The Big 12 Media Days event in Arlington, Texas wrapped up today with seven coaches from the conference taking the podium to answer questions and allow fans and media to get an early look at how the season will go.
The first coach to take the podium today was Kansas State’s Chris Klieman. Last season, Klieman helped lead Kansas State to a win in the Big 12 Championship Game, their first since the game made its return in the 2017 season.
Amongst the media, Kansas State was selected to finish second in the conference this year. When asked about this and how it feels to be the hunted rather than the hunter, Klieman said, “I’m kind of excited about it, actually.”
The next to take the podium was UCF head coach Gus Malzahn who is no stranger to media days. Malzahn spent eight seasons holding the same position at Auburn, helping lead the Tigers to a National Championship Game appearance in his first season at the helm.
This will be Malzahn’s first year coaching in the Big 12 as UCF is one of the new members joining for this upcoming season. When speaking about that, Malzahn said, “The last two years (in AAC) I zoomed my media day. I feel more comfortable here. We’ll be playing the best teams in college football week in, week out. The grind of that is what excites me.”
Following that, we saw Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire take the podium. McGuire is entering his second season as head coach of the Red Raiders. Texas Tech was picked to finish fourth in the conference this season, with some believing they have a shot at winning the conference as they earned four first place votes.
McGuire was excited about a couple of things during his press conference today, one of which being the addition of Houston. “I’m fired up to have Houston back where they belong,” said McGuire. The other thing that had McGuire fired up was his quarterback room, saying “I feel like we have as good, if not the best quarterback room not only in the Big 12, but in the country.”
Next up was another new member of the conference, Cincinnati head coach Scott Satterfield. Satterfield is in his first year as head coach of the Bearcats following the departure of Luke Fickell. When talking about playing in the Big 12 for the first time, Satterfield said, “I think more than anything, our guys are looking toward the future. I think they’re looking forward to playing in the Big 12 and competing for championships at the highest level.”
Following Satterfield was West Virginia head coach Neal Brown. Brown, who is entering his fifth season as head coach of the Mountaineers, is fired up about this season. West Virginia, who was picked to finish last in the conference this year, does not agree with that. “Upset about the media poll. Definitely do not agree with that,” said Brown. Brown also announced today that he will be returning to calling plays for the Mountaineers after the departure of former offensive coordinator and playcaller, Graham Harrell.
Next on the podium was Matt Campbell, head coach of Iowa State. Campbell will be entering his eighth season as head coach of the Cyclones. Campbell, an Ohio native, talked about the excitement of being to go coach a football game in his home state this year with the addition of Cincinnati.
“Being a young man from the state of Ohio, you grow respect for the history of the program and all the great coaches who have come through the University of Cincinnati, and obviously a great relationship with Coach Satterfield and the respect that I have for him, it’ll be a great deal for me to be able to go to Nippert Stadium and have the opportunity to compete there as well,” said Campbell.
The final coach of the day was Oklahoma’s Brent Venables. Venables will be entering his second season as head coach of Oklahoma. This will be Oklahoma’s final year in the conference as they will be joining the SEC following the end of this year. With the departure coming soon, for now this will be the final time that the “Bedlam” rivalry game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State will be played.
“I’m not in control of whether we play Oklahoma State. I love rivalry games. Oklahoma and Oklahoma State have played for over 100 years. Oklahoma has been dang good in those games. I’d love to play the game. We’re gonna play the schedule they put in front of us,” said Venables.
The first game of the Big 12 season will take place on Thursday, Aug. 31, when new member UCF opens up their season with Kent State at home.
