Colorado head coach Jon Embree, junior offensive tackle David Bakhtiari and senior safety Ray Polk fielded questions at the Pac-12 Media Day event in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning.

Opening statement...

Colorado head coach Jon Embree: "Obviously we're

excited to start our second year in the Conference.

We finished with good momentum last year. Our

goal this year is to find a way to get to a bowl

game. We had a losing streak last year that was, I

think, stretched four years and our goal was to end

that, and we were able to do that.

We're looking forward to starting our second year

in this league."

Coach, Paul Richardson has been

optimistic recently saying that he thinks his

knee is recovering well, he thinks he might be

able to play. Are you anymore optimistic about

having him than you were at the end of spring?

Coach Embree: "Yeah, I am. I'm a lot

more optimistic about it. I saw Paul about two

days after his is surgery and I thought he hadn't

had the surgery yet, he was moving around that

well.

He's been progressing rapidly, and I think

as he continues to work, as he starts doing more

football movements, we will have a better feel for if

and when he will be available for this year. But I

don't think it's something that's out of the question."

What ended up being the biggest

hurdle for you as a first-time head coach?

Coach Embree: "Well, when you go

somewhere and you're trying to create a certain

environment and culture that takes time. We went

through a lot of different things and we're asking

them to do different things that maybe they weren't

asked to do from practice, accountability, being on

time, so it was a lot different than maybe when

they were used to.

We went through five suspensions before

we played Stanford, Oregon, all those -- the better

quarterbacks in the league at the time, USC, and

that. That put us behind the eight ball.

When you're trying to create a new

environment, a new culture, you've got to look at it

from a long term [position] and stick to your vision.

That was difficult and I didn't get to do as much

football as I thought I would have been able to.

Having said that, this year we have been able to

do more football from a coaching standpoint and

it's been good."

Coach, your quarterback situation,

can you touch on that? And David, the

importance of running the football without Paul

Richardson and the extra effort that the

offensive line will have to have.

Offensive tackle David Bakhtiari: "Running the football

is an important part of the game, all offensive

linemen like when we get a run play. We're

excited, we have a good group of offensive

linemen coming in, we had to fill spots with Ryan

and Ethan leaving but we're all really close and it's

going to be interesting for this year, so I'm excited."

Coach Embree: "Quarterback situation,

we have right now three kids for sure that we know

will be involved in the competition. Connor Wood

and Nick Hirschman were supposed to start the

battle in the spring and Nick broke his foot so he

wasn't able to be part of the competition.

And actually it worked out good for him,

because Nick knew the offense and had been

around it and Nick needed to do improve in the

mental aspect of the game so with him not being

able to participate, it forced him to take on that role

and see things from a different perspective.

And then Connor Wood was a kid who

transferred in from Texas and he got all the reps in

the spring. I thought he had a good spring and we

have a kid named Jordan Webb who transferred in

from Kansas. Those guys will be going at it, we

will see where Shane Dillon is from a health standpoint,

he had shoulder surgery so if he's not ready to go

we will pick our quarterback from those three."

Ray, after beating Utah and

knocking them out of the Pac-12 Championship

last year, does it feel like you are building a

rivalry?

Safety Ray Polk: "As far as rivalry goes, they're

a great team and will always be a great opponent.

We're still young in this Conference and we're

trying to figure out where we want to fit in. So it's

going to be exciting. We've got some more games

this year and then I think we will find somebody

who we want to be our rival.

For me looking at it, you look to the best

team and you want to play that team, you want to

make that team your rival. You look to the best

and you expect the best out of your players."

Jon, you have to replace a

quarterback, tailback, tight end, receiver

maybe, linemen, are you confident that you can

somehow manufacture enough offense to keep

up with what appears to be a pretty

high-powered conference?

Coach Embree: "Sounds like that's a

question for the offensive coordinator. Yeah, we

do. We lose 28 players total in that senior class,

so a number of them were major contributors for

our program. As you mentioned, we will have a

new tailback, Tony Jones played a lot for us,

though, and obviously with Paul Richardson being

out and losing Toney Clemens, I feel good about

what we have come incoming and it will help with

us condition to move forward.

Like I said, the quarterback situation, we

don't know what it is, and we have a good idea of

who are going to be those players. We have some

young tight ends that are in that have done well in

summer workouts that we're excited about. Same

at receiver and tailback to add depth behind Tony.

So I feel good about the direction we're headed.

It's going to be young talent. You have probably

heard me say this before, we've upgraded our

team speed and it's just whether it goes in the right

direction.

I like what the kids have bought into and

with the kids coming back, the direction that this

program is heading."

David, it seems to be that the rivalry

between Utah [and Colorado] is a little forced

on you. I'm wondering if there is a specific

team that maybe you haven't talked about that

you could see having a great rivalry with in the

future?

David Bakhtiari: "Like Ray said, we're

shooting for the top. Everyone wants to aim for the

top dog and that's who we want to pinpoint as

being our rival. Utah, it is a media-forced thing, but

it's not 100 percent. They're a great team. We love

playing them, but at the end of the day, I see every

team as a rival and we want to be the best. You've

got to beat the best if you want to be the best.

We're going to try to beat all of them."

Question for both David and Ray,

after one year in the Conference, what have

you learned about the level of competition, the

caliber of athletes you see every week in the

Pac-12?

David Bakhtiari: "Got this question a

lot from being in the Big 12 to being in the Pac-12.

I was fortunate enough to play in both leagues. In

both leagues at the end of the day there are big,

strong guys in each division. Big 12 is a little more

bigger, stronger. Pac-12 is a little more faster.

There are still the 'freaks' in each league. You

have the big, strong fast guys at the end of the day

that are going to come out and play at the end of

the day, so that's the biggest difference in

competition I see."

I feel good about the direction we're headed. It's going to be young talent. You have probably heard me say this before, we've upgraded our team speed and it's just whether it goes in the right direction.

COACH JON EMBREE

Ray Polk: "I would have to agree. From

my standpoint, playing defense, there are just so

many threats in the Pac-12. You've got so many

good players in one conference that it's a different

ballgame. The Big 12 was great and it was a great

conference. For me, you would see, you know,

one great receiver on the team. Here, you know,

you have two or three.

It's just different. It's a different kind of

offense. We can all agree that Pac-12 football is a

great conference and the offensive schemes inside

of it, They're some of the best out there. It's

exciting to play and I'm happy to be in this

Conference."

Coach, we have been collecting fan

questions from Twitter and Facebook so we

have one for you. Which position or positions

do you expect the incoming freshmen to create

the most competition?

Coach Embree: "Defensive back, we

signed five very good players so they will all have

a chance to compete with Greg Henderson coming

back. Greg, who is going to play next to Ray, tight

end and receiver after that, couple of young kids in

there that I think I have a chance to be good

players for us. They will be difference-makers

early so those will be the positions that they can

contribute the most and I would say D-line after

that."

Talk about the difficulties of having

a new recruiting pipeline when you guys were

focused on Texas before.

Coach Embree: "It's not necessarily

new to myself and my staff. I always recruited in

California, I have had every part of California from

San Diego all the way up to the Bay Area. When I

assembled my staff, everyone had a piece of

California in their past.

I believe seven of our coaches have part of

California. We signed 10 days last year out of

California, seven out of Texas. I think right now,

we have four or five commits from California. So

we're continuing to move in that direction. I think

that's the best thing going out of the Conference

now. It's allowed us to be able to tell kids, you

know, we're going to bring them back home and

they will have a chance to play in front of family.

Obviously, with the Pac-12 Network and

what Larry [Scott] has done as far as getting exposure for

the teams in the Conference, that, again, allows

kids in the Pac-12 footprint for their families to see

them. It's been great to be a part of this

Conference and, especially from a California

standpoint from recruiting. A lot of great players

out here, a lot of really good players out here.

If you can have success here recruiting in

California, that will help your program immensely."

Ray and David can you talk about

the returning players who have caught your

eyes in summer workouts?

Ray Polk: "We're doing a great job.

We're working harder than we worked before. And

it's not just with the weight lifting and go running.

We're holding player-run meetings and we're doing

a lot of meeting on our own, so we're getting a

chance to get everybody involved in this defense.

For us, though, Greg Henderson is going

to be a great returner. We're excited to have him

back, Paul is going to be great if he's healthy, but

he's looking pretty good right now. The

quarterback situation will pan itself out, but we

have seniors on defense, like Doug Rippy and

Jon Major, that are going to make a huge

difference for us. I'm excited, it's going to be a fun

season and looking forward to it."

David Bakhtiari: "In the summer, we

split up, so he's with the skilled positions and I'm

more with the bigger guys. So I can't say for the

other guys but with the bigger guys, we're all out.

Our tight end, Nick Kasa is working out

unbelievably, Will Pericak has been killing on the

field and in the weight room. Chidera Uzo-Diribe

works out with them, and two offensive linemen,

Gus Handler and Daniel Munyer have been put in

a lot of work. I would say those are my top guys

excelling in the summer and working hard."