I did these interviews last Tuesday and never posted them. Thakarius Keyes was not at practice, but Fritz said he was out with a minor injury and would be back when Tulane returned after Christmas. My first thought was Keyes was protecting himself for the NFL draft and was not going to play in the bowl game---he definitely generated the most interest among scouts of Tulane's seniors--but that idea was nipped in the bud.
I've mentioned it before, but Will Hall runs very energetic, positive practices. I look for Tulane's offense to be a little more pass-oriented next year if the quarterback is up to it, although the run game always will be the heart and soul of the Fritz/Hall approach. His passing scheme is more sophisticated than what Doug Ruse ran. He is very meticulous when he talks to receivers about the routes they are running and what their options are.
Willie Fritz said Tulane had five practices in between bowl selection day and the final one last Tuesday, although only the last one was open to reporters.
Here are the quotes:
FRITZ
On his bowl philosophy:
"We give reps to everybody, number one. We feel like some of the younger guys having an opportunity to get better and do our stuff instead of scout team stuff. We’re getting to do a little bit more individual than we normally do during the season. We had five good practices and then we’ll have eight leading up to the game."
On how much helps for next year:
"It does help. It really does. There have been three or four guys that have shown us some good stuff. Maybe they weren’t as confident during preseason drills but now they feel pretty good."
On Sincere Haynesworth getting reps at center:
"We’re trading him and Christian (Montano) off. You always have to have as many guys as you can that can snap."
On Keyes status:
"Yep. He’ll be good to go."
On overall feeling:
"It’s gone well. Really the final preparation will start when we come back and start practicing again on the 27th leading up to the bowl game. It’s a big game or us. Never in the history of Tulane have they won back-to-back bowls, so we have a lot of stuff out there we can accomplish."
On DeAndre Williams:
"He had a great year. I was disappointed he didn’t make All-Conference, but sometimes it’s name recognition and things like that. He had a tremendous year for us. Ends sometimes get a little more stats. He does the dirty work."
On Williams improvement:
"He’s really gotten better. He reminds me an awful lot of Tanzel with his work ethic. He comes out to work every single day and plays that tough-guy football."
On Tyrick James catching 12 passes in last three games:
"This is what he can do when he’s locked in. The experience he’s gained is big. He played a lot of quarterback, running back and wide receiver in high school and very little tight end, so he’s still adjusting to the position."
On Cam Carroll coming on:
"Well, he’s a good player. He’s a big, strong, fast and a hard guy to match up with and tackle."
On turnover ratio of minus-4:
"Yeah. It was disappointing. We work on it. That’s something we’re really going to have to dig into and research in the offseason. We have to do a better job o that. We’ve got to get better in that area."
On penalties:
"Midstream that’s sometimes difficult to change, but that’s something we also have to get better at. We’ve got to find an edge. Our edge has got to be winning that turnover/takeaway battle also the Wave not beating the Wave with foolish penalties."
On flag-happy AAC:
"I would like to be able to say it was all mistakes on calls, but it certainly wasn’t. A lot of them were self-inflicted."
On Tirise Barge leaving:
"Sometimes guys want to play. Sometimes it’s a difficult chore for them to play at a Division I level and maybe a lower level would help them out and give them more opportunities to play."
PATRICK JOHNSON
End on good note:
"Our heads are still up. It didn’t go as planned in the second half. We played a bunch of good teams. I know the record was like 57-13. It’s insane, but I feel like we competed with each of them. We played some bad games and hurt ourselves, but those were good teams we played against. We’re looking forward, though. We’re not looking behind us. We can only move forward. We’re very excited and we’re ready to play."
Focused for bowl last year:
"Coach Fritz always prepares us with excellence. He expects nothing but less of us out here busting our butts and performing to the best of our ability."
Making All-AAC second team:
"I feel good about respect. I didn’t reach the goals I wanted to, but it’s OK. I just have to keep moving forward and just keep helping my teammates get better."
On DeAndre Williams:
"I feel like a lot of our guys should have been. I don’t feel like I should have been the only one. Especially DeAndre. He had a great year and I’m the one right beside him every single snap, so I know what he did. I see him in the film room putting in the extra work. He’ll be on that list next year. I already know."
On what makes Williams good:
"He’s hard working. He’s out here every single day. I’ve been out here working and I’ve seen him out there. We’re both out here getting better. He has a heart about him. That’s why he was voted team captain. The way he carries himself, it carries on to other players around to make them work."
On lack of turnovers:
"For us as a defense, the biggest thing is to get the turnovers. That’s as good as scoring a touchdown for us. For the offense it’s scoring a touchdown and for us it’s turnovers. If we give the ball back to the offense, that’s the best thing that can happen. It didn’t go our way all the time."
DEANDRE WILLIAMS
On big year:
"It was part of my plan. I worked real hard this offseason to put up numbers and help my team the best way I could, and I just feel blesses. Right now it’s the holiday season and I just feel blessed about it."
On why he improved:
"I’m way better. Our coaching staff has developed me the best they can and I put it in a lot of extra work with coaches and with Tanzel when he comes in in the offseason."
Work with Tanzel:
"Every chance that I got. Every time he told me he was coming in, I was there. I was trying to soak up as much from him as I could. He’s a guy that I look up to."
Why so many tackles ( his 55 tackles tied for the most for AAC DT and tied for third most among AAC D-linemen)
"It was just knowing where the ball was trying to go and reading the blocks that I was getting. People are always talking about playing faster. As long as I was playing fast, I was able to see what was going on in the backfield quick and shed blocks and make those plays to help my team."
Bowl game big:
"It’s very important for this program and our team. We want to end well going into the offseason. We want to make sure we go in the right direction with a win."
What team needs to do
"Just making the plays when they come to you. Sometimes we may want to do too much, trying to make big plays when they aren’t there."
On lack of fumble recoveries
"It gets real frustrating, especially when you are in position to make those plays and you don’t or the ball just doesn’t roll your way, but that’s all part of the game. You have to roll with it, and those balls will start to roll our way some day and we are going to take advantage of it."
I've mentioned it before, but Will Hall runs very energetic, positive practices. I look for Tulane's offense to be a little more pass-oriented next year if the quarterback is up to it, although the run game always will be the heart and soul of the Fritz/Hall approach. His passing scheme is more sophisticated than what Doug Ruse ran. He is very meticulous when he talks to receivers about the routes they are running and what their options are.
Willie Fritz said Tulane had five practices in between bowl selection day and the final one last Tuesday, although only the last one was open to reporters.
Here are the quotes:
FRITZ
On his bowl philosophy:
"We give reps to everybody, number one. We feel like some of the younger guys having an opportunity to get better and do our stuff instead of scout team stuff. We’re getting to do a little bit more individual than we normally do during the season. We had five good practices and then we’ll have eight leading up to the game."
On how much helps for next year:
"It does help. It really does. There have been three or four guys that have shown us some good stuff. Maybe they weren’t as confident during preseason drills but now they feel pretty good."
On Sincere Haynesworth getting reps at center:
"We’re trading him and Christian (Montano) off. You always have to have as many guys as you can that can snap."
On Keyes status:
"Yep. He’ll be good to go."
On overall feeling:
"It’s gone well. Really the final preparation will start when we come back and start practicing again on the 27th leading up to the bowl game. It’s a big game or us. Never in the history of Tulane have they won back-to-back bowls, so we have a lot of stuff out there we can accomplish."
On DeAndre Williams:
"He had a great year. I was disappointed he didn’t make All-Conference, but sometimes it’s name recognition and things like that. He had a tremendous year for us. Ends sometimes get a little more stats. He does the dirty work."
On Williams improvement:
"He’s really gotten better. He reminds me an awful lot of Tanzel with his work ethic. He comes out to work every single day and plays that tough-guy football."
On Tyrick James catching 12 passes in last three games:
"This is what he can do when he’s locked in. The experience he’s gained is big. He played a lot of quarterback, running back and wide receiver in high school and very little tight end, so he’s still adjusting to the position."
On Cam Carroll coming on:
"Well, he’s a good player. He’s a big, strong, fast and a hard guy to match up with and tackle."
On turnover ratio of minus-4:
"Yeah. It was disappointing. We work on it. That’s something we’re really going to have to dig into and research in the offseason. We have to do a better job o that. We’ve got to get better in that area."
On penalties:
"Midstream that’s sometimes difficult to change, but that’s something we also have to get better at. We’ve got to find an edge. Our edge has got to be winning that turnover/takeaway battle also the Wave not beating the Wave with foolish penalties."
On flag-happy AAC:
"I would like to be able to say it was all mistakes on calls, but it certainly wasn’t. A lot of them were self-inflicted."
On Tirise Barge leaving:
"Sometimes guys want to play. Sometimes it’s a difficult chore for them to play at a Division I level and maybe a lower level would help them out and give them more opportunities to play."
PATRICK JOHNSON
End on good note:
"Our heads are still up. It didn’t go as planned in the second half. We played a bunch of good teams. I know the record was like 57-13. It’s insane, but I feel like we competed with each of them. We played some bad games and hurt ourselves, but those were good teams we played against. We’re looking forward, though. We’re not looking behind us. We can only move forward. We’re very excited and we’re ready to play."
Focused for bowl last year:
"Coach Fritz always prepares us with excellence. He expects nothing but less of us out here busting our butts and performing to the best of our ability."
Making All-AAC second team:
"I feel good about respect. I didn’t reach the goals I wanted to, but it’s OK. I just have to keep moving forward and just keep helping my teammates get better."
On DeAndre Williams:
"I feel like a lot of our guys should have been. I don’t feel like I should have been the only one. Especially DeAndre. He had a great year and I’m the one right beside him every single snap, so I know what he did. I see him in the film room putting in the extra work. He’ll be on that list next year. I already know."
On what makes Williams good:
"He’s hard working. He’s out here every single day. I’ve been out here working and I’ve seen him out there. We’re both out here getting better. He has a heart about him. That’s why he was voted team captain. The way he carries himself, it carries on to other players around to make them work."
On lack of turnovers:
"For us as a defense, the biggest thing is to get the turnovers. That’s as good as scoring a touchdown for us. For the offense it’s scoring a touchdown and for us it’s turnovers. If we give the ball back to the offense, that’s the best thing that can happen. It didn’t go our way all the time."
DEANDRE WILLIAMS
On big year:
"It was part of my plan. I worked real hard this offseason to put up numbers and help my team the best way I could, and I just feel blesses. Right now it’s the holiday season and I just feel blessed about it."
On why he improved:
"I’m way better. Our coaching staff has developed me the best they can and I put it in a lot of extra work with coaches and with Tanzel when he comes in in the offseason."
Work with Tanzel:
"Every chance that I got. Every time he told me he was coming in, I was there. I was trying to soak up as much from him as I could. He’s a guy that I look up to."
Why so many tackles ( his 55 tackles tied for the most for AAC DT and tied for third most among AAC D-linemen)
"It was just knowing where the ball was trying to go and reading the blocks that I was getting. People are always talking about playing faster. As long as I was playing fast, I was able to see what was going on in the backfield quick and shed blocks and make those plays to help my team."
Bowl game big:
"It’s very important for this program and our team. We want to end well going into the offseason. We want to make sure we go in the right direction with a win."
What team needs to do
"Just making the plays when they come to you. Sometimes we may want to do too much, trying to make big plays when they aren’t there."
On lack of fumble recoveries
"It gets real frustrating, especially when you are in position to make those plays and you don’t or the ball just doesn’t roll your way, but that’s all part of the game. You have to roll with it, and those balls will start to roll our way some day and we are going to take advantage of it."