Q. How can you relate to a first year coach, with the things you saw?
KIRK FERENTZ: That's part of football and coaching. Those guys won nine games last year. I'm not feeling bad for any of the things that have happened. They had a good football team last year, and we had to fight our tails off to beat them up there. There was nothing easy about that game. Nothing easy about the one two years ago.
I think anytime you take over a program, it's kind of like talking about the injuries, you just never know what it's going to be like. There's always an adjustment period going on, that type of thing. It's just part of the deal. But they've done a good job. They're well-coached. They play hard, play with a lot of energy, and they have a lot of good players. So we're going to have our hands full once again.
Q. The Minnesota game in 2002 was the day that your fans stormed the field, tore down the goal post, had roses all over the place. How incredible is it to see your fans go on the road to a rival and do something like that?
KIRK FERENTZ: I have a good friend who I coached with at Maine actually who called right after that and he said he's never seen anything like that. He's probably right. It's probably never happened before. He also said your fans aren't very smart. They tried to take it through a revolving door (laughter).
That's enthusiasm maybe rather than physics, or whatever that might be. But that was kind of a storybook year. That was like '15 out here on -- or excuse me, 1981 was kind of a storybook thing too. It's one of those moments you always remember. Roses coming out of the press box and what have you against Michigan State, I guess. But those are things that are really -- not the last step in a really good journey, but it was a really important step, certainly.
Q. Did you have a conversation with Glen Mason about that afterwards?
KIRK FERENTZ: No, he was here a couple weeks ago. We actually got to visit. We didn't touch on that. He hit me up for some tickets, actually, on a game later on. Happy to do it. He's a great coach.
Q. A couple players during interviews talked about bringing back the live pig aspect of the rivalry. What do you think?
KIRK FERENTZ: Those guys are way ahead of me. I have not given any thought to that. Not sure what we'd do. We'd find a really nice home for them, I know that. Then you've got to worry about someone like the Paulsons trying to kidnap it, and who knows what they might do. So probably not a good idea. Floyd is pretty good just the way he is right now. He looks happy. He's doing well.
KIRK FERENTZ: That's part of football and coaching. Those guys won nine games last year. I'm not feeling bad for any of the things that have happened. They had a good football team last year, and we had to fight our tails off to beat them up there. There was nothing easy about that game. Nothing easy about the one two years ago.
I think anytime you take over a program, it's kind of like talking about the injuries, you just never know what it's going to be like. There's always an adjustment period going on, that type of thing. It's just part of the deal. But they've done a good job. They're well-coached. They play hard, play with a lot of energy, and they have a lot of good players. So we're going to have our hands full once again.
Q. The Minnesota game in 2002 was the day that your fans stormed the field, tore down the goal post, had roses all over the place. How incredible is it to see your fans go on the road to a rival and do something like that?
KIRK FERENTZ: I have a good friend who I coached with at Maine actually who called right after that and he said he's never seen anything like that. He's probably right. It's probably never happened before. He also said your fans aren't very smart. They tried to take it through a revolving door (laughter).
That's enthusiasm maybe rather than physics, or whatever that might be. But that was kind of a storybook year. That was like '15 out here on -- or excuse me, 1981 was kind of a storybook thing too. It's one of those moments you always remember. Roses coming out of the press box and what have you against Michigan State, I guess. But those are things that are really -- not the last step in a really good journey, but it was a really important step, certainly.
Q. Did you have a conversation with Glen Mason about that afterwards?
KIRK FERENTZ: No, he was here a couple weeks ago. We actually got to visit. We didn't touch on that. He hit me up for some tickets, actually, on a game later on. Happy to do it. He's a great coach.
Q. A couple players during interviews talked about bringing back the live pig aspect of the rivalry. What do you think?
KIRK FERENTZ: Those guys are way ahead of me. I have not given any thought to that. Not sure what we'd do. We'd find a really nice home for them, I know that. Then you've got to worry about someone like the Paulsons trying to kidnap it, and who knows what they might do. So probably not a good idea. Floyd is pretty good just the way he is right now. He looks happy. He's doing well.
