“I was valet-parking every night. When it's all said and done, I was glad I was a walk-on. That made me work harder. That made me want to beat the scholarship player. I wanted to prove wrong all of the coaches who wouldn't give me a scholarship.”
“We're logistically challenged in recruiting, and sometimes we're a little late on guys, and we don't get the best athletes in America. So our walk-on program has to strengthen the efforts we have with scholarship players. Local kids are sometimes overlooked because they're not as fast or as big or as strong, and they come in here with the attitude of, 'I'm good enough to play.' If they prove it, we give them a scholarship.”
“When they get here, we treat them all the same. It doesn't matter if you're on scholarship or if you're a walk-on. You get a fair chance. Walk-ons might not pick up their scholarship check on the first of each month, but not one of the coaches will treat them like a scrub. They can win the job as easily as the players we've invested time and money in.”
“Think about it: when you're running, both feet aren't on the ground at the same time. Running is a form of jumping. You're jumping from one step to another. There's a correlation between vertical jumps and broad jumps. That's why we have so many jumping drills in our camps. My favorite saying is: If you jump high, you jump fast.”
“They (Martinez and Davis) would have to be the top two guys in camp. They at least look the part. They're both big and strong and physical, and both have run 4.4 (in the 40). The more reps we can give them, the better our defense will be.”
“He's going to be so much further ahead of the other guys, his attitude has to be it's his job and he's not going to relinquish it. I think A.J. realizes that no matter who comes in it's his job to keep in terms of hustling, making plays, not making mental mistakes. So his opportunity is golden.”
