It wasn’t new to Dan Beebe. The Big XII commissioner says Slive simply went public with ideas that had been discussed at meetings between the commissioners from every major conference. Beebe says that none of the ideas — which included increasing student-athlete’s stipends, more rigorous entry requirements to get into school and reassessing some NCAA rules — were surprising to him.

Dan Beebe joined ESPN Radio Dallas with Galloway and Company to discuss the changes in the Big XII over the last year, reassuring Texas A&M that everything will work out concerning the rival Texas Longhorns’ network, if every major football program will have its own network eventually, the frustration that comes with many saying the Big XII will surely break up, rumors of Texas A&M heading to the SEC, and his reactions to Mike Slive’s proposal for the SEC last week.

What’s this last year been like for you?:

“It’s been rewarding in some ways. There was certainly a lot of work to be done both in negotiating with our departing institutions, which we got settled in a way that didn’t cause a lot of angst between institutions. … And then of course we rolled into the significant television negotiations for our secondary football rights and ended up in a very good place with that and in a very good place with our next negotiation in less than four years now for our primary football rights and all of our men’s basketball rights.”

How do you reassure universities, particularly like Texas A&M, right now that everything is going to be OK?:

“There’s going to be concern about the stuff that’s uncertain regarding the launch of institutional networks. It’s new ground. Nobody knows for sure what the answers are. But in calls we had this week with the athletics directors and the board of directors, there’s a continuing spirit of working together, of a desire to ensure the conference is stable as we go forward and a good feeling that we will work it out.”

Do you believe that every major program will have its own TV network in the next couple years?:

“I don’t know about that because I think that some have already contributed all their rights to their conferences — the Pac-10 and the Big Ten, for instance, and also in the ACC. The SEC did what we did and that is, every institution is preserved the right for a football game to be used. … We’ll have to see. Notre Dame has announced its intentions to have a network. BYU has a network already, BYUTV. I don’t know how it’s going to go the rest of the way.”

How frustrating is it that some folks say these networks are a sign that the conference is surely going to break apart?:

“I think that it’s understandable, based on what happened last year, there’s going to be people who think that any kind of fissure between our member institutions means this is going to end the conference. No decision-makers have said that. … It’s been stated the conference is in good position and we look forward to working together to iron out our issues. And then are those people who want something bad to happen. It’s those people in the media or public who want to go see a car wreck. … There’s those that have concern and don’t want to see bad things happen but then there’s an element of people who want to see bad things happen.”

What about the almost-constant talk that Texas A&M is heading to the SEC?:

“That’s been going on for 20 years before the Big XII was ever formed. There’s a segment of the A&M population that thinks that’s the best place for their institution. Fortunately, they’re not the ones that are making decisions on this. Also, I think it isn’t the best place. To have these rivalries, the fact that there’s so much concern about what the other schools are doing, indicates there’s a great rivalry. To move away from that would be a tremendous tragedy. … When institutions are in conferences that are not within their orientation, I think that’s a big problem.”

On SEC commissioner Mike Slive’s address at the league’s media days with his somewhat surprising plan for the national landscape of college football:

“Yeah, it wasn’t new. We’ve talked about it as commissioners and it’s been in the public domain a little bit. We’ve all talked about needing to look at increasing the grant level of compensation for student-athletes. Not compensation, but award for student-athletes. There’s nothing magic about the fact that years ago it was decided that room and board, tuition, fees and books and a laundry fee would be what student-athletes get. There’s still other expenses that we could decide we want to help cover. … Initial eligibility and tightening that up has been discussed. All of these matters are kind of floating around in a way that now needs to be brought to national attention. And with the new NCAA president, he’s really dedicated to doing that.”

Listen to Dan Beebe on ESPN Radio Dallas here

For better or worse, that just means that Miller is not the most dynamic of interviews at this particular moment in his career. He’s been fed a script about the topics we want to hear him talk about, and bless his soul, he’s sticking to it with aplomb despite it making him come across as not exactly the most transparent, engaging, or interesting guy in the world. Like I said, I don’t envy him in that regard.  Just keep on keeping on for now Mr. Miller. Things will sort themselves out before you know it and you’ll be back to doing what you love to do — chasing down the ball, making plays, and leading a defense somewhere in the National Football League.

Miller joined XX 1090 in San Diego to talk about what his daily itinerary is like these days as he prepares for the 2011 NFL Draft, how his competitive nature helps him stay focused on doing the best he can at events like the Combine and workouts for NFL teams, the one-of-a-kind experience of playing at Texas A&M, why he chose to return for his senior season in College Station when he could have declared last year and likely been a reasonably high draft pick, how he’s not yet received a formal invitation to attend April’s Draft in New York City, whether he’d go were he to receive that invite in the upcoming days or weeks, if anybody has been in his ear about boycotting the event considering his visible involvement in the players’ lawsuit against the NFL, how exactly it came to be that his name was included in the ongoing litigation brought forth by the players, and how he’s managing the unusually heavy burden of being a part of the labor dispute while also trying to remain focused on fulfilling a lifelong dream and making it to the next level.

On just how competitive he is when it comes to maximizing his ‘measurables’ at the Combine:

“I mean, I’m very competitive. I live my life very competitively. Every day I just compete in everything. Competing in drills every day with those guys in Orange County, I think it just helped me a lot with this Combine.”

On why he returned for his senior season when he could have easily declared last year and been drafted high:

“I had promised my mom I was going to get my degree, but the real reason is I wanted to come back with my teammates. I went to school out there with Cyrus Gray, Garrick Williams , and Tony Jerod-Eddie, and we all played high school together at DeSoto High School. And I had one more y ear to be with those guys, and I felt we had a pretty good team with Jerrod Johnson and Jeff Fuller and everybody. I really wanted to be a part of that, and we did pretty good this season, so I guess everything turned out great”

What it was like playing in front of the loyal fans at Texas A&M:

“If you haven’t been to a Texas A&M football game than you haven’t experienced college football yet. We’ve got one of the best facilities, we’ve got one of the best stadiums in college football. There’s great facilities out there with Ohio State and LSU and Michigan, but our stadium, we’ve got 85,000 fans and they’re standing up the whole game and yelling in unison. It just doesn’t get as good anywhere else as Texas A&M. I love it. Gig ‘Em.”

Whether he’s been formally invited to this April’s NFL Draft in New York City:

“Formally I haven’t been invited to the NFL Draft and I haven’t received a formal invitation yet. But I always dreamed of gong to the Draft, walking across the stage and shaking the Commissioner’s hand. It’s always been a dream for me, and it’s still a dream for me. I’m just taking it day by day, one day at a time.”

If he’s decided what he’ll do were he to receive an invitation to attend:

“No sir, I’m still just going to take it one day at a time. At this point in my career right now, I’m just taking visits and working out with teams and that’s really my priority right now. I really haven’t thought that far into the future.”

Has anybody talked to him at all about attending the Draft:

“Yeah I mean, I talked to my dad and I talked to some guys about going to the Draft but it really hasn’t been a huge priority of mine just yet. I’m just trying to work out and get ready for these upcoming workouts.”

But he surely has been following along to some degree to the big story concerning whether this year’s draft class will boycott attending the event at Radio City Music Hall:

“Yeah I’ve followed along with it. But it’s not really a huge deal for me. My grandfather, he had an aneurysm this week, and my grandmother, she never flew before in her life. So I’m still dealing with those situations. So maybe I might have it back home in DeSoto. But right now I don’t know. I’m just taking it day by day, one day at a time.”

On his name being included in the players’ lawsuit against the NFL:

“It’s just one of those situations. I can’t really get in depth about it. But I was asked to join an elite group of guys like Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Mr. Vrabel and Mr. Brady and all those guys. And I was asked to help out in the situation,  and I’m a team guy — whatever I can do to help those guys, that’s what I’m ready to do.”

On who approached him to be a formal part of the lawsuit:

“I was counseled by a couple of guys Super Bowl weekend and the weeks following that. But it really wasn’t just one guy, it just happened. Out of all the college guys out of college guys that it could have happened, it just happened to fall in my life like that. God, he has mysterious ways working with things. I’m just taking it one day at a time.”

If he’s at all concerned that his involvement in the litigation might in some way backfire against him:

“My ultimate goal all my life is just to play football. I never ever expected myself to be in this situation that I am going into this Draft. So everything is just a plus for me. I would hope that they wouldn’t hold that against me or anything like that. But if I end up on a team, it doesn’t matter to me which team I play for. I’m just going to be happy to play football. And the reason I’m on this thing right now is just to make sure that football continues to get played.”

On how he’s managing the burden of dealing with all this added pressure for a young man that’s just trying to fulfill a dream and make it to the next level:

“God. I’m just walking with God faithfully taking it one day at a time. This is the plan that he laid out for me. And what he has for me is what he has for me. No one can stop him from, you know….nobody can stop me from receiving my blessings from God. I’m just trying to take it one day at a time, and whatever happens happens.”

Listen here to miller with Miller on XX 1090 in San Diego

SRI has a couple of interviews from former NFL head coaches now in the college ranks. First up, Mike Riley, the former San Diego Chargers coach now in Corvallis leading the Oregon State Beavers. Then it’s Mike Sherman’s turn, who headed south from Green Bay to take on the challenge of restoring Texas A&M to national prominence.

Oregon State Beavers head coach Mike Riley (KFXX)

‘I think we hit the nail on the head with this year’s class. We tried to take this class and the plans for this class and put it in the plans for the future. We had certain needs and I think we hit it pretty well.’

Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Sherman (KILT)

‘It’s been a long year and now we’re on to the next class. It never ends.’

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