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Speaker 1: Calendar says twenty twenty five, so fourth year in now,

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Speaker 1: it seems like a long time ago.

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Speaker 2: You had that introductory press conference, and as.

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Speaker 1: In the weeds in the moment, as you are, like

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Speaker 1: the way you envisioned the USC experience going, and then

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Speaker 1: all the changes around college football kind of funneling into

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Speaker 1: the way the USC experience has gone. How different has

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Speaker 1: the reality been so far versus sort of what the

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Speaker 1: bigger picture vision was.

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Speaker 3: It's a good question.

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Speaker 4: It's definitely I knew that it was going to be

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Speaker 4: a big undertaking. I mean, you could just look at

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Speaker 4: it until there was a lot of work.

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Speaker 3: That was going to have to go into this. So

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Speaker 3: I don't think any of that's really been surprising.

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Speaker 4: And I knew to build up into become being a

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Speaker 4: perennial championship contender, to be being able to play at

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Speaker 4: that level all the time, I knew in my heart

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Speaker 4: like that's going to take some time. What you probably

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Speaker 4: couldn't have completely predicted is all the other things that

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Speaker 4: changed along with it, and I think that has that's

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Speaker 4: certainly been a factor. I think as we've gone on,

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Speaker 4: it's like you're kind of trying to balance the USC

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Speaker 4: thing but then also the college football thing at the

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Speaker 4: same time, and so we've had to adapt certainly our

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Speaker 4: plan at times. We really came in with the goal

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Speaker 4: in the beginning to get some momentum. Early we went

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Speaker 4: really heavy in the portal as everybody knows, we're able

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Speaker 4: to be I think, pretty successful with that early on

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Speaker 4: and get some belief in some momentum, and then we've

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Speaker 4: just tried to We've tried to build and capitalize on

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Speaker 4: that in a lot of different ways. We've tried to

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Speaker 4: we're kind of now in a period we're start to

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Speaker 4: transition more into really being what we want to be

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Speaker 4: long term, which is a high school developmental program. Given

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Speaker 4: our location, given our school, our history, the staff we've

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Speaker 4: put together, we feel like that's the best path forward

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Speaker 4: for USC now to take that next step into not

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Speaker 4: just a team that's capable of winning big games or

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Speaker 4: you know, having good seasons, but a team that's there

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Speaker 4: every single year.

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Speaker 3: Like we feel like it should be, and we feel like.

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Speaker 4: It's going to be, and that's I think that's best

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Speaker 4: how we see this program going forward.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so you said something there.

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Speaker 1: You said, well, you got to balance the college football

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Speaker 1: thing and the USC thing. And when you made the

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Speaker 1: move out here, it was kind of really at the

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Speaker 1: dawn of the new era, so to speak. Like people

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Speaker 1: knew what the letters in IO meant, they didn't really

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Speaker 1: know what the era was going to mean. Portal knew

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Speaker 1: what it was, didn't know what the era was going

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Speaker 1: to be. But I remember when you came out here,

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Speaker 1: sort of the fifty thousand foot view was, oh, man,

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Speaker 1: he's walking into the perfect place at the perfect time

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Speaker 1: because USC overlapping with what's going to matter now. And

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Speaker 1: it sounded good, like that's a bumper sticker. It sounds good,

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Speaker 1: but you walk into it and you realize you still

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Speaker 1: kind of have to roll your sleeves up and there's

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Speaker 1: still ninety percent of what's beneath the surface that the

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Speaker 1: public doesn't see. And so I mean, how much beyond

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Speaker 1: just the x's and o's and filling out a roster

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Speaker 1: from a mentalities perspective, how big of an undertaking was That.

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Speaker 3: It was big.

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Speaker 4: It was even maybe more than what I would have

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Speaker 4: realized when you combine all that together. And I think

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Speaker 4: you know, because your initial mindset is, all right, we

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Speaker 4: got to go build a staff, We've got to go

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Speaker 4: build a roster. We knew there were some facility things

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Speaker 4: here that we wanted to really adapt to and that

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Speaker 4: we felt like needed to happen, which obviously we've got,

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Speaker 4: you know, one of the best facilities in college football

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Speaker 4: that's twelve months away right now from us moving in.

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Speaker 4: So like those are the like the things on the

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Speaker 4: surface that you knew that I think we're kind of

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Speaker 4: the low hanging fruit. They're going to take a lot

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Speaker 4: of work, but that's pretty obvious. I think the next

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Speaker 4: piece of it was, you knew the potential here in LA,

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Speaker 4: given you know, the NIL world, the support for your players,

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Speaker 4: the degree, the life after football, like all of those things.

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Speaker 4: You know, the pieces are here, but now all of

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Speaker 4: a sudden that becomes such a big part of college

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Speaker 4: football so fast you've got that part's got to catch up.

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Speaker 4: Because I think really for USC and for LA and

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Speaker 4: all of that in general, it's been more of an

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Speaker 4: education of this is what's happening in the college football world.

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Speaker 4: This is why you know, we need this entire city,

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Speaker 4: the entire Trojan family, like really behind this, and when

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Speaker 4: we say behind it, not just you know, cheering for

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Speaker 4: us on TV, like really behind us in every way.

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Speaker 4: Because when we galvanize this whole group, it's going to

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Speaker 4: be something incredibly powerful and I think something very unique

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Speaker 4: in our settings. So we were right that the potential

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Speaker 4: was here, but it's kind of just getting it all

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Speaker 4: in line and getting all the support and everybody on

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Speaker 4: the same page and everybody really behind this. I think

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Speaker 4: that doing that while at the same time trying to

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Speaker 4: get the football program right and all those other parts

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Speaker 4: with that, that's been I think the biggest challenge, and

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Speaker 4: it's we've seen progress, Like we've seen moments here in

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Speaker 4: all areas where like you know it's coming, and I

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Speaker 4: think especially here over the last six months, like you

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Speaker 4: really feel it starting to really galvanize in all areas.

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Speaker 4: And I mean the momentum in this building right now

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Speaker 4: is real. To ask anybody that's been around this program

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Speaker 4: for the last several months, like they feel it, they

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Speaker 4: see it, and you see a lot of these things

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Speaker 4: really coming together.

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Speaker 1: What you just said, I don't think there's much bs

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Speaker 1: to that. I don't think the outside world believes it

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Speaker 1: though when you say, hey, there's a ton of momentum

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Speaker 1: around this building, well.

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Speaker 2: I mean physically I'm in here. I get that.

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Speaker 1: Yet the outside world would look at three consecutive years

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Speaker 1: of record, I guess you would call it regression. They

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Speaker 1: would say, well, where's the momentum? How could there be

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Speaker 1: momentum there? To someone who lives in like Topeka, Kansas

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Speaker 1: loves college football, but they don't really know USC. How

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Speaker 1: would you, in a sit down over lunch conversation explain

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Speaker 1: to them how you could be coming off a seven

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Speaker 1: win season but this place feels as charged as if

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Speaker 1: you just came off a playoff appearance.

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Speaker 4: Well, I think recruiting is always a great barometer with

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Speaker 4: where your program's at, right because you've you've got high

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Speaker 4: school players that a lot of these guys are recruiting

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Speaker 4: have the options to go just about anywhere in the

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Speaker 4: they want to. You know, high school coaches right that

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Speaker 4: know the game and understand the game. I think you

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Speaker 4: look at the staff right, like the people that are

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Speaker 4: in this business day after day, they see what's coming.

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Speaker 4: Like you could go put any of us in another

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Speaker 4: field and yes, we might see on the surface what's

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Speaker 4: going on, but we're gonna have no idea behind the scenes,

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Speaker 4: like what that really means because we don't live it

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Speaker 4: day in and day out. You don't have the type

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Speaker 4: of staff members that we're bringing in or retaining coming

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Speaker 4: into a place like this unless they really are very

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Speaker 4: positive about what's getting ready to happen here. And the

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Speaker 4: same thing with recruiting, and so I think those are

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Speaker 4: two of the great barometers right now in terms of

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Speaker 4: what we're what we're doing. And then the other thing

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Speaker 4: I would ask them to say is did you watch

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Speaker 4: our games last year? Did you actually watch the games?

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Speaker 4: Did you watch the way that our team played? Did

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Speaker 4: you really study kind of how that played out? Because

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Speaker 4: I think the casual fan is going to look at

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Speaker 4: it and say, yeah, all right, seven wins, and yeah

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Speaker 4: we happy with seven wins.

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Speaker 3: Hell no, not by any stretch.

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Speaker 4: But am I excited about the way our team played

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Speaker 4: for a large part of last season. One hundred percent?

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Speaker 4: I am, because it is absolute progress. When you add

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Speaker 4: in the staff, when you add in the way recruiting

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Speaker 4: is going, the momentum, you just you can just tell

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Speaker 4: it's coming together. And I think I take a lot

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Speaker 4: of my confidence from the people on the staff have

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Speaker 4: won national championship, super Bowls, and we got one of

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Speaker 4: the most accomplished staffs of anybody, and they all feel it,

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Speaker 4: and they all know exactly what that feels like because

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Speaker 4: they've been a part of it.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So I've always said on our show one of the

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Speaker 1: biggest lives people tell in college football is you just

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Speaker 1: are what your record says you are when they determine

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Speaker 1: what bowl you go to at the end of the year,

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Speaker 1: when they determine standings.

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Speaker 2: That's fair, that's how you should decide that.

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Speaker 1: But if you're trying to gauge the status of a

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Speaker 1: program in college not the NFL, I've always thought that

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Speaker 1: there were several sub layers that probably provide as much,

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Speaker 1: if not more context than seven wins. You could have

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Speaker 1: gotten blown out seven times five times last year, I

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Speaker 1: feel a lot different than one possession games, correct, But

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Speaker 1: so record aside, when you evaluated status of program at

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Speaker 1: the end of the year, and when you like looked

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Speaker 1: at the landscape of where we are where we want

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Speaker 1: to be, I'd imagine you felt like you're a lot

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Speaker 1: closer to getting to where that standard was than what

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Speaker 1: your typical seven and five would lead you to believe.

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Speaker 4: I think that's fair, because you're right, college football it

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Speaker 4: is tough to sess. You know, there's no look in

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Speaker 4: the NFL. Nobody questions you know, who's going to the playoffs?

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Speaker 4: Like it is what it is college football. I think

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Speaker 4: the first thing you look at is how different the

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Speaker 4: scheduling is, right, how different non conference schedules are, and

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Speaker 4: then how different you know, the conference scheduling, especially now

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Speaker 4: with the Big Ten and the SEC having really separated

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Speaker 4: their selves. That doesn't mean there's not other good programs

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Speaker 4: and other good conferences, but these two are very clearly

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Speaker 4: on a different planet right now.

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Speaker 3: And so yeah, you have to take all those things

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Speaker 3: into account.

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Speaker 4: And when I watched the way that our team played

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Speaker 4: and competed throughout the year to be in position really

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Speaker 4: to win every single game that we played, yeah, you

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Speaker 4: certainly don't dismiss or hide away from the fact that, yes,

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Speaker 4: we should have won more than seven games. There is

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Speaker 4: not one person in this place that has happened with

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Speaker 4: seven wins and never will be. But at the same time,

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Speaker 4: you also see a ton of growth from the year

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Speaker 4: before into the way we played, the mentality we played with,

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Speaker 4: especially the way we played defensively, and you just see

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Speaker 4: the stage starting to set as all these other things

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Speaker 4: are improving around that.

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Speaker 1: When you talked about the SEC, and the Big ten

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Speaker 1: and everyone else. It's kind of interesting because there's some

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Speaker 1: people who are traditionalists college football fans who really don't

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Speaker 1: love acknowledging that that's reality. But at the same time,

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Speaker 1: I don't like acknowledging traffic's bad today. But if traffic's bad,

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Speaker 1: it's bad. If there is big separation between the big

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Speaker 1: two and everyone else, then there is separation, but not that.

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Speaker 1: You have a lot of time to think in the

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Speaker 1: manner of the question I'm about to ask, but where

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Speaker 1: your personal references fall in the time you've been in

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Speaker 1: college football, the time you watch college football, do you

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Speaker 1: prefer sort of the way it was, well, you got

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Speaker 1: relative balance across the country versus the way it is.

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Speaker 1: Do you even care because you got a job to do,

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Speaker 1: Like when you take two seconds as a fan and

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Speaker 1: look at the whole thing, how do you feel.

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Speaker 2: About the way it's sort of evolved?

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Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, if I wasn't a coach in this business,

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Speaker 4: I would probably rather see it more spread out. There's

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Speaker 4: a part of me that's still a traditionalist in kind

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Speaker 4: of the regional conferences and the matchups and the rivalries

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Speaker 4: that created. But the flip side of it is like

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Speaker 4: that's not the world anymore. And that doesn't mean that

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Speaker 4: what we're doing right now still doesn't have some great advantages.

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Speaker 4: I mean, again, you go look at the schedule that

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Speaker 4: we played last year, in the matchups that happened. I mean,

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Speaker 4: you know, you're playing you know, LSU, You're playing Penn State,

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Speaker 4: You're playing Notre Dame, you're playing Michigan. I mean, you're

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Speaker 4: going right down the line. I mean some incredible matchups.

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Speaker 4: So there's some new things happening that are great, and

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Speaker 4: I think we've all got to embrace it because that's

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Speaker 4: what college football is.

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Speaker 3: And there's a ton of pauses.

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Speaker 1: So I think around this time last year, probably a

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Speaker 1: little over a year ago, you guys had arrived at

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Speaker 1: the end of your previous season, and man.

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Speaker 2: You really just laid your soul out and said.

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Speaker 1: We're going to overhaul everything here and philosophically, we are

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Speaker 1: changing ourselves as a program. And I'm sitting in Nashville

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Speaker 1: just as a bystander, and I'm listening to it and

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Speaker 1: I'm saying, I think he means every word he says.

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Speaker 1: But at the same time, let's just watch the action.

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Speaker 1: So then the actions follow and you overhauled the defensive staff,

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Speaker 1: and now I mean you've got a general manager in

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Speaker 1: the building, whereas you wouldn't have a year ago.

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Speaker 2: A year later.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I'm not asking you how steadfast you were

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Speaker 1: in the belief. Of course you're steadfast in the belief,

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Speaker 1: but how far down the road of sort of installing

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Speaker 1: that new philosophy do you feel you are?

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Speaker 2: Program wide?

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Speaker 4: I think we've come along ways. I think the end

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Speaker 4: of that year was the real point for me where

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Speaker 4: it was like okay, and to me it was, especially

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Speaker 4: from the transfer portal, like okay, we came man with

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Speaker 4: a goal here in the very beginning that we felt

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Speaker 4: like we needed to overhaul this roster very quickly to

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Speaker 4: give ourselves a chance to have some success.

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Speaker 2: All right.

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Speaker 3: That happened a lot in year one.

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Speaker 4: We really kind of pushed to try to go all

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Speaker 4: in with that mentality the second year to supplement it

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Speaker 4: and try to really push it over the top. And

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Speaker 4: it obviously didn't come together in any way the way

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Speaker 4: that we imagined in the second half of that season,

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Speaker 4: and it was kind of that point and again, yes,

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Speaker 4: the wins and losses, but more the way that we

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Speaker 4: played and we did not play very well at the

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Speaker 4: end of that second season of like, Okay, this is

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Speaker 4: really time to get back to the developmental side of recruiting,

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Speaker 4: all right, really really like this is the time to

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Speaker 4: kind of make that transition from the way we started

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Speaker 4: here to the way of what we really want to be.

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Speaker 4: And then obviously we knew there were some staff changes

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Speaker 4: that we were in the middle of making at that point,

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Speaker 4: and knew that it was going to be very important

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Speaker 4: to not only, you know, go hire you know, the

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Speaker 4: best defensive staff we possibly can, but then also equip

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Speaker 4: those guys with the way that we run practice, the

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Speaker 4: way we develop players, the way we recruit, I mean

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Speaker 4: all of that to make sure and equip these great

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Speaker 4: coaches with players that can go get it done on

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Speaker 4: the field. And you felt the tangible difference from that,

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Speaker 4: and then certainly felt kind of the same way this

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Speaker 4: year with the overhaul and the personnel and off the

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Speaker 4: field staff, and obviously that's made a huge difference in

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Speaker 4: our program. And it's it's been the right people at

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Speaker 4: the right time, and I think is all but continue

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Speaker 4: the momentum.

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Speaker 1: When you're in your seat and you're ultimately the one

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Speaker 1: that has to make the big picture decisions. It's got

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Speaker 1: to be so different than a fan watching at home.

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Speaker 1: A fan watches at home, and if you give up

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Speaker 1: thirty five and week four, you know the defense wasn't

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Speaker 1: good enough that day. But at the same time, you

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Speaker 1: don't just hit the dump button, say oh, we'll get

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Speaker 1: it fixed for week five, like I mean, misalignment, lack

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Speaker 1: of hustle. Okay, we can correct those Monday in the

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Speaker 1: meeting room. But there's some other stuff you probably know.

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Speaker 1: I got to bite the bullet, I got to wait

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Speaker 1: to December to make wholesale changes here. How frustrating is that?

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Speaker 1: Cause the fan's just gonna yell the same thing week seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve,

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Speaker 1: and before they know it, they've stacked those weeks on

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Speaker 1: top of each other, and all of a sudden, you're

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Speaker 1: an idiot because you don't see what I see. How

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Speaker 1: frustrating is it to just know for the time being,

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Speaker 1: I've got to try and plug thirteen holes in the

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Speaker 1: damn and I've got ten fingers and I'm gonna get

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Speaker 1: soaked for a little while, but I'll address it whenever

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Speaker 1: I can't address it.

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Speaker 4: Well, I think it takes confidence and belief in the

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Speaker 4: vision and what you came here to do in the

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Speaker 4: first place. Like, the reality is is, whoever took this

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Speaker 4: job at SC a couple of years ago, you're gonna

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Speaker 4: have to be You're gonna have to be willing to

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Speaker 4: go through some of that to get it to where

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Speaker 4: it's going to go. It's not just going to be

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Speaker 4: this like smooth storybook road to the top where there's

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Speaker 4: no adversity or no no rough moments like that's that's

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Speaker 4: not part of it. And that's why when we get there,

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Speaker 4: like it's going to feel that much better because you're

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Speaker 4: gonna have to go through that, and I think whoever

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Speaker 4: took this was gonna have to be willing to wear

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Speaker 4: some of that. Unfortunately, you know, I'm very convicted on

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Speaker 4: what we're doing. That doesn't mean that that there's no

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Speaker 4: adjustments we don't have to make in the middle of it,

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Speaker 4: or that we've done everything perfect. I'm not saying that,

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Speaker 4: but in the overall vision of what we're doing, I'm

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Speaker 4: very convicted that this is the right place, that we're

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Speaker 4: the right people, that we're taking the right steps, and

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Speaker 4: I just know that it's going to happen.

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Speaker 3: And so when you feel that.

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Speaker 4: Way to me, you're not as tempted to overreact, right,

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Speaker 4: You're not as tempted to jump to conclusions because there's

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Speaker 4: a bigger picture in mine of what you're doing.

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Speaker 3: And so yeah, I just think.

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Speaker 4: The belief in the place and belief in what we're

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Speaker 4: doing helps push me past any of that.

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Speaker 1: But so what you just said, like your personal mentality

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Speaker 1: on that, I guarantee you that's where the detachment would be.

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Speaker 1: From an outside observer, they would look and say, since

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Speaker 1: he hasn't had immediate like rocket ship success, that must

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Speaker 1: mean ah, man, he feels like his plan didn't work out,

348
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Speaker 1: or he feels like a little bit lost in trying

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Speaker 1: to figure things out. And then you switch over to

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Speaker 1: the other fist, and this is you talking right now.

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Speaker 1: You just used conviction. You use that word like four times,

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Speaker 1: and everyone in the building says the exact same things

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Speaker 1: out of their mouth, which means everyone's aligned in the building.

354
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Speaker 1: But that's the difference in just thinking it's going to

355
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Speaker 1: go smooth and he'll take off your one versus walking

356
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Speaker 1: in and realizing it can be great. But there's probably

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Speaker 1: an arduous process between here and making it great.

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Speaker 4: Well, I think that's why rebuilds are so difficult, Right,

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Speaker 4: It's like anybody could take on the rebuild and every

360
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Speaker 4: single thing falls into place perfectly and there's no adversity

361
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Speaker 4: and it just climbs up then, like anybody could do that.

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Speaker 3: Right.

363
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Speaker 4: There's a reason why these things are called rebuild in

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Speaker 4: the first place, right, And you've got to be willing.

365
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Speaker 3: To go through some of that.

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Speaker 4: The other part of it is as much as you

367
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Speaker 4: try to learn about a job before you take a job,

368
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Speaker 4: like nobody knows what these things are really like to

369
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Speaker 4: you get there and you really look under the hood,

370
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Speaker 4: you know, and you really start to say, Okay, what's

371
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Speaker 4: good here, what's got to improve? How do we put

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Speaker 4: a plan in place to get that done? And you

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Speaker 4: have to do it with short term fowk because you

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Speaker 4: want to win those moments and you want that team

375
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Speaker 4: that you're coaching at that point to be the best

376
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Speaker 4: it can and have the best chance to win as

377
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Speaker 4: many games as possible. But there's also got to be

378
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Speaker 4: a long term focus too of what are we right now?

379
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Speaker 4: What would we like to be in a handful of

380
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Speaker 4: years as we do continue to build, and so you're

381
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Speaker 4: kind of constantly balancing those two things. But I just

382
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Speaker 4: you know, this one's unique because these blue bloods aren't

383
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Speaker 4: down very often, and they typically history shows that when

384
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Speaker 4: they're down, they typically come back with a vengeance, and

385
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Speaker 4: this one is going to that is starting to happen here.

386
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Speaker 4: The thing the toughest part about rebuilding at a place

387
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Speaker 4: like USC is USC is always going to have great

388
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Speaker 4: standards attached with it, no matter what's happened, Like it's

389
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Speaker 4: great expectations are always going to be there because it's

390
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Speaker 4: USC right, it's USC football, And so for somebody and

391
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Speaker 4: a group of people to be able to manage that

392
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Speaker 4: on their way up, I think is really really important.

393
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Speaker 4: And that's where I think the experience on this staff

394
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Speaker 4: really lends itself, not just to coach an a team

395
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Speaker 4: or coaching at a universe, but coaching here in this moment,

396
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Speaker 4: because you got guys that understand that and aren't going

397
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Speaker 4: to get rocked one way or another. Make the necessary adjustments,

398
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Speaker 4: keep accentuating the things we're doing well, own the things

399
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Speaker 4: that we've got to fix or the areas we got

400
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Speaker 4: to correct, and keep.

401
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Speaker 1: Climbing in retrospect, knowing what you know now and learning

402
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Speaker 1: the lessons from the way you initially went about doing

403
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Speaker 1: it going heavy on the portal. Guy comes to you

404
00:18:36,240 --> 00:18:38,520
Speaker 1: and wants advice from you. He's taken over a major

405
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Speaker 1: program very similar to what you took over with USC,

406
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Speaker 1: and he's got to rebuild on his hands, very similar

407
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Speaker 1: to what you had when you took over at USC.

408
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Speaker 1: Would you tell him just suck it up, start rebuilding

409
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Speaker 1: right now, lean morel in high school, don't even try

410
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Speaker 1: to jump start with the portal? Or would you tell him, hey,

411
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Speaker 1: try it the way I tried it, maybe it'll actually

412
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Speaker 1: work out for you. What kind of advice would you give.

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Speaker 4: Well, I would There's a lot of other things that

414
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Speaker 4: you would have to have to be able to be

415
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Speaker 4: aware of before you maybe gave somebody advice. Different jobs

416
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Speaker 4: in different places are certainly unique.

417
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Speaker 3: I mean I certainly have Year one.

418
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Speaker 4: If we could have done much better Year one, I

419
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Speaker 4: don't know. I mean we we came within a quarter

420
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Speaker 4: and maybe a pulled hamstring from going to the going

421
00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:24,520
Speaker 4: to the playoff, which you know that team really came

422
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Speaker 4: together and did a phenomenal job.

423
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Speaker 3: Was that a playoff team?

424
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Speaker 2: In my mind?

425
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Speaker 4: I've been around a few of them and competed against

426
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Speaker 4: some of them. Like, I don't know, so I think

427
00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:37,399
Speaker 4: the first year was tremendous here. I mean we had

428
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Speaker 4: a great year. You know, had one Heisman Trophy. I mean,

429
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Speaker 4: it was a phenomenal year. I probably, if I had

430
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Speaker 4: it to do over again, being completely honest, I probably

431
00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:49,479
Speaker 4: right after that first year would have shifted quicker into

432
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Speaker 4: a little bit less portal and started trending a little

433
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Speaker 4: bit faster after that, because I feel like we got

434
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Speaker 4: what we wanted the first year. We shocked the system,

435
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Speaker 4: We created belief, there was an excitement.

436
00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:03,320
Speaker 3: I remember seeing some of the the there.

437
00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:05,080
Speaker 4: Were some shots of like some of the games the

438
00:20:05,160 --> 00:20:07,640
Speaker 4: year before the Coliseum and you know, I won many

439
00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:09,520
Speaker 4: people in there, and then some shots of the games

440
00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:11,600
Speaker 4: like just twelve months later and that place is packed

441
00:20:11,600 --> 00:20:14,080
Speaker 4: and it looks like I remember watching it years ago

442
00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:20,040
Speaker 4: on TV. So that that was a complete success. I

443
00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:22,000
Speaker 4: think I would have transitioned it quicker.

444
00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:27,280
Speaker 1: When you, in your own mind think USC football, I'll

445
00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:29,520
Speaker 1: tell you what I think. Like when I'm growing up,

446
00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:34,040
Speaker 1: that's around the time of Lioner Bush, that's mid two thousands,

447
00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:38,120
Speaker 1: I'm thinking Coliseum Saturday night. I'm thinking sold out. I'm

448
00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:41,119
Speaker 1: thinking one of the most feared, you know, programs in

449
00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:43,399
Speaker 1: the sport. That's when you snap your fingers and you

450
00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:46,080
Speaker 1: ask me, what does USC mean to you? Well, coming

451
00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:47,800
Speaker 1: up in the era, I did, that's what it means

452
00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:50,840
Speaker 1: before you took a job, so you have no involvement here.

453
00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:53,679
Speaker 1: When someone said, hey, man, USC football, what is it

454
00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:55,240
Speaker 1: in your mind? What would your answer have been?

455
00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:57,720
Speaker 4: Very very similar to what you just said. I'd never

456
00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:01,359
Speaker 4: been on campus in SC. I'd never been in the coliseum,

457
00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:04,760
Speaker 4: but I watched it from afar. How could you not

458
00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:06,920
Speaker 4: it just like it pulled you in.

459
00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:07,479
Speaker 3: You know.

460
00:21:07,560 --> 00:21:10,359
Speaker 4: It was like, you know, watching some of the greats

461
00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:13,120
Speaker 4: and individual sports, you can't help but not watch these

462
00:21:13,119 --> 00:21:16,000
Speaker 4: guys like the program had that feel about it to me.

463
00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:18,760
Speaker 4: And I had no ties to it, no familiarity with

464
00:21:18,840 --> 00:21:19,520
Speaker 4: it other than.

465
00:21:19,359 --> 00:21:20,320
Speaker 3: It captivated me.

466
00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:24,800
Speaker 4: And then as you started to learn about all that

467
00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:28,480
Speaker 4: comes with it at this place, with this school, I

468
00:21:28,520 --> 00:21:31,200
Speaker 4: mean to be It's just it's unlike any other people

469
00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:32,440
Speaker 4: can decide better or worse.

470
00:21:32,760 --> 00:21:33,760
Speaker 3: That's they can.

471
00:21:33,920 --> 00:21:36,480
Speaker 4: Everybody can judge their own there, but there is nothing

472
00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:39,360
Speaker 4: like this place. And so to get a chance to

473
00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:40,480
Speaker 4: do it at this place, it.

474
00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:41,280
Speaker 3: Was kind of a dream.

475
00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:43,920
Speaker 4: And I mean even three and a half years later,

476
00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:44,880
Speaker 4: still feels like that.

477
00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:46,280
Speaker 2: I had my mind blown.

478
00:21:46,320 --> 00:21:47,320
Speaker 3: The other day, we were.

479
00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:50,879
Speaker 2: Doing like a mailbag episode. So I referred to USC

480
00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:54,240
Speaker 2: as a blue blood. One of the twenty year old viewers.

481
00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:56,280
Speaker 1: Hits me up and says, I don't know that I

482
00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:58,600
Speaker 1: would put USC in blue blood status. And I'm like,

483
00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:01,320
Speaker 1: I thought it's a joke, And so I start going

484
00:22:01,359 --> 00:22:02,879
Speaker 1: back and forth. Had nothing better to do on a

485
00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:04,560
Speaker 1: Thursday night, I start going back and forth, and then

486
00:22:04,600 --> 00:22:06,720
Speaker 1: you run the numbers in your head and you subtract,

487
00:22:07,080 --> 00:22:09,800
Speaker 1: like fourteen years back to when this person became a

488
00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:13,159
Speaker 1: cognizant child able to watch TV, and sure enough, like

489
00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:16,240
Speaker 1: there is no real national championship, there's no stretch of

490
00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:20,280
Speaker 1: elite run in their lifetime. And it almost took someone

491
00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:22,920
Speaker 1: grabbing me by the shoulders and shaking me to realize

492
00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:26,320
Speaker 1: it can happen that quick, like the perception of a

493
00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:29,960
Speaker 1: brand can go north or south that quick. And so

494
00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:34,159
Speaker 1: I say that to say this, you're again, you're in

495
00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:37,040
Speaker 1: the weeds day to day. But also you could have

496
00:22:37,119 --> 00:22:40,400
Speaker 1: a voice in your head that thinks futuristically, they could

497
00:22:40,400 --> 00:22:43,240
Speaker 1: be making documentaries twenty years from now. They could be

498
00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:45,840
Speaker 1: narrating You could be involved in narrating a doc twenty

499
00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:50,800
Speaker 1: years from now about what returned a once like elite

500
00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:53,919
Speaker 1: prestigious brand in the minds of people like us to

501
00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:57,360
Speaker 1: that same status in the mind of another generation. And

502
00:22:57,640 --> 00:22:59,359
Speaker 1: I know that doesn't have anything to do with how

503
00:22:59,359 --> 00:23:02,480
Speaker 1: you're going to coach in week one, but the overarching

504
00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:04,280
Speaker 1: like value of your job, the.

505
00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:07,000
Speaker 2: Impact you could have. How how awesome is that to know?

506
00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:09,800
Speaker 1: Man, I got that responsibility, but also I've got that

507
00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:11,360
Speaker 1: potential I could actually be part.

508
00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:12,280
Speaker 3: Of that, no question.

509
00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:13,680
Speaker 4: I mean, I think the chance to be a part

510
00:23:13,720 --> 00:23:16,399
Speaker 4: of that was a big part of the the you know,

511
00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:20,600
Speaker 4: lure to come here. You just realized it was a

512
00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:23,600
Speaker 4: unique program in a unique setting in a really unique time,

513
00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:26,399
Speaker 4: Like you could look throughout one hundred year history and

514
00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:29,199
Speaker 4: you're not going to catch usc like it was very often.

515
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,160
Speaker 3: You know, that's kind of why they call you blue blood. Right.

516
00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,000
Speaker 4: You asked the question earlier about, you know, how would

517
00:23:36,040 --> 00:23:40,240
Speaker 4: you articulate progress to people on the outside that maybe

518
00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:41,879
Speaker 4: aren't right there for the day to day or maybe

519
00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:43,000
Speaker 4: you know, haven't watched all of.

520
00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:44,680
Speaker 3: Our games or whatever it is.

521
00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:48,399
Speaker 4: You made a great point there, people that people are

522
00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,119
Speaker 4: going to base it on what they've seen in their lifetimes, right,

523
00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:54,080
Speaker 4: especially young people. You know, a lot's been made of

524
00:23:54,119 --> 00:23:56,399
Speaker 4: our recruiting class right now and how well that's going.

525
00:23:56,840 --> 00:23:58,919
Speaker 4: You know, you take yourself if you were a you know,

526
00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:01,960
Speaker 4: seventh grade or eight gread or ninth grader, all right,

527
00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:04,600
Speaker 4: and then you're getting ready to get into those recruiting years.

528
00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:07,000
Speaker 4: Talking about the guys that actually become high level Division

529
00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,400
Speaker 4: one recruits. Well, maybe you've watched USC football coming up

530
00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:12,879
Speaker 4: and you're you don't maybe see a whole lot that

531
00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:17,000
Speaker 4: quite inspires you, right, or that gives you the feel that, yeah,

532
00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:20,520
Speaker 4: that place can be what it once was. Well, you

533
00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:22,439
Speaker 4: look at our recruiting class right now, and how well

534
00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:24,280
Speaker 4: it's going. Well, what have those guys watched the last

535
00:24:24,280 --> 00:24:27,320
Speaker 4: several years? You know they have seen? Has it been perfect?

536
00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:27,640
Speaker 2: Nah?

537
00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:27,879
Speaker 3: Not?

538
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:30,960
Speaker 4: But again not by any stretch. Has it been as

539
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:33,760
Speaker 4: good as we want it to be. No, it hasn't

540
00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:37,879
Speaker 4: been okay, but they have seen belief, They have seen moments,

541
00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:40,360
Speaker 4: they have walked into that coliseum packed, they have seen

542
00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:45,280
Speaker 4: Heisman trophies one like, they have seen all right, hope, right,

543
00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:49,080
Speaker 4: And they have seen and I think what is happening

544
00:24:49,119 --> 00:24:52,200
Speaker 4: now in recruiting, no matter who you hire as staff members,

545
00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:55,040
Speaker 4: no matter what type of facility you build, anything like that.

546
00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:58,480
Speaker 4: If there wasn't that belief among those players right now,

547
00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:01,760
Speaker 4: if they hadn't seen something like for years, this class

548
00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:03,800
Speaker 4: will not look the way it looks right now, period.

549
00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:07,080
Speaker 2: Without naming names.

550
00:25:07,600 --> 00:25:10,560
Speaker 1: There have been a lot of different programs and headlines

551
00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:13,920
Speaker 1: for different reasons recently, and everyone's had their own philosophy

552
00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:16,800
Speaker 1: about how to recruit the last few years. Some of

553
00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:19,040
Speaker 1: them have tried to adhere to we are selling our

554
00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:23,000
Speaker 1: program and there is a monetary value attached to your scholarship,

555
00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,359
Speaker 1: but we want you here if you're buying another program.

556
00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:28,359
Speaker 1: Other places have been we're basically going to buy recruiting

557
00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:32,639
Speaker 1: classes and you find that, yeah, you land kids, But

558
00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:36,359
Speaker 1: then also that's what they're attached to you for, Like

559
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:38,520
Speaker 1: they're not really playing for the logo on the side

560
00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:40,399
Speaker 1: of the helmet as much as they are a dollar figure.

561
00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:43,560
Speaker 1: They got the right to do that, but how important

562
00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:47,160
Speaker 1: is it because you're articulating the former instead of the latter.

563
00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:50,600
Speaker 1: You're articulating selling the program, selling vision, and then yeah,

564
00:25:50,640 --> 00:25:52,560
Speaker 1: we got resources here and we're going to attach that,

565
00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:54,240
Speaker 1: and we're going to give you a lot of added

566
00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:56,240
Speaker 1: reason to come here. But how important is it when

567
00:25:56,240 --> 00:25:58,560
Speaker 1: you sit down face to face with kids to make

568
00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:02,760
Speaker 1: sure they're baseline motivation for being here is the same

569
00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:06,080
Speaker 1: baseline motivation that I've got, that this staff's got, and

570
00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:07,440
Speaker 1: that guys had twenty years ago.

571
00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:07,800
Speaker 2: Yeah.

572
00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:11,480
Speaker 4: I think it's particularly important at this place because again,

573
00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:15,159
Speaker 4: you're trying to bring everybody together to bring back one

574
00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:17,680
Speaker 4: of the most historical programs of all time, all right,

575
00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:20,360
Speaker 4: which is going to take everybody on the same page

576
00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:24,320
Speaker 4: to help push it that way. You're bringing players in

577
00:26:24,359 --> 00:26:26,720
Speaker 4: to an academic institution that's one of the best in

578
00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:29,480
Speaker 4: the world. And while that degree is wildly valuable, this

579
00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:31,840
Speaker 4: is also a challenging place to go to school, right,

580
00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:34,480
Speaker 4: So if you have guys that don't have a motivation

581
00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:37,160
Speaker 4: on what this place can do for them in terms

582
00:26:37,200 --> 00:26:39,800
Speaker 4: of their academic career and life after ball, it's probably

583
00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:41,879
Speaker 4: not going to work out great here either. And so

584
00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:44,399
Speaker 4: I think on both of those fronts, I think it

585
00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:47,439
Speaker 4: puts an emphstis back on us as a staff in

586
00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:50,520
Speaker 4: terms of who we evaluate, who we really pursue to

587
00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:54,040
Speaker 4: make sure that we're adhering to those things and because

588
00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:57,320
Speaker 4: if you don't, Yeah, that's great. Everybody's excited on signing

589
00:26:57,400 --> 00:26:59,440
Speaker 4: day or when a guy commits, but does it really

590
00:26:59,520 --> 00:27:01,399
Speaker 4: work right at the end of the day. Does a

591
00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:04,479
Speaker 4: guy really come here and perform and become a valuable

592
00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:06,119
Speaker 4: member of the team, in the in the in the

593
00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:07,840
Speaker 4: university community.

594
00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:07,840
Speaker 3: And all of that.

595
00:27:08,119 --> 00:27:12,440
Speaker 4: So, yeah, it's important for us. I think in my mind,

596
00:27:12,480 --> 00:27:16,520
Speaker 4: like USC is the place that checks every box, and

597
00:27:16,640 --> 00:27:21,800
Speaker 4: so we want to We're trying to position ourselves that

598
00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:24,600
Speaker 4: there's not one thing that a student athlete and their

599
00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:26,800
Speaker 4: family could want out of this experience that they won't

600
00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:28,560
Speaker 4: get here, and a lot of things here that they

601
00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:31,000
Speaker 4: can get that they have you'd have a really hard

602
00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:32,560
Speaker 4: time finding anywhere else just.

603
00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:34,880
Speaker 3: Because the location and the school and all of that.

604
00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:37,159
Speaker 4: The flip side of it, though, is you have to

605
00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:40,560
Speaker 4: have people that on the other side that feel the

606
00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:44,159
Speaker 4: same way. And I think anytime in any relationship or

607
00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:49,800
Speaker 4: business relationship, a professional relationship that if if one side

608
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:51,879
Speaker 4: is invested one way but one is the other, it

609
00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:54,119
Speaker 4: never works out. And you got to find that that

610
00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:56,520
Speaker 4: kind of shared vision, and that's what we've been trying

611
00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:57,480
Speaker 4: to find with our guys.

612
00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:00,600
Speaker 1: I've lived in Nashville roughly the same amount time you've

613
00:28:00,640 --> 00:28:02,800
Speaker 1: lived in LA So like I go back home to

614
00:28:02,840 --> 00:28:05,480
Speaker 1: Harris County, Georgia. I don't think I'm any different a person,

615
00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:09,480
Speaker 1: but they'll note very, very minor differences in my personality

616
00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:11,920
Speaker 1: just just the way I handle myself, and I think

617
00:28:11,920 --> 00:28:15,000
Speaker 1: they're crazy. But yet they're all independently saying the same thing.

618
00:28:15,080 --> 00:28:17,399
Speaker 1: So something must have changed. When you talk to people

619
00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:19,840
Speaker 1: who you've known for a long time and have multiple

620
00:28:19,880 --> 00:28:23,640
Speaker 1: reference historical points to gauge against, what do they say

621
00:28:23,720 --> 00:28:25,000
Speaker 1: has changed the most about you?

622
00:28:25,119 --> 00:28:26,760
Speaker 2: Or do they say anything's changed about.

623
00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:28,320
Speaker 3: You that I'm more relaxed?

624
00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:31,439
Speaker 2: Really? And what causes?

625
00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:35,199
Speaker 4: Maybe it's just we California vibe, baby, you know, I

626
00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:38,800
Speaker 4: think I think. I mean, I love the job, I

627
00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:42,440
Speaker 4: love the place. We've We've really me and my family

628
00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:46,000
Speaker 4: really enjoyed living here. It's a unique place to live

629
00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:49,720
Speaker 4: in It's we've never lived anywhere remotely like this in

630
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:50,320
Speaker 4: our lives.

631
00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:56,960
Speaker 3: But I think I think the.

632
00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:56,920
Speaker 4: There's a real just kind of sense of freedom, I

633
00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:58,680
Speaker 4: think with a lot of people that live out here,

634
00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:01,240
Speaker 4: in just the sense that that there's so much to do,

635
00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:06,040
Speaker 4: there's so much kind of value away from the job.

636
00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:09,520
Speaker 4: You know, there's a lot of other things going on

637
00:29:09,600 --> 00:29:12,160
Speaker 4: in this place, and I think for players, coaches, all

638
00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:13,880
Speaker 4: of that, just a chance to kind of live your

639
00:29:13,880 --> 00:29:19,320
Speaker 4: life away from the office is pretty unique, especially when

640
00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:21,600
Speaker 4: you compare it to a lot of the small college towns,

641
00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:25,560
Speaker 4: especially for big programs across the country. So we've appreciated

642
00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:26,239
Speaker 4: that part of it.

643
00:29:26,360 --> 00:29:29,400
Speaker 1: So you don't get recognized as much in la as Norman,

644
00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:30,360
Speaker 1: that's what you're telling me.

645
00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:34,640
Speaker 4: Well, I think it's any college town, right as as

646
00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:38,560
Speaker 4: as you know, ask Ryan day Rights, as ask anybody

647
00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:41,240
Speaker 4: at any major college right in a small towns.

648
00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:43,000
Speaker 3: That's just a little bit how it is.

649
00:29:43,080 --> 00:29:45,440
Speaker 4: I mean, I reference it'd be great you'd go back

650
00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:45,840
Speaker 4: and read it.

651
00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:46,680
Speaker 3: There's an old.

652
00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:50,800
Speaker 4: ESPN article on Pete Carroll. It's not on Pete specifically,

653
00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:56,040
Speaker 4: but it's the article was what college coaches do when

654
00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:58,480
Speaker 4: they get down time, you know, and guys are talking

655
00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:01,280
Speaker 4: about going to destin or going to this, going to that, right, yeah,

656
00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:03,640
Speaker 4: And they asked Pete. Pete's like like, hell, I don't

657
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:05,720
Speaker 4: need to go anywhere. He said, we can win or

658
00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:07,200
Speaker 4: lose a game, and I can go out to eat

659
00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:09,440
Speaker 4: on Saturday night. Nobody cares that I'm in there because

660
00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:11,560
Speaker 4: George Clooney and that guy from Friends right in there,

661
00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:13,120
Speaker 4: you know what I mean, which is like it's a

662
00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:15,920
Speaker 4: great quote, but it's like there's living it. There's some

663
00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:18,600
Speaker 4: there's some kind of reality to that that that.

664
00:30:19,120 --> 00:30:19,480
Speaker 3: I don't know.

665
00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:21,800
Speaker 4: This this city is it's it's it's got an incredible

666
00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:24,200
Speaker 4: vibe and way about it, and we've really taken to it.

667
00:30:24,280 --> 00:30:27,040
Speaker 1: How great is it that the entire answer for all

668
00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:29,280
Speaker 1: fourteen coaches in the SEC is destined.

669
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:32,240
Speaker 2: It's all just got to go to destin exactly.

670
00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:32,720
Speaker 3: Yeah.

671
00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:35,680
Speaker 1: So you look at this upcoming season, I don't know

672
00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:36,560
Speaker 1: who do you guys open with.

673
00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:37,920
Speaker 2: I don't even know who you open with. I haven't

674
00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:39,040
Speaker 2: even looked that far ahead yet.

675
00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:45,600
Speaker 4: We've got Missouri State, uh, and we've got Who's Suckonde.

676
00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:45,280
Speaker 3: George Southern second.

677
00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:48,000
Speaker 1: So we look on the horizon now and there's a

678
00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:52,880
Speaker 1: lot of excitement around the room. What are the things

679
00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:56,160
Speaker 1: if you had to point out like two or three things.

680
00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:58,840
Speaker 2: That you just circle with the red sharpie.

681
00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:01,440
Speaker 1: That thing, that thing, that thing is really going to

682
00:31:01,520 --> 00:31:04,880
Speaker 1: determine which way the seesaw tilts this upcoming year.

683
00:31:04,720 --> 00:31:07,760
Speaker 4: For us, Well, I mean the natural thing would say,

684
00:31:07,800 --> 00:31:10,200
Speaker 4: we got to play better right at the in these

685
00:31:10,360 --> 00:31:13,959
Speaker 4: you know, or these close into game situations. I mean,

686
00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:15,760
Speaker 4: that'd be the first thing, right that you would say.

687
00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:17,240
Speaker 4: I mean, we had the lead in the fourth quarter

688
00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:20,000
Speaker 4: of every game but won last season one of only

689
00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:21,120
Speaker 4: a couple of teams.

690
00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:22,680
Speaker 2: Which is still a wild star, which is insane.

691
00:31:22,720 --> 00:31:23,520
Speaker 3: Yeah.

692
00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:26,360
Speaker 4: So yeah, your first inclination is, oh, well, we got

693
00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:28,959
Speaker 4: to play better at in the games, which is true.

694
00:31:29,600 --> 00:31:32,800
Speaker 4: But also if you play better in the middle, right,

695
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:36,480
Speaker 4: or you handle the middle eight better, right, you start

696
00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:38,080
Speaker 4: better whatever it is, you're not going to be in

697
00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:40,160
Speaker 4: as many of those one score games or maybe a

698
00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:41,400
Speaker 4: game that comes down to one.

699
00:31:41,280 --> 00:31:44,160
Speaker 3: Call or one play. So there, yes, we got to

700
00:31:44,160 --> 00:31:45,480
Speaker 3: play better at the end, but we've just got to.

701
00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:48,040
Speaker 4: Continue to grow as a program, I think, you know,

702
00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:52,240
Speaker 4: I think being able to close that games from a

703
00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:55,480
Speaker 4: physicality standpoint is a big one for us.

704
00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:57,640
Speaker 3: Something we've talked to our team a lot about that.

705
00:31:58,000 --> 00:31:59,600
Speaker 4: When you get in those moments and you got the

706
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:03,239
Speaker 4: opportuny to shut somebody down defensively or go run the

707
00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:06,640
Speaker 4: clock out and just kind of suffocate somebody offensive at

708
00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:08,520
Speaker 4: the end of the game, you know, we've got to

709
00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:11,040
Speaker 4: be able to take advantage of more of those opportunities.

710
00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:13,240
Speaker 4: And then I think the last one to me is

711
00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:15,680
Speaker 4: that we got to play We've got to play better

712
00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:18,360
Speaker 4: and go win on the road. We put ourselves in position,

713
00:32:18,480 --> 00:32:20,200
Speaker 4: like all the games last year, to win a lot

714
00:32:20,240 --> 00:32:22,760
Speaker 4: of those road games. But I think the road in

715
00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:25,640
Speaker 4: college football still is where you separate yourself, especially when

716
00:32:25,640 --> 00:32:27,600
Speaker 4: you play in a really good league like this, and

717
00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:30,120
Speaker 4: when chances are you go on the road, you're going

718
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:32,760
Speaker 4: to go into a competitive environment, You're going to probably

719
00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:35,479
Speaker 4: play a pretty good other football team, right, So I

720
00:32:35,520 --> 00:32:38,120
Speaker 4: think great programs play some of their best ball on

721
00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:39,760
Speaker 4: the road, and that'll be a big step for us.

722
00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:40,960
Speaker 2: I'll get you out of here on this.

723
00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:45,400
Speaker 1: So you'll notice we didn't talk about scholarship numbers. We

724
00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:48,440
Speaker 1: didn't talk about court cases. We didn't talk about a

725
00:32:48,480 --> 00:32:51,080
Speaker 1: lot of stuff that you're having to answer questions about constantly.

726
00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:53,880
Speaker 1: How tired are you about talking about stuff that has

727
00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:55,880
Speaker 1: nothing to do whatsoever with football?

728
00:32:55,880 --> 00:32:56,320
Speaker 3: Recently?

729
00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:02,000
Speaker 4: I try not to get tired of it, because it's

730
00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:04,760
Speaker 4: it's the job, right and and some of those things,

731
00:33:04,760 --> 00:33:09,080
Speaker 4: even maybe if it's not happening to us, it does

732
00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:13,280
Speaker 4: affect the sport right there are after shocks, and so

733
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,560
Speaker 4: you're trying to learn and adapt and continue to put

734
00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:19,080
Speaker 4: this program in the best position that we possibly can.

735
00:33:20,240 --> 00:33:23,640
Speaker 4: I'm honestly, I'm kind of energized by all of it

736
00:33:23,680 --> 00:33:25,640
Speaker 4: and all that's going on here. I know some things

737
00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:27,760
Speaker 4: on the outside of rocky, but again, to me, that's

738
00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:31,080
Speaker 4: we're in a period of transition, both the USC and

739
00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:33,320
Speaker 4: in college football, and kind of like some of the

740
00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:36,720
Speaker 4: questions before, you've got to be ready to navigate through

741
00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:38,800
Speaker 4: some of that to get to the desired outcome.

742
00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:40,880
Speaker 3: And that's just part of what college football is going

743
00:33:40,920 --> 00:33:41,400
Speaker 3: through right now.

744
00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:43,840
Speaker 4: So I think, you know, those of us that care

745
00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:45,560
Speaker 4: about the game in a way that a lot of

746
00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:48,600
Speaker 4: us do, you know, let's focus on the positives because

747
00:33:48,600 --> 00:33:50,840
Speaker 4: there's still a ton we still have the greatest game

748
00:33:50,960 --> 00:33:54,080
Speaker 4: on the planet, and that's a hell of a place

749
00:33:54,120 --> 00:33:54,480
Speaker 4: to start.

750
00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:55,960
Speaker 2: I'll endorse that, coach. I appreciate it.

751
00:33:56,040 --> 00:33:57,400
Speaker 3: Yeah, enjoyed it. Enjoyed it.

752
00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:20,080
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