Feb. 5, 2003

NEW ORLEANS, La. - Tulane football announced the signing of 21 football players to National Letters of Intent on Wednesday afternoon. Head coach Chris Scelfo addressed the media and answered questions at an afternoon press conference in Ben Weiner Hall at Tulane's Wilson Center.

Opening Statement:
"This is a big day for us. The class we are bringing in is going to supplement our present team. We always this day get excited about the players coming aboard; the big thing that we are able to do now is address needs on our football team. That is something I feel like we did with this class.

"The expectation level, with the publicity that these players get throughout the years, is really becoming unrealistic. I think each player that has signed today has a role on our football team; how soon that happens and how well each progresses is obviously going to be the key to this whole class. For us to sit here and say that we have players that are going to make an immediate impact is unfair from the standpoint that how well they make the jump from high school to college, the terminology, their mental background, the programs they come from, the positions they're playing, the position that they're going to play here, there's a lot of factors involved in it. I think it is a time for these players for these players that have signed with us to embark on a new career without the expectation level that we all want to put on them. We all want them to be good players, but first and foremost, good citizens and good students. I think each one in this class has an opportunity to do that.

"In some areas on our football team, especially on the defensive line and secondary, there are going to be players in this class that will have to contribute. Which ones those will be, I couldn't answer that now, but there will be great opportunities for them to step in. I think that [defensive line] was one area that we had to address due to graduation that we were able to with guys that I think can come in and contribute."

How does this class stack up with previous classes?
"On paper, I really think it's a good class. It addressed some needs. We addressed some size; we got some speed. Last year's class I thought was a very good class after the season began; last February I felt good about it; I felt even better about it in December. Hopefully we can feel the same way about this class."

With six defensive linemen, was that your biggest need?
"We'd have signed as many as we could have. It was a situation where we have four that are graduating and a couple that are medicals [injured], so our numbers there are very thin. None of them are junior college players, so we felt we had to go out and find enough guys that could come in and again balance the numbers. We went a long way and a lot of different places to find those guys. If you look, some from here, some from New Jersey, we put a lot of emphasis on that.

Do you think some players will play as true freshman?
"I think realistically, they're going to have to due to our numbers there."

Did the success of your 2002 season and winning the Hawai'i Bowl help you in recruiting?
"It did from a standpoint it gave us something to talk about the first five minutes we were there [visiting recruits], because just about all of them watched it [the Bowl]. I think it gave our program credibility nation-wide and opened some doors for us maybe that weren't open before. It gave us publicity, not only from a football program, but from a University standpoint, because of the things discussed during the game, such as graduation rates and what we are doing with our players after we get them here."

Does this class have good speed?
"I think it is one of the faster classes that has been around here. I mean that starting with the defensive lineman. I think they can all run. The guys that we were bringing in, that was the number one criteria we needed, was to upgrade our speed-level on our football team and I think we have done that."

Talk about Richard Irvin, the lone quarterback in the class.
"Starting out we really didn't envision signing a quarterback, but Richard came along and what made him even more attractive was he could come in here in January. He is a very mature kid; he knows what he wants; he was the MVP of the California-Florida All-Star Game, which a lot of great players played in. He's got a moxie about him; he is someone who came by surprise and when we had a chance to recruit him, we took advantage of it."

Is the graduation of kicker Seth Marler one of your biggest losses and can Barrett Pepper replace him?
"That is a huge thing. Seth did both [punting and kicking] for us and did both very well. I am hoping Barrett is the answer, because opening game, if we lose the toss, he's kicking off. If he's not, we're in trouble. He had a great high school career, his numbers say that, he kicks the ball off to the end zone. He is a very mature kid; I do not think being in the spotlight right away is going to affect him. I think he's going to work hard this summer; that is a position where the opportunity is not only there, he IS going to be the guy."

How do you feel about the two local receivers, Fred Smith and Kenneth Guidroz?
"I think Freddy is one of the most exciting players in the state; every time you look at a tape of him, he's doing something with the ball, whether it's at receiver or return game, there's a lot of things we can do with him. Guidroz is a bigger receiver; we felt like we needed to supplement Roydell [junior Roydell Williams] and Bush [junior Chris Bush] with a 6-1 look. That always makes it difficult on defenses to cover those guys, I think K.P. [Guidroz] has a chance, it's a big jump to single A ball to Division I ball, but he's going to play the same position here that he played there. It's about running routes, getting open and catching the football."

Do you expect the two running back signees (Jordy Johnson and Ray Boudreaux) to make impacts?
"With Mo [senior-to-be running back Mewelde Moore] coming back and Jovon Jackson, we are really happy there, but Jordy and Ray both....Ray is a little bit smaller, but probably a little bit faster than Jordy. Jordy had a knee injury last fall. He had already committed to us and we honored his commitment and he has rehabbed; he is ahead of schedule; I expect him to be full-speed come August. Ideally, in a perfect world, you would like to be able to take these 21 kids and say, 'Ok, all of you are going to redshirt, you're going to be here five years,' but that's not going to happen and one of these two may have to play."

Do you have any thoughts on the return game with this class?
"We're going to look at guys on our present team this spring; we're going to put a heavy emphasis on that, which by the way, spring practice begins tomorrow morning. I think Fred Smith is going to be a candidate for it, Izzy Route [Israel Route] is going to be a candidate for it. Whoever can catch a ball and make people miss. Those two guys did it well in high school."