FEDEX ORANGE BOWL: SOUTHERN CAROLINA v OKLAHOMA

December 30, 2004

Bob Stoops

COACH BOB STOOPS: Thanks, John. It's great to be back here in the Orange Bowl. As a team we've awfully excited about it. It's a great opportunity, playing a great team in USC, and just being here a few days, I can't say enough about the Orange Bowl, the committee, Miami, Broward County, everybody taking such great care of us. The practice facilities at Barry University are just outstanding, and all the people there have just been wonderful to us. Players are really working well. I love the way we've prepared the last couple of days, and we're getting into game week. Basically today somebody asked me what day it was. I said Monday. I don't know what day it is. It's Monday of our preparation and practice week, so it's a great opportunity to be playing for a National Championship, and we're going to work hard to make sure that we're prepared for it and excited about competing with a great USC team here in about a week.

COACH BOB STOOPS: Yeah, that's who's done it ever since he took it over. That's who we're set to go with.

COACH BOB STOOPS: That's not true. He's kicked a lot of field goals and he's kicked a lot of extra points and he kicks them every day. I've got great confidence in him. He won't hesitate a bit. He's got great technique, great discipline in the way he works. That's why we went with him. We felt all year that he was awfully good. It's just hard to replace a guy that was a Groza finalist a year ago. Anyway, I've got no problem with it. He'll go in there and I've got great confidence he'll put it right through. He's got great range.

COACH BOB STOOPS: Probably nothing. If I did, I'd say, "Hit it like you do in golf, trust your swing and put it down the middle."

COACH BOB STOOPS: I don't think there's any question that he has had a better year I think. You look at his production and efficiency, I think it has been, though it was incredible a year ago, as well. He's able to do so much more this year with his legs being totally back and reuse them under the center more. He's given our offense more variety and more dimension that way. We are fortunate that he was able to come back. He thought hard about that, and I don't think the Heisman had anything to do with it. It had more to do with the team and his opportunity to come back and help us win a championship. That's what he wants to be defined by, and he's got part of it with the Big-12 Championship. I also think it happened that we had a lot of seniors. We had a good group of seniors that he related well to and felt -- I think some of the guys when they're a little bit older, you start to feel that you've outgrown this, but having some older guys on the team, I felt he still had a strong connection with so many of them.

COACH BOB STOOPS: Hopefully. I don't look at it in their terms, and myself, I'm right in the middle of it. I try not to look back too much. I try not to get caught up in too much of that, and I really don't. We're just so engrained and focused in pursuing and pushing as a team and as a program that that's what all my attention is on is continuing to build and continuing to improve as we go and to build young guys coming up. Hopefully in the end it'll be, as people look back on it, it'll be one of those great times that we've had so many of, and I think we do have a nucleus of people that we can continue this kind of run and to establish it hopefully for a longer period of time.

COACH BOB STOOPS: Sure, there are some factors, I guess, that -- I don't know, in the end it's just the questions you answer. In the end you prepare the same and get ready for the game just like you would. Outside of the questions you answer -- I said at that time, I felt we were the only undefeated team at that time, and there were a lot of strong reasons why I was surprised that we were such an underdog because of all the right teams we had played, how we had played. Anyhow, coming in this year, I don't know -- it's a little bit different, but still, we're the underdog, but in the end does it make a difference? I don't know. You still have to go on the field and earn it and get prepared for it.

COACH BOB STOOPS: Jammal -- what we saw is a guy that probably could play defensive line in many places for many schools, but for us we're usually after some guys that are a little bit -- have a little better foot speed are all in our D line. So we saw a guy that could make a great offensive tackle, and after a while we just presented it to Jammal that this is what we think, that you've got an opportunity to be a really special offensive lineman and tackle and possibly have a long career after you graduate to play in the NFL at this position as opposed to the other. He trusted us. He wasn't -- at first he was a little bit worried about it, but the more he thought about it, he thought, hey, these coaches, I see they look at the big picture and for the long run, so he started working it and it didn't take him long to really look good playing that position. Similarly Davin Joseph. Davin came to us after a couple weeks of two-a-days and wanted to switch. I never even presented it to him, and they've been great.

COACH BOB STOOPS: Sure. I worried, I didn't want to take a guy's year that late in the season, but Marcus had been in my office a couple of times during the year just really anxious to play, felt he was ready, and he was. You'd watch him in practice. For a guy that wasn't playing, he was always ready to play and really pushed himself mentally and the way he practices working on his techniques, and he's a talented guy coming in. Everyone knew he was one or two of the top corners in the country rated out of high school. I made sure I told him a week or two before we did play, "Listen, visit with your family, make sure this is" -- "if we get in a situation where we're going to play you that this is what you want to do and your heart is in it and that you feel great about it" because I'm not going to put a guy out there who doesn't. He did. He said, "Coach," emphatically, he was ready to play if it would help us and improve us and he has. He's very conscientious, disciplined. Some of the big plays we had given up were a result of mental errors, and he hasn't made them, knock wood, and he's been very disciplined in how he's played and he's a talented guy. It's made a difference definitely. Antonio Perkins being back is a huge factor. He gets overlooked because he's such a sensational return guy, but he's a great corner back and has been starting for us for three and a half years. The year he didn't start he was our first dime guy and has been a great player for us his fourth year. He's been excellent for us.

COACH BOB STOOPS: Are you trying to trick me (laughter)?

COACH BOB STOOPS: It's probably not fair to compare because I think they're both great in decision-making, got great arms, so I think it's maybe just the style of throwers. What the offense chooses is where the differences are. As you watch USC and Norm and Coach Carroll, how they're really quick with quick throws, probably more shorter throws than we have, shorter and intermediate and maybe go to the check down guys, go to -- they're looking for deeper routes, they go to their check down guys maybe a little quicker than we do. In the end that may be just a style of offenses and what they choose. Both are very productive, but that would be maybe where the differences come. I think both quarterbacks are capable of making all the throws individually, so we recruited Matt out of high school, as well, and believe me, it was down to us and SC. It's worked out good for Jason and him in a great way.

COACH BOB STOOPS: Not a lot. Sure, we're respectful of their feelings and all, but they also know -- we say it, and it isn't lip service, you earn your way. When you're coaching 100 players or 85 or you have the starting two deep, whatever it is, 22 on each side of the ball, the only fair way to treat everybody is the guys that are most productive, most consistent, make the most plays and avoid the bad plays earn the playing time, and you earn your way. You earn your way every week, and if somebody isn't as productive as they should be and somebody else is showing the ability to be, then the only fair way is to give them that opportunity. If they make the most of it, then they've earned that job, and our guys are good about that. They understand, they see it. Nobody earns their way here or most places by seniority or by having something given to them or promised to them. It's basically your production and the way you play, and we still love you and you'll have your opportunity again in all likelihood. Be ready for it and you'll get your opportunity and you may earn it back.

COACH BOB STOOPS: There's a great bit to like and admire. I haven't been around Pete a ton, but I watch, I read, and Coach Pelini has had a strong relationship through the years with him and has told me a lot about him, so I see the pure energy, the excitement, enthusiasm he has, which we all try and do the same thing with our staff, and he's always been -- I like watching, especially for me to watch disciplined, great defense and the way they stay square at the line of scrimmage, everybody is in position where they should be, and you recognize that as a long-time defensive coach, and there's structure and discipline in it. You watch all of that, you can tell he's done an excellent job. His track record speaks of that. I don't need to say that, and it is exciting to match up with their coaching staff, not just he and I, but all of us. It's a great match-up that way, and there's a lot of thinking that's already been going on between us in anticipation of what the other may do, and that's where you try and throw in some wrinkles and slight change-ups but try not to be predictable, so it's really exciting.

COACH BOB STOOPS: Well, hopefully he's learned that that's not the case, being that he had a lot of help in losing those games. It wasn't Jason, it was all of us. So in the end, so much of the time one guy gets all the credit or all the blame, and he hopefully as he's matured he understands it isn't him. It's everybody. Everybody has a hand in it when you win and lose, and many people had a hand in us losing, all of us together. I always find it, to me, it's really -- I find it almost -- it wasn't something that was chosen and picked out of a hat. He was chosen as the best player in college football a year ago for the Heisman, and that isn't ever changing. He's going to go to that banquet from once he retires forever, so to me anything that you earn like that is deserved and you won it fair and square, and that's it. That's the way it goes.

COACH BOB STOOPS: I guess you don't. What I appreciate most maybe, two things that you don't know because you haven't worked with him every day and actually seen him compete, so the two things that really stick out to me are his toughness and his work ethic. Again, coming in out of high school, you see what a talent he is. You can see the size and how fast on tape, but when you watch him -- when you get to work with him, first, the way he worked through the summer and got prepared for the year and then how he's worked through the entire season at practice, and then when you're up close to him and you see him -- when he has nowhere left to go, he comes after you, and he's tough. For a young guy, he really goes after it that way.

COACH BOB STOOPS: Well, people that follow us really closely realize he got hurt in our first scrimmage about three plays into it, and his first two plays didn't look real good. So did we really know? I can't say that we did. We felt he was still awfully special when you watched the way he ran through practice and worked, but when he had that injury, there were -- you wondered would he be able to do it this year and be able to pick everything up. I think it's probably even more remarkable what he did this whole season when you look at how much practice time he missed after the injury and two-a-days after the scrimmage. He missed the entire two-a-days after that, so it probably makes it even more remarkable what he's been able to do.

COACH BOB STOOPS: Probably, but it's hard to compare. We were pretty zipped up in 2002 to be here and pursuing a National Championship, but sure. I've always, like everybody, you want to -- I've always followed USC, as well, and their great history and tradition and the match-ups through the year, so it's exciting to be in this game definitely. National Championship is exciting in itself, but then to be playing them probably gives you a little extra boost, as well.

COACH BOB STOOPS: Well, I look at, first off, just their precision between Matt and the receivers, their timing is always good, their spacing, and that's what you have to try and disrupt, their spacing, timing, crowd them and challenge them. Then you look at their size, you know a good number of them have good size, which is a factor. You've got to be able to put bodies on them. And then you look -- to me, it's always where they really love to try and work you is the run and play action, that mix, and we have to do a good job of handling that mix and be great against the run game to get them hopefully where you can anticipate a little easier.

COACH BOB STOOPS: There are great players in there. I don't ever know how to compare that they're the best in all of college -- they're the best we've had by a long shot. It's not even close. They've been healthy through the year, they've stayed together. I think they took a lot of pride in maybe how we finished a year ago and being more physical this year, and that comes with maturity, too, and continuity, all of them together. So they have been strong. When you look at our production, running the football and a limited number of sacks, seven through an entire season, and the rushing yards together, they're a major part of that. Jason White and Adrian Peterson, nobody is talking about those guys without those guys up front. And then playing Patterson and Cody, their entire front four, they're strong and they're very good players, but we too feel that, hey, we've got strength and power up front, and that's going to be a big match-up, definitely.

COACH BOB STOOPS: I don't --

COACH BOB STOOPS: Adrian catches the ball fine. It's something as we go I'm sure he'll get more and more catches and more and more opportunities that way. It's hard to knock what he's done, you know. I had a caller on one of my radio shows thought we were crazy that the TV announcer said when he's in the game, we're 99 percent run. I said, "Do you actually think that's the case?" I said, "Imagine, he still had almost 2,000 yards." I think we've used him in a good way. Sure, as time builds, we'll give him more opportunities catching the football because he doesn't struggle with it. But again, it's limiting and he can only play so many plays and you want him fresh when he's carrying the ball. You just have to try and manage that in a good way, and I think our guys have. It's not our style to split them out wide, any of our running backs and those kind of things. It just hasn't been what we choose to do.

COACH BOB STOOPS: He's one of -- Norm is -- I am surprised because I believe, and I know we all do, believe he's an incredible coach, always -- again, I don't know Norm personally. I've been around him some and have always respected and admired the way he coaches, as well, and he's had such a track record of success. It's really quite amazing that he's not. I'm sure there's been opportunities where maybe -- he has had opportunities that maybe weren't right for him personally, so there's always two sides of that. He's a great coach, and in the coaching fraternity, he's got as much respect or more than anybody.

COACH BOB STOOPS: I wouldn't say I've patterned myself -- who you are and who you come up through, and my father first and foremost has had a strong impact on me as a person and probably as a coach because I have a good perspective I believe in coaching because of him. I know what's important in my life, what truly matters. Coaching, though I know how important, especially at Oklahoma, it is, it doesn't intimidate me or consume me, and to me that gives me a great balance and have I feel a strong perspective on what I'm doing and what I have to do along with what I feel is important in my life. So my father first, and then all the coaches you come up through, I was very fortunate, and this story has been told a bunch, but you asked it, coming up all those guys through Iowa, Hayden Frye, Bill Snyder, Barry Alvarez, Dan McCarney. Those are guy very close to me that I played under. Don Patterson, also a head coach. Bill Snyder was my defensive coordinator and position coach, a great, great coach, so I game up with some incredible guys that were all young coaches, playing and then as a graduate assistant, volunteer assistant, and all that rubs off on you. Then to go to Kansas State and build a program from the ground up, you know, I was there the first week Coach Snyder was hired for seven years, and you learn a lot building it that way, and then everybody has heard me talk about Steve Spurrier and what a strong impact he's had. Probably in my head coaching experiences and all, he's had the strongest impact because my personality is more -- and why we're probably such good friends is our personalities are a lot alike, so I gravitated towards that, and we'd do a lot of structure in our program has been based on our experience that I had at Florida with Steve Spurrier.

COACH BOB STOOPS: That's a great question because it is. Maybe not for us but in the national media. You can only talk about so many people and Jason and Adrian, they get that. A year ago it was Mark, and Mark has been an incredible player again this year. He understands, and he's gotten less opportunities this year for two reasons; one, the improvement in the running game and the big plays Adrian has provided in the running game; two, we thought we got a little too predictable, not stressing and stretching the defense enough with everybody, and Mark sees that. We've got a lot of great receivers to spread out across the field, and now you have to deal with all of them, and those guys are -- I look at all those guys and they're really good, and Mark understands that, hey, we can't just look for you. I think it's allowed us to be also a little bit more diverse offensively and has put a little bit more stress on defense that we're using all of them more. Mark is a classic team guy and he's what you want. He's never said boo about it and understands and he's just all about winning.

COACH BOB STOOPS: I think another guy you said is Mark Clayton that you talked about enough, LenDale White for SC is a great player and a big key. Being able to be great against a run game and be physical will be a major factor. I think for both teams being able to establish and have a run game is going to be a big factor for both sides. Whose receivers can make big plays, who can protect a quarterback, and special teams, who can make the key plays that you'll need.

COACH BOB STOOPS: I think he just puts pressure because he's such a great player. He has such an ability to create yards, make you miss them and to make big plays. We look at it really -- I don't mean simply, but when he's spread out wide he's a wide receiver, and he's a good one, and when he's in the back field, he's a running back, and he's a good one, and to me that's what it is. It would be no different if he's lined out wide, if he has No. 80 on, we're going to treat him as a really good wide out. If he's in the back field, he's a running back. So structurally, we're prepared for that, at least we're working to be, but in the end, you still have to defend him and tackle him when he has the ball, and that's going to be important, just to be able to match his athleticism and tackle him in space and limit the opportunities he can get the ball in space, crowd him and not allow him a lot of room.

COACH BOB STOOPS: Well, you guys put him in the woods, I don't. Just as I said earlier, you earn your opportunity to play by your actions, by the way you work, by not only what you do on the practice field and what you do to get to the practice field, the running, the lifting, the responsibility of the day, going to class, being in study hall. So in the end if you've been short in those areas, then you're still working your way to get more time. If you guys choose to say he's in the woods or the dog house, that's yours, not mine. In the end it's the only true way for me to be fair and have structure in our program. Mo has come a long way. He still has a long way to go, and hopefully we're working with him. I love him as a young man, and I believe he's got a great future if he's willing to do the things necessary that you need to do when you're a college athlete. We're going to keep working with him as long as he's willing to put forth the effort.

COACH BOB STOOPS: Sure. When you look at opportunities and jobs, I feel very fortunate to work with Joe Castiglione and his staff. He has a strong group of people to support us. Also, with that I have a great president who's very supportive in what we're doing and have a great relationship with them, as well, and that matters to us as head coaches and building programs. Joe, you think back, probably people say now we've had a lot of success, and it was a good hire, but Joe took a big risk hiring me. I had never been a head coach. I believe when you look at our statistics the year before he hired me, we were last in the league in every offensive category and in the middle of the pack or better defensively. Being last in every offensive category, he hires a defensive coordinator from Florida, and a lot of people, they won't maybe admit it now, but they were scratching their head, I don't know if this is the right thing, and there are many Oklahoma people I'm sure who doubted it, so Joe took a big risk, and I'm fortunate that he did and gave me the opportunity, he and President Boren.

COACH BOB STOOPS: Yeah, Mark is probably just overall, which says a lot on our team, maybe our best athlete when you look at everything that he can do. Really, I bet he could start at quarterback for about half the teams in the country. He really throws a great ball. You look at all the run plays you can run with him. He's a great receiver and he's our best special team player. He's on every single special team, scores a touchdown, then he turns around and holds for a right-footed kicker, he'll flip around and hold for a left-footed kicker. It doesn't matter to him. If we had left him a corner two and a half years ago, the NFL would be looking at him seriously to draft him high as a corner. He can play about anything.

COACH BOB STOOPS: Well, I don't know, we are close. I'd like to think that he trusts me, that he can tell me anything. It's just I've had to visit and spend more time with Adrian just because of all that's coming at him. I just want to -- to me it's not that I'm guarding him, but I want to make sure -- someone asked me the other day, is it like you have to protect them or anything. To me it's more about I want him to enjoy his experience. I don't want everybody, whether it's media, all the fans and people that are after him all the time to take away from him enjoying what he's doing, enjoying going to school, enjoying being part of a strong team and being a big part of it and have fun with it in the right ways. Again, in today's world, with the agents, the media, the fans, the autograph seekers, the ebay guys, there's so many guys that can pick at a guy that it can become not enjoyable. So to me, he's a college guy. He's a college young man. He's not a professional athlete, so he deserves to enjoy his experience, and to me that's all -- so we've talked a lot about the people that will approach you, what they'll want to do, what they want and to be smart about it and protect yourself, and for two reasons, that you don't get led into something innocently that's going to jeopardize what you're doing and protect yourself so that you enjoy it. That's why I've limited even his access for that reason alone, so he can enjoy what he's doing and be a member of the team instead of just being this figure that everybody is after. So we've talked a lot and will continue to, but I appreciate he's got a lot of character and excitement to him, and the players you can tell, too, love being around him. There's a lot to him. It's been fun. But too, he's awful close with Coach Gundy and Coach Wyatt who recruited him, so there's a lot of guys that are really doing their best to work with him and bring him along.

COACH BOB STOOPS: Well, not right now, no. I think there's a time for everybody maybe, if you get those opportunities, and somewhere down the line, that may for me. I enjoy too much right now what we're doing, the opportunity, the way we're building our program. Right now I'm enjoying too much what we're doing here. You know, it's just hard to say never or always, so somewhere in the future that may be something that I want to pursue, so we'll -- but right now, again, I feel too good and great about what we're doing at Oklahoma.

COACH BOB STOOPS: Exactly. To me it just displeased me because he gets his picture in the paper for saying something that -- it's pretty unfounded. I don't know where he gets his information quite honestly. To me that's what I said. Neither one of us need any motivation. That doesn't matter. When you get to this point, you have strong character, teams -- anything anybody says isn't going to much matter to you, but to me, it takes away from the accomplishments of a team is what I don't like. You should have your name in the paper for earning, the way you've played, what you've done and speak about the team, so instead of writing about the team's accomplishments -- I say this nicely. You have to fill up paper space, so let them write something about what the team is doing and what we've accomplished as opposed to what somebody has to say, whether it's about us or SC. In the end it just cheapens what we're doing and what the game is about, and it's too good a game and there's too much respect I believe both ways for anything like that.

COACH BOB STOOPS: It's not a big deal. You want to talk to him today? You can talk to him. Well, maybe you can't (laughter). I didn't think that hard about it. Kenny asked me, "Should we let him?" I said, "No, tell them no. That way he doesn't get his picture in the paper anymore."