Pac-12 Media Day Round-Up, Day 1
Jul 23, 2014; Hollywood, CA, USA; Pac-12 team helmets are displayed outside the Paramount Theatre during the Pac-12 Media Day at the Studios at Paramount. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
With Conference Media Days, you get a lot of information coming straight from the source with coaches and players answering questions about the up-coming year. With the Pac-12 Media Day, it is no different. On Day 1, representatives from Arizona, Cal, USC, Oregon, Washington State and Utah were at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, CA to kick off the college football season. Here are some of the biggest talking points from coaches of the six Pac-12 schools (for a full transcript of each coaches interview, click on their names) and the Commissioner:
Pac-12 Commissioner, Opening Remarks
Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott started the day of with a few enlightening topics mixed in with a few touch subjects.
How will the Pac-12 do?: “Put simply, our Conference has never been stronger or deeper than it is today, and it’s why I’m filled with so much optimism as we look forward to this upcoming season. This coming season, the Pac-12 features an impressive number of potential Heisman Trophy winners along with, again, an exceptional core of quarterbacks, part of the signature of the Pac-12.”
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On the Pac-12 in the College Football Playoffs: “Of course, I’m optimistic that the winner of that Pac-12 Football Championship Game will be one of the four teams competing in the new College Football Playoff. Very proud and pleased that finally college football has a playoff.”
Safety initiatives: “In health and safety, we’ve taken a leadership role by creating the Pac-12 Student-Athlete Research Program, including a head trauma task force. For the next three years, our Conference has committed 3.5 million dollars per year to invest in research just around student-athlete health with a heavy emphasis on head trauma.”
The very sensitive issue of paying student-athletes: “The collegiate model is working for the vast majority of student-athletes and for our schools. We need to make necessary reforms and we will. But radically changing the collegiate model into a professional model or trying to invent the construct where student-athletes are treated as employees would threaten the existence of many women’s sports, Olympic sports and certainly strip a tremendous amount of opportunity from the 7,000 student-athletes that are currently enjoying it by focusing so much of the resources on two sports where 2% or 3% of the student-athletes are going on to have a professional career.”
Scott left without taking any questions.
Arizona
Jul 23, 2014; Hollywood, CA, USA; Arizona Wildcats head coach Rich Rodriguez talks to the media during the Pac-12 Media Day at the Studios at Paramount. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Rich Rodriguez was a bit a of a firecracker, but you probably already knew that. His words on media day did not shock anyone despite making some shocking remarks. Here are some of his gems:
Welcome to Media Day: “I could be like every other coach in America and tell you how excited I am to be here, but that would be lying. I’d rather still be on vacation or meeting with my coaches.”
On claims that no-huddle offenses cause more injuries: “I call it a farce. That’s just my opinion. …It would be hard to find any hard data that shows the pace of play contributes more to injury, but that’s my opinion.”
On revealing information: “Even if I knew who the [starting running back] was, I wouldn’t tell you at all… the truth is I really don’t know who not just number one is, but I don’t know who number one, two or three is.”
The topic of paying athletes: “Now could we give them more of a stipend, a couple thousand dollars? Sure. Should we feed them every meal, every day? Sure. The life of the student-athlete will be better going forward, but it ain’t bad right now.”
Cal
Jul 23, 2014; Hollywood, CA, USA; California Golden Bears head coach Sonny Dykes talks to the media during the Pac-12 Media Day at the Studios at Paramount. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Sonny Dykes focused on moving away from the horrendous season they had last year: “We’re excited about getting started and obviously we have a bad taste in our mouths from last season and we want to get it out of our mouths as quickly as possible.”
What needs to happen with QB Jared Goff: “I think the thing we got to do is put him in good situations. A lot of times last year, we threw him to the wolves a little bit. …He has got to do a good job of getting the ball to our playmakers and and not trying to do so much and put so much on himself. And also has to do a good job as a staff of protecting him.”
Having healthy bodies: “Obviously last year was tough because of all the crazy injuries that we had. I think it was tough. …we’re just so much better now because we do have depth. We had a lot of guys comeback this spring that we never had last fall.”
The improvement of the team: “We’ve just got to get better. That’s kind of a lame answer, I know, but we just have to improve. That’s our biggest thing. Just get a little better every day. That’s how football is. You don’t circle five games and say we can win these games. You don’t do anything like that. Just you practice hard every day. You work hard every day. You get a little better every day. You develop your players. You try to create competition because it makes people better.”
USC
Jul 23, 2014; Hollywood, CA, USA; Southern California Trojans head coach Steve Sarkisian talks to the media during the Pac-12 Media Day at the Studios at Paramount. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
With a new sheriff in town, the media could not wait to ask new Trojan coach Steve Sarkisian questions. Here are some of his answers.
No QB controversy: “Yeah, Cody Kessler is our starting quarterback. Cody’s a great player. You look at the second half of last season, and I thought he played extremely well. Obviously the bowl game was lights out, and MVP of that game.”
The comparison to Pete Carroll: “His final words me… go be you. Because when adversity strikes, the real you is going to come out anyway. I’ve always held on to that. I really feel like I have. Pete and I are different people. We’re very different people. Do I hold on to some of the philosophies I learned from him? Sure I do. But we are definitely different people and that won’t change here.”
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On his defensive front: “I love our front seven. I think our front seven is the strength of our football team.”
The Pac-12 competition: “So it’s going to be very challenging every week in our conference. I said this last year and I’ll say it again this year. If you’re not ready to play in the Pac-12, I don’t care who you’re playing or where, you can get beat.”
On leaving Washington: “Yeah, I don’t think it’s ever easy. I don’t know if you guys have ever had girlfriends, when you break up with your girlfriend, it’s never easy. It’s always hard. You do it the best way you know how and you just try to be up front and honest.”
On how the recently lifted sanctions affect recruiting: “Hopefully it makes it hard on the other schools. But I don’t know. We’re just trying to recruit the people that fit us the best. We’re not chasing stars. We’re chasing the best people, the best players to come to USC that are going to help our program continue to grow, get better, and compete for championships year-in and year out.”
What does “Turn Up SC” mean?: “I don’t know. That was brought to me by our players that that’s what I should be saying.”
Oregon
Jul 23, 2014; Hollywood, CA, USA; Oregon Ducks head coach Mark Helfrich talks to the media during the Pac-12 Media Day at the Studios at Paramount. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Coach Mark Helfrich was as cool as a cucumber in talking about all the hype surrounding his team and the media picking them to win the Pac-12: “Obviously we’ve been asked a lot about the media poll that took place, and that is a good thing. It’s a good thing for the media and our fans and for everybody to talk about.”
How does Mariota returning help?: “A ton. And obviously on the field Marcus’s contribution and dynamic nature, and the way he plays kind of speaks for itself.”
Showing respect to USC’ defense: “There’s not really anybody in the Pac-12 today that plays like them or does what they do. But they’re outstanding, outstanding in every phase.”
North Division rivalries: “The North is especially from our perspective, Washington, Oregon State, we’ve always hated each other. Then the Stanford element has been at times fun, and all times competitive. They’ve gotten us the last two years, so we need to do something about that.”
Washington State
Jul 23, 2014; Hollywood, CA, USA; Washington State Cougars head coach Mike Leach talks to the media during the Pac-12 Media Day at the Studios at Paramount. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Well if you wanted outlandish comments, you got them! Here is what Mike Leach had to say:
His opening statement: “All right. We’ve got Connor Halliday, our quarterback with us today who has done a great job leading our offense, continues to improve and develop, and then our linebacker, Darryl Monroe, very smart, instinctive player that does a great job with our defense. That is the opening statement, as captivating as it was.”
Aside from the Pac-12, the last time he saw a conference full of great QBs: “I was trying to think. There was a time in the Big 12 that there were a bunch of quarterbacks. Well, let’s see, in the SEC at one time it was Tim Couch, Peyton Manning, and Danny Warfel. That was kind of impressive.”
On his book tour? That’s right, book tour: “Yeah, book tour. Did a little bit of that. Wrote a book on Geronimo, leadership strategies of an American warrior, which has kind of been beneficial as far as the football effort because you’re constantly thinking about what is greatness, how to create it, how to prepare for it, the mentality of it, which we went into some detail of that illustrated through Geronimo’s life. Anyone interested in that, go to Amazon or Barnes and Noble.”
On QB Connor Halliday: “So clearly he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the entire nation… You might be rooting for your guy, and I don’t care what you think, he’s better than your guy is.”
Playing at home: “It’s a tough, mean, nasty place to play. I can’t guarantee anyone’s survival there, but they have to come there anyway.”
Utah
Jul 23, 2014; Hollywood, CA, USA; Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham talks to the media during the Pac-12 Media Day at the Studios at Paramount. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
The Utes have been going through a tough transition into the Pac-12 and coach Kyle Whittingham made no secret about that.
A tough few years: “Last couple seasons have been tough. Missed a bowl game the last couple of years, uncharacteristic of our football team and our program. So we’re determined to get ourselves back on track this year and get things headed back in the right direction.”
The return of Travis Wilson: “He’s at no greater risk than anybody else with this condition that he has. So we’re just moving forward as though he’s a hundred percent.”
On improved recruiting since joining the Pac-12: “It has. We had a big contingency of Southern California team guys on our team. It’s always been one of our primary areas. However, as soon as we joined the Pac-12, we were able to get in a lot more doors that in the past we weren’t able to because of our affiliation with the conference.”
The College Football Playoffs: “It’s in place, and the playoffs are here and a reality but I think it’s the tip of the iceberg. I think you’ll see it expand.”
The slow start in the Pac-12: “Yeah, the transition from the Pac-12 or to the Pac-12 was as expected. I don’t think there is anything that caught us by surprise. I can tell you the thing that’s really been very apparent is the Pac-12 in 2011 when we entered and the Pac-12 Now is far superior from top to bottom in the progress this conference has made in the last few years is phenomenal.”
Stay with Go Joe Bruin as we continue our coverage of Pac-12 Media Day tomorrow for Day 2.