Indiana University Athletics
August 13, 1999 - Media Day
8/13/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
The following excerpts are selected quotes from today's media day press conferences:
Sophomore quarterback Antwaan Randle El
Randle El on beginning practice Saturday morning: "I'm really excited. I've been waiting all summer for tomorrow. It will to be really exciting to get back on the field."
Randle El on training camp at Marshall beginning next Wednesday: "In a way I am and in a way I'm not. I'm looking forward to being away with just my teammates and working. But, the bugs are unreal."
Randle El on health of an injury to his right hand during basketball season: "I'm fine as far as my health with the hand. I've been throwing and doing everything with it. My hand is fine. I am ok."
Randle El on the improvement that the offense needs to make: "It has to be a combination of both the running game and the passing game. We need to get our passing game going from the very beginning of the season because if we get our passing game going it is definitely going to get our running game going."
Randle El on being the leader of the football team: "It's good. I don't like to boast, but I do like to be the leader of the team and to get things going. If someone wants to look at me like that then I've just got to fulfill that role."
Randle El on being different this year: My personality is never going to change. My attitude is always about the same. I'm outgoing. I'm a little bigger, but I have not lost any speed with the added weight. That's about the only thing that is different."
Randle El on the possibility of playing more than one position: "Changing positions is not a thing that would bother me, it would not hurt me. If I'm helping the team, that is something that I will not have a problem with because I believe I can help us in some different ways. If it happens I can go out and play, but for right now, for me, quarterback is my number one job. That is what I want to be but if they want me to play other positions I have no problem doing it. However, right now I'm a quarterback."
Randle El on the other quarterbacks: "Starting with Tommy Jones. Tommy Jones is smart, he can throw, and at times can get out of the backfield and run. I think that is what every quarterback should have, is to be able to get out of the backfield and run to get the extra yardage when he can. Gibran is one of the pure dropback passers who is a strong armed guy and he's probably the smartest of the bunch. Earl is doing his job when it comes to doing the teaching that we need. Earl does a lot for this team that a lot of people don't know. Some day you'll hear about it and some day you'll see it, but until then you just don't know. The new guy (walk-on Brad Cupito) I have not had a chance to see what he is like. I've heard he's got a nice arm while pin pointing where he throws."
Randle El on this year's changes: "On attitude and physically, yes, we have improved and especially the way that our receivers are catching the ball and gaining yardage after the catch. They are continually improving their catching ability and knowing where they are supposed to be."
Randle El on seven home games/home field advantage: "I think that we are pretty much looking at it the same as we did last year. Just the fact of finishing game and that all goes back to the conditioning. To work hard and commit yourself to the whole game and not letting up. As far as the home games, that helps anybody out with the crowd behind us and we just have to look forward to that."
Randle El on his brother , Curtis, who was stabbed during the offseason: "My brother is doing really well when it comes to conditioning and his mental state. He's back healthy. He's been healthy all summer. It's good to see him out there running, laughing, and out and about. We could have lost him and that is something that my family and I couldn't have dealt with. I thank God that he is with us today and able to do the things that we are doing. As a brother I'm so glad he's back where we need him to be."
Randle El on rooming with his brother this year: "We've been wanting to do that forever but it just hasn't worked out. This year we're going to be living together. I'm not going to say where (laughter). We're roommates. It's just like back home all over again. We wrestle. Ninety percent, well not 90, he wins most of them (laughter). When I get him I get him. It was fun to wrestle him again when he got healthy.
Senior defensive end Adewale Ogunleye:
Ogunleye on attention from NFL scouts: "I did talk to key people from the NFL personnel department. They just tell you how much they think about you. They ask if you're a talented person and if an extra year might do you some good. I have not really sat down with a scout to tell me what I need to improve upon. I think the best person for that is Coach Cam, because he was in the NFL and he would tell me exactly what I need to do."
Ogunleye on the upcoming season: "Personally, I am excited. We have a lot of new guys. I think you'll see a lot of difference with our coverages. We'll play a lot of man-to-man this year. It'll put a lot more pressure on the guys up front in order to hurry the quarterbacks."
Ogunleye on being a role model to the young defensive ends: "I really like Derek (Barnett). He Listens. Derek is looking at me like 'I need to watch everything that he does'. That just makes me want to be a leader even more. Derek will ask me questions even when I do something wrong. Derek is a guy that I really like. He knows what he wants and sees the success that I have had in the past and he wants it. (Fellow redshirt freshman defensive end) Sean Nelson has lot of talent. In a couple years those guys are going to be really, really good."
Ogunleye on returning to IU for this fifth year after already earning his degree: " The main goal is the fact that I have not gone to a bowl game yet. I came in here with a lot of expectations and it just seems like this team will be so much better than last year. We have a really good home schedule this year and I feel confident that our team will be much improved this year."
Head coach Cam Cameron:
Cameron on varsity the varsity reporting on 8/12: "One guy out of the 78 who will not be able to practice is (fullback) David Ballou. He had knee surgery a couple of weeks ago and we think he'll be out for another four weeks. He's a guy that got injured in the spring, but has done some good things for us. We'll add those 78 to the 27 newcomers and that gets us to the 105 which we're allowed by the NCAA."
Cameron on how Adewale Ogunleye told him he was returning to school: " He said coach I've got some bad news for you..I think that I am going to go the National Football League. We had spent a lot of time with he and his mom and his dad. I had complete confidence that whatever decision they made was one that I would respect, one way or another, because I knew that they would have a good reason for doing whatever they decided. Then he said, 'Just kidding'. Whatever we are to obtain as a team, we will have earned. There's no 11 wins guaranteed for this football team and he's knows there's going to be difficulties this year, that it's going to be challenging, and I think that tells you more about him than anything that he's willing to face those challenges."
Cameron on making big step forward in 1999: "I think that we will take a big step, there is no question in my mind. How that is measured in wins and loses that will be the final analysis. This team has already taken a big step in everything that we are doing and now we have to transfer that to the football field. Every year your schedule changes and that's the difficult thing at times to measure."
Cameron on Antwaan Randle El: "He is our quarterback period. The idea that he is going to play another position stemmed from his unselfishness. He made a statement to someone that he'd play wherever he needed to play to help us win. He can do all of those things and we've had him do that. I think we need to see a threat on every play. It'll be nice to watch the young [quarterbacks] come along and if they're good enough then we might find a way to get them in there. But, Antwaan is our quarterback."
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Contact: Todd Starowitz, Football Media Relations Director
