Tuesday Media Luncheon Quotes and Audio

October 24, 2006

Texas A&M coaches and players met with members of the press on Tuesday at the weekly football media luncheon, held at the Bright Football Complex.

The 22nd-ranked Aggies are preparing to head to Waco to face Baylor on Saturday. Kickoff at Floyd Casey Stadium is set for 6:05 p.m. (CDT) and the game will not be televised.

Links to audio clips are available to the right.

---------------------------------------------------------

Head Coach Dennis Franchione comments

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

THE QUESTION: Coach, what does a team and a coaching staff go through with as many close finishes as you have had this year?

COACH FRAN: I?™m just hoping my hair stays in at this point in time. It?™s turning gray.

I mean, you know as long as there?™s time on that clock you have to keep thinking and believing and that?™s what the players are doing the best job of. When the game?™s going on you?™re so engrossed in what?™s going to happen next, Saturday night they score and wrongfully so I guess you?™re assuming that they probably make the extra point. People are 90 percent above or more on those things normally and so you?™re already thinking okay we?™re going on defense first what are we going to do. When we get the ball this and that and all of a sudden the kick?™s blocked and it seems like it takes me about a minute to realize we won. Game over. All right. So that?™s the thing about overtime is it?™s such an abrupt ending and excitement or frustration or whatever feelings that you go through. With this team every week seems to be almost that kind of ending or close to it.

THE QUESTION: With two close games against Baylor the past two years, can you just address how challenging this series has become?

COACH FRAN: Well, their program has come a long way and we?™ve had two really tough ball games. They played very well and it?™s like week one of Big 12 play week 2 of Big 12 play week 3 of Big 12 play week 4 all coming down to the last minute or two of the game and a few plays here or there and I think that?™s attributed a little bit to the balance of our league and Baylor has certainly elevated their program to that point.

THE QUESTION: Coach you talked a lot about the spirit of this team. When did you sense it starting? Was it the end of last year; was it in January when they came back? When did you realize that this team was going to be the way it is?

COACH FRAN: Well, maybe a little bit last year in the Texas game. But you know that was such an ending of a season. January was certainly a little bit headed that direction but you know there?™s so much that has to happen and probably the first significant vision for me was our first leadership council meeting in May. I had about 15 minutes worth of discussion topics for them, what would have taken most leadership councils up to that point anyway and I think we were there for almost an hour and probably 45 minutes of it was their discussion points, not mine. And it wasn?™t what color of socks are we going to wear or what color pants, shoes. It was substance issues related to the approach of the season and the summer and how to handle things. After my 15 minutes I just kind of sat back like this and let them go and I went home pretty fired up that night. I remember telling Kim that I just had one of the greatest meetings I?™ve had since I?™ve been here, just to listen to this group of players and it wasn?™t one or two of them. Every one of them in that room spoke from their heart and spoke about things that really lead me to believe I?™m reaching them and that was probably the first thing. There were more things that happened in the summer. I mean, they called team meetings in the summer. I didn?™t call them. They did. They handled the summer very well. They text message each other and they held each other accountable and it?™s been developing this way. It?™s really gratifying I think as a coach to see success happen for this group because of their approach. It has always been about team and each other.

THE QUESTION Can you speak to the success that you have had with the two-minute drill, particularly throwing the ball.

COACH FRAN: I would have to look back at my practice schedules for sure, but I would wager we started working two-minute drill our third or fourth spring practice. And probably worked it three to five times in the 15 days we had. We worked it several times in camp. We worked on it on Sundays generally or Thursdays during the season. Our players just have a lot of confidence and comfort with it and I think that?™s a great tribute to the coaches and the job they?™re doing with them in that and the players and their belief and confidence in what they?™re doing in that drill and to the quarterback. Stephen has been very poised in those periods of the game. He?™s been poised all throughout, but you know some quarterbacks garner reputations based upon their performance at those times of games, John Elway was one of those and as Robert mentioned Stephen?™s kind of got started in that direction right now, too.

THE QUESTION: Have you ever had a team that comes close to winning -- kind of on the other side of these close games maybe does enough to win but loses, three, four however many heart breakers?

COACH FRAN: Sure.

THE QUESTION: What?™s the difference in mentality between those two?

COACH FRAN: It?™s a very fine line. Success breeds confidence and the belief system grows with success. When you come up a little bit short, I think the belief system is still there, but sometimes you have to have a little bit more belief without evidence and you have to be able to look at film and say one little more play here and something a little bit better there would have put us in this position. This is still such a mental game as well as a physical game. I?™ve commented on that several times this year. And they have a strong confidence right now that they can do that and the team that hasn?™t done that doesn?™t always have that confidence. There?™s a difference between knowing you can do something and hoping you can do something.

THE QUESTION: Going back to that two minute drill goes against that you?™ve had success and goes against the idea of striving for a balanced offense as well because you are throwing it around -- can you speak to that?

COACH FRAN: Goes against it you think?

THE QUESTION: Because you are throwing the ball so much instead of trying to achieve that run pass ratio.

COACH FRAN: Well, I don?™t look at it that way Brent. I think it goes with it. I think it highlights our ability to do both. At that time we?™re not doing both, but at a time when everybody in the stadium knows we?™re probably going to have to throw the football and we?™re still able to do it and yet have games where we?™re rushing for 200 yards. I?™m not trying to be disagreeable with you but I look at it totally different than that. I think that?™s a positive reflection on the balance of our offense and two weeks ago in the fourth quarter I commented that Missouri knew we were going to run, we knew we were going to run, probably the people up there in the top of that zone knew we were going to run and still were able to do it and last week it was a different aspect that we knew and had to do and we were able to do it. That?™s a tribute to the offense.

THE QUESTION: Kind of two different version of the two minute drill huh?

COACH FRAN: Yeah, one is milking the clock and one is racing with it.

THE QUESTION: With Courtney (Lewis) working his way back into the lineup, what is your philosophy on how to use all three running backs that you have? Has it changed from the beginning of the season?

COACH FRAN: Well, it?™s obviously changed a little bit since the beginning of the season because Michael Goodson is so much farther along and so I think he has to be a much larger factor. You know, I thought Coach Pope did a nice job of rotating them the other night in situations that lead to their success. There maybe a game where anyone of the three is going to have more playing time and more carries and then there maybe games where one of them may have less. I think you get a feel for how they?™re doing once you get into the game. I thought Courtney for his first game really back healthy and going hard did some nice things in there so I think it?™ll be more of a feel for how the game is going and what?™s needed at the time and there?™s not a magical number of plays or carries that we?™re thinking of as much as just trying to utilize their abilities for what?™s needed at that point in time.

THE QUESTION: Coach, can you talk about Stephen?™s (McGee) development into a complete quarterback?

COACH FRAN: Well, gosh, the other night you know, after the game he kind of appeared like a guy that has started 20 football games or more like a senior than a guy that?™s a red shirt sophomore that has started eight or nine games. So I think his development is probably as good as a coach could ask for at this point in time in his career. We?™re never satisfied and there are certain things we want to continue to enhance but for the things that he?™s been able to do in the game and to throw one interception this year to have minimal amount of turnovers, for the things that we?™re asking the quarterback to do in this offense -- gosh, his decision making, his throw-aways, very few sacks that he takes. I really think he?™s playing much older than and more experienced than he really is.

THE QUESTION: When you signed him, did you anticipate him being this much of a dual threat kind of quarterback?

COACH FRAN: Probably not. He was faster than we realized when he got here than we probably realized when we were recruiting him. I know one thing about him that I knew we recruited and that was that he was a winner and when you recruit a winner the other things fall in place and I felt that?™s what he was. He?™s proven that I think.

THE QUESTION: Fran, I asked you on the conference call yesterday can you elaborate on it a little bit, the art of throwing (the football) away. As a rule of thumb with quarterbacks is that something that?™s difficult to teach them how to do and how is Stephen handling it?

COACH FRAN: It?™s not easy to tell them to do that and I?™ll give you a great example. The third down before the fourth and 13 the other night you know I wished he could have thrown that one away. Sometimes you just can?™t do it. You get trapped without the ability to feel that you?™re being trapped and you can?™t do it. He has been able to do a great job. We threw a naked bootleg on the goal line the other night, I remember this, and he got immediate pressure on him. But before the snap he knew -- he looked -- he saw this guy and he knew it was a possibility. So as he came off his fake he knew I may have to do this. And not every quarterback at that young age is going to be able to have that thought process that quick which gives you confidence as a coach making that call knowing he can throw it away. You don?™t want to be on the two-yard line and end up on the twelve-yard line in that situation.

THE QUESTION: Was that the play before the touchdown pass?

COACH FRAN: No. No. This was in the third quarter. It was in the third quarter. We ended up having to kick a field goal on that drive. But one of the things that coach Koenning and I both coached Stephen on is to throw the ball away and is to run with the ball if coverage is there and protection starts to break down. It?™s much easier to call plays on second and 10 than it is second and 18 just like I was thinking the other night 4th and 4 was going to be an easier call than 4th and 13. Doesn?™t always work that way. But he has made very good decisions in that regard and if there are two things that we probably started this season with for Stephen as thoughts was to take care of the football and to avoid bad down and distance situations. And he has done a magnificent job of both of those right there. And that?™s a tribute to coach Koenning?™s coaching and to the way he?™s handled the situations especially with the minimal amount of games that he played.

THE QUESTION: Stephen is such a competitive kid. Is it hard to get him to throw it away instead of trying to make something happen?

COACH FRAN: Throwing it away hasn?™t been as difficult -- I take that back. Early in Stephen?™s career here he would have a tendency to hold the ball too long and sit in the pocket too long. And you know when he missed so much of fall camps throwing in September, I was a little bit concerned about his pocket presence and ability to do those things but to his credit he did a pretty nice job of that. The tough thing that?™s been hard to break him of is some of the hits that he thinks he should take. He says well that?™s just football coach but as I say let?™s live to play another down. That?™s been the difficult part.

THE QUESTION: The play before the touchdown to Joey (Thomas), (Stephen) basically threw it into the stands. Can you take me through that play, what was supposed to have happened there and what he (Stephen) saw.

COACH FRAN: He did a great job. He had the tight end come open but he had pressure immediately off the edge. And we really didn?™t block it very well. And so he did not get a chance to hit the tight end when he came open because of that and the key point was he maintained enough awareness to still see his receivers, know they were covered, feel the pressure and throw the ball out of the back of the end zone. One of the cardinal rules is never take a sack in the redzone. Never take one down there. Throw the football away. It can take you out of field goal range or take away the chance to score a touchdown. Had he taken a sack there and put us back on maybe the 13 it would have been a much more difficult play than the next play that happened. But apparently, fourth and 13 is no big deal for us (laughs).

THE QUESTION: Coach do you talk to your players about how to handle a game like this one against Baylor? In the recent past there has been plenty of history to stir up some kind of ?bulletin board? motivation.

COACH FRAN: Sure we do. You know, I want our players to have respect for the game and respect for their opponents and you know, I just think that is the best way to handle those situations. I?™m not saying I?™m right. I?™m not saying this over anybody else, but that?™s just my belief that you let your playing do the talking. If you handle things in that manner then you don?™t have to say anything.

THE QUESTION: When you have a player such as Martellus (Bennett) who?™s always having fun, I?™m mean he is never necessarily maligning anybody --

THE QUESTION: Well he did call Stephen ugly.

COACH FRAN: That was a teammate though, right (laughs)?

THE QUESTION: Yeah.

COACH FRAN: Well we may have a little rift at practice today (laughs).

THE QUESTION: Do you ever worry because he can get the mouth going and that sort of thing?

COACH FRAN: Sure. I coach our players all the time about remarks and how they can be taken wrong and I think most of the time most remarks are words that really weren?™t meant to be taken the way they are taken. Players don?™t mean them that way but by the time they appear in ink I think they become that way sometimes.

THE QUESTION: Coach you?™ve certainly turned programs around. Guy Morris has done some things over there that the guys before him were not able to do. What has he done differently than the coaches before him?

COACH FRAN: I think Guy has done a great job of, from my view point, staying the course, maintaining his coaching staff for the most part handling his team with an expectation of doing well and instilling some mental toughness in them and then coaching them very soundly. His defensive coaches do a marvelous job I think. They?™re always difficult to prepare for. Right now they?™re running an offense that is putting up points so he?™s made a wise decision there. And you know patience is sometimes hard to have for coaches and for fans and for people, but you know Guy has kind of hung in there and been patient yet demanding of his players?™ having expectations and steadily improved their recruiting and has done a good job.

THE QUESTION: Do you talk to your guys about how Baylor treats this like their bowl game and how much they get up for this game in Waco?

COACH FRAN: I don?™t really feel like I have to say a whole lot. I think it?™s how hard they?™ll play and how well they?™ll play and we understand that. I don?™t know if that?™s any different than any week we?™ve played so far. Last week I really felt like Oklahoma State played their best football game of the year. I?™m not sure they would say that but that?™s the way I felt. I think they played well in aspects of the game. Kansas played well Missouri played well. That?™s a week-to-week issue that we need to expect to get everybody?™s best game and be prepared.

THE QUESTION: Stephen came out of 3A school. Do people make too much of that sometimes especially with quarterbacks?

COACH FRAN: One of the greatest players I ever saw was a guy from 8 man football in Ransom, Kansas who was a tremendous college quarterback and teammate of Dave Elmendorf, in Nolan Cromwell so I do think that it?™s made too much of what happens sometimes is that there are more coaches, more players, more population of players in the larger schools than in the smaller schools but there are good football players in small schools. Jordan Peterson played at a 1A school and is doing very well and the bottom line is there are athletes out there and discovering them is the key.

THE QUESTION: Do the out of state schools -- I mean, you know if they?™re from Florida or whatever they can?™t really concentrate their recruiting on 3A, 1A, 2A. Do you sense that their coaches are in Dallas and Houston and miss those guys?

COACH FRAN: When we were at New Mexico, that was a very down program when we took over. And it was our success in recruiting based on recruiting the country of the outskirts in Texas. I mean, it?™s easy for people to fly into Dallas to Houston whatever town. You can work the Metroplex there and find tons of players and not have to drive very far. So for a person from out of state productivity wise you?™re seeing more players for your hour of efficiency than you would be if you?™re driving two hours out to such and such and such and such. If there?™s a great name player out there you know, they?™re going to find him.

THE QUESTION: I guess (Adrian) Peterson from Palestine that?™s an obvious one.

COACH FRAN: Yeah, Tyler?™s had some. Really all over East Texas, West Texas. You know, our greatest success was going to Lindale and Rockdale and Fredericksburg and outlying areas. The same player for us -- you know, we would find that outlying player if he was in Dallas we?™d have a hard time getting a trip out of him where out there we can be one of his visits. He may not have five visits. So it helped us a great deal.

THE QUESTION: Upon further review what did you think of Jorvorskie?™s (Lane) catch after seeing it on tape?

COACH FRAN: To quote one of my favorite immortal coaches Jim Wacker, ?Unbelievable.?

THE QUESTION: He has good hands. Can you speak to his hands?

COACH FRAN: Jorvorskie has good hands. He really does. Jorvorskie is an amazing athlete. He really is. And he?™s got amazing feet and now he?™s got amazing hands.

THE QUESTION: Hand.

COACH FRAN: At least one, right? One. Pretty good hip, too. He went to the hip. Maybe that was good that he?™s big.

THE QUESTION: How many yards did he pick up after the catch?

COACH FRAN: I think about 5 or 6.

THE QUESTION: He didn?™t have the first down when he caught it did he?

COACH FRAN: No, he was going to be about 3 yards short when he caught it and he got past it a couple of 3 yards.

THE QUESTION: The fact that he was able to catch in stride might have helped, if he had to stop to catch it, it probably wouldn?™t have worked.

COACH FRAN: Correct.

THE QUESTION: (Coach Koenning) was talking about how (Mike) Goodson got swallowed up by that gutter.

COACH FRAN: We were jokingly talking about last week how close the sidelines are at Oklahoma State and somebody brought up the story that some player got stuck in the drain during the game over there and so here we are in the last few seconds of the game and (Coach Koenning) is saying he?™s stuck in the gutter. (laughs) I said, it doesn?™t matter call the next play. We?™ve got to go on. We?™ve got another tailback. We?™ll get him out. Keep going.

THE QUESTION: We were on the sideline right where it happened and we literally couldn?™t see him.

COACH FRAN: I walked over there and I could see him, so I knew we could get him out. I didn?™t know if we could get him out until after the game was over but I knew he was going to be all right.

THE QUESTION: He can?™t buy a break with the concrete last week and the gutters this week?

COACH FRAN: (Laughs) Well, hopefully we won?™t lose him in any drains this week.