Middle Tennessee State University Athletics
Popeyes Bahamas Bowl Presser
12/11/2015 12:13:00 PM | Football
PHOTO GALLERY
Middle Tennessee head football coach Rick Stockstill addressed the media today in the Bahamas regarding the upcoming Popeyes Bahamas Bowl against Western Michigan. Following are his comments:
HEAD COACH RICK STOCKSTILL
Opening Remarks: First of all I'd like to start out by thanking everyone for what they've done on behalf of the Popeye Bahamas Bowl. I appreciate everyone in the Bahamas who is associated with this bowl game. It's an honor for us to represent Conference USA and Middle Tennessee by playing in this game. I'd like to congratulate Coach (P.J.) Fleck and his team for an outstanding year. They're a very good football team. I'm very appreciative of everybody and the opportunity to play in this game. I know our players are excited to get here for all the reasons everyone has stated. We're looking forward to this game. We've got a team that's going to play extremely hard and take pride in playing this game the way its supposed to be played. I'm looking forward to bringing our team down here and enjoying the Bahamas and having the opportunity to compete against a really good Western Michigan football team. Again I'm thankful Richard (Giannini) and Lea (Miller). You guys are unbelievable and the hospitality has been great and we look forward to getting here in a week.
On how the non-conference games against power five teams helped the team in win against Marshall: I'm not sure playing Alabama, Illinois and Vanderbilt had anything to do with the Marshall game. I think the resiliency, the competitive spirit of our football team throughout the course of the year and how we played every game gave us the ability to beat Marshall. They are a good football team and were 8-1 when we played them. I don't look back and think that playing Alabama or those power five teams had anything to do with winning that game.
On coaching his son (Brent Stockstill) and how he is an extension of his own leadership on and off the field: Brent has had a really good year this year. He is a pleasure to coach and is an outstanding young man. If you came to our practices or come to our game, you would not know that he was my son if you didn't already know it. I'm probably harder on him than anyone on the team. I said last night that as good as he has been statistically this year, the intangibles that he brings to our team from a leadership standpoint, a toughness standpoint, an energy standpoint and a passion standpoint have been more impressive and more critical to our team than what he's done statistically. He's had a really good year.
On travel plans and what the fans are saying about coming to the Bahamas: I guess this is the easiest way I can answer that. I have a daughter, Emily, who is a freshman in college. Normally she asks for four or five sideline passes for friends but for this she asked how many seats she can get on the plane for her friends so she can bring them. We're extremely excited to be here. This is a wonderful opportunity. For 90 to 95% of our players this may be the only time they have the opportunity to leave the country and to come to the Bahamas. We really appreciate the opportunity and are humble and honored to be here, our players are really looking forward to it. They finished up exams yesterday so our families, our fans, our coaches kids and everyone is really appreciative to be able to come here and experience the hospitality of the Bahamas so we're really looking forward to it.
On what the catalyst for the turnaround was after starting 2-4 this season: The persistence, the positive attitude and the resiliency the team has had to show and the competitive spirit that you have to play with and practice with each and every day. You finish what you start. You're don't get a final grade at midterm. These guys stayed positive. We had some tough, heart-breaking, gut-wrenching losses there in the middle of the season and I'm proud of the leadership and the mental toughness that our team showed throughout the course of the season. You ignore the noise and don't listen to what people are saying on the outside. You stay committed and focused on what you can control and that's what this team did. We were fortunate enough to close out the season winning four in a row. It just goes back to the leadership, resiliency and persistence of this football team.
On how a freshman such as USA Today Freshman All-American Richie James can come in and make such an impact on the team: He's a good player obviously, but when individuals get recognition it's not always just because of them. He's got good people around him and he's a very humble young man. He's an extremely hard worker and has shown that since he's been in our program. He's had a lot of good people around him to help him achieve what he has. It's a great honor to him but he'll be the first one to tell you he didn't do it by himself.
Middle Tennessee head football coach Rick Stockstill addressed the media today in the Bahamas regarding the upcoming Popeyes Bahamas Bowl against Western Michigan. Following are his comments:
HEAD COACH RICK STOCKSTILL
Opening Remarks: First of all I'd like to start out by thanking everyone for what they've done on behalf of the Popeye Bahamas Bowl. I appreciate everyone in the Bahamas who is associated with this bowl game. It's an honor for us to represent Conference USA and Middle Tennessee by playing in this game. I'd like to congratulate Coach (P.J.) Fleck and his team for an outstanding year. They're a very good football team. I'm very appreciative of everybody and the opportunity to play in this game. I know our players are excited to get here for all the reasons everyone has stated. We're looking forward to this game. We've got a team that's going to play extremely hard and take pride in playing this game the way its supposed to be played. I'm looking forward to bringing our team down here and enjoying the Bahamas and having the opportunity to compete against a really good Western Michigan football team. Again I'm thankful Richard (Giannini) and Lea (Miller). You guys are unbelievable and the hospitality has been great and we look forward to getting here in a week.
On how the non-conference games against power five teams helped the team in win against Marshall: I'm not sure playing Alabama, Illinois and Vanderbilt had anything to do with the Marshall game. I think the resiliency, the competitive spirit of our football team throughout the course of the year and how we played every game gave us the ability to beat Marshall. They are a good football team and were 8-1 when we played them. I don't look back and think that playing Alabama or those power five teams had anything to do with winning that game.
On coaching his son (Brent Stockstill) and how he is an extension of his own leadership on and off the field: Brent has had a really good year this year. He is a pleasure to coach and is an outstanding young man. If you came to our practices or come to our game, you would not know that he was my son if you didn't already know it. I'm probably harder on him than anyone on the team. I said last night that as good as he has been statistically this year, the intangibles that he brings to our team from a leadership standpoint, a toughness standpoint, an energy standpoint and a passion standpoint have been more impressive and more critical to our team than what he's done statistically. He's had a really good year.
On travel plans and what the fans are saying about coming to the Bahamas: I guess this is the easiest way I can answer that. I have a daughter, Emily, who is a freshman in college. Normally she asks for four or five sideline passes for friends but for this she asked how many seats she can get on the plane for her friends so she can bring them. We're extremely excited to be here. This is a wonderful opportunity. For 90 to 95% of our players this may be the only time they have the opportunity to leave the country and to come to the Bahamas. We really appreciate the opportunity and are humble and honored to be here, our players are really looking forward to it. They finished up exams yesterday so our families, our fans, our coaches kids and everyone is really appreciative to be able to come here and experience the hospitality of the Bahamas so we're really looking forward to it.
On what the catalyst for the turnaround was after starting 2-4 this season: The persistence, the positive attitude and the resiliency the team has had to show and the competitive spirit that you have to play with and practice with each and every day. You finish what you start. You're don't get a final grade at midterm. These guys stayed positive. We had some tough, heart-breaking, gut-wrenching losses there in the middle of the season and I'm proud of the leadership and the mental toughness that our team showed throughout the course of the season. You ignore the noise and don't listen to what people are saying on the outside. You stay committed and focused on what you can control and that's what this team did. We were fortunate enough to close out the season winning four in a row. It just goes back to the leadership, resiliency and persistence of this football team.
On how a freshman such as USA Today Freshman All-American Richie James can come in and make such an impact on the team: He's a good player obviously, but when individuals get recognition it's not always just because of them. He's got good people around him and he's a very humble young man. He's an extremely hard worker and has shown that since he's been in our program. He's had a lot of good people around him to help him achieve what he has. It's a great honor to him but he'll be the first one to tell you he didn't do it by himself.
Players Mentioned
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