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ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO: STANFORD v WISCONSINDecember 30, 2012David ShawPASADENA, CALIFORNIAS THE MODERATOR: I'd like to welcome head coach of the Stanford, David Shaw. We'll have Coach make an opening statement, and we'll turn it over for questions. Coach, welcome. COACH SHAW: Thank you. Of course, we're very excited to be here. Everyone's been phenomenal from Disney, to our hotel, to all the events that we've had. The best thing about it, I think, is that the demands on our time have not been great. We've been wasted a moment. Guys have been great, practices have been outstanding, and our guys have been able to compartmentalize and really take advantage of what's been give given to us, and at the same time know why we're here as far as getting our job done in the media room and on the practice field. So open it up for questions. Q. Good morning, Coach. Just wondering, when this game starts, what are the things that you're going to be most concerned about? COACH SHAW: He wears No. 28 for the other team. The big thing for us is to be able to play our game. We've got to play great team defense, because they do have multiple weapons, the three‑headed monsters, we call them. The running back, the back field, they've got a go‑to receiver that's made plays in every single game. They've got two quarterbacks that have led them to wins. They've got a big, physical offensive line. So our guys on defense, just knowing their jobs, making sure that we gang tackle, everybody that has the ball. Make sure we don't give up the big play. Offensively, they've got a big, physical front. They've got athletic guys on the edge. They've got linebackers that run and hit, safeties that are active, corners that play physical at the line of scrimmage, and come up and make tackles as well. So for us, it's going to take a great team effort to beat these guys. Q. You just mentioned everything that concerns you on defense. Does that mean you have no concerns on offense? I don't think so. But what are your concerns about your offense? COACH SHAW: About our offense against their defense? Q. Yes. COACH SHAW: I did mention they have a big defensive front. They have athletic and energetic safeties that get in on the running game. They don't give up a lot of big plays in the passing game. Our match‑ups are going to be interesting to see how they defend Zach Ertz, to see what they do on the corners, to see how they defend our running game. Because our running game is not going to be a mystery to them. We run the power play.  They run the power play. It's going to be strength against strength, and it's going to be fun to watch. Q. It's been said that both teams are very physical. How did you instill that into your team when you took over as head coach? COACH SHAW: Recruiting. We believe it 100%. You don't make a kid tough. You find a tough kid. Guys that are tough, physically, guys that are tough mentally. Guys that are tough emotionally that can control their emotions. Because I say it all the time, when the game is on the line, I'm half a field away. Coaches are half a field away. We've got some coaches in the box. It's what the guys do on the field, and we can't help them. They have to do it themselves. They have to fix problems. They have to control their emotions. They have to rely on what they see. So you've got to find the toughest kids, the smartest kids you can find, and put them on the field to give them a chance to win. Q. Could you talk about freshman Alex Carter as a quarterback and his progression, and how the secondary has kind of become a strength for you guys when a lot of people thought it might be a weakness? COACH SHAW: That was a big question going in, and we knew we had athletes there. The whole group has gelled. I think it started with our safeties because our safeties had played before and are very mature young men, Ed Reynolds and the way Ed has made plays. I think he's settled most of those guys down. And Jordan Richards has made a lot of plays, and Terrence Brown has made a lot of plays, Alex Carter. Alex came in and blew us away from day one just the way the guys talked about him. They go through the initial testing, and he had combine numbers for a 17‑year‑old freshman, NFL combine numbers, 40 inch vertical, 10'4" broad jump. He's running in the 4.4 range. Just an explosive, physical athlete, very strong. It took him a while to learn what to do. But the stuff we can't teach is the stuff he did already, which is exciting. Once he learned what to do, we saw how physical he was. Which is, A, number one for our guys. Being able to come up, tackle and make hits and being able to run cover deep was huge. The sky is the limit for a guy like Alex Carter. He's a guy that we'll be looking to for leadership not after too long. He's one of those guys we don't have to wait for him to be a senior to be a leader. He's got the character. He's got the work ethic, and he's got the physical tools to be a big leader for us. Q. You mentioned No. 28 for Wisconsin, and the challenges of stopping him. When you look at his whole career and everything that he's accomplished, what has impressed you most about Montee Ball? COACH SHAW: Consistency. His career reminds me so much of Stepfan Taylor. He and I actually had a quick moment at the Heisman ceremony a year ago, and I just wanted to say congratulations. We watched so much film, and I have so much respect for what he's done at Wisconsin the last few years, that we've always looked at their film and how they run the ball, and the different things that they do, and you always see no matter what they run, he's so patient. He's got great vision, great balance. He waits for the blocks and to happen and then he explodes. You never see him get in body position. He doesn't turn the ball over. He doesn't sacrifice the good play to try to make the big play. He makes the plays he's supposed to make and then makes more. So for me, he's just one of those complete running backs that we have a lot of respect for. Q. Coach, Wisconsin obviously is going through a major turmoil on its coaching staff. Just wondering if you're anticipating losing any of your coaches in this off‑season? COACH SHAW: I don't anticipate it. As I've said before, I've turned off all their cell phones, locked their emails. It's part of the business. When you have success, it's a thing that could happen. There have been a couple whispers about a few different things, but nothing has materialized as of yet. And I gave my guys all the strongest recommendations. The two coordinators I have have done a phenomenal job on both sides of the ball. It's a credit to them. The reason why we're here. A big credit to those guys. And hopefully they get a chance to stay, and it will make us a stronger team. Q.  With the change at Wisconsin, do you expect to see a different Badger team than the one that you saw on film last time? COACH SHAW: Not at all. Not at all. I think what they've done has been successful for years. I think‑‑ and I don't say this lightly, people take it like I'm trying to butter them up. I do think it's commendable in this day and age that the coordinators have stayed on and they have other jobs. I think that's huge where coaches leave at the drop of the hat. And kids are left high and dry. And these kids have earned the right to go to the Rose Bowl. And it's great they have their coaches here to coach them. Sincerely, that's phenomenal in this day and age in our coaching profession. But they did what they did to get here, they're going to do that. Just like us we're not going to change drastically, that's a disservice to the kids. It's going to be strength against strength. We're going to do what they do. We're going to do what we do. We always have things that are different, just in addition. But what you do to get to a place like this is what you do here. Q. Along those lines, are adjustments important in a game like this because you are going to see some new wrinkles along with so much time to prepare? COACH SHAW: Absolutely. Absolutely. We've tweaked some things that we do. We know we're going to see tweaks from them. Every game you play, you know something's going to come up that you don't see on film. It's going to be a couple of things, and it's your response to those things on the field and the coach we handle whatever change there needs to be made. Our guys always know it's alignment, assignment, adjust; play making. It's going to come down to that just like in every other game. Q. What makes Kevin Hogan special? What are some of the things that have allowed him to be successful as your quarterback? COACH SHAW: To boil it down to just a couple of things, because he does a lot of things very well. First and foremost, he matured from training camp to about game 5. He matured a lot as far as understanding what we need to do and being specific with his job. The growth has been phenomenal. His athletic ability is something you can't teach. When he gets out in space and makes a guy miss or breaks a tackle, that's such a plus. It's something defenses have to account for. But all of that, the underlying thing for me is that he's ultra competitive. He's very demanding of himself. He gets in the game, no game is too big for him. No task is too daunting for him. And he stays even keel. He calms our huddle it's phenomenal for a young man to step into a huddle and not have to domineer the huddle. You've got dominant personalities in that huddle. But just to come in and call the play with confidence and know that those guys know he's going to give it his all to help them try to win a game. Q. With Wisconsin running that power offense, I guess we probably would be expecting to see less of your nickel package than we're used to. With the way that he has played this year, are there any plans to get him on the field in other ways? COACH SHAW: We've talked about it. But there are still nickel opportunities. And we don't want to put guys in different positions than they have been in before. Others woe can play corner but there are going to be nickel opportunities. He's going to have his role, whether that's four plays, seven plays, 15 plays or 30 plays, he's ready for it. Q. From a coaching perspective, after a team scores 70 points and runs for over 500 yards in a conference championship game, is that a good teaching tool for you when you look at the film of that, or is that not? COACH SHAW: It made me dizzy. Sometimes you get into a game and, Boom, everything clicks. And that's what you saw from early in the year where the games Wisconsin lost, I mean, they were shoe string, shoe strings away from big plays. Everything came together in that Nebraska game. Nebraska's a good team, a good defense, and they were aptly ranked at the time, and Wisconsin took it to them. We're talking about Nebraska turning the ball over. Wisconsin took the ball away. That was phenomenal on their defensive end. You saw a great team game from those guys. If anything else, it got our attention. There is no question about it. Our guys started watching the film, looking at the losses and stopped looking at what people said. You watch the film, and this is a really good football team. A physical football team that knows what they're doing. There is never anybody out of position on this defense. There is never anybody out of position on the offense. Guys know exactly what they're doing. For us, this is going to be a great challenge of two physical teams and we can't wait to get it going. Q. Going off that a little bit, with as much film as you've watched at Wisconsin, is it hard to believe this is a team that lost five games this year? COACH SHAW: Yes, there is no question. You watch Ohio State, and two teams that went through so much, but played great this year. Ohio State and Penn State had phenomenal years. The coaches did a great job with those two places. Wisconsin had them both till the very end. You got to look at those games and say this Wisconsin team is a very physical team, a very capable team, a very explosive team. So for us, we're not thinking this thing's going to be easy by any stretch of the imagination. It's going to be a physical game that's going to go gown to the fourth quarter. Q. I've listened to the last two answers, but I wanted to ask it anyway, is there something in you that worries that your team and some players just look at the five losses and say, this really isn't a championship team? COACH SHAW: We're not built like that. Our guys aren't built like that. We talk a lot about respecting the game. The game deserves our respect. Our opponent deserves our respect. We can't change how we play based on who we play. How we play never changes. We're going to play fast, we're going to play physical, we're going to play our style of football, and we don't take our foot off the gas pedal. Never, ever anyway. We're going to respect these guys. These guys have earned our respect. Watch the film, look at the scoreboard, and watch the film, and these guys will get your respect. Q. You've played the game, a lot of practices can happen in that time. Anybody, particularly the young players stand out and sort of catch your eye during this downtime where you say, you know what, that guy might be a breakout candidate for this big stage? COACH SHAW: There's been a lot of guys. And the funny thing is a lot of times the guys that show most of the guys that aren't going to play, you know, the Barry Sanders, and the Ikenna Nwafors, and those guys, the Davises have been phenomenal. They've shown so much growth. But the guys that are going to play in the game, I think Andrus Peat and Kyle Murphy have made strides, which is really exciting. Josh Garnett has taken the next stage in his maturity as a college football player. Those things are exciting. I think the way Alex Carter has practiced has been fun to watch. Nobody ever talks about Terrence Brown. Terrence Brown has been on it. He's been deflecting passes, he's been aggressive, and those things are exciting to see. The way our linebackers have approached this week in practice, has been fun. It's been fun to watch. Shayne and Chase running around, those guys are setting the tempo. That's why I don't worry about what other people say about any kind of a let down or anything. Those guys won't let it happen. They play hard every day. It's been fun. I think Trent Murphy as well has been dominant in our practices. So those guys have been fun to watch. Q. You've talked about your immense respect for Barry Alvarez. I ask this somewhat in jest. When you hear his players call him the Godfather, what is your reaction to that? COACH SHAW: I think it's awesome. I think it's awesome. I think it's a huge sign of respect. I have that respect for him. I have for years since the first time I heard his name since he took over the Wisconsin program and since he went to the Philadelphia Eagles and met Bill Callahan. Bill Callahan told me, I can't tell you how many stories about Barry Alvarez, and building character in that program. Building toughness in that program, how they recruited, how they played. Because we knew we were going to play that style of football at the Philadelphia Eagles and the Oakland Raiders, and when I went to the Ravens, we had that same mentality. So I've always had a lot of respect for what Barry Alvarez has done in this profession. Q. Along those lines as you prepare for this game, do you watch film over what Coach Alvarez has coached to see what he might bring to the game Tuesday? COACH SHAW: Not at all. Not at all. We've watched every game this year. The highs and lows, the ups and downs, the big plays, all of those things, we've seen all the games this year because we need to know our opponent. We need to know the guys that are on the field. Coach Alvarez is doing a great job managing the game. Doing a great job making the right coaching decisions, but he's said it himself. He's going to let the coordinators coordinate and do what those guys know and play to their strengths, which is what all good coaches do. Q. You talked about Hogan's athletic ability. But four starts, four wins over ranked opponents, what is it about this young kid that sort of makes him the guy? COACH SHAW: To be perfectly honest, being around a little while, being around a lot of different quarterbacks, when you have a quarterback that you don't have to call the perfect play for and you can still make plays when nobody's open, he can run for 15 yards. When nobody's open, can he buy time in the back field until a guy can get open. When you can call runs with him as a running option to affect the defense, how a defense plays you, it changes how the defense can go for a win. As my dad used to always say, whenever you can put an option on the field, there is a third of the defense that goes out the window that can't defend the option. So there is a way an athletic quarterback who is ultra competitive who can beat you with his arms or his legs, but he affects how defenses play you. That's been great for you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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