Jeff Bower Quotations

We're going to get into a stretch where we are going to play a lot of games without time off. I think the players have handled it well. Our practices have been good. They know there's nothing anyone could've done about the games being canceled. We know we are going to play and they will be excited about playing.

We feel that this gives us a player we want and the player to add for our future that we are really, really excited about.

We'll be fine. We'll find a way to get it done.

We hope we can play this game. I hope that the weather won't be as bad as people are saying it could be. We're going to hunker down and be safe for a while.

Obviously at this point in time, most of these kids have it narrowed down to a few schools at most. I think you just continue to sell your program. You continue to sell the strong points of your program and we think we've got a lot to sell.

I feel for him being put on hold, to be quite honest, because he's kind of in limbo right now. He's been great to deal with. He's handled it all terrific.

Getting a player of (Mason's) quality in addition to acquiring a first-round pick . . . has tremendous value, ... We feel this gives us a player we want and a player to add for our future.

Getting a player of his quality in addition to acquiring an unprotected first-round pick that we'll be able to use immediately in this upcoming draft is a package that we feel really has tremendous value,

He's had all the hands-on examinations that he's going to need. The results are all there.

He's come a long way. I think he's really starting to gain a lot of confidence in himself.

He did a good job. Robert's been moved up on the depth chart.

He'll graduate in May and he wants to get on with things.

We expect to do great things this season, both on and off the court,

We talked about that all week. You have some injuries, it's part of the game. If you're a backup, you're only one play away from having to go in there and play like a winner.

We took a step back on offense. We weren't very sharp at anything on that side of the ball.

He's got the tools, he's just got to learn the offense and keep making good decisions with the ball.

He's gotten better. He's still got to be a better decision maker, but he's improved.

His seatbelt saved him. He is definitely out.

He's fine, good to go, ... It wasn't a fight, so he's fine.

J.R. is a valuable member of this team and someone that we have hopes for. Our hope is that he continues to develop, continues to improve and is approaching this final stretch of the season with the objectives of making a difference and with the objectives of being a part of this team and helping it get better.

It hurts because we had wanted to move a few guys around to different positions, and now we can't.

I think you do (try to pencil in your starters), but it's not set in stone. That's always one goal, to feel good about your (No. 1 and No. 2 units).

I was disappointed in that penalty. ... He made a mistake. He threw a rabbit punch in the pile. He was frustrated and he lost poise, and you can't do that.

I think it's really going to be a work in progress all year, ... But we really have a great advantage with our location so close to Tulsa that access is so easy for any game or practice to monitor and stay in touch.

I will repeat that, again, he's been disciplined.

I think there's good competition there, but it's early in the spring, too. I know we had way too many interceptions (the first week), but I certainly expect that to change this week.

Jeremy will get the majority of the reps. He's had a real good spring. I think all three have had good springs and we would like to get them at least one series with the first offense.

Jeremy's a little ahead right now. He's been here longer and got more experience. Right now, he's been the better practice player.

Jeremy has come a long way, and he's giving us that added dimension of being a good runner by being able to pull the ball down and make some plays.

I think everyone will be excited. It'll be competitive. We've had a good, physical spring and our players have worked hard. So I expect a good day Saturday.

Our chimney was blown off and part of our roof was damaged, and we had some water damage. But there have been many more people shaken than we are, of course.

Our preference would be to move the Marshall game to Saturday and then play the following Saturday against Houston. Whether or not that can be worked out, I don't know.

Overall, this was a good year for us in Mississippi.

Physically, he's capable. Now, he's got to learn our system.

I think everybody is disappointed we're not playing. But nobody had any control over this situation. It was the right call.

I think he's in the development stages of his career right now, but I think he's got the athletic tools that you need to be successful and he's got the mentality and attitude that you need to be successful.

I think kids get overwhelmed. You've got the text messaging, the recruiting services, the Internet, all the camps. I think a lot of times if a kid makes a commitment early, it's soft because it's so quick into the process.

I think they're a very good football team,

I was proud of our effort. I thought we gave a winning effort in the game. We did a lot of good things, but some things we didn't do well at all.

My biggest concern is we didn't establish a backup coming out of spring drills. To win a championship, you better be good at quarterback, including the back up.

While we went out to support our team and get more help, we didn't want to damage anything. We didn't jeopardize our first-round picks, we didn't want to hurt our salary cap flexibility and we didn't want to add a player that didn't understand what the coach wanted and was trying to create here.

We played hard and I was pleased with our effort. We didn't do some things very well. After playing the run well in the first half, we didn't play it well in the second half. There is a lot of room for improvement.

We do need to eliminate the 15-yard penalties, but I don't think that was a good call on roughing the passer against East Carolina. He was honest with me. I asked if he roughed the passer and he told me, 'Coach, this time I did not.' I watched the tape, and I believe him.

With all the adversity that everybody in New Orleans has gone through, I'm thankful to the city of Lafayette for opening their arms up to this bowl and hosting this game. Because if those things don't happen, there are two teams that are at home today.

We've got some things in there for them.

We've got over 35 guys from Hattiesburg or south of there. A number of our players' families have sustained total or substantial loss. We encouraged them to stay in touch with them. I think this has brought our team together. They're excited to play a game. I think it was a relief to get back on the field. I didn't know what to expect, but it the players were like kindergartners.

We have too many injuries to work on anything but PATs.

Today was a nice follow up to the first day. Things are coming together, as we install more of our system. It will be interesting to see how we respond on Friday, after Thursday's off day.

Yeah, sometimes those young guys hit a wall, ... but he's gotten better, both him and Jeremy.

You know how I am, nothing is ever good enough, ... but we did make some improvement.

We found a big ol' washeteria near here, so we'll be making a run to wash clothes (Sunday), ... Some of the kids, they left town with only one set of clothes, so they asked if they could go to Wal-Mart shopping. We'll be doing some of that.

We have a tremendous amount of respect for their program. The games are always physical and are close games. We're going to have to get ready to play very well.

We haven't made a decision on the physical. We haven't failed him. The doctors haven't failed him on his physical. But we are looking at the results of his physical very closely.

We had another good day today. Especially following the off day Thursday, I thought we responded well.

There are probably a few that have some work to do.

The passing game had been good up until (Saturday). (Young) wasn't very sharp, but we just weren't very sharp at all on offense.

We all care about each other. We all hate to see teammates go through tough times with their families, ... We've gotten closer. They're excited to play a game. I think it was a relief to get back on the field.

The reason for that is we're still waiting on all the information from his physical to be evaluated and looked at closely.

We had a good day on defense. We created a few turnovers and got after the quarterback. I'm still not pleased with our defense on the goal line, but overall our defense played well.

This, we're away from home, not able to sleep in your own bed, that sort of thing, ... It's totally different.

We got a lot of guys a lot of work, and that's what you want to do in this type of situation.

You hope to, but I don't know if there are any guarantees with that.

With Hurricane Katrina, our schedule was very hectic. But our guys battled through all of those times this season. After the hurricane, we became a closer football team and we rallied around each other.

You have to have a good quarterback to win a championship,

We talked about a variety of different things.

We lost a couple of weekends in December because there weren't enough hotel rooms. We try and keep (the group) to 15 at the most, but we didn't have much choice.

Totally different incidents, ... Total different incidents and the circumstances around it are much different.

We did a good job on converting third downs; we were perfect in the red zone in scoring.

We went through this a few years ago from Charlotte to New Orleans and a lot of the things are still fresh in our minds.

Dustin was really sharp. He really threw the ball well and we were more consistent catching it.

There's really not a lot I can say at this point. The decision was made ... after lengthy consultations with our physicians and several others. We were unable to reach a comfort level to move forward with the trade. At this time we felt we had to go in this direction.

There's really not a lot I can say at this point.

There was a lot of good things that we did and the competition was good. I think we accomplished a lot out there.

There's not going to be power here for another week or so. We've got to get them out of here.

It would have changed the personality of the game.

They are a good football team. They really move the ball on offense.

The road games at Florida and Virginia Tech, the rivalry games with Tulane, UAB, Memphis and East Carolina and challenging games with conference newcomers, Marshall, UCF and Tulsa to our schedule is not only great for our fans and supporters, but also for the community of Hattiesburg.

I've said all along, this is where we want to recruit. It's important to keep in-state players that are capable of playing Division I ball in the state. We worked it hard.

The thing you try to do is create an atmosphere and a culture that will allow people to be successful, ... ... We've got great people in this organization who are really talented. I think the important thing in our position, in the front office, is to allow them to do their jobs and to be there to support them and help them.

Thank goodness for the city of Memphis and especially the University of Memphis. I don't know what else we could do. I know our football team is very appreciative of everything Memphis is doing for us.

Ryan, even though he's just a freshman, I think is going to be a really good player for us.

After compiling a wealth of medical information, we determined that it would be in our best interest to void the trade. We appreciate Steven's patience during this process and wish him the best of luck back in Philadelphia.

That's kind of the way we're treating it. We can't take everybody, but we're going to make the best of it.

Allan did a great job getting everything going with this whole process,

They're still learning but they've shown some things. They've got to start sometime. We needed some depth and we really felt (Morgan and Bradshaw) had the ability to play there and I think they've proven that. If you don't do it now, you can't do it in the fall. They need this spring for learning.

They run the ball really well. That's something that we've been vulnerable to this year.

They don't beat themselves. They take care of the ball and they kick it well. They create some turnovers defensively.

There was not a fight. It looks like he will be available for the whole game, but we're waiting to hear.

There were more players in the state this year, more Division I talent and more qualifiers. Yes, we did emphasize it a little more.

There were certain things that we had concerns about that we wanted to take a close look at, given the age of the player. We're looking at him over a long term. We want to make sure. We had some concerns or questions that we wanted answered, and that's what we're still searching for are the answers.

There was that big arm and his competitiveness. He's a tough kid. He's going to be a player.

There's been no ifs. I've been told we're playing Saturday, Sunday or Monday. Now, if those ifs change, then I'll have something to say about them then. The only thing I can do is prepare this team to play.

Aaron will be able to step right in and provide us with an inside presence off the bench. We've been looking for someone to help us to solidify our frontline, and he definitely fits the bill.

It's a big loss for us because we thought he was an outstanding quarterback prospect. It's unfortunate for him. I feel real bad for him.

It wasn't us that didn't want to play. We always thought it was a great series. The players enjoyed playing it. We'll pick up somebody.

I tried to talk him out of it, but he just wants to play.

It's always exciting to get back on the field. It's a critical time of the year. You find out so much about your team and you're trying to improve.

It makes you really get fired up about the possibilities that exist,

It's another important day. You work all week to get ready, and we're just waiting to see how the players will perform.

It's good to be back into town. We look forward to getting back to a normal routine and playing one of the best I-AA teams in the country.