October 28, 2003
Coach Dennis Franchione and selected players met with members of the media on Tuesday at Cain Hall. The Aggies are preparing to host Kansas in a non-televised game on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Kyle Field. Click the links above to hear what selected coaches and players had to say.
Here is a partial transcript of comments made by Coach Fran during the news conference.
Is it hard not to bring the frustrations of work home with you?
"Sure. You know, you put so much into this you never take this (losing) well, and if you do ever take it well you need to do something else."
Does having gone through this before and having been in this situation make it any easier?
"I think the thing that makes it (losing) easier is you understand what to do. You have been there before. When you are going through it for your first time is when it gets a lot harder."
On Courtney Lewis being a playmaker...
"Courtney has been one of those kinds of guys that you can construct things for. We did some things in the Pittsburgh game. We threw the screens with the crack and utilized him. You know, Terrence Murphy is a little bit that way right now too. Certainly, Reggie is always somebody that anytime you are making a game plan you make sure you utilize his skills, or Dustin, whoever the quarterback who is in there. But, yes, Courtney is one of those guys. Courtney has given us some explosive runs. I don't want to slight Derek Farmer when we talk about this either. Part of it has just been our commitment to have balance in our offense both run and pass, Courtney's growth has given us some big plays and Derek has chipped in there too."
On the number of touches for Courtney Lewis...
"I think it kind of depends on the flow of the game right now. We have confidence in both of those guys (Lewis and Farmer). Courtney kind of got into a flow (against Oklahoma State), and I think (running backs) Coach (Lee) Fobbs felt good about him, so he stayed with him. That could happen in the reverse way this week. We try to play to both backs' strengths as best we can. The more you coach somebody, and the more you are around him, and the more carries that they get, the more you get a feel (for what a player can handle). Having coached LaDainian Tomlinson (at TCU) for three years, we knew that on carries 20-29 he was the most productive. Maybe that is because we were wearing the other team down, and a lot of other things, but I think that also he was into a rhythm and he was seeing the field and the seams, and that was when he was hitting things the best. We don't know that yet about Courtney obviously, but we did know that about him (Tomlinson) after we coached him for a while. I think it was the middle of our second year before we really knew that (about Tomlinson's productivity)."
On Courtney Lewis' size...
"So far he has proven to be very durable and very resilient. Some guys his size can do that. I remember Kansas University a long time ago had a little guy named Kerwin Bell (rushed for 1,970 yards from 1980-83), but he carried the ball a bunch of times every Saturday and withstood the punishment. There are some backs Courtney's size, and Kerwin Bell reminds me of this, we are playing Kansas so that is the back that came to my mind, you never seem to get a square shot on him. Courtney is a little bit like that. Not very often do you hit him flush. You get him down, but he doesn't take very many full speed tough hits. He is elusive enough that even when they do get him on the ground you don't go 'ooh, that hurt.'"
On dealing with the mental psyche of your team after a blowout loss...
"Sure I think it is (tough). You have to keep coaching, keep trying to get them better, and pushing them. You keep giving them a game plan that they can have success with, and keep doing the best we can to put them in a position to do the best they can. In this profession today, it doesn't matter if I am 8-0 or 3-5. I have to deal with that. Sometimes dealing with the emotions and mental psyche of a team is more important that anything else you do. I think that is a 365-day a year job. It is not a 'you have to work harder at it this week than you did last week.' I have had undefeated teams. We were 7-0 at TCU and then got beat by San Jose St. Handling the loss that week was a tremendous deal. I am not saying I did a great job, I am saying that (dealing with the mental psyche of his team) was a big part of what we did that following week. And this is the reverse of that."
On the morale of the team...
"I think frustrated. That is the best word. I think they can put the film on and see they are a few plays away from doing some good things. Terrence Murphy had a decent game Saturday, but he had a couple where if he had*the one Jet Screen early in the game if he could have held on to that might have been a big play. I know he is frustrated that he didn't make that play. Those are normal emotions to go through."
On similarities to your 3-5 Alabama team...
"I don't know if the Alabama players felt they were improving. I did. I think you have a feeling that even though the results aren't what you want, are you going in the right direction? I think that is more of what you see. If you feel like you are going in the right direction at least you are laying a foundation and you know that eventually things will work the way you want them to work."
On signs of improvement...
"I think our quarterbacks have improved since the beginning of the year. Reggie had a tough game in there, but he certainly is taking a lot of steps. Obviously, Courtney Lewis is (improving). Our offensive line is much better than it was in the beginning. We are spotty on defense, there are some areas that we are (improving), and some areas where we are not as far along yet. Kicking game-wise, I think Jacob Young is much better, and some of our coverage teams are much better."
On deciding on redshirts...
"Yeah it is always tough to decide those things. You know, you don't redshirt bad players, you redshirt good players. I think the decision that you have to make is 'can they make a difference right now?' I don't know if those guys in the first six or seven games would have made a difference. They might now (eight games into the season), but we are trying to build a program and a foundation in our way. We are not going to sacrifice that at this point in time."
On the success of Kansas...
"Well, they are a great example of what we are talking about. They have hung in there, they stayed the course, kept doing what they are doing. They got some success early in the season, and this is where they have gotten themselves to."
On reaction to Kansas upsetting Missouri...
"Well, at the time I didn't know whether to be surprised or not because I didn't exactly know how good Missouri was yet. I probably thought Missouri would beat them, but that is one of those rivalry type games you can't always predict the winner in. Having coached at Kansas State, I sometimes think Missouri-Kansas is almost a little bigger than Kansas-Kansas State. Somebody will spank me for saying that, but I know that is a special game for them."
On building a foundation "your way" at A&M versus past schools...
"I am doing what I always do. I adjust to where I am at, and who I've got. Unfortunately I have done this before and been through this. I know how to handle this situation."
Are you surprised by this season so far?
"When you are a head coach you spend a lot of time preparing. I would say you spend 90 percent of your time preparing for 10 percent of things that happen. So when you looked at this schedule at the beginning of the year, you are going to play Virginia Tech, you are going to play Pittsburgh. I knew what Utah would be like to play, you all didn't, but I did. And then at Tech, at Oklahoma, the road schedule we had, and then the people coming back in this division, I think you know that have to be prepared for this or this. That is what we do as coaches, prepare ourselves for both. That is not being negative that is just being realistic about what you are going to have to handle."
On the experience young players are obtaining by playing...
"One of the ways you get better is through experience. These guys are all getting some experience. We are only playing three or four seniors on both sides of the ball. This is a team that has already lost Jared Morris, that has lost Cody Scates for most of the year, has lost Jami Hightower who is not a senior but lost him for a good bit of time, and now Jamaar Taylor. So the young guys have had to play, and had to get some experience. We could have played more of them probably if we hadn't redshirted some of them, but one of the ways they will be better is playing time. As a coach you always wish you had exhibition games or you could reach in your pocket and hand them experience, but you can't do that. They are going to learn a lot this year."
On Tydrick Riley...
"He is another guy I should have mentioned that has gotten a lot better. He has kept working hard and earned his way into more playing time, and I think he will get more as we go through here. He has gotten everybody's attention with the way he has handled himself, his work ethic, and his attention to detail. Sometimes you think maybe he should be a tight end, and even he brought that up. Sometimes you like the big receiver where he plays, on the inside most of the time. It is nice to see a guy with his size. He has great hands. He plays the ball in the air very well, probably as well as any of our receivers. He has had to make some tough catches and he has done that."
On a send-off for the seniors...
"I think they have to want to do that, and I know they do. We want them to do that. The strongest thing you will ever play for is pride in each other. Those seniors want to go out on a good note. We certainly have some games ahead of us that no matter what (will be big games). We play the No. 1 team in the nation, possibly, in a week. We play a team that beat us at Kyle Field last year, and we play our archrival. So there are a lot of things left on the slate for those guys, and they have to realize that. I think they do. You want them to go out, and no matter what, say 'we helped put the foundation back in place last year.'"