	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

BIG 12 CONFERENCE MEDIA DAYS

July 24, 2007

Gary Pinkel

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

CHARLIE FISS: We're ready to begin day two of Big 12 Football Media Days. We'll start with the Missouri Tigers.
Coach, your thoughts on the Tigers as you begin the season.
COACH GARY PINKEL: We're, like everybody, I think excited about the beginning of the season. Our players have worked very hard all summer long. We're very pleased with the leadership and the work ethic. It's probably as good as it's ever been.
And I think that's a start. What we're trying to do is focus on getting better every day. I think our team's done a good job of that. The leadership of our team have provided that with our team, focused on that alone.
And we've got another week. The players are going to finish working out this week and finals and then report on the 3rd and then we get going.
So talks are about over with and get a chance to get together and get in final preparations for the season.
CHARLIE FISS: Let's go to questions from the floor.

Q. Coach, the obvious question everybody's got. Your offense could score on anybody. What's the status of your defense at this point in time? How do you feel about that side of the football?
COACH GARY PINKEL: Well, I think that we lost some starters. Most of the players that are replacing the starters that we lost, five, six starters we lost, have played a lot or have started games.
So I think we have more experience than what might appear. I think we're young in some of our back-up spots. But I think we've also got some talent. We run well. I think we've got some depth there. So I think that's certainly a concern. I think if you look at anybody that loses half their starters on the side of the football, I think there's -- you look back and say possibly we have to see how that side comes along. And I'd agree with that.
I think what's going to be key for our defense is obviously we're going to have to be pretty good as we open up with Illinois. And we gotta be good and fast, but I think what's going to be critical for our defense is our defense gets better every week. And I think that's going to be real important for us to achieve our goals.
And I think there's that challenge. From an offensive standpoint I wish we could score against anybody at any time. I think that was a little bit of an extreme statement. That's not the case or we probably would have gone undefeated.
But I think for our offense we get most of our offense back, the challenge is going to be offensively can we reach the potential of the offense. I mean, can we reach our potential. And it's going to be very important that we're very unselfish. And if we can get those two things, then we've got a chance, I think, to potentially be a good football team.

Q. Gary, you got kind of the first pick as you emerged as the North Division champion this year. Do you like that role coming into the start of the season how do you think the players will react to it?
COACH GARY PINKEL: I think any time you look at preseason picks, I've always -- as coaching I think maybe we're gaining a little bit of respect. But ultimately to receive the respect you want to have you have to win at a higher level than we've done. That being said, we're just going to focus and work hard and like to make it come true. But we're just going to -- we understand it's a long season, one game at a time, and I think that we have the potential to be pretty good, but we'll see.

Q. Kind of going back to, you had some success here. But fans tend to get a little bit restless. Do you feel that you're going to have to win the Big 12 North to kind of avoid talk about maybe Coach Pinkel being on the hot seat?
COACH GARY PINKEL: I think as a coach you don't worry about that. What you try to do is just be the best football team you can and do everything you can to reach your potential. The season when I was head coach at Toledo 10-1 didn't win a championship. Those were pretty good years. I think back when I was at Washington, 11-1, third in the nation didn't win the championship, Southern Cal did. I think there's a lot of things to look at. What we'll do is focus on just trying to have the best football team you can, see what happens.

Q. Coach, how unique is it in college football now to have two guys like Martin and Chase on your roster at the same time, and what kind of matchup problems does it cause for other teams when you have two big passing catching tight ends like you do now?
COACH GARY PINKEL: I think it's pretty unique what we have. We have two of the best tight ends in the nation. I think because they're both 6-6, they're both weigh 240, 250, they both have great speed. They can make plays. They're unselfish.
And so I think that provides us with opportunities to do a lot of things. We can move them around on our offense, we can put them anywhere on the field and which allows us to utilize them in different ways. If Chase Daniel was here, he would tell you that those kind of targets are fun to throw the football to. The range these guys have. A lot of times we can put them in mismatches not necessarily speed all the time sometimes speed maybe on linebackers, but certainly size-wise.
We have a way to move people around to do that. So I'm just glad we got them. One is a junior and one is a senior, and I'm glad we got them one more year and hopefully we can do good things with them.

Q. Follow up on Chase, coming off what he did last year, with all the discussion can you talk about how talented he was until folks got a chance to see what he was doing following Brad, some were not that aware just how talented he could be and what he could do. Is this a year now where you feel folks are going to see more and even better out of him as a follow-up to an outstanding year that he had last season?
COACH GARY PINKEL: I think that's the challenge. I think the challenge -- I would suggest he had as good a year as any first-year starter maybe in the nation last year.
I think he was a pretty good player. I felt when we signed him, we had an absolutely outstanding player. His challenge is now. I talked about the offense a moment ago, can we go to another level on offense? And in order to do that he's the one that distributes the football. And he's got a lot of people around him. A lot of people can make plays. Most everybody we had a year ago. And some of the freshmen are improving.
So that's going to be the challenge. Can we say that at the end of the season that this offense has reached its potential and it's going to start with him.
But he's an amazing young man. I've seen quarterbacks over the years. I've been fortunate to be around a lot of guys, several of which have played in the NFL, and I've never been around a guy like this guy. This guy's -- he's probably the best natural leader I've ever been around without a question. His work ethic, his quiet confidence has really been very, very impressive.
So I know this, that he loves to play football. He loves game day. And it will be interesting to see what happens.
CHARLIE FISS: We'll call a stop to our formal setting.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297