Everything Eli Drinkwitz said on Monday
With a short week, Eli Drinkwitz moved his media day up to Monday. Here's everything the Tigers' coach had to say as his team gets ready to wrap up the regular season against Arkansas.
Opening Statement:
“Just following up on the game from Saturday, congratulations to our seniors. You know, all week we talked about the importance of Senior Week and sending those guys off the right way, and just to have two walk-offs two years in a row on senior day is pretty incredible. And those guys to get to experience that, just a credit to them and the rest of the team for fighting, believing in each other and finding a way to win the game. So really proud of those guys for that.
“But we've got to move on. This week doesn't care about last week ,and we don’t get to carry any of those performances with us. We’ve got to recreate the process, and we've got to be improving this week for a very difficult task. Playing Arkansas Razorbacks at home in Fayetteville. Obviously a very good football team. Coach Pittman has done just an outstanding job with that program, the way they play on both sides of the football. You know, offensively, their quarterback, KJ Jefferson, who got his first career start I believe against us last year and played unbelievable, is really having a remarkable season and is very difficult to tackle. He does a great job of creating time and space in the pocket, delivering the ball down the field, makes plays off scheduled. Their wide receiver, Treylon Burks,I believe is one of the top two wide receivers in the league. That would be a great contest for him and Jameson Williams. Treylon is very special. They do a tremendous job of moving him around. He lines up in a lot of different locations. Coach Briles is really doing a really nice job with their offense and getting the ball to their playmakers, Defensively, Coach Odom is doing another outstanding job. Very multiple in the way that they attack, utilizing all the pieces of his defense. They play together, they play hard, they play fast. And definitely have our hands full. I think their linebackers, Hayden Henry and Grant Morgan, are as good as any two in the conference. Hayden Henry, to me, is playing as well as anybody. Plays downhill, is physical and really sets the tone for that defense. Special teams, coach Fountain, obviously is doing a really good job. Two fake field goals, two games in a row, and they had a fake against us last year. So does a great job of utilizing special teams to create advantages for them. And so it will be a challenge for our team in order to match the intensity and the execution of their team. And obviously it's an important game for us with the Battle Line trophy on the line. And so excited about the opportunity to play on CBS on Friday. And with that, I'll open up for questions.”
Two-point conversions are a unique play. What are the essential elements of creating a successful two-point play?
“There’s all kind of things. We actually, coach (Casey) Woods had made the suggestion that on Tuesdays we do a field goal — we do field goal, field goal, blocker on Tuesday and Wednesday, but on Tuesdays, to practice two-point plays because they can become so prominent. With the new second overtime, everybody’s got to have it. So we've been practicing two-point plays every Tuesday since fall camp. And so gotten a lot of extra reps on those plays. So I think all of us had a lot of confidence of getting those plays, and then we’d rep them on Fridays, our top three. And so I think what goes into it is just execution and having a confidence in knowing all of your options. That play has a lot of different options, and Connor (Bazelak) was able to get to his final option, made the play, which was nice to see.”
You talked about quarterbacks having to block out the noise. Have you seen Connor struggle at all with that this year, or has he been able to do that pretty well?
“I’m not going to speak for Connor as far as him being able to do that. I mean, look, we’re all human, so I’m sure there’s been instances where you see and feel that criticism. But I think he’s done a great job within our team and the framework on our team and this building, and on the football field, being able to block out the noise and perform to the level that he believes and I believe is successful.”
You talked earlier this year about not skipping steps, and I’m sure getting that sixth win and getting bowl eligible kind of speaks for itself as far as a step. But what exactly does getting a sixth win and going to the postseason mean for your program?
“I think it's just continuing to show progress. You know, when the schedule came out, there was a lot of optimism about what we could accomplish and what maybe the expectations for our team were. I think after — you don't really know until you play. After week one, I kind of had a different sense of maybe what our team was capable of. And, you know, the disappointment at Boston College, I think, was real, and like, okay, this is really where we’ve got to really work to improve. And we just, we weren’t improving at the rate we needed to in the middle of the season. And so I think we had to really rededicate ourselves to how are we going to focus on improvement and individual player development, and then commitment to the team? And I think you've seen that in our performances really the last four weeks. I think there's a greater sense of commitment to the team, to each other, playing for each other, doing my job. Coach (Steve) Wilks has talked about my gap, my responsibility, and those guys are really doing it now. Offensively, I think just not worrying about individual statistics or maybe what is in it for me, but what can we do as a group? We’ve faced a lot of different adversity with injuries and people being out, but that's football, that's life. And so, I think the way our guys are responding has been a positive. You know, you really can't outperform the culture and the togetherness of a team. I think the best teams play the best together. And we're starting to figure that out as a culture and a program,”
Every year it seems like there’s new wrinkles to this game. Just what is the state of the rivalry in your opinion?
“Yeah, I think it's a great rivalry. Obviously, there's different elements that play into it now. Obviously we have two players on our team from Fayetteville and multiple players on our team from the state of Arkansas, which adds to the intrigue. Our former head coach here, coach Odom, is the defensive coordinator. Former linebacker here, Michael Scherer, is the linebackers coach. Sam Carter used to be the QC here, now he's there. And then obviously, Tre Williams, who is a graduate of the University of Missouri, has found his way to the University of Arkansas. He’s from Columbia and is having a tremendous season. So excited for him to have the right fit, and find and accomplish what he's wanting to accomplish there. Markell Utsey, a the guy who, again, is a graduate of the University of Missouri, who is from Little Rock, getting to play for his home state and having a successful season for them. And that’s exciting for them. But when we play, it’s going to be our team versus their team and trying to win that trophy. And I don't think there's any ill will in this game at all. I think it's a good, old-fashioned rivalry where you're trying to play for your state and your team, and as a competitor when the game's over you want to be successful.”
With the defense playing the way it has the past few weeks, does that change anything for you as a play-caller, as a head coach, how you approach and manage the game?
“Yeah, you know, especially in that game, as a play caller, you can settle into a rhythm of making sure you're not reckless. I think, you know, looking back and watching that game and being critical of ourselves, figuring out where we can be successful and where we felt like we did some good things was, again, the field got tilted on us in that third quarter, and not putting the ball in jeopardy, as frustrating as that can be for fans watching the game, it's about winning the game at the end. And, you know, I think if either team would have turned the ball over, I think it would have been the other team would have won it. And for neither team to have a turnover, to put the ball in jeopardy put us in a position to win the game at the end. And when you're playing a team that has a lot of talent, and you're trying to make sure that you put yourself in a position to execute to win, the first thing you can’t do is beat yourself. And I feel like we're doing that, and I feel like that's how you have to win games in this league.”
As a head coach you haven’t really gone through a full bowl prep before. Where do you see the value in that?
“I think it’s player development and competition. You get to continue to let your younger guys and players get more comfortable, see reps, see different plays, communicate with each other. And then you create a sense of competition knowing that the guys here are going to be the guys that are playing next year. And some of your older vets may not get nearly as many reps, but you know, your young quarterbacks are going to get multiple reps and multiple opportunities. Obviously we're gonna have to replace a running back, and so you’re going to give you those guys opportunities to carry the football and get more feel and reps. So football's a game of reps and repetition, and so getting those practices, getting those opportunities will be good for our program. And plus, you get to keep them here. Instead of giving them, because we don't start school back until the 18th, where they get six weeks off, you’re going to get an opportunity to keep them around and feed them and work them out, practice.”
When you go back and look at that turning point in the season that you talked about, how important was throwing out the depth chart and creating that competition in practice?
“Yeah, I think there was a lot of things that were thrown out. Depth chart, egos. Continue to figure out who really wants to be here and continue to mold the team and togetherness. And I think, you know, everybody's got to be able to push in the same direction, and when you have the best teams, you sacrifice a little bit of your individuality, and you sacrifice a little bit of your ego, and you realize it's not about you, it's about what we can accomplish together. And I think it took a little bit of humbling for our football team and our football program to get to the point where we got to do it together, we can't do it by ourselves.”
Have you been around a player that has had a turnaround in season like Blaze Alldredge seemingly has had?
“I haven't thought of it like that. But just really proud of him, again for coming in and playing well the first game and then having some issues and really, again, having to find himself and figure out, okay, nothing's given, everything's earned and rededicate himself to us. And I credit our coaching staff and our scheme. We had to adjust. Originally, I think we had both Blaze and Chad (Bailey) playing the MIKE position, and now we moved one of them over to the WILL to try to get those two guys on the field at the same time. So you’ve got to be able to be flexible and put your best players in the best position. And I think it's a combination of all those things. And again, it goes back to, we talk about this, we have the saying with our staff, low ego, high output. And I think that’s carrying over to our football team right now, too. It’s low ego, high output. In a world where it’s all about me, me, me, me, the team’s gotta be bigger than me in order for us to be successful. I think that’s showing up in our play, too.”
I think Barrett’s two highest receiving games have come against Arkansas, and Akial has had some good games, too. Do you see any extra motivation from them two coming into this game, and do you talk to them about your connections to Arkansas?
“I mean, I think it's unwritten. I think we all kind of know that we're from Arkansas. I know there's no extra expectation or benefit, I think we're excited to play. Obviously those guys are going to be excited to play. Fayetteville High School is a stone's throw away from Donald W. Reynolds. Razorback Stadium. So, I mean, we've all watched games there before, it's just kind of an exciting thing. I don't think any of us need to try to put any more pressure on it than that. Barrett just shows up in big games, and he always has in that game, and so I don't know if we’ve played this game, and obviously I haven’t been back to Donald W. Reynolds since 2011 when I was at Auburn, but I don’t know if Barrett and Akial have played there. So I think there will be some extra nerves there, extra excitement, but they’ve played a lot of football games.”
How many friends and family do you expect to be at the game to support you or maybe support the other team?
“I have no idea. My wife does my ticket brokering for us so she handles all the requests, especially in a short turnaround. I don’t know who will be rooting for us or who will be rooting against us, but there will be a lot of people there that I consider friends or considered friends prior to kickoff. I don’t know after if I’ll consider them friends, but I got a lot of people there that I have a tremendous amount of respect for. I’ve been to those games. I know what the passion of that community is and I’ve sat in the southeast end zone and watched games plenty of times. It will be exciting to kick it off and play.”
You mentioned it’s been a decade since you’ve coached there. What’s it like to have a chance to go back there?
“I don’t know. I’ll find out Friday. I really haven’t thought about it too much and at the end of the day this isn’t about me at all. It’s really about our football team and about the guys playing. I’m sure it will be surreal at some point walking out, coming out from underneath there and being able to look where I used to sit when I’d go to games, so I think it will be interesting, but once the ball kicks I’m going to be worried about converting third downs and when do we need to call timeouts and yelling and screaming at officials so I probably won’t be too caught up in it.”
Is Akayleb Evans dealing with an injury?
“Yeah, Akayleb had a soft tissue injury that wouldn’t allow him to go on Saturday.”
What did you get out of DJ Jackson?
“Tremendous start. I thought he played his butt off. I mean to play and perform as well as he did, I thought he tackled extremely well, contested third downs, stayed true on man coverage, didn’t give up a double move, I mean to be put in that situation and play as well as he did was extremely impressive. I mean the guy, DJ walks around with a lot of confidence, but man I didn’t know he was gonna play that well. So really excited for him, but again, this week doesn’t care about last week so he’s going to have to go back and recreate his process this week.”
Do you always keep a light saber underneath the podium for your press conferences? How long was that planned?
“Really that’s our recruiting department kind of had that whole scenario kind of planned out and after the game in the locker room they asked me about it and I probably wasn’t thinking clearly and said yeah, let’s do it. Then it turned into what it turned into. But, you know, it was funny. I thought it was funny.”
Back to Jackson, when you know Akayleb is going out is there any consideration to moving Kris Abrams-Draine outside since he’d played there before or did you decide right away to go with Jackson?
“We’ve had all kinds of conversations, but we’re kind of beat up right now. Shawn Robinson’s out again this week, Chris Shearin will be out. Chris has been our backup nickel so if you’re gonna move KAD out to corner then you’re talking about playing another true freshman and we just felt like D-Jack had played enough and that was our best opportunity and option and so, I mean, we’re pretty down right there on the back end. Ish (Burdine) has still not been able to get back from his injury so we just felt like that was the best thing to do.”
Is there anything on a short week you really emphasize to your team?
“You got to go through it and recreate your process. We’re going to be able be on the practice field, we’ve got some meetings at 1 today so we’re going to be quicker into it. We’re making sure our guys are taking care of their bodies and week 12 of the season making sure we’re getting the reps we need at the tempo that we need it but not putting our guys in jeopardy. So that’s going to be key, number one. Number two is just make sure that we, you know I said it last week, feed your focus, starve your distractions and we’ve got to know why we’re playing and what we’re playing for and how important it is to our football team, make sure that we’re excited about being there, excited about competing. We’ve got to be able to put the emotion, you know when you win a game like that and there’s all that energy and emotion, you’ve got to be able to flush that and recreate your competitive fire for this game and we’ve got to be ready to go at the start. I know that this is a team that can really start fast that we’re going against and so we’ve got to be ready from the opening kick. It wouldn’t surprise me if coach Fountain tries a surprise onside, so we’re gonna have to be ready from the opening kick.”
Six sacks on Saturday. I know you said that defensive line is really good, but is some of that Connor not being super mobile or some break downs up front?
“Yeah, I think it was both. We had two twist stunts that got to us, we had two we pushed up in the pocket that kind of was us creating our own self sacks. One of them was in the red zone when I thought he could have thrown the ball away, but ended up taking the sack. Then is intentional grounding a sack? I don’t know if those are considered a sack, but I remember the two twist stunts and two that we pushed up that I felt like he didn’t, we talk about taking the space you need and only the space you need in the pocket, I felt like we were a little bit too much of just kind of moving into some of our issues. But, you know, again, I don’t know how many different starting lineups we’ve had at the offensive line position in our 12th game, but it’s been quite a few. For those guys to be successful, they have to have that camaraderie and work together so I think it’s a little bit of a challenge having Woody (Connor Wood) and Luke (Griffin) move over to right guard and then X (Xavier Delgado) be at right guard, but you know that’s what we practice for and I know that coach Johnson will have them ready for this week.
Everybody makes a big deal of the sixth win for bowl eligibility but not many people talk about seven. How big a difference is it to win seven and assure a winning season?
“I’m just trying to be 1-0 right now, stack up the wins at the end of the season and evaluate how you do. I think this game is important to us whether it was 0-0 or whatever the records are. This is important to us because it’s our rivalry game and we’re playing at their place and there’s a trophy on the line. Haven’t really got into whether or not winning a seventh game defines anything about the season or not. I think that’s a good question but one that I’d probably be able to answer more after I have a little bit more time to reflect. Woke up Sunday morning at 6, was in here working on Arkansas so I haven’t really had time to reflect on all the different things.”
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