ARKANSAS RAZORBACKS--

COACH HOUSTON NUTT:

THE MODERATOR: We are ready to begin with Arkansas head coach Houston Nutt.

COACH NUTT: Thank you very much. I want to start today with I want to talk about my brother a little bit.

I think number one thing is when you have your health, you're rich. A lot of y'all have been asking about Danny. I appreciate that. He had a scan and an MRI about two weeks ago. He's done very well. Very good report. No fresh bleeding there.

We knew this day was coming, but, boy, you didn't expect it to be this quick. Really wanted to get through this year because of the backfield he basically recruited, probably his best backfield maybe Arkansas has ever had. But very good guys. He has tremendous relationships with those guys. Excellent recruiter.

He had a real knack. I don't know if y'all realize, but we had very few backs transfer. That's unusual in today's world because everybody wants the ball. Did a great job of counseling and talking and encouraging. That's the one thing, I think because of his last name, I don't think he always got the credit he deserved. But, boy, just a tremendous loss for us. Appreciate your thoughts and prayers for him.

A lot of people have been asking about him. I really appreciate that more than you know. Hopefully we can get his life back to normal. He has another MRI scheduled in a couple weeks. I appreciate it.

University of Arkansas, the Razorbacks. I'm really proud of our football team. I'm proud of our off season. I'm proud of how hard they've worked. I'm proud of their commitment. I'm proud of their attitude. Our guys have been through quite a bit during the off season. I think we've become very, very close. I think we've become closer.

Our team, especially when you look at the off season, it's voluntary. When you talk to Don Decker, our strength coach, who does a tremendous job, these guys are working and did a good job of working.

Also we've probably had the most campers we've ever had at our camp. I think it's the second highest, over a thousand. Just had the most seniors at a senior day camp. So there's a lot of good things going on.

I think the one thing that got overshadowed was our championship run. It's hard to get that, guys. It's really hard to get to Atlanta (showing the ring). You never pick us (smiling). That's okay. We probably won't be picked again this year to get there, and that's okay. Because that's why it's the greatest game in the world, you got to play it in between the white lines.

We've got a good group coming back. Starts with those runningbacks. Starts with Darren McFadden. Darren McFadden, I brought him today so you could talk to him. I brought Weston Dacus on the other side. Got a good group of guys coming back.

When you lose a Jamaal Anderson, a leading sack getter, when you lose a Chris Houston, a cover corner who cuts down probably the best opponent's receiver every game, that's two tremendous losses. You lose a Keith Jackson, Sam Olajubutu. You lose quite a bit.

But we do have a lot of experience and heart coming back. I'm excited about them.

Matt Hewitt, Michael Grant are back. I'm excited about them.

Getting back to the offense, Darren McFadden, he's very, very special, as you know. If he walked in this room right now today, if you saw him live for the first time, the first thing you'd say, Boy, he's bigger than I thought; he's taller than I thought. Then if you got to see him live from a sideline, you'd say, Boy, he's faster than I thought. He's very, very tough. He doesn't mind running over you. He has a tremendous stiff arm.

Lot of people ask me to compare him. I had the privilege to be around Barry Sanders when I worked for Coach Pat Jones. When Bill coached Barry Sanders, the one thing Barry Sanders had was tremendous work ethic. The one thing I notice about Darren, he has tremendous work ethic, he's unselfish, great character, tremendous leader force. He goes to school.

You know, he could be a real pain right now, y'all, a real pain. Why do you say that? Because he's one of the top players. He's on every magazine. What if he didn't show up for a week of work or didn't go to school? But here's what he does that you don't get to read in the paper.

I get a call from a professor that says, I got to talk to you about two of your players. I'm like, Oh, no. Usually when a professor calls you, usually not good news. So I said, What's the problem? I want to talk to you about Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. I said, What is it? Well, they've gotten enough points in class where they didn't have to come this week of class because they'd already reached enough points in this class, and I told them they have a week off.

There's about five students that had a week off. And Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, lo and behold, came to class.

That's what it's about. That's the attitude. He loves to practice. He loves to go to school. He loves to go to the weight room. I don't know if he likes all the cameras, but he's doing a better job each and every time he gets in front of them. So I've been real proud of him.

We lost a few on my offensive line, so we got some guys that have to step up. We have Jonathan Luigs back, Robert Felton back. We have some very good guys back. There's some names that you won't know. What I'll do is I'll stop right there and we'll just go to questions and see where you want to go.

Q. Coach, would you talk about Darren and how he has progressed since you got him. He's always been an amazing talent, but what has he done to make himself better, and how has he made that progress?

COACH NUTT: That's a good question. The very first year when Darren broke out, he made the first run I remember, an 80 yard run against Alabama, stiff arms an All American free safety, I think Harper. Boy, he had a great year.

I remember Danny calling him in after that first year and saying, Look, we've had a lot of good backs have a good first year, but then they disappear the second year. They disappear as a sophomore. It's that sophomore jinx. We don't want that. We want you to be the same guy.

The one thing, the reason why he improved so much is because he has tremendous work ethic. He's a little bit different. Has a tremendous attitude. He practices with a purpose to get better. I just love his unselfishness. He's very unselfish.

So each year, this is my third year to have him, we always would kid him, Hey, are you still Darren McFadden? You still that same guy we recruited, that hungry guy? To give you an example, the first time he set foot on campus in a camp he wanted to wait on the 40 yard dash. He wanted to see everybody run, and then he wanted to go run against the fastest guys, whether it be from Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, wherever, Georgia. He wanted to wait.

That's the competitor that's inside of him. So he has that. He's a tremendous competitor. He's a winner. But the ingredients are this, real simple. I know I'm repeating myself, unselfishness, it's a character, it's an attitude, it's a fierce competitor, that's about almost 6'3", long, long arms. He runs 4.3 or less, and he can take it home each and every time.

We just want him to keep doing what he's been doing. That's really a tremendous work ethic.

Q. One of the things you went through this off season was the release of your cell phone records. How difficult was that to deal with, and what was your reaction when you found out your records had been put out online?

COACH NUTT: This was really a different, totally different, off season, something I've never experienced before in 26 years of coaching. To have someone get so personal, to have so many things written, starting in your home state, sending things to an editor, things that are starting to spread. It kept going and going.

You know, the toughest thing is your family. It's your family. One of the things, the reason you're able to go home at night, look your children in the eye, look your wife in the eye of almost 24 years, is because, see, they know. They know the truth. Our players know the truth. That's why I'm still here today. This is my 10th year.

You go back with the record number of campers. There's mamas still bringing their sons to me. So there's a reason for it.

I think if you ask Darren McFadden, he would say you attack Coach Nutt, you attack me. You ask Felix Jones or Marcus Monk, they'll say the same thing. You attack Coach Nutt, you attack his character, you're attacking me.

To answer your question, that part of it was difficult 'cause you're hurting two parties that you know nothing about and you're spreading gossip and you're spreading lies. You don't know these people. You don't know what they're talking about. But you think that you see two people talking, and that's not what FOI is about.

You think because you see two people talking, you think, Hmm, must be a soap opera, must be something going on, when you don't know. That's what my family, which has been so strong, Diana has been so strong, so good, understanding. They're very tough. And our players.

See, here's the thing. I get asked about it by reporters. If you went to our weight room you wouldn't hear one word of it. If you asked our players how it affected them, it hasn't. I think it's done this, though: It's made us get a lot closer. It's really our team has grown together. Our coaching staff is much, much closer. The immediate family and the Razorbacks family are much closer. That's what it's all about.

You appreciate the guys like Marcus Harrison and Marcus Monk. I can't tell you how many times they came to me, Can we have a press conference? Can we shoot back? Can we talk? Can we tell them the truth, what's really going on? They were feeling the frustration of they won 10 games.

Coach, we know your character. We know our coaches' character. We know what's going on. Let us tell them. I said, No, let's not do this. Let's not give them credibility. Let's keep doing our deal. That's kind of been our thought process of the whole thing.

Q. You mentioned Darren's shyness around the cameras, how he doesn't love to do it too much. How has he seemed to handle all the increased attention? Got to be a growing lack of privacy with him. How has he handled that?

COACH NUTT: You know, he's gotten better. He has really loosened up. I think some of y'all that really know him, had more than one conversation with him, he has a tremendous smile. He dresses up for Halloween, things like that. I mean, he's a fun loving guy that has gotten better with each interview.

I think Kevin, and Josh, our people have done a really good job of trying to help him.

You mentioned one thing that I think really is a key. He can't go home to Little Rock, his hometown, and go to the mall without getting bombarded for three or four hours. He's the type of person, he won't tell anyone no. He won't tell one person no. That's what you love about him.

He's handled things I've been so proud of the way he's handled things. Everything changed the minute he won the Doak Walker. We've never had a University of Arkansas athlete win the Doak Walker award. We've never had one guy fly to New York. That's what upsets you a little bit with all the things that's been talked about. What about that guy? What about his unselfishness, what about the team?

I think this team is probably the only I think it's the ninth team that has won 10 games, and the only team to ever do it in the SEC. This is a hard, hard league, as you know.

I just love the way he's handling things, and he's getting better at it.

Q. Was there ever a time through this off season that you said that this just isn't worth it anymore?

COACH NUTT: There was just maybe a short period of time we felt like that. But then you go to your family. Say, No, no, no, no way. You talk to your mom. You talk to your brother. You talk to the players. You talk to Darren McFadden. You talk to Felix. You talk to Weston Dacus, Marcus Harrison. You talk to your players. There's no way.

No, if they would have felt like some of the people felt, it would have been different. I've never had a poll done on me before. I didn't know we were into the age of now we're doing polls and different things like that. Even that, you know, showed in our favor.

So to answer your question, maybe a short period of time. Maybe a short, short period of time you thought about Here's the keys. But when you talk to your family, talk to your players, there's no way. Got too many good things going. You just won a championship.

You had Florida. We weren't picked to be there. It's LSU, Auburn. Y'all know who you picked. We were not picked to be there. We had Florida on the ropes, the national champion.

With Darren, Felix, the guys that we got at the University of Arkansas, you can't let go of that.

Q. Last year you ranked I think 108th nationally in passing, but you won the west. Does that even bother you?

COACH NUTT: You don't like to be last at anything. You know that. I'm a former quarterback who loves to throw. The stats don't show it. But you got to do what your players do best. Our players at the time, what we did best, if you came to practice, you'd say, Hmm, No. 5, you better give him the ball. That's what you would say. You'd say, You better give No. 25 the ball. You better find to way to give Peyton Hillis the ball.

You do what's best with your players to give them the best chance to win. We still hold the record for the passing. Clint Sternum. Still got the record. I predict he's going to win the most touchdowns, our receiver. Marcus Monk is going to break a record.

To answer your question, it don't bother me that much when we're winning 10. I do know we've got to improve that. I do know we've got to be better. I think we'll be better at it. I know they're going to overpopulate the line of scrimmage. I know every time we walk into a stadium they'll say, There is No. 5. Put a bullseye on his chest. There's No. 25. We have to keep teams from making us play left handed, no question.

Q. Can you tell me how you first heard about the poll that was done on you, what your reaction was, and if when you look at something like that if there are times when you think the passion for football down here has gotten to be a little over the top?

COACH NUTT: The first thing is when you hit your 10th year, when I first stepped in the SEC coaches' meetings in 1998, I was one of the youngest. I didn't have one gray hair, not one. Now you fast forward 10 years later, I'm the second longest in tenure. It's my 10th year. So I know your words get a little older. Your comments are a little bit... I've heard that before.

There's been 25 to 26 changes in the SEC. I know the passion of this group of SEC, the passion of the fans. I understand that. But all I know is to do the best I can every single day, and do it with character, do it with integrity, do it the right way, care about a young man's life, try to make a difference in his life. That's why you're in it. So that's what we try to do.

You know, I think sometimes it does go too far, no question, but I know it's here. That's the world we're in. That's the world that we're in. And so, again, I go by our immediate family. Who is that? Our players. When the player comes to my office, like yesterday, and says, Hey, Coach Nutt, this is my five year old son and my three year old daughter, and I couldn't have made it without you. These four or five years right here at Arkansas, you made the difference in my life, and that's why I'm the father I am today. Don't listen.

That's what encourages you. It's not the other. So that's what I go by.

Q. What was the reception you got when you went out to the public in the off season? Did you make any special effort this year that you hadn't made in past years?

COACH NUTT: You know, I had the exact same schedule I had the last nine years. What's amazing is when we went to our Razorback club meetings, the fire marshal would come in and say, You cannot put one more round table in here. That's it.

Everywhere we went it was sold out. Our ticket sales are higher than they've ever been. So the reception was very, very positive. But we did the same exact schedule, same golf outings. We didn't duck anyone. It was really, really positive.

What you don't hear is the minority or the ones that are quiet, the letters that I get, the emails that I get, the fans where we go reach out to, the Razorback clubs, it's, Boy, I'm thinking with Danny. I'm thinking about you. I'm thinking about your family. That has been so positive.

Then you see the contributions. You see the ticket sales. You see the commitments. You see the camp numbers. They're all up, up, up, up, the best we've ever had. So that's a good sign.

So to answer your question, the same schedule we always had, we kept it, just kept going, and it was really good.

Q. Where do you think Darren McFadden fits in the Heisman picture? What would that award mean to the University of Arkansas?

COACH NUTT: I tell you, that would be tremendous for Arkansas, to be able to put a Heisman Trophy in the Broyles complex. Coach Broyles' last year. There would be nothing like it. I think it would mean so much. It's hard to get.

You know he'll be at the top to start out. He came in second. So he's at the top. But as you and I both know, it's about winning, his teammates. I think he'll be the first to tell you, I need my teammates. I need everybody on our team: Coaches, players, to be at their best, and winning solves all. That will put him in the race.

But to answer your question, I think he's at the top, the front runner. There's no question about it or he wouldn't be on every magazine. I think everybody knows that. Also they're going to be trying to stop him every single Saturday. Every team will be trying to stop Darren McFadden. You're in a fast, fast league. It's a difficult chore, no question.

Q. As you went through the trials and tribulations of the off season, did you hear anything from other SEC coaches, anybody call you? You said so many coaches come in and out. Are you able to develop friendships with coaches in the league?

COACH NUTT: I do. I have a good group of friends in the SEC. I talk to a lot of 'em. They were calling me. I had a lot of professional coaches call me. The ones especially that knew me, they knew it was a lot of rumors, lies and gossip. They knew that.

The coaches in the SEC were very, very good about, Keep your head up. They were just very, very encouraging. I'm very appreciative.

Q. Do you think this off season, the way it went, has any impact on Darren's Heisman run? Do you think it could hurt him, or do you think the attention the school got may have gotten his name out there a little more?

COACH NUTT: Well, his name's out there. His name is out there. I think it started when we went to New York. As soon as he went to New York he knew things were different.

His name's out there. I think this maybe added to it a little bit, maybe a few more interested, maybe a few more names in different publications. Arkansas, Darren McFadden, there's a connection there.

But the bottom line is, he's a frontrunner, guys. He's the real thing. Again, being around Barry Sanders, the only other Heisman I've had the privilege to be around, I put him in that category. He's just an unbelievable talent.

But I don't think the off season I think it's earned on the field. He's a frontrunner because he came in second. He's a Doak Walker award winner, the first ever at Arkansas. You look at his runs, it's amazing, the runs that he's made throughout his career, starting when he was a baby as a freshman. He's continued each year. Done a good job.

Q. You talk about the lies and the rumors out there. Was it not possible just to ignore them, walk away, not deal with them at all?

COACH NUTT: We tried to do that. We tried to do that. But there was a tremendous, tremendous campaign, onslaught that didn't stop. You're talking about hurting some people, families on both sides. Then when it starts to get in just about every publication, it started in Arkansas, then it gets out to every publication, every radio.

There comes a point in time where for the first couple of months you're ignoring it because we don't want to give it credibility. We try to do exactly what you said: try to ignore, ignore, ignore. But then it's such a massive campaign. It doesn't stop. That's what made it tough, where you had to our university lawyers, councils, comes a point where you have to go address.

Sometimes you look back. I wanted to do it much earlier. I wanted to do it the first day it came out, the very first rumor. They wouldn't let me. You try to follow people that have been there and understand, trying to give you the best advice for your team and the university. You follow their lead.

Q. You're talking about your depth charts, strengths and weaknesses, instead you're talking about how your off season was. Did you anticipate coming here that that's what you would face? Did this take away from your championship run? And two, could you describe your relationship with Coach Broyles.

COACH NUTT: I expected it a little bit. This is what's brought our team closer together, though. Again. You go by Razorback clubs, you go by campers, you go by commitments of players, mamas that are still dropping their sons off to this campus with me as the head coach. That's what you go by.

You go by people still coming and buying tickets. That's what you go by. Our fans are very passionate. They can't wait for the season. That's what I hear.

Our players are not going to sit around and say, I wonder what's happening about that rumor. They don't do that. They don't know anything about that. They're focused on this, and that's football, going to school this summer, weight room.

As far as the relationship with Coach Broyles, as he's been just a big time athletic director, I think he's the best there is. The reason I say that is because he understands. He's been there. He's been there as a player. He's been there as a coach. He coached at the University of Arkansas. I could always go to him always.

Guys, because of all this, he had to make a quicker decision to step down, and I think that's what gave a lot of people a lot of momentum. They thought they could come get me after that. That's what really hurts because I think he's an icon; he's a legend. What he's done with our facilities, without one tax dollar, without one student fee, it's unheard of. It's unheard of what he's done.

I can't tell you how many times players, former players, come back after their pro runs, they've been carrying that adidas bag on their shoulder all those years trying to make every league from Arena League to NFL, NBA. They come back. What do they need? They need a degree. What does he do? He goes and finds a way to get them a degree with tuition and fees paid for. He gets them a scholarship. He's been nothing but a helper.

I have a tremendous relationship with him. Gonna miss him. Gonna miss him big time. I'm gonna find out where they're going to put his office and I'm gonna go see him and try to see him on a regular basis.

Q. With the atmosphere off season being what it is with the microscope on the program, how important do you feel the first three or four weeks of the season are setting a tone, saying this affected us or didn't affect us in the off season?

COACH NUTT: Well, naturally, it's always about winning. You know that. Especially in this league. You always want to get off to a good start. But before we can do that, we had to get through this summer. We had to get through step one, step two. Step one, step two is recruiting.

You wouldn't think that after winning 10 games. You wouldn't think that winning a championship. You had to get through recruiting, which was very, very positive. Then it was Razorback clubs. Very positive. Then you're checking ticket sales, summer camp numbers. Up, up, everything's positive.

We're off to a great, great start. We've never had 14 commitments sitting here in July. We've never had that with the quality of players that are already committed. There's a lot of people still believing what we're doing. But it's very, very important we get off to a good start. There's no question.

And it starts at home the very first game against Troy University, who is a very good team. We've been criticized about our schedule.

I tell you, you better go check. I don't think you've watched Troy University play Florida State. I don't think you've seen they have tremendous athletes who can run. Sometimes those athletes who have been turned down by Alabama and Auburn, they play with a fierce passion. They're not going to be in awe of any stadium. Just because you have a 72,000 seat stadium, they've been there before.

Q. What sticks with you about the way the second half of the conference title game unfolded? If winning solves everything, as you say, do you think putting Florida away that day would have changed the negative parts of the off season from unfolding the way they did?

COACH NUTT: The second half of the championship game?

Q. Against Florida.

COACH NUTT: Boy, I tell you, you can't ever forget it because there's a time looking across that sideline, looking at Urban Meyer's team, such great athletes, so well coached. You felt like, This is our ballgame. We're going to win the SEC outright.

Boy, there was a time. Especially when Antoine Robinson intercepted the ball, the momentum switched. It got quiet. You could almost see on the other sideline there's a little bit of, even through their players or coaches, we got 'em now, got 'em on the ropes, just where we want them, and felt so good about it.

But, boy, when you turn it over, it didn't take but a couple of plays, the momentum switched back. And that's what sticks out. That's where our players are hungry. That's where they've tasted it. They tasted that championship game. They just about tasted victory. They want back in that ballgame with a chance to win it.

Q. You talk about you have 14 verbal commitments. What is your opinion on having an early signing period for college football?

COACH NUTT: You know, again, there's been a lot of discussion in that. I would want to know what time of month, what time of year you're talking about on early signing dates.

The only thing about early signing date, it draws everything out. It just extends recruiting. My brother can't coach today, and I think one of the reasons is because of recruiting, the intensity of it. After recruiting, after signing day, the regular coaches who hadn't had their skull opened up with brain surgery, they're exhausted. I'm exhausted.

So can you imagine what a guy with brain surgery, had his skull opened up, how tired he was? Carla said he'd come home and said he'd fall asleep immediately in the chair.

My question is, When? What I'm worried about is, okay, now you're going to have a visit in May. Now instead of just evaluations made, you're trying to see every play in May. To me it could open up to just about year round recruiting. That's what I'm scared about.

It's just about to that point now where parents are bringing players up for an unofficial visit, but it's an official visit. Why? You have to show them the weight room, where they're going to eat, where they're going to live, you have to sit down with them.

It's already pretty early. So I don't know where you're going to put that. It's tough.

Q. You mentioned earlier you thought Marcus Miles could set a receiving touchdown record for you this year. Could you talk about why you think that and talk about the strength of the SEC.

COACH NUTT: Is he at 17? Where is he at? Eight more touchdown passes, right.

He needs eight more. I'm glad Kevin is in the room. I don't know the numbers exactly. He needs eight more. And I feel that way because he's the best cover catcher I've ever seen. What I mean by that, when he's covered, at 6'6", he's not covered, he can go up understand a get it. He has great hands. He's faster than you think. He's been our go to guy. I just feel like in my heart with 12 games, he's going to get that record.

Q. You had a unique offense last year that really worked. How amazed were you it got so much criticism starting from one player and his mother?

COACH NUTT: I like that question right there (laughter). Me, too.

You know, this formation, what's amazing, we've ran this formation before, but we had the quarterback back there, so it wasn't that exciting.

Gus had used this formation a lot in his high school. But Danny had a great idea but moving Darren McFadden in that position at quarterback. And the reason was, he said, Hey, the guy you want there at the controls is Darren because Darren played this position in high school. He has ball skills. He can throw it. He can run it. He can hand it off. He can fake it. So he had those kind of ball skills.

It worked beautifully. We'll continue to use that. We've led the league in rushing four out of the last five years. The thing that everybody wants to see, everybody loves to see the pass. Hopefully we're going to get better at that.

But it's about what do your players do best, put them in the best position to win, and that's what we try to do.

Q. How have you and your staff changed the recruiting strategy in anticipation of the text message ban going into effect on August 1st?

COACH NUTT: That's a good question. I'm kind of excited about that. We'll really gang up in multiples of two, three. Our off day is Monday. So what we'll do is have a good study day on Monday, then Monday night what we'll do is we'll get in different rooms and we'll start getting on that phone with prospects, let the runningback coach talk to them, let the receiving coach talk to them, whatever position coach, besides the recruiting coach.

We'll try to really get involved with the family. We found out early in the week it's a little bit better, a little easier to get ahold of that young man earlier in the week than later in the week towards our ballgame. Really try to zero in. We always write cards and letters. We'll continue to do that, try to keep that relationship going.

It's full time. It's constant. It will be more by phone.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, coach.

Tailback Darren McFadden:

On the goal of winning the Championship this year:
"I will go out there and work really hard. I want to go out there and prepare really hard in practice to win. We lost a lot of offensive linemen this year and we have some new guys coming in to fill those spots. "

On being a Heisman candidate:
"It's something that motivates me. I know that I will have to come with my A-game when I'm out there and not slack around. I must come out for every game."

On the Arkansas offensive line:
"My offensive line was great last year. Half of the things that I did I could not have done without them and the supporting cast of my team. "

On the Wildcat offense:
"I think it's something people can look forward to. It's not just a trick play, it is part of our offense."

On changes for the new season:
"We will go out there and play like we have been doing. We will work hard, win football games, and make sure everyone is accountable for one and other."

On the off-season:
"It's something that didn't bother me. We knew what was going on inside the program. We were not listening to what was being said outside, it was something that was being looked right over. We were all sticking together and staying strong. We came to workouts everyday and worked out."

On his quarterback Casey Dick:
"Casey Dick is something we don't have to worry about. Casey is experienced and ready to play."

On who will win the SEC:
"Arkansas."

Linebacker Weston Dacus:

On the wild off-season so far:
"I think for the most part we tried to ignore everything that was going on. It did not really make sense for people to take stabs at Coach (Houston) Nutt. He went ten and four and is probably one of the best coaches in the country. The players did not really understand it. We are a family and Coach (Houston) Nutt is the rock of that family."

On lack respect after a great season last year:
"We have got a lot of talent on this team, and I think that the sky is the limit for us. We know that our coaching staff can take us to the top, and if we stick together as a team we can accomplish anything."

On head coach Houston Nutt:
"We know that he has got our back and we have got his. He is going to do anything for us. He is a great leader for our team by just showing the players how well he handled everything that went on."

On playing with Darren McFadden:
"He is a great running back. Probably one of the best I have played against in practice. He is going to hit the hole full-speed. He gets us in a lot of trouble with our defensive coordinator. It is just something special to play with him. We feel like we can go against anything practicing with a guy of his caliber."

On his team's expectations this year:
"The biggest thing we can do is come out strong. We have come out slow on defense the last couple of years. This year we have to come out on fire with Alabama being the second game."

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS--

COACH STEVE SPURRIER:

THE MODERATOR: We have South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier.

COACH SPURRIER: Nice to be here again. My 15th year. I know a bunch of you sportswriters still got me by a lot of years, but good to be here again. Looking forward to the coming season.

At South Carolina, first couple of years we felt like, with our team, our goal was to win more than we lose, and to win the Bowl game would be a pretty good year for us. We did that last year. We finished with three wins and won the Bowl game.

First year we lost the Bowl game, so we felt like, you know, that was a pretty decent year.

We've raised our goals this year. We're going to try to win the conference. We felt like we've really increased our talent level at South Carolina. We've added a lot of players that we think are at a pretty close level with Florida, Georgia and Tennessee.

Obviously you need to be at their level to win the conference. We lost some close games last year, didn't play our best maybe or didn't coach our best. But we feel like our talent level is good enough now we should say, Hey, let's go try to win our conference championship.

I know it will be a huge assignment, but I believe our players, our team, we need to come to the ballpark feeling like we're just as good as Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and that we can play with those guys to see what happens.

Don't know what's gonna happen, but that's gonna be our mindset going into the season, to see what happens. So we're looking forward to it. We think, again, our players, our talent level is up pretty close or maybe even even with some of those teams.

Okay, questions.

Q. When you went to Florida, there was a lot of talent on hand. You stepped right in and won. How hard has it been for you to be patient at South Carolina where you've had to build?

COACH SPURRIER: Yeah, you know, like I said, I think every year at Florida our goal was to win the SEC because we had a team that we certainly felt was capable. We didn't do it every year, but we were actually pretty close most every year.

I think some years we won it with maybe not the best talent. Maybe one year we didn't win it with maybe the best team. The best team doesn't always win the conference championship.

In fact, some people asked me about last year. LSU led the conference in almost every category: Offense, defense, everything just about, but they didn't play their best at Florida or at Auburn, and they didn't win their division, didn't win the conference.

You know, some breaks, some good play at the right time certainly determined the champion. But, again, going into our third year at South Carolina, we believe our talent level has improved enough that we can realistically tell our players, We got a chance, fellas. We're going to set a goal to do it. I know we're not gonna be picked and we shouldn't be picked, but we need to come to the ballpark of these other teams and believe we're just as good.

Q. When you've talked the last few years about changing the culture of winning in South Carolina. They've had a losing attitude, had low expectations for too long. How is that coming along with the fans, athletes and people that are involved in the program?

COACH SPURRIER: Well, I never said anything about changing the culture. That was Lou Holtz that said that. I said something about changing our attitudes. Attitude, that's my word (smiling). I guess it's about the same thing.

But, anyway, the attitude of everything at South Carolina, when you haven't won much, we won our fourth Bowl game in school history this year by the way, so we did that, but the history there is not all that super duper. '69, South Carolina won the ACC. That's the only championship in 110 years of football.

But what we need to do is understand that the object of a football season is to try to win your conference championship. I really believe that. I'm really sort of a coach that tries to win a championship, which in our situation is the conference. I don't really worry about the national that much. I don't know why coaches do, to tell you the truth, because that's really a longshot and a lot of things have to happen.

What we can control as coaches is trying to win our conference championship, all of us. So that's where we are right here. Just trying to get our fans in the mindset that, you know, don't applaud our guys when we lose close games. You don't have to boo us or anything, but we don't need to be patted on the back for close losses. That was one thing we went through last year that hopefully we don't have to go through again.

But our fans are super. I really believe the reason we had such a big recruiting class, even though we lost those close games at home to Tennessee, Arkansas and Auburn, the noise level was so great that recruits out there could see, hey, South Carolina is as big a big time atmosphere as all of these other SEC schools. I can go there and maybe play a little quicker. Looks like they need a few more ball players, and maybe be on the first SEC championship team ever. So that's I think really helped our recruiting.

Q. You lost two key players. Who do you feel will step up this year and bring the talent to the game to help you win?

COACH SPURRIER: Yeah, okay, Syvelle really helped us last year in about the middle of the year, coming in and playing the quarterback. His ability to scramble, make plays, improvise really helped us in a lot of games. I really brag on Syvelle every chance I get. Hopefully he'll get a chance in pro ball somewhere.

Sidney was a very good player for us. His leaving may have helped us sign five really I think outstanding potential wide receivers. We got a couple of players that look just like Sidney: 6'4", 6'5". Joe Hills from Palmetto, Florida. Jason Barnes from Charlotte, North Carolina. A couple of 6'1", 6'2" guys, Dion Lecorn and Matt Clements. The fastest of all the guys we signed, Chris Culliver, from Garner, North Carolina.

Hopefully a couple of those guys or three or whatever will really be ready to play this year.

Q. As someone with a unique perspective on all this, what would you tell LSU fans to expect when they play Alabama? Have you talked to Saban about what it was like for you going back to Florida?

COACH SPURRIER: No, I haven't done either of those. I don't really try to tell people what to do. I'm not very big on advice or anything like that. I just try to worry about what I can control.

And someone asked me about us going to LSU. I said, Oh, it will be tough, there's no question about that. The eastern division is a very, you know, good division. But the other side of it is that you don't have to go undefeated usually to win the division nowadays. You need to beat your division opponents.

If you lose outside the division, sometimes that doesn't necessarily mean the end of the year.

So, anyway, what was your question? Something about LSU, I don't know (laughter). I don't have an answer to all those LSU and Nick Saban. I'll let you ask those guys all those questions.

Q. Talk about Blake Mitchell, the value of a senior quarterback in the SEC.

COACH SPURRIER: Yeah. Blake is a fifth year senior quarterback. Started two years off and on. Hopefully his experience and his mental toughness is much, much better. I think he's ready to have a big year.

I probably bragged on him a little too much prior to last year. But looking back, realistically, our offensive line was not good at all the first couple of games. Mississippi State and Georgia. We felt like we needed to put Syvelle in there just to run around, to dodge the pass rush. That's what he did. He really helped us.

Blake's the kind of quarterback, we need a running game and we need pass protection. When those two things happen, he can be very productive. He was most valuable player in the Liberty Bowl: Four touchdown passes, 300 something yards, I'm not sure. So he's very capable. He's capable of taking us a long way.

Q. With Jasper and Cory here today, have you been pleased with the leadership you got from your older players, and do you think you will have better senior leadership?

COACH SPURRIER: Yeah, we have noticed our off season program this year, summer program, had been much better attended. Not perfect. But from what we hear from other players, most all the guys that have been there that we're counting on to play. There were a few freshmen, a few other guys missed maybe more than they should.

The players we were really counting on to be there pretty much have done much better than the first two years. So our commitment level from what we understand is much improved.

Jasper, again, stayed for his fifth year. He and Cory. Both of them could have been projected fourth, fifth round NFL picks and stayed. That's not always happened at South Carolina. Usually most those guys, if they can make a few bucks here and there, they take off as soon as they can.

But Cory and Jasper elected to stay their senior year, graduate hopefully, and hopefully help us have as big a year as we possibly can. So I really admire those guys for hanging with us another year.

Q. With what happened in the NBA last week with the referee, the gamblers or mob getting to him, is it ever a concern to you that sort of thing could happen in the SEC in football?

COACH SPURRIER: I've probably been accused of saying something like that a couple of times (smiling). But, yeah, we'll all have to be careful now of not saying, It appeared that guy had money on the game. You can't say that anymore. I don't know if I've ever said that before. There were a few games, not many. There's been a few lousily called games that deserved an investigation (smiling).

But that's why Commissioner Slive and Rogers Redding, that's their responsibility. I think because of what happened in the NBA, this will really heighten all the security and checking on guys' background all the time, what they're doing.

Referees really need to be scrutinized probably more so than us coaches are scrutinized. Anyway, hopefully it will be a good scare that will help every sport.

Q. Do you think you've gained some credibility with your players because you didn't come in the first year saying you were ready to win the conference championship, let's go do it, that you waited until you were ready to do it, and do you see them responding to that?

COACH SPURRIER: I don't know about the players. As a coach, I think you have to realistically set your goals. I think you have to look at your team, your talent level, give them something they can achieve. We tried to do that the first two years and have a go at it. We didn't achieve all of our goals, but we hit quite a few here and there.

Now that we believe our talent level is, like I said, pretty close to those top tier teams, we need to raise our goals. We need to believe we're just as good as those other guys.

That's where we are. What will happen, who knows. But our approach is right now that we can compete with these other teams. Now, to beat 'em, we got to play better, coach better, maybe get a break or two in those close games.

Obviously Florida played very well when the games were close. They had a bunch of close ones. That's pretty much how you win conference championships nowadays. I think Florida won, what, two one point games, us and Tennessee, some six pointers, seven. I'm not sure what all.

But to win a championship nowadays probably in our conference, the ability to win a close one is crucial.

Q. With the Internet today and technology like camera phones, are football coaches more paranoid than ever about stuff in practice getting out? Has it changed over the years?

COACH SPURRIER: Oh, it's definitely changed to where most all of us are closing practice. In fact, this year we're pretty much going to close practice. But we're going to open it up for some scrimmages at times so our fans can come watch practice. Normally, though, it's going to be closed, just like about everyone else is doing.

We believe it's important to have at least one or two a week where maybe the fans can come watch, those that want to. But it's important to close them up nowadays, yeah.

Q. A lot of talk lately about how tough the SEC has become. From your perspective, is it significantly tougher than it was when you were at Florida in the '90s? If so, how much of that has to do with the coaches in the league right now?

COACH SPURRIER: Yeah, I think it is a little tougher than back then. Seems like there was only maybe three, maybe four teams that had a chance to win the conference championship, whereas now there's at least six to maybe even seven or so. Who knows.

But with so many good teams, I mean, when you usually look in the top 10 defenses in the nation, there's five or six SEC teams in there. It shows the talent level in our conference is pretty doggone good. I think someone said at the NFL combine, there were 59 SEC guys, and the next conference with 34 or something like that I read.

So there's a lot more teams capable of winning the conference. A lot of good coaches. But we're usually only a pretty good coach if we've got a pretty good team.

Q. In your recruiting, how important is it for you to get guys giving you those verbal commitments in July, August, before the season starts? Then the guys that do commit to you early, had you does that affect your recruiting of them up until February?

COACH SPURRIER: Well, what's most important is the good ones that sign with you in February, as we know, 'cause sometimes early commitments do change their minds. But we 're sort of in between on early commitments. Sometimes we may actually keep talking to a player that made an early commitment until he just definitely says he's made up his mind that's where he wants to go. I'm sure they do the same thing if we get an early commitment.

I'm not sure. Sometimes a lot of these early commitment guys may not be the top players. Sometimes a lot of the real top players like to wait and check everybody out, meet the players, get to know the coaches, all this, that and the other.

But, anyway, I was against an early signing period. I'm glad we keep it in February. I think recruiting has turned more year round, though. It has turned into the April/May is maybe more important than it used to be. Everybody's recruiting hard in those months now. That's what we all do. I think it's fair for all.

Q. In your system, how long does it take usually for the light to go on for a quarterback? When do you feel like it really went on for Blake and stayed on?

COACH SPURRIER: Blake did play well the last part of the year, only had a few errant plays here and there. But probably when he came in against Arkansas, we put him in the second half just to see what would happen. He only really threw one bad ball the whole night, but that was all it took for us to be a loser 26 20 that game 'cause we didn't get the ball back after one interception.

But he threw the ball beautifully that night. Receivers caught it everywhere. From there on he seemed to play very well. My experience coaching quarterbacks, once you bench them, they come back a better player. Some coaches don't like benching them. But it was interesting watching Rex Grossman this year. Of course pull for Rex all the time.

But, anyway, the last year, the 2000 season that we won the SEC, actually benched him the Georgia game and also the South Carolina game, but then we'd bring him back. He'd be a lot better after you benched him a little bit and bring him back.

I'm hoping that's what's happened to Blake. A little time on the bench, maybe he could see the game a little bit better, understand, whatever. But hopefully he will really have a big year for us.

Q. The first off season leading into your first year at South Carolina, you had some players involved in some off field incidents. How do you go about getting the handle on that from last year to this year? Is that something you can get a handle on?

COACH SPURRIER: We still have a few that step out of line. My sort of philosophy on coaching is giving a second chance, those first year guys. But if they continue down the wrong road, then certainly we dismiss them.

But there's some acts that we don't tolerate, that they will definitely be gone, and our players know what they are.

So my philosophy on discipline is that you remove the guys from your team that can't follow the rules. I can't watch them every night and every day. Somebody thinks you ought to bring in all these mentors to talk to them every night. Their time they're busy year round. Football players are busy: Study halls, tutoring.

Well, anyway, at South Carolina they are. I don't know about all these other schools. But their time, academics, tutoring, study hall, all that, we can't watch 'em all the time. So they got to make a choice. The way to have good discipline, in my opinion, is you just remove those that don't choose to get with the program.

Q. On paper it looks like your offensive line is about where you were last year. What makes you believe that it's going to be any different this season?

COACH SPURRIER: Yeah, although our two tackles we think are ready to play, Justin Sorensen and Jamon Meredith. We think they're going to be pretty solid in there. Inside actually our two starting guards were a couple of walk on guys that didn't earn a scholarship till I got there in their fourth and fifth year, I guess, Thomas Coleman and Seth Edwards.

We got Seth from defense. He thought he was a defensive lineman, playing about fourth team. Finally got him over on offense and he became a starter.

Anyway, we think we've signed some players that can play. We think Kevin Young can play and we think Lemuel Jeanpierre who we took from defensive tackle, a big, strong, 300 pound kid that's smart and wants to do well. Lem has a great chance to be a very good left guard there.

We just think we've got some players that can play in there. But it is crucial that we get those guys playing together early and not wait till about the fifth, sixth game of the season like we sort of did last year.

Q. You talked a lot about talent today. There's so much energy expended talking about whether a guy is a four star or five star guy. Do you see recruiting as something a little bit more complicated with things that aren't necessarily measurable or quantifiable?

COACH SPURRIER: Oh, certainly, certainly. Some of those hot shot guys that you think are going to be really top players don't pan out. Our first recruiting class, I know we were doing some cartwheels around Columbia there. I think about half of them are probably still on the team out of 24, probably 12 or 13 is all that's left. A bunch of them quit, a bunch of them couldn't get with the program.

That's one good thing about college football, is that they do give us room for error. With 85 scholarships you got some room for guys that don't make it. Hopefully you don't get too many that don't make it, but there is some room for error.

Yeah, the ratings on those guys doesn't always mean a lot. You got to get 'em and train 'em and go from there. Of course, the attitude they come in with is just as important more important probably than their talent level.

Q. The NFL commissioner has gotten tough with off the field citizenship issues. Do you see that having any kind of impact or trickle down effect in college football?

COACH SPURRIER: Well, what's interesting about our sport is about every university and every coach has his own rules. Commissioner, he can sort of control us coaches a little bit if we get out of line, I guess, but he doesn't tell us class attendance policy or drug policy. Every university has a chance to do their own thing on those kind of issues when a guy gets in trouble.

Obviously I think all coaches much, much more strongly react when something goes bad now. You know, hopefully it won't be as much as in the past. But, again, my way is remove those guys from the team. Can't baby sit them all the time. One of our media boys asked me the other day, Do you let your guys go down to Five Points? Five Points is a college bar they go down to downtown.

I said, No, they got to learn how to go out in public without getting in trouble. If they can't, they need to go play for one of these other schools or something. Send 'em on down the road (smiling). No, you got to learn to, you know, mix with everybody. You don't need to be sheltered and all that. That's just my opinion.

Q. How have you and your staff changed your strategy with the text messaging ban going into effect August 1st?

COACH SPURRIER: I guess we'll quit text messaging on August 1st. That won't change much what we do. Do what everybody else does. Send out all the letters, this, that, the other. Wait, make our calls, and when it's appropriate text. Which is about what everybody else does.

Q. I know it's not one of your players, but given your background with quarterbacks, can you talk about what you see out of Andre' Woodson?

COACH SPURRIER: Yeah, again, I don't like to talk too much about the other teams' players. He's obviously a good player. I really admire what Kentucky, their team did last year. Go 8 5, win the Bowl game. We thought we did something big beating Clemson, then Kentucky beat them also.

Anyway, Clemson was a pretty good team. They were a good team (smiling). At one point in the year they were a dang good team. I don't know exactly what all happened to them, but they didn't finish very well.

I like Rich Brooks, Kentucky. I really admire what they did and so forth. Quarterback's a good player. Their whole team did a lot of good things last year. I'm not into rating or judging other teams' players all that much. They're all good.

Q. Houston Nutt had a highly publicized off season with adversity. Have you ever had anything close to what he encountered these past several months?

COACH SPURRIER: Let's see. Let's see. I think the only time I had a little bad stuff is when we lost our last three games at Florida in, let's see, what year was that, '99. '99, wasn't it? Yeah. I think his problems stem from losing his last three games. We're only as good as our last game.

South Carolina, we won our last three somehow, so we had a good off season. It really helped recruiting, helped everything. Fans are positive. They're giving money like they've never given before I think (smiling). So life's pretty good when you win your last few. When you lose those last few, then all the problems come in.

So I think that was probably what, in my opinion, happened in Arkansas, is they just happened to lose those last three. They had a big year going and it just didn't work out there at the end.

Q. What does it mean to be committed at Carolina? Has it changed in the last 10 years? Does it mean different things for different kids when they verbally commit to y'all?

COACH SPURRIER: Verbal commitments, most of the young men really mean it, I think so. Then a few think, well, if I commit early and get hurt I have one to fall back on, if I get hurt playing high school football during the season. Who's to say what's right or wrong.

But generally, you know, most of high school kids keep their commitments. Some change and some should change, really, because times change. I always relate to it like if you got a girlfriend in the summer before your senior year, in February of the coming year she may not still be your girlfriend. It's like schools. You know, sometimes they look pretty to you, then six months later they don't look so good.

I think they all should sort of change, wait, make their commitments sort of after the season. But that's not the way they do it. But some really know what they want to do. If they firmly know where they're going, that's good. I think it's good to do it that way.

Q. Could you briefly comment on Chris Smelley, how you think he may fit into the future of your program?

COACH SPURRIER: Chris is doing well. Chris right now is your backup to Blake. I hope he's had a real good summer working out, throwing the ball. I haven't seen him throw a ball since last spring. He needs to, you know, improve his passing a little bit here, there, the other, learn our offense.

But physically he certainly is capable of being an outstanding quarterback, so I'm anxious to see how much he's improved through the summer. Players can really improve through the summer if they're dedicated and make a commitment to work on the things they need to work on. I'm anxious to see what he looks like the night of August the 4th. We'll go out and throw the ball around a little bit.

Q. What do you think of Commissioner Slive's edict four years ago to get all the teams off probation within five years? Now that it's close, the fact it might happen.

COACH SPURRIER: All the teams off probation?

Q. Yes.

COACH SPURRIER: Well, I think Commissioner Slive is super. Commissioner Kramer was certainly an innovative commissioner, to get the championship games going in our conference, so forth. I tell everybody, if you get to that game, that's the biggest game of the year.

If you're lucky to get to the national championship game, that's another big game obviously. But for starting the season, that to me should be our biggest game, every conference team, is the SEC conference championship game.

Commissioner Slive, he knows what he's doing. Television money I think is at an all time high for SEC. I think South Carolina, we got the most money of anybody 'cause I think we played a couple of Thursday night games last year.

Commissioner Slive's done a super job. He's one of the best, no question about it.

Q. Talking about the Thursday night games last year, you play Kentucky this year. Can you talk about the advantages you see in playing Thursday night games?

COACH SPURRIER: Well, certainly when I was first hired at South Carolina, Dave Brown, ESPN, said, We'll put you on Thursday night, open the season, if you'll do some during the year also. I said, Sure, that's a good trade off for the University of South Carolina, open college football the last two years on Thursday night.

We're not doing it this year. I think LSU and Mississippi State has it this year. But the following year I think we're scheduled to open.

He wanted us to do some during the season. I think we had the Auburn game last year, Mississippi State early. But that was opening season, then we got Kentucky this year. Yeah, everybody's watching. It's a night that you get the whole country to watch you.

There's advantages if you play well and win. If you don't play very well and lose, I guess it's not real good. But we've been very competitive. I think our Auburn game last year went down to the wire. So obviously TV guys love those good close ones.

It's been very good for us to play Thursday night. We're going to continue I think playing one a year at least.

Q. You mentioned that you were trying to raise expectations, convince them they could play with everybody, make a run at the conference championship. You're going to get tested early with games on the road at Georgia and LSU. Does it change your preparation for a season having two games like that at the beginning? Would you rather sort of ease your way in?

COACH SPURRIER: It really doesn't matter that much. At Florida we played Tennessee about second game every year it seemed like. What's fair's for one is fair for the other. Hopefully your team's really ready to play early. The good teams obviously get better as the season progresses. The bad ones usually go downhill. Hopefully we'll get better as the season goes. That's how you have a big year, is to continue to improve.

But, again, like I said earlier, we need to get our offensive line straight before that Georgia game and go from there. Yeah, those are two big road games. Actually we played a little bit better on the road than we did at home last year. As far as wins and losses we were 5 1 on the road and 3 4 at home. But we had more of the top SEC teams at home last year.

Q. You're 62 now. How much longer do you reckon you'll coach?

COACH SPURRIER: I read something the other day that yesterday's 60 is today's 40, if you're a workout person and eat correctly, all that kind of stuff. So I've always figured on at least five more years, five to seven. I got a seven year contract, I think. I think I'm the last coach calling the plays.