April 21, 1999
What does last year's bowl appearance mean to the program?
It's a significant step that we have been striving for but it's just astep. We want to make sure that it becomes a routine rather than somethingthat happens every now and then. The most encouraging thing was theoutpouring of support that we got from the community, the university andthe alumni. There was an air of enthusiasm among those constituencies andthroughout our team that this is what we'd like to be a part of on aregular basis. We got a taste of it, we liked it and it increases ourmotivation to continue to do the things that it takes to get to apost-season bowl.
What are the key areasof development that will allow the Aztecs to be a post-season participantin 1999?
We have got to be able to get the ball downfield on a more regular basisin our passing game and to get some consistency in our kicking game. Thoseare the two major improvements we need to make. Obviously, we have to keepgetting better in all facets of our play but regaining our explosivenessoffensively in the passing game and being able to count on converting extrapoints, makeable field goals and kickoff depth will get much of ourattention.
What has to happen to improve the passing game?
It starts with the quarterback. Brian came in and did a fine job for uslast season but he has to continue to make strides. I expect our juniorcollege transfer Jack Hawley and redshirt freshman Lon Sheriff to competefor the position. I'm not looking to settle on a starter this spring but Iwould like to come out of spring knowing we have two quarterbacks we canwin with and who will allow us to do the things offensively that thissystem is built for. The starter situation will resolve itself at somepoint according to who is most productive throughout the spring andpre-season workouts. In addition to quarterback, we need to get sixreceivers we can count on consistently so that we can regularly employthree and four receiver sets. I think we'll have the depth to do that butafter Damon Gourdine, everything is open.
What do you think the impact of the new Mountain West Conference will be?
I think it's going to be a great conference. I believe the top-to-bottombalance of quality teams will make it as difficult as any conference in thecountry to win. Look at the programs we have. Seven of the eight schoolshave participated in post-season play within the past two years and UNLVhas made a real commitment by hiring John Robinson. Winning this conferencewill be something real special. The most important thing this league needsto do is develop an identity.
What are the attributes of all-American candidates Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila andRico Curtis?
Kabeer has had three excellent years and has improved each season. He hasa real tenacity to his play to go along with his quickness and athleticism.He's an outstanding pass rusher with great ability to run the ball downaway from him. He's worked hard on his strength to make himself a completeplayer. Rico has made the commitment to be the best he can be and becauseof that, he was more consistent last year. Having to move to free safetyfrom his more natural strong safety spot really showcased his ability tocover receivers and make tackles in the open field. If someone else willstep up to handle the free safety duties, we think Rico can be even moreproductive moving back to strong, getting him closer to the line ofscrimmage and involving him in our blitz packages. He's a proven performerand I was disappointed he didn't get first-team all conference recognitiona year ago.
Another defensive lineman to receive recognition last year was JeromeHaywood, WAC Freshman of the Year.
Probably of all the individual surprises last year, he was the biggest. Totake a pure freshman, and a 5'9" defensive lineman at that, and line him upas a starter for 12 games is a tremendous accomplishment in itself. Wethought he would contribute but to have him excel and hold his own with theWisconsins and USCs and Arizonas of the world says a lot about Jerome'sabilities. You look at his body and think there's no way he can hang inthere but he has a great motor and a tremendous spirit to his play.(Arizona coach) Dick Tomey told me he's a dynamite player. He's veryimportant to our program in more ways than his on the field play. Hischaracter and spirit rubs off on everyone. He's a classic example of notjudging a book by its cover.