Oklahoma State University Athletics
Photo by: OSU Athletics
Gundy, Cowboys Meet With Media After Practice
December 15, 2017 | Cowboy Football
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy and selected Cowboy players met with media following Friday's practice at the Sherman E. Smith Indoor Training Center. Some of their comments:
Coach Mike Gundy
Opening Statement:
"This was our first practice in almost a week because of final exams. We'll workout tomorrow, then be off Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Then we'll begin to make travel plans for the guys to go home and meet up in Orlando on the 22nd. We're having some good practices. It's the same as last week. It won't be long now and we'll be heading out to Orlando."
On next week's early signing day:
"There's a lot going on right now with this early signing period. It's quite a bit different than it has been for forever. It's interesting, but I think it's a positive. I would expect us to sign 23 or 24 players and maybe have one left. We have to move a lot because you can't stay in one place with the way the recruiting calendar is set up."
On using a helicopter to visit recruits:
"It's the only way to go. You can cover a lot of ground and don't have to wait in traffic. It's definitely the best way to recruit in my opinion. I had to have something new and keep working at it. Traffic's an issue. In this state, players that I was going to see are spread out and the helicopter gave me a chance to start at 7:15 in the morning and finish at 5:30 while seeing every player. In Dallas, and major cities, you can get more work done in one day than you could in three days if you were driving around with all of the traffic."
On his thoughts about the early signing day:
"I think it's good. I originally wanted a July 1 signing day, as well as the December 20. This one will allow somewhat more of a level playing ground in recruiting, so I think it's a good move. It just puts a lot of stress on us during the month of December. The amount of time you can spend with a young man while recruiting, while also game-planning and spending time with our own players, it's just tough to be in all of those areas. You find a way to do it. Once you get through yesterday, it makes it a lot smoother because we're into a quiet, indoor, dead period at that time."
On getting players back after finals week:
"It's much different than it was. The arrangements with classes and the support we have with academics, these guys are much more prepared. We have 23 players that are walking in graduation and the majority of them are four-year graduates. It's so much more organized than it ever has been, that I don't see it to be an issue like it used to be."
On players' focus during practice:
"These guys are used to it and the truth is that some of them only have two finals. We used to have five or six finals. Things are set up much differently than before and they just don't have the workload that we used to during finals week. And not just athletes, but any student. It's just changed - the way we're setup - compared to what it was years ago."
On the players' motivation heading into the bowl game:
"They're competitive and they care about each other. One thing they've learned in our culture is to compete. It doesn't make a difference what their record is or what our record is, you have to compete. We have an obligation to each other to compete and that's always been the motivation for our guys."
Safety Tre Flowers
On wrapping up finals week and preparing for Orlando:
"Fortunately I didn't have any finals because I'd already graduated, so I just had a couple of online papers and everything like that, but it's just great to be around the team. We had a good break and now it's good to be practicing again. It's always fun."
On enjoying his last few weeks with the team:
"We've all been meeting up outside of football a lot recently and it's going well. It's a big senior group that we have and everybody is getting ready to go their separate ways, but we're trying to make sure that we stay together."
On the preparation heading into the Camping World Bowl:
"Individually, I'm trying to get back to being healthy. I'm using this time to go through treatments and make sure that I'm at 100 percent. And as a team, we're trying to get to 10 wins. We want to go out with 10 wins. Unfortunately, we weren't able to win the Big 12, but 10 wins is still a great accomplishment."
Wide Receiver Marcell Ateman
On playing Virginia Tech:
"It's going to be fun. It's going to be a challenge. We've heard – our coaches have told us – this is going to be the best defense that we go against. It's the best secondary we've gone against. Watching film, they're great. They've got some good guys and have some good players on the back end. It's a good defense, period, and this is going to be a good challenge for us. We're looking forward to going down there and having fun, and then when it's game time to turn it up."
On the potential of having 50-50 balls thrown between him and Virginia Tech's defensive backs:
"That's what's fun. They're going to be some high-caliber guys and this will give us something to see how good we are. Just to go out there and compete. That's what it's going to be about."
On going to another bowl:
"The bowl experience is just such a good time. Being with your friends and being at a different location, especially Orlando, is going to be nice. The weather is going to be nice. The hospitality, I'm sure, is going to be great and we get to play a good team. That's going to be the fun part."
Safety Jerel Morrow
On the first day of practice after finals week:
"We were a little rusty and we just needed to get back in the flow. The energy's there, we just need to refine it. We know what we're doing and we just need to practice harder now."
On what he's looking forward to about the bowl trip:
"I think just being in Orlando – a lot of people haven't been there. The weather is going to be nice, so everybody's just itching to get down there."
On facing Virginia Tech:
"We need to be disciplined. We need to get to the ball and we need to get turnovers. That's going make a big difference in the game."
Wide Receiver Dillon Stoner
On looking ahead to the rest of his OSU career:
"I'm just enjoying the moment and staying focused on my career here trying to be the best player that I can be. Losing the guys that we have on the team this year, we're going to have to step up as a receiving corps next year and I'm excited to see how the young guys develop. It's going to be a good year next year as well."
On his development after his second year within the program:
"I think there's always room for improvement. It was a good season and a good year, but there's still a lot of things that I need to improve on to be a better receiver. My freshman year, I was in here not really sure of the playbook. Once I got comfortable with the playbook, I could just play. You feel way more relaxed and I felt like that made my routes sharper and I was able to calm down and just read defenses and play football."
On his developing relationship with Mason Rudolph throughout the season:
"It meant a lot to have Mason's trust, especially with the senior receivers and other guys we have who have been here like Jalen (McCleskey). It means a lot to me that he trusts me and I'm just always trying to make a play whenever I can.
Coach Mike Gundy
Opening Statement:
"This was our first practice in almost a week because of final exams. We'll workout tomorrow, then be off Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Then we'll begin to make travel plans for the guys to go home and meet up in Orlando on the 22nd. We're having some good practices. It's the same as last week. It won't be long now and we'll be heading out to Orlando."
On next week's early signing day:
"There's a lot going on right now with this early signing period. It's quite a bit different than it has been for forever. It's interesting, but I think it's a positive. I would expect us to sign 23 or 24 players and maybe have one left. We have to move a lot because you can't stay in one place with the way the recruiting calendar is set up."
On using a helicopter to visit recruits:
"It's the only way to go. You can cover a lot of ground and don't have to wait in traffic. It's definitely the best way to recruit in my opinion. I had to have something new and keep working at it. Traffic's an issue. In this state, players that I was going to see are spread out and the helicopter gave me a chance to start at 7:15 in the morning and finish at 5:30 while seeing every player. In Dallas, and major cities, you can get more work done in one day than you could in three days if you were driving around with all of the traffic."
On his thoughts about the early signing day:
"I think it's good. I originally wanted a July 1 signing day, as well as the December 20. This one will allow somewhat more of a level playing ground in recruiting, so I think it's a good move. It just puts a lot of stress on us during the month of December. The amount of time you can spend with a young man while recruiting, while also game-planning and spending time with our own players, it's just tough to be in all of those areas. You find a way to do it. Once you get through yesterday, it makes it a lot smoother because we're into a quiet, indoor, dead period at that time."
On getting players back after finals week:
"It's much different than it was. The arrangements with classes and the support we have with academics, these guys are much more prepared. We have 23 players that are walking in graduation and the majority of them are four-year graduates. It's so much more organized than it ever has been, that I don't see it to be an issue like it used to be."
On players' focus during practice:
"These guys are used to it and the truth is that some of them only have two finals. We used to have five or six finals. Things are set up much differently than before and they just don't have the workload that we used to during finals week. And not just athletes, but any student. It's just changed - the way we're setup - compared to what it was years ago."
On the players' motivation heading into the bowl game:
"They're competitive and they care about each other. One thing they've learned in our culture is to compete. It doesn't make a difference what their record is or what our record is, you have to compete. We have an obligation to each other to compete and that's always been the motivation for our guys."
Safety Tre Flowers
On wrapping up finals week and preparing for Orlando:
"Fortunately I didn't have any finals because I'd already graduated, so I just had a couple of online papers and everything like that, but it's just great to be around the team. We had a good break and now it's good to be practicing again. It's always fun."
On enjoying his last few weeks with the team:
"We've all been meeting up outside of football a lot recently and it's going well. It's a big senior group that we have and everybody is getting ready to go their separate ways, but we're trying to make sure that we stay together."
On the preparation heading into the Camping World Bowl:
"Individually, I'm trying to get back to being healthy. I'm using this time to go through treatments and make sure that I'm at 100 percent. And as a team, we're trying to get to 10 wins. We want to go out with 10 wins. Unfortunately, we weren't able to win the Big 12, but 10 wins is still a great accomplishment."
Wide Receiver Marcell Ateman
On playing Virginia Tech:
"It's going to be fun. It's going to be a challenge. We've heard – our coaches have told us – this is going to be the best defense that we go against. It's the best secondary we've gone against. Watching film, they're great. They've got some good guys and have some good players on the back end. It's a good defense, period, and this is going to be a good challenge for us. We're looking forward to going down there and having fun, and then when it's game time to turn it up."
On the potential of having 50-50 balls thrown between him and Virginia Tech's defensive backs:
"That's what's fun. They're going to be some high-caliber guys and this will give us something to see how good we are. Just to go out there and compete. That's what it's going to be about."
On going to another bowl:
"The bowl experience is just such a good time. Being with your friends and being at a different location, especially Orlando, is going to be nice. The weather is going to be nice. The hospitality, I'm sure, is going to be great and we get to play a good team. That's going to be the fun part."
Safety Jerel Morrow
On the first day of practice after finals week:
"We were a little rusty and we just needed to get back in the flow. The energy's there, we just need to refine it. We know what we're doing and we just need to practice harder now."
On what he's looking forward to about the bowl trip:
"I think just being in Orlando – a lot of people haven't been there. The weather is going to be nice, so everybody's just itching to get down there."
On facing Virginia Tech:
"We need to be disciplined. We need to get to the ball and we need to get turnovers. That's going make a big difference in the game."
Wide Receiver Dillon Stoner
On looking ahead to the rest of his OSU career:
"I'm just enjoying the moment and staying focused on my career here trying to be the best player that I can be. Losing the guys that we have on the team this year, we're going to have to step up as a receiving corps next year and I'm excited to see how the young guys develop. It's going to be a good year next year as well."
On his development after his second year within the program:
"I think there's always room for improvement. It was a good season and a good year, but there's still a lot of things that I need to improve on to be a better receiver. My freshman year, I was in here not really sure of the playbook. Once I got comfortable with the playbook, I could just play. You feel way more relaxed and I felt like that made my routes sharper and I was able to calm down and just read defenses and play football."
On his developing relationship with Mason Rudolph throughout the season:
"It meant a lot to have Mason's trust, especially with the senior receivers and other guys we have who have been here like Jalen (McCleskey). It means a lot to me that he trusts me and I'm just always trying to make a play whenever I can.
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