Ted Roof Interview 10-7-23
Oklahoma defensive coordinator Ted Roof speaks to the media following the Sooners' 34-30 victory over Texas.
Transcript
00:00 When you put in the work and you see your teammates put in work and you respect one
00:05 another, again you can fight for one another.
00:08 I'm not surprised because that's what he does every day and that's who he is.
00:14 I think he's grown as much off the field in one year than maybe any other player I've
00:24 coached.
00:25 Because last year he was a guy that was fighting for a starting job, going in and playing a
00:29 lot and made a million tackles.
00:32 And then this offseason his role changed.
00:34 He became the voice and the leader of our defense, or certainly one of them.
00:38 And he's done a great job with that.
00:41 I'm proud of his maturity and his growth.
00:42 Do you feel like Jaren has grown a lot over these last couple weeks?
00:45 It seems like the consistency is maybe a little bit better than it was early on here.
00:51 Yes I do.
00:52 And again, you go back to his career before he got here.
00:56 He was a wildcat quarterback and now he's playing middle linebacker in the Big 12 in
01:01 Oklahoma.
01:02 So you don't just jump in and all of a sudden you're an all-conference player overnight
01:07 with that.
01:08 There's a process because there's so many firsts for him in developing the skill set
01:12 and the habits and seeing things.
01:15 So many things you see for the first time, you don't get right.
01:18 But you've got to learn from it, you've got to grow.
01:21 And part of his growth is again his off the field commitment.
01:25 He's a guy that wants to be coached hard, wants to know what he can do better.
01:29 Every day that's never satisfied and that's the right mentality.
01:33 I imagine his relationship with Danny helps in that regard.
01:36 Some of the same stuff you were talking about with Dan.
01:39 Yeah, they're like Mutt and Jeff.
01:41 They're always together.
01:42 How long do you give yourself to truly enjoy this before it gets back to the tape grind?
01:48 Do you give yourself a little extra time with it by a week or no?
01:51 No.
01:52 No I don't.
01:53 I don't because we're on the clock and we've got a certain amount of time to prove and
01:58 we can't take our foot off the gas from the improvement process.
02:02 So I'll enjoy this one the rest of the day and then maybe look at the tape tonight and
02:06 get back on it tomorrow and get moving.
02:09 Because we've got a lot of things we've got to fix.
02:11 Did you feel overall like the David's played well today?
02:13 I thought they were extremely gritty.
02:15 I thought they fought hard and I felt a sense of belief.
02:20 And forcing those field goals instead of letting them score touchdowns, those are huge deals
02:25 in games like this.
02:26 I'm getting really proud of that.
02:27 And then I would say the red zone defense with as much emphasis as we put on this in
02:28 the off season, that was a big deal today.
02:29 Congrats coach.
02:30 Sure, thanks.
02:31 Do you feel like that kind of gives your defense validation now that they've done it against
02:32 a really good offense and you can quiet down all the guys that are talking about this defense?
02:47 You know what?
02:48 I worry about what people say.
02:51 I worry about what I see on tape and how I see our guys work.
02:55 And that's what I focus on because I know that's the truth.
02:58 And I don't concern myself with that.
03:02 I just go to work every day and try to help our players get better so they can achieve
03:07 things and accomplish things that they're capable of.
03:09 You talked about population that evolved a lot this season.
03:13 It kind of happened again this time.
03:15 What can you say about the defense and how they were able to be in position each time
03:19 a turnover was needed to be made?
03:21 Well, if you look, there was a big hit, the one in the red zone.
03:24 Big hit that knocked the ball loose.
03:25 And Dolby happened to be running to the ball instead of watching it from the other side.
03:29 And you know, contact with the ball right there and there's population at the ball.
03:33 And that's what creates takeaways.
03:34 Kendall Dolby made a few big plays today.
03:35 What did you think of the way he played?
03:36 I thought Kendall is, you know, he was a guy that was mostly repped at corner.
03:45 And with Justin's injury, he got thrown in the fire.
03:50 And you know, he did some really good things.
03:53 And I think he's got a very bright future and proud of him.
03:58 And I know there's a lot of room for him to get better.
04:00 And he's going to work his tail off to do that.
04:02 Can you talk about Kip Lewis coming in there on that, you know, when they got down there
04:06 near the five and he blew up two runs.
04:07 Talk about his performance and kind of what he brings to the table.
04:12 Kip brings production.
04:13 He brings energy.
04:14 He brings juice.
04:15 He's a, he's, he's going to be, I'm excited about his future.
04:20 He's a guy that can really run and again, strikes people, tackles people, makes plays.
04:25 And he's, he's very instinctive, very instinctive.
04:29 And you know, his growth, I mean, like last year he was 192 pounds and you know, now he's
04:35 walking around at 210 and this, the reps and the growth, it's different because there's
04:38 another level of confidence.
04:40 And I'm really pleased with him and know absolutely that he has a very bright future here at Oklahoma.
04:44 (chewing)