Russell Athletic Bowl Teleconference

Oklahoma Football
Head coach Bob Stoops
Russell Athletic Bowl Conference Call

December 7, 2014

On the matchup against former Oklahoma coach Brent Venables who is on the Clemson staff:
“Yeah it is a little different. We are still great friends and share ideas together in the offseason. So yeah it is a little bit different, but the longer you are in coaching the more people you know I guess.”

On if he had talked to Brent Venables recently:
“No, I haven't talked to Brent. We texted the other day and were wondering about this matchup for sure. Like I said, the longer you are in coaching the more likely you are to run in to your good buddies here or there. Brent has done a great job. So, for about four hours we will have to go up against each other.”

About the job that Brent has done at Clemson:
“He has done an awesome job. His guys always play physical; always play hard and they are playing well. Again, no surprise to me.”

On if he has watched Clemson this year:
“Not much, I really haven't. We are busy with our games and all that I haven't been able to see much. I saw just a little of the South Carolina game.”

On the preparation going into last year's bowl game:
“Just the guys' attention in meetings and their focus in practice was really positive going into the game. Just feeling that you are in good shape going into the game.”

On if game against Oklahoma State make players pay more attention to detail:
“I don't think that either way that it gives them that. Our guys have always been that way. I don't think win or lose that it really makes a difference. I think that in bowl games, guys just having the willingness to want to play well when they are playing a great opponent. It motivates them to want to look good, and they have to prepare to be.”

On thoughts about TCU and Baylor being left out of the College Football Playoff and whether it's worth considering a Big 12 Championship Game:
“It is worth considering. It is something that has to run through everyone's mind. If they are basing it on number of wins. If they are saying, they haven't said this but if they are basing it off, you get so many points for a win, some many points for a win against a top 10, top 25 team, I don't know. If they are adding up wins then they it is definitely something they are going to have to consider. Just hard to tell. Or had TCU beat Baylor and had Minnesota win, then who knows. Those are things you just don't know.”

On if he knows Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney well:
“Just a little bit. I have been around him some at our coaches meetings and things. He seems to be a great job and has done a great job there, and I really respect what he has done.”

Clemson Football
Head coach Dabo Swinney
Russell Athletic Bowl Conference Call

December 7, 2014

Opening Statement:
“Really excited about coming to Orlando and being a part of the Russell Athletic Bowl. I have had the opportunity to come play in the Blockbuster Bowl. I think that has since been changed. I have been there for the Champs Sports Bowl, the Citrus Bowl as a coach and a player. They have all been some of the best trips that I have been a part of. I'm anxious to be down and participate in the great festivities, in a great city like Orlando, Fla. We have a great staff, we have a bunch of kids on our staff, not to mention the 100-plus players that will be excited to experience what Orlando has to offer. And also have a chance to win a football game against a great football team. We look forward to getting down to Orlando and hopefully bringing a bunch of Tiger Paws with us.”

On the new offensive coordinator:
“Well, I am really excited to Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott. Those guys have been a huge part in of our success the last several years. It is a huge opportunity for those guys to grow in their careers. I will be finalizing the here pretty soon. Tony will call the plays and he will do a great job with that.”

On next coordinator that he will hire:
“I will have an announcement shortly. I will say that I have had this plan in place for a while knowing that Jeff and tony would have an opportunity soon. We are going to moving forward with this quickly. I will be meeting with our local media here sometime this week. Right now though this is about the bowl game and a chance to sneak out our tenth win, and have another top 15 finish.”

On Brent Venables taking on Oklahoma again:
“Brent and I are sitting together on the plane together. When you are in this profession this happens quite a bit. You have to coach against a friend of a school that you have been at. You just look at it Coach Stoops has had to coach against his brother (Mark). Those types of things happen in this profession more often than not. I know that Brent has great respect for Oklahoma and enjoyed his time there. This is about the game though.

“As far as Coach Stoops, it will be a great honor to coach against him. It is well documented that he is one of the best coaches around. I have had a chance to coach against him when I was at Alabama when he was at Florida. It is a huge challenge for us. A lot of people had picked number one in the country. Their season they have had an overtime loss and some other close losses. They have had some injuries, just as we have had. We are going to have to play a great ball game to stay on the field with these guys.”

On the development of the younger players over the next weeks:
“I think that this a great opportunity for us. Obviously bowl practice is a great chance for you to develop your team and grow our staff, so this will give us a head start on it going into next year. I am really looking forward to that. There is always a lot of great energy for bowl practice. Once we get it finalized here in the near future we will come together, and we have a philosophy here, something I believe in. I do think that this is a great opportunity to get a jump start on spring ball and getting our staff together and ironing a few things out.”

On if Deshaun Watson will be available for the bowl:
“Yes. DeSean is available for the bowl game. We're going to make a decision. We may go ahead and do surgery and try to get a three-week head start on his rehab. Obviously he's got a good eight months or so to rehab and really want him to get his skills and drills done this summer. That's something we're going to visit on pretty soon. We'll make a decision here in the next day or so on what to do there. I've been on the road every day since the South Carolina game, so I haven't had an opportunity to be in my office at all this week until Thursday night, but we'll be having some of those discussions tonight and tomorrow and we'll make a decision and move forward.”

On what makes Deshaun Watson so unique:
“He's incredibly smart and his football IQ is off the charts. You would never sit in a room with this guy and think he was a true freshman. And then just to see how he prepares. He is special. He has great size and can extend plays. He's got great poise in the pocket. He can make every throw that you need at quarterback. The big thing is that he makes everybody else better. He's a special talent and one that I think over the next few years will become a name that everybody in the country has heard.” 

On offering Deshaun Watson his freshman year of high school:
“We saw him early on. He's been coming to camps since eighth or ninth grade. We did offer him as a freshman and he committed to me as a 10th grader. February of his 10^th grade year he called and committed to Clemson and ever since then he knew what he wanted to do and has been very focused and he came in here that way.”

On if Stephone Anthony will be available for the first half:
“He'll have to sit out. That's one of the rules.”

On if Stephone Anthony's targeting call was appealed:
“I don't think there's anything we can do here. There's no appeal. We're just going to live with it. I'm pretty much on the record, I think what we all wanted to take out of football with this rule was the obvious cheap shot and that was not a cheap shot. At the very most maybe you can throw a flag for how he put his hands on him, but there's a whole lot worse hit than that. To call a 15-yard penalty, I didn't see that. To call targeting, that's just really, really poor. That's not what the rule is for in that type of play. That's something that we as coaches, we've got to really go back and address and do a better job of defining what that play and that rule should look like. I've had two of my best players thrown out of a game this year and a half of another game for two hits that no in no way, shape or form are in indicative of what the rule is for. “

On Jay Jay McCullough:
“He's still suspended indefinitely.”

On if Cole Stoudt will be available if Deshaun Watson has surgery:
“If Deshaun (Watson) is out and has surgery, then we will have Cole (Stoudt) available. Cole isn't going to have his surgery.”

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