What Gerad Parker had to say at Sun Belt Media Days

Troy head coach Gerad Parker made his third appearance at Sun Belt Conference Media Days. Parker's Trojans reached the conference championship game last season and were picked to win the West division in the preseason poll. He was joined by punter Evan Crenshaw, the preseason special teams player of the year, and edge rusher Donnie Smith, the preseason defensive player of the year.

Here is what he had to say.

On Troy athletics

"There's no better time to be at Troy. To brag very humbly, we did not win a championship. We made it to the conference championship game and battled and that was last year a long time ago. But our men's basketball teams went to back-to-back NCAA tournaments. We have the queen of women's basketball at Troy and Chanda Rigby who played for the conference title year in and year out. And then our baseball team went on a run to Omaha and won a game out in Omaha. And that is a pretty impressive run for a Group of Six program in what many call little old Troy."

On what makes Troy different

"I've got the question today of what's in the water at Troy, why? My dad grilled me last night. He rode down with me last night with my best friend Mark Queen and we had a very cool conversation staying up late and my dad is grilling me about what could happen, what should you say, why Troy, how are you all winning games? The town's small, the this and the that. And here's the real answer, and it's not being in any way disrespectful. We all have to feel very proud as head coaches about our program. And I feel very proud about Troy, but something's different about that place. It's a blue-collar, chip on your shoulder place. There's about 18,000 people in that town. The stadium holds what it holds, and it's much more than 18,000. That place has been built on football long before I got there. It will be built on football and the success of that program long after I'm gone."

On the environment

"We have enough to do, but we don't have too much to do. Our guys come to our building. There's not many distractions in Troy. We don't have traffic. We don't have to talk about rush hour. The doors are relatively unlocked. Come on in. Come get better and be about the right stuff. And I think that's the deal. We have to have great people in our program. And we do have great people."

On the staff

"Our staff, I'm severely biased, but many of them could have left. They also stayed. You don't really read about those stories like you do with the players, but we've got a great staff that I'm very biased and proud of. And we brought in the right people. I think in year three, the job is we have to fit these players and they've got to fit us. There's a particular type of person we want to come into our program as players and as staff. We've got those right people."

On the "Troy Wi-Fi" mentality

"It's kind of the head coaching football house. The house I now live in is shared by the past two head coaches and there's a particular spot in that yard at my house where you've got to have two different Wi-Fi routers right to run the house and get Wi-Fi operating properly. When I play music in our backyard off one Wi-Fi, if you step about three feet too far in that backyard, it kicks over to the other Wi-Fi router and the music stops. And in my Rick Parker way of thinking, I would say that you've got to be on Troy Wi-Fi to make this thing work. And it's something we spent a lot of time talking about. We have 52 players that were here. We have 53 new. We have 105 total staff and everybody else. We've got to be on Troy Wi-Fi connected five bar every day. You don't get to pull out your own hotspot. You can't operate selfishly off something else. It's Troy Wi-Fi or it don't work. And that's all we've talked about."

On the team's approach

"Everything we do, it is plug in and compete. Plug in and compete. Don't worry about outcomes. Don't worry about results. Don't worry about where we've been ranked last year, this year. Nothing. Plug in and compete. And I think our preparation and processes, if done right, are far more important than our reaction to failure. I don't want us to be really good coaches on Sunday after we get beat up in the Sun Belt. We need to be really good right now and throughout the season instead of worrying about a reaction to failure."

"I love our team. I love our staff. I love where we are. And it's still gonna be really hard because everybody in this conference is really good and we have a lot of humility and respect for all the coaches and players in it. Very proud to know this is day 184. We don't have many days left together. We keep them count because it's a year-by-year contract. So we got to be really good each day that we share with each other."

On Evan Crenshaw and Donnie Smith

"Everybody asked who we're going to take. I think me and Adam had a discussion pretty early in this deal and said we are going to take Donnie Smith and Evan Crenshaw to this deal. And one would be because both of them are really good players, right? You bring great players to this thing. Maybe the most important piece of this is they're both awesome young men, awesome people with great families who both made a choice above money, above many other things about where they wanted to finish their college career and both of them decided to stay here. The preseason defensive player of the year and the preseason special teams player of the year are these two young men. Pretty awesome that they're here and it's because of the years they had last year, but they chose Troy and chose their teammates. And then the humbling reminder is preseason stuff doesn't really mean anything, but congratulations to you both and I'm proud to be your coach."

On setting the tone early in spring

"I think we were able to bring in more guys at the break and have the bulk of our football team there, which is huge. You're able to make things tough on all of us to get it all wired up and connected properly quicker. I think we got there faster than we usually have had. Learning who our people are by name, but more importantly how they're motivated, how they answer to adversity and all those things. And I think just having a process and getting there faster and practice one all the way through 15 helps you hopefully get things done more so you can have a better summer right now and of course leading into fall."

On the quarterback room

"I've said earlier today in many interviews, I think, you know, the quarterback position is the most discussed one in NFL football and in college football. And there's a reason because of the importance of the position. Goose Crowder is as good a leader as we have in our program and has been for some time. He's healthy and has had a great offseason and having the comfort of having him here makes us all feel better. But Tucker Kilcrease is here. Rodge Waldrop is coming in and competing for the job. Jack James is here as a young player. There's four guys in that room that have grown and seen people work the right way. And we will have to play wonderfully at that position in order to get where we want to go."

On the offensive line

"We've made a change. It's something I don't know how much we put it out, but we also now operate with two offensive line coaches that share responsibility equally. And Kevin Reihner moved over from tight ends along with [Caleb Carbine]. So, we have two guys that I trust a great deal that coach our O-line together. It's unique. It's more of an NFL model and it's worked really well. There's only one way to get people better. You got to do something different. Make sure you're putting the resources available to it. So, we have two great men, great coaches that are putting together an offensive line that we want to be proud of. We haven't played good enough at that position. There's been many variables for that, whether it be injuries or not. But, as you all know out there, nobody cares. The wins and losses count the same way regardless. So, you see better depth. We've seen young players have had to play sooner than maybe they were ready to, but I think it'll pay off for them in our future this season. And then we acquired the right people and brought in some really good players. That's going to make that a better room. For sure."

On Troy flying under the radar

"I wouldn't say I disagree with that. I think flying under the radar is probably what we do best. It's how I was raised and how I got this job and kind of where we sit in a better position to be who we are. I would call that maybe valid, but honestly, I don't know that it won't be discussed. We are who we are. I think everybody has a really good feeling of knowing who we are at Troy. Leadership, coaching, and every sport and our players. And I think that's why it works. We, my job, our job is to keep that working and ride a momentum of a Group of Six program that's had one hell of a year. And then that year is over. It's over."

On the challenge of roster turnover

"Past success used to mean so much more in the world of college athletics because you could make an announcement that you were returning 16 of 22 players and they were all been in your program for four or five years. That's not true anymore. That's why I kind of smiled at the preseason stuff. I would argue why. You know, we have 53 new players. No different than many other guys and programs in this room and that have gotten up here and spoken. But I do think it's because of these two and the quarterback room. But I think it has flown a little bit under the radar, which is fine. But the maybe the focus would be on just the things we can control and certainly how we do business at our place."

On being picked to win the West division

"I don't think, you know, my dad asked the question, everybody, and I already addressed it with the team and whatever. It's a tremendous compliment and all those things, but I think every coach would stand up here and say it's certainly not where you start a year at in voting and all those things. I could go down the line. I spoke of it last year. We were voted second year one and that was because of past success of back-to-back championships at the time. Many of the players were gone. Most players were gone. There was no reason for us to have been second. And so then last year we were sixth and it's a thin fine line of winning in this league and we found a way to scratch and claw and get there. And so I mean it like there's no — the expectation is the expectation that was already set on January 13th to win the league. Certainly not by votes. And so you can't pay anything any attention to it besides our process, our preparation, our plug-in and compete approach instead of worrying about a ranking or anything. It's very difficult to win games. That's been our approach."

On Mojo Dortch, Marlin Odom and Noreel White

"They've done great. I think their best football's in front of them. I really do. And I'm not just saying that. They've prepared really well. They've had as good a mature approach to how they work and maybe doing more than required. Which is a growth for them in the past. I think in every area whether they've been here or not. I just think a mature approach to how they've found ways to find edgework and do things more than required and how they've approached is going to be good. And they're all healthy. You know, Mojo, the biggest one I would probably say there, he's healthy and back. He just ran 22 miles an hour. I mean, he's healthy and back and I think you'll see a breakout year from him."

On Donnie Smith's position evolution

"I think for us just being offensive-minded first in my career, you could see a change as he started to develop last year and how guys were putting protections to them and chipping him with a back or a tight end and those things which is going to force us in the future to move him around. We can't allow offenses to know where he is so they can set protections that easily. You have to get your best players the ball or around the ball. So, it is a challenge for our defensive staff and Dontae Wright and those guys to make sure that Donnie is not one-dimensional, nor does he line up in the same spot every time. And it's Donnie's job, which he's done, to be able to play on first, second and third down and be a run stop player with gap integrity as well as an elite pass rusher. And I think his changes to his body and what he's done this calendar year put him in a position to do so."

Donnie Smith on his hometown of Greenville, Mississippi

"Greenville, Mississippi is a small town and it's not very much to do but play ball and just the support from friends and family just make me want to go harder and just put on for my city. So they play a big part in my why for football."

"They motivate me every day. These last couple days, I've been on the news two days in a row and I didn't got so many calls from family and friends and I just want to put on for them."

Donnie Smith on stepping into a leadership role

"I haven't done it by myself. I got guys like Jordan Perry, Justin Powe, Luke Hodge to help me with that leadership aspect, like the vocal aspect of it. I can lead by example, but I'm working on being more vocal and those guys play a big part in everything that we do on the defense."

Donnie Smith on his growth as a player

"Just keep working in my pass rush, you know, just gaining weight, being a guy that is not on the field just for pass rushing, not just for on third down situations, being a guy that could be on the field at all times in the run game, in pass dropping situations, just a better player all around."

"Last year I played at 220 and I feel like that's a little undersized for my position, but this year I'm about 235, 237 and I feel great going into the season and that's a big thanks to him."

Evan Crenshaw on strength coach Ben Sowders

"He's been phenomenal. From a person standpoint. I mean, we can talk to him all the time. He's personable, which is the biggest part of being a strength coach because he's around us year round. You know, he's around us more than the coaches, more than our friends, everybody. And the time that he takes away from his family to spend with us, I mean, we don't take that lightly at all. And the programs that he's put in place this year have been amazing. Like I feel 10 times better at this point this year than I was at this point last year."

Evan Crenshaw on pressure

"The thing that he hits on the most is pressure is a privilege and being said with all that, you know, being picked to win the West. We obviously feel that way that we're going to do that, but it just takes day in and day out. And we call it our creed, which is the truth lies in the work and the results take care of itself. And that's been our biggest mantra like everything with preseason awards with all the awards and accolades. You just go back to that and just go to work."

Donnie Smith on expectations

"Basically what coach was saying just blocking out all the outside noise. You know we know what it takes to win games. We know what it takes. We put the work in. It starts with our preparation and it's going to be a good year."