(female announcer)
This is a production
of WKNO-Memphis.
Production funding for
"Sports Files" is made
possible in part by..
My guest today on "Sports Files"
is Memphis Tigers Quarterback
Paxton Lynch.
[theme music]
♪♪♪
The Memphis
Grizzlies are back in the
playoffs and later in the show
we'll hear from members of the
team as they embark on the post
season for a 4th straight time.
But first tonight I sit
down with Memphis Tigers
redshirt-sophomore
quarterback Paxton Lynch.
Last season the six foot six
inch single caller won the
tigers starting job by beating
out popular incumbant field
general Jacob Karam.
Lynch would throw
for over 2,000 yards,
completing 58% of
his pass attempts.
Unfortunately the big
armed quarterback
would be limited with his
verticle passing game as
protection was suspect,
often forcing Lynch to throw
underneath or even tuck and run.
In addition, his
receivers at times struggled,
limiting Lynch to just
nine touchdown passes and ten
interceptions in his first
full season at the wheel.
Today, Paxton joins me to
talk about his expectations for
season two, what he learned from
last year and we find out what
makes him tick.
In one of his first in depth
interviews of his young college
career, the pride of
the sunshine state,
Paxton Lynch, next
on "Sports Files."
[theme music]
♪♪♪
Paxton,
great to have you here.
Thank you so much!
Let's talk about spring this
year as opposed to last year.
How different was it for you?
It was a lot
different, you know.
Last year I was just
kind of feeling it out.
You know I only had
summer to learn the plays.
But this year I was comfortable
with what I was doing.
I could just go out
there and have fun.
Did you feel like you had
to be a leader this spring,
that you had the one
year under your belt,
that a lot of these guys are
looking up to you to be that
leader?
Yes sir, yes sir.
I mean Coach Fuente's challenged
a lot of the players to be
leaders.
So a lot of the young guys are
stepping up as well as some of
the older guys.
Alright, let's talk about this
hurry-up offense that's been
implemented.
We saw some of that
during the spring game.
Tell us about learning that
system and playing that system.
You enjoy that.
Yes, I do actually.
All of high school and obviously
in college I was huddle-up,
huddle-up.
But whenever we
started doing it,
I liked it a lot more just
because of the chances of
busting the big play.
You can run a three yard
game and the next play,
play action and the defense
doesn't know what's going on
because you're going so fast.
Is it harder to learn
that type of offense?
Planes fly over us here
at Liberty Bowl Stadium.
It's a little tougher.
You've just gotta know what
you're doing quicker just so you
can snap the ball faster.
But other than that, I
mean, it's just like any other
offense.
How about as far as..
Obviously to click on offense,
everybody has to be on the same
page.
Is it harder in that
sense because you mess up,
there could be something big.
Always running in to each other.
Yeah, I mean it definitely
has a lot of rich reward but I
definitely feel more comfortable
in this offense rather than just
slowing it down.
Alright, let's
talk about weapons.
Obviously you'd know what was
coming back and you're going to
get some more weapons in
the summer when the incoming
freshman class comes in.
Last year you had some.
This year you had more.
How comfortable are you
with the players around you?
I'm really comfortable.
You know we have B
Hayes in the back field.
We have Sam line up at the slot
coming in motion getting him the
ball.
And we have Anthony Miller
out there on the edge too.
And we have a lot of big
time receivers like D Hurd.
And we have another
big receiver coming in.
So it helps.
It makes my job easier
definitely having a lot more
threats on the outside.
And then just giving
the ball on the inside,
it opens up the fast
game on the outside.
I know a lot of fans last year
wondered going in here's this
guy with this big arm.
Are we going to see
some vertical passing?
And we saw it at times
but we didn't see it a lot.
But you have to have
protection to do that.
What do you think about the
offensive line for this season?
Yeah, the offensive line has
definitely been grinding it out
this spring and over the summer.
You know they've been
in the weight room.
They've all been getting big.
So I'm very comfortable with
my offensive line and I'm a lot
more comfortable with play
action drop back and just
trusting them to
throw the ball downfield.
Was it frustrating for you at
times last year when you wanted
to throw it down the
field but you couldn't?
I mean it's frustrating for
any quarterback I think when you
have a play.
But there were soem plays where
I should have got the ball out
sooner.
And there's some plays where
things jsut broke down on front.
Tell me about your
throwing motion.
I've heard
different things about it.
Somebody described it as
a little bit of a hitch.
I don't see that.
But you're long.
You're lanky.
So it's going to be naturally a
little bit longer to get it out.
Are you trying to make it
quicker with your release?
Definitely.
Coming in to here, coming in to
college I never had a personal
quarterback coach to
teach me how to throw.
I've just been a
baseball player.
So whenever I got here, it's
kind of been a conscious effort
to try to not drop the ball as
much and get it out quicker.
Because when you make
it to the next level,
everything counts even if it's
just in your throwing motion.
What specifically are they
working with as far as trying to
make it?
Just not dropping
the ball as much.
You know I kind of
have a big wind up,
kind of like Tebow kind
of I guess you could say.
But it's a lot different.
He's a lefty and I'm a righty.
Its just long I think.
I've just got to quicken up
and get the ball out quicker.
What I think surprised me a
little bit last year and maybe
some other fans is you
can tuck it and run.
And do you like to
tuck it and run?
Yes, yes.
I was a runner in high school.
I think people were
surprised by my running ability.
And then towards the
end of the last season,
I kind of started to
run the ball more.
So spring, I've
been running the ball.
But you're not live so you can't
really tell what's a big run and
what's a tackle
on the back field.
But I definitely like to run.
I definitely like the read
option plays where I can pull it
and keep it.
Alright, you like it.
How about Coach
Fuente and Coach Dickey?
Do they want to see their
quarterback running with the
football?
Yeah, I mean they do.
But trust me.
There's a cut up film of
quarterbacks sliding and not
getting hit that they
show me all of the time.
Yeah, they want
you to be very safe.
Definitely, definitely.
But yeah, the playing action --
that's very big in this game.
And we see it often.
And it seems like a high
percentage of plays with the
play action are successful.
I mean everybody's going to be
on the same page as we talked
about.
But I think it gives
a lot of defenses..
They have to be on their toes
and watch the quarterback who
can do things like that.
Yeah and like I said earlier,
the big plays can just happen
like that, you know.
We might have a play action pass
for every single run play we
have.
So a play can turn
in to a little game.
And the next play, just run the
exact same play it looks like.
But the defense is
caught off guard.
We just throw it
over their head.
What did you
learn from last year?
Last year I just..
I'm not really
sure to be honest.
I can't think of it off
of the top of my head.
But just last year, I just think
I needed to enjoy my self and
work on my preparing
for the games better.
Because in the spring, I'd
just been preparing for practice
everyday and having the mindset
that I can go out there and make
every play.
I don't think I
had that last year.
But coming to the spring, that
was a big thing I worked on.
There were soem fans when
you would have an off game --
although a lot of
times, quite honestly,
you were on and maybe you're
receivers weren't catching the
ball.
But there was the
clamoring for Jacob.
Could you hear that?
I did but I mean, that's not
something I needed to worry
about on the field.
You know I'm not
worried about myself.
I'm worried about the team
and what the team needs to do.
So it was my job to just push
through it and help the team
out.
Did you have a
good relationship?
Oh yeah, yeah.
Me and Jacob had a
good relationship.
Yeah, we were good friends.
We were roommates, I
mean when we traveled.
How important was it to you to
know that Coach Fuente has your
back and certainly
last year, had your back.
There were times that he
could have made a switch.
He kept you in.
You were his guy.
I mean that just
makes me more relaxed.
I feel like I can just go out
there and play knowing he has my
back even if I make a mistake.
I know that I'm still going back
in there and nothing's going to
change.
You're right.
Last year it was a bad
ending to the season.
The prior year, your red shirt
year was a really good strong
finish at the end of the season.
What do you think happened?
I just, I don't know.
I just don't think we finished.
We might have got
down on ourselves.
But a big thing we've been
working on over the spring is
just finishing.
And when we started this spring,
we were practicing real good.
And then the last two practices,
he was just working on finish.
And we finished real well.
So I just don't think we
finished this season off strong.
How do you work in
practice on finishing?
Just whenever things get hard
because there's sometimes in
practice when you feel
like you hit a block.
And you know the defense is
winning a lot of the plays.
Like you run some
inside hand outs.
You throw it and
they're disrupting.
But you just got to keep pushing
and know that the big plays are
tougher to make.
And that's physical.
Obviously you're
getting beat by the defense.
They're pushing you around.
That's physical.
But part of that
certainly is mental.
As you said, you hit a block.
And oh gosh, you
know, we can't win.
You have to push through that.
Is that what
you're talking about?
Yeah, definitely.
And that's where the leadership
comes in with me and a bunch of
other guys.
We've just got to
keep pushing them along.
What other things are you
working on specifically and what
would be your
regimen this summer?
I think I just need to become
more of a leader and just around
the guys and be myself, just
continue to be more comfortable
and keep pushing the guys
around me to be better.
What will you do this summer?
Give me an example of how
your work outs will be?
Just like weight room, like
getting bigger and then going
out there and running
in that, in the heat,
you know.
That's not easy.
And when you've got
guys that are sturggling,
you've just got to be the guy
that can clap them up and help
them finish.
Does a leader have to be vocal?
I think he has to be
vocal but more importantly,
I think a leader leads by
example to younger guys.
You know when I first got here,
I was trying to figure out what
was going on.
And it wasn't really to me that
I focused on who was talking the
most.
It was who was
doing the right thing.
And I was following the people
who were doing the right thing
basically.
I agree with that.
But are you a vocal guy?
I've never been
really a vocal guy.
I've kind of been to myself.
But I've definitely been
working on that a lot more,
you know, with coaches.
You know you've got ot get out
of your comfort zone to be a
leader.
So I've just been..
I believed in
being the showing guy.
Right.
You know and I've just been
working on my being more vocal
for the guys and
talking to them,
like when we're in
the weight room.
That's a great time.
When they're
struggling underneath the bar,
you know, you just help
them out or they missed a rep.
You know that's a
good time to jump on it.
In practice or in a scrimmage,
when you're going up against the
Tigers defense, who's
trash talking the most?
The D-line for sure
when Bobby's out there..
Yeah, he can get in your ear.
But even when
he's not practicing,
you know, he's finding me on
the sidelines somewhere saying
something to me.
But today when he was on
the blue team with me,
you know, he was
all cheering for me.
So he's funny I guess.
What are they saying?
And let me remind you
that this is a family show.
They're saying
something that, I mean,
you can't really say.
But they're
definitely getting in your..
They're trying to get
in your head for sure.
Now I'm sure it
happened during last season.
Did you ever find a time where
you got rattled by that or is
that in one ear
and out the other?
As a quarterback, you've got to
be in one ear and out the other
like you said.
Because you know the next play,
I'm touching the ball every
single play.
So if I'm rattled on the
next play or the previous play,
then that's gonna affect how I
-- I'm looking for the word for
it.
How I finish the next play
basically I guess you could say,
like perfect the next play.
Do you feel you can make
every throw out there?
Yes, I do.
And that's one big thing that
the coaches have been helping me
out with, knowing that I can
go out there and complete every
throw.
And that's where I feel a lot
mroe confident because I have
been doing that
through the spring.
What's the
hardest throw to make?
The hardest throw to make I feel
like is a lot of throws to the
field to be honest with you.
Like if we're n the left hatch
and we're throwing across the
field to the right hatch, like
maybe a comeback or an in and
out kind of route
like a corner post.
You always hear about like
throwing across your body is a
tough throw for a quarterback.
Yeah, definitely.
Like if I'm rolling to my left
and I got a guy coming this way,
I've got to flip my hips around.
And I didn't really throw
well in the run when I first got
here.
So that was something
I was working on too.
What quarterbacks in
professional football do you
like to watch and maybe look
at tape or try to emulate?
I like to watch Aaron Rodgers a
lot and Colin Kaepernick and Cam
Newton too just because
of how excited I can be.
Aaron Rodgers is more of a
drop back kind of quarterback.
But he's got a canon.
He just throws
the ball in there.
And then Colin Kaepernick and
Cam Newton can just run and make
any defense look stupid.
Going back to something
we talked about earlier,
everybody needs to
be on the same page.
How confident are
you in receiving?
Oh, I'm very confident.
You know we've been
working hard during the spring.
We've been running
a lot of routes.
We've been
throwing a lot of balls.
So we're on the same page.
What was your welcome to big
time Division I college football
moment last year?
I would have to say when we
played Duke and I was running up
the sideline.
I hit a pump fake.
And as I was
running out of bounds,
I got hit still.
And I was like woah.
I mean this is the big leagues
-- not the big leagues but this
is bigger than what
I've been playing with.
So..
There are some hard hits that
you took but you backed up and
brushed yourself off
and got back in there.
What do you think the highlight
of last season was for you?
The highlight?
You know it was just we
were playing some teams close.
And that was a highlight to me.
But you know we weren't used to
playing good teams close like
U-C-F and Lousiville.
We were close as a
comeback on them.
But you know that just helped me
out knowing that we could play
against the big
time teams like that.
And that goes back to what
you said earlier that you're
learning how to finish those.
Becuase you had
U-C-F as you said.
I mean we, like you said, we
had it right there in our hands.
So this year if we have a game
close we know we can finish it
up.
Alright, big time
opponents coming up next season.
You go to U-C-L-A.
You're going to play
Ole Miss in Oxford.
How neat is that for you and
your team mates when you have
big time opponents
on the schedule?
I mean it's
definitely a cool thing.
But you can't really focus
on how big the opponent is.
You know it's just another
opponent and you've got to
prepare for it.
And you got to go
out there and play.
Is there a different..
You always hear
coaches talk about,
you know, the next game.
We got to win the next game.
And some players
say that as well.
And you do.
You have to
prepare the same way.
Come on.
You've got to tell me.
When you're gearing up for
U-C-L-A as opposed to maybe a
one double A, it's a
little bit different.
It is.
It's very different, yeah.
I mean you do gotta go
worry about the next game.
But how you prepare for a
team is a lot different.
How you prepare for a different
team like Austin Peay maybe a
little different.
But your mind set on you
executing is the same way.
Lousiville's gone.
They're leaving the conference.
You don't have
U-C-F on the schedule.
What do you think your chances
are and the opportunity is in
the American to make
some big time moves?
I think we have really
high chances of doing that.
We're all confident in the
offense and the defense.
We know we can do out
there and score points.
And we know the
defense can stop teams.
So we're confident in what we
can do and it's a big time goal
to go to the conference
championship and win it.
What is your pre game ritual?
What do you like to
do before a game?
I'm not really a
ritual kind of guy,
just kind of keep to myself.
I just listen to my
music and that's about it.
Is there anything that you would
do during the day differently
than when you don't have a
game as far as you get a little
Madden?
Of course you've got
class and things like that.
You hear a lot of
professional athletes,
especially N-B-A guys.
They got to take their nap.
The bgi thing about taking a nap
for me is waking up afterwards.
I mean the days that I
don't have practice,
I'll definitely take a long four
hour nap or something like that.
But the days of games
or something like that,
I try not to take a nap
just so I can keep myself up.
Would you feel maybe
if you took the nap,
you'd feel groggy?
Yeah, yeah, definitely.
You definitely have to
wake yourself back up.
What do you think about the
support you get from the fan
base?
I know you would like,
as everybody else would,
to have more fans.
The fans that you have
are very, very passionate.
Yes, yes.
You know we're really grateful
for the fans that we have.
And a lot of the fans stuck
through it even to the season
when we weren't winning as
much games as we hoped so.
But I'm real proud
of our fan support.
You converse with them?
Obviously you have students that
probably come up to you and say
hey, that was a
great pass in that game.
Way to pull one out.
What do people say to you?
There are some people that I've
talked to who knew who I was.
But other than that, I don't
like walk around the campus and
talk about how I'm
the quarterback.
[laughter]
Yeah, it's kind of..
You know I just kind of go with
the flow and whatever happens,
happens.
How about social network?
Social networking
is such a big thing.
Are you on Twitter?
Do you do that?
Yeah, I'm on Twitter and
Instagram and Facebook and all
that.
But you know everyone gets on
to me because I don't have that
many followers on
Twitter and stuff like that.
And I'm like dude, you've got
to give me a shoutout there or
something like that,
get my followers up.
We've got to get
him more followers.
Exactly!
What's your handle?
It's just at-paxton-lynch.
Pretty simple, at-paxton-lynch.
But you have to watch yourself.
Because we know with social
media sometimes people think of
something, they write it down,
they send it and they go wow,
I should have never sent that.
Exactly.
That's something you've always
got to think about before you
type a Tweet.
How's school going for you?
It's going good,
it's going good.
The way my classes are set
up are pretty good right now.
I have a lot of online classes
and I'm only on campus for two
days, Tuesday and Thursday.
And the rest I just go to
breakfast and workouts and I'm
done for the day.
What's your major?
My major is sports
management right now.
Yeah?
Yeah.
Working on a degree with
that and then obviously,
hoping to lead this team to
bigger and better things.
Exactly.
Alright, before we say
goodbye we like to end all our
interviews with something
called Five for the Road.
So I'm gonna ask
you five questions.
First thing that comes to mind.
Okay.
Ready?
Favorite professional
sports team in any sport?
Favorite
professional sports team..
Oh man.
You're from Florida?
Yeah.
I don't think it's a
Florida team to be honest.
I'm a big Steelers fan
because I have some family in
Pennsylvania.
And whenever we go
on a family reunion,
I remember as a kid we used to
go to their practices during the
summer and I used to
get all their autographs.
So I'd probably
say the Steelers.
So no faith in the Dolphins,
Buccaneers or the Jaguars?
I'm not saying that.
I'm not saying that now.
Okay.
Go with the Steelers.
Favorite pro athlete?
I would say maybe
Cam Newton probably.
I don't know.
I've been watching a
lot of golf lately.
So I've been like dang,
that guy's pretty good.
Because you know I've tried to
play a lot of golf so maybe it's
a golfer.
I don't know.
But really Cam Newton.
Even when I
watched him at Auburn,
just the things he did was just
it drove me to be like that.
You know maybe not as
good as a runner but..
I know.
I understand.
Look up to somebody like
Cam Newton is not bad.
Favorite music or musician
or maybe genre of music?
What do you like to listen to?
I like country a lot.
When I go home, I have a lot of
buddies that live out there in
the back woods.
So I like Justin Moore a lot.
So whenever I go
home, we just, you know,
a couple of my buddies got some
trucks and we just go out there.
Yeah, I think people don't
understand how country Florida
is.
Exactly!
There's some
parts out there now.
There's one house for
however many miles.
Alright, two more
questions for ya.
What's your favorite
movie of all time?
My favorite movie of all time?
Probably either
Anchorman one or Anchorman two.
I just saw Anchorman two the
other day and I was laughing so
hard.
I haven't seen it yet.
It's hilarious.
I think it's better.
I was laughing.
Yes, I was
laughing the whole time.
Alright, that's
Paxton's pick-- Anchorman two.
And finally for ya, what's
your favorite television show?
My favorite television show?
Breaking Bad.
I started watching it on Netflix
and I couldn't get enough of it.
And then when it ended, I
was kind of disappointed.
You were sad?
Yeah, I was.
And then you find a new show
on Netflix and you forget about
that one.
Paxton, thank you so
much for joining us.
We found out a
lot more about you.
We look forward to watching you
play in 2014 and of course after
that.
Thanks so much for your time.
Thanks for having me on.
We'll take a break.
Overtime is next.
[theme music]
♪♪♪
Three..
Two..
One..
[buzzer sounds]
Hoop City is once
again basking in the glow
of the Memphis Grizzlies.
For a franchise record
fourth straight time,
the Grizz are
headed to the playoffs.
The Good guys will open up a
best of seven first round series
in Oklahoma City on Saturday.
Not only did the Grizz battle
major injuries and a coaching
change to return to
the "second season",
but they earned the seventh seed
after knocking off the Mavericks
last night 106-105 in overtime.
And by doing so, they avoid a
first round meeting with the top
seeded San Antonio Spurs.
Now let's get this straight,
the Thunder is no picnic either.
Superstar Kevin Durant is the
odds on favorite to win the
league's M-V-P Award.
And they have another superstar
in guard Russell Westbrook,
who missed last season's
second round matchup with the
Grizzlies, a
series won by Memphis.
This season, the Thunder took
three of four from the Grizz
including a 16 point
win at FedExForum,
but there's no question the
Grizzlies feel confident in
their ability to go toe
to toe with the Thunder.
Should be a very
competitive series.
I think the point differential
in the number of games that
we've played are our status.
It's like virtually, they can
really score the basketball.
They're a completely different
team with Russell Westbrook than
the team that we saw
last year in the playoffs.
And you know it's gonna be which
style of play is more forceful.
If we can play them slow and
get them to play slow and in the
mud, as Zach always says, or if
they turn it into a race horse
game, that's going
to be tough for us.
Yeah, we know them very well.
But like I say, it's
going to be a competition.
One game at a time.
Keep that mindset.
Playing hard, playing together.
And just like I say,
paying attention to detail.
We know those guys very well.
They've got great scores and
they get up and down with the
athleticism.
But we have to be
able to, you know,
control the paint and
play hard in those defenses.
You know they got Westbrook now.
And that makes
them a lot better.
Like I say, Coach Joergers gonna
drop a game plan and we gotta be
able to, you know, go
out there and execute it,
defensively and offensively.
They gonna scout us as well.
So we have to be ready to make
adjustments on the offensive end
on the fly because like I
say, they know us very well.
And we have to compete.
You know they're always tough.
You know they're one of the
best teams in the league,
have two of the best players
in the league that we have to
contend with.
And you know when
it comes down to it,
it's all about can we, you know,
enforce our style of play on
theirs and force our big guys.
Try to take advantage of where
we're strong and be able to do
that and win four games.
They got two of the best scorers
in the N-B-A right now with
Westbrook.
I mean he's capable
of having big nights.
Durant, of course, is
capable if having big nights.
So I mean we can live with those
guys scoring but we gotta try to
contain them as
much as possible,
make it difficult on them.
And we just can't let
everybody else beat us.
So a few things is make
sure we box a block out.
Don't let them become a factor
when blocking shots and getting
dunks and continue to run their
supporting cast of the three
point line.
There's Derek Fisher,
Caron Butler and those guys.
Then like I said, just make it
hard on those two guys and their
primary scorers and I
think we'll be fine.
We definitely got to take them.
Oklahoma City is a great team.
We have had a lot of
battles these last couple years.
We're going to
continue to battle.
It's going to be
some tough games.
But we're gonna go down there
with confidence and play hard.
What's the biggest challenge
that faces you when you play a
team like that?
They got Westbrook and Durant.
And they try to
contain them, slow,
you know, one of them down.
And try to
contain everybody else.
Offensively, what do
you guys have to do?
Just play our game.
You know, play our
game, be steady,
take care of the ball,
not turn the ball over.
They get back in transition.
Just play.
Execute, play the
game and try to,
you know, do what
you're supposed to.
And we're gonna get on
the game plane tomorrow.
We'll enjoy and we'll worry
about the Thunder tomorrow.
Obviously that was a very
excited and relieved Grizzlies
team and while the task in
front of them is a tall one,
as you heard, the team is
as confident as they can be.
And that will put a
wrap on this week's show.
Remember you can see any of
our previous episodes of "Sports
Files" by heading
to our website,
WKNO-dot-ORG, and
clicking on 'KNO Tonite.
Have a great week, Go Grizzlies,
and we'll see you next time.
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