COACH STOOPS: Start by thanking Mitch and Dr. Capilouto. You can tell by the stadium and what we're doing, there's been great support, so I greatly appreciate them. It's great to get started, as you know. I've been tired of the talking season, and anxious to get started with football.
It was good to get on some meetings this morning and get rolling with football. I'm excited about our players. Our players have worked extremely hard. I tell you, I've been very proud. As a coach the last thing you want is news in the summer. So our guys have really handled their business, taken care of themselves academically. There is a great energy in our building, so we're ready to go, players are optimistic, coaches are ready to go, so we're ready to roll.
Q. Therrell Gosier is not on the roster. He didn't make it?
COACH STOOPS: Yeah, yeah, Therrell will not make it and neither will Javon. They won't be here.
Q. Is there a concern with Nick (Richardson) also?
COACH STOOPS: Yeah, Nick is no longer with us. There will be one other guy. Levon Livingston, we're still working through some things. So we're optimistic we can get him back later this summer.
Couple things too, Courtney Love and Greg Hart, we're not sure where that's at yet as well. So we're waiting on that.
Q. Do you have a timeline for how long before you have to say (Inaudible)? Do you practice them regularly?
COACH STOOPS: Yeah, it's a little tricky. We had that situation in the spring, but we will work with them. They'll get some reps. We will not work with the ones much, obviously, until we see where they're at. So it will be a week or two. We're optimistic that we'll get some resolution on that in the next week or two.
We're ready to go. Like I said, it was good to stop seeing your faces and see my team this morning. I can promise you that (laughing). Like I said, last night's meeting was good. Our players are all back. Just excited. They've worked hard. They're confident, as they should be, just because of the work. As I tell them all the time, you can be more confident if you put the work in. I feel like our players have dedicated themselves, gotten bigger, gotten stronger, and worked extremely hard.
So there is great energy, there is great optimism, but we have to go do it. We have to be more disciplined. We have to be more disciplined in our approach. Bottom line is we have to be more consistent, and I think we are. I think you'll see that from this team. So as I always tell you, we've not arrived yet, but we're on our way.
Q. You mentioned the body types, was there anything more profound this year than in previous years?
COACH STOOPS: Yeah, as you would expect. We feel like we've recruited good bodies, some good lengths, some good size, and then you need to develop those guys. I feel like we're getting more of where we want to be. So we're not we're still a work in progress physically as well as we are mentally. But we're getting better, that's for sure. We have more bodies to work with. We look better.
It was good to get on some meetings this morning and get rolling with football. I'm excited about our players. Our players have worked extremely hard. I tell you, I've been very proud. As a coach the last thing you want is news in the summer. So our guys have really handled their business, taken care of themselves academically. There is a great energy in our building, so we're ready to go, players are optimistic, coaches are ready to go, so we're ready to roll.
Q. Therrell Gosier is not on the roster. He didn't make it?
COACH STOOPS: Yeah, yeah, Therrell will not make it and neither will Javon. They won't be here.
Q. Is there a concern with Nick (Richardson) also?
COACH STOOPS: Yeah, Nick is no longer with us. There will be one other guy. Levon Livingston, we're still working through some things. So we're optimistic we can get him back later this summer.
Couple things too, Courtney Love and Greg Hart, we're not sure where that's at yet as well. So we're waiting on that.
Q. Do you have a timeline for how long before you have to say (Inaudible)? Do you practice them regularly?
COACH STOOPS: Yeah, it's a little tricky. We had that situation in the spring, but we will work with them. They'll get some reps. We will not work with the ones much, obviously, until we see where they're at. So it will be a week or two. We're optimistic that we'll get some resolution on that in the next week or two.
We're ready to go. Like I said, it was good to stop seeing your faces and see my team this morning. I can promise you that (laughing). Like I said, last night's meeting was good. Our players are all back. Just excited. They've worked hard. They're confident, as they should be, just because of the work. As I tell them all the time, you can be more confident if you put the work in. I feel like our players have dedicated themselves, gotten bigger, gotten stronger, and worked extremely hard.
So there is great energy, there is great optimism, but we have to go do it. We have to be more disciplined. We have to be more disciplined in our approach. Bottom line is we have to be more consistent, and I think we are. I think you'll see that from this team. So as I always tell you, we've not arrived yet, but we're on our way.
Q. You mentioned the body types, was there anything more profound this year than in previous years?
COACH STOOPS: Yeah, as you would expect. We feel like we've recruited good bodies, some good lengths, some good size, and then you need to develop those guys. I feel like we're getting more of where we want to be. So we're not we're still a work in progress physically as well as we are mentally. But we're getting better, that's for sure. We have more bodies to work with. We look better.
