Quarterbacks Coach Major Applewhite
Introductory Press Conference
January 16, 2005
“I am excited to be here, as well. I spent a full season with Coach Robinson last year at Texas. I had been at the University of Texas for seven years, and the last year saw what Coach Robinson did not only with our defense, but with our team. I am extremely excited to be here with Coach Robinson at Syracuse, a school with great football tradition, including at the quarterback position. To be able to coach the quarterback position at a place where there have been guys like Donovan (McNabb) and Marvin (Graves) and, you know all the names. I look forward to coaching the guys here and, hopefully, they will play like Donovan did today (with the Philadelphia Eagles).”
How excited are you with this opportunity? Is this something that you shoot for after your playing career is over. How much does this mean to you?
“I am extremely excited, but more than getting the opportunity, it is getting the opportunity here – a place where there is football tradition, people do care about the sport, they want to see us be successful. Also, it is exciting to start off with a young enthusiastic and energetic staff and then to have a good leader like Coach Robinson. I think it is important for people to understand Coach Robinson and what he did at the University of Texas. In seven years there as a player and as a coach, we spent a lot of time at the Cotton Bowl and the Holiday Bowl. Coach Robinson came in and helped our defense and we ended up in the Rose Bowl. I believe in Coach Robinson as a coach with him, and the kids did, and that is important to understand.”
With all of the excitement in your life the last week – this position and getting engaged – where does this (your new position) rank?
“If(fiancé) Julie is watching, it ranks first – the engagement. But, I am extremely excited about this opportunity, too. This opportunity is fantastic. It definitely allowed us to enjoy the opportunity to come here a lot more when she received her ring. We are both so excited about this. We have been on the internet and now I am here in living color. I am happy to be here.”
What are your thoughts about the preconception out there that great players don’t necessarily make great coaches and now you are going from two years as a graduate assistant and now you have skipped a couple of steps to get here? How do you think you will be able to handle that at this level?
“That is a perception that is out there and there are a lot of perceptions about a lot of things, but we are going to get to work. We are going to get to work with these guys. I am very enthusiastic about being around an offense that is going to throw the ball. We are going to do things with the wide receivers, the quarterback and our offense. That is what I did as a player and that is what we are going to do here.”
Syracuse is used to an option offense. What do you envision?
“The good thing for the current student-athletes is this is a clean slate. We are obviously going to do some different things with the offense. We want to be a little bit more pro-style with more motions, more things with the wide receivers, tight ends and the backs. It will be much more of a representation of the West Coast offense than what has been seen. We really feel you have to be able to throw the ball. We will bring the current guys along through the spring. From a quarterback coach perspective I believe you have to make your quarterback feel comfortable at all times. You have to communicate with him and find out what they feel good about and what they do not feel good about and not necessarily just go with your own gut instincts as a coach. Right now I am just looking forward to the opportunity to meet these guys (who are already here) and get to know them, listen to them, hear them talk, find out what they are about and then see them work, ultimately.”
Do you think throwing the football is mandatory for success in college football?
“I don’t necessarily think you have to be able to throw the ball to win games. We proved that at Texas. But what you have to do is you have to have a semblance of a throwing game in order to get the players you want. If you are running an option-style offense you are automatically going to cut the field of quarterbacks you are going to recruit in half because those guys will not be interested because they want to throw the ball. We are going to move around and throw ball. That is something that we want to do as an offense and that is something that Coach Robinson believes in as a head coach and as a defensive coordinator he knows it is something the offense needs to have.”
During your playing career did you deal with any change in coordinator?
“Between my true freshman and redshirt freshman year coach John Makovic and his staff left and we had (offensive coordinator) Greg Davis and his staff come in with Mack Brown. So I know what the quarterbacks are going through – what is our offense? What are we going to do? How are we going to call things? The main thing they can do during this time when they are learning this offense is to show up and be around the facility studying tape, being with their teammates, working hard, setting the examples. That is what the quarterback position is about and that is what I look for in those guys. And I know they will do that.”
What was Coach Robinson’s main selling point in getting you to join his staff?
“Coach Robinson said this is a special place, and we all know that, and he said it is something that you want to be a part of. I know Coach Robinson and I trust him. I know his energy and his enthusiasm. He brought a new life to our team at the University of Texas and it was contagious. The team fed off of it and we ended up in Pasedena. We are hoping to bring that same type of energy and enthusiasm here to get the kids excited about playing this game. It is a lot of fun and being around a guy like Coach Robinson you can see that.”
Was it hard to leave Coach Mack Brown after spending six years with him?
“I think it is good for me, from a selfish perspective, to get out of Austin and to get around a different environment. From the standpoint of just being around a quality guy like Coach Robinson. I enjoy that. He is enthusiastic. Coach Brown was a little more laid back as far as on the field. Coach Robinson is going to be in there, doing drills with the guys, running with them, just really being enthusiastic about the game and bringing fun to the game. Playing college football I understand that. Playing and practicing 20 hours a week and you have 12 to 15 hours of classes, you need someone like that in a position like his to see that you can have fun.”
Did the offer to coach at Syracuse take a lot of thought or did you jump at the chance?
“It did not take a lot of thought. A place like Syracuse with the tradition it has – you can run through all the names like Jim Brown, Ernie Davis to Larry Csonka – it is a great place to be. Coming from a place like Texas, this was a no-brainer. I had another job offer out there and I was sitting on it waiting for this, knowing that if I did not get this opportunity, then I was going to be back at Texas. I am glad it worked out for me. I am glad I get to be around a quality guy like Coach Robinson.”
What can fans expect from SU quarterbacks with you as their coach?
“The main thing a quarterback has to do is he has to set the tone for his offense. He has to be able to be a guy who they can look to whether you are up by 20 or down by 20, somebody they can depend on. The quarterback position is going to be a little bit different as far as throwing the football, more things as far as the passing game. We will ask him to move around, have great escapability, rather than just having great mobility and we will play off of that.”
SU fans are still getting to know Coach Robinson. What are they going to see from him?
“He has a genuine passion, not only for the game and winning, but for the kids who develop into young men. He puts a lot of responsibility on the kids’ shoulders. It helps them mature and grow up. I think that is something, that being fresh out of playing college football just four years ago, that is beneficial to your team in allowing them to grow up and take ownership of the team. He will do that, and he will do that with passion and energy.”
How will you approach motivating these guys when you are just a few years older than them?
“Having played the sport and having been in the situation playing at a big-name place like the University of Texas, I have dealt with a lot of things they are dealing with in the issues on and off the field, with the media. I will give them the best advice I have, that is what a coach does. I will also build up a sense of accountability and responsibility on their behalf, because ultimately you have to be responsible as a quarterback. There are many times when you get a lot of credit, and, obviously, you get a lot of blame. It is part of playing the position. There is a great tradition here of quarterbacks playing well, so we are going to continue that.”
Does it excite you to be a part of a program that has produced so many great quarterbacks?
“Absolutely. I hope the guys we have here, and I have not met them yet, but I hope that they understand the tradition and how it is up to them to take ownership of that position, not only this, team, but that position, and carry on that tradition. I came from the University of Texas where there is a tradition of great linebackers – Derrick Johnson is carrying that on there and I look forward to these guys carrying on the tradition that Donovan and Marvin have established here already.”
What does it mean to you as far as the work you have put in to this point in your career that your first job as a quarterback coach comes at a place like Syracuse University with its great tradition?
“It is extremely humbling, but at the same time it is extremely satisfying knowing that it is paying off to be at a University like this to coach the game that I love and coach the position I played. It is overwhelming, but at the same time it is something that I am looking forward to getting after, to representing this University well.”
In your year with Coach Robinson at Texas what did you learn about him?
“You are going to smile with him. You are going to move around. You are going to have fun. You are going to enjoy football. You are not going to dread being around the facility – not to say that is how it was here – but that is what you saw at the University of Texas facility. His door was always open, you saw more linebackers in his office, people coming in and out. It was like a revolving door and you could tell that they were gaining something from him. It was just a positive energy and excitement about football. Kids you had never seen at the football office were there sitting at his desk talking with him. They fed off the NFL stories and they just trusted him. They know that he has achieved success, so it was easy to buy into.”
