Baylor Football Head Coach Art Briles 2015 Signing Day Quotes

Opening Statement:
"We have our 2015 class that we are very happy to announce. I'm borderline giddy, honestly. It's been a good day. The thing about recruiting these days is that it is all about relationships. It's all about the process that you go through with the student-athletes. Our people on the staff have done a tremendous job, and it's not just the coaches. The coaches have been good representatives of Baylor University and our football program, but also our office people have. They are all important parts of the recruiting process. They are vital in the things we do and how we present our program and university from an educational, athletic and facilities standpoint. It's a big, big deal and a unified effort from a lot of people. We are very grateful for those people. They do an outstanding job, and that's why we are able to get those quality athletes on campus that fit what we are looking for. Fortunately that is where we are in our program, where we look for guys that fit what we are looking for. I think when we get them on campus, through Kaz (Kazadi) and his strength program and Annie in nutrition; I would rank us up there with everyone in America in developing student-athletes. I don't think anyone does it better. Also schematically on the football field, we play as good a brand of football as anyone else. We're going to continue to do that, and these athletes will help us stay at the elite level that we are at. I'm indebted to everyone that heads up our university, from the Board of Regents to Ian McCaw to everyone who gives us the opportunity to be successful. It certainly is a unified effort from everybody."

On the opportunities at Baylor:
"That's the class, there are 20 of them, like I say the last couple of weeks of recruiting, I mean, we recruited 2016 kids and looking at 2017 sophomores. Because these guys had been with us, stayed strong, they committed, and stayed intelligent. I mean, they are coming to a great University in a great location, in the best state in the union. They are having an opportunity to play football with one of the best football teams in the nation. Like when mom and daddy say `Coach, thank you,' I say `no, I am talking to an intelligent person, because you are doing the best thing for your child.' You know, it is a great opportunity for young people to come and have a chance to be successful, not only on the field path, but on post-graduate degree. We are very pumped about it."

On the talent of this class:
"It will be hard to say, because I think time tells. But I think these guys have a lot of talent. We signed some talented players in the past without question. It is evidenced by what they have done on the field at Baylor and then drafted in the NFL, but overall I will say without question. It is where our program is today as opposed to where it was six years ago. We are filling in spots with guys that fit the needs for us, that are talented. That is the big key. I think as we continue to progress, it will continue progressing from that standpoint. Also, I believe the top level will never be diminished."

On signing 5 DBs:
"I think both (a need and a great class to sign defensive backs). In our league, we always just gotta be looking on the back end without question, because it is a pretty aggressive league. I think it is getting more aggressive from an offensive standpoint with the changes the teams in our conference are making. You gotta stay proactive on that end. You can never have enough great DBs, can never have enough linebackers that can cover the space, and you can never have enough explosive players up front to pressure the quarterback with the ability to stop the run. We had the chance to get some great, talented guys, and you cannot turn them down in our league."

On looking at players from small towns/schools:
"We see Ringling (Okla.), we think this guy is really dominant, where does he play? I think in Ringling, Okla. Then you think, `he better be dominant, if you have a smaller school, you have to be dominant.' Then you think, `he is playing both sides of the ball, I wonder what would happen when he specializes, gets in a nutrition program, strength program, and plays one side of the ball.'"

On signees' opportunities to play early:
"Ready to go, I don't know. Play earlier than others, I think we will have to wait and see. We got some good guys on campus, fortunately. We lost some great football players quality-wise, but quantity wise not that many. So, we have some guys back that own the one thing money can't buy, and that is experience. That part of it will allow us to go a little bit more slowly with some of these guys. But I certainly think there are, discarding the JC (junior college) guys, four or five of those guys who certainly will be on the field next year in some capacity."

On what NSD is like for the high school students:
"When you finally get to this day, it is pretty rewarding and very humbling. The build-up to it with all the decisions is the hard part. As a coach, as a parent, as a student-athlete; It is hard on these kids, it is hard on the parents because a lot of them are not really that familiar with the recruitment process. Just because that is what we live and not what they live in, and players have a lot of people in their ear. It is a really tiring time without a question, but when you finally get to when you put your name on the dotted line, it is very rewarding and very humbling. And the process starts again because now you have new focus, new direction, now you have to live to the obligation you just did to that university. We are not going to tell the players that there is signing day, now where do they go? Now they say `that guy plays football for Baylor University.' So you gotta represent yourself now, for a whole different bunch of people you never had before. So there is an obligation, and that is really the beauty of it. If you don't expect a lot, you are not going to get a lot. We expect a lot out of our players."

On getting local talent:
"We certainly have had a great pipeline. I don't want to leave anyone out, but from Beau Blackshear to Ahmad Dixon to Orion Stewart, we'd love to take at least one guy a year out of there (Midway High School) because Coach (Terry) Gambill and them do a great job. It's a great system. We'd love to stay local if we can. Just like getting Andrew (Billings) and Salubi out of Waco High, hopefully we can get a relationship going with La Vega here in the next year or so. It's very critical. It's like what Dorothy said she wasn't saying there's no place like your neighbor's, she said there's no place like home. It is a good opportunity for them because they get the opportunity to make great connections with great alumni and a great university in Baylor in a great city in Waco. And momma and daddy can see them play whenever they want."

Briles on getting multi-sport athletes:
"Just from the standpoint of competing, if you ever run track you look around and you've got a lane and unless you are running a relay, there's nobody else there. It's all you. If you are high jumping, shot putting, pole vault, discus, whatever you are doing, there's not four people throwing or jumping. It's you. It's dependent on you to be the best that you can be. I like that part of it. There is not a lot of subjectivity to it. What you do is what you do. Basketball is kind of the same thing. You see guys in space and if they are offensive guys, maybe a quarterback, and they play basketball, you get to see how he defends. You can transfer that over and kind of get a feel how the guy might be as a DB. If they are a ball handler, a shooter, a big guy playing down low, you can get a feel for how they compete and how they handle situations. So certainly it gives you other opportunities to evaluate student-athletes, but football is a different sport, too, and there are some intangibles involved in football that you can't see. That's what you have to try and read when you look in a guy's eyes and try to feel his passion, his energy, his inspiration, and determination to how great he wants to be and how much he is willing to sacrifice to be great. That's why they call us Coach, that's our job."

On how the higher level of exposure has changed recruiting:
"A good example is that we had a junior day last Saturday, and I would estimate that out of the top 60 recruits in the state of Texas, I would say 40 of them were here. That's an understatement, probably, the top-40-plus; those guys were here. If we had held that junior day in 2008 that would not have been the scenario. That part of it is all different. It's different because of McLane Stadium; it's different because of the proactivity of Baylor University as a university, and because of Waco as a city being proactive and trying to grow and having some vibrancy to it. All that is a feel, you feel that as a parent and a student-athlete. And our production on the football field, of course, all that makes a difference. And then facilities and all that with the BANC going up and some other things in line, that makes a huge difference. So we are getting an opportunity to reach those "higher-rated athletes," and along with that if you are an athlete and you are one of those guys and you've got 48 universities trying to recruit you. So that's where it comes in to how hard are we going to chase if we know we are not going to be able to catch, or if we know we are going to catch, how are we going to defend. So that's where it has changed a little bit, and we'd like to continue to stay on this level."