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ROSE BOWL GAME: TEXAS v SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

December 30, 2005

Mack Brown

PASADENA, CALIFORNIA

THE MODERATOR: Good morning and welcome to the first of the Rose Bowl press conferences here at the Beverly Hilton. These press conferences are typed and a replay will be played on the in-house television system that will be Channel 15, and the press conference quotes will be available on RoseBowlGame.org following the press conferences. I'd like to go ahead and introduce Texas coach Mack Brown. Welcome again to the Rose Bowl, and we'll have a general comment from Coach and we'll take questions from the group.
COACH MACK BROWN: Thank you very much. Good morning. We had a great time yesterday at Disneyland, and I want to thank Matt and the people at Disneyland. We had a tremendous group of hosts that helped the kids get around after their interviews, and they just had a fun time. It's good to be able to watch your guys in a week where there's so much attention on their football abilities go back and be kids, and they were picking at each other about which ride to be on, and it was just fun for the coaching staff to be able to watch them, and then the ESPN Zone is one of the fun things they do out here because they get to eat and play video games, and modern day kids with music and watch a football game on TV, it's a special time for them.
We're proud that our football team did what they were supposed to do academically and they were all able to come to the Bowl game. It's amazing when you flip on TV at night and you see so many young people that are not eligible for their Bowl games and what an awful thing for a young man to play a lifetime to get to this point and then not be able to play, and we're proud of our guys that are 12-0 with the right to get here.
There's been a lot of attentions put on the distractions for this week, and very honestly, these two programs probably get as much attention day-to-day in college football as any in America. So if there are two programs that can handle attention that some people call distractions, these kids come to SC and Texas for this kind of week, so really they embrace it, and I think our guys and it's obvious SC has done it, will play up to the expectations more than let there be distractions.
There's been a lot of talk about are we the away team or home team, and looking at it, very honestly when you're the home team there's more distractions because your friends are around and your family is around. We thought sometimes it's easier to play on the road than at home.
I want to thank the Rose Bowl Committee and the hosting committee because they're trying really hard not to make us feel like an away team. It is a Bowl game and they've done a great job of making our guys feel welcome and making sure that the people around them are making them feel welcome, as well.
As far as the SC team, I like Pete, so that makes this week easier. If you don't like the other coach, it's a longer week, but I've always liked Pete. I admire what he did for a long time in the NFL and he's obviously bridged the NFL to college football as good as anyone can possibly do.
They are the team in college football right now. They've done a tremendous job. You can't question what they've done, so it's easy for us to have respect for them. And at the same time, we understand that we have an opportunity, because they're so good and we're playing so well right now, to be the team that's been the best in college football. That's a goal that we set a year ago. We felt like we would be playing -- we felt like we'd be back in this game, and we felt like we'd be playing SC in this game, and all of that has happened now, so it's a fun four or five days now building up to the game.

Q. This year is for all the marbles. Since last year, what's the biggest thing coming back here that you've seen so far and that you're expecting for the models and -- the national title last year was just a BCS thing, but what's the biggest thing you're looking for?
COACH MACK BROWN: We felt like last year was great preparation for this year. I'm in the same room in the same hotel with the same manager at the same practice field. There's a few more of you guys here than there were last year. So the only difference is that the stakes are a little bit higher.
But we do feel like the fact that we were at Disneyland last year and the fact that we know the same host people from the Rose Bowl, all of those things are a plus for us because of the question marks that were in place last year about would a Big 12 team be as welcome as a PAC 10 or Big 10 team. None of those things are questions this year. This is a great game for college football. It's a game that every college football fan will watch, and because of that, I think everyone has really embraced it.

Q. Can you talk about the special teams, the fact that after that '99 game people were on you and now you're --
COACH MACK BROWN: They were on me?

Q. You blocked nine kicks in the last six games. Just talk about why you've been so effective lately and special teams overall is a weapon for you all.
COACH MACK BROWN: We felt, number one, that to be able to win a National Championship you've got to be as good as anybody in the country in special teams. That's an area that we were okay. We lost the game to start the season in '99 because of the blocked kicks. So it really was fortunate that it made us put more emphasis on it.
But as our team speed has been upgraded, our depth is better than it's ever been because we can play two deep of pretty fast players like SC can play now, and all of those things have helped us get better in that area.
But I would think that the ability of Mike Tolleson and Duane Akina, who worked so much with our special teams, Oscar Giles, Ken Rucker, but really Mike Tolleson to sell the team on the importance of it, that the guys are seeing that it changes games and the ability to score points. This team has learned the value of field position, all of the things that you get from special teams, and we've probably done a better job of recognizing success in that area because we have blocked more kicks than anybody since 2000.

Q. Do you sometimes think that because of the confidence, the extreme confidence of your team, that sometimes it's misinterpreted as cockiness?
COACH MACK BROWN: If you're in this game and you're not confident, you're in bad trouble because they're the ones that scream. People have talked about the SC team and their confidence and the Texas team. This isn't a week for a weak guy. You'd better walk with a swagger and you'd better feel good about yourself. The thing that I've learned about SC that I thought was there and I know about our team is they're not having to be someone else here, and we thought that's one of the keys to this week. You are who you are, and what you've been able to do in the past got you here, so don't try to change in a week. We've told our guys we want you to smile. We want you to show your personality. We have nice kids, SC has got nice kids. What a great time for them to show college football fans and younger high school student athletes and elementary school and junior high kids that you can smile, you can dance a little bit, you can have some fun. You don't have to be stiff and you don't have to walk around scared all the time and act tough all the time.
These two teams have had an ability to focus when it's time to play, smile with you all and answer fun and hard questions, but also be kids when they walk off the field, and that's okay. Sometimes that's construed as cockiness, but we like to think that our bunch is confident and classy.

Q. I was wondering if you could take us through the process you've developed over the years in terms of preparation for a Bowl, what kind of stuff do you do when you're still back at home versus once you get out here practice week?
COACH MACK BROWN: That's a great question. We've been to 14 or 15 in a row, I can't remember what it is. But it was enough of them that as you get older you start looking at the people who have been successful in Bowls and you start calling them and say why are you winning all your Bowl games. Sometimes you find out it's who they're playing. That's not a bad deal, either.
At Texas you're probably fired if you're not playing a really good team at the end of the year.
I remember a couple years ago DeLoss Dodds and Kevin Weiberg had me go to Fort Worth for the Big 12, and they said if I'm coaching in that game I'm probably fired, so I'm here to represent the league and not Texas.
What we found is we wanted to go back and nearly start the season over with two-a-days at home, and be physical, go back to your inside drills, because you hit less in most cases as you near the end of the season, and then you have a championship game, so the kids have played for 12 weeks, they've probably had an open date or two. Next year if you win your championship game in a league like ours, it'll be 13 games. So they're really exhausted, and then you jump right into the finals along with the preparation for a Bowl game like this.
But we felt like that most of the physical contact should be done at home. So we go back and start over like two-a-days. We run them a lot. They lift a lot, so it's somewhere between the mentality of spring practice and two-a-days.
When we get out here, we'll spend more time -- we'll still run, we'll still condition, but we try to sell them on getting in bed and getting rest because they do not realize with the tension around the game, with practicing for an hour and a half, hour and 45 minutes in the morning and going to Disneyland all afternoon and then being on your feet at ESPN Zone, all of those things are a lot of fun, but they wear you down, and people are grabbing you.
There's constant attention of a different type, in some cases, even than what we would all think would be the distractions that they would have. It's people that they haven't been around, and then making them get up early and focus.
So we have a tight curfew, and we have also learned if we are playing in LA it's two hours earlier than Austin, so if they go to bed at 11:00 o'clock here it's 1:00 o'clock in Austin. They have to understand that the transition for the week just about time zones is different. We make sure that we're very, very careful with what they drink and eat and we have diets for them because that matters when they go home. We make sure while they're at home they have a conditioning plan and we call them and hope they go by it, and for a game of this magnitude, you feel like they would, and yesterday's practice looked like they went home and practiced.
And as much as you can, this time of the year, a lot of young people that are playing college football and coaches are not home for Thanksgiving, they're not home for Christmas, so we'd like to be able to let them stay home for Christmas Day if they could, and that's one of the reasons we started many years ago letting the kids get to the Bowl games themselves because they can stay home a little bit longer and after the game they can get home a little bit quicker and it gives them an extra day on both ends to do that. The closer the game gets, the more you back off. But this will be an intense week of preparation, but it will not be as physical this week as it would have been back in Austin, and that's something we've learned.
Washington State a couple years ago when we played in the Holiday Bowl we were so disappointed that we did not get to play Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, so the approach that I personally took as a head coach is let's go back, this is the start of next year, really be tough on the guys. We were tough on them in Austin, we had great practices, I think we were 5th or 6th in the country and wanted to finish in the Top 5. We got to the Bowl site and we did the same thing, and I could tell about two days before the game, we just fizzled, and the guys were just whipped, they were giving out, and then we played like that. I do think you can do too much when you get out here, as well.

Q. Pete was saying two days ago after he signed his extension that he's come to the realization that he's a college guy and SC is the place for him. Earlier in your career did you have wanderlust for the NFL and have you come to the realization that Pete has, that you're a college guy and the NFL isn't a destination?
COACH MACK BROWN: Yes. Number one, I'm glad Pete is saying that because it's great for college football. We're needing positive roll models. Pete smiles a lot and works the kids hard but he has fun in college football. I'm hoping he can send the message to young coaches that we've got to enjoy this more, and I've tried over the last couple of years to learn that myself and do a better job because we're going to lose our coaches if we continue to be miserable on a day-to-day basis.
I did come to that same realization. I think all of us at some point look at the NFL when you're a child and you're supposed to start in high school, go to college, and then go to the NFL and you're supposed to play for the National Championship, the Super Bowl, and then at some point you realize what your role is and what you're best at, and I do feel like I'm best with young kids, and we can have more influence on them. I'm planning on staying in college at Texas.

Q. About when did that realization come then?
COACH MACK BROWN: Probably three or four years ago there were some opportunities that came up with the NFL, and then you go from -- it would have to be the perfect situation, the perfect place to live. I'm 54 years old, so as you get a little bit older you'd rather live where you want to live, and then all of a sudden you realize it's not just about the owner, not just about the place, it's about the kids. Pro football is a great game. We're fortunate to have a lot of friends -- one of the hardest things about all of our lives is self evaluation, and as you get a little bit older you can be more honest with yourself, you can say maybe this is not me, maybe this is what I need to do, and then you can see other people trying it like you that might not have worked.
I really like what I'm doing, and I think it probably came to me a couple years ago. People try to convince you that you can do this, that's what you want to do. And I could, but I know more about what I'm doing now than if I changed.

Q. You answered a question about special teams. You said you could increase emphasis on it. How did you do that? Did you speak to other coaches, and how did you change your practice routine?
COACH MACK BROWN: All of us talked about what Frank has been able to do at Virginia Tech. Frank is a great friend, and one of the things I've talked to Frank about was just his emphasis publicly, and if it's private or not, fine. But boy, everybody, they don't know about Frank, and that was a message to all of us is that his is public, and if it's public and people are talking about it as a trademark of your program, then your kids hear it more.
One of the first things we started doing was take a Roy Williams, who was a wide receiver, and putting him on punt block. It was very controversial when we did it but it was something that sent a message to all of our other kids that if Roy Williams can play on this team then I can play on it. It became a popular thing to do. Now our kids fight to be put on special teams. We have to do a good job of making sure young men are not exhausted. I actually will take him out of a play on the field and swap it for an energy play on special teams. When a guy tells us he's tired, we'll tell him we'll take you out of the rotation but we're not taking you out of special teams.
I remember people asking, Coach, how dumb are you to play him on special teams because he might get hurt. I said, he should have put him on punt block sooner because he blocked a punt his first play. How many plays do you get -- and to think that a special teams play is not as important in scoring as a regular down play is foolish. So we felt like that was probably where it turned for us to the better.

Q. Vince seemed to take not winning the Heisman so hard. Do you think particularly with Matt and Reggie on the other side of the field do you think he'll play like he has something to prove?
COACH MACK BROWN: I think he would have played that way anyway. Vince is a tremendous competitor. I'm not sure I did a good job with the Heisman to help him because after Ricky won the Heisman in '98, I didn't think the other guys were interviewed, so John and I were caught off guard a little bit because what a tough thing when you want to win the Heisman your whole life and you're sitting next to two guys that win it and one of them has already won it and the other one just wins it and then you're playing them in a Bowl game. It's like a beauty pageant; you're standing there on national TV by yourself and you're supposed to hug and kiss and be happy. I've seen those little girls standing next to the winner of the beauty pageant, and they all do and then they cry. And I've got two daughters so I understand that.
I do think it really helped Vince understand that even the Heisman is not about him, and that's a realization I came to a couple years ago when people were bragging on me as a coach. For some reason I didn't feel comfortable with it because I knew I wasn't doing anything different because it made it easier for me when I realized that it wasn't about me, that when people aren't being critical of me, they're being critical of our program, and I'm only part of that.
When Vince got back home I told him that our team won the Maxwell, the Davey O'Brien and our team won the Heisman. We should have helped you more. Maybe it was my fault. Maybe I should have left you more in the games in the third quarter when I took you out. You should not put all of that on your shoulders, and very honestly the kids gave him a standing ovation and he got up and he smiled, and it was like it took some things off him.
But he's a very prideful young man, and in that moment when someone asked are you disappointed, I think sometimes we ask questions we know the answer to, and here's a 20-year old that gave the honest answer. That's so refreshing to me that if he had said, oh, no, I'm fine, I didn't really want it, it's heavy and I didn't want to have to carry it (laughter) -- sure, I'm crushed. I've flown 10,000 miles to sit at this place tonight on national TV when I thought maybe since I won the Maxwell and the Davey O'Brien I could have won this thing and I didn't, so I'm whipped.
I would rather see a young person have some cooldown time before he had to answer that question in the future, and that's something I would suggest to the Heisman people. I saw the faces on the three quarterbacks that lost when Ricky won, and as excited as I was for him, to see their families and their faces when they thought they had a chance to win, I really felt sorry for them. It's just a tough deal.

Q. There's so much attention on Vince and Leinart and Bush, is Jamaal Charles kind of the forgotten guy this week, and is he a wild card in this game?
COACH MACK BROWN: I think probably LenDale White is probably the forgotten guy. He's gained 1,200 yards and he's made some really tough yards for SC. When you look at -- he's gotten less carries than Reggie, and Jamaal brings for us, and Ramonce Taylor brings for us, because we've had those guys in there along with Selvin Young because he's been the older guy with that same ability outside of the known. So what we've been able to do is play our three, but SC has done a great job of playing those two.
But I do think from what you're saying that Jamaal is healthier. In fact, he's 100 percent for the first time since the Oklahoma game, and he gave us the 80-yard run in the Oklahoma game, and SC is so fast, we need fast guys trying to match their speed on the field. Slow guys are not going to do well on Wednesday. The slow guys will be with me.

Q. You talked about Vince, and he seems like kind of a reserved kid publicly. How has that personality become one that has become kind of the unquestioned leader of your team, kind of a reserved and almost shy guy become a guy who the team follows, and how does he also deal with the spotlight?
COACH MACK BROWN: It's a great question, and it's very astute for you to even say that because he is very quiet. He's a young man who sits by himself a lot, and I do think that his ability to express himself through dance, through his music, laughing more with his teammates has been able to bring his personality out.
He's matured so much over the last two and a half years. I remember at the Holiday Bowl game where he got his feelings hurt and didn't play very well and pouted. He laughs about that now. Now he throws an interception and before he gets to the boundary he's trying to figure out why he threw it, what happened, so he's very expressive with his teammates. He's a fierce competitor, but he is a little shy.
I was just sitting there last night, something came on ESPN late and I was so proud of him that he was relaxed. He was complimentary as we've said, he was very confident, but he was very classy with his statements about SC, and at a time like this, to see him when he came in as a freshman and to see him right now, that's why you coach college football and you're so proud of all he's become, and that's why he has become a leader. Insecurity is a disease in my estimation, and self-confidence is just such a -- it's like a drug that you feel so good about yourself.
He's such a confident young man right now, and he's making good grades. Everything in his life is really good, and I attribute that a lot of that to sports. It's something that young moms and dads out there can see when you talk about the values of sport. To see what Vince Young has been able to do with his confidence and his personality is really a plus for the sport and a great compliment to he and his mom and his grandmother.

Q. You've been able to watch Reggie Bush on film now for a couple weeks. I don't know if it's been a treat or a punishment. Have you figured out a plan to stop him?
COACH MACK BROWN: No (laughter). We watched Reggie in high school. When I worked for Coach Switzer at Oklahoma and when we were watching film, he would say there's a three-play guy and a five-play guy. If I watch a guy for five plays and I don't see whether he's good enough, turn it off. Reggie is a one-play guy.
I thought Gayle Sayers was one of the greatest players to ever play, and there's been some analogies of him and Gayle Sayers. He just jumps sideways and then he's full speed when he hits. We've watched Reggie because we recruited him. Duane Akina was in his home. We've watched him the last four years, out of high school and the three years at SC. He's fun to watch and a great competitor and a very bright young man. He has a great smile.
But what we've said about this game is they're going to make their plays. When they make them, pat them on the head and say good job and get back up. You have to keep playing because both teams will make their plays during this game. If you let an athletic play discourage you, you're going to have a long game because nobody has stopped SC all year.
I saw the other day, we looked at their stats last year compared to this year. Last year's defensive game had better stats. This year's offensive team is so much more dominant than last year's, it's not even close. For anybody to think they're going to stop SC, they're not going to. You have to keep playing, knock a ball loose, line up stopping them. Neither team has been stopped. I think it's one of the real fun things about this game is both defenses have a real challenge this week.

Q. Are you going to give a motivational speech before the Beef Bowl today?
COACH MACK BROWN: The linemen always win the Beef Bowl. Our guys like this. It's funny, we had a couple trips to the Cotton Bowl and there's a Lawry's there, and the people that own Lawry's are just wonderful people, and with our relationship with them in Dallas and here, we feel like we're kind of home. I think it's the 50th year they've done this, maybe the 100th. Whatever it is, it's an important day to eat, so we're going to really prepare for that (laughter). I don't know if we'll need to run the big guys after practice or not in preparation to eat. But they held their own last year, they did real well.

Q. You mentioned the swagger. At what point did you see that swagger become across the board on this team?
COACH MACK BROWN: I really saw it starting last year in the second half of the Oklahoma State game. I think that somebody said yesterday this team has won maybe 33 out of 37 or 38, a lot of games. But Oklahoma State, when you're down 35-7 in the first half and have the ability to come back and win 35 to 55 and not be a close game in the third quarter, that will give you a lot of confidence. And then the Kansas comeback and we were behind A & M last year, but then ten points down I remember last year in the Rose Bowl, one of the hosts from the committee coming down about five minutes left, we're still down by 7 or something, and one of the hosts came down and said, "You'll need to be with me to receive the championship trophy after the game." I said, "Have you not seen the score?" But this team has just continued to come back. I think it's another great story line.
SC has done the same thing. You look at some of their games early, every week it's like the game of the century for SC because, oh, God, we're going to beat SC and sometimes they get behind early but neither team has panicked, and therefore that's why you can't win this many games in a row without a lot of confidence.

Q. Two quick questions actually. Can you talk about the opportunity for you to go from winning your first conference championship to getting into that fraternity of being a National Championship coach, and also the film work that Vince put in with Greg to become the leader in pass efficiency?
COACH MACK BROWN: Let me talk about the film first. To go from maybe 18 games where there are a lot of people questioning whether Vince could play quarterback or not and that was fair. We didn't score against Oklahoma 20 games ago, and 19 games ago Vince was 3 of 12 against Missouri in a game at home where we won 28-20. And at that time there were a lot of people, period, that were saying we've got to change quarterbacks, this isn't working. So from that day forth for Vince to decide I'm going to make this work, and for he and Greg Davis to become closer, to spend more time together, for Vince to realize that the more film I watch and the more I learn about the personnel on the other team as well as how they line up, the better chance that I have to help our team win, to see him sitting here right now as the No. 1 passing efficiency in the country as a quarterback is just phenomenal.
It shows young people, again, don't let distractions beat you down, don't let critics take you out of getting where you need to go, and that's a great story. It goes with the confidence that we've talked about, and his ability to lead so far. All of the things that have happened to Vince along with a lot of other good players is the reason that we're here.
As far as what I feel, I'm proud for Texas. I've been coaching a long time, so I was disappointed that we didn't get in this game in 2001 because we had a two-point loss to Colorado. I'm proud for the Texas fans. We've gotten so many letters from Texas exes that have played, lettermen through the years that are proud, and it's good to have Texas back in the spotlight where they should be.

Q. No personal satisfaction, though -- for you, no personal satisfaction winning your first conference championship and having the opportunity to become the National Championship coach?
COACH MACK BROWN: The first conference championship, no, because it should have been done a long time ago. And secondly, getting to the National Championship game is not enough. We'll talk after it.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach. Appreciate your time. Good luck in your preparations this week.

End of FastScripts...

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