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UNIVERSITY OF TULSA FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

December 20, 2017

Philip Montgomery

Tulsa, Oklahoma

PHILIP MONTGOMERY: It's Signing Day, and we're feeling our way through it, obviously it provides some different dynamics to it, but we're excited about it. We're excited about this. We got a great start to our class and we'll finish that up throughout the month of January and into the next Signing Day, February 7th.

What a great start! A lot of these guys have been committed for a long time and to be able to go ahead and seal that up, make it complete and give those guys the ability to kind of move on and get to the next phase and be concentrated on what they're doing, so it provided some unique experiences for us as we went through it this year. We'll learn from it as we continue to go. We'll see how the month of January goes. Signed 5 JUCO guys, 11 high school guys, and we will have six guys come in here at mid-term and be a part of it.

Some of those numbers could vary as we continue to keep working through it because the signing period actually lasts until Friday at 11:59 p.m. So a little bit different from your normal February 7th deal where it's just that day and it's over. This is kind of a three-day span that they have the opportunity to sign. We will see if anything else kind of occurs in the next couple of days.

Extremely proud and excited for our coaches and for these young men that have just joined our family and to be part of Tulsa football.

Q. Signing junior college days, that became a priority, I know after the Temple game you made it sound like you guys weren't planning to go in that direction.
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: We always look. It's unique to be able -- and our guys have done a lot of research and a lot of background to be able to find a kid out of the junior college that can come in and number one help us on the field and number two, gotta be able to withstand the rigors of our institution. You've got to find that unique guy and that's difficult to do at the JC level. We were able to find a few of them, be able to get them into school, but we put an emphasis obviously there.

We were very young last year, we will still be young. We're losing a pretty good group of seniors. You know you've got holes to fill and being able to bring some experience on our football team, guys that have had to maybe go a different route but got a lot of good experience in that way and give our young kids an opportunity to keep growing physically and mentally as they approach this game.

Q. Were any of those guys ones your coaches had relationships with previously or starting from scratch?
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: No, most of them we had been keeping our eye on throughout the process, and we got on a couple of new guys there. You know the way recruiting goes, you've got a long list and you start narrowing it down and talking to guys and vetting the system, if you will.

Most of these guys we all had relationships prior. Some of these guys we've had relationships over a year with and just kind of tracking. As you go through the junior college ranks, everything -- especially on their timeline -- changes really, really fast and a lot of the JC recruitment happens in the last month and things change in a hurry.

We've had relationships with these guys, being able to build those and really on to some great kids.

Q. You have a lot of experience coming back because you had to play so many young players this year. Do you foresee it making a challenge for the new guys to see the field?
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Yeah. The thing you're going to know about our program, our players already know this, is we're going to play the best 11 guys that can step on the field at one time, so it doesn't matter, classification, experience, any of that. If you're one those best 11, you're going to be starting and playing. That being said, we had to play some young guys this year that got some experience. That was great. That's going to help us in the future. Being able to bring in a junior college player to kind of speed up that process, we gotta continue to keep growing, continuing to keep maturing and those guys can help us in a lot of different instances, so I think it's going to be a good combination of our young guys continuing to grow and mature as well as adding experience depth in the midst of that.

Q. You bring in another local running back in T.K. Wilkerson. What stands out about his game?
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: What doesn't? I mean, he's a big guy, he's a beast, he runs downhill, he's very physical. Most schools were really trying to looking at him as a linebacker rather than a running back. We got on T.K. really early and formed a relationship with him and his mom. Just great people. He keeps producing. You watch his tape I love the way that he attacks the line of scrimmage and when he's in the open field. He's got the speed to take it to the house, but if there is a guy close enough he may run through him and then go ahead and score.

It's going to be a great combination with the backs we have right now. When you look at a guy like Shamari that can dance and skirt through things, still got a lot of power about him, don't get him twisted in that but the running styles between him and T.K. and Corey and those guys, being able to have different levels and different qualities or abilities in your running back position can be very beneficial as you go throughout the season. We had that a couple of years ago, you know, really with D'Angelo and James, two different style of runners but productive and fed off each other well. Want to try to keep that consistency within your running back group.

Q. You were in favor of the early Signing Day. Having come through it as big of a fan as you were going in, did it meet expectations? Is there anything you would like to see tweaked?
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: We're want all the way through it yet, so ask me again in February, all right? I did like -- I do like the early signing period, still. What it really did, though -- I mean, it sped everything up. From the thought of -- most of the time for me I only get to get in somebody's home one time. Our assistant coaches can go once a week, for me I only get my one shot in there. Now you're playing the game, do I do that now, wait and try and do that later? When do I spend that time in? I did more home visits in the month of December than I've ever done because the process was sped up.

You felt like if you were going to get them to sign today you had to go in there and you had to treat it like this is the only Signing Day we have.

So we approached it that way. I think we came out on the right end of this deal. There's some guys I know we were going to have to continue to keep battling and battling and battling. Every year we've gone through that.

To have guys already signed and committed and locked in with us and us locked in with them I think can only benefit us in the long one.

Q. Did most kids seem happy and ready to sign early? Did you get the sense that kids' parents felt rushed at all?
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: I don't think so, especially for those that have been committed to us not for a long time. We started talking about the process really, really early, talking about the December 20th Signing Day, kind of just kept putting it out there a little bit here and there, and as we got closer, this is the expectation we have. You've been committed to us and we've been committed to you; let's get this thing wrapped in a bow for Christmas.

We approached it that way, went to him that way, most guys were like, hey, coach, you're right I'm ready, let's get it done. We were good in that sense. Is the process speeding up? Sure it is. But the flip side of it is, it's the beast -- whatever date you put it on, it's going to be that way. Now we're going to go through it twice.

Q. I know Bo is a big fan of Davis. What do you see from him as a quarterback?
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: He's a guy that can throw everything in the book, got a sharp mind, great feet, love what he's doing already with his mechanics. There are some things we want to speed up and things we want to keep adjusting but from a tech side of it I really like what he's bringing to the table.

He's a kid that has done a lot in a lot of different offenses, I think what he's doing right now in high school will translate into what we do. I know he's a winner, a guy that is hungry to get better, wants to succeed at everything he does, great student, great family and very motivated.

Those are the qualities that you're looking for in your quarterbacks, and this kid, I think, has got a lot of those traits and is going to be a great player here.

Q. I know it's rare for a freshman to come in and start at quarterback in a big-time DI school, but the fact that he's coming in in early January and what you know about his mental make-up so far, do you give him a chance to do that?
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: We'll see. As we get into spring ball we're going to see what everybody's got. Like I told the team before they left for Christmas, I told them I wanted them to go home, relax, rest, get a little running and lifting in while you're gone, but try to let your body recoup from a long season, but understand when we step back in on these grounds, it's time to go to work.

We got a lot of work ahead of us and every position is going to be open and we're all going to be fighting for spots. Competition makes us better and everybody has a chance to prove who they are and who they want to be. Whether that's the quarterback spot, the running back spot, left tackle spot, whatever that might be we're going to compete all the way through it.

Q. You mentioned for guys that had been committed to you, you had been committed to pushing to go ahead and get it done now. If there was a kid hypothetically -- there have been coaches that said if a guy was wavering now, that might change their mind, if a kid was going to waiver and didn't want to sign now. Would that affect how you viewed him as a prospect?
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Honestly I think it does. If you've been committed and we've been committed and you elect not to sign, now, obviously you've got to have some reasons, what are we thinking here, what are we doing? But if you don't sign on the 20th, how committed are you, really? So we have to at least take into account, you know, something may be going on here so I need to be sure that, you know, I'm working my list, I've got guys that I feel good about that I'm continuing to recruit and stay on to make sure that I don't get that midnight hour call, hey, coach, I've decided to do something else and now you're left with where do I go from here?

I think all those factor into this early signing period and guys that have been committed if they don't sign, you as a coach -- our job is to do what we can to make this program the best program in America. So I have to protect what's on my shirt. So if you not don't sign then I've going to be out there look and making sure I'm ready if something does occur that I'm ready for what my next step is going to be.

Q. You mentioned Shamari. Now you have T.K. Wilkerson. How important is it for you to have home-grown guys on your roster?
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: I think we signed five, six guys already in this class, and we'll add a few more in this class that are from the Oklahoma area. There is great football here and, you know, we've got to do a good job of continuing to recruit this state well. Coaches do a great job and guys in this state have really come here and played well. Shamari is a great example and D'Angelo is a great example, and we can go down the list of guys.

It's great to be able to go out and recruit this state and do a good job of continuing to find guys that come here and really make a name for themselves and get a great education on top of it.

Q. I haven't had a chance to look nationally at where different teams depending on where they typically fall in the rankings, if you will, what their percentage is, verbal commitment versus what signed today, but it seems to me like this is a pretty impressive percentage, especially recruiting off of 2-10, even though you're not far removed from 10-3. Maybe talk about the work your coaches did to get all those guys to sign. It seems to me like that probably is something you would be proud of?
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Yeah, I am proud. Our coaches have done a great job of building relationships. I think we've done that since we've been here. We've done a good job of evaluating talent, making sure that we're all on the right guys, guys that can come in here and help us, be the future of this program and still maintain the level of excellence that we have to have.

Our guys, our coaches did a great job of going out and staying in rooms and staying in houses and making sure that those relationships held true and our commitments stayed solid and we were where we wanted to be at this point.

I don't know what the percentage is across the country of guys that signed and got it done. I would, again, like you think it was pretty high, but I haven't seen those. As far as rankings of classes and things like that, I never pay attention to that. I don't know who has two stars, five stars, anything else. We're looking for guys that fit our mold that are unbelievable football players but also have a burning desire to get a great degree that's going to carry them on in life. They've got to be good on and off the field here and we have to make sure we're recruiting the right people.

Q. How many do you expect to get?
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Anywhere from 20 to 22.

Q. Have you ever offered someone the night before Signing Day and they sign the next morning?
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Um --

Q. That's a quick turn-around.
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: It's a quick turn-around, and it's unusual. I don't think we've ever done that, especially under the circumstances that we are under here. You might have done that with a kid that had been to your campus and seen it and toured it, done all that.

Never done it with -- Justin signed sight unseen, hadn't visited up here and done all those things.

Again, that goes back to your evaluation and the relationship that you're building that we've kind of talked about. We've been recruiting you for a while, we've been on it, but this is the situation, and we jumped and we moved and he was ready to make that jump with us.

Q. If you're on some good Texas high school players, some of them are playing in the state championship on Saturday, so their season isn't over. They haven't had a chance to make a visit yet. I know the question was asked earlier if there is something that could be tweaked, is that one thing if you think back on it, the kids in Texas? Some of them haven't had a visit yet.
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: Some of that's true. For us, let's talk about Jaxon Player, our nose tackle that signed out of Waco-Midway. They are playing for the state championship this weekend. Fortunately for him we took his official visit during their bye week in high school so he came up, was able to visit and spent that time with us and have some quality time in that. There are some other guys that are playing state championship games right now that haven't had the chance to come up.

They were planning on coming up after their season was over, and they're still playing, so they didn't have the opportunity to do that; hence, they haven't had the opportunity to sign because, hey, I want to come up with my mom and see everything. You're fighting that battle, what are the keys to him of not signing? You just keep recruiting and hope your relationship continues to hold true.

Q. If you had to pinpoint a diamond in the rough or a sleeper kid that maybe not many were high on that you're glad you have in this class, I know it's early but is there one or two that jumps out as someone to keep an eye on that most don't know about?
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: I think there's a lot of great players on this list and not to take away from one guy on the other guy. You look at a Jaxon Player, a lot of people didn't want to recruit him because they didn't think he was tall enough, and I think he's going to be a dominant player at our division, our league, and plays with such a motor and plays relentlessly on the field, loves the game of football.

Then you take a guy like Jabari James, played quarterback in high school, is coming here to play corner, long, athletic, can run, has a passion about playing corner he's excited about being here.

You take Kendarin Ray. He's played extremely well all year long, but he's a combination of a McKinley and a Manny. Long, 6-2, 6-3 kid, his ceiling, we don't know what that's going to be. Great personality, great leader on this football team, playing every sport, so when he gets here, how is he going to develop, what's his body going to look like and how is that transition going to happen. I think there's a lot of guys on that list that you could go down and talk about those guys just like that.

Grant Sawyer, a kid that came to camp. He's a safety, he's going to play linebacker position for us and I sit in his home and I see how much weight he's put on and starting to develop. I think a guy that has a tremendous, tremendous upside. I could go down the list and talk about every one of them that way. It would be hard to pick out one guy that I think is the diamond in the rough that all of the sudden is going to make it happen.

Q. What is today like for you? You've done the recruiting and the home visits and as you're sitting back waiting for the letters to come in what's going your mind in this process?
PHILIP MONTGOMERY: I can say it now, it feels like Christmas. You're waiting to unwrap presents, now you're waiting for the fax machine or it to come across on your email. We've put time and effort into this. Obviously as fast as it's going this year with the early signing period, the season was a long season, you know, then we hit the road recruiting and we've been really diligent on the road, let's say it that way, and been grinding our way through it.

So exciting day. A lot of emotion involved in it. Momma is crying on the phone, us crying in the room saying, hey, this is a great, great day, so those are things that you love to experience, but I'm going to be real honest, I'm ready for a nap. I need a little sleep.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, everybody.

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