Dec. 16, 2008
Press Conference Quotes in PDF Format
Brady Hoke Press Conference Quotes
Aztec Athletics Center - Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008
Director of Athletics Jeff Schemmel
General Comments:
"I to want to express some thank yous to start and I hope you'll indulge my while I do that. First off I want to thank John Moores. He again provided us his plane to get to the places we needed to get to in this search. He has always been with us every step of the way. I want to thank President (Stephen) Weber, especially early on in this process when I could not travel. Initially, when I could not make it, he took my place on the road. He was there in those interviews while I joined him by phone. I thank him for taking that time and I know he had to change his schedule to do that. Thirdly, and I thought she was going to be here, but I don't know if she is, I want to thank my wife Lori, who spent five days in the hospital with me and has been my nurse back at home everyday administering all the meds that I needed. She's always been there for me."
On the hiring process:
"We interviewed 12 candidates in person. We started almost immediately on the 23rd of November, which was the day of our announcement. We started the process and have been going pretty hard ever since. We were trying to be comprehensive and thorough, but at the same time, we moved with as much haste as we could in the process."
On what they were looking for in a head coach:
"Obviously success, that's first, both academically and on the field. It was important to have someone here who is experienced and showed that kind of success. We certainly were looking for some California ties, especially in the Southern California area and the San Diego area. Some intangibles we were looking for that we thought were very important to take this program to the next step include motivation, effective communication, effective consistent communication with the team, discipline and toughness. Again we made that a very important criteria in that process. We also wanted someone who could create an identity. What does San Diego State football stand for? What do we play like every Saturday? I think the team in their meeting with coach Hoke this morning already got a feel for what that will be like and what our identity will be. Lastly, although this wasn't a requirement, we looked hard for someone with Division I-A head coaching experience. Obviously Brady Hoke fits that bill."
On his first choice:
"Interestingly with Brady, when we began the process on that Monday with our first meeting, the first guy on that list was Brady Hoke. Obviously, we had about 20 other names on that list, but he was the first one on my list. As we went through the process, he continued to emerge as the leader in the clubhouse. With all the things we were looking for, and then got in front of the committee itself, the very consensus in that room was that Brady Hoke was the right guy for San Diego State. Obviously, he has a great history, six years at Oregon State in a very successful program there. He recruited California all six of those years. Eight years at the University of Michigan, he was a part of a national championship there. In his entire time at Michigan he recruited the state of California. Then at Ball State where he inherited a program that was very much down. You can see the progress that was made in the six years he was at Ball State, including the tremendous season and a No. 15 ranking this year."
Head Coach Brady Hoke
General Comments:
"First off, I want to really tell you and thank you for being here, especially the players. We got to meet earlier this morning at 7 a.m. and kind of talk about the vision that we have here for San Diego State football. I'm glad to see (the players) here. It is a great privilege for me, and us, to be here and be the head football coach at San Diego State. We are excited to embrace the University, we are excited to embrace this football program and we are going to build (something) that we are all going to be very proud of.
"I want to thank President Weber and (Director of Athletics) Jeff (Schemmel) for believing in us and giving us this opportunity. Also those on the advisory committee for giving us this opportunity. It's one that we are going to plan on hitting the ground running as we get started and we move forward.
"I want to thank Chuck Long and his staff, because I can tell you they were a committed group that put all their efforts into San Diego State football. You talk about class people and guys who worked hard for San Diego State and this football program, I want to thank Chuck for everything him and his staff did."
On the program:
"This program is going to be a program that is based on toughness. To play football at the Division I level and to compete academically at the Division I level while balancing both, you have to be tough-minded. You have to be physically tough and mentally tough. This is also going to be a program that is going to play with unbelievable effort every time we take the field. Our program is going to be based on a we, us and our philosophy. It's going to take all of us to reach the expectations that we have as a football program. We are not going to put limits on what we can do. I think when you put limits on things you are shutting your boundaries down and we are not going to do that. We are going to be a program that understands expectations, how to get there and how we are going to work to get there. We are going to achieve in the classroom. I talked to the team this morning and I'm not really big on guys who underachieve in the classroom or on the field. Believe me, and I think I told them, I did that for two years as a student at Ball State. If you do that, you cheat yourself. It is my job as the head coach to make sure that these young men don't cheat themselves. We are going to achieve in the classroom. We are going to be a program of character and a program of integrity. We talk constantly about what character is and what integrity is. The one thing think that I know is that character wins in life and character wins out on that field. Those are the kind of guys we want to attract here; those are the kind of guys that have the passion and value of knowing what a degree can do for them. Also, the guys will understand the passion it takes to play this great game of football. This program is going to have people in it that respect each other. If we respect each other, then we are going to take the opportunity to lean on each other and hold each other accountable. When you have accountability on a team, then you have a chance to be very successful. We are going to have a program that expects to win, expects to win. And by playing with great toughness, playing with great effort and understanding the details, then we will do that. But we will make sure that we are going to be accountable and expect to win, expect to win in the classroom, expect to win out in the community and expect to win on the field."
On the attitude of the program:
"We will have an attitude about us of winning. How we define attitude is blame no one, expect nothing and do something. That's our job as a student-athlete and that's our job as coaches and that's where it all starts."
On bringing success from other places to San Diego State:
"As I mentioned, we are going to be a program that is going to be accountable to each other and a team that really leans on each other. I've been fortunate at some of the stops I've been able to make and some of the places I've been able to coach that the football teams that represented the University in all three areas of academics, the social behavior and championships, were all teams that lean on each other, that have great respect for each other, and that were accountable for each other."
On preparations for the season:
"Ralph Waldo Emerson said that, `Success comes to those who prepare.' Well our preparation started today. We look forward to it; we are ready to hit the ground running and get this thing going."
SDSU Player Quotes
Quarterback Ryan Lindley
On his first impression:
"It was great. He came in and just completely commanded the room, commanded our respect this morning. I think it's something we need right now. He's bringing a lot of discipline to this program. He talked about that his biggest thing is respect. He told us this morning his three biggest things are respect, trust and being a family. I think that's the biggest thing this team needs. With the amount of talent we have, it's already there on the field. As far as the mental aspect and getting into the game, that's what we really need right now."
On what Coach Hoke expects from the team:
"It was a lot about effort. He wants us to be a tough team. He seemed really adamant about that this morning when I talked to him. I think he's the guy who will be able to change things."
On the offense that Coach Hoke is looking for:
"He talked about being a defensive coach and that he likes to be balanced (on offense). He likes to have a good running game and a good passing game. I really like what he was talking about this morning. I think we're going to have a tough defense and a tough offense. We're going to hit the ground running."
About what kind of coach the student-athletes wanted:
"(The administration asked us) what we wanted as far as traits and attributes that different coaches have. We all brought up blindly, not knowing about coach Hoke, that we just wanted a guy who was a stickler, a disciplinarian and a tough guy. That's what Coach Hoke is. He really brought it all to the table."
On whether or not he thinks toughness is missing from the football program:
"I think guys are working hard. There's always extra stuff that you can do. I think that having a coach like that who is going to come in with that attitude is going to push guys to the next level. He's going to make them work harder. It's going to build that toughness."
Linebacker Luke Laolagi
On his thoughts about Coach Hoke so far:
"So far, I'm pretty excited. We brought in a winner and he wants to win. This is my last season, so I'm ready to win."
On what excites him about playing for Coach Hoke:
"He played linebacker and I play linebacker. He's a fiery guy and a defensive-minded coach. I'm pretty excited about that."
On the similarities of SDSU's football program and Ball State's program when Coach Hoke was hired:
"We want to win now. That's exciting to see that he turned that program around and we want to turn around."
Wide Receiver Vincent Brown
On the question marks about the offense Coach Hoke will run:
"We still haven't found out things like that yet. I'm sure as time goes on and we meet with him, he'll explain it."
On the change in coaching staffs:
"At first we were all kind of in shock, like is this is really happening? Now that everything is settled, we are just figuring out where we need to go now, what steps we need to take to get the program in the right direction."
On whether or not it was hard to accept the new coach:
"I'm excited about him being the coach. We just (need to accept it) and we have to live with whatever happens."
SDSU Search Committee Member
Former Aztec Quarterback Brian Sipe
On what the committee was looking for during the search process:
"Well, we were looking for someone to take us to the next level. I have a lot of respect for Chuck Long and his staff. They laid a very important foundation that we needed here, but Brady is clearly a guy who can take us where we want to go. Today, the community got a chance to see where this guy's heart is. We're going to be proud of this program."
On what makes Hoke the guy who can take SDSU to another level:
"As a former player, I don't know that I can tell you that because that's how I responded to him. He's kind of a meat and potatoes guy who is really honest. You know exactly how he feels about things. He is a hard worker. I coach up at Santa Fe Christian, it's a small school, and I remember him stopping through five years ago asking if there were any athletes when he was at the University of Michigan. To go that deliberately through this community to look for talent really left an impression with me at that time. So I was delighted to see him as one of the three final selections."
On if it is important to reach out to the community in terms of large and small high schools:
"I believe so. I heard that from everybody I've talked to with respect to the new coach. A lot of my former teammates here at San Diego State contacted me and told me what they believe. I will tell you what, San Diego State is unique. It's unique in that it's a Southern California team and people need to understand the culture around here. The athletes already understand this culture so we need to make sure we're getting as many (athletes) as we can out of San Diego."