MEET THE PRESS: Fritz Previews Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

FORT WORTH, Texas – Listed below is the complete transcript from Green Wave head coach Willie Fritz's press conference leading up to Tulane's matchup vs. Southern Miss. on Saturday in Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl.

Tulane Coach Willie Fritz
Opening statement…
"Everyone affiliated with the bowl has been unbelievable. Excuse my voice, I have been yelling encouragement to my guys. Southern Miss has a great tradition and their coaching staff has done a super job. Want to thank the military and everyone associated with the bowl. It has been an awesome experience for the staff, our families and most importantly our players."

About the rivalry between the programs…
"I knew as soon as I took the job, we talked about playing Southern Miss again, I believe we have a series scheduled in a few years. But we are so close in proximity, I know we will have a lot of people travel between us. It is a natural rivalry. I am glad we will get a bit of a taste of it in 2020."

About what you see regarding the Southern Miss run defense…
"They come at you from all different angles, you think you will have success against someone and then they bring down a corner. You have to really be sound against them and have the right bodies against the correct guys."

About the consistency in the program in back to back bowls…
"It is big for us. This is only the second time in our program history we have gone to back to back bowl games. It is a good start for us, but obviously we want to accomplish a lot bigger goals. It is such an honor being in this game and I didn't know much about it beforehand. The last time I was here in the 2000s. Everyone with the bowl has been so gracious and it has been such a great time for our guys."

About what the bowl means to the program…
"It is huge. In our meeting room when we found out we were playing in this bowl game I had the guys stand up that have parents or family that had served and nearly the whole room was standing up. We are honored to be here. My father is a World War II vet, and it is big for us"

About wide receiver Darnell Mooney and defensive back P.J. Hall…
"These two guys are roommates, best buddies. P.J. comes from Hoover High School in Alabama and Darnell was one of the last guys we recruited out of Mobile as well. Darnell has been selected to play in the NFLPA All Star Game. P.J. has already graduated and is working on his Master's Degree right now. Darnell will graduate here in a few months and I am fortunate to get to have these guys. I didn't start until mid-January at Tulane in my first year and we were able to sign these two quality young men to our football team."

P.J. Hall. Tulane, Sr., S
On playing in the final game of his career…
"It means a lot. Like coach said, Darnell is my best friend. There's a lot of guys on the team that I'm going to know for the rest of my life. They're my brothers. I think that just being able to play with them is a memory that I'm going to have forever."

On the team's season…
"The season didn't go how we wanted it to, 6-6, but we made it to a bowl game. Going to back-to-back bowl games hasn't happened since 1979-80, and even back then, I don't think they won back-to-back bowl games. So, being able to win would be big."

On renewing the rivalry with Southern Miss…
"It's exciting because we don't have a rivalry game with a trophy like the Bell. That's big for me because I haven't played in a game like that since I've been at Tulane."

On playing in the Armed Forces Bowl…
"My mom served in the military before I was born. She served and it means a lot because I have ties to it. What those men and women do for us, they put their life on the line for us just to be free and live our everyday life. I try to put myself in their position. Not everyone is willing to go do that. I appreciate them a lot."

Darnell Mooney, Tulane, Sr., WR
On making it to a bowl game…
"It's like the first game of the season, you get the butterflies and you get the feeling that you're ready to play someone. We have those same feelings again."

On playing in the final game of his career…
"It means a lot. I'm just ready to get the plays to roll. I'm just ready to play some football."

On playing in the Armed Forces Bowl…
"I have a lot of friends that out of high school went straight to the Air Force, Army and Navy. I'm just going to play for those guys. I talk to them very often and we call each other a lot. I'm just happy that I can do something for those guys."

MEET THE PRESS: Fritz Previews Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

Players Mentioned

P.J. Hall

Darnell Mooney

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