Mark Stoops met with local reporters in Hoover, Ala., before he took to the main stage and faced questions for half an hour.

Watch video of what he had to say or read the transcript below.

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Opening remarks: "Okay, good to see you all, good to be back here. Just like every coach has said, it's really exciting to be back in Hoover getting ready to kick off the season at this event. It's always kind of the first thing that says the summer's over and we're getting ready to go. So it's an exciting time. The players are working hard and things are in good shape and we're looking forward to getting going."

Mark, you all have been very up front about how talented Lynn Bowden is and how much he can help you right away. Do you have to pump the brakes on that a little bit after missing the summer and the expectations about it?

"I don't know. We'll see. We'll see how it goes. As you know, the SEC rule, he's not allowed to be in town or working out with us unless he's going to summer school. So he's not in summer school right now. We do anticipate that he'll be here for the first day of fall camp."

Can you update Michael Nesbitt's status as well?

"Same thing. We anticipate he'll be here for the first day of fall camp. So that's all I can really comment on."

Has anybody caught your eye during these summer workouts? Anybody in particular?

"It's hard to say. We're not allowed to see them with the football. We see them moving around and doing some running and doing some change of direction. And that group has been really good. First of all in the classroom, the way they handle themselves. They've taken care of business. They've done very well in the classroom with their tutors. Very respectful. Kids you want in your program. So that's a really good sign. And what you see on the field, you see some athleticism. Some size, so we're looking forward to getting out there and working with those guys."

Derek Mason talked the other day about how nice it is to finally have a team with some juniors and seniors. Do you share that same sentiment?

"Oh, amen. Absolutely. It's the same, you see that. And you look at our defense right now and we have, what, nine seniors coming back...nine starters that played some significant playing time a year ago. Now you know why some of the struggles we had a year ago. We have nine guys back. And I think, I didn't look exactly, but I think seven of those guys should be back if they come back for their senior year for another year. So think about that experience. Offensively we're actually a little further ahead. Those guys, when we got here they were thrown into the fire and some of those guys have been playing for a long time. It's nice to see them with some playing time under their belt. Some experience. We'll lose quite a bit after this year offensively but hopefully we have some guys ready to step up."

Clevan Thomas was the only true freshman to appear on that two deep you put out...

"Yeah, again, all of those guys, you know, are doing some really good things. And, so, we got an opportunity to work with Clevan in the spring and that gave him a leg up."

On continuity, you don't have to switch around the facilities. You have an offensive coordinator again and Matt House. Is House's addition a lot of the same stuff that's been around?

"It is. It's really nice, staff wise, and you'll hear me comment on that a little later in the main room, but it's really nice. You know, last year, you know, one of my comments was, and you have to find the silver lining, 'The only certainty in life is change.' So we've gone through that but it's very nice to come back and have the continuity especially offensively. You know, our players needed that. It's really nice to have every coach back and you could tell last year as the season went on Coach Gran and his staff did a great job of kind of fitting to what our players can do and put us in a position to be successful. Defensively the same thing. As I said, a year ago, all those guys who were back, those guys were very inexperienced. We went through some hard growing pains. And, you know, we didn't play as well as we'd like, certainly early in the year. Those guys got some experience, got some playing time, we tweaked some things and it got better. This year with Matt House it's nice for Matt and I, just because of the situation and Matt being promoted and with the change, just for me to jump back in there, going into year five, in the program, all those things that needed to take place .... all the fundraising, all the facilities, everything's done now. It lets me dive back into what I really like doing and that's coaching football. Matt's the defensive coordinator but it will be a collaborative effort. It has been. And it was kind of nice, again no fault of anybody, I was involved as well, but when you first get here and you're trying to patch holes and you're doing things and you're trying to do so much, sometimes you take a step back. It was nice for us to strip it down, see what our players can do. So the system will be much the same. But we kinda rebuilt it from the ground up. Hopefully simplified some things and put our players in a position to be successful."

Mark, any response to Greg McElroy on the SEC Network yesterday calling Matt Elam lazy and as big an underachiever as he's seen here?

"Well I'm not ever going to condone anybody singling out anybody. You know, I try not to do that. On occasion, I've spoke the truth about certain things with players in media conferences, but that's not my style to throw any one person under the bus. I've been the first to say we need to improve in that area. There's no hiding that. Our players know that. We need to get better. Derrick LeBlanc here is working with our defensive line. I saw some signs in the spring. I think we're working very hard in the summer and we're going to improve. I have no response to that. I'm not going to single out any one guy."

How are the conversations different, now that you've had some success, and you're trying to kind of get them to that next step? How are they different from a year ago?

"Well, it will be much the same. I mean, you heard me talk all last summer about, what, capacity. Our capacity just to work more, simply put. They needed to strain harder. We needed to work harder in the weight room. We needed to run longer. We needed to have longer practices. You know, both mentally and physically the attention to detail. This year we're more mature. We have some older guys that you just mentioned. They can handle more. It's much the same. But the big key will be consistency. Great teams win, or good teams win. But the really great programs have that consistency year after year and we certainly want to do that."

Mark, haven't talked to you since your brother retired, but now that you've sat a few years in the head coach's seat and you think about doing it at one place for as long as he did it, can you see how that would wear a man out?

"Well for sure. I think, you know, you saw mixed emotions on his retirement and it certainly shocked me as much as it shocked anybody because, but, it really didn't surprise me much. He's been at one place for 18 1/2 years and that's very difficult to do especially at a place like Oklahoma where the expectations are what they are. He won a national championship in year two, won 10 Big XII championships or whatever it is. That's very difficult to do. You may look at his age and say, 'Man, he's awfully young to retire,' but you try doing that for 18 1/2 years, and that's why coaches leave, though. How many times have you seen that at that elite of a program? Somebody stay there for 18 years? I don't know. I would imagine not very much.

Mark, comment on Stephen Johnson's program in terms of his overall strength.

"Yeah, Stephen's getting better just like you would expect. He's a very conscientious young man and he's doing the best he can in all avenues to improve."

Mark, Phil Hoskins dealt with an injury at junior college. Is he healthy and 100-percent ready to help on that defensive line?

"He's not quite ready yet. No. I wish he was. But he had to get two shoulders fixed before he got here. So hopefully, I know I'm going to get a lot of D-Line questions, I mean, we're improving, we're working hard, we have some bodies and hopefully Phil will be able to step in and help but I would anticipate that not until game three, game four, game five as the season goes on. And if there are some injuries, which there generally are, hopefully he'll be ready to go at some point.

With the quarterback depth chart, Stephen listed as the top guy and then the order between Gunnar Hoak and Drew Barker, can you just discuss that position in particular?

"I think, again, a lot's going to be discussed about that. But, last year when we were right here every one of you said, 'How nice is it to come in here and not have any questions about the quarterback, right?' And so, that lasted a long time (laughter). So, when you all are asking me these questions, flip it back to a year ago. Drew was our starter and did a heck of a job. He got injured and what do all of us coaches say? Next man up. Stephen comes in and wins seven out of ten games to finish the season. So, the situation is, and it'll be the same message all talking season, that Stephen has earned the right to be the starting quarterback but that's today. That's today. Drew was the starter last year as we were talking right here. Something happened, Stephen stepped in, did a heck of a job, he's earned that right. But I expect Drew to come back and be better than he was. And if you all remember right, even when we like to forget the Southern Miss game he really did some very good things and he looked very impressive through last summer and through that first game when he was healthy, even though the second half wasn't on him, I mean there was a couple of things he could have done better but he really looked good. And so, I'm excited about that. And we all want competition and if we get better competition you get more depth, all it does is your performance should go through the roof. So we're very confident in those three guys and Stephen is the starting quarterback but I anticipate Drew, if you're asking him, he's going to work today to earn that job and he's going to have every opportunity just like every position on our football team.

Is (Barker) back at 100-percent. Is he able to compete...

"Yes. Yes. Again, I'm not allowed to watch him throw in the summer but everything I see from strength and conditioning, running, the way he looks, yes, and everything that I'm hearing from the receivers and from him, he's getting back to full strength. I think there's always a time when you're coming back from an injury like that, that he has to get out there and get his confidence level (inaudible) and he's working on that. So let's let the process play out and give Stephen the respect he deserves but give Drew and Gunnar the respect they deserve too, just like all of our players. They're out there to compete and win a starting job."

Why did you bring Mike (Edwards)? Why is it important for him to sort of take a leadership role?

"Well I think you guys know Mike because you cover him on a day to day basis. But Mike's a fine kid but he's a great football player. Players respect him. He really plays at a high level and he needs to take that next step to be a leader, to be out in front of people and to just lead because our players have great respect for him so I thought it was important for him, and so I thought it was important for him to be here."