Richard Giannini Quotations

I give him all the credit in the world. It's tough for a person 42 years old to come back and get his degree. That shows the importance of a degree. I've known many friends that over the years have gone to college but didn't finish their degree. And they always feel like there's something missing.

We made the offer to the various agencies here, the Red Cross, FEMA. Some of them weren't able to attend, like the power company workers, but we'll do the same for the Tulsa game.

Jeff and I recently had several very productive discussions about our football program and its future. Our goals for the program are the same, continue to operate with a high regard for integrity and academic accomplishment, as well as reaffirming our spot as champions of Conference USA and contend for a BCS bowl. We will work together to ensure those goals are accomplished.

Jeff and I have recently had several very productive discussions about our football program and its future. Our goals for the program are the same: continue to operate with a high regard for integrity and academic accomplishment, as well as reaffirming our spot as champions of C-USA and contend for a BCS bowl.

My wife and I have totally fallen in love with Hattiesburg and Mississippi and the friends we have here. This is our last stop and we plan to retire here. It's a great community and great people.

I thought it was two seasons. I thought early on, we needed to show improvement, and eventually they did. They've played very hard. I've seen the improvement, and I think there's a core foundation for the future.

That will always remain a top priority in everything that we do within our program. Every year we rank among the best in the country and will continue to stress that. It's something that I'm very proud of.

We've had excellent discussions recently and our goals are the same for this football program.

Yeah, in our case, beating a Nebraska does scare people off, especially if you try to get someone to come to your place. Teams count wins. And normally when you play at home you look for your W's. And schools aren't going to go on the road and risk getting beat.

We worked hard with ESPN and Conference USA to find alternative dates for the Houston game but the final decision was to play the game on Sunday, Nov. 13,

When a coach or anybody is ejected and won't leave the premises, what do you do? How long was he going to stay on the field?

We are excited about this year's schedule. The N.C. State game gives our fan base a marquee home game in September against a team from the ACC. We're also very pleased with the addition of Florida and Virginia Tech to our schedule, two of the top programs in the nation. Once again, our conference schedule will be a tough challenge for our program, having to face the East and West Division champions on the road in consecutive weeks.

Down the road, we're going to be fine. We've made some progress, and that's the key. It's not going to be too long before we're the ones that are going to be playing for championships. I believe that.

There's going to be 8 to 10 teams eligible that are going to get left out under the new scenario. If you'd have stated you had to have a winning record, we wouldn't have increased any bowls because we were right at the edge.

People shouldn't conjecture when they don't know what it is, ... Jeff Bower has done a tremendous job over the years disciplining his student-athletes. I've got tremendous confidence in his ability.

The one thing that has been a primary priority has been facilities. That's the vision that we've got to continue. We've made tremendous upgrades since the year 2000.

It's a combination of (finding the right contractor for the price and continued fundraising). We're trying to make sure what the architects have designed, and what we want, will come in with the allotted money that we have to make it work. We could always raise some more money to make sure we have a cushion, and we need to do that, but we're moving the process right along and we're on a fast track.

It's good to have solidified another bowl opportunity. We're confident that every year Conference USA is going to have six, seven, maybe eight teams eligible. We're just trying to make sure that we have as many bowls covered as we can have.

It shouldn't. They can lay (courts) down fairly quickly.

The atmosphere has really changed and I really attribute that to our students and fans. I'm most appreciative of them buying into our program and being a part of it. Are we where we need to be? No. We need to get to the point that when we play a game here, this town shuts down.

It's imperative we run a clean program in every respect. From an NCAA situation, from a discipline situation to having quality athletes in our program. If they're not of high character, and not willing to pay the price and do the things they need to do, they're not going to be in our program. It's the same for our coaches. We're going to do it right.

It was a pretty sizable strip that came off, and with the water damage, the court warped,

I've had tremendous support since I've been here.

On behalf of the C-USA athletic directors, I can say we are all pleased with these bowl agreements, ... We look forward to working with all the great folks at these bowls and know our teams will have a wonderful postseason experience.

The N.C. State game gives our fan base a marquee home game in September against a team from the ACC. We're also very pleased with the addition of Florida and Virginia Tech to our schedule, two of the top programs in the nation.

I'm never completely happy with anything under a sellout, but in these circumstances, anything over 20,000 would be positive, ... There are some people in this county (Forrest) who are still without power.

By Nov. 11, it should be full speed ahead.

I can remember back in the 70s all you had to do, basically, was go to class and not be failing. Long as you were not on probation by your university, you were eligible.

The game would be in the footprint of Conference USA.