Photo via San Antonio Express-News
FRISCO – The opening of Big 12 Media Days did not have a lot of splash.
Coaches and players from Texas Tech, Oklahoma, TCU, Iowa State and Kansas spoke on day one. Each coach chatted at separate press conferences before addressing the media again in breakout sessions. Overall, most of the on-stage comments were predictable from a group of seasoned coaches.
However, something Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said really stood out.
Riley believes Oklahoma is loaded this year.
“This is going to be an interesting team, no question,” Riley said. “I think it's got a chance to be maybe the most talented team that we've had in the now four years that we will have been at OU, but also probably our most inexperienced team as well. So, I think our leadership is going to be a very, very key part of how this team progresses. Should be an entertaining season.”
Considering Oklahoma finished 12-2 last season and competed for a national championship, Riley pretty much did a Babe Ruth impression and called his shot.
Since Texas coach Tom Herman and his players do not speak until Tuesday, I spent the afternoon breakout sessions asking questions about the Longhorns. Players were swarmed by media members, making it hard to ask tons of questions, but here you go:
- Riley prefers to call plays from the sidelines. Herman previously said he felt uncomfortable calling plays outside of the press box, but practiced sideline play-calling after the regular season before trying it during the Texas Bowl. I asked Riley to explain the difference between calling plays from the different locations, and he said, “It’s honestly something I never really thought about much. I was on-the-field early in my career at (Texas) Tech. Then I was in the press box later on when Mike (Leach) got fired right before the Alamo Bowl, we had to make a decision. Do you want to go down or stay up? I had been in the box. At first, I just said I’m going to stay in the box and let somebody signal it. Then, the more I thought about it, just kind of that week in general, and all we had been through, I thought, you know what? More important than the play-calls, it’s going to be where our guy’s heads are at. If something goes wrong, I’d rather be down here where I can look them in the eye. I made the decision for that week. I’ve stuck with that ever since. I think coaching their mentality, and their mindset, is way more important than the right play-call. I really do.”
- As a follow-up question, I asked if there was a different perspective from being in the sky contrary to the sidelines. Riley said, “Yes. You can absolutely see it better [in the press box]. If you’re not going to be up there, you better have somebody up there you trust, and I do. Cale Gundy has done a great job the last three years. We have a great working relationship there. Great communication. You got to have somebody you trust because no matter how many times you see it from the sideline, you can’t see it all.”
- Texas Tech was one of the finalists for Cal grad transfer running back Tre Watson. Red Raiders coach Kliff Kingsbury had positive things to say about Watson, who committed to Texas this offseason. Kingsbury said Watson is coming off an injury, so time will tell what he can do on the football field. However, Kingsbury described him as a good young man who is smart, and wished him well.
- In addition, Kingsbury said his team’s last two interceptions late against Texas were huge for squad last season. I asked Kingsbury if he was expected Texas to run on third-and-2 on its on 37-yard line with nearly two minutes remaining, and he said “Third-and-2 is kind of that middle range, and we’d been stopping the run pretty good. I’m not surprised they threw it and try to kind of surprise us.”
- Somebody needs to buy me a drink for this one. I asked Oklahoma linebacker Kenneth Murray to give me his impressions of Texas quarterback Sam Ehlinger. Surprisingly, he said more positive things about the rival team than I expected: “Sam, man. Great player. I definitely think he’s a great quarterback. I like what he did last year versus us. He’s definitely a competitor. He definitely came out there and gave his all for Texas. I think he’s a great player.”
Photo via Getty Images
- Iowa State coach Matt Campbell and TCU’s Gary Patterson had several positive things to say about Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando.
Campbell: “Personnel, number one. Scheme, number two. Number one, personnel wise, they were maybe as talent as anybody we faced from a personnel standpoint. Then you throw in an aggressive scheme, putting guys in a position to be successful, I think Todd does a great job. A lot of respect for both their talent and their players.”
Patterson: “They were at the top in about every category. He’s an intense dude. I think his kids like playing for him, and he does a great job with them.”
- In addition, Patterson praised Chris Del Conte, his former athletic director: “The best part is I never worked for him. He always talked about being a coach’s AD. All you want as a coach, because you have enough things to screw up, you just want everything you can control, from facilities, to how your kids are fed, everything that happens, you want to be able to keep up with the Joneses. Chris allowed us at TCU to have those kind of things. All the facilities, he helped us to raise the money and build and do all the things we have.”
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