Fiesta Bowl Update with Josh Heupel
After early-December demands of finals and recruiting, UCF is circling back into bowl prep mode. The Knights were back on the practice field Friday morning and head coach Josh Heupel met with the media afterward.
Here's everything he had to say:
On the benefit of extra bowl practices:
"You finish up your conference championship game, coaches are on the road. You give the players a few days off with finals that week, then you're able to come back. You start getting your vets back in the routine of things. Pretty short and crisp with them early on in bowl-prep mode. You get a lot of work with your young guys. Opportunity for them to get coached, see themselves on tape a bunch, correct some things, come back the next day and grow from it. Great opportunity for them. It's almost like an extra spring ball."
On the veterans during bowl prep:
"We hit a couple things with them last weekend. It was our first recruiting weekend after the season. This is a big recruiting weekend as well. Early this week, they had a couple days off. Got them back in the weight room mid-week, started moving them around and we'll get a couple practices in this weekend as well."
On the early signing period:
"It's a ton different (from last year). Instead of signing guys after being on the job for 11, 12 days, you've had an entire recruiting cycle with them. You've had an opportunity to get to know the individuals and they know exactly what they're getting when they come here on campus. They've seen our players. They've seen our culture. They've had an opportunity to really get to know our coaching staff as well. Dramatically different in year two than it was year one."
More on the recruiting:
"There's great excitement. There's great recognition of our brand and logo across college football. They're hearing us being talked about every single day whether that's on TV or radio. I think they understand the type of championship football that we play here. Because of those things, I think there's great interest and I feel like we'll end up with a great recruiting class."
On the bowl prep schedule:
"Coaches have been on the road all week. Last week as well. They were back home for a recruiting weekend on Friday, Saturday, then were back on the road on Sunday. We'll move into game prep mode beginning of next week."
On LSU:
"While you're traveling, you're getting an opportunity to start watching game tape, some cut-ups. They're athletic. I'm talking about in all three phases, offense, defense in particular. Great athleticism from the skill spots. Defensively, they contest everything. Lot of press man. Long at the corner position. Both lines of scrimmage, they're big, athletic, physical. They pose issues in all areas because they've got great players."
Reflecting on Darriel Mack Jr.'s championship game performance:
"Just his ability to forget the previous play, forget the previous drive and just go play the next play. He's got great confident. I think you can tell our players have a ton of confidence in him as well. Calling it, we were extremely aggressive with putting the ball in his hands and giving him an opportunity to put it in our playmakers' hands and go make plays. Really proud of the way he handled the ups and downs of that football game. His consistency. I loved his preparation. Maturity throughout the course of the game. Another great learning experience for him. He's had three opportunities to play really meaningful snaps. I think he's grown every time that he's had the ball in his hands because of the previous opportunities. We get a month worth of prep here for LSU and expect him to go out and play in a really high way."
On McKenzie Milton traveling to the Fiesta Bowl:
"His phone is blowing up because everybody is checking in with him. He's doing extremely well. He's in great spirits. Our team is constantly thinking about him. He's had a lot of visitors just wherever he's been, whether that was at the hospital or now at his house. He's doing well. In typical KZ fashion, every hurdle that's been in front of him, and there's a bunch because obviously it's a traumatic injury, he's cleared it in a really good way. With everything that's gone on, everybody feels like it's really going in a really positive direction and he feels that way as well."
"He's a part of who and what we are. He's a part of our fabric, our team culture. The way he interacts with our players and what he's meant to the program. So for him and all the guys, to be able to be a part of it, to go share in the experience, to help in the preparation, he's also in the quarterback meeting room. The energy that he brings, the experience that he brings, I think D.J. and the rest of our quarterbacks feed off him a little bit. I think it's as great experience for all of us and it will help us."
On coaches having time off:
"There isn't any time off. You're hitting the ground running. The next morning right after the championship game, coaches were leaving town at 7 a.m. They were in houses that day. It's nonstop. That's the way you want it. You want to be in the middle of your recruiting cycle, finish that in a great way. You want to play in big-time bowl games where you get a couple days off for Christmas, but that's about it. We're looking forward to getting into prep mode, getting everybody back in the facility and just getting back into a routine for us. Guys will get a couple days off for Christmas, then we'll reconvene out in Phoenix and get back to work."
On what this game means to the seniors:
"For us, it's the next opportunity to go 1-0. It's the next opportunity to finish this season the way we want to , the way we're capable of. Understand we're playing a great opponent. I think for the seniors, that last one is meaningful. You're going to remember that one for a long time. It will be with your forever. It's an opportunity to go finish the way that we want to."
On the seniors going from 0-12 to back-to-back conference championships:
"I've said it throughout the course of the season. Said it after the championship game. You look at their ability to handle adversity, their ability to focus on the things that matter. Being able to just go play the next play. Worry about one game at a time. That mentality, that attitude. Handle anything that's thrown at them. They're a special group. I appreciate just the way they've embraced some of the culture that we've brought in here. Bought into the family atmosphere. Continued to compete in a great way and led our football team in a great way."
On Mac Loudermilk donating his flowing mane to Locks of Love:
"He's done a great job as the punter. I think the consistency, not that I take it for granted, but all three of those guys. Caleb as the snapper, Matt as the kicker, those guys have been fantastic all year long. You know exactly what you're getting from them. Mac's got a ton of personality, but he's done a great job. Those guys bring maturity. They're a part of that senior class that has brought great leadership and stability to our program. Been a great voice inside the locker room. Those are things that are invaluable to us.
"I actually have known (Locks of Love) was going on since last January. He's been talking about that. He's got a lot of locks to give. It'll be a pretty good deal."
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