Tracy Rocker speaks

1/12/09, LATE AFTERNOONHey everyone. I'm live blogging Tracy Rocker's introductory teleconference.

• "First of all -- War Eagle. I'm glad to be back."
  
  
• Leaving Ole Miss: "Houston provides a family environment. It's a coaching environment. (Leaving that) was hard to do. He's all about the players. I enjoyed working with him. It was a great six years. We had a great run. I've enjoyed. There comes a time when we all have to part ways and move on in this business."
  
  
• He met Chizik while he was at UCF ... when Rocker was an assistant at Troy State.
  
  
• "Coming back is a great honor. Everything you want as a college student -- I definitely enjoyed. A goal of mine is that I want to be known as a great coach. I'm not the player anymore; I'm a coach."
  
  
• What are you coaching?: "I'm expecting to coach the whole front four."
  
  
• "The thing I'm looking forward to most is hard work. It takes all of us to be special."
  
  
• On Ted Roof: "I remember Coach Roof when he played at Tech. I watched him play at Tech when I played at Auburn. He was a great player. In the coaching world, all I've ever heard is that he's a great guy to work for. I'm looking forward to it."
  
  
• Player personnel: "I don't really know much. I've watched them on film. I watched them through the season. It's a clean slate right now. I'm not going to make judgments on anything. I'm there to make sure we get it done, do it right and do it the Auburn way."
  
  
• Recruiting philosophy: "You've got to love playing down there. You have to play hurt. There are going to be bumps and bruises when you play down there. Every college team and every pro football team is looking for great linemen. They're hard to find. I'm open-minded to see which direction we're going."