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VIZIO BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: AUBURN v FLORIDA STATEJanuary 3, 2014Dee FordPASADENA, CALIFORNIA Q. How was improv last night? Did you get made fun of? DEE FORD: It was fun. I sat in front. Q. Did they make fun of you? DEE FORD: They did. One guy was like what position do you play? I was like D‑end. (Indiscernible) he said I was like defensive end, it will make you (indiscernible). Q. Dee, in watching film, what do you see in what FSU has got? DEE FORD: They're athletic. Definitely have to be fundamentally sound. Q. Remind you of anyone you've played? DEE FORD: Maybe a little bit of Tennessee, offensive line‑wise. They're very athletic. We've played some pretty decent‑‑ or pretty good offensive lines this year. So we're pretty much used to playing a dynamic offensive line. We know we're just going to have to bring our A‑game. They're very athletic up front. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: That's why we're here. Our front seven on both sides, our front four on both sides of the ball; we push each other in practice. We go at it against each other for 20 minutes every day. It's pretty intense. We're making each other better, man. That's pretty much been the testament to this year, why we are where we are now. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: No. Q. Dee, how important is it you guys pressure Jameis? DEE FORD: Very important, very important. He's a great quarterback. You can't give a great quarterback like that a lot of time. I think pressure makes any quarterback pretty average. I think it's just the nature of the game. If you can put pressure on the quarterback, that's just what happens. Q. [ No microphone ]. Is it more of the run? Is it more of the pass? What have you seen? DEE FORD: It's a little bit of both, but I would say a lot of teams did a pretty good job of putting a little pressure on him at times, and sometimes he held the ball and it happened. Like I said, if we bring our A‑game, man, we can definitely get to the quarterback. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: Just period? I love his character. I love how he is off the field. I think it's very important, and I think that plays a pivotal role in how you play on the field. Q. Is it his personality? DEE FORD: His personality, his demeanor, how he motivates his team, how he carries himself in front of his team. He pretty much translates that, the way he is off the field, on the field, and that's why he's such a great leader for this team. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: You said what about his game? Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: About Jameis' game? He's a quarterback. I don't know the logistics of it or anything. I just know, you know what I'm saying, get past the offensive tackle, I think that's more important to what he's doing. I don't think he's really looking at me. But I definitely think those tackles, you know, they're my main focus. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: I mean, they just dominated their game, so you can't really look at that and say they haven't played in the fourth quarter so maybe they're going to play bad. You can't really look at that or use that as ammunition. Just play great, you know. We use that as pretty much pressure to make us play with an edge coming out, you know what I mean? Q. For a guy that talks a little bit, are you going to try to remind Jameis this is going to be a bumpy game? DEE FORD: Yeah, definitely, biggest stage. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: They play together. Individually, you know, they're pretty decent, but together they're great. You know, they definitely play their scheme. You can tell that their well‑coached. We have to be fundamentally sound also. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: They run a lot of outside zones, and you know you really, as far as defensive line, you really don't want to get reached. They want to get on the edge and let their great running backs do what they do. That's what makes them such a dynamic team. And then they can drop back and pass the ball. Q. We hear about you and (indiscernible) off the edge, they talk a lot about the offensive line, Montravius. How important has that development been? DEE FORD: You need pressure up the middle. That's the great thing about this game. You need everyone. I think we all play a part. Every sack that I've gotten, they've played a part in it. The quarterback not having the ability to step up, and then Montravius and Gabe, all of them, they apply their great pressure for me. You need pressure from all points, from the outside and on the inside. Q. All your hits this season, what's your favorite one? DEE FORD: What's my favorite? I'm going to be honest here. I would have to say Aaron Murray because he's such a great quarterback. I mean, Johnny Manziel is great too, and what people don't know about that play is that was a defense that was designed for the run, and we just ran, and I was able to get to him because my teammates applied some great pressure. But I think that with the way Aaron Murray was moving the ball and the time that it happened, I just like that one a little bit better. Q. It was a lot better game? DEE FORD: Yeah, so it was pretty good. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: Man, he is the catalyst of what the defense has been able to do. Man, this whole season, he has pretty much given us‑‑ the big thing, he gives us knowledge. You can tell he knows the game, and he's coached in all these games. It's been a blessing to be a part of a coach like that, and he's definitely had us prepared for every game. And he's the first one that tells us that we have not played a perfect game. We're still in search of that perfect game. It's not going to be a perfect game, but we haven't hit 90 percentile yet as far as playing a sound defense. He keeps pushing us to get to that point because you just never know what will happen, you know, if we (indiscernible) so early, we won't have to play such great defense in the fourth quarter. Q. I'm not sure you've even thought about it, but Melvin Smith, he's a guy that's been coaching for a very long time and never been in a position like this. How much have you guys played for those guys and coach with 20‑, 30‑plus years. DEE FORD: It's extra motivation, man. They make it known that it is hard to get here, and as long as they've been coaching, as close as they've gotten, it's so hard to get here. They tell us just to cherish the moment, embrace the grind because it's so hard to get there. I'm definitely happy that we were able to help them and be a part of a team with them to get here. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: The process hasn't been much different for us. They came in. That was the amazing thing about what they've done. They came in, and they immediately told us that, you know, we're just going to work. We're not going to change up much that you've already been doing. We don't want to get you out of your rhythm. We want to come in and embrace what you have been doing and kind of add what we do. That was the amazing thing about Coach Johnson. He was able to incorporate his defense, and Coach Garner incorporate his D‑line style of play, and really just changed our game and took it to the next level. Q. How long have you been preparing for‑‑ DEE FORD: Since I was 12. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: Yeah, man, I played it all night last night. Q. Did you really? DEE FORD: We had curfew at 12:00, so I played until about 12:00. It's downstairs at the hotel. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: Right now it's Chick Corea, some jazz thing called "Spain". It took me forever to learn it. It was so hard. I finally got it. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: I'm all right. Don't listen to them. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: I think it tells us that we focus when we're under pressure. I think we're getting a little lackadaisical with our focus. It's all about our alignments, our positioning, our assignments. We play very hard. We play so hard. We play with all our heart, but we sometimes just get displaced. When our backs are against the wall, man, we just really know we need to make something happen, and that's just what we've been able to do. Q. I know Coach Johnson keeps mentioning that you guys keep giving up big plays, you're not going to win championships. Now you're in the title game, and you won anyway after you've given up big plays. What is it that makes you guys just find a way? DEE FORD: We just don't. Our team is so talented, we don't give up, and we just really let our hearts play. We just get together, man, and we just‑‑ we communicate amongst each other that we're just going to have to make the play. We're going to have to make something happen, and we're going to have to play together, play within the system. We're starting to understand how important that is, as far as defensive play. You can take average guys, but if they do their job, you can be a dynamic defense. We're starting to understand that. Q. [ No microphone ]. Feel like you're ready to do that? DEE FORD:  I feel like we're ready. I really feel like we're ready. We've definitely been preparing for a long time. But I haven't seen any‑‑ I haven't seen any lackadaisical energies from anybody. Everybody wants to learn what we're doing and really get our assignments down. We're focusing on a lot of details because we know we're going to have to play with that coming into this National Championship. Q. How is preparing for Jameis different than preparing for Johnny as a defensive lineman? DEE FORD: It's not. Q. Exactly the same? DEE FORD: They're great quarterbacks. They can beat you with their feet. They can throw the ball. Manziel is a little different. He‑‑ and we still went at him. We don't really‑‑ you never want to go in conservative, wanting to try to contain him. You want to try to contain him, but you still want to come at him. We came into every game, we want to put pressure on the quarterback. We don't care what quarterback it is. We're going to play within our defense and whatever our scheme is that week, and we're just going to come at him. Q. In what ways is Johnny a little different from Jameis? Is he running around that much more? Or is it because of the size factor? DEE FORD: I don't think it's a size factor. I just think Johnny Manziel is just a great‑‑ that's what makes him so great. He just knows how to make those second effort plays. Jameis is‑‑ they just have a great offense, and it just clicks a lot. So it's just really hard to say because they play in different leagues. Q. We spoke before the Iron Bowl and the SEC Championship. How does it feel to be on this final big stage. This is your last game in college but also one of your biggest opportunities as you head into the NFL. DEE FORD: Just bittersweet. I try to embrace it. I'd be lying if I say I don't think about the future. I do. But I really focus more on the present moment and really enjoy my teammates while I can because I know the camaraderie in the locker room. You can't ask for that. We probably won't get that in the NFL. That's what I hear. But it's kind of bittersweet, you know. I just want to enjoy it and really just go out and play my heart out and really do a lot of things‑‑ you know, I don't want to leave with any regrets. So anything I've been procrastinating on doing, whether it's embracing fans more, helping out young guys more, I've just been focusing on that lately and really trying to enjoy my last year. Q. Speaking about the line as a whole, I imagine, but you're going to be going against right tackle Bobby Hart. What do you see in him specifically? DEE FORD: He's very athletic. They're a very athletic team. He's kind of young, but he's very athletic, though. Like I said, they play within their scheme very well, and they're able to utilize the athleticism because they play so well in their scheme. So we're definitely going to have to play within our scheme also and be fundamentally sound. Q. How long did you play last night? Did you play by yourself, or did you have an audience? DEE FORD: I was by myself. I played like a day or two ago, and somebody was recording it, and I didn't even know it. I seen it on Instagram. Q. You just love it that much? DEE FORD: Yeah, man, I would get lost like while I'm playing, and I will forget like where I am. Just like off in space or something, but, yeah, it's a great feeling. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: I'm human. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: Did I do a double take? I think, once they see that it sounds pretty decent, yeah, they do a double take, like, oh, he's actually playing. Q. Are you self‑taught? DEE FORD: Do I self talk? Q. Did you teach yourself how to play? DEE FORD: A little bit. My cousin taught me my keys. He taught me a little song and then just like go from there. He told me like a few songs, a little bit, but his big thing was just to keep practicing and keep listening. I learned everything by ear. So if I hear it, I can play it. It was just he taught me‑‑ he forced me to learn things on my own from there. So I got a few lessons, but I took it from there. Q. Were you playing last night? DEE FORD: I was playing in the hotel last night. Q. What did you focus on? DEE FORD: I played "Lately" by Tyrese. And I played Chick Corea, "Spain". I played‑‑ what else did I play? I do a lot of improv too. So whatever comes to my mind, sometimes I just play that. Q. Do you sing too? DEE FORD: Yeah, I sing too, but I try not to do that too much. Takes away from my aggressiveness. Q. You talk about this kind of being your last game. What have the last five years been like, especially going through it with Nosa? DEE FORD: Nosa is my brother, my little brother. I'm older than him. It's been a great journey, especially going through the coaching changes, the ups and downs. Man, this thing‑‑ this game will really make a man out of you. It really will. It will really challenge you. I've really embraced it, along with Nosa. Man, these last five years, man, we had a great opportunity to meet a lot of people, learn a lot, develop each other, grow a bond that will be a lifetime, and it's definitely a blessing, man. Those emotions, I feel those while I'm playing, and it kind of propels me while I'm playing. I just think about how blessed we are to be in this situation. Q. What have you learned from your coaches as you go into your last championship? DEE FORD: Life isn't going to be like you expect it. Little do people know, we came into the season 2012, we felt very confident about that team, very confident. We worked very hard. We had a lot of talent. People don't know how much talent we had on that team last year. Things just did not fall like we thought it would. VanGorder came in, and he really pushed us. He really strained us. But things just don't pan out like you expect it. But my message is you need to be still. Don't try to make any drastic changes because things are bad. Just stay the course. I remember Chizik telling us that because me and Cory was‑‑ people were asking us after the year if we wanted to go to the NFL and pursue our career, you know, and due to family, him discussing everything, Cory went on and pursued his career. But I just remember Chizik telling me to be still, don't make any changes just because things are not going as you expect it. Be still and just let everything play out. What do you know? That's my biggest lesson, man. Things are not going to go like you expect, but you have to keep working. You have to stay the course. And at the end of the day, it's going to make a man out of you. It's going to feel a lot better once you persevere like we did. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: I don't look at it because I try not to be on cloud nine. But, obviously, I see it a lot. They even show it off of ESPN. I'm seeing it on Fox. So it's hard not to see it. But like I said, it's a blessing the way things have unfolded, and you really want‑‑ I mean, I'm not going to get upset when I see it just because I see it. Q. But if you do see it‑‑ DEE FORD: I'm happy for Chris, man. That really sky rocketed his college career. That was the biggest play ever, you know, and especially for him. I'm so happy for him and his future has really just propelled with just that one play. He's a great dude, man. Great dude. I've had a chance to get pretty close with him this summer. We worked out together. He's in my group. I always like to work out with DBs because I tell them I'm faster than them. I worked out with him. Me and him worked out the entire summer. I actually changed my workout time so I could get with him, and me and him has gotten a lot closer. I'm able to understand who he is as a person and how his life was. Q. He's been through a lot. DEE FORD: Yeah, he's been through a lot, and through all of that, he's still a great guy. He's a great father. That's the one thing I really admire. He's a great father, man. He's a great guy. I'm definitely glad I got a chance to really bond with him this summer. Q. [ No microphone ]. Talk about the ones that stood out, especially through last year. DEE FORD: You're talking about 2012, what stood out? Q. Some of the lowest points. DEE FORD: A few of the lowest points in 2012? I would have to say Texas A&M. That was a very low point. I mean, of course, like I said, we had a great‑‑ we had great weeks of practice, so we never come into games expecting things to unfold like they did. Things just didn't work out. We pretty much got embarrassed that game. It really challenged us as a team and who you are as an individual because, at a time like that, man, with the way the season was going‑‑ you'll find out who you really are at those times, and I was more proud to see guys come back that Sunday and say, hey, let's keep working. Let's forget about what's happened. We still have to get better. We just kept taking it from there, and it was‑‑ as hard as it was, we kept going, man, and we're able now to really preach it to the world that you have to keep working and things will work out. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: Now, Auburn is such a great‑‑ that's why I really admire Auburn, man. They really‑‑ as far as fans and students walking on campus, people really‑‑ I never heard any negative talk. People were just saying like, we still are with you all. You all just keep working hard. I actually remember the fans after a practice were crowded around our practice fields applauding us. We had a little Tiger walk, walking to our locker room. This is during the 2012 season, as bad as it was, and we really rallied together. People don't understand, there's a big story to these things. We had a lot of off the field things going on, a lot of deaths, people lost their parents, man, and people don't even understand like the things that we were going through. We're not using that as any‑‑ you know, as sympathy or anything. We just kept working hard. The people within Auburn knew the story, and we just kept moving. I really have to admire that. Q. When was that, that Tiger walk? DEE FORD: I forgot what game. It was after it. It was during practice. I think it was like a Thursday practice or Wednesday practice, something like that. Q. Was it November? DEE FORD: Could have been. It was towards the middle‑‑ it was later in the season when things were pretty bad. Q. How involved is Coach Malzahn with defense? DEE FORD: He's very‑‑ he watches a lot of the walk‑throughs. He actually speaks to us. I remember Ole Miss, he actually spoke to us during the walk‑through. It really gave us some cues. Man, that's Malzahn for you. He's a football guru. He definitely watches us. He's involved with all of his players, defense and offense. Q. You know he got his start as a defensive coordinator, right? One year. That's it. DEE FORD: Oh, that makes sense now. Q. You ever notice him helping Coach Johnson on game day? Is he standing back, or he gives him some feedback on things? DEE FORD:  I just really see him standing back, letting things work, letting his coaches coach. I think he really trusts in his coaches, from what I see. I don't really pay attention to who he's talking to, what he's doing, and things like that. From what I see, he's great at letting things unfold, really putting in the work and stressing it on game day. Q. [ No microphone ]. Talk about his personality. I know you don't work with him every day. DEE FORD: He's so knowledgeable of the game. He's able to give us scenarios, you know, of how things will unfold, and he's been correct every time. He tells us all the time that you're not going to be able to win playing in these environments and giving up this many big plays. He's like somebody's going to be knocking us off. He's really done a great job because he's seen it all. He's seen it all and done it all. He's able to really teach us life lessons, you know, outside of football and really kind of correlate that into these games and how these games will unfold. So he's definitely been a great plus for us coming in. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: I wouldn't say anything went wrong. I think it was just a perfect storm. That's what I think. Like I said, we practiced hard. We prepared. Things just didn't fall in place like it should have. This is our business. I think we all understand that it's a business. Changes had to be made, and that's life. That's what he told us when he left, on his last day, that's life, man. You just have to deal with it. Q. Do you still talk with him? DEE FORD: Yeah, I still talk with him. He's pretty busy, and we're pretty busy. I talk to him every now and then. Q. [ No microphone ]. DEE FORD: Was it rock bottom? Of course it was. One of the worst seasons we've had. Q. Did you watch the Sugar Bowl? DEE FORD: Yeah, I watched. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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