Sark will be addressing the media soon. Should start at around 10:30. I'll post live notes on this thread once he gets going.
Exciting time for everyone. The atmosphere, temperature of what's going on around the country, everyone looks forward to this time of the year. They're excited about their team. As they look through offseason program, they think their team has built a culture that they're excited about. They like the talent on the team, like the staff continuity, veteran roster and influx of newcomers.
Have to go out and play. That's what will define them. But they've set the stage to have a really good training camp. Lot of players that need to improve, have to improve as a team. Definitely not a finished product. Lots of work to be done.
Team is healthy to practice. Every player on the roster will be available for day 1.
Lots of excitement about the program. A lot to be fired up about. Great players, great staff coming back. New players can help the team be even better. Now time to put in the work.
On expectations and what's standing in the way of the team accomplishing its goals ... One, they haven't done it yet. Have to go earn it, have to do it with a level of consistency. They evaluated that last season. One of the messages to the team is there's a level of consistency that's needed to be a champion. The way you work day in and day out is critical to success. Got better at it last year but weren't perfect. Can't have lulls where you play great offensive football and then struggle for three drives. Have to understand the value of practice, preparation and then execution. What stands in the way is themselves until they prove that. But they have a great mindset going into it.
On what positions will he have to make tough decisions ... Almost all of them. It's so competitive now. There's not a discrepancy on the roster of high level players and then a big gap. The players that have been in the program for three years have all improved. They've recruited well across the board at every position, so it'll be competitive. RB will be a tough call. What they end up doing in the secondary is going to be unique and difficult. Who plays next to Jaylan Ford will be one. They're returning 5 starting OL, but that doesn't mean the young guys that came in a year ago won't push for playing time.
Talked to the staff about playing better in the fourth quarter, he thinks playing more guys earlier in the game will help. Have a solid two deep where you won't have that drop off. Going to be healthy competition across the board.
On staff continuity and defensive improvement ... Thinks it will help again this year. When he took the job, he wanted to hire the best staff he could. Took a bit of an unconventional approach. Hired Gideon, Bo Davis, Terry Joseph before hiring a D-coordinator and Choate. Choate and PK were the only two that had worked together. They had to get accustomed to PK's scheme and philosophy. Was definitely a learning curve and some growing pains in year one. As they grew together and started to develop players they had and recruit the type of players they wanted, it started to come together. Staff continuity is important. There's a level of comfort of what they're going to try to do and what they're going to accomplish.
On the inexperience at RB and how tempted he is to lean on the pass ... Didn't throw the ball well enough last year. When they're at their best, they throw the ball really well. There are games when run sets up the pass, and games where it's flipped. There will be a lot of moments where they throw the ball more and better than two previous years, but that's going to benefit the run game. Have to have balance, when you have balance you make the defense play honest. That's the goal going into the season.
On what the players go through in camp ... Try to be efficient with players and their time. There are a lot of demands on the players. Academics, workout regimen, scheme perspective, NIL perspective all take up time. They have to be really structured, very organized. Have to make sure players embrace that, understand they're trying to prepare them for what the real world looks like. They try to treat them like pros, but they're not all pros. Everyone is at various stages, some need more support than others. Have to put them in the best position to be successful in life, and that encompasses everything.
On if he can attack this camp differently because it's year three ... Not necessarily and different, but there are points of emphasis they'll stress. Ultimately, they don't do it dramatically different but players understand why things are a point of emphasis.
On what the coaching staff needs to get better at after two years ... They look at where they weren't as good as they need to be. If they're a really good game-planning team and players are buying in and executing for two, three quarters, who do they have them continue that for 4 quarters. Other part is, how do they get to execute better in close games. Last year, they found ways in some games to execute and perform, but he's always hunting for ways to get better. You're either getting better or getting worse. Always hunting for ways to connect with the team to motivate them, staff and players. It's a constant evaluation for him. He's his own hardest critic. He's pretty hard on himself on Sundays, even after a good win. He tries to put as much in his bank of tools to go pull from if something similar comes up again. Self evaluates a lot and is comfortable doing that and talking about it with his staff.
On having 10 returning starters on offense and competition ... Thinks it's helpful. Players are comfortable overall, comfortable coaching up the younger players that just got to campus. Older guys have such a knowledge base of the system that they can help the younger players. But they know the young players are hungry too. On offense, those 10 guys, they also recognize that young players are going to help them win. That takes self confidence and humility. It's not just about the experienced guys, who can all the guys help contribute to the team's success? Bijan and Roschon were great ambassadors for that. They knew it wasn't just 10 or 11 guys, was about 30 of them.
On his philosophy with rotating WRs ... They really only have about 8 scholarship WRs and all 8 of them can play. Their job is to figure out what they do well so when they do put them on the field, they're putting them out there to have success while trying to work on their full game and big tool box. Historically, they've had a 4 or 5 man rotation. Pretty typical of an NFL model. That may adjust some a little this fall, especially early in the season until they can figure out what guys are capable of. Things could change week to week. Going into it, plan is to play a few more than they have in the past but he has a month to look into that.
On if Gary Patterson is coming back ... Gary was a tremendous asset a year ago. As of right now, he is not part of the program. We'll see where it goes from here.
On who jogs out with the starters at RB tomorrow ... Guys that will get reps with the 1s ... Brooks, Jaydon Blue, Baxter, Keilan Robinson
On OL rotations ... Definitely want to see the five returning starters. Where does DJ Campbell, Cam Williams, Neto fit into that mix? You have to give them opportunity. Whether they're the ones or twos, they constantly rotate those guys on both sides of the ball. They'll have a good idea after two weeks of camp.
On Isaiah Neyor ... Looks great, fully cleared, thinks he's in a good frame of mind. The addition of Chris Jackson has been great for Isiah. He puts in a lot of time connecting with his players. There's a level of maturity there that resonated with Isaiah. Thinks he'll be an impactful player for them this fall.
On Sark's offseason ... Biggest thing he did was stay connected to his team. Took the week of 4th of July off, the rest of the time he was there with the team. Wanted to be around and stay connected with them. Tried to get as close to the team as he could on a daily basis.
On how close the roster is to one that can compete for a Big 12 title ... Thinks they're plenty talented enough. Nice mix of veterans with some youth. Historically he hasn't been able to say that. This year, they have experience coming back to go along with some youth. It's competitive. Likes the leadership on the team, going to get faced with some adversity. Thinks they have depth to withstand injuries because they're going to happen. A couple position groups he'd like to have more depth but that's the way it goes year after year. Ultimately, he likes the team, hasn't shied away from that. Guys have put in a lot of work, returning players have developed and improved, new players are talented. Teams win championships, with team success comes individual accolades. The team recognizes that. They're not a one-dimensional team. They can win a variety of ways this fall. Can win high scoring, low scoring, because of turnovers, special teams, etc. Don't have to win one specific way every Saturday. They're very diversified. Thinks they're well equipped to win different styles of games.
On if the best teams he's been a part of have been player led teams ... It's kind of cliche to be player led. At the end of the day, he's the head coach, he and staff have to lead the team. There are portions that are player led though. Ultimately, everyone has to assume the responsibilities they have to their success. Players are assuming responsibilities but ultimately, everyone has a responsibility to the success. To hi, that all falls back on the culture. Culture can beat talent. Culture AND talent, that's tough to beat.
On what he's seen from Quinn Ewers and his growth ... You see the dedication he's put in to his overall body composition. Has bought into the diet, the workouts. That takes discipline and focus. He's in a great frame of mind. Feels like his team. He leads that way. The overall understanding of the scheme and system, going into year two, the nuances of what they're doing make more sense to him. A lot of those little things that sometimes don't look glaring, but over time you have 5 or 6 plays, those can add up to negative plays. Hopefully now you minimize those because he knows where to go with the ball. He's confident with the space Quinn has gotten himself into, now need to take it to another level.
On if his roster has a bunch of NFL Draft picks on it ... If they hover in the 8-12 players drafted per year, they've built a program that's successful and they can be proud of. The NFL draft still gets swayed by good teams, but you have to do your part. Have to recruit, develop, play good football. If they're 8-12 per year, they're doing something right.
On off-field assistants that they hired ...
Payam Saadat ... background of defensive football. Pioneer of old Arizona desert swarm defense. When he was in Austin visiting, loved his connection with the staff.
Joe DeCamillis ... wealth of special teams knowledge. Super Bowl winner. Joe will work with Sark on a daily basis. Experience, knowledge, Super Bowl pedigree.
Paul Chryst ... He and Chryst go back some time. Systematically they don't think of Sark and Wisconsin football ... they've veered off on their own ways but at their core, there's a lot of similarity in what they want to do. When you can get someone with that resume on board, it's a plus. All great staff guys, positive energy.
On what themes are coming to the surface from the players ... Thinks the team is on a mission. They've taken that mindset, adopted the John Wick mentality. They're really focused. Want to be focused on the task at hand, have assumed the mentality of embrace the hate. They get that they're UT, it's the last run in the Big 12 and they've embraced it.
That's it for today.
Exciting time for everyone. The atmosphere, temperature of what's going on around the country, everyone looks forward to this time of the year. They're excited about their team. As they look through offseason program, they think their team has built a culture that they're excited about. They like the talent on the team, like the staff continuity, veteran roster and influx of newcomers.
Have to go out and play. That's what will define them. But they've set the stage to have a really good training camp. Lot of players that need to improve, have to improve as a team. Definitely not a finished product. Lots of work to be done.
Team is healthy to practice. Every player on the roster will be available for day 1.
Lots of excitement about the program. A lot to be fired up about. Great players, great staff coming back. New players can help the team be even better. Now time to put in the work.
On expectations and what's standing in the way of the team accomplishing its goals ... One, they haven't done it yet. Have to go earn it, have to do it with a level of consistency. They evaluated that last season. One of the messages to the team is there's a level of consistency that's needed to be a champion. The way you work day in and day out is critical to success. Got better at it last year but weren't perfect. Can't have lulls where you play great offensive football and then struggle for three drives. Have to understand the value of practice, preparation and then execution. What stands in the way is themselves until they prove that. But they have a great mindset going into it.
On what positions will he have to make tough decisions ... Almost all of them. It's so competitive now. There's not a discrepancy on the roster of high level players and then a big gap. The players that have been in the program for three years have all improved. They've recruited well across the board at every position, so it'll be competitive. RB will be a tough call. What they end up doing in the secondary is going to be unique and difficult. Who plays next to Jaylan Ford will be one. They're returning 5 starting OL, but that doesn't mean the young guys that came in a year ago won't push for playing time.
Talked to the staff about playing better in the fourth quarter, he thinks playing more guys earlier in the game will help. Have a solid two deep where you won't have that drop off. Going to be healthy competition across the board.
On staff continuity and defensive improvement ... Thinks it will help again this year. When he took the job, he wanted to hire the best staff he could. Took a bit of an unconventional approach. Hired Gideon, Bo Davis, Terry Joseph before hiring a D-coordinator and Choate. Choate and PK were the only two that had worked together. They had to get accustomed to PK's scheme and philosophy. Was definitely a learning curve and some growing pains in year one. As they grew together and started to develop players they had and recruit the type of players they wanted, it started to come together. Staff continuity is important. There's a level of comfort of what they're going to try to do and what they're going to accomplish.
On the inexperience at RB and how tempted he is to lean on the pass ... Didn't throw the ball well enough last year. When they're at their best, they throw the ball really well. There are games when run sets up the pass, and games where it's flipped. There will be a lot of moments where they throw the ball more and better than two previous years, but that's going to benefit the run game. Have to have balance, when you have balance you make the defense play honest. That's the goal going into the season.
On what the players go through in camp ... Try to be efficient with players and their time. There are a lot of demands on the players. Academics, workout regimen, scheme perspective, NIL perspective all take up time. They have to be really structured, very organized. Have to make sure players embrace that, understand they're trying to prepare them for what the real world looks like. They try to treat them like pros, but they're not all pros. Everyone is at various stages, some need more support than others. Have to put them in the best position to be successful in life, and that encompasses everything.
On if he can attack this camp differently because it's year three ... Not necessarily and different, but there are points of emphasis they'll stress. Ultimately, they don't do it dramatically different but players understand why things are a point of emphasis.
On what the coaching staff needs to get better at after two years ... They look at where they weren't as good as they need to be. If they're a really good game-planning team and players are buying in and executing for two, three quarters, who do they have them continue that for 4 quarters. Other part is, how do they get to execute better in close games. Last year, they found ways in some games to execute and perform, but he's always hunting for ways to get better. You're either getting better or getting worse. Always hunting for ways to connect with the team to motivate them, staff and players. It's a constant evaluation for him. He's his own hardest critic. He's pretty hard on himself on Sundays, even after a good win. He tries to put as much in his bank of tools to go pull from if something similar comes up again. Self evaluates a lot and is comfortable doing that and talking about it with his staff.
On having 10 returning starters on offense and competition ... Thinks it's helpful. Players are comfortable overall, comfortable coaching up the younger players that just got to campus. Older guys have such a knowledge base of the system that they can help the younger players. But they know the young players are hungry too. On offense, those 10 guys, they also recognize that young players are going to help them win. That takes self confidence and humility. It's not just about the experienced guys, who can all the guys help contribute to the team's success? Bijan and Roschon were great ambassadors for that. They knew it wasn't just 10 or 11 guys, was about 30 of them.
On his philosophy with rotating WRs ... They really only have about 8 scholarship WRs and all 8 of them can play. Their job is to figure out what they do well so when they do put them on the field, they're putting them out there to have success while trying to work on their full game and big tool box. Historically, they've had a 4 or 5 man rotation. Pretty typical of an NFL model. That may adjust some a little this fall, especially early in the season until they can figure out what guys are capable of. Things could change week to week. Going into it, plan is to play a few more than they have in the past but he has a month to look into that.
On if Gary Patterson is coming back ... Gary was a tremendous asset a year ago. As of right now, he is not part of the program. We'll see where it goes from here.
On who jogs out with the starters at RB tomorrow ... Guys that will get reps with the 1s ... Brooks, Jaydon Blue, Baxter, Keilan Robinson
On OL rotations ... Definitely want to see the five returning starters. Where does DJ Campbell, Cam Williams, Neto fit into that mix? You have to give them opportunity. Whether they're the ones or twos, they constantly rotate those guys on both sides of the ball. They'll have a good idea after two weeks of camp.
On Isaiah Neyor ... Looks great, fully cleared, thinks he's in a good frame of mind. The addition of Chris Jackson has been great for Isiah. He puts in a lot of time connecting with his players. There's a level of maturity there that resonated with Isaiah. Thinks he'll be an impactful player for them this fall.
On Sark's offseason ... Biggest thing he did was stay connected to his team. Took the week of 4th of July off, the rest of the time he was there with the team. Wanted to be around and stay connected with them. Tried to get as close to the team as he could on a daily basis.
On how close the roster is to one that can compete for a Big 12 title ... Thinks they're plenty talented enough. Nice mix of veterans with some youth. Historically he hasn't been able to say that. This year, they have experience coming back to go along with some youth. It's competitive. Likes the leadership on the team, going to get faced with some adversity. Thinks they have depth to withstand injuries because they're going to happen. A couple position groups he'd like to have more depth but that's the way it goes year after year. Ultimately, he likes the team, hasn't shied away from that. Guys have put in a lot of work, returning players have developed and improved, new players are talented. Teams win championships, with team success comes individual accolades. The team recognizes that. They're not a one-dimensional team. They can win a variety of ways this fall. Can win high scoring, low scoring, because of turnovers, special teams, etc. Don't have to win one specific way every Saturday. They're very diversified. Thinks they're well equipped to win different styles of games.
On if the best teams he's been a part of have been player led teams ... It's kind of cliche to be player led. At the end of the day, he's the head coach, he and staff have to lead the team. There are portions that are player led though. Ultimately, everyone has to assume the responsibilities they have to their success. Players are assuming responsibilities but ultimately, everyone has a responsibility to the success. To hi, that all falls back on the culture. Culture can beat talent. Culture AND talent, that's tough to beat.
On what he's seen from Quinn Ewers and his growth ... You see the dedication he's put in to his overall body composition. Has bought into the diet, the workouts. That takes discipline and focus. He's in a great frame of mind. Feels like his team. He leads that way. The overall understanding of the scheme and system, going into year two, the nuances of what they're doing make more sense to him. A lot of those little things that sometimes don't look glaring, but over time you have 5 or 6 plays, those can add up to negative plays. Hopefully now you minimize those because he knows where to go with the ball. He's confident with the space Quinn has gotten himself into, now need to take it to another level.
On if his roster has a bunch of NFL Draft picks on it ... If they hover in the 8-12 players drafted per year, they've built a program that's successful and they can be proud of. The NFL draft still gets swayed by good teams, but you have to do your part. Have to recruit, develop, play good football. If they're 8-12 per year, they're doing something right.
On off-field assistants that they hired ...
Payam Saadat ... background of defensive football. Pioneer of old Arizona desert swarm defense. When he was in Austin visiting, loved his connection with the staff.
Joe DeCamillis ... wealth of special teams knowledge. Super Bowl winner. Joe will work with Sark on a daily basis. Experience, knowledge, Super Bowl pedigree.
Paul Chryst ... He and Chryst go back some time. Systematically they don't think of Sark and Wisconsin football ... they've veered off on their own ways but at their core, there's a lot of similarity in what they want to do. When you can get someone with that resume on board, it's a plus. All great staff guys, positive energy.
On what themes are coming to the surface from the players ... Thinks the team is on a mission. They've taken that mindset, adopted the John Wick mentality. They're really focused. Want to be focused on the task at hand, have assumed the mentality of embrace the hate. They get that they're UT, it's the last run in the Big 12 and they've embraced it.
That's it for today.
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