Speaker 1: Welcome to another episode. Jesus, fuck it got that ready? Yep,
Speaker 1: Welcome to another episode of the Bust and Spring Tour
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four. If you're a Tier one joining us,
Speaker 1: you guys know what to do. Welcome to Florida State
Speaker 1: fans with open ours. If you're a Florida State fan
Speaker 1: just tuning in, make sure you're subscribed and leaving comments.
Speaker 1: What we do on the Spring Tour is we go
Speaker 1: to different stops. We just released the Nebraska interviews. Now
Speaker 1: we're doing Florida State. We're gonna have Oregon and then Alabama.
Speaker 1: But what we need you to do is make sure
Speaker 1: you're subscribed. Because we sit down, we interview a couple
Speaker 1: players and the head coach talk to them about the
Speaker 1: previous year, the expectations of the upcoming year, because let's
Speaker 1: face it, when we're in the offseason, we all have
Speaker 1: the best expectations. We've all won the national title, so
Speaker 1: the conversations are a lot more fun. You're about to
Speaker 1: watch Braden Fisk and coach no head coach Norvelle, and
Speaker 1: then tomorrow you will be watching Patrick Payton and DJ.
Speaker 1: I don't want to butcher your last name, but DJ
Speaker 1: the quarterback that went from Clemson to Oregon State and
Speaker 1: now his final stop at Florida State. Again, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for your support. If you're a Florida State fan,
Speaker 1: it's your first time tuning in. Welcome to Bust with
Speaker 1: the Boys. Make sure you're subscribed, make sure you're leaving comments.
Speaker 1: You can follow us at BUSS and WTB. Enjoy this episode.
Speaker 1: Big hugs, tiny kisses, solid Coach Norvell, thank you for
Speaker 1: joining us. This is a pleasure. My first question, if
Speaker 1: you're in the college, who will playoff? Do you guys win?
Speaker 1: And second question two part question, do you think Kirk
Speaker 1: Kurvestreet would agree with your answer?
Speaker 2: You know, I mean last year's team was a special team,
Speaker 2: and you know I put I put nothing past what
Speaker 2: that team would have accomplished. I know there's a lot
Speaker 2: of adversity, you know, obviously losing a quarterback, you know,
Speaker 2: having to go through the things we went through. But
Speaker 2: you know, defense wins championships, and you know, you look
Speaker 2: at that championship game and you know it was really
Speaker 2: explosive and quality Louisville team, and you know our defense
Speaker 2: rose to the occasion. We did what was necessary. So
Speaker 2: I put nothing past with that team you did you
Speaker 2: could have accomplished, but you know, also really proud of
Speaker 2: all the things they did accomplish and yeah that's what
Speaker 2: you know, for the choices and all the things that
Speaker 2: were made. You know, we couldn't control all that, but yeah,
Speaker 2: they did what they needed to do for thirteen weeks
Speaker 2: and you know, forever you believe that that was one
Speaker 2: of the one of the great teams, you know in
Speaker 2: college football, you know, one of the great teams of
Speaker 2: Florida State history, one of the great teams in college
Speaker 2: football history. You look back, how many teams had an
Speaker 2: opportunity to go thirteen to oh in today's age of
Speaker 2: you know, your college athletics plain a very good schedule
Speaker 2: and you know so I'm I'm grateful for what they did,
Speaker 2: but put no doubt, no boundaries to what they would
Speaker 2: have accomplished.
Speaker 1: Can you take us to the day where the selection,
Speaker 1: the committee, they made their choices. You going into it,
Speaker 1: are you thinking like you probably thought through all the
Speaker 1: different angles we might not get in, we might get in.
Speaker 3: No, I didn't think that. Actually, well you were shout
Speaker 3: of doubt we're getting chosen.
Speaker 2: I was, you know, ultimately that's what I believe, you know,
Speaker 2: I mean, it had never happened before in history of
Speaker 2: college athletics, never been a power five team that went
Speaker 2: undefeated that did not get a chance, uh to to
Speaker 2: compete for a championship, and in today's age, and so
Speaker 2: you know, you sit there and you look at it.
Speaker 2: I was, I believe, do what you got to do,
Speaker 2: and it's all gonna all gonna play out.
Speaker 3: But you know, obviously that was not the case, right right.
Speaker 4: Did they give you any explanation on why or it
Speaker 4: was just this is what it is. We don't have
Speaker 4: to give you no reason why it happened, because around
Speaker 4: the around the world, we heard it was because y'all
Speaker 4: to have a starting quarterbacks all stuff that we're yeah,
Speaker 4: we were hearing. So we heard, oh, since they haven't
Speaker 4: started quarterback, why put them in in the national championship
Speaker 4: game without a star quarterback?
Speaker 2: That really, I mean it's you know, obviously there's a
Speaker 2: group that was in a room, and you know they
Speaker 2: made a decision based off what they whatever those conversations were.
Speaker 2: You know, you know what people saw on national TV
Speaker 2: from a selection show.
Speaker 3: I mean, that's what was real.
Speaker 2: And you know, as I found out, when that logo
Speaker 2: came up and it wasn't ours man, So you know,
Speaker 2: it is like I said, it is what it is.
Speaker 2: There's nothing that they can never you know, and really
Speaker 2: no no explanations going ever, you know, you impact what
Speaker 2: what happened for us, I mean we had to live
Speaker 2: it and uh but yeah, just like I told the
Speaker 2: team after that happened, you know, I mean, it doesn't
Speaker 2: take away from what that team accomplished and did the
Speaker 2: circumstances affect you know, your things moving forward, you know
Speaker 2: for Art for that team, yes, and you know, ultimately
Speaker 2: it was you know, it was it was a shame
Speaker 2: that we didn't get to to to finish out with
Speaker 2: a chance to compete for a national championship. But you know,
Speaker 2: I definitely, uh, you're forever grateful for that, for that
Speaker 2: team and the season that we did have.
Speaker 4: So you do you think that's the decision why some
Speaker 4: of the players chose to go to the draft and
Speaker 4: not actually playing the Georgia game.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, And I know you can have you know, for
Speaker 2: for whatever people's beliefs are. You know, I've told people
Speaker 2: that I think if we would have lost a CC championship,
Speaker 2: we probably would have had I'm pretty certain we'd had
Speaker 2: majority of those guys would have played based off you know,
Speaker 2: how they how they how to finish and to finish
Speaker 2: the right because we would have earned the loss, you know,
Speaker 2: and that's ultimately you know, when you look at at this.
Speaker 3: Game, I mean, you know, our guys, they.
Speaker 2: Put a lot into it, and you know when you
Speaker 2: see I mean it's a with a very talented team
Speaker 2: and a bunch of guys that are making decision for
Speaker 2: for their future and and right wrong or indifferent, you know,
Speaker 2: just the thought processes. You know, we did everything that
Speaker 2: we could to put ourselves in position, and we were
Speaker 2: told that it wasn't good enough. And you know when
Speaker 2: that when guys are trying to make a decision on
Speaker 2: their future, that's what that was the.
Speaker 3: Probably the biggest challenge for me.
Speaker 2: And and you know, going back and forth with with
Speaker 2: that and talking about options and and things of choices
Speaker 2: of what guys were trying to make, you know, it
Speaker 2: was it was difficult and I still say it was
Speaker 2: the hardest month of my coaching career, you know, from
Speaker 2: you know, win that championship, you know, the way that
Speaker 2: we won. It was probably one of those gratifying wins
Speaker 2: I've ever been a part of, but really only having
Speaker 2: twelve hours to celebrate that and then you know that
Speaker 2: next day, you know, everything from that point was really heartbreak.
Speaker 3: I mean, to be honest, it was.
Speaker 2: It was a heartbreaking moment to have to to go
Speaker 2: through and live through, and you know, to be there
Speaker 2: for your players that you know gave so much and
Speaker 2: you know, just that disappointment was was difficult. And you know,
Speaker 2: you got guys that are making, you know, their multi
Speaker 2: million dollar decisions on you know, if they go when
Speaker 2: they play and they get hurt, then what does that
Speaker 2: look like? Or you know, I mean obviously dealing with
Speaker 2: the emotional and physical hurt of something happening to them
Speaker 2: that had never happened before. But you know, I also
Speaker 2: told him was like, you know, you know my opinion,
Speaker 2: I didn't think it was right. I didn't think it
Speaker 2: was fair whatever all those words are. But also in life,
Speaker 2: there's gonna be plenty of things that happened in their
Speaker 2: life that might not be right or might not be fair.
Speaker 3: So make sure that you know.
Speaker 2: As we work through that, that we stay true to
Speaker 2: who we are and you really try to to understand
Speaker 2: you know that every everything that you say, all that
Speaker 2: you do, you know it's going to have an impact,
Speaker 2: and it is. You know, that was a special team
Speaker 2: and it's one that is going to be celebrated, one
Speaker 2: that's going to be remembered. But you know, obviously I
Speaker 2: hate how the how how it all finished.
Speaker 3: Yeah, go through that.
Speaker 1: When you're how are you having those conversations because you're
Speaker 1: obviously going through the pain and the disappointment just like
Speaker 1: the players are. But when they are making those decisions
Speaker 1: either go to the draft or sit out for health
Speaker 1: reasons or whatever the case may be, versus when you
Speaker 1: were talking about if you were to lose the championship game,
Speaker 1: you can't you earned that loss, and then you're excited
Speaker 1: to almost go prove people wrong or whatever the case
Speaker 1: may be. But going against a team like Georgia, how
Speaker 1: are you having those conversations about trying to have those
Speaker 1: guys motivate that, like, hey, we have another opportunity still
Speaker 1: go out here and prove it against a team who's
Speaker 1: been number one, they just had a they just had
Speaker 1: a lapse, a loll against Alabama. If we go out
Speaker 1: and beat this team, like you're basically you know not
Speaker 1: that you want to make fake rings or anything else,
Speaker 1: but you're out there able to kind of claim a title.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I mean that's that was the you know,
Speaker 2: there's a twofold challenge because one on you know, those
Speaker 2: conversations and you know the opportunity and all those things
Speaker 2: that are out there. But also you know, this selection
Speaker 2: committee was that twelve fifteen by four point thirty, I
Speaker 2: was at home visit because we had basically two weeks
Speaker 2: of recruiting, so a lot of the messaging that, you know,
Speaker 2: and that's where one of the things that I reflect
Speaker 2: back to is, man, how could how could I have changed?
Speaker 2: You know, to be there, you know even more, you know,
Speaker 2: and to be able to support guys and just such
Speaker 2: a you know, it's you know, it is a once
Speaker 2: in a life.
Speaker 3: Because it never happened again.
Speaker 2: I mean there might be teams that get left out
Speaker 2: and think they should be in or out, but they
Speaker 2: would have earned whatever losses, whatever the record is. I mean,
Speaker 2: if you're fighting for twelve or thirteen, whatever that number
Speaker 2: is going to be eventually, you know, you still put
Speaker 2: yourself in that position. You know, we had a team
Speaker 2: that felt that it had earned and played and done
Speaker 2: everything that was necessary to get you know, the shot
Speaker 2: at it, and so but then having you know, going
Speaker 2: on the road and you were fighting, we got two
Speaker 2: weeks of signing day and you're fighting every everything that
Speaker 2: you could fight for the class that's coming, you know,
Speaker 2: and being able to like I said, I didn't go
Speaker 2: into it with the contingency plan of oh if we
Speaker 2: don't get in right, yeah, I mean that's that was
Speaker 2: That was you know, never part of my thought process.
Speaker 3: But you know, being able to try.
Speaker 2: To connect with guys when I'm on the road, and
Speaker 2: you know, since some you know, we have our our
Speaker 2: team communication and messaging and and so you tried to
Speaker 2: be able to communicates as much as possible and our
Speaker 2: coaches did a great job of trying to touch base
Speaker 2: with that. But I mean it was it made all
Speaker 2: the challenges even that much more magnified just with how
Speaker 2: the schedule was.
Speaker 3: But uh, you know, it was you have you had.
Speaker 2: An opportunity and you know, to to be honest with
Speaker 2: you and really, like I said, this is everybody can
Speaker 2: have their own perspective of it.
Speaker 3: You know, we had to live our our reality to
Speaker 3: what it was.
Speaker 2: And you know, there were guys that you know, that
Speaker 2: felt that they put themselves in a position and uh so, coach,
Speaker 2: we yes, we put ourselves at risk when it comes
Speaker 2: to their to their professional opportunities. You win that game,
Speaker 2: but what if that's still not good enough? And that
Speaker 2: was the balance of trying to work through that was
Speaker 2: with with guys. And we had some guys that played,
Speaker 2: and you know, we had a good number of guys
Speaker 2: that that did not, And you know, it was a
Speaker 2: it was a hard choice for them to like, yeah, that's.
Speaker 3: What everybody says, Oh, they're just that's they're making.
Speaker 1: Man.
Speaker 2: They poured everything it had into this team they put
Speaker 2: I mean, you don't respond the way that you did
Speaker 2: when you think about the week eleven, we lose our
Speaker 2: starting quarterback right going on the road, one of our
Speaker 2: biggest rivals, you know, obviously in that game.
Speaker 3: To be able to.
Speaker 2: Resiliency, the response, the fight, I mean, all the things necessary.
Speaker 2: We go down with our third string quarterback, they're in
Speaker 2: the championship game, and to take all the steps that
Speaker 2: were necessary to win that game. And it's that was
Speaker 2: that was heart, That was character that I mean, it
Speaker 2: showed the you know, the culture of what we had here.
Speaker 2: And I mean even throughout the course of the season.
Speaker 2: With four games last year, we were down ten points
Speaker 2: and you saw a team that never got rattled. They
Speaker 2: just continued to ression. Could we continue to fight? But
Speaker 2: you know, like I said at the at the end
Speaker 2: of it, with that decision that was made, uh, you know,
Speaker 2: it was a difficult It was a difficult decision for
Speaker 2: the players, it was hard for fan base, everybody. But
Speaker 2: it was also something never that had never occurred before too,
Speaker 2: and so that's what made it, you know, it was
Speaker 2: you were treading new waters when it came to that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think it shocked everyone and I and I
Speaker 4: ultimately that's probably why they's twelve now, twelve teams are
Speaker 4: now going in because probably what happened to Florida State.
Speaker 3: Would you say, well, it was already going in motion.
Speaker 4: I mean it was gonna go in motion, but then
Speaker 4: that falls.
Speaker 1: Falls like because this year it would have been a
Speaker 1: you know, but it's I feel like it's gonna it
Speaker 1: happens every year, but this year it's like you look
Speaker 1: across the border, like the top ten twelve teams and
Speaker 1: you're like, you know, this would have been a great
Speaker 1: year for the playoffs because you know, obviously you have
Speaker 1: an unfortunate situation like like Florida State, you're trying to
Speaker 1: choose out of one lost big you know, Pack twelve
Speaker 1: and Big ten. But yeah, this would have been a
Speaker 1: great year.
Speaker 3: For the for the Yeah, definitely, because you.
Speaker 1: Had a It was like missoo was making a little noise.
Speaker 1: They would squeak out some little wins to where it
Speaker 1: would have just been fun to see the college fotball
Speaker 1: playoff this year. Are you excited about the new the
Speaker 1: transition to the playoff to the twelve team playoffs? Oh?
Speaker 2: Yeah, And you know I think that you know, when
Speaker 2: you get it, you get a chance to go, and
Speaker 2: you'll compete, earn it on the field, get a chance
Speaker 2: to go, you'll fight for a championship. And you know,
Speaker 2: the great thing about college football is every game does matter,
Speaker 2: and it doesn't it doesn't matter where, when, but you know,
Speaker 2: being able to if you have a team that you
Speaker 2: know hasn't either an early loss or have it to
Speaker 2: have a team that you know. You look at the
Speaker 2: Georgia team last year, I mean I watched them all
Speaker 2: like that was probably the most talented group of of
Speaker 2: any team that was in the country from last year's
Speaker 2: team and you know they for whatever reason, you know,
Speaker 2: they came up short in their championship game. And you
Speaker 2: know that group, even a lot of the guys that
Speaker 2: are going to the NFL that you know, they wanted
Speaker 2: to finish together and leave on on the good note,
Speaker 2: on a good note.
Speaker 3: And so h you saw that.
Speaker 2: But if you put that team in the playoff last year,
Speaker 2: if you put us in a playoff last year, I
Speaker 2: mean you're talking about there's gonna be a lot of
Speaker 2: fun games to watch, and you know, and everybody has
Speaker 2: their their own situations. I mean fighting, their injuries are
Speaker 2: part of it. You know that that's the part of
Speaker 2: the game. I mean, they don't stop a game in
Speaker 2: the middle of it if somebody goes down. It's about
Speaker 2: all the things we learned since we're kids and playing
Speaker 2: this game. How do you respond? You know, you know
Speaker 2: who's going to rise up, who's going to And that
Speaker 2: was what will forever be remembered when it comes to
Speaker 2: that team, just the thirteen week journey of all those
Speaker 2: situations and what they did. So you know, I think
Speaker 2: it'll be fun when you see twelve teams getting a
Speaker 2: chance to compete for that because there's still gonna be
Speaker 2: situations where somebody might be without a great player, right,
Speaker 2: but if they've earned the right in then you can
Speaker 2: see how they what they do with it.
Speaker 3: That's so true.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna move away from that because I'm a D
Speaker 4: two guy. You a D two guy Central Arkansas. I
Speaker 4: don't know if people on the team know that you
Speaker 4: play wide receiver. You still hold the record I think
Speaker 4: up there at Central Arkansas right.
Speaker 3: Zone coverage meater Man, Yeah, I think I think he's
Speaker 3: first and fifth on the list.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he like, I think he had like two hundred
Speaker 4: and thirteen receptions, two thousand, six hundred and eleven yards,
Speaker 4: fifteen touchdowns, one rushing touchdown, two passing touchdowns.
Speaker 3: Correct sounds good? Yeah, yeah, oh hey he knows. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I know that you're thirteen all the other stuff. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I know.
Speaker 4: So like, is that what you know pretty much led
Speaker 4: you to being a GA right out of Central Arkansas?
Speaker 4: You was just like, yo, I want to be I
Speaker 4: want to coach. Did you not see yourself going to
Speaker 4: the NFL. What was the reason why you went straight
Speaker 4: to GA right out of college?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: So, man, I've known I've wanted to coach since I
Speaker 2: was in the seventh grade. This was my my passion.
Speaker 2: I've never had an option B. This is what I've
Speaker 2: always wanted to do. Some of the most influential people
Speaker 2: in my life were my coaches from my Pop Warner
Speaker 2: coach David Riese, and he still comes to our games
Speaker 2: nowadays to you know, I was so blessed to have
Speaker 2: great high school coaches, college coaches.
Speaker 3: You know, this was my path, This was my journey.
Speaker 2: You know, obviously every player has a dream of playing
Speaker 2: in the National Football League, right you know, I made
Speaker 2: the most of my college career. You know, my senior year,
Speaker 2: you know, it was unfortunate. I dealt with a lot
Speaker 2: of injuries. I'd have two surgeries right when the season
Speaker 2: was over. I had knee and shoulder surgery. You know,
Speaker 2: I actually thought that my skill set would have probably
Speaker 2: been better in you know, CFL or one of those
Speaker 2: one of those other leagues. Just but when I had
Speaker 2: the injuries and I knew the rehab and you know,
Speaker 2: all the things, I kind of played through that senior year.
Speaker 2: You know, I could chase the dream to continue to play,
Speaker 2: or I could follow, you know, follow the passion of
Speaker 2: what I wanted to be. You know, for the long term,
Speaker 2: and so I immediately you had the surgeries, you know
Speaker 2: I was doing, you know, jumped right right into coaching.
Speaker 2: I got a chance to be a graduate assistant there
Speaker 2: my first year at U c A. And you know,
Speaker 2: obviously had some some doors open, you know, there are
Speaker 2: those those next couple of years, and uh, he was
Speaker 2: able to follow the passion of being a coach and
Speaker 2: been very fortunate for I've been able to do it
Speaker 2: with Yeah, because.
Speaker 4: It was in Arizona State, Pittsburgh, Uh, Tulsa, Memphis, that's
Speaker 4: where you got three A C championships, correct, Yeah.
Speaker 2: The three three divisional chamships and obviously the one the
Speaker 2: one A.
Speaker 4: C C champ Okay, yeah, yeah, And so you accomplished
Speaker 4: a lot. Then to come to Florida State changed that
Speaker 4: program to be where you're at now.
Speaker 3: Just tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 4: Leaving Memphis and then coming to Florida State.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, I mean I loved I loved my
Speaker 2: time at Memphis, and so it was a great place,
Speaker 2: great opportunity. You know, when I when I became the
Speaker 2: head coach there, I was the youngest head coach and
Speaker 2: and uh, you know Division one football at the time
Speaker 2: and so blessed with opportunity, and you know, we were
Speaker 2: able to to do some wonderful things in that program,
Speaker 2: get some great players, and then you know when the
Speaker 2: when the the chance you know, came and presented itself
Speaker 2: to to come to Florida State. It was truly a
Speaker 2: special one. And this was a program. I grew up
Speaker 2: in Dallas, Texas. You know, I really didn't have any
Speaker 2: affiliations to to a to a school. But you know,
Speaker 2: the very first piece of college memorability I ever owned
Speaker 2: was a night ninety three National Championship license plate and
Speaker 2: that was the only thing I actually had on my
Speaker 2: wall and had, you know, the great players, you know,
Speaker 2: Derek Brooks worked done, Charlie where their names are up
Speaker 2: all in this license plate, and it was something that
Speaker 2: you know, I was a Florida State fan, even not
Speaker 2: having a tide to the program, but it was really
Speaker 2: you know, you know when we were all coming up,
Speaker 2: I mean, it was just how they played, It was
Speaker 2: a mentality, it was just the place and so uh
Speaker 2: and I love that and you know, so much respect
Speaker 2: for Coach Bowden just how we did it. The the
Speaker 2: sustained success over all the years I mean you could
Speaker 2: you could bank on a Borida State was going to
Speaker 2: be in the in the national title hunt. They were
Speaker 2: going to be in the conversation all the great players.
Speaker 2: And so when the opportunity presented itself, you know, the
Speaker 2: program had found you know, some challenging times, and you know,
Speaker 2: I had an absolute passion and desire to want to
Speaker 2: be a part of getting this program back to where
Speaker 2: it deserves to be. And it's, uh, it's been a
Speaker 2: great joy, you know, being able to meet all the
Speaker 2: past players, you know, be able to uh, you know,
Speaker 2: you establish the culture we desire and continue to grow
Speaker 2: and and you know, like I said, get this program back,
Speaker 2: you know, in regards to not only we were doing
Speaker 2: on the field, but also you know, how we represent
Speaker 2: it off the field. And that's something that's really important us.
Speaker 2: And you know, I'm proud of this team. I'm proud
Speaker 2: of the coaches, you know, everybody involved. We got a
Speaker 2: wonderful administration and so we're excited about continuing our clime
Speaker 2: to where we ultimately want to be.
Speaker 1: Who who are a couple of mentors along your journey
Speaker 1: that you reflect on that's gotten you to this point
Speaker 1: of being the head coach of Florida State.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I mean, I know it's funny, but
Speaker 2: like I mentioned, my my Pop Warner coach. You know,
Speaker 2: I remember, you know, I'd stay with when I was eight, nine,
Speaker 2: ten years old, I'd stayed with, you know, with him
Speaker 2: a couple of nights a week.
Speaker 3: He had two younger kids, you know, of his own.
Speaker 2: But you know, he started pouring in and caring about
Speaker 2: you know, a young boy, you know, more than a position,
Speaker 2: more than a jersey, and just really trying to just
Speaker 2: show all the great things that the game of football
Speaker 2: really are about. You know, wonderful high school coaches. You know,
Speaker 2: Mike Barber was my high school coach. You know, form
Speaker 2: played in the NFL. You know, had somebody that you know,
Speaker 2: had great success. And so I got to you know,
Speaker 2: that perspective of it, you know, going to college and
Speaker 2: you know having to you know, you know, you playing
Speaker 2: I would say you're playing the bus league when you
Speaker 2: played D two.
Speaker 3: I mean you you you get to find out real
Speaker 3: life who loves the game. Yeah, obviously how we do it.
Speaker 2: You had a great, great time there at Central Arkansas
Speaker 2: and then you know, as I as I transitioned into
Speaker 2: into the college coaching, and you know, when I went
Speaker 2: to Tulsa, you know, I got a chance to be
Speaker 2: under Gus Malson.
Speaker 3: He was the offensive coordinator.
Speaker 2: Todd Graham was the head coach, and uh, you know,
Speaker 2: just really being able to gain a lot from their
Speaker 2: perspective and in program organization and you know, different things,
Speaker 2: you know, schematically, you know, I you know, obviously Gus
Speaker 2: you know has.
Speaker 3: Done wonderful jobs.
Speaker 2: You know, wonderful job he had great you know success
Speaker 2: at high school ranks and then what he was able
Speaker 2: to do in the college ranks has been really remarkable.
Speaker 2: But having those relationships and being able to to to
Speaker 2: learn ball from that, but also you know, be able
Speaker 2: to kind of develop your your own perspective, your own
Speaker 2: belief your own values of of what if you get
Speaker 2: the opportunity to lead a program or leader side of
Speaker 2: ball or lead a position group, what do you want
Speaker 2: to look like?
Speaker 3: And so that's been a big part for me.
Speaker 2: You know, I remember, you know, Todd Graham was you know,
Speaker 2: he was a head coach, but he was also you know,
Speaker 2: it's good a defensive coordinator and most most respects of it,
Speaker 2: and just our conversations, I learned more more about what
Speaker 2: I wanted to do offensively just from sitting in with
Speaker 2: him of what he didn't like to face defensively, and
Speaker 2: so it was really you know, those conversations, I mean
Speaker 2: those we were were huge and just my my thought process,
Speaker 2: and I think helped give me a you know, a
Speaker 2: broad scope of of understanding to a program. And you know,
Speaker 2: when I did get a chance to be a head coach,
Speaker 2: I mean I tried to implement a lot of those things,
Speaker 2: but you know, stay true to to who I am
Speaker 2: and what I believe.
Speaker 1: When you're chasing those ambitions as becoming a head coach
Speaker 1: one day, are you like, are you like collecting? Are
Speaker 1: you journaling? Are you writing things down? Like how are
Speaker 1: you keeping some of these processes? Or I really like this,
Speaker 1: I like this core value, like this from this coach,
Speaker 1: I like this from this coach. Are you like collecting
Speaker 1: all of this stuff so that way, when one day
Speaker 1: you do have the shot, you're kind of trying to
Speaker 1: refer back to it.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean I just read I really if I
Speaker 2: I wish I would have because they're probably be even
Speaker 2: some more detail things that I wouldn't have had to
Speaker 2: you know that I would have had maybe a little
Speaker 2: different perspective on as I made the transition, but you know,
Speaker 2: and I encourage our coach.
Speaker 1: Is.
Speaker 2: One thing I've always tried to do is regardless of
Speaker 2: what your job title is or prepare.
Speaker 3: For what you want to be.
Speaker 2: And when I was a ga OH, I tried to
Speaker 2: prepare as if I was a position coach. Now I
Speaker 2: had a job and a responsibility, and I wanted to
Speaker 2: be the best in the United States of America. Whether
Speaker 2: it was getting a cup of coffee, whether it was breakdowns,
Speaker 2: whether it was whatever I.
Speaker 1: Had to do.
Speaker 2: I wanted that to be done at an elite level
Speaker 2: because that was my job. But also tried to prepare
Speaker 2: as if I was the position coach.
Speaker 3: And that's I think that.
Speaker 2: Perspective, you know, because you know as you go through
Speaker 2: and you're coming up in a profession, it can be football,
Speaker 2: it can be anything. Right, you never know when your
Speaker 2: opinion is going to be asked, right, but whatever that
Speaker 2: response to the question is, oh, that's gonna that's going
Speaker 2: to be impactful to what you know. Somebody understands your
Speaker 2: perspective when they understand your knowledge, and so I always
Speaker 2: try to be prepared for the question when I make
Speaker 2: a position coach, I tried to always prepare as if
Speaker 2: I was a coordinator and I would run things. I
Speaker 2: would run things through my mind as if I was
Speaker 2: already doing the job. When I became an office coordinator,
Speaker 2: I tried to prepare as if I was the head coach,
Speaker 2: And so I always tried to prepare as if I
Speaker 2: was the next the next job, and you still have
Speaker 2: to do yours. But you know, like I even know
Speaker 2: as when I was a GA, I would not do
Speaker 2: any of my GA work right of that couldn't be
Speaker 2: done for the next day. I would do that after
Speaker 2: everybody left, because I didn't want to be out of
Speaker 2: the meeting room to miss out on the information. And
Speaker 2: you know, there was a lot in part of the
Speaker 2: first you know, five months of you know, working for
Speaker 2: coach Mileson. I don't know if he ever asked me
Speaker 2: a question, but during the middle of the season, I
Speaker 2: remember when he asked my opinion, and I thank God
Speaker 2: for all those meetings that had been in the understanding
Speaker 2: I had at the offense, all that we were trying
Speaker 2: to accomplish.
Speaker 3: I actually gave him a response that that was a.
Speaker 2: Value and how you build and earn trust in and
Speaker 2: you know your your perspective and your knowledge because you're
Speaker 2: you're willing to be a heard of it. If I
Speaker 2: would have just gone in and just done the GA work,
Speaker 2: you know, I might have missed some of those opportunities.
Speaker 2: I might have missed that perspective and really the overall
Speaker 2: knowledge of what we were doing. So you know, always
Speaker 2: I always try to challenge you, our young coaches and
Speaker 2: even your older coaches. I mean, off, it's a coordinator,
Speaker 2: but you want to be a head coach or And
Speaker 2: to be honestly like, that wasn't I didn't just this dream.
Speaker 3: Oh I want to be a head coach.
Speaker 2: And I remember there's a lot of things I didn't
Speaker 2: know if I'd even like about being a head coach,
Speaker 2: But when the right opportunity presented itself, it was the
Speaker 2: right fit. And now I love I love all elements
Speaker 2: of my job that you know, I didn't even know
Speaker 2: I would years back. But it's still preparing yourself for
Speaker 2: what could be ahead.
Speaker 3: I love that, and your parents see it.
Speaker 4: I mean, ACC Coach of the Year Bobby Paul Paul
Speaker 4: Bear Bear Bryan Award, Bobby Dodd Award twenty twenty three.
Speaker 4: I mean, all your peers see it. Obviously you put
Speaker 4: into work, we see it on the field. So you know,
Speaker 4: I'm just thankful to be here to talk to you.
Speaker 4: Just watch what you have done to this program and
Speaker 4: also being a D two guy and accomplished so much
Speaker 4: because I see myself doing that bus league one day,
Speaker 4: you know, maybe being a coach and accomplishing some stuff
Speaker 4: like you did.
Speaker 2: Well, you know, you sit there and you go through it,
Speaker 2: and everybody's got a different path, you know, But for me,
Speaker 2: it's it's who you get to do it with. And
Speaker 2: you've been able to try to make that impact for others,
Speaker 2: and uh, you know I've been I've been fortunate. You
Speaker 2: talk about the Coach of the Years award, those are
Speaker 2: the staff awards, man, those are for our players. Those
Speaker 2: are I mean, I'm grateful.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: Obviously when you have the title, a lot of attention
Speaker 2: goes to it, and you know, I've got to, you know,
Speaker 2: make sure that I just continue to help and push
Speaker 2: us to the standard of what I know that we
Speaker 2: can accomplish and what we can do. But you know,
Speaker 2: I'm grateful for who I get to do it with,
Speaker 2: and you know, I get you We've got a wonderful group,
Speaker 2: great you know, great players that that buy in and
Speaker 2: allow us to coach them and to push them to
Speaker 2: to to that next level. And uh, you know, we're
Speaker 2: excited about where we're going. And you know, definitely uh,
Speaker 2: you know, fortunate for the opportunity.
Speaker 3: What are a couple of.
Speaker 1: Things you don't like about the head coaching position?
Speaker 3: What are a couple things that I do?
Speaker 1: Yeah, you say, like as you were coming up, You're like,
Speaker 1: do I even want to be a head coach? Like
Speaker 1: maybe when you're a coordinator? Are there things about this
Speaker 1: job I might not like?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 3: What might be a couple of you know, I think, well.
Speaker 1: Let's just say hypothetically, you know, hypothetically in a different world.
Speaker 2: You sit there and you go through like coming up,
Speaker 2: and you know, some of the budgetary decisions that have
Speaker 2: to be made because as a coach, you want what
Speaker 2: everything for your players, and I want to be able
Speaker 2: to to help give them all the resources everything I need. Well,
Speaker 2: you know, the path that I've had coming up, you
Speaker 2: got to learn how to sometimes do more with less,
Speaker 2: And you know, I'm grateful for some of those experiences
Speaker 2: because now I get to prioritize what it's going to be,
Speaker 2: and you know there might be some some flash things
Speaker 2: that are that that maybe we didn't have or we
Speaker 2: chose not to have to be able to get things
Speaker 2: that made a difference. And you know, for me, you know,
Speaker 2: it's like being able to understand the identity of what
Speaker 2: we want a team to be and then make sure
Speaker 2: everything along the way points to the identity. And as
Speaker 2: you come to a place like Florida State and the
Speaker 2: resources and as we've continue even as we've continued to
Speaker 2: grow and push over these last four years, I'm excited about,
Speaker 2: you know, the impact and the and the resources we've
Speaker 2: been able to pride for our players. But that was
Speaker 2: something that I did not you didn't necessarily enjoy early
Speaker 2: because when you have to choose not to do something
Speaker 2: because you just didn't have it into a budget, that's tough.
Speaker 2: But then it's also the things that I grew to level, right, well,
Speaker 2: how can we work to get things necessary to get
Speaker 2: the job done and provide our players with all that
Speaker 2: we can And you know, it's it is a but
Speaker 2: on the flip side of it, the thing that what
Speaker 2: I love about my job, and there's nothing like Every
Speaker 2: decision that I make right impacts so many and it's
Speaker 2: the importance of every decision, so you don't get to
Speaker 2: any of the throwaway decisions. I'll never forget my first
Speaker 2: day on the being a head coach at Memphis. You know,
Speaker 2: you sit there and there's no like script out here here,
Speaker 2: your head coach, you have to go do it right.
Speaker 2: It's your program. Go right and do the press conference.
Speaker 2: You'll get a chance to meet with the team, all
Speaker 2: those things.
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm feeling it. It's ready, it's rolling right.
Speaker 2: I remember coming back to my office and you my
Speaker 2: administrative assistant, Sherry Schwartz, wonderful woman, a lover. Okay, she
Speaker 2: comes into my office right and she goes, coach, what
Speaker 2: time do you want me coming to work tomorrow?
Speaker 3: Because the previous staff I got to do this.
Speaker 1: And this.
Speaker 2: That's as simple of a question as you can imagine.
Speaker 2: But whatever response I gave her was going to impact
Speaker 2: her life, her life when she comes to work, when
Speaker 2: she leaves work, whatever the things that she's used to,
Speaker 2: whatever she needs.
Speaker 3: Like that decision, you.
Speaker 2: Know, in all honesty, at that moment, like just miss
Speaker 2: you sure well, you know whatever I told her was
Speaker 2: going to be impactful for her life experience. And that's
Speaker 2: what I love because you get asked a million questions
Speaker 2: as a leader, but do you understand that even the
Speaker 2: smallest answer is going to have a monumental impact for
Speaker 2: those around you. And I love that because every day,
Speaker 2: I mean, you have to be on it. You got
Speaker 2: to be You got to have a broad scope, the
Speaker 2: willingness to say no to certain things. You know, kind
Speaker 2: of like as we talked about with the budget, you
Speaker 2: got to the willingness to say no that might not
Speaker 2: be pleasing to somebody in a moment, but it's better
Speaker 2: for the big picture of it that those are the
Speaker 2: those are the fun experiences that you get to because
Speaker 2: I've made plenty of mistakes and decisions and you learn
Speaker 2: from those, you get better from those, and you know,
Speaker 2: it's just that's that's what I do love about.
Speaker 3: The inneral That's awesome. You aspired being the NFL NFL
Speaker 3: A coach one day, you.
Speaker 2: Know, I mean you never know, I mean never say
Speaker 2: you know, never say never, But like you know, I
Speaker 2: do love the opportunity I get to impact eighteen to
Speaker 2: twenty two year olds and this time of their life,
Speaker 2: you know, to be able to help build and facilitate
Speaker 2: habits that are going to help them be successful there
Speaker 2: at the next level. You know, I love the relationship
Speaker 2: aspect of it. You know, the first time guys have
Speaker 2: to leave home, they're not going to see in their
Speaker 2: parents every day, or their loving them, their guardian, whoever
Speaker 2: that might be. You know, helping build them in that
Speaker 2: moment is critical and I get so much enjoyment out
Speaker 2: of that. You know, you get to be a true
Speaker 2: difference maker for him. You know, to say that I'd
Speaker 2: never have any aspirations. Uh, And I'm not going to
Speaker 2: say that that would never be the case, but right,
Speaker 2: I mean, I absolutely love getting to do what I
Speaker 2: do and I can't see doing anything else.
Speaker 1: You got anything else for coach Crush? Yeah, hey, thank
Speaker 1: you so much. This has been This has been a pleasure.
Speaker 2: I appreciate you guys being here. It's a wonderful place
Speaker 2: and uh and enjoy enjoy the visit and goings.
Speaker 1: What uh, what game would you recommend us to come
Speaker 1: to this year?
Speaker 2: There's there's nothing like There's nothing like the the last
Speaker 2: one we're gonna have, the last record season game here
Speaker 2: is gonna be be pretty live.
Speaker 3: I can promise you that, okay, all right, you might
Speaker 3: have to come to that one.
Speaker 1: Coach. Thank you man, a great one.
Speaker 3: Thank you, I appreciate you.
Speaker 2: I think can we take a photo