PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- New Samford Head Coach Chris Hatcher was introduced to the media at a press conference Friday morning in the Sullivan-Cooney Family Field House. Below are some quotes from the press conference.

CHRIS HATCHER PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
 
SAMFORD PRESIDENT DR. ANDREW WESTMORELAND
 "Ladies and gentlemen thanks for coming out this morning; we are glad that all of you are here at a busy time of the year."
 
" The chair of our history department is a guy named Jonathan Bass and in fact he's been at work now for the last year or two on the observance of the 175-year history of Samford and that's coming up in a couple of years. So we hope to have that book completed by that time and I'm looking forward to reading it. I'm sure it's going to be a magnificent work but as soon as it's printed it will be out of date because at Samford we write a new chapter every single morning."
 
"So we are gathered this morning to begin a new chapter and before we begin the new chapter I want to talk for about thirty seconds about the chapter that's finished or at least partially finished. I want to say again my deep appreciation to Coach Pat Sullivan and to the Sullivan family. Pat and Jean we love you and we love your family and Pat we still have a lot of work to do at Samford University."
 
"But especially this morning we are here to talk about the new chapter and in a moment you are going to be introduced to a man who will help write that new chapter. Let me just say first of all, in our interviews in recent days I came to understand that a core quality of our new head football coach at Samford is that he sees himself as, fundamentally, a teacher. And it seems to me at a place like this that cherishes good teaching, that it is appropriate that we have a head football coach who sees himself as a teacher. So we are glad to welcome him and his family to Samford. To make the formal introduction now is Director of Athletics Martin Newton."
 
SAMFORD DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS MARTIN NEWTON
 "Well first and foremost I want to thank and recognize Coach Sullivan and the search committee and for their tireless work over the past week. Coach Sullivan, Gary Cooney and Chris Evans thank you; you guys have done a tremendous job as you have spent countless hours going through resumes and conducting interviews to bring us the best possible coach to lead our program. I'd also like to give a special thanks to Greg Kawell, our faculty representative, for his very important role and involvement in this process."
 
"When Dr. Westmorland first met with coach Sullivan and the committee he shared several priorities he wanted in a new coach and I would like to share some of those with you. First, the coach should recognize his singular role of shaping the character of his student-athletes.  Second, he should understand the significance of classroom performance. Third, his life should model the virtues found in a meaningful Christian faith. Fourth, he should have a proven track record of producing positive results. And last but certainly not least, I'm going to look right at you on this one, he should not rest short of a national championship."
 
"But the first thing I noticed when meeting with Chris Hatcher was, number one, how important his family is to him; he is a family man and he's got with him today his family. Today, he has with him: his mother Susan, Mrs. Hatcher; Coach Hatcher (father), a long time high school football coach in the state of Georgia; his mother in-law Pam; his lovely wife, Lori and his fifteen year old son Ty along with his seven year old daughter Talley. We welcome you to our family."
 
"The second thing I noticed was how passionate he is about student-athletes and their development not only as football players but as men and that is important at this university. Third and certainly not least was his desire to win and his proven track record for doing just that. So please help me give a strong, Samford Strong, welcome to our new football coach Chris Hatcher."
 
SAMFORD HEAD FOOTBALL COACH CHRIS HATCHER
 
"This is a great day for me, my family and for Samford University. I'm standing before you today as the head football coach, and I'm loving it."
 
"It's an exciting time, but more importantly for me, this is an exciting time for my family. They are extremely excited and they are my top assistants, they are my best friends and I'd like to recognize them one more time. My wife, Lori, and I have been married 15 years and we met when we were 15 years old. I've been in love with her for 26 years and she's been in love with me for 25. It took one year of some heavy recruiting to get her on board. We're very happy and excited to be here. My son, Ty, is my chief recruiting coordinator and assistant coach, and my daughter, Talley, is probably my biggest critic, because after every game she either gives me the thumbs up or the thumbs down."
 
"We're very excited. I also appreciate my dad, my mom and my mother-in-law for being here today. As a sidebar, I will say that my mother-in-law has loved me for 26 years, so I won her over very quickly."
 
"It's a great day and I'd like to thank the search committee: Coach Sullivan, Chris Evans and Gary Cooney. I appreciate those guys and I'd especially like to thank Dr. Westmoreland, Martin Newton, the board of trustees and the board of overseers for approving that recommendation."
 
"Before we move forward, it is also very important for me to thank Mr. Allen Ward and the Murray State community for all of the time that we had there. It was a great ride, a great place and a very difficult place to leave, but this opportunity was simply too good to pass up. Jobs like Samford don't come around very often and I'm very appreciative of this opportunity."
 
"On top of that, what makes it even more special to me is the chance to work with a guy of the caliber of Coach Pat Sullivan. What a legend he is and you don't get to say that very often, so we're thrilled to be here and we appreciate that opportunity. Coach Sullivan is a Samford legend, he's an Auburn legend, a college football legend and we appreciate that and getting to know Mrs. Jean and the family in a more intimate environment was one of the main reasons that I'm here today. It means a lot to me and my family just to have you all in the room today."
 
"They always say you never want to be the coach that follows the legend, but I'm going to embrace it. With Dr. Westmoreland's unwavering support, Coach Sullivan has built an incredible program here at Samford from the top to the bottom. It's a rising program and it specializes in things that I value: faith, honor, commitment, discipline and character, but more importantly a Christian character and that's something special. I'm really looking forward to that opportunity to be an integral part of this Samford University family."
 
"I plan to work every day to build upon that foundation. A lot of hard work will be done with Mr. Newton and Dr. Westmoreland. Mr. Newton has done a great job for Samford athletics and I look forward to working with him and his staff to continue the positive movement upward. We are all Samford Strong and that's a great way to be."
 
"Samford is a total program. Not just on the field, but off the field as well, so it is a total program. Our student-athletes are successful in the classroom and they are leaders on campus and in the community. I'm glad to see that, because we expect nothing less from them moving forward."
 
"I will also invest a lot of commitment on the Samford campus and this community. Coach Sullivan has done a great job with the groundwork of taking this program into the community and developing financial support. We're now going to take that baton and run with it. The Sullivan-Cooney Family Field House is very indicative of the growth of this athletics program."
 
"If you look around this beautiful campus, you see a great commitment to football. This is my first time being in this building. I've seen it from the outside looking in from my days at Georgia Southern, and I always said, 'Man, I need a place like that one day'. The Sullivan-Cooney Family Field House is outstanding. I can assure you, I've been a lot of places and there's no place better than this building."
 
"As we head into a new chapter, I think it's very important that we make game days at Samford an event. That only happens with the support of our students, the fans and our alumni. The student body won't have to worry about coming to my office to see me, because I'm going to go see them. I believe that's the way you build support and get excitement on game day. The same goes for our fans and alumni. My family and I are going to be an active part in the campus life and in the community of Birmingham and we want to connect with you and help you connect with this program."
 
"I also think it's important to keep our former players involved in the program. I think that's a crucial element, because once you're a Bulldog, you're always a Bulldog. My door is always going to be open and I want them to feel welcome at any time. We're going to take a strong emphasis on that, because that's how you build your alumni base and you're excitement."
 
"I'm excited about the current student-athletes that are here. I've already met with some of them. You can see their hunger and their passion and that gets me fired up too."
 
"We're going to finalize a good recruiting class and we're going to get out there and share with them our vision and tell them about the Hatch Attack and what it's going to bring to the Birmingham area."
 
"Lastly, I want to address the current coaching staff that is in place. This staff has done a great job. Coach Sullivan and I have talked at great length about this and this situation is definitely not broken, but we also said that you can always improve and get better. We ask that of our student-athletes each and every day, so we can do the same. With any coaching change, there are always some staff changes and this one won't be any different. Unfortunately, that's part of the business."
 
"I can assure you that I understand what this staff means to the university and it's not going to take wholesale fixes. I'm going to sit down and speak to each and every one of those guys over the next several days before we make any decisions. I know we already have some good guys here and you're going to be excited about the staff that we put together once it's all said and done."
 
"In closing, let's talk a little bit about football. Offensively, what can you expect? Here's my philosophy: get the ball in space to people who know how to score, and do it quickly. That's our goal. As long as you score one more point than the other team does, then you're in good shape. Defensively, it's very simple. Run fast and tackle hard. I always tell my defensive coaches as we run on the field, 'If they don't score today, they can't win'. It's a very simple game, and for special teams, well they are going to be special."
 
"We're going to move forward and I'm ready to get started. Tomorrow's success in the classroom, in the community and on the field starts today, and the Samford Bulldogs will attack success in all of those areas relentlessly. That is the Hatch Attack."
 
 
 
FORMER HEAD FOOTBALL COACH PAT SULLIVAN
 "You know when we started out Dr. Westmoreland set forth some very specific criteria for the next head coach at Samford. Chris Hatcher exemplifies the type of man, the type of coach that fit that criteria from top to bottom: he is a player's coach, a student-athlete's coach; he understands the importance of the character of the student-athlete over and above his talent; he has produced winners on and off the field; he has won a national championship; he is a hall of famer but most importantly he is a good man."
 
"I could not be happier to have the opportunity to support Coach Hatcher as he takes Samford football into the future. This process was not easy; we had so many qualified candidates and the committee worked very hard. I would like to acknowledge Gary Cooney and Chris Evans for their effort. At the end of the day Chris Hatcher stood above them all and at this time I would like to welcome Chris and his family to the Bulldog family."