Transcribed by Bill Seals
On the biggest story of the program’s turnaround over the past several games:
“This program in general has faced a lot of adversity over the past three years. You try to continue to change a mindset here of, there are no excuses, nobody really cares, we have to continue to get better. At some point along the line, our program took that mantra and said, ‘he’s right, that’s how life is.
“Kyle (Kempt) has been the rock of that in a lot of ways. Playing Texas a year (and losing) and going to Oklahoma…his ability to step into that role with such poise and being ready and prepared to step into that role was a true turning point. Equally this year, when Kyle goes down as the injured quarterback, the senior, captain, it’s really easy for 99 percent of our society to be frustrated, mad and not want the other two quarterbacks have success. Then just worry about yourself, get rehabbed and get ready to go. Kyle has been Brock’s mentor. Our kids see that and see if that guy can step up and do the right thing, why can’t I? The greatest story in our football program is what Kyle has done. He’s defined what a captain should be.”
On others in program sharing his passion for preparation:
“For me it is. I’ve said that multiple times. I could watch video all day and then go try and figure it out on the practice field with our kids. Now you see our players having that passion. That’s our coaches’ passion. We have surrounded ourselves with guys who are passionate about the game of football. Part of that recruiting process is finding guys that love football, the gym rats, the guys who want to be here all the time. I would say we’re a lot closer to that in our program today. When you can just worry about the improvement, the externals are just noise. You’ve got to be really strong-willed to handle that.”
On how Datrone Young is progressing from his injury:
“He’s doing better. He certainly has improved drastically from where he was a week ago at this time. What that improvement looks like and where he will be…he’s probably questionable. Where he’ll be come Saturday…we’ll have a better idea today at practice.”
On what went into Deshaunte Jones getting targeted more than Tarique Milton last Saturday:
“Totally a flow of the game type of situation. Especially the weather and some of the things. Deshaunte got off to a great start in the football game. All of those things took hold. That was really more of the situation of going with the hot hand than it had anything to do with what Tarique did or didn’t do.”
On how the offense will account for the loss of David Montgomery for the first half:
“I don’t even know if I’ve put much thought into it, just because we’ve been here already. We’ve had to play a conference game on the road without our tailback. The biggest thing I expect from David is great leadership. I expect him to be that captain and that guy is guiding the ship whether he’s in the game or not. Those four running backs are guys that are really talented. They’ve had great games and gotten better this season for us. They’ve stepped up in the moment when they’ve needed to. It’s just another great opportunity for those guys to showcase that entire room.”
On when Montgomery knew he was suspended and his thoughts on situation:
“David knew when we came in on Saturday after the game what the stipulations were. That’s why they have rules. You’ve got to follow the rules. There are consequences. Those were the consequences. I’m pretty black and white that way. I guess having a father that’s a principal teaches you those standards. We’re not going to appeal something that happened. We move forward and deal with it. It’s a great learning lesson for all of us. Nobody wants to play and lead his team more than David Montgomery. I have no more trust in anybody in our football program than David Montgomery. It was a reaction to a really tough situation. We move forward and get ready for Texas.”
On what he’d say to the voters that didn’t vote Hakeem Butler for the Biletnikoff Award:
“They probably made a mistake, but that’s alright. I don’t know what I have to say and I don’t know is that a thing, has that already happened, is it done with? The reality of it is, I like Hakeem, I really like throwing him the ball and I’m really glad he’s on our football team. He’s as good as anybody in the country and I’m proud of his growth.”
On where the offensive line is currently:
“A lot of growth from where we were in a really rough game one to certainly where we are now. Finding and settling on who are those five guys that deserve the right to be the starters to watching the development and growth of those young guys behind them…I feel like we’re in the best place we’ve been in our program since I’ve been here. We’re going to continue to find out in some tough situations just how far that growth has come.”
On Montgomery being accountable for his actions right after incident and what that shows about those in the program:
“I would say that if there’s anywhere that the maximum growth has happened in our program, it’s in that. I’m not even talking football. I’m talking going to class, being 10 minutes early to meeting and wearing the right stuff out to practice. It took us the first six months to start behind the line, finish through the line and know what to wear out to practice. That’s the reality of what we’re building the foundation of this program on. That’s something our staff collectively believes is the right way to do things. Accountability factors are real. We’ve made a lot of growth and strides in that. The greatest growth in our program is what our kids are doing in the classroom. There’s a true translation and correlation to the success you have in the classroom and you being accountable to one thing that truly is yours to having the ability to go and play meaningful football games and doing the right thing on the field.”
On how the team has improved offensively and defensively inside the 20-yard line:
“That’s an area that since Brock has taken over that we’ve improved. You look at these games in general and they’re all close. The ability to maximize those possessions down there…really big. It’s also really big defensively. That field shrinks and having the ability to rise up like we did last week and capitalize on some big moments…those are all huge when you’re talking about playing football games this time of year.”
On how much he talks to the team about what’s at stake and the environment in Austin:
“Everything was at stake when we were 1-and-3 and it’s been that way every single week since then. I don’t think you have to. I think you talk about the noise that’s going to be generated outside our walls, but I have talked about that since we won a couple games. It’s just a whole different type of adversity, adversity of success which is sometimes a lot harder to deal with than the adversity of failure. We need to understand what allows us to be the best version of us, which is becoming better one day at a time.”
On the biggest story of the program’s turnaround over the past several games:
“This program in general has faced a lot of adversity over the past three years. You try to continue to change a mindset here of, there are no excuses, nobody really cares, we have to continue to get better. At some point along the line, our program took that mantra and said, ‘he’s right, that’s how life is.
“Kyle (Kempt) has been the rock of that in a lot of ways. Playing Texas a year (and losing) and going to Oklahoma…his ability to step into that role with such poise and being ready and prepared to step into that role was a true turning point. Equally this year, when Kyle goes down as the injured quarterback, the senior, captain, it’s really easy for 99 percent of our society to be frustrated, mad and not want the other two quarterbacks have success. Then just worry about yourself, get rehabbed and get ready to go. Kyle has been Brock’s mentor. Our kids see that and see if that guy can step up and do the right thing, why can’t I? The greatest story in our football program is what Kyle has done. He’s defined what a captain should be.”
On others in program sharing his passion for preparation:
“For me it is. I’ve said that multiple times. I could watch video all day and then go try and figure it out on the practice field with our kids. Now you see our players having that passion. That’s our coaches’ passion. We have surrounded ourselves with guys who are passionate about the game of football. Part of that recruiting process is finding guys that love football, the gym rats, the guys who want to be here all the time. I would say we’re a lot closer to that in our program today. When you can just worry about the improvement, the externals are just noise. You’ve got to be really strong-willed to handle that.”
On how Datrone Young is progressing from his injury:
“He’s doing better. He certainly has improved drastically from where he was a week ago at this time. What that improvement looks like and where he will be…he’s probably questionable. Where he’ll be come Saturday…we’ll have a better idea today at practice.”
On what went into Deshaunte Jones getting targeted more than Tarique Milton last Saturday:
“Totally a flow of the game type of situation. Especially the weather and some of the things. Deshaunte got off to a great start in the football game. All of those things took hold. That was really more of the situation of going with the hot hand than it had anything to do with what Tarique did or didn’t do.”
On how the offense will account for the loss of David Montgomery for the first half:
“I don’t even know if I’ve put much thought into it, just because we’ve been here already. We’ve had to play a conference game on the road without our tailback. The biggest thing I expect from David is great leadership. I expect him to be that captain and that guy is guiding the ship whether he’s in the game or not. Those four running backs are guys that are really talented. They’ve had great games and gotten better this season for us. They’ve stepped up in the moment when they’ve needed to. It’s just another great opportunity for those guys to showcase that entire room.”
On when Montgomery knew he was suspended and his thoughts on situation:
“David knew when we came in on Saturday after the game what the stipulations were. That’s why they have rules. You’ve got to follow the rules. There are consequences. Those were the consequences. I’m pretty black and white that way. I guess having a father that’s a principal teaches you those standards. We’re not going to appeal something that happened. We move forward and deal with it. It’s a great learning lesson for all of us. Nobody wants to play and lead his team more than David Montgomery. I have no more trust in anybody in our football program than David Montgomery. It was a reaction to a really tough situation. We move forward and get ready for Texas.”
On what he’d say to the voters that didn’t vote Hakeem Butler for the Biletnikoff Award:
“They probably made a mistake, but that’s alright. I don’t know what I have to say and I don’t know is that a thing, has that already happened, is it done with? The reality of it is, I like Hakeem, I really like throwing him the ball and I’m really glad he’s on our football team. He’s as good as anybody in the country and I’m proud of his growth.”
On where the offensive line is currently:
“A lot of growth from where we were in a really rough game one to certainly where we are now. Finding and settling on who are those five guys that deserve the right to be the starters to watching the development and growth of those young guys behind them…I feel like we’re in the best place we’ve been in our program since I’ve been here. We’re going to continue to find out in some tough situations just how far that growth has come.”
On Montgomery being accountable for his actions right after incident and what that shows about those in the program:
“I would say that if there’s anywhere that the maximum growth has happened in our program, it’s in that. I’m not even talking football. I’m talking going to class, being 10 minutes early to meeting and wearing the right stuff out to practice. It took us the first six months to start behind the line, finish through the line and know what to wear out to practice. That’s the reality of what we’re building the foundation of this program on. That’s something our staff collectively believes is the right way to do things. Accountability factors are real. We’ve made a lot of growth and strides in that. The greatest growth in our program is what our kids are doing in the classroom. There’s a true translation and correlation to the success you have in the classroom and you being accountable to one thing that truly is yours to having the ability to go and play meaningful football games and doing the right thing on the field.”
On how the team has improved offensively and defensively inside the 20-yard line:
“That’s an area that since Brock has taken over that we’ve improved. You look at these games in general and they’re all close. The ability to maximize those possessions down there…really big. It’s also really big defensively. That field shrinks and having the ability to rise up like we did last week and capitalize on some big moments…those are all huge when you’re talking about playing football games this time of year.”
On how much he talks to the team about what’s at stake and the environment in Austin:
“Everything was at stake when we were 1-and-3 and it’s been that way every single week since then. I don’t think you have to. I think you talk about the noise that’s going to be generated outside our walls, but I have talked about that since we won a couple games. It’s just a whole different type of adversity, adversity of success which is sometimes a lot harder to deal with than the adversity of failure. We need to understand what allows us to be the best version of us, which is becoming better one day at a time.”
