Quotes From Gary Patterson's Media Luncheon
8/27/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 27, 2004
FORT WORTH, Texas (On his worries): "At this time of the year, you worry about staying healthy and getting your players ready for that first game. We have a more inexperienced defensive line this season compared to last. We had more of a tired football team last year and we've tweaked things a little bit now where we come back with a practice that's not quite as physical if we have a hard one the day before. It's hard to know how well that will work until the season starts. Our guys are tired of hitting each other and are ready for someone new." (On Marvin Godbolt): "Marvin did such a good job preparing himself for this season. It takes some guys a long time to come back from an injury like he had last season, but he hasn't missed a practice this fall. He's moved straight forward and has become a great leader. He's been running well in practice and hasn't had any problems with his knee. "We missed Godbolt last year because of his attitude. I think players and coaches have to have a little bit of an ego and humility and he gave us that last year. We were hurt at the weak safety position when he left. The final touchdown that was scored by Boise State in the bowl game last year was because of a mistake at his position. "The nice thing is we don't have that many seniors this year on defense. A lot of them played as redshirts and I'm quite excited about where we are defensively. The best defense we'll have knowledge-wise will be in two years when most of them become seniors. I said that before the 2002 squad came around and we were the best defense in the nation that year." (On short term goals in the first game): "I don't really have any goals heading into the Northwestern game. Winning will take care of everything. What I'd like to see is that we don't beat ourselves by giving up big plays. The teams that do that are the ones that win games. Last year wasn't any different. We let Tulane come back when they returned the kickoff right before the half. If they hadn't done that, I think they would have given up in the second half but they almost won that game." (On the defensive line): "Martin Patterson needs to be the big playmaker this year. They are an inexperienced group. When Bo Schobel played his first year, he had other guys to help him out but he didn't have that his second year and we were 6-5. We have to find out how this group handles knowing they have to be the guys every single day." (On the Northwestern game): "Northwestern's offensive line is big and physical. They've had a stable quarterback for a couple years now. Brett (Basanez) has been in a lot of big games in big stadiums. "The best thing about this game is I get to use my whole team. The last two years we've had to play a Monday game on the road and we can't take as many with us. I can use more guys at home and it helps with morale and gets guys more reps. We can grow up the team a lot quicker that way." (On TCU's quarterback situation): "Monday afternoon we'll name a quarterback within the team. The second guy is the sixth man of the team. This is the first time both quarterbacks have experience and we have a lot more game plans because of that. We have three quarterbacks (Tye Gunn, Brandon Hassell, Kyle Kummer) that have been in the system for three years. I'm excited about it being a plus and not a problem. "We plan to play both quarterbacks each game, every three or four series. Now, if one of them leads us to three touchdowns in the first three series then the other guy may not come in until the offense is stopped. But, we'll still use both of them." (On wide receivers having to adjust to a different quarterback in a game): "The only thing our wide receivers have to worry about is whether Tye and Brandon throw a catchable ball. They both manage the game the same way." (On his two new staff members on defense): "I played for Dick Bumpas and he's a very articulate and knowledgeable person. Chuck McMillian is the first coach I've had that actually played the position he coaches. The players haven't had to adjust to them very much since they both got here before spring football began." (On replacing last year's senior class): "We have some big shoes to fill with the seniors from a year ago. But, I didn't know how I would replace our kicker Chris Kaylakie in my first year and we had a meeting and the coaches said Nick Browne and I had no idea who he was. We had three guys show up the other day and one is a heck of a kicker. I have to believe that the next guy in line will step up. I'm an underdog kind of person. Give me some ingredients to make a salad and I'll see what I come up with." (On what he thinks about himself as a head coach): "Before, I used to know what I liked and disliked about being a defensive coordinator and now I know what I like about being a head coach and what I don't like. I think one of the best things I do is off the field. I'm a business guy on the field but my players know as a coach that after practice they can come into my office any time. You have to drive people and at the same time let them know that you'll take care of them." (On trying to win by large margins): "There's only 10-15 schools in the country that can say they want to win by X number of points. The rest of us try to win by a point. If you think the other way you look like you think you're better than everyone else. You run the risk of opening up Pandora's Box. There's too much parity in college football now with 85 scholarships to be concerned with scores." (On the starting linebackers): "We only have one starting linebacker right now (Martin Patterson). I like what I've seen from Andrew Ward and David Hawthorne. I'm happy with Robert Henson and Matt Panfil as well even though they can't help us right now. I know they're going to make us better down the road."
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