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SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE MEDIA DAYSJuly 24, 2009Gene ChizikHOOVER, ALABAMA THE MODERATOR: Good morning, everyone. We are ready to begin our final day. We'll start off with Auburn head coach Gene Chizik. Welcome to Media Days, coach. COACH CHIZIK: Thank you. It's obviously an honor and a blessing to be here today at my first SEC Media Day. I'm very honored to be representing Auburn University and Auburn football. It's been a whirlwind of seven-plus months, starting back in mid December. As we took the job in December, we started the recruiting trail after I assembled a coaching staff that I'm very proud of and very glad to have with me at Auburn. We hit the recruiting trail and signed a very good football class. After that, obviously we went into the normal things that you do when you're starting a program from the ground floor. One of the first things we wanted to do was re-recruit our own football team, which obviously we're on a daily basis still getting to know and to recruit every day. That's very important to us, to recruit and get to know our players we have on campus right now, including all of the freshmen that just got here a little less than a month ago. But we started re-recruiting our players. We started to get to know our players. We went into spring practice, really with not a lot of expectations, more just a lot of questions about our football team on both sides of the football, on our special teams. Went through a very physical 15 days of practice. Was very productive on all sides of the ball. But went through our 15 days of very physical spring practice. Then kind of got into the spring recruiting. Went through our spring recruiting, and now have spent the summer game planning, doing the things that we need to do to prepare for the season. Our football team has really worked this summer extremely hard. Obviously everything's on a voluntary basis. We've had great work ethic. Kids are really buying into what we're trying to do. And so it's an exciting time for me personally here at Auburn. It's an exciting time for our fans. And it's gonna be kind of a new beginning. We're excited about our coaching staff, as I mentioned earlier. We feel like we've assembled one of the best coaching staffs in the country, certainly in this league, that's what you have to do. Again, with football being nine or ten days away from starting, we're excited about it. I'm excited to be back at Auburn. Obviously, this is my second go-round at Auburn. The last time I was at Auburn, I was blessed to be a part of an undefeated football season in 2004. That's the last memory I have of Auburn. It's a great memory. We'd like to try to get it back to that point. We're excited about doing that. Without any further ado, kind of open it up. THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. Given the expectations that are going to be placed on your program to win, do you feel pressure to kind of have to succeed immediately? COACH CHIZIK: That's a great question. When you get into this profession, there's pressure everywhere. There's pressure from the fans. There's pressure from the media. I don't think there's any more pressure put on Auburn football than what I put on our kids and myself. We don't really pay a whole lot of attention to all of the external issues out there. We put enough pressure on ourself to be great. Every one of our coaches want to be the best at their trade. I want to be the best at my trade. With that comes being self-imposed pressure. So we set a foundation for what we want to do. That's our goal right now. We're setting a foundation for long-term here at Auburn. The pressure's gonna be there, no matter what school you're at. If you're in college football, that just comes with the territory. But certainly I don't feel like there's going to be any more pressure than what I put on myself to be great. And so, you know, that's kind of how we look at it. Hey, this league is as good as it gets. It's the best in the country. There's only 12. So in this league comes pressure, and it's just kind of part of the deal. I don't pay a whole lot of attention to it. It's probably more self-imposed than anything. Q. Could you disclose who you voted for for quarterback for all SEC? COACH CHIZIK: I tell you, I don't like really discussing the issues of who we voted for, whether it be teams and people. However, I do understand that this has become a huge issue. I don't want to open myself up to answer every time somebody doesn't agree with who votes for who. Tim Tebow is a great quarterback and I did vote for Tim Tebow. I certainly don't want to open myself up for discussion for here and ever more. Those things are confidential. As big of a deal as has been made of this, Tim Tebow is a great quarterback. He's one of the best in the country. Let's just leave it there. Q. Can you talk about hiring Gus Malzahn, how that went, how you brought him on? Talk about your quarterback situation going into this season. COACH CHIZIK: When Gus and I talked about coming to Auburn, I wanted to make sure philosophically we were on the same page. Being a defensive coordinator in this league and having a great grasp in this league what wins and what doesn't, I feel very strongly in the efforts of running the football. I get asked all the time about the spread offense. My question back to the people who ask me about the spread offense is, Please tell me what kind of spread offense you're talking about because there's so many different variations about what people want to call the spread. Gus and I had a lot of long conversations about philosophically about what we both believe in. If you go back and do your homework on Gus Malzahn, the numbers his offenses have put up over the years, if you just go back to the last two, I believe last year they averaged 270 yards rushing a game on the ground. Unless you're an option football team, that's really hard to do. So we talked about philosophically what we want to do. We want to run the football, but we also want to be able to have a very balanced passing attack, too. Everybody wants to have a balanced attack. There's very few teams out there that throw it all the time or run it all the time. If you go back and look at the record, Gus has had a great, great record of being able to be balanced and productive both running and throwing. So -- but we're on the same page. We know what we want to do. We want to create a physical brand of football, which over the years, that's what Auburn was built on. We were both on the very same page with what we wanted to do in that direction. Our quarterback situation is gonna be very unique. There's a unique dynamic there. There's some older guys with experience. Some of them went through the spring. One of them didn't. Then all of a sudden, you have some young guys coming in on campus. When you haven't locked down on a position and said, This is my starter, that means it's up for grabs for everybody that walks through the doors. We would like to get that situation resolved. How long that will take, we don't know. Obviously the guys that have more experience have probably a little bit of a leg up. But that doesn't always, you know, tell the final tale. It will be interesting, but it's an interesting dynamic. It's going to take us a little bit of time to figure it out. Q. Some of the Alabama people here have told me there's billboards up trying to whip up some interest in Auburn football, something they've never seen before, the people of Alabama. Do you sense or agree with this sense out there that Auburn football has stumbled a little bit and there's maybe a bit of a diminishment in its fervor and fan base? COACH CHIZIK: To be honest with you, I don't really know what public opinion is. I don't know. Auburn is a great place. I can say that because I've been there and done that. Again, I don't know exactly how the outside world views Auburn. More specifically, Auburn football. I know how our fans view it. I know how our coaches view it. I know how our administration views it. And we love Auburn. Everything we do will be in the direction of promoting Auburn University. So we're always gonna do what's in the best interest of Auburn. Whatever you see out there, it will be because we think it was in the best interest of promoting our university, both our university and football. So the bottom line is, is we're very proud of Auburn, and so are the Auburn people. I'm not really sure exactly what the outside view is, other than those people, 'cause I don't come into a lot of contact with anybody other than that. Q. You mentioned earlier you thought the SEC was the best conference in the country. Wonder why you say that. Your time in the Big 12, if you could compare the two conferences. COACH CHIZIK: Two great conferences. I mean, arguably the two best in the country. I think time has proven that. I think the Big 12 has made leaps and bounds, since I spent the last four years, since I left the SEC, in the Big 12, I think I can speak a little bit intelligently about it because I've freshly been in both. The Big 12 is leaps and bounds better than it was, let's say, five years ago, in my opinion, top to bottom. So I think it's made some significant strides in being able to claim it as one of the best conferences in the country. And it certainly is. You know, who knows. This is one man's opinion. But the SEC, when you travel stadium to stadium, the passion, the pride, all of the things that go with, you know, what make college football great, there's no greater league, in my opinion, than the SEC. Talent-wise, I mean, it's hard to argue the talent level in the SEC. That's standed [sic] the test of time. I don't think it's changed. You got great players. You've got great coaches. And the interest, it's an all-time high. If you sit here and you look and walk into this media day, it's my first one in the SEC, I think this is great validation. I think it validates the thought of why people think this is the best conference in the country. Look at the interest. I mean, when you walk through the doors, I think it speaks for itself. Do I think this is the best conference in the country? I do. Do I think the Big 12 is a great conference? I do. But I can assure you I'm extremely happy to be back in this conference. Q. What has it been like for you to meet the Auburn people? In June, you came and were greeted by 600 people at the banquet. COACH CHIZIK: I feel like we have the greatest fans on the planet. I'm sure every head coach is going to stand up here and say the same about their institution as well. But, again, I'll go back to, I've lived Auburn for three years of my life, and the fans are just off the chart. Every place that I've gone, my staff and myself have been just welcomed with open arms. There's an excitement in the air. People want to continue on the great traditions that have been built way before me and will continue to go way after me. But the welcome has been very warm and very exciting from our people. Our fans have been through a lot. Auburn people are very resilient. They always come back. But it's been overwhelmingly positive. My staff and I both feel that way no matter where we've been. They've been great. It's been fun. Q. You've mentioned 2004, the success you had there. Do you feel any need to keep any of that staff that was still there, or was it more important for you to change everything, bring in a new attitude? COACH CHIZIK: You know, when you take over a job, you know, you have to do what you think is the best for the program. And there were some people from the previous staff that are still on my staff, and there's some people that are not. And I used my best discernment on which ones I needed to keep and which ones I reluctantly had to let go. Those are tough, tough decisions. But, again, in the name of putting together the best staff in the country, which was my goal, I had to make some tough decisions. So there are some that are still there that remember the 2004 season, that went through it, but not many. But the players, they know it. They remember that season. It was a very special year. We don't talk about it over and over and over and force feed them. But they know that that was one of the greatest years in Auburn history. Again, trying to kind of go back, you know, we're always striving to get back to that point. Being undefeated is hard enough; being undefeated in this league, that's a once in a long time situation to be in. It's just hard to do. It was a very special year for us. Q. Some head coaches have come into the league, gotten a lot of attention. You've been rather low-key. I'm curious if that's a choice that you made? Is that your personality? In this age, do you feel like maybe you need to be more of a personality than what you've been so far? COACH CHIZIK: I've got three children and my wife. I get plenty of attention when I go home. I don't need. What gets you attention is when you win. It's that simple. I don't have to go out and try to gather attention for myself. This isn't about me. This is about Auburn. It's not about me. It's not about our coaches. It's about Auburn. Over the years when Auburn's gotten attention, it's because they've done something very positive, and that's what I want to do. So I don't care to draw a lot of attention to myself. It's just who I am. I care to draw attention to Auburn in a positive light. And if we're doing that, then I'm good. Q. I have an Orlando question for you. A few years ago the UCF job was opened up. Were you ever interested in that? Were you disappointed when maybe you didn't get a chance for that job? COACH CHIZIK: You know, I really don't live in the past, to be honest with you. I really don't. I feel like my steps have been ordered. Everywhere I've been is where I'm supposed to be. So I don't ever question that. I really don't. I'm not trying to be flippant. That's just not the way I operate. Every job that I've taken, every job that I've got, I know there's a bigger plan for my life and I was supposed to get those jobs and that's where I was supposed to be. Obviously that's not one of the places that I was supposed to be the head coach of. That's kind of how I live my life. Q. Do you have the players that you need to run your systems on offense and defense? COACH CHIZIK: You know, there's a fine line in there between putting in exactly what you would like to do on offense and defense and, you know, trying to adapt and adjust to the talent and the skill level that you have. And I think that's what really defines a great coach. You know, you've got to be able to do what you can do, stay within the realm of what you're comfortable with as a coach, yet still adapt enough, knowing that maybe talent-wise and what you need on both sides of the ball, you're not quite there yet. So I think it's a mixture, to answer your question, of what we're gonna have to be really good at in going back to us trying to be the best at our trade. What we've got to do is we've got -- and we've done this, we've kind of laid down the philosophy, the principles, the things that we know, we feel good about, we like what we're doing philosophically. Offensively and defensively this is what we want to be. Yet still having to tweak a little bit of that because you don't necessarily have what you want. I don't think any coach is ever satisfied. That's why everybody's trying to get the better recruiting class than the one before, 'cause you want it to fit what you do even better. So we're gonna be very, very structured in what we teach and how we teach it, yet we've also got to adapt and adjust to our personnel. So we're not gonna do something that we don't think we're physically fit to do, to answer the question. But that's part of coaching. We got to adapt and adjust, and we'll do that. But we'll certainly not try to pit a round peg in a square hole. We're not going to do that. Q. Head coaches make a lot of money now. The salaries seem to be rising for the assistants, coordinators. Could you talk about that. COACH CHIZIK: I think it's great. I think it's great. You know, I was an assistant three years ago, and I don't forget. Let me tell you something. These guys sacrifice a lot. They sacrifice a lot with their families, they sacrifice a lot with their time. Obviously, they do something they love to do. As somebody mentioned earlier, they talked about pressure. Well, there's pressure on the assistants to win, as well, and they feel it. You know, there's a lot of sacrifices that go into this profession. I love the fact that the money for the assistants is starting to rise. I think it's very valid, in my opinion. You know, as far as me being the head coach, I'm sure that most coaches feel this way, we want to try to make sure we do for our assistant coaches all we can do to take care of them and their families. Now, people say, They make so much money. Well, they also have a higher risk of a job than most people do, too. Their job's on the line every year. With that risk comes compensation. I get it. It should. So I'm excited for them in terms of where the money has gone. I'd like to see it continue to work in that direction. And I know me personally, from my staff, I'm gonna do everything I can. And our administration is phenomenal, doing what we can do to make sure our guys are happy and compensate them for a great job that they do. Q. There's been a lot of publicity about some of the recruiting events you have hosted, "Big Cat" weekend, Tiger Prowl, whatever else. Have you received enough big-time commitments to kind of keep that kind of momentum going? Has it been worth it if you had not? COACH CHIZIK: When we go to recruit, we go to recruit the right player for Auburn. That's what we do. If he is the right guy, then that's the guy that we offer, and that's the guy we try to recruit to come to Auburn. So if you look at the commitments that we've got, it's because they're the right guy for Auburn. So we don't really -- again, I'll go back to we don't really get validated by the outside world, what their opinion is on players. 'Cause if I put together all the film time in this whole room of how many people have really evaluated each player, it probably wouldn't be 10 minutes. But that's what we do for a living. So I trust our opinion. I trust what we see. We're gonna continue to recruit in a way that we think is best for Auburn. That's it. We're not trying to impress anybody. We're trying to recruit in what we think is the best way for Auburn. If a kid is recruited by Auburn and signed by Auburn, then we feel like he was the right guy for Auburn. What the outside world and outside opinion is about that player is really inconsequential to me. Q. You were a walk-on at Florida in the '80s. Talk about what you may have picked up from Charley Pell in terms of being a head coach, stuff like that? Did that actually get you in the mood or get you started toward becoming a head coach? COACH CHIZIK: Well, it certainly did. I've had a lot of great people -- I've been around a lot of great people in my life that have really kind of influenced the coaching world for me and really kind of grabbed my attention and my interest, starting all the way back from my high school coach. So Coach Pell was our head coach. Tough guy. Ran a great program. You know, I've had a lot of others since then, too, as well, that have influenced my life in the coaching profession. I've been blessed to be around a lot of guys that have been very successful. That's been big. I would say certainly that had an influence on me, yes. Q. Can you talk about the addition of receivers Emory Blake and DeAngelo Benton, the impact they'll have on the offense. COACH CHIZIK: I reluctantly talk about young guys because not one of them has taken a snap at Auburn yet. You ask about those two specifically. I'll simply say that they're very talented guys, in our opinion. It's gonna take them some time to get used to all of the things that you have to do to play in this league. The transition obviously from a high school player to the SEC, that's probably the toughest transition in college football. But those two have a lot of talent. We hope they can step up to the plate and help our offense this year. In a perfect world, that's what would happen. But I certainly can't comment on it this early. We haven't even had a practice yet. You know, they're two guys that, again, we hope can help our offense, but only time will tell. Q. Last season Auburn was 2-6. Do you feel you're that far away from being able to contend in the West? How do you feel where you're situated going into your first year? COACH CHIZIK: You know, the SEC West, it's tough, boy. Every week, as you know, it's a dogfight. You know, our plan is to contend for a championship in everything that we do. We don't think that's out of the realm of possibility. We talk to it about our players, winning championships. That's what matters. Again, we're going to start the season out. That's going to be the goal, to win the SEC West. I think that in this league, again, anything can happen. So it's not like the SEC West championships are a stranger to Auburn. So we'll work hard in that direction. I think our players feel very confident that we can be a very good football team. We'll just have to let it all play out on the field. THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you. COACH CHIZIK: Thank you. End of FastScripts |
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