Coach Davie Previews USC Matchup

Irish battle Trojans in Los Angeles.

November 24, 1998

BOB DAVIE: First of all, I'm surprised so many of you are here. I thought you'd be out on that golf course today, enjoying this weather. I tried to call Paul Hackett and tell him we ought to just play a game in South Bend, where the weather is good. Why go out there to L.A. on the west coast and take a chance on the weather? We've been very, very fortunate in a lot of ways this season. I promise you, having this kind of weather in late November to practice is another bit of good fortune.

I think everyone is excited about going out to Los Angeles, being a 9-1 football team, having a chance to play in the Los Angeles Coliseum against USC. We play in so many big games -- you've heard me say a bunch of times -- it's always like a Bowl Game atmosphere. But I think this game really is -- really is a special and unique game.

This is the fifth time I've had a chance to coach in this game: Last year, first time as a head coach playing in Notre Dame Stadium. But this time going out to SC and playing in the Coliseum is something that I'm really looking forward to. I can remember, probably like a lot of you guys, but growing up back in Pittsburgh and watching these game games on television, Notre Dame and USC, and it seems like the games in the Coliseum always stood out. Maybe it was that bright sunshine and maybe a lot of different things. But I think this is -- this is a tradition-rich football game and one of the unique rivalries in all of sports.

So I think our team is really excited to go. In fact, I know they are. Also, as you all know, it's a big challenge. I think several things are really important going out there. First, I talked to our football team right after the game Saturday, number one, about being a rested football team. I think we've gotten a lot of mileage of our off-season program. We are a more durable football team. You just have to look at the injuries to realize that. We are a pretty good team in the second half. But to be rested this week is critical. The last time we went out there late in that 4th quarter and into overtime, I really thought we got tired. We ran out of gas.

Any time you take a trip like this to the west coast, you have to have a plan for the entire week. We're going to approach it pretty much like it's the Arizona State game, as far as planning. We're going out Thursday. We're going to practice Friday out there, and really just try to do a good job of being a rested football team, as much as possible this late in the season. I think that's critical.

Second thing, I think you want to be a focused football team. Sometimes you take for granted just because you're 9-1, just because the game has so much significance, that the team is going to be focused. That isn't always the case, particularly when you go to different parts of the country. As I was saying to our players last night, "You don't need to get all excited about that ocean." We were standing there in Newport Beach and you can see the ocean. I said, We've got a couple of those lakes on our campus if you want to look at the different settings. But I think you get my point. I want no distractions and I want no issues going out there other than just us playing a football game trying to be 10-1. And this time of the year, issues always take on more significance. There seems to be more issues, but the only issue is to try to become a 10-1 football team.

I think the third thing that's really critical for us this week is to practice like it's a game as much as possible. It's that way every week, but certainly this week I think with our quarterback situation, it's even more critical. So we are going to practice in the stadium all week. We are going to try to get some crowd noise in there. We are going to try to play that Trojan fight song. I even talked to Hunter Smith about trying to get a white horse off his ranch down in Texas. We're going to try to make it as much like a game as we can, particularly for these quarterbacks. And more so than all the things I just talked about, just trying to practice faster, make it game-type situations, because we do have two new quarterbacks in that huddle.

I think the fourth thing and the most important thing is we need to make an improvement this week. I think that's obvious. Starting first with special teams; field goal and extra point is obviously a concern. We had four kicks that, you know, basically the kicker kicked low. We had a little bit of an operation problem on one. We've got to get that resolved. We have to get our kickoff coverage resolved, and we need to really improve in special teams because I think with USC, the biggest improvement they made last year in my opinion was on special teams. Defensively, we need to make improvement in the secondary. We're still young back there. But now it's a point in the season where you're not young anymore. We need to do a better job, communication; we need to do a better job, fundamentals; and we need to do a better job, technique. And we need to be a little more disciplined and that's another reason why we need to practice all week just like it is a game. We're going to put a lot of pressure on those young QB.

I think on offense we obviously need to improve a lot of things, but it's a different week. It's a different week because of the two quarterbacks that have not played a whole lot in games. But it's an exciting situation, and I think it's a situation our football team is going to rally around because those both of those players are well well-liked and well-respected by their teammates and coaches.

So the only concerns I have about either one of them is that they have not done it in games. But quite on honestly I am looking forward to watching them play because they have worked hard all year. Eric Chappell has worked hard for three years. And they deserve the opportunity.

I think USC, I think they are an excellent football team. I think they are a much-improved team from last year. You look offensively, their skill-position players are, in my opinion, as good as there is in the country, their wide receivers. They have got four wide receivers that are just outstanding. It seems like they have played an awful long time. So I'm concerned about that matchup.

The quarterback is a young freshman, strong arm, unlimited future. We know a lot about him. We had him in our summer camp here as a junior. We thought he was one heck of a player. So he's a good player. I know, they are good. They have got good-skill position players. They are a good offensive team. Defensively, they have improved a lot. I think they are well-coached. They play hard. They remind me a lot of Arizona State from a scheme standpoint. Their aggressive front man-to-man, bump-and-run coverage at the corners, dropping the safeties down in to top the run. Don't blitz a whole lot but they play really hard. I do think they are well-coached.

The kicking game, their returners are excellent. Soward will be back there. McCutcheon will be back there. Parker will be back there. Really good in all phases of the return. And their kicker, Abrams, is really a solid kicker. So it's going to be a heck of a football game. I'm excited going out there. I think -- in fact, I know our team is excited, and we really have to focus and we have to improve as a team this week to win this game. So there's a lot of issues. There's a lot of things surrounding this game, but I think this football team has done an exceptional job all year of just worrying about impressing ourselves as a football team. I tell them every night, the only ones we need to impress are ourselves and that's pretty much what the posture will be going into the game this week.

So at this time I'll be happy to answer any questions that you might have.

Q. What, if anything, are you going to be doing differently with the offense? We've heard all year about coaches around of the country taking things out of the package and moving it back and making it a little more basic for younger and newer quarterbacks when they come in. What are Arnaz and Eric able to handle?

BOB DAVIE: You know, I think in the running game, we may actually add a couple things, take advantage of their abilities. In the passing game, I think we're going to reduce some of the reads and really make them throw the ball to a spot predetermined maybe a little bit more than we do -- than we did later in the year with Jarious.

So all in all, there's not going to be a whole lot of change. The quarterback position obviously is only one position. And you've got other players on offense that are in sync and rhythm, comfortable with the scheme. Even though that position is crucial and vital, particularly on our offense, you're not going to make 10 other players uncomfortable by doing something totally different. So we've got confidence in both those players. If we cut back in any area it would be just on the reads, in the drop-back passing game. Just because they haven't done it, particularly against a secondary like USC, which is outstanding.

Q. When you say you might expand a little bit in the running, are you talking about the quarterback running?

BOB DAVIE: I'm not going to give any secrets out. I just think both those players add an element to our offense, and, you know, you like to take advantage of whatever element they add. But it won't be any drastic scheme change from what we have.

Q. Single wing?

BOB DAVIE: Exactly.

Q. What are your thoughts on the Bowl Championship Series standings, No. 9 currently, Fighting Irish are ranked No. 9; is that a fair assessment? What are your overall thoughts on the way they are assessing the teams this year? BOB DAVIE: I think that's probably fair. I mean, we started way back in the back of that bus, you know and we've had to work our way up. We've played a lot of close football games. We pulled out some games at the end. I can certainly understand being ranked No. 9. I think that's a credit to our football team, in all honesty, from where we started the season.

So you know, I think the real issue is just in the Championship Game, if you're looking at three undefeated teams at the end of the season and only two can go, you know, that's really the situation that would be certainly unique. I can only imagine being the team that was left out of out of that championship game if you were 11-0 or 12-0. But let's face it. It's not a perfect world. This is not an exact science. But I think it's the best system we have right now, other than a playoff system. And if I was that one team that was left out, you know, I would probably be devastated by it. But I would probably approach it that, you know, you make the best of the situation and you try to make people prove they were wrong but not taking you in that championship game.

But you know I think it's really kind of fun. I think anything that draws a lot of conversation is kind of what athletics is all about. So you know, I think it's a fair. I think it's the best system we have right now, other than the playoff, but it's not exact and I think most coaches around the country would understand that and except that.

Q. How would you evaluate your coaching staff this past season?

BOB DAVIE: Well, I think they have gone an outstanding job. I think, you know, the personality of this team is starting to reflect the personality of the coaching staff, and I think that's one of unselfishness. I think, you know, we are not a team of stars that's made up of a bunch of stars, but we're not a coaching staff that's made up of a bunch stars either. I think it's a good, solid work ethic with everything chairing what credit this is to share, and it's a group made up of unselfish people, and I think that's probably the thing that I'm most proud of. And I think it's a resilient group and I think our coaching staff is that. So I think they have done an excellent job and they are a great group of guys to be around, and, you know, I think they have done an outstanding job.

Q. I was wondering if you could sort of assess both Eric Chappell and Arnaz Battle and what their strengths are and what their shortcomings might be. I know you said the quarterbacks are very similar in but ways might they be different? Not so much in style of play, but maybe in the way they lead or the way they conduct themselves?

BOB DAVIE: I think Eric, just due to the fact that he's been around here a lot longer, three years, has been in a lot of different situations, is a little more vocal, a little more of a, kind of an upbeat style guy compared to Arnaz. You know, Arnaz is just a freshman. And I think just Eric, because of -- because of having been around here longer is a little bit more of an upbeat type personality and I think he plays that way a little bit more maybe than Arnaz does.

Arnaz is a real solid, steady, you know not-make-a-mistake type of player, and that's really exciting because he's only a freshman. Eric may be a little bit more of a big-play type player, maybe takes a few more risks. You know, but I don't really know. Until you -- it's one thing on the practice field and it's another thing in the game. And I am really excited watching both of them play. I think the question becomes: Is Arnaz one hundred percent healthy. That's probably the only concern I have right now, that along with the obvious concern of just never having done it in a game and how you respond when something bad happens in a game. But they are very similar as players.

Q. Also if I could follow up on a different topic, when you said there's a lot of issues right now and that kind of -- are you mostly referring to the talk of what -- of what Bowl assignment Notre Dame is going to end up getting?

BOB DAVIE: Exactly. I think that would be the biggest issue right now. And you know, let's face it, with a football team late in the season, there's postseason All-Star games for senior players. There's combine talk coming up. There's draft talk. There's always a lot of issues, particularly late in the season, particularly when you're having a successful season. And the thing I've been most pleased about is the play of our seniors and I want to keep that focus and make sure that we're all on the same page going out to California and what we're going out there for and I know we are on the same page because that's been the strength of this football team.

Q. Is that -- does that become an awful strain at Notre Dame and at other schools is when they keep talking about millions of dollars are on the line based on the outcome of these games; that strikes me as perhaps a little bit much for college players but that's sort of the reality of it? BOB DAVIE: I kind of joked with our players last night about if any discussion does come up about an $8 million game or any of those issues, I said, "Guys, I don't want to break your heart, burst your bubble, but you're not going to see any of that 8 million anyhow."

So I don't think this really is an issue with this football team. I think it makes for good conversation. I think it adds intrigue to the game just like it did when we went out to Air Force in 1995. But in all honesty, with players, I don't think it's all that much of an issue. We're feeding them pretty good food right now. They have got pretty good equipment, pretty good pads. That scholarship is worth about $30,000 a year now. They get the best books we can buy them. Adidas gives us the best shoes. We have pretty good video equipment. I don't see a whole lot changing for those players whether there's 8 million or 1 million involved. So we just really have some fun with it, but I do think it's a pretty good conversation point.

Q. Could you just talk a little bit about your running back's perserverance? You were talking earlier in the season about going maybe to a little bit more speed but he's had a pretty solid season for you.

BOB DAVIE: Talking about Autry Denson?

Q. Please, yes.

BOB DAVIE: Autry Denson's been a little bit nicked up: He has his shoulder, he also had a hand there. He also had his hand. But he's a heck of a kid. He broke the all-time Notre Dame rushing record. More concerned about having fumbled in the first half against Navy than he was about that record. He's had a great season. You know, and that helps you going into a game like this. If you were going out to SC with just a drop-back passing style kind of a team and it was all on the quarterback and the quarterback went down, you would really be concerned. I'm not saying that we're not concerned, but we've got some other weapons and I think this football team and guys like Autry Denson are going to respond to that. And he's been that way all through his career. He's found a way to get things done. And I anticipate him to really play hard Saturday night out there.

Q. What is it about his makeup, his style, Bob, that makes him so able to perservere and kind of fight through things?

BOB DAVIE: I think he loves football, bottom line. I think he just loves to play. He goes out there every day and practices like he plays in those games. He just enjoys it. He's always talking about football. He's always talking about NFL teams and college teams and loves those teams in the state of Florida now. That's all he talks about is that Florida high school football. But he's a guy that enjoys football, and because of that he competes.

Q. What is Arnaz's shoulder? Why is it still bothering him? He's not a hundred percent yet. Are you surprised it's taken him this long to come back?

BOB DAVIE: I don't know enough to say it's a surprise or not. He actually sprained his shoulder. If was a pretty severe sprain in the Baylor game. And it's really not a problem, other than it just causes him some discomfort. He thinks he'll be with one hundred percent by the end of the week. If you stand there and watch him, he really doesn't show it but there's still in discomfort there. And we haven't scrimmaged. He hasn't taken a hit on that thing.

Q. That's your concern, taking a hit on that shoulder?

BOB DAVIE: And just how he responds and once he's in there and he does take a hit.

Q. Any lack of strength in his throwing?

BOB DAVIE: Not much. Maybe a lit bit on the velocity of the ball a lit. But not something that you would just notice.

Q. (Inaudible) -- trip out to Air Force and Tom Kruk (ph) took over for Ron. What do you remember about the way in which he handled that situation and the way the team responded to him that way? And will any of that experience -- will you rely on think of those experiences to use this week?

BOB DAVIE: What I remember about that is we had an open date going into that game, first. But we played probably our best football game of the year as a team. We played extremely well on defense. The offense ran the ball down their throat. We played really well as a team, and I think that's the lesson you take out of it and the message you take out of it. Tom Kruk (ph) played well but Tom Kruk (ph) wasn't the biggest factor in the football game. It was those other 21 players, and I think that's the lesson to be learned with the whole thing is raising the level of the players around that quarterback. And also, Tom Kruk, (ph) didn't hurt this football team. You didn't haven't have fumbled snaps. You didn't have cadence problems.

So we put a big emphasis just on the mechanics and the operation and making sure that by today, we have a game plan. In other words, we only practice what we're going to play, and that sounds easy, but as a coach, you know, you have a tendency to want to have the whole menu sometimes and this is a week where you'd better cut that menu down on Tuesday to make sure you're going to get more reps of the plays you're going to run in the game. Plus, it's interesting when I talked Lara (ph) about 1986 and going out there, who knows how it's going to turn out, but you always do draw on your past experiences. But it's elevating the play of the people around the quarterback and reducing the pressure on the quarterback, I think.

Q. Have you decided on kickoff duties yet? You said you were going to think about having Sanson do it?

BOB DAVIE: We looked at both last night. You know, Sanson -- I'm not sure Sanson is still one hundred percent with that injury he had in his quad. You know, I would hate to go out there and just have him cut it loose on Tuesday or Wednesday and all of the sudden we don't have a kicker. So it's a little bit of a problem right now. You know, Hunter has done some extremely good things for us. He's also -- he'll be the first to admit he's been a little bit inconsistent at times. But the solution I'm not sure I like of going out and practicing and seeing if Jim Sanson is the answer. So we've looked at Jim, but I anticipate it will be Hunter Smith again Saturday.

Q. Is Jim doing something different with his mechanics that led to the low kick Saturday?

BOB DAVIE: You know, we've gone back and forth and we've tried to -- we've really tried to isolate that and it really doesn't appear that he did. He hit the ball just a little bit higher on the ball and, you know, he got a little bit of pressure off the corner one time and other than that, he just kind of drilled it low. The one he missed, he got up in the air quickly but he hooked it. So you know we're going to try to just let it work itself out because eventually that's the only way it's going to work anyhow. But we're going to work a lot of in practice and that's another reason we're practicing in the stadium.

Q. I wanted to get some reaction on you as being a finalist for Coach of the Year.

BOB DAVIE: You know, I think it's just, you know the fact that this football team has made some improvements and -- and it might have my name on it but it's really those assistant coaches. It's just that we're a 9-1 football team late in the season. And you're happy that people around the country respect the work that maybe the coaches and players are doing and realize some of the challenges here at Notre Dame. So I'm going to make a big issue about it, but it's something that we're proud of as a football team and as a coaching staff.

Q. Regardless of who starts at quarterback, it sounds like you're going to play both guys. As long as they are both healthy they are both going to seek time. What's going to be the thought if somebody is not getting the job done or if you just want to try the one that didn't start? And I know that you've had discussions since Saturday with the rest of offensive staff. What is going into it and are you starting to get an idea of how that ebb and flow --

BOB DAVIE: You know, it's going to be my decision and certainly we'll caucus during the game with Mike and Jim. But of all the games you've watched, you always watch those games and you've always been kind of an armchair coach or quarterback yourself and you just get a feel during the game. So I'm not going to lock myself into any criteria or any number of plays or any series or this kid is going to play the second quarter. I'm going to be honest. I'm going to see how it goes. I'm going to see how it goes and how our players respond to who is in there. And not getting the thing where every other play or every series there's a quarterback in there. I want some continuity from the standpoint of some verbal you how call the plays, how you call the cadence. I'm not going to get into a silly thing of just alternating quarterbacks every play or every series. I'm going to let it eat and let it develop during the week and then I'm going to least it eat and let it develop during the game. So I think it's silly to try to have an exact plan on that right now, because who knows. Who knows? You're projecting what's going to happen. Certainly this week we'll get a lit bit more of an educated projection but it's going to come down to how the game is going. I'll be the first one to admit that.

Q. For a special team, USC has blocked four punts, I think, and a couple of field goes and Soward has run back some kicks. They have got a pretty good special teams unit, as you said. Are you going to have to take it up a notch? What are you going to be able to do this week?

BOB DAVIE: I think they are much improved. Their special teams coach is Sean Slocum, who is R.C. Slocum's son, who was on the staff with is for a long time at A&M. They are improved and they have got explosive players, especially in the return game. And any time you have those type of explosive players, you're usually a pretty good block team. You're usually a pretty good coverage team. A lot of it has to go with athleticism. They have done an excellent job. We have to improve in the special teams.

There's no question about that. You know, we had some problems Saturday. You know, but so did LSU. We blocked three kicks ourselves. We ran a kickoff back to mid-field. Unfortunately, Tony Driver fumbled it. But what we did last night as we always do we started our meetings and we went hour straight meeting time on special teams and we try to evaluate each individual performance and each individual effort. And I started the meeting by showing the clip of Bobby Howard on that interception return. And there's Bobby Howard running that interception return 88 yards. He foot fakes Kevin Faulk and outruns him. And Herb Tyler ends up tearing his hamstring on that play. Now, here is Bobby Howard giving that kind of effort after playing 70 snaps in the football game. It's not fair to Bobby Howard if we don't get that kind of effort on every special teams snap in the football game. We went through every plays of special teams with every one of the 11 guys on the field.

So the point I'm making: This may be the 11th game of the year but we're trying to improve. We're trying to get our best personnel out and we're trying to work out the problems. It's kind of frustrating because it's kind of a different leak each week and I think that's something when we get through this season the I think the next step for us is to really start to improve our special teams just across the board. You know, Irvin Myer became the special teams, coordinator but truthfully. We did that a little bit late. I did that in July and I'm going to let him sink his teeth into that a little bit and give him some time during the off-season. That's the next big emphasis we put on. But this week, we're trying to improve. We're tying improve but we've got a lot of areas to improve. We've got a lot of different leaks this year but we've also done some outstanding things this year as well. You know, it's a week-to-week thing. That's what we're trying to resolve.

Q. Regarding offensive line because of the quarterback situation: It's probably quite obvious USC will try to blitz either Eric of Arnaz. Do you have to add things to the offensive line to combat that? And number two, John Mirandi was in here and said that there's no extra pressure on him. As the center with two new guys, is there extra pressure on him?

BOB DAVIE: I worry a little bit about that. Quite honestly, I told Jarious last night and I told our team: Jarious is in charge of the snap and the cadence. That's his job. And I want him to set up a plan with Mirandi, Scorolla, Arnaz and Chappell what they do 50 before practice and 50 after practice and Jarious is in charge of that. He is going to chart it. He's going to coach them. He's going to do the whole deal. Yeah, you're always concerned about snaps and you're concerned about mechanics.

As far as blitzing them, I don't know that -- that really doesn't concern me that much. You know, we've got a good blitz package. We've got -- one thing you may not have noticed against LSU: We kept the backs in, and we hadn't done that. But we were so concerned about their nose guard and their three technique and particularly some of the things they did at the last second of moving their shades where some people got single blocked, we kept the backs in. And I think there were five times where the back stayed in and picked up an extra rusher and R'Kai Nelson last touchdown the back picked up a free rusher. They got a safety blitz.

And I think we have a good scheme that's solid against those things. Plus, I think any time you play a quarterback that has the ability to run and run options, it's not that easy just to blitz. I'm sure they will blitz in passing downs. But, you know, that's something we have to work on this week, but I'm not really uncomfortable about that.

Q. Eric made the comment that -- we asked him when or if you indicated when you would let them know who the starter would be and he said it may come down or that he understood it to be on hour before the game. That how you dealt with it with hem this?

BOB DAVIE: I don't think -- I'll probably testimony them the night before. I think I'll tell them the night before. But it's not going to be a big ceremony because it's not going to be that kind of a major issue. I think we're approaching this like both are going to play. You know, it's not that big of an issue. But I think you get that issue out the night before just to give them some time to just think about it and reflect on it a little bit, and for the rest of your offense. We've done a good job this year of scripting the first 10 or 12 plays of the game and I think the night before in that meeting, you'd like to know who the quarterback is going to be and how he calls the cadence and what the first 10 or 12 plays are. It's kind of what we've done all year.

Q. Is it a given they are both doing to play or say one starts and he leads you on a touchdown drive the first time you touch the ball. You're not going to be switching quarterbacks.

BOB DAVIE: I put one criteria on it: If he leads us to a touchdown on the first five possessions of the game, I am not going to take him out. You can write that down. If we score the first five times we have the ball, that guy is playing four out of six will not get it. But the first five possessions and we score he's not coming out. But you know, I'm not trying to be evasive on any of that. I think you guys know what I'm staying. It's going to come down to how the game goes. Both of those quarterbacks will play, though, but I don't want to get into a thing where every series and every -- it may work itself out in practice this week a little bit to see what percentages you're talking about. But right now we'll play it by ear a little bit.

Q. The injury to Jarious was such a blow to a lot of people around him. At what point for you were you able to detach yourself from the disappointment of it and look forward and address what had to be done this week? And other than the necessity of that, how were you able to go about that? BOB DAVIE: I think, you know, first of all it is the necessity of it. You know, certainly going out there and playing without Jarious Jackson is a setback to this football team. So it's by necessity that you move on and make the best of the next situation and circumstances.

But I think it's a bit easier because this football team all year has shown an ability to have a different player step up. I mean, you look at R'kai Nelson Saturday jumping up and making those plays. I'm not going to go through it all but that makes it easier. It's a football team that has a lots lot of confidence. It's a football team that has a lot of chemistry. And it's a football team that rallies and listens to what you say and believes in what you say. Because of that, it makes it a little bit easier but certainly it is because of neccessity. It doesn't do any of us any good to sit there and burden ourselves or concern ourselves with the fact that Jarious Jackson isn't going to play. The thing I felt the most was just I felt bad for him. I felt bad for him. And once I was through that, you know it was on to how do we try to beat SC.

Q. (Inaudible).

BOB DAVIE: Not really. I'd have to think about that. You know, the game I remember the most vividly, the first game and this is a negative story, but my first game in college coaching was in 1977 in Pittsburgh. I was a graduate assistant and Jackie Shurer was the head coach and I think he was about 32 years old. And we had a quarterback, Matt Cavenough. We were defending National Championship team. In 1976 Pittsburgh won the National Championship Johnny Majors goes to Tennessee; Jackie is the head coach. His first game, Pitts won the national championship. His first game, 32 years old, and we were playing Notre Dame. Notre Dame comes into Pitt Stadium; Matt Cavenough gets hurt, put a quarterback in named Wayne Adamns. I think he fumbled 10 or 12 center exchanges. Here was a National championship team that all of the sudden the starting quarterback Matt Cavenough goes down, the backup goes in and he fumbles 10 or 12 snaps. And then the issue comes up of how many times did he practice with the first unit and all those things. And I learned early when we talked about snap counts and changes and mechanics; that's the thing you draw on and that's why you have to practice everything you do in that game. You leave nothing to chance.

Q. I know it's early but could you evaluate Coach Jackson? What can he contribute Saturday night?

BOB DAVIE: I think Jarious is Jarious. I he's -- he's going to tell it like it is. He's going to tell it like it is. He's not going to worry about hurting their feelings but he'll be a steady influence on them. But you know, I don't know how big a role he'll play. But I know he'll play enough of a role that we're taking him with us. And I think particularly Thursday night and Friday we're going to practice. I don't know how big a role he'll play, but I think he's -- I think based on his personality he's a steadying influence.

Q. There's some comments and speculation about Malcolm Johnson, Jay Johnson the situation when Malcolm was in 9 out of 10 times there would be a pass play and when Jay was in and then 9 of 10 times that would be a running play. Was that by coincidence or by design?

BOB DAVIE: You know what we're doing, we're setting SC up. We're setting them up with that. We're going to switch that this week. No, honestly I didn't realize that. I'm glad you brought that up. I didn't know that. When Malcolm Johnson is in,]9 out of 10 it's a pass play? When Jay on is in 9 out of 10 it's a running play? I'll go back and check that. That will be interesting. I don't know that Jay Johnson is that much of a better blocker than Malcolm. But that was interesting. Some of those things hold true and I'll go back and see. I really didn't realize that. Is that accurate? Where did that come from?

I'll go back and check that, sure. If it is, it's more by coincidence than by plan. You know, earlier in the year we used a young, Eber, that was a receiver that was a good blocker for us we put in. But both Malcolm and Bobby are such good blockers that would really be a coincidence because both those guys are a little bit stronger and better blockers than Jay, but I'll check that. That's interesting.

Q. You've passed the credit for this season to your players and assistant coaches consistently, but you talk about how this team has consistently rallied. How much to you attribute that to the fact you're delivering the message for the second year now and maybe their confidence and belief in you has grown a little bit?

BOB DAVIE: Well, I'm sure that's a factor. I think last year -- you know, but it's a lot of factors. Last year just with the new offenses, flipping the offensive lineman, new terminology, putting in the drop back scheme in the spring prior to that, injuries, there's so many things. But certainly familiarity and consistency in knowing what to expect makes everyone more comfortable. And I talk to the kids all the time about any time you can sink your cleats into the ground and you're comfortable and you're not tippy-toeing, you're always more aggressive and you perform better. So I think just consistency and familiarity helps. But it's so much bigger than just what you say. It's what you do. You go back to that meeting we had some Shreveport last year the morning after the game at Independence Bowl, we set forth a pretty good plan to move forward. And it's just a lot of things. I think it's just consistency, and I think everyone being on the same page. Everyone being on the sage page. And I think that's helped us.

Q. Last time, L.A. Coliseum was unpleasant experience for him Sanson, and last week he had sort of a bad week to go into this. Are you making any special time this week to talk to him, or what is his mindset going into Saturday? How concerned are you?

BOB DAVIE: I think you bring up a good point. You know, two years ago out in Los Angeles, the extra point probably receives a lot more attention than it deserved. You know we had a different holder in there for the first time of the whole football game than we had ever had held, different guy. We weren't able to stop him. I mean, they go 85 yards in a two-point play to tie it. But it was unfortunate because a lot of the attention went to the missed extra point. Last year we play SC. We missed three field goals from inside the 35, I think. We lose by three points. This past week Jim had some problems. That's the issue. That's a legitimate issue and there's no reason to try to avoid this issue because Jim has to deal with it. And nothing I'm going to say is really going to make that much difference. I mean, Jim Sanson is a grown man by now because he's been through the issues we've just talked about. So the only one that can help you is yourself and Jim has to deal with that. And I think within this football team and especially these kickers with Hunter Smith, there's a lot of strong personality there. So I'm not going to be able to add a whole lot to that. All I can do is reinforce Jim Sanson by saying: You're our kicker. Just like I went up to him at the sidelines at end of the LSU game, once we crossed midfield, I said, "I've got no doubt you're going to win this game on a field goal here at the end." My actions by showing confidence in him do a lot more than what I say. And he's going to be our kicker Saturday and I've got complete confidence in him.

Q. You mentioned earlier about some of the only issues there's a lot of 10-1, there's a lot of others, All-Star game, etc. What are the issues with your staff having a successful year and having some jobs open up with their potential to move on to be head coach somewhere, are those potential issues? And do you have a policy with the inevitable interest in some of them, how do you balance the need to bring them back?

xBOB DAVIE: Well, we've got one other big issue I forgot to tell you. Irvin's wife. Shelly she's going to have a baby boy any minute now. She was supposed to have that thing at about 8:00 this morning. And Irvin is a little upset that it didn't happen yet because he wants to get that special teams meeting ready. But there's always going to be issues. But I think obviously any time you have success, any time you have good coaches, guys are going to have opportunities. And I would be the first one, having been an assistant for 20 years, to tell them they have got to do whatever is best for them. And if it's something that's attractive to them, it's something that can better their career and better their families, I'll be the biggest advocate for them to take it. And continuity on a staff is one thing, but making guys stay or doing those things is a whole different issue. You want guys to move forward and you want what's best for them as people. And as always, that would be a positive reflection on your staff and the kind of people you brought in. So all I would ask and I told our coaches is just tell me. Keep an open line on communication and I'll be your biggest supporter.

FastScripts by ASAP Sports...