AT&T Cotton Bowl Press Conference

Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt, Athletics Director Pete Boone and AT&T Cotton Bowl President Rick Baker met with the media on Tuesday and discussed the Rebels' berth in the 73rd AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic.

Ole Miss Head Coach Houston Nutt

Opening Statement:

It's a happy day for us. Once we got the word Sunday, we came into this room to tell our players and I wish you could have seen their faces. They were very, very excited. It goes without saying Rick Baker and the staff that they have do the best job. It never fails every year around that table in Destin, Pete will tell you this, that every year the coaches that have gone to the Cotton Bowl have always said it is a first class bowl, from the hospitality to the events, all the things that lead up to the game. It's just first class. What I'm really excited about is to be a part of history. Our team is going to be the last team to play in the Cotton Bowl in that arena so I'm excited about that. I wish that Rick would have gotten us maybe a lesser opponent. We've been in the film room today a little bit and I can tell you what a job Texas Tech has done. Quarterback Graham Harrell is so cool and confident and the receivers he has and their defense are underrated they are so good. I can see why they lost just one ball game. But hey lets not think about that right now I'm excited about going to Dallas. We're excited about the preparation to give you a little bit about our schedule. We're in finals right now we're letting them study. We've got to get everybody passed. Everybody has to do a good job of studying these last few days of finals, so basically we get them up at 6 o'clock to run then they have the entire time to go study get ready, prepare for test and we'll start back Thursday night practicing. We will practice Thursday, Friday, Saturday and then we'll have a final week of preparation before we let them go for Christmas and then we'll go to the big D, we'll meet down there on the 26th.

Q: What kind of reaction did the players have when you told them about the Cotton Bowl?

They actually thought I was keeping it from them. All afternoon we were practicing that afternoon and they really thought I was keeping it a secret, because I told them we would know at 1:00 or 2:00. Then, I got a text from Pete (Boone) saying it would be 3:30 and then maybe 4:00, and then about 4:10 is when I first received word from Pete (Boone) and then Rick Baker after that. When we walked back in here after dinner when I told them where we are going, what's so ironic when I first walked in this room the first time after Pete handed me this job, I asked "Has anyone been to a bowl game?" and not one person could raise their hand, so to have the experience of going to their very first bowl game in their life to one of the top bowls in the country, I mean what a blessing. It goes without saying that they were very, very excited. Jevan Snead especially being from Texas, he's really pumped up. Everybody was so excited and what I love most is they don't know what is coming next. They don't know the day-to-day experience, so it's like little kids around a Christmas tree and you can't wait to tell them what is happening next.

Q: Have you talked to Marshay Green and Cassius Vaughn about the matchup?

We hadn't talked much about that yet, because we didn't want to put too many frowns on our face so quick, but they know and they have an awesome respect for their passing game. They know how good it is. They know the timing they have with Crabtree, and not only Crabtree but their receivers that are so good. We got to see them occasionally on highlights, but we haven't really sat down and told them.

Q: How has practice been so far?

The focus has been outstanding because they've never been here before. Jason Cook said this is the first time we've practiced during this time, but he's not practicing right now but he's always around and boy this is exciting. We've been giving a lot attention to our freshman, our walk-ons, our scout team guys because basically they've been dummies and imitated the team that we play. So we've been really giving those freshmen guys a lot of attention. It's been real good. We're not in process of putting the whole trip together John Hartwell has been working hard with Pete, Mike Beaumont putting everything together. These guys are going to be rewarded in a first class way.

Q: What shape are the players in academically?

I'm very excited going into finals about where we are. I think there as been a real attitude to get it done, to work hard, but you don't know until the last finals been turned in. I got a good feeling that just about everybody is going to be with us.

Q: How will you motivate the team for the Cotton Bowl?

It won't take much because these guys are real excited about playing in a January bowl and I tell you what, our seniors deserve the credit for motivating. They're the ones that have taken complete ownership of our team; ironically it started when we went to Arkansas. We gained a lot of confidence when we beat Florida in The Swamp, but we couldn't handle success very well the following week. We really got on a roll when we went to Arkansas, in a very hostile environment and won that ballgame. We got on a roll so the last five weeks and November has been fun, but it starts with our seniors they've taken ownership of our team. Peria Jerry, Jason Cook, Michael Oher, Jamarca Sanford, Michaeal Wallace, these guys have been the ones that have really stepped up.

Q: What did you think about the Ole Miss players named to the All-SEC team?

It was good. I always wish there is one or two more. I'm partial, I wanted Peria Jerry to be the Defensive Player of the Year, but he had a great year. Jamarca Sanford, Michael Wallace, Shay Hodge, you just wish there were a couple more that would have been on there but its hard to put everyone. We've got an unbelievable league. You've got athletes everywhere, so it's very difficult to have everybody in the first or second team, but I was happy and excited about the representation of Ole Miss.

Q: What did you think about Jevan Snead when you first saw him?

We were very excited. Kent Austin and myself were excited the first time we got to watch Jevan throw at spring practice. We knew he had a lot of up side, but we also knew that he hadn't played football in a very, very long time. Again the speed of the game in this league is very, very fast. The game slowed down for him the fifth game on. He really started seeing improvement. He put a lot of pressure on himself the first few games and probably forced some things. He thought he had to be Superman to make a play especially when the game was tight and so I thought he really started relaxing, started playing within himself distributing the ball to his teammates and not forcing it. Then he finally understood that it was ok to throw the ball away. It's ok to re-huddle and play the next play and the last few games there were very few turnovers and he did an excellent job of throwing to our guys. I've been very proud of Jevan.

Q: Talk about what you get out of the next four weeks.

The positive is you're going to a bowl game and one of the best games in America. Ole Miss is going to be mentioned now till the next thirty days. It's just awesome and I'm excited about that. The negative, you want to keep it bottled up. What we've had the last four or five weeks you want to keep this energy, this defense is playing at a very high level, offense is executing. So, you always worry as a coach, are we doing enough are we practicing at a high enough level? Are we going over everything we need? That's the biggest thing when you have that lay over that time, but every coach asks that question and you have to go with your experience and belief that we're going to get it done and give them enough time for school, enough time to get away from it. I believe the worst thing that you can do is try to go practice for thirty straight days or four weeks. I just think it gets really old and takes the excitement away from the bowl game if you do that.

Ole Miss Athletics Director Pete Boone:

Opening Statement:

It's amazing how things change over time. A year ago we weren't having a meeting to talk about a bowl trip. But even in a short period of time, just three or four weeks ago we were talking with the Liberty Bowl and were very happy to be on their list of teams to consider. The way Coach Nutt and his assistants brought this team around is just remarkable all the Ole Miss folks tip our hats to Coach Nutt and his staff; they did an outstanding job.

You dream about what you'd like to do, how things would come about and bowls you'd like to go to. I'd like to echo what Coach Nutt said earlier about the Cotton Bowl. It's going to be a hard thing to live up to from now on, Coach. Your players are going to taste the best first. I think that's another thing we're excited about here and that's the team that Coach Nutt has put together. Those kids have gone through adversity for the past several years and have fought hard and kept the faith of what we have here at Ole Miss and then bringing Coach Nutt and his staff in to put it all together. It makes you feel good about their life and what they've learned the last several years. It couldn't be any better than that.

Our fans started coming back this year and we're to almost 16,000 tickets sold for the bowl game and just getting started. We're excited about that.

Q: How many tickets did you get this year, considering you sold about 18,000 the last trip to the Cotton Bowl and you sold out of that and asked for more?

Now that I said what I said, I have no clue about the rest of it. I talked with Sans Russell this morning and we had the opportunity to get 18,000. We feel certain we'll have that sort of participation this year.

Q: Can you talk about the changes Houston Nutt has made in the program off the field

The academics all have to start with the coaching staff. We can provide all the tutors, support, counseling and learning specialists, but if the head coach doesn't want it to happen it's not going to happen as well as it could. I'll give Coach Nutt credit for that. It's been a major thing that he's brought to their attention. I lot of it has to do with the fact that he is motivating them to go to class, not threatening them. It's not about making them get up at 4 a.m. That makes a world of difference. As the season progressed, the kids had something to play for to make sure they got in there and were eligible at the end of the year. All those things fit together.

Q: Can you talk about how the players will get to the bowl game?

I believe the process we will use is allowing the players to get there and leave on their own. We are able to pay them mileage from either their home or the University, whichever is further. Here's an opportunity through the NCAA rules where we can pay them the mileage and they will get there on their own. We're always concerned about safety, but a lot of schools do this and it usually works out pretty well. There may be a speeding ticket along the way, but we won't pay for that.

Cotton Bowl President Rick Baker

Opening Statement:

It's going to be awful hard to get a smile off my face here for the next 30 days or so. I can't tell you how excited the AT&T Cotton Bowl is to host the Ole Miss Rebels. I want to congratulate Houston Nutt. He got to Dallas a year late, but he finally got here and we are excited to have him. What a great and special year the Rebels have had. We certainly followed their progress and having those five straight wins put them on everyone's radar. We were fortunate enough to have them available when it was our turn to pick. We are excited about having them in our game and our match-up. Ole Miss and Texas Tech I would put up against any match-up in the country.

It's also a historic game and a bittersweet year for us. As Houston Nutt mentioned, this is our 73rd AT&T Cotton Bowl and it's the last one in Cotton Bowl stadium. We're excited about the future and moving to the new Dallas Cowboys' Stadium, but the Cotton Bowl has been our home for 72 years and it can't help but be a little bittersweet to know this is going to be the last time we'll have a Cotton Bowl in that stadium. But, quite frankly, it's historic in many ways.

Someone asked Pete (Boone) about tickets. Our attendance record for the Cotton Bowl after 72 years, the biggest attendance happened January 1, 1976 with Arkansas and Georgia. We had 77,500 seats. When I left Dallas this morning, with the tickets that Ole Miss and Texas Tech committed to we are already over 80,000 tickets sold. Obviously the interest we have in this game is incredible.

I want to be sure to thank all of those great Ole Miss fans who supported our game five years ago. They came in great numbers and all the Red and Blue was terrific in Dallas. They are doing the same thing this year. Texas Tech being in Texas is buying up a tremendous amount of tickets. A lot of people in Dallas want to be there for this historic occasion the last Cotton Bowl game in the stadium. There is tremendous interest in this game from start to finish. And I want to say how proud we are to have a school and team like Ole Miss in this game with their tradition and history. To have a team like that close the final chapter of Cotton Bowl Stadium is really special. We're really honored to have them with us.

I also would be remiss if I didn't thank Pete Boone for his great leadership in this program. I appreciate his professionalism as we went through this whole process. He's as good an athletics director as there is in the whole country and I appreciate his friendship and the support he's given the Cotton Bowl over the years.

Q: When you were going through the process, were you pretty sure you would get Ole Miss or was there some give and take with the Capital One Bowl?

To be honest, I don't know. We were just waiting on a call from the SEC office letting us know what teams we would have available to pick from. We were very up front. Ole Miss was our first choice and we thought it was the perfect fit for this game. We love the fans and Coach Nutt and there are so many great storylines. The great Texas quarterback here at Ole Miss and playing Texas Tech. We were just holding our breath. I know the Capital One Bowl gave Ole Miss great consideration, and why wouldn't you? Ole Miss is a terrific team and the hottest team. We were talking on the plane up here today and if you look at the eight SEC bowl eligible teams there are only two that one their last game Florida and Ole Miss. Everyone else lost their last game. For us to get an opportunity at Ole Miss - as hot as they are - was a dream come true.

Q: What will happen to Cotton Bowl Stadium?

The city put 60 million dollars into the stadium and expanded capacity, that's one of the reason we'll have a new attendance record. The long and the short of it is that the Texas-Oklahoma game that has been played there since 1929 has a contract to stay there until 2015. So, that's seven more games they are contracted to play there. There is also a Grambling game played there every year during the State Fair. Those are the only two games scheduled to play there. The Cotton Bowl Stadium is not going to be going away, just the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic will be moving to the new Cowboys stadium. It's a competitive environment out there and that's why you see all these wonderful new facilities at Ole Miss, the television contract the SEC secured and we knew if we didn't stay competitive in a competitive world it would hurt us down the road. We felt very strongly this was a move we needed to make, but Cotton Bowl Stadium will be there for many years.

Q: Is part of this move part of a long-term plan to become a BCS bowl?

We're just like Houston and everyone else. We want to be the best we can be. I think everyone who's been to Dallas at New Year's knows especially if you were here five years ago we've had 70 degree weather and we've had 30 degree weather. We knew our Achilles heal was the weather issue. This new stadium is going to be unbelievable and has a retractable roof, so it takes the weather out of the equation. I had brown hair until I had to worry about the weather and this is the last year I have to worry about the weather. I'll find something else to worry about I'm sure, but it won't be the weather. We want to be the best we can be and obviously the highest ranking of bowls is the BCS. That's where we want to get to and we feel we deserve to be. We will do everything we can to be there. I can assure you and have assured Houston and Pete that we will do everything for the players as good or better than the BCS bowls from a hospitality perspective. We will try to be the best we can be and hopefully that will be the BCS. We're prepared to be patient, but that's our ultimate goal.

Q: Following the Florida game a blogger wrote that any ranked coach would find a doctor's note to miss a game against Ole Miss. Can you comment to all those Texas Tech fans who say Ole Miss is not worthy?

We talked about that yesterday. We were in Lubbock yesterday and we didn't hear any of that. I think they know they have their hands full. They know how well Ole Miss has played down the stretch and they have a lot of respect for the SEC in general. I think they know it's going to be a heck of a game. They know Coach Nutt and his reputation. They know Jevan Snead from being a Texas quarterback and you have some other Texas players on the team. They know it's going to be a great game and we are excited about the match-up.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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