The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Summer drill: Billy Pittman
06.02.2007 | Football
What have you been focusing on during the off-season? Class first. I have been going to class and working out and getting ready for 7-on-7. I'm really working on catching the more clean, more natural. I dropped a few passes that I probably shouldn't have dropped last season so I am working on catching the ball more clean and being crisper on my routes.
Describe what you've had to overcome to get to this point. Actually I went through a lot. First of all I had to convert from quarterback to receiver. Number two was getting my confidence, just having the confidence to go out and play. One thing that helped me that I never really mentioned was playing when I was a freshman. My first year when we played Oklahoma and Mark Clayton, he reminded me of myself now. He was a quarterback in high school and I looked up to him. Of course Roy [Williams] and all of those guys I looked up to them too. After watching Clayton play that game, and I was looking up to him and I wanted to play after him. I worked on a lot of things; I had to overcome Bell's palsy and all the injuries. But I always say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and all of these things have made me a stronger person.
How do you feel now that you have developed into a primary receiver? I feel like I can do a lot to help the team, but I also feel like I can get better in some things. I can also help the younger guys come along and get better so that when I am gone they hopefully have looked up to me and learned some things from me too.
What are you looking forward to this season? One, I want to go back to the National Championship and win it. It was a good experience and that was the best time I had of my life. That is my main goal. Really, I don't have personal goals. I want to stay healthy and hopefully enter the draft and get picked up, but my main goal is to help my team win a National Championship.
Describe your relationship with receivers coach Bobby Kennedy. First of all, when he first came we kind of knocked heads a few times, but we had a sit down and we overcame that. Our relationship got better and then I took in everything he was teaching me and it made me a better person. I feel he is part of my success. He gave me confidence and he has made me feel like I can play and I just bought into what he was teaching. It has taken me a pretty long way so far.
Does the receiving corps have a special bond? The bond is great. I don't feel like anybody in the country has a bond like we have. I don't feel like one person feels they are better than the group. We are a close group, everybody works hard and everybody tries to help the other one out. We are also a good group and we are going to do a lot this year to help our offense more. We are going to be more explosive than last year.
You're entering your senior season with Limas Sweed and Nate Jones. How have you grown together as teammates? It has been a fun experience with Limas. We came in as rivals from high school, I played against him a few times in basketball and I ran track against him. He has been a good friend and a great leader. He is one of the great leaders on this team. He has worked hard and he has that drive, he wants to be good, he wants to be great. It has been a great experience growing with him. He has helped me get better. While when I was hurt he was one of the guys that helped me stay focused and just get better so I could get back on the field. I appreciated that. I am just glad to play with him. He is a great player, but he is also a great guy, which a lot of people don't know.
Nate is one of the most unselfish people on the team. He has worked hard since he got here. Coming in, he started a few games and then he had a hard season the next year. He is a strong guy, mentally and physically and he is working hard this summer. He is one of those guys trying to better the group. We want to be one of the best groups in the country.
