Thank you very much. Um, we’ve had a, a phenomenal week here. Um, For your staff has been remarkable. Everything that we, that we were told that some is, has proven to be true. The hospitality and um. De Rossi has been just overwhelming. Uh, our players had a great experience, and the best way to cap off a great week is, is with a great game tomorrow, which we’re looking forward to. So, uh, with that, let’s do, uh, questions. We’re gonna start off with, uh, on Sarah’s end with the Duke Media here via Zoom. Duke folks, reminder, use the raise hand function, and I will get your question. Connor, will kick it off with you. Yeah, Manny, um, the last time we talked, we were talking about helping Darian through the decision process with his NFL draft decision. Um, uh, obviously, since then, he’s announced that he’s coming back. What are you looking forward to the most with working him, working with Darian for a second season? Yeah, that’s a a huge boost for the program, obviously, I think the um um I think what I am, there’s there’s a lot of ways to answer that question. I think what I’m most looking forward to is just him being able to really truly establish himself as the leader of our program, having an offseason when he’s not the new guy, um. And, you know, and even just from a program standpoint, to just have that stability at that position for, for back to back years, um, I think that’ll, that’ll just do immense things for, um, not just his development, which, you know, we, there’s an aspect to that, but just the, the stability in the rock of our entire program, so really looking forward to that. Thanks, and I, I know you kind of touched on this, but the experience down there, I think we saw. I think we saw a clip of you with a guitar, um, playing, uh, I didn’t know you had that in the repertoire, but what’s, what’s been the overall vibe for the team down there, um, and then how do you kind of shift, I guess, I guess there’s kind of a shift in the next few hours of really dialing in and locking in on the game plan. Yeah, I think what um what you want to do with bowl experiences is you want to um You wanna pull the experience, you know, where you’re at, and I, I, I think one of the great things about the Sun Bowl and, in El Paso is that it is, it is, it has such a unique personality and such a unique culture, and we say all the time that so much of the, the country is, you know, you know, generic, you get the same experiences everywhere, and, and there’s just, there’s just a very Unique vibe to this bowl game, so you want to appreciate and experience all those things, but then when it’s time to work, you gotta do the work. And so, our guys have practiced very well, um, So you wanna, you know, there’s a, there’s a joke in bowl games, you want, you wanna win everything you do. You wanna win the events, but you also wanna make sure that you win the game, and the way you win the game is how you prepare. So, our guys have prepared well, um, I’m sure Arizona State has, has done the same, um, and like you said, the, the, the way to, to finish off the week is with a victory, um, tomorrow. Jim, go ahead. Hi, Manny, um, I guess it’s morning. There’s a good morning. Um, when I ask an Arizona State question, they’ve got a fair number of opt-outs, means they’ve got players playing, don’t have much tape on. How do you scout the system? How do you prepare for the system without being able to scout the players? We, we’ve, we’ve talked about this before, um, you know, you’ve got 12 games of evidence of what they want to be on offense, defense, and special teams. Um, we always assume that any team we play will be at their full strength. Um, and so it doesn’t matter what the name is on the back of the jersey, which or jersey number they’re wearing, um, you know, we, we assume that everybody will be playing as good as they can possibly play. Um, and then bowl games, I think anytime you, you go a long time without playing, It’s a lot about your execution, right? It’s very rare, there’s not a lot of other sports that stop competing for 3 to 4 weeks and then just resume. Um, and so, just making sure that we’re up the game speed in terms of how we execute on, on, in all three phases. I think that’s You know, from my experience of all the bowl games I’ve been on it, I think that’s the most important thing is, are we just game ready to play, um, things you don’t do for a while, like, like tackling, um, you know, ball security, special teams play, those type of things, and a lot of that is, is to be, to be honest, it doesn’t really matter who you’re playing, um, you control those type of things. Thanks. Chip, go ahead. Yeah, Manny, we’ve kind of asked you this question before, but with the portal coming up now pretty quickly, uh, how have you had to juggle or have you juggled time this week and, and getting ready for the bowl at the same time looking ahead to the portal? Yeah, Jim, I mean, everybody in the country’s fighting two dragons at the same time, right? Um, and the first year of the portal is retention, um, so you want, you wanna make sure that, you know, and I think that Duke, that we talked about that many times before, that’s the pathway to our success is to keep what we have and be able to develop what we have, um. So I, I feel good about where we are, you know, going with that going forward, but, you know, you still never know. Um, and at the same time, everybody’s gonna have to make decisions really quickly and, and, uh, in real time. I mean, today is Tuesday, I think. It’s Friday for our game week Tuesday. I think we start school in 8 days. Um, and so we turn that around, that’s why I’ve talked about, it’s why the janitor portal is a, is a, uh, honestly, it’s better than 2 portals, but it’s a horrendous idea for a lot of reasons, um. The idea of what that does to admissions departments all over the country, um, and the disparity of when schools start their spring semester, um, is bad for business, for everybody. Um, so we, we made it better than it was a year ago, but it, it’s gotta be a lot better than this because we’re ruining football season, and the reason why we’re all gathered here today is because we love football, we love the season, and anything that that Hurts that should fundamentally be viewed as a threat to our game, and, and yet here we are. So, um, it’s not just the, the coaches and our, and, and, and us fighting two dragons, it’s the players. Right? And we’ve seen it, we’ve seen, you know, even just the last question about guys opting out and, and whatever, and why, why we would ever have player movement season or coach movement season, to be honest, um, during the season is just, to me, it’s a, it’s a bad, you know, it’s, it’s, it’s bad for the sport, doesn’t happen in any other sport, and hopefully this is gonna be a fixed going forward. Hey, one quick follow to, Manny, uh, just looking at your practices, uh, both in Durham and there, have you, do you get through them physically OK? Is everybody good to go or will some guys miss the game? I think right now, like I said, of all the ones that are here, we, we feel good about who we got. Caleb, go ahead. Hey, Manny, obviously you have pretty historic senior class. What has it been like to have a couple more weeks with those guys as a group? Obviously, I know you have a few opt-outs there, but kind of what’s the vibe with that group heading to their last game? Great, great, um, great to be together, right? And I, and I think that’s the thing that’s lost in bowl games, um, and we one thing we talked about our, our team, you know, you hear about teams that want to play in a bowls, or players that want to play in bowls, and talk about how special the Sun Bowl staff has been, but just the ability to beat it around each other for a few more weeks, um, to even take the game outside of it, but just watching the guys go through the events, um. You know, just the relationship piece of this, right? Um, being a part of a team, I, I, I, I don’t know that these guys will necessarily experience something like this going forward. Um, and the gratitude that we have, just the things that we get to do when, when we’re here, and we get to do it with who we get to do it with, um, it’s, it’s, it’s been really special to watch our guys and, and how much they truly appreciate the experience of being together. Um, and I think that’s something that we have uniquely, that, you know, that makes you special, um, the culture in our locker room that I’ve always said the players create, so, um. One last ride means a lot to them, and, and it’s, it’s fun for us as coaches to really watch them, and, and, and help, help them on their journey through it. Richie, those are all our questions on Zoom, turning it over to you. Thank you, Sarah. I’ll pass the local media portion. Please state your outlet and your name, and then we’ll follow up with your question. We’ll go ahead and start off with uh Chaz Messman. Coach K Fox TV Chaz Messman, um, obviously you guys the ACC champion, but what would it mean to the future of this program to back that championship up with another trophy here tomorrow? It’s massive, um, You, we, what, what we say is you become a champion for your habits, and if your habits really are, uh, consistent, then people start handing you trophies, right? So we won the ACC a few weeks ago, but I’m not sure that that’s exactly what we wanted and I think we wanted it with a lot of small microbe behaviors, and on that day we’re just handed. Trophy. So, in terms of building this sport of the way we want to, um, getting into these types of games, playing teams like Arizona State who was in the playoffs a year ago, conference champions, um, I think that’s a big step for us. And so to make this a normal behavior at Duke is what we’re trying to do. But, but again, that’s hard, it’s a hard ask because I’m just trying to do the same thing. So, um, I think that’s why we’re really looking forward to this matchup and to, and to play a team like Arizona State. No, Felix Travis. He could have just maybe talked about your season, but you’ve been most happy with with his team’s coming along. I think, um, the resilience, you know, I mean, obviously we’ve, we’ve had some ups and downs, um. But learning that Failure is not final, and in fact, that the best teams use failure as a, as a, as a great teacher, and, and I think that’s what we’ve learned. I mean, I mean, we, we, we’ve had a very difficult schedule, um, in conference and out of conference, and through our setbacks have come lessons, and that’s made us the best version of a team that we can beat. Um, I do think we have gotten better as, as the year has gone on, and, you know, and any coach is always gonna say this, I don’t know if we’ve played our best game there. And I think that’s the really exciting part. We’ve got one more opportunity to really try to put it together in all three phases. And as I mentioned, we, we’ve, we’ve done enough, we’ve won the league, we’ve done things that have not been done at Duke either ever or in a long, long time, and that’s kind of a mindset that our guys have. Um, and they, they cap this off with, you know, back to back 9-win seasons. And it should be 8 wins over power 4 teams. There’s a lot of things that haven’t been done ever at Duke, and, and be honest, a lot of people in the country aren’t doing anything. So, um, that’s what makes these guys special because when someone says you can’t do it, um, that’s exactly what they want to do out there. Eddie. And what elseport network, um, with, what you talked about earlier with what’s going on in college football and then on top of that winning an ACC championship. Congratulations. How do you keep your, uh, team focused, motivated, you know, enjoying the game, uh, with all the extra practices that you have leading up to this game? Uh, question number 1 and question number 2 from a fan here in El Paso, have you had Chico’s tacos? What’s the deal, man? I know. Yeah, there we go. So it ain’t over yet. Um, but, um, going back to the part, you know, I think it’s, it’s actually ties into the last question. Uh, no matter the, the highs, the lows, um. Coming to this bowl game, whatever. Like our whole mindset is always on continuous improvement, right? Like, so when we win, win the ACL, that’s fantastic, we can still get better, right? Oh, we lose a heartbre game, we don’t the year, that’s fine, we can still get better. And so I think one of the things that the players enjoyed is the consistency and message that, you know, we’re not riding the wave of, hey, we’re great now, oh no, we stink now, whatever. It’s like, listen, all we do, all we control is our performance, and there’s not a player or coach, you know. In this organization that believes that we’ve performed at our best. Best is always out there, so you’re always chasing them, um, and I think that allows a growth mindset that we’re always looking to that North Star of, I know there’s a performance out there that I’m capable of, and so, like I said, whether, you know, we have fun with the events, but when it’s time to practice, I am practicing to make myself a better version of myself than I was yesterday. Right Coach, it looks like on paper, the big mismatch would be your quarterback against their very young secondary, and their best chance to stop that would be with their veteran defensive line. How do you go about exploiting that and how do you see that matchup? Well, you gotta get in the game and, and, and sort it all out, right? Um, as, as, as we know, games are not played on paper, um, and the best way to affect any quarterback, um, being a defensive guy myself, is with pass rush. There, there, there’s no coverage and there’s no play or that, that can cover for, um, you know, an extended time clock. So, um, I, you know, I think the best thing you can always do for either quarterback, which I think will be key in this game, is who can run the ball well, um, because your ability to protect the quarterbacks could, could go hand in hand with your ability to stay on schedule and stay out of obvious passing down where the pass rush has a chance to, to really, um, pin his ears back and get after the quarterback. So, um, you know, when we’ve been at our best this year, it’s when we’ve been two dimensional, we’ve been able to, to pound the rock, and, um, you know, the old saying says when you, when you, when you You know, if you, if you have to throw it, you’re in trouble, right? If you, if you throw it when you want to, not throw it when you have to, and that’s really what we wanna do. Armando’s face. Yeah, Armando decides that of sports. How do you, uh, what, what’s the feelings of, of the team, of the program being the, the second, uh, a pair of, of, of teams who repeats in the Zone Bowl in the same game? Uh, Arizona and Duke, uh, was in the 2014, 5 points of difference, uh, for, for Arizona. What’s the feeling of, of the team like, uh, uh, uh, kind of revenge or something like that. The, uh, I don’t know, yeah. I don’t know if we’ll revenge will be, uh, will will be what we talked about right before we, we, we come out of the tunnel, um, you know, a bunch of our players were probably 10 years old when that game was played, you know what I mean, so, um. But, but what they do recognize is they recognize the chance to, to put a Sun Bowl championship trophy in our building, right? And that’s what I say we, we have, we have plenty of room in our trophy cabinet in Durham, right? It’s not full, and, and so, um, that’s why we take this very seriously. It’s not lost on us, the history of this game and, and the fact that we were here, um, and, and I keep saying. Our guys love doing things that Duke has either never done or have not done in a long time. And so to come here and to be able to avenge a game like that, I think matters, but I don’t think there’s, I don’t think there’s a personal element of like, yeah, we gotta go win it for the 14 guys. So Sam Guzman, uh, coach Diaz, Sam Guzman, the Patriots and 9 years El Paso, just, uh, Darian’s been a key, uh, aspect of your guys’ offense, just what the people expect to see out of him, um, tomorrow. Yeah, I think he’s, I think he’s one of the top quarterbacks in the country, um. He, um, you know, what I love about Darian, and, and why I think why he fits so well at Duke is because in his preparation, he prepares with immense humility, and then he plays with superior confidence. And that’s something that we really try to explain to our guys, right, is that, is that on Monday through Friday, when we’re preparing, we prepare with, you know, the old saying, like, you prepare like you’ve never won, and then you play like you’ve never lost. And I think that’s what Darien has. He, he’s, he’s got great confidence in his ability, um, he gives our team. Confidence that we can beat anybody on our day, which I think we showed this year. Um, but if you, but if you’re around the guy, You know, when, when, when the spotlight is not on, um, he fits in our culture so well because he, he, he’s always eager to get better, what I talked about, you know, a few minutes ago about just constant improvement. And so, um, we’ve got to do a great job of playing well around him. I think that’s always the thing with quarterbacks, um, that they, they, they benefit from, from the weapons they have around the protection, and that will be Arizona State’s plan is how do they find their way to disrupt him. The number way to do that is not let us run the football and then try to affect him with pressure. Any more questions for Coach Diaz? Thank you very much, coach. Thank you.
