Nov. 10, 2008
- Baylor Media Luncheon Audio - Coach Sherman
- Baylor Media Luncheon Audio - Coach Kines
- Baylor Media Luncheon Audio - QB J. Johnson
- Baylor Media Luncheon Audio - QB S. McGee
- Baylor Media Luncheon Audio - LB A. Dixon
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Head coach Mike Sherman and selected players met with members of the press on Monday at the weekly football media luncheon on the Texas A&M campus.
Click the MP3 links above to listen to audio from the press conference. A transcript of Coach Sherman's comments is listed below.
This is the second game in a row where you're playing a team who is ranked in the top three in rushing in the conference. (QB Robert) Griffin has a lot to do with that, but can you also talk about their running game in general and what you're going to have to do to stop it?
"Well, Griffin has I think 11 rushing TDs and his net is about 650, 4.8 yards per carry, so obviously he's a threat. When they line up in empty and spread you out all over the field, they're going to try to find that gap that's not fitted up just right and try to attack you there with him. When he takes off he's something special to watch...as a spectator, not as an opposing coach. But he's good, and then you have (Jay) Finley the running back, who's had a good season as well. He has about 600 yards of rushing, and four or six TDs. So they're very efficient running the football. They really work hard on getting double teams and trying to create space to get those creases for the back or the quarterback. And the thing about Robert, he's about 60 percent passing efficient so there's a dual threat there. and truly with him there is a dual threat because he's such a spectacular...he can throw it and he can run it. We have to make sure we tackle well in this ballgame, more than any game we've played so far--not that any other one you don't have to tackle well, you do--but wrapping this young man up is going to be a challenge for us."
Did you get to know Coach Briles at all when you were with the Texans?
"I've known of Coach Briles and what he's done at different places he's been, having looked at his tapes in the past. I've always had a lot of respect for him, not just as a coach but as a person. I met him at the Big 12 meetings, we were a couple of the newcomers, so you draw a bond right there. But I think he's done a great job in his transition year."
Can you talk about Alton Dixon's move to linebacker? It seems it has been very unselfish to do that with four games left in his career...
"I can't say enough, when I look at the leadership on defense he's one of the ones I look to. He's very straightforward and honest in everything he does. He's very unselfish. To ask a defensive back to go in there and play linebacker at this point in his career...not only the fact that he hasn't played it, but to come out of a position where he's tremendously comfortable and go to one that he's not very comfortable in says a lot about him. I do think it'll help him in the long run, because the opportunity to have NFL teams look at him as a nickel back will only enhance in my mind his career down the road. I do think he has an opportunity, because of his toughness and football instincts and savvy, to be able to continue to play after his last ballgame. He is the model of what you talk about when you talk about being unselfish."
Do you expect Terrence McCoy to play this week?
"Well, I expected them to play last week and was disappointed when they weren't able to play. They didn't practice much so I should have kind of expected it. We did try them out before the game to see if they could serve in a backup role. Jeff really wanted to go and so did Terrence, but I just felt like it was going to be a setback for them if we did play them. Holding them out in hindsight was I guess the right thing to do. I would hope they will be back this week, yes. I don't know if they'll be back Tuesday but they'll be back at some point. They need to practice."
Any update on Trent Hunter?
"I was really concerned, we thought he might have had a broken bone, and it didn't turn out that way. He had an ankle sprain, a severe one, and he's booted up right now. We're just going to try to keep him off it a while and see where that brings us by Thursday. We'll see if he's going to be able to contribute this week. Based on where it was on gameday I'd say that's going to be a difficult challenge, but he's a fast healer and some guys can do it, some guys can't. And I think he's one that can."
What about Mike Goodson, where is he and what percentage would you say he is at this point?
"I would say that last week was really coming off the injury and getting more familiar, making the cuts and feeling more comfortable. We practiced him on Tuesday and he was a little ginger about planting and cutting, and as practice progressed he got a little bit better. I would expect him to be fully recovered by the time we play on Saturday."
Can you talk about Stephen McGee's effort on Saturday? Was he a little rusty, or how would you grade him?
"Well, he got put into a tough situation, obviously, with the game heading in the direction it was headed. To be thrown out there, I just thought it was an opportunity for him to go out there on Kyle Field as a senior, and also that maybe he could generate some offense. He's certainly capable of doing that, and he did. The one play, the option play, probably shouldn't have been called. We shouldn't have called that. He hadn't been in that situation too many times. I think you saw when he was running around he looked extremely fast and fresh. He made some big plays with his feet. When he had to throw the ball and could throw the ball I thought he was effective.
"I can't say enough about Stephen and the acceptance of his role on this team at this current time, with him having been the quarterback and the leader--which he still is the leader--but helping Jerrod along and being a positive influence. And when Jerrod came out it was the other way around. Jerrod was trying to help him. I'm very pleased with the attitude of those two quarterbacks and what they do for each other. They're there for each other and Stephen's a big part of Jerrod's success."
How tough is it to be a leader when you're not playing?
"I think it's very difficult, particularly when you're so competitive. He's never really been hurt before in his career and has played in every game with every team he's ever been on. For him in particular, because of the type of person he is, I know it's going to kill him inside not to be playing. But along the same lines, he hasn't shown that. He's very positive and upbeat going out to practice and going into games, and is very supportive of his teammates. I always say that when you're winning games you never really know the true character of a person because things are going well and going along smoothly. You really don't know until you get into adverse situations what people are really all about. In football, that's the great thing about this sport. It's not like basketball when you can go play another game the next day or in the next two days. You have to sit there a whole week with this adversity until you play again. You really get a chance to see what people are all about. In regards to Stephen McGee's, he's all about integrity and he's all about team. And that's very evident by his reaction to his situation."
Has he ever shown any frustration that you've noticed?
"Just one day. The first time when he got hurt, he was different. I called him up to my office and said, `What's the deal?' He said, `Well, coach, I just can't catch a break.' I said, `What are you talking about, you can't catch a break? You think I feel sorry for you? Yeah, you've got a tough situation, but at the same time, you've been a starter here. You have fans here. You have two great parents, a great faith. You've graduated. You're working on your master's. You're going to play in the NFL. Why should we feel sorry for you?' And he said, `Well, you're right.' I said, `You beat Texas twice. What else is there? It's going to work out. Just have faith and keep working.' And he has. He had one day, and that's the only time I've seen him sulking around a little bit. From that day forward he's been nothing but positive and that's a credit to him. Even without my conversation he would have bounced back. I guess we're all entitled to a bad day once in a while."
Was this after the opener against Arkansas State?
"When he first got hurt, yeah."
Do you foresee a chance to get him back in a little bit more the next couple of games?
"We'll have to see how it goes. I have absolutely no reluctance to play him. I know when he goes in there he's going to do his job. We're very fortunate that we have both quarterbacks."
Would you like to have him back for four more years?
"Stephen? I love Stephen. He's fun to be around. He enjoys practice. He has a smile on his face all the time. He's very engaging. He wasn't that way originally but he's become that way. There was one situation we had recently where he was kind of giving me a hard time about something, and I snapped back at him. And he said something like, `You said you wanted a cocky quarterback, here I am.' (laughter) So he got me on that one. I kept on telling him that the yes sir, no sir thing is fine, and I appreciate that. But let's have more dialogue beyond that, and we have. I wish I had the opportunity to coach him for four years. I think he's a unique person, and he's going to do well after he leaves here. I believe it'll be in football, but no matter what he decides to do he's going to be successful."
Do you still think he has a chance in the NFL?
"There's no question in my mind about that. No question."
Is that strictly as a quarterback, or do you see him as a Scott Frost type?
"No, no. This guy's a quarterback. This guy's definitely a quarterback, no question about it. He can play the position as well as anybody out there. He's just had an unfortunate year this year, very unique. He's going to make the best out of this situation. But he's definitely a quarterback. He has a quarterback's mind. He has great recall of what goes on in the game. There are times I'll go over and ask what he saw, and, bang, right away he'll tell me what the coverage was, and who jumped the routes. He has tremendous recall. He has excellent feet, a quick release, a strong arm. He's improved a lot of the things we talked about him having to improve on, and he's just going to keep getting better. I have absolutely no reservations recommending him to anybody, and I already have."
Can you talk a little bit about Cyrus Gray and how he's surprised you back there (at kick returner)? When did he turn the corner?
"Well, it's been a slow process. Cyrus is like a lot of players in that he needs to do it a couple of times, but then once he gets it he's not like a lot of players. He takes it to another level. I thought just initially he didn't seem to have any instincts back there. But the more he's seen it and the more he's been in the return game, the better his vision has become evident to me. Now I think, not just because of the touchdown he ran back, that he's been improving all along throughout the second half of the season. I thought he was almost looking to get tackled sometime early there, just kind of running into traffic. Now he's seeing things so much more clearly. I think it's evident by the yardage he's accruing on those returns. And he's a great young man, I tell you. He's very hard on himself and expects a lot of himself, as do I of him."
Ryan Tannehill has been a consistent bright spot all season...talk about what he's done to not just get up there but stay up there...
"Well, the thing about Ryan, he's an evolution as well. He's evolved over time. He didn't say a whole lot (at first). Now he can talk a little bit too, with the best of them. He's very competitive. And he's very hard on himself. He drops a ball and I remind him about it, and he's very accountable. There was one play in the game, and I couldn't say anything to him because he made such a great effort to reach for the ball and it came out. It was about an 18-yard gain. We ran a dig route off a play-action pass and he dove for the ball--it wasn't a great pass--and he dove for it, and just the fact that he got his hands on it was significant. But he didn't hold on to it. And we expect that if you get your hands on the ball to hold on to it. I know he wishes he did on that one. I thought this game, even though he struggled in areas, his run after the catch was so much better than it's been. He's caught some balls and made a couple of moves, but now he's catching balls and really escaping a lot better, particularly against a team like Oklahoma, where you know the guys chasing you are pretty dang fast. He was able to make some moves on some people and do some things that I think moved him ahead of where I had him in my head. He's always had great hands, and now he's really running precise routes. He really takes a lot of pride in his route-running. Now I think the yards after the catch, that big catch he made on 4th-and-3 to save me from you guys asking me today why did I do that...(laughter) if you don't think I appreciate that one, I may owe him for the rest of my life. But anyways, he did a great job with that one and got it down there so we could put it in the end zone."
I know it's two tough road games, but have you talked to your guys about the idea that with two victories you could still make a bowl?
"Well, every week I think, in this day and age with kids, you have to remind them why you're playing the game and why you have to win the game, because of the length of the season. And it's not just in college, in the NFL it's the same thing. You have to remind them, what's the reason to win this game? Why do we have to win this game? Tell me again? It's just not enough to go win, you have to tell them why, and how we're going to do it. So every week we tell them why and how we're going to do it. But yeah, that point has been made yesterday to them. We have two games left, and it starts with Baylor. We need to win this football game, as does Baylor." Has Terrence Frederick been one of the bigger surprises for you this year? "He was our last signee. He's the last one to come on board with us. When I was hired, we had certain recruits that were already in place and we had about six or eight guys that we brought on board. Obviously Trent (Hunter) was one of those, and we were down there recruiting Trent and watching their tapes, and (we saw) this young player who was just very explosive and violent in his tackling ability and coverage. (He was) coming out of Katy High School, they won state, so we had a lot of chances to watch him play. I didn't expect that he would grow into his position as fast as he has. I called him up to my office one day--he's very quiet, doesn't say boo--and I said, `You know, I really expect you to contribute and you haven't yet. With your talent, you should be out there. You should think of yourself a different way. I'm not redshirting you. Think of starting, think of playing, and put your mindset that way.' And he grabbed a hold of that, he really did. I'm proud of him for that. A lot of kids, they let that year pass them by, and it's a shame, particularly when you take that redshirt off. He's been hungry, and he's done a nice job."
What did you think of Jorvorskie's block the other day?
"Jorvorskie did some good things in the game the other day I thought. On the kickoff return previous to the touchdown he had a good block, and he did some nice things. The block you're talking about is on Stephen McGee's scramble. Obviously that was a very physical block, (especially) to take a hit off Stephen, which I appreciated and I'm sure Stephen did too."
Can you break down Baylor's defense? Can you talk about things you maybe could see success with without giving away the game plan?
"Well, we're still working on the game plan, so I wouldn't be able to give it all away to you just yet anyways. Based off of last week, you even wonder if we had a game plan. But, believe it, we did, and didn't do well with it. Defenses that play in the Big 12 have to have a certain arsenal of weapons to be able to counteract the spread stuff. So everyone kind of does a lot of the same things. I'd say this defense plays a little more with a middle safety than maybe most. I think they have a very good front. They have a safety named (Jordan) Lake, No. 21, that's a very good safety, comes downhill and will tackle you. Their two inside players, (Vincent) Rhodes and (Trey) Bryant, are two upperclassmen with good size, 300-pound type range. Our guys will be challenged there as well, so that'll be a contest for us. They're playing with a freshman corner named (Trenston) Hill, from Mount Pleasant, and he does a nice job. They're not like when I was here before, when they kind of played almost like Texas Tech plays, that overstacked defense with quarters coverage. These guys will vary it on their coverages, mix it up on you a little bit just like everybody does. In this day and age you have to have multiplicity to be able to match up. As far as exploiting them, we just have to execute what we're doing and do what we do well. I'm more worried about us many times, that kind of John Wooden-esque philosophy where I look at us a lot and get us right. If we're right, we should fit up against what they do, and the better man will win."
As an offensive line guy, what do you think of their left tackle, (Jason) Smith?
"He's a very good player, certainly someone that will play beyond his career at Baylor and for a long time. He's a prototypical type left tackle and does a great job. It'll be a challenge for our guys to get around the edge and rush the quarterback."
Is it tough this week for you and your staff to get the guys to put Saturday's loss behind them and move on?
"It is. But that's coaching, and that's what we're supposed to do. Well, what we're supposed to do is not have games like Saturday, but we did. And now that we did, we have to handle it. Handling it is trying to get them back in the boat and moving forward again, and going to Baylor and playing a great football game. Certainly, at this point in the season--the last two ballgames, and it's not that dissimilar in the National Football League--if a player or players think there's not a chance for the playoffs, or the players here think you're out of something, there's a chance that guys could not put forth the effort their supposed to put forth. And we're not going to let that happen, we've already talked about that. We're not going to allow that to happen. We have a lot to play for, beyond even bowl games. I always evaluate a team, after you get beat like we got beat, on whether they come back and how they handle that disappointment. Obviously Baylor has to handle the same thing, in a different realm. There's a lot of pride involved here. I hope their pride was hurt the other day, here at Kyle Field, our last game. Give Oklahoma all the credit in the world, they're a great football team, but even still we should have played better. We didn't play to the level we should have played in that ballgame, with all due respect to Oklahoma. We should have given them a better game."
Is it hard to imagine a team playing better than Oklahoma is right now?
"They're very talented, and I really don't see that they have a weakness. Other than their field goal kicker, who got things straightened out on our field. They're a very talented team and are well coached. They play hard. I was very impressed with them. I studied them on tape, going into the game, and was very impressed, and having seen them in person, I was very much impressed with them."
Does that make a case for a college football playoff?
"That question has been bandied about for so many years, with more knowledgeable people than me. I think there's a place for it, but no matter what you do not everyone is going to be happy. It's like taking your kids on vacation...you get all five of them in the car, and one half don't want to go and the other half want to go somewhere else, and you and your wife are saying why are we doing this? Playoffs are a little bit like that, not everyone is going to be happy all the time. I guess I don't know (if I'm in favor), that's the best way I can tell you. I think they're doing the best thing they can right now to get the true national champion, and it's going to be very difficult to assume a 1-AA schedule in the playoffs. It's going to be hard to do that. It's a long season for these kids. Academics in December and the end of November has taken a priority, or it should take a priority. I think when you extend their season any longer than it is, I think it becomes very difficult. It's already extended from 11 to 12, and you may have a conference playoff to deal with, so I would say it's a great idea but I don't see it working."
When guys like you and Art Briles are trying to get your programs established, how tough is it to make headway in a division where three of the teams are in the top five of the BCS and the fourth one is not too far out of there?
"The great thing about it is you see the standard that you're aspiring to achieve. One thing that I said after the game to our staff is that it's become very evident that we want to be where Oklahoma is, and what we have to do to get there and beat them in recruiting. They've just done a great job in recruiting and evaluating players. It does give you a model of where you need to get, albeit they're a more veteran team than we are. But at the same time they've done some very good things. It does show you where we need to get when a team beats you like we got beat the other day. And it's not just them, it's other teams as well. But they're the model."