Aug. 26, 2002
On opening the season against Northern Arizona:
"They do a lot of everything (on offense). They are very similar to us in
the sense that they are multiple. What I will expect is that they will take
some of the best things people did last year that they saw on film and try
to use those against us."
"They came down here a couple of years ago and spent an extensive amount of
time studying this defense, and they play it in its purest form. We will
see the double-eagle flex on both sides of the ball with exactly the same
lineups. They are making the same kinds of transitions that we have been
talking about making. They will have a good idea about what to do and how
to attack us, but I think that we will have a good idea as well."
On the most improved players since spring:
"Lance Relford has kind of been behind the scenes. He is our most flexible
(receiver), and I really have been impressed and pleased with the way Lance
has come on. Chris Johnson might be the No. 1 improvement on the offense.
He always thought he was a guard, but I told him that he is a tackle. His
arms are so long that he is a natural pass protector. If I were to pick one
guy on defense, Ray Wells has shown as much improvement."
On the defensive line:
"Those guys have really come along. This is the most depth and the most
size we've had up front. Carlos Williams is the guy who can do the most
things of anybody. Carl (Tuitavuki) is going to have to play himself into
the kind of playing shape because he came in and wasn't ready for this
level. But, I think he will be able to do that since we don't have to play
him all of the time."
On special teams personnel:
"I would expect that Sean Keel would handle our PAT/field goal work, but
Bobby Gill has been closer to him in practice than he was last year at this
time. I'm not against giving him (Gill) the opportunity to kick as well if
the opportunity presents itself. We are not necessarily having a
competition for the sake of competition."
"On the other side, I think the competition at punter is very interesting.
Ramey Peru came back to school and has not given up the fight to a young
freshman who has been very impressive to people who have watched. Ramey has
improved his hang time and distances, and he has battled to get his
opportunities to handle that job as well. That will be more of a game-time
decision, but I do expect that both Danny Baugher and Ramey Peru will be
available to punt for us."
"Bobby Wade is going to be back for kickoffs and punts this year though not
necessarily handling kickoffs all of the time. I want Gainus Scott and Mike
Bell to be back there on the kick returns because I think both players can
be explosive return men, and we are looking for more big plays from a year
ago in those return units. No one is a lock at the start. Gary Love is
likely to start there first, but gradually, I want to move Gainus and Mike
in there to get more opportunities."
"We have extended our daily practice schedule for special teams every day
this week in order for us to be ready at the beginning of the season. The
biggest thing is to prevent teams from making the big play against us."
On Arizona's rookies/redshirt freshmen:
"I think that some of those young guys we brought in last year who did not
play will show quickly that they are good players. We have a number of
players who are rookies this year who also will get a chance to play. The
excitement level now is so different. Now that we have moved into game
week, there is a much different walk and talk from everybody."
On Arizona's game-week attitude:
"We are far more comfortable about what to expect from each other this
year. We've been able to move along. The players will have their noses to
the grindstone all week, and I'll be grinding the wheel. We will get ready
to play. We are going to go out and prepare to play the very best that we
can each week. No one will take anything for granted."
On the status of Bobby Wade, Andre Torrey and Javier Martinez:
"When I reviewed the cases of a couple of our young men during the summer
and the implications to them and to our team, I took a couple of things
into consideration. First of all, I don't believe after talking with them
that they were out looking for trouble. In both cases, someone else was
involved and they became involved because someone else was involved. We
have good, young people on our team. I tried to look at what I feel is the
right thing to do. I have not talked to any attorneys, but basically, I am
in a position where I have to be both judge and jury, so to speak. I talked
with these three guys yesterday, and I have thought about it a great deal,
and I am hopeful that through this we can get a learning experience, and
that we can get something positive out of this and something meaningful.
"I am not going to suspend any of the three players for any games. They
will be penalized and disciplined on some other issues, and I have
volunteered them to help build a home for the 'Habitat for Humanity' on
Sept. 11. They will pull a shift on that particular day. One, I think it's
an opportunity for them to be in the community and show that we do in fact
have good, young people on our team. Secondly, it reinforces our commitment
to our community. Third, it reinforces to our team that if we put a side
forward that is not as complimentary as we would like, we have to work hard
to earn that back within the community."
