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AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEDIA DAYJuly 29, 2014Bill BlankenshipNEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND THE MODERATOR: Next we welcome the University of Tulsa, Coach Bill Blankenship who has proven you can go home again and be successful. A record of 11 wins in the 2012 season, a great deal of promise for this season. COACH BLANKENSHIP: Thank you so much. It is indeed an honor to be here in our first inaugural season with the American Athletic Conference. Here very excited to represent the University of Tulsa, to represent our community and our region. We know for a fact that we are better than our record indicated a year ago. We are excited to have an opportunity to get back on the field and show that. Questions. Q. Everybody has talked about the values and benefits of being part of a new conference. How about the challenges? COACH BLANKENSHIP: I think the challenges begin with just unfamiliarity. You always have an opportunity to go see some new places, some new teams. We have gotten accustomed to the conference we were in, a lot of the teams that were there. So we really look forward to the renewed rivalries with SMU and Houston and Tulane and Memphis that are in our region, but also to open up the door and to be able to travel into Connecticut, Philadelphia, to play Temple. We have an ongoing relationship with East Carolina. But South Florida. Those are just programs that certainly stand the test of time. Cincinnati has done so much to stand on their own. We're excited. They're actually an old conference foe from way back when. Obviously we played UCF on a number of occasions, as well. Q. You've had a lot of success, but you're picked last here. Any reaction to that? COACH BLANKENSHIP: Two things. I appreciate you pointing that out. I actually thought that was an alphabetical listing when I first saw it (laughter). No, I hope the prognosticators can be as successful in picking the ending as we did a year ago. We were picked to win the conference a year ago... Hopefully we'll have a chance to stack 'em all up and count 'em when it's all over. Q. With the changes on your staff, how do you see the offense going? How different is it going to be? COACH BLANKENSHIP: That's a great question. We really went through spring with some commitment to knowing that we've got to reengage our passing game. We knew that was an area offensively that we struggled with a year ago. I'm really excited that Denver Johnson has accepted the role as offensive coordinator because of the organization he brings. If there's anything that we felt that we knew we had to change, it was to be much more unified in how we communicate what we were doing and how we get that accomplished. I think that he's done a great job of really retooling our offense. A lot of the plays will be the same, but I think how we're going about that, how we present that offense, how we force and reinforce the passing game hopefully will look a lot different this year. Q. Bill, you're familiar with a lot of these teams, even the teams that left a year early like UCF. I don't know if that's a comfort, but at least you know what these teams are about in most cases. COACH BLANKENSHIP: I do. We really take great encouragement from that. Two years ago UCF was not in a bowl in 2011. For them to come back and have the run they've had the last two years... Houston was not in a bowl a season ago. To see them rebound. We try to look at the models of Missouri, Auburn, teams like that that had no bowl opportunity, yet flipped it around in 2013. We've tried to model what we're after in 2014 after those teams. I mean, certainly we think Central Florida has set the bar high, but we also know that's a team we've competed with in the past. We've got to raise our game, certainly try to chase those guys. I think they and Cincinnati are leading the pack. THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you. COACH BLANKENSHIP: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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