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ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL: FLORIDA v LOUISVILLEDecember 30, 2012Vance BedfordNEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA THE MODERATOR: Coach Bedford, welcome. A few thoughts on how practice preparations are going for the game. COACH BEDFORD: First of all, we're very excited as a football team, University of Louisville, to be here. Sugar Bowl committee has done an outstanding job in preparing things, and we've been treated extremely well. Players are excited to be here. We're looking forward to a challenge. No one expected us to be here but us. We have an outstanding head coach in Coach Charlie Strong. But you have seen him, you're seeing our football team. Very tenacious, hardworking team. That's why we're here.  We're here to put on a good show. We're looking forward to the challenge of playing the University of Florida. THE MODERATOR: Questions? Q. What are your thoughts on Florida's offense? And do they appear to be playing with a lot of confidence after the FSU game? Did you see them playing with more confidence in that game? COACH BEDFORD: They play with a lot of confidence. You look at those guys, I know a lot of those guys, by the way. The offensive line is big and athletic. I think right now the quarterback position, they're playing better. You could see the confidence building every single game. The receivers are starting to step up. They're making plays and did an outstanding job versus the Florida State University. And Gillislee is playing lights out. We knew when we recruited him several years ago, Coach Carter, our running back coach recruited him, he's playing extremely well. So we're very concerned about that running game. Q. Do you remember recruiting Jeff Driscoll or was that later? COACH BEDFORD: I was already gone. We were in the process of recruiting him, and I left to go to the University of Louisville. But Scott Loeffler at the time was a quarterback coach. And he recruited Jeff. And Jeff was the number one rated quarterback in the country at that time. You could see a version of Tim Tebow in him. He's big. He's strong. He's fast. He's athletic. How many quarterbacks across this country can run 4.5 flat? He's a concern. When he gets back there in the pocket, it breaks down, he's a guy that can break out of the pocket, find a receiver downfield or take off and run 50, 60 yards. It's going to be hard to tackle him in open space. We have a concern about containing Jeff. Q. Jordan Reed, could you talk about the challenge he presents? COACH BEDFORD: Jordan was a quarterback from my school. I tell you what, I remember Jordan from this. We used to do one‑on‑one. And he took on one of our defensive ends as a true freshman and put him on his back. And that's what I remember about him. He's an outstanding player. He's another guy that in my opinion he's going to be a first or second round pick in a couple of years. Athletic. He can run. He has excellent ball skills. He has the size. So he's a matchup problem for us right now. We're concerned about that. We've got to give Jeff, the quarterback, some different looks, try to confuse him with a few different looks. And hopefully we can make some plays. Q. I was wondering, the defensive front four was pretty banged up in the second half of the season but now having time between the end of the season and this game seems like a lot of guys healed up. How will that change just what you guys are able to do, having Rankins back in the rotation and DeAngelo Brown? COACH BEDFORD: It does give us some depth where we can rotate guys in and out. But for defensive linemen, you're hurt‑‑ the first play‑‑ when the first game starts you're into the rest of the season. That's part of playing interior. We're going to try to rush four, rush three. Give different looks. Zone pressure sometimes. And for us to have a chance with this ballgame we have to keep them off balance with different looks, different fronts, movements and stunts. So I'm happy to have all of those guys back. We plan to play every guy we have up front. Q. Can you talk about your first impressions of Mike Gillislee when he arrived at Florida, and can you give us a sense how he's running right now, what he's specifically doing to have success? COACH BEDFORD: I remember him in high school, Coach Carter going down to spend time with him recruiting. When he came on campus, he was a young man, built like an I back. At the time at Florida we were running spread offense which didn't suit his talents. This is a guy coming out of high school running 10 500 meters. When he puts his foot in the ground, he can get vertical. In the last three years you can see his body changed. They're running an offense that suits him. That's why he has over a thousand yards. He can put his foot in the ground and get vertical on you right now. And he's had a lot of big plays. You look at the big plays he's had in the open field, he can do a lot of things. He can catch the football. He can cut back. When he does, we're concerned about that. One thing we cannot allow him to do is cut back on us. If he does, he's probably going to take it to the distance. Q. Can you talk about the first two years and the expectation you guys built with the defense and how that's played this year with people sometimes questioning are they playing as well because you played so well the first two years and really wasn't that much of a drop‑off? COACH BEDFORD: The expectations for us, Coach Strong has‑‑ every place he's been has played great defense. And when we came here to Louisville, one thing we wanted to bring a certain attitude, attitude about being aggressive, attacking style, defense. Those are the things we've done. I think our first year we finished somewhere around 18th in the nation. I think a year ago I think we were about 21st. This year we're 25th. And the difference in the two seasons is this: Our offense this year played outstanding. Did some tremendous things. Our first two years we had our struggles. This year we played more as a team. We played more as a team. We won ten ball games. First two years we won seven ball games. People said you played great defense. I would rather win ten ball games than people say you aren't playing well. Now you sit back and say, wait a minute, you're 25th in the nation in defense. We're doing just a little bit right to go from seven wins to ten wins. I get excited about that. That's why we're sitting here today in New Orleans and having a little gumbo and a little crawfish etouffee . So I'm excited. Hopefully, if we can do the same thing for the next 10 years at Louisville, I'll be truly excited. Q. What do you remember about what Charlie told you when he said he was going to Louisville, that he wanted you and Kennedy to come with him? Was that an easy decision? COACH BEDFORD: You know, it really wasn't, because Urban wanted me to stay with him. And I had to make a decision. Sitting down and talking to my wife, it was tough to make that decision. I've known Charlie for a while as I've known Urban. I knew Urban when he was a wide receiver coach at Colorado State with Earl Bruce. We go way back. It was an opportunity and a change for me to go out and do different things. I told Charlie, you've been an outstanding defensive coordinator for a long time in this league. For me to come and work for you as a defensive coordinator, I'm going to lean on you and trust you. He's been there the entire time with us. That's one of the reasons why we're playing great defense. He's a guy I can go to: What do you think about this, what do you think about that? So we rode together, we're on the same page together, because of that we're sitting here today. Q. Is it up to your satisfaction, up to your expectations, up to Charlie's expectations, y'all's? COACH BEDFORD: You know what, as a coach, that never happens. You always are looking for something better all the time. We had opportunity to make this play, why didn't we make this play. We should have been in this defense, why weren't we in this defense. As a coach you're always looking for more. So you're never satisfied. If you're satisfied, it's time to be retired. Need to be better in take‑aways, that's the difference in statistics, really. When you look across the country, look at the University of Florida, one thing they're great at right now is getting the ball back for the offense. That's something we have not done well in three years here. We've had a lot of missed opportunities, whether it be caused fumbles, whether it be interceptions. We need to improve in those areas. Once that happens we'll improve defensively. Q. Much has been made of Charlie's staying in Louisville. We've heard his thoughts on that. We haven't really heard from his assistants too much. What did it mean to you for him to say that it was about getting you guys taken care of and to turn down Tennessee before even finalizing that new contract yet? COACH BEDFORD: Well, I'm going to go back to a previous question. One reason why I came with Charlie Strong is because this: His character. When I went to work at Florida, I left Michigan, every morning at 7:00a.m., Coach Strong would call his two daughters to wake them up, make sure they were ready to go to school. You're talking about a guy that's a family man. And when he talked about staying at the University of Louisville, it was about family. It was about the players. He thought about the coaching staff. He thought about their families. And that's important to me. I'm 54 years old. And moving around a lot does not excite me. Go ask my wife about moving around. When I first told her I was a coach, as a coach you could be in a place one to five years, oh, yeah, I'm excited. Ask her now. She's really excited about staying in the city of Louisville. We love this city. And Charlie Strong, he made a commitment to the University of Louisville. What he's saying to everybody in this country that this program is a top program in the country. And when it comes to recruiting, if he can turn down the University of Tennessee State why can't players come to the University of Louisville. That's the commitment he has to the program and what the University of Louisville is all about. As an assistant coach on his staff, I couldn't be more happier right now. I couldn't because it's a bright future. I made a comment two years ago about getting on a train. I said that for one reason because I saw the future. I saw what the future held for the University of Louisville, with the Teddy Bridgewaters, the guys you'll speak later, Marcus Smith. Calvin Pryor. That's what I saw. I still see those things. I see a bright future for the University of Louisville for the next four, five years, and I want to be a part of that for as long as Coach Strong is here as long as the University of Louisville wants me to be here I plan to be here. Q. I was going to ask you about the train comment. People kind of associate that with this coaching staff more than anything Charlie's ever said. How is that train rolling right now? COACH BEDFORD: Well, we're sitting here right now in New Orleans. I think it's rolling pretty good. Because we are ahead of what anyone ever expected us. Who in the country expected us to be sitting right here in the Sugar Bowl, to be in the Sugar Bowl game. It's heading in the right direction. We have the young talent. We're a junior/sophomore team. On defense we only have one senior that's starting. On offense we have three seniors that are starting. You're talking about a young football team. So the future's ahead of us. The thing is if you stay healthy, and we do a tremendous job coaching, and we have a long way to go as far as coaches, to be honest with you, we need to continue to get better as a coaching staff. If we can do that and keep guys healthy, I think the future here is going to be outstanding. And what Coach Tom George has done he's moved us into the next era, the era of the ACC the next couple of years. Everything we're looking for as a coaching staff, as a football team, Tom George has brought to the table for us. So we're excited to be where we are right now. Q. Can you talk a little bit about Florida's offensive line and the problems they present and the running game in addition to Gillislee? COACH BEDFORD: They remind me a little bit of North Carolina. North Carolina was big. They were strong. They were athletic. And they can get their hands on you, they present a problem. They do a variety of things on offense. They run power games. They run spread games. So you have to play great technique up front. That's why we have to move up front. We have to bring linebacker, defensive backs which is what we do already. It's going to be a major problem. The next thing is, Mike, he looks for a hole. As soon as he sees the hole, he can put his foot in the ground. He can run 4.3 through that hole. If we're not in the right gaps, all of a sudden he can pop one on you. Look at Florida State, he popped one on them. All of a sudden, the game is close. The game is close.  All of a sudden, he cuts back, gets vertical. And all of a sudden you see 10 500 meters going. That's the concern. They're big. Strong up front. Do a variety things as far as their scheme. When Mike gets the ball in his hand, there's no telling what can happen. And Trey Burton is a special talent from playing wide receiver, tight end, running back, quarterback. He does it all. He's Mr.Utility. He's a major concern of ours also because he's going to play some quarterback. You're going to have Trey in the backfield, with Mike in the backfield. On the outside looking in, that's a wow factor. For a defensive coach, you get excited because this is an outstanding challenge for us right now and we're looking forward to that challenge. THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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