Football coach Sonny Dykes held a pre-spring practice press conference Wednesday at the Simpson Center, an informal gathering with pizza and about 10 reporters. While Dykes carefully picked all the veggies he could off his pizza slice, he answered several questions from the assembled press. Spring practice begins Monday. Here's a sampling:

On the team's attitude heading into spring ball: "The biggest thing I've seen is how hungry the guys are. They've been hard-working. They have been spirited. They've been real positive. That's been the biggest surprise for me in some ways, just based on having a rough year and maybe the perceived notion of the program in some ways. I think the guys are hard-working. I think they've really kind of embraced our style up to this point. It's easy to do that on the front end like they've done, but they've done a great job of doing everything we've asked them to do. I've really been pleasantly surprised with all that. In that regard, I think we're way ahead of schedule."

On the team attending the men's basketball game against UCLA last week: "I think we'll continue to do that kind of stuff. I'm a big believer in the whole team concept. I'm a big believer of student-athletes being part of the regular student-body. I think that's something that we have to encourage our players to be, involved on campus - whether it's sporting events or whatever else is out there available to those guys to be supportive of. So many people support them, coming to football games and cheering and doing that kind of thing. I think that's part of being a good person and being part of a good student, is embracing the whole 'all or one, and one for all' idea. The guys had a blast. They were excited to do it. I think they had more fun than they thought they were going to have. I think they've been pleasantly surprised, just like I have been, by the positive response that it generated -- because it's really not that big of a deal."

On what he's seen from the team so far: "The overall athleticism of the team is much better than I anticipated it would be. But just because you're a good athlete doesn't mean you're a good football player. That's what we need to find out starting on Monday, how well that athleticism translates to being a good player."

On whether there's a timeline for naming a starting quarterback: "I'd love to have a starter after Monday. That would be ideal. One of the guys is so good that everybody goes 'wow.' But I don't anticipate that happening. The sooner the better. Reps at the quarterback spot are the most valuable commodity there is. We have to get whoever the starter is going to be as many reps and as well-prepared as we possibly can."

On what he is looking for in a quarterback: "Timing, accuracy, leadership, ability to inspire confidence of others - that's probably the most important thing a quarterback can bring."