Jay Boulware speaks

By Andrew Gribble
Auburn University Beat Reporter
Published: February 25, 2009

One thing was learned today in the liberal media’s chat with tight ends coach/special teams extraordinaire Jay Boulware.

Don’t be late. He’ll call you out.

We’ll leave it at that, as some things are best left with few details. We can assure you, though, that we were punctual.

We hope Jay appreciates that.

Here are the highlights from a longer-than-expected chat with the youngest coach on Gene Chizik’s staff.

When did you know you were coming to this special place they call Auburn?
When (Chizik) called.

Umm, Jay, we need a little more than that.
Obviously, I know Chiz. When he called, I don’t remember the exact date, but he said, you know ‘You’re in.’ So, I’m here. I’m here and I came on with him. I don’t remember the exact timetable. He just called me up and said ‘You’re in.’ So I got on a plane and came down.

How has the coaching staff meshed?
Awesome. Awesome. Absolutely awesome.

Boulware went on to tell the media about the first time he met Chizik. Chizik was trying to “steal” Boulware from Utah. With the Super Bowl playing in the background, Boulware and Chizik talked for 10-12 hours.

What do two men talk about for 12 hours?
Ball. Ball, baby. Ball. Every single aspect.

Was there progress being made at Iowa State? Five-and-19 is pretty bad.
We most definitely were. There’s a reason why those kids were upset that Gene left. Those kids were crushed. Not because of, obviously, we had a losing record that season, but because we brought a lot of great players to Iowa State – we had a really good recruiting class.

We were just really young. Any time you start nine or 10 true freshman, you’re in trouble. You’re in trouble, so you better strap it up. They say you lose two games for every true freshman that you start and we didn’t have 18 games to play.

How was Chizik during all that losing?
Awesome. Awesome. Obviously, he didn’t like the fact that we were losing games, so he had to find solutions to it. But he was awesome.

Do you think your special teams unit will be just as awesome?
If you ask me what will I be known for here, it’s probably something none of you guys will ever see, but the kids will know that they will be coached and well-prepared for the next level. That’s what we’ll leave them with. They’ll know how to get off a press-man if they’re a gunner. They’ll know how to cover a kick. They’ll know how to hold up on a punt return. They’ll know how to execute an assignment on kickoff return. They’ll be very good at it.

We heard this Philip Lutzenkirchen guy was pretty good.
Phenomenal athlete. Phenomenal athlete. Tremendous hands. We plan on Philip being a big part of what we’re doing next season. I think Philip is exactly what we’re looking for and I look forward to coaching him. I like his attitude. I like his demeanor. I like everything about the kid right now.

How’s Tommy Trott doing?
Tommy’s busting his tail right now trying to get himself healthy to come back. No one’s more teed off, per say, than he is right now because he wants to be out there and he wants to be a part of it. It’s his senior year coming up and he’s looking to have a big year. I don’t think he’ll be able to participate, but I’m not sure.

End Scene