The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Catching up with Michael Huff
02.05.2007 | Football
What is the biggest difference between your NFL career and your college career? I guess really confidence. You may have a tough game every three or four games in college. This year in the NFL you play good teams every week. You have to be ready for 16 games and preseason was five games this year, so it was a long season.
You haven't had an injuries with the longer season have you? I'm staying pretty healthy. I haven't had many injuries.
How much different is it to play the pro game in terms of things like speed of the game? For me the speed wasn't any different. Playing at Texas you go against guys like Roy Williams every day and see Vince Young every day in practice. The speed hasn't really been different and everybody is physical, but I'm a little guy so everyone is going to be bigger and stronger than me anyway. I just have to get in the weight room and get stronger and bigger.
Was it tough dealing with all of the losses? You lost more games this season than you did your entire career here at Texas? It was tough. We were 0-5 to start the year so that was tough. I don't know, we finally won two in a row and then we lost the next seven. You try not to get used to it, but it is tough to deal with the losing.
The defense had success. Where do you see the it going for the future? The defense is pretty young and we are all coming back and should be there for the next two or three years. We had the number three defense this year and the number one pass defense, so we'll be getting better next year.
Was it difficult to work and mesh with new teammates, especially at the professional level? For me it wasn't bad because the whole secondary was young. Two of them it was their second year, and one of them it was his third year. They knew where I was coming from and what I was going through, so they kind of helped me fit in.
How did working with Coach Akina help you prepare for the league training camp and trying to be a leader in the secondary as a rookie? Everything Coach Akina taught me was the same thing I used in the NFL. Coach Akina is a great coach and taught me everything I needed to know and prepared me for everything that was going to happen to me.
How much fun was it to see Cedric Griffin? I got to see him in the second or third preseason game, and I got to chat with him before and after the game. He got a pick that game and it was fun to be out on the field with him even though we were on different teams.
What does it say about Texas that they have so many rookies starting in the NFL? You had me and Cedric starting and Vince [Young] was starting and Jonathon Scott started a couple of games and David [Thomas] played a lot. This whole class, we had a lot of people starting and helping teams. It kind of shows that Texas is a kind of powerhouse and putting people out there who are successful in the NFL.
Where are you on the purchasing of your own IHOP? I'm still trying. I think Michael Dell owns a bunch of them, so right now I'm still trying to talk to the right people and get it done.
What are the ups and downs of living in California? The best part is the weather; there is always beautiful weather. I have a little house off the water so I have the calm breeze and the ambiance and the feng shui. The downside is that it is too expensive. Real estate out there is bad, but I like it out there, it's nice.
Have you become good friends with anybody on the team? A couple of people, but I hang out the most with Thomas Howard. He's from Texas. He went to UTEP. Two people from Texas up in that area, we've done a lot of bonding.
How much did you follow Texas this year? Oh every game. I didn't watch every game because there is kind of a west coast bias out there and I didn't get to see all the games, but I followed on the Internet and on my little ESPN phone. I tried to keep up with them and I talked to Michael [Griffin] all the time to see how things were going.
What were Saturdays like? Did you spend it traveling? If it is an away game, we travel that day, and if it is a home game, we practice in the morning then we get the afternoon off and we have meetings at night.
What do you think about six 10-win seasons in a row? I think it's a testament to Coach Brown and his coaching staff. If you bring in the right players and you are a good coach you are successful and you have a great team and a great legacy going.
