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CITI BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: TEXAS v ALABAMAJanuary 4, 2010Sam AchoRoddrick MuckelroyWill MuschampPASADENA, CALIFORNIA Q. Will, we talked to Kirby yesterday about the difficulties of coaching against a good friend. What's that like coaching against a guy who's talked to you so often and you're so close to? WILL MUSCHAMP: Kirby is a great friend and a guy that I've got a lot of respect for and really a lot of guys on their staff, including the head coach. You know, it's unfortunate that somebody is going to be unhappy Thursday night, so you've just got to prepare your team well and hope you play well. I feel like we are. We've had good preparation. Our players have worked awfully hard and just understand that you're going against some good coaches and good players in a big game. Q. Just to the players, you've been here for about a day and there's so many distractions here. How do you avoid those distractions and focus on the big game? RODDRICK MUCKELROY: Really we're here for the game and everything, so we're just practicing hard getting ready for the game, kind of like putting everything else to the side and just focusing on what we've got to do to get ready for the game. SAM ACHO: We realize that the fun in this is in winning, so as much fun as it is to come out California and have a good time, we realize it's fun to be working hard and also enjoying the atmosphere. Q. Coach, I know you said we waste a lot of ink on this, but is there any kind of tendency -- anything to guard against in over-thinking when you're in a game against people you know so well? WILL MUSCHAMP: Well, I think as far as the game is concerned, it's going to come down to the two football teams and those seven or eight plays in the game that determine the outcome of it, and you don't know when they're going to come. I don't think so. I think that both two really good staffs, really good coaching staffs, really good players on both sides of the ball, when you have this much time, regardless of who you're going against, you can't over-think yourself as far as your preparation and things you carry into the game. That's what you have to be careful of when you have this much time. You don't want to do too much. It's still one game. You've got to look at it as a situation of we're preparing just like we would in a normal one-week situation when you've got four practices to get ready to play. So that's what you've got to be careful of regardless of who you're playing against is to make sure you don't do so much that your kids are thinking instead of reacting on game day. Q. This is for Will and Sam. You look at their running game, the two-headed monster, Ingram and Richardson, and then you throw Upchurch in the mix; from a tackling standpoint, how difficult is that for your defense? WILL MUSCHAMP: Well, I think the biggest concern is in this much of a layoff is tackling for a defensive coach. We run thud tempo and we stay up, we bring our feet on the tackles, and you don't want to scrimmage as much because of a fear of injury coming into a ballgame, and you need to be healthy and you need to have your guys fresh. Ingram and Richardson and Upchurch are outstanding backs. Obviously winning the Heisman Trophy says enough for himself, and we think Richardson is an outstanding player as a true freshman and has gone a great job for them this year. Tackling is always an issue when you have this much time of layoff going into a Bowl game. We've worked hard at getting ourselves in position to make plays, to make tackles, and that's what you've got to do against this offense. SAM ACHO: And they've got some really good backs. You look at Ingram, the Heisman Trophy winner; Richardson is a great back, as well, but we realize you've got to tackle; that's what football is all about on the defensive side is tackling. We know we've got to tackle them, make plays and stop the running game. Q. This question is for the players. We were at practice the other day and you guys warm up to some upbeat music and that type of thing. I know other schools do it, too. Has that been a tradition going on for a while, part of you guys' personality, you like to have fun, be loose from practice? RODDRICK MUCKELROY: I've been here for five years, and I came in as a freshman and they were doing the same thing. Getting ready for practice, relaxing, just out there having fun. It's all about having fun. If you're not having fun, you don't need to be doing it. But we're just having fun and just getting ready for practice. SAM ACHO: Yeah, like Muck said, football is a tough sport, so you've got to have a little bit of fun in there. So the pregame music is fun to get ready, get excited for practice, and once we go to work, though, we're going to work. Q. For the players, do you pride yourselves at all at being the top rushing defense in the country? And a little more on Ingram, is it exciting to get the opportunity to possibly shut down the Heisman Trophy winner? Is that something y'all think about? RODDRICK MUCKELROY: We take great pride in what we do, and we've been pretty good on defense this year. We get a chance to go up against a good back in Ingram; he's the Heisman Trophy winner, so it'll be a good challenge for us, and we can't wait. SAM ACHO: We're always kind of out to prove ourselves week in and week out. We know we have a good defense but we always want to do more and overachieve, so this will be a good opportunity to kind of show the world what we've got. Q. Guys, the city of Austin always seems to travel well; you've got the fan base. What does it mean to you to have the fan support this game, especially to have them travel all the way to Southern California? RODDRICK MUCKELROY: Just shows that we have a lot of fans all across the world. Like you said, we do have a great fan base. I met people all week long rooting for us, and saying they're not from Texas, they're from all over. I mean, it's great to know that you've got fans, and they come out here to be a part of this with us. SAM ACHO: Austin is a great city. We've got some great fans, and we love all of them and we appreciate them coming to basically every game. You look at games like OU, it's 50/50, die-hard fans, so we really appreciate it. It's fun, it's a lot of fun. Q. Who is the best running back you guys have seen up until this point in your opinions, all three of you? WILL MUSCHAMP: I feel like we faced some good backs all year, not the Heisman Trophy winner, so we're looking forward to the opportunity Thursday night. RODDRICK MUCKELROY: It's great backs out there. This one, he just has the title Heisman Trophy winner. But there's great backs in the Big 12, and we faced great backs all year long, but this one is going to be a big one. SAM ACHO: And Ingram is, like everyone said, the Heisman Trophy winner, so we're going to go out there to try and stop him and see what we can do against him. Q. Will, when you got to Texas, what were some of the first things you felt like you had to establish with this defense, and what was the talent level like when you first got there as opposed to when you were at LSU? WILL MUSCHAMP: Well, I felt like the talent level was on par with everywhere I've been, very good. We have really good football players, and Coach Brown and the staff have done an outstanding job of recruiting good character guys that play hard and are very talented. I think the draft is very evident of that. I think more than anything, whenever you walk into a new situation, you've got to evaluate your players, what they can do, what they can handle. You've got to be yourself and the temperament of what you want, and we pride ourselves in being a blue-collar overachieving group, and that's what we -- we practice that way, we meet that way, we walk through that way, we play that way. We've had good results our first year, and we've improved in our second year, and we're looking forward to Thursday night and again a long history of playing good defense at Texas. Q. Will, when you prepare for Alabama, how much do you study just Alabama or the teams that go against them, the defenses that have had maybe some success in stopping them? WILL MUSCHAMP: Well, obviously you try to familiarize yourself as much schematically and what they try to do and how they try to attack different looks. We're Texas; we're going to do what we do, and we don't copy anybody else. Q. My question is about turnovers. You really improved in this area from last year. You're one of the leaders in the nation in turnovers, and you have multiple touchdowns from turnovers, so can you tell me what have been the keys to improving so much in turnovers in this season? SAM ACHO: Well, Coach Muschamp has really emphasized a lot forcing turnovers and how those change games, so we focus in practice and in games on trying to get at least three turnovers every single practice, every single game. It's really a testament to Coach Muschamp as far as what he does as far as emphasizing it and coaching forcing turnovers. RODDRICK MUCKELROY: Just from last year, I mean, to this year, we have a lot of turnovers compared to last year, where we didn't have as many, and really just going into spring training, one of our main points was focusing on getting turnovers, getting turnovers in practice. It just really carried through the season, and this year we have a lot of turnovers. Q. If you will, just talk about the fact that Alabama has a Texan playing quarterback. Would it make any difference if it was an Alabama native, or are you guys going to be a little wide-eyed knowing you get a chance to go against a guy that went to another state to play football? RODDRICK MUCKELROY: It really doesn't matter where he's from. We're going out there to go up against whoever. If he's from Texas or he's from Hallsville, I really don't care where he's from -- WILL MUSCHAMP: That's where he's from. (Laughter.) RODDRICK MUCKELROY: So we're just going out there and put our team on the field and show what we've got. Q. Will, being with Nick Saban, he was asked the other day if he was having fun. Are you having fun, and what's your thoughts about the business-like approach that you have? WILL MUSCHAMP: Well, I mean, yes, it's fun to prepare to play in a National Championship game. It's fun to get your players ready to play. It's a great experience coming out here and practicing, preparing, getting our team ready to play well on Thursday night. That's why you do what you do, and it's why you want to get in the situation to coach and play in a big game like this, and we're looking forward to the opportunity. Q. Will, what have you noticed that maybe Greg McElroy did against Florida that he didn't do as consistently throughout the year? WILL MUSCHAMP: I think more than anything, early in the game, Jim McElwain did a great job of calling the game. He thought out of the box a little bit and got in some different personnel groupings, spread the field on Florida and got them on their heels a little bit early in the game, and then that opened up some things in the running game and obviously the slip screen before halftime was a huge play for them. So very accurate with the ball in that football game, played very well, got the ball in the right spots, took it to the right places, converted to 3rd down form in key scramble situations. But Jim did a great job of calling it early in the game, got Florida on their heels, gave them some different looks, and they just played well. Q. If you could, just talk a little bit more about Alabama's passing game, what challenges they present, and in particular, about Greg McElroy and his skills as a quarterback. WILL MUSCHAMP: Well, I think obviously you have match-up issues with Julio Jones who's an outstanding vertical stretch-the-field player. Maze and Hanks have both been really good complements in what they do in the throwing game. Peek, obviously when he was out in the mid-season hurt them in the throwing game because he's an outstanding receiver down the field, and McElroy really likes going to him. But I think Greg manages the game. I mean, he plays within the offense and what they want done. They're a running play action team, take some shots here and there and convert on 3rd down. They've had ten turnovers this year. They manage the football game. They don't give themselves a lot of negative plays. They're not playing behind in the chains very much, and that's a credit to him. He does not take sacks. And again, go you go back and look at through the year there are not a lot of negative downs that you look at, and they're not turning the football over. So that's a lot of credit that goes to the quarterback, to the protection, to how they block up front and get the ball to their playmakers. Q. Will, you have so much intensity on the sidelines, you look like you would love to put the pads on and go out there and hit somebody. WILL MUSCHAMP: Thank goodness for Texas, that'll never happen. Q. Could you talk about that intensity that you bring and how much the players feed off that intensity? WILL MUSCHAMP: Well, I have always felt this way as a player and now as a coach, that the players are a reflection of their coach. I want our guys to be excited about playing, and I want them to be passionate about playing and playing well for Texas. So when you go on the field you've got to have a controlled temperament of aggression on defense, and you've got to go after them, and that's the way we want our guys to play and that's the way we want them to respond in the game and have great physical, mental toughness with a relentless attitude. So those are the things that I want them to display on the field. If they don't play that way, they won't play for Texas, and that's sort of what we try to create, that contagious attitude. We've been very fortunate in my two years at Texas; we've had great leadership going back to last year with Roy Miller and Brian Orakpo and now this year you're looking at Rodd Muckelroy, Sam Acho, Sergio Kindle, Lamarr Houston, Earl Thomas have all been outstanding leaders for us, along with some other guys, a great core group of guys to work with. RODDRICK MUCKELROY: Just to see his excitement, I mean, I think he's got one more play left in him. I mean, we could give him one more play and let him see what he can go out there and do. Just to see Coach Muschamp on the sidelines fired up, you just look at him, and it's fun. It's fun to play for a coach like this. He's not on the sidelines just sitting there looking at everything. He's fired up in practice and in the game. He's just one of those coaches that you would love to play for. SAM ACHO: Yeah, and when you play for Coach Muschamp you feel like he's on the field with you. When you make a big play around the sideline, he's the first one giving you a high-five or jumping up and down with you and everything. His excitement really trickles down to the team. Q. Do you ever look at a replay of the game and see yourself on the sidelines jumping around and saying, who's that guy? Have you ever experienced that? WILL MUSCHAMP: Yeah. (Laughter.) My wife doesn't really like it very much. You know, again, you've got to find the right buttons to get the guys to play, and that's part of your job. Everybody has got a job description within the organization, from a player, from a coach, from an administrator, and our job is to do the best job we can do for our football players. That's part of acting like someone of an idiot at times, and I'm fine, and that's a good job description for me, I guess. Q. If you can, with your experience back in the state of Alabama, you know how these Alabama fans are about the history and Crimson Tide football. They don't like the fact that they've never beaten Texas. You're not going to get many match-ups in today's football, other than maybe BCS or major Bowls, between these two storied programs. Can you kind of talk about the fact of the history of these two programs that you have to go way back to the last meeting? WILL MUSCHAMP: Well, I think that both programs have a proud tradition in history of football. You look at the great coaches that have been at the schools and the great players that have come through the schools. But the history of the rivalry will not have any indication of what happens on Thursday night. The last game was played in 1982, and I was, I think, 11 years old. I don't think that the history of the game, series, will have any indication what's going to happen Thursday night. But both programs are outstanding, both programs are at a very high level, performing at a very high level right now, and it's great to see two storied programs in a big game like this. Q. Roddrick, as a freshman, you watched Texas win a National Title. What did you learn from that experience and what have you brought with you in terms of -- after seeing that, now as a player, what have you learned, and are you using that to help you get ready for this one? RODDRICK MUCKELROY: I mean, as a freshman in '05 when I came down here, it was more we were just having fun out here. There wasn't nobody really just uptight about the game, and they just went out and played the game. Now that I'm back now as a senior and being able to play in this game, we just are having fun. You know, when it's time for football, we go in and we prepare well for the game, and when it's time to have fun, just relax and have fun and just take everything in. I mean, it's a great experience to be back playing in this game, so I mean, I can't wait until game day. Q. Will, can you just talk about your time working for Coach Nick Saban and what you learned from him? WILL MUSCHAMP: Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again; I wouldn't be where I am if it weren't for the opportunities that Nick gave me, hiring me from Valdosta State, a Division II school, at LSU and within a year promoted me to defensive coordinator. There's not a lot of coaches that would do that. Nick is more worried about reality than he is perception with making decisions and taking the due diligence to make the right decisions for the organization. Outstanding coach from a total program standpoint. Just does a phenomenal job from coaching to recruiting and motivating his players, and I've got the utmost respect for him. I consider him a friend and a mentor and a guy that's just done a phenomenal job at Alabama and LSU and Michigan State, and he's turned programs around where he's been because of his work ethic and he's very smart, very intelligent. Q. When was the last time you talked to Nick Saban, and will you talk to him this week? WILL MUSCHAMP: Yeah, I'll talk to him before the game. It's probably been about mid-season. We just -- again, we're so busy during the season it's hard to keep in contact. He doesn't know how to text (laughter), so it's hard to communicate unless you call, and I know he's busy and I'm busy. Again, you pull for them when they're not playing the Longhorns, I can tell you that. THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys. End of FastScripts |
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