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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Coach Cutcliffe Speaks With the Media
6/21/1999 | Football
December 17, 1998
Q&A WITH OLE MISS HEAD FOOTBALL COACH DAVID CUTCLIFFE December 17, 1998
Q: Talk about how the preparations have been going so far?
A: It's been fast and furious. This morning at the team meeting, we tried to cover as much as could at one time. The players were real interested in what the practices were going to be like, and what was expected of them. We also had a few more coaches we needed to introduce. It's been interesting.
Q: (Players) have been talking about how the new plays you'll implement will be new to them over the next couple of week? How much of your system will you install?
A: We're going to utilize more of their terminology. We're trying to talk in their language. Every system in football has a language, and we're trying to use their language. We're certainly going to add a few wrinkles and we're going to implement some of the things we like to do. Six to eight practices here is not going to be enough time to put a new system in. We may not do things exactly how we like it, but we're going to know what we're doing. That's the most important thing, not trying to paralyze the guys through analysis so to speak. I'm anxious to see how things are going to work. It's going to be an interesting first practice.
Q: What are your thoughts on Texas Tech?
A: They're an outstanding team. They're good on both sides of the ball. They run the ball well. They throw the football well. Defensively, they've done an outstanding job stopping the run, and they do a good job overall giving up only 285 yards per game in total defense. They're a typical Spike Dykes team. Very balanced, very physical, huge in the offensive line. I think some of our guys were a little surprised looking at the size of some of their guys in the offensive line. They're a great challenge.
Q: Talk about Romaro Miller?
A: Right now, we're going to have Romaro on the practice field today. He'll be limited and he's day-to-day. I think he has to feel his way through the first part of this. He says he feels 100 percent better. He's not at 100 percent and how much he throws today remains to be seen. It's going to be good to have him on the practice field.
Q: Have you had a nice welcome?
A: Absolutely. I've met many, many great people. I been out very little in town, but everybody I run into is so enthusiastic about Ole Miss, and obviously the people within the administration and the people at the University have been great. I've gone through orientation and have had a chance to meet a lot of people on campus. I've also had a chance to meet some people around the state and that was a lot of fun meeting those people around the state.
Q: Have the players responded well and made you feel welcome?
A: The players are excited. They're ready to go to work. I haven't spent as much time with them as I would like. I've met with a few of them in my office that have been around when I've been in town. Now we're really getting ready to be acquainted. After we work them on the practice field they may not be as receptive to us. We'll have to see how that goes.
Q: Twelve years ago was Spike Dykes' first game at Texas Tech against Ole Miss in the Independence Bowl. Now this will be your first game at Ole Miss, also against Texas Tech in the Independence Bowl.
A: I didn't learn that I think until the day we were going down to (the Independence Bowl Press Conference). That really surprised me. That really is ironic. The advantage he had over me is that he was at that school already and everything was pretty much in place. I asked him if he had any pointers and he said you don't want them from me, we lost. I said good, don't tell me anything. That is an unique situation.
Q: This would be a good ending note for the team to win a bowl game and a good starting note for you.
A: No question. This team deserves the opportunity to play in this bowl game. This is a thrill for the seniors. We want to send these seniors out with a victory. It's been a while since we've had a win. I think these guys are hungry to go play and win. It would be a great start for us. We would love that opportunity. We know we're challenged. We're playing a really good Texas Tech team, but we're going to Shreveport to win the game.
Q: As a whole, do you think you inherited a really good team?
A: I think when you have the number of starters back that we have, that certainly is a good football team. This is a football team that is in a good position to move forward. I think what we've got to do is move forward. We have to make some strides beginning this winter. We're going to challenge this team to improve itself in every way. When you have 19 starters back that's obviously a big plus. We've still got to develop some depth. We have a large senior class to be. Those guys are going to have to be tremendous leaders. We're going to have a really important winter with them. We've also got an important challenge in replacing that junior class when they leave here 21 or 22 strong. That'll be a very great challenge and that's why we're recruiting right now and it's such a critical thing for us. We're trying to look ahead and plan ahead and take care of football, but obviously we're very busy in recruiting and that's going to be critical. We've got to recruit well to build the foundation that we need.
Q: Everybody wants to go to a bowl all the time. But when you go to a bowl, that means less time to recruit. Here in your situation, you've got to get ready for a bowl, recruit, find a staff, how difficult is that?
A: It's been challenging. I think the recruiting is not a challenge. You're used to recruiting at a fast-tempo and fast-pace. I said all along this team deserves an opportunity to play in a bowl, especially these seniors, so we're very glad. The biggest thing is getting through the transition of terminology. How to communicate with each other. How we're going to go about practicing, getting people to the right places on the practice field. The logistics of it are hard enough, let alone getting out there and trying to run some plays. So that part of it, I can't say enough for the people that have helped bridge the gap, Art Kaufman, Andy Berger and Scott McDuffie, who were here and have done a tremendous job guiding us through this is where we did this and this where we did that.' Bridging that gap really overcame those hurdles. I can't say enough about them. The willingness of the new members to do what ever it takes has certainly been a big issue. This staff has a great work ethic and we're putting it to test right off the bat.
Q: If you had to guess, how much sleep have you been getting?
A: About three, three and a half hours, somewhere in that range. That will eventually catch up with anybody. We're going to get that under control and manage that a little better.
Q: When you're putting in this terminology do you have to do it in the other direction. Instead of you telling the players, have you used the players to teach you?
A: Sure. That's what we did. We tried to prioritize and set aside on the calendar when we're going to do what. So Sunday night we set aside to focus on the football preparations for practice and a bowl game. We ended up calling a few of the elder statesmen, Matt Luke and obviously Romaro, and David Morris the quarterbacks, and Deuce McAllister, came over and we asked them a lot of questions. They cliniced us a little bit, and we were able to work through this terminology thing and put somewhat of a plan together to how we were going to at least talk to each other. They were a great help. Really enthusiastic about it and impressive.
