Tad Boyle Press Conference Quotes
Athletic Director Mike Bohn's Introduction
"What an awesome backdrop to introduce our new men's basketball coach; we were here just the other day. It's really interesting, tonight's festivities are taking place in conjunction with Songfest; a competition involving fraternities and sororities here on campus and it represents the wholesome nature of what is so great about the University of Colorado. I first of all want to thank our search committee: Tom McGrath, who chaired it, Ceal Barry, Julie Manning, Rocco DeLuca, our faculty athletic rep, David Clough, Will Simpson, and their hard work. They really did a great job and I think their collective dedication matches that of our student-athletes. I think that's why this search was so important to us because it's all about our team. It's about these young men; it's about the young men we're trying to attract to be a part of the University of Colorado and our team knows that. They know how much we appreciate them and how much we think of them. Really it came down to making sure we had a coach that would do it right. There is no question to me that Tad Boyle represents all that is right about college basketball; the way he conducts himself, the way he does everything that he does associated with being a leader. His love of the game is really unparalleled and that is awesome for us. He cares deeply about players, fans, donors, alumni, and faculty. He's got a heart of gold and he's got a competitive spirit that is second to none. He's got an industrious work ethic; that's Tad Boyle. He's got a competitive drive. When he took over at the University of Northern Colorado, he inherited a job that was dead last in the nation, 336th ranked in RPI. Four years later as we were looking for a coach, the committee was pulling out data, looking at different information, so we pulled up the RPI data from this year and thought let's see where Tad's team is. The University of Colorado, 123. Tad Boyle and the Bears, 124. To go from 336 to 124 was an eye-opener for us. That type of competitive spirit and dedication is awesome for us. That's the type of dedication and passion that we need in our head coach. He has demonstrated commitment to being fundamentally sound in the way his team plays. His maturity, the way he conducts his practices, his community outreach, and his academic integrity is very important to us. Discipline, focus, poised leadership say an awful lot about Tad Boyle. It's awesome to welcome his wife Anne, kids Jack, Pete, and Claire. It is with great pleasure, honor, and pride that I introduce the next head men's basketball coach for your team, the Colorado Buffaloes, Tad Boyle."
Men's Basketball Head Coach Tad Boyle
"I'm humbled and honored to be here, for a guy who grew up in Greeley, Colo. and played high school basketball in this state. I played my last high school basketball game in this building in 1981 and to fast forward to 2010 and be standing here as head coach of the University of Colorado is surreal for me. It's been a whirlwind. I cannot tell how excited I am to be here and how excited I am to be the head coach of the University of Colorado. It took a long time getting here. I lived in Boulder for eight years back in the 1980s and 1990s and got to know this community and this university. I took off on a trek to be a college basketball coach. I started off at the University of Oregon and was there for three years. I went on a whirlwind tour that led me back here 16 years later. I would have never guessed it. I can promise you this; there will be nobody that has coached the University of Colorado that is going to give you more of their heart and soul than I will because this job means everything to me. This is a destination job for me; this is a dream job for me. One of our competitors in the Big 12 was a teammate of mine in college and he's now a competitor, Mark Turgeon, at Texas A&M who I worked with at Wichita State, and he asked me about ten years ago, 'What is your dream job? Where do you want to be ten years from now?' I told him, 'I want to be the head coach at the University of Colorado.' I didn't ever think it would happen, but here I am today. I couldn't be any more elated and excited to be here. Sometimes what gets lost in this, with press conferences, is what our job really entails which is the student-athletes. Job number one for me is to try to establish a relationship with the young men in our program and hopefully demonstrate to them what I'm about and what I believe in and what my vision is for Colorado basketball. My vision for Colorado basketball is one that will make us competitive in one of the best conferences in the country and I will not sleep until that goal is accomplished. I'm humbled to be here. I've got a lot of work to do; one of the first things to do is put a coaching staff together and we're going to work on that in the next week. Our student-athletes are the most important thing, number two is putting a staff together, and then we'll get on the recruiting trail, in fact we're heading out there tomorrow. Again, thank you for coming and thank you for being Colorado Buffaloes. Mike told me before I step down that the next time that song (school fight song) is played, that I need to sing along with it so I got to learn those words and I'll work on that right away. Go Buffaloes; I'm going to try to make you proud."
Athletic Director Mike Bohn
On what made Tad Boyle stand out above the other candidates-"His heart. His passion for college basketball and young men and the University of Colorado and this state. His competitive determination, his class, his integrity, and his track record. To take the lowest ranked team and put them right up next to us (in RPI) is really ironic that it was that close. All the different things he's doing are impressive."
On Larry Brown's endorsement of Tad Boyle-"I think it's important to note that not only Larry Brown, but all the people that helped participate in this process were very helpful to us and the entire search committee. They were in the trenches with us and trying to help us understand the importance of getting the right coach. That was refreshing to have that type of support."
On when Tad Boyle came on to his radar-"I think all athletic directors have a short list of coaches and he was certainly on that. We are very proud of all the coaches that we had an opportunity to participate in the process with."
On the importance of Tad Boyle being from the same coaching tree as Texas A&M's Mark Turgeon-"If you've watched Mark and how he's built that program, obviously he inherited a pretty good situation, but he sustained it and elevated it further. That type of competitive spirit from that tree is represented in Tad's heart and that's very significant."
Head Coach Tad Boyle
On expectations at Colorado-"There is some excitement around it no doubt, but to me the only expectations that matter are our internal expectations because those are the only things that you can control. You can't control what other people think or expect of you, so that's what I'm concerned about. The main thing is that we have to retain the players that are in the program now and that is our goal from day one."
On his first meeting with the team-"It went well. There is some anxiety amongst them. I've got to get to know them in a short period of time. We both have to take a little bit of a leap of faith in trusting each other. I'm glad we still have one week where we can get on the floor with them and work out. Again, getting to know them in a short period of time is sometimes difficult, but I'm confident we can get that done. If they're truly Colorado Buffaloes and they want to be here, then we shouldn't have any issues and hopefully that's the case."
On if he's thought about his coaching staff-"Of course I've thought about it. I'm going to talk to a lot of people and to the assistants that are in the program now. I've got a short list of candidates that we're going to talk to as well. That will be next in line after we hopefully get the players shored up."
On saying goodbye to his players at Northern Colorado-"I think it was the hardest meeting I've had as a coach in 16 years. It was very emotional on both sides. We had a tremendous year and we built a lot of relationships with those kids and when a coach leaves it's emotional for them and it's emotional for me. I just want to try to develop that type of relationship with these young men at the University of Colorado that we had with our players at Northern Colorado."
On if he imagined he'd be the head coach at Colorado when he was working in Boulder as a stock broker-"Not really. I wasn't even really in the coaching business other than coaching some high school teams and helping out some buddies in the gym. It didn't even enter my mind, but then when I got into the business, that's when you start hoping and dreaming a little bit."
On the difficulty of leaving a secure job to chase his coaching dreams-"It was a leap of faith. The first job I had at the University of Oregon paid me 16,000 dollars a year. I was a restricted earnings coach there back when they had those. It was a major life and career decision for me, but once I did it, I didn't look back. Money has never driven me. I followed my passion and I'm really fortunate to be where I am right now in my career. I can't put it into words."
On his coaching style-"I told our team today that we're going to run. I want to take advantage of playing at altitude. I always say that I like to score in the 70s and 80s, not the 50s and 60s. We want to push the ball and we want to play an exciting brand of basketball that our fans are going to like watching and our players will like playing. Then defensively, the cornerstones of our basketball program from day one are going to be defense and rebounding. If we do those two things, we'll have chance every night out."
On his observations of Colorado's team-"Watching them as they progressed through the season, they got better as the year went on and they had some players that really stepped up. I think there is a nucleus and we have to keep them together and keep them intact, and I think if we do that I like where this program is right now and certainly where this is headed."
On how much his ties to the Big 12 (playing at Kansas, coaching under Mark Turgeon) will help-"This is a different league and a different level, but having played in this conference and coached in the Pac-10 and SEC, I'm certainly familiar with this level of basketball. It's a step where I'm coming from at Northern Colorado, but I've been here before so I'm prepared for it."
On what he can tell Alec Burks regarding the uncertainties surrounding his future-"I told Alec that you just have to get to know me, to take the effort to get to know me. After you've come to know me a little bit, then you have to make the decision that's best for you. Alec has to do what's best for Alec. With the year he had and the kind of career that is in front of him, I want to help continue to help him grow and help make him a better player. I think I can do that. He's an important piece of the puzzle, but they all are. Colorado basketball is bigger than any one coach and any one player, but Alec Burks is an integral part of the future."
On recruiting in the Big 12 as opposed to the Big Sky-"It's completely different levels of players. We all go to the same tournaments and see the same recruiting lists, you just move up a few notches in the food chain. It's your job to evaluate the talent and then recruit the talent to Boulder. I think that if you can't recruit to Boulder, Colo. then you can't recruit anywhere. I think this place is beautiful and special and you see what the student support and fan support was like with the team this year and if we can keep that going, then the sky's the limit."
On fan support-"The community involvement for any basketball team is important, and the fans in Greeley were terrific this year. I want the community of Boulder to be the same for this basketball team, but we have to put a product on the floor that they're going to want to come see. The one thing I can promise you is our team is going to play hard, they're going to play smart, and they're going to play together. They will tear the nails out of the floor and when you walk out of Coors Events Center, I want you to say that team played hard and they are worth coming back to see."
On if he will use the three scholarships he has to offer-"I don't know yet. It's way too premature to even get a feel for that. We're going to hit the ground running in terms of that."
On hitting the recruiting trail-"There are two days left in the recruiting period and we have to get out on the road and then be back at the end of the week to do some workouts with the team. I've got a feel for what we're going to do. I've seen this coming for a couple of days, so I've put a few things in place."
On recruiting needs-"When you look at the team this year and the stats, the rebounding was an area that we need to address. Trying to find big guys at this time might be challenging, but we'll turn over every rock and if there is a kid that's good enough to compete in this league, we'll go after him. If there is not, we won't sign somebody just to sign somebody."
On where he will pick up with recruiting-"We'll start fresh. The assistants that are here have some names of kids they were recruiting and we'll certainly look at that. As I put together our staff, they will have some contacts and leads throughout the country that we will follow up on. We will salvage the best we can here late, but again we're not going to jump the gun and sign guys just to sign them."