Aug. 24, 2004
HEAD FOOTBALL COACH GUY MORRISS On the difference between last year and this year...
"Having spent a full year together there is a comfort level between coaches and players along the lines of what to expect, where to go - they've been in the system. We've gotten stronger, faster, bigger, had a great year in the weight room. We have a ways to go (in the weight room) still but we're seeing some benefits from that. We came into camp in better condition than we were last year and all those little intangible things make you a better football team and we've been pleased with the progress we're making there. On the Bears' chances...
"Overall our athleticism as a football team has improved. We did some things to toughen the kids up and all those signs are there it's just things that should make you a better football team but doesn't necessarily translate into early success or wins. I mean, we all believe we are going to be a better football team but we're playing in a pretty tough league and hopefully we get some breaks early and get off to a good start and we should end up with a few more wins. On the team's confidence...
"We're moving in the right direction. I see a lot of positive signs in attitude and in confidence levels and those things that are eventually going to lead to the kind of football program we are trying to establish here. On the QB battle between Shawn Bell and Dane King...
"We're not in a hurry to name a quarterback just yet. We've got a few more days and a few more practices to let those kids see if they can settle it on the field and so we're going to give them that opportunity. We want to let them try to decide it on the field. We put them in situations and put as much pressure on them as we can, game type situations, and see how they'll respond. They're running pretty much neck-in-neck and that's a good problem to have. It will be a hard decision to make but it's a good situation to be in. On the offensive line...
"Most of the shuffling is going on in the offensive line. We've been unsettled there, I think Coach (Chris) Lancaster is still looking for the right five and we lost Nick (Pace), so he's obviously not in the mix. Evan Stone is nursing a knee, every so often he'll have a day off, so we have to shuffle in people for him. We feel right now we've got eight, maybe nine, that will do most of the playing for us this fall. We're going to do more of an NFL-type practice where we rotate around, so they learn all the positions."
HEAD VOLLEYBALL COACH JIM BARNES On the team in general..."My staff and I are just ecstatic about being here at Baylor University, the players we have on the team, they're first class, great young ladies. They've had a tough couple of years but it's amazing how they've rebounded. They're a young group, we had a great spring together, getting acquainted and putting in our system. It was a tremendous spring, and we saw a great deal of improvement.
On fall practice..."The team has really responded well, we have some great character on the team and so we've been practicing very hard. Unfortunately at the beginning of our two-a-days practices, which started Aug. 11, we had someone injured each of the first five days. And so, we've had our challenges but just the last couple of days everyone has been healthy. The players have really responded well, we've had a good last two or three days of great practices getting ready for our scrimmage on Saturday."
HEAD SOCCER COACH GEORGE VAN LINDER On having a young team..."Preseason went really well for us this year so far, no major injuries. The weather was great this year, so we couldn't complain. When I spoke to you last year, I spoke about our seven seniors and one thing I kept saying is they have big hearts and small bodies, and that was the case. And so we had seven seniors and we went out and replaced them with roughly eleven freshmen. The freshmen have done great for us this year. Our strength coaches timed everyone in the 40 yard dash, and of our top ten times, seven of them were from new players, so we're bigger faster and stronger, but we're also young."
On the two exhibition games and the opener...We've played two exhibition games. We beat University of Arkansas 3-0, and then this weekend we beat Houston 6-1 and that was the first time we've scored six goals in a long time. Someone joked that our highlight film of goals just doubled in length from last year, so we're excited about that as an exhibition game. Saturday we face Notre Dame, they're ranked No. 2 in the country, and they have 23 letterwinners returning. So it's a great opportunity and a great challenge for us, and we look forward to getting our freshmen's feet wet. We expect five or six to maybe start, we want to give them that opportunity. A lot of people ask why we want to play someone that tough, and I think the big reason is if you look at that same poll that ranked Notre Dame No. 2, it has Texas A&M No. 4, Texas 8, Kansas 11, and Nebraska 25. We play those guys a month from now, and we thought we need to let them know what Big 12 soccer is all about as soon as we can and get a month to prepare for that."
