WEBVTT - 11-12-25 The Scott Satterfield SHow 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:11.760 It is showtime. A very pleasant, good evening, everybody. Greetings 0:00:11.760 --> 0:00:14.560 from the original Montgomery In home of the world's greatest rips. 0:00:14.560 --> 0:00:17.639 Welcome to the Scott Saderfield Radio Show. Now, as you know, 0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:20.520 this show is normally on a Tuesday night. Because the 0:00:20.560 --> 0:00:23.319 basketball team played last night, the football show moves to 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:25.720 Wednesday night, which, as it turns out, is a very 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:29.280 important night for the coaching staff. So Coach Saderfield is 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:31.440 not here this evening, but we've got a couple of 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:33.640 great guests that are going to carry us through the 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:37.559 next hour. Up first, the athletic director at the University 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:43.120 of Cincinnati, please welcome John Cunningham. 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:44.040 And a little bit. 0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:47.239 Later in the show we will hear from UC's football 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:51.600 general manager, Zach Grant. Great conversations coming up with John 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:55.600 and Zach. Let's start with the season tonight for this 0:00:55.680 --> 0:00:58.800 football program. Seven and two, with three games left in 0:00:58.840 --> 0:01:02.480 the regular season. If the Bearcats win, and these last 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:05.920 three games are all against very good opponents Arizona, BYU 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:09.440 and on the road at TCU. But if Cincinnati wins 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:12.400 these three games, the Bearcats will play for the Big 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:17.120 Twelve championship in Dallas. It's year three in this league. 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:20.759 That would be an extraordinary accomplishment if they can pull 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:21.119 it off. 0:01:21.400 --> 0:01:24.120 Yeah, it's very exciting. Obviously, there's only a couple schools 0:01:24.120 --> 0:01:26.280 in the country that can say that everything's still in 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:27.600 front of them, and more one of them. I mean, 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:30.040 if you think about it, you could just say that 0:01:30.200 --> 0:01:33.240 the playoffs starts this Saturday, and you just sort of 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:35.959 win in advance, win in advance, and you get to 0:01:36.319 --> 0:01:38.080 the goal, which was at the beginning of the year 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:42.080 and really all spring, all summer, everybody all they talked 0:01:42.080 --> 0:01:44.280 about was let's get to Dallas. Let's play for a 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:48.160 championship in Dallas, a Big twelve championship, because we know 0:01:48.280 --> 0:01:50.600 when we get there, you're one game away from the 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:53.400 playoff and you just kind of take it from there. 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:56.520 So exciting to be in this position, really proud of 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:59.320 this group to, like you said, in year three, to 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:00.520 have this oppportunity. 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:04.720 Coach Sadderfield took over a couple of years ago under 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:08.160 challenging circumstances. Whenever you have a coaching change nowadays in 0:02:08.160 --> 0:02:10.880 college football, everybody's free to leave. A lot of players do. 0:02:11.320 --> 0:02:13.720 In his case, he was also moving into a much 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:18.480 tougher league, so that made things doubly challenging. What has 0:02:18.520 --> 0:02:21.200 impressed you about the job he's not only done this year, 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:23.000 but over the course of two and a half years. 0:02:23.600 --> 0:02:26.440 It's been his steadiness. It's just who he is, you know. 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:29.560 I mean, he had a system that he wanted to 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:30.960 put into place. He knew he was going to take 0:02:31.000 --> 0:02:32.760 some time. He had to get the people around him 0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:36.440 and you know, start to recruit his players and all 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:39.440 those things. It just takes time to do that, you know, 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:42.720 And so I think his steadiness throughout this process. Somebody 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:44.560 asked me, am I surprised by this year, and I 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:46.960 told him, oh, I actually I would have been surprised 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:50.080 if it didn't go this way, because what I saw 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:53.560 leading into this year was a team that was really gelling, 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:57.760 coming together. Our best players are our leaders, are captains, 0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:00.880 and great teams have captain that lead the team. And 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:03.600 I just felt like that's what we were experiencing in 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:06.520 the off season. And then just talking to people around 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:09.400 the program. You'll hear from Zach Grant here in a minute, 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:11.359 but you know, the Nico of the world, and to 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:15.320 Zach Grant and the assistant coaches and John Daniel, who 0:03:15.320 --> 0:03:18.520 works closely with the program. It just really felt like 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:20.240 this was going to be a breakout year, that we 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:22.200 had the pieces in place to go do this. So 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:25.560 really proud of him, like I said, but in terms 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:28.440 of Scott who he is as a person, his steadiness 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:31.280 is what I think always impresses me about him. 0:03:31.400 --> 0:03:34.440 Let's talk about Zach's department, because one of the things 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:37.040 you did, and Coach Saderfield did when he took over 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:42.720 as head coach was expand the recruiting general manager, et cetera. 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:45.520 That entire department. I don't know if you've doubled it, 0:03:45.600 --> 0:03:49.160 tripled it or whatever, but it is considerably larger than 0:03:49.160 --> 0:03:51.080 it used to be. You're spending a lot more money 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:54.440 in that area. You have to be able to compete 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:58.000 at this level. And that decision has paid big dividends. 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:00.560 Yeah, it's been it's been a unit. It's been really 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:04.200 fun to see it come together. Obviously, the centerpieces Zach 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:08.040 grant able to get him from Western Kentucky has ties 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:11.640 to Ohio State, you know, a lot of different connections 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:14.120 around the country, and so he he starts to build 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:17.800 out his team, brings in Jack Griffith and Casts and 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:21.359 and all these guys that are just so talented, and 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:23.400 he can talk about each one of them, but they 0:04:23.400 --> 0:04:25.039 all do a different thing and they all have a 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:27.520 different skill set. One looks at high school recruiting, one 0:04:27.520 --> 0:04:32.000 looks at portal recruiting, and I think, really, you know, 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:34.400 I'd love being around him because they work so hard 0:04:34.400 --> 0:04:36.520 and they're so knowledgeable. And if you ever want to 0:04:36.600 --> 0:04:38.400 know what's going on in the country in terms of 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:40.839 high school recruiting and or portal recruiting, you talk to 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:44.920 these guys. But I'm impressed, especially with the portal side 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:47.839 of things, because that's been the new the new angle to, 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:50.479 you know, making sure that you have a roster that 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:53.120 can compete is going out and finding the right guys 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:56.479 out of the portal that want to be Bearcats and 0:04:56.520 --> 0:04:58.920 maybe are a little under the radar, under recruited. And 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:01.080 we've been able to find those guys and they're they're 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:03.440 participating at such a high level and they're some of 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:05.800 our best players. So give them a lot of credit 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:08.080 for what we've been able to build over over the 0:05:08.160 --> 0:05:08.839 last three years. 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:13.600 Beginning on July first, colleges could begin paying players directly. 0:05:14.080 --> 0:05:16.920 Has it stabilized college sports at all? 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:21.800 Boy loading question I don't know if it has yet, Okay, 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:24.320 And so I said this the other day, I'm hopeful. 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:28.200 I'm hopeful that it will because I do I do 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:32.240 think that you know, every every league it has a 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:34.760 soury cap, right, every league has a cap every you know, 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:36.960 And that's kind of what we've got to develop in 0:05:37.000 --> 0:05:39.599 a short period of time. I mean, everybody, everybody. Actually, 0:05:39.680 --> 0:05:42.599 we've been doing this a long time. The house case 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:46.159 that led to us bringing this in house didn't actually 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:49.359 officially get adopted until June of this year. And we 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:51.719 all anticipated that it was going to happen, and so 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:53.719 we put some things into place to get ready for it, 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:57.359 but it didn't actually happen until June. And so, you know, 0:05:57.520 --> 0:06:01.640 I'm hopeful that that some of these systems that you know, 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:04.120 the NCAA and then this new entity called the College 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:07.720 Sports Commission have adopted can be put into place, and 0:06:08.040 --> 0:06:10.240 then we can get what we what we really signed 0:06:10.279 --> 0:06:12.320 up for with the house house case, which was a 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:16.240 hard cap, a real a true cap in some system 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:18.280 around that. And then maybe we look at transfers and 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:21.240 whether or not we're doing the right things when it 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:24.320 comes to free transfer. Can we work it back and 0:06:24.360 --> 0:06:26.560 go back to a time period in which you get 0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:28.800 to transfer once and that's it. Those types of things. 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:31.000 So I do think there's a lot of work being done, 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:34.280 and we may need some help from Congress. We may 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:36.640 need some different things to finally get it settled, but 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:37.960 we're making progress. 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:40.760 The next two football games are at Nippert Stadium this 0:06:40.880 --> 0:06:45.080 Saturday at noon against Arizona the following Saturday against by U. 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:47.320 We don't have a game time yet on that, we'll 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:51.360 find out on Sunday. ESPN Game Day was at Utah 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:54.440 a few weeks ago when Cincinnati played there, did another 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:57.599 Big twelve game this past week at Texas Tech. Kind 0:06:57.600 --> 0:06:59.920 of feels like maybe it's unlikely they would keep going 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:02.520 big twelve games, So maybe that is not in the 0:07:02.560 --> 0:07:07.320 mix for Cincinnati. But what about the possibility of Fox's 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:11.400 big Saturday pregame show coming to Nippert? Is it you're 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:13.600 feeling that that could be in the cards for BYU 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:14.720 if things go well? 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:17.240 You know, I certainly think so. You know, we have 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:20.160 early conversations with ESPN and Fox and both they're very 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:23.480 interested in how this plays out this weekend. Obviously, we've 0:07:23.520 --> 0:07:26.320 got a really tough opponent. I mean, Arizona is no slouch. 0:07:26.400 --> 0:07:29.520 They could easily be nine to one right now, and 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:31.600 so that's gonna be a game we have to we 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:33.920 have to go perform and play well. If we do that, 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:36.280 and then b YU has a tough opponent. I think 0:07:36.280 --> 0:07:38.840 they're at TCU that you say, yeah, so so if 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:42.000 we both win, it could set up a big time matchup. 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:45.680 And that week specifically, there's not a lot of games 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:47.800 that you point to and say, you know, Game Day 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:50.360 or or Fox Big Noon is going to go there. 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:52.960 And so we're right in the hunt and we're hopeful 0:07:52.960 --> 0:07:54.840 that that if those things happen, that would that would 0:07:54.880 --> 0:07:55.120 be great. 0:07:55.280 --> 0:07:58.480 A big twelve championship game is obviously a major goal 0:07:58.520 --> 0:08:00.920 and has been all year. And if you can get 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:03.880 there and win or maybe even lose, now you're talking 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:07.160 about playing in the twelve team playoff, which would be 0:08:07.320 --> 0:08:09.720 amazing to be back in the college football playoff just 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:12.640 a few years after going in twenty twenty one. But 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:15.120 regardless of all of that, you're going back to a 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:18.480 ball game this year. I don't know about you. I've 0:08:18.520 --> 0:08:21.960 started diving into the ball projections. They come out early 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:24.000 every week, and one nice thing about being in the 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:26.680 Big Twelve as opposed to being in the American is 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:29.480 that all of these ball games are really attractive. They're 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:34.000 in great stadiums against big name opponents on good dates. 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:37.040 So you know that Cincinnati hopefully is going to the 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:39.480 Big twelve playoff, but even are the Big the twelve 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:42.080 team playoff, But even if that doesn't happen, this team 0:08:42.120 --> 0:08:44.120 is going to be playing in a very attractive ball game. 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:48.880 Always exciting. Feel so happy for our seniors. You know 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:51.360 the Gavin gear Hearts of the world that specifically said 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:53.199 we got to get back there. We got to get 0:08:53.200 --> 0:08:54.600 back to a ball game. That's who we are. We 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:58.199 go to bowl games, and so yeah, just it'll be fun. 0:08:58.400 --> 0:09:00.599 I actually haven't dove in do it too much. I 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:03.079 think my wife has more than I have because it's 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:05.320 always a family trip for us around the holiday, so 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:07.600 she's trying to figure it all out. I know, my 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:09.720 boys told me the other day they love pop Tarts, 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:11.240 so I don't know what that means. 0:09:11.240 --> 0:09:14.440 But well, the Pop Tarts Bowl is in Orlando, so 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:16.880 you would have the double dip. Your boys could possibly 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:20.280 get to Disney or one of the other theme parks 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:22.520 there in Orlando. But some of the other balls that 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:25.760 have been mentioned with s where Cincinnati is concerned. There's 0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:28.840 one in Phoenix, there's one in San Antonio, Houston. So 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:33.000 these are great markets, good stadiums, big time opponents. It's 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:36.360 going to be great wherever Cincinnati winds up. This is 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:40.360 the Scott Saderfield Show. We're leaning toward football topics tonight. 0:09:40.440 --> 0:09:42.400 But before we turn it over to the audience, want 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:45.079 to ask you about basketball. Wes Miller's team approved a 0:09:45.120 --> 0:09:48.080 three and oh last night. Beating a good opponent Dayton 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:51.000 obviously is always good. You know, by the end of 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:53.400 the year, that one's going to be good for Cincinnati's metrics. 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:54.839 That was a nice win last night. 0:09:54.920 --> 0:09:56.040 Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I mean, it 0:09:56.080 --> 0:09:58.640 was a great atmosphere. It was great to see Fifth 0:09:58.640 --> 0:10:01.640 Third rocking again the way that we saw it all 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:04.200 the whole entire Big twelve season last year. And so 0:10:05.080 --> 0:10:07.079 really really good win. I'm telling you, Dayton's a really 0:10:07.080 --> 0:10:08.040 good team. 0:10:08.280 --> 0:10:08.520 You know. 0:10:08.600 --> 0:10:11.480 We we certainly had the things that are gonna drive 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:14.880 Wes Miller nuts today. As he watched the film last night. 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:18.400 He immediately watches the film with his staff after the game. 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:21.360 So I'm sure he's getting on him about throwing the 0:10:21.360 --> 0:10:22.880 ball all over the gym a little bit, but every 0:10:22.920 --> 0:10:24.319 once in a while they threw it in the hoop, 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:26.480 which was good. So we were able to get a 0:10:26.480 --> 0:10:29.640 lot of points and beat a really good Dayton team. 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:31.960 And the other thing is we the defense. The defense 0:10:32.000 --> 0:10:34.200 really showed up, and we were talking about that before 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:35.560 he came on the air. I just I felt like 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:39.160 they really played really hard defensively and locked him down 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:42.240 and and some really kind of breakout performances. I thought 0:10:42.320 --> 0:10:45.800 Tyler McKinley was really good yesterday. Is just somebody that 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:48.480 was so solid and made a lot of really smart plays. 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:51.679 And so I think it's gonna be somebody new every night. 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:53.960 You know, we've we've seen that already. Bob I had 0:10:54.000 --> 0:10:56.360 a great night, and then you know Sean has a 0:10:56.360 --> 0:10:58.600 great night and Dada has a great night. So it's 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:00.760 just gonna be one of those teams. But there really athletic. 0:11:00.800 --> 0:11:02.280 They're going to get up and down the floor and 0:11:02.320 --> 0:11:03.240 it's gonna be a fun year. 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:04.120 All right. 0:11:04.160 --> 0:11:06.800 This is the Scott Sadderfield Radio Show, Live from the 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:10.000 original Montgomery In Home of the World's Greatest Ribs. Our 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:13.560 guest in the first half hour is athletic director John Cunningham. 0:11:13.600 --> 0:11:15.600 We're going to take a time out. We'll open it 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:18.240 up to questions from the audience when we come back 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:21.480 here on seven hundred wlw. 0:11:25.280 --> 0:11:27.240 Oh, that's fun to hear this. 0:11:28.440 --> 0:11:31.480 Welcome back to the Scott Saderfield Radio Show, live from 0:11:31.559 --> 0:11:34.839 the original Montgomery in the home of the world's greatest ribs. 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:38.280 Our special guest tonight pinch hitting for Coach Saderfield, Athletic 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:41.280 director John Cunningham in the first half hour, and the 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:44.760 general manager of the football program, Zach Grant in the 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:48.240 second half hour. We will be taking questions from the audience. Tonight, 0:11:48.559 --> 0:11:51.440 our man John Daniel working the room with a wireless mike, 0:11:51.800 --> 0:11:55.600 and he has arrived at Brian's side for the first question. 0:11:56.679 --> 0:12:00.960 Mister Cunningham, Cincinnati has not had a lot of years 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:04.960 where it feels like football and basketball are really excelling 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:06.480 at the same time. And I'm not saying both are 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:09.560 excelling yet, but both are really kind of trending up. 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:14.040 What does it take in your position to get both 0:12:14.040 --> 0:12:16.840 of those sports, you know, the big sports, get them 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:19.040 trending up the way they are at the same time. 0:12:19.080 --> 0:12:22.560 You're you're definitely spread a little wide trying to focus 0:12:22.559 --> 0:12:24.040 on both and getting them getting them rolling. 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:28.000 Yeah, I mean, I think both are unique in what 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:30.320 you have to build around a program and the resources 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:33.040 you have to give to it. I do think you know, 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:35.199 typically football is gonna take it's got to be a 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:37.960 little bit more foundational. You gotta you gotta really take 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:41.200 your time to build football up from from the ground up. 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:43.440 I think that's that's the way to do it. To 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:46.800 get a sustained success in football basketball with the transfer 0:12:46.840 --> 0:12:49.439 portal and things, it's you know, you've seen these rosters flip, 0:12:49.480 --> 0:12:53.880 and you just got to have really skilled recruiters, and 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:55.680 you got to have a real game plan on the 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:57.439 type of roster you want to build, and you got 0:12:57.440 --> 0:12:59.480 to kind of just you know, really be focused in 0:12:59.559 --> 0:13:02.160 on on making sure year to year that you've got 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:05.280 your your you know, seven to ten guys that can 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:07.240 go out there and compete. So it's a little bit 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:10.440 different that way, But certainly it starts with coaching. And 0:13:10.960 --> 0:13:13.520 you know, both of our coaches are are so good 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:16.880 and so dedicated to what they do, love the student athletes. 0:13:17.800 --> 0:13:21.480 You know, Coach Sadderfield and coach Miller are are you 0:13:21.520 --> 0:13:24.400 know guys that these players are going to be able 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:28.080 to call in fifteen twenty years for help and guidance 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:29.719 and that's what you're looking for, and I think that's 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:31.520 how you get successful in both. 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:33.880 All right, Phyllis is up next. 0:13:34.600 --> 0:13:40.120 I have both an observation kind of slash duvetail on 0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:45.000 what you just said, John. I think those that stayed 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:49.400 really speaks volumes to this football program and people aren't 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:54.199 really picking up on that, and I think that that 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:58.720 speaks to the coaching staff and to how they feel 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:03.840 really into this program. And then I have another question 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:05.120 after you answered to that. 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:09.440 I agree, and then you know, that's what I when 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:11.839 we were asked sort of were you surprised that That's 0:14:11.840 --> 0:14:13.880 why I wasn't surprised because I do feel like the 0:14:14.280 --> 0:14:17.520 culture in that building obviously a brand new, beautiful building, 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:21.800 but even before that, the culture was strong and you 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:24.920 could just kind of feel feel that around the program. 0:14:25.000 --> 0:14:28.640 And I think our student athletes feel supported, and you know, 0:14:28.680 --> 0:14:30.840 we're trying to make them great football players that are 0:14:30.880 --> 0:14:32.360 going to make it to the NFL, but we're also 0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:35.000 trying to really work on them as people and make 0:14:35.000 --> 0:14:39.040 sure that they, you know, our great fathers and individuals 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:42.080 in the community. So all that plays into that. And 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:45.920 I believe that those that transfer from other schools see 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:47.800 the difference, and then I believe that those are that 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:50.800 are here stay here because of that. I think that's true. 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:53.400 Then I want to ask you to speak to the 0:14:54.160 --> 0:14:58.440 Impact Fund and the impact of that fund and how 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:04.480 that is whole different thing than just not throwing money 0:15:04.520 --> 0:15:07.560 into a whole so to speak, and what that does 0:15:07.800 --> 0:15:13.240 for especially football, basketball and all of our athletic programs. 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:17.280 Yeah, the Impact Fund in John Daniels holding the mic, 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:20.880 he's my my CFO and holds me accountable for money 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:24.040 every day. But I always say money is not everything, 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:26.320 but it's right up there with oxygen, and it is 0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:28.240 because we in order to do what we need to do, 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:30.680 we've got we've got to have resources to compete in 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:34.800 the Big twelve. And so the Impact Fund is really 0:15:35.280 --> 0:15:37.920 us going out and trying to scale as large as 0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:40.360 we can to our three hundred and sixty five thousand 0:15:40.480 --> 0:15:44.040 living alumni to say, this is your program, we want 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:46.320 it to be great in the Big twelve. We're gonna 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:50.800 need resources to be great. And you know how I've 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:54.720 looked at the revenue share piece to it. I view 0:15:54.760 --> 0:15:56.840 that as just that's just table stakes. You have to 0:15:56.840 --> 0:16:00.640 be a full, full revenue share program. What that does 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:02.920 is that takes a large chunk of money and puts 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:06.160 it into that well. That means everything else needs resources. 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:08.960 So all of our sports are gonna need resources to 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:11.880 backfill the amount of money that we're putting into the 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:13.760 table stakes of playing in the Big twelve, which is 0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:17.680 revenue share. So to your point, Phillis, it's really about 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:21.000 it's really about just just funding all of our programs 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:23.480 and just saying I'm a bear Cat. I want Bearcat 0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:27.200 athletics to be important because it makes the university better, 0:16:27.280 --> 0:16:29.560 it makes our city better, and that's what that's all about. 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:32.120 So we're just asking people to look into it, give 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:36.000 what you can, obviously, and and try to make us great. 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:40.240 Bob. So it's been a little over five years, and 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.600 I remember you probably didn't anticipate on your first day 0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:48.080 having to advocate for completing a ballgame in Birmingham if 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:51.440 you could, you foresee dealing with all of the isolation 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:54.960 of COVID. But other than that, how's the rest of 0:16:55.000 --> 0:16:57.400 the time worked out for you? And where do we 0:16:57.440 --> 0:16:58.080 go from here. 0:16:58.640 --> 0:17:00.920 Yeah, you throw in an I L and you're throwing 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:04.040 collectives and you throw in uh yeah. So I don't know. 0:17:04.080 --> 0:17:07.439 I had a I had an old uh employee of 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:10.240 ours that that is now the CFO at the Big 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:12.840 twelve nick Bows, and I don't know, maybe the first 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:14.600 three years he looked at me and he's like, I 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:16.560 think it's you. I think I think you're the one 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:20.080 that has caused everything to go haywire. But my my 0:17:20.119 --> 0:17:23.560 tenure has been has been pretty crazy. But you know, 0:17:23.680 --> 0:17:27.360 I think what I've learned being here is that you've 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:29.600 got to be malleable. You've got to be willing to 0:17:29.640 --> 0:17:33.120 adjust and and change course when you need to. And 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:36.000 it's all about people. It's all about people in the building. 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:40.600 It's all about coaches, the right coaches, and it's all 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:44.000 about these young men and women that that I love 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:46.919 being around. If I need energy, I go to the 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:50.399 Gold Family Dining Hall and I sit with our student 0:17:50.440 --> 0:17:53.480 athletes for launch or breakfast, and that's how I get 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:55.520 my juice for the day. Because when you make it 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:57.840 about them, you're you're you typically do the right things. 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:01.960 Plus, in the new Football Indoor practice facility, those meals 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:02.520 are really good. 0:18:02.560 --> 0:18:03.240 They're really good. 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:08.760 Yeah yeah, okay, So keeping on that same tone, what 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:13.520 are we doing to advance women's sport? Since women's basketball 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:16.040 is on the up and up, what can we do 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:18.880 to help further our women's programs? 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:21.840 Yeah, volleyball. Just one tonight, by the way, So another 0:18:21.920 --> 0:18:25.119 victory by volleyball over UCF. They're having a really good 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:28.480 year under under Daniel Tomach in her first year, going 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:30.320 toe to toe in the Big twelve, which is really 0:18:30.320 --> 0:18:33.359 good in volleyball. To I think it's I think it 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:37.320 starts with just supporting the women's programs by attending. We 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:40.159 got to get people the fifth third to watch our 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:43.480 volleyball program, to watch our women's basketball program, to get 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:46.920 to getler to watch our soccer program and our lacrosse 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:50.960 program tennis. We've got to get people out and supporting 0:18:51.000 --> 0:18:53.760 in that way. That makes a huge difference. When you start, 0:18:53.840 --> 0:18:56.840 they feel it so much more. You know, our men's 0:18:56.840 --> 0:18:59.600 basketball program is gonna play in front of big crowds 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:01.680 all the time. But when we get a really big 0:19:01.720 --> 0:19:04.600 crowd for women's basketball, or a really big crowd in volleyball, 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:06.919 which we've had already this year, it makes such a 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:10.080 big difference for those young women, and so I think 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:12.000 it starts there. I think it starts with just getting 0:19:12.040 --> 0:19:15.120 to the games and telling people about it and doing that. 0:19:15.359 --> 0:19:18.040 And then obviously there's other ways to support. Each one 0:19:18.040 --> 0:19:21.760 of those programs have their own development funds, and again 0:19:21.800 --> 0:19:24.640 they need funding just like everybody else, and they're trying 0:19:24.680 --> 0:19:27.000 to be top level in the Big twelve, and so 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:29.200 we need to support them financially as well. 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:31.200 I think attendance for the women's game is going to 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:33.439 get a big bump when d Alexander is able to 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:37.280 play the most highly touted recruited school history, a local player, 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:40.960 three time miss basketball in the state of Ohio. Unfortunately, 0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:42.879 she's going to miss the first half of this season 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:46.040