2022 Big 12 Media Days Live Updates
ARLINGTON, Texas — Talking season has arrived. Inside Texas is on location at AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, for the annual Big 12 Media Days.
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This is a place where media can ask Big 12 administrators for the latest info available regarding conference realignment and coaches and players about what to look for from their teams this upcoming season.
Ian Boyd, Justin Wells, and I are on location. Festivities begin at 8:30 a.m. CT, and most of it can be viewed on ESPN+. New commissioner Brett Yormark starts the day with Baylor president Linda Livingstone and former commissioner Bob Bowlsby, followed by Baylor head coach Dave Aranda, Kansas head coach Lance Leipold, West Virginia head coach Neal Brown, Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman, and Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy.
Bob Bowlsby provides a truncated state of the conference, but also makes a joke at his own expense: “Some of you recall I said at the time that I thought our board was as aligned as I had seen them during my 10 years with the Big 12, and I think it was eight days later that OU and Texas announced they were going to the SEC. You can take my assessment of Calm Waters for what they are worth.”
Bob Bowlsby says the conference distributed $42.6 million per institution, 25 percent higher than the mark four year’s ago.
Bob Bowlsby welcomes OU’s Brent Venables, TCU’s Sonny Dykes, and TTU’s Joey McGuire to the conference: “All of them come with substantial resumes and lots of past success. Interestingly enough, our conference champion from last year is picked first this year. Baylor goes from being the hunter to the hunted.”
Baylor president Linda Livingstone is on the Big 12 Board of Directors Executive Committee. That group oversaw the process of hiring Brett Yormark.
Brett Yormark: “Conference composition is once again at the forefront of college athletics. I’ve been very involved with the stakeholders both inside and outside the Big 12 regarding our path forward and opportunities to grow both the Big 12 brand and business.”
Brett Yormark: “The Big 12 is open for business. We will leave no stone unturned to drive value to the conference.”
Brett Yormark: “There is no higher priority than to best position the Big 12 for its upcoming multimedia rights negotiations. Everything we do must create momentum for these negotiations as well as building the value of the Big 12 brand and business.”
Brett Yormark on expansion: “Everything will be additive. Nothing will be dilutive.”
Brett Yormark on NIL: “I think there needs to be guardrails. There probably needs to be uniformity.”
Brett Yormark has had some introductory conversations with the Big 12’s head football coaches: “I did have some nice dialogue with many of the coaches. It was more, me saying hello and telling them I’m looking forward to seeing them this week.”
Brett Yormark on Texas and Oklahoma and their future in the conference, mentions Chris Del Conte and Jay Hartzell “were part of the process of me getting hired.”
Asked if it is his goal to keep UT and OU in the conference for the remainder of the contract, Yormark says “From my perspective… any situation like this, I always look for a win-win. That being said, it’s important that whatever happens is in the best interest of this conference.”
Brett Yormark deflects a question about 2023 football scheduling: “In a couple of weeks I’ll be able to answer that more appropriately.”
Yormark mentions he has had a working relationship with Fox and ESPN for a number of years: “I’m big fans of what they do. They are the best in the business.”
Baylor head coach Dave Aranda
Dave Aranda: “I think with the returning depth on our O-line and D-line, we’re looking to be led by big men.”
Dave Aranda on picking Blake Shapen as his starting quarterback, says the competition between Shapen and Gerry Bohanon was strong: “At the end of it, it just became apparent that Blake was a better passer.”
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Dave Aranda: “I feel there’ll be more spread offenses in the league with coaching changes.”
Kansas head coach Lance Leipold
Lance Leipold: “We’re excited about year two. Year one was definitely a whirlwind, but we feel the foundation has been set in many ways.”
Lance Leipold: “We’re not in the moral win business.”
Lance Leipold: “I know Coach Sarkisian and that program, we probably hit them at a time where they were at a struggle and we were able to take advantage of it.”
Lance Leipold: “When you beat a program with the tradition and past success of a program like Texas it is something to be proud of.”
West Virginia head coach Neal Brown
Neal Brown: “We remade our roster to mirror the type of football team we want to be and that gives us the best opportunity to win this league. We’ve had 33 roster additions since January. Our work ethic, our leadership, and our team chemistry are much improved.”
Neal Brown: “We think this defensive unit has the opportunity to be the best that we’ve fielded so far.”
Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman
Chris Klieman: “We have high expectations, as everybody does this time of year, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Chris Klieman on Adrian Martinez: “He’s a tremendously mature individual that brings out the best in everybody, and that’s what excites me about him. What drew us to him is obviously his games play and his maturity.”
Chris Klieman on Deuce Vaughn: “It’s the work ethic you see with Deuce Vaughn. I think everybody feeds off of his work ethic.”
Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy
Mike Gundy on the switch from Jim Knowles to Derek Mason: “The transition has been very smooth. Couldn’t be more happier.”
Mike Gundy: “Still to this day, at time when I wake up in the middle of the night, games such as the championship game will come across my mind more so than the games where we have success, for whatever reason.”
Mike Gundy: “The future of Bedlam is there’s a year or two left. That’s the future of Bedlam based on somebody else’s decision.”
Mike Gundy on Spencer Sanders: “He has now become a magician in our offense. He knows it. He can run it fast. He understands. The mental, toward the end of last year, he started to make really quality decisions in a short amount of time.”
