1 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: So you and I were talking last year, and any 2 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:18,759 Speaker 1: talked about the playoff was down the road, its future facing. 3 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 1: So now you just made the playoff. And so it's 4 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: really funny in the expanded playoff era, how the way 5 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: the public views you is different. Once upon a time, 6 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:29,920 Speaker 1: if you were the ninth best team in the country, 7 00:00:30,080 --> 00:00:31,880 Speaker 1: then you get to the end of the season and 8 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,159 Speaker 1: the only takeaways we missed the playoffs. Now you can 9 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: be the ninth best team in the country, you make 10 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:38,360 Speaker 1: the playoffs, and that same fan says, made the playoffs, 11 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:40,639 Speaker 1: This is a great year. And so that's out there 12 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:43,880 Speaker 1: all right. So inside your building, the way you evaluate 13 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: your process is the way you evaluate the job you did, 14 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:49,280 Speaker 1: the job your team does. How much does it change 15 00:00:49,320 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: or does it change at all due to that external stuff? 16 00:00:52,440 --> 00:00:53,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think at all. 17 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 3: I think you know, a long time ago, you got 18 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 3: into these jobs and you had to make sure the 19 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 3: external stuff never impacted the decisions you make. I think 20 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 3: we have internal processes on how we're evaluating growth, how 21 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:08,039 Speaker 3: we're looking at the trajectory of the program. I think 22 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:10,720 Speaker 3: we talked a lot about that last year, and I 23 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:13,319 Speaker 3: think what you saw last year was a really big 24 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:17,679 Speaker 3: step forward for our program, and from that perspective, it 25 00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 3: was a success, you know, regardless of playoffs non playoffs. 26 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, the overall just state of this place right now 27 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:27,520 Speaker 1: not what you've seen in the past forty eight hours 28 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: on the practice field, but like if you zoom it 29 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:31,039 Speaker 1: out a little bit, kind of the way we look 30 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:34,000 Speaker 1: at it. But from your lens, what is the state 31 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:36,760 Speaker 1: of this program now versus a couple of years ago 32 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:37,319 Speaker 1: you took it over. 33 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the culture is in a really good spot. 34 00:01:40,080 --> 00:01:43,120 Speaker 3: I think people who come through this building feel a difference, 35 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:48,000 Speaker 3: whether that's recruits, NFL scouts, whatever. I think all arrows 36 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 3: are pointed in the right direction for the future of 37 00:01:50,520 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 3: this program. There's still things obviously, we need to get 38 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 3: done and get accomplished to be the program we want 39 00:01:57,160 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 3: to be, There's. 40 00:01:57,680 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 2: No doubt about that. 41 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 3: But I think if you just look at trajectory and 42 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:04,600 Speaker 3: how outside people are feeling the trajectory of this program, 43 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 3: it's going in a really good direction. 44 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: You guys had decisions to make it. The coordinator spots 45 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: And there's this label that sometimes gets thrown around, like 46 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:15,679 Speaker 1: when you promote from within, you get tagged as, oh, 47 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: that's a guy that likes to promote from within. Well, 48 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 1: in a perfect world, everyone we just promote from within. 49 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:22,359 Speaker 1: I've heard you talked about this, but I would like 50 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:24,959 Speaker 1: for you to talk about it again, about promoting from 51 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 1: within when it makes sense all things equal, I'd love 52 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 1: to do that. But this specific round OC and DC, 53 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:36,400 Speaker 1: when you looked at those, what was the tipping point 54 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: or what was the moment you realized my answers are 55 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:39,720 Speaker 1: in this building already. 56 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think if you study the game, which is 57 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:43,800 Speaker 3: one thing I try to do, I try to study 58 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:48,799 Speaker 3: results of decisions that people make over time. There's no guarantee, 59 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:52,320 Speaker 3: there's no guarantee that promoting from within has success. There's 60 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:54,520 Speaker 3: no guarantee that high You have to find the right 61 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:57,000 Speaker 3: people right and at the end of the day, that's 62 00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:59,760 Speaker 3: what the process is all about. And so when you 63 00:02:59,760 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 3: look at what we had on offense, you've got Holman Wiggins, 64 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 3: who there's nobody who could be more ready to be 65 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:09,320 Speaker 3: an offensive coordinator than him, given his pedigree, as background, 66 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 3: his experiences, the success that he's had. It's been to 67 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:15,079 Speaker 3: the playoffs more times than anybody in our building. He's 68 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:17,799 Speaker 3: lifted the trophy, he's got a Blitnikoff, a Heisman Trophy 69 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:21,800 Speaker 3: Award winner. It's just time, you know, And so going 70 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 3: into the process, I thought that, But then you still 71 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:26,720 Speaker 3: owe it to the program. You still owe it to 72 00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 3: the people in this building to do a process, and 73 00:03:29,600 --> 00:03:31,360 Speaker 3: you've got to go talk to people, and we did, 74 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:34,839 Speaker 3: but it just kept coming back to I really think 75 00:03:34,880 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 3: I have the guy in this building to move this 76 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 3: offense forward in the direction that I want. And so 77 00:03:40,680 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 3: that was that decision, and then the other one probably 78 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:45,840 Speaker 3: a little bit different. I've known Lyle Hamphill for twenty years. 79 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:48,839 Speaker 3: I think bringing him here from James Madison, I think 80 00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 3: there was always a thought that this would be where 81 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 3: it would go. 82 00:03:52,200 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 2: At some point. 83 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 3: You know, coach Paiman decides to go and take an 84 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 3: opportunity at Kentucky, and that's great for him. We wish 85 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:00,320 Speaker 3: him the best, and I think it was just very 86 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 3: natural for Lile to slide into that spot. 87 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:06,920 Speaker 1: I also am really fascinated by the perception that when 88 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:10,920 Speaker 1: a coordinator gets hired, a play calling coordinator gets hired, 89 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: there are a lot of people who think, well, that's 90 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:16,040 Speaker 1: the first time that guy will have called plays. Maybe 91 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: on Saturdays that's the case. But if you would walk 92 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:23,440 Speaker 1: folks through how you run a practice specifically with some 93 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:25,360 Speaker 1: of those guys that you may know down the road 94 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: have a shot to fill those rules. Those guys are 95 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,120 Speaker 1: calling plays in many cases during practice, are they not 96 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:30,560 Speaker 1: for sure? 97 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:33,480 Speaker 3: I think we were just out there Saturday this past Saturday, 98 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 3: and we did a dual field semi scrimmage, and so 99 00:04:37,839 --> 00:04:39,920 Speaker 3: somebody's got to call plays on one field and someone's 100 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 3: got to call plays on the other field, and you're 101 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 3: always trying to find, you know, those next guys in line, 102 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 3: those next potential guys to be the guys calling that 103 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 3: We've always split. 104 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 2: The spring game. 105 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 3: We've always had God'd never called a spring game, even 106 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 3: if I planned on calling something. 107 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 2: You know, there's two people calling it. 108 00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 3: There's two people calling it on both sides of the ball, 109 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,440 Speaker 3: and so that helps or that's another opportunity, and so 110 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 3: you get a lot of situational work in practice for that. 111 00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 3: You know, you want to call it the next guy up, 112 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:10,599 Speaker 3: because in some ways also you're always planning for the 113 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:14,280 Speaker 3: unforsaken thing that could happen in coaching and making sure 114 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:16,280 Speaker 3: that you always have somebody ready in an emergency. 115 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:21,440 Speaker 1: You were talking about studying decisions and then success or 116 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,160 Speaker 1: failure downstream. Not just looking at the decision, but what 117 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 1: results from it. And I'm always really interested when you 118 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:29,520 Speaker 1: guys are in it for a recruit or a guy 119 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:33,440 Speaker 1: from the portal and you miss out on him. You 120 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 1: may end up playing him, so you may end up 121 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 1: studying him because you're going to face him. But how 122 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:40,720 Speaker 1: much do you track how those guys pan out? Because 123 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:42,719 Speaker 1: you want to know, did I have a good evaw 124 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:44,919 Speaker 1: on that guy? Now you can't totally control it because 125 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: you didn't evail him and then plug him into your system. 126 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:50,160 Speaker 1: But if a guy goes to South Carolina, Clemson, Alabama, wherever, 127 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 1: how much do you keep an eye on him? And 128 00:05:52,279 --> 00:05:54,800 Speaker 1: if it totally busts you kind of say, who, we 129 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: avoided that, or if it works out, you say, all right, 130 00:05:57,960 --> 00:05:59,880 Speaker 1: we did have that one, right, let's just tuck that 131 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:00,680 Speaker 1: away for later. 132 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:02,599 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you're looking at all of that stuff. 133 00:06:02,640 --> 00:06:06,120 Speaker 3: I think you're always trying to find data points to 134 00:06:06,160 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 3: evaluate your process, whether that's high school recruiting, transfer, recruiting, hiring, 135 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:14,479 Speaker 3: you know, whatever the case may be, it's no difference 136 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 3: a standard business thought process. Right, we have to make 137 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:19,840 Speaker 3: decisions to the best of our ability. Then we've got 138 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 3: to evaluate those decisions, and you can't just focus on 139 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:26,200 Speaker 3: who you get, like, oh, okay, we got these guys, 140 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 3: So we're just going to completely disregard every evaluation we 141 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:31,680 Speaker 3: did outside of the small quantity of kids who came 142 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:35,120 Speaker 3: into our program. And then you're trying to identify why, 143 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:37,719 Speaker 3: you know, the kid does have success? Why what was 144 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:42,080 Speaker 3: it about the evaluation, the character, the makeup, whatever. If 145 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 3: it doesn't work out, why, you know what, what can 146 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:46,280 Speaker 3: we do better next time? To try to figure out 147 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 3: how to not repeat that mistake. 148 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:52,040 Speaker 1: If I'm someone who follows recruiting, my idea of evaluating 149 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 1: a recruit is I go to on three and I 150 00:06:55,360 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: see that he's got four stars next to his name, 151 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:00,480 Speaker 1: and that's when he's a junior in high school, probably 152 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 1: when he's on my radar boom. Like, as far as 153 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:05,200 Speaker 1: I'm concerned, that's my evl me he's a four star 154 00:07:05,279 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: tied end. That is not the way you think, obviously, 155 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:12,520 Speaker 1: but also, your evout doesn't stop on that day. Your 156 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: evolt is ever continuing until that guy is on campus, 157 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:19,400 Speaker 1: and in some cases it continues beyond that. Walk people 158 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:21,880 Speaker 1: through as much as you can the nature of that, 159 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:26,200 Speaker 1: the nature of ongoing evaluation of players when they're still 160 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 1: in high school, and how it may change from the 161 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,080 Speaker 1: time you first lay eyes on him to signing day. 162 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:33,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's the most critical piece of it. 163 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 3: I think we're in a very unique world when it 164 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 3: comes to talent evaluation and a lot of these high 165 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:42,360 Speaker 3: level kids we're looking at as ninth graders or tenth 166 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 3: graders and you're trying to project development. You know, you 167 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:47,480 Speaker 3: see a kid in tenth grade, you go ooh, as 168 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 3: a tenth grader, that looks really good. If there's growth 169 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 3: that happens eleventh grade, twelfth grade, he's going to really 170 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 3: fit in. I think you have to be really conscious 171 00:07:57,240 --> 00:08:02,280 Speaker 3: of continuing to evaluate what happens to him character wise. 172 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:04,280 Speaker 3: Is he goes through recruiting. We talked to recruits a 173 00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 3: lot about that. Some kids stay the course, some kids 174 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 3: change drastically. You're trying to just constantly be trying to 175 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 3: make sure you're bringing in the right people as players 176 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:17,800 Speaker 3: and as people into the program. 177 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:18,720 Speaker 2: I think that's critical. 178 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 1: If you get me on campus and you evaluated me, 179 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:26,280 Speaker 1: I'm a take for you, I'm probably offensive lineman, defensive lineman, physically, 180 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:29,960 Speaker 1: I'm not ready as a freshman in a former life. 181 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:32,160 Speaker 1: You just keep developing me. There's really no where I 182 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:34,480 Speaker 1: can go now. I could portal out, I could leave 183 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: if I'm in your office after my freshman year. And 184 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 1: I'm not a character concern at all, but I'm just 185 00:08:40,600 --> 00:08:43,760 Speaker 1: I'm hearing things from other programs and you know it's 186 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:46,200 Speaker 1: eventually going to happen for me, and you're trying to 187 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:49,920 Speaker 1: explain that to me in harsh enough but also soft 188 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:52,599 Speaker 1: enough terms. How does that conversation I would imagine that 189 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:54,520 Speaker 1: conversation happens. How does that conversation sound? 190 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:56,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think this is the message to me, and 191 00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:59,280 Speaker 3: this is the message of the modern era. Your goal 192 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 3: is to play in the NFL. To play in the NFL, 193 00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:03,959 Speaker 3: you don't just need opportunities on the field. 194 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:04,840 Speaker 2: You need to develop. 195 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 3: And so you can go somewhere that may give you 196 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:10,280 Speaker 3: faster opportunities to get on the field. 197 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:12,880 Speaker 2: That doesn't automatically mean. 198 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 3: The waylifting program is going to need to be, the 199 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:17,760 Speaker 3: coaching is going to need to be, the development is 200 00:09:17,800 --> 00:09:18,800 Speaker 3: going to be what it needs to be. 201 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 2: What you do day in and day out in practice. 202 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:24,439 Speaker 3: And so there are people who have started at programs 203 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 3: across the country and not developed into NFL players. There 204 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,640 Speaker 3: have been people who have sat in the incubator, as 205 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:34,480 Speaker 3: you talk about it, and developed and then come on 206 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 3: the scene and bin first round draft picks. There's no 207 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:41,760 Speaker 3: guarantee just because you go somewhere and play that you 208 00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:45,000 Speaker 3: automatically are going to develop into what you're capable of being. 209 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:46,559 Speaker 2: And that's I think the message. 210 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:49,400 Speaker 3: It's if you're happy here, if you feel like you're 211 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,400 Speaker 3: getting better and your goal is to be to get 212 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:56,600 Speaker 3: to the NFL, don't switch course, because ultimately we don't 213 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 3: have NFL players sitting on our bench. There's not multiple 214 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 3: NFL draft picks who aren't capable of starting for US 215 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 3: here at Texas A and M. And so when you 216 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 3: get to that level, you'll be ready. 217 00:10:07,920 --> 00:10:11,200 Speaker 1: A couple of things. When I look at it, I'm sold. Yeah, 218 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:13,880 Speaker 1: I'm still here. I'm fine. You feed me, well, that's 219 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:17,320 Speaker 1: why I'm still here. There is there are a lot 220 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:20,960 Speaker 1: of places out there that go into the transfer portal 221 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:24,080 Speaker 1: looking for a plug and play guy. They have a 222 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:26,960 Speaker 1: glaring need at left tackle. They're just going to get 223 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:29,880 Speaker 1: a starting left tackle. I'm not saying that that's never 224 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 1: the case. 225 00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:30,600 Speaker 2: Here. 226 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:33,599 Speaker 1: But when I look at Texas A and M, and 227 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:36,040 Speaker 1: there may be a handful of programs like this, you 228 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:39,080 Speaker 1: guys actually have the luxury of using the portal to 229 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:41,760 Speaker 1: build depth, or using the portal to bring in guys 230 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:44,960 Speaker 1: to compete for jobs, instead of just outright saying you're 231 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:47,240 Speaker 1: coming in. Everyone knows you're going to start. Let's not 232 00:10:47,320 --> 00:10:50,720 Speaker 1: even keep up the illusion. How big of a game 233 00:10:50,800 --> 00:10:54,800 Speaker 1: changer is that in the overall injection that it has 234 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:55,920 Speaker 1: for the culture of this place. 235 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:57,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's everything. 236 00:10:57,280 --> 00:11:01,080 Speaker 3: I think you can't promise anybody any thing if you 237 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:04,600 Speaker 3: want to create culture in your building. I've seen some 238 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:08,240 Speaker 3: people talk or shift more towards oh, let's go to 239 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 3: an NFL model where we're going to guarantee this kid's 240 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:13,559 Speaker 3: our starter and he's going to know it and everybody. Well, 241 00:11:13,679 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 3: you have different avenues to shift your roster around in 242 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:19,960 Speaker 3: the NFL that we don't have in college. We're still 243 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:24,000 Speaker 3: a developmental sport. However much the transfer portal and NIL 244 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:26,960 Speaker 3: tries to change it, the best teams are going to 245 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,240 Speaker 3: be the teams who can still manage it the best. 246 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 3: And so you know we have it going on right now. 247 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:34,440 Speaker 3: In springball, you know, we've got a lot of kids 248 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:37,960 Speaker 3: who have transferred in here with Starting Experience and other programs, 249 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:41,240 Speaker 3: and a lot of young talented players in our program 250 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:45,400 Speaker 3: who want to start, and that has to be fair 251 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:47,240 Speaker 3: and open competition. 252 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:50,480 Speaker 2: And it is. And when it's that way, everybody respects it. 253 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:52,640 Speaker 3: You know, as long as it's clear, as long as 254 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 3: you're honest, as long as you lay it out the 255 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:57,240 Speaker 3: right way, everybody respects that part of it. 256 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:01,280 Speaker 1: When I look around life, society, whatever I interact with 257 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:03,520 Speaker 1: on a daily basis, I have this lens that I 258 00:12:03,559 --> 00:12:05,880 Speaker 1: look at things through. For me, it's well, I work 259 00:12:05,920 --> 00:12:08,160 Speaker 1: in media. I have a show I have to put 260 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:10,559 Speaker 1: together every forty eight hours, so I kind of view 261 00:12:10,640 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: the world through that lens. You view the world through 262 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:14,840 Speaker 1: the lens of the head coach at Texas A and M. 263 00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 1: How different does that make the world look to you? 264 00:12:18,240 --> 00:12:20,719 Speaker 1: Or if you and then some other person who's never 265 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:22,800 Speaker 1: coached to day in his life, or looking at a situation, 266 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:27,000 Speaker 1: how different is your observation of that situation because you're 267 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: looking to apply anything you possibly can to your job. 268 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:33,080 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's like anything. I've said this to 269 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 2: a lot of people, you know, I've. 270 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:37,760 Speaker 3: Been doing this every day for the better part of 271 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:42,160 Speaker 3: twenty six years, If I haven't learned more about what 272 00:12:42,320 --> 00:12:45,240 Speaker 3: I see, what to evaluate, what to take from different 273 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:48,320 Speaker 3: things that happened, Ben, jeez, what have I been doing 274 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:50,640 Speaker 3: for you know what I mean? And so I think 275 00:12:50,640 --> 00:12:54,600 Speaker 3: there's a lot of people who are passionate about programs 276 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:56,520 Speaker 3: that have opinions. I think there's a lot of people 277 00:12:56,520 --> 00:12:59,880 Speaker 3: who cover the sport and they're all intelligent and their 278 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:02,560 Speaker 3: own ways and know things in their own ways, for sure. 279 00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:05,840 Speaker 3: But I would hope over twenty six years, I've kind 280 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 3: of gotten to a place where I see and so 281 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:10,760 Speaker 3: I think that's where you've got to trust yourself what 282 00:13:10,840 --> 00:13:12,800 Speaker 3: you know, because it is it's loud out there, right, 283 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:14,960 Speaker 3: And that's the world that we live in today. There's 284 00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:16,840 Speaker 3: a lot of people with a lot of opinions about 285 00:13:16,880 --> 00:13:20,080 Speaker 3: how things should get done. You've got to make decisions 286 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:21,920 Speaker 3: to do them the way that you believe is right 287 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:24,319 Speaker 3: for your program and know that at the end of 288 00:13:24,360 --> 00:13:26,080 Speaker 3: the day, the results are going to be the only 289 00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:28,160 Speaker 3: thing you ever get judged on, and do what you 290 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:29,079 Speaker 3: think is right for that. 291 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:35,840 Speaker 1: So we're in that time of year again. It's about 292 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:38,840 Speaker 1: to be April it's the time of year where springball 293 00:13:38,920 --> 00:13:42,920 Speaker 1: is happening, and everyone is paying attention to what you lost. Right, 294 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:46,679 Speaker 1: Everyone's paying attention to departing starters, guys going to the draft. 295 00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 1: More of those around here now, by the way, than 296 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:50,960 Speaker 1: there were two years ago. And there's sometimes a not 297 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:53,199 Speaker 1: a really a good awareness of who the bat fills 298 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:54,840 Speaker 1: are going to be. Because this is not the NFL. 299 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 1: College players are lesser known, some of the more in 300 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 1: high school twelve months ago. And yet I look at 301 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:02,360 Speaker 1: your roster. You tell me if you think I'm wrong 302 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:05,760 Speaker 1: in the aggregate, you may be. In fact, I think 303 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:09,000 Speaker 1: you are a roster with more sec ready players. If 304 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:11,720 Speaker 1: that makes any sense, then you have been to this 305 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:14,160 Speaker 1: point in your previous two years, so you can look 306 00:14:14,160 --> 00:14:17,800 Speaker 1: at the starters leaving. But in the overall grand scheme 307 00:14:17,840 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 1: of things, does this not I'll ask you, I won't 308 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:22,640 Speaker 1: put words in your mouth. How ready made does this 309 00:14:22,760 --> 00:14:25,880 Speaker 1: roster feel in terms of potential to compete in every 310 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:26,440 Speaker 1: game you play? 311 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:28,840 Speaker 2: Yeah? I think in terms of potential, we feel really 312 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 2: good about what we have. 313 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:33,680 Speaker 3: I think if you look at volume of starts, returning starters, 314 00:14:34,400 --> 00:14:37,120 Speaker 3: young kids who are really talented, ready to break on 315 00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:40,840 Speaker 3: the scene returning quarterback, which is always a critical piece 316 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:44,560 Speaker 3: of projecting success. You feel really good about where the 317 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 3: roster is now. The difference between last year at this 318 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 3: time and this year at this time is these kids 319 00:14:49,640 --> 00:14:52,560 Speaker 3: haven't done very much in Texas A and M uniforms 320 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:54,840 Speaker 3: on the field on Saturdays, right, And so whether that's 321 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:56,880 Speaker 3: the young guy that wins the job or the new 322 00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:59,040 Speaker 3: guy that wins the job, none of them have actually 323 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 3: gone out. And we'll have thirteen new starters next year 324 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:04,040 Speaker 3: when this thing kicks off. And so that's the challenge 325 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:07,000 Speaker 3: is to make sure that you turn it from potential 326 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 3: and pieces into actuality and a team, right, and a 327 00:15:11,600 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 3: really tight group of guys that will go out there 328 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:14,120 Speaker 3: and fight for each other. 329 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:16,600 Speaker 1: On side of it, you just mentioned Marcel Reid when 330 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:19,000 Speaker 1: he got to the finish line last year. How did 331 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:21,680 Speaker 1: he as a person and as a player process how 332 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:26,200 Speaker 1: the season went? How did he look himself in the mirror? Like, 333 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:29,240 Speaker 1: I know you guys have coaching points for him, but 334 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: I'm interested in him since we don't have him sitting here. 335 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 1: You're the closest I can get to him, Like, how 336 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:37,600 Speaker 1: did he look at himself and evaluate himself? What are 337 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:39,320 Speaker 1: the things he's focused on this spring. 338 00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:42,160 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he's a competitor, and so I think 339 00:15:42,200 --> 00:15:45,520 Speaker 3: he evaluates it the way it is, right, And I 340 00:15:45,520 --> 00:15:47,960 Speaker 3: think our job is to make sure that he knows 341 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:49,320 Speaker 3: it's not all on him. 342 00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:49,560 Speaker 2: Right. 343 00:15:49,560 --> 00:15:52,200 Speaker 3: There's no secret that the last two games of the year, 344 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:54,240 Speaker 3: we didn't play offense as well as we needed to 345 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:57,840 Speaker 3: be successful, and certainly he didn't have the best two 346 00:15:57,880 --> 00:15:58,920 Speaker 3: games of his season. 347 00:15:59,400 --> 00:16:00,600 Speaker 2: That's undern right. 348 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:03,800 Speaker 3: That doesn't all fall just on him, right. He takes 349 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 3: a lot of the onus because he's the quarterback. But 350 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:07,640 Speaker 3: I think he looks at that and he looks at 351 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:11,080 Speaker 3: that with a hunger and a drive to figure out, Okay, 352 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 3: how do I make sure we take the next step 353 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,000 Speaker 3: again this year. I was telling somebody this the other day. 354 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:20,400 Speaker 3: This time last year, I was answering questions as if 355 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:22,760 Speaker 3: he wasn't going to be able to complete a forward pass, 356 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:25,920 Speaker 3: and now it's a little bit of the same thing. Well, 357 00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 3: how can he Well, he's going to get a lot 358 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 3: better because he's a competitive kid. 359 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:30,520 Speaker 2: He's a driven kid. 360 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:34,360 Speaker 3: He's very highly motivated to be successful, and any time 361 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:37,880 Speaker 3: you don't reach the ultimate prize, that drives you to 362 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:40,080 Speaker 3: push your game to another level, and I think that's 363 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 3: what you're going to see from him. 364 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:44,440 Speaker 1: I was not here for the South Carolina game last year. 365 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:48,080 Speaker 1: I watched it on TV. I don't use the word 366 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:51,840 Speaker 1: shocked a lot. That one shocked me. The outcomes of 367 00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:55,880 Speaker 1: both halves respectively shocked me for different reasons. You are 368 00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:59,040 Speaker 1: with this team, you're embedded with him every day of 369 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:02,280 Speaker 1: the year. How often, not just that game, but in general, 370 00:17:02,320 --> 00:17:06,199 Speaker 1: how often is there an outcome that genuinely shocks you, 371 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:08,600 Speaker 1: like it genuinely comes out of left field. I never 372 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:10,720 Speaker 1: saw this coming during the week, that sort of thing. 373 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:13,560 Speaker 2: Not a ton, Yeah, not a ton. 374 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 3: That certainly would be at the top of the list. 375 00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:18,879 Speaker 3: You know, it's a funny game, and it always is. 376 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:22,359 Speaker 3: And you know, sometimes you can prepare the right way 377 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 3: and put yourself in the right position, and for whatever reason, 378 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:28,960 Speaker 3: it doesn't fire the way you want it to on 379 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,680 Speaker 3: a Saturday, And sometimes you're fortunate enough to turn those 380 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:36,240 Speaker 3: around in your favor, and sometimes you don't. You know, 381 00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:39,359 Speaker 3: to me that the special part of that game was 382 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:42,919 Speaker 3: what happened at halftime. You know, what the talking points 383 00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:45,560 Speaker 3: were from the players to each other, what the locker 384 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:49,760 Speaker 3: room felt like when you talk about definding culture. Culture 385 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:53,120 Speaker 3: always gets defined in those types of moments. And there 386 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:55,959 Speaker 3: wasn't an ounce of finger pointing, There wasn't any panic. 387 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:58,919 Speaker 3: There was just a group of kids that knew we 388 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:01,480 Speaker 3: weren't playing at the level we were capable of and 389 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:03,359 Speaker 3: we were going to go out swinging in the second 390 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:05,480 Speaker 3: half and who knows what was going to happen, But 391 00:18:06,560 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 3: it was really above everything else that happened that day, 392 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 3: that was maybe the one part that was like, Okay, 393 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:16,280 Speaker 3: we are really putting something together in terms of how 394 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:18,959 Speaker 3: these kids are thinking about playing football here together. 395 00:18:19,600 --> 00:18:21,879 Speaker 1: It'd be great to win and blow out fashion every game. 396 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:25,639 Speaker 1: And you never know when that South Carolina game's coming, 397 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:29,480 Speaker 1: when that performance is coming. How much of your job 398 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 1: is preparing yourself knowing an adverse an adverse type situation 399 00:18:34,119 --> 00:18:35,439 Speaker 1: is going to come. Don't know where it is, but 400 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:37,840 Speaker 1: understanding I got to be ready for it because I 401 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:40,480 Speaker 1: got to be able to leverage it. Our team has 402 00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:42,720 Speaker 1: to be able to leverage it because it could end 403 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:44,919 Speaker 1: up being one of the most valuable building blocks that 404 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:47,280 Speaker 1: we have here as opposed to thirty eight to seventeen, 405 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:49,800 Speaker 1: which would have been great that day, but may not 406 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:53,359 Speaker 1: have contributed in the way that what you're talking about contributed. 407 00:18:53,640 --> 00:18:55,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you better in this day and age. 408 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 3: I think you know, the parody amongst football is growing 409 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:05,119 Speaker 3: every year, certainly this league. You know, you don't go 410 00:19:05,240 --> 00:19:08,640 Speaker 3: into any game in this league expecting anything to ever 411 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:12,159 Speaker 3: go easy, because it never does. And so in every 412 00:19:12,240 --> 00:19:15,959 Speaker 3: game you're going to have some level of adversity that 413 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:19,360 Speaker 3: you're going to have to fight through, overcome battle, even 414 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:21,359 Speaker 3: if it's just going on the road. In this league, 415 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:23,480 Speaker 3: that in and of itself is a challenge, and so 416 00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:29,040 Speaker 3: I think that's a huge part of preparation for playing 417 00:19:29,119 --> 00:19:32,719 Speaker 3: an SE season forever. I think playing an SEC season 418 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:35,000 Speaker 3: now it's even more so because I do think that 419 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:38,240 Speaker 3: the level field, the playing field has leveled tremendously. 420 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:41,800 Speaker 1: When the big picture issues just around college football come up. 421 00:19:41,880 --> 00:19:45,040 Speaker 1: Right now, you may be sitting in on a coach's meeting, 422 00:19:45,480 --> 00:19:47,600 Speaker 1: maybe spring meetings and destined, or you may just be 423 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:50,880 Speaker 1: watching something on TV. You've got one of the premier 424 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:54,240 Speaker 1: jobs as a head coach in this country. But yet 425 00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 1: there are probably a lot of things you hear and 426 00:19:56,119 --> 00:19:59,760 Speaker 1: you know that's not in my wheelhouse, this topic they're 427 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:02,320 Speaker 1: talking about it may affect me, but it's not my wheelhouse. 428 00:20:02,560 --> 00:20:04,639 Speaker 1: Is your instinct to lean in on that stuff and 429 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:07,159 Speaker 1: want a lot of input or lean back and say, 430 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:09,640 Speaker 1: I got a job to do. I'm gonna let people 431 00:20:09,640 --> 00:20:11,840 Speaker 1: whose job it is to figure this out figure it out. 432 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:14,280 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I try to try to do both. 433 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:16,199 Speaker 3: I have a lot of a lot of love for 434 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:18,840 Speaker 3: college football. I care about the game. I care about 435 00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:22,400 Speaker 3: the future of the game, and so when there's conversations 436 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:26,320 Speaker 3: that impact the future of college football, if I have 437 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:28,600 Speaker 3: an opinion, I certainly I certainly feel as though I 438 00:20:28,600 --> 00:20:31,159 Speaker 3: should speak it. I also, I've said this, and I 439 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:33,800 Speaker 3: love Greig Sanki and he does a phenomenal job with 440 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:38,760 Speaker 3: the SEC, But we don't have unified leadership across college 441 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:41,040 Speaker 3: football right now. And so when you see so many 442 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:44,560 Speaker 3: of these demands for change, there's a part of me 443 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,560 Speaker 3: that just knows like we're so far away from changing 444 00:20:47,640 --> 00:20:50,080 Speaker 3: things because there's just how do you change you know, 445 00:20:50,119 --> 00:20:52,600 Speaker 3: we don't have a system that's set up in a 446 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 3: way to really effectively impact the game for the good. 447 00:20:56,560 --> 00:21:00,000 Speaker 3: And so that's probably the frustrating part. And that's probably 448 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:02,600 Speaker 3: when you start to pull back a little bit and 449 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:04,520 Speaker 3: just say like, this feels like we're just spinning our 450 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:07,520 Speaker 3: wheels because these are all great ideas, but how do 451 00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:09,960 Speaker 3: we actually implement them and get them done the right way? 452 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:14,760 Speaker 1: If I took my opinion spirit whatever, but I had 453 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:18,320 Speaker 1: your job, I imagine one of the most frustrating things 454 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:21,280 Speaker 1: about me is I got a lot about the way 455 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:23,200 Speaker 1: things were that I may prefer more than the way 456 00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:26,840 Speaker 1: they are now. Now, if I'm working my job or 457 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:29,399 Speaker 1: if I'm a fan, I can afford to just wax 458 00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:31,479 Speaker 1: poetic about that stuff. I can afford to spend all 459 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:35,119 Speaker 1: my time being nostalgic, being romantic because I don't have 460 00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:37,199 Speaker 1: your job. But if I had your job, I've just 461 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:39,399 Speaker 1: got to suck it up, and I've got to stay 462 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:42,080 Speaker 1: on the front of whatever wave of change is happening, 463 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:44,200 Speaker 1: or else I'm going to get drowned by it. And 464 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:46,520 Speaker 1: what I want to ask you is, how often is 465 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:49,440 Speaker 1: there a thing or are there things that you clearly 466 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: see going by the wayside that you would much prefer. 467 00:21:52,680 --> 00:21:55,399 Speaker 1: But you know, I don't have time to worry about 468 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:57,760 Speaker 1: what I would prefer. I just got to stay on 469 00:21:57,800 --> 00:21:59,200 Speaker 1: the front of this wave right now. 470 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:01,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's always the case. 471 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:05,359 Speaker 3: I think, you know, you're you're driven to make your 472 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:09,000 Speaker 3: players and your team everything it's capable of being in 473 00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:12,119 Speaker 3: the landscape. However, the landscape is defined right, and so 474 00:22:12,640 --> 00:22:15,480 Speaker 3: spending any time worrying about you know, oh, I don't 475 00:22:15,520 --> 00:22:17,720 Speaker 3: like this part of modern college football or I don't 476 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:17,960 Speaker 3: like that. 477 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:19,280 Speaker 2: Who cares? 478 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:21,760 Speaker 3: Like nobody wants to hear what I think about that 479 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:25,720 Speaker 3: type of stuff anyway, And so to me, it's more about, Okay, 480 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:28,200 Speaker 3: here's our landscape. How do we build the best team 481 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:30,359 Speaker 3: we can, how do we develop players as players and 482 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:31,440 Speaker 3: men the best we can? 483 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 2: How do we keep those things intact? 484 00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:37,200 Speaker 3: And then I think globally, it's how do we make 485 00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:40,800 Speaker 3: decisions that are going to be positive for the game? 486 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 2: That's to me really important. 487 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:46,359 Speaker 3: The little nuances of the you know, you call it 488 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:48,520 Speaker 3: whining a little bit, but like, you know, I wish 489 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:50,800 Speaker 3: it was like, yeah, that those are though I don't 490 00:22:50,840 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 3: really get involved in that stuff much. 491 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:55,680 Speaker 1: I've heard a lot of coaches college level, they could 492 00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:58,600 Speaker 1: be college basketball coaches, could be pro coaches, and they 493 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:01,080 Speaker 1: talk about the value of having it experienced going to 494 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:03,639 Speaker 1: the postseason, even if you don't win the ultimate prize 495 00:23:04,040 --> 00:23:06,200 Speaker 1: because of the dividends that it pays down the road. 496 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:08,480 Speaker 1: What are some of the things that we couldn't know 497 00:23:08,560 --> 00:23:11,640 Speaker 1: from the outside that you and your position learn from 498 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:13,480 Speaker 1: having gone to the playoffs last year. 499 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:15,640 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's all part of elevation. 500 00:23:16,119 --> 00:23:18,480 Speaker 3: I think people lose sight of the fact that that 501 00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:21,240 Speaker 3: elevation is usually required in order. 502 00:23:21,200 --> 00:23:22,320 Speaker 2: To defind success. 503 00:23:22,359 --> 00:23:25,640 Speaker 3: And so you get into big moments in big stages, 504 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:29,040 Speaker 3: and it's different. The intensity is different, the urgency is different, 505 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:32,240 Speaker 3: the need to be right every play is different. 506 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:34,800 Speaker 2: You know, that's just the nature of it. And so 507 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:36,800 Speaker 2: until you get into. 508 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:40,360 Speaker 3: Those moments, until you experience those moments, you can talk 509 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:42,520 Speaker 3: about them, but sometimes you got to live and learn, 510 00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:45,080 Speaker 3: and that's the nature of it. And so I think 511 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:48,240 Speaker 3: each year we've made steps in that direction. You know. 512 00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:50,959 Speaker 3: The first year, we got, you know, to three quarters 513 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:52,720 Speaker 3: of the way through the season, and we couldn't quite 514 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:54,760 Speaker 3: finish it the way we wanted to. Last year, we 515 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:57,080 Speaker 3: got to the playoffs and we didn't make the run 516 00:23:57,760 --> 00:23:58,360 Speaker 3: that we thought. 517 00:23:58,200 --> 00:23:59,200 Speaker 2: We were capable of. 518 00:23:59,359 --> 00:24:01,960 Speaker 3: And so we've just got to build and we've got 519 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:03,760 Speaker 3: to learn, or we've got to just continue to grow. 520 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,960 Speaker 1: People have access to a lot of information, Probably most 521 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:13,359 Speaker 1: access we've ever had in the history of humanity right now, 522 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:17,160 Speaker 1: which means, based on what my algorithm is, if I'm 523 00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:19,960 Speaker 1: a competitive person, if I'm an athlete, I'm probably being 524 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:24,679 Speaker 1: fed a lot of people achieving great things individually, collectively, whatever. 525 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: So I see all that, I want to know how 526 00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:29,919 Speaker 1: much effort you have found you have to put into 527 00:24:30,119 --> 00:24:32,639 Speaker 1: not shining away from that. You want guys looking at 528 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,000 Speaker 1: people achieving ultimate prizes and achieving ultimate goals, but also 529 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:39,120 Speaker 1: understanding as much time as you spend focusing on that 530 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:41,720 Speaker 1: person or that team winning that prize, you need to 531 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:44,560 Speaker 1: spend ten times as much effort or put as much 532 00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:47,359 Speaker 1: effort into focusing on the process it took sure to 533 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:50,280 Speaker 1: achieve that, because that's not really fed in your face 534 00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:51,320 Speaker 1: unless you go seek it. 535 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:53,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, we talk about that a lot. 536 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:56,720 Speaker 3: It's okay, you see the four second highlight that if 537 00:24:56,760 --> 00:25:00,679 Speaker 3: you're chasing you see the draft and the guy walking 538 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,320 Speaker 3: across the stage at the NFL Draft. That stuff is 539 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:07,240 Speaker 3: on your feed constantly. How we getting there? 540 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:07,600 Speaker 2: Right? 541 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:09,760 Speaker 3: And we do this a lot so many times in 542 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:12,000 Speaker 3: our team meetings. It's the old you know, hey, if 543 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:13,640 Speaker 3: you want to go to the NFL, raise your hand. 544 00:25:14,160 --> 00:25:15,359 Speaker 2: Okay, if you want to win a. 545 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,639 Speaker 3: Chance, and it's everybody, and it's a reminder, like, just 546 00:25:18,680 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 3: so you guys know, everyone in every team room across 547 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:25,000 Speaker 3: America is doing this right now. It's the people that 548 00:25:25,040 --> 00:25:26,840 Speaker 3: are going to leave this team room and go do 549 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:29,760 Speaker 3: something about it that are going to ultimately accomplish things. 550 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:33,720 Speaker 3: And so I think that's a huge part of coaching. 551 00:25:33,800 --> 00:25:35,840 Speaker 3: I certainly think it's a huge part of coaching in 552 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:40,439 Speaker 3: this day and age. And certainly pulling entitlement out of 553 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,680 Speaker 3: players has always been a big part of growth, right 554 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:45,720 Speaker 3: You only grow when you don't feel as though you're 555 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:46,919 Speaker 3: entitled to success. 556 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:49,919 Speaker 2: But now with nil and all. 557 00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:52,760 Speaker 3: The different things that come along with it, it's probably 558 00:25:52,800 --> 00:25:55,720 Speaker 3: even harder to pull the entitlement away. But it's critical 559 00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:59,400 Speaker 3: because you have to understand that you only get success 560 00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:01,400 Speaker 3: through work, the only way you're ever going to find it. 561 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:03,640 Speaker 1: When you've done this, as long as you've done this, 562 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 1: you've pretty much established an identity modus operandi way of 563 00:26:09,359 --> 00:26:12,400 Speaker 1: doing things. Things you believe in, values and principles, those 564 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:15,879 Speaker 1: things you don't really budge much on. When is the 565 00:26:15,960 --> 00:26:21,280 Speaker 1: last time you remember making a pretty substantial shift philosophically, 566 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:23,080 Speaker 1: Like more so than just the candy you're going to 567 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:24,920 Speaker 1: put on your table in your office. Like there was 568 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:27,359 Speaker 1: a thing that I was doing five years ago that 569 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:29,439 Speaker 1: I just flat out don't do or I do it, 570 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:31,080 Speaker 1: but I do it totally different now. 571 00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:33,720 Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean just this offseason, I mean we are 572 00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:36,639 Speaker 3: I think we are constantly trying to stay on the 573 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:39,479 Speaker 3: front foot with everything we do and trying to not 574 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:42,680 Speaker 3: make anything cookie cutter status quo. 575 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 2: And so you have principles that you believe define. 576 00:26:47,359 --> 00:26:50,640 Speaker 3: Your program right. Great is a big part of being successful. 577 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:54,440 Speaker 3: Playing with unbelievable effort is a big part of being successful. 578 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,560 Speaker 2: Those things have been the case for me forever. How 579 00:26:57,560 --> 00:26:58,199 Speaker 2: do you get that? 580 00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:00,960 Speaker 3: How do you accomplish that at the best level you 581 00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:04,960 Speaker 3: possibly can? And to me, that is a constant conversation 582 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:11,000 Speaker 3: relative to this specific group of players, this era, this team, everything. 583 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:12,919 Speaker 3: And so you know, we revamped a lot of what 584 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:16,239 Speaker 3: we did this offseason just because we felt like we 585 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:18,919 Speaker 3: needed to look and do some different things given our 586 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:21,800 Speaker 3: roster makeup and what we had. And so I think 587 00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:24,360 Speaker 3: you're constantly evaluating that stuff if you're doing it right. 588 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:27,760 Speaker 1: The evaluation part of that, like if I'm driving my 589 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:30,400 Speaker 1: car and the front right tire blows out. That's what's 590 00:27:30,440 --> 00:27:31,920 Speaker 1: wrong with the car. I just need to put a 591 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:34,199 Speaker 1: new tire on the car. But if there's like a 592 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,119 Speaker 1: weird sound under the hood, and I don't have a 593 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:39,679 Speaker 1: lot of experience, I'm not a mechanic, it could be 594 00:27:39,720 --> 00:27:44,000 Speaker 1: one of dozens of things. Let's say you have a 595 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:47,840 Speaker 1: season that falls short of expectation. Everybody knows something went wrong. 596 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:50,240 Speaker 1: It's up to you to figure out what went wrong. 597 00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:53,199 Speaker 1: But oftentimes it's not this one glaring thing. It's like 598 00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:58,680 Speaker 1: fractions of inches or just slight angular shift in multiple things. 599 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:01,280 Speaker 1: When you evaluate that sort of thing, how long does 600 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:03,960 Speaker 1: that take when you do a deep dive on a 601 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:08,440 Speaker 1: previous season and it's done, how long does that process take? 602 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:10,639 Speaker 3: Oh, I think it's every day. So I don't think 603 00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:13,720 Speaker 3: it's necessarily for me a process at the end. I 604 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:17,480 Speaker 3: think it's an ongoing process from start to finish of 605 00:28:17,880 --> 00:28:20,920 Speaker 3: this twenty twenty six football team. And so as we're 606 00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:24,080 Speaker 3: going through winter workouts, as we're going through springballs, we're 607 00:28:24,119 --> 00:28:27,480 Speaker 3: going through summer workouts. All the way through it, I'm 608 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:31,439 Speaker 3: evaluating and trying to figure out, Okay, I like this, 609 00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:32,199 Speaker 3: I don't like this. 610 00:28:32,359 --> 00:28:33,920 Speaker 2: I think this needs to change. 611 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:39,720 Speaker 3: I'm a big believer in you're evaluating your process regardless 612 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:40,200 Speaker 3: of result. 613 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:40,760 Speaker 1: Right. 614 00:28:40,800 --> 00:28:42,840 Speaker 3: It's why coming off of an eleven one season, we 615 00:28:42,960 --> 00:28:46,880 Speaker 3: changed a lot, because there's just if you look at 616 00:28:46,920 --> 00:28:50,800 Speaker 3: it that way, sometimes you can find success through failure 617 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:54,400 Speaker 3: by just repeating it. Sometimes you need to change everything. 618 00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:57,280 Speaker 3: That's what we get paid to make the decisions for, 619 00:28:57,360 --> 00:28:59,640 Speaker 3: you know. And I just think again, it comes back 620 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:02,600 Speaker 3: to just trusting yourself and trusting what you see and evaluate. 621 00:29:02,600 --> 00:29:05,000 Speaker 3: And so to me, it's not like, Okay, hey, the 622 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:09,120 Speaker 3: year ends, let's do a deep dive. It's every day. 623 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:11,880 Speaker 3: My job as the CEO, that CEO hat that I 624 00:29:11,960 --> 00:29:15,719 Speaker 3: wear here is to be evaluating everything that we're doing constantly, 625 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:19,600 Speaker 3: to tweak as we're going, but also ultimately to make 626 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:23,200 Speaker 3: sure that when we start this process again next January, 627 00:29:23,480 --> 00:29:25,360 Speaker 3: if there's things that need to get changed, they get 628 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:26,200 Speaker 3: changed for the better. 629 00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:27,920 Speaker 1: Is there? Let me ask you this way then? All right, 630 00:29:27,960 --> 00:29:31,320 Speaker 1: So I try and put myself in your shoes, and 631 00:29:31,360 --> 00:29:35,760 Speaker 1: I think I would evaluate constantly every day and if 632 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:37,800 Speaker 1: there's something that needs tweaking, I'm going to tweak it 633 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:41,640 Speaker 1: on Tuesday of week three. But I also think about 634 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:45,920 Speaker 1: noticing bigger picture, maybe more fundamental type things that I know, 635 00:29:46,520 --> 00:29:48,680 Speaker 1: there's only so much I can do about this right 636 00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:51,000 Speaker 1: now during the season, I'm going to place this in 637 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:54,680 Speaker 1: this bucket, and that's the January bucket. How full does 638 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:56,920 Speaker 1: the January if it's a December bucket, whatever, But how 639 00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:58,200 Speaker 1: full does that kind of bucket get? 640 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:01,080 Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it depends. I think some years it 641 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:03,880 Speaker 3: gets really full, some years not so much. And it's 642 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:08,960 Speaker 3: sometimes the solution isn't available in January, right, It's the 643 00:30:09,000 --> 00:30:12,760 Speaker 3: problems there, but the solution isn't available until you can 644 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:16,080 Speaker 3: sit down and say, Okay, here's a problem that we encountered, 645 00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:20,440 Speaker 3: how do we solve that problem starting in January? And 646 00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:23,200 Speaker 3: so yeah, I think there's certainly things every year that 647 00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:26,680 Speaker 3: wind up in that bucket, because you know, that's part 648 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:30,960 Speaker 3: of the process. So when you guess ultimately, when you 649 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:34,480 Speaker 3: decide things or fix things that can change, if you 650 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:36,760 Speaker 3: can fix them immediately, do it. Sometimes you've got to 651 00:30:36,800 --> 00:30:37,680 Speaker 3: push that stuff off. 652 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:39,760 Speaker 1: I'll get you out of here on this. We are 653 00:30:40,080 --> 00:30:43,200 Speaker 1: talking as you're in the middle of springball. You've got 654 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:46,800 Speaker 1: an infusion of another highly ranked recruited class. You've got 655 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:50,000 Speaker 1: a bunch of really really good portal players here halfway 656 00:30:50,040 --> 00:30:52,040 Speaker 1: through it or thereabouts. What have you seen so far 657 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:54,000 Speaker 1: from those guys and from the guys that you knew 658 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:54,840 Speaker 1: you had coming back? 659 00:30:55,040 --> 00:30:56,960 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we've got really good competition. 660 00:30:57,080 --> 00:31:00,520 Speaker 3: I think that's my biggest takeaway to this point is 661 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:03,200 Speaker 3: we've built a roster that is willing to compete with 662 00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:06,400 Speaker 3: each other every day to elevate. And that to me 663 00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:10,080 Speaker 3: is everything. It's how willing are you every day to 664 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:13,800 Speaker 3: move forward and grow. Obviously a lot of new faces 665 00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:15,840 Speaker 3: day one, and so you know, that's the world we 666 00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:18,000 Speaker 3: live in now. It's never what you want it to be, 667 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:22,240 Speaker 3: and so can you from day one of this process 668 00:31:22,800 --> 00:31:24,720 Speaker 3: grow every day all the way through it so that 669 00:31:24,800 --> 00:31:27,840 Speaker 3: by the time we start playing games it's September, we're 670 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:29,360 Speaker 3: where we need to be to go out and have 671 00:31:29,400 --> 00:31:30,080 Speaker 3: the success we. 672 00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:30,400 Speaker 2: Want to have. 673 00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:31,680 Speaker 1: Michaelico, it's always a pleasure. 674 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:33,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, appreciate it. 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