Complete transcript of Manti Te'o interview from Wednesday afternoon conference. Released from Notre Dame Football.
Q. Manti, could you a
talk about the LDS community. What's
it's been like for you during the four years here and the support you get from
them?
MANTI TE'O: Very supportive, just like I've known ever
since I was young just obviously not in Hawaii.
But it's very supportive and very helpful and people have just always
been there for me. I'm really fortunate
to have that.
Q. Got a lot of questions from the Utah media
this week. They wonder about the
connection with the LDS church, is this a bigger game for you, a more emotional
game for you?
MANTI TE'O: No, it's just game seven. I think I said this before: When you start to do things differently than
you've done in the past, then bad things start to happen.
I've been there before. I've made the mistake of being overly excited
for a game and it hurt me. So
fortunately for me, I've been there, done that.
That's a mistake that won't happen again.
Q. This game is sandwiched between Stanford and
Oklahoma. A lot people have called this
a trap game. How do you avoid falling
into that trap?
MANTI TE'O: I think it's only a trap game if you're
dealing with a young team, a team that is not focused on one singular goal, and
that's to take that day by day, week by week.
So our team has done a great job of
just focusing on the next opponent. We
don't have Oklahoma this week. We don't
have Stanford. We already played
Stanford. Right now it's BYU, and that's
all we're focused on.
Until Sunday comes, we'll
stop focusing on BYU. Until then, it's
all BYU.
Q. Quick
question on the Stanford game. Seemed
like after re‑ watching it it was more physical than any of the games you've
played to this point. Did it feel that
way to you on the field, or did it feel like a normal game?
MANTI TE'O: I think I felt the majority of that on Sunday
when I woke up. I could barely get
up. But that's a good feeling. It shows that that was football. It was a good game. It was a great game. It was a college football classic game, and
I'm grateful to be part of that.
Glad that my body a starting to
recover.
Q. Being here at Notre Dame, there is a weight
to win, the expectation to win. I know
you still have a lot of wins you want to get and a lot of seasons left. How does it feel to have the excitement back
here at Notre Dame about the football team?
MANTI TE'O: I think it's great. I think it's great to be 6‑0 and to have that
excitement on campus.
But as we've talked as a team, we
haven't done anything yet. Like I said,
we're 6‑0, we're not 12‑0 yet. The next
step is to be 7‑0 and then 8‑0 and so on and so forth.
So we haven't done anything
yet. We're going to continue to get
better and work hard every day to make sure that when Saturdays comes that
we're prepared.
Q. Could
you talk about the impact that guys like Louis Nix and Stephon Tuitt and Kapron
Lewis‑Moore have on you?
MANTI TE'O: My success has a direct correlation to how
they do. If I have a strong defensive
line in front of me my job is 100 times easier.
If I don't have a strong defensive line, it's very hard for a linebacker
to do well.
So fortunately for me, I have three
guys in front of me, actually, six guys, the guys who rotate in. I have those guys, and they're led by I think
one of the best coaches, D line coaches in the country with Coach (Mike)
Elston.
They have a lot of
energy. They play with a lot of energy
and intensity. Offenses have to respect
that. You have to respect the guys up
front. The guys on the second level,
like myself, it makes our job a lot easier.
Q. What
are you dealing with if they're not doing their job?
MANTI TE'O: A lot of offensive linemen, and that's a
linebackers worst nightmare is when you have linemen in your face immediately
and guys just climbing up to you and you have to fight. That's not fun.
Q. How much of an opportunity or how inclined
are you to watch other college football games?
There was one on last night.
MANTI TE'O: To be honest with you, I haven't watched a
full college game this year. I've
watched highlights, quarters, but for me, as a college player, I try to stay
away from that.
My eyes are trained for BYU. My eyes are used to seeing BYU play. My eyes are used to seeing what BYU runs in
certain formations.
I try to stay away from just
seeing things. I want to be as focused
as I can. Everybody does different
things. That's one thing that I try to
avoid.
Q. When
you do catch a quarter here or there, do you watch it like a fan or like a
linebacker?
MANTI TE'O: I think I can't avoid watching it like a
linebacker. I tend to try and read the
offense and anticipate what they're going to run from where I'm sitting.
But when I'm not watching my game, I
try to watch it as a fan and enjoy it.
Q. You see technique, sloppy tackling?
MANTI TE'O: Correct, correct.
Q. I know earlier in your career there was a lot
of emphasis on finding the balance of flying the football, but when you get
there be in a position to make a tackle.
How do you fly the football, play to the football, but be in the
position to make that tackle?
MANTI TE'O: It's not about the opportunity, if it
presents itself. There is a time and
place for everything. There is a time
and place for everything.
It all depends how big the hole is,
where you are on the field. If you're in
open field, obviously you don't want to try and really hit the guy hard. You just want to get to the guy to the
ground.
But if it's a small window
and you think you can make a run for it, then go ahead. It's a feel thing.
Q. Last
thing, different topic: Coach Kelly
commented a couple weeks ago that you know all the walk‑on players' names. Why do you do that and why is that important?
MANTI TE'O: It stems back to when I was young. I've never liked when people were alone or
just felt left out, because I know how that felt. I was always that kid that was left out. I never wanted somebody to feel that
way. I never wanted somebody eating by
themselves.
So as a walk‑on, it's one thing to
come in here as a freshman, a scholarship player; it's another thing to come in
as a walk‑on. These guys, I think these
guys on a weekly basis put in more work than we do. They're the show team and they're getting out
and getting hit. It's a hard job. They don't get any rest.
So they're part of my team
and my family. If you're part of my
family, I'm going to try to get to know you besides your name.
Q. How
much energy does Kap (Kapron Lewis-Moore) bring to the defense?
MANTI TE'O: Kap brings a lot of energy. He's funny, so he brings that kind of energy,
and then he's serious at the same time.
He brings a lot of energy.
For the most part we have a young
line, but he's that guy that kind of leads them, shows them how to do
things. He's that guy that makes that
group run.
So Kap, there is the reason
why he's the captain on our team.
Q. How
does that energy show up?
MANTI TE'O: Kap, you know, well, when he feels that there
is not as much energy, he's the guy that steps out in front and really gets
guys going. When we're in a huddle or
something, he'll get guys going like that.
When he makes a play, if you watch,
every time somebody makes a play, you always will see 89 in there
congratulating his teammate. He
energizes the group in so many ways.
Q. Did you ever expect you would get Tweeted at
by (WWE professional wrestler) John Cena?
MANTI TE'O: I didn't know. I was working out, and then I came in and
Tyler Stockton, was riding around in a golf ‑‑ not a golf cart, the little
carts up and down just playing around.
He's like, Bro, you're an American hero.
I'm like, What are you talking about?
He was like, John Cena Tweeted at you.
I immediately sprinted into the locker room to check it out.
Q. What do you know about it?
MANTI TE'O: I know a lot about it. I mean, obviously wrestling and WWE, I was a
big WWE fan when I was little. The Rock
is my favorite wrestler, and Goldberg.
You know, I know a lot about it.
Q. Talk about (Tyler) Eifert. He's a quiet guy. How do you see him as a leader?
MANTI TE'O: Eif is one of those guys that's very
dependable. He's not a mean player. He's not a selfish player. Obviously Eif is the best tight end in
college football. He hasn't had the kind
of receptions and numbers that he would like, but you never would see Tyler
complaining. As long as we're winning,
he's happy.
He leads by example. He leads by his work ethic, and just really,
really doing his best to ensure that our team wins.
Q. Can you just talk about the continued success
of this defense and the touchdown streak and how much pride you take in the
fact that you haven't given up a touchdown in a month?
MANTI TE'O: Our main thing is dominating. As defense we want to dominate. We want to dominate opponents. The best way to do that is to keep the points
down. Along the way of doing that, we've
managed to limit those points and the touchdowns.
So like I said before, we're 6‑0. We still have half a season to play. So from that perspective we haven't done
anything yet. After the 12th game you
can ask me that question and I can tell you how much pride we have in that.
We're going to continue to
work hard and correct the mistakes we've made.
We haven't given up a touchdown in a month, true. But we've also made a lot of mistakes, and
mistakes that can be corrected and mistakes that we will correct and hopefully
continue to dominate.
Q. Coach
Kelly said yesterday that you're the best leader he's had in 22 years. How much of a compliment is that for you?
MANTI TE'O: That's a big compliment from Coach
Kelly. For me, I just try to instill
love. I think as a leader, as a captain,
whenever you have guys around you that love you and respect you and that will
do anything for you, that's when you'll experience a lot of success.
I think that as a team we've grown
that mentality here. We don't play for
ourselves. We play for the guy next to
us and this university and our families and friends. So we don't play for ourselves. I think that's been the strength of this
team.
Q. How important is a reliable guy like Dan Fox
for the defense knowing you can count on him?
MANTI TE'O: Definitely he's very important. Dan is somebody who consistently works
hard. He doesn't like to make a mistake. He's always trying to get better.
With him and Carlo there, you know,
two really good linebackers who are competing every day and getting each other
better, that position is a lot better than where it was last year.
It's going to continue to get
better, because we have two guys there who really love to play this game and
who really love to try and be the best at it.
Q. Just
one wondering if you could recollect your experience when BYU was recruiting
you. I know they were kind of down to your
final three. What ultimately made you
look in a different direction? Can you
take us through that?
MANTI TE'O: I prayed about it. Everything pointed towards Notre Dame. Obviously Notre Dame is where I came because
I felt that I was directed to come here.
Q. Because of your ties through the church to
BYU, do you find yourself following them at all or keeping track of any of the
players there, anything like that?
MANTI TE'O: No. I
know a lot of players on the team. My
cousin, one of my cousins, plays for them and a couple of my friends, but
that's all I really know about BYU.
Q. You talked a lot about focusing day by day,
week by week on BYU. It's so easy to get
distracted these days by anything, Twitter, Facebook, schoolwork. What is it inside of you that allows you to
be able to zone in like that?
MANTI TE'O: There are guys who love to win, but for me,
my hate to lose is greater than my love to win.
I hate losing. That's what drives
me.
Obviously that happened a lot in my
life, and that's not a feeling that I really enjoy. So I've experienced that, and I don't want to
experience it as much. We're in a
situation here now as a team to really avoids that.
I'm going to try and do
whatever I can to avoid that feeling of walking out of any stadium with that
feeling. I would rather be the guy who
learns that lesson from watching other teams lose than experience it
myself. That's what drives me.
Q. How
do you take that a step further and instill that in your team and be a leader so
everyone can focus like that?
MANTI TE'O: I think it's a process. It's a process. Everybody is different.
But I think for the most part, our
guys understand that. We don't want to
be that team that has to learn the hard way.
We don't want to be that team that's on ESPN or any I big headlines of a
big upset. We don't want to be that
team.
I think those teams are
created because they forget how they got here, forget the hard work. It's easy to do that. It's easy to forget what got you here through
all the attention and excitement that's around and just the pressures of being
in college football.
But I think
our team and our coaches, we really keep each other level‑headed and keep each
other going. It's definitely difficult,
but I think we have a lot of guys who, for the most part, believe in the same
thing.
Q. Regarding
Dan Fox, you said the position is better.
Coach Kelly mentioned he's more physical, a better understanding of the
defense. Playing next to him, what are
the tangible things you see him being better at?
MANTI TE'O: You see Dan Fox play, and he doesn't
hesitate. He is a lot more confident in
his ability to make plays and comfortable in the scheme. He knows what to do, he knows that the guy
next to him is doing, and he knows where I'm going to be.
So when you know where your
teammates are going to be it, allows to you play a lot faster. So combine that with confidence, you will get
Dan Fox's process throughout his career here at Notre Dame. Heal get better.
Q. Who is your cousin at BYU?
MANTI TE'O: Dre.
Notre Dame plays BYU Saturday at home. Kickoff is expected to be at 3:39 pm.
