2019 Quick Lane Bowl Press Conference

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ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Eastern Michigan University Head Football Coach Chris Creighton was speaking at the team's 57th Annual Football Banquet Sunday night when the words "Quick Lane Bowl" appeared on his phone. When he relayed the good news to the crowd, "The place went nuts," he said. "I mean, it went nuts."

EMU will play the University of Pittsburgh, Dec. 26, at 8 p.m. inside Ford Field in Detroit.

Creighton and Pitt Head Coach Pat Narduzzi met Wednesday, Dec. 11, at a press conference held at the Detroit Lions' training facility to promote the game.

The following is a transcript of that news conference...

Ford Customer Service Division Director, Global Aftermarket Business and Global C.E.O. Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center John Hanighen's opening statement:
"Good afternoon and good morning everybody. Coach (Pat) Narduzzi, Coach (Chris) Creighton congratulations on your appearance here at the bowl and congratulations on your team's success. We look forward to a great week together and a great game of course together. Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center – this is the sixth straight year that we've sponsored the bowl and we look forward to a great game. Now, Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center has about 820 locations in the U.S. We perform vehicle maintenance and light repair on all makes and all models. We're with Ford Motor Company. Now, the week is really important about the game, but really, it's about the student athlete experience if you will, here in Detroit. We want everyone, and the coaches and the families to leave Detroit with a very positive experience. We have a great week of events planned. We have a reception at the Henry Ford Museum, and we've got a nice talk at the end of the dinner from Herman Moore, a legend with the Detroit Lions and Frederiek Toney our chairman. They were both athletes of course, and Frederiek Toney was a college athlete, and will talk about life after sports. We've also got great events in charity and so forth. We're going to Gleaners Food Bank if you will. The teams will both be there, and they will be there for an event. Over the five years that we've been there, teams have actually put together and fed over 36,000 families in the Detroit area. It's a big charity event around that point. Under the Detroit Police Athletic League, we actually change out all of the uniforms and we offer new uniforms, new pads, everything – with Nike and Riddell providing those as well. It's a lot about the community in addition to the game. With that, I'll turn it over to Coach (Chris) Creighton for some comments."

Eastern Michigan Head Coach Chris Creighton's opening statement:
"Well, first on behalf of Eastern Michigan football and Eastern Michigan University, we are absolutely fired up about this opportunity to be here at the Quick Lane Bowl in Detroit. I sincerely want to thank anybody and everybody who was involved in selecting Eastern Michigan. It is a big deal for us. You may or may not know that this is the first time in our history that it's back-to-back bowl games, and by the skin of our teeth. We're well aware of that. So we had our banquet last Sunday, and I was speaking from 2:45 to 3:15, and we were hoping that we would know whether where we were going to be 'bowling' or not prior to my speech. At 2:45 I'm sitting with (Eastern Michigan Vice President/Director of Athletics) Scott (Wetherbee), and we still didn't know, so I said, 'I'm taking my phone up with me and text me.' So at about 3:29 it said, 'Quick Lane Bowl,' and I gathered myself and I let the 300 people or so that was in there to celebrate the season (know) that we were going to the Quick Lane Bowl, didn't know our opponent at the time and the place went nuts. I mean, it went nuts. So you just need to know that it's an absolute big deal for us to be here and we're going to give you everything we have. I know that we have about 150,000 living alumni in driving range, so I hope nobody has plans other than being here on December 26th to support our football program and just to be proud. When I got here six years ago, (I had a) crystal clear vision that we wanted to make those associated with Eastern Michigan University proud. We wanted to bring that to our department, to the school, to Ypsilanti, and then even to the region, and of course to the alumni. We are far from perfect, but we are no longer where we were six years ago. We're getting better and I just want so many people to be in green and white, and to give them a moment in this city, basically in southeast Michigan. I mean, we're Eastern Michigan and we're playing in eastern Michigan, and just to have an awesome day. We're absolutely thrilled.

'To our opponent, it went from just not only a great bowl game, but now it's kind of like a magical deal. I mean, we're playing such an unbelievable program. Coach (Pat) Narduzzi even this summer was kind enough to let us come to their camp and treated me like royalty the minute that we got there, which I so appreciate. (I have) so much respect for what he's done and obviously from Michigan State, and everybody's so familiar with him, and now what he's doing at Pitt. He played for the ACC Championship last year. All of our hands went in the air at the banquet, so fired up that we're going, and then it was about eight or nine minutes later we found out who our opponent was. So everybody took a deep swallow, and then started saying, 'OK, here we go, we're going to go get this.' But again, I just want to thank everybody and let you know that we will give you everything that we have, and we just can't wait. So thank you very much."

Pittsburgh Head Coach Pat Narduzzi's opening statement:
"You're a little fired up today, I think. He's fired up. Again, I'm just as enthusiastic as Coach (Chris) Creighton is, and congratulations coach on a heck of a year. You've done an incredible job there. With Heather Lyke our AD, your former AD, and we've had the pleasure of talking about you a lot and really admire what you have done. Spending eight years in the state of Michigan at Michigan State and knowing where Eastern Michigan was and where it is now, it is in great hands with Chris, and I congratulate you on that. I want to thank John (Hanighen) for that invite. As he was at a banquet, I was putting up Christmas lights. I had a three-hour window of time to come home from a recruiting weekend and then head back on the road recruiting as well, so it was a quick turnaround, and I'm just trying to do as much as I can for the wife and the kids as I walk out that door. But we're as excited as anybody to come back up to Detroit. To me it's a homecoming, again spending eight years in the state, I never spent as much as time really in the city of Detroit as I'd like to because you're in recruiting and then you're back out being down the road. So I'm going to enjoy the time here. Again, I thank the Ford Family for obviously the invite as well and everybody involved. Again, the opponent Eastern Michigan is a heck of a team. Our kids are excited. We have a young football team that's had its ups and downs, we're not perfect as well. We have played some good football teams throughout the year. I think we have a tough team, a young team and a hungry team that will come to Detroit the day after Christmas. Thank you."

Eastern Michigan Head Coach Chris Creighton on when he interviewed with former Eastern Michigan Director of Athletics Heather Lyke for the head coaching position:
"Sure, yeah. I mean, we don't have the time to talk about that right now in the detail, but I love telling that story because just a major time in my life and my family's life. To get a phone call from her when I was at Drake University, a place that we absolutely loved and we're not looking to leave by any means. I got a call from Heather, and I'll never forget it, when I hung up the phone it said an hour and four minutes on my phone. My wife had come down, I was in the basement, and she had come down the stairs during the phone basically going, 'Who are you talking to?' I was just like, 'Just wait honey.' But I remember getting off the phone with Heather and I said to my wife, 'If that woman means what she just said, they're looking for me at Eastern Michigan.' We did not have any ties or anything like that at the time, but fortunately we had a few weeks to think through it and to try to figure out if that was the right thing for us as a family. In those weeks, she got a lot of 'No's' from a lot of other people, so in the end I was the fortunate one to be able to come. I just look at that time as, it was her first job as the Athletic Director and an opportunity for us together to try to come and do something really special at Eastern Michigan. (It was) something that a lot of people just didn't think was possible to do. We're not there yet, but we're going to keep going until we get there."

Eastern Michigan Head Coach Chris Creighton on if he believes their recruiting has improved because of the upgraded facilities and success on the field:
"It's always about people – the recruiting for me. Sometimes 17-, 18-year olds don't necessarily totally get that, but the experience is the foundation always has to be the people. So whether the facilities are top of the line or not quite there yet, that's always how we're going to recruit. The guys in the locker room – you can have paint chipping off the walls and a leaking pipe, but if you love those guys, that's the best locker room in America. You can have gold-plated seats and air conditioning, and all of that, but if you don't trust the guy on your left and your right, the facility does not matter. For us right now, I believe we've got both, and I'm so thankful for a 20-plus million-dollar endzone facility there at the factory. It's something again that I don't know that any of us really believed that it would happen as soon as it did. With the work of a lot of people, the care and the passion of a lot of people, that has come to fruition. So now, I believe that we've got outstanding people who care about each other and care about the university. Some of the comments that we've got from our own players when we first went into the facility was like, 'I feel like a Division I football player now.' It is absolutely special, and we are very, very thankful that we have it."

Pittsburgh Head Coach Pat Narduzzi on what stood out about Eastern Michigan on tape:
"Great question about football. Again – I haven't had a lot of time. We'll start getting into them after this weekend. But I watched one game on an airplane, downloaded on my iPad, and what you see is a football team similar to the University of Pittsburgh. You see a tough football team that plays hard every snap. OK? They're aggressive – both offensively and defensively – that's what they do. They're going to run to the quarterback – at least in the game I saw. Again, a well-coached football team that plays for each other. I think that's what it's all about."

Eastern Michigan Head Coach Chris Creighton on what stood out about Pittsburgh on tape and when they visited the program in the offseason:
"So after I said a silent prayer – so just being very frank with you – coach Narduzzi is an excellent football coach, and even just being there this summer. You know you're there to recruit and be a part of the camp, but just the feeling of how well-run the camp was. You know as a head coach, you don't always get an opportunity to get with other people and see how they do it and whatnot. But I left there that day – because it was my first time being there – just really impressed with just the feel of the place and how the camp was run. Been able to follow as a football fan – especially with Heather (Lyke, Pitt Director of Athletics) and Christian (Spears, Pitt Deputy Athletic Director, Chief Operating Officer) going to Pitt – became a quick fan. (They're) known for their defense and that's been for over a decade now. It just starts with that. I don't know coach real well, but I know that he's passionate and it's Western Pennsylvania. It's Southeast Michigan. It's toughness, and you see that. I think it starts with their defense. It was a year ago, with their quarterback, how excited they were – now they got a quarterback that's maturing and playing really good football, can hurt you with his arm and with his feet. (Pitt Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach Mark) Whipple is there, now under his tutelage. I just always believe in special teams. So it's a tall task. Got to be there, like I said, with some of his team, as those guys were coaching the camp and whatnot. It was a good-looking bunch. So I think a very talented, well-coached team. Again, I mean, played for an ACC Championship against Clemson last year. It's a very tall task for us, but to be honest with you, our program just is that chip-on-the-shoulder. We're a bunch of misfits that people didn't want."

Narduzzi: "Don't listen to that. Scratch that!"

Creighton: "We do! And we come together, and we believe in it. So it's just an awesome opportunity on a great stage to play a great football team."

Pittsburgh Head Coach Pat Narduzzi on returning to Michigan, his time at Michigan State and if he paid attention to the fact Michigan State was a potential opponent in the Quick Lane Bowl:
"You know what, I don't pay attention to it, my kids would pay attention to it more than I would. It means a lot. Again, like I said, coming back to Detroit and my years in East Lansing were very, very meaningful to me. I am where I am today because of East Lansing, because of Michigan State, and because of (Michigan State Head Coach) Mark Dantonio. I don't get where I am without him in the 11 years I spent from Cincinnati to Michigan State, so I'm blessed every day to have had that opportunity to spend those years and all of the learning moments we had throughout my tenure there. Like I said, I'm excited to be back here. We're playing a great football team. There are no misfits from what I saw that one game, and I'll continue to look, and if we can find a misfit, we're going to attack a misfit. But I don't see any misfits. I see a football team that is well-coached. I'm excited to be back. Again, my family is excited to be back, our players – I haven't seen them since we got this bowl, so we'll see them Saturday morning when we practice for our third time, and then we'll get after it."

Eastern Michigan Head Coach Chris Creighton on which of his players could make the jump to the NFL:
"My list might be a little shorter, but I'll tell you this, when our last game ended, and it didn't go the way that we wanted it to go, our quarterback makes things go for us on offense, in Mike Glass (III). It didn't feel right for the season to end, if it did, on that day without him leading us and playing in one more game. I don't know if the NFL can get over his height and all of that kind of stuff, but I think he's a special quarterback. I know that our left tackle is getting attention, in Steven Nielsen, as he should. I think he's a tremendous football player, and I'm talking about graduating seniors right now. Guys are looking at our receivers as well in Arthur Jackson (III) and Matt Sexton. Defensively, Kevin McGill is our corner that has gotten a lot of attention, Vince Calhoun is our three-time All-Conference player in the secondary, and there are other guys that people ask about and want to know about, and Brody Hoying and all of that as well. Yeah, those guys are good football players, so we'll see what happens."

Pittsburgh Head Coach Pat Narduzzi on which of his players could make the jump to the NFL:
"Doesn't sound like many misfits there, Coach. When you look at – I'll start off with our seniors, and I think we've got a pretty good football team. I'll start off with guys that are playing in some senior bowls – Dane Jackson a corner, number 11, I think is outstanding. I've coached some first-round corners, he is all of that. Number 11 he's been a lock down guy in our defense and excited about him. Damar Hamlin who will play in the East-West Shrine Game, who is our free safety that when he's out there, we're a different football team. We're going to miss him dearly in a year when he leaves. Those are two guys that are seniors that are playing in games as we know right now. Again, I could sit here and talk for a while of guys that are going to have opportunities, and his quarterback is going to have an opportunity because the Steelers are playing with a guy named (Devlin Hodges) 'Duck' that is not very tall, but he's a competitor and again that's what his quarterback is. Kylan Johnson, a linebacker is a guy that if I'm the Detroit Lions and I'm sitting there watching that day, I'm going to watch that guy. We have some D-linemen that are some underclassmen that the NFL is looking at as well, but no seniors there. When you look on offense, Maurice Ffrench, again another senior that is a special talent that has had 80-something catches, that's a really good football player. He'd be the one special guy on offense, I think as a senior that NFL teams are going to want him as a punt returner, kick returner and also as a receiver. Some of our underclassmen have put some paper work in that are going to be evaluated for the next level. I'll start with Paris Ford who is an incredible football player. I can't tell you how many coaches after games gave me a hug after the game win-or-lose, and said, 'Hey, that number 12.' He's a guy that flies around and makes a ton of plays. We've got a couple of defensive linemen in Patrick Jones (II) and Jaylen Twyman that have helped us maybe lead the country – I don't look at those stats very often, but we have to be in the top-5 in the country in sacks. I think Jaylen has 10.5 and Patrick's got something like eight or nine. You talk about putting pressure on the quarterback, so these guys can get to the quarterback as underclassmen. So those are a couple of underclassmen there. Then Kenny Pickett, our quarterback is a special player. He's completed a ton of passes, you know we haven't got to the endzone like we'd like to, but he's been excellent as far as moving our team up and down. But obviously the object of the game is to get in the endzone, so that is something we have to do. Again, that's not on the quarterbacks shoulder, but that's on everybody else's shoulder. So, thank you."

Pittsburgh Head Coach Pat Narduzzi on if he agrees with Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney's comments that the ACC has been disrespected this season:
"I do. I really do, and I've played in the Big Ten (conference). I really do. I've been on record of saying that in the past. (I) won't be shocked if Dabo beats the Buckeyes and moves on to another championship game and wins another one. They have an excellent football team. Again, I always say this; You don't move through a conference and become a conference champion again and move on to the playoffs, OK. And they haven't been smoked in the playoffs. I can see if they've been there every year and been knocked out and been embarrassed, but I don't think Dabo or the Clemson Tigers have been embarrassed at any point in any games we've seen this far. People want to talk about pretty wins and ugly wins and all that. I mean, a win is a win. He's an incredible coach. They have a great football team, and we wish them luck in this game. I think the rest of the ACC does get disrespected because it's competitive. I mean there's not a game in the ACC coast that you're going to go into and say, 'Oh, this is a win.' There's not one. When there's a cross-over game, Syracuse wins eight or nine games a year ago has a rough year there but great football team. All we're doing is beating each other up every weekend, OK. That's the difference. Anybody can win. You better be mentally and physically prepared every Saturday, or you're going to get beat."

Pittsburgh Head Coach Pat Narduzzi on if he has had any conversations with his players about sitting out the bowl game:
"You know, I really haven't. That's not something, I think really needs to be talked about. The one thing about our football team is they're together. They haven't said anything to me. I don't have to ask that question. I know they're going to play for each other. We haven't had that problem in the past, and I don't expect to have it this year. But you never know. It's something you'll have to deal with. I think it happens around the country, and I think this game of football is a team sport and our kids talk about brotherhood all the time and playing for their brother. And I don't think there's not one of those guys on our football team, senior, junior, that wouldn't come out and give it they're all on a Saturday in a bowl game."

Pittsburgh Head Coach Pat Narduzzi on how he has grown as a coach and how the program has grown in his past five years there:
"I'm a lot older. I can tell you that, a few more grey hairs, losing a few hairs. I think as football coaches, whether you're a defensive coordinator, a quarterback coach or a head coach, if you're not growing daily then you have issues. I'm going to pick Chris's (Eastern Michigan Head Coach Chris Creighton) mind for anything I can as we spend a little bit more time here during bowl practice. There's always something you can learn as a coach. Again, as a defensive coach. I've learned more offense. I've learned what they're doing, how they're doing it, what they're looking at. I think those are things – but you're constantly learning. You're learning techniques in recruiting, techniques in what you're doing in your summer camps and again, what you're doing offensively, defensively, special teams. Again, everybody in this room is growing. If you stop growing daily, then probably you're going backwards. So we're trying to move forward. I'm happy where our program is going. We continue to compete. We're looking at a benchmark in a Clemson football team that we talked about earlier. They've won a national championship. That's the benchmark. That's what we're trying to strive for. We've reached an ACC Championship. Our goal is not to just get there, our goal is to get there and win the thing. In the next couple years, we're going to win one. I guarantee you that. It's just a matter of time, and things have to go right. We have a good enough football team. We're talented enough. We're well coached, and our kids will play for each other."

Eastern Michigan Head Coach Chris Creighton on the opportunity to experience Detroit and play in a bowl game here:
"It's something that – I know the Creighton family, and then we haven't been together much as a team other than the banquet, but we are excited about it. We do spend time here in Detroit and are familiar, but we haven't been here for three or four days and stayed downtown and done some of the things that we're going to do. Our team, when we said the Quick Lane Bowl, was fired up about a bowl game. Then when we realized the opportunity that we have, and part of that is being at home for our fans. It's just a different dynamic, not that we're use to 'bowling,' but it's something that we're super excited about. I mean, we really are. I do, I just think that the Eastern Michigan faithful are going to come. I think it's just going to be a neat experience and opportunity for Detroit and for Eastern Michigan being all here together. Excited about it."

Pittsburgh Head Coach Pat Narduzzi on the opportunity to experience Detroit and play in a bowl game here:
"Well, I haven't been back to the area for five years, and the one thing I'll say is; The city of Detroit is rebounding. The city of Pittsburgh rebounded years ago, and really the city of Detroit is rebounding. I think it's revitalized. I'm looking forward to, like (Eastern Michigan Head) Coach (Chris Creighton) is to spending time in this city. But when you look at the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan, there's some people that you look at, and it's obviously the Ford Family (that) has built this place."

Pittsburgh Head Coach Pat Narduzzi on QB Kenny Pickett and how they can limit his interceptions:
"Again, a junior that's really done a heck of a job. I think sometimes when you look at quarterbacks, everybody looks and says, 'OK, he threw a pick.' Sometimes you don't know why he threw a pick. You don't ever want to throw anybody under the bus, but I can just tell you this; Of the picks he's thrown, they're not all his fault, OK. Again, sometimes receivers run the wrong routes, whatever it may be, and you're expecting the guy to be there, and he's not. (Eastern Michigan Head) Coach (Chris Creighton) knows a heck of a lot more about that than I do. But I don't worry about those stats. Those will take care – I'm worried about what we do in the win column. But Kenny Pickett is a great quarterback. He's our quarterback. He can move around in the pocket. He's smart. He likes what we're doing on offense. He's just going to continue to get better. He'll be a senior next year. We wish he had another year. He played four games as a true freshman. We wanted to red shirt him, but because of injury we had to throw him in there. He ended up having his first start as a true freshman and beat Miami the number two team in the country at Heinz Field. He's grown every year. Again, you look at those stats, he has some young receivers running routes out there sometimes that do some things. Again, it's been a catch and tackle for our receivers at this point. He could have twice as many yards if we do something after the catch. He's a special player. He can put the ball where you need him to, and then he needs some more guys, which we're addressing in recruiting, to continue to make some more plays once the ball gets in our hands."

Eastern Michigan Head Coach Chris Creighton on what it means to be the first head coach in school history to lead the program to consecutive bowl game appearances:
"There's a lot of us. We have a big staff and quite a few people who have been there for the whole six years. I'm super proud of it, but it's our team. It's our program. It's the department, the school. For a football program to have some success, it takes so many people. Anybody, player, coach that thinks they're responsible for something is a fool. It takes so many people. So just fortunate that so many good people have come together for this period of time to get us a chance to be able to do that. We're proud of it. We're thankful. At the same time, we want to keep getting better. (Pittsburgh Head) Coach (Pat Narduzzi) is getting me fired up about growing, our program, we want to continue to get better. So it's fun to have gone to two bowl games back-to-back. Been to three now in four years. We haven't won any of them. Got in by the skin of our teeth this year. We have a long ways to go, but we're enjoying the process of getting better. It's a great question, but the list of people that have helped us get to where we are right now is really, really long."

Pittsburgh Head Coach Pat Narduzzi on what he has seen from Michigan State in previous seasons:
"Like you said, I'm worried about my program. The highs and lows and the ups and downs and the wins and losses. I talk to Coach D, Coach Dantonio (Michigan State University Head Coach), quite often, but we don't talk football. We talk family. Everybody has issues, everybody has problems. I don't think there's anybody in the country that doesn't. Again, he's a heck of a football coach, and he has respect from a lot of people in this world."

Pittsburgh Head Coach Pat Narduzzi on if Michigan State can rebound from a down year:
"(Michigan State University Head Coach Mark) Dantonio will feed off that. Again, this is about Pitt and Eastern Michigan, but Dantonio will feed off that. That's what he does. He's been the underdog for years. I think what people fail to realize is in the game of football it's hard to do it year after year. Think about all the bowl games he's been to, the Big Ten (conference) championships. He's been in the playoffs. You have a bad year, and everybody wants to get after you. Be careful what you wish for. He's a heck of a football coach, and every Michigan State Spartan should be glad they have him."

Pittsburgh Head Coach Pat Narduzzi on if Michigan State Head Coach Mark Dantonio has earned the right to stop coaching when he chooses:
"No question about it. That's crazy."

Pittsburgh Head Coach Pat Narduzzi on how former Lions LB Joe Schmidt is regarded at Pittsburgh:
"He's a legend. He's a legend at Pitt, and we may even have him as our honorary captain for this game. We're working on that. I have not had a chance to meet him. I'm looking forward to it hopefully here in the future. When you think of the tradition of the University of Pittsburgh, he fits right in with the rest of the greats that have played the game at the University of Pittsburgh."

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