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Speaker 1: Last year, really good year, really noteworthy year. And now

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Speaker 1: I mean I was just talking to you before we

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Speaker 1: pressed record about the added attention and all the added

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Speaker 1: foot traffic through here, and so you just started springball.

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Speaker 1: All the attention is great, but I imagine sometimes it's like

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Speaker 1: you got to pull the hot air balloon back down

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Speaker 1: to earth and remind guys, we don't get.

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Speaker 2: To pick up where we left off. We start from scratch.

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Speaker 1: We areno at anything this year's team accomplishes is going

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Speaker 1: to be because of this year's team.

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Speaker 2: Has that been a problem or do guys kind of

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Speaker 2: get it? I think guys get it. Since they came

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Speaker 2: back in January. It's a group that's very confident because

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Speaker 2: they know that we have a chance to be a

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Speaker 2: really good football team, but very hungry as well about

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Speaker 2: the way the last year ended. I mean, we're excited

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Speaker 2: about the season that we had win in nine games,

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Speaker 2: but there's still a great hunger for what we didn't

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Speaker 2: accomplish and then we felt a little bit short of

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Speaker 2: ultimate goals. So they've been very purposeful, very driven since

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Speaker 2: they came back in January, and that's been exciting to see.

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Speaker 2: But you're exactly right, and That's the point that we've

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Speaker 2: made is, yeah, we have a chance to be a

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Speaker 2: really good team, but also understanding that there's high expectations

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Speaker 2: for Yeah, there's players that are returning, but these high

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Speaker 2: expectations are because of what we did last season, and

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Speaker 2: a lot of the guys that did that are no

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Speaker 2: longer a part of this program. They're getting ready to

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Speaker 2: move on to the NFL. So understanding that it doesn't

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Speaker 2: just happen. There was a lot of work that went

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Speaker 2: into the twenty twenty fourteen on in off the field,

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Speaker 2: and twenty twenty five has got to be even more.

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Speaker 1: When I'm watching a series on Netflix, you know, you'll

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Speaker 1: have a character who thinks they're mad or like they

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Speaker 1: think they're driven, and then some inflection point happens in

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Speaker 1: their life and you could see it triggers a totally

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Speaker 1: different layer to their mind and they just.

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Speaker 2: Go scorts earth.

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Speaker 1: Last year, you guys had like a moment where that happened.

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Speaker 1: I don't I can't remember of the Oklahoma game or

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Speaker 1: something like that, but I remember you kind of saying hey,

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Speaker 1: after that, or it may have been the Bama game,

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Speaker 1: whatever it was, but he said after that, it just

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Speaker 1: kind of clicked for us, like we're done with this,

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Speaker 1: we're done with almost we're done with close and you

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Speaker 1: kind of went on a rampage the rest of the year.

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Speaker 2: But that was from the outside. I saw that from

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Speaker 2: the outside.

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Speaker 1: What was that sort of inflection point moment like leading

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Speaker 1: the program.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it's a great point. It's you know, you

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Speaker 2: come into the season, we had high expectations. Nobody outside

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Speaker 2: this building thought we were going to be worth a crap.

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Speaker 2: So if you remember Week two, we go up to

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Speaker 2: Kentucky and win that game in impressive fashion, and all

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Speaker 2: of a sudden, the narrative about this program changes. So

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Speaker 2: that was a really good moment for our team in

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Speaker 2: regards to the twenty twenty four team because season, because

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Speaker 2: we had just come off a season opener where we

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Speaker 2: struggled to beat Old Dominion in game one and there

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Speaker 2: wasn't a lot of positivity. And then a week later

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Speaker 2: college game days here for the LSU game, and you're

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Speaker 2: here for LSU and it's completely different. We lose that game,

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Speaker 2: but we had a chance to win it and it

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Speaker 2: was a heartbreaker beat Akron and then we got beat

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Speaker 2: pretty good bye Old Miss and all of those losses

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Speaker 2: were disappointing, don't get me wrong. But then we go

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Speaker 2: to Alabama and we go down early, we battle back,

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Speaker 2: we have the ball twice in the last couple of

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Speaker 2: minutes with a chance to win the game, and we

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Speaker 2: weren't quite able to get it done. So that's the

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Speaker 2: moment you're thinking of or talking about, is in the

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Speaker 2: locker room after that game. And it was just a

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Speaker 2: different feel in the locker room after that game of

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Speaker 2: very much just we're tired of this and we're working

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Speaker 2: our butt off in practice. We've worked our butt off.

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Speaker 2: We're better than what we're showing out here on Saturdays.

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Speaker 2: Enough's enough type thing. And the very next week, I

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Speaker 2: don't know what happened, but we just we went out

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Speaker 2: to Oklahoma and jumped on them early and had a

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Speaker 2: great win that day and didn't lose again the rest

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Speaker 2: of the season until the bowl game. So I think

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Speaker 2: it was just very much a team that had a

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Speaker 2: lot of leadership, a lot of veteran guys knew we

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Speaker 2: were performing better and told me wrong. We had a

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Speaker 2: two point loss and a three point loss that we're

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Speaker 2: talking about in the first six weeks of the season

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Speaker 2: or first five weeks of the season, whatever it was,

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Speaker 2: and just enough's enough. We're tired of this feeling and

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Speaker 2: we're not gonna feel this way anymore. And that was

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Speaker 2: certainly a powerful moment in that locker room because as

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Speaker 2: a coach, I should say struggle, but you always worry

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Speaker 2: and think about what you're gonna say in that postgame

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Speaker 2: locker room when we're lose, particularly after a heartbreaking loss

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Speaker 2: in Tuscaloosa like we just had, when we had a

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Speaker 2: chance to win the game at the end and everybody's

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Speaker 2: looking at you. But that was the first time that

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Speaker 2: I walked in that locker room and there was rage, anger,

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Speaker 2: whatever about the loss. Not that we didn't feel that

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Speaker 2: way about Ole Miss and LSU, don't get me wrong,

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Speaker 2: but it was just a different feeling that day in Tuscaloosa.

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Speaker 2: So you go back to the LSU game.

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Speaker 1: I was here for the LSU game, and I remember

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Speaker 1: just the feel of the way that thing played out,

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Speaker 1: and the call here or there could.

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Speaker 2: Have changed the entire outcome.

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Speaker 1: So like I could sit there on camera after the game,

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Speaker 1: I could go home to Nashville and talk about the

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Speaker 1: game the next day, and I could say, I really

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Speaker 1: think officiating costs South Carolina a game. You may feel

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Speaker 1: that same way internally as well. But yet, how do

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Speaker 1: you balance the leadership requirement from you when you talk

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Speaker 1: to guys and the message you want to deliver is

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Speaker 1: there are no excuses here. We either win or lose,

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Speaker 1: no excuses. And yet everyone with eyeballs can kind of see, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: but some sideways things seem to have happened here. How

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Speaker 1: do you message and how sometimes like in the fog

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Speaker 1: of battle, right after the game's over, how do you

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Speaker 1: make sure like that filter inside of you catches all

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Speaker 1: that stuff so that the right thing comes out.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a great question. Certainly that was a game

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Speaker 2: where there was a lot, you know, in that game,

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Speaker 2: and people want to talk to some controversial calls in

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Speaker 2: that game. The fact of the matter is we had

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Speaker 2: way too many penalties in that game to begin with

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Speaker 2: our own doing. So. I'm a huge like tomlin Fan,

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Speaker 2: the head coach of the Steelers, and he always talks

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Speaker 2: about don't seek comfort, and I use that all the

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Speaker 2: time with our players and it's so true, and to

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Speaker 2: me that was somewhat of a message after that game

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Speaker 2: as guys, like everybody's going to patch you on the

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Speaker 2: back and tell you, hey, man, it's not y'all's fault.

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Speaker 2: This happened, that happened. You should have won this game.

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Speaker 2: Even now I'm still doing this with them in regards

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Speaker 2: to last year in that game, Guys, don't seek comfort

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Speaker 2: by telling yourself that it never even should have come

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Speaker 2: down to that. You know, if we just play a

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Speaker 2: little bit more disciplined and you know, execute some of

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Speaker 2: the things that we're supposed to and give Lsu credit.

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Speaker 2: I mean, they were down with a seventeen to nothing

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Speaker 2: on the road in a hostile environment and came back

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Speaker 2: and won. So you know, tip your cap to them,

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Speaker 2: but take People want to talk about the two pick

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Speaker 2: sixes that came back because of a penalty, and people

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Speaker 2: want to talk about the an offensive pass interference against us,

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Speaker 2: and they gated a big play in the passing game

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Speaker 2: in the four worth quarter. But we had a lot

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Speaker 2: of other penalties besides those three that we need to

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Speaker 2: clean up. So it's more about let's clean ourselves up

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Speaker 2: and don't let everybody tell you, you know, it's okay because

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Speaker 2: it's not y'all's fault. Y'all lost the game. It is

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Speaker 2: our fault, you know, And I'm the head coach, and

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Speaker 2: that was the message I wanted to certainly convey and

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Speaker 2: also showing them and talk about it. We're that close, guys.

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Speaker 2: You know all this that we didn't do right and

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Speaker 2: we still had a chance to win the game at

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Speaker 2: the end and we didn't couldn't quite get it done.

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Speaker 2: Bowl game was interesting. Bowl game was entertained. I got

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Speaker 2: to sit there and watch it on TV.

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Speaker 1: And you know how bold season is sometimes there are

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Speaker 1: multiple games going on. Yeah, so you got the volume

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Speaker 1: up on one and you got another one muted. Well,

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Speaker 1: you guys versus Illinois happened to be my muted TV

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Speaker 1: for a second.

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Speaker 2: Okay, So I'm hearing.

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Speaker 1: Audio from whatever other bowl game is going on, and

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Speaker 1: you know, you do the kind of double taking.

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Speaker 2: You glance over and is Beamer taking his headset off?

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Speaker 1: Is he?

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Speaker 2: Who's he having that? Is that Beilama over there?

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Speaker 1: And I grew up in the Attitude era professional wrestling,

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Speaker 1: so I've seen that.

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Speaker 2: I just don't see it on the football field all

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Speaker 2: the time. I'm not against it.

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Speaker 1: I'm for spice, I'm for flavor. But what was all

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Speaker 1: that like? And it's a bowl game, so it's like

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Speaker 1: a different field. In general, you guys have probably done

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Speaker 1: like festivities with their team, you know their team, you

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Speaker 1: know their coaches. For someone on the street that probably

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Speaker 1: harbor resentment and then probably remember that for the next

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Speaker 1: sixty years in your profession.

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Speaker 2: It's the heat of battle. You see that stuff sometimes.

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Speaker 2: What's that like? Before, during, and after? Before? It was great?

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Speaker 2: You're right, I mean, there's every bowl game is different,

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Speaker 2: but that bowl game is a game. It's the cheese

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Speaker 2: At Bowl. There's always a great bowl game to begin. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: there's a mascot on the field exactly. So it's one

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Speaker 2: of the better ones. We were honored to play in it,

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Speaker 2: and it was a big deal for both teams because

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Speaker 2: you got two nine win teams that had a chance

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Speaker 2: to win ten games and finish a really good season

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Speaker 2: on a great note as well. So there was a

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Speaker 2: lot of build up to the game. During the week,

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Speaker 2: everything was great. We had festivities, We had a dinner

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Speaker 2: a couple of weeks before we went down to Orlando

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Speaker 2: with uh, you know, athletic director for school, me, head

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Speaker 2: coaches from both teams, and then during the week as well,

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Speaker 2: and I got a ton of respect for you know,

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Speaker 2: coach Bilama always have, and that was just a situation

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Speaker 2: in the in the heat of battle that certainly escalated quickly,

201
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Speaker 2: as they say, And was that Anchorman boy that escalated

202
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Speaker 2: quickly the fight they had, But you didn't even you

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Speaker 2: didn't even throw a spirit anyone. No, it wasn't the

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Speaker 2: one died any of that, but not I think it was.

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Speaker 3: Uh.

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Speaker 2: We obviously there was a kickoff return where you know,

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Speaker 2: we did something that was legal at the time that

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Speaker 2: he didn't agree with. And my issue and he and

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Speaker 2: I have talked since the game too, so I'm not

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Speaker 2: telling you anything that I haven't already told him. He

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Speaker 2: reached out to me a couple of weeks after the

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Speaker 2: game and we had a conversation, and you know, my

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Speaker 2: issue was just if you have a problem with something

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Speaker 2: that we did. He walked across the field to check

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Speaker 2: on his player that was injured on our sideline, just

216
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Speaker 2: you know, pull me aside and be like, shame, what

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Speaker 2: the f You know, if you have a problem with it,

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Speaker 2: you're right there. It bothered me that to me, when

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Speaker 2: he made the motion that he did to me, he

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Speaker 2: was you know, maybe I don't know what the word is, disrespecting,

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Speaker 2: calling out whatever our entire sideline. And that's the issue

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Speaker 2: that I had with with it was, you know, as

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Speaker 2: the head coach, I'm certainly protecting for our team and

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Speaker 2: one of the fen our team, and didn't like it

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Speaker 2: when another head coach came over there and it made

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Speaker 2: a motion towards our sideline when you're right there. I

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Speaker 2: just felt like as a head coach, I had the

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Speaker 2: obligation to you know, someon would say, no, keep your

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Speaker 2: composure and don't do anything, but I don't agree with that.

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Speaker 2: I mean, I knew when I was doing them, and

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Speaker 2: I wasn't like an a rage when to go there

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Speaker 2: and start a brawl in the fifty yard line, But

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Speaker 2: I felt like I had a responsibility to our program

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Speaker 2: to at least respond. And it certainly it got you

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Speaker 2: going watching it on television, and it got both sidelines

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Speaker 2: really even more amped up and the crowd into it.

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Speaker 2: But again, hate did it happen, But I was defending

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Speaker 2: my team. He felt like he was doing what's best

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Speaker 2: for his team, and we've talked about it since then.

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Speaker 2: Got great respect for coach Bielaman and the Illinois you

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Speaker 2: know program for sure. So the ending of that answer

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Speaker 2: is pretty diplomatic, it's pretty measured, some would say political,

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Speaker 2: which brings me to my next point.

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Speaker 1: You've recently making major web to Congress. Yes, you tested, yes,

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Speaker 1: Illinois athletic there, so it's I'm not saying that this

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Speaker 1: whole thing is scripted.

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Speaker 2: It just sometimes feels that way.

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Speaker 1: You sat there before the committee and you testified, and

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Speaker 1: people want to know, man like, if this doesn't work

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Speaker 1: out twenty twenty eight, yes or no?

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Speaker 2: Have you considered running twenty twenty eight? Maybe a little soon?

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Speaker 2: Yeah as well, but no, I certainly I I want

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Speaker 2: to coach for a long time. But I do enjoy

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Speaker 2: I'm a history buff, and it was really cool being

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Speaker 2: in DC that day and being in the Capitol building

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Speaker 2: and seeing the inside of you know, so much. So

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Speaker 2: much up there as well is really neat to be

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Speaker 2: a part of. But I love what I'm doing right

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Speaker 2: now too much. I do do enjoy politics, and then

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Speaker 2: do enjoy keeping up with it. Though for sure it's.

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Speaker 1: Not a denial of it's not a denial very smart,

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Speaker 1: but seriously so, when everybody's going through this, every coach

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Speaker 1: is going through this right now, you don't even know

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Speaker 1: fully what the rules will be of this sport post

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Speaker 1: April because we've got rulings coming down, which is what

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Speaker 1: you were up there in part to talk about. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: so when you structure your player personnel approach, your your

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Speaker 1: revenue sharing approach, which is an era we're entering into now,

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Speaker 1: how flexible have you found that you have to be

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Speaker 1: because it seems like it's like balancing on a seesaw

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Speaker 1: in the ocean figuring out how to long term map

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Speaker 1: out your strategy.

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Speaker 2: When you can't see past like five ft in front

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Speaker 2: of your face. Yeah, very flexible, and you got to

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Speaker 2: be very flexible. And to me, you better be honest

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Speaker 2: with the young men that you're recruiting well, because frankly,

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Speaker 2: there's a lot of schools out there that are making

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Speaker 2: promises to young men in high school right now that

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Speaker 2: you really don't know if that's what you're going to

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Speaker 2: be able to do. And you know, so we try

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Speaker 2: and be transparent and honest with young men that we're

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Speaker 2: recruiting and be very flexible and everything that we're doing

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Speaker 2: because we're working off a model right now or a

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Speaker 2: plan right now. There's pre April seventh, when this settlement

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Speaker 2: goes through. There's post April settlement when it immediately happens,

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Speaker 2: and then there's the post that when everything else will

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Speaker 2: just continue to change and adjust and we get into

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Speaker 2: this new world and we're figuring out how to navigate

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Speaker 2: that as well. So it's a lot right now, whether

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Speaker 2: you're talking about you know, transfer, portal, revenue sharing, third

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Speaker 2: party collectives, true, nil, all that as well. So it's

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Speaker 2: it's a challenge. I mean, I'm no different than any

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Speaker 2: other head coach right now. I mean we're going through

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Speaker 2: spring practice, but I don't know who our team is

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Speaker 2: really truly truly going to be until the middle of May. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: this next portal window closed and everybody's back here ready

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Speaker 2: to go for the summertime.

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Speaker 1: Everybody watching understands head coaches get very adequately compensated for

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Speaker 1: the challenges you deal with. But to me, if I

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Speaker 1: quadrupled your salary, it wouldn't make some of the conversations

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Speaker 1: you have to have any easier. Just hard as hard,

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Speaker 1: easy as easy. So you're dealing with that right now

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Speaker 1: where you have to tell a guy, hey, we don't

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Speaker 1: know what we don't know.

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Speaker 2: But then also you're dealing with the roster.

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Speaker 1: Limitations and changes, so you may have to tell a

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Speaker 1: guy who's working his tailoff for you, who is a

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Speaker 1: fringe roster guy, We don't have a spot for you anymore.

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Speaker 1: And it's not because we don't want you, it's because

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Speaker 1: the rules are now dictating that we can't have you.

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Speaker 1: So in the litany of difficult conversations right now, what

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Speaker 1: are some of the hardest that you're having to partake in?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that one the roster limits. That just to be

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Speaker 2: frank sucks, and those are going to be hard conversations.

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Speaker 2: And its kind of going back to what I said

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Speaker 2: about the other conversations is trying to be on and

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Speaker 2: transparent with our players. I purposely didn't add just a

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Speaker 2: bunch of walk ons to our team in spring practice

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Speaker 2: or coming off a last season just for the heck

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Speaker 2: of it. If we brought somebody into our program as

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Speaker 2: a walk on over scholarship guy, because we truly believe

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Speaker 2: that he can help us on the field. Because I

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Speaker 2: think we finished last season with one hundred and eighteen

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Speaker 2: players is what was on our active roster when we

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Speaker 2: played Clemson last year, and we're going to have to

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Speaker 2: be down to one hundred and five before our first

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Speaker 2: game against Virginia Tech this upcoming season, and those are

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Speaker 2: going to be tough conversations because it's a lot of

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Speaker 2: guys that do everything right and what makes it a challenge.

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Speaker 2: There's a lot that makes it a challenge. But you've

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Speaker 2: got to build your one h five roster off of

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Speaker 2: projections of how you're going to be able to get

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Speaker 2: through a season and be able to practice. Like everybody

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Speaker 2: thinks one hundred and five guys, that's plenty, and you

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Speaker 2: don't play with one hundred and five guys. Yeah, that's great,

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Speaker 2: Like we don't need one hundred and five guys on

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Speaker 2: game day, but to be able to practice that you

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Speaker 2: want to. You know, if you lose a couple of

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Speaker 2: years ago in twenty twenty three, if we had double

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Speaker 2: digit offensive linemen to injuries and we got to a

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Speaker 2: point where we hardly have an offensive line to be

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Speaker 2: able to practice adequately in practice, So you got to

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Speaker 2: be able to project. Okay, make sure we got enough

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Speaker 2: of these guys, because unlike the NFL, there's no we

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Speaker 2: lose a couple receivers and we just go ad some

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Speaker 2: guys from that are still on campus that we had

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Speaker 2: to cut. You can't bring them back until the end

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Speaker 2: of the season. So that's a challenge that all of

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Speaker 2: us as coaches are navigating through. So that's certainly a

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Speaker 2: tough conversation, you know, trying to be honest and transparent

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Speaker 2: with our players in regards to revenue sharing and what

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Speaker 2: that's going to look like and why you know, why

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Speaker 2: we're doing what we're doing, and that we have a

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Speaker 2: plan and that this guy's not to get into specifics,

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Speaker 2: but you know, this position is typically going to make

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Speaker 2: more than this position, whether it be NFL or nowadays

357
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Speaker 2: in college football. So there's just a there's a lot

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Speaker 2: of new conversations that all had coaches are having that

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Speaker 2: no coach in the history of the game has ever

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Speaker 2: had to have before. My dad's a Hall of Fame coach.

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Speaker 2: I can't call my dad up and ask you, man,

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Speaker 2: how'd you handle revs share with Mike Vick, you know,

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Speaker 2: back when Mike was playing for you, Or how'd you

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Speaker 2: handle when you had to, you know, cut fifteen players

365
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Speaker 2: off your roster because of the roster size that's going down.

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Speaker 2: It's just an unknown world right now in a lot

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Speaker 2: of ways.

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Speaker 1: What is the sort of inter professional communication like right

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Speaker 1: now between you and other head coaches because you're competing

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Speaker 1: against them. There's always been a fairly open line of communication,

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Speaker 1: open dialogue.

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Speaker 2: You guys have meetings with each other, you got side

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Speaker 2: text with each other.

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Speaker 1: But when it comes to that specifically, like you said,

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Speaker 1: I can't reach out to someone who coached here in

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Speaker 1: nineteen ninety four or my dad who coached multiple generations

377
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Speaker 1: because they it's a new frontier. They didn't do with

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Speaker 1: any of this stuff. How much of it is. Hey,

379
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Speaker 1: we may be competing on Saturday in the fall, but

380
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Speaker 1: like right now, we're also collectively trying to just figure

381
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Speaker 1: this thing out. So any feedback anyone has that'd be

382
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Speaker 1: very helpful right now.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot, a lot, just when we're together in meetings.

384
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Speaker 2: All the SEC head coaches were together in New Orleans

385
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Speaker 2: and February, and when you're in those meetings with those

386
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Speaker 2: fifteen other coaches like I am, it's, yeah, we're all

387
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Speaker 2: competitive and we're all trying to beat each other and

388
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Speaker 2: recruiting in on the field, but there's a great camaraderie, togetherness,

389
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Speaker 2: closeness because we're all trying to figure this out. We're

390
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Speaker 2: all trying to make this game better that we love

391
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Speaker 2: that we got into this, what we got into because

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Speaker 2: we love and want to continue to help our student

393
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Speaker 2: athletes and help college football continue to grow and be

394
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Speaker 2: the great entity that it is as well. And then certainly,

395
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Speaker 2: you know, everybody has different guys that they have closer

396
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Speaker 2: relationships with, So certainly for me, it's picking up the

397
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Speaker 2: phone and calling whoever it might be a coach, whether

398
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Speaker 2: it be in the SEC or in another conference or

399
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Speaker 2: somewhere else across the country, and just being able to

400
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Speaker 2: pick his brain on how are you going to handle

401
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Speaker 2: this and what's you're thinking about this? So I think

402
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Speaker 2: with I do believe with all the new things that

403
00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:02,280
Speaker 2: are happy in college football, I think that's probably happened

404
00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:04,480
Speaker 2: a little bit more, you know where I've had coaches

405
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Speaker 2: reach out to me just hey, what are you doing

406
00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:09,040
Speaker 2: about this? And how did you do this? And I

407
00:19:09,040 --> 00:19:11,240
Speaker 2: saw y'all just went through this. What was your thinking

408
00:19:11,240 --> 00:19:13,720
Speaker 2: when you made that decision? I'm getting those calls, and

409
00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,280
Speaker 2: I'm certainly making those calls to certain guys as well.

410
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Speaker 2: Everybody can see what your record is. They could pull

411
00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:20,920
Speaker 2: up your Wikipedia page, they could tell what your record has.

412
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Speaker 1: Been year over year, so thatwithstanding move beyond record. If

413
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Speaker 1: someone comes to you and says Hey, explain the growth

414
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Speaker 1: your program has seen. Point to me tangible areas where

415
00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,000
Speaker 1: I can see the progress you've made beyond the win

416
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Speaker 1: loss record.

417
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Speaker 2: What are the first things you'd bring up? Mm? The

418
00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:46,119
Speaker 2: culture in this program. It starts with that. And everybody

419
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Speaker 2: talks about culture and things like that. It's a buzzword.

420
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Speaker 2: Everybody loves to use it. But I truly believe it's

421
00:19:51,520 --> 00:19:54,600
Speaker 2: very real here. And you know, I think it's evident

422
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Speaker 2: when you go five and seven like we did in

423
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Speaker 2: twenty twenty three, but kept the bulk of your team

424
00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:05,080
Speaker 2: together and guys that could have either gone to the

425
00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:08,639
Speaker 2: NFL at that point or could have easily transferred other schools,

426
00:20:10,119 --> 00:20:12,199
Speaker 2: they stayed. Did we lose some guys, Sure, you can

427
00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:15,000
Speaker 2: lose some guys every year, but not that many. And

428
00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:18,199
Speaker 2: it was really for us additioned by subtraction in a

429
00:20:18,200 --> 00:20:19,960
Speaker 2: lot of ways with the guys that we brought into

430
00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:22,679
Speaker 2: our program. So if you go five and seven and

431
00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:24,280
Speaker 2: miss a bowl game like we did a couple of

432
00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:27,080
Speaker 2: years ago, if your culture is not strong, that's not

433
00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:30,760
Speaker 2: going to happen. We kept our team intact when we

434
00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:33,680
Speaker 2: were two and three or whatever we were last year

435
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:36,760
Speaker 2: two and three, I guess three and three at one point,

436
00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:41,080
Speaker 2: the culture allowed us to stay together and then run

437
00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:43,080
Speaker 2: off six in a row and be two points away

438
00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:46,440
Speaker 2: from the college football playoff. So that is growth. When

439
00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:49,280
Speaker 2: we have players that come in from other programs, they

440
00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:53,160
Speaker 2: talk about the culture here, how it's different, and they're

441
00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:55,840
Speaker 2: able to thrive individually and then us as a team

442
00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:59,159
Speaker 2: as well. So that's an area that we've certainly grown,

443
00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:03,320
Speaker 2: I think with what we've with just our overall roster,

444
00:21:03,560 --> 00:21:06,360
Speaker 2: just the depth. You know, you watch us practice right now,

445
00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:08,520
Speaker 2: we have more depth. I mean I can remember my

446
00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:10,679
Speaker 2: first couple of years here spring practice. I mean you're

447
00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:13,760
Speaker 2: struggling to get through practices some days because of the

448
00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:17,600
Speaker 2: lack of depth. We have, you know, able bodied guds

449
00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:20,840
Speaker 2: now for sure. And then certainly I would say, you know,

450
00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:23,840
Speaker 2: our fan base, without a doubt, is an area where

451
00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:26,679
Speaker 2: we've continued to just bring in, not bring in, but

452
00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:29,960
Speaker 2: add to the amazing great fans that we have. You've

453
00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:31,840
Speaker 2: been there. There's no better environment in the country, in

454
00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:34,600
Speaker 2: my opinion than across the street in that stadium and

455
00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:37,479
Speaker 2: the impact that they've had on us to allow us

456
00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:39,679
Speaker 2: to continue to grow. Because it all goes together with

457
00:21:40,160 --> 00:21:42,920
Speaker 2: social media and the fans support. Recruits want to be

458
00:21:42,960 --> 00:21:46,320
Speaker 2: a part of a fan base with great fans and

459
00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:48,160
Speaker 2: great support, and that's what we have here as well.

460
00:21:48,240 --> 00:21:49,359
Speaker 2: So they've been a huge part of that.

461
00:21:49,640 --> 00:21:52,800
Speaker 1: One of the beautiful things did you see in some

462
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:55,000
Speaker 1: places in college football? And I would say this place

463
00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:58,680
Speaker 1: has it is. Everybody up to it, including the head coach,

464
00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:02,960
Speaker 1: talks about the age and talks about fan participation in

465
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:05,040
Speaker 1: the environment their stadium, and they talk about it so

466
00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:07,600
Speaker 1: much and they beat the drum so much that it's

467
00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:10,520
Speaker 1: almost accepted that if you enroll at South Carolina or

468
00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:13,280
Speaker 1: you're a season ticket holder at South Carolina, you you

469
00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:16,640
Speaker 1: walk into the venue on Saturday with an active.

470
00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:17,200
Speaker 2: Role to play.

471
00:22:18,040 --> 00:22:21,280
Speaker 1: Everybody walks into a stadium on Saturday, and they're varying

472
00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:24,320
Speaker 1: degrees of loud. But I don't know, I can't explain it,

473
00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:25,800
Speaker 1: like I can't put my finger on it. But there's

474
00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:27,720
Speaker 1: some places I've always felt like this is one of

475
00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,200
Speaker 1: them where when you go there, you can feel a vibe,

476
00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,040
Speaker 1: and the vibe is such that people kind of know

477
00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:35,600
Speaker 1: we got a job to do today too, beyond just

478
00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:36,640
Speaker 1: sitting here and.

479
00:22:36,560 --> 00:22:38,920
Speaker 2: Watching, no doubt, no doubt, it's such a great point

480
00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:43,000
Speaker 2: and so true, and that's what that's what our fans

481
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:48,640
Speaker 2: are like they always have been. They're passionate, and we

482
00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:51,240
Speaker 2: have a true home field advantage. And it's not just

483
00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:54,240
Speaker 2: everybody talks about night games in Columbia. It's twelve noon

484
00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:57,480
Speaker 2: when LSU comes to town, it's a four pm game

485
00:22:57,520 --> 00:22:59,960
Speaker 2: against Old Dominion like we had in game one last year.

486
00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:03,640
Speaker 2: Or they understand the assignment and they bring it every

487
00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:06,560
Speaker 2: single Saturday in that stadium and they're a true weapon

488
00:23:06,640 --> 00:23:09,960
Speaker 2: for us. And it's cool hearing this time of year

489
00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:12,520
Speaker 2: when we just had our pro day for the NFL,

490
00:23:12,840 --> 00:23:14,760
Speaker 2: where all of our guys that are going into the

491
00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:17,120
Speaker 2: NFL they come back and they work out in front

492
00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:18,720
Speaker 2: of the NFL teams, and most of them for the

493
00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:21,040
Speaker 2: last couple of months, they've either been here in Columbia

494
00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:23,800
Speaker 2: or they've been somewhere else in the country training for

495
00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:25,720
Speaker 2: the draft. And when they're training, they're doing it with

496
00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:28,520
Speaker 2: other college players. Agents send them there and whatnot. And

497
00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:32,240
Speaker 2: it's pretty cool when those guys come back and they're like, man, coach,

498
00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:35,640
Speaker 2: it's been really neat being around so and so from

499
00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:37,840
Speaker 2: this school in the SEC, or so and so from

500
00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:39,760
Speaker 2: this school in the SEC or so and so from

501
00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,040
Speaker 2: this school in the Big ten, and it's really cool

502
00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:44,480
Speaker 2: hearing them talk about how hard it is playing in

503
00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:46,720
Speaker 2: our stadium, or it's really cool hearing them talk about

504
00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:48,840
Speaker 2: how much they love watching us play and the respect

505
00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:51,800
Speaker 2: they have for our program. And usually one of the

506
00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:54,960
Speaker 2: first things they talk about is the crowd and the

507
00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:55,800
Speaker 2: fan base that we have.

508
00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:02,639
Speaker 1: All Right, so, your your career specifically for a second,

509
00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:06,000
Speaker 1: if you were ninety years old right now, if you

510
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:08,560
Speaker 1: were blessed to be ninety years old, we could look

511
00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:11,440
Speaker 1: back on your entire career and it would it would

512
00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:14,480
Speaker 1: look like chapters, and you would be able to recount

513
00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:16,879
Speaker 1: things from this chapter, things from that chapter. You may

514
00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:19,960
Speaker 1: even be recounting specific years, Okay, but when you're in

515
00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:22,440
Speaker 1: the middle of it. I don't think many people think

516
00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:24,520
Speaker 1: of it that way because if you're wasting that much time,

517
00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:26,680
Speaker 1: you're probably right, you're going to be retired a lot

518
00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:28,000
Speaker 1: sooner than you want to be.

519
00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:29,840
Speaker 2: But even even within.

520
00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:33,080
Speaker 1: It, live bullets flying, you're you're in the peak point

521
00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:37,240
Speaker 1: of your career. How much time do you get to

522
00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:41,840
Speaker 1: take and step back in like evaluate broad picture, Here's

523
00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:43,840
Speaker 1: where I was, Here's where I am, and then there's

524
00:24:43,880 --> 00:24:44,160
Speaker 1: the whole.

525
00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:46,000
Speaker 2: Here's where I want to go piece.

526
00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:49,200
Speaker 1: Not not speaking of going somewhere other than South Carolina,

527
00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:51,480
Speaker 1: but at South Carolina. Here's where I want to go.

528
00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:53,920
Speaker 1: Here's here's a layer of myself that I don't think

529
00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:55,720
Speaker 1: I've untapped yet or it's still untapped.

530
00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:59,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, how much? How much like cognizant ability? Do you

531
00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:00,920
Speaker 2: have to think that way?

532
00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,280
Speaker 1: Or do you just take it in the moment, whatever

533
00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:05,360
Speaker 1: comes comes and I'll look back on it when it's finished.

534
00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:08,760
Speaker 2: A little of both. I mean, I certainly think think

535
00:25:08,800 --> 00:25:13,600
Speaker 2: both ways, and I'm proud of what we've accomplished. And

536
00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:15,919
Speaker 2: certainly you know, my wife and I'll talk that, you know,

537
00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:19,560
Speaker 2: can you believe that? I guess this is twenty twenty five,

538
00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:23,080
Speaker 2: So ten years ago is Mike was my dad's last

539
00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:26,720
Speaker 2: season at Virginia Tech. And thinking about man. Ten years ago,

540
00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:28,800
Speaker 2: twenty fifteen, I was coaching at Virginia Tech, and who

541
00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:30,959
Speaker 2: would have thought that from there I'd go to Georgia

542
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:33,560
Speaker 2: with Kirby Smart and play for a national championship and

543
00:25:33,560 --> 00:25:35,679
Speaker 2: coach in the Rose Bowl, then go to Oklahoma with

544
00:25:35,680 --> 00:25:37,680
Speaker 2: Lincoln Riley, and then within ten years I'd be back

545
00:25:37,680 --> 00:25:39,720
Speaker 2: at South Carolina as the head coach. I mean, certainly,

546
00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:41,879
Speaker 2: you know, she and I have those conversations and you

547
00:25:41,920 --> 00:25:44,880
Speaker 2: think about how blessed we are to be in this position.

548
00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:48,040
Speaker 2: And then I'm always thinking about, you know, certainly where

549
00:25:48,040 --> 00:25:49,560
Speaker 2: we are. I mean every coach talks about it, and

550
00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:52,359
Speaker 2: it's true like process day to day, I want and

551
00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:55,880
Speaker 2: oh mentality like how do I make this program better today?

552
00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:58,600
Speaker 2: Meet as well? How do I get better as a

553
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:02,560
Speaker 2: coach today? All always growing and certainly I'm thinking about

554
00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:07,320
Speaker 2: that also in regards to getting this program ultimately where

555
00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:09,359
Speaker 2: we wanted to go and how much more you know,

556
00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:11,080
Speaker 2: we can take or how much farther we can take

557
00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:12,919
Speaker 2: this thing. That's one kind of the mantra of our

558
00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:15,360
Speaker 2: team right now is farther, like let's take this thing

559
00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:18,200
Speaker 2: farther in twenty five than what we did in twenty

560
00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:21,480
Speaker 2: twenty four on and off the field. So me thinking about, Okay,

561
00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:24,120
Speaker 2: Shane is a head coach, like how do you take

562
00:26:24,160 --> 00:26:26,400
Speaker 2: yourself as a head coach farther and continue to grow?

563
00:26:26,480 --> 00:26:27,919
Speaker 2: And where are you lacking and where do you need

564
00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:29,639
Speaker 2: to be better? And there's a lot and then how

565
00:26:29,640 --> 00:26:32,359
Speaker 2: do we take this program farther as well? For us

566
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:38,280
Speaker 2: ultimately to be you know, to win championships and elevate

567
00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:40,399
Speaker 2: this program to an even higher level than what it

568
00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:44,480
Speaker 2: is right now. Did you I'll tell you how I

569
00:26:44,520 --> 00:26:45,320
Speaker 2: watched last year.

570
00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:47,560
Speaker 1: I watched last year and I covered a game every

571
00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,159
Speaker 1: week all the way through the National championship. And I remember,

572
00:26:50,200 --> 00:26:52,000
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm on the road with Greg and we're

573
00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:55,560
Speaker 1: in a hotel room late December. We're covering like a

574
00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,240
Speaker 1: quarterfinal game or something like that. I just remember thinking

575
00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:02,000
Speaker 1: to myself, this season started in late August, early September.

576
00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:04,840
Speaker 1: Those are when the games started. Practice started well before that.

577
00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:07,720
Speaker 1: To make it to the finish line. To be in

578
00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:11,479
Speaker 1: a quarter, semi final, national title situation, you're going for

579
00:27:11,560 --> 00:27:15,640
Speaker 1: like half a year, and that's active games being played.

580
00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:19,720
Speaker 1: I'm sitting there thinking to myself in December, it is

581
00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:22,760
Speaker 1: such a marathon above and beyond what it already was

582
00:27:22,840 --> 00:27:24,879
Speaker 1: to be able to make it this deep, and like

583
00:27:25,040 --> 00:27:28,480
Speaker 1: every week is a new basically a bowl game, You're

584
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:30,919
Speaker 1: traveling your entire operation for multiple days, and then if

585
00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:32,480
Speaker 1: you win, you go home for a couple of days.

586
00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:34,320
Speaker 1: Do that again, then go home for a couple of days,

587
00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:37,760
Speaker 1: do that again. And I'm thinking, what must it take

588
00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:42,400
Speaker 1: above and beyond just staying healthy from a mental taxation standpoint,

589
00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:44,560
Speaker 1: what must it take to finally get to the finish line?

590
00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:46,840
Speaker 1: And I remember talking to some Ohio State folks and

591
00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:50,639
Speaker 1: they won the whole thing, and they're like, could not

592
00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:54,800
Speaker 1: believe how long the season was? How much do you guys?

593
00:27:54,880 --> 00:27:56,800
Speaker 1: Just have to be aware of that and then maybe

594
00:27:56,880 --> 00:27:59,240
Speaker 1: like what do you adjust to understand if we get

595
00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:01,439
Speaker 1: where we want to go, this thing's gonna last a

596
00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:01,879
Speaker 1: month and a.

597
00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:04,320
Speaker 2: Half longer than it ever did before. Yeah. No, it's

598
00:28:04,920 --> 00:28:08,040
Speaker 2: one of the other now unknowns, like new things that

599
00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:10,840
Speaker 2: we're all going through as well, because it is a

600
00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:13,360
Speaker 2: long year like it always has been. And you play

601
00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:18,360
Speaker 2: in the SEC, and you know, you play Old Miss

602
00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:20,720
Speaker 2: and you're like, all right, well who's next? Oh crap,

603
00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,320
Speaker 2: here comes to Alabama and you go to Oklahoma and

604
00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:26,800
Speaker 2: they got really good players on defense and you're like, man,

605
00:28:26,800 --> 00:28:28,800
Speaker 2: that front was good, and who's next? All here comes

606
00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:31,280
Speaker 2: Texas A and m to town and all these first

607
00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:33,760
Speaker 2: round draft picks. So it's a grind in this league

608
00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:36,520
Speaker 2: to begin with. And then it was really I think

609
00:28:36,520 --> 00:28:38,840
Speaker 2: we all knew obviously it was going to be longer,

610
00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:41,720
Speaker 2: but like you're saying, when we weren't in the playoff,

611
00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:44,120
Speaker 2: and when you're sitting there saying, you're looking at these

612
00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,880
Speaker 2: teams and what they're doing. Man, Texas just had this

613
00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:49,280
Speaker 2: home game, and then now they're in the whatever it was,

614
00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:52,400
Speaker 2: Peach Bowl. Now they play a great game against Arizona State,

615
00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:54,320
Speaker 2: and then bam, they're right back in. Now they're in

616
00:28:54,520 --> 00:28:56,880
Speaker 2: whatever they went to. The Cotton Bowl I think was next.

617
00:28:57,160 --> 00:29:01,160
Speaker 2: And it's just like multiple bowl games andultiple trips, and

618
00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:02,880
Speaker 2: it is a lot. So you've got to be very

619
00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:07,320
Speaker 2: very intentional about how you're structuring everything, starting not just

620
00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:11,360
Speaker 2: a season, but your spring practice, your summer, your preseason camp,

621
00:29:11,560 --> 00:29:15,200
Speaker 2: knowing that it's a long year and there's models you

622
00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:17,520
Speaker 2: can follow the FCS teams in some ways and have

623
00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:21,600
Speaker 2: the playoffs that go into January. And I'm fortunate that

624
00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:23,920
Speaker 2: I've got a colleague here at South Carolina and Don

625
00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:27,240
Speaker 2: Staley that she's made deep runs into the NCAA Tournament

626
00:29:27,240 --> 00:29:29,360
Speaker 2: and is going to this year as well, where you

627
00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:31,520
Speaker 2: know I can pick her brain. You get into the postseason,

628
00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:33,160
Speaker 2: you're playing two games a week, and I get it.

629
00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:34,760
Speaker 2: It's different, but in a lot of ways, it's not

630
00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:38,000
Speaker 2: just the it's the pressure of the postseason in multiple

631
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:41,920
Speaker 2: games in different sites as well. But yeah, after we've

632
00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:44,440
Speaker 2: been through it now for a year, there's a lot

633
00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:46,680
Speaker 2: that all of us, whether you were in the playoff

634
00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:48,200
Speaker 2: or not in the playoff, that I think you can

635
00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:50,960
Speaker 2: look at those schools that were and then just even

636
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:53,240
Speaker 2: without talking to them, just kind of take a step

637
00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:55,440
Speaker 2: back and look at the big picture as well. And

638
00:29:55,920 --> 00:29:59,480
Speaker 2: it's an everyday process during the season as well, like

639
00:29:59,520 --> 00:30:02,160
Speaker 2: we always have been, where you know, it's a Tuesday

640
00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:04,280
Speaker 2: practice or a Wednesday practice and we're getting ready to

641
00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:10,520
Speaker 2: play whoever LSU and meeting with your strength and conditioning

642
00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:13,800
Speaker 2: staff and they've got all your player load numbers from

643
00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:17,000
Speaker 2: the day, and you know, Josh's numbers are really up today,

644
00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:19,320
Speaker 2: so we need to be smart with him tomorrow, and

645
00:30:19,360 --> 00:30:21,240
Speaker 2: we need to be thinking short term and long term.

646
00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:23,920
Speaker 2: I mean, all those things. Those areas just continue to

647
00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:26,880
Speaker 2: grow and have added that much more importance now in

648
00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:27,760
Speaker 2: today's game.

649
00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:30,520
Speaker 1: You've always been a proponent, correct me if I'm wrong

650
00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:33,480
Speaker 1: of having a preseason game in college football. Yes, So

651
00:30:33,760 --> 00:30:36,920
Speaker 1: that's a conversation that's been happening. And then also simultaneously

652
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:40,280
Speaker 1: we've had this, do we have real spring games or not?

653
00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:42,600
Speaker 1: And then you got Dion out there saying, not only

654
00:30:42,640 --> 00:30:44,160
Speaker 1: do I want to have one, I want to play

655
00:30:44,160 --> 00:30:47,800
Speaker 1: someone in a spring game. It is my opinion the

656
00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:51,640
Speaker 1: post spring transfer portal won't be around much longer. So

657
00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:53,840
Speaker 1: let's assume that for a second. Let's assume the post

658
00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:57,000
Speaker 1: spring portal goes away. You're not terrified of everyone coming

659
00:30:57,040 --> 00:30:59,960
Speaker 1: and grabbing your players and you have no recourse.

660
00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:01,200
Speaker 2: Cause the next thing up is the season.

661
00:31:01,480 --> 00:31:05,440
Speaker 1: If that landscape exists, do you think that spring game

662
00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:08,280
Speaker 1: concept is going to evolve across the country or do

663
00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:10,040
Speaker 1: you kind of think it's a conversation point we do

664
00:31:10,160 --> 00:31:10,640
Speaker 1: every year.

665
00:31:11,040 --> 00:31:12,720
Speaker 2: Not much is really going to come of it. I

666
00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:16,200
Speaker 2: would love for it too. I think, like everything else

667
00:31:16,240 --> 00:31:18,760
Speaker 2: it's changing in college football, we need to look and say,

668
00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:22,000
Speaker 2: is this something that we should be thinking about doing?

669
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:23,960
Speaker 2: Because you're exactly right. I mean, I was an assistant

670
00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:26,840
Speaker 2: coach here at South Carolina in two thousand and seven, eight,

671
00:31:26,920 --> 00:31:28,760
Speaker 2: nine and ten, and I can remember doing an interview

672
00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:31,360
Speaker 2: where I talked about I wish we had a preseason game,

673
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:34,560
Speaker 2: And here I am fifteen of twenty years later, and

674
00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:36,880
Speaker 2: I'm still having the same conversation, because we're the only

675
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:40,600
Speaker 2: sport at any level that doesn't get one. You find

676
00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:43,600
Speaker 2: out who you are against Virginia Town exactly, and it's

677
00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:46,800
Speaker 2: so like, I love first games, but first games are

678
00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:50,360
Speaker 2: just so challenging because there's just so much unknown about

679
00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:53,680
Speaker 2: your team because you don't you think you're good, but

680
00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:56,160
Speaker 2: you really have no idea. That's why a spring game

681
00:31:56,280 --> 00:32:00,760
Speaker 2: is so important because we'll have thousands and thousands and

682
00:32:00,800 --> 00:32:03,560
Speaker 2: thousands of people that'll come to our spring game this year,

683
00:32:04,080 --> 00:32:07,840
Speaker 2: and our freshman that just got here, our entire signing

684
00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:10,400
Speaker 2: class is here right now except for five guys. So

685
00:32:10,440 --> 00:32:12,600
Speaker 2: the spring game is an opportunity for me to let

686
00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:14,520
Speaker 2: these guys that were in high school last year at

687
00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:17,400
Speaker 2: this time play in front of the biggest crowd they've

688
00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:19,880
Speaker 2: ever played in front of them their life in Williams

689
00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:22,880
Speaker 2: Price Stadium, to at least try and expose them a

690
00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:24,360
Speaker 2: little bit to what that's going to be like. So

691
00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:27,320
Speaker 2: the first time they play a game that's not in

692
00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:30,840
Speaker 2: Atlanta on national television and it's Virginia Tech in front

693
00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:33,440
Speaker 2: of seventy thousand people or whatever it might be. So

694
00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:36,720
Speaker 2: I love the That's why one of the reasons we're

695
00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:38,600
Speaker 2: doing our spring game this year in front of a crowd.

696
00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:41,440
Speaker 2: But also I think it'd be great. I mean just

697
00:32:41,480 --> 00:32:43,520
Speaker 2: for to be able to whether it be a spring

698
00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:47,760
Speaker 2: game or preseason game, but certainly the month of August

699
00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:49,600
Speaker 2: is long for college coaches because it's a month of

700
00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:53,920
Speaker 2: practicing against yourself. Spring practice is great because there's great

701
00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:57,040
Speaker 2: teaching and all that. But to be able to culminate

702
00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:00,640
Speaker 2: spring practice with the spring game against somebody else and

703
00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:03,600
Speaker 2: we're all looking for a ways to generate revenue or

704
00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:06,560
Speaker 2: give back to others, there's so many opportunities in my

705
00:33:06,640 --> 00:33:08,960
Speaker 2: mind to be able to do that. Where here in

706
00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:14,040
Speaker 2: Columbia we could go play NC State and Charlotte or something,

707
00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:17,680
Speaker 2: or we go to Chapel Hill or Durham, or go

708
00:33:17,720 --> 00:33:19,800
Speaker 2: down to Atlanta and play Georgia Tech or whatever it

709
00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:21,680
Speaker 2: might be, somebody that's not on our schedule. I just

710
00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:22,560
Speaker 2: I would love it.

711
00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:25,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned something that is always fascinated me.

712
00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:27,840
Speaker 2: So the week one concept in college.

713
00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:31,000
Speaker 1: Football, the way it's been for both of our lifetimes

714
00:33:31,080 --> 00:33:33,240
Speaker 1: is you kind of throw it out there and we'll

715
00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:36,600
Speaker 1: all find out together. Now, from a viewer's perspective, I'll

716
00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:40,040
Speaker 1: build up expectations of South Carolina. I'll have my power

717
00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:42,200
Speaker 1: rating of South Carolina. I'll think I know where the

718
00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:45,400
Speaker 1: position strengths and weaknesses are, and then I'll watch and

719
00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:48,600
Speaker 1: then I'll adjust accordingly. And then if you guys underperform

720
00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:51,680
Speaker 1: relative to my expectation, I got to figure out, Okay,

721
00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:53,560
Speaker 1: is that just a blip on the radar screen? Or

722
00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:56,320
Speaker 1: was I too high on them? And then then but

723
00:33:56,480 --> 00:33:59,280
Speaker 1: you're a coach, So how different is it for you?

724
00:33:59,320 --> 00:34:01,240
Speaker 1: Like how big a shit to the census is it

725
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:03,840
Speaker 1: for you and your staff to get the result you

726
00:34:03,880 --> 00:34:04,680
Speaker 1: get in Week one?

727
00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:07,960
Speaker 2: And then what is sundaylight? What is Monday like following

728
00:34:08,000 --> 00:34:10,560
Speaker 2: that Week one game every year? Yeah, now that's great

729
00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:15,640
Speaker 2: question and fascinating, and it's more challenging than ever. Now

730
00:34:15,880 --> 00:34:20,280
Speaker 2: Week one is because of the transfer portal too, because beforehand, okay,

731
00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:22,399
Speaker 2: we're playing whoever Week one, you turn on the tape

732
00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:25,560
Speaker 2: from last year, Well, here they are. You know, here's

733
00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:28,759
Speaker 2: the personnel, and here's their team. This guy graduated, this

734
00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:32,879
Speaker 2: guy graduated, this guy graduated. But you know this guy

735
00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:34,880
Speaker 2: right here that played for him, he was their backup

736
00:34:34,960 --> 00:34:36,759
Speaker 2: right tackle last year. He's going to be the starter

737
00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:42,120
Speaker 2: this year. Okay, cool, not anymore, Alex. You're watching like

738
00:34:42,640 --> 00:34:44,640
Speaker 2: Old Dominion we opened up with last year and they

739
00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:46,360
Speaker 2: had a bunch of new transfers that came in, So

740
00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:48,600
Speaker 2: you're trying to go through the personnel and project who's

741
00:34:48,640 --> 00:34:50,520
Speaker 2: going to be where, And here you are watching tape

742
00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:52,960
Speaker 2: on this guy from this school and this guy from

743
00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:54,799
Speaker 2: this school, and this guy from this school. But they're

744
00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:57,279
Speaker 2: all part of Old Dominion's team right now. Not to

745
00:34:57,280 --> 00:34:59,200
Speaker 2: mention this year, we played Virginia Tech and they've got

746
00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:01,480
Speaker 2: a new offensive cour or and a new defensive coordinator.

747
00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:03,439
Speaker 2: Neither one of them are in college football last year,

748
00:35:04,200 --> 00:35:07,360
Speaker 2: So there's just so many unknowns about it, so you

749
00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:09,200
Speaker 2: try and stay level ahead. It goes back to what

750
00:35:09,239 --> 00:35:11,120
Speaker 2: you said about what a long season it is and

751
00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:14,080
Speaker 2: what a marathon it is. That you have game one,

752
00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:18,959
Speaker 2: and that's what's cool and challenging in so many ways

753
00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:22,440
Speaker 2: about college football. You only get twelve guaranteed opportunities. Twelve

754
00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:25,440
Speaker 2: is all we get, and week one matters just like

755
00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:27,880
Speaker 2: Week two and three. But just trying to take a

756
00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:31,040
Speaker 2: deep breath as a head coach and understanding, all right,

757
00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:34,200
Speaker 2: that was week one, How much better do we get

758
00:35:34,480 --> 00:35:37,879
Speaker 2: from Week one? To week two and okay, here's where

759
00:35:37,880 --> 00:35:43,040
Speaker 2: the areas where we were lacking. And it's different because

760
00:35:43,080 --> 00:35:45,280
Speaker 2: it's the first time going through a day after a game,

761
00:35:45,320 --> 00:35:48,120
Speaker 2: but it's really the same process for us as it

762
00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:50,680
Speaker 2: is in week eight. Here's the things we did well.

763
00:35:50,680 --> 00:35:52,920
Speaker 2: Here's the things that we didn't do well. Here's the

764
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:56,520
Speaker 2: things that surprised us. Here's the personnel errors that we

765
00:35:56,600 --> 00:35:58,560
Speaker 2: made that we thought this guy was going to be

766
00:35:58,560 --> 00:36:00,319
Speaker 2: able to perform a little bit better against the sky

767
00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:02,000
Speaker 2: and he didn't. Maybe we need to get him a

768
00:36:02,000 --> 00:36:03,959
Speaker 2: little bit more help or whatever it might be next week.

769
00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:06,000
Speaker 2: And that was us this year. I mean, I mentioned

770
00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:08,719
Speaker 2: it earlier. We struggled against old dominion and give old

771
00:36:08,719 --> 00:36:10,400
Speaker 2: dominion credit, but I mean that thing went into the

772
00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:12,640
Speaker 2: fourth quarter and we looked at it and we said, okay,

773
00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:15,920
Speaker 2: we were pretty good on defense. We've got this freshman

774
00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:19,279
Speaker 2: defensive end named Dylan Stewart that we thought was pretty good. Okay,

775
00:36:19,320 --> 00:36:23,960
Speaker 2: he's pretty freaking good Offensively, we got a lot of

776
00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:26,440
Speaker 2: new faces. We just started a quarterback and his first

777
00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:29,359
Speaker 2: game ever as a college football player or first game

778
00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:32,480
Speaker 2: ever starting he'll continue to get better and not like

779
00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:35,200
Speaker 2: sit there and panic, but you know, because there was

780
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:37,799
Speaker 2: some panic with some people not in this building, but

781
00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:39,919
Speaker 2: maybe outside this building. Oh my god, they went five

782
00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:44,640
Speaker 2: and seven last year and they struggled to beat Old Dominion. Well, okay,

783
00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:47,760
Speaker 2: but take a deep breath and realize there's some reasons

784
00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:50,080
Speaker 2: for that. We can be better, here's some opportunities that

785
00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:52,920
Speaker 2: we missed, and we'll be better week two and just

786
00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:54,799
Speaker 2: trying to stay level ahead and stay the course. And

787
00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:56,120
Speaker 2: that's what we did and then we were able to

788
00:36:56,160 --> 00:36:58,759
Speaker 2: go up to Lexington and beat UK the next week

789
00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:01,600
Speaker 2: and that was a huge wins that propelled us to do

790
00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:04,000
Speaker 2: a lot past that you were talking about all that's

791
00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:06,560
Speaker 2: changed and how you know, construction of a roster is

792
00:37:06,600 --> 00:37:07,920
Speaker 2: way different now than it used to be.

793
00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:09,919
Speaker 1: I'm gonna ask you this because we were with Kirby

794
00:37:09,920 --> 00:37:11,600
Speaker 1: Smart at Georgia yesterday and I asked him this.

795
00:37:11,680 --> 00:37:13,919
Speaker 2: I love where he went with it. I've got my own.

796
00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:16,799
Speaker 1: So when you look at the current state of the game,

797
00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:20,200
Speaker 1: or the current state of society, or music or movies, whatever,

798
00:37:20,239 --> 00:37:23,200
Speaker 1: there are things that used to be that are not anymore.

799
00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:26,120
Speaker 2: And some of those things that are not anymore you

800
00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:26,840
Speaker 2: may have loved.

801
00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:30,319
Speaker 1: For example, I go to games every weekend, I'll go

802
00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:31,560
Speaker 1: to a concert or whatnot.

803
00:37:31,600 --> 00:37:32,920
Speaker 2: I'll go to a live event.

804
00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:36,640
Speaker 1: And now anytime something big happens, you look and it's

805
00:37:36,719 --> 00:37:38,120
Speaker 1: just an ocean of cell phones.

806
00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:40,440
Speaker 2: They're being held up in the big moment.

807
00:37:40,200 --> 00:37:43,480
Speaker 1: Whereas twenty five years ago it may it may have

808
00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:45,719
Speaker 1: been hands up, but otherwise it would have been just

809
00:37:45,719 --> 00:37:48,880
Speaker 1: eyeballs locked in and voice at full throat. And I

810
00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:51,080
Speaker 1: miss that. But I know it's a waste of time

811
00:37:51,080 --> 00:37:52,719
Speaker 1: to talk about it because we'll never get that back.

812
00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:53,040
Speaker 2: Right.

813
00:37:53,200 --> 00:37:55,520
Speaker 1: Do you have things, whether it's coaching or whether it's

814
00:37:55,560 --> 00:37:57,120
Speaker 1: just life. I don't care eight tracks for all.

815
00:37:57,160 --> 00:38:00,600
Speaker 2: I care that you long for it, you miss this thing,

816
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:03,800
Speaker 2: you love it, you romanticize it. But you know, Shane,

817
00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:05,560
Speaker 2: you got to move on. Man, it's not coming back.

818
00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:09,520
Speaker 2: M that's a great question. Yeah, it's funny you said

819
00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:11,760
Speaker 2: that because I was watching the Players Championship in golf

820
00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:14,240
Speaker 2: over the weekend, and anytime like a player was getting

821
00:38:14,239 --> 00:38:16,440
Speaker 2: ready to hit a shot, no one was watching. They

822
00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:19,359
Speaker 2: were all just video and then watching them through their phone.

823
00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:20,880
Speaker 2: I guess they saw it, but it's like, put the

824
00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:24,040
Speaker 2: phone down here, enjoy watching Roy mckory, Like hit the

825
00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:26,560
Speaker 2: golf ball and all that as well. Man, that's a

826
00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:32,400
Speaker 2: great question. What did Kirby say. Kirby said he missed

827
00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:34,879
Speaker 2: the era where you could coach a.

828
00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:37,040
Speaker 1: Guy hard and no matter how hard you coached him,

829
00:38:37,360 --> 00:38:38,879
Speaker 1: you knew he was gonna be there in the fall.

830
00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:41,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, he was gonna be on your team. And now

831
00:38:41,600 --> 00:38:44,320
Speaker 2: it's like you're you're you're pushing a guy and unbeknownt

832
00:38:44,320 --> 00:38:45,880
Speaker 2: to you're pushinghim towards on the edge of the table,

833
00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:48,080
Speaker 2: and then where'd he go? He's not here anymore. So

834
00:38:48,239 --> 00:38:50,080
Speaker 2: that's what he said, he went football. Yep. I can

835
00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:56,280
Speaker 2: see that and understand certainly where he's coming from. Um,

836
00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:58,360
Speaker 2: I don't know nothing that jumps out, and I'm not

837
00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:00,239
Speaker 2: trying to dodge the question, and it's one of those

838
00:39:00,280 --> 00:39:03,200
Speaker 2: I feel like there's gotta be, you know, something like

839
00:39:03,239 --> 00:39:08,440
Speaker 2: that I missed, probably probably as a dad right now,

840
00:39:08,640 --> 00:39:12,600
Speaker 2: like with my with my own children. But it's our players,

841
00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:15,480
Speaker 2: it's society in general, just and I'm guilty of it

842
00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:17,080
Speaker 2: as well. I don't have it only, but just the

843
00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:21,200
Speaker 2: reliance on cell phones and you and I came up

844
00:39:21,239 --> 00:39:23,319
Speaker 2: in an era where I was in college and I

845
00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:26,640
Speaker 2: didn't have cell phones. I had answering machines, and we'd

846
00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:28,799
Speaker 2: go out on a Friday night or a Saturday night

847
00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:30,840
Speaker 2: in Blacksburg, Virginia, and I'd come back to the apartment

848
00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:33,560
Speaker 2: that I lived in with my three college teammates, and

849
00:39:33,880 --> 00:39:36,799
Speaker 2: you'd click the answering machine. Oh, so and so called me,

850
00:39:36,840 --> 00:39:38,520
Speaker 2: and so and so is here, so and So's at

851
00:39:38,560 --> 00:39:40,720
Speaker 2: so and so's house. And you didn't have cell phones,

852
00:39:40,719 --> 00:39:44,360
Speaker 2: and there was a great I survived, you made it.

853
00:39:44,480 --> 00:39:47,880
Speaker 2: I made it, and my kids now with thank God

854
00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:51,160
Speaker 2: for my wife. But my oldest daughter, she's a sophomore

855
00:39:51,160 --> 00:39:53,120
Speaker 2: at high school, and my lord, like, she didn't have

856
00:39:53,120 --> 00:39:54,880
Speaker 2: the cell phone for ten minutes. The world's going to

857
00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:57,600
Speaker 2: end and whatnot. So I maybe missed those days a

858
00:39:57,680 --> 00:40:00,200
Speaker 2: little bit where there wasn't such a reliant and so

859
00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:06,000
Speaker 2: on instant communication, social media things like that as well,

860
00:40:06,000 --> 00:40:08,359
Speaker 2: which I think Big Picture has also led very much

861
00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:12,880
Speaker 2: to the instant gratification. And I see it as the

862
00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:15,040
Speaker 2: head football coach that guys come in and they just

863
00:40:15,120 --> 00:40:17,399
Speaker 2: expect everything to be this way right now, or I'm

864
00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:19,200
Speaker 2: gonna come in as a true freshman and I'm gonna start.

865
00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:21,840
Speaker 2: I'm gonna go, you know, catch forty balls or have

866
00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:25,160
Speaker 2: six sacks and when it doesn't happen, well, something must

867
00:40:25,160 --> 00:40:27,560
Speaker 2: be wrong. I'm gonna go somewhere else. And it all

868
00:40:27,560 --> 00:40:30,600
Speaker 2: goes back to that immediate instant gratification that I think

869
00:40:30,719 --> 00:40:32,839
Speaker 2: is very much of you know, society, and everything's at

870
00:40:32,880 --> 00:40:35,640
Speaker 2: your fingertips right now on your phone. So that's probably

871
00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:38,759
Speaker 2: a big picture talked about a little thing that I

872
00:40:38,800 --> 00:40:42,040
Speaker 2: think is really impacts a lot as well, if that

873
00:40:42,080 --> 00:40:45,400
Speaker 2: makes sense. There's that a lot of people go to that. Okay,

874
00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:46,759
Speaker 2: so I would agree with you.

875
00:40:46,760 --> 00:40:51,040
Speaker 1: There's a ton of downside of being immersed in technology

876
00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:54,000
Speaker 1: and constantly, you know, having your head to.

877
00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:57,080
Speaker 2: It affects people's posture. By the way, people's posture sucks. Now, yes,

878
00:40:57,400 --> 00:40:59,799
Speaker 2: I got a working theory. Half the people I floated too,

879
00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:02,400
Speaker 2: it's dumb. Half the people say, well, it's the smartest

880
00:41:02,440 --> 00:41:04,839
Speaker 2: thing I've ever heard. There's no in between. I do

881
00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:09,120
Speaker 2: believe in your profession that you're now dealing with a

882
00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:11,839
Speaker 2: generation that's entirely grown up in the social media era.

883
00:41:12,239 --> 00:41:15,520
Speaker 1: Their entire adolescent lives and young adult lives have been

884
00:41:15,640 --> 00:41:19,359
Speaker 1: lived basically in the public sphere, meaning you know, if

885
00:41:19,400 --> 00:41:22,920
Speaker 1: you screw up, someone could capture it and your life

886
00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:25,880
Speaker 1: could be ruined at any moment, all right. So my

887
00:41:26,080 --> 00:41:29,680
Speaker 1: theory is we've seen off the field stories in college

888
00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:34,360
Speaker 1: football plummet. I don't feel like they're nearly the amount

889
00:41:34,400 --> 00:41:36,640
Speaker 1: of off the field incidents that there used to be.

890
00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:38,440
Speaker 2: It used to be a headline every other day.

891
00:41:39,040 --> 00:41:41,680
Speaker 1: And I'm not saying it doesn't happen, and in isolated

892
00:41:41,719 --> 00:41:44,239
Speaker 1: areas probably maybe some program still deals with it a lot,

893
00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:47,279
Speaker 1: but by and larger college football, it almost feels non

894
00:41:47,280 --> 00:41:50,040
Speaker 1: existent to me now. And my theory is, Okay, you're

895
00:41:50,040 --> 00:41:52,719
Speaker 1: dealing with a generation now that has grown up paranoid

896
00:41:52,960 --> 00:41:54,759
Speaker 1: that someone's watching.

897
00:41:54,480 --> 00:41:55,200
Speaker 2: At all times.

898
00:41:55,640 --> 00:41:58,319
Speaker 1: The whole definition of discipline used to be what are

899
00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:01,040
Speaker 1: you doing when you don't think people are watching? Well, nowadays,

900
00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:03,279
Speaker 1: everybody's watching it at all times, and there's also money

901
00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:05,600
Speaker 1: on the line for guys now as opposed to maybe

902
00:42:05,840 --> 00:42:09,239
Speaker 1: five ten years down the road. So if I agree

903
00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:11,000
Speaker 1: with you, by the way, like I do miss that.

904
00:42:11,120 --> 00:42:13,480
Speaker 1: But maybe one of the benefits, if we want to

905
00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:16,400
Speaker 1: call it that, yep, is you don't have to like

906
00:42:16,440 --> 00:42:18,919
Speaker 1: put the fear of God into guys. They're already here

907
00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:22,160
Speaker 1: having it their whole lives because they know my family's

908
00:42:22,200 --> 00:42:24,880
Speaker 1: counting on me. I can earn money immediately in college

909
00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:27,879
Speaker 1: and everyone's watching me, maybe it's not worth it.

910
00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:30,520
Speaker 2: Wow, that is a great point. I really haven't thought

911
00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:32,279
Speaker 2: of that. But you're exactly right. Not going one in

912
00:42:32,320 --> 00:42:35,040
Speaker 2: regards to the off field issues and things like that

913
00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:37,560
Speaker 2: as well, but nothing. There's certainly something to that because

914
00:42:37,560 --> 00:42:39,120
Speaker 2: we talk about it all the time. I do as

915
00:42:39,120 --> 00:42:41,040
Speaker 2: a dad, I do as the head football coach that

916
00:42:41,520 --> 00:42:44,000
Speaker 2: you know your life can change in an instant and

917
00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:47,560
Speaker 2: it always was able to but now, like you're saying,

918
00:42:47,600 --> 00:42:50,560
Speaker 2: it's always going to be captured by someone whatever you do.

919
00:42:50,680 --> 00:42:52,279
Speaker 2: So we just came off spring break and as a

920
00:42:52,280 --> 00:42:54,120
Speaker 2: head coach, your players are gone for an entire week

921
00:42:54,160 --> 00:42:58,480
Speaker 2: and they're in Florida and doing whatever whatever wherever, and

922
00:42:58,520 --> 00:43:01,359
Speaker 2: you hold your breath. But you know, we've never had

923
00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:03,920
Speaker 2: in my time. I'm going to jinx myself, but we

924
00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:06,279
Speaker 2: haven't had issues like that on spring breaks and things

925
00:43:06,320 --> 00:43:07,799
Speaker 2: like that, and you don't hear about it as much.

926
00:43:07,840 --> 00:43:11,160
Speaker 2: You're exactly right, because I think guys do know that

927
00:43:11,200 --> 00:43:13,799
Speaker 2: everything's on camera now as well, and there's a lot

928
00:43:13,840 --> 00:43:16,479
Speaker 2: more riding on it in today's game for sure.

929
00:43:16,640 --> 00:43:18,320
Speaker 1: All Right, as we circle about kind of close it

930
00:43:18,400 --> 00:43:21,400
Speaker 1: up with this year, this team. It's really early in

931
00:43:21,480 --> 00:43:23,240
Speaker 1: spring still. As you and I are talking, you guys

932
00:43:23,520 --> 00:43:26,960
Speaker 1: just opened spring ball. So I'm sure you've got some

933
00:43:27,080 --> 00:43:29,799
Speaker 1: things you want to focus on. I'm sure in your

934
00:43:29,840 --> 00:43:33,279
Speaker 1: winter sessions with your coaches and your quality control processes,

935
00:43:33,840 --> 00:43:37,480
Speaker 1: you guys identified things being as specific as you can be.

936
00:43:38,040 --> 00:43:39,759
Speaker 1: What are some of the areas that you know we

937
00:43:39,800 --> 00:43:41,680
Speaker 1: got to hammer on this spring if we were going

938
00:43:41,719 --> 00:43:43,759
Speaker 1: to be anywhere close to the team people expect.

939
00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:47,839
Speaker 2: Us to be. Yeah, Leadership, for one, I knew we

940
00:43:47,840 --> 00:43:49,719
Speaker 2: were going to be better in twenty twenty four than

941
00:43:49,760 --> 00:43:52,000
Speaker 2: people on the outside thought, and it was because of

942
00:43:52,080 --> 00:43:55,000
Speaker 2: the leadership on this team. We had so many older

943
00:43:55,040 --> 00:44:00,560
Speaker 2: guys that were coming back in twenty twenty four. We

944
00:44:00,680 --> 00:44:04,359
Speaker 2: just had our first spring practice and I texted all

945
00:44:04,400 --> 00:44:06,640
Speaker 2: these guys because this is my this is my fifth

946
00:44:06,719 --> 00:44:09,000
Speaker 2: year as the head coach at South Carolina. So so

947
00:44:09,239 --> 00:44:12,400
Speaker 2: spring practice number one was my fifth day one of

948
00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:16,800
Speaker 2: spring practice, and it was the first practice I've had

949
00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:21,040
Speaker 2: as the head coach without Ky Kroger, our punter without

950
00:44:21,200 --> 00:44:25,520
Speaker 2: Hunter Rogers, our long snapper without Vershawn Lee, our starting

951
00:44:25,680 --> 00:44:31,160
Speaker 2: center without Tonka Hemmingway our DEFENSEI attackle Boogie Huntley our

952
00:44:31,200 --> 00:44:35,680
Speaker 2: DEFENSI attack called Deebo Williams at linebacker, Bam Scott at linebacker,

953
00:44:35,719 --> 00:44:38,359
Speaker 2: O'Donnell Fortune at corner. A team this year, though, yeah,

954
00:44:38,560 --> 00:44:40,760
Speaker 2: you don't. When I say that, I'm like, oh my god.

955
00:44:40,840 --> 00:44:42,879
Speaker 2: But I saw him that at progate the other day.

956
00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:46,600
Speaker 2: And all those guys have been with me every practice

957
00:44:46,640 --> 00:44:48,279
Speaker 2: that I've had as a game cock. They've been out

958
00:44:48,320 --> 00:44:54,520
Speaker 2: there and it's it's uh, it's crazy. But that was

959
00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:56,440
Speaker 2: so much of our leadership last year. And then we

960
00:44:56,440 --> 00:44:59,160
Speaker 2: brought in guys like Demetrius Knight and torres Ellie Simpkins

961
00:44:59,160 --> 00:45:01,800
Speaker 2: and we just had a great leadership. And there's a

962
00:45:01,880 --> 00:45:03,880
Speaker 2: lot of leaders that have left this program. So you

963
00:45:03,880 --> 00:45:05,880
Speaker 2: look at it and you say, all right, we need

964
00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:08,040
Speaker 2: to be very intentional about you can't make it happen,

965
00:45:08,160 --> 00:45:11,560
Speaker 2: but trying to develop the leadership so it happens throughout

966
00:45:11,640 --> 00:45:14,239
Speaker 2: the off season as we head into the season. So

967
00:45:14,320 --> 00:45:17,359
Speaker 2: that's one area that we've been really good at that

968
00:45:17,360 --> 00:45:19,279
Speaker 2: we've got to continue to be if we're going to

969
00:45:19,360 --> 00:45:21,399
Speaker 2: be good in twenty twenty five is taking the ball

970
00:45:21,440 --> 00:45:25,040
Speaker 2: away on defense. Every year that I've been here as

971
00:45:25,040 --> 00:45:26,759
Speaker 2: the head coach, and Clayton White has been here as

972
00:45:26,760 --> 00:45:30,000
Speaker 2: the defensive coordinator. We've either been first, second, or third

973
00:45:30,000 --> 00:45:33,120
Speaker 2: in the SEC and taking the ball away our defense

974
00:45:33,239 --> 00:45:36,520
Speaker 2: creating turnovers to give the offense the ball back. We've

975
00:45:36,520 --> 00:45:39,160
Speaker 2: been really good at that for four years in a row.

976
00:45:39,440 --> 00:45:41,960
Speaker 2: It's been a big part of our success. We've got

977
00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:44,600
Speaker 2: to be in twenty twenty five, and then we've looked

978
00:45:44,600 --> 00:45:47,479
Speaker 2: at it. I mean, there's areas on offense we need

979
00:45:47,520 --> 00:45:50,759
Speaker 2: to certainly be better at protecting the ball, because we

980
00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:54,640
Speaker 2: were one of the best teams at creating takeaways last year,

981
00:45:54,719 --> 00:45:56,799
Speaker 2: but we weren't as good as we needed to be

982
00:45:56,880 --> 00:45:59,279
Speaker 2: at protecting the ball. So we've the best teams in

983
00:45:59,320 --> 00:46:01,680
Speaker 2: college football. It's crazy. You look at it every year.

984
00:46:01,680 --> 00:46:04,120
Speaker 2: If their tops and turnover margin, they're going to be

985
00:46:04,160 --> 00:46:06,440
Speaker 2: probably in the playoff. And I think we went back

986
00:46:06,440 --> 00:46:07,680
Speaker 2: and looked at it through the day as a team.

987
00:46:07,880 --> 00:46:10,040
Speaker 2: I think of the top like eight teams in the

988
00:46:10,080 --> 00:46:12,719
Speaker 2: country in turnover margin last year, either four or five

989
00:46:12,760 --> 00:46:15,200
Speaker 2: of them them were in the College Football Playoff and

990
00:46:15,239 --> 00:46:18,480
Speaker 2: the other ones were James Madison and someone else. So

991
00:46:19,080 --> 00:46:22,280
Speaker 2: taking the ball, protecting the ball, being better in turnover margin.

992
00:46:22,320 --> 00:46:24,960
Speaker 2: And then when you're that close to the college football

993
00:46:24,960 --> 00:46:27,879
Speaker 2: playoff and people talk about what you were two points away, Yes,

994
00:46:28,000 --> 00:46:30,839
Speaker 2: but we were also we had a three point win

995
00:46:30,880 --> 00:46:33,600
Speaker 2: I think against Missouri, we had a four point win

996
00:46:33,640 --> 00:46:36,200
Speaker 2: against Old Dominion. We had some close wins too, and

997
00:46:36,200 --> 00:46:38,920
Speaker 2: it's a small margin for error, so everything matters. In

998
00:46:38,960 --> 00:46:40,880
Speaker 2: One area that we've looked at is just you know,

999
00:46:40,920 --> 00:46:44,719
Speaker 2: scoring touchdowns in the red zone. And we had the

1000
00:46:44,760 --> 00:46:46,879
Speaker 2: same number of trips to the red zone last year

1001
00:46:46,880 --> 00:46:50,160
Speaker 2: as Alabama did, but they scored I think nine more

1002
00:46:50,200 --> 00:46:52,640
Speaker 2: touchdowns than we did in the red zone. Well, that's

1003
00:46:52,640 --> 00:46:54,120
Speaker 2: a lot of points that we left out there on

1004
00:46:54,160 --> 00:46:56,360
Speaker 2: the field because we didn't you know, finish drives in

1005
00:46:56,360 --> 00:46:59,040
Speaker 2: the red zone, and those drives could be the difference

1006
00:46:59,080 --> 00:47:02,920
Speaker 2: in those two points us getting into the playoff or not.

1007
00:47:03,040 --> 00:47:04,600
Speaker 2: So there's a lot of areas as a hit coach,

1008
00:47:04,640 --> 00:47:06,279
Speaker 2: I could go on and one and one, but those

1009
00:47:06,320 --> 00:47:08,840
Speaker 2: are three or four that really stand out that for

1010
00:47:08,920 --> 00:47:10,120
Speaker 2: us to do what we want to do in twenty

1011
00:47:10,160 --> 00:47:13,319
Speaker 2: twenty five, this is what's got to happen. And just

1012
00:47:13,360 --> 00:47:15,840
Speaker 2: continue to get better and put our head down and

1013
00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:17,960
Speaker 2: not listen. Last year we didn't listen to the outside

1014
00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:20,719
Speaker 2: noise or people telling us that we were gonna stink

1015
00:47:20,719 --> 00:47:22,520
Speaker 2: and that I was gonna get fired and everything. And

1016
00:47:22,560 --> 00:47:24,040
Speaker 2: this year, we don't need to be listening to it

1017
00:47:24,080 --> 00:47:26,439
Speaker 2: when everybody's telling us, you know how good we are,

1018
00:47:26,520 --> 00:47:29,640
Speaker 2: and you got all these guys back, and here's what's

1019
00:47:29,680 --> 00:47:31,320
Speaker 2: gonna happen. We didn't listen to it last year. We

1020
00:47:31,360 --> 00:47:32,879
Speaker 2: don't need to listen to it this year. Just keep

1021
00:47:32,880 --> 00:47:35,280
Speaker 2: our head down and work. Coach. We appreciate it. Appreciate

1022
00:47:35,320 --> 00:47:36,200
Speaker 2: you guys are the best.

1023
00:47:49,880 --> 00:47:53,840
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