1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:04,919 The Florida Football Insiders podcast is part of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:10,119 feed and is brought to you by Ticketsmarter dot Com, and Titan Home Lending. 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:20,719 Enjoy the podcast a look at college football news, analysis and insight from 4 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:25,519 around the Sunshine State. This is Florida Football Insiders, a part of the 5 00:00:25,559 --> 00:00:30,239 College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast network, and here's your host, Jason Powers. 6 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:41,359 All Right, fans, welcome in week eleven of the Florida Football Insiders 7 00:00:41,439 --> 00:00:46,960 podcast. We are part of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast Podcast network feed. 8 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:51,920 Appreciate you finding us hard to believe, but we are into the month 9 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:58,399 of November. It is getting to the nuts and bolts, nitty gritty clutch 10 00:00:58,479 --> 00:01:02,280 moments, whatever you want to call it. Time in the football schedule, 11 00:01:02,359 --> 00:01:07,239 and here in the state of Florida, we have a state showdown here in 12 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:11,879 Tallahassee on Saturday, as the Miami Hurricanes come to visit Florida State. Florida 13 00:01:11,879 --> 00:01:17,480 State remains undefeated nine to zero, the Canes coming in at six and three. 14 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:23,799 We're gonna talk about that game. We're gonna talk about Florida USF FAU 15 00:01:23,159 --> 00:01:29,040 A little Central Florida and hit them all this week as we get to the 16 00:01:29,079 --> 00:01:36,280 home stretch of the regular season and where the championship berths, bowl berths, 17 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,079 bowl eligibility, and all of sudch we'll be decided to hear in the next 18 00:01:40,079 --> 00:01:46,959 three weeks as the regular season will wrap up Thanksgiving weekend and we will roll 19 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:52,359 into conference Championship week where the Florida State Seminoles have already clinched their birth in 20 00:01:52,439 --> 00:01:57,760 the ACC title game. And we have a special guest this week for you, 21 00:01:59,519 --> 00:02:07,840 fantastic guest nineteen ninety three Heisman Trophy winner, National Champion, College Football 22 00:02:07,879 --> 00:02:15,360 Hall of Famer two thousand and six class a pure legend in the state of 23 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:20,240 Florida in college football, whether you're my age or right around the age of 24 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:23,280 fifty, which I had the pleasure of getting to play with this gentleman in 25 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:29,039 college, or if you're a little bit older than me, even if you're 26 00:02:29,039 --> 00:02:32,240 a little younger than me, won Charlie Ward, quarterback, Florida State, 27 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:38,120 nineteen ninety three National Champion, Heisman Trophy winner, first round draft pick of 28 00:02:38,159 --> 00:02:42,560 the New York Knicks, had a long, storied career in the NBA. 29 00:02:42,639 --> 00:02:49,400 Excuse me hard to believe Charlie Ward not drafted coming out of Florida State in 30 00:02:49,479 --> 00:02:54,400 nineteen ninety four with as much spread offense and shotgun as we see nowadays, 31 00:02:54,479 --> 00:03:00,520 back in nineteen ninety four, Charlie Ward, not even drafted coming out of 32 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:02,439 Florida State, ended up going to play with the first dround pick for the 33 00:03:02,439 --> 00:03:07,719 New York Knicks. You will really thoroughly enjoy our conversation with Charlie. We 34 00:03:07,759 --> 00:03:13,319 had a We had a wide range of topics from n I L to UH 35 00:03:13,479 --> 00:03:17,599 playing for coach Bowden, to playing for the Knicks, to the rivalry with 36 00:03:17,599 --> 00:03:22,960 Florida State, Miami, Florida State, Florida, the you know, just 37 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:25,000 all the things that went into Charlie's career. So I think you will thoroughly 38 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:30,479 enjoy my chat with Charlie Ward, Heisman Trophy winner here in just a few 39 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:35,840 minutes. So again, if you haven't already done so, hit that subscribe 40 00:03:35,879 --> 00:03:39,319 button on your podcast platform. Love to hear from you, Love to hear 41 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:46,039 some comments at on Twitter or x at jp O sports is my Twitter handle. 42 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:49,439 Love to hear from you, Uh, definitely if you can reach. 43 00:03:50,039 --> 00:03:55,800 If you see the podcast, forward it to your college football friends, retweet 44 00:03:55,879 --> 00:03:59,680 my tweet. If you if you, if you're part of the UH, 45 00:04:00,039 --> 00:04:03,560 if you're on if you're following me on Twitter, love to get the word 46 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:08,520 out again. Charlie was fantastic in our interview. We're gonna we're gonna hit 47 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,479 a bunch of different topics with Charlie here just a few minutes. All right, 48 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:15,199 let's do a little recap of last week in a little preview of this 49 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:18,600 coming up week in the state of Florida. Obviously, the headline matchup is 50 00:04:18,639 --> 00:04:24,720 Florida State Miami in Tallahassee on Saturday three thirty. Florida State goes to nine 51 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:28,600 to zero by beating Pittsburgh on the road twenty four to seven. Kind of 52 00:04:28,639 --> 00:04:31,959 a hoe hum efforts, professional effort, good job by them. Struggled a 53 00:04:31,959 --> 00:04:35,720 little bit early but then turned it on missing there. Johnny Wilson and Keon 54 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:41,160 Coleman did not play. Travis Jeordan Travis goes twenty two to thirty six three 55 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:45,879 sixty at a touchdown. Trey Benson twelve carries ninety seven yards in a touchdown, 56 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,839 and Jacai Douglas steps up at wide receiver six catches for one point fifteen. 57 00:04:50,439 --> 00:04:58,000 The defense was a major factor here as well, committing converting three turnovers 58 00:04:59,439 --> 00:05:03,240 and holding Pittsburgh to ove eleven on third down conversion. So nice job by 59 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:06,639 the Florida State defense to hang in there while the offense took a little time 60 00:05:06,639 --> 00:05:12,680 to get cooking. But the Seminoles continue to progress. Nine to zero. 61 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:16,439 I imagine here in the college football playoff rankings which will come out on Tuesday, 62 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:20,279 which come out Tuesday night, I would imagine Florida State will stay where 63 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:26,360 they're at at number four. I don't anticipate them dropping out nobody in the 64 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:30,399 top six loss, so I would imagine they will probably stay where they're at. 65 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:33,399 And again you got Florida State, North Alabama and then at Florida to 66 00:05:33,519 --> 00:05:39,199 finish up the regular season for the Seminoles. Again, Miami coming to town 67 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:44,480 this weekend, so again professional effort, good job there. And again, 68 00:05:44,639 --> 00:05:48,360 if you're Florida State, just keep on winning because the ACC continues to lose 69 00:05:48,399 --> 00:05:53,480 games. So you're probably gonna play Louisville or Georgia Tech in the title game. 70 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:56,920 That game's probably not gonna help you much, maybe Louisville a little bit. 71 00:05:56,920 --> 00:06:00,000 If Louisville keeps winning, that's who they really need. They need Louisville. 72 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:02,879 But again, to me, of Florida State just runs the table. 73 00:06:02,879 --> 00:06:06,439 They're going to be in the playoff. They cannot lose a game because if 74 00:06:06,439 --> 00:06:09,879 they lose a game, they're out. I think they're not gonna make it 75 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:13,720 if they lose a game. But Florida State's just got to keep on winning 76 00:06:13,759 --> 00:06:15,600 games. So hopefully we'll see I, Johnny Wilson, and Keon Coleman will 77 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:20,279 be back for the Miami game. Again, storied rivalry State of Florida. 78 00:06:20,319 --> 00:06:25,199 We're gonna talk to Charlie about the rivalry a little bit in our conversation as 79 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:29,519 well, but again this will not be a classic rivalry because Miami is not 80 00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:32,399 highly ranked. But again, always when you're dealing with the State of Florida, 81 00:06:32,439 --> 00:06:35,079 Florida State Miami, with all the kids that have played together in high 82 00:06:35,079 --> 00:06:39,480 school, grew up around each other in different parts of the state. You 83 00:06:39,519 --> 00:06:45,759 will see plenty of passion and plenty of competitiveness in Tallahassee on Saturday, and 84 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:48,480 Miami is still a dangerous team. Speaking of the Hurricanes, they fall to 85 00:06:48,519 --> 00:06:54,439 six and three. They lose at NC State twenty to six, a very 86 00:06:54,480 --> 00:07:00,839 disappointing effort out of Miami with Vandyke played very poorly, three interceptions, four 87 00:07:00,879 --> 00:07:03,600 turnovers for the Hurricanes on the game. Bright spot was Mark Fletcher twenty three 88 00:07:03,639 --> 00:07:09,600 carries one hundred and fifteen yards, but just a disastrous You can't you can't 89 00:07:09,639 --> 00:07:13,160 score six points at North Carolina State. I'm sorry, I don't know what's 90 00:07:13,199 --> 00:07:15,680 going on with Vandyke. If he's just maybe we've overrated him a little bit, 91 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:20,560 has not played well since coming back from his injury. But three more 92 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:27,319 interceptions. The Miami offense just cannot get cannot get anything consistently going on offense. 93 00:07:28,199 --> 00:07:31,000 They've really struggled labored on offense the last couple of years. Again, 94 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:35,800 is that a Van Dijke issue? Is that an offensive coordinator system issue? 95 00:07:35,879 --> 00:07:40,519 We don't know. But Miami falls to six and three, a bad loss 96 00:07:40,519 --> 00:07:47,040 for Mario Christobal as well. So not a good performance in Raleigh against a 97 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:51,759 down NC State team. So Miami will head to Florida State at six and 98 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:55,680 three. They're two and three in the league. They will not be in 99 00:07:55,720 --> 00:08:01,199 the title game unless there is an absolute abject collapse by the teams above them. 100 00:08:01,639 --> 00:08:05,959 But again, it very you know, just a down year for Mario 101 00:08:05,079 --> 00:08:09,600 and all kind of turned on the Georgia Tech game. Remember when he botched 102 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:15,160 the clock there at the end of the game. Speaking of Batch batching the 103 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:22,639 clock, just continuous more clock failures, More in game coaching decision failures. 104 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:26,519 Kansas State, what do you do with going for going for the win? 105 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:30,399 You're down three and overtime to Texas. It's fourth and goal from the four, 106 00:08:30,959 --> 00:08:33,240 kick the field goal and go to the next overtime. If it was 107 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:37,120 fourth and goal from the one, I could live with it, maybe the 108 00:08:37,159 --> 00:08:39,840 two. But when you got to gain four yards, you're on the road 109 00:08:39,919 --> 00:08:43,600 and you've made a huge comeback in Austin. To get the game tied, 110 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:48,919 you have to kick the field goal and go to another overtime there. If 111 00:08:48,919 --> 00:08:52,320 you're Kansas that you get the ball in the second overtime to put the pressure 112 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:56,360 back on Texas if you score a touchdown. Lousy, lousy decision by Chris 113 00:08:56,399 --> 00:09:01,759 Kleiman and the Kansas State staff there to go for the win fourth and four. 114 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:03,559 You were the better team the last two to two and a half quarters 115 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:09,000 of that game. Extend the game. Don't don't be stupid and don't make 116 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:16,360 stupid that was just a very poor judgment call to go go for the win 117 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:18,600 there you're pretty much from four yards out. You can't run the ball, 118 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:22,240 you have to throw the ball. I just I don't like that decision in 119 00:09:22,279 --> 00:09:26,320 a game that if Kansas State wins that game, they got a great chance 120 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:28,480 to go to the back to the Big twelve title game. So bad job 121 00:09:28,519 --> 00:09:33,639 by Chris Climbing. Kansas State loses by three points in Austin, Texas. 122 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:39,759 All right, next game, let's hit the Florida game again. Another another 123 00:09:39,919 --> 00:09:43,320 bad loss, not a good loss for Billy Napier. They lose to Arkansas 124 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:48,360 in the Swamp thirty nine thirty six in overtime, first time Arkansas's ever won 125 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:54,360 in the Swamp since they've joined the SEC. Eugene Wilson eight catches for ninety 126 00:09:54,399 --> 00:09:58,559 yards and two touchdowns. He's the Tampa product. The wide receiver Graham Merch 127 00:09:58,639 --> 00:10:01,919 through for two to eighty two and three touchdowns. He did okay. The 128 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:05,519 defense gives up four hundred and eighty one yards to Arkansas. Remember, Arkansas 129 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:07,960 fired their offensive coordinator a couple of weeks ago, so it was the first 130 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:13,919 game post by that they had a new offensive coordinator. Special teams was not 131 00:10:13,039 --> 00:10:18,480 great in this game for Florida as well, a botched extra point which obviously 132 00:10:18,759 --> 00:10:22,679 turned out to be a huge play in the game, which would have prevented 133 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:24,840 overtime. And then Tray Smackmans is like, I think a forty three yard 134 00:10:24,919 --> 00:10:30,799 field goal Layton regulation that could have won the game. Smack's done a great 135 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:35,559 job kicking for them, but missed from forty four yards late, and then 136 00:10:35,639 --> 00:10:41,399 Florida loses in overtime giving up a touchdown again. kJ Jefferson played really well, 137 00:10:41,519 --> 00:10:46,039 Rocket Sanders was really good over one hundred yards rushing. Just not a 138 00:10:46,080 --> 00:10:48,480 good loss there for the Gators. You can't give up thirty nine points to 139 00:10:48,559 --> 00:10:52,480 Arkansas, I'm sorry, Florida drops to five and four. They now have 140 00:10:52,519 --> 00:10:56,440 to go to LSU, who's coming off their loss to Alabama. There's a 141 00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:01,000 there's a real chance Florida doesn't win another game this year at LSU home to 142 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:07,759 Missouri at I'm sorry, at Missouri Florida State at home. A very real 143 00:11:07,879 --> 00:11:11,799 chance that Florida ends up five and seven, not Bowl eligible, and that 144 00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:16,639 would be a major problem potentially for Billy Napier. It'd be very and you 145 00:11:16,679 --> 00:11:20,159 can see what happens these next three weeks in Gainesville. We've not heard much 146 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:26,120 out of the administration. Obviously Napier is doing a from all indications, doing 147 00:11:26,159 --> 00:11:28,200 a good job on the recruiting trail. But you can't go five and seven. 148 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:33,480 You can't lose to Arkansas. You got blown out by Georgia. They 149 00:11:33,519 --> 00:11:35,480 better not get blown out at LSU, and better not get blown out. 150 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:39,159 They better be competitive these next three weeks because if they're not, if they're 151 00:11:39,279 --> 00:11:43,080 uncompetitive the next three weeks, it would not shock me if you saw a 152 00:11:43,159 --> 00:11:48,440 change with Billy Napier. I don't like to say that. Don't not rooting 153 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:52,039 for that. But again, you cannot continue to you know, with that 154 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:56,799 fan base. They've got plenty of resources in Gainesville. They could they could 155 00:11:56,840 --> 00:11:58,679 afford to make a change if they want to do that. There'll be some 156 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:03,240 coach guys out there that will be of interest to people, but be very 157 00:12:03,279 --> 00:12:07,159 interesting next three weeks in Gainesville for Billy Napier in that coaching staff, in 158 00:12:07,200 --> 00:12:11,399 that program. So Gators fall to five and four, they go again, 159 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:15,159 they go to LSU Saturday night in Death Valley. That will be a very 160 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:20,200 challenging effort as well. With Jalen, Jayden Daniels and companies. So there's 161 00:12:20,600 --> 00:12:26,360 the Gators side of things. For USF, they fall to Memphis fifty nine 162 00:12:26,399 --> 00:12:31,000 to fifty in a shootout up in Memphis. My boy TJ. Reeves is 163 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:37,360 happy about that is Memphis Tigers get it done in a scorathon. USF falls 164 00:12:37,360 --> 00:12:41,440 to four and five. They host Temple this week. Byron Brown was the 165 00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:46,360 star for USF thirty one to thirty nine for three fifty seven and five touchdowns 166 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:50,879 in through the air, and then he ran twenty three more times, which 167 00:12:50,919 --> 00:12:54,399 I don't understand why he's running twenty three times, but twenty three carries for 168 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:58,279 one hundred yards for Byron Brown, four hundred and fifty seven yards of total 169 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:01,399 offense for Byron Shawn Atkins, eight catches for eighty nine and a touchdown. 170 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:07,000 Obviously, defensively was where the disaster was here for USF. Gave up four 171 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:11,159 hundred and forty one yards passing in five hundred and eighty yards total offense to 172 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:15,519 the Tigers. Memphis is a good team, but you can't give up five 173 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:20,600 hundred and eighty yards of total offense. Again. I understand they're under manned. 174 00:13:20,919 --> 00:13:26,919 Its year one again, be interesting to see kind of again, all 175 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:33,960 the defense, the defensive deficiencies. Recruiting will obviously still need to be focused 176 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:37,600 on the defensive sides. Much easier to recruit offense and find offensive production. 177 00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:43,480 It's much more difficult to find defensive production, especially in the trenches, the 178 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:48,679 defensive lines, the secondary. But just a not a good effort by the 179 00:13:48,799 --> 00:13:52,440 USF defense. They've been kind of going that direction the last couple of weeks. 180 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:56,559 They the USF still has an opportunity to get Bowl eligible. You're gonna 181 00:13:56,559 --> 00:14:01,440 host Temple and then the last game, the sixth potential game they play. 182 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:05,000 I'd have to I don't have it right in front of me, but they 183 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:07,039 have a very Charlotte I think they play Charlotte at the end of the year. 184 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:09,639 So if you could beat Temple, who had a nice win over the 185 00:14:09,679 --> 00:14:13,840 weekend, you have a really good chance to get Bowl eligible against Charlotte, 186 00:14:15,039 --> 00:14:18,559 and that'd be that'd be a major accomplishment for this program year one under Alex 187 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:22,960 Scholish. But again, too many, too many yards, too many points 188 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:28,519 on defense, and that will obviously be a focus of the staff here as 189 00:14:28,519 --> 00:14:31,440 we get into recruiting, and potentially I don't know if there will be any 190 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:37,399 coaching changes schematic changes in the next year. But offensively, you got a 191 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:43,000 quarterback Byron Brown. The question for USF can you keep Byron Brown? Will 192 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:50,159 a team come from another league, a Power five league, ni L money 193 00:14:50,080 --> 00:14:56,360 an offer? Can you keep Byron Brown? That is the number one question 194 00:14:56,480 --> 00:15:00,000 Alex Golish has to answer the next three weeks to a month. Can you 195 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:03,200 keep him? And that's going to require some dollars. So again, uh, 196 00:15:03,519 --> 00:15:07,480 that's the world we live, the landscape that we live in now with 197 00:15:07,559 --> 00:15:13,600 the transfer portal, with opportunity, can you financially re recruit your guys to 198 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:16,039 stay? That is as much a part of the recruiting process as getting new 199 00:15:16,039 --> 00:15:20,519 players is keeping your elite players from leaving. And Byron Brown is showing to 200 00:15:20,559 --> 00:15:24,320 be that he is an upper level Power five player that he can play at 201 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:28,399 a lot of different places. Can USF keep Byron Brown? And that's going 202 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:33,360 to require some dollars from the USF collective. So we'll be interesting to see 203 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:37,080 how that unfolds here in the in the next next four to six weeks to 204 00:15:37,159 --> 00:15:39,559 you know, between now and the end of the year, we very can 205 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:46,200 see how that works. UCF. They get a nice win on the road 206 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:52,120 at Cincinnati twenty eight, twenty six. USFUS desperately needed to win their first 207 00:15:52,159 --> 00:15:56,320 ever big twelve win. Our j Harvey twenty carries one to sixty five and 208 00:15:56,360 --> 00:16:00,840 three touchdowns. The defense causes creates two turnovers. Now again a nice job, 209 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:04,320 nice bounce back by Gus Malzon. They get to four and five. 210 00:16:04,399 --> 00:16:08,480 They still have an opportunity to get Bowl eligible. They will now host Oklahoma 211 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:12,799 State, who came off their huge winner in Bedlam against Oklahoma. They will 212 00:16:12,799 --> 00:16:18,720 host oak State in Orlando on Saturday, So be interesting to see how that 213 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:22,200 that game unfold. But again a big win for Gus Malzon. You had 214 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:26,159 to get that win at Cincinnati, who's down this year. Again plumb Lee 215 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:30,679 Harvey good, good running attack. Be interesting game against Oklahoma State, who 216 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:36,919 bring in the nations leading rusher Oli Gordon. So we'll see how the game 217 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:41,080 unfolded. Again, uss UCF's been in a lot of these games. Remember 218 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:44,320 they blew the game against Baylor, they were in the game against Oklahoma. 219 00:16:44,879 --> 00:16:48,080 They you know they've they've blown some games late. But again, nice win 220 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:55,039 on the road at Cincinnati twenty eight, twenty six, all right FIU bye 221 00:16:55,120 --> 00:16:56,840 week this week, they were coming off of by four and five. They 222 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:00,840 head to Middle Tennessee. That will be a matchup for them. We will 223 00:17:00,840 --> 00:17:04,079 see how FIU to see if they can potentially get to five and five and 224 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:10,519 it remain Bowl eligible. Possibly, but again another conference game from Mike McIntyre 225 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:15,759 and the Panthers coming off the by head to Middle Tennessee on Saturday, and 226 00:17:15,799 --> 00:17:19,200 we finally wrap it up with FAU. They go up to UAB, my 227 00:17:19,319 --> 00:17:30,960 alma mater, and lose a shootout forty five forty two. They have a 228 00:17:30,039 --> 00:17:36,000 nice effort rush for two hundred and thirty two yards. Lejohonte Western, the 229 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:41,480 all conference and potentially All American wide receiver eleven catches two nineteen and three touchdowns. 230 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:47,240 The defense Lousey gives up four hundred and ninety nine yards passing the Owls 231 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:49,920 drop to four and five. They are home to East Carolina next week. 232 00:17:49,960 --> 00:17:55,079 That's definitely a winnable game, but a disappointing game there for Tom Herman in 233 00:17:55,119 --> 00:18:02,640 a game against Trent Dolpher and a shootout up in Birmingham at Progressive again and 234 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:04,480 again still have an opportunity to get Bowl eligible, which would be a nice 235 00:18:04,599 --> 00:18:08,240 job, would be a nice job by Tom Herman in year one. But 236 00:18:08,279 --> 00:18:11,799 the Panthers falled. Sorry, the Owls fall to four and five, lose 237 00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:15,559 to UA B forty five, forty two. Hopefully they got a little barbecue 238 00:18:15,559 --> 00:18:22,240 on the way up there in Birmingham to my UAB Blazers get it done against 239 00:18:22,319 --> 00:18:26,519 the Owls. So there's your state recap, your previews of this coming up 240 00:18:26,559 --> 00:18:32,079 week again, Charlie Ward coming up here in just a minute, nineteen ninety 241 00:18:32,079 --> 00:18:34,359 three Heisman Trophy winner. Can you believe it's been thirty years since Charlie Ward 242 00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:37,359 won the Heisman? Jeez, I am getting old. But again, it 243 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:42,319 was fortunate enough to get to play with Charlie at Florida State for a year, 244 00:18:42,599 --> 00:18:47,839 and again he's an awesome guy doing a lot of great stuff. He's 245 00:18:47,839 --> 00:18:52,319 coaching now, So we talk a little bit about his coaching background and some 246 00:18:52,359 --> 00:18:55,960 of the influence. We talk about coach Bowden, We talk about the Knicks, 247 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:59,559 We talked about Florida State, Florida State, Miami, all that, 248 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:03,200 all the all the highlights of Charlie's career is decision about not playing in the 249 00:19:03,319 --> 00:19:08,240 NFL back after he went undrafted. He had an opportunity, he chose not 250 00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:12,079 to. So you will enjoy our chat with Charlie Ward again, appreciate you 251 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:15,759 finding us. If you're looking for a ticket to the Florida State Miami game, 252 00:19:17,240 --> 00:19:21,759 go to ticketsmarter dot com or the ticket Smarter app. That's the best 253 00:19:21,799 --> 00:19:25,799 place to go to find your secondary to find your tickets on the secondary market 254 00:19:26,079 --> 00:19:30,319 again, whether it's college football, Florida State Miami, the NFL Bucks lose 255 00:19:30,319 --> 00:19:33,240 a heartbreaker, the Bucks host to Tennessee Titans. Whether it's an NBA game 256 00:19:33,279 --> 00:19:37,559 in Orlando, hockey, whether you're college football all over the country, got 257 00:19:37,559 --> 00:19:41,759 Michigan Penn State this week, you got Oregon USC. No matter what part 258 00:19:41,759 --> 00:19:47,319 of the country you are and you're looking for tickets, ticketsmarter dot com. 259 00:19:47,759 --> 00:19:51,880 Use the code powers ten and you can save ten bucks on a purchase of 260 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:56,359 one hundred dollars or more. Or powers twenty and you can save twenty bucks 261 00:19:56,400 --> 00:20:00,000 on a purchase of three hundred dollars or more. So ticketsmarter dot com. 262 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,279 How is your place to go? Utilize the ticket Smarter app, the mobile 263 00:20:03,319 --> 00:20:07,000 app. It's a great place to easily scan and search for tickets. Again, 264 00:20:07,319 --> 00:20:11,200 you can use my codes, Powers ten or Powers twenty as many times 265 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:17,200 as you want through the end of the year. NFL College obviously the World 266 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:22,759 Series though, which got college basketball starting anything in every event. Ticketsmarter dot 267 00:20:22,799 --> 00:20:26,599 com is the place to go for your secondary tickets. So and appreciate your 268 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:33,920 fondness. Florida Football Insiders Podcast thanks to Steve Carney for all his hard work. 269 00:20:33,319 --> 00:20:41,240 TJ Reeves and enjoy my conversation with Charlie Ward nineteen ninety three Heisman Trophy 270 00:20:41,599 --> 00:20:45,400 National champion Florida State University. Now we're from Titan Home Lending. Are you 271 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:48,119 in the market for a new home. Are you looking to get into a 272 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:53,759 single family residence, condo, townhouse, duplex, whatever it is. If 273 00:20:53,799 --> 00:20:57,000 you need financing help to get pre approved, which you need to do, 274 00:20:57,559 --> 00:21:03,039 reach out to Titan Home land Ending in Jason Powers. We'll get you approved 275 00:21:03,279 --> 00:21:06,559 in less than twenty four hours. We'll get you qualified, figure out what 276 00:21:06,599 --> 00:21:08,720 you can afford, and we will get you in a position to be able 277 00:21:08,759 --> 00:21:12,519 to make that offer. So reach out to me, Jason Powers, Titan 278 00:21:12,559 --> 00:21:17,680 Home Lending. We can help you with an FH loan, a VA loan. 279 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:21,960 If you're a veteran a conventional loan, a bank statement loan. We 280 00:21:22,000 --> 00:21:26,279 can help you with a investment, property, a second home, whatever their 281 00:21:26,319 --> 00:21:30,160 financing needs are. Reach out to me Titan Home Lending in Jason Powers two 282 00:21:30,279 --> 00:21:38,680 zero five seven nine zero one four zero four. All right, Welcome into 283 00:21:38,759 --> 00:21:45,920 a special simulcast edition of the Powers On Sports and Florida Football Insiders podcast. 284 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:52,400 We are so honored to bring you the nineteen ninety three Heisman Trophy winner, 285 00:21:52,559 --> 00:21:57,559 National Champion, two thousand and six College Football Hall of Famer, and a 286 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:02,880 guy that everybody knows the world can and hard to believe. It is his 287 00:22:03,039 --> 00:22:07,720 thirtieth anniversary of winning the Heisman Trophy this year, mister Charlie war We really 288 00:22:07,759 --> 00:22:12,079 appreciate you joining us. Charlie, I appreciate you having me Jason on the 289 00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:18,200 Power's Own Sports, appreciate you being here. We really, we really are 290 00:22:18,279 --> 00:22:22,240 thrilled to have you. And Charlie was a teammate of mine back in the 291 00:22:22,319 --> 00:22:25,920 day. I was I was a nobody on the Florida State team back then. 292 00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:32,279 But Charlie was such an awesome teammate and just a great, great guy 293 00:22:32,319 --> 00:22:33,799 to be around, and all that good stuff. I want I want to 294 00:22:33,839 --> 00:22:37,680 ask you First, can you believe it's been thirty years since You're gonna be 295 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:41,759 the thirtieth anniversary if you win in the Heisman Trophy. Can you believe it's 296 00:22:41,799 --> 00:22:47,519 been that long of time that's gone by? No, I mean not really. 297 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:52,680 I mean once I start adding up those years, though, it comes 298 00:22:52,720 --> 00:22:56,480 pretty quickly thirty so, but I'm grateful that I get an opportunity to be 299 00:22:56,519 --> 00:23:03,759 here to see it and part of it. Thirty years, I've been able 300 00:23:03,839 --> 00:23:11,599 to look back over the career and see all the many opportunities and blessings were 301 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:18,480 afforded through the people that I came in contact with, and also the experiences 302 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:25,039 that I had over those years have been very memorable. Yeah, I would 303 00:23:25,079 --> 00:23:30,319 imagine this year there will probably be some and you can explain. I would 304 00:23:30,359 --> 00:23:33,440 imagine the Heisman Trophy Committee here with you in about a month will be presenting 305 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:37,079 their Heisman Trophy, will probably be honoring you to some level and reminiscing of 306 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:41,759 the thirty years. What is one of the tell the audience forget about the 307 00:23:41,799 --> 00:23:45,559 monetary stuff or whatever that might may or may not be. What's the coolest 308 00:23:45,599 --> 00:23:51,440 perk from being a Heisman Trophy winner? What's a perk that maybe the average 309 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:55,119 fan would have no idea. That's just a really cool perk of being a 310 00:23:55,119 --> 00:24:00,920 Heisman Trophy winner. Well, I mean, you get an opportunity to be 311 00:24:00,039 --> 00:24:07,640 around all the Hosman winners, especially Dour on the Hosman Weekend. And you 312 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:11,960 know it's you know, you're international, your name is international in a lot 313 00:24:12,000 --> 00:24:17,960 of ways. A lot of people know what the Heisman Trophy is. Uh, 314 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:22,599 And you know that's you know, you're generational because you know, you 315 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:30,200 go into elementary school. Kids may not know who you are from you know 316 00:24:30,279 --> 00:24:34,200 their perspective, they know the guys is here today. But when you mentioned 317 00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:40,200 that your Heisman Trophy winner, you know they immediately you know, go to 318 00:24:41,359 --> 00:24:45,160 knowing who what the Heisman Trophy is. Right, So it's uh, you 319 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:52,720 know, it's a it's a good deal to be able to have uh been 320 00:24:52,759 --> 00:24:56,799 a part of the Hosman family. It gives you opportunities to be able to 321 00:24:56,839 --> 00:25:00,559 help others for sure. Very cool. All right, I want to get 322 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:03,079 I want to get a thought or two on Coach Bowd. Obviously he's passed 323 00:25:03,119 --> 00:25:06,319 in the last couple of years. Just give me a thought or two on 324 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:10,480 Coach Bowden and obviously. You know, we know what kind of great football 325 00:25:10,519 --> 00:25:14,759 coach he was and the great things he did for the university. Talk about 326 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:18,480 what he did for you, some of the opportunities, maybe the belief he 327 00:25:18,519 --> 00:25:21,160 had in you. I mean, people don't some people may not know your 328 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:23,920 story. You didn't really get to play until your junior year. Very different 329 00:25:23,960 --> 00:25:27,640 than today's world of college football. You kind of had to sit behind the 330 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:33,799 pipeline of quarterbacks that came through FSU. Uh back in those days. Talk 331 00:25:33,839 --> 00:25:37,000 about what the thought what coach Bowden meant to you, just more maybe more 332 00:25:37,039 --> 00:25:41,119 off the field than it was on the field. Well, just the way 333 00:25:41,119 --> 00:25:45,559 he lived his life. I mean he was a you know, faith's family 334 00:25:45,559 --> 00:25:52,920 in football was his three main goals, right and uh, he lived him 335 00:25:53,319 --> 00:25:57,519 you know, that was more of an example than anything else. You know, 336 00:25:57,559 --> 00:26:02,440 he lived whatever he spoke. And of course he's not perfect like none 337 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:06,920 of us, but he was just a genuine guy. He cared for his 338 00:26:07,039 --> 00:26:11,400 players, and you know, I was grateful that I had opportunity to play 339 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:15,359 for him for five years, and of course after that you have a lifelong 340 00:26:17,359 --> 00:26:22,839 bond with him, and he was very instrumental in helping me, you know, 341 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:25,839 navigate my way once I got into the head court. I'm a head 342 00:26:25,839 --> 00:26:33,440 coaching ranks of high school football, and so that was very encouraging and uplifting 343 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:37,519 to be able to reach out to him and him giving me some words of 344 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:45,039 encouragement or wisdom on you know, being a leader at that in that that 345 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:51,000 area. And you know, like I said, it wasn't just me, 346 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:52,799 It was a lot. I mean, all the guys that he coached. 347 00:26:52,839 --> 00:26:56,799 Sure, sure, he has a genuine heart for you know, the kids 348 00:26:56,839 --> 00:27:02,359 that he coached, and you know it was stem from his love for Jesus 349 00:27:02,440 --> 00:27:07,720 Christ. Talk about how and also you had the great thrill to play for 350 00:27:07,759 --> 00:27:10,960 your dad in high school too. Obviously don't know Charlie went to school at 351 00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:14,799 Thomas Central High School in Thomasville, Georgia, which is thirty thirtieth minutes or 352 00:27:14,839 --> 00:27:18,880 so and away from Tallahassee, so very close to where he grew up. 353 00:27:19,079 --> 00:27:23,200 Talk about playing for your dad in high school and just that how and then 354 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:27,000 that transition obviously going to play for coach Bounden. Just the fun part of 355 00:27:27,039 --> 00:27:33,319 playing for your dad in high school. Well, getting an opportunity to play 356 00:27:33,319 --> 00:27:37,759 for him, of course, I mean I watched him as a young kid 357 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:41,880 growing up, I went to practices, went to games, so I was 358 00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:48,799 in the environment that he was in and just his genuine love for his student 359 00:27:48,839 --> 00:27:53,799 athletes as well taking them home, you know, being a father figure for 360 00:27:53,839 --> 00:27:59,039 those that weren't fathers and also those that had fathers. You know, he 361 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:03,039 was a village dad, and so it was just encouraging to be able to 362 00:28:03,079 --> 00:28:06,440 see it, you know, from that perspective. But also you know, 363 00:28:06,559 --> 00:28:11,519 see the work ethic, the discipline that he had at home, you know, 364 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:18,039 coming home and you know, grading papers right he had After practice, 365 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:23,799 we spent our time mainly watching sports. That was our way of bonding. 366 00:28:25,799 --> 00:28:30,119 So he was just a great inspiration. And then getting a chance to play 367 00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:32,400 for him. You know, he taught me a lot about, you know, 368 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:34,759 being mentally tough. You know, he put me in environments that I 369 00:28:34,799 --> 00:28:41,079 had to you know, learn from at an early age. Of course, 370 00:28:41,119 --> 00:28:45,920 sometimes we don't like being in those environments. We like being comfortable, but 371 00:28:45,039 --> 00:28:52,519 he put me in situations that I was uncomfortable and so I had to learn 372 00:28:52,119 --> 00:28:56,880 how to take criticism and be able to you know, come back from it. 373 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:03,240 But that was just a great encouragement to me moving forward. Because it 374 00:29:03,359 --> 00:29:07,359 carried over, you know, to you know, all of my days, 375 00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:14,720 especially at Florida State, getting not getting a chance to play quarterback at least 376 00:29:15,079 --> 00:29:18,200 for three years. But you know, he gave an opportunity, to give 377 00:29:18,279 --> 00:29:22,400 an opportunity to learn how to play play in multiple sports. He was my 378 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:29,880 basketball coach and football. He wasn't a particular coach, but specific coach, 379 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:37,160 a position coach, I should say, but so, but he was always 380 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:42,960 there. How beneficial was it when you being that you lived close enough to 381 00:29:44,039 --> 00:29:47,799 home, especially maybe during your first couple of years at Florida State and even 382 00:29:47,880 --> 00:29:51,400 during your junior year, which again people don't remember a lot of people don't 383 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:56,039 remember your first year starting You had some struggles early in the year there before 384 00:29:56,160 --> 00:30:00,599 before you really started getting cooking u during that Georgia Tech game, And so 385 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:03,240 how how how nice was it to know that if you needed to drive home 386 00:30:03,279 --> 00:30:07,839 on a Tuesday night and have dinner with the family or go see somebody from 387 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:11,240 high school that could help you out when you don't during those times of struggle, 388 00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:14,640 that you were close enough to be able to do that, where a 389 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:18,240 lot of kids maybe couldn't do that because of the trivel restrictions. Well, 390 00:30:18,279 --> 00:30:22,160 that was one of the reasons I wanted to stay closer to home, was 391 00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:27,279 because it gave offer that type of support. And there's a school that was 392 00:30:27,559 --> 00:30:33,240 thriving and a very good school that afford to maate that opportunity. So that 393 00:30:33,359 --> 00:30:37,319 was one of the factors of me going to Florida State, was to be 394 00:30:37,599 --> 00:30:41,359 able to uh still a living closer to home. And you know, if 395 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:48,720 I needed to run up to Thomasville to see mom and dad or someone or 396 00:30:48,839 --> 00:30:53,119 vice versa, you know, they can come down and I watched it or 397 00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:57,839 pop in here and there. You know, that was part of the plan. 398 00:30:59,559 --> 00:31:03,440 So I was grateful that I had that opportunity. All right, let's 399 00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:08,119 get to let's get to kind of your your junction in the world that we 400 00:31:08,279 --> 00:31:11,640 that we live in now of n I l and decisions and all that good. 401 00:31:11,839 --> 00:31:15,519 By the way, how much would Charlie how much would Charlie Ward have 402 00:31:15,519 --> 00:31:18,920 been worth today in nineteen in twenty and twenty three, if nil would have 403 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:23,480 been around, Charlie Ward would have been worth a lot of coin at Florida 404 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:29,480 State University of his senior year, that's for sure. Huh uh, yes, 405 00:31:29,559 --> 00:31:32,119 I mean we'd been able to, you know, take care of a 406 00:31:32,119 --> 00:31:40,160 lot of people. Parents probably wouldn't have had to use their credit card to 407 00:31:40,759 --> 00:31:48,000 travel to the games, but you know, it all worked out for us, 408 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:52,880 but definitely would have enjoyed NIL. Are you a fan of kind of 409 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:56,559 the whole NIL system of kind of how everything's evolved, or do you think 410 00:31:56,599 --> 00:32:00,799 there are to be some limitations on what you know, a little bit of 411 00:32:00,839 --> 00:32:04,880 more. I would say limitations, but a little more regulation of kind of 412 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:08,359 what's being allowed and maybe what is it being allowed. Well, I'm not 413 00:32:08,359 --> 00:32:13,640 sure about the regulations as far as you know, I think there should have 414 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:19,480 been some guidelines early on, especially when it came to recruiting, right you 415 00:32:19,519 --> 00:32:22,319 know, of course everyone has to talk about NIL and now everyone has a 416 00:32:22,319 --> 00:32:28,519 collective at their school. But I think it was you know, very beneficial 417 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:34,039 because those that are making you know, a big big chunk of the change 418 00:32:34,599 --> 00:32:42,960 are normally you're more visible H players, whether it's on social media or you 419 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:46,680 know, on the field. But I think it just opened up the opportunity 420 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:51,960 for others, for all student athletes to be able to use their name, 421 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:55,200 image and likeness H in other spaces. You know, when it comes to 422 00:32:55,240 --> 00:33:02,000 paid interns, internships, uh, and types of things are very very important 423 00:33:02,599 --> 00:33:07,880 or paid advertisements whatever that may be, how very small it may be, 424 00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:13,359 but it's an opportunity for them to earn something outside of what they were getting, 425 00:33:13,960 --> 00:33:17,200 you know, with the university. So I just think it was, 426 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:22,920 you know, something that needed to be done. I mean, taking it 427 00:33:22,960 --> 00:33:24,960 to the next level of making them an employee and all of that. I'm 428 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:30,799 not sure about that part, right, but I think the NIL space is 429 00:33:30,839 --> 00:33:35,640 a good space for the student athletes to be able to, you know, 430 00:33:35,759 --> 00:33:40,319 have that buffer where you know, it's not like having a you know, 431 00:33:40,359 --> 00:33:45,640 on your being on your own, you do have that buffer of college and 432 00:33:45,799 --> 00:33:52,160 the support that you need doing that time to be able to help you navigate 433 00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:57,079 your way and learn, you know, while you're still growing immature as an 434 00:33:57,119 --> 00:34:00,279 adult young adult as we call it. I could have seen Charlie Ward on 435 00:34:00,359 --> 00:34:05,359 the on the Bills bookstore signing and gut Thrie's Chicken back in the day doing 436 00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:12,920 some NIL stuff for sure, with some of that was happening anyway, Yeah, 437 00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:16,239 I just didn't have the rights to be able to capitalize on it, 438 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:20,679 correct, right, I totally understand. All right, let's take you the 439 00:34:20,760 --> 00:34:23,840 draft day nineteen ninety four in the NFL draft. Obviously, you know, 440 00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:30,920 Heisman Trophy winner, and there was obviously the thoughts of the mobile quarterback in 441 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:34,840 the spread offense and all that was nowhere near what it is today back in 442 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:39,199 the early nineties NFL style. I know, obviously you were disappointed that you 443 00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:44,719 didn't get drafted. Had things been pretty much equal, had you been a 444 00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:46,639 first or second round draft pick in the NFL, and obviously we knew you 445 00:34:46,639 --> 00:34:51,519 were a first round pick in the NBA, would your decision have been any 446 00:34:51,559 --> 00:34:54,000 different. Would you have gone to the NFL and given that a run before 447 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:58,480 you went to the NBA, or or were you content on going to the 448 00:34:58,559 --> 00:35:06,280 NBA all along. No, I had options, and I use those options. 449 00:35:06,920 --> 00:35:09,519 You know. I continue to play basketball my senior year in college, 450 00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:16,920 which was part of the plan of keeping my options open, right, And 451 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:22,800 that kind of threw me out of the run as far as being one sent 452 00:35:22,840 --> 00:35:28,559 committed to the NFL process, because I didn't. I stopped playing basketball my 453 00:35:28,599 --> 00:35:31,840 senior year, but I was a senior point guard on that team, and 454 00:35:32,519 --> 00:35:37,719 I felt like my leadership as a senior guard was needed and I wanted to 455 00:35:37,719 --> 00:35:44,119 do it. So I did it, and you know, I didn't wasn't 456 00:35:44,159 --> 00:35:49,639 making a business decision. I was just following my heart and God, you 457 00:35:49,679 --> 00:35:52,960 know, allowed me to have options, and so I was grateful for that. 458 00:35:54,159 --> 00:35:59,079 But you know, I did some of the things to get drafted, 459 00:35:59,559 --> 00:36:02,280 but I knew going in that I would be a third or fourth round pick 460 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:08,559 regardless of what I did. It was just that was just the times, 461 00:36:08,960 --> 00:36:15,000 and I understood that, and so I made the statement that if I didn't 462 00:36:15,159 --> 00:36:17,159 drafted in the first round the NFL Draft, then you know, I would 463 00:36:17,239 --> 00:36:23,440 consider other options. And so that meant that no one felt like I was 464 00:36:23,639 --> 00:36:31,079 worth the first first round pick. So I didn't get drafted, even though 465 00:36:31,599 --> 00:36:37,599 the cancer the chief call in the fifth round to ask if I got drafted. 466 00:36:37,639 --> 00:36:40,719 At that point, you know what, I come to camp and I 467 00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:46,239 told them I couldn't guarantee them that I would because if I got drafted in 468 00:36:46,239 --> 00:36:51,039 the first round in the NBA draft, then you know I was going to 469 00:36:51,119 --> 00:36:57,880 go to the NBA. So it's still it's still stunning to me that a 470 00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:01,400 team even back in the in that time and when the value of what you 471 00:37:01,599 --> 00:37:05,960 what you were able to do on the field was not appreciated that a team 472 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:08,039 did not spend a third or fourth round pick even if they held your rights 473 00:37:08,039 --> 00:37:12,199 for a year and you didn't play for a year. It's stunning to me 474 00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:15,760 that a team didn't do that and have a little bit more foresight with as 475 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:19,199 many smart guys that there are in the NFL, to not somebody to say, 476 00:37:19,199 --> 00:37:21,519 hey, I'm gonna I'm gonna use a you know, third or fourth 477 00:37:21,559 --> 00:37:23,599 round pick even if he doesn't play for me for a year, just to 478 00:37:23,639 --> 00:37:27,559 see if he would play a year later. That to me, that just 479 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:31,719 is stunning that that that never happened. Well, I mean, I I 480 00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:37,199 think once it got to a certain point, no one's going to take that 481 00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:45,079 risk at that juncture, third or fourth round. But and I got jopted 482 00:37:45,119 --> 00:37:55,880 in baseball twice right with with that similar mind frame. But I mean I 483 00:37:55,960 --> 00:38:00,639 understood it. It was no big for me. Let's go back to your 484 00:38:00,679 --> 00:38:06,119 basketball days. Obviously, you know you made the comments that you wanted to 485 00:38:06,119 --> 00:38:08,599 stay and play your senior year basketball because of your leadership and your skills. 486 00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:15,079 Talk about the joy that you that that brought came to you. Rising Yet 487 00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:19,079 the FSU basketball program to the level that you brought it to when you finish 488 00:38:19,159 --> 00:38:22,159 it up. Obviously you got we were new to the ACC. Football had 489 00:38:22,159 --> 00:38:27,199 been well established for several years that they were dominant, but basketball always been 490 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:30,400 good, not great. But boy, you Sam Cassel, Doug Edwards, 491 00:38:30,440 --> 00:38:36,519 Bob Surah, all those guys came together your last couple of years there and 492 00:38:36,559 --> 00:38:40,280 had had just tremendous runs under Coach Kennedy. And I remember being in the 493 00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:44,679 in the in the in the civic center of the night you guys beat North 494 00:38:44,679 --> 00:38:47,719 Carolina the first time when Byron Wells hit the jump shot in the corner to 495 00:38:49,599 --> 00:38:53,360 beat North Carolina. Just talk about your joy of elevating the basketball program as 496 00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:58,960 well to such elite levels when you were there. Wow, man, I 497 00:39:00,679 --> 00:39:07,119 was one of the whole and you know, we all had to carry our 498 00:39:07,119 --> 00:39:09,119 own weight in a lot of ways in order for us to be able to 499 00:39:09,159 --> 00:39:14,440 elevate the program once we got into the A c C. Because we knew 500 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:21,559 the competition would be different, yeah, than Metro Conference. But the talent 501 00:39:21,760 --> 00:39:24,320 was you know, I thought in the Metro Conference when you started looking at 502 00:39:24,360 --> 00:39:30,079 all the guys that came out of the Metro Conference during that time, were 503 00:39:30,119 --> 00:39:35,199 some NBA. Oh yeah, Well, Louisville, those kind of yeah, 504 00:39:35,639 --> 00:39:39,800 all those yeah, great teams. Quite a few NBA quality players that came 505 00:39:39,840 --> 00:39:46,639 from the Metro Conference that I know I competed against and in college and professionally 506 00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:52,440 so, but we had to you know, continue to improve. You know 507 00:39:52,440 --> 00:39:58,159 when you started talking about Bob Sir and Doug Edwards, Doug was there, 508 00:39:58,639 --> 00:40:04,000 you know through out, Rodney Dough Bart was there right throughout. But we 509 00:40:04,039 --> 00:40:10,800 brought in Sam Kussell and UH and Bob Sir right throughout the process of us 510 00:40:10,840 --> 00:40:15,320 building it. And of course all of us were first round picks, which 511 00:40:15,360 --> 00:40:20,840 is crazy. We had four guys that were first round picks that on that 512 00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:24,559 that was on a team, right, But you know, it's it was 513 00:40:24,599 --> 00:40:28,679 just like anything else. You know, you have to acquire talent, You 514 00:40:28,679 --> 00:40:32,199 have to acquire good chemistry, guys that buy in to what you're trying to 515 00:40:32,199 --> 00:40:37,559 get accomplished. And we were afforded that, you know, with some very 516 00:40:37,679 --> 00:40:40,559 good players, UH and then players that play. All of us played our 517 00:40:40,639 --> 00:40:45,920 role right best of our ability, and so we were able to have some 518 00:40:45,960 --> 00:40:49,320 success. Yeah, you guys were the perfect mixture. You were the kind 519 00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:52,199 of the ball distributor. Sam was the score Bob was a score you had, 520 00:40:52,199 --> 00:40:55,880 Doug Edwards a good low post player. Andre Reid was kind of a 521 00:40:55,880 --> 00:40:59,719 center you had. You know, you had some role players off the bench. 522 00:41:00,039 --> 00:41:04,559 You guys are just the perfect mesh of different skill sets and teamwork and 523 00:41:04,639 --> 00:41:07,599 chemistry and coach Kennedy obviously put it all together and you guys had such a 524 00:41:07,639 --> 00:41:12,519 great You guys have two tremendous runs there your junior and senior year for sure. 525 00:41:13,559 --> 00:41:15,400 All right, let's talk a little bit. Let's go back to the 526 00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:19,840 kind of the the the onset of the fast break offense. Obviously your junior 527 00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:22,760 year, things are going going up and down. You guys are winning, 528 00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:27,840 but they're having some You guys are having some good success on offense. All 529 00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:30,199 of a sudden in the Georgia Tech game, you're behind late. You decide 530 00:41:30,199 --> 00:41:34,159 we're gonna go up tempo, we're gonna go fast break, we're gonna go 531 00:41:34,199 --> 00:41:38,320 shotgun. Talk about the ad the start of that and after you had success 532 00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:43,360 in that Georgia Tech game, at what point did I mean was that early 533 00:41:43,440 --> 00:41:45,280 next that following week that everybody came to the decision, Hey, this is 534 00:41:45,280 --> 00:41:49,480 the way we're gonna play it from now on. Or how did that conversation 535 00:41:49,599 --> 00:41:55,760 go between you and the coaching staff. Well, we I mean that was 536 00:41:55,760 --> 00:42:00,320 our two minute offense that we were running, and we were behind quite a 537 00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:04,079 bit of quite a bit uh in that fourth quarter, so we needed to 538 00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:07,920 push the pace a little bit more. And believe or not, we only 539 00:42:08,000 --> 00:42:12,840 ran like three paid plays. Uh, So it wasn't a lot of plays 540 00:42:12,880 --> 00:42:16,760 that were being called right Uh, just running a couple of plays here and 541 00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:22,519 there, and the others were you know, make a play in a sense. 542 00:42:22,480 --> 00:42:25,239 Uh. And then we were able to you know, force you to 543 00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:30,840 get the offside kid after we scored a couple of times, or and to 544 00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:36,159 get the ball back. U defense all year where they were keeping us in 545 00:42:36,239 --> 00:42:39,800 games because you know, even during that game, I had like three interceptions. 546 00:42:40,840 --> 00:42:45,360 So it was a tough, tough uh tough goal put us in that 547 00:42:45,599 --> 00:42:52,039 bad situation. But I was grateful that I was able to help you bring 548 00:42:52,119 --> 00:42:57,639 us out in a sense quarterback. Uh. Then turn the football over that 549 00:42:57,719 --> 00:43:02,039 fourth quarter. But you know, the next week we came back and you 550 00:43:02,079 --> 00:43:05,920 know, they made a decision that we were going to play that way. 551 00:43:06,719 --> 00:43:10,639 We added some some more plays and during the course of the week and it 552 00:43:10,760 --> 00:43:16,440 progressed over the rest of the year to where we went no huddle, and 553 00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:24,360 it did a lot for you know, the defense, meaning it dictated what 554 00:43:24,400 --> 00:43:30,880 they were going to have to run no heartation, and it helped not just 555 00:43:30,960 --> 00:43:34,480 myself but all of us, you know, be able to see it. 556 00:43:35,199 --> 00:43:37,440 And if teams were going to disguise you know, what they were trying to 557 00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:40,760 do, then they were going to have to do a little bit quicker and 558 00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:46,079 we could also recognize what they were doing. So it just gave us a 559 00:43:46,159 --> 00:43:52,599 little bit better advantage, and we continued to do it throughout the rest of 560 00:43:52,639 --> 00:43:57,840 the year. And it was relatively new on the scene, so a lot 561 00:43:57,880 --> 00:44:02,760 of teams hadn't done to no huddle. Most times people huddle up during that 562 00:44:02,840 --> 00:44:08,119 time, but it was something that give us an advantage and we take advantage 563 00:44:08,119 --> 00:44:12,679 of it. Now. A lot of people say, well, you were 564 00:44:12,679 --> 00:44:16,599 better the second part of the year in the shotgun. Well that might been 565 00:44:16,639 --> 00:44:22,719 true, but I also had a lot of experience going into the second half 566 00:44:22,719 --> 00:44:30,280 of the year because my first first four or five games were really i mean, 567 00:44:30,280 --> 00:44:34,800 my first year was the first year that I actually played you know, 568 00:44:35,079 --> 00:44:38,719 some live competition in the game. In three years three years really since you've 569 00:44:38,760 --> 00:44:46,280 played really right or a quarterback the counter one year, but just live competition 570 00:44:46,360 --> 00:44:52,920 where you have to read defenses and do the plan. You know, I 571 00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:59,039 prepare for all those things, but not actually I didn't actually have an opportunity 572 00:44:59,039 --> 00:45:04,119 to do that before because they had two guys in front of me. And 573 00:45:04,159 --> 00:45:06,960 when I got in the game, you know, we were running some basic 574 00:45:07,079 --> 00:45:13,519 plays, but it was more experience than anything else, you know, I 575 00:45:13,559 --> 00:45:16,920 mean, the defense offense did help, but it was more experience than anything 576 00:45:16,960 --> 00:45:23,360 else. Learning from the mistakes and that was very, very important talking and 577 00:45:23,400 --> 00:45:28,119 that was going to lead my next question about the talent level and the practices. 578 00:45:28,559 --> 00:45:30,679 Talk about give the give the fans a sense of and I and I 579 00:45:30,719 --> 00:45:36,079 can attest to some of this too. The practices on a Tuesday or Wednesday 580 00:45:36,119 --> 00:45:40,000 at full full pads, the offense versus the defense, the ones versus the 581 00:45:40,039 --> 00:45:45,239 ones, they were incredible. When you it's and when you combine the talent 582 00:45:45,320 --> 00:45:47,840 level that was on both sides of the ball back in the early nineties there 583 00:45:47,880 --> 00:45:52,199 with with Derek and all the I mean, the you can name twenty five 584 00:45:52,199 --> 00:45:54,039 guys that played in the NFL on both sides of the ball there in those 585 00:45:54,199 --> 00:45:58,320 during those couple of years. Just talk about the talent level of practice and 586 00:45:58,320 --> 00:46:01,039 how practice was so much for a lot of you guys, probably harder than 587 00:46:01,039 --> 00:46:05,559 the games a lot of times, a lot of weeks. Yes, it 588 00:46:05,599 --> 00:46:09,480 was very competitive in practice. The one on ones were always very spirited. 589 00:46:12,119 --> 00:46:16,079 Two minute drill. We're always spirited. I mean, you think about our 590 00:46:16,079 --> 00:46:21,679 scout teams. The guys who were on scout teams at that time, you 591 00:46:21,719 --> 00:46:27,960 know, we're we know them today. They were professional athletes. Yeah, 592 00:46:28,920 --> 00:46:34,239 and so it was, you know something that we always enjoyed the competition. 593 00:46:35,119 --> 00:46:39,840 You know, it was it was always the case where for me they were 594 00:46:39,880 --> 00:46:45,280 I was always down, you know, in the pocket, so they didn't 595 00:46:45,280 --> 00:46:50,920 want to chase chase me those things. They would always you know run by 596 00:46:51,239 --> 00:46:55,199 and say, well I've got you. But the same thing happens with Jordan 597 00:46:55,239 --> 00:47:00,119 Travis uh this day and age uh so. But it's all, you know, 598 00:47:00,159 --> 00:47:02,880 all in good fun, you know, once it's all said and done. 599 00:47:04,800 --> 00:47:08,559 But goal line was always very very very very spirited. Oh yeah, 600 00:47:09,400 --> 00:47:15,920 you know, offensively we had gases on the line. Oh yeah, they 601 00:47:15,960 --> 00:47:21,239 had up downs or whatever it was that coach Andrews had for them, and 602 00:47:21,280 --> 00:47:24,920 so it was always you know, very very expirited. Our goal line set 603 00:47:25,159 --> 00:47:30,079 sessions. Oh I remember, I remember those goal line sessions. Man, 604 00:47:30,119 --> 00:47:34,480 it would be it would be a war man. Coach ricked against coach Andrews, 605 00:47:34,559 --> 00:47:37,519 and you guys were talking so much smack to each other between plays. 606 00:47:37,519 --> 00:47:43,840 It was unbelievable. Yeah, So those are those are always good, good, 607 00:47:45,119 --> 00:47:53,639 good, good camaraderie for the that's the other part. Competition for sure, 608 00:47:53,960 --> 00:47:57,599 for sure. All right, So a couple more I'll get you out 609 00:47:57,639 --> 00:48:01,760 here. Obviously, rivalries is of big thing with with Obviously during your career 610 00:48:01,800 --> 00:48:06,800 you've been involved in some epic rivalries. Obviously Game of the Century at Notre 611 00:48:06,920 --> 00:48:10,800 Dame, the rivalry with Miami and Florida. We are talking to you during 612 00:48:10,800 --> 00:48:16,199 the Miami Week here this week. Just talk about from a collegiate perspective, 613 00:48:16,800 --> 00:48:22,760 just the different level of rivalries. Obviously, to me back in the early 614 00:48:22,880 --> 00:48:25,840 nineties, Miami was a little bit more of a rivalry than Florida. They're 615 00:48:25,880 --> 00:48:31,000 both great, but at the time Miami was so dominant as well. Let's 616 00:48:31,000 --> 00:48:36,119 talk about the being involved in such great rivalries with guys that you've probably played 617 00:48:36,159 --> 00:48:37,880 some high school ball with but just in the state of Florida in general, 618 00:48:38,079 --> 00:48:44,719 the rival between Florida State and Miami, Florida State and Florida. I mean, 619 00:48:45,280 --> 00:48:49,199 you know, it was always real. But the part about you know, 620 00:48:49,400 --> 00:48:52,760 on the field is totally different then off the field, because a lot 621 00:48:52,760 --> 00:48:55,400 of times, I mean a lot of these guys played together, played in 622 00:48:55,480 --> 00:49:00,239 high school together, played against each other in high school. I know I 623 00:49:00,239 --> 00:49:06,159 played against I played with a few guys that went to you know, all 624 00:49:06,199 --> 00:49:12,199 Star games right that, you know, Miami or Florida. So I mean, 625 00:49:12,280 --> 00:49:16,760 off the feel healthy respect, healthy respect. I mean, you know, 626 00:49:16,840 --> 00:49:21,760 it's all and fun. You want to win the game so they can 627 00:49:21,800 --> 00:49:28,719 have bragging rights for that lead for that year at least. And you know 628 00:49:28,760 --> 00:49:32,119 it's always spirited. I like to use that word, but it was, 629 00:49:34,199 --> 00:49:39,119 you know, the people in the stands were spirited. The guys on the 630 00:49:39,199 --> 00:49:43,639 on the field, I got after it. Uh. There are a lot 631 00:49:43,679 --> 00:49:46,880 of pro players on the field going back back and forth. The competition was 632 00:49:47,800 --> 00:49:53,440 fierce. Even the games were you know, most of the games were close 633 00:49:54,000 --> 00:50:00,440 because of the competition. Yeah, the field, and so junior year, 634 00:50:01,119 --> 00:50:05,239 you know, we weren't able to you know, overcome you know, some 635 00:50:05,719 --> 00:50:07,760 red zone issues that we had. We moved the football, we just couldn't 636 00:50:07,760 --> 00:50:15,800 score. But senior year we were able to overcome with the late Devin Bush 637 00:50:15,920 --> 00:50:22,079 interception to seal it right one points in the first half, which was enough, 638 00:50:22,239 --> 00:50:27,360 and our defense was solid all year. They only gave up ten points 639 00:50:27,400 --> 00:50:31,480 that game. So it was just when you talk about robberies, you know, 640 00:50:31,559 --> 00:50:36,239 the team that makes the least amount of mistakes and the team that makes 641 00:50:36,239 --> 00:50:44,360 the big plays normally win those types of games. And but you're always prepared 642 00:50:44,400 --> 00:50:47,320 and ready because no matter what the records look like, you know the team's 643 00:50:47,320 --> 00:50:52,199 are going to be competitive. And people don't realize nineteen ninety three when Florida 644 00:50:52,199 --> 00:50:57,159 State won the national title for their first ever national title, quarterback by this 645 00:50:57,239 --> 00:51:04,039 man right here, non conference schedule, Notre Dame, Miami, Florida all 646 00:51:04,199 --> 00:51:07,719 non conference. I mean, obviously they lose the game at Notre Dame. 647 00:51:07,280 --> 00:51:10,760 Then Charlie probably makes one of the best plays in Florida State history. That 648 00:51:10,760 --> 00:51:15,760 again some people some don't remember. Third and ten at the swamp. He 649 00:51:15,800 --> 00:51:20,280 throws a wheel were out to Warrick done up the sideline for about seventy five 650 00:51:20,360 --> 00:51:23,880 yard touchdown to seal that game. And obviously you still have to play your 651 00:51:23,880 --> 00:51:28,679 ACC schedule, but playing a non conference schedule like that, that was against 652 00:51:28,679 --> 00:51:32,000 something Florida State and coach Bowden was known for not afraid to ever play anybody. 653 00:51:32,280 --> 00:51:36,360 You had to play Florida and Miami every year that which was both non 654 00:51:36,360 --> 00:51:40,800 conference at the time. Just that the gauntlet that that Florida State had to 655 00:51:40,840 --> 00:51:45,760 go through and then you obviously lose the the epic game up at Notre Dame, 656 00:51:45,159 --> 00:51:51,440 but just that scheduling by coach Boden was something and also was such on 657 00:51:51,519 --> 00:51:55,320 allure for so many guys that want to go play there. Right, Yes, 658 00:51:55,679 --> 00:52:01,239 I mean, you know we always played those teams, no non non 659 00:52:01,280 --> 00:52:06,360 conference at that time. You know, Mimi and Florida as you mentioned, 660 00:52:06,360 --> 00:52:10,960 were non conference, and you know we we played tough, tough teams. 661 00:52:12,360 --> 00:52:19,199 Dame was senior year and but when it's all said and done, we had 662 00:52:19,239 --> 00:52:22,159 the teams to be able to compete at a high level. So regardless of 663 00:52:22,239 --> 00:52:25,239 who we played and where we played, we were going to go and compete 664 00:52:25,760 --> 00:52:29,960 and we had a team that could win, you know, on the road 665 00:52:30,239 --> 00:52:35,159 at home. Right, So it was one of those deals where regardless of 666 00:52:35,159 --> 00:52:37,400 who you play, you got to go and compete and execute at a high 667 00:52:37,480 --> 00:52:44,639 level. And unfortunate for us my senior year, we went able to overcome 668 00:52:44,679 --> 00:52:52,920 a bad second quarter to come out with the victory. But we were able 669 00:52:52,960 --> 00:52:59,639 to, you know, put together eleven other good games one one in the 670 00:52:59,679 --> 00:53:01,440 regular season, and then we were for the opportunity to play in a NASA 671 00:53:01,519 --> 00:53:07,039 championship against Nebraska, and we ended up winning that game, right eighteen and 672 00:53:07,119 --> 00:53:13,320 sixteen. And you know, I guess dramatic type fashion in a lot of 673 00:53:13,360 --> 00:53:19,079 ways talk about and yeah, yeah, for sure. So And speaking of 674 00:53:19,159 --> 00:53:22,960 rivalries, you had a couple of epic NBA robberies. You would the Nicks 675 00:53:22,960 --> 00:53:25,400 in the heat when you're every time you see coach bang Gundhi, do you 676 00:53:25,440 --> 00:53:30,840 still you still give him a bunch of a bunch of heck about hanging on 677 00:53:30,880 --> 00:53:37,000 the Alonzo Morning's leg under the pile there in the classic fight with the heat. 678 00:53:37,559 --> 00:53:40,480 We just knew it after I mean, with that, we knew he 679 00:53:40,559 --> 00:53:45,800 had our back. That's all right, you know, unfortunately that was the 680 00:53:46,239 --> 00:53:50,840 case. But he's a he's a competitor as well, and you know, 681 00:53:50,920 --> 00:53:54,840 he was doing the best he could with those giants trying to break up. 682 00:53:55,159 --> 00:54:00,960 But you know, coaches, that's who he was, and that's the way 683 00:54:01,159 --> 00:54:07,639 the reason why we played the way we played so grateful form. Is there 684 00:54:07,639 --> 00:54:12,719 a difference between the competitive rivalry and the professional sports as opposed to college or 685 00:54:12,760 --> 00:54:15,760 is it pretty much the same? You know, obviously in the pros they're 686 00:54:15,800 --> 00:54:20,159 all you guys are all adult, grown man with families and you know, 687 00:54:20,199 --> 00:54:23,199 all that good, all that stuff. Is the competitiveness any different at that 688 00:54:23,400 --> 00:54:28,079 at the two levels, No, it's the same. I mean, once 689 00:54:28,119 --> 00:54:31,639 you get out there and compete on the court, like, it's very similar. 690 00:54:31,840 --> 00:54:37,320 You know. I have friends that were on the heat, Bruce Bowen 691 00:54:37,760 --> 00:54:43,440 and I you know, we would go out to eat sometimes before the game, 692 00:54:43,800 --> 00:54:46,079 right or after the game I'm sorry, after the game, or the 693 00:54:46,159 --> 00:54:52,199 night before the game. So it was I mean, it's just what it 694 00:54:52,280 --> 00:55:00,320 was on the court. Do you compete at a high level and you contend 695 00:55:00,400 --> 00:55:04,760 to be friends. I mean that's just where it is. You fight, 696 00:55:04,880 --> 00:55:07,199 you fight for two and a half hours, then you go you go have 697 00:55:07,239 --> 00:55:13,199 some dinner after the game. Right, that's funny. How did you enjoy 698 00:55:13,360 --> 00:55:15,320 living in New York City kind of the mecca of all that stuff. And 699 00:55:15,320 --> 00:55:20,679 you're pretty quiet, uh, you know, a pretty pretty low, low, 700 00:55:20,800 --> 00:55:24,159 low spirited guy when it comes to going out and socialized. And I 701 00:55:24,199 --> 00:55:28,360 would imagine, and I'm sure you had some teammates that liked to live in 702 00:55:28,480 --> 00:55:31,000 the lifestyle a little bit of New York City. How challenging was that for 703 00:55:31,039 --> 00:55:36,280 you to be able to want to make sure they didn't do stuff too much 704 00:55:36,320 --> 00:55:38,039 over the edge that hurt the team, maybe that maybe they're living too much 705 00:55:38,039 --> 00:55:43,280 in the lifestyle living in New York City. How did that blend work out? 706 00:55:43,519 --> 00:55:46,039 When you were the kind of the quarterback in the point guard of the 707 00:55:46,079 --> 00:55:52,960 Knicks, well, the the professional lifestyle, especially in New York. You 708 00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:57,800 know, we reported a lot of opportunities, that's what New York does, 709 00:55:59,159 --> 00:56:05,480 but show premiers all those different types of things that you have access to, 710 00:56:06,159 --> 00:56:12,760 and that was all great, and you know, it also afforded other opportunities 711 00:56:12,760 --> 00:56:16,360 for those that want to do other things. I was just not that guy. 712 00:56:16,440 --> 00:56:20,480 I mean I didn't go and hang out, uh, you know, 713 00:56:20,719 --> 00:56:28,039 at bars and clubs and those types of things. But how challenging was adapt 714 00:56:28,199 --> 00:56:31,719 maybe talk to a guy that you could tell was maybe getting a little too 715 00:56:31,760 --> 00:56:36,079 wild at the night life. But you knew, boy we need him, 716 00:56:36,079 --> 00:56:38,440 that we need his contribution to the team. Is that a fine line of 717 00:56:38,480 --> 00:56:43,119 talking to a guy to say, hey, settle down with the nightlife and 718 00:56:43,199 --> 00:56:47,199 we really need you here. No. I mean I didn't get into those 719 00:56:47,239 --> 00:56:52,960 guys and what they did, as long as they brought what they needed to 720 00:56:52,000 --> 00:56:57,079 bring. Most of the times. That was the case, right, Guys 721 00:56:57,119 --> 00:57:01,679 who may have liked to hang out all type of time times all night, 722 00:57:04,039 --> 00:57:07,559 but they came to practice. I mean practice might have been a little different, 723 00:57:07,519 --> 00:57:13,679 but you know what, it didn't hurt us in the sense of us 724 00:57:13,719 --> 00:57:19,079 being one team, uh, them following what we what we needed uh them 725 00:57:19,119 --> 00:57:22,239 to do. But you know, if there it was something that needed to 726 00:57:22,280 --> 00:57:28,719 be addressed, I'm sure yeah, it was addressed in some form of fashion. 727 00:57:28,920 --> 00:57:31,639 You know, if there were issues uh during that time, you know, 728 00:57:31,679 --> 00:57:39,480 we didn't we we had access to sports site psychologists and other you know 729 00:57:39,880 --> 00:57:45,800 fields, uh, and some of those were extreme cases. But you know, 730 00:57:45,840 --> 00:57:49,480 when it's all said and done, we just had to come and play 731 00:57:49,519 --> 00:57:53,480 as one unit each and every night. And I mean I didn't get down. 732 00:57:53,679 --> 00:57:59,440 I couldn't understand how guys could get in late and then go out, 733 00:57:59,840 --> 00:58:05,400 you know. But that's what they did and wanted to do, and there's 734 00:58:05,440 --> 00:58:08,360 nothing I can say to stop them. All right, last question, I'll 735 00:58:08,360 --> 00:58:13,679 get you out of here. You've now transitioned to the coaching world. You've 736 00:58:13,719 --> 00:58:16,679 been coaching for a bunch of years now, football, basketball, and Charlie 737 00:58:16,719 --> 00:58:22,000 Ward won the state championship in twenty twenty two at Florida High and Tallahassee. 738 00:58:22,440 --> 00:58:28,519 Talk about the joy that you experienced being a coach on the other side of 739 00:58:28,559 --> 00:58:31,119 the of the of the Ledger there a little bit from coaching the state champion 740 00:58:31,480 --> 00:58:36,719 high school kids and just the joy of being on that side of the world. 741 00:58:38,679 --> 00:58:45,239 Well, it's been a true blessing to be able to share my experiences 742 00:58:45,280 --> 00:58:50,000 with the young student athletes that I've coached over the years and be able to 743 00:58:50,000 --> 00:58:58,360 help help them with exposure to seeing things that they may not have seen otherwise, 744 00:58:59,320 --> 00:59:07,440 using my net work to be able to help support the program and and 745 00:59:07,480 --> 00:59:14,320 so it's just been and also being able to you know, bring in coaches 746 00:59:14,760 --> 00:59:19,199 that are aligned as well to be able to help our kids develop and grow. 747 00:59:22,199 --> 00:59:24,239 It's been a great joy to be able to help those you know, 748 00:59:24,559 --> 00:59:31,440 student athletes grow in that area because you know, when it's all said and 749 00:59:31,480 --> 00:59:37,519 done, that was someone did it for me, and I was grateful that. 750 00:59:37,559 --> 00:59:38,960 I'm grateful that I have an opportunity to be able to give back in 751 00:59:39,000 --> 00:59:46,800 that regard, to be able to help open the eyes of open the eyes 752 00:59:46,840 --> 00:59:52,880 of the student athletes that I've coached. Well, Charlie, been a real 753 00:59:52,880 --> 00:59:57,440 pleasure. I really appreciate. Charlie is also the author of the book The 754 00:59:57,519 --> 01:00:00,639 Athlete, to definitely go find that on your favorite book outlet. Keep up 755 01:00:00,679 --> 01:00:05,239 the great work, Charlie, on and off the court and on your charitable 756 01:00:05,239 --> 01:00:07,719 work. You do a lot of great stuff all over the place for a 757 01:00:07,719 --> 01:00:10,519 lot of people. And we really appreciate and Florida State legend nineteen ninety three 758 01:00:10,599 --> 01:00:16,159 Heisman Trophy winner, National champion, State champion coach, appreciate the time. 759 01:00:16,280 --> 01:00:20,960 Awesome, awesome visiting with you, sir. I appreciate it. Jason, 760 01:00:21,039 --> 01:00:23,280 it's good seeing you you too. Take care and have a great Let's go 761 01:00:23,400 --> 01:00:29,719 kick miamis you know what this week too, buddy, Take care, Charlie. 762 01:00:30,119 --> 01:00:35,360 Alrighty, thanks for listening to the Florida Football Insiders podcast as part of 763 01:00:35,400 --> 01:00:40,119 the College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast Network. Please remember to subscribe, rate, 764 01:00:40,199 --> 01:00:44,320 and review if you've not already done so, and you can reach out 765 01:00:44,360 --> 01:00:47,800 to me on Twitter at jPOS Sports. Love to hear your comments and feedback 766 01:00:47,840 --> 01:00:53,440 about our episodes and any program suggestions moving forward. Check out our video interviews 767 01:00:53,480 --> 01:00:59,960 as well on my YouTube channel, Jason Powers Sports Channel, and we'll see 768 01:01:00,079 --> 01:01:02,920 you next week on the Florida Football Insiders podcast