ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL KICKOFF

July 23, 2024

Ashton Daniels

Stanford Cardinal

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Questions for Ashton.

Q. I played with your head coach at Cal. He was a pretty darn good quarterback. How is it being coached by someone who has been in the college ranks, then proceeded on to the NFL?

ASHTON DANIELS: Yeah, I mean, it's been amazing. I probably spend the most time with him because, of course, he is our quarterback coach as well. So being with him and just learning from him, taking as many small nuggets as I can to put in my databank helps me as a quarterback.

He has all the experience. Obviously played in the league. He's got great experience with his former quarterbacks, as well. That's just something that helps me out, it allows me to be more comfortable, a lot more confident in my game. It helps me out there on the field on Saturdays.

Q. You've been walking around the floor here and realizing that the ACC touts the quarterback. Have you thought about the company you're getting ready to keep in this league?

ASHTON DANIELS: Absolutely. The ACC has always been known for their quarterbacks. For example, Deshaun Watson is from Georgia. I probably looked up to him the most as I was growing up watching college football and all that kind of stuff.

I just know that it means the world to be an ACC quarterback. I'm starting to accept and realize that that's now my role. I'll forever be grateful for it.

Q. People have the misconception that the Pac-12 is soft. Knowing and watching the Pac-12, being up late on Saturdays, I know it's not. Talk about how you guys can bring a certain physicality to the ACC that they may not think Pac-12 teams coming in can bring?

ASHTON DANIELS: Physicality has always been a main staple of Stanford football. We're taught that since the first day that we get here. Then on top of that, our strength staff has done an outstanding job. Shout-out to Coach Deatrick and the staff. We come in every single day and put in so much work. They believe in us. They're making us stronger, faster. Everything we need to do to be out there, to be able to go out there and be as physical as we can. That's always a big coaching point, is just be physical from the jump. Go out there, set the tone, which I know we're extremely capable of doing. I'm excited to see us do that this year.

Q. The changes with technology, calling signals. Your perspective as a quarterback, travel to different venues across the country. What has that been like implementing that? How do you feel having to go in some different environments, to host other people? What has that transition been like for you?

ASHTON DANIELS: Yeah, I mean, obviously schools in the former Pac-12 had those crazy game day atmospheres. For example, Oregon, Washington. Being a freshman and a sophomore last year I got to experience a lot of that.

I think being in those moments, in that atmosphere, has allowed me to build confidence in myself. It's hard sometimes when you go out there and you can't communicate as well as you can in practice.

Now that we have the headsets, the microphones in the helmets, which will help us out a lot.

Another example is Colorado last year. You always have to tweak your communication a little bit based off the atmosphere that you're playing in. It's nothing that I think our guys can't handle.

Q. Last year against Washington you had 448 total yards of offense, 367 throwing, 81 rushing. Is there anything such as a zone? If so, were you in that zone?

ASHTON DANIELS: Yeah, absolutely. When you go out there and you put up big numbers and you have guys that you can count on, that you're confident in, you trust in, I think you automatically kind of get into that zone.

From there on out, it's whether you can maintain it for the rest of the game or not.

Yeah, Washington is a great example. I think we were moving the ball very well offensively. We just couldn't finish the game. Other than that, yeah, I trust my guys. I trust our coaches, our game plan, all that kind of stuff. I think that's really what allows me to get into that zone before games.

Q. Stanford doesn't play Georgia Tech this year, but they do play Clemson. How excited are you to go to Memorial Stadium and take on the Tigers?

ASHTON DANIELS: I'm extremely excited. It's going to be awesome. They're known to have one of the greatest college football atmospheres. So that's going to be a blast going to play in that.

I'm obviously going to have a lot of family, old coaches, that are going to make the trip up. That will be exciting.

But I'm just excited that we have the opportunity to go and play such a prestigious team, such a prestigious atmosphere. I think it's going to be a lot of fun and a great challenge for us this year.