Stanford Football: 2024 ACC Media Day Press Conference

you have been great so far throughout this kickoff please identify yourselves in the agency that you are with we'll spend about 15 minutes with coach and then divide our time up amongst our three student athletes coach your first question will come from the right side your first couple of questions right side but the first one second row gentleman in the black shirt hey coach Scout Hughes with wbf welcome to the ACC and how excited are you in Stanford to be joining the conference we're thrilled to be here thank you um unbelievable conference and uh great Traditions great coaches great area of the country and we're excited about it it's also good for us in terms of recruiting uh you know a lot of our roster comes from this side of the country so the opportunity to come out and play uh you know here three times a year on this Coast I think is going to uh continue to help us in recruiting coach we'll stay on the right hand side just behind him in the white shirt third row hey coach TJ Wilkerson from 90.9 Delight coming with you guys into the ACC is also the California big bears that rivalry between you two goes back decades so how is it to maintain that rivalry going into a new conference I think it's really important I think one of the things that makes college football great are the the rivalries that have went for on for a long time so I think it's important that you know with realignment all these things that that happen I think the the rivalries are something that's really important we got a great relationship in rivalry against Cal just right there in the Bay Area um so we're excited that you know we get we were able to come over together coach also on the right side third row just off the aisle Tyler budge CF budge coach you got a ton of great young players on this roster some of them are here today uh what does it mean to the culture of a program having those players stick around in a transfer portal and nil era yeah really important you know when we when we first arrived you we we had lost 17 players that all of them but one had graduated to the transfer portal so we had a really young team inexperience team for the most part and uh you know we are a much more experienced team this year much deeper team uh but uh yeah in this day and age just having your team stick around is a pretty big deal so we try to treat our guys the right way and uh we want them to be here for four years and I think it's one of the appeals of Stanford is if you're smart enough to choose Stanford I think you're smart enough to stay until you get your degree so that's what I'm counting on at least coach left side about the fourth row gentleman in the green shirt cam lemons demon Deon diges right uh cam lemons demon Deacon diges 24/7 Sports um I asked it about um coach will Cox as well but coming over the ACC now you're going to have to come West West Coast to East Coast and you actually have a little fun point where you go to go to Syracuse and then the next week head out to Clemson you know what does that schedule look like especially when you have those back toback weeks of having to go to West East are you staying out on East Coast are you having to leave a day early what's going on there yeah we're g to yeah we will come we will turn back for so our students can go to class and um you know we we have a pretty good plan we're going to go out a day early then you know the on a Saturday game will'll go out on Thursday um so uh fly in the evening and um you know hopefully get our players acclimated the next day and then we pick up three hours you know flying back to the West Coast so um yeah we've never done it before back-to-back uh trips but uh you know there's harder things to do our guy our guys do a great job of adjusting and uh they'll balance uh you know the two things of being a student and an athlete and we'll make sure that uh we do great great things in terms of a larger plane when we travel and going out a day early coach left side first row we're walking the microphone down now hi Troy Doug Parish here football organically uh want to talk a little bit about player performance uh what are some of the who are some of the standout uh players on your team this season and and what sets them apart well these three guys right here you know are are three of the best um and not just I'd say the things that sets them apart is their ability uh to stay focused um their consistency um and how they train how they treat their teammates um how they lead this this team so um one of the things that I love about being at Stanford is this quality of individuals of our student athletes I tell them often that they inspire me they're they're really the very best that that uh college sports has to offer um these guys are intellectually curious they want to make the world a better place and they want to be Champions on the football field so um typically you know in my experience the the better players uh are always the harder working guys um the mentally tough guys in terms of doing the same small things over and over again and will the willingness to to sacrifice those times and these three gentlemen to my left all do those things coach from the podium as a followup to that what does accomplished greatness mean to you accomplish greatness um I would say you know great greatness is consistently doing the Small Things um over and over again thank you other questions for coach from the room coach we'll go back to the right hand side second row hey coach Scout Hughes with wbf just interacting with the players in the in the breakout room in addition to yourself it just seems like that there's a culture at Stanford in which they hold theirselves to a high regard because Stanford is such a prestigious University and it just seems like that Stanford is doing the right things do you feel that way and what are some examples of that and what how do you do that yeah appreciate the question yeah I do feel that way you know our graduation rate for football players at Stanford is 97% so um when they come to Stanford um they're making a decision to to uh to to take their future and present academically seriously um our guys go on to do great things um and they're competitive in all aspects so I I'm very proud to to be the head coach at Stanford and be able to represent uh the young men that are the very best in Collegiate Sports uh where they don't sacrifice um being a great player for being a subpar student they're all great students and all great people that do great things in the community and then are Fierce competitors on the field so I admire them all coach from the podium curious to know you just completed your first season at Stanford now you get ready to Embark upon another first season that being inside the ACC I asked it with a bit of a wink and a smile how do you keep your wits about you with so much professional change that's occurring yeah just process and um you know like like I said doing the small things every day really staying focused on those things um you know where we're playing um and who we're playing all those things are kind of secondary to to our process and our preparation and what we do day in and day out and so that's that's how we live um you know obviously you got to travel um across the country a couple times three times to be exact um our guys will adapt there's been harder things to overcome um and we're just excited really grateful to be in this conference to play against Great teams we get to travel to three great venues Syracuse Clemson in North Carolina state so uh we just we're we're very grateful coach to your left third row uh green shirt mint shirt yeah hi Nick Robby backyard catch well first again welcome to the ACC everyone and just wanted to give you an opportunity maybe if you've gotten a share or maybe haven't um just for everybody who maybe not as familiar with the program or with Stanford and or knowing the name and as they're coming more of the East Coast as teams come to visit y'all do you have any pillars of your coaching program or things that you are really passionate about that maybe you haven't gotten to speak on or just anything you would want us as we're covering you to know yeah I mean the things that are important to our program we call it the way of the Cardinal and it's uh love mindful gratitude and competitive so love is really the foundation of our program and love in the sense of um we enjoy playing football we we love each other um and we try to attract individuals players that really love football uh more than they love recruiting and all the other things they really enjoy playing U because that's kind of how I'm built I just love football and I love being around it and coaching it and and I love playing it and so we want to attract players that that love the game love each other love competing and then we want uh we being mindful is just trying to enjoy what you're doing and being in the moment which is hard in in High Level Sports because you know it's so tied to winning and losing but we try to be very cognizant of uh enjoying each other enjoying the moment win we move on lose we move on um and then gratitude is something we talk a lot about um it's the most important factor in your own personal happiness is how grateful you are and our our guys are very grateful they realize to be at a university like Stanford is an unbelievable opportunity and gift to be in the ACC to be here with you all um it's an important part of who we are we are not entitled to anything at Stanford we feel very grateful to have it and then uh competitive is is the last kind of pillar for us is um we compete like it's the most important thing in the world um but at the end of the day win or lose we move on and uh we prepare like it's the most important thing but we move on quickly so those are the things that we build our program um and these guys represent those three three things every every day coach your last question here from the podium uh following back up on continuity with your players your staff also is been held together for 2024 I would imagine and some of that comfort and planning that is a relief for you yeah so we talk about in the program is U continuity culture and development right so um if you think about a family families are better off if they're the same people right that are there each day and so very important that we create um an environment our coaches enjoy and they feel valued and we have a great coaching staff I want them to be there forever um and then same thing with the players we want continuity with our players one of the things that Drew me to this job at Stanford is that uh I really feel like we are going to be uh really an outlier in terms of having a roster where it's pretty similar from year to year that there's not going to be a lot of transition that Stanford is a place that destination place that that you draw a type of student athlete to to uh to the campus and then they're there for you know hopefully the entire four years um and then of course culture I talked about with the way the Cardinal and then development you know we got a when you have players there for 3 or four years you got to make them better and that's what I've I've done my whole life is is develop players whether it's high school or college or whatnot and uh if you if you got a culture and you're able to keep those players and they're able to get better every single year as opposed to just taking other people's players if you're able to develop them make them better then I think you you have a real shot coach thank you you can switch spots with ell we'll bring up appreciate it for a few minutes folks once again again if you've already said hello to our folks of Stanford please reintroduce yourselves with our student athletes who would like the first question for Alec El is going to come left side we'll go ahead once again and get the two questions there on the second row Hi how are you doing today I'm good how are you I'm Mar D from the Players Lounge and in double OT against Colorado you beat Troy Walters record from 1999 for receiving yards what new Benchmark do you set for yourself this season to measure your success yeah I'm not really the type of person to set benchmarks in terms of yards or catches or touchdowns but I think one thing that I want to do or be able to come away with this season is going into the film room every Sunday and thinking like I put my all out there every play um yeah I think if I can go in every Sunday even though like you can't be perfect on every play one thing you can do is put your effort there every play think that that's one thing I want to do going to stay on that row Alec the young lady in the white suit I'm going turn to sa for sports and culture media how are you I'm good how are you good being new to the ACC you have a story that is really really interesting that I feel like a a bunch of people may not know Canadian born for you and you came and you had a journey and you you had a goal for yourself what's that Journey been like and can you go into further detail about your journey yeah of course um I'm originally from medicine at Alberta Canada and I think growing up there you see a lot of like media presence of United States of America football like you see the those highlights on Instagram and YouTube and I remember to my kid uh I remember my kid self vivly thinking like like I really want to compete with these dudes I think I can do this for myself and um obviously at that point it was more of a dream I didn't think like I would ever actually get that opportunity um but by way of good virtue and luck uh I ended up getting the opportunity and I moved to Massachusetts for high school um and I think just from there I learned um what discipline and commitment me um to achieving your goals and I just kept those types of ideals in my mind the whole time and from there uh I guess the rest has been history and I think moving forward I'll keep those same ideals in my mind Alec from the podium speaking of History last year you posted seventh most receiving yards in the NCA a from October 11th through the end of the season what was it about the second half of the Season that caught your eye that made sense compared to the first half of the Season yeah I think uh I've been relatively inexperienced in the first half of this season and even the second half this is my first year playing college football uh as you may know I T my ACL my freshman year and I think a lot of it is just not only building confidence within yourself but also confidence um like within the team and within the coaching staff um I think something like that can't be built in an instant it's like it's built through repetition and doing things over and over again the right way and so I think just my own confidence in my ability to do stuff and even further more my my coaches confidence in my ability to do stuff allowed uh more of the owners to be put on myself to to make plays in in games and so when those opportunities came I did my best to capture them questions for ell from the room Al in reading your bio it says that you enjoy reading I know what that is driving I know what that is adventuring what is adventuring I don't know I just uh I like to get I I like to get out sometimes I know this uh a couple weeks ago I went to Lake Tahoe and just kind of enjoyed myself you know I I don't think you should take life too seriously all the time and there's a time and a place and so adventuring to me is kind of getting away from that that everyday seriousness that you bring to life and really just uh enjoying being here and being I guess grateful and mindful and present in the moment ell thank you you can switch spots with Ashton we'll have about five minutes with Ashton and same format applies and Ashton your first question will come first row and we will hustle the microphone down to your left hi Ashton uh Doug Parish here with football organically hey I I played with your head coach at Cal and he was a pretty darn good quarterback uh how is it uh being coached by someone who has been in the college ranks and then proceeded on to the NFL yeah I mean it's been amazing you know um I probably spend the most time with him because um of course he is our our quarterback's coach as well um you know so so being with him and just learning from him um taking as many small nuggets as I can um you know to to kind of put in my data Bank um helps me as a quarterback um you know he he has all the experience you know obviously played in the league um you know he's got great experience um with his former quarterbacks as well um you know and that's just something that that helps me out allows me you know to be more comfortable a lot more confident in my game um and it helps me out there on the field on Saturdays Ashton from the podium no doubt you've been walking around the floor here and realizing that the AC see TS the quarterback have you given much thought about the company you're getting ready to keep in this league yeah uh absolutely um you know the acc's always been um known for their quarterbacks um for example deshun Watson um was from Georgia um you know I probably looked up to uh him the most as I was growing up um watching college football and all that kind of stuff and I just know that you know means the world to be an ACC quarterback and um I'm starting to accept and realize that um that's now my role and um I'm I'll forever be grateful for it thank you left side fourth row all the way towards the wall um Rob Johnson Legacy maker Sports um people have the misconception that the Pack 12 is soft well knowing and watching the Pack 12 be up late on Saturday nights I know it's not talk about how you guys can bring a certain physicality to the ACC that they may not think you that the Pack 12 team's coming in can bring yeah um physicality has always been you know know a main staple of Stanford football um you know we're we're taught that since the first day that that we get here um and then on top of that you know our strength staff has done an outstanding job uh shout out to coach Dietrich and the staff um you know we come in every single day and we put in so much work um they believe in us you know they're making us stronger they're making us faster um everything we need to to do to be out there to or to be able to go out there and just be as physical as we can you know that's always um a big coaching is just be physical from the jump um go out there set the tone um which I know that that we're extremely capable of doing um and I'm excited to see us do that this year G to stay on the left side second row hi Nick Roby backyard catch so uh it was been talked about a little bit with the changes with technology and how to be able to call signals and just want to get your perspective as a quarterback you're having to travel to different venues across the country and what's that been like maybe thinking about implementing that and then how do you feel having to go into some different environments and then getting to host other people I guess just what has that transition been like for you yeah I mean obviously you know there there are the um schools in in the the former Pack 12 you know that had those crazy um game day atmospheres for example Oregon um Washington and you know being a Freshman um and a sophomore last year I got to experience um a lot of that and you know I think being in those those moments and in that atmosphere you know has allowed me to build confidence in myself um you know it's hard hard sometimes when you go out there and you can't communicate um as well as you can at practice you know but um now we have the headsets and the uh or the microphones um in the helmets um you know which will help us out a lot um another example is Colorado last year you know you always have to tweak your communication a little bit based off you know the atmosphere that you're playing in but um it's nothing that that you know I I think our guys can't handle Ash a followup to that from the podium last year against Washington you had 448 to yards of offense 367 throwing 81 rushing is there anything such as a zone for real and if so were you in that zone last year yeah um absolutely you know when you um when you go out there and you put up big numbers and you have you know um guys that that you can count on and that you're confident in you trust in um I think you automatically kind of get into that zone and then from there on out it's whether you can maintain it for the rest of the game or not um but yeah Washington is a great example I think you know we were moving the the ball very well offensively um you know we we just couldn't finish the game but um other than that I mean yeah I I I trust my guys I I trust our coaches our game plan and all that kind of stuff and I think that's um really what allows me to get into that zone before games thank you Ashton your last question we'll come right side second row hey this is Scout Hughes from wbf uh from Georgia but Stanford doesn't play Georgia Tech this year but but they do play Clemson and that's pretty close to as well but how excited are you to go to Memorial Stadium in Clemson play Take on the Tigers yeah I'm extremely excited it's going to be awesome you know uh they they're known to have one of the greatest um college football atmospheres um so that's going to be a a blast going to play in that um I'm obviously going to have a lot of family um old coaches um that that are going to make the trip up you know so so that'll be exciting but I'm I'm just excited that we have the opportunity to go and play such a prestigious uh team in such a a prestigious atmosphere um and I think it's going to be a lot of fun and a great challenge for us this year Ashton thank you you can switch spots with Tristan thank you guys and we will spend five minutes with Tristan then excuse the Cardinal to their next stop questions for trist all right Tristan seeing none I'm going to launch right out of the gates from the podium here your bio says you built your first computer in the sixth grade now that suggests that you have built other computers since then how many computers have you built and why is computers your thing um that's a great question I think that technology is kind of like my thing outside of football uh I studied computer science uh from my undergrad I'm doing a masters in computer science as well uh so I kind of just grew up always loving uh tinkering and and playing with um like a little electronic boards like Arduino boards or Raspberry Pi board boards um so I've done that that computer was just like a gaming PC um but I've done some like custom little Home Server stuff as well so a few I would say so if anybody here has an issue Tristan's your guy after the uh press conference uh question for Tristan left side second row May D with the players L how are you I'm great thank you how are you so you told Richard Sherman it was your dream to play at Stanford was it always your desire to follow follow in your Father's Footsteps yeah um honestly I think the first Stanford football game I went to was was the big game and I was 3 months old uh I was born in July yes so just like three four months old and uh I've been coming to sa for gamees since since then uh you know my my dad had season tickets he played there and he has a tailgate every game and Chuck Taylor Grove so I I literally grew up at the games and that was it that was the dream since since I was a kid I wanted to come to Sanford and play football and and uh following My Father's Footsteps is it's really special it's it's like crazy that you know that was the dream that I manifested and and uh I'm just grateful that I had the people around me to encourage me and and support me along the way you know family friends coaches uh I'm just grateful to be here as a followup to that from the podium your mother and your sister and both your aunts went to Cal did they speak to you at all they do they do um yeah it's it's tough cuz you know Cal is Cal's Cal and you know we don't we don't like those guys but uh um it's it's all fun and games um it's sweet that they've that they've been at Cal and I got to go those those games growing up as well um so having them and having that tradition in the household is is really fun other questions for Tristan from the room right side third row hey Tristan TJ Wilkerson from 9.9 the light you talk about uh your father being a big influence in your career did I imagine y'all trained together when you said hey I want to be a football player just like you and if so what were those workouts like so it's actually interesting cuz my dad never really pushed me to play football um no one did obviously they grew up going to the games and and you know Monday Night Football was on we were at the dinner table with the TV watching Monday Night Football so like football was just a part of our family and that's kind of how my mom grew up as well like she said that you know Monday night football Sunday Night Football they'd roll out the TV and and put the game on so no ever really pushed me to to play it I think it was just the natural Love of the Game um and my dad never you know made me work out never he never honestly really trained me much um but he just always encouraged me and told me my whole life like hey like one day like you're going to play this game and and you're going to achieve your dreams and and that was really what he did the the biggest thing was just the encouragement um that he gave me Tristan left side first row microphone on the way Doug Parish football organically uh Tristan talk to me a little bit about uh your defense and hustling to the ball having a desire to get to the ball making plays talk to me a little bit about that aspect of the game yeah so uh I guess like the the philosophy that coach April talks about is playing red and you know playing red for us is like playing right on that line playing right on that edge um you know it's about being it's preparation execution um competitiveness physical tough those are kind of all the traits that that we talk about um the biggest thing I'd say is is running to the ball is huge you know they hold us accountable and you know hold us to loafs and get on guys at practice um and then the the physical the physicality the toughness is like the other huge aspect uh we want guys that are tough that are physical you know sometimes you got to we say gifs sometimes you got to give it up for Stanford you know and and make those physical plays where you know you got to go in there and get get your Gap get the C Gap or whatever it is um so I'd say like the biggest thing special to in our room is toughness you know it's stf that's uh that's our our motto I'm not going to say that one that's that's that's for our room only but um it's important to us and that's what we live by so interesting we will leave it on that note congratulations thank you so much welcome and folks good luck appreciate it we have