Fresno State Athletics
Pat Hill Online Chat Wrap
12/27/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 27, 2001
Welcome to ESPN.com's moderated chat room. On Thursday, Fresno State head football coach Pat Hill hit chat to answer questions and chat about Fresno State football.
After consecutive seasons of seven wins or more and back-to-back bowl appearances, Hill guided the program to unprecedented heights this year - 11 wins, a third consecutive bowl invitation, a top 10 ranking, wins over Wisconsin, Colorado and Oregon State, another record-setting attendance mark and an emergence in the national spotlight.
Hill's field coaching has drawn rave reviews as he was selected the 2000 Bowl Coach of the Year by Sports Illustrated which stated: "Fresno State's Pat Hill kept his players focused after they fell behind Air Force 34-7 in the Silicon Valley Bowl, and when the Bulldogs pulled to within 37-34 he disdained a 33-yard field goal attempt with 14 seconds to go and called for a fake kick. The ensuing pass fell incomplete, but what kid wouldn1t want to play for a coach like that?"
His accomplishments are remarkable, considering the rigorous non-conference schedule Fresno State has played since his arrival. In five years, Fresno State has played 18 bowl opponents. Both losses in 2001 were to bowl-eligible opponents. But more important are the victories. The Bulldogs have now defeated their last four BCS Conference opponents - California in 2000 and Colorado, Wisconsin and Oregon State this year. In the case of the Buffaloes and Badgers, FS defeated both on the road.
For more on Fresno State football, visit GoBulldogs.com!
If you missed Hill's Dec. 27 chat, the full transcript follows:
For a list of upcoming ESPN.com chat guests, visit the Community section.
Pat Hill: (1:55 PM ET ) I am here and ready for your questions. Let's get started.
Freddy (WI): Do you think your team is ready to face Michigan St? I think it will be a great matchup.
Pat Hill: (1:56 PM ET ) I believe we are. We have a good team and Michigan State has some great athletes. We look forward to the challenge.The Mayfair (Lansing, MI): Coach Hill,
What does Michigan State do on offense that you feel you need to stop in order to be successful??
Pat Hill: (1:56 PM ET ) We need to stop the run and stop Duckett. They have more weapons than that, but it starts with stopping Duckett.
Bigg Dogg (Los Angeles, CA): Do you think playing such a tough schedule early on hurt your team at all, or will it pay off against Michigan State?
Pat Hill: (1:58 PM ET ) I think we have to play a tough schedule, it will only help your team. We will continue to play tough schedules. We don't like to travel all over the country, but we will continue to travel until we build our stadium big enough to bring people here.Jeremy (Stamford Connecticut): Coach Hill: I have read many articles on your passion for Fresno State. Did you grow up a fan of the school, or did you find out about FSU later on in life?
Pat Hill: (1:59 PM ET ) My grandparents lived in Fresno and I worked as an assistant here. I grew up going to games. I have a great passion for the school and the area because of the community and the support we get here. We sell our tickets and you can't even buy a ticket for a home game. It's full every week and we like that.John (San Diego): Help me to understand your decision to stay at FSU, while many higher-paying and more established schools were courting you. What are the 2 most important issues that kept you in Fresno? Additionally, how close was it to leaving FSU during contract negotiations?
Pat Hill: (2:01 PM ET ) First, my family really liked Fresno and my wife and I love living here.Second, we are trying to establish this school in the upper tier of schools in the country. If we continue to play our schedule and have success, I think we can get there. It is tough because we have to play so many games on the road (7 this year), but we are making progress. I think we have only seen the tip of the iceberg.
I like the school, the fans, my players and I love to recruit in the area. We look at this as trying to do what Coach Bowden did at Florida State.
Paul (Flanders): Has this team gone beyond what you expected this year?
Pat Hill: (2:03 PM ET ) No. We always expect to win. We were six points shy of winning nine games in our first season. Our expectation level is to win and you have to approach your team like that. There are no excuses. The job in Div. 1 is to win. So no, I didn't underestimate what our team did this year. We are two plays away from being undefeated.Pat Hill: (2:03 PM ET ) The WAC is better than we get credit for. There are five teams with 8 or more wins.Will (NEW HAVEN): What do you think of the Michigan State Offense compared to yours (Fresno State)?
Pat Hill: (2:05 PM ET ) I think the two teams have a lot of similarties. They have a good recievers, a big-time tight end and a north-sound runner. They have a lot of skill and they do a very good job on offense. They have a lot of talent and I think we matchup well against them. I think we put a little more emphasis on the pass then they do. With David and the recievers we have this year, we looked to pass a little more but we still had a 1,000 yard rusher, plus two 1,000 yard recievers and a 4,000 yard passer.Ben Ludwig- King of Prussia, PA: Coach Hill, How concerned are you of a heavy dose of T.J. Duckett and have you drastically changed your defensive approach to slow him down? Thanks and Good Luck.
Pat Hill: (2:07 PM ET ) Nope. We play the same basic defense we have played the last five years. We haven't made many changes. We may have to get our safeties more involved to take pressure off our corners. We will also have to keep an eye on their tight end as well. They make you cover the whole field so we can't just concentrate on stopping the run.Adric, Gering: What pointers can you give Oregon for the Jan 1 match up vs CO??
Pat Hill: (2:08 PM ET ) You better be able to stop the run. They also have a great kick returner who put them back in our game. So you have to stop the run and stop the return and kicking game. They play very sound defense. We thought Colorado was the best team we played this year. We play Oregon next year so we will get a good comparison. We would love to continue to play Colorado. They are a great program.Pat Hill: (2:09 PM ET ) The had as good an offensive line I have seen on film or played against since I have been here. That is their strength. Being an old O-line coach, they were fun to watch the way they execute. That will be a very good team, so that is a big-time matchup.Scott, Saginaw, MI: Congratualations coach for a great year. Michigan State matches up fairly well with the Bulldogs, but I think your defense will face its strongest challenge this year. Which Fresno St. defense will show up ?
Pat Hill: (2:11 PM ET ) I think our defense has played well all year. This is a very different team then we have faced all year -- physical and come at you. We played a lot of different offenses this year but Michigan State is similiar to Wisconsin and Colorado. I think our defense will rise to the challenge.We get a look at a lot of offenses but we were lucky to play two teams that are similar to what we will see in this game.
Darren J. Brown, Fresno: Hi Pat ... how has practicing been going ... timing .. conditioning ... ?
Pat Hill: (2:24 PM ET ) That is the hardest part to judge. Unless it is full speed and live, it is hard to get a good feel for it. I don't know how good our timing is, but with five weeks off, I don't know how good it is for any team. It is very hard to stay focused. In a bowl game, it is the team with the best mind set, and executes. I look for this team to play very well, but I worry about the timing. I don't worry about the effort, it is just tough to play in a bowl game with a layoff.That is why I favor a playoff, you go right into playing and keep that game feel. I like the do-or-die aspect of it, but I think a bowl game is a good reward for the players and you want them to have a good experience.
Pat Hill: (2:27 PM ET ) That is all the time I have for now.It has been a very exciting season. We look forward to continuing our success next season, we look forward to the challenge of playing another tough nonconference schedule. I think it will take an undefeated season to get in the BCS. We feel we have to play as tough a schedule as we can. I hope the WAC gets more credit for playing those tough nonconference games. But we have to win those nonconference matchups. We are looking to play the toughest schedule possible so we can start to get the recognition we deserve here at Fresno State.
Thanks again for all the great questions. Take care.
