IRVING, TX (Via ESPN+) — From insightful to informative and humorous to profound, here are selected comments from all 14 American Athletic Conference football coaches who took their turns at the podium at the league’s media day Tuesday:
Brian Newberry, Navy (which doesn’t redshirt, take transfers or allow NIL compensation) … “Our players will graduate with the class they entered the academy with. Their NIL is after graduation.”
Stan Drayton, Temple … “Go Owls. Make that, Go Temple Owls. There are a lot of Owls around here.” (New AAC members Florida Atlantic and Rice are also Owls).
Biff Poggi, Charlotte (picked 14th among 14 teams in the AAC preseason poll) … “Three questions? That’s it? Maybe it’s because you picked us last. We get that message.”
Ryan Silverfield, Memphis (picked fourth in AAC preseason poll) … “We know Tulane was picked seventh last year. A lot of the predictions are based on who is back from last year, but rosters are changed 30 to 45 percent from last year.”
Tom Herman, Florida Atlantic … “Players and coaches win games. Administrations win championships. … I tell our players when we recruit, we’re trying to find a player better than you. It’s your job to make sure we can’t find a player better than you.”
Trent Dilfer, Alabama-Birmingham … “I care about what our tribe thinks, but I don’t care about what people think about me. … I haven’t been a graduate assistant … a position coach … I haven’t had my own room, … but I’m here. … I talk more so I get less questions. Experienced media guy here.” (Dilfer was quarterback for Baltimore when the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2000. He has been an ESPN analyst. He was head coach at Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, TN, before being hired at UAB on Nov. 30)
Mike Houston, East Carolina … As me and our staff start year five at East Carolina, we’re really pleased with where the program is right now. Excited about this group this fall. Excited about the dedication and commitment they’ve shown this offseason. (ECU is coming off an 8-5 season that included a 53-29 Birmingham Bowl win over Coastal Carolina)
Jeff Taylor, Texas-San Antonio … “We could have been 14-0 last year, but we also could have been 4-10. … We’ve won some miraculous ball games the last few years. ” (The Roadrunners were 11-3 in 2022.)
Alex Golesh, South Florida … “We’re building a new football facility, which we will play in in 2026. That’s a huge commitment. (The Bulls have played at Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers) … Confidence comes through work and that will give us a shot.”
Willie Fritz, Tulane … “Preseason No. 1 doesn’t mean much as far as your preparation. … You can’t look back at past successes and failures. … A lot of bad things happened two years ago. A lot of good things happened last year.”
Kevin Wilson, Tulsa …”No hazing. We don’t shave heads. They’re freshmen. They’ll eat last. They’ll be the last guys to get jersey numbers. We don’t anoint them. They’re going to earn. We have a thing called meritocracy. You’ll earn and get certain things. No disrespect to the media — I don’t like freshmen talking to the media until they play.”
Mike Bloomgren, Rice … “Excited to be bringing this team into the American Athletic Conference. Lot of excitement about that. … We have better skill players than we’ve had. We should be fun to watch.”
Eric Morris, North Texas …. “My mentor, Mike Leach, said the opening statement was so overrated. I don’t think he ever gave one, so I’ll be brief.”
Rhett Lashlee, Southern Methodist … I could make the argument that our league is going to be deeper than it’s been before. We’ve got our champion back. What Willie and Tulane have done is fantastic. They deserve a lot of credit. We’ve got a lot of really good teams in this league. We’ve got a lot of good teams coming in.”
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