[Music] all right uh I will be brief uh good morning uh this is a fantastic facility to to hold our media days I'm really excited uh about getting the 2024 season started um but I'd be remiss if I didn't start with a few thank yous I I truly believe that players and coaching is uh win games uh and administrations win championships and uh one of the reasons we took this job a year and a half ago is because we believe uh that we have a championship Administration and president vck Brian White our athletic director Mary gardinia our uh senior women's uh administrator uh we've got a championship administration at at FAU uh our Board of regions our Board of Trustees excuse me uh does a phenomenal job and then I I'd like Tok Mike aresco uh for his time serving this conference as Tim said uh I this is my second time around in this conference uh the faces are a little bit different but the the general theme the general uh positivity uh the fact that the American Conference is positioned in the landscape of college football where it's positioned right now I I think speaks to the leadership of this conference uh and what they've been able to do from a leadership standpoint uh throughout this ever changing climate uh and then thank Tim Peretti for taking this Challenge on uh Tim thank you uh you you're doing a phenomenal job early in your tenure uh we we spoke at at length last night with the the head football coaches and I'm as a guy that's pretty invested in this conference I I'm I'm excited about its future um under your leadership and I'm just excited to see where this season as well as the next few years go for this conference uh with that I am extremely excited to talk to you uh a little bit about the FAU owls in in 2024 questions all right as we come around to get your questions coach can you tell us about the two gentlemen that uh came with you here to uh media who's asking that was me to your left to my left that was me oh you're way okay yeah um I I would love to because they're they're both marry your daughter kind of guys um they are absolutely everything uh you want in a football player and I'm speaking of Federico morenz our uh multi-year starting center and and Captain uh and our starting middle linebacker in Jackson Ambush uh these are guys that um are the epitome of selflessness the epitome uh of leadership the epitome uh of just hard work and and and having a mission and believing in the process in order to achieve that mission and and going out every single day and going to work and and giving your team and your teammates your best and uh again I know one of them's got a girlfriend I I do have a daughter or two so um I've been trying uh but the these guys are they're unbelievable representative for what college athletics is feder Rico is not just the the student athlete of the year for FAU football he's a student athlete of the year uh for the entire athletics department at Florida Atlantic University student athlete meaning grades community service the whole the total package he's the best we got at FAU um and that's saying something and Jackson Ambush is nipping at his heels probably for that same award so uh I can't say enough about them their leadership their buyin um and watching them grow this this last year and a half has been really fun all right first question from the media will be right there in the front to your right hey coach so with the uh offense taking in a lot of new pieces this off season do you feel like the defense is going to be able to kind of anchor be the team's kind of anchor I guess you could say uh because obviously you have Jackson returning Jarrett Dez dline a little bit of changes as but overall still lot of continuity on the defense do you think it can be the anchor for the offense or you think it'll be balanced no I I I do yeah it's going to we're going to be as a whole more talented on offense um I I think the dynamism of our running back room was was on display in the spring uh the quarterback room has two very very capable uh guys one that's uh started and won games uh at a very high level uh the receiver room is one that will certainly be deeper not nearly as as topheavy though with the you know two of my last three years as a head coach uh we've had the leading receiver in the country with Deon du in in 2019 as well and when you lose a guy like Leon you know you're not going to replace him with one guy uh more than likely and so but we feel a lot better about the depth in that room and the the ability to spread the ball around and then uh I think the key on that side of the ball again we're going to be more talented up front but experience is is going to be lacking a little bit there up front so we need to gel very quickly there but your question was more specifically about the defense I went to the same school as Trent dfur in terms of uh question answering uh but the defense it anchored us last year I I I would argue that we played good enough defense to win a lot of those games that we didn't uh I think we held seven of our eight conference opponents to under their uh season average in points and yards so uh we we played pretty good defense last year losing Evan Anderson will hurt uh that's a as good a nose guard as and impactful of a nose guard uh as I've been around again probably not going to fill his shoes with one guy uh might be uh a couple guys there but to ultimately answer your question really excited about the defense I think we can continue to improve I think we're going to replace the pieces that we lost maybe other than Evan uh with better pieces uh and then offensively we've got to come along as as quickly as possible other questions for Coach right here in the front to the left don't make me go Biff POI Sean charer from CBS Sports how you doing coach uh I'm curious you know a year into the job I mean what's kind of been what you expect did and what's sort of been uh challenges that maybe you didn't anticipate well I I think you know not going to a bowl game for the first time in your career as a head coach gave me a lot of time to think I I didn't realize you had that much time Christmas break um and I think you know a couple things one we we we were last year's team I shouldn't say we last year's team was one and five in one score game so we had the requisite Talent to be in those games we just didn't have quite enough to to be the difference right and I'm I'm talking about a on the road at Illinois after getting your butts kicked by Clemson and you know it's a six-point game in the fourth quarter and uh then you you go to the other side and you say we had a culture good enough to keep us in those games and you know those games that maybe we shouldn't have been in because of the talent um but just not quite enough enough to to carry us over the top so I feel like we've improved the talent we've improved the culture and and what I've learned in my time here is that we made the right decision you know when deciding to get back into to college football um you know the job needed to check two boxes my family needed to be happy living there uh and you needed to be able to win championships and the first box has absolutely been checked boa Ron is I had no idea and my my family has has absolutely fallen in love uh with with living there and then winning championships I do believe we can we we do have an uphill battle we don't have the money yet uh that some of the established teams that in the American uh have had because of the the TV revenue and the discrepancy uh with that payout every year uh to our six schools so we're fighting but the good news is uh we've got a great great athletic director that understands what it takes uh to be successful at this level uh understands that switching conferences last year was a major step up uh and that the commitment level now needs to take a major step up so I I think as far as the right people understand the right things um so to go back we made the right decision is probably the thing I learned is that we're we're on our way um to becoming I think what what we all envisioned uh this being any last questions for Coach up right there in the front on the right uh coach we saw in the offseason you promoted uh Jeff love and Ryan beer to new positions um can you kind of talk about your philosophy of promoting within a little bit and do you think that uh it trickles to the team aspect of it as well for the players that decided not to hit the transfer portal yeah I think you know one when you we promoted Michael sabini from uh analyst to to full-time uh Edge coach as well you know so we've done a lot of promo I I take a ton of pride in the coaches that you know you've got Rashad samples and Brian Carrington Kenny gon up at Wisconsin you guys that played for me G for me uh that we've we've helped uh move along in their career and and I take a lot of pride in that and what better way especially at Florida Atlantic we're we're not going to pay millions of dollars um to our director of player Personnel or general manager for football or what whatever the support staff they love titles you know that right so I I I can hardly even keep them straight but uh I do know that when you find good people especially at a place like fa you that make my job easier just a a sco um and that really have an ability to impact whether you win championships or not you want to reward those people and keep them around your program for as long as you can and so uh you're right I hope it I hope our players do see that um in our program you get rewarded um you do the right thing you do your job and really really good things happen you may not get padded on the back a whole lot along the way um but at the end of the day you do your job and the the rewards will come last one here in the front to the left yeah Tom a followup question so um what are kind of your thoughts on Army coming into the league you know obviously there's been one option team here before but uh what kind of challenge that and how does that help the league do you think well I'm my defensive coordinator Rock Bill and Tony will get mad at me but I'm excited about it I I don't know that he's really excited about it uh defending the the triple option uh you know twice in conference play is going to be a difficult task for you know I know playing Navy uh you know the the stat back when they were really had it rolling you know teams were like 2 and 20 or something you know the week after they played Navy uh so it's going to be a challenge but we're excited I I think it again it speaks to the leadership of this conference when the college athletic world is as we know it is blowing up you know the American just said hey you six come here oh Army you're independent you're looking for home okay we got you you know very calm very measured very calculated uh in terms of the the leadership of this conference and to be able to now have two of the service acmy in uh and to be able to play I know coach monin does a phenomenal job has for years there and and what a storied program you're talking about Heisman Trophies and national champions and the whole nine and so um extremely excited I wish we didn't have to play him week two I wish we'd get him like week eight or nine but um so we could kind of figure out what what was going on but uh excited to see them come to boa rone I I believe I know it's it's our first conference game I would assume it'd be their very first American Conference game as well thank you coach all right guys go out [Music]