This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jaken Zalez on Fox Sports
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I on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera,
He's Jaken Zalez. Welcome to day four hundred of the hostage situation of the
PAC twelve pack, dead pack, night, whatever pack do you want to
call it. We're just another day in paradise. I think it's gonna ensue
though. I think, yeah, my my, my hunger strike is almost
done. Yeah, but I haven't lost the pound. Note. Wow,
there's that, And I think I think that I think they ran hospital four
hundred forty, So we're going we're going for that ran to compare the two.
But yeah, okay, let the situation. When was the last time
you were turned down three or four times? Were the same? Girl?
Never? Because if I got turned down once, I never asked too well.
The PAC twelve was turned down by the nb NBC three times, three
times, and then anybody else too well, and then you know, and
then the whole thing of how when when UM Oklahoma in Texas left the Big
twelve, uh, Bob Bullsby, the commissioner at the time, calls George
laugh Cooff and says, hey, let's talk about doing something and and the
pactol said no thanks. And then all said in USC and UCLA calls goes
out and clav Coov calls, right your mark and says, hey let's do
something and break your mark said no thanks. The PAC twelve mismanaged this from
from day one, day one. And I saw something that I'm not sure
if it's accurate or not, but someone on Facebook, you know, our
infamous internet, uh and and they they said, they said, and we
thought Larry Scott was dumb or something. Well, I don't think Klavkov is
dumb. I just thought I think that UM one, he started out in
a bad spot first day, right, he got he got blitzed by by
you know, all these all these these uh these teams leaving and the PAC
twelve was in a horrible spot. Now, I do think he misplayed a
bunch of stuff, right, I think you know, he's been stated a
few things, right, and so I think I think the whole going back
to when you know, the Oklahoma and Texas left. He should have jumped
on that and he didn't. Now that may have been at the direction of
the you know, the league's board of directors and the presidents or whatever,
but that's what was done, and it's on him and maybe on him to
talk to his presidents and guys or people. You know, we're in a
bad spot here. We got to do something because if we don't, we're
gonna be in big trouble and nobody, you know. Then US and UCLA
leave and that just that was it. At that point, it was over
for the PAC twel Yeah, it's funny. I think I saw a quote
somewhere and you probably can clarify. So now you've been following stories where one
of the pact, one of the conferences that says, we don't want to
be involved in the demise of the of the PAC twelve. Dude, it's
too late. They don't want to be the cause they've already shut the the
caust and the Big twelve clearly doesn't mind. No, you know that.
In fact, that's been so it seemingly been a goal for a while now.
I mean, it certainly was when the Big twelve went out and got
their TV deal before the Tack twelve. Do you blame Arizona for jumping?
No, do you blame Oregon, Washington, Cow and Stafford jumping to the
potential going to the Big tench of course not. Of course you've got to
save your own. But the Pac twelve killed itself, oh, without question,
without killed itself. You know, they were pushing the boulder up hill
and then lost lost its grip and it's rolled down on top of it all
of a sudden Indiana Jones's Green Chase but bo Yeah, well, so as
you alerted um, the reports now out that the Big ten is clearly going
out after Oregon in Washington even issued a statement to CBS saying, you know,
we have to look at this, and and Dan wetzel Um from Yahoo
Sports reported that that they're not only going after Oregon and Washington, but they're
also looking at Cal and Stanfords, which which is a kind of a surprise
to me because Stanford we thought maybe they go in the Pennant and Cal who's
yeah, why why you wanked out? But so you know, if you
want to have a full house and stuff, that's happening. Yeah, certainly.
You know it's called Utah and as you aren't going to stick around in
the No, there's nothing left in the sale. Yeah, it's it's just
it's Oregon and Washington steak. I have nowhere to go. This is a
garunte sale. When you say the sales from from six in the morning to
one and then twelve thirty five year giving stuff away, you know, five
cents here, five cents because that's what it is. Yeah, yeah,
it's this is all happening. It's gonna it's gonna happen fast. And I
think you know we were talking off fair clearly Arizona cannot sit around and wait
to see what's gonna happen. You know, they've got it. They've got
to make a move. Uh And at this point they got to make the
move and say, you know we're going, We're going to the big plot.
But it's just continues to look bad. Odd and all that. Uh,
Bobby Robins probably come out soon sometime hopefully. Uh. Everyone, I
haven't seen I haven't seen any nothing. There's been nothing. There's been nothing
from them from those guys, which which doesn't which makes sense because that's kind
of how you operate. But uh, but it's like you've gone silent and
silent well you know, uh historically, and by that I mean in the
last few years. You know, Robbins and and Dave Hkey have done a
really good job of preventing leaks. I mean, who who knew Jed Fish
was gonna get hired n till Jeff Fish got hired. Who knew, uh,
even rich Rod is gonna get it. And that was under Greg Burne.
But even Rich Rodd is gonna get hired he got hired. Who knew
Tommy Lloyd is getting hired until he got hired. You know, they they
they've they've done a good job. If you're gonna ways to clamp clamp down
on things, and so we're not gonna I don't think we're gonna hear anything
until something gets decided. Yeah, yeah, okay, we'll talk more about
that obviously in the next hour or two. But do we have a good
show today, Yeah? We do. Jeff Hammerschman is going to come on
from Jeff was safety at Arizona eighty seven to ninety also a coach in college
in NFL, but played with the you know under Dick Tomy with the Doyna
Quina and and all those guys and just some history. We'll ask Jeff what
he thinks about all this stuff, right, Uh. And then Doug Holler,
who was at PACT at Arizona me today yesterday, but his most of
his questions were about realignment. So we'll we'll get a sense of him what
what's on his mind. He writes for the Athletic, covers Phoenix and Arizona
for the Athletic, and uh, you know, I'm sure he's got an
opinion, and we want to what's going on up at a SU you know,
Uh, Jade Robino, I think you know, he he talked about
what he wants to go on. You know, he wants to pack to
people about no. We know he said he wanted Arizona State to stay,
but he thought Arizona State fans will be upset at him for saying that because
he thinks Arizona State fans saying we got to get down out of you know.
Um, and he's the Devil's digests. We'll see what Doug Doug is
hearing on the A s U side. Plus, you know, the Athletic
is doing a lot of stuff about this as well. Yeah, Okay,
so anybody too, you can call in and when we're not on the phone
five two or four one, six, seventy four forty, we'd like to
hear your thoughts on the team leaving or the program leaving to Big twelve.
If it doesn't, yeah, well you know this will be part of the
conversation from now until it gets done, really coming back to it. Yeah,
but we do have some fun stuff. Um, we probably got put
about five or ten minutes with hy Dwayne Dwaynea Keena yesterday with some great stuff.
Yeah. Luckily I explained about three or four minutes blay myself with him
because then everybody started showing up for my for my story on right because he's
coming back. But why don't we go in and go ahead and get some
clips inside? I think you know, if if you're wondering is Jetfish the
guy you want him to be, you're gonna like what Dwayne Nikina has to
say about Jetfish. And if you're one of those people think we're still treasure
the dick Toomy years and we're wondering, you know, is there some comparison
to Fish? You gotta hear what Dwayne Nikeena has said about Jetfish yesterday,
really good stuff. So here we go. I think Coach Fish as I
listened to him talk to the football team and the message that he's sending,
there's a lot of Dick Tomy in those messages. He's saying it with his
own phrases like many of us, you know, like Don James influenced me,
you know, Dick Tomy obviously Mac Brown. But I've been around a
lot of great coach and starting with rich Ellerson, my best friend, maybe
the best football coach I've been around. And I've been on staffs with Will
must Champ and Matt Manning Diaz and Greg Robins saying, you know, I
can drop a lot of names on you, but you pull from a little
bit of those guys. But then you coach within your personality, you know.
And so but just watching the athletes watching that you can coach them hard
like we did back in the day, you know, because that was Dick's
thing. We're gonna coach you hard, but we're gonna love you hard too.
So players always know that it's coming from a place of love, really
right, because even as parents, the best love out there is tough love.
You don't like it minis during it at times, well, I think
a lot of the messages that he talks about, he talks about the team,
which was all about Dick's it's the team, the team, the team.
Put your ego in the back pocket. He's always lecturing these guys about
the team and how football relates to real life. You know, the struggles.
I have a little bit of the transfer portal and all of that.
The messages that this great game teaches you is overcome adversity, fight through.
You know, you gotta learn to compete. Now it's not working, I'm
gonna go find an easier avenue. Jet is very good on talking about overcoming
adversity, being a great teammate, all the things that Dick would talk about.
He says, it's his own ways. A lot of his presentations.
Now you have power points and all that. You know, for us,
old dog, we would never be able to get to a power point.
Dick would still be trying to get to a power point now. Okay,
but you know, but he met Jed does a great job of blending being
a great teammate, knowing how to practice were wont to practice physical yet we
want twenty two on their feet all those messages. He was great to listen
to, just great to listen to. Uh, and I do see some
jet or hears some jet in Uh, here's some tell me in Jed and
right in his own way, in his own way, his own way.
Let's less um good old boys stuff, right, but with smart stuff,
right, the very thoughtful stuff. Yeah, very thoughtful, because Dick told
me he was kind of good old boys stuff. Yeah. But but but
Dick was You're getting the conversation with Dick and just you know where he was
getting, you know, when you would express his thoughts and ideas about being
a coach and what you have to do to get guys to play for you.
Yeah, that's where you you know, and I and I think what
GWayne Nikeeno was saying is that Jed has that he brings that to the table
and that he he talks to guys in his own way, right, He's
not trying to imitate anybody, but he talks guys in his own way.
But he talks about a lot of the same things that made Dick Tomy's teams
really good. And if you remember, because we coach, we covered him
at the time of Lady eight eighty nine, ninety. Um Uh that he
was. He too was a CEO like guy because he had a Kena and
he had McDuff, and he had all these guys pat Hill run running the
show in their way, and then he kind of oversee it. Yeah I'm
not wrong, No, you're not wrong. But then you would see him
at practice and you knew he was in charge. Yeah, you'd he'd come
in and get you knew who wasn't charged. That's that's interesting to me.
You know. Kena later on talks about how during the time, he talked
about how Jed is much more involved in the xs and o's of everything because
he's essentially the offensive Coordina's probably play way more than adicted, But nonetheless all
the other stuff seems to be very similar to, uh to what dick Uh,
the way Dick operated. And again, if you were you know after
even after how it ended, and if you're one of the people who helped
run him out of town, but now you wish you had him back,
that's got to be a good feeling to know that maybe there's a little bit
of that back here. Sure, because I think we've all agreed that Arizona
is a different place from the standpoint that that's the kind of coach you pretty
much need to be at Arizona. You can't be you know, you can't
be the you can't be, uh, Jim Harbaugh, you can't be you
know, Ryan Day, you can't be you know those guys that doesn't work
in Tucson, Arizona. You gotta be sort of the the guy who to
deal with, you know, guys who maybe aren't the five could we coach
them up right? Well, he mentioned and we said this yesterday, he
mentioned a bunch of dudes, and we're gonna have one of those dudes on
here with Hamishment. There were not five stars who were not four stars and
Hamishman, it's what a buck buck ninety was a little guy. He was
a Finnished guy who just loved to hit people and like like uh yeah,
and just played it, played up. You know, nothing fear, nothing
scared them. There were no fear of people, and uh became these people.
Yeah, and and again it goes back to all of you know,
all those things were created out of that. Well, well, we're runn
out of time before the break here before we're talking to Jeff. But you
know, he talked about how desert swarm came about his mind. Yeah,
and really where it came from, uh you know, you know, on
on the practice field, and how that that emanated from again, the way
Dick ran his program. It was the way he treated the guy. And
it wasn't you have a clipper now? Why we do? But we're not
gonna be ok. And it was more I didn't know that. I didn't
know this. Maybe he talked about going to Canada and bringing the yes when
when he said that, I remember that. I don't remember that they got
Canada and they brought it down. And it wasn't schemes or schemes right philosophies
of philosophy, but it was dudes believing in the system and playing their ass
off to make it work, to make it work, because that's just it.
If you do and you you've been a boss. If you have ten
employees that are together and working an ass off, it makes you look pretty
good. If there are a bunch of slackers, you're not a good boss.
And that's why you you know a good boss. You know, we'll
surround themselves by people who are smarter than them right to make you know,
to make it all working. And that and that's what you do. And
and Dick told me he had great coaches, and he had coaches that were
probably better XS and those coaches than him, but they still came in and
did there and did the job. And when we come back, we'll talk
about the Jeff and more clips about this on the other side where Dick gave
him a lot of leeway in life and on the field. Well, we
have that clip. We'll talk about that as well. All right, let's
take a break quickna be back. We'd be right back with Jeff Hammerson's former
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on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jay Gonzalez on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen.
Subscribe now to the podcast on the iHeartRadio ap just surgeon. Hey, welcome
back to win on the ball here Fox Sports fourteen. If I'm Steve,
he's Jay. Now we have our guy, Jeff Hammerschmidt former you a football
player, coach to do everything? Guy, how are you? Jeff?
I'm doing great, doing great. Good to have you. Great to have
you. As we joked off, Please keep it clear that fancy coach talk.
I got my finger on the dump button if just in case. Yeah,
it's perfect and to me too, that's a good that's happened too.
Hey, we're gonna have one of your good, good friends, good coaches.
Obviously you're doing a Keena on with Cliffs or we had him and we
talked to him yesterday. How was it playing for him? He was?
He was phenomenal. He was he was the best I've ever been around,
and as a coach, as a player, everything. He just a great
dad, great person. He's awesome. And you had you had the double
opportunity to coach with him as well. Right, and so when when you
saw him on the field and what he does, um, you know,
how did how did you take that? Did you did you try and take
from that at all? Or was it that's Dwayne and I'm you know,
I got to do a different thing. Or how did you look at him
when you saw him the way he worked? Um, it's hard to it's
hard to be just like him. But I but I did my best.
And mind that was you know, coach told me my dad, you know
that, my old football coach, and you know, just say, just
like I find somebody that's doing it great and just try to be like them.
And then I so I did. Now I didn't have the I didn't
have the all come on, hamas you look at the I didn't have the
accents ac or whatever. But um, we we we used to put it.
We used to get some uh we get some comedy acts just talking about
his sayings and some of that stuff. But he's he is great. He's
the first time we ever met him. He comes in the meeting and it's
and I'm a freshman and ce Soul and all these guys are there and he
goes, he goes, God, Dan, you know, I I don't
know what coach told me. He had me as a as why I'm why
I'm a D D coach, But I'm his DD coach And I think it's
because I threw so many interceptions as a court but he was, he is
a he's a great phenomenal He kind of mentioned that yesterday, sir. That's
why he never played ahead of Warren Moon exactly exactly. So you know,
his personality is what it is. It's very personable. He's a relatable dude.
If you're not a relatable dude, it's hard to emulate what he does.
So you're a relatable dude. Did that help you? You know?
Um, well, I don't know if I was a total reliable, reliable
dude, but um yeah, just the way everything about him, you just
is, you know, the way he coaches and and it just gets he
just knows how to deal with each person. He knows how everybody separately.
Um. Why there's some there's some funny stories with with Cecil and a couple
when we got when we get together Akita and and that someone throws a beer
in the room. Then it's, uh, it gets pretty comical talking about
some of the stuff that we you know, that we've done, and but
just a fall out of great respect. It's like, you know, it's
the ultimate It's the ultimate sign of respect is you know, I'll try to
act like I mean, we had them down pretty good. Well, when
you think of all the coaches that that were at Arizona at that time,
the various personalities that Dick had their you know, Larry McDuff and Rich Allerson,
and you know any one of a number of guys you mentioned Johnny lynn
Um, you know, all the all the guys that were through there.
Every it seemed like every guy was a kind of a really different personality,
almost like that was done on purpose, but in the end, they were
all trying to get to the same place. Yeah, well, you know
that's that's kind of Coach told me, that's that was his thing, is
get him all in this, get him all in the room together. When
I was when I was a GA, my first GA year, We're about
to go up and go camping as a staff and and I'm going, what
the heck is this all about? And Coach Tomy on the on the staff
with Jim Young. Yeah, like Jim Young, Mark Lance, Mark Lunsford,
h Norm Anderson. As again, I mean, there's a bunch of
guys that we're all just from all over the place, and we all Coach
Tomy had us meet out at some at some theater and go watch uh,
what is it? Apollo thirteen? And then we all went into our cabins
and we just played poker all night and got to know each other and just
stuff like that was a lot of to do with Coach Tomy. But but
his you know, but Coach Akina was always a big, big part of
that. I mean that's the way the way that the chemistry with the staff
was always really good. And I think it all started with Coach Tomy.
So it's it's funny Duyne was talking to us history. Listen, all these
dudes, just normal dudes who you know, began or started the Desert Swarm
and not five stars, not four stars. He just coached them up.
They believed in the system and and coached him up. How did he coach
you up? You were like a buck fifty? Yeah, I don't know.
He was. He had a dandful because I was, I mean,
I I mean I I was not a smart player. I just wanted to
say it right now. I was not. I was, okay, I
was kind of. I was kind of a physical run around and when I
got confused, I was ranting up a hit whole and so I did that
a lot. But he was, but he just broke things down for you,
Like I was not someone you can just say, you know, like
it suck. Cecil. Chuck was a four point student, great person,
great guys smarter than Heck and Chuck and they can you know, he did
look on the board for one second run out and do it exactly for me.
I had to go through. A coach would bring in some chairs,
we'd walk through it. You know, he knew what he was up against.
But I was definitely not a super intelligent, but I but I definitely
got me to the right place. And uh and his teaching, he did
it different with everybody, but he was he was right on on everyone.
It was amazing. Yeah, I think you're sawing yourself a little short because
you were smart enough to in a matter of a week or two to go
from playing safety to playing quarterback. As I recall that that happened in no
time flat. Yeah, yeah, it was. It was okay, it
was. It was a simple offense than goodness, but it was I didn't
have to throw the ball. That was the one thing that he said.
As I did. I think I was one for thirteen passing that year,
So it wasn't like I had to learn the passing game it was. I
could tell you here's how here's how bad I was as I could remember my
one completion, just to tell you, because a lot of guys are probably
like, oh, yeah, I had like four computer completions or five,
but I'm not joking. I had one. I went back and I we
were at Stanford. My first start in college football was as a freshman against
Stamford. A quarterback and I go back. I can throw a slant to
Derek Hill, and Derek Hill takes up for about seventeen yards and I'm like,
I was jumping up in my first college completion. It was great.
Right, So tell me what are the port are his players now gonna get
from him as he coaches him. Oh, he's got He's still got the
same energy. I mean, God, we went down for we went down
for summer kill. I went down for spring ball off in the alumni weekend,
and and just being around him, he's the same guy. He just
looks a little older. He has the move was fast, but he's he
is the same guy. He still fires that ball one hundred miles an hour
at him during our ball drills. He is He's bouncing around to all the
different players. He has that way about him. He could sit at a
table with the lineman and just get him cracking up and uh, and then
just kind of pulls the best thing. He could pull a great story of
you know, wherever Jimmy Tucker walks in the building and he can go and
come and tell this, tell the best Jimmy your story is anyone's ever heard?
Like just that, Hey, I remember that, and pumps him up
where you feel real good, you know what I'm saying. He doesn't.
He doesn't look at the negative or anything because me and Jimmy Tucker probably had
a lot, but he was he could look at it and he could tell
stories and you come out of the room and you think, god, I
was great. Yeah, you know he was. He was. He's phenomenal.
Well, he was definitely holding court yesterday at a media Jane. We
got some we got some great stories out of him, and he's just you're
and you're right, he's the same guy. Now. We joked about how
much older all of us are. Yeah, uh, you know, and
it was kind of funny. We're standing there next to Brian Jeffries, who
looks the same as he did when you were playing and we were a little
bit upset at that, but it was you know, he's very funny about
it, and he was, you're right, he's the same guy. And
I think this probably you know, fits with what Jed is trying to do
because he talked to He talked about Jed being very much like Dick Tomy in
terms of what the messages are maybe being done and told in a different way,
but a lot of similarities to what he saw working working for Dick.
Yeah, yeah, I haven't I haven't been. I hear a lot of
great stuff and about Jed. I had a chance to meet him in the
spring and and uh faw him again in the summer. Walked around with coach
at Keena. I took my my little my fourteen year old to the camp
and it was a heck of it. It was awesome and he got a
chance to get coached by coach Akeena caught up to him and he and kind
of yelled at yelled at him a little bit, which I was just laughing
my butt off. It was perfect. Yeah, he's he is. I
think he is. I think that's the I think Jed doing the right thing.
He's getting a lot of that old, like a lot of the not
old, but the older guys that are lums that just love the they love
Arizona football, and that's that's a great that's a great start, right,
So you must really like how things are going or trendy. Yeah, yeah,
no, I just hear it from like Brandon Sanders. I've known Brandon
for a long time. He's a Helix guy, so we're kind of in
that family. But he is um. But but Brandon's doing a great job.
He's doing the alumnis bringing guys together that, you know, getting reaching
out to some guys that haven't been back and they're coming back and we're and
we're hanging out. I probably hang out. I probably hang out too much
now. But we ended up we ended up buying a house, like I
said, up by Lawa Paloma. So at some point I'm gonna be bugging
I'll be bugging Jet for tickets all the time. Yeah, that's good.
So Jeff thinking back, Um, you know, you know, Dick came
on at a time, You came on at a time when you know,
Larry Smith had just left, was a lot of uncertainty about how the program
you know, was going to be going forward. By the time you left,
you know, you guys have been you know, in a couple of
bowl games and stuff like that. It seems like the program started a much
lower spot, but it's kind of getting to that level again. People are
talking about, you know, the next few years and very very positive about
what's going on right now. Do you see any comparison in terms of what
that's like for the players and the coaching staff and expectations start to become to
get a little higher, Right Um, what was that like for you guys?
And and and what do you think they're going through about with that right
now? Well, you know, I think that's that's I don't know how
this portal, this portal thing makes it a little crazy. But the part
of when Dick Toomey came in and Larry Smith recruited us all. But then
here comes Dick Tomy and we're kind of all waiting and seeing and he's it
takes him a while because he starts telling us, you know, I've never
played football. Then we're going what and so that We're like, so you're
kind of you're kind of watching this and and he but it just bell he
built it over time with the six wins and I think I think the year
I was playing quarterback, I think we had like three ties. We were
four four and three. I mean we were and they had to have me
at a quarterback to as that was it. That was a little bit of
a handicap. And then you go. But then the next next year is
six wins, and then it was a low ot bowl. Uh. Then
we come back and it just start and then it has a little bit of
down, then it goes back up. But it had that steady you know.
You lose a coach like a Homer Smith, or you lose a somebody
Elerson or something, and that dips a little bit and then it goes right
back up. And because it's just a foundation that that you try to try,
you try to lay down, it's great. And I think that,
and I think Jed's doing that. I think he's trying to build this thing.
It's just sometimes in this portal thing right now, it's it's a little
nuts. It's guys are just jumping chip and you've developed them and all of
a sudden they take off. I mean, I don't know, it's a
little tricky. It's kind of a kind of a weird weird deal knowing.
I mean, you know, you hate to say it, but like would
would have Garrek Hill or Chuck Sesel or whoever if all of a sudden they
started being who they were in their junior year. Alabama comes around because they
will give you a million dollars if you want to. You want to go
play for us, it might you know, who knows. So some of
that stuff is killing is It's hard. It's hard to build. I met,
so we talked about this before you came on. So you guys weren't
a bunch of five stars, four stars to stow whatever it was. You
guys just played for the system, played for the coach. What's the secret
to that? For the coaches to get dudes like the people at Arizona to
play hard and maybe above their above their pay grade. You know, I
think that the recruiting part of it. You mean, you can't recruit a
bunch of guys. I think that are they are for themselves. I mean,
and so it's hard, but but yeah, I think the recruiting part
of it. I mean, when coach, when we were going we were
rolling, when we were rolling, and it was a desert swarm and it
was Teddy Bruski and Brandon Sanders and all these guys wal drop even I mean
guys that were that were just loyal and just hey, this guy put it
on, put it on the line for me. And Coach Toldy he is
crazy, like he is the first. And I think I said this last
time I was on, but it was my first memory of coach Coach Tony
is when I was I just got in my freshman year and I come up.
Me and Tom Quinn we came up and we're both roommates in the dorms
and we need it. We're moving to our house and we just we don't
have a truck. And we're sitting there, we were talking to some people
and we were asking if people and Coach Tolmy comes out and he does,
hey, you know, we just met him at at a team meeting.
And he comes out and he go, tell you what, you guys need
a truck here, I got a truck here, quinner here take it.
And he throws his keys to Tom and he's like, you guys bringing the
truck back when you need it, but agree when you're done with it.
And I'm like, this guy just met us and he's giving us a truck
that sounds like lation man. Yeah exactly. Now, so now we oh,
we can't get good story now guaranteed laughing at so. Lastly, because
we have a little time, what the hell's up with you guys from Helix
gets a bunch of hitters, hitters and they don't give a crap to just
hit people. Well, I think if they had the rules like they are
now, and I think all of us would never have been heard about because
we all we all hit with our helmet. And my dad always says,
he goes, he goes, you would have never made it in college anyway.
And you and c so we'd have both never been anything there you go.
I don't know, I just we always grew up. We had a
great It started with our Helix coaching staff. When I was a kid.
It was like my head coach was like my uncle. It was kind of
a coach tomy thing. He's liked my father to me and and just one
of those guys, one of those people and a group of coaches that had
a great influence and not a lot of change it around. It was the
same group of coaches when I was a little kid growing up all the way
to my senior year and it's and it's just a it's a good there's there's
a lot of those programs out here. But you know, as long as
that staff stays the same and they kind they you know, it's it's good.
It's good. Well, yeah, we had a we had a good
growing up. Thanks for joining us, Man, It's always fun with you.
Hey, I love it all right, Thanks seez, thank you,
Jay Man, you're around. Jeff Amershman. I didn't realize he was moving
to Tucson at some point. Well, yeah, good guy. Yeah that
was fun. He was so when when they put him at quarterback. I
just remember him going like, what are we doing? Yeah, well it
was like the bone because yeah, they're running. They was in the part
of that. Remember the first game he comes in and like on the second
play he goes like seventy five yards for a touchdown. Yeah, and you
know he runs the option and cuts. He was very fast. Yeah,
yeah, he was really fast. All right, let's take our next break.
We're gonna come back. We'll take your calls five two zero, four,
one six seventy fty. We really want to hear where you know,
where are fans you know on what's going on. And there's a lot going
on now and a lot of people saying that all of this is going to
clear within a week. So we'd love to hear what everybody's got to say
about all the realignment stuff, whether it's Arizona, Oregon, Washington, even
Florida, stay talking about it, so we'll be right back. If you're
an Arizona man's basketball fan, you know it's been successful for nearly forty years.
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online today at a team security dot Net. Steve Ravera and Jacan Solids they
have their I on the Ball on two Sons Sports station Sports fourteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to Why on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
I'm Steve Rivera here, Jakes. Honest, we got about thirteen minutes
if you guys want to give us a quick call five two old four one
six seventy four forty. We're just going to continue with some more interviews with
mister Quina. Yeah, Dwayne Niquina again, as I said, just we're
just having fun over there, Yeah, going telling stories and stuff. And
he talked, you know, one of the discussions was about how family was
so important to Dick and and that coaches here how much of the depreciation they
had for that. When they also talked heard about what are the coaching staffs
were doing as far as all that. Well, the coaches would come,
remember he talked about this too, were coaches from other schools would come and
visit to see how they how they were doing how they were doing things because
it was so unbelievable and he really coach, coach, let you go home.
Yeah, you know, here's that. Here's the clip. You know.
At the time, Dick was really into family because I had some cool
opportunity ninety four. I don't know if people knew this, but I could
have gone to Cleveland Brown Sounds with Belichick and Nick Saban was the coordinator,
and I really was thinking about doing that. But what turned me on it
is when they and I love Belichick, but I'm a family five And there
would be times that we'd have a staff meeting called in the afternoon, and
so I said, I'd call it a coach. I know, we got
a staff meeting, but Kynos got All Stars practice today and I'm throwing DP.
We'll have to go to the staff. It's a helmet. Just make
sure you're throwing breaking pitches too, you know. For those Dick was a
baseball guy, but family was always first. Like even when we were winning,
once a week, we didn't stay after we went home from dinner.
So what I did is I go home, have dinner with the kids,
put them to sleep, and then many times I'd I'd worked from ten to
two, ten to three, and I had a VHS set up. Dick
was just all about get your work done. So that year I think we
had like sixty staffs come visit that it was Who's Who. It was Florida
State, it was Nebraska with the with the black shirts, and it was
all who's who, and so off of all that because you felt bad,
you didn't want to share everything about what we're doing. The thirty one yards
a game that would never be touched again, and rushing defense that's phenomena,
and so so often what those guys would grab about this. So you guys
go home every night, Yeah, you know we have them. So I
can't remember who? Was it a model or one of the can you have?
Dick called Bobby Bowden and let him know what your staff schedules are,
because back in the day, people would just be in the offices all night
and long, and me and reached we would be what are you guys talking
about? You know? The funny that was the funny thing about it.
He talks about just how cozy it was. But we gotta call yeah,
we gotta call her on the air. What's your name? Robert Robert,
what do you got? Yeah, I'm just gonna say, don't you think
this indecision on whoever the UA president getting the Pack twelve thing is going to
start hurting our recruiting as far as bringing our football program up. Why don't
what takes so long to have them make a move to the to the Big
twelve conference? I mean, it's it's gonna happen. Why Why do they
drag their feet on this stuff because that the commissioner the Pack twelve doesn't tamn't
get anything done. I have no idea, but I don't think. I
think something's gonna happen pretty quick. So I don't think it's gonna have any
huge impact on recruiting. In fact, you'll probably have a positive impact once
it happens. I don't think, Yeah, I don't happen. Yeah,
But until then, I mean, how long is this going to drag out?
Robert? Robert, have you been married before? It's gonna be a
married thing to have them. But I mean, don't don't jump ahead of
me, Robert. Have you been married before? Have you been married?
You have no? Okay, lucky lucky you st But my point is,
if you've been married and you say we should I do hear? What should
I do? Either get a cut bait or not cut bait. They should
have cut bait a long time ago. Right, don't prolong, don't prolong
the marriage if it sucks. And here we are, and here we are.
I agree with you. I agree with you. Recruiting forget about that's
fine, that's fine. Yeah, that's gonna be. This is gonna Basketball
is gonna be good. Football is coming up, so yeah, yeah,
this is gonna settle in the next in the next week or so. I
really think, Rubbert, go have a beer on me. Why does it
always have to come to that, you're such a bitter man. No,
no, no, I just like it's a good analogy because you know,
if you're in a bad situation, what do you do. You gotta get
out. You gotta get out, baby, you gotta get out. And
it's hard, but you gotta get I did it one so you understand it's
hard, but you and you don't want to, but you you know,
in the end, you do the right, thank you very much. Or
breaking up with a girlfriend or yeah, right, exactly exactly, all right,
um, okay for those of you wondering because We've always talked about how
Desert Swarm got named, and yeah, you got put it in the news
released by Tom Dundalston, who was the sports information But even before that,
you know, how did how did the whole Desert Swarm things start? We
got to go to the call. Oh, let's take this call. I
are on the arm on the ball. Hey jay, this is done,
man, good, Hey, look, we need to pull the trigger and
get ourselves to an athletic conference, get back, get into the Big twelve
before we end up having to change the call letters to chant on Shanno eleven
back to kazaz and we go to ten PM rebroadcasts of the of the games
with Arizona wearing red jerseys with see through front. You can see the pads
underneath the numbers. Oh my god, those days, Oh my god,
what a reference. Absolutely the Tony Mason years. I still can't get the
name Sam Gian Jardella at my head, young Garnella. Absolutely, absolutely,
Hugh be Oliver, Larry Heater, Jim Crown, Ji, a whole bunch
of those guys. Hey man, let's not forget they went to a festivall
yea, sir, Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, that was eighty
seventy nine seventy Yeah, because that Larry Smith started right and I couldn't go
to that because my soon to be x wife wouldn't let me. I was
in I was in Colorado at my grandma's house. But we watched it.
We watched it on TV. We didn't have to watch it on tape late.
Well it got in o'clock at night. Well, it got blacked out
in Arizona. I was just gonna say we couldn't. I had listened to
it on the radio. He makes a great point because you remember recomment and
he posted about this. It was it's so long ago and you don't want
nothing. It would go back to that. But that's how it feels.
Is is Dan bellowonomy still he's around. He's still around. In fact,
did you see him? And who's the other guy? Dan? And the
other guy the guy who did the Rocky movies. I know, I can't
name what is his name? They did this game together like two three?
Yeah, it was. It wasn't good. It was it did not go
well. Hey, don appreciate No, Hey, we need to move.
I think we need to make a move. I think and I think they're
going to I think they're going they have no choice. I don't think,
and I think it has nothing to do with the territorial cup. If a
SU stays behind, right, and if and if a SU stays behind,
that's just the ongoing of the inaptitude of whoever they put in charge of that
athletic department. Right, That athletic department is an embarrassment. Yeah, well
keep listening because we're gonna have Doug holler On who writes for the Athletic out
of Phoenix, and he was at a press the press conference where they announced
the uh, I mean, right's face you stadium today and there was also
Ray Anders to talk about all the stuff that's going on. So we'll ask
Doug what he said because I haven't seen anything, but stick around for that.
Hey, don thanks, so hop a bunch to appreciate it. I
can't remember. It'll come to me. It'll come to you, I know,
I know, all right. So we're about to play the clip about
where, you know, in Dwayne Akeena's eyes, where desert Swarm originated.
And I don't know if I've ever heard this story, but here we go.
Desert Swarm came because the effort drill we named the Swarm Shrill and so
then all of a sudden, desert storm hits and then it just kind of
cut on, you know, when the players started something, we just swarmed
the bass, swarmed the ball, and then that thing took off. But
it's not it's not like it's not the call. You know, it's how
you play the call. There's no magic defense to this thing. It's how
you play the game. And we played hard. We kept it simple so
kids could play hard. He just had a lot of guys that I said,
weren't highly recruited, but they were very loyal that we took a chance
on it. And uh, we're just just kind of selling the place,
you know, sometimes your right place, right time. It was a it
was a great time. But that was probably one of the dick because of
the family situation. I was blessed no no it as he said that,
and I heard this is my second time hearing it. Um, it's like
when we get an argument about uniforms, Give me a dude who does having
uniform and he just it's how you play, it's not what you play.
It was well, when you look at the guys who were part of Desert
Swarm, right except for Teddy Briski. You know, they didn't become all
great and high j Tony Bowie, Randon Sanders, just dudes, just uh
um, Rob Waldrop all those guys, you know, just guys who played
with their hair on our Chuck Osborne, right, I mean Pat Hill.
I remember saying it Bob Dobs one time with a bunch of you A guys
and Pat Hill was there and the stories he was telling about Chuck Osborne and
just what a nut that guy was. I should say that the late Chuck
Osborne, but but he just a nut in a crazy guy who was a
really good way who I love to play football, and he was sort of
the epitome of what Desert Swarm was. And as Dwayne said in the earlier
flip, thirty one yards rushing per game. You know that that's an unbreakable
record. Now, yeah, so let me Barry Tompkins. Barry Tompkins,
Yeah, Berry Tompkins and Funny come to me with why hear him? Remember
they did a game up, They did a game of people were like during
the COVID Holy back to Night nine, it was awful. Back to the
raycom or the year prying ticket games, right, yeah, yeah, that's
funny. With all due respect, yea, with all due respect. All
right, Well, we can't playing more clips because we're out of time for
the break, but we appreciate the calls. Thank you for calling it.
Look, I think it's if it's not unanim it's got to be pretty dark
close there. I mean there there are fans who still wish that the Pack
twelve would hold together, but understand that there's no way that it's gonna hold.
It's too many. It's not the Pack ten anymore. It's yeah,
and if the Big ten is gonna come calling for Oregon and Washington, whether
or not it's also Stanford and cal it's done. I know, I know
you can. You're gonna lie to me. I know when I asked this
question, I know you like me because I already know who you are.
You don't like change, right, you don't like change. I don't like
it. I'm I'm I'm a purist and a traditional But yeah, but now
you see, you know, we were talking about this at lunch with my
Wednesday lunch group, you know, thinking about watching games on Apple TV streaming
right, you know, having to go find the game, not being able
to channel surf when you're watching the game or whatever, because I don't channel
surf during Arizona games. But another game, you know, another game.
Sure you can't do that, you know, when you're watching the streaming.
I thought of being on Apple TV versus being on ESPN on Fox, but
you're if you're with the Big Fox. There's not even that's not even conversation,
even though it's new and it might be the future, right, you
can't have that conversation. Yeah, it's not even a conversation. It's not
even a consideration. No way, no way, an Arizona say so,
now you're embracing the change, oh, of course, But again you keep
it forgetting that. I kept saying that if it's if the Big twelve was
the worst thing that happened, I was always fine with it. If the
Pac twelve is going to fall apart, an Arizona wind up in the Big
But I didn't want to be is Oregon in Washington State. Who could wind
up in the in the in the mountain West. That's what all right,
let's take our break or at the top of the hour, we're gonna come
back. We're gonna have some breaking news, so stick around.