Football Hosts 1999 Media Day
August 19, 1999 | Football
Aug. 19, 1999
LUBBOCK, TX -
Taurus Rucker
On Academics:"Academics is very big here at Texas Tech and Coach Dykes stresses that when you first come in as a freshmen. You go through mandatory study halls and that really pays off later on down the road. Guys like Montae Reagor that graduate in 3 ? years really speaks a lot about our team on and off the playing field. Guys that take academics seriously usually develop into leaders who carry this football team."
On the 2000 squad: "We are in better shape than we were last season because we are deeper than ever on both sides of the ball. When you lose guys like Montae (Reagor), Ty (Ardoin), Donnie (Hart) and guys like that they are hard to replace. But when you have players like Derek Dorris, Tim Baker and Tim Duffie who have experience and great abilities makes transitions easier. I have to step it up this season and that is no secret. When you are preseason All-Big 12 and are ranked as a top player in the nation - you have to live up to that. But the only accolade I want at the end of the season is a Big 12 Championship."
Coach Spike Dykes
On the first few days of practice:"We showed up in good shape and that makes a lot of difference. It really gives you a chance to get down to coaching football instead of all the conditioning?our retention is excellent and our conditioning was excellent, so we're further ahead than we might usually be. When you open with a team like ASU and then your conference opener is Texas A&M you need to be ready quick"
On quarterback Rob Peters:"I didn't know what to expect when practice started. I think I forgot what a good quarterback Rob Peters was. He had some bad luck last year breaking his thumb in the first game?you go break your thumb and see how easy it is to throw a football. Now Rob looks good."
On the return of fullback Sammy Morris:"Having Sammy back means a lot to this team. He's a guy that's been through a lot of hard times, but he hasn't complained, he's worked through it. He has really matured and he's a solid person and a great football player. I'm glad he's on our team."
Rob Peters
"I feel 100 percent right now. Hopefully last year won't repeat itself, but it's a new year, a new season and I'm looking forward to playing 100 percent the whole time. It's a lot nicer to throw a pass without a broken bone."
Ricky Williams
On pressure on the team entering the season:"There is a lot of pressure to perform. There are expectations for the season but you have to make a positive out of it. We really use it as a way to get ready. I try to turn it into a motivational tool and that's the way we look at it."
On his off-season workout program:"I think my workouts helped. Right now I really feel more powerful and I do feel quicker. I think it really will benefit me going into the season."
Tim Duffie
On Tech's offensive weapons:"I think there are four or five guys over there you have to be thankful that you don't have to face in a game. First off there's Ricky, and then you know you'll have to think about Sammy (Morris) and Derek (Dorris) and Rob (Peters) and a newcomer coming along in Shaud Williams. We've got a whole bunch of players over there behind Ricky. It's going to be hard for other teams to prepare for us this year.
On hopes for the upcoming season:"I think a lot of us were down after the way things ended last year. We're excited to show how good we can be this year. We're just going to take it one game at a time?We have a tough game to start it out with at Arizona State. They're a good ball team and they're going to come with everything they got and we're going to come with everything we got and hopefully we can come out on top."
Kyle Shipley
About his last four years: "It's kind of a weird deal because it doesn't seem like yesterday. It seems like it has been a long time. I don't remember anything before it. It has gone quick. They always told you when you get here that it will go quick. I said I always got next year, I always got next year but now that's it."
Assessing the team: "I go back to what I know best and that is the defense. When I first got here we only played 13 or 14 people on defense and that was it. There was 11 guys and only two or three guys who played after them. And now we play 20 or 22 guys on defense regularly. That may be part of the game but part of it is that we got better players and we continue to get better each and every year. It's kind of hard to reflect record wise when you see the caliber of teams we used to play and what we play now but the record is really pretty good over the last couple of years. The talent level is on the rise and now I think it's time for us to put it all together. Every program goes through growing pains and you got a learning process. And now we gotten right to the edge the last couple of years and now it's time to get over it."
Assessing last year going into this year: "When you lose games by real small margins, you always try to focus on one or two things during the game. A lot of times the games do come down to one or two major plays but the thing is you never know when that play is going to be. So you got to play all of them like this could be the one. Sometimes it takes guys a couple years to understand that and some players never get it so they never play well. I think we got some guys that understand that now and we've got a lot of experience and we're looking forward to the season.
The middle linebacker position is important to the Tech program, as the defense is kind of designed to funnel plays to you, do you feel like middle linebacker position has come somewhat symbolic at Texas Tech in that you have followed some great players in Zach Thomas and Eric Butler and now you're the man and do you look behind you and think you'll be leaving this in good hands: "Sure, I've grown to really like this place and even when I'm done I want to see them do well. And Bucy (Rusty) is going to be a great player, there's no doubt about it. He's got a lot of talent and he cares and which is all it really takes - just some want to and some talent. There have definitely been some great players who have played in this defense and I think it helps with coach Goodner (John) being the defensive coordinator and that he coaches the inside linebackers and kind of looks out for us. It's a fun defense to play and it's what kids want to play. And really it works out for recruiting because people want to come here and people want to play an attacking style of defense. Everyone does it now but it seems like we always do it a little better than everyone else. Like I said it's fun to play and it helps out in everything aspect of recruiting. We're looking forward to having a really good defense this year and I hope we can bring home the Big 12 Championship."
On playing aggressive defense: "A lot of people have to say it for recruiting and things like that, to keep the alumni happy. A lot of things are said but really when it comes down to it we get after people week in and week out and even when we're not blitzing and doing things that people talk about all the time we still get after people. We play man-to-man coverage which means its pressure all around whether we're blitzing, whether we're manning up its always a pressure deal. It's fun to play and we enjoy playing in the system and we've got great coaches. I think maybe one of the best defensive staffs in the country. No doubt about it we're excited about not only playing this year, but playing in the defense. The kind of philosophy that has funneled down as your in the system for a while you kind of pick it up and the coaches really stress is you can't be good unless you work hard. To work hard you've got to practice every day. A lot of teams don't practice hard and they'll come out and play hard for about a quarter and that's it. But these teams that practice day in and day out, they continue to play hard throughout the whole game "
"If I had to look back I wouldn't change a thing. When I came here they never lied to me. They never told me anything that wasn't true. They said 'there's a guy here now and of course that was Zach (Thomas) and there's a guy behind him and that was Butler. It may take a few years, but if you work hard you'll eventually get to play and really I played earlier than I could have ever expected. My second year here, my redshirt freshman season I played quite a bit near the end of the season."
On the 1995 recruiting class: "There's always pride within classes of who's the best class. We feel we've had one of the best classes around when you look at it from top to bottom. If you look at our walk-ons, we've had three or four walk-ons start, people contributing, people staying around. I think it has been the best and I'm proud to part of the class. All the hype is just hype. A lot of these top 100 kids turn out to be the worst players on the team. There's no substitute for hard work. We've gotten after it. It's taken some guys longer than others."