Texas A&M Football weekly press conference: Florida

The following are live, paraphrased notes from Texas A&M's weekly press conference. Videos of the interviews will be added to the story as they are rendered.

Kevin Sumlin

• Coach Tiller's family is trying to make his funeral as football-friendly as it can be, which says a lot about them. Beside my dad, there's no man that has had that much influence on my life. I've known him since I was 18. We were together at Washington State, and he hired me for my first full-time job. We were together at Purdue for three years. He had a huge influence on my life and a lot of other people's lives. As I said a couple weeks ago, I'm a better person because of him. I'm forever indebted.

• I haven't been to the Swamp to coach there. I visited Coach Spurrier when he was there, but never in a situation like this. They'll be fired up. It's an exciting deal. Most of our players have never been there. A lot of our fans haven't either. I don't think they've had a night game in a while. I was surprised to see that. This league on the road... there's passion every place you go. Every fan base is really passionate about their football team. That makes this league different. There aren't many places you can go in the SEC that don't have a hostile environment. We've been in loud stadiums, like AT&T earlier this year. This will be our second long trip this year. It's a good experience for everyone.

• In Kellen Mond, you have a player that continues to get better. Every snap is a learning experience for him. Florida will throw different things at him. The Florida coaches understand defense. The South Carolina defense was well-coached. We had Alabama, and now he gets Florida. He's having a lot thrown at him right now. So are the other players on offense. Some of the things that make Kellen the player that he is is his ability to ad-lib. He has to understand what's at stake. Florida is great at red zone offense and defense. There's a reason for that. Points inside that area have been tough for people to get. We need to be aware of that. We have to get better and understand that ball security is at a premium.

• Tyrel Dodson played very well. That's probably the best game he's played since he's been here. He wasn't happy with his performance against Arkansas or South Carolina. It's indicative of this team right now. Tyrel wasn't happy. There was a mutual agreement that he could play better. Now that we've seen him play like that, we expect it every week now. He's like a lot of guys on this team. We set standards for them and continue to push. They continue to accept them and get better.

• It's easier for me to talk to Coach Chavis on the sideline. I don't know that we're better statistically. He wanted to be able to talk to the linebackers and have a feel for where they are. They're young players. Alaka has been through a lot with injuries. Hines and Johnson are freshmen. It was important to be able to talk to them. I don't know that a lot has changed for what we're doing, but being able to talk to them was important to him.

• I think the linebacker play has been better. You've seen Alaka play his natural position. Tyrel is a natural MIKE. Anthony allows us to move Alaka around. We have the opportunity to get young guys on the field. The way we're playing in college football, most teams are in nickel. It's a two-linebacker situations. As a young guy, to go in there and be a SAM linebacker, that's all you can handle. It's one of the hardest positions you can play on defense. You're covering a tight end that is very versatile. It takes time to learn that. These young guys have done a nice job. They're handling it and letting the older guys bounce around where they're needed.

• Florida has a couple good running backs. You don't get to be a top red zone team without explosive power running and a guy that can throw the ball. They put pressure on you with the wildcat and great athletes. They get your eyes going different ways. They have a good offensive line. They generate points in the red zone. It'll be another challenge for us. They're stingy on defense. It'll take a fine effort out of our team to go in there and win. Defensively, they've been strong. They score enough points to win and are used to winning based on what they've done in the East in the last couple of years. Our guys will be ready to play.

• Cullen Gillaspia was unknown. He's got a little Connor McQueen in him now. He's reaching folk hero status around here. He's established himself as the Special Teams Captain. That team vote wasnt' even close. That tells you the respect that he has. He addressed the team earlier this year. The way he plays and the way he's done it over time has gotten the respect of this football team. He's been in every situation this year. He's blocked a punt. He caught a kickoff. He loves playing football. Because of how much he's played, he's able to communicate and come up with ideas. He's done it enough. We're fortunate. He makes his presence known. He gets double-teamed on kickoff coverage every week now. That's the ultimate compliment for a guy on special teams.

• We'll see what happens with Nick Starkel's injury.

• Damion Ratley has always had the ability. He didn't really have anything coming out of high school. We recruited him out of JUCO, and we've had success with that strategy. Josh Reynolds, Derel Walker. They came in and performed well in their final seasons. Damion is similar to that. He's figured it out. He's got confidence. The first deep ball we threw him was against Arizona State. He struggled after that. In the last four games, he's made at least one big play. He's talking on the sideline. He's got that confidence. That's part of growing up. He's the oldest guy out there. We need him to continue to get things done. He's been completely unselfish. He's a dynamic blocker. Those are things he didn't do last year.

• I don't even think about the bye week. I'm thinking about this game. We've been relatively healthy this year. It's a night game in The Swamp. This team has done a good job with that too. It's what's going on this week. We have to get better. Let's clean up our mistakes and go play this week.