Be following is a presentation of play fly sports properties. Change. My guys,
they're trying to turn the goal line. What is the good my hands?
You know? Pass half up? Here comes the futon. How the
sideline standard shot down? This said three safeties go back inside the ten yard
line, and said nicktoon, but they put Jared abraderis back here instead?
Three and an rush tysens on the last play of regulation, chucks itto the
end zone coup plus against takes cut it. How a rebound tut hold on
it is just short of the end zone. Instant replay will take a look
at this. Bess Spartan's caught the ricochet. They want the touchdown. Instant
replay will have to decide. Now ball was caught by Keith Nichol. Take
a look. Abradaris gets in the air and gets a hand on it.
Nichol is right in the front. It comes right into his hands. Does
the ball cross the plane? Taylor is fighting like crazy to prevent it from
breaking the plane. Wait, it was really close, really close. Look
at abra Daris gets up in the air, the ball goes off with Sims
and Cunningham. Nichol is right there and Taylor's doing everything he can to keep
the ball away from breaking the plane, so instant replay will decide it.
Remember the call on the field is no touchdown, indisputable to turn this over.
Remember that as Nichol was battling and Taylor had him wrapped up. After
further review, the runner did cross. The Riots touchdown on Michigan State with
a merrittle ending. Nice trip down memory lane. Going back to the twenty
eleven Wisconsin game in Spartan Stadium, the legendary rocket pass Kirk Cousins to Keith
Nickel at the end of regulation. Spartans win that game thirty seven to thirty
one. Guys, this is Sparta. I'm your host, Jasons ray Horn,
along with my co host Otis Wiley and Jake You too, cho Call
Kraick, Oh did you kill me with that? Today? I mean,
it's home coming week, gentlemen, homecoming week. Everybody's excited. We're going
to see a lot of former players and people who are gone here from years
past, decades ago, getting back in these lands and gonna have a great
time. Right, Yeah, it's definitely gonna be a great time. Homecoming
is a special time. You know, you load the kids, the wife
in the car. You take them to the old stomping ground, see how
it is done back in your day. So it's really exciting. You know.
Obviously we're not having the season that we wanted to have this year,
but I think, you know, this is a very winnable game for the
Spartans, and you know, with former guys coming back, you know,
hopefully that can draw some extra energy to the players to perform. I'm laughing
because, oh jees, he's backing up the family and take it to those
stomping grounds. I'm looking at like a lot of people. When you drive
around, you're gonna see familiar faces that you you haven't seen in a while.
You don't have like warm embraces. You gotta think about COVID man.
COVID kind of put a damper on a lot of our stuff in the past,
you know, three what two seasons, two and a half seasons,
So it's an opportunity to see familiar faces. You got some Spartan dogs coming
back. You know, we got our Spartan dog dinner at the catalog after
the game. You So it's gonna be it's gonna be great, man.
I think this is the opportunity to capture the awareness and like the awe of
football tailgate homecoming field because our, like you said, season is not as
fruitful right now. But I'm looking forward to seeing a lot of people coming
back to campus. East Lancer absolutely, And this year's homecoming theme is Spartans
Bring the Magic, celebrating Spartans around the world creating real life magic by making
the world a better place. And MSU Hall of Famer. Your coach,
our coach, my coach, all of us. Jim Bibbs, legendary track
coach for Michigan State, the first black head coach at the university and the
first black head coach in the Big Ten. Uh. You know be it.
Bibbs is gonna be here. He's gonna be the grand Marshall for the
parade. It's gonna be an exciting time for everyone. You know, Jim,
he was a guy. I mean when you look at Jim Bibbs,
his deep commitment to youth and passion for sports has gained the respect of countless
colleagues, athletes, parents and friends nationwide. This year's homecoming parade begins at
six pm on Friday, October fourteenth. The baraide starts at the Hannah Community
Center, travels down Abbott to Grand River and into campus at Farm Lane.
For more information, go to Homecoming dot MSU, dot MBU. All right,
guys, we're gonna get into this game here and this is going to
be brought to you by IHOP this game day. Stat breakdown the two by
two by two breakfast combo equals one delicious meal. Enjoy two pancakes, two
eggs your way, and two pieces of bacon for only five dollars only at
ie Hop. Hurry in and enjoy this deal for a limited time dining in
only. Price and participation may vary. Restrictions apply well, gentlemen. A
few weeks ago, just two weeks ago, Wisconsin had a change at the
head coaching position. Paul Chris was relieved of his duties and interim head coach.
Now Jim Leonard is the guy at the helm. The former defensive coordinator
spent a lot of time in the NFL and really has had a stellar defense
over the last five six years in Madison. He goes one and zero with
a big win against Northwestern forty two to seven a week ago. Yeah,
I think overall Wisconsin really likes Jim Leonard as a as a head coach.
I think if he continues to stay the course, you know, he might
not win win that their side of the division there, But I think if
he puts together a culture the players are going to rally against him, He's
going to have that interim title removed and into full head coach. I think
that's what a lot of Wisconsin faithful really wanted, you know, to begin
with. You know, Chris was just you know, holding in the holding
pattern there for Leonard because you know, end of the day, Paul christ
did not have that bad of a career at Wisconsin, but you know they
wanted one of their homegrown guys. A lot of great memories, you know,
playing against Jim Leonard against him when he was at Wisconsin and then turning
to being his teammates when we're both with the Buffalo Bills. Jim is,
you know, a very football oriented guy. He understands the game, He
loves the game of football. He wants to study the football. So he's
going to have his team prepared to come into Spartan Stadium because he understands what
kind of environment it can be. Yeah, you got to think about you
know this, Koch Tucker is on the water man. I mean, it's
so similar to how we just went up to Maryland and we had coach enos
playing against him. So it kind of rolls of reverse for for coach Tuck
knowing that you know, his Badgers in Alma Manor coming into the East Lanton.
You know, I'm not trying. I'm not gonna stay your sign on
the stats here straight. But you know, if you look at that last
game that the Badgers uh, you know, did to the Wildcats there Northwestern,
it looks like coach Lennard is airing that boy out and he's given touches
to the running back, something that we are experiencing right now. So you
know, you're looking at twenty three attempts rushing to one run back and then
you got six touchdowns that are from the receiving core. You look, they
look like they're playing free and have another nothing to lose mentality. So we
we have our our we have our our plate full here this weekend, man,
as you know our woes, it's it's gonna be a tough one.
So and Badgers and Spartans, man, that that rivaly that was created with
that, you know, Russell Wilson Kirk Cousins era in the Big Ten championship
down there Indianapolis when they first started to create that. It's good man,
So it's gonna be electric, I think, no doubt about it. And
getting into like what the defense from Michigan State is gonna have to face us.
Talk about the Wisconsin offense, and you touched on it there owners you
talk about junior quarterback Graham Mertz, the guy who's averaging sixty four point one
percent of as passes over fourteen yards per completion, stard besting the Big Ten,
good for nineteenth in the nation. He's got a quarterback official rate about
of one hundred and sixty three point six. This guy is a guy who
can throw the ball. They're gonna look at Michigan State's weaknesses in that secondary
and he's gonna get it out to his receivers. What do you think about
that? On this as a defensive back specialist, I am frustrated, Like
I am truly frustrated that quarterbacks are coming in here now and just licking chops
like this. It's easy money right here. It's easy, and so how
do we fix it? Is truly when you look at the Bio State game.
We talked about it is we can't have our self inflicting wounds of attention
to detail and knowing your assignment because what he just put on paper in stats
last weekend, he's just carrying that momentum into East Landson, regardless of if
it's away game, road game. So I honestly think that they don't have
a backup for sure, because we just saw in the news the back up
hit the treasher portal. So you also gotta just wear and tear. We
gotta get to him and we have to put pressure on him to help take
off the heavy burden for the secondary because there are some weaknesses that in order
to cover our guys, which you got a wide receiving committee that are getting
He's sharing the rock too, so equally equally being shared. So we just
got to get to the quarterback to put pressure on him so we can help
time up miss time these balls in these passes, because clearly if we don't,
it's gonna be another one that we just are not gonna be happy with.
When what's yeah, what question is when was the last time you think
three people have sat together and talked about Wisconsin football and talked about the past
game first, I know, because they're historically it's unusual. It's the run
that rock, which is like, I get it, Chris, Like we
talked about coaches who have success early and then just get complacent. And obviously
we know this game is evolving and it's you gotta you gotta evolve Transformer you
don't get left behind. And you saw kind of that how Wisconsin's just stayed
stayed to with their their DNA for the longest times. But you got to
have a stud running back like they usually have. But they have an average
running back. It doesn't help. They've always had decent receivers though, which
which kind of blows my mind. But they've also been fifty to fifty.
So last game, I mean it was a fifty fifty toss up, you
know from I mean Jayu you got if you got twenty three attenths man like,
I mean you eating right, I'm smiling, I'm smiling, I'm loving
life. I'm hugging at oh see people. After the game. We're getting
twenty twenty three attempts in the game, five one hundred and thirty five yards
correct, that's a great day at right. Speaking of the running back you're
talking about. You're talking about Braylan Allen, right, I mean, this
is a guy who set the world on fire as a true freshman a year
ago, as a sophomore in the last but it's a fifteen games, guys
had one hundred yards and at least eleven of those games over that stretch he's
had eighteen hundred and fifty three yards. I mean, this is not an
average running back by any stretch of the imagination. And when the Badgers,
when he reaches a hundred yards, the Badgers are ten to one during that
stretch. Just goes back to your point, Jayu, when you talk about
the importance of the running back position and being able to run the ball and
how that opens up many doors not only for just the running back but also
for the passing game. Wisconsin seems to have it going correct. Oh yeah,
definitely, Yeah, go ahead, raising my hand because listen, elephant
in the room now, boy, one of the killer bees. That's what
I was just gonna say. So it's the question comes up like I get,
I get, while he left, I guess because clearly Braylen Allen is
a stud. And then you got Tamir uh Well, oh, Tess Lucy
who is out apparently now with the potential injuries, not gonna be there.
But as a backup, you know, he's getting touches. But I'll let
Jay you talk about the running back piece because but that I just wanted to
say, elephant in the room. I was gonna ask the same question.
I was gonna say, why do you think Burger transferred because he saw you?
You you take it as a running back, all right? You you
sit and you count number you you in the running backs from me, You're
like, Okay, I got this guy here, I got this guy here,
I got this There's only so many carries that can go around. So
this is what it is. And that's the beauty of Wisconsin football. And
I will be you know, first one I took a visit, an official
visit Wisconsin, one of my favorite official visits that I took. I knew
they like to run the ball from you know, like the hair from going
back to Ron Dain. You know when he used to run the ball.
PJ. Hill, you know all those they love the big backs and they
love to run the football. And once you do that and Otis hit it
on the head. He said, Wisconsin has always had some good receivers.
You got Jonathan Orr you know who was there who crushed us. You have
Lee Evans who played there. You have some good, good receivers. But
those guys became and they were sneaky good because their run game overshadowed the past
game. But when you when they able to be balanced like they are,
it really keeps a defense on their heels. It really keeps the line.
Okay, you have to be true to your reads, and you have to
be true to your keys and otis senate the other day. You got to
trust your eyes. You know you're reading the guards. It's the guard pulling.
Okay, it's a run. Is he popping up? It's a pass.
You have to read all those things. And coach Leonard coming in there,
he has the mindset, I'm sure when he went in to his first
meeting as a head coach, his first staff meeting, he said, guys,
we have nothing to lose, all right, let's let's play free,
let's play loose, and at the end of the day, let the chips
fall where they may. So I think it's it's gonna be a big test
and a lot of that challenge is going to go on to Michigan State's defensive
line. Can they get pressure on the quarterback and get penetration to stop the
run game? Amen? Brother, Amen that one. Well, yeah,
no doubt about it. Man. I mean it's gonna be a lot about
the defensive lines mischign State to be able to good pressure on the quarterback here
as you just talked about. You know, the Badgers have used five different
line combinations. The only guy that's the low starter who's been there throughout every
start that's been the center Joe Tipman, junior offensive lineman that started every game
this season. But they put together their best effort against Northwestern. We're not
saying Northwestern is one of the elites in the nation or anything like that,
but they did put up one hundred and ninety three yards on the ground and
didn't allow us sat quarterback was sitting back there pretty much untouched all week last
week and all day last week, Graham Mertz because of that offensive line.
And you know, offensive line play at Wisconsin as legendary by just name right.
Oh my goodness, Like that's a running backs dream. We see those
logs in front of him. I'm talking about rubble Man, Like those dudes
it was always Wisconsin and Iowaul that I'm like, I gotta I gotta go
in the weight room and put on at least ten to fifteen, but muscling,
I gotta eat trip because it is an aggressive, hardcore battle man.
Those dudes they can run, they are physical, and they feel like they
never get tired. Like I feel like that's the DNA and those two programs
in Iowa and Wisconsin. I mean, straight you hit it on with the
center being the loan old lineman. That means to me and you could probably
correct me if I'm wrong that that guy is the smartest office in lineman.
It's the strong nucleus that he's communicating, basically telling all these other guys where
to go. I mean, talk about the centerpiece of it, knowing that
this guy is the strong nucleus of that offensive line for sure percent that's what
the center does. That's why he's probably the most valuable guy that they have
right now, is because he understands all five positions along that offensive line,
and that is a valuable spot. He's got to call out the passing protections,
he's got to call out running styles of whatever combinations blocks they have via
a zone gap scheme, you know, inside outside zone, all those things
that you have to have and be calm under pressure in Big Ten play.
And you look at the past center from Wisconsin, I'd be they've gone on
to be not only NFL draft picks, but the NFL All pros. This
is a very valuable position at Wisconsin. We talk about the offensive line play,
the tackles. I mean there's always a first round tackle. They put
out lineman like Alabama puts out offensive lineman. When you think about pure offensive
line play for Wisconsin, they do a phenomenal job and it looks like Leonard
is going to continue that although he is a defensive coach. And when we
segue over to the defensive side of the ball four Wisconsin, you look at
who their sack master is and that's junior outside linebacker Nick Herbig. He's Associated
Press second team All American. He's tied for second in the Big Ten right
now and tenth in the country with five sacks. He's a guy who had
what nine sacks a year ago, ring fourth of the Big Ten last year,
and right now has forty six yards for the sack, is fourth in
the nation. This is a guy who gets after the ball carrier. Yeah,
definitely. So that's why this week it's absolutely pivotal and huge that we
get a heavy dose of Elijah Collins in the game, not only because of
the running game, because Elijah Collins is our best pass protector in the backfield.
It's that simple. You watch Michigan State games, you see when they're
throwing the ball late in the game, Elijah Collins is and when they're in
the two minute drill, Elijah Collins is the one in there because he's the
most stout at pass protection. He understands it more. So that's why it's
important to have him in there and have that balance of run and pass so
defenses can't key when he's in Hey, it might be it's a pass or
you know, different things like that. So that's why it's important to have
them there. But Michigan State have their hands full with the with the quote
unquote sack master. I can't give that name away because our guy Joonelle saying
deec as the crew sack master. But they're gonna have to do, you
know, let me put an extra guy on him running backs chip while they're
coming out of the backfield. But that's what they're gonna have to do.
But with that, in order to stop the pass rush, you have to
have a little bit of aggressive offensive scheme if you want to. If they
want to be aggressive with the defensive line and their defense, screen, game
will be well, quick, game will be well, and run into the
blitz. Run the football, run the football, and otis for you.
You know. Last week, mister State came up with the first interception of
the season with Charles Brandley taking that Paul back of the interception for CJ.
Stroud to the house. Wisconsin brings in some ballhawks, man. I mean
you talk about junior safety Kimoe Lattu, who snagged a pair of interceptions last
week against Northwestern, which moves Wisconsin to a total of ten interceptions on the
season. That ranks number one the Big Ten, tied for number two read
in the country. Being the ball hawk oldest kind of helps. Yeah.
Absolutely, I feel like that that that read I don't even got to add
to it. I mean that is the number one weapon for anybody's program.
That you got guys out there just sniffing blood, running around like just bandits.
Man, Like you, you know that you can't sit here and loft
the ball. You can't throw underhand, you can't underthrow it. You've got
to be spot on. If you ain't spot on, you need to take
a sack or you need to throw it away. And you got to be
smart with that decision maker. Obviously I didn't play quarterback, but I've read
a lot of quarterbacks eyes shouldiers and it's an opportunity for Peyton to take how
to level up and get that decision making precision back to where it was last
last year. But those obviously those first two games too, But this is
the opportunity for him to truly like this is almost like not a put up
or shut up opportunities for this game, but I think it's an opportunity for
him to showcase the Peyton Thorn coach mindset that we've been talking about his leadership.
We got to bring that up. So it's the best part is you're
going against the one of the top secondaries in the nation. Let's level up.
Let's level up and see what we can do. Yeah, and that's
why that's why for Peyton Thorn and its receivers, communication is going to be
key. They have to be on the same page. Otis because if you
have secondary guys out there that are ball hawks swarm into the football and flying
to the football. You and your receivers have to be on the same communication
wavelength. Your offensive line have to give you time. You have to do
timing routes with your receivers because the receivers they have an advantage over the dbs.
They know where they're going. They know if he's a comeback, you're
going to twelve, back to ten. So that has to be there.
So everyone has to be on the same page, especially against a defense and
a secondary like co Wisconsin's. For any secondary, the best friend of any
defensive back would be the past rush. And we want to talk about pass
rush. We're going to bring on a pass rush legend in Michigan state history.
Durrell Worthy, what's up, Jirell? How you doing? Man?
Happy? You know, anniversary to the big win that we had over Wisconsin.
You have a pretty good game yourself. Man. Well, collectively,
Man, we had some adversity, you know, obviously on the field.
Off the field, we had a lot of things going around in our organization
that we had to put to the side in order for us to get a
win. But man, just to think about and hear about those memories that
you guys are running back through my head. Man, it just shows that,
you know, we've come a long way as a program. We understand
that we're taking our punches right now as a and during this year. But
just to see where we've we've been able to to grow from where we started
is it's just it's just an unbelievable feeling. So I'm I'm excited to be
here with you guys. I'm excited to grace the show. A lot of
Spartan dog legends in the room, man, So I'm definitely honored for sure.
Right I said, tight, I'm glad you brought. That was a
nice little segue to lead them into it. Got I forgot about because is
the most sweating man I've ever seen in my life, more than you.
Straight You dude stays carrying the town with it's sixty degrees in this hotel.
He gots between him and coach talk. I don't know who swept more.
Listen, we are always down then, Like what you guys got to understanding,
no matter what, we're always down. The man, I'm a I'm
a lively person. So when I get in those atmospheres that around my brothers,
guys that I've definitely grinded with. Man, I get a little,
a little jender in the rush, man, so I got to keep a
towel on me at all times. Right now, I'm cool, though,
you know. So, yeah, Man, I didn't know. I didn't
know. Look, I didn't know. Look all of y'all dressed well,
y'all all come to the game. I said, Look, so I didn't
know, especially oldest. Look, I didn't know. Yeah, Man,
Like, so let's talk we just before you came on, Man, we
were talking about how each level on the defense. You know, you and
I played obviously under coach d and uh Our Doozy, and so we always
knew that if the front line is getting pressure, that that that just trickled
down to effects. And the success rate of us getting off the field is
obviously way more than what it is if you don't get us. But I
mean, let's talk about and I wish we could play. Let's talk about
that. It's a real worthy get off, like the timing that you were
like, I don't know how you did it, but it was so so
strategic, so magical that you would get off and centers be like, yo,
like what just happened, talk about it and then as you talk about
it, you've been watching the spartans and defense and our defensive players not as
up to par as it used to be. Right right now we're taking our
lumps, but talk about what you're seeing too on what they need to do
better to get get get to the quarterback. Yeah, I mean just I
would start with just I would say from growing from the things that I went
through, is when you're playing in an attack for three defense, a lot
of that stuff is skilled, but it's anticipation and understanding what an offense is
going to give you. One of the things that that allowed me to have
such a successful get off. It's really that Monday that I was able to
get up there in the office with a lot of the coaches and I understood
what was coming that that that week as far as you know plays, as
far as what offense is like to run, the tendencies and things of that
nature. So you know, from having yes, yes, talent, but
honing in some skills as far as learning how to study and offense and understanding
what what plays they like to run, and those week points where I actually
can take a chance and try to get in the backfield because you know,
at the end of the day, even though my get off was really,
really, you know, it was nice, there was also there was also
times in which you know, I had to be, I would say,
a person that worked well within the whole parameters of the defense. And so,
you know, I couldn't just be continuously running up field and flying up
field all the time because you know, they'll leave gaping holes. And I
know that Greg, and I know Greg and those guys behind me never liked
when I was definitely doing my own things. So I just wanted to it
had to work within the parameters of our scheme. And so Coach Nardoozi and
Coach Barnett, Coach Gil these guys were able to teach me the right moments
in which I can get off on the football and be effected for our football
team. What I'm seeing that just transition over to this year. I see
that just from a defensive line perspective, we get a lot of pressure from
the outside guys, a lot of the defensive ends, but we're starting to
see a lot of the defensive tackles just in the interior not be as aggressive
upfield. I think that first second down opportunities where you're really trying to establish
the line of scrimmage is where a lot of our defensive linement are just not
taking advantage. They kind of wait until we get to third down, where
essentially a lot of our hard work has to get done on that first second
down. Like one thing coach Gil taught us is that, like we've got
to earn the right to rush the passer. And I think that you know,
defensive vents they kind of you know, with play action pass, you
know, the way that the game has changed, they have a little bit
more opportunities to rush the passer. But when you're in that interior, man,
we've got to establish a line of scrimmage a lot better than what we're
doing right now. And then and that attacking three technique is essentially what is
essentially key to to an attacking four three four two five defense. And right
now, we just need to see a little bit more enthusiasm by guys in
the middle. They have great girth, great size. I mean, these
guys are you know, essentially like pro NFL style bodies at a collegiate level.
Uh, we just need to start seeing those guys display their speed,
their athleticism and their strength when it comes to getting in the backfield. That
was great. I mean, you know from an offensive line perspective, I
could talk about that too with you Durell. You know, a guy coming
off the ball and just trying to bull rush h Tiior three linemen. I
mean, that's a dream for us. We wish guys a bull rush all
day. There's very few human beings that can bullrush effectively to the point where
you know it makes you just have to worry about it because all we do
is anchor in. You're gonna try to push pull. That ain't gonna work
either. If the guy's any good, especially against an offensive line like Wisconsin,
that what you would do. Like in college sports, defensive linemen are
pretty good when they have one or two moves. You know, you're looking
at swim move or you should be able to get off the ball and get
a swim move. You know. Obviously the rip suspends those kinds of things,
being able to spend and counter. And now you know everybody's talking about
the long arm, right you see that being effective from a defensive end coming
in with a tackle that's not you know, hit that inside peck and drive
him into the quarterback. But I see like our interior line is trying to
do I don't know if they're they're not converting from running pass very quickly.
They're trying to do a bullrush slash long arm and it's just very slow and
not getting pushed in the pocket and they're not getting off. So there's no
the quarterbacks basically eating having picnic back there. Right yeah, I think right
now, just just from my perspective, I see, I think you're we
start to see a lot of the defensive linemen just kind of being not They're
not moving as much. I would say, you know, having three techniques
knife and down to the to the to the A gap running twist on the
inside versus the run. I think eventually when you have you have your nose
and your three technique attacking setting pressure in that A and B gap, it
really allows a lot of the blenters to open up. Like everyone knows hot
main magic, you know where you have the cross dogs, the cross dog
in the middle with the mike and the wheel linebacker. Essentially that only works
when you have a three technique and a nose guard that is athletic enough to
get upfield and create that type of pressure. Right now, we're seeing a
lot of the interior guys when they run that specific blintz Old lineman guards have
an opportunity to pass block the defensive line and then push him out to towards
the tackle and still have enough athleticism to come back inside and guard the cross
dog in the middle. And so for us, that's where we need to
start seeing the three technique and the nose really take advantage. When that office
of guard passes us off and he essentially leaves us, that's when we need
to be turning our hips and headed back towards the quarterback. And so for
me, realistically, the only way that we allow we we correct these things
is more so in practice. And I just think at the end of the
day, we need to start to showcase. We need to start the show
and showcase a little bit more of just some older clips possibly of just where
this where the technique was successful, not even necessarily just myself, because there's
been you know, hellified three techniques that are played before me. There's been
guys that have had success at this in this scheme of defense, even prior
and after my departure from Michigan State as well. So I think if going
back and showing how the defense works in its entirety, you need those front
four guys up there raising hell. That gives the guys in the back end
opportunity to actually make plays on the football and come up and actually be effective
in the past game, moving guys around up front, like I said before,
having a variety of different run stunts that out that opens up your your
pass rush stunts by all, and also realistically being a little bit more creative
in the secondary. I know that you know, our overall scheme is just
trying to make things look the same from a Cover four perspective, and we
try to roll and we move Cover two and Cover three, and we're trying
to roll and do things I would say after the ball is snap. But
I think primarily if we can just get a little bit better at our disguises
a little bit and moving guys around and just kind of allowing them to play
a little bit looser instead of more so just kind of stuck at on the
hashes, then I think at the end of the day then that that that
will allow us to just have more fun, right because at the end of
the day, on defense, it's not more. It's not like structure like
offense, where every piece has to you know, go in place for us
to score. Like defense, we can be successful in the chaotics, you
know, in a chaotic environment, you know, everything doesn't necessarily have to
go right for us in order for us to have success. We just need
to be running to the football with all eleven hats, and essentially some things
come our way just off pure effort and want to and so those are one
of the those are That's That's one of the things I pointed out earlier this
year was just really the level of talent hasn't necessarily changed with Michigan State.
If anything, it's gotten better from some of the recruits that we've had coming
in from the transfer portal and things of that nature. But it's really more
so the desperation, like the will, the want to and and and guys
really scratching and clawing for every single play, every single opportunity, every single
possession. I know that you know otis j U Jason, You guys,
we've all felt the pressure of having somebody just a talent just as talented us,
just as talent as us, right there next to us. That increase
our level of play, within practice, within games, how I prepare,
I walk through everything, and I just think that right now, you know,
we have the level of talent, but it's just not we're not seeing
the level of desperation right now when it comes to making the extra block.
A guy's running away from you, laying out, trying to get a trying
to grab an ankle, trying to get a heel. You know what I'm
saying. When we got a screenplay office, a line in downfield, trying
to be as aggressive as possible at the at the next level. And I
think once we start to fine tune some of those those those little details,
then I mean we can have we can have our way with a lot of
the competition in our in our conference right now, because it's not the fact
that we don't have talent, it's just finding ways to get all that talent
to mesh to where we can be as effective as possible. That's a that's
a great point that you make there, Brow. I have a question to
that, because you talked about, you know, that desperation and that extra
effort and everything. But one thing that I saw, you know, watching
defenses, when I played watching you guys, when you played. Even in
practice, there was a lot of people having fun on the defensive side of
the ball. Yeah, it's fun mean that, you know right now?
Do you think you know, obviously the college game have changed a lot a
little bit, you know, with nil transfer portal and everything. Do you
think people are starting to treat this, especially the guys in the defense,
as a job as opposed to just going out having fun and the next level
was gonna come? What do you think about that? I think the NIL
definitely has has changed the mindsets of a lot of the incoming players. It's
going to change the mindsets of future players where it comes to how they treat
themselves. To see, a lot of players run themselves more like a business
than than an actual amateur athlete. And and then and in some cases that's
okay, uh, But at the end of the day, it's still a
child's game that you pay adults to play, you know. And so the
the love of the game, the love of and passion that comes with football,
it's got to more so be instilled than you I don't think there's something
that actually can just draw you in to want to go run through somebody's face.
You know what I'm saying, like there's no amount of money realistically that
it's gonna just like if you don't necessarily have that direct passion, that's just
gonna all of a sudden give you a passion and want to go, hey
man, look let's go do Oklahoma drill for the rest of the practice.
Like there's you know, it's got to be within you. It's got to
be it's got to be something that's organically built. And I think at the
end of the day, like we have a lot of guys within our locker
room that are actually that are actually built like that and that actually represent what
what spartanation wants them to be. But I think at the end of the
day, right now, we're just not seeing a lot of the guys.
We're just not seeing it happening at happening at critical points of the game as
well as once we start to see a little bit adversity. I remember last
year, one thing I realized and I loved about last year's team is that
like there was times where they got hit in the mouth, Like it wasn't
like, you know, there was we were just blowing guys out and the
fleet Flicker worked every game and things like that. There wasn't you know what
I'm saying, Like, it wasn't a direct like we were just running running
away with things. But when we got hit in the mouth and coach might
call it time out or there was a TV timeout or there was something that
allowed us to regroup. You saw guys not from the coaching perspective, but
from the player perspective. Hey, let's come in, let's bring it in,
let's talk about it. What is going on and why are we not
performing at the high level. And then all of a sudden, when you
saw guys come back together. You see what happened against Michigan. We can
be down in a in a late game and come back against a really good
opponent. Because again, even though I didn't like to see it, I
mean those guys ended up in the college football playoffs, which which which goes
to show that at the end of the day, we have to do every
single detail right in order for us to be successful. We don't have the
type of I would say, the five six star guys where we can just
like hey, man, get out, man, go ahead, and and
let me get you another guy. Now. Obviously we will be there at
at one point we're going to be there at some point. With Tuck and
the way they're recruiting and our breast of their doing things, I have no
doubt that we're going to be able to have that guy that we can just
say, man, hey, you're running four to two, all right,
nowhere I get out. We got we got a four to three guy.
We gonna do just as well with him. And I think, you know,
it's just creating a level of competition within practice, creating a level of
competition within the nil I think at the end of the day, you know,
it doesn't necessarily matter about who's the highest paid guy on the team,
Like you have to create that level of competition within everything you do nowadays,
just because we just see this generation not necessarily be have an attachment to one
single thing, like how we grew up where it's like, all right,
I got my I got my race car, I got my favorite jersey,
I got this, like there's nothing that's gonna separate me from that. Where
we're in this generation now with so many options that they have at their disposal,
like it's it's hard to get them to buy in collectively over the long
term. And then they's then so for coaches, they have to find creative
ways to increase that level of competition every single day and that's what's gonna draw
guys in and that's what's gonna help build camaraderie. So I think at the
end of the day, we have the right coaches in mind to do that.
It's just got to be it's gotta be something that's that's honed in on
every single day, and it's realistically, it's got to come from the players,
because I mean, this coaching staff has produced players at everywhere they go.
And you know, I see a guy like Harlon Barnett Otis you've been
you've been in the same room with him. You understand how detail he is.
You understand how you know he's extremely No, this is what I'm saying,
he's extremely detailed. I've seen guys. I've seen guys that that that
have might not even have had a shot to make our roster get with him,
and they are now playing at a high level or even on Sundays.
And so for for us, what's different, you know what I'm saying,
Like, what what's what's extremely different from a guy that has produced you know,
at least three first rounders that I know of, and then all of
a sudden a handful of guys that are still competing at a high level.
There should be no there should be no drastic drop off like how it has
been, how like how it's been the last two years. And so I
mean, obviously that's a combination of just a connection between players and coach.
But then also that that's that also goes back to players and and reallyasically buying
in and wanting to be extra and do extra and and set aside. Man
Like when once you get that money in college, it's hard, it's hard
for guys to really like like buy in, Like it's hard for them to
really see another level of success. I would say, like like your future.
You feel what I'm saying, Like one thing about us we knew,
Okay, if I do well with this, if I if I, if
I listen to my coaches, if we perform well as a team, the
higher our team goes, the more opportunities each one of us individually get.
Like then that's where people don't understand it, Like we might have an NL
guy or an ni L guy over here making this amount of money, but
then you might have this the guy that plays directly next to him trying to
find for food. So at the end of the day, it's it's a
lot different now, and I think you just have to find creative ways to
to build camaraderie as well as increase competition. Now you said something there,
Darella, minute ago, you talked about you know what's gonna make you want
to run through somebody's face, right, And now that to me is the
only the only place on the planet where you can convunt down the V word,
and that's violence, right, is on the football field. And that
there's no weight classes, there's really not. There's some limitations of what you
can do. Obviously you can't kick people, throw people around, but you
can do it just about everything else to people in that game. And and
having even on the offensive side of the ball, you know, for being
a good offensive lineman, you have to play what we call on the verge
of a rage, right. You got to be controlled but almost raging.
You know, defense, it's like junkyard dog mentality out there. You want
to try to stay in your lane a little bit, but you got to
you got to be that guy almost like a Tasmanian devil, like to be
unblockable where it's like, Okay, this guy's violence at the end of the
day. But if you're just you know, and I don't know if it's
the nil, if it's neutral thinking, if it's the way kids are right
now, but you're talking about finding a creative way. What is is it
that was within you that you said, you know what, like besides maybe
like getting motivated for the future of the NFL, I think if you took
that away, you still was gonna beat you. You're still gonna have to
get off that was still gonna have to beat the center guard to the to
the point of attack and get to the quarterback. So what is it that
you had in your mental makeup before you got the missign state that allowed you
to propel through college ranks and into the NFL. To be honest with you,
man, I was blessed to play with a lot of great players,
and I think, you know, I had a great mindset, but there
was a lot of players that helped me like really shape and grown my mentality
until to actually to actually grow the confidence to know I can be at that
level, you know, from a high school level. I think you know,
I was able to play with guys that went to Ohio State, Michigan
State, I mean Cincinnati. I mean, you know, Coach D was
coming from Cincinnati. So there was other recruits that were, you know,
a part of the regime before me that helped groom that mindset and mentality.
And then really it's realistically an important factor was I mean my parents were My
parents struggled, you know, I think I realized that, you know,
when I first got to Michigan State, I had to I had to sit
out a while just because of some transcripts and in a in a school that
wanted funding or not funding, but money I would say old tuition that I
owed, so they wouldn't allow me to be a part of Michigan State even
though I was on campus. I actually had to sit away from the team
for a while. Uh. Going through those hardships my parents, uh,
things of that nature that would that helped, like I would say, grow
my my will to fight, uh and and understand that nothing was given.
Coach D sticking by me when I had a torn a c l during my
senior year and still giving me an opportunity to come up to Michigan State,
knowing that at that time I would still damage goods. And you know,
he gave me an opportunity to to to still live out my dream. I
think, uh never taken something like that for granted. Actually helped increase my
mentality. But then once I got to Michigan State, Man, you're talking
about you know Kershaw, you got Trevor, Trevor Anderson, You've got Warren
Wilson, Kyler Nilly, You've got, you got you know, Greg Jones.
I mean, b long we've had. There was guys that were legitimately
in front of me that helped like create that dog because even though we actually
worked well as a defensive line, we were in such competition with each other
that I mean, I mean, to be honest with you, we would
be in the meetings rooms like man, you got finished, you got folded,
I mean, and we would just always compete against each other on an
everyday basis. I mean, my talent, my talent was on display.
But I mean, to be honest with you, I have to credit a
lot of my teammates around me that helped mold and shape my mentality. Man,
I think you know, talent, what's talent is what got me to
the front door. But my ability to to adapt and learn and grow into
a skill and really displayed by my teammates before me is what actually helped propel
me to that next level and be sustainable at the next level. And what
yearsually come in again? So I came Yeah, I came in in two
thousand and eight. Uh, you guys were coming off the Bowl game with
with Matt Ryan and in Boston College. Yeah, I watched that game.
Man, I ain't gonna lie it. I was. I was on crutches
and an immobilizer watching that game. I was supposed to go down and to
Florida and watch it. And what was so funny is my aunt went to
the game without me, Like, my look, they hit me with this
man and I'm talking about they were they were going and they sent me picks
from the game and I'm at the house and all all laid up. And
so I mean, man, I definitely I came in in O eight.
I had an opportunity to stay one final year in twenty twelve, but I
opted out to kind of have an opportunity to pursue my dreams. Man.
But I think, to be honest with you, I miss college so much.
I just miss just the pure obviously it's not as pure now. I
would say it's a little bit more saturated now just because of you know,
obviously the nil. But realistically, I just missed every part of the process
man, that that we went through, and there was a lot of life
lessons that I was able to learn during my time on that campus that that
actually shaped me into the man I am today and allows me to go in
other spaces and and be dominant. You know, every Michigan State spartan that
I've met outside of football or in a different environment and setting the same fundamentals
that that we've learned, the same mindset, the same spartans will never die
thing is is really uh, it really resonates in a lot of Michigan State
alumni across this country. So I would say I've been I made a great
decision man, being a part of a great, great, great program,
great organization like Michigan State. Sure you real quick. So you know,
we we started this podcast because we all know it. Football is life is
bigger than football. So we started because you know, it's the familiar voices
of guys who were the Green and White, went through the highs and lows.
Yeah, every year you have injuries and try to battle tests and go
through stuff. But well, like talk about what you're doing now in your
profession. You know, your working your work nine to five, but you
know entrepreneurship because I know you always you got things cooking. But kind of
tell spartanation and tell like what you're doing right now? Uh yeah, man.
So since transitioning from the NFL, I've officially retired in twenty twenty,
but now I had an opportunity to work with an NFL transition program called Ascending
Athletes. And one of the great things about that is they have an opportunity
to get you connected with several different Fortune five hundred companies and and so you
have an opportunity to interview with these guys, share your dreams, your goals,
and things of that nature of what you want to do. And I
have the privilege to getting connected with Key with. Key with is a national
engineering contractor, which you know, obviously you would have to talk to a
guy like Ross Weaver that we went to school with. He went you know
what I'm saying, Like, like Ross went to school for engineering. I
technically don't have an engineering background, but the a lot of the skill sets
a lot of the processes in which we've learned throughout sports. The ability to
speak, the ability to see, uh, to meet a challenge head on
is a is really a lot of the characteristics that a lot of companies are
looking for at the next level. And so UH for me, it was
really a blessing to have an opportunity to interview with these guys and and so
for now I do a lot of business development for this contractor in key with
in which we are working on increasing our stadium, our stadium infrastructure footprints.
So for us, we UH so that is that essentially means building stadiums and
so our company did sofar stadium out in l A, Arizona Cardinals h Gillette
Stadium as well in in in New England. And so it's it's a it's
a growing market that what sports has really taken over the world. So a
lot of people need to understand there's so much investment in the sports, women's
sports, UH, sports that have had a that have kind of been bottom
of the barrel and now rising to the top. I mean, you see
Lebron James, Tom Brady and those guys investing in places sports like pickleball.
You start to see the Women's National Soccer League increasing and having you know,
stadiums that are specifically for for women's soccer. And for me, I'm learning
and I'm learning, uh I'm learning about sports from a from a completely different
vantage point. Where I used to be in the arena, I would have
my helmet on. I used to be the attraction. I used to be
the one that you know, people come to see. And now I'm finding
out ways to help connect you know, my company and what I do now
to to other uh to I would say fans, and and really just learn
what that whole process takes and and and realistically the amount of effort it takes
to actually put on just a performance like a college game or NFL game and
things of that nature. And there's so many people involved that that like contribute
to just you know, our success. And so at the end of the
day, like I'm real humbled to be in this space. I'm I understand
that, you know, I don't get there's not a lot of guys that
have an opportunity to transition in the in the field that I'm in. And
so really right now, I'm just doing the very best that I can to
learn and and really take a lot of the tools and trades that I have
with football, the ability to communicate, the ability to work with people that
you have never met before, because that's really what football is. I mean,
we all come from different communities and backgrounds, but for some strange reason
we end up working well together and and finding ways to be successful, whether
or not, whether it was you know, from and it and it doesn't
really matter about how we were raised. You know what our parents cook for
us. I mean we had a dude on the on the on our football
team Hoover. I know he never ate a cheeseburger before, like at Michigan,
Like my man never ate a cheeseburger. And now I'm when he when
he told me that though, Man, I'm not gonna lie. I can't.
I can't forget it this day. Man, it was like, Man,
I never had a cheeseburger. We were like in year three, but
this dude was take him to get a cheeseburger? Well, what was man?
Say that? One more time? Was? No? No one dad
was? They want dad was? But I didn't. I didn't take him
to get a cheeseburger yet. Man, But I know that I know that
he needed one though he definitely need well who's no, but because what's funny
about who? Though? Who would literally go from like a big, offensive,
tidi end looking guy to all of a sudden, we'd be in the
summer and he'd have a whole six pack And I know, like it would
it would just be astonishing to coach Mannig and Jeff and Sally and all those
guys in the training room, Like how he was able to drop way cut
way and I guess, shoot, he uh never had a cheeseburger, so
he can do what he can do whatever he wanted. But just to stay
on topic, man, like you know, I know that, you know,
I had an opportunity to just transition to a whole new space and learning
sports from a different perspective, from a more business like perspective. Realistically,
my goal is I would love to be a general manager one day of a
of a of a professional team and and honestly give a guy an opportunity to
live out his dreams like mine, just because I've been through a ton of
experiences from being a high draft pick to having to go to another team and
proving yourself to you know, being with the Buffalo Bills three years and my
first year was there with Rex Ryan and Rex was like, you know,
hey, man, listen, you're working so damn hard in practice. I
gotta play you. So I got at night and just like you know,
just from a guy that that is known for hard work, that's known for
like stepping up and coming to you know, with his lush pail, Like,
just to hear that and receive that opportunity was was really it was really
a humble moment for me. So I want to be able to do that
at some point in time in my life. But as far as recreational things,
and I'm just hanging out with my family. My son is hope he
eas either the next I don't know next, Jerry Rice, next, you
know, quarterback, because he loves offense. I'm not gonna lie to he
ever since I've had him out on my seven on seven teams and traveling.
He loves offense. He loves the scores, he loves all the little things
they do over he loves all that. He loves doing the gritty and everything.
So you know, for that man, just you know, recreational time,
man, I just spend as much time with my family as possible and
trying to enjoy as many moments as we can. And like I said,
I've got a youth program Metro seven that I work hand in hand with with
Aarren Wilson, and we just try to give kids opportunities to compete. Man,
I think kids really need out outlets nowadays, like direct outlets, and
we just trying to give him that dro Like you you mentioned that NFL Transition
the program there, that's something that doesn't get enough credit. I was the
product of that pro gram as well, you know, transitioning from playing to
the professional world, and it definitely helped me get to where I'm at now.
But you know, that's something a lot of athletes, you know,
need to realize that the game is gonna end at some point and those networking
and those connections, you know, is going to go a long ways.
You mentioned Rex Ryan. I was fortunate to have him as a coach with
the Jeffs. And then you mentioned Buffalo. You know, what is there
not to love about Buffalo? That's just sprinkle a little love on Bill's Mafia,
all right. Got to man, listen, it's one of the best
places in the world. When I say, you know, I was world
Listen, I want you to understand as far as a guy that's playing in
a city like that, you know in college, man, everybody roots for
you there. I mean I'm talking about there's tailgates for hours. I was
fortunate enough to play with two organizations in the National Football League that were similar
to that, with Green Bay and Buffalo. Like when you have these all
are smaller cities, I mean, people are a little bit more intimately drawn
into your success, like your highs, your loans, like they feel they're
directly a part of that. So you know, when I was a part
of the team that went back to the playoffs after I mean what it was
like a drought of like seventeen years. Yeah, we were like the highest
drive. It was like, you know, just to see that and embrace,
you know, the fans in the community, knowing how close a lot
of those teams were, it was a great feeling. And so man,
I mean you got they I mean there's they've got w W E type things
out there with the chairs and the tables, and I mean like when you
walk across like the RV lot and the tailgate lot, I mean it's like
a I don't know, it's like a mosh pit like it's it's like,
man, I'm telling you, if you if you're not, if you're not
wearing Bill's mafia gear, and then you're definitely gonna be in for a world
of trouble. But it's it's a it's a it's an atmosphere like no other.
And they travel well. So wherever ever we're playing, they're trying to
sell out the stadium. They're gonna actually gonna ship their own beard. It's
homegrown from Buffalo like out to the spot too. So and they're on tables.
Don't ship too hey. Look and then and then wherever they go,
they will buy out all the tables too. No. So look that when
we when they played last year for the playoffs, where was the can I
think they played in Kansas City City, all of the tables were bought out
from all the walmarts locally, like they bought all the volding tables, just
just ready to celebrate and break those things down. So, I mean,
I'm a Oltis. I'm telling you need we need that, a Spartan and
he's telling you, I'm telling you they do things at a at a much
different level. And it's I mean, I mean, it's still safe.
But you know, I mean, I'm not gonna say it's not safe,
not a safe environment, but it's it's uh, it's a rowdy environment.
It's kind of like a uh, excuse me, like a w WE wrestling
type raw type Monday night like crazy ordeals they get, they get, you
say, a seventeen year playoff drought. And still this fan base was that
connected. That rabbit about the Bills exactly, I mean, and I'm talking
about I mean, they're connected from every part of your life, man,
from you know, the success with your kids at school to you know,
the things that you do in the community. You know, one thing about
it is you got to understand, like realistically, the real true fans of
Buffalo are actually downtown Buffalo where it originally started. And so a lot of
these a lot of our supporters are in you know, i would say underserved
communities, urban communities, and you know where the original rock power was with
OJ Simpson and things like that. They understand and remember the actual glory days
of the Buffalo Bills. Then you go out to where they at where they
are now in Orchard Park and Jim Kelly going to the Super Bowl four years
in a row, like I mean, they remember a lot of the highs
and then they remember a lot of the lows too, though I can't lie
to you so as far as just to see where they they are now and
actually having a quarterback for the next fifteen twenty years and that I mean just
some of the things that he's doing at that level is outstanding. Yeah.
And one last thing we saw, I know, we got to let you
go here, but you you hit on it a little bit there, and
that's we see in youth sports. You know, there's a lot of darkness
over youth sports. People get into youth sports for the wrong reasons. You
get these you know, former players or not even former players, guys that
wish to play are running these youth organizations and you know, misusing these kids
and treating this kids. I want to compliment you because I follow along and
you know to you know, your the Metro Yes, Metro seven, yep,
Metro seven League, and I listened to the videos and stuff. You
were teaching these kids life lessons and you know, I really appreciate that and
it goes a long ways. And you know that, Big ups to you,
Big ups to Oran Wilson. Uh, you know, that's a great
thing for all. Like the the other stuff that goes on youth sports,
you guys are doing it right and preparing these kids. Big up to you
for that, man, well, thank you. At the end of the
day, I wouldn't be standing here without a without a Harlan Barnett, without
a tag Guild, without a you know, NARDOZI, without a coach d
I mean, I wouldn't be standing here without guys like you know, pulling
me to the side and talking to me about how my how, my how,
like writing out my goals are important or actually wanting to do something well
for my family. And so I think at the end of the day,
kids don't, especially this generation, don't understand the type of power that they
have at their disposal. So if we can just essentially teach these kids how
to use their platform and the right way, how to consume the proper content,
like not just crazy content, but how they can like really consume things
that are going to help them at the next level, then I mean,
if we get one or two kids that are that are better than us,
and we've done our job, and you grown up brother, in a minute,
it's been it's been a minute. Oh It's good to see real man.
That was a fantastic man. I'm coming up there this weekend. Oh,
Man, I'm coming up. I'm hanging out. Look you up good?
What's up good? I think so, I think I might be.
But regardless, I'm hanging with y'all boys, So we don't. Man.
Great opportunity is great homecoming, man, So I'm excited to see you guys
for sure, all right, Man, can't wait. Looking forward to it.
Yes, sir, guy up. Man. We speak for not only
ourselves with the rest of Spartans. Man. Extremely proud of you and the
man you can come. Man. Good luck to you as you continue in
your career and taking care of that beautiful family of yours. Man, Yo,
thank you guys so much. Thank you guys so much. Man,
y'all my boys forever, Man, sar, I got terrible times. Wait
for you, bro, Keep and you know, and keep at the Sparting
Dog dinner, keep going man keeping. Yeah, yeah, all right,
fellas, all right, brother, take care man. Great interview. Man
drell Worthy Uh definitely spartan legendary defensive lineman, pass rush extraordinary and has gone
on the transition in life. Is still winning the game. Definitely, definitely
is uh, you know, a great player, great person. What he's
become that you know, you, like Otis said, you know, man,
you've grown up. It's just that maturation process that you see and you
just can't help. But chair you know, your former teammates, your former
dogs, you know, on when you see them, you know, having
success and doing well. Big ups to him. Really appreciate him coming down.
I really appreciate him shining light on Bill's mafia too. So you guys
can know that. Hey, oh man, so so you's not alone here,
tell us how great that fan base is. Right? So yeah,
so you hit, you hit a thing there. All right. So let
me tell you this my first game, because I was with the Niners and
went to Buffalo. Buffalo was one in seven and we played the Lions or
the no. We played the Browns. The Browns were zero to eight that
year. It was a cold November game, snow. The field had a
sheet of ice. If you fall, it's gonna cut you and rip your
skin up. I go up there, I'm like, man, this is
and I grew up in Buffalo, but I forgot. I was out a
little bit. Forgot went out there on you know forgetting ran out the tunnel
sold out seventy five thousand fans there win or lose their riding, and that's
why we need to have a program that rides win or lose, and you
learn from experience. See spartanation. Jayu was speaking from experience. That's all.
I'm not saying you're wrong, but he's not wrong either. Like listen
reason as Darrell was when he came in, because I remember when he came
in. But ju, do you remember when we went to in two thousand
seven we went to go play wisconcept and do you remember what we got back
and what Coach D did to us in the locker room? Do you remember
it? I remember at when we were going to the game and dancing.
I remember that. No, So that was that was great though, because
Coach D was like, you know, I remember he prepped us. You
know when they played jump around, So I better see everybody on the sideline
jumping around. You see, coach we jump around. That's the Oh,
so this is what happened. That the defense was on the field when that
single thing end of the third four, So it's doing looking out there,
defense is going people crip walking, getting it so I'm like, I'm on
the sideline right and we're down seven at this point, and I think it
was they're like, this is this is our song. So they started dancing
and it was like Dan's Battles. So I was like, man, I
got to find my way into this. And so I'm on the sideline and
I'm getting it, and I think I start I don't know how to I'm
trying. I'm trying, and then all of a sudden, Coach d because
you know how coach he can flip that switch. He said, he said
till you and I was like, oh, man, I've done it now.
I look at him and he's like, listen, listen. So this
is where Coach de can flip the switch. This was like, this is
what he taught us getting it out on the field, is that you got
to turn it off, turn it on right. So we lose the game.
We should have one name. When we lost the game. We come
back and I believe it was Sunday. It was that Sunday when we report
back in to watch film. I remember he brought everybody into the locker room
and was like, basically, the reason why we're losing this, we're losing.
What we're doing this is look at the locker room. Look around.
I mean the locker room was atrocious like it was it was, I mean
you had dirty draws, socks everywhere, like it was so dirty. And
he was like, it's about the attention to detail. And when you think
about it, man, like Coach D was training us man for like,
well beyond this obviously game that we just lost to his content and going to
the next week. But we're like, man, Coach D cared about a
small things so much where he just preached it. But he was like we
in here like he's like this being better be speaking man before we go out
there to the practice field and everybody clean it up. You know how you
you can tell your parents to go clean your room. Throwing stuff up this
debate, everybody throwing this stuff. I remember you walking around looking at it
expecting and like he was, your house got to be clean, right,
the house got to be clean. So when we go out like we are
a well oil machine in our in our program is we had the respect that
it's supposed to have. And I really applaud Coach D on that because he
took a lot of bandage right, like guys who were just be it,
just battered, switched the switch the mindset, and I honestly feel like we
got to go back to the basics right now to turn the tide. Is
that let's go back to the basis where we were having fun, but like,
let's figure out some things we got to pluck out to get back on
track. That's why I wanted to tell that story because I remember we were
all looking like, man, this dude is crazy, right, nuts and
low key coach. Here was a pool shark. Remember he come in hunting,
running in the locker room. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he did
hang out. He did. Man if if if Gambler was allowed, he
would have he would have stole a lot of people's money, man, right,
yeah, oh man, Hey guys, great show man. You know,
look ju before we put a bow on it, and do you have
any final comments, just you know, Spartan's got to come out. I
think this is a very winnable game for us. We have to, like
I said, thorn and receivers have to be communicate well, we have to
run the football. Offensive line have to have that mindset of protect and get
downfield, protect or get downfield and defensively let's just play with some confidence.
Let's play with some confidence. Let's jump around and let's have fun. Let's
have fun. What do we have to lose? What do we have to
lose? Have fun out there, Spartanation, come out, chair on the
guys, and let's get after it. I love it and I know this
is again Spartanation, come out. This is homecoming, another great time of
year. We're gonna have the parade starting on Friday. We're gonna have a
Spartan Dog Dinner on Saturday night. Hope to get out there and see some
of the guys. And you know, we're gonna be honoring some people at
the Spartan Dog dinner, you know, Is that right? Otis? That's
right, man, We're gonna be honoring some legends who who were I mean
technically was our head coach. Throughout all the years of all the coaching changing
and all the staffs coming in coming out, there was one guy who were
man and we all know it. Uh is our our strength, strength and
conditioning coach, coach Manning. So we're looking forward to it, to seeing
him. We haven't seen him in a while, loving on him, giving
him hugs and his family as well. And so you know, one thing
is for this game, man, it's let's just have fun. Like let's
everyone needs to see the fun too, Like, let's just have fun.
To Jame's point, nothing to lose mentality, us against the world, Spartan
nation, stand up. Uh, if you're on the team, be on
the team. But if you're not, get off the bus. And it's
true, it's true. Let's be with us. Let's rob and die.
It's like bad Boys for life. Love it, love it, gentlemen.
All right, that'll put a bow on this episode. Uh And for Otis
Wiley and Jay Cochern, Jason Straighthorn, this is Sparta. Have a good
night, God blessing, go breath my head that time, my dad,
do you know how put time