That’s a wrap.
The 2024 Big 12 Football Media Days at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, have now come and gone, giving college football fans plenty to chew on.
In a two-day period that was packed to the gills with one-liners, bulletin board material, and coach speak, we got to hear from all 16 head coaches in the league. Now, for the next few weeks, we will have to wait patiently until fall camp officially gets underway.
Here’s the biggest thing that every coach had to say at an incredible Media Day event.
Arizona: Brennan Keeping Things the Same in 2024
Sometimes, the first thing that a new head coach might want to do is to change the culture and program to fit the new regime. However, Arizona head coach Brent Brennan resisted that urge, and instead opted to let some of his top players have a say in how things are going.
After all, the 2023 team was arguably the best in school history.
“You know, I would say the easiest part of that is when we — like offensively when we started putting that scheme together, we let the current players — Noah Fifita, T-Mac, those guys — have a lot of input in terms of keeping a lot of the verbiage the same,” Brennan said.
“How we call plays — I put the onus on the coaches to learn what they tag plays or how they communicated that a year ago and make that part of us, which that way only 10 guys have to learn it and not 70. That was the way we did that schematically, and defensively we were able to retain Duane Akina and Brett Arce and some other pieces there that the scheme will be the same or similar. I would say that part of it, you always want to lean into the talent you have. That’s just where I come from. I think part of that is making sure those players are comfortable in the schemes and situations you put them in on game day.”
Arizona State: Establishing a “Culture of Toughness” in Big 12
Kenny Dillingham’s second year at Arizona State isn’t expected to produce much fruit, but he’s worried about building a program, not a team.
“We need to continue to establish a culture of toughness — I think that’s the number one thing,” Dillingham said. “If you watch this league and you look at the teams that have continually won in this league is teams that are tough. So we’ve been training and teaching our kids how to respond to adversity, the good and the bad, and those are the things that we’ve been harping on the last year.”
“This is a very cliche answer, but success in our program is being the very best you can be all the time,” he said. “We wanna get better, we wanna grow every single day. There’s not a win total; there’s not a goal like that. It’s just be the very best we can be every day.”
Baylor: Dave Aranda Update V5.0.1
Dave Aranda has always been known as a bit of a robotic figure in the coaching world, beginning every answer to a question with, “I appreciate your question…” and then proceeding to answer. This year, that didn’t happen.
Perhaps he finally got the latest software update?
Furthering the evidence was the fact that the Bears have had a sudden surge in recruiting success.
“We’re paying players,” Aranda told Craig Smoak of 365Sports. Smoak followed up by asking if it was really that simple, to which Aranda said, “Yes.”
BYU: No Starting QB in Provo Just Yet
It might be August 31st before BYU fans know who their starting quarterback is for the 2024 season. At Big 12 Media Days on Wednesday, Kalani Sitake says he’s been through this process before but is happy with the amount of experience he has in the room heading into fall camp.
“We’ve been through it before,” Sitake said. “We knew we needed to get better (after last season). I can’t tell you what the deadline is except that we’ll know when the player takes it. We have four quarterbacks that have played college football. They’ve all started games. We have a much deeper position now.”
“The numbers, we always want to be around that five [scholarship range]. But I don’t mind six. I don’t mind seven. To me, that is the most important position in football. We have to get that one right. We have to load the talent. We have to have them buy into their role and develop.”
Cincinnati: Dontay Corleone’s Potential Return
The highlight of Scott Satterfield’s time at the podium this week had to be the fact that All-American defensive tackle Dontay Corleone is back working out with his teammates.
“He is back with our team,” Satterfield said. “He started working out last week, he was with our team yesterday so he will continue to work out all summer. We’re taking it day by day but hopefully as we progress throughout the summer and head to fall camp that he’ll be available to play and available to go.
“I know he wants to play. He’s an incredible young man, but we’ll take this day by day and we’ll see where it ends up at. Obviously, the hope is that he’ll be able to play this fall.”
Corleone was recently diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs and was out indefinitely.
Colorado: Coach Prime Steals the Show
There were several examples of Deion Sanders stealing the spotlight at Big 12 Media Days, but perhaps none of them is better than his compliments for Commissioner Brett Yormark.
“I think we have the best commissioner in football,” Sanders said. “He’s unbelievable. He’s absolutely a legend. He’s a baller, he’s a shot caller, he’s a boss, and I love him.”
Sanders also made headlines when he said that he’s held to a different standard than other coaches.
“I’m judged on a different scale,” he said. “My wins are totally different than your wins. Your wins, you just judge football. I can’t win nine games, and our GPA suffers. Our GPA can’t be high and we lose another eight games.
“We have to win in every area. That’s the way we’re judged. I’m cool with that. Because we come at it a little different. So the expectation is greater. But it’s not just football. It’s been like that all my life. I’ve always had a greater expectation for myself. The expectation you have for me would never outweigh the expectation I have for myself.”
Houston: There’s No Secret Recipe to Winning
Willie Fritz has quite the challenge ahead of him as he takes over a 4-8 program in an expanding conference that seems to get more competitive by the year. But there’s no secret recipe to building a consistent winner, and Fritz knows what it takes to get there.
“You have some non-negotiables of how you do things with your football program, and then you’ve got to do a good job learning about the University of Houston and learning that what works in Houston might not necessarily work at other places I’ve been,” he said. “Right now, I’m really trying to promote our strengths.”
One thing that the Coogs have going for them, though? Location.
“I think Houston has the greatest recruiting in the nation,” Fritz said.
Iowa State: Campbell is “Really Excited” About the Cyclones in 2024
Even though the record was 7-6, Iowa State head football coach Matt Campbell believes his team made tremendous progress toward contending this year.
The Cyclones alternated wins and losses in their final six games, including the bowl game loss to Memphis. But those league losses to both Kansas and Texas included opportunities to win.
It leads Campbell to believe that the Cyclones are much closer to contending in this new-look Big 12.
“Watching our young team coming off a rough year in 2022 and the way our team responded last year it was really fun to watch,” Campbell said. “This football team came back to the standard of who we are and what we’ve been, and what we have been is really special. So from that standpoint, I’m really excited.”
Kansas: Jalon Daniels’ is Healthy
The most important point for KU coming out of Media Day, and for the entire 2024 season, for that matter, is Jalon Daniels’ health.
“Jalon is doing everything,” Lance Leipold said. “We’ve gotten a lot of opinions. He’s making the throws he’s supposed to be making. I know this — I try not to ask Jalon Daniels more than once a week how he’s doing. Everyone asks him that. You can wear a young man out with that question. I’ll be told if anything is going on. Mentally, it gives him a chance to go about his business. He wouldn’t be here today if we didn’t think he would be ready this season.”
Keeping Daniels healthy is imperative. When he’s on the field, Leipold knows what the quarterback can do.
“It’s well documented that when he’s on the field, we are a lot better football team,” he said. “We can be pretty explosive.”
Kansas State: No All-Big 12 Selections
Despite being picked to finish second in the Big 12, the Kansas State Wildcats didn’t have a single player selected to the Preseason All-Big 12 Team. That wasn’t lost on Chris Klieman and his team, either.
“I hope it shows people the overall depth and value of our roster and how important our role players are and how important our players are,” Klieman said. “If you’re a successful team, individual honors at the end of the season are gonna come.
Klieman said he didn’t know if the players were excited or disappointed by that development. But he’s already put it in his rear-view mirror as fall practices approach.
“You still got to perform, and we’ve got a lot of work to do before we get to the end of August,” he said.
Oklahoma State: Mike Gundy’s Blunder
Ollie Gordon handled last week’s DUI arrest with perfect execution, showing a sense of maturity and growth in his time with reporters. His head coach, however, wasn’t so lucky.
Here’s what Gundy said on air when discussing Gordon’s set-back:
“I looked it up on my phone. What would be the legal limit, like in Oklahoma, it is .08, and Ollie was .1, and it was, based on body weight, not to get into the legal side of it, and I thought, really, two or three beers, or four, I’m not justifying what Ollie did, I’m telling you what decision I made, and I thought, I’ve probably done that 1,000 times in my life. And it was just fine. I got lucky. People get lucky. Ollie made a decision he wished he could have done better. But when I talked to Ollie, I told him you got out light because you make a lot of money to play football.”
Yikes.
TCU: Dykes Expects Major Defensive Improvements
After struggling defensively in 2023, the Horned Frogs brought in former Boise State head coach Andy Avalos to run that side of the ball. Head coach Sony Dykes is expecting some big changes as a result.
“What I love about the four-down system is you know you’re playing with two traditional big defensive linemen. But then you can play with a lot of different body types on the edge, and that can vary honestly from week to week and based on your opponent,” Dykes said. “It allows you to get a little more speed and more pressure on the field. I love this group of pass rushers that we have. I think that that’s going to be the biggest area of improvement for us.”
Texas Tech: Starting Fast in 2024
Since Joey McGuire took over as the head coach at Texas Tech, the Red Raiders have gone a combined 8-2 in games in November and December.
The bad news? They’re a combined 7-9 in September and October.
“We’ve got a great opportunity to get started on a fast note, and we need to do that this year,” McGuire said.
“We have a really healthy locker room. Our guys love each other, care about each other, and they’ll step in and keep playing for each other, so I think that’s a big part of it.”
UCF: Malzahn Has a Gamechanger at Quarterback
Gus Malzahn’s best team at Auburn was led by an absolute superstar quarterback by the name of Cam Newton — ever heard of him?
Now, Malzahn’s got a guy that’s proven he can succeed at the highest level and ha surrounded him with playmakers. His name? KJ Jefferson.
“He’s a dual-threat guy,” Malzahn said. “Throws a great deep ball. Two years (ago), he was one of the better offensive players in the SEC. Last year, they changed the offense, lost some playmakers around him, but we’re really excited to have him.”
Utah: Kyle Whittingham’s Career Clock
Utah announced ahead of Big 12 Media Days that defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley is the Utes’ head coach in waiting. On Tuesday, Kyle Whittingham hinted at when the transition might happen, or at least when it might happen.
“It’s been a great opportunity to be able to play here as much as we have,” Whittingham said of Vegas. “We’re going to open here in [2027] against the Miami Hurricanes. I probably won’t be sitting here, but somebody will be, and that’s going to be a great opportunity again to come to Vegas and play a game.”
Could things change between now and then? Maybe, but if there’s anyone who would continue running the program as Whittingham has, it’s the defensive coordinator who’s spent 17 seasons under Whittingham at Utah.
West Virginia: Being “Undervalued” Again
After being picked to finish dead last in the Big 12 in 2023, Neal Brown’s team turned a 9-4 record. This season, they’ve been picked seventh despite a potent rushing attack and Garrett Greene returning for 2024.
“We’re going to be a tough unit that’s really disciplined that plays smart football and we do those things with an underdog mentality and with a chip on our shoulder,” Brown said.
“We’re not in (the preseason Top 25) with a team that finished strong last year and returns a lot of production,” Brown said. “We were the No. 1 Power Four rushing offense in the country last year, and we’re picked seventh (in the Big 12). So, there’s a similar dynamic that works with this team. I believe some of our players are undervalued.”
