memphis arrival quotes - amazon s3 · 2019-12-23 · 1 quotes provided by caption pros – (480)...

-

1 Quotes provided by Caption Pros – (480) 419-3809

www.captionpros.net

Memphis Arrival Quotes

Monday, December 23, 2019

AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas

CHRIS PIKA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to AT&T Stadium for the Memphis welcome press conference. Today we have head coach Ryan Silverfield and student-athletes quarterback Brady White and defensive back Jacobi Francis. And, Coach, we'll begin with you. You and our team arrived in North Texas yesterday afternoon. Did everything go well on the trip in? COACH SILVERFIELD: Yes, fantastic. Obviously we're excited about being here. The Cotton Bowl committee, everybody has been so welcoming. Our young men, our student-athletes, are so excited to be here. They certainly earned this right. We can't wait for next Saturday. But at the end of the day, it's been welcoming. We're so excited and look forward to the 28th. This is our starting quarterback, Brady White, a young man who has played at a very high level. Excited about him and his future with our program. Does a fantastic job on and off the field and in our community and community service. And then defensive back Jacobi Francis, a young man from just outside of Atlanta who's done a fantastic job starting for us at the defensive back position and has a bright future ahead of him as well. Q. To be the quarterback that brings Memphis to this point, I know you probably thought about it but to actually get here, to see that reception, and now you're going to be practicing at Cowboys Stadium (AT&T Stadium), have you kind of taken that in, that you were that guy, first time ever? QB BRADY WHITE: Yeah. This entire season, it's been a blessing and just the journey to get to Memphis and to go through last year and then to just grow with this team. I'm a big believer in everything happens for a reason, and I just think everything has been building up. And it's just an awesome opportunity for our program to be able to take advantage of this opportunity to play in this awesome bowl game. And everyone involved has done such a great job already, and our players are all excited. I'm fortunate to be the quarterback of this team and on this stage. Q. When you got here and you got the big reception, was this what you were expecting out of something from the Cotton Bowl? You've been to several bowl games already. What has this been like and how has it been different for you guys? DB JACOBI FRANCIS: Really just the hospitality and just the sight-seeing and the environment that we're in, it's a big stage that we're on. We're just taking it all in, one day at a time.

-


www.captionpros.net




QB BRADY WHITE: It's been pretty special just to see the welcome. Like Jacobi said, the hospitality, the service that everyone is willing to give and how welcoming everyone is, it's just a privilege to be here. So we're excited for the events and everything that comes along with the rest of this week. But obviously the 28th is what we're here to take care of. Q. Penn State's defense, you have seen it on film. They love going after the quarterback. I think yesterday they said you were a very good quarterback, they respect your game, but they were very prepared for you. How do you see that kind of playing out, and what do you see from their pass rush and their defense? QB BRADY WHITE: Absolutely. They're, like, a top-ten team for a reason. And it's a very good overall football team and especially on the defensive side. Just all around really good players. Good front seven, solid backend of DB. So they do a lot of things well. I said it all year; I'm going to say it till the day I die. We're focused on ourselves, and I'm very confident in the team that we have and the personnel we have. And I know that if we go out and execute the game plan like we're supposed to and take care of the football that we're going to be in good situations. We're going to play at a high level like we know how to, so I'm confident. But it's going to be a fun game for sure. Q. This week is all about football, a huge football game. But it's also Christmas in two days. What's it like to have Christmas down here? Are you guys going to be doing anything special as a team? COACH SILVERFIELD: I'll start off. I know this is for them. But this is our family down here. I've said it all along. Our entire family is here. We're not always blood, but we live and die together for this. So we're grateful to spend Christmas together as a family and the holidays as a family, and maybe the rest of our other families will join us down the road. But this is our family here this week. DB JACOBI FRANCIS: As Coach [Ryan] Silverfield just said, we're one big family. That's our biggest emphasis, on team. I'm just blessed to be here with my brothers and coaches. That's a big Christmas present for us as well. QB BRADY WHITE: Absolutely. Reiterate. We said it since day one, we're all we got and we're all we need. These are the people that you go to battle with, that you grind with year-round.

-


www.captionpros.net




And Memphis is special, and that's been said before. But this program really is special. It's one-of-a-kind. And this is the Memphis family. So we're obviously privileged enough to have our blood family coming in and get to spend some time with them. But, I mean, growing up, this is what you dream of. So this is a Christmas gift in itself, like Jacobi said, so we're very happy to be here. Q. Is this a "pinch me" moment really for you? Because this is the highest as a Group of Five that you can get. Out of all of the rest of the leagues, you guys are it. You are representing everybody else. Do you take that banner into battle with you, knowing that you represent the rest of it against a Power Five school like a Penn State, which is a brand? DB JACOBI FRANCIS: Most definitely. We know the situation we're in. We played in big games all season. And like you said, we made it here. And we know what's in front of us and our task. So like I said, we're just going to come out here and play and just take in the moment like we can. But it's still another game. QB BRADY WHITE: Correct. It's kind of a little bit of both. Obviously, appreciative and proud and honored to be here and to represent so much but, also, it's the next one. The game plan is to go 1-0. It's a good opponent. It's a really awesome stage clearly. But at the end of the day, it's ball. So nothing really different. Q. Is this a "pinch me" for you, too? COACH SILVERFIELD: I think just like our young men just said, this is a wonderful opportunity. Obviously, we don't take that lightly. For me, it's obviously first time as a head coach at the collegiate level. But at the end of the day, this is just another game. And I'm not making light of this. Obviously, we've been fortunate to be in this situation. But it's always going to be the focus about ourselves, even just right now how we can go out and get better at practice today. Very fortunate and blessed to be in this opportunity. Our young men have worked hard to deserve this. And we're going to continue to work hard this week so on the grand stage on Saturday, we come out and showcase what we've been able to accomplish.

-


www.captionpros.net




At the end of the day, yeah, this is what you want. We've talked about this all along, we do have this "Memphis versus everybody." And I have mentioned this in the past. The 901 has a certain sense of pride. So it doesn't matter who our opponent is, where we play, when we play. It's always going to be about ourselves, focus on ourselves. Look, we get to do it on a national stage versus a great team in Penn State this Saturday. Q. I have a question about the hospitality that you guys have received here in Texas. Tell us a little bit about the difference between here and Tennessee. COACH SILVERFIELD: Yeah, absolutely. It's southern hospitality all around. The people here have been so first class, right? Obviously the people of Tennessee, of Memphis, are wonderful people. We've got a great community there. But this community around here has been fantastic, so welcoming. You can see the smiles on the players' faces, the coaches, the families. You guys have been absolutely terrific. And we're grateful for that. You guys have accepted us with open arms from the day we got off the buses. Even prior to that, everything you guys have extended to us. So we are so honored and very, very appreciative of everything you guys have done. Q. Coach, you have a very young team. Are you kind of happy that they are getting to taste this kind of success so early in their careers? Do you think it kind of establishes the standard of success that they're going to want every single year moving forward? COACH SILVERFIELD: Yeah, I think it's great. It's better than the alternative. So I'm glad we are having success. It's just one of those things, right? This is the next game. But we want to have sustained success for many, many years to come. With us having a younger roster, it's great for them to see, right? They have the chance to experience these things, to come to AT&T Stadium, to see where the [Dallas] Cowboys play, to be able to practice, and then play a team like Penn State. It's a great opportunity. So guess what? We're focused on what happens on this Saturday. But at the end of the day, this will be plenty of motivation for years to come for these young men to say, "Man, this is something we would love to get back to." Q. Coach, how much do you let them, like, look around? You pulled up to this place, you see it, and then when they get in there, they're going to be wide-eyed looking around and all. How much do you let them soak that in before, "Now, we're going to zone in on practice"?

-


www.captionpros.net




COACH SILVERFIELD: I have told them all the time, I want them to enjoy this, right? They've earned this. I want them to enjoy this. Take it all in. Be it all. Guess what? We all should be. Like I said, we're grateful for this. At the end of the day, though, this is a business trip. I want them to enjoy themselves. I want them to enjoy everything that comes along with the Cotton Bowl that they're putting in place for us, right? We're very fortunate with what they're doing and the hospitality. We will enjoy it, and I want them to be bright-eyed and see it all. But at the end of the day, we're here for one reason and that's for the game on Saturday. Q. With it being your first game coaching this team and it being such a huge game, do you almost feel like -- is there much pressure on you? Do you feel kind of free to lay it all out there, leave it all out there on the field? COACH SILVERFIELD: I have great confidence in our young men. So for me it's -- there's no pressure. No one will put more pressure on myself than myself. We've got wonderful leadership from top down, our athletic department. I'm in this position for a reason. It's to lead these young men. We're going to do it the right way. So there's no additional pressure. Like I said, for me, it's another chance to go out and showcase the University of Memphis and our football program the right way. And this stage is huge, but that excites me. I wouldn't have asked for it to happen any other way. Go Tigers.

memphis arrival quotes - amazon s3 · 2019-12-23 · 1 quotes provided by caption pros – (480)...

Documents