I want to be very clear about something major APPA white is not our head football coach because he was here major APPA white is not our head football coach because he had an office up the hill for three years that contributed to it that influenced it however Major
Applewhite is our head coach because he is incredibly capable what began as a this might be a a good thing it became very very clear and crystallized this isn’t a good thing this is a damn great thing with enthusiasm please welcome your head football coach major Apple
White thank thank you thank you very much um I I am truly humbled for this opportunity um my wife sent me a text the other day that said you don’t start from you’re not starting from scratch you’re starting from experience and um this is a a beautiful opportunity uh
It’s a true blessing for my family um I want to thank you Dr Urban president boner uh Dr Kent uh Jimmy schumach Jimmy ants Daniel McCarthy um everybody that was in the room Wednesday U it was a great opportunity uh to get to know people that you see from a distance over
The course of 3 years but it was a wonderful opportunity to get to explain your vision for the program and um it’s been a journey you know to to get here and it has taken three very special people in my life my wife Julie my daughter Lyla and my son
Nash uh they are my heart and uh I do what I do because I love my family and I have been raised by phenomenal parents who have tracked their way from north of Atlanta in their late 70s to be here and uh and they’ve done it for 45 years and
I’ve got the best set of parents and I’m I’m fortunate to be able to take over a ball club that has a bunch of kids who has parents that are very similar um so I’m I’m very very honored for this opportunity uh I want to thank the
Players I Want to Thank The Players for a couple of reasons number one uh their performance on the field has gained us the success their dedication to our program has allowed opportunities for grown men and adults to move in the coaching profession and I thank them for
That um if they play the game the way they play it and they don’t put out the results and produce the way they produced we don’t have the opportunities as coaches and they deserve the credit and I also want to thank him for staying together uh it’s not easy when you’re 18
To 22 years old and you’re going through these changes and there’s a lot of people pulling on you there’s social media now it’s different than it was for us it’s different and there’s a lot of pressure on these young men and there’s a lot of opportunities and I want to
Thank these guys for staying together and and and galvanizing as a team and I learned from coach Royal when I was at Texas he said when tough times comes uh the wagons start to Circle and the circle gets Tighter and you’re going to find out who’s really about you and
Who’s really about your team uh we had some losses Oklahoma Circle got tight uh we we have players leave and you figure it out and I want to thank the players for pulling tighter uh pulling Tighter and and part of that with the players is the staff uh the staff that
Is in that building right now is a little bit short-handed but it won’t be for long uh but they have done a tremendous job uh in the last few days and obviously in the last 3 years um there’s so many people to thank so many individuals to thank um I just want to
Thank you know Jaguar Nation so to speak uh for the dedication that you’ve had and the success that we’ve been able to have the last three years uh and I am so excited my face sometimes doesn’t show it but I am so excited about the uh I’ve
Got a weird default I’ve had explained that to the quarterbacks um it’s in here it’s in here and um I’m a competitor and I’m so excited to take take this thing to the new Next Level uh introducing some new things in terms of just trying to get
Our community stronger um you know I I told Coach Urban I love the hashtag our city I want to put it into action uh I I see the results that happen on this field and I just want to make this our City’s team our City’s team um I want to
Create an atmosphere here in this stadium that it’s full that people are here early that they’re loud that they stay late I want to see 50 60 Smoke Stacks coming up I want to see the top of our vs I want to create uh a situation where this Stadium represents
Our entire city our entire city and I want to bring every single community in the city to this Stadium north south east west central it doesn’t matter where you’re from if you’re across the bridge I want everybody to be here on Saturday night and I want this
Thing to be loud and I want it to be rocking because these players are going to make it that way I can promise you that uh so honored for this opportunity uh the vision for this program is to win championships let it not be mistaken and
The way we’re going to do that is with great men uh and great men that have the same morals and the same values and principles that we want day in and day out that align with our leadership U I’ve had an opportunity to be a head
Coach I’ve had an opportunity to work at a lot of different universities and players and coaches can win ball games they can go out there and win ball games they can accumulate Talent they can win ball games but you will not win championships unless you have Championship alignment from the top to
The bottom uh from your president to your athletic director uh to your fac fault and staff to your support your donors your athletic director your Administration that is truly if you get on the inside of this job that’s truly what allows you to win championships and
I want to find coaches uh players alike that understand that leadership uh and I want to find coaches that simply understand this I was talking to my mentor last night m brown as I pulled in the driveway and he said changing lives and it’s it can go you know it can be
Blatant uh excuse me it can be kind of Blas but you’re changing lives every single time you walk into that building every single time you walk next to a kid it can be the thing that takes him this direction or it could be the thing that takes them this direction and we’re
Going to have coaches and stabs that are positive uh energetic uh intense I want intensity in our building and and and serious about our work each and every day but we’re going to have men that understand we’re changing lives we’re changing lives each and every day in the
Classroom uh off the field in the community and obviously on the football field uh this is just a wonderful opportunity I could sit up here for hours and talk about how gracious I am I truly am um I just also I need to thank my parents my my father Larry my mother
Sandra um I’m not going to get emotional but they mean so much to me and have been just such [Applause] a and uh they’ve taught me how to treat people they’ve taught me how to treat treat players and it has been a a lot to me and the dedication that they’ve given
Me over over the course of my life and then obviously having children of your own you start to realize what it truly is to be a coach you’re hungry in your 20s you’re hungry in your 30s but when your kids get older you realize what you’re dealing with and you realize
You’re dealing with someone else’s child and I want to be that driving force but also that nurturing uh that helps young men grow and that’s exactly what we’re going to do as a program and we’re going to win championships uh we’re already getting to work and filling our staff uh
The kids are already hard at work they’re going to class they’re doing the right things and we’re going to put a premium on Championship habits um it is not an accident when you win a championship it’s repeating habits over and over again um they’re hard to create
They’re tough to break but that’s our job as coaches and that’s what we’re going to do we’re going to create Championship habits in the classroom uh in the community and obviously on the football field between the lines so I am just uh thoroughly thoroughly excited uh
There’s a lot of work to do as soon as this thing ends so that’s kind of where my mind is going right now as this press conference lingers uh but I’m I’m so excited and I want to create a vision for you as well and I want you to think
About turning right off of O shell or or left off of Old Shell and seeing that same vision and playing for championships and I’m grateful to be able to carry on what we’ve done the last 3 years um but I know I’m no different I know I can speak for Kane in
This because we’ve talked about it after the season we want to go to the next level we want to go to the next level and we’re not far off we need to put our nose down to the grindstone and get to work and get the right people in here to
Feel the chairs that are empty and we will we will get that done and I’m so excited to get to work on it and uh I just want to thank each and every one of you if I didn’t mention your name today I apologize but um I I I feel it I just
Feel the the the warmth and the commitment from the community and there’s so many people that helped and made phone calls in a short 2448 hour period on my behalf and uh I know it’s not solely on me it’s on the work of our staff and what our staff has done for
Three years and and they want that to continue and it’s not just about major it’s about the success that we’ve had as a program and and I and I know I can say thank you on behalf of the other staff members as well so I am honored to be
Your coach and I will make you proud thank you good Jud [Applause] all right we’ll now open it up for a question and answer period from members of our media as a reminder please raise your hand and we’ll get this mic to you state your name and affiliation we’ll start here with Craig
Stevenson hey uh well excuse me Craig Stevenson a.com uh major this is your second head coaching job what did you learn in that first job the years since then that prepared you for this opportunity I think first off just the the the natural maturation of a of of a
Parent you know my daughter lla getting older my second child coming into The Fray you you you gain a a different perspective uh yes we want to win yes we want to be the best on the field yes we want to be physical we want to dominate
Our opponent we want to make him quit all of those things as a coach but how do you get there um a lot of patience you know a lot of patience there’s things that uh in my two years at at the University of Alabama and analyst role
Uh watching coach Sabin and he was different in ‘ 07 than he was in in 2019 when I got there uh but the patience um the understanding of of of thinking seeking counsel from other coaches you wouldn’t think that the greatest coach in college football history would seek
Counsel from others but he does um and seeking counsel from others and being patient and and and slow to make decisions uh because those decisions have consequences and that’s what you do as a head coach is you make decisions so you seek counsel and you listen and you
Trust and and you make great decisions and that’s the way you make great decisions so I would say that’s the overriding thing that I saw in the corner of that staff room uh with someone who was you know low ego although we would think he would have a
High ego very low ego and willing to listen and create the best opportunity environment for his players to win championships hi major Arthur Mack with the call news um this area is rich in high school football it has a whole lot of talented athletes now as far as
Recruiting uh what is your game plan to attract those athletes as well as others from throughout the area well number one we we need to talk about us you know and that’s always you know we talked a little bit about our recruiting model because we’re going to be out on the
Road on Monday uh but we talked about uh let’s talk about us you know when we’re on the road let’s talk about the things that we have because the things that we have are pretty darn good and our Stadium our facilities our University our leadership uh the opportunities that
You have here on the Gulf Coast um you know the the the opportunities to grow from a from a developmental standpoint once you get done with football you’re your plan a uh as we like to call it Plan B is being able to play football forever but plan a is what you’re going
To do when that when that whistle blows for the last time but uh the leadership and and the leadership is so important and unless you’re really in this thing and you’ve been a coach you don’t understand it because you have to have it you know the coach goes to the
Athletic director the athletic director goes to the president and then the decision is made um so that’s the only thing that I mean there’s a lot of things but that’s the big thing that attracted me to to wanting to stay here and get this job uh so you have great
Leadership therefore you’re going to have a great University so parents are going to be excited about the quality education they’re going to get the opportunities in Mobile the opportunities around the Golf Coast for guys to grow and develop and then get into the job market uh but specifically
For a young man who’s 17 18 years old the facilities you have a brand new stadium you have an indoor facility we have our practice fields uh when you really start looking at the nuts and bolts of what a kid’s looking for the proximity of where they live uh the the
The proximity of the study hall their weights their meal plan it’s a very very uh compact situation for a young man who’s going off on his own for the first time and it’s very friendly for an 18-year-old and it’s something that’s very comforting to a mother or a father
Uh that their child is going to have a great opportunity to have success because it’s always nerve-wracking when you put your kid in the car with a bunch of stuff and so there’s a there’s all of those things but then the people that work in those buildings
Uh you know I’ve I’ve been at universities where you have 15 academic advisers uh I would like to put those 15 against the two or three that we have you know that work directly with football it’s not about your numbers it’s not about your bricks and mortar
It’s about the people that are inside of them we’ve got great people we’re going to continue to bring in great people and that’s really going to be our selling point the people that we have here whether it be in the tower of the president or whether it be the people in
The training room whether it be our recruiting staff our strength staff the people that we have and what your child is going to enter into and what he’s going to look like when he comes out Randy Kennedy Sports Talk 995 uh you’ve got a long history as a offensive
Coach and a play caller can you just talk about uh Your Role now that you’re the head coach here are you going to do that on game day yeah I mean I’m always going to have uh you know input on all three phases of the game offensively is
Is is going to be where I would you know have more input um I think it’s very important you just don’t impose yourself on things um I work with Tom Herman at the University of Houston I called plays for him he was obviously ly a national he’ gone from winning a national
Championship beting Alabama and Oregon and then the next year he’s not calling plays so that didn’t make much sense and a lot of people’s minds but at the same time you have other things that you’re doing as a head coach the trust level that I have with Robie zel is extremely
High uh will I have suggestions and things like that of course you should as a head coach but uh as a head coach you need to understand when it’s not your time to impose yourself on the game um but but I have all the confidence in the
World in our offensive staff I think we’ve gotten stronger as an offensive staff um I’m very excited about what we’re going to do on offense we’re going to light that thing up and uh I just again I just cannot wait to get to the
X’s and O’s and the ball part of it um I do enjoy this to some extent but I’ll just be honest I really love that stuff out there coach good morning Cory le Bounty with wnsp 105.5 wanted to talk to you about the advantages of already being here knowing
The Personnel knowing the president the athletic director the players that are currently on your roster talk to us about that and the advantages moving forward bringing in others that already are related to the kids that are going to be on your roster that’s a great
Question um the last head job that I had there was a staff that was leaving and everybody in the building was leaving with them uh this staff there’s one person leaving and there’s a lot of people back that’s a huge Advantage um there’s a lot of generational U
Intelligence in that building in terms of people knowing how we do things knowing players so it’s not a total brand new uh makeover so that’s that’s great for us as as as a staff to be able to identify what we need and have people that can tell the new bodies that are
Coming in this is kind of the way we’ve done things this is this about this young player this is where he is in his development and those type of things so it’s a tremendous Advantage it’s a tremendous Advantage because I’ve been in those situations where you’re having
To explain to people all right this is where the president’s office is um you know this is where the rec center is this is where our players live in the dorm that you’re not doing all that you’re you’re able to pick up and go from where you’re at um so it’s it’s
It’s you’re already ahead in the race so a lot of those things by hiring you know late in January and this thing kind of happening late in the coaching cycle uh it’s really actually an advantage from the standpoint of your at least or at least you’re not making a total
Wholesale change where you got a brand new crew coming in here and when do we start and spring practice and everything gets delayed and then stuff starts getting pushed back so uh it’s a tremendous Advantage for our staff and for our players to continue on with what they’re
Doing anything else from members of our media hi coach Emily Cochran Foxton um a lot of the players have said that you’re exactly who they wanted you have their backing and their support kind of what does that mean to you uh it’s it it means uh it means that
You’ve developed some trust and it means you need to continue to deliver um I appreciate it certainly that’s why I wanted to start this off because it doesn’t and I wanted to thank them not not not from like running for student body president type standpoint but I
Wanted to thank them for being men ahead of when they’re supposed to be men and they’re 19 years old uh they’ve got brothers sisters Aunts Uncles pulling on what about this what about that why don’t you do this this coach did this to
You no I I know what we got I know what we got in a team I Know Who I Am by betting on myself I stay right here and continue to do what I’m already doing which is turning this thing into a winner and going after Championship so
That’s that’s uh that’s what I really am and more appreciative is that they found something in their self rather than you know holding up a sign for me I really appreciate that they’re finding things in themselves and learning they can be strong grown men on their Own
