Les Miles on WWL in New Orleans to talk about what his trust factor is like with the young secondary allowing them to blitz and make plays despite not having much experience, what he thinks about opening up the conference schedule with Vanderbilt and how important it is to get off to a good start, and what the keys are for the game vs. Vanderbilt to come away with a victory before opening up at home against Mississippi State.

On the notion that you can’t simulate a game during practice for the younger players to get more experience:

“No question that is why first games are so exciting in college football and you see some scores that are unusual, you see some mock scores, some statistical that just doesn’t seem to fit that team.  Those are first game issues.  The good news is you get out of the first game with a victory and you have the opportunity to correct and to teach and we are a very young team.  The good news is we a very talented team.  There are guys that played in their first game and the old coaching axiom is you can really improve 20% from the first game to the second.  I think there is a good feel that this team will improve significantly based on the youth that we started with.”

On Patrick Peterson being an effective punt returner despite the other team trying to game plan against him:

“He is a very talented man, ambitious and he wants to put it in the end zone.  There is not a run out of bounds in him and it was great to see and we anticipated it to be honest with you.  We felt like this was the kind of year and the kind of skill that he has we look forward to seeing him week after week.”

What his trust factor is like with the young secondary allowing them to blitz and make plays despite not having much experience:

“Well there is no substitute for experience.  It is that key ingredient allows you to play situations and understand that you have been there before, this is what we do and yet we have some young guys that are very talented and can play and the missing ingredient is certainly that experience so what you want to do is temper as best as you can their learning with how successful they can be with the talent that they have so those very talented guys have to get on the field and they have to learn on the run and those guys that pick it up quickly and show the ability to gain experience quickly they get to have long seasons and frankly that is where we are at with this young team.  We are looking to enjoy Patrick when he is on the field and there will be those times where we have to break him or spell him and we are preparing those other freshmen or those other corners to go in his position.”

What he thinks about opening up the conference schedule with Vanderbilt and how important it is to get off to a good start:

“Anytime that you play an SEC opponent you better be ready to play and it is just that simple.  The good news is that we just had a road game we understand what it is like to be on the road and I don’t think anybody is looking by this very, very talented team in Vanderbilt and again they played a good team and again we went into the fourth quarter with an opportunity at victory.  Our guys will understand the work that we have cut out for ourselves.”

What the keys are for the game vs. Vanderbilt to come away with a victory before next week’s game against Mississippi State:

“Continue to run the football, be efficient in our throwing.  The good news is that our defense seems to be very sticky against the run which is long as they are it will be very difficult for teams to throw it against us, stop the run and continue to be dominant on special teams.  If we play our three phases the way LSU is supposed to play we will be fine.”

Les Miles on WWL in New Orleans with Bobby Hebert and Deke Bellavia (the interview starts at the 4:56 mark)

Brian Kelly takes that idea a step further by taking over at the preeminent college football program in the history of the sport. And even though some of us may not want to root for the team, he’s the right guy for that job. There is no better way to describe Kelly than to say that he “gets it.” He perfectly understands how to leverage the media, encourage his fans and inspire his team. And he wins football games (171 wins to 57 losses in 19 years over three programs with little recent historical success).

Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly joined Dan Patrick to discuss Joe Montana’s claim that most of the move Rudy was not real as well as Montana’s aspirations to get on Oprah to sell shoes, his personal expectations to win every game at Notre Dame, adjusting to the prestigious program and its traditions and how to beat Michigan this week.

On Joe Montana’s claim that Rudy was just a movie and that not everything depicted in it was real:

“I can’t say that. I still think there is Santa Claus. I still think that Joe is really trying to sell these Skecher shoes. I think it’s going to get him probably on Oprah if he keeps it up… A Hollywood movie that’s embellished? Get out.”

On his expectations at Notre Dame:

“Win every game. I don’t come into any game with the thought that, ‘Let’s just play this one close.’ I’d be disappointed to lose any  game we play. I try to carve it up that way, Dan. Big picture, I really carve it up with 12 individual Saturdays throughout the year and wanting to be successful on that given Saturday… I really just have focused on the process more because I think if I’m flying at 35,000 feet and saying, ‘Hey, I’m the coach at Notre Dame.’ And, ‘Hey, we’re going to a BCS game.’ I’d jump out my window with those expectations… But certainly, we talk about championships and being an elite college football team.”

On the biggest adjustment to in-season coaching at Notre Dame:

“It’s a busy week. There are so many things that are wrapped around football here at Notre Dame from the pageantry of the pep rallies to the walk from the Basilica. There is so much leading up to the game that, to be quite honest with you, in the first week, you are almost drained when you get to the football game. We’ve taken safeguards this week to make sure that nobody, including the players are overexposed because it’s such an event on campus.”

On his thoughts in the locker room before his first game at Notre Dame:

“I want to make sure my team plays the same way that I see Notre Dame football teams play and how they should play. That is with the same passion and pride that our fan base has. Our fans wake up and go to sleep thinking about Notre Dame football. As a football team you have to exhibit on the field that same kind of passion and play with that kind of enthusiasm.”

And on how to beat Michigan:

“If we can control (Denard) Robinson. The thing that Robinson does it that he can control the clock. The time of possession. He can limit other offenses because they can control the clock so well with his ability to run the football.”

Listen to Brian Kelly on the Dan Patrick Show.

McCoy joined KILT in Houston to talk about the ups and downs of his first NFL training camp, making the transition from starter to third string reserve trying to learn the ropes, the similarities and differences between the Browns and Longhorns offenses, what he does to try to familiarize himself as best he can with the Browns offense, his former college teammate Vince Young, and how he thinks he should be handed the Heisman Trophy now that it’s been stripped from Reggie Bush.

On how he felt his first NFL training camp went:

“I felt like it went really well. Obviously as a rookie and you’re trying to come in and learn a new system, learn just the way the processes in the NFL work, it was difficult at times, but you can’t ever let your head hang low, you’ve just got to keep fighting, keep working. I feel like it’s a great fit, it’s going to be a great situation. So I’m just really working hard, I finished off the preseason pretty well, so I’m just looking forward to the season.”

On the adjustment from going to ‘the guy’ to a reserve that doesn’t figure to play this coming season:

“Yeah, Coach Holmgren said that from the beginning, and he had a lot of points behind that that probably people don’t listen to or hear. But he did it with Brett Favre, he did it with Steve Young, he did it with Joe Montana, and he’s doing it with me. Not that I should have my name mentioned in the same sentence as theirs, but to understand that he has a plan for me, he has a plan for my future and my career, and he did come out and say that from the very beginning without ever seeing me take a snap. I know that it’s a great situation and a great fit, obviously because he’s here. But our team has done really well this camp, we’re really looking forward to this season, and you never know what’s going to happen over the course of a season, but hopefully we can stick to the plan. You know, hopefully it will be just like a redshirt year – working really hard, understanding offensively what we’re as a team trying to do, get a little bigger, get a little stronger, and just become more mature and smarter as the year goes on, and be ready to go next year.”

On what the similarities and differences are between systems run at Texas and at Cleveland:

“Right, there’s been a lot of crossover actually from the playbook at Texas and our playbook here.  As far as concepts, routes, the route-tree, the routes to be run, the play-action that we have – the majority of it’s the same, it’s different words, longer sentences, longer play calls. But when you break it down and when you get used to what you’re doing, it’s really very similar; lots of the same of what you’ve been doing your whole life.”

On if he works at night alone on saying all the play calls so that he gets a better command of that aspect of his responsibilities:

“Yeah, it definitely does get wordy. But yeah, definitely at night in your room you go over the plays, you same the out loud, you say them fast, you say them with authority, so when you step in that huddle it feels like you know what you’re doing, you know what you’re saying, and guys can be confident in you. So definitely, definitely that’s part of it.”

On if he thinks Reggie Bush’s stripped Heisman should be handed to his former Texas teammate Vince Young:

“I mean obviously if they’re going to strip it from Reggie, it should go to the second place guy, and that’s Vince. You know, Vince is obviously a close friend of mine and he taught me a lot while I was at Texas, and I really look up to him. So it’s just a matter of…I don’t know how that all works, but I think it would be really neat.”

Listen here to McCoy on KILT in Houston

With a 33-30 victory over Virginia Tech on Monday night, quarterback Kellen Moore not only jump-started his Heisman Trophy bid, but also the conversations about a Broncos national championship. The Hokies are undoubtedly the toughest competition on Boise State’s schedule, and while there are 11 regular season games left, the banter about an undefeated season is already under way.

Or, as Kellen Moore puts it, he and the Broncos are now out to prove everyone right – that they are as good as people think – instead of proving them wrong back when no one gave them credit until an undefeated season was basically complete.

Kellen Moore joined ESPN Radio with Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo to discuss his emotions the day after Boise State’s big win, the atmosphere in Washington D.C., what was going through his head during the game-winning drive, why the Broncos have success in the few times they fall behind, whether they feel the perception about their program is different, whether the feeling has changed in Boise and how they can get away from looking ahead toward a possible undefeated season.

On the emotions one day after beating Virginia Tech:

“It probably just feels kind of like business as usual I think, once you get back to Boise, to the offices. It’s one of 12 games. Certainly outside of us, people cared about it. Certainly we cared about it quite a bit, but we’ve still got a long road.”

On what the atmosphere was like:

“It was awesome. Those are the type of games I think you play college football to play in. It feels like a road game. That place is very loud. What could a quarterback want more than to have the ball with a minute, 47, and you’ve gotta score?”

On what he was telling himself before the game-winning drive:

“I think just to stay relaxed. This is really how you practice. You practice these situations. It’s not something you’ve never done before. You’ve repped it every week, doing that clutch situation, and it all comes down to executing.”

On why he has success in the few times the Broncos trail:

“I think those are awesome situations. I love them. You’ve got to score, there’s some pressure on you. I think it’s fun.”

On what the huddle was like during the drive:

“I think everyone’s on the same page. Everyone understood the situation. It’s all about getting completions, in my opinion, just getting completions, moving the ball downfield. We didn’t need any big-chunk plays, just get the ball to the sidelines, get completions. And a couple times, just, one time I got out of the pocket, and Austin Pettis was able to work a guy one-on-one and get open.”

On whether the Broncos think or realize there has been a change in perception:

“We realize people probably care about us more and think a little higher of us. Maybe we’re trying to prove people right a few more times now than always trying to prove people wrong. Certainly we always have a chip on our shoulder. We know we’re not going to prove to everyone that we belong. It’s just coming out week after week.”

On whether the feeling has changed in Boise:

“It definitely probably feels different on the outside. The key is, once we get in the football offices, once we get into our little closed doors, that the preparation, all the things that go into this, that stuff can’t change. It’s still got to be hard work and you’ve got to get better week-in and week-out. Certainly in the town of Boise, everyone loves us.”

On how the Broncos will go about not looking ahead:

“I think the key is we’ve got smart players there. We’ve got a lot of veteran guys that understand that this is Week One. We made a lot of mistakes and everyone makes mistakes Week One, but the key is you’ve got to get better. You’ve got to improve and correct those things. … We’re going to get everyone’s best shot and I think we’re excited for that.”

Listen to Kellen Moore’s interview on ESPN Radio here

The Cornhuskers are a top ten team in the country, but they still have many questions they need to answer before conference play opens up. Not only is Ndamukong Suh missing off the defensive line, but they also have a huge question at quarterback. If the Cornhuskers want to leave for the Big Ten with a conference championship, they will need to rely on the “Blackshirts” much like they did a year ago.

Bo Pelini joined ESPN Radio with Scott Van Pelt and Ryen Russillo to talk about how he feels about the new social network and the media’s coverage of the team, what he thinks of the quarterback situation this year, when he felt like Nebraska football was back, how tough it will be to replace Ndamukong Suh, and how important it is for his team’s to have a good defense.

On how he feels about the quarterback position:

“Yeah. We feel really good about our quarterback situation. It’s a situation where I feel like we’ve got three guys we can win with. I don’t know if there’s a lot of people out there that can say that. It’s been great competition. I think the competition has made each guy better and it’s made our football team better because I think we’re gonna be deeper at that position than we’ve been and I think it’s a really good situation for us to be in.”

On how he feels about the program moving forward and how close he feels the program is to being where it once was:

“I thought we were getting that way, but what I liked at the end of last year was the fact that we started to be more consistent. When I say that, we can compete, the first thing you have to do in your program to be able to compete is make sure that the kids in your program are doing the right things off the field, they’re managing their day to day activities, they understand what it means to come in and put a hard days work in on and off the field because then you can really get to the business of football and preparing them to play on Saturday’s. That’s a big part of our culture is competing and doing the things on the day to day basis that you have to do. I thought as the season went on last year that the light came on and I thought it started to show on the field. Does that mean that we’re gonna beat everybody on our schedule? That remains to be seen, but I do think we have that opportunity. And we’re heading in the right direction. Now we just have to keep it going that way.”

On the loss of Suh:

“We lost a number of good football players. We lost a few guys, but I just feel like we’re deeper now. We have more depth, we have more options, I think we’re set up a little bit better to handle if somebody does go down. The tools are there. We’re really deep in the defensive backfield and talented there. We have a good combination of experience and youth. On the surface I think we have that opportunity, now what we do with that opportunity we’ll see. I think we’re getting better in some areas but we still have a long way to go and a lot of areas to improve in.”

On the importance of defense at Nebraska:

“Obviously I’m a defensive guy and I grew up coaching defense, I always feel like that is going to be our identity. You have to be good on defense if you want to win championships. I don’t think there’s any way around that. There’s no sense anymore of just outscore everybody because eventually you’re going to run up against somebody that’s gonna stop you and you gotta play some good defense. I feel good that we’re gonna be able to get that done here and I feel like we’re headed in that direction. I feel really good about where we are offensively on this football team this year and I think we’re gonna surprise some people, do some things and put some numbers up on offense as well.”

Listen to Bo Pelini on ESPN Radio here (Audio begins 26:20 into the podcast)

Masoli intended to transfer and play using a rule that states that if you graduate from one institution, are not kicked out of school, and intend to begin a graduate school program not offered at your previous school, you can request an academic waiver and play for a new program.

The NCAA rejected that claim saying the transfer wasn’t based on academics, which brings up an interesting quandary. In the argument of athletics and academics, did the other players who have requested this waiver truly do it just for the academics? And was Masoli’s waiver denied, at least in part, because of off-the-field issues that wound up getting him booted off the Oregon football team?

Houston Nutt joined WGFX in Nashville on the 3 Hour Lunch to discuss his frustration over the late decision on Masoli’s case, whether Ole Miss was treated differently than other programs might have been, how another committee will look at Ole Miss’ appeal, why it took so long for the first decision to be made, how he’s keeping his team focused on the start of the season, what the actual rule states and whether he believes they will win the appeal.

On how frustrated he was that the decision on Jeremiah Masoli came so late:

“It’s pretty frustrating to allow a young man to come all the way across the country, pay his own way, and then, by the way, three or four days before the game, [tell him] that he can’t play. That’s what hurts. When you go by the rule and look at the rule and read the rule which specifically states that if you graduate, if you find a degree in the graduate program, a degree where they don’t have that same degree at Oregon, and that if you’re not suspended by the university. … It just looks like a different interpretation. … The biggest thing is that it looks like this is a very high-profile guy and a lot of questions were asked.”

On whether he feels the case was treated differently because it was Ole Miss:

“I don’t know. I don’t know that. Again, this was a curveball for me because this was my first experience with it. I just assumed. That’s where I probably did a bad job, I just assumed that this was going to be like just about all the other transfer cases. I don’t know if we were treated any different.”

On how a new committee will review the appeal:

“It’s a different committee. When you do appeal, there’s another committee, a sub-committee of different people, faculty reps, athletic director, coaches, whoever, that will now decide.”

On why it took so long to find out the initial ruling:

“That’s a good question. That’s one that I don’t know. It started worrying me a little bit when it did take a long time for the committee to decide. That’s what worried me, but I didn’t know. I just remember having a basketball player that Coach [Andy] Kennedy had, that he dismissed, that went on to Seton Hall and he got [a decision] fairly quickly. Of course there was a basketball player at Duke that transferred to Syracuse. When I studied this thing, and this was my first experience, it just seemed like things moved pretty quickly if you did everything by the rule.”

On how he keeps his team focused on the season despite the national news story:

“It’s important that we do get everything because there’s so much attention, so much media, everything’s on Jeremiah. I want to quickly, quickly shift everything today. … I will make sure that we are 100 percent focused on Jacksonville State because I’ll tell you this, they had Florida State beat.”

On what the actual NCAA rule state:

“The rule states this: No. 1, if a young man graduates from a university, if he can go to another program and find a degree in the graduate program that the previous school did not offer, if you get into that school and you have not been suspended by that university – kicked out for whatever reason … – you’re eligible for a waiver to be able to play a year without sitting out for a year. If you look at all the cases of the people that have transferred. … What it gets down to is they start asking questions about, ‘Well, did you transfer for academics?’ … Let’s not be naive, people transfer, usually, it’s athletic related. But Jeremiah graduated in three years, so he’s doing something right, academically. He could’ve gone back to Oregon to go back to graduate school. He wasn’t kicked out of that school, he was dismissed from the team. And so, he had a chance to come here, to get a waiver where he didn’t have to sit out a year, because he followed the three steps of instruction by the way the rule reads.”

On whether he expects to win the appeal:

“I just don’t know. Again, this is my first experience. I’m in uncharted water. … I looked it up, not very many have won an appeal. But, I’ll say this, this is the most different case that this new committee will ever read about. I’m hoping they’ll put all things aside and don’t go by high profile, don’t go by what he’s done in the past, just look at the student athlete and look at the rule.”

Listen to the interview with Houston Nutt on WGFX in Nashville here

Still, his Tigers program has incidents surrounding suspicion of driving under the influence and now a former captain has basically been kicked off the team following charges of deviate sexual assault. And all of this has gone down with a season-opening rivalry game in the near future. That’s obviously going to turn some heads.

It has turned the head of Pinkel as well, but the veteran coach insists that he’ll stay the course, using the same disciplinary principles that have worked at Missouri for the better part of a decade.

Missouri coach Gary Pinkel joined ESPN Radio 101 in St. Louis on the Bob Stelton Show to discuss why this weekend’s meeting with Illinois seems to be the final one in the rivalry matchup, whether recruiting receives a boost from the rivalry game, what it’s like to dominate such a rivalry, how he approaches players who are receiving NFL Draft or Heisman attention and how he’s ensuring that the bad off-the-field decisions come to a halt.

On why this is the final meeting currently scheduled with rival Illinois:

“I think in basketball … when you have that many games [on a schedule] it’s easy to schedule [that matchup]. It’s a great rivalry game, there’s no question about it. St. Louis does a great job of putting it on, first class and it’s good for the community and good for both schools. That being said, to have some variety a little bit and be able to schedule … we’d like to have this game be played six out of every 10 years. … Hopefully we can do that again.”

On whether Mizzou gets a recruiting boost from having the game:

“I think it’s a plus. It’s always televised, that’s good. It’s in St. Louis, that’s one of our great recruiting areas. It’s a plus in many ways.”

On what it’s like to dominate such a rivalry:

“I don’t ever talk about the past. I never do. I never, ever talk about the past. Whether you won them all or lost them all doesn’t matter. What’s important is focusing on this game and taking care of our business. … My biggest concern in any opening game is in that opening game, are you going to protect the ball? Are you going to play a good kicking game? Are you going to not have mental errors? Are you going to not have penalties? Those things that you have to learn how to not lose before you start winning. Those things are things that are important.”

On how to approach players like quarterback Blaine Gabbert who have Heisman Trophy and NFL Draft hype surrounding them:

“I think you have to earn all that stuff. I think he’s very talented and hopefully he can have that kind of year where those things will really come out and those things become a reality. The way it looks is he’s done a good job and he’s played well, but he can play remarkably better. If he’s having a great year, that means we’re probably winning a lot of games. What goes all along with this, I used to tell Chase Daniel and Brad Smith this, is that’s how you get those kind of recognitions – the team wins and you play at a high level. Hopefully those things happen.”

On how he’ll go about ensuring recent off-field troubles come to an end:

“We’ll just do what we’ve always done. That’s how we’ve built our program. We run a disciplined program. We’ve had some kids that have made some serious mistakes and errors in judgment, but do we put a handle on it? No. It just is what it is. I think we’ve always been respected nationally for being first class and doing the right things. The way it sits now is there’s consequences for those decisions and what we have to do then is we have to earn some respect back. That’s what we’ll do. That’s my job. These things, as the leader here, I’m responsible for everything that happens here.”

Listen to the interview with Gary Pinkel on ESPN Radio 101 in St. Louis here

Dooley, who is the son of legendary UGA coach Vince Dooley, comes with a pedigree that demands respect and even though his head coaching experience is limited he has learned from one of college football’s best coaches, Nick Saban.  He was an assistant with Saban for seven years when Saban was at LSU and with the Miami Dolphins.  Tennessee should be patient with Dooley and give him time to recruit because this year they are going to be bad.  They only have a handful of players on their roster with playing experience and have a junior college transfer in Matt Simms starting at quarterback.  Still, Dooley seems to be more about substance than style, and that is sitting well with Vols Nation and the rest of the SEC.

Derek Dooley joined 790 the Zone in Atlanta to talk about whether Matt Simms is going to be the starting quarterback, people feeling sorry for him and whether Tennessee’s football season is going to be as bad as people think it will be this year, and his father Vince Dooley saying that he would wear Tennessee orange when they play Georgia.

Whether he is relieved that he can now focus on football rather than the off-the-field issues:

“Well we certainly haven’t been short of stories up here.  I felt like it was important we keep things exciting for the fans during the offseason so we did a pretty good job of that and everybody is ready to get started this Saturday.”

Whether Matt Simms is going to be the starting quarterback:

“Yeah Matt has had a real good camp and he has really improved since the day he got here.  He has only been here since January so he is new to the program, he is new to the guys around him but I felt like we have made a tremendous amount of progress over the course of training camp.”

On people feeling sorry for him and whether Tennessee’s football season is going to be as bad as people think it will be this year:

“I don’t know why anybody would feel sorry for me.  I have been real blessed in my life and I have got as good a job anywhere in the country.  Do we have our challenges?  Of course we do.  You look at our 2-Deep and we have 18 freshman on our 2-Deep.  The good news is that we have some good, young, talented freshman.  It will be a lot of fun to watch them grow, but I know out there in that first game it is like anything.  Anytime you do something the first time you never do it as well as you can.  So it will be fun to watch them but we will be holding our breath on a few plays.”

Whether there is open-competition at all of the positions:

“Well yeah they asked me, who has a job?  But we only had about 5 or 6 players returning that had any experience at all out there playing.  Nobody was really entitled to a job and certainly hasn’t done anything to earn it and it is still going to be the case even though we felt like we settled in on our 2-Deep, we don’t know how most of these guys are going to react when they get under the lights because as you know, when the lights come on some guys elevate their game some guys tend to not play as well as they do in practice.”

What the best example he has seen while on campus of the passion for the University of Tennessee football:

“I will tell you that I see it everywhere I go and it has validated everything that I thought about the Tennessee fans and how much they love this place and it is unconditional support because despite what these fans have been through the last two years, it has just been overwhelming how gracious everybody has been, how supportive they have been.  They bleed orange up here and they are going to be with us thick and thin and that is one of the things that makes this program special.  That is one of the things that makes this program win and it has always won and it is going to win.”

How important it was for him to embrace the tradition of Tennessee football:

“It would be important for me to do that no matter where I go.  You know tradition is what links us to the past.  It makes your whole experience special.  You leave a part of it with you and it was important for me to educate our team on a lot of the traditions at Tennessee.  I was surprised at how little they knew about the traditions here.  You take it for granted.  There is so many things that you see all of the time and I saw it as a young child watching Tennessee from the outside but these players have really enjoyed it.  We have embraced a few traditions of the past and we are probably going to start a few of our own.”

On Vince Dooley saying that he would wear Tennessee orange when they play Georgia:

“What is amazing to me is that it surprises people.  Anybody that has children is shocked that a father would pull for his son but that is the beauty of athletics.  It is like everybody’s team is more important than their family.  We have had a lot of fun with it and I am amazed at how interested everybody is in what my parents will wear on game day.  I guess that is what makes college football special.”

Derek Dooley on 790 the Zone in ATL with Mayhem in the AM

Hawkins joined ESPN Radio 1600 in Denver to talk about not being concerned about his team being too amped up for their opener against Colorado State on Sunday, the extra excitement that goes along with playing a rival in the opener, the swagger that others seemingly see in his team this summer, holding team meetings and practices in the morning for the first time in his coaching career, and how his team has really taken to the new routine.

On having to guard his team from being too excited for their opener against Colorado State:

“Well I think there’s always emotion in every game, we want that. I don’t think we’re guarding against being too high by any means. I think there will be a number of factors: one, they’ll be so happy they don’t have to play against each other anymore, I think both sides will be fired up about that; and then obviously the game, the rivalry, and the whole deal.”

On just how important winning their opener is this season:

“Well I mean obviously it’s a critical game for your opener. I’ve said many times, if you win your opener, the stats are pretty good that you end up having a winning season. So there’s a lot obviously just in that. And then you throw the rivalry component in there as well, and that even doubly enhances that. Everybody’s going to have an opener and be fired up, but there’s probably few teams across the country that are going to play a rival in their opening game.”

On if he would agree that there’s a swagger about his team during summer practice sessions:

“A couple of different guys have said that. It’s just so hard when your nose is stuck right in there because you’re just trying to close the gap and you’re not always exactly sure where that gap is, in terms of, is that between B and C, or F and G, or where is that gap? So I think that’s hard to tell. On paper I think we have some good things going, but we’ve just got to see that thing played out.”

On having practices and meetings in the morning for the first time:

“Oh my gosh, I’m very disappointed it took me 28 years to figure this out. I’m not kidding you. Our guys love it, our coaches love it. It’s awesome. It really is”

On how his players don’t mind getting up early to work:

“Well the thing you have to remember Vic is you didn’t have a strength coach breathing down your neck to get you out of bed. Our guys would normally be lifting at 6:30 in the morning anyway, so I think for them, to be able to get up, they’re fresh and they’re ready to go, their minds are clear, and they’re focused on that. And then they can go focus totally on academics, so it’s nice on both ends. They’re able to take more classes, a better variety of classes are available in the afternoon. So they love coming over here and doing football, and basically getting it over with, and then going and being a student. So it’s worked out really well.”

Listen here to Hawkins on ESPN Radio 1600 in Denver with Vic and Gary

Phone numbers of Kiffin and his family were distributed and threats ensued. To-date, he’s still trying to sell a house in the area – apparently no one wants to live in the house he once occupied. And recently, Peyton Manning commented that, “I think the one thing where Tennessee, as a whole group was kind of hurt, our pride was hurt, was that we didn’t think that Tennessee was a transition job. … I’ve always thought and the big orange nation thought that Tennessee was a destination job. Unless you were fired or retired, that was the place to be.”

Apparently a school with a completely overhauled front office, football scholarships lost and up to a two year bowl ban is the place to be.

USC football head coach Lane Kiffin joined the Petros and Money Show on FoxSports Radio to discuss how he would characterize the state of the USC program as it transitions coaches and front office, keeping track of his third team in three years, the continued fallout of his “rough divorce” from Tennessee and a speech he made to his team about earning playing time.

On how he would characterize the attitude of the program:

“I think we are in great shape. If you look at the overall picture, it speaks to the power of the ‘SC and the ‘SC family. To go through what we are going through, and as you mentioned over the last few months, to have JK McKay coming back, Kennedy Pola coming back and Pat Haden coming back all former Trojans. At a point when people would expect people to run away, powerful people are coming back to help us continue this championship run… It’s been a very smooth transition. We’ve been very fortunate. When you have change like that, your fears as a coaching staff are to have an athletic director coming in from another school that wants to do it a different way and has his own ideas. This is very different. Here comes one of the great Trojans of all times with Pat Haden coming back and bringing JK with him. They understand Trojan football and it’s been very smooth having them back.”

On how he keeps track of his teams having coached in three different locations in three years:

“Yeah and I have a lot of houses that nobody will buy. The first year is always a transition. We are getting a lot of practice at that unfortunately. We don’t want to do that again. We’d like to be here for a long time. There is transition in learning your staff, learning your team. We’ll go through that here at the beginning of the year. Especially because of our practices, not having two-a-days and not hitting too much there’s a lot of questions we are going to figure out about our team in these first couple games.”

On how he feels about moving on from Tennessee:

“It was a rough divorce. Let’s put it that way. I had a great time there. We were very excited about our future there as they were as well. When you leave somewhere that fast, unfortunately, the passion of the fans down there is so unbelievable that they were hurt. I guess if their reaction was different and they didn’t really care about it and talking about it, that would mean that they didn’t like us or they didn’t think we were doing good things. As far as the recruitment and the NCAA, we’ve already spoken with the NCAA. They came and spoke to us. They don’t allow us to comment on that. I can say that we do things the right way. We signed three number one recruiting classes in a row while we were here at USC before doing it the right way. We signed some great players at Tennessee when we were there and we will continue to do that here too. Does that create a target? Sure it does. We get questions all the time, ‘How do you get guys continue to sign all these great players around the country no matter where you are at?’ The answer is really easy. This staff works extremely hard at it year round. We are very proud of our success in recruiting and that we do it the right way.”

And on his speech to his team that the best guys were going to play no matter what:

“I probably would have done that regardless. I thought it was extremely important after last season, after the great run and the falloff last year. In getting here and  feeling when I first got here a little bit of empowerment maybe that wasn’t earned by some kids just because they were putting on a uniform, putting on an ‘SC helmet. That doesn’t make you a great player. That doesn’t make you a championship player. You have to earn it.”

Listen to Lane Kiffin with Petros and Money on FoxSports Radio.