Tuesday Media Luncheon Quotes and Audio

October 31, 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 21st-ranked Aggies are preparing to host 18th-ranked Oklahoma on Saturday night. Kickoff at Kyle Field is set for 7 p.m. (CST) and the game will be televised on ABC.

Links to audio clips are available to the right.

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THE QUESTION: Why do you think this team better equipped to handle this November than teams in the past?

COACH FRAN: Well, I think the biggest attribute they have is their spirit and their attitude, their confidence. You know relating back to last year we?™re much healthier than we were last year, but this team is together and mentally tougher and believes in each other and themselves as you?™ve heard me talk about their spirit many times.

THE QUESTION: How satisfying has it been for you to see Gary Darnell and Bill Clay have the impact they?™ve had on this team after you had to go through coaching changes last year?

COACH FRAN: Well, it?™s really satisfying. Obviously it was not a choice that was made without a lot of deliberation and what was best and the direction we needed to try to take our defense. My research packet was very thick so I spent a lot of hours working on it and I kept coming back to the same elements. It?™s nice that it has worked out well. I just caught a little bit of what Melvin (Bullitt) was saying but I know the players believe in those guys a great deal and we?™re very fortunate to have gotten Bill Clay here, too. He?™s a great football coach and the guys have related with him very well this season.

THE QUESTION: A lot of people say that you have to have a younger staff in college football these days but the players seem to be taking very well to these guys.

COACH FRAN: You can be older, you just can?™t coach old and there?™s a difference there. It?™s hard to replace experience and it?™s difficult to not have enthusiasm. You have to have both. Experience doesn?™t come to a young guy that easily. When I was a young coach for a lot of years I thought I was more ready than what I was looking back. Enthusiasm never has to leave any coach at any age and when it does, then you need to evaluate whether you should be coaching or not. And that?™s not true of those guys. They have a great time coaching and a lot of fun with the players and we have Clayisms every day. (Coach Clay) comes in every staff meeting and we know we are going to get a story from the past from Coach Clay and they?™re always amusing and always entertaining and always great to listen to.

THE QUESTION: So far we?™ve had wise, wisdom and maturity in describing him today. Would you say those all fit?

COACH FRAN: Funny. You have to put funny and light hearted and enthusiastic in there with him too.

THE QUESTION: Coach Darnell pretty much said ?aw shucks? when we asked him about second half adjustments and the difference between first and second half defenses. Can you speak to that and what that difference has been?

COACH FRAN: Well, you know, he?™s made some adjustments and Bill (Clay) and Van (Malone) have made adjustments to help him defend certain things that people were doing to us and I?™ve listened to them make those adjustments on the head sets and I have to admit sometimes when you?™re new in a defense and they decide they?™re going to do this I?™m a little bit like ?'okay, this is going to be interesting. Are we ready to make this adjustment in this defense already??™ Especially the Missouri game when we made those adjustments. They have set up a great vocabulary of communication with the players and they start talking about this family on this side and this family on this side or this color on this side or this color on this side which is how they group so many of their calls and the players are like okay, they?™ve got it. So that?™s a credit to the system they have and their communication and teaching ability.

THE QUESTION: Anything in particular about the Missouri game that made you say okay is this the right thing?

COACH FRAN: When they were telling me about it I was like all right. This is going to be interesting. But they were ready to do it. I just wasn?™t sure they were ready to do it like they did but they were ready to.

THE QUESTION: What was it?

COACH FRAN: Well, they changed coverage on one side and instead of playing a blanket coverage they started playing one thing to one side and another coverage to the other side they married them together and that?™s really how we started getting our stops in the third and fourth quarter. And defending a couple of their routes better that they had hurt us with. You know, I wasn?™t totally surprised or stunned. I just was kind of like ?'okay, let?™s see how this is going to work right now.?™

THE QUESTION: First time they had done that this year?

COACH FRAN: Maybe to that degree, yes.

THE QUESTION: Third down offense has been so effective. What?™s the biggest key to that?

COACH FRAN: Well, I think it?™s two things: Our guys are executing well and we?™ve had a lot of sustained drives this year so you have to give the players a lot of credit to be able to do that and you know, the completion percentage and all those issues. Then I think you have to give the offensive coaches some credit for coming up with the plan on their third downs that?™s given them a chance to make the first down with the call then the players execute it.

THE QUESTION: On the third and long, you show a lot of five wide. What is it about that formation that has been so effective for you?

COACH FRAN: Empty formation or five wide as you call it has probably been more efficient and a better formation for us than any of the previous years. We?™ve got a lot of confidence in it and Stephen (McGee) has a lot of confidence in it. You notice that we do that with a tight end and with a tail back so it?™s difficult for the defense to say okay they are really going five wide receivers. We leave a personnel grouping on the field that lends itself to being in maybe a tight end set with one back and Saturday night against Baylor we left two tight ends in the game. On the first touchdown pass to Martellus (Bennett) both tight ends were left on the field and we emptied from that formation or what you call five wides. I think Stephen is very comfortable with what he?™s doing in it. The line is doing a great job of picking up pressure and Stephen?™s done a nice job of pulling the ball down when needed. I think he has a good understanding of where the hole is going to be in coverage if they bring something from this side or if they bring it from this side. I think he has a good feel for where he?™s going to go with the football.

THE QUESTION: You scored two touchdowns on Saturday on third down plays where it appeared that you were just trying to get a first down but then Mike (Goodson) and Martellus (Bennett) turned them into big plays. How nice is it sometimes when a player does that on his own. It maybe wasn?™t the intent of either play I assume?

COACH FRAN: Those guys are both explosive football players and you?™re a lot better coach with good players and they are the ones that made the plays. Baylor chose to zero blitz us man all the way and Martellus broke one tackle which he?™s capable of doing and then he has the speed to go the distance and Michael basically the same kind of situation. During the time-out, I just wanted him to hold onto the ball and make four yards which turned out good because many times this year I?™ve talked to him about just try to make four yards and you?™ll make 64 as it turned out and he did.

THE QUESTION: I remember those two signing days. You were pretty excited at the time. I think everybody knew those guys had the potential. I mean, maybe the most excited we?™ve seen you about any recruits. Is that fair to say about those two?

COACH FRAN: Yeah, probably fair to say. I was pretty excited about Stephen McGee. There?™s been some others but those two were especially highly recruited and premier players that we were able to sign.

THE QUESTION: They were also two that you fought down to the wire.

COACH FRAN: Down to the wire.

THE QUESTION: Getting back to the empty formation. Is it better this year primarily because McGee is feeling more comfortable doing it is it about him more than anything else. Why has it been more efficient?

COACH FRAN: Well, I think it has to start with Stephen. When you?™re sitting there with five blockers knowing they may rush six you have to have a pretty good comfort level for how you?™re going to handle the protection and how quickly you need to get the ball out of your hand and where do you need to go with it where is the pressure coming from if it?™s a pressure situation which in Martellus?™ case it was. The line I think is also doing a good job when Stephen?™s handled the protection the line?™s done a good job of picking it up, and giving him time to throw.

THE QUESTION: Coach what is the overall impact of playing in and winning all of these close games?

COACH FRAN: Well, confidence is high, belief is high. The last few weeks my big coaching line to them at half time is just keep playing. Just keep playing. Something good?™s going to happen and they believe that. When we kick the field goal the other night the defensive guys came up saying coach don?™t worry we got it. Those kind of feelings haven?™t been here until now at that depth. I really believe a lot of things have been said about our schedule which I will point out the remaining schedule is the toughest in the nation but early in the year y?™all had plenty of things you wanted to say about it. That was really part of this. It helped us grow together, it helped us develop confidence and helped us believe. The early games let us get stronger mentally and that?™s let us be better as a football team.

THE QUESTION: Bill Parcells said yesterday ?All the crap I?™ve had to go through the last little while is worth it for the way I felt last night.? do you understand that? Everybody in coaching kind of understands that, what does that mean to you?

COACH FRAN: It is good feeling. The biggest thing that I feel right now is a happiness for our players, after everything they?™ve gone through and done. Any time that you have had to fight your way through the tough days to get to some good days it gives you a feeling of accomplishment, satisfaction, gratification. There?™s not any I told you so or anything in that. It?™s just a good feeling that you know we?™re getting there and it?™s working and we?™re making progress, but most of all what I feel on Saturdays right now after a game is excited for our players.

THE QUESTION: Do you sense that you have turned a corner? In your mind, do you have a feeling like this is Fran?™s team now the way you kind of envisioned it being?

COACH FRAN: Well, I do feel like it?™s my team now. I?™m afraid to think that we?™ve turned any corners. There might be something on the other side going to run me down so I?™m not willing to think about those kind of issues and I think sometimes as a coach you don?™t realize that you?™ve done that until you look back. Watching film this week I?™ll share this with you, some of you will remember this play last year. Stephen McGee was playing in the Oklahoma game, he scrambled out of pocket, he sprinted towards our sideline and he got leveled. Leveled. He went about 10 feet up towards the brick wall. So he jumps up and has a few choice comments, kind of gets in the face of the guy that hit him which is very out of character, I mean, you don?™t see that response out of Stephen. When I was watching the film Sunday night and I saw that play I said right there things changed. That was when things changed some.

THE QUESTION: For him or everybody?

COACH FRAN: Everybody.

THE QUESTION: The reason being, just to show they fight?

COACH FRAN: That was just the beginning of the spirit that this team?™s played with, I think. Our whole sideline erupted when he did that. They were all just taken by it and jumping up and down and fired up and I can look back to that play. We didn?™t go on and win the Texas game but we played very well and played very hard and something there took us into the off season and then something took us into spring practice and that little spirit has taken us through October.

THE QUESTION: Were your beliefs ever rattled? About you, just the things you believe in and building a program having --

COACH FRAN: No.

THE QUESTION: It?™s hard though when you work your butt off and not seeing it rewarded on Saturday?

COACH FRAN: It is. Different than you all, I live in the forest so I see all the things that I?™m dealing with and you-all deal with the final results primarily. There were some days that were very challenging. If I had been 10 years younger I might not have been as well prepared to go through this. After 30 some years and taking over the programs I?™ve taken over and there?™s not one program I?™ve taken over that I didn?™t go in one week or two weeks after I did it and shut the door and say oh God what did I do? Not a single one of them. My experience in my coaching career has helped me understand conviction and sacrifice and commitment and to stay the course and things will work out.

THE QUESTION: Do you think you spoiled some people after your second year here by making it look like this was going to be easy?

COACH FRAN: I think some of the other beat writers have said that we probably did that and that maybe true. I think had we have been able to stay healthier last year we would have been better and I certainly don?™t want to sound like I?™m making any excuses. We just got so beat up at so many positions that it hurt us and hurt our spirit and competitiveness and hurt our ability to do that and it wasn?™t in the making for that team. I think we would have came through last year looking like we hadn?™t taken a step backwards but still moving forward had it been for that.

THE QUESTION: How big a deal is it to have College Gameday here for you?

COACH FRAN: I don?™t know how to quantify it. I mean, it?™s neat to be at the center of the college football universe for a day and I?™ve been in this situation before. But you know, these are frills. They?™re just extra benefits. We?™ve got to stay focused on what we have to do to get this team ready to play Saturday night and I?™m most excited about what that stadium is going to be like Saturday night. I will bet that I will have not seen Kyle Field like we?™re going to see it Saturday night since I?™ve been here and I?™ve seen it pretty good sometimes. I have a feeling Saturday night?™s going to be special and so I?™m really as excited about seeing our stadium Saturday night as anything. It?™s great to have those guys here because they are acknowledged as some of the people that know college football the best and so that?™s really great and it?™s great for our players and our community and our fans but you know whether they were here or not we still have to get ready to play a pretty good football team.

THE QUESTION: A lot of coaches say they like to kickoff at 11 or Coach Darnell said he would like to see kickoff at 1. Do you like having a night game here in November?

COACH FRAN: I think every coach would like to kick off at 1:00 or 2:00 and have a Saturday night to go home and watch the other teams sweat it out and have dinner with your family. But not in this case. I?™m excited about it being a 7:00 o?™clock game. My experience is that Kyle Field is at it?™s very best at night. I don?™t know why that is or how to explain it. It?™s like the darkness keeps the enthusiasm in. I just remember from the Texas Tech game two years ago and from the Kansas State game a couple of years ago. There?™s just something about night games at Kyle Field.

THE QUESTION: There is also the theory that people have been drinking all day.

COACH FRAN: (Laughs) Rachel, that wouldn?™t be appropriate for me to comment on.

THE QUESTION: Coach you have seemingly increased the use of the fullback position. Why have you guys increased the use of that position and how has Chris Alexander benefited the offense?

COACH FRAN: First off let me say this. If there?™s an unsung hero in the offense it?™s Chris Alexander. You know, when Jorvorskie Lane makes those runs he?™s usually the guy leading the way and Michael Goodson and those kind of people. And what has happened a little bit is because of our ability to get the ball to the edge with guys, (defensive) pursuit has been running fast side ways and all of a sudden we?™ve slipped it to Chris and they?™re running side ways and he?™s going north and south and gets hard yards for us.

THE QUESTION: He has three touchdown receptions and I think they were all off a play fake to Jorvorskie (Lane). Has that been a little bonus for him to be able to --

COACH FRAN: That?™s a fringe benefit of being the lead blocker sometimes. When we played Oklahoma State the guy that he was going to block on the power play just dropped on the ground and tried to take Chris out at his knees so he eliminated him and so when it came time to throw the play action pass that guy was not in a position to cover Chris and because of that he couldn?™t do both. He couldn?™t take Chris out and defend the run and then also have to drop and play the pass.

THE QUESTION: He played tailback in high school. Was his evolution to fullback something you did right away or was it because you had so many great tailbacks here that you didn?™t really see him playing tailback?

COACH FRAN: We?™ve always looked at Chris as a fullback. A couple years ago when we were very limited at tailback we had Keith (Joseph) and Courtney (Lewis) and we used him a good bit at tailback in the gun then. We used him primarily as a blocker and in pass protection but we used him on some running game things, too. And Chris is versatile enough to do some of those.

THE QUESTION: You mentioned the field goal against Baylor. Looking back at those two first and goal situations do you see any common threads on things you would like to do better?

COACH FRAN: Well, we had one lineman go the wrong direction on one of them and that hurt us. There?™s a fine line for us offensively when you get down there you feel obligated to give the ball to the big guy at least once or twice because usually he?™s going to knock a couple down and drag a couple in and find a way to score. So for us as coaches there?™s a fine line of just exactly when do we fake it to him and do something else. So there?™s always a thought there of our sequence of how we handle it down there as play callers.

THE QUESTION: Do these next three games define the season or is that too easy?

COACH FRAN: I don?™t know. That?™s y?™all?™s call probably more than mine. It certainly could be a defining three games. We play three traditionally great programs, three teams that have been ranked all year. There?™s not any of them you can sit here today and say we?™re going to win. We knew this going to November. Obviously if we get wins it?™s going to be pretty special but no matter what nothing?™s going to detract from me on this team?™s specialness and what they?™ve accomplished and how they?™ve handled themselves and what they?™ve done and I know that they will fight their guts out these next three weeks and that?™s been their trademark how hard they fought and I hope that we come out on top on some of them but we all know they?™re going to be challenges.

THE QUESTION: Back to those plays made in February, did you feel pretty good about getting Bennett? I?™m sure you didn?™t know until the end. Can you speak to those two guys (Bennett and Goodson) and how you felt about your chances with them in February?

COACH FRAN: As we neared signing date?

THE QUESTION: Yes, sir. In terms of getting Goodson I imagine you felt pretty good, but with Bennett were you watching it on TV like the rest of us.

COACH FRAN: The night before signing date with Michael was a little ?... the night before signing date?™s just not a good night as a coach. Let me just say that. Just too much, too many phone calls and too much anxiety and you can?™t do anything but try to get them on the telephone. We did feel good about both those guys. Martellus called me on Friday before national signing date. I was in California recruiting. It was the last day I could be out. He started asking me questions and when he said can I have No. 3, I said ?Martellus are you trying to tell me something?? He said ?Well coach I?™m coming to A&M.? Now, knowing Martellus he probably told five more schools that in the next three days, too. Only he knows the rest of the story. I read the other day where right before he put on the A&M hat he was still in a quandary so he enjoyed recruiting as you can tell as much as anybody. So you never feel good about those things but when the fax comes across you feel pretty darn good.