September 14, 1999
On The Zone and Atmosphere:
"I'm really excited about The Zone opening. This is a new era. I was here when we put the third decks on and to think how quickly that time has passed and now we have another big addition. We are going to change where the team comes in, the team is now going to come in on the northwest tunnel of The Zone. It will be exciting and it looks like we are going to have a sellout crowd for our first home game."
On the Improvement of Facilities Since his Arrival:
"You can't imagine the difference and I think without a doubt, the thing that is impressive to me is the foresight the people here had. The planning and the investment has come before the product. When I came here in `72, we had really bad facilities. We had a little hole in the wall weight room, the dorm wasn't here, we had no practice field. We had to practice in the stadium on astroturf. The locker rooms under the stadium were horrible. We really didn't have anything and about that time was when we started getting some new facilities. By doing that we started creating a new atmosphere that you can grow with, and I think we're doing that now. We're giving great indication of the direction that we want to go. This game is a great indication of how far we've come, we're selling every seat in the house, and that is a huge jump from where we were twenty years ago."
On Defense Not Playing Against Traditional Offense:
"It is a concern that we haven't played a team with a traditional running threat and it doesn't look like we will until we face Texas Tech. If you go into your schedule in most seasons and add up the numbers of really hard running games and really hard passing games, nowadays, it is in favor of the passing teams. You look at it and say that seven or eight of the eleven games of the season, you are going to have to play five and six defensive backs, and so that is a high priority early in the season. It is probably good experience for us. That is just the way that the game has evolved through the years. There are a lot more formations nowadays that vary from play to play. It makes you be a lot more versatile on defense and play a lot more defensive backs."
On Defense:
"Well we're not completely sure what we have. We've got a lot of guys out there that haven't played very much. They definitely haven't been in the situation that they will when we play Texas Tech, Nebraska, Missouri, and teams like that, that are going to challenge us up front."
On Brian Gamble:
"I think he did well. He will see more playing time and he is challenging for a starting position. It was not a surprise to see him play well. We felt all along that he would be a good player. I was really pleased with him, he made some really athletic plays in the ball game. We'll probably end up playing Cornelius Anthony at the weak linebacker spot, and leaving Brian at the strong spot. We've had those two at the same position in our base defense and in order to get him more time, we would have to take time away from Cornelius, so it made more sense to switch them. We're still shuffling and experimenting to see what the best combination is, and it is possible Brian could start this weekend."
On Freshmen Running Backs:
"They are making improvements and we'd like to see them play, but I'm not sure when that will be. Our top priority Saturday is getting them some playing time, and getting the Quarterbacks in is our number two priority."
On Bethel Johnson's Debut:
"He did on the field what I've been watching him do for the past year in practice. I thought he made a couple of big plays. The most impressive one for me was when he caught the little hitch and turned it into a fifteen yard gain. That is something that we have not been really good at doing. He can also make the quarterback look good. Quarterbacks love a guy like that. You can't throw all strikes, but you need a guy that can go get some of those balls and make some plays and that is what he can do."
On Eric Bernard's Return:
"I called him up in front of the whole team and let him call the team up. No one knows how devastating that is to a young man with his ambition and how much he put into the off-season and spring ball, and then to sustain a knee injury during two-a-days and miss that entire season. Then he had to go through that whole ordeal and then he made it back last fall only to injure his other knee. To work through all of that, the surgery, the rehab and then to comeback and be out there playing, it is a great credit to him as a person. It is also a great example to players and other people of dealing with adversity."