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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 26, ISSUE 3 49 It all still comes back to making a play. So you can say all the things you want, but when you have an opportunity to make a play, you have to make a play." Q: But your hope is that all these things they would do away from making the play leads to them making the play? Because this has been a three-year thing — you've been trying to build mental toughness for three years. Hazell: "Oh yeah. We started a ways away, but you're right. It's an ongoing (thing). When we start to win, it'll still be a process that has to continue. You won't talk about it because when you lose, everything gets magnified and you look at every little thing, and when you win, so many things are glossed over. That's true. I just erased something off my board that someone shared with me middle of the season. It said, 'Evaluate them the same when you lose as when you win.' That's the truth. Because we don't (tend to) do that. It's just not human nature. On Sundays, when you win, ev- erything is glossed over. You move on to your next opponent. When you lose, you just dig and scratch and claw and look and things are magnified that shouldn't be magnified. It's always been like that — that's all I've known for 30 years (of coaching). It eats at you when you lose and you try to find (answers). Maybe there's something you did when you won that you should look a little bit harder (so) that doesn't come get you the next week." Gold and Black: Before the season, you talked about the importance of the Marshall game and even talked about putting all the 'eggs in one basket.' Did you feel like the season did come down to that game? Hazell: "Maybe it shouldn't have. But I thought that was a huge game in our season. For so many different reasons. (No.) 1, it could have propelled you just from a confidence (standpoint), whether you made good plays or bad plays but (still won). You're playing a good football team on the road and you find a way to win that game, it changes a lot about the season, maybe a lot of outcomes. I thought that was a big game. I really did. And we had our chances. We intercept the ball on the sideline that should be a touchdown (but he tripped). We took a couple bad penalties, one on a late hit on a quarterback. And we don't finish at the end with a cou- ple first downs and a couple missed tackles. Those are the things that you relive all the time." Gold and Black: What did you like this season? Hazell: "I like the fact that the receivers came along as much as they did. I thought there was steady progress with that group. I like the fact that Markell (Jones) played at a high level against good competition all season long. I like the fact our tight ends got better throughout the course of the season. I thought Terry (Malone) did a good job bringing those guys along. Defensively, I love the fact that Jake Replo- gle was such a dominant player the more the season went on. I thought in the linebacker room, the guys that we asked to perform held their own. We needed to be better, but they held their own. They were put in tough positions. "I like the fact that those guys came back to work every week. That's a hard thing to do when you're not getting the results you want. It's hard. They came back to work." Gold and Black: What was the best moment in the season for you? Hazell: "It's always good to see our guys' faces after a win. They light up. I think that's huge. Obviously, didn't see it enough. But that's always the best moment for me." Gold and Black: You're 0-3 against Indiana and 1-7 in trophy games in your tenure. Coaches can be defined by their team's performances in rivalry games. Is that fair? Hazell: "There's a lot of guys, the first guy that comes to my mind is Coach (Lloyd) Carr, struggled in his rivalry game. But if you're asking me directly about us, we've been here three years and we haven't beat those guys yet. Obviously, you don't feel good about the first three years, but let's tell the story when it's all written." Gold and Black: After the season, Morgan Burke said he didn't think you needed a contract extension for re- cruiting. If you're not extended, does it matter? Hazell: "It has not come up with any recruits. Not one. They talk about coaches leaving, coaches doing this, but they never talk about how many years on your contract. I'll tell them what it is. I'm not hiding anything from anybody. That used to be almost common practice. People used to say, 'What do you have left on your contract?' Because a lot of times they used to want to hear that you have as much time as they have being here. That's not the case anymore." Q: How big of a year is next year for you? Hazell: "It's a huge year. It's the fourth year. It'll be our third recruiting class that we have. Now is the time where you have to be able to see results in the scoreboard. Period. And we all know that." j