Q and A with Beavers' signee Alex Austin
BeaversEdge.com senior writer Brenden Slaughter caught up with Oregon State cornerback signee Alex Austin to talk about how excited he is to be a part of Oregon State, his relationship with former OSU great TJ Houshmandzadeh, who his favorite Madden team is and more.
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Q (Brenden Slaughter): How excited are you to be a part of the Oregon State rebuild under Jonathan Smith and how was the signing day process for you?
A: (Alex Austin): "I'm extremely excited to be a Beaver. Waking up early on signing day and signing my letter of intent was really cool because I couldn't wait to send it in. Everything just fell into place and I wanted to be a Beaver and I knew that my future was in the right place."
Q: Coach Smith and defensive-coordinator Tim Tibesar both talked about your ability to be a very physical cover corner. Tibesar mentioned that having your length in the defensive-backfield will be key against some of the bigger receivers in the conference. How do you feel that your skill set will help the Beavers’ defensive-backfield?
A: "My skill set will help the defensive backfield a lot. The fact that I'm a long corner with very long arms will help me in the press-man coverage. I'm an all-around corner that can make plays."
Q: Talk about your experience at Long Beach Poly. They’ve had quite a lot of division one talent come through their program throughout the years… How you feel that’s prepared you to play at the power-five level?
A: "It's prepared me a lot. Looking up to the older guys growing up and being able to work behind them really helped me work on my game and helped me improve as a player."
Q: What’s something that you feel you bring to the table as a defensive back that maybe people don’t know?
A: "I feel that I bring a dog mentality that people don't see when I'm on the field. I'm a guy that is going to bring all my teammates up to keep them striving and bringing the heat."
Q: When you’re not playing football, what do you enjoy doing in your free time?
A: "I like chilling, kicking back, and not doing too much. I'll play video games and get out with my friends when I have some time. I love playing Madden and NBA 2K. I'd call myself a better Madden player and my go-to team is the Kansas City Chiefs or the Los Angeles Chargers.
Q: You mentioned how you fell in love with Corvallis… It’s a bit of a different world compared to Long Beach; what was attractive to you about Oregon State?
A: "I felt that it was better for me to get out of the city and I wanted to start a new life in Corvallis. With the greenery everywhere and it being such a nice city, I loved it. The people are great and it's a beautiful state."
Q: Smith mentioned during signing day that former OSU receiver and NFL alum TJ Houshmandzadeh helped put you on their map so to speak. What's your relationship with him like and how did he help you learn more about Oregon State?
A: "Coach TJ is a great dude. He has been coaching at Long Beach Poly since I was a freshman and being around him really helped me become a better person and a better football player. He left the decision up to me, but he gave me a lot of experiences that he had with coach Smith when they played together, saying how much fun they had winning and stuff like that."
