For as much as the Big XII Conference played it typically close to the vest on day one of its Media Days, (enough so, that we compared the flavor of the event to that of the highly measured game show “What’s My Line”), we were hoping to liven things up a little today. We’re not asking for “The Gong Show” here, but maybe at least a little “The Price is Right” in terms of energy. Thank goodness for Art Briles.
Baylor head coach Art Briles does not disappoint those of us who need material to work with when covering college football. “In our profession when you can show up another year, (at media days), it’s a great year,” Briles said. He enters his fifth season having turned Baylor from a regular conference doormat to a team that some say belonged in the College Football Playoff last year, with the Bears finishing conference play at 8-1 and going 11-2 overall. Put together the seemingly soft out of conference schedules that many Big XII teams have, plus the lack of a conference championship game and it could make for a regular uphill battle for any of these conference teams. “The schedules are done years in advance and so we play who is in front of us, but I’ll tell you I have never met a good loss or a bad win. If we line up and go 12-0, we will be in the playoffs,” Briles noted.
As for the quick turnaround of the program, Briles said it meshed with his agenda. “I don’t know if pleased would be the right word, but we’ve been on a mission. We maintained a fence around our program and didn’t worry about what others do.” One thing Briles will have to worry about this season is his starting quarterback spot, having lost two-year starter Bryce Petty to the NFL. Junior Seth Russell is the favorite to take the starter’s snaps this season. “With Seth, it’s still kind of a process to where we’re trying to fill out exactly how to coach him.” At least Russell will have an obvious target to throw to. Former offensive lineman LaQuan McGowan is now a full time tight end, having seen limited action there last year. Briles said at 6-8, 403 pounds, McGowan is actually trimmed down and a little quicker now. Shouldn’t be too hard to find him.
Oklahoma finished 2014 with an 8-5 overall record and the Sooners were 5-4 in conference. That along with a well-publicized discipline problem with a star player was enough to put Bob Stoops on the defensive. With a new offensive coordinator, an incumbent quarterback in Trevor Knight who is having to fight for his starting job, and the off-field challenges, Stoops had to address the state of the program. “We are one year removed from being a top ten team and a Sugar Bowl win. I have a 17-year track record at this so I know it’s not like we were the only 8-5 or 7-6 team in the country.” Joe Mixon, the highly touted running back was suspended for all of last season after being charged with punching a female student. Stoops said there is no place for that type of violence, but he explained why the school had not distanced itself from Mixon. “These guys have a chance to redeem themselves. These guys have had significant penalties. Being an educational institution , they deserve to do that and it’s our job to help them.”
Iowa State’s Paul Rhoads could not have sounded more pumped up for a guy whose team is 5-19 overall the last two seasons. The reasons for his upbeat demeanor? First of all, he reported that defensive lineman Mitchell Myers, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in February, has completed all of his chemotherapy treatments, worked out with his teammates during the summer and, after some radiation treatments, is expected to return to the team full time in September. Rhoads also has a veteran returning quarterback for the first time in seven years in redshirt senior Sam Richardson. Lastly, he is upbeat because even with the team’s record Rhoadss called the Cyclones fan base, “loyal and realistic with expectations.” Good thing they are both.
Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy has heard all the talk about how the Big XII supposedly got punished last year for not having a conference championship game and having Baylor and/or TCU left out of the playoffs. He is having none of it. He is a proponent of leaving the ten-team conference system the way it is. “I don’t know that we need to overreact,” to what happened last season. Tougher out of conference games would certainly help boost the national standing of some Big XII teams, but Gundy says he is satisfied with what they have. “We have a good plan. I am comfortable with the schedule we have for the next five to six years.” Of course when that non-conference schedule revolves around several match-ups with Central Michigan, South Alabama and Tulsa, most coaches are going to like their odds to improve upon a 7-6 record from the year before.
Gundy is content the direction of the program. “We have a come a long way in six months and where we are with Mr. Pickens.” That would be billionaire businessman T. Boone Pickens, who is sort of a private financier of the program Gundy currently runs. We are guessing keeping Mr. Pickens happy is high on the priority list.
Charlie Strong had a lot to answer for at his press conference. The Longhorns went 6-7 last year and 5-4 in conference. “Six and seven will never be good enough at the University of Texas.” He figures he has a good chance to improve this year with a veteran quarterback. Tyrone Swoopes stepped in when David Ash got injured early last season. Swoopes threw for 2,400 yards in 11 starts, but turned the ball over with great frequency. Strong says it won’t be just about Swoopes. “Every good quarterback has good people around them and we need to find playmakers to step up, particularly at wide receiver.” Strong will have to find them quickly as the Longhorns open the season at Notre Dame. Having dismissed nine players from the team in his inaugural season last year, team discipline is a common topic for Strong at these events. He said he favors something along the lines of the new SEC rule that bans schools from taking players that have been kicked out of other schools for disciplinary reasons. “You were at an unbelievable place and so now you did something to get yourself dismissed out. So why do you think you can go somewhere else and it’s a clean slate for you? I want to give guys on my team second chances, not guys from somewhere else,” Strong emphasized.
And just like that, just as we were getting acclimated, it was time for the mascots, (yes, all the schools brought their mascots), to take group photos in the hotel lobby. That’s how you know another year of Big XII Football Media Days has come to an end.
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