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DISCOVER ORANGE BOWL: FLORIDA STATE v NORTHERN ILLINOISDecember 31, 2012Rod CareyMIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA THE MODERATOR: Coach, we appreciate you making your way onto the stage joining us here for the Discover Orange Bowl Press Conference. You're now just one day away from this BCS game. What is left to do for your team or what do you have left before the game starts? ROD CAREY: Oh, got a bunch of this stuff to do, I guess, today, right? More of that stuff. Really the game plan is to bed. Players are kind of‑‑ our work is kind of to bed. Really more it's about getting them away, getting mentally ready, things like that. Q. Some coaches do this, some coaches don't, but the night before a game, sometimes change hotels, that sort of thing, just really, really lock in. Is that something you guys are looking at doing? ROD CAREY: Yep. Q. Necessary? ROD CAREY: Yep. Q. Did you decide that before you came down? ROD CAREY: You bet. Q. You've been around this team as an offensive line coach, an offensive coordinator, now as a head coach. What have you learned about this team that perhaps you didn't know as a head coach? ROD CAREY: Well, I'm impressed with them. You know, you come down to South Beach with a bunch of 18 to 22 year olds, we were all 18 to 22 at one point, can remember what that was like. We haven't had one single incident with bad decision making. I give them all the credit for that. Yeah, we helped them, but you know, kids can always find a way if they really want to. These guys did, and I'm proud of them. Q. Just wanted to get your thought on how big this is for y'all's conference, the MAC, being able to represent them and going into your championship game all the talk was about Kent State crashing the party and then you guys win and get to do it. How big is that for y'all? ROD CAREY: Well, it's big, and those are probably the two things when you were talking about representing NIU, our University, and then the MAC conference, you know, those two things, we'll represent those guys and carry the burden from a big picture, and we're willing to do it, and we're excited about it. But other than that, we don't look at the big picture a whole lot, so football is about the little things and about the details. That's what we've been focusing on. But when you talk about those two things, we're excited for NIU and excited for the MAC. Q. There's been a lot of conversation about your offense and what their defense will do about it, those kinds of things, what your offense will do that their defense can't handle. When that kind of conversation goes on, the game turns on their offense and your defense‑‑ ROD CAREY: How about that! Q. A lot of times that happens. Do you see that as a possibility in this game, as well? ROD CAREY: Yeah, well, everyone has made a big deal about our offense, which we do okay. We average like, what is it, like 40, 41 points a game. Well, they average like 40. It's not like they're slouches. It's going to come down to what defense can stop what offense because both offenses are good, both defenses are good, and that's football. Can you stop the run, can you contain an offense, all those old clichés is what this game is going to come down to. Q. Is there anything that you think of that if it happens early on, a couple things that could happen early on, that will make you think, okay, this is maybe not going to be our night, or conversely, do you think, oh, good, that's something we really need to have happen? ROD CAREY: Yeah, turnovers. If we get one and we score off it, it would be a pretty good feeling. If we give up one and they get a score off it, that would be a pretty bad feeling. But that's normal, you know, in any game. You get those early turnovers and that's a bad thing if you're on the bad end of that. You get them, and it's a really good thing, can change‑‑ like last year's game, West Virginia's kind of snowballed that thing and that's how that happened because those were two fine football teams last year, and all of a sudden things snowballed, and it starts with a turnover, it always does. Tim Battle and I talked about that, that one where Clemson is about to go in for a score and they fumble and West Virginia kid picks it up and runs it in, turned the whole game. So something like that can be good or bad. Q. Talk about obviously field position is important in every game. Talk about your level of confidence in your punters, place kickers, kickoff, that kind of thing. ROD CAREY: Well, our kids have been pretty clutch all year. Ryan Neir has really punted the ball really well and Sims has made a ton of big‑time kicks and the Tyler Wedel, who handles our kickoffs, has been doing a pretty good job. A lot of confidence in those kids. They've been under pressure. Simsy, in the first overtime against Kent, they had kicked a field goal, we had to line up and kick, what was it, a 42, 43‑yard field goal. If he doesn't make that one, we're not here, so he's dealt with pressure, so a lot of confidence in him. Q. I know that your team has been through a lot this year, but this is such a big stage. How concerned are you about them maybe having stage fright, and if not, what tells you that they won't? ROD CAREY: Yeah, they won't have stage fright. They'll want to get out of the tunnel, I can tell you that. Our concern is always being too excited, and you worry about that with every‑‑ like the Iowa game this year. We were concerned, a brand new team coming out and being too excited and probably were at times. Is that a concern? Yeah, that's what coaches do; we worry. But you try to take that away by focusing on the little things, on the details, and make it routine for them and muscle memory. Q. Just a little bit of inside football, but the head coach at your University went to NC State, which was one of the only teams in the ACC to beat Florida State. ROD CAREY: You bet. Q. I suspect you've had a couple conversations with him, he's been down there around some of their system people and talked to some of those folks. Does that bring you anything in preparation of any assistance to you? ROD CAREY: Oh, yeah. When you're talking about this game? Q. Yeah. ROD CAREY: Sure. You know, it does. But he didn't coach that team, so he didn't know them, so there isn't a ton. But he's looked at the film, I've looked at the film, we compared notes. Dave is really great that way. But as far as the inside knowledge of it, I don't think a ton. But listen, Dave Doeren has helped me a ton through this. Yeah, so sit there and say that we haven't talked about this game, yeah, we've talked a ton about it. Q. I got the sense when you came down to the Hard Rock for the introductory press conference that your least favorite topic to discuss is yourself, so I apologize up front for this‑‑ ROD CAREY: Then don't ask. Q. Has it hit you yet that tomorrow night you're running out the tunnel as a head coach for a first time? ROD CAREY: Sure. Q. How has this been‑‑ football is football, I know you like to focus on the basics, the simple, things like that. But how has this changed for you? ROD CAREY: How has what changed, what I do? Q. All of it, the fact that you're either going to be 1‑0 or 0‑1 as a head coach tomorrow night. ROD CAREY: It's one game that way, isn't that good that way? Can't screw it up too much, right? No, you know, what's changed for me is this stuff, which is good. I'm happy to do it for NIU and for our football program. But other than that, listen, I'm more comfortable with a whistle around my neck and coaching than I am with a mic in front of me in a suit, I can tell you that. My wife likes it when I dress up in a suit, I hate it. Q. Can you describe what it's like? You took over for a guy who was 23‑4 in two years. What's it like taking over for a guy who's had that much success, and what advice has Dave given you about being the head coach? ROD CAREY: Well, what it's like is that if we didn't go 23‑4, I don't get this job. I can tell you that. So it means the program is in good shape. We're obviously headed in more than just the right direction. We're going down a path that we want to be, that we've worked for, and how much has Dave helped me, a lot. You know, I've learned a ton from him. He's a good man, he's a good football coach, and we have a good relationship that will change now, and it already has since we're both head coaches at different universities, but excited about that change and what that'll bring to our relationship, too. Q. You mentioned about the jitters and the excitement. Everybody wants a fast start, but how important do you think it is for your team tomorrow, being the underdog, confidence standpoint, mental standpoint, to start really well? ROD CAREY: Yeah, well, for us, I've had that question before, and for us it's always important, and that's a little bit of a cliché to say that, that it's always important to get off to a fast start. But with what we do offensively, you get that first 1st down, all of a sudden you can start to play football a little bit with the no huddle and the way we operate. It is really crucial. Is it more crucial because we're in the Orange Bowl? Maybe because there's more cameras. But other than that, not for us. Q. I haven't been around all week, but I suspect you've faced a lot of questions about cameras and stage and all this other business. At the end of the day, I'm sure you've talked to your team, not much of that really matters tomorrow night at 8:00, does it? ROD CAREY: No. As soon as you get that first hit on the football field, that first tackle, you forget about that stuff pretty quick. It's like the butterflies when you first play your first game, you've got them until you line up and do what you've been doing in practice the whole time. Listen, we're appreciative of it, don't take me wrong. I'm not sitting up here trying to be surly or anything. But we love it and we've earned it and we're happy to be here and happy to be talking about our program and NIU and all that, but there comes a time when it's time to play a football game again, and we're getting close to that time. Q. I know you mentioned the fast start, but you guys have also been very good in the second halves of games. Why has that been the case? ROD CAREY: First off, I give credit to our strength coach, Brad Ohrt. These kids all year, you don't see what they do in the off‑season, 5:00 a.m. workouts, lifting, running, all those things, and Brad really orchestrates that, and you have about a six‑month window to get them ready for a six‑month window. Think about how hard that is. He does a great job of getting us ready. That's reason one. And reason two, our kids just have a belief. We talk about it all the time. We just believe if you don't talk about something, it's kind of the unknown. And if you talk about it, then it's not so scary anymore. So we talked about wanting to be a good second half team, and we are. Q. A few years ago Boise State upset Oklahoma. Are you guys going to have that gambler mentality, is there a Statue of Liberty play for you? ROD CAREY: We were talking about that in the staff room the other day, and our running back coach wanted to put it in. I said, no, we're not doing that. They've seen it before. Yeah, no, it was a funny discussion. Yeah, we have certain things. Listen, you're a football coach, you've got a month to put a game plan in, you've got to have some things. The trick is not to have too many things screw up your own kids. Yeah, we're going to play this game to win. Are we all of a sudden going to become something we're not? No. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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