Sugar Bowl Notebook | Coaches Press Conference

Dabo Swinney and Ryan Day just wrapped up their press conference with the media ahead of tomorrow night’s Sugar Bowl. Here's the full audio along with some quick notes.

Dabo Swinney

On motivation heading into the Sugar Bowl:

"We are motivated by winning as much as losing. As you mentioned, we lost last year, right here— and that’s pretty motivating too."

On the depth chart:

Says they had two guys who didn’t make the trip— “Just unavailable.” - one walk-on and one scholarship guy. - Full report comes out tomorrow.

On the differences with Streeter in the press box:

Says C.J. Spiller will work with RB. (Swinney and Streeter typically rotate that for Elliott) When Trevor Lawrence comes off the field, he'll talk to Swinney in-person, but then on the phone with Streeter which will be a change for No. 16.

On if Trevor Lawrence would be considered the best college QB ever with another title:

“There's been a lot of great college quarterbacks. I haven't obviously seen every college quarterback that's come through. But he's as good as there's ever been. I'll let other people argue if he's the best ever. But he's as good as there's ever been, that's for sure. He's the greatest winner that I've been around. He's 34-1. He's been incredible.”

On the adjustments in 2020:

“Everybody’s had to adapt. It’s been a great year... As challenging as it’s been in our world and what we do, it’s also been a blessing.” 

On how strange the year has been:

“Learned Zoom…never heard of that before.”

On the decision-making process of going to Brandon Streeter:

COACH SWINNEY: “2020 has forced all of us head coaches to have to think about things that we've never thought about before going into a season. We've never had a season where a virus can just take somebody out in a moment's notice. So we've all had to prepare for that. So we've had a plan in place for myself being out to you name it, every single coach. I was just disappointed for Tony. He works his tail off. It's disappointing he couldn't be here with us. But as far as thought going into it, there wasn't much thought, because that had already been decided a long time ago. Again, that's for every coach on our staff, have a plan for all of that because you have to. Just like having a depth chart for your team, if Trevor's out, D.J.'s [Uiagalelei] going in. You have a depth chart. I kind of had to do a depth chart for my staff on how this guy's out, how would I adjust? So that thought process had already taken place a long time ago. So that's it. And, listen, Tony and I have always collaborated and kind of done it together. He's awesome to work with. And Jeff [Hafley] was a part of that before he left. And [Brandon] Streeter has been our passing game coordinator this year and has been a part of that on the field. So we'll miss Tony. But Streeter will do a great job up top. And well-prepared as a staff to go play the game. Just the way it is. We will definitely miss Tony for sure.”

Ryan Day 

On if Ohio State is at full strength:

“Full strength is a floating target right now. You don’t just ‘play football’ after being out. We are getting a lot of guys back but to say 100%— it’s different this year."

On if Ohio State has played their best game:

“I don't think that we've, as a team, played our best game yet. I don't think we played our best game on offense yet. We've done some good things passing. We've done some good things running. We still haven't put it all together. I'm not sure Justin has either. That's the challenge. We're going to have to play that way tomorrow. But that's everybody. It's Justin. It's the O-line. It's the running backs. It's the receivers. It's the entire team. Yeah, he's going to have to play well, certainly. He knows that. There's a couple plays he wants back from last week. He's a competitor, and we have to play our best game.”

On being the underdog:

“That's what it is. That's what Dabo [Swinney] just mentioned, is that those are people's opinions. What really matters is how we execute on the field, how we play. That's what we focus on as we go into practice, go into meetings. We have our preparation for the game. That's what matters. People have their opinions, but if you make the plays and you play well, then you're going to have a good day. If you don't, then you won't. That's really what it comes down to. Who's more prepared to play in the game when the foot hits the ball? That's where we spend all of our time. When you get to this point in the season, both teams, I think, are highly motivated. That's what we focus on.”

On Ohio State's defense:

“I think there's been great improvement in that area, but the real test will be tomorrow.”

On balancing your emotions, either as a player or a coach:

“I mean, there's going to be a certain level of electricity, especially early in the game. Both teams want to start fast. That's always the case. But then as you get into the body of the game, you get hit once or twice, you get a little tired, I think you kind of find the rhythm of the game, and everything slows down. Early on, you want to have a great poise about you and not being overemotional and focus on it. But certainly early in the game, you're going to feel the emotion. That's just part of the game. That's the exciting part. That's why we all do this.”​​​​​​​