Notes on Mike Gundy’s Texas Tech Press Conference

This was an unusual presser, for obvious reasons. I try not to editorialize too much here because it’s not my job. But, I just have to say how proud I was (and am) of our coach, players, staff, and “our” community – #StillwaterStrong – as a whole. This was a tough weekend to talk about a game. But, I truly believe the game, and PFB and CRFF and others writing about it, helped all of us get through this. There…that’s it from me…

• Coach talked Tech, our QBs, polls, “Corn Dog”Corneilson, the offense as a whole and a few just random topics – including the CU fake FG in the 0-10-1 season. And, of course, he dealt with the tragedy which occurred in Stillwater Saturday.

• Opened with, “We were fairly accurate with what transpired in the game with some improvement in downfield throws, from the defensive standpoint, and we ran the ball a little better than we had earlier in the year. We still have a long ways to go.”

• Do you know how good you are or are you about to find out? “I think we’re a little better than I thought we were a month ago. We’ll find out each week.”

Saturday’s Tragedy

• What were you told initially? “I was just told there was a crash and people were injured.”

• How would your leadership style have been different 10 years ago? “I wouldn’t have had the composure and the ability to handle it as a coaching staff as well as we did – as I thought we did – with our players, the community, and the families.”

• “You get the information and you start trying to find where your kids are, and everybody involved. There was a lot of people in the community over the weekend with our team – their families, their girlfriends, their friends – because of Homecoming. Football becomes irrelevant when you hear something like that. You just start looking to see where everybody is. For 45 minutes, an hour, football’s not something you think about at all.” Well said.

• How was the pregame meeting? “The first 8-10 minutes was about what had happened because I think it’s something that has to be addressed.”

• What did you do after the game? “I went home. I was mentally drained after the game, more so than the games we won in the last minute.”

• Will the program be involved in outreach? “We have opportunities for our players to be involved with families that have been affected. There’s a number of them that want to be involved in those situations. They want to go and support and help the people the best they can.”

• “I thought the community, I thought the conference, I thought the University of Oklahoma was tremendous in their support of Oklahoma State and that’s what we should do as Oklahomans and as a football family across the country.” Personally, my favorite quote of the day.

• “It was a little more emotional than I would’ve liked even before the game with the team and afterward. Eddie Sutton – Coach Sutton – told me one thing you can’t forget in coaching is to grab your kids and tell them you love them every day. Those situations make us forget about all the things that are irrelevant and how precious life is and it can be gone just like that.”

On to Texas Tech

• Asked about TTU’s trouble defending the run: “They’ve given up some rushing yards. We certainly want to get better running the football and we’ll keep working to make those improvements each day.”

•“They’re up-tempo; they’re doing a good job spreading people out. They’re running the ball more effectively than people think. We have to go with who we are. Our defense has to play well and get off the field.”

• Coach was asked if this year’s defense is his best equipped to play against Tech’s style: “We’re better than we’ve been on defense overall. We have some depth we haven’t had in the past that allows us to rush the passer a little more than what we’ve had.”

• “If we continue to eliminate big plays, we have opportunity for success.”

The Offense

• On the wide receivers’ increased production over last season: “We felt like they would be the strength of our offense. They have competed and played hard and made plays for us.”

• “Can’t have too much of it or you become one-dimensional. Saw where our friend Mike Leach put it in the air 70 times. That’s a little one-sided for what we’re comfortable with here.”

• Specifically on James Washington: “We found him fairly early (in the recruiting process). He’s a great young man. Never shows up on a list, hardly ever talks. He has a special talent to go up and get the ball like he did down here in the corner. He’s still young and makes mistakes, but it never fazes him.”

• Coach was asked about the rotation with Mason and JW and whether it’s an issue: “I haven’t had one conversation with either of them. Both of them are great human beings. They’re unselfish, they’ve been raised the right way, and they’re for the team first. They know I’m proud of them. We tell them that all the time.”

• “I’ve never been a fan of using two quarterbacks, but I am now. If there’s any friction at all, it can cost the chemistry of your team. But, the team’s never said a word about why’s JW in there, why isn’t Mason in there.”

• “We need to give the offensive staff and Coach Yurcich some credit because it’s not easy to gameplan and to be as diverse as we are. If you do too much, ultimately you’re not any good at anything. They’ve done a good job of playing to the strengths of both quarterbacks.”

• This was fabulous! How would Mike Gundy in 1988 like coming out in the Red Zone? “I wouldn’t have liked it. But, back then it was easier, right? You toss it to 11 (Hart Lee Dykes), or flip it to 21 (Barry Heisman)! That solved a lot of problems!”

On the Playing Time for the Backups

•  “It was really good to get those guys in. You guys know how I feel about them. They’re the guys that make our program go.”

• “I thought, we call him ‘Corn Dog’, the quarterback, Corneilson (whose name is actually Cornelius!), I thought he played pretty well.” Another Gundy Classic…

• “There were some really neat moments for those guys and it couldn’t have come better than at Homecoming because there’s a really good chance they had family there.” Cool.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

• This was pretty interesting on the coaching aspects of the Georgia Tech “Kick-6”: “I actually happened to see that one live. We will have that discussion tomorrow. We would coach the big guys to build a wall and not chase the ball. That creates lanes.”

• On the strange plays we’ve seen in special teams across the country this season – the reporter brought up the Colorado fake FG in ‘91: “Their kicker was struggling. It was a great call by Coach McCartney. Certainly caught us off guard on that one.” Tom Dirato and Bill Teegins were screaming on the radio: “This is a great place for a fake, watch the fake!”

• On Miketavius Jones’ special teams play: “He kind of fell off the face of the earth there for a while. But, he’s a very important part of our team right now. I joked with him last night, pound for pound he’s got to have more sacks, TFLs than anybody in the history of football. You weigh 155 pounds; nobody’s had more than he has.”

• On Coach Snyder getting taken out Saturday on the sidelines: “Knowing him he’s probably alright. He’s 76 and I’ll bet he’s fine.” Guy said, “He probably wrote a letter!” Gundy: “Not ‘probably’ – I guarantee he did! It was in a purple pen, ‘Hey, I’m sorry I got in your way.’”

• Prefer the Coaches Poll or the AP? “Coaches – they’re smarter. They’re a lot smarter. They shouldn’t have one until Oct 1st. How does anybody really know before that? I don’t pretend like I watch enough to actually vote in the poll. If it’s not in our league, I don’t see that many games.”

• Do you like being under the radar? “I just kinda like where we’re at. We’re much better than we were 7 weeks ago. We’re only as good as next Saturday.” In Lubbock…Go Pokes!