Opening statement
"Welcome to our new home. Don't get too comfortable though. This time of the year is just an exciting time. It never gets old. Seems like each year you have those first-time emotions as much as anything. So many neat things happen in sports on a daily basis. So many neat things happen with our football team. I would say, this morning at our team meeting, was one of those special days. We, right now, with our program have 85 scholarship players. We're always trying to build up our program more with walk-on players. Guys that maybe don't get a scholarship right away but they have an opportunity to earn one. This will be our fourth year. For this morning's meeting, we gave, no I should say, Ethan Tabel earned a scholarship to the University of Illinois. He was our long snapper last year. Did an outstanding job. Hasn't been up in my office saying 'Hey I'm a starter, when am I going on scholarship?'. Just showing up every day. So, the real emotion that you get of being excited for your teammate is what we saw today. Really pumped up and excited for him."

"Other things as you start the football season off, we voted for our team captains today. We, each year, have five guys that represent our football team. Two on offense, two on defense and one special teams player. Of course, we are getting all of the votes in right now and we'll announce that a little later on. That's special too, when you're picked by your peers. Guys that have seen you for four years in every situation. Also today, we talk a lot about student-athletes today. We have over 10 football players that got a 4.0 GPA in the summer session. All of these things lead to us transitioning to this first game of the year against Akron. Training camp has gone well. Two injuries, but you expect that. We're just in a good place. Yeah, this (Smith Football Center) is exciting. For our guys to be able to come here each day, it's as good as advertised. Josh (Whitman), we're thankful for this. Again for the Smith family and everyone else that donated to this. For us to be in the best frame of mind to start this season. We're pumped."

"We have new additions. Offensively, our quarterback Brandon Peters will lead our team. Love everything about him. Can throw it, he can run and he's moving into a leadership role quickly. Excited about our offensive line coming back. Guys that have played a lot of football here. We did good things offensively last year, and we're excited to make another leap. Excited about Reggie Corbin, Ricky Smalling, healthy. Daniel Barker has had about as good a training camp as anyone. Excited about that. I made the statement, the defense has had to own what has happened around here the last few years. We're better, can't wait to show it this coming Saturday at 11 o'clock right at Memorial Stadium. Excited about the front. We will definitely miss Bobby Roundtree. Oluwole, Jamal Woods, Jamal Milan, guys like that will step up. De'le Harding, Jake Hansen, Nate Hobbs. So, we're pumped, ready to go."

"The first game of the season you never know what to expect. You have to cover an awful lot of things. They have a new coaching staff. Coach Arth, he and his staff came from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. They did good things over there. We expect a wide-open offense coming at us. Think they have seven offensive starters returning, and a couple on the defensive side of the football. Last year, of course, they beat the team up north, our rival up north in the purple. They also played Iowa State hard. So that's what we're expecting. Had a chance to talk to our freshman this past Saturday. New people, 10,000 strong. Just really reaching out to the students to come up. New things are happening. New patio outside of our old offices for the students to hang out and have a good time. That's kind of where we are, pumped up for the season."

On an increased positive attitude after moving into the Smith Center…
"Absolutely. From the moment they burst inside of the door we have seen that. You see right here this is a good environment. You look around it's a good environment to be in. It's conducive to learning. You see the light outside. Weight room, locker room, lounge, are set up for the guys to spend all their free time here. You can come into this building and be comfortable for a long period of time. Attitude wise, I'd say to an end everyone would say it has been elevated."

On Josh Imatorbhebhe's impact and the rest of the wide receiver room… 
"It's helped a lot. I've talked about what Ricky Smalling and Dominic Stampley and what some of those guys have done. Imatorbhebhe, big, strong physical guy that can do a lot of things. A lot of times wide receivers just want to catch the ball, but he's involved with special teams. Can't wait to get Trevon Sidney back out there. The wide receiver room has changed quite a bit."

On the challenges Week 1 vs. Akron…  
"It's just the unknown as much as anything. If you're playing a team where the same coaching staff is in place, it's kind of established what they would like to do. But we don't really know Akron wise. Of course, the head coach and defensive coordinator came there from a different place. You just have to be sound fundamentally, have rules to take care of everything and play ball. That's what we'll do.