MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE: Media Day Observations
For the average person, attending a conference media day would rank right up there with going to someone else’s family reunion.
There’s a lot of pomp and circumstance, not to mention lunch and all the free Diet Pepsi and snacks one could ask for, but just not a whole lot of fun or excitement.
To the media, the event is an important one.
It gives members of the press a chance to gather information on each of the teams in the conference in advance of the upcoming season. And, all that free Diet Pepsi and popcorn.
The “highlight” of the first day of Mountain West Conference football media day at Green Valley Ranch is a series of press conferences featuring a coach and two players from each of the conference’s nine teams.
Talk about exciting.
Each session begins with the coach giving an opening statement.
This is perhaps the most useless two minutes one could ever hope to experience.
There are three different types of opening statements.
Established coaches that are successful (Think BYU’s Bronco Mendenhall, TCU’s Gary Patterson, and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham) generally say: “It’s nice to be here again. The team has been working really hard and we hope to continue to build on the foundation of success that our kids have put down over the past couple of seasons. We have some veteran leaders on this team that will play a crucial role in helping some of the younger guys understand what the program is all about. We’re just looking forward to getting the season started. Now, I’ll take some questions.”
Then, you have the returning coaches that have not been quite as successful. Now, you’re talking about UNLV’s Mike Sanford, Air Force’s Troy Calhoun, and Colorado State’s Steve Fairchild.
The typical opening statement from this level of coach goes something like: “It’s nice to be here again. The team has been working really hard and we hope to hope it will translate into more wins on the football field. We have some veteran leaders on this team that will play a crucial role in helping some of the younger guys understand what the program is all about. We’re just looking forward to getting the season started. Now, I’ll take some questions.”
Sounds very similar, doesn’t it?
Things get a little different when you hear from the league’s new coaches.
Guys like San Diego State’s Brady Hoke, Wyoming’s Dave Christensen, and New Mexico’s Mike Locksley have to put their own stamp on things.
““It’s nice to be here. The team has been working really hard and we are really trying to lay the foundation for what we believe (fill in team mascot here) football is all about. We have some veteran leaders on this team that will play a crucial role in our transition. We’re just looking forward to getting the season started. Now, I’ll take some questions.”
As you can see, some really intriguing quotes come out of these opening statements.
Next we move on to the question and answer portion of the press conference.
Now, the fun stuff begins.
The coach is asked about eight questions as the two student-athletes in attendance sit on the dais and wonder why they are even here.
Inevitably, each of the players gets a question tossed his way as the session nears an end because somebody in the media feels bad for them.
The players that are chosen by the coaches to represent their team at media day are not rookies. For the most part, they’ve been around the program for several years and are well-versed on answering media questions at press conferences.
Translation: All you get from the players is stock answers that have been drilled into them.
These are college athletes. You just know that some of them are interesting or funny. Stop stifling them.
We all know that coaches are scared of allowing players to shoot their mouths off and say something they shouldn’t or providing bulletin board material, but can’t we allow them to share their true thoughts?
Is there anything better than Kellen Winslow’s famous locker room speech at the University of Miami proclaiming his readiness for war?
Sorry for the rant. It was impossible, however, to not stop writing for a moment to go to Youtube and check out Winslow’s “Soldier” speech. Which of course led to watching like 15 videos in a row of people taping themselves doing the “Soulja Boy.”
The point is that the players give stock answers as their coaches look on approvingly.
One good aspect of the press conferences involved the pitchers of water provided on the stage.
Each new group that took to the podium would inevitably begin to pour their own glasses.
The microphones were fairly sensitive, however, and the booming sound of ice and water pouring would echo loudly through the speakers scattered throughout the cavernous room.
It was easy to look forward to each group entering so as to enjoy the next water concert.
In all fairness, real information can be gathered during the one-on-one portion of the festivities. It gives reporters a chance to delve deeper on a more personal basis.
But, here are the highlights of the press conference on a team-by-team basis.
AIR FORCE
Coach Troy Calhoun promised his team would win some games, despite the fact his program has some limitations.
“We’re a service academy playing in a very good conference,” he said. “But we can and we will be a competitive football team and you’ll see that this season.”
He went on to say that his team has little use for preseason polls, though his team was picked fourth in the league.
“We’re a school that’s merit based. There’s extremely high standards to get into the Academy and once you’re there, you have to achieve,” he said. “It’s no different on the football field.”
BRIGHAM YOUNG
Bronco Mendenhall said he may have been unprepared for the swarm of national attention his football team received early last season.
“If I could have, and I would have been more skilled, I would have put a bigger bubble around us,” he said.
The Cougars were touted as potential BCS crashers, a distinction that instead went to BYU’s rival, Utah.
BYU was chosen to play Oklahoma to open the Dallas Cowboys new stadium in Arlington, Texas.
Mendenhall said the team was not about to pass on the chance to play the powerhouse program on such a national stage.
“I think it’s a fantastic opportunity that our team has earned,” he said. “We were selected to play in it and we’re not going to shy away from it.”
Tight end Dennis Pitta was the epitome of the cliché-giving athlete mentioned earlier.
He finished second in the nation in receiving among tight ends last season and was named a unanimous preseason all-conference selection today.
“It’s my job to allow the team to be in a position to win games,” he said. “I don’t judge myself on personal accolades.”
Thanks, very insightful.
NEW MEXICO
The Lobos new coach, Mike Locksley, said exactly what any new coach in the Mountain West is supposed to say.
“I’ve been a part of programs in three of the automatic-qualifying conferences, the ACC, Big 10 and ACC,” he said. “I don’t think any of those conferences compare to the depth of this league.”
Okay.
Locksley, an African-American, did have some interesting things to say on the so-called “Rooney Rule,” the NFL’s policy that teams must interview minority candidates for open head coaching and senior football operations positions.
Locksley said he does not see a need for it in college football.
“I don’t agree with the Rooney rule. I think the NFL is a whole different animal than college football,” he said, before adding he is proud of getting the New Mexico job on his own merits.
“I’ve been afforded the opportunity to coach here based on my hard work.”
Though he is known for operating a spread offense, he wants to bring a balanced attack to Albuquerque.
“To me, that doesn’t mean 50 percent run and 50 percent pass,” he said. “It’s being able to do both really well.”
TEXAS CHRISTIAN
Gary Patterson stressed that the fact his team was picked to win the Mountain West Conference doesn’t mean very much.
“The two times we won the conference, we were picked sixth,” he said. “The best thing we can do is try to have the best football team we possibly can come Sept. 12.”
Quarterback Andy Dalton echoed the sentiment.
“The preseason ranking is based on potential. We want to prove it right,” he said.
Patterson also said the league can’t be concerned with its perceived slight by the BCS.
“The biggest thing we can do as a conference is keep winning,” he said.
WYOMING
New Wyoming head coach Dave Christensen used the same phrase as part of each of his first three answers.
The questions were completely different, and the answers were lengthy. But at some point in each of the three answers, he worked in, “the kids have worked really hard.”
Translation: They stink.
Christensen is trying to instill a sense of pride in a program that has struggled in recent years and is picked to finish last in the league in 2009.
“They’re a very prideful group, much like the city of Laramie,” he said. “We’re excited to get them back to the Cowboy toughness that they’ve known in the past.”
Wyoming will need to get its act together quickly. The Cowboys host Texas on September 12.
“I think it will be the biggest game that’s ever been played in the history of Wyoming,” Christensen said.
The new coach also relayed a story about how long he has known Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, saying the two were fired together from Idaho State many years back.
“I guess we weren’t very good coaches back then,” he joked.
UTAH
Much of the talk from the Utes centered on the fact that the program will try to rebuild after winning a BCS bowl game last season.
“It was an exciting year for us, but it’s in the rear-view mirror now,” Whittingham said. “Our goal each and every year is to win the Mountain West Conference championship. That’s where our focus is. We’re not really concerned with topping last year. We’re focused on being the best team we can be this year.”
To do that, Utah must find a replacement for quarterback Brian Johnson.
“We were able to get a lot of things straightened out in spring practice. One of those things was not our quarterback situation. It’s an ongoing process,” Whittingham said. “It’s a three-man race. We have to get that down to two as soon as possible. There’s not enough time or reps to get three guys ready.”
Whittingham added that he does not foresee going to a two-man rotation when the regular season begins.
COLORADO STATE
The Rams had a surprise season last year and hope to build off of that success this year.
The key could be their offensive line. According to head coach Steve Fairchild, Colorado State’s front five possesses the most starts of any offensive line unit in the country.
The team remains unsettled at quarterback, but guard Shelley Smith says the experienced line can help whomever earns the job under center.
“I think it will make the quarterback a little more comfortable knowing we’ve seen a lot of things,” he said.
Fairchild sounded unimpressed when asked about the media selecting his team to finish sixth in the conference.
“I could care less where anyone picks us,” he said.
Coach, everyone can agree that preseason polls are meaningless, but please get the expression right.
You couldn’t care less where anyone picks you. If you could care less, that means you care at least some. Obviously, the phrase is butchered all the time, but you’re the only one that used it today, so you get the lecture.
Defensive back Klint Kubiak offered up the most vague, yet oddly profound, thought of the day when describing the motivation for all the extra work the team has been putting in this summer.
“If you want to go somewhere you’ve never been, you’ve got to do something you’ve never done.”
Well, if you want to speak in odd sayings that somehow mean something, be the son of an NFL coach.
SAN DIEGO STATE
When Brady Hoke took over the struggling program at San Diego State, he put veteran coaches in the coordinator positions.
He hired Rocky Long to run the defense and former Auburn offensive coordinator Al Borges to call the shots on offense.
“It’s very gratifying and something we’re real proud of,” Hoke said of landing the coaches.
Long has the added benefit of knowing the league. He’s was the head coach at New Mexico from 1998 until last season.
“There’s a little bit of a luxury having Rocky on the staff,” Hoke said. “He’s very familiar with all the teams in this league.”
Linebacker Jerry Milling is enjoying Long’s unique defense.
“I don’t think there’s a defensive player in the country that wouldn’t want to play for Rocky Long,” he said. “You’re the aggressor instead of being on your heels all the time.”
Milling then went on to make quite a statement about the team’s potential.
“There’s going to be some exciting football played in San Diego in the near future,” he said.
He’s actually right. The Chargers home opener is against the Baltimore Ravens on Sept. 20.
UNLV
The Rebels will kick off their season in hopes of erasing the way last season ended.
“We had a game against San Diego State that left us with a bad taste in our mouth,” head coach Sanford said.
Sanford said it was the culmination of what was ultimately a disappointing season.
“We were an improved football team. We made progress, but we weren’t anything like we could have been and we know that.”
Sanford also weighed in on the departure of athletic director Mike Hamrick. He said it won’t affect his team’s preparations.
“As a football coach, you become involved and spend time and energy on what you can control,” he said. “My job is to win football games and get the team ready for the 2009 football season.”
Ryan Wolfe was asked about the possibility that he can become the conference’s all-time receiving leader this season.
“I never find out these things until questions like this come up,” he said with a knowing smile.
Wolfe also called quarterback Omar Clayton “the toughest player I’ve ever played with in my life.”
But it was linebacker Jason Beauchamp who really made a statement.
“The sky’s the limit this year,” he said.
Apparently to Beauchamp, sky is synonymous with fourth place in the Mountain West Conference.
On a side note, Sanford started his podium session off by being the first coach to actually hold the pitcher of water away from the microphone before pouring it.
