Big 12 Teleconference Recap

Kansas coach Charlie Weis talked with the national media on Monday during the weekly Big 12 Coaches Teleconference.

Weis on Sunday's practice …

We just had a practice yesterday without the seniors. It was for anyone who was going to be here next year we had a full practice. If you are going to develop your teams that's at the bottom of the league, development is key to becoming competitive. I think the team needs to understand that there is only so much developing you can do with the seniors. They are already five games into their senior year and have seven games to go. It is what it is and for everybody else, you got to see progress being made on a daily level if we are ever going to get any better.

Weis on team staying competitive in first half against Kansas State …

It's 21-14 at halftime. You didn't go into halftime saying the game is over. You were down by 7 points. Offensively we were actually feeling pretty good about ourselves at the time. Defensively we gave up some big plays and unfortunately offensively we didn't keep it going in the second half enough to cover for the defense. The big plays ended up snowballing in the third quarter.

Weis on the team responding to the fake punt and field goal plays …

They get excited because they know I am going to call them. When the special teams coach comes to me and says I think this has a shot. I will watch the tape and see whether I agree with him or don't agree with him, and if I agree with him that it has a shot, as soon as the situation arises we are going with it. We faked a punt on our own 30 yard line on the second drive of the game. When they know that those plays aren't just in but you are going to call them, you really look forward to that situation showing up in the game.

Weis on the high scoring Big 12 offenses …

I understand that there are a number of teams that run the spread, but to be honest with you in the couple of games we have played so far, we have seen some diverse offenses. The league has so much firepower offensively that the defensive coordinator is pulling their hair out because it isn't the same offense they are seeing on a weekly basis. When you play on Sundays, it is going to be similar each week. When you play in the SEC, it is going to be more of pound it mentality almost every week. For us, we played K-State which was totally different from TCU. Now we play Oklahoma State and it is another set of encyclopedias. These teams all have big firepower on offense and are quite diverse.

I think the defenses get way too much criticism for what's going on in this league. I think the offenses have so much firepower that when you have one week to prepare for your opponent which is the norm, you are going to have games in the 30s, 40s, and 50s which is really big numbers. There are a lot of great defensive players in our league and a lot of great defensive coaches in our league and they are being challenged on a weekly basis because of how diverse the offenses are.

Weis on the seniors not practicing on Sunday …

First, the seniors didn't get a day off just so we get that straight. I am not going to give them a day off after losing by 40 to anyone, that was not the case. They just were not involved in that part of our day. For the young guys, we let them know that we were going to be very critical. Not only are we going to coach you hard on Sunday, but we are looking for development. I was ready, but fortunately for them there was nobody that came out and just went through the motions. That's what I was expecting from them that they would have a good hard day of practice.

I got the response I was hoping for. I would've been okay either way. If it went the other way it would've been a bad day for them, it wouldn't have been a bad day for me.

Weis on his team finishing games …

You have to take it one step at a time. We've played five games so far and we are 1-4. Every game we have come in at halftime, the outcome of the game was in question. That's a good starting point. You have gone through the first 30 minutes of the game, there are going to be ebbs and flows, changes and tweaks by halftime. The bottom line is they know we can't turn the corner until we can finish the second half like we played the first half. It's going to take a complete effort by everyone. From the head coach, to the assistants to the players to turn that corner. They see themselves going into the second half with a legitimate chance of winning the game. Not finishing has been one of our prime concerns as we have gone through this season.