NC State head coach Dave Doeren and UCLA head coach Chip Kelly met with the media to preview the 2021 Holiday Bowl.
NOTE: Click the video above to watch the PC. Below is a collection of quotes from the head coaches.
NC State Head Coach Dave Doeren
“It’s a beautiful city.”
“They’ve done a phenomenal job getting the stadium ready for a football game.”
“When the opportunity came up to play in the Holiday Bowl, I asked the team how many had been to San Diego and itw as one or two. To me, that’s what bowl games are, life experiences for these young men.”
“This group of young men deserve the opportunity.”
“Chip, you’ve done a great job. It’s a fun group of guys to watch on film.”
“It’s a lot of good players, good schemes... guys who haven’t played against each other.”
“He has a lot of experience. His guys have played in the system now for a while.”
“There are a lot of seniors... on that side of football and you can see it on film. They don’t make a lot of mistakes.”
“Prevention is the best medicine right now. Our guys have been through this.... we're here to try and win our 10th game. It's happened one time in school history.”
“We love Philip. He's spoken to our team a couple of times now and he may be one of the greatest competitors at that position when you talk about spirit and everything he does.”
“I think there is great respect for those who like Philip Rivers, knowing he's a member of our university.”
“We had maybe 30 guys with the flue the week we played UNC so we were in a much worse position then. We're in a great spot as far as our health. The guys out for the year are out for the year. Devan Boykin is back. About half our team had the flu during that week so we played it with a lot of guts.”
“It's great to get everyone kind of healthy and back. We've had a good week.”
“Whoever wears No. 86 next has big shoes to fill."
“To get to 10... there's 137 years of football and it's happened one time in school history.”
“We couldn't sign very many players. We didn't know how many we'd lose. We signed a class of 12 guys and I've never seen a class that small in my time, but with that, we had all these guys announcing they were returning. That became more exciting than signing day in some ways.”
“These guys want to win a conference championship. They see the NFL draft has 1200 more players in it so their odds, if they aren’t a first or second, are not good, to come out."
“A lot of guys gain an opportunity to be on a really good team next year and they are excited about that."
UCLA Head Coach Chip Kelly
“It's really a two-year deal, this group we have has been through a lot the last 18 months.”
"I think Dave will tell you it's an ongoing thing. If someone comes down with symptoms later on this afternoon they will get tested. We will test kids up until game time. We don't have any final numbers. If anyone had symptoms they will be tested up until tomorrow. We have our fingers crossed. Our whole mindset is if we have 11 we will play."
“The COVID cloud has hovered over America.”
“We talk to our players a lot about protecting the ecosystem.”
“I think their defense is extremely well-coached. It's a challenge when you face a team like this.”
Our guys know that. We don't see that defense very much. Hawaii ran a version of it, but not like these guys."
"It's going to be a challenge for us. Drake Thomas is as good a linebacker as we’ll face. Tanner Ingle at safety is as good a safety as we’ll face all year long."
“Did he leave early? No? Opt-outs are a thing that goes on during bowl games... [Ikem Ekwonu] is just so athletic... he's really technical. Our guys know it's going to be a challenge.”
“This is our Super Bowl. We are excited.”
“We don't worry about making statements. We don’t talk about the impact of a win... it's an opportunity for this group to play together.”
