UNIVERSITY OF TULSA FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

December 6, 2022

Brad Carson

Rick Dickson

Kevin Wilson

Press Conference

BRUCE HOWARD: This will be an introduction of our football coach. It also will be a press opportunity, as well, as we will follow with a press conference. Just going through some of the ground rules, if you will, we'll have President Brad Carson to speak along with athletic director Rick Dickson, and then Coach, and when Coach finishes his introductory remarks then we'll open it up to the press.

Those of you in the press, please do not ask a question unless you have a microphone so everybody can hear the question and those that are listening and watching streaming-wise can also hear it, as well.

Also, please identify yourself, your name and your affiliation. That's important, as well. Coach knows a lot of you but maybe not some other folks. Please identify yourself and your affiliation.

Without further ado, Brad Carson, the president of the University of Tulsa.

BRAD CARSON: Thanks, Bruce. I want to welcome members of the media here today. We're happy, also, to be joined by many visitors, including those from our board of trustees. Our inestimable chair of the board of trustees, Marcia MacLeod, I know is here in the back, as well, and also, of course, many of our donors, including those from the Golden Hurricane Fund.

This is truly a great day for the University of Tulsa. We have a tradition of football here at TU going back more than 120 years, and we proudly hold the mantel as the smallest school with Division I football.

Today marks a new chapter in that storied program, led by a proven winner, Coach Kevin Wilson.

Coach Wilson brings experience rich with supporting student-athletes who excel both in the classroom and on the gridiron. I'm pleased to give my full support to Coach, his lovely wife Angie, and their children and friends of their children as new members of the TU family.

I gladly texted regularly with Coach during this expedited process to assure him as leader of the University of Tulsa I expect excellence in everything, including football, and we welcome his brand of leadership which is also about demanding excellence to our Golden Hurricane community.

As I invite Rick Dickson, vice president and director of athletics, to more formally and with greater length introduce Coach Wilson, I want to thank Rick for your exceptional work in reviewing a very rich pool of candidates that have led us to this moment today.

Rick, of course, brings a unique perspective, the process of hiring a Division I coach. He's not only an accomplished athletic director but also former TU player himself. It was clearly his thoughts, centered on the student-athlete experience, that helped us make such a wise decision. He has truly succeeded in demonstrating excellence and bringing quality leadership to the University of Tulsa in his selection of Coach Kevin Wilson.

With that, please join me in welcoming athletic director Rick Dickson. Rick?

RICK DICKSON: Well, good afternoon, everyone. I'm going to take care of some immediate business here and formally welcome our new football family to TU. I think we have some TU gifts to present. Santa Claus is somewhere in the house here.

It's been a long little eight-day journey here, and just for a minute, indulge me. I've learned that with age comes the right to ask for unreasonable requests, so if just for a second if we could turn off, because this really is for this audience and then you can relay it to others.

Just a couple, I think, perspectives I want to give out here, and that's kind of a story that I thought of driving up here. I always ask Brenda to write me some notes. She does, and then looks at me and says why, because you never use them. Another example today, but that's my little security blanket.

I thought of this eight-day journey, and I want to tell it kind of through the lens of two young men that interacting with them and seeing how it impacted them, and these things do. For those of you that think you ever want to do this, just look at me. No, you don't. You really don't. Any part of it, it's 33, 34 years, whatever it's been, it's never easy.

The start of this week, it was never easy. Everybody in the room, everybody in the TU community, Tulsa community, knows the contribution that Philip and Ashley and their family, son and daughter made, not just to TU but all of Tulsa.

It's not failure. What happened last week is not about failure. You've heard me say this before here. We all own a piece of this, and I accept my piece of the failures in those things. It's more a matter of this endless run that we all embark on, and it's different times. It's time to pull in fresh legs and fresh energy and hand the baton.

That time will come for me, as well, and it makes me think of all this, but so earlier in the week, on that day -- and those of you that think these things are fantasy games, that it's just news, just entertainment, it's not. It's people and their lives, their careers, their families. There's people in the room today who still have uncertainty on that decision that I was part of last week.

I feel that. I feel that every time I've done it throughout a career. I feel it when I stand in front of a room full of 120 young men. I did the same thing, for those of you that don't follow, but I did the same thing five days, six days later with a group of young women in another one of our programs, and every one of those interactions, experiences, leaves an imprint.

Let me get into my story.

Early on that first day, after meeting with Philip and then meeting with the team, the football staff, and it's just not coaches, it's also the people that make these things happen that a lot of you have no idea even who they are or whatever, but they are integral to these things being at a place like TU, so from equipment managers and trainers and strength coaches and academic people, that they're impacted, too, as their careers and lives are, as well as the young people, which at the end of the day that's why I've always been here, because of them.

When you see this, that again, to some, is just part of life in sport, but there's a human element to this. When you're responsible for that, it leaves marks.

I want you to understand, that change of baton that happened last week was not because of failures, it was because it was time to bring fresh energy and fresh legs and leadership, and that baton was passed. When that happens, pain happens, and I feel it.

I experienced that that first day, and I won't name him because I didn't ask permission to do that, but the son of one of those coaches that was let go and who was an outstanding player here, still part of us, still part of the football program as a graduate assistant, and just watching the toll those things take, that when you see just news, you don't think of it. Well, I live it. And just trying to comfort and explain and hold and hug and do those things.

Then seeing him this morning, where eight days later, the healing has begun, and so that's one set of links and eyes that I've experienced and am sharing.

Then the other one that occurred literally two hours ago or a little later sometime, when early on when this happened and before I met with the team, grabbed a particular young man and pulled him aside and just said, how does this impact you, how are you feeling, what can I tell you, what can I say, and just uncertainty because that's what happens for everybody.

I said, well, just know that you have the ability not only to be a lead, a leader of this program, that you're emerging and becoming, but you have the ability to hold the program together. Of course he responded to that, but then 48 hours later he had changed his mind and done what young men do all over the country today: Explored his options.

But I got a call two hours ago, and he talked about -- he said, look, I remember our talk. I remember everything we've talked about. I'm home here with my dad. His dad went through a very tragic -- not tragic but serious critical -- left him in critical condition wreck after our Houston game last week. He's been home with him by his side, and he said, I'm down here with my dad, and I'm the first one to tell you I remember our talk, and I've been here with my dad. He said, I remember our talk last week. I've been here with my dad. I've waited to see my options. I'm pleased with who you've brought to us, and he goes, but I want you to talk to my dad.

He handed the phone to his dad in critical condition who told me, two years ago we met, and I was with my other son up here, introduced myself to you, and you said -- I'd not seen his son take a single snap or play, said that he's holding me responsible for his son's well-being, and I looked at him and told him, that's what I do. That's who I am, always have been. So that's checked that box. That's done.

Whatever condition he's in, he felt it important to tell me, he said, I'm telling you now again, I'm holding you responsible. Handed it back to his son and said, Mr. Rick, I'm coming back out of the portal and back to TU because I know what I have, and that's our quarterback Braylon Braxton.

Again, today is a great day and we're going to welcome a great leader and family in here, but I want people to understand what this is about and what it is, and it leads me to my last part of the story, is why are we even here. Why am I here.

Most of you know my story and of course Brenda, best part of the story. I remember at the start of the week informing her what was happening, and she looked at me and said, you're going on your salmon run again, meaning I start way out in the ocean and keep plunging ahead until I climb the last ladder and the last hoop to jump through and come home with the cargo and then at some point, as I tell her, wither and die, and I'm close and ready.

She quickly transitions to her "Bremma" role, which is what she's known to our eight grandchildren, and goes out and tells and refreshes them of Grandpa Dukey's stories that they never see, and so we wonder why we do this.

It goes back to something. I think about when we left here in '94, and I couldn't believe when I got to the West Coast because this is all I know. This is who I am. This is what I came from and what all of us are, what goes into being a Tulsan and at TU and everything that's being part of this community, this city. We're so different. We're so diverse. We're so many different avenues and backgrounds, and it takes all of us, and it's always what makes what I call "Tulsa special."

I went to the West Coast, Pac-10 at that time, and I just couldn't believe, other than UCLA, because we left a couple imprints on them before I left, didn't know much about it, and it just stunned me because this was my whole frame of reference was right here.

Then I moved to another country, part of the country, and they don't understand and know Tulsa. Tulsa is special, that part of it includes all those things I'm talking about, all the things that I'm referencing right now about what makes this place special. I'm not talking about TU, I'm talking about all of it. TU is the centerpiece of it. Always has been, for a longer period than any of us in the room. Always will be. It's a centerpiece. It's an economic engine. It's a source of pride.

As you heard Brad say about how we're small and mighty. People around the country spent more time explaining not only where it was, not in Arizona but right in the heart of Oklahoma, and it's not a 40,000-student urban university. It would be -- some people would characterize it as the smallest FBS or the 35th largest Class 3A school in the country.

But its capability, its bandwidth and its ability to impact lives and people and communities that don't just stop at our boundaries, that's what is Tulsa special.

So for me, what those two young men represent, both the pain of one, the courage of another in a time like what happens today, it's comical, it's sad. What's happening is that we've created this system that all of us have become passionate about.

But we've confused it so much and confused so many young people thinking that this is professional and that's what we've turned it into and so be it, but at the end of the day it's really about what unique qualities and attributes that every one of these micro communities have.

This Tulsa special piece for me has always been, no matter where I've been, from my time here until roaming the country, I've always carried Tulsa special with me. So if you want to know -- it wasn't about details, stats. All I have up here is not notes, just the same press release you do, but I'm just telling you, that's why I'm here. That's what we're doing. Everything that's gone into this, the pain, the courage, and the excitement that comes along with these things, I think you need to know that.

At the end of it, it's what defines the Tulsa special piece of what this whole exercise is.

Okay, I'm ready for lights, cameras. Now we'll go to the excitement. Thanks for indulging an old guy. Appreciate it.

Welcome, everyone, and appreciate you joining us. You heard a little bit of my storytelling that told you over the last eight days what's been going on. I want to thank, as Brad mentioned earlier, from everyone involved, from our chairperson in Marcia MacLeod and of course President Carson, Mike Case and others that were active, on the final steps of this got involved, rescued me out of my Zoom world and interactions and so forth of the first seven days.

As we fought to get to this point, to get what I said and you see in the release, but the qualities are all the things that we've referenced. This is a special place. It takes special people. That's what's always made this place go and always will.

Somebody that recognizes that for what it is, not what we're not but for what it is, and those qualities. That's why I was so -- with all the hoopla that's been created this year, which is great. It's been fun again at Tulsa, right. That's part of our DNA, too, and injecting that, and Brad has been such a big piece of that.

To the people, I think of the staff that even stepped in for me this week that didn't really see me, and thank goodness because I didn't shave and shower for eight days until about two hours ago.

But people like Shawn Pfannenstiel has been here since I left in 1994 and Crista Troester who stepped up as the two leads and ran our athletic program these last eight days, and for everyone that picked up that burden, and for the coaches that are still working with no guarantees. I met with them that first day and said, we've got two objectives, your role is to help all 120 of these young men guide and support them towards a successful finish this academic semester, and they've done it unselfishly.

All those things are what makes this special.

So that's the qualities I was looking for and finding. There's lots of great coaches out there that bring lots of great qualities.

At the end of the day, it's got to be somebody that understands Tulsa special, so that when I sorted through many, many capable candidates and brought to our group just a small, small handful of people that I thought were the best, that had these qualities, they all had different attributes and traits, but where we are today and the reason we have the person we do is because he absolutely fits and will absorb and demonstrate and wear proudly the Tulsa special brand.

With that, I'm proud really we've gotten to this point, and it's my pleasure to introduce to you our new head football coach sitting to my left here. Coach, are you ready? Welcome to Tulsa.

KEVIN WILSON: Good afternoon. Appreciate everyone taking the time to be here. I've got some notes I scribbled down the last few minutes before we came over, but being a no-huddle guy I'm used to winging it from the hip, like Rick said, and kind of shooting and doing the best we can.

An honor and privilege to stand here today with some of my family. Excited to be your coach. Excited to represent what I think is an elite school that stands for so many things within this community, a program that has a great tradition, has done real, real, real well. Has a chance, I think, to always be competitive and not just being a winning program but a program that can fight for championships.

In this day and age with the dynamics of college sport, we're changing conferences, we've got a chance to be a strong, strong player in our conference as we move forward, so I'm excited about our leadership and direction to represent our school, our program, and then most importantly, the city of Tulsa.

I had a chance for nine years living in Oklahoma to get to know a lot of people up here. I have a great deal of respect for people in this part of the region. My wife will tell you, of places we've been, if we could go back and live, retire, she'd say, hey, Norman is not a bad place to go, and of course both Rick and Brad both said Tulsa is going to trump that one. So it's great to be back here in this neck of the woods.

We spent a lot of summers at Grand Lake, spent some time at your restaurants in town, Utica Square over there with some dear friends. I know those showers at Southern Hills are one of the best that ever were in the mens' locker room, so I know a lot about your great, great city. A lot of respect for the people of this city, but most importantly, the people of our school that we're representing, and then to me, the young men that we get a chance to coach.

I want to say a big thank you to Rick for going through the process and giving us a chance to be considered. I've had a chance now, over that 60 mark, but really had four jobs since 1990. I was working for Randy Walker for 12 years, for Bob Stoops for nine years being a head coach for six years at Indiana, and now six years at Ohio State with Coach Meyer and Coach Day. So haven't moved around a lot, but along the way have been at some really, really strong -- been at two programs, and before that those first 12 years it was at Miami of Ohio.

But if you look at the Northwestern, Indiana, Ohio State, Oklahoma, I would always share with guys that I've worked at the programs that have the two highest winning percentages since World War II: Ohio State and Oklahoma. I've also worked at two schools that have the most losses in the history of college football. I can say we had success at all those places. Took Indiana to back-to-back bowls, had the highest APR ranking, beat our rival four years in a row, first-time wins over some teams.

Did a great job at Northwestern last time, an academic small school, great academic school like this place, and the last time they shared a Big Ten title I was up there.

So proud of those places, proud of those stops.

But again, appreciate Rick as he went through as gave us the opportunity. I wasn't necessarily chasing jobs. I thought I had a chance to lead a program and to build a foundation, a program that can stand, and one good shot to swing as hard as you can and get a group of people to work together and build something that a university and a community and an alumni base and most importantly the players can take a lot of pride in.

I was hoping for that opportunity years ago. I would pray, where would I raise my family, what kids do I coach. Well, my youngest daughter is a senior at OU. I've got a son at Ohio State that's a sophomore on the team. Got two graduates -- now we're past the what's the elementary schools and what's the high schools and all that stuff, so now my wife just said, first time we're making a move just us two, so we're kind of looking forward to that.

I've always prayed, where am I supposed to raise my family, where am I supposed to coach kids. Now it's where I'm supposed to coach kids. If this wasn't meant to be, I think I'd have fumbled around in the interview process. Rick would have found someone else more attractive. I think we're here for a purpose. We're here for a reason. We're excited about that.

I was very excited talking with Marcia the other day and her leadership with the board and then with Brad to just get a feel of the school's commitment to want to have athletics have a chance to be a great representative of you, the alumni base and the people of our community. So excited for his leadership, his support, and also support from two great leaders at programs that have challenges, but every program has a challenge.

The greatest challenge is to find a group of people that want to work together and collectively how you work together to give yourself a chance to build something, because that's what our game is. It's a people sport. It's a team sport. We'll have 200 plus, probably 220 people that touch our players, from nutrition to academics to medical to sports psych to the team doctors to our tutoring to the coaches and the young coaches, the video people, and then most importantly the players, and how do we get all those people to work together because collectively when people are working together you've got a chance to do something special.

As all schools, there might be some concerns or issues that can make any job challenging, but I see more upside, more bright days and more opportunity. I'm excited to lead this crowd and to see if we can get some guys to work together as we move forward.

I'd like to thank my past coaches, Coach Stoops, Coach Day, Coach Meyer, Coach Bill Hayes. I worked at HBC schools for a couple years at Winston Salem, North Carolina A&T. I've got some HBU experience. Dick Crum, my college coach, is still kicking around, the late Coach Walker I worked for at Miami. Just some great, great coaches that touched my life.

I'd like to thank my players. Probably got more texts from players, and it's kind of neat when you start -- I guess some of us here as I see are a little bit older, but as you get old, you go back and okay, here's a kid you coached at Miami of Ohio back in the '90s. As a matter of fact, you're recruiting their kids now to tell you the truth. Here's your quarterback at Northwestern, here's some guys from Oklahoma, here's some friends from Oklahoma within this community and down in the central part of our state.

Then my players from Indiana, really blowing up with a lot of those guys, and of course, shoot, the guys at Ohio State. Had to make those calls, too, now. That's my guys. Sorry for my emotion.

Then my family, my bride Angie, my daughter Marley, her boyfriend. We've got an OU girl here. Don't hold that against her. She's up here scouting right now. I understand it's game 2. Brent Venables has got her on a recon mission.

But got two daughters that we're leaving back in Columbus, a son on the team, got a son that's playing college golf in Florida, so a family of five. But those guys have sacrificed a lot.

I'd just like to say I was deciding should I take an opportunity. It was kind of cool for my kids to say, do what's best for you, and I've always thought, hey, God, make sure we're coaching the kids we're supposed to coach.

So I'm genuinely excited. I apologize for the emotion. My wife knows, if you know me, I kind of get that way just a smidge on these things because I know the sacrifices that have been made. I know the commitment that so many family members and coaches and players have done for me to be standing here, and I can tell you it is an honor to be standing here.

We're going to work here these first couple weeks, really just try to connect with our team here. In this day and age of the portal, we've just got to make sure these kids know we want them. I'm not bringing in players. We can talk about it, see what's out there. The grass isn't always greener.

Those guys you've got to buyer beware sometimes, these things. You'd better make sure, make sure they fit your community, make sure they fit your school. Most importantly for me, make sure they fit our locker room.

I'd like to get a chance to know these coaches we have on our staff, what they're about. I've not lined up coaches coming in. I try my darndest. I got your text message and I got one as we were sitting here.

Dave didn't come? Yeah, okay, I thought he'd still sneak in.

Guys are texting me on -- I didn't respond because I didn't want to talk -- I didn't want it out. I wasn't trying to get pay raises or name recognition. If it was meant to be, it was going to be meant to be.

So I haven't talked to coaches, like who wants to come. I wanted to see what we got because I think the best way to move forward is to understand what we've got, and that's going to be short-term hard as we're into now final exam period, but just trying to work around the academic -- getting our kids to finish very, very strong academically, and that's the sign of a good team.

I pulled up last night the APR, and last year's No. 1 academic rating score in the country was Clemson; No. 3 was Bama; Ohio State is No. 9 on that list. It's amazing, those great football teams, those kids do well in class. We shared that with the guys, and the value of what it means to get a college education.

You're giving your time, your body, your soul to that school when you're practicing. The commitment, the hours that you've put your body through and your heart and soul in, get your education out of it. Make sure that school gives something back for you. Some guys think they're just getting their scholarship check and that's cheap money, and I guess it's money, and sometimes when you're young it seems like a lot to get a little per diem or whatever this NIL situation is and those little funds for whatever that goes in our world right now. But at the end of the day, get your education, so we're working really hard to make sure this team finishes strong.

It'll show -- and not statistical GPA. Statistics are for assistant coaches and losers, justifying what happened. The statistic deal is did you work as hard as you could, and you can look yourself in the mirror -- maybe some of these guys prior to me being here, and I'm by no means the answer, I'm just going to be a part of trying to lead a group to figure out how to become a better answer. But the situation with the -- many of these guys have dug themselves in a ditch or maybe that GPA is not going to look as nice I'd like for it to be cosmetically, but I've asked all those guys can they look in the mirror and say I busted my tail and it's the best I can do. With a couple weeks down the stretch, in a marathon race we're at mile 21, 22 where a lot of people quit, can we bust our tail down the finish line and wrap it up and do and be the best we can.

I'm excited to see how they finish school. I'm excited to connect with these guys short-term. Then we get into a dead recruiting period.

My plan in talking with Rick and what coach they wanted, what Gene Smith, the athletic director at Ohio State wanted, is to be a part of all the bowl preparations I can up there, be here when we're recruiting. This is a recruiting time. My recruiting right now is the current Tulsa football team in connection with our staff here and see the folks that we have and how we have operated and how this thing is going right here with these guys.

Then it gets into that dead period, so I'll be working through hopefully an opportunity to play two games and two great opportunities. Again, I'm standing here because of the success of our team, and I think it's my obligation to finish up with that team and give that team a chance to chase a National Championship.

That being said, though, we'll be working down here during the recruiting days, so the next couple weeks when recruiting is live, we'll have some recruiting, but I'm not hitting the road to go find players. I want to see what our players are about.

We'll have time with the second signing day. Quite honestly getting to know some of the rosters and talking to the coaches, there's potential if all the super seniors, a lot of guys potentially back, so it looks like mathematically, and I haven't gotten into the numbers, but it doesn't look like there's a lot of space to go get a bunch of guys, unless unfortunately some kids want to leave us.

We're going to work hard to connect to see if they'll stay, and we'll wish them -- I understand; if I was them, I would maybe want to look. I understand that.

I think if there wouldn't be change, I'd be disappointed with guys looking. But when there's change and there's uncertainty, I think they have the right to give them the psychological comfort that I've looked at other options -- I always say, be careful what you ask for, be thankful for what you've got. I'm excited to see what we've got and to get to know these guys as we move forward.

The plan would be as we get past that bowl scenario is to be working full throttle here by the first of the year, hopefully plan on playing a game January 9, which I'd like to have a staff in place recruiting. Kicks back up January I think 12th or 13th. Our students are back on campus second semester January 9th, so my goal is to kind of have a staff in place.

But short-term these next few weeks, let's get these guys -- we can be a little bit around the community, but really we'll get a chance to see you guys when this ball clears up and that Bermuda grass changes colors and we can get out on the golf course and chase that ball around a little bit and get to see some guys, get you to some practices.

But again, just an honor to be here. Very, very grateful. Very, very thankful. Very, very honored and excited to go to work.

I apologize a little bit for the emotion. I apologize for rambling. But I'm excited to rock and roll and get this thing going. Okay? Is that good?

Questions?

Q. You mentioned where you've been, Ohio State and Oklahoma, and then also Northwestern and Indiana and the differences there. It's a challenge everywhere, right, but blue blood life has to be kind of different. What made this for you the right challenge?

KEVIN WILSON: Great question, and at the same time, when you say some blue blood challenges, as successful as those programs can be -- everybody says well it's easy to recruit to Ohio State. Yeah, it's easy, go beat Bama and Georgia and those guys and OU and Texas for guys. I'm going down to Dallas and you're fighting OU and UT and A&M, and so they're tough jobs.

The expectation and all that -- one, I knew the area and love the area. Two, I know historically there's been success here. Three, quite honestly I just felt my work at IU where we built our program and our work at Northwestern where we built a program and nine years at Miami of Ohio kind of fit this environment.

A chance to be a head coach, it's few and far. You're very fortunate, very blessed, and I thought if that's the opportunity I was given, that's what the good Lord wanted us to do.

I really felt I had one great swing to build -- not to prove anything. I think we've proven, and we can look at track records and all, but we showed up to an IU roster that had 17 guys on a team that had Division I offers somewhere else. It was a depleted poor team, due to a coach and a great friend of mine that I worked with that had a two-year bout with brain cancer and then an interim coach who couldn't recruit for a couple years. It was a poor program in a bad situation, and we went tooth and nail creating as much energy and passion and drive and let's go and let's work. I'm telling you, my phone was blowing up the most from those Indiana guys. They know how hard we worked.

We told the team last night, working hard is a talent. It's a lost talent in our society, but it is a talent. Also, how to have fun working hard. You've got to have a passion about what you're doing.

I'm excited these guys have a passion. There's going to be challenges with this program, but there's phenomenal opportunity. To me, I just saw a place I knew I could live, I saw a team that I thought had a chance to be competitive with tradition. I thought it's an area -- I know our population is not overwhelming, but we're in a football area now. You can go to some eight-man schools and find you a dude once in a while. There was one here a couple years ago, I believe.

So there's some great ball in Oklahoma. We're not far to east Texas and the metro. We'll be smart, and we'll look when it's meant to be in this day and age at the portal. But the portal, I think we need to be smart. If it fits our school, if it fits -- and we don't just look at a guys that was a four-star coming out of high school. Let's talk to their coaches and make sure he's a fit.

I just felt there was a great place to live, a great place to build, and I thought I could show one more time that we could build a program. I think we left a program in great shape. They've had great success since I left. They're starting to fall a little bit, but I think we can build a program that should be strong.

Right now as the college playoffs expand, our champions would be in the playoff, and this team has won championships. Let's see if we can be fortunate enough to compete and lucky enough to back away and be one of those kind of teams. I think, in talking to the coaches, I'm excited about the kids.

Like I told them, I'm too old for four- and five-year builds. Let's do what we can to be as good as we can right now and rock and roll.

Q. Following up on that, what is that message to the players who are maybe uncertain about whether they want to stay?

KEVIN WILSON: One, I would tell them it's their right, opportunity. I would ask them -- they owe me nothing. But it would be nice to have communication. I think when there's no communication and it's quiet, it leads to negativity. That we can at least just talk.

I've got to prove to them -- we'll put a staff together, and I'm not going to rush to do that because I think the rush was maybe to get in front of them to see them. That's why last night we came in and went right in to see them. My first words were slow down and breathe. Just slow down, press pause.

But also, I think they have the right to look, but I want to get to know them and see if they can start to believe that they can trust.

But it takes time to earn trust, and in the short-term if someone wants -- I would tell them, to wish them well and be careful, but we'd want everyone to date that I'm aware of, unless there's some off-the-field or academic issue, would want all the players to be here. They were brought here for a reason. I think I'm here for a reason. I think it would be nice to see if we can work together and see what the next couple years unfold for all of us.

Q. A couple things I think people want to know is recruiting locally and then fan engagement, could you speak on both of those things, the importance of recruiting local kids and then trying to get the community involved?

KEVIN WILSON: Yeah, there's some phenomenal programs here, always have been through the years. I've had a chance to know some of those coaches have been around, still been around, and there's really good talent. I think we've got to be smart when you're talking scholarship perspective to get the right guys.

Sometimes in recruiting it's not necessarily the recruiting battles you win, it's just making sure you recruit the right guys. We're such a developmental sport, we're such a developmental team that you've got to get kids that want to develop, and we have the resources with the weight room, nutrition, teaching them how to sleep right and live right to physically develop so you can have some hind guys.

I think we need to have a presence within our city. We are the University of Tulsa.

I understand there's a bunch of Pokes and a bunch of Sooners in this town, and I respect that. I am well aware of that. Don't fault them for that. Living in Columbus, Ohio, within that state there's a lot of -- I get that.

But at the same time, with fan engagement, I think recruiting our area a little bit helps. I think complementing that with some walk-ons would also help just with numbers. I think being accessible and open to the coaches, that they feel if they want to come visit and spend some time and want you to coach and talk a little ball and it's just you have open doors with those coaches and build those relationships.

That doesn't mean we're going to get every player. It doesn't mean we're going to like every player. But we need to start in our backyard. We need to start within our state.

I think we trickled down, what is it, 75 through Muskogee and whatnot. That Italian place, down there, right, and wiggle on down that way to east Texas, right, and check those guys out because there's some great ball in that area.

So I think we're regional oriented. Usually you would go up maybe to Kansas JCs; maybe the transfer portal is now that. But I think the bulk of our stuff is finding the right guys, and then identifying the right body types and the kids and getting to know them, that you think you have kids that want to work and develop.

Again, to go shoe-to-shoe with certain schools within the Big 12, the SEC, maybe you're not going to win that battle, but I think you can win some battles if you do it right and develop them right, and that's kind of what we did at Miami; it's kind of what we did at Northwestern; it's for sure what we did at Indiana. We put a number of guys in the NFL there.

It wasn't winning the recruiting battle but having a commitment to your area, which I believe we will and we have to do, and then it's recruiting the right people.

Fan engagement, I know there's some other great teams in the state that everyone likes, but bottom line, we'll be as accessible and we'll do all the little tricks of the trade to look at marketing, but we've got to put a product out there that they want to come see. We need to win games. If you win games, they'll come.

There's a lot of kickoff times now, so if you're playing a Thursday night or Friday night game, if you're a good team, they'll be sitting out there.

In some ways it's the product. We're in the entertainment business, and we need to put a product on that's going to be disciplined, that's going to be exciting and score but also play -- our program goal number one is to play great defense. And I'm an offensive guy. But we've got to play defense, and we've got to learn how to do that, and we've got to learn how to get stops.

If we put a product on the field, again, with all respect to all the great other schools within our region, we'll get some fans and we'll make this place hopping and have a lot of fun those Thursday or Friday -- hopefully more Saturdays as we go.

Q. You talked about owing it to Ohio State to go there and try to win a National Championship in the coming weeks, but is there some sort of added benefit if you are able to accomplish that to TU to have a National Championship coordinator coming in?

KEVIN WILSON: No, I don't look at it that way. Maybe, whatever.

In my world, you just want to finish -- I was recruiting yesterday. We had several phone calls and I was in a high school seeing a kid, doing my job. My thing was I just think it's -- you want to teach your children, you want to teach your players how to finish, and I appreciate the administration at both places giving me a chance to finish and try to do my darndest to be a part of it.

I've had a chance to be a part of the BCS, the semifinal, the playoffs five times. Still looking for that one game. So selfishly, I'd like that one game. Of course we've got to get through the 31st and that's going to be a tough challenge.

I guess it cosmetically would look good, but to me, I don't know if that's going to influence our recruiting that much. I guess I can show them a cool ring down the road.

Really I just want to show them what we're going to do for them here and the education opportunity and how we're going to develop them and the brotherhood and the family that we're going to have playing our game.

Our sport is different. I heard a coach years, years, years ago, great coach, but our sport, and I showed the guys last night, we've got big guys, little guys, white guys, Black guys, rich guys, poor guys, rappers, country. We've got all kinds of walks, religion, got them all. But we're trying to play for the good of each other and play as a group, and to bring all these people from different backgrounds and teaching everyone how to work together for the common goal of winning football games and also being successful within the community and in the classroom, and to get them to -- the world would be a better place if it was like a football locker room. The more we can get that football locker room tight, the better our program is going to be.

I think to me that's my sell more than hey, look, we played in this game and we've got a little blurb on there -- that doesn't -- I don't think that's much.

That probably wasn't the answer you wanted.

Q. You talked about recruiting different body types than maybe the SEC or Big Ten. Do you have to kind of, with the guys you can recruit and get and change your game plan, your offensive game plan or anything to fit the kind of recruit you have?

KEVIN WILSON: You know, the game is still blocking and tackling. So you're going to have to teach those fundamentals. We cosmetically window dress with different alignments and tempos or formations or RPOs or eight-man drops into coverage -- there's all these little fancy things, but it's still a game of people that line up and block and tackle, and you have to teach that.

My thing with development is you've just got to develop -- you've got to find that two- or three-star level guy on paper but that can develop to be the four- or five-star. If you look in the NFL Draft world, there will be more three-star guys drafted in the first round than four- and five-star high school recruits. The three-star guys weren't in high school as developed, but they keep developing over time. Some guys just mature later, body types change. Some guys tap out. Some guys are tapped out. Some guys are futures. There's an art in evaluating recruits to gauge that. You don't want to miss on that lot, but you're gauging on a developmental piece.

Part of it is getting to know the young man and his family because you can tell some kids want to develop and want to work and maybe some don't, so there's also an art to not only the body and the potential size or strength level that you think you can see that person getting to, but it's also judging -- in this day and age, like I said, working hard is a talent. What kids kind of have that skill. You can't put a stopwatch on that. You can't put a height and weight on that. But how do you get a gauge of that skill because that's a huge skill and a big backbone of what we're going to need to be successful.

Q. As far as your staff when it gets assembled, I know we're still a little ways away from it, do you look at yourself as having an offensive coordinator, or do you see yourself calling the plays yourself?

KEVIN WILSON: Again, we asked this as we went through the interview process. When I left Oklahoma, I saw Bob Stoops, the highest paid corners coach in the country, coaching corners every day because that's what he did. I said, we've got five on offense and they've got five on defense. I used to love when Bob walked over in practice, hey, how's it going. He'd watch over there the whole time. He wasn't looking at us one time. He was watching -- he was a defensive guy. I saw five guys on defense.

So when I went to Indiana, I was one of the five guys on offense. I coached quarterbacks, I called the plays, I was the offensive coordinator, I was the head coach. We had five on defense because I saw five guys and I thought that was awesome.

Now we've added a 10th coach since my experience of doing that, so you can now have five on offense, five on defense plus me. I think that would give me a chance to be a little bit more on both fields, be a little bit more of a culture setter, team setter, team builder more than just offense.

I would, an offensive-oriented guy, make sure that the offense was the way I thought it needed to go and be a part of it. Would I call plays? I think it would be in my trust and confidence if we had an offensive coordinator that that person was the play caller.

I'm not going to trick someone into coming here to call the plays. I think it would be nice to manage the game maybe a little bit more, but I think I've called plays 30 years. I can -- Coach Day kind of calls them now and we kind of help out with it, but I've done it a while, kind of done it pretty good, and we can do it. But I don't know if that's best. I think we'll just put it together, probably go through spring ball.

True story, my first spring at Miami of Ohio, my mentor, Randy Walker, we were going for a walk-jog -- I say jog, but quite honestly, I was young and I was still jogging, and he said -- we're going back there, and we were getting ready for our Saturday practice Friday, and he said, hey, boy, I got a problem coming up. I said, no, you have an opportunity. He goes, you're right, I've got an opportunity. When I was a young coach, I tried to call the game from the sideline, and Coach Walker had put him -- we only had eight coaches at that time at Miami because we were under budgeted. He was our offensive coach; he put in the offense, and I was coaching with him on the offensive side. He said, he goes, I couldn't call the plays as an assistant from the sideline as a young coach. I had to go to the press box. So now that I'm the head guy, got to work with the defense a little bit and the kicking game and manage everything, he said, I know I can't call it, so tomorrow in the first scrimmage you're calling the plays. If you screw it up, I'll go to somebody else. I said, okay.

I guess I got lucky enough I didn't screw it up. So I had a chance to call plays for him for 12 years.

From them, I've been on the sideline calling them. I called them at Indiana. I've been in the box. But I'd like to just see how the staff comes together. We will have five on offense, we will have five on defense, and either one of the lower offense or defensive positions ideally will probably be a special teams coach to kind of manage and oversee that, but we'll see how that goes.

One is we just eval these coaches and start making some phone calls to see the interest level of other people that want to join. Like I say, these couple, three days it's with the players and these guys over here, in Case Hall over here.

Q. Rick referenced Braylon Braxton when he was talking to us, and knowing what you've done with quarterbacks specifically at Oklahoma but of course elsewhere, what do you know about Braylon, how much have you talked to him and communicated with him, and how certain are you that he's your guy at the most important position on the field?

KEVIN WILSON: Well, one, I haven't studied a lot of film yet. Glanced at it a little. It looks like he can run around. I know we have another quarterback we're just meeting.

Earlier was with the coaches going through, tell me about your room, your guys, your ages, what do you think of this guy; let me see your opinion. We're going to try to find a couple ways to -- as final exams go, just to see those guys individually or collectively.

I talked to Braylon last night. One of the guys had said he needed to go home to see his father, and it's like, hey, man, just take your time and give your father a hug and be with your mom. Just calm -- just be okay. Just be there with them.

I think he was maybe heading back up today or tomorrow with finals coming. Just wanted to assure him to be there for his family, that we would have time to where we weren't in a rush, but we wanted to get to know him. I don't believe you can be careful -- I believe the Bible says, "He who is blessed, more is expected," and that being said, if you're the best players, you expect the most, but I would be careful to make any promises to anyone like, you're going to have the opportunity. It looks like we have several guys that have the opportunity at several positions to be really, really good.

I think that's why so many kids are in the portal, that coaches say things they can't follow through with. I think our background shows we can do that position okay, and it shows it's going to be fun. It looks like we've got some playmakers around him. It looks like I think we've got some young offensive linemen. I think we can block and give those guys a chance, and excited just listening to some of the coaches talk about the guys and seeing some of our guys.

I'm excited he wants to be here. But at the same time I think now he's got to earn our trust, and he's got to earn his team's trust, and it sounds like he's the guy that can. But also, too, it would be nice to -- you want to see it, and just make sure as it grows, so I hate to say too much because you guys will tweet it all out, then all of a sudden there's negativity and you guys only get half the tweet and like it and smile it, emoji it and all that deal, right?

I'm excited. I'd be excited if all those kids said they wanted to come back. I wasn't coming to say I've got new guys; y'all need to -- I want to see if we can work with those guys because I think for us to be successful, it's development, and the best way to develop, those guys are here and we're going to work through this holiday period a little bit on their own when they're gone, and we're going to come back about January 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, when that magic day is, and we're going to start a great off-season program and spring ball and the summer, and then we're going to see what season one looks like. We want to get guys developing.

I want guys that want to be here, want to be here for the right reasons, but I just am leery. I've gotten burned or seen coaches get burned too many times when they start making promises or guarantees because I've found in life there are no guarantees.

But I'm excited. I'm really just looking forward to meeting him because I haven't. He's the one guy with his family. So I'm excited to see him, excited the work that Rick and everyone has put in to show him that people here love and care about him, want him here, but I want the whole team to feel that way, too, and I also want a quarterback and offensive linemen and defensive linemen and backers that want to compete, that aren't afraid of what's coming in.

A long time ago, I had a player say, well, if I go to this school, they're not going to recruit another guy for two years at my position. I said, if you come here, I'm going to try to get somebody to beat you out next year, because competition is what this game is about. Don't be afraid of competition.

At the same time, too, I'm not bringing players here. I'm working my darndest to have these kids that were committed to this school, and an unfortunate thing they went through a coaching change. Give these kids a chance to stay here and get a degree from the University of Tulsa and give us a chance next year to have the best first year we can have.

That's my total focus and commitment is on that, and that's where we go. But I'm also excited to see Braylon. He looks good. Hope them other guys are, too.

Q. Coach, I want to know what's your process for keeping the kids not just here but in school, because when I talked to kiddos, going to Tulsa, it's a full-time challenge. It's really difficult to get through here academically, and I wonder have you given any thought to that?

KEVIN WILSON: Well, I mean, one -- great question. I need to get to know more about the school and the environment, but at the same time, when I met a couple guys, they said, we thought -- we wanted to make sure they were doing well. My question would be, can you look yourself in the mirror and say, hey, I know that's the best I can do. I've been around a program and some programs recently where I'm at and some other places that our whole deal was just based on working and fighting as hard every day you could to be the best version of you.

And the best version of you fails; you're going to come up short sometimes. But if you're going to be successful, as you are and everyone here in your professions, it's hard work. It's not fair. You've got to learn how to push and challenge and fight, and hopefully we'll have enough with academic support and we have the tracks. Hopefully we'll keep recruiting guys that fit and buy that piece, but like I told those guys today, you've given your body and your soul and your mind to this school playing this sport, and the commitment and sacrifice you make, get your education and put a Tulsa degree with your name the rest of your life. Make sure the school gives you your degree, bust your tail to get your degree.

If you walk out of here when you're playing our sport, within this program, and you walk out of here with that degree, you've got a chance now to go be successful in life.

Now, someone is going to train you how to do that job. There's going to be pitfalls, and it's not going to be fair and it's going to be hard, and hey, welcome to the real world. Tulsa is a little bit like the real world if you want to be successful. It ain't easy, so buckle up and get used to it.

That's my challenge. I think that translates into a football team, and I appreciate their school is hard, but you hope those men are embracing -- the challenges we're going to put on them to have the team we want to have, that's going to be hard, too. You want people that want to embrace finding a way to be the best version of themselves every day, and we're looking forward to it.

Q. Give the Tulsa fans an idea of what is a Kevin Wilson football team going to look like on the field offensively and defensively.

KEVIN WILSON: Yeah, again, we'll start with -- I've found here in recent times, and I've had a lot of success, but having worked for Coach Stoops, an offensive guy, I don't know if we did as good a job early on at Indiana, I think the key to being a great program is you've got to figure out and make sure you're playing good defense. There's a style in a program goal that we're going to do that, and one of those ways is we're going to minimize turnovers and negative plays, sacks, because if you have negatives and you're playing uphill, you're going to be behind chains, you're going to be on short fields, and your defense is going to get exposed, you're going to give up points, you're going to lose games.

Our program goal one is we're going to play as strong and as good a defense as we can play. That means the offense and kicking game is complementing that.

Offensively we have always historically kind of done pretty well scoring points, but we've kind of done it where the key to the game starts with blocking, and even though you can spread it out or go fast or not, tight ends or not, running quarterback or not, you've still got to block. So I think hopefully we'll see a team that on defense and offense that's physical.

The game hasn't changed; it's blocking and tackle, and the teams that block and tackle the best win. So I hope when they see our team, they're seeing a team that's playing good defense, not giving up cheap plays. That means the offense is complementing the defense. They're seeing a team on both sides of the ball that are physical. They're seeing a team that's playing wide-open offense, but it's not all air-raid and passing.

You're going to see a team that is going to have a lot of really good running backs through time. I think I've had two 1,000-yard backs three times. I think I'm one of the few guys to have two running backs -- I've been a part of teams where guys have had two 1,000-yard seasons rushing and a quarterback throw for 3,500 and 40, 50 touchdowns. The ability to do both.

When you're a great offensive team, like a basketball player, you can play with the left hand and the right hand. It's not 50/50; it's not equal.

You're going to see an exciting brand of offense. I think it's been proven. But I think you will see a team that's playing defense, a team that's not turning the ball over, and when it gets in to score we're going to slide it up, and hopefully you're going to see most critically a team that's playing with some discipline, so that kicking game and those negatives plays give us a chance to win those close games, because I think in our league we're going to match up with a lot of folks and be in some games that are close.

Really what you learn early is you start teaching your team how to win a game or not how to lose the game more than win a game. Let's make sure we take those things out that get you losing games and minimize the negatives, the turnovers and all that.

But it's going to be a boat load of fun, and I'm going to do everything I can. I know the offense is going to be really good. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that defense is playing right with them toe-to-toe.

Q. (Indiscernible).

KEVIN WILSON: Yeah, we've got the Husky Stadium first, though. Coach DeBoer has got a good team, and I saw Mike Penix is coming back. I'm aware of his background, a great player.

My wife can tell you, she said our first game here in 2002, I think was a Thursday or Friday night, might have been -- Thursday or Friday night. My wife was nervous sitting on those steps coming up the back end to the visiting side. Our first game, I think it was 3-0 TU at half, and I think we got 33 or 36 in the second half, but had a chance to play against Tulsa several times.

Again, excited to be back here, and I'm excited to see what we can put together, and hopefully it's going to be a physical, fun, aggressive team that's playing smart and clean. There's certain things in football; we window dress and change things, but the game hasn't changed. Blocking, tackling, taking care of the ball, taking care of the quarterback, don't give up the big plays. We'll do our damndest to be that kind of team.

Honor, pleasure to be here. Thank you guys.

BRUCE HOWARD: Just a reminder for the fans and the supporters that are here, Coach Wilson will be at the game tomorrow night against Detroit Mercy for men's basketball, and he'll be greeting fans at 5:45 at the Reynolds Center, so we will see you there. Reign Cane.