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TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL: CENTRAL FLORIDA v BAYLORDecember 28, 2013Phil BennettGLENDALE, ARIZONA THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Talk about what you've seen from UCF on film and everything so far. What are you preparing for? COACH BENNETT: The first thing, like most good teams, it starts with their quarterback. They've got a guy, it's just ironic, I remember vividly watching their Louisville game and pulling for them. I don't know about that now (smiling). But he's a guy that makes plays. It's obvious that, like most good quarterbacks or great quarterbacks, he makes everybody around him better. He makes the running game better, the linemen better, the receivers better. They've got a very unique group of receivers in the fact they play a lot of them. They all catch the ball well. Their runningbacks, two runningbacks that play, that I think are probably NFL runningbacks. As I told Charlie Taaffe, who is a friend of mine, he's done a great job coaching them. They are a team that will challenge you in both the run and the pass. They've been pretty impressive. Q. Is it difficult to prepare for a quarterback who is good at making bad plays into good plays? COACH BENNETT: That's what great quarterbacks do. They take bad plays to good plays and good plays to great plays. You can't let a guy like this extend the play. That's what he does so well. You go back to their game against Temple right at the end. It was a great catch. They made a great catch. But, man, he kept the play alive and made it happen. You've got to try to contain him. He's got running ability also. That's where it starts. Like I said, I don't think their receivers get the credit they deserve either. You look at their explosion plays, against some very good people. You don't go into Penn State and beat them. You don't go into Louisville on a national stage and do what they did being a one‑man team. They do a very good job of distributing and running the ball. Q. With a balanced team like that, how important is it to try to stop one of the things or at least slow them down? COACH BENNETT: Every game you're trying to make them predictable. It all starts with the run. I think both their runningbacks are really good players. You try to get them second‑and‑long, third‑and‑long. I'm sure Charlie was here ahead of me and that's what they're trying to stay away from. You try to get them predictable where there's not a whole lot of plays for third‑and‑eight, and ‑nine, an offensive guy will tell you. At the same time it's something unique about them on our tapes, our breakdowns. They only had 38 third‑and‑seven‑pluses for the year, which is phenomenal. That means they're staying on schedule, they're getting a lot of third‑and‑shorts, and they're not putting themselves behind the chains. It's very important for us to have success to make that happen. Q. Can you talk about the three‑year arc of the defense. COACH BENNETT: As I said, I guess because I've done this a long time, when I came to Baylor, I knew it was going to be a process. The first word that comes to my mind when I think about how we've evolved as a defense is 'maturing.' I look in this room I see Ahmad, K.J., Chris McAllister. All these guys have been with me for three years. They've just matured. While they've matured, we've gone out and we've developed, brought new kids in, we've developed depth that we didn't have basically for the first two years. When you watch us play on Wednesday, we'll play anywhere from 17, 18 guys, which to me, that's huge. I think that's how we've evolved. I always thought we had athletic guys. But we're more experienced and we've matured. Obviously about mid‑season last year, people asked me, Was it the Kansas State game that gave you the confidence? Truthfully we started two weeks before. I told them, We're starting to arrive, we're starting to get what we want done. They've been a great group to work with. They're unselfish. I'm pretty demanding. They worked very hard trying to get here. I've been extremely proud of them. Q. Coach Taaffe mentioned your friendship. How far back does that go? COACH BENNETT: I was going into Pitt when Charlie was leaving. Of course, I knew Charlie when he was the head coach at the Citadel. He's been a guy I've admired forever. George O'Leary and I go way back. And Art, we were in the Conference USA when I was the head coach at SMU, George was at Houston. Charlie was a guy when he was leaving, Dave Wannstedt, one of the better football coaches I've been around, I hate to lose Charlie, he added so much to our staff with his knowledge. Sometimes in this business, you look at people, say, He's a good coach. You know, Charlie has been some places that he's made things happen through coaching. He's living proof that coaching is important because everywhere he's been, he's been a factor. Q. Going head‑to‑head with a friend... COACH BENNETT: Of course, you guys have Kansas State here. Bill Snyder is one of my best friends. Been an unbelievable mentor to me. I don't particularly like it, but it's an evil necessity. If you got to do it, let's do it in the Fiesta Bowl. That's what I say. Q. When you go to different places, does it typically take a year or so for the guys to get the system? COACH BENNETT: I don't think it's just the system. I think when I got there, when they played in the Texas Bowl, there were eight guys that were no longer there. I think it's an experience factor. I think that's huge for the fact that we've grown. That's the biggest thing. I always thought we had some talent. But it's amazing when you know what you're doing how much faster and how much better you can cover and tackle and those things. Q. After having such a successful season, how important is it for you to finish off strong with a win on Wednesday? COACH BENNETT: We've talked to our kids. On our practice field it says, Every day finish strong. I'm sure that's the same thing George and Charlie are telling their guys. They remember you for what you've done last. Everybody last year remembered that UCLA game in the Holiday Bowl. The kids have been hearing it throughout. They remember how you finish. So it's huge. Q. When you see guys like Chris McAllister, that senior class that you had to give a speech when you first arrived, can you take yourself back to what you said? COACH BENNETT: Yes, I can. I mean, one of the things I told them, first thing I told them, I made a tape before we ever did anything. It was all the guys, the little they had played, it was called, Why not us? We have never backed off from the fact that if we were going to get to this level, play in a BCS bowl, win a championship, that we were going to have to become a defense that was a championship defense. Looking at Chris, everybody that's in this room, has heard it over and over again. I think Ahmad has even said it. The only thing that's between us and a championship is us doing our job on defense. I think that's sort of been our motto. I think we have become a defense that could complement what we do offensively. Q. To see what's happened, is that really what coaching is all about? COACH BENNETT: No question. No question. I look around this room and I just see how they've matured. I see how they've evolved, growing up. Chris McAllister thought I was the craziest thing in the world. First thing I told him, You're going to be a defensive end. He's like, What? I'm a middle linebacker. If you look at him now, you play him, you say, Wow. It wasn't me. He made himself. We knew he had it. Chris Achuff has done a great job with him. We've just sort of evolved. Q. What impresses you about Blake Bortles? COACH BENNETT: I said this earlier. He makes everybody around him better. He can make all the throws.  He can do all the things great. But he extends plays. He makes his receivers better. He makes his runningbacks better. It's obvious that he has a knack for what they're doing. Charlie has coached him well. They know exactly what they're trying to do. Q. Can you talk about the improvement of your secondary. COACH BENNETT: I think having Meech and K.J. healthy for the whole year, if you remember, you go back to the West Virginia game we lost, that was a huge part of what we were trying to do. I think having them involved, moving Ahmad back, Terrell Burt, having a guy that's a 4‑3 guy come in and be your cover‑three guy is huge. We've been able to play more people. We play four corners, four safeties. It makes everything more smooth. Q. They're so experienced, they can do things instinctively? COACH BENNETT: You've seen that. Things that used to be tough on them, it's the experience, I keep going back to that, the experience factor of them growing up. There's not a whole lot new to them anymore. Q. A couple of the guys are saying the UCF offense is different than what you've seen in the Big 12 because of how patient they are. Charlie preaches, Take what's given to you. How does that change what your approach is? COACH BENNETT:  Yeah, a little bit. You cannot let them stay ahead of the sticks. In our league, it's fast‑paced, it's no‑huddle. People ask me, Why do you wear such a bright yellow shirt? I've got to get signals in. It's so fast that I've got to be seen. Charlie and them will take the 40‑second clock to the 39‑and‑a‑half. They're very deliberate in what they do. Now, that also helps their defense. Their defense, especially against a team like us, and we know this, we know that for our offense to get clicking, we've got to get them the ball. We can't let them, which I know George and I know Charlie, they're trying to stay with their progression. Don't get me wrong. They're very capable of taking their shots and scoring quick. But they're very methodical and very good at what they do. Q. Does it add a little bit for you as a coach for you to go against Charlie that you know well? COACH BENNETT: Oh, yes. Regardless, it will never change, he's an outstanding football coach, as is George. Knowing these guys, it's always fun. They're guys that are not only good coaches, they're really good people, which makes it great. Q. How long have you known these guys? COACH BENNETT: I've done this forever, 35 years. Charlie and I, really George, we grew up in this business together. I told Mack Brown after our game, It seems like a year ago I was a third‑year coordinator. He's 61, I'm 58, we're on the backside. Q. George jokes he can't believe that Mack beat him from stepping away from the game. COACH BENNETT: That obviously has touched a lot of us. Mack Brown is an excellent guy, an excellent coach. Very few of us ever get to go out the way we want to. I think when you look at his accomplishments at Texas, wow. I mean, he's a Hall of Famer without question. Q. Your defense has been tremendous last few weeks. Do you feel you're coming up to a peak? COACH BENNETT: I will say this, and I told the kids, I believe that we have a better game in us. I think we've played well, but I have to believe that. You've got to do it. One of the things that I think is unique about this game, you've got a pretty much probable first‑round draft pick at quarterback. What a challenge. You look at the two runningbacks, I think they're going to be Sunday players. You've got a challenge to do that. As you know, I'm not a big talker. I don't make predictions. But the challenge for us is in front of us. Q. Is there any concern this being the first BCS bowl for both teams, do you talk about not trying to do too much? COACH BENNETT: Yes, I think that's a good question. I think you go out there, you know, confusion causes a lot of problems. I say this, I'm definitely old school, I feel like if you know what you're doing, then you're going to be able to excel. We have a thing in every meeting room that says, Simply knowledge is power. The truth of the matter, it's not how much I know, it's how much I get these guys to know and execute. I think that's a very good point. You go out there, you recreate your blitz package, you do this or that, you're not going to be as effective as you've been. You always tweak things, but that doesn't mean you abort everything you've done and have a month of practice. Q. I'm sure it's tempting when you have all that time off to fiddle around. COACH BENNETT: That's something about having a great group of assistants that you trust. I have a saying, The eyes don't lie. This morning, I came in, I said, What about this? All of a sudden the eyes looked up. Jim Gush is like, Hey, don't go there. Enough's enough. I said, All right, you don't like it. He didn't even have to say anything (laughter). You're right, you have to maximize your ability by minimizing what you do. Q. You talked about the knowledge that the team has now. Ahmad saying that was the biggest difference. The depth has been a factor this year. Players behind the starters, understanding the system? COACH BENNETT: That's huge. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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