WEBVTT - Happy Half Hour Episode 152: This is a Football Podcast 0:00:01.080 --> 0:00:03.600 This week on a Happy Half Hour. 0:00:04.920 --> 0:00:07.360 Brice said, you know, hey, it's great to be able 0:00:07.360 --> 0:00:09.480 to work with the same set of people, but we 0:00:09.560 --> 0:00:12.399 also know we don't get to start from there. We've 0:00:12.440 --> 0:00:14.319 got to continue the work, continue to be able to 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:17.720 continue to grow. But Dave talk about with Rice having 0:00:17.760 --> 0:00:20.640 that kind of attitude, they're able to open things up 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:21.440 in the opposites. 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:23.680 Tot's down, cow. 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:30.000 Wha, It's time for the Happy Half Hour presented by 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:36.400 Southern Star, an official bourbon of the Carolina Panthers. Here 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:39.800 are your hosts, Darren Gant and Cassidy Hill. 0:00:43.000 --> 0:00:45.720 Hello friends, and welcome back to the Happy Half Hour. 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:47.960 Of course it's Masters week, so am I supposed to 0:00:47.960 --> 0:00:53.560 say hello friends, welcomes you. No, we're not. This is football. 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:56.400 This is a football podcast. We'll get there. 0:00:56.920 --> 0:00:59.000 I've been talking about the wrong thing this whole time. 0:00:59.120 --> 0:01:01.040 I know what we're we are going to do the 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:03.080 footballs here on the Happy Half Hour. And you know 0:01:03.120 --> 0:01:04.600 we hadn't done this in a couple of weeks. I 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:08.040 feel like I feel like we've let our sponsor down 0:01:08.200 --> 0:01:12.280 because this is, in fact the Happy Half Hour presented 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:15.760 by Southern Star, an official bourbon of the Carolina Panthers 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:19.120 celebrate the spirit of the Carolinas. And while they're doing 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:22.400 their little golf thing with the azaleas and whatever they 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:25.000 have there, I think I could sit on the porch 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:28.000 this afternoon with a glass of Southern Star and just unwine. 0:01:28.160 --> 0:01:29.720 I was about to say, we might not have done 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:32.160 an ad read, but something tells me you weren't truly 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:34.000 letting them down as a consumer. 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:37.080 It's you know, it's quite a product. I am a 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:39.759 fan of the Southern Star where they are a friend 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:42.720 of the program and a friend of the Carolina Panthers, 0:01:42.800 --> 0:01:47.720 so we celebrate the spirit of the Carolinas together. So anyway, anyway, 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:49.160 it is draft time. 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:52.280 It is draft time. We are knocking on the door. 0:01:52.600 --> 0:01:55.600 I think we're let's see today we're recording on a Thursday. 0:01:55.960 --> 0:02:00.120 We are Armani Edwards days away from the NFL Draft, 0:02:00.160 --> 0:02:04.000 fourteen fourteen days away, so it's. 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:05.800 Uh coming on down the pipe. 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:09.560 We were Marvin McNutt days away yesterday. Today we are 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:12.000 Armani Edwards. I don't want to give it all away, 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:14.480 but I do believe tomorrow we are going to be 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:16.440 Ken Walter days. 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:18.679 I wonder every day I do, is that your list 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:22.880 right there. I have a list of I won't spoil 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:23.720 it for the listeners. 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:24.120 That's right. 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:25.519 I am peeping at your list. 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:28.520 That's right, no peaking. It's just like draft boards. Don't 0:02:28.520 --> 0:02:31.040 peek at my don't peek at my draft board of 0:02:31.160 --> 0:02:34.400 days until the draft ideas. But yeah, it's that time, 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:36.880 two weeks from the draft, and it's gonna be it's 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:40.440 gonna be an exciting time for starters. We can reveal 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:44.440 this is a Panthers dot Com exclusive. You cassieg Hill 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:48.040 will be on the scene in Green Bay for this draft. 0:02:48.080 --> 0:02:49.919 That's that's kind of a home game for you. 0:02:50.160 --> 0:02:52.960 It is. I get to a friend texted me and 0:02:52.960 --> 0:02:54.320 then he was like, can we go get dinner? And 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:55.920 I was like, I just want to go get coffee 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:59.840 from this one place. That's that's my highest on my priority, 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:02.600 behind of course talking to our new draft pick. But 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:05.760 very excited we'll get to be there with the first 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:08.440 round pick, whoever it may be, wherever they may be picked, 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:10.760 get to talk to them right after they hear their 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:13.359 name called by the commissioner. That's always an exciting moment 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:15.600 for a guy, you know, It's like, that's the moment 0:03:15.639 --> 0:03:17.320 I think when they walk out on stage and the 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:19.600 commissioner holds up the jersey with their name on it, 0:03:20.000 --> 0:03:22.880 which I watched a little vignette yesterday. Did you know 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:26.520 they have that done in less than ninety seconds. Oh yeah, yeah, 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:29.639 it's impressive. They're a well well oiled machine back there 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:32.240 with those jerseys and hats. I think when they finally 0:03:32.280 --> 0:03:34.480 see their name on the jersey, that's when everything hits them. 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:36.400 So to be able to talk to them right there 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:38.600 in that moment afterwards is going to be special. To 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:41.840 be a part of something, to be there when they 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:45.200 realize their lifelong dreams. And we're gonna have a lot 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:48.160 of content for you on Panthers dot com coming from 0:03:48.320 --> 0:03:52.600 Green Bay, and I believe some people stick around for 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:55.360 the second and third days as well, because you know, 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:57.560 the NFL always tries to make those special to keep 0:03:57.560 --> 0:03:58.160 people watching. 0:03:58.360 --> 0:03:58.800 That's right. 0:03:58.880 --> 0:04:02.760 So got some play former players, fans announce and picks, 0:04:03.280 --> 0:04:05.680 and so we're gonna have all the coverage for. 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:08.360 Our international fans of the year who we talked our 0:04:08.440 --> 0:04:11.840 last episode. They were Ki and Martz are gonna be 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:14.040 on the scene. You'll have to connect with those guys 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:16.440 while you're up there. Now, have you been on site 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:17.479 for a draft previously. 0:04:17.560 --> 0:04:19.359 You've never been on site for a draft? You know, 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:22.000 we were. We had Trevor Sickaman this week to do 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:23.880 some draft coverage and I asked him that too, because 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:26.000 he's been doing draft stuff a lot longer than I have, 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:28.720 and he said, no, I've never been, never been on site. 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:30.719 Because here's what I think a lot of people don't realize. 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:36.400 The site of the draft is where the attention goes 0:04:36.440 --> 0:04:39.920 for the media for the length of a pick, and 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:42.880 then everything else happens in a stadium, right, And so 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:45.720 you know, whoever is picked in that first round Thursday night, 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:48.080 they'll be here in Bank of America Stadium by late 0:04:48.120 --> 0:04:52.920 Friday morning, and from there every everyone that's picked day two, 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:57.760 day three. You know, usually Day two people are guys 0:04:57.760 --> 0:04:59.919 that could have been first round kind of were friends 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:03.200 and they're still around people that are on site, meaning 0:05:03.240 --> 0:05:06.760 for Day two, and so everything really kind of happens 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:08.600 here at the stadium, right. 0:05:08.680 --> 0:05:11.000 That's why I tell people, and people are always amazed. 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:13.880 In thirty years of doing this, I've never once been 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:15.919 to where the draft is. And I don't know that 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:18.320 I want to because they're cool as a fan. Yeah, 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:20.880 I mean, I'm sure it's an incredible event, but in 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:23.640 terms of the work, I'm just kind of conditioned to 0:05:24.400 --> 0:05:27.440 somewhere about middle of the day Thursday, after I've got 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:30.719 up early done my morning stuff, taking a nap sometime 0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:34.080 middle of the day Thursday, coming into a windowless room, 0:05:34.240 --> 0:05:37.840 and then leaving on Saturday, Saturday night exactly just kind 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:40.680 of never seeing the sun for a couple of days 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:44.680 and immersing yourself in what's going on there. And that's 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:47.600 just kind of been my experience about this thing. So 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:50.080 it is, it's gonna be a wild time. I'm looking 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:55.720 forward to. Hopefully the Carolina Panthers selection is among those players. 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:58.600 We're anticipating that announcement from the league any day now. 0:05:59.279 --> 0:06:02.080 This is kind of the when that usually comes out, 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:05.240 but I'm hoping our guy is there in Green Bay, 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:07.400 so you'll be there and be among the first to 0:06:07.440 --> 0:06:09.560 greet them, because you are, of course, one of our 0:06:09.600 --> 0:06:11.520 great ambassadors here of the brand. 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:14.400 I have a T shirt that says that the brand 0:06:14.839 --> 0:06:16.159 no great ambassador. 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:17.839 I was gonna say, I actually don't. 0:06:17.920 --> 0:06:19.039 I feel like I should though. 0:06:19.160 --> 0:06:22.680 Yeah, it's okay, but it is. It's going to be 0:06:22.920 --> 0:06:25.960 a fascinating weekend because it's going to be a busy weekend. 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:29.839 Carolina Panthers have, of course, as you know, nine picks 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:32.400 in this draft, eight in the first five rounds. And 0:06:32.720 --> 0:06:36.400 if we learned anything from Dan Morgan and Brandt Tillis's 0:06:36.480 --> 0:06:40.280 first draft together last year, is that those nine picks 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:44.200 might not be the same nine or amount they execute. 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:46.599 What are the chances I'm gonna give it like a 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:51.080 one and one thousand odds that they stick with all 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:52.440 nine exactly where they're at. 0:06:52.720 --> 0:06:55.560 Yeah, that seems like the least likely scenario. Of course, 0:06:55.600 --> 0:07:00.560 there's no gambling here at bush Wood, and I never slice. Yeah, 0:07:00.600 --> 0:07:04.159 they just they are going to move around the board. 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:07.000 I you know, I think, uh, the one thing I've 0:07:07.000 --> 0:07:10.000 picked up in the you know, having known Dan Morgan 0:07:10.160 --> 0:07:12.440 from the time he was drafted, I mean basically twenty 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:16.120 five years ago almost. It feels like, god, it has 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:18.400 been twenty five years. How old am I? The answer 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:22.200 is one million. Dan is very direct into the. 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:24.840 You've known Dan Morgan longer than you've known your children. 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:28.440 It's true. It's true. My children didn't start showing up 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:30.720 till O two. Dan Morgan showed up for my life 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:33.800 and oh one and uh, you know when he met 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:36.640 his wife, Ashley. I remember Dan's dad telling me, uh, 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:39.960 Dan's wife is from you know, the North Carolina Mountains, 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:42.560 a high country up there. And I remember Dan's dad 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:44.360 telling me one day in Spartanburg. He said, you get 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:47.240 a kick out, Ashley. She sounds like you, you know, 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:50.640 and Dan's dad's got a great Philly accident. But uh yeah, 0:07:50.720 --> 0:07:53.200 Dan is very direct and to the point. So when 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:56.480 he tells you, oh yeah, we could trade back, I 0:07:56.520 --> 0:07:59.400 mean Dan is prepared for all these scenarios, because, hey, 0:07:59.440 --> 0:08:03.040 nobody like disappearing into that film room and watching tape 0:08:03.080 --> 0:08:07.680 of prospects quite like Dan Morgan does. But He's worked 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:09.920 this in his head to the point where he knows 0:08:09.920 --> 0:08:12.000 what he would want to do at eight pending what 0:08:12.080 --> 0:08:14.400 happens in front of him. He knows what he would 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:18.920 do at hypothetically fifteen twenty five, at all these different 0:08:18.960 --> 0:08:21.120 points through the draft, because he's kind of worked through 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:24.280 the values of these things. And I think that, you know, 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:27.480 in a perfect world, would they have something between eight 0:08:27.520 --> 0:08:30.280 and fifty seven? They would you know, they're without their 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:33.520 on second rounder, but they do have the rams. Would 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:36.320 they like to find something between point A and point 0:08:36.360 --> 0:08:37.319 B maybe. 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:39.679 So, but I kind of capital there to play with. 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:42.880 I think there's a world of opportunities. But the one 0:08:42.920 --> 0:08:46.200 thing I think people anticipate out of this thing is 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:48.360 this is going to be a defense heavy draft for sure. 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:51.160 Maybe not all defense, because if they don't come out 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:54.560 of this weekend with a wide receiver, probably somebody who 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:57.240 is fast, that would be a little bit of a 0:08:57.280 --> 0:08:59.680 surprise to me. But this, I think it's reasonable to 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:03.280 suggest it's gonna lean heavily defense because you know, they 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:05.559 were last in the league and and Dan has told 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:08.160 us that, I think, and he's been very upfront about 0:09:08.160 --> 0:09:10.680 saying that. He's so direct, and that's, like I said, 0:09:10.760 --> 0:09:13.560 that's the thing you know about Dan when he tells you, yeah, 0:09:13.600 --> 0:09:16.160 we got to fix this defense, believe him because he's 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:18.760 not a bs or. He is very direct and to 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:19.199 the point. 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:21.640 So and it works in his favor that this is 0:09:21.679 --> 0:09:24.520 such a defensive heavy draft, Like so many of the 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:27.920 defensive units are deep. I mean, gosh, that edge, that 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:31.320 edge unit is deeper than we've seen in ten years. 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:35.800 Right, no no doubt, And and you know it hits 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:38.080 at a lot of the positions they need, you know, 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:41.440 if they come out of this thing with multiple pass rushers, 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:45.680 with another defensive lineman, with another safety. You know, these 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:48.120 are all things that aren't going to surprise anybody. I 0:09:48.120 --> 0:09:50.360 think there are needs across the board that they're gonna 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:53.000 look at a couple of different areas, but that's obviously 0:09:53.040 --> 0:09:58.080 the priority. And you know, this week one of the things, 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:01.080 it's been reported. You know a lot of places, this 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:03.280 is the week they knocked out all their visits. 0:10:03.040 --> 0:10:04.160 Right, all their thirty visits. 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:06.880 Yeah, and somewhere along the way, I don't know how 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:09.960 this happened, but somewhere along the way these started getting 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:13.439 called top thirty visits. I think people were getting nostalgic 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:16.360 for Casey Kasum or something, or it's. 0:10:15.960 --> 0:10:19.199 You know what it sounds like is in college recruiting, 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:24.080 you have top five visits and those are your officials, 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:26.880 and then you can take an unofficial, which is a 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:29.080 kind of I guess the equivalent of the zoom calls, 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:35.720 and with an official was so a top visit, the 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:38.960 school completely pays for you to come visit. An unofficial 0:10:39.080 --> 0:10:41.480 you have to pay to go visit, but you're welcome 0:10:41.679 --> 0:10:44.720 to come visit. So I think people when people say 0:10:44.720 --> 0:10:47.800 top thirty. In my head, I'm hearing top five right, 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:51.360 And I think people got it confused with college recruiting visits. 0:10:51.400 --> 0:10:52.840 But it is a little different. 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:56.199 As someone who has actively avoided all high school recruiting 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:57.559 coverage in my life. 0:10:57.600 --> 0:10:59.920 That's smart. Don't put that juju. 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:02.480 And you're like, yeah, I did not know that, So 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:04.920 I've learned a new thing here today. But no, this 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:07.240 is if you look at and a lot of the 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:11.120 names have been reported, many of them have not. But 0:11:11.520 --> 0:11:13.959 if you looked across the board at the guys who 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:16.679 were here in the building, it's all over the board. 0:11:16.840 --> 0:11:19.520 It's first round guys, it's second round guys, third round guys, 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:21.400 and on deeper end of day three of the draft 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:23.880 because a lot of what they're doing, I mean, yes, 0:11:24.000 --> 0:11:26.319 you want to find out if it's somebody you're curious 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:28.560 about with the number eight pick, you want to know 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:31.080 more about that guy. You want to get them on 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:34.160 the board, see how they learn, see how they retain information. 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:37.760 You know, teams will do things like introduce material to 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:40.400 a guy at the combine and then when they come 0:11:40.440 --> 0:11:42.360 in for a visit, say hey, remember when we call 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:45.280 it Jen Indianapolis were talking about this, this, and this 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:48.600 part of it is just seeing how people retain information 0:11:49.160 --> 0:11:51.400 and they want to see what makes a guys tick 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:54.760 a lot. I mean, this is a very important interview 0:11:55.000 --> 0:11:57.720 opportunity in terms of the you know, they had their 0:11:57.760 --> 0:12:00.320 local pro day this week as well, and there wasn't 0:12:00.360 --> 0:12:02.640 a lot of on field stuff other than some punters 0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:06.000 and you you caught up with one of those guys, 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:09.480 and we'll have more on that later, but mostly this 0:12:09.679 --> 0:12:12.080 was an interview opportunity, a chance to get to know 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:14.199 some of these guys better and figure out what makes 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:14.640 them tick. 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:17.920 Because at this point you pretty much know everything you 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:20.800 need to know about this guy from from film. What 0:12:20.920 --> 0:12:23.200 is I mean, that's football player's favorite saying, turn on 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:26.320 the film, turn on the game tape. And so it's 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:30.320 it's more about how do they jive with our coaching system, 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:32.600 how do they jive with how we like to to 0:12:32.679 --> 0:12:35.559 coach guys. You know, this is a chance. A lot 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:38.360 of times, I don't know if people realize how much 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:40.880 the players are in the building this time of year too, 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:43.000 So this is a chance to see them walking down 0:12:43.040 --> 0:12:45.160 the hall and run into Derek Brown and you know, 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:46.280 do they listen to him? 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:46.800 Do they do. 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:50.760 They understand, you know, the respect he garners as a 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:53.560 locker room leader. It's a chance to see all of 0:12:53.600 --> 0:12:58.719 those little things that you're never gonna see on film. 0:12:57.480 --> 0:12:59.840 No doubt, no doubt. And and you know we're having 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:03.079 an opportunity. We're going to get deeper into that as 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:05.440 we get through into next week. I mean, the other 0:13:05.520 --> 0:13:08.319 thing that's going to happen coming up soon is start 0:13:08.320 --> 0:13:11.040 of the off season program. There are, first, there are 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:13.800 some guys knocking around the building. You mentioned Derek, he's 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:16.920 here practically every day working out coming back from last 0:13:17.000 --> 0:13:19.520 year's knee injury. But on the twenty first is when 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:22.120 the off season program begins. In earnest guys will be 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:25.040 back in here working out and stuff. You know. That's uh, 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:26.480 it's why day. 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:28.720 After my birthday, if anybody wants to bring me a 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:30.319 cupcake and we'll celebrate accordingly. 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:33.679 There you go, happy, happy start of the new league year, 0:13:33.800 --> 0:13:35.760 new off season program. Cassidy. 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:37.319 We'll get new Cassidy, new panthers. 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:39.440 Well, we'll get everybody to sing for you or something 0:13:39.480 --> 0:13:43.359 down now, Oh, don't do that. But it's wild because 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:47.840 last year this started two weeks earlier. Yeah, and it's 0:13:47.880 --> 0:13:51.000 because Dave Canalis is a second year coach now, and 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:54.120 only first year coaches get those bonus two weeks. That's 0:13:54.120 --> 0:13:55.920 been one of the things in the last little bit 0:13:56.000 --> 0:13:59.400 that's kind of it's almost dawning on you. You realize 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:02.840 the passage of time. They're going into that second year 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:06.000 and listening to Dave talk about that last week at 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:09.160 the owners meeting down in Florida. You know, he talked 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:12.600 about the lessons learned from year one to year two 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:16.240 and how you carry over certain things. Bryce talked about 0:14:16.240 --> 0:14:18.880 it a little bit if you saw in Panthers dot 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:21.360 com we had some comments from him out at his 0:14:21.480 --> 0:14:24.560 camp in Los Angeles. You know, Bryce said, you know, hey, 0:14:24.600 --> 0:14:26.800 it's great to be able to work with this same 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:30.240 set of people, but we also know we don't get 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:32.480 to start from there. We've got to continue the work, 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:35.560 continue to build, continue to grow. But Dave talked about 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:39.200 with Bryce having that kind of attitude, they're able to 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:41.800 open things up in the offense, and if you look 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:44.280 at it, Bryce is really working with the same set 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:47.320 of people. I mean they brought the entire offensive line 0:14:47.360 --> 0:14:53.400 back intact, turnkey, same as last year. Receivers, Receivers check 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:56.280 tight ends check. I mean Tommy Trimble's back to work 0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:58.840 with J. T. Sanders, our old friend I and Thomas 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.080 is now a Raider. Best of luck to Ian. But 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:04.680 other than that, all of those are the same. And 0:15:05.040 --> 0:15:08.840 you swapped out Miles Sanders for Rico Daldle and brought 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:10.680 in one thousand yard back to pair what you be 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:14.480 Hubbard in the backfield. So there is a consistency about 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:17.000 this offense and gives you a place to build from, 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:20.400 which kind of allows you to have that defensive draft 0:15:20.480 --> 0:15:21.800 like we talked about previously. 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:25.080 I've always heard too with quarterbacks that the biggest jump 0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:28.680 quarterbacks take in college in the NFL is the summer 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:33.040 between their second and their third year, because they've now 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:36.360 had two off seasons under their belt. They've had a 0:15:36.480 --> 0:15:39.440 rookie season, which is usually wide eyed, a season where 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:42.600 they see things actually start to come together. And so 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:44.720 that summer between their second and third years when they 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:47.040 can take the biggest jump. And then you also have 0:15:47.640 --> 0:15:50.440 the summer between your first and second year and this offense, 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:52.920 coaches have had a year under their belt to see 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:56.440 what works what doesn't. And so I'm not saying I'm 0:15:56.480 --> 0:15:58.200 not going to get out here and make any predictions, 0:15:58.200 --> 0:16:01.320 but I think it's going to be perhaps a noticeable 0:16:01.440 --> 0:16:05.720 difference in the comfort level of how this offense practices, 0:16:06.200 --> 0:16:08.480 maybe even as early as that Monday, the twenty first. 0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:11.280 Yeah, and you can just tell, I mean, you can 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:15.280 sense from Bryce there is a comfortability for lack of 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:17.960 a better word, in him this offseason. I could see 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:20.240 it at the Super Bowl when we were down in 0:16:20.280 --> 0:16:22.640 New Orleans and he was doing radio row. The simple 0:16:22.680 --> 0:16:26.160 fact that Bryce was doing radio road is step one, 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:29.480 but just seeing how at ease he was and is 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:31.520 comfortable in his own skin was kind of one of 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:36.680 the eye openers. And that comfort with his surroundings, with 0:16:36.800 --> 0:16:40.160 the offense, with the things Dave Canalis was asking him 0:16:40.160 --> 0:16:42.960 to do, was evident his last year went along. So 0:16:43.280 --> 0:16:45.160 it's going to be interesting to see how they build 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:47.440 and develop on that over the course of this season. 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:50.680 Yeah, we're excited to see it. And then of course 0:16:50.760 --> 0:16:54.840 they'll they'll roll right from those off season workouts into draft. Yeah, 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:56.560 So you know, things don't slow down. 0:16:56.560 --> 0:16:58.520 No, they do not. Now, of course we have not 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:01.480 covered the biggest news of the week, of course, and 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:05.919 that is the signing of one college ranger baby. He 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:09.800 is America's tight end all of a sudden, former basketball 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:10.880 player at Ohio. 0:17:11.000 --> 0:17:14.280 You Western basketball player a month ago. 0:17:14.320 --> 0:17:16.680 That's right, and you talked to him the other day. 0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:19.400 I think this story is so cool because this guy 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:23.360 practically came out of nowhere and suddenly has an NFL contract. 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:27.760 Yeah he does. George Fant, another friend of the programs, 0:17:27.840 --> 0:17:31.639 a guy that a lot of these Panthers offensive coaches 0:17:31.720 --> 0:17:35.720 general manager drafted or not drafted. I'm sorry they signed 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:37.720 him as an undrafted free agent, but a guy a 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:41.240 lot of these these coaches are familiar with. He also 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:44.959 made that transition from basketball to football. He was at 0:17:45.000 --> 0:17:47.920 Western Kentucky, played there for four years for the Hilltoppers. 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:50.320 The whole time he was there, football coaches asked him 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:52.800 to join the football team. He never did, and he 0:17:52.840 --> 0:17:56.879 never did, and then realized he might have a little 0:17:56.880 --> 0:17:59.200 bit more of a steady future with football than he 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:01.520 would play in Europe and basketball. By that point, he 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:04.399 was married, he had a kid. So he played, you know, 0:18:05.000 --> 0:18:06.919 for five minutes in a bag of chips on the 0:18:06.960 --> 0:18:10.879 Hilltoppers football team with his fifth year of eligibility. Had 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:13.560 such an impressive pro day there were a bunch of 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:16.800 scouts there to see Tyler Higbee, and it was George 0:18:16.800 --> 0:18:18.680 Fan who ended up pulling a lot of their attention. 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:22.280 Such an impressive pro dace, Seattle signed him. Pat McPherson 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:23.920 was the tight end coach of Seattle. He's, of course 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:26.600 now the tight ends coach here. He called their GM. 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:28.400 There's some of their other scouts. It was like, check 0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:30.560 this guy out. They signed him based purely off that 0:18:30.640 --> 0:18:33.959 pro day, and by the fifth game of his rookie season, 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:36.359 he was They converted him to the offensive line. He 0:18:36.480 --> 0:18:40.359 was the starting left tackle for the Seattle Seahawks, a 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:42.720 guy that ended up being a starter for a while, 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:45.440 was used as a hybrid tight end. Dave Canalis was 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:48.280 familiar with him. All of that to say, George knew 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:50.600 it could be done. I mean, Jimmy Graham's done it. 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:54.080 He's seen other people do it. And so he decided 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:56.080 to start this program, and this was his first year 0:18:56.119 --> 0:19:00.280 where he finds these guys that have certain basket ball 0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:03.800 skills that might not be transferable to a long term 0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:08.200 basketball career, but have these certain skills that could be 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:11.879 transferable to football. And he dug up Colin Granger out 0:19:11.920 --> 0:19:16.200 of Coastal Carolina. Yeah, and uh, Colin moved into George 0:19:16.200 --> 0:19:20.080 Fance House on Thing on March sixth, and by April 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:25.119 seventh he had signed an NFL contract. They put together 0:19:25.160 --> 0:19:28.480