Texas Longhorns coaches and players speak at Peach Bowl media day

ATLANTA — Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian, coordinators Pete Kwiatkowski and Kyle Flood, assistant coaches, and members of the entire Texas roster were made available to the media on Monday morning as part of the media days for the Peach Bowl.

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Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian: “What a unique experience for (Justus Terry, Michael Terry, and Lance Jackson) to join us now and to have even a couple of transfers now with us in Cole (Brevard) and Brad (Spence). We need it. We’re still trying to practice and we got hit pretty good from a portal perspective on that front seven. We tried to backfill it with some of these faces now, but it’s good to see those guys. Very early stages.”

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian: “They have to complete graduation to be eligible to do it. Then they have to get cleared through us from an academic standpoint, from a medical standpoint. Then they start their climitization like you have to do in training camp. They’ve got to wear helmets for two days, then half pads, so on and so forth. It’s a bit of a process, but as long as we get to practice they get to practice.”

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian on Michael Terry III: “We have him at receiver right now. It looks really good. I don’t know how he’s going to mature physically. He’s a big long guy. Very versatile. Did a ton of stuff in high school. Seems very natural catching it and seems very natural with the ball in his hands. Again, I haven’t study-studied him. He’s doing a lot of scout team work for us right now.”

Texas OT Trevor Goosby: “It’s been a super special year for me being able to play in the last couple of games and being prepared to play in those games. Watching guys like Kelvin (Banks) and Cam Williams then just preparing myself, it’s definitely been a good year for me I’d say in a developmental setting. Coach Flood has helped me so much. I can’t thank him enough.”

What was going through Trevor Goosby’s mind when Kelvin Banks went down versus Texas A&M? — “I thought I was going to be a little more nervous than I was. As soon as I got in there, it just felt natural. It just felt like practice. The stadium was super loud but I was super focused on the field. I was able to lock in and do pretty well.”

Texas CB Kobe Black: “This experience has been very fun for me. I’ve been learning and I’ve been focusing on learning, having fun with my team, and winning.”

Texas WR coach Chris Jackson on Ryan Wingo: “We tell them prior to coming here that they control the playing time they get. A lot of that is not necessarily what they put on the film, but it matters picking up the offense, gaining trust. I think that’s one of the biggest things he did. He learned the offense, he gained the trust not only of the coaching staff but of Quinn (Ewers) and Arch (Manning). From the beginning, I think he took this thing the right way and went about it the right way. Can play multiple positions. Came here with a work mentality. He’s earned everything that he’s gotten to this point.”

Texas RB Jerrick Gibson on his first year: “I enjoyed it a lot. We’ve still got a lot more games to play, but I enjoyed sitting back and watching the older guys play and learning from them. When I got my opportunity, I made the most out of it. There’s still a lot of football to play, but I’m enjoying it right now.”

Texas P Michael Kern on his freshman year: “I’d say it’s not what I came in expecting, but I helped the team to almost the best of my ability. It’s not exactly what I wanted, but I’m still going into each game trying to help the team win.”

Did Texas LB David Gbenda get everything he could out of college football? — “I feel like I did. I met a lot of great people and learned a lot on and off the field. I also got my degree, which I’m very thankful for as well. I’m very happy with my decision and thankful for the university and the opportunity I had.”

Did Texas DT Bill Norton get the most out of college football? — “I think I couldn’t have taken a better route. I think everything happened for a reason. I think I’ve definitely maximized every bit of it, being back in the playoffs now. This is a good way to end it out, and we’re looking forward to keeping this thing going.”

Did Texas DT Jermayne Lole get the most out of college football? — “Oh yeah, for sure. Especially coming here with what we can do here. It don’t get any better than this.”

Texas WR Ryan Wingo on his freshman year: “I feel like it’s been good. I feel like my support system and my receiver room made it better for me. Going through adversity was the biggest change for me. My receiver room helped me a lot with that. If I dropped a ball, they weren’t trying to get at me. They were more trying to help me. I feel like that was the best part.”

Texas RB coach Tashard Choice on Jerrick Gibson: He’s doing an excellent job. He’s coachable. I’m on his head every single day. I don’t let up because once he really gets it and once he plays a little faster and understands what his eyes see, he’s going to be a really good running back.”

Texas RB CJ Baxter on his recovery: “It’s going good. One day at a time.”

What stage is he in?: “I’m pretty much doing everything, just slowly but surely. I just tell myself every day to do everything one day at a time. Not really looking too far ahead.”

Texas EDGE Lance Jackson: “Right now, I’m mainly just on scout team. I’m going full-speed on scout team. I’m going against the ones and twos. Happy I get to get that experience and it’s getting me ready for next year.”

Texas QB Arch Manning: “They’ve always told me don’t count your reps, make your reps count. That’s what I’m trying to do and make the most of my opportunity.”

Texas OC Kyle Flood on Brandon Baker and Daniel Cruz: I think Brandon has a bright future, a true freshman. As a player, he’s an improving player right now. He works really hard. It’s really important to him. So he’s got a bright future. We are excited. Danny probably has the hardest job. Center is the hardest job for a freshman to play because we put so much on that position, to make the calls and get everybody on the same page, and he’s done an excellent job of growing his knowledge base as the year has gone on. He’s got all the physical things. He’s a really strong, powerful athlete. I’m excited about him. Players, they all want to be out there and they all want to start and that’s natural. As a player, I tell them, you have to run your own race.

Texas QB Quinn Ewers on Arizona State’s defense: I think they do a good job of holding shells and kicking back into certain coverages and I think on third down, they do a good job of trying to bait some blitzes and then drop out of it. It’s similar looks, so it’s a little tough to see through.

Texas QB Quinn Ewers: Just super thankful for everything that’s happened this year. Everything is a learning experience and everything is a learning moment, and just proud of how this team always continues to bounce back from adversity. It just goes to show the maturity that this team has, and oh, man, these guys are why we all do it. Just everything that we’ve done together in the off-season and the summer and in fall camp and in spring ball, it’s like this is the reason that we all get up every morning and continue to kill our bodies every single day.

Texas QB Quinn Ewers on Trey Owens: It’s difficult in year one especially with this offense, and just the amount of plays and schemes that we have. I think he’s a really smart kid, and I think he understands why certain plays are getting called and for what moments. I think that he has a good chance of being pretty successful here.

Texas DC Pete Kwiatkowski: “Just over the years, just paying attention to what the head coaches, what that entails, just never really fired me up. I love the camaraderie with the players and the staff. But just now being in charge of special teams, offense, hiring and firing, coaches, the recruiting, the boosters, that just never (appealed to me.)” — “I don’t have an agent throwing my name out there for jobs.”

Texas HC Steve Sarkisian on what made Pete Kwiatkowski’s defense difficult: One, I always admired the guys that made it hard on me, and we competed against each other a few times when he was at Boise and I was at Washington and I was at USC and he was at Washington. Obviously a ton of respect for Coach Petersen who he worked for. And I thought what he did was really sound. It didn’t seem overly complicated, but yet his defense has always played really hard. They showed good awareness. They affected the quarterback. And at the end of the day, then it became a personality fit, did he fit into the culture that we were going to try to put in place here, and it worked out.

Texas HC Steve Sarkisian: It’s amazing. This is a heck of a journey. This season of college football to be in the forefront of the expanded CFP and to be part of it, you know, a year ago we were one of four teams to be in the College Football Playoff, and they expanded it to 12. And I think everyone’s assumption was, oh, you just go back. Well, we’re the only one of those four teams that made it to the 12 team playoff. So it’s a credit to our staff, to our players. It’s an honor to be here. The Peach Bowl does a fantastic job. And so, again, we’re just embracing it and enjoying the journey, quite frankly.

Texas HC Steve Sarkisian on Arch Manning: If you took the name off the back of his jersey, all he is is a great teammate, works his tail off, competes at a really high level and wants to do whatever he can do to help the team win.