OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS MEDIA DAY

OKLAHOMA STATE HEAD COACH MIKE GUNDY QUOTES
Opening Comments: “Obviously we’re very excited to be here. We had a great evening last night, an opportunity for the players and coaches and families and children, everybody that’s a part of our football program at Oklahoma State, to experience this new stadium. It was somewhat eye-opening for everybody. I know myself, I was very excited to see it. And even everything you hear about how amazing it is, it’s still mind-boggling when you get in here and you see that video [screen] and get a feel for the arena. Just now, walking through here, to think that you walk out of the locker room and through a seating/sports bar area to play a game of football is pretty amazing in itself.

“I just want to thank the Cotton Bowl, the committee and AT&T’s sponsorship, and everybody, the hospitality has been tremendous. Obviously, the hotel and everything involved for our team and for our families has been awesome. We’re just looking forward to a great week of preparation.”

On reaction to Urban Meyer’s announcement: “That one caught me off guard. First, I’d like to see that I think we’re all somewhat saddened that he is stepping down. I’m not going to speak for him, I don’t know enough about it. I think he’s been great for college football. I had an opportunity to go out and visit Coach Meyer and his staff when he was at Utah a number of years ago. Coach Meyer had an opportunity to sit in his office and visit for 45 minutes. I really enjoyed that. You know, I don’t know how to answer that. I enjoy what I do. I love being around the players. I get a kick out of seeing young men develop over a four or five year period and graduate from college and go out there in the real world and have success. I’ve said that from day one. I would say that I’m probably no different from most coaches at this level, that if you still enjoy coming to work and putting in the hours and being around the young people, and look forward to getting up every day and doing that, then I think you stay with it and continue to coach. I don’t pretend to say that there’s not a lot of stress and pressure involved in this job. I think it’s that way all across the country. I think it’s all in the way you handle it, in my opinion. If you work hard, the team works hard, and in our opinion doing things the right way, then you push forward and you have an opportunity to spend a week here and play in one of the greatest bowl games ever. That makes it all worthwhile. It’s really hard to answer the question. I’ve said that Oklahoma State has always been very special to Kristen and I, and thankful for the opportunities that we’ve had here, and enjoy it every day. We will continue to do it until the time that you get up and think this job has either become too much or it’s not any fun. But for now it’s been a lot of fun for me and my family and we look forward to everything.”

On relationship with Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt, who was an assistant at OSU when Gundy was a player there: “Obviously Coach Nutt was a wide receivers coach, but we were involved every day in practice, quarterbacks and wide receivers. I’ve always enjoyed him as a person and his enthusiasm and I think that led to us continuing to follow his career and he’s had some success. I think that there’s some similarities in our background. I had mentioned this in the Cotton Bowl press conference a few weeks ago that our background with Coach [Pat] Jones goes all the way back to Coach Johnson, Jimmy Johnson. Our style of play, I’m guessing they take a lot of pride in running the ball and playing tough defense and being good on special teams and that’s kind of the path we’ve taken at Oklahoma State the past few years. They’ve done a great job and he’s had a lot of success. We’re looking forward to the game on Saturday and competing.”

On co-offensive coordinator Gunter Brewer’s potential to be a head coach: “I think he obviously has a good bloodline. His father was very successful in this profession. I think that gives you a head start. Coaches that have had a father or close family member in this profession gives you an advantage in dealing with everything involved. He’s got great work habits. He’s got good people skills. I don’t there’s any question at some point in his career he’ll have that opportunity. When that will be, you never know. They’re hard to come by. I think there’s only 117 of them out there at this level. When you have that opportunity you’ve got to be ready. He’s worked hard and is getting close to that, in our opinion. At some point he’ll have that chance.”

On QB Zac Robinson: “Zac’s been tremendous for us as a leader. I’ve said this a number of times, I don’t think people gave him enough credit for being the quarterback and coming back with as many weapons as he’s had over the last few years. We’ve had a couple of unfortunate incidents and he lost some of those guys. When you look out there and you have new faces, you have to push through it and learn to develop a feel for those guys in order to move the football. He’s had to learn on the run with some new guys because of the situations that have happened. We’ve been very impressed with his ability to stay focused and continue to work hard and move the offense with some of the players not being there that he expected to be there.”

On OL Russell Okung: “Russell’s a very unique individual in that he’s started for four years in this league and all on the offensive line, and has developed into one of the premier tackles in the country. I’ve said at times that his off-the-field has been just as impressive. He’s graduated from college. He’s been a great leader for us. Coach [Joe] Wickline has done a great job of bringing him along. Some player-coach relationships just mesh and they really blossom. Russell and Coach Wickline have had that relationship. It’s been tremendous for our team, it’s been tremendous for our offensive line, and I think it’s really helped to develop the young linemen in our program that are coming along to be able to look at Russell and see not only what he’s done on the field but off the field, in the weight room, his social skills, character, which plays a big role. He’s going to have a great career and Russell’s going to play for a long time.”

Responding to adversity: “I think the attitude and the want-to of teams in bowl games is very important. These guys have enjoyed being around each other for a couple of weeks. I said several weeks ago that I thought it was important to give them a couple of weeks off. For the first time ever we gave our players a couple of weeks off and now, looking back, I think that was the right thing to do. Because they have prepared well, they’re attitude’s good and they’re looking forward to the game. We still have a week of preparation. There’s a lot of excitement and festivities that go along with the Cotton Bowl. But it’s important that the players stay focused out here for two hours today. We’re getting ready to play a good football team. Their demeanor’s been good, our leadership’s been good, so we expect them to prepare well and play a good football game on Saturday.”

Responding to Dez Bryant situation: “We could go on about the Dez Bryant situation forever. Our players are educated year-round in circumstances that could put them in a situation that wouldn’t allow them to continue to compete at this level. We continuously try to bring them along and make them aware of those circumstances. There’s some limits to what we can say when it comes to the NCAA, comments that we can make, by being a member and playing by their rules.  I would only say that it was an unfortunate situation what happened to Dez, and I think not only the players on our football team but everybody else in the country learned a good lesson in that [you] try to make sure you’re in the right place at the right time and try to surround yourself with the right people.

“Dez has been around. He’s been in Stillwater. He was at our end of the year banquet. He still has a relationship with our coaches and players. I think what people have to remember is that this wasn’t a situation with Dez Bryant and Oklahoma State. This was an outside person and Dez Bryant, and then an issue with the NCAA. The friends and relationships that Dez has developed over the years, I don’t see that changing. He’s been around Stillwater, we’ve seen him some. He could very well be there next semester, working out and preparing for the draft.”

On Ole Miss WR Dexter McCluster: “Our defense has said great things about him, and obviously some of the tape that I’ve watched he’s been very impressive. He’s got great speed and a great ability to make you miss. There’s concerns there, there’s no question. He’s very, very talented.  Our guys are looking forward to the challenge of corralling him.”

On DB Perrish Cox: “Perrish has been very good for us. Perrish has developed and matured as a young man and a football player just in the last six or eight, 12 months. I think he’s got a bright future past college football. We were very, very glad that he chose Oklahoma State and he’s a part of this class that has been very special to us. They’ve accomplished a lot and kind of paved the way for younger players.”

On the addition of defensive coordinator Bill Young: “I don’t think there’s any question we’ve improved. He’s developed a great relationship with the coaches that are on our staff. The players believe in the schemes, I think they believe in his ability to come up with plans to slow offenses down. I think he’s a great teacher. He’s been able to get the players to play at a level higher than they were accustomed to. Coaching is taking young men and taking them somewhere that they can’t take themselves. He does a good job of that.

“I know that he’s really helped me in the staff room. Obviously he’s got a lot of years of experience, has been around a lot of teams, won a lot of games. He’s got knowledge and expertise in areas that really helps me as a head coach. I don’t think there’s any question he’s been a great addition to our staff.”

Has QB Zac Robinson been taken for granted? “I think there’s some truth to that. When you perform at a high level early in your career, and Zac’s going into his 35th or 36th start, I think it’s like anything else. People expect you to play at a very, very high level every game. Sometimes young men can perform at a high level, sometimes they don’t play as well. There’s maybe outside circumstances, maybe the other team, several things contribute to that. He’s been very durable for us. To play at this level and play the type of opponents that we’ve played and to have 35, 36 starts or however many it’s been, it’s hard to replace guys like that. To answer your question, at times, people take him for granted, yes they do. But I don’t think anybody in our program does. When you have a guy that has as much experience as he has, and has done as much as he has, we certainly don’t take him for granted.”

On OSU’s approach to practice for the game: “We have implemented time during practice to get some young players some work. We are still spending the majority of the time in preparation for Ole Miss. I don’t think there’s any question that coaches take advantage of bowl practices to get a sneak peek and get a feel for what’s coming up next year, because you have enough time. You have a month to prepare. There’s only so many reps the starters can get during a practice period in order to prepare for a game, so you use some of the other time for the younger players. You see where they’re at and get them re-acquainted with the offensive and defensive and special team systems because most of them have been on the demonstration team for a year.”

OKLAHOMA STATE PLAYER QUOTES

QB ZAC ROBINSON
On dealing with injuries: “Almost every week there was a new guy going down. It was like, OK, who’s not going to be able to play this week? I think our offense is a mature group and each week guys have stepped up … We got a couple of weeks off before practicing [for the bowl]. I’ve rehabbed both injuries (ankle, shoulder) a lot. I feel pretty good right now.

WR HUBERT ANYIAM
From nearby Garland, Texas: “I didn’t get to play at Texas Stadium, but we get to play here [Cowboys Stadium]. This is better than Texas Stadium.

On practicing against DB Perrish Cox: “I work against him a lot. He helps me out a lot on the offensive end. His draft stock has gone up this year, and us [wide receivers] practicing against him made us better.”

OL RUSSELL OKUNG
“We didn’t finish the regular season the way we wanted to, but we have a great opportunity to finish on a strong note. We’ve got a chance to get 10 wins and it would be a great way to finish the season.

On Cowboys Stadium: “I don’t feel like I’m on a football field.  Jerry Jones did a great job. It’s an amazing stadium. My neck’s hurting from looking up there [at the giant video screen].”

DB PERRISH COX
On Ole Miss QB Jevan Snead: “He’s smart. Jevan Snead actually was my roommate in the U.S. Army All-American game, so I’ve kind of got a good relationship with him. I asked him to throw me a couple [of interceptions] but I don’t know if that’s going to work out.”

On being from Waco, Texas: “My hometown is about an hour away from here. We’re right at home. It’s perfect for us.”

On covering Ole Miss WR Dexter McCluster: “A guy his size (5’-8”, 165 lbs.), you don’t want to let him get outside, with his speed. You want to try to contain him and keep him to the inside.”