<p> December 19, 2012</p><p> and 90,000, which would make it the second An interview with: highest-attended game in our 77-year history. Obviously a lot of excitement to this matchup and this game. RICK BAKER It's the first time the Aggies and the Sooners have ever faced one another in a bowl COACH BOB STOOPS game. For the Aggies, it's the 13th time they've COACH KEVIN SUMLIN played in the Cotton Bowl. For Oklahoma, it's just their second appearance, with their last one coming after the 2001 season in the 2002 Cotton Bowl. CHARLIE FISS: Welcome, everyone, to A lot of story lines, two great programs, our media teleconference. This is our first two terrific coaches, and we're certainly looking opportunity to publicly showcase our two head forward to a great week here in North Texas. coaches and we're excited about the opportunity. Thanks, guys. Thank you, coaches. Those who are participating on today's Charlie, I'll turn it back to you. teleconference are Rick Baker, president and CEO CHARLIE FISS: Thank you, Rick. of the AT&T Cotton Bowl, head coach Kevin We'll poll the media now for questions. Sumlin from Texas A&M University, the representative from the Southeastern Conference Q. I'd like to ask both coaches about and the designated visiting team this year, and the familiarity between the two since you guys head football coach Bob Stoops from the coached together, will that help you in the University of Oklahoma, the representative from preparation? the Big 12 Conference and the designated home COACH SUMLIN: I don't know how much team. that is. When I was there, that was five years ago. Right now we will call on Rick first for you We talk a lot about other things outside of football. to welcome our two coaches before we move on to But I don't know that that makes a huge difference questions from the media. in this game. RICK BAKER: Coach Sumlin, Coach I think you go through a season, and after Stoops, welcome, and thank you for being here 12 games you are who you are. There will be today. Obviously everyone here at the AT&T some wrinkles, but we haven't watched much Cotton Bowl Classic is completely excited about Oklahoma video over the course of the last five this matchup, two outstanding programs, both years up until really the last couple weeks. I don't 10-2. Texas A&M with the great success they've think that plays a huge role in a game like this. had in their first season in the SEC, and Oklahoma COACH STOOPS: I agree totally. Plus again champions, co-champions, of the Big 12 you have the entire season to evaluate, so you get Conference. The eighth time in the last 14 years familiarity by watching all the tape, which we both for the Sooners. Obviously it's a terrific matchup, do. I think you get familiar with anyone you're certainly one of the best of the bowl season. playing by watching so much tape. This game is going to be great for the City of Arlington and all of North Texas. I've been at Q. Going back to that familiarity, what the Cotton Bowl over 20 years now, and this was stuck out to you about Kevin? by far the toughest ticket that we've had in all of COACH STOOPS: I've known Kevin for a the years that I've been here. long time. Incredibly bright in everything that he It looks like it's projecting somewhere that we'll have a crowd of somewhere between 85,000</p><p>08b6f00b2171cc39aa48fdeb4b40d8 1 90.doc visit our archives at asapsports.com does. Relates well with his players. Excellent I think our people here, Alan Cannon in recruiter. All the things you want. particular has done a great job with handling all of Kevin was great here, and he's doing a his media opportunities, not stretching him too thin. great job there. Just getting back from the Leno show the other night, he got back in here the other day, he Q. What did you expect when he left just said, Hey, coach, I'm ready to play some the program? football. He's through with all that. Fortunately COACH STOOPS: I expected him to do we're out of school now. He can get back to just well for all the reasons I just said. I knew he'd hire being with his teammates and practicing. quality people, which none of us do it alone, and Just talking with him yesterday, he looks he's done that with an excellent staff. excited to just be off the circuit, be back in the COACH SUMLIN: That's my new agent huddle calling plays. right there (laughter). Q. With all the success he's had, being Q. Coach Stoops, how much did the a freshman, is there a time that you will or have 2002 game at Texas A&M influence your hiring you had a conversation with him about, Hey, of Kevin there at Oklahoma? we're just getting started? I don't know where COACH STOOPS: I had great respect for his mindset is, but he knows this is just the Kevin before he was the O-coordinator there when beginning. they beat us. Heck, Kevin and I used to run COACH SUMLIN: We had that around South Florida together recruiting when he conversation the other day. It's different for was at Purdue, I was at K-State. We were chasing different people at different times. He is a the same kids all the time. freshman. It is the beginning. People are asking, But, again, I've known what a quality What are you going to do now? coach Kevin was before then. But at that time I With success, there comes other things. I liked the fact he was familiar with the conference, think we've got a lot of the things in place here to too. That more than anything. help him, which really helped him through the process originally, and we've got a lot of things in Q. Do you have maybe a single favorite place that are going to continue to help him handle or two memories of Kevin's time there with you a lot of these things. in Norman? I think what you can tell doing some of the COACH STOOPS: Yeah, but I can't speak media, some of the spots that he was in, either in about it to the media on the line (laughter). New York or L.A. or whenever, I think you can see he's pretty mature for a 20-year-old. Q. Any for a family paper? We're going to help him through the COACH STOOPS: I think sharing the process. But, like I said, shoot, he's happy to be championships that we won together. We had a lot back here in the building, sitting in meetings, of good quality wins and championships together watching video. that we all, with our wives and kids, we always made sure we enjoyed 'em. Q. Kevin, your time at OU, when you look back at that, what sticks out the most Q. Kevin, I wanted to ask you a little bit about it to you? about Johnny. Everybody got to see him play COACH SUMLIN: I think it's kind of like and see his personality on the field, but it Bob said, I was fortunate to come into a situation wasn't until after the regular season that after the national championship, really compete for people got to talk to him. Is everybody getting a couple more, be a part of some great, great to see the true Johnny now on and off the teams with some great coaches, be involved in field? some great football games. COACH SUMLIN: I think everything that's I think the biggest thing that I got out of the happened to him over the last couple, three weeks, experience in five years was the culture that Bob for really a kid who just turned 20 during that had created, the winning culture, how to do things, period, I think might have been the night we were how things were done at Oklahoma. in Orlando, it's pretty obvious that at this point he's That's not easy to do. That's something handled it very well just from a media standpoint. that obviously changed, was brought back when he</p><p>08b6f00b2171cc39aa48fdeb4b40d8 2 90.doc visit our archives at asapsports.com got there, and has continued. It's something that there he goes. He just has a great knack, an over the course of those five years, if there's one instinct for avoiding pressure and creating plays. big impact, I'd say that's probably the biggest thing You face other quarterbacks who can run that I got out of that five years. pretty well, but I don't know to the degree to run and pass like he's been able to do. Q. When you talk about how to run a program, how to create that culture, what is the Q. How hard is that to approximate in biggest thing you learned from Bob that you've practice? applied to your own program that maybe you COACH STOOPS: It's really hard. It's didn't know before you got there? difficult. We've got a young quarterback that's COACH SUMLIN: I don't think there's any really a quality guy that's got excellent feet, Trevor one thing. I think there's a million ways to skin a Knight, young guy for us, doing a nice job and cat. But there are a number of things. There's not working hard at it. We tell him, Make sure you're one thing you can pinpoint. pulling the ball down and running around about I think how you approach things daily, the every other time. We have to get used to handling consistency, the honesty with kids in your program, coverage when they scramble and trying to keep the trust level that you create, the expectations that him in. you create, it's very obvious that those things are probably the biggest things. Q. Kevin, could you talk about But it's not one single thing that I took from particular problems with losing Kliff at this time that. I try to take as much as possible. I wish we as you prepare for the Cotton Bowl and if could have taken some of the players, but we you've designated somebody to be the couldn't do that (laughter). play-caller in the game? There's so many things that go into that, COACH SUMLIN: We're not going to it's hard to just describe one thing. depart from what we do at this point of the year. I talked earlier last week about not being in a hurry Q. Is there a game or a moment that to hire anybody. We have an offensive staff that sticks out to you that when you think back to understands what we're doing, made some your time at OU you are always going to adjustments. David Beaty is going to be moving to remember fondly? working with the quarterbacks. Clarence COACH SUMLIN: There's a bunch of McKinney has been with us for five years, so has great wins, a bunch of great games. The Big 12 B.J. Anderson, our offensive line coach. It's really championship game in Kansas City against been kind of a team effort anyway. Nebraska, that was a great moment. A lot of great But David moving with the quarterbacks, wins. dealing with that, really a group effort. But I think the culture that he created, not only Clarence McKinney will be calling the plays for this for the team, but as he said, for our families, game. because our families, our wives are still close. It's a complete family culture. Q. Johnny said one of the things that As I said, it's not just one single worked so well for him this year was to drop experience in five years; there's a bunch of things back and figure it out, sort of like high school, that go into a great experience like I had at in that he really wanted to work more within the Oklahoma. offense for the coming years. He has had great success doing it his way, but do you think that Q. Bob, I was wondering if you could will make the team better if he plays more describe the unique challenges in preparing for within the offense? Johnny Manziel and anybody you can compare COACH SUMLIN: I think he got better him to that you had to prepare for in the past? doing that this year. Certainly from week one to COACH STOOPS: Unique in that he's the week 12, there's a big difference in his ability to go leading rusher. It makes it really difficult. He through his progression - probably not as much as throws the ball so well, throws it so well on the run. we would like, but there was an attempt to do that. But he's one of those guys, maybe sometimes the He did get better over the course of the year. worst thing you can do is cover everybody because The dramatic improvements at that position can come in the off-season when he's able</p><p>08b6f00b2171cc39aa48fdeb4b40d8 3 90.doc visit our archives at asapsports.com to not only study the opponent but study himself, you give them a little break for Christmas, then you see where his weaknesses are, see how to get meet up back down there and get back at it. better. He understands that. Everybody has to manage it. So you just Yeah, I mean, I think he's improved this do it the best you can. year. It's kind of hard to get a whole lot better here CHARLIE FISS: Thank you for all your before January 4th. I think he understands where good work today and we will say good-bye to our he needs to get to and where he wants to be. head coaches and let them go back to their That's a positive trait of his because he's always preparations for the game. looking to get better. Coach Sumlin, Coach Stoops, we really appreciate you being with us today and look Q. The offensive line must be forward to seeing you in a couple weeks. frustrated with not knowing where he is, right, COACH STOOPS: Thanks, Charlie and blocking for him, all of a sudden they turn Rick. Appreciate it. Kevin, I will talk to you. around and he's gone. Is that something they COACH SUMLIN: Thank you, Bob. Merry talk about a little bit? Christmas. Thank you, Charlie and Rick. COACH SUMLIN: Actually, it makes it easier on them. He's probably avoided more FastScripts by ASAP Sports sacks than anything and helped out the offensive line. I know Luke made a big joke about that in Orlando, not knowing where he is. But those guys appreciate him. I think what he does, he gives our team an opportunity to keep playing and not quit - not just the offensive line, but the whole team. The play is alive as long as he's running around, so you better keep playing. </p><p>Q. Coach Stoops, it looked like for a while you might go to a BCS bowl. Any disappointment about not going to a bowl like that? What is the pulse of your team and community right now about playing in the Cotton Bowl? COACH STOOPS: I think the initial day or two when that all happens, everybody has that reaction to a degree. But it didn't last long, I don't believe. We sold our tickets the first day they went on sale. I know our team understands the quality, what great people are operating the Cotton Bowl, what a great game it is. Then the great respect for what Texas A&M has done this year. We realize what a good game it is. We realize that the whole public out there is anticipating the game. Everybody here is fired up about it.</p><p>Q. You also had a lot of experience with these long layoffs. I don't know if it varies from team to team, but with having a veteran quarterback, does it help? COACH STOOPS: Everybody manages it the best they can. You feel you get the number of practices and the work that you really need, then</p><p>08b6f00b2171cc39aa48fdeb4b40d8 4 90.doc visit our archives at asapsports.com</p>