March 3, 2003

Coach Pinkel on what he plans to focus on during the spring:

"What you do in the spring as a general rule is you analyze schemes, offense and defense, and you analyze personnel. You make sure that you have players in all the different positions and that they are ready to compete at a high level in the Big 12."

Coach Pinkel on the Offense:

"I don't think there's any question that as you go through our football team, that starting on offense our quarterback position has a lot of depth. The running back situation, I believe, will sort itself out; it depends a lot with Damien [Nash] and how much he does. We have Zack [Abron] there as well. Tyrone Roberson has decided that he will just play baseball now. He just decided that he will stay here and play baseball with no football. So that kind of has to sort itself out. Some of these things may not get sorted out until two-a-days. At wide-receiver, when you lose a 1,000 yard receiver there are concerns. Thomson Omboga is back and we are pleased with his off-season efforts. We fully expect Darius Outlaw to play next year. At tight end, I think we'll be ok there right now. J.D. McCoy is going to get some practice, but he won't be getting full-go competition until maybe April."

Coach Pinkel on the defense:

"I think the importance of our defense right now is critical. We have a lot guys in there and a lot of competition. Atiyyah Ellison has had a great off-season. Russ Bell will get approximately 80% of the practices. We have been working with the track team on that so we'll have him sometimes, and other times we won't. C.J. Mosley has had an excellent off-season as well. We also have a lot of guys that are working hard and competing hard. At linebacker, James Kinney is back and Henry Sweat is back. We're feeling pretty good there. Derrick Ming has had a great off-season and we have moved Brandon Barnes to inside linebacker. We moved Earl Stephens to the defensive line from tight end just to try and make some changes. We've tried to find Brandon the right spot and we think he'll fit in at linebacker nicely. He's 225, runs a 4.5 forty, and he's very physical. We're also trying to sort out the secondary. We have several players battling for the free safety position and we have a lot of other battles going on for perimeter defensive positions."

Coach Pinkel on preparing the team with Brad Smith as quarterback:

"We all know the importance of the quarterback position. We all know that football is the greatest team sport except for that one position. To have a guy there that has played at a high level and in possibly the best conference in the nation, it promotes a lot of enthusiasm and promotes a high confidence level. It not only boosts Brad, but it also raises the standards for the rest of the team.

Coach Pinkel on Damien Nash's rehabilitation process: "Damien is really doing well. He has a remarkable work ethic. He's one of those kind of athletes that you have to hold back. Some athletes you have to push. You have to push that leg a little more and push that knee a little more. Damien is just the opposite. You have to hold him back in the weight room and we've had to hold him back in the rehabilitation process. He has a work ethic that gets up there near Brad Smith's. That is pretty remarkable and will lend itself to him returning as early as possible. The medical staff will ultimately make the decision as to when he comes back. We just want him to be 100% by August when it's time to report."