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On staying focused even though the expanded playoffs leave room for error:
I don't know. I think there's a lot of psychology in that. You have to balance. I think a lot of people say to themselves 'I don't want to drive expectations up too high, that way people don't expect too much.' Newsflash, they're not going to pay you a million dollars a year to win half your games. Nor should they. I want to win with these kids every day, in everything they do. And I do want to stand on that stage, win that conference championship and that national championship. So I think part of it's having the courage for that be a central focus every day. If you ask any of our players, one purpose is on our back wall as big as you can make it, 'National Champions. People think that's talking about just a game. No. It's talking about every day, every rep, every thing we do. Everything we do in the last three years, we've gotten better at. We're competing and we're better academically, we're competing and we're better socially, we're competing and we're better on the football field. So having that standard works. If you'll be 1-0, every day, every rep, then you're gonna get there. Why say what everybody else is saying? Everything we can do that separates us from everybody else gets us closer to where we want to be. I think your players know if you really believe. I think they know if you really expect to win. They know if you care about them. You can say whatever you want to say. There's great power first in what you're saying to yourself, and obviously what you speak out of your mouth. It's hard to get people all looking the same direction nowadays, but we've got it. Our guys now, I'm standing there not saying anything, and these guys are doing it, so we've got a culture that gives me a lot of confidence. People have told me 'why do you put so much pressure on yourself to win?' Don't our players deserve that? I mean, what's our goal academically? To graduate 100% of them. Well you say 'but coach, you lose one here and there,' but you're not picking my kid that's not graduating. If you set the standard at the top, then you can ask them to work harder than anyone. That's just a belief that I have, and our guys have gone from believing to expecting. That's why I think this team has an opportunity to do something special.
On staying focused even though the expanded playoffs leave room for error:
I don't know. I think there's a lot of psychology in that. You have to balance. I think a lot of people say to themselves 'I don't want to drive expectations up too high, that way people don't expect too much.' Newsflash, they're not going to pay you a million dollars a year to win half your games. Nor should they. I want to win with these kids every day, in everything they do. And I do want to stand on that stage, win that conference championship and that national championship. So I think part of it's having the courage for that be a central focus every day. If you ask any of our players, one purpose is on our back wall as big as you can make it, 'National Champions. People think that's talking about just a game. No. It's talking about every day, every rep, every thing we do. Everything we do in the last three years, we've gotten better at. We're competing and we're better academically, we're competing and we're better socially, we're competing and we're better on the football field. So having that standard works. If you'll be 1-0, every day, every rep, then you're gonna get there. Why say what everybody else is saying? Everything we can do that separates us from everybody else gets us closer to where we want to be. I think your players know if you really believe. I think they know if you really expect to win. They know if you care about them. You can say whatever you want to say. There's great power first in what you're saying to yourself, and obviously what you speak out of your mouth. It's hard to get people all looking the same direction nowadays, but we've got it. Our guys now, I'm standing there not saying anything, and these guys are doing it, so we've got a culture that gives me a lot of confidence. People have told me 'why do you put so much pressure on yourself to win?' Don't our players deserve that? I mean, what's our goal academically? To graduate 100% of them. Well you say 'but coach, you lose one here and there,' but you're not picking my kid that's not graduating. If you set the standard at the top, then you can ask them to work harder than anyone. That's just a belief that I have, and our guys have gone from believing to expecting. That's why I think this team has an opportunity to do something special.
