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Pac-12 Media Day 2011: News And Highlights From North Division

Jul 27, 2011, 4:09 PM UTC

Written by Mike Schmitz. This update comes to you from the scene of Pac-12 Media Days.

LOS ANGELES -- Andrew Luck debuted his Paul Bunyan beard, Chip Kelly gracefully shot down questions about Willie Lyles and his recruiting service, and Utah and Colorado were officially introduced as the newest members of Pacific 12 Conference.

Not a bad first day.

The new-look conference’s first media day certainly didn’t lack drama, excitement, and comic relief. But between all of the jokes, smiles and politically correct quotes lies a wealth of insight into each and every school and its prospects for the 2011 season.

Pac-12 media day highlights from the North Division:

California

When asked if he was concerned about his relations with Lyles, Jeff Tedford responded, "Not at all. I'm not concerned one bit. We deal with probably four or five recruiting services per year. I wouldn't know Lyles if he was in this room right now. That's what he did. He provided us a service be it a list of prospects and game tape and things like that, and that's what we use all our recruiting services for. I think there are over 250 schools in the Houston area, and the reason we use those services is to make sure that we can be efficient with our time and our resources. I have no concern whatsoever about it."
Controversy aside, Tedford spoke highly of his team's growing chemistry and ability on the defensive end. "I feel like we have the opportunity to be very strong on defense. We ranked first in a couple of categories last year. First in total defense, first in pass defense ... Really excited about Clancy Pendergast, our defensive coordinator."
Senior wide receiver Marvin Jones is expected to step into a leadership role, which he started embracing with team t-shirts. "We have a new theme going around that we do everything, everything is team oriented. So when we work out, we have shirts that say "Team Matters" across the chest. And nobody can take the shirt off no matter if you're hot."
While Tedford is excited about the defensive side of the ball, Cal clearly has some holes offensively. With Shane Vereen now a member of the Patriots, the Bears will lean on Isi Sofele and Covaughn DeBoskie-Johnson at tailback. The Bears also lost quarterback Kevin Riley and will turn to Zach Maynard, although it didn't sound set in stone by any means. "So quarterback is an issue. Not an issue, but somewhere we really need to pay strong attention to," Tedford said.

Oregon

Kelly barely had time to enjoy his first place finish in the Pac-12 media polls as he was greeted with numerous questions regarding the NCAA's investigation of Lyles. Oregon brought in a law firm to "conduct a review of our situation and produce a report that we'll make public," Kelly said.
Despite his tongue and cheek answers, Kelly did say he was ready to "clear up misconceptions" about the his team and the Lyles situation.
Kelly also noted that the unwanted attention hasn't affected his current recruits. "I haven't had to address it with the recruits right now. We're coming off back-to-back Pac-10 championships as we move into a brand-new league with a brand-new television contract, it's a bright future for us. We had a berth in the Rose Bowl, we had a berth in the National Championship Game."
On the football side of things, Kelly raved about quarterback Darron Thomas, saying, "He's probably the toughest quarterback I've ever been around" and "I don't know if there is a ceiling for him, and I hope there's not."

Oregon State

The Oregon State session was uneventful, but Mike Riley did continue to come off as one of the nicest guys in college football, full of smiles and genuine responses.
As for the Beavers, the only real redeeming news from the session comes from wide receiver James Rodgers' healing knee. Riley said he's moving ahead of schedule, but the head coach isn't ready to throw him to the wolves. "Well, James, the one thing that you can never do with James is count him out. He had two major knee surgeries. He is running. He has always been deemed ahead of schedule. But I'm going to really play this conservatively. I'm going to see where he is. He's got a major doctor's appointment, kind of a last check-up before camp coming up. We'll see what they say when he comes home from that. Then we'll go into fall camp and see where he is."
Riley also touched on the other James' brother, Jacquizz, and whether or not it was a good idea for him to leave for the NFL after last season only to fall to the fifth round. But Riley completely agreed with Jacquizz's decision, saying, "The one thing about Jacquizz is I think he was drafted by a team that knew why they were drafting him. The Falcons were an established team. They knew what they needed. Jacquizz will have a great opportunity, and I think he'll do well in the NFL."

Stanford

As mentioned before, Luck was sporting a bushy display of facial hare, rare for the usually clean-cut Cardinal. The probable No. 1 pick in next year's NFL draft said he's "hesitant to call it a beard. I don't think it's quite there yet."
Luck also announced, to no one's surprise, that he's approaching the year as if it's his "last college football season." He also hasn't regretted his decision to stay in college one bit. "I didn't really think about the decision after I made it. I've been very happy. I haven't had any regrets. I love being able to represent Stanford University. I'm looking forward to doing that on the field this year."
Despite the beard attention, Luck took a backseat to first-year Stanford head coach David Shaw, who displayed the poise and competitive drive of a veteran coach. Luck had great things to say about Shaw, who recruited him and became a "huge" part of Luck's development.
Shaw touched on his football relationship with Jon Gruden and how he toughened him up. "I spent five years with Jon Gruden, and he beat me up. He trained me. He threw me in a dark room with mountains of tape to educate me."

Washington

Jake Locker questions poured in from the get-go, with Chris Polk referring to the Tennessee Titan as a "father figure," during his time with the Huskies. It's now up to Polk to assume that role. "It's a lot different. I can't be the guy in the back anymore. I can't be quiet. I'm going to have to step up and accept my leadership role, especially with these young guys coming in. I have to really show them the reins and show them the right thing and what to do in order to become successful."
Washington will now turn to sophomore quarterback Keith Price under center. Head coach Steve Sarkisian said Price plays a "fun and exciting" brand of football and is the kind of kid "that comes to work with a smile on his face every day, loves what he does. His players love and respect him."

Washington State

Like Oregon State, the Cougars' sessions were extremely brief and uneventful. There just isn't much to say about the conference's last-place team. Head coach Paul Wulff mostly raved about wide receiver Jared Kartsetter and the team's steady improvements.
Wulff did shed some light on what quarterback Jeff Tuel needs to do in order to take his game to the next level: "He needs to be able to take a team onhis back and carry it. When games are tight, he needs to be able to make the plays that win the games. Those are the steps that he's going to take, and he will take. But I think that's at the next step is to truly be in tight situations, carry this football team into the fourth quarter, and then make the plays to win it."

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