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VIZIO BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: AUBURN v FLORIDA STATEJanuary 3, 2014Kenny ShawPASADENA, CALIFORNIA Q. At this point of preparation, talk about the last couple days and where you guys are at. KENNY SHAW: Last couple days, I've never seen them more focused than they have been. Everybody's on their P's and Q's. Everybody's hopping. We ready. Q. Jimbo talked, I guess, last week about trying to get you guys at peak, to time that out towards the game and the practice. That way if you feel that you had (indiscernible) are you ready to put that past you? KENNY SHAW: We've still got a couple of days left, but I would say our attitude and focus were there. Like I said, we've got guys who haven't been talking all year who's talking this, and that's a good thing to see because, when you see everybody on the same level and everybody wants it as much as you do, it's a good thing. Q. [ No microphone ]. KENNY SHAW: I mean, I don't see a difference. You're still going to get hit, still going to get all the other stuff that the guys play for four quarters. But it just feels good, mentally and physically, to have fewer snaps coming into this game because I can only imagine what would happen if we played all four quarters in all these games. Q. [ No microphone ]. KENNY SHAW: It was something we practiced every day. Ever since the BC game, we just practiced on getting teams early. It was something that I was expecting coming into the game because we all‑‑ the BC game got us here because they jumped on us quick, and we had to fight back. We pride ourselves all year after that point, just to jump out early. Q. [ No microphone ]. KENNY SHAW: We had a couple teams‑‑ I mean, we had Florida and Boston College, but that's how come we can control. We just go in, and Coach always say, practice like your opponent has no face. So you come to our practice, you don't know who we're playing. We could be playing a high school team, and we're still going to be upbeat and moving fast. It wasn't something that we expected, but we knew it was something we were going to try to jump out as fast as possible. Q. Speaking as a wide receiver, your first impression of [ No microphone ]. KENNY SHAW: I saw him throw it. When he came in, of course, he can't have our respect, but coming into the summertime when we was doing seven‑on‑sevens and workouts and stuff, it was just amazing. Q. [ No microphone ]. KENNY SHAW: But, yeah, he just earned our respect from then because, I mean, we actually got a QB who can get the job done. Q. What's one thing about him that impressed you about him? KENNY SHAW: He got on the senior‑‑ I don't know which senior it was, but he got on a senior, and we thought, man, this freshman, he's got some juice to him. That was great to see, the leadership this past summer. Q. Was there a point in the season where you guys realized you guys have something special going on? KENNY SHAW: I would say the Pitt game when he went out‑‑ he had two incomplete passes, and one of them wasn't really incomplete. When I seen that, I was like we got a ballplayer. And then you can tell that he trusts his guys around them because we got down in the offense. When we got defense playing like they play, he's so confident coming in and take the snap. Q. Bryan also said the Pitt game was when they realized. But the competition was really close. How close was it between him and Coker? KENNY SHAW: It was really close. As a coach making that decision, I probably wouldn't have made it. I would probably play both guys because I just don't know how to do all that stuff, but it was really close because, if it's close to you as a player taking passes from a QB, then I know it's close for the coaches. Q. What does it mean for you to get from where you start to get here on the stage to be playing in this game? What does it mean for you? KENNY SHAW: It means a lot. It's your last time to go around, and you want to just go out with a bang. I mean, it feels good for my family because they know where I came in, where I came from and how much I progressed over the years. It means so much to me, and I know it means a lot to the coaches. Q. When you step on the field and you see the last five seconds tick off the clock, what will stand out for you? KENNY SHAW: Stand by just how many brothers I've had in the game since my career. That's what keeps you going through college. You can have so many tough times throughout college and so much stuff you've got that's adverse, it's like you can't get through it without your brothers. Q. Which class set the foundation? The senior class? KENNY SHAW: Senior class, of course. We're first class. Q. What's the friendly rivalry like between you guys, your teammates? KENNY SHAW: We always have a little rivalry. Even in video games, we've always got something going on, but that's how we get the competition going. Every day, we throw against the defense. We got to talk smack just to get them going and get their best game out of them. We need the friendly rivalry. Q. Is there something that (indiscernible) when you signed and when you were talking to other guys in that class? KENNY SHAW: I mean, that's the reason you come to a college is because you want that crystal ball. So first thing you wanted was the ACC Championship because we haven't had it in so long. When we got that, it was like, what else do we need to get? The next phase was the BCS game, then it still wasn't enough. So it's finally good to get here. Q. What does it mean for Florida State to win a BCS title? KENNY SHAW: It would mean a lot. The fans, I love them because they're so loyal because we had some rough seasons in the past, and they're still by our side. It would mean so much to us, and me, of course, because you go from a team winning nine games to this stage. Q. Kelvin is such an enormous physical talent, but the production and consistency wasn't there early on. How has he gotten better in that regard? KENNY SHAW: All that stuff, the consistency, it's a mind thing. So we got together‑‑ Coach Dawsey did a great job keeping him level headed and all this stuff. I'm in this room right now, so I do pride on being in his head and stuff like that. When you see him playing lights out, all that was just a head thing, and he got his mind right. Q. Is there a certain guy he reminds you of, just in terms of his physical abilities? KENNY SHAW: I would say Calvin Johnson. He's 6'6". He can run. Q. Is there a moment that you, throughout your career, that you'll always take with you from your time at Florida State? Something that stands out in your mind. KENNY SHAW: What will stand out? I don't know. Just that play from the Boston College game, just stands out. It was something that, because it wasn't planned, that will always stand out to me. Q. You've been to (indiscernible) and things weren't perfect there. You had other options. What was it about Jimbo and those guys that made you want to come here? KENNY SHAW: It was just a trust thing. At my time, you had the whole Florida Gator thing and the coach was leaving. It was a lot of issues. Being an 18‑year‑old kid, who do you trust? I pride that on just my family standing by me and just Coach Dawsey too.  Like I said in the press conference earlier, he was like a father figure to me, and that's what made me come here. Q. [ No microphone ]. KENNY SHAW: Grown ass man, just a guy who's tough, he's coachable, and he's going to do whatever it takes to win. You got a guy like that, you got to flaunt it. Q. How many guys you know here at Florida State? KENNY SHAW: We've got 85 of them. Q. What's Jimbo meant to you as a coach? KENNY SHAW: Jimbo meant a lot. We haven't had the best relationship early on, but I thank him for that because it got me to this point I'm at today, strong mentality and just tough because, in practices, we go at it. We used to go at it, but now it's not as much because, I mean, my consistency level is up. But I love him for staying on me and just giving me hell all my years. Q. You've got your family, and then you've got the family here with Florida State. Talk a little bit about that and what that means to you. KENNY SHAW: I mean, it means a lot because, as you know, everybody has that. People come in sometimes with no father figure or no mother or something, but just having both, it just keeps you level headed because not only with the success, they keep you level headed, and then when you have adversity in college, you can just go back to them. Q. What areas did you face adversity? KENNY SHAW: Just adversity, because we didn't have much adversity in that game because we jumped out so early. I would say since the Boston College game, he progressed a lot. That game right there, he showed me that he's a tough player and he don't want to lose as much as I don't. Q. [ No microphone ]. KENNY SHAW: We don't really care. We just pride ourselves on whoever's in just to get the job done because we got three great backs. We got a tight end. We got receivers. We don't care who's in. That's the one thing I noticed about this year over the past seasons, it's no selfishness. I mean, that's great to see coming from a guy who's not selfish. When you have selfish guys, you feel some type of way about it. But now we don't have no selfish guys, and you are proud of whoever's in there. Q. [ No microphone ]. KENNY SHAW: It means a lot, fresh legs and a defense that's not rotating as much. Q. [ No microphone ]. KENNY SHAW: I don't know what they're going to throw at us. I would think they're going to change up a lot of stuff on us, but I don't know. Q. [ No microphone ]. KENNY SHAW: Just a blitz game. That's the only thing that I think they will change. Q. Understanding how hard it is to play any position in college football, how incredible is it what Jameis has been able to accomplish? KENNY SHAW: He accomplishes a lot, going from the off the field issues to the on field issues, he's accomplished a lot. I give it to the guy. Not many 19‑year‑old kids can do that. He wouldn't be in the situation he's in right now if it wasn't for the guys surrounding him. Q. [ No microphone ]. KENNY SHAW: Consistency. That's been a lot. I mean, more play making, more big play skills, and everything. I mean, we pride ourselves coming into that. We want to be that receiving corps who can maximize our exposure, and we grasp that. Q. [ No microphone ]. KENNY SHAW: I loved what they did. That's big being in a BCS game. I got a couple homeboys on the team, so it meant a lot. Q. Were you rooting for them? KENNY SHAW: I was rooting for them. Q. [ No microphone ]. KENNY SHAW: Yeah, I did. Coach Craig was that guy who, when I was having a hard day, he'd come to me and say, hey, you've got more in you. He's a guy that stayed on me, just like Jimbo. I mean, we had a great relationship. Q. Was it tough on you when he left for Auburn? KENNY SHAW: It was tough. I'm not going to lie because he was a guy I think that's a guy who I could go to when I was in some hard times. But I mean, that's life. Q. What is it about Coach Craig that makes him that type of guy? KENNY SHAW: He just keeps it real. That's it. I mean, most coaches, they sugarcoat around stuff, but Coach Craig, he just keeps it real. Q. I noticed Jameis, when he accepted the Heisman Trophy, were you watching? You noticed that he talked about Coach Craig. Were you surprised at all about that? KENNY SHAW: No, I wasn't surprised. Coach Craig was one of the guys who got him here. He's a guy that he loved, and they're obviously from the same area. I mean, I wasn't surprised. Q. Kenny, Auburn's had some close finishes, and you guys have been blowing people out all season long. Does that give an edge to either side? KENNY SHAW: No, I don't have any Cinderella finishes, but I don't take nothing from it. We're just going to play the same ball. Q. Are you a team of destiny? Do you have that thing going? KENNY SHAW: I don't know. Them games, they don't have me jumping out of my seat and stuff. That's football. That's things that happen every year. Q. Do you have any friends at Auburn? KENNY SHAW: Unh‑unh. Q. Talking about Kelvin, at the start when he first got there, he was trying to score a touchdown on every play in practice. Was he trying to make a passing play all the time? KENNY SHAW: When he first got here, he was just a guy who you knew had the ability, but he wasn't all there in the head. He's changed so much from that point to where he is now. He's got great brothers around him, and when you have so many guys who want to get your best, you have no choice but to change. He's done a great job this year, and being my roommate, you can see it forming off the field too. Q. Was there a wakeup call moment for him? KENNY SHAW: Yeah, there was a wakeup call moment. Q. Do you remember when it was? KENNY SHAW: I don't remember when it was, but I remember in the summertime, we all got together and said, hey, we've got to do something that no other receivers have done over the past years. I mean, we've accomplished that. Q. You've been here one of the longest D‑blocker teams. How much has Coach Fisher grown as a coach? KENNY SHAW: He's grown a lot. He went from the high five ball to the coach who's brought us success. He's put in so much hard work, so many hours. The guy deserves it, man. Q. Do you think sometimes he gets a bad rap? He's kind of like this fiery guy? KENNY SHAW: Yeah, he gets a bad rap, but that's what happens. When you love the game as much as he do, you're going to get angry sometimes. It just happens. And we know it as players. Not at the time, but when you walk off the field, you just know that he just loves the game and he wants the best for us. Q. Is there a reason that you can pinpoint why this team might be closer than teams in the past [ No microphone ]. Is there a reason for that? KENNY SHAW: There's no reason. With that, you can't coach a brotherhood. I mean, that's what we pride ourselves on. This year there was no selfishness. It was just all brotherhood and family. That's what championship teams need. Like I said, you can't coach that up. Q. In Jameis' situation [ No microphone ]. Do you think people who charged him with the crime should be identified? KENNY SHAW: I don't‑‑ obviously, I don't even entertain that type of stuff. I just want to play football. He wants to play football. So all that stuff was just nothing to me. Q. All that, and he wasn't even charged. KENNY SHAW: He's still my brother at the end of the day regardless of what happens in the media. Q. How difficult is that for you guys to not think about yourselves in terms of individual stuff and focus on the team? All teams talk about that, but for teams as talented as you guys to be able to do that, how difficult is that situation? KENNY SHAW: It's not difficult at all. With me, when you're brought up a certain way, selfishness doesn't occur in your mind. But I mean, it wasn't just‑‑ we got together because we know over past years what hurt the team because we had the same mentality and everything over the past years. It's the little things that hurt your team and don't get you to the point where we're at today. One of them was selfishness. So we knew right off the bat we were going to have none of that this year. Q. You're brought up a certain way, but maybe some of your teammates aren't. How does that message get through? KENNY SHAW: The messages get through. If you do see it, you pull them to the side and just tell them, we don't need none of that, just the little things. You don't yell at them in front of the team because that's not how it works. That's not how you get across to somebody. You just keep it real. Q. How do you keep your teammates motivated and focused on the task at hand? KENNY SHAW: I didn't do nothing to them. Just coming out here landing, they knew what time it was when we landed, and they knew.  You don't have to say much to them because you got to this point now. You don't really have to talk too much. Q. [ No microphone ]. KENNY SHAW: I mean, the NC State game was a big turning point in our attitudes over the past year. So that's what we wanted to do, to jump out on teams because you don't want to be in that situation again. With the BC game, you don't want to be in a situation like that. We take all the wins and losses into consideration and build on that on Monday. Q. [ No microphone ]. KENNY SHAW: I would say it did because it was a game against the No.3 in the nation. We were up 16 at the half, and we just pride ourselves on putting teams down early because, like I said, you keep them around, they're going to come back. Q. Auburn's given up a lot of big pass plays. In the Alabama game, they gave up a 19‑yard touchdown pass. [ No microphone ]. KENNY SHAW: They've got a great group of guys. They've got speed. They've got strength and everything. That's what happens in football. Our defense gave up some big plays too, but Auburn's D, you just see a lot of blitzes. You just see a lot of zone coverages. Nothing that we haven't seen this year. Q. Jameis said that [ No microphone ]. Is that accurate? KENNY SHAW:  That's pretty accurate. I don't want to‑‑ it's really accurate. I don't like to drop anything. I try to be as consistent as possible. When you're catching everything, all that does is just‑‑ every throw, it just gives the quarterback some confidence. Q. When's the last time you dropped something? KENNY SHAW: I don't know. Q. Do you attribute that to eyes? Hands? KENNY SHAW: Just good habits in practice. In practice, we hardly drop anything. Over this past year, we had less drops over the past year too. Q. Has there been a team that's been able to hold receivers down at all this season? KENNY SHAW: There's teams that have tried, but I mean, we pride ourselves where this offense goes, it's in our hands. That's what Coach Dawsey always says. Q. It seems you guys can go against anybody and have a lot of success with the size and depth you have? KENNY SHAW: Like I said, the depth, even if they shut us down, we've still got Nick O'Leary and three great running backs. No matter what happens, it's going to be hard to stop us. Q. The defensive guys yesterday said they had to go against Jameis and you guys had to go against them every time, it would be a different story. KENNY SHAW: All I have to say, in the best of five series, we'd have won the series. Q. I think Rashad was saying that to be with the defense it was better to not play man against you guys. Would you agree with that? KENNY SHAW: I would definitely agree. It would just be too many big plays. I would definitely not play deep. Q. [ No microphone ]. KENNY SHAW: Drops was a big problem and just consistency itself was a problem. If you don't have consistency, then your quarterback doesn't have confidence, even your coaches don't have confidence. Q. Was it a different approach? KENNY SHAW: It wasn't an approach, it was just a mindset coming into the year. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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