SEC Media Days: Interviews from day one in Hoover

Texas A&M was joined by Missouri, South Carolina and Vanderbilt in kicking off 2012 SEC Media Days in Hoover, Alabama. Click on any of the files above for full-length video from all four teams in attendance.

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Slive's opening message to the media

"Ten years ago this month, I was asked to be the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference. My first day on the job was to speak at what was described to me as a small press cofererence for SEC Media Days. It was the largest gathering of media I've ever seen, ready to hear from a new commissioner who had yet to even go to an SEC campus.

"A wise man once said, "We must look to the past for inspiration for the future." In that spirit, I want to briefly touch on our successes in the last 10 years, the extraordinary accomplishments of our student athletes, the challenges facing the conference, and the plan for the future to be even stronger in the decades to come.

"I was asked back when in a radio interview about the challenges facing the conference at the time. I identified the following, 10 years ago: Improving the academic performance of our student athletes; maintaining competitive success; ensuring diversity and opportunity; ensuring the future financial security of our athletic departments; and putting infractions behind us.

"How far we've come.

"We've met each of these challenges and done it fast. While continuing to educate great student athletes and maintaining success. Over the past 10 years we have captured 62 national titles in 16 of the 22 sports we sponsor. Last year we won nine national championships. Five were won by our women's teams. This is a tribute, not only to our student athletes, but to the commitment that our institutions have made in support of women's athletics.

"Ten years ago, no minority had served as a head football coach in the history of the Southeastern Conference. Today, I'm very grateful that the hiring of minority coaches is not a story. Just part of who we are. This fall, you will see something about Sylvester Croom, the first African-American head football coach in the history of the SEC.

"We have contributed to the financial stability of our athletic departments by providing revenue from television, bowl games and championships. We have nearly tripled the annual amount we distribute to our member institutions. But we must continue to be innovative and creative and think outside the box. Winston Churchill said that to improve is to change often. Our focus on the future will echo that.

"Last year at the SEC Media Days we talked about a proposed idea for change. We are encouraged that many of the improvements we discussed were talked about at the presidents' retreat last August. Many of them have been enacted and many are still under discussion. Multi-year athletic scholarships are now permitted under NCAA rules. We continue to focus on improving the amount of an athletic scholarship, to provide our student athletes with more coverage. If students are committed to getting their degrees, after their eligibility is exhausted, we need to have rules that allow them to do that.

"It is important for the NCAA and its institutions to make it clear to every parent and student that preparation academically needs to begin in ninth grade, so that qualifications for an athletic scholarship can be met. We recommend removing hard and fast recruiting calendars, allowing text messaging, the language of our times, and only regulating what matters.

"The national agenda for reform is, at its heart, about integrity. Last week's headlines remind us that we must always be vigilant to protect integrity — and to protect young people. We must maintain an open and honest dialogue across all levels of a university administration. There must be checks and balances within the administrative structure to protect all who come in contact with it.

"Especially those who cannot protect themselves.

"Nothing, no matter how successful, can be allowed to derail the soul of an institution.

"I do want to take a moment to celebrate our student athletes. Not only have they achieved momentous things on the field, but they have in the classroom as well, which tends to be overlooked. Fourty-two SEC athletes were academic all-americans last year, the most of any conference. Three of the eight that receive the NCAAs top academic award each year were from the SEC last year. And seven SEC students earned the NCAA's elite award for the highest GPA in their respective sport's championship. The SEC is out ahead in the classroom. And our student athletes deserve to be honored for those accomplishments.

"In our storied, nearly 80-year history, Texas A&M and Missouri are only the third and fourth new members of the conference. Both are outstanding academic institutions, AAU member institutions, and they have passionate fan bases. They fit. Our transition team was able to provide signature home games for our new teams. We're looking forward to September 8, when Texas A&M hosts Florida and Missouri hosts Georgia. Not a school didn't give up something in scheduling to make this work. It exemplifies the nature of the SEC.

"The goal of our agreements with ESPN was to make us the most widely-distributed conference in the country, and we've done that. The SEC Network, what we call our syndicated package, now reaches 80 million homes, in Chicago, Boston and LA, among others. It's the third most distributed ESPN platform behind ESPN and ESPN2.

"In The Tempest, Shakespeare wrote, "What is past, is prologue." That's apropos here. We're in a new era filled with opportunities, some we'll recognize and some we won't. In terms of expansion and television, this gives us a chance to re-examine our television plans. There has been a lot of speculation about 'Project X.' We now call it Project SEC. Our objective long-term is to work with our television partners to provide fans more of a chance to watch their favorite teams and show that this is a conference with 14 great teams. I could say more. I know you want me to say more. But I won't say more.

"The SEC has supported a four-team playoff for the four best teams since 2004, when an undefeated SEC champion Auburn was left out of the national title game. Now we have it. Is it good for the SEC? Unequivocally, yes. And it's good for college football as well. It was developed over a long period with a lot of give-and-take. We are now able to provide a championship format that not only protects the best regular season in sports, but enhances it.

"We're now looking at sites for hosting, the composition of the championship game, and a selection committee. Things that will influence the selections will include win-loss record, strength of schedule, conference championships and more. This will cause programs to start looking at their out-of-conference schedule and compare it to the strength of their conference.

"Now we have to focus on the Champions Bowl. We have a great partner in the Big 12 and we will work with them to finalize plans for the inaugural game, which will be played in primetime, on January 1. It's unique because it is owned by the conferences. It will feature the two most successful conferences in the BCS era. And it will provide our fans another unique bowl experience.

"We will continue to support our student athletes, increase player safety and encourage cooperation while continuing to compete for championships. Our desire, our dream, our vision, for SEC student athletes, is to continue pushing forward with a pioneering spirit to provide them with more success in the future.

"We are not resting on our laurels. No champion can.

"There's no media event like this in college sports, or any sport. But before we kick off our 80th season, we hope you will tune in and watch the 160 current or former SEC athletes competing in the Summer Olympics.

"We appreciate you being here. Thank you for your coverage. Thank you."

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Texas A&M Quotes

Kevin Sumlin #1

"First of all, I'm glad that we're getting started on time. Can't blame it on the new guys if this got screwed up. Just like the other 13 guys that will get up here and talk, the word excited is probably going to come out a bunch. We're excited at Texas A&M for a number of reasons. Obviously our inaugural SEC season. Everybody is excited to get this thing going. For us, it's a special year and, as excited as everybody in the country is to get football started, we're as excited as anybody to be a part of the SEC and for football season to start.

"For us, coming into this year, it's going to be a real special time. I think as we look at things, I was just out at the ESPN bus and they asked, 'Do you realize you play all six defending national champions from the last six years?' We understand the challenges ahead of us. It's going to be difficult. But exciting. From the coaches' standpoint, from the players' standpoint, we've got a lot of things to point to, to work hard to get to. Our players have really utilized the spring, the summer in a great way. The three young men we've brought with us today will be leaders for our football team — Ryan Swope, Luke Joeckel, Sean Porter. They're dedicated and they're buying into what we're trying to do. The quicker everyone buys in, the quicker we'll be successful.

"I'll take a few questions at this point."

Q: This has been built up for months. When you walk in the room and see all these people here, does it make it real?
A: This makes it real to me, but what really made it real was our first head coaches' meeting in March or February. You walk in there with the 13 other coaches in the SEC and Mike Slive and they close the door behind you. Then you know it's real. But with the number of media requests here, you know what kind of league you're involved in and the size and scope of football in the SEC. You all probably saw me wearing my SEC patches at the bowl game though. This is something that's just part of it.

Q: Starting the season fresh with the quarterback situation, can you share your thoughts?
A: Fortunately this is my second time in this situation. People forget that it was a two-quarterback system when I came in at U of H. We went through spring football and basically the fall that way. You have to start somewhere. All those guys become better quarterbacks when they figure out a place to get started. We have some guys that are competing for it. I feel good about our athletic ability and talent level at quarterback. It'll be decided, at latest, before the Louisiana Tech game.

Q: You've had great offenses before. Do you have to make any adjustments going into the SEC?
A: Yeah. We need to be bigger and faster. How's that? (Smirk.) We'll see. We've adjusted wherever we've been. People think we're going to throw the ball all the time, but statistics show that our ratio is closer to 55-45 than 70-30. Our running game stats have been pretty effective. Being called pass-happy is fine with us, as long as people want to defend the pass all the time.

We've been able to utilize our talent, develop quarterbacks into what we try to do. We'll have a lot better feel for our league in February than we do right now. Watching video doesn't do a lot of justice. We took a little team from Houston over to Starkville and won once. We've played some SEC teams and have a lot of respect for the talent level. We'll see where we are offensively, but we're comfortable with how we do things and the system we have in place.

Q: Talk about the start of the season. And, kickoffs have moved up. Are we trending toward the end of kickoffs in college football? For safety reasons.
A: Sonny Dykes does a great job at Louisiana Tech. That'll be a tough game. And as for our home opener, just look at ticket sales to see how excited the fans are about Florida. It's important as a team and as a head coach to have your home opener be an SEC game. But for us, the first game is the biggest game.

As for the kickoffs, there's been a lot of talk about that. There's been concern about injury. Moving the kickoff line forward and back, everyone has talked about it. There has been discussion about eliminating it. I, for one, am not a fan of eliminating it. It's something that the fans like, the players enjoy, there's an art to it. I'm probably different than most people because I just came from a place where a guy tied the NCAA record for kickoff returns for touchdowns. It's a part of the game to us. It's a part of football.

Q: To follow up on the quarterback situation, a lot of your quarterbacks are young. Does it make it more difficult for you?
A: There's a couple ways to look at it. With older guys, sometimes those guys will adapt to coaching, and sometimes they've been taught differently. Particularly if they've had success, it might be hard. The good thing about our situation with these young guys is that we recruited them at Houston. There's a comfort level between us, which is important when you have a new coach. They know us and know what we're about. For me, looking at the situation with younger guys, you have a better chance to mold them into what you're trying to do and have them grow with you. Instead of a guy who's been around, used to a certain system.

Q: How are you recruiting outside of Texas?
A: There's no doubt we have an emphasis inside the state of Texas in recruiting, and our numbers show that. But there's no doubt that being in the SEC has increased our national recruiting ability, particularly east. Looking at our recruiting over the last five or six months, we've probably gotten more visits or return phone calls from guys that may not have looked at us before we were in the SEC. People ask me all the time how much it affects recruiting. It's hard for me to say ... I wasn't here last year. But I do know that our brand at Texas A&M, our history, our tradition, our location, and being a part of the SEC, has not hurt us one bit in recruiting. In the state, in moving east, or nationally.

Texas is our territory, but we're going to have to have a national recruiting prowess. And we've hired coaches who have that background and that ability, and it's starting to show.

Q: There's been talk about LSU-A&M becoming the last game of the year, and your thoughts on that rivalry?
A: I don't really have anything to do with scheduling, particularly being the new guy. But I will say, as we become more competitive on the field, that'll be a game people look forward to. People always look for a replacement for rivalries. South Carolina as the cross-divisional rival. But you create your own rivalries. With Louisiana being a neighboring state and recruiting and people knowing each other, it'll become an important game. A big-time rivalry game.

Q: What is your assessment of playing the SEC West this year?
A: What's my assessment? It's a pretty damn hard league (laughs). You look at that and you see the talent level and the competition. The main difference I see is the combination of size and speed. I've been a part of some pretty fast football teams. Our speed level at Texas A&M is pretty good. But the combination of size and speed, particularly in the West, is the difference-maker. And the depth up front. Over the course of 12 ballgames, injuries and attrition matter. To answer your question, it's a damn difficult league. Because of the talent, and because of the coaching. We have some of the best coaches in the country in the SEC.

Q: On the defensive depth up the middle...
A: We've got a lot of things we have to overcome. We led the country in sacks last year but were 106th or something in pass defense. We need to be more consistent across the board as a football team. Defensively, we've got to take some chances, but we can't have that kind of chasm between statistics. We need to build the depth up front that we didn't have in the spring. We'll have some guys playing early in our D-line. Our starting linebackers are SEC-type linebackers, with us having a 240-, 250-pound MIKE in there. And we're moving to a 4-3, which is a big deal to us schematically.

We've changed the defense, the style of defense, the coordinator, and we've got to recruit to what we're trying to do. Unfortunately for us, we'll need to get some kids on the field early. But that'll help us from a depth perspective in the years to come.

Q: On Christine Michael...
A: He was doing great in the spring, but perhaps doing too much in my opinion, so I pulled him off the field. He didn't have to show me how tough he is. But he'll be ready to go in fall camp. He's 100 percent. He looked great yesterday. He's about 223 right now, a good weight for him. The ability for him to really carry that weight over the last five months has been a big deal to him from that knee and being able to run on that weight. He's gone through summer workouts and he's come along just fine.

Q: What are your realistic expectations this year?
A: My realistic expectations are to win. And we've said that from day 1. People talk like I didn't know what I was getting into when I took the job. But we had already entered the SEC in agreement when I took the job. I know the potential of Texas A&M from having been here 10 years ago. We need to continue to recruit at a high level. We have everything in place to do that, from game experience to the facilities being built. You owe it to your players and fans to put the best product on the field every week and give us an opportunity to be successful.

I've been on good teams and bad teams. I'm not a weatherman. I'm not one to circle games on the schedule. It all changes. It takes time early in the year, it depends on a lot of things. We don't need to worry about our SEC schedule, we need to worry about us first. We've got to get a lot of things fixed

Q: Were you always this laid back/cool?
A: You guys have seen me on the sidelines on Saturdays. And you've talked to me before. It's summer man, we're all good. We're undefeated right now. Catch me in a few months, we'll see.

Q: Are there any perceptions about A&M you want to dispel while you're on the big stage?
A: Perceptions and myths are just that. Guys have come to visit us on our campus and gone, 'This is different than I thought.' We have such tradition with our school and our student body, I focus on the good. We have more students at each game than any school in the country. That's hard to show a young man during the summer. But you have to show them what sets your school apart. Fifty-thousand students. Forty-thousand former students at each game. It's a big deal. A gameday experience second to none in the country. You get to go out and recruit the best and the brightest in the country. We've got a venue and atmosphere that fits right in to our league. Our fans and former students, and current students and players, take pride in it. We're looking forward to it.

Q: What did you think of Les Miles' statement, A&M and Missouri better strap it up?
A: I think he's right. He's got a pretty good football team. I don't think that was any kind of derogatory statement at all. He was the head coach at Oklahoma State and was in the Big 12 for a number of years. He understands the physical nature of this league and I don't see that as derogatory at all. That's a fair statement. He probably says that about everybody he plays, as a matter of fact.

Q: Dana Holgorsen racked up a lot of yards against LSU last year. Is that a testament to what your offense can do in the SEC?
A: Having spent two years with us at Houston, we're pretty close to Dana. That was a nice job by West Virginia. The thing you look at here is turnovers in that game, and big plays. Great players on the field make big plays. The game is not about statistics, how many yards you have. It's about more points than the other guy, whether you hold them to three or give up 30 and score 31. The idea is to win the game. There are fundamental, structural things with WVU that are similar to what we do.

But that game came down to turnovers. Turning it over that many times against a great team ... or an average team ... you're not going to win. But from a schematic standpoint, I'm sure LSU is looking at that and trying to shore it up. That's part of what we do, but it's not all we do.

Q: What has Larry Jackson done to help ready the team for the SEC, and what transformation have you seen?
A: As a coach, you can't be a part of summer workouts. But he's been with me at OU and Houston. He's a former player at A&M. He told the players that this isn't a job, it's personal. He's an Aggie. He knows what it takes. He's put demands on them in the spring and summer and it'll pay off. He doesn't do conditioning tests. He says you go out there and practice, and if our team isn't where it needs to be, then fire him. His teams are in excellent condition, particularly for what we do offensively.

The biggest complement to him is moving from Oklahoma to Houston, having to develop some guys physically to play in big games. He was able to do that. To answer your question, I'll learn more during two-a-days, but just talking with our guys, you can see them taking pride in what they're doing and looking at their new bodies and being pretty proud of how they're handling themselves this summer.

Q: How do you feel about the Arkansas game being on campus and potentially going back to Cowboys Stadium?
A: That's another question that's out of my hands. When it was a Big 12-SEC game, a neutral field made sense. Now it's a division game. Most universities would want a home-and-home. For us, I would think that'd be the case. I enjoy playing in Jerryworld as much as the next guy, but I'd rather it be home-and-home. But like I said, as a coach, that contract was put together long before I became the head coach at Texas A&M.

Q: Have you met with Eric Hyman, and if so, how do you feel he can help with the transition?
A: There's no doubt that Eric Hyman coming in as our new athletic director, I'm excited about it. You look at what he accomplished at TCU and then the success of their programs at South Carolina. For us, I think it's a direction that, as Bill Byrne retired, you worry about who's coming in during the change. Hyman has a proven track record of success.

And what we desperately needed in our administration was SEC experience. And specifically SEC winning experience in many sports. He brings that. He's seen it, knows what it looks like, knows how to put it together, I can't be more excited about it. We've had a couple conversations. He's tying up some things in Columbia, but we've had some talks about the program and what's going on. We hit a home run with Eric Hyman.

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Kevin Sumlin #2

On the SEC media days compared to others he has been a part of…

“It’s a lot different. There is an energy level here… Any time you have a media day, there is an energy level to start the season. If you have over 1,000 requests and there are as many people in the hallways, you’ve got a guy blocking for you, and guys tripping over cameras from back peddling. Which by the way is a real art that some of these cameramen have, to be able to walk backwards and film and not fall over. There are a lot of those guys in the hall way and people in the lobby and everywhere else. That speaks to the excitement that there is about this league.”

On the speed of his offense against the defenses of the SEC…

“Well, we hope that it has been an advantage for us over the last few years. I think it’s a little bit different than a lot of people have used in the SEC. We’ve got to be sensitive to what we’re doing and what our players can handle. Last year at Houston, we were going about as fast as anybody in the country, but we had some veteran players. The first year, our tempo was not nearly where it was the past two or three seasons. Our ability to change tempo is probably as important as the speed of the game. The ability to jump in and out of speeds is as important as anything for us. That’s hard for a young quarterback and a first year offense to do, but that’s why we practice.”

On being labeled as a ‘pass-happy’ offensive team…

“People make a big deal out of what we do offensively, that we throw the ball all the time. I don’t think that that’s the case. I’m kind of happy that you guys call us ‘pass-happy’. We would love to see a bunch of three-man fronts with a bunch of guys dropping into coverage. That would be the best thing that could happen for us. We’ve proven that if you look back at us statistically and how we’ve approached it, we’re a lot closer to 55-45, or 50-50, than people think in running the ball or from a yardage standpoint. We’ll do what we can, but certainly, the speed of what we do allows us to utilize some things to be more of a mutualization tool against a league that has tremendous defensive lineman across the board, and tremendous defensive depth.

"The way our team is built right now, it’s kind of hard for us to line up and slug it in there to win games. We have three tight ends on our roster and we don’t have a fullback right now. That’s not anything to do with recruiting, it’s just something that we inherited. For us to lineup and play a toe-to-toe football game at this point is something I’m not sure we can do, schematically just from a number of people. We’ve got to get our guys an opportunity to win football games and that doesn’t mean we won’t recruit to that or may evolve into something like that down the road. We can’t deal with something that is going to happen three or four years from now, we’ve got to give our team the best opportunity to be successful here in the next eight weeks.”

On becoming a successful team…

“First of all, you’ve got to realize that you have the same patch on your sleeve (the SEC patch) for the same reason. If you haven’t figured it out by the time you walk out on that field, the other team is going to figure it out for you during the first play of the game. Our guys will figure it out. We’ll make sure that they understand what league they are in and will understand what is expected of them. I think that is a process. I’ve been a part of teams that have been favored to win, been underdogs and my approach has always been the same. We don’t coach any differently as a favorite or as an underdog. We give our guys the best opportunity we can for them to be successful and put them in those situations during the week, so that on game day, they react to it. The coaches react to it as coaches and the players react to it as players, and if there is anything that needs to change, we’ll do that.

"I think the bigger issue than what you brought up is where our mindset was from a year ago. I don’t think the bigger issue is that we are playing in the SEC. I told a number of people today that we’ve got some things that we have to deal with internally to move us from being a .500 football team. When you lose five of six games where you had a lead in the second half, there are some other issues there. Before we start talking about the SEC, before we start talking about our opponents, we’ve been talking about ourselves. We need to get some things fixed internally to give ourselves the chance to be confident to play in these games.”

On the defensive line being under the average SEC size…

“Well we can’t go out and trade for them, can we? We could sign a bunch of guys, but I can’t get them here before August 3rd. We’ve moved to a 4-3 and we’ve got to be able to do some things from a schematic standpoint to help ourselves. We don’t have guys in there that can two-gap, like a bunch of 340 pound, odd front teams do in this league. That doesn’t mean we won’t have them down the road. We don’t have them this year, but for me to tell you what we are going to do would be really, kind of stupid of me since we play Florida pretty quick.”

On the matchup with Arkansas…

“I think the quote is that the game was a very different game when it was a Big 12-SEC game, and so the neutral field made sense. I think now you’re moving into a situation where it’s a league game, and it’s a division game. I think both fans want to see that game at their home stadium. I think the game has changed from being a non-league game, to a league and divisional game that has divisional implications. Because of that, both fans want to see that game and when you split it in Dallas, there are some season ticket holders that are going to be out.”

On watching film of the Florida Gators…

“We’ve been able to look at a few of the games, really our first three or four opponents, but we really haven’t locked into it just yet. We’ve looked at some general things, but quite frankly, I’ve spent a lot more time on the first game which is Louisiana Tech to make sure that our preparation level is where it needs to be because they have a good football team. We’ll have those guys ready to go for the Florida game. I saw something today that said every linebacker on their roster was on the Butkus list, so they definitely have some good players.

"[Will Muschamp] probably understands us more so than anyone in the program because he’s been in our stadium before. He understands what Kyle Field is about which I think helps them. Schematically, defensively we can watch a lot of that video, but offensively they will be completely different. It will be an early game for two pretty young offenses, not from an age standpoint necessarily, but just because it will only be week two for both offenses.”

“I think it comes with attitude. I think the first thing you have to do is surround yourself with people who have the same vision that you have. The process is probably more important than the results. As you go through it and as you start to talk to your players, you’re really dealing with two different entities. You’re dealing with current players who have been through the bad times, and you’re recruiting a whole new energy level and a whole new player that comes in here. You have to balance that and have the ability to put players on the field that are younger but have a different energy level. You might have to make that decision as opposed to a more experienced player who doesn’t expect to win.

"We’re dealing with two different factors here, and as I said in the other room, you’re ability to reach players and for them to buy into what you’re trying to teach them, not just football wise, but from a confidence level, the quicker they buy in, the quicker you’re going to have success. I think these three guys that we brought with us understand what is coming at them. They also understand the process of what we’re trying to do because they are older players and have seen it before. They want to be successful and their leadership is going to be important because as a coach, you aren’t on the field playing the game. You don’t get hit in the head out there and then come back to the sidelines. Because of that, their confidence level becomes important.”

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Kevin Sumlin #3

On the SEC media days as a whole…

“This was a really professionally run situation. It’s one of those deals where until you’ve been through it, you really don’t understand what is going on. As many people there are in these hallways, you learn as you go. This is something that you hear about, something that you may have caught a little bit of on television. However, from a television perspective, you get to see the head coach, but you don’t get to see all of this stuff. It’s a big time deal and I think it speaks to the excitement of the SEC.”

On the importance of bringing players to this event…

“It’s a big deal. Those guys flew out here this morning and were put up in a nice suite upstairs. They really feel how big time it is. For them to be able to communicate that to the other players is a huge deal I think. Obviously, them being able to go through this and being the representatives of Texas A&M that they have been today is an experience that they will never forget.”

On his familiarity with the media in general…

“You do a lot of different things as a head coach from a media standpoint. We’ve been through a lot of different things as an assistant coach, a couple of national championship games and all the BCS games. It’s probably a little different setting than this because of the timing during the year. Fortunately, I’ve been around some programs where there have been some pretty big media events.”

On the most frequently asked questions of the day…

“Most people were talking about the excitement level, wanting to know what kind of offense we’re going to run and who the quarterback is going to be… and what are we going to do about our defense? It’s the same old questions. Other than that, we don’t have any problems. Basically, I got the feel that people don’t think we are any good on defense, we can’t run our offense and we don’t have a quarterback. That’s what I left today with.”

On the impact of the SEC on recruiting…

“It’s had a huge effect. It’s clearly separated us from everyone else in the state by being a part of the SEC. It’s helped our footprint moving east in recruiting into Mississippi and Louisiana. With that come some other things as well. It’s moved the SEC’s footprint into Texas, too. I think we’ve gotten some looks from some guys that we may or may not have gotten without the SEC. I don’t know that for sure since I wasn’t here last year, but I will say that my conversations with guys, the SEC patch hasn’t hurt us at all. I think it has helped us from a ‘get your foot in the door’ standpoint and then I think it’s really helped us when it comes to separating ourselves in-state, but also competing on a national level.”

On the Johnny Manziel situation…

“There hasn’t been any change in that situation. We’re waiting for his hearing which hasn’t happened yet. Obviously, we’ve done some things internally and imposed some things on him internally that he has to take care of to continue to be part of the team. Really, his situation has not changed and will not change externally pending the hearing. We’ve got a three-part educational process, we’ve got the middle part of the process and the penalization part. He’s got some things that he has got to get done internally with us and some business to take care of there, and if he continues to do what he needs to do there, we’ll see what happens in the hearing and we’ll go from there. So really, that status hasn’t changed.”

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Ryan Swope #1

On being at SEC media days…

“It’s very humbling to be here and be a part of the SEC. I’m looking forward to kick off.”

On playing in the SEC…

“Most definitely. It’s the best league in the country and the way we look at is that it’s a privilege to play with all of these guys, with all the speed and great coaches. It’s a privilege to be a part of it and it’s most definitely a very tough league.”

On his familiarity of the SEC West on film…

“We haven’t really broken down much tape yet. We watch a little bit here and there but come fall, we’ll start breaking down a lot more tape.”

On the level of competition in the SEC vs. the Big 12…

“Yeah, most definitely. Like I said, the speed of the game and the size of the game are incomparable. It’s a privilege to play in the SEC. You play with the fastest guys, the strongest guys, the biggest guys and you’re put in the spotlight every Saturday. It’s something that I wanted to be a part of and something I’m very excited to be a part of. It’s a great opportunity for Texas A&M. It’s something that we take pride in and we look forward to kicking off.”

“It was a big factor. Coach Sumlin basically called me and I knew he was the guy I wanted to play for. He talked me into it and we had a great conversation over the phone. He basically kind of recruited me through December and I from watching his offense at Houston that the offense he runs was something I wanted to be a part of and experience. I can’t wait to play for Coach Sumlin.”

“I feel like both were tangibles that I wanted to be a part of. Obviously, being in the SEC and playing the best of the best and then coming back and playing for Coach Sumlin and his staff and being a part of something special at Texas A&M. That’s why I came back, and I just can’t wait to get it started.”

On playing Arkansas in College Station…

“It’ll be special. We’ve got to be able to get that monkey off our back. The past three years, we’ve gone up to Dallas, but now we get them in Kyle Field so we’re excited to bring them to our home turf. They’ve got a great football team and great players all around. It’ll be a fun game; it’ll be loud and exciting. I’m looking forward to it.”

On using the SEC as a recruiting tool…

“You can tell that there is a difference in speed. The SEC is the best conference in the country. The best recruits go to the SEC schools. They want to go play at the highest level possible. It’s a great place to go play and to try to play at the next level because you’re in the spotlight all the time. It’s a very special conference and it’s an honor to be a part of it.”

On the A&M offense going against the defenses of the SEC…

“It’s a privilege to go and play against these great defenses. I have so much confidence in my coaching and my coaches and the offense that we run that I see us doing some good things. It can be overwhelming at times because they are very fast and very strong, but we like taking the challenge. We have so much pride at Texas A&M and we expect to win football games. The leadership is important to us. We’ve got a great group of guys with a lot of character and we don’t want to be overlooked. We’re here to win football games.”

On his path from Austin to A&M…

“Basically, I was recruited by Coach Sherman and his staff and ended up at A&M. I couldn’t be more thankful and more blessed than to be in a great place like College Station and to play for the Aggies. It’s been an honor playing for Coach Sherman and his staff and to go on and play my senior season for Coach Sumlin. I’m very happy and excited.”

On playing the last six national champions…

“It’s very exciting. We take pride and we’re looking forward to playing those great teams and great football players and coaches. To be a part of that will be something special.”

On the offense adapting to the SEC defenses…

“I don’t think it will be a whole lot different. We’ll spread the ball out a lot. We have so many big weapons on the field. Our offensive line is the best I’ve seen at Texas A&M. We’ve got a lot of depth at receiver and then a lot of depth at running back, so there are so many big weapons on the field that it’s hard to pinpoint one guy. We’re going to spread the ball around and spread the defense out and keep them guessing. I’m very excited to see what our offense can do.”

On progressing throughout the season…

“I don’t think we need to necessarily go through a season to get better. Coming off of a fresh start and spring camp, we have a good feeling of who we can be and what we are capable of doing. We have great talent around us and great coaches coaching us and we’ve got confidence. We play with a swagger. We’re excited to be in this great conference, but we don’t want to be overlooked. We want to be right up there with the big dogs and it’s something we take pride in at Texas A&M. We’re ready to kick this thing off.”

On the potential rivalry between A&M and LSU…

“It would be great. One of the things that I’m all for is just having that rivalry game and having all of those traditions that you have built up with schools. It’s special to have that game and it’s great for the fans, great for the community and great for the university to have all that hype. It’s special once you get that rivalry set and stone and you can start making traditions with that university.”

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Ryan Swope #2

On the play of the quarterbacks this summer…

“They’re doing a great job. I can really tell the leadership has really kind of taken over. They’re feeling almost like a senior quarterback. They kind of have to have that role because they have big shoes to fill. They have done a great job this summer with workouts and during 7-on-7. They have been doing the little things that win football games.”

On some of the younger wide receivers…

“The first guy that comes to my mind is Mike Evans. Mike Evans is a sensational receiver. He’s a very physical guy. He’s one of the younger guys, and I look forward to watching him succeed. He puts in a lot of hard work and is a very physical guy. I just hope for the best for him. There are a bunch of guys… Malcome Kennedy is one of those guys who have been working hard. He had a good spring. There is so much depth at receiver right now which is a good thing to have. Nate Askew, look for him on the radar. There are a lot of young guys that are making flashes.”

On the defensive backs…

“Those guys are working hard. I can see that they have a lot of talent. Floyd (Raven) is so physical and competitive. Deshazor (Everett) has that same mentality. Watching those two play together is going to be exciting to see what they can do. I just hope for the best for them.”

On competing against the best defensive backs in the country…

“I think it’s a great opportunity to compete with the best in the country. I look at it as a positive because you’re playing with the best guys in the country who will only make you better. The speed in the SEC is incomparable. Every team has speed, and not only that, but the size as well. It’ll be an honor to go in and play with these guys and compete at such a high level. Looking at Texas A&M, I would say that we are right there with them though. This offseason, we’ve had guys getting bigger and stronger by doing extra so that they can compete at that level. I’m excited to see how it all plays out.”

On focusing on the task at hand…

“Now that we are in the conference, we’re going to get basically every team. We’ve played Arkansas and LSU in the Cotton Bowl my sophomore year. We are going to take it one game at a time. We’re not in any hurry. We’ll start with Louisiana Tech and then move on to Florida. We’re not going to get overly hyped up about it. It’s just like any other football game. We’re going to go out and we’re going to play with 11 players and play at a high level.”

On having the swagger needed to compete…

“You definitely have to have that swagger about yourself, that swagger about your football team and that chip on your shoulder. You’ve got to have that mentality of winning football games and that edge. Obviously, it’s the best conference in the country and you have to have that edge of wanting to win and compete. You have to practice to be the best you can be because you’re playing with the best guys in the country.”

On the talent that comes out of the SEC…

“Obviously, the SEC produces great football players from recruiting and the speed of the game. The past six years you’ve seen an SEC team win the national title, so the league speaks for itself. I’ve played in the Big 12 as well, and you have teams like Oklahoma and Texas that have just as much talent. It’s very humbling to be a part of the SEC and I’m very excited for this opportunity.”

On the pace of the Sumlin offense…

“Coach Sherman had a fast offense. At least I thought it was fast until I got here and played for Coach Sumlin.  We go out to practice and we don’t stop running. The tempo is incredible. We don’t even condition at practice because our conditioning is built into the entire practice because we run that much. I’m excited to see how the SEC teams react to that kind of offense. I feel like with as much conditioning and how well Coach Jackson has done with us, you can’t really get ready for that kind of speed in a week. It takes a little bit of time to get conditioned and ready for that speed of the game.”

“They’ve done a great job of coaching us and we’ve just got to soak all that in and soak in as much knowledge as possible from our coaches and just trust in what they are doing.”

On possibly being the most productive wide receiver in school history…

“I’ve thought about it before and it’s actually very humbling, playing running back in high school and then making that transition to wide receiver and now joining the SEC. I’m very humbled about it and it’s just a great opportunity. I’ve learned so much from different coaching staffs and different coaches and it’s just been a great experience.”

On the rivalry between Texas and Florida high school football…

“Obviously, Florida puts out so many great football players as does Texas. It’s kind of like a home turf deal. The Florida game is a big one and luckily it’s at Kyle Field. They get to experience what it’s all about and how we do it at Kyle Field. It’ll be interesting from a recruiting standpoint.”

On taking the season one game at a time…

“I think it’s huge to take things one game at a time. You can’t overlook any team. Every team is going to bring a lot of talent. If you get ahead of yourself, that’s not any good for your football team or for your coaches. You have to stay focused and take it one day at a time. We just need to stay focused and take one game at a time.”

On A&M’s many offensive weapons…

“I feel like we have so many weapons on this offense that it’s going to be hard to pinpoint one guy. You look at Eazy Nwachukwu on the other side who has had a great career at Texas A&M. He’s done great things. Then you have Mike Evans, Nate Askew… just so much depth at that receiver spot. Then you look into our backfield and see Christine Michael, Ben Malena, Brandon Williams… the list goes on and on. It makes defenses keep guessing and spreads the field out. You can’t ever just locate one guy on the field. You have to keep all eyes open.”

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Luke Joeckel #1

On the offensive differences between Coach Sherman and Coach Sumlin…

“Coach Sherman runs a little more of a pro-style offense. We’re a little bit more spread out than we were last year, so there are a few adjustments that we have to take in. The skill guys have a whole new offense to learn. I don’t know much about their stuff but we have three quarterbacks competing for the job. We need to figure out which quarterback we can follow, but the offensive line definitely has to help him move along.”

On the quarterbacks…

“Each quarterback has done a great job. Jameill (Showers) has done a great job and has been working hard. Matt (Joeckel) has done a great job and has been working hard. I’ve also been impressed by Matt Davis. He kind of had a rough spring, but he works hard and is a good leader. Johnny (Manziel) has done a great job too, so I’m really excited that this competition will help all of them be the best quarterback that they can be.”

On the quarterback competition…

“I don’t think there is anything to doubt about any of them. It’s just a competition to see who the best quarterback we can find is. Jameill has a great arm and is a great leader and athlete. I’ll play for any one of those quarterbacks. I don’t think anyone brings any doubt and we’re just trying to find the best guy to put on the field.”

On the potential LSU and Arkansas rivalries…

“Yeah, I think so. The proximity helps a lot and also, LSU and Arkansas are going to be our big rivals. Arkansas has beaten us both years that I have been at A&M and LSU beat us in the Cotton Bowl, so we all kind of want to go back and beat them.”

On the progression of the offensive line…

“Jarvis (Harrison) has had a great summer and he’s back to 100%. He’s getting stronger in the weight room and he’s also moving really well. The offensive line is looking great. We work out at 2:30 every day in the heat which is pretty rough, but they have all been doing a great job. They are all in great shape and we’re excited to get into two-a-days and see what kind of shape we are actually in.”

On the younger members of the offensive line…

“Well there have been some young guys stepping up. Every single one of the guys has been working hard and we really haven’t had any slackers in the offensive line group this summer. I think Mike Matthews is going to be a great player. He’s already very technically sound coming out of high school which is surprising. Then, Germain Ifedi is a big strong guy who is a good athlete for his size. I’m excited to see how they can play when the pads go on.”

On the Matthews brothers’ upbringing…

“They have one of the greatest offensive linemen of all-time as their dad, so I’m sure they were in diapers doing offensive line drills.”

On worrying about head injuries…

“No, not really. I feel like I’ve never really had any head problems. As an offensive lineman, most of my contact is within three yards or so. I’m not ever running 20 yards downfield full speed. I’m never moving that fast. I don’t think the head-to-head contact is as bad as it is for someone like a defensive back or running back. I think they have it a little bit worse.”

On head injury awareness…

“Yeah, very much so. We take some kind of mental test at the beginning of the year, and if you’re anywhere off of it, they sit you out until they think you’re ready. They have been really hard on that stuff by sitting guys out a lot longer than they used to.”

On picking up a big victory at home vs. a big victory on the road…

“Either one, it’s the same to me. It’s always great to get any kind of road victory because it’s so hard to play at every school, but it’s also so great to win at home and for the 12th man. We want to win every game at Kyle Field, just for the 12th man, so it’s great both ways.”

On what makes a good offensive lineman…

“You’ve got to get a good first step. You’ve got to get off the ball quick enough to catch the defender’s first step. You’ve got to get to your junction point, where we meet the rusher, faster than he does. That’s always a tough thing to do.”

On the game against Florida…

“I think it’s very important. It’s just as important as any other SEC game. I always try to think of every game being the same and taking the same mental route every game. I know we have Louisiana Tech for the first game, so I’m really just thinking about that game. The Florida game is going to be very exciting. Being back at Kyle Field in a new conference will make it one of the most fun games of the year.”

On the importance of a good offensive line…

“It’s very critical. I always think of the offensive line as the most core part of the offense. Some of the veterans on the team are on the offensive line, so we have to take the league. With a young quarterback, the offensive line really needs to help him out and help move him along.”

On wearing cowboy boots to meet the media…

“I thought it was the formal thing to wear. I don’t really own any brown dress shoes, so cowboy boots were the only way to go.”

On the tempo of Sumlin’s offense…

“Yes, it’s even faster. When that ball is down, we’re snapping the ball again. I don’t know how long, but it’s pretty quick. We’re getting the offensive line to sprint to the ball and get lined up again. It’s significantly faster than it was last year.”

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Luke Joeckel #2

On attending the SEC media days…

“It’s very cool. I didn’t know it was going to be this big, I didn’t really know what to expect being new to all of this. It’s been a great experience so far.”

On being selected to represent A&M…

“I’m very honored by it. It’s very humbling and I’m glad Coach Sumlin has that trust in me to bring a good image to Texas A&M and represent the university.”

On becoming a leader of the offensive line…

“I’ve tried to be a leader, definitely with the offensive line. We work out every day at 2:30 and we have some veterans, some experience, with all five guys returning. We’re just trying to bring along the young guys because we definitely need some depth this year. We need more than six guys, so we’re trying to bring them along. We have some great other guys, Cedric Ogbuehi has been working hard this summer and Jake (Matthews) has also been a great leader as well.”

On the workouts under Coach Sumlin and Coach Jackson…

“The different work out styles from this year to last are night and day. Our workouts now are much more up tempo with less recovery between sets. Everything we do is sprinting, everything we do is just going 100 percent. It’s tough, but we’ve had a great summer getting adjusted to it.”

On A&M’s home opener against Florida…

“It’ll be exciting. There is already a ton of excitement around College Station. The 12th Man is already very excited for the game. Entering a new conference like the SEC and seeing the best conference in the country is going to bring a whole lot of excitement to College Station. I’m sure the 12th Man is going to be going crazy at Kyle Field on that Saturday.”

On  the football he watched growing up…

“I definitely grew up a Big 12 guy. My dad played at Texas Tech and he was a Southwest Conference guy, so I kind of grew up watching Big 12 football. Watching the SEC, I’ve always known the speed they bring. It’s definitely a defensive league and it’s also a defensive line league. It’s going to be very exciting as an offensive lineman getting to play against some of the best competition in the country.”

On competing against the tough defenses of the SEC…

“I definitely have confidence in myself and I definitely believe that I can play with any of those guys, but there was definitely a ton of speed in the national championship game on both sides of the ball. There are athletes at every single position. In the SEC, there are defensive tackles that can run with tight ends and linebackers. It’s crazy to see the speed, but I definitely think our offensive line can compete with them.”

On the A&M defensive line…

“They’ve changed schemes a little bit. They’ve moved from a 3-4 to a 4-3, but I think they’ve been doing a great job. They have had a great summer and have moved a long way since spring. They are really adjusting to everything really well and have been working hard, so I’m excited to see what they can do this fall. They’ve all done a great job. A new name is Ivan Robinson. He’s had some great summer workouts and has been working hard to get stronger. He works really hard in the weight room every single day and I’m excited to see what he can do this year for us.”

On the quarterback battle from his perspective…

“I block the same way no matter who is behind me. I want to be the best I can be, so I’m going to block the same way no matter what. It’s definitely been a great competition for the quarterbacks. We have three guys competing for the spot and the competition is just making all three of them much better. Jameill and Matt (Joeckel) have been working really hard, and Johnny has, too. We’re excited to see what two-a-days are going to bring and we’re excited to see who our quarterback is. I’m confident in all three of them, so I’ll block for all three and it should be exciting during this fall camp.”

“I think we have a lot of potential. We haven’t blocked many SEC defenses, and that will be a transition, but we have a lot of experience coming back and a very athletic group. We don’t have many just big, slow guys. Most of the guys are really good athletes and I’m really excited to see us compete against some of the best defensive lines in the country.”

On playing with Christine Michael…

“It’s very exciting. I love blocking for that guy. He’s a guy who gives all the credit to the offensive line and every offensive lineman loves a running back who does that. He’s a guy who works his butt off every single day in the weight room. He’s now 100% if not more and stronger than he’s ever been. I’m really excited about what he can do this year.”

On fixing the problems from last year’s team…

“I could never pinpoint what the problem was last year. If I did know, I’m sure we would have fixed it last year. We can’t let that happen to us again this year. We’re going to be a team that can play all four quarters and play all four quarters smart and hard. We’ve got to fix that this year.”

On playing in SEC venues…

“There is a lot of excitement. It kind of gets your adrenaline going to walk into enemy territory. It brings a lot of excitement and there is nothing better than picking up a road victory. Getting any of those is huge and it would be very exciting to win anywhere in the SEC on the road.”

On becoming a team leader…

“I never knew I would get to this point. It was kind of nerve racking at first, playing as a true freshman those first few games. I had never been around the noise in high school, but now I’m able to go out with plenty of confidence and block as hard as I can.”

On if he has given any thought about leaving for the NFL a season early…

“No, I haven’t. I’m totally focused on this year and I haven’t even thought about it.”

On how the offensive line can help the new quarterback…

“We definitely have to help out our young quarterback and we have a very experienced offensive line to do that. Most of our veterans are on the offensive line, so we really have to help whatever young quarterback we have behind us. C-Mike is going to do a great job of running hard for us, and if Brandon Williams is cleared to play, those guys will do a great job of running the ball for us which will take some pressure off the quarterback. It’s also very important for us to give him time when they are passing. They need to feel comfortable in the pocket on every single play, so that’s also a big job of ours.”

On working with Jake Matthews…

“It’s been going good. We do football drills on our own every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Jake and I also stay extra and work on sets every single day. We workout every single day on the field and in the weight room and we’re very competitive with each other, but we also help each other out a lot with our sets and technique. He is a huge technician and he’s helped me out a ton.”

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Sean Porter

On the changes being made to the A&M football program…

“Everybody is adapting well. All the players and students love the new change of conference. We like Coach Sumlin. He’s a player’s coach so we relate to him well. Everybody liked the new uniforms at the release on Thursday, so I think that was a good change.”

On transitioning to the new coaches…

“There was in the spring, but I think we got all of that out of the way in the spring semester. I think at this point, we are just trying to roll into the SEC and are getting ready for the season.”

On the SEC…

“I think it’s a good conference. That’s what everybody tells me, so I think it will be exciting to play in and will be great competition. It’ll be a great way for our players to gauge themselves against the other good players in the country. It’ll be fun.”

On the pace of their workouts…

“We work with Coach Larry Jackson and he’s an excellent strength coach. It has been a little bit more intense than in years past just because they go so fast. Coach Sumlin’s practices in the spring were very, very fast. It kind of felt like a game in practice. The workouts are similar to that. They are very fast, very high paced and we don’t get much of a break in between sets and runs. Everything has been going really fast for us.”

On A&M’s inaugural SEC game against Florida…

“It’ll be exciting. Kyle Field will be very loud with the 12th Man, our student section. They will be standing the entire game and I think it will be exciting. It’s a 2:30 game, so it’s going to be hot. We’re used to the Texas heat, but it’s pretty hot in Florida too, so I think it will be a fun game.”

On the incoming crop of freshmen…

“The freshmen are very good. One of them that stick out in my head is Michael Richardson. He’s adjusting very well to the new system and to his new role. He was used to being more of a pass rusher in high school, but now he’s going to play linebacker for us. He’s doing very well. DeVante Harris, the cornerback that we got, is a very good guy. He’s a little bit undersized, but he can cover. He can match anyone on their route, so I think those two guys have been doing well this summer.”

On the meaning of moving into the SEC…

“It is a very historic moment for A&M, getting into the SEC, the best conference around. For me to be a senior and to be a part of that and to kind of lead us into the SEC is exciting for me and for the other seniors on the team. We just can’t wait.”

On the game against Arkansas being in College Station…

“It’ll be different. We’re going to have home field advantage. It’s not the same. Cowboys Stadium is neutral, they get a lot of fans in there. At Kyle Field, we won’t be able to hear any of their fans. It’s going to be all us, so in that aspect we’ll have an advantage, but we still have to play the game on the field.”

On the differences between the Big 12 and the SEC…

“The Big 12 is very pass happy, so they are throwing the ball a lot with the high-powered offenses that spread the ball around. In the SEC, I see more ‘I’ formation… Big heavy lineman, fullbacks that we haven’t seen very much of, and fast defensive lineman. The difference to me is upfront. There is a lot of talent on the lines in the SEC.”

On the linebacker unit…

“We have a good linebacker unit this year. Myself, Jonathan Stewart and Steven Jenkins will be starting and those guys can play. Steven is a little bit undersized, but he can hit and he can run and he’s adjusted to the 4-3 very well. Jonathan Stewart is our staple in the middle. He’s the guy that makes all the calls and he’s the guy that is going to be plugging those holes to let us do our thing on the outside. I think we’ll have a very strong linebacker corps this year and I don’t think we will have too much of a problem adjusting to the SEC from that perspective.”

On the differences between the 3-4 and the 4-3 defenses…

“It’s very different in going from a 3-4 to a 4-3, especially for a guy like me that in the 3-4 I would rush the passer a lot. It’s a big change going from that to a more traditional linebacker in the 4-3. For a guy like DaMontre Moore, who played the outside linebacker in the 3-4, it’s a big change because now he doesn’t have to think so much about coverage and can focus on pass rush. I think that will be a great change for him. I think this is a good change for us. Coach Snyder always tells us that the 4-3 is really good at stopping the run, and they run in the SEC.”

On the changes that took place during the last year…

“Coach Sumlin recruited me in high school and I was committed to his school for a long time, so I was kind of already used to him. The coaching change didn’t really affect me too much. As far as the SEC, I was excited. The Big 12 is a good conference, but the SEC is the best conference. I always want to gauge myself against the best players in the country, and if the SEC has the best players around, then I want to be playing against them and not anybody else.”

On representing the state of Texas in the SEC…

“First, I don’t think Texas was ever our big brother. They are a good school and we competed against them every year. As far as stepping into the SEC as a Texas school, I think this gives us a clear advantage because the kids in Texas think that Texas high school football is the best and the kids in Florida think that Florida high school football is the best in the country. Kids in Texas are going to want to come to the school that is in the best conference. They want to play the highest level of football which helps recruiting. The players on the team like it and I think it’s a good move.”

On losing the rivalry with Texas…

“We love that rivalry. The players really like it and we were kind of disappointed that we wouldn’t get to play those guys. We know a lot of those guys personally over there, so we like to play against them and get that rivalry game going. That decision wasn’t up to us, and I don’t think we will be playing them anytime in the near future. We’re excited to play against the guys we are going to play and we’re excited to build new rivalries. We’ve already played Arkansas for a few years in a row and we’re excited to play all these SEC teams over and over.”

On the toughness of the SEC West…

“It’s a tough conference, probably the toughest conference. I think we’ll do alright. I don’t think we’ll be shell-shocked or anything. At the end of the day, it’s just football. We’re coming from Texas and the Big 12, but we’re all just playing football. The SEC West is a great division and we are excited to be in there.”

On replacing Ryan Tannehill…

“We have a couple of guys that look like good replacements right now, Jameill Showers and Johnny Manziel. I think that they are competing and both of them are very able replacements for Ryan Tannehill. It’ll be tough losing that kind of leader, but at the same time, we recruit well. We have a lot of guys waiting, so that if somebody gets hurt, we have someone waiting. If someone leaves, we have another guy waiting. I think it will be a good transition for us. I don’t think it will be too rough.”

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Head Coach Quotes

Missouri's Gary Pinkel

Q: Is there a point where you tell your team it's a tough league, but just go out and play?
A: I'd be disappointed if we were intimidated. We play good football too. How are A&M and Missouri going to do in the SEC? There'll be analysis and analysis. But each week you have to go out and compete. That's how it'll be decided on the field. As it should be.

Q: Do you see the Georgia game as a chance to earn respect?
A: Everyone's going to analyze things. We're going to go out and play our game and people can think what they want, that's fine. Georgia will be our first SEC game and our first SEC home game. It'll be a big game for us. But there'll be a lot of big games. That's what separates the SEC. So many good football teams playing week in and week out. That's what defines the league. We'll hopefully play our best game there, but there's a lot of games to play.

Q: Do you start on the lines in recruiting, just to match up?
A: Any place you play, any league, your best teams will be the teams that are good up front on offense and defense. In the Big 12, in the Pac-10, wherever I was, generally the teams most physical up front were the teams that competed for a championship. We recruit and develop the same. That hasn't changed in this league. We understand that offenses are considerably different. That's part of scheme and analysis. We have analysis on every team we're playing. There'll just be more to it this year because we're in a different league. Those things will sort themselves out.

Q: Talk about the transition to the SEC.
A: Staying at one school for 12 years and suddenly switching leagues is probably historic by itself. The transition has been significant for me. Our staff has a system in place and we do what we do. We believe in what we do. It'll certainly get tested and that's fine, that's the way it should be. But most people who've done any analysis of our staff will find that I have the most consistent staff in the country. That continuity has been tremendously important for us, to build our program at Missouri. As we expand into SEC country it'll be the same. That continuity will help carry us through there in a positive way.

Q: You go back with Nick Saban quite a bit. What was he like in college?
A: First of all, he's older than me. I want to make that very clear. We played college football for Don James. (Saban) was a year ahead of me. James had a remarkable influence on me, and on Nick Saban. Our careers then went different ways. It's my 22nd year as a head coach, I've survived long enough to do that. When Nick went to work for Bill Belichick in Cleveland, he set me up for an interview too. That means a lot to me. He's clearly a great coach. He was a very physical player, very dedicated, committed, team-oriented. That intensity level reflects on the same guy you see coaching now and having tremendous success in college football. He'll ultimately go down, I think, as one of the best in college football. And he should.

Q: On getting Elvis Fisher back...
A: Elvis is a really good player for us. He had that injury last year that started a run of a lot of them for us. It'll be great to have him back. He brings experience and so much more than just being a good football player. He's worked tremendously hard to get back. He grew up in Florida, where the SEC is obviously huge. He's pretty excited about this transition.

Q: With helmet studies and concussions and other things, do you worry about the long-term health of your players?
A: You have to address the issue. The awareness and the rule changes and the spearing and those things, getting the crown of the helmet, all the things they're analyzing, it's good for college football. It protects college football. Athletes are bigger, stronger, quicker than they've ever been before. Current safeties would have been linebackers years ago in the NFL. A lot of people get frustrated that we're controlling it too much, but if you don't, we're going to have considerable problems. We're doing the right things to protect kids. And we'll continue to get better and better at it, I think.

Q: Talk about playing at home, especially with the new teams, and the atmosphere.
A: We call our place The Zoo. It's a great place to play college football. Our first two games will be at night. Southeast Louisiana and then the Georgia game. Our fans, to say they are excited about us being in the SEC would be a complete understatement. They've become fanatical about it. That says a lot also about the great respect nationally that the SEC has. In this league you have to play well, finish games, play well in the fourth quarter. We're excited about having these teams coming to the Zoo.

Q: Can you discuss your 2012 skill position talent?
A: James Franklin is doing well. We expect him to be 100 percent, ready to go. It'll be interesting to see in August as he's throwing more consistently, over and over. Repetition. His accuracy improved over last year. As a starter coming back, you want to eliminate his mistakes. He's in line to be the next of our quarterbacks playing in the NFL. We've got receivers and running backs and good folks there. Our offense is a spread, we can do a lot of things. We were top-15 in the nation last year in rushing. We can go a lot of ways on offense depending on our personnel. We know we're going to get tested, but we're going to do what we always do and adjust accordingly and, as the season goes on, play our best.

Q: What adjustments does Franklin need to make to be a complete SEC quarterback?
A: I don't think he really needs to adjust. Overall, what does he need to do? He needs to eliminate those one or two critical mistakes young quarterbacks make. If you reduce those in half, that helps the consistency factor. If you're going to run the ball, doesn't matter what league you're in ... I want you to compete and go get it if it's 4th & 1, 3rd & 1, but otherwise you need to slide and not take the hit. People see that run he made against Texas A&M where he ran over three guys, but when he takes those big hits, that hurts our team. We don't need to do that. I think he understands that; he got better at that at the end of the year. His ability to accurately throw the ball down the field, he proved that at the end of the year too. I think I'll be disappointed if he doesn't have a great year.

Q: On going to the 'big leagues' ...
A: You get a lot of 'We're playing in the SEC now and it's a great league,' and we've gotten, 'You were playing a bunch of high school teams.' We were playing in a pretty good league. But it's a challenge. This analysis of Missouri and A&M coming from the Big 12, which I think certainly was a good league, one of the best in the country, is going to happen. You have to go out and prove yourself and I'm fine with that. You have to go out and compete to earn respect, go out and compete to win. You're only going to get respect by winning games. I've got no problem with that. You've got to prove yourself.

Q: When did this move become real to you? Kevin Sumlin said it was at the coaches' meeting when the door closed.
A: For me, I knew two-thirds of the coaches sitting at the SEC coaches' meetings. I was in the Big 12, but it was just, "Hey, how you doing? Let's get to work."

Q: Do you expect to go into most games playing four-receiver sets to remove an extra linebacker for these defenses?
A: We're going to look at it each game and make adjustments and see their adjustments and make a game plan. We'll make adjustments as the season goes on. But we're going to run our offense and do what we do. We're also going to, as we get through a game and another game, make adjustments as we can. Become multiple, become successful. Our offense, in this league, with great defenses will be another storyline all season. We'll have to see how it turns out.

Q: On starting a year-ending rivalry with Arkansas...
A: I'm sure it'll develop, hopefully, into a big rivalry as time goes on. I have great respect for Arkansas. I haven't paid much attention to projects of when or where that game could be. Too many things to be concerned about as we're preparing for this season. But it's a neighboring state and certainly the school is very, very successful. When the time comes, we'll be excited about being a part of it.

Q: Missouri hasn't played many SEC teams historically. Do you expect natural rivalries to grow?
A: I think through time, I probably won't be coaching here when those things happen. Don't know how many years it'll take to develop. My focus has been on getting our team ready to play it's best game this year. Without question our players are excited for this year. In recruiting it's been huge for us. Reaction from high school recruits across the country has been tremendously positive. We're excited about all this and what the SEC brings and being a part of it.

Q: A lot of SEC fans will travel to Columbia for the first time. Where should they eat?
A: I'll get in big trouble for answering that one, I'll tell you that. Email the city restaurant organization (laughs). Lot of great food though. Lot of great restaurants. Mizzou Nation is excited about you coming.

Q: There are a number of top running backs coming back from injuries this season. Can that impact Henry Josey's mentality while he rehabs?
A: First of all, he was in the top three or four rushers in the country last year before the knee injury. He's a great young man with a tremendous attitude who's worked real hard. There are players coming off knee injuries that return to greatness. I'm sure those examples will be a plus and very motivating for him.

Q: What kind of atmosphere should we expect in Columbia against Georgia?
A: It's a great college gameday experience. I think our fans go crazy. I know it's a great league and you watch it on TV and we've played some places before. We're part of the SEC and we want to prove we belong as fans, players and coaches and you'll see a place that's very electric and it'll go wild. That's probably an understatement.

Q: What did it mean for Dorial Green-Beckham to commit to you late?
A: As you know, he was the No. 1 recruit in the nation and, fortunately for us, came to Missouri. He's been working hard all summer. The first thing people talk about is what a great kid he is. They're surprised — this guy's had all the national attention for the last three, four years. That's really encouraging, and why I think he has a great chance to become a great player. He's humble and he wants to learn. Jeremy Maclin has said this too — you come in as freshmen, you compete and you work your way up from the bottom of the list. That's how we do it with everybody and that's where he is, at the bottom of the list. He's excited to compete with everybody.

Q: Will you continue to emphasize recruiting Texas?
A: What we've done since I got here and we put our whole staff out recruiting is, we looked at Texas as a place we needed. Missouri is the most important to us, certainly, but Texas is a place that plays great high school football and we can go in and evaluate. We've had great success. A lot of NFL players from there. It's multiplied in the last few years. We're making a transition right now to great high school football in the SEC — Georgia, Florida, all those. That'll be part of the ongoing transition in this league. We'll find out where that goes when it's important.

One of the most important things in my opinion is that we've won at a fairly high level in the last five or six years and graduated a lot of players. We'll go in with some respect. But the greatest selling point you have is selling that your players come up and do great and they go back and tell everyone, coaches, counselors, young teammates, Missouri is a great place. That's the greatest sales you can get and that happens over a period of time.

South Carolina's Steve Spurrier

"First game is against Vandy. National TV, ESPN Thursday night game. Other than that, our team should be very healthy and ready to go. Looking forward to seeing what we can achieve in 2012."

Q: How quickly did you think you could compete for a division and SEC title at USC?
A: You always hope you can do it real quickly. We didn't put together a team this capable this quickly. We've assembled better players, better coaches, better strength and equipment guys, but we have to go play the games. We've won close games. Connor Shaw came on real quickly. I think he was the highest-rated passer in the country in the last four games. He only threw 18 passes per game though. We were a 45 runs, 20 pass-type team last year. And we may be this year. If we can't throw it well, we're not gon' try to it. We have Marcus Lattimore coming back.

Whatever we have to do to try to win the games is what we're going to do. We've been real sound defensively the last few years. Third in the conference last year behind Alabama and LSU. Hoepfully it'll all play out.

Q: Could you break down Connor Shaw?
A: He's a little different (than past USC QBs). Our offense is a little different. It's the first time I've brought a quarterback to media days since I've been at South Carolina. We select guys we think represent our university and football program in a first class manner. Connor's dad is a head high school coach. He's been around football his whole life. He doesn't have a lot to focus on besides trying to win the SEC.

He's a passing and running quarterback. He might pass more this year, but he'll keep running. He does that really well.

Q: Talk about D-line quality.
A: We hope Devin Taylor and Jadeveon Clowney, together, could be two of the best D-ends in the conference. We lost some guys inside, but we have some solid D-tackles and all senior linebackers, I think all fifth-year guys. A lot of experience there. We have had some very good D-linemen.

Q: On competing for the SEC title again...
A: We're not picked first, we've got to fight through some people. But going into the eighth year, we've assembled the players and coaches to give ourselves a chance to be successful. We'll have to see what happens.

With the guys we're recruiting now, we're not having to play them as true fish like we used to. We're able to redshirt at least half of our guys now. We're redshirting offensive linemen now and we have eight or nine fifth-year guys right now, which might be a record at South Carolina. We're also graduating the most guys we've ever had graduate, and we led the SEC in football grade point average. Our guys are really doing well academically, and that helps with winning.

Q: When you took the job could you envision coaching at South Carolina as long as you were at Florida?
A: I mentioned at a booster meeting before that first season that I want to try to be the winningest coach here, which was only something like 65 wins. That was to let people know that I was planning to be here to stay, not just jumping at the first good offer. It has taken a while, and those years go by quickly, and here we are in our eighth year. It's not a stressful job I have. Some coaches tell you how stressful their job is, but we have excellent assistants. They can call guys, recruit them, get them committed, coach their positions and so forth.

It's not a stressful job. Health-wise I feel a lot better than I did last year. I have a new knee. Knee replacement, four surgeries on it, it was just worn out. And we have one of the best teams now that we've had here. Every time some writer asks me how long I'm going to coach, I need to ask him, "How much longer are you going to write?"

Q: What do you think of the two new members?
A: I think A&M and Missouri will be extremely competitive, win a bunch of games, and wouldn't be surprised if they're in the hunt for the division. The two key games early, obviously, are Missouri-Georgia and A&M-Florida. Those are two interesting ballgames. I hope we're playing at a different hour so I could maybe watch them both live. It'll be very interesting for us.

Q: How do you get Connor Shaw to be pass-first?
A: He's working on it. He's only played about half a year as a starter, so through all practice and making decisions back there, he'll get better. He certainly should. We do a lot of play-action stuff, he's out of the pocket a lot. He's about 6-1 and we move him around quite a bit. He can throw on the run. He can do all that stuff. But I don't know if we'll be a big passing team, or a big running team, again. Probably more running and playing defense, then picking spots to throw the ball. It's a bit different formula, but you can win a bunch of ballgames doing it that way.

Q: Your schedule shows an open date before Arkansas and a non-con after. In light of how tough that game has been and how it hurt y'all last year, has it taken on more significance for you?
A: You think I make the schedule (hearty laugh). If I made the schedule, Georgia would be playing LSU and we'd be playing Ole Miss (pause for emphasis).

Arkansas has played well against us, and Auburn has too. They've had our number. Auburn beat us twice in 2010. They've beaten us pretty good. But we'll worry about Arkansas the week of the game. Just like we'll worry about Clemson, Florida and everybody else the week of the game. But we realize they've kicked our tails and played really well. Auburn too. Those two, they've had our number.

Q: South Carolina has not traditionally recruited Texas. Will you do so in the future? And will it help you?
A: We will not recruit Texas. No. We've got plenty of ballplayers in South Carolina and our border states. Florida, Georgia, North Carolina are mainly our targets. We're not going into Texas and trying to compete against Oklahoma, Texas and all them guys. If there's a connection or some guy calls and says he wants to play at South Carolina, then we'll see.

We did have a one-day football camp and 400 kids showed up, from all over the place. Florida, New Jersey, all over. It was neat to tell our guys that we had 400 kids there. We're getting a name out there. But we're certainly still not Alabama or LSU and some of those guys. We're making a little bit of noise, not as much as we'd like to, but finishing in the top 10 for the first time in school history was neat last year.

Q: Was last year your best coaching job, considering everything?
A: I heard some of you say that. I don't really rank them. But we had a good team last year. Every game we won, we were favored to win. Did you know that? South Carolina wouldn't be favored in 11 of 13 games, you say. Actually, we were favored in 12 of 13. So we may have overachieved last year. But we didn't play Alabama and LSU.

Q: Can you give your take on Penn State?
A: It's a terrible mess. I don't have any answers. The only thing I'll say about Joe Paterno is that as a college football coach, he did everything right. His teams played fair, played fundamentally sound, he was always revered, I think, for doing the right things. I'm not going to get into the other side. It's a terrible, terrible situation. As a college football coach, I remember him that way also.

Q: Winning the East, winning the 11 games last year, do these breakthroughs give you a personal feeling?
A: It's a tremendous feeling for all of us, when you do something for the first time in school history. Our second year at Florida we won 10 games for the first time in school history but we didn't think much about it because we were so happy to beat FSU. Writers didn't think it was a big deal back then. It was neat for everyone on the team, though. Beating Nebraska in the Capital One bowl for that 11th win last year was a special feeling for all of us.

Q: Do you think Lattimore is back to where he was before the injury?
A: Doctors can do wonderful things now with those surgeries. We got him one of the best, we feel. He feels he had a good surgery and Marcus has rehabbed it beautifully, doing everything we've asked and even more.

Q: When was the last time you had this kind of confidence in the quarterback position?
A: At times Stephen Garcia played well, Chris Smelley, but we didn't have a consistent, game-after-game-after-game quarterback. So Connor is ... he's a guy who can run for a first down. That's so important. You can't call every play right, so it's important to not have to start all over again when you don't. He's a reliable guy and the players around him really enjoy playing with him.

Q: You've been a proponent of a playoff. Now we're moving toward that. Would you like to see it move to eight or 16 teams?
A: If I was calling the shots, I'd have eight teams go play. We've got six BCS conferences. If you can win your conference championship in one of them, you ought to have a chance to play for it all. Then two at-large teams. Notre Dame or Houston or Southern Miss goes undefeated, maybe they deserve a spot, a chance to play for the national championship.

In college baseball, Stony Brook was at the College World Series. If they'd gotten hot, they could have won it. In college football, only 10 or 12 teams have a realistic shot. With eight teams and six conference champs you can at least open it up and teams can say they had a chance. They may not ever do it that way, but I'd like to see 8-4-2, an extra week of college football.

Q: What do you think about what James Franklin has done at Vandy? And what about Lorenzo Ward and the job he's doing for you?
A: Okay, Coach Franklin at Vandy. He's got his guys believing they can beat everyone they play. They almost did last year. They had a shot at Georgia, had a shot at Florida. There's a lot of fired-up energy, just like Coach Franklin has. They're going to be competitive. We're going to have to play well to have a shot to beat them on Thursday night.

Lorenzo Ward has done great. We hired him before the bowl game and we've let him get to know the players as the coordinator. We agree on a lot of things defensively. We threw some defenses at Nebraska they weren't prepared for. Nothing elaborate, just sound, fundamental coverage stuff. We have full confidence Lorenzo will be a good one.

Q: Have you coached your fans up since you got here?
A: A lot has changed at South Carolina in seven years. I've got some friends who've been there for 30, 40 years. They say they used to come to the ballyard hoping for a good game, hoping not to get blown out. Now they come expecting to win and get mad if we don't. If it was a close game, they'd applaud the guys for playing a close game. We lost a close one to Auburn in 2006 and they started clapping as the guys left the field. I asked them to please not clap when we lose a game. There are no moral victories.

Now expectations are high. But we know we'll fall flat on our face if we don't stay on our toes and come ready to play every game. In the history books, the year after they went 10-2, they had a losing season if I recall. Anyone can beat us if we're not ready to play.

Q: Are you pleased there will be a selection committee?
A: I don't really have a big opinion on that. I don't know the best way to do it. The best way is probably very similar to the way they've been getting the first two teams. Now just get a third and fourth. I'm not sure how it all will work out. And really, that's not something we need to worry about. All of us in the SEC, if we win our division and win in Atlanta, we'll probably be in that final group of four.

We won the first ever division back in '92 with the Gators, and we were pretty excited about that. Any kind of championship, getting to win it is exciting. The feeling of coming out of Atlanta having won the SEC ... that game in Atlanta is really something special.

Q: What's it like to have dominated your rivals two years in a row? Swept Florida, Georgia, Clemson and Tennessee.
A: It's pretty neat. It's pretty neat for South Carolina (smirk). If we're bragging about stuff we've done, that's as big as anything. We've beaten some teams that have owned South Carolina. If we'd beaten one of those four 10 years ago, it'd be a weeklong celebration. It'd be a good year. The attitude change now ... people used to say that if you just beat Clemson, it won't matter if you lose the rest of them.

We finally convinced them that every game is important and what your record is is who you are. Every game is extremely important. Hopefully our entire crowd has changed looking at all these games and so forth.

Q: Can you talk about your facilities and give us an update on how it's helped in recruiting?
A: Recently we've been able to recruit so well, signing Mr. Football in the state of South Carolina the last four years. We have a three-story academic support building, taking care of all scholarship athletes. Very first class. We have a cafeteria. Just about every sport here has had some kind of renovation. Our locker room is brand new, training room is brand new. Our next facility is the indoor facility. We have a little 50-yard indoor facility that will be used maybe three times a year. But that's our next step, since everybody is getting one.

Overall, the facility improvement is a big reason we've had the success we've had.

Q: Could this now be a more quarterback-driven league?
A: It could be. Arkansas' Tyler Wilson is very good. He's an excellent passer. Alabama's quarterback certainly looked good there in the final game. We've not had All-American quarterbacks too much lately in our league. Tebow ... oh! And Cam Newton. That's right. Heisman winner. (Laugh.) But we haven't had a whole lot.

Q: Talk about Ray Tanner's transition to Athletic Director.
A: Coach Tanner wanted to be an AD. It's something he was really fired up about. He was right there on board, he's been at South Carolina 15, 16 years, he's seen the good, the bad, and I think he's ready to really do a super job for us. We're all happy he's our AD.

Vanderbilt's James Franklin

Franklin has some very real energy that just makes you feel like Vandy will real soon be a completely different program from how he found it. Enjoy.

"Really appreciate the opportunity to be back here in year two. The difference from year two to year one is amazing. I wanted to get a feel for the place, walked right through radio row into the mall and back and nobody said a word to me. Things have changed with Vanderbilt football. We've gone to a bowl, had a top-25 recruiting class, an indoor facility we're about to break ground on, our highest team GPA in a long time. A lot of things going on, but we have to take it one step at a time.

"We just couldn't be more excited about being here and representing the SEC and representing our university and our community of Nashville.

Q: You've got Zack Stacey returning after setting the single-season rushing record. What are your thoughts on him?
A: What's amazing about him is as good a player as he is, he's an even better person. He gets a lot of credit but we play amazing team football at Vanderbilt. From the beginning of the season to the end, our offensive line improved as much as anybody in the SEC. I think he can have a great year. I appreciate how he comes to work every day with a good attitude and

Q: On having a number of returning starters...
A: I think the continuity is very important. The fact that this won't be our first year learning a new offense or defense or how we do things is helpful. Replacing starters on defense is easier than replacing starters on offense, because if you were in the two-deep on defense, you've been rotated in and you have experience. We have to spread leadership throughout our whole team and specifically the defense. Our guys are excited we had success last year. We had just enough success that it whet our appetite and they're extremely ready to come back and outdo it.

Q: How far can this program go in the near future?
A: The sky is the limit for us. I truly believe that. I think for the right kid from the right family, we can beat anybody. I truly believe that. We have too much to sell. If you respect a world class education, few schools can compete with us. I KNOW what Vanderbilt can do for your son and the next 40 or 50 years of his life. To play in the best conference in the nation. If you're truly the best and the brightest, where else would you go? You can chase both dreams here. And I truly believe education is more than just in the classroom; our city helps with that. And we have the resources. The fact that we can sell all these things ... you'll find institutions that have one or two of these things better than us, but none have the combination of traits we do.

I understand how important the Tennessee game is to our state and people in the Vanderbilt community, but we're focused on South Carolina. National television on our campus, Hall of Fame coach coming in, what a tremendous opportunity for our program. That's our focus.

Q: When you look around the league, do you see the level of QB play getting better?
A: Very much so. I've been in this game long enough to know that whether it's little league, high school, college or the NFL, if you have a quarterback you have a chance. In the league as a whole, there's experienced guys coming back. It'll elevate the league and individual teams as well. It'll make for good competition. I'm excited to see.

Q: How do you get kids over Vanderbilt's lack of success?
A: You'd be amazed. Maybe you see that, but these kids don't look at it like that. Especially after having success this past year and getting some recruits. When we get a kid on campus, we have a good chance of getting him. It's an unbelievable campus and we have so much to see. The right kid from the right family, it's a no-brainer. We focus on the past; that's not important to them. We're putting them in position to be successful for the next 50 years of their life, not the next four.

Q: How far do you go to change the culture? And how far did last year go?
A: I think we've taken some steps. That goes back to the facilities things we've done. And it wasn't just the games we won that changed perceptions, it was the way we played week in and week out. There's a buzz about Vanderbilt football week. There's also an understanding that it can't just be the coaches and players, it's got to be the administration and current students and community and alumni, all pulling in the same direction. When we get an opportunity to brand and throw up the VU and 'anchor down,' which is something we've been working to build, it's all part of it. Every step.

Q: Will the new kickoff rule change your strategy in games? And will kickoffs in college eventually end?
A: I don't spend a whole lot of time thinking and worrying about things outside my control. I focus on things more specific to Vanderbilt. But I think you'll see less onside kicks, more squib kicks, things to keep the ball down and on the field. As coaches we all know how much every inch counts. We'll see who's more prepared than others. But we're all interested in making the best decisions for the kids and the sport as a whole.

Q: On Trey Wilson...
A: He really jumped out to us. You're talking about a big, strong, physical, smart player who plays the game the right way. He believes in himself and in the direction of our program. We've been creative with our defense and how our guys learn and how they can take the information we put on their plate and utilize it. He was able to make game-changing plays for us and become a well-rounded player, and I know he's continued to work since the season's ended.

Q: When you go out to recruit with the academic standards of the school, you're getting kids that are already adapted to learning. So at that point, what do you look at in a kid?
A: We are recruiting the whole student athlete. We're not going to be a team or program that gets intoxicated by talent alone. It's going to be the whole package. We want guys that are good people and want to be here. I don't do a lot of selling the NFL. It's my job to make sure these men leave here educated and prepared for life. I want them to maximize their football experience as long as possible, but it's going to end. And no place can prepare them for that like Vanderbilt. I want guys that will enrich our campus and bring value to our program in so many ways. Talent, leardership, character, all those types of things.

Q: How do you compete with Tennessee? (And another question I missed)
A: We take a lot of pride in the great state we're in. It means a lot to us. But again, our focus isn't on any certain game or rivalry. To be honest, I don't consider it to really be a rivalry. It's got to get more competitive first; it hasn't been. We're just trying to get to where we can consistently go out and compete with any team. Our focus is on South Carolina and the great program Coach Spurrier's built there. We really live one game at a time, and even boil it further down into six seconds at a time — the average length of a college football play. We're process-oriented, not goal-oriented at Vanderbilt.

We spread our out-of-conference games throughout our schedule so you don't go through the same gauntlet. Starting off with games you can win four or five in a row helps build confidence, something kids need. But on the other hand, playing South Carolina in game one gives us exposure and it gives us a challenge. We have the most challenging out-of-conference schedule in the SEC, playing two BCS teams on the road. Long-term, we have to make sure we have the right type of out-of-conference schedule as well.

Q: On the commitment to the program...
A: When I met with our administration, we had a plan. They had a very specific plan before we started talking. We've been able to talk about things specific to my experience now, the things I think we need to be doing. But Vanderbilt had a strong commitment to what to do and how to do it. I'm very pleased with where we've been the lat 18 months and where we're going. It's going extremely well, but we still have a long ways to go.

Q: Can you talk about bad blood between Vanderbilt and Georgia?
A: We have a tremendous respect for all the programs in this conference and its coaches. We're opening the season with South Carolina and that's what we're focused on. That's all we're going to talk about, me as well as my players. But I will tell you this — if you play Vanderbilt, you better be ready to play from the beginning of the game to the end. That's how we're going to play. With tremendous respect for everyone in this conference.

Q: On Tennessee being down when his program is on the rise...
A: All I can speak about is us. To be the best James Franklin, the best Vanderbilt, that we can. If we have weeks like that, Saturdays will take care of themselves. We spend our time focused on Vanderbilt solely, completely.

Q: Can you talk about Jared Morris' development and how he fits in?
A: We love him. What a positive, enthusiastic kid, who's always got a smile on his face. We thought he had a good year last year, but when we actually studied the tape, he was one of the best players we had in plays produced per rep. He's worked extremely hard this offseason and his weight is up, speed is up; we expect him to have a better year this year than last year. We expect him to make a positive impact like he did last year.

Q: What phase of the program are you on now?
A: Last year, we thought we could do some great things. I thought I had a good plan. I thought it was detailed and organized. This year, we believe. I believe. The kids believe. The coaching staff believes. The commitment the players have made, the commitment the administration has made, the things we're invested in and the belief in what we're doing. That's the difference.

Q: Are you going to have trouble with adjusting to Missouri being new, and their quarterback also being James Franklin?
A: Cousin Franklin? We're not messing with Cousin Franklin. We're going to leave him alone. Like I said, I walked through here last year and nobody knew who I was. I was appreciative that Coach Pinkel didn't bring him this year because then I'd be the 'other James Franklin.' But really, I wish Missouri and Texas A&M, Coach Sumlin and Coach Pinkel, a lot of success. I think they're going to fit and do well here and I wish success for them.

Q: Steve Spurrier was very complementary of your team's energy. What goes into changing the perception of Vanderbilt?
A: I think when you take the Vanderbilt job, you have to understand that it's going to be about so much more than just the Xs and Os and fundamentals. It's about marketing your program, changing perceptions. I have not said no to a speaking engagement yet. If it's talking at a rotary club, speaking to a leadership thing in the community, if it's going to a kid's birthday party and blowing up balloons in the back, I'm doing it. Today, too, is an opportunity for me to talk about our program and make people realize that we've got the energy and we're going to make it grow. It's not just about wearing a baseball cap and a headset. We have those people at Vanderbilt, but I'm right beside them helping out.