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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Transcript of Saturday's Independence Bowl Press Conference
6/21/1999 | Football
December 26, 1998
INDEPENDENCE BOWL PRESS CONFERENCE
OLE MISS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR ART KAUFMAN:
"It's quite a thrill to be here. Coach Cutcliffe had an illness at the end of practice Tuesday and should be in here by tomorrow morning. It's an honor to be here and this team is excited to be here. The coaching changeover has been a little unusual, but it's an exciting time for us in the standpoint to be able to start the 1999 season; to be able to get some practice time in, to get know the coaching staff and the players get to know them better with me basically being the only holdover on the coaching staff. All the other coaches are brand new, Coach Cutcliffe being from Tennessee is familiar with the program, they're learning about the players and learning the system we're putting in as well as catching up on the recruiting. It's been pretty fast for us. We've had a good time with it, we're happy to be here and the guys are looking forward to playing."
Q: Romaro (Miller), are you a 100 percent, or where are you right now in your rehab?
Miller: "Last week, I began throwing in practice. I'm a little sore. Today, I went out and threw a little and had no pain. Hopefully, I'll be a 100 percent by game time.
Q: So, your hoping you will start?
Miller: Yes.
TEXAS TECH HEAD COACH SPIKE DYKES:
"I'm really glad to be here. Twelve years ago at this ball game, exactly the same thing happen to us that's happening at Ole Miss. When David McWilliams left and went to the University of Texas, I became head coach. The only thing we had, we had a bad deal. If we won the game, he was going to count it on his record as a win. He didn't say anything about losing. We lost the game and I started out 0-1. That's a pretty good deal if you get by with it. Our players are extremely excited about being here. I still thank the people the first time we came, and still talk about the great time we had. This is a tremendous opportunity. It's great to play a class team like Ole Miss. We have great respect for them. These guys over here can do it, they're good players. They're good guys. They play the game the way it's suppose to be played. Art (Kaufman) is one of the finest defensive coaches in the country without a doubt. I think they are very fortunate that he stayed at Ole Miss. He's done a tremendous job and will continue to do that. We're going to have a great game. We're going to have a great week. It's going to be a lot of fun. I think there's a lot of excitement and I think we're going to have a big crowd and it should be a good football game. You all don't understand what going to a bowl game means. They say there are too many bowls. I don't know who says that, and I don't know how they know, but this a great reward for guys who work their tail off. If you knew how many wind sprints they run, how many bench presses they pressed, how they worked, how they really, really tried for an opportunity like this, than you would appreciate what's going on because it is a great opportunity. It's a great, great reward for a great bunch of kids and we want to reward you with a great football game. We're going to try hard to give you our best shot, put our best foot forward and hopefully we'll have a great ball game.
Q: Coach Dykes, what does this game mean to you 12 years later after losing your first time out?
Dykes: Well, this is a great opportunity. I think this is a great ball game, and is ironic what happened 12 years ago, but I think any time you go to a bowl game there's a tremendous amount of prestige. I can't believe I'm still here (at Texas Tech). I signed a one-year contract really on a handshake. I've been through four athletic director and four presidents, and about the time they're ready to let me go, they change and go somewhere else. I've endured and that's the key to this deal. It's been a good 12 years and I'll never forget the last time I was in this stadium. I hope the outcome is a little different, but it was a great experience for me.
Q: Coach Dykes, from that first game, how many of the assistants have stayed?
Dykes: From that first game, four of those guys are here today, (Running backs coach) Jack Tayrien, (Wide receiver coach) Dick Winder, (Offensive line coach) Clovis Hale, and myself. Our staff is kind of unique. I started coaching with (Defensive ends coach) Doyle Parker in 1966, with Jack Tayrien in 1967 and Clovis Hale in 1968, so we've been together a long time. There isn't many secrets that we keep from each other, so it's sort of a unique situation.
