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BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEDIA DAYS

July 23, 2007

Guy Morriss

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

CHARLIE FISS: We're joined by Coach Guy Morriss from the Baylor Bears. Welcome to San Antonio, a three-hour drive south for you. Tell us about the Bears as you get ready to begin the fall season.
COACH GUY MORRISS: I'm excited to be here. I'm glad we made it. Wasn't sure if the plane was going to get off the ground or not. We're looking forward to '07. Our chemistry is good.
I think our players are coming together as a team. We've had a good spring. Had a great summer. I think our message to our football team has been almost daily, you know, all the running we're doing, all the lifting we're doing doesn't amount to a hill of beans if we don't take it to the field. And that's where we've got to have some results, is between the white lines this year.
Just playing close is no good and those type of things. So we've got to find a way to win some closer games.
And I believe our kids believe they can win. Obviously we still have to find out just how deep does that belief go.
And that's why we line up to play. We're excited about the opportunity to get started. I think as in the past the key for us and our season, our goal, is our nonconference schedule. We need to come out of nonconference at the very worst 3-1, but we definitely feel like we can be 4-0. We'll see what happens from there.
CHARLIE FISS: Let's go to questions.

Q. Can you talk about what do you hope that Larry can bring to the defense? I know you've talked about him being a lot more vocal and getting with the guys. What do you want to see him and this unit do to improve?
COACH GUY MORRISS: Well, I think that our kids believe in Coach Hoefer. He was with John Goodner at Texas Tech and Spike Dykes when this whole 4-2-5 deal got implemented. He knows the system.
I believe the kids have great confidence in Coach Hoefer, as I do, based on the fact that he's been in that particular system for so long, I don't know if there's anybody in the country that could tell you any more about the 4-2-5 defense and how it's supposed to work than Larry Hoefer. Coach Hoefer, he's kind of a Jekyll and Hyde, I guess. You can ask some of these players along the way. But you're sitting in the office or staff meeting and he's pretty quiet, pretty reserved.
And then he kind of blossoms when he gets out there on the field. He coaches hard. He gets emotional and he's very demanding once he steps on the football field and I think our kids have really bonded with him, if that's the right word.
I know that they had a good relationship with Coach Bradley. Maybe a little different. Maybe the style of coaching is different. But Coach Bradley was kind of a free spirit, wild man, so to speak. And Coach Hoefer is a little different style. But I think to me style doesn't really matter, as long as the kids are understanding what's being taught. If Coach Hoefer is coaching hard every day and is knowledgeable in those type of things, he certainly fits all of those requirements for the job.
I didn't want to make a wholesale change in our defense. We had to go through that offensively the year before. And to some degree I think that was part of our problem last year was we were learning a new offensive system. And so we were fortunate enough that we could promote from the inside and not have to make a wholesale change in our defensive schemes.

Q. How much has the quarterback position either bothered or cleared up this summer, and you talked about it, but how much better can the offense be in the second year in the system?
COACH GUY MORRISS: I think that the quarterback situation is kind of clouded rather than cleared for two different reasons, I think. Number one, John David Weed has closed the gap, but John David is doing some things now that he did not do when he first arrived on campus.
He's spent a lot more time in the film room. He's more familiar with the system. He's more comfortable with the system. He's closed the gap on Michael.
But being a former player, I don't think throwing 7-7 two or three times a week during the summer gets Michael Machen real excited, to be honest with you. So maybe that's where the difference comes in. Michael is a guy, I feel like, when we tee it up in the fall is going to be there, and I'm not going to say right now he's going to be our starter, because you can't ignore the fact that John David is closing the gap.
So we should have a good time sorting it out. As far as our quarterback position, we got better depth than we've ever had before. So we're excited about those four guys. It will be a two-man race going into the camp.

Q. How about the offense in the second year?
COACH GUY MORRISS: Just the fact that everybody has been in the system now for a full year and two spring trainings will help. I think they have a real strong, firm grasp of what it's supposed to look like, how it can operate, the production it can produce, how it's a little bit -- I don't know if nervous is right. I was a little bit unsure, I guess, as to how the new coaches would fit into the scheme. But those guys came in, they are veteran coaches. They're young, hotshot guys, and they learn the system and have picked up teaching right where we left off at the end of the season last year. And I don't think we've missed a beat, really, with the changes in the staff.
So I think the fact that we've all played in the system one year and we're familiar with it and understand it more and is going to make us a better offense. I think our offense line will be better. We have to protect our quarterback better and that's obviously going to be better.
And I think it was very glaring that we've got to have a better running game. Gotta call it more. We gotta make ourselves call it when it's not going exactly the way we want to, and keep trying to feed those back with the football and a little bit more balance in our offense than we had last year, will be helpful.

Q. Back on the quarterback. Correct me if I'm wrong, it sounds like you'll be disappointed if Michael doesn't kind of win the starting job heading into the season?
COACH GUY MORRISS: No, I'm not going to be disappointed. We're going to put the best player on the field at all positions. But I just think that kind of knowing his personality and knowing Michael, I think that he's a guy that's more excited about playing games when they're keeping score than throwing 7-7 in the summertime. That's all I'm saying.

Q. Now on the running game, you said that I guess a lot of emphasis was put on passing just because you were breaking in a new system, but how do you balance that, or what is your plan or how would you like to see that balance between the running and the passing game?
COACH GUY MORRISS: I don't think there's any numbers you can put on it. I just think that when we run the football, our yards to carry have got to be much better, substantially better. We're striving just like everybody in college football. We want to run the ball for five yards a carry.
We may not run it 60 times a game like some folks will. But when we dial it, it's gotta be efficient.

Q. How much more confidence do you have in Lee's system this year, the second year, than you had in the first year?
COACH GUY MORRISS: I have confidence in the system because I've been in the system quite a long time. I know all about the system. I was with Coach Mumme when the system was put together. The system I have great confidence in. Lee, I never doubted Lee because when I interviewed him I knew he knew the system. So I had a lot of confidence in Lee and even more I guess after spending a year with him, and the addition of our offensive staff that we've added since last season makes me feel even more confident on top of all that. I like our staff.

Q. How much improved do you feel your offensive line will be for you under the Lee system?
COACH GUY MORRISS: I would like to say I think substantially better. It's kind of a different bird. When you're used to putting your hand in the dirt, what, 70 percent of the time, as we had in the past, you're almost exclusively in a two-point stance. It takes a little adjustment. And I think they have adapted to it pretty well. We'll have four guys there that are veteran guys that have played a little bit coming back. So we feel good about that.
Those guys have been a pretty cohesive group. They've come together, and right now we're trying to find a right tackle. But we should be substantially better. If we're not, then we better start recruiting better guys, I guess.
CHARLIE FISS: We'll stop our formal interviews.

End of FastScripts

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