๐ Published on: 2024-12-02 17:22:18
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2024 SWAC Football Championship featuring Jackson State and Southern University.
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๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธ Transcript:
football championship media session we’ll begin at approximately 10:00 a.m. with our media session we do want to make a few quick announcements before we get started if you do have any questions for any of our attendees or panelists that are speaking uh during our media session if you could please uh utilize a razor and feature here on Zoom to get your question in the queue uh we ask that you please uh limit your questions to One initial question if there are several questions there in the queue if we do have additional time uh feel free to re ra your hand we’ll work our way back uh to get additional questions answered uh we ask you please uh wait to be acknowledged prior to asking your question and please ensure that your line is actively uh muted unless you actively asking a question we’ll begin at approximately uh 10:00 a.m. we’ll be joined by SWAT commissioner Dr Charles mclen from 10:15 to 10:30 we’ll be joined by coach Terence greges with Southern University and from 10:30 to 10:45 we’ll be joined by coach TC Taylor with Jackson State we’ll pause momentarily appreciate your patience all right once again for our media attendees participating on our call if you do have uh questions we ask you please you ask raise your hand feature to get your question in the queue with that being said happy to be joined by SWAT commissioner Dr Charles mlen good morning commissioner good morning Andrew and good morning to everyone here uh before I get started I would like to send a heartfelt condolence to the family of medrick berett the student athlete uh that passed at Alabama and Amma hearts and prayers go uh to the family uh tragic and just want you to know that the swag family is thinking and praying uh for the family uh second would would like to say congratulations to coach Taylor and Coach Grace for making it to the SWAT championship game uh outstanding season for both coaches both institutions and are looking forward to a great Championship uh this Saturday so with that I will pause and we open it up for questions once again if you do have questions please please you li to raise your hand feature to get your question in the queue floor is now open for questions first question goes to James Hill good morning uh hope everybody is well uh can you talk a little bit about the state of the swack in terms of media eyeballs coverage circulation and those who are uh getting an opportunity to enjoy the swack if you will well Mr Hill we haven’t received all of the numbers uh from our Media Partners uh but the initial indication is that uh those numbers still remain extremely high uh last year we know from a digital perspective we had 23 million hours watched uh just on the digital not on the linear side uh we get those numbers probably three or four after uh each game is played so we’re still compelling that uh those lead the nation and FCS attendance again um this game on Saturday will be broadcast on ESPN 2 uh which will give us additional eyeballs as well so we’re trending uh to be at the top again as far as attendance as well as those numbers that we had last year from a media perspective as for as the number of hours watched which you know again in this era you have to take the numbers in linear but the digital numbers are equally important and equally strong so we like like where we are at this point in time the ongoing conversation of expansion uh from time to time that topic is on the table when we think about expansion with Brands like uh the Tennessee State University even a North Carolina entt uh what goes to your mind when we think about the discussion of expansion well I think we’ve been pretty uh clear on what our position is we were extremely happy to bring in Florida A&M and bethon cookman University we will remain uh flexible and diligent in this Arena of expansion and we always like to be proactive not reactive thank you so much sir you’re welcome next question goes to Dr kaville this is Dr inside the HBCU Sports lab good morning commissioner good morning Dr kille I had a chance to like many people probably got a chance to see the meeting that you had with the Board of Supervisors and you Pro provided a financial update so I won’t belor that point that information is clearly out there but if you would uh are you able to provide you know a strategic plan uh you I’m sure have one I don’t know where you are in terms of the years on that so whether it is providing a yearlong update or maybe one or five years where is your vision along with the ch councelors and presidents of the swack in collaboration where is your vision for where you see the swack over the next 5 years if you will yeah as you know we developed a strategic plan that plan is constantly uh updated uh and we work with our membership to ensure that that plan includes their vision and that’s ultimately where our strategic plan comes from and that is where the membership wants to go and I would say you know we are within what we established six years ago we’re ahead of we created a 10-year strategic plan and we’ve updated that plan quite a bit that call for strengthening the academic component which ultimately has happened when you look at our APR rates when you look at our graduation rates they have significantly increased we wanted to financially improve our position not only within the conference but within the membership and increase our distribution to our members ship and we are well on track uh in doing that as well we wanted to make sure that we got additional games on linear television and to expand our entire brand uh we were fortunate enough this year to get all of our football games on some form um of Television whether that was on the digital side or the linear side uh the plan for that is to expand that uh basketball has increased this year about 45% so they going to be more games on basketball this year men and women and we want to expand that not only just for basketball but all of our Sports so we’re continually working uh on that plan as well so when you start talking about growth uh and growth of the conference we want to make sure that we continue to be and have an integral say in the direction of where the NCA goes uh we talked about this a little earlier about the amount of people that are on those NCA committees to make sure that we have the say so and have some input uh in the direction that we go so we also wanted to increase our footprint uh within the NCA structure and I think we’ve done that as well so as this conference continues to grow as we continue to gain The credibility nationally as we continue to compete uh on a national basis and win some of those games and the nation sees us it elevates the conference which is the back part of that plan so there has to be a lot of work done on the front end in order for us to achieve that on the back end you know make no mistake about it we want to be the preeminent the strongest conference not just FCS conference not just black college conference still a lot of work uh to be done but you have to get your academic straight you have to get your finances straight you have to get all of those things in order to be able to continue to etch up uh and finally uh I would be remiss Dr Cavell if I did not talk about president Quinton Ross being on the division one board of directors and the finance committee he’s at the highest level he took credibility it took years in order for us to get there so as we talk about strengthening the conference and achieving all of our goals so our student athletes can get in get the dollars that they need to be educated and be put back out uh in society where they can make impacts provide for their families and at the end of the day that is our ultimate goal to take the historically underserved educate them through this world of sport to where they can get out and make a significant difference in society thank you Dr mccullin thank you Andrew yes sir next question goes to Doc Holiday Doc Holiday excuse me Doc Holiday with HBCU over how you doing today commissioner doing fine Mr holiday how are you doing today I’m doing good I’m doing good uh the recent uh fights happened over the weekend um with the rivalry games uh what was your plan as far as what you did with the Jack state Alabama State game uh what are your plans to try to implement this for the next season uh when it comes to fines and suspensions uh are you more likely going to stay be stay the same or are you going to get tougher with penalties what we saw from this past weekend well we will evaluate that uh we’ll get the membership in and if you take a look at what our penalties were they were pretty stiff I’m pretty sure you saw when you say this weekend I’m assuming you’re meeting the past weekend because this weekend uh there were several fights at the FBS level I just saw where uh the Big 10 did a $100,000 F those suspensions uh at our level we did 25,000 and we suspended quite a number of student athletes so uh we have evaluated this we will take it back not only to our athletic directors senior women’s administrators as well as our presidents and see if we need to strengthen that uh there has been some discussion about us taking a look at flag uh planting at the 50 yard line and whether or not that’s something that should not be allowed we haven’t gotten that far yet that will be part of the discussion in allseason thank you sir sure next question goes to Perry Daniels good morning commissioner good morning M Davis commissioner um there seems to be a a movement around the country to move away from the divisional structured format uh is there any conversation in the swack on moving away from that type of structure and just to a conference uh as opposed to the two divisions yes we have had that discussion and those discussions are ongoing uh it starts with the football coaches and their input on which direction they would like to see uh the athletic directors and the senior woman’s administrators will make that ultimate decision that is a decision that is made by the membership not the conference office uh once uh we discuss it and if there is a change then we will Implement uh that change so yes there there are discussions but it rests with uh the athletic directors and the senior woman’s administrators to make that final decision and commissioner there was some discussion uh this year during the football season about the quality of officials um how would the Commissioner’s Office rate the quality of officiating in football in in the southwestern Athletic Conference well we evaluate our football uh on a week- toe basis and then once we uh conclude the season we go back we meet with the coordinator we look at all calls so you know I will fall um a little short today by giving a grade without having reviewed all of the film in the totality uh we strive very diligently to keep football officiating at a high level I can tell you though that part of our issue within the southwestern Athletic Conference is we’ve lost quite a few officials uh going up to our league so we realize that we’re a league that we have to go go out recruit uh attract and do all that we can to retain our quality officials but the bigger leagues are coming to get them so that means that we have to have a robust training program so we evaluate our officiate evaluate our coordinated officials uh obviously we have a officiating committee within the S SW and the ads that we’ll take a look at it and postseason and then we’ll make those adjustments from there but we always strive to have adjustments in our offish officiating and to provide the highest quality of officiating that we possibly can thank you sir you’re welcome next question goes to toota Stapleton good morning commissioner McCullen how are you doing doing fine ma’am how are you I’m great thank you thank you um I had a chance as many others to um look at the board of I guess it was the board of Southern Board of um directors or um you were talking about the ncaa’s um 105 rule for the preseason rosters um and then you I think you also talked a little bit about the NCAA settlement um and how the swack schools are paying into it but we won’t actually benefit from it um can you elaborate a little bit um because you said that we’re in a financially good space can you elaborate a little bit about um how the NCAA settlement will directly a affect the swack and what um what you’re implementing to help um with that funding that we won’t be receiving well I think you really have to go back and take a look at the settlement the settlement hasn’t been approved yet so there’s a lot that we don’t know uh the 105 is the proposed football roster limit so instead of having 60 three you know partial scholarships that you can fund to make 63 full um is going to be 105 so you can do what you want up to the 105 you can opt in or opt out if you don’t opt in you won’t be able to give name image and likeness dollars so the settlement uh still has to be approved uh what we talked about in that board meeting was that the southwest and Athletic Conference total payment to the settlement is approximately $30 million which over the course of 10 years the schools are going to end up paying about $3 million or $300,000 do per year uh the conference will continue to try to generate corporate Partnerships through our television Revenue through all of the means that we have to help the schools uh make up that $300,000 but there are some things that will happen through uh the NCAA so for example a lot of those dollars for the first three years are not going to have restrictions on them so therefore where you would normally get money that was specifically for academics or specifically for some other area schools are going to have the freedom and the flexibility of moving those Dollars around we think that that’s going to help uh some as well as far as making sure that the greatest need of the institutions are met but we’re still learning uh a lot from where we are and ultimately where UL ultimately this settlement is going uh there couldn’t be a lot of changes uh between now and when the judge makes those final hearings and rulings so right now we’re just kind of trying to stay ahead of the process but when it comes to name image and likeness we are for it uh we think that this kind of levels the playing field some so the southwestern Athletic Conference schools can get in from an Institutional standpoint and as they generate those dollars be able to give those directly uh to those student athletes that deserve the name image likeness dollars um may I ask a follow-up question yes um so this question is um just piggybacking off of generating um more Revenue um the swack Championship is one of the um Premier Events in which you’re able to generate a lot of revenue for swack schools um is there any plan in place to possibly um further monetize the swack championship by possibly placing it at um a a certain venue for a couple of years and getting a big uh brand sponsorship um similar to um I guess like the M swack challenge or something something that would um incentivize the swack Championship being that it is one of the um Premier FCS um games well to be clear I swag Championship generates more money uh for our individual institution than the celebration Bowl does um we do have major sponsors that are attached to our swag Championship our title sponsor is Pepsi our presenting sponsor is General Motors uh Jackson State will host that game this year so they will be able to retain all of the revenue that’s generated from ticket sales from parking uh from their local sponsorships again we don’t ask to see their books but we do know uh that Jackson State generated over $1.5 million the previous time that they host it a lot of the dollars that are distributed back to the schools are from our corporate sponsorship uh program so not only does Jackson get to keeps those keep those dollars they’re able to get that are generated from the overall corporate partner program uh if you go back and you look at the history of the swag championship game when I became commissioner in 2018 the Council of presidents had voted to make that the last year of the swag Championship because we were at a neutral location uh the swack football championship literally took all of the revenue it almost bankrupt the southw Athletic Conference to the point to where the council voted not to have a game just sent our champion to the Celebration Bowl moving that game back on campus has not only re-energized our Championship it has made it something that fans are excited about as well as generating a tremendous amount of revenue for the institution as well as the city that the game is played in so our Council our athletic directors we talk about this every year do you want it to move to a central location or do you want to keep it as is and each and every time they have voted to keep it the as the current format is where the home institution gets to H thank you so much commissioner Clen you’re welcome all right we’ll try to get one more quick question a final question Doc Holiday commissioner uh over the summer we had a discussion about um the swag championship game and the participants in there uh you told me that there the swag Champion where the Division champion might have at least two losses uh in the division how do you feel about prediction now well clearly I was wrong uh but I do think uh we were as competitive as I thought uh doc uh and I think that was my initial thought uh that the swack was going to be very competitive and I think the thing that we missed you know uh not just me but the individuals that were saying who’s going to finish first second you know and third no one saw Jackson State no one saw Southern having the seasons that they had thinking that they were possibly going to be rebuilding but that’s what the southwestern Athletic Conference is all about we don’t know but I do think if you go back and you look at the games that were lost by certain teams by you know single digits you know there are some teams that very well finish four- seven that could have been nine and2 you know if they had a field goal here or another touchdown there that passes would dropped so I think this was one of our most competitive Seasons uh but congratulations to what both Southern University did and Jackson State did it’s a testament to coach Taylor and Coach Grace as to what they have put out there on the field and the rigors of the southwestern Athletic Conference we saw where Valley went in and be a very good Florida ANM team so you can’t let up any week within the southwestern Athletic Conference so it was very competitive and I’m very very proud enthusiastic as to what uh we were able to accomplish this year on the grid thank you for your answer thank you all right commissioner I know we’ve went over your time we do appreciate your uh patience and I hope you have a great rest of your day thank you yes sir all right we now move over to Southern University we’ll be joined by coach Grace once again if you do have questions we ask you please utilize the raise your and feature to get your question in the queue with that being said happy to be joined by coach Grace with Southern University good morning coach good morning Andrew how are you doing great coach and uh appreciate you as always taking some time out of your schedule to join us coach if you could please start us out uh just with an opening statement obviously at the bay you classic just kind of recapping that game and then previewing the upcoming championship at Jackson State well yeah uh last week uh on Saturday we uh participated in the 50 51st annual Bayou Classic and uh it did not disappoint um tremendous crowd great lunching uh all the uh the the career fairs and everything they had health faires all those things were well was a well attended game like I said it was an outstanding crowd the players were fired Up played uh played well um you know we were fortunate to come out with the win um 2414 um you know and we were we were glad that we were able to send the seniors out uh on that last byou classic with the win and and just the win in general and we wanted to do that for the Jaguar Nation you know this week uh we have the uh we have an opportunity to represent the Western Division and head to Jackson State or to Jackson Mississippi to play Jackson State in the uh SW championship game we we you know we’ll start today or tonight rather um in our game prep and uh well the coaches are working right now and then we’ll we’ll practice tonight and we’ll prepare every every day this week um to go in and and and play against a really good Jackson State football team uh hats off to uh uh my good friend and colleague uh coach TC Taylor congratulations for being named uh coach of the year um glad to see him doing well thoughts and prayers go out to the to the Bernette family at Alabama ANM and the entire Alabama ANM family uh just know that we’re here for you we’re praying and lifting you up because we’re all one family at the end of the day and again um I think it’s it’s going to be a great a great opportunity for us to go into uh Jackson and play against a good football team uh for the championship we’re excited uh we’re preparing and we’ll be ready to go on Saturday appreciate those opening comments coach we do have several questions already there filled up in the que so please limit uh your questions just to One initial question feel free to re ra your hand if we’ve got time we will Circle our way back to get additional questions answered with that being said first question goes to Charles Bishop good morning coach Grace good morning Charles how are you I’m doing well I want to ask this question over the last three weeks we’ve seen uh Jaylen Woods your or your quarterback and I wanted to just ask like what has he brought to this offense uh uh where you’ve been able to uh I I guess continue this win streak that you’ve had over the last four weeks well J as he said before you know he prepares every day as a starter and I think all of our quarterbacks do that and he had an opportunity and a chance to to uh get a chance to start and play and play well and uh what he does is he’s a he’s a cool head and and he’s he’s uh even kill he really uh he he takes the coaching well and he really understands uh what we’re trying to do to uh facilitate our offense and and so uh you know guess you know basically just trusting what what coach Frederick our offensive coordinator and Coach Titan is the quarterback’s coach is coaching them to do I think that’s allowed him to uh number one to get great experience and number two to have some success of moving on offense forward next question goes to James Hill hey coach Graves how are you sir I’m doing well thank you how you doing I’m blessed I’m blessed congratulations on the Bayou Classic Victory um talk about your defense headed into Jackson what you’d like to see on the defensive side of the ball well still uh you know just to play with the the passion and uh intensity that we’ve played with they played a a really really good game last week um you know anytime that you can uh hold a team to zero third down conversions and less than 200 yards total offense then you playing pretty good uh defense you’re playing Championship defense and we know that uh Jackson state is is they have some weapons on offense they’re formidable and we we got to continue continue to uh work and make sure that we’re doing what we have to do in terms of assignments and and alignments and things of that nature making sure eyes in the right place we just got to execute I think we execute and do what we have to do uh we give ourselves a good chance next question goes to Dr kaville this is Dr Ville with inside h e Sports lab good morning coach Grace good morning I’d be remissed if I didn’t tell you congratulations for winning the Western Division which means you earn a spot in the swack Championship Game No Doubt well deserved want to focus a little bit about the defensive side of the ball continue that talk in in terms of being a very formidable defense as you know uh in terms of uh Conference stats uh your second uh allowing less than um 19 points a game which uh is formidable but it seems like you’ve been able to do that by stopping the Run talk a little bit about those players on that side of the ball and what you will need to do be able to continue to do about stopping the Run particularly in this uh swag championship game on Saturday well uh coach Coach Henry Miller is our defensive coordinator and he’s done a tremendous job as well as the defensive staff those guys have done a really really good job of preparing our guys and and coaching those guys and getting them ready to play week in and week out I think what’s important you know uh you know of course uh Kelby given is is uh Bell Cal but then Darius Harry is the other booking on the other side and then inside we have uh Davin cotton and and uh Willie miles and and uh zachie seen and you know those guys are inside um and uh galani Davis those guys up front have been doing a really good job of you know really doing carrying out the assignments and then at the linebacker spots Derek Williams and Vincent Paige those guys are star Works in inside and you know those those guys really get the guys lined up and then on the back end of course ratio Johnson uh Rodney Johnson uh Trey Herman brist III and Elijah West those guys are the guys that uh really uh do a good job and Jus Brown is also another safety back there who does a really good job of communicating those guys work well together and and we just have to we have to play our style of football and we got to make sure that we’re we’re Simon Sound we’re Gap sound we got to tackle well we got to pursue and run to the football and then when we get an opportunity to take the ball away we have to take the ball away ra good luck this weekend sorry about that next question goes to Jim Klein Peter hey coach you uh played Jackson State once this year a long time ago and I just want to see if you could quantify how much this team has changed and what’s different about it uh from that first meeting morning Jim uh well you know we played them early on on and and uh they had their way with us because you know they won the football game and I think uh I think that we have gotten better uh every week in a totality of a football team I think that we’ve uh been able to identify um the guys that we had because we of course we had uh some new guys and we had to find out uh how well they would play in our system in in live games not just practicing scrimmages and to uh get to get this you know defeat planet on a solid foundation of what we expected and how we wanted to play and uh I think those guys have done that for the most part I think those guys have gotten to know each other to work together jail together and so the overall all team chemistry has come together um since the early part of the year and and you see the results of it because uh we’re actually having an opportunity to play Jackson again in the swag championship game thank you coach welcome next question goes to toona Stapleton good morning coach Graves how are you doing good morning I’m doing well thank you um congratulations of course on clinching uh the SW W West thank you and of course winning the Bayou Classic um I wanted to basically um ask you a little bit about um comparing and contrasting the beginning of the Season uh when you play Jackson State early on um to now uh versus Gremlin um so uh in the beginning of this season your uh Southern quarterbacks they threw for 387 yards um against that game at versus Jackson State um but versus Southern you were able um you only had 188 yards but you kind of balanced it out with the rushing game um you were able to have 209 rushing yards versus Southern versus only 29 versus Jackson State um so can you please uh just expound a little bit about your um offense and how they’ve grown significantly and um how this will translate in the swack championship game well I think you know at the beginning of the year or the beginning of the Season uh we were still as I said earlier we were still uh getting to know our guys those guys had to play together they had to uh understand what it was like um to play together in real games and live games and uh we returned one starter from last year’s team on offensive line so it was a growing it was a growing process with the The Growing Pains we had to go through we had to three new quarterbacks um you know get an opportunity to lead our offense and and uh we had a new offensive coordinator you know who came in in the spring but again nothing beats game experience so you know all those factors make a difference and uh you know those guys continue to hang in and trust and and believe in uh coach Frederick uh scheme and system and Trust what the offensive coaches have been preaching and coaching and teaching so you know it’s it’s it’s great to see that those guys uh stayed focused and locked in uh and believed and Trust in those coaches so to have some success uh you know in terms of what we did uh uh versus Jackson the first game um statistically really doesn’t equate to what we did versus Gremlin in the Bayou Classic uh simply because uh you know it’s two different teams and two different situations you know passing against Jackson was because we were chasing points we were behind so naturally um you know you got to throw the football you know if you don’t have explosive run plays you got to throw the football in order to uh try to give yourselves a chance to come back to win so you know those those numbers are based on a lot of those numbers are based on that we were behind and chasing points uh versus gramlin we had had the lead and uh you know we were able to have success running the football so as I’ve always said uh with our teams uh what we’re going to do we going to always do what we need to do to win give ourselves a chance to win a football game so whatever that looks like whatever that calls for uh that’s what we’re going to do it’s not uh you know we don’t go into a game saying that hey we want to have this many yards throwing we want to have this many yards rushing our thing is we want use the people and what we need to do to give ourselves the best chance of winning the game thank you coach Graves good luck this weekend thank you next question goes to Doc Holiday good morning coach Doc Holiday HBC overdrive how you doing today I’m doing well good morning I’m doing good um your season turned around after the FAMU game where you were still up and down you were four and three going into that family game in Tallahassee uh after that game you went on you have been on a four game winning streak uh what was the things that you actually either changed or implemented to make sure you get to this winning streak and get to this point being a championship game well we didn’t change anything um we just we just got uh we just kept demanding and pushing and and uh stressing to those guys how important it is to to do your job and do your job well and just trust in what we’re uh trust in what we’re doing system works uh you just got to go out and execute and I think that’s what we did we didn’t uh we didn’t have a magic wand or crystal ball or anything no fire and brimstone speeches to to get those guys to to uh to turn it on uh it was on you know and and we the thing is you got to be uh cons consistent one way or the other and and I think early on we were we were consistently inconsistent sometimes of what we were doing and those guys saw what what the inconsistencies were and they worked to improve and to uh you know get consistent doing things the right way and so because of that we’ve been fortunate and blessed to have an opportunity to uh be where we are right now appreciate the time coach right thank you got time for two more questions first one goes to Kesha Kelly hey coach hey Kea how you doing I’m doing well and yourself uh congrat congratulations on your third consecutive value classic win thank you now let let’s speak to uh kevie G we saw a lot we saw a lot of play a lot of good stuff out of kill giv uh over the past weekend um including being named C- Defensive Player of the Year by the SWAT can you speak to uh to that and how proud you are of him as a player uh at this moment um I mean lated I’m ecstatic about um him being chosen as the swag Cod defensive player of the year because he’s put in the work I’ve been knowing Kelby since Kelby was born and um I’ve watched Kelby over the years grow and develop into the young man that he is now and he’s an even better young man off the field than he is on the field and uh I tell people this all the time and I and I tell my team um if you want an example of reaping what you sow look at Kelby given and by no means is he perfect as none of us are he strives for Perfection knowing that he’ll never obtain it but he lives and walks in excellence so and that’s what it’s all about Kelby puts in the work every single day and because of that he’s been rewarded uh a C- defensive player of the year so I’m not surprised and I’m elated for him because the young man man he puts in I mean he’s a leader amongst the community amongst the uh the campus and the university he’s a leader amongst the team so you know good things happen to you when you uh do those things and you you put others before yourself and so for him to get that honor I’m extremely uh excited for him all right well good luck coach uh this weekend and see you and Jackson all right thank you last question goes to Perry Daniels good morning coach good morning how you doing I’m doing well coach how are you I’m doing great thank you coach these guys uh have totally dominated the conference uh coach CJ coach TC Taylor has been named the uh coach of the year in the conference Irv Mulligan uh Travis Terell uh you know what is the message to your team on top of all that you’ve got a play the first half without Herman brista II um so so what is the message to the team going into Jackson this week the message is always the same you know we got to prepare uh we got to be ready to go and we got to start fast and finish strong you know uh regardless of the situation regardless of uh who’s out who’s playing who’s not playing that’s why it’s the next man up that’s why you got to have guys prepared and ready ready to go to play uh congratulations again to coach TC tella for being Coach of the Year congratulations to all of his players who who uh earned and and were awarded All Conference um accolades and uh we got to play football you know we got to play the game on the field it’s not uh those things are are great and nice but at the end of the day we got to play football and we got to be ready to go so it’s nothing uh nothing that I’m going to say that’s going to you know uh something that’s going to be so uh Dynamic to where you know that’s going to get them we got we got to do what we we’re capable of doing and and uh we got to be ready to go we got to uh prepare we got to execute if we want to give ourselves a chance to be successful so the mission and the goal is always the same so we’ll just we’ll we’ll go on as business as usual we’ve made we made adjustments with uh when Trey had to go out in the second half and we made the adjustments that’s why it’s good good to have numbers and so uh we’ll we’ll work with what we have until uh Trey has that opportunity to uh come back in the second half and and you know we’re just going to continue to play and keep working until to uh the clock hit zero thank you coach good luck thank you coach Graves we sincerely appreciate your time look forward to seeing you on Saturday all right thank you drew yes sir thank you all right now we move over to Jackson State coach TC Taylor once again if you do have questions please utilize a raise your and feature to get your question in the queue with that being said so happy to be joined by coach Taylor with Jackson State good morning coach good morning how’s everybody doing doing great coach and appreciate you taking some time out of your schedule to join us coach obviously uh by- we for your program uh if you could just start us off just kind of recapping your past week of preparation and previewing the upcoming game against Southern yeah um it’s always good to get that bye you know uh coming off a physical game that last football game against all corn you know uh players get to get home see some family um enjoy Thanksgiving but we were able to get some good work in you know prior to those days you know giving those uh our players that time off so it was good you know you get ahead a little bit on scouting some teams and and recruiting as well so it was good for our coaches and our players um big game this week big big game this week is postseason football coach Graves is doing a heck of a job with that southern team you know um they’ve grown since uh we played them earlier in this season you know they got a lot of questions answered and they playing at a high level um Kelby given is a great football player um on the defensive side of the ball that defense is playing at a high level uh they’re running the ball well so it’s going to be a great football game here in the city of Jackson I look forward to hosting a swag Championship here in the city and uh we’re very excited about it our players are up for the challenge and you know this is something that we play for all here to give oursel a chance to you know uh opportunity to play for a swag championship and uh potentially a a celebration Bowl birth so we’re looking forward to it and excited about it you know and looking forward to this weekend appreciate those opening comments coaching congratulations for being named coach of the year we’ll questions first question goes to Charles Bishop morning coach morning Chu how you doing I’m doing way uh great and I want to offer congratulations as well thank you appreciate it uh I want to ask this question over the last six weeks now uh you guys have only surrendered 10 points in the second half of games and I wanted to ask you about just what is it that your defensive staff is seeing that you’re making the correct adjustments week in week out uh you know I think you hit the nail on the head right there talking about adjustments they do a great job of making adjustments at the half uh in football games we always go go in and you know you have those initial game plans as a as a football team but sometimes teams can come out and give you something a little different in the first half and another thing that we really stress is finishing games the right way you know that was something that we didn’t do well last year so we’ve done a better job of that but it it’s like you said our defensive staff does a great job uh reaying and uh making those adjustments at the half getting those adjustments to the players and they go out in the second half and playing and executing in uh those second half of ball games and it’s been a difference since a lot of close football games for us um I think it’s like three or four games that our defense had to close out football games for us so they’ve been doing a great job of it and um so it it’s been an emphasis for us all summer so that that’s what you’re seeing this year thank you coach thank you next question goes to Wilton Jackson hey coach how’s it going I’m good well how you doing I’m doing good so my question is this obviously you played Southern earlier this year but to take a step back uh you’ve played in this game before a swag championship game against Southern uh um and also you’ve been on the sideline coaching in a swag Championship as far as like as an assistant against Southern in previous years when you look at like more so like the postseason games against Southern what what did you learn from those games and how do you uh plan to like apply it to this one knowing you know what’s at stake I mean when you get to the postseason you can really throw out everything that went on in the regular season it’s one and done if you don’t come out and perform the right way you know these Southern right now is the best in the west we’re the best in the East you know and the hats off to them and hats off to our football team and our staff as well but it’s postseason football you know both teams are going to come out hard uh play extremely hard and trying to get that celebration birth and opportunity to play for a national title and a win a swag Championship so you know um all cards are off the T on the table right there and you just want to come out and play your best football mistake free things like that uh defensively you want to try to create turnovers get guys to the ground and offensively you got to uh score points but uh when it’s postseason football we talked about it the level of play has to you know really uh go up in a football game like this thanks coach no problem all right several questions still in the queue please limit your questions to One initial question next question goes to James Hill hey coach how’s it going it’s good how you doing James I’m blessed I’m blessed uh congratulations on the coach of the year uh talk a little bit about the offensive line and the dline uh the trenches and how important important that is and how they’re operating this time of year yeah they’re doing a great job for us we you know when we built this thing going into this season uh myself and my coaches we knew that there were strength and numbers and it’s paid off uh big time for us on the offensive line and the defensive line we always going to preach physicality on both sides of the ball and that’s what you’ve seen this season we’ve done a a awesome job of being able to run the football and stop the run with our defensive line but it it’s just the strength and numbers and you know those guys a lot of times that’s where a lot of the injuries occur so you don’t want a lot of drop off in football games week in week out with those two positions but the size of our offensive line the physicality they play with and they play together you know they do a good job of playing together and on that defensive line we just got some veterans over there as well that’s been really playing at a high high level thank you coach good luck 8 and0 five and0 all right thank you appreciate it this question goes to Jim Klein Peter yeah coach uh talk a little bit about of Mulligan and what he’s meant to the to this team I know it an offensive player can a lot of times be a guy that helps the defense what what is he what has he done for y’all this year uh he’s just been that voice on the football team you know after coming back uh matter of fact early in the season against Southern this year uh he was kind of rusty early on but now he’s really you know hit strides right here finishing the season but he’s the uh unquestioned leader one of the unquestioned leaders on this football team you know when he speaks the rest of the team listens but he does it by example if you come watch him practice and see how he prepares each week getting ready for football games you be uh you understand the the leadership side to him but um you know the players respect him a lot I got a lot of respect for him with him with everything that he’s had he’s gone through this season off the field and still be able to go out there and do the things he does week in week out um you know we wouldn’t be here without him I can honestly say that we wouldn’t be here without ER Mulligan on this football team thank you coach no problem next question goes to Kesha Kelly hey coach hey how you doing uh doing well uh of course like everybody said congratulations on being named Coach of the Year thank you uh can you speak to uh freshman uh newcom uh Travis Terell can you speak to how you are feeling about him and the accolades that he just received from the spat so excited for Travis you know when we were recruiting him out of Creek Side over in Atlanta Georgia uh when I went over and did the home visit with him and sit with him and his parents I told him uh you know that he would be able to make an impact as a true freshman on this football team and he came in and lived up to that um you know the things that he brought to the table with our special teams in the return game is without being said and just you know him getting the ball in space and just uh you know coming in as a true freshman it’s always tough you know playing college ball but he he he’s really stepped up to the plate and done a you know a great job for us uh I’m I’m excited about you know him being around and one of the pivotal pieces of going forward with this football team but he’s been Dynamite all year you just try to figure out ways to get him the football in space and he takes care of the rest you know that’s what we talk about in the kickoff returns punt returns the things we designed for him on offense so I’m very excited about everything that he’s bring bringing to the table but I still like I tell him all the time his best football is still ahead of him he’s still growing still learning a lot about the game so he’s going to be a great great player here uh for Jackson University right thanks coach uh good luck this weekend and see you in Jackson all right thank you next question goes to toona Stapleton good morning coach TC how you doing I’m good how you doing I’m great um of course congratulations on being named swack Coach of the Year thank you um heading into the swack Championship you had the benefit of the biwe um which allowed you to evaluate Southern’s recent performance um um earlier in the season you held Southern to just 29 rushing yards um as we can see the Jackson State dominance um in at the defense has been you know pretty consistent um but Southern’s offense has evolved um what is your game plan going into this week or this weekend’s game um especially seeing Southern twice and keeping your players ground Ed um so that they don’t lose sight of um what’s ahead and and you know it being possibly a closer game than than the beginning of the Season yeah I mean we just got to play come out and play our brand football you know uh every week I preach to the team about playing with that physicality on both sides of the ball no difference with the defense especially we got to stop the run and they’re doing right now a great job of running the football they got a quarterback back there that they believe in they can throw the football around receiver over there that can really run and create mismatches you know in a slot position over there and some guys on the outside so it’s going to be a totally different ball game you know we just got to come out and and you know play ibr in the football you know come out play physical take care of the football you know uh score points and try to give our defense that lead because uh you know our strength is when we’re rushing a passer you know we want to try to create a lead going into this weekend with that game and um you know just take that run game away and make make them onedimensional thank you coach good luck thank you appreciate you next question goes to Dr Caville this is Dr Caville with inside the HBCU Sports lab good morning coach TC Taylor good morning doc how you doing I’m doing well good a lot of uh congratulations are in order coach um congratulations obviously on winning the Eastern Division uh doing it in such a way that you earn the right to host the championship game thank you and then with the announcement this morning of the second consecutive year you were recognized as the coached of the year for the southwestern Athletic Conference come a long way coach uh remember when you were toiling uh uh through this actually when you started as a player and then deciding to have the opportunity to get in coaching and move forward so a lot of work you put out I’ve seen you grind and come up so it’s it’s good to see that your talent have been recognized by your peers thank you do that that means a lot man I appreciate that the question I have is it’s not often it’s not always I should say or often may be correct as well the team has the has the talent and the coaching of Acumen to uh lead the conference both offensively and defensively at least uh as it’s measured by the stats and scoring uh in similarly in your special team teams you’ve been up there at the top of your conference what goes in the architect of Designing a team are getting enough talent to be able to do that and how does that figure in uh this type of game of being able to be solid on both sides of the ball yeah I mean it goes back to the beginning of this you know of the start of it all you know when you’re evaluating and when we had to revamp our coaching staff you want to make make sure you’re bringing in the right coaches guys that can recruit uh develop players and you know those are two pit PS in mind can you recruit can you develop players and this coaching staff you know they’re young but they are very good coaches and got Bright Futures um across the board on offense and on defense we got some guys that’s really great football coaches they good job did do a great job of getting here and scheming people week in week out and developing these guys and get them in the best situation and uh you know I hit on the recruiting piece you know bringing in the right type of players it was a lot of talented kids that we did pass on because we just felt like they didn’t fit our culture and the way we did things on a day-to-day basis so we wanted to make sure we always uh tried to make sure we were getting the right kid in here that fits our culture you know not just a kid that can play football but just would be a good teammate up in here and it’s paid dividends for us you know and that’s why we are where we are right now and we got to continue to do that um going into this weekend you know um you talked about the stats and everything that uh being at the top four is all three phases when you get to postseason doc to be honest none of that matters you’re just trying to win this football game you know none of that matters whether it’s on the defensive side whether it’s on the offensive side uh whether it’s the Special Teams going out there and doing their thing you just want to try to find a way in the end to have you know one more Point uh ahead than Southern and that’s how we’re looking at it you know um to try to uh we we got to figure out a way to beat a good a good Southern football team for a second time and that that’s always difficult when you playing a team for a second time at home you know we know they they they they want some get back you know we know that they want some get back and you know everything is on the table you talk about a swag Championship so we just got to go out there and try to figure out ways to get one more point and you know come out Victorious this weekend doc makes sense it sounds like a true Coach of the Year thank Youk you coach thank you doc next question goes to Doc Holiday coach TC how you doing today what’s going on dog how you doing doing good first of all congratulations on Coach of the Year thank you and uh second of all you did give me my sound bik of the Year from last week um but we talk about all the players that’s on the team uh we talk about Earth and given what he went through this past from last season to this season but we really haven’t touched on the first recruit that you recruited to the team when you took over as head coach and that is is gri give us a synopsis of what he means to this program and what he means to you as a player and as a man I mean we were talking about IR that unquestioned leader you know one of those unquestioned leaders ASAS is that next guy you know uh again when he speaks the team listen he’s a true student of the game though I mean he really loves the game he’s always talking about football he’s in here all the time with the coaches coming up with ideas and ways to you know things that we uh that he likes and wants to implement for his defense so he’s a he’s going to be a great coach in Waiting you know and like you said one of my early recruits one of the guys that committed to me early when I first took this thing over so he he’s going to be a great coach in this business if not an opportunity to play in the NFL he’s going to be an awesome coach like I said but the uh the team loves him the team loves him because they respect and they see how he works on a day-to-day basis and just what he brings to the table you know uh when he’s out there on the football field he’s ready for every moment because he studied film so much so everything that these offenses sto the throws at him he gets us right he gets us lined up and gets everybody in position appreciate your time coach and good luck this weekend see you in Jackson thank you I appreciate it DOC time for two more questions first one goes to Perry Daniels good morning coach congratulations thank you Perry I appreciate it absolutely uh coach let’s talk about your quarterback play you started off the season rotating quarterbacks and at some point jobian became your guy and you’ve stuck with him the rest of the way talk about his plot uh he’s been great he’s been great he was solid for us last year I challenged him all summer the things that I wanted to see him get better at far as reading defenses and understanding where the football goes um and just executing clean plays for us uh it’s like you said he came out the the first game played well against Monroe uh had a solid performance uh came in in some other games as a backup and did some great things and then I think it was uh maybe week four we went on and decided that he was going to be the guy going forward and um he’s done a great job you know uh Distributing in the football uh understanding the game plans going out there and executing and just um leading his team you know he’s a vocal guy as well that doesn’t mind getting up and uh saying what needs to be said to the football team in those critical moments and um you know and also generating explosive plays you know against Texas Southern he has a crucial 60 70 yard run in that football game um the connection between him him and the receivers you know he’s been doing a great job and the things that he’s had to go had to go through we’re down uh three I possibly four starters their receiver and still offensively he come out comes out there week in week out you know uh gets us up and down the field and you know generating those points for us so you know he’s been doing a great job for us thank you coach and again congratulations on Coach of the Year award all right thank you appreciate it last question goes to Dwayne Nash good morning coach Dwayne Nash from the yard HBCU Sports and hero Sports how are you this morning I’m good how are you doing Dwayne I’m doing pretty good first off congratulations on all your accomplishments for this year thank you thank you and I know you’re familiar with the the the the cliche familiarity breeds contempt now this is jsu’s third time in the swack championship game over the last four seasons and your program has beaten Southern five straight times what is your message to your program to guide them away from a potential malaise going into Saturday’s matchup yeah I mean I told him this on yesterday uh regardless of who the opponent we worked our butts off to get here and that you know regardless whether who whoever we’re playing against but again hats off the Southern and Coach T gray is a great friend of mine but um regardless who we’re playing we we wanted to be and have an opportunity to be playing in December a lot of teams are you know done with football right now so we gave ourselves that opportunity so we owe it to ourselves to go out this weekend and play you know our best football and it’s postseason football but we worked all summer for this moment uh we recruited for this moment uh got the right coaches in here for this moment so we’re looking forward to it you know and want to come out there and execute and play well in front of our home crowd here in Jackson thanks so much coach good luck this week thank you appreciate it coach Taylor we sincerely appreciate your time look forward to seeing you on Saturday all right thank you appreciate you guys thank you all right concludes our swack football championship media session and just a reminder that each swack football media session is archived on the swack digital Network YouTube
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