USF interim coach Daniel de Prato talks SMU

[PonyPride]

Daniel de Prato met the media for the first time since taking over as the Bulls' interim head coach. After commenting on taking the job, he addressed Saturday's game against SMU:

• (When asked about potential changes that can be made to the USF defense, which has allowed an average of 618 yards and 38.89 points per game this season) "As far as the exact Xs and Os, and schemes, and those types of things, I'm not going to talk about that. We've got an opponent that we're about to go play, and I'd rather not give them anything to go off of, but obviously there are some things to correct."

• (On emotional roller-coaster): "Unfortunately, I've been through this as a player — twice — and I've been through this as a coach, so I have experience with this. I'd rather not, but I do. We're going to help these young men every day, and I'll be honest: one of the best ways is to have some fun ... and the best way to spell 'fun' is W-I-N... We've got to have fun in everything we do. If you're not having fun, no matter what aspect of your life, it's not going to be good."

• (On facing SMU team that put up 77 points last week): "Yeah, they put up some points last week. Watched the film ... seen that. The best thing I can say is that we're working tirelessly to do that. They've done an excellent job, they've progressed throughout the season, they have a very good ball club. But our focus is 100 percent on us. We have things we can get better at, and we're going to focus on those things. Obviously you've got to watch the film, and find things that they're doing and work through those things. But our focus is on us — our young men getting better at the things we can do on a daily basis, and then obviously as we prepare for them, we'll have things that we're working on."

• (On facing an SMU defense that surrendered 63 points to UH): "Both of those sides ... there was a lot going on. I think there was some onside kicks because of all that. Correct me if I'm wrong ... I believe that was an FBS record for points in regulation? So we're talking about a record game leading up to this. So that was the hand I was dealt, and we're going to go get it. We're fired up about it and we're ready to roll."

[Smumba2009]

He's lying, he's terrified