Mike Leach Monday press conference

Here is a video of Mike Leach addressing the media during Washington State’s Monday press conference, courtesy of WSU Athletics. A transcription of the highlights is available after the jump.

(Where is Marcellus Pippins ahead of the other true freshmen cornerbacks?)

It’s difficult to say because he got pressed into service quickly and he did pretty well and we’ll continue to look at him, evaluate him but I thought he did start out, without a lot of preparation and got thrown in there I thought he did well.

(Do you hope the way he attacked that opportunity serves as an example to other young players?)

I hope so. It should, you know the first thing when you recruit a guy from high school he says he wants to play as a freshman and then once you get to play as a freshman you need to play like you belong there and I thought Marcellus did.

(What have you seen out of Peyton Pelluer?)

I think he’s a real instinctual guy. He’s a hard-nosed guy, real instinctual guy and at times overachieves, I think because of that. Because of his knowledge and sense of the game and I think he’s gotten better and better.

(Does it take a certain personality to beat out a longtime starter?)

I think it all depends but the biggest thing is Peyton just has a great deal of focus and a great deal of effort out there. I think it’s very meaningful to him to play and I think that helps him.

(How different is it to only have one rival instead of several, like at Texas Tech?)

This is one of the most intense ones I’ve been a part of. All rivalries have their own part of it, I mean it’s really another game. This is an intense rivalry and everybody gets excited about it and you hear somebody or another talk about it year round.

(Is this any more important of a recruiting weekend?)

I think they’re all important.

(Does Peyton’s ability to overachieve stem from the fact that he’s had number of family members play at a high level?)

I think that his expectation that he could be successful probably was enhanced by that and I think that sometimes there’s a sense that you measure up to that type of thing. I think that’s probably helped him some, too.

(Do you try to harness the intensity of this game?)

Everybody’s plenty motivated to play the game, that’s not really the issue. We need to focus on our jobs and our plays. The intensity’s already there, so, there’s not a need for extra motivation. We have the motivation.

(Can there be extra distractions this week?)

Which is exactly what you try to avoid, which is why you don’t worry about stoking something up. You’re already stoked up. You worry about focusing on your job and making plays within the context of your job.

(How does a win in this game compare to other wins?)

It’s good and then it’s the last game of the season so I think it’s important that way and you go out and do the best you can.

Like, all these distinction questions that somehow this one’s different or more special. It’s not like we’re sitting here gauging our effort, saying we’re going to try really extra hard because this one’s more important. That’s not what’s happening here. You try as hard as you can on all of them. Yeah, we’re excited about the Apple Cup, we’re thrilled to play it, can’t wait until it starts and glad we have a week to prepare.

(What do you see from Shaq Thompson?)

Talented guy, just a talented guy. Sort of special in his ability to do that.

(Would you compare him to UCLA’s Myles Jack?)

I think they’re a little different but they’re kind of special in the way that they can do a variety of things.

(What have you seen out of Washington’s defensive line?)

Strong, kind of explosive, too. A couple players that are just really good players, strong, fast guys that have a knack for getting sacks. And the other thing is they rely on their defensive line to get pressure. Their defensive line is good enough that they’ll use them to get pressure as opposed to a lot of blitzes.

(How much of their success stems from having Danny Shelton in the middle?)

I think that’s part of it. Run or pass, he’s a big obstacle in there. He himself doesn’t get as many sacks but he creates a pile in the quarterback’s lap so it restricts the space.

(What do you do to make the players feel at home during Thanksgiving?)

Well, you just practice. They enjoy being around each other to begin with, they’ve actually had quite a bit of fun in the past, at least and then we’ll have a Thanksgiving dinner and activity on Wednesday.

We’ll go to Zeppos again.

(Can you speak to Connor’s lasting impact and what he’s done this year can do for the program going forward?)

Well, I think a lot of these guys are young guys and they kind of drew their sense of working hard and pushing themselves, and it was just a starting point, but I think they drew a certain amount of that from Connor. And I think Connor kind of illustrated some of the things that you can do individually and together if you push hard and you work hard.

(Do the numbers he put up serve as a symbol in recruiting or otherwise?)

Well I think they’re helpful. Anytime something’s the best in history there’s a distinction to it. I think it’s helpful but I wish he could have finished out the year but Luke’s doing a heck of a job so we’re excited about him. But we throw the ball quite a bit and we’re getting better at it, so yeah, we definitely draw from that with regard to recruiting.

(Is it important for the WSU community to see him out there on Senior Night?)

I think Connor’s a big part of the team and has been from the beginning so we’re always excited to see him and he’s around here some.

(Does not having school this week help you prepare?)

Well, we’ve got 20 hours. We can use our 20 hours how we want. This time of the year it’s usually less, this time of the year it’s usually significantly less than 20 hours because you’ll have practices, which aren’t quite as long, and you’ll have meeting but we’ve been at it longer, so it’ll be less than the 20 hours.

(Kristoff Williams will go through Senior Day?)

As far as I know. I haven’t talked to him and I haven’t paid attention to it. It’s fine with me.

I mean, here’s the thing I get a kick out of you guys. I mean, there’s nobody in the nation that a month and a half before Senior Day plans on what happens at Senior Day. I haven’t planned one my entire career and I’m not now.

(Was Kristoff ever told that he couldn’t go through Senior Night?)

Not by me. Not by me I’ve talked to him once in three months so we’re excited for him, excited for what he’s done and we wish him the best.

(A couple punts were allowed to drop and rolled. How is that being coached?)

He should have caught them.

(Do you notice more focus during this week?)

Maybe a little, just because practice is earlier and even though school’s not going I think the team enjoys spending some time with each other. I think on one hand they don’t get a break but on the other hand they get to spend a lot of time together and I think they enjoy it.

(What sticks out from your first Apple Cup?)

Played hard and played for 60 minutes. We were behind a lot of that game but scratched our way into it and that was kind of a win based on playing hard and getting the most of each play.

(Did a comeback win like that help the players buy in?)

I don’t know. I thought we got better in the offseason, I thought we were excited to win the game and we’re excited to win all games.

(What defines this senior class for you?)

Well, I think obviously in varying degrees but I think some of them really pushed through and it was a tough change for them. Some of them got pushed out of starting positions, some of them excelled and hung onto it, some of them emerged as leaders for the rest of the group. We’re excited about their careers.

(Washington also has a young crop of defensive backs. What have you seen out of them?)

Well they’re not as young as us, interestingly enough, I think they’re doing pretty good. I think Washington’s doing pretty good. Right here I’ve got senior, senior, senior, senior, senior, junior, junior, sophomore, freshman, sophomore, freshman. So I said senior a lot so I think they’re doing just fine.