The following is a presentation of Playfly Sports Properties in Michigan State Sports Properties.
Pleasant. Good evening everyone. It is Tuesday, April fourth, twenty twenty
three. I'm your host Jason Strayhorn, all with my co hosts Otis Wiley
down south someware by the equator clearly in ju two chew cull crick This is
Sparta. Be sure to subscribe and the like buttons. I mean, we're
gonna get to that. We got to talk about this is this hat and
the glasses that we're seeing and now we get that. Yeah, buddy,
little Jumanji action. Be sure to follow us on the social media platforms.
And this is how thanks for tuning in to This is Sparta. MSU.
Interested in hearing more from us, be sure to follow us on Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, and even TikTok. Click on the link in the bio
to head to our link tree for more information. Help us grow our following
by hitting the like and subscribe buttons. Tell your friends and family to do
the same. Have an idea for a future episode, let us know in
the comments section below. And now back to the show, So Oldest,
Where where are you on assignment at? Right now? Fellow people. It's
hot down here, manly in Orlando. Man, the place where your pockets
get drained, like when you step foot on site, Man, Disney Disney.
Man. So in Universal Studios today, we didn't even make it till
like four pm where because it was like we got to get to a pool
because it was too hot. Apparently it's ninety degrees plus here. It's still
spring. So everybody local, they're like, it's so hot plus because it's
never just hot in the spring. But I'm not. I'm not complaining from
the heat because it was raining the Michigan before we before we left. So
I'll take it, man. But I'm wearing this lovely hat protect my skin.
But but uh, you know it's good man. Families having a good
time. It's all that matters. Man, How many times is this for
you? There? I went when I was like ten, and then went
when we played in a bowl game back to back, actually, and then
la, so four times this is my fourth time? What about you?
Straight? Too many? And then my daughter the third of the the last
has retired the family from going there. So which which is I mean?
I fought it. We had a fearful discussion, but we're not allowed to
go back to Disney ever again. Listen, so what you mean we're not
allowed? She just doesn't want to, you know, I don't know why.
It's her own decision. Listen. Look, somebody just put Harry Potter
World is to go. I would never understand that people are coming in the
full black roles and it's hot as it is right now, and they are
i mean dressed to the nines and tea of hair party hair part of world.
So I even make it down that far because I was like, no,
not me. I've never I've never even seen a single Harry Potter movie.
So oh man, yeah, go ahead. I mean, but here
the people are gonna come. That's that's not good. That that's a group
you do not attack. I'll tell you that. I'm just saying I've never
seen it. So don't me for not seeing your nerdy movies. There's there's
there's there are Disney folks, and then there's not Disney folks. So you
know that because Stanza just happens to be in that, uh Disney folk category.
And this good luck to you man while you're down there and spot now
animal kingdoms. That's that's that's the part that you know, I'll go to
the Avatar ride and then we'll go see some lovely animals. And you know,
at least you hit that hat. That beer garden absolutely all about the
tasty beverages. Guys, Let's get to talking about what's going on in East
Lansing. We got a Jampak show today. We got to go through what
has happened since we saw your last on Thursday. Michigan State has a new
women's basketball coach. Mister State hires Robin Freelik. And this is her getting
off of looks like a private jet that you guys know about. But hey,
we welcomed her to East Lansing today. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome,
coach, Welcome, coach, welcome. Yeah. She you know a little
story. When I worked at the NCAA, I had the privilege of doing
an activation for own location, which they do all the hospitality for men's and
women's Final four, and you know, you do these like chalk talks pre
game and it's in like in a high end hospitality, and she was one
of my coaches who stepped up and did a little chalk talk about you know,
the preparation of the Final four and being a former player and being for
where she's from obviously local Ochemist High School. And so she's a she's a
coach that gets the DNA and gets the vibe that we're trying to maintain but
also build. And you know, it's she was. She went, She
won everywhere at each level, Ashland University, Bowland Green and with the resources
that she's going to get the support from Michigan State Athletics, I think this
is a good young coach that is going to bring that energy back into what
we talked about JAU when we were there, when they were going on the
final four, they were competing consistently. I think this is a good find
for us. You know, speaking of that, they had a press conference
for her today. Let's listen to a couple of excerpts on that from the
press conference. It's an incredible day to return to the state of Michigan and
become the head women's basketball coach at Michigan State University. Truly truly overwhelmed with
gratitude for this opportunity. I remember growing up here in playing at halftime of
the basketball game, So for this to come full circle is truly amazing to
that Michigan State University women's basketball squad. I am really looking forward to building
relationships chasing excellence and we will stay in pursuit together day by day, and
we will do it together through our five core values, being a great teammate,
manners matter, which ultimately means operating out of gratitude, trusts, toughness,
and commitment. I'm thrilled to be the sixth I can't believe it's six
six. It's just amazing six head women's basketball coach in Michigan State University history.
I would like to thank Coach Susie Merchant for all the time and energy
she has poured into the program and all of the other coaches who came before,
Coach Bail, Coach Marino, Coach Langlan, and Coach McCauley who paved
the way for the tradition of the program. East Lansing and the Michigan State
University community means so much to me and my family. We've been cheering our
hearts out for Sparty for a long time. We will invest deeply into the
community and cannot wait to watch the students and community come together to pack the
Brislan. We need you in the stands. We all work hard to build
on the tradition of MSU women's basketball. The tradition of the program is incredibly
motivating. Our expectations of the program will be to continuously stay in pursuit of
excellence on and off the court. Thank you so much. We are thrilled,
incredibly motivated for the opportunity and I know I've shared this over and over
again, but so so grateful. Thank you so much. Nice press conference.
You know, I know last time we talked about we wanted a splash
and everything like that in a program. But from watching this introductory press conference,
it's always so nice to see someone that comes to Michigan State as a
coach so grateful and so happy to be at Michigan State and not use Michigan
State as a stepping stone for the next destination, you know, like coach
d put it. You know, this is the final destination. This is
you know, the destination, not a stepping someone for the next destination.
So it was really nice. I don't know if it was like the music
playing in the background, the family somebody, I was kind of like,
man, this is I'm in I know, you know, so that's really
cool. Does it does it take you back to when we went through that
as players, Like I remember being there when we got the announcement. You
know, I feel like Jay, you were more involved because you were a
senior. You were you were sought out, you were consulted with uh where
with with our A D at the time, and you know Mark Hollis and
like who do you want? Right? And so these these girls went through
that. Some of the girls went to that. It's like what do you
want for your program? And we're going to go out there and get someone
who you guys want to play for and continuously, you know, level up.
But it brings you back to when Coach D did his right and you
and we talked about it where he wore that championship ring and you know this
is before you know our guests is gonna come on and even you know,
step foot on there. But he told what was gonna happen. He laid
it out. You know, we're sitting there like, all right, you
know we've heard this before, right, But it was one of those things
like when he said you guys are my guys. That kind of just took
the pressure off of us. And I feel like that's what she has said
to them like I'm not sitting there like like Prime saying, hey, pack
your bags, you know, out of here. But you know you draw
a good point. Notice even though you know I was and I was grateful.
It was Caleb and myself, we you know, met with Mark Hollis,
the a D at the time. He went through a big board of
all the different you know, coaching candidates that were in there. You know,
different guys, their background. Hey, this guy, you know he
has Michigan State ties, he's this, you know, everything like that.
I know, at the end of the day, we didn't have a final
say to anything, you know, we could just give our opinion, you
know, speaking on behalf of the team and everything like that. But I
also understand, you know those girls that they showed in this press conference video
here those players, there's also that sense of uncertainty. You know, am
I gonna fit into her system? Am I gonna be able to or you
know, like especially in nowadays with the transfer portal being such a big thing,
you know, is she gonna come and bring her people in? You
know? So then for as a player, it's an exciting time but also
a time of uncertainty. As well until you find you have that one on
one meeting and for you and it's that one word or one phrase that will
you know, relieve that pressure off your shoulder. And for you, Otis,
it was when coach he said, you guys are my guys that relieved
the pressure off your shoulders. For me, it was way in the camp.
I was a bigger back. I knew he come in with a pro
style office. I was like, damn, is my hand gonna be in
a dirt plane for And that's you know, I had to go in.
I had a one on one with Coach d I said, Coach, you
know I've been hearing a bunch of difference. Am I gonna be? Is
my position going to be moved to full back? He said, what what
did you play last year? I said till He's like, what do you
want to play? I said tailback? He's like your tailback? And for
me Otis, that's when that weight was right. The one on ones you
see you see the nerves that go into these coaching changes behind the scenes for
the athletes. I mean, one thing which is good is that you know
Robin is a Michigan native and she's born and raising Okamus, So you know
it spent most of her time and obviously in Ohio, Davidson and Ashland and
Bowling Green and back here. So she's a Midwestern She's got Midwestern roots,
and you know, she talked about extensively how it was an honor to be
of Michigan State of Michigan State women's head basketball coach because she used to play,
you know, games at halftime at Michigan State games. Yeah, Cam
like she knows it. She bleeds green and white, even though she went
to Davidson right, Like, but she's a bucket too, man, I
think when you know, like she was a bucket. So when you go
ahead and bring that on there, we have talent coming back if they decided
to stay completely, we have a solid core group, right student athletes that
can hoop. And so with her bringing in that flavor she had from Bowl
of Green End and Ashland, like, I'm excited, especially when we get
some of the new new blood coming in recruits wise. I'm just excited that
you turn the page because when you're in that whole situation transition wise, it's
just like everyone wants to move forward quickly, and I think they did a
quick quick enough job to get the coach in there that everyone needed to get
in here. So yeah, I mean that's that's that's outstanding. Only number
six all time Michigan state history. That's that's crazy. That's a duty,
baby, that's key baby, Yeah, connuity. And so look, you
know, let's move on to another before you move, before he moves here.
But you know, just in our chat, you know, Charles l
you know, said he wanted us to give a birthday shout out, you
know, to his cousin Chad. You know, hot lasts lats, Happy
birthday, Baby, are gonna sing? Are we gonna sing the black version
Happy birthday? The white version Happy Birthday? I mean, it's just happy
birthday, two versions. Right. I don't think that. I don't think
it's racial. Racial all right, listen, let's take you to the test
here. Let's tall your tests, all right, sing sing the regular birthday
song, Happy birth alright, you go to sleep, all right, you
see, black, Happy birthday, Happy birthday, Happy birthday. This is
a facts facts right when you get there, happy birthday, especially as you
start saying wonder man, Stevie, wonder man, hot lats. All right,
man, Look, so this is your happy birthday. We're gonna your
happy birthday, hot lasts. And let's talk about women's gymnastics, shall we.
Yeah, you know, maybe to the sweet sixteen and they still have
been a losing that. I don't know what their final place was, gentlemen,
but you know they had a great run this year. Uh, two
of them are headed to the n c a A Championships individually. Here,
Uh let's say, I said, and then Gabrielle on beam man the beam
and the floor. Look, this is one of shocking because we did see
that team down the road who was really highly you know, sought after to
like compete for a national championship lost. But then I was watching to like
where we at, where where we at, and like seeing if we got
the dub and you know, they had a great season, and we got
all most of them coming back, and so congratulations to a great season.
But also were still had two more and two of our own that's going to
compete for a national championship personally, So let's give them some support, send
them all the Spartan love that we need, and uh, you know,
let's bring back bring back some hardware. That's what we're gonna get, right,
April April. What day was that? Pull that back up again to
make sure they know what day was that April thirteenth to the fifteen, or
wereth Texas. This is gonna go all crazy now because it's in technical in
the Dallas area. All about that. Something cool about that is I had
a good friend of mine I used to coach up from back in New York.
His daughter's big and gymnastics, so for her for a president, that
took her to pitt for the regionals and that's where MSU was. So uh,
he sends me a video. He's like, Yochot, we're in the
the gymnastics regions. We brought my daughter cam here and we're sitting in the
ms U section and he sends me a video and there the MSU section is
just going not you know, with the Cole Green, Gold, White Chance.
So I'm glad he got to experience a little taste of East slantson in
Pittsburgh. That's outstanding, you know, for your buddy from New York man.
I mean. There were also some assistant coaches that were named to the
w c g A Region four Coaches of the Year. Here they Nicole and
them right and Nicole Jones. Yeah, Nicole, Yeah, we've obviously went
to college on the code and one is good to see see her get that,
get that one of those awards and being the finals, So happy for
her, happy for obviously other assistant coaches as well. And then I like
some going down for him. But we got a big ten Coach of the
Year as well, and we're going to probably have a solid, solid class
coming in, so I'm looking forward to to hearing those updates too. Yeah,
and it's it's really good to see Michigan State gymnastic on this light,
on this platform and in that positive light there. That's really what it's about,
without question, guys. I mean I'm switching gears a little bit.
You look at the men's basketball side, we get a commitment from Kurktang.
He said it too. I thought it was I thought it was another name
the last day coming in, but it's Kerr Tang. And this dude is
a nice combo six for a guard. Reminds you a little bit of a
J Hugger Holgert. So you know, it was between what the Scarlet Knights
and us, and you know the Scarlet Knights love those high power like high
high quick guys in guard and the guard play and this guy has some good
control and I wish he probably has some highlights on him. But hey,
this guy can he can score too, man, And I think this is
where he gets a little bit more development, you know, and training from
getting hiszo. But this is a good commit with our question, I mean,
we have an announcement video here that we could play. You know,
this is the scuttle, but this is what happens now, so we get
announcement videos. Let's let's check that out if we have that available. Guys,
christ so you can only pick one. Where are you going to be
playing your college basketball? So I'm here to announce, I mean, committing
to Michigan State University. You gotta get some cheers in the background. There
somebody in the talks in the Gainster talk to I know. So I mean
there was not a lot of drama in that announcement, no hats, but
it is what it is. Harriet Dean, Yes, hoops, Steve Smith's
been on there. He's gymnast and who hey, man, I mean look,
we also had another guy who was coming in this coming season, right
that Cohen Carr who wins a slam dunk contest for Donald All America. Hey,
man, hey, you watched watch him. We showed us one that
he got moonwalking to on the air too. He did He did it between
the legs from right before the free throw line. This is nice though,
man, Lefty, Lefty, look if you if you follow him on social
I haven't seen a jumper at all. It's all high flying dunking everywhere.
And it reminds me of Brandon Dawson. Which Brandon Dawson was a high high
jumper jumping out the gym, had a little mid range game too. But
this kid, this kid is gonna be This is I feel like we forgot
about him. Where you know our guys, you know Xavier Booker and Jeremys
of getting kind of the limelight a little bit from the that class. But
this is a massive piece that puts all of them together. Where you got
four guys kind of reminds me of at Miles Bridges uh and Jeremy and Josh
Lankford class and Cashes Winston and who is a Nick Ward right, So that
four I feel like this is that four combo got people that was gonna take
us to that next level, especially when we got coming back, and we
already know who we got coming back, so we got some waiting on it,
but we know who we got coming back, so this is gonna be
good. Yeah. Man, I'm excited for this, and but you know,
I will get even more excited once they're on campus. I know that
I feel like that old guy. Get off my line with that, but
I'm really excited you are. And I just feel like, you know,
if this comes together and you got it. In today's day and age,
there is no rad shirting anymore, you know, especially in hoops. You
come in, you play. It is a play. Them all do your
thing and just let's just get after. Let's just run and let's win a
natty. Oh, I love the way that sounds. Well, get a
little deep in that tournament action. Talking about what today is? April fourth?
Okay, so three days ago it was Saturday, but the date would
have been well anyway. So on that day, Saturday, there was a
tweet that came out and this is it. Five star defensive lineman David Stone
is committed to Oklahoma and who else but our trustee co hosts who was freaking
out Tannay he was? He was, He went straight up. He went
straight up, like I can hear him in the text, missus, Hey,
this is for real, this is real. I got got, I
got got. Yes, it was sheer pick. Because I scrolled through and
I saw him sitting there. I was like, oh lord, what happened
now. I was like, let me send this out to make sure.
And then after I sent it to you guys, and I went to the
comments, I was like, oh damn, April first, they got me,
they got I mean, it was that, guys. It was kind
of over the top, wasn't it? Like April Fools? Good April Fools
joke though, like just running at time, these kids going back and forth.
You don't know, man, It's like, does that mean does that
mean he's not going to go there? He's coming here because he played that
joke? Let's read into it. What that? Man? What was that?
What was There's another one that somebody committed to. It was at Florida
State and they don't even have an offer. Yeah, like dudes committing make
an announcement, hundred committed and it was like we wanted, we wanted to
let everyone know that he does not have an offer from really, Oh my
god, look what cover that day. Apparently that's what that was. Yeah,
that was that's what That's what Pete said. Oh man, look that's
what I'm saying. Man, this is crazy. People are legit like,
oh, I'm a commit U c l A was like no one. It
might be multiple examples. I'm gonna throw my name out there. What are
you gonna do? Yeah, I'm coming back. Thanks to God, I
got two years of eligibility less lass less hi favor. Look, we gotta
talk to our special guests after this message from our friends over an eye.
Hops introducing I Hops New Eggs Benedicks. When you take a poached egg added
to a crispy English muffin, fire roasted Poblano peppers and shredded beef with our
rich and buttery Honda sauce, you don't just get our handcrafted new Eggs Benedicts
on your plate, you get a smile on your plate, new ex Benedicts
in four delicious flavors. Me for my house. That's something I can get.
It's gonna see something. So there's there's the pancakes. There's a pancakes.
But we got to get some eggs in there now, Benny. But
without further Ado. Guys, we got to bring on this real Spartan dog,
pride of the matha high Maryland Spartan dog destroyed there and you know he's
all things Michigan State football through and through right here Rose Bowl stopping. Guy,
there is going on. Fellas, appreciate you having me on. Well,
thanks for being on. Man. It looks like you got you burning
the midnight all over there in the whole football office. Huh. Work never
stops, man, work. Hey, look, I'm grateful you have taken
time out of your business schedule, right like we got Obama on the show.
Yeah, I mean and now I mean the newly the thirty year old
version. Yeah, here is, by the way, happy bird version.
Man, thank you, thank you. You did it beg for the birth.
Yeah. Look what you do man, You had a good dinner,
had a good dinner, you know, hired the photographer, get some nice
flicks, you know, because personal brand is important. That's that's all to
talk these days. And you know, facilitating all this education for our players.
You know, I figured, you know, as coaches and staff,
we can have a brand too. It's important. So want to tap into
that a little bit. And just had great time with friends and family,
which is what it's really about. So definitely blessed to see the age thirty.
Absolutely absolutely, Hey, look you look, you didn't get out like
you used to? Is that little cool? No? The next day exactly
exactly, And shoot you what you said earlier. He still got good joints.
Yeah, joints still, coach, is still good drinking that good vitamin
D milk and everything like that. Joint life. And while I just I
got out of bed the other day and I was like hurting for days and
wife had me out there with a chainsaw trimming limbs and stuff. And thirties
bro for sure. Man. Now, so you know, we we want
to talk to you because you have a unique perspective being in the football office
right now. And you know you played for coach D'Antonio. Let's just start
there. So you coming in as a recruit from coach Antonio and seeing how
things are handled today in twenty twenty three under coach Tough, What are the
differences in your opinion for the recruiting styles of that era versus the era to
day. Yeah, I mean I think nowadays and we definitely see it.
It's it's a lot more flash and flair and tapping into again that that that
brand piece. You know, uh, all these all these young folks have
a brand nowadays, which is which is good, and they want to know,
you know, how are you going to help me with monetizing that brand,
with growing that brand, with growing my following in a lot of different
ways. And because of that, you know, you have to show it
during the recruiting process. So we have to show it with the visits,
We have to show it with the information that we provide them with. We
have to show it with you know, if they're coming to see a game
day, you know, whether it's football, basketball, softball, gymnastics,
volleyball, any sport. You know, we have to show that that we're
a program that that truly believes in, uh, you know, developing the
holistic student athlete. And I think that you know what I what I tell
all recruits in their families is when I was playing, we were starting to
talk about the third and fourth piece of being a student athlete, which was
relatively new at that time, which is, of course, you got academics
and you got the sports piece, but we're starting to talk about that spiritual
pieces being very important. And then we're talking about having a social life as
actually being important, whereas before no social life was important. It was just
football in school. And now that fifth piece has been kind of integrated into
the holistic student athlete, and that's that personal brand piece. So we have
to touch all five of those sectors of being a student athlete, and we
have limited time to do that because if the recruit comes on campus, they
may not ever come back. So you have to wow them with that first
impression. So you talk about that wowing piece there, and I think that's
very important. And Coach Tucker, you know, when he came in,
he made emphasis on that. And while not just the student athletes, but
why ain't the mothers and the families and everything like that. Let's talk about
let's go do this. You're a stud at the math at high school.
You come in and you know enough everyone on this love love loves coach d
our guy through and through. I'm a coach, the guy and everything like
that. But he's not as flashy as coach talk. You coming on your
visit and now you see what goes into the visits now and the kid coming
in and now, like, what's that different? Like when you came on
your visit. You know, we went to Spartan Hall of Fame and and
sat in the back room and we felt like, you know, we were
the president of the United States. You know that that was the extent of
the the wow factor of our visit. But at the same time, there
was benefits that because we were sold on the people. You know, it
was the j U's, the Otis's, the Jason's like of that time,
of that era. The older guys on the team, seeing how they interacted
with the younger guys, seeing how they embraced us as recruits. Like that
was what it was about. You know, even ironically, you know,
when I was in Birmingham for my birthday dinner, ran into some dude who
was at the frat that I went to on my visit. You know,
it's crazy. Wow. That was the extent of like, this is why
you go to Michigan State. You're gonna have a great time, great education,
great football. And again nowadays and again this is of course not just
Michigan State. It's everywhere, which is why we're doing what we're doing.
You know, we have to have big wild factors. We have to bring
in you know, virtual reality folks, to show different opportunities, you know,
bringing in a lot of different food, going to different places, whether
it's a high caliber or you know, somewhere somewhere you know again off site,
that that's a fun place to be in. And of course the big
selling point that we always have is that final evening at Coach Tucker's house where
we have a fan pass at the time. You know, Coach d wasn't
wasn't having people at his house, recruits at his house, you know,
on an official visit, whereas with us, that's a major part of what
we do with with Coach Tuckers. So you definitely have to have that wold
factor. You have to make sure that when you are having an official visit
or any visit of that nature, just any time recruits are on campus,
that you're showing something that's gonna make them when they leave, it's gonna make
them remember the visit because a lot of these guys are going to multiple places.
Some of these guys are going to multiple places in a week span,
So what are you gonna do to separate yourself so that they remember where they
went, so that they post about it. That's important. Also make sure
that they post about it because a lot of times like that's their that's their
brain power, that's that's their archive, is their ig feed. So if
you're not giving them content to post with, they're not even gonna remember that
they were on your campus, you know, darn Like it's it's almost a
happy medium, right, Like do you almost feel like when you get a
guy on campus that really just focused on school football and maybe like, hey,
my brand will get there once I prove myself. Do you almost love
those more than the ones that are coming in, Like, y'all, I'm
already a brand. What you're gonna do? Like you know, like do
you what do you prefer? Fully to be honest? And you know that's
not that's not be getting the answer I truly do. And what I tell
again, what I tell any recruiting that family on campus is my job specifically
is to be of service to you as a student athlete and to your family
and to build the future that you want for yourself. It's not the future
that I think that you should want, or we're not trying to create your
future. You know, our branding, you know, program education program is
called define you for a reason. We're not trying to redefine who you are.
We don't need to change you or we're just trying to help you better
amplify who you are. So if you come through the door and you're like,
man, I want you know, I want fifteen to twenty in IL
deals. You know, I want to work on my brand so that companies
reach out to me, or I feel comfortable reaching out to companies, and
I want this many followers, and I want a blue check, and I
want to do a podcast, and I want to be a TikToker. Man.
That's great, you know. Now, Now obviously you have to still,
of course do well in school, you know, graduation first, we
expect a certain level on the field of us we wouldn't be recruiting you.
But if the other stuff appeals to you, well, let's rock and roll.
Let's get it done. Just the same as Hey, I'm interested in
graduating in three years and then doing my master's in my fourth and leaving with
two degrees. Fantastic. Let's set you up to do that. Hey,
I'm interested in coming in, you know, playing early, leaving early,
going to the National Football League to help feed my family. All right,
let's set you on a path to do that, so every student athlete is
going to be different and what they what they deem important. You know,
I wouldn't be uh you know, uh honest in my job if I was
to say, hey, you got to follow this path or you got to
follow that path. I think that's the beauty of you know, colleague collegiate
sports now is you can carve your own path and whatever you're passionate about.
We have enough resources, tools, support network and people to kind of make
that come to fruition. Yeah, so on that, like, you know,
so for the for the this is part of MSU family. So what
number one, what is your job title now, like the current role that
you're in. And then what does a day look like for you in and
out of season? Yeah, so title Director of play Relations and Program Advancement.
And it just it's this fantasy way of saying, I handle all of
our off field programming, so and out of season day is actually more busy
than the end season day. And it's just gonna be the multiple touch points
that I have both in our building and our facility with our ops team,
our creative team, our recruiting team, and then also usually a lot of
touch points in in administration, with our fan engagement marketing team, football administration
as well, and just making sure that everybody's on the same page and that
we're getting done what we need to get done. So you know, internally,
of course, you know, for myself, it's the player development piece,
it's the you know, the branding pieces we talked about, alumni engagement,
community service, all of those things. And then from an opps and
recruiting standpoint, making sure that everybody's kind of supported when it comes to on
campus visits, recruits that will be here, you know, coaches I want
to come in, former players, I want to be here, things that
that nature. And then with our creative team, you know, making sure
social media is good, we're telling the right stories, We're telling the stories
in the right way, capturing the right content, and it just getting like
I said, it expands out to the athletic department. So making sure,
for example, you know, I had you know, three or four different
meetings to day on the spring the spring of Spartan football kickoff that'll be of
course April fifteenth, and making sure that's in order and everything that we kind
of have planned for that, making sure our nil something we're going to have
on Thursday of that week is ready to go. So a lot of different
things touching a lot of different different pieces of the program. But that's what
I love to do, is to kind of be multipled in a lot of
different facets of our program and it makes for a lot of fun. Yeah,
Darren, you're a guy that and something that I love about you as
you're a guy that came to Michigan State, played a much you can say,
balls out at Michigan State, you know, had your stent in the
league, did some broadcasts, but you're back at Michigan State, you know,
and I think that's a huge selling points. So if a recruiting their
family come in there and you know, you're sitting there talking to a seventeen
year old kid, senior junior in high school and he looks at you and
said, why MSU, what do you say? Yeah, I mean,
I'd say that there's a reason that I'm still here. You know, I
just have such an affinity for this place because of all the opportunities that I
feel like this place provides, and I feel like this place is is different
than others. And you know, I knew it when I was here,
but I got a real sense of it when I went to train for the
draft and I was talking to all these great athletes from other schools, and
they didn't have relationships and connections to other sports and other student athletes and to
their professors and to other people around campus. And it just it boggled my
mind because I thought that was a norm. You know, Hey, we're
cool with the basketball team, We're cool with women's basketball, cool field,
hockey, volleyball. Like you know, I have best friends that played in
men's and women's sports, all men's and women's sports, you know, and
I'm still talking to you to this day, you know, on a daily
basis. You know, great relationships with professors that I talk to all the
time. Then of course coaches and the staff, and it's just rare.
It doesn't happen in a lot of programs. It definitely doesn't happen a lot
of Power five programs. So you know, this place is genuine and what
we say we do here we really get done. And I think that especially
in this day and age, when there's a lot thrown at recruits in their
families, a lot of lip service, a lot of smoke and mirrors.
To be real, like that's the key. And I can sit in this
chair when I have a recruiting their family in my office and say what I'm
gonna give to you is real. Now you're gonna have decisions to make.
You know, you're gonna have to do a pros and consolest with all the
visits that you're taking. But what I'm telling you, I can assure you
is real. And they always leave out of here, you know, believe
in what I say and understanding like, okay, what we say, we
actually do. You know, Darien, there's a program that you know,
I feel like out that many people where fans know that we have is I
know, Ashton Henderson and Elliott Daniels started to keeping the real with our young
guys to make sure that they are not getting not say lost, but homesick
and then not having an outlet to just talk freely and be themselves, but
also being you know, words of encouragement from your peers. You know,
I guess talk about that because you know I saw you give a spill to
them and it was during the winter conditioning this this past this past the winner
and you know you you laid it to them straight right like you're giving them
that tough, hard love that they have probably coming up leaving their homes but
coming here and you're being that big bro for them, right Like, talk
about that program and how it's kind of evolved from when I know you were
part of Keeping the Real when you were here, right and you know right
now, talk about how that has evolved and how that is a big program
for our guys where parents and their kids here, they have a community and
they're they're to grow. Talk about that. Absolutely, No, it's huge.
I think it's it's one of the most important things we do with a
part of our program, as are Keeping it Real. So that was again
as I just mentioned, and as you mentioned, Otis Ashton Henderson started that
program with my freshman class. We were the first class to ever go through
Keeping It Real. And that's just a weekly meeting with the first year of
players and we've now expanded it to first year players and second year players with
myself and now doctor Lorenzo guests. We just spend time with him as a
class for thirty to forty five minutes and we go through really everything that is
in comas with being a student athlete, you know, going to class,
being in school, playing your sport, n il campus culture, being a
spartan dog community service. But we're able to do it in an intimate way
to where, like the title says, we can really get real and we
can get down a nitty gritty of what certain things mean. And I would
say eighty five percent of the time the conversations are positive. You know,
hey, Sudden surch did great, great in school this week. You know
he was struggling last week but really picked it up this week. You know,
let's let's give him some love. Or you know, did you see
Southern Sun's scout team this week? It really helped us a lot. You
know, he got the offense ready to go, or just generalities. Hey,
here's how you should approach a professor if you know you're you're struggling in
the class, Or here's how you should approach a professor first day of class.
You know, sit in the front, introduce yourself out to the class,
tell them your goals, or him or her your goals and aspirations.
You know all those things. But then of course you do have that time
where you where you have to really dig into them. You know, maybe
somebody did something wrong that everybody else could benefit from hearing from so instead of
saying, you know, keeping stuff a secret, you know, as long
as as long as we're okay to share it, you know, we hey,
uh, you know Johnny Smith here left trash in the hallway at his
apartment, and and and Housing called him on it and gave him, you
know, some some reprimand don't do that. You know, we've we've had
hygiene discussions. We've had discussions on how to do dishes, how to do
laundry, like, we got to make sure that we're growing the life skills
and in this new day and age. Again, we all lived in case
Hall all first year. That's absolute. We don't do this. So you
know, these they have washing in the in the state of the departments.
We have to teach those things. Hey, here's how you use a washer
dryer here, right, They have to be taught exactly. There's pros and
cons to everything. So keeping it real allows us to really really dive into
those things. And it's incredibly important that guys love it. And it also
allows for the for the back and forth. You know, it's not just
us talking to them. They can talk to us. Hey, here's coach,
we got an issue with this. We got a problem with that.
Hey, why is this going on? Why is this going on? Hey,
we don't think this is fair, we don't think this is right.
And then we can kind of be that liaison to take it to either coaches
or to coach Tucker say hey, we heard this from our freshman class and
we should switch it up or do something different to the better to better help
them. That's critical and the leadership role like that you're doing that. So
I'm going to give a check in because you know, you have your finger
on the pulse of this program better than anybody that I could think of outside
of the coach tuh. Now there's been guys on our show that's talked about.
And then also we know from a recruiting standpoint, facilities are something that's
big and we're going through a big renovation right now. So number one,
I'll ask you how has that renovation in the eyes of the recruits? And
then how is it in the eyes of the current players right now? As
far as chemistry, because we understand that it's been shifts that they have to
go into because of limited space. Yes, I guess I'll start with the
latter. You know, it's difficult on the current roster. There's a lot
that we've asked of them in terms of, like you said, shifts and
transition when it comes to the norm and as athletes, again, we are
structured and systematic people, so when you put a glitch in the system,
it can throw you off. And to be honest, one of the struggles
that we had last year stem from not having a accessible locker room in our
football facility. So again, you know, I'm I'm in practice. You
know, I'm a linebacker. You know JAYU comes through the hole on a
on a power play. You know, we don't run. Nobody runs a
lot of power anymore. Nowhere for the help. What's better for the help?
Like you know, long term, basically staff the ball and get a
seal in the guard can pull and you know, jay you come right right
behind him and I go fill the hole and there's a collision and we get
into it or whatever. I got to see you in the locker room after,
right, We got to handle our disagreement somehow, some way. These
guys don't have an opportunity to do that because there's so much transition, there's
so much coming and going. They have to leave from the facility, they
have to go over to the North End zone to change. There's class they
got to get to, they got to eat, there's a lot of different
things. They got to get treatment, and it's difficult, you know,
so we've tried to create better systems for that. You know, our off
season has been a complete focus on building team chemistry by having a bunch of
team functions. If you've seen on social media from the day we got back
on campus in January when we had that big dodgeball tournament over at the President
which was phenomenal, Like, we have tried to preach and push team events
because of that. So they are now a lot in a better, much
better place than they were at this at when the construction started last year and
we got moved out of the locker room for the recruits. Though it's fantastic
because it's gonna be done by the time they get here. So we're not
just again we're not selling a dream. We're saying, hey, no,
when you get here, this is done. Like you know, twenty twenty
four recruits, when you get here, you're moving straight into this, Like
it's not like you're moving into a construction project. We're gonna be ready to
rock and roll. So that's huge for us in the facility. I'm sure
everybody's seeing the videos. It looks amazing. It's gonna be fantastic for us,
and uh, you know, I know we can't wait to get in
there. Our younger guys on our current team will get a chance to experience
it, similar to when they renovated the locker room going into my senior year.
At least I got to experience it some. And for the older guys
who may not get to experience, they can understand and they do understand that,
hey, you all paved the way for this to be possible. Every
new group or younger group is gonna get more. It's the same thing in
the NFL. This year's draft class is gonna get paid more than last year's
draft class. So the sooner our guys actually understand like that overall, you
know, overarching the part of society, the better listen. They was just
sell in that stadium tower that I was like, I was like, what
is that gonna do for me? Darren? You you come in from from
a standpoint similar to all of us on here. You knew when you came
in your freshman class. You know, if you came in with twenty people
in your freshman class, you knew you were going to finish with like seventeen
to sixteen of them. You know, you knew that it was. You
know, sophomore year is going to be you guys, Junior year, You
guys, senior year. You guys. Now, it's not like that with
the transfer portal and everything like that. What's your thoughts on that and what
the adjustments that guys have to make now? Absolutely it's a great point.
So one of the first things that we talk about in our keeping the real
session when a new class comes in is if you all make it through at
eighty five ninety percent of you all that are sitting in this room right now,
you know, full class make it through, we will compete for championships
because that would have meant that you all have done everything to not only grow
as football players, you have grown as people grown in the classroom. And
we have a direct draft that off the field success correlates on the field success.
So you know, maybe that number is a little high nowadays again because
of the portal, but I would believe that the teams that are successful the
program are successful their classes are for the most part getting through. Now,
if you get through it and you graduate, and you graduates, so that's
different, you know, but a lot of it, as you said,
you start looking at the class and especially with us doing keeping it real because
it's a two year thing now. So when we when when we start doing
these these sessions, these meetings, and you start looking and seats get empty,
and another one's empty, and then another one. Is that like it
starts, it can weigh on you. You know, it can weigh on
you. It can weigh on you as a as a student athlete. You
start looking to your left, to your right. It feels a little nfls
I mean, I think we all kind of remember you remember walking to the
NFL locker room and the Perston next year is lockers just cleaned out. Nobody
nobody said a word, right, it's just oh, he's gone, you
know it kind of it kind of feels like that. And again this is
not just Missigan State. This is everywhere. Like you walk in one day
and a player is going now again in this day and age, the guys
are going to tweet out if they're in the portal usually, so they'll see
that. But it's not always like a long debrief before somebody jumps into portal,
you know, unless they have told their teammates. So I feel like
there's of course pros and cons to the portal overall, but the more you
can stay together as a class and get through, I think you have success.
And I really love what I've seen from you know that there's obviously the
guys that came in January, but last year's class of twenty two class,
they have a bond that I feel like it's It doesn't mean that everybody's gonna
stay you know. Of course, we hope everybody does. You just never
know, but they have embraced the importance of like, all right, we
got to find a way to all get through and then we'll see what happens.
Yeah darn, that's one great point because you know, no one knows
what all goes through a decision when I'm going to hit the portal, Like
yeah, that the idea as a player pops in because maybe you're not,
you know, not enjoying your time. You're not maybe getting time on the
field that you maybe think you deserve. But you know, how many out
of those groups of guys that truly have that trust factor with you and then
doctor guess to have a heart to heart conversation about this is where my mind
is at before I do this, because there's some of those guys where you
you probably had a road map to build out to say hey, if you
statement, we can change the tide here, we can get you you know,
set up, or if it's you know, a difference case scenario is
like, you know what, we think it is best for you to go
somewhere else to be to be heard and be felt better, you know,
and welcomed in. But you know, how's that how's that set up right
now? For your guys to say, hey, it's always open door policy
to you to come and have a chat with me before you make that decision
publicly. Yeah, they know that. It's it's totally open door. And
you know, we've had that conversation with some guys that have elected to state,
some guys that have elected to leave, and it's it's all again,
it's different, different reasons. The importance is just being listening here and I
think even more important than that, And again, this is what separates Michigan
State, I believe from other places is I always let them know you're starting
off for life. I don't care if you were here for a semester,
you know, or you're here for two three years. It doesn't matter if
you were here anything we have from an alumni resource standpoint. Once you exhausted
your eligibility in college, whether you completed in Michigan State or elsewhere, it's
open for you, you know. And again that's part of being on the
other side of, you know, the of the on the field, the
football piece, where we can't be out here turning our back on student athletes
because they had a hard decision to make it because they wanted to go somewhere
else and play. Like. We have enough resources and we have enough opportunity
for everybody to get a piece. So that's the conversation that I always have.
And then it's it's more so, ay, I can make you do
something. You know, I may have an opinion on what you should think
about. But it's the same thing when guys are considering leaving early for the
draft. You know, we sit down, we have the conversation, we
go over the information, and ultimately you got to make your decision. The
only thing I can provide for you is the information. But it's very difficult
situations for or for these guys to make. And it's every year, you
know, they get a little more cerebral with what goes on, and you
know, just some generalities like they think about, Okay, do I lose
that network that I just built up at Michigan State? You know, how
does it look when I have to start over somewhere else? You know?
Of course nil factors into this a lot, you know, in this day
and age, obviously playing time, you know, and if I go somewhere
else, am I gonna have to do I have a spot secure? Do
I have to compete if I come back here? Same thing? And then
it's also, hey, I saw that you all, you know, sudden
such transferred in in my position? Does that mean that I'm out? Does
that mean we're competing? Does it? Was it? For depth? Like
it's a lot again on these student now kind of digest you know, unless
you're you know, something like a Kenneth Walker and you know, like,
man, there's nobody better than me out here, you know what I mean,
Like I'm good to go. But there's only one or two of those
on any team in the country. So everybody else it's a competition piece,
and we know that you have to compete NonStop and you may not play for
two three years and then once you get in there, you could shine.
But in this day and age, it's about how early can I get on
that field, and if there's maybe another opportunity for me to get on the
field earlier elsewhere, based on all the decisions and opportunities out there, I
may take that opportunity. Now. I think that was an important piece that
you just talked about there, Like even if you're here for a semester,
you know, you said that your a Spartan dog for life, and that's
a real thing, and that goes into the former players that aren't even on
this particular roster that go back in history. They precede you that you,
as president of the MESU Football Players Association, reach out and do a phenomenal
job. But you know, you brought up the work the acronym that everybody
wants to know about in all name, image and likeness. How are we
doing? Are we competitive? Absolutely, we're extremely competitive, and for a
lot of different reasons. You know, I think that the main reason is
that hey, our guys can say, hey, we're doing well with il
you know, we're using the education, we're using the information, and we're
able to go out there and compete with anybody in the country when it comes
to NIL. So there's nobody here that things that they're missing out on opportunities
elsewhere. I can assure you of that. The where again, where we
take it another step further is our education, and NIL to me is synonymous
with education. That's why I love in IL. We can now educate student
athletes on so much more again than just having a lot of followers. And
it's even more than making a lot of money, you know, even though
I want all student athletes to make as much as they can, it's it's
beyond that. It's like, how can I how is it? How can
I make this sustainable? How can I make this last? Like? How
can I grow this? How can I how can I, you know,
create more opportunities out of the opportunities I already have. You know, we
had a session a couple of Fridays ago and Kurt Richardson, who's a Spartan
dog and phenomenal in the space of teaching marketing tactics. He talked about this
word access and how as a student athlete, your access is at the highest
it's ever going to be in your entire life, even if you go play.
So how are you taking advantage of the access that you have to all
these people? You know, I mean there's billionaires on the sideline every game.
You know, how are you taking advantage of being in the light.
You know, Like if I take my guys somewhere wherever I take them,
those people don't want to talk to me. I'm a I'm a former guy,
you know, I'm a hasband. You know. They want to talk
to my current guys, whether whether the current guys that I take have ever
stepped foot on the field or not, because they're currently in it, that's
what they want to talk to. Doesn't matter that, you know, I've
won two Big Tent titles or Rose Bulls or whatever. I'm not currently playing.
So when they see that, it really puts into perspective because they're like,
oh, like it really does go you know, when you're done.
Instead all four of us on this right now, like we have to reach
out to people to make things happen. Like athletes, people are reaching out
to them. People want to see and talk to them. So when we
start to build on that, plus the NIL opportunities and the partnerships and building
the brand and the deals and all of that. I mean, you can
see we have national deals there. We have deals that nobody else in the
country has been able to create with our positions current players. You know,
there's people that you know, obviously affiliate with the show that have done deals
with our players. Like it's for you, you know what I mean.
Where else in the country is a national breakfast spot doing a deal with with
players. I was the biggest national breakfast spot in the country, and they're
doing deals with anybody else, you know, I haven't seen it. So
in terms of we can compete with anybody, we do compete with anybody.
You know, That's never come up as an issue of like, oh,
we're lacking in that space. So Darien, I know Otis and Jason,
if you ask them this question if when I was playing, they'll say,
I can't do an NIL deal with it will be ricks. I don't.
I have no idea why we say that. Why would we think back in
what if and I was in play when you played, like will be like
your dream and IL deal? Oh man, you know, local local funny.
It's funny because I heard the hard thist Harry Potter banter going on,
and like I'm saying, look, I know you, I know you are.
You never see Harry Potter like we'll have to. That may be a
conversation that will have. But for me, it would be I would have
I would have tried to do something with with like a Marvel, with a
Marvel, you know, whether it was just the comics, you know,
and but I would have I would have wanted to do it in a way
that was that was charitable. So you know, if it was taken under
privileged kids to the movies every time I knew Marvel movie came out or something
like that, you know, the other deals are you know that they would
come and then you know, you do your signings and your autographs and you
know you may sign in a peril deal or market some brands and stuff.
But again, like that's what I'm trying to teach my guys. There's so
much opportunity to give back with n I l the money's gonna be there.
How can we give back? How can we make a difference? So that
definitely is is where my mind when it went with that there and I think
though to to he's trying to find out what your favorite watering whole restaurant?
What was? What wasn't y'all y'all are like the Dublin and like we were
at the tail end of ricks. Yeah he did, so Darren, let's
go back. Let's let's go back to your plane, because like, if
you want to talk about a career, like, yeah, you know,
I had a my career Michigan State. For what it was, it was
great. We went to two bowl games. Yay straight you know, you
know, beat Ohio State when number one otist was at the tail end there,
when it was when the getting was starting to get good, good game.
You know you were thick of it. Oh Man, No, he
was in the he was in the best nardoozy yes and yeah yesterday ironically,
man told me it was it was like a two minutes and you better have
his number save that it's the four win two area code. Man, who
is this coach? I heard you taking credit for the Rose Bowl stopping You
ain't work now if you need anything else, you just call me, all
right bye. I haven't talked to you, sister Peaceball, but I mean,
uh past he didn't. He's truly the reason like I'm in this seat
now because he did more for my career than than any other coach and it
didn't have anything to do with exs and knows. It was total mindset,
Like he changed my mind said on how I viewed myself and how I attacked
the process of work because he was so hard on me and he expected so
much. And at the time where and again everybody everybody goes to this when
when they're young, at the time where he saw me as a better player
than I think I saw myself, as you know, after my junior year,
like I had a switch flipped. And then he went off to be
a head coach, and so he actually missed what came to fruition, which
was my my senior year was by far my best year. But I've already
I've kept that mindset and everything I do, So you know that's why I
just it warmed my heart for him to just randomly call me yesterday, because
I mean, he doesn't even know the impact that he's had on just my
entire life. Honestly, and again, it's not the it's not the coaching
of the linebacker. It was coaching up the man on just how do you
go out in like attack a day. How do you how do you be
you know urgent? You know, sense of urgency and purpose and all of
those things. Now he did in his coach Do's way, you know,
but I love that, you know what I mean, Like like like everyone
knows what you know even as an offensive guy. I was a big coach
Doosey guy. So Dan, one thing about your defense there when you guys
were there, and and Javan and I have talked about this in the past.
When as an offensive player and you're watching film from the first four or
five place, you know what type of game it's going to be. You
know, like we'll watch film the first five and we'll look atach other like
we're good. But watching your when you were there, that core of you
guys on defense there, it's like, Holy, I'm like, I'm glad
I'm not playing these guys. Like what was that mentality? That mindset?
Like it was like a dog mentality like literally, and you know what,
you know, how did that come about? We had Will Goldstin on the
show to talk about that a little bit, but like how did that come
about? Yeah, I mean we just took the mentality of our of our
defensive coordinator, coach dudes. And you know, my my favorite was when
you watch back the TV copy and the UH and then we'd have we'd make
a TfL and and there's you know, there's seven of us on the ball
and the announcements. But oh, that was a great blitz. And I'm
like, we didn't blitz like win and just attacked like downhill, you know,
stop the run. You know, it was great, and it just
there was this belief system that we could do anything. Now, of course,
you have to have great players to make that happen. We can attack
downhill because we had Trey Wayne's and dark we as an Ard and Curtis Drummond
and Isaiah Lewis and then after them, you know, you fill in with
more NFL guys like so with the confidence that we had on the edge to
play that cover for the man up the outside to you know, our our
say like like people don't understand just because we had such great players, Like
how difficult it was playing that defense. Like our safeties are flat footed at
ten yards old is you know you're you're standing still. You know, there's
a slow repeeks running one hundred miles an hour to cover them and you did
you know what I mean, Like, that's what like I would tell you,
Reroute, I'm apex between number two and the I got Torus, Reroute,
you need to be the all star brother, I'm telling you. But
we believed in it, and we knew the game at the end of the
day. You know, Quez Quez has been has been uh you know around
recently during spring dark Nord and just standing with him and watching how he'll be
watching wide receiver dB one on ones and receiver will release off the lines.
Oh that's a rap route before he even gets into like the route, and
then you know, receiver will break in and go back out and catch a
touchdown and the DB's left standing there and it was a wrap route. And
Quesz is like, you just got to know the game. So we put
the time, effort and energy into knowing the game and and understanding the game,
learning from the guys before us, you know, really buying into this
is just how Spartan dogs play defense and in the day and if you can't
do it, like you're not living up to the expectation that's been set forever.
Spartan dog defense has been Spartan dog defense, and you know, because
of that, like that pride kicks in and then you know that belief kicks
in, and then the trust factor kicks in, and then you have the
results that we're out there on the field. So you look, this is
great, this is a great context. Listen, you've been on the sideline
and you know what our defense is supposed to look like and play like you
haven't the kind of got to be in your role, but you also know
what it takes and what it's supposed to look like. Like let's let's talk
about currently the past year and a half, right, like what what what
did you experience being on that sideline and how did you attack it? But
knowing that for the spring, like will we be better and what would be
at that point where we need to be at? Where's spartan dog defense?
That's truly like the honest question there absolutely absolutely I think I think that you
know, everything's got to come together, and I think that what we've seen
the last couple of years is trying to learn like what spartan dog defense is,
to try to really integrate it with these guys and to get them to
that just that trust point, in that confidence point of like you can't do
this, Like the talent is there, for sure, the talent is there,
like and again, like my my perspective is again it's different than others.
So when I'm watching these games, you know, even games that we
may have fallen those short, I'm like, I'm not seeing that much of
a difference. I'm like, we I know we can compete with DC,
so I know we can. I know we can win these games. Everything
just has to come together. And when that confidence is there, like you're
unstoppable, you can't be beat, you know, or at least you're you're
you you may you may you know. I guess it's a doctor Elko said,
you may get beat, but you're not gonna lose. Like's a difference.
And again I know for me even firsthand, like I had to step
in into Rose Bowl and then my junior year was solid, and then my
senior year, I took it to another level because I knew the game and
I was way more confident, which allows you to play faster. And I
understood it at the end of the day, like the defense we run now
is run by seventy five or eighty percent of the NFL, So obviously there's
a reason for that you know this is this is a defense that was that
was created by Minnie Kiffin and then run by Tony Dungee and on down the
line. So there's there's a reason that it's being run. At the end
of the day, we just have to be confident when we play it,
and we have to believe in it, and we have to know it at
the end of the day. And I always approach everything as a player.
Always. There's never been a time in a game that I've lost or that
we've you know, we've lost the team. I've been a part of loss
where I've come out of the game and said the coach should have called better
place. Never, It's just not my mentality. It's always we need to
play better as players. Coach called play go execute the play. So I
continue to approach everything as a player and say, players out there playing,
end of the day, you gotta go out there and make the plays.
But it comes from confidence, comes from knowing the game. And I love
what I've seen this spring. There's been accountability, there's been a lot more
knowledge of just a game of football. We're making that a focal point as
well. We're teaching the game like sometimes you got to go back to the
basics. You got to teach what's the top of the numbers, what's the
bottom of the numbers, what's the provider, what's the hash? How many
yards from the sideline to the hash? I mean yards from the sideline to
the divider. You know, it's like stuff that we may see I think
is basic information. It may not be basic to everybody, and so you
have to go back and teach. And especially with the portal as well,
you don't know what everybody's been taught other places. So you really got to
go back to like square one and say, Okay, this is a football,
which makes her crazy. It's like, this is a football. I
think that's what John Wooden used to do. I think was famous. He
would start every season, you put your socks on. You know, you
got to start at square one. And we, I think have done a
really good job of doing of doing that. So I'm excited to see the
progression. Yeah, I think we needed we need a Darien Harris segment and
we have the Yeah. I got like, we got two questions, he's
got six. He got the thing of the question. I got two questions.
One, how did the from the Rose Bowl year, the rich Homie
Kwan thing. How did that come about? And everything? And then to
have him on the sidelines at the Rose Bowl, I believe that was a
Curtis Daniel special there, Spartan Dog. Curtis Daniel hooked that up, you
know, owner past recording studios. I believe he hooked that up with Coach
d You know, we were we were already playing the song. It kind
of became the song of the season type of way. And to get him
there for the Rose Bowl, I mean that made a special to May is
special, you know, and you know for us, you know, and
again for all of us on the call. Hip hop culture in black culture
just it impacts everything. And so for that to be major for us and
for that to be what really brought us together and brought a and galvanizing and
tire like Spartan nation, you know, to the point where we out sold
Stanford in California two to one. I mean it's huge, man like like
hip hop culture and black culture just to influence it has and the power it
has is phenomenal. And that was a special moment and shouts to shouts the
Curtis to be able to make that happen. Yeah, they may kind of
cook. It's great, man, like it transcends everything. Well, wasn't
that, yes, Travis, Yeah, like y'all knew. I think that
was the That was the huge difference, Like you knew who you were as
a squad and your identity, and it also gave us confidence as for the
players. But spartination that we knew who was stepping out on that field was
gonna get you, was gonna get the best, and he was gonna be
gritty and he was gonna either lose, win or lose, and it was
gonna be bruised coming out. Like we knew. That was the mentality.
And I think we're getting there because when I saw last Saturday or the last
Saturday in the script, uh in spring game, Like I'm like one just
from my defensive back practice practice, sorry, in spring practice last Saturday.
Man, look, the defense is looking listen that defense secondary alone, confident
confidence Maybe go ahead. I just want to know and the people everybody wants
to know this, Like so many people has been reaching out to me.
Everyone on the chat wants to know. How is my guy Nate Carter doing.
Hey, I went to go tell him in the weight room. I
was like, listen, your boy too too, asking about you every second
of the every days. Uh, he's doing well, yeahs reports and he
took he took golf middle and look, I don't even know what play was.
Non Nate's great. And you know, I try not to get too
excited. He's doing well, say that fair enough, He's doing really well.
That's fair. That's fair. I'll take that. I'll take it a
run with it. Yeah, the COIs that koy smile says it all.
So, so we have to ask you this. I know, we gotta
let you go. I mean, this is great. We gotta you know.
We can come back anytime and talk to you. We can talk for
hours. Man. But you know the final four women's Final four that just
happened. Give us your thoughts on the Caitlyn Clark Angel Ree situation. Yeah,
I mean, I know, that's a that's another hour in of itself.
First, I'm a huge, mungous fan of both of them. I
followed women's sports very closely. I follow women's basketball very closely, you know,
always followed it, follow it close in my life now having a daughter
follow it even even closer. Went to a bunch of MSU women's basketball games.
I actually I pulled up Caitlin Clark highlights on YouTube and just handed to
my daughter like a couple of weeks ago, because he's into basketball. Like
I'm in, I'm all in on Caitlin Clark except when she plays Michigan State,
and I'm all in on on on Angel Rees. Of course, the
backlash that Angel Reese, you know, took and and and this overblown word
of class list was nonsense. To me. It was nonsense. And as
I kind of tweeted out, we have a no trash talk policy in our
program. So I'm not condoning trash talk in and of itself because that's not
how we do things in Michigan State. We do not talk to our opponent.
That's the number one thing that Coach Tucker says, and you can see
it on the field. We do not trash talk. That doesn't mean that's
that's the way for every other program at the end of the day. And
Angel Reese has made it very very clear she's gonna unapology jelically be her.
And what I thought was was great was Caitlin Clark coming out today and saying
that any backlash of the angels catching his nonsense. Let women compete, let
them talk trash. I mean, look, this is Michigan State. We
have Draymond Green, that's right, yea, And we love Draymond Green.
Yeah, okay, And he plays with this guy by the name of Steph
Curry who is the most disrespectful player in the NBA right now, and I
love you at this court. It's it's you know, the issues are there,
the issues that plague or society are still there. You know, to
see if black women get attacked like that, it's not right. It's not
right for doing the exact same thing. That's what I saw, And as
a as a you know, as a black man, and as a father
of a young black, young black girl who's gonna one day, you know,
do something, whether it's sports or otherwise. You know, I had
to stand up and say I don't I don't condone the backlash that that Angel
Reese is getting. It's not right, it's it's not fair, but it's
only gonna. It's what she was able to do is only going to continue
to benefit her in terms of winning that championship. She already had the most
nil deals in the country. Men's and women's basketball. She's going to continue
to grow that brand. She's gonna be just fine. From that standpoint.
What I don't like is this now becomes and you got to pick a side
thing because the black folks in the country are going to side with Angel Reese
and it's like you you think, at least on the service level, that
everybody else is gonna side with Kaylyn Clark. We could be fans with both
of them, fans of both, be fans of both. I want to
see them again. I want to see them meet again in the regular season
because Michigan State's gonna be playing for national title. But I want to see
them play again down the road. Like I don't want this to turn into
a separation thing, because what both of those programs, and specifically those two
young ladies did for women's basketball and for women's sports in general was absolutely phenomenal.
Nine point nine million people watch that game. That is phenomenal, right,
I mean phenomenal, and uh I just we got it, you know.
It just it takes away from the the just the moment in a way
that it shouldn't have. So again, I didn't think it was right.
I'm glad that Kaylen came out and said that as well. And I can't
wait for the women's season next year and and of course shout out to Michigan
State women's basketball also coach Frailer coming in. Uh really excited about her coming
in and her family and cannot wait to go to go to a bunch of
games this year. Absolutely. Man, hey, man, love this,
I mean love the time. Man, this is awesome too. Man,
anytimes flying by. You know, we really appreciate the most. We love
you, man, thank you, thank you, thank you for joining us.
And ladies, gentlemen, Darien Harris, you know, thanks for joining
the show. Man. We'd love to have you back anytime, because we'll
be seeing you here. Spring games coming up, so we're gonna be to
see it. Otis is gonna be there checking out practice whenever he gets back
from and the people, the people get to see Nate the great card,
they get to see him. Appreciate it, bro, thank you, thank
you, appreciate it. Daran oh man, hey, I mean, look,
time flies when you're talking to dogs like that. And you know,
he was in that golden era of Michigan. That was a great that was
a great entergy. I loved every single minute of it, like from all
aspects of it, from you know that deep important stuff to the he he
ha ha stuff to you on everything. I loved it. I love what
he do. Those some nice beds back there that otis has. I mean,
it makes us all feel like, you know, like close to home.
Good seeing you there. It's grand rising early rising tomorrow. Baby.
Got to get there when the parts open, man, so you can get
a couple of rides for that sun come all the way up man, Just
for for the listeners and so they know and be sure that you know about
the This is spart of m s U subscribers special event taking place after the
Spring game special live show and postgame party at the field House, East Lancey.
Starts at five pm on Saturday after the game. Follow our socials from
more info. The spring game won't be televised live, so this is your
opportunity to hang out with us. We're all gonna be there. I heard
he paying for some drinks. Man, gator arms like that, they'll reach
the pockets. We love to see all of you there. Come hang out
with us in East Land sing at the field House. Can't wait to have
a popping some great food for everybody. It's trying to be good for drinks.
You gotta get like, like the goal of an evening is see if
we can keep you there and away from Ricks. We can keep you there.
No, no, no, no, let me. I ain't never
met a person goes to a nightcap at Ricks. He was like, oh,
nightcap, let me get a nightcap at Ricks. Tuned for a special
more announcement regarding the special guests that are gonna be coming to the event too.
There's gonna be some some headliners. That's all we're gonna say. Steve
is paying for drinks for everybody. I like that, Trevor. I like
the way you think, Trevor. You know guys, I mean listen,
great show. Uh. I can't wait till Thursday. I mean it's gonna
get more and more exciting, you know, Otis. I don't know when
are you coming back? Oh you're not gonna be here Thursday? Are you
still gonna be in the land of Disney here? But I will be tuned
in all right. You know how magical magic Kingdom is at night? Man?
Like that is one thing they get you right there is like the magic
of maybe maybe from there. We want know what's going on with Magic Animal
Kingdom. Yeah, I'm gonna be like I'd be like Jay, you you
gotta take a picture in front of the castle at night. I will,
I will, hopefully, I gotta get I gotta get a ring like because
you know how dark. We got some stuff too. We gotta cover that
had a great event this weekend. We're gonna show you guys on Thursday what
he was up too long this weekend. Hey for Ods Wiley and ju Coulkrigham,
Jason Straehorn, This is Sparta, Have a good night, God bless
and go greet. This is part of m s U as a combine presentation
of play Fly Sports properties in Michigan State Sports Properties. The show is produced
by Pete Manez with additional support from Tony Costella Operations and Social Media support is
provided by Alicia Straehorn with support from Cecily Max Brown on location. Technical support
is provided by a Good Fruit Video. Be sure to follow our hosts Jason
Straehorn, jay U Kulcrick and Otis Wiley on social media to stay up to
date with all the latest This is Smarter news. Please like a subscribe by
visiting our link tree and tell a friend to do the same. Thank you
for your support and as always, go green.