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PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE MEDIA DAYJuly 24, 2012Jordan PoyerMike RileyMarkus WheatonUNIVERSAL CITY, CALIFORNIA COACH RILEY: I am happy to be here, and I'm proud to bring these two fine young with me, Markus Wheaton and Jordan Poyer who plays corner, has covered kicks, returns kicks and they're two great young men, great football players so we're excited about heading into 2012. We have had a couple of disappointing years. We're looking for that cycle of life to change back into good things at Oregon State. I've gotten a very good vibe from this team since the end of last year, the work ethic, and the attitude and I think probably in general just the kind of unified statement that they made to get ready for the upcoming season has been most impressive. We will head into another year here and into what I think is another‑‑ you know, I've been in the conference a long time now and watched it for many, many years and seen the changes. Actually when I was a kid I was watching the Pack 8 conference with my dad coaching at Oregon State and coached in the Pac‑10 and now the Pac‑12 and we're looking forward into going into a new year with new faces and new programs starting up. Q. Mike, could you describe your quarterback situation at this point with Mannion and Cody. COACH RILEY: I think they both had great springs, working in the off‑season, summertime, it appears that they're doing this as a duo, I suppose. Right now we feel like we have two quarterbacks we can win with in our league. I think that it needs to be defined that Sean is our starter. But I am excited about the growth and the production that Cody had in the spring, so we will head into spring or into the fall camp with that status in mind. Q. How with the perception of last year's team fuel this year's season in? MARKUS WHEATON: Obviously that 3‑9 record hurt us, we look back on it a lot and it fuels us greatly. We work toward not obviously doing that again. ‑‑ JORDAN POYER: It left a bad taste in our mouth and it hurts. Been there 3‑9 and we don't want to feel that again. We've got a lot of experience coming back on the team and, you know, guys felt what that felt like last year and throughout this off‑season we've put it through guys' heads, we don't want to feel that way again so let us bust our butt now. MARKUS WHEATON: Our team was young last year, with a lot of freshmen playing and now that they have seen what it's like, what we have to do, they know what we have to get done. Q. Mike, can you talk about the running back situation? Did you want it to be by committee again, or do you think it needs to be one person? COACH RILEY: Well, whatever works out I would like 1800 yards mixed in there, which would be good. I really don't‑‑ we have historically been a team that's had Kenny Simonton, Kenny Jackson, Bernard, and Rogers. But the one thing I will say is coming out of spring ball I think we had a number of backs that did well and I think we will add a guy in that fall group and we will let 'em play for a little bit and make decisions as to a starter or co‑players or how that works but I'm serious about the fact that whatever way it works, we have to run the ball better. In the last two years the biggest problem we have had‑‑ we're going to be able to throw the ball, we have good receivers, I think our defense is going to be much better and I think one of the main keys to our team is our ability to run the football. It keys everything we do, throwing play‑action passes, things like that. Q. Mike, what's the status of Stan (Indiscernible)? COACH RILEY: Right now Stan is working in the final phases to finish what he has to do in school. Q. Mike, you mentioned that you believe the defense is going to be good, obviously the defensive backs bring back experience. Can you talk about how Rod Perry is going to do and what he managed to do with that group? COACH RILEY: Well, I think‑‑ and Jordan can add to this, too, I think our secondary will be our strength. I was really impressed with how they played in spring practice and of course they bring experience and, I think, smart football players and very, very competitive football players. I think we have good depth, particularly in safety and then with Jordan and Rashaad playing corner I'm excited about that. Coach Perry‑‑ Rod and I coached together with the Chargers, and he was coaching with the Colts and when that whole thing blew up I took a shot and ended up making a very good phone call that ended up having Rod Perry on our staff. I know he's a quality coach with a ton of experience and also a great, great mentor for the guys on our program. JORDAN POYER: Coach Perry, it's amazing throughout the springtime how much I have learned from him. That was practicing every other day, you know, you see him all the time, but I'm more excited to see how much I can learn from him throughout a whole, entire season. Like Coach Riley said, he coached in the NFL. He was in the NFL and he's coming here to coach us and we're already coached well with Coach Hayward, but he brings so much to the table, the knowledge of the game and I have learned so much from him and I'm excited tore him to coach our group of guys because we're competitive, whether it's in the weight room or on the field to whether it's playing Dominos or something. We're a competitive group and Coach Perry brings out the best in us. I'm excited to work with him throughout this season. Q. Markus, you got your big break at Corvallis when James Rogers went down a few seasons ago. How much of an impact on how you play and will help you lead the receiving core going forward? MARKUS WHEATON: First off, I want to be a leader to these guys. I want to take on the leadership role. It's not just me, we have a strong receiving core and we will get it done in the backfield. Depending on how our running backs we have three great guys competing for a spot so our offense will be strong. Q. Mike, in looking back at Scott Crichton and what he did last year, are you surprised with the production he gave and you he's getting national attention as a defensive star. COACH RILEY: I wouldn't say I was surprised, you never really‑‑ you see the talent and you know the capability there and of course we had red‑shirted him, so I watched him on the scout team and knew what was there but then the fact comes committee bring it to the games and produce like that. He is talented and the thing I like about Scott Crichton and Dylan Wynn, they both produced their numbers dramatically, speed, strength, in the off‑season so I appreciate that work ethic from two guys that did well as freshmen and that's been what I've seen as an identity of this group in general, I think Scott is a good example of that, continuing to grow. Q. A question from Facebook, Coach, who has impressed you most in the off‑season as far as maturation and coming in the fall? COACH RILEY: That's a tough question because what our team has had to be is growth. I would say‑‑ and I'm interested in seeing if these guys agree but we have a receiver, played a little bit as a freshman last year named Obum Gwacham that had a great spring and I'm excited to see if he can bring that to the fall. MARKUS WHEATON: He stepped into the "R" spot, he made a couple of plays last year during the season and he will definitely be a playmaker this year. COACH RILEY: He had a good spring high jumping, he went to the national meet in Austin and 7‑foot plus guy and he's about 6‑5. MARKUS WHEATON: 6‑6. COACH RILEY: So he's an interesting guy. I'm excited about the receiving correspond. Q. Mike, what kind of a jump are you expecting from Sean Mannion this year? Markus said he turned into a vocal leader this year. COACH RILEY: These guys know that probably better than me, because they're with him a lot in the summertime. He's been an interesting guy, studied in the off‑season because from the minute that season was over he was on the film and out throwing with these guys early on and they all got together and kept doing that and spring practice. I know they started it in the summertime again so if work ethic and desire plus talent have anything to do with improving then he's showed all the ingredients to take a good jump. He had 3,000 yards as a freshman with a team that didn't run the ball very well so I'm interested and optimistic and excited to see this group go because if we can indeed get some running game going and then just be more efficient at that position and not take as many sacks, and just a couple of better decisions with the football it's interesting. I'm looking forward to it. Q. Coach, you played under Bear Bryant at Alabama. What sort of life lessons did you learn? And do you think Alabama is on a roll for a long time or do you think it's cyclical? COACH RILEY: Well, I think I appreciate much more right now my time at Alabama or realize more about what I got out of it than when I was actually in it. I think the one thing that I wanted to always bring from that program that Coach Bryant had, to our team, was‑‑ he was fair.  I wasn't a very good player. I didn't play much, but I got treated right. So I always wanted to have every guy in our program feel that way whether or not he was Markus Wheaton or a guy working on the scout team, that's what I wanted in the program. And it's probably funny coming from a program like that but for me and impacting what I would like to do, besides that it was tremendously well run. It was an interesting program to be in and there were so much kids from the state of Alabama on that program and getting to play for the Bear was a big deal and I had cousins on the team so that impacted me. I think they're on a roll and I think it's cyclical. I think you look at our world and nobody stays on top forever. This doesn't mean they won't be in the Top‑10, but that's what I think about our world. I've coached 37 years now so I've seen a lot of peaks and a lot of valleys, but I still feel that freshness and that's what keeps me invigorated in this work. Each team can set their own identity and it doesn't have to be like it was or if it was good you can make it better if you have that right approach and that's what we're looking forward to. Q. Coach Riley, how much has Oregon emerging as a national power complicated your life, or is it the same idea of the civil war being cyclical? COACH RILEY: Obviously they're doing a great job and like USC did 8, 9 years ago, Oregon has raised the bar. They have raised the bar for us in the state and for people in the conference. SC did that. I watched it and we were part of it. You either‑‑ at that time when SC was going so strong, you either had to get going and get up with it or get left in the dust. I thought everybody got better through that and I think that that's where we are in our state with Oregon right now and frankly other teams in the conference with Oregon are like that. THE MODERATOR: Gentlemen, thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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