The Sooners are hoping a victory not only keeps them near the top of the rankings, but perhaps propels them back to the top of some of those that have seen them fall behind LSU and Alabama. For Texas, it’s the Longhorns first real big test. They’ve beaten the likes of UCLA and BYU, but haven’t seen a ranked team yet.

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops joined 105.3 The Fan in Dallas on New School with Shan and RJ to discuss the start to the season, where the Sooners sit in the rankings, running back Dom Whaley, how the Texas offense looks as it has shifted throughout the season, what the rivalry means to him, if he’s happy the Pac-12 rumors have been put to bed and how the Florida State game prepared his team for this one.

How do you feel about your football team about a month into the season now?:

“We’re making good progress. I think so much of the time everybody wants a finished product in the second, third game. Heck, it’s still early in the season. We’ve done well and we’re making good progress and hopefully we’ll just continue to get better.”

You started the year ranked No. 1 and haven’t lost, but are ranked No. 3 now. Does that matter to you?:

“At this time of year, it really doesn’t matter. At this time of the year, it’s probably just as well. … We’re No. 1 in the coaches poll, so at the end of the day we’re up there with several other football teams with a ton of football left to play. It’s just fine.”

Talk about the improvement that Dom Whaley has made at running back:

“He’s a guy that’s really developed here and he’s having a great year so far. He’s a big, powerful guy that’s really come into his own. He’s making good, big plays for us, taking care of the football. He’s been a real plus for us.”

How has Texas’ offense changed since it switched quarterbacks?

“I think as much as anything, just the overall offense has changed with all the shifting and motioning and all the different players they have running the football. The two quarterbacks that are playing right now are really, as you could see in the last couple of weeks, are really blending or meshed into where they’re each doing the same things.”

What does the Oklahoma-Texas rivalry mean to you?:

“First I think of Big 12 championships. Now that we’re in the same divisions together, where we used to be for the last 12 years in the same division and going for championships, that’s what it’s meant to us more than anything. This game usually was a significant step and factor in winning the Big 12 championship.”

Is it nice to have some stability with the Pac-12 rumors put to bed?:

“Yeah, but you know, in the end, sometimes the landscape’s always shifting. Sometimes you have to research those opportunities and ideas and explore them. That’s what everyone has done. At the end of the day, we do realize this has been very good for Oklahoma, this league.”

How much do you think the big road game at Florida State prepared your team for this one against Texas?:

“It definitely has made us prepared to go on the road here in this game, although it’s not a road game. It’s a neutral site and we’ll have as many fans there as they will. But being in that atmosphere so early in the season, with such a loud crowd, it can only help us.”

Does the possibility of rain on gameday change the preparation in any way?:

“No. That’s something that if it happens, it happens and it happens for both teams. … In today’s world, too, they keep those balls so dry and they’ve got protective sheen on them. They keep them in these bags that keep them dry. Usually that isn’t much of a factor.”

Listen to Bob Stoops on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas here

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

Big 12

Mack Brown with CJ & Klatt on 102.3 The Ticket in Denver

Bob Stoops with CJ & Klatt on 102.3 The Ticket in Denver

SEC

Dan Mullen with Mayhem in the AM on 790 The Zone in Atlanta

Will Muschamp with Barnhart & Durham on 790 The Zone in Atlanta

Dabo Swinney with Zach & Marc on WFNZ in Charlotte

ACC

Al Golden with Sid Rosenberg on WQAM in Miami

Oakland, the Summit League regular season and tournament champion, has won 18 of its last 19 games. The Golden Grizzlies have also scored in triple figures three times in their last six outings, showing that they’re able to score the basketball. The only problem may be their early play against teams from power conferences.

The Grizzlies faced five teams that were then ranked during the non-conference season in Purdue, Illinois, Ohio State, Tennessee and Michigan State, as well as West Virginia and Michigan. They won just one of those games and were beaten by at least 15 points in four of them. However, that one victory came against Tennessee, a team that Oakland coach Greg Kampe says plays a lot like Texas — who the Grizzlies have drawn in their first game. Could the up-tempo game play into the hands of Oakland? Find out Friday.

Greg Kampe joined WXYT in Detroit to discuss his reaction to the 13 seed and opponent Texas, playing the first game of the day on Friday, the program that he’s built at Oakland, and why Texas might be a favorable matchup to his Golden Grizzlies.

His reaction to the 13 seed:

“What I found out was adding the three teams and the two play-in games that sneak into the 11 and 12 seeds, they really pushed us down. I think if this were last year where there were only 65 teams, I think we would’ve been at worst a 12, maybe an 11. Those games just changed everything.”

On meeting Texas in the first round:

“I was not pleased with the name across from us when I saw that. That team was No. 1 in the country just three weeks ago. That was a surprise, but once I got over that surprise and started watching tape of them, we realized it might be a good matchup just because they’re so athletic and they like to run and that’s what we like to do. It probably beats playing a team like Pittsburgh that’s going to slow it down and beat the hell out of you.”

On the time of the game allowing Oakland to be the center of national attention:

“It’s national TV and for the first 30 minutes, we’re the only game being played. We like that a lot. We like the fact that we’re playing a name program. … But this time of year, you can’t worry about this kind of stuff.”

If he ever has time to sit back and realize what he’s built there?:

“My message to [supporters] was, ‘Don’t take this for granted.’ We’re 34-2 in league play over the last two years, that’s the best in the country. Kansas is second with three losses. These things don’t happen very often. We have to enjoy this and we have to relish in it.”

His thoughts on Texas:

“They remind me a lot of Tennessee — long, athletic, want to get up and down, want to guard you real hard, want to get steals and press you. Maybe not a great offensive team, but play at a high pace. … I think we’ll score some points against them, I really do, but the biggest key to the game is we can’t let them get their misses. We can’t let them come down, throw it up, get it back, throw it up, get it back and dunk it. If that happens, we’re going to get beat. If we can keep those to a minimum, 10 offensive rebounds or less, we’re going to have a chance.”

Listen to Greg Kampe on WXYT in Detroit here

Young joined WGFX in Nashville to talk about running the occasional option play with Chris Johnson, how he enjoys watching some of the special things Johnson does out there each week, his improvement from the pocket, both in terms of his accuracy and his general poise and understanding of what all’s going on around him, how he attributes much of that improvement to the help of Coach Heimerdinger and Kerry Collins and to spending much more time in the playbook and film-room, what he expects from the Steelers defense next week, having to be aware of where Troy Polamalu is at all times, and for good measure, what he thought of the ruling that stripped Calvin Johnson and the Detroit Lions from a game-winning touchdown last Sunday.

On if he enjoys running the option occasionally with Chris Johnson:

“Yeah, definitely. Whatever it takes to win ballgames. I tell Coach, if that’s what you want to call, we’re going to execute the play, me and C.J. So, our guys, the offensive line and the rest of the guys, they made some key blocks for us. And Michael Huff, the DB, he took C.J. and they gave me the lane to make a big gain and use my legs a little bit.”

On enjoying watching Johnson run after handing the ball off to him:

“Just the type of player that C.J. is, he’s a dynamic guy man. He can go at anytime, and I know a lot of people were waiting for the big run, but as an offense and as a team, we’ve just got to take our time. There might be a 3 yard, or a 4 yard route or run, and then all of a sudden C.J. will pop one at any minute. But a lot of guys made some key blocks for him down the field, and so did our offensive line . He’s just that type of back, he can make that type of plays at any time. So definitely handing the ball off….as I hand the ball off and carry my fake out, I definitely want to watch the show myself.”

On his improvement as a pocket passer and generally looking more poised in the pocket:

“Just a lot of preparation, man. A lot of preparation behind the scenes with Coach Heimerdinger and Kerry Collins. I’ve got tremendous guys helping me out because they’ve seen a lot of defense, and have got a lot of knowledge and a lot of years under their belt. So it’s all about me taking my responsibilities, knowing the offense, and knowing what the defense is trying to do us, and just try to get us in the best situation that I can. You know, just doing better on 1st down, or 3rd down, or bringing it in and getting a touchdown or a field goal. That’s my job right there, to take care of that end.”

On what he knows about the Steelers’ defense and what they’ll try to do next week to confuse him:

“I definitely know what type of defense they have. I’ve never played against these guys. I’m actually in the film room right now. I had to step out to talk to you guys. So I’m looking forward to it. I know they’re going to try to throw different blitzes at me, try to bring some guys at me, and try to make me make a decision about where to go with the ball, try to force me to get the ball out of my hand quick. But that’s what the biggest thing is right now working with Heimerdinger trying to plan ahead to be the best for what’s the best way for us to win this week.”

On the Titans seemingly being more willing to take chances down the field this year as teams continue to stack the box trying to slow down Johnson:

“Yeah we’ve got a lot of different things in our package where we feel like we can stretch the field. You know, as long as everything is good with the protection. If they blitz, then I need to check it.”

On if he plans on trying to account for where Troy Polamalu is at at all times:

“Yeah, I mean, you’ve got to know where he’s at. If you know where he’s at, sometimes he tips with the blitz if they are bringing the blitz. So you’ve got to really study the film to understand that guy, because he’s the guy on the defense that tells you a whole of things that’s about to happen. And that’s why I’m here  studying right now.”

On the touchdown that was taken away from Calvin Johnson this past Sunday and on how he would feel if a game-winner was taken away from him and his team in that fashion:

“I really feel like that sucks. A lot of people right now probably don’t care because it’s just the regular season, but if that was the Super Bowl or a playoff game, man, there would be a lot of people mad, as well as fans and everybody. So I feel like some guys have got to get something going to change that rule, because that’s going to mess up a lot of different things in the league this year.”

Listen here to Young on WGFX in Nashville

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

The way Brown sees it, agents recruiting players should be treated like college coaches recruiting players, with fixed windows for contact and fixed rules. That seems to make sense and, since the NFLPA governs the agents and agent certification process, that should be easier to regulate than one might expect. Brown cares about his players and doesn’t want to see his school ever get into jeopardy with the NCAA. That’s pretty straight-forward and easily said. From him though, it’s believable to the point that his conviction further leads us to believe that he follows the recruiting rules set for him as well.

With conference realignment, there are fewer obvious stances. Texas had/has the power to act as it pleases and choose any road that is best for it. For now that road is to remain in the “Big 12,” but for Brown it seems that we’ll see four 16-team super conferences sooner rather than later – whenever TV is ready for it. It’s an intriguing concept, a unique compromise in the BCS vs. playoff debate. Watch for Texas to be at the forefront of all conference realignment discussions for years to come.

When Mack Brown is still talking about these topics, they are definitely not over.

Mack Brown joined Marc and John on KILT in Houston to talk about joining a conference call on interaction between college players and agents with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, whether the college coaches of the NFLPA needs to lead the change in agent behavior, the prospects of 16-team super conferences coming soon, how the team is looking in training camp, a desire to play preseason games and Garrett Gilbert stepping in for Colt McCoy at quarterback.

On the conference call with Roger Goodell regarding agents interactions with players:

“The problem are not agents. It’s not the guys that are doing what they’re supposed to do. Those guys are upfront. It hurts them when other guys break the rules and they don’t come on campus, they call parents, they call high school coaches and they call the kids. We’re all just looking at what we can do to make it better for the kids and therefore the universities and the agents that do it right. Pro scouts, the NFL Players’ Association are all involved because obviously it’s all the recruitment of professional players off of our campus… I’ve been so impressed with Commissioner Goodell. He’s aware of the issues and trying do everything to help. The Players’ Association is trying to reach out and help. No one wants to see a player lose his credibility in college, lose his chance to play and obviously maybe not have the right guy to prepare for his future. If the guy is going to cheat on him early, he’s going to cheat on him later.“

On if the onus is more on college coaches or the NFL to change:

“I really believe it starts with us because we have to educate the high school coach, the mom and dad that there are runners all over the place. We have to tell them that it is wrong. We are lucky here that we have enough guys here that are successful in the NFL that have good agents that we have a track record now of which agents are taking care of the young men and going through the process. We spend the better parts of 12 days a year with the agent education process. I do think that we can have more strict rules. I do think that it’s got to be more like recruiting. I think that the NFL Players’ Association has to put more restrictions on the agents like the NCAA has put restrictions on us. There need to be some dead periods. I don’t think that young guys should be able to talk to agents year round. If you’re out and someone takes a picture of a player eating with an agent, how can we prove he didn’t pay for that lunch? Right now, it’s a little bit too loose. I think we can all work to tighten it up.”

On the conference realignment discussions from the off-season:

“I think that we are seeing the potential down the road to have 16-team conferences and maybe have four huge conferences. That will change the scope of college football and it will probably change the scope of the BCS and what happens at the end. I thought that this is what that was really about. It was about down the road 10-15 years and people starting to look what would happen. If it had been a move of either (Texas) A&M to the SEC or a group of us to the Pac 10, then it would have changed all of the other conferences because it sounded like most would have gone to 16 teams… We weren’t ready and I don’t think TV was ready to get all of this 16-team conferences. It might even go 20. I’m excited that it worked out like it did. We had opportunities to go anywhere we wanted to so it would have worked out for Texas.”

On how is team is looking in training camp:

“I think we’ve done really well for our first four or five days here. We’ve pushed the kids really hard. The freshman are working hard. We’ve told some of the guys that didn’t perform as well in the spring that freshman would come in and have their first shot if the other guys didn’t do their job. We’re doing that and now the other guys are competing. Probably the thing that I like the most is that our older guys are helping this great freshman class, helping coach them.”

On how he will know the kind of team he has:

“First, we’d like to have preseason games. That would be great if we could go play about three or four preseason games. We’d know a whole lot more about ourselves then we will in the opener. It’s funny, when fans see us play Rice, that’s the first time we’ve seen some of these guys in front of a big crowd. That’s why openers scare you.”

And on Garrett Gilbert replacing Colt McCoy at quarterback:

“He’s really getting more comfortable as a leader. When you got a guy like Colt McCoy who is the most accurate passer in college football history and the winningest quarterback in college football history, he’s stepping in to take a guy’s place just like Colt did when he took Vince Young’s place. It’s a very difficult transition for a young quarterback. Now that Colt’s gone, Garrett’s taking over and he’s feeling good.”

Listen to Mack Brown on KILT in Houston with Marc and John.

Whether it was an even cleverer ploy by Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe, excellent timing or just a lot of luck, the Big 12 actually turned the whole ordeal into a way to essentially triple its revenue. And Texas, which was the elephant in the conference realignment boardroom, came out as several times richer and even more likely to be playing for championships.

Does this mean a playoff is now more likely? What is the Big Ten’s next move? How will the Pac 10 proceed? Just because the dust has settled and everything remains pretty close to “normal,” doesn’t mean this conversation is over.

Mack Brown joined the Scott Van Pelt Show on ESPN Radio to talk about what a Pac 16 would have looked like, what he wanted to do, how close Texas got to joining the Pac 10 and the role of money.

On if he would have liked to have played so many good teams in the “Pac 16:”

“I think it’s a yes and a no. The way that the deal was being talked about was that Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Colorado would join with Arizona and Arizona State. And you would play those seven each year, so that wouldn’t change who we are too much. Then you would only cross over for two games… Obviously, when you have nine teams on your schedule and you can play each one every year and the possibility of  not having a  conference championship game, it’s probably an easier road to the BCS for hopefully two teams… What we want at Texas and I would think what most people want, is that we want to win our league and we want to be in the BCS and we want a chance to win the national championship. We think that we have that now, with a better deal than we had with 12 teams. In four of the last 14 years, a team that was going to the national championship game out of the Big 12 lost in the Big 12 championship game. So we lost four opportunities for a national championship because of the game… Right now, we have a true champion when this changes because you are going to have to beat everyone in your league to win your league.”

On what he personally wanted to do:

“I wanted to stay. What we had is the known here… I felt like it was best for us to stay. Our staff was 100%… Our recruiting has been so good to us in this state that they can drive or have short flights to see every game and we like the deal we got.”

On how close Texas got to joining the Pac 10:

“I personally stayed as much out of it as I could because it affected so much more for our institution and tradition and the history of the 14 years in this league and schools that have great relationships through the Big 8 and the Southwest Conference for many years. What I tried to do was answer President Powers and questions about the impact it would have on football. And very honestly, I got the call at 5:00 and they released it at 6:00 that we were doing that. I thought we would be fine any way. I knew our staff wanted to make the Big 12 work if they could. Our reasoning was talking to our players and their parents, recruiting in the state of Texas, we thought that the regional conference was better for our kids so the parents could see them play. A lot of our fans could more easily get to games. Their high school coaches could get to see them play. This is what we have been used to for our 13 years here, so we really didn’t want to see it change.”

And on the impact of the new economic plan:

“Last year, I think, I was told, that only 19 athletic programs in America that play Division I football made some money. Everyone else is in trouble. For anyone to think that the money is not important, is fooling themselves. For anyone to think that money is not made by the football programs, it is. Some people have said that Texas was greedy. Bill Powers,  Deloss Dodds and my job are to take care of Texas. At the same time, we wanted to keep the game with A&M. We wanted to keep the game with Oklahoma. We wanted to keep the series with a lot of the teams we played. And we liked our partners in the Big 12. I think what happened was, at the last minute, some people stepped up that really wanted the Big 12 to stay. It gave Deloss and Bill an opportunity to get what they wanted and that was for all of us to stay together and get a much better deal than we had before.”

Listen to Mack Brown on the Scott Van Pelt Show on ESPN Radio (starts at 7:30 mark).

Colt McCoy joined 790 The Zone in Atlanta to talk about how his shoulder is doing and what it was like to throw at his Pro Day throwing in front of NFL scouts, who he compares himself to that has played in the NFL, and where he would like to play football if he could hand-pick his team.

How his shoulder is doing and what it was like to throw at his Pro Day throwing in front of NFL scouts:

“My shoulder is great.  It is back to one hundred percent.  Everything is fine.  I have been cleared and working out every day and throwing every day and I feel really good.  My Pro Day, it went really well.  I have had a couple of private workouts with some teams and I continue to get stronger and stronger.  My shoulder right now is as strong as it has ever been.  I am weighing more and I feel better than I ever have before.”

Who he compares himself to that has played in the NFL:

“It is funny.  I just left the Browns and Coach Holmgren kind of compared me to Steve Young and Joe Montana and just said that I have the intangibles that I have at this point in their career when they were coming out of college.  He expects me to be just like they were.  I think that is a good comparison and obviously people would compare me to Drew Brees a little bit.  I think because of our height.  I was about six-one and a half and so you never know.  I know how hard and I know how hard I prepare and nobody is going to work harder than me or be more prepared going into a game than I am and I expect to do exactly what I did in college and that is come in there and win games.  I know that I t is going to be different.  I know that it is going to be a transition but I am going to work my tail off and earn the respect of my teammates and coaches and go to work.”

Where he would like to play football if he could hand-pick his team:

“You know what I think I will have to say once I get done with these trips.  I have really enjoyed and I absolutely enjoyed Coach Holmgren.  He is a class act and I could definitely see myself playing in their organization.  I think that it would be a tremendous opportunity and they have a lot of good things going for them and Coach Mangini and their staff has been awesome.  So you never know.  You never know.  I know that God is going to put me in the right place and we’ll go to work from there.  Nothing is going to given to you.  It never has been my whole life and I’m going to have to earn something.  I am looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead.”

What his first big purchase is going to be when he gets paid:

“I don’t know.  I would probably buy my mom a car.  I am a pretty blessed guy.  I don’t need too much.  I am pretty simple and I just want to play the game for a long time.”

How getting drafted would be a dream come true:

“It is.  It is.  Very excited.  I am going to sit and have dinner with my family and whether that is in New York or whether that is back home, I haven’t decided yet, it is going to be a great day.  It is going to be a tremendous day.”

Colt McCoy on Sporting News Radio with the 2 Live Stews

In between those games, McCoy had one of the best careers of any quarterback in college football history, leading his team to a 43-6 record, throwing for almost 13,000 yards, 108 touchdowns to just 44 interceptions and completing about 70% of his passes. He also ran for over 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns. And, he gained about 35 pounds of muscle over those four years.

Now with a healthy shoulder cleared by Dr. James Andrews and four seasons worth of game tape, McCoy is out to prove that he should be one of the top quarterbacks drafted in this month’s NFL draft.

Colt McCoy joined the Scott Van Pelt Show on ESPN Radio to talk about his Pro Day, his shoulder, draft experts, and draft day plans.

On how his Pro Day:

“It was awesome man. I felt great about it. I made all the throws. I think going into the Pro Day, the questions were, ‘Is your shoulder healthy? Can you make the throws? How’s your feet? How’s your accuracy after the injury?’ I really feel like I answered all those questions. I chucked it deep. I think that we had eight balls over 40 yards complete. Everyone that I talked to said that I did awesome and that’s all they needed to see. A lot of the coaches were asking me after we got done with the script, if they could do some individual drills, maybe throw on the run. I said, ‘Sure, absolutely. I would love to do whatever you guys want to see.’ Afterward, every coach that I talked to said, ‘You did awesome. You exceeded our expectations and you are going to be a stud. We saw what we needed to see.”

On the latest on his shoulder:

“About two and a half weeks ago Dr. Andrews cleared me for good. He said my shoulder was 100%. I’ve been working my tail off to get to that point. Now I am able to go out and throw with Jordan (Shipley) and a couple of the guys and really be sharp. I am completely healed. It’s good to go out there and have some confidence throwing the ball and to hear all the coaches and what they thought about it. That really made me feel good. I just got to keep working. Now it’s all about getting to a team and earning a job.”

On what he thinks of “experts” who don’t give him a First Round grade:

“I try not to listen to that. I really put a lot of stock into what these coaches say and what they tell me. I met with a lot of teams afterward and I’m going on several of visits. I am excited for this whole process. I don’t know where I am going to end up. I really don’t. At the same time, I’m confident in my arm and my shoulder and what I have done in college. And I am confident that that’s going to carry over to the NFL. I’m considering this whole process as a reward for what you have done in college. Whether I go in the first round or I go in as a free agent, I get to play at the highest level and that’s the NFL. I’m excited about that and excited about this opportunity and I’m going to make the most of it.”

On his plans for draft day:

“I haven’t decided yet. I got my letter in the mail from Mr. Goodell asking me to come to New York. I just don’t know yet. I would love to spend it with my family that has gotten me to where I am today. I’m really close to them. It will be a tough decision, but I have not made any final decisions.”

nd on if it was surprise him to go number one overall:

“Yeah, it definitely would. I feel like every quarterback in this draft feels like they are really good and that they are the best quarterback. I definitely put myself in that situation.”

Listen to Colt McCoy on the Scott Van Pelt Show on ESPN Radio (16:33 into Podcast).