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ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO: OREGON v WISCONSINDecember 30, 2011Chip KellyPASADENA, CALIFORNIA Q. Talk about how the week has gone so far? CHIP KELLY: The week's been great. Our players have had great focus but they also understand, and we want them to, to enjoy the Bowl experience. We do everything in the morning just like we did back in Eugene and the afternoons are filled with Bowl activities and whatnot, and then they have enjoyed those. But they also know that the task at hand is the game on Monday. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: No, not really. We didn't take a whole heck of a lot of time off, so we left on the 21st and we are back on the 26th, so they were very good on the first day. Feel great. Q. Does that impact‑‑ CHIP KELLY: I don't know but we don't go for long field goes is what I should say. We have passed up some‑‑ between 45 and 50 yards but that's not uncommon. I think just the difference probably between us and other teams is other teams would punt in that situation, try to pin the other team down now, but we, because of our defense, I don't mind putting our defense on the field if the ball is on the 35‑, 37‑‑yard line, which would be a 47‑yard field goal, so maybe we will bypass that field goal but anything inside of 45, usually we are going to kick the field goal. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: I could but I don't want to wish the alternative to play a lot of close games just to make sure our kickers are good. It just is how it plays itself out. Just the way tomorrow office born works with those guys and gets them ready for those situations, we try to do it every day in practice or every other situation in practice, where they have to run out and if I can a field goal but with those guys you don't know until you send them out in the field and see if they can do it. Q. I probably know the answer to this but at what point do you want to play the game already? CHIP KELLY: Enough was enough on Monday. We have known our schedule so we have never been we know how much time we had off when we qualified for this game so understand that mentality when people say, I wish the game was here. Well, it's not going to be here so why would you wish for something that you have no control over. We just worry what we have control over. We still have a couple of days of practice where we still need to iron things out because that's what our schedule is all about. Our guys like practicing and we like practicing and we can't wait to get back on the bus after this and go down to the Home Depot Center and practice again and that's what this deal is all about. I don't wish that the game was here. I know we are playing on the second and we'll be ready on the second. Q. Do you prefer practice to games? A lot of coaches do. CHIP KELLY: No. I take both. The game is fun, it's competitive and you're challenging yourself against somebody else. But I also enjoy the practice aspect of teaching the individual players. It's two different things. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: No, not at all. I've always said that I think the operative word what you just said is teams. What team are you playing and how good are they. So, you know, we played New Mexico in the opening game of the season a couple of years ago and they had a year to prepare for us, and won 72‑0. So I don't think the preparation thing, the amount of time has anything to do with it. I think the common factor is‑‑ I love the fact that we get this question asked because we have lost six games in three years, so the fact that you can play five of those games, everybody is looking for a common denominator, there's all different factors. We lost one in the National Championship on a field goal with no time left on the clock. We have been close in every game we have played. So that's a good thing, where you can sit there and tick off the only losses that we have had and then try to discuss what the reasons are and why you lost those games. Q. Those games that you talk about‑‑ CHIP KELLY: I think when you get into a BCS game, you play really good teams. You can have the other option, you can qualify for a lesser Bowl and play somebody that you are 30‑point favorites but if you are going to be the best, it's going to be that way. You're not going to score as many points against a really good team but I would rather be in that competitive situation. We don't care how many points we score. We'll take it anyway we come. We played Cal two years ago and they had one week to prepare for us and we won 15‑13 and we laid them again this year and had ten days to prepare and we scored 43 against them. I think that can throw that theory out the window. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: I have no idea and I don't know what other people think. Q. The fact what you've done in Oregon‑‑ CHIP KELLY: It does, but everything's‑‑ what's the flavor of the week. I know we finished in the Top‑10 last year. Stanford finished in the Top‑10 last year. We are in the Top‑10 right now. USC is in the Top‑10 right now. Stanford is in the Top‑10 right now.  But you know, to us, that's not a big deal. We don't talk about what do other people think of us. We just do our job. Q. Inaudible.       CHIP KELLY: I don't even‑‑ what die is it? Today's Friday. So two days ago, I'm‑‑ it's Friday. We have not really had a bad practice with this group. They really understand what we need to get accomplished and for that hour and 45 minutes, what their focus and concentration is. It was a real good practice but I can't remember when I look back and say, you know, when did we have a real bad practice, because the great thing about this group is they love playing football, whether it's practicing football, whether it's playing games. If you see our kids, they are always out on the field and throwing the ball around. They love it. So that's what makes it easy. So I couldn't specifically say, because I don't know what day it is, what Wednesday was like or Thursday was like but we have been really good since we have been down here. Q. What is it about the team‑‑ CHIP KELLY: It's a challenge, just because they are so well coached. Brett does such a great job with that staff on both sides of the ball. I think they are sixth in scoring and eighth in total defense and offensively they are as balanced a team as you are ever going to face. They run for 237 and throw for 229 and when you do that over the course of 13 games, and you're that balanced, it makes it real difficult, because when you're going to defend somebody, you always wonder, well, let's take away what they do well. Well, they do both well. If you say all right we are going to make Russell Wilson throw against us, he has receivers like Toon and Pedersen and Montee Ball catching the ball in the backfield so it's a real balanced team and I think that's the big question going into it is how does each team implement their game plan and to attack the defenses. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: We have a formula for how we prepare and what we do and get our guys ready for the game. I think a lot of that is overblown. If we block that field goal in the end of the Auburn game it's a different outcome and everybody says you did it the right way. I think too much is put into that. It's not like when I looked at the film in both games that our team was running to the ground and we were not fresh. Our kids played really hard but we actually played against, ironically, the No.1 team in the country. So to be within three points of them, I think a lot of times you have to give the other team credit. Q. If you knew of anything‑‑ is it a different feeling for you as a coach‑‑ CHIP KELLY: Yeah, you're always a by‑product of your experiences. So there's not a newness to a Media Day. There's not that. I also learned that you shouldn't re‑sod a field with a week to go, and I found out that the Rose Bowl didn't do that so we are excited about that aspect of things. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: No, I laugh about it because both teams play on the same surface. So we slipped and they slipped. But if someone asked me what have I learned about last year's experience, is my advice, I go, if you are going to have a party at your house next week, don't re‑sod your lawn, because you may have some people slip and fall. Q. With so many players coming from this area, do you and your coaching staff have to manage the distractions of friends and family? CHIP KELLY: No, we want them to be with their friends and family. They have got a schedule and that's part of the experience. I joked when the Pac 12 schedule came out, because we didn't play UCLA and we had USC at our place and people asked us when the schedule came out, is it going to hurt you not to have a game in Los Angeles every year and I said well it's our responsibility to go to the Rose Bowl. So it's good for our kids to get down here to play in front of their family and friends. These kids understand, and we totally trust them. They understand what the task is at hand and we have got time built in that they can spends with their families in the afternoon and whatnot but they also know we have a big game on Monday and that's the reason we are here. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: That's what this team is all about. They are a lot of fun to be around and I think when you spend the entire season with them, you really realize that our coaching staff and our players are having a blast. We have a blast the right way. It's not acting like a two‑year‑old and screwing around when it's time to not screw around. They know when we are supposed to practice and they know when we are supposed to have fun. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: No, I consider them an up coach in this profession. I don't think Brett's up‑and‑coming. I think it's his fifth year there, sixth year there, what he's done, not at all. Not in this profession, not a lot of guys last six years, that's the unfortunate thing about our profession. I think Brett is one of the top coaches in college football. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: Yeah, that didn't surprise me with those guys but they just got stuck in a small room for an hour. It was not a life‑threatening situation. But we weren't calling the paramedics or the SWAT team in to rescue them. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: We are going to do a drill for that from now on. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: Yeah, they have been to the Rose Bowl last year and they are back in the Rose Bowl this year and they are arguably two players away from playing in the National Championship right now. What Brett has done with that program from the outside you kind of admire it and there's a consistency so it. He has a style of offense that he's going to play and he has a style of defense that he's going to play and they stick to that and they are really, really good at it. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: I don't know when I knew. I just think for us, no matter what offense you're in, it's about getting into a rhythm. When you're in a rhythm you have an opportunity to be successful. And really what we try to do on Saturdays is how we practiced during the week and we really just wanted to be real efficient in practice. I don't think you can practice very long. I think you lose their attention. There's a staleness to it and I never want to be stale. I know if I was stale, if we have 20‑minute team periods, my mind starts to wander. But you have to get a certain amount of reps in so how do you do that. So if you can do it at a real fast tempo, you can get your work done in ten minutes that you couldn't do in 20 minutes and I've never been a big stand around guy. Q. When you were younger‑‑‑‑ CHIP KELLY: I don't know and I never thought that way. It was never‑‑ I never watch people and said, hey, when I'm a head coach, I'll do this. I never even thought about being a head coach. It was just presented to me and I guess it was the next logical step. But I never thought, hey, this is what I'm going to do. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: Yeah, he's a complete running back and that's the one thing, when you look at guys and you're trying to defend them, are there holes in their game but he's got 20 catches and six touchdowns coming out of the backfield and he's thrown two pass, obviously rushed for 1700‑plus yards. You're not going to shut Montee Ball down and we understand that. But we need to contain him and we need to tackle him when he's in space and we really need to negate his big plays if we can. Q. Can you talk about De'Anthony? CHIP KELLY: Yeah, I've coached De'Anthony through the whole season. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: You've got to ask him. He probably hates it, has to deal with me every day but it's just an efficiency thing. Instead of him running around and being the wide out and doing those things, is that I can cover both, whether he's playing wide out or whether he's playing running back or whether he's playing returner and we can get it done in a short amount of time. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: Yeah, because when you get a chance to meet with kids, you get an understanding like what do you see here, what's this, why did this confuse you, try to explain things to him. He's a real quick learner and it's been fun. That's the one thing I missed about becoming a head coach is that you don't have position meetings anymore. And I didn't want to‑‑ I want to let my coaches coach and that's why they were hired here and we have got one of the best coaching staffs in the country. So for me to say, hey, I want to coach those guys, you know, if I'm the offensive line guy, like why are you taking many I guys or if I'm the wide out guys, why are you taking my guys and why am I going to coach quarterbacks if I've got an unbelievable quarterback coach. It's just a unique situation. Two years ago when we were doing different things when we had Kenjon playing a couple of positions and Ed Dixon playing a couple of positions, I used to do it in camp to make things easy. So I would meet with Kenjon and Ed, and they were two drastically different players but to get some things done but that was only, you know, an afternoon meeting so that those guys could get some things done in their own position meetings. But knowing the skill set that De'Anthony had, it just made since to kind of break him apart from that. Q. Being to the National Championship last year‑‑ CHIP KELLY: It would mean we are 1‑2 in BCS games. Q. How special would it be for you? CHIP KELLY: We don't go‑‑ we want to win every game so it would be really special because when you win, it's the greatest feeling in the world and I don't do drugs, I don't know what that feeling is, but I don't know if there's a drug that can replicate what it feels like when you win a game. It's an awesome feeling; when you see how much work goes into that, from every standpoint, from administration, to logistics, how do you get all of these people, all of these moving parts to move your entire operation from one city to another city to practice there for a week. And then the ultimate grade is do you win the game or lose the feeling and that feeling is unbelievable and conversely when you lose, that's as low as you feel and that's what the special feeling is. But it's not a comparison of what happened in games past. We have never talked about that. We won't talk about it, because our teams are drastically different. Our 2009 team was different than our 2010 team and how are 2011 team is drastically different than any of those other teams. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: No. I think that's the best thing about the football aspect of it. But I think the best thing is, when you see a kid grow from ‑‑ and there's some kids here that we don't have many seniors, but whether you can reflect and see what that kid was like as a freshman and you may have been like, wow; that kid over his head, I don't know if he'll survive here academically, or I don't know if he'll survive as a football player or I don't know if he'll survive socially. And then you see them four years later get his degree and get ready to head off into the world and you're like, you know, you really truly kind of watch them grow up in front of your eyes and I think that's what is the real fun part of coaching. Q. What's the least desirable part of being a head coach? CHIP KELLY: I just think some of the non‑‑‑ what I think probably time, waste your time things that they make you do sometimes‑‑ not this. This is awesome. We should do this every day. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: He's been great, for a freshman to‑‑ and a true freshman, to come in and do what he's done, and to be able to use him in so many different ways, really says a lot about him in terms of his knowledge of the game, his understanding of the game and really what a special talent he is. The one thing I love about d Anthony is consistency, he comes in every day with a smile, he's eager to learn, and it's a lot of fun being around him like that. So that's the thing that kind of pops out at you when I talk about him. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: When I got to Oregon‑‑ we didn't turn anything around here. I took over from Mike and we had won ten games and won the Holiday Bowl, so it was a 10‑3 football team that I was coming in to be the head coach of. My first year here was 2007 and we got to No. 2 in the country and Dennis got hurt, and so they had been successful way before I ever got out to Oregon, so it wasn't‑‑ I had always considered when I was back in New Hampshire that Oregon was a have and not a have‑not in the upper echelons of Division I college football. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: I don't know what they were running for five years ago so I can't answer that question. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: Yeah, but I don't know if he calls the defense. I don't know if it's me and him‑‑ but it is a chess match, because you don't know and we are always‑‑ because we are different, you don't really know how people are going to defend you until you get into the game. And that's where the chess match comes along. Is it consistent, like, all right, this is exactly what we thought or is this what we predicted. We have to be able to make adjustments on the run. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: That's a good question. Oregon State does a couple of times. They have run a couple of different schemes against us to throw the previous year out, because it's not going to be the same. That's one that I can think of off the top of my head. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: I think Brian's really come along as a redshirt freshman. Doesn't have a ton of experience but when he got his opportunities to get in there, and not when he got in against‑‑ early in the year and we were beating teams pretty good. So he was just kind of managing the game and running the clock out and handing the ball off when he got in in the Arizona State game and getting his start in the Colorado game, I was just pleased with the poise that he played with. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: Yeah, our kids have a chance to compete for the starting position every day and that's what our whole program is built on, it's built on competition. And Marcus will have a chance next year and whichever quarterbacks we bring in will have a chance and Darron knows that, Marcus knows that, the kids we are recruiting know that. That's what this program is built on, it's built on competition and it brings out the best. If you asked anybody that's in our program, do you think you got everything locked up for the rest of your life, no, because you have to constantly improve and I think that's what makes those guys such good players. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: We but a plan in place built by behavioral and academic ladders. I don't believe discipline is just a time served thing; go sit in the corner for this amount of time and come back and you'll be okay. You need to educate them on what they did wrong and what is the right thing to do and they need to be able to prove to you that they have earned their right back and that's the way we do it. So I think they are growing; if it's a situation where we don't have‑‑ it's not something that I'm an expert in, then we'll bring in someone that is an expert to sit down and visit with the kid and talk to them and educate them on what are the right things and what are the wrong things. And then when we believe that he's earned his way back, he'll get an opportunity to play. Some kids earn their way back and some kids don't. Q. What kind of expert would you bring in?       CHIP KELLY: Well if a kid has a person with alcohol, I shouldn't be the person counseling him. If the kid has a problem with something else‑‑ I'm not going to be the person. I'm not an expert in that. So maybe we send them to a counselor. That's what I meant. My thoughts is our job is to prepare them and if the best way to prepare them is to have them meet with somebody else, we are not experts in behavioral situations at times. We are not expert in if there's a substance abuse problem or things like that, but we can get them in touch with people that are, and that's what this deal is all about. It's that you made a mistake, obviously you're going to have to pay a price for that mistake but how do we not make that same mistake again and what do we do really educate them. Discipline isn't always about punishment. Discipline is making sure they understand rights and wrongs and that those wrongs don't happen again. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: That's a really good question. Because he runs so well, you can say he's a lot like‑‑ he throws the ball‑‑ he reminds me of chase Daniels who was at Missouri because of how he throws it and how efficient he was‑‑ but he runs better than him. I was a big fan of his when he was at NC State and I actually met Russell when he came down and he was playing professional baseball and came down to play the Eugene Emeralds and he was as classy a kid you want to meet. But then when you look at his efficiency on the field he's a lot like Robert Griffith, the Heisman Trophy winner. I think they are 1, 2 in the country on efficiency. When you have a guy who is throwing 31 touchdowns and three interceptions but also can beat with you his feet, there's not a hole in his game; and he's so‑‑‑he's just got an innate intelligence about himself and he doesn't really ever put himself in a bad situation. Q. Did you recruit him? CHIP KELLY: No, I didn't know him at all. When Russell was coming out of high school, I think he was committed to NC State and I was still at New Hampshire. And then when‑‑ I met him when he was playing baseball in whatever that league is in Washington, in that single A league and they were coming down to play the Eugene Emeralds. I had friends on the staff and I got a chance to say hello and show him around the facility and I got a chance to watch him play baseball. Q. Did you know at that time he was leaving NC State? CHIP KELLY: Oh, no, not at all. He was just playing baseball. This was two summers ago. He was going back to play at NC State. He went back to play that‑‑ that would have been his last year for NC State, the year we went to play in the National Championship. Q. Is it too simplistic to say that‑‑ CHIP KELLY: Yes and no, but a lot of times you don't have great numbers in the fourth quarter if you're winning because you are not going to run the score up. We have gotten into games where both teams score a lot of points so when you get into the fourth quarter, your twos and threes are playing, and you don't want to run the score up on somebody, so you know, you're not trying not to score, but you're also not playing, hey, let's throw the ball down the field and let's run some clock here and so that could be the fourth quarter thing. But I think any team that makes a big jump in the third quarter says a lot to what their coaches are doing at half‑time. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: De'Anthony Thomas? I don't have a wish list on how the season plays out because you don't know, especially with a true freshman. So I think everything he did this year was a real‑‑ you know just an eye opening thing. We knew two or three days into practice that he was a special, special talent and just wow and really as a coaching staff, how do we manage him so that we don't overload him because he can do so many things. But he can't handle everything from a mental standpoint. It would be unfair of us to ask him to do this, this, this, and this. But I think how he's progressed as the season has gone along is remarkable and that's the kind of player he is. He's a special, special talent. Q. LaMichael James, does he do things now that surprise you? CHIP KELLY: Yeah, there's times in practice he'll do something and you're like, oohh. When you have kids like LaMichael and De'Anthony that are just that special athletically, there's always going to be one thing that you see and you're just like, wow. And a lot of times we catch ourselves as coaches, we just look at each other and shake our head and go, all right. Q. The last two games, because you lost, do you switch anything up, anything in the preparation or time off that you've done differently? CHIP KELLY: Good question, had that question a lot but it would be kind of saying, well, what we do is wrong so it would be, all right, we made the BCS game so let's change our offense, we are going to come out in two backs and get underneath the center. I think sometimes people over‑analyze way too much. We lost to an Auburn team that had a quarterback that right now is ripping it up in the NFL, so maybe Cam Newton is not that shabby if you had come to see it and we lost to a field goal with no time left on the clock. If it goes the other way, then everybody is going to say, you have to stick to the same preparation that you had and it can literally come down to one play. So we practiced the same way since I've been there and it's been our formula for success. Now we have lost some games, and we can have a conversation about, we have only lost six games in three years and we can point to specific plays in six games and I think overall you're doing things right. Q. What do you say to somebody who says, well, six games, best teams you've played, but you can't win the big ones? CHIP KELLY: They can say whatever they want. Bill Parcells says, your record says what you are. We can't change that part. Q. What about‑‑ this kid is dynamite? CHIP KELLY: He's outstanding. Abbrederis is an outstanding receiver and Pedersen is an all‑Big Ten tight end. When you have two players getting a lot of the accolades, people forget about them, but Toon is 50‑touch kid, he's a deep threat, 6‑3, 200‑plus pounds. It's going to be a tough matchup. Q. Do you think this team compares favorably‑‑ CHIP KELLY: I'm not a big comparison guy. We solely look at them. I couldn't tell you, I think the receiver at Ohio State, I don't think Ohio State had a Toon. They certainly did not have Montee Ball but they had Terrelle Pryor, though. We did a great job in defending Ohio State's rush game, they ran for 60 yards against us. Q. Inaudible. CHIP KELLY: I think No.1 is their length, they can cover so much field and when you look at kids, when their smallest guy is probably arguably the best defensive player in the country in Matthew and then you throw those other guys out there, clay worn and the rest of them, you and see them in person, you're like, wow. I think you talk about the D‑Line in the SEC and those things, they do such a great job in coverage they allow them to just rush four and create pressure that way. But they are as good as I've ever seen. Q. How will you handle LaMichael's decision? CHIP KELLY: Just educate him, tell him what we got fed back from the NFL and really, what does his family want from an advice situation. But it's him and his family's situation and I'll support him in any way he wants to handle it. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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