Will Rogers SEC Media Day 2023
Transcript
00:00 and he has a few welcoming remarks.
00:01 - Thank you, thank you for having me.
00:05 It's a huge privilege to be here
00:08 alongside both of my teammates
00:10 and represent Mississippi State University,
00:11 so thank y'all for having me.
00:14 - We'll start on the right here, second row.
00:16 - Sure, I'm Steven Jones, KCU 88.1 FM Columbia.
00:20 I'm curious as a state guy through and through,
00:24 obviously from the state of Mississippi,
00:26 what would you like to see,
00:28 I guess, what does it mean to play for state?
00:31 And we've seen Mississippi State put a bigger emphasis
00:33 on retaining those in-state kids.
00:35 I mean, what does that mean to a player in Mississippi
00:37 to get an opportunity to go play in Starkville?
00:40 - Nah, it should mean everything.
00:41 I think Coach Arnett's doing a really good job
00:43 of keeping the best players from Mississippi
00:46 to go to Mississippi State.
00:48 I think that should be the main point of emphasis
00:51 when recruiting, recruit the in-state kids first.
00:54 You look at a lot of the guys on our team,
00:57 myself, Wally, Tulu, Emmanuel Forbes was my class.
01:02 We have a lot of guys that came through my class
01:05 that are from Mississippi,
01:06 so I think that should be a big point of emphasis.
01:09 - Left side, second row.
01:12 - Tyler Shaw with KBTX and College Station.
01:15 Will, obviously, you were with Mike Leach for a long time.
01:19 Just as a quarterback and head coach,
01:21 what was your relationship like,
01:23 and then how do you plan on honoring him this season?
01:27 - No, I mean, we had a really special connection.
01:28 Obviously, played three years for Coach Leach,
01:31 recruited me out of high school,
01:33 so very, very sad when he ended up passing,
01:37 but I look forward to honoring him this year
01:40 just by playing hard and hopefully
01:42 throwing a couple touchdowns for him
01:43 and just doing as he would do.
01:47 - Front row.
01:49 - Will.
01:51 - AP Settum, AP and Kelly, as we see at Syndicated Radio.
01:54 Will, what's the difference for you in this offense
01:56 under your new head coach,
01:58 and then did you have any discussion with family or friends
02:01 about transferring from Mississippi State
02:04 to somewhere else?
02:05 - I think the biggest difference in this offense
02:11 is just gonna be a more balanced attack, maybe.
02:15 11, 12 personnel, more designed runs,
02:18 and more runs in the run game, schematically.
02:22 RPOs, I mean, just a normal,
02:25 normal pro style offense for us,
02:26 so I think we really look forward to accepting that challenge
02:31 and maybe expanding our offense a little bit.
02:34 - Left side.
02:36 - I'm sorry.
02:37 - In terms of, you were asking if I was gonna transfer?
02:40 No, there wasn't very much talk about that at all.
02:45 You know, I kinda stayed faithful to my commitment
02:47 at Mississippi State ever since I was a junior
02:50 in high school, so obviously going into my senior year,
02:53 you kinda wanna finish it out with some of the guys
02:56 I came in with.
02:57 - Left side, third row.
02:59 - Justin Woodard, KAGS-TV and College Station.
03:02 Will, last couple years, I know it was two different
03:04 coordinators defensively for A&M,
03:06 but you've had great success against the Aggies
03:08 the last couple years.
03:09 - Jinx me.
03:10 (laughing)
03:11 - Not trying to do that, but why do you think
03:13 you've had that success, and then what you looking forward
03:15 to going back to Kyle Field this year?
03:17 - Yeah, first of all, I will say that's my favorite place
03:19 to play besides Starkville.
03:21 Kyle Field is number two on my list.
03:24 But, no, I think it's honestly just a whole collective
03:29 team effort group the past couple years.
03:32 In '21, we played really well, and then last year,
03:35 we played well as well.
03:37 Got to run the ball a little bit more on those guys
03:40 last year with Coach Jerkins' design in his defense.
03:45 So, I think it's just been a whole collective group
03:49 just kinda coming together and just playing well.
03:52 I guess it just lined up for the Aggies
03:55 the past two years, I don't know.
03:57 - Right side, through the room.
03:59 - Hey, Will, Jacques Dussault, WAFB TV in Baton Rouge.
04:02 I understand you're a bit of a throwback.
04:04 You don't watch much TV or spend much time on the internet.
04:07 You like to just be outside and be an outdoors guy?
04:10 - Yes, sir.
04:11 - Is that kind of, well, that might be refreshing
04:13 to a lot of people.
04:13 Can you just talk about that?
04:16 - Yeah, just who I am, kinda from Mississippi,
04:19 grew up deer hunting, things like that.
04:21 Enjoy being out in the outdoors and hunting
04:23 and being out there with my friends.
04:26 And that's kinda me.
04:28 If I get some off time and I'm away from football,
04:32 I'm not just gonna sit in the house
04:33 and play a video game all day.
04:35 I'd rather be outside and hanging out
04:36 with some of the buddies and maybe go hunting
04:39 or fishing that afternoon or something.
04:41 - Thought World.
04:44 - Hey, Dean Lincoln from Dog Post.
04:45 I wanted to ask about y'all playing Georgia.
04:48 What was so tough about their defense?
04:50 Was it schematics, was it when you're smiling,
04:52 and then was it the players schematically?
04:54 What was it?
04:55 - Jalen Carter's pretty good.
04:58 You know, I mean, everybody on their defense is a five star
05:05 or plays for the Eagles, so they're pretty good.
05:09 - Stay on the front row.
05:13 - Chris Farber in KSU, 881 FM in Columbia.
05:16 So of course this year you're in a new offense.
05:18 You've been in your first three years,
05:19 past few years in the air raid under Mike Leach.
05:21 So what should Mississippi State fans expect
05:24 differently from the passing game this year?
05:26 Of course, the passing game you would think
05:28 is there's not gonna be as much,
05:30 but your current coordinator Kevin Barbette
05:32 has been very efficient.
05:33 So my question is, what should State fans expect
05:35 and what do you expect, how do you expect the offense
05:37 to look differently than it has in years past?
05:40 - I'd say just a little more play action,
05:44 more design shots down the field.
05:47 Coach Barbette does a really good job of skimming that up
05:49 and it's something we're looking forward to this year.
05:52 - In the middle, third row.
05:55 - Gavin Baxley, ESPN, The Ticket.
05:58 Will, as a senior and a leader on this team
06:01 with the adjustments that have been made
06:03 over the course of this off season,
06:06 how big is your role in preparing all of the younger guys
06:10 on the team for these changes and for this upcoming season?
06:13 - Yeah, I know it's kind of all of us as seniors
06:16 and returning starters to really get it together
06:20 and realize that it's on us to lead this team now.
06:23 So if there's a young guy slacking
06:25 or something not right in the locker room,
06:28 it's kind of on us and we have to fix it.
06:30 So as a senior, as a fourth year starter,
06:33 I kind of took that head on and I'm looking forward
06:36 to really showing the young guys the ropes
06:38 and how we do things at Mississippi State.
06:40 - Right side.
06:43 - So obviously coming off a big Egg Bowl win this past year,
06:46 can you talk about the precedent it's setting up
06:49 for the future years to come?
06:51 - I mean, obviously huge win, huge team win,
06:56 huge win for our program.
06:58 And anytime you can beat your in-state rival,
07:01 no matter where you are, it's always going to be a big win.
07:04 So we just look forward to playing those guys every year.
07:07 It's always a tough game.
07:08 It's always a hard-fought game.
07:09 And we look forward to defending the Egg Bowl this year.
07:12 - Left side, back row.
07:14 - Yeah, Thomas Hunt, SEC media assistant.
07:17 Just with a guy like Austin Williams,
07:20 who I'm going to be honest,
07:21 seemed like he'd been there forever.
07:23 You know, that was kind of your guy.
07:24 Y'all had a very close relationship.
07:26 Roommates, who in that receiver locker room
07:28 is kind of like your guy, your go-to,
07:30 who you kind of rely on?
07:31 - Yeah, that's, yeah, good question.
07:34 I don't know this year that it's like specifically one guy
07:38 as it is like the whole group collectively.
07:40 I think Coach Bumpfiss is doing a really good job
07:42 of like bringing that room together
07:44 and they're really, really close.
07:46 Obviously you have Tulu, Wiley,
07:49 Justin Robinson, Zavion Thomas,
07:52 several guys in that room
07:53 that are going to play a lot of snaps for us.
07:55 Jordan Mosley, the list goes on,
07:58 guys that can play for us.
08:00 So I think it's just kind of that group as a whole
08:02 that kind of own that group as a whole
08:05 to come together and really make up for that ground.
08:08 - Right side.
08:11 Will, you have an early season game
08:13 against LSU in Starkville.
08:16 What are your thoughts on playing the Tigers over the years
08:18 and what makes that game special or unique or challenging?
08:23 - Yeah, challenging is a good word.
08:25 They're a really good program.
08:26 I think Coach Brian Kelly's done a really good job
08:29 of getting those guys ready to play and play hard.
08:32 I was telling somebody earlier,
08:34 that's kind of like one of the only games
08:36 that I've been at Mississippi State
08:38 where I feel like they've played harder than us
08:39 than they did last year.
08:42 So I think he does a really good job.
08:44 I have a lot of respect for them and their program
08:47 and we need to be ready to play.
08:50 - Final question.
08:51 - Sure.
08:52 Is there a big aspect of your game
08:53 that you think's taking a leap over spring into summer,
08:56 something you're excited to showcase this fall?
08:58 - Well, we'll see during the fall.
09:01 I've just been trying to come more consistent in my game.
09:04 Obviously, trying to get better every single day,
09:07 trying to get better from year to year.
09:10 So I look forward to trying to showcase that in the fall
09:13 and win as many games as possible.
09:15 - Well, thank you very much.
09:18 Good job. - Thank you guys.
09:19 [BLANK_AUDIO]