our first workout all the way through the final whistle in today's game, that they believe in what we're doing as a program, they believe in -- they love being Gators. Our guys love to play. They love representing the University of Florida. And that's something that's special, and they take a lot of pride in it, and I think that shows in their work ethic in the off-season, their performance in practices, their preparation all throughout the year, and it shows up every Saturday when we get out on there on the field and play. Q. Lamical, you had 13 carries for 138 yards and obviously three touchdowns with a catching touchdown, too. How were you able to do so well tonight in the limited opportunities you got? LAMICAL PERINE: Just getting put in the right situations honestly. The guy next to me is a great head coach and great guy, so he just schemes it up every week, makes sure he puts players in the best position. Q. Coach, Kyle's overall play tonight, I know he had one interception, but otherwise he seemed to have a very strong game. Also what does he mean to this team and how much can he improve next season? DAN MULLEN: Well, I think even his interception was a really good throw. Kid made a heck of a play off of the ball, broke on it, so I thought he made great decisions, managed. They gave a lot of different looks. They were dropping a lot of guys into coverage. He did a great job checking us into the right plays, managing the game through four quarters. But you know what, that's what he's done all year. I think if a young person wants a role model, they can look to the guy to my left right now, know what I mean? A guy that maybe life didn't seem to be going maybe the way you want it to go in high school, but you know what, he still was given an opportunity, worked his tail off and was given an opportunity. Maybe it wasn't going the way he wanted it to go when he got to college, but he didn't worry about that. He worked his tail off and then when he was given the opportunity, he was completely prepared. Today's world we live in is such an instant gratification world, I want it now, I want it now, I want it now and people forget the path to success is not a quick, short turn. The path to success is a long journey, and the guy next to me should be a role model for all young guys out there. Worry about what's important, worry about working hard and getting better and when you're given an opportunity, you're ready for that opportunity, whatever it is in life, whatever it is in life, whether you're starting a business, whether you're a football player, whether you're going to med school. On the hard days you've got to keep grinding through it. Nothing easy is going to be given to you, but if you continue to work, continue to prepare, you continue to do things the right way and you're ready for that moment and that opportunity, you're going to be successful in life. You know, and obviously Kyle has been really successful this year in football, but I think those traits will show you that whether football, whenever football, whenever the football career ends for him, whenever that is, he's still going to be successful in life because of who he is and the type of man he is. Q. You had a freshman make a pretty big play at the end there, Elam. He's a West Palm Beach kid. Talk about his future as a Gator? DAN MULLEN: Well, Kaiir was one of the top DBs in the country when we recruited him, we thought, a special player, and high character, hard-working guy from the day he got here. Obviously as the year goes on, he's played more and more, he's gotten more experience in what's going on out there on the field. I'm sure it was pretty special for him to be back here near home, playing at home, and obviously a huge play for him. You know, we'll have some guys -- we have some DBs that left to go to the NFL and a couple guys graduating, so we're expecting him to carry on that tradition of being DBU here and having one of the best secondaries in the country. Q. Kyle, this has been sort of a fairy-tale season for you. What has this season meant to you? What's it mean to end it with a victory in the Orange Bowl? And for Lamical, what's it mean to end your collegiate career as the MVP of the bowl game? KYLE TRASK: I think this win is huge for this program, not only for the program but also this team and the seniors that bought in when Coach Mullen first got here from day one. They worked day in and day out, and as far as my season went, I couldn't be more happy the way that my teammates had my back when I won versus Kentucky, and we just continued to grind every single week and get better each and every single week and here we are winning the Orange Bowl. That's pretty incredible. LAMICAL PERINE: If I had to say, it's probably just believing in the process two years ago. Things was kind of hard, just the workouts and things like that, they were very intense and things like that. But I felt like it helped us out in the long run, like today, man, just how to get the standard back. Q. Jon, how competitive of a game was that out there, and what did you think of Bryce Perkins' abilities? JONATHAN GREENARD: He's slippery. He's like playing a running back, back there. We kind of knew going into the game we just had to make a couple adjustments in the beginning, basically learning how to rush against him and what he wants to do. Hats off to him. He made our jobs a lot harder, so hats off to him, but hey, we got a W, so ain't got to worry about him no more. Q. Also it seemed like you were kind of in and out of the game a bit, banged up maybe a little bit. I know you were weighing whether to even play in this game. Are you okay? JONATHAN GREENARD: Yeah, I'm good. The ankle injury, it's always going to be there. But when you've got teammates like this, they're behind your back, so a close game like that, it's a hard decision for me not to play. That's not even in my character, so I'm going to give all I got. If I can play, I can play, but obviously they know what's up. Q. Van, can you talk about the play from the 3-yard line? I know Kyle was saying it was either going to be a run or a pass, but when you got out there and you saw the cushion you had, what was going through your mind? VAN JEFFERSON: I mean, I knew he was going to throw it when he backed off. When he came down, I knew he was outside leverage, so I just made a cut and took it, however many yards I got. But it was a great play overall. Kyle threw a great pass, the offensive line did a great job blocking, and that was pretty much it. Q. To the three outgoing seniors, what does it mean to leave the program how you're leaving it versus where it was two years ago? VAN JEFFERSON: Well, I wasn't here for a couple years, but being here with Coach Mullen, like I told them when I came in the locker room, I just appreciate him giving me the opportunity to come and be a Gator. He brought the Gator standard back, and he made us buy into what he was talking about. I believe that in the future the Gators are going to be a problem because he brought the Gator standard back and he's a great coach. LAMICAL PERINE: Just me, my sophomore year we was 4-7, not making a bowl game, having a month off, so that kind of hurt me. But just these past two years, man, have just been an amazing feeling, just having a guy who knows how to win at Florida and has already won championships. Me being able to believe in that and just trusting the process that he had for us, it was just an amazing feeling. JONATHAN GREENARD: Piggy-backing off that, I had went through a 2-10 season last year, obviously being hurt, as well, at Louisville, and him giving me an opportunity coming off an injury, not knowing what to expect from me with this injury. Coming in, I knew from day one when I got here what this team could possibly do. This is the biggest bowl game I've been in. To get a victory, I've never won a bowl game either, so this is my first win and it felt great to go out with these boys. It's everything. So I thank Coach Mullen, Coach Grantham, everybody for bringing me in. Q. Jon and Van, Coach Mullen was saying he wants to get this program back in the stadium playing for a National Championship next year. What gives you the confidence that he can do that? JONATHAN GREENARD: Mean, I'm looking at what they've got coming back, they can do more. And the guys coming in. I'm excited. I mean, this is only just the beginning of it, honestly. Last year was a little taste of it. We keep building, we got 11 wins, which is really difficult. So next year, a couple plays this year and we would've been right where we wanted. Next year, they are just going to capitalize off of that, understand where we were this past year, and National Championship in my eyes, so we've got that in our eyes now. Q. Van and Jon, you started your careers someplace else but you finish off as Gators. Talk about that. VAN JEFFERSON: Well, for me, like I said, I thank Coach Mullen for giving me the opportunity. But being at Ole Miss, I learned a lot of lessons, went through a lot of trials and tribulations there. But coming here, man, it's kind of like brought a joy back to my face, just being around the coaching staff and being around these guys. I made friendships that are going to last a lifetime. I can't thank the university enough and Coach Mullen enough for giving me this opportunity. JONATHAN GREENARD: Kind of like he said, coming here to a different culture, obviously this is a dream school coming up, so to get the opportunity to play with these boys and actually fit in, it also makes you up your game a little bit when you see these guys at every position, the best of the best, and we're the best conference in the country, as well, so to play day in and day out like this, it was a no-brainer to come down here and it has been great ever since. Q. Kyle, there's a confidence about this team when you guys get on the field. Can you talk about that connection because it just seems unbreakable throughout this entire season and then leading up to tonight. KYLE TRASK: Yeah, I think that confidence just comes from when we first started in January, that's when our team starts. It's not at the beginning of fall camp or anything like that. That's when we start grinding day in and day out. We build that confidence throughout the off-season and also during the season. We're grinding day in and day out throughout the season, as well, and getting better each and every week, and that's mainly where our confidence comes from, from preparation and things like that. Q. Kyle, it seemed like a lot of the big games this year you had to keep answering. The other team would score, you'd have to come -- was that fun, or is it kind of fitting that this season ended that way? KYLE TRASK: I mean, football is always fun to me, but I mean, that's why you come to University of Florida is to play in big time games like that. Playing in the SEC there's never a week off, and we all know that, and we all prepare like that, and we're all ready for that. That's another confidence booster for our team. Q. Dan, I saw you get a little emotional there when you talked about Kyle Trask's story. I wanted to know where that's coming from and what was going through your head as you're answering that. DAN MULLEN: Well, it is. It just comes from everywhere in society today, and when you look at this. As a college coach, you want to help develop young men become successful, not just in football, you want to help them build a foundation to be successful in life. You know, when you see a guy do it all the right way and learn how to do things the right way, I think that's really special, and it's something that I think you've got to embrace and I think that's something young people have to learn from, how to do things the right way, how to be successful in life. Just a great lesson for people to learn from. Perine the same way. Lamical comes back for his senior year and everyone is like, OK, he's one of the top running backs in the SEC. He is. I think you saw that tonight. Everyone gets caught -- well, his stats say this or just what the stats say. But you know what, you look at every time we needed a big run during the season, he came up with a lot of big runs during the season. He also showed he's probably one of the top receiving backs in the country coming out of the backfield. You know what, continued -- instead of worrying about, hey, where are my rushing stats, he worried about am I doing what I need to do to help the team win and to be the great player on the team when the game is on the line that they can go to me, run or throw or protect the quarterback, and I'm going to be ready to make a play. Q. Dan, obviously the 4th down play Kyle said it could go either way where you were going to go with the ball, and the play I was talking about to van, did that trust happen right away with you in terms of him checking off, checking to a play? DAN MULLEN: No, he knows you prepare for a lot of those situations, know what I mean, and he spends a lot of time in preparation. Brian Johnson obviously does an amazing job getting him ready for the different situations and different looks. Those moments, those are key moments in a game. And so you know, we have situations, we have plays we want to get into in those key moments, and a lot of times you want to make sure you're getting in the best play possible. You don't want to run a bad play with the game on the line, so he knows the different looks of what we want to run what plays to and is able to get us into the right play. Q. What clicked with the running game tonight? DAN MULLEN: You know what, I think a lot of times this year, the teams have focused on stopping our run and we haven't been great running the ball. But we've been really good passing it and you get into games, and I'm like, OK, they are going to stop the pass, and we'd try to be balanced, and I'm like, no, they want to stop the run, we'll just keep throwing it. And tonight to be honest with you, they finally -- we faced a team that decided they were going to try to stop the pass and drop a lot of guys into coverage. You know, and then just -- I thought our coaching staff did a really good job of making sure we were able to stay balanced all night long. We were still able to throw when we needed to. But to put ourselves in position to be able to run the ball and take what they were giving us, and I think Kyle -- we have a bunch of four senior wideouts at halftime. They're looking at me, and they're like, man, Coach, like this is it. This is our final game, and we're running the ball, and I'm like, can we run by, and they're like, no, man, they keep backing up and backing up and backing up, we've just got to keep blocking. But it just shows the selfless manner of our team. They're there, and guys want to win the football game and do whatever it takes to win the game, and we're going to take what the defense gives us. Q. The 4th-down plays again, we've asked you about this going back to the Miami game, but tonight you guys seemed to follow those with immediately with big plays, touchdowns. How critical were those? DAN MULLEN: I think they create momentum for you, and all of a sudden you get momentum off a play, and it's a momentum swing play. You know, a lot of times you're thinking of the next play. So hey, you already know what you want to hit. You get a 4th-down play, hey, this is the next one we want to go to, that we thought could be an explosive play for us, run or pass, and some of them, not just explosive throw it as deep as we can down the field, but explosive try to catch them off guard and follow up a momentum play with another momentum play. That's kind of the plan. You already kind of know what the next play is going to be after we get the 1st down. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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