WEBVTT - Mick Shots: Scouting Around 0:00:01.560 --> 0:00:04.080 The following. He's a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com 0:00:04.080 --> 0:00:12.119 and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Cowboys This he's Mick 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:16.319 Shot screaming live on Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:21.599 official Dallas Cowboys at No. Here are Bill Jones, Everson Wolves, 0:00:21.880 --> 0:00:28.479 and Nickie Spagnolan. And as usual here on Mixed Shots, 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:32.680 we keep you on your toes, changing things up now 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:37.360 and then and today you better be right. See you 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:40.879 gotta take my spot now, can you do that? No? 0:00:41.080 --> 0:00:43.839 I cannot big shoes down that big shoes over the 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:47.240 other field too. So here we are. As you can tell, 0:00:47.320 --> 0:00:51.120 Bill Jones is not with us. He's on assignment in 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:55.640 San Francisco with the Western Conference finals the MAVs and 0:00:55.880 --> 0:01:00.920 Golden State. Uh so I am filling in. I'm jealous. 0:01:00.960 --> 0:01:03.800 Everson Walls is filling in for me, although in his 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:07.679 same seat, and we are glad to have Cowboys college 0:01:07.760 --> 0:01:11.959 scouting coordinator Chris Hall to join us. Christopher started to 0:01:11.959 --> 0:01:17.160 be here, fellas, I'm doing great hopefully. I know Chris 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:20.840 has done some of the other show podcasts, and for 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:23.600 those of you on Mixed Shots that you need to 0:01:23.720 --> 0:01:28.440 understand that Chris is beginning to start his thirty third 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:32.399 season with the cow Blow. What is your great, dude? Yeah, 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:34.320 it's in there. That's why I keep it so long. 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:38.240 He started at fifteen. What are you talking to? It 0:01:38.400 --> 0:01:41.199 jumps out, So I just want to say this, don't 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:45.160 come on here like Patrick Beverley. Okay, we've been doing 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:48.600 just messing up everything. When it comes to the NBA puntings, 0:01:48.640 --> 0:01:51.400 they've allowed him to come into the studio. So he's 0:01:51.440 --> 0:01:55.840 just reaking have it and getting revenge on anyone that 0:01:55.880 --> 0:01:59.680 he played against. So he's ranting against Chris Paul. You 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:02.680 know I saw that. Yeah. Yeah, well it's he's just 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:05.559 like get back. You know, it's revenge on everyone. So Chris, 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:08.000 we don't need that, Okay, I will be no more 0:02:08.040 --> 0:02:11.000 than we're not sure Chris has anybody to get in 0:02:11.040 --> 0:02:14.080 revenge since he's spent half his more than half his 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:18.400 life here with the Cowboys. Definitely. So how did you 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:23.119 get started? Nineteen ninety? Yeah, so I was incredibly fortunate 0:02:23.200 --> 0:02:26.000 to land a job here in the fall in nineteen ninety, 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:28.720 right out of college. Some of you may know the 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:31.440 name Brett Daniels. He worked in PR Forever and Ever, 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:34.839 and Brett and I were roommates at SMU way back 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:38.079 in the day, and Brett had got an internship in 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:42.080 the pr department for a year and he chose to 0:02:42.120 --> 0:02:44.160 stay and ended up getting hooked on and he called 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:46.920 me one afternoon and said, Hey, there's a spot in 0:02:46.919 --> 0:02:49.679 the scouting department. This guy just got fired over there 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:52.080 looking for somebody to work. And at that time I 0:02:52.160 --> 0:02:55.880 was using my you know, uh big SMU degree in 0:02:55.919 --> 0:02:59.239 advertising with the minor and physical education to deliver mail 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:02.440 around the athletic compartment over there, and my bank account 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:05.600 was quickly dwindling and I needed a real job, and 0:03:06.520 --> 0:03:09.359 he hooked me up with an interview with Dick Mansburger 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:11.680 and Bob Accles, who were in charge at the time, 0:03:11.800 --> 0:03:14.160 and I did enough to impress him to get a 0:03:14.200 --> 0:03:16.440 second interview, and they hired me the second time back. 0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:19.400 And I've somehow managed to stay here since September in 0:03:19.520 --> 0:03:23.680 nineteen ninety and worked in the personnel department, mostly in 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:26.520 college scouting the whole time, and had a lot of 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:29.320 great mentors over the years that helped me learn and 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:32.000 grow in the game, and just been fortunate to be 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:34.080 a part of this great organization for as long as 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:38.680 I have, so be blessed. And so you have to 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:43.560 understand Chris's job, I guess because I'm sure people that 0:03:43.760 --> 0:03:47.000 watched the draft they see Chris right there on the 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:51.600 big table all the time. And so scouting coordinator what 0:03:51.720 --> 0:03:54.880 is that? Yeah, so you know, that role has kind 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:58.120 of evolved and changed over the years a little bit, 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:00.680 but essentially what it means is in charge of our 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:05.440 database that we build our college draft board with every year, 0:04:05.600 --> 0:04:09.600 and we belong to a scouting service called National Football 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:12.000 Scouting and that's kind of our jump off point where 0:04:12.040 --> 0:04:15.200 they give us a list of anywhere from eight hundred 0:04:15.240 --> 0:04:17.920 to nine hundred guys and we build our list and 0:04:18.360 --> 0:04:22.760 formulate our scouting areas with our staff around that, and 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:26.200 we set off at that point and from really well, 0:04:26.279 --> 0:04:29.279 we'll actually have our first meetings here over Memorial weekend 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:32.320 where we'll get the new list for next year and 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:34.800 we'll carve up the areas amongst all of our scouting 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:38.240 staff and we go from there and we basically we 0:04:38.400 --> 0:04:40.280 kind of add guys as it go, and then we 0:04:40.320 --> 0:04:43.160 start to eliminate guys as we get through the fall 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:46.400 and come up with you know, usually a little under 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:48.760 two hundred names that we're interested in by the time 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:53.160 we get to our draft board and we build that together. 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:55.719 So my job is making sure all the scouts get 0:04:55.760 --> 0:04:58.320 to their get to their schools, get their reports in 0:04:58.839 --> 0:05:01.560 help manage that. I cover all the schools in Texas 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:03.640 and New Mexico as well, kind of giving us a 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:05.320 second look at that. So I get to get out 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:08.200 on the road a little bit too. And uh, you know, 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:10.599 we just go through a whole process of building that 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:12.840 draft board every year and we get to where we're at, 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:15.599 uh in April, and that's our super Bowl at the 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:17.480 end of April. Or we get to make those make 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:21.640 those selections. So Everson, he was nine years too late 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:26.000 to help you out. Just gonna say, from nineteen eighty 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:30.760 one to nineteen ninety did it change? Did the process 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:34.680 change it all? I came out. I mean, I'm bawling, man. 0:05:34.760 --> 0:05:36.520 I wish you were that then you might have given 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:38.039 me a break. You know, it might give me a 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:40.520 good look. But now when it comes to you know, 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:45.120 the how do you decide? Uh, you know, the like 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:47.880 free agents and things of that nature. We talk undrafted 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:50.200 free agency, you know that kind of thing. Of course, 0:05:50.240 --> 0:05:52.799 it's sensitive to me when you start thinking about myself 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:55.920 and the guy like Michael Downs say, and you have 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:59.000 a person like him who came from Rice University. I 0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:04.760 think he had four career wins. Yeah, at Rice intelligent. 0:06:05.040 --> 0:06:08.279 Everyone knew that about him. Tom Langie certainly shouldn't knew 0:06:08.279 --> 0:06:10.520 that the ballot because as soon as he came to camp, 0:06:10.839 --> 0:06:12.800 even though he was a free agent that we talk 0:06:12.880 --> 0:06:15.200 in nineteen eighty one, even though he was a free agent, 0:06:15.600 --> 0:06:19.560 he's the first person that was noticed in the defensive 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:24.240 bad group right away. It's like, this guy's amazing. Is 0:06:24.279 --> 0:06:26.279 he for a Rice? No? Hell no, he can't be 0:06:26.320 --> 0:06:31.640 for Rice R So how does someone like that? That's 0:06:31.720 --> 0:06:36.200 the hardest part of our job is we can teach 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:38.479 anybody how to scout a football player, right, here's what 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:41.000 we're looking for athletically and everything. The hardest part of 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:44.240 our job is finding out who the person is and 0:06:44.360 --> 0:06:47.400 can they learn or how do they learn? Right? How 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.120 long does it take them to learn the playbook or 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:52.360 learn whatever part of their position that they're going to 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:54.960 have to do for a coach to have enough confidence 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:56.920 in them to keep him on the roster and then 0:06:56.920 --> 0:07:00.320 eventually put him in the game. And that's the tricks 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:02.880 part because sometimes we don't have access to the people 0:07:02.920 --> 0:07:06.280 who can really tell you, can this guy really learn 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:09.480 football or what? How do I have to teach him. 0:07:09.520 --> 0:07:11.880 He might not be the sharpest guy, but he gets football, 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:13.640 and here's how I have to get it to him. 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:20.000 Do you rank um undrafted? Yeah? We have different levels 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:22.560 of free agents what we call we call a priority 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:25.400 free agent, a camp free agent, and then the free 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:27.720 agents that we hope we're playing against if they make 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:31.080 another okay, okay, um so, and they all have a 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:33.400 different value to us, you know, and now they have 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:37.200 different right now, there's different categories you can put them in. 0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:40.640 Can they have practice field players? Exactly? So, And that 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:43.360 comes into it too when we're sitting there and making 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:46.240 decisions after we've used the draft picks and it's over, 0:07:46.320 --> 0:07:50.280 and now we're signing rookie free agents. Um, we've got 0:07:50.280 --> 0:07:53.400 our list of that and and that becomes a real 0:07:53.440 --> 0:07:58.000 scrum with other teams. And you know that starts, you know, 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:00.800 in a way before the draft so over, because as 0:08:00.800 --> 0:08:04.360 you're going through that, you're starting to talk to agents. Hey, 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:07.760 if your guy doesn't get drafted, you know what, you know, 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:10.200 what would you be interested in coming to the Cowboys 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:12.840 and a good age and has already scouted everybody's roster 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:15.560 and knows, well, man, you know what, they've only got 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.680 four dbs coming back. They drafted one. There's going to 0:08:18.760 --> 0:08:21.120 be two guys, two other guys that make their team. 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:24.000 It's a great opportunity, and it might be if the 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:26.560 guy's really doing his work. It's more about opportunity than 0:08:26.600 --> 0:08:29.000 it is. Hey, we're going to give him five thousand 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:30.720 dollars and the Dolphins are going to give him ten 0:08:30.760 --> 0:08:32.840 thousand dollars. Well, the Dolphins got a full house, but 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:36.080 the Cowboys have two spots that somebody could make their roster. 0:08:36.280 --> 0:08:39.120 Back in the day, it was you got ten thousand 0:08:39.160 --> 0:08:43.360 and yeah, right, I'm I'm getting too right here. He's 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:46.319 a five thousand dollars. I got fifteen hundred bucks. Yeah, 0:08:46.360 --> 0:08:50.400 but compared to five thousand dollars nineteen eighty one, fifteen 0:08:50.480 --> 0:08:53.720 hundred five thousand, now that's pretty much have gone right right, Well, 0:08:53.720 --> 0:08:56.280 that's yeah, I think So that's a that's an extra 0:08:56.440 --> 0:09:00.680 zero on that total. Then Drew pierced and got back 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:05.880 in exactly what was it seventy three, seventy three, whatever 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:08.640 it was, and what he got a hundred and fifty 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:12.120 and they gave it to him. It's like they had cash, 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:15.600 right yeah, and as he said, yeah, but Gil gave 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:18.160 it to us in one so it looked like a 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:20.760 big stack of money a lot, right or you know, 0:09:20.840 --> 0:09:23.960 you could have got a horse trailer as you're signing it, right. Yeah, 0:09:24.000 --> 0:09:26.760 that was a story back there, so sore Drew Drew 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:28.959 would tell the story that so he got one hundred 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:31.360 and fifty. He said, he barely had enough gas to 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:34.720 get to the hotel where the cowboys scout was to 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:37.560 meet him, and uh, he was going to go back 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:40.080 to the dorm. He was married at the time, but 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:41.600 he was going to go back to the dorm and 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:45.840 celebrate with the guys, right, so on me, So he 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:48.480 said he called his wife and said I got drafted, 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:50.840 and she was like, well, how much did you get? 0:09:51.600 --> 0:09:54.760 Uh up front? And he goes, well, I got seventy 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:57.840 five dollars, I said, I want to make sure I 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:01.880 had seventy five more to treat the guys, right, yeah, 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:05.000 So yeah, I think so everything's changed now. So how 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:06.880 did how did they get ahold of you? How did 0:10:06.880 --> 0:10:10.920 they say they they were calling the uh where you 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:13.120 had Grambling at the time. I was at Grambling. No, 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:15.280 I was, I was. I was in school trying to 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:20.079 finish up. Uh. They had three three classes that last semester. 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:22.960 I was so upset that I didn't even get a 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:25.280 look at They came to see me before the second 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:27.960 day of the draft with the free agent contract before 0:10:28.000 --> 0:10:30.800 the second day were the free agent contract, and I 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:35.320 believe I think it was uh Jethro. They came down 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:39.679 with the money, Jethro Pugh, I think Jethro, Oh, no doubt. Yeah, 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:43.040 Well Bill would just hire out of anybody. You know, Hey, 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:45.560 you know take a trip to Grambling, Like no, well, 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:47.000 here's some money. Then you want to take a trip 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:49.080 to Grammar. Yes, I'll take a trip to Grammar. And 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:52.080 that's kind of how it happened. And uh, my buddy 0:10:52.080 --> 0:10:55.440 adslod King said, uh, he thinks they came down there 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:58.960 with with two thousand, but if I if I went 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:01.520 for the fifteen hundred, then he'd keep the other five hundred. 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:04.400 So that that was a wild wild West back then. 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:07.240 And everybody was so mad about not getting drafted. And 0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:09.280 that's why I wanted to know what the look was 0:11:10.040 --> 0:11:14.079 in with gloss to ranking undrafted. Yea, And that what 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:16.000 you just hit on is one of the harder things 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:19.560 because the players disappointed he didn't get drafted because he's 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:22.320 been getting buttered up this whole time. His agent's probably 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:24.200 been telling him he's going to be a third round 0:11:24.200 --> 0:11:27.080 pick and he slides all the way down. And you've 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:29.680 spent all this money now training. Most of these guys 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:32.480 aren't in school at that point, right they tap out 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:35.360 and go to Michael Johnson's place or one of these 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:38.960 exos facilities which are all geared up, and those aren't cheap. 0:11:39.040 --> 0:11:43.360 I mean, agents will spend twenty to thirty thousand dollars 0:11:43.360 --> 0:11:46.680 depending on the package that they put together. And that's 0:11:46.760 --> 0:11:50.160 training that includes housing, that includes meals, and includes all 0:11:50.200 --> 0:11:52.280 the work that you do up to the combine. And 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:53.680 then some of these guys don't even go to the 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:55.960 combine and then they've got to rely on knocking it 0:11:56.000 --> 0:11:59.360 out at their pro day and having a great pro day. 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:02.040 It's all in that one look at that point as 0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:04.880 to that can shape whether they get drafted or they 0:12:04.960 --> 0:12:09.000 become a free agent. And there's so many different variables 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:11.719 that go into that. The depth of that position on 0:12:11.880 --> 0:12:14.400 any given year, there might be a lean year at 0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:17.520 safety and only six, seven, eight guys get drafted, and 0:12:17.520 --> 0:12:19.560 then there's a whole bunch of guys and one of 0:12:19.559 --> 0:12:21.160 those guys is going to turn out being a Pro 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:26.520 Bowl player. Speaking up, Okay, this year's draft week strong 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:30.360 average depending on what position you talk about. I mean, 0:12:30.520 --> 0:12:33.120 you know, it started the quarterbacks, which is the moneymaking 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:35.520 thing right now. You know, there were really probably I 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:38.000 think there were only six guys that got drafted this year, 0:12:38.600 --> 0:12:40.760 and you know a couple of them slid down that 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:43.079 were at one point or another talked about as being 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:47.679 first round draft picks, and only six guys got taken right, 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:50.240 and you know that tells does that make it weak 0:12:50.320 --> 0:12:54.720 because the quarterback situation was weak? I think you could 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:57.800 look at it that way, definitely. You know, you move 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:01.080 over to the running back position. You know, in the 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:04.120 last few years, the term is it's been deep valued 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:07.559 because people aren't paying for running backs anymore. You know, 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:10.840 Zeke and Derrick Henry might be the two last guys 0:13:10.880 --> 0:13:14.240 that got big, big contracts. And now it's you know, 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:16.160 you kind of find a guy that can come in there, 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:18.679 you run them and it's it's a tandem position now. 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:20.960 In a lot of cases, two guys are doing the job. 0:13:21.240 --> 0:13:25.240 There's not really any three hundred carry guys anymore in 0:13:25.240 --> 0:13:28.120 the league. They're very few. So, you know, it's so 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:30.720 hard on where you invest your dollars now with the 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:33.120 salary cap, and especially if you have a quarterback and 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:36.719 you're paying forty plus million dollars, that's twenty twenty five 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:40.160 percent of the cap net in one position. So that's 0:13:40.160 --> 0:13:42.400 where it's so important. At us on the college end, 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:45.160 we hit on our draft picks and we get those 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:49.120 value guys for three to five years, depending on where 0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:51.839 you take them, that make a little bit less money, 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:53.640 that allow you to go out and play the free 0:13:53.679 --> 0:13:57.280 agent market, you know. So that's that's the challenge. We 0:13:56.960 --> 0:13:58.840 don't we don't ever want to miss on those first 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:01.760 three guys because if you do, now you're having to 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:04.120 go try and replace a guy that should be a 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:06.440 starter for you. You know, in our minds, we think 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:09.160 our first and second round picks have to be starters 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:11.440 at some point, and you're really you're really hoping your 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:14.840 third and fourth round guys become starters, and again starters 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:17.560 a relative term is a Nicolas starters. Your third round 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:21.040 receiver starter is your backup tight end depending on how 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:24.680 many what's your personnel packages are? How do you factor 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:27.320 those guys into whether they're a starter or not. So 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:30.200 it's really interesting how you got to manage that cap 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:33.160 and how so important what we do on the college 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:36.720 end of getting those draft picks right has become paramount 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:40.520 in helping your cap situation. So you're talking about the 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:45.000 CAPE and you have money. How do I put this 0:14:45.240 --> 0:14:49.760 priority money per position? Right? Which position do you value 0:14:49.840 --> 0:14:53.080 the most? When you're looking at those probably those first 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:57.440 three rounds, it's like you you value certain positions more 0:14:57.560 --> 0:15:01.880 than others. Yeah, you do. And within that you're still 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:05.440 looking at you know, you don't want to get on 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:07.880 the team position, but you want to help your team out. 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:09.920 So yeah, that's the other that's the other chicken. And 0:15:09.960 --> 0:15:12.520 the guys are you're drafting for need or you're drafting 0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:14.480 the best player, and at the end of the day, 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:16.760 you're trying to do both. You're trying to draft the 0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:19.600 best player that fits the need of your team that 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:21.840 you have, and there's a little bit of a sliding 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:23.840 scale there. At some point, you know, you look up 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:25.960 and you're like, holy cow, how is that guy? Still there. 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:29.000 We really don't need that position, but that guy's an 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:31.840 A player. You always want to add a players to 0:15:32.040 --> 0:15:34.040 your I always say you want to add an A 0:15:34.120 --> 0:15:36.840 player to your roster whenever you can, versus a B 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:39.560 player at a position that you need. So you got 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:42.520 first and second rounds that you probably ortize. So now 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:45.440 you got once again undraft your free agents. And I've 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:48.440 got a call from my I'm sure you get calls 0:15:48.480 --> 0:15:50.800 to people want to look at you, you know, to 0:15:50.800 --> 0:15:52.840 take a look at this kid or whatever. When I 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:55.680 was coming out as a free agent, I did well. 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:57.680 All of a sudden, everybody's calling me to see if 0:15:57.680 --> 0:15:59.840 they can get a try out for the Cowboys through me, 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:02.960 because I made like, if Kuby can do it, anybody 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:05.720 can do it. And so that was weird. But uh, 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:09.080 I get a call from about Marquis bell Is that 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:13.440 Marcus down I was talking about up and so a 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:15.960 guy like that, what's his story and how did he 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:19.280 get here? We'll tell your connection first before you My 0:16:19.320 --> 0:16:24.040 connection is my college teammates, Mike Haines. Yep, other Mike Haines, 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:27.920 not the Mike Haines. Uh. He has his older brother 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:30.880 married to a young lady and they Wander, and Wander's 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:34.360 nephew is Marquis. So now they give me a call 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:37.160 telling me to look out for him, and from what 0:16:37.280 --> 0:16:40.480 I can see, he's already being looked out for. He 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:43.360 seems to be ranked pretty well. They seems to look 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:46.120 good in his uniform. So as an undrafted free agent, 0:16:46.760 --> 0:16:49.240 what's his story and how did he get there? Yeah, 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:52.520 So Marquis's story is a really really intriguing one. You know, 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:55.640 he started off at Maryland and ran into some issues 0:16:55.680 --> 0:16:58.520 there that that got resolved. But the long story short, 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:01.240 he ended up at Florida A and M and he 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:03.680 did really well there. And Marquis is a guy who 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:06.240 has been as big as two thirty and as little 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:09.000 as one ninety five throughout his college career. So he's, 0:17:09.359 --> 0:17:11.560 you know, one minute you might think he's a linebacker, 0:17:11.600 --> 0:17:14.280 the next minute he's a safety. And he's done well 0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:18.240 at every stop along the way. He was a guy 0:17:18.359 --> 0:17:21.639 that we had kind of in the draft will range, 0:17:21.680 --> 0:17:24.720 and he slipped through because we chose to go in 0:17:24.800 --> 0:17:27.160 different direction with all those fifth and sixth round picks 0:17:27.160 --> 0:17:29.320 we had. But we had had a great connection with 0:17:29.400 --> 0:17:32.520 him and we had him here on campus as one 0:17:32.560 --> 0:17:35.720 of our thirty visits and got to know him really well, 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:38.120 and I think that probably helped us in recruiting him 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:40.840 as as a priority free agent as we would call it. 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:43.760 You know, he's come out here and he's looked great. 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:46.720 You know, he's made a great impression. In wan Yer Thomas, 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:49.320 another kid that we signed, they've both done a great 0:17:49.400 --> 0:17:52.120 job and caught the coach's eyes. They've got in, they've 0:17:52.119 --> 0:17:54.439 done the things they've needed to do, and you know 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:56.280 he's going to have a shot to make our football 0:17:56.320 --> 0:17:58.280 team at the end of the day if he continues 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:00.640 to do the things that he showed us right out 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:03.280 of the gate. Um, do you open the picture I 0:18:03.320 --> 0:18:06.280 sent you up? Saw that? Yeah, he look was it 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:08.679 was a workout right and not looked at it and 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:13.040 I go, that looks like a linebacker and he runs 0:18:13.080 --> 0:18:17.359 like one. And see another thing where positioning and one 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:20.760 of the things that that has become there's especially with 0:18:20.800 --> 0:18:22.879 what DK Hughes brought in on our defense, we've got 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:26.320 a lot of roles. So like what you saw with 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:29.600 j K last year, Curse. You know, he's our big nickel. 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:33.240 He matches up with tight ends and played incredibly so 0:18:33.280 --> 0:18:36.680 now that's a role. Well, something were to happen to JK. 0:18:36.840 --> 0:18:39.040 We need somebody that can do those similar things. You know, 0:18:39.280 --> 0:18:42.400 Marquise and Jandair that type of guy that may fit 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:45.159 into that role. You know, their way in obviously is 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:47.840 through special teams to start with, so you know they 0:18:47.840 --> 0:18:51.200 should already be best friends with John Fossil and getting 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:53.280 all that stuff put together so they can play on 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:55.800 all four units and find their way to that fifty 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:59.000 three man and then ultimately game day ross which, by 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:03.640 the way, so you you mentioned Fossil and uh, somebody 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:07.359 asked him. So during the mini camp last last week 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:09.800 on the weekend, somebody asked him, have you have you 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:14.719 talked to Fossil yet about special teams? Because he said, yeah. 0:19:14.800 --> 0:19:18.040 He goes in in high school, he was a quarterback, 0:19:18.400 --> 0:19:20.920 he was a wide receiver, he was a defensive back. 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:24.080 He said, he returned kicks, but this was the good one. 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:28.040 He was also a kicker who he kicked and he 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:30.320 was a straight on kicker. He said, I didn't do that. 0:19:32.359 --> 0:19:35.000 I told the tick and someone to ask Aball, how 0:19:36.000 --> 0:19:37.760 what's your longest kick? And he goes, I made a 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:40.680 forty five yard or in high school, and so he goes, 0:19:40.720 --> 0:19:43.760 maybe that would that would be longer, right, right, because 0:19:43.960 --> 0:19:48.560 they'll goal post a different Well they're no, they're the same, 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:53.640 but they're wider, Okay, I thought maybe. Yeah. Anyway, he said, 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:56.920 maybe I need to go talk to coach Fossils. You 0:19:57.000 --> 0:20:00.440 got to fill that, Jeff Heathroll. That's right, Absolutely, somebody's 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:02.560 going to be But yeah, when I started looking at 0:20:02.600 --> 0:20:06.359 his stuff, how how versatile he was? Uh the fact 0:20:06.400 --> 0:20:09.920 that you know he he left high school early to 0:20:10.040 --> 0:20:13.680 enroll on Maryland, ran into a problem, and then ended 0:20:13.760 --> 0:20:17.040 up at Coffeeville Junior College, and then after two years 0:20:17.160 --> 0:20:19.720 ended up at fam Us who else went the Coffeeville 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:23.320 Ron Springs Denny really Yeah, Yeah, he's one of the 0:20:23.320 --> 0:20:26.040 better one in best coffee fills ever seen. Tell Tell 0:20:26.640 --> 0:20:31.480 Tell Chris uh ron Springs. What he called people that 0:20:31.600 --> 0:20:35.280 went to Rice. The acronym was a minute Rice minute 0:20:35.320 --> 0:20:40.000 Rice because they can only play well for one minute? 0:20:40.400 --> 0:20:46.480 Does will know about that? Yeah? He didn't stop there, Okay. 0:20:46.480 --> 0:20:52.520 He called all the HBCUs, the Negro League, so and 0:20:52.520 --> 0:20:56.880 and and and again. If if my information was right, Uh, 0:20:56.920 --> 0:21:00.240 this will tell you how much they valued Mark. He's 0:21:00.280 --> 0:21:04.600 bell his signing bonus was fifteen thousand wousedly, So that's 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:08.040 kind of the upper level of what we definitely have 0:21:08.160 --> 0:21:10.480