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CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPJanuary 11, 2020Clyde Edwards-HelaireNew Orleans, Louisiana Q. Right now first off, how are you feeling? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Feeling great. Feeling 100 percent. I'll be 110 percent by Monday and I'm sure I will be. Q. Feel as good as you've felt all year? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Oh, yeah. No doubt. No doubt. Q. How do you balance your -- like in other games? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: No doubt. Just with this being a National Championship game, blood is going to be boiling and everything. And then you go out there and you run that first play and even K. Faulk and I was talking about it. After you really get hit that first time or just go down that first time, then it's like, all right, boom, back to reality, let's tune in and make it happen. Q. This defense, do you think they're the best defense you've faced? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: By far. We're facing them in a National Championship. So I assume that they are the best defense and amazing athletes and amazing scheme that they have going. Q. Do you feel good about your game plan? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Oh, yeah. No doubt. No doubt. 100 percent confident. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: I'm more of a preparation guy. And I'm big on preparation when it comes time to big competition. Right now this is the steepest the competition is going to get for this year, and being tuned in and being able to hone in on the things that I needed to get down and understand the concepts of everything and their defense and what we're running on our offense is something that I pride myself in. Big moments is always my cup of tea, I feel. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Oh, yeah. No doubt. No doubt. For me it's more of a full circle. Junior year, Catholic High, state championship game, last game of the season. Junior year of college and National Championship game. You know, this one is more important right now because it's the moment ahead of me, so I'm more excited about this one. I mean I wanted to be in this situation when I signed that letter of intent and now I'm here. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Oh, yeah. Of course. No doubt. You know, the things that I have been through and even with this team preparing in the summer, you know, we felt like everything that we've done so far is going to ultimately get us in this situation. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Tremendously. You know Tyler, you know, he came in heavier than what Coach O wanted him to. The and, you know, at the moment of him being able to get in, work and lose the weight that he needed to, it ultimately showed a sign of maturity as soon as he stepped on campus. And as soon as -- everything that he was asked to do, he did. And that's just Tyler for you. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: You know, it was a team setting, so I'll give you an overview. It was more along the lines of don't let the moment be too big. Understand the situation that we're in, and also understand that we've been in big games. Not one as big as this. But being able to stay conscious and understand, you know, the importance of the game, but not let it go over the top and pretty much kind of mess with your mental state. Whatever got you here is the reason why you're here. So hone in on those things that got us here. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Yeah. No doubt. You know, K. Faulk -- my stepdad is from Lafayette. K. Faulk is from Lafayette. And understanding as many times as I've been in Lafayette, he's literally right around the corner. And he can understand a lot of things that I've been through, understand as far as a height standpoint as far as being a running back, I can pick his brain about any situation and anything. And understand the way they run their offense, the way I run the ball. The way he ran the ball. We see so much things that are identical, not just in the passing game but being able to see the way he sees my eyes through our runs. It's kind of a weird combination in the fact of how it worked out so well. But I mean, I give so much praise to K. Faulk and my success in all my years. We talk a lot. Naturally, we talk every day because he's in the running back room. But I mean at least once over the weekend, especially after a game. He'll give me time Saturday night to kind of think about some things. Usually on a Sunday morning I'm doing some hunting and whatnot, but at least by Saturday night K. Faulk is texting me, hitting me up. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: We talk. We talk a lot about the things that we have to do with our size, but you know, that was probably like the first conversation we had. At that point we'll do our talking and understand it's not about height, size and whatever else. We go out there and do whatever we want because, you know, we feel like we're the best players on the field. And it's simple as that. Louisiana guy. That's just how we roll. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Literally, the first conversation I had with K. Faulk, wasn't even a "hey" or "what's up." It was how do I pass through my height. It was simple as that. He said, we're going to work on it, and literally, I want to say three or four hours later we were indoors working on it. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: It would mean -- it would mean life. Growing up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, you understand that there's a lot of things going on. You know, not to hone in on the negatives, but it's the murder capital of pretty much the United States, and being able to have a ball with two points on it bring everybody together, it's something that's going to be truly special. You will never say atmosphere as great as it's going to be in New Orleans and getting everybody from the state of Louisiana coming to this one spot just to cheer us on and have literally everybody on their high horse, not just for the next two, three weeks, but ultimately into the next season rolls over and then ultimately for the rest of our lives. This is a memory that will never rust or dust if we win this National Championship. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Oh, this team, this is probably one of the most loose teams that I've been a part of. And understanding and us having that confidence that we always have, from summer workouts to us feeling like, you know, we're a force to be reckoned with. And early on a lot of people didn't understand, okay, let's see this offense. There was so much doubt. I mean there was so much doubt. But as far as the offense, everybody knew what we were capable of. I mean just the stats and awards and everything else and us scoring as many points as we feel like we can. And it's happening. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Everybody has their own lane as far as being loose. You know, we have our receivers doing their thing. I mean you can tell when Joe's in a mode. You can tell when the running backs are in a mode. You can tell when the O Line -- you can't tell guys to step back from the things that's been giving us success, and it's as simple as that. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: I felt like for the most part coming into the spring and the concept of this offense, I felt like I would have some catches, but to catch 50 balls in one season and break your record was something I was proud of. But, you know, most importantly, it was not about me catching the ball and just getting the catches for myself. It was being the extra incentive on the offense that's given us pretty much a full range to cover the whole field when it's time to play offense. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Oh, it was something I dealt with on a day-to-day basis, and you know, you go in and they have all these rivals and ESPN.coms and all these rankings, and ultimately you know why I'm not at the top is because of my height. And it was as simple as that. I would go there. I would test off the walls. I would do everything that I needed to do, and then it was, you know, everything amazing about me in the article and say, but his stature. You know, he's not the tallest, but he's weighing in at in between 205 and 210. So it was never a problem about size. They just always seem to have a problem with height, which is something I don't understand as far as being a running back. I've never seen a hole open vertically. I've always seen them open horizontally. So I always felt like I never had -- I never worried about it, but it was always the talk around media and the Scouts and whoever else they wanted to call themselves. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Oh, it always -- I always had a flame lit in me. Even when I was younger, I was, you know, having conversations with my mom and me being too small and me wanting to play football at four years old. And ultimately, I mean, you would probably guess I was a legit, probably a midget at four years old trying to play with some of those guys. But, I mean, it was something that motivated me, no doubt. But, you know, when you're here time in and time out and then I go in week in and week out and do whatever I was doing in competition, they only just add the fuel to the fire, and ultimately now I'm sitting here. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: I wouldn't say forgotten. I committed early on, which is something that I wanted to do. And at that point I was a complete lock-in. So me being the guy -- Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Oh, I mean, I just I went to camps. I did what I need to do day in and day out. Ultimately I went to the camps I wanted to go to. It was never about being noticed. I know that's a big thing or a lot of guys but as long as I could go somewhere and get the work that I wanted to as a running back, I knew that as long as I got the opportunity to play somewhere, I wasn't too much worried. As long as I got a football in my hand and I'm able to play football, I'll ball. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: You know, I don't know. I'm at home. My family's going to be here. I'm literally an hour away from home. So I don't know if I'ma ultimately have fun down on Bourbon. I heard Von Rosenberg say something about surfing down Bourbon Street. If I can cryo surf, that would be legit. That would be pretty cool. But other than that, you know, I just want to see the confetti come down and hold that trophy. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Everybody on this offense feels like they've had something to overcome. Never being satisfied is our big thing. You know, Joe had his obstacles and everything with his situation. You got Justin, who's a two-star athlete. You have, you know, the doubt on the running game and everything else from the beginning of the season. You have, you know, our O Line that everybody said that they was going to be mediocre coming into the year. You have Ja'Marr, who everybody had high praise on. But it's one thing to have high praise coming in, but it's another thing to keep it consistent. And I mean, Terrace Marshall, the same way. I mean, you have a lot of guys who's not satisfied with one win. You have a lot of guys that's not satisfied with just winning the SEC Championship. A lot of guys that's not satisfied with going undefeated. We had a goal that was set, and it's as simple as that, get to it and try to dominate. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: I feel like I'm the little miniature Army Swiss Knife; whatever you need me to do, I'm there. And that's just me wanting to be that reliable guy. I always felt like I needed to be counted on. I always feel like no matter -- in any situation, no matter if it's life or playing the game of football. If 22 is there and we can make sure he's on the field and he's doing something, he's going to make some good out of it. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Something that's pretty much been instilled in me. You know, it's different when your mom was in the Army and your dad was in the Marines, and that's pretty -- you know, you just learn to always be counted on, in any situation. I mean, that was -- that's from school, grades and everything else. That's the biggest thing, just being reliable. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Oh, yeah. No doubt. You know, she had her doubts. I mean, I'm her son. I'm small. You go out there compared to everybody else, and then, you know, literally, first game, first touch, sweep right. It's like an 80-yard touchdown and she was like, okay, I was relieved, but you still didn't get hit yet. I can clown with it now, but I understand. I'm not a parent, but whoever is parents out there, I mean, you have a kid and, you know, everybody's legit bigger than them by far, and then, you know, they tell you like, oh, he's too small and then they go out and make something happen out of it, then, you know, you feel a little better, but overall, health and safety is what's her main concern. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: I would say the biggest thing I'm most proud of is understanding defenses. I mean everybody will say, you know, a performance or something like that, but it's the things that go on behind the scene that get you, you know, to understand and pretty much dissect those performances. And I give all props to Tommie Robinson and K. Faulk, sitting in extra hours, doing whatever I needed to do and the things that I needed to understand week in, week out to ultimately get me to those performances. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: For a lot of guys, you know, I'm not -- like I said, it's more than me. It's having those guys who put on their helmet with the LSU on the side of it. My biggest thing is having guys upset, and that's, you know, and regret and everything else. And them seeing us having the opportunity to do what a lot of guys couldn't do, I mean that's a big thing. And understanding, I mean, as simple as I can put it, we had greats come through our room, and I don't want to be that guy who got here and couldn't help them and finish the job. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Once we put in that offense, I understood that, you know, this is -- this is going to be a special season for Joe, especially being able to go in every Saturday in the summer and work with Joe, I mean we literally -- we have a couple of routes out of the back field as far as running backs and all the receivers' routes, but to go out and work four and five hours each Saturday and then come back and finish work and watching him put the ball in certain positions and then, you know, running the same route ten times in a row and put the ball in certain positions and always thinking about coverages and man and all this other stuff, how attention to detail Joe was, I understood that this is the season -- I mean it was destined for it to happen. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Never seen it before. Never seen it before. You know, once Joe has a certain look in his eyes, you know, a lot of people could probably catch it on media. But I mean, I line up next to him every game, every play. And you know, sometimes I can get a little vibe or a look at him and, you know, with Joe pretty much being my best friend, we stay two, I think three minutes away from each other. So just being able to mess with him about certain things and understand how he is and then having him kind of hit that switch, you know, it's something special. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: He deserves it. He's worth it. No doubt he's going to do what he needs to do as far as, you know, hold up to that first pick. I mean I couldn't be more excited for somebody, especially, you know, just knowing the situation that he came out of and then ultimately making the ultimate best out of the situation that he's in now. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: For the most part, I understand Coach O. I mean everybody kind of clowns about him and clowns on him about him talking fast. But, you know, I'm a Baton Rouge guy, a Louisiana guy. I hunt; I fish. I talk to -- I mean not just his accent, but they have some accents out there that's pretty distinct. You know, even my grandfather in Lafayette speaks total French. So being able to understand that is something special. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Oh, Breiden Fehoko easily. Easily. So if you see him around here, tell him give you a "Go Tigers." Or anything Coach O says. It'll be spot on. Do you want to hear it? Go Tigers! Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: I would say the biggest psychological aspect of the hamstring was the week of the Oklahoma game. I didn't practice pretty much the entire week, and being able to, you know, hone in on film and everything, pretty much still get the mental reps was a big thing for me, not just for the game, but then also being able to do rehab and watch the team practice and not be out there was something that also kind of messed with me. But, you know, understanding that situation that we were in and also being the guy to encourage off the sideline and understand if I needed to go, I could for my teammates, but, I mean, those guys all they told me all week that they were going to handle the business and do what they needed to do to get to the state championship. I mean the National Championship. Q. Same stadium. CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Yeah. Same stadium. Same stadium. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Yeah. I've been through some stuff mentally. So, you know, a hamstring, a hamstring for me right now, I mean it's not the least of my worries. Obviously, you know, it's going to be there. But once I felt myself put my foot on the ground full speed, get up field full speed, run routes how I wanted to run them, at that point kind of everything just went down the drain. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. No doubt. No doubt. You know, I already was pretty much limited in the Peach Bowl, but, you know, being able to go out and pretty much play my game is the biggest thing that I'm looking forward to for this Natty. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh yeah. I believe so, especially with the receivers that we have, and then ultimately me being in the passing game, and the defense they run is tremendous. They have tremendous athletes, and being able to do their job on the defense is something that they are big on. So I'm looking forward to a lot of coverage from them. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: No, ma'am. This is a first. And, you know, you hear about it, and people talk about it, but to ultimately think about it is, you know, something truly special. A lot of guys don't -- as far as who play football don't really understand the magnitude of reds on offense. I mean it's literally topics that kind of flash on ESPN. But, I mean, scoring in the red zone is a big deal, especially in the SEC, and being able to do what we do week in and week out was something that we prided ourselves on and something that we wanted to accomplish. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Having that confidence as an offense was something that we prided ourselves on. We go out on the field and was like, okay, how do we want to score, and you know, how fast do we want to score. It's always something. It's always -- you know, it's always that confidence when we go out to score the ball. And then, you know, if we get in the red zone, Coach Ensminger and Coach Brady do an amazing job of our red zone practices and our red zone periods that we have throughout the week is something big for us. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: I think the biggest thing is now everybody's -- you know, they put that Clemson whatever defense you may get on, you know, on the forefront. And understanding, you know, it's so many defenses and looks that you can play, but it's ultimately always a way to figure it out. And, I mean, with Mr. Wizard over there, Joe, being able to see stuff as it's happening, and then Joe Brady and Coach E doing as much film studying and all our G.A. guys, Coach Munoz, and everybody else, watching those guys do the work behind the scenes is something very special. So they, you know, they have some amazing defenses that they run and some things that they come out with that's quite different. And, I mean, I've literally been watching them as soon as they won. And it seems like every game that I controlled over on my iPad, it was a different defense that was being displayed. So it's a special defense and special players on that defense, and you know, can't wait to be out there playing against them. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: You know, ultimately I'm going to go with myself and this offense. And then also, we were told that, you know, against some other teams -- not to compare the teams, but you know, we've always been that, okay, y'all average this many points and they average this many points. Let's see how everything goes. And then, you know, even last game Joe goes out there and throws an amazing first half, and people don't do all this on certain defenses and everything else. But we pride ourselves on proving media wrong. We pride ourselves on proving stats wrong. And that's how we kind of add fuel to the fire. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: No, it doesn't worry me at all. But it's also something to ultimately think about. This pretty much will be the first time that we've faced a team that throws in a call so late. And being able to not let them get the call I think is going to be something big, you know. Ultimately running tempo against a team that gets a call in so late, we kind of have them off balance. And being able to have a defense off balance is the ultimate goal for offense. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: It is 100 percent, and I mean, being the guy that I am, as competitive as I am, it was hard to watch practice. It was hard to understand that, okay, you have to do rehab to get back out on the field and not just, you know, let me pad up and go out on the field and see how it goes. I mean, it was trial and error throughout that week. But ultimately understanding that, you know, having the utmost confidence in the guys. I mean they told me that we'll be in this situation and they'll handle business, and now I'm doing an interview, talking to you. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: No doubt. No doubt. This is literally one of the most ultimate home games that we'll probably play. Louisiana is shut down. It's on lock. It's a sea of purple and gold. And shout out to Travis for having his corner at Jennings. But, I mean, ultimately this is a sea of purple and gold, and that's what it's planning on. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: I wouldn't say hold back. We do our celebrating, and then before you know it, it's like, all right, who's the next game and who are we playing next. And it's just that focus and that, you know, the guys who are wanting to play and willing to play no matter the situation, no matter where we are. I mean, like I was talking to Coach O a couple of days ago. I was like, man, I think it was like 10:00 at night. I said, if you called everybody up right now telling them we played the game at 11, everybody would be here ready to play. That's just the nature of this team and that's how we are. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: You will see sometimes when he scores a touchdown, he might throw a little punch combination on me every now and again. You know, just -- I guess he's just getting his inner anger out, because I mean, you can't be angry playing the quarterback position. But him being able to throw his little punches at me, I think that's his -- you know, he gets fired up about that. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Oh, yeah. It's a good thing. And then ultimately being as close as I am with him, I know -- I mean people see the outside. Like, okay, Joe's -- ultimately his composure is ridiculous, but I know when his wheels are turning. And I mean, I was messing with him about bowling last night. We had a little competition going. I lost, three times in a row, but... Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Pinpoint accuracy. I mean, man, I saw Joe throw a ball yesterday at practice, and it was like a 60-yard ball, on the sideline, over the shoulder. He was on the left hash, threw it over the right hash towards the sideline in the numbers in the corner of the end zone. And I just looked back at K. Faulk and started laughing. I'm like, there is something you can't teach. It's something I couldn't do on a video game. And I mean, he did it turned off, and I was like, congratulated him on it. And he's like, thanks, Bud. And that's just Joe. It is what it is. At this point we're pretty much used to it now. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Ultimately grateful. A very small circle in the people that believed in my talent, and you know, people that ultimately looked past a stature and understand like, okay, this guy is a ball player, not just this guy who's, you know, who's the feature guy on a team, and you know, he's the guy because they want him to be the guy. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Yeah. You know, it was conversation -- a lot of the conversation I had with my older brother, and you know, he was like, man -- you know, he played football. He played defensive end. He played -- you know, he played defense. So the things that he would tell me were things that he was saying with other running backs and he was playing ultimately in high school and the difference that those guys made. So he would always come back, tell me little things here and there. But I mean, having that small circle of people that believed in me was something that added fuel to the fire, especially when I got talked down on so much. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Yeah. No doubt. Oh, yeah. And then -- I mean, I was pretty much best friends with Ben, and I stayed there so much over the weekends, and just Ben being the friend that he was and still is. And I talk to him as much as I possibly can. It wasn't about that's your friend, so let me look out for him. It was, you know, we believe in him, and ultimately Ben was in the LSU facility growing up from knee high. So whatever word he put in, ultimately seeing, dad, this might be somebody that you want. I mean I can't thank them enough for believing in me. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Leon Alexander. Yes, sir. Thank you. Q. I see some characters you tweeted the other day. Is there any other character you've been compared to throughout your career? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: I would ultimately say Ant-Man, you know, one that you gave me. I was ultimately hurt about that one. I also get Mighty Mouse a lot. You know, that's not a current cartoon, but go look up Mighty Mouse. Go watch some stuff on Mighty Mouse and let's see the comparisons. Q. Speaking of Ant-Man, let's get a few Avenger comparisons on the team. Certain guys? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: I'm going to go Jarell Cherry as the Hulk. I know you remember when he had all the bricks in his book sack and he was carrying it around during the summer. Q. True story. He had bricks in his book sack carrying it around in the summer on campus. CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: I'm brainstorming right now. You put me on the spot. You put me on the spot. Jarell Cherry. He walked around this summer with bricks in his book sack. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Oh, you throw some characters out and then I'm going to give the person comparison. Q. Okay. I'm thinking Joe Burrow, Neil Farrell, and Damien Lewis. CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: You didn't understand the question. I said you throw the character out. Q. Oh, okay. Okay. CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: And I'm going to give you the person on the team comparison. Q. Okay. I want Spiderman, Iron Man, Captain America and Phantom. CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Oh, Spiderman, I'm going to go with Jets. He gets out of some sticky situations, bam. You like how I did that. I know you like that one. All right. We got Iron Man next? Q. Iron Man. CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Iron Man. Iron Man. Oooh. I'm going with the offense. I'm going to go with Ja'Marr. I'm going to go with Ja'Marr. Takes some licks, you know, feels like he has a lot of power. But it's all built in the suit. It's all built in the suit. Q. Captain America. CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Oooh, Joe Burrow. Q. Phantom? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Gotta go with a defensive player. Jacoby Stephens. Yeah. Yeah. Q. What about Phantom? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Breiden Fehoko. Q. I'll take that as a compliment. Thank you, Clyde. CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: No problem, Bro. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Initially, I think it was big on let's not really show, you know, this running back out of the back field early on. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Yes, ma'am. I would say when I got on campus. I caught a pass against Texas A&M my freshman year, like a little rail route. So, I mean, ultimately I really wasn't playing that much my freshman year, but going out there and catching the ball, I think that's when they were like, okay, he can really catch. But I came in pretty much a guy that was I would say versatile. And even in high school. I don't want to say go back and watch some high school highlights, but I caught a lot of passes out of the slack, and I prided myself on being a running back who can catch. You hear so much about, you know, they got all these running backs, they can run the ball, but can he run the ball, catch the ball and ultimately block. And being able to check all three boxes for me was something that I needed to do as far as me feeling like I could be elite on the highest level of college football. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: When they gave me the option route and told me, go do whatever you want, just be able to get out so Joe can get the ball to you. And I mean, my eyes lit up. Being able to, you know, hone in on my skill set and go, oh, well, I could just make a guy miss and then catch the ball and get however many yards I want after the catch. That's when I knew, all right, this is going to be a little different. And I want to say that was like week two of spring once we started. Ultimately you put in all your other pass stuff. But when you start giving somebody reins to the horse and go, okay, do whatever you want then, that's when I felt like it would be special. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: I would say we kind of figured all that out in the summer, which is -- I mean like I said, we spent hours every Saturday in the summer, you know, Monday through Friday was our strength training and everything else. But being able to go in there on those Saturdays in a summer and me being able to understand where his head was on a lot of throws and him ultimately going, okay, this is what he feels comfortable with. That's when we started -- that chemistry as far as me being a starter and ultimately doing what I needed to do in the pass game was going to be big. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: A lot of hype before the game. I remember being pretty much -- I don't want to say floating, but understand the position that I was in before that game and with it ultimately being my high school's first state championship, I knew all that was on the line. I remember playing Kristian Fulton. I remember beating Kristian Fulton on that team. And ultimately I remember, you know, scoring a couple touchdowns and then having one at the end of the game that kind of sealed the deal. It was special. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Amazing. I mean he was just a guy who really doesn't talk a lot. And then once he gets on the field, I mean, you can see the excitement pretty much running through him. He ran the ball hard. He was able to -- he was able to do all -- he was able to check all the boxes in a short notice, and you know, that's the biggest thing: Understanding and having a team believe in a guy and go, okay, this is going to be our starter, you know, that was big. You know, they asked me ultimately. They asked Joe ultimately like who did they feel most comfortable with. And, you know, Joe pretty much, you know, gave Chris the keys. It was as simple as that. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: I would say it was a big mix in between Les Miles and Cam Cameron, and then, you know, I can also say Coach Frank. Coach Frank. I mean I talked to those guys a lot, and you know, them understanding, you know, my skill set and not just, okay, he's just some guy that plays on a team, you know, with -- I ultimately played with coach Cam and Coach Miles' sons, and looking past that and going, okay, he can be a major asset to this LSU football program. And from that point on, everything just kind of started steamrolling. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: The biggest thing was understanding their defense, which is a lot to bottle in. I mean everybody talks about their many, many coverages and many -- just so much -- they do a lot. They do a lot as a defense. And being able to look at film and then understand the points that I need to be made from, you know, my position, from the running back position and understand these are the things that I need to do in order to give us an edge in the game was big for me, especially with them having, I mean, a freak athlete, the Butkus Award winner. I mean, watching him on film is unreal. And then you got, 19, and then you have those thumpers inside at linebacker. I mean, they have a nice makeup as far as a defensive team. And then when you throw in a defensive coordinator who feels confident in whatever he does, and he can throw whatever look out there, and he's 100 percent confident in the looks that they are given, I mean it's a whirlwind for a guy who, you know, we only have pretty much a couple weeks to look at the things that they run and ultimately not knowing what they're going to come out and run. So literally being able to adjust on the fly and then also understand we ran all our plays to pretty much every front, and then understanding this is what I need to do in this situation. It's a lot. It's a lot. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Not concerned at all. Yeah. 100 percent. Like I said Monday after the game for the Peach Bowl, I said I'll be 110 percent. No doubt having that little edge is going to give me that 10 percent, but right now I'm 100 percent. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Of course. Of course. No doubt it's an advantage, especially like I don't naturally feel myself do it. I know what I'm doing when I'm kind of ducking in and out of holes and understand that, okay, I know they can't see me. But it was something that I wanted to perfect. And being able to perfect that with my height was, I mean, pretty much a gift from God now, you know. You hear guys like, I don't know if you're going to be able to find it, but Devin back in fall camp last year saying, you know, he's just one of those guys that you can't find in the hole, and then before you know it, bam, like I'm right there on you. So I prided myself on that. Now it got us to this situation and got me ultimately in this situation. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Work. And understanding that I need to get back on the field. And my biggest thing is not upsetting people. I don't feel like I upset my teammates, but you know, within myself, I don't want to be that guy that ultimately ended his season, you know, hurt. And, you know, I wanted to -- I wanted to grind and do whatever I possibly could to get back on that field for the Peach Bowl. So I mean, working day in, day out, staying up, you know, getting treatment late in the hotel and waking up early before everybody else to get treatment. I mean, I was trying to get back on the field. Yeah, no doubt. Big mind-over-matter guy. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: So, you know, you wake up in the morning, 6, whatever time, workout's at 7, till about 10. That's weights and conditioning. And then, you know, you go to class for -- you know, I might have -- oh, yeah, oh, yeah. My mamma don't play about that class. So anytime that I can be in class, I was in class. And then that was Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. Wednesday we had off, which is a big rehab day. And Saturday, we're pretty much sent out a text early in the morning, probably like 7, 7:30, be there at ops for 9. Work till about 12. Go get some food. Probably chill to about 2:00, 2:30. Kind of linger back in around 3, 3:30 and then ultimately be there till like 6 or 7. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: I think that was one of, if not the biggest check, you know, it's up there, because it helps so much with Joe's timing with receivers. It helps so much with my timing, and it just wasn't, you know, the skill guys out there. It was everybody. And even, you know, watching the O Line come in and do so much work. I mean, a lot of times they were in before us and leaving after us. Q. (Inaudible). CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Lloyd Cushenberry. Yes. I mean, No. 18. Q. (Inaudible)? CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE: Preparation. Big guy on preparation. And ultimately understanding that I knew the situation that I should be in. I knew what situation the team should have been in. And we got here. And it's as simple as that. I don't want to brag on myself about, you know, what they would say about me as a person, but you know, I mean, being a guy that can be counted on. That's been my wave ever since I got to Catholic. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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