Aug. 26, 2002
On starting red shirt freshman quarterback Brad Smith~ He's a very good athlete. He's got great quickness, speed, and a very good arm. He's got a lot of poise. Taking a red shirt freshman who is 18-years old and putting him into this type of situation is certainly significant, but he won the job. This is a great opportunity for him. Obviously, will he get better as time goes on? There is no question about it. I think he is as good an athlete as I have ever coached, and he's probably ahead of any quarterback that I have ever coached, at this time.
On MU's inexperienced defense and the addition of Russ Bell~ There are a lot of good things about our defense. We're faster and stronger. Our whole team is. Up front we are a little bit different. Russ Bell has been a great addition. He's been in track the last couple of years, and he comes in and the transition has thus far worked. That is not a very common occurrence. Many times track kids come in and soon there after they leave the football team. Russ Bell is a football player. That's a bonus for us. We're going to have a lot of football players who haven't played in a game environment before, so time is going to tell.
On the Illinois offense~ We have a great challenge. They have a great offense. They have a great system on offense. They are very balanced. They run the ball well. They throw the ball. They have a plan. They're very fun to watch on offense because everything fits. You certainly have to respect that.
On the emotion of this game~ We all know what this game is going to be like. There is going to be a lot of emotion in this game. There is a lot of emotion in the basketball rivalry, and certainly, football is going to be the same. With St. Louis having so many fans on both sides, this game presents itself as a great situation. Our players are going to have to maintain their poise.
On the importance of winning this game in relation to recruiting~ If you win this game you use it in recruiting. If you don't, you go in a different direction. I don't know that I've recruited anybody that has decided where they are going to go based on the outcome of one game. I've never seen that. Most kids evaluate programs and what best fits them. Obviously, we both want to win this game. In recruiting, we go head to head a lot with Illinois. We have worked very hard to try and improve the recruiting situation in St. Louis and to build trust in that area. We're not there yet, but we've made some strides.