July 2016 - Page 2 of 3 - Texas Chalk Talk

New, old pieces lead to productive offseason for Oklahoma

July 20, 2016July 20, 2016 Jennifer Fierro0 comment

The Oklahoma Sooners won last year’s Big 12 Championship and were selected to play in the College Football Playoff. And while many of those players return, head coach Bob Stoops called this season’s version a “new team.” Stoops was the last coach to address reporters July 18, the last day of Big 12 Media Days. “There are enough new pieces that it’s still a new team all together,” he said. “But I’ve been really pleased with the overall intensity and the effort and the winter conditioning and spring practices and…

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Culture is changing at Texas heading into Strong’s third year

July 19, 2016July 20, 2016 Jennifer Fierro0 comment

It didn’t take long for Texas head coach Charlie Strong to be asked about the number of wins the Longhorns have to capture so that he keeps his job. Strong was the first coach to address reporters on the last day of Big 12 Media Days July 18. “Expectations here are always high, which they should be,” he said. “There’s no reason for us to go 6-7 or 5-7. They want to see progress. Our goal is to win every game.” Then he recalled the end of last season, after…

Big 12 Media Days College Football

Campbell sees Cyclones buying into changes

July 19, 2016 Jennifer Fierro0 comment

Eight months ago Matt Campbell was the head coach at the University of Toledo. He spent his entire life there, played high school football for his dad and attended the University of Mount Union where he played for Larry Kehres, whose .929 winning percentage is tops in the nation. But in November, Iowa State University called Campbell’s number, and he answered. He said he has accomplished a lot already during the last several months, and he credits the coaching staff for the progress. “I think one of the greatest parts…

Big 12 Media Days College Football

Kansas’ Beaty — ‘I think society can learn a lot from these young men’

July 19, 2016 Jennifer Fierro0 comment

Kansas head coach David Beaty returned to his hometown of Dallas with a heavy heart because of the shootings of Dallas police officers July 7. During his portion of Big 12 Media Days July 17, Beaty said he believes college football can serve as an example to help the nation. “Young men from all walks of life, different backgrounds coming together, listening to one another, working hard together, learning from one another, fighting together for a common goal,” he said. “I think society can learn a lot from these young…

Big 12 Media Days College Football

Oklahoma State’s offseason mission — establishing the run game

July 18, 2016 Jennifer Fierro0 comment

Oklahoma State quarterback Mason Rudolph threw for 3,770 yards last season. But when head coach Mike Gundy took the podium during Big 12 Media Days July 17, he didn’t talk about the passing game; his focus was on getting the running game going. “You’re being nice by saying we struggled with the running game,” he said to chuckles. “We weren’t very good at all.” The Cowboys netted 2,430 yards on the ground as a team and 26 touchdowns. Rudolph said the running game is equally important for the success of…

For Texas Tech, Mahomes is latest in line of great quarterbacks

July 18, 2016July 20, 2016 Jennifer Fierro0 comment

Cody Hodges. B.J. Symons. Graham Harrell. Michael Brewer. Baker Mayfield. Davis Webb. Those guys all wore the Texas Tech Red Raider uniform. All had the chance to operate the high-powered offense. Now it’s Patrick Mahomes’ turn. The second-year starter is looking to build on what he accomplished last season when he led the nation with 393 yards of total offense per game and led the Big 12 Conference in passing yards, passing yards per game, points responsible for, passing touchdowns, completions per game and total offense per game. On the…

No end date for TCU’s quarterback competition

July 18, 2016July 20, 2016 Jennifer Fierro0 comment

Just as soon as he got comfortable, TCU head coach Gary Patterson talked about the one question on most fans’ minds — quarterback. While Kenny Hill is believed to be the frontrunner, Patterson emphasized that Foster Sawyer will compete with Hill for the job. The coach compared the competition to that one between Matt Joeckel and Trevone Boykin two years ago. “We will judge our quarterbacks like we always have,” he said, “whoever makes the offense better and who can lead the team and make less mistakes. I think it’s…

Bowlsby’s state of Big 12: Baylor, conference title game, revenue & more Baylor

July 18, 2016July 20, 2016 Jennifer Fierro0 comment

Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby touched on a number of items in his opening remarks that included conference expansion, the success of members on the playing field and in the classroom, revenue distribution, scheduling and player conduct. Most of the questions, however, were centered on what happened at Baylor, the sexual assault and the role the conference is playing. Bowlsby was the first speaker of Big 12 Media Days that began July 17. “We’ll get more information than the public; we already have,” he said. “We already have more than…

What will be asked during Big 12 Media Days

July 18, 2016 Jennifer Fierro0 comment

Hey fans, just checked into my room at the Omni Hotel in Dallas on the eve of the start of Big 12 Media Days for the upcoming football season. I thought I’d share some random thoughts and questions I look forward to asking all 10 head coaches July 18-19. But first up is Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby. There’s already some behind the scenes talk that Bowlsby will ask the governing board of directors to vote on conference expansion July 19. It will be interesting because Oklahoma and West Virginia…

Why the 2008 Big 12 quarterbacks have struggled in the pros

July 17, 2016July 20, 2016 Jennifer Fierro0 comment

By S.E. Esquivel Few Big 12 fans would have thought that the 2008 quarterbacks wouldn’t be leading their NFL teams to great accomplishments. After all, two Heisman Trophy winners were drafted first and second in different draft years, while a third was drafted in the first round, and a backup was drafted in the first round in yet another draft. Two Heisman finalists also were drafted in later rounds. So why haven’t these quarterbacks won multiple championships and rewrote several records like they did in college? Before we answer that,…