Aug. 5, 2009

Media Day Photo Gallery

Samford held its annual Football Media Day Wednesday at the new Cooney Family Field House. Below are quotes from the media day from Head Coach Pat Sullivan and players attending the event. Click on the link above to see photos from the media day. If you missed the live broadcast of the event, it will be replayed on WVSU-FM 91.1 or www.samford.edu/wvsu tonight at 10 p.m.

SAMFORD HEAD COACH Pat Sullivan

ON HAVING A YOUNG QUARTERBACK IN Dustin Taliaferro
"Obviously, we hope that he has a great year. Dustin is not only a very good football player, but he's also a really good person and a good student. He's earned our team's respect and I expect him to have a good year this year. (Assistant head coach Steve) Brickey does a great job with him and we're anxious to get out on the practice field tomorrow."

ON HIS EXPECTATIONS FOR THE OFFENSE THIS YEAR WITH BOTH Dustin Taliaferro AND Chris Evans RETURNING
"Hopefully, we'll be productive and especially more productive than we were at this time a year ago. I think the big thing for us will be our offensive line. We lost some key players there and we have a few younger guys that will have to come through for us this year. If they can do that then I think it will give us a chance to spread our wings a little bit on offense. It's been a long time since spring practice, but everybody's ready to get it started tomorrow."

ON IF HE HAS USED BEING PICKED SIXTH IN THE PRESEASON SOCON POLLS AS MOTIVATION FOR THE PLAYERS
"Oh, I don't have to mention it to them. They all see that, and realistically that's probably where we ought to be picked. Every team in this league is very tough to play against and we play four conference opponents this season when they are coming off a bye week. That's a tough deal, but there isn't anything that we can do about that. All we can focus on is getting better each day and now that the season is here, that's our main focus."

ON KNOWING THE SOCON TEAMS BETTER IN THE SECOND YEAR IN THE LEAGUE, AND THEM KNOWING SAMFORD BETTER AS WELL
"Yeah, for example, last season when Appalachian State came down here we'd seen them play on T.V., but none of our people had seen them play in person. That was the same with all of our games last season, but it was also the same with all of them against us. They hadn't seen Chris or Dustin or Bryce Smith or any of our other guys play before, so they were in the same boat. This year, we'll have a better understanding of what to expect and we'll just have to get ready to go."

ON IF THE SOCON WAS AS TOUGH AS HE EXPECTED LAST SEASON
"I think it was and I honestly think that it's only going to get tougher. The top six teams have basically stayed status quo with their coaching staffs and this year the only change was at Chattanooga. When you really look at it, Western Carolina kept getting better and better last year. We were lucky to catch them early in the season. I fully expect them to have a good football team this season and I think they'll be right there in the mix with everybody else."

ON THE NEW COONEY FAMILY FIELD HOUSE
"I'm happy for the players and I'm happy for Samford. It's really kind of overwhelming for me in some ways, especially with the way people have supported this program. It's special, and we're very thankful for everything that the donors have done to make this such a wonderful facility."

SENIOR OFFENSIVE LINEMAN Jon Weber

ON BEGINNING FALL PRACTICE
"I'm really looking forward to it. I've been getting pumped up about it all summer long. We've been working really hard in the offseason and I'm just looking forward to beginning my senior year with all of my boys on the field."

ON IF BEING THE ANCHOR OF THE OFFENSIVE LINE PUTS ANY MORE PRESSURE ON HIM
"I'm excited because we also have Thomas Gray coming back this year. Yeah, we lost some players, but a lot of guys stepped up during the spring and we've really been able to do a good job of building trust among the teammates. I think that we'll be pretty good on the offensive line. We have some guys that will need to step up this year, but they've already started doing their part by working hard all summer long."

ON HAVING A RETURNING STARTING QUARTERBACK IN Dustin Taliaferro
"It gives us a lot more confidence because we know that he's going to be even more comfortable in the pocket this year. That will definitely help us to keep our sacks down and I also think that it will help him to become an even better player. He was great last year, but this season he'll be more confident and that will help us a lot."

ON HAVING Chris Evans BACK
"He only has a little over 800 yards to go to break the Samford all-time rushing record, so our goal is to get him around 1,500 yards this year to make sure that he gets it. It's awesome to be able to block for a running back who is that good."

ON BEING ONE OF THE MOST EXPERIENCED PLAYERS ON THE OFFENSE THIS SEASON
"It's a big privilege to be a leader. I think that the best thing to do is to lead by example and I've been here working out every day this summer. We've been working hard and I believe that if I just show the kind of hard worker that I am then the younger players will follow. I feel extremely honored to be a team leader this season."

ON THE UPCOMING SEASON AND IF THERE IS ANY PARTICULAR GAME THAT HE IS LOOKING FORWARD TO
"Yeah, I'm really looking forward to the UCF game because that is where I transferred from. During my freshman year, that's where I played and I still have a lot of buddies down there on the team. It's going to be really fun to go down there and play against those guys."

JUNIOR RUNNING BACK Chris Evans

ON BEING NOMINATED FOR THE WALTER PAYTON AWARD
"Yeah, it was a big shock for me. Anytime you are recognized for your efforts and accomplishments, it's a big deal. I've got to thank my teammates, you know, for the success that I've had and them getting me on the list."

ON WHETHER THIS WAS THE BEST MOVE FOR HIM TO COME TO SAMFORD
"Oh yeah, it's been great. I don't regret it for a second. Just seeing what's been going on here at Samford, we are excited about this year and working towards our ultimate goal - a championship."

ON WHETHER HAVING ONE YEAR IN THE SOCON UNDER THEIR BELTS WILL HELP THEM COMPETE BETTER
"It helps a little bit. We aren't walking into the dark anymore. We kind of know what to expect now."

SENIOR DEFENSIVE END Rumiko Forrester

ON THE TEAM BEING PICKED SIXTH IN THE SOCON PRESEASON RANKINGS
"It's definitely a motivating factor because we're a very close-knit team and we're definitely using that to form a bond right now. By being picked sixth in the league, we'll definitely have a chip on our shoulder again and we're expecting to come out and play hard in every game. If we do that, then I don't see any reason why we can't come out on top. We're just ready to go out there on the practice field and go to work."

ON THE IDENTITY OF THIS YEAR'S DEFENSE
"We're still going to be physical and we're definitely going to work towards stopping the run. What we really want to do is to work on getting our pass defense better. It's going to be all about hard-nosed football."

ON IF RETURNING SO MANY STARTERS ON OFFENSE TAKES SOME PRESSURE OFF THE DEFENSE
"Yeah, I think so. Our offense is going to be just as good as it was last year and we also have a lot of good recruits coming in as well who are ready to step up."

ON IF THERE IS ANY PARTICULAR GAME ON THE SCHEEDULE HE IS LOOKING FORWARD TO
"Of course it will be the Elon game. It was our first SoCon game last season and it came down to the wire. It was such a close game. I still talk to some of the seniors from last year and they are still mad about it, so that's definitely the biggest game for me right now."

ON IF THERE IS A NEW ATTITUDE ON THIS YEAR'S TEAM TO GO ALONG WITH THE NEW FACILITY
"We want to come out and show everybody that donated to this building that we are going to work hard and give back to the fans by playing the best that we possibly can out on the field.

ON THE SWITCH FROM LINEBACKER TO DEFENSIVE END
"They decided to make the switch right after the season last year. They said that I'd be a faster matchup off the edge, so I've been working on it all spring."