Official Site of the Southeastern Conference

COACH ED ORGERON

THE MODERATOR: We will begin day two with the head coach of the Ole Miss Rebels, Ed Orgeron.

COACH ORGERON: Good morning, guys. Obviously, it's great to be back here in Birmingham. There's a lot of excitement in the air about the upcoming season. I'm excited to represent the University of Mississippi in the SEC.

A couple things I'd like to talk about. First of all, pre-season camp. Our team reports August 3rd. Our first practice is going to be on August 5th.

Our goal in camp is create a tough, competitive environment for our new football team. We had an excellent, excellent recruiting class. We're excited to see just how good those guys are going to be and how they can help contribute to our football team this year.

We asked to establish our identity as a football, team, establish the leadership of our football team. We plan to do that in camp. We're going to have to do a great job as coaches teaching fundamentals, a lot of new players to be able to compete in the SEC.

I want to start on defense. There's a couple of things from the last year that we're going to improve on defense. For the most part, we played pretty good defense last year. We have some excellent players returning. We need to create more turnovers, go after the ball on defense. Last year we were minus five in the turnover ratio. We need to improve on that. We have to do a better job of stopping the run. We didn't do a great enough job of stopping the run.

We need to get bigger up front. I'll show you how we plan on doing that. Our third-down defense has to improve. We need to put more pressure on the quarterback, whether it be from four-man rushes or blitzes.

I'm really excited about being able to coach Patrick Willis for one more year. I think he's an exciting football player, a great young man, and a dominant, dominant linebacker. We're going to build our defense around him. Really excited about what he brings to the football team.

Our defensive front, it all starts up front with our defense. It's going to be young, but I think we're going to be very talented. We move Peria Jerry from defensive tackle to defensive end in order for us to get bigger, more physical up front. He had an outstanding spring. He's about 6'2", 282, runs on the 4840. I expect him to be a great SEC defensive lineman.

At defensive tackle, we recruited a young man two years ago named (indiscernible) Po. He has not been cleared through the clearinghouse yet. I expect him to be cleared to the clearinghouse. I think he's going to be an outstanding lineman, along with Hayward Howard, a junior college transfer we had last year.

At the nose tackle position we have Brandon Jenkins and Jeremy Garrett. At the outside rush position Kentrell Lockett, Greg Hardy, and Chris Bowers. Those guys I expect to be a very talented front, along with a big-time recruit Marcus Tillman who played defensive end.

We're going to start four new guys up front. That's one of the things we can do at Ole Miss, is coach defensive line. I expect those guys to be ready.

At the Sam linebacker position, we have gather pack coming back, had a pretty good year for us last year, brought some experience to our defense. Backing him up will be either Jonathan Cornell or Robert Russell. Jonathan Cornell is a big-time linebacker we got out of California, freshman. We expect to help us there. The Will linebacker position is wide open. Quentin Taylor is starting at that position right now. We expect Rory Johnson, a junior college transfer who has not finished his course work, to be eligible and to be able to compete at that position.

We're excited about bringing back our whole secondary. I think everything starts in the secondary with the cornerback position. We're excited about Nate Banks, Trumaine McBride and Dustin Muson. Really excited about a young man Cassius Vaughan we recruited.

Strong safety position, Jamarca Sanford, is one of the best players on our team. He had some injuries last year. He's healthy, ready to go. We expect a good year out of him. Kind of a quarterback of our defense back there is Charles Clark. We also recruited two great young safeties in Allen Walker and Jamal Harvey. We're excited about the talent we have on defense. We're going to have to get them ready. I think we could be up to that task.

On offense, really excited about the new direction. Our offense began in the spring with Dan Werner. We share the same philosophies. Dan is going to run the offense that he's been accustomed to at the University of Miami. The offense I was accustomed to at the University of Miami. He has complete control of the offense. We're in agreement that he's going to run what he thinks best. I have complete trust that Dan will do a great job at that.

What you're going to see different in our offense, you're going to see two backs, more of a power game. We have a young offensive line. We have to have more double-teams. We have to run the ball to be successful in the SEC.

We're going to use the tight end a lot more than we have in the past. I think I have an excellent tight end in Robert Lane. He is a very, very good football player with the ball in his hands.

We always want the threat of a deep ball. You watch Miami play, they always had the threat of the deep ball. We will have in our offense.

With our offensive line coach Art Kehoe, assistant head football coach, 27 years, University of Miami, five national championships, he has already brought -- and I needed it -- a chemistry to our staff and football team. He's my assistant head football coach. He has a lot of experience. I will rely on him on a lot of subjects besides the offensive line. He has some work to do, but I expect him to build a cohesive unit and competitive unit there.

The things that we need to improve on offense, and we totally need to get better in almost every area obviously. We need to take care of the football. We threw nine touchdowns -- scored nine touchdowns last year. We threw 18 interceptions. That's not very good. We need to improve on that obviously.

Our run game has to improve. I think one of the strengths on our football team, I'll talk to you about it, is our tailback position. We have to have an overall production in overall offense.

On the offensive line, we made some changes. We moved our freshmen All-American Michael Orr to left tackle. He had a pretty good spring. This is the first time that Michael has had a full off-season with our strength coach. By the way, I think I have an excellent strength coach in Aaron Ausmus, tremendous job with the team this year. Left guard, Andrew Wicker, injured last year, moved over from defense. I think he's going to have a pretty good year there. We need to get better in the middle, especially playing in the SEC.

When you play in the SEC, you play great defensive lines almost every week, you play NFL-type players. We need to get more physical there. Thomas Eckers at center, Corey Actis, at JC transfer. Those guys are battling it out there. We're expecting things out of our right guard, who is only a freshman, John Jerry. John is about 6'5", 350. We need to get him ready to play there.

Right tackle, we moved our center, Darryl Harris, and David Traxler. Those guys are going to be new. They have a big task ahead of them. We look for a much improved offensive line.

Tight end position, I'm excited that Robert Lane decided to come back to the University of Mississippi. He has gained weight. You'll see him here today. He is a great competitor. We look forward to him flourishing in Dan's offense. You've seen the offense at the University of Miami, used the tight end a lot. We expect him, Robert Hough, Lawrence Lilly, to give us a big boost at the tight end position.

You will see a lot of times we'll be playing two tight ends in the ballgame at the same time.

The wide receivers, we need to replace them all last year. We did not have the type of production that we need to have in our offense at the wide receiver position. Mike Wallace played sparingly last year, had a great off-season for us, has gained 20 pounds, runs a sub 4340. We expect him to have a good season.

We're excited about Marshay Green, who came to our team in January, had an excellent spring for us. We expect him to start at receiver. A young man that we're really excited about, electric football player from the state of Florida, Dexter McCluster. Dexter is a little guy. He's also going to help us on special teams, the return game. He's an exciting player. I think you'll enjoy watching him play this year, along with Kendrick Lewis, Markeith Summers.

We're going to have a young group at wide receiver. One group you can get ready to play fast, it's the wide receiver position. We expect them to have a decent year there.

In the tailback position, I already mentioned it, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, we have to watch him practice, knowing he was one of the best players on our football team, we couldn't play him. He's ready to go, has a lot of experience. I like transfers. He's proved that he can play in the Big-10, he can play in big games. Expect him to have a good year. He's going to have to show that he can produce on Saturday. That's when the test is going to come obviously.

Backing him up, vying for the same position, Mico McSwain, who had a great year for us last year. He still needs to learn how to run the football. We may play Mico at wide receiver some, it depends if he can handle it and depends how he adjusts to playing two positions. We don't know that yet.

Young man that we awful excited about is Cordera. Big recruiting battle over Cordera. I feel like he's going to be a fantastic back. Those guys give us depth at tailback. Fullback, Jason Cook, Reggie Hicks, freshman, also Derrick Davis tailback or fullback.

At the quarterback position, I'll say it to you now, if everything goes as planned, Brent Schaeffer should report with the team on August 3rd. Brent Schaeffer is going to be our starting quarterback. We're excited about Brent Schaeffer. He brings an excitement to our football team, something that we need in our offense. You guys watched us play last year. We need great pray out of our quarterback position in the SEC. I think he'll be able to do that. He'll be able to make plays on his own, he'll be able to run the football when he's being pressured. That's what I like about him. He's going to fit in well in the offense.

One of the things he wanted to come to the University of Mississippi because of the style of offense that we ran. We're excited about Brent backing him up. We'll Seth Adams, Billy Tapp, Michael Herrick. We have a couple of walk-ons, too, on our football team that I can't mention now that will be vying for the backup position.

Overall, we're going to be better on offense this year. We have better talent. We have a cohesive coaching staff that's on the same page. We're looking very forward to seeing the production on our offense.

On special teams we need to do a lot better job as a coaching staff on special teams. I think I'm really excited about our return game with Dexter McCluster, Mico McSwain, Marshay Green. We need to block kicks, block punts, be more aggressive, tricks, difficult formations. We need to gain an advantage in the kicking game. We also need to find a kicker. We recruited Joshua Shene. He's going to have to prove it. He's going to have to gain the position in camp. We think he's going to be excellent. We have an excellent kickoff man in Will Moseley. He's also going to be competing for the job with Rob Park.

I gave you an overall view of our football team. We're really excited to start camp, really excited about the way things have gone at the University of Mississippi since January. We can feel a turn, we can feel a chemistry in our football team. Recruiting is going very well. We're just excited about the way things are going.

Thanks.

Q. With Schaeffer not being on campus this summer, working out with the guys, not being able to go through spring ball, how is that going to affect it? Is that a big disappointment?

COACH ORGERON: Our guys knew that he wasn't going to be there for spring ball obviously. Our guys are anticipating Brent coming and welcoming him to the football team. We really are prepared to make him feel at home with our football team, to teach him the way we do things at an accelerated pace obviously. But our team has a very positive attitude about Brent coming. They remain very patient.

Q. You talked about if everything goes to plan with Brent. What is the plan and his status, for those of us that tonight follow it on a daily basis?

COACH ORGERON: Obviously, he's finishing summer school. He has some courses to finish. We've been in touch with Brent daily. We have a plan in effect. We think it's going to work. But if something happens that he can't finish on time, if something happens that he doesn't do well in the class or something like that, that could prolong his reporting day.

Q. Could you talk about the difference having a year under your belt in this league, going into your second year? Have you learned anything specifically from that first year?

COACH ORGERON: Well, everything was new for me last area, being my first year as a head football coach. Some things I did right, some things I did wrong. Hopefully, I don't repeat those same mistakes this year.

I really learned that I have to trust my assistant football coaches and let them do their job, fix the things that need to be fixed. But I need a strong assistant football coaching staff around me, and I have that.

Knowing the talent in the SEC, which I think is a great league, going, to be able to recruit the talent, to be able to compete against LSU, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn and Florida, knowing what we're going to face each year, knowing my surroundings around the University of Mississippi, knowing my football team. I think all those things are an advantage for us.

Q. I was trying to understand Brent's academic progress here. He's at the College of the Sequoias. He leaves, takes correspondence courses, goes back. Why did he ever leave there?

COACH ORGERON: Let me say this to you. We decided it was best for Brent to go back to the College of Sequoias because there was an ending date, August 2nd or August 3rd. When you take correspondence courses, there's an open-ended date. Some of the courses were taking too long to complete. I didn't know if he could complete them by the time camp started.

Q. What is the key to successful recruiting, especially after coming off a disappointing season?

COACH ORGERON: Persistence, have a plan, believing in Ole Miss, believing in myself. We work very hard in recruiting, we work every day. My goal is to out work my opponents in the recruiting. I don't know if we do that or not, but that's my goal. Building relationship, getting on them early and staying on them.

Q. Last year you talked about changing the perceptions that you have to face on the recruiting trail. Would you talk about how Art Kehoe has helped you change the perceptions of Ole Miss?

COACH ORGERON: There's no doubt. A championship coach. A guy spent a lot of years at the University of Miami. The day he was fired, he told me he was coming to Ole Miss. He has an attitude about himself. He has a confidence about himself. He is well-known all around the country as a great recruiter and a great line coach. He brings us an immediate attention to our football team.

Q. How does Dan Werner's offense at Miami, an abundance of great athletes, how does that transfer to Ole Miss where right now there's not as many great athletes?

COACH ORGERON: The thing I like about Dan is when I interviewed him, we could sit down, and I had confidence that he could run the type of offense that would fit our whole team philosophy. Our team philosophy at Ole Miss will always be defense first. I feel if we can play great defense, run the football, take care of the football on offense, we can have a successful football team.

Q. How healthy is Patrick right now and is there a concern on your part, he's been banged up most of his career, can he go through a whole season healthy?

COACH ORGERON: As I understand it, Patrick is very healthy right now and is ready to go. I will protect Patrick during two-a-days. I don't know how much I'm going to practice him. I haven't decided that yet. I have to see him run. I haven't been able to watch him work out yet.

It is very important that we keep Patrick healthy and ready to play on Saturday.

Q. During the off-season, Robert Lane talked with Northwestern State, looked into playing quarterback with them, decided to stay. Could you walk us through what that was like, if you feel like he's happy where he is.

COACH ORGERON: I kind of let him make the decision on his own, to be honest with you. We gave him time. I think he went to his father's deer hunting camp. I was not able to speak to him often. The reason he came back to the University of Mississippi is because his degree meant a lot to him and the Ole Miss family.

He's very proud to represent Ole Miss when he plays there. He thinks that he has a future in the NFL as a tight end. He was glad to see that we hired Dan Werner and that we're going to use the tight end a lot more in our offense.

I expect Robert to be a team leader on my defense -- on our offense and be a great football player.

Q. If Brent doesn't report on time, how much do you change the game plan for the opener as far as simplifying things?

COACH ORGERON: Well, we're going to have to simplify it if he does show up on time. We're going to see how much he can handle. I don't expect, if he doesn't show up on time, for it to be much later than a couple of practices. You just can't tell.

If it prolongs, we may have to go with someone else. We have a backup plan. We're going to have to have a simple game plan for the first couple of games because he's not the only new starter that we have on offense.

Q. Why did you feel it necessary to name Brent the starter on signing day?

COACH ORGERON: That's a good question.

When we started recruiting Brent, at one time I did not have a quarterback on my board. He was really the only quarterback. I thought it was a recruiting tool for me in the future that I could use, so I used that as a recruiting tool. Besides, it was a no-brainer that Brent is going to be -- he is the only quarterback that has SEC experience. I just thought, it was something I told him, I do it during recruiting, and I felt like it was necessary for me to do it.

Q. Can you talk about just your relationship with Kehoe, how you were able to get him so quickly from family?

COACH ORGERON: Art and I coached five years together. We were best friends down there. I coached the defensive line, he coached the offensive line. We had tremendous battles every day. I have a lot of respect for him.

When I left the University of Miami, I always knew that somewhere down the line I'd like to have Coach Kehoe on my staff, whether I could get him hired at some other school I was at, I'd become a head coach. It never thought he'd become available.

As soon as I saw it on the TV, I called him immediately. I was the first guy, I believe, to call him from an outside source. That was a no-brainer. He was a five-star recruit in my mind. We're glad we have him.

Q. Can you talk about Schaeffer, his skills?

COACH ORGERON: We like the way he throws the ball. No doubt about that. He has a strong arm. He had a very successful career out there at the College of Sequoias. He's very accurate with the football. He can run the ball. He can make things happen. He's like defending 12 guys on offense. Sometimes there's nothing there, he can make a big play for you. He's a play-maker.

Q. In general, when a school gets behind in this league with a losing record, how hard is it to come back, be competitive, compete for a division title in general?

COACH ORGERON: It happens. It happens. You can see UCF last year did it. Teams do it. We will not allow any mind burrs on our football team. We don't think about that. We take things one day at a time and get better and better.

The first thing we had to do at Ole Miss is get better talent.

Q. If Brent doesn't show up in time to get any snaps before the season, does Robert Lane go back from tight end to quarterback? Did he take any snaps in the spring?

COACH ORGERON: No, no. Robert is going to play tight end. We plan for him to play tight end. I believe that we have a couple quarterbacks on the football team that if something happens, this he could be pretty good quarterbacks. We plan right now for Robert to stay at tight end.

Q. How is Patrick Willis handling the death of his brother?

COACH ORGERON: We were at the funeral with Patrick. He handled it about as well as you could expect. Patrick is unusually tough and mature. He's put it behind him. Patrick has an unusual inner fire to himself. I do believe he's a young man that's mature enough to turn a negative situation into a positive situation. I think he just can't wait to get on the football field and let some of that out.

Q. Have you spoken to the team about the tough start in the first three games, a tough Memphis team at home, then Missouri and Kentucky.

COACH ORGERON: Yes, it is. We're going to have a short week after the Memphis game, a short time to prepare for Missouri, who is a good football team, then on the road to Kentucky. We haven't done well on the road.

I say this to you. Before we do that, we have to have a great camp. We cannot look forward to the season before we gel as a football team.

Q. You mentioned moving Robert Russell over to outside linebacker. Can you talk about that decision.

COACH ORGERON: We're thinking about that. We think that Robert will flourish at outside linebacker. He has been a middle linebacker for a while. We just want to try him out there to provide more depth.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach.

COACH ORGERON: Thank you, guys.

Linebacker Patrick Willis

(On the off-season) "It's been well. I'm looking forward to camp next week."

(On the defense) "The defense is coming along well. We're getting ready for camp. The new guys are looking well."

(On the schedule) "All I know is that our first game is Memphis. Other than that, I really don't know how the schedule lays out."

(On the excitement of having new coaches) "It is. It shows that Ole Miss is on the up rise. It's going to turn around sooner or later and we hope starting this year."

(On 'sneaking up' on teams) "I don't like the word sneak. I think we'll be able to compete with teams and when it's over, come out with a victory. I think it'll be an interesting season for us."

(On freshmen) "We welcome freshmen with open arms. All of them have done extremely well with their work ethic and overall ability. We hope they come out to camp and continue to do well."

Tight End Robert Lane

(On the position change from quarterback this spring) "I played tight end a little bit last year, a little in the middle of the season, and I was able to work this spring on learning the techniques of the position. I'm excited about going into camp this fall and competing and not only holding my position but playing well. I'm still learning techniques for my position because I played quarterback four years in high school and three years in college. I just love playing football so offense, defense, special teams, as long as I'm on the field, I happy."

(On the position change last year) "Coach Orgeron called me in after the Alabama game last year and said, 'We need to get you in the game.' He asked if I'd be willing to change positions to H-back or tight end, and I said it was fine with me, I just wanted to play. I had some success in the Kentucky game and really had a good game against Arkansas, I had over 100 years receiving."

(On quarterback Brent Schaeffer joining the team late) "It's not a negative. Brent has to do what he has to do. We're excited for him to get in and be our starting quarterback. I haven't seen much on him, I haven't seen any video, but I know he's a great athlete. He played a few games at Tennessee his freshman year so he knows about the SEC. I think he's going to be successful. Coach Orgeron feels like he's the best player, and we'll do whatever we can to make him successful."

(On Coach Orgeron) "Coach O brought in excitement last year, not only to the players but also to the fan base and the alumni. Now that the fire is started, it'll only get better this year because we want to be successful. We want to have a winning season, go to a bowl game, and win a bowl game, that's our goal."

(On the new offense) "Things are going great with Coach Werner and Coach Kehoe. They both came from Miami and were successful and had great tight ends so I'm looking forward to playing for them. Their offense is tight end friendly."

(On being at SEC Media Days) "It's great for him (Coach Orgeron) to do that. It's exciting to be one of the leaders on the team, not the only leader on the team, but I got the chance to come over here, and it's been great."

TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS

COACH PHILLIP FULMER

THE MODERATOR: We're ready to continue with Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer.

COACH FULMER: Good morning. Moved right along this morning. I appreciate everybody, the reception we received. Birmingham for these media days is always kind of the kick-off, I think, to the upcoming season. This time of year, as you look forward to the season, it's always a fun time.

We are obviously coming off of a little bit of an untypical type Tennessee football season. Excited about what's out there in the future as our kids have worked really diligently and hard in the off-season, spring practice, during the course of the summer.

We actually moved spring practice back a couple of weeks so we had a longer off-season program. Had some significant injuries, surgeries, those kind of things, that we wanted to be sure we were ready for the fall. Also, as I said, after spring practice to the guys in Knoxville, that it was a time for young people -- and we're a very young football team in a lot of ways -- can work like heck to change their bodies. Our kids have done that. Really watching them work. Have done a good job with preparing themselves physically for the season.

Our motto right now, thought process, is that we want to be a fired up and focused and well-prepared football team as we go into this new season. Obviously a lot of new challenges, as is the case every year, when you graduate guys, that sort of thing. But with those challenges also come some new opportunities for us. We've got an opportunity to get ourselves back on track.

I've always looked at myself by nature as an optimist, but I'm also, I think, certainly a realist. I do realize that we have a number of challenges with this team that we need to do. As I said, we have worked really hard to overcome those problems that we have.

The energy is good on our campus right now. Our kids, I think, along with all the Tennessee people, are very upset, starting with me, about the way the season went last year. Have been real focused, as I said, on trying to get those things turned around during the course of the year.

A lot of talk about the expectations at Tennessee, a lot of questions about that. When I took over as the head football coach, I felt like there was another level we could get to. We worked like heck to get to that level, and I think have raised the expectations at Tennessee. I think five of the last nine -- we've been a part of five of the last nine eastern championships, a couple SEC championship games along the way there. I think we certainly have a handle on how to manage the expectations there at Tennessee.

We have, in a lot of ways I think, answered the bell from the off-season standpoint of not having the distractions that we had a year ago. It was a very untypical year for us from the standpoint of having a lot of things off the field that definitely took away from our season.

Trying to do an audit of all the things last year, probably didn't have enough time to go that everything, but certainly it starts with accountability from us as coaches. We made some changes to try to try to correct that. Look forward to seeing how that continues to work out.

Obviously, quarterback play last year was not nearly what we thought. We all saw the potential of a young Erik Ainge as a freshman that led us to the Eastern Division Championship. Certainly looking back I could have managed that differently. Hindsight is 20/20. Either named him as a starter in the spring or let him compete in the fall. Maybe he doesn't win the job till the fourth, fifth ballgame, or maybe not at all. I would have, looking back, managed that differently. Obviously injuries, the schedule, a lot of things went into last season.

But this day, this time with you guys, kind of is the last in my way of looking at it of the remnants of last year, get all that behind us and go from there.

As I said, we had a very intense physical spring practice. During the course of the summer, our kids have worked really, really hard. We've had basically a distraction-free summer. A couple of things came up, we handled really quickly, really firmly. Our kids understand that being at Tennessee, a school like Tennessee, is a privilege and not a right. I'm proud of the way that they've managed themselves in the off-season.

Questions.

Q. With the rule changes, coach's challenge, timeout left to use it, clock starts at the start of a possession, if you're behind in the fourth quarter, you better hurry up this year, hadn't you, with all the changes?

COACH FULMER: You really do with the ready-for-play changes. We've discussed that a number of times as a staff. You still have the 12 to 14 seconds that the SEC officials normally will give you to get the defense on the field, the offense on the field. But it's still a challenge.

It's going to make a difference. You're going to lose some plays in the game. Some of the records that are out there, if you're losing 12 to 15 plays a game, you know, likely won't be nearly as easily broken. Those kind of things, it will definitely make a difference.

The ready for play is probably as significant a change as has been made in some time in our game.

Q. Could you talk about how you expect Erik Ainge to develop under Cutcliffe's tutelage?

COACH FULMER: We all saw Erik as a freshman out there just playing outstanding football. We didn't overburden him with a lot. He was times even managing things at the line of scrimmage that was coming from the bench.

I saw that comfort level again in the spring. He's not there a hundred percent yet. But the first thing he has to do is earn the confidence of his teammates. I've watched in the off-season, in the weight room. He's leading the sprints. He's working like heck. Every time the door is open, he's staying extra, he's doing all the things that win the confidence of your teammates.

Then he's got to play within the system. There will be plenty of opportunities for big plays. He felt -- in the pressure last year to stay on the field, he had to make big things happen. That was the wrong way to look at things. He had to play within the system.

David is, obviously with the track record he's had, is the finest quarterback coach that I've ever been around. But at the same time is a comfort level to the guys that he's coaching. He has a real calming effect with them, knows where to pull the triggers and what to ask them to do. I'm really encouraged about David being back for all those reasons.

Q. You mentioned when you took over, you felt like the program could get to another level, you guys worked hard to get it there. Is the program still there and last year was an aberration, or do you feel like you have some work to get back to that level again?

COACH FULMER: I think last year was an aberration, but we still have a lot of work to do to get back to where we want to be. I don't think you're just going to flip a switch and say, Oh, we're going to be back there. The goal is always to be in the championship mix. We have a group of talented young players that if we play up to our expectations and our abilities, then I think we have a chance to make a run at it again. We've got to throw it and catch it. Our runningbacks have got to be healthy, run the football, all the things with the offensive front, the defensive team, kicking game. All those things have to come together.

It's not like we're all of a sudden void of talent. Looking at last year and trying to always learn whether you have a great year or a year like last year, which I do think was an aberration, I think there's a lot to learn from each season. Each team will have its own personality. Hopefully this team will have a personality of toughness and being physical. I believe that we're on the right track to do that.

In this league, only a few plays are going to make a big difference in the ballgame, a big difference in the season. That's what happened to us last year. In the years past, we had made most of those plays. Last year we didn't make those plays and/or we gave up plays that allowed somebody else to win the game.

Q. A lot of times coaches say there's unfair expectations placed on certain players. With Coach Cutcliffe coming back, are there unfair expectations on him to suddenly solve every problem that y'all had last year on offense?

COACH FULMER: On David? Yeah, I don't think anybody -- I mean, that's another area that we have focused on all off-season, spring practice and summer. It's not about individual players, it's not about individual coaches. It's about playing as a football team and everybody maximizing their ability, whether you're the first team quarterback or tailback or defensive tackle or you're the third team left guard. Everybody has a role to play to the fullest.

Certainly that was part of our issue last year, whether it be off-the-field issues or guys thinking about the National Football League or guys thinking about being All-American, whatever it might have been. We don't have that attitude right now. Our attitude right now is, as I said, fired up and focused and prepared to be a good team, not a good group of individuals but a good team.

Q. When you talk about disciplinary issues in general, do you think in your coaching tenure, have you changed or have the players changed?

COACH FULMER: You know, I think what we all deal with, whether it be in athletics or whether it be in our school systems or our professional worlds that we might come from, there's been some change in society. I know I go into more single-parent homes than I've ever gone into in my life. I'm not trying to give you a long answer to a good question. But it's a complicated societal issue now.

Leading up to last year, we had, I think, done very well with those kind of things. Last year was a complete melt down from a standpoint of guys, as I said earlier, feeling like it was a privilege to be a part of the program instead of a right.

All that we can do is monitor and encourage and discipline and those kind of things. If a young person's been in different things for the first 18 years of his life, you're not going to all of a sudden change him once he gets to campus right away. Hopefully as they mature and understand more, they will do much better.

The other thing to remember, and I always say this, and I don't think people really listen to it, is just a few, one or two or three guys can bring, in any school, terrible exposure to a group of a hundred other guys that are doing the right things, whether it be academically or socially or whatever. It's unfortunate, but it's the way of the world now, that the negative ends up getting so much more coverage and credence than all the positive things that can be done by young people that are out there trying to be good citizens, trying to be good students, preparing themselves for life through the college experience.

There's a lot more of that than there are of the negative.

Q. Can you talk about the immediate effect of David on Erik Ainge and your offense. What did you see right away that maybe you hadn't seen before?

COACH FULMER: Well, you know, I think sometimes people think you've got this magic dust that you're just going to go out there and sprinkle on an offense or a defense or a punter or kicker or coach or whatever, and everything's just going to be perfect. It takes a lot of work and a lot of time over a period of time for things to change.

What David brings is a really sound fundamental system to coach the quarterbacks and to run the offense that's been proven over a period of time. Not that we're going to be the same as we were last year or the years past, but there will be elements of being able to run the football, being able to throw the ball down the field, being able to take care of the football, to understand that a punt is a good thing. That's the largest change of yardage usually in a game. Change 35 to 40 yards at a time. Playing field position, all those things.

David brings all that and a lot of credibility with the guys that he's coached and the successes that they've had at Tennessee and at Ole Miss. Again, a long answer to a short question, but that's the truth.

Q. How different is the style of play in the league now than it was in the mid '90s when people were throwing it all over the place? Are you seeing new trends developing especially offensively in the league?

COACH FULMER: You know, of course when Steve Spurrier came to Florida, I think he changed the league a lot. We watched that happen over a period of time. Not that other people hadn't thrown the ball very well, those kind of things, but it definitely changed.

Everybody was chasing them for a while. Then we kind of became the team that everybody was chasing there for a while. It keeps evolving.

I think it just goes back to being able to be efficient and score enough points. The defenses this day and age have gotten so sophisticated that you're kind of in a cycle right now offensively of trying to figure out how to make a first down, how to make sure you're playing the game to help you win, not lose chunks of yards, that kind of thing.

The spread and those kind of things are new dimension to attack and make defenses have to play defense again rather than be the aggressor. It's very interesting as all this evolves, where can you go and what can your quarterback do? That's the question. That's the big thing that we're going through right now.

Our goal is to make a -- I don't know if I'm answering your question or not. I think I am (laughter). Our goal is to use the entire field and make the defense have to play defense for the entire field.

Now, can we do that with screens and reverses and those kind of things with three, four, or even five-wides? Just depends on our personnel and how our quarterback can handle it.

The goal right now offensively is to make the defense play defense again and take some of the aggressiveness away from them as you play down after down.

Q. Can you talk about two of your younger players, linebacker Rico McCoy and center Josh McNeil.

COACH FULMER: Both of those guys could easily end up being starters for us at some point during the course of the year. Josh, unfortunately, came there with a high school injury. After, I guess a couple weeks of two-a-days, had to have a very significant shoulder surgery and was limited in spring practice. The last couple weeks of spring practice was able to participate some on a limited basis.

He definitely has the physical toughness and the athletic ability and those kind of things to be a really good player for us. We're expecting big things from Josh either short-term and certainly from the long-term.

Rico McCoy is one of those guys that is going to be around the football all the time. He had an injury in two-a-days, a real significant foot injury that required surgery, so he missed the entire season. Did have a lot of work this spring. If he continues to develop, I think he has a chance to be a really outstanding player for us.

Q. Have you found it harder to get to the top of the SEC or harder to stay there?

COACH FULMER: I think it's hard to do either one, to be honest with you (smiling).

Q. Give me the reasons why.

COACH FULMER: Well, as I said earlier, you kind of get that target on your back as you go through a period of time. People are hired to beat you, work their systems and schemes. Your team gets satisfied or assumes too much. I think that's one of the issues we had last year, we just kind of assumed that things were going to work out great. Both of them are hard. To get to the top of the SEC, I mean, truthfully -- and having done it -- it's easier to play one game, win the national championship certainly than it is to go and win the SEC east, then win the SEC in the championship game.

Of course, you got to do all of that to compete for the national championship. Both of them are tough.

Q. What do you see in Quentin Hancock, his role this season, the potential for him at Tennessee?

COACH FULMER: You know, he's a freshman. He just got to campus. I think it would only be right to let him practice at least a couple days before I try to answer that question. We are excited about him. He's a really fine kid. Just from what the players say, he's picking up things quickly and maybe has a chance to help us some this year. We'll see. I don't have any idea right now.

Q. Your team seemed to exceed expectations a lot of times. 2004, the national championship season. First of all, why do you think that occurs? Secondly, you mentioned you want to develop a personality of toughness. Have you seen that over the spring and the summer to make you think that can happen again?

COACH FULMER: We went into spring practice with a definite plan. Fortunately we came through it -- we only lost one kid in spring practice to a shoulder injury that will affect this year. We had 737 scrimmage snaps during the course of spring practice. A young football team that needed to work like heck to get better. Really the only way to do that is go 11 on 11.

I think we have established ourselves to a degree as a tougher football team than we were at any point last year. That part is encouraging.

Do we still have a lot of challenges yet? Absolutely. The youth at linebacker, seeing all those runningbacks overcome their surgeries and things -- which I think we're going to be fine with -- but establish a toughness within because they weren't there in the spring. They've got to get this during camp, during fall camp. An attitude of taking care of the football better than we did last year regardless is very crucial to us. Several phases of the kicking game, it's very crucial to us.

Q. What about exceeding expectations?

COACH FULMER: Expectations are always there at Tennessee. I mean, they were there when I took over. I think we did raise them as to what we expect. That was about the same time we started the divisional play when I took over. Whatever number of years that is, but five of the last nine we've won or tied for the east. I think we've done reasonably well.

Last year was a tremendous disappointment to everybody, starting with me. As I told the other folks in the other room, I've got a lot invested into this, half my life, with the University of Tennessee, as a player and as a coach. I'm not passing through there. Maybe there's somebody that wants to do it as much as me, but ain't nobody out there that wants to do it more than I do on a year-to-year basis.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about having to replace so many proven players among your defensive front seven?

COACH FULMER: We have more...

Q. How do you plan to replace so many of your front players on defense?

COACH FULMER: When I started at Tennessee, having been an offensive line coach and offensive coordinator, I saw the teams that made the big runs in the Southeastern Conference were teams with great defensive lines. I dedicated myself to having defensive linemen. We had the Reggie Whites, a few other guys, obviously he was really great, but we hadn't had really nearly the consistency in our defensive front as some of the other teams in the conference.

We've worked hard to get the John Hendersons and Albert Haynesworths, the Leonard Littles, those guys that could turn plays around with the defensive front.

We graduated some good players in Parys Harrelson and Jason Hall and Jesse Mahelona, Jesse was All-American. Parys was, I think, an All-SEC player. Jason Hall was a great role player for us. It's going to be difficult to replace those guys.

As we've done it in the past, we tried to play a lot of defensive line year in and year out. Antonio Reynolds, Xavier Mitchell, Turk McBride, and JT Mapu is back from his Mormon mission, which is fantastic for us. Robert Ayers. We have guys that have played, they may not have started games, but it's not we're throwing some brand-new guys out there. I expect we'll be darn good up front.

The more problem area is at linebacker where we don't quite have the experience, and particularly with our schedule that we have early, they got to grow up fast, they got to figure it out. They're going to make some mistakes on the run.

But the defensive front, I expect us to be okay.

Q. How do you think Brent Schaeffer is going to do at Ole Miss, especially when you consider he's getting a late start, not on campus yet?

COACH FULMER: Brent is an outstanding athlete, football player. I certainly wish him well down there. He's a dynamic guy with his hands on the ball.

Q. What is your opinion on Internet message boards, the things that fans post on them?

COACH FULMER: You really want me to say? I don't know if I can say all that and you can print it (smiling).

You know, it's one of those things I think at this point where you just accept it as part of life and part of the world that we live in. It's not going to change. The ability to communicate worldwide now makes the world different. You either fight it, maybe I tried to a little while, but it's the way of the world.

I don't pay any attention to it. I don't worry about it. But it's certainly out there.

Q. You've talked about building those expectations over the years that you've been there. How tough was it for you and the coaching staff personally when things started to spiral? At what point, or was there a point, when you realized maybe this is just not going to be our year this year?

COACH FULMER: I guess when Jay Cutler hit that ball between two defenders standing there, thought we had him well-covered, Vanderbilt ended upsetting us in Knoxville, I thought, That's not a good thing (smiling).

You know, expectations are what they are, and I like it. I like the fact that we have great passion for our program and we have fans that really care. We're not the only one. Everybody in this conference is about the same way.

Our team, our coaches, you know, fought like heck last year, and in particular we go to LSU and win that game. At that point I say, all right, we're back on track here.

I described it in Knoxville after the season. I don't know if this is a good analogy or not, this is the way I felt, it was kind of like the perfect storm with the quarterback play, the injuries and the schedule, just a few plays here. I mean, I think we had a third and eight. We tied the score. We had a third and eight against Notre Dame. They called a play. It was obviously for man-to-man coverage; we were in zone. We had it perfectly stopped.

They caught a little under-route. Our guy slipped down. Our other safety was right there to make it. That was for a two-yard gain. The other guy was right there to make the tackle for a five-yard gain. Our two safeties ran together, both of them being aggressive, knocked each other down. He goes 73 yards for a touchdown.

It was that kind of year. Very, very frustrating.

My wife is a great coach's wife. I told some of the local guys this. She said, "Phillip, you're spoiled." We were talking about after the season. I guess in some ways, you know, I was. She said, "Sometimes to really enjoy the peaks, you've got to have a valley." I've had enough. I understand. I have a greater appreciation for things. Don't take anything for granted whatsoever, but I don't want another season like that one ever again.

I think it's one thing if somebody is just a lot better than you. That wasn't necessarily the case. It was our own things that caused our issues in a lot of cases.

Q. For a coach in this job, how much is dealing with the media these days? How do you go about dealing with the media? How has that changed over the years for you?

COACH FULMER: Well, I think early in my career I wasn't probably very good. I didn't know who to trust or how to communicate exactly. I think I'm still probably not the greatest, but I've become more comfortable with saying what I feel, those kind of things.

Most guys, if you deal with them openly and honestly, they're fine. They have a job to do. If you understand that, you try to work together, they're honest back to you, those kind of things, it's not bad.

Some guys you got to be careful of 'cause they got their own agenda. You know, I understand that, too.

Q. Another way of asking the same question, but you mentioned there was an assumption last year that maybe you guys would get it back during the season. How do you guard against the assumption you'll get it back this year just because you're Tennessee?

COACH FULMER: There's no guarantees. I mean, again, that magic dust. We'd like to sprinkle that magic dust and everything would be fine. We've got a lot of work to do. We're working like heck to correct those things that we can correct. We've got establish ourselves from a personality standpoint offensively. We have that defensively. We're No. 2 in the country in rush defense last year, No. 6 overall, something like that.

We got to get our toughness back offensively. Got to throw it and catch it. When people crowd the ball, that's what we've done. Those kind of things have to happen for us.

We've had our fair share of good fortune, I know that, during my career. It darn sure balanced itself out last year, so we're even. We want to get back on track.

Q. Out of the east in the SEC, one of the hardest conferences in the country, you have Georgia, you're hungry, want to redeem yourselves, Florida and South Carolina. On the west you got Auburn, LSU.

COACH FULMER: And Alabama.

Q. All of them really. Basically the question I'm asking you, who is the team you see as the team to beat in the SEC this year?

COACH FULMER: You know, we get asked that almost every year. That's impossible to predict. You just mentioned who the four in the east are. It's going to be one of those. Used to be three, now it's four. Any of those teams in the west. You take this conference from top to bottom, it could go to most leagues around the country and win it, the middle school could. It's tough.

I'm not saying the other conferences -- they're good, too. We're getting ready to play one of them from Cal that's really, really good. You study them on film during the course of the summer. Doesn't make for a great summer.

Q. You play the first four games of the season at home. Would you prefer to do it that way or prefer to have the home games spread evenly over the course of the schedule? Talk about how the California series game came about? Is that a home-on-home series with the Golden Bears?

COACH FULMER: I think the Cal game will be a good thing for us. Typically we've played a lot of those kind of games early in the year, whether it be Syracuse, UCLA, have some great rivalries. It typically has made our summer go very well as they look for a fast start.

The Florida game being that early is always tough. I think if we could choose, if you're asking me if I could choose, I'd like to play that one always at home and later in the year, but they're not going to let me do that (smiling).

First four at home, you know, Coach Dicky was a great athletic director and everything, I used to talk to him all the time about the schedule. I said, "You're going to be retired and I've got this schedule." That's about where we are.

It's tough, you know. I'd just as soon, with a young team this year, having those first four at home, I hope turns into an advantage for us. In some years I'd probably rather it be more spread out.

Q. How long after last season did it kind of take you to emotionally remove yourself from the season, because you're on this rollercoaster all year? How long did it take for you to step back and objectively look at it? Most of December? Usually you're getting ready for a Bowl.

COACH FULMER: Really it started before the last ballgame, to be honest with you, that obviously decisions had to be made. You'd like to have been able to soak on it for a while, really go through it. But well before the last ballgame, What in the heck is going on, how do we fix it. It was tough. It was a really, really tough off-season from that standpoint. 18 years since we hadn't been to a Bowl game. In 1988 when we didn't go, we won the championship in '89 and '90. Christmastime, you know, was really different. Christmas Eve was fine. We're always with our family and everything.

Christmas Day was -- it was good, Christmas morning. Usually that afternoon we're leaving or packing to leave or whatever. My wife said, "You got to get the heck out of this house. You're driving us crazy." It was that kind of December at least. We got through recruiting. Once we got into winter workouts, then spring practice, had our staff completely in place, it's just been really getting better since. Seeing the attitude of our kids, not having any off-the-field distractions, being very focused as a staff, as a team on what our challenges are, being around our kids, has been a real, real positive lift for me.

Q. Arron Sears has gotten a lot of pre-season recognition. Can you talk about his development over the last few years and about his role this season in terms of leadership?

COACH FULMER: He has a tremendous role as a leader. Arron is not the most vocal guy in the world. He's capable of leading with his actions and challenges the guys on the offensive team. That's one area on our offense that I am still concerned about, is who's going to take on those roles. Back when you had, say, a Peyton Manning, it was obvious who the leader was, or an Al Wilson on defense. There's ways to lead, whether you're vocal or whether you're not, that Arron has to take one of those roles.

We've had a lot of outstanding offensive linemen at Tennessee. Arron is as good as any of those guys. He is a talented football player. It's going to be very important for him to play and practice like the All-American he is.

Q. When did the Cal series get set? How many years ago? Have you noticed the off-season focus being better when you have a quality opponent like that to get the season started?

COACH FULMER: I'm not sure when it was set a hundred percent, Cal. Some time back. Most of our schedules are seven, eight, ten years out. Coach Tedford obviously has come in and really changed things there and done a great job with Cal's team.

I have a sense, and I've seen it over a number of years, when you play a team like that in the opener, the focus in the summer is a lot better. That's maybe just human nature. You'd like for it not to be that way, whoever you open with. I think with our situation coming off last year, the demands that are out there internally, and the opponent, all have made a difference for our outlook of things.

Q. What has it been like to have Coach Cutcliffe back on staff, his influence on the guys who hadn't played for him before?

COACH FULMER: Obviously, David has the great track record of having coached a number of really great quarterbacks. That helps, that he comes in with that kind of pedigree. Our 17 years together previous to him coming back to Tennessee is a real plus in that we understand each other very well.

His time as a head football coach I think certainly gives him a new perspective on the way to look at the big picture on both sides of the ball, the kicking game, the time management issues, all the issues that comes with being a head coach.

It's wonderful, you know. I don't know how many of you -- David was an outstanding coach here in Birmingham at Banks High School, I think was just coming off a championship season. We were friends. I mentioned to him about being a graduate assistant. He was, what, 26 years old, I guess, had kind of everything going for him at the high school level with his team and success. He had to sell his bass boat, sell his Cadillac, borrow money, I guess, to stay the course as a graduate assistant.

Moved up and coached -- helped me first with the offensive line, then became the quarterback coach. He has a great understanding and perspective of all levels. He's a fantastic friend, you know, as well. Great person.

Q. Has your athletic department dealt with the problems associated with myspace.com, facebook.com? If so, what is the most dangerous things about those sites?

COACH FULMER: We have discussed those. I think the conference is coming out with some guidelines that are significant, I believe, for us to deal directly with our kids when everybody reports. We have talked to our kids for the last couple of years about representing themselves well if they're going to do them. We will be looking at the sites and monitoring them. So will future employers, those kind of things.

To my knowledge -- knock on wood -- I don't know of a significant problem that we've had. We have addressed it on a couple of occasions with a couple people in the athletic department, not necessarily with the football program.

It definitely deserves our attention and scrutiny.

Q. In the spring y'all moved David Ligon, who had started four games at center last year, moved him to guard. You have Michael Frogg as a walk-on listed on your depth chart at starting center. Will Frogg be on scholarship by the time the season begins? Do you see a trend in college football of holding back available scholarships to give to fourth- and fifth-year seniors who got high GPAs in order to keep your APR above 925?

COACH FULMER: First question, Michael Frogg will be on scholarship, has earned that. He will have a chance to compete for the starting position. As we ended spring, Josh McNeil not being a hundred percent, we felt like it was only fair he gets the first shot at the position.

David Ligon I think you were asking about. David is a guy that's played both center and guard for us, trying to get a look at the matchups of how particularly our first four or five games go, which are very important to us, he gives us the best chance to match up with those opponents. The other guard is a little bit more up in the air.

I do think that each year coaches are going to be working at making sure they manage the APR to the best of their ability. That's a very important thing if you do not want to lose scholarships. In the past you may have held those back to sign at midterm or sign maybe more the next year. I think a youngster that walks on your team and is in a position to contribute, like a Michael Frogg, and we had a number of other guys, they will be receiving those scholarships more handedly.

Not that anybody held back before, but more attention will be paid to them, absolutely. I don't think you can just give it to a guy because he has a high GPA. He has to be a contributor.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach.

COACH FULMER: Thank you.

Offensive Tackle Arron Sears

(On the offseason) "The offseason is going well. We are all getting back to the basics and working hard. Our strength coach, Johnny Long, doesn't care if he hurts our feelings. He tells us what we need to improve on, and we do it. I don't quite feel like a sprinter yet, but I am getting there."

(On this season) "California is a great team and that game is important to us. We have to be on top of our game. A loss for the first game would be devastating for us, especially after last year. We have a tough and talented team this year."

(On last season) "We learned that you can't take anything for granted. You have to do whatever you can to win. We have grown a lot from last season. We all just have to work together. It is on all of us and not just the quarterback. The offense has to tackle and be there for him."

Defensive Tackle Justin Harrell

(On role as a leader) "I am just trying to go out and prepare myself, trying to lead by example. There are a lot of young guys on the team and I am just trying to set an example."

(On the losing season and Coach being on the hot seat) "Tennessee is not used to a losing season. We have five or six bowl games and we are just trying to get back to winning."

(On last year's Alabama game) "It is always one of those games to circle on the calendar. We just can't worry about it now. We just have to look at California right now."

(On the California opener) "It is a going to be a big game. We just have to go about business. The first game is always a big thing. We know it is going to be a big game. People are going to be watching to see what we will bring."

(On the touchdown against Kentucky last season) "I came in as a tight end. Those days are over now. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time and luckily did not have far to go."

ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS

COACH HOUSTON NUTT

THE MODERATOR: At this time we welcome the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks, Houston Nutt.

COACH NUTT: Thank you very much. Good to be here today. It's always the time we know we come to Hoover, Alabama, it's about time to play football. Very, very excited about that. Our guys report on the 3rd of August, and it is here. Summer has flown by. We've had most of our guys in Fayetteville, even the freshmen. They were all there by probably July the 4th or a little bit after for the second session. It's time to go.

Offensively and defensively, real briefly, then we'll get to questions, I just want to hit -- we have some good returning starters back this year. That's one thing that makes you feel good, when you have some guys that have been in the wars, been in the battles. The only negative thing with that is you didn't have a very good season last year. But hopefully we've learned and we've grown. We're going to get better because of it.

Offensively you start with the offensive line because they've been there. It's a group that's played in the SEC. I'm excited about hopefully Zach Tubbs can stay on the field this year and stay healthy. But Robert Felton, Jonathan Luigs, Steve Parker, Tony Ugoh. We finally got some depth. We got about 16, 17 guys on scholarship on the offensive line. Real excited about that.

But when you mention offense, you have to say Darren McFadden. He was probably one of seven freshmen in the SEC to ever rush over a thousand yards as a true freshman. That's saying a mouthful when you mention him in the same line as a Herschel Walker, Reggie Cobb. Darren has that type of toughness, has great speed. I love his humbleness, his unselfishness. We had Felix Jones, a first team All-American as a kick returner. I tell you, Darren was responsible for some of the key blocks. That's what I'm real excited about. Then you add in Peyton Hillis, a guy that has been very versatile for us, a punt returner, kick returner, he's a guy that can catch the ball.

Our strengths are our offensive line and those backs. Then receiver, I brought Marcus Monk who is a class, class act, just has tremendous hands. He's been doubled a lot. We need one more receiver to step up for us. We're constantly striving to create that balance. We've led the league in rushing last three out of four years. Now we need that balance. Hopefully this year we'll have that.

Defensively we got so much better the last second half of the season last year. Sam Olajubutu who has been the heart and soul of our defense. I love his leadership. He's taken ownership of our team. He's here today. When you see him, you'll say in your mind, He's not big enough. You got to look through the height, you got to look to the heart. He has a big, big heart. I love his work ethic, his attitude. It's contagious. Marcus Harrison, Keith Jackson, Jamaal Anderson, Anthony Brown, our defensive line. All those guys played last year. We moved Desmond Sims to linebacker, along with Sam Olajubutu. You have a Desmond Sims a Freddie Fairchild, who is up to 220 now. Played at 200 last year as a freshman. You got guys a little bit older and hopefully are going to be a little bit better.

Secondary-wise, Chris Houston, Darius Vinnett is back this year. Hopefully he can stay healthy. He had surgery on the kneecap there and hopefully it's full speed. He's ready to go. Johnny Johnson, Matterral Richardson. You have a little bit of experience there. But, again, like we tell our guys every single day, Listen, there's a good feeling, there's an excitement, there's a hype, but the bottom line is you got to do it in between the white lines. That's where we're at.

I'll stop there and take some questions.

Q. You lost a lot of close games last couple years. Can you talk about that, the frustration? Why do you think that was? How do you think you'll be able to win those close games this year with experience?

COACH NUTT: It's always tough when you lose. When you lose a close one, where you felt like we got the game won, boy, it's hard to swallow sometimes.

But one thing I love about our team, the ability to get back up. As humiliating as the USC game was last year, I was really proud of the way we went to Alabama. Even though we lost that game in a close game, the mindset, it could have been very easily let go of the rope right there. But these guys that I mentioned to you, they did not. They played hard.

To answer your question, hopefully you've learned now how to -- you put yourself in that position to win, especially in the fourth quarter, let's go execute, let's finish. That's one of the things we talked about in the off-season, is finishing.

Q. I'm curious if you have any kind of policy in regard to guns with all the stuff that's been going on lately at other schools? Did you ever think when you got into this profession that you would have to think about having a policy against guns?

COACH NUTT: You know, it is scary to think about, that we talk about guns. But we do have a policy. We don't allow guns. We don't want guns around the dorms or in their cars.

I do have a couple fishermen and hunters. We checked those guys out thoroughly, go through the parents, talk about the safety, all those things.

It is a little bit nerve-wracking sometimes. Knock on wood, I haven't had that much of a problem with it.

Q. You mentioned Zach Tubbs, hoping to keep him healthy this season. How is he looking coming back from last year?

COACH NUTT: I tell you, this time last year, he was 6'8", with 371. To give you an idea, right now he's at 331 pounds. He also had about six screws in his ankle. He's had a tough time last couple years. I always tease him about him not being on the field. We hadn't gone to a Bowl game the last two years, because he hadn't been out there. I tease him a little bit about that.

We had a real good spring. To answer your question, he's very committed. I love his attitude right now. He's been doing a great job with our younger offensive linemen that we have in our program, being a good leader for us. I'm excited about this season for Zach.

Q. How much does hiring Gus Malzahn change your offense this year?

COACH NUTT: Gus and Alex Wood I think are two good hires that bring a lot to the table. I want to start with Alex Wood first. Alex, tremendous experience. He's been an offensive coordinator with the Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals. He's won a national championship as an assistant coach, University of Miami, with Dennis Ericsson. He brings a lot to the table. I'm excited about him. Gus, everywhere he's been, he's been successful.

What those two guys will bring, tremendous imagination, great detail in the passing game. The one thing that we've been good, we've been good at running the football. Last three out of four years, we've led the SEC in rushing. We're constantly striving for balance. Hopefully those guys will bring balance to our offense.

Q. What are your hopes for Mitch Mustain this season? Will his comfort level be increased because you have his former high school coach on your staff right now?

COACH NUTT: The last part of your question, I didn't hear.

Q. Do you expect his comfort level will increase because you his former high school coach on your staff.

COACH NUTT: First of all, Robert Johnson has seven games under his belt. I feel good about that. Casey Dick has four games under his belt. He finished strong. You have two quarterbacks that actually played in the SEC. That gives me a comfort level.

Now, we've never had a quarterback like Mitch Mustain that's coming in here from high school with Gatorade All-American, parade All-American, all these accolades. He'll be given a real look. He probably will feel a little more comfortable in the passing game because he's done some of those things from his high school. That's going to be a natural carry-over. Again, jumping from Friday night to Saturday night, it's an awful big step in this league, in the SEC. That's going to be real interesting to see how all that plays out.

Q. Because y'all have been so good at the running game, I wanted to ask you, why nationally does it seem like there are fewer bell cow backs, more -- 25 or carry game backs. Seems like there's fewer of them, and more coach have gone to tandem deals?

COACH NUTT: You know, if you look at a lot of the offenses nowadays, seems like a little bit more wide open. Of course, you know, the fans love the long, deep ball. Even if it's incomplete, they love it.

I think you're seeing a lot of -- a little bit more of the wide-open, the back that can catch the ball, different formations, the multiple formations. It's kind of spreading the field a little bit more.

But I think if you look closely, I still feel like that recipe is run the football, stop the run, that's the way I was raised from Coach Broyles to Lou Holtz, Jimmy Johnson. You still want to throw the ball because these teams are so good. You want to be able to have that ability to keep people off balance.

I love the way we were in '98 with Clinton Sterner, Anthony Lucas. Even with Matt Jones, when we ran the ball a lot, there was still that threat of, watch out, we may throw it to Decori Birmingham, somebody like that. So you want that balance.

I don't know if I'm answering your question. I think the real reason, you see in so many more teams that are going to the spread or a little bit more option oriented as far as passing routes, different combinations along those lines.

Q. A lot of people are regarding you guys as a dark horse in the SEC, a dangerous team. How do you want your players to feel about themselves in those terms of being maybe on the rise?

COACH NUTT: Well, our players feel that right now. We had a tough year last year. It's a terrible feeling. The only thing is I look in their eyes. I look at their work ethic. I look at their attitude. I look at their sacrifice. I look at the chemistry. It starts in January when you have that long, terrible break from December through January 14th. We come back to school on the 14th. All it is is just work.

These guys are ready. They're hungry. Our fans are hungry. The coaches are hungry times 10. I believe that.

They expect to win. They expect good things to happen. That's the way I want them to feel.

Q. You have a coach that has called plays in the NFL, then a high school coach. I'm curious how those two guys are getting along. Also, how will play-calling be handled?

COACH NUTT: That's a good question.

I tell you where it's all going to start, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, we'll all be in that room together. When I called plays, the thing that we had was we had a good group of coaches in that room. It just doesn't happen on Saturday. There is feel, there is instinct, no question. But the preparation and the study is done Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, through the week. So that's where we'll be.

You'll have a guy like Alex Wood who does have that experience, Mark Markuson, a very good offensive line coach. We'll all be in there together preparing that game plan. I think we'll make it easier. We'll be real helpful for Gus.

And I won't be shy if Gus needs my help or if there's a time in the game where he think, Hey, what do you think here? That's where we won't be shy. Alex Wood won't be shy because we have that experience to help.

As far as getting along, we have -- this has been a very, very smooth transition. Change is always hard for everyone, especially an 18-year-old. But for the coaching staff, this has been a very, very good fit. We've had some great discussions. We've gotten better as a staff. Now you're getting ready to go into it for real.

Q. In the time you've been in the league, what kind of changes in style of play have you noticed? How difficult is it to be an offensive coordinator in this league right now?

COACH NUTT: I'm partial to this league, the SEC. When you mention the words or the letters SEC, the first thing that comes to my mind is tremendous athleticism, very, very fast. Anybody in this league can beat anybody on any given three-hour period on Saturday. I believe that. That's what makes it so tough when you're going to an LSU, you go to a Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Auburn. That's a hard task.

Naturally, an offensive coordinator or defensive coordinator, their work is cut out. It is a tough, tough task every Saturday to be ready to be hitting on all cylinders and being successful. That's how competitive it is. That's how much athleticism there is every Saturday.

It's what I call two chin straps. You better buckle up two chin straps, not one.

Q. Adding Alex and Gus, what is the biggest misconception that people think that your offense is going to be?

COACH NUTT: I think there's two misconceptions. One is that now it's going to be five wide-outs empty and we're going to throw it 60, 65 times a game. I think that's one.

Two, is that there's just some sort of -- there's animosity or there's problems amongst the staff with that. That's the two things that's really come out, if you look real closely, since the time they arrived. Whether it be just from boredom, rumor, whatever, it just seems like sometimes there are stories that take off, which nothing's further from the truth.

Q. The spring was a chance for the coaches and players to kind of get used to the new systems that Gus and Alex have brought in. Do the coaches look at what happened in the spring and kind of tweak the playbook from what you saw in the spring?

COACH NUTT: You know, quite a bit. Quite a bit. We've done a lot of studying, a lot of working. Again, the good thing is the playbook was pretty much intact. What Alex brought to the table, what Gus brought to the table. You try to tweak it, fine tune it, do what your players can do the best. That's the whole thing about spring, that's what is so good about spring, we got a lot out of it, feel like now we have real direction of what we want to do. You learn off that.

Q. Based on what happened in Los Angeles last season, are you approaching the Southern Cal opener as an opportunity for the Arkansas program to make a statement not just to the SEC but the entire nation?

COACH NUTT: Well, we got back at 8 a.m., about 7:47 a.m. Sunday morning. That's a long, long flight home after a humiliating loss. Very embarrassing. So naturally there's not a cupcake game in front of that. There's not a game to get warmed up in front of that. It's all that our players see on that schedule, is USC.

I just know this: I know that our players have prepared. They've worked as hard as they could possibly work through the winter and summer months. It's a great opportunity for us, to be able to have a home game like that. Our fans are excited, our players are excited. That's one of the reasons we had a really good recruiting class, I think, is because of the schedule. We're looking forward to it. There's not much else I can say except they're looking forward to the game.

Q. Can you envision how you think the plays will come about, how they'll be called, the breakdown of how that will take place?

COACH NUTT: As far as envision what?

Q. Who makes the play call. Does it go threw for final say.

COACH NUTT: Again, I'm going to go back, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday preparation is done of the first and 10 calls, third-and-long calls, most of that is done. I'm going to let Gus go. I'm going to turn him loose. I don't think you can mess with a play caller and have veto every play. I think you're going to disrupt, you're going to hurt.

Maybe after a series we'll discuss or maybe it's a timeout and you have discussion between Alex Wood, myself and Gus. But it will go down with Gus calling the plays. Again, I want to go back to the preparation of Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. Everything in line, everything in order as we study. There's not going to be that many surprises. That's the thing about playing-calling. I think sometimes it gets a little bit misconstrued. There's work that was done and preparation. You have an idea on third and eight, these are our top three. Third and three, these are our top three plays.

To disrupt a play-caller I think is very damaging, where you hurt his rhythm, hurt his train of thought. We won't be trying to veto each play every time he calls a play, to answer your question.

Q. In general in this league, how hard is it to get it back when you get a little bit behind, like a losing season, to get back in the groove?

COACH NUTT: That's a great question.

When we were going six straight Bowl games, we saw this thing happen, when the penalties were put on our program, our staff wasn't involved with these penalties, we didn't know what hit us, it hit us actually when we was at the 2000 Cotton Bowl, didn't think much about it then. About two years later, I told Coach Broyles, it's going to be very, very difficult because of the vicious recruiting, the competitiveness, people are going to use that.

I knew, and I told Coach Broyles, I knew we weren't bringing in the same horses, the Kenny Hamlins, the Tony Buas, the Brandon Holmes, Decori Birminghams. We weren't bringing in the Batman Carrolls. There was a difference now, level of athlete. I told coach the 2004 -- I'll never mention it publically or to my team, but that was going to be a very tough two seasons. Everything is going good, everything is feeling good about the Cotton Bowl, been to the Citrus Bowl, Independence, been to a lot of Bowls, good Bowls. Boy, it's going to be a tough road.

That is very, very tough when you fall behind, the recruiting the way it is, it's hard to get back over. The one thing that we did, once it was put to bed, finally we got the penalty behind us, we had two real good classes that helped us.

The thing that's tough is, though, as good and as hard as we fought, it's five and 6-1 year, four and seven, when the ball doesn't bounce just right. Now the guys are a little older, Peyton Hillis, Darren McFadden takes his first year. We're lucky to have recruiters as good as we are. You lose a Darren McFadden, your program is behind. You lose a Felix Jones, we're not having this kind of conversation, where usually we're picked last. We're not picked last or next to last. We feel like we're coming, we're close.

Q. When Spurrier came into the league, he spread everything out. I think one coach referred to it as grass basketball, where the defenses started spreading. Am I wrong or is style of play offensively kind of reverting back to where it used to be, a little more balance, less of flick flinging it everywhere?

COACH NUTT: I think every coach wants balance deep down inside. I really truly believe if a defense knows all you're going to do is hand the ball to McFadden, they're going to make you play left-handed, overpopulate the line of scrimmage. I think every coach wants balance.

You mentioned Coach Spurrier, grass basketball. I think we threw the ball more than Steve Spurrier did when he came to Fayetteville. He actually ran the ball more than he threw it. But that doesn't -- they remember the passes. I think sometimes it's just the perception. Hey, they threw a long post play and they completed it.

To answer your question, I just feel like our philosophy has been, Hey, we want to be able to run the ball and stop the run, then you want to create that balance.

To me, that's the recipe. I don't have the numbers in front of me. I don't know what everybody's doing. I just know the league, the SEC, is what is first and foremost in my mind. We're more of a run league, if you look at it pretty close, a very physical, tough league that loves to run the football, that dabbles in the pass overall.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach.

COACH NUTT: Thank you.

Wide Receiver Marcus Monk

(On new offensive coordinator, Gus Malzahn) "There's a lot more emphasis on the passing game. He's a perfectionist so we work on little things during practice."

(On the balance of passing and running this season) "We understand that running works, and we have great backs, but we also need to have balance and that includes the passing game. We receivers are ready for the season to start to just help the team."

(On not playing in a bowl game) "It's not good to sit at home and watch on TV while everyone plays. We're ready to get started and start winning and return to Arkansas' winning tradition."

(On the team's opener, USC) "They're a great team. We need to prepare hard so that we can be ready."

(On the offseason) "I've gotten stronger, I've lost 12 pounds, and I've increased my quickness so that I can be a better player."

(On incoming freshman Mitch Mustain) "He's been on campus for a while taking classes so I've seen a bit of him. We works hard, has a good head on his shoulders."

Linebacker Sam Olajubutu

(On if the team has made any changes) "A couple of small things. We just got to do what we do best and that's play football."

(On Coach Nutt as a motivator) "He just tells us to work hard and everything else will take care of itself. He's a great motivational guy and I listen to every word he says."

(On where he thinks he ranks with other SEC linebackers) "I think I'm up there with the best of them."

(On Reggie Bush) "I think he's the greatest college player of all time. I think he'll do great things in the NFL."

(On his expectations for the team) "I want us to go out there and play hard and not lose a game. If we play hard, everything else will take care of itself."

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS

COACH STEVE SPURRIER

THE MODERATOR: Wrapping up day two of SEC media days with head coach Steve Spurrier.

COACH SPURRIER: Glad to be with the media boys and girls again. Always reminded first time I came to this thing back in 1990. How many were here in 1990? A bunch of you still here. Yeah, time goes fast when you're having fun.

It's nice to be back. Looking forward to another exciting year. Hopefully our team can be competitive. We think it will be. Until we go play, who knows. Looking forward to seeing what happens.

Okay, go ahead.

Q. How different is the style of play in the league than it was maybe 10 years ago when you were putting up all those points? Will it ever get back to that, do you think?

COACH SPURRIER: Defense is certainly a lot stronger in our conference than back in the early '90s. Obviously when we started in the early '90s at Florida, nobody threw it around the way everybody does now. I think that's what gave us a little bit of an edge, plus we had outstanding defensive players to go along with that.

I really believe nowadays, there's so many good teams in the SEC. There's probably at least about six each year that have a shot at winning the conference championship. Hopefully in a couple years, we'll be included in one of those six. I don't think you can put us in that right now.

Very competitive league now, I think, compared to maybe in the early '90s, maybe there was two or three teams, four at most, that could win it, and now there's a lot more.

Q. With all the players you have on offense, Sidney Syvelle, Cory Boyd coming back, Mike Davis, can you compare the offensive talent you have on this year's Gamecock team with some of the talent you had on the Florida teams back in the '90s?

COACH SPURRIER: No, not quite, not quite right now (smiling). We'll have probably at least three new offensive linemen, some receivers that haven't played much. Sidney and Kenny McKinley, they're going into their second years. Then the other guys will probably be brand you knew wide receivers out there. Certainly Cory Boyd, Mike Davis are really excellent tailbacks.

We need to get on the field a lot quicker than we did last year. Even though we won some of those games, a lot of those games the other team had the ball more than we did every game last year. We got to find a way to stop the other team quicker and then stay out there longer offensively also.

We finished I think ninth in offense last year. That was the lowest I've ever had a team in the conference, but that's just where we are. If we get up in the top half this year, that would be very good for us.

Q. What is your opinion of quarterback play in the SEC now as compared to in the '90s? Who do you believe are the best ones at that position?

COACH SPURRIER: Man, you're asking the wrong guy that question. I always watch the defenses of the other teams when I'm watching tape, so I haven't really watched the other teams' offenses that much.

I don't know who's going to be the best quarterback this year. I have no idea. Hopefully our guy will be considered. Hopefully Blake Mitchell will come around and play better. Played pretty well last year, but he certainly can play better. If we're going to have the big year, I think Blake really has to play well.

But I haven't studied the other quarterbacks.

Q. Can you see a big difference to quarterback play now than in the '90s?

COACH SPURRIER: Certainly teams are more innovative now than in the early '90s. Every team tries to have a pretty strong passing game compared to back then. If you could just run the ball and play defense, that was the old saying to win the SEC. Now, it was interesting, I think Arkansas led the league in rushing last year. Tennessee was, I think, third in the nation in run defense.

Those stats don't hold up any more like they used to. Somehow or another, whoever gets the most points is the only stat. There's all kind of different ways to do that.

Q. You're at a school where they string in together more than four or five winning seasons in a row, hasn't been too often in history. How tough is it changing the football culture in the state of South Carolina? Is this a job that's a little bit tougher than you thought it might be when you took over?

COACH SPURRIER: No, it's not tougher. Obviously all of you know South Carolina's tradition. Our trophy case has got an Outback Bowl championship in it, and that's the biggest one. Although 1969, South Carolina won the ACC. Their team went 7-4 that year, but they went 6-0 in the SEC. That's the only championship in over a hundred years of football there.

But really the potential is there. We got a big stadium. Seats a little over 80,000. We hope to add about 8,000 or so the next couple or so, double-deck the other end zone. We sell all of our tickets. We have a capital campaign fund going. We're going to have to raise ticket price as little bit to get in line with the other conference schools.

It's going to be interesting to see if our fans continue to support us, which I think they will. I don't think it's going to be a problem. That's an area we need to get in line with, again, the other top schools.

But the potential is there. For some reason hasn't been done. We got all different players. They don't know a lot about the history. They just know that we have an opportunity to achieve things that have never happened before. That's the fun part of it. That's the challenging part. Gosh, winning in Knoxville for the first time in school history was a thrill for everybody at South Carolina. Beating Florida first time in 66 years. So it's exciting to sometimes do some things that have never been done before. That's what makes it really a fun job. We got nowhere to go but up, I tell people, and recruits. We got nowhere to go but up (smiling).

Q. Assuming Blake Mitchell gets off to a good start this year, how soon will you try to get Cade Thompson into the game?

COACH SPURRIER: Yeah, Cade had a very good spring game. Hopefully he's going to really be ready to push Blake. We also signed a young man, Chris Smelley from Tuscaloosa, who has shown a very strong commitment to try to learn our of offense and be ready to play, if needed, this year also. It's going to be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Hopefully we'll have a quarterback that can push Blake a little bit. If he goes bad, we'll have someone to give them a chance. But hopefully Blake will hang in there and play very well. He's been a very good leader through the summer. His commitment level has been strong. I'm hoping he holds up well for us.

Q. You were pretty outspoken in the spring saying your fans needed to kind of open their wallets, their minds about making the facilities a little better, putting the program where it needs to be to win. How has the response to that been from the fans?

COACH SPURRIER: I think the response has been very good thus far. We're still sort of in the process of beginning some major gifts and so forth.

But basically all you have to do is look at our endowment compared to Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, the other schools, you just see we're behind.

Some of our facilities are very nice now. We got a brand new weight room, squad meeting rooms, as good as anybody, probably right near the best in the league. Our locker room could get a little upgrade. Our trainers' area needs a big face lift. Our dining facilities could be improved. Just several areas. We don't have an academic learning center anywhere near what the other schools have either. That's a major project that is being addressed there also.

Q. After being at South Carolina a year, big wins over Tennessee, Florida, other people, how much different is it for you now in year two with this program?

COACH SPURRIER: I think just the biggest difference is you feel like you belong there a little bit more going in the second year. The fans and everybody around there have been wonderful to me, our coaches, our wives. The atmosphere is very neat. We got a ladies' clinic this Saturday. We're expecting over a thousand ladies to come for the ladies' clinic. So interest in football is high in South Carolina. Those of you that live there know, South Carolina is a football state.

For some reason we haven't done all that much historically, but we got hope that something good's on the way.

In life, that's what we all got to have, we got to have hope that something better's coming. We've had two solid recruiting classes. I really like this year's group of guys as far as the commitment they've shown during the summer workouts. From what I hear, they go to about all of them. We're on the way, we believe.

Q. You had some complaints from some of the kids in the voluntary workouts this summer. Did they pick it up down the stretch, complaints about?

COACH SPURRIER: It got a little better from what I hear. I'm not there. I don't take roll. Obviously I hear how it's going.

Our commitment level throughout the entire team is not good enough. It's not as good as the other schools we got to play, in talking to other head coaches. But, you know, that's five to seven guys. We have about five to seven that don't understand what it takes to be a winner. But that's our problem as coaches, to try to convince them what it takes. You don't punish them for missing summer workouts. You don't have to play them, though.

It's our job as coaches to try to get a hundred percent of the guys totally committed. We don't have that right now.

Q. You said that you need to get the ball back more this year and get the offense on the field more. Isn't it your biggest concern, though, with the defense, given what you have coming back?

COACH SPURRIER: Biggest concern is stopping the run. We were near the bottom in run defense. I think every team we played had the ball more plays than we did. Our possession time, we lost every game, I think.

But anyway, we got to get better on third-down offense, too. We were near the bottom of the league in that, and third-down defense we weren't very good.

Hopefully we can improve in those areas, try to get the other team off the field. We got an excellent kick-off man, Ryan Succop who can kick it into the end zone almost every time, at least 80 to 90% of the time. We never force the other team to punt from the 20 until the Bowl game.

In the Bowl game, we actually got an intentional grounding early in the game and forced -- only time we forced a punt. We got to force some punts.

Our team was very good in scoring defense. We didn't give up a ton of points. We just had trouble getting them off the field.

Q. I've asked some of the coaches how they feel about the 12-game schedule being permanent now. Teams will either have one open date or none. I wondered if you had strong opinions either way about that.

COACH SPURRIER: I think it's a very good idea. I guess my background is a little different than most of these college coaches. My first head job was the USFL. We had 18 games, actually three little pre-season scrimmages. Most years we stayed healthy all the way through. It wasn't that big a deal. I think it's easy to play 12 games. The Division I-A A guys, when they get in playoffs, I think they play 14 or 15. It's no problem at all for them. I watch basketball, girls basketball, they'll play four straight nights at the SEC tournament. I don't hear them bitching and complaining that they're playing too much (smiling).

So I think it's easy to play 12 games. Obviously, two of our teams will play 14 because two of them will play in the SEC championship and the Bowl game. That's not too many.

Q. Your opinion on Internet message boards, the things that fans post on them?

COACH SPURRIER: I don't really have a strong opinion one way or the other. That's the world we live in. It's going to happen, so live with it. Just try to teach people you can't believe everything you read. I started to say believe everything you can see. Maybe if you see it, it did happen (smiling). But don't believe everything you read. Yeah, don't believe everything you read is just something we all I think, in life, understand.

Q. You talked about forcing more punts on third down. Last year, was that more of a scheme deal or personnel or just one of those statistical oddity years where you guys -- you were not getting a lot of offensive plays?

COACH SPURRIER: Oh, I don't have the answer why we weren't very good on third downs. Maybe 'cause we didn't run the ball very well either and we didn't stop the run. Usually that's a bad two things to have going for your team.

But our defense did toughen up a lot down inside the 20 and so forth, kept the other guy out of the end zone. We're just going to try to, you know -- scheme-wise, we're going to try to be solid and hopefully confuse the offense some and put our players in position to make plays.

Q. With Clarence Bailey now ineligible, you signed a bunch of offensive linemen in this year's class, how important in your mind is it for one or more of these guys to step up and prove they can play right away?

COACH SPURRIER: Well, we signed seven I think offensive linemen. We're excited about those incoming freshmen. I haven't seen any of them practice or hit anybody yet. We got to wait and see. Certainly maybe two or three could play some this year. One of them may have a chance to be a starter. Just have to wait and see.

We got some returning players, even though we had three seniors, I guess it started in the O-line last year. None of our seniors were drafted, whatever that means. The two drafted guys were defensive backs that came out early.

Hopefully we can replace most of those seniors. Hopefully the guys that are going to be playing will play very well.

Q. You said recently you want to coach 10 more years. Is part of that because you feel like a personal responsibility help get South Carolina's tradition going and get the facilities up?

COACH SPURRIER: Well, I said -- I guess I felt pretty good that day, and I feel pretty good today, to tell you the truth (smiling). You know, that age thing is a funny thing. I've always said, if I start acting like an old dude and talking like one, they need to get rid of me.

As long as I can do everything I've been doing 20 years ago, and obviously I'm lucky health-wise, all that. I found out with those eight or nine months off after the NFL deal that coaching was a lot more fun than being retired. I don't play golf well enough to play year-round. I look forward to about four months of golf to see how I'm going to do this year. At this time, late July, I'm golfed out. I have no desire to play again. Although we got a media scramble Monday morning if anybody wants to come. I got to go do that one. That will probably be the last time I hit the ball till the season's over, I guess, 'cause we start getting -- your mind just gets into football, trying to get ready that way.

Yeah, I think I've got a lot of years, unless something happens to me unforeseen. Yeah, trying to make South Carolina a winner is a challenge. It's fun. We can tell recruits, You got a chance to come here and do something that's never been done before in the history of the school. We can tell them that. If you go to Florida, Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, they've already won SECs. You can come here and do it the first time ever.

That's a challenge. Whether or not we're going to do it, we can find out. We've had two solid recruiting classes. I think we're on schedule to have even a better one this year.

Q. Can you talk about that Mississippi State game on Thursday night, how you agreed on that, and why you did also? Can you look forward to that game, talk about what you know about Mississippi State?

COACH SPURRIER: We feel very fortunate that ESPN allows us to open up college football again Thursday night, ESPN, in Starkville. Mississippi State is a pretty good team. I know they didn't win many last year. Their defensive line, I've been telling people, I think is as good as probably any team in the SEC. They got a big, strong defensive line that really nobody handled last year.

Their offense struggled last year is probably the big reason they didn't win more games. But certainly they're going to be a tough team. Personally I've never won a game coaching in Starkville. I'm going to hopefully try to do something for the first time there.

But they're a tough team. The opportunity to play on national TV, open college football, shoot, all the guys all over the country will be watching. We're going to try our best to put on a very good performance.

Q. How do you handle your quarterbacks in the off-season? Do you sit down with them and say, here is what I'd like you to work on? If so, what did you tell Blake Mitchell you'd like to work on?

COACH SPURRIER: That's against the rules. You can't sit with your quarterbacks during the off-season. They have certain hours and so forth. He can come up and watch tape on his own. It's against the rules for the coach to sit around with them.

But Blake has done a good job of coming up and watching tape on his own, from what I hear, trying to prepare. He has shown a commitment to do that. He works with the younger guys, trying to teach them. That's what you try to do, you try to teach your older guys to teach your younger guys the offense because coaches are not allowed to meet with them during the off-season.

Q. How much of an impact do you think the new rule is as far as trying to speed up the game starting the clock when play is ready than on the snap? How much impact will that have particularly offensively?

COACH SPURRIER: I think it will help the underdog teams. Again, last year, like I said, we didn't have the ball very much, but the other team, they had it a long time, but they weren't scoring much. They were sort of running out the clock to help us.

If you're the underdog, obviously you would like fewer plays in the game. When I was at Florida, we wanted as fast as we could have it. Hopefully have about 90 plays a game. We'd have a chance to score a lot of points. But now we're in a little different situation. It can shorten the game and have fewer plays. There could be some real fast games if there's not a lot of incomplete passes and so forth.

I think the rule helps the underdog a little bit as far as shortening the number of plays each team could have. On the other hand, if you run no-huddle offense, when the referee winds it early, a couple instances, it won't affect you too much. You may see more no-huddle offenses coming out.

Q. When Tyrone started calling the plays on defense, how did things change over there? Did he make any adjustments to put his stamp on that a little more in the off-season?

COACH SPURRIER: Yeah, Tyrone and our defensive coaches, we do what I guess all of them do. We visit some of the pro teams, we try to get those zone blitzes down like everybody is doing now, so forth.

Yeah, Tyrone is catching linebackers now, sort of in the middle. I think he's going to develop into an excellent defensive coordinator. We sort of have a little game plan about how we try to call down and distance. I've probably been a little bit more involved with our defensive coaches than some years in the past. I think we know what we want to do and we're going to practice it all pre-season, which wasn't the case last year. We had way too much stuff last year. Guys were making too many mistakes. When guys make a lot of mistakes, that's bad coaching, that's all it is. You can't blame the players.

We're going to try to hopefully be fundamentally sound with very few mistakes.

Q. You mentioned being a little more actively involved with the defense. Will that continue into the fall and in what ways will you be more active with the defense?

COACH SPURRIER: Not too much during the fall. I always of course watch game tape, this, that, the other, ask questions, this, that, the other about what we're doing.

But I think after meeting with our guys now, I pretty much know exactly what we're doing defensively. Certainly I prove that this is best for what we do. Our key now is going to be to find out who the best players are. We don't know who the best players are. We've got one freshman kid there, Emanuel Cook, who looks like he's going to play somewhere. He runs extremely well, he's strong, he's aggressive. From what I hear, he sticks out during the running drills.

We just don't know who the players are going to be right now.

Q. Coming into South Carolina with a team that typically hasn't had a whole lot of success, what are some of your philosophies in trying to get your players they can win year in and year out and how has the attitude changed after last year's success?

COACH SPURRIER: Well, we ended poorly last year. We had sort of a big lead against Missouri in Shreveport and couldn't hold it, tackled poorly, never forced a punt the entire second half, didn't get a turnover, so we got beat. The offense was bad the second half also. That's where we are. We're still a little irritated about that. I am anyway. Hopefully our players are.

We're just trying to get better. We're trying to improve. We're not there yet. Hopefully I can come someday to this meeting and tell you we have a team that is ready to challenge for the SEC, which I did probably all 12 years at Florida. We're not quite in that position right now, but hopefully after another one or two recruiting classes, these guys growing up, becoming ball players, we'll be in that position.

That's our goal. They all know what the goal is. But right now we're trying to win more than we lose. If we do that, that would be a pretty good year for us.

Q. The more time passes by, it seems like your perception among the Florida fan base grows more intriguing. What kind of reception do you expect to get when you go back for the 1996 commemoration? How weird is it going to be considering that you're probably going to get a colder one when you come for the actual South Carolina game?

COACH SPURRIER: I don't really know. I sort of believe they'll treat me like they do the players on the team. Shoot, this was 10 years ago that we were fortunate enough to win it all. We know that we had an extreme amount of good fortune with all the teams ahead of us losing to get in position to play FSU again to win the national championship. Of course, the only one in school history. Those players are special did me and to all Gators. Certainly I feel responsibility to go back and see those guys since we're not playing and we do have a little time off that Saturday.

Myself, some of the coaches that were down there, we're just going to fly in and out that day, probably leave after the first quarter of the game, something like that.

I think the reception will be okay. I can't call it. I was asked during the game down there, it will be very similar to the game at Williams-Brice this year when you're the offensive coach and the play caller, that's all your mind's on. You got 90, a hundred plays, you're trying to figure out which one to get in, which one you need to get this one. Sometimes you don't think who you're playing against. You're just thinking about what defense you're going against on each particular play. I'm sure that's where my mind is really every game.

Q. What is it like chasing that SEC title now where you're used to being favored to win it every year?

COACH SPURRIER: It's a new challenge. It's a new challenge. It's an opportunity, like I said earlier, to maybe achieve some things that have never happened at South Carolina. Some people said it couldn't be down. Lee Corso said you can't win at South Carolina. We're going to try to prove some people wrong. It's fun trying to do that, really is.

Q. Houston Nutt hired his first offensive coordinator at Arkansas. Why is it you don't see more head coaches calling their own plays and how tough is it?

COACH SPURRIER: That happens sometimes. I see that trend going a lot around the country now. I think Mark Richt still calls them, Shula -- Mike Shula. I don't know how many other head coaches call them in the SEC. Anybody have a number on that? You guys study it more than I do. Anybody else that I don't know of? Maybe we're the only three still doing it.

But, anyway, that's what I did to become a head coach, was be an offensive coordinator. I've always felt that's how I can help our team the most doing that. I guess if at some point coach feels like he's got too many other duties, he doesn't have time to do that, they hire an offensive coordinator and let him run the show.

I haven't got to that point yet. Hopefully I won't get to it.

Q. I was wondering if you could talk about the runningback situation, not only with Davis, but Syvelle Newton, what his role is going to be, how is he doing?

COACH SPURRIER: Syvelle has come back nicely from his surgery. Dr. Jeff Guy did a marvelous job of repairing his ruptured Achilles. He told me he was 95. He played wide receiver, tailback, shotgun quarterback. So a little change of pace of the offense, put him back there, let him do that spread stuff that everybody else is doing, and maybe that will make him have another defense they got to have for Syvelle each week.

We'll get him sort of ready for a lot of different positions.

Q. Every year we ask you a playoff question. Are we any closer? If not, how disappointing is that to you personally?

COACH SPURRIER: Well, I don't have to worry about that playoff any more. With you I do think it is tougher for the top SEC teams to be one of the final two. It's tougher. It can be done. Heck, we've proven it can be done. I was reading something in the local paper here that in '92, of course, Alabama won it all going through the championship game. Of course, Tennessee did it one year. We did it one year.

It can happen. But it is difficult. It is difficult with so many top SEC teams, whereas all the other sports, I mean, men's basketball, national champ, Florida Gators, South Carolina beat them twice, Tennessee beat them twice, but that's the regular season. End of the season, the Florida Gators were by far the best team in the country. That's sort of how sports is if you have a tournament and playoff system.

Since we don't have that, a lot of it has to do with scheduling, voting instead of determining it on the field. But that's the way college football seems to want to do it. The presidents and athletic directors and commissioners, that's just the way they want to do it.

I remember Commissioner Kramer was here back in about '90. I said, Why do you want a playoff for the SEC championship but you don't want one for the national? He just looked at me funny. He couldn't answer it either. He didn't have the answer for that one (smiling).

But I think it's neat the way we do the SEC now, that championship game was always the biggest game of the year when we could get to it when I was at Florida. Hopefully we can get to it some year at South Carolina.

Q. You were talking that you've got great opportunity for recruits, and that's what you can offer them. Is it a real sales job you have to do on recruits to get them interested in South Carolina or have they been really receptive to you?

COACH SPURRIER: Well, it comes and goes. It depends on the individual. A lot of players are very receptive to the idea of playing early, playing as a freshman or sophomore. There's not a whole bunch of guys to beat out. If you go to a school that is not picked to win the conference or anything. So that's something you can offer.

But, really, offering them to do it for the first time, how the fans in South Carolina will embrace obviously that team forever, the one that wins the first SEC if it can be done. If you win one at these other schools, you're just doing something that they've already done before you. You're another championship team. At our place, you can be the first one.

That's our goal right there, is to win the SEC someday.

Q. How does Sidney Rice compare to some of the elite wide-outs you've had in the past?

COACH SPURRIER: Sidney is one of the best. He's a little taller than Ike Hilliard, Reidel Anthony. Probably not quite as fast, but he's improved his speed this off-season. Everybody knows about Sidney now. Wherever No. 4 goes, there's going to be a bunch of guys hanging around him. Our other receiver has to step up and play well for us this year.

Yeah, Sidney, he's a big-time talent, wonderful attitude, worked hard this off-season. Hopefully he'll continue on.

Q. In your mind, how has Sidney handled his sudden success? In your mind, does he still have a lot to prove on the football field?

COACH SPURRIER: He needs to prove he can do it year after year, which I think he knows that. But he loves playing football. He loves catching, working out, all that. He's had a wonderful attitude. I don't think it all has gotten to him much. You always got to be careful who your players hang out with. There's always some agent little runners all over the place. We certainly encourage him to hang out with his teammates, which I think he has done very well.

Anyway, I hope Sidney stays and plays three years. He's eligible to go out after this year. I sort of have a feeling that all players should play three years and then if they're a first-round pick, go before your fourth year. But Sidney, since he was redshirted his first year, he's eligible to go out after this year.

I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Q. Other than the guys on your team, who are some quarterbacks around the league that you like?

COACH SPURRIER: Well, again, I don't study many of them. I certainly watched Chris Leak play a bunch on TV, so forth. He's a beautiful passer. I don't know if they're going to ask him to run with it a lot. But he's a beautiful passer of the ball, no question about it.

I hadn't really watched much of the other quarterbacks. I really just sort of watch the defense on the other teams.

Q. Normally coaches bring upperclassmen or seniors to this event. You brought Mike Davis. Would you tell us about your thinking on that?

COACH SPURRIER: We just felt like we ought to bring two of the players who have shown excellent commitment throughout the winter and summer conditioning program. Fred Bennett I think is going to be a much better defensive back this year. Fred was not a vicious tackler this year. I think he's a lot stronger now. He had had shoulder surgery prior to last season. May have had a little bit to do with it. But we're expecting Fred Bennett to be a very solid defensive back for us this year, be a good, solid tackler.

Mike Davis is a young man that was our leading carrier, leading rusher last year. He goes to everything, goes to class, does well in the classroom. Very seldom ever misses any workout, lift, whatever he's scheduled to do.

We just felt like he deserved to come. He's our starting tailback, so that's another reason.

But Cory Boyd will play a lot, too. We're excited about those guys, too. Cory Boyd and Mike Davis, we'll see how all that plays out.

Q. How do you deal with those runners and guys coming after your players, either Florida or South Carolina?

COACH SPURRIER: All you can do is encourage your players to stay away from them, don't take anything. We try to investigate if any of them are driving brand-new cars or something like that. As long as they're driving their old beat-up cars, we feel like we're okay (smiling). A few of them have nice cars, though. But football players aren't supposed to have nice cars in college. Yeah, they get those nice ones later.

Q. You mentioned you hadn't won in Starkville. Any particular reason for that?

COACH SPURRIER: Yeah, we got beat both times. They had pretty good teams (smiling).

I'll tell you what, the last loss there in 2000 really maybe helped our team. We won the rest of the SEC games that year. Of course, that was the last year Florida -- last year we won an SEC there. We got clobbered out there. I think they rushed for 300 yards, something like that. We went back, had a little powwow with our defense and our team. From then on, our defense improved a lot, even though we finished I think eighth in total defense the year we won the SEC in 2000. We gave up a ton of rushing yards early, but then we got a lot better later on in the year.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach.

COACH SPURRIER: Thanks.

Tailback Mike Davis

(On opening with two SEC schools) "I am glad that we have that. It is good to jump right into the conference and build momentum early on in the season. You can't slack off. Mississippi State is strong and fast, but we are ready to play."

(On the offense) "Coach Spurrier passes the ball, but he also runs it which is important. The offensive line is filling out well. We have a lot of freshmen coming in but also a lot of experience. We can always be better. Anything can happen when you have different players coming in and out."

(On media days) "It is great. It is amazing to see so many cameras and media come together for this. I am really excited to be here as a sophomore."

(On competing for spot) "Cory (Boyd) and I are good friends. He is like a big brother to me and is easy to talk to. It is just friendly competition. He brings a lot of experience and leadership to the team."

Cornerback Fred Bennett

(On the comparison of Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier) "There is no comparison. I was fortunate enough to play for two great coaches. Both of them are motivators that make you want to play the game in and game out."

(On the offensive outlook) "Explosive. We have a lot of talent and have some great young receivers coming in. It's just going to be explosive."

(On last season) "It was a great season for us. Coach [Spurrier] came in and did a great job for us. He brought a lot of motivation to the team. It was very contagious and he got everybody to believe."

ROGERS REDDING

THE MODERATOR: I'm pleased to introduce the newly appointed the SEC coordinator of officials, Rogers Redding.

ROGERS REDDING: Thanks, Charles. Good morning. It's good to be with you this morning. I'm really pleased to be able to meet with you today. I've had an opportunity over the years that I've been officiating in the conference to meet some of you. I'm looking forward to working with you.

Let me talk a little bit about this change in leadership in the football officiating program. The commissioner talked about this a little bit yesterday. I want to flesh that out a little bit.

Taking the position that Bobby Gaston held for so long is really a humbling experience for me. Bobby hired me as an official, referee in the league, more than a decade ago. Bobby and I have always had a great working relationship. There's a certain risk involved in replacing an icon like Bobby Gaston.

The wisdom in the sports world is you don't want to be the guy that replaces John Wooden, you want to be the guy that replaces the guy that replaces John Wooden. I feel like I'm replacing the John Wooden of football officiating.

He certainly has been terrific in trying to make this transition as seamless and smooth as possible.

The officials are excited about the season beginning. The coaches and players are certainly excited. But the officials are excited. We begin our clinic tonight. We will have the guys do a mile and a half run against the clock in the morning to test their conditioning. On Saturday morning we will give them a rules exam. We will spend the weekend going over the rule changes, a lot of the things associated with football.

The passion that football officials have for what we do is really quite remarkable. I hope you appreciate that.

Just a little bit about my own background. I spent a long time in the academic world. I was a physics professor at several places for about the last 30, 35 years. During most of that time I was also an academic administrator. I was dean of the college of the arts and sciences at Northern Kentucky University for a few years and have been the provost at two institutions, including most recently at the Colorado Springs campus of the University of Colorado.

The bloggers have had a good time with this. There's been several references to, what is the SEC thinking in hiring this physics geek to direct the football officiating program? They've been having some good time with that.

Interestingly enough, my football officiating career started about the same time my academic career did. Everybody starts out football officiating the same way, working pee wee and junior high games. I did that back in Texas in the early '70s, which is about the same time as I started my academic career. They've sort of gone along in parallel during that time.

I was a referee in the Southwest Conference for six years. When I moved to the southeastern part of the country in the '90s, I was able to switch over to the Southeastern Conference. I love this conference. I'm telling you, this is the best conference in the country. I've gotten a different perspective on that for the last few years from living in Colorado, which is Big 12 country, Mountain West country, and WAC country. They talk about Southern football. When they talk about it, they're talking about the programs that you're writing about and the coaches in the Southeastern Conference, the players in the Southeastern Conference.

The opportunity to direct this football officiating program, the opportunity to get back to the SEC, to stay affiliated with the SEC after having refereed in it for 10 years, is something I just couldn't turn down.

I'm delighted to be with you.

I want to talk about the rule changes. All the buzz is about the coach's challenge, which is in addition to the instant replay. I thought it would be helpful if I spent some time this morning talking about some of the major rule changes. We'll talk a little bit about the coach's challenge.

There are very few really major rule changes this year. Some of them, only the people that are interested in the arcana of football will pay attention to some of this. There are two major clock rules that are different this year.

The first is that the clock will start when the ball is kicked on a kick-off. Now, for all of the history of college football, up until five or six years ago, the clock didn't start when the ball was kicked, it started when it was legally touched in the field of play. Then several years ago, the rule was changed to allow the clock to start when the ball was kicked, except in the last two minutes of each half.

Then a few years ago, three years ago, they went back to the old rule. Now they're back again to the previous rule about starting the clock on the kick, except this time there is no two-minute window in each half. The clock will start when the ball is kicked on the kick-off, period, no matter what the time of the game is. That's one you will notice. You'll notice that the first thing of the season because obviously the game starts with the kick-off. You will see that.

That's a change that will affect the timing of the game. It's going to change -- impact how the coaches manage their clock. Clock management is a big deal for coaches. This change will impact the way the coaches manage the clock.

The other one that has to do with the clock, is for the first time ever in the history of college football, when the team that was on defense, let's say the receiving team on a punt, when they get the ball, when the ball becomes dead, of course the clock stops, but now the clock is going to start on the ready for play signal by the referee rather than on the snap.

Let's take an example. Suppose one team punts, the other team gets the ball, whether they make a fair catch or get tackled in the field of play, carry the ball out of bounds, the clock will stop, the teams -- the offense will come on, the defense will come on, and the referee will whistle ball ready for play. At that time, the game clock will also start.

That's a major change in the clock rule. Again, this is going to be a challenge for the coaches and the players in terms of their clock management.

There are only two exceptions to this rule. If the play that we're talking about ends a quarter, they change ends of the field, we're not going to start the quarter on the ready for play. The quarter will start on the snap.

So that's one exception.

The other exception is if there is a team timeout, if either team requests and is granted a timeout at the end of that play, when we come back to play, the clock will start on the snap rather than on the ready for play signal.

It doesn't matter what else is going on. You'll notice this at the beginning of the game, the first game. Watch for this. The clock will start on the kick on the kick-off. When the receiving team gets the ball, they do whatever they do, get tackled in the field of play, run out of bounds or whatever, when their offense comes on the field, the referee will wind the clock on the ready for play signal. That's a major change that will have an impact on the game.

The other one is the coach's challenge. Last year you remember we instituted instant replay in all the Division I conferences. The Big-10 conference in the 2004 season had done instant replay on an experimental basis. Last year most of the Division I conferences, I think there was one conference, maybe the WAC, one conference didn't use instant replay last year. The Mountain West Conference allowed a coach's challenge, but the other conferences didn't.

This year, each head coach will have one challenge per game with regard to instant replay. The way that's going to work is, it will be in conjunction with the head coach calling a timeout. If the head coach has a timeout available to him in either half, he may request a timeout for the purpose of reviewing the previous play. He will get the attention of the nearest official and say, I want a timeout for the purposes of reviewing the previous play.

If the challenge is successful, that is to say if the call on the field is overturned, they get their timeout back, but they don't get another challenge. They've used their challenge for the game.

Let's say there's two timeouts. One team has used two of their three timeouts in the first half. If the coach wants to use the third timeout for a coach's challenge, he can do that. If the challenge is successful, he gets a timeout back. If he's used all his timeouts in the first half, he'll have to wait for the second half to institute a challenge.

One of the things I want you to understand about instant replay, I try to preach this sermon every opportunity I get. The instant replay booth, and I worked as an instant replay official last year, I've been there, done that, we are looking at every day. We are reviewing every single play even though not all plays are allowable to stopping the game for a review, but we're reviewing every play.

From the time the ball is dead until the ball is snapped again, we can often review that play two, three, maybe four times. We have the technology, pretty sophisticated now, about getting TV feed from the truck, looking at plays in the replay booth.

My hope is that the coaches will not need the challenge because the instant replay officials will be doing their job in terms of stopping the game anyway. But the challenge is available to the coaches. I'm very supportive of this. I think it's another opportunity for the officiating crew to get it right.

So those are the major changes. I think with that, Charles, I'll turn it back to you.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, Rogers.