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Speaker 1: When it is, as Mehma would say, seventy degrees in

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Speaker 1: central Pennsylvania in the middle of spring.

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Speaker 2: You don't stay in Nashville.

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Speaker 1: You just go on the road to central Pennsylvania, Penn

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Speaker 1: State University.

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Speaker 2: To be frank we are jam packed. We are high

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Speaker 2: atop Penn State.

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Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, James Franklin is eating his

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Speaker 1: dinner just off camera. We're on his patio here as

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Speaker 1: he has been gracious enough to allow us to use it.

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Speaker 2: It's Tuesday.

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Speaker 1: It is April, eleventh year of our older twenty twenty three,

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Speaker 1: and we got a loaded show for you.

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Speaker 2: At the end of this show.

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Speaker 1: About the last thirty or so minutes of this show,

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Speaker 1: we will play an extremely in depth interview that we

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Speaker 1: recorded earlier with James Franklin, Penn State head coach. A

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Speaker 1: ton of stuff that I don't care if you're a

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Speaker 1: Penn State fan or not, will fascinate you. I'm talking

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Speaker 1: about the behind the scenes stuff that I know a

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Speaker 1: bunch of you wonder about and you can never get

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Speaker 1: coaches to talk about it on the record.

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Speaker 2: Well, we got one to talk about it on the record.

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Speaker 1: You want to know how many times they talk to

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Speaker 1: their agents per week. You want to know what it's

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Speaker 1: like when your name is in the conversation for another job.

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Speaker 1: You want to know what it's like to try and

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Speaker 1: get something out of your university and maybe in some

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Speaker 1: cases using media and using fan rumors and whatnot to

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Speaker 1: do that. He talked about all of it, and I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna play it for you in full. We're not gonna

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Speaker 1: clip it. We're gonna play the whole thing. Cliff Kingsbury's

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Speaker 1: at USC now, so there you go. That dude's playing

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Speaker 1: four or five D chess. I'm gonna talk about that

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Speaker 1: in just a second. It's very much a show me

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Speaker 1: year for Texas A and M and Jimbo Fisher. We

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Speaker 1: will discuss when is it the right time one of

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Speaker 1: you asked me to fire a head coach versus just

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Speaker 1: being patient with one. It's a very delicate balance and

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Speaker 1: you got to diagnose a lot of things properly. But

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Speaker 1: we'll talk about all that tonight. And as I said,

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Speaker 1: and very very good, very in depth interview with James

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Speaker 1: Franklin coming up towards the end of the show at Tulsa,

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Speaker 1: Oklahoma two and in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Lancaster, PA Franklin, Tennessee.

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Speaker 2: Appreciate you guys so much.

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Speaker 1: Now. I know that we're doing a live show here Tuesday,

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Speaker 1: and our schedule has kind of been weird lately, but

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Speaker 1: it's been weird because we're doing more shows than we

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Speaker 1: normally would. And I'm telling you ahead of time, we're

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Speaker 1: still going to bring you a Late Kick Extra pod

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Speaker 1: this week that'll be in your feeds on Thursday morning.

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Speaker 1: We're then going to do another episode of Late Kick

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Speaker 1: Live Thursday night, so if you're just listening on podcast,

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Speaker 1: that'll be in the feed Friday morning.

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Speaker 2: There is no off season.

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Speaker 1: I always promised you that, and we continue to deliver

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Speaker 1: on that. Okay, let's dive into the show tonight. I

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Speaker 1: open up the mail bag and I see all sorts

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Speaker 1: of questions ranging across the spectrum of college football, but

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Speaker 1: one of them in particular that I wanted to get

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Speaker 1: to was this one here, and it has to do

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Speaker 1: with firing head coaches. So the question is when is

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Speaker 1: it actually time to move on from a head coach?

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Speaker 1: You know, when do you know it's time to move

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Speaker 1: Sandy Springs, Georgia.

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Speaker 2: That's where that question.

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Speaker 1: Came from, and it's delicate immunity. It's really delicate because

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Speaker 1: you have to make sure you've properly diagnosed the situation.

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Speaker 1: And this is the time of year sometimes where you

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Speaker 1: can get both coaches and agents to be a little

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Speaker 1: more forthcoming because the previous cycle is over and the

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Speaker 1: future heated up cycle still months down the road, right,

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Speaker 1: so you can get them to talk in a little

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Speaker 1: bit more open terms about what happened or what sometimes happens.

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Speaker 2: And here's what you always find out.

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Speaker 1: What you always find out is it comes down to

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Speaker 1: the decision makers, obviously, and it comes down to whether

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Speaker 1: they can properly diagnose the situation because sometimes, yeah, you

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Speaker 1: just got fans that are angry about roots that haven't

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Speaker 1: taken hold quick enough in their mind.

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Speaker 2: Think Mike Norvel a couple of years ago. And so,

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Speaker 2: of course you don't fire Mike Norvel right now.

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Speaker 1: There are some people that I think are shortsighted enough

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Speaker 1: to say that about Steve Sarcusian at Texas.

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Speaker 2: Of course you're not firing Steve's Sarcusian.

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Speaker 1: But that doesn't mean that there aren't some people out

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Speaker 1: there who, if they had their way on a message

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Speaker 1: board or talk radio or whatnot, that doesn't mean that

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Speaker 1: there aren't some people who wouldn't do that. So how

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Speaker 1: do you know? And there are a few cautionary tales

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Speaker 1: on both sides of the fence about how delicate this

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Speaker 1: whole thing is. So I want you to think about it.

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Speaker 2: Jim Harbaugh for a second.

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Speaker 1: I got a buddy who will remain nameless because he

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Speaker 1: has fessed up to how wrong he was.

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Speaker 2: But I got a buddy, die Hard.

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Speaker 1: Cut him open, Maize and blue spills out, diehard Michigan fan.

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Speaker 1: A couple of years ago, he was ready to move

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Speaker 1: on from Jim Harbaugh.

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Speaker 2: I think if we dove.

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Speaker 1: Deep enough into his Twitter archives you would find evidence

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Speaker 1: of him wanting to move on from Jim Harbaugh. And

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Speaker 1: today he freely admits, not only was I wrong, this

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Speaker 1: could be the pinnacle of Michigan football in my lifetime.

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Speaker 2: We're doing things.

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Speaker 1: We're competing at a level we are expected to be

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Speaker 1: at a level every year now that we haven't expected

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Speaker 1: to be.

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Speaker 2: At for a long, long while.

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Speaker 1: If you are a University of Michigan student right now,

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Speaker 1: for example, has this ever I don't think this has

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Speaker 1: ever been the case in your lifetime. So if what

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Speaker 1: if people got their way back when, not a small

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Speaker 1: minority and maybe not a majority, but a large chunk

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Speaker 1: of the Michigan fan base thought it was time.

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Speaker 2: To move on from Jim Harball.

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Speaker 1: Remember the COVID year, Remember when they were just abysmal

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Speaker 1: on the field in twenty twenty, And I'll, hey, I

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Speaker 1: don't want to throw stones in a glass house, because

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Speaker 1: I just openly opined that it may be that time too.

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Speaker 1: That's why I'm not running an athletic department now. I

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Speaker 1: think I'm a little more hesitant on this than some

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Speaker 1: people are. But even I looked at Michigan and I thought,

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Speaker 1: if you're not recruiting on par with Ohio State and

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Speaker 1: it doesn't seem like you're developing, because at that point

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Speaker 1: it didn't seem like they were developing on par with

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Speaker 1: Ohio State, how in the world am I supposed to

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Speaker 1: expect you to compete with Ohio State? And I couldn't

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Speaker 1: come up with an answer. Remember Ohio State was in

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Speaker 1: the process of running off a string of eight wins. Well,

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Speaker 1: they didn't move on from him. Now, I would contend

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Speaker 1: it's the best program, not team best program in the

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Speaker 1: Big Ten margins a razor thin. I had some Buckeye

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Speaker 1: folks pushed back on me the other day about that.

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Speaker 1: That's fine even if you still think you're on top

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Speaker 1: of the big ten. The point is the margin is

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Speaker 1: razor thin. What happens if you move on from him?

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Speaker 1: Because there have been times where Michigan football has moved

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Speaker 1: in the past and you end up with the Rich

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Speaker 1: Rodriguez era. No one ever sits in and Auburn Michigan

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Speaker 1: and tells their kids about the Rich Rodriguez era unless

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Speaker 1: they cautioned them beforehand or it's mentioned in passing in

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Speaker 1: a jokish manner.

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Speaker 2: It is so hard to get hires right.

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Speaker 1: And that's if you got bottomless resources, and that's if

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Speaker 1: you've got everything at true disposal.

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Speaker 2: It's still it's so.

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Speaker 1: Hard to get hires right because there are so few

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Speaker 1: people qualified to lead organizations of that caliber. So Jim

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Speaker 1: Harbaugh's one example. There's another example. I want to take

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Speaker 1: you back because I was. I was front row for

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Speaker 1: this twenty seventeen. Auburn is always wild in and of itself.

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Speaker 1: It's just it's like its own little unique orbit down there,

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Speaker 1: and Gus Maleson found himself in the middle of it.

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Speaker 1: No one cried for Gus Maleson. Gus Maleson was going

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Speaker 1: to make a lot of money if he stayed. He

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Speaker 1: was going to make a lot more money if he went.

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Speaker 1: But twenty seventeen, I'm down at Auburn versus LSU, and

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Speaker 1: it was thought to be a must win game. Some

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Speaker 1: coaches have played in like twenty seven must win games,

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Speaker 1: which tells you a little something about how freely that

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Speaker 1: phrase is thrown around. But Gus Malson's an a legend

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Speaker 1: must wing game and he doesn't win it. What does

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Speaker 1: that mean?

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Speaker 2: Friends?

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Speaker 1: If he doesn't win it, he's supposed to be fired.

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Speaker 1: Right I'm in the postgame media conference down there. It's

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Speaker 1: a room about half the size of like this corner

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Speaker 1: of a balcony we're on right now. Malason's wife is

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Speaker 1: over in the corner. The beat writers are just freely speculating,

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Speaker 1: not about whether he'll be fired. That's just a foregone conclusion.

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Speaker 1: They were already talking about who Auburn's gonna hire after him,

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Speaker 1: you know the story. They didn't fire him right there.

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Speaker 1: He goes on to beat Georgia, number one in the country.

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Speaker 1: He beats Alabama, number one in the country. They go

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Speaker 1: to the SEC Championship game. During the lead up to

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Speaker 1: the SEC Championship Game, Jimmy Sexton does everything but take

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Speaker 1: the Auburn brass by the shirt and push him up

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Speaker 1: against the wall and say give us our money. And

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Speaker 1: Auburn did because they had no other choice because the

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Speaker 1: guy was about to play for a conference title. Oh

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Speaker 1: by the way, this was also when the Tennessee coaching

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Speaker 1: search was imploding in on Knoxville. So Auburn looked at

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Speaker 1: that and said, we want no part of a coaching

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Speaker 1: search right now. Think about how many times, if you're

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Speaker 1: even an Auburn fan, how many times in that given

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Speaker 1: year you changed your mind? You flip flop because you know,

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Speaker 1: there's a huge chunk of people who chanted fire maus

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Speaker 1: on the same year they chanted extend Mauson. And that

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Speaker 1: is like it's moving at the speed of water instead

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Speaker 1: of at the speed of honey. That is the age

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Speaker 1: old mema analogy I always go back to. When you're

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Speaker 1: making decisions of this magnitude, you want to be that

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Speaker 1: drop of honey on the plate where when you turn

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Speaker 1: the plate sideways, Yes, the honey moves. Gravity has an

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Speaker 1: effect on the drop of honey, but it doesn't move

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Speaker 1: nearly as fast as the drop of water. You could

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Speaker 1: also apply that to the Jeff Goldbloom chaos metaphor in

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Speaker 1: the Ford Explorer in Jurassic Park. Not quite apples to apples,

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Speaker 1: but you know what I mean. However, just as much

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Speaker 1: as I'm sitting here telling you you gotta have some patience,

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Speaker 1: sometimes you need to pull the trigger. Sometimes you need

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Speaker 1: to act, and you want to know who a perfect

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Speaker 1: example of needing to.

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Speaker 2: Have pulled the trigger was. That was Scott Frost this

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Speaker 2: past year.

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Speaker 1: Because as much as I cringe when programs move on

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Speaker 1: too quickly from a head coach, I also cringe probably

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Speaker 1: harder when they maintain a situation past the point where

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Speaker 1: the well has been poisoned. In other words, if you

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Speaker 1: stick with a head coach and then you fire him

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Speaker 1: three or four weeks into the following year, there's nothing

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Speaker 1: that you have seen in the three or four weeks

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Speaker 1: that following year that you didn't already know about him

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Speaker 1: at the conclusion of the last year. And so yeah,

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Speaker 1: we can think what we want to about the head coach.

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Speaker 1: But when I see universities indecisive and then they all

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Speaker 1: of a sudden decide to make a decision, right, smack

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Speaker 1: dab in.

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Speaker 2: The middle of a season, not even halfway point.

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Speaker 1: Scott Frost was fired I think before October got here

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Speaker 1: last year, right, and so it.

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Speaker 2: Was after week three? Yeah, So what does that tell me?

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Speaker 3: You know?

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Speaker 2: And there's another guy out there right now.

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Speaker 1: I don't know how this story will end, but Neil

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Speaker 1: Brown at West Virginia is an example, Frank, of a

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Speaker 1: guy that a lot of people in the coaching industry

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Speaker 1: and in the administrative industry believed West Virginia would move

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Speaker 1: on from. I know there were some external dynamics there,

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Speaker 1: new athletic director coming in and a million moving pieces.

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Speaker 1: I know nothing about there. I don't claim to be

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Speaker 1: an insider at West Virginia. I'm just saying the reason

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Speaker 1: you so infrequently hear me traffic in this and the

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Speaker 1: reason we hardly ever do hot seat segments, and I

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Speaker 1: hardly ever call for a guy's job. I don't think

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Speaker 1: i've Jesse. I don't know how many times I've done it.

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Speaker 2: It's very very.

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Speaker 1: Rare, and it's usually because a guy has like bumped

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Speaker 1: me in the shoulder in the hallway or something. It's

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Speaker 1: probably not because of his on field performance. It's because

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Speaker 1: I can't know what I don't know. And not to

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Speaker 1: sound douchey, but I probably know more than most people

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Speaker 1: who claim to know, and I'm freely telling you I

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Speaker 1: don't know enough. And then there's the whole other aspect

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Speaker 1: of not having expertise in the craft.

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Speaker 2: What if I'm at Penn State right now?

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Speaker 1: What if I were given access to walk these halls

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Speaker 1: every day like we have the past two days? Even then,

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Speaker 1: how qualified am I really to sit down?

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Speaker 2: And I'm not saying you don't deserve the right to

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Speaker 2: be critical.

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Speaker 1: I'm just saying when is it wise to be critical

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Speaker 1: versus sitting back and saying, yeah, we're going to let

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Speaker 1: the professionals make that decision.

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Speaker 2: So I know that's a lot of words salad, but

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Speaker 2: it really.

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Speaker 1: Takes a fine balance. It takes good seasoned decision makers

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Speaker 1: in the room. That's why you don't have many twenty

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Speaker 1: seven year old ads out there. You have to have

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Speaker 1: been around the block, you have to observed time or ten.

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Speaker 2: And the answer is.

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Speaker 1: There is no one blueprint to it, cause there are

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Speaker 1: no two situations that are exactly the same. Just as

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Speaker 1: much as we talk about that, though, I think the

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Speaker 1: a and m question is the next question, right, So

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Speaker 1: let's just go ahead and get to this other question

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Speaker 1: that we had. By the way, if you're here, if

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Speaker 1: you're a Penn State fan, I probably know we have

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Speaker 1: a bunch of first time viewers or listeners that are

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Speaker 1: Pen State fans.

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Speaker 2: Thank you so much for being here. Just do me

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Speaker 2: a favor.

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Speaker 1: Since it's free, subscribe to the channel. If you're listening

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Speaker 1: on pod, subscribe to the pod. We think it's worth

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Speaker 1: it for you, mainly again because it's free. All right,

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Speaker 1: let's get to this next question right quick. Anyway, I

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Speaker 1: mentioned Penn State because we have a great one on

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Speaker 1: one sitting down conversation with James Franklin coming up. Okay,

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Speaker 1: so this question about Jimbo Fisher. This is from Wichita Falls, Texas,

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Speaker 1: and it's simply, hey, what happens to Texas A and

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Speaker 1: M as a football program this year if Bobby and

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Speaker 1: Jimbo can't get the job done. Bobby Patrino of course

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Speaker 1: the new offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher head coach.

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Speaker 3: There.

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Speaker 1: What happens if they can't get the job done, Well,

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Speaker 1: there will be changes, point blank.

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Speaker 2: I don't see any way around that now. I am

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Speaker 2: assuming something here.

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Speaker 1: I'm assuming that when you say they can't get the

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Speaker 1: job done, that is reminiscent of what they did last

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Speaker 1: year or failed to do last year. Right, I'm going

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Speaker 1: I'm gonna assume that because it wasn't exactly spelled out,

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Speaker 1: And to be very clear with you, what they failed

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Speaker 1: to do last year is make a bowl game. And

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Speaker 1: that's inexcusable at a place like Texas A and M.

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Speaker 1: It's inexcusable. I don't really even think they would argue that.

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Speaker 2: So let's just say, for argument's sake, let's.

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Speaker 1: Get really sadistic for a second. This is not a prediction,

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Speaker 1: it's just a hypothetical. We can traffic in those. That's

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Speaker 1: what God invented April for. So let's say the sadistic

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Speaker 1: side of us hits the simulation button, and that's exactly

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Speaker 1: what happens. We got Texas A and M sitting at

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Speaker 1: home in December having failed to make a bowl game.

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Speaker 1: To be very clear, if that were to happen, massive

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Speaker 1: changes would come about in college station. I don't see

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Speaker 1: any way around that. You can toss buyouts at me

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Speaker 1: all you want to. I have thought that through. I

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Speaker 1: have talked to enough people with sort of guided knowledge

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Speaker 1: at the forefront of Texas A and AMA Athletics that

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Speaker 1: I believe, Yeah, regardless of how big that number is,

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Speaker 1: there would be movement because you can't afford not to.

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Speaker 1: Like you can look at one side of that coin

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Speaker 1: and say, oh, imagine, imagine financially how big a hit

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Speaker 1: you take. Well, let me toss an alternative at you.

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Speaker 1: You are now in this scenario two years a massive

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Speaker 1: under it. You're about to add Texas and Oklahoma to

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Speaker 1: this league and I'm not quite sure where there where

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Speaker 1: they're slot in that pecking order, but if you're back

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Speaker 1: to back missing out on Bowl games, it'll be ahead

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Speaker 1: of you, as will Kentucky.

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Speaker 2: Just take a random program South Carolina, they're ahead.

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Speaker 1: Of Texas A and M in that scenario. You're talking

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Speaker 1: about A and M being well into the bottom half

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Speaker 1: of the league.

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Speaker 2: And now I want you to think about being.

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Speaker 1: An investor, whether it be a season ticket holder or

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Speaker 1: even a mid level donor out there, much less a

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Speaker 1: high level donor, and imagine what they ask of you.

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Speaker 1: And the reason I credit these fan base is and

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Speaker 1: I don't get all that upset when they have skyh

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Speaker 1: expectations is because it places like A and M. Every

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Speaker 1: time they ask something of you, you give it. So yeah,

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Speaker 1: it can be a little myopic at times, and you

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Speaker 1: can maybe over expect sometimes, but man, when they ask

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Speaker 1: what they ask of you and you deliver and that

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Speaker 1: fan base delivers, I'm not ever gonna I'm not ever

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Speaker 1: gonna wag my finger at A.

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Speaker 2: And M fans.

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Speaker 1: What am I about to do? Say, shame on you

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Speaker 1: guys for expecting eight wins. Expect more than that, and

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Speaker 1: they ought to deliver more than that. So in this hypothetical,

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Speaker 1: dangerous though it may be, if that's what we're looking at,

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Speaker 1: in fact, I would ask our Texas say, and then

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Speaker 1: brethren down in Brian, Texas or San Antonio or Victoria,

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Speaker 1: almost stone cold Steve Austin, if that were to happen.

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Speaker 1: I want the most ardent of program guys and program girls,

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Speaker 1: Jimbo Fisher supporters.

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Speaker 2: I want you to tell me with a straight face

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Speaker 2: that you'd.

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Speaker 1: Be ready to DM me in December and say let's

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Speaker 1: just let's give it another year, you know, because it

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Speaker 1: would be one thing. This is what I have to

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Speaker 1: remind myself sometimes, it's one thing. If Jimbo Fisher is

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Speaker 1: a young head coach or Jimbo Fisher is.

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Speaker 2: New to the program. Neither of those things is the case.

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Speaker 2: We're entering, Like what is it Jesse six or seven

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Speaker 2: years now?

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Speaker 1: He's been there a while, been there, been there plenty

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Speaker 1: long enough for every aspect of that program to reflect

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Speaker 1: his thumb print. I always think, in terms of thumb print,

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Speaker 1: there is nothing about Texas in football this point that

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Speaker 1: should not reflect Jimbo Fisher.

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Speaker 2: So then here's the follow up, and here's.

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Speaker 1: Where it gets really really interesting, And here's where the

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Speaker 1: weeds start to grow around you pretty quick. If you

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Speaker 1: didn't know any better, which doesn't mean you're ignorant, it

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Speaker 1: just means you've got a life and you can't follow

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Speaker 1: a and m athletics.

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Speaker 2: Day to day.

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Speaker 1: If you didn't know any better, you'd probably find yourself saying,

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Speaker 1: why is this so hard? Jimbo hires a seasoned experience,

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Speaker 1: been around the block play caller and his new offensive coordinator,

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Speaker 1: and he hands over the reins to him. Why doesn't

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Speaker 1: Jimbo Fisher just go act as a CEO? And I'll

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Speaker 1: tell you why. Jimbo Fisher is not good as a

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Speaker 1: CEO type. And that is not necessarily my opinion because

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Speaker 1: I've never worked for the guy. It is the opinion

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Speaker 1: of plenty of people who have, and it is the

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Speaker 1: opinion of plenty people, plenty of people closer to that

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Speaker 1: program than I am.

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Speaker 2: Some guys are cut out to be that.

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Speaker 1: Some guys are cut out to go to the donners

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Speaker 1: and to be the front facing image that you think

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Speaker 1: of when you think of that athletic department, that football program.

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Speaker 1: Some guys are really good at delegating. Jimbo needs this.

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Speaker 1: He needs forty seven play sheets in front of him.

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Speaker 1: He needs to be involved heavily in the offense because

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Speaker 1: if he's not, this is not a twenty nine year

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Speaker 1: old head coach.

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Speaker 2: This guy he has.

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Speaker 1: He has planted his roots, he has solidified his image

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Speaker 1: and his identity as being an offensive coordinator, play caller,

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Speaker 1: now a head coach. But it's almost like you're kind

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Speaker 1: of cutting the ambilical cord in his mind from what.

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Speaker 2: He attaches to as an identity.

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Speaker 1: So you can make it sound as easy as you

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Speaker 1: want to, I can promise you, even if things were

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Speaker 1: to go swimming lea this year, put yourself in his

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Speaker 1: shoes for a second, imagining yourself as I just described

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Speaker 1: Jimbo Fisher scenario A. Things go great this year, and

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Speaker 1: the outside world says, well, it only went great once

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Speaker 1: you gave up play calling duties, and the scenario B,

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Speaker 1: it doesn't go well, and we get to about week

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Speaker 1: three or week four. You are then the dad teaching

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Speaker 1: the fifteen year old how to drive, and there's a

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Speaker 1: sharp curve coming up. You're grabbing the wheel. He's gonna

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Speaker 1: grab the wheel. It's not as easy as it sounds.

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Speaker 1: Trust me to just go be a CEO for some guys,

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Speaker 1: maybe for Jimbo Fish or not. So it's a very

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Speaker 1: long winded way of saying they can't afford another year.

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Speaker 1: I don't think that's a bold statement at all. They

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Speaker 1: can't afford another year like.

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Speaker 2: They just had.

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Speaker 1: What you can afford, especially if you're in that portion

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Speaker 1: of the country, because it is literally their home base,

417
00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:28,880
Speaker 1: is to pay a quick visit to Academy Sports and Outdoors.

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00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:31,800
Speaker 1: Maybe you're up in Pennsylvania where we are tonight, Maybe

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00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:34,840
Speaker 1: there's not one within eyeshot. Maybe you can't drive to

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00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:37,720
Speaker 1: the nearest street corner and visit in Academy Sports and Outdoors.

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Speaker 2: They've got internet up here.

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Speaker 1: Hey, Penn State's got about the fastest internet we've used

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Speaker 1: any campus we've been on. I guarantee you I can

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00:18:43,800 --> 00:18:46,480
Speaker 1: pull up Academy dot Com here and I can get anything.

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Speaker 2: I want chipped up here.

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Speaker 1: Spring clearly upon us in central Pennsylvania. It's upon you

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00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:54,960
Speaker 1: in Missouri and Texas and Georgia and anywhere else. Just

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00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:57,359
Speaker 1: make sure before you get out there and strain your

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00:18:57,359 --> 00:19:00,200
Speaker 1: hamstring and pick up softball. Make sure before you get

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00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:02,199
Speaker 1: back out on the golf course. Make sure before you

431
00:19:02,280 --> 00:19:05,879
Speaker 1: do whatever it is outdoors recreationally, whether it's on the

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00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:08,479
Speaker 1: grill or whatnot, camping, make sure before you do it

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00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:12,199
Speaker 1: you give our friends at Academy Sports and Outdoors a

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00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:14,679
Speaker 1: visit Academy dot com if you can't get there in person.

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00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:18,359
Speaker 1: They are our exclusive partner. We don't look like an

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00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:20,800
Speaker 1: auto race car. We don't have forty seven stickers on

437
00:19:20,840 --> 00:19:22,640
Speaker 1: the side of the show. We got one of them

438
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Speaker 1: because there is one partner out there that's spinned by

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00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:28,240
Speaker 1: our side nearly from the beginning, and we sincerely appreciate

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00:19:28,240 --> 00:19:32,440
Speaker 1: them because you know we can. Don't take this as

441
00:19:32,480 --> 00:19:34,680
Speaker 1: a degrading sign towards Academy. I'm just trying to get

442
00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:36,360
Speaker 1: the trash out of the way. We can do all

443
00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:38,520
Speaker 1: of this because of them, And for those of you

444
00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:41,560
Speaker 1: who are ogs, you know that it wasn't too long

445
00:19:41,600 --> 00:19:42,880
Speaker 1: ago that I was doing this show in a broom

446
00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:46,840
Speaker 1: closet down in Columbus, Georgia, and now pretty much do

447
00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:49,320
Speaker 1: whatever we want to because Academy and you have made

448
00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:54,719
Speaker 1: that happen. All right, we got big news. I mean

449
00:19:54,760 --> 00:19:57,080
Speaker 1: I would consider this pretty big news. I'm not talking

450
00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:01,320
Speaker 1: about the new Big ten commissioner. Honestly, we thought about

451
00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:04,000
Speaker 1: adding that to the show. I want to wait until

452
00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:06,720
Speaker 1: Thursday night show to talk about that with you. Frankly,

453
00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:09,840
Speaker 1: I want to said, frankly, way too much tonight, Frankly,

454
00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:12,600
Speaker 1: I want to ask around the industry a little bit.

455
00:20:13,960 --> 00:20:15,960
Speaker 1: I'll just leave it at that. There you go. If

456
00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:18,600
Speaker 1: you care about Big ten commissionership, the Thursday show will

457
00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:18,960
Speaker 1: be for you.

458
00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:22,200
Speaker 2: But Colin, here's your endpoint.

459
00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:26,359
Speaker 1: Cliff Kingsbury's at USC now, not as the head coach necessarily,

460
00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:28,400
Speaker 1: but we had a lot of questions like how much

461
00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:31,879
Speaker 1: better does Cliff Kingsbury make USC? I kid you not,

462
00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:34,240
Speaker 1: Jesse just told me to improve my posture off camera.

463
00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:38,600
Speaker 1: How much better does he make USC? Well, the first

464
00:20:38,680 --> 00:20:40,840
Speaker 1: question that anyone should ask is does.

465
00:20:40,720 --> 00:20:41,560
Speaker 2: He coach defense?

466
00:20:41,920 --> 00:20:45,640
Speaker 1: The answer is no, but it is a nice little

467
00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:48,119
Speaker 1: cherry on top of a five story Sunday. And I

468
00:20:48,240 --> 00:20:52,639
Speaker 1: will also remind you that there are some guys that

469
00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:55,640
Speaker 1: when they get fired, you never hear from again. There

470
00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:57,919
Speaker 1: are other guys when they get fired, it just seems

471
00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:01,560
Speaker 1: like they fail up and up up, and Cliff Kingsbury's

472
00:21:01,760 --> 00:21:03,520
Speaker 1: is kind of one of those guys right now. I

473
00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:06,600
Speaker 1: know it wasn't the easiest of situations to handle in Arizona,

474
00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:08,359
Speaker 1: but that's in his rear view mirror.

475
00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:10,240
Speaker 2: Let me explain to you what Cliff.

476
00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:12,959
Speaker 1: Kingsbury just did. Okay, he gets to live the NFL

477
00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:16,639
Speaker 1: buy out life. He gets to attach himself to Caleb Williams,

478
00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:20,399
Speaker 1: which is quite literally impossible to have go wrong for yourself.

479
00:21:20,480 --> 00:21:23,439
Speaker 1: He gets to stay there indefinitely because if it's not

480
00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:26,240
Speaker 1: a one and done, you got Malachi Nelson, one of

481
00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:28,600
Speaker 1: the top quarterbacks from this past cycle, waiting in the wings.

482
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:31,120
Speaker 2: And so then you get to attach yourself to him.

483
00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:34,080
Speaker 2: You get to operate on the side of the ball.

484
00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:36,480
Speaker 1: That the head coach is invested in at USC so

485
00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:39,200
Speaker 1: there's no way offense is going to fail there. Now,

486
00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:40,800
Speaker 1: they may need to score fifty five a game to

487
00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:43,320
Speaker 1: win indefinitely, but there's no way his side of the

488
00:21:43,359 --> 00:21:47,320
Speaker 1: ball is going to fail there, And all the while

489
00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:49,400
Speaker 1: there will be a market for.

490
00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:50,320
Speaker 2: Him that grows.

491
00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:52,639
Speaker 1: It's just like when guys go and they sit in

492
00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,680
Speaker 1: a TV studio for a year. Dan Mullen is experiencing

493
00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:57,119
Speaker 1: this right now. I don't know if Dan Mullen's ever

494
00:21:57,160 --> 00:21:58,920
Speaker 1: going to coach again. He doesn't have to if.

495
00:21:58,800 --> 00:21:59,520
Speaker 2: He doesn't want to.

496
00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:04,240
Speaker 1: But did you notice how poorly people talked about Dan

497
00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:07,520
Speaker 1: Mullen when he first got fired at Florida. Then did

498
00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:10,640
Speaker 1: you notice how that sort of eased up a little

499
00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:14,359
Speaker 1: bit once he sounded like a rocket scientist in a

500
00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:17,639
Speaker 1: TV studio for a year. And if he stays in

501
00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:19,920
Speaker 1: a TV studio for another couple of years, I will

502
00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:22,720
Speaker 1: spoil the ending for you. It will continue to make

503
00:22:22,760 --> 00:22:25,639
Speaker 1: him look smarter and smarter. Well, the only way that

504
00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:28,800
Speaker 1: you could probably even improve your plight from that vantage

505
00:22:28,840 --> 00:22:31,439
Speaker 1: point is to live the buyout life and then go

506
00:22:31,520 --> 00:22:36,919
Speaker 1: coach offense. For the record, the role is offensive senior analyst,

507
00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:39,239
Speaker 1: which just means go collect your buyout check and come

508
00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:41,120
Speaker 1: out here in the process and coach him really really

509
00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:45,920
Speaker 1: good high level quarterbacks. Speaking of high level quarterbacks, stats

510
00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,080
Speaker 1: an Info compile a list of all the coaches. Well,

511
00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:51,960
Speaker 1: the two coaches are Cliff Kingsbury and Lincoln Riley. Cliff

512
00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:55,160
Speaker 1: Kingsbury and Lincoln Riley. To be clear, these are the guys.

513
00:22:55,240 --> 00:22:58,520
Speaker 1: These are the quarterbacks on their recently coached resume. You

514
00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:03,520
Speaker 1: got case Keenum, you got Johnny Manziel, Baker Mayfield, Pat Mahomes,

515
00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:07,320
Speaker 1: Jalen Hurts, Kyler Murray, Caleb Williams, and like I said,

516
00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:10,600
Speaker 1: Malachi Nelson waiting in the wings stat of the night.

517
00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:15,000
Speaker 2: In fact, I would say paper popping stat.

518
00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:19,560
Speaker 1: Here, Cliff Kingsbury and Lincoln Riley have combined to either

519
00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:22,160
Speaker 1: coach and develop. Well, I guess it's either or it's

520
00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:24,359
Speaker 1: just it's I'm gonna clip this later, so let me

521
00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:25,119
Speaker 1: just restate this.

522
00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:27,959
Speaker 2: It will the paper pop paper pop stat.

523
00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:31,639
Speaker 1: Cliff Kingsbury and Lincoln Riley have combined to coach and

524
00:23:31,720 --> 00:23:35,040
Speaker 1: develop four of the last nine Heisman Trophy winners. And

525
00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:39,040
Speaker 1: you may say to yourself, pretty mind blowing stat. There

526
00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,880
Speaker 1: were two others named Pat Mahomes and Jalen Hurts who

527
00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:43,840
Speaker 1: didn't win the Heisman and they just faced off in

528
00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:47,040
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl. So I didn't intend for this to

529
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,040
Speaker 1: be a recruiting infomercial for them tonight, nor do they

530
00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:53,440
Speaker 1: need it. But the last two or so minutes made

531
00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:55,800
Speaker 1: a little bit longer through my air in judgment there,

532
00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:57,760
Speaker 1: But the last two or so minutes it sounded like

533
00:23:57,800 --> 00:23:59,760
Speaker 1: that because you can't read these guys' resumes and make

534
00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:02,919
Speaker 1: it like anything other than that stack experience. That's what

535
00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:05,000
Speaker 1: you do. That's all these head coaches try and do it.

536
00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,199
Speaker 1: The major programs is you've got you know, I'm at

537
00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:12,440
Speaker 1: Penn State tonight. Manny Diaz is the defensive coordinator here.

538
00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:14,920
Speaker 1: Manny Diaz got let go at Miami.

539
00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:16,960
Speaker 2: I thought he. I talked to him today.

540
00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:18,280
Speaker 1: I said, I thought you were going to go sit

541
00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:20,440
Speaker 1: out a year, and he said, well, frankly, I didn't

542
00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:21,160
Speaker 1: know what I was.

543
00:24:21,119 --> 00:24:21,560
Speaker 2: Going to do.

544
00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:25,400
Speaker 1: But this opportunity presented itself and I jumped right back

545
00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:26,480
Speaker 1: in and low and the hold.

546
00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:28,000
Speaker 2: They may have the best defense in the Big Ten

547
00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:28,400
Speaker 2: this year.

548
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,640
Speaker 1: It's former head coaching experience that you get to stack

549
00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,600
Speaker 1: on your roster, on your coaching roster, and you can

550
00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:38,919
Speaker 1: never know. I cannot quantify to you how valuable it

551
00:24:38,960 --> 00:24:41,600
Speaker 1: is that James Franklin has many Diaz on a staff.

552
00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:43,000
Speaker 2: I can't quantify to you.

553
00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:45,879
Speaker 1: In terms of points per game or wins per season,

554
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:48,480
Speaker 1: how valuable it is for Lincoln Riley to have Cliff

555
00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:51,199
Speaker 1: Kingsbury on a staff. I just know that USC was

556
00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:53,880
Speaker 1: made better when they added Cliff Kingsbury.

557
00:24:53,920 --> 00:24:54,480
Speaker 2: That's what I know.

558
00:24:55,200 --> 00:25:00,200
Speaker 1: All right, let's pop the knuckles. I'm very excited about, well,

559
00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:01,840
Speaker 1: really a lot of things. We're not that far away

560
00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:04,720
Speaker 1: from just real life college football being played. But I

561
00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:07,080
Speaker 1: promised you guys when we got to one hundred and

562
00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:10,359
Speaker 1: fifty thousand subs on this YouTube channel, that I was

563
00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:12,159
Speaker 1: going to bring some guests on. Well, I asked you

564
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:14,600
Speaker 1: what you wanted, and you said you wanted some guests.

565
00:25:15,040 --> 00:25:19,000
Speaker 1: And I appreciate when we can get coaches on the show,

566
00:25:19,480 --> 00:25:21,360
Speaker 1: and I appreciate when we can bring them on via

567
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:24,159
Speaker 1: zoom or Skype. What I really love is going to them.

568
00:25:24,440 --> 00:25:26,560
Speaker 1: And we've got a number of these coming up. I'll

569
00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:30,960
Speaker 1: announce them as really time draws closer. But the first

570
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:32,399
Speaker 1: one on the list is I wanted to get up

571
00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:35,520
Speaker 1: to Penn State and James Franklin and his entire staff

572
00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:37,520
Speaker 1: here rolled out the red carpet for us. We've been

573
00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:39,520
Speaker 1: up here for a couple of days and we are,

574
00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:41,400
Speaker 1: like I said, we're right outside his office right now.

575
00:25:41,400 --> 00:25:43,760
Speaker 1: He has done eating dinner though they rolled out the

576
00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:47,399
Speaker 1: red carpet. I sat down with Coach Franklin yesterday for

577
00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,679
Speaker 1: about thirty minutes. He went really in depth, not just

578
00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:52,919
Speaker 1: on his team, but he went really in depth on

579
00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:56,560
Speaker 1: a lot of college football behind the scenes stuff that, honestly,

580
00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:58,679
Speaker 1: it's hard to get head coaches to talk about on

581
00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:00,960
Speaker 1: the record or off the record, And not only was

582
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:02,879
Speaker 1: he willing to talk about it, he was willing to

583
00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:04,600
Speaker 1: go on the record and talk about it. So, without

584
00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:07,000
Speaker 1: further hesitation, here is our one on one sit down

585
00:26:07,040 --> 00:26:10,880
Speaker 1: with Penn State head coach James Franklin the Paint State

586
00:26:10,960 --> 00:26:13,800
Speaker 1: Speaker Series Spring twenty twenty three. This is James Franklin.

587
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:16,440
Speaker 1: He is the head coach of Penn State. I wore

588
00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:18,200
Speaker 1: a white T shirt the last three years. The trade

589
00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:20,040
Speaker 1: off was you come on the show. I appreciate you

590
00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:23,359
Speaker 1: being a man of your word. Are you ready to

591
00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:25,840
Speaker 1: just predict a big team championship right now?

592
00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:26,359
Speaker 4: No?

593
00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:28,400
Speaker 5: But I will say this every time you say peyt

594
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:31,960
Speaker 5: State and always kind is he plugging Penn State or

595
00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:35,240
Speaker 5: now we're excited about the season. Obviously we got some

596
00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:38,280
Speaker 5: good things going. Obviously, whenever you end this season the

597
00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:41,240
Speaker 5: way we did with a really good win in the

598
00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:43,240
Speaker 5: Rose Bowl against a team I got a ton of

599
00:26:43,280 --> 00:26:46,000
Speaker 5: respect for that Utah football team.

600
00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:47,200
Speaker 3: I think they do it the right way.

601
00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:49,239
Speaker 5: So that momentum has kind of let us in the

602
00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:52,760
Speaker 5: off season. Got a good number of pieces coming back

603
00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:56,000
Speaker 5: and still got some kind of recruits that are still

604
00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:57,200
Speaker 5: coming in in the summer.

605
00:26:56,920 --> 00:26:58,360
Speaker 3: So hopefully a couple of those guys will be able

606
00:26:58,400 --> 00:26:58,800
Speaker 3: to help us.

607
00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:01,160
Speaker 5: So there's a lot of exciting but as you know,

608
00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:05,000
Speaker 5: our side of the conference is challenging. Yeah, so we're

609
00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:06,600
Speaker 5: going to have to be ready to go, starting with

610
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:08,120
Speaker 5: West Virginia in Week one.

611
00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:09,760
Speaker 1: How do you get I mean, when you come out

612
00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:12,120
Speaker 1: of a Rose Bowl season, it don't get much better

613
00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:14,119
Speaker 1: than that, but it can get a little better than that.

614
00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:18,080
Speaker 1: So when you self evaluate, it's got to feel like

615
00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:19,680
Speaker 1: inches instead of miles.

616
00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:21,320
Speaker 4: How did you.

617
00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:24,680
Speaker 1: Guys go about diagnosing the program tweaks you wanted to make?

618
00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:27,080
Speaker 1: How do you know when to have patients versus when

619
00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:30,639
Speaker 1: to be aggressive and go after altering something about the program.

620
00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:32,920
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think in today's day and age, you better

621
00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:36,280
Speaker 5: be aggressive twenty four to seven. And I think one

622
00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:37,919
Speaker 5: of the things that we're going to be able to

623
00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:42,960
Speaker 5: do now after this Rose Bowl win is take advantage

624
00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:45,640
Speaker 5: of some momentum. One of the things I've been talking

625
00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,760
Speaker 5: about really since coming to Penn State is alignment. And

626
00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:50,880
Speaker 5: I think for the first time since I've been here,

627
00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:54,040
Speaker 5: we have true alignment from the chair of the board

628
00:27:55,119 --> 00:27:58,639
Speaker 5: to the university president and to the athletic director. And

629
00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:02,600
Speaker 5: that's exciting for me is because the reality is all

630
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:05,320
Speaker 5: those little yeses that you get in the offseason they

631
00:28:05,359 --> 00:28:06,680
Speaker 5: add up, just.

632
00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:09,080
Speaker 3: Like all those little nose add up as well.

633
00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:11,200
Speaker 5: And right now we're getting more yeses than I could

634
00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:15,320
Speaker 5: ever remember and to probably to you know, most people,

635
00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:17,399
Speaker 5: I would tell you what the yeses were, and it

636
00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:20,240
Speaker 5: you know, you wouldn't think much of it, But but

637
00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:21,000
Speaker 5: they add up.

638
00:28:22,800 --> 00:28:25,679
Speaker 1: You you just talked about something that is the bane

639
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:28,760
Speaker 1: of some head coach's existence right now, and that is

640
00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:32,119
Speaker 1: the nose they get, or the yeses they fail to

641
00:28:32,119 --> 00:28:34,359
Speaker 1: get that the public doesn't really know about. They just

642
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:36,520
Speaker 1: they see the product on Saturday and if it's not

643
00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:39,160
Speaker 1: good enough. Well, we want you to be better, but

644
00:28:39,240 --> 00:28:41,840
Speaker 1: yet they don't know the mechanisms that go into Sunday

645
00:28:41,840 --> 00:28:44,960
Speaker 1: through Friday making it happen. I remember a couple of

646
00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:49,040
Speaker 1: years ago talking about Penn State, talking about in reference

647
00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:51,760
Speaker 1: to how Penn State and James Franklin measure up to

648
00:28:51,800 --> 00:28:54,000
Speaker 1: the Alabamas, to the Georgia to the Ohio States, And

649
00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:56,480
Speaker 1: at the time, I remember saying, well, do you know

650
00:28:56,840 --> 00:28:58,600
Speaker 1: that he has everything those folks have?

651
00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:02,160
Speaker 4: And it got a really interesting reaction.

652
00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:04,000
Speaker 1: From the Penn State fan base because a lot of

653
00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:06,280
Speaker 1: them said, you know, you may be right about that.

654
00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:08,400
Speaker 1: And now I sit here a couple of years later

655
00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:10,120
Speaker 1: and hear you say, we get yes, this is more

656
00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:13,040
Speaker 1: than we ever have before. I imagine there's a lot

657
00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:14,680
Speaker 1: of fighting that has to go on behind the scenes

658
00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:17,560
Speaker 1: to start to get the ball rolling as fast as

659
00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:20,760
Speaker 1: it needs to uphill the way those other major programs

660
00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:21,000
Speaker 1: have it.

661
00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:24,520
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think that's a critical point. And what I've

662
00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:28,280
Speaker 5: tried to say really since coming to Penn State is

663
00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:31,800
Speaker 5: if you can do a really good job with the

664
00:29:31,920 --> 00:29:36,320
Speaker 5: other three hundred and sixty four days of year, the

665
00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:41,560
Speaker 5: Saturdays should take care of themselves those days. But that's

666
00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:44,440
Speaker 5: easier said than done. And that's when I talk about

667
00:29:44,440 --> 00:29:48,760
Speaker 5: the alignment. It takes buy in. It's really hard to

668
00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:51,240
Speaker 5: get inside the top twenty five if you're not there.

669
00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:54,280
Speaker 5: It's really hard once you get inside the top twenty

670
00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:56,560
Speaker 5: five to get inside the top fifteen. Once you get

671
00:29:56,560 --> 00:29:58,080
Speaker 5: inside of the top fifteen, it's really hard to get

672
00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:01,400
Speaker 5: inside the top ten. But I would say that gap

673
00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:04,920
Speaker 5: between outside the top twenty five and in or even

674
00:30:04,960 --> 00:30:08,280
Speaker 5: from twenty five to fifteen, the gap from the top

675
00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:11,800
Speaker 5: ten to those top four I think is a wider

676
00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:16,040
Speaker 5: gap than any other area, probably one through thirty one.

677
00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:18,840
Speaker 3: And that's where.

678
00:30:18,600 --> 00:30:21,120
Speaker 5: When you can get those little wins, and you're fighting

679
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:26,280
Speaker 5: and scratching and clawing for that one more recruit or

680
00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:28,360
Speaker 5: you know, whatever it may be that's going to allow

681
00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:32,480
Speaker 5: you to be more efficient and more successful. It's challenging,

682
00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:34,479
Speaker 5: and we're doing a better job of that right now

683
00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:35,520
Speaker 5: across the campus.

684
00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,000
Speaker 1: I'm not asking you to ever make someone feel sorry

685
00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:40,560
Speaker 1: for yourself, not asking you to complain. I'm just asking

686
00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:43,520
Speaker 1: your point blank, how hard is the off the field

687
00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:45,960
Speaker 1: job of a college football coach At a place like

688
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,880
Speaker 1: Penn State major college football, you're expected to compete at

689
00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:51,840
Speaker 1: the national level. Do you feel like it's just always

690
00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:54,680
Speaker 1: been hard or their unique challenges today that make it

691
00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:56,840
Speaker 1: uniquely harder than it has been before.

692
00:30:56,920 --> 00:30:59,520
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it's very different, you know. I say

693
00:30:59,520 --> 00:31:02,880
Speaker 5: that people all the time. In today's college football, as

694
00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:07,400
Speaker 5: an assistant or as a coordinator, you know, you can

695
00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:12,000
Speaker 5: make a really good living and still stay true to

696
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:15,920
Speaker 5: what you loved about the game, and that's coaching ball,

697
00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:19,720
Speaker 5: and that's being with the players. And in this role,

698
00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:22,920
Speaker 5: you're doing so many things other than football.

699
00:31:22,960 --> 00:31:25,280
Speaker 3: At most places. There's a few places across.

700
00:31:25,000 --> 00:31:27,840
Speaker 5: The country where you don't have to be, but at

701
00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:31,720
Speaker 5: most places, the head coach responsibility, you're taking on so

702
00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:37,960
Speaker 5: many things other than scheme fundamentals and coaching. And I

703
00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:39,920
Speaker 5: tell people all the time, you could make an argument

704
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:44,440
Speaker 5: right now if you're Manny Diaz and you can just

705
00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:48,200
Speaker 5: be a great coordinator and coach ball and be around

706
00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:52,280
Speaker 5: the guys and leave all the drama to me, there's

707
00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:54,440
Speaker 5: a lot of value in that. And I think if

708
00:31:54,760 --> 00:31:57,120
Speaker 5: a lot of coaches, maybe in my seat now, if

709
00:31:57,440 --> 00:31:58,280
Speaker 5: they look back the.

710
00:31:58,240 --> 00:31:59,640
Speaker 3: Way things have changed.

711
00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:02,040
Speaker 5: You know, you're responsible for these kids twenty four hours

712
00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:03,800
Speaker 5: a day, and that didn't used to be the case.

713
00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:07,479
Speaker 5: I'm responsible for one hundred and twenty five eighteen to

714
00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:10,760
Speaker 5: twenty two year old males, the most unpredictable group of

715
00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:13,440
Speaker 5: people onto planet, and you're responsible for them twenty four

716
00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:16,960
Speaker 5: hours a day. And then again at a lot of places,

717
00:32:17,000 --> 00:32:20,840
Speaker 5: there's so many things that are outside of your control

718
00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:25,400
Speaker 5: that really can impact the job you're doing and how

719
00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:27,040
Speaker 5: you're able to compete on Saturdays.

720
00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:29,120
Speaker 3: That's where it could be frustrating at times.

721
00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:31,600
Speaker 1: I've always pictured if I was ever a head coach,

722
00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:34,720
Speaker 1: I would say a prayer before I went to bed,

723
00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:36,920
Speaker 1: and I would say another one when I woke up

724
00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:39,960
Speaker 1: in the morning, just hoping nothing happened overnight because of

725
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:41,920
Speaker 1: the stuff that sometimes is out of your control.

726
00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:44,800
Speaker 4: You can have the best culture in the world.

727
00:32:44,920 --> 00:32:45,760
Speaker 3: You guys have a.

728
00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:48,960
Speaker 1: Pretty darn good one here, but ultimately it's on decision making,

729
00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:51,840
Speaker 1: and it's on decision making of guys that you hope

730
00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:53,520
Speaker 1: you've put in the best position, but ultimately have to

731
00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:56,360
Speaker 1: put themselves in the best position. I mean, is there

732
00:32:56,360 --> 00:32:58,800
Speaker 1: ever just random nervousness when you wake up in the morning,

733
00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:00,840
Speaker 1: even though you may have confidence guys.

734
00:33:00,800 --> 00:33:01,520
Speaker 4: They're still human.

735
00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:04,520
Speaker 5: Yeah, And I'm looking at knocking root here and be

736
00:33:04,560 --> 00:33:07,400
Speaker 5: honest with you. You know, I will say this being

737
00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:10,960
Speaker 5: at a place like Penn State helps. Penn State attracts

738
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:14,200
Speaker 5: a certain type of kid from a certain type of family,

739
00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:15,120
Speaker 5: and I.

740
00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:15,880
Speaker 3: Think that helps.

741
00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:18,480
Speaker 5: On top of that, I tell the coaches all the time,

742
00:33:19,160 --> 00:33:22,640
Speaker 5: let's not get intoxicated by talent and talent alone.

743
00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:25,400
Speaker 3: You know, we should be recruiting the whole package here,

744
00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:26,040
Speaker 3: So that helps.

745
00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:28,000
Speaker 5: I mean, don't get me wrong, got one hundred and

746
00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:31,280
Speaker 5: twenty five guys on a roster. We got five knuckleheads,

747
00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:35,520
Speaker 5: but our knuckleheads are different than maybe what some other

748
00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:38,560
Speaker 5: people are dealing with. Not again, knock on wood, but

749
00:33:38,600 --> 00:33:40,560
Speaker 5: I'm proud of our guys of how they go about

750
00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:42,920
Speaker 5: their business in the classroom and in the community.

751
00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:44,560
Speaker 3: But it's constant.

752
00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:47,240
Speaker 5: I mean, you got to be talking about these things

753
00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:49,320
Speaker 5: constantly with your guys because at the end of the day,

754
00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:50,200
Speaker 5: they're still kids.

755
00:33:50,560 --> 00:33:52,880
Speaker 3: And I think that's where people get confused.

756
00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:56,520
Speaker 5: Sometimes they see them and they're six foot five, two

757
00:33:56,640 --> 00:33:59,960
Speaker 5: hundred and ninety five pounds. They look like grown men,

758
00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:02,560
Speaker 5: but they're still just young kids that are still growing

759
00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:03,200
Speaker 5: and developing.

760
00:34:03,480 --> 00:34:07,240
Speaker 1: Do you have time whatsoever to soak in the magnitude

761
00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:12,520
Speaker 1: of your job, how few the positions are at your level,

762
00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:15,040
Speaker 1: and the fact that you got one of the big ones.

763
00:34:15,800 --> 00:34:18,680
Speaker 5: Well, I think probably early on, you know, obviously, you

764
00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:21,359
Speaker 5: know when I left Vanderbilt and came to Penn State,

765
00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:23,120
Speaker 5: which was hard to do, to be honest with you,

766
00:34:25,280 --> 00:34:28,240
Speaker 5: the magnitude hit. I grew up just outside of Philadelphia.

767
00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:30,600
Speaker 5: All the buddies I went to college. I went to

768
00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:33,000
Speaker 5: a teacher's college here in the state of Pennsylvana's all

769
00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:36,040
Speaker 5: my buddies are high school coaches and teachers throughout the state.

770
00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:39,040
Speaker 5: So the magnitude hit because, to be honest with you,

771
00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:40,680
Speaker 5: I said it in the press conference when I got

772
00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:42,640
Speaker 5: the job, this was my dream job. But the reality

773
00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:46,200
Speaker 5: is I didn't think it was. I didn't think it

774
00:34:46,239 --> 00:34:49,160
Speaker 5: was necessarily attainable. I thought it would stay kind of

775
00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:53,160
Speaker 5: within the family, you know, someone that had coached at

776
00:34:53,160 --> 00:34:55,240
Speaker 5: Penn State, you know, or a part of that tree.

777
00:34:55,960 --> 00:34:58,880
Speaker 5: So I didn't think it was a realistic opportunity. And

778
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:01,600
Speaker 5: then when it happens being announced as the head coach,

779
00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:03,960
Speaker 5: and I got my daughters and at that time they're

780
00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,640
Speaker 5: little teeny things, and my wife and a bunch of

781
00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:09,640
Speaker 5: my buddies came up for the press conference, so I

782
00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:11,480
Speaker 5: think that moment it kind of hit me, and then

783
00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:13,759
Speaker 5: I think, you know, there's there's certain times. After the

784
00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:16,680
Speaker 5: Big Ten Championship in twenty sixteen, that was a moment

785
00:35:16,719 --> 00:35:20,200
Speaker 5: where you took a deep breath and took it all in.

786
00:35:20,280 --> 00:35:22,000
Speaker 5: And then that night at two o'clock in the morning,

787
00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:25,680
Speaker 5: I'm fighting to keep my offensive coordinator Joe mooreheaded, So

788
00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:27,880
Speaker 5: I mean literally two o'clock in the morning, you know.

789
00:35:28,239 --> 00:35:31,279
Speaker 5: So it changes quick, and yet those moments are kind

790
00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:35,560
Speaker 5: of fleeting, and the reality is just how competitive.

791
00:35:34,920 --> 00:35:35,719
Speaker 3: It is year round.

792
00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:40,200
Speaker 5: If you're spending too much time smelling the roses and

793
00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:42,439
Speaker 5: and kind of taking it all in, and then you're

794
00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:45,880
Speaker 5: not progressing to build that next season and the next team.

795
00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:48,920
Speaker 1: It's interesting you talk about how at one point for

796
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:50,759
Speaker 1: all of us, it seemed like that job the head

797
00:35:50,800 --> 00:35:53,640
Speaker 1: coach at Penn State would kind of stay in a circle,

798
00:35:54,160 --> 00:35:55,960
Speaker 1: and then all of a sudden, you're the head coach

799
00:35:55,960 --> 00:35:58,680
Speaker 1: at Penn State. Because in our world, in the media world,

800
00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:01,279
Speaker 1: for a long time, it felt that way, and then

801
00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:03,200
Speaker 1: all of a sudden you get digital streaming, and it

802
00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:05,920
Speaker 1: knocks like the Berlin walls of overhead and distribution. Now

803
00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:08,560
Speaker 1: so all of a sudden, now anyone theoretically has a

804
00:36:08,600 --> 00:36:11,200
Speaker 1: path in there. I'm interested because I feel this all

805
00:36:11,239 --> 00:36:15,480
Speaker 1: the time. When you do break down one of those walls,

806
00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:17,319
Speaker 1: or you end up being a guy that holds a

807
00:36:17,320 --> 00:36:20,720
Speaker 1: position maybe people didn't think someone like you would hold.

808
00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:26,440
Speaker 1: How either voluntary or involuntary, do you find yourself to

809
00:36:26,600 --> 00:36:29,879
Speaker 1: have inspired other people? How often do people tell you, hey,

810
00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:32,200
Speaker 1: the way you've done things, your path. You may not

811
00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:36,120
Speaker 1: know it, but it actually sparked me to do this

812
00:36:36,360 --> 00:36:37,120
Speaker 1: or go this route.

813
00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:37,759
Speaker 4: Do you ever hear that?

814
00:36:38,239 --> 00:36:38,799
Speaker 3: Yeah? I think so.

815
00:36:39,719 --> 00:36:43,120
Speaker 5: You know, whether it's you know, you know, a person

816
00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:45,680
Speaker 5: of color in this position, you know that factors in.

817
00:36:45,719 --> 00:36:48,120
Speaker 3: I think I hear that from a lot of young coaches.

818
00:36:49,320 --> 00:36:51,719
Speaker 5: You know, whether it's someone who's got you know, a

819
00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:54,359
Speaker 5: D two background like I do Division two. I mean,

820
00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:57,800
Speaker 5: you look at my resume. It's it's frightening for some people.

821
00:36:57,840 --> 00:36:59,520
Speaker 5: I know, it's scares with a bunch of the coaches

822
00:36:59,520 --> 00:37:01,560
Speaker 5: around the offense around the country when you see kuts

823
00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:05,719
Speaker 5: Town and East Strausburg and you know, and then you know,

824
00:37:05,760 --> 00:37:08,440
Speaker 5: obviously James Madison Washington State and didn't kind of work

825
00:37:08,440 --> 00:37:10,319
Speaker 5: on my way up the ladder at some really cool

826
00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:13,520
Speaker 5: places and for some really good people. But yeah, I

827
00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:15,759
Speaker 5: think it's I kind of have an unusual path and

828
00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:20,040
Speaker 5: an unusual story, So I'm proud of that. I'm proud

829
00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:22,120
Speaker 5: of my roots and kind of where I've come from.

830
00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:24,759
Speaker 5: I think it aligns a lot with Penn State because

831
00:37:24,800 --> 00:37:26,960
Speaker 5: I think this is kind of a blue collar program,

832
00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:30,200
Speaker 5: So I think that helps my values aligned with.

833
00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:32,960
Speaker 3: Penn State's value. So I think that's why it's made.

834
00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:35,360
Speaker 5: Sense for the last ten years, and just signed another

835
00:37:35,360 --> 00:37:38,279
Speaker 5: ten year contract, so I'm excited about that.

836
00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:40,880
Speaker 1: You were talking about trying to keep Joe moorehead at

837
00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:44,919
Speaker 1: two AM right after winning a Big ten championship. If

838
00:37:44,960 --> 00:37:47,560
Speaker 1: there could ever be a reality show on any one

839
00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:50,439
Speaker 1: behind the scenes aspect other than maybe recruiting, I think

840
00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:54,520
Speaker 1: just staff changes, staff hires. If the curtain could ever

841
00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:56,640
Speaker 1: just be peeled back and people could see that process,

842
00:37:57,600 --> 00:38:01,840
Speaker 1: how wild does that get relative to the perception people

843
00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:05,040
Speaker 1: have because people already think it's wild, but there's there's

844
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:08,520
Speaker 1: no rest. Things have to change spur the moment twenty

845
00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:10,600
Speaker 1: times on you. How wild is it when you're trying

846
00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:12,479
Speaker 1: to either keep a guy or you're going after a guy,

847
00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:14,680
Speaker 1: and it's it's a really competitive market.

848
00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:16,200
Speaker 3: I think it's really wild.

849
00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:19,399
Speaker 5: I think people like yourself, I think, kind of really

850
00:38:19,480 --> 00:38:21,920
Speaker 5: understand what's going on behind the scenes. I think most

851
00:38:22,040 --> 00:38:26,640
Speaker 5: people don't. You know, it's interesting. You know, as soon

852
00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:29,520
Speaker 5: as I see that a guy that has a current

853
00:38:29,640 --> 00:38:33,920
Speaker 5: job and the next job that's after him becomes public,

854
00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:38,960
Speaker 5: it's almost impossible for that guy to get the job

855
00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:40,400
Speaker 5: or take the job.

856
00:38:40,960 --> 00:38:43,440
Speaker 3: That happened this year. I kind of watch it closely with.

857
00:38:43,440 --> 00:38:46,080
Speaker 5: A coach and he kind of really had to come

858
00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:47,640
Speaker 5: out at some point it drug on.

859
00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:50,719
Speaker 3: His name kind of get kind of get mentioned, and.

860
00:38:50,640 --> 00:38:52,200
Speaker 5: It kind of drug on to the point where the

861
00:38:52,200 --> 00:38:54,120
Speaker 5: team finally is like, you know.

862
00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:56,000
Speaker 3: What, what's the deal are you? Are you in or

863
00:38:56,120 --> 00:38:56,360
Speaker 3: or not?

864
00:38:56,719 --> 00:38:59,400
Speaker 5: And and the fans get get tired of it, and

865
00:38:59,440 --> 00:39:00,960
Speaker 5: the media gets tired of it.

866
00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:03,840
Speaker 3: And the problem is is I think.

867
00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:05,799
Speaker 5: Most guys are good guys and they want to do

868
00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:06,719
Speaker 5: it the right way.

869
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:08,840
Speaker 3: But what people don't understand.

870
00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:14,279
Speaker 5: Is sometimes you're put in a very difficult position and

871
00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:16,520
Speaker 5: you want to be honest. But the other thing is

872
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:20,040
Speaker 5: sometimes something changes. You know, you felt like during the

873
00:39:20,080 --> 00:39:23,359
Speaker 5: negotiation you were going to get this. You didn't get it,

874
00:39:24,400 --> 00:39:26,960
Speaker 5: and now that changes the lens on how you're looking

875
00:39:27,200 --> 00:39:27,880
Speaker 5: at the job.

876
00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:29,560
Speaker 3: And you know, I try to be.

877
00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:31,840
Speaker 5: As transparent as I possibly can, you know, with the

878
00:39:31,880 --> 00:39:36,600
Speaker 5: guys here, because the other reality is sometimes that conversation

879
00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:39,879
Speaker 5: is going on to help the players and to help

880
00:39:39,960 --> 00:39:44,920
Speaker 5: the program, because maybe this place is resistant to doing

881
00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:47,520
Speaker 5: some things that they need to do to move the needle,

882
00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:49,600
Speaker 5: and sometimes this helps.

883
00:39:51,120 --> 00:39:53,600
Speaker 1: I mean, it's not been all that long ago that

884
00:39:53,719 --> 00:39:55,080
Speaker 1: the USC job's open.

885
00:39:55,320 --> 00:39:56,279
Speaker 4: Your name's out there.

886
00:39:56,440 --> 00:39:58,400
Speaker 1: Lincoln Riley ends up being the head coach, but I

887
00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:01,479
Speaker 1: remember at the time and to myself, I don't really

888
00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:03,400
Speaker 1: care how that turns out for him. It's going to

889
00:40:03,440 --> 00:40:06,120
Speaker 1: be good because you're either you're either going to go

890
00:40:06,160 --> 00:40:08,480
Speaker 1: somewhere where you wanted to go in that scenario, or

891
00:40:08,560 --> 00:40:11,920
Speaker 1: you're gonna get some checks in some boxes maybe that

892
00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:14,479
Speaker 1: you needed. And I don't know if players are aware

893
00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:16,680
Speaker 1: of that necessarily or it's not even in their lane,

894
00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:19,480
Speaker 1: but I just I remember watching that this last time

895
00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:22,799
Speaker 1: around with you from AFAR down in Nashville, just minding

896
00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:25,600
Speaker 1: my own business and thinking that's got to be going

897
00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:27,560
Speaker 1: on behind the scenes, and you pretty much say yeah,

898
00:40:27,600 --> 00:40:28,680
Speaker 1: it was going on behind the scenes.

899
00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:31,800
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think what happens to a lot of times,

900
00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:35,840
Speaker 5: and it obviously depends on the guy, you know. And

901
00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:38,359
Speaker 5: I know this is probably gonna sound weird coming from

902
00:40:38,360 --> 00:40:41,279
Speaker 5: where I'm sitting, but I think if you're trying to

903
00:40:41,280 --> 00:40:44,200
Speaker 5: be the highest paid coach in college football or your

904
00:40:44,239 --> 00:40:48,200
Speaker 5: own conference, of those types of things, and that's what

905
00:40:48,360 --> 00:40:51,319
Speaker 5: drives you, then yeah, that's gonna be one of the

906
00:40:51,360 --> 00:40:55,799
Speaker 5: boxes you check. But really, for me, it's always been

907
00:40:56,800 --> 00:41:03,480
Speaker 5: how can I put myself, family, my team, my coaches

908
00:41:04,560 --> 00:41:08,520
Speaker 5: in the best position to be successful. And I remember

909
00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:12,640
Speaker 5: being at Vanderbilt with David Williams, who was the athletic

910
00:41:12,680 --> 00:41:14,640
Speaker 5: director who I got a ton of respect for. David

911
00:41:14,719 --> 00:41:17,799
Speaker 5: was like a father in some ways professionally to me

912
00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:18,719
Speaker 5: and passed away.

913
00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:19,319
Speaker 3: A few years ago.

914
00:41:19,600 --> 00:41:22,360
Speaker 5: But I remember like working with David and he was

915
00:41:22,480 --> 00:41:26,280
Speaker 5: happy that this was happening because things that he knew

916
00:41:26,320 --> 00:41:28,720
Speaker 5: we needed. It allowed him to go to the board

917
00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:32,160
Speaker 5: and have conversations, so it was kind of like we

918
00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:33,560
Speaker 5: were working together with it.

919
00:41:33,640 --> 00:41:35,960
Speaker 3: And I think, you know, it's.

920
00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:37,640
Speaker 5: A compliment, right, I think it's a compliment to the

921
00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:40,560
Speaker 5: current coach. It's a compliment to the program. Obviously, the

922
00:41:40,600 --> 00:41:44,839
Speaker 5: program is healthy and thriving, so you know, hopefully you're

923
00:41:44,880 --> 00:41:47,200
Speaker 5: in a position where you can have honest conversations with

924
00:41:47,239 --> 00:41:50,400
Speaker 5: people and dialogue. But I do think door in a season,

925
00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:54,319
Speaker 5: more times than not, guys are focused on the job. Now,

926
00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:57,680
Speaker 5: maybe their representatives are having conversations, but you are focused

927
00:41:57,719 --> 00:41:59,239
Speaker 5: on the job, and I think more times than that.

928
00:41:59,239 --> 00:42:00,280
Speaker 3: That's an honest answer.

929
00:42:01,160 --> 00:42:03,239
Speaker 4: I could talk to you all day about this because

930
00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:04,160
Speaker 4: I got fascination about it.

931
00:42:04,239 --> 00:42:05,160
Speaker 2: One more question about that.

932
00:42:05,280 --> 00:42:09,160
Speaker 1: So the inner workings, especially during the season, you're completely

933
00:42:09,239 --> 00:42:11,440
Speaker 1: locked in on the task at hand, but yet there

934
00:42:11,480 --> 00:42:14,200
Speaker 1: is that outside world, which is why you have a representative.

935
00:42:14,239 --> 00:42:15,600
Speaker 1: Ninety nine percent of the time, at least you have

936
00:42:15,640 --> 00:42:19,640
Speaker 1: a representative. How often are How often are you and

937
00:42:19,719 --> 00:42:22,080
Speaker 1: maybe an average coach in contact.

938
00:42:21,880 --> 00:42:24,680
Speaker 4: With your representative during the season. Isn't a weekly thing?

939
00:42:24,719 --> 00:42:25,600
Speaker 3: Is it a daily thing?

940
00:42:25,800 --> 00:42:29,480
Speaker 1: Because I don't think hardly anyone in our audience would

941
00:42:29,480 --> 00:42:30,800
Speaker 1: have insight into that world.

942
00:42:30,920 --> 00:42:32,040
Speaker 3: Yeah. I think it's like.

943
00:42:32,040 --> 00:42:35,839
Speaker 5: Anything else, right, I think every situation is different, and

944
00:42:35,920 --> 00:42:39,200
Speaker 5: I think you know, some coaches and ads have had

945
00:42:39,320 --> 00:42:44,520
Speaker 5: enough excuse me, and agents have had conversations in the offseason. Hey,

946
00:42:45,200 --> 00:42:48,839
Speaker 5: I do not want. I do not want to have

947
00:42:48,920 --> 00:42:52,960
Speaker 5: these conversations. You manage it, and if it's something where

948
00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:54,840
Speaker 5: you can't manage it any long and you've got to

949
00:42:54,880 --> 00:42:58,040
Speaker 5: come to me about something, then we'll do it. But

950
00:42:58,480 --> 00:43:02,520
Speaker 5: I think more times than not, literally door in the season,

951
00:43:02,600 --> 00:43:04,200
Speaker 5: you're letting somebody handle that.

952
00:43:04,239 --> 00:43:04,359
Speaker 3: Now.

953
00:43:04,440 --> 00:43:07,479
Speaker 5: I think when you get into that bowl season and

954
00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:10,040
Speaker 5: it's getting later in the year and the decisions have

955
00:43:10,160 --> 00:43:14,680
Speaker 5: to be made, then I think maybe a conversation at

956
00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:17,920
Speaker 5: least has had But I think more than not, like

957
00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:20,960
Speaker 5: for myself, I want to be laser focused on the

958
00:43:20,960 --> 00:43:24,040
Speaker 5: season and I want somebody else handleing those conversations, and

959
00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:28,360
Speaker 5: hopefully those conversations are happening not only with the schools

960
00:43:28,360 --> 00:43:31,440
Speaker 5: that are calling about you, but with the current administration

961
00:43:31,600 --> 00:43:32,440
Speaker 5: from where you're.

962
00:43:32,320 --> 00:43:35,320
Speaker 3: At again, if it's a healthy situation.

963
00:43:35,719 --> 00:43:37,319
Speaker 4: There's a really interesting thing.

964
00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:40,040
Speaker 1: Anytime I bring up Penn State on the show, it's

965
00:43:40,120 --> 00:43:43,399
Speaker 1: understood the program's in a really good spot. But there's

966
00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:46,000
Speaker 1: also this what I call a Saban warp that has

967
00:43:46,000 --> 00:43:47,680
Speaker 1: been on the sport for about a decade and a

968
00:43:47,680 --> 00:43:51,879
Speaker 1: half now, to where the perception of success has been

969
00:43:51,920 --> 00:43:54,320
Speaker 1: totally skewed by a program.

970
00:43:53,920 --> 00:43:56,600
Speaker 4: Win in half a dozen national championships, which is unrealistic

971
00:43:56,680 --> 00:43:58,160
Speaker 4: compared to any other point in history.

972
00:43:58,880 --> 00:44:02,520
Speaker 1: And I'm very if you've felt that, like inside the

973
00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:05,000
Speaker 1: business of four eleven wins seasons, a.

974
00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:06,839
Speaker 4: Big Ten championship, Rose Bowl last year.

975
00:44:07,480 --> 00:44:10,360
Speaker 1: In another era, maybe just in the early two thousands,

976
00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:12,920
Speaker 1: that would be looked at as the pinnacle of Penn

977
00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:17,000
Speaker 1: State football. And internally it may be looked at that way,

978
00:44:17,080 --> 00:44:19,560
Speaker 1: but nationally people look at say, well, yeah, but you.

979
00:44:19,520 --> 00:44:20,120
Speaker 4: Haven't done this.

980
00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:22,279
Speaker 1: Do you you ever feel that you ever feel like

981
00:44:22,320 --> 00:44:25,960
Speaker 1: the area you're competing in has been totally warped in

982
00:44:26,040 --> 00:44:26,720
Speaker 1: terms of perception.

983
00:44:27,440 --> 00:44:29,960
Speaker 5: Yeah, And I think the point you brought up is

984
00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:30,439
Speaker 5: a good one.

985
00:44:30,520 --> 00:44:31,960
Speaker 3: I think that's.

986
00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:35,600
Speaker 5: Part of kind of the BCS when that started, and

987
00:44:35,640 --> 00:44:39,239
Speaker 5: now obviously the new system we're in. But you know,

988
00:44:39,320 --> 00:44:41,799
Speaker 5: I think that's been kind of the challenge, right. I mean,

989
00:44:41,840 --> 00:44:46,200
Speaker 5: you're talking about New Year's Bowl games, which used to

990
00:44:46,239 --> 00:44:48,800
Speaker 5: be used to be kind of what everybody worried about,

991
00:44:48,840 --> 00:44:52,600
Speaker 5: and now it's kind of the playoffs or bus especially

992
00:44:52,719 --> 00:44:55,920
Speaker 5: if you're at a place that people would consider a

993
00:44:55,920 --> 00:45:00,359
Speaker 5: top fifteen job of blue blood, then I do think

994
00:45:00,080 --> 00:45:02,719
Speaker 5: that's kind of the nature of it. That's kind of

995
00:45:02,760 --> 00:45:05,319
Speaker 5: the nature of college football now. If you're at this

996
00:45:05,440 --> 00:45:10,840
Speaker 5: type of program, it's competing for a national championship or nothing.

997
00:45:11,200 --> 00:45:15,000
Speaker 5: And I think that is I think that is really challenging,

998
00:45:16,200 --> 00:45:19,120
Speaker 5: you know. To me, It's also interesting when you think

999
00:45:19,120 --> 00:45:22,040
Speaker 5: about when we got this job and what the job

1000
00:45:22,200 --> 00:45:24,480
Speaker 5: was like and where the program was at at the time,

1001
00:45:24,520 --> 00:45:27,320
Speaker 5: coming in at a very challenging time in Penn State's history,

1002
00:45:27,920 --> 00:45:30,840
Speaker 5: there was talk that the program wouldn't be back until now,

1003
00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:33,400
Speaker 5: you know, people are saying it won't be back for

1004
00:45:33,520 --> 00:45:34,160
Speaker 5: ten years.

1005
00:45:35,680 --> 00:45:37,839
Speaker 3: So I am proud of that.

1006
00:45:39,080 --> 00:45:41,920
Speaker 5: But I do have really high expectations and standards, so

1007
00:45:42,000 --> 00:45:46,279
Speaker 5: I embrace kind of, you know, those discussions and those

1008
00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:50,160
Speaker 5: thoughts that people are talking about, you know, nationally, but really,

1009
00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:52,560
Speaker 5: to be honest with you regionally and specifically to the

1010
00:45:52,600 --> 00:45:57,440
Speaker 5: Penn State people, I understand clearly what the expectations and

1011
00:45:57,480 --> 00:45:59,239
Speaker 5: the standards are here. But I think your point is

1012
00:45:59,800 --> 00:46:01,800
Speaker 5: a good one and is a valid one. It's changed

1013
00:46:01,840 --> 00:46:03,720
Speaker 5: college football dramatically.

1014
00:46:05,239 --> 00:46:07,600
Speaker 1: We're in what, for lack of a better term, is

1015
00:46:07,640 --> 00:46:11,080
Speaker 1: just considered the nil era transfer portal era. It's a

1016
00:46:11,120 --> 00:46:14,440
Speaker 1: fight that a lot of programs are having internally. Some

1017
00:46:14,600 --> 00:46:18,520
Speaker 1: are haves some or have not. Some are halves that

1018
00:46:18,760 --> 00:46:22,840
Speaker 1: need to exhibit a little bit more. What's the challenge

1019
00:46:22,880 --> 00:46:29,080
Speaker 1: been to maintain roster integrity while also scanning the landscape

1020
00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:32,760
Speaker 1: and seeing if there's a Penn State caliber player out there.

1021
00:46:32,920 --> 00:46:35,440
Speaker 1: It's just it's three hundred and sixty five days a year,

1022
00:46:35,480 --> 00:46:40,280
Speaker 1: which recruiting always was, but now the process of talent

1023
00:46:40,360 --> 00:46:44,520
Speaker 1: acquisition has morphed so much. You probably have people employed

1024
00:46:44,560 --> 00:46:47,520
Speaker 1: in this building in roles that may not have existed

1025
00:46:47,560 --> 00:46:48,759
Speaker 1: even five years ago, do you not.

1026
00:46:49,000 --> 00:46:54,120
Speaker 5: Yeah, that's definitely fair. You know, it's interesting. I'll kind

1027
00:46:54,160 --> 00:47:00,480
Speaker 5: of lead with this. The first thing I think is interesting, fact, fascinating,

1028
00:47:00,560 --> 00:47:05,800
Speaker 5: frustrating is the people that have always been giving money.

1029
00:47:05,880 --> 00:47:08,919
Speaker 5: They were way ahead because all they did was take

1030
00:47:09,239 --> 00:47:13,360
Speaker 5: a you know, a way that was viewed as illegal

1031
00:47:13,680 --> 00:47:16,840
Speaker 5: under the old NCAA rules. And they just said, look,

1032
00:47:17,360 --> 00:47:20,719
Speaker 5: you have a culture of giving already, and we're just

1033
00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:22,160
Speaker 5: going to transfer it now.

1034
00:47:22,520 --> 00:47:24,680
Speaker 4: Culture of giving is really kind It's a really time

1035
00:47:24,760 --> 00:47:25,600
Speaker 4: vot put on it.

1036
00:47:25,640 --> 00:47:29,560
Speaker 5: But my point is is, literally, these people are used

1037
00:47:29,560 --> 00:47:31,759
Speaker 5: to giving to the players, Well you're going to do it,

1038
00:47:31,840 --> 00:47:33,080
Speaker 5: and now you're just going to do it this way.

1039
00:47:33,120 --> 00:47:35,160
Speaker 3: So those programs were way ahead.

1040
00:47:36,880 --> 00:47:42,360
Speaker 5: I would also say programs like Penn State historical programs,

1041
00:47:43,719 --> 00:47:46,959
Speaker 5: I think a lot of them have struggled that You've

1042
00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:50,960
Speaker 5: spent so much time educating your fan base and your

1043
00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:54,040
Speaker 5: donors on what you can do and can't do. That

1044
00:47:54,080 --> 00:47:57,239
Speaker 5: it's it's it's hard, and I think most people start off,

1045
00:47:57,239 --> 00:47:59,359
Speaker 5: including myself, being uncomfortable with it.

1046
00:47:59,840 --> 00:48:02,399
Speaker 3: And then you have to change. And it's no.

1047
00:48:02,400 --> 00:48:05,799
Speaker 5: Different than any other industry. Right the rules change, you

1048
00:48:05,880 --> 00:48:08,560
Speaker 5: better change with them. You better embrace the new change.

1049
00:48:08,600 --> 00:48:13,240
Speaker 5: You better be bold and aggressive, or you're no longer

1050
00:48:13,320 --> 00:48:15,680
Speaker 5: going to be competitive and you're no longer going to exist.

1051
00:48:15,719 --> 00:48:18,520
Speaker 3: And that's any industry.

1052
00:48:18,640 --> 00:48:21,240
Speaker 1: I assume you talked to several coaches behind the scenes,

1053
00:48:21,239 --> 00:48:23,360
Speaker 1: you got a network of friends, just like I would

1054
00:48:23,360 --> 00:48:26,760
Speaker 1: in the media world. Forget about name and names obviously,

1055
00:48:26,880 --> 00:48:30,759
Speaker 1: but off the record, when this thing first became what

1056
00:48:30,840 --> 00:48:33,839
Speaker 1: it is now, it seems like it sort of was

1057
00:48:34,120 --> 00:48:37,319
Speaker 1: ham fistedly. Me mo term ham fistedly just thrown down

1058
00:48:37,360 --> 00:48:40,880
Speaker 1: the pike and you guys were told figure out what

1059
00:48:40,880 --> 00:48:42,080
Speaker 1: were those conversations like.

1060
00:48:42,960 --> 00:48:45,080
Speaker 5: Well, one of the things that probably frustrates me is

1061
00:48:45,120 --> 00:48:50,319
Speaker 5: people say, well, this has had unforeseen consequences we didn't know. Yeah,

1062
00:48:50,480 --> 00:48:54,640
Speaker 5: everybody within the business knew exactly where this was going.

1063
00:48:55,080 --> 00:48:58,520
Speaker 5: I think at the end of the day the NCAA

1064
00:48:58,680 --> 00:49:00,680
Speaker 5: was getting sued and redirection.

1065
00:49:01,360 --> 00:49:06,400
Speaker 3: They knew this was coming. That's really what we're going through. Now.

1066
00:49:06,719 --> 00:49:09,200
Speaker 5: We've kind of dug into the rule book the NCAA

1067
00:49:09,400 --> 00:49:12,399
Speaker 5: has and says, Okay, what are the rules that were

1068
00:49:12,480 --> 00:49:16,399
Speaker 5: most at risks for getting sued on, and let's try

1069
00:49:16,400 --> 00:49:18,279
Speaker 5: to get rid of those rules. And the rules that,

1070
00:49:18,400 --> 00:49:21,719
Speaker 5: let's be honest, are not enforceable anyway. They're in the

1071
00:49:21,800 --> 00:49:24,960
Speaker 5: rule book, but nobody can really enforce them. So I

1072
00:49:24,960 --> 00:49:29,240
Speaker 5: think that's what you see happening. I think at first

1073
00:49:29,280 --> 00:49:34,240
Speaker 5: there was frustration within the coaches. I think they're still

1074
00:49:34,280 --> 00:49:38,279
Speaker 5: to this day a fear and a reality of a

1075
00:49:38,320 --> 00:49:41,799
Speaker 5: lot of really good coaches in college football that are

1076
00:49:41,880 --> 00:49:43,280
Speaker 5: leaving to go to the NFL.

1077
00:49:44,280 --> 00:49:46,160
Speaker 3: I think that that is a real thing.

1078
00:49:48,560 --> 00:49:51,280
Speaker 5: And I also think there's a there's a sense now

1079
00:49:51,320 --> 00:49:56,480
Speaker 5: with coaches and athletic directors that we all recognize that

1080
00:49:56,680 --> 00:50:01,160
Speaker 5: some form of collective bargaining agreement or something is inevitable

1081
00:50:01,440 --> 00:50:03,360
Speaker 5: for the sport, that the players are.

1082
00:50:03,239 --> 00:50:05,960
Speaker 3: Gonna get paid. And I think now.

1083
00:50:06,680 --> 00:50:10,840
Speaker 5: People would rather that happen than what we're living in

1084
00:50:10,920 --> 00:50:14,279
Speaker 5: right now because there's no guard rails. There's no guardrails

1085
00:50:14,320 --> 00:50:17,800
Speaker 5: for the recruits, there's no guard rails for the coaches

1086
00:50:17,840 --> 00:50:18,799
Speaker 5: and the administration.

1087
00:50:20,000 --> 00:50:24,600
Speaker 3: Everything's verbal deals, and I don't.

1088
00:50:24,360 --> 00:50:26,520
Speaker 5: Think it's in the game's best interest, and I don't

1089
00:50:26,520 --> 00:50:28,400
Speaker 5: think it's in the student athletes best interest.

1090
00:50:28,520 --> 00:50:30,760
Speaker 3: And again I'm on the side that I think.

1091
00:50:30,600 --> 00:50:32,560
Speaker 5: The players should be getting paid, so I don't want

1092
00:50:32,600 --> 00:50:35,800
Speaker 5: to be misinterpreted what I'm saying. I just think there's

1093
00:50:35,840 --> 00:50:38,880
Speaker 5: got to be some type of guard rails to protect

1094
00:50:38,920 --> 00:50:39,760
Speaker 5: the student athletes.

1095
00:50:39,920 --> 00:50:43,560
Speaker 3: You saw examples of guys signing with a school.

1096
00:50:43,320 --> 00:50:45,120
Speaker 5: Or committed to a school because they thought they were

1097
00:50:45,120 --> 00:50:48,200
Speaker 5: gonna get X, and the conversations that I've had is

1098
00:50:48,320 --> 00:50:50,640
Speaker 5: a lot of times those things aren't panning out the

1099
00:50:50,680 --> 00:50:51,680
Speaker 5: way they thought they would.

1100
00:50:51,760 --> 00:50:54,320
Speaker 1: Well, I had a big fear when this first started

1101
00:50:54,320 --> 00:50:56,799
Speaker 1: out of the term wild West that gets thrown around

1102
00:50:56,800 --> 00:50:59,560
Speaker 1: a lot, which is which is apropos frankly with the

1103
00:50:59,560 --> 00:51:02,400
Speaker 1: way that the started out. But the more people you

1104
00:51:02,480 --> 00:51:07,040
Speaker 1: talk to on the business side of NIL, and especially

1105
00:51:07,080 --> 00:51:09,440
Speaker 1: at the administrative level, the folks who have started to

1106
00:51:09,440 --> 00:51:12,440
Speaker 1: get their act together. The more I've talked to them, thankfully,

1107
00:51:12,880 --> 00:51:15,719
Speaker 1: I've gained a little confidence over probably the past six

1108
00:51:15,800 --> 00:51:20,640
Speaker 1: months that the direction you're talking about going the collective

1109
00:51:20,840 --> 00:51:26,400
Speaker 1: bargaining possible dirty word here, employment status, future of players.

1110
00:51:26,080 --> 00:51:29,640
Speaker 1: It's a terrifying concept for a lot of people you

1111
00:51:29,680 --> 00:51:33,440
Speaker 1: just mentioned, though the alternative is probably more terrifying.

1112
00:51:33,560 --> 00:51:38,400
Speaker 4: And my mind is now we're probably gaining towards an

1113
00:51:38,440 --> 00:51:39,759
Speaker 4: eventual cruising altitude.

1114
00:51:39,880 --> 00:51:44,439
Speaker 1: While it's radically different, the net result of it may

1115
00:51:44,480 --> 00:51:46,839
Speaker 1: not be all that dissimilar than what we had ten

1116
00:51:46,920 --> 00:51:50,000
Speaker 1: years ago. The tear structure may be strikingly similar. It's

1117
00:51:50,080 --> 00:51:53,560
Speaker 1: just the net result as the players have deeper pockets

1118
00:51:53,600 --> 00:51:54,240
Speaker 1: in the process.

1119
00:51:54,360 --> 00:51:56,879
Speaker 5: Yeah, and it was a bill in California. I think

1120
00:51:56,880 --> 00:51:59,640
Speaker 5: it was like thirty percent of the revenue and things

1121
00:51:59,680 --> 00:52:02,880
Speaker 5: like that. I think that's what's going to happen. And

1122
00:52:02,920 --> 00:52:05,280
Speaker 5: I think, to be honest with you, most people, whether

1123
00:52:05,320 --> 00:52:09,680
Speaker 5: it's commissioners, ads, head coaches, I think would embrace that

1124
00:52:09,920 --> 00:52:12,319
Speaker 5: and be comfortable whether at least everybody kind of knows

1125
00:52:12,360 --> 00:52:13,399
Speaker 5: what you're dealing with.

1126
00:52:14,640 --> 00:52:19,240
Speaker 1: You've got, by pretty much every preview magazine culture estimation,

1127
00:52:19,520 --> 00:52:21,960
Speaker 1: a really good team that you're about to feel here, you've.

1128
00:52:21,800 --> 00:52:22,840
Speaker 3: Got a really good group of players.

1129
00:52:22,840 --> 00:52:24,359
Speaker 4: I don't know if you would call it a team yet,

1130
00:52:24,440 --> 00:52:24,919
Speaker 4: that's what.

1131
00:52:24,800 --> 00:52:26,760
Speaker 1: You're building right now in the middle of the spring practice,

1132
00:52:26,760 --> 00:52:28,720
Speaker 1: summer conditionings coming up, and you'll.

1133
00:52:28,560 --> 00:52:29,360
Speaker 4: Have fall camp.

1134
00:52:30,560 --> 00:52:33,120
Speaker 1: I know that you guys had a really, really high

1135
00:52:33,200 --> 00:52:35,799
Speaker 1: level class come in last cycle. You were in the

1136
00:52:35,800 --> 00:52:38,520
Speaker 1: process of putting together one right now. But I'm really

1137
00:52:38,520 --> 00:52:41,360
Speaker 1: interested when you talk about the amount of captains that

1138
00:52:41,440 --> 00:52:44,319
Speaker 1: walked out the door and finding the guys that are

1139
00:52:44,320 --> 00:52:47,120
Speaker 1: going to have that see on their chest in this unit.

1140
00:52:47,160 --> 00:52:49,560
Speaker 1: In the twenty twenty three version of Penn State, it

1141
00:52:49,560 --> 00:52:51,680
Speaker 1: doesn't really matter how many stars were next to anyone's name.

1142
00:52:51,960 --> 00:52:55,280
Speaker 1: That's the sort of adhesive and gail between the blocks

1143
00:52:55,320 --> 00:52:57,239
Speaker 1: that end up determining whether you're going nine to three

1144
00:52:57,320 --> 00:53:02,040
Speaker 1: or playing meaningful post New Year's Day football. What actually

1145
00:53:02,080 --> 00:53:04,360
Speaker 1: goes into that, cause there's there's a part of it

1146
00:53:04,400 --> 00:53:06,319
Speaker 1: a coach doesn't even control, is they're not that's going

1147
00:53:06,360 --> 00:53:07,359
Speaker 1: to happen in the locker room.

1148
00:53:07,480 --> 00:53:09,120
Speaker 3: Yeah, So that.

1149
00:53:08,920 --> 00:53:11,000
Speaker 5: That's probably our biggest challenge, And we spent a lot

1150
00:53:11,000 --> 00:53:14,640
Speaker 5: of time this offseason talking amongst the coaches about this,

1151
00:53:14,840 --> 00:53:20,560
Speaker 5: but also the players from a leadership standpoint. Last year,

1152
00:53:20,600 --> 00:53:23,320
Speaker 5: the leadership was as good as I've we've ever had.

1153
00:53:24,680 --> 00:53:28,400
Speaker 5: Part of that was fifth year guys that were returning captains,

1154
00:53:29,120 --> 00:53:32,200
Speaker 5: some of those who were six year COVID guys. With

1155
00:53:32,280 --> 00:53:34,799
Speaker 5: Sean Clifford, it was his twelfth year at Penn State,

1156
00:53:34,840 --> 00:53:38,360
Speaker 5: it felt like, So what I tried to explain to

1157
00:53:38,400 --> 00:53:40,560
Speaker 5: the coaches and tried to explain to the players is

1158
00:53:42,200 --> 00:53:45,680
Speaker 5: in our minds trying to replicate the leadership we had

1159
00:53:45,760 --> 00:53:46,319
Speaker 5: last year.

1160
00:53:46,440 --> 00:53:47,680
Speaker 3: It's not going to look like that.

1161
00:53:47,760 --> 00:53:50,479
Speaker 5: It's gonna look different, it's gonna sound different, it's gonna

1162
00:53:50,480 --> 00:53:54,960
Speaker 5: feel different. That doesn't mean our leadership can't be just

1163
00:53:55,040 --> 00:53:58,960
Speaker 5: as strong or stronger this year, but it's gonna be different.

1164
00:53:59,160 --> 00:54:01,680
Speaker 3: You're not gonna have a Giir.

1165
00:54:01,360 --> 00:54:05,080
Speaker 5: Brown Tig who was one of the more natural leaders

1166
00:54:05,160 --> 00:54:08,520
Speaker 5: that I've ever been around, or a PJ. Mustifer or

1167
00:54:08,600 --> 00:54:10,799
Speaker 5: Sean Clifford, you know. So it's gonna look different, and

1168
00:54:10,880 --> 00:54:13,879
Speaker 5: more people are probably gonna have to take responsibility for

1169
00:54:13,920 --> 00:54:17,280
Speaker 5: that and spread it out. But that's probably our biggest challenge.

1170
00:54:17,520 --> 00:54:19,600
Speaker 5: We were an older team last year. We're gonna be

1171
00:54:19,680 --> 00:54:22,680
Speaker 5: young and talented this year, and we're gonna need some

1172
00:54:22,760 --> 00:54:25,680
Speaker 5: of these guys to step up at maybe an earlier

1173
00:54:26,200 --> 00:54:27,080
Speaker 5: stage of their career.

1174
00:54:27,120 --> 00:54:28,279
Speaker 4: I'm gonna get you out of here on this.

1175
00:54:28,360 --> 00:54:31,480
Speaker 1: I always love to ask coaches this, What is something

1176
00:54:31,600 --> 00:54:34,920
Speaker 1: that you look back on in your first year as

1177
00:54:34,920 --> 00:54:37,560
Speaker 1: a head coach that you just can't believe? You say,

1178
00:54:37,680 --> 00:54:40,000
Speaker 1: I was so totally wrong on this. I have so

1179
00:54:40,239 --> 00:54:44,120
Speaker 1: evolved on this one theme. There's one particular philosophy. Is

1180
00:54:44,120 --> 00:54:45,759
Speaker 1: there anything that immediately comes to mind?

1181
00:54:47,200 --> 00:54:49,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a that's a great question.

1182
00:54:52,040 --> 00:54:55,400
Speaker 5: I don't know if there's something that jumps out specifically

1183
00:54:55,480 --> 00:54:57,640
Speaker 5: like that. Like right away, my mind goes back to

1184
00:54:58,160 --> 00:55:00,879
Speaker 5: Vanderbilt and I remember I remember.

1185
00:55:00,600 --> 00:55:02,040
Speaker 3: Kind of sitting in that building.

1186
00:55:02,080 --> 00:55:04,239
Speaker 5: It's like, you got all these plans as a head

1187
00:55:04,239 --> 00:55:06,400
Speaker 5: coach of what you're going to do, and then you

1188
00:55:06,560 --> 00:55:09,719
Speaker 5: get there and you're sitting in the building by yourself

1189
00:55:09,760 --> 00:55:12,279
Speaker 5: and you're trying to talk to you know, you're trying

1190
00:55:12,280 --> 00:55:14,400
Speaker 5: to talk to the current staff of who you're going

1191
00:55:14,480 --> 00:55:18,040
Speaker 5: to retain. I remember calling Brent Pry and you know,

1192
00:55:18,360 --> 00:55:22,040
Speaker 5: he wanted like a farewell tour to say bye to everybody.

1193
00:55:21,680 --> 00:55:23,080
Speaker 3: And he's like, when do you need me there?

1194
00:55:23,080 --> 00:55:26,120
Speaker 5: I'm like, I need you here tomorrow, Like tomorrow, and

1195
00:55:26,160 --> 00:55:28,400
Speaker 5: he's like, well, I can't be there tomorrow. And I

1196
00:55:28,560 --> 00:55:31,960
Speaker 5: was like, well, I need you here tomorrow, and he goes, hey,

1197
00:55:32,000 --> 00:55:33,560
Speaker 5: you know, by the way, what am I going to make?

1198
00:55:33,600 --> 00:55:34,799
Speaker 5: And then I told him what he's going to make

1199
00:55:34,800 --> 00:55:35,560
Speaker 5: and he goes, I'll.

1200
00:55:35,440 --> 00:55:36,400
Speaker 2: Be there tomorrow.

1201
00:55:37,800 --> 00:55:37,960
Speaker 3: You know.

1202
00:55:38,000 --> 00:55:40,160
Speaker 5: But I just think about you know, I think one

1203
00:55:40,160 --> 00:55:43,319
Speaker 5: of the better things that I did taking the Vanderbilt job,

1204
00:55:43,360 --> 00:55:45,440
Speaker 5: and maybe the Vanderbilt job allowed me to do this,

1205
00:55:45,800 --> 00:55:49,359
Speaker 5: is I hired a bunch of people that wanted to

1206
00:55:49,360 --> 00:55:52,479
Speaker 5: be at Vanderbilt and wanted to be with me rather

1207
00:55:52,560 --> 00:55:55,560
Speaker 5: than going out and making the sexy higher And I

1208
00:55:55,600 --> 00:55:57,799
Speaker 5: think that's one of the most valuable things I did.

1209
00:55:57,800 --> 00:55:59,759
Speaker 5: It was a core group of guys that were there

1210
00:55:59,800 --> 00:56:01,600
Speaker 5: with me, that wanted to be there with me, that

1211
00:56:01,680 --> 00:56:03,680
Speaker 5: weren't already looking for the next job. It wasn't a

1212
00:56:03,680 --> 00:56:06,719
Speaker 5: stepping stone job, and that core group of guys we

1213
00:56:06,800 --> 00:56:07,719
Speaker 5: stayed together.

1214
00:56:07,440 --> 00:56:09,359
Speaker 3: For a long time. I've kind of lost a few,

1215
00:56:09,880 --> 00:56:11,040
Speaker 3: you know, every year over the.

1216
00:56:11,000 --> 00:56:15,040
Speaker 5: Last ten years, but that's probably one of the better

1217
00:56:15,160 --> 00:56:19,040
Speaker 5: things that I did. But the thing the things that

1218
00:56:19,160 --> 00:56:21,799
Speaker 5: kind of jump out in terms I was totally wrong on,

1219
00:56:24,000 --> 00:56:27,040
Speaker 5: I'm not sure I just that doesn't kind of jump out.

1220
00:56:26,880 --> 00:56:28,040
Speaker 3: In my mind a good thing.

1221
00:56:28,480 --> 00:56:31,520
Speaker 5: Well, well, no, because there's probably a ton of small

1222
00:56:31,600 --> 00:56:34,239
Speaker 5: things that that I know I've learned and evolved from

1223
00:56:34,320 --> 00:56:35,480
Speaker 5: over the years, but I don't know if there was

1224
00:56:35,520 --> 00:56:39,919
Speaker 5: that one dramatic thing that was that was that jumps out.

1225
00:56:40,440 --> 00:56:42,759
Speaker 3: Well, look, this is a really good looking jacket. First off,

1226
00:56:42,920 --> 00:56:43,640
Speaker 3: I think you may.

1227
00:56:43,560 --> 00:56:45,279
Speaker 1: Be well on your way to get another good looking one,

1228
00:56:45,280 --> 00:56:47,880
Speaker 1: maybe with a different logo on it this year. James Franklin,

1229
00:56:47,920 --> 00:56:49,960
Speaker 1: head coach Penn State, we appreciate you joining us.

1230
00:56:49,960 --> 00:56:50,600
Speaker 3: Thank you so much.

1231
00:56:53,520 --> 00:56:56,720
Speaker 1: I well, first off, I need to mute my laptop.

1232
00:56:57,000 --> 00:57:01,680
Speaker 1: I cannot speak highly enough of the willingness to give

1233
00:57:01,760 --> 00:57:04,440
Speaker 1: access that really James Franklin and his.

1234
00:57:04,440 --> 00:57:07,120
Speaker 2: Entire program have had to us over the past two days.

1235
00:57:07,800 --> 00:57:11,839
Speaker 1: It is always really really appreciated on our end when

1236
00:57:11,880 --> 00:57:15,239
Speaker 1: programs do that. We have programs reach out. Sometimes we

1237
00:57:15,280 --> 00:57:18,160
Speaker 1: can't get to everyone. I'm gonna hit up several between

1238
00:57:18,200 --> 00:57:20,120
Speaker 1: now and the time the fall season kicks off, and

1239
00:57:20,120 --> 00:57:23,480
Speaker 1: you'll see that in due time. But the willingness to

1240
00:57:23,600 --> 00:57:26,560
Speaker 1: be open and also the appreciation on our end that

1241
00:57:26,600 --> 00:57:29,840
Speaker 1: there's the trust factor that you're willing to open the program.

1242
00:57:30,320 --> 00:57:32,760
Speaker 1: It is mutually beneficial, or at least we intend it

1243
00:57:32,760 --> 00:57:36,280
Speaker 1: to be. But I can safely tell you Penn State

1244
00:57:36,320 --> 00:57:38,400
Speaker 1: has done it, some of the other programs out there

1245
00:57:38,400 --> 00:57:38,919
Speaker 1: have done it.

1246
00:57:38,920 --> 00:57:40,640
Speaker 2: It's always appreciated. On our end.

1247
00:57:41,120 --> 00:57:43,240
Speaker 1: We're happy to help in any way, but also we're

1248
00:57:43,240 --> 00:57:46,280
Speaker 1: immensely grateful that you help us. I've got a ton,

1249
00:57:47,000 --> 00:57:50,760
Speaker 1: a metric ton of behind the scenes stories and observations.

1250
00:57:51,080 --> 00:57:53,120
Speaker 1: Many I can't share, but some I can share with you,

1251
00:57:53,480 --> 00:57:57,120
Speaker 1: and the Late Kick Extra podcast that we drop Thursday morning,

1252
00:57:57,160 --> 00:58:00,240
Speaker 1: it'll be in all your podcast feeds. I will put

1253
00:58:00,240 --> 00:58:04,000
Speaker 1: a healthy amount of that there. Just again, it's stuff that,

1254
00:58:04,120 --> 00:58:06,440
Speaker 1: of course is going to be like like crack to

1255
00:58:06,480 --> 00:58:07,960
Speaker 1: you if you're a Penn State fan, but I don't

1256
00:58:07,960 --> 00:58:10,440
Speaker 1: care if you're a Missouri fan. When you get to

1257
00:58:10,480 --> 00:58:12,760
Speaker 1: see the inner workings of a program. Let me give

1258
00:58:12,760 --> 00:58:16,000
Speaker 1: you just one quick thing. If you could be around

1259
00:58:16,320 --> 00:58:19,720
Speaker 1: a major college football team when they're gearing up to practice,

1260
00:58:19,760 --> 00:58:21,640
Speaker 1: like I was down in the Penn State weight room,

1261
00:58:21,680 --> 00:58:23,880
Speaker 1: which is immaculate, and I can't show you pictures of it,

1262
00:58:23,960 --> 00:58:24,920
Speaker 1: but it is immaculate.

1263
00:58:24,960 --> 00:58:27,520
Speaker 2: I'm down there doing shoulders today. Of course I am.

1264
00:58:28,560 --> 00:58:29,840
Speaker 2: They're getting ready to practice.

1265
00:58:30,080 --> 00:58:32,280
Speaker 1: And we were talking to a lot of the coaches

1266
00:58:32,280 --> 00:58:35,240
Speaker 1: and players earlier today at ten o'clock, eleven o'clock, twelve o'clock,

1267
00:58:35,360 --> 00:58:38,240
Speaker 1: they're gearing up for practice. And as that time draws closer,

1268
00:58:38,280 --> 00:58:40,920
Speaker 1: and you got clocks all over the building countdown to practice.

1269
00:58:40,960 --> 00:58:43,200
Speaker 1: This is spring now, this is not game week in

1270
00:58:43,240 --> 00:58:44,640
Speaker 1: the fall before they play Michigan.

1271
00:58:45,280 --> 00:58:48,440
Speaker 2: It is so intense you could not believe how intense

1272
00:58:48,480 --> 00:58:48,680
Speaker 2: it is.

1273
00:58:48,720 --> 00:58:52,040
Speaker 1: I know, when you think practice, you think you waltz

1274
00:58:52,080 --> 00:58:52,760
Speaker 1: out there.

1275
00:58:53,240 --> 00:58:56,240
Speaker 2: Make she stretched, let's get some work in, Let's go home.

1276
00:58:56,320 --> 00:59:01,560
Speaker 1: That's middle school at high level f BS programs in

1277
00:59:01,640 --> 00:59:04,200
Speaker 1: the Big Ten and the SEC Penn State obviously being

1278
00:59:04,280 --> 00:59:08,320
Speaker 1: one of them, it is as intense an atmosphere as

1279
00:59:08,360 --> 00:59:10,720
Speaker 1: you could possibly be around, to be around a major

1280
00:59:10,760 --> 00:59:15,240
Speaker 1: college football practice. Every rep counts, everything is scripted to

1281
00:59:15,280 --> 00:59:17,800
Speaker 1: a tee. Everything that needs to be done is so

1282
00:59:17,960 --> 00:59:22,040
Speaker 1: clearly articulated throughout this massive building we're in. Everyone is

1283
00:59:22,040 --> 00:59:24,000
Speaker 1: marching too, the same beat. Everyone's singing it from the

1284
00:59:24,000 --> 00:59:26,600
Speaker 1: same hymnal as Mememha would say. So anyway, that is

1285
00:59:26,600 --> 00:59:29,040
Speaker 1: for the late kick extrapod on Thursday morning. We've had

1286
00:59:29,040 --> 00:59:32,040
Speaker 1: a great time here. Folks have treated us spectacularly here

1287
00:59:32,040 --> 00:59:34,160
Speaker 1: in Penn State and State College. I got to fly

1288
00:59:34,200 --> 00:59:35,800
Speaker 1: back to Nashville in the morning, so we've got a

1289
00:59:35,800 --> 00:59:38,520
Speaker 1: whole lot more to do this week before we call

1290
00:59:38,560 --> 00:59:40,280
Speaker 1: it a week ourselves. But we're gonna call it a

1291
00:59:40,360 --> 00:59:42,360
Speaker 1: night from here until next time.

1292
00:59:42,360 --> 00:59:44,560
Speaker 2: We got Gelbi on the road with us. By the way,

1293
00:59:44,600 --> 00:59:45,520
Speaker 2: we've got another.

1294
00:59:45,280 --> 00:59:47,040
Speaker 1: Greg here at Penn State that's helped us out a lot.

1295
00:59:47,240 --> 00:59:50,680
Speaker 1: Producer Jesse dutifully in toe direct to Colin back home

1296
00:59:50,880 --> 00:59:52,440
Speaker 1: on the ones and twoes in Nashville.

1297
00:59:52,480 --> 00:59:54,600
Speaker 2: I'm just Josh paid and I thank you so much

1298
00:59:54,640 --> 00:59:55,160
Speaker 2: for watching.

1299
00:59:55,520 --> 00:59:57,320
Speaker 1: Take care, have a great rest of your evening, and

1300
00:59:57,440 --> 01:00:10,800
Speaker 1: God bless