Big 12 Media Days

Big 12 media days kicked off in Dallas, TX on Monday with remarks from conference commissioner Bob Bowlsby, followed by half the league’s head coaches. Day one featured TCU’s Gary Patterson, Kansas’ David Beaty, West Virginia’s Dana Holgorsen, Kansas State’s Bill Snyder, and Texas Tech’s Kliff Kingsbury.

Bowlsby stated the event off by discussing the autonomy that the Power 5 conferences gained recently. As soon as Bowlsby started his speech, he strayed to thoughts on the college football playoff, saying, “Most [fans] think we ought to go bigger [add teams] which I don’t think is going to happen anytime soon.” But Bowlsby did not stop before commenting on TCU and Baylor not playing in the 4-team playoff field, stating, “As a league, we got left out.”

Following the commissioner was a confident Gary Patterson. The Horned Frog’s coach thinks this fall’s TCU team will be challenged by how they handle last year’s success. Everything worked for TCU in 2014, from a new offense to a first year quarterback – how the Horned Frogs handle that trend will determine how well the team meets expectations this fall.

After Patterson was Kansas’ new head coach, David Beaty. A perfect blend of excitement, respect, charm, knowledge and motivation, Beaty had a room full of reporters wondering if they had college eligibility remaining. Beaty consistently complimented high school football, particularly in Texas, knowing how recruiting will be crucial to his success in Lawrence.

After suffering an injury in the Spring, Beaty also surprised media by updating on quarterback Michael Cumming’s status, saying, “The kid had surgery in the middle of June and I looked out my window the other day and seen him throwing the ball already.”

Dana Holgorsen was next to speak, and WVU’s coach is palpably excited by his veteran team, “A lot of the guys that are on our team right now are guys that have been there and done that, understand what the Big 12 is all about, understand the style of ball, understand the personnel. It’s just we’re in a totally different position than we have been in the past.”

Kansas State’s Bill Snyder followed Holgorsen and was the polar opposite of his peer. Snyder was cautious and reserved, particularly when talking about the Wildcats’ quarterback spot. “I think they’re all good young guys. They all care. They’re all good teammates. They all do things the right way. They all want us to see. So I think that will be very competitive. We just want to sort it out as quickly as we can”, said Snyder.

Closing the first day was Kliff Kingsbury, who, following his lead from last year, did not address the media generally before simply opening up the floor to questions. The two central subjects that Kingsbury focused on were Tech’s new defensive coordinator David Gibbs, and the Red Raiders’ ability to limit turnover this fall, especially from the quarterback position.

On his signal callers and making mistakes, Kingsbury said, “We’ve been historically bad the last two years at that position with turnovers. I think the last two years we’ve had 20-plus just in our position at quarterback. “ However, the former Tech quarterback was quick to contradict his statement by reassuring media that the Red Raiders will continue to take chances by throwing long passes.

With Texas, Oklahoma and Baylor all slated for the event’s second day, Tuesday promises to be more newsworthy than Monday. Regardless, football season officially started in Dallas on Monday.