Head coach Glen Mason Opening statement: “Thanks for coming today. I appreciate your coverage, as always. It’s a little unusual for me to have a press conference on Tuesday when we’re not going to start until Saturday, but because of the NCAA Tournament we decided this was the best way to do it. “In some ways I can’t believe it’s time for spring practice. It seems like we just ended the 2005 season, and it seems like yesterday we had a press conference on Feb. 1 for our signings. But spring break is over and that means it’s time for practice. “I’ve been through too many spring practices to really mention, but I love spring practice, more as a coach than I ever did as a player. I like it because it gives you the opportunity to get back and work with the players again and the challenge of teaching, coaching and improving. That’s what coaching really means is being charged with improving the guys you have. And I like it because there’s not a game staring you right in the face and those types of pressures. You can really go after every player on your team and try to improve them in the fundamentals of the game of football. And for me, it’s a challenge to go out there and put a team together. “Football is the greatest team sport that has ever been invented. Everyone just assumes you have team unity, but there are a lot of things that go on behind the scenes to make sure you come together as one cohesive unit. “We really only lost a few players from last year. That’s the good news. The bad news is that most of the ones we lost were outstanding football players. It will not be an easy task to replace them. But that’s part of college football and it’s time for them to move on to bigger and better things. “The challenge for us is to improve the returning players, and that’s what we expect to do. And we must decide who will fill in the holes that were left by the departures and, at the same time, make sure we have an air of competition at all times. No one owns a position. Sometimes guys who are returning starters feel they do, but they don’t. It’s our job to make sure that air of competition is there and everyone has to earn the right to play.” On the overall team objectives: “Some general objectives that are constant that we always have for spring practice include evaluation of personnel. One of my favorite sayings around here is, ‘Perception is more important than fact.’ I don’t believe it, but I keep stating it because most of us deal in perceptions. A lot of times you have a perception of who the best player is, but when you study and evaluate it a lot of times you are wrong. I want to make sure we are constantly evaluating our personnel. "We have to experiment, both with personnel and schemes in an effort to make us better. We have to work on fundamentals, which is probably the most important part of football. Again, what we’re here for as coaches is to take a specific individual, and as a teacher, a coach and a trainer make them better. We also have to maintain our conditioning. We’ve made tremendous strength gains through our offseason conditioning program. In spring practice, even though we’re here to practice football, we don’t want to lose those gains that we’ve made. And last but not least, our objective in spring practice is to make sure we come out a much better football team than we were going in.” On the team’s defensive objectives: “To be more specific, when you look at the defensive side of the football, there are several things we really want to concentrate on. First of all, we have to get the best 11 players on the football field, and that comes back to evaluation. "We have to develop a success mentality on defense. When you look at our football team over the last few years, our offense has had a lot more success and recognition. When you’re successful you carry yourself a little bit different. We have to get that type of mentality on defense. We have to be tougher defensively. There’s a big difference between offense and defense. When you break the huddle, the offensive guys know where the ball is going. Defensive guys have to react to everything. You have to be a more mentally tough and physically tough player to play defense and be successful on defense. We have to improve in that area." On the team’s offensive objectives: “Offensively we have to get the right starting 11 out there. Our first consideration is going to be on getting the offensive line together. We’ve had an awfully good offensive lines the last couple of years. We’ll have a good offensive line again this year but we have to make sure we get the right piece of the puzzle in the right spot. “We have to be consistent in both the run and the pass. For us to be consistent we need more balance. We’ve run the ball awfully effectively and passed the ball OK. I’m not sure we’ll run the ball as effectively but we’re going to pass a lot better.” On the special teams: “We have our kickers and punters back and have added more depth in those positions but we have to establish who our kicker and punter is going to be during spring practice. We’ve lost some key punt personnel we have to replace. We have to get faster with the snap, the hold and the kick from our field goal unit. We need an identity as far as our punt return and punt block. A couple of years ago we were an outstanding punt block team. We hung our hat on it and won some ball games that way. Ever since then, whether you’d say we’re a punt return team or a punt block team, either way we’re very average. We have to figure out what we’re going to be.” On student-athlete departures: “We have three guys who are no longer with the program. Mark Mullaney is taking a medical (redshirt). He had an injury that prevented him from participating any more. Pat McCarthy, who still had eligibility left, decided to graduate and move on, and Micah Rucker decided to transfer.” On position switches: “Eric Clark will move from defensive end to defensive tackle. We’ve toyed around with that for awhile and we have a need depth-wise. Trumaine Banks has been a three-year starter at corner and we’re going to move him to free safety. Tony Brinkhaus has been a starter at offensive tackle and we’re going to try him at center. Ryan Ruckdashel, who has also been a tackle, will also be tried at center. It’s all experimentation. We’re going to keep moving those guys around to find who is our best center. “Our center has been very involved in our run game and has been instrumental in some of the things we can do. We have to find who is going to be the best replacement for (Greg) Eslinger, and everything will fall into place from there.” On the team’s defensive improvements: “The coaches and I put an offensive formation and a defensive formation up on the board and went through position by position whether we were going to better, equal or not as good as last year. Doing that, the number of places where we would be better far outnumbered the negatives.” On the team's offensive expectations: “The one big advantage we have this year is that we have a returning quarterback with a lot of experience. That seems to be the big thing everyone looks at in the Big Ten Conference. It’s hard to compete and win in this league with a guy who doesn’t have a lot of experience. We have a guy with a lot of experience who has played pretty well. “I think there’s some uncertainty when you look at the offense because of how we’re going to line up on the offensive line. Last year we were pretty solid. I don’t really know how we’re going to line up right now. But when you look at it, we have three returning starters at offensive tackles.” On replacing Greg Eslinger: “We’re going to do the things we’re capable of doing. You have to remember Eslinger was an Outland Trophy winner and Rimington Award winner. He didn’t win those awards just because I said he was a good center. Opposing coaches and television announcers probably talked more about that kid than any other offensive lineman last year. He’s the best I’ve ever seen at that position, especially with all the things we asked him to do. “We’re not going be able to find a guy who can do as many things as Eslinger did for us. We’re not going to ask a kid to do that. We’re going to evaluate the guys we put in there and find out what they can to do.” On the running back situation: “I’ve had confidence in Amir Pinnix since he’s been here. I’m sure it was frustrating for him to be behind some guys who were pretty good. Now he gets a chance and that’s all you can ask for. But you need more than one running back. I don’t know about Brylee Callender. Obviously we signed him because we think he’s a good football player, but I haven’t seen him take a snap yet. “In the last two years we’ve lost three pro running backs. That’s unusual for any program, not just Minnesota. That wasn’t the only reason we ran the ball well and ran it a lot. We ran it a lot because we had a great offensive line and really good running backs, and a lot of them who could take that beating. I’m not sure we have the type of personnel to do that now. “Don’t misunderstand -- we’re going to work awfully hard on the running game. That’s our identity but at the same time, when it’s all said and done, I don’t care if we run or pass as long as we move the ball, hold on to the ball and score points. Cupito is a good passer and I think we have good receivers.” On the defensive line: “We have two guys outside who should be better than a year ago in Steve Davis and Willie VanDeSteeg. Todd Meisel is a former walk-on who worked his way up the ladder and was really impressive at the end of last year. I’m on high the kid. He’s a rock-solid kid who will give you everything he’s got. I know that guy will lay it on the line for us. And Eric Clark has an opportunity to show what he can do.” On the stadium issue: “We need to get it done. It’s not a want; it’s a need. There’s a responsibility out there to recognize the need and then find out what you’re going to do about it. We’re in the Big Ten Conference and I assume we intend to stay in the Big Ten Conference. To be in the Big Ten Conference you have to play football. “Major college football is a big business. It’s not a criticism internally because internally we recognize that. I applaud President Bruininks because he understands the place athletics fits into higher education at this level. He recognizes the need we have, and for all the things he has on his plate and headaches he has, he’s pushing very hard for it.” On the players adjusting to the new coaches: “It’s an adjustment both ways because it takes awhile for coaches to learn and understand players and vice versa. It’s more than just football. College football is a lot different than pro football, and I’m not talking about schemes. When you’re coaching college football you’re dealing with so much more than Xs and Os. You have academics to deal with, girlfriend problems, problems to deal with at home, etc. The difference is you try to deal with their problems and to do that you have to know the people. Along with that, the players need to trust the coach because a lot of times you have to do things they won’t like. Hopefully they believe you’re doing it in their best interests. “I really like the two guys we hired. I really like our staff right now, not that I didn’t like the guys that were here. I hate to hire guys. It’s one of the things I dislike to do because I don’t want to make the wrong decision because it’s hard to correct. Part of it’s football knowledge, part of it is recruiting ability and part of it is how you fit in. These two guys seem to fit in really well.” Senior quarterback Bryan Cupito On replacing Greg Eslinger: “Obviously Greg is a great player, but Tyson Swaggert has been here for a long time and he knows what’s going on. I think coach probably mentioned that we will try a few things out during spring practice to see where we’re at, but to be honest, I’m not too worried about Tyson. He’ll be fine.” On holes to fill on offense: “There are holes everywhere. We obviously lost some great linemen and also some great running backs. But most of the receivers are back and I feel really comfortable about that. Hopefully we can throw a little more this year to those guys. Either way, the offensive line is going to be OK. There are a lot of great guys on this team that will fill in and do fine. We have people ready to step up at the running back position as well.” On the running backs: “I think Amir Pinnix will hold up fine. He is a good back and has been waiting for his turn. The game he had against Michigan State last year really proved what kind of player he is and that he could play every down. That game helped his confidence as well. I’m not worried about him at all. Brylee Callender is looking really good too. It will be fun seeing what he can do during the spring. We’ll have to wait and see with (Jay) Thomas once his knee is better.” On the wide receivers: “Luke Decker is the man. So far this offseason he’s impressed me the most out of anybody. Obviously Ernie Wheelwright and Logan Payne are great and are getting even better but Eric has great speed and he’s been catching the ball really well. I have a lot of confidence in him and Mike Chambers as well. He took a little longer to develop but he is playing well. Those are our main four and as far as filling in the other spots, we’ll just have to wait and see on whether it will be some freshman or other guys.” On his increased role: “With Eslinger and Maroney gone I have to step up. I’m hoping to take some of the things that I learned from them and keep the team under control. I’m a third-year starter now and it’s my turn to lead this team and make plays. I’ve struggled with that a little in the past, but it’s going to come down to me making plays and I’m confident I can do that.” Sophomore defensive end Steve Davis On gaining weight for the upcoming season: “I’m up twelve pounds this year so far. I’ve been eating a bunch of meat, potatoes and vegetables mostly, making sure I get enough calories throughout the day. I eat like five times a day and try to get like 4,000 calories. My goal is to get to around 250 pounds for the season. Hopefully it will pay off.” On how the weight will effect him: “I think it will be good for me. I’ve been doing a lot of lifting and it’s bulk weight, not fat weight. I don’t want to get tossed around as much as I did last year. Adding some extra pounds will help me hold my ground a little better and make some more plays.” On providing defensive leadership: “We need a lot more leadership on defense. That is what we were missing last year. We all got together at the end of last season and told ourselves that this year has to be different. We are trying to win a Big Ten championship. Last season we built good leads in the first half and let them get away. We need more discipline on defense so we can hold our leads and win ball games. This year we have some guys that are going to step it up, guys with fire in their eyes who are going to be flying around hitting people.” On the anticipation of spring practice: “There is a lot of emotion out there. Everybody is fighting for positions. There are people competing for jobs at cornerback, linebacker and defensive line. The coaches told us that we have to come in here and work hard because this is when they decide who will be playing next year and helping the team.” On the new defensive coaches: “I’ve heard some good things from them about what we’re going to be doing and some of the schemes. Other players have said the same thing. They are telling us things that we haven’t heard before and it’s really helping us out. As long as we come into spring ready to play we should be fine.” Sophomore safety Dominic Jones On the attitude of the defense: “Everyone knows we have the new coaching staff. It’s been a totally different vibe from the time I got here in the summer until now. It’s a whole different level of intensity just as far as preparing. They expect a lot more of us. The bar is set much higher than last year. Looking back on the season, there were some bad habits we showed that we don’t to go back to. We have a lot more commitment this year as far as offseason workouts and preparing than we have in previous years. I think that is going to be a big key.” On new faces in the defensive coaching staff: “We have experience back there. With Coach Bray and his philosophy, I think things are going to work out pretty good.” On playing safety: “I played a little bit of both in high school (cornerback and safety) so it wasn’t a whole new thing. It was more of an adjustment to the speed of the game." On a new defensive mentality: “This year we really want to emphasize aggressiveness. We can play more man-to-man and be more aggressive in coverage. With me coming down and being the third guy to cover down on the receiver or tight end, it will give us more opportunities.” On the defense’s confidence: “We definitely have a chip on our shoulders about the way that we played in some of the games this year and how we performed. We definitely take full accountability for what happened. That’s what we want to change with the new coaches and new things we are changing on the defense. We are trying to fix those things, and this offseason, with the way that we worked until this point, I think we are really headed on the right track.” On guys getting into the weight room: “As far as I know from talking to Coach Mason, this has been one of the best offseasons we have had in a long time with an entire commitment of guys on the defensive side and the offensive side as well. Collectively as a team we are trying to bring everybody to the same page. The defense has the same intensity of the offense so it will be real interesting in practice.” On the program moving in the right direction: “Things will continue to get better as long as we keep a positive attitude, an open mind and accept coaching. That was a big thing last year, we didn’t accept coaching like we should have. We had a pretty young team, especially on the defensive side, so if we build on what he had from last year we can only get better.”