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00:00 Hello, everybody.
00:03 Good afternoon.
00:05 I'm really excited about this upcoming game, our 12th final guaranteed game that we can
00:12 play down in Ford Field.
00:15 Expecting a lot of Spartans to show up down there.
00:18 Have a lot of Detroit area guys on our team.
00:21 Get a chance to play in an NFL venue.
00:24 So it's going to be a lot of fun.
00:25 Just like I said, on Saturday, the wives can go out and shop all through the day and then
00:33 come down to the game and enjoy our football game in Ford Field.
00:38 So hopefully all the Spartans will show up and have a great time.
00:48 Every week we've talked about sticking together and finishing, but to come back, get a rivalry
00:53 trophy and a chance to play for another one.
00:55 I guess how much you just get into the end, the finish line, and you guys sticking it
01:00 out this whole time, how much value do you feel in reward and just what you guys have
01:05 been able to do late?
01:06 Well, you know, I told him again today, you know, we're here now.
01:10 We can actually see the finish line.
01:12 I've been talking about finish, finish, and there's a lot of different ways that you have
01:16 to finish.
01:17 It's starting with just your play, you know, just that particular play.
01:21 And I always say that in the series, in the quarter, and all that, and the game.
01:25 And now we're not only going to do all those things this week, but also it's going to be
01:30 the finish, the final game, finish the season.
01:33 And so we don't stick with that thing because that's very, very important, not only in football,
01:40 but in life.
01:41 You've got to finish everything that you do.
01:42 If you start something, have a mindset to always finish and do it with excellence.
01:47 So that's our mindset for this week.
01:50 I'm wondering for you, because your coach Perlis helped create this trophy that everybody
02:01 loves so dearly, is there an added importance to win that, the beautiful land grant trophy?
02:11 Yeah, it's very, very important to win it.
02:15 First of all, to win the game.
02:17 You know, that's number one.
02:18 And then the trophy comes along with it.
02:20 It's something that Coach Perlis created, from my understanding.
02:25 So that's always big because he was my coach.
02:28 So we would love to bring it back home here to East Lansing.
02:33 And when we open up our new building, we've got a nice place we can put it in.
02:35 Same with the Spittoon.
02:37 So we definitely want to bring it back home.
02:39 Honest thoughts about the trophy?
02:42 Honest thoughts about the...
02:43 I'm not a liar.
02:44 I told you I'm not a liar.
02:46 Honest thoughts about the trophy.
02:48 It's nice.
02:49 Harlan, a lot of guys went down in the game.
02:56 I guess, sort of, curious if you have any updates on like, Samak was a big one, looked
03:00 pretty serious.
03:01 Nate Carter looked pretty serious.
03:04 I guess anything else, if there's any other major ones I guess you can think of, because
03:06 there was a lot of guys.
03:07 Right.
03:08 Well, Samak will be out.
03:10 He'll be out.
03:11 Got a chance to get Nate Carter back.
03:16 And so those are the guys.
03:18 And then Brandon Wright, we'll see.
03:22 Lower leg deal.
03:23 So we'll see about him.
03:24 Just how does the...
03:26 You guys went down there with whatever it was, 45, whatever it was.
03:29 How does that affect just practice structure and schedule?
03:31 I'm assuming you're probably not trying to hit as much.
03:33 Do you have to be precautious or tweak some things during the week when the numbers are
03:37 a little low?
03:38 Absolutely.
03:39 Even this time of the year in all of football, the hitting backs way off because it is such
03:45 a physical sport.
03:46 And so we're backing way off.
03:48 Maybe backing off a little bit more than we normally have, but we would still back off
03:52 because you got to just get the guys to the game.
03:55 So we are slowing it down for our guys.
03:58 Not as much banging throughout the week.
03:59 Make sure...
04:00 And it's a shorter week as well.
04:02 And so our guys are...
04:04 They know what's going on.
04:05 It's more about mental reps than it is the physical reps.
04:08 That's what we're doing.
04:10 How much confidence do you think you guys gained on offense this past week with Caden
04:16 and Malik and all?
04:17 Putting up some numbers and now facing another really good defense this week and just the
04:23 latest challenge for you guys.
04:24 It can't help when you play well, it can't help but build your confidence.
04:29 So I'm sure those guys are feeling pretty good, understanding what we're about to face
04:33 again.
04:34 Like I said, every week in the Big Ten, you're going to have to be ready to fight and play.
04:37 And so here's another challenge for us to go out and fight and play and do our very
04:41 best and execute, play with great discipline and then finish.
04:46 Like I said, we always got to just finish everything that we do.
04:48 So we do that, we'll give ourselves a chance to win the football game.
04:54 Harlan, with Malik Carr, how much is...
04:59 If he is that player, how much does that change what you can be offensively?
05:05 And where has that player been?
05:07 It could change a lot.
05:10 Going into the Iowa game, I'll never forget, he was going to get used a lot.
05:15 What you all saw, the first part of the game, he had what, five, six catches I think.
05:20 And that was by design.
05:22 And so Malik is a good football player.
05:25 And I said it the other day when I was talking about Sam being...
05:30 Malik is the very...
05:31 I like guys like that.
05:32 He's very, very, very confident.
05:34 He's close to cocky, he's border, but he's very confident in his abilities.
05:39 And when you're like that, you can go out and do things like he does.
05:42 He's not shocked by those things when he does it.
05:45 It's more like I told you, he hits you with that stuff.
05:48 But he is a weapon.
05:49 If we could have used him throughout the season like that, we were all trying to get better.
05:56 Caden just now starting getting out there and we was rotating Sam in and those type
06:00 of things.
06:02 But he is a weapon for us.
06:04 And we had some others as well.
06:07 Great catch by Monturi, Alante Browns, some guys that...
06:11 I think Caden is just getting more comfortable in what he's doing.
06:14 So hopefully he'll have another great game this week and get the ball to Malik as well.
06:22 When I'm with Penn State, obviously the defense has been kind of their calling card.
06:26 What have you seen from that?
06:28 And then it sounds like their quarterback is going to play, but how do you kind of go
06:33 into this week knowing he was out for that game and kind of prepping for that?
06:38 Well, you always believe that the guys are going to be able to play until you hear otherwise.
06:42 Sometimes until we see, we don't believe anything as coaches until we see it for ourselves.
06:47 And so, you know, we expect him to play.
06:50 We expect the quarterback to play.
06:53 As far as their defense is concerned, they play really good defense.
06:56 They got good players.
06:59 They play hard.
07:00 They understand the scheme.
07:01 And so, and they'll come after you a little bit.
07:04 So it's what we know to expect from these guys.
07:08 And we just got to go out and execute our plan.
07:10 What's your travel itinerary with a game at Ford Field?
07:14 Do you go in Thursday night?
07:16 Hotel there?
07:17 Yes.
07:18 Yes, we're going to go down Thursday night.
07:19 So I'm wondering, hotel, bus trip, does this kind of feel like a road game?
07:25 No.
07:26 I mean, not really.
07:27 When we stay in this state, it feels like home games to me anyway.
07:31 So I mean, and to me, you know, like I always tell our guys, I mean, it's still 11 on 11
07:37 football no matter where you're playing.
07:39 So the crowd can be a crowd if you be a factor, if you let it be a factor.
07:44 But it's all mindset to me.
07:45 I mean, they can't play.
07:47 So they can yell and scream all they want to on either way.
07:49 It doesn't matter.
07:50 All right, you can block it out and just go play ball.
07:54 You know, what you want to do on a, and I know this is not, this is going to be a home
07:58 game, consider it a home game.
07:59 But when you do go away, I tell them all the time, especially as a defensive player, you
08:03 want the crowd to say, "Woo."
08:05 When you can hit somebody and hear them say, "Woo," the whole crowd does it.
08:08 That's a beautiful sound.
08:09 It's a beautiful sound.
08:10 Are you confident, hopeful that the Spartan fans will kind of take over Ford Field?
08:15 Yeah, I feel good about it.
08:17 I think we'll show up and support our guys.
08:20 Our guys have busted their butts all year long.
08:24 You know, they didn't ask for this, this adversity that came upon them this season.
08:30 And so I would just love for Spartan Nation to come out and show love for our guys, show
08:34 love for them and respect for them for what they have done this season.
08:39 They never gave up.
08:40 They always kept fighting and they will continue to fight through this game on Friday night.
08:46 So hopefully everybody will show up and appreciate our guys for that.
08:50 I was wondering how you thought Dallas did taking over for Nick, you know, first drive
08:56 and then he plays the rest of the way.
08:57 I think that's the most action we've seen in him and just, you know, taking over for
09:01 a fifth year senior and how he performed.
09:03 He did a good job.
09:04 You know, Dallas is a good football player.
09:06 He has great attention to detail.
09:09 He's always trying to execute to the very best of his ability because he cares.
09:13 Excuse me.
09:14 And so he did a really good job.
09:16 He's going to be a good player for us and I'm glad he's on our team.
09:21 Just curious if you remember much about that game in 2010 when you went down to Ford Field
09:25 and what the positive takeaways for playing down there.
09:27 Yeah, I do remember that.
09:29 I think it was FAU we played down there and it was just, you know, the atmosphere itself.
09:35 You know, you got to talk about, you know, the tick marks, you know, the hash marks and
09:39 all that stuff because a lot of times those NFL fields will keep the NFL hashes or the
09:43 numbers in place, but they'll put the tick marks.
09:46 So these are numbers.
09:47 You just got to understand those type of things because it does matter.
09:50 It does matter on how we align and do certain things, especially on defense.
09:55 So we'll be talking to our guys about that.
09:57 But like I said, it's football field.
10:00 Them guys know how to play.
10:01 And some of these guys have played in there.
10:02 If they played in, you know, from the Detroit area, playoffs or whatever it may be.
10:07 So and or been in there before.
10:09 So they won't be, you know, overwhelmed.
10:12 I don't think.
10:13 Harlan, with this being, you mentioned that you can see the finish line finally, but with
10:18 so much uncertainty behind that finish line for you, for the players, for this for this
10:24 program, what's it like to go into the final week knowing that like this is kind of the
10:30 last group or last game with this group?
10:32 Well, it is.
10:33 We'll get to that.
10:34 Really, I try not to think about it, to be honest with you, until we get there at the
10:41 end, probably say something on Thursday, Thanksgiving.
10:43 You got all that.
10:44 You get all these emotions involved and all that kind of stuff.
10:47 But really, it's after the game, you know, we'll just share, share, you know, what we
10:53 think.
10:54 I'll share what I think and what of the season and how everybody has done.
10:57 Like you said, uncertainty all over the place.
11:00 But, you know, at the same time, excuse me, you know that life goes on.
11:06 And in some cases, some people don't care.
11:08 Nobody cares.
11:09 So that's how life goes.
11:11 But you can just keep pushing.
11:13 And that's all I know to do anyway.
11:15 And so nobody will quit.
11:17 This team knows it better than anybody, in my opinion.
11:19 They understand adverse situations.
11:21 They understand, you know, there's uncertainty and all that.
11:24 But to just keep going.
11:25 If you keep going, if you finish, then everything will be OK.
11:28 I'm wondering what you notice in their run game, what makes that go for them?
11:33 And defensively, what are some of the important things to do to stop, especially when you
11:37 guys are a little thin and detach or could be, I guess.
11:41 They have two really good backs.
11:43 Their running backs are good.
11:46 They balance off.
11:47 They play off each other from how they run the football.
11:50 So their backs are good.
11:51 Their line is good.
11:53 And they just do a good job, period.
11:55 You know, understanding how to hit holes and read their blocks and all those type of things
11:59 like that.
12:00 And then you asked about their defense.
12:01 Is that what you said?
12:02 Just the order you defensively to stop them.
12:03 I got you.
12:04 I got you.
12:09 That's why we're backing off our guys a little bit to make sure they get to the race on a
12:13 Friday night.
12:15 But our guys will be ready to play.
12:16 We have a good front, really good front.
12:18 And they do a good job.
12:19 And they've been playing hard all year.
12:21 It's one of those things where there's nothing to hold back.
12:25 You know, we're not trying to make it the next week's game.
12:27 This is all out.
12:28 So they're going to give us everything they have.
12:30 And they have.
12:31 They've been doing it anyway.
12:32 But, you know, hopefully they be even more because I don't have to save myself anymore.
12:37 I get a chance to heal up after this game.
12:41 Coach, if we consider the situation where you do get the win over Penn State and the
12:46 Spartans are 5 and 7, there would be a potential scenario to accept a bowl bid if the stars
12:50 kind of align.
12:51 Has there been any discussion based on some of the injuries and uncertainty of whether
12:54 Michigan State would accept a bowl in that scenario?
12:56 Good question.
12:57 There hasn't been any discussion on that.
13:00 And you're right.
13:01 I've heard about that before.
13:02 You know, guys have gone, have opportunity to win five games and go to a bowl game.
13:06 But we haven't discussed that.
13:08 We just focus on the Penn State deal.
13:10 And if that comes about, we'll talk about it when that happens.
13:16 I'm wondering for you, we're now, you know, one game left in the season.
13:22 Looking ahead, first let's look back.
13:25 How has this year been, you know, since you took over the job?
13:30 And what's your elevator pitch to moving forward to get the job if you want it full-time?
13:37 Okay.
13:38 So the first question, how, look back, how it started and everything, is that what you're
13:42 saying?
13:43 Yeah, and the process throughout the year.
13:44 Well, it's...
13:45 How much you've grown.
13:46 I got you.
13:47 Okay, I got you.
13:48 I've definitely, in this position, I've grown.
13:52 Like I said, way back when, when it first started, I said, there's a rhythm to things
13:55 that you do.
13:56 It's like when you first become a reporter or wherever, you know, I got to catch this
14:00 rhythm of, okay, how does this work?
14:02 Okay, I got to be here on Mondays at 1230 and ask questions or whatever.
14:07 There's a rhythm to how you do things.
14:09 And so I finally caught the rhythm.
14:11 I know I got to be here talking to you guys on Monday at 1230 and some other things that
14:16 are going on.
14:17 But once you catch the rhythm and you start, then you start, and you start doing pretty
14:22 decent at it, then you start to gain confidence.
14:26 And so that's kind of what has happened with me going through this and seeing what it's
14:31 all about, understanding that you're not really a coach anymore.
14:35 You're more of a counselor.
14:37 And so I've learned that.
14:40 But as far as the job itself and wanting the job, and I do want this job as the head football
14:45 coach, there's...
14:46 And I said this before, there's nobody that they can go find that loves this place more
14:52 than I do.
14:53 And I don't think will do a better job because there's something to love in a place and caring
14:58 about a place as opposed to just going there for a job, if that makes sense.
15:02 So there's extra that will be done, beyond, above and beyond understanding the place,
15:10 understand what Michigan State is all about, and our alumni and our fans.
15:14 And so that's where I think my...
15:17 You said elevator pitch.
15:19 That's the first time I ever heard that.
15:20 I never heard that, elevator pitch.
15:21 All right.
15:22 My fastball, how about that?
15:24 Or whatever you want to call it.
15:26 My blitz and knock somebody out, how about that?
15:29 But yeah, but that's my deal.
15:31 I am a Spartan.
15:32 I bleed green and there's nobody that they can find to do a better job.
15:37 Maybe equal to, because I ain't going to do that.
15:40 Cocky, not confident.
15:41 I mean confident, not cocky, excuse me.
15:44 But there's nobody that they can find better.
15:46 Maybe equal to, but not better.
15:47 How about I say that?
15:49 That's fair, right?
15:50 Harlan, to follow up on that, the nature of the beast is now when there's a coaching opening
15:56 with the early signing period, it's done pretty quickly.
16:00 Are you a candidate?
16:01 Will you get an interview?
16:02 Can you tell us where that stands?
16:04 Yeah, I was told several weeks ago that I would get an opportunity to interview.
16:09 I do not have a specific date.
16:12 And so that's, you know what I know right now.
16:15 Yes.
16:16 Did you want to interview?
16:18 Oh yeah, I asked.
16:19 I asked.
16:20 Yes, yes.
16:21 Harlan, do you expect Maverick to be back this week?
16:25 Or first of all?
16:27 Got you.
16:28 Yeah, we're hoping that he's back.
16:31 He was out there today in a limited role, but we're hoping to get Mav back.
16:37 And regardless, I guess, how do you view the depth of that position?
16:42 Because you had a redshirt freshman walk on, guy who was an offensive lineman last year
16:46 playing in the first half.
16:48 Did you move anybody around?
16:49 Ben Nelson, say his name.
16:50 Ben Nelson, yes.
16:51 Yeah, he's a human being.
16:54 Yes.
16:55 So, next man up.
16:57 You know, there's no excuses.
16:58 You know, there are no excuses.
17:01 So the next man up, that's what this team is.
17:04 We had no problem putting him out there.
17:06 Let's go.
17:07 And he did a decent job as well.
17:09 But yeah, hopefully we get Mav back.
17:11 We got Simeon.
17:12 We got DeHarm.
17:13 We got those guys that will step in and do a good job for us.
17:20 Along those lines, obviously the two receivers with Jaron and Trey, do you expect them back?
17:25 And do you expect any of the other guys?
17:26 Because I mean, there's a lot of guys like Chuck who have been on the list most of the
17:30 season, at least since the Washington game.
17:32 But do you expect anybody else to come back for one more?
17:36 Not that I know of right now, Chris.
17:38 No, not right now.
17:41 When it comes to, back here, when you mentioned the fighting rhythm, like that's something
17:46 I can relate to because I'm trying to figure out my rhythm right now.
17:49 How long do you think it took you or what was that turning point when you finally felt
17:52 like, okay, my head is above water again.
17:55 Like, I don't feel like I'm drowning with all the responsibilities.
17:57 I can kind of start focusing on coaching and everything else.
18:01 That's a good question.
18:02 You know, with the combination of the, we were losing, so we lose six straights, all
18:08 right.
18:09 I'm in there.
18:10 I'm trying to figure this out.
18:11 Like, what is going on?
18:12 So, if I had to guess, I would say somewhere between the Iowa game, after that game, and
18:20 Rutgers-ish area, I started saying, okay, all right, this is what it is.
18:26 This is how I got to deal with it.
18:27 So, right around that time, I would say.
18:30 Harlan, at this time of year with freshmen and sophomores, you're starting to get a little
18:36 more of an idea, I would imagine, about what they are all about.
18:39 Can you look in the future to see who, if there are some future leaders in that group
18:43 that have shown themselves in recent weeks, what would you forecast there in terms of
18:47 future leaders in the program amongst the young guys?
18:50 Yeah.
18:51 Jay Hall would be definitely a future leader.
18:54 He's already a natural born leader anyway.
18:57 Three-time captain at IMG amongst a bunch of so-called stars down there at IMG, and
19:02 he's a three-time captain, and he's shown that here.
19:05 He does, Jordan does a great job of communicating and knowing what to do.
19:12 Extremely smart individual.
19:13 So, he's a young guy that I would say that has a chance to be a really, really good leader
19:17 here for us.
19:20 Similar to, you know, Kurt Cousins.
19:22 I'm not saying he's Kurt Cousins, but Kurt was a three-year captain here for us, and
19:27 he has those type of leadership qualities.
19:29 That's the one that would jump out at me right now as the young people.
19:33 All right.
19:35 All right, thank you guys.
19:37 Thank you.