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NCAA DIVISION I FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: TOWSON v NORTH DAKOTA STATEDecember 27, 2013Robert AmbroseFRISCO, TEXAS THE MODERATOR: Now up is Robert Ambrose, the head coach of the 13‑2 Tigers of Towson. Coach, congratulations on a great season so far. Can you give an opening statement of what it's like for you, your institution and your student‑athletes to play in the National Championship Game? COACH AMBROSE: Thank you very much. It's an honor to represent Towson University and the pinnacle of our level of football against one of the greatest football teams in the history of history, and we're going to do our best to represent Towson, the city of Baltimore and the State of Maryland the best we can. Q. Couple quick questions leading into next Saturday's match‑up. This is unchartered territory for the program as it has been since the second round of the playoffs, being the first time you've won a playoff game in general. Now you're pretty much at the highest caliber game you can be on the FCS level. Can you sort of describe what the preparation is like knowing that you've never been here before? A lot of the season you've talked about an inward focused preparation. Is that sort of the same thing now? You're more so focused on preparing yourselves rather than for the circumstances at hand? COACH AMBROSE: It's still a football game, right? We're not playing basketball or hockey? Q. Yes. COACH AMBROSE: Yeah, we're doing all the same stuff we always do. This isn't rocket science. We're playing a great football team. We have to play them on the road. Clearly we have experience in that. The only difference being is that we're practicing outside in cold weather in December between Christmas and New Year's. Other than that, there is no magic 8 ball. There is no change in how you do what you do for why you do. You just stay the course. Q. Can you talk about coaching against Bohl, another Coach that's seen success in the last three years similar to Towson, but sort of on their level doing it with back‑to‑back National Championship Games? Whereas, success at Towson has been making the playoffs in the last few years. Can you talk about the comparisons between the two paths that are converging on January 4? COACH AMBROSE: When you're talking about Coach Bohl, the only comparison I could say is I've had the opportunity to coach against some of the guys that when they decide to stop coaching they're going to walk into the Hall of Fame on the same day, and I'm very sure that with the respect that Coach Bohl has garnered with what he has done, amazingly so at that program, he's just another Hall of Fame football coach. It's an honor to be on the same field with him. I'm sure I'll learn a little something, just like we do every week. He coaches a great team. He has a great program. They are perfect. Q. When you looked back a couple years ago, you said the next goal there would be to win an NCAA Championship. I know you talk about only focusing on the next six seconds, but you also talked about setting goals. If you worked the National Championship in this your fifth year at Towson, what would there be left to do with the program, do you feel? COACH AMBROSE: I would take a big screen shot of everything NorthDakota has done in the last ten years and replicate it or attempt to. What they've done, they've set the standard for the way football should be played year after year after year. I've said it before, I can probably get somebody off a couch somewhere and get them to do it one time, but how many times can you do it? That is the hard part. How many times can you win week after week? How many times can you win year after year? These guys have set the standard. The goal would be to emulate it in some fashion that is conducive to our style of football in our area of the country. Q. Looking back on Coach Bohl, I believe it was early December after he had taken the Wyoming job, had said at that point he felt like there was nothing else he could do for the program and move on to somebody else. I know that all season long you've been bombarded on radio shows and newspaper interviews regarding what your future would be, Terrance's future would be and things that go beyond the next game and scope, if you knew for a fact that if not this year but three years from now that you could do nothing else for the program, would you mind giving any insight into your future at that point? Or would you never sort of jump ahead of the next game ahead of you? COACH AMBROSE: Oh, good Lord. If there was any way, shape or form I could prognosticate three years into the future, I probably wouldn't be coaching football, I'd just go to Atlantic City, make a lot of money and sit on the beach. What I know about this case and for what we've done, there is still a lot of work yet to be done, and not to be trite and competitive, but we're not done yet. Q. Because you're talking about NorthDakota State in such glowing terms and both programs, does that indicate that your team isn't feeling any pressure here? I mean, that is a team that's going for three in a row; do you feel the pressure is all on the other team? COACH AMBROSE: I really hadn't thought about it until you said that. But let's face it, in the history of 1AA football, right now Towson University is nobody if nowhere. There is a lot of who are these guys? We walk around like Tin Cup. So, yeah, they're the undefeated team. They haven't lost a game in nobody remembers how long, so I suppose the pressure is on them. That is a perspective you might have to ask them. We're just going to go play our game as well as we can play it, as hard as we can play it, and keep playing until they tell us we can't play anymore. Q. This time of the year, playing so many games, out of the three facets of the game, does one tend to wear down quicker than the others? COACH AMBROSE: No, I'd say that we are the sexiest looking triage unit in America, and I'm referring to both teams, because anybody that plays this many games this long, this many weeks in a row is beat up. So there is no one facet of the game that is taking a bigger hit than the other. We're just fighting to survive and fighting to battle. Q. Could you give us a quick update on Peter Athens and his possibility? COACH AMBROSE: I bet in 40 minutes I'll know more than I did right now. We've played to the skillsets of our players, and we do our darnedest to put them in the greatest position to be successful as possible. But Peter is clearly a very, very talented passer, very accurate passer, very good leader. Connor is a very good leader, very athletic, and a pretty good passer. So should that come down to a decision between the two of those and how we game plan, we'll do our best to put them in the best position possible. Q. You were mentioning the other day that sometimes through this playoff run it's been difficult to gauge and really get a decent handle on some of your opponents because you're playing teams from conferences and areas of the country where you don't have any common opponents or anything. Is the fact that NorthDakota State played NewHampshire the other day, is that valuable? If so, how? COACH AMBROSE: Extremely. We got to see what they can do at home versus one of the teams that we've played and one of the teams that's earned national respect over the last decade. So it was educational. I think we have a better handle on some of the teams that they've played now since we've had a chance to play some of these teams, but a lot of this is new. Q. You just mentioned a couple minutes ago you referred to NorthDakota State as a perfect team, and you compared them the other day to Ivan Drago. Have you dragged your team out into the wilds beyond Frostburg to train for this game or anything like that? COACH AMBROSE: No, not yet (laughing). Q.  Can you tell me how you were able to turn around a 1‑10 team? COACH AMBROSE: Big bowl of tricks and a magic hat. Is that answer going to work? No, just a whole lot of hard work by a ton of people inside and outside the program, people that were relentless and believed. Even on the dark and hard days when you couldn't really see any of the growth, everybody kept grinding, kept working, kept believing, kept building and stayed the course. It was something special. It really is. There are a whole lot of hands in this. We could go on for days if I had to list them all. But just a bunch of hard work, dedication, and belief. Q. In the day and age of College Football where there are spread offenses, it appears that both you and NDSU are rooted in physical football. Do you see that in any way, shape or form? COACH AMBROSE: Well, in reference to NorthDakota State, I'd think that you'd have to be blind doubly to not realize that they play physical football. They're one of the more physical teams I've seen on film at any level consistently for a long time. There are two ways to go about building this thing. One is to build it so you can win a couple bowl games, one is to build it so you can win a National Championship. If you look at the level above us, the team that's been so consistent and in there all the time is the team that can run the football and defend the run. That is a good blueprint for a start for a chance to build a program to have great success. Q. These two teams, last two standing are probably the best two of running the football. You talk about a blueprint, is that a reason for that? COACH AMBROSE: Well, if you're going to have a chance to win games in every weather condition, you better be able to run the football. The later you play at this level, the worst the conditions are going to get, and not all of us have a dome. If you want your teams to be tough, then you're going to have to run the football. That attitude purveys in the entire program. While I don't see us in the same vein as NorthDakota as powerful as they are, the run game and the physicality has certainly helped us to a great deal. Q. Did you ever sat back in your office and think about where you came from? We've followed you guys since 2007 and some dark days until now like on the verge of a championship? COACH AMBROSE: Maybe when the season is over, but to be honest, there is still too much work to be done in the short term to not spend any time working on ways to help these kids win. Q. What have you seen from NorthDakota on video? It seems they have a similarity to a Division I school in Florida State. What did you see? COACH AMBROSE: Team work, physicality and consistency. And every 11 players on the field at all times in every phase of the game are in complete harmony and unison. They all know what their roles are and they do it to the best of their ability without fail. They are extremely consistent. Q. You've got a great back in Terrence west, obviously, and a great front line.  I ask you to share your thoughts on the veteran linemen, particularly Anthony Davis from our neck of the woods. COACH AMBROSE: Of course. I was wondering what that was about. Anthony is one of a group of seniors that's grown up in this program and helped grow this program, helped build it. If you want to have a chance to play in the big game or get this far, you have to have great line play. Those guys have more starts together than probably any group of offensive linemen I've ever heard of. It's pretty impressive. You watch them walk in the door, especially Anthony. I can say this with great confidence as he has graduated now and he's walking out the door, he is a long way from the boy he used to be to the man that he is now. That is a proud, proud moment for all of us. He's certainly contributed to our success, and I hope he does so in the National Championship Game. Q. What does this run mean not just for the program but for the school, the exposure that it brings, the attention that it's brought to the program that's come from so far back in just a short amount of time? COACH AMBROSE: Oh, goodness. So much stuff there. In a word, pride. We're a major institution, in a major metropolitan area in a big media market in a place that hasn't had consistent College Football in forever, not at the Division I level. College Park is a ways down the road, almost an hour outside of D.C. Baltimore has been looking for this for a long time. Towson has been looking for this for a long time. Where we are, the type of school we are, we've always had the ability to do it. But this started with the vision of Bob Caret, and wanting to have an athletics program and football in particular, to be able to stand on the front porch and wave a flag and be proud. These days, the best line I've heard so far is interestingly enough, there are a whole lot more Towson grads out there now that the football team wins, and that's great to be a part of. Q. You used the Ivan Drago analogy before, and you watch NorthDakota, and you look at the stats and their winning games, 20, 30, 40 points a game. Is there any weakness with this team? Is the key to this to kind of play the game that you've been playing, keep them off the field and minimize the mistakes to give your guys the best chance at winning? COACH AMBROSE: Is there a weakness? No. You got any kryptonite? Maybe we can use Superman. Seriously, the thing that stands out most about them and they are physically impressive as individuals. But when 11 guys go out on the field, there is not a selfish bone among them, be one. They play the game the way it's supposed to be played. Just watching the film alone, my guys are learning a good bit. It's too early to say, but they're awesome. They truly are, but we're not too bad either. Q. Has Peter been cleared to practice? COACH AMBROSE: Not as of yet, but he is in the training room as we speak. Q. Is it fair to say Connor has been taking most of the first team reps? COACH AMBROSE: Well, we haven't practiced, so, no, we start practice tonight at 8:00. Q. Do you sense that with maybe a full week of preparation that he'll be comfortable with leading the offense? COACH AMBROSE: Connor? Q. Yes. COACH AMBROSE: Oh, yeah. I have no worries about that whatsoever. If Connor is at the range, there is not a problem. If Pete's at the range, no. The way we structure practice, the way we've worked at this for the last however many months, no. This is one of the parts, the interchangeability, while we'd change a little bit on how we'd put Connor into the best position to be successful, no, there is no concern whatsoever on minor anybody else's part. Q. Telvion Clark had a phenomenal season for you guys. In the postseason he's had a high number of tackles for sacks and tackles for losses, is that anything you're seeing on film from his perspective or opposing offenses trying to stay away from him? COACH AMBROSE: I wouldn't say they're trying to stay away from him. But we've faced three of the more prolific offenses in the country, so it's awfully hard to have really good stats against them. Q. Before he came over, he was dismissed from Virginia Tech, and then he joined Towson. What was it about him that you saw in him that you thought he could be a productive contribution for the team? COACH AMBROSE: We knew him from high school and we knew what kind of player he was. We made some phone calls to the Virginia Tech staff to secure his hard work ethic and his personality. He passed all of the things that he would need to do to get in the door here for us. Q. Can you talk about this experience for the guys who have been injured and haven't been able to contribute in the postseason, how do you tow the balance between being frustrated and also being joyful from your teammates? COACH AMBROSE: A guy whose career was ended by injury, I can tell you it's one of the more difficult things. As a child, nobody ever tells you that one day you're going to stop playing football. The truth of the matter is the day you stop playing football will be a day not of your choosing. So that situation alone is hard, doing that in a championship run, multiplied by a million. So these guys are a part of this. They helped build this. But the stress of not being able to actively contribute takes its toll. Q. For guys like Spencer and Leon and Bryton, how have they handled this? Are they still around the team? COACH AMBROSE: Oh, God, yes. All the time. I mean, Bryton's out for every coin toss. You've got to tackle Spencer to keep him off the field, even though he doesn't have pads on. These guys are all in different aspects of injuries, but they're all still here. They're all in. This family, there is no asterisk by it. We just are. Q. I wanted to ask you, was it a wake‑up call the loss to Delaware? That was your second loss in four weeks. I know how tough the CAA was, but do you remember anything with the guys saying, okay, we've got to get ready now for this stretch run? We can't afford anymore losses with that Delaware game? COACH AMBROSE: True, we don't have enough experience to say we're going to get ready for this stretch run. We have to spend our time focusing on the next play. We never look much farther ahead than that. One of the things we've done here consistently in the last five years, even when we were bad, was finish games. We had gone away from some of the things that were part of our core values. I do believe it was a little bit of a wake‑up call. Things truly do happen for a reason. I think we became a better football team after that game. Q. This may seem years ago, but did you get a sense that the year got even a better jump start by beating an FCS team right off the bat? By beating Connecticut you guys were off and running even better than you could have hoped? COACH AMBROSE: I think that had a large part to play in it but not because of who they were. After last year and not getting in at 7‑4, and knowing how good of a football team we were, we just lost the two 1AA teams. In the end we just needed wins. It didn't matter if it was UCONN, Alabama or the local junior varsity team, we needed wins. Being 1‑0 to start certainly helped us on our way. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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