Associated Press
High hopes: Texas quarterback Colt McCoy enters his senior season with the same kind of expectations Texas had four years ago when it won a national title.
"The 2005 team lived up to those expectations," coach Mack Brown said Wednesday at Big 12 Media Days in Irving. "So we feel like that if this team will play up to their ability, they do have a chance to be really good. That's obviously our goal."
After being left out of the Big 12 title game because of the tiebreaker, McCoy turned his attention to the Fiesta Bowl, where the Longhorns beat Ohio State. They have been trying to build off that momentum.
"We worked so hard to win 12 games, and everybody that's coming back this year knows how hard we worked to win 12," McCoy said. "The intensity's picked up a little bit."
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In Dad's shadow: The six-win mark means more than bowl eligibility for Kansas State quarterback Carson Coffman.
It means matching the number of victories his father, tight end Paul Coffman, had in three years with the Wildcats in the 1970s.
"We'll definitely surpass that total," said Coffman, also the younger brother of former standout Missouri tight end Chase Coffman. "In one year, yes."
Coffman's declaration during Big 12 media days Wednesday would have qualified as a bold statement 30 years ago. Bill Snyder has changed the expectations in Manhattan, Kan., which is why the father of Kansas State football has returned from a three-year coaching hiatus to replace his replacement, Ron Prince.
The Wildcats have reached six wins just once in the past five years (two under Snyder) after 11 straight seasons that were at least that good, and usually much better.
Now Kansas State will try to recapture the Snyder magic with a quarterback who grew up idolizing the coach.
"I never thought I'd have this opportunity," Coffman said. "When he was named head coach, it was pretty intimidating because of what he's done and his credentials. I'm really excited to learn from him."
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10-win challenge: The buzz for Colorado coach Dan Hawkins revolved around his supposed guarantee of 10 wins in 2009 at the end of last year's season-ending banquet.
While trying to dismiss the chatter as "Internet rumors," Hawkins said there was nothing wrong with expecting the Buffs to double their number of wins in one season. He offered repeated examples: the Arizona Cardinals from nowhere to the Super Bowl and Minnesota-Duluth from 4-6 to 15-0 and a Division II national championship, just to name a couple.
"I'm never going to sell our guys short, and I think I'm a big believer in what your expectations and your vision and what your standard is," Hawkins said. "If you're not a high-standard guy, you're a low-standard guy."
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Snyder 2.0: Kansas State coach Bill Snyder was asked to compare in several ways the differences between now and when he left coaching three years ago. Technology stood out to him as much as anything else.
"You know, I get up every morning early in the morning, and you get this BlackBerry thing out, and it's got all the recruiting services, and they each have a long story on every youngster that is above the age of 4 in the nation. Tells you what he had for breakfast and what position he plays and who's recruiting him and so on," Snyder said. "It's a change for me, but ... over the past two or three years it's been a change for everybody, I think."
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Posted by: 12Aggie On: 7/31/2009
Comment Title: Don't Forget
Don't forget Sam Bradford that other 3* non-difference maker. Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford 3* non-difference makers, who would ever even think about recruiting these scrubs???
Posted by: Aggie Spin Machine On: 7/30/2009
Comment Title: McCoy...a Sherman type recruit
Folks again I ask, what was Colt McCoy's rivals star rating? yep, 3*!! By miller's standards he is a nondifference maker. The guy that holds the passing record for highest completion% is not a difference maker.
