S. Walker Team Quotations

It's one of the three that prepares us for district. They're one of the best teams in the state of Oklahoma. It's neat to see how you measure up. I don't know anybody that goes out thinking hey this game doesn't matter. But if we win this game and the next two it still doesn't get us into the playoffs which is one of our goals. We have to see if we can pass the test. We'll find out Friday night.

I wanted my team to specialize in particular areas and stick with particular functions, but that wasn't me. And Mike wanted to be more sensitive to his team and be more collaborative, but that wasn't him. Ultimately, it's not a matter of which style works better than the other. It all comes down to which style works best for you.

Naturally, coming out on the first day, you're going to be a little rusty. You've got to get the butterflies and the kinks and things out, but I think as a team our morale is up. We're definitely excited about coming in.

The players on the Maryland football team all made straight As. Their Bs were a little crooked.

I'm not worried about the depth chart right now. I'm just worried about getting better, and helping my team get better.

Carroll is the better coach, I believe, and he will find a way to neutralize Young. This team is used to playing in this type of environment.

The team really came out focused and it was nice to score in the first inning. We kept going and never looked back.

Playing a top-15 football team in the country, not a small achievement. But we do have a way of making it interesting. 'Why can't we do this easy?' I kept saying in the fourth quarter.

Hopefully everyone has the same mindset. Hopefully we can get this thing turned around. We're in the fourth year of this franchise, and we've got the best team we've had since we started. So I tell you, I feel good about our team and our season. And I feel good about playing this week and going up to Buffalo.

I was mad I got in foul trouble the past two games. But my team had my back in those games. Coach told me to not put my head down and the team needs me. So I went back out and played hard.

We're coming along. I remember the days when we would go to P-O, get off the bus and be getting right back on the bus. Our goal is to compete with the other teams in the county and we're getting to that point.

As a team we are feeling very confident in our returning group. Our four freshmen coming in bring a lot, adding into a team that's had one of the best performances we have ever had. We return all of our outfielders and pitchers and have added in some great talent. I think we have put a mix together that will be very exciting and dynamic to watch.

But they don't care which one it is, and that's what makes this team dangerous.

It's tough to see team captains on the sidelines. After seeing Andrew get taken out of the game like that, it took our heads out of the game.

On a team like this, I can be satisfied with that role. This team is capable of a lot of good things and they need a guy like that. It takes pressure off the starters if they're having a tough day and those late-inning relievers don't need to be in earlier. I'm hoping that I can be the glue between the cracks.

If they weren't playing Florida, I'd be pulling for them. That's how everyone feels. A team that has come so far like that is gonna be the darling of the tournament.

We've had a great week. We've had a little bug running around the team this week. But I think by and large, it's dissipated. We're ready to go.

We just want the kids to attack. We'll count up the takedowns at the end of the year. We want them to be aggressive, to not shut down for six minutes. We want them going for major decisions instead of regular decisions, tech falls instead of majors, falls instead of tech falls. We want them getting team points, to buy into the team concept, and they're starting to believe in it.

That's an explosive team with a lot of weapons. Once they got a lot of momentum, they had us on our heels.

When you're going into a game and another team has another receiver who's great, of course you want to do that. I think it's a good motivator. If he's on the other side making plays, it makes you want to make plays, too.

I said it is going to be a crazy year and there are a lot of football teams that could win this league. I don't think that's changed. A lot of people can win the Big Ten, including the team we're playing this week and including us. Maybe I'm nuts, but I believe it.

Ashton's just a workhorse. To have one touchdown on offense, one on defense and one on special teams really says a lot.

It was a great team effort. The most important thing is that we are getting better at the right time of the year.

That was a nice win. They're undefeated, so there's always some doubt against a team like that. They have already beaten us once, so this is a big one for us. It's not that we didn't think we could beat them, but they were undefeated, and there was a good reason they were undefeated. They are a very good hockey team.

That's the thing about Steelers fans. They cheer the team on no matter what.

My body is really telling me no. Playing for Team Canada would be a great honor. Not being able to do that, I knew I was done. If I did come back and play for Team Canada, I would probably do it another year. But I just feel like I can't do it. My neck is still achy.

We were sporadic because we have one returning starter. It's tough. We've got a lot of guys working hard. When you open up with a great team you have to execute every down. We had some opportunities in the red zone and we didn't take advantage of them. Our players made some bad decisions. That's part of it. That's what the first games are about.

Brett has come along way in being unselfish, a team guy. He'd say the right thing, that he doesn't care about records, but sure he does. Anyone who's touched a ball, if they tell you differently, they are lying. ... If he throws for 3,000 yards, I like our chances.

It was redemption. She felt like she let the team down by not getting any points (Monday).

You can be in shape, but you have to be in Miami Heat shape; it's a little different. If everybody on the team is making that commitment, you want to make that commitment, too. So we're all trying to be on the same page.

You're not sleeping in your own bed. You have some typical logistical issues that are gonna take you out of your normal routine. We have a young football team and I've tried to explain to them how important it is to be able to handle these 'adjustments' the right way.

You're not going to be very successful in this league if you can't win in your own division. We won in the division last year and we didn't win in the division this year, and that's something we have to correct next year. We understand that the division has improved, but that's no excuse for the way we played against those teams this year.

It's been taxing on me, having to watch, ... Hopefully, I won't have to watch any longer. It's tough because when you're on the outside looking in, you think every bad play, you could have made. That's not realistic. It hurts when your team is losing. The only thing I can do is to try to have the mind-set that whenever I get back, I'm going to try to be a difference-maker.

We made some mistakes to let this thing get to where it was, but last time I looked, we had more points on the scoreboard. We were playing a top-15 team in the country, and that's no small achievement. It wasn't a work of art, but we won.

I don't see how it can get any better. I want to see somebody who had these four teams in the bracket.

We were trapping at bad times. I don't know why we did that. We don't play like that. We play good team defense.

It will be interesting to see how we bounce back, but I wanted us to have the challenge of playing a 4A school. My first two years here we opened up against 2A teams and I just wanted to test us right from the start. I was proud of the way we competed.

We have two outstanding coaches who will lead our team to success in an exciting and challenging competition. This meet will be a significant test for our team. Not only are we are facing our biggest rivals in their backyard, but this is also the last opportunity these athletes have to test themselves on a major international stage before the Beijing Olympics.

Jim has always been good in that if something's about to happen, he'll call and talk to you. I haven't heard anything. There aren't too many teams I want to play for. This team has a chance to win, number one, and it's also a fun team to play for.

There's a lot of new players that I haven't played with. I didn't know half of the team when we started.

It's a flawed method, but if any other method were used I think it would be worse. All the way up and down the line there would be decisions and you could be debating it forever. And a team could be ranked fifth or 105th, but if they're the best team, they're going to win.

I personally didn't overlook them, because we overlooked a game last year and we ended up losing. I don't think the rest of the team did because they understand that this is our last game to get to Peoria. I thought we came out and played hard.

If you can beat the Steelers, you know you've beaten the best. Year in and year out, they're the most physical team in football. They play the game the way it's meant to be played.

They're for real this year. I figured they'd be one of the teams to beat in the district. They're one of the top teams in the state, actually.

I'm going to agonize over this, ... It's going to be a difficult decision. We will be a better team next year, no question. The difficult thing is cutting the kids. You've been with those kids for two years. You've been friends with the family.

Until our kids start believing in the potential they have, that's exactly what it will be - just potential, ... We're getting some good individual efforts from a handful of guys but we're not getting it from a lot of others. Everyone, including us coaches, expected big things from this bunch. But if the players don't realize the opportunity they have, we might end up being just another better-than-average Hilliard football team that wins seven games or so.