Rose Bowl Head Coaches Press Conference
December 31, 2018 | Football
Washington football head coach Chris Petersen and Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer held a joint press conference in Los Angeles, Calif., Monday morning, Dec. 31, ahead of the 105th Rose Bowl Game. Read what both coaches had to say:
WASHINGTON HEAD COACH CHRIS PETERSEN
(Opening statement) "This has been an awesome week. This has been something that I think our staff, a lot of people from the state of Washington have been longing to come back here. And after the week of being here, you can see why. First-class operation. Going to play an elite team. It is kind of ironic being here with Urban, going back with him and some of the notes we've compared and shared. And you always want to play in something like this, and sometimes you end up and it's like you're playing a game you thought about all along and you look and say: It's going to be against him? We're honored. We're proud of our team, how they've battled. Been through a lot of different things. Hasn't been easy, but it never is. And we're excited to be here and play a great Ohio State team for sure."
(On how preparations for the game have gone) "We'll find out shortly. I think they practice really hard. Certainly back in Seattle, you know, we kind of just changed maybe the cycle of the practice schedule in terms of when we were going to go hard, when we were going to back off. So that was a little bit different. But they practiced hard. They practiced well. And they're anxious to play."
(On Washington's senior class) "Yeah, they've been awesome. They've certainly helped change our program, the foundation. It's kind of interesting because I think one time there was like ten of those guys that played as true freshmen. I don't know if they're still all with us. Some guys might have went to the NFL early and all those things. But they've just done it the way we've asked. And they've stayed really focused the whole time and they've been great kids and been awesome to be around. It's really what you'd hope college football would be about. And I think we've as coaches gotten as much from those guys' enjoyment as hopefully they've got from us. And even if they haven't enjoyed it the whole time, I think that they'll reap the benefits of our preaching and harping on them on the things outside of football. Certainly along with the things of football that we've talked about for years now."
OHIO STATE HEAD COACH URBAN MEYER
(Opening statement) "Honored to be here and represent the Big Ten Conference and the great state of Ohio. Coach Petersen and I have been friends a long time. I've admired his programs to the point that I've actually visited him when he was at Boise State. I've often told the story -- I'm not sure if I told Chris this, that in 2006 I was at Florida playing Ohio State, ironically, for the national title, and they were playing Oklahoma a few days before us. I was trying to get some sleep, and that's when they did the hook and ladder and the statue. Shelley punched me in the side and said: Why don't you be creative like Chris and run plays like that? I still hold that against Chris. We're honored to be here at the Rose Bowl. Committee and the hospitality of Los Angeles has been awesome, and we hope to perform well and make the "The Granddaddy of Them All" the most watched bowl game of the season."
(On coaching his final game at the Rose Bowl) "I don't want to devalue the experience, but we're here to win a football game. And the best part of doing a bowl experience is to do your very best to go win and winning it. We've been working hard on that, realizing who we're playing, how good they are. So it's been a great experience, and this has been a bucket list item since I started coaching. Been close several times, including when I was a GA at Ohio State back in '86. We came very close to coming to the Rose Bowl. Throughout my head coaching career, we had opportunities that I thought we were -- actually thought we were going, and then we ended up going to another bowl game. So I can't imagine a better opportunity, better bowl game to go play. But we try and avoid that at all costs because any distraction other than getting ready to play is not -- we're not going to allow that. And that's get ready to go play this game."
WASHINGTON HEAD COACH CHRIS PETERSEN
(Opening statement) "This has been an awesome week. This has been something that I think our staff, a lot of people from the state of Washington have been longing to come back here. And after the week of being here, you can see why. First-class operation. Going to play an elite team. It is kind of ironic being here with Urban, going back with him and some of the notes we've compared and shared. And you always want to play in something like this, and sometimes you end up and it's like you're playing a game you thought about all along and you look and say: It's going to be against him? We're honored. We're proud of our team, how they've battled. Been through a lot of different things. Hasn't been easy, but it never is. And we're excited to be here and play a great Ohio State team for sure."
(On how preparations for the game have gone) "We'll find out shortly. I think they practice really hard. Certainly back in Seattle, you know, we kind of just changed maybe the cycle of the practice schedule in terms of when we were going to go hard, when we were going to back off. So that was a little bit different. But they practiced hard. They practiced well. And they're anxious to play."
(On Washington's senior class) "Yeah, they've been awesome. They've certainly helped change our program, the foundation. It's kind of interesting because I think one time there was like ten of those guys that played as true freshmen. I don't know if they're still all with us. Some guys might have went to the NFL early and all those things. But they've just done it the way we've asked. And they've stayed really focused the whole time and they've been great kids and been awesome to be around. It's really what you'd hope college football would be about. And I think we've as coaches gotten as much from those guys' enjoyment as hopefully they've got from us. And even if they haven't enjoyed it the whole time, I think that they'll reap the benefits of our preaching and harping on them on the things outside of football. Certainly along with the things of football that we've talked about for years now."
OHIO STATE HEAD COACH URBAN MEYER
(Opening statement) "Honored to be here and represent the Big Ten Conference and the great state of Ohio. Coach Petersen and I have been friends a long time. I've admired his programs to the point that I've actually visited him when he was at Boise State. I've often told the story -- I'm not sure if I told Chris this, that in 2006 I was at Florida playing Ohio State, ironically, for the national title, and they were playing Oklahoma a few days before us. I was trying to get some sleep, and that's when they did the hook and ladder and the statue. Shelley punched me in the side and said: Why don't you be creative like Chris and run plays like that? I still hold that against Chris. We're honored to be here at the Rose Bowl. Committee and the hospitality of Los Angeles has been awesome, and we hope to perform well and make the "The Granddaddy of Them All" the most watched bowl game of the season."
(On coaching his final game at the Rose Bowl) "I don't want to devalue the experience, but we're here to win a football game. And the best part of doing a bowl experience is to do your very best to go win and winning it. We've been working hard on that, realizing who we're playing, how good they are. So it's been a great experience, and this has been a bucket list item since I started coaching. Been close several times, including when I was a GA at Ohio State back in '86. We came very close to coming to the Rose Bowl. Throughout my head coaching career, we had opportunities that I thought we were -- actually thought we were going, and then we ended up going to another bowl game. So I can't imagine a better opportunity, better bowl game to go play. But we try and avoid that at all costs because any distraction other than getting ready to play is not -- we're not going to allow that. And that's get ready to go play this game."
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