2010 Coaches Quick Hits

Tuesday September 29, 2009

Chizik has new team motto for Auburn: "Do What We Do," is the slogan.

"It's probably elementary," acknowledged Chizik, almost apologetically.

"I like having a theme," Chizik said. "I like having something to hang your hat on and go back and refer to."

"Without getting philosophical, I feel like when you repeatedly do something, your habits become that, you become a product of that," Chizik said. "This is what we do on offense. This is what we do on defense. We're not trying to re-invent the wheel every week. We've just got to get better at what we do and that carries over into games.

"We always say: Plan your work and work your plan. ... It's nothing revolutionary. We just need to do what we do and do it better if we're not playing well. That's what we've done from Day 1."

Quoting FSU DC Mickey Andrews: "Either get it corrected or you are not going to play," Andrews said. "That's the message to them and it will be the rest of the year."

"There's nothing wrong with this team that can't be corrected," Andrews said. "Just don't give up big plays. Score points. Whip your man. ... Coaches, do a better job of coaching."

Quoting Ron Zook: "I'm as tired of saying it as you guys are hearing it," Zook said. "We're not playing the way we are capable of ... For whatever reason, we're not playing a 60-minute game, and we're not playing a consistent game."

Our players aren't going to live with it," Zook said. "I told them it's on me. I'm the one responsible for it."

Quoting UTEP head coach Mike Price: "I'm at my best in these situations," Price said. "As a coach I'm going to do a great job, the players are going to get back mentally. I told the team to stick together, to stick up for each other. We need to learn from our mistakes, be accountable for our own actions."

"This game will bring us together as a team, it will bring us closer. After the game, I thought the season was over. ... It's not, it's not. I had to look at the schedule to remind myself there are eight games left.

Quoting Indiana head coach Bill Lynch: "It is going to be a great opportunity for us to showcase our fans, and our stadium, and Indiana football," Lynch said. "The best way to do that is to make sure our fans are the ones who are in there."

Toward that end, Lynch spent time at dorms, and at fraternity and sorority houses on the IU campus the past half year, drumming support from what he thinks should be the more ardent of fans.

"The first area we're trying to connect with is the student body," Lynch said. "We've got 38,000 students on campus, and we've got to create a culture where going to the football game on Saturdays is the thing to do."

Tim Brewster has the Gophers playing really well, but very questionable quote here: "I think the Minnesota-Wisconsin rivalry is as good as any rivalry in the country, and I've been at the best ones," Brewster said. "This is big."

Quoting Tommy West: "I have to try to get this team better each and every week regardless if we are winning or losing. I will add them up at the end of the season and see how many we get. Right now, I don't think you can coach differently whether you are 3-1 or 1-3. You better be coaching them hard every week to give them a plan to win."

"I have to get this team playing good enough to win. You have a BSC league and a non-BCS league and there is not a lot of difference between us. It's all about who makes the fewest mistakes giving yourself a chance to win the game. We didn't play good enough to win the game. We are making more mistakes than the other team. You can't get the ball to the three and have a motion penalty. You can't overcome those things unless you are a heck of a lot better than everybody."

South Florida president addresses big win in open letter to fans:

Dear University Community:

It takes an enormous wave of support from all of you -- from everyone in our community, whether you work here, learn here, or went to school here -- to bring a major football team from inception to the highest levels of the game as quickly as USF has. The records we set in fan support all decade long make football at USF unstoppable. Thank you all!

And congratulations to our young, tough, fearless and powerful team! As you know, on Saturday USF beat FSU by 17-7 in Tallahassee. As everyone has said, this was no fluke -- USF's team won in every category. In fact, Jim Leavitt calls it his biggest win as a coach. It was huge moment for our entire community!

There are defining moments in the life of a football team and in the life of a university -- this was one of them. It was a day when it was abundantly clear that all the hard work and dedication invested in USF on a daily basis could -- and did -- come together triumphantly.

Enjoy the spirit of the win. Enjoy the spirit of a university that continues to surprise everyone who isn't paying attention -- USF's momentum is unstoppable.

Thank you and Go Bulls!

Pics of Cincinnati's new facility designs:Link...

Quoting Nevada AD: Groth made no apologies for the schedule, although she did say in a perfect world it would be slightly different. "Was the schedule too tough when we beat Kansas in basketball (in 2005-06) or beat Michigan State or Gonzaga (in the 2003-04 NCAA Tournament)? Was it too tough when we beat Washington (in football in 2003)?" Groth said. "No. I think you schedule to where you might be in the program. We were hopeful we would do better. Surely, there were people who didn't expect us to beat Notre Dame. ... I think all of us agree we could have done better. Could we have won that game? I don't know, but we could have done better.

"If people want us to be (FBS), and I believe they do, then we're going to play (FBS) opponents. Now, is our department going to schedule three Top 25 teams in our non-conference schedule? No. We do balance, but we schedule in advance. I think people are excited about these programs coming into Mackay (Stadium). Could we have beaten Missouri? You answer that. We shot ourselves in the foot. Coach said that. We had our chances."

Quoting Marshall athletic director Mike Hamrick: "That's what the BCS is doing," he said. "It's forcing the have-nots to make a decision to either do everything possible to be with the haves or stay with the have-nots.

"That's what the BCS has done to Conference USA. That's why when I was in the Mountain West we were so public and so adamant about trying to position ourselves as a conference. We didn't go as individual schools, we positioned ourselves as a conference.

"I would like to see Conference USA try to position ourselves as a conference to go, but obviously some schools feel they need to do that individually."

Larry Coker starting over at UT-San Antonio:Link...