Dec. 13, 2008
FOR COMPLETE MEDIA DAY COVERAGE INCLUDING
PLAYER QUOTES, GO TO ROSE BOWL CENTRAL
Q. Just wondering what memories you have of the Rose Bowl? I know for a lot of years, you knew you (Penn State) couldn't really get into this game, but what kind of memories do you have of the game growing up, and was it something that you followed closely in your younger years and in your later years?
Well, when I was growing up, they had not started the Rose Bowl. (Laughter). You know, it always been one of those things that's always been out there. Back when I first came to Penn State, I have two connections with the Rose Bowl. Brown University was I think played in the first Rose Bowl back in 1914 or 1915, I think it was in the teens. And when I went to Brown, there was always talk about that team.When I came here, Penn State had played in the Rose Bowl in 1923, I think. Joe Bedenk was one of the better players on that football team who was a line coach here. You know, they talked about the trip and in those days, you went across on a train. In those days it was exotic. It was like an exotic place. You didn't think necessarily just about the football but the whole environment, the area, the parade, all of the things that go with making this a very, very special bowl, and they are the things I remember. Any particular game? Maybe Ohio State-Southern Cal game when O.J. Simpson had that great run early in the ballgame and some other things like that that I had a chance to see. When we went out (1995 Rose Bowl), obviously, I was not exactly sure what to expect. You don't realize how much there is involved with the rituals that go in the parade and all the other things. It was fun. It was exciting. I'm glad we won. We played against a team I had a lot of respect for (Oregon) and played against a coach, Richy Brooks; he and his wife, Karen, have become good friends of ours. So it was a wonderful experience and I'm hoping that we can have the same kind of trip.
Q. The players on the conference caller earlier, it is surprising how many players of yours have never even been to California. Just wondering how you prepare them for the reality and what is the myth. There's so much myth about what Hollywood and all that stuff is. You know, who created that myth. I think it's the Californians, isn't it?
No, obviously, as I said, it's an exotic environment about it. For sure you get out, looking out there, they think there's a starlight on every not starlights. What do they call those girls? Starlets? Whatever they are. I know they are girls, anyway. (Laughter). Obviously my job is to make sure we go out there and play a good football game. But I hope to have a good time, and I hope all of the things that are anticipated about the place they will enjoy and they will have a great experience, something they will remember all their lives.
Q. Are you at all disappointed not that Pat Devlin has left the program, but his decision came before the Rose Bowl rather than after?
I don't think I want to sit and judge what Pat and his family wanted to do. I think that, you know, I've got kids of my own and there was some tough decisions we've had to make with them from time to time. I think that Pat obviously had been thinking about it for a while. The timing is maybe not the best as far as we are concerned, but it may be the best for him. I have no ill feelings, as I told him. I said, "Pat, I hope you're making the right decision and I wish you luck." And I do wish him luck. He's a good kid and a fine football player and obviously it's a loss for us, but you go on, and I wish him the best. But the timing, that was his call. It's his life and they had to make the call which, I think, is best for them.
Q. You've talked before about what you took the Hostetlers into that room and told him maybe the best thing for Jeff would be to leave Penn State when you were to give the job to (Todd) Blackledge. Can you create a parallel between this situation and that, and did you ever feel obligated to tell Pat to maybe go somewhere else because he...
I told you, Pat left and it was his decision to make and I wish him luck. You're talking about apples and oranges. I never told Hostetler to leave. I told him at that stage that I thought that Blackledge would probably be our starting quarterback. I hoped he would stay, but whatever he did, if he wanted to transfer, I would help him out, period. I don't think there's any comparison.
Q. With Devlin leaving and with the depth situation that you have at quarterback, how much does that affect what you want to do with Clark? Do you believe a little more cautious with him?
I don't think we want to do a lot different. I've tried to every time we've gotten into talking about quarterbacks, I've always tried to inject Paul Cianciolo into it. I think I've said that at many a conference, press conference, that we had three good kids, and Paul's smart as a whip. He's got good leadership qualities, and if we get in a jam for one reason or another, there's no reason Paul can't step in there and do the job. He's a good football player, Paul, and a good leader. So I'm not worried about that. Now we get another bump in there, of course we have some problems.
Q. How about looking forward, how much does that factor into your thinking?
In what way?
Q. What you do on offense next year?
I haven't even thought of '09. You know, we've got a ballgame to play in a couple of weeks and we've got to get ready for that one and then I'll worry after that's over.
Q. Who is your third string quarterback?
Right now? We have a walk on kid we'll take a look at.
Q. What about Derrick Williams?
Well, we've played Williams a little bit in there, anyway, during the year. I wouldn't want to do a lot more than what we have done with him because of the fact that he's still got an awful lot of...he's carrying an awful lot of weight on his shoulders as it is now.
Q. You've constantly had situations over the years where you've got two guys, or maybe even more, who can play, who really can play (quarterback). Do you have any overlying rules of how you try to keep everyone happy, what's the do see doe that you have to go through with this. It must be endless.
Well, everyone is different and that's the thing that's fascinating about the job. You have 110, 115 kids out there, some of them, you know, just are completely committed just to being on the practice field and being a part of it. And other guys are kids that have had great success maybe in high school and things have not worked out well for them. You try to be as fair as you can without misleading them. But it's not easy. It's not an easy thing to do. And everyone is different. If I told you there's a formula I have, you know, I don't. I try to treat each kid as a unique situation. I obviously consult with the coaches at times. Sometimes I don't agree with them and I do it my own way, anyway. It's one of those things that goes with the territory.
Q. The situation can be so fluid with two guys who are relatively equal. Do they misconstrue sometimes things that you say?
Well, I wouldn't doubt it. You try to explain and you try to give them an equal shot at it. You know, beauty is the in the eye of the beholder. Depends on where you are. And then you expect kids to get a little bit, sometimes a little upset about maybe they didn't get this shot or maybe they weren't doing this or that stuff. But that's right across the board. That's not just the high profile. You have kids who are in there playing defensive line and linebackers and just about everywhere, and once in awhile there's a couple of kids that they think should be, and we try to keep an open door, try to consult with them, but not baby them. I've got to do what's best for the football team.
Q. Can you talk a little about what you've seen from USC on film so far?
I've seen an awfully good football team. This is a very, very talented team and they are as good probably as anybody in the country. I didn't realize until I took a good look at them how good they are on defense. Everybody knows how explosive they can be on offense, but the two things that I had not really paid much attention to was how active and aggressive they are defensively, and just how good they are. I think they have only had about nine or ten touchdowns scored on them all year. That, and their kicking game. The kid who kicks off for them, you are starting from your 20 most of the time. He gets the ball deep into the end zone, and when you look up there, people very rarely have good field position. Most of the time they are starting, they hustle all the time and they have got an excellent quarterback who is a great leader. And Pete Carroll does a great job of coaching them. Once you get into a groove or once you get into a situation where you can kind of feel comfortable, you go from here to there, there to here and he'll change up on you so quick it will make your head swim. It's a real challenge. But, they are a very good football team.
Q. Did you ask Pat Devlin to stay through the Rose Bowl, or was it his decision that he was dead set to leave at that point?
Well, he came in to talk to me, and he was in and he said he wanted to talk to me. He said his mom and dad would like to meet me, so they came over to the house on Monday and we talked and it was obvious that he was going to leave. I said, "Wouldn't you like to come out to the Rose Bowl," which I probably should not have said. He said, "Well, it's up to you, Coach." After I thought about it, I thought it might be a distraction. I didn't think it would be fair to the others, particularly if he wasn't going to you know what I mean, I didn't want to do that. I didn't think that would be fair to Paul. But that doesn't mean that Pat didn't have a right to do what he wanted to do.
Q. And one more thing, on recruiting. You only have one scholarship quarterback right now going into next year. Do you second guess the recruiting process for the quarterbacks over the past few years that you're in this position now?
Not really. I thought we were in really good shape. We are trying to recruit a quarterback. I thought we would be in pretty good shape. We have a kid who is a junior, a kid who was a senior next year I'm talking about, and a kid coming in, a quality quarterback and that hasn't happened yet, but we are working on it.
Q. Could you talk about how Navorro Bowman has grown both on and off the field in the past year?
Well, it's hard to put those things quantitatively, how much has he improved. He obviously has become a better football player every game he plays, because he's more alert and more comfortable and he anticipates things better. And he's always been great not a great athlete, but a very good athlete, on the verge of being really good, being better than really good. And he's matured off the field. I think he got in a couple of scrapes that were really he came out of a situation where he needed a little bit more attention, which happens to a lot of those young guys. But he's become very solid. And when he lost his dad, I think that was a shock to him and kind of made him think twice about his obligation to his family and some things.
Q. Are you starting to get back into a routine with your hip and how are things going with your rehab? Are things starting to get back to normal?
I think pretty good. I think they tell me, "I can't do this; well, go slow." They are all worried about my going too fast. But I feel good, I really do. I don't have any problems. I know when I start to do some things for a little longer period of time, I get a little tired. That will be a couple of days, but after that, I'll be fine.
Q. You walked in here. Have you not been using a walker or a cane besides when you walked in here?
I only used a walker one, two days because they wanted me to do it because they thought it was safer. And then I have been using I have a cane I'll use every once in a while if I'm on my feet a lot. And I start to get a little tired, I might use the cane, just because you get a little worried about balance. And they are all worried about the fact that maybe I'll have a slip or something. But most of the time, I walk around, and I haven't spent a lot of time outside of the house because the weather has been bad, but I walk around most of the time without a cane.
Q. You are able to stand here for 30 minutes, do you think you'll be able to stand for the entire sidelines for the Rose Bowl game?
I can't tell you right now. I'm going to wait and see. I'm going to try to do some things in practice, not here, but when we get out to the coast, I'll try to figure out just how much stamina I have on my feet. I'm going to try to coach without the motor scooter and (Tom) Venturino (his driver), but other than that, I'm okay.
Q. How painful was this year for you?
It wasn't pleasant. I'm a lot better. You know, they do wonderful things. Dr. (Wayne) Sebastianelli did a great job. Really, I don't have any pain. If this were before the operation, just standing up, I had a lot of pain. Obviously, I didn't want to get up here and probably would have had it and be moaning about it. But it was a pain in the rear end to be honest with you. But right now, I don't have any pain.
Q. How much have you been able to get back to sort of your normal routine at least in terms of practice, walking around in practice?
Well, I haven't done that yet. Last weekend we practiced Friday and Saturday, and we had recruits up last weekend and we have some up here this weekend. So they were long weekends, and then we had the Quarterback Club banquet for the seniors on Sunday, so that last weekend was a long weekend, and I did pretty well. I think I'm fine. I've just got to keep testing myself a little bit more every day, that's all, and that's what I'm going to try to do.
Q. Now that you have the health issue out of the way, have you had any conversations, formally or informally with Graham Spanier, or do you have any plans on when that might shake down, either before or after the Bowl?
I've talked to (Tim) Curley a little bit about a couple possibilities, without getting into it, and I'll imagine we'll maybe talk a little bit next week. We are in final exams and no practice or anything like that (next week). I'll have most of our practice plans put together for what we want to do out on the coast, so I'll have a little bit more time next week.
Q. So, would you like hope to have something established before the Bowl game?
Well, if we get it, fine. You guys are more concerned about things than I am. I think that things are whatever the university will be fair to me. I'm not going to get in there. If we can work out something that they are comfortable with and I'm comfortable with before the bowl, fine. I'm not really...I just get tired of recruits asking me, "how long are you going to be there?" But most of them are fine. And we've had a good year recruiting. We have a couple of kids that haven't announced it yet that are really going to add to our program, and we have a couple more we are close with. I think it's worked out alright.
Q. A couple of guys today have talked about some of the impact that you've had on them when they came in here as freshmen compared to when they are leaving now. You spoke a couple times towards the end of the season about the conversations that you had with your father and having an impact when you got here and everything. You went through the last home game for the senior class, and now you'll have the last game for the senior class officially. What do you hope the guys accomplish when they get out of here football related and not football related, and what do you hope they have learned here?
Well, I don't know whether you can separate them, whether it's football-related or not football-related. I think the football experience is an educational experience if it's handled properly. I think a kid who goes out there, who may not be the...he's got some things he has to overcome in order to be able to play and he has to work on some things he's not really good at; he's got to do that, and he's got to make a commitment to a group and he's got to understand what loyalty is all about. He's got to understand the difference, the up and downs; some days you are down and you have to suck it up and go up. I think all of the things that you are trying to get across to a bunch of kids on a squad, to appreciate each other and all those things; if this were my team, you tell them, you look around there, your best friends 30 years from now sitting next to you or behind you or in front of you, and that's the way it will be. Hopefully you've learned from each other and you've helped each other and I hope when you go into business or whatever you do, that you'll take that with you. You have a couple of things, "either you get better or you get worse" and all those kind of things that I keep pushing to them, because I think those things they need later on when they get into some situations in life. Because most of the kids that are going to leave here have got a certain amount of leadership qualities, and what they become will be how high they set their goals and whether they are willing to make the sacrifices and the commitment to those goals as to how far they are going to go, and I preach that to them all the time.
Q. You have said in the past that your health will be the big determinant in terms of how much longer you'll be able to coach, and you also said you hope to maybe coach three or four more seasons. Now that you've had the operation, and you've talked about the pain that you were in during the season. Now that you've had the operation and starting to feel a little better, how much longer do you think you can project out further?
Oh, gee, if you add...I feel great, I really do. Now that I have this thing, and I can wake up in the morning and I don't have to worry about...it's tough when you're in pain all day, and sometimes you get to the point where you wonder whether it's worth it. But now I feel good and the one thing about having the operation, I tell you what, I've had more blood pressure tests, temperature tests, more people working on the heart, more people checking everything, and everything comes out good. There's no reason for me not to think that I can go for a while. Now how long is a while? I don't know. If I think I'm doing a good job, if I can keep my staff together, I could be sitting down there writing columns. (Laughter).
Q. What advantages do you have as a coaching staff having a full month to prepare for a game, as opposed to five, six days to prepare for a game?
Well, it's obviously a different situation. The biggest problem, the biggest thing that you have to do is be careful you don't try to become a different team. You have a football team that gets you where you're going, and there is a longer space and the hard part is to make sure that they don't get you have to keep them on a certain level of conditioning. You don't want to overdo it. You don't want them getting bored. You don't want them getting tired. And you want to put one or two little thing in there that are going to be a little different so that the other guy you're playing can't say, "hey, this is what they are going to do all the time." So there are some things like that that work into it. But the biggest thing is not to lose who you are, and to build on that and try to get better, try to get everybody a little bit better, a little bit quicker and play a little faster and do it without having a bunch of tired, bored guys. We practiced last Friday and Saturday, and we practiced this Friday and Saturday. We won't practice again until a week from Sunday (Dec. 21) when we get everybody together out there in California, and we'll practice maybe eight, nine days out there and try not to, try not to do what I just said. Try not to overdo it, get bored and all that kind of stuff, and feel really good when we are going into the Rose Bowl.
Q. You've coached Penn State in so many big games and bowl matchups; what can a win in the Rose Bowl do for this program long term?
I don't know. I think we are in pretty good position right now. We really have a nice, young squad. We are going to lose some people, obviously, but we think we have some people that we can plug in there that can do a good job and it will be very competitive. Obviously if we were to go out to the coast and had a great showing on national television and all that stuff, it's got an impact I would imagine. Although, I'm not sure if at this stage it would have. It's very late in the recruiting season. People have seen an awful lot of us on television. Most of the kids we are chasing are kids that are close by, fairly close by. So, obviously we go out there and hope we play a heck of a football game. Whether or not we are good enough against a team as Southern Cal, we'll find out. Because as I started out saying, I think this is one heck of a football team we are going to play.
Q. Daryll Clark was named First Team All Big Ten at the end of the season. Could you have predicted that he would be able to be as productive as he was this season?
Well, that successful, not really. The guy that really should take the credit would be Jay Paterno, because at one time I was doubtful whether Daryll would ever be a good enough passer because he had a little bit of a jerky motion. He obviously was a strong runner, a good competitor. He was a little bit, not backwards, but shy as far as being the leader he became. But he came and he had a heck of a year and he's a heck of a football player, and I think a lot of that, I can't take any credit for it. I think he and Jay; Jay believed in him, and I think he grew with that.
Q. With seven one loss teams in the top eight and a lot of commotion about what happened to Texas inside the Big 12, do you think there's more support out there now for a playoff than there's ever been, knowing that you've been a proponent for it for a very long time?
Well, we've got the President-elect for it. That's a pretty good vote. I think there is more. I think all of us would love to see...I don't vote anymore. When Auburn I think it was in 2005, I'm not sure what year (2004) Auburn was undefeated and was eliminated from the BCS for the championship game just as Texas is, and maybe even Southern Cal, belongs in that category, and maybe somebody else down the line, maybe one or two of the undefeated teams, Utah. They said, "well, you can't vote for Auburn." They called me up and said, "you can't vote for Auburn" and I said, "no, I'm not going to vote for somebody. I think Auburn deserves it as much as anybody else." The AFCA, who was affiliated with the USA Today and the group, he called me up and said, "hey, Joe, come on." (I said) "I'm not going to do it." USA (Today) called me up, sports editor of USA. So as a result, I've been eliminated from the voting because I didn't vote. I'm not a poll kind of guy. I think there's too much....there are too many people that don't see a lot of other clubs and don't understand them, sometimes and don't have the time to do it. So, I would like to see it, obviously, a playoff. I have not heard any good reasons as far as the welfare of the student-athlete, play a couple of games more. They play in a lot of games in high school and you see the basketball people in Maui as far as everything else in classes and miss fewer classes. But I'm sure if I sat down with some people with the BCS, they would have good reasons for what they are doing. But that's a long answer to, "Yeah, I'd like to see a playoff."
Q. Along with the coaches voting - that's one third of the BCS formula. How much time did you spend on your ballot and do coaches even have time on Sundays to even put any time into that stuff?
I don't know what the other people did, but until it came down to crunch time, I usually had somebody on the staff, to be honest with you.
Q. Aaron Maybin, he was named a first team All American, was not even a projected starter at the beginning of the year. How would you analyze that?
I always felt Maybin, he would come off the practice field and I would say to those guys - "tell you what, with those tackles, they are going to get discouraged trying to get ahold of Maybin," because when he just had to handle the pass, he's tough, he's so quick. My problem with Maybin was always the fact that he's kind of a guy that's a happy go lucky guy, once in a while studies hard. I had to call him in a couple of times and say: "Hey, if you don't get going in class or do this, I'm not going to play you" kind of thing. But, I think he's a good football player. Here again, I think Larry Johnson did a great job this year, and he has not got enough credit for what he did with those guys. You think of the guys that got hurt like (Jerome) Hayes and other guys that got hurt, and the guys that I asked to leave and some of the injuries we had with the (Devon) Still kid and some other kids, I think Larry just did a fantastic job.
Q. Haven't there been some bowl games where you've approached it with looking at some kids that may project to next year, you have an offensive line, receivers in particular, where you're going to lose a lot of people, or are you just kind of really zeroed in on Southern Cal? How are you approaching this?
No, we are zeroed in on Southern Cal. But I'll always try to figure out where we could get eight, ten, 20 minutes with, say, the second offensive line. Maybe we're going to lose some people in the secondary. I keep telling Tom (Bradley) and Kermit (Buggs), "Hey, if you get 15, 20 minutes, keep them out a little longer and get them a little bit more comfortable." Not only necessarily for what you're suggesting for next year, but for the depth we may need in a football game. You can't...a couple of guys go down and you have to play with a couple of guys that haven't played a lot and probably need a little more work. But during the season, we don't practice nearly as much as most people do, because we are never on the field two hours. So sometimes, we cut the second kid short a little bit as far as reps, but a bowl game gives you chance to get caught up a little more.
Q. You just talked about your down linemen on defense. Jared Odrick in particular, what kind of season do you think he had and what kind of future does he project out?
Well, I think he's had a really good year. I think Jared is a fine football player. Again, he's a kid that got hurt a year ago and was set back. I think if he continues to improve and works at it, I think he's got a good future; not only here next year, but I think beyond that. I've not really sat down and figured out where, but he's a good football player and he's played well and he's a good kid to coach, works hard and I think if he keeps the same attitude, I think he's got the makings of a football player maybe in the pros.
Q. Maybin and Odrick both said that they had submitted paperwork asking for evaluations on where they might go in the draft. Have they talked to you at all about that, and how do you typically handle those situations?
Well, they didn't talk to me, but they have talked a little bit. The NFL has really been very good about that stuff. They notify you as soon as some kid and that's a question of trying to get some evaluation.
I have had kids that have come to me. Mike Munchak, who wanted to stay, and I said, "Get out of here, Mike." He graduated. And same thing with (Todd) Blackledge. When Blackledge came along, he had another year, I told him to get going. If I hadn't thought that they shouldn't move on, if they were a little bit behind, I would have been a little bit I wouldn't have been as encouraging.
So I think after they get some evaluation from the NFL, if they think that there's a possibility they may want to come out, I'm sure they will come out and talk to me then. I don't think it's necessary to talk to me now.