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PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE MEDIA DAYSJuly 24, 2014Mike RileyLOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA COACH RILEY:ﾃつ Good morning, everybody.ﾃつ I'd like to say we're thankful to be back here for another year.ﾃつ Getting ready for the season.ﾃつ Looking forward to this year.ﾃつ Couple things that I've noted about this upcoming team, I think first of all, we've got a lot of guys that are coming back.ﾃつ So there is some experience there.ﾃつ The other thing, the leadership and work ethic through the off‑season has been awesome.ﾃつ So setting a good table for starting off fall camp and getting ready to go.ﾃつ So from that, I'd like to introduce to you two of our finest young men that we've ever had.ﾃつ Great players, but also great people in our program both team captains, both really good players, and obviously glad to have them here with us today.ﾃつ The first is Sean Mannion, who is going to be back here on my right in the corner, our quarterback.ﾃつ And Michael Doctor, our outside linebacker from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Q.ﾃつ Given your track record of developing quarterbacks and your experience with the conference, when you look at the group of returning starters, where did they rank in terms of historical precedence?ﾃつ All ten guys coming back are really, really good. COACH RILEY:ﾃつ They are really good.ﾃつ And I've been asked this question about the history of it.ﾃつ Has there ever been more good quarterbacks coming back in one year?ﾃつ I can't think of that time.ﾃつ The neat thing about quarterbacking in our conference is there is a great history there in general.ﾃつ I love that.ﾃつ I've watched this conference since I was a kid, and my dad was coaching at Oregon State, so it's been pretty special to watch through the years the number of great quarterbacks that have come through this league. But this is a great year, these are good players, and I think it says a lot about what we have to look forward to with the league this year.ﾃつ Good quarterbacks can help you have good seasons and good teams. Q.ﾃつ I was thinking back to the last time and thought it was around 2004, you had Derek Anderson, obviously Rodgers and Leinart.ﾃつ The NFL futures of these guys, how would you assess, starting with your guy, Sean? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ There is no doubt about it that Sean has an NFL future.ﾃつ He had a chance to come out early and was going to be drafted relatively high this year, if he wanted to.ﾃつ And I'm glad that he decided to stay with us.ﾃつ So I think his opportunity will be good, and there will be many more from our league that will have good opportunities and be good players.ﾃつ It's kind of interesting as they go forward in the NFL, because they now are looking out of the box to a different style of quarterbacks and what might fit.ﾃつ They're looking at situational type guys that are more versatile, and running and throw.ﾃつ But there will always be a place for a guy like Sean Mannion who can throw a ball like he can. Q.ﾃつ What kind of pressure does that put on you guys defensively? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ I think that when you look at the overall deal when people talk about spread offense, they're really talking about a very generic thing because there are probably, what, people would say 7 or 8 different spread offenses in the Pac‑12 Conference, but they all have their own particular flavor.ﾃつ They're not all created the same. So it does put a lot of pressure on defensive teams, defensive coordinators because you're going to have to prepare for a variety of different things as the season goes on.ﾃつ So that is kind of the world that we're living in right now.ﾃつ The spread offense you'll see from Coach Leach at Washington State is different from the spread they're running down at Arizona State and of course what they're doing at Oregon.ﾃつ Everybody's got their own little deal that is different. Then you've got a team like us that is a little bit of a dinosaur.ﾃつ We still huddle.ﾃつ But we try to put pressure on the defenses by changing personnel groups and doing some stuff like that.ﾃつ So I think the diversity in our league is awesome.ﾃつ I think the spread offenses, like I said, that's just such a generic term, because they're so different from each other as you go through and I think it provides a lot of interesting football for our fans. Q.ﾃつ Do you think you guys are a little bit different and maybe recruiting for a specific offense? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ I'm hoping that's true.ﾃつ I'm hoping.ﾃつ I thought a couple years ago that if we, which we're going to because of our quarterback, primarily, if we stay the course with how we do things do we then become the different kind of preparation that you have to have?ﾃつ I could relate it to back in the day when I coached defense in Canadian football league and there were only nine teams in the league.ﾃつ But we were the only team in the league that ran the three‑four defense.ﾃつ So we were the odd preparation for everybody else in the league when we played them, and I love that about that. So I thought a couple years ago initially maybe this will be the case of what we do, it will be a little different from what we do style‑wise.ﾃつ I'm not sure that's true, but I'm hoping there is something to that. Q.ﾃつ How was Sean Mannionﾃや冱 summer and how did his summer raise his stock nationally? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ I think that's good.ﾃつ I think the exposure is good.ﾃつ I think the course that he took when he looked into coming out put him on the radar as far as talking more about him.ﾃつ Whether it was to be in the NFL or you folks in the media.ﾃつ But I think the biggest factor is he's a good player with a lot of good numbers, so he belongs in any conversation about quarterbacking in this country right now. Q.ﾃつ He mentioned he was working on his footwork more.ﾃつ COACH RILEY:ﾃつ You know, he is not or won't be ever probably a runner.ﾃつ But the more that he can do to improve any kind of foot quickness, anything that helps you get away from the center or move in the pocket or stay away from those other guys or get yourself in a position more quickly to throw the football, anything like that that can help you physically, that's what he can do. The other thing can help him and he's worked hard on is his actual release of the football.ﾃつ He has always been from the minute he became a gym rat, he was in the film room.ﾃつ The guys, the graduate assistants in the summers came in in the evenings to watch film when he was a freshman and no one even knew who he was.ﾃつ He has managed to take that work ethic to another level this last summer. So I'm really proud of him just because he's a great young man in our program that's taken on‑‑ from a guy that was probably what I would call relatively shy when he was a freshman into being now a guy that really has not only the leadership as an example, but can be a vocal leader too.ﾃつ So this is a good story with this guy. Q.ﾃつ How much better prepared are quarterbacks when you get them as true freshman than even ten years ago, forget about 15, 20 years ago.ﾃつ It seems the level of training, they come in so much more advanced than ever before. COACH RILEY:ﾃつ Well, there is no doubt about that.ﾃつ I think you're seeing that development even jump now.ﾃつ More guys playing faster from college to the NFL.ﾃつ More guys that have played and thrown a lot of passes and done a lot of stuff in high school and what they're doing in high school.ﾃつ I think it's great preparation.ﾃつ You're seeing more guys playing younger.ﾃつ I think it's just the growth of the teaching of what guys do and how that has taken place.ﾃつ Also, you can never displace the fact that it has a lot to do with the talent of the individuals. Q.ﾃつ Will Isaac Seumalo be able to play? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ I think it's on pretty good schedule to be ready to play.ﾃつ If not at the very first game early.ﾃつ So we're going to be very, very careful with that.ﾃつ So that's why I'm being very careful when I say he's going to play.ﾃつ But I anticipate him being ready.ﾃつ I would think he might be ready for the first game, but maybe not. Q.ﾃつ Were you able to do anything during the summer? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ Not much yet.ﾃつ Well, I guess he has now but it's been a long time.ﾃつ So we're going to have to be pretty slow with him. Q.ﾃつ Your running game picked up at the end of the year.ﾃつ What do you attribute that to? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ I think it's just one of those things we just stayed with and finally got better at.ﾃつ We had a lot of disruption in the offensive line early.ﾃつ Then when we needed the running game and we got a little more stable in that group, we played really good defenses and top three in the league three games in a row weren't very effective.ﾃつ Just kept staying with it, and finally get some execution in the last two games that gave us kind of a glimpse into our past. ﾃつThat's how this running game is supposed to look, and also where we have to go in the future. Q.ﾃつ Where do you feel that is at right now? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ I'm excited about it.ﾃつ I think we made some progress in spring practice, but frankly, I'm worried about our offensive line.ﾃつ Our offensive line with our five starters, we could be really good; it's going to be a good group.ﾃつ But I think through different reasons we've developed more depth.ﾃつ So we could have the five starters and more depth than we've had in a long time. But we've got three of those starters that have had injury deals over the course of the spring and summer.ﾃつ So those three guys aren't ready like I was talking about Isaac a minute ago with Gina.ﾃつ Then everything starts to juggle and we have to really look at it.ﾃつ Football goes in general offensively, a lot will go with how our offensive line goes.ﾃつ So that's going to be a big issue, running and throwing the ball. Q.ﾃつ Did you throw more a year ago than you did at the end of last season? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ Yeah, there's no doubt about it.ﾃつ I think I actually became a little bit of a victim of it myself early because we were so good throwing the ball for six games.ﾃつ It was pretty incredible.ﾃつ So I think that probably threw more earlier than I should have to develop that running game into what it could have been because he was throwing high 70%.ﾃつ His touchdown interception was crazy good.ﾃつ His yardage was leading the nation. Q.ﾃつ It was pretty strange. There have been some good running years and some bad running years. COACH RILEY:ﾃつ Yeah, no, that's right.ﾃつ We've had some terrific runners.ﾃつ I think our trademark when we're at our best is balance.ﾃつ I think that's who we really strive to be and want to be.ﾃつ It's really good for everybody when we are balanced with what we do.ﾃつ Then we've got to have some curveball stuff that's not necessarily in the realm of what we do all the time, like when we added the fly sweep. So we've got to have all the parts working.ﾃつ The running game, the passing game, the screen game, the draw game.ﾃつ Everything that helps our offensive line against a good defensive line, we've got to do well. Q.ﾃつ With the uncertainty on the offensive line and the running game, do you look to the defense in those first two games with the experience returning on that side?ﾃつ COACH RILEY:ﾃつ Well, you know, I would like to think with the experience we have at linebacker, three senior linebackers and two senior safeties that that gives us that right down the middle streak.ﾃつ I actually think the real strength of our defensive line will be on our interior too.ﾃつ I really like the looks of that.ﾃつ We've got good players there, and we've added a guy named Jalen Grimble that I think will be a factor. So I think right down the middle of our defense we should be good.ﾃつ I'd like to say I don't want to think about that too much, because I'd like to say both our offense, defense, and special teams will all hit full speed ahead, first game of the year going.ﾃつ So they'll pick each other up and be good.ﾃつ But that part of it is kind of the mystery about how it unfolds.ﾃつ It goes right into how a game unfolds.ﾃつ So we'll have to deal with that as we go and try to have all the parts ready to go. Q.ﾃつ Will Isaac Seumalo definitely come back at center? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ Not definitely, no.ﾃつ We're still having discussions about that.ﾃつ He's been injured.ﾃつ I was just telling everybody he's been injured since the bowl game.ﾃつ I anticipate him maybe being ready somewhat for the first game but early in the year for sure.ﾃつ I would like to think we might play him at guard or tackle.ﾃつ He has the intelligence and ability to do that.ﾃつ I think that we have actually two guys that can play center, but I'm thinking about possibly Harlow and Seumalo at guard.ﾃつ I'd like that picture physically inside against all the interior guys that we see in there.ﾃつ As long as our tackles particularly we find the right and left tackle.ﾃつ We have three guys there, I don't know if any one of them will be ready to start this year.ﾃつ So that will play a big part in where Isaac goes and where Sean Harlow goes. Q.ﾃつ What would be ideal, if you could line it up?ﾃつ COACH RILEY:ﾃつ I have one of those new guys play left tackle I'd have Harlow at left guard, Grant Bays and Josh Mitchell, either one of those guys at center, and Isaac at right guard, and Gavin Andrews at right tackle.ﾃつ That's probably how it would look. Q.ﾃつ Youﾃや决e the most experienced coach here and have been to many media days already. Do you feel like youﾃや决e the ﾃや彭eanﾃや of this Conference?ﾃつ COACH RILEY:ﾃつ I don't ever think of it like that.ﾃつ I try not to.ﾃつ I'm thankful for it.ﾃつ I will say it's changed dramatically.ﾃつ They keep us on our toes and it's grown so much since we first started and we were meeting down by the airport for half a day in the morning, so I can appreciate that. But just a general thought about that, I'm very thankful for that.ﾃつ I came back to Oregon State with the intention of establishing a long‑lasting program that had an identity, and I'm glad that I've had the chance to be able to do that and continue to do that.ﾃつ I've seen a lot of guys, I guess somebody told me since 2011 there are ten new head coaches in our league.ﾃつ We all know it's changing all the time, but we're thankful for the stability. Q.ﾃつ And college footballﾃや冱 already changed a lot in that time. Can you reflect on that? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ There are definitely changes everywhere.ﾃつ There are changes in the football team as we've talked about new style of offense, different kinds of spreads all over the place.ﾃつ That generic term spread could be numerous different things.ﾃつ Then the landscape and recruiting, the landscape of student‑athlete welfare, all these issues that have come up big in the last few years, it's ever changing.ﾃつ With the kind of dynamics we have and the size of how college football has grown, it's only going to continue to do this and draw this kind of attention to these kind of issues, which I think most them are very appropriate.ﾃつ I think we might be reaching for better ideas about for sure student‑athlete welfare, for sure recruiting.ﾃつ I think we're going in good directions that can be helpful to the student‑athlete and game in general when I'm talking about recruiting. Q.ﾃつ Whatﾃや冱 the key to keeping that stability while adapting to all of the changes? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ I think the key is not getting stagnant with what you do is to continue to try to grow in every way.ﾃつ So we look.ﾃつ It's been fun for me.ﾃつ That's why I feel good about this job.ﾃつ I'm energized by the football.ﾃつ I always love tweaking what we're doing and trying to make it better.ﾃつ I think we try to do that in every way in our program.ﾃつ We've made big changes nutritionally with our team this last year, big changes in what we do in the weight room with them.ﾃつ Then just other things that help the program.ﾃつ Whether it's trying to do something new for our facility, our field, or whatever it might be.ﾃつ I'm energized by all of that all the time. So frankly, I've been to a lot of these things now, but I feel heading into a new year, like a little bit of a rookie again, I don't really want to lose that.ﾃつ I kind of like that part of it. Q.ﾃつ Your fans really want to keep up with Oregon.ﾃつ How difficult is it for Oregon State to keep up when Oregon obviously has a booster of 65, 68 million dollars?ﾃつ How can Oregon State keep up with them when they don't have that similar situation? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ I think we just have to keep fighting like crazy to improve what we do.ﾃつ We have got the team that's been the best team in the league probably over the last five years is a general statement that's probably right.ﾃつ They just happen to be in our state, which is obviously difficult. But we've still got to find every way we can to beat them on the field.ﾃつ That's our job.ﾃつ The other part of it to give them credit is that this league has taken chunks because of things like Oregon has done, and it started back when we first got going with Pete Carroll and went to USC and they started their run of that national caliber of play that put them in the National Championship realm.ﾃつ And everybody had to step it up or you would get left in the dust football‑wise.ﾃつ I mean, they set the standard at that time, and everybody had to rise up. I think our league got better from that.ﾃつ Oregon has done that.ﾃつ They've done that football‑wise, they've done that in facilities.ﾃつ So everybody's got to push to do that.ﾃつ We take care of the football part of it, and we have to do everything we can to beat them.ﾃつ One of your goals always has to be to win the championship and beat your rival, and we haven't done that in a while. Q.ﾃつ How much does money play a role?ﾃつ What could you guys do if someone said here's $68 million, do what you want? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ I don't know.ﾃつ It's hard for me to say what that really means.ﾃつ There is no doubt it's helpful in a university setting to have money to build facilities.ﾃつ There is no doubt that is helpful in the marketing of a program nationally.ﾃつ There is no doubt about that.ﾃつ But the other part of it is we can continue to try to do whatever we can to match some of that. But the other part of it is, for me, once that's said and done, we've got to get to the football part.ﾃつ We've got to do a great job of evaluating players and making sure we recruit the guys for Oregon State and we've got to win games.ﾃつ So we have to be on top of the recruiting, on top of the football, and then I'll help in any other way we can to grow our university, grow basically the football program around the actual strategic part of it.ﾃつ I think we just have to continue to buy it.ﾃつ I don't think sitting and worrying about what other people have, but when you see it for me football‑wise, we've got to be able to match that.ﾃつ Have the right players in the right place to win the game.ﾃつ That's what we have to worry about. Q.ﾃつ I said that because we got together and weﾃや决e getting you $68 million after this. COACH RILEY:ﾃつ I was told that was going to be the case. Q.ﾃつ Does the success in football give hope to menﾃや冱 basketball and the other programs?ﾃつ COACH RILEY:ﾃつ I would think so.ﾃつ You look at our baseball program and gymnastics program.ﾃつ There are a lot of reasons you think you can do it there.ﾃつ I was fortunate to be around in the pre Ralph Miller, but Paul Valenti era, and Oregon State was always second to UCLA.ﾃつ So I saw the colosseum full all the time.ﾃつ Now great basketball.ﾃつ Now I know time has changed and Oregon State for a period of a long time there got left in the dust facility wise when they were building space ships somewhere else.ﾃつ But I think through time there is no reason coach can't get that thing rolling.ﾃつ I think it will be good.ﾃつ And I think he's the right guy for it. Q.ﾃつ How do the wide receivers rank this year? Is there anything youﾃや况e talked to Sean about that? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ Kind of the general message has been that this is no first Saturday news.ﾃつ We're probably not going to have one guy go out and catch 128 balls this year.ﾃつ So we're going to need more from a lot of people.ﾃつ And I think we're capable of that.ﾃつ That is the good thing.ﾃつ I think Sean knows that.ﾃつ Sean has done a fantastic job of getting the guys in the summertime, because it's relatively a young group of receivers, but our receivers not only have to step forward, and I think guys like first of all, Richard Mullaney and Victor Bolden, those guys have played.ﾃつ So they've got to step up. Then we have some young guys that have to step in and be ready to make plays.ﾃつ But I think Sean has done a nice job through spring practice and through the summer of bringing them up.ﾃつ Then we need to run the ball better.ﾃつ Our backs need to catch more balls.ﾃつ We were at our best when we were running the ball.ﾃつ We had Chris Rogers, our quarterback was throwing for 78%, and Chris caught 78 balls one year.ﾃつ So that is the kind of balance that we're going to have to find because we're not going to have that 128 (No microphone) catches. Q.ﾃつ Seanﾃや冱 dad is a high school coach up the street. Do you see differences with players that come in with coaches as dads? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ I don't know.ﾃつ I'd kind of be making something up because of that.ﾃつ But there is no doubt that Sean has the characteristics, like I said earlier, about being a gym rat.ﾃつ He loves football.ﾃつ And I know his dad pretty well.ﾃつ His dad is a really good football coach.ﾃつ So I would imagine that some of that has rubbed off.ﾃつ The love of the game, and the work ethic that goes into the game I think that could very well be whether it's a football coach or character of John Mannion, the dad.ﾃつ I don't know which is the right answer there. But I'd have to look back at other guys that have had dads as their coaches or coached.ﾃつ I do have two kids that play for us that are coaches sons, Seumalo, and Andrew.ﾃつ They have the same kind of thing.ﾃつ Great work ethic, character, and the knowledge of what it takes to be a good football player and do the work you need to do. Q.ﾃつ How does Sean rank professionally now? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ I think he ranks very well in there.ﾃつ I'm not going to rank them one by one through the last few years, but the last three guys and the only guy that's not playing that didn't get a chance to play or played in the NFL was Lyle Moevao, and Lyle might have had a shot at it had he not gotten hurt. But Sean will definitely get a good opportunity, and I think he will do well.ﾃつ He is smart.ﾃつ He's got all the arm strength with all the throws.ﾃつ He's accurate with the ball and he is improving some of the things that he'll need to work on and make better and better as he goes along in football and that is everything that he can do fitness wise with his speed and his delivery.ﾃつ But he'll be just fine. Q.ﾃつ How do the reductions in USCﾃや冱 scholarship affect your recruiting in the Southern California area? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ I really don't know until it happens what those numbers mean.ﾃつ We all understand athletes everywhere, and particularly in this area.ﾃつ So it will have some effect.ﾃつ Just how much will be determined. Q.ﾃつ Do you have to dig a little deeper? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ Yeah, I am.ﾃつ But you're not talking big, big numbers.ﾃつ You're talking five, six guys.ﾃつ So it will impact it, but I don't know how much. Q.ﾃつ With Sean returning to Oregon State instead of going to the NFL, how do you see his teammates are going to rally around him? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ Well, I think that I never thought of it in those terms.ﾃつ But I think that probably is a‑‑ there is probably something real there about the loyalty that he's showing.ﾃつ It sounds bad because I think that they also all understand that Brandin Cooks should come out, you're going to be drafted in the first round.ﾃつ You've got to do this.ﾃつ I don't know.ﾃつ I guess in general that it makes a big deal.ﾃつ They know Sean, they elected him captain for two years.ﾃつ They know he's going to do the right thing to do.ﾃつ He's going to gather information.ﾃつ And at that point it becomes a business decision, and a decision that all of them would like to be able to make. Q.ﾃつ What do you think about Jaswha James, a local product? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ Jaswha James is one of my favorite stories right now.ﾃつ He's battled some injuries through his time, but, well, he's had a back deal almost the whole time. I don't know if you noticed in the bowl game, but he had a terrific game.ﾃつ He's positioned himself to be a starter, and he is a quality young man, high character, good student.ﾃつ Continuing to work in the program.ﾃつ Has not really played that much yet, but I see him having a really good year. Q.ﾃつ Kyle Whittingham said he thinks the league is stronger now than it was even three years ago. Do you agree and why? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ I think he's right on.ﾃつ I think for sure he's right.ﾃつ I think that it possibly could be because coaching staffs that were put in place around that time have now had two or three years to get going.ﾃつ Mike Leach, Todd Graham, Rich Rodriguez, they've had time to get their programs going.ﾃつ There have been a lot of changes, Utah coming in, UCLA, so, they've had a chance to get their programs established, and what they want to do football‑wise, that could be a factor. Q.ﾃつ As important as continuity is in staff, how valuable is it to bring in a new voice like you did? COACH RILEY:ﾃつ I love the continuity in staff, but when you need to make a change or you have a change available, then you want it to be one that impacts your program.ﾃつ I think with John we've gotten a guy that first of all I've gotten comfortable with him as a person, and how he treats people, and he's bright.ﾃつ And the football part of it is experience, and he's a guy that can bring some more staff and information to the table as we can discuss forever what we're going to do, how we're going to do it, and how we can get better.ﾃつ So I like it.ﾃつ Since we had to make a move and had an opening available, that was, I think, a positive thing for us to be in. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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