Mbob became a grandfather last night, in a good mood.
Cusp of a new FB season and blank slate wash away not the year they wanted to have, time to stop talking about that and moving into the next year.
CPJ said there is ownership by the players on this team and that is when good things happen for the team and the sense in the offseason was it is going that way.
Unique start in Dublin than a garden variety opener against a lesser opponent. Knowing the first game is a counter is a big deal provides great focus for the team.
Scoreboard is gone in the south end zone, it is on schedule and they should meet the deadline, expect it will end up coming down to the wire. Supposed to be down ahead of the first game and a different level of quality than before.
ON HIS OVERALL PLAN
We have made progress there and the depts are more connected, is it perfect, no. Coaches by nature are not interested in others success and that is part of the business and I don't see that changing.
ON TICKET SALES AND IMPACT OF LAST SEASON
We had a bump coming off 2014 last year and very fortunate and this year we have slid a little and some is success and some is the home/away schedule like UGA here versus not, we are in a good place and it is not a bad situation and we've renewed well and if we get off to a good start and we are here for a significant amount of time so we can land in a good place. We don't think it will happen
ON CONFERENCE EXPANSION
We have a conference call on that, on the heels of our announcement of the ACC network, the Big 12 expansion will have a big impact on us and I'm not certain they are going to be in the position to have a Big 12 Network so how that plays out and don't think it will effect us and may impact the Group of Five and we haven't spent a lot of time talking about it.
ON IMPROVING FOOTBALL FROM ADMIN POSITION
Great question, aren't all that many things we can do cause and effect other than being supportive and we like the staff and expect last year was anomaly, CPJ has been doing this a long and he has great confidence and anything they have asked for. He has not asked for these three things to happen, we can make some adjustments, there is not big one item that will change the dynamic. It is a one-off out of the norm year. It was systematic of a long slide, we don't think there is a problem there, and CPJ took a very measured look at himself. They wanted the locker room to be together and they made a lot of strides in that and doing different things with our team to get them together in non-traditional stuff. They did free throw shooting in Zelnak and other things to do that, Paul got out of his normal things to shake it up.
ON GETTING READY FOR DUBLIN ADDED STRESS
Has been on some folks here, football operations and Brett Daniels our point man from a GT perspective and the Island folks positioned, it is a cultural event for them, president's office Lynn in his office, the governor and the mayor will be there, logistics are interesting and the finish line is in sight.
ON BROADCASTER SEARCH
I think we are hoping to announce in days, a hire, in the final throws of making that call. Very fortunate to have some high level interest and talented people interested in the job and finding the best one, think we are on the cusp of landing.
ON ACC SCHEDULE QUIRKS LIKE PLAYING CLEMSON ON 4 DAYS REST
The schedule is a deal between the conference office, non-conference deals and the TV networks, they have a voice, as well and desires they want put into a schedule. Clemson nor GT want to play it there, but Thursday night games here are special.
ON NINE-GAME SCHEDULE VERSUS FUTURE GAMES
On Friday we need to get the ACC schedule to 9 games or not when the ACC Network launches or 8 games with two non-conference being P5, we have UGA every year, four of us have that baked in so we just have to find one, those hunting for two are having issues with that. I think we will have that resolved, we can't keep it on hold forever.
ON MORE INTERSECTIONAL GAMES
We are out there looking all the time, we played Tenn next year along with UGA, got a series with Colorado coming on the schedule and we are always looking for those types of games. We've talked to Big 12 and Big 10 teams as well. Dave Brown who worked for ESPN for years and he was the scheduling guy for ESPN and is now doing his own clearinghouse for NCAAF scheduling and our guy John David speaks with him weekly to see who is looking for games and who would work with us. We would like to take games to places that make sense.
ON WHAT HIS CALL IS ON 9 SCHEDULE
We have eight games, UGA, then ND some years, we could have 10 that is 10 of 12, if we go to 9 we would be playing 11 P5 schools, a murders row.
ON CLEMSON AND UGA WITH SUPPORT STAFF FOR FOOTBALL CAN GT ADD MORE
I think that would be our hope as things evolve and we improve our financial situation and we have reconfigured our player personnel and he has made some changes to make it more effective than it was. He has changed the profile of one of the staff members and I think they are doing a better job. He is engaging more with that group. CPJ would like more people, but he doesn't need a ton of people around him to make him feel good and I think in some ways he is not as interested in that. He has yet to come forward and say we need 3 more quality control guys, he wants to have the right people. He has not made strong indication that he would like more folks. A lot folks have more and if that is something we need to do, then we will.
ON A 9 GAME CONFERENCE SCHEDULE MOVING THE UGA GAME
I don't think that would ever move, want non conference first couple of weeks and the rest at the end, the ACC wants their 8-9 games a week during the bulk of the season.
ON GOING TO IRELAND, SECURITY ISSUES
We have talked about that, we have no recent concerns and that has been a topic of conversations anytime we travel and we are concerned even for our home games. We do a tremendous job of security and vehicles being checked. It is well-handled and well-covered by the folks going.
ON ACC NETWORK WINFALL
There is no guaranteed check, we are not sure, exact same set up of the SEC Network, depends on distribution levels and subscription numbers, that will be impossible to predict.
Cusp of a new FB season and blank slate wash away not the year they wanted to have, time to stop talking about that and moving into the next year.
CPJ said there is ownership by the players on this team and that is when good things happen for the team and the sense in the offseason was it is going that way.
Unique start in Dublin than a garden variety opener against a lesser opponent. Knowing the first game is a counter is a big deal provides great focus for the team.
Scoreboard is gone in the south end zone, it is on schedule and they should meet the deadline, expect it will end up coming down to the wire. Supposed to be down ahead of the first game and a different level of quality than before.
ON HIS OVERALL PLAN
We have made progress there and the depts are more connected, is it perfect, no. Coaches by nature are not interested in others success and that is part of the business and I don't see that changing.
ON TICKET SALES AND IMPACT OF LAST SEASON
We had a bump coming off 2014 last year and very fortunate and this year we have slid a little and some is success and some is the home/away schedule like UGA here versus not, we are in a good place and it is not a bad situation and we've renewed well and if we get off to a good start and we are here for a significant amount of time so we can land in a good place. We don't think it will happen
ON CONFERENCE EXPANSION
We have a conference call on that, on the heels of our announcement of the ACC network, the Big 12 expansion will have a big impact on us and I'm not certain they are going to be in the position to have a Big 12 Network so how that plays out and don't think it will effect us and may impact the Group of Five and we haven't spent a lot of time talking about it.
ON IMPROVING FOOTBALL FROM ADMIN POSITION
Great question, aren't all that many things we can do cause and effect other than being supportive and we like the staff and expect last year was anomaly, CPJ has been doing this a long and he has great confidence and anything they have asked for. He has not asked for these three things to happen, we can make some adjustments, there is not big one item that will change the dynamic. It is a one-off out of the norm year. It was systematic of a long slide, we don't think there is a problem there, and CPJ took a very measured look at himself. They wanted the locker room to be together and they made a lot of strides in that and doing different things with our team to get them together in non-traditional stuff. They did free throw shooting in Zelnak and other things to do that, Paul got out of his normal things to shake it up.
ON GETTING READY FOR DUBLIN ADDED STRESS
Has been on some folks here, football operations and Brett Daniels our point man from a GT perspective and the Island folks positioned, it is a cultural event for them, president's office Lynn in his office, the governor and the mayor will be there, logistics are interesting and the finish line is in sight.
ON BROADCASTER SEARCH
I think we are hoping to announce in days, a hire, in the final throws of making that call. Very fortunate to have some high level interest and talented people interested in the job and finding the best one, think we are on the cusp of landing.
ON ACC SCHEDULE QUIRKS LIKE PLAYING CLEMSON ON 4 DAYS REST
The schedule is a deal between the conference office, non-conference deals and the TV networks, they have a voice, as well and desires they want put into a schedule. Clemson nor GT want to play it there, but Thursday night games here are special.
ON NINE-GAME SCHEDULE VERSUS FUTURE GAMES
On Friday we need to get the ACC schedule to 9 games or not when the ACC Network launches or 8 games with two non-conference being P5, we have UGA every year, four of us have that baked in so we just have to find one, those hunting for two are having issues with that. I think we will have that resolved, we can't keep it on hold forever.
ON MORE INTERSECTIONAL GAMES
We are out there looking all the time, we played Tenn next year along with UGA, got a series with Colorado coming on the schedule and we are always looking for those types of games. We've talked to Big 12 and Big 10 teams as well. Dave Brown who worked for ESPN for years and he was the scheduling guy for ESPN and is now doing his own clearinghouse for NCAAF scheduling and our guy John David speaks with him weekly to see who is looking for games and who would work with us. We would like to take games to places that make sense.
ON WHAT HIS CALL IS ON 9 SCHEDULE
We have eight games, UGA, then ND some years, we could have 10 that is 10 of 12, if we go to 9 we would be playing 11 P5 schools, a murders row.
ON CLEMSON AND UGA WITH SUPPORT STAFF FOR FOOTBALL CAN GT ADD MORE
I think that would be our hope as things evolve and we improve our financial situation and we have reconfigured our player personnel and he has made some changes to make it more effective than it was. He has changed the profile of one of the staff members and I think they are doing a better job. He is engaging more with that group. CPJ would like more people, but he doesn't need a ton of people around him to make him feel good and I think in some ways he is not as interested in that. He has yet to come forward and say we need 3 more quality control guys, he wants to have the right people. He has not made strong indication that he would like more folks. A lot folks have more and if that is something we need to do, then we will.
ON A 9 GAME CONFERENCE SCHEDULE MOVING THE UGA GAME
I don't think that would ever move, want non conference first couple of weeks and the rest at the end, the ACC wants their 8-9 games a week during the bulk of the season.
ON GOING TO IRELAND, SECURITY ISSUES
We have talked about that, we have no recent concerns and that has been a topic of conversations anytime we travel and we are concerned even for our home games. We do a tremendous job of security and vehicles being checked. It is well-handled and well-covered by the folks going.
ON ACC NETWORK WINFALL
There is no guaranteed check, we are not sure, exact same set up of the SEC Network, depends on distribution levels and subscription numbers, that will be impossible to predict.
