CFP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP: WASHINGTON VS MICHIGAN

January 6, 2024

Kirk Campbell

NRG Stadium

Michigan Wolverines

Press Conference

Q. Michael Penix is on the other sideline. Do you see that adding any fuel to JJ having to showcase --

KIRK CAMPBELL: It's a great storyline and it's always great to go against other competitors at the quarterback position. The opportunity to compete against the best is something that you always want to strive for. But we're singularly focused, and he's going to be worried about executing his assignments, and we can't worry about what's going on on the other side of the coin when we're not on the field.

Great opportunity to compete against the best, but he needs to stay singularly focused on the task at hand.

Q. What stood out the most about that final drive in regulation looking back at the film?

KIRK CAMPBELL: Composure from everybody, the players, the staff. Then when we had to make the plays, the players made the plays. At the end of the day, we evaluate the quarterback position on making plays in pressure situations. There's no bigger moment, no bigger stage than what he had to do there. Just super proud of him and the rest of the team for that.

Q. For him this week particularly, what has been his focus, area of emphasis heading into this game?

KIRK CAMPBELL: We always harp on ball control and moving in the pocket. Got to extend plays with the legs. Making sure we're ball secure on every single snap. Can't win the game if you turn the football over. So always harping on that.

There's always areas we can improve on that. Just making sure we can always extend plays with our legs when plays break down. Because not every play is aligned on the page, right? Sometimes they break down. We've got to make sure we're good in that area, as well.

Q. Given how emotional and physical the last game was, does that impact this week at all, keeping so much gas in the tank?

KIRK CAMPBELL: That's a great question. We have a very veteran team and mature team. Especially at the quarterback position, him only being 21 years old. They celebrated that victory, and then once the game was over, we moved on to the next. We know there's a bigger task at hand. We can always go back and celebrate that victory after the season is over.

But the maturity of this team, we're not too concerned about that. They've done a great job the past couple days of preparing themselves for this coming week.

Q. Could you elaborate on what makes Michael Penix a special talent?

KIRK CAMPBELL: Yeah, so I don't know him personally, but just seeing how he handles himself during the games, I think he's got great composure. His arm talent as far as deep ball accuracy is through the roof. Tremendous respect for that.

Then he's a competitor. He wants to win. I played against him when I was at Penn State. He was at Indiana. I just remember him on the field and I was like, man, that guy has got a bright future, and I think this was his freshman year. I know he went through some injuries since then, but just tremendous respect for that. But what sticks out the most is his composure and deep ball accuracy is as good as I've ever seen.

Q. Outside of JJ, where have you seen your quarterback room make the most progress this year?

KIRK CAMPBELL: That's a great question. Every single one in that room has taken a step way in the positive direction. It can go way down the line. I'll just start going down the list.

Jack Tuttle, he's a veteran guy, came from this spread offense and coming into more of an under-center, play-action, pro-style offense. So just learning a lot there.

Alex Orji, his fundamentals, footwork, timing is insane in his development.

Jayden Denegal might be the most improved player on the entire roster. Great accuracy, huge future for him.

Then you throw in Davis Warren, he went through some injuries this year, but his footwork. Cleaning up some of that stuff and he's playing on time and playing as confident and fast as you can.

So summarizing that all, it would be the confidence of the group. Understanding pre-snap what we're going to probably get post-snap and be able to execute once that ball is snapped.

Q. At the Rose Bowl Jack mentioned trying to come back as a player or in some kind of role next year. What makes him such an asset?

KIRK CAMPBELL: He's seen a lot of football. He's been in three programs, seeing what has worked, what has not worked. I think that's been valuable for our room. Then he's mature. He's so mature. It's just great for the other guys to see and build off of.

Q. (Indiscernible).

KIRK CAMPBELL: No, Coach Harbaugh has always had that as part of his offense. Huddling under center, it's really good --

Q. (Indiscernible).

KIRK CAMPBELL: Yeah. For a play action pass. If you want to throw a play action pass, the best way to do it is from under center.

Q. (Indiscernible).

KIRK CAMPBELL: It's something that a lot of high school kids don't even develop or have an understanding of. We've got some new guys that it's so hard for them to grasp. And the fundamentals of like -- you don't think you just get the ball and get back there. There's so many things, false steps and timing and precision and details.

There's a lot more work from under center, but you get a lot more rewards for it, as well.

Q. It's crazy, I don't think people prepare for it --

KIRK CAMPBELL: Yeah, think about our goal line package. I think we're No. 1 in the country in goal line offense. We're under center.

Q. You're two yards closer --

KIRK CAMPBELL: Yeah. The running back has the ball longer, he can make a decisive cut. Like if you look at the touchdown run at the end of the game for Blake, we're under center, so now he's able to make that first jump cut. If he's in the pistol, he may not be able to see that call and bounce it.

Q. The defensive linemen are already in their spot --

KIRK CAMPBELL: Absolutely.

Q. What's the night before a game like this like? What do you do?

KIRK CAMPBELL: For me, I'm a pretty even keel guy. My emotions, I don't let them get too high with the highs, too low with the lows. I don't get too nervous. I just review the game plan, make sure everything is in the right order. We dot our I's and cross our T's. Not too much for me.

I never really was that way as a player. I just enjoy the moment, embrace it, and know that the preparation is never over and trust everybody that I'm a part of and we just go do it.

Q. Do you have family here?

KIRK CAMPBELL: I have family -- this week I'll have my two daughters. I've got a three-year-old and a four-month-old. And then my wife, and then my parents are going to be here, my brothers and sisters. There's a lot of commotion, but that's good for me because I love my family, love being around my daughters, my mom and dad, and my brothers. It makes it a lot easier.

Q. (Indiscernible) what do you do?

KIRK CAMPBELL: Just making sure my players are relaxed.

Q. How do you do that?

KIRK CAMPBELL: Be me. I don't get too nervous. I'm relaxed. Tell them I love them. Tell them how prepared we are, how we're going to be the most prepared unit in the country, and let them just go play.

If you start getting high strung, especially at our position and start screaming and yelling, hooting and hollering, that could be detrimental to their production on the field. So you don't let that seep out, and I'm just not that kind of guy.

Q. What do you tell JJ?

KIRK CAMPBELL: He's prepared his entire life for this. Tell everybody to get their popcorn ready because they're about to watch the show of the best player in the country.

Q. Do you feel like your playing experience -- has that helped you in terms of drawing up plays?

KIRK CAMPBELL: Yeah, absolutely. It 100 percent does. You've got to understand as a receiver, spatial awareness, right, how to attack coverage with leverage, what routes should work versus different DB leverage. And that helps with drawing up Xs and Os and teaching the quarterback what the perspective of the receiver is on that certain player route, right?

Because I think that's a mutual relationship. It may look good on the board, but if the leverage isn't good, it's going to be tough for the receiver to get open.

Q. You told me you used to call plays as a receiver?

KIRK CAMPBELL: Well, my senior year against Bloomsburg, our third-string quarterback got in the game and he couldn't get the signals from the sideline, so I was the guy telling the huddle the plays. As the receiver, I was articulating the plays to the rest of the offense so that we could go execute it. Wild, isn't it?

Q. (Indiscernible).

KIRK CAMPBELL: Edelman, Welker, Stokley, all of us. Just cooking dudes. Cooking dudes getting open.

Q. The last game of the season here. Before we get to Michigan, what have you seen from Michael Penix and his quarterback tendencies?

KIRK CAMPBELL: Yeah, if he's not the best, he's right up there with the best. Tremendous respect for him. I said this a little bit earlier, but his deep ball accuracy is as good as I've ever seen. He does a good job putting air on it, letting his receivers go make plays.

Then he's a competitor. He has great composure and he's a good competitor. Had the opportunity to play against him when I was at Penn State on that staff and just always had respect for him, always thought he had a bright future. I'm happy for his success, too. He battled through a lot in his career, and it's good to see that stuff.

The number one thing that sticks out is his deep ball accuracy. I haven't seen one like it recently. He's just really good.

Q. JJ is such a composed quarterback. Against Alabama that first play when he almost threw the interception, how did you see him bounce back from that?

KIRK CAMPBELL: That's twofold. One, he's got an outstanding way against him that he's able to flush. Our strength coach, Coach Herbert talked about a three-second method. 1-2-3, you've got to flush it. And he did a great job of doing that.

But it was imperative for me in that moment to talk to him and let him know there's a lot of football left. We made a major mistake there. We ended up getting away with it, but trust yourself. Trust your training, trust your preparation. You had a great week of prep. That one play is not going to define us. We've got to make sure we go out there and tighten things up a little bit.

Q. In the off-season, by chance did you watch what Washington were doing at all?

KIRK CAMPBELL: Yeah, so our entire staff always does a great job evaluating the top offense in the country, top 3rd downs, red zones, pass games, as well as NFL teams. And Washington was part of that.

Tremendous respect for what they do. Cause a lot of confusion on the defensive side of the ball by pre-snap mechanics. Their players have a relatively simplistic but effective scheme that let their players play fast but execute their assignments. I think tremendous respect for what they do on that side of the ball.

Q. Is that unique with how much they do or is it --

KIRK CAMPBELL: I think the teams that are having tremendous success -- you go through college football, they're not just stagnant. You've got to move. There's really good players out there. There's really good players on the defensive side of the ball. And if you stay stagnant, it's really hard for your players. You've got to move them around, get their cleats moving.

You watch the NFL, the 49ers, the Dolphins, us, Washington, start looking at the Lions, the Ravens, the best teams in football all are motioning around a lot. But they're simplistic schemes so their players can play fast. That's twofold, you don't want to do too much that you're not playing fast and you're not executing.

Q. You guys had a month to prepare for Alabama. Preparing for Washington is a normal game week. How do you split that time for Alabama making sure it's not too repetitive and now going to Washington to feel like a normal game? Does it feel more comfortable?

KIRK CAMPBELL: I don't know about the comfortability. I think for us we know it's a normal game week, and we've executed it as such. For us as coaching because it was so -- the travel from the West Coast back to the East Coast and then back down here, we spent some longer nights in the office, but that's what it's about.

We've got to make sure that the game plan is tight as it can be, and our guys can go out there and execute. No real difference from a regular game week. We've just got to spend an extra couple hours away from the family and getting prepared for the game.

Q. Alex Orji has been more part of the offense in the past few weeks than at the beginning of the season. He's capable of running the ball and also throwing the ball --

KIRK CAMPBELL: Obviously what the fans have seen is him run it a lot, but his throwing is what's the most impressive and the most production. His footwork, his fundamentals, getting everything tied to his throw -- his timing is where the real development has happened. And he has an extremely bright future if he keeps trending in that direction.