November 02, 2004
Audio from Tuesday's football media luncheon is available through the links to the right. Files can be downloaded and are in MP3 format. NOTE: Audio files were recorded at low volume, so adjust computer settings accordingly.
Here are selected quotes from head coach Dennis Franchione from Tuesday's media luncheon:
Did you get the sense that your players weren't buying into your system last season?
Coach Franchione: "I think you go through a lot of those feelings in any first year. I've often joked that you don't coach the seniors in the first year, you just make suggestions and they ponder it and try to decide if they're going to do it or not. That's not always true and I don't mean that as a blanket statement. It's kind of an example of what you go through in the first year at every place you've been. It takes awhile, sometimes longer than others."
How many drops do you think your receivers had against Baylor?
Coach Franchione: "I think we have four really catchable balls in the first half that we normally would have come up with. They may not have been perfect throws. We look at it as if it touches their hands, it's a drop. We didn't necessarily try to figure out if Reggie (McNeal) was off a little bit with the throw or if the receiver shoul have caught it."
Is one of the hardest parts of coaching dealing with the emotions of 18-to-22 year olds?
Coach Franchione: "Motivation is a 365 day a year job. I think you spend a great deal of your time trying to be perceptive and head off issues before they become problems. (You try to) be perceptive and try to figure what's in their heads. Capture the moments that you can use for positive motivation and learn from the tough days. You draw from both. I pointed out K-State and the way they responded when they were behind here in the fourth quarter. They just stayed the course and kept playing every down. Before you knew it, they had a chance to win the game. I think that helped us with Colorado. At some point in time your players are listening and they see those things and hear those things. A lot of them can take that in and understand exactly what you're talking about.
It seems like your team has been well-coached to not talk about last year's OU game or the 2002 game in here...
Coach Franchione: "I don't know how much value there is in re-hashing those things. This is a different team that '03, it's a different team than '02. It's a different situation. They're in your memory bank. You can draw from them. You don't erase them. But for us to talk about them is really wasted time. We need to talk about this week. It's a full-time job getting ready for this team."
Is there not enough time in the week to worry about last year? Is that your thinking?
Coach Franchione: "There isn't. Just like the last game, win or lose, you have to put it behind you. Sometimes in programs that are trying to turn around, I've seen teams win a game on Saturday and they want to giggle about it until Tuesday. And that's not good (Did that happen last week?) No. That didn't but I've seen that before. Sometimes there are losses that you take too long with you. One of the things I like about practicing on Sunday and taking Monday off is that on Sunday at about 5 o'clock it's put to bed. We go to practice and it's over with. I think you have to have a memory to recall things you can build from in a positive way. Like playing DB, if the ball goes over your head you better forget about it and play the next play. We have to go play the next game.
Is your pass defense a concern going into the OU game?
Coach Franchione: "There offense is a concern as much as anything. They are balanced. They can run and pass just about as well as anyone in America. We're pretty good at that, as well, but they're really good at it. They've got a great tailback and a great quarterback. I don't know if you're ever going to find many teams historically certainly, and in the future of college football, that has a sixth-year quarterback that just won the Heisman and a freshman tailback that's being mentioned as one. Just the number of starters they have back on their team. They just have a great football team. There are a lot of concerns when you play a team like that. Hopefully we can make them have to throw the football and then we'll be concerned about our pass defense.
You mentioned getting into the heads of your players to head off problems. What did you do to head off problems after last year's OU game?
Coach Franchione: "I don't think that (game) was the bigger problem. It was the season that we were going through that we were dealing with. The biggest thing we had to accomplish happened in the offseason when we had to become a team. I don't think we were strong enough group together to make it through adversity without letting it bother us."
Does a game like Reggie McNeal had against OU in 2002 become a burden for a developing player?
Coach Franchione: "I've said many times that we put a lot, maybe too much on Reggie too quick. That happens to heralded recruits sometimes. Sometimes we put too much on them too quickly. I think that was a lot to be put on Reggie last year. He handled it well, but he's much prepared to handle those sorts of issues now.
How was Reggie different after last week's loss, as opposed to losses last season?
Coach Franchione: "He's much better with his team. He absorbed the losses last year himself and I think now he's more concerned about his teammates and leading them. There's no an area of personality or leadership-wise or maturity-wise that he's not improved from last year. He handles the ups and downs of a game and season much better.