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Speaker 1: This week on The Day Pash podcast, we talked with

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Speaker 1: multiple Emmy Award winning broadcaster and the face and voice

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Speaker 1: of college football on ESPN and ABC, Kirk Herbstreet, who

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Speaker 1: never envisioned when he was playing quarterback at Ohio State

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Speaker 1: in the nineties then he would be where he is today,

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Speaker 1: had no goals of, Hey, one day I'll go on

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Speaker 1: TV or one day I'll work at ESPN. Nothing like that.

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Speaker 1: It just sounded like a fun job. I grew up

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Speaker 1: listening to talk radio, and I thought that sounds like

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Speaker 1: a lot of fun. Herb Street, like me and many

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Speaker 1: other broadcasters, started in talk radio and coming up you'll

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Speaker 1: learn how Herb Street went from a very low paying

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Speaker 1: job to being one of the top announcers in all

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Speaker 1: of sports. Kirk's also going to talk about his new

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Speaker 1: book Out of the Pocket, Football Fatherhood, and College Game

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Speaker 1: Day Saturdays. He'll discuss his relationship with his dad and

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Speaker 1: also how his parents divorce help shape him his relationship

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Speaker 1: with his dad on television Lee Corso that's something that

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Speaker 1: Kirk will dive into as well. Herb Street will also

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Speaker 1: talk about some of the things he loves about college

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Speaker 1: football right now and the twenty twenty one season and

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Speaker 1: also some of the things he doesn't like. Right now,

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Speaker 1: Kirk will get into the NFL, the Arizona Cardinals and

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Speaker 1: Kyler Murray. That's all coming up on the Dave Pash Podcast.

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Speaker 1: We are presented by bet MGM, the official sports betting

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Speaker 1: partner of the Arizona Cardinals and Hila River Hotels and Casinos.

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Speaker 1: You can also follow us on Twitter at pashpod. So

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Speaker 1: here he is ESPN ABC announcer Kirk Herbstreet Herbie, great

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Speaker 1: to talk to you, man, appreciate you doing this. I

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Speaker 1: definitely want to get into the book and spend some

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Speaker 1: considerable time there. But first give me your thoughts on

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Speaker 1: the college football season so far. What stands out to

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Speaker 1: you the most through the first month of the season. Wow,

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Speaker 1: I think it's the first time that it just feels

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Speaker 1: so open, you know, access feels open to conference championships,

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Speaker 1: to potential heavyweight bowl games, to the playoff. You know,

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Speaker 1: we always talked about the possibility of the sport needing

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Speaker 1: to expand the playoffs to keep more people interested. Because

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Speaker 1: it's a foregone conclusion that Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, maybe

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Speaker 1: a Georgia, maybe in Oklahoma and everybody else don't. Don't

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Speaker 1: worry about it. Sometimes that's how it feels, I think

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Speaker 1: for the fan bases, and you know, this year, it

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Speaker 1: just feels like everybody's vulnerable, you know, coming out of

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Speaker 1: the year of COVID last year, it feels like they're

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Speaker 1: they're really I mean, you could say Alabama's the best,

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Speaker 1: but they've got a old miss this week and that

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Speaker 1: could get sideways potentially in Georgia. They're gonna have some challenges,

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Speaker 1: including this weekend with Arkansas. So I don't know, it

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Speaker 1: just feels I like it. By the way, it feels

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Speaker 1: like we've got we've got a lot more intrigued with

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Speaker 1: more and more upsets, more parody, and even a group

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Speaker 1: of five team like Cincinnati, you know, playing Notre Dame

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Speaker 1: this weekend, trying to throw their into the ring. So

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Speaker 1: I think it's been fun. Kirk, you have Georgia this week,

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Speaker 1: and I know you've been watching tape. It seems to me,

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Speaker 1: I mean, look, they've they've had great players for a

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Speaker 1: long time and especially recently, but it seems like they've

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Speaker 1: got more dudes than ever. Have you Is that stood

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Speaker 1: out to you when you're watching film? Yeah, I think

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Speaker 1: that the area is where you see it the most

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Speaker 1: number one depth at wide receiver. You know that that's

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Speaker 1: been an achilles heel of theirs. You know, they had

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Speaker 1: George Pickens and then kind of other guys. You know,

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Speaker 1: Kier's Jackson has come on last year in this year,

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Speaker 1: and Jermaine Burton. But I don't know. I just feel

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Speaker 1: with A. A. D. Mitchell and this young tight end

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Speaker 1: that they have Rock Bowers. They haven't even played their

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Speaker 1: starting tight end. He's been hurt Tony in Washington. It

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Speaker 1: just feels like they've got a better group there so

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Speaker 1: they can rotate and stay fresh and stay fast. And

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Speaker 1: then on defense they're just terrifying. I mean, Jordan Davis

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Speaker 1: gets a lot of the attention, but DeVante Wyatt you've

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Speaker 1: seen he's got ninety five and eighty eight. Jalen Carter,

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Speaker 1: he's a backup. He might be the most talented, most gifted,

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Speaker 1: Like five years from now and we're looking at this team,

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Speaker 1: the guy that might be crushing NFL quarterbacks is Carter.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, they're loaded. And one thing I noticed I

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Speaker 1: did their game Week one against Clemson. They've got a

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Speaker 1: good mix of veterans that are played and then a

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Speaker 1: wave of young or young as far as experience, but

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Speaker 1: just some guys that have a little bit of a

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Speaker 1: chip on their shoulder. They've had to pay their dues,

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Speaker 1: they had to sit behind Richard LeCount and others, you know,

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Speaker 1: in that secondary. A lot of those guys moved on

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Speaker 1: to the NFL and so they had to sit there

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Speaker 1: and wait. So they're playing with some urgencies. So I

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Speaker 1: think when you mix that whole thing up, this Georgia

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Speaker 1: defense has got a strong personality and a strong love

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Speaker 1: for each other. And I think it's pretty evident when

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Speaker 1: you get around him. You just saw Spencer Rattler on

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Speaker 1: Saturday night. He's from here. I had them week one

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Speaker 1: when they kind of let two lane back in the

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Speaker 1: game and it got a little too close for comfort

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Speaker 1: there at the end, he was he was probably the

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Speaker 1: Heisman favorite coming in. Where do you see him now?

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Speaker 1: And who are some of the candidates. I know it's

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Speaker 1: you know, not even October, but who are some of

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Speaker 1: the candidates you think that'll be there at the end

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Speaker 1: for the Heisman. Well, first, I think we have to

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Speaker 1: just try to put in perspective what happened to him

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Speaker 1: as past Saturday. I mean, he like you said, he

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Speaker 1: was a Heisman front runner, not for his team but

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Speaker 1: for the nation. And he's being booed off the field

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Speaker 1: week four, and in fact, they were channing, you know,

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Speaker 1: we want Caleb, we want Caleb. The stands were meeting

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Speaker 1: Caleb Williams, the backup quarterback. I don't know if I've

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Speaker 1: ever in all the years I've been covering the sport

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Speaker 1: and playing the sport. I mean, you always hear, you know,

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Speaker 1: from time to time you're gonna hear a backup quarterback's

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Speaker 1: name chant, But for a Heisman, preseason Heisman favorite, four

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Speaker 1: weeks into a season hearing that, I think it's unprecedented.

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Speaker 1: I don't think I've ever ever seen anything like that,

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Speaker 1: And it made me start to think a little bit.

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Speaker 1: In this era of name, image and likeness, how much

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Speaker 1: is this. It's a new world that we're in. And

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Speaker 1: you're familiar with Spencer because he's from out there. I

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Speaker 1: think part of his deal for me after doing QB

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Speaker 1: one was he needed to grow up, he needed to mature.

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Speaker 1: He'll tell you he has his teammates, his coaches will

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Speaker 1: tell you that, but he I think he is profited

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Speaker 1: the most off of anil and I just wonder, kind

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Speaker 1: of like in the world that you live in with

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Speaker 1: the Cardinals, it's a different kind of fan base. With

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Speaker 1: the NFL, they make money, they get booed, their high expectations.

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Speaker 1: I'm just wondering if we're starting to cross the line

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Speaker 1: that it's no longer college kids and all that, but

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Speaker 1: now it's it's it's this nil. These guys are being

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Speaker 1: paid and their higher expectations, and if they don't produce,

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Speaker 1: then they're going to feel the wrath of the fan base.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if we're going there, but it certainly

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Speaker 1: felt like that this past Saturday in Norman. And if

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Speaker 1: you look at DJ at Clemson, he's got a lot

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Speaker 1: of nil. He's got a lot of pressure that he's

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Speaker 1: dealing with. Look at the quarterback Sam Howe was another

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Speaker 1: one at North Carolina that was highly touted in the preseason.

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Speaker 1: I just think that in this era of coming off

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Speaker 1: the Summer Olympics with Smone Biles, where she started to

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Speaker 1: feel some anxiety and pressure to have to deliver and

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Speaker 1: almost live up to unrealistic expectations and it got the

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Speaker 1: best of her. I wonder if we're going to start

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Speaker 1: to see some of that in college football, especially at

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Speaker 1: that position where nil is the most likely going to be.

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Speaker 1: These quarterbacks are going to attract most of the opportunity.

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Speaker 1: These I just wonder if we're starting to see some

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Speaker 1: some different things. But as far as to answer the question,

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Speaker 1: I think Bryce Young at Alabama's helping himself. He's kind

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Speaker 1: of been able to block out the noise. I'm kind

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Speaker 1: of looking down the road if JT. Daniels continues to

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Speaker 1: play well and Georgia keeps wedding, I think he's a

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Speaker 1: guy that definitely would be under consideration. And I think

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Speaker 1: my favorite as we sit here right now three or

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Speaker 1: four weeks in, is Matt Carroll at Old Miss. You know,

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Speaker 1: I think he's playing well. He's in an offense where

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Speaker 1: he's going to put up astronomical numbers, and he's got

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Speaker 1: a little bit of an edge to him. I cannot

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Speaker 1: wait to see how they play this weekend against Alabama.

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Speaker 1: I want to go back to what you said. I

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Speaker 1: hadn't thought about what you said about the connection now

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Speaker 1: with nil and players making money, so that it's almost

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Speaker 1: like open season, that a fan now has the right

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Speaker 1: to do a college athlete where maybe before you wouldn't

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Speaker 1: see that or certainly wouldn't see it this early in

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Speaker 1: the season on a team that's top five. That's a

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Speaker 1: great point. I wonder if we're going to start seeing

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Speaker 1: more of that because we've crossed the line now. Look,

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Speaker 1: it's always been a business, but there's a line that's

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Speaker 1: been crossed, so now they're professionals as well as being

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Speaker 1: college athletes. And I also think that's a reason why

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Speaker 1: a lot of college coaches are looking to go to

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Speaker 1: the NFL. Look, you and I know Urban Meyer pretty well.

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Speaker 1: We just played Urban the other day. You know, Texas

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Speaker 1: comes after him. He doesn't take it. Why the NIL

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Speaker 1: is a big deal when it comes to you know,

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Speaker 1: it's not just the parents anymore. You got to recruit agents, basically,

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Speaker 1: and I don't think a lot of college coaches want

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Speaker 1: to do that anymore because now you're dealing with so

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Speaker 1: much more on a daily basis. Is that something you

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Speaker 1: think we'll see from a coach's standpoint, where they start

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Speaker 1: more college coaches like Cliff and Matt Rule and Urban

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Speaker 1: start to look for the NFL. We'll have to see.

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Speaker 1: I know in talking to coaches, they're all very very

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Speaker 1: concerned not just with NIL but transfer portal. You know,

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Speaker 1: there are coaches now that feel they have to try

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Speaker 1: to play guys just to try to keep them happy. Like,

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Speaker 1: when did we ever get into a world of college football,

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Speaker 1: big time college football where some of the not all,

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Speaker 1: some of the coaches, I don't want to say they're

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Speaker 1: walking on eggshells, but they're aware of their players, and

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Speaker 1: they're aware of they don't want their players to get

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Speaker 1: their feelings hurt. They don't want their players to get disgruntled.

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Speaker 1: What can I do to try to make this guy

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Speaker 1: happy even though he's not playing. We had a game

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Speaker 1: the other night for Ohio State was playing and one

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Speaker 1: of their linebackers, who evidently was upset with the amount

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Speaker 1: of playing time he was receiving, got into a heated

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Speaker 1: exchange with the linebacker coach how Washington, and in the

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Speaker 1: middle of the game, he started to take off his

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Speaker 1: equipment and then was escorted off the sideline through his equipment,

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Speaker 1: you know, into the locker, took a shower, left, tweeted

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Speaker 1: out some nasty you know things out of I'm sure

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Speaker 1: of emotion and trustration, but it all stems um amount

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Speaker 1: of playing time. And that's a real thing, I guess

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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one. That you imagine if I don't

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Speaker 1: know Woody Hayes or Bear Bryan or any of these guys,

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Speaker 1: they never ever even thought about dealing with that. So

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Speaker 1: it is a different landscape. Um. I personally, after watching

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Speaker 1: a lot of this and being around all over the country,

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Speaker 1: I don't think I ever think we're in a time

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Speaker 1: where I would recruit the parents more than right now,

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Speaker 1: Like you got you got a kid, you're recruiting. I

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Speaker 1: would get to know what's the family, what's their motivation,

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Speaker 1: what kind of people are they, what kind of person

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Speaker 1: is his kid? Does he love football? That's a rarity anymore,

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Speaker 1: he actually love football, you know, not not Instagram, not

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Speaker 1: the celebrity aspect, not the monetary aspect. But does he

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Speaker 1: love going to practice? Does he love his craft? I

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Speaker 1: would find kids that love football, and I would find

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Speaker 1: parents that want their kids to grow in every way

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Speaker 1: and not just be told yes, yes, yes all the time.

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Speaker 1: So it's a different I don't think coaches are going

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Speaker 1: to leave immediately because the money is really good and

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Speaker 1: end of the day, the lifestyle is pretty good, but

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Speaker 1: they do need to be smart about building their program

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Speaker 1: and not feeling as if they have to be. You know,

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Speaker 1: whatever the player needs, we got to keep them happy.

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Speaker 1: That's not the answer to this at all. And just

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Speaker 1: watch Nick Saban. You know, if Nick Saban gets sideways

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Speaker 1: with a player, he lets the player know. This is

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Speaker 1: the culture, this is the way I run my operation.

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Speaker 1: Either get on board or get the hell out of here.

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Speaker 1: You know, it's pretty simple. And guys don't cross Coach

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Speaker 1: Saban because they fear the consequences. You've become the face

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Speaker 1: and voice of college football over the last twenty years,

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Speaker 1: certainly at ESPN. I'm curious, Kirk, when you left Ohio

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Speaker 1: State after playing quarterback there, and I remember you playing

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Speaker 1: quarterback there because my sophomore year at Syracuse the first

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Speaker 1: college football game I ever did you probably remember the

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Speaker 1: game was at the Carrier Dome against Ohio State and

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Speaker 1: you were the quarterback. Did you ever envision when you're

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Speaker 1: playing at Ohio State. I don't know how much you

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Speaker 1: even thought about broadcasting back then, but did you imagine

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Speaker 1: at all your life turning out the way it has? No? No,

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Speaker 1: not at all. I was a business major at Ohio State,

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Speaker 1: and you don't like any quarterback at a school you

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Speaker 1: hope to one day be able to play in the NFL,

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Speaker 1: and when that was not a reality, I just kind

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Speaker 1: of thought, Okay, I'll just try to go get a job.

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Speaker 1: And Ohio State was really good. They had a guy

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Speaker 1: there named Larry Romanov who helped people when they graduated

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Speaker 1: with contacts. And I did a couple of pharmaceutical sales

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Speaker 1: interviews and medical sales and Worthington Industries, and all those

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Speaker 1: interviews went really well, and I had second to third

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Speaker 1: in a couple cases and was about to accept just

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Speaker 1: a job in pharmaceutical sales. And I just, on my own,

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Speaker 1: for whatever reasoned out to a local AM station in

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Speaker 1: Columbus and said, hey, if you ever need me, you know,

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Speaker 1: being a former captain and player and loved it to

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Speaker 1: help you guys out with your Higo State coverage. And

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Speaker 1: they got back to me, you know, like a month later,

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Speaker 1: and said your timing is great. We're going to go

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Speaker 1: to an all sports format and we need a host

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Speaker 1: and we'll pay you twelve thousand dollars and you're going

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Speaker 1: to do a show in the afternoon drive with At

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Speaker 1: that time, we called him the Voice of the Buckeys,

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Speaker 1: Terry Smith. He's now with the Anaheim Angels and I joined.

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Speaker 1: I passed up on what would be considered lucrative, more

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Speaker 1: traditional jobs which they were offered, and I just passed

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Speaker 1: on them to just had no goals of way, one

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Speaker 1: day I'll go on TV, or one day I'll work

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Speaker 1: at ESPN, nothing like that. It just sounded like a

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Speaker 1: fun job. I grew up listening to talk radio, and

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Speaker 1: I thought that sounds like a lot of fun. So

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Speaker 1: I took the job for twelve thousand, no, no, four

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Speaker 1: o K, nothing, just twelve thousand dollars, which to me,

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Speaker 1: I didn't come from any money, so it sounded like

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Speaker 1: pretty good money to me, and so I took it

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Speaker 1: and things just changed. That was summer of ninety three,

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Speaker 1: and I was at ESPN in the fall of ninety

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Speaker 1: five as a sideline reporter. My first fall there. I

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Speaker 1: don't remember you doing sidelines. I don't, so that's how

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Speaker 1: you started. And then how did college Game Day come about? Well?

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Speaker 1: I worked with Todd Christiansen. He was my analyst when

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Speaker 1: I was a sideline reporter. Dwayne Stats, who was a

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Speaker 1: baseball guy. He was the play by play guy that

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Speaker 1: I worked with, and we we we started on a

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Speaker 1: new station called ESPN two, and so we would be,

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Speaker 1: you know, in the Mountain West. You know, I was

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Speaker 1: on the sidelines one time on on the sidelines at

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Speaker 1: Fort Collins and Urban Meyer who recruited me when he

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Speaker 1: was at Ohio State as a GA. He's a receiver

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Speaker 1: coach for Earl Bruce and he sees me, He's like,

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Speaker 1: what the heck are you doing over here? You know,

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Speaker 1: how are you in Fort Collins? And we just we

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Speaker 1: always kid about that, but yeah, it was cool. It

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Speaker 1: was cool just to kind of learn the business and

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Speaker 1: the good and the bad and had a really bad

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Speaker 1: producer that made my life miserable and surprised. You know,

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Speaker 1: you look back at that time that I stuck with

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Speaker 1: it based on that that experience that year. But anyway,

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Speaker 1: after that season got named Moe Davenport asked me to

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Speaker 1: do arena football and be the color analysts, just to

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Speaker 1: see if I could do games. And Todd Christensen was

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Speaker 1: going to do play by play and he was an analyst.

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Speaker 1: Gonna try try and play by play. So we did

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Speaker 1: an arena football year the spring summer of ninety five

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Speaker 1: or ninety six, and some guy named Kurt Warner was

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Speaker 1: the the quarterback for the Iowa Barnstormers, who ended up

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Speaker 1: becoming the MVP of the of the It was the

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Speaker 1: season that year, and ironically they're making a movie out

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Speaker 1: of his life. And that year was my year being

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Speaker 1: around arena football. So I was in Des Moines, Iowa

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Speaker 1: almost like every other week, called Kurt Warner's games. That

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Speaker 1: little did I know what he would become, you know,

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Speaker 1: with the rams and what a future Hall of Fame

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Speaker 1: career he had. And during the middle of that year,

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Speaker 1: I got another call. Craig James had left game day

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Speaker 1: to go to CBS and they said, literally, Devenport told me,

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Speaker 1: you're not going to get the job, but at this

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Speaker 1: early stage of your career, it'd be really good experience

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Speaker 1: for you to go through the audition that we're going

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Speaker 1: to have for you and a few other people, and

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Speaker 1: we're gonna fly in Fowler and Courso and just see

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Speaker 1: how it goes. And so I flew in in the

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Speaker 1: middle of I was, like I said, in the middle

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Speaker 1: of my arena seasons. I flew in and did the

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Speaker 1: audition and sweated bullets through it. I was terrified. I

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Speaker 1: was like twenty four, twenty five years old. I was

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Speaker 1: so scared sitting next to Lee and Chris and they

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Speaker 1: did the whole theme music. We did like a fake segment,

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Speaker 1: and that was it. I left and went back on

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Speaker 1: the roads do an arena football. And a month or

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Speaker 1: two later, my agent called me and said that I

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Speaker 1: think Howard Katz saw something with Lee and I and

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Speaker 1: he wanted to take a just take a chance and

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Speaker 1: hire me over the other people that were applying for it.

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Speaker 1: And that was it. That was in the summer of

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Speaker 1: ninety six, and then I started that fall fall of

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Speaker 1: ninety six. So it seems like seven or eight years ago.

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Speaker 1: I can't believe it was. Whatever it is twenty six

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Speaker 1: years ago. So we're going to dive into the book

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Speaker 1: here out of the Pocket Football Fatherhood and college Game

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Speaker 1: Base Saturdays, and I'm curious what inspired you to write it.

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Speaker 1: But let's go back one second, because I wasn't going

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Speaker 1: to ask you because I had no idea that you'd

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Speaker 1: covered arena football. Kurt was actually the first guest on

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Speaker 1: this podcast. Now cool. Yeah, known Kurt for a while,

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Speaker 1: obviously spent time here, and we had him on for

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Speaker 1: an hour, could have had him on for two. Just

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Speaker 1: so many great stories. Was there anything can you think back,

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Speaker 1: was there anything that stood out to you that year?

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Speaker 1: I mean, did you have a sense at all about

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Speaker 1: where things could go for him? Did you meet with

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Speaker 1: him back? He Yeah, we met with him. He was

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Speaker 1: so classy and so down to earth, and you know,

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Speaker 1: the whole story of him being out of the game

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Speaker 1: and then getting that opportunity and the NFL game was

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Speaker 1: so different. You know, what Mike Martz did was just

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Speaker 1: so it was just a game changer. It was hard

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Speaker 1: to envision a guy playing arena football would be able

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Speaker 1: to go and play in the NFL in that era.

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Speaker 1: It just wasn't done. By the way, we were in

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Speaker 1: Phoenix all the time. There was a guy named Hunky

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Speaker 1: Cooper was on the team, and I think it was

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Speaker 1: a rattler switch the name of their team, and we

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Speaker 1: were it was used to be called the America West Arena,

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Speaker 1: and we'd go in there and they're fan base, they

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Speaker 1: loved it. I think Danny White might have been the

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Speaker 1: if I remember right. Danny White, the old Cowboys quarterback,

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Speaker 1: I think was the coach. But it was fun. We'd

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Speaker 1: go in there and they would get fired up. But yeah,

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Speaker 1: I just remember him being this really hard working, blue

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Speaker 1: collar kind of guy, just appreciative of the opportunity. And

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Speaker 1: I don't know if even he thought that the NFL

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Speaker 1: was in his future at that time. Before he made

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Speaker 1: that transition, guys would get like tryouts in the NFL,

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Speaker 1: but almost all of them maybe made it, like to

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Speaker 1: the practice squad and then come back to the arena game.

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Speaker 1: So it was it was very unheard of to imagine,

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Speaker 1: especially a quarterback, getting an opportunity and then taking advantage

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Speaker 1: of it the way he did so out of the

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Speaker 1: pocket football fatherhood and college game day Saturdays. Kirk, what

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Speaker 1: inspired you to write it and why now? Well, Gen Wojahowski,

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Speaker 1: who's a colleague of yours in mind at ESPN, he

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Speaker 1: approached me. He's approached me a couple of times about

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Speaker 1: the idea of writing a book and never holding this,

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Speaker 1: but I just didn't really feel like I had anything

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Speaker 1: to say that people would want to read about, so

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Speaker 1: I just have always just said, ah, maybe later, you know,

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Speaker 1: maybe when I retire. And then he approached me April

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Speaker 1: of twenty twenty, right in the middle of COVID and quarantine,

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Speaker 1: back in the time when people were like wiping the

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Speaker 1: groceries down and just we didn't know where we were

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Speaker 1: as a country, and I just thought it was maybe

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Speaker 1: a good time to reflect and a good time to

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Speaker 1: just think about some things that I've compartmentalized, you know,

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Speaker 1: on a personal level for over forty years and didn't

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Speaker 1: really know what we were going to get into. I

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Speaker 1: wanted to do more than just football and broadcasting, you know.

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Speaker 1: I wanted to kind of talk a little bit about

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Speaker 1: stuff I had been through that probably unless you write

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Speaker 1: a book or you do a podcast, you never really

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Speaker 1: would talk about. And you know, I think people see

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Speaker 1: you or me and they just they think they know

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Speaker 1: you based on the job you do, but they really

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Speaker 1: don't know you. So I decided to take him up

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Speaker 1: on it. And I thought I had enough of, you know,

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Speaker 1: some stuff that I could talk about that might resonate

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Speaker 1: with some people, and maybe people would would appreciate just

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Speaker 1: me being vulnerable and talking about some things. And so

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Speaker 1: we did it, and he came to Nashville a few

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Speaker 1: months later, and we just sat down for a whole week.

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Speaker 1: He would come over eight or eight or nine in

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Speaker 1: the morning, and we'd sit there at all about six

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Speaker 1: o'clock at night. We did that for a whole week

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Speaker 1: and he had spoken with about forty or fifty people

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Speaker 1: by the time he came to visit with me, my

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Speaker 1: mom and my sister and a lot of close friends,

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Speaker 1: and so he was bringing up things. I was like,

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Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, how do you know that story? You know?

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Speaker 1: And so we would reminisce and talk about things, and

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Speaker 1: like I said, we went back. My parents divorced when

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Speaker 1: I was about eight, and I had lived I don't

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Speaker 1: know how you know, for you, but I lived in

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Speaker 1: a neighborhood. It was kind of like that movie A

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Speaker 1: fan Loot, you know, where it's just you're out in

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Speaker 1: the yard, or your your playing ball, or you freeze

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Speaker 1: tag connect four big wheels, you know, in the creek, whiffleball,

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Speaker 1: backyard football. It was just non stop twelve months out

429
00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:28,560
Speaker 1: of the year. And that was my life until I

430
00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:31,400
Speaker 1: was eight, and then my parents divorced and and then

431
00:23:31,440 --> 00:23:34,080
Speaker 1: that was it and my dad went from being my hero.

432
00:23:34,440 --> 00:23:36,439
Speaker 1: He played at Ohio State. He was a captain. He

433
00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,320
Speaker 1: coached with Woody and with bow and he would take

434
00:23:39,359 --> 00:23:41,640
Speaker 1: me to Ohio State games and it was just for me.

435
00:23:41,680 --> 00:23:44,560
Speaker 1: It was the as good as it could be. I mean,

436
00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,879
Speaker 1: I loved college football from the time I could really

437
00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:50,560
Speaker 1: remember more than anything else. And so to sit on

438
00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:53,440
Speaker 1: Woody Hayes's lap after a game and look through his

439
00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:55,960
Speaker 1: glasses with his black hat on, with his short sleeved

440
00:23:55,960 --> 00:23:58,840
Speaker 1: white shirt, or put Archie Griffin's helmet on the years

441
00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:03,040
Speaker 1: he was winning Heisman Trophy. Those were like, I'm completely

442
00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:06,800
Speaker 1: addicted to this sport and my dad was my hero.

443
00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:11,359
Speaker 1: And then boom, they get a divorce, and my brother

444
00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:14,399
Speaker 1: and sister and I and I we all moved with

445
00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:16,520
Speaker 1: my mom to a different area and I never went

446
00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:19,160
Speaker 1: back to that neighborhood. And so and then my mom

447
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:21,600
Speaker 1: got remarried and my dad got remarried, and then a

448
00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:24,520
Speaker 1: couple of years later they both got divorced again. So

449
00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:27,080
Speaker 1: I just had a lot of step brothers and sisters

450
00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:30,000
Speaker 1: and moms and dads just kind of going in and

451
00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:31,600
Speaker 1: out of my life and just didn't I had a

452
00:24:31,600 --> 00:24:34,560
Speaker 1: lot of just dysfunction that I was around. And so

453
00:24:34,600 --> 00:24:37,480
Speaker 1: I thought, number one, I hadn't really thought about a

454
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:39,600
Speaker 1: lot of those those moments in a long time. And

455
00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:42,000
Speaker 1: number two, I thought, there are a lot of kids

456
00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,760
Speaker 1: that are going through that currently that maybe me telling

457
00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:48,840
Speaker 1: the story would help them, or maybe there's parents that

458
00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:51,760
Speaker 1: went through it themselves, that are out there that have

459
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:54,400
Speaker 1: some kind of you know, struggles that they deal with

460
00:24:54,520 --> 00:24:56,320
Speaker 1: going back to that time in their life, or maybe

461
00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:59,399
Speaker 1: they're going through a divorce themselves right now. So divorce

462
00:24:59,480 --> 00:25:01,800
Speaker 1: can be, as we all know, can be really challenging

463
00:25:01,880 --> 00:25:05,200
Speaker 1: to deal with, and especially when we deal with multiple divorces.

464
00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:07,679
Speaker 1: And and so I went to like I think I

465
00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:09,600
Speaker 1: went to seven or maybe it was eight schools and

466
00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:13,119
Speaker 1: nine years. So I moved around a bunch and I

467
00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:17,119
Speaker 1: was a painfully shy kid, so every time I moved,

468
00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:19,399
Speaker 1: it was a nightmare to walk into a new classroom

469
00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:23,320
Speaker 1: and a new school. And so there's a there's a

470
00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,720
Speaker 1: lot there about stories behind that. And I just thought

471
00:25:26,760 --> 00:25:29,480
Speaker 1: it was it was okay to do and weren't for Geane,

472
00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:34,160
Speaker 1: I probably wouldn't have done it. But he, I think

473
00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:36,520
Speaker 1: made it a lot easier, you know, just sit down.

474
00:25:36,560 --> 00:25:39,600
Speaker 1: And he also gave me authority of being able to

475
00:25:39,800 --> 00:25:43,000
Speaker 1: edit stuff that I wouldn't. I would open up to

476
00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:44,960
Speaker 1: him and then I'd be like, Okay, can we cut

477
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:48,040
Speaker 1: that out or I don't know about that. And knowing

478
00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:51,200
Speaker 1: that he gave me that that ability to do that,

479
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,240
Speaker 1: I think helped me to open up to him and

480
00:25:53,240 --> 00:25:55,560
Speaker 1: say stuff that I really had never really told many

481
00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:59,080
Speaker 1: people at all. Well, your your vulnerability definitely comes through,

482
00:25:59,160 --> 00:26:02,679
Speaker 1: and also your humility, and that's something I've always appreciated

483
00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:05,080
Speaker 1: about you. It definitely comes through. I think that's one

484
00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:07,840
Speaker 1: of the things that makes you so likable on TV,

485
00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:11,080
Speaker 1: as you do come off as very real and I

486
00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:14,600
Speaker 1: didn't know that about your background. My parents got divorced

487
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:19,800
Speaker 1: at age eighteen, senior in high school, living in Madison, Madison, Wisconsin,

488
00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:21,720
Speaker 1: and I it forced me to say, you know, I

489
00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:24,119
Speaker 1: really want to go away to school because I just

490
00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:25,919
Speaker 1: don't want to escape. I don't want to be around this.

491
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:28,720
Speaker 1: So I went to Syracuse for broadcasting, but also kind

492
00:26:28,760 --> 00:26:31,040
Speaker 1: of to escape. And so, you know, when you think

493
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:33,880
Speaker 1: back of those memories, it is interesting, interesting how those

494
00:26:33,920 --> 00:26:36,520
Speaker 1: things really shape you that you can maybe kind of

495
00:26:36,520 --> 00:26:39,480
Speaker 1: file away and not really think about because you don't

496
00:26:39,480 --> 00:26:41,840
Speaker 1: want to think about, but then you realize how much

497
00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:45,080
Speaker 1: that's impacted your life. Yeah, yeah, man, I didn't know

498
00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:49,040
Speaker 1: that that would be a very different journey. You know,

499
00:26:49,040 --> 00:26:53,320
Speaker 1: at eighteen, was it before your senior year, during your

500
00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:55,720
Speaker 1: senior year, it was the it was the summer between

501
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,760
Speaker 1: my junior and senior year, and I was the best

502
00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:02,639
Speaker 1: time I ever I know, and I was, and I

503
00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:04,080
Speaker 1: was a kid who got into a lot of trouble

504
00:27:04,119 --> 00:27:06,600
Speaker 1: already in high school that that did not help. The

505
00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:13,000
Speaker 1: rebellious stage got got a lot worse. Yeah, well that's Uh,

506
00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:14,480
Speaker 1: you need to write a book because you have a

507
00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:16,880
Speaker 1: You have an incredible story too, just on so many

508
00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:20,959
Speaker 1: different levels about your faith and how you came to that.

509
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:23,680
Speaker 1: I would love to hear a lot of great details

510
00:27:23,720 --> 00:27:27,080
Speaker 1: about that because I know, just from talking with you

511
00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:29,520
Speaker 1: in the past, a little bit about it. But I

512
00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:32,160
Speaker 1: think that would be fascinating for you to share that.

513
00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:33,840
Speaker 1: I appreciate that. I think a lot of people just

514
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:37,040
Speaker 1: want me to write a book about Bill Walton's That's

515
00:27:37,119 --> 00:27:39,320
Speaker 1: usually what people say, Uh, what do you? What do you?

516
00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:41,720
Speaker 1: What do you think in the book? I mentioned again

517
00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:45,879
Speaker 1: your your humility comes through, your vulnerability comes through What

518
00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:49,520
Speaker 1: do you think about? The book might surprise people who,

519
00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:52,320
Speaker 1: to your point, think they know you because they see

520
00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:54,440
Speaker 1: you on TV, but maybe they really don't know other

521
00:27:54,480 --> 00:28:00,320
Speaker 1: than the personal uh stuff with your parents growing up. Um,

522
00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:03,480
Speaker 1: maybe that Like I said, I feel like based on

523
00:28:04,040 --> 00:28:09,080
Speaker 1: the perception that people create, I think people think that

524
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:11,960
Speaker 1: I was born on third base, you know, kind of saying,

525
00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:15,280
Speaker 1: and not that there's anything wrong with people that are

526
00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:18,280
Speaker 1: born on third base, that I just wasn't, you know.

527
00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:20,920
Speaker 1: And I think because you wear a suit in a

528
00:28:21,000 --> 00:28:23,600
Speaker 1: tie and you have blonde hair and blue eyes, and

529
00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:26,640
Speaker 1: it's like, look at this guy, Yeah he didn't. He's

530
00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:28,120
Speaker 1: never had a work a day in his life. Look

531
00:28:28,119 --> 00:28:30,359
Speaker 1: at look at this life. You know. I think for

532
00:28:30,400 --> 00:28:33,199
Speaker 1: some people that's a perception for a lot of broadcasters,

533
00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:36,000
Speaker 1: you know, and especially for me because I was so

534
00:28:36,160 --> 00:28:39,120
Speaker 1: young when I when I got to ESPN. I mean

535
00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:43,080
Speaker 1: I was, like I said, twenty five or six when

536
00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:48,600
Speaker 1: I first started. And you know, I've always admired I

537
00:28:48,680 --> 00:28:52,520
Speaker 1: love Tom Brady as a player, you know. But beyond that,

538
00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:54,960
Speaker 1: that special that ESPN did, I think it was called

539
00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:58,680
Speaker 1: the Brady six. Maybe they did a special on him

540
00:28:59,480 --> 00:29:03,960
Speaker 1: and they have him relive the day he was drafted

541
00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:07,800
Speaker 1: and here he is after I don't know at that

542
00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:09,440
Speaker 1: time when they filmed us, I don't know, his's five

543
00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:12,280
Speaker 1: or six super Bowls, whatever it was, and here he

544
00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:17,880
Speaker 1: is reliving after he's won several Super Bowls and being

545
00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:20,520
Speaker 1: in the discussion at that time is the greatest to

546
00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:23,800
Speaker 1: ever play. To me, he is the greatest to ever

547
00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:28,600
Speaker 1: play quarterback. And here he is reliving that day and

548
00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:31,880
Speaker 1: talking about it. This quarterback went and then that quarterback went,

549
00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:34,680
Speaker 1: and I, you know, I just decided I was just

550
00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:36,920
Speaker 1: going to go take a walk. And he's he's talkies.

551
00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:39,400
Speaker 1: You can almost feel him reliving it, and he starts

552
00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:43,520
Speaker 1: to cry about how emotional it was and how painful

553
00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:45,240
Speaker 1: it was for him to get past. And here he is,

554
00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:48,120
Speaker 1: this isn't like it happened last week. You know, it

555
00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:53,120
Speaker 1: happened several years and several you know, super Bowl rings

556
00:29:53,160 --> 00:29:57,440
Speaker 1: before that. And I just love the Brady finds a

557
00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:02,120
Speaker 1: way to keep an edge about him, and to this day,

558
00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:03,680
Speaker 1: I watched him, you know, the other day they didn't

559
00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:05,680
Speaker 1: win the game against the Rams, but he still has

560
00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:10,200
Speaker 1: like this, this edge. And I'm never comparing myself to

561
00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:12,760
Speaker 1: Tom Brady at all, but I am comparing myself to

562
00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:15,560
Speaker 1: him as far as when he looks in the mirror,

563
00:30:15,880 --> 00:30:19,160
Speaker 1: he sees a six round draft pick. No matter what

564
00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:22,560
Speaker 1: he does, that's what he sees. And that allows him

565
00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:25,800
Speaker 1: to stay hungry and stay motivated. And when he retires,

566
00:30:26,360 --> 00:30:28,640
Speaker 1: then maybe he'll see himself as Okay, I'm a Hall

567
00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:30,360
Speaker 1: of Famer and all that, and I'm going to go

568
00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:32,880
Speaker 1: to Canton and I went on a bunch of Super Bowls.

569
00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:37,080
Speaker 1: But until then, he doesn't see that. And in our business,

570
00:30:38,200 --> 00:30:40,520
Speaker 1: I've had a little bit of success on some shows

571
00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:43,520
Speaker 1: and done whatever. But I look in the mirror and

572
00:30:43,560 --> 00:30:48,320
Speaker 1: I still see a guy that was on ESPN two

573
00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:52,240
Speaker 1: covering the Rattlers and just trying to make a name

574
00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:54,240
Speaker 1: for myself and just trying to get my foot in

575
00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:57,719
Speaker 1: the door, and just trying to prove that I belong.

576
00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:03,840
Speaker 1: That's who today, who who I see. And so it's

577
00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:08,719
Speaker 1: easy for me to stay hungry. It's easy for me

578
00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:12,200
Speaker 1: to be humble because there's no other way to be,

579
00:31:13,000 --> 00:31:16,280
Speaker 1: first of all, and then secondly, if I ever feel

580
00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:18,040
Speaker 1: like I don't need to prep right, I don't, you know,

581
00:31:18,080 --> 00:31:20,320
Speaker 1: look at I've all these things I've accomplished, Like I

582
00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:25,480
Speaker 1: just I can't even imagine being that way. And I

583
00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:29,200
Speaker 1: just love staying like you. You texted me, I was

584
00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:32,600
Speaker 1: studying film, you called me. I was studying film like

585
00:31:32,840 --> 00:31:36,800
Speaker 1: it's Monday, and I'm just digging in on Georgia. And

586
00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:38,960
Speaker 1: after we hang up, I'm going to dig in more

587
00:31:39,120 --> 00:31:43,920
Speaker 1: on Arkansas, and it's just all I know, and hopefully

588
00:31:43,920 --> 00:31:45,720
Speaker 1: it helps me to do the job that I do

589
00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:50,200
Speaker 1: and and I'll do that until I retire. But and

590
00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:52,920
Speaker 1: also feel like my faith, you know when when it

591
00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:57,760
Speaker 1: comes to I don't know, I feel like humility. If

592
00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:00,920
Speaker 1: you're really into your faith, humility, it's just kind of

593
00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:03,240
Speaker 1: it kind of comes to you. You know. It's like,

594
00:32:03,840 --> 00:32:06,880
Speaker 1: I'm no better than anybody as far as I'm concerned.

595
00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:11,479
Speaker 1: So I think it makes it. It makes it pretty simple,

596
00:32:11,800 --> 00:32:13,880
Speaker 1: you know, when when you look at the grand scheme

597
00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:17,240
Speaker 1: of things. I always tell people, Kirk that being on

598
00:32:17,280 --> 00:32:20,080
Speaker 1: a broadcast team is like having a second family. Sure,

599
00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:23,040
Speaker 1: and I got to imagine, I know, you get into

600
00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:27,000
Speaker 1: this a lot in the book, your relationship with with

601
00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:31,200
Speaker 1: Lee Corso. I'm sure you have a million memories. I mean,

602
00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:35,360
Speaker 1: how much is he like a second father to you? Yeah?

603
00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:39,040
Speaker 1: He is. I mean he wasn't at first because he

604
00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:42,040
Speaker 1: was just funny, you know, and I would I would,

605
00:32:42,400 --> 00:32:45,840
Speaker 1: I just get the biggest kick of him with his

606
00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:49,200
Speaker 1: one liners and his you know, he says stuff that

607
00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:52,440
Speaker 1: nobody else would say, and he can he can get

608
00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:56,120
Speaker 1: away with it because he was Lee Corso. And I

609
00:32:56,200 --> 00:32:58,680
Speaker 1: just first four or five years, I just kind of

610
00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:01,200
Speaker 1: looked at him, like, you know, my buddies would come

611
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:03,160
Speaker 1: out to the show and we'd all sit around he

612
00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:05,920
Speaker 1: can launch or something, and he would tell one story

613
00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:09,120
Speaker 1: after another after another. We would just all laugh and

614
00:33:09,160 --> 00:33:12,840
Speaker 1: just could not get enough of him, right. And then

615
00:33:13,240 --> 00:33:15,200
Speaker 1: you know, I got married, and then I had kids,

616
00:33:15,200 --> 00:33:17,840
Speaker 1: and my kids were born prematurely. You know, they were

617
00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:19,720
Speaker 1: in the nick you for eight weeks, and I started

618
00:33:19,720 --> 00:33:24,080
Speaker 1: to go through real grown up stuff. My dad one

619
00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:25,560
Speaker 1: of the things I talked about the book. As much

620
00:33:25,560 --> 00:33:27,920
Speaker 1: as he was my hero, he didn't really listen. And

621
00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:30,480
Speaker 1: I saw what happened over time as I just shut

622
00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:34,400
Speaker 1: down talking to him about anything of real, any meaning,

623
00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:37,640
Speaker 1: not because I didn't want to, but because it was

624
00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:40,280
Speaker 1: so painful. The one person I wanted to share things

625
00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:43,400
Speaker 1: with he didn't listen. And so I got into a

626
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:46,360
Speaker 1: habit of just not, Hey, how's how things going, Yeah,

627
00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:49,200
Speaker 1: it's going good, it's going good, that kind of conversation,

628
00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:51,480
Speaker 1: as opposed to really because if I started to tell

629
00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:55,240
Speaker 1: him what was really happening, he just didn't hear it.

630
00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:59,320
Speaker 1: And so lee in the back of these some of

631
00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:02,840
Speaker 1: these photos and things we would do, I would start

632
00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:05,880
Speaker 1: to talk to him about it, and I found out,

633
00:34:06,080 --> 00:34:11,760
Speaker 1: holy cow, he's listening. And then another conversation and another,

634
00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:14,440
Speaker 1: and you start talking about real things. And I'm a

635
00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:17,800
Speaker 1: big guy that believes in talking to, you know, people

636
00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:20,520
Speaker 1: that are older than me because of their wisdom, their

637
00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:25,520
Speaker 1: own life experiences. I love listening to a guy like that,

638
00:34:26,200 --> 00:34:28,239
Speaker 1: if they're willing to sit and talk, I just love.

639
00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:31,560
Speaker 1: I just always have enjoyed that. And so here I

640
00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:33,880
Speaker 1: am talking and open up my heart to him, and

641
00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:37,040
Speaker 1: there he is listening. And then like Don Corleone or

642
00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:40,000
Speaker 1: Yoda from Star Wars, he would just kind of kind

643
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:41,520
Speaker 1: of pat me on the hand and kind of give

644
00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:44,600
Speaker 1: me a sentence. After I just said twenty minutes worth

645
00:34:44,600 --> 00:34:47,120
Speaker 1: of my concerns, he just would pat me on the

646
00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:50,799
Speaker 1: hand and kind of just say, you know, here's the answer. Boom.

647
00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:53,120
Speaker 1: And I would just be like, that's it. I'm worrying

648
00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:55,720
Speaker 1: about all this stuff for nothing. He's like, don't worry,

649
00:34:55,840 --> 00:35:00,359
Speaker 1: trust me, you know. And so over time, years, years

650
00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:01,920
Speaker 1: and years would go by, and more and more I

651
00:35:01,920 --> 00:35:03,680
Speaker 1: would talk to him about stuff and I would just

652
00:35:03,719 --> 00:35:08,000
Speaker 1: sound it fascinating how much I was not intentionally trying

653
00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:10,799
Speaker 1: to build a relationship. I was just like you do

654
00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:13,839
Speaker 1: with your friends, you know, you just start to build

655
00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:17,520
Speaker 1: a connection in a bond and then like you know, seven, eight, nine,

656
00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:19,880
Speaker 1: ten years go by, now we're at twenty six, and

657
00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:23,960
Speaker 1: it's like he's like a dear friend, like people you

658
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:26,800
Speaker 1: work with and people that are listening. Maybe there's people

659
00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:30,760
Speaker 1: that they work with that they're like that for them.

660
00:35:29,719 --> 00:35:33,959
Speaker 1: And then he had a stroke about twelve years ago,

661
00:35:34,880 --> 00:35:36,880
Speaker 1: and then it was on what we all were just like,

662
00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:39,120
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, is he okay? Are we gonna lose

663
00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:41,879
Speaker 1: him to the show? Is he gonna be all right?

664
00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:45,080
Speaker 1: And then he fought like crazy, you know, was this

665
00:35:45,239 --> 00:35:48,080
Speaker 1: speech therapist to get back and had the courage to

666
00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:51,160
Speaker 1: go on national TV without a teleprompter and it's like

667
00:35:51,239 --> 00:35:53,560
Speaker 1: doing a circus act without a net and he's out

668
00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:57,720
Speaker 1: there talking. At that time, he was probably seventy four

669
00:35:58,680 --> 00:36:02,239
Speaker 1: and he's out there after a stroke, determined to be

670
00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:04,520
Speaker 1: on the show. And then then I became like he's

671
00:36:04,560 --> 00:36:07,120
Speaker 1: been helping me all these years. You know, the least

672
00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:09,120
Speaker 1: I can do is try to be there for him,

673
00:36:09,320 --> 00:36:12,839
Speaker 1: and so that's kind of been my role, and it's,

674
00:36:12,960 --> 00:36:14,600
Speaker 1: you know, I try to help him, but I try

675
00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:17,160
Speaker 1: not to ever make it look like I'm helping him,

676
00:36:17,239 --> 00:36:19,520
Speaker 1: you know, because he doesn't want that, So I just

677
00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:22,480
Speaker 1: try to do it subtly. But yeah, he's he's a

678
00:36:22,560 --> 00:36:25,640
Speaker 1: dear friend to everybody, but the fact I've been with

679
00:36:25,680 --> 00:36:28,759
Speaker 1: him for twenty six years. He's the sweetest guy you're

680
00:36:28,760 --> 00:36:31,120
Speaker 1: ever gonna meet. He's just the man. You know, we

681
00:36:31,239 --> 00:36:35,360
Speaker 1: love him. You do a great job. It's noticeable, Kirk,

682
00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:40,160
Speaker 1: how respectful you are of him, and how if there's

683
00:36:40,160 --> 00:36:42,560
Speaker 1: a time where he might be struggling to come up

684
00:36:42,600 --> 00:36:45,040
Speaker 1: with what he wants to say, you help him along

685
00:36:45,400 --> 00:36:49,040
Speaker 1: or I mean, you're it's it's really noticeable how the

686
00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:52,000
Speaker 1: friendship comes through on the air. Oh that's cool. I

687
00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:54,160
Speaker 1: you know, I hear that a lot, probably more than

688
00:36:54,200 --> 00:36:57,879
Speaker 1: anything else from people. I hear about that. And so,

689
00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:00,360
Speaker 1: like I said, I'm just trying to do it in

690
00:37:00,360 --> 00:37:04,480
Speaker 1: a way that's that's dignified. And you know, if it's

691
00:37:04,520 --> 00:37:08,000
Speaker 1: a one little word, I can kind of say, you know,

692
00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:10,839
Speaker 1: under my breath and and it kind of gets him

693
00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:13,160
Speaker 1: like a little bit of a pit stop, because people

694
00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:16,359
Speaker 1: need to understand he's eighty six I think now, and

695
00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:20,759
Speaker 1: it's not as cognitive thinking. It's it's from the from

696
00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:23,399
Speaker 1: the stroke. He just sometimes can't get his words out.

697
00:37:23,640 --> 00:37:27,000
Speaker 1: So if he didn't have that stroke, he'd be eighty

698
00:37:27,080 --> 00:37:30,560
Speaker 1: six playing seventy five like it or seventy even. I mean,

699
00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:35,520
Speaker 1: he is amazing with how how sharp he is. And

700
00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:37,719
Speaker 1: I just think about when I was a kid, my grandparents,

701
00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:39,880
Speaker 1: or you think about somebody that you know, they get

702
00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:42,040
Speaker 1: into their seventies or eighties, if they're if they're able

703
00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:45,560
Speaker 1: to continue to be healthy and active. Just think about

704
00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:48,400
Speaker 1: somebody eighty six years old and he's out there on

705
00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:51,520
Speaker 1: the set. He's catching flights, you know, he's flying around.

706
00:37:51,560 --> 00:37:53,279
Speaker 1: I mean, you know how it is on the road.

707
00:37:53,320 --> 00:37:56,560
Speaker 1: It's a grind right for all of us. Hotel rooms

708
00:37:56,640 --> 00:37:59,880
Speaker 1: and and we do everything we can, our ops teams

709
00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:01,759
Speaker 1: everything they can to try to make it as easy

710
00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:03,560
Speaker 1: as they can for him. But the reality is, you

711
00:38:03,640 --> 00:38:05,200
Speaker 1: still got to get up, you still got to get

712
00:38:05,239 --> 00:38:07,160
Speaker 1: on these flights, you still got to stay in the hotels.

713
00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:10,560
Speaker 1: And yeah, and there he is. You know, with he

714
00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:13,399
Speaker 1: he'll be quick to tell you I got I got

715
00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:16,359
Speaker 1: my shot, and I got my booster. I'm good to go,

716
00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:19,440
Speaker 1: you know, because last year he couldn't travel. This year

717
00:38:19,520 --> 00:38:21,239
Speaker 1: he's he's out on the road with us every week.

718
00:38:21,320 --> 00:38:26,000
Speaker 1: So he's still amazing, he really is. And and and

719
00:38:26,040 --> 00:38:28,399
Speaker 1: I worked a lot of NBA games with Huby Brown.

720
00:38:28,600 --> 00:38:31,319
Speaker 1: Hughby just turned eighty eight, and he's still I just

721
00:38:31,360 --> 00:38:33,960
Speaker 1: got a voicemail from him today. It's like a two

722
00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:37,799
Speaker 1: minute voicemail and he's so sharp and so dialed in

723
00:38:37,880 --> 00:38:41,920
Speaker 1: and so jacked up for the season. It's just love that.

724
00:38:42,600 --> 00:38:46,120
Speaker 1: God love him, God love him that they have a passion. Yeah,

725
00:38:46,200 --> 00:38:48,200
Speaker 1: you know, I think if there's a lesson for all

726
00:38:48,200 --> 00:38:51,360
Speaker 1: of us as we get older, it's it's to have

727
00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:53,799
Speaker 1: have something you look forward You wake up and you

728
00:38:53,840 --> 00:38:55,960
Speaker 1: look forward to it. You know, you look forward to

729
00:38:56,440 --> 00:39:00,960
Speaker 1: because that's how you stay engaged, and you stay motivated,

730
00:39:00,960 --> 00:39:03,920
Speaker 1: and you stay you know, you stay excited about life

731
00:39:04,000 --> 00:39:07,120
Speaker 1: because I know is my my dad has passed. But

732
00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:09,440
Speaker 1: my mom, you know there's some show go through some

733
00:39:10,320 --> 00:39:12,759
Speaker 1: you know periods where it's like she gets a little

734
00:39:12,800 --> 00:39:15,600
Speaker 1: down or she's going through you know that's normal. Yeah,

735
00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:18,360
Speaker 1: but you got a football season thankfully for her is

736
00:39:18,440 --> 00:39:21,120
Speaker 1: like she's like me. She she loves every second of it.

737
00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:23,160
Speaker 1: So that's that's definitely a good good time of the

738
00:39:23,239 --> 00:39:25,239
Speaker 1: year for her. Well, a couple more we'll get you

739
00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:26,640
Speaker 1: out of here. I do want to ask you about

740
00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:28,880
Speaker 1: the Cardinals and Kyler Murray. But one more thing that

741
00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:31,920
Speaker 1: you do discuss in the book. And I have an idea,

742
00:39:32,040 --> 00:39:35,279
Speaker 1: but don't really know exactly what a typical Saturday is

743
00:39:35,360 --> 00:39:38,560
Speaker 1: like for you during college football season from sun up

744
00:39:38,560 --> 00:39:42,319
Speaker 1: to sundown. Our producer Jim Mhandro asked me before we

745
00:39:42,320 --> 00:39:45,960
Speaker 1: started the interview, how does Kirk go from college game Day,

746
00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:48,839
Speaker 1: which could be in another in one city, and then

747
00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:51,960
Speaker 1: go do the Saturday primetime game on ABC in an

748
00:39:52,080 --> 00:39:55,560
Speaker 1: entirely different city while prepping for both all week long.

749
00:39:55,640 --> 00:39:58,239
Speaker 1: So what is a typical Saturday for you? What time

750
00:39:58,239 --> 00:40:00,239
Speaker 1: do you get up? What's your routine? And then, yeah,

751
00:40:00,280 --> 00:40:02,239
Speaker 1: what time do you shut it down? So there's two

752
00:40:02,239 --> 00:40:06,680
Speaker 1: different Saturdays. There's the saturdays where game day in the

753
00:40:06,719 --> 00:40:08,959
Speaker 1: game I'm calling in the same spot. In that case,

754
00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:11,439
Speaker 1: I just do game day in the morning from nine

755
00:40:11,480 --> 00:40:13,840
Speaker 1: am Eastern to twelve and then we'll go to the

756
00:40:13,880 --> 00:40:16,000
Speaker 1: All State bus And on the back of that bus

757
00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:19,160
Speaker 1: it's me and Bear and a couple other guys and

758
00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:23,960
Speaker 1: the lighting is low. Five TVs are on the air

759
00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:27,880
Speaker 1: conditioning set at sixty five and we're just in heaven

760
00:40:28,120 --> 00:40:30,839
Speaker 1: watching games being fans. You know, we're yelling at each

761
00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:34,160
Speaker 1: other and making fun of each other's picks and top rights.

762
00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:35,880
Speaker 1: We're looking at you know, like we're just it's like

763
00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:38,279
Speaker 1: we're a sports bar. So we do that. I've got

764
00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:40,120
Speaker 1: my board in front of me and I'm making notes

765
00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:42,520
Speaker 1: and I'm still kind of prepping for the game, but

766
00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:44,520
Speaker 1: I've done so much work it's kind of like the

767
00:40:44,560 --> 00:40:47,319
Speaker 1: haze in the bar, and it's a good distraction for me.

768
00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:51,040
Speaker 1: So we're from about twelve fifteen, twelve twenty all the

769
00:40:51,080 --> 00:40:53,799
Speaker 1: way up until an hour before kickoff at the game.

770
00:40:53,840 --> 00:40:56,239
Speaker 1: The bus is parched right upside of the stadium. And

771
00:40:56,280 --> 00:40:58,160
Speaker 1: then about an hour before the game, I'll go out

772
00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:01,880
Speaker 1: like you do, and I'll go out and you know,

773
00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:03,839
Speaker 1: talk to the players and coaches that are warm it out,

774
00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:06,520
Speaker 1: mainly the coaches, and get some final thoughts, and then

775
00:41:06,560 --> 00:41:08,799
Speaker 1: I'll go up into the booth and call the game.

776
00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:13,680
Speaker 1: And that's like a normal Saturday. And then last week,

777
00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:16,879
Speaker 1: you know, out of fifteen Saturdays, i'd say seven or

778
00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:20,440
Speaker 1: like last week, which is where game day was in Chicago.

779
00:41:21,000 --> 00:41:23,880
Speaker 1: So you're in Chicago getting ready Thursday, Friday, and then

780
00:41:23,920 --> 00:41:26,480
Speaker 1: Saturday morning you do game day and then assumes game

781
00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:30,319
Speaker 1: days over. They'll take me to the nearest airport and

782
00:41:30,360 --> 00:41:34,480
Speaker 1: then Disney will fly myself and Bear and me and

783
00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:37,799
Speaker 1: Jonathan Wiley and a couple other people. We fly. Where

784
00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:40,960
Speaker 1: will we last week? Norman? So we went from Chicago

785
00:41:41,040 --> 00:41:44,880
Speaker 1: to Norman. As soon as we get there, there's a

786
00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:47,520
Speaker 1: guy waiting for us. He picks us up, takes us

787
00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:50,319
Speaker 1: straight through the stadium and then we get there's the

788
00:41:50,360 --> 00:41:52,600
Speaker 1: All State bus there. So we get on the bus

789
00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:57,399
Speaker 1: there and get our you know, lighting down, air conditioning on,

790
00:41:57,840 --> 00:42:02,600
Speaker 1: games on, and we watch games and until we get

791
00:42:02,600 --> 00:42:06,120
Speaker 1: ready to go in and call the game. With Oklahoma

792
00:42:06,160 --> 00:42:09,719
Speaker 1: and West Virginia, it just kind of splits, you know,

793
00:42:09,800 --> 00:42:13,319
Speaker 1: from from depending on where we are this week, it's

794
00:42:13,360 --> 00:42:16,000
Speaker 1: actually in the same spot, so it's in Athens, So

795
00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:19,720
Speaker 1: I'll be at the Georgia Arkansas game, which I assume

796
00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:21,000
Speaker 1: you got to get off the air a little bit

797
00:42:21,040 --> 00:42:22,799
Speaker 1: early right to get up to the booth because it's

798
00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:25,439
Speaker 1: a twelve o'clock kick, right. Yeah. I think I think

799
00:42:25,440 --> 00:42:28,560
Speaker 1: they've got a trick or two up their sleeve this week.

800
00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:30,719
Speaker 1: I think it's going to be. I think it's gonna

801
00:42:30,719 --> 00:42:33,719
Speaker 1: be like a twelve o eight kick, So I think

802
00:42:33,719 --> 00:42:35,759
Speaker 1: I'm staying all the way through the show for the

803
00:42:35,800 --> 00:42:38,160
Speaker 1: head gear. I think Chris is going to have his

804
00:42:38,280 --> 00:42:42,680
Speaker 1: Vinskully moment for the first like five minutes, so call

805
00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:45,040
Speaker 1: the game by himself and then I'll run up there

806
00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:48,000
Speaker 1: and join him. Speaking of Chris, you guys have done

807
00:42:48,080 --> 00:42:50,440
Speaker 1: NFL games in the past, and you know, did a

808
00:42:50,480 --> 00:42:54,960
Speaker 1: fantastic job, not surprisingly. How much NFL do you consume?

809
00:42:56,480 --> 00:43:01,200
Speaker 1: I actually do. I I grew up a kind of

810
00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:04,600
Speaker 1: a Bengals fan and then moved to Nashville and Rapes.

811
00:43:04,719 --> 00:43:06,560
Speaker 1: My buddy got the job there, and I started to

812
00:43:06,560 --> 00:43:09,960
Speaker 1: watch the Titans. But I'd really like to just watch

813
00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:13,080
Speaker 1: the players, you know, like I'll watch the Cardinals because

814
00:43:13,120 --> 00:43:17,319
Speaker 1: of Kyler Murray, you know, I'll watch the Packers. I

815
00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:19,680
Speaker 1: like to watch some of these players do their thing,

816
00:43:19,760 --> 00:43:23,040
Speaker 1: like you know, watching the Packers competing against the Niners.

817
00:43:23,040 --> 00:43:25,719
Speaker 1: That was so much fun. So but I consume it,

818
00:43:25,760 --> 00:43:28,920
Speaker 1: you know, I definitely I watch as much as I can.

819
00:43:29,000 --> 00:43:33,080
Speaker 1: I love the nationally televised, the bigger games. You talked

820
00:43:33,080 --> 00:43:36,120
Speaker 1: about Kyler. You covered him in college, as did I.

821
00:43:36,120 --> 00:43:39,360
Speaker 1: I'm curious. Is there anything that surprises you as you

822
00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:43,880
Speaker 1: watch him now in the NFL. No. I always wondered

823
00:43:44,520 --> 00:43:48,960
Speaker 1: as the game has evolved in these last five or

824
00:43:48,960 --> 00:43:51,799
Speaker 1: six years, where the the NFL is becoming more and

825
00:43:51,880 --> 00:43:55,080
Speaker 1: more like college. And I think there was a time,

826
00:43:55,120 --> 00:43:58,560
Speaker 1: as you know, when the NFL, he's always kid, you know,

827
00:43:58,600 --> 00:44:02,359
Speaker 1: like Jaws and those guys National Football League. You've got

828
00:44:02,360 --> 00:44:04,520
Speaker 1: to make plays from the pocket, you know. And it's

829
00:44:04,560 --> 00:44:08,360
Speaker 1: just it's such a different game today. I mean, you

830
00:44:08,480 --> 00:44:12,200
Speaker 1: look at what Baker Mayfield does and Kyler Murray does,

831
00:44:12,280 --> 00:44:15,319
Speaker 1: and of course Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. It's just

832
00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:18,680
Speaker 1: it's the college. It's a lot of these college offenses

833
00:44:18,880 --> 00:44:23,000
Speaker 1: that it's almost reversed. The college game is filtering to

834
00:44:23,040 --> 00:44:26,719
Speaker 1: a lot of these NFL offenses, and so there's no

835
00:44:26,800 --> 00:44:29,560
Speaker 1: longer this, wow, he's only five eleven or he's only

836
00:44:29,600 --> 00:44:31,880
Speaker 1: six feet tall. You don't you don't hear, I mean,

837
00:44:31,880 --> 00:44:34,120
Speaker 1: he still hear some of the old guard people say that.

838
00:44:34,680 --> 00:44:37,920
Speaker 1: But truly, it doesn't matter. It just doesn't matter to

839
00:44:38,000 --> 00:44:40,919
Speaker 1: run Cliff Kingsbury's offense. I don't care if you're six

840
00:44:40,920 --> 00:44:42,600
Speaker 1: to four or you're five to eleven. I mean, if

841
00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:44,360
Speaker 1: you can make the throws and make the reads and

842
00:44:45,080 --> 00:44:47,560
Speaker 1: be a point guard and let's go, let's go play.

843
00:44:48,040 --> 00:44:50,600
Speaker 1: And he's got as good at command as anybody for

844
00:44:50,680 --> 00:44:53,719
Speaker 1: that system, and he's so twitchy and he's done a

845
00:44:53,760 --> 00:44:56,560
Speaker 1: really good job. Because of his baseball background, He's kind

846
00:44:56,560 --> 00:44:58,480
Speaker 1: of like Russell. He just has a feel for when

847
00:44:58,520 --> 00:45:01,160
Speaker 1: to get down and avoid the big It's because that

848
00:45:01,239 --> 00:45:02,680
Speaker 1: was the other knock. You know, if you were an

849
00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:06,319
Speaker 1: athletic quarterbacks, Oh, in the NFL, you know you can't

850
00:45:06,360 --> 00:45:08,880
Speaker 1: take those hits. It's like, well, the smart guys are

851
00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:11,480
Speaker 1: getting out of bounds and they're sliding underneath it and

852
00:45:11,520 --> 00:45:14,880
Speaker 1: they're preserving their bodies. And so my thing with Kyler

853
00:45:14,960 --> 00:45:19,359
Speaker 1: was always, does he have command of the room, like

854
00:45:19,400 --> 00:45:22,719
Speaker 1: the guys want to play for him? That was the

855
00:45:22,800 --> 00:45:24,839
Speaker 1: one thing I wanted to see as he went into

856
00:45:24,840 --> 00:45:28,520
Speaker 1: the NFL, and I think they did at Oklahoma, and

857
00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:30,520
Speaker 1: I just wanted to see that that part of his

858
00:45:30,600 --> 00:45:34,239
Speaker 1: game continue to grow and mature, and it looks like

859
00:45:34,600 --> 00:45:37,560
Speaker 1: it looks like it has. But that was It's fun

860
00:45:37,600 --> 00:45:39,920
Speaker 1: to watch him, and it's fun to watch Cliff, you know,

861
00:45:40,000 --> 00:45:42,880
Speaker 1: doing doing their thing in the NFL world. When you

862
00:45:42,920 --> 00:45:46,680
Speaker 1: look at Cliff now compared to the system he played

863
00:45:46,680 --> 00:45:50,759
Speaker 1: in at Texas tech U, the quintessential air raid, which

864
00:45:50,960 --> 00:45:54,400
Speaker 1: is obviously evolved, you know, considerably, and you just you know,

865
00:45:54,440 --> 00:45:56,719
Speaker 1: Lincoln Riley, it doesn't even look like the old air raid.

866
00:45:57,800 --> 00:46:00,640
Speaker 1: How impressed are you with Cliff's ability to adapt? One

867
00:46:00,680 --> 00:46:03,359
Speaker 1: thing that's always stood out to me about him is

868
00:46:03,960 --> 00:46:06,239
Speaker 1: he's happy to admit he doesn't know at all and

869
00:46:06,360 --> 00:46:10,560
Speaker 1: willing to change and adjust. Well, I just think he's

870
00:46:10,600 --> 00:46:17,600
Speaker 1: a really intelligent guy that is willing to, as you

871
00:46:17,640 --> 00:46:19,839
Speaker 1: just said, not have all the answers. So you don't

872
00:46:19,840 --> 00:46:23,279
Speaker 1: have all the answers, you become a sponge, you know,

873
00:46:23,280 --> 00:46:26,200
Speaker 1: and you're it's not like the days of it's my

874
00:46:26,360 --> 00:46:28,960
Speaker 1: way or the highway. So he gets labeled as an

875
00:46:28,960 --> 00:46:32,000
Speaker 1: air raid guy, but if you really watch his offense,

876
00:46:32,080 --> 00:46:34,839
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, there's air raid elements to it, but

877
00:46:35,280 --> 00:46:37,320
Speaker 1: I mean they run the ball, you know. If you

878
00:46:37,400 --> 00:46:39,560
Speaker 1: if you think about air raid and going way back

879
00:46:39,600 --> 00:46:41,960
Speaker 1: to when it started to become the air raid, it

880
00:46:42,040 --> 00:46:45,719
Speaker 1: was it was like Mike does now in Starkville, you know,

881
00:46:45,760 --> 00:46:47,680
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's very little running. I mean, his

882
00:46:47,760 --> 00:46:50,240
Speaker 1: quarterback the other day through it like sixty seven times

883
00:46:50,960 --> 00:46:53,399
Speaker 1: or whatever, and it's just that that's the air raid.

884
00:46:53,880 --> 00:46:56,719
Speaker 1: These versions of the air raid that we see, I

885
00:46:56,760 --> 00:46:58,920
Speaker 1: think because of their background and where they coached as

886
00:46:58,960 --> 00:47:02,200
Speaker 1: an assistant or head coach, if there's any affiliation at

887
00:47:02,200 --> 00:47:05,640
Speaker 1: all to Mike Leach, they kind of get labeled that way.

888
00:47:05,920 --> 00:47:08,520
Speaker 1: But you know, you know, because he's sit around and

889
00:47:08,560 --> 00:47:11,320
Speaker 1: talk with him, I think he's just a bright guy,

890
00:47:11,600 --> 00:47:14,080
Speaker 1: and I think he understands defense and how to attack

891
00:47:14,120 --> 00:47:18,200
Speaker 1: it and where it's weaknesses are. And then he does

892
00:47:18,200 --> 00:47:21,480
Speaker 1: it fast, you know. And if you can execute and

893
00:47:21,600 --> 00:47:24,720
Speaker 1: find a quarterback that can understand it and execute fast

894
00:47:25,160 --> 00:47:28,359
Speaker 1: and not make mistakes, then in today's game, you get

895
00:47:28,360 --> 00:47:32,800
Speaker 1: a chance because it's all about processing the quarterbacks ability

896
00:47:32,880 --> 00:47:35,560
Speaker 1: to process coverage, who makes the quickest decisions and the

897
00:47:35,600 --> 00:47:38,200
Speaker 1: best decisions and then throws the ball accurately. And then

898
00:47:38,200 --> 00:47:42,120
Speaker 1: when you sprinkle in being is dynamic of an athlete

899
00:47:42,600 --> 00:47:45,640
Speaker 1: that you have in Kyler murray Man. That's a tough

900
00:47:45,719 --> 00:47:48,440
Speaker 1: offense to defend. But I think the last thing I'll

901
00:47:48,440 --> 00:47:52,400
Speaker 1: say is what I feel like he's grown. Like anybody

902
00:47:52,400 --> 00:47:54,880
Speaker 1: else that gets better the more they do it is

903
00:47:54,960 --> 00:47:58,680
Speaker 1: playing complimentary football. It's one thing to have a great

904
00:47:58,760 --> 00:48:02,799
Speaker 1: innovative offense. It's another thing to have an offense that

905
00:48:03,000 --> 00:48:06,359
Speaker 1: can have a four minute offense that can protect their

906
00:48:06,400 --> 00:48:08,880
Speaker 1: own defense and just see it through the lens of

907
00:48:08,880 --> 00:48:11,919
Speaker 1: a head coach, not just a play caller. I think

908
00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:15,319
Speaker 1: in college Lane Kiffin is really maturing, you know, over

909
00:48:15,360 --> 00:48:18,239
Speaker 1: the years in that area, whereas last year I think

910
00:48:18,239 --> 00:48:21,120
Speaker 1: it was more all about Hey, I put forty some

911
00:48:21,280 --> 00:48:24,200
Speaker 1: points on Nick Saban, so well you lost. I think

912
00:48:24,200 --> 00:48:26,080
Speaker 1: now he's trying to do the best he can and

913
00:48:26,160 --> 00:48:28,680
Speaker 1: trying to call it and have an understanding of what

914
00:48:28,719 --> 00:48:30,400
Speaker 1: he needs to do for his own defense. And I

915
00:48:30,400 --> 00:48:33,839
Speaker 1: think Cliff has definitely grown. It's just as like all

916
00:48:33,880 --> 00:48:35,880
Speaker 1: of us. And the more often he does it, more

917
00:48:35,920 --> 00:48:38,879
Speaker 1: experience he gets, the better he becomes. Herbie, you're the best.

918
00:48:38,880 --> 00:48:40,279
Speaker 1: I can sit here and talk to you all day, man,

919
00:48:40,320 --> 00:48:42,440
Speaker 1: Thanks so much. Have a great show Saturday, and a

920
00:48:42,440 --> 00:48:45,319
Speaker 1: great call as well. Hey, you keep up the great work.

921
00:48:45,480 --> 00:48:48,680
Speaker 1: Love to join you anytime, and hope to get out

922
00:48:48,719 --> 00:48:51,279
Speaker 1: there one of these days. That's a beautiful area and

923
00:48:51,680 --> 00:48:53,680
Speaker 1: love to catch up with you next time I am

924
00:48:53,719 --> 00:49:00,880
Speaker 1: out there. Sounds great, Kirk, Thanks man. Okay, Yeah, we

925
00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:03,200
Speaker 1: spent almost an Hour with Kirk Curve Street could have

926
00:49:03,280 --> 00:49:07,080
Speaker 1: gone to his book is Awesome. Out of the Pocket,

927
00:49:07,160 --> 00:49:11,919
Speaker 1: Football Fatherhood and College Game Day Saturdays. You can get

928
00:49:12,000 --> 00:49:15,000
Speaker 1: Kirk's book wherever you buy your books. You can also

929
00:49:15,200 --> 00:49:19,440
Speaker 1: get them online. He gets into a lot of different stuff,

930
00:49:19,560 --> 00:49:23,440
Speaker 1: very vulnerable and humble, talking about how his parents divorce

931
00:49:24,040 --> 00:49:28,680
Speaker 1: shaped him. Also discusses his relationship with Lee Corso and

932
00:49:29,000 --> 00:49:32,960
Speaker 1: his journey from being a quarterback and captain at Ohio

933
00:49:33,040 --> 00:49:37,319
Speaker 1: State to becoming a multiple Emmy Award winning broadcaster for

934
00:49:37,600 --> 00:49:41,040
Speaker 1: ESPN and ABC and a guy that many feel is

935
00:49:41,080 --> 00:49:45,680
Speaker 1: the face and voice of college football in America. Again,

936
00:49:45,719 --> 00:49:49,160
Speaker 1: that's out of the Pocket, Football Fatherhood and College Game

937
00:49:49,239 --> 00:49:53,200
Speaker 1: Day Saturdays. We are presented by bet MGM official sports

938
00:49:53,200 --> 00:49:56,360
Speaker 1: betting partner, Rout, the Arizona Cardinals, and Hilo River Hotels

939
00:49:56,400 --> 00:50:00,279
Speaker 1: and Casinos. You can follow us along on Twitter at

940
00:50:00,400 --> 00:50:03,680
Speaker 1: pash pot. Lastly, the thing that stood out to me

941
00:50:03,920 --> 00:50:07,000
Speaker 1: what Kirk said about the Arizona Cardinals and Kyler Murray

942
00:50:07,360 --> 00:50:09,560
Speaker 1: was how he wanted to see if Murray would grow

943
00:50:09,560 --> 00:50:11,920
Speaker 1: and develop as a leader, if he could command a

944
00:50:11,960 --> 00:50:14,719
Speaker 1: locker room, which he did at Oklahoma. According to Herbstreet,

945
00:50:15,200 --> 00:50:17,200
Speaker 1: I think that's a big reason why the Cardinals are

946
00:50:17,280 --> 00:50:21,960
Speaker 1: three and oh. Kyler is growing, he's maturing as a leader,

947
00:50:22,000 --> 00:50:25,160
Speaker 1: and guys are starting to follow him. Let's see if

948
00:50:25,160 --> 00:50:28,600
Speaker 1: the Cardinals can keep it up against the undefeated Rams

949
00:50:28,600 --> 00:50:32,920
Speaker 1: on Sunday. Thanks again to ESPN ABC announcer Kirk Herbstreet.

950
00:50:33,000 --> 00:50:34,959
Speaker 1: I'm Dave Pash and we'll talk to you next time.

951
00:50:35,239 --> 00:50:36,640
Speaker 1: I'm the Dave Pash Podcast