[Music] so into the league our head coach Rett Lashley will offer an opening comments all right well on behalf of our president um our Gerald Turner um David Miller our board chair and our our many great Board of trustee members our Athletics director Rick Hart um I can just say on behalf of all of us we're super excited to be here uh at ACC media days we're excited to be a part of the league uh want to thank Jim Phillips and the team here just for their belief in our program and our school and all they did to to welcome us into the league it's been fantastic and uh we start I mean 48 hours from now we're going to be practicing week zero game so uh we're back and forth our whole staff is at the uh thsca convention in San Antonio it's the as you all probably know High School football in the state of Texas is uh as good as it is anywhere and we were there yesterday and heading back for tomorrow from some speaking engagements with over 18,000 High School coaches and then our season of and running um just an exciting time at SMU we have so much momentum behind our program um we feel like uh we belong at this level we're excited and humbled to be here uh back on the national stage where our program has been before um I like I like our team um I feel like we have a team that's going to compete very very well and we're excited to get out there and and really just see where we stand uh got four great guys with me here today I know you'll talk to in a minute um love their character love their competitive character Preston Stone uh our quarterback won numerous state titles in high school 11 and two is a starter Kevin Jennings our quarterback won the first State title of any DISD School in over 60 years won the conference Championship game for us last year as a starting quarterback uh RJ Maryland um freshman All-American tied end for us was allc conference last year we're excited about him going in his junior year from South Lake Carrol high school and then Elijah Roberts knew him for a while back in the days at Miami Columbus High School had a Big Time year for us last year we're excited those four guys are here uh answer any questions youall have we've got a question for you coach fifth row towards the right of the aisle if you would sir please identify yourself in the name of the agency you're with hi coach TJ Wilkerson from 90.9 the light I just wanted to ask what you feel like it means to your program last year you had a great year almost had it been in new yearor 6 bowl and now you're in a power four conference what does that mean to you in this SMU football program yeah it's hard to put into words coach to your left second row all the way towards the wall hey I'm Katrina sacko with sports and culture media coach how are you good how are you good you have two quarterbacks who shined last year how do you plan on utilizing them for your best success and how do you plan on utilizing them in order for their talents to shine through on the field it's a great question and you know coach to your left I'm sorry to your right third row hey coach Billy embody with on three with Elijah back you guys added so many new faces from the power ranks to the defensive line room what does that room look like for Coach uh Tibido and just how's the rotation going to go throughout the course of a season yeah well these guys the great thing about it is our program we try to build on healthy competition it's one of our core values and we talk a lot about competing with each other not against each other and just like having both Preston and Kevin here makes everybody better it's the same thing on the defensive line and we know making this transition the o line and D line is going to be critical for how well and how fast we transition that's why I think you know 13 of our 20 transfers were o and D linemen uh you look at the D line specifically obviously Elijah had that year last year but we're arguably six deep three on each side that are guys we feel like can compete and play at a starter quality level in this league and so I think that competition is only going to make those guys better uh and it gives us great depth for them to be fresh throughout each game in the season same thing in the defensive tackles where we lost the most off of last year's roster we brought in Five Guys and so um iron sharpens iron uh we don't make any uh we don't hide from competition in our program we embrace it uh because we know we make each other better Coach to your left third row green shirt cam lemons 247 sports coach I mean you mentioned how you feel like you guys deserve to be in the power four you've won more games than they won in the state of Texas over the last few years is there a sense of you know straddling the line of hey we feel like we deserve to be here but also not really forgetting you know what got you guys to this point in terms of on the field success ESS um yeah I mean I think if I'm understanding your question correctly um you know we do feel like we earned our way to this opportunity but at the same time and we understand it's a different opportunity we're moving up in weight class like to play 10 straight power games we haven't done that in almost 30 years at our program and so that there's going to be some changes there like I said earlier I feel very confident we have a team that's going to compete what does that look like I don't know we're excited to get out and see where we stand and how we measure up and nothing better than our first two games the two teams that played for the championship last year right in Florida State and Louisville but um you know I do think there's a also a level to you know understanding what got us here and understanding our identity and you're always evolving but we have a veteran team coming back we have a lot of guys who are on the team that know what it takes to win a championship and to win a lot of close games and to win at the level we were last year and I think that'll serve us really well in this transition coach what does accomplished greatness mean to you you know know I I think accomplished greatness you know to me means putting yourself on that that National stage to compete for the championship and that's it and um I think that's the beauty of being in this conference is it gives us a chance to week in week out play on a national stage and if you win our league or if you make the conference Championship game in our league you're going to more than likely be in that 12 team playoff and and that gives you a chance to accomplish that kind of greatness which most of the time in our Sports measured by championships your last question coach right side first row hey good morning coach hey so my question I talked to Kevin and also Elijah in the breakout rooms a little bit earlier and they talked about trust and transparency as some of the key factors when they talked about you being a new kid on a block is not the easiest thing so with this newness what would you say is your program's pillars and your coaching pillars um that you have so that we can be familiar with them thank for the question and uh it's awesome to hear that's what those guys said I mean that's what I believe in you know I was taught a long time ago by Pat Sullivan man you always tell the truth even if you tell somebody something they don't want to hear and um we don't have a lot of sayings and slogans in our place cuz one I'd forget them or not emphasize them enough and then they don't really mean anything so but we do have a few and and it starts with family and to us that means relationships and it's not just a buzzword it's we try to live it and look with 10 and something guys that looks different to everybody but I do feel like majority of our guys know we care about them first if they don't know we care about them then it's going to really limit what we can accomplish and how we can help them accomplish their goals I mentioned earlier competitive Excellence for us is number two we believe you're always competing uh and competition brings out the best in everybody if it's done in the healthy way and so we stress that we believe in hard work and discipline that's the third one and then the fourth one we believe in finishing I think finishing is a quality that is important for everyone and I think you know when I came came back that was one of the things we wanted our program to be known for and we're 7 in1 in November the last 2 years and uh I'd like to think it's cuz the guys have bought into having a finishing mindset uh and those kind of things but that's that's the long and short of it now when it comes to playing you know we just we want to play fast and physical we're aggressive we're going to have fun we're going to be fun to watch and hopefully that means we win a lot of games so and I'll say this before you go I challenged Mike norell to a game of college football and I don't know if he's going to do it but like that would be that would be great TV right and maybe that decides who wins the toss or something in September 28th but coach it is officially out there now so thank you for that you're on the spot Mike coach if you would you can switch places with Kevin all right Kevin Jennings folks this is going to be like a two-minute drill we're going to get four student athletes in the next 17 minutes so if you would ask your question with a bit of brevity but some depth and we'll see what we can do first question for Kevin will come from who in the room Kevin to your right hand side about the fourth row fifth row actually Okay Kevin I've seen you and Preston do interviews throughout this um entire thing so my question is what do you learn from him and what do you think he learns from you in terms of the game I mean honestly I learned a lot from him like the leadership accountability and all of that stuff he's a great leader so you know day by day he teaches me different things you know how to communicate with this player how to communicate with him and all of that and honestly what he can learn what he learns from me um it's kind of hard really I really really can't think of much he learns from me but yeah Kevin to your left second row all the way towards the wall hey I'm K trainer for sports and culture media how are you I'm good how about you good a lot of traveling you're going to have coming up in the next season or so how are you managing that on on the field and off the field and do you have any study tips for keeping up with your academics while you're on the road uh I mean honestly I don't really have too much too much knowledge about that like traveling and all that all the traveling that's going on but I would like to say treat it the same as last year honestly but um in the academic part I mean get your schoolwork done I don't know yeah I'm a great student yeah not a bad student at all Kevin to your right Focus towards the guy with the camera hi uh Brian Murphy with wrl we make a big deal about you guys coming into the league and and there's been a ton of talk about the ACC but from a player perspective how how much does it impact you to be in a different league and and be playing different teams I mean yeah it's a great feeling you know coming in playing different competition from last year you know you got a um you got a tough game you know week in and week out and it's really going to be a tough Challenge and I'm ready to see how our team responded to that Kevin first row young lady with the hat right side it's is it's sir by the way um L KT CFB Nation uh talk to us about the mental preparation it takes from being able to to be the backup staying ready being ready to you know they need you to participate on Scout team help out with scout team then you know pressing goes down and you're ready to go and you're able to win that conference Championship talk about the mental preparation it takes to be able to do that I mean honestly I want to say it's a hard preparation cuz the great coaches I have alongside with me you know they prepare me week in and week out to you know be prepared to come man you never know what's going to happen so just always be ready when your number is called and just prepare like a starter all throughout the year Kevin thank you you can switch spots with RJ RJ Maryland will be with us for the next couple of minutes folks again same thing if we come back to you please reintroduce yourself who'd like the first question for RJ this afternoon RJ we will go right hand side fifth row RJ SMU has had one of the most dynamic offenses in college football um can you touch on you and the tight end and the wide receiver realm uh yeah just all of us as a collective you know we uh the past two years we've been able to put up a lot of big numbers you know coach Lassie just put us in a good game plan you know we got an execute hard J from the podium the Mustangs are 24 and4 at home since 2019 how important is it to defend the new Turf I'm sorry to defend the turf knowing that you've got new opponents coming in yeah it's very important because you know you never want to lose at home that's that's your spot uh you know just always make the fans happy um you know they're coming to see us play so you know you want to win there next question for RJ we'll bring it down to the front row once again to your right lever tcfb Nation uh you being a legacy athlete you know how to saying goes if your your parents are doctors you know you're born into or you're a doctor you were born into this game talk to me about how was that life growing up you know with your dad you know honestly it wasn't really too bad my uh my dad never pressured me to play any sports uh he just really wanted me to graduate high school and graduate college so that's really his biggest thing is just to for me to get my education we're going back to the right hand side third row hey RJ Billy ody with on three how's coach lashley's offense changed since you got to SMU and just uh started working with him and and just what did you see from it last year and what do you kind of maybe hope to see uh from it this year you know it's always been a good offense so not much has changed so uh you know just our mindset maybe but nothing no play calls cuz you know coaches got us on that but uh yeah just we've we gotten a lot of new players and they they bought into what coach lashley's taught us so it's all good RJ from the podium last year you averaged 15.24 yards per catch you just see the ball well don't you I guess so yeah um I guess so yeah Co coach Lassie's just been able to uh put me in good positions and then I just go out there and execute all the plays So yeah thank you any other questions for RJ still have two student athletes to go so RJ why don't we do this why don't we switch places with Elijah Elijah you will be next to the podium folks if you would please identify yourselves the agency that you're with for Mr Roberts who would like the first question for Elijah Elijah I guess I will ask it from the podium what's it like knowing that you're going to be part of the ACC again um it's a great feeling honestly it's a blessing to be back in this uh conference playing against these great teams that we're going to see week in and week out and I'm just I'm just thankful this time around you know to be in a different position than I was the first three years in the ACC so as a follow-up I'll ask what have you learned if you are in a different position what is different um as far as for me it's uh you know I'm playing a whole lot more I'm in a more of a leadership role now I'm more of a leadership Ro now so just being able to uh just being able to you know feed the information that I do know about the ACC to the guys who may have not played against that type of type of talent yet just being able to do that to the right hand side third row hey Elijah Billy embody with on three your versatility especially late in the year it seemed like coach started moving you around a little bit more and and just putting you in different positions what's in store on on that front this year and are you adding any new spots along the defensive line um I think you'll probably see a lot of the same stuff see me in five technique three technique uh nose even in the goal line I um I get bumped outside to outside linebacker now so it's a it's a lot of new stuff for sure but it's good for me and it's good for our team for sure stay on the right hand side about the fifth row up gentleman's got his hand in the air hi this is Bill Armstrong with Horse and Hound magazine do you consider yourself more of a thorough bread or a dog uh uh definitely a dog you know I mean I feel like personally if I'm if I'm going at my best I don't think there's a lot of people who could block me one on one for sure stay on the right hand side third row all right Nick rby backyard catch is just coming into the ACC and the defensively what do you want people in the ACC who might not know SMU game smu's game as much what would you want us to know as y'all come into the new conference um I just want people to know which if they don't they'll be able to see but we're going to be coming we're going to come hard our defense we really like like we like to bite like coach Simons he don't he doesn't like take he doesn't let us take off practices on on on small things like just being aggressive being physical especially upfront as a dine our dine has to be the most physical group on the team so I definitely think that that's what people will see for sure Elijah right side first row desan Miner CFB Nation we talked about it a little bit earlier about you want to be one of the nation's best but talk about that and also mention you and Coach Lashley go back like four flats on the Cadillac I know you got ties to a lot of Miami players on this roster talk about how good it feels for things to come full circle like this yeah it's uh it's crazy man uh coz last year was there my freshman year in sofh me obviously he was on the offensive side I was on defense but I was on uh scout team my first I believe my first two years I was there on Scout team and even probably a little bit on my third but I was on Scout team and uh I would go against the offense and you know me just being a competitor I am I would like I'm going full speed I'm not going to you know those are really the only game like reps I get throughout the week so I can just remember like coach rat coach Justin they just be screaming at me like who is that can he stop like can you stop telling him to go so hard like it's scout team so just having that and then being able to come back and play for him now as him being my head coach and just having him Coach Cooper and all the coaches from coach Justice like those guys instill confidence in Tim me to being able to have the season that I did last year anything else for Elijah we'll take your last one Elijah left side fourth row red shirt near the wall um Rob Johnson Legacy maker sports with the amount of speed on on both sides of the ball having a great head coach that you have just how dangerous is this SMU team that a lot of people around the country might not know about um I think uh we're going to be really very competitive you know it's one thing to talk about one thing to show it but for sure like you said we got a lot of speed a lot of a lot of guys who can run especially myself you know I think I'm probably top five on the team but uh we um so we definitely got a lot of guys who can run especially with the new guys that we brought in like there's no there's no really no drop off in like in Talent so for sure that was an informal poll right you sort of created that poll you finished top five you didn't really quiz anybody Elijah you can switch places with Preston if you like thank you Preston we will finish out time with you folks if you would please reintroduce yourself and Preston as you come to the podium we'll get the microphone set left side third row gentleman raising his hand how you doing Preston hey I'm doing well how are you thanks good thanks Tony syracusa from last word on Sports the conference has spent a lot of time and effort pushing this conference as the conference of quarterbacks you're new to the world out here in in the ACC where do you fit in in the big picture of the high-end quarterbacks here um I think we fit in just just well um you know the ACC does have a tradition of putting a lot of talented quarterbacks in the NFL um just off the top of my head I think of jamus Winston Trevor Lawrence DeShaun Watson um so you know we're coming to this conference U guns Blaze and I think the quarterback room fits fits perfectly with that stay on the leftand side third row gentleman in the green Cameron lemons D dig 247 Sports Preston you kind of seamlessly went into some AC quarterbacks was it ever weird to kind of transition from saying like oh we're talking about the American and then oh no I'm actually the AC was that ever kind of a weird transition in your brain or they just kind of just click easily I'm pretty hard wired to think ACC at this point Preston from the podium you had quite the jump from your freshman year to your sophomore year other than the number of games played what do you attribute the difference to that elevation in your game um I think a couple of things um comfortability with scheme um you know one of my favorite things about Coach Lashley is that he doesn't try to fit you into a certain mold of quarterback that he wants you to be he allows you to play to your strength um you know we would meet meet just about every week and um he would ask for us what's our favorite what are our favorite third down plays what are our favorite Red Zone plays um so comfortability with scheme and I think um chemistry with our Core group of receivers has been huge as we've progressed from um as we've progressed from previous year to coming into this year other questions for Preston from the room we'll go right side first row Le K tcfb Nation Preston you all are in a huge media market and I'm not sure if everybody is ready for what SMU is about to do and really I think you guys are going to take the league by storm and be a Forefront team on the national stage I actually pegged you as a dark horse to win offensive player of the year this year can you speak on that a little bit Yeah shoot we're we're couldn't be more excited to be able to compete in the ACC um you know I think we've always felt and believe that there's not a team in Texas that can compete with us and now that we're stepping into the ACC we get chance to prove that and so um you know something coach Lashley says all the time is that individual accomplishments are going to flow through the team so I think we have a great culture of guys who have that selfless mentality of we're going to step up to the plate and play each Saturday for each other right side just off the aisle about the sixth row back Preston earlier on acc kickoff you mentioned that y'all have the best wide receiver room in the ACC um what do you think is the most um can you correlate on that that on what makes this wide receiver room amazing as it is and what do you think as a quarterback is important in the relationship between you and your receivers yes sir oh I think the the biggest uh difference I've seen in this offseason compared to last off season is um we obviously a lot of our receivers are transfers and the chemistry we've been able to build from year one with those guys to year two has been huge and you know I I wholeheartedly believe that we have two sets of starting receivers um and each each guy could go to a different school and be a number one receiver but they have that selfless mentality of uh you know we're going to spread the ball around and we're going to our main goal is to win games and not Chase those individual accomplishments Preston from the podium you've got two brothers that played college football lindel at Virginia Parker at SMU uh how did you break the news to lindel that you were not going to Virginia that's a great question it's funny uh when theu for next year release he said no one walks into Scott stadium and comes out alive so I'm like all right we'll see number 36 that was that was his number in college but uh no I know I know he had a he had a great time at at the University of Virginia playing for Coach men and Hall and I'm really excited to play against them thank you to your right third row once again Preston Billy embody with on three you spent you know your youth growing up going to SMU games now that the Weber End Zone Complex is nearing completion what's the feel in the stadium like you know at least without fans for now that that is now come out come out of the ground in the end zone and and replace the hill yeah it's the the endzone complex is going to be awesome I definitely enjoyed playing on the hill when I was a kid um you know rolling around getting playing football while there was football going on um but now that we have the endzone complex thanks to our um you know our athletic director and the donors um it's going to be an incredible experience um to have one of the Premier Premier facilities in the country describe that emotion describe that perspective you're rolling around on the hill as I don't know seven-year-old and all of a sudden you're getting ready to be the quarterback at the place where you were rolling around on the hill go through that with us yeah it's it's awesome you know there's several games I think about growing up that look back on I remember when when Baylor came into town and you know courton Sutton was going crazy I remember when Johnny Menzel tore us up um back in 2012 um and so you know now we've got a we've got a chance to um we've got a chance to play Big Boy football in the ACC and um I feel incredibly lucky to be the school's quarterback and that's not something I take for granted SMU welcome and good luck thanks for your time today thank you guys folks that'll do it for day one we will reconvene tomorrow morning the ACC staff can be of [Music] you [Music]