November 25, 2003
Coach Dennis Franchione and selected players met with members of the media on Tuesday at Cain Hall. The Aggies are preparing to host No. 6 Texas in the 110th meeting between the two rivals on Friday at 2:30 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.
All your players have seemed loose when they came in (to this press conference). Have you seen that in practice?
"We've had some good practices. I think what you're seeing is the reflection of a week off. We played a bunch of games in a row without an open week, and we probably could have used one two or three weeks ago. I just think the ability to get away from it for a few days and refresh a little bit, and then to come back and it's rivalry week for you. That puts a little life in your step. They came back with a little fresher legs. There's no school here after (Wednesday), and I think that plays into all that enthusiasm."
Is this the toughest year you've ever had?
"In my 30 (years of coaching)? I don't know if I would say that. If you do this long enough, you don't start grading which are the toughest and which ones aren't; at least not until you get the season over and are able to reflect back."
Do you think the Aggie fans understood there would be some growing pains with the program?
"The fanfare and expectations grow any time you go through that transition. There's always a time when the reality of the situation sets in. I get lots of letters, emails and calls and everybody has been very supportive. That's not to mean they haven't shared in our suffering, just as we as coaches have at times. Their understanding of our situation has appeared to be very good."
Is there anything you wish you had done differently with this season?
"There's tons of things. The only way to determine where you are going is to understand where you have been. The way you do that is to evaluate and analyze and critique. We'll do that much more in-depth as we get this game behind us. I try to keep my focus on this game. This is an important game and I think it deserves my attention and focus. That's really where I want to stay until Saturday."
You've brought in some former players to talk to the team this week. What are you looking to accomplish and who else is coming?
"I think it's good for our players to hear our former players talk about what it meant for them to play in this game, to wear the maroon jersey. I think our players have enjoyed it. I believe this game takes on a life of its own, as any rivalry game does. I also want to maintain a link to our lettermen. I always say it's their program, I just have the keys. I want them to come back and for them to be a part of it. I want their passion and their intensity, enthusiasm and competitiveness to come across to our players. At the end of the week, I'm going to ask our players, 'do you think someone will ask you to come back some day?' That's what they should aspire to achieve. We have Ray Childress coming today. We'll probably have one or two others before the week is over. We also spend a little bit of time each day letting a senior talk about his last opportunity to wear the maroon jersey at Kyle Field, and his career, and what this game means to him."
Confidence?
"I don't think it's been shaken. I think any time you're in year one of any transition, having done this before, you understand that it takes time to accomplish it to the depth that you want to. It's hardest for the seniors who inherited a new coach in their last year. Year one is always the hardest year. I don't care if you won a lot of games or if you lost a lot of games. It takes about a year and a half for you to put your feet back down and take a deep breath and say, 'shew, where are we?' I always believe that motivation is a 365 day out of the year job. You have to keep working at it all the time."
Do you still have faith in Carl Torbush's defense?
"His defenses led the nation a couple of times at North Carolina. You talk to anybody in this profession and they start naming defensive coordinators he's going to be named very quickly. I saw what he did with our defense at Alabama. We struggled in the beginning, and then the second year, I believe, we were third in the nation in defense or scoring defense. We had a really good defensive ball club. I've seen it firsthand and I knew about it when I interviewed him to come join our staff."
Dustin Long said he wouldn't consider transferring. Can you comment on his situation?
"I don't think you sit around and think about those things a lot during the season. Dustin worked very diligently on the game plan every week. Obviously any time there is competition at a position, those type of things can happen. Dustin is an Aggie. He's an Aggie through and through. He knows if he needed to talk about something like that with us, he could. I don't think anyone on this team has given thought to that possibility at this point."
How many redshirts do you have and was there discussion of pulling their redshirts and playing your promising freshmen?
"(18 of 22 members of 2003 signing class) I think the first five games of the season, you're analyzing that. There's not a magic day before the first game that you decide that. As the season wore on we were able to (redshirt them). So often what happens is that by the middle of the first season they're ready to play pretty good, but they're not ready before that. I don't like to throw them out there if they're not ready. I've seen too many times the ability to get a redshirt and have four good years is profitable. I don't think any of those 18 would have made a difference this year, but they will make a difference (in the future). We tried our best to do the very best we could this year without bargaining any of the future of the program."
How would you describe your relationship with Mack Brown?
"Good. Mack and I have been friends for several years. I have a lot of respect for him and the job that he's done. He's been someone I've admired in this profession for several years, the way he's handled himself and his teams and his coaching."