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SUN BELT CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA DAYSJuly 22, 2019Chip LindseyNew Orleans, Louisiana CHIP LINDSEY: Good afternoon. It's an honor to be here to represent Troy University. It really is. Excited about being the new head coach there. And growing up in that state, Troy obviously very special to me, and working there before and being able to come back home and work has really been exciting. I want to thank the Sun Belt Conference. What a great event here at the Superdome. Our new commissioner Keith Gill, just a really first-class event, and my first experience here at Sun Belt Media Day, so I'm excited about that. We've got a lot of great things going at Troy. A lot of great momentum, new buildings, new facilities all around campus. I think the momentum we have is outstanding and that's our chancellor Dr. Jack Hawkins is a guy that has really kind of spearheaded that. So really, really thankful for him and him doing everything he does for Troy. Our facilities, obviously you guys know, we got a new North End Zone Facility that's been outstanding. Just opened this past year, which has really been exciting for recruiting. Obviously our fan base is outstanding, those guys. Getting to meet a lot of those fans in the first six months on the job Trojan tour and so forth has been great. And then I think our culture is great. Tip your hat to Neal and his staff. Our guys at Troy are in a great spot. They're good kids, good people. They do what we ask them to do, which is really exciting, and therefore I think we're in a good spot to get ready for 2019. I think the first six months, I said it's fast, furious and exciting. It really was. Building a staff was the biggest thing we did. We got the right kind of guys here. I was able to hire some guys that I had worked with in previous stops. People that I think represent the right things that we want to do at Troy, that had the same core values as we do. Recruiting, obviously it's 24/7, 365, finishing off that class. I thought we did a nice job adding to what Neal and those guys already had, and then was able to finish with a flurry there adding six more guys. Then the big thing for me is getting to know our team. It's unusual when you take over a team, I think people forget sometimes there's a lot of learning that goes on there. Some of them I was familiar with from recruiting at other places, but the biggest thing was getting in the homes of the recruits that we had already signed or already committed, getting to know our own team, having dinners to get to know those guys, and then obviously the 15 practices we got on the spring was really huge for us. And I think it established our identity, and that's what we're trying to do. Our core values - character, smart, disciplined, tough - those are things we talk about every day with our players, and that's who we're trying to recruit, guys that have those same values and have great energy, attitude and body language. Our players hear that all the time, and those are things that we've tried to establish, trying to establish what we call TKG's, Troy kinda guys, guys that fit Troy. And I think that's where Troy has had the success in the past, and we're continuing to do that. We've got seven returning starters back on offense. From an offense that ended up with losing Kaleb Barker, the starting quarterback last year that really became effective and got the job done, I thought the previous staff did a great job of that, playing to the strengths to the offense built around a different style quarterback than they thought they were going to have. Defensively we've got four returning starters. We did take some hits in some areas on the D-line and in the secondary, but I really like our young players. I think we have a lot of young players that will now get their opportunity, and they're in a great situation. Our specialists, our kicker, our punter, our holder all back, so excited about. Obviously Tyler Sumpter is one of the better kickers in the league. It's always good to have a kicker. You're going to need those guys in clutch situations. Our home schedule, we've got a great home schedule. We play Campbell at home to kick off the season on August 31st. Home games against Southern Miss, Arkansas State, South Alabama, Georgia Southern, App State, exciting home schedule that I know our fan base is really excited about, and hopefully will be a huge advantage there playing at home. I brought two guys with me today, Kaleb Barker, two seniors, our quarterback, who obviously you guys remember him from last year, had the ACL injury. He's back full speed, 100 percent. Limited in the spring just to keep him from getting rolled up or anything, but really thought he did a great job. When he's in there, it feels different. He's established himself as one of our leaders. He's matured. He's a mature kid. He's grown in that respect. He's married, so he'd better be mature, right? He's a unique guy and really excited about him. And then Melvin Tyus is a fifth-year guy from Montgomery, Alabama, who is our safety for us. He's one of our leaders. He's kind of a lunch pail guy, show up and go to work, not a lot of flair, and is really a great leader for us. Excited about 2019. We're about to kick this thing off and usually when you come to media days, that's what it means, it's right around the corner. So I know our fan base, our program, we're excited about that. Q. Can you talk about your excitement level at the first year as a head coach? CHIP LINDSEY: Yeah, just the head coach for the first time, I know that says enough there, but then the opportunity to do it at a place like Troy with great tradition, being from the state of Alabama, our fan base makes it exciting, they're passionate about what we're doing, and that's always important. Just extremely excited and it's an honor to be the head coach there. Q. When a new coach takes over, we're always talking about there's a learning curve, new systems, concepts and all that, but the fact that what you guys are doing on both sides of the ball, terminology-wise and things are similar to what Neal and those guys did, do you think that gives you a leg up in that regard? CHIP LINDSEY: I sure hope so. That was one of the things I thought with the transition, having two coaches back on offense that were here before, two coaches back on defense, that was important to me. One thing that we've always said is we never try to forget that our players are the most important thing in anything we're doing, and I think when you have a transition, if you can have some similarities on both sides of the ball, I think it just speeds up the transition process. We are very similar to what we do on offense, some terminology a little different, but overall I don't think our players feel the stress of having to learn a new whole offense and defense. Q. What can the fans look to be the same and how do you put your own stamp on the program? CHIP LINDSEY: Yeah, I think there will be a similar style of play. If you remember 2006, I think, Tony Franklin came to Troy and became the offensive coordinator, Coach Blakeney made the decision to go to a spread offense, and then Neal followed him, and I replaced Neal then. So it's kind of always been in that same family. So I think we'll be very similar. We'll build the team around the strengths of our 2019 team, which obviously we think we've got a good idea what that is, but sometimes it takes a little time during the season to get that going. Defensively we'll be very similar. I think that was the key hiring Brandon Hall as our defensive coordinator, he's a guy that was part of that defensive success last year. He's able to mesh some of his ideas with what they've done and had success with in the past. All in all, I think it'll be a similar look, but at the same time I think that's yet to be determined until we get going. Q. Troy is coming off a year when you defeated Nebraska on the road and you're inheriting a team that did that, a lot of personnel back to that. From a fan standpoint what kind of repercussions have you had for expectations, beating a named program on the road like that? CHIP LINDSEY: Gosh, I don't know about from the fans. I haven't paid attention to their expectations. But I do know this: Nobody expects more of our team than we do. We've had, I think, five Power Five wins since Troy became Division I. In 2010 when I was there the first time we were very close at Oklahoma State and didn't get it done, 41-38, I believe. So we've had kind of the tradition to have an opportunity to win some of those games. We've also lost some of those games. That's part of it. But at the same time, our players I think in recruiting when we recruit guys, they're excited about the opportunity to come play some of those Power Five games, and then recently we've had a lot of success here in those games. So we'll try to continue to build on that, and I know we're excited about the opportunities we have this year. Q. Obviously you're from Alabama, you've coached at the high school and college levels in Alabama. Knowing what you knew already about Troy, what have been the strengths and weaknesses that you have to kind of face that are both benefiting and the challenges that you face becoming the head coach of Troy? CHIP LINDSEY: You know, I think the strength of being here at Troy is the tradition that we have. We've had success for long, extended periods of time, and I think we have name recognition, in the recruiting area, the six-hour radius around Troy. When you talk about the state of Alabama we have several high school coaches on our staff that were high school coaches in the staff, over into Georgia and the Panhandle, so I think that's definitely a strength. Weaknesses, I don't know what weaknesses we would have other than we need to make sure that we focus on getting better each and every day, just don't took look too far ahead in somebody we play in week 4 or 5. Just focus on the first game we play, and if we'll do that, have that mentality, I think we'll have success. Q. I want to ask you about two of your running backs. Of course you have B.J. Smith back for this upcoming season, phenomenal player. Your goals for him that you see leading this offense? And another guy in Strong. Have you heard anything from the NCAA about his eligibility possibly for this upcoming season? CHIP LINDSEY: Yeah, you know, B.J. is obviously one of the best players in the league. We're excited about having him back. He's healthy, ready to go. One of our leaders. Our intention is to make sure that he gets his share for sure. He's a proven player and an outstanding kid. Charles is going to have to sit a year. He's not going to be available this year, but excited about his future here at Troy. Q. You mentioned some young players earlier and how you're excited about them. Could you elaborate on some of those players, who they are? CHIP LINDSEY: Sure, Carlton Martial is a guy that was a Freshman All-American for us at linebacker that we're going to have for three more years, so really excited about him. I'm excited about the opportunity for him to become kind of the leader of our team. On offense I think Luke Whittemore is a guy that has played some, but he had a great spring. I expect big things out of him this year. A couple newcomers, Reggie Todd, Khalil McClain, two wide-outs. DK Billingsley is a guy from Scottsboro, Alabama that had a great spring. He's a running back that will be in there with B.J. Jabir Frye also has played some for us. I think those are a few guys that as the season rolls you'll hear their name a lot. Q. You hear air-raid offense, it's kind of a misnomer, people take that to mean that y'all are going to be in 5-4, five-wide slinging it down the field every time, but when you look at Neal's teams, they ran the football, their line of scrimmage was very important to him. Was that a philosophy you also share? CHIP LINDSEY: Yeah, I think so. You go back to when at Southern Miss we had two 1,000-yard rushers in the season, we're running the same offense we did there. For us I think the air-raid is obviously who we are and that's what we're going to be. We're going to always have quarterbacks who have the ability to throw the football, but at the end of the day, I think Neal is a great example of that, last year you put the ball in the hands of your playmakers, and that's what we're going to do. Whoever our best playmakers are, hey, let's make sure we get these guys the ball as many times as we can. A lot of times that's a running back. And you don't have to just hand it to them. You can throw screens to them. You can throw it to them in the passing game, line him up in various spots. I think B.J., DK and Jabir Frye, all are capable of doing that. We'll definitely -- it comes down to a numbers game. If there's too many in the box, we need to throw it; if there's not, we need to run it, and try to keep it that simple. Q. Another new head coach in Jake Spavital at Texas State. Have you scouted him at all? What do you think of Jake Spavital? CHIP LINDSEY: Oh, I've scouted -- Jake and I have been friends a long time. A little jealous, he's got better hair than I have. But he's a really good guy. We've been friends for a long time, shared ideas. He's a really good football coach. He'll do a great job there. I know those people are excited about it, and he's one of my good friends in this business. Looking forward to competing against him. It'll be a lot of fun. Q. You mentioned scouting. The transfer portal, how does that make it more difficult or easier on you? CHIP LINDSEY: You know, I'm kind of neutral on that really to be honest with you. We like the guys we have, so obviously the portal is out there now. It looks like it's here for a little bit, so you use it to your advantage if it fits. We may get a guy or two every now and then, but for us we're really focused on recruiting the high school kids and getting them in there and developing them. I think that's how you build a program, and I think our program is in good shape right now because of that. To answer your question, I would say it's not a huge factor. Maybe it looks like on the outside more than it is. I think the transfer portal, there's -- sometimes you have to be careful what you get out of there. There's usually some deal or some issue that you have to know about before you take one of those guys. You've got to do your research. But at the same time, I think sometimes it makes sense, especially guys who get their degree. I think it's hard to question those guys. Q. You just got off of being OC at Auburn. What was probably the biggest lesson that you took away from that experience? CHIP LINDSEY: You know, I think probably just -- I think the biggest thing I took from that is that, hey, really at the end of the day, no matter what stage you're on and no matter what game you're in, really you worry about preparing your team and making sure that your team can execute the things on offense and defense and in the kicking game that you're good at doing, the things that you hang your hat on, because at the end of the day, it's all about making plays. Good football still wins. You don't turn the ball over, you stop the run on defense and don't give up explosive plays and create explosive plays, you're going to have a chance to win no matter where you are. So I think for me it just put things in perspective of, hey, focus on yourself, focus on the details of what you're doing, and good things usually happen. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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