BenMaller.com - Ben's Takes

Big Ben's Pac-10 Football Media Day Notes

Are you ready for some college football? Pac-10 Football Media Day was held yesterday. It's one of my favorite media events of the year. After months of basketball and baseball its time to turn our attention again to college football and the most underrated conference in America the Pac-10. I wrote some notes as the day unfolded...

9:10am Parked at one of the off airport lots at LAX and walked into the Sheraton Gateway to sign in for media day... They gave me a Pac-10 sticker to wear so they wouldn't kick me out... You can tell they are sparring no expense at security...

9:15am Picked up my 2003 Pac-10 media guides... It should be noted that Washington was the only school without a guide available. I guess they were busy burning the one's that had Rick Neuheisel's picture and bio... The gift from the Pac-10 this year was a visor... the Rose Bowl gave us a CD case... the Las Vegas Bowl handed out a business planner... In years past Fox Sports Net used to hang out some really good junk... not this year...

9:30am Jim Muldoon the Pac-10 assistant commissioner welcomes the freeloaders/media to a ballroom at the hotel and lets us know what's on the schedule for the day... This take about 2 minutes...

9:35am Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hanson gets up to the podium and speaks... Hanson seemed really boring at first but ended up giving out some quality information... He said the Pac-10 has no plans to expand and or add a conference championship game... The BCS will remain in tack but is considering adding a 5 bowl game. The extra game would either go to the current none BCS schools or would be played after the 4 current bowl games as a championship game if you will... interesting stuff...

9:40am Jeff Tedford the head coach at Cal and Jonathan Makonnen a WR start give a Golden team preview... Cal has only 9 returning starters and will have to replace Kyle Boller who was drafted in the first round by Baltimore... Can Reggie Robertson who will play QB this season get the job done? The biggest problem according to coach Tedford is on the defensive side.... The Golden Bears have to replace 9-lost starters on that side of the ball...

9:55am Buddy Teevens the head coach at Stanford and Luke Powell star WR get up on the podium... Coming off a 2-9 season the Cardinal better turn things around this year or Teevens will be on the hot seat... Teevens tried to run a Steve Spurrier type Fun 'N Gun offense last season and it was a huge failure... This season Stanford has just 3 starters back on that poor offense the lowest number in the Pac-10... The key for the Cardinal will be the health of QB Chris Lewis who had rotator cuff problems last season...

10:10am John Mackovic the head coach at Arizona and Brandon Phillips a 6'8 330lb offensive tackle start yapping... Everyone wants to know how coach Mackovic will bounce back after his players a year ago tried to get him fired... Its never a good thing when your showcase player is an offensive lineman... The Wildcats were picked to finish last in the Pac-10... You can tell Mackovic worked in TV at ESPN, he's much more polished then Tedord or Teevens... They'll have new offensive, defensive and special team coordinators.... Arizona has gone from a Flex defense to a 3-4... Brandon Phillips had a great line about being "shocked" that Arizona was picked last in the conference... saying he expected to be picked to win the conference...

10:25am Mike Bellotti the head coach at Oregon and Kevin Mitchell a LB start speaking.... Ducks started out 6-0 last season and finished with a 7-6 record... They had a UCLA like collapse... Bellotti says the key is fixing the pass defense... Oregon allowed 409.3 yards per game last season and 35 touchdown passes... The Ducks will have a QB controversy as Jason Fife the returning the starter who lost confidence at the end of the year will battle sophomore Kellen Clemens for the starting job... Both could play... Oregon also has to replace RB Onterrio Smith... The strength of the team is the offensive line according to Bellotti... Still it looks like a long year for the Mighty Ducks of college football...

10:40am Keith Gilbertson the head coach at Washington and Heisman hopeful QB Cody Pickett start a cliche feast for the ears... Gilbertson the former offensive coordinator was asked about replacing Rick Neuheisel... He said all the right things and even said he never expected to be a head coach again after his stint at Cal and the fact that nobody had called him since about head coaching jobs... Can this team rally around Gilbertson? The Huskies have the best pass catching combo in the conference and nation with Pickett throwing to WR Reggie Williams... Problem is Washington has no standout running back and little depth at WR after Williams... Huskies have seven starters back on defense... Special teams could be a huge problem with freshman likely taking over at both kicker and punter... Washington opens at Ohio State... good luck coach Gilbertson

10:55am Mike Riley the head coach at Oregon State and Richard Siegler a MLB give their state of the team address... How will Riley do back with the Beavers after a stint as head coach of the NFL's Chargers and as an assistant coach with the Saints... Oregon State has 16 starters coming back so the potential is their for a big season.... RB Stephen Jackson is the star or the Beavers having lead the Pac-10 in rushing by more than 500 yards a season ago... The question is at QB with Derek Anderson who was great one game and then a stiff the next... Defense has lots of speed left thanks to Dennis Erickson... The front seven should be solid.... The Beavers have a legitimate chance to get to the Rose Bowl if Anderson plays well... While Riley was speaking I noticed that USC athletic director Mike Garrett sat down two seats over from me... He almost hired Riley for SC a few years back...

11:10am Break time.... A chance to get a glass of OJ and eat some free pastries from my friends at the Pac-10... One of my friends and colleagues had to leave to cover a Sparks WNBA game at Staples Center... I ripped him for about 10 minutes before he left...

11:20am Karl Dorrell new head coach at UCLA and Craig Bragg WR talk about the post Bob Toledo era... everyone wants to know what kind of head coach Dorrell will be... The Bruins have 15 starters back from last years 8-5 team... Bragg got off a good rip at Toledo without saying his name... Bragg said that UCLA's problem the last few years was trying to win the national championship every game and when they lost they would not be able to regroup... sounds like good analyst to me... Dorrell even said that the change of attitude is the most important thing... UCLA has had the talent for years but they have mastered the art of the last season fold... The thinking is that RB Tyler Ebell will have a monster year... The Bruins will have a QB battle with Drew Olson and Matt Moore getting a look up till the opener at Colorado... Assuming UCLA gets even average quarterback play they are loaded at the skill positions... This will be an interesting team to follow...

11:35am Dirk Koetter the head coach at Arizona State and QB Andrew Walter talk up Sun Devil nation... ASU lost DE Terrell Suggs and WR Shaun McDonald early the NFL and are still picked by the media to finish second... This season will be "The Andrew Walter show" after a school record 3,877 yards passing... Walter and Arizona State won't sneak up on anyone this year and that could be a big problem... The Devils have the most returning starters of any team in the conference (17)... Kotter's teams have averaged 33ppg in his first two years... While Kotter was speaking an incompetent radio stringer from a station I used to work at messed with the mic connection and caused a loud static noise... nice job... The Sun Devils are my pick for the conference because of Walter and all the returning starters...

11:50am Pete Carroll the head coach at USC and Keary Colbert WR share a Trojan story... Many want to know how SC will do without Heisman Trophy winning QB Carson Palmer who's been sentenced to the Bengals... Matt Leinart is the new guy at QB but it seems Carroll expects to play multiple quarterbacks... Sophomore Hershall Denis will be the feature running back... Dennis showed some signs of being a star... SC must replace safety and leader Troy Polamalu who was picked by the Steelers in the first round of the NFL draft... The Trojans went 11-2 last year their highest win total since 1979... This season will go a long way to proving the SC program is back to stay... Can Carroll persuade this team to have the same drive to win?? The Trojans were picked to win the conference but I'm worried about the quarterback play... They open up August 30th against Auburn... That's gonna be fun...

12:05am Bill Doba the head coach at Washington State and Matt Kegel QB talk about the post Price era... Bill Doba finally gets his chance to be a head coach after 14 years as an assistant at the school... You can't help but feel good for Doba who seems like a great guy who has had to wait way to long for this chance... The questions are about replacing Mike Price and Doba said all the right things... The reality is the bigger problem for the Cougs is replacing Jason Gesser... That job goes to backup Matt Kegal a senior who has gotten lots of clipboard time... WSU has gone 20-5 the last 2 years and have 13 starters back... The schedule is tough with 9-bowl teams from a year ago on the calendar for 2003... Doba said the Cougars will run more with RB Jermaine Green getting lots of the work... Doba was asked about the media scrutiny of college coaches after what happened to Mike Price... Doba had the line of the day by a coach... "I'm far from perfect but so is my salary."

12:10am Lets eat... The freeloading begins in mass... A buffet lunch in the gateway ballroom... The Menu... Salad Chicken, Pasta, and two types or rolls... They also had some exotic fancy desert... This was high class food... I'm more into the drive through nation... It was a great day but time to leave and get some sleep... permalink