FEDEX ORANGE BOWL: OKLAHOMA v FLORIDA STATE

December 31, 2000

Chris Weinke

CHRIS WEINKE: Well, you know, I think playing the quarterback position, you've got to have a special relationship with your coach. And obviously, I've only been at one program and only know one way of how it is supposed to be done. I think we've built a special relationship. I think I've had the luxury, because I am a little bit older, to be able to carry that relationship away from the field. I've said all along he has not only taught me about the X's and O's, but about how to really be successful, and I think that's the important thing. A lot of times that is overlooked at the collegiate level. It is all about winning, and sometimes people forget about, really, the important things, and he has not forgotten about that. He has taken care of us. All of the quarterbacks he has ever coached will say the same thing; that he cares about you as a person first and foremost, and that's the important thing. And that's why he has so much success with the players that he's coached. I think my relationship with him will carry on for many, many years. It is a situation where down the road he would be the first guy I called to if I wanted to get involved in that profession, and I think that, you know, we could have a very, very good working relationship. Obviously, he is moving on to a new program and he deserves that title as a head coach. In my opinion, he is going to be very successful. He's learned from the best. But he knows how to handle each and every situation the way that it is supposed to be handled. So my relationship is better than I ever anticipated that I would have with a coach. After this many years of playing sports, you don't understand or realize that sometimes those coaches really do care about you, and he does. And he's shown that genuine concern for all of his players, and people from Tallahassee are going to miss him very much. And I'm going to miss playing for him, because I enjoyed every minute of it.

CHRIS WEINKE: I think there's a lot of similarities. We're both drop-back quarterbacks. You know, our biggest asset, I think is our leadership, and I think that, you know, the one thing that is always said about him is he finds a way to get it done in a clutch situation. I think that I've proven that; that I've been able to get it done in those situations, as well. I think they are very similar. You are not going to see either one of us running the option. You are not going to see either one of us dropping back and running the quarterback draw. I think that our biggest thing is being smart football players and finding a way to take advantage of the defense. The only difference is he's left-handed and I'm right-handed.

CHRIS WEINKE: I didn't know what to expect. I was taking a chance when I came back to school. You don't know what to expect. I didn't even know if I could still play the game. It took me a while to figure it out. But I've always said that there's no more excitement in any sport than college football, and I learned that in a very short period of time when I got back to Florida State, and realized that every person in Tallahassee was following college football year round. And when the season was over, they were talking about spring football; and when spring football was over, they were talking about preseason. So to be in a position of quarterback and play for Florida State, not knowing what to expect, things have obviously worked out much better than I ever thought they would when I come back.

CHRIS WEINKE: You know, the one thing that pops up about Oklahoma's defense is their linebackers. But to me, I look at their secondary, and you look at how many turnovers they have created. And this is a scary situation for a football team that likes to throw the basketball. They create turnovers and make the interception and score a ton of points off of those turnovers. For us to be successful -- I've said it a million times -- we have to execute to the best of our ability. I look at them on film, and they are the best defense we are going to face all year. From top to bottom, they are solid. They have got a couple young corners, but they have also got some veteran safeties that like to come up and hit you, and I think that, you know, we're going to have to find a way to take advantage of that somehow and make some adjustments on the fly, because they are a defense that doesn't make a lot of mistakes, and that is a tough defense to beat.

CHRIS WEINKE: You know, I think that we have gained some experience playing in this type of game. This is our third National Championship Game. And obviously '98, we lost; and '99 we won. You know that was one of the toughest things I had to do was sit on the sidelines in '98 not being able to play. Would the outcome have been different, I don't know. I doubt it. Tennessee had a great football team and they beat us. So I think we don't even realize how lucky we've been. Since the BCS started, we've played in every Championship Game. But we don't take this for granted, though. We don't ever want to go through the things we went through at the end of the '98 season that we had in that locker room.

CHRIS WEINKE: Well, I thought about it last year a little bit when I came back in the first couple of games. But since then, I haven't had any problems with it. I've played two full seasons with it without any problems. The only time I ever talk about it is when someone brings it up. I don't feel any pain from it. I feel 100%. Fortunately, it has worked out very well for me.

CHRIS WEINKE: Yeah, I mean, it's tough to keep your focus on the game. I feel like I've been able to do a pretty good job of that. A lot of people ask, you know, did you keep your focus while you were on the banquet tour. And, yeah, I did. You know, I enjoyed it, and that's over with. Those awards have been given out. But the one award that this football team wants is another National Championship. That was two, three weeks ago when I was traveling, and that's in the past. Same as I'm looking at now, to find a way to win on January 3rd.

CHRIS WEINKE: That's an honor for him to say that. I don't know if he was just saying that to be nice to me. You know, I feel like I'm in a good position in terms of the things that I've been through, the environment I've played in, the experience I've gained throughout last three years. I feel like I understand what we're doing offensively and what we need to do to be successful. So in terms of being of being prepared as any quarterback in the country, I would say yeah. Would I pick myself over some other guys, I don't know. I think he's got confidence in me and I've proven to him over the last three years that I'm able to get the job done.

CHRIS WEINKE: I don't know, it doesn't make sense to me. You know, I've heard everything about us being 11-or 12-point favorites and it doesn't make sense. We are playing a football team that has not been beaten all year, and we have been beaten. The toughest thing for me to try to understand is I don't even know if Oklahoma can be beaten. Nobody has done it yet. Why we are that big of favorites, I don't know. I think if you look at our team on paper, we're loaded with athletes, but that doesn't mean that's an instant recipe for success. I think you've still got to go out and play as a football team, and the best team is going to win this game. It's not going to be the best individual player. Who knows? You can throw the odds out the door because this is a National Championship game and everybody is going to lay it on the line.

CHRIS WEINKE: I think if you look at -- obviously, the three schools in the State of Florida are all very successful. Us being in this game for the third consecutive year might have something to do with those people thinking that we have an advantage, I don't know. But again, we don't worry about that. You don't hear the players talking about we're favorites. We've got to play our best football to win.

CHRIS WEINKE: You know, I don't remember the last time we were an underdog. It has been a long time. I don't know how we would handle that situation. But again, we don't go into a game thinking we're an underdog or we're a favorite. We go in thinking that we need to execute the game plan that we've put together throughout the week.

CHRIS WEINKE: It was a little bit tough walking back in here, but we lost to a solid football team, and that's part of the game. You can't win them all. We came down here and played as hard as we could and just got beat. That's just part of the game. But I think losing in this stadium to this football team made our team more focussed, and it is one of the reasons we're playing for the National Championship. So you can give some credit to Miami, because they -- by beating us, made us a better football team, and I think we played our best football after we lost to Miami.

CHRIS WEINKE: I could sit here all day and tell you the things that he did for me. But just the way that he presented the game to me in terms of X's and O's is the bottom line. The way that he taught the game to me, the way that -- I think the biggest thing was the fact that he never let's you not give 100%, and if you were -- if you decided to take a day off of practice in terms of being out there and not being mentally and physically ready to go, you would pay the price for that. And I think that coaches that expect 100% from every guy each and every day are the ones that produce the most successful players in the end.

CHRIS WEINKE: It is obviously the players. Why they are more successful down here than anywhere else, I don't know. I mean, it must be in the water down here. I don't know, I also give a lot of that credit to the coaching staff of these three programs down here. If you look at our program, we have had the same coaches intact for over 15 years. I look at Florida and Coach Spurrier and his staff, and they are all very -- I mean, the three teams are all very well coached. That has a lot to do with it. You take a great athlete, and then coach him well; that's the perfect fit. Not that other players are not being coached well. It's just, you know, the combination of a great athlete being well coached is, I think, the reason that these three programs are so successful.

CHRIS WEINKE: Right now, to be honest with you, I haven't even thought about it. It's not something I'm worried about right now and with all respect to the Heisman Trophy, I could care less about it right now. My goal is to win another National Championship. You know, the Heisman Trophy is a reflection of this football team. It is not an individual award, and I think that I've said it before; that if I could break that thing up into 75, 85 different pieces, I would; and give it to each guy on the team, because I wouldn't have the success that I had this year unless the other guys were getting their job done. Right now, my focus is on January 3rd, trying to win a National Championship. The Heisman Trophy has been presented. It is over and done with. Down the road, I'm going to cherish that, yeah. But right now, it has not even been in the thought process.

CHRIS WEINKE: Yeah, it's gratifying. It's one of the most prestigious awards you can win in sports. You know, to be honest with you, I don't even want to sit and talk about it because it's not important to me right now. It was important to me that night, and it's going to be important to me after that this game. But right now, my focus is on that football game and that football game alone.

CHRIS WEINKE: Yeah, I have been impressed with all of the receivers work ethic, but Anquan is a guy that has stood out all year long. He is a guy that has stayed focused, and now with the absence of Snoop, he's going to be a guy that we really need to count on. And that focus has been there this week in practice by all of the receivers, because they know that it is going to be one of those guy's turns, and I think that Anquan is going to be a guy that everyone is going to be talking about. They have already started talking about him, but he's going to be that Peter Warrick type of receiver that everybody is going to talk about in the future.

CHRIS WEINKE: Well, okay, I'll say it now: It's not against me and Heupel. It's Florida State against Oklahoma. Other people are going to make it out to be Weinke against Heupel, and there's going to be 11 guys on the field from both sides of the football, and it would not be very fun just watching me against Heupel out on the field. There would not be a whole lot of exciting plays going on.

CHRIS WEINKE: No. I have watched a little bit here and there, but my focus is on the defense.

CHRIS WEINKE: Exactly what I expected, just from seeing him on TV and interviews. Very solid guy, very quiet, doesn't say a whole lot, but was kind of that perfect guy, you know that, I guess if you had a daughter, that you would want your daughter to date. Just a good, all-around, solid guy. He is a Midwesterner, like myself, and we were both Vikings fans growing up. And he's a good guy and that's what I expected from him and it held true.

CHRIS WEINKE: In terms of what we've been able to do, we've also obviously been very successful leading our offenses throughout the year, the same style of quarterback. I think what it comes down to is we both know how to lead a football team and that's probably both of our biggest assets, being the leader.

CHRIS WEINKE: They are solid all around. There's not a weakness that you can try to take advantage of. Some defenses, there's always kind of a chink in the armor. They are not. They are solid from top to bottom. Some of the best linebackers in the country, and their secondary has been able to produce some big-time turnovers. So we're going to have to try to take advantage of them somehow by all of our guys executing, because if we don't, they are going to get some turnovers, score some points, and obviously they are going to pick up the momentum of the game in turnovers.

CHRIS WEINKE: No. I don't know if it depends on this game. I think if we were to win this football game, it would solidify us as being the best senior class that ever played at Florida State, and that is quite an accomplishment. You look at over the last 13 or 14 years what we have accomplished as a team, and we are in the middle of a dynasty right now, and to be able to win back-to-back Championships would be our ultimate goal. And I think down the road, we would look back and say with all of the great teams that ever played there, we got the chance to be the best. And not that we sit around and talk about it, but each and every senior knows what is at stake here in this football game. And I think it's not going to be out in the open. It's not going to be talked about in a team meeting, but deep down inside, every senior wants to leave this place a two-time National Championship.

CHRIS WEINKE: I have always looked at it as being in the Final Four in basketball for 14 straight years, and that is almost unheard of. Very rarely are you ever going to see that. And I have said that, the success that Coach Bowden has ever had in the last 14 years is never, ever going to be repeated in college football. There's too much parity. There's too many good teams out there. And to think that you can be the in the Top 4 for 14 consecutive years is almost unimaginable, and I think to be a part of that is very special. And I think that we are a part of it and we have a chance to win back-to-back Championships. That would put us right in there, and people would look back and say, so and so was a part of the team that won back-to-back championships.

CHRIS WEINKE: I haven't seen him at all. We've had some team functions, but I have not seen him.

CHRIS WEINKE: No. Because 20 years down the road, if that does happen, we'll be telling all of our kids that we were the champion and Miami will be telling their kids that, too. They are a solid football team, and if it comes down to if we are fortunate enough to win and Miami wins in New Orleans, I don't care. First of all, I'm not worried about that game. I'm worried about our game. And for me to sit and worry about a split championship would be taking my focus away from what it needs to be on, and that's winning our game.

CHRIS WEINKE: I think it's a combination. First of all, he goes out and recruits the best players in the country. And I think from that, he has one of the best coaching staffs in the country. So you bring that combination together, and he's been fortunate to keep a lot of his coaches around the last couple years -- and he's also lost a couple coaches -- but the combination of bringing in great athletes and being very well coached is, I think, what Coach Bowden would attest to his success, as well.

CHRIS WEINKE: Yeah, at this point in his career, he is more of a father figure, and I think that's what he needs to be. He let's his coaches do the coaching and that's why they pay those guys, to coach. And he has done a great job delegating responsibility, and I think that it has worked for him. At a younger age, he was more of a hands-on coach and now he has taught his coaches how to coach, and I think that's the fit for him.

CHRIS WEINKE: You hear about it every year. While they are losing 12 seniors or losing 15 seniors, I don't know how they are going to be able to replace those guys. And last year people said there's no way they are going to be able to replace Peter and Ron, and somehow we found a way to replace those guys. And I think that, you know, that's where the coaching staff comes into play, going out to recruit the best players, and then teaching them how to play the game. We, probably more so than any other school, play a lot of players. People don't even realize that. We played 55 players in the first quarter of a game this year. I don't think any other team had ever done that. Is it going to carry on? Yeah, we hope so. Now being an alum of the school and a graduate, when I come back I want to see them keep winning. Who knows how long it is going to go on, but these last 14 years have been, obviously, the best 14 years this program has ever had.

CHRIS WEINKE: Obviously, it is an enjoyable time, an opportunity to meet a lot of the other players from around the country, but more importantly, my focus has stayed on this football game. Therefore, I have not let it get hectic. You know, you have to take everything in stride. And, yeah, I went on a banquet tour and I enjoyed that, but my focus never left January 3, and that's why I came back for my senior year. Not to win any individual awards, but to win back-to-back Championships. So I've kept that a priority and I will continue to keep that a priority until the game is over.

CHRIS WEINKE: We have done it the last four years. We've had 40 days between our last game and our Bowl game. We did it last year. Why would it be any different this year.

CHRIS WEINKE: No. He tried to scare me away. They had Drew Henson ready to come into Florida State and I was 24-year-old guy that had not played in seven years. He was just trying to be realistic with me and say that , "Well, are you sure this is what you want to do?" You know, he challenged me, and that was something that throughout the years -- he told me that "it is going to be a long road," and I understood that, but I was willing to take that chance. I think that's why I'm sitting here today talking about going for back-to-back National Championships, because of him, Coach Richt, and him challenging me, and, obviously, teaching me about the game.

CHRIS WEINKE: Very honored. I think it is going to be your job to keep Josh Heupel off the scoreboard, and I think it was bound to be true that age didn't matter. Like I said earlier, it's going to be your job to take care of the defensive side of the ball.

CHRIS WEINKE: First of all, that's a lie about you catching any of my passes. (Laughs.) In four years, you ain't intercepted a pass of mine yet. Secondly, yeah, it's the last go-around for both of us, the last chance that we can be part of history by winning back-to-back championships. Coach Bowden has been a father figure to both of us, a guy that has let us have some fun on the field and put us in a position to win back-to-back Championships. It has been a fun ride. I'm going to miss you, Tay.