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UNIVERSITY OF TULSA FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 1, 2017

Philip Montgomery

Tulsa, Oklahoma

HEAD COACH MONTGOMERY: Thanks everybody for showing up. I appreciate that. Very excited about our signing class. I think it's probably the best class that we've put together from top to bottom since I've been here. We've added a lot of length, a lot of athleticism, a lot of speed. We've addressed some needs that we have.

Obviously as you look at our list, we took three defensive ends. Those guys have all got length and speed. We've got to build some depth in those areas. We've added some things in the secondary. You look at our secondary right now, we've added a lot of speed and length back there, as well. When you start talking about Marcus. You start talking about Akayleb. Daiquain is sitting back. You've got Allie. All of those guys can all play. Bryson Powers, a kid that's got to be a down safety or a start. A lot of the guys that we assigned in this class you can almost list every one of them as athletes, because they can play multiple spots, whether they play both sides in high school. They played multiple positions in high school. It allows us to be able to move guys around, see where their bodies are taking them as they get to college, and make sure we get them in the right spot.

Offensively, we took Seth out of Collinsville, a kid with great composure, took his team to a state Championship game his junior year, took them to the quarter finals his senior year. A guy with a lot of poise. Escape ability, has an arm throwing it all over the field. You add to that with Shamari, in my opinion one of the top players if not the top player in the is state. A guy that's electric, first down, second down, third, catches the ball well, can hold up in pass protection. He can duke his own shadow or run over you. Brings so many different tools to the stable.

Our receiver spot, we added four guys receiver-wise, all can run, they all bring different things to the table. Some length, some with speed. Great route running, ballmanship as they're going across that. Those guys are going to be an area that we've got to focus on from a depth standpoint. We've got big shoes to fill.

Up front, it always starts with the big guys up front. We've got three outstanding linemen that we've added to our class. Again, those guys possess that type of power, that type of tenacity that you have to have to be able to play in the trenches. So we're very excited about this overall class.

I think we signed eight kids from the state of Oklahoma. The rest coming from Texas and a couple there from Arizona. And basically California. We were able to shore up our special teams. I think we got No. 2 snapper in the nation coming here. Outstanding football player. His brother played for us. But Adam is going to be a consistent starter for us, be able to step in on the field as a freshman and be ready to play.

We added a punter in Thomas Bennett, who's got a lively leg, can place the ball, pin people down inside, be able to flip the field, some athleticism back there, if we want to start rugbying, and doing different things. It's nice to have that type of kid to handle it. We're excited about shoring our special teams areas up from that standpoint.

Q. You said athlete a few times. Did that differentiate this class from last year's class, that you were able to go after the top tier athletes?
HEAD COACH MONTGOMERY: Yes, and last year we put up offensive line, added a lot of size and speed, from that standpoint up front, power.

This year was about finding guys that were going to be able to take the top off of it from the receiver spot, be I believe it to consistently hold down those type of plays from the safety spot. When you talk about Shamari, Reed, Bryson, Zaven Collins, unbelievable, play four-year starter, plays everything, basketball, baseball, football. You put a golf club in his hand he can hit it a mile. A true athlete. We're excited about what all those guys are bringing to the table.

Q. Was it intentionally to recruit more locally for this class or did it work out that way?
HEAD COACH MONTGOMERY: Really just worked out that way. Asked me people asked about guys with stars, guys without stars, for us it's evaluating. Our coaches have done a tremendous job of evaluating talent, creating relationships with the kids and their folks, building that bond that has to hold true through this whole process, because with some of these guys they've been committed to us for a long time. Here late guys are getting hit on from a lot of different directions, and being able to hold.

So as we start evaluating talent, I don't care where they're from. If they can play ball and we feel like they're a fit for our university and for our program, then we're going to go after them full force.

Q. Along those lines, how important is it, you think, to get some of the best players from Tulsa each year, because this is the university?
HEAD COACH MONTGOMERY: This is our home. This is what we talk about. This is a place we want to represent, not just the university, but the city. And there is such great football here in the city, to be able to keep some of that talent at home, and playing in front of their home crowd, and making the city really stand up and be proud of these guys that are continuing to do things not only on the field but in the classroom, but also to stress that further in our community service. And guys that are able to stay home brings a great example for young kids growing up. Hey, you take care of your business, you do what you need to do, you've got the opportunity to achieve these things later.

The extension of that can go beyond measure. So very, very proud and excited to have the type of kids and the type of talent here in the city to represent our university.

Q. From both standpoints of offense and defense, you have an offensive line that's pretty much intact. Defensive end. You've got guys running back. Do you feel that this freshman guy is more plug and play more than it is developed or the other way around?
HEAD COACH MONTGOMERY: I think there's going to be both of those things in there, to be honest. We've got some guys in the class that I think potentially could come in and play now. Just like I told them, I want to red shirt every one of them. My job is put to the best 11 guys on the field. If you come in and prove yourself you're going to get that opportunity. With that, we've got some talented guys coming back on both sides of the football, but big shoes to fill. As they come in, we'll evaluate where they're at and if they're ready to roll, they've got to get on the field when the lights come on and get it done.

Q. You talked about Shamari, is there anything in particular that sets him apart from the backs in the area. Did you think his talent would translate over almost right away?
HEAD COACH MONTGOMERY: Yeah, I think he is a kid that can translate over right away. The thing that separates him is the way he plays this game. He plays it with everything he's got, a chip on his shoulder, a ton of packages. You can't play this game if you don't carry those traits into it and definitely not at the level he plays it. You've got to understand the unselfishness that we're talking about in this young man. As a junior, flipped over and started as an outside linebacker type player, I think ended up being first team or led the team in tackles or something similar to that as a junior. And then as a senior jumps over, starts at running back, breaks all kinds of records, runs for two hundred something yards in the state game. Becomes the Oklahoma state player of the year. This guy is a virtual athlete, but he does it because of the way he plays with so much Hart and passion.

Q. When you're making your pitch and you can say we had the first three thousand yard passer, 2000 yard receivers, when they actually had film to look at, how much easier does that make life in recruiting?
HEAD COACH MONTGOMERY: I think let's don't just label it on the football as far as the offensive side. You look at the improvements and the things we did defensively. I've said it over and over, the difference in our football team this year was how well we played defensively. I think our continue wins carried a ton into recruiting. I think the way our guys competed and played and dominated in the bowel game carried other in recruiting. Anytime you get any type of momentum you've got to use that. Momentum for me is a big word. So with ten wins, with the bowl game the way it played out, setting a national record that has never been done, all of those things are tools that you've got to use while you've got them. At some point they're going to start diminishing, when you start talking about national records. You don't get to do that very often. So when you've got them, you've got to use them, create that momentum and let it keep rolling.

Q. Defensive ends, the Bricker kid, obviously Patrick and then the late one in Lamp that you got the last couple of days, highly productive, all in that six five, 220 range, six foot three, 220 range, all capable of putting on a lot of weight?
HEAD COACH MONTGOMERY: Yeah, all of those guys can probably put on 30 to 40 pounds and you still wouldn't see it on them. They've got that much growth still left in them. The thing that you love as you watch them on tape and watch them work is the motor that they play with, how they trigger and then the length that they're using. You start looking at our league and how much it's starting to spread out more. And more and more people starting to throw the football. And having the lengths on the corners of the edges there to be able to knock passes down, create pressure on the quarterback.

You can't describe what that does for you from a defensive standpoint. It makes your secondary that much better, makes your linebackers that much better, because they have to take conveyor of that first level of defense. You look at what Jesse and Jeremy was able to do last year, that added so much to us from a defensive standpoint. These guys are going to be able to do those same type of things.

Q. Is there anything you learned year one going through this, first time as head coach, maybe that you weren't sure about or implemented this year through the recruiting process?
HEAD COACH MONTGOMERY: I don't know that I learned anything from that standpoint. The difference is that first year you're selling hopes and dreams and thoughts and visions. Now you have some facts and things you can write on paper that you can put in front of a kid and his parents to show him the progress that we're making here, the direction this program is going, the standards that have been set up to this point and that need to be raised. And we've got to continue doing that. And for us to do that we've got to keep upping the ante on the type of player we're recruiting and the type of kid coming in here. And those guys are coming in here with the idea here's where it's at, and this is where I'm trying to take it. We keep doing it that, good things are going to continue happening.

Q. We talked about production. You look at Reed Martin, I don't know if you can get much more. He's listed as an athlete, but do you see him fitting more defensively than offensively?
HEAD COACH MONTGOMERY: Yeah, we truly recruited him as an athlete. I had no problems turning around and handing the football to him. Also no problems playing on the defensive side of the football, whether that's at safety or star or wheel, because he brings so much versatility to the game. You're talking about a guy that loves playing the game. He is always on the field. He's always working. He's always in the weight room. He's trying to make himself better. Those are the type of kids that we've got to keep recruiting. And the No. 1 thing about Reed Martin is this is where he wanted to play. I don't know how many offers he had. I think he had 15 or more offers. This is the one he wanted. This is where he wanted to be. And those things happened.

Q. When you're a coach in the state of Texas there's no reason not to recruit the state of Texas almost exclusively.
Has the talent here been better than you thought or not necessarily?

HEAD COACH MONTGOMERY: We always knew there was really good talent in Oklahoma. When you're coaching in the state of Texas, you know, there's so many kids down there. You're spending your time more in the state. You're not getting out of the state lines very often.

The great thing about being here, my relationships and my coaches staff's relationship with coaches and players down in Texas are always going to be there. Those are strong bonds that aren't going away. The great thing about being here now and being able for our staff and myself is forming those relationships and bonds with the Oklahoma high school coaches, because there's some great coaches in this state, there's some great players in this state. The football in this area is unbelievable. So for us it is kind of widening our footprint and also keeping us at home with the same thought processes. If we can keep Reed Martin, Garrett, Marcus, Shamari, Seth, you keep those guys at home and they're playing here, even better.

Q. You preferred walkons send in a fax?
HEAD COACH MONTGOMERY: No, they do not.

Q. Talk about getting to coach Ken.
HEAD COACH MONTGOMERY: That's pretty special. I got into this deal loving the game, wanting to coach and tried to make a difference in kids lives. I've coached a lot of other young men and had the opportunity to do that and been very blessed to do that. But to have the chance to coach my own is going to be pretty special. Now, he may not like it every day, but it will be fun.

Q. Coach, you talked earlier about selling the dream. Now you're coming off a ten win season. Did you find in this process it wasn't much harder to kind of convince kids, Tulsa is not only a program on the rise, but here, as opposed to pitching the hope. Was it easier for you this time around?
HEAD COACH MONTGOMERY: Yeah, anytime you've got facts to back it up, it obviously helps. The staple to it now is there's still a whole with lot of goals we haven't achieved here, that are still out there for us to achieve. There's still so many things for us to get done. And as you are talking about and presenting to young men and their families the formula is there. If you come in and work the way we have to work and do the things we have to do, success can happen. But it only happens because of the amount of work that you put into it. And for us we will never take a step back in the sense of how we work. We will always take pride in that and we will play with the way you have to play this game. But we're constantly trying to improve ourselves and trying to raise the level of football that we play.

Q. Most embarrassing recruiting story?
HEAD COACH MONTGOMERY: Most embarrassing?

Q. Did you forget a kid's name, something, what's the most embarrassing thing that's happened on the road recruiting?
HEAD COACH MONTGOMERY: Most embarrassing thing? You know, honestly, you know, make sure I'm fully dressed before I make every stop, you know. I don't know that I had really any big time embarrassing moments. I may have eaten too much when I shouldn't have, I don't know.

Q. What would be your worst nightmare?
HEAD COACH MONTGOMERY: Forgetting a kid's name. Not knowing his mom and dad. Just really screwing that part of it up. You've got to know what you're doing when you walk in there. And you've got to be able to sell it. As tired as you are on the road sometimes, as home visits get long, you get a little sleepy. And if you accidently kind of start nodding that would be a really, really bad thing happening. So those would probably be the things.

Q. Food. A dinner you had. An explanation a kid gave you why he's coming?
HEAD COACH MONTGOMERY: You know, the thing about recruiting now is it starts so early. So you get a chance to really know the family and get to be a part of that. And there's so many great stories as you go back through it. I think Keylon, who is Kevan's little brother, great family. They've been around us. We go down and they come on a visit. Granny and mom and everybody are having a ball. We go down -- they're originally from Louisiana. So we go in. She throws on this pot of gum bow that was unbelievable, and etouffee. And we ate so much it was ridiculous. But granny is dancing in the kitchen. We're having a good time.

Coach Trahan is over there eating. He is sweating profusely. You needed a towel to dry him off. But you go into these homes and guys that have been committed for so long, and again, it's a celebration. It's a day -- they're always going to remember that day. It's going to be something that's always going to be present on their heart. You've got to think of all of these things, these are life-changing type of events.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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