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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Q&A With Head Coach David Cutcliffe
7/26/2004 | Football
July 26, 2004
Q: You've lost a three-year starter at quarterback. As you prepare for the 2004 season, what do you expect from the QB position?
A: Anytime you lose a three or four-year starter, that's a tough blow to your offense. You become accustomed to that player's way of doing things. The beauty of it is having a Micheal Spurlock who is starting his fourth year here. He's a redshirt junior who has been in the system and around the players. I thought he did a really good job in the spring by grabbing hold of the position and being the starter. He did nothing to disappoint us. Micheal certainly has a lot of things to learn, but he's going to have to play. He hasn't played in quite some time, but he's been in this system and he knows what he's doing in the system. Depending on how ready they are, we have some capable backups who may or may not play some. Although they can certainly do some things better, I thought Ethan Flatt and Robert Lane did a good job in the spring. We signed a young man, Paul Eck, to give us some depth at the position. We're expecting some good things from Micheal and anxiously waiting to see where Ethan and Robert are going to be when we start back in August.
Q: One of the goals in the spring was to develop depth in the offensive line. How do you see the offensive line?
A: Well, the starting offensive line can be special. You're looking at people who represent a lot of snaps. They've played a lot of games, and played well together. They need to be exceptional and I'm anxious to see how they respond. We're going to need to be exceptional running the football and protecting a new quarterback. I'm still deeply concerned about our depth. I'm not sure we have our eighth or seventh or even sixth guy completely ready. That's the challenge. We're going to be looking at our young players this fall to see who can help us the quickest. When it comes to the second and third team offensive lines, we've got a lot of evaluating and coaching to do.
Q: You lost a lot of leadership off a team which won 10 games and shared the SEC Western Division title. What do you expect in the way of leadership this season?
A: Our 2003 team had a lot of fifth year seniors from our 1999 signing class and those young men were exceptional people with some exceptional talent. We'll certainly miss them. I think this year's senior class has a chance to be special. When you just look at our captains -- Rob Robertson and Eric Oliver on defense, and then Kerry Johnson, Doug Buckles and Marcus Johnson on offense -- you see four of the five are fifth year seniors. We also have numerous other seniors that have played a lot of football. Hopefully, this senior class will take the challenge like our seniors did a year ago and try to be the type leaders they need to be.
Q: How do you see this team defensively?
A: Well, we need to grow. We lost five of our six up front that were starters, three defensive linemen and two linebackers. We return Daniel Booth as a starter up front. One of the things that we've done around here is rotate a lot of people in the front positions. We've also rotated a lot of people in the linebackers positions. We do return some players that have playing time. We've added some players to the mix that were either redshirted or just came into our program. I think we've got a chance of being good. A year ago we were much more physical on defense than people realized. That's something we're going to have to maintain with this particular team and I don't think that question has been answered yet.
Q: Ole Miss has been strong in special teams in recent years. You've got some pretty good people returning in that area. How do you see special teams play in 2004?
A: It begins with Jonathan Nichols as our place kicker and Cody Ridgeway as our punter. Both of them are all-star candidates, coming off a great year. Now they need to have a great senior season. Jonathan was the most consistent place kicker in the country a year ago, winning the Lou Groza Award, and rightfully so. Cody Ridgeway helped us lead the Southeastern Conference in net punting by doing a great job of being accurate and giving us hang time in the punting game. Jonathan and Cody can be weapons. We return Sydney McLaurin, who was outstanding and consistent last year as our deep snapper and short snapper. Cody is back to hold for Jonathan. We've got some exciting elements in the return game. Mike Espy is a very experienced return man and we have a number of others that will be involved. We need to be good in the special teams area for us to have a successful season. I think we can be good.
Q: Who are some of the newcomers that you're counting on to come in and contribute?
A: Chris Herring and James McCoy, if you want to call them newcomers, were here in spring practice as was Corvelli Haynes. I think we can count on some help from them. We expect numerous players that were redshirted a year ago to have an impact on our team. As far as the signing class goes, I never really put much pressure on those young men at this stage. In the back of my mind there are some that, I think, could help us and help us quickly, but I'm not going to name them right now. I think you'll see a team with a good mix of seniors and senior leadership, some four-year starters, and some people that are really experienced football players with a nice blend of some young talent. It's going to be exciting.
Q: How important is the summer off-season for a Division I-A one football program?
A: Well, I think it's big. Everywhere you look in Division 1-A football people are making great strides in the summer in their conditioning and strength work. Players certainly go out and work on their own, throwing and catching the ball and defending and covering. All the things that you can do on your own, teams will do a good job of doing this. This team, to improve it's depth and to improve the ability to play as hard as you've got to play to be successful, is going to have to have a great summer and be in great condition when we come back in August.
Q: Talk a little bit about the experience at the Cotton Bowl. Were you pleased with how the team responded during the spring?
A: The Cotton Bowl was a great experience. We were really tickled with the results and winning the game gave us some momentum going into the off-season. Playing in a bowl of that magnitude affected our players and I know they want to go back to that type of bowl game. Those things are earned. I thought we worked hard in the spring and the bowl experience did help us from a work ethic standpoint. They saw what it took to get there a year ago and now we've worked very hard. We just have to work a little smarter. As I said, we're going to have to pay the price this summer.
Q: You made a couple of changes in the staff. What are your thoughts about those changes and some of the new assignments?
A: We made two good hires in Arlington Nunn and Jay Hopson. We lost two good coaches in Ron Middleton and Jim Knowles. Jim became a head coach and Ron took a position in the NFL. However, we replaced them with outstanding people. That's where we all begin. We look at people, the right kind of people. Therefore, they're going to be the right kind of coaches. I think we've helped ourselves as a recruiting staff. Arlington Nunn and Jay Hopson bring knowledge and enthusiasm to our staff. We hate to lose good people, but you use that opportunity to try to make yourself better.
Q: One area that you've talked about being important to building a program was getting the indoor practice facility. What are your thoughts now that it's close to being completed?
A: Even during the construction phase, it's been fun to go over and walk through the building. You get a sense of the impact that it's going to have on our program, not only in recruiting, but in the development of the players that are currently here. I've been involved with moving into this type facility before and I saw the impact it had in the development of the players. I think Reuben Mendoza, who is coordinator of our strength and conditioning program, will greatly benefit from this facility. We're going to have a chance to showcase a tremendous facility to all future prospective student-athletes who come to campus for a visit.
Q: Following up on that, what does the commitment of a $1 Million gift by former player Deuce McAllister mean to this program?
A: I don't even know if I can even begin to put that into words. Deuce McAllister did the unusual. He's just 25 years old. That's pretty young to make this type commitment. He's just a very special young man who has a great love for Ole Miss. He did a great job for us, obviously, as a player and is continuing to do great things for his university. We all know the amount of athletic ability that he possesses, but he was also one of the brightest football players that I have ever had the opportunity to coach. He helped bring this program to a new level, because he was a great leader and played hard on every down. Deuce not only left this place better than he found it, but we are all better people for having known him.
Q: Season tickets are ahead of last year's pace. How important is it to maintain that pace?
A: Record sales of season tickets has got to continue. It's just part of who we are and what we do. It's part of the commitment by the Ole Miss Family and I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. I 'm really pleased with the way our fans have responded. We've just completed five years, so it's time to do a real serious study of what you're doing well and what the reasons are that you're being successful. Certainly right at the top is our fan support. That's what prospective football players mention to me all the time. They comment on the outstanding crowds and fan support with great interest. I hope our fans realize just what they're doing when they support us that way.
Q: You've coached a Manning nine out of the last ten years. What's it going to be like in 2004 without one?
A: Well, we're certainly going to miss Eli in so many ways. We all know he was a great football player, but Eli was also a great team member, a great captain, a great leader, and just a special young man to be around. The experience with Eli and Peyton over the last ten years has really been rewarding. I certainly hope I can stay in touch with not only Peyton and Eli, but Archie, Olivia, and Cooper and maintain that friendship.
Q: What kind of goals do you have in mind for this football team?
A: Well, I think we're always the same. It starts with the Southeastern Conference and the Western Division Championship, which is always a challenge. Certainly one of our goals will be to maintain the streak of an eighth winning season in a row. But it starts at the top. We're trying to become SEC Western Division Champions and go to Atlanta to play for our conference championship.
Q: What are your impressions of this year's schedule?
A: I think the schedule is about as tough as we can get. After opening on the road a year ago, which is tough to do, I like the fact that we're opening at home. However, we're playing a very talented Memphis team that returns all of its starters on offense and numerous key players on defense, plus they are coming off a bowl season. Memphis is an outstanding, talented football team. Our second game has us going on the road to open our conference schedule for the second year in a row. Tuscaloosa is certainly a tough place to go play. What's interesting about the schedule after that is that it continues to get tougher. It's again tough down the stretch. We're alternating games on the road and at home, so we must be a good road team again to have a chance to compete for the SEC championship.
