Nick Hill press conference transcript

The SIU football team was left out of the 24-team FCS playoff field that was announced on Sunday. The Salukis, who finished the season 7-5 overall, 5-3 in the MVFC, and had an FBS win, were listed as "First Four Out" by the selection committee. SIU football head coach Nick Hill and the team's four captains (Jeremy Chinn, Cody Crider, D.J. Davis and ZeVeyon Furcron) met with the media after the announcement. Watch the full press conference on YouTube here. Coach Hill's press conference is transcribed below.

OPENING STATEMENT

Obviously, we are very disappointed in the selection committee's decision to not let us in. I think that's obvious. I felt like the statements I made last night after the game and going back to watch the film – I stand by those. That's a team, if you're picking the top 24 teams, we're one of those teams. When you talk to the teams in our league that have played us, they believe that. A coach in our league that votes for the top-25 sent me a message and voted us 10^th. I think that's the respect that this team has across the country with coaches. But it's up to the committee and some ADs that maybe don't know who we are. I think that's what we ran into. I don't think that the entire country has respect for Saluki Football, and maybe it was just too late, as far as making a run. But when you set a schedule like we did with two FBS opponents and four of our first five games on the road. We scheduled one OVC team in the playoffs that won nine games and was co-champion in SEMO and another in UT Martin that won seven FCS games. That's our non-conference schedule. Two FBS schools and two playoff-caliber OVC teams to get ourselves ready. Then you play in the Missouri Valley Conference, which everyone pretty much understands is the best conference in the country. When you do that and win seven games, everyone else has got in since 2013. A reporter just called to tell me that since the playoffs expanded to 24 teams, anybody that's won seven games in our league has got in. Illinois State and Northern Iowa have gotten in with six wins in an 11-game season. One of the criteria is if you win an FBS game, that should matter. It obviously didn't. But like I told our team, we're going to respond like we teach our guys to respond to every situation – with class. We can be mad and disappointed, which we all are. There's a lot of emotion and my thoughts are with those seniors that have given so much to this program. I'd like to see them out there playing and keeping on playing, but we don't. We can't make excuses for that, so my thoughts quickly turned to those players. The appreciation I have for them, the love I have for them. When we look back, I truly believe we will see that these guys changed the face of Saluki Football. Just like classes before, like we talked about in 2003, 2004 and those guys. This class, we will look back upon and say they got this thing going again. They have a lot to be proud of and I think they feel that right now. But like I said, in a couple of weeks we will get back together and have a lot to look back on. But for right now, it's a sense of disappointment.

Why do you think you didn't get in?

I really don't know. Geography -- when those games started coming up, I heard the chair have a statement this morning that talked about the games, keeping them within 400 miles and teams not flying. We have teams flying all over the country in the first round. That was this morning when they put that out, so I don't get that. I don't know. I don't know why we didn't get in. The people that cover it for a living and put their heart and soul into covering it the entire year all told me that we were in. Two of them didn't even have us on the bubble. When that happens, then I don't know why we didn't get in.

What did you tell your seniors?

In a short team meeting, there's not a lot to tell them: just that I'm proud of them, and they know that, and I love them. I appreciate everything they have given. I told them that on Friday night. As a coach, you can't say enough for when people do everything and don't get a lot of credit. They're the ones getting up early, and they sacrifice, and they play, and they put everything out on the line. I'm just appreciative of them. We will have time to talk about all that. Right there, with the emotions high, isn't the best time, but we will have our own individual meetings. We will have a banquet, and we will be able to show our appreciation for what they have done for the program. I did tell them that we will look back, and the commitment of this class, guys will look back for years to come and remember when these guys did this, and the run they went on, to get this program going.

Does Kennesaw State's two non-Division I wins bother you, that they got in?

I guess we need to look at scheduling in the non-conference. It obviously isn't weighted that much, as far as the type of opponents you schedule. It's all about number of wins. They played two lower-level opponents. We played two FBS schools and beat one. We had the other one on the ropes all the way until the last snap of the game. And that's a bowl team (Arkansas State). So if they're talking about Kennesaw playing Kent State, who is not a bowl team, close. Well, we played Arkansas State close, and they're going to win eight games. I don't know. I don't have anything against Kennesaw State or any of these teams. Any time you watch a selection show, there are going to be disappointed teams.

Were you surprised your FBS win didn't have more pull?

Again, I wish it had more pull. It's one of those things. When you leave it up to other people, in life or anything, when you put your happiness in relying on other people, you're going to be disappointed a lot. You have 10 guys in there, and I don't know what they're talking about. My thing is, if you know football and you're watching football, maybe the quality of games, their knowledge of football, maybe they're not a football person. Maybe they don't have a background in football. But if you're truly watching the game — not just watching the scores, or the stat sheet afterwards — if you're watching the competitiveness of the game, they talk about calling other teams, call other teams in our league and see what they think of Southern Illinois. I think they would say, '(SIU) deserves to be in.'

Are you more inclined to schedule the easiest opponents you can find now?

I don't think so. You should be rewarded for that. Our league is tough enough. You're going to get quality games and ranked opponents. The Week 1 loss against SEMO is probably the (worst) loss on our schedule, and they're a nine-win team and OVC champions. We don't have a bad loss. Some of these teams that are getting in are losing to non-playoff teams. Every loss on our schedule is either to an FBS team or an FCS team that is in the playoffs.

The committee chair cited an 0-4 record against teams in the playoff field as the reason for leaving SIU out. Is that a good reason in your mind?

I watched the same chairman and those guys talk about how it's not about how many teams in a league. It's about getting the best 24 teams in. If there's seven teams in a league that deserve to be in, that's not the criteria they look at. It's just about picking the best teams. If we're picking the best teams, we deserve to be in there. I'm not making any excuses. We got beat by some teams that we felt like we're right there with. We didn't win on those Saturdays. Ultimately, if we would have won one more of those games, we would be in. Looking back on that, you have to take care of business against Illinois State at home. We didn't. I don't have any excuses for those games. Ultimately, they say they watch games and see who's playing at their best. Two of our best players, and two of the best Salukis of all-time (Jeremy Chinn and D.J. Davis) we went into the first two conference games without (due to injury). South Dakota State and Illinois State were healthy, and we played without two All-Americans. Since then, we're 5-1 and played North Dakota State as close as anyone has all season. But that's the way it goes.

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Players Mentioned

Jeremy Chinn

Cody Crider

D.J. Davis

ZeVeyon Furcron

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Southern Illinoise University Athletics