Bowling Green State University Athletics
Gregg Brandon Press Conference Quotes
December 19, 2002 | Football
Dec. 19, 2002
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Gregg Brandon, Bowling Green State University's 16th head football coach, met with the media on Thursday afternoon (Dec. 19) at the Bowen-Thompson Student Union. To follow are some comments from that press conference...
BGSU Director of Athletics Paul Krebs:
"It seems like months ago, but actually it was only eight days ago that our program went through some real transition. At that time, we said we were going to look around and attempt to find the best candidate we could for the job. Some of the criteria we were concerned about and interested in were that we certainly wanted to maintain as much continuity and stability as we could. I talked about the dynamic offense we've run the last couple of years. I think that is an intregal part of who we are. Certainly our fans enjoy that, it has been highly successful, and that was a key in what we were looking for in a coach. Somebody who was an effective recruiter, somebody who believed in the value and the importance of an education, somebody who was a proven winner, somebody who would be willing to be active and involved in our community. It was a brief search, but it was an expansive search. We did go out and talk to a number of candidates. What I was excited about was the interest in this job. Bowling Green State University and our football program is an exciting job. The tremendous interest in the program was clear to me as we fielded phone calls."
"I've said it before, we owe coach Meyer a debt of gratitude for the great shape he has left our program in. I also want to acknowledge the young men on our football team. Anybody who was around last weekend, during the recruiting weekend, it was a difficult time to recruit. It was certainly a needed thing to do. But the quality of the young men in our program and the job they did recruiting last weekend was amazing. We had compliments from the families of prospective recruits on the way they conducted themselves and helped sell our program."
"I also can tell you, the team in unison -- black, white, offense, defense, young, old -- they made it very clear to me that the search did not have to go very far. And, they made it clear to me that the best candidate was right under our nose. I took that under advisement, and yet we felt the need to look around and make sure we had the best situation for this university and our football program. Coach Brandon's been associated with winners. Everywhere he's gone, they've won. And he's won at some places where it's hard to win. He's won at Wyoming, he's won and was part of some great Northwestern programs, and we all know that Northwestern is a tough place to coach and produce championship teams. Everywhere he's been, not only the football programs have won, but I think in many respects they've exceeded expectations. He's taken good programs, and through his leadership and through is efforts and the efforts of the staffs he's been on, he's been very, very successful.
"He's been a head coach, although it's only been at a high school, he has head coaching experience. And he can tell you that as I was resolving my decision and working through the process, I think it was yesterday, I called and asked "Gregg, just tell me again what was your record as a head coach at the high school?" I can report that it was a winning record.
"Two years ago, Gregg and Robyn Brandon took a chance on Bowling Green. They left a very fine football program. They left a very fine football program at the University of Colorado and working with an outstanding coach in Gary Barnett. He took a chance on Bowling Green. I think he knew from a career standpoint this was going to be a great opportunity for him to come here and run an offense, the kind of offense he's always wanted to run. Today, I think, Bowling Green State University is rewarding Gregg for that chance he took on us. And we are very proud that he will be the 16th football coach in Bowling Green State University history."
"He's a guy that is passionate, yet he's very composed. He handles himself with class."
New Head Coach Gregg Brandon:
"That high school team I had, we did win a few games. But, Paul forgot to tell you one thing. For my first job as a high school coach, I had 12 kids show up for practice. And I remember calling my dad, who's no longer with us, and I said, 'Dad, I've only got 12 guys.' And he said, "You only need eleven, son. You ought to be able to get that done.'"
"Any time something like this happens, it's not about me, it's certainly about a group of people. Robyn, who's been with me for 18 years coaching football, she knows more about the game than I do. What I got from her in the last two years here was, 'Why did you call that play?' And (son) Nick's a great fan. He's a student at Purdue. He plays in the band at Purdue, so I don't know what he's going to do next fall because when he marches out with that trombone he's going to have to hide from Stud (Studrawa). And Tim, our youngest, just loves Bowling Green and can do Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba with the best of them."
"Thanks to Paul and Dr. Ribeau. I had a great opportunity to visit with President Ribeau. He's an outstanding president, a great leader, and I feel very comfortable working under his leadership and guidance and I'm excited about that. He has great vision for this university, not only academic goals and missions, but football and the overall athletic program. Paul Krebs has been tremendous with me. It does feel like eight months, but we got it done. I think he did his homework, his legwork, and due diligence if you will. I like to think that he got the best man for the job."
"Probably most importantly, I've got to thank this football team. It is unbelievable. When Urban stepped down, I went up to my office on Wednesday morning and kind of sat there and stared at the wall, kind of numb. One by one, players started parading into my office. The first question out of one of the players' mouths was, 'Coach Brandon, what are you going to do?' I said 'I'm going to apply for the head coaching job here and if that doesn't work I'm going to Ute...,' and before I could get the Utah out of my mouth they all walked right out of the office and down to Mr. Krebs' office and said, 'We want you to hire Coach Brandon.' I called my wife right away and got goose-bumps. It was unbelievable, the support I had from this football team. And I just met with them and I told them, 'OK guys, you got your guy now. Here we go. We've got some unfinished business.'"
"Of course, the Bowling Green tradition here is awesome. It's outstanding. We just started to scratch the surface of rebuilding this program with Urban, winning 17 games in two years and putting an exciting brand of football on the field. You say all you want about our offense lighting it up this year, but last year we led the MAC in total defense. We've got a salty team throughout and these kids are hungry and ready to go. And I told them just about an hour ago, watch the next week. Glue yourself to the TV for the next week because it's the best week in college football, it's college bowl week. And that's where we need to be and that's where hopefully we can take this program. The Bowling Green tradition is awesome. Two years wasn't long enough. I'm really excited about the opportunity to stay on; I've made a lot of good friends here. There are a lot of great people in the athletic department, I see lot of them here and it's great. I'm excited about that. I've got to hit the recruiting trail. We have only a couple of days before we have a dead period."
"I would like to make one announcement. Coach (Greg) Studrawa, after a brief hiatus to Utah, has returned to the Falcon nest and will be our offensive line coach and our offensive coordinator. You talk about a Falcon, it's Greg Studrawa. I'm really excited about that. I have asked a number of coaches on our staff to remain and we are in the process of working that out."
What was it during the interview process that sold yourself on Paul?
"I told Paul when we first got together that I've already been on a two-year interview. I'd like to think you're not going to go out and find anybody better. Sometimes in an interview process you see everybody's A-game. You don't see them under pressure, you don't see them when the bullets are flying and during the adversity. And he's seen me in that situation and evidently he was okay with that."
For as long as you've been an assistant, did you ever wonder when you'd become a head coach?
"Me personally, I didn't worry about that. If it happens, it happens, great. It's a lot of pining, where you are, who you're with. Paul said I took a chance on coming to Bowling Green. I never really thought I was taking a risk in coming to Bowling Green; I just wanted an opportunity to coordinate an offense."
What will be the changes of moving from offensive coordinator to being the head coach?
"It's putting together a staff, that's huge, and I am going to take my time with that. I already have some great candidates in mind. As I mentioned, I talked with some of the coaches on our staff. I think we had a great staff here and people might take that for granted. Our players did a nice job, but we didn't just open up the lockerroom and say sic 'em. There was a lot of coaching going on here in the last two years by some outstanding coaches. Some of them are no longer with us and some of them I'm visiting with. That is probably primary."
"Things that I've always felt comfortable with, being in the community, visible in the community, going out and talking to alums and boosters, I love that. I love talking football and talking about our kids and our program. I've done (those things) as an assistant for years. I'm going to do a lot more. I really enjoy that part of the game, getting out and talking college football. The next six months, eight months, when we get into the season; it's going to be a learning process and I'm fired up about it."
