The Big 12 will provide updates including news, stories and
behind-the-scenes coverage from the 2008 Big 12 Football Media Days
starting on Monday, July 21 through Wednesday, July 23. Check back here
to catch up on the latest action from Kansas City, site this year's Dr
Pepper Big 12 Football Championship.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Talking the talk
Baylor coach Art Briles has yet to coach a game in Waco and the
Bears' program has won fewer Big 12 games than any team. But that
didn't keep Briles from speaking his mind Wednesday:
* On how he hopes to build Baylor into a winning program:
"We can operate on faith and hope for a little while but it has
to turn into reality. What we've got to do is notch a couple of
victories that make people look at the paper twice and say: 'That
happened?' So we've got to do something that's unexpected then you earn
a little credibility and then you get respect and then you have an
opportunity to get bowl level and win the championship."
* On if it excites him to take the job at Baylor, a place where some people believe it's impossible to win:
"Yeah, it does. Stupidly it does. If 18 people say no, I'm
looking for the one that says yes. That does inspire me. Is that
stupid, dumb, and ignorant? Probably, but it's also motivational and
inspiring and intriguing at the same time."
And:
"I feel like when people haven't had a lot of success, a lot of
times they're scared of success. And so what we can't be, we can't be a
university that's scared to be successful."
And:
"I like to walk down paths nobody else wants to walk down. To
me, with our recruits, with our coaches, with our fans, I want
pioneers. I want people that are not afraid to step out there and go.
It's easy to walk down a path that's clear and pristine and you know
it's just perfect. Our path's not that way."
* On Baylor being the only Big 12 team playing three BCS schools in non-conference:
"The Baylor people want to be first in something, so we're first
in the toughest schedule in the Big 12. So we're jumping out there
already as a number one."
_ Wendell Barnhouse
Colt on the run
Texas quarterback Colt McCoy has been friends with Missouri
quarterback Chase Daniel since their high school days in Texas. This
week, their paths have crossed again.
McCoy and Daniel are roommates and counselors at the Elite 11
camp for high school quarterbacks in Southern California. Like Daniel,
McCoy flew from Los Angeles to Kansas City to attend the Big 12 media
days.
Daniel said Monday that McCoy was the second-best quarterback in the Big 12.
"He probably would say that," McCoy said with a chuckle
Wednesday. "But we're having a blast working together and we're really
enjoying hanging out with each other in the summer."
After finishing his interviews Wednesday, McCoy was scheduled to fly back to Los Angeles to complete his camp duties.
_ Wendell Barnhouse
Under Horns?
Texas coach Mack Brown is already trading on the fact that Oklahoma
is an overwhelming choice to win the Big 12 South Division and that the
Longhorns aren't in their usual pre-season spot _ the top 10.
"Well, it sounds like some people don't think we're going to
win the conference,'' Brown said Wednesday. "Some people don't think
we're going to be a Top 10 team.
"This is the first time we've been considered an underdog for a
while. And it's a different role for us and it seems to be motivating
our guys to work really, really hard."
Brown pointed out how difficult the Big 12 is and the fact that
Texas has nine bowl teams from 2007 on its sechedule. Also, a number of
"experts" are saying that 2009 will be the Year of the Longhorn.
"It looks like a very, very difficult task for us," Brown said.
"And I think there's a little buzz within our team and our coaches
about the fact that some don't think we're ready for that."
Texas wide receiver Quan Cosby doesn't believe UT will be able to sneak up on anyone.
"You can see burnt orange from a distance," he said.
_ Wendell Barnhouse
Self analysis
Iowa State coach Gene Chizik made sure that he kept track of his
first year as a head football coach. Starting with two-a-day practices
before last season through last spring's practices, Chizik kept a
journal. He got the idea from his former boss, Texas coach Mack Brown.
Asked about his eight months of note taking, Chizik indicated with his hands that it ended up being about a foot thick.
"I wanted to know all the things we did wrong,'' he said
Wednesday. "We checked our ego at the door. We got embarrassed last
year and more than once. We've trouble-shot a lot."
_ Wendell Barnhouse
Short yardage
Texas coach Mack Brown is encouraged by the team's summer workouts.
He said the players have told him the turnout for the "voluntary"
conditioning drills is the best it has been since the 2005 national
championship season.
Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said running back DeMarco Murray is
looking great and on schedule as he rehabs his knee injury. "We have to
get him the ball," Stoops said of the sophomore who is expected to be
the Sooners' No. 1 running back. "Not only run him but passing the ball
as well. He's got great hands. We're expecting great things from him."
Iowa State coach Gene Chizik on the 3-9 record in his first
season coaching the Cyclones: "That is unacceptable. That's
unacceptable to our coaches. It's unacceptable to our players. It's
unacceptable for our fans who come out and watch us every week who are
some of the greatest fans in the country."
There was more talk than usual during the three days of Big 12
media interviews. There were 24 radio stations with tables set up for
their sports talk shows. The "radio row" was bigger than anyone could
remember.
_ Wendell Barnhouse
Getting offensive
Interesting story by Joseph Duarte of the Houston Chronicle that
chronicles (sorry, couldn't resist) the rise of offense _ particularly
passing attacks _ in the Big 12.
Duarte's nuggets:
* The Big 12 had six of the top 13 offenses in Division I-A last
season, led by Texas Tech (529.6 yards per game) at No. 2 and followed
by Missouri (No. 5), Oklahoma State (No. 7), Kansas (No. 8), Nebraska
(No. 9) and Texas (No. 13).
* Eight teams in the Big 12 averaged 30 or more points last
season, compared to only two in the first year (and no offenses in the
top 10 nationally) of the conference in 1996.
* Five teams -- including Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas and Kansas
State last season -- have set their single-season passing records in
the last two seasons, and all but Texas have done so since 2002.
* In the conference's inaugural season, Colorado's Koy Detmer
passed for a league-high 3,156 yards. That number was eclipsed by five
quarterbacks _ Harrell, Daniel, Kansas' Todd Reesing, Kansas State's
Josh Freeman and Texas' Colt McCoy _ last season.In all, the Big 12 had
seven 3,000-yard passers last season, the most of any Division I-A
conference.
* "It's been amazing how many yards and how well the
quarterbacks have done," Ganz told the Chronicle. "Graham Harrell
throws for 30,000 yards a year, Chase is always up there and Todd never
throws a pick in his life. This is becoming more of a passing league as
opposed to how it used to be with the power running game."
* _ Wendell Barnhouse
More to come
Check back later this evening for more news and notes from the final session of the Big 12 Football Media Days.