The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
09.11.2013 | Football
Head coach Mack Brown met with the media Wednesday afternoon
Texas head coach Mack Brown met with the media Wednesday afternoon prior to the team's practice. Below are quotes from the session.
Opening statement: The guys practiced really hard yesterday. They practiced well. I've been impressed by the way the defensive staff has received (defensive coordinator) Greg Robinson. They're really working well together and that doesn't surprise me because of his knowledge of our staff and our team but also because he's worked with (assistant head coach/defensive backs coach) Duane Akina before. They are on the same page and tying the back end of the linebackers together is so critical. Those two have done that. Also, (co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach) Major Applewhite worked for Greg at Syracuse so the offensive staff has some familiarity with him, too. We're doing some of the same things with the structure of our day and our staff and the way we practice as we were in 2004 when Greg (Robinson) was here, so, that's been an easy transition for him. I thought they did a lot of good things yesterday together.
We're playing against a really good offense with Ole Miss on Saturday. (Ole Miss RB) Jeff Scott is really fast and (Ole Miss WR) Donte Moncrief is one of the best receivers we'll see all year. They've got four seniors on the offensive line and (Ole Miss QB) Bo Wallace is much more into this offense and much more confident right now than he was this time last year. So, the defense will have trouble because they are seeing an experienced offense that knows how to move the ball. I'm not saying we're there yet but we're excited about the first day out on the field with Greg (Robinson) being in charge.
David Ash is still being evaluated so we will know more about that this afternoon. They will try to get him to do some more things but we probably won't know about David's status until game time, and whether he can actually play or not.
On if he would play David Ash if he didn't practice this week: I don't know. If the doctors tell us he can play then what we would do is evaluate where we thought he was as far as being ready to play. Major Applewhite would weigh heavily in that decision, obviously.
Case McCoy had a good day yesterday. We've gone back and looked at every play he's played in since he's been here. He came in and played at Kansas last year and I think he was 6-for-8 and completed 75 percent of his passes and scored and won the game. You go back to A&M and he didn't have a touchdown pass but he didn't have a turnover. He managed that game really well. In the game against Baylor two years ago, he ran up and down the field, had over 300 yards passing but had the three turnovers with four touchdown passes. At the Kansas State game last year, I think it was the same thing. He moved the ball really well but had two turnovers for a touchdown. Tyrone Swoopes practiced really well yesterday and obviously if he's in the game we'll just have to be simpler.
On QB Tyrone Swoopes being backup over RB Jalen Overstreet if David Ash can't play: Tyrone Swoopes would be the backup. RB Jalen Overstreet has taken a few snaps but he would not be the guy to go in. He would be the third-team quarterback if David Ash doesn't play.
On if Ole Miss is better than BYU: I don't know. They're really good. Both of those teams are really good. BYU's better than they showed in the opener. I thought they outplayed Virginia, just didn't win, and their quarterback played so well against us. Ole Miss looks really good; much improved off of last year's team. They're much faster on defense. I think they are coming in with much more confidence. Last year we came in with the confidence. We had a tough hit against our confidence last Saturday and Ole Miss is 2-0 and coming in thinking they're one of the best teams in the Southeastern Conference. That'll be something we have to do: match their confidence on Saturday night.
On players saying it's a player-led team: We started encouraging that last year because we knew we had an older team and we'd have more seniors. We talked to them about creating more discipline within because we're not out with them all the time. We're not in the dorms with them. That's something these guys have talked about and something they were very disappointed in on Saturday night. We played well really until we roughed the punter and after that we got our heads down and we didn't play as well. We had some good moments in the rest of the game but didn't play as well and you can't do that. You're going to have some tough moments and you're going to have to pick your head up and play with some confidence. They've talked about that a lot this week.
On talking with (running backs coach) Larry Porter about allegations against him: When we got the call last week I brought Larry in and asked him and obviously you've seen his quote. He absolutely denies it. Then, we took him to compliance and they interviewed him, which is what we do with any question marks outside, and then he met with our administration. From my standpoint, that's done. Anything in the future would be between him and Oklahoma State. It's not a Texas issue.
On what Greg Robinson does in practice: What Greg did when he was here before and what I saw yesterday is he is so passionate. He just demands that everybody sprints every play and he sprints with them. He really does a good job of teaching the guys to strip the ball and he's so fundamentally sound that his first official thought is, 'We have to tackle better,' and we all know that. He worked more about effort and tackling than anything else. I think he won't be able to get schemes changed much by the weekend, but what he can do is help us tackle better and with every ball, chase the ball.
On Greg Robinsons' relationship with the players: I think it's good. They don't know him, they know of him, but they don't know him. I think after yesterday it opened their eyes a little bit about how hard he coaches and how tough, aggressive and passionate he is. There were a few comments leaving the field like, 'Woo, this guy gets after it.' I think that's good. They responded really well but that's the only thing you can tell. They worked really hard and they did what he asked them to do. They want to be good. They were disappointed Saturday. They get it. They're not stupid kids.
On the terminology that will be used: We're using what's in place. Again, Greg was using it some because he was doing scouting reports for us and you can't do scouting reports without using our terminology. So he's not as far behind as it would seem and again, he's never called defenses with this terminology. It will limit him some on Saturday night. We're not expecting to have a magic wand to get everything fixed Saturday night. That would be foolish for me to sit here and say that.
On if he feels more pressure after the loss to BYU: I really don't. I'm disappointed but what I have to do, and what our staff and team does, which everybody should understand, is we go back to work. We totally go back to work. This isn't the first time I've had things said about me and it won't be the last. The only way you can change the way things are outside is win. My total thought is on beating Ole Miss. Coaches, we've been over here early and stayed really late like we always do, and everybody understands that you don't turn on a computer, you don't turn on the TV, you don't read a newspaper after a loss at Texas or a close win. Those are things you learn. I learned that 16 years ago, so I didn't have to be told this week that people would be upset.
On any change in team's mentality: No, they had an aggressive practice yesterday. They went right back to work. This is a prideful bunch that didn't like what they put on the field last week. Coaches the same. Everybody has gone right back to work to make sure we improve and that that doesn't happen again. The goal of this team was to win the conference championship and that doesn't start until next weekend. We need to get back on track and get ready for Kansas State when they come in here and it would sure help us to beat Ole Miss this weekend to get ready for Kansas State.
On offensive improvement focuses: I thought that another thing we need to do, we lost Daje Johnson so that was a lot of the offense, is to simplify and go back and make sure we don't have missed assignments and play free. Turn your mind loose and let it go. We probably took too much to Brigham Young.
On if he feels like he's changed over the years as a coach: I think that's a little too heavy. I'd have to get a while to sit down and talk. I hope that I grow everyday. That would be the answer I would give you. I know I'm handling all this better than I did five years ago. I know that. I'm not worried about you all, I'm worried about our team.
On potential lineup changes with Greg Robinson coming in:
He's had one practice. What we will do is work through the week and see who has improved and who has not. Some thoughts coming out of last week, obviously, most of it is we were more disappointed in some of the guys that were backing up trying to play as much as the starters. The question will be how do we substitute differently than we thought and Greg will have some input there. We will decide that tomorrow.
On where Greg Robinson will be during the game:
Greg's always been on the sideline. I haven't talked to him. We've been busy. There hasn't been a lot of sitting around and conversation. We haven' t gotten to Saturday yet. We are still working on Wednesdays practice.
On athletics director DeLoss Dodd's support of him:
I'm loving coaching. Passionate about getting us back where we want to be. We had a step back last Saturday and I'm going to work my tail off to make sure I can get us fixed. I see a lot of good things moving forward and I'm not backing off of anything I said before. I'm still exactly where I was and I have the two best bosses in the world. They get it; they understand. I have great conversations with them. It's not like I don't tell my boss when I think we've played poorly. It's kind of obvious when we played like we did Saturday night but they've put me in a position to run it and they want me to do it. I'm responsible for it and DeLoss has been around a long time. I don't have knee-jerk bosses, so they get it.
On if he thinks they got off to a better start offensively this past Saturday:
We really didn't. I think we were three and out the first three times and then we had a deep pass for a touchdown to Mike Davis and we are in great shape on the first one. Then we go the wrong way and we get a guy hurt, so I think things were in place to, but we just didn't do it. Hopefully that is something we can do this weekend. If Case (McCoy) is the starter the guys trust Case. He's a fourth-year senior. He has been around a long time and it's not like we'd be starting a guy that has never been out there. There won't be panic if David (Ash) is not ready to go. They will be excited about Case.
On the possibility of Tyrone Swoopes getting in if Case McCoy does start:
We haven't got that far yet and truly we have been working with Greg (Robinson) so much to try and get that side fixed. Major (Applewhite) and I will have that conversation with (co-offensive coordinator) Daryl Wyatt tomorrow and see where we go. Part of it will depend on how we are doing as well, but we will not hesitate to play him on Saturday if we need to.
On the offensive line play:
They are doing good things in practice and at the end of the year we will look back and say that this is the best offensive line that we've had in a while. I'm still standing by that. I believe in those guys. I believe in (offensive line coach) Stacy (Searels). Brigham Young at the end of the year will have had a good defense. They held Virginia to 223 yards so they're a good defense. We will look back on the Brigham Young game and I bet you that we will think they are good when the season's over.
On Tyrone Swoopes' practice, hamstring and capabilities:
Watching him yesterday I was pleasantly surprised. I sat in on the quarterbacks meeting and listened to him. He knows what to do, he had good answers when Major (Applewhite) would ask him questions and I watched him yesterday. I think he did a good job. He is much more aggressive right now because he is well. I was worried about him some because when he hurt his hamstring he obviously didn't have a burst and he wasn't as aggressive across the board. He couldn't step and throw and he's out of that now. He's looking like he did at the end of spring.
On Desmond Harris' number of plays last week and his conditioning:
He played 26-28 plays but don't hold that number to me. I look at all those plays and how many they played. Stacy (Searels) was really on him hard yesterday in practice because he had a mistake or two in the game out at Brigham Young and he has just got to pick it up. We are getting down to where we need him to step up and move forward. We're not in preseason anymore.
On Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze:
He's done a great job. I can't remember what they did after our game but they finished very strong. They had the best recruiting class in the country and now they've got a great start. It's great timing for us to really bring a good SEC team in here and challenge us before we get started in conference play. I'm excited about the challenge.
On 9/11 reflection:
It is a date that we will all remember for the rest of our lives; that our kids and our grandkids will ask us about. All of us probably remember exactly what we did that morning; I do. I remember walking in and sitting in the meeting room and someone coming in and saying a plane has hit the twin towers and I thought, 'how awful' for someone to crash a plane, not thinking anything about this. Then suddenly we've got another one and our President is being talked about; we can't find him. The part that we had to do immediately, with the President's daughter going to school here is make sure all of our players were safe, because we didn't know if the attacks would be on Austin. We had to get with them immediately and then Chris Simms and some of the other kids had parents that worked in New York so we had to try and find them immediately and make sure they were ok.
It was a very difficult day for everyone in America and everybody's got their own stories that they will tell. I love President Bush. He is a dear friend, but what I think that it has changed a whole lot of things in our country for the rest of our lives. Your thoughts and prayers go out to the people who lost their lives at that time because I can't imagine how those families feel today as they go back. It's like the bonfire tragedy that happened at A&M. Every Thanksgiving those families have got to go back and live with that tragedy. I think it changes our country forever. It is one of those dates like Pearl Harbor where we go back and it's a date that changes who we are for the rest of our lives.
What I think that happens is we are being aware of it every day. Terrorism in our world is out there every day. When I went over to Iraq I spent the ten days, the military guys said, 'we'll be at war probably the rest of our lives because there will be terrorists out there.' I think that is all kind of earmarked by 9/11. That started a different war. As Colin Powell said, 'you go back now and don't even know who you are fighting sometimes.' War is different than it used to be and I think that's just something our country has to deal with. Everyone who tries to get on a commercial airline now knows how differently it is since 9/11, so everything's changed and it will never be the same in our country. I know that I have those four young grandchildren and they are going to ask me at some point what it was like.
I walked through the President Bush library this summer and there's a tremendous dedication in there to 9/11 and I would encourage everybody to go see it because it has got some of the things from the building that are in there. It has got a video and it is really heartwarming if you get the chance to go see it.
