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BAYLOR UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 21, 2018

Matt Rhule

Waco, Texas

COACH RHULE: First of all, thank you everyone for being here. Appreciate you guys and really all of our fans and friends and family for braving the rain and the lightning storm. It didn't look like for a while we would get the game in. I appreciate everyone sticking around and good to get, not too long of a day, but get some cool situations have it come down to the stretch.

I think everyone that was able to play in the game got in the game, which is always a game in the spring game and fun to see a lot of the kids who haven't played a lot yet make plays and to single people out would not be fair, couple guys plays -- Marques Jones, with that long touchdown run. It was fun to see Marques have that success. Lovett finishing the game with a touchdown and. So just fun to see them out there, see them playing.

And proud of the team this winter and this spring. They 've worked tremendously hard, and I'm excited about where we are. Had some guys obviously that didn't play today that are healthy and will be back. And one of the few times in college football where we're entering the season with everyone slated to be healthy and ready to go for the fall season.

Anxious to get the freshman here, finish school off strong. Have the guys take a couple weeks off. Couple of guys are going on mission trips, getting them back in June. And then really attack the summer heading into the fall.

Q. You talked about the program going back to a bowl. What was the motivation about making it so public? Some coaches can be guarded and others (indiscernible).
COACH RHULE: I've said it. I didn't come here to not go to bowl games. That's the expectation. If we don't do it, so be it. But I expect us to do it. And I expect our players to do it. It's just like I talk about graduating; expect them to graduate. Talk about going to graduate school. I expect them to go to graduate school.

So I don't think expectations are anything bad. And it's time that we as a program -- and I can't speak for everybody else, but I know for me, my daily walk with these players -- it's time that we as a program start looking ahead and stop looking backwards.

And so looking ahead I expect -- you don't work as hard as we work and not expect to have results. And so that's why. And so I do that because I just felt like being positive in front of our fans, I think they deserve that. And our players deserve it.

Q. Following up on that, what about this spring, what have you seen in this spring that would cause you to believe that you guys can make that next step?
COACH RHULE: Work ethic. Work ethic. I just truly believe that everything you get in life you earn and you achieve.

Lots of -- I think about coaches. Lots of coaches achieve a lot, but they don't really build something. They don't -- and these kids are building something and that takes hard work. And so sometimes you can walk into a loaded roster and you just kind of win.

These kids are building -- they're building this from the ground up. And so when I see -- when you see the way that they work, when you see injured guys come in at 6:00 the entire winter to get themselves healthy. You see guys coming back -- it just shows the industrious and work ethic that I, I believe, will be rewarded.

You talk about last year we went from a time that was horrific early on to a team at the end that was playing decent. We weren't good enough but it was playing decent. That work ethic allowed us to improve over the course of the last season and that work ethic has done nothing but grow this offseason to the point where it's contagious and it's cool to put extra work in.

And so I think those things are what allows you to win. That's all I've ever tried to do. I don't worry about results. I worry about everything behind it. When you see the things behind it then you can have expectations about where you end up.

Q. How much of that is what you believe and how much you want your players to believe?
COACH RHULE: Well, I believe it and our coaches believe it. That's all what we lived our lives by. It's hard when you're 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, to think that -- because success is all around our kids. Success is all around my son. He turns on a music video he sees a guy with lots of money and a cool car. And people don't know that there's no overnight sensations. I talked to our guys about -- in all walks of, life I don't care if it's NFL players, I don't care if it's Jay-Z. You know, like, those people had to grind to get where they are.

And so I think as I said a couple times last season was galvanizing for us. It allowed us to strip all our thoughts about what it takes to win and truly look and say who are we? What do we stand for? What do we want to do? I believe it. I think we're getting to the point where I believe our players believe it.

And so, yeah, I think as Aristotle said, you are what you repeat to do. Excellence is not a act but a habit. I say it all the time. They kind of look at me like whatever. The more you do it the better you are. The more you study you become a good student. The more you lift you become strong. The more you play football you become a better player. I see very little push back on that. These guys are very competitive men. They like to play and they like to practice. And I think we're well on our way to having that mindset.

Q. Do you feel like, are you a lot farther ahead than last year at this time?
COACH RHULE: I just like where we are -- I just want to be respectful of you guys, trying to help you guys. I don't really think -- comparing it to like last year is like comparing -- it's hard for me to say that.

I just know I like where we are, if that makes sense, just in terms of the numbers and the depth and the strength and how we look physically.

And so I just think we're in a good place. We're not where we need to be. But I think we're in a really, really positive place. So to me there really is no comparison between the football team this year and the football team last year.

But, so, to quantify it is hard for me. I think like I said, we have a team that's significantly more talented, significantly more developed. But also at the same time our brains are in the right place and our guys are attacking things at a level -- like, I give that spirit award to Xavier Jones. You talk about a guy that came off a bad break and couldn't even really do much at the beginning of spring.

And just willed his way to be able to practice and play. Just pushed his way back on the field. And you see that, you say to yourself, wow, that's inspiring and impressive.

Q. You don't really compare seasons. Do you consider that the same with the quarterback competition? Because you have the same elements from last year with this year where you have the incumbent starter returning, a new freshman coming in that's pretty talented and a transfer quarterback. I was going to ask you if you, you know, how you used last year to maybe facilitate the quarterback battle this year or is it still completely different?
COACH RHULE: Again, I don't know that one has -- one has bearing than the other. And last year for people that had played here before; they hadn't played before for me. So things are different. So I know Charlie's got four starts under his belt, I believe. He's played well. He's played well this spring.

Gerry is extremely talented. Gerry just has to play a lot.

And Preston Heard quietly continues to always show us what he can do. He went out there today.

A lot of those guys, believe like each day you earn your take. Each day you earn what you get. So I look forward to seeing how those guys develop over the summer. See what they do in preseason.

But let me -- looking back to me doesn't help. It's always about looking forward and saying, hey, this is what we've done today, what are we going to do tomorrow.

So I know we have a lot of growth. They're all young at that position. But Charlie's played for us and Gerry had a good spring. And Preston has had a good spring. So I'm anxious to see them continue to develop.

Q. Micheal Johnson got the Community Service Award. Talk about him and what he did.
COACH RHULE: Great spring. Old high school injury keeps flaring up and bothering him. But we keep track of hours. And if everyone else had maybe 10, I think he had 31. The numbers were staggering.

And that's just who Micheal is. He doesn't have anybody that's not a friend. He's caring. He's giving. He's just a wonderful young man, really good football player. Good student.

But we've heard those numbers, it was just really, really impressive that he gives back. He gives back at home. Over spring break he gave back, gave back here. It was an honor to give him that award because he does it quietly.

He's not like putting it on social media when he does it; he just kind of does it. And that's fun to be around.

Q. This was the 15th practice. Did you get what you wanted out of this today?
COACH RHULE: Yeah, to be quite honest with you, this is so anti-me, it's amazing, but I couldn't have cared if we played today or not. It's for the players to go have fun. We blitzed three times today. I think offensively they've had so many injuries, receivers go down, like they've just kind of drawn some things up in the dirt every once in a while.

This is to let the players go out and play and made sure everybody get a chance to play in front of their families. They've worked hard and they've taken a lot of reps and they've grinded.

I was happy for them. I didn't even bring the team at the locker room at the end. Got them out, I wanted them to thank the fans. We're throwing touchdowns to little kids out there. And it's a fun day to celebrate Baylor and Baylor football and our fans.

We've put the work in, definitely. And so look forward to the next phase.

Q. I think you ran off 100 plays on third (inaudible) what was important to take out first?
COACH RHULE: I'm just trying to think of that number.

Q. Whatever.
COACH RHULE: It's the way I've always done it. I've always gotten to this week, try to go back to back. Thursday all the things you don't want everyone to see, necessarily. I've always tried to have that be a really highly competitive day.

And let this day be a fun day. I'm always anxious to turn the tape on this and see who got out there and just freaked out. Like who just didn't do anything they were supposed to do and who went out there and the moment was right for them.

So coming in this stadium we wanted it to be a big deal. We wanted it to mean something. That's really what this was about. But Thursday was more about the Xs and Os and the development.

As I said, we're down our receivers. So we have guys out there like Tyquan Thornton and Gavin and R.J. and Trevor and Jay and Marques Jones, sometimes we're like down five receivers for 70 plays in practice, and those guys just keep going over -- quarterbacks go out and play receivers for us.

So that was Thursday. Today was just a little bit more slow the game down. Fun to get into overtime. I was trying to get the game to go into overtime. I was going to cheat to get it there and let them play the overtime scenario, even something as small as when one captain won, he had to pick which side to play on.

He played on the state, the scoreboard side, which is not where we want to play, we want to play down in the bowl. So little things that equate to winning, that's what I'm looking for when it comes to stadium.

Q. Anyone who was not available today (inaudible)?
COACH RHULE: I think I said that earlier. Everyone on this team will be -- as of right now -- now, guys get whatever -- but as of right now -- there's several guys, if we were playing next week, I'd probably have 15 guys back. But everybody on this team from Platt to everyone. Jared Atkinson is standing out there. They're all available come summer.

Q. (Inaudible)?
COACH RHULE: I don't know that number. Probably out of 20, 15, 20.

Q. Jared's back in --
COACH RHULE: You know, he and his family are in the process, but he'll be back for some of the summer and be back for the fall.

Q. No matter how many guys missed, do you still get something on film today that matters, do you always get something?
COACH RHULE: Oh, yeah. Like the game comes down to blocking and tackling and little things. So absolutely. The reps are the quarterbacks. Fourth down at the end, and it's overtime, we took a sack. Didn't throw it up.

There's all these teachable, teachable, teachable moments. Corner gets beat on the first play on a hitch and touchdown and then comes back and has a huge pass breakup.

So I mean anytime you do something, keep doing something, you keep getting better and better and better. So the thing with spring games, you start mixing the teams. And if the offense scores a bunch of points, it means the defense didn't do real well.

Defense -- it's a shutout, means the offense -- so you have to come to peace with it. Because all we're really trying to do when we go against each other is becoming better at our individual craft. If I have four kids that may not play a snap in a game, going against four kids that are going to start for us, we all get better.

So I think there's value in it. A lot of people are getting away from spring games, a lot of people are doing practices and all that.

This is a chance for a lot of guys. This is their dream. They pay to go to school here, be on the football team. Their dream is to go out and play in the stadium. Their dream is to go out -- even if it's just that, it's well, well, worth it.

Q. Spring, silver lining, guys able to get a lot of reps?
COACH RHULE: A lot of guys -- like Chris Platt could have been out there, I wouldn't have wanted him to do spring. I didn't want Jalen Hurd to do a ton of spring. Those reps need to go to guys that are trying to develop.

Spring is a developmental time for me. Like Ira Lewis, he took some snaps but not a ton. Whereas, some of those guys they need every rep they can get.

So I don't look -- for me everything is positive always. Everything is any obstacle actually becomes the way to succeed. So there's not good nor bad. So if a guy's hurt, means he's going to be healthier later on.

Someone else develops. We look back. We think we might be -- Taylor has the numbers, I think we have 49 guys coming back next year who started a game at Baylor. That's unreal. (Inaudible).

But some absurd number like that. But that's a lot of guys who, no matter what their role is, they'll walk out there the first play of a ballgame and they won't flinch because they've done that before.

So those are -- anytime you go through a period of adversity or what you perceive to be adversity, I just always believe it's preparing you to be better, preparing you for your moment. Bryce Petty came in and gave the pregame speech to the team. He said some things like that.

And I think that that, first of all, he was excellent. And second of all I thought that's a great message for all of us to take with us.

Q. Will Shawn Bell continue to coach the line?
COACH RHULE: All up in the air, right now, all up in the air. If George isn't doing it, Shawn is doing it and George is off the field, and if George is at some point back we will figure it out from there.

Q. What's your message to the team now that this is over? What is the message to them between now and August?
COACH RHULE: As I told them on the field, one of the reasons I wanted to talk on the field, I said, hey, the next time we're out here -- now we'll practice out there -- but the next time we're out here, like, this it's for real.

And we've got to get a lot better between now and then. And we've got to get stronger and tougher and all the -- more proficient in our craft. We have to get better. That's not a bad thing; that's a good thing. That's all of us challenging each other to improve and understand that it takes all of us to be good. It takes all of us to win.

My next challenge was to not relax now that the spring game is over. From what you do tonight through what you do in school next week to how you finish finals, we can't relax.

We've got to sprint, because we know what it feels like to be left behind. So we've got to get out ahead and continue to run the race.

So my thing was don't relax. Enjoy each other. But go continue to try to be the best men that we can be. And that's academics, that's training and that's everything we do.

Q. Offensive line, did you see the development that you hoped to see?
COACH RHULE: Sorry. Absolutely. If there was any area of our team I was pleased with it was the offensive line developing over the course of the spring. There's a long ways to go.

But I was really pleased with their physical development and toughness. We lost Beard in the last week with a sprained ankle. Hated it for him because he had a great spring. I would say that's an area we knew we had to get better at. And excited -- now you take in the injury guys, you take Malin and Blackmar and Ty Smith and Casey Phillips, put them in the mix, now you add the freshman Johncarlo, and I think we're significantly improved in that area.

Q. Charlie, this is his second spring. We didn't get to see him much today, but how much of a step forward has he made in the last year?
COACH RHULE: He gets a lot more opportunities now than he probably got last year. Way more comfortable. Way more physically developed. Smarter decisions, I'd say, but he's kind of just always been kind of a quarterback.

I think he's had that -- last spring he was out there throwing to Platt and Mims and all those guys and as the numbers have gone down, you know and we're getting significantly better in the secondary, guys aren't always quite as open. He's had to learn what they've given. Had to learn how to handle some frustration a times. He's had to move in the pocket, scramble. Had to do all those things. I think that's good.

Sometimes with quarterbacks, you look back, a guy plays as a true freshman, he plays on instinct as a quarterback, he kind of sometimes has what's perceived as a little bit of a slump that next year.

It's like he's here as a freshman, he's playing on instinct. As he tries to develop his skill set and all that, he might be playing right there, but everyone expects him to do this.

So I think the thing with Charlie is to never lose that natural quarterbackness that he has, but at the same time continue to push him in all these areas. I think he's doing that. And his body has gotten stronger and his shoulder is healthy. I look forward to him having a good summer and continuing to improve.

There's a lot of times last year where he had to go play where we're down and it's kind of off the cuff. What happens when we have the lead? You know? And you've got to play a different style. So all of those areas go into making you an elite player.

Q. Jalen, most improved offensive player, what did you see from him?
COACH RHULE: He started from scratch at that position, and playing tight end is so hard because you're an offensive lineman and receiver. You have to learn these two different skill sets. That's not easy.

And he's just got such -- he's got physical gifts that make him a good tight end. He can run routes. He's got body control, has hands, got explosiveness and hips. He is really teachable. You can coach him hard and he keeps coming back, keeps wanting to get better.

So I've loved every part of that about him. So there's a lot other guys we thought about giving that award to. I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about Jay Sedwick and he probably caught three or four balls today.

He's literally in the Baylor line the first two games last year, kicking off for us from there. Goes through all offseason thinking he's going to be a kicker and finds out he's a receiver.

Not only has he done that, he's had some pretty cool moments in the course of the spring. But his unselfishness lends into guys like Jamie. So I think Jamie is going to be a really good prospect for us.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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