Transcript From Tom Craft's Chat
SDSU football coach discusses the upcoming season, the future of the program and much more.
July 24, 2002
Moderator: SDSU head football coach Tom Craft will be joining us shortly, please continue to use the form below to submit your questions.
Tom Craft: Welcome everyone!
Jeff Clark (Carlsbad): What are some of the intangible factores and/or variables that you see in this year's team that will allow the Aztecs to have a winning season?
Tom Craft: We're really not focusing on a winning season as much as we are laying a foundation. We finished 111th in total offense last year and we really need to improve our passing game if we're going to be a balanced offense. We're going to use an 8-man spacing concept on defense to help open things up.
Steve (Carlsbad): In what key ways will the offensive line improve its performance over last year?
Do you have any inclination to switch offensive lineman to the defensive line to help with depth?
Thanks and Good Luck! See you in Fresno!
Tom Craft: We lost three exceptional lineman from last season, two of which are in NFL camp. Ingram is one of the top centers in the MWC. You like to have one of your best linemen at center. We have a real problem on defense, especially at tackle. We have three really good defensive ends.
Reno: Scheduling is such an important component to building a winning program. 1)How involved will you be in the coming years and 2)Do you think we need to tone down our schedule in the short term, at least until you've rebuilt the program and we're more competitive?
Tom Craft: There is no question I think we need a more balanced non-conference schedule. I think we've bitten off more than we can chew. At this point we haven't proven we can be a factor in our conference let alone play with some of the teams out of conference. We'd like better balance. Perhaps play some teams in the old WAC in addition to UCLA and Kansas in the upcoming years.
Steve (San Diego): Given that your defensive line will be very thin this year, do you anticipate a more blitz-type defense from your linebackers?
Tom Craft: The LBs are a critical part of our defense. I think that is a strong point of our D. It's important to keep those people healthy and in order to do so we'll have to have some movement as well as implement the 8-man spacing concept.
Aztecfan01 (SD): What are the top 2 things that we (Aztecs) have going for us and working against us concerning this season?
Tom Craft: From a positive standpoint we have some experience at some of the key positions such as JR Tolver at WR. He sets the standard for us. Hall and Sheriff have made some important improvements. We need to be more balanced in order to move the ball. We have some talented defensive players, especially at LB. We have some experienced upper classmen but we need more of them.
Wayne from Phoenix: Many Aztec fans were happy you got the job because you're an Aztec too.
How does your past at SDSU influence your coaching now? Go get em coach!!!!!!!
Tom Craft: I think I've had two outstanding mentors, Claude Gilbert and Ted Tollner. I've learned a lot from both of them, being a teacher and a communicator of the game. I don't think I could have learned from two better people.
Hal (San Francisco): Relative to what you expected when you signed on with SDSU, is the program a greater or lesser "turnaround" project?
Tom Craft: I think there is no question it's going to be a great challenge to turn the program around. One of the shocking things was that from the existing freshman and sophomore our numbers are at 22. We only have 22 people left out of 50 people on scholarship from our freshman and sophomore class. We're going to have to have a great recruiting year as it's going to be critical to the foundation of the future of the program.
Steve (Carlsbad): What approach will you take to ensure the Special Teams are SPECIAL? They haven't been in the past 8 years.
Go Aztecs!
Tom Craft: Part of that may be that we're really concerned that we don't have enough LB and TE, especially on scholarship. Those players play an important role in special teams. McDaniels has done a great job this spring. Special teams will improve as we get more people in those areas on scholarship. Our two kickers, Tommy Kirovski and Brian Simnjanovski, are outstanding.
Chitec (Aztectalk.com): As an Aztec fan since 1957, I'm very excited about having you back on The Mesa as head coach of the Aztec football program.
Look into your crystal ball and tell us what the future of the Aztec football program is in two years, five years, and ten years?
Tom Craft: First and foremost our schedule is one of the things I would like to see changed. If it does we'll have an opportunity to go to bowl games. If we go to enough bowl games we can think about winning conference titles. Now that the MWC has four bowls gives our conference a lot of credibility and people think our league consists of a bunch of outstanding institutions. I'd like to think in the next year or two we'll have an opportunity to go to a bowl and build from there.
Victor (Harlem): Tom, it must have been tough to lose Charlie Camp from your staff, though on the good side, you got Freddie Collins. What are your expectations of him?
Tom Craft: We think we got a really good player in Fredrick. I think RB is one of our strongest positions on offense. We feel real good about our RBs. I don't put limitations on players. I don't think it will be one guy that will carry the load, like Larry Ned did a year ago. We're not lacking for talent at the RB position and we'd like to think Collins can make a contribution and be a role guy.
Steve Anderson (San Diego): Will the Aztecs bring back the tradition of entering the Stadium in the Black Cloud formation? Please bring back our traditions!
Tom Craft: That's something I always thought was appealing. We've lost Monty Montezuma as the mascot and I am really sorry to see that happen, especially having played there. I think the fans are going to miss him a lot, I certainly will. Hopefully we can get that resolved.
Edward (El Cajon, CA): Welcome back to Montezuma Mesa!
You're known for your high-powered offenses. In the high-altitude MWC venues, defenses on quick-strike teams often wear down in the fourth quarter. How does a 'sea-level' team like the Aztecs counter the altitude's effect on the defense?
Tom Craft: I really think that we're going to put a little more premium on conditioning. I think the fact we go up to high altitude really does not affect you unless you've been there a week or more. If you're there only 48 hours it really doesn't affect your conditioning.
The noise factor is something we're going to have to deal with by running the no huddle offense. I believe the better we start playing that it will not be a factor.
Hal Nelson - Monterey: What has been the one big adjustment you have had to make coming from Junior College football to Division I?
Tom Craft: I think the biggest adjustment is the scholarships and financial aid parameters and working within the framework of the NCAA. Having more support and being able to deligate responsibility is a plus at the Division I level vs. junior college but with that comes more responsibility for myself. If you're looking at the game and the people and the schemes it is pretty much the same at both levels.
Tom Craft: Thanks for all the great questions, I hope to see you at the stadium this season! Gotta run!
