Feb. 5, 2003
On what Coach looks for in his recruiting classes~ We always strive for balance in our recruiting classes. I think that is something that is an issue for us. We always strive in bring in athletes that could potentially play at a high level in the Big XII. Basically, that is the bar that we look at. Then, we try to project and make decisions in our evaluations on whether or not we feel that athlete reach that bar.
On why this class has so many offensive lineman~ This year, because we are going to lose six senior offensive linemen next year, offensive linemen were really critical. We could not come up short in that area. Some years, just based on the way things work out, you may not get the numbers you want, but this year, at the offensive line, that could not happen. And, I think we got some really quality players there.
On Coach's opinion of this class~ Overall, I ask my players to get better each and every year, each and every day. They're all lifting in the weight room right now working out. I ask the staff to work harder. I ask myself to work harder, and we have to continually upgrade who we recruit. No disrespect with the players we have brought in thus far, but it is our job to continually upgrade. And, I think this a quality class. I think there are a lot of good football players in this class, and I'm very pleased with that.
On why this class has so many tight ends~ Generally, tight ends can play a lot of different places. We feel that some of these tight ends will play defensive end. Most players play two positions in high school. What we generally do is let a player start where he wants to start. Then, the next thing is where can he make the team win and be the greatest player he can be. And, that is my job to continuously evaluate that. I feel we have a really good group of tight ends.
On the status of Damien Nash and his health~ Damien is in school right now. He's working with Rex Sharp our trainer rehab wise. He had ACL repair and meniscus repair that was done to his knee, and it was done on the first of October. So, he's about four months post-op right now. He's doing very well. He was running and doing some sprinting last Tuesday. They are very aggressive with his rehabilitation. He also has a remarkably great work ethic. He's one of those guys Rex has to slow down. Those are the kind of guys you like because they get back the fastest. Will he be in spring ball? If Damien was in here right now, he would say yes, but our medical staff will make that decision. But, we expect him to be 100 percent recovered.
On how Brad Smith's success affected recruiting~ Every athlete that we went into his home or our coaches talked to. Every single one knew who Brad Smith was. For a red shirt freshman, that is pretty amazing. I don't think that was any question that was a plus for us. It was very positive. I think it lends a tremendously positive outlook for the program when a young player that played at that caliber and knowing that he is only a sophomore. I think that was certainly positive. We saw more respect out there for our program. I'm not saying just because of Brad, but we lost some close games. And, I think we earned some more respect, obviously not enough. It was just a lot different this year going out recruiting than it was the two previous years here.
On whether Coach was satisfied with the number of kids from from the state of Missouri in this class~ You're never satisfied. We signed eight players from the state of Missouri. We work very hard at that. We work very hard all over the state. Our goal since we've been here we've probably got a little over 60 percent of the players since we've been here. I also think that our goal some day will be 80 percent, but you have to earn that. You don't just magically ride a train around St. Louis and say, 'jump on and lets go play at Missouri.' You earn that by treating people well. You earn that by developing trust. You develop that by having your kids go back to their high school and talk to their coaches about the things we're doing here. You also earn it by winning and start winning bowls every year. You do that, and we will get, I believe, 75, 80 percent of the best players in the state of Missouri. That's something that my staff works very hard at.