Jim O'Brien, head men's basketball coach
Ohio State University
USA Today

Discussing the five/eight rule regarding initial counters in Division I men's basketball:

"There's this cloud hanging over college coaches. And I don't think that we have anything that we should be ashamed of and anything that we have to apologize for. But there's a perception out there that we're less than ethical, that college coaches are all about the money, they're all about themselves. And I'm one person that objects to that, because I don't think that's the way that it really is. ...

"(I)t really casts such a negative light on what college coaches are all about, and I object to all of that. A lot of guys are not running kids off. Trust me when I tell you kids are transferring at a larger rate for other reasons than guys running players off. Kids are leaving and transferring for one major reason: They're not playing enough and they don't think that they're going to get an opportunity to play."

Billy Tubbs, head men's basketball coach
Texas Christian University
USA Today

"It really makes no sense in basketball, with as many people that are coming out to the NBA. It's like saying we're going to back-tax you for a couple of years. It was ill-planned -- does that surprise you? -- then ill-conceived, then voted in by people who aren't in the trenches.

"Now, other than that, I really like the rule."

Instant replay

Joe Tiller, head football coach
Purdue University
Associated Press

"If you're going to keep national records and stats, you can't have one game utilizing instant replay and another game not. Are we going to have asterisks in the record books? I don't think anybody wants that.

"If it ever came to a vote -- and I don't know if it will -- I would be for instant replay."

Coaching in big games

Lou Holtz, head football coach
University of South Carolina, Columbia
USA Today

"If you're involved in what other people call a big game, it's because you've won some games. I think what you have to be careful of is you don't try anything different than what got you in a big game. That will get you out of the big game."

The educational mission

William D. Adams, president
Colby College
Chronicle of Higher Education

"It's a matter of balance (between athletics and education) -- my concern is that the sense of balance is being lost, and I think you've got to be concerned. But it's very obvious and significant that wonderful things happen in (athletics) programs. Kids learn a lot, and the kinds of things they learn are what we want them to be learning."

Division I-A membership

John Swofford, commissioner
Atlantic Coast Conference
Orlando Sentinel

Discussing proposed revisions to the requirements schools would have to meet to be classified in Division I-A:

"I've seen people reference that we're out here to lay the groundwork to have a super division or whatever. That's never been discussed in a BCS meeting ever in any way, shape or form. It's simply an inaccurate perception."

Nutritional supplements

Ron Carroll, athletic trainer
Arkansas State University
Associated Press

"If (creatine) is totally safe, then why hasn't the American Medical Association endorsed it? I would not have my own children take it. I still have reservations."

Steve Quinn, head football coach
Southern Arkansas University
Associated Press

"The bottom line is this: A guy can either play football or he can't. A powder isn't going to change that. I think creatine works, I think it does everything they say it does, but so does a steroid. And I've never seen a steroid make a football player."