Baylor Football: Postgame vs. Tarleton (Dave Aranda, Jackie Marshall & Richard Reese) | Aug 31, 2024

it's good to see you guys the the game I thought was um was a testament to all the work and um the care factor and just all of the sacrifice and so it was good to see it kind of come to um to light you know I I think of like Jackie Marshall as an example I think of Jackie and uh just the growth that he's had off the field and um the student that he is now and the person that he is and um you know he's come back from multiple injuries to only get injured again and um there's a bit of a urban legend with him because and there's things he's done in practice and has never really been been able to make it to games and then to make it to this one and to play way the way he did is so cool and um it's inspiring you know and then to have u a lot of our transfers come in and under the bright lights and um in the big city you know and go out and make plays and and uh consistently make plays and bring a a Swagger and all of it to the team that was cool to see because it's been like that in practice and so to get that um over across the bridge into mlan uh when it matters most that was cool to see too and so a lot of positives with that you know with all that being said a lot of things we can work on and we need to work on especially for our next opponent and uh you know it's a good first step I'm uh looking forward to the next couple take any questions you guys got ra your micone Dave just is it night and day difference in terms of just not just the execution but the feeling coming off the field from from last year yeah you know then that that probably started in in December you know just with um I guess probably with me be honest and then with the hires that we made and the recruit recruiting that we've done and um I think it's been it's kind of been what it was tonight it's been that way since then and so it's cool to see it uh under the lights that here coach mentioned all the newcomers making plays are you surprised at all at how quickly they've been able to kind of get up to speed with what you want to do and I guess why have they got up to speed with so so quickly with what you want to do I'm not surprised I think that there's a lot of Veteran guys have played a lot of football and um you know they came um you know a lot of competition for these guys and they came because they loved Baylor man you know they the the the feeling when they they were on campus the feeling when they met with our academic people the feeling when they met with you know all of our support staff and just U you know I don't know to kind of be in the game but not be running game on people I think is what they look for I mean I look for that you know and so I think they found it here and then I think for the offensive guys to to be with uh Jake and that the style offense you saw today they wanted that and then I think defensively you know we're trying to sell them me I guess I don't know you know that we can maybe stop people I hope and do something and so a lot of that's all like hoping and dreaming you know and so to have them come and then to work hard and do football from the very start of the thing all the way through to this point and then be able to do it uh Under The Lights is cool da how did it feel to call plays again did it feel pretty smooth the process and everything it's angry a lot of times um you know I just you don't want to give people anything and uh obviously they're always they're always going to get things I think you know someone we had a um an academic uh you know there's a professor that comes to the dinner on U last night Friday night and so with and so they'll they'll come to the walk through and then they'll be at practice or they they'll be at the walkthr then they'll be at the dinner Friday night and they ask that question and I and it's it's I think how I said it then was like man it's like you're a fighter pilot you get this great fighter jet and you and it's all this mock all this stuff and it's got all these weapons and you get to fly the thing but there's people out there that want to kill you you know and so like you get to fly it but you don't want to die so that's how I feel about calling plays I feel that uh all the time and I think you know to prep and to do all the stuff right to where you can get people and they don't get you that's hard to do in today's game offenses are really good back coach in the back uh dcoin specifically uh how do you think he ran the offense what was your overall assessment of how he played tonight I thought there was really good things I thought the the leadership he brings the confidence he brings you know daquan's a dog man and so you put something in front of him he's going to knock that down he's going to run right through the face of the thing you know and uh he's going to bring that attitude right from the beginning and so that's really cool to see and I think that our team feeds off of that um and uh our team sees that that's stuff that you really can't fake you know uh I thought his performance tonight there is good and bad I think with all of us you know and I think moving forward we're going to continue to feature and develop the things that he does really well try to limit some of those things um that he's struggling with and improve those things to a to a certain degree but I'm way confident with dcoin at the helm and just his ability to lead the team his ability to move the ball thought there's a couple times scrambling around you could have just just took off and ran more and that's probably something we're going to look at coach what was it like to have the inh helmet Communications how much of a difference maker was that how much did you have to adjust just your overall thoughts in this first game liked it you know the the struggle with that on defense particularly is that when the guy Subs out you got to do all the helmets or or little equipment guy is running around with all these helmets and trying to to switch them off you know so he's freaking out he wants like Matt Jones to play every snap you know and so I think like there is that is a struggle you have to have a really strong plan with that but there's times when you have the deal where you you have really have to gauge how much you information you want to give because you could over do it you try to I try to make it real clear concise hey man alert for this or hey here's that here's that set we're talking about something like that you can do that especially when they're on the ball that fast this team was so we could talk like that in terms of just what you were hoping to see tonight did did you feel like you checked all the boxes or were there some things that maybe you you know weren't as pleased with where did you feel like maybe you guys didn't meet expectations I don't know you know I the execution stuff first game there's so many new players and then staff members you know we spend a lot of time on this is the schedule this is where we go and this is what you wear and all these things like it was like the first day at school you know for the staff there's so many new staff members so the when it's like that and then the players you're doing the same thing you know there's going to be a learning curve to that and uh so that's kind of anticipated a little bit the thing I'm most proud of is that outside of the you know the start of the third quarter is a little bit bumpy in terms of focus and this thing but I thought the guys they wanted to hunt man you know and they were they were hunt they were they were going and uh you know on the sidelines the focus all the things was the best that it's been in a while and um to have it in the beginning is one thing but to have it at the end you know was is another and so that's a really good sign is that when guys still want to hunt when the score is this and the crowd is this and the whole thing is you know they were still wanting to hunt both sides so I'm proud of that coach in the back uh celebrating 10 years of mlan Stadium can you just talk about what the place has meant to you and what it mean on the anniversary to uh get a big win like this today yeah you know I when mlan is rocking it's really really special and uh you could see that with just our staff you know I think today was kind of a first start I think for our fans you know we're going to have to win win some games so that uh we can be cool enough to be to hang out with you know and so we have to be able to win some games I think and get some people to sit at our our table you know at lunch you know but I think like when it's going like that and it's rolling that way it's it's it's as good as it gets and so the engagement of all of it I think today was a start we got work to do there coach you've been talking about Keat and Thomas pretty much since got here um how important was he tonight as far as an energy standpoint and then how cool was it to see him get a moment like he did with his interception and really good I think that settled him down you the really his last two days of practice here the Wednesday and Thursday were probably his worst days that he's had since he's been at Baylor you know and um I you I I I walked him uh out of the locker room today prior to the game and I mentioned hey bro you got this this you're going to you're going to kill this today you got this just do your thing focus on you know focus on the your your key focus on um where your eyes go right and um it's 1+ 1 equal two man don't worry we don't need 1+ 1 equals 6 1+ 1 equals 2 you're going to be great and I think he was just trying to do so much I think the kid cares so much and he wants to prove people you know wrong I guess and do all these things and he wants to do it all like yesterday you know and so for him to kind of just be in the moment and stuff I think that's probably going to be a continued thing with him because there's a lot of energy there so we get it focused it's good for him good for us Jackie how did you feel about just I felt good I feel like we prepared good all week know we came ready to get the job done just from you it's been a long journey I felt great man I know uh I've been through a lot in my career so um just to be back out there flying around felt great talking about intensity the did you that t was that a kind of start most definitely um I think the goal for uh the whole defense was to like start fast and finish you know what I mean so I think that was a goal what did it seem like with Dave in there you know calling plays again and how how did that seem on the sideline having him into that part of it and locked in what was that what was that like um I think it's great you know to me he's he's the goat you know um um yeah I think everybody uh really cares and cares for him and uh we just want to play Green and then scoring on defense how big was that for y'all is that like a goal is that something yall talk about is you know getting one yes sir uh takeaways is a major thing for us on defense so happy that we got that Jackie in the back um back here uh for you guys how big of a maybe weight off your shoulders is it you know there's been a lot to talk about last year especially game one last year to get that win and do it in you know pretty definitive fashion um like I said it feels good but I feel like uh we prepared great all week and we were ready to show up when the time came are there still a lot of wrinkles that y'all haven't shown yet um I think I mean I don't think everything anything is going to be perfect we always got something to work on so yeah I guess for for Keaton to obviously get the interception and the touchdown he he's talked a lot about how he didn't he wants to like take advantage of his time here and he was excited for this moment what is it like for you to see him have kind of that moment that he did it's great man uh I think like seeing that makes me want to play harder you know and it's contagious that energy he has it's just it's amazing Richard just how good did that feel especially you know getting in a rhythm early I think you had like maybe the first three carries of the game it felt good you know I know we already had the athletes coming in and we practiced all day we took prepare for it so it felt good Richard to start the way you did and as a team and as an offense I guess what sort of tone can this game and the way you started set for the rest of the season I say you know it is set a good tone you know just by getting that win and like I said knowing all the athletes you got on the team especially that we got speed good wide receivers good running backs all over good quarterback good o line it come out good Richard in the back uh dcoin breaking that big run early how much does his athleticism and speed open up the offense with the defense having to respect his legs oh it opened up a lot you know cuz the defense you know they got to watch for me and him and you know like I said everybody on our offense got speed so that's a big thing on our offense what was uh dcoin liking the Huddle and was he amped up early did he seem nervous at all or was it just was there calmness there he was calm you know calm very hype and he was ready to go cuz he already knew going into the game what we was going to have to do and we prepared for it all week Richard I think when a lot of bayor fans remember back to this offense they think of the the Deep balls a lot of passing What did Coach baval tell you guys as running backs about the importance of you guys in this offense he told us from the jump he was like we going to run the ball you know we going to run the ball we going to get downhill and he said from the get-go that he was going to throw at some too but he said when we get the chance to run the ball just hold on to the ball especially against the defense he was going against cuz they like to punch at the ball is there a lot in the offense that y'all didn't show today like if you could put a percentage on what you showed of your of this spad all offense you know what would it be I'll probably say like 50 to 60 Richard a lot of questions about the offensive line coming off of last year you guys felt pretty confident in them through fall Camp did Tonight Show kind of a little bit of what they're capable of yes so you know coming up off of last year the o line coming in this year they knew what they was going to have to do and you know a lot of people on our team didn't like what we had last year like the record and all that stuff so we just came out and applied it on the field cuz we knew what we had to do Richard on the sideline what was it like seeing Keaton get that pick six and that moment for him man I ain't going to lie it was awesome you know me and Keen me and him close so just seeing him go out there you know and get a pick was amazing and he said before the game even started he was like man I just want to pick so just seeing him do that was amazing