What kind of league will Big 12 be? Coaches provide a few clues

Big 12 football teams kick off fall football camps in about two weeks. The time for words, prognostications and hype will then be over.

This will be a far more competitive league than many expect. Sure, there will be programs who have some hurdles with depth and talent, but week in and week out there will be games that go to the wire regardless of where both teams are in the league standings.

This will be a league of talented quarterbacks, premier ball carriers and big physical offensive lines. It will be a conference where, at times, there is little defense. That is why executing on offense with capable quarterbacks at the helm is key.

In its inaugural Big 12 year, Utah brings a physical defense that will make a mark in the league right out of the chute.

BYU is a team that is trying to adjust and recruit to the standard required. It will know soon enough if they’ve made progress from a two-win league season in 2023.

Placing BYU and Utah back in the same conference automatically establishes the rivalry as the best in the conference in Year 1.

But before we turn to cleats on the field, here’s a review of some of the more interesting quotes that fell out of Big 12 media days in Las Vegas this past week.

A year ago, West Virginia was picked to finish last in the Big 12, but ended up fourth. Mountaineers coach Neal Brown addressed this year’s predictions of finishing seventh:

“We’re picked seventh in the league, and we’re not in most of these preseason top-25 (polls), so I think there’s a similar dynamic that works with this team, too.

“ We’ve got to make some noise in the playoff,” he said. “Commissioner (Brett) Yormark spoke about — we are the most competitive league. I would say we are the deepest football league in the entire country. TCU had a nice run (in 2022), but we’ve got to get more wins in the playoff once we get in.”

Baylor’s Dave Aranda succinctly explains why his Bears had an uptick in recruiting ratings:

When asked for the reason for recent recruiting success, he said, “ We’re paying players .”

Asked if it was that simple, Aranda replied: “Yes.”

Texas Tech coach Joey McGuire commented on his incoming four-star freshman QB Will Hammond :

“Will Hammond had an absolutely incredible spring,” McGuire said. “To give you an idea, he threw 25 touchdowns and only four interceptions in every competitive throw in the spring. I’ve never seen a freshman do that. He was with the ones, twos, and threes … He did it against everybody.”

On senior RB Tahj Brooks:

“... I’m on the side that he’s the best running back in the country,” McGuire said. “I’ll argue that. Tahj Brooks, somebody asked me earlier, it’s gonna sound kinda funny but he’s kind of the security blanket. Whenever chaos is going on in the game and we’ve been through some injuries at quarterback, he’s the guy that is there and is steady.”

Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati, on how this year will be different for the Bearcats:

“We were not a very disciplined football team last year, and it cost us games,” Satterfield said. “We implemented an offseason program, the most difficult program offseason that I’ve seen and been through, and our players will attest to that. Hopefully that translates to more success on the field.”

Matt Campbell, Iowa State, on returning 18 starters in the NIL era:

“The only way you’re really going to have success is retention and development. We just are not going to ever be the people that have the most money or most NIL money. We’ll have to be the team that develops our players better than anybody.”

Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman on bringing in former Utah State coach Matt Wells to work with QB Avery Johnson:

“There’s a great mesh there. There’s a great comfort between the two guys. They are on the same page an awful lot. And I know that Avery, as well as our offensive staff, coaches, Coach Riley, our offensive coordinator, are excited about some of the things that Coach Wells will bring to K-State, especially the pass game. And everybody wants to know what the heck we’ll do, but we’ll wait until the fall to unveil that.”

TCU’S Sonny Dykes on making the 2022 national championship game , missing bowl eligibility in 2023:

“(We) really didn’t do the little things right that it takes to win football games, and that really boils down to coaching. We’ve got to do a better job coaching this year. Certainly didn’t get the carry-over from the national championship run in ′22 to ′23 that we wanted to.”

Kansas coach Lance Leipold explains why he brought in Jeff Grimes as the new offensive coordinator:

“Coach Aranda and Jeff Grimes and that staff won the Big 12 conference. And watching what they did when they played us and other things, I just thought we’d have a good fit. Some had knowledge of the conference, and then when we met and we talked about what we wanted to continue to do, did we have the right alignment once again, and I feel very confident that we do with Jeff as a coordinator.”

UCF coach Gus Malzahn on what he expects this season:

“Obviously, a goal of ours is to win the league. Probably the first two (teams), possibly three have a chance at the top 12. That’s been a long time coming, and it should have happened a long time ago.”

Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham on recruiting :

”Right now in recruiting, our coaches aren’t our best recruiters. Our players are our best recruiters. Our players are selling our brand. Our players are telling them that our coaching staff doesn’t change.”

Arizona’s new coach Brent Brennan on getting QB Noah Fifita and other keys players from transferring:

“I would say TMac (Tetairoa McMillan) and Jacob Manu and Jonah Savaiinaea and Gunner Maldonado had more to do with keeping Noah Fifita there than I did. “The truth is these players really loved each other. Coach Fisch and that staff recruited a bunch of quality young men that were incredibly committed and connected and I think that’s what contributed to them wanting to stay.”

Houston coach Willie Fritz o n how he’s toned down in his coaching approach:

“I have some guys that came and watched us practice who played for me at Blinn, which was my first coaching job, and they all said that I’ve gotten soft,” Fritz joked. “I had to remind them that I’d get thrown in jail if I treated current players the way I treated you guys.”

Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy raised a lot of eyebrows nationally with his explanation of why he’s not suspending perhaps the nation’s top running back after a DUI arrest. Here’s what he said concerning the arrest of Ollie Gordon II:

“I’m not justifying what Ollie did,” he said during an interview with a network and then added that no one got hurt. “I thought, I’ve probably done that a thousand times in my life and, you know, which is fine, so I got lucky. People get lucky. Ollie made a decision that he wishes he could have done better.”

Gundy later followed up on X :

“My intended point today at Big 12 media days was that we are all guilty of making bad decisions. It was not a reference to something specific.”

Colorado’s Deion Sanders on how’s he judged:

“ I’m judged on a different scale , I can’t win nine games and our GPA suffers. Our GPA can’t be high and we lose another eight games. We have to win in every area. That’s the way we’re judged.

“I’m cool with that. Because we come at it a little different. So the expectation is greater. But it’s not just football. It’s been like that all my life. I’ve always had a greater expectation for myself. The expectation you have for me would never outweigh the expectation I have for myself.”

On having Tom Holmoe as his position coach with the San Francisco 49ers:

“Awesome, consistent. Not conservative, but consistent. He was awesome ... You got to understand, and this is not racial by any means, but a Caucasian man, being a (defensive back) coach in the NFL, is not often seen. And you’re talking about back then, back in the ‘90s That’s a rarity. He did the doggone thing, and I think we were the No. 1 defense in the league that year as well. So I got love for him.”

Utah’s Kyle Whittingham, who makes his Big 12 debut, spoke of the possibility of retirement:

“I take it day by day,” Whittingham said. “I’m as excited and enthused about the season as I’ve ever been. A lot of that is the excitement about going into a new conference; the new challenge, the new opportunity. But it’s just going to be a day-by-day process. I’m not getting any younger, but at the same time, I feel like I’ve got a lot of energy right now.”

“ We’re going to open here in ‘27 against the Miami Hurricanes. I probably won’t be sitting here this year, but somebody will.”

BYU’s Kalani Sitaki on low media predictions for the upcoming season, and experiencing the Big 12:

“It would be hard for me to get mad at you guys because you didn’t vote for us,” Sitake said. “What have we done to deserve the benefit of the doubt?”

“I remember when my wife was pregnant, we were trying to prepare for it. Before we had kids, we had all these opinions on how you should raise your children. Then when we had our own child, it was like we didn’t know anything. We just had to go through that experience.”

BYU athletic director Tom Holmoe on BYU’s first year competing in the Big 12:

“I love (the Big 12),” Holmoe said. “I love the comradery, the partnerships, the people, the energy, the fanbases. It’s a totally different situation for me from other conferences. Every time you play someone in the Big 12, it could be a toss-up.”

Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark isn’t backing down from his bold approach and attitude when he spoke to reporters:

“ We will be the deepest conference in America, and every week will matter. Think about where we were just 24 months ago and think about where we are today. So I will not stop until we’re the No. 1 conference in America. That’s my ambition.”