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UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 29, 2011

Mike Gideon

Q. (No microphone.)
MIKE GIDEON: I mean, every spot was opened up in camp. You know, it was just a matter of coming out and competing every day, and my name is listed first today, and it could be flipped tomorrow if I don't come out and work the way I should.

Q. Do you feel like it's a fresh start? Feel like you're starting over from scratch?
MIKE GIDEON: Yeah, it feels like a fresh start. It needed to be. Any time you're coming off of a season like last year, then I think everybody needs a fresh start. That kind of has a lot to do with the depth chart being opened up and the new coaches coming in and everybody seeing it as their first day and their first year at Texas, even if it really wasn't.

Q. (No microphone.)
MIKE GIDEON: Well, like I said, everything has changed. You're going to see a completely different team out there, everything from the formations and how we line up, offensively and defensively, to the philosophy. There's a lot of new guys in new spots. You know, I think we've been working harder than I have since -- that I've seen since I've been here, and I can say that without any doubts.
I know that we're ready to come out and finally play somebody besides Texas on Saturday.

Q. Why is that? Why has this been harder work?
MIKE GIDEON: Well, I think it needed to be. Any time you come off of a sub-par performance in a season, then you need to really look in the mirror and look at the things you're doing from top to bottom. Obviously something wasn't working, so it was important for us to start over and to get back to that work ethic that built this program to what it is.

Q. (No microphone.)
MIKE GIDEON: You know, we're going to fulfill any kind of role that our team needs us to. We have a strong, I guess, feeling towards us servicing our offense and them servicing us as far as field position and whatever. A lot of people, they expect an offense to come out and start at the 20-yard line and drive 80 yards for a touchdown. Well, that's pretty hard, and it's not going to happen very often even with the best offenses in college football. All we're looking for them to do is get one or two 1st downs and put us in good field position to play our scheme and us do the same thing, hold an offense down there to give our offense good field position.
The whole idea of us servicing each other, they're going to fulfill whatever need that we have, and vice versa.

Q. (No microphone.)
MIKE GIDEON: Well, first of all, McHargue came from a great school district, the best in Texas, so you know he's a good player. But I know all those guys compete. They're all Texas high school football products just like us. We played against a lot of those guys in high school. We know what kind of talent and ability they have. It's just a matter of them putting one or two things together as a team.
You know, they can be dangerous at any moment if we don't respect them the way we should and if we don't focus on every aspect of the game.

Q. (No microphone.)
MIKE GIDEON: Well, the main motivation, I guess, for us was just remembering that feeling that we had after the last game this past year and just that pit in our stomach that we knew we let each other down, we let our coaches down, we let our fan base down. So you know, if you just remember that feeling and bring that to workout every day and bring that chip on your shoulder and that edge, you know, I can't really describe it other than every day whenever we go into the weight room people were legitimately angry, people were mad, and nobody was fun to be around you might say, but that's what it needed to be. Everybody had that edge, and everybody knew that we left a lot to be desired last year.

Q. (No microphone.)
MIKE GIDEON: We know it's going to be different. We don't have to do any kind of convincing. I think that 115-degree heat out on that turf convinced us enough that we made it through that this summer, we made it through the toughest off-season in the country, and we came out strong on the other side. We have full faith in each other, full trust in each other, and we know it's going to be different.

Q. (No microphone.)
MIKE GIDEON: I think the thing I was most impressed about Garrett was how he carried himself throughout camp and how people responded to him. You know, whenever you're looking at a leader and especially a quarterback, you're not just looking at what the stats are and everything because there's going to come a point in time where they're not going to be having the greatest game but they still need to get their teammates to respond. That was the thing, Garrett does have a little bit more experience than the other guys, and he knows how to get that response out of his teammates.

Q. (No microphone.)
MIKE GIDEON: Right, that's the main thing, that he's been struck with the injury bug multiple times, and that's hard to overcome. You know, he's a fifth year guy. It takes him a little bit longer to get out of bed in the morning, aches and pains, but it was very apparent that he came to work from the start of camp, and it didn't matter to him that he was a senior. You know, by all accounts he should be the starter or whatever; he went out and earned it, and that was apparent every day.

Q. (No microphone.)
MIKE GIDEON: It's about the same, which whenever you go into an edgy off-season like we had, it's good to see a little change up in somebody, actually smile.

Q. How do you feel your dad did?
MIKE GIDEON: I think he felt pretty good about it. I actually haven't had the chance to listen to it. I was a little nervous at the start, just all the country sayings and everything that he always used on the practice field with us. So I was nervous about that, as was my mother, and I think he didn't embarrass us.

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