TCU’s Coach Sonny Dykes and QB Max Duggan Transcripts

CFP National Championship:
Georgia vs TCU
Saturday, January 7, 2023
Inglewood, California, USA
SoFi Stadium
TCU Horned Frogs
Coach Sonny Dykes
Press Conference
Q. This is a team that came into the season unranked.
You guys have fought your way through. Is there any
added motivation just being here, knowing that you all
were the underdogs and a lot of people counted you all
out and now you got to this far?
COACH DYKES: Yeah, I think, look, we’re in the National
Championship Game. So there’s obviously a ton of
motivation to go out and play well. It’s hard to get here.
It’s a difficult road for any college football team just making
it through the season.
There’s so many things that have to happen for you to
have a chance to play for a national championship, just
from obviously staying healthy to figuring out ways to win
games when you don’t play your best. That’s going to
happen every year.
There’s going to be two or three games that you have to go
out and figure out how to win because there’s going to be
some things that, some situations where the ball doesn’t
bounce your way.
Just you’re kind of beat up. You’re a little tired. You catch
a bad matchup. We had a three-game — three out of four
games during the kind of stretch run for us we’re on the
road. We had to go to West Virginia, Texas and Baylor in
a four week span. And we hadn’t won at West Virginia in a
really long time.
And so there was a bunch of challenges and a lot of things
that have to happen. But our guys have embraced the
idea that you have to play well every week. And to me
that’s what makes college football so unique and so
different is you can’t go out there and lay an egg. You
really can’t afford to do that. You’ve got to play hard every
game. You’ve got to play for 60 minutes every game no
matter what the outcome is.
And you go back and you look at our game against Kansas
State. We lose to Kansas State in the Big 12
Championship game, and we got down — we were down
11 points in the fourth quarter. And if our guys don’t
continue to play and get that game into overtime then we
may not make the College Football Playoff.
You’ve got to play hard, keep your head down, keep
grinding, do the little things right to give yourself a chance
to play well every week.
We come into this game with a lot of motivation, obviously.
It’s been a long season. We’ve exceeded expectations, at
least externally. And so anytime you do that there’s always
a little bit of extra motivation.
Q. What has Kendre been able to do this week in
terms of preparation and what is his status that?
COACH DYKES: So Kendre Miller’s status, the day before
yesterday, did a little bit of work. It’s one of those deals we
want to give him some time to rest and recover, see where
he was at. Did a bunch of work, probably a little bit more
than we thought he was going to be able to do. Woke up
yesterday a little sore. I think he feels better today.
So we’ll continue to try to see where he’s at. I think to me
in the next 24 hours is when obviously we’ll have to make a
determination, have a pretty good idea on what he’s going
to be able to do going into the game Monday. We’re still
optimistic that he’s going to be able to play. So we’ll see
how he feels today.
I think today is going to be important and see, just kind of
see where he’s at. See how he feels. And the biggest
thing obviously is he’s confident and feels good about it.
And we want him to be very effective. We just don’t want
to put him out there and give him an opportunity to get
more injured.
Q. With him or without him, how important is the
running game? How do you feel you guys match up
on the front?
COACH DYKES: I think when you play Georgia, you’ve
got to be able to run the football. I think that’s the thing that
you have to be able to do at least some is run it. If not, you
know, you’re playing right into their hands. They can really
pressure you, can heat you up. It allows those defensive
linemen to really play free.
So I think it’s always the case when you play somebody
you’re going to be much more effective when you can have
a run threat. But in particular against a team like Georgia,
it’s really important to be able to run the ball effectively.
Now, I’m not saying you need to rush for 300 yards, but
you need to be able to consistently run the ball. You’ve got
to stay out of third-and-long situations. And when you can
do that, then I think it puts more pressure on them and
takes some pressure off of yourself.
Q. (Question about Chidera).
COACH DYKES: So it’s funny, I didn’t know anything
about Chidera Uzo-Diribe, who coached with us at SMU
and then brought him to TCU and he’s now at Georgia. I
didn’t really know Chidera. Jim Leavitt was our defensive
coordinator when I was at SMU. And Chidera worked with
Jim.
So Jim obviously really highly recommended him. He had
been an analyst, I believe, for Jim and — a player and an
analyst. And he was — hired him at SMU and he was really
good.
He was one of those guys that you knew early. He was
destined to be really good. He’s got a great disposition
when it comes to coaching and communicating with
players. Really, really effective communicator. Does a
really good job of walking the fine line between having
great relationships with players, but at the same time
having that authoritative part of that relationship that’s
important.
So he’s really good, really bright. Got a really good future
in front of him. He’s one of those guys, I expect him to be
a coordinator, head coach pretty quickly. I think he’s on a
really rapid rise. And I think a lot of him and got a great
family. And he’s going to be a real star in our profession.
Q. I know your focus is on Monday. But I was curious,
as you figure out how to move this program forward or
take advantage of this, how fortuitous is the timing
given that the conference is going to change soon, the
playoffs changing soon? And you guys seem to be in
a pretty good position coming out of all of that.
COACH DYKES: Like I said, “fortuitous” is a good word.
It’s important for the Big 12 and our credibility to have
teams that perform well and can win. And you lose two of
the more high-profile members of the conference,
obviously, with Texas and Oklahoma moving on. But I
think that was what was so good about the Big 12 this
year, was you got to see, from top to bottom, just how good
the league was.
And it’s probably as good a league — it’s probably the best
that the Big 12 has been in a long time. And the two brand
name institutions really weren’t as good as they typically
are.
So I think it speaks to the strength of the league, the
overall strength. I think it speaks to the momentum that the
Big 12 has that two remaining teams were in the
championship game with us and Kansas State.
I think the future for the Big 12 is very bright. I think the
four added institutions coming in all have tremendous
potential and have had success obviously through the
years.
And so I think the league is going to be better, continue to
be better than most people give it credit for being.
The timing was really good. The timing was good. And
like you said, you try not to worry about too much right now
with the big picture stuff, but I do believe that it was an
important year for the league. And I think it was important
to get somebody into the College Football Playoff.
Because it’s been a while since that happened, in particular
a member institution that’s staying.
Q. TCU had a lot of success this century but a time it
was the bottom of the barrel. Wonder if any old TCU
fans have told you horror stories.
COACH DYKES: I’ve heard it some from some folks
through the years. The good thing is, as you said, there’s
been a pretty good 20-year run, really, with a lot of
consistency. You look from 2010 to 2020, there was a lot
of years there where TCU was in the top 10 and spent a lot
of time really in the top five.
I think a lot of people didn’t really recognize that. And look,
I was pretty knee-deep in college football. And I’m not sure
I understood the consistent success that TCU had. I was
doing my own thing and I was working.
For whatever reason it didn’t seem like TCU might have
been the biggest story in college football, but they probably
deserved to be just because the team is really strong,
really consistent. Won a lot of big games.
Had some opportunities like we did against Michigan to
really put their mark on college football and won most of
those games. You look at some of the big bowl wins,
obviously the Rose Bowl. You look at some of those wins,
and those were really good TCU teams.
And so there has been a good history. But when you do
talk to some of the older fans and in particular players that
played, there were some lean years, and a lot of lean
years.
And I think there was a lot of trying to figure out their way in
college football and how important was college football to
the TCU community.
And people asked me all the time when you’re trying to
rebuild a program, what comes first, kind of the chicken or
the egg? Does the investment come first and the success
later, or success first and then investment?
I think At TCU, fortunately for them, it seemed to happen at
the same time. They had a really good coach in Coach
Patterson. They had a really good AD in Chris Del Conte,
and they were able to make some big moves in a small
amount of time because of the real strong commitment
from the top down. And we’re fortunate enough to reap the
benefits of that.
Q. Your career had been on the up and up for a long
time until Cal. What did you learn from that
experience, how did that reshape how you are as a
head coach?
COACH DYKES: It’s interesting. It’s funny, you don’t ever
want to be critical of anybody ever. But there are people in
our profession, just like there are in every profession,
whether it’s athletics or business, whatever the case may
be, where people have — they go to some company, some
company has a lot of success. Some company loses their
CEO. Some company hires this guy to be their CEO.
Probably doesn’t have the resumé or the success to be the
CEO but he falls into a really good situation and continues
to have a lot of success with the company.
That happens a lot in our profession. And I think what
happens is, when that occurs, you know, everybody gets
labeled as this or that.
And there’s a lot of different ways to reach the top of the
profession in our profession. Some guys have an easier
road than others. And some people have to have some
jobs at institutions maybe that haven’t historically won.
And as you work your way up, your job is to fix those.
And sometimes they’re not easy to fix. And sometimes
they take longer to fix than you want them to. And
sometimes there’s a reason those places haven’t had
success in a long time.
And you learn from everything. You really do. My time at
Cal was difficult. I’m very, very glad I went through it
because it makes me appreciate this so much more. You
know what I mean? Had I been at places that were
historically successful and kind of fallen into some
situations that were, quote, easier, I might have a better
record. But I wouldn’t have the opportunity to understand
how good I’ve got it, if that makes sense.
That’s not taking a shot at anybody. It’s really not. It just
makes you appreciate when something’s really good. And
it makes you take a lot of care for that, and it makes you
understand it.
And so anyway, I learned a lot from that experience. I
learned a lot at Louisiana Tech. I learned a lot at Cal. I
learned a lot at SMU. Learned a lot in 2017 when I was
working with Coach Patterson.
You just try to make sure that every situation you take
something from it and you apply it to your situation. And
you try to come out on the other end better than you were
before.
And I loved living in the Bay Area. It was a really can cool
place for me. I always had an itch to live in California. I
grew up in West Texas, and there’s a significant difference
between Lubbock and Berkeley. And so I appreciated that
difference, you know what I mean? Just in terms of
everything, culture, the way of thinking, approach,
temperature, weather, scenery. To me it was, just I wanted
to experience different things in my life. That’s just
something that’s always been really important to me.
And it was a challenging time. I truly believe — I still
believe this, if Sandy Barbour was the AD there, I would
still be at Cal and we would have been very successful.
But it’s not the way it worked. And it wasn’t the way — it
wasn’t the plans. And so had to go to plan B, which was
kind of start over, reinvent myself, and pray for another
opportunity. And SMU gave me that opportunity and I’ll be
forever grateful for that.
And I think that was the hardest thing for me when we sat
down and we said, okay, do we want to make this move
from SMU to TCU? We know it’s going to be hard. I’m
incredibly indebted to SMU for believing in me, giving me
this opportunity.
But at the end of the day, you want to have a chance to
play for a national championship. And when I sat down
and talked to Kate about this opportunity, that’s what we
kept coming back to. I said, you know what, I truly believe
we can win a national championship at TCU.
It’s going to take some time, we thought. It was going to be
a little bit more of a journey than it’s ended up being, and at
least we’re having a chance to play for it sooner than I
expected. But I certainly believed it could be done.
And that’s just from a resource, commitment standpoint.
And so here we are. And it’s been a heck of a ride and
we’re looking forward to seeing if we get it done on
Monday.
Q. You don’t want to do the big-picture stuff, which is
understandable. About the historical stuff, given
where it all came from to reach this point, if you get
through Monday night, have you thought about that
perspective?
COACH DYKES: Not really. I mean, that’s been — you
and I have talked about this before — but I think that’s
probably been part of the reason that we’ve been able to
get to where we are is we have just kind of kept blinders
on, you know what I mean?
And I’m a football historian, like most coaches are. I just
have a tremendous respect for the game and the people
that came before us and the teams and the players and all
of it.
But I do think that it’s been really freeing for me, personally
and I think for our players, that we just kind of keep
showing up and talking about trying to get better on a
day-to-day basis. And I think it keeps us from getting
overwhelmed. It really does.
Again, when you love the game like I do and appreciate the
game like I do, and you were brought up in the game like I
was, you can get overwhelmed pretty quickly because you
start just looking at all the things and all the history.
And I think that’s happened to me in the past. We’ve been
in good situations before, really, at LA Tech and Cal and
SMU where we got off to really good starts and probably
got a little bit overwhelmed by certain things.
So that was — my whole issue was not to let that happen
and it starts with me and filters to the rest of the staff and
players from there.
And so we’ve been really relaxed this year. We’ve been
really confident. I really truly believe in our players. I know
that the guys are prepared. I really believe in our assistant
coaches and our support staff, our strength and
conditioning staff.
And when you have alignment like we do, it gives you great
comfort. You lay your head down at night every night
saying, you know what, this is in a good place. And we’ve
been able to do it pretty quickly, to get there pretty quickly.
And sometimes you never get there, just in terms of all the
pieces that have to align for you to have a chance to be
successful.
And so that’s what’s been so good this year is we feel like
all the pieces are here and it’s our job to put them together.
But it has truly been a one-day-at-a-time approach. I think
it’s been a big part of the reason for our success.
Q. With you breaking through in the four-team playoff,
and expanded playoff coming, how difficult is it going
to be on the traditional power teams moving forward?
COACH DYKES: It’s interesting. I don’t know. I think in
some ways it’s a little bit like the NCAA Tournament, the
basketball tournament, where you’re going to let more
people in, which I believe in inclusion. I think there’s more
teams that need to be included.
Again, that was one of the things that drove me crazy
about being in a non-Power 5 institution was I never
thought I had access. Now, Cincinnati got it last year, but
really just looking at it, you felt like everything had to fall
into place for that to happen.
The one thing I do believe, though, is you get more teams
in — you can have a conversation either way — that the
traditional powers have to win more games but then there’s
maybe an easier path for them to do that because the
other teams aren’t going to have as much depth. The other
team is going to be a little more beat up. The other teams
may have played close games — and all these factors that
go into how healthy is a nontraditional team, how much
depth does a nontraditional team have, can they survive
the extra two games they have to play to keep advancing?
So I think you can make an argument either way where
some of the traditional powers will benefit from the 12-team
playoff. And you can also make the argument that it’s
going to cloud things up a little bit.
So I see it both ways. It will be interesting to see how it
plays out. When you look at the NCAA basketball
tournament you always end up with one team right on the
fringe on getting in, whether it’s the final four or the final
eight. So I think you’ll see that.
But I do wonder the impact it’s going to have on, again, the
traditional teams, because they’re going to be the ones that
are more battle tested, have more depth, maybe have had
opportunities to rest their starters more, all those things
that add up and matter at the end of the year. So it’s going
to be interesting to see how it plays out.
Q. With the entire football community being affected
by Damar Hamlin injury, is that something that you talk
to your players about? And also when Damar kind of
came to, his first words were about, “Did we win?”
And is that something that’s a motivational factor as
well?
COACH DYKES: I think, number one, I think that speaks
to just the true team concept that does really exist, I think,
within a lot of football teams. I do think that football teams
are different.
When you line up a football team, there’s so many different
kinds of people there. You’ve got big people and small
people and slow people and fast people and white people
and Black people. And you just have all these people from
different backgrounds, different ways of thinking.
It truly is to me the most diverse kind of community that
exists really anywhere in the world these days. The great
thing about it, nobody cares who anybody’s dad is or
whether you’re rich or poor or whatever the case may be,
nobody cares. It’s all about how can you help the team
and what can you do for the team.
And so when someone like Damar gets injured, you find
out how quickly and how much everybody else is invested
in him and the team idea. And then when he makes a
miraculous recovery and the first thing he does is ask
about his teammates and not himself.
Again, it just shows the true humility of obviously his
character but also too the real team thinking that exists.
And I think that’s what makes coaching football so much
fun, is we get to be around these young people that are
constantly told over and over again, hey, you’ve got to get
yours, you’ve got to get yours, you’ve got to get yours —
they’re told that by adults, by the way.
And everybody does, I understand that. And that’s part of
it. But at the same time, there’s nothing like seeing people
make sacrifices for each other. And because it’s freeing
and it does kind of give you hope that people are willing to
make big picture sacrifices. And that’s one of the great
things about coaching.
So we haven’t really talked about it as a team. It’s one of
those things we were going to, and obviously there’s been
so much going on, we hadn’t had a chance to do it.
I’ve heard a lot of our players talking about how glad they
are that he’s recovering at the rate that he is. But it’s a
scary thing and certainly makes you think about the big
picture things in our business and in the game of football.
Q. I’m curious over the last few weeks as you’ve
brought your program on to these big stages, how
much have you thought about Mike Leach? And I’m
interested in also just he never got one of his teams to
this stage. And have you thought about that?
COACH DYKES: I have a little bit. You wish — it’s funny,
you go back and you look at this ride that we’ve been on. I
had a chance to speak to Coach Leach prior to his game
against Ole Miss. And we had some really great
conversations.
And I’m a lot like this as well. Mike is not always going to
show his emotions and can be pretty stoic. And we had
some really heart-felt conversations preceding that game.
And that gave me a lot of peace. I think we both said some
things to each other that we wanted to say. Certainly I feel
that way.
I wish he was here for the ride. He would be one of those
guys that he would have had an invitation to come with us
and spend some time with us here in LA and come to the
game. I’m sure he would have declined. But he certainly
would have had an invitation.
And it’s sad, it really is, just because, as you say, he never
had an opportunity to play for a championship like this.
And what he did for college football, the game of football in
general, is really hard to measure.
So it’s sad. I think he would be proud to see one of his
disciples have the kind of success that we’ve had. As a
matter of fact, I know he was because we talked about it.
And obviously that was before advancing to the
championship game.
But he’s certainly been on my mind a lot. It’s been a tough
year losing Dave Nichol and then losing Mike. And those
two guys have had a big impact on my life and just who I
am as a person. He’s constantly on my mind.
Q. Was this type of run, and people want to call you a
Cinderella, or whatever, but the way you’ve made this
run with this air raid, is this what he had in mind, this
is supposed to be a talent equalizing force?
COACH DYKES: Certainly that’s what it started out. It’s
basically option football, the air raid is. It was designed
instead of handing it off to play-option football by throwing
the ball. And it went from reading first-level players to
reading second-level players. And it’s kind of built on the
same principles in a lot of ways — execution, simplicity,
fundamentals, drills, all the things that make the option a
big equalizer. The air raid’s very similar. A little different
approach, but same idea.
And so that’s the principle of all this. And we’re a little
different, you know what I mean? This football team is
made a little differently maybe because we’re a team that
runs the ball quite a bit. But, again, we’ve taken a lot of
those same principles from the air raid, applied them to the
run game as well, and it’s kind of given us this as well.
We’re not a traditional air raid in some ways, but it’s
certainly the heart and soul of what we’re doing offensively.
Q. Some of your previous stops, anything specific
from your head coach job LA Tech that you take with
you or lessons learned, and have you heard from any
people back there wishing you well?
COACH DYKES: It’s been great. Look, LA Tech was one
of those magical places. I really loved my time in Ruston.
I loved that community. Some of my best friends are still in
Ruston, guys I talked to all the time.
It was just kind of a magical place. It was the perfect place
to get started. I could make a ton of mistakes, and it wasn’t
on a huge stage. I could kind of learn without everybody
else knowing that I screwed up to the extent that I screwed
up.
It was great, though. It was the first time really for me I had
to go, okay, this was my idea on how to build it, and you
know what? That’s not going to work here. So what do we
do now?
And so when I got the LA Tech job I thought I’m going to
recruit these DFW kids and kids from Houston, and I’ve got
all these relationships and they’re going to come to Ruston.
All of a sudden we got there and those kids weren’t
interested in coming to Ruston.
So we had to recruit a different kind of kid. We had to
change our approach when it came to player evaluations,
how we were going to do it — recruiting, recruiting area,
recruiting philosophy, team building philosophy, all those
different things.
And we had to take about 180-degree turn on those things
pretty quickly to give us a chance to be successful.
And then our second year there, we signed 13 junior
college players, which in a weird sort of way that was
today’s version of going to the transfer portal. And so it
was kind of our first time to do that. How do you do this?
How do you evaluate these guys?
So obviously that paid dividends for us when we went to
SMU. And is paying dividends for us now at TCU in terms
of how are we going to take transfers, and how can you
mesh them into your program quickly, and how can you still
have kind of a hierarchy there when you’re adding these
new players, and how can you blend it all together.
So we had to start learning quickly then. And, like I said,
it’s paid dividends for us since.
Q. What one word would you use to describe your
team and why?
COACH DYKES: Resilient, I think resilience is probably
the best way. Either resilient or confident.
These guys don’t quit. It’s been weird; they really believe
in each other. There’s a quiet confidence associated with
this group, and there has been. They don’t get too high.
They don’t get too low.
And really, when you find people or a team that does that,
confidence is at the root of that. And the reason they don’t
get too low is because they know they’re going to have an
opportunity to fight back or they believe that things are
going to equalize, or they believe that they’re going to
figure out a way to get it done.
And so this group just has that mentality and that belief in
each other. It’s not only a belief in yourself, it’s probably,
more importantly, a belief in the guy next to you and your
teammates and really the system and the approach and
everything, and believing that everything makes a
difference. Everything matters.
We talk to our guys all the time about when we get done
with this, they’re going to go eat a meal. What they eat at
that meal is going to matter. It’s going to have an impact
on how well they play on Monday.
So those guys, how much rest do they get? How much do
they hydrate? All those things are inches and those inches
add up. And all that matters.
Q. Are you going to have to prepare Emari any more
than you normally would, regardless what his role
would be? Would this be so special for him being so
close to home.
COACH DYKES: I don’t think so. I think the big thing is,
going back to what I said earlier, he’s an older kid, has a lot
of confidence, has been around a lot. Has played in a lot
of big games.
He has a tremendous amount of experience, because he’s
been the one mainstay, really, at TCU for a long time. Has
never really been a starter, but has been probably as
important as any player on our team through the years.
And your second-team running back is critical in today’s
world. He fills that role better than anybody.
Q. You felt this outpouring of support from our entire
community. What would it mean if…
COACH DYKES: When you get the kind of send-off we
got coming out here, you think it’s important to Fort Worth
and to DFW and the entire community. But then when you
get that many people show up at 9:45 on, whatever day of
the week that was, it just shows how important it is and
how many people are truly rooting for you, are invested in
the program. It’s motivating.
Gives you that extra little push when you’re a little worn
out, a little tired, beat up, to make sure you do the things
the right way so you can go out play your best on Monday.
Q. What makes Max Duggan so special and how have
you seen him evolve throughout the season?
COACH DYKES: I think the big thing with him he’s just so
incredibly tough. And “tough” means so many different
things. He just never wavers, never gets rattled. He’s the
same when he throws a touchdown or an interception. It’s
the same look. It’s the same reaction.
He’s just so consistent in what he does. And I think in a lot
of ways we talked about this earlier, when you haven’t
been through this, you have to have somebody that
everybody can look to. And that person kind of has to be
your rock. And I think in a weird sort of way he’s our rock
because on the sideline he’s the same.
And, again, when things are going bad, the guys come to
him and they feed off his energy. And I truly believe that
that confidence and that belief and that toughness, both
physical and mental, has made a huge impact on our team.
It just makes everybody around him better.
I think — there’s a lot of really great athletes in different
sports, but there’s just very few people that raise the
temperature of the room. And he does that. When he
walks in the room, I think the temperature is raised.
Like I said earlier in the year, I mean, truly when I drive to
work in the morning, he makes me want to be better
because he’s that invested in the program. He cares that
much about it that when you drive in you’re going, hey,
look, I want to be at my best for him because I know he’s
going to be at his best for us.
Q. 1938 is a long time ago. How much is that on your
mind?
COACH DYKES: Honestly, not much. I think the big thing
is we have tried to take it as a one-game approach. It’s
really kind of a lame cliché that people talk about all the
time. But in our case it’s really true.
And we’re trying to — there will be plenty of time for
reflection at the end of all this to sit down and say this was
historical, this was meaningful, this was different, this was
maybe unexpected, but in a lot of ways we just haven’t
done that.
It’s really just been about, okay, look, we got through that
challenge. We’re on to the next one. How can we prepare
our very best for this challenge and just kind of keep our
head down and not look up?
And that’s — I think it’s been a good approach for us. I
think it’s taken a lot of pressure off of our team to not think
in terms of history or not think in terms of anything other
than, hey, I’m going to show up today and do my best, see
where that takes us.
Q. When you came on here it from a 5-7 team, always
big expectations. But are you surprised you’re here?
COACH DYKES: It’s funny, when we got the job, obviously
I had been at SMU. We played TCU. I knew they had
good players. Felt like maybe they hadn’t played to their
potential for whatever reason.
And so it was attractive to me just because I knew there
was some talent on the team. And, so, what you want to
try to do when you have talent, you want to try to put it in
the best position you can to be successful. And then not
only from a scheme standpoint but then also, too, from a
team-building standpoint try to figure out the very best
ways to build a culture.
And I think that’s the thing that really gets lost, I think, in so
many different ways is the importance of culture. People
talk about it all the time, but what does that mean?
And, so, that was our goal from the beginning is, look, let’s
not worry about football. Let’s worry about work ethic.
Let’s worry about doing things the right way. Let’s worry
about responsibility to each other. Let’s worry about all
these kind of intangible things, kind of process-driven
things. And then we’ll see when we get to spring football
where the football goes.
We got through spring. Felt like we had a pretty good
team. Had some huge holes in some certain areas. We
didn’t have enough defensive linemen. So the great thing
about today’s college football, we were able to go out and
address some of those needs through the transfer portal.
Then we got about three weeks into fall camp and we felt
like, you know what, this team has a chance to be pretty
good. What does that mean? I don’t know. We didn’t
really talk about it. But we thought if we can stay healthy
and some guys can improve and we can figure out who we
are, then maybe we can get on a run.
And all of a sudden we look up and we’re 7-0, 8-0, 9-0,
10-0. And just kind of kept it going. And I think that was
the way we approached it. Never talked about any goals
as a team other than do your best every day, play hard,
and if that happens then good things will happen. And
that’s exactly how it played out.
Q. Do you remember being introduced to the Just Play
app you guys used and — the Just Play App, what do
you remember being introduced to, what do you
remember how you got introduced to it and why did
you buy in?
COACH DYKES: It’s been good for us. It’s a great
teaching tool, great teaching method for our players. I
think it’s been something that’s been, like everything, a part
of our success.
You sit down, you look at all the things that have to come
together, there’s just so much, obviously, from a player
development standpoint, from a staff development
standpoint, from an opportunity to communicate to your
players.
It’s a way to gain an advantage, get a little bit of an edge.
And so we’re into all of that. Whether it’s a little bit of
analytics, whether it’s an app that allows communication
between players and coaches, whether it’s playbook stuff,
whether it’s the way to integrate playbook and video,
whatever the case may be, any little advantage you can
get makes a huge difference and they all add up.
And so we’ve tried to sit down and look at everything that
we can to gain an inch here and there. And all the inches
add up.
Q. When you started the season, did you see yourself
at this pinnacle? And how did you communicate to
your players to believe? And what will it take to
complete the mission?
COACH DYKES: It kind of goes back to what we talked
about earlier. It’s like anything else. It all begins with — we
talk about this all the time — there’s really three things that
we believe are important to building a program.
Number one, it’s talent acquisition. And that means good
players, good coaches, good strength and conditioning
people, good trainers, good everything.
And so trying to gather up as much really talented people
as you can.
The second thing, it’s about developing those people,
player development, and that comes through in so many
different ways.
And then the third thing is a culture. Those are the three
things, to me, that are really, really important. And that
allows you to sustain success, where it’s not just a
one-time thing when you’re able to do those things.
And so that’s been our approach from the beginning is let’s
recruit as many good players as we can, let’s go hire the
best coaches we can, let’s use the best technology we can.
Let’s do everything we can do to create a little bit of an
edge. And then let’s continue to do it over and over again.
And then let’s make that part of what makes us successful
in who we are on a day-to-day basis.
That’s been our approach. Typically, first year you don’t
end up in the National Championship Game. So I think
that was probably, honestly never crossed my mind. But I
felt like we could have a good team.
I’ve been places where we’ve been on runs before. Went
on a great run at LA Tech, a good run at Cal and great run
at SMU. And we weren’t able to finish those runs.
I think having been on those at different schools gave me a
little bit better confidence that we could learn how to stay
on the run and continue to have success instead of getting
knocked off late like we had in the past.
So that was kind of the idea and then let’s just see where it
takes us.
Big thing against Georgia, obviously, is when you play a
team like this they’re very talented; there’s not a lot of
weaknesses. Your good players have to make good plays.
That’s just part of playing championship football against
very good competition. The best players in your program
have to play the best.
And that’s going to be true on Monday night. And then
you’ve got to play winning football. You’ve got to limit big
plays, create big plays, don’t turn the ball over, all the
cliché stuff that everybody talks about, all those things
matter when you play against great competition.
And so Georgia will be a big challenge for us. But, again,
our guys are very confident in our ability to play well and
we believe if we play well we’ll certainly have a chance to
win.
Q. Obviously you’ve played in a lot of big
championships games. How will you deal with the
emotions when it’s going up or down?
COACH DYKES: I think the big thing is to try to — we talk
about it all the time, no wasted energy. We don’t want to
waste a lot of energy on stuff we can’t control. Our guys, if
we continue to prepare well, which we have up to this
point, we’ve got to have a great walk-through today, great
run-through tomorrow.
But they’ll gain confidence from those things. They’ll know
that they’re prepared. And that allows them to go out and
to play free.
And I think the thing with us is don’t get too high or too low.
If you score a touchdown, great. Get over to the sideline
and do it again. And don’t focus on that and don’t waste a
lot of energy in it.
And same thing if something bad happens; don’t spend a
lot of energy worrying about something that’s already
happened.
And the mantra is always for us “play the next play.” And
the next play is the most important. What happened before
doesn’t matter. And so you’ve got to get ready to play the
next one.
That’s been our mentality all year. Again, you don’t feel
that way unless you believe in your preparation and you
have confidence in your abilities and your teammates’
abilities and the good thing is this group does. And that’s
going to allow them to be pretty emotional stable. And
that’s going to be really important for us.
Q. When you think about core college football, so
much things changing outside of it. I wonder what
keeps coaches going. I imagine a group like this is
part of that. But what’s it like to do that, to go on a run
like this, play for the national championship, with all
the uncertainty elsewhere?
COACH DYKES: What’s funny is I think that there’s a
belief that by a lot of people, including a lot of coaches and
a lot of people in our profession that everything that’s
happening in college football right now is bad.
I’m probably in the minority in terms of my belief that
anything that’s good for the players, I view, is a good thing.
And so NIL makes things complicated. It benefits the
players. I think it’s a good thing.
Transfer portal, complicated, hard for coaches. Good for
players — can be, assuming guys make good decisions.
I’m for it.
So, I think, that’s always been our thing is the game is
changing daily. And it’s my job to adapt and not only keep
up but try to be in front of those changes and to try to use
every opportunity to make our team better and our program
better.
And, so, all those things I really truly see as positives. I
think it’s all about player empowerment. I’m a big believer
in that. It’s something, to me, should have happened 30
years ago.
And the tragedy is that we were so slow to adapt that
instead of all of us collectively — the NCAA, the
conferences, universities, whatever — instead of changing
and taking care of student-athletes and their welfare, like
we should have, we basically neglected that to the point
where the courts had to get involved.
So, again, I’m in the minority to view it that way, but that’s a
tragedy that had to happen that way and all of a sudden
when the courts get involved you have chaos because
they’re deciding on things that obviously they don’t know
about from a day-to-day perspective.
But we’re adapting and trying to figure it out. And it’s
big-picture stuff. But you’ve got to continue to evolve.
That’s what we try to do every day is, okay, look, this is
happening; how are we going to use this to our advantage?
How will it make us better as a program? So I think that’s
the approach we try to take.
And I do love the fact that our players are more
empowered, and they do have better opportunities and
more options. I mean, it’s been a bad thing for college
football that a kid goes off to college and he doesn’t get to
see his parents if they can’t afford to come to a game.
Now there’s opportunities for the parents to be able to
come.
And the CFP has done an incredible job of allowing our
student-athletes to have a stipend and to allow their family
to travel. So a lot of our families have been able to come
to our game in Phoenix. They probably wouldn’t have
been able to come before without that. Same thing here
for the championship game.
So all these things are good and I see all the changes as
positive. And it creates a little bit of chaos for us as
coaches. But, look, that’s our job to figure it out and deal
with it.
Q. When you took over, pretty quickly you realized
Quentin wasn’t going anywhere. Could you take us
through the coming here and realizing your star wasn’t
leaving and how unique that was?
COACH DYKES: That was big. When you look at us, and
this is probably something that most people don’t know, but
when we came into the — when I came into the job,
externally I was hearing, okay, these are four players that
are really important to the program that you’ve got to get to
stay here. And three of the four left, you know what I
mean? We had three of the four that transferred out.
Q. Who were the other three?
COACH DYKES: I don’t want to say. But there were four
guys that were kind of special talents. And two of them
went to Ole Miss — and I’m trying to remember where the
other one went — but there were some guys that we were
trying to hold on to and we weren’t able to do it. Two of the
three went to Ole Miss, the other one went, I don’t want to
say.
But anyway, holding on to Quentin was obviously
important. And I think it was important not only for his
talent, but I think it was also an endorsement from him, you
know what I mean — that everybody was looking for
somebody to say, look, I’m jumping on the train.
And Quentin did that for us. And I think it gave our staff
some credibility because when you take over in today’s era
of football, there’s chaos. There’s a lot of guys looking to
leave and there’s people reaching out to them. There’s
people talking to them. And there’s all these things that are
happening.
And you’re trying to get to know these guys. You’re trying
to sell them on your vision for the program. And so it’s a
complicated time.
And, again, you’re looking for credibility with your players.
So when Quentin says, look, okay, I’m going to stay here
and stick this out, I think what that does everybody in the
program sees that. I think it calms a lot of their anxiety and
allows them to say, look, I’m going to jump on board with
this guy and see where it’s going to talk us.
Q. Star guy, he said he had people reaching out, a lot
of money to go elsewhere, how unique of a guy is he?
COACH DYKES: Look, we sat down and talked to
Quentin’s parents. They’re both military people.
Unbelievable family. You can see why he’s who he is.
And we sat down and we started — the conversation kind of
went to NIL. They were like, we’re good. We don’t need to
have that conversation. That’s a conversation that we’re
not that interested in. And we believe that if Quentin
performs like he should he’ll be taken care of.
And we want him to be coached and we want you guys to
care about him as a person not just as a player. And as
long as you guys do that, we’re on board.
And I think to me that’s the great lesson in all of this. And I
think everybody wants to be compensated for their abilities.
And everybody wants to have an opportunity to increase
their standing financially.
But at the end of the day, I think the guys that make the
big-picture decisions really are the ones that get rewarded.
And the ones who say, I really fit in this offense or this
defense, I really feel like I could be developed here. Those
are the guys to me that have success and then have plenty
of opportunities for that financial stuff down the road.
And it’s like coaches. I mean, my dad used to tell me this
all the time: Don’t make decisions on your pay. And if I
did, I would still be a high school coach because I went
from making what I thought was basically a million dollars a
year — I think it was $37,000 a year as a high school coach
to making $4,000 a year as a college coach. That’s not a
very good financial decision.
I thought it was $4,000 a month; that’s a whole other story.
Turned out to be $4,000 a year.
But it was the best thing for me I wouldn’t be here today if I
hadn’t made that decision.
And I think sometimes you’ve got to look past just the
financial thing and you’ve got to say, okay, what’s going to
be the best situation for me and allow me to grow and try to
reach my potential.
Q. I’ve covered the NCAA Tournament where a coach
who has been doing it for years and years, everybody
in the profession knows how good they are, suddenly
they go on a run and now everybody knows about
them, kind of changes their profile overnight. Have
you started to experience that?
COACH DYKES: I think maybe a little bit. Look, we’re the
flavor of the month. I get that. I’d like for us to be the
flavor of the decade, you know what I mean? That to me is
a whole lot better than being the flavor of the month. And
that remains to be seen if we can do that, you know what I
mean?
Like anything else, we’re a nice story. And I mean that in
all due respect. I mean, our players have done a
remarkable job and they’ve really earned where we are.
But I say this all the time about our profession: To me
longevity and consistency is what makes people great in
this profession. And so obviously that remains to be seen
if we can do it and I could do it.
But there is a lot that goes into having a successful football
program. And I think that’s why the traditional powers are
still good. And they’ve always been good because it does,
it takes alignment really from the top down. And it’s the
chicken or the egg argument.
But we have to have all the pieces to be able to sustain
something for a long time. And the great thing about TCU
is I believe we have that. Now it’s up to us as coaches and
players to do it, but we certainly have the opportunity to do
it and not everybody can say that.
Q. What would Mike say to you about all this?
COACH DYKES: He would get a kick out of it. He would
say, you know, you’re still that same guy that was Navarro
Junior College making 288 bucks a month, so don’t forget
it.
And I think that’s the — to me that’s the biggest success of
this team. As the season rolled along, nobody got too big,
you know what I mean? And players, coaches, all of us, I
mean we have really, really good coaches and we have
really good coaches that have been recognized — Garrett
Riley won the Frank Broyles Award. Garrett came to work
the same day the same as he did the day before. And
that’s all of our challenge.
That’s all of our challenge is to continue to grind and not
forget where we came from and understand that this is an
opportunity.
And I tell our players this all the time: Okay. We have to
approach it this way. If you’re a pharmaceutical sales guy,
and you have a million dollar quota, you go meet your
million dollar quota, guess what? They congratulate you,
they pat you on the back and say, you know what, your
quota is a million and a half dollars next year,
congratulations.
That’s what we talk to our players all the time, okay,
congratulations, here’s the expectations. And can we
handle it? Those are all things that remain to be seen.
We’ve handled them this year up to this point. We need to
handle them on Monday. And moving forward we all need
to be able to handle them as well.
So, look, I’ve been on both ends of this. I got a lot of text
messages right now from a lot of people and I’ve also been
there where I didn’t have one single person return my
phone call for months.
So it’s part of this profession, and you’ve got to be the
same person every day, whether they return your phone
call or you’re scrambling to try to return theirs.
Q. Emari had a big game for you. Besides the game
he had, just what type of player, person has he been
for you guys throughout the year?
COACH DYKES: Pretty remarkable. He’s got about five
different degrees. So he’s really, really smart, brilliant guy,
very mature, very methodical. Just as a person, his work
ethic and his approach, whether academically or his
approach to football and playing football, very disciplined,
very mature.
And all those things are obviously really important parts of
being successful.
And so the great thing about Emari, I really do believe he’ll
go on to play in the NFL and have a great career. But
when he’s done playing football is when he’ll really be
successful because he’s just a brilliant guy. And he’s going
to be an incredible businessman when he’s done with his
football career.
Twenty years, there’s a pretty good chance I’ll be hitting
him up for a job, saying don’t forget about me. See if he’s
got a small role for me in some company that he’s running.
Q. Safe to say you guys aren’t going to be here
without change in you and this program, what you’ve
brought, but also the fact that it’s not possible without
Coach Patterson. Can you just talk about his role.
COACH DYKES: Look, very few coaches have meant
more to their football program than Gary Patterson has
meant to TCU, just elevating the program, giving credibility
to the program, providing the resources we have today that
he didn’t have when he first got the job.
And so that, to me, is the way that this works. I really
believe this, we’re all supposed to leave it better than we
found it, you know what I mean? And he certainly did that
with TCU. He was there with Coach Franchione. Coach
Franchione had success; left it better than he found it.
Gary left it better than he found it.
My job is to build on that. That’s hard to build on because
he had a ton of success and did it consistently for a long
time. And we’re in the national championship this year,
which is great, but we’ll see if we can have the kind of
success that he had, the longevity that he had. And the
jury is still out on that for sure.
That’s what we’re supposed to do. That’s our job. And,
again, we would certainly wouldn’t be here without him.
Q. When did Garrett Riley first come on your radar?
Had a chance to work with both him and Lincoln. What
are the similarities and differences maybe?
COACH DYKES: What’s interesting, I don’t know what’s in
the water in Muleshoe, but they’re both really mature,
thoughtful guys. To me, that’s the biggest thing. Look, I
think Lincoln was probably more mature at 20 than I was at
30 or 40. And he was just kind of — they’re both old souls;
they’re both very calm.
I mean, they both are process-driven people. It’s funny,
sometimes I’ll be sitting down to eat a meal, I’ve got all this
stuff stacked up on my plate. I look at Garrett’s plate, it’s
like it’s divided — like they teach you to eat your plate when
you’re in elementary school — like a third of it is fruits and
vegetables, a third is grains and a third is protein. How
does this guy do this? That’s his approach. That’s why
he’s good at what he does. Just got a methodology a way
of doing things, and a discipline.
Most starting 30-year-old guys don’t have that kind of
discipline, that real kind of confidence in the system, in
themselves, that he’s got. So they remind me a lot of each
other. Different personality-wise, but very similar in their
approach the way they conduct business.
Q. There are a lot of guys, people who say you should
be happy here. How can you guys actually win the
game on Monday?
COACH DYKES: Look, you don’t go through all the stuff
we’ve gone through this season and work as hard as these
guys have worked and make all the sacrifices these guys
have made to say we’re just happy to be here. I think if
anything, it gives you extra motivation to finish the job
because we haven’t been here before. And if you haven’t
been there before, then it’s hard to say, well, we’ll be back
next year, you know what I mean?
So it all just gives you extra motivation to go out and get it
done. And it all begins with a belief and an attitude and a
desire to make the most of your opportunity. And that’s
what this team has done all year — and to focus on doing
their job and closing it out, whether it’s ball games, whether
it’s closing out winning the Big 12, the regular season Big
12, playing in a Big Ten Championship, closing out a
semifinal game. Whatever it is, this team has been able to
close things out this year.
So we want to close out the season. And none of us will
feel good about this year if we don’t win this game. I think
we’ll feel like we’ve squandered an opportunity. And
nobody wants to do that.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports.

Max Duggan
Press Conference
Q. What the challenges that they present?
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, well, Michigan’s defense was
obviously so great and they played so well, but I think with
Georgia you’ve seen obviously Coach Smart being a
defensive guy and the talent that they have on that side of
the ball and their coaching staff, it’s going to be a real
challenge for us.
We know what they are as a team. They’ve been so great
on defense and creating trouble and challenges for all
offenses this year.
We know it’s going to be hard, but we’re looking forward to
it.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: I think it kind of depends kind of
game-plan wise and how the game is playing out. Certain
things happen, whether you design quarterback runs or
whether it’s in drop-back stuff when they’re playing man all
the backs are turned to me and I’m able to run. I assume
that they would have something kind of ready, guys on the
backfield, things of that sort. But it kind of just depends on
the game if you’re able to use them and use it as an
advantage. I’m going to.
But we’ll kind of see how the game turns out.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, it helps a ton being in such close
games. The whole season hasn’t been pretty, but being
able to be in tight games and have to face some adversity
and be able to come back from deficits and when things
get tight at the end of games, we’re not going to panic. I
think when you get in games like that like we have this year
and be successful and win games it puts confidence in us
that we can do it and we know how to plan and prepare for
it, so we’re comfortable in that position.
Q. The underdog label has kind of developed for you
guys. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, I guess in our eyes for our
program, I guess we don’t really see it as a Cinderella
story. We believe in ourselves and we feel like we’ve
earned this position. Obviously we know what type of
challenge is in front of us with Georgia and how great they
are offensively, defensively, special teams, the staff that
they have. I think it’s just a great opportunity for us and
we’re looking forward to it.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: You know, I think for myself, I’ve been
able to or fortunate enough to play a lot of football games
in college, be around a lot of great leaders when I was
younger, the seniors that I had that I was able to learn
from, see how they handled challenges. For our team, as
well, we have a lot of guys, a lot of seniors, a lot of
veterans that have played in a lot of big-time football
games and have matured over their years of college and
understand how to be that guy in those moments.
But I think it just all starts with Coach Dykes and the culture
he brought in, Coach Kaz, our strength coach, of
implementing that mindset and maturity and being treated
like a professional and acting that way just kind of every
day, and I think it’s helped us.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: I think it’s just acting as a professional
and being treated like a professional, not as a kid. They
put a lot of trust in us. They put a lot on our plates to hold
each other accountable and to be disciplined, to be
detailed and treat yourself as a professional because in our
eyes in the day of college football, that’s how you are.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, we know that we haven’t won a
national title since 1938, but we’ve had so many great
teams prior in those years. We’ve had a lot of great years
of football and a lot of teams that have built up this
program to get us to this point.
In our eyes we’re not really too worried about that. We’re
worried about this team this year, the game that is at hand
right now, and it would be pretty incredible to bring a
National Championship back to Fort Worth. It’s been a
long time.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, just speaks a lot to Coach Dykes
and what he brought into our culture and this program.
There was a lot to be built up on this program, and we
were in a good spot, but I think we just needed just Coach
Dykes coming in and bringing his mindset that he’s had,
that he’s been successful at different programs, allowing us
to be confident and be ourselves, and I think that’s really
helped us kind of have a turn.
Q. How close were you (indiscernible)?
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, it was a hard decision. I think in
my eyes, I was ready for it, and it was something that I
thought a lot about, but I think in the moment and the
things that are happening this year, I’ve been able to
accomplish a lot with my teammates in this program in the
four years, and this year has been pretty incredible.
Graduating at TCU, just kind of the timing of being here
four years and playing a lot I think was kind of the
determining factor of it.
It was just something that I was ready for and I thought
was the best timing for myself and my family. But it was a
hard decision, and there was a lot of thought that went into
it.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, it was pretty cool. I saw a clip of
that with Shaq and Kenny and Ernie and all those guys.
It’s pretty fun to watch. I enjoy watching it. It’s pretty
incredible to have our logo and our brand out there and
seeing the guys like even those guys, being able to talk
about us and be on a national stage and having our letters
out there, it means so much to our fans and our players,
our program.
It’s pretty — it’s so valuable in an aspect of advertisement
and publicity and all that stuff. Just so much for our
university.
Q. With the entire football world that has now rallied
around Damar Hamlin’s injury, what are your thoughts
on when it first happened, and the second part of that
is what is going to be your mindset when you take the
field Monday, seeing that Damar’s first words were
about “did we win,” what does that mean to you?
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, I mean, just first of all, what an
unfortunate, terrible incident to happen. Prayers out to him
and his family, the Bills’ organization, everyone that was
involved. I’ve seen stuff that he’s doing better right now, so
that’s incredible to hear.
But I think just in today’s age, I think a lot of people just get
caught up in football and the game and things of that sort.
But when you see things like that happen and somebody’s
life could possibly be taken away like that, kind of puts a lot
of things into perspective of there’s a lot bigger things in
this world than a game right now.
Seeing the guys, seeing the football world and community
and just everyone around kind of surround him and his
family and support him has been pretty incredible because
there’s so much support and people and so much love for
them, and I think it puts a lot of things into perspective of
what’s really important.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, we’ve learned a ton about
ourselves. I think when adversity hits, you can learn so
much just about what type of program you are, what type
of men that you have in that locker room when bad things
happen.
We were able to kind of go through some adversity, being
down in a lot of games, coming back from deficits, home
and away, other things happening. You learn to fight. You
learn to keep believing in each other, trust in our coaching
staff and the values and roots that we have as a program
in our culture, and it’s helped us get to this point.
College football season, it’s not always pretty. There’s
things that go wrong. But it’s how people handle as things
— how you’re going to end up at the end of the season, and
we’re fortunate enough to be in this position because of the
values that we’ve set for our program.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: You know, I think it’s kind of been
amongst our program, but I think the great thing that Coach
Dykes does is put confidence in us and allows us to be
ourselves and play loose. It allows our players to go out
there on Saturdays and be aggressive and be bold within
themselves. It helps a lot when you hear it from Coach
Dykes every day in team meetings, at practice, before we
go out for games in the locker room. He knows what
there’s a lot of confidence in us, and he believes in us and
the coaching staff believes in us, and just allows us to go
out there and be ourselves on Saturdays.
I think that has been the biggest impact on us.
Q. (Indiscernible) what was that like, and how are you
guys similar and maybe different?
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, so we were out there for a couple
days and I was with him and CJ and Caleb for most of the
time. We were always with each other. Getting to be with
Stetson and learn his story and his why and get to know
him and meet his family, the guy is just an incredible
example of what college football is all about. He’s a great
dude. He’s so talented on the field.
But going to Georgia as a walk-on, having to go JuCo and
come back and earn a scholarship, now being able to play
in two National Championships is pretty incredible. You
just see his drive and his determination and the confidence
and belief that he has in himself and his teammates. It’s a
great example for a lot of young kids to kind of look upon.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, I think it’s kind of in ways not a lot
of people really thought you’d be in that position, but I think
continuing to believe in yourself and the guys around you
and the think the teammates have believed in us and the
coaching staff have believed in us.
But continuing to go to work and do as much as you can,
work as hard as you can, treat people right to get to the
position that we’re in, it’s pretty cool to see.
Q. As far as self-scout (indiscernible)?
MAX DUGGAN: I think just coming into this season,
something I kind of wanted to get better at and really make
a jump was downfield accuracy and kind of the deep ball,
vertical game. I think it’s something that I’ve worked on
that has been a huge help for us that has really shown that
I think opposing teams have understood that we’re going to
take shots vertically, we’re going to throw it downfield, and
that’s what we’re going to do.
But there’s a lot of stuff that I think I’ve tried to work on,
whether it’s using legs, using my feet, things of that sort,
that opposing teams can look for. But I think kind of the
vertical threat is something I wanted to work on a lot in the
off-season.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, our O-line, those guys make our
offense go. I know they don’t get the recognition that they
deserve ever, but I mean, those guys take a mindset every
day going into the game that they want to be the best guys
out there, they want to be the most physical, they want to
make it hard on opposing defenses, and they want to have
the run game be the leader, and obviously pass pro, too.
But when Kendre goes down, you see Emari come in, and
those guys, we leaned on them. They took kind of a chip
on their shoulder to help us and lead us in all of our games,
especially in Michigan.
But going into Georgia, they understand what type of D-line
that we’re going to go against. Their linebackers, things of
that sort, pressures, but they’re taking a great mindset of
they want to be as tough as they can, as physical as they
can, and for us to lean on them.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, I think when we were there,
obviously me, CJ, Stetson were fortunate enough to be in
the playoff and discussed about that. CJ and Stetson were
playing each other, and there was cool conversations of
what could happen, who plays each other, things of that
sort. It was a bunch of fun conversations, getting to know
those guys. They’re all great guys.
But yeah, starting the beginning of the season you have
expectations for your team and you have a lot of belief just
like everybody does in fall camp. Everybody thinks they’re
going to be good. But I think we stayed the course,
continued on the journey, listened to Coach Dykes and
coach cause and everything that they preached to get to
this point. It was something that we believed could happen
and it was something we knew we could get there, but
there was a lot of hard work to be put into that, though.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, it can help a lot. I think in so many
different aspects of the game, whether it’s when they have
to go six-man box and we’re in 10 personnel and we have
to go zone reads and we have to have that D-end account
for me or whoever is in that running back, that causes
troubles of them having to be disciplined and do their jobs
correctly.
Obviously in the throw game, whether it’s stuff that breaks
down and I’m able to create stuff with my feet and maybe
try to get a first down, whether it’s QB designed runs,
there’s just a lot that we can do to create that extra aspect
of the game that we need opponents to scout for.
But they know — they watch film, too. They know what
they’re going to do. They’re so well-coached. They’re
talented. They’re going to have stuff for us, so we have to
make sure we execute on our end.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, no, there’s been so much support
from past players, back in the Southwest Conference,
Mountain West, all the past conferences, the teams that
we’ve had that have so much support for us because we
wouldn’t be here without those guys that built up this
program, were tremendous leaders and examples for us
and guys that we grew up when we got here that we
wanted to be like. There’s so many greats. But there’s
been a lot of support, a lot of calls, a lot of text messages
from guys that are watching us and rooting for us, so it’s
pretty cool to see all their support.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, it’s fun when you get to go play the
champ. Obviously the defending champion, and it’s like in
any sport, when you get to go compete against those guys,
it’s so much fun because we know how successful Georgia
has been in their program. It’s been incredible what
they’ve done even prior up to the last couple years. It’s
truly special what they’ve done.
We’re excited. Not a lot of times you get to go compete
against a champion, and to be on the same field as them
and kind of show what we’re all about and compete against
them and earn our spot, I think it’s something that we’re
excited about.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: I did not know that. I guess in our eyes, I
guess we’re not really too worried about that or see it too
much. I think it’s pretty neat to see a lot of support from
people all around the country, that get to know the story
about TCU, the story about our program. We get to tell our
story about that little school in Fort Worth. I think it’s pretty
cool that people are kind of starting to recognize TCU, get
more eyes on it.
I think it helps so much for our program, our university. It’s
a fortunate position to be in.
Our social media guys are probably walking around and
going to show me a little bit.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, it’s huge. Obviously our coaching
staff does a great job of providing that and plays and
concepts for us to learn. I think it helped a ton in fall camp
when we were not able to meet but we were able to be at
home and see things of concepts that we’re going to run
prior up 209 next day or that week. You have the drawings
and all that sort of things.
It’s been pretty successful for us, and it’s been an
advantage for us to learn concepts and see it on paper or
see it digitally, things of that sort. Our coaching staff has
done a good job of implementing it into our program.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, it was something that I didn’t really
know a whole lot about until our staff showed up, and it
was something new, but I was excited about it because if I
wasn’t in the facility with Coach Riley or our offensive staff,
I was able to see notes, I was able to see drawings and
concepts at home and notes-wise, but it was something
that I was excited about. It was something different that we
haven’t done.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, it was super impactful because
obviously we have new concepts and a new offense and
things of that sort. So when you have a new offensive
coordinator come in and try to teach us his philosophy and
his terminology and you don’t get all the meeting times with
him, you’re able to learn it at home. You’re able to learn it
with your roommates that are on the team. Guys on the
team get to discuss it when they’re not in the facility, and I
think that’s what’s helped us kind of jump start this program
is we’re so confident in our offensive philosophy and our
concepts.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, I think with Coach Riley, you knew
the introduction of him being an up-and-coming innovative
offensive coordinator. You know his time at East Carolina
and with Lincoln and then at App State, Kansas, what he
did at SMU was pretty evident because we played against
them and you see what he was able to do.
But I think just he’s such a good person, such a good man,
he’s so open to new relationships, and he allows you to be
yourself, and he’s so open to connecting with you and
teaching you. He’s such a great teacher.
But our relationship has been great because we’re so open
dialogue. Things that I like, things that he likes, things that
he sees the way I see them, it’s been a great first year kind
of getting to work with him.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: You know, I think just the mindset of not
being scared to make a play. He’s done so much and
obviously schematic-wise of football, but I think the mindset
of being bold and being aggressive and not being afraid to
make a play is something that he’s really preached to us in
the quarterback room and us as an offense, which has
helped us get to this point.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Well, they’re pretty talented on defense
with their players. They’ve got studs everywhere. Their
twos come in and give them kind of fresh breath, those
guys are studs.
They’re so well-coached. Their staff, they know what
they’re doing. They’ve been around a long time. They’ve
been really successful on the defensive side of the ball,
and they put those guys in spots to be successful.
It’s going to be a challenge for us because they’re so
talented and well-coached and disciplined and detailed and
that causes a lot of trouble for a lot of teams. Not a lot of
teams are as talented and disciplined like those guys.
They fly around to the ball. They’re fast. They’re powerful.
Just kind of everything that you want in a team that a lot of
people maybe have just one of those traits, they’ve got all
of them.
It’s going to be a big challenge for us. We’ve got to make
sure that we execute, we do our job, we don’t get behind
the sticks and give them momentum, but it’s going to be a
fun challenge for us. We’re excited.
Q. Can you just talk about what it’s like to have
someone on the outside (indiscernible)?
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, Quentin makes my job pretty easy.
I can just kind of close my eyes and throw it up to him, and
he usually bails me out.
I’ve said all along, Q is just a different cat out there than a
lot of kids. When he’s out on the field, he’s usually the best
player on the field. Just as a football player, what he does
with the ball, whether it’s down vertical shots, whether it’s
underneath stuff, he makes things look so easy, and he’s
such an impactful player where he can change the game in
one play. The thing about Q is he’s such a good kid,
outside the program or off the field. He’s such a hard
worker. He’s humble. He’s a great leader and he’s such a
good person to be around and to hang out with outside the
locker room. It’s pretty cool to see a kid like that that’s so
humble and so hardworking have the success that he’s
having.
Q. Talk about Coach P and the impact he’s had on the
team.
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, Coach P built this program up. Not
a lot of people have done what he’s been able to do of
staying at a school for so long and taking them through all
the other conferences and getting to the Big 12. Like I’ve
said, there’s so many other teams that have came through
this program that have built this program up, whether it was
Andy and the Rose Bowl team, the 2014 team, Coach P
had so many great teams back in the day in the early
2000s.
What Coach P was able to do was create values and roots
for this program to set us up to be in this position, and we
wouldn’t be here without everything that he did for us.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, we know how good they are, and
we understand that there’s going to be opportunities that if
they come up, that we’ve got to take advantage of it,
whether it’s hitting a hole in a run fit, whether it’s maybe
scrambling on a 3rd and long, things of that sort. We
understand they’re a disciplined group. They’re a detailed
group. Coach Smart is going to have them ready to go.
We understand there’s not going to be a lot of opportunities
where we’re going to have easy stuff, so we’ve got to make
sure that we’re executing well, we’re focused up, and we
do our job well.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: You know, I don’t know if there’s a lot of
separation. I think there’s so many similarities of just belief
in yourself and continuing to work hard and believe in the
guys around you and the support staff that you have.
I think that’s the biggest thing that you kind of see amongst
us, and it’s pretty special to see what Stetson has done in
his career and the position that he’s been able to be in,
playing for two national titles, the success that he’s had as
a player, so it’s pretty special.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, well, you know how special he is.
You see everything that he’s done and where he’s
projected right now. You know he’s such a stud, and he
causes so many troubles for opposing offensive lines and
teams because he’s so impactful, whether it’s him actually
making plays and causing disruptions or him taking on
double teams and allowing one-on-ones for other guys on
his defensive line.
I mean, the dude is so powerful, he’s so big. He’s fast.
He’s twitchy. He just causes so many issues for a lot of
teams, and we’ve got to make sure we’re aware where he’s
at and make sure that we have him kind of dialed in
because we know it’s going to be a big challenge for us.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, no, Q’s dad was obviously a big
help because obviously with him we wouldn’t be here.
Having him on our team has been so incredible, and I think
it speaks to what he’s done, what Coach Kelly has done
with him and building him up as a player.
The kid is just so special, and he’s helped us so much.
He’s so invaluable, and he makes my job really easy.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, I think it’s something that we just
haven’t really listened to anybody or anything outside of
our walls or outside of our program. We saw ourselves
how we see ourselves, and I think that was the big thing is
that we had belief in ourselves as a team, our program, our
coaching staff. We just stayed the course.
We’ve been through adversity, had deficits, things of that
sort, but continuing to believe in ourselves and continuing
to fight and overcome adversity has really helped us and
something that I’ve been extremely proud of our team.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, it’s pretty special because we have
so many guys, a lot of production came back, a lot of guys
that have been here for a lot of years when we haven’t
been that good, when we’ve been kind of down.
But to see those guys stay the course and continue to fight
and believe and just being with all the guys in this locker
room has been pretty cool, and to see them have success
and be in this position, I’m proud of all of them.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, we’ve got to execute better. I think
it’s something that we didn’t do a great job against
Michigan. Obviously our defense bailed us out a lot. We
had some explosive plays. But we have to execute play in
and play out better, whether it’s our scheme, game plan.
We’ve got to do a better job as players of having
successful plays because if we don’t do that against
Georgia, we’re going to get beat.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: There’s nothing that was surprising to me
or our guys. We knew what type of player Emari has been.
He’s been so impactful. He’s had so many big games for
us. Even this year and the last couple years of being here.
There’s no surprise. We knew what he was, and just so
proud of him because he works so hard. He’s such a
humble kid. He’s a good leader. He’s a good person. To
see him get that spot in that moment was pretty special for
him.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: You know, I think we’re not really thinking
about it that much. We’re not too worried about it. It’s our
team versus their team on a Monday night. Whoever is
going to be better that night. We know what type of team
they are and how talented they are, but in our eyes we
have a lot of belief in us as a team. We understand how
good Georgia is and we have to play really well to beat
them, but it’s a opportunity that we’re excited to be a part
of.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: I think it starts with Coach Dykes and the
culture that he brought into us. He puts a lot of confidence
and belief into us of what we are as players and what we
are as people, and I think it starts seeing the work and the
preparation that started last January with Coach Kaz and
the strength staff of all the stuff that we did leading up to
this position. We know the work that we’ve put into it, and I
think that’s where that belief comes from.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Jordan is such a talented player and to
see his work ethic come on — the thing about Jordan is
when you see guys that are highly recruited and come in a
with a lot of expectation, sometimes it’s hard to deal with
with those guys. Jordan is not that guy. He’s an
easygoing guy. He loves his teammates, he loves to
practice, he loves to play. He’s so talented. When he gets
a shot to go into the game, he makes a lot of big-time
plays. Even when he doesn’t have the ball, when people
don’t understand, he’s a phenomenal blocker. He makes
so much big-time plays. Last week Q’s long run late in the
game, Jordan had a huge block that kind of propelled that.
I think he’s such a great teammate, and it’s pretty exciting
to see what he’s been doing.
Q. Took him a little while to build some trust with you.
What was that process like?
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, I think when a young kid comes in
there and you get to know each other and how he runs
routes, how his mindset is as a route runner, his body
movements, things of that sort, you learn as you go, but
yeah, there’s a lot of trust in him on my end. I’m going to
let it fly to him. I trust him in a lot of big-time moments. I’ll
go to him. It’s been pretty fun to see his growth.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, he’s been so much help this
season, not even just last game. He’s done so much for us
in the run game and pass protection. He’s a great leader.
We’re glad to have him. He’s been so much help and he’s
the reason why we’re here today. It’s been pretty special
to see his growth and his work ethic really show up on
Saturdays.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, it helps a lot to have leadership in
that room. We have a lot of young guys, so to have Emari
who’s played in a lot of big-time games and has a lot of
success and being a veteran has just been so valuable for
us, and it’s awesome to see the success that he’s had on
the field and obviously continued to lead those guys in that
room.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Oh, my grit? I don’t know, I try to pride
myself maybe on trying to be up there around the 8s, 9s,
things of that sort. That’s what I hope to play like and have
that grit mindset and toughness. I try to be like those guys
that have played before us that have built this program up,
played gritty, played tough, played hard, and some of that’s
stuff that I pride myself on.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: I’d probably say resilient. Those guys
continuing to fight back and believe in each other and get
through adversity and not let something bad happen kind
of affect them and impact their mindset and this team.
Continuing to get through a lot of hardships, continuing to
fight through adversity and be themselves to get to this
point. It’s been — really proud of all the guys on this team
to see how they’ve grown.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: I think it’s something that you kind of need
as a quarterback because nothing is ever pretty. It’s
nothing like you’re ever going to have a clean pocket.
There’s bad stuff that’s going to happen where you’re going
to miss a block, someone is going to run the wrong route,
I’m going to miss a throw. Stuff is going to happen in the
pocket where it’s messy. I think you need to be calm under
chaos, and I think you need to be comfortable being
uncomfortable, and I think it’s what a lot of the greats have
done.
You see our coaches have talked about if you want to be
great, you’ve got to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
There’s going to be a lot of chaos and I think you want to
thrive in that position, and that’s something that I want to
be like and I’ve tried to build upon being like that.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, sometimes after a game I don’t feel
too good, but I know that guys on our O-line, guys on the
defense, our running backs probably feel a lot worse, so
there’s nothing for me to complain about or feel sorry for
myself because I know those guys get beat up way more
than I do, and they don’t get the recognition they deserve
from the media. I kind of just take it to the chin and I don’t
really complain about it because I know guys are going
through it way worse than I am.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, I think it started last January with
Coach Kaz coming in and the strength staff of the mindset
and the hard work and the things that we did building up to
this moment. I think it starts with preparation and being in
those moments where you continue to believe — you’ve
been through a lot of hard stuff and continue to believe in
each other, this team, this coaching staff.
It’s just been a lot of confidence in us when we get into
those moments that we’re not — it’s not going to be too big
of a moment. We’re going to stay the course and just be
ourselves, and I think that’s where it kind of starts from.
Q. (Indiscernible). What are some things that you
think you’re going to have to do differently
(indiscernible)?
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, what they do defensively is pretty
special. They’re so well-coached. They’re so talented.
They do a lot of different things, whether it’s in coverage,
whether it’s with their backers, pressures up front, things of
that sort. We know what they’re going to be like, and it’s
going to be a challenge for us because of how good they
are.
But I think something that we need to do is we’ve got to
execute at a higher level than we did against Michigan.
We know if we don’t execute or have those opportunities
that we kind of take, it’s going to be a long night for us
because we know how good they are and the challenge
that they provide.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: I think it was just a lot of belief in our
program and our team, and it starts with Coach Dykes and
the culture that he brought into us. We’re not too focused
on what people are saying outside our walls, outside our
program. We see ourselves like we see ourselves, and I
think that’s all that matters. When the ball rolls out there
we’ve got to play the game still, so it doesn’t really matter
what other people are saying.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: I think it’s something that we’ve shown all
year, that we’re an explosive offense. We’re a physical
offense. Defensively we make a lot of plays. We’re tough.
We’re physical. Special teams we’ve got a lot of
playmakers, we’re well-coached. I think we’ve been able to
execute this year and fight through some adversity,
deficits, things of that sort, and I think it’s going to be a fun
game. I think those are some of the reasons why we’re
going to have a shot, but it’s going to be a hard challenge
for us.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Emari has been such an incredible
person to play with. Obviously our friendship started when
I showed up here as a freshman. He’s been here a while,
and I’ve been able to play with him. So our relationship
and our friendship is incredible because he’s such a good
person to be with outside the locker room, off the field.
But on the field he’s such a special player, what he does,
whether it’s running the ball, whether it’s in pass pro, being
a leader for our team, being a leader in the running back
room. He never complains about touches, never
complains reps. He’s that sort. When he get his
opportunity, he goes in there, and he’s a big reason why
we’re here today.
Q. How would you describe your leadership style?
Second, apparently Drake (indiscernible) are you
worried about (indiscernible)?
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, so starting off with leadership style,
I think there’s a lot of things, and I think it’s just taking
ownership of these guys around us and caring more about
them than myself, putting them in better positions to be
successful, things of that sort. I think that’s kind of my
leadership style.
Regards to Drake, I didn’t know that he was on the Frogs,
but hopefully we’re not going to worry too much about that
stuff. Hopefully we can get a win for him.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: I think staying the course, continuing to
play our game, be ourselves. I think when stuff got tight,
we were able to make plays in incredible situations and
believe in ourselves. We have to execute at a higher level,
and I think that’s something that we’re going to take with
us, that we need to do a better job coming into this week.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, probably when I was probably a
freshman or sophomore when I was able to have
opportunities to run. I think it was something you see not a
lot of quarterbacks being able to run, and I think track
helped me so much with the speed work and the workouts
that I was able to do because I was able to be a better
athlete that way because of track, and it shows up on
Saturdays where you can kind of run away from guys,
angles, foot speed, things of that sort, and I think guys
were able to start understanding I was maybe able to run
probably freshman or sophomore year.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, my parents have been saying
there’s a lot of purple going around. I’ve had a lot of text
messages and calls from people that are supporting us. I
think a lot of watch parties around restaurants and bars up
there in Council Bluffs on Monday night, so it’s pretty
special to have that support from all those people back
home.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, I think there’s a lot of thought — it
was a hard decision, but it was something that I was ready
for and I thought I was ready for with the timing of we were
able to accomplish a lot in our four years here as a team. I
was able to graduate in December at TCU. A lot of things
that kind of set up the timing that I was ready for, but it was
a hard decision.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Who would I not let date my sister?
Probably Steve Avila right there. That’s probably the first
option.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Who’s the most famous person in my
phone? Probably Quentin, honestly. Quentin is the most
famous one I’ve got.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: The weirdest thing I eat? Honest, I don’t
eat a whole lot on game day. I’m just that kid where, like, I
don’t know if it’s nerves, things of that sort, but I try to do as
much as I can with nutrition, but nothing too crazy. It’s like
sandwiches, applesauce, things of that sort. Nothing that’s
too weird I don’t think.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, I think we saw ourselves with the
production that we had coming in with Coach Dykes, and
we understood that that was an opportunity that we could
have had, but there was a lot of hard work to get put into it.
We didn’t know how the season was going to go. You
never really know how things are going to go. I think you
believe you can be in this position, and we worked hard to
be in this position, and now we’re here and we’ve got to
execute at a high level against Georgia. We know how
good they are and the problems that they create for us, so
we’ve just got to make sure that we’re on our game, we’re
doing our job, executing at a high level, and hopefully we’ll
be successful.
Q. Seeing how much Coach Dykes (indiscernible) you
guys have a certain culture and he spends time with
you guys, how much do you think (indiscernible)?
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, Coach Kaz is so valuable for us
and what he creates for us and the culture he brings in,
whether that’s in strength and conditioning, whether it’s
sports psych and the mindset he creates. But I think the
great job is that he’s such an open person. He’s been in
the moment. He’s been in these positions, and he creates
for that.
Obviously he has such a great staff with Coach Bolt, that’s
our speed coach that does a great job of creating that;
Coach R.J. works heavily with quarterbacks; sports
dietician, Coach TB; Coach Reb, strength and power.
I think that just staff has done a great job of understanding
the tools that we need to be successful. They put so much
effort into us and so much time. It’s really helped show on
Saturdays.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, I was able to spend a lot of time
with Stetson and get to hear his story and his why, getting
to meet his family. I think it was really cool. He’s such a
good dude, such a fun guy to hang around with, and I think
that’s what’s cool with him.
Obviously him as a player, he’s such a special player. He’s
so talented. He makes that team go. Hearing his story of
being a walk-on and going to JuCo and coming back and
now playing in two National Championships, it’s pretty
remarkable, and I think he’s such a great role model and a
great story for a lot of kids.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: I think there’s just been a lot of belief in
ourselves, a lot of people — you start one way but
continuing to work really hard, believe in yourself, believe
in the people that have supported us in getting to this point
are kind of similarities that we have seen.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Obviously they have such good corners
and DBs in the back end, so it’s going to be difficult for our
receivers, and I think our receivers are excited about the
opportunity.
But I think whoever wants it more, whoever is more
focused, whoever is going to execute at a higher level.
Obviously both guys, whether it’s match-up — they’re going
to make plays. Such tremendous players on that end,
such a great match-up. But like Coach Riley said, it’s
going to get stronger throughout the game. There’s going
to be punches thrown back and forth amongst each other
play-wise. Whoever is going to continue to fight, continue
to believe longer in the game and make plays is going to
be the big reason.
Q. Who on your team best embodies a horned frog?
MAX DUGGAN: Let’s think about this. I’m going to say
Gunnar Henderson. He’s kind of that smaller guy that
doesn’t care about anything else. He’s going to put his
body on the line; he’s going to make plays. He’s going to
get into a dogfight with each other. He’s not afraid of
anything. I think he kind of embodies that horned frog.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: He has some good energy. He’s not
someone that you want to mess with. There’s a lot of
things that you don’t want to mess with Gunnar about. It’s
pretty cool.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Oh, boy, an NIL deal for Coach Dykes? I
don’t know, like baseball cards maybe. Maybe him getting
— he was a baseball player at Tech, a good baseball
player. Maybe him getting one of those trading cards that
you see and maybe getting to sign out, so I think that
would be pretty cool for Coach Dykes.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, that is good. His shoe game is
pretty cool. He’s always having something go out, so it’s
pretty special.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Can I wink? Yeah. Is that good enough?
Yeah.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: If I’m traveling to Mars, am I traveling up
or over? Up, right? You have to leave the atmosphere, so
up — out? I don’t know anything about space, so that’s
probably a bad answer. I’m not sure.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, it’s been pretty cool to see all the
stuff that’s happened with us and the image, the brand that
we’ve kind of ran with, that our fans have. I think the
college football landscape has had a lot of fun with it, so it’s
been pretty special, and it’s pretty cool to have on our
sidelines.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, I think just initial thoughts was just
a lot of fear and just scared in that moment for him and his
family and the guys and coaching staff that were on the
field that had to experience it.
I’m glad to hear that he’s doing better, but to hear he asked
if they won, that means in a moment where his life could
have been taken away that he was caring about his
teammates, his family. He was thinking about the guys
that were in the locker room, and it’s pretty remarkable to
hear someone like that that was in a moment that he was
thinking about other people. It was pretty remarkable to
hear that.
Q. Did that affect your — seeing an injury like that, did
that affect your mindset?
MAX DUGGAN: I think it makes guys want to play as hard
as they can because you never know when this game
could be taken away, and to give as much as you can to
the guys that you are with and this coaching staff, to be
with them as long as possible, I think that’s something you
want to take with you because you never know when
something could be taken away from you.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: I think there’s just a lot of trust in my
O-line. When things kind of get tight, it’s just staying in
there, trust the O-line that they’re going to have my back.
They’re going to create space for me to be able to throw
the ball, and I think as a quarterback you want to be the
guy that kind of sits in the pocket and allows for — we’ve
got studs out there at receiver, to give them a chance to
get the ball and not take off after one read when things get
tight but sitting in the pocket because I think that’s what all
the greats do, and you see them do such a great job of
sitting in that pocket and being poised and that sort of
thing.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, I think it’s a tool, and it’s an
advantage for us that we can use. Obviously I know
Jordan is going to be ready for it. They’re going to be
game planned for him, things of that sort. But when that
opportunity arises to use your feet, whether it’s zone read,
whether it’s a scramble, whether it’s QB designed runs,
things of that sort, but I think it’s a tool that can be an
advantage for us, but understanding when to use your
legs, how to be smart, taking hits, things of that sort, when
our team needs to play to use it.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: I do know how to slide. I grew up playing
baseball. I know how to slide. I think I choose my times
smart when there’s a lot of guys around there, but I think if
it’s kind of one-on-one or a need a play, I don’t really want
to slide. Usually the refs are kind of stingy on it mark us
down pretty late when we slide. It’s kind of tough on the
spot. At that point you might as well just run through
somebody.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, I think just believing in the guys
around us and not putting too much on my shoulders, and I
think I was always trying to be perfect and make the
perfect play, but I think now just letting guys around me be
the guys and be athletic and not really be too tight playing.
I think that’s something that I’ve learned and seen myself
grow in that aspect.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: I think it was a mindset of coming in and
not trying to be too much, not trying to do anything outside
of my job, and I think that’s something that Coach Dykes
and Coach Riley really implemented into myself and our
team is just be yourself, do your job, execute at a high
level, and you don’t need to do anything outside of that.
Q. There’s a lot of speculation about (indiscernible)?
MAX DUGGAN: Yeah, so I actually have a girlfriend. I do
have a girlfriend. She enjoys watching the shows, though,
so I’ve been able to sit with her and see all the fun stuff. I
know there’s some pretty cool stuff out there, but yeah, I
have a girlfriend right now.
Q. (Indiscernible).
MAX DUGGAN: My ideal first date? I think going to some
sort of experience, whether it’s a concert, a baseball game,
things of that sort, because maybe it’s a first date, you
don’t know each other, it’s not awkward, there’s something
live going on in front of you.
I heard too much stuff about first dates when it’s like you go
to dinner and you don’t know what to talk about. I think
going to some sort of live event is — I took my girlfriend to a
baseball game, a Rangers’ game.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports

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