📅 Published on: 2024-12-27 00:26:15
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Boise State offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter spoke to the media at the start of the Broncos’ practice week for the CFP Quarterfinal at the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl on Dec. 26. The Vrbo Fiesta Bowl will be played on Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024 at 5:30 pm MT (ESPN, Bronco Radio Network).
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Good, they’re a good football team. For sure. You can see, you know, you can see why they’ve had the success they have. They are very talented and very well coached. Play hard. They’re, they’re a good, good football team for sure. What do you think they’re? What do you think they’re best at? In terms of defensively, Coach, when they when they’re at their best, what are they doing? Well, well, they’re they’re not letting you score. I mean, that’s their, their sixth in the nation in in scoring. So that’s, I mean, top 10/6, in scoring, fifth in fewest TDs, fourth in yards allowed, fifth in tackles for loss, third in rush TDs allowed, 12th in first downs a game, third in red zone touchdown percentage. I mean, they’re, they’re good, they got good numbers, and they aren’t fake. That’s all on tape. The best defensive player you’ve seen this year, yeah, yeah. He’s, he’s really talented. I mean, he’s going to, you know, I think most people got him as a top five pick, and that certainly wouldn’t be surprising. You know, you can really see that his his linebacker training, where he already played off the ball a year ago, and now he’s playing on the ball, although they move him around, the guy can really cover ground. He’s got a real nice spin move. He closes on the quarterback, he can he can turn the corner, and he’s not their only good rusher. They have more than one because of your NFL background. When you watch film, do you notice guys and think, Okay, there’s like six guys on this defense that could play in the NFL. Are they? Is this, is this an NFL defense? Sure, sure. I mean, and you know, they, they should have NFL talent. It’s Penn State. I mean, they, they recruit at the highest level. And, you know, they play in one of the top conferences. Yeah, they, they definitely have, you know, they, they recruit guys that think they have a future in the NFL. And, you know, it shows up. They got them sure, when you decided to come back this year, you know, being able to chance this is the goal, obviously, get to the playoff. But just to you’ve obviously coached on a lot of great things in your career, but what’s it mean to be a part of the staff and be coaching in this game to get this team to where they’re at? Yeah, no, it’s definitely as the as the year went on. And you know, we knew we were going to have a good football team, and after the close loss at Oregon, as Coach D has said many times, you know, we, we’ve been, we’ve been in playoff mode ever since then, because we knew, even though we were trying to win the conference and get to the conference championship, get to a bowl game, of course, you know, we knew that we had a chance if we if we could run off a bunch of wins, we definitely had no room to lose a game. The players were aware of it. Obviously, the media, you know, make sure everybody’s aware of it in a good way. I mean, it’s the first time it’s ever it’s added a lot to college football and for the for the little guys to have a chance. And you know, as the year went on, between the academies and UNLV and different teams that had a chance to get in there, and, you know, slowly but surely it it narrowed down. So it’s, it’s, it’s very cool for these players. It’s awesome for our fans. It’s awesome for everybody involved with it. The two games that Penn State lost, what gave them trouble? They played other really good teams. You know? They, they, they played really good team. You know, they that, you know, let’s face it, we’ve all of us. We saw Oregon firsthand. And that was, that was a close game. I mean, that went right down to the wire. I think, I think Dylan Gabriel’s probably the best quarterback in the country, and, you know, I think he’s perfect for what Oregon does on offense. So Oregon, Oregon ran a lot of tempo against them. Ran a lot of unbalanced sets, you know, where they had every everybody on one side. I’m not necessarily saying that is what gave them trouble. I’m just saying that’s what Oregon did, and Oregon does that to everybody. But you know, Oregon is one of the teams that can match Penn State speed. Penn State has excellent speed. On defense, Oregon, as we know, has excellent speed. Yeah, in the in the Ohio State game, Ohio State just played a real solid game, and I think Ohio State matches up with them good physically. I’m talking the part I watch Ohio State’s offense versus Penn State’s defense. That was a that was more of a power game, a little bit less of a speed game. Ohio State didn’t make mistakes. They Ohio State did a decent job running the ball. You know they did. They did it when they needed it, in the situations where they needed to run it. Four minute offense, for example, they did a good job running it. But yeah, they’re the two teams that beat them. They were close games, and they were good teams that beat them. Dirk when, when you have a common opponent, type of origin, can you look at those? Games and directly compare and, you know, help you prepare, or is it just two completely different games? No, you can, that you can. I think the fact that we played them so far apart, you know, we played that seems like a year, year and a half ago, when we played Oregon and they just played them in the conference championship game. I think all three, you know, Oregon definitely changed throughout the year, we changed a little bit throughout the year, Penn State, you know, some some players get better, some players get injured, etc. But, yeah, I think that’s a, I think that’s a good, good comparison. We’re always looking for that in normal weeks. It’s strange where you only have, you know, you just have that one game, that common opponent. That’s a little bit different, you know, because you have so many common opponents, but definitely something I think that helps the rest is meant to Ashton. He’s having three weeks off. Yeah, I think you guys are making too big a deal over that. That’s just my opinion. You asked me, I told you what’s what’s advantageous about having all that time off other than maybe healing physical I don’t, I think, I don’t think there is probably, I think, I think most teams this time of the year that are playing well, which I think, if you’re winning games, you’re playing well. I think most teams that are playing well would rather play than rest. I mean, the time off scares me more than I think it helps us. With a couple of exceptions, there’s a couple of guys injury wise, Mason, Randolph, for example, that if we wouldn’t have the time off, we probably wouldn’t have had a chance to get him back. What is it about the downtime, just getting out of a rhythm? Yeah, you don’t. You know going against your scout team every day is different than going against any real team, let alone a team, a team that’s as good as Penn State. I mean, so the speed, the speed difference, and then, you know, just time off. It’s been a really good schedule that coach Daniels Danielson put together, as far as you know, giving guys time off for Christmas, giving guys enough time to to get their bodies back. But that’s just me. Personally. I’d rather keep playing, but that’s just me. In the SMU game, they obviously had some self inflicted wounds on some of the turnovers and stuff. You guys have been very good this year taking care of the ball, not having any of those, just game changing kind of turnovers, what? What is allowed? Maddux in this offense, you know, knock on wood. I guess to be take care of the ball so well this year. Well, Bill Bill Parcells is famous for saying that more games are lost than one, and I’m a big believer in that statement. And SMU did a lot to lose the game, even though Penn State, you could, you could make a very good argument that Penn State forced him into some of those errors, but we have done a good job in that area, and Mad Dog in particular has done a really good job in that area. That’s one of the reasons he’s our starting quarterback, is he takes care of the football. He doesn’t beat us. He doesn’t get his beat any player but a quarterback touches at every play. Quarterback doesn’t always need to win the game, but he also can’t lose the game for you. And unfortunately, SM, SM, US quarterback did a lot to lose that game last week. And I mean, I know that guy’s a fine player with a with a very bright future, but you know, that was not pretty. It just wasn’t what is it about Maddux? Whether it doesn’t matter who you playing, he’s been very, very, very consistent this year. And I know you love the fact that he’s this winner, but what is it in his DNA that just makes him so consistent? And going into a game like this where you don’t expect him to be consistent with his drug records as he has been? Yeah, that’s, I mean, that’s just think back over time, over the best quarterbacks that you’ve seen. They that’s what they are. I mean, the best guys are that they’re they’re consistent, and the best guys, the best quarterbacks, make players around them better. You know, they, they magnify other players, talents, the best, the best quarterbacks, make the plays in the critical moments that need to be made. You know, I got to, I got to watch on Christmas Day. Got to watch two of the best in the world. I mean, you know, you see mahomes and Lamar Jackson with those two guys. Those are two guys that can, that can win the game for you. But there’s just not, not a lot of those guys out there. I mean, those, that’s the exception, more so than the rule of Max cutter, Max very sharp, you know, just solid, good pocket passer. We’ll stand in there. We’ll stand in there and take a hit and deliver the ball. You know, for a backup quarterback, especially a guy that’s been a three most of the year, but whether you’re college or the NFL, unless you’re playing your third guy on scout team, which we don’t, we play our our fourth guy on scout team, that third guy gets like no reps, other than down there in the end zone when we’re doing drills during during special teams. So for. A for a second or third quarterback to be able to function in in a game without the benefit of reps. That’s, that’s what you’re looking for, because that not all quarterbacks can do that either. I mean, there’s a lot of guys that they can function pretty well in a game, but they need the practice reps. So I’m real confident that if Max is numbers called, that he will go, go in there and do fine. Would you consider maybe giving Max more QB two reps than you typically would, just because he’s been the three all year? Definitely. We’ve definitely been doing that, for sure. We’ve been, we’ve been making it a point to get him as many reps as possible. So as far as, going back to our the original thing about the time off, there’s a guy that definitely would benefit from extra practices has benefited. He’s kind of embraced it, right? Well, if the guy’s any good, he’s been, oh, he’s he’s sitting there thinking, I should have been there all along. So I’m sure Max is thinking, I’m just getting a chance to show it. And he’s been doing, he’s been doing a nice job. You talked about doing this for 42 years before that, you were a player. I’m sure you’ve thought about this 0% of the time. But is there any chance to daze your last ever press conference? I did think about that actually. Just a few minutes ago, I said I might be going to my last ever press conference, and man, how will I ever be able to survive? Will life go on? That is a, that is a question that for us all to ponder today. I mean, you got a game to win, and eventually you’ll have plenty of time to think about that. Yeah, just that. No, this, yeah, this might be, this might be it. I hope it’s not. I hope we keep going for a while. And you know, I know our players believe in in what we’re doing, and I know they’re going to go down there and give it their best shot. But other than that, I’m not giving it too much thought. I’ve done, I’ve done enough press conferences. I’m perfectly satisfied with my press conference career. I know high school, I don’t you even said I was a player at one time, I don’t even remember that you’re obviously trying to win. Nothing really changes. But in terms of, there’s been some talk of, hey, you know, in the past, if yes, well, was the last game. Now, if you win, you do get to keep going. I mean, what? Yeah, how different is that? Maybe as the week goes on, that’ll start to feel good. Yeah, that’s really a strange feeling, you know, because typically, at a bowl game, I was just looking at our, you know, we got a master calendar of all the we got everything planned down to the minute, of course. And, you know, in a normal bowl game, you come back, if you, if you’re a coach, and you come back on the plane, it’s the coaches, the coaches, families, and the five local players on your team, and the rest of the plane is empty. You know, because people, people scatter. It’s usually, you know, as Christmas break, school doesn’t start up. But you know, everybody’s got to come back. Everybody’s got to come back on the charter, because, you know, hopefully we’re still rolling. There’s just, there’s just different things like that. You just, it’s hard to plan your life past, past the 31st I really do want to watch that Texas, Arizona State game on the first though, if I can swing that somehow, I want to take this question too seriously. How many variations of the stat of Statue of Liberty? Yeah, you’re about the 500th person that’s asked me that. And if you call Ashton right and Ashton left, if you just change the word to statue right, statue left, and we have, let’s see, he averages what 32 carries a game. I guess we got 32 variations of it. You can look back on the history. This is part of like the Yeah, very cool player down there. What are you going to make? Of some of those, whether it be statue or fake puns or whatever it might be in in the Fiesta Bowl from the past? One thing that’s crazy is I was living in Arizona at the time of that game, and I went to practice a day or two. A day or two before that game, I went to practice. It was, I think, at one of the baseball fields in Scottsdale, and maybe it was at Scottsdale Community College. It was somewhere in there. And I remember that day I was at practice, I said to myself, Man, they got a lot of trick plays in the game plan. And then I went to the game and they hit, like every one of them, every one of them hit. I mean, ours kept calling them, and they kept working. So I remember that part about it, but yeah, that is definitely, definitely a part of Boise State history. But I think the main, the main part of that is the good guys came out on top. Why is that for you? You said you even called a ton of trick plays this year. I mean, you’re more of a beat in with what you what you’re good at, or what’s kind of your philosophy. Yeah, it’s just weird. Is I was at one time. I was a, I was a trick play guy as much as anybody. But just, I think the NFL kind of humbles you on that a little bit, especially, especially Ben Johnson’s doing a good job with them right now in Detroit. But I think especially when you, when you’re maybe with a lesser team, and you see how good those defenses are, and you, you’re trying to, you’re trying to, you just don’t have many plays to give up. And everybody. Talks about the trick plays that work, and they show those a lot on on the highlight shows. They don’t show those ones that don’t work as often. We started the season, where do you think the offense most improved? Well, I would say one thing that jumps out to me is a depth in the O line. And no teams have depth in the O line. We were forced to develop depth. I think that bodes very well for the future. I know every team in the country, in the portal right now is looking for old lineman, and if, if we’re fortunate enough to hold on to all these guys that played and the depth that we developed, I mean that. I think that that bodes well for the future. And then, you know, just due to the fact that we had a little bit of a revolving door behind Ashton at the backup running back, I think developing depth that running back, the emergence of Wagner as a second tight end, who could be a first tight end for a lot of teams. And how Matt louder has. We all knew that he was a blocker, but he’s had a good year receiving Maddux Madsen. No one, no one in except for me in this room, thought Mad Dog was going to be a good college quarterback, and I think you’re pretty, pretty set at that position for the next couple years, as well. Mentioned Penn State’s pass rush. You know, go back to Oregon game. Cage Casey played pretty well in that game. How much will a guy like him be be tested in this contest? Yeah, he will, because cage is a really good player. And cage can can play on that level. And, you know, we, we ask a lot out of cage. We very rarely help cage. We, help the right side a lot. And we very, you know, a lot of teams in the NFL do that as well, where they they help a certain guy, and they, you know, if you’re a left tackle in the NFL, and you’re starting left tackle in the NFL, you’re, you’re on the island a lot, and cage, Cage plays that role for us. He plays it well. Take the best part of his game. I remember going back to fall camp, and he said, you know, Ben Dooley, time bring around a notebook. But instead of, like, overwhelming yourself by filling it up, it’s like, you know, really specific things to work on each and every day. Cage is is, uh, very specific and on the things that he works on. And, you know, Cage is extremely soft spoken. He lets his actions do his talking for him. And I’d say that. I mean, I still remember two years ago when I came back, the first couple games that cage went in. And I remember specifically, I was on the sideline that year, and cage was getting ready to go in a game, and he had a look of terror on his face. And I asked him right in the huddle, are you scared right now to go in and I said it kiddingly, and cage just has a quiet confidence about him, about himself. I think he’s really improved in the run game. His athleticism and his ability to block the edge as a pass protector has always been there, but he’s really takes pride in his run game now, and playing next to Ben Dooley, those two side by side, they’ve done a really nice job for us. Dirk, if this is your last press conference, Jeanty in the NFL, type of career you think he’s going to have? What are you going to tell Arthur Blank when he calls you? Should I take this kid like Ashton’s going to do just fine for himself wherever, you know, wherever he ends up, he’s going to, he’s going to do just fine. Yeah, the running back is, is making a comeback. I mean, there’s teams running the ball, running the ball well right now, and you know, Ashton is going to make some team very happy. Is there a player on offensive that’s, like, revealed, like, you know, like, from the beginning of the season, what you thought he was going to be, what he is, you know today is there, is there a guy that, well, Mad Dog, for sure. I mean, I spend the most time with him. I’ve spent the most time with him over the last couple years. And, yeah, that there’s plenty, there’s plenty of good stories out there, but I spend the most time around him, and he would be my easy answer there. Let’s go to zero real fast. Alex, just Paul, yep. Colton pool feel got a question. Go for it. Yeah. Thanks for the time. Yeah. Talk about Maddux. You talk about his consistency and ability to limit turnovers. What is it about his sort of off field approach that has allowed him to be successful in those areas so young in his career, that’s a good question. I don’t know if I could just narrow it down. I mean, you know, Maddux study, he studies, he studies the tape. He He is a really, he’s really good when it comes to how he can, how he can see something on tape, make note of it in his notebook or his iPad and remember it in a game when it’s time to remember it and not not it. Not everybody can do that. I’d say that’s something. I mean, he’s, I don’t want to say the guy’s got a photographic match. Memory, because I think you just got to be in science. But he the guy’s sharp, you know, and being smart and being able to apply what you know and the exact moment that you need to know it, that’s, that’s what great ones have. And he’s not there yet as far as being a great one, but he’s he’s come a long ways. Joe Smeltzer, you’re next. Appreciate your time today. Dirk, so you talked about Apple Porter and state’s pass rush from the interior of Kent State’s defensive line. What have been your takeaways, though, watching them on film, and overall, you say this is the best D line you guys have faced up to this point here. Yeah, I’d say this is the best D line. They’re right there with Oregon. And it’s just been a long time since I’ve stood, you know, since I’ve studied Oregon. But they’re, they’re right there. I mean, just right off the top, first off, I think they have four defensive ends. Penn State has four defensive ends who I think could start for almost every team, 1133, 9215, and they play them a lot. They play all four of those guys. They like to play three at a time on pass downs. But the guy, I can’t see my glasses too well, but without my glasses, but 28 inside. Man, I would like to be that guy’s agent. Converted high school running back. He plays defensive tackle for him. He’s got a crazy combination of quickness and power, and I think that guy is very disruptive on the inside. So, yeah, we know. We you know. We know we have our hands full with that front. And they’re, you know, they’ve wrecked havoc on plenty of, plenty of teams, and that’s going to be a big key to the game. Is if we can, we can neutralize that front. Bruce, you’re next. There we go. Dirk, just, you know, talk a couple questions on Maddux. You know, obviously we know he’s a guy who is not going to be afraid of any challenge he faces. How important is that when you get into a postseason game like this, yeah, I don’t think any of our guys will be afraid of the challenge. I mean, that’s one thing. You know, the way Coach Danielson approaches it with our guys. It won’t be, you know, we, we know we’re playing a really good football team. We know we have to play our best, but it won’t be because we’re afraid of the moment. I mean, that’s, that’s one thing that players at Boise State they’ll be, they’ll be ready to answer the bell. Now, that doesn’t mean we’re going to, it doesn’t mean anything to the scoreboard, but you don’t have to worry about us being afraid of the moment in particular. You know, he’s, he’s a guy, you know, who we mentioned, you know, kind of his he’s been accurate this year. He’s been not, not trying to fall over. Is that, you know, back when you were working with him two years ago during his retro year, you know, did you realize how great he could be at that point. Yeah, I don’t think he’s great yet. I think he’s Yeah, I did. I did realize that because I love the way he carries himself. I like his his Moxie, I like his confidence, he you know, I wish he wasn’t however tall he is. I wish he was as tall as your quarterback, but he’s not. So. You know, Mad Dog maximizes his his talents, and that’s all you can ask out of any player. Cool, that’s it for zoom, anything back in the room you mentioned the don’t have to worry about being being afraid. At the moment, there’s a lot of talk about just the the underdog role. And Spencer, you know, said, Hey, count us out. That’s fine. I mean, I know you the guy’s been gone for a couple days, whatever. But, I mean, that is something this program has been built on. From your perspective, do you get a sense that this group’s ready to kind of prove some people around, I think they’re ready to go out and do their best, and that’s all, that’s all we can ask. And that’s, you know, Coach Danielson says it all the time is, you know, we can’t ask for more than your best, but we need your best. And that’s that’s just been that’s a good way to look at it. And I think our, I think our guys have a good feel for that. Dirk, you took over 20 years ago, was the head coach, and now you’re going to get a coach in a college football playoff game here at Boise State. Like how cool to see how far this program is coming to have a legit shot this year at winning a national championship for the first time. Yeah, no, it’s very cool. And I’ve said to several of my friends when I came here in in 1998 I might have told you guys this story once, but I think I was staying at one of the roadway ends. I was in my little, tiny office down there in the corner of the varsity center. It was snowing and raining outside, and there was people walking by on their way to a basketball game, and one of the players I inherited got caught stealing books from the bookstore that day. And I was thinking to myself, Why did I leave Eugene, Oregon to come. Them to this and at press box. Press box wasn’t there. This theater wasn’t here. That indoor wasn’t there. Bowie State was probably averaging about 19,000 fans a game. And it is really I’m very proud of the of where, where this program has gone, and how we’ve been able to keep the chain of coaches and the, you know, the way the culture in this program, where it’s where it’s gone from that second year, 1999 to 2024 and to be in this playoff, I think, just speaks volumes about the administration here, the fans here, the players here, and the coaches here, and it’s, it’s really cool to see. I’m very proud of it. You know, seven Jared degranti said that they deserved a shot at a national championship game. Are you glad that there’s finally a true playoff format where you do have a shot? Yeah, very much. Yeah, very much. I think it’s, I think college football has a lot of problems right now, but the best thing they got going is this playoff. I think that’s a huge I mean, they’re going to change the way they seed the teams, and, you know, maybe how they pick the teams and all that, but the fact that it’s a tournament right now, and somebody’s going to come out proving it on the field as a national champion, and, you know, the 13th, 14th, 15th teams, they can, they can argue all they want. But whoever wins this thing by winning three or four in a row to get there that that is, that’s big time, and I think it’s awesome for the sport. Yeah.
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