Chuck Long Quotations

We want to tailor our offense to our personnel. We have good running backs, and we want to feature those guys, as you saw today. I thought those guys stood out. The running backs did a nice job.

One of the things we have to be able to do in this offense is to have some shots and be able to hit those shots. We have to be good at pass protection and max protection, so we can get the ball downfield.

He's had a great spring. He's playing well and playing with a lot of confidence right now. It's good to see that out of a good young player like him.

He had a nice day. These are the games you look at for separation, and he did stand out today.

He's a competitor and he is going to come back well. He wants it as bad as Paul and you like that. It makes Paul work harder.

He was just a good fit for us. Jonathan has an air about him. We could very well see him rise up through the (coaching) ranks very quickly.

I thought overall the execution was good on both sides of the football. I was looking for a few things. I was looking for an improvement on penalties over last week, which we did, and better alignment on assignment, which we did. We still need to take care of the ball better, but defensively we created some turnovers, which was plus for them.

That doesn't happen a lot. It still doesn't happen a lot in the middle of the season.

It does give me some closure to be out here, but I'm ready to move on.

I would look at this week for us as like a training camp. We're back in camp.

I would look at anything that came along, but at the same time I'm very happy here. I'm excited about our program - where it is, what we've done so far this year from where we started and where it can go in the future, I think,

With everything being done on a first-and-10 basis, we just really wanted to see what guys could do operating in space. I thought there were good efforts on both sides of the football. Our offense started fast, but our defense came out after halftime and played very well.

We all worked hard in camp, but when you get in games, it's a little different. We're not going to beat our guys up. We were all part of this deal. We'll watch tape tomorrow (Sunday) and see what happens. The big thing we told the guys was they had to stay together ... we're just going to roll our sleeves up and work. We have some growing pains right now.

There could be some possibilities, but (potential candidates) are really fighting for other positions right now. Those kinds of things will get ironed out more in the fall than they will in the spring.

We got 29 practices in August, ... and we needed more.

We think he's going to be OK, but we'll evaluate him and see.

At the time, the coaching staff had to be saying to each other, 'this is our game to win.'

I've always been very thankful that they did take a chance,

Coach Elliott and I will figure that out. We'll determine that at a later time.

As far as we're concerned, we're very pleased with the arrangement.

That position is a ways away from defining itself and will probably be one of the most competitive in (fall) camp.

The offense put it on the ground twice and we can't have that, but the defense did a great job of scooping and scoring when they did, which is big for us. That's something we've emphasized in practice every day.

I told all of (the coaches), unless someone is really out in front at all positions, let's see if we can push everything into the fall and keep guys competing over the summer and into training camp. But if there's anyone they feel strongly about, we'll talk about it and go from there.

I haven't thought about any of that. It's so sudden, ... I would listen to different things and different opportunities, of course. That's an excellent opportunity for somebody, but right now I haven't thought about that.

Being in the same conference, you know their work up front and what they've done in the past weighs heavily with me. I've known them and I'm comfortable with them. To me, there's a comfort level and a fit, along with the experience. It just so happens that they are from Kansas State, but they're all good fits.

He's an excellent ballplayer. From Day One until now, he's made as much improvement as anybody on our football team. He gives you that change of pace when you're going from a one-back set.

He's an excellent ballplayer. From Day One to now, he's made great improvement, as much as anybody on the football team. What he gives you is that change of pace.

You can slice it every way you want, but we're young and starting over. I thought these guys had a little growth.