Aug. 8, 2009

Click here to watch Coach Toledo's press conference

Click here to watch a behind the scenes look at Tulane's 2009 media day

Click below to listen to Coach Toledo's press conference

NEW ORLEANS -The Tulane football team took time away from meetings and practice this morning to take pictures and answer questions from local and state members of the media during the team's annual media day festivities at the James W. Wilson Jr., Center.

The Green Wave posed for the team photo to begin the morning and then took turns doing interviews with a pair of radio stations that broadcast the event live from the Wilson Center. Finally, Tulane head coach Bob Toledo gave a 25-minute state-of-the-team address and then joined offensive coordinator Dan Dodd and defensive coordinator Steve Stanard, along with a handful of players, in a 45-minute question-answer session to conclude the day.

Below is a complete transcript from press day.

2009 Tulane Football Media Day
Saturday, August 8, 2009

Tulane head coach Bob Toledo:
OPENING STATEMENT

"It's great to be here and I want to welcome you as well. We're looking forward to getting the season started. We're really anxious to get on the field, start to practice with the pads on and start the season.

"Before I get going too far down the road here, I want to introduce the staff:

"Let me start with our offensive coordinator, quarterback coach and assistant head coach Dan Dodd. He's going to call the plays this year. I'm going to relieve myself of that duty. If he doesn't score enough touchdowns, his phone number is 378 (begins laughing).

"Our running back coach, who also handles the All-Americans, is Greg Davis, Jr. Any time a guy is an All-American, he's a running back. This year, he also has a kicker. He's been here for 10 years and does a great job for us.

"Our offensive line coach is Mark Hudson. He's excited about the group he's got right now. He does a super job and he's been with me since I've been here.

"My tight end coach and recruiting coordinator has done an outstanding job. He's done a fantastic job not just recruiting last year's football team or the last couple of years but also with the upcoming class. He's really given us some direction and leadership, and he's worked very hard. That's Doug Lichtenberger.

"Another coach back there is our receivers coach. He's got all the players this year and has a great player in Jeremy Williams. He's been with me from the beginning as well, does a great job recruiting and handles our camps during the summer which has really been instrumental in recruiting. That's Thomas "TD" Woods.

"Our offensive graduate assistant has been with us for the last two years. He does a nice job of doing the work behind the scenes so to speak and has done a good job with the scout team. That's Tim Keane.

"Defensively, I've hired a new defensive coordinator. I've known him for a while. He played at Nebraska for Tom Osborne. He was at New Mexico State where he and Dan ran into each other a few times. He was at Colorado State when Dan and I beat him up in Fort Collins that one year. He's done a super job. He was at Miami-Ohio with Frank Solich a year ago and I hired him as our coordinator. He's an excellent football coach. That's Steve Stanard and he's the new guy in town.

"The next guy I'd like to introduce is our defensive line coach. He's done a nice job of recruiting. He's a graduate from here and has three seniors that are pretty good players. That's Grant Higgison.

"Our defensive safety coach has moved around a little bit so he's getting more experience as we go. He's coached the defense. He's coached the linebackers, the safeties and those kinds of things. He also handles our kickoff team and he was an All-American down the road and we're glad to have him with us now - Greg Jackson.

"Our corner coach, who also handles punt return, is pretty well-known in the state of Louisiana. He does a nice job of recruiting and he's been with us for a year - going on his second year - Jason Rollins.

"Another guy I want to introduce is a graduate assistant that is new with us this year, Joel Brighton.

"That's it for coaches, but I want to introduce our new director of football operations. I had Tony Kinkela with me my first two years, but he got a job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So this guy was with Dan and myself down in New Mexico. He played football at Drake. His brother was the men's basketball coach at Nevada-Reno and is now the head coach at Georgia. He's handling our football operations, that's David Fox.

"The last guy I want to introduce is a guy that has really been instrumental in the last year. He's been here for several years, but he's now our football strength and conditioning coach. He's done a fantastic job during the offseason and the summer. He works not only with me but also Dave Dickerson and basketball. That's Derick Atchley."

ON THE TEAM'S PERMANENT CAPTAINS
"Two days ago, we had our offensive and defensive returners - not the freshmen - pick the captains. Our two season captains will be senior running back André Anderson for the offense and senior linebacker David Kirksey for the defense. What I'll do each week is I will select two more game captains. The most you can have in the NCAA is four, so we'll have two game captains each week along with our seasonal captains."

ON SOME ADDITIONAL SCHOLARSHIPS
"I have two walk-ons that I gave scholarships to. One is a senior, Adam Podet. He's a linebacker from Texas. I didn't recognize about him yesterday because he had hair down to hear (points to his shoulders) and he got it cut off. He's going to be a doctor, real polite guy and did the Locks of Love thing. He cut his pony tail. Most people sell it, but he donated it for young kids. HE's an interesting guy. He's done research on Ritalin and actually went to Washington and spoke with the president about it. He's a bright buy. The other guy that I gave a scholarship to is Charles Gaspard, a wide receiver. He's actually from here in Louisiana. He's a junior and has worked extremely hard. HE's done a great job, not just on the field but in the community."

ON TRANSFER LINEBACKER Trent Mackey
"We have a transfer. I think a lot of people knew about it, but we couldn't announce it until he was actually here and we got started. It's a young man who we actually recruited a year ago, but he went to Duke. I didn't know if he was going to play basketball or football, but he's a heck of a linebacker. He'll have to sit out this year, but I believe he'll really help us next season, Trent Mackey - a linebacker from Louisiana."

ON THE FIRST TWO DAYS OF PRACTICE
"Offensively, we've really gotten off to a good start. Defensively, we have as well. With the two practices that we've had in helmets, there's a lot of carry-over, there's continuity, there's consistency. Offensively, we've been doing the same thing for three years. Steve has brought in a little bit different of a defense, but he's been gracious enough to try to use the same nomenclature. Plays are plays and defenses are defenses, but everyone calls them something different. So he's adjusted to our terminology and has incorporated his scheme. The kids have picked up on it. We'll go in shoulder pads and helmets the next two days, and then on Monday, we'll put on full gear and get after it. We've seen a lot of good things that we like already and we're really looking forward to this season."

ON THE OVERALL CONDITION OF THE TEAM IN 2009
"Derick Atchley, who I introduced you to a little while ago, has really done a fantastic job all throughout the offseason and the summer. We're a bigger team, we're stronger, we're faster, we're in a lot better shape. We still have some guys who are not in great shape that first day, but that's primarily because they were not here during the summer. But it's the best group I've had since I've been here these last three years."

ON THE OVERALL ATTITUDE OF HIS TEAM FOLLOWING LAST YEAR'S 2-10 SHOWING
"Right now, there is a great attitude out there. When you lose 10 games and you lose your last eight, you would think the attitude wouldn't be very good. We've got a great attitude. We've got very good senior leadership. The kids have worked hard. They're a little upset about people telling them they're going to come in last place. Hopefully, we can use that as motivate.

"The one thing about played a bunch of young guys the last year or two is that there is a lot of competition right now. We feel very good about the group of players we have out there. We brought in a really good freshman class. We're a lot bigger and stronger than we've been. Derick said it's the strongest freshman class we've had and they're a lot faster. We've got some speed at wide receiver and defensive back and that's something we were really looking for."

ON THE KEY TO THE TEAM'S HIGH CONDITIONING LEVEL
"Summer strength and conditioning was the key. Our upperclassmen kind of took charge of the underclassmen. They had them out there running plays in seven-on-seven. They actually brought them up to watch video on their own and that sort of thing. The coaches weren't here. They can't be here. We were on vacation. I tell you, they did a great job of taking leadership and taking it to another level."

ON HIS OVERALL THOUGHTS ON HIS 2009 CLUB
"I believe that we are going to be a much more competitive football team than people give us credit for. Again, we've got to go do it on the field now, but I feel good about the direction we're going and what we've done. We played a lot of young people last year. Unfortunately, we had 17 season-ending injuries last year. I've been coach for 40 years and I've never had 17 season-ending injuries. When you lose guys like André Anderson and Jeremy Williams, who are key players, it hurts you even more so. We just didn't have the quality back-up depth to replace those people. We were a shell of a football team the last few weeks of the season. I honestly believe that we are a better football team right now. We've got more quality depth. We've got some really good football players. Hopefully, we can gel, put it together and win some games."

ON INJURIES TO THE TEAM
"I've going to answer some questions in a while, but I've got some other things I want to tell you. I want to get it out, get it over with and get on with it. We've got a few players who are injured right now who we are going to miss for a while. Logan Kelley was playing softball a few days before we started camp, twisted his left knee and he's going to be out about two weeks. We're projecting him to be our staring left defensive end. Tony Bryant was playing basketball in the Reily Center a couple of weeks ago and dislocated his ankle. He's one of our defensive tackles and he's going to be out four to six weeks. And one of our true freshmen who we think is going to be an excellent football player - he's very strong, very fast, very athletic and is a real leader who helped bring in this freshman class - Wilson Van Hooser has a left shin that has a little bit of a stress fracture. He's in a boot and probably won't do anything for two or three weeks."

ON IF THE TEAM LOST ANYONE DUE TO ACADEMIC ISSUES
"We also have a couple of academic casualties. I want to get that out of the way too. Ian Harson is no longer with us and Nate Austin is no longer with us. We have several players who are still going to summer school and I believe they are alright, so hopefully we won't have any more academic casualties. Those two were true freshmen for us last year that played for us last year who are no longer in our program."

ON THE TOPIC OF PLAYER SUSPENSIONS
"I hate to say it, but I have to say it and get it out of the way so it won't be a distraction when we get closer to the season. We had to suspend three players for the first two games for athletic department policy (issues). So we have three guys who won't be with us the first couple of weeks. One is Reggie Scott, a man we brought back for a sixth year to play defensive tackle and end. Another one is one of our starting safeties, Corey Sonnier. And the other is a redshirt-freshman defensive tackle, Rich Bell. That's out. I wanted to get it out of the way and I don't want to dwell on it in the future."

ON THE ATTITUDE OF THE TEAM ENTERING TRAINING CAMP
You never know what their attitude is going to be until they get here. I believe that the off-season program - Derrick Atchley, our strength and conditioning coach, helped tremendously there because he's the one who brought them together in the offseason. That was key to give us that attitude. They feel like they are bigger, they feel like they're stronger. They feel like they are faster, they feel like they're in better shape. Those things give them the confidence to say "hey, we can do it." We didn't have that attitude towards the end of last season, and that's one of the reasons we lost football games. So the attitude is really good right now and it all started in the weight room and on that practice field.

ON WHY HE DECIDED TO TURN OVER PLAY-CALLING DUTIES TO OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR Dan Dodd
Dan and I have been together for three years. I was at New Mexico when I installed the offense, and he was there. He came with me and was the first guy I hired. We installed the offense here. He's seen me call it for three years. I want to be more of a - I don't want say C.E.O. I want to be more hands on with everything. I'm going to go bug Steve a little bit, and be more involved with the kicking game. I'll still have my finger on the offense. We're still going to do the same things. I'll be involved in some game planning, but I want him to call plays. I've got great confidence in him, he's a great coach, he's highly organized. He has the same philosophy I do, and I think he'll do a great job. Of course I'll interject my play or two every once in a while and he knows that.

I've done it before. When I was at UCLA (as head coach) I did it, too. I called maybe 15 plays; I'd call for the trick plays. When you sit down and game plan as a staff, you know what your initial drive is going to be, your initial 15 plays or so. You know what your short-yardage plays are going to be, your goal line. So he has a plan and he knows we all picked that plan. It's not just him. I just think he has the ability to do a good job. Before I got to New Mexico, he was the offensive coordinator, and they did a great job. I kept joking "why'd you hire me? This guy's done a great job." He's an excellent coach and play caller and I feel very comfortable with him.

ON THE OFFENSE FOR 2009
We haven't changed any of the terminology. You'll see a lot of the same system. We've tweaked it a little bit. Every year, depending on your players, you've got to try to utilize the abilities of your athletes. Dan has some ideas that he wanted, and I've let him run with the ball there, so to speak - or throw the ball, so to speak. We've been in a pro offense. We've been in the West Coast offense. We've done some spread stuff. We're going to continue to do that. We're going to lean one way or the other depending on our players and who we play.

It's not systems. It's people. Rich Rodriguez is a good friend of mine. He coached here. He's the one that started that offense. He went to Michigan, and I don't mean to knock Rich, but how many games did he win last year with the spread offense? You have to have the players to run your offense. It's not the spread offense. USC is running the same offense we're running, and they've done pretty well.

I like to throw the ball like anyone else, but I think you can throw the ball too much. I think you put a lot of pressure on your defense. Look at our Alabama game. We had the ball a lot. Alabama only had 49 or 50 snaps at the most. People wondered how we did so well against Alabama, and it's because they didn't have the ball.

You need balance, and you need to run the football, particularly in those short-yardage situations. And you need to keep your defense off the field. Steve's best defense will be when he's sitting on the sideline next to me.

WITH THE DEPTH AT TAILBACK, WHILE Andre Anderson CARRY AS MUCH OF THE LOAD AS HE DID BEFORE HIS INJURY LAST SEASON?
Well, I like riding the horse. I think Andre was fourth in the nation in rushing last year [at the time of his injury]. He proved he's a capable player. He can also catch the ball. He's worked extremely hard at it. He's a good pass-blocker. He's a lot like Matt Forte. He's an every down back. We've got some other guys who played a lot last year, and we've also got two freshmen who we are very excited about. Peyten Jason from Jesuit has really been impressive. He's very fast, he's very quick. He's catching on. Stephen Barnett from Florida. He bench pressed 360 pounds and ran a 4.45 for us the other day. He's 6-1, 205 pounds. Those guys are pretty impressive. If they stay healthy, those two are going to get a chance to play. But hopefully Andre is healthy and carries the load.

HOW SIGNIFICANT IS THE FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON
I think it's huge for a lot of reasons. Number one, it's the first game of the season. But more importantly, it's a league game. Against one of not only the best teams in our conference, but also our division. If we want to win our conference championship, or our division, we have to go through Tulsa. And we're going to get the right off the bat. It's important for attendance if we want people to come back. Five of our first six games are at home. If we want them to come back the next week against BYU and the next week and the next week, we've got to get off to a good start. They say you've got to win games to put people in that stadium. Hopefully we can win some games and put some people in that stadium. It's crucial to get off to a good start.

WHICH FRESHMEN HAVE CAUGHT YOUR EYE AFTER TWO DAYS OF PRACTICE?
The two freshman running backs I just mentioned. A freshman defensive tackle from Jesuit, Shane Delery. He's been impressive in two days. He's a good-sized kid. He's strong and plays extremely hard. We expect him to play as a true freshman. D.J. Banks out of Monroe. You talk about an explosive guy, he's quick and he's fast. He's got great hands. You'll see him in a lot of different positions. He'll return punts and kickoffs. We need to get the ball in his hands because he can make plays. That's the job of coaches to get the ball in the best players' hands and utilize your talent. Devin Figaro, young man out of Lafayette. He's 6-2, 200 pounds and benched 300 pounds. He benched more as a wide receiver than some of our lineman did when I first got here. Ran a 4.45 and made some great catches in practice. Those are the guys who've caught our eye at this point.

HOW MANY FRESHMEN DO YOU EXPECT TO PLAY THIS SEASON?
Hopefully, no injuries occur, but I'd expect that half of this freshman class is going to play this year. There is some talented kids in that group. As a coach, you recruit guys and you hope they're good and sometimes you miss on a few. You can't miss on too many. I look at this group and I don't know that we missed on any. I'm excited about this group. I think it's a heck of a freshman class and I think people are going to be excited about what they see. We've built well for the future. We've laid a great foundation. Last year, 12 of [the freshman] played a lot. And 10 redshirt freshman played a lot. So we've laid a foundation last year and built upon it with this freshman class.

ON JEREMY WILLIAMS' ROLE
Jeremy is a guy we're going to put in different positions and make defenses find him. We did that last year and he had touchdowns in each of his first five games he played and made some big plays. We've got to get the ball in his hands because he's a guy who can make plays. And we now feel we have more guys like that in this freshman class that can contribute. That's the key for Dan and myself and the staff to put guys in a position where they can make plays.

You can game plan plays for a receiver to put them in a position you want them to be in. You can move around, put him in motion and get him isolated so you can get him the football.

ON EXPECTATIONS OF Joe Kemp
Joe Kemp probably would have been a start the last part of the season, but he broke his collarbone and had it operated on. Joe has matured and has been here two years in the same system. Dan has done a good job of coaching him. He was a little young and a little immature. But now, he told me the other day "Coach, I think things are slowing down. I feel comfortable." He did a great job in the offseason of getting our players together. I think he's ready to take that next step now. He's a talented guy. And he's still going to make some mistakes because he's inexperienced. But he'll also make some big plays for us because he's very athletic, he has mobility and he has a strong and accurate arm.