Feb. 1, 2006
Head Coach Guy Morriss quotes from Wednesday's signing day press conference:
On Baylor's 2006 recruiting in general:
"I think that Baylor football just got better today with this signing class. We feel very good about it. It's a strong class. Before we start, I've got some folks I need to thank. First of all, Coach McGriff has done an outstanding job coordinating our efforts. I want to thank Mac and the coaches. I want to thank my wife Jackie for being a great hostess. We have a lot of recruiting dinners at our house and she coordinates that part of it. The gals upstairs, Sherri [Elwood] and Elaine [Holloway], they do a good job supporting us and doing tons and tons of paper work. Coach [Jerry] Pickle and Odell James from football ops. Coach [John] Williams and his strength staff. Mike Sims and trainers. Jeff Barlow and the equipment guys. Every time we have a recruit on campus they have to be here with us and doing their gig in trying to help us get these young men to campus. Don Riley in academics. Chris Krause over on campus is our official host. And our Baylor Gold hosting our recruits. Kevin Price in keeping us straight and helping us with compliance. And Mike Rogers, our faculty rep., has really been a great help to us. I know there were a couple of kids where he had to step in and help us with some compliance. He really made the difference in getting a couple of our recruits eligible."
"I think this is a really good class. It's by afar the best class since we've been here and that's part of our program. Every class we sign has got to get better each year."
On wide receivers:
"There is a tremendous amount of speed and height in this class. Especially about the wide receivers, we've got a lot of height. They all can run."
On offensive and defensive lineman:
"Don't forget about our offensive and defensive linemen. We needed some help in those areas and I think we've helped ourselves with these young kids. All of them are big guys, very athletic, got a lot of frame. For offensive lineman, Dan Gay has moved over to the offensive side of the ball and Jason Smith is now an offensive lineman. So we felt we could manage with three incoming freshman with those two in that pool. Next year we will be looking for more lineman but we feel good with these guys."
On running backs:
"Nice running back from Corsicana in Jay Finley. He's got a lot of wiggle and speed. We really like him. Some people have told me he may be a sleeper but we'll know more about that down the road.
On junior college transfers:
"We're very pleased with our junior college guys that came in at midterm. I think all those guys can make a contribution and they are here on campus now. Most of y'all know who they are and they're doing a great job in our off season program. "
On quarterbacks:
"Quarterback-wise, we feel really good about Tyler [Beatty], Jeremy Sanders, and Brad Taylor. That will certainly create some good competition in that spot. All the young men know that if they don't win the quarterback job, they're probably going to play somewhere else. All those guys are athletic enough to go play in a lot of different spots so we really feel good about that group as well."
On the quarterback competition with Tyler Beatty:
"Sanders and Taylor both could easily win the starting quarterback job. They're good quarterbacks and very athletic guys. With us switching offenses, we never had an athletic type quarterback back there so it will be interesting to see how these guys operate in this system. We're used to having the pocket guys. But someone with that athletic ability, it will be a different dimension that we haven't had. It's going to be fun to watch those kids compete for the job."
On Jeremy Sanders:
"He has operated in a system like ours, very similar. With the decision making process he has to go through as the trigger guy, there should be some carry over. You bet."
On last season's success helping recruiting efforts this year:
"Yes, we used that, of course. When you're recruiting you sell everything you have and certainly that was a part of it. Our kids believed the coaches when we went into the homes and told them we are just about to get this program turned around. We're knocking on the door and our next step is that we need you to kick that door down. A lot of these local kids would come to a game and they liked what they saw. I think that they see it like some of our alumni and fans, that there is some light at the end of the tunnel. We are getting closer and a lot of positive things are happening in this program. The kids want to be a part of that and yeah, we sold the heck out of it."
On the new offense:
"I think as soon as we made that announcement, the phone started ringing with quarterbacks and receivers. It certainly will attract those guys, the skills guys. And in certain cases, some linemen because they know they can showcase their skills as well. When I recruited for this system at Kentucky, what I saw was the fact that NFL people are looking for offensive lineman who can protect those trillion dollar babies back there. There are not a lot of places where you can go and get taught one-on-one pass protection. Certainly in this system and with me teaching it, they can get that now. And that's going to make it easy for us to recruit offensive linemen as well."
On Tim Atchison:
"He can contribute early but he'll have to come and show up in shape. We've already emphasized that with him. He's conscientious enough that he is going to come here in really good condition. I think the key for any freshman is how fast he can progress mentally. That's the biggest jump from high school to college. It's a little more complex though we try to keep it as simple as possible. But it's a tough transition for any freshman. Coach (Larry) Hoefer will be coaching them and he's a good coach. So as soon as Atchison can pick up the system, he'll be on the football field."
On David Gettis:
"He's not back just yet but I think he's taken care of the core issues. He's trying to raise his GPA to match his test scores as this point. He will probably re-enroll at West L.A. Community College and retake a couple of classes. He's going to do better in those classes and that will raise his GPA. He should be here by last June."
A kid like him is so active, you know, running track. I don't think the break will hurt him. He may have to learn how to catch the football over a little bit but if you naturally are a good pass catcher like he is, I don't think hurt him at all.
This fall with the system so simple, it's ridiculous how simple it is to learn and he'll be here in great condition, I'm sure, and I look for him to be on the field this fall.
On the Garfield Hicks, Ben Randle, and Ernest Smith:
"The night that I went to the field to see Hicks play, the kid has got tremendous speed and a heck of a lot of wiggle. He took a play that should have been an 8-9 yard gain and turned it into a 68-69 yard run. The kid can really run, and he's got nice hands and is a big tall kid. He's a bright young man, a good student from a good family."
"Ben Randle is another big tall kid that can run. He's 6'5", very athletic. I would imagine in the future he will put on some weight. He can get in there and muscle on some smaller corners.
"Ernest Smith looks like a 100-meter guy. He just looks like speed. He has tremendous hands. A 6'4" kid. Chris Lancaster did a great job with him in establishing a relationship with him."
On linebackers:
"Greg Carlson is a nice big tall kid. He's a lean kid right now; he played every sport in high school so he'll have to put on some weight. He'll probably come in and redshirt right away but we like the way he runs and gets to the football. He's a play maker."
"Paul Tolbert, I think he's benching something like 430 lbs. right now. The kid is just chiseled. He just needs to work on his conditioning a little more. He looks like the type of linebacker we line up and play against every week. He's another bright kid from a good family; don't have to worry about him going to call. He's got great character."
