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The University of Mississippi Athletics
David Cutcliffe's Recruiting Press Conference
2/7/2001 | Football
Feb. 7, 2001
Head Football Coach David Cutcliffe's Press Conference February 7, 2001
Opening Remarks: I'm glad that February 7th is finally here. It seems like it has been a long recruiting season. I guess we have been going about 10 ? weeks. Since the season ended, it has been pretty intense recruiting. First thing I want to do is commend out staff. I think our staff has done an outstanding job. It has been an intense 10 ? weeks and they have worked awfully hard and awfully smart. I am really proud of those men and the job that they've done. The entire process has been outstanding. I think a lot of parts of the recruiting process paid off. I will start with our academic support system and our faculty and the people involved during the recruiting process. They have been absolutely phenomenal and it takes all parts, and it certainly starts here academically. I think people sense that. The communication and the efforts that our faculty, and certainly David Harris and his staff have put forth, are outstanding. I will continue right on with our strength and conditioning staff in the weight room, also in our training room, equipment room and administratively what we have been able to do. Our administration supports us and then our administration in the recruiting part helps us by setting up the organization of the entire process.
I think what we saw this recruiting year was a great group effort and it took a lot of people. I want to talk about our players in this process. Our players did an outstanding job. I'm really proud that they believe in what we are doing, how we are doing it and why we are doing it. I think this class is an indication of all of those things. I think that certainly had a big part in that because they have bought in to how we are doing things and what we are doing. I think that the young men that had the opportunity to visit our campus, and certainly the ones that ultimately sign with us, sensed that great things were happening with Ole Miss. That's why I think that we had a very successful recruiting year.
I want to say that this is a very balanced class. I think we have met some positional needs in a big way. I am excited about their character. They are an indication again of our squad and what we are doing. There are a lot of good people involved in this and this class is an indication of that. I like the mix of size, strength and speed. Offensively and defensively, I think we have outstanding balance and I am looking forward to working with these young men. As you know, I usually abstain from talking about individuals to any great degree. At this day and time most of you know most everything about them because there is a lot of information out there. I'm looking forward to August when they report, and I think they are going to be a lot of fun to work with.
Q. When the process started what was your #1 focus when recruiting?
A. We don't quite do it that way. We focus on good people and good football players. That's always our focus. We want to try to bring in the kind of people that can identify with our program, what we do, and who believe in what we do. As far as positions, we try to maintain a certain balance within our structure of 85 scholarship positions. That helps us to know how many people we are going to recruit. Obviously, there was a need in the secondary from a numbers standpoint. There was also a need in the offensive line.
Q. When recruiting, how important is versatility in a player?
A. It's always important. We look at players that can play a lot of places and do a lot of things. When we bring our people in August, linemen and skill people will all work at a lot of different positions. That way our staff can evaluate them for future reference. Then we will find a starting point and see what happens. A lot of these guys are versatile athletes.
Q. Comment on having 16-of-22 players from the state of Mississippi.
A. I think we have done well in the state of Mississippi. I think the coaches, the brand of high school football players, and the brand of junior college football players is outstanding. It certainly is always going to be a major area of interest. We are certainly going to have to recruit out-of-state. I think that we can do that well because we are in an attractive place for young men to come to school. We are proud of what we have been able to put together in the state of Mississippi, and we've worked hard and will continue to work within our own state.
Q. Comment on being able to get recruits from areas in Mississippi that usually go to other schools.
A. I think that is attributed to our staff and the hours and hard work they put in. I think people are believing in what and how we are doing things. I think that is an indication of this also. This is a great place to go school and we try to make them familiar with the town and Ole Miss.
Q. Do you think you upgraded the recruiting process this year?
A. I think we have moved in the right direction. One of my philosophies is nothing stays the same, either you get better or you get worse. We have to continue to try to get better. Relationships are stronger, and we are much more familiar with the people we are dealing with on a day-to-day basis. I think we will continue to strengthen ourselves each year.
Q. Do you think becoming more familiar with the coaches has helped the recruiting process?
A. It has made a significant difference. We had a lot to learn and we have developed a lot of good relationships. Again, our coaching is so good here and I have great respect for these men and the job they are doing. They have done an outstanding job by going into the schools and getting to know people. We are certainly much more familiar with the coaches now than we were two years ago.
Q. Talk about recruiting for defensive linemen.
A. We are always in the hunt for a defensive linemen. For instance Jimmy Brooks, Germain Landrum, McKinley Boykin and Michael Bozeman are all going to be people that can contribute. Again, I don't try to put any pressure on any one individual player. They have enough expectations put on them in the recruiting process. We are going to go to work with these guys, and I know that they are hard working and outstanding young men.
Q. How many are you going to have out during spring practice?
A. We are going to have three people and they are here now. Chris Knight, Clifton Collins and Germain Landrum are enrolled and will go through spring practice. The rest of the class will report in August.
Q. The recruiting class seems to have a lot of high school players, was that intentional?
A. We certainly do a lot of high school recruiting and that is an area of interest. I'm proud that we have had the opportunity, when the need presents itself, to get some extremely talented junior college football players. I think we have a nice balance.
Q. Talk about recruiting the state of Mississippi.
A. We are interested in good people and good football players. I think we have a resource in our state that we have to continue to have. I think the state of Mississippi is always going to have those kinds of athletes. That doesn't mean we can't do well when we can go out-of-state. I think it sends a message that we can go out and compete. We have a great university and a great state. I know that we can go out and compete anywhere, particularly in the southeastern party of the country where they have good people and good football players. I think we are continuing to do that.
Q. Talk about having multiple signees from high schools.
A. We were able to do that because there were good teams with quite a few good players on it. Sometimes that doesn't happen so easily.
Q. Talk about the number of quarterbacks you have on the roster.
A. Number wise we are going to fine. Kerry Johnson is going to be playing wide receiver in the spring. We are going to have two quarterbacks in spring training.
Q. Since the quarterbacks can both run and throw, is that an indication of your offense?
A. It never hurts to have mobility at that position. Eli Manning can move better than people might think he can. Those guys are good quarterbacks that happen to be good athletes. There is no real message in that.
Q. When does spring practice start?
A. February 23. We've already started our meetings and preparation for that on both sides of the ball and in the kicking game.
Q. Did you come up short recruiting for any positions?
A. I don't know if you're ever short. I'm always worried about having another lineman. There are only so many scholarships you have. I really don't think we came up short anywhere. I really like the speed on both sides of the ball in this class.
Q. Talk about the size versus speed issue.
A. First thing we are going to do is find people who can run. We weren't a real big football team this year. We are not going to be a giant team, but we are pretty big in the offensive line. We are going to be a very fast and aggressive defensive team, and I am looking forward to that.
Q. Have you found that the internet has changed recruiting?
A. No question that it's changed. It's a spectator sport and there is so much information available to the coaches. The internet is always going to be full of rumor and innuendo. I think that sometimes it can be hurtful when it comes to the prospect because the internet sometimes invades their privacy.
Q. How does this class stand academically?
A. Academically they are very strong. I am proud of them. There are always going to be people that will continue to have work to do, but that's the normal process. I am really pleased with them. We have a great support system here. I am really proud that we had 22 All-SEC academic performers, tied for first in the SEC. We have a graduation rate of 79% coming out of football, which is outstanding. I am going to challenge this class just like I did the others. Try to beat the class in front of you.
Q. Do you think the recruiting process needs cleaning up?
A. I think any profession needs cleaning up. Not everything is going to be perfect when it comes to competition. People are going to bend rules or break them, so you have to have a constant policing of that. I think it should be something that should be monitored. Everyone in our profession should work on it
Q. Did you not see a need this year for a kicker?
A. No, I am comfortable with who we have on campus. We have a young redshirt freshman punter and young redshirt place kicker. We will see how they respond. At this point, we are not bringing in anyone else. We are going to have great competition this spring. We are going to have a lot of earned jobs this spring, unfortunately on both sides of the ball. We have a lot of work to do. It is going to be a real competitive spring all the way around.
