Paul Chryst Quotations

He worked tirelessly at it. He really is passionate about recruiting. He's energetic. He's got a good feel for the pulse. I mean, he worked on it. I think he did a great job.

He got banged up during the meat of our schedule and he had a rough time coming back from the high ankle sprain. That's the one piece (to the offensive puzzle), if you were to look back, you'd feel like we haven't utilized him to the fullest.

I think anytime you don't handle the blitz, you're going to see it. If you handle the blitz, you won't see it.

I think he's got a picture of what he wants this program to be and how he can build on something that's obviously been successful under coach Alvarez. He'll have success, but I think it will be different because he'll be able to put his stamp on it. But hopefully it will continue to grow.

You'd like to see him win it by execution, not by default. Both those two need to be playing at a more consistent level.

We probably should have gotten him more, right?

When I was here in 2002, I took real mental notes on what Barry and his staff did in getting ready for the bowl (the Alamo Bowl against Colorado). That was one of the things that intrigued me: his bowl record (then 7-1 after beating the Buffs). I think both Mike and Barry have great plans for bowl games. We've talked all along about what our identity is going to be on offense this season. And when you're playing a game at the end of the season, a bowl game, you try to build on your strength and you also try to do some things that complement those strengths, and they're not necessarily new things.

When you first watch the film, the ends jump out at you and the 'backers. But the more you watch it, I think their inside guys do a heck of a job and are good players. There's no question, we have to protect the quarterback. If you don't do that, it'll be a long day throwing.

We've got a long way to go. We've got a lot of work to do.

We were pretty fortunate last year. Now we're trying to find some other guys. That has been frustrating. You can't even get a play run. That's not very good.

And we thought we were going to be a decent team.

The way (Alvarez) built this program, it speaks volumes. What I think is pretty neat is that he did it his way. There's a lot to learn from that. He does a great job of communicating.

The one thing that I took from him as a coach was the way he made every guy on the team feel good about themselves. I'm sure there were some exceptions, as always. But most of the guys truly liked playing for him. And you always felt like he really cared about you.

They've got a good defense. It's not going to be an easy game at all.

I remember Brian was putting water on him, and I was feeling for his pulse. Once the paramedics got there, we cleared out.

In a bowl, I think you can always expect something that you haven't seen during the season. But when all the dust settles, we are who we are, and we're going to try and get the ball to Calhoun ...

He's worked his tail off to give himself a chance. He's accountable and dependable. He's played more than I ever thought he would have when he came here as a freshman.

All I did, I shook his hand, just said, 'Hello' and that was about it.