Charlie Weis, KU Offense Monday Media Session

Aug. 13, 2012

081312aaa_15_6419942.jpegLAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas head football coach Charlie Weisand selected KU football players and assistant coaches met with the media Monday afternoon. Weis held a news conference and the players and assistants followed with a breakout media session in between the Jayhawks’ two practice sessions on Monday.

The following is a transcript of Weis’ new conference:

Kansas Head Coach Charlie Weis
On junior offensive lineman Riley Spencer:
“Just one quick thing, because I know everyone is going to say, `what is the status with Riley, because he hasn’t been out there for a week.’ He tweaked his knee about a week ago and they (the training staff) said that he was going to be gone for about two weeks and that was about a week ago. He is rehabbing right now and he should be back to practice next Tuesday. I don’t like to play mind games with the media. I really don’t think it serves much of a purpose. When I tell you a guy is day-to-day, that means they are day to day. That means I am not sure if they will be back by the next day. If a guy is going to be gone for any extended period of time, I like to try as best as I can to give you a heads up, so it’s not a guessing game all of the time.”

On the depth chart at center:
“I think the two criteria at the center position are intelligence and toughness. The kid (Dylan Admire) is a 4.0 student. I am blessed with the guys that were already here to have both (Trevor) Marrongelli and (Dylan) Admire being way up there academically. I think that the center position, more than any position on the offensive line, you need someone with that high intelligence. What he gives up in girth he makes up for it, because he is tough and he is smart. I would have no problem playing him (Admire).”

On the plan to turn the program around:
“The plan is exactly the same. It starts in strength and conditioning. That is where the whole mindset is set. The whole thing is about playing with toughness and being competitive. That is where you have to start. Before you can talk about X’s and O’s and all that other stuff like how much better everyone looks and what kind of shape they are in. Are they going to play with toughness? Are they going to play for 60 minutes? Are they going to play competitively? I think if you do all those things, even if there is a talent discrepancy, you have a chance.”

On the progress the team has made in the offseason:
“We have made significant progress, but that is all great until Sept. 1 rolls around. Then it is a whole new set of encyclopedias. I guess they don’t even make encyclopedias anymore, so that shows my age. That is a whole new story. I am pleased with a lot of different elements of our team. We are still ranked the last team in a tough conference. We have a lot of work ahead of us to start raising the bar.”

On the battle for No. 2 QB:
“Michael (Cummings) is still a little bit ahead. Neither one of them have played terrible. Neither one of them has played great. Michael has such a big arm though and he has the nudge, because he was here in the spring time when we put it in. Both Turner (Baty) and Michael have gotten better and if I had to pick somebody to play a game right now, Michael would still have the edge over Turner. It is a competition, not just a lock-down deal.”

On the philosophy of redshirting a player:
“If a guy can help us win, they are playing. We will worry about redshirts down the road. Let’s take Tre’ Parmalee for example. You guys were there the other day. He had three big plays on the day. I told you two weeks ago when I talked about him. Everyone thought I was just throwing it out there for the heck of it. I said, `this is what the kid has been doing. The whole camp has been like this.’ If the kid is maybe not in the two-deep, but he is two- and-a-half. Maybe you don’t really need to use him. Let’s sit him, because we have all these senior wide receivers. Can you tell me that everyone is going to stay healthy and that I am not going to need the guy? I don’t know what is going to end up happening, so I tell all these guys when I first get them. `Don’t plan on sitting, plan on playing and we will make a value judgment probably after the fourth game.’ After we have gotten through the first four and we get to the bye week after Northern Illinois, we will probably make a value judgment at that point on guys that we would like to try and save, if they haven’t played at that time. I am not worrying about it going in. If I need Tre’ Parmaleein the first game against South Dakota State, then I am going to play him and that will just get him better for next year when those other guys are already gone.”

On what senior wide receiver Kale Pick brings to the offense:
“If I had to rate the performances in camp, he would rate No. 1, if I had to rate performances in camp. I am not saying that he is our best receiver, but if you had to rate performances in camp, he would rate No. 1. Out of 105 guys, he would rate one. He is first guy that I would put up there if I was going to rate performances in camp. He has a great work ethic, but there are a lot of guys who have great work ethic. He has made plays, it is always great when the wide receiver makes plays. I was just talking to the scout from the [Carolina] Panthers a while ago and I said, `he is just a guy that you want on your team. He does all the little things. He takes notes, pays attention to everything you say, he is doing the little extra things.’ He is a guy that you don’t have to worry about him. He would play on every special team’s play, if you let him play on every special team’s play. He is an interesting prospect that was a quarterback two years ago. To be where he is and have his skills as a receiver that is pretty good on his part.”

On his goals for this year:
“I have said before, obviously the goal is to win as many games as you possibly can. That goes without saying. I haven’t set a number, at least publically I haven’t, internally I have one, but I could never tell you. Most importantly I think, as I have said many times before, there are just too many games that the team was out of last year. We have to get away from that. We have to get to where people say. `What happened to those guys? That used to an easy win.’ We want them to start worrying about playing you and not just saying it to be politically correct. There are already coaches in the league that, because I am here, don’t want to say something degrading. So they say, `Well, Kansas will be much improved.’ They don’t really mean that, they are just saying it to sound good. It has got to get to the point where they start worrying and hopefully that will happen this year and not next year. We are not looking for that to be a three-year project to get to that point. We are looking for that to occur this year.”