Signing Day Quotes
2/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Feb. 7, 2007
Opening Statement:
"We've had a good morning. We're smiling upstairs in the coaches' office. It was a good day. I think we hauled in some really good players. We're excited about each and every one of them joining our program. I think Baylor football as a program, just got a lot better today."
"We're thrilled. There's always challenges and I think our staff did a tremendous job of overcoming some of the challenges that were facing us and did a good job of hanging on to this class. We made a specific effort to make sure that two or three coaches were in contact with these kids and I think that really paid off. That little bit of extra attention made the difference."
Did you meet the program's needs with this class?
"We feel like we helped ourselves with the linebackers. We knew we needed to go grab a couple, two or three linebackers. I think we've done that with the three kids coming in.
In the offensive line, I think we've helped ourselves there. Cornerback was a concern. I think we've got some guys that all can play corner. We'll have a good pool in the fall to select from and we should have some depth. Some of them will be really young, but I think they're talented enough that we can put them on the field for a few reps and I think we've helped ourselves at quarterback with the two new guys, no doubt."
Is there any position that you didn't meet your program's needs?
"You'll always take as many offensive and defensive linemen as you can get if they're good ones. And that's an area I think that is ongoing. To say that we came up a little short? I won't say that. But, that's just a need year in and year out. We decided not to take a running back until next year. We'll go grab one of those type of guys. It's going to be a good year for running backs next year."
Why didn't you go after a running back in this year's class?
"I think we're very comfortable with what we've got, and it is going to be a big year next year for running backs in the state of Texas."
On Earl Patin:
"Well, he's the guy that we think can play that will linebacker for us. He had some big trips. He struck me as a young man who knew what he wanted and in the end, knew where to come get it. He had several teammates from his high school that are going to end up at LSU and what he told me was like why do you guys want to go there and sit for three years? Go somewhere where you can play. I think he sees opportunity here. He was impressed with the athletics. He wants to get on the field as a freshman, and certainly we think he's got the ability to do that. Those kind of kids are easy to recruit. When they know what they want, they're easy to recruit."
What role did the offensive change have with getting the receivers?
"I think it was huge. I think a lot of skill kids, quarterbacks, would like to play in a system like this. That's been my experience with it in the past. It's always pretty easy to recruit good skill kids in Texas. It was a good year for quarterbacks, so I think it was very attractive for those kind of athletes."
Talk about your quarterback situation now:
"It's going to be a fun spring, I think. Both kids (Machen and Weed) and have big arms, they're older, more mature kids. It fell that one's a senior, one's a junior, Blake's (Szymanski) a sophomore and we've got a freshman (Tyler Beatty). So, it lined up year by year the way you'd like to see it. We'll go out next year and get us another top quarterback if we can. They were attracted to the system. They both played in wide-open systems and they're mature guys, have a lot of leadership qualities about them that you like in your quarterbacks and will be a good fit in this offense and be good for some of those young receivers that are already here and those coming in, and can help them grow and mature. Older leadership is something we've been lacking, and certainly they will provide that for us. i think they've already earned the respect of their teammates, and they are good leaders."
How have Michael Machen and John Weed been received by your team?
"Both of them came in with the same thought in mind. They knew they had to earn the respect of their teammates and they jumped into their off-season program. They're both really hard workers. They get those kids gathered up and they go out and throw every day. I think they understand the need for some volunteer work. They've taken charge of the skill kids and they go out and throw about four days a week now. I've got to believe that's going to pay huge dividends in the long run for us."
On recruiting two kickers in this year's class:
"I think in our philosophy as a staff, it was important to us to invest in a scholarship in each one of these two guys. Because I think that's an area that can get you beat you real fast. These two guys are both a good punter and kicker. We have some kids on campus that will also compete for the job, but I think as good as these guys we felt like were coming out of high school, do you automatically turn over the kicking duties to them? No. They've got to come in and earn a job. But, I know down the road, certainly they will be productive players for us."
How did the early commitments work out for you?
"You don't necessarily know it's coming, and each young man is different. But, I guess it was just good fortunate that a lot of them committed early this year. This particular year, I would say that I'm in favor of an early signing date. And then the challenge becomes hanging on to them obviously and it's a long time from late spring when those kids were committing till today. I think as people lose commitments and people start moving around, you have the problem of some of the larger schools maybe coming in and picking off a couple of your recruits. That's just part of the deal. But again, I think our staff did a good job of keeping most of the class solid. And they're here now and we're all excited about having them. It seems the whole recruiting process just keeps getting earlier and earlier. Look at Texas A&M. They've had two junior days already, and it's just now signing day. It is moving quicker and kids are committing earlier. And it's making it harder and harder on coaches to try to hang on to them."
On the Cedar Hill trio of Chris Francis, John Jones and Romie Blaylock:
"Those three have been kind of the cheerleaders of the class. They get on the phone with some of the other guys and they encourage them and they were just excited about Baylor. They committed early. And they fall into that same mode. They all three knew what they were looking for, and in their minds and their hearts felt like this was the place to get it. And they never wavered. I remember calling Coach McGuire (Joey). `He said early summer, they came in and said coach, we're not talking to anybody else. Don't get us out of class to come talk to a recruiter.' They had made up their mind and they were going to stay with it. And Coach McGuire does a good job of protecting them once a kid indicates to him, hey, let's cut it off, I know where I'm going. He does a good job of sheltering them."
How did the coaching changes affect this class?
"I think we've upgraded our staff from a coaching standpoint. From a recruiting standpoint, I know we have. The first two we hired were kind of in the middle of Christmas. So, it didn't hurt us too bad. And there were a couple guys that we targeted and things just fell right. They were interested and excited coming. It didn't drag out over three or four weeks. that moved pretty quickly. And pretty much the same thing with Coach McGriff's position when he decided to leave, we already knew about Clay (Jennings) and where to go get him. It didn't take him long, especially with him being from here in Waco. I don't think the coaching changes really affected us too bad. And those coaches, Jason Phillips and Clay Jennings, they knew their way around the state anyway. They were really hustling to cover some areas for people when we were readjusting, shifting people, to make sure we had all our bases covered and got all these kids seen and taken care of during the contact period."
Did the NFL ties help you recruit the NFL players' sons?
"I'm a little older than most of them. But they knew me and I knew them. I tell you, as I'm going upstairs (after this) I'm going to hug Coach Teaff's neck for recruiting the daddies here so that they were familiar with Baylor and us with them. I think it helped. Coach Bradley, his background. Jason Phillips. It kind of gets your foot in the door at least."
On high school signees who may contribute in 2007:
"I think there's probably half a dozen that can probably contribute. If we can get 10 percent snaps out of them offensively and defensively and let them play 30 and 40 percent on special teams because of their physical ability and they can run, we're going to use them."
On junior college signees who may contribute in 2007:
"That was one of the things that I told the staff. If we don't think he can start for us next fall, then let's don't waste his time and waste ours. We need for all these guys to play. We think that they can. Ray (Sims) and Eddy (Newton) will be here the first of June and go through the summer program. All of the rest of them are here and working hard."
How much better is the recruiting now than when you first got here?
"I don't think there's any doubt, each year we've put together a better class than the previous year. And I think this one is maybe significantly better. I think it's due to our connections, our relationships with the high school coaches is beginning to pay off. The coaching changes from last year that we had to made, we got two Texas guys that were familiar to the coaches in the state. So that really hasn't slowed us down as far as taking a guy and plugging him in and he's got to feel his way around his area and form relationships with high school coaches. That's been a plus for us. From talking with a lot of these families, they've stepped back and looked at the big picture and see the progress we're making and want to be a part of it."
How much do you pay attention to kids from winning programs?
"I think it does. I think we try to target kids that come out of winning programs. I think there's a lot to be said for that. that kids show up on your campus having had some success and understanding what it feels like and understanding what it takes to be a part of a championship football team. Yes, we look at that stuff."
On Baylor's 2007 offensive line signees?
"It's always a strength issue with o-linemen. But if he invests his time in the weight room, he's got a shot, definitely. With these guys in our offensive line, we're going to a heck of a lot better getting off the bus, I know that. We're really pleased with all those guys."
On Matt Singletary:
He's kind of a rangy guy. He's got pretty good height (6-3) and probably is about 230 right now. He's got good quickness. It's just a strength issue with those linemen. But we like him. We saw him making plays and we think he can make plays in the Big 12."
