In part two of our interview with Rocky Long, the Lobo head coach discusses the improvements his team has made during his tenure and the expectations he faces going into the 2004 season.
Daily Lobo: Your defense has been one of just five teams, along with Kansas State, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas, to rank in the top 30 the last three years. Are you as good as those teams?
Rocky Long: I don't care about that stuff. One of those years we were top 30, we didn't have a winning record. It's kind of fun to know that stuff when you're winning, like over the last couple years, but that stuff's for media people.
The only thing that matters is how well your team plays and if you win. It doesn't matter if you win 50-49 or 3-0. It's just that your team plays well. When you're on a winning team, it's fun to talk about, though.
DL: You're on a winning team right now, so what do you think?
RL: It helps with recruiting and promoting the program, but it still doesn't really matter.
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DL: How do you feel about the progress you've made here going into the 2004 season?
RL: We've definitely made progress, but there's still more we can do. The people we have in this program take pride in making it better, which is good.
Athletes and coaches in general are impatient people, and we want things to be better no matter how good they are. Last year USC and LSU won the national championship, but they both lost one game, and you can believe they're still wishing they'd won them all. I don't think in athletics you're ever satisfied.
DL: Your teams are getting tougher each year, aren't they?
RL: I think our football team has developed a physicalness and toughness about them on both sides of the ball. We run the ball well, and normally we play good run defense - not always, but usually.
There's an indication that if you can run the ball on offense and stop the ball on defense, then you have a mental and physical toughness about you.
DL: The program is more popular than it's ever been. What does that mean to you personally and professionally?
RL: It's good for our players and the program that it has become important in the community.
Our players like playing in front of large and supportive crowds. I think all athletes are like that in all sports. The expectation level has increased, which adds pressure to the program.
But also, revenue-producing sports are supposed to help support the athletic department, and the only way you can do that is with big crowds and TV appearances. We're on TV a lot more now too, which is good for us and for all our athletic programs. We're doing more for the programs than we've done in the past.
DL: What do you think of the increased expectations?
RL: I think it's normal. The fans will always want you to win every game.
It doesn't matter what your tradition is or who you're playing or whatever, every loyal fan expects his team to win every single game. And fans take it personal when you lose. That's why there's so much emotion in college athletics.
People have strong feelings about their teams, and they want you to win so bad. When we lose, they feel like they lost. And when we win, they feel like they won. That's what makes college athletics so great.
But it does get harder to perform under the pressure. You have to learn how to deal with it as your program gets better.
