TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL: OHIO STATE v MIAMI

January 2, 2003

Jim Tressel

COACH JIM TRESSEL: I'm not sure what opening comment needs to be made at this stage other than it's been an incredible experience for our young people. We can't thank the folks and volunteers enough. It's been great for our travel party. Where we trained was second to none. The committee here has given us every opportunity to prepare and also have a great experience along the way. We're all just anxious to get out there on Friday evening.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: Well, I don't know. I don't know if it's overwhelming. I didn't fall over. But as you watch Miami on film, that's overwhelming. They're a great team. As you watch the excitement in our player's eyes and their desire to prepare, that's overwhelming and fun. This is exactly what you prepared for. This is why you do it. You just can't wait to get out there on Friday evening and I know both teams are excited. Both teams are well prepared. I'm sure we'll all represent college football very, very well.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: Of all the match-ups, well, I've known you for a long time. You've known that every single thing in our eyes is very important. All the way from the kick-off to the quarterbacks and the guys in the trenches and so forth. There is nothing that's not important. I think that's why people love football. That's what life's about. There is no one or nothing that's not important. That's the way it will be on Friday night. Every single person is going to be important.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: Our fan support on a daily basis is extraordinary. We feel it when we're home. When we're home, we feel it out here. It's amazing how many people have traveled this distance to see this game and just be around where this game is being played. I know our guys can feel that, and that's awful special.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: You would like to believe that you're prepared. I know this, the more experiences you have and you learn from your errors, you learn from your successes and we're very fortunate we have an excellent coaching staff who I think is very well prepared. I think our players have done an excellent job of paying attention to what needs to be done. On Friday we'll find out which teams does the things you need to do to become a champion.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: From a football player standpoint, Willis McGahee is extraordinary. I've never been around Barry Sanders. McGahee is a tremendous challenge for our football team. He does such a great job. Big plays he makes, excellent pass blocker, but try to keep him in the back field, and he does a great job blocking them. Maurice Clarett is a little bit younger, but he does a lot of the same things. Excellent power runner, great strength. Does an excellent job as receiver. Knows who to pick up in pass protection, which is sometimes hard to do for a young person. From personality standpoint, I don't think I've ever coached anyone exactly like Maurice Clarett that you would be aware of. I had a young guy from Youngstown that has two or three championship rings that would probably be the first guy that would pop up in my mind that was like him.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: I think in April -- or maybe it was late March -- it's the time of year that coaches really just bounce things off each other. It's your reflection time, design time, to think about are we heading in the right direction. We talked about recruiting. We talked about strength programs. We talked about the things that young people confront in this day and age. Really the football part of it was only about two hours on the field. I think whenever you get together with any of your colleagues you talk about everything that makes up the program and that's why I enjoy visiting spring practices and Larry was very open, and I made no secret about it, you want to go see how the best people do it. What I came away from is I can see why Miami is the best is because of the way they practice. I know their overall view of the big picture, the importance they attach to making sure that people graduate, making sure there is every support system available. They're strength area is very complete. They've made some facility improvements, which I was interested in seeing. You know, the whole gamut. What was neat was how open Larry was.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: I don't know that statistic that we were trailing in our last six games. We're confident that if we keep our mind on the task, we know what needs to be done for that moment. We did not design it to trail the last six games, but I think our guys are not a group that panics. I don't think they're a group that falls apart when they have a little adversity, but again, it's going to be neat to find out Friday night can you do it this time. What you've done before is one thing but what are you going to do this time.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: I'm very confident. I don't think when you have a group of 105 players and 20 some coaches and trainers and managers that you ever pretend that everybody is on the same page. I feel good about how they feel about one another. I feel good about the excitement our people have about their game. I feel good about their preparation. I feel good about this group.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: We've never used the word "underdog" unless we were talking about a blitz or something we were getting ready for. How do you control a team like Miami? I think Miami has the greatest combination of explosiveness and balance of any team we've seen. There is no question about it. Our guys know that every tackle is going to be important. Every shed of every block. You have to play your best football to compete against the likes of Miami. Our guys are very aware of the challenge ahead and they're anxious. This is the time I think where you start getting real anxious to see if you can do it. We've put in the work and time, we know what we're going to do, and let's see how we match up.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: I'm sure this national group wasn't aware that I was a great quarterback. The guy with the ball in his hand is crucial. The decisions he makes before the ball is snapped is crucial and then after the ball is snapped, the decisions and the plays that they make or don't make will have a huge determinant in the outcome of this game. I think you're seeing two of the best. I don't think either of those guys care how many passes they throw, how many times they have to do this or that. Those two guys want to win. I know that's why these two teams are front and center. They have two unselfish quarterbacks.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: We feel good about the preparation that the Big 10 conference gave us. We feel good about our early season schedule. Texas Tech and Washington State was a great test for us early in the season. Through all the guys we played, we felt like we have been prepared to face just about everything. Miami, I think, is unique in what they bring. I think the speed and tenacity and explosiveness and they're extremely well-schooled, you know. Who knows if you're prepared for that; you find out when you tee it up against them. I feel good about the preparation the Big 10 conference has given us.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: I think we all know as coaches that we're always vulnerable. If we don't play as well we can play, if we make errors or let the other team play better than we play. That's what's great about the game. I feel good that I think we know what we need to do to win. Now can we go out and do that. We're vulnerable and Miami is vulnerable.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: Outwardly excited? I suppose we all decide how we're going to approach something. We happen to be involved in the game and that's our task, and that's our moment. We feel a real responsibility to be focused on that task. I guess I always have taken the approach that I don't have time to be outwardly excited because we need to be thinking three plays later or whatever. I suppose when all the plays are done, maybe we can sneak in an outwardly excited moment. I don't know; we'll see.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: As I've mentioned it to all the people I've talked to, one never knows where someone is in the grieving process. I think he's going through it just like we all do when there is tough situations in his life. This might be a fortunate moment in that he's got a lot of family and friends and coaches around. I think he's working hard on handling that situation.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: You would have to ask him about that.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: We have certain things we do on Friday, the day before the game. We have certain things we always do, certain reminders and so forth that we take care of. We won't do much different than we do any other day other than we won't be going to class this morning and they won't be traveling. I think they have a pretty good handle and they keep brushing up on what it is that their particular role is. That's an individual thing. There might be some of us out there too high and some of us out there with our eyeballs way open. Usually when that first collision happens you roll up your sleeves and it's time to go to work.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: Personally Miami was the only one I visited. We had our coaches all over the country though. We had guys at Oklahoma and Louisville and various pro teams and so forth, but the only one I personally visited was Miami.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: Strategically if we're changing anything, I'm obviously not going to tell you. As far as the match-up, every match-up is crucial. There is not anyone in this room that knows what is going to be the difference in this game. We all might guess it's going to be this versus that, this versus that. None of us knows for sure. Nor do any of the players or coaches know. Therefore, we need to play every play like it's 4th and 1.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: The preparation for this national championship venue is one that has a lot more time involved. We knew six weeks ago that we were going to be here. Miami new a month ago. In the 1 AA playoffs you know six days in advance. Our budgets aren't real high and so we send out the Pony Express to meet someone halfway to pick up the film as opposed to FedEx. It's just a time difference, but really when this comes down to it, it's the same process. We have to figure out what it is we do best and what it will take to win the game.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: Yeah, we're staying right where we are. Am I confident that Maurice will play well? I'm confident that all of our guys will play well. I don't know exactly what's going through the minds and hearts of every person on our team. I don't know that. I don't know some of the conflicts that are going on within any individual. I feel good looking at our guys as they prepare and carry themselves. I feel good about all of them.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: If that was the format, you would have to fathom it. I've answered this question a million times. There is an extraordinary tradition about our Bowl situation that we have. I think we have 28 Bowls this year and there is 56 teams that get an opportunity to spend more time together. Their fans have a chance to be a part of that group. That's a lot of teams. If a playoff system would negatively affect our Bowl world I wouldn't be interested. If there were a way that you could see the great Bowl structure we have and have some sort of a playoff, I'm sure I would be in favor of that as well. That's kind of an evolution of what we're doing now. There used to be nothing. Now we've got a two-team game playoff. That was exciting in its own right. I don't think we ever want to consider doing anything that will affect our Bowl system.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: How much we appreciate them, how much we know that they are a part of any good fortune that we have had. I think the biggest way you can let people know how you feel about them is through your performance. As we go out and perform, I would like to think that our fans will see we appreciate them and they've certainly been a big part of why we're here.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: Well, you know, I've never looked at that. We don't sit around a whole bunch and think about things like that. When we get together with the team, there is usually a video machine on or someone up at the chalkboard or a discussion of the various things in relation to the game of football. We don't talk about extraneous type things. That's never come up in our conversation.

COACH JIM TRESSEL: I think the folks that have the ball in their hand have a big impact on which team is going to win. Usually it's the team that errors more that's not going to come up with the prize. That's certainly our approach with the quarterbacks. We have got to do a great job, make great decisions, make sure we don't turn the football over. We've got to make plays as well. There is a balance there. There is no question if you look at any championship environment, you're going to see the team that makes the least mistakes and the quarterback has a lot to do with it.