WKU Hilltoppers College Football Pregame Quote, 10/11/2021

Another big week in conference. We’ve got Old Dominion on the road. An Old Dominion team that’s hungry for a win, and we’re hungry for a win as well. I was very impressed with their football team this past week. They played Marshall down the stretch and into overtime. Marshall’s a tough place to play, and they gave Marshall everything they could handle. They’re a football team that’s fighting, scratching and clawing like we are. So, it’s going to take everything we’ve got. But, I like our guys’ mentality right now. I love their demeanor and attitude. They’ve got their jaw set. They’re not happy by any means. They’re going to be ready to play, and I know Old Dominion will be ready to play as well, so it should be a good football game.

On QB Bailey Zappe:

He’s the best one I’ve ever been around ‚Äì and that includes Sam Darnold. I love everything about Bailey Zappe. You can check every box: from his competitiveness, to his demeanor, to how he operates, to his unselfishness, to his leadership, to his accuracy. He’s the best I’ve been around, and I don’t mind saying that. I love Sam Darnold, and he’s going to have a great career in the National Football League. If Sam Darnold were sitting here and he watched Bailey Zappe he would say, ‚ÄòI wish I played like Bailey Zappe in college.’ I think he’s a top-five quarterback in the country. I think the nation needs to know about him, and I think by the end of the season they’re all going to recognize that he’s one of the top five quarterbacks in the country. He is a guy that, when he’s out on the field, everybody knows that he’s going to give us a chance to go make it happen. And he elevates the play of everybody ‚Äìand that’s the biggest thing. He takes the demeanor like a coach. He’s in the office at 7 a.m. and he’s there all day. He doesn’t leave until we leave ‚Äìand you don’t find guys like that. That’s a generational quarterback in my opinion. Not to put pressure on him, but we’ve been in five games and I can see what the guy can do ‚Äìhe’ll continue to do those things. He’s the best I’ve been around.

On the current demeanor of the team:

I think we have a bunch of grown men in our locker room that handle their business professionally. They treat it like pros. They’re not happy. They have the right mentality and they have the right look in their eyes. They understand they’ve got everything in front of them to go accomplish what they want to go accomplish. They understand what our strengths are, they know what our deficiencies are. I love walking into that team meeting room with those guys because when I talk to them every single one of them is looking me in the eye and nodding their heads and they’re right there with me, and I’m usually pretty good at feeling the demeanor of a football team. I know our fans can probably say the same thing when they watch us play. We may not do everything right, and at times it may be hard to look at ‚ÄìI’ll be honest with you ‚Äì but at the end of the day you can’t sit here and say that football team’s not fighting, scratching and clawing. I hope the full body of work at the end of the season ‚Äì that those young men are rewarded with the victories that they’re working so hard to achieve. So, I’m really proud of our locker room. Nobody’s blinked, nobody’s batted an eye. They understand the realities of where we’re at and they’re going to try to fix it to go have a really good season.