Big 12 media days are over, but here's a look back at the best and worst of Day 2 at the Omni Hotel in Dallas.
Best overall performance (coach division): Bill Snyder
Snyder's linguistic skills are consistently underrated. He's got a dry wit that too often goes unnoticed because his delivery is monotonous, which is most likely a calculated measure. After all, the benchmarks of Snyder's program are a) daily improvement and b) nothing ever changes.
After a particularly long-winded answer about his team's offseason progress, he quipped: "Didn't tell you anything, did I?" and chuckled.
Informed that 48 head coaches had exited the league since he'd been in it and if that made him feel old, he showed off the crowd-pleasing self-deprecation once again.
"The age factor, I can't negotiate that. It is what it is," he said. "I'm as old as time and that's not going to change."
That gets my vote as the day's best quote.
Beyond his humor, he also shared some heartfelt insight into why he's stayed in Manhattan so long after the geriatric crack.
"When I was a young coach, started off in the high school level and moved to a lot of different places, and I was always one of those coaches that I wanted to be someplace else other than where I was," he said. "I was half in/half out, so to speak. And consequently I was not a very good football coach at all, probably not a very good person. And I learned some time ago, probably 30 someâodd years ago, that I needed to do it a little differently. And my decision was, simply put, that be where you are. And I chose to do that. And that allowed me, I think, to become better at things I was doing and never looked to move on."
That's how you do media day.
Best overall performance (players' division): Quandre Diggs, CB, Texas
This one's no surprise if you've paid much attention to Texas in recent years. Diggs earned attention previously for a well-explained, absolutely true Twitter rant against Texas' fans apathy on Saturdays.
Tuesday, he provided insight into his team while holding back some opinions when appropriate and deferring to his head coach on other questions.
He defended his fashion choice of Jordans at an event where suits are more common for players ("That's just me being me," he said) and was honest about the programs' past failings without making it come off as a criticism of Mack Brown.
"I told Coach Strong that I just feel like we had guys on the team that just didn't love football the way they should," he said. "That's something that I've always sensed since I've been here: We had guys that just didn't love football," Diggs said. "If you don't love football, you don't need to be a part of this university or a part of this team. That's just something I feel greatly and strong about."
I see a TV career in his future whenever football is done, which might be awhile.
Most interesting performance: Chuka Ndulue, DE, Oklahoma
The Sooners' defensive lineman is of Nigerian descent and speaks French and the Nigerian dialect Ibo. He's also a big fan of Japanese anime, Kenny G and watched last month's World Cup with a two-television setup in his home.
"I like a lot of variety in my life," he said.
He was previously a computer engineering major, but switched to sociology because of the time crunch. His dream job is working for Apple.
Best opening statement: Snyder
OK, so it wasn't an actual opening statement, but Snyder dropped a one-of-a-kind phrase to begin the answer to his first question of the day.
"My degree of optimism is negotiated daily," he said.
That may be the first time anyone has ever strung together those words in human history.
Then again, doing things nobody else in the world has done or can do is nothing new for the Wildcats' silver fox.
Worst opening statement: Charlie Strong
Charlie, no!
Listen, the Big 12 can crow about its "One True Champion" all it wants, but for a growing portion of fans inside and outside the Big 12 footprint, it only serves as a reminder that the conference didn't have one true champion in 2012, when it handed out title trophies to OU and K-State for the first time in conference history.
"Really excited to be at my first Big 12 Media Day," Strong said. "And what's really great, there's one true champion in a conference that's very powerful."
Woof.
Strong actually did well on the whole Tuesday, but I can't help but get annoyed at all the talk about whether he struggles as a public speaker or not. He is who he is and that couldn't be more relevant. Strong's win-loss record is what will most heavily influence how well he endears himself to the fan base and how respected his is nationwide. All this offseason chatter will be distant, irrelevant noise if Texas gets off to a strong start and contends for a title.
He's also one of just a handful of coaches who can talk about how important his players' academics are to him and not make me want to roll my eyes. I've talked to enough people who played for him to know that's not just lip service.
Best impression of a silent movie villain: Nick O'Toole
West Virginia's punter is already known for his mustache, or as it's better know, the Boomstache. He upped his game as part of the West Virginia entourage by, I'm assuming, waxing the ends of stache.
#WVU punter Nick O'Toole with the best moustache in college football. pic.twitter.com/0DJdK8zORP
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) July 22, 2014
Worst slogan: Put the T back in Texas
Like I said, I did think Strong did well on Tuesday, but this whole, "Put the T back in Texas" thing is silly. Who, exactly, is his audience here?
I doubt it resonates with the players, and fans and media seem mostly annoyed by his offseason refrain.
"It's all about putting the T back into Texas," Strong said in his opening statement. "We talk about putting a team back into Texas, you talk about toughness, you talk about trust, talk about togetherness, and you talk about just becoming a team."
I really like Strong looking to make the "Hook'em" sign something that means something and is more than just a hand sign. I love him roping off the Texas logo in the locker room and not letting players walk on it until game day.
Some of that small stuff instills a mindset. Some of it just doesn't really make sense. It's in Strong's best interest to shelve the "Put the T back in Texas" slogan.
Worst headline: Devonte Fields
Fields, the Big 12 Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, has had his share of off-field issues, and unless he's totally cleared of his latest charges, he's likely done at TCU.
Early Tuesday morning, news broke that Fields had threatened his ex-girlfriend, pointed a gun at her and eventually punched her in the head.
That's the last thing he needed, especially when it seemed like his career was moving back on the right track.
He's now "separated" from the team while the legal process plays out, but the combination of violence against a woman and squandered talent simply makes me sad in this case.
