Tim DeRuyter talks Von Miller, A&M memories, DC job at Cal & more

Key notes from Tim DeRuyter interview

• It's great to be back in Aggieland. When we came here, we had a great experience with a lot of ups and downs and it really effected Christina.  With her her coming to school here, it really allowed me to come back and see some old friends.  We are so proud of her and what she has accomplished, but now we have realized we may not be coming back here all the time now. 

• New Kyle Field is unbelievable.  What they have done with everything it really is unbelievable.  We have some great friends that are still involved with that program and they have all taken care of Christina over the past four years, it was great to see them.  I can’t imagine that A&M doesn’t have all the right facilities.  I would imagine Oregon has some really nice facilities, but A&M has the best of the best. 

• It was an interesting time to be coaching at A&M because the big rumor was we were going to the PAC 12.  We were within a day or two of that happening and with me being from the West Coast, I got pretty excited about it.  When the SEC talks were starting, I was not sure if we were ready for that yet.  When everything happened with Johnny, it all just snowballed.  Dr. Loftin was very correct about this decision being a 100 year decision.  It really allowed this school to recruit the state of Texas very well. 

• At that time, Johnny and Mike Evans were still on the scout team.  I had to talk to Sherman about taking them off the field because we couldn’t stop them at all.  I remember Baylor week, Johnny ran for about 800 yards against us in practice.  On Saturday, we held RGIII to minimal rushing yards and Sean Porter told me straight up that Johnny was better than RGIII.  I didn’t believe him, but low and behold it was true.
  
  
• Von Miller is such a great representative of A&M with a tremendous heart.  He is a bit silly, but he is a great Aggie.  When I interviewed for the DC job here, I saw him as an outside linebacker but when I watched him in film, I knew I had something special.  He could really do everything on the football field and was the most talented guy at that position that I’ve ever had. 

• When you put a new package in there is always some doubt, but we really had a come to Jesus moment in 2010 and things started to click.  We put Mike Hodges in more and from then on, we just took off.  The defense pinned its ears back and really started getting after people.  Mike came from the Air Force and is a really smart guy.  He honestly didn’t have the best measurables, but I was frank and honest with him about playing time. He didn’t like being told he was too small or too slow.  He took that and worked hard to get in there and came in and played well. Looking back I probably should have played him more. When he got hurt in the Cotton Bowl, the game really changed.  He was the glue for that defense.  You can see that because when Von Miller got his Butkus award, he thanked Michael for getting him lined up every single play.

• It was neat to get to coach the bowl game before moving to Fresno State.  Whenever a coach gets let go, a lot of the players get really confused and don’t know what’s going on.  People also forget that we lost Joey Villavisencio right before Christmas, and we were playing a really hungry Northwestern team.  We came out and played well.  It was a really good experience to have that before moving to Fresno State.  Fresno went 4-9 the year before I got there and when I arrived, the players weren’t really sure about me.  Derek Carr and a couple of other players let me know that they were all in.  We ended up winning the conference outright after Derek and Davante Adams had great seasons.

• I was very fortunate to be surrounded by coaches who had great opportunities. Just love your kids and work hard and you will be alright.

• I know Christina loves being a part of a team so she is looking for an opportunity to be a team player. This sports lifestyle is neat and can be a big challenge.  Turns out she didn’t get deterred by my career and chose to do Sport Management instead of something else. 

• I really enjoy Cal so far.  Justin Wilcox has hired a bunch of new people in his first year that are really sharp genuine people. They love their players are really good family guys that are fun to work with.  Wilcox was at Boise when I was at Nevada.  I knew he was a really good coach who had similar philosophies, so after some circumstances, we ended up in the same place. I have been blessed to work with all the head coaches I have, but working with Justin has been fun.  We have had similar career paths so it was nice linking up with someone similar.