	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 2, 2016

Waco, Texas

Baylor - 55, Northwestern State - 7

Q. You guys have been saying throughout the off season how unified this team is. You feel like you guys maybe showed that tonight?
RYAN REID: We feel like we showed a part of it. We still got some practicing to do on both ends of the ball. We\'re always going to say that. We\'re never perfect. We showed the nation, we feel like, the potential we have what we can do on this football team.

Q. How much did you guys just need this, just to have some fun, feel good, play football?
RYAN REID: A hundred percent. A hundred percent. We needed it a hundred percent just to get out on the field and just play football. We finally got in the back of our heads to let it go. Let everything go and just go play football for one another.

Q. Ryan, you said, obviously, wasn\'t perfect, but that first half you held them to negative yardage most of the way. Is that what this defense is capable of?
RYAN REID: Exactly. That\'s what we have been harping on. Just being that physical, fast defense. And I guess the first half, we made a couple plays, and but still a couple things we just have to wash up.

Q. In the back of your mind, and your teammates minds did you think before you came out that how you would be greeted by the fans? And did their reaction surprise you at all?
RYAN REID: If they were there, I feel like they were there to support us and they were there to show us love. And that was in the back of my head. I don\'t know about my other teammates, but in the back of mine I just felt like all those people that were there, they were there for us.

Q. You got to lead the Baylor line out on the field there. How cool was that?
RYAN REID: That was real cool. It was something new. We really didn\'t know what was going on. But I was just hoping they didn\'t run us over from the excitement they had. But it was real fun. I like it a lot.

Q. Same question, you guys have been saying how great a bond you guys have throughout the last few months. Do you feel like y\'all showed that some tonight?
SHOCK LINWOOD: We had to remain strong through everything that was going on. There was a lot of conflict going on with the team and stuff, and the media, so coaches just trying to tell us to stay together and stay with the team and not fall apart.

Q. How much did you, whether it\'s during the game, pre-game, think about last year and Art and the changes that you guys had to go through? Did that go through your head at all?
SHOCK LINWOOD: The only adjustment was the head coach. Offense didn\'t change. Defense didn\'t change for us.

So, just try to keep the tempo the same, KB still here so, calling the plays the same. So just try to get everybody together and get back into football season mode.

Q. 40 starters on the offensive line running behind him, how did you assess their play tonight?
SHOCK LINWOOD: We tried to keep the rotation going, because it\'s not that many offensive linemen, so try to keep those guys fresh. That\'s a part of the running backs not having to run too many plays or drives. So we just tried to lessen our plays and score as fast as possible.

Q. It looked like, at least to start, that Kendal was calling a pretty conservative game plan. Was that the plan from the start?
SHOCK LINWOOD: Yeah, we didn\'t have too many formations to run. But, I mean, I don\'t remember how many formations we ran, but we were able to score on a few, so that was good for us. We just have to watch film and work, see what works best for us.

Q. Clearly you\'re within reach of touchdown all-time career rushing record yards-wise, as well. Did any part of you at the start you got off to feel like you may do that tonight?
SHOCK LINWOOD: It was good. A lot of people wanted me to go over a hundred yards, but I was just saying we got a whole season to do that so I\'m not in a big rush. We just want to get that out of the way as fast as possible, so, next few games, we\'ll be able to.

Q. You said the only adjustment was the head coach, that\'s a pretty big adjustment for a lot of teams --
SHOCK LINWOOD: Yeah.

Q. How does Baylor keep it going now and in the future without Art or can you keep it going?
SHOCK LINWOOD: The offensive staff and defensive staff, I would say those guys have been there for a long time. I\'ve been here for five years, so we have guys on the team that are able to get the younger guys together and be able to get things rolling. So we\'re able to continue to have success on the field. So we just are trying to get other people to see that we have been the same team in the past. We\'re not different, we\'re not doing anything wrong, everybody here is ready for ball and coaches are here to coach us. So I would say that nothing is going to change, just the head coach is not here. So, I mean, he wants to be here as bad as anybody else wants to be here, so we can\'t do nothing about that.

Q. What does a game like this prove?
SHOCK LINWOOD: Scoring as many points that we did, that our offense is the same. There\'s a lot of points that we scored. So I would just say that.

Defense held them to negative four yards first half, so that\'s a big plus for us. We\'re still scoring fast, not as fast as we want it to be. I know the first drive wasn\'t as fast, but I would say just us scoring points and winning games.

Q. So over the past three months what has Coach Grobe done to help maybe calm things down around within the football team?
SHOCK LINWOOD: We got a head coach. I\'m not sure we can play. I mean, I can play without a head coach, I mean it\'s football. But a lot of people say that the head coach makes a difference. Because maybe he wanted to change something that we don\'t know, I\'m not sure.

So, I mean, the head coach is totally different. He probably wants a different offense, wants a different defense, not sure.

Q. After missing the time you missed last year with the foot, how good did it feel and at what point did you realize you were going to be okay? Was it the 42-yard run or the one earlier?
SHOCK LINWOOD: No, it was during the summer. Summer was my first time being back in five months. So, being able to work out and get my strength back in my foot, get strength back in my arms and everything else, that was a big deal. It was the summer leading into the fall camp.

JIM GROBE: Questions? Do you wants to get started?

Q. How would you describe your feelings before the game, during the game, when this became real for you and the realization that, yeah, this was a the start of a new era, but also you guys were dealing with everything you had dealt with the last few months?
JIM GROBE: Well, it was refreshing, honestly, to get to football. For me, it was a learning experience. I really felt good about our players, and I felt good about our coaching staff.

But I wanted to see us put it together. And I wanted to see how we reacted as team. I was very pleased tonight. There\'s certainly a lot of things that we can work on and improve on.

But I just liked the cohesiveness of our team and how hard we played, and I just got a good feeling about these guys. After the game, that\'s what I was wondering going in.

Q. You saw it in camp, but the way the defense played that first half, the way they were flying around, I think you held them to negative four yards the first half. Did you see that they were capable of that?
JIM GROBE: Yeah, I did. Absolutely. The thing that expanded my comfort zone was Phil Bennett. I know Phil felt really good about our defensive front. I know we lost some good players and some bigger guys.

But Phil felt good about it. Chris Achuff felt really good about it. And I\'m a kind of slant and angle guy, background wise, and when I watched our guys move around and stunt and get lateral and all the different things that we were doing with those guys, I thought that we worry about depth, but I really felt like we were getting to where we had too deep of guys that could move their feet and run and make plays.

So we got to get better, I don\'t think there\'s any question about that. But I think one of the keys for us tonight was, I think, our defensive line, we feel like those guys up front played pretty good.

Q. What\'s the process been like in an accelerated timetable of taking a staff you didn\'t hire and guys you didn\'t recruit and integrating with them?
JIM GROBE: I think that, first and foremost, it took us some time just to get to know each other. For me, it was tough because about the time that I started recognizing all the faces, we put helmets on.

And then about the time I started recognizing numbers, we put different numbers on the scout team kids. So that made it tough.

But I do think that when I first got here, I thought there was a lot of doubt, the kids were in shock, coaches too. And I got here in a hurry. So it took us awhile just to get to know each other.

But I think after awhile, kids started feeling comfortable that I was just here to help, and I started feeling more like a coach after awhile, because I got to know the players better and had a sense for their abilities and more importantly, I got to know our coaching staff. I have just been really, really impressed. I\'ve learned a lot, not only from the coaches, but from the players. And I feel like we\'re in a good spot right now. I think the coaches have done a great job with the kids, and I think the kids are on a high right now getting ready to play football again. Tonight was huge for our guys.

Q. You mentioned that it was refreshing to get back to football, especially for the players. How much did you sense that they needed this, a game to play against someone other than green uniforms?
JIM GROBE: Yeah, no question. I thought that this was important to get the first game, get to game night. But what I sensed was when we first started practice, there was a great sense of energy, and you could just tell the kids were having fun being back together and practicing again.

But after a couple weeks, practice gets old. I don\'t think we could have improved any more by practicing. I thought our coaches did a good job keeping the guys healthy. But I think that more than anything else, it just is a different feel.

So impressed coming out with the guys tonight and seeing the student section. Seeing the way the students turned out for our guys tonight was really, really rewarding to me. Seeing the fans come and support our guys. Just, I can\'t imagine that our players don\'t feel really, really good right now about the crowd tonight.

Q. How much fun was it for you tonight? With this kind of team, based on your past stops, you probably haven\'t had this much talent on a football team. So how much fun was it for you once you guys got rolling in the first half?
JIM GROBE: Well honestly, it was great. For me, it\'s fun being back on the sidelines again. It\'s fun working with players and coaches.

But more than anything else for me tonight, I could just tell that our guys were having fun. And it was just exciting to watch.

For me personally, I love being back on the sidelines, I love coaching. But I think that more than anything else, it was a treat for me to watch our guys fly around and have fun.

Q. Kendal Briles had Art\'s initials written on his hand for this game, how have you seen him handle this transition and is a tribute like that something you\'re okay with?
JIM GROBE: Yeah, you Kendal\'s special, KB is special. And I just to think about him losing Art as his head coach and as his dad. It had to be tougher on KB than anybody. And he\'s been nothing but class. He\'s been a true gentleman the whole time, and he\'s on fire to coach these guys.

So, I had no problems with that whatsoever. If you don\'t love your dad, something\'s wrong. And I don\'t have any problems with that at all. I think that he\'s got a little pressure on him, because Art\'s not a bad football coach. And so the son, whether he can get this thing going like they had it going, and I think tonight was a great start.

Q. You mentioned inside special teams the last four weeks. What did you think tonight?
JIM GROBE: Really impressed. I felt bad for Drew kicking off, because I thought he hit two great kickoffs that ended up out of bounds. I thought the one stayed inside the pylon, but we don\'t really have a good end zone shot of that, so that\'s hard to see.

But from my advantage point, and I\'m wrong a lot, but from my advantage point, it was in. Then the other one hit right just around the one yard line and went dead left. I don\'t know how that happened. I thought sure it was going to be in the end zone, and they weren\'t going to return it.

But I thought he hit the ball great every time kicking off, and he punted the ball with a little bit of pressure pretty good. We got some good hang time on our punts.

The things I liked about a couple of balls we kicked, we had such good hang time we had great coverage and that\'s something that going forward will really be good for us. If we don\'t get it in the end zone, the hang time that we get with Drew, both his own his punts and on his kicks, I think will be really good.

And I thought that Chris Callahan seemed really comfortable kicking the ball. Our snaps and our sets were good. I do think that we have got some things to work on in our coverage and our return game.

But they had a return for a kick off. I thought Tony -- the return punt for touchdown that got called back with the holding. But another really good return by Tony Nicholson. And so I thought Tony did a nice job, and I just feel like special teams was pretty good tonight. But we got a lot of room to improve, I think.

Q. Had Kendal kind of told you he was going to do that and kind of any other thoughts on that?
JIM GROBE: Well, you just told me and that\'s the first I knew about it. I didn\'t really pay any attention. I saw he had something written on his hand, but I didn\'t know what it was. I thought maybe it was a reminder to call a certain play. So I didn\'t know. I have to do those kind of things. I didn\'t think the young guys had to do that. But I had no issues with that, no issues with that whatsoever.

Q. Whether pregame or postgame, did you say anything to the team about everything they had been through or is that happened enough already that it didn\'t need to come up?
COACH GROBE: Yeah, that\'s a good point. It\'s happened enough. We really -- the problem that you got with a football team is there\'s so many things that go into putting these guys on the field, just X and O wise, and to have these guys concentrate on football assignments, if they have distractions, it\'s really hard to get them focused. So, for us we just tried to become a good football team and focus on that right now. The key for us going forward is these guys need to make really good decisions off the field. That\'s the way we stay focused on football and that\'s what we\'re trying to get our guys to do.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

$\"ASAP$

$\"tech$

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297

BAYLOR UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 2, 2016

Jim Grobe

Shock Linwood

Ryan Reid