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Speaker 1: When you were growing up and you always heard people

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Speaker 1: talk about football.

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Speaker 2: They would talk about like the way it was when

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Speaker 2: I was younger, or a coach, the way it was

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Speaker 2: when I was coming up.

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Speaker 1: You're not coming up. I mean you're established now.

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Speaker 2: But let's say fifteen years down the road, some of

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Speaker 2: your players are trying to tell the story of what

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Speaker 2: it was like when they played. You're trying to tell

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Speaker 2: the story of what it was like. How do you

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Speaker 2: even tell the story? Cause you've been a head coach

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Speaker 2: a few years here, None of those two years have

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Speaker 2: been the same. I don't mean your record, I mean

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Speaker 2: the rules, the structure of the sport, the calendar. Twenty

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Speaker 2: years from now, someone asks, hey, hey, coach Lashly, what

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Speaker 2: was it like when you were a young coach, And

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Speaker 2: you just got to ask which month of which year.

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Speaker 3: I guess at the radar, sports evolving, I don't know

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Speaker 3: what it would look like in twenty years. And to

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Speaker 3: your point, I've been coaching three years. All three years

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Speaker 3: have been completely different. Rules of engagement to the game,

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Speaker 3: how the portal works, how nil works, how.

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Speaker 4: The rules of the game work.

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Speaker 3: The day I got hired, basically of December one of

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Speaker 3: twenty two was the first December we had, you know,

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Speaker 3: true in IL and an unlimited transfer. That was my

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Speaker 3: first month on the job, and so welcome to it.

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Speaker 3: And so it's changed a lot. I was talking with

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Speaker 3: Mac Brown just last year and he said, man, the

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Speaker 3: game has changed more in the last two to three

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Speaker 3: years than it did my first forty.

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Speaker 4: And he's right, some of those changes are great.

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Speaker 3: But you know, change can be good if there's some

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Speaker 3: planning behind it, as a structure behind it.

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Speaker 4: Right now we're struggling to have structure behind it.

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Speaker 2: Don't You have to be a little compartmentalized in a

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Speaker 2: sense that there's part of you who loves the game

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Speaker 2: and you're just a fan of the game. That part

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Speaker 2: of you probably wants to scream about some stuff. But

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Speaker 2: then you're also the head coach of a major program,

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Speaker 2: and it's not your job to be negative. It's your

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Speaker 2: job to be positive. It's your job to make the

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Speaker 2: situation at hand and guide your program the best you can.

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Speaker 2: You don't have time to complain. I mean, people like

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Speaker 2: me can afford to just do one of those things.

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Speaker 2: You kind of got to put away that human side

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Speaker 2: more the natural side, and you just got to steer

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Speaker 2: the ship, and even if it's foggy all around and

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Speaker 2: you can't really tell where you're going, you got to

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Speaker 2: just steer the best you can.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, well I have was saying you can't complain because

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Speaker 3: nobody'd listen, right, nobody care it is. You know, as

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Speaker 3: a coach, your job is to solve problems. That's all

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Speaker 3: you do. I mean, whether it's problems in game, NonStop,

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Speaker 3: you're just figuring out how to fix things, how to

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Speaker 3: solve things. So that's what we do as coaches, and

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Speaker 3: in a lot of ways in our sport right now,

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Speaker 3: the coaches, we're just catching all the challenges and just

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Speaker 3: figuring out the way to handle them the best we

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Speaker 3: can because we don't have a big voice, we don't

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Speaker 3: have a lot of say in what happens. But we're

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Speaker 3: the boots on the ground, we're the ones coaching, We're

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Speaker 3: the ones living at day and day out with our players.

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Speaker 4: So it is a challenge, you know.

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Speaker 3: On one hand, yes, it's the person who loves the

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Speaker 3: game just the peer. I love college football. I love

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Speaker 3: the game. It's the best game in the world. It's

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Speaker 3: the best team sport there is. It's a great teacher

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Speaker 3: of life. So many of us coach because of what

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Speaker 3: it did for us. So yeah, I love the game

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Speaker 3: person and me definitely want to scream. I care about

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Speaker 3: the players that I coach. I care about I still

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Speaker 3: call them kids. But the young men that we get

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Speaker 3: to recruit and coach, we desperately care about them and

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Speaker 3: what's best for them, both now and in the long term,

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Speaker 3: regardless of what people think. At the same time, those

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Speaker 3: two things can be true. And the number one thing

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Speaker 3: is I'm hired to win. I'm hired to win now

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Speaker 3: with the rules that have been given to me, and

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Speaker 3: a lot of times those three things don't line up

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Speaker 3: right now. And so that's the challenge as a coach

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Speaker 3: is how do you lead your program? How do you

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Speaker 3: lead a winning program? That's what you're hired to do.

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Speaker 3: That's your job, and that's what we do as coaches

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Speaker 3: is solve problems and figure out different ways to do things.

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Speaker 3: At the same time, care about your kids, care about

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Speaker 3: the love of the game, and want to help sustain

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Speaker 3: or or maintain the things that make this game great.

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Speaker 3: You know, because I do have concerns about the well

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Speaker 3: being of our young men that we're coaching now. Five ten,

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Speaker 3: fifteen years from now based on the way the game

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Speaker 3: is today.

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Speaker 2: You know, there's so much cynicism out there. Anytime a

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Speaker 2: guy who's making life changing money to coach the sport

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Speaker 2: says I'm looking out for the best interest of the players,

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Speaker 2: there's a portion of the public who just calls BS

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Speaker 2: on it and they say, you're not looking out for

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Speaker 2: the best interest to players, You're looking out for your

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Speaker 2: own best interest. You have to sit down with guys,

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Speaker 2: you have to sit down with families, and you have

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Speaker 2: to dispel that. And then you have to sometimes tell

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Speaker 2: a guy, don't be penny wise, pound foolish in what

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Speaker 2: you chase. Make forty year decisions instead of maybe four

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Speaker 2: year four month decisions. How hard and how much harder

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Speaker 2: are those conversations sometimes? Now, with the way the landscape

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Speaker 2: has evolved has of course brought in new challenges.

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Speaker 3: It is hard, and there is a public opinion out

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Speaker 3: there about that that is tough. I mean, here's what

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Speaker 3: I tell you. I've coached eighteen years now, and I

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Speaker 3: was making life changing money for the first.

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Speaker 4: Fifteen of it. I was making good money.

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Speaker 3: I was able to feed my family, I was living well,

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Speaker 3: but I wasn't making that kind of money, as you

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Speaker 3: would say, you earn it. You start with as a

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Speaker 3: ga making nothing, or you start with your first job

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Speaker 3: making a couple, you know, fifty sixty thousand dollars, and

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Speaker 3: you work your way to those opportunities.

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Speaker 4: You hope you earn.

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Speaker 3: It, or sometimes you're fortunate and blessed and maybe you're

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Speaker 3: just in the right place at the right time. But

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Speaker 3: it doesn't change the fact that we all need to

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Speaker 3: learn how to grow and struggle and earn things. And look,

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Speaker 3: I think me and all coaches want our players to

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Speaker 3: get everything they can. You know, college football is the

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Speaker 3: best game out there. It's never been more popular, and

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Speaker 3: it's a big business now. It's a massive industry, billions

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Speaker 3: of dollars. Yeah, those guys are the product. They deserve

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Speaker 3: to share in that. I don't think any of us

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Speaker 3: would try to take that from them, But how do

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Speaker 3: we do it in a way that teaches them life

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Speaker 3: reality to help them be better. I don't worry as

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Speaker 3: much about what other people would think. Yeah, there's certain

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Speaker 3: things that if you say, people will really criticize you

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Speaker 3: and they don't maybe know your heart. I worry about

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Speaker 3: the players. I'm dealing with the kids were recruiting what

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Speaker 3: they think they If they know I care about them,

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Speaker 3: then I'm good. And hopefully you just live your life

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Speaker 3: and a way and you carry yourself and away everyone

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Speaker 3: else will will get it.

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Speaker 4: And if they don't. I mean, I'm a coach.

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Speaker 3: There's a lot of people who don't like my third

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Speaker 3: and eight calls, So I've got to have pretty thick skin.

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Speaker 1: You just said something there.

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Speaker 2: So you said, as long as you know your heart,

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Speaker 2: and as long as your kids know your heart, you

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Speaker 2: can do without what everyone else thinks. So that applies

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Speaker 2: to you as a coach, It applies to them as players.

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Speaker 2: It also applies to everyone who will watch this or

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Speaker 2: listen to this. Really it's applicable.

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Speaker 1: In their life as well.

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Speaker 2: How life changing is it when you can get someone

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Speaker 2: to the point where you sort of, for lack of

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Speaker 2: a better term, make what other people think none of

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Speaker 2: your business. The ones who matter know, and then you

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Speaker 2: take comfort in the fact that if my real ones

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Speaker 2: know where my heart is, I can just kind of

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Speaker 2: put noise cancellating headphones on and everything else.

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Speaker 4: It's where you want to be.

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Speaker 3: I mean, it's the only way you can live with

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Speaker 3: some peace and happiness and true joy. It's hard though,

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Speaker 3: because we care what people think about us, you know

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Speaker 3: what I mean in this day and age when everything's

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Speaker 3: on social media and our kids are even more bombarded

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Speaker 3: by that. And I think that's kind of why we

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Speaker 3: are where we are is. Look, we're the adults in

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Speaker 3: the room. We being the coaches and the people that

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Speaker 3: are making all the rules and things that are affecting

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Speaker 3: college football, and it's our job to be good stewards

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Speaker 3: of the game, but also most importantly.

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Speaker 4: Do what's best for our players.

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Speaker 3: Doesn't mean we give them everything that's either they think

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Speaker 3: they want or people think they should have what's best

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Speaker 3: for them. Yes, they should have the ability to earn

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Speaker 3: money based on their name, image and likeness and what

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Speaker 3: they do for a sport that has grown in a

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Speaker 3: massive way in terms of the industry. Yes, they should

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Speaker 3: have the ability to have some freedom to transfer. If

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Speaker 3: coach can leave, they should have some freedom. But there's

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Speaker 3: still rules from a coach leaving, there's contracts, there's buyouts,

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Speaker 3: Like you don't just pick up and leave every six

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Speaker 3: months with no consequences.

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Speaker 4: Right, that's the real world.

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Speaker 3: And so how do we do that and find that

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Speaker 3: balance I think that's where the adults have to come

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Speaker 3: back into the room.

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Speaker 4: It's no different than me raising my kids.

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Speaker 3: I've always said my kids would have ice cream for breakfast, lunch,

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Speaker 3: and dinner if I'd let them. That's what they want.

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Speaker 3: They don't know that's not what's best for them long term.

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Speaker 4: Mom and dad do. That's our job.

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Speaker 3: So how do we give them joy, give them happiness,

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Speaker 3: give them love, give them what they deserve, but at

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Speaker 3: the same time raise them and prepare them for the future.

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Speaker 4: That's where we are right now. In college football.

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Speaker 3: We've got a little bit of an issue of we want.

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Speaker 3: Any coach will tell you, man, I want my players

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Speaker 3: to have everything they can have. I also want when

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Speaker 3: they're twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine, and thirty and

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Speaker 3: they're married and they have two kids, them to be

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Speaker 3: successful and to have learned the lessons in our great

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Speaker 3: game that have helped them. Because what maybe one percent

202
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Speaker 3: are going to have a second NFL contract, Most of

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Speaker 3: them are going to be successful on other things.

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Speaker 4: Are we preparing them for that?

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Speaker 2: You guys just had a hugely successful season here. You

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Speaker 2: end up playing for a conference championship, you go to

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Speaker 2: the playoff, and yet you had virtually no staff turnover. Normally,

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Speaker 2: it's the opposite. Normally, if you achieve at a high level,

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Speaker 2: you're constantly having your assistance poached left and right. I

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Speaker 2: got to assume guys had offers, and I've got to

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Speaker 2: assume they stayed here because you've actually created something that

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Speaker 2: they want to be a part of. Now you've heard

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Speaker 2: the word culture ever since the day you picked up

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Speaker 2: a football, But now you implement one. What kind of

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Speaker 2: culture have you implemented here? How rewarding is or maybe

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Speaker 2: how validating is it? When you look around and you say, man,

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Speaker 2: we got kind of everyone coming back again.

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Speaker 3: It's fun. It's a lot more fun than having to

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Speaker 3: replace everybody. You know, culture is a big deal.

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Speaker 4: It's a buzzword in our world, in our industry, and

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Speaker 4: but it matters team culture, staff culture matters, you know,

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Speaker 4: some degree, cultures what you allow or tolerate.

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Speaker 3: But also culture is just the norms and the things

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Speaker 3: that make up you know, what you believe in. You know,

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Speaker 3: and as a staff, we believe that. I believe life's

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Speaker 3: about relationships and lives about people. Our staff believes that,

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Speaker 3: which also bleeds into our team. You know, you can't

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Speaker 3: have a healthy team with a good culture if you

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Speaker 3: don't have a healthy staff, because that all bleeds downhill.

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Speaker 3: And I credit our staff for creating the culture. We've

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Speaker 3: got good people, not only on the field. We've got

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Speaker 3: great support staff and recruiting and operations and player development

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Speaker 3: and all and on and on, people that you know

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Speaker 3: aren't on the front lines and don't get all the glory.

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Speaker 3: We've got a group of people that we want to

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Speaker 3: be just honest, genuine, transparent. This is who we are.

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Speaker 3: We're not perfect, but we're all in this together and

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Speaker 3: we do. We spend time together as a staff, and

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Speaker 3: so it is.

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Speaker 4: It's good when you can win.

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Speaker 3: Guys are getting jobs offered deservedly so and they're taking

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Speaker 3: stock personally what's best for me and my family, and

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Speaker 3: we think right now it's best to stay and we

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Speaker 3: want to stay.

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Speaker 4: As a head coach, that's the culture you want to have.

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Speaker 4: We're blessed to have it now. We have to fight

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Speaker 4: for it every day and defend.

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Speaker 3: It to keep it. And we're also not naive. If

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Speaker 3: we can continue to win, guys are going to get opportunities.

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Speaker 3: But as a leader, if guys leave this program because

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Speaker 3: they're getting a better opportunity, then that's what you want.

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Speaker 3: You know, Johnny Brewer and I have been together for

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Speaker 3: eleven years. Johnny Brewer was our quarterbacks coach our first

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Speaker 3: two years here, and he got a chance to go

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Speaker 3: be an office coordinator for Manny at Duke Like it

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Speaker 3: was a no brainer. Like we celebrated him as he went.

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Speaker 3: Those are the kind of moves you want people to

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Speaker 3: be able to make when they leave your program, and

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Speaker 3: until then, you want to make it as hard as

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Speaker 3: you can or as hard as you can on them

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Speaker 3: to leave.

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Speaker 2: You've coached many different places, You've worked under many different guys.

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Speaker 2: I got to assume along the way you saw a

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Speaker 2: lot of stuff and you said, if I ever got

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Speaker 2: my own program, I'm going to do this. Maybe more importantly,

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Speaker 2: you saw some stuff where you said, if I got

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Speaker 2: my program one day, it will not be like that.

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Speaker 2: So you know, generally, as you can possibly speak, what

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Speaker 2: are some of those things on each side of the

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Speaker 2: equation where you've kind of observed it along the way

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Speaker 2: and said yes in the future, no, in the future.

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Speaker 3: Man, tell you a lot of things. You have this

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Speaker 3: idea of when, hey, one day, when I'm a head coach,

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Speaker 3: I'm gonna do this, and then you get the job

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Speaker 3: and in the first two weeks you just throw all

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Speaker 3: that out the window and you're just trying to keep

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Speaker 3: your head above water.

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Speaker 4: You know, you're right.

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Speaker 3: You learn how to do a lot of things, and

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Speaker 3: you learn how not to do a lot of things,

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Speaker 3: and that's just part of the growth process. I've been

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Speaker 3: blessed to work for some awesome head coaches in my career.

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Speaker 3: I mean, I played and worked for Houston Nutt. Everyone

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Speaker 3: knows my relationship and time with Gus Maleson, Gene Chiswick,

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Speaker 3: Pat Sullivan, Randy edzel Sonny Dyke's Manny Diaz.

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Speaker 4: I mean, there's a.

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Speaker 3: Lot of Coach of the Year awards in that group,

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Speaker 3: and so I've learned how to do a lot of.

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Speaker 4: Things from them. You know.

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Speaker 3: The thing I think that's important to me and the

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Speaker 3: two things that I don't ever want to be that

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Speaker 3: when I said I'm gonna be a head coach and

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Speaker 3: even now after doing.

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Speaker 4: It for three years, I want to be non negotiables.

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Speaker 3: I'm gonna have a relationship with my staff like outside

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Speaker 3: of football, and our families as much as they're willing,

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Speaker 3: are going to be close, and our wives are going

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Speaker 3: to know each other. I know a lot of coach

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Speaker 3: that don't do that because they're like, well, don't get

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Speaker 3: too close because.

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Speaker 4: If you have to fire them, it makes it harder.

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Speaker 4: You know what, You're probably right.

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Speaker 3: The goal is not to have to do those things.

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Speaker 3: But if you have to, then those things will handle themselves.

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Speaker 3: But we're gonna We're gonna enjoy what we do and

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Speaker 3: who we do it with while we're doing it. It's

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Speaker 3: really too hard to do it any other way. And

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Speaker 3: the second thing I'll say is with the players, we

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Speaker 3: are still going to be about relationships and driven with

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Speaker 3: our players, even in a day and age where they

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Speaker 3: make a ton of money and the transfer portal and

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Speaker 3: you're not really programed building anymore.

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Speaker 4: You're team building every year.

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Speaker 3: I don't know any other way to do it because

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Speaker 3: the fundamentals of our game haven't changed. You can coach

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Speaker 3: them as your hard hard as you're willing to love them,

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Speaker 3: and they do not care deep down what we are

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Speaker 3: telling them and doing. If they don't know we love

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Speaker 3: them and care about them. And so those are two

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Speaker 3: things and things I don't ever want to compromise, like

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Speaker 3: I want to make sure that the people on our

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Speaker 3: staff and in our building they know a bare minimum

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Speaker 3: I care about them and I'm trying to do the

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Speaker 3: best I can for them, even if it doesn't always

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Speaker 3: work out that way. And I don't ever want a

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Speaker 3: player to come through this program, whether they transfer out

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Speaker 3: early or whether they graduate and leave and not know.

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Speaker 3: You know, I may out have agreed with what coach did,

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Speaker 3: or I may nott of liked this or like that,

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Speaker 3: but I know.

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Speaker 4: He cared about me, and that's the most important thing

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Speaker 4: to me.

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Speaker 2: You probably got guys sitting in your office all the time,

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Speaker 2: maybe coaches, definitely players, and they're at various low points

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Speaker 2: in their life. They're looking for someone to listen to them.

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Speaker 2: But also, if I'm talking to the authority figure in

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Speaker 2: the building, I want to know he can relate to

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Speaker 2: what I'm going through. If I'm going through the worst

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Speaker 2: part of my career professionally or scholastically.

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Speaker 1: What are some of the.

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Speaker 2: Things you draw, What are some of the stories you

342
00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:40,960
Speaker 2: tell guys about your playing or coaching career, And you say, hey,

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Speaker 2: I can't relate exactly, but trust me, I generally know

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Speaker 2: how you feel because fill in the blank.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, you always are trying to find a way to

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Speaker 3: identify and not necessarily say I totally get it, but

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Speaker 3: build a little bit of a connection. I've been in

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Speaker 3: a similar situation you're in that worked out okay.

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Speaker 4: And let me help you through that.

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Speaker 3: Because when you're going through something tough in life, whether

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Speaker 3: you're a player or just any of us, when you're

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Speaker 3: in the middle of the storm, you can never see

353
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Speaker 3: outside in front of your face because it just seems

354
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Speaker 3: everything is right on top of you.

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Speaker 4: It seems terrible and.

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Speaker 3: You can't truly appreciate that there is something on the

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Speaker 3: other side of it.

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Speaker 4: And a lot of times.

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Speaker 3: You're learning things that you didn't know are gonna help

360
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Speaker 3: you later in life in this difficult situation, because adversity

361
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Speaker 3: makes us all better. And so try to explain to someone, hey,

362
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Speaker 3: you're going through this, whether it's with your family personally,

363
00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:33,920
Speaker 3: with you, things you're struggling with, disappointments, playing time, whatnot.

364
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Speaker 3: You know, any range of things are struggling with. You

365
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Speaker 3: want to identify with them to where you can say, look,

366
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Speaker 3: I've been in a similar situation. I know it's hard

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Speaker 3: right now, and I know you can't see the other

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Speaker 3: side of this, but you're gonna come out on the

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Speaker 3: other side of it. And when you do, five, ten,

370
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Speaker 3: fifteen years from now, you're gonna look back and remember

371
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Speaker 3: this time and go, Wow, that time actually made me better.

372
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Speaker 3: And if I was in charge of my life, I'd

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Speaker 3: have pulled myself out of it, but thank god I wasn't,

374
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Speaker 3: and I got left in the middle of this yuck

375
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Speaker 3: and this thing I didn't like. But when you're older

376
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Speaker 3: and you've been through those experiences, you can have those

377
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Speaker 3: conversations and hope to show them Look, I've been through this,

378
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Speaker 3: this and this I didn't understand it, then this is

379
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Speaker 3: how it worked out for me. Okay, Now in the moment,

380
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Speaker 3: let's just worry about today. What can we do to

381
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Speaker 3: make it a little better right now? How can we

382
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Speaker 3: help you get through this time you're struggling with instead

383
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Speaker 3: of trying to.

384
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Speaker 4: You know, find ways just out.

385
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Speaker 3: We all want out, But how do we how do

386
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Speaker 3: we thrive through the adversity to where one day it

387
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Speaker 3: truly made us better and served.

388
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Speaker 4: The purpose that it was there for.

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Speaker 2: No this concept now, so being able to be the

390
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Speaker 2: director or the producer of your life and watching it

391
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Speaker 2: play out and knowing if I was in charge, I

392
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Speaker 2: would I would have pulled the plug at various points.

393
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Speaker 2: I know where I'd go in my life, Like I'd

394
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Speaker 2: go back to local news days and you're making nothing

395
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Speaker 2: and you don't know if anyone's watching. It's it's local

396
00:16:54,760 --> 00:16:57,440
Speaker 2: news too, so it's not really fun. Are there like

397
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Speaker 2: specific points in your in your timeline where you go

398
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Speaker 2: back and you look at you say, there's a dot,

399
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Speaker 2: there's a dot, there's a dot.

400
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Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm glad I wasn't in charge. Lever would have

401
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Speaker 1: been pulled.

402
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Speaker 4: Right there, one one hundred percent.

403
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Speaker 3: I'm glad God's in charge of my life because if

404
00:17:10,080 --> 00:17:12,439
Speaker 3: I was, I wouldn't be sitting right here. You know,

405
00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:14,680
Speaker 3: from when I was a player. I was a really

406
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Speaker 3: good high school player. I went to college. I didn't

407
00:17:16,960 --> 00:17:19,119
Speaker 3: amount to much my claim to fame as I was

408
00:17:19,119 --> 00:17:22,280
Speaker 3: a backup to Matt Jones at Arkansas and uh yeah, sure,

409
00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:24,000
Speaker 3: I tore my shoulder up and did this and did that.

410
00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:27,000
Speaker 3: It didn't work out how I wanted to. Looking back,

411
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Speaker 3: I can see why I went through some of those experiences.

412
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Speaker 3: Maybe some of the decisions I made that contributed to

413
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Speaker 3: it as well, thinking more maybe easily relatable currently as

414
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Speaker 3: a coach. You know, I'm twenty nine when I get

415
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Speaker 3: to be the OC at Auburn. We win the Kick six.

416
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Speaker 3: I'm thirty when we're playing Florida State for a national

417
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Speaker 3: championship game.

418
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Speaker 4: MC Bry's Award finalists.

419
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Speaker 3: And for the next eight or nine years, everybody just

420
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Speaker 3: assumes I'm going to be a head coach. I'd like

421
00:17:50,160 --> 00:17:51,919
Speaker 3: to be a head coach. I interview every year for

422
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Speaker 3: a head job. I'm not getting head jobs.

423
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Speaker 4: Now. Fast forward to twenty sixteen. We're four years in.

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Speaker 3: We'd go with the Sugar Bowl, but it's just not

425
00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:01,639
Speaker 3: working and I need to go out and do it

426
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Speaker 3: on my own. Well, really, the only option that I

427
00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:06,080
Speaker 3: went to I go to Connecticut. Everybody's like, what are

428
00:18:06,119 --> 00:18:09,600
Speaker 3: you doing? What's going on? I'm probably thinking the same thing.

429
00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:12,959
Speaker 3: That year at Connecticut we went three and nine. We

430
00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:15,639
Speaker 3: weren't very good. You know, offensively we got better, but

431
00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:16,800
Speaker 3: we didn't win a lot of games.

432
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Speaker 4: In that moment, I'm.

433
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Speaker 3: Sitting here questioning why am I doing this, and I'm like, hey,

434
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Speaker 3: maybe I should just I mean, I told my wife

435
00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:25,679
Speaker 3: on several occasions, maybe I should just get out. You know,

436
00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:28,160
Speaker 3: I coached it in twenty eleven at Stanford, I coached

437
00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:30,159
Speaker 3: a young a set of twins. Their dad works for

438
00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:31,640
Speaker 3: Chick fil A. Maybe I can go get a Chick

439
00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:32,400
Speaker 3: fil A somewhere.

440
00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:33,679
Speaker 4: You know, they make good livings.

441
00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:35,600
Speaker 3: They only work six days a week and that line's

442
00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:38,520
Speaker 3: always long, like you know, and it's always a pleasure, right,

443
00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:40,840
Speaker 3: So maybe we can do that, make a good living,

444
00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:43,800
Speaker 3: enjoy our family, like we don't need all this. In

445
00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:45,800
Speaker 3: those moments, you're in the middle of it and you

446
00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:50,920
Speaker 3: can't see past the adversity. But now, sitting here, three

447
00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:52,800
Speaker 3: years into being a head coach, I know why I

448
00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,160
Speaker 3: needed to go through those steps. I can look back now.

449
00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:59,080
Speaker 3: I wouldn't have then see why I needed that season

450
00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:02,919
Speaker 3: at Auburn, that year at Connecticut. I needed for Sonny

451
00:19:02,920 --> 00:19:05,199
Speaker 3: to bring me here to SMU for two years. I

452
00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:07,639
Speaker 3: needed to go to Miami and do that, like, I

453
00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:10,119
Speaker 3: needed those steps to better prepare me for this, and

454
00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:12,680
Speaker 3: I didn't know it at the time, and I think

455
00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:14,600
Speaker 3: it's helped me be a better head coach when I

456
00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:18,320
Speaker 3: did get that opportunity. And again, if I was in charge,

457
00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:20,919
Speaker 3: I'd probably been a head coach somewhere else sooner. Instead,

458
00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:23,680
Speaker 3: I'm blessed to be the head coach at SMU at

459
00:19:23,960 --> 00:19:26,560
Speaker 3: a perfect time to be the head coach at SMU.

460
00:19:26,720 --> 00:19:27,880
Speaker 4: It just all worked out.

461
00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:31,680
Speaker 3: But in the middle of twenty sixteen twenty seventeen, if

462
00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:33,600
Speaker 3: I was in charge, I just pulled myself out and

463
00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,199
Speaker 3: put me at this school and said, let's go.

464
00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:37,280
Speaker 4: Sure every by what you can do.

465
00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:39,640
Speaker 3: I needed that process in that time, and I would

466
00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:41,240
Speaker 3: have never known it in the moment.

467
00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:43,160
Speaker 2: You know, when I was growing up, Like I remember,

468
00:19:43,720 --> 00:19:46,320
Speaker 2: I remember literally saying prayers when I was sixteen. There's

469
00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:48,680
Speaker 2: this girl I like, and I remember praying, Hey, if

470
00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:52,200
Speaker 2: you just give me like one call in life, I'm

471
00:19:52,280 --> 00:19:54,280
Speaker 2: using it right now, I'm calling it in and she's

472
00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:57,000
Speaker 2: it did not work, And of course, in retrospect, you're

473
00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,320
Speaker 2: glad it didn't work. But like at the same time,

474
00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:03,040
Speaker 2: I remember thinking to myself professionally, everyone wants their big break.

475
00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:05,639
Speaker 2: Everyone's looking for their big break. And I remember twenty sixteen,

476
00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:08,159
Speaker 2: seventeen eighteen, I'm just fully convinced, man, it's time for

477
00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,760
Speaker 2: my big break. It didn't come. Thank God, it didn't come.

478
00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:15,080
Speaker 2: And so then it does come later on, and you

479
00:20:15,440 --> 00:20:18,560
Speaker 2: learn what you didn't know because you couldn't have known it.

480
00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:20,920
Speaker 2: And then you see which doors are opened three years

481
00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:23,280
Speaker 2: down the road that didn't even exist three years.

482
00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:24,520
Speaker 1: Prior, so it wasn't time yet.

483
00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:28,639
Speaker 2: And all the while you realize that, Okay, but this

484
00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:31,040
Speaker 2: right here, Lord Willing, is not the final chapter of

485
00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:34,840
Speaker 2: my book. So even now I'm probably sitting here wishing

486
00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:37,719
Speaker 2: for things and asking for things that I'm not ready for.

487
00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:41,359
Speaker 2: So it's not just like I'm infinitely wise now and

488
00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:42,520
Speaker 2: all that's in the past.

489
00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:43,480
Speaker 1: It's in the presence.

490
00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:45,800
Speaker 2: Still some of it's in the future, because you know,

491
00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:48,640
Speaker 2: you're not sitting here talking to me in your early nineties.

492
00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:51,080
Speaker 2: You're talking to me in your early forties. And so

493
00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:53,600
Speaker 2: when you kind of look at the rest of your career,

494
00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:56,840
Speaker 2: how much does that guide you to know that it's unknown. Man,

495
00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:58,280
Speaker 2: I'm just gonna sit in the here and now. But

496
00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:01,160
Speaker 2: at least I'm not told totally ignorant to the ways

497
00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:01,960
Speaker 2: of the world anymore.

498
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:05,000
Speaker 3: Well, I think having that experience gives you the perspective

499
00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:08,760
Speaker 3: to then when the challenges come again in the forties,

500
00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:10,720
Speaker 3: you go, Okay, this isn't fun.

501
00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:13,960
Speaker 4: I don't enjoy this, but I've been here in some

502
00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:14,840
Speaker 4: version before.

503
00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:18,080
Speaker 3: I know if I can just push through this, it

504
00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:20,520
Speaker 3: may be it may be for a good reason, or

505
00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:22,320
Speaker 3: it may just be part of life. Right, And so

506
00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:26,320
Speaker 3: I think the hardest thing for me and probably anyone

507
00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:29,400
Speaker 3: else is to how do I have goals and big

508
00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:31,400
Speaker 3: dreams and things I want to accomplish, because you got

509
00:21:31,400 --> 00:21:31,679
Speaker 3: to have it.

510
00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:32,760
Speaker 4: If you don't have it, I mean.

511
00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:36,120
Speaker 3: Without vision, you're going nowhere at the same time live

512
00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:38,600
Speaker 3: and be present in the moment, and that is so

513
00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:41,399
Speaker 3: hard to do. Like, I'll never forget. In twenty eleven,

514
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:43,719
Speaker 3: Pat Sullivan had hired me to be the OS at Sanford.

515
00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:45,399
Speaker 4: I was twenty seven. I have no idea why he

516
00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:47,720
Speaker 4: hired me other than we just won a national title

517
00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:49,920
Speaker 4: so and I was at Auburn, so that's all connected

518
00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:50,320
Speaker 4: for him.

519
00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:52,720
Speaker 3: But like, I didn't do it right, and he's given

520
00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:54,560
Speaker 3: me a first time OC job at twenty seven.

521
00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:56,240
Speaker 4: I didn't know. I mean I thought I knew what

522
00:21:56,240 --> 00:21:58,239
Speaker 4: I was doing and I had it all ironed out.

523
00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:00,359
Speaker 3: Right, I'm going to go there and hey, we're gonna

524
00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:02,560
Speaker 3: turn They scored seventeen points a game. We're gonna be

525
00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:05,080
Speaker 3: so much better. And man, in two years, I'll be

526
00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:06,800
Speaker 3: the OC at this school. In three years, I'll be

527
00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:08,920
Speaker 3: the head coach there. I mean, And I remember sitting

528
00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:12,480
Speaker 3: in my office at June. No one was there and

529
00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:14,119
Speaker 3: I just kind of looked out. My boys were not

530
00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:16,040
Speaker 3: even a year old yet. So I had twin boys born,

531
00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:19,000
Speaker 3: been married a couple of years. I'm the OC at Sanmford.

532
00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:21,679
Speaker 3: Nobody really knew where I was and I could make mistakes,

533
00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:23,760
Speaker 3: but I didn't know that yet. I remember just thinking,

534
00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:26,000
Speaker 3: you know, God just allowed me to have this piece

535
00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:27,240
Speaker 3: of perspective for a moment.

536
00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:28,399
Speaker 4: I said, how cool is this.

537
00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:31,720
Speaker 3: You're twenty seven, You're getting a call offensive place for

538
00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:34,639
Speaker 3: a former Heisman winner, You like living in Birmingham, you

539
00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:39,360
Speaker 3: got healthy, like, just enjoy it. And I did and

540
00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:41,320
Speaker 3: I didn't mean to. But by twenty nine I was

541
00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:43,800
Speaker 3: OC at Auburn, right, But I didn't think for the

542
00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:45,399
Speaker 3: next two years about man, I just got to go

543
00:22:45,400 --> 00:22:48,360
Speaker 3: get that, like, and that's so hard. It's so hard

544
00:22:48,359 --> 00:22:50,280
Speaker 3: for kids to do, it's hard for adults to do.

545
00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:52,840
Speaker 3: Is how can I stay present? Because the reality is

546
00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:54,520
Speaker 3: if I don't do a good job with where I

547
00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:57,280
Speaker 3: am right now, nothing else is gonna happen.

548
00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:00,400
Speaker 2: It's one of the great struggles being like process orient though,

549
00:23:00,640 --> 00:23:04,800
Speaker 2: of being the process oriented person who's always about you

550
00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,480
Speaker 2: know what it takes to achieve, and you got mid

551
00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:09,560
Speaker 2: tier and big tier long term goals. But at the

552
00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:12,679
Speaker 2: same time, happiness can sometimes like be an enemy of

553
00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:15,719
Speaker 2: that because you almost think happiness is an illusion. I'm

554
00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:17,240
Speaker 2: not supposed to sit here and look around. I'm not

555
00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:19,160
Speaker 2: supposed to smile. I'm not supposed to take a deep breath.

556
00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:21,679
Speaker 2: I got to keep going, going, going. You can do both,

557
00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:26,480
Speaker 2: but is it sometimes not hard? You're describing that right now.

558
00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:28,920
Speaker 2: You were happy in your late twenties. You weren't where

559
00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:31,320
Speaker 2: you were headed, but you were happy in your late twenties,

560
00:23:31,359 --> 00:23:33,439
Speaker 2: and sometimes you got to know you can kick your

561
00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:35,840
Speaker 2: feet up for a little while, not indefinitely, but you

562
00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:38,800
Speaker 2: can take a look around, maybe even there to give

563
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:40,399
Speaker 2: yourself a quick pat on the back as long as

564
00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:42,480
Speaker 2: no one's looking, yeah, and then you get back to work.

565
00:23:42,560 --> 00:23:44,320
Speaker 3: I do think you have to give yourself credit when

566
00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:47,439
Speaker 3: credit is due, and when you have successes, you have

567
00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:51,200
Speaker 3: to take a moment appreciate it, celebrate it, but also

568
00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:54,080
Speaker 3: humbly appreciate maybe how hard it was to get there,

569
00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:57,120
Speaker 3: others helped you, and know that it's fleeting. You know,

570
00:23:57,560 --> 00:23:59,520
Speaker 3: I think anybody in our business who gets the Guru

571
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,080
Speaker 3: bird on their shoulder two or three years later, they're

572
00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:03,200
Speaker 3: almost like out of the business.

573
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:04,400
Speaker 4: It's crazy, right, And so.

574
00:24:05,960 --> 00:24:08,679
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think at the end of the day, I

575
00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:11,240
Speaker 3: just have to be comfortable in any of us too,

576
00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:13,000
Speaker 3: just to be able to stay present, which is a

577
00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:16,199
Speaker 3: daily struggle for any of us and not kind of

578
00:24:16,400 --> 00:24:19,160
Speaker 3: have strategy drift or get your mind so far off

579
00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,320
Speaker 3: that you lose focus of the here and now thinking

580
00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:24,639
Speaker 3: about what could be. Is you just have to be

581
00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:26,800
Speaker 3: comfortable knowing you're not the author of your story. You

582
00:24:26,880 --> 00:24:29,919
Speaker 3: can't control the future as much as we want to,

583
00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:32,400
Speaker 3: and so it's like, man, let's enjoy where we are now.

584
00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:34,120
Speaker 3: My wife and I have felt that way. I mean,

585
00:24:34,119 --> 00:24:37,199
Speaker 3: our boys are turning fourteen. We've lived in ten homes

586
00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:40,760
Speaker 3: in fourteen years, so we've moved plenty, and every move

587
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:43,240
Speaker 3: has been a good move, but also a hard move

588
00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:45,679
Speaker 3: because we were leaving behind people we cared about.

589
00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:47,040
Speaker 4: But we also weren't.

590
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:50,359
Speaker 3: Scared to dive in where we were and create relationships

591
00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:52,440
Speaker 3: and try to get some deep roots, knowing that they're

592
00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:54,240
Speaker 3: going to get ripped out at some point and that's

593
00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:56,480
Speaker 3: not going to be fun, but that's the only way

594
00:24:56,520 --> 00:24:59,320
Speaker 3: to live, and so that's what we do the best

595
00:24:59,320 --> 00:24:59,760
Speaker 3: we can.

596
00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:01,040
Speaker 4: But it is hard.

597
00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:05,359
Speaker 2: The coaching existence is about as close to the military

598
00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:07,879
Speaker 2: family existence, I think as you can get in a

599
00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:11,680
Speaker 2: sense that you get calloused to moving and you move

600
00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:13,640
Speaker 2: in and sometimes you look at a box and you say,

601
00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:16,320
Speaker 2: why even unpack this, We're gonna pack it right back

602
00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:18,920
Speaker 2: up in thirty six months, forty eight months. Why even

603
00:25:18,920 --> 00:25:21,119
Speaker 2: get to know the neighbors. It's just gonna make it

604
00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:23,440
Speaker 2: harder to say goodbye. I mean, do you ever sort

605
00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:26,280
Speaker 2: of over the course of ten moves start to develop

606
00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:27,280
Speaker 2: a mentality like that.

607
00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:28,920
Speaker 4: Well, and that's the callous and you got to guard

608
00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:29,240
Speaker 4: against it.

609
00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:31,040
Speaker 3: And it's so easy to happen to us, right is

610
00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:33,880
Speaker 3: I'm just we just took this new job, but we're

611
00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:35,800
Speaker 3: not going to get too close to everybody because we

612
00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:37,359
Speaker 3: know we're just going to move and that's just no

613
00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:40,520
Speaker 3: way to live your life. Right But yeah, I mean

614
00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,000
Speaker 3: there's been a couple moves. After the third move, I'm like,

615
00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:45,560
Speaker 3: that box was from three moves ago. We probably need

616
00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:47,520
Speaker 3: to get rid of it. We haven't really needed it lately,

617
00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:50,280
Speaker 3: you know, what I mean. And to your point, you

618
00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:52,440
Speaker 3: kind of get this itch like we're starting our fourth

619
00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:54,720
Speaker 3: season here. We have no intention to move, we don't

620
00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:58,000
Speaker 3: want to move, but we're moving houses within Dallas. We're

621
00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:00,880
Speaker 3: moving three miles in the next month, probably just because that.

622
00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:03,159
Speaker 4: Two or three year window, we feel like we're supposed

623
00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:06,880
Speaker 4: to move. And to your point, you know.

624
00:26:06,880 --> 00:26:09,520
Speaker 3: People always sometimes when you compare it to the military,

625
00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:12,080
Speaker 3: it has nothing comparison in terms of what the military

626
00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:15,879
Speaker 3: people do. But the comparison is, you know, there's a

627
00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:18,960
Speaker 3: couple of people that they belong really to.

628
00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:20,600
Speaker 4: The community, and it's the.

629
00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:24,600
Speaker 3: Military, it's pastors, it's law enforcement and fire department services,

630
00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:28,199
Speaker 3: and it's ball coaches. Because I got four kids at

631
00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:29,880
Speaker 3: home and a wife, also got one hundred and five

632
00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:33,040
Speaker 3: plus guys on this team, a full staff, an entire

633
00:26:33,240 --> 00:26:37,919
Speaker 3: SMU family to answer to, and you belong to that community.

634
00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:42,680
Speaker 3: But with our job, we're kind of almost like independent contractors.

635
00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:46,119
Speaker 3: And a lot of times you're moving constantly and you

636
00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:48,159
Speaker 3: can get callous to it, or you can choose to

637
00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:50,960
Speaker 3: embrace every move and where you are and say, you

638
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,080
Speaker 3: know what, we're gonna be thankful for where we were

639
00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:55,080
Speaker 3: and we're gonna find the best in this while we're here.

640
00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:56,440
Speaker 3: We don't know how long we're going to be here

641
00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:58,560
Speaker 3: as much as we think we do, and we're going

642
00:26:58,640 --> 00:26:59,960
Speaker 3: to live in the moment enjoy it.

643
00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:05,680
Speaker 2: A few minutes ago, you talked about something you talked

644
00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:08,760
Speaker 2: about being at Auburn in the early twenty teens. You

645
00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:11,800
Speaker 2: talked about being there on the field wearing a headset

646
00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:14,879
Speaker 2: when the kick six happens. And I mean you probably

647
00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:17,960
Speaker 2: realized this is insane at the time. But now we've

648
00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:20,960
Speaker 2: got a decade's plus hindsight, and I think more and

649
00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:22,639
Speaker 2: more you look back on that and you realize that

650
00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:26,240
Speaker 2: is the total golden age of SEC football. You're going

651
00:27:26,320 --> 00:27:28,600
Speaker 2: up against the best of all time in your own

652
00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:31,800
Speaker 2: state in Nick Saban, and then you've also got four

653
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:34,359
Speaker 2: or five other programs that are banging out double digit

654
00:27:34,359 --> 00:27:38,320
Speaker 2: win seasons and just live bullets flying constantly. How wild

655
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:40,920
Speaker 2: was coaching in the SEC in that era?

656
00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:42,280
Speaker 4: It was wild?

657
00:27:42,520 --> 00:27:45,080
Speaker 3: It was awesome, and you do pinch yourself and go, man,

658
00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:47,639
Speaker 3: some of the moments you got to be a part of,

659
00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:49,800
Speaker 3: Like I remember in six is a GA we had

660
00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:51,640
Speaker 3: Darren mcfatten at Arkansas.

661
00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:53,160
Speaker 1: And Felix Jones and Felix Jones.

662
00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:54,680
Speaker 4: And Peyton Hillis you know what I mean.

663
00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:57,040
Speaker 3: And that was my first year of coaching as a

664
00:27:57,119 --> 00:28:00,919
Speaker 3: GA and then twenty ten with Cam Newton and then

665
00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:03,720
Speaker 3: you go to thirteen. To your point, you know after

666
00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:06,800
Speaker 3: that game, right, that happened the field storm. An hour

667
00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:08,720
Speaker 3: after the game, I think we even walked up to

668
00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:11,000
Speaker 3: Tumor's corner, which we never did, like we got to

669
00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:14,119
Speaker 3: take this in going home, and I remember my wife

670
00:28:14,119 --> 00:28:15,920
Speaker 3: didn't really get it, so I think I probably told

671
00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:18,200
Speaker 3: my dad and some friends like this is the Stanford

672
00:28:18,240 --> 00:28:20,560
Speaker 3: cow Band is on the field game of my generation.

673
00:28:20,920 --> 00:28:24,240
Speaker 3: Like twenty five years from now on Thanksgiving and Christmas,

674
00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:26,160
Speaker 3: they're going to be rolling this highlight as the top

675
00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:29,600
Speaker 3: ten all time finishes and they have been for twelve

676
00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:33,040
Speaker 3: years now. And to get to be in it, I

677
00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:35,280
Speaker 3: think helped grow my love for the game and for

678
00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:36,720
Speaker 3: the competitive aspect of it.

679
00:28:37,359 --> 00:28:39,200
Speaker 4: Also for my appreciation of how.

680
00:28:39,080 --> 00:28:41,239
Speaker 3: Hard it is to win and how hard it is

681
00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:43,480
Speaker 3: to get to those moments and be a part of

682
00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:46,480
Speaker 3: some of those great rivalries, whether it be to your point,

683
00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:48,800
Speaker 3: that Iron Bowl, it was one verse four. I think

684
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:50,800
Speaker 3: there had never been an overtime in the history of

685
00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:52,720
Speaker 3: the Iron Bowl at that time, and we were one

686
00:28:52,760 --> 00:28:56,400
Speaker 3: second away from going to overtime and then it kicks excels.

687
00:28:56,400 --> 00:28:59,200
Speaker 3: You know, So just to get to experience that it

688
00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:00,000
Speaker 3: is pretty special.

689
00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:04,840
Speaker 2: How frequently are you looking at examples from times like

690
00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:09,880
Speaker 2: those and being able to apply them? Everyone wants to

691
00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:12,680
Speaker 2: use their experience to draw on when they're trying to

692
00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:15,680
Speaker 2: succeed from now moving forward, But like, what are some

693
00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:19,880
Speaker 2: specific things, what are some specific lessons that you find

694
00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:22,880
Speaker 2: yourself just regularly drawing on now that you're the head

695
00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:24,000
Speaker 2: coach at SMU.

696
00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:27,040
Speaker 3: Well, I think you know that's always the challenge is

697
00:29:27,080 --> 00:29:29,840
Speaker 3: how do you take past experiences and not just cookie

698
00:29:29,880 --> 00:29:32,720
Speaker 3: cutter them to this team because this team is different

699
00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:35,959
Speaker 3: than that team, but the experience may be similar, and

700
00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:39,720
Speaker 3: so those experiences should help you maybe handle a situation better.

701
00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:41,800
Speaker 3: But then you got to tailor it and custom fit

702
00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,520
Speaker 3: it to your team. So, for example, you know, the

703
00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:48,960
Speaker 3: twenty thirteen team, we go on this run of wins

704
00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,000
Speaker 3: where though, but if at any point in time, if

705
00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:53,120
Speaker 3: we lose a game, you know, once it got known

706
00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:55,520
Speaker 3: to hey we're seven and one, okay, now we're in contention. Well,

707
00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:57,959
Speaker 3: you have to win every week so the pressure just

708
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:00,280
Speaker 3: builds every week. And then there was the Georgia game,

709
00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:01,720
Speaker 3: and then there's the Iron Bowl, and then there's the

710
00:30:01,760 --> 00:30:02,760
Speaker 3: SEC title game.

711
00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:05,120
Speaker 4: And if you slip up one time, there is no

712
00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:07,120
Speaker 4: national title game, you know what I mean, There is

713
00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:10,080
Speaker 4: no SEC Championship. Then you come to here.

714
00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:12,320
Speaker 3: Well, my second year here, we hadn't won a championship

715
00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:15,360
Speaker 3: in forty years since Eric Dickerson was playing.

716
00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:19,040
Speaker 4: And we start out two and two. We lose to

717
00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:20,080
Speaker 4: Oklahoma on the road.

718
00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:22,480
Speaker 3: Like the games we lost, people probably would have said

719
00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:26,000
Speaker 3: we'd have lost, and we start our conference season. Well,

720
00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:27,880
Speaker 3: it ended up we had to run the table and

721
00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:29,640
Speaker 3: go eight to zero in our conference just to make

722
00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:33,080
Speaker 3: the conference championship game because TWU Lane and Memphis records

723
00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:35,920
Speaker 3: were up there. So now you're midway through your season

724
00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:37,640
Speaker 3: and you're four to zero in the league and you're going,

725
00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:39,840
Speaker 3: we got four games up, then we can't afford the loss.

726
00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:42,960
Speaker 3: Being in a situation like that helps you draw up

727
00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:44,920
Speaker 3: on how do you get your team focused and prepared

728
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,480
Speaker 3: each week as you get closer to the goal of

729
00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:51,840
Speaker 3: a championship and not lose sight of staying present, because hey,

730
00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:54,240
Speaker 3: if we don't beat whoever, it is this week, the

731
00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:56,560
Speaker 3: next week doesn't matter, like each week gets bigger and

732
00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:59,360
Speaker 3: bigger and bigger. Same thing this year happened in the

733
00:30:59,360 --> 00:31:02,720
Speaker 3: acc like down the stretch trying to get to Charlotte.

734
00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:04,640
Speaker 3: We had no room for error to get to Charlotte,

735
00:31:04,680 --> 00:31:06,360
Speaker 3: and we had definitely no room for error to make

736
00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:09,960
Speaker 3: the playoff. So having those three scenarios are all very

737
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:14,240
Speaker 3: similar experiences, but three totally different teams, and how you

738
00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:17,240
Speaker 3: handle them isn't exactly cookie cutter to each team. You

739
00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:19,120
Speaker 3: got to know your team. You have to know the

740
00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:21,479
Speaker 3: experience and now how do I handle it with this

741
00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:24,560
Speaker 3: group to where I can focus them on Man, there's

742
00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:26,320
Speaker 3: a lot of excitement. All you hear is alt, well,

743
00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:28,760
Speaker 3: if we can win the next three games this and

744
00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:30,560
Speaker 3: as soon as you get ahead of yourself, you're going

745
00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:34,479
Speaker 3: to stumble, and those experiences help you as a coach

746
00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:37,240
Speaker 3: and the growth you take. Okay, this year's team, this

747
00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:38,680
Speaker 3: is what they need to hear to get what we

748
00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:40,640
Speaker 3: need to accomplish. This year's team, this is what we

749
00:31:40,640 --> 00:31:43,600
Speaker 3: need to do. And I don't hope that answers that

750
00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:44,400
Speaker 3: question a little bit.

751
00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:46,040
Speaker 1: This whole.

752
00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:50,560
Speaker 2: The Down the Stretch part of this past year, when

753
00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:54,800
Speaker 2: you realize playoffs are a real possibility, ACC championships real possibility.

754
00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:58,800
Speaker 2: There's this thing that there's this mode that coaches shift

755
00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:02,120
Speaker 2: into about the time the playoff committee starts releasing their rankings,

756
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:04,480
Speaker 2: and it just basically becomes politicking.

757
00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:06,400
Speaker 1: And it's almost like you're reading off a.

758
00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:08,520
Speaker 2: Pr one sheet of well, here's what we've done, here's

759
00:32:08,520 --> 00:32:11,560
Speaker 2: our notable accomplishments, and the public learns to sort of

760
00:32:11,560 --> 00:32:15,440
Speaker 2: filter it out accordingly. Okay, but every given year there's

761
00:32:15,520 --> 00:32:17,400
Speaker 2: someone who's really telling the truth out there, and then

762
00:32:17,400 --> 00:32:18,880
Speaker 2: there are other people who are just saying what they're

763
00:32:18,880 --> 00:32:21,080
Speaker 2: saying because they're wearing the logo on the polo. So

764
00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:23,680
Speaker 2: you get to the a SEC championship game doesn't go

765
00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:26,800
Speaker 2: your way in the end. So I've got you giving

766
00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:29,000
Speaker 2: your perspective. You got to Boord doing the same. You

767
00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:30,720
Speaker 2: got Kiff and doing the same. You got Shane Beemer

768
00:32:30,760 --> 00:32:33,800
Speaker 2: doing the same. Sometimes maybe one day in your career,

769
00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:36,840
Speaker 2: you'll find yourself in a position where we probably don't

770
00:32:36,880 --> 00:32:39,240
Speaker 2: deserve to be in, but I'm gonna try anyway. However,

771
00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:41,040
Speaker 2: I could tell you didn't feel that way this past year,

772
00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:44,360
Speaker 2: and so there's this longing I would assume inside to say,

773
00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:46,440
Speaker 2: all right, look, SMU deserves to be in here. But

774
00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:49,440
Speaker 2: I'm dead serious, I'm not just saying this like SMU

775
00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:53,200
Speaker 2: deserves to be Yeah, I was watching. I remember watching

776
00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:56,560
Speaker 2: at the time the postgame press conference in Charlotte, and

777
00:32:56,840 --> 00:32:59,000
Speaker 2: you just lost, Like there's still the fog of the

778
00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:01,440
Speaker 2: game still you and yet you have to go into

779
00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:04,920
Speaker 2: this press setting and not even talk about the Clemson game.

780
00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:07,400
Speaker 2: You're talking about why we should be in the playoff.

781
00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:09,640
Speaker 2: And then it's like, I don't care what I say anyway,

782
00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:12,320
Speaker 2: but if they do, just know I'm not just saying this.

783
00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:15,000
Speaker 2: We actually really do deserve to be in How weird

784
00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:17,000
Speaker 2: was that whole eleven or twelve hour period.

785
00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:17,960
Speaker 4: It was weird.

786
00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:20,640
Speaker 3: It was surreal to find yourself in those positions as

787
00:33:20,640 --> 00:33:21,040
Speaker 3: a coach.

788
00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:23,240
Speaker 4: To your point, you kind of have no choice. You

789
00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:24,479
Speaker 4: have to fight four team.

790
00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:26,280
Speaker 3: And that's why as coaches, we don't get mad at

791
00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:29,440
Speaker 3: other coaches when they say whatever they say, because they're

792
00:33:29,480 --> 00:33:30,160
Speaker 3: just fighting.

793
00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:30,320
Speaker 4: For their team.

794
00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:32,080
Speaker 3: That's our job as a coach is to fight for

795
00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:35,160
Speaker 3: our team. You know, I knew when the playoff the

796
00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:37,680
Speaker 3: initial rankings came out last year and we were I

797
00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:39,640
Speaker 3: think thirteenth or fourteenth, we were like we were just

798
00:33:39,720 --> 00:33:42,080
Speaker 3: one outside, but like they did rank us ahead of

799
00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:44,880
Speaker 3: some of those SEC schools originally. I mean, on one hand,

800
00:33:44,920 --> 00:33:47,239
Speaker 3: I was like, man, I'm appreciative they gave us our

801
00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:50,040
Speaker 3: program the respect of we're right there.

802
00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:51,520
Speaker 4: At the same time, you looked at it and go,

803
00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:53,840
Speaker 4: we probably have to win.

804
00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:58,600
Speaker 3: The league in all fairness, right, And so to get there,

805
00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:02,360
Speaker 3: to get to that point where we'd gone undefeated in

806
00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:05,320
Speaker 3: our conference, we had beaten like three ranked teams when

807
00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:07,480
Speaker 3: we beat them that were then no longer ranked. Don't

808
00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:10,040
Speaker 3: even get me started on how ranked teams should matter

809
00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:12,960
Speaker 3: or not matter, because they're ranked by people's opinion, so

810
00:34:13,520 --> 00:34:14,920
Speaker 3: it's not even a fair baseline.

811
00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:18,239
Speaker 4: But anyways, here you.

812
00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:20,480
Speaker 3: Know, just knowing how it went down and knowing that

813
00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:22,840
Speaker 3: at some point, I know the leagues, I've been in

814
00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:23,360
Speaker 3: those leagues.

815
00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:25,600
Speaker 4: I get it some leagues are stronger than others.

816
00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:27,759
Speaker 3: There's always those arguments, but at some point it does

817
00:34:27,880 --> 00:34:30,560
Speaker 3: matter did you win, did you win the games that

818
00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:32,680
Speaker 3: you could win and run your schedule, and did you

819
00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:35,759
Speaker 3: earn the right to be in? And I felt like

820
00:34:35,800 --> 00:34:38,279
Speaker 3: one we had earned the right to be in, and

821
00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:41,600
Speaker 3: then more importantly, we were in going into that weekend.

822
00:34:41,880 --> 00:34:44,600
Speaker 3: So if the committee is already saying we're in, you

823
00:34:44,680 --> 00:34:46,919
Speaker 3: can't punish us for playing in a championship game when

824
00:34:47,360 --> 00:34:49,920
Speaker 3: two or three of these schools you're saying could jump us.

825
00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:52,040
Speaker 4: By not qualifying for their championship game.

826
00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:55,200
Speaker 3: That to me where it becomes the integrity of our sport,

827
00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:56,680
Speaker 3: Like what do we want our sports to look like

828
00:34:56,719 --> 00:34:59,719
Speaker 3: in five or ten years. This decision could shape that.

829
00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:04,080
Speaker 3: But have to be in that position. Look, if we

830
00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:05,640
Speaker 3: win the game, we don't have to be in that position.

831
00:35:05,719 --> 00:35:07,480
Speaker 3: So as a competitor, you always realize we could have

832
00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:08,440
Speaker 3: just handled it ourselves.

833
00:35:08,520 --> 00:35:11,200
Speaker 4: But it was not a fun position to be in.

834
00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:13,400
Speaker 3: At the same time, I felt it and the gravity

835
00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:15,719
Speaker 3: of that moment in Charlotte, to your direct question, was

836
00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:18,080
Speaker 3: I had just left a locker room where I could

837
00:35:18,120 --> 00:35:21,480
Speaker 3: feel our guys who just lost a great game by

838
00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:23,960
Speaker 3: a last second, fifty six yard field goal to a

839
00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:26,279
Speaker 3: team that had won eight of the last ten by

840
00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:29,640
Speaker 3: like an average of twenty three points in that league.

841
00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:33,000
Speaker 3: I could feel their disappointment was that we didn't win

842
00:35:33,040 --> 00:35:35,879
Speaker 3: the acc which we really wanted to do. But their

843
00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:38,400
Speaker 3: real disappointment was they all felt like twelve hours from now,

844
00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:40,239
Speaker 3: they were going to realize we just lost our chance

845
00:35:40,280 --> 00:35:40,920
Speaker 3: at the playoff.

846
00:35:41,360 --> 00:35:43,760
Speaker 4: And as a coach, that's what really was weighing heavy

847
00:35:43,760 --> 00:35:44,000
Speaker 4: on me.

848
00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:48,920
Speaker 2: First off, I can't believe he hit that kick. I

849
00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:51,120
Speaker 2: was on a rental car bus and I'm watching like this.

850
00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:53,120
Speaker 2: I'm saying I got right behind him. As soon as

851
00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:54,759
Speaker 2: it left his foot, I took my headset off and

852
00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:56,440
Speaker 2: handed it. It was like a no doubt or off

853
00:35:56,480 --> 00:35:58,400
Speaker 2: the bat, like as soon as he kicked it, you

854
00:35:58,480 --> 00:36:00,560
Speaker 2: just knew he got all of it on something. So

855
00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:03,120
Speaker 2: I want to I don't want to ignore this. You

856
00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:05,920
Speaker 2: just said something that if I had an actual drum

857
00:36:05,960 --> 00:36:08,279
Speaker 2: in my studio, I would bang the drum as I

858
00:36:08,320 --> 00:36:10,560
Speaker 2: talk about the whole ranked wins concept.

859
00:36:11,120 --> 00:36:12,399
Speaker 1: So I've always been of.

860
00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:15,480
Speaker 2: The opinion, although it would be imperfect, that we should

861
00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:18,400
Speaker 2: have a system that defines the value of the game

862
00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:22,360
Speaker 2: you played the day you play it. And there could

863
00:36:22,400 --> 00:36:24,480
Speaker 2: be some wiggle room if I play you early in

864
00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:27,240
Speaker 2: the year and no one thinks SMU is worth anything,

865
00:36:27,320 --> 00:36:29,000
Speaker 2: but then you go on to go on a run

866
00:36:29,040 --> 00:36:30,520
Speaker 2: and I beat you by seven early in the year,

867
00:36:30,840 --> 00:36:33,080
Speaker 2: maybe that win I got could increase in value. But

868
00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:35,840
Speaker 2: what I detest is I play twenty third ranked SMU

869
00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:38,760
Speaker 2: midway through the year, I beat you forty nine to thirteen,

870
00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:42,520
Speaker 2: your season goes off the rails and retroactively. I don't

871
00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:44,759
Speaker 2: get credit for beating you. I don't get credit for

872
00:36:44,800 --> 00:36:47,560
Speaker 2: you being ranked. I don't get credit for basically knocking

873
00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:50,399
Speaker 2: you off kilter. And at the end of the whole thing,

874
00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:52,879
Speaker 2: some committee members are going to say that's not really

875
00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:55,400
Speaker 2: a quality win. Once upon a time we thought it was,

876
00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:58,520
Speaker 2: but it's not. Nothing's changed since they played the game.

877
00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:01,280
Speaker 2: Mind you, the game was the game. I've hated that forever.

878
00:37:01,320 --> 00:37:03,000
Speaker 1: I don't know if you've got a system that's alternate

879
00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:03,880
Speaker 1: to that, I've hated it well.

880
00:37:03,880 --> 00:37:06,600
Speaker 3: I don't think ranked win should as long as ranking

881
00:37:06,719 --> 00:37:09,680
Speaker 3: is done, Like I voted in the coaches poll, I

882
00:37:09,719 --> 00:37:11,399
Speaker 3: get there's an eight pe pole, and I get there's

883
00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:13,799
Speaker 3: a committee. But as long as ranking is done by

884
00:37:13,800 --> 00:37:16,880
Speaker 3: people's opinions, which is fine, the human element of our

885
00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:19,359
Speaker 3: game is great, then that can't be the barometer though

886
00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:20,959
Speaker 3: that we measure a ranked Right to your.

887
00:37:20,840 --> 00:37:22,279
Speaker 4: Point, BYU beat us.

888
00:37:22,280 --> 00:37:24,880
Speaker 3: Here in week three we weren't ranked, but later in

889
00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:27,960
Speaker 3: the year we were top ten. Well they were. Do

890
00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:30,000
Speaker 3: they get credit for a ranked win or not. We

891
00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:32,000
Speaker 3: go on the road at Louisville, which was probably the

892
00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:35,120
Speaker 3: catapulting win of our season. We just beat Flourida State

893
00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:36,680
Speaker 3: at home. Nobody knew they were going to go two

894
00:37:36,719 --> 00:37:39,040
Speaker 3: and ten and we just beat them forty two to sixteen.

895
00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:41,319
Speaker 3: We don't get a lot of credit for that. Well,

896
00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:43,960
Speaker 3: we go to Louisville, they're ranked. We went on the

897
00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:47,040
Speaker 3: road at a top twenty five Louisville. That's a big win.

898
00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:50,440
Speaker 3: But later in the year, because they stumble at Stanford,

899
00:37:50,440 --> 00:37:52,759
Speaker 3: that's no longer a ranked win, you know what I mean.

900
00:37:52,800 --> 00:37:54,799
Speaker 3: And then you have the committee ranking teams late in

901
00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:57,160
Speaker 3: the year and they choose to rank in Illinois over

902
00:37:57,200 --> 00:37:59,360
Speaker 3: a Syracuse or a Louisville or a Duke. Well that

903
00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:02,719
Speaker 3: helps one and hurts the other. And so we kept hearing, well,

904
00:38:02,760 --> 00:38:05,640
Speaker 3: they have ranked wins, they have ranked wins. Well, like

905
00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:07,880
Speaker 3: to me, there's got to be a better way to

906
00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:11,759
Speaker 3: gauge what power is. You know, we don't have a

907
00:38:11,840 --> 00:38:16,359
Speaker 3: consistent system, you know, like an RPI or as much

908
00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:18,920
Speaker 3: as I don't think people didn't like the BCS, they

909
00:38:18,920 --> 00:38:20,520
Speaker 3: didn't like the idea that deep down there was just

910
00:38:20,560 --> 00:38:21,120
Speaker 3: two teams.

911
00:38:21,360 --> 00:38:22,759
Speaker 4: Yeah, okay, So.

912
00:38:22,760 --> 00:38:25,200
Speaker 3: If you have a let's all as college football. Just

913
00:38:25,239 --> 00:38:27,759
Speaker 3: get the four main leagues and say what's important. You know,

914
00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:30,080
Speaker 3: road winds Are they important? I don't know, are they?

915
00:38:30,239 --> 00:38:34,520
Speaker 3: You know, ten wins a year is that important?

916
00:38:34,520 --> 00:38:34,640
Speaker 4: Like?

917
00:38:34,840 --> 00:38:37,080
Speaker 3: Pick the four to five data points that we say

918
00:38:37,120 --> 00:38:39,760
Speaker 3: this is the most fair way to judge the strength

919
00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:42,040
Speaker 3: of a team, and put it in your computer and

920
00:38:42,120 --> 00:38:43,160
Speaker 3: let that thing spit.

921
00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:44,319
Speaker 4: It out and tell you if it was a good

922
00:38:44,360 --> 00:38:44,799
Speaker 4: win or not.

923
00:38:45,360 --> 00:38:47,160
Speaker 3: You know, I don't want to lose the human element,

924
00:38:47,200 --> 00:38:49,560
Speaker 3: but when you have I said this back when I

925
00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:52,960
Speaker 3: was kind of having the politic for SMU. I vote

926
00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:54,799
Speaker 3: in the coach's poll and it's hard. I have a

927
00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:56,640
Speaker 3: lot of respect for the committee. They have a hard

928
00:38:56,640 --> 00:38:59,480
Speaker 3: decision when they're picking them between SMU and Alabama and

929
00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:01,160
Speaker 3: Indiana at the ends.

930
00:39:01,719 --> 00:39:02,560
Speaker 4: That's hard.

931
00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:06,880
Speaker 3: But it's also not fair to them or to us

932
00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:09,240
Speaker 3: to have a committee of people that are current sitting

933
00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:11,120
Speaker 3: ads in certain conferences.

934
00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:12,240
Speaker 4: How about let's.

935
00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:16,560
Speaker 3: Pick eight people, two from the SEC Big ten, Big twelve,

936
00:39:16,600 --> 00:39:19,920
Speaker 3: and acc former coaches that are retired. They are equal

937
00:39:19,920 --> 00:39:23,320
Speaker 3: distribution on how they're represented, and they're former ball coaches

938
00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:25,080
Speaker 3: so they know what looks.

939
00:39:24,840 --> 00:39:25,680
Speaker 4: Good and what doesn't.

940
00:39:26,160 --> 00:39:28,400
Speaker 3: You know, that could be a committee, if we're going

941
00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:30,839
Speaker 3: to use a committee to just give it some fair

942
00:39:30,880 --> 00:39:34,560
Speaker 3: and unbiased because good people can still be biased if you.

943
00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:36,799
Speaker 4: Put me on that committee. I was putting smu in right.

944
00:39:38,120 --> 00:39:41,560
Speaker 3: And so when your committee chair is an ad of

945
00:39:41,600 --> 00:39:44,240
Speaker 3: a power school and one of the conferences that has schools,

946
00:39:44,239 --> 00:39:49,440
Speaker 3: and it just feels like it's impossible for that. So

947
00:39:49,719 --> 00:39:52,440
Speaker 3: I don't love the ranked wins deal just because it

948
00:39:52,440 --> 00:39:55,320
Speaker 3: can be controlled by people's biased.

949
00:39:57,239 --> 00:40:00,799
Speaker 2: It ended up working out for you. But Jag and

950
00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:02,879
Speaker 2: Lieu of something we were talking about a little while ago.

951
00:40:03,600 --> 00:40:05,360
Speaker 2: If it's out of your control, it's out of your control.

952
00:40:05,560 --> 00:40:08,640
Speaker 2: You're trying to control the controllables. And for you, that

953
00:40:08,760 --> 00:40:11,360
Speaker 2: meant I can control how I deal with this team,

954
00:40:11,640 --> 00:40:13,719
Speaker 2: whether they make it, which they did, But there was

955
00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:16,360
Speaker 2: also this scenario B where they don't make it. And

956
00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:19,400
Speaker 2: I remember watching Mike Norvell the year before when they

957
00:40:19,480 --> 00:40:22,040
Speaker 2: get shut out and they got that live feed, which

958
00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:24,120
Speaker 2: is debatable in and of itself to have, and his

959
00:40:24,200 --> 00:40:26,719
Speaker 2: head just sinks, and then you know, but he's got

960
00:40:26,760 --> 00:40:28,560
Speaker 2: to talk to his team. He's got to deal with them, right, now,

961
00:40:28,600 --> 00:40:30,320
Speaker 2: because it's not like the season's over. They're going to

962
00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:33,480
Speaker 2: go play a game. It was only like eleven or

963
00:40:33,480 --> 00:40:36,160
Speaker 2: twelve hours, but you knew leading up one thing or

964
00:40:36,160 --> 00:40:36,919
Speaker 2: another could happen.

965
00:40:37,000 --> 00:40:38,040
Speaker 1: How much did you have to.

966
00:40:37,960 --> 00:40:41,799
Speaker 2: Pre prepare yourself if the worst is to happen, I

967
00:40:41,840 --> 00:40:43,040
Speaker 2: gotta straighten up quick.

968
00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:44,360
Speaker 1: I gotta deal with these guys.

969
00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:47,200
Speaker 3: That's the job as the leader. To your point, that's

970
00:40:47,200 --> 00:40:49,839
Speaker 3: why we didn't have a watch party. You know, I

971
00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:53,280
Speaker 3: was available to jump on with Quinn Kessinger I think,

972
00:40:53,520 --> 00:40:56,319
Speaker 3: or whoever it was on ESPN once we were in right,

973
00:40:56,719 --> 00:40:58,839
Speaker 3: and we had a team meeting after that and celebrate. Well,

974
00:40:58,840 --> 00:41:00,719
Speaker 3: we weren't going to have a watch part for that thing.

975
00:41:01,560 --> 00:41:03,960
Speaker 3: You know, we were talking about learning from past experiences. Earlier, well,

976
00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:06,839
Speaker 3: the year before, on a smaller scale, we had won

977
00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:09,120
Speaker 3: our league and it was US or Liberty was going

978
00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:13,480
Speaker 3: to get the New Year's sixth bid. And we literally

979
00:41:13,560 --> 00:41:16,600
Speaker 3: on Saturday night in New Orleans are beating Tulane, celebrate

980
00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:19,319
Speaker 3: in the first conference championship in forty years. And by

981
00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:23,439
Speaker 3: one o'clock on Sunday, we're realizing we're not going to.

982
00:41:23,360 --> 00:41:25,600
Speaker 4: The Fiesta Bowl. You know, we're going to.

983
00:41:25,600 --> 00:41:27,920
Speaker 3: The Fenway Bowl and I had to walk into a

984
00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:31,080
Speaker 3: room and try to make sense of that all for

985
00:41:31,120 --> 00:41:34,120
Speaker 3: our players. So fortunately I had had that experience. I

986
00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:37,600
Speaker 3: really didn't want to do that again, and you know,

987
00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:39,520
Speaker 3: but that's the position we put ourselves in. And I've

988
00:41:39,520 --> 00:41:41,759
Speaker 3: said this, people ask me, did you want to go?

989
00:41:41,960 --> 00:41:43,520
Speaker 3: Do you think it's fair to go? I think road

990
00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:46,400
Speaker 3: playoff games are awesome for college football, and we had

991
00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:46,799
Speaker 3: to go in.

992
00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:48,839
Speaker 4: One of the hardest environments and got our teeth kicked in.

993
00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:50,440
Speaker 3: But you know what, if we didn't want to go

994
00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:53,200
Speaker 3: on the road, we should be clemsing. But I still

995
00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:54,480
Speaker 3: think it's good for college football.

996
00:41:54,640 --> 00:41:55,080
Speaker 4: Same thing.

997
00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:57,960
Speaker 3: We had our chance to not put it in someone

998
00:41:57,960 --> 00:42:00,799
Speaker 3: else's hands and we didn't. So that was a hard

999
00:42:00,840 --> 00:42:04,720
Speaker 3: twelve hours. I didn't sleep well. I was really worried.

1000
00:42:05,200 --> 00:42:08,120
Speaker 3: And it was a really cool moment to not only

1001
00:42:08,160 --> 00:42:11,080
Speaker 3: see our name called because we were in and our

1002
00:42:11,120 --> 00:42:13,359
Speaker 3: players get to experience something they'd work so hard for,

1003
00:42:13,480 --> 00:42:15,040
Speaker 3: but just to not have to stand in front of

1004
00:42:15,040 --> 00:42:16,440
Speaker 3: them and do that other speech.

1005
00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:18,640
Speaker 2: I know you're not thinking like this in the time,

1006
00:42:18,719 --> 00:42:24,000
Speaker 2: but for my dad's generation, the story of SMU would

1007
00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:25,680
Speaker 2: have just been NCAA scandal.

1008
00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:26,920
Speaker 1: Then it ends for a while.

1009
00:42:27,560 --> 00:42:30,520
Speaker 2: I didn't live through that, So my generation watches like

1010
00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:32,880
Speaker 2: the thirty for thirty documentary, which is one of the

1011
00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:33,319
Speaker 2: best they.

1012
00:42:33,200 --> 00:42:35,840
Speaker 1: Produced, by the way, loved it. Probably could recite lines

1013
00:42:35,840 --> 00:42:36,200
Speaker 1: from it.

1014
00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:40,239
Speaker 2: But still SMU had just come back as a workable,

1015
00:42:40,239 --> 00:42:42,880
Speaker 2: functioning football program, and it was like June Jones and

1016
00:42:42,960 --> 00:42:43,560
Speaker 2: let's just see.

1017
00:42:43,440 --> 00:42:44,760
Speaker 1: How it works out.

1018
00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:48,759
Speaker 2: Then you've got another generation that is removed entirely from

1019
00:42:48,800 --> 00:42:52,440
Speaker 2: both of those eras, and like their first perception of

1020
00:42:52,560 --> 00:42:56,040
Speaker 2: SMU is SMUs a playoff contender, SMU is in a

1021
00:42:56,080 --> 00:43:00,480
Speaker 2: power conference. SMU for your dad's and your granddad's generation

1022
00:43:00,560 --> 00:43:03,000
Speaker 2: isn't a place that probably they told you they'd never

1023
00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:06,399
Speaker 2: be again. And so yeah, the playoff game, you make it,

1024
00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:09,960
Speaker 2: you lose, it's one and done. But at the same time,

1025
00:43:10,520 --> 00:43:12,839
Speaker 2: you ever just stopped to think about where this program

1026
00:43:12,920 --> 00:43:17,960
Speaker 2: is now and how like impossible that would have seemed one, two,

1027
00:43:18,000 --> 00:43:18,879
Speaker 2: three decades ago.

1028
00:43:19,640 --> 00:43:21,000
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's hard to put into words.

1029
00:43:21,120 --> 00:43:23,759
Speaker 3: I'm getting chills here and you say all that just

1030
00:43:23,800 --> 00:43:26,560
Speaker 3: because I know how big this year was to so

1031
00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:30,640
Speaker 3: many generations of fans here at SMU, so many people

1032
00:43:31,719 --> 00:43:35,239
Speaker 3: that never thought they'd see that day again. You know

1033
00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:39,160
Speaker 3: when that story happened, that that's what's been talked about

1034
00:43:39,160 --> 00:43:40,280
Speaker 3: for thirty or forty years.

1035
00:43:40,640 --> 00:43:42,239
Speaker 4: That's kind of defined our program.

1036
00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:45,720
Speaker 3: We lost a generation of fans because of it, literally,

1037
00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:48,000
Speaker 3: because there wasn't a program for two years and then

1038
00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:50,160
Speaker 3: for two decades it was one and two wins every year.

1039
00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:53,400
Speaker 3: You're not going to really solicit a lot of fans

1040
00:43:53,440 --> 00:43:56,840
Speaker 3: when you're not winning. And so to have ourselves now

1041
00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:00,279
Speaker 3: where it's cool to go to SMU and we're fill

1042
00:44:00,280 --> 00:44:03,000
Speaker 3: in the stadium and the city of Dallas is embracing us,

1043
00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:05,480
Speaker 3: and then to go out and kind of validate that

1044
00:44:06,080 --> 00:44:07,520
Speaker 3: by what we did in our first year in the

1045
00:44:07,520 --> 00:44:10,320
Speaker 3: ACC and making the playoff. To me, it closes that

1046
00:44:10,880 --> 00:44:14,160
Speaker 3: chapter on SMU's history to where everyone loves to keep

1047
00:44:14,200 --> 00:44:15,960
Speaker 3: talking about thirty eight years ago.

1048
00:44:16,120 --> 00:44:17,959
Speaker 4: This is the anniversary, and da da da da.

1049
00:44:18,600 --> 00:44:22,920
Speaker 3: We have accomplished something that allows that group, the older

1050
00:44:22,960 --> 00:44:25,359
Speaker 3: generation who remembered the good old days, to say, wow,

1051
00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:27,080
Speaker 3: I never thought i'd see this again. And I saw

1052
00:44:27,120 --> 00:44:29,680
Speaker 3: grown men and women weeping, you know when we got

1053
00:44:29,719 --> 00:44:31,720
Speaker 3: into the ACC or when we did.

1054
00:44:31,560 --> 00:44:32,479
Speaker 4: What we did this year.

1055
00:44:33,280 --> 00:44:35,080
Speaker 3: But also there's a new generation of fan that all

1056
00:44:35,120 --> 00:44:37,359
Speaker 3: they know now is well, in the last six year,

1057
00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:40,080
Speaker 3: six years, SMUs won more games anybody instead of Texas.

1058
00:44:40,360 --> 00:44:42,440
Speaker 3: And I just saw SMU in the playoff and it's

1059
00:44:42,480 --> 00:44:44,839
Speaker 3: cool to wear the Mustang or the Triple D on

1060
00:44:44,920 --> 00:44:47,560
Speaker 3: my chest, it's cool to go to SMU. That whole

1061
00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:49,600
Speaker 3: is that has all changed. And so I'm hoping that

1062
00:44:49,640 --> 00:44:52,880
Speaker 3: this year US breaking through allows us to close the

1063
00:44:52,960 --> 00:44:56,640
Speaker 3: chapter on that thirty for thirty, the Pony Excess chapter,

1064
00:44:56,680 --> 00:44:59,480
Speaker 3: if you will, and write a new chapter, have a

1065
00:44:59,520 --> 00:45:01,880
Speaker 3: new docum come out in the next year that is

1066
00:45:02,280 --> 00:45:05,120
Speaker 3: more celebratory about the climb back, because it's been a

1067
00:45:05,120 --> 00:45:06,600
Speaker 3: long climb back for a lot of people.

1068
00:45:06,600 --> 00:45:07,480
Speaker 4: With this program.

1069
00:45:07,760 --> 00:45:10,040
Speaker 3: You mentioned June Jones, there were so many other coaches

1070
00:45:10,080 --> 00:45:13,200
Speaker 3: well before me and players well before our players that

1071
00:45:13,320 --> 00:45:16,600
Speaker 3: did so much and didn't get to experience the success

1072
00:45:16,600 --> 00:45:18,000
Speaker 3: we're having now. But if it wasn't for them, we

1073
00:45:18,000 --> 00:45:18,719
Speaker 3: wouldn't be here.

1074
00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:22,560
Speaker 2: Everybody's used to watching college football, myself included, and every

1075
00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:25,960
Speaker 2: brand that's a big brand has been established for generations.

1076
00:45:26,680 --> 00:45:29,520
Speaker 2: Tennessee football has been Tennessee football since way before I

1077
00:45:29,600 --> 00:45:33,600
Speaker 2: was born. It's pretty rare that you see a brand

1078
00:45:33,680 --> 00:45:38,360
Speaker 2: that was irrelevant for part of your childhood scale, Like

1079
00:45:38,400 --> 00:45:40,640
Speaker 2: it's just because college football is so set, like it's

1080
00:45:40,680 --> 00:45:44,360
Speaker 2: so old as an entity, and yet SMU's parked in

1081
00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:47,919
Speaker 2: this really unique position where they were that at one

1082
00:45:47,960 --> 00:45:51,359
Speaker 2: point and then what happened happens. But also like the

1083
00:45:51,360 --> 00:45:55,080
Speaker 2: plate tectonics of college football shifted to where not only

1084
00:45:55,560 --> 00:45:58,719
Speaker 2: does the program sort of have a rebirth, then there's

1085
00:45:58,719 --> 00:46:00,279
Speaker 2: this period and then all of a sudden, there's there's

1086
00:46:00,320 --> 00:46:03,399
Speaker 2: an opportunity to jump into the acc No one could

1087
00:46:03,440 --> 00:46:04,920
Speaker 2: have ever seen that coming in a million years. I

1088
00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:07,920
Speaker 2: don't care how much foresight you had. It's an actual

1089
00:46:07,960 --> 00:46:13,080
Speaker 2: opportunity for a program to sort of rescale in the

1090
00:46:13,120 --> 00:46:15,040
Speaker 2: modern age of college football. And I don't know where

1091
00:46:15,040 --> 00:46:17,239
Speaker 2: else that would have happened. Like Clemson doing what they

1092
00:46:17,280 --> 00:46:20,640
Speaker 2: did under Dabo was as close to me as a

1093
00:46:20,719 --> 00:46:23,440
Speaker 2: major program has come to doing that in my lifetime.

1094
00:46:23,440 --> 00:46:26,200
Speaker 2: But even then, Clemson mattered way before Dabo got there.

1095
00:46:26,239 --> 00:46:29,440
Speaker 2: Clemson was a factor in my mind, way before he

1096
00:46:29,480 --> 00:46:31,080
Speaker 2: got there. He just showed people you could do it

1097
00:46:31,080 --> 00:46:31,880
Speaker 2: at a different level.

1098
00:46:32,239 --> 00:46:34,200
Speaker 1: At Clemson. This is a totally different deal.

1099
00:46:34,440 --> 00:46:38,680
Speaker 3: I agree, and it's it's surreal. I mean, they use

1100
00:46:38,719 --> 00:46:40,680
Speaker 3: the word death penalty because that's what it was with

1101
00:46:40,680 --> 00:46:42,680
Speaker 3: our program so much and now this is almost like

1102
00:46:42,719 --> 00:46:45,400
Speaker 3: the resurrection things that you just don't think are going

1103
00:46:45,480 --> 00:46:51,000
Speaker 3: to happen. It took a lot of people for twenty

1104
00:46:51,040 --> 00:46:55,960
Speaker 3: thirty years kind of lifting this program and pulling this

1105
00:46:56,000 --> 00:46:59,600
Speaker 3: program along when it was really lifeless, you know, from

1106
00:46:59,640 --> 00:47:02,239
Speaker 3: a athletic standpoint, from a university standpoint.

1107
00:47:02,520 --> 00:47:03,279
Speaker 4: But I agree with you.

1108
00:47:03,360 --> 00:47:07,000
Speaker 3: I mean, rarely do you see a new brand become

1109
00:47:07,200 --> 00:47:10,640
Speaker 3: really really relevant. Clemson is a great example. You look

1110
00:47:10,680 --> 00:47:13,799
Speaker 3: at what boys he's done, but it's taken him like

1111
00:47:13,880 --> 00:47:16,319
Speaker 3: two or three decades. I mean it's been the last

1112
00:47:16,360 --> 00:47:19,200
Speaker 3: twenty twenty five years since Chris Peterson was there and

1113
00:47:19,200 --> 00:47:21,040
Speaker 3: they beat Oklahoma in that big moment, and now look

1114
00:47:21,080 --> 00:47:24,440
Speaker 3: what it's established. We did have a brand that was established,

1115
00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:27,000
Speaker 3: but there was such a big gap that the majority

1116
00:47:27,040 --> 00:47:30,400
Speaker 3: of people today that love and celebrate college football, me

1117
00:47:30,480 --> 00:47:33,600
Speaker 3: and you included, had no experience in the old glory

1118
00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:34,440
Speaker 3: days of SMU.

1119
00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:37,040
Speaker 4: No one knows that Doake Walker played at SMU. No

1120
00:47:37,080 --> 00:47:37,640
Speaker 4: one knows that.

1121
00:47:37,719 --> 00:47:42,040
Speaker 3: SMU's claimed national titles, and hardly anybody knows the college

1122
00:47:42,120 --> 00:47:45,640
Speaker 3: Eric Dickerson. Everybody knows the NFL single season rushing leader,

1123
00:47:45,680 --> 00:47:47,960
Speaker 3: Hall of Famer, and so for there to be that

1124
00:47:48,000 --> 00:47:50,560
Speaker 3: big a gap, everything had to line up perfectly.

1125
00:47:50,800 --> 00:47:52,200
Speaker 4: And to your point, nobody.

1126
00:47:51,880 --> 00:47:55,480
Speaker 3: Could could have expected that we would get such great

1127
00:47:55,520 --> 00:47:58,640
Speaker 3: alignment at the university and have such an infuse of

1128
00:47:59,239 --> 00:48:02,600
Speaker 3: just support financially and just in general, just alignment and

1129
00:48:02,640 --> 00:48:04,920
Speaker 3: support to help us get what we need to do

1130
00:48:04,960 --> 00:48:07,520
Speaker 3: to win to be in a facility like this, then

1131
00:48:07,560 --> 00:48:08,680
Speaker 3: do what we had to do to get in the

1132
00:48:08,719 --> 00:48:10,640
Speaker 3: acc and then on top of it, to win at

1133
00:48:10,640 --> 00:48:13,440
Speaker 3: the level we have so far, to kind of just

1134
00:48:13,480 --> 00:48:16,319
Speaker 3: throw our brand right back in there and say what

1135
00:48:16,400 --> 00:48:18,120
Speaker 3: could be over the next five to ten years.

1136
00:48:18,280 --> 00:48:19,919
Speaker 2: So now you've got a lot of players that come

1137
00:48:19,920 --> 00:48:22,440
Speaker 2: back from the team that just did historic things. You've

1138
00:48:22,440 --> 00:48:24,680
Speaker 2: got a lot of coaches on your staff that are

1139
00:48:24,680 --> 00:48:27,879
Speaker 2: retained from doing historic things. But we also know, looking

1140
00:48:27,920 --> 00:48:30,719
Speaker 2: at the history of the sport, progress is never just

1141
00:48:30,760 --> 00:48:33,920
Speaker 2: totally linear. A failure is never totally linear. It just

1142
00:48:33,960 --> 00:48:37,600
Speaker 2: looks like a stock market chart. So how do you

1143
00:48:37,680 --> 00:48:41,799
Speaker 2: make sure people understand that you don't start from where

1144
00:48:41,840 --> 00:48:44,279
Speaker 2: you left off last year, You start right back at

1145
00:48:44,280 --> 00:48:47,000
Speaker 2: the ground floor, and whether you win six games or

1146
00:48:47,040 --> 00:48:49,919
Speaker 2: twelve games is going to be totally dependent on this

1147
00:48:50,440 --> 00:48:54,640
Speaker 2: and outside of thematical elements and lessons learned, we can't

1148
00:48:54,680 --> 00:48:56,560
Speaker 2: take anything from last year with us.

1149
00:48:56,880 --> 00:49:00,320
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's the challenge, right, It's a success is hard.

1150
00:49:00,560 --> 00:49:04,520
Speaker 3: Sustained successes even harder. That's why some of the coaches like,

1151
00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:06,560
Speaker 3: you see what Nick Saban did for so long, like

1152
00:49:06,600 --> 00:49:09,160
Speaker 3: it's just it's awe. You just look at it in

1153
00:49:09,200 --> 00:49:10,879
Speaker 3: alle like how did you do it for that long

1154
00:49:10,920 --> 00:49:13,919
Speaker 3: at such a high level. But that's what our goal

1155
00:49:14,040 --> 00:49:16,839
Speaker 3: is to do here and so but you learned from

1156
00:49:16,840 --> 00:49:18,839
Speaker 3: the past. So like, as we were making the jump

1157
00:49:18,880 --> 00:49:20,839
Speaker 3: to a power conference, no school had ever gone better

1158
00:49:20,840 --> 00:49:22,920
Speaker 3: than one and one in conference play and we go

1159
00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:23,279
Speaker 3: eight to no.

1160
00:49:23,480 --> 00:49:25,720
Speaker 4: Well, beforehand, looked at two.

1161
00:49:25,600 --> 00:49:27,200
Speaker 3: People that I think in the last decade have done

1162
00:49:27,200 --> 00:49:29,600
Speaker 3: it the best, and that was Kyle Whittingham at Utah

1163
00:49:29,640 --> 00:49:32,680
Speaker 3: and Gary Patterson at TCU. Like they took programs and

1164
00:49:32,719 --> 00:49:34,759
Speaker 3: had winning seasons, not even in their league, just a

1165
00:49:34,800 --> 00:49:37,520
Speaker 3: winning record their first year. I think one went seven

1166
00:49:37,560 --> 00:49:39,920
Speaker 3: and six and that one went eight and five. Well,

1167
00:49:39,920 --> 00:49:42,680
Speaker 3: then you look to your point. The next year they

1168
00:49:42,680 --> 00:49:45,520
Speaker 3: both had losing seasons. As matter of fact, Utah had

1169
00:49:45,520 --> 00:49:48,480
Speaker 3: back to back losing seasons but then year three or

1170
00:49:48,480 --> 00:49:50,520
Speaker 3: four they shot up to eleven and twelve wins and

1171
00:49:50,520 --> 00:49:52,920
Speaker 3: started winning the Big twelve in the Pac twelve, and

1172
00:49:53,040 --> 00:49:55,520
Speaker 3: their programs were sustained for a long time after that.

1173
00:49:55,760 --> 00:49:57,040
Speaker 4: There is a process to it.

1174
00:49:58,480 --> 00:50:00,480
Speaker 3: You know, the fact that we had such good year

1175
00:50:00,520 --> 00:50:03,200
Speaker 3: in year one guarantees us nothing for this year. As

1176
00:50:03,200 --> 00:50:04,880
Speaker 3: a matter of fat It's gonna make this year even harder.

1177
00:50:06,440 --> 00:50:08,960
Speaker 3: But we have about a three to five year window

1178
00:50:09,040 --> 00:50:11,480
Speaker 3: where we can build the momentum.

1179
00:50:10,960 --> 00:50:12,839
Speaker 4: And the process to where we want to be one

1180
00:50:12,880 --> 00:50:16,279
Speaker 4: of those programs that every year is a preseason top

1181
00:50:16,320 --> 00:50:19,880
Speaker 4: fifteen team and looked at in the ACC like Clemson

1182
00:50:19,920 --> 00:50:21,560
Speaker 4: has looked at in our league now over the last

1183
00:50:21,560 --> 00:50:22,479
Speaker 4: ten to fifteen years.

1184
00:50:22,480 --> 00:50:24,840
Speaker 3: And I think what helps us both with retention of

1185
00:50:24,880 --> 00:50:27,960
Speaker 3: players and staff is you do this long enough. You

1186
00:50:28,080 --> 00:50:30,480
Speaker 3: know the programs that man, they just had a great

1187
00:50:30,520 --> 00:50:32,080
Speaker 3: year or two, but it's going to be hard to

1188
00:50:32,080 --> 00:50:35,200
Speaker 3: sustain it, and the ones that maybe have the resources,

1189
00:50:35,320 --> 00:50:39,160
Speaker 3: the good fortune of geography and all the other things

1190
00:50:39,200 --> 00:50:41,560
Speaker 3: that they could they could stick around for a while.

1191
00:50:41,560 --> 00:50:45,000
Speaker 3: And I think all of us here feel this has

1192
00:50:45,040 --> 00:50:47,240
Speaker 3: all the ingredients of a program that can stick around,

1193
00:50:47,560 --> 00:50:50,440
Speaker 3: whether it be the geography for recruiting the support of

1194
00:50:50,440 --> 00:50:54,480
Speaker 3: our donors, the city, the facilities, the things we need,

1195
00:50:54,520 --> 00:50:57,120
Speaker 3: the league we're in. You know, if we do it right,

1196
00:50:57,160 --> 00:51:00,840
Speaker 3: we can build a sustainable winner and a brand that

1197
00:51:00,960 --> 00:51:02,920
Speaker 3: stays back where we're hopefully getting it.

1198
00:51:03,160 --> 00:51:04,560
Speaker 1: I kind of wanted to wrap on this.

1199
00:51:06,000 --> 00:51:09,799
Speaker 2: Different places, different coaches rather have different reputations for how

1200
00:51:09,840 --> 00:51:12,239
Speaker 2: easy or hard it is to work for that guy.

1201
00:51:12,880 --> 00:51:15,920
Speaker 2: Some places it's just known you're in at five point thirty,

1202
00:51:16,000 --> 00:51:20,160
Speaker 2: you're out at ten thirty every night. Your reputation although

1203
00:51:20,200 --> 00:51:22,400
Speaker 2: you guys aren't checking out at lunch every day, is

1204
00:51:22,640 --> 00:51:26,319
Speaker 2: one where it's it's easier to work for him. It's demanding,

1205
00:51:26,800 --> 00:51:29,120
Speaker 2: but there's also a lot of purpose behind how the

1206
00:51:29,200 --> 00:51:32,120
Speaker 2: time is used around here, to where you're going to

1207
00:51:32,160 --> 00:51:34,280
Speaker 2: see your family more than once or twice a week.

1208
00:51:34,719 --> 00:51:36,480
Speaker 2: How'd you kind of land that? How do you make

1209
00:51:36,480 --> 00:51:38,080
Speaker 2: that work when there are some other guys out there,

1210
00:51:38,120 --> 00:51:40,680
Speaker 2: and there's some other programs out there, who you know,

1211
00:51:40,760 --> 00:51:43,680
Speaker 2: I may see dad once a week maybe if I'm lucky,

1212
00:51:43,719 --> 00:51:45,200
Speaker 2: and that's if I'm up at ten thirty at night

1213
00:51:45,239 --> 00:51:49,720
Speaker 2: when he gets home, happy people win more, and that's

1214
00:51:49,880 --> 00:51:52,879
Speaker 2: that's not just an opinion there's some studies out there

1215
00:51:52,880 --> 00:51:56,480
Speaker 2: that will prove that no happiness is fleeting, happiness, enjoy

1216
00:51:56,480 --> 00:51:57,600
Speaker 2: it's a whole nother conversation.

1217
00:51:57,760 --> 00:51:59,200
Speaker 4: But happy people win more.

1218
00:51:59,239 --> 00:52:01,560
Speaker 3: And so I look at it like this, Yeah, in

1219
00:52:01,600 --> 00:52:04,280
Speaker 3: our business, there's for a long time been this badge

1220
00:52:04,280 --> 00:52:08,200
Speaker 3: of honor that ours serve equal output delivered, and they

1221
00:52:08,239 --> 00:52:08,720
Speaker 3: just don't.

1222
00:52:09,320 --> 00:52:10,399
Speaker 4: Like, here's the deal.

1223
00:52:10,760 --> 00:52:14,080
Speaker 3: If we work from five am to midnight every day,

1224
00:52:14,280 --> 00:52:16,719
Speaker 3: six seven days a week and we don't win, they're

1225
00:52:16,719 --> 00:52:17,440
Speaker 3: going to replace us.

1226
00:52:18,160 --> 00:52:19,040
Speaker 4: And if we win, they're not.

1227
00:52:19,800 --> 00:52:22,279
Speaker 3: And if we work from seven or eight am to

1228
00:52:22,400 --> 00:52:24,720
Speaker 3: five or six in the off season and in season

1229
00:52:24,760 --> 00:52:26,759
Speaker 3: we don't have office hours. It's whatever it takes to

1230
00:52:26,760 --> 00:52:29,919
Speaker 3: get it done, whatever that is. And we win, they're

1231
00:52:29,920 --> 00:52:31,360
Speaker 3: going to keep us. And if we lose, we don't.

1232
00:52:31,440 --> 00:52:34,319
Speaker 3: And so you know, to your point, we want to

1233
00:52:34,320 --> 00:52:37,920
Speaker 3: have a high expectation program. We want everyone to have

1234
00:52:37,960 --> 00:52:40,879
Speaker 3: high expectations of themselves and of their job. We want

1235
00:52:40,920 --> 00:52:42,759
Speaker 3: to try to do it at a high level. We

1236
00:52:42,800 --> 00:52:45,160
Speaker 3: want to be always pushing the envelope of how.

1237
00:52:45,040 --> 00:52:46,840
Speaker 4: Can we do it better than we've done it before.

1238
00:52:48,360 --> 00:52:50,600
Speaker 3: At the same time, if we're really good at our jobs,

1239
00:52:51,200 --> 00:52:53,400
Speaker 3: we don't have to be inefficient and take forever, and

1240
00:52:53,840 --> 00:52:56,680
Speaker 3: our families should be part of our lives, and there

1241
00:52:56,719 --> 00:52:58,279
Speaker 3: are times of years where they're not as much, and

1242
00:52:58,280 --> 00:53:01,399
Speaker 3: there's others where they can be, and there's sacrifices as make,

1243
00:53:01,520 --> 00:53:02,280
Speaker 3: and there's things.

1244
00:53:02,080 --> 00:53:04,319
Speaker 4: They get to do that others don't. And so.

1245
00:53:05,960 --> 00:53:07,799
Speaker 3: We've never really said, man, we got to be here

1246
00:53:07,800 --> 00:53:09,919
Speaker 3: from this time to this time, because every year, every

1247
00:53:09,920 --> 00:53:12,960
Speaker 3: team's different. It's like, Hey, whatever it takes, that's what

1248
00:53:13,000 --> 00:53:15,839
Speaker 3: we're going to do. And if it takes staying until

1249
00:53:15,920 --> 00:53:18,239
Speaker 3: ten pm one night, great, and if the next time

1250
00:53:18,239 --> 00:53:20,640
Speaker 3: we can leave at seven, great, Like, how do we

1251
00:53:20,680 --> 00:53:23,440
Speaker 3: do our job the best we can with the people

1252
00:53:23,520 --> 00:53:26,920
Speaker 3: were with and still have enough balance.

1253
00:53:27,560 --> 00:53:29,160
Speaker 4: There has to be margin in your life.

1254
00:53:29,560 --> 00:53:33,080
Speaker 3: I'm not good if I'm exhausted and grinded into the ground.

1255
00:53:33,280 --> 00:53:35,320
Speaker 3: I'm just not going to be at my best week eleven.

1256
00:53:35,600 --> 00:53:37,319
Speaker 3: I'm going to be tired week eleven, no matter what.

1257
00:53:37,840 --> 00:53:40,640
Speaker 3: But if I've had no margin throughout the season or

1258
00:53:40,680 --> 00:53:43,239
Speaker 3: no margin in the off season, I'm not going to

1259
00:53:43,280 --> 00:53:45,240
Speaker 3: be at my best. I'm not going to be as happy,

1260
00:53:45,480 --> 00:53:47,080
Speaker 3: and we're not going to be as successful over a

1261
00:53:47,160 --> 00:53:52,279
Speaker 3: long term. That's just my belief everyone's different, and so

1262
00:53:53,080 --> 00:53:55,120
Speaker 3: you know, don't get it wrong. We're trying to compete

1263
00:53:55,239 --> 00:53:58,320
Speaker 3: to beat everybody we play. We want to be elite

1264
00:53:58,320 --> 00:54:02,680
Speaker 3: at what we do. But I don't think there's a

1265
00:54:02,800 --> 00:54:03,960
Speaker 3: cookie cutter way to doing that.

1266
00:54:04,320 --> 00:54:05,560
Speaker 1: Brett last, This is awesome, man.

1267
00:54:05,600 --> 00:54:06,080
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1268
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Speaker 1: Appreciate it.

1269
00:54:06,640 --> 00:54:21,680
Speaker 5: Yeah.

1270
00:54:21,920 --> 00:54:25,880
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