Brian Kelly Transcript: Nov. 18
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly addressed the media on Sunday to wrap up the Irish's 36-3 win over Syracuse and the upcoming week leading into the regular season finale.
Check out all of what Kelly had to say below.
Q: First thing I want to ask, like I usually do, is how is the team's health coming out of the Syracuse game and headed to Los Angeles?
BRIAN KELLY: “Yeah, I thought it was a -- from a health standpoint, good, week 12 for a football team in terms of injuries. Nothing that would keep anybody that played in the game out of it. Really good news.
“We've got our soft tissue injuries here and some bruises here, but everybody came out of it really well.”
Q: As dominant as it looked on TV and also on the stats sheet, I'm sure there are some things that you would like to see tweaked or improved as you move along to face USC, and I wonder if you could share those with us.
KELLY: “Well, I think, you know, obviously the ones that stand out are the penalties that put us behind the chains, especially in the red zone. You know, those are difficult to make up for when you're in a short field. Cleaning that up, getting that under control. Just getting our guys, in particular, the offensive linemen in a better zone emotionally so they're not jumping. They're really good athletes, and they don't have to be, so just got to rework that this week.
“And I think that's -- obviously some technique work. We got stepped on on the quarterback exchange. We've got to be really good with our stagger coming out. So some fundamental things. Nothing that needs schematic changes or personnel changes, we've just got to clean some things up in practice.”
Q: Obviously Dungey being injured was big for Syracuse. Did your mentality on defense change knowing that they were bringing in a relatively inexperienced kid? Were you thinking maybe you could blitz more on him, kind of maybe make him feel like the game is going faster there?
KELLY: “No. You know, DeVito had come in a couple of times and as a matter of fact started for Dungey. A very experienced quarterback. You know, obviously at times he had looked really good. So we were well aware of who he was. Much more of a thrower than Dungey. Dungey is a big, physical kid. But no, we didn't change our plan. We were certainly more concerned with Dungey running the football than we were DeVito, but we were certainly aware that DeVito has the ability to throw the football a little bit better. That was the trade-off when he went into the game.”
Q: Were you a little bummed out that Syracuse kicked a field goal with 10 seconds left to avoid the shutout?
KELLY: “Well, we've got to stop them there, you know. I was bummed out that we gave up a couple of plays, you know, that we really should have defended. Syracuse is going to decide what they want to do, whether they go for it or kick the field goal. I was disappointed that we gave up some plays there that gave them a chance to score.”
Q: As you maybe explore a role for Brandon Wimbush, what do you maybe feel like the potential is there to be a little unconventional with him?
KELLY: “Well, we think certainly his ability to run with the football, but we'd like it to be more than that, somebody that can catch the football, that has the ability to impact the offense from more than just that element. So clearly as you can see we're trying to integrate him into the offense more than just a play here or there. And it continues to unfold. He'll be part of what we do again this week, and as we feel more comfortable and he feels more comfortable, I think you'll start to see a little bit more of him.”
Q: My other question is beyond the penalties with the offensive line, and I know that's kind of a big part of your evaluation, but how would you evaluate kind of where they are big picture as you get into your final regular season game and then push into postseason?
KELLY: “Yeah, we like where we are. I mean, those two defensive ends, Coleman and Robinson, are as talented a group that we've seen all year. We had one coverage sack that Ian had to take a sack for, and then they really gave up one sack the whole game against a very, very talented defensive end tandem. Very good there.
“You know, we obviously want to run the ball a little bit more effectively, but I thought at times when we needed to run the football, we did some good things. I think it's a good group. They're almost averaging 200 yards rushing a game through 11 games, and you know, one of the top 25 offenses in the country.
“You know, won 11 games with this group. Pretty good balance, and they continue to rise to a challenge each and every week, and this one was two real good pass rushers.”
Q: 11 different guys for game balls in 11 weeks. I don't know if that's significant or not, but how relevant is that to just sort of the success you guys have had?
KELLY: “Well, first of all, it's not scripted. It's really talked about right after the game. I think it is relevant to the fact that what we have been talking about with this football team is that we have a number of individuals that compete at a high level and contribute at a high level from week to week, and so that's really what this team has been about. It's not been one guy. It hasn't been that way all year. And I think your stat kind of proves the fact that that's the kind of football team we've put together.”
Q: Going out to USC undefeated; you've done it before. I know these guys have been fairly laser focused on the next game in front of them. These circumstances are a little bit different, a little bit unique. What's the best way to get guys to pretend like this is a normal week when it is a little bit different?
KELLY: “Well, I think, you know, there has to be transparency in what you're doing. So understanding clearly that it's a rivalry game. There's going to be a lot of noise around it, and you've got to be aware of that because I don't think you can move on unless you're aware of that.
“Once you're aware of that, I think you can go back and do what you've been doing for a 11 weeks, and that is work on your preparation, and by doing so, put yourself in a position to succeed on Saturday.
“Burying your head in the sand and avoiding all of it and not understanding what's going on is not the way we've been doing it all year. We'll continue to make sure they're aware of the situation, and then we'll go back to work the way we have each and every week.”
Q: Do you remember anything about 2012, you're like, all right, these guys are locked in and ready to go; I like the sort of mental edge we have going to the Coliseum?
KELLY: “Yeah, it was really about staying focused on USC and how we prepared. We didn't talk about anything else but USC and getting the Shillelagh. We wanted to win the traveling trophy and get them all. That year was about collecting all of the trophies, and this was the last one. So I think we spent a lot of time talking about winning this trophy.”
Q: All season you've been laser focused on just the next game, the next game, the next game, but now you are one week away from probably a College Football Playoff berth if you win. Is there any discussion of that at all with your team this week would you expect?
KELLY: “No, we'll talk simply about our preparation and what we need to do to go from our goal -- our goal is to finish off November, and we had three goals this year, beat Michigan, win all of our games at home, and then win the month of November. So that will be the primary focus. All that other stuff will take care of itself. We want to finish off November, and that will be our focus this week.”
----
• Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_CoachD, @BGI_DMcKinney and @BGI_CoreyBodden.
• Like us on Facebook.