1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:06,040 The Florida Football Insiders podcast is presented by BIFO Brady's Here in Tampa located at 2 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:10,279 the corner of Bush Boulevard and Himes Avenue, as well as Home Slice Pizza 3 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:21,399 Company and Hanks Barbecue. Enjoy the podcast look at college football news, analysis 4 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:26,960 and insight from around the Sunshine State. This is Florida Football Insiders, a 5 00:00:27,079 --> 00:00:31,199 part of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast netfors and here's your host, 6 00:00:31,399 --> 00:00:39,759 Jason Powers. Welcome into our Bowls edition college football Playoff edition of the Florida 7 00:00:39,799 --> 00:00:45,039 Football Insiders. We are part of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast network. 8 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:49,520 I'm your host, Jason down in Tampa. Want to thank This podcast 9 00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:55,079 is presented by BIFO Brady's, Home Slice, Pia Pizza and the Hanks Barbecue 10 00:00:55,119 --> 00:00:59,000 Here in the Tampa Bay area. BFO Brady is located at the corner of 11 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:03,079 Bush Boulevard and Himes Avenue. You didn't want to thank our sponsors for being 12 00:01:03,079 --> 00:01:07,480 involved with us all throughout the college football season. As we are wrapping up 13 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:12,560 to college twenty twenty two college football season, we are in the thralls of 14 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:17,959 bowl season. New Year's Day coming up on Sunday, still gonna have you 15 00:01:18,079 --> 00:01:23,359 got your college football playoff semifinal matchups coming up on Saturday night, New Year's 16 00:01:23,359 --> 00:01:27,760 Eve. You got your National championship game will be Monday, January the ninth. 17 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:32,920 You get they get about a ten day, nine day break at between 18 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:37,319 the semifinals. In the finals, got Georgia and Ohio State will be playing 19 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:42,359 in Atlanta, and then you have Michigan and TCU will be playing out in 20 00:01:42,439 --> 00:01:48,840 Glendale, Arizona. So two semifinal matchups Saturday afternoons start at four pm. 21 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,879 We are gonna give you a preview of those two games. We're gonna talk, 22 00:01:52,959 --> 00:01:56,840 we gotta get. We got some three excellent guests for you this week. 23 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:01,000 We're gonna also talk recruiting signing days. Just the early signing day in 24 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:05,280 December is just wrapped up a couple of weeks ago, and we're gonna get 25 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:10,199 a little update on the recruiting classes at UCF, Florida State as well as 26 00:02:10,319 --> 00:02:15,599 USF. We're gonna talk to Joey Johnston new Covers is a sideline reporter and 27 00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:20,280 a longtime media member here in the Temp Bay. We're gonna talk to Joey 28 00:02:20,319 --> 00:02:23,599 about the new Hire, Alex Galesh, the new head coach at USF and 29 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:28,439 their signing day. We're gonna talk to Matt Michelle from The Orlando Sentinel. 30 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:34,080 Matt covers UCF and FSU. We're gonna hit on the signing dates for both 31 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:38,240 of those schools, the transfer portal, and Florida State's upcoming bowl game on 32 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:43,479 Thursday versus Oklahoma, which is going to be in Orlando as well. And 33 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:47,360 then we're obviously we're gonna lead off this podcast talking to coach Jim Levitt coach. 34 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:53,000 We're gonna talk to coach about recruiting, signing day, bowl preparations. 35 00:02:53,319 --> 00:02:57,000 You know, all the different things that go into preparing for a bowl game, 36 00:02:57,039 --> 00:03:00,599 whether you're playing for a national title, whether you're playing for a bowl 37 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:05,240 game. You know, the dealing with the transfer portal, recruiting, all 38 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:09,120 the things that go into this process that these coaches are all going through here 39 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:14,199 in the month of December and early January. So action packed episode. I 40 00:03:14,199 --> 00:03:15,439 think you'll enjoy it. Again, we're trying to hit all parts of the 41 00:03:15,439 --> 00:03:20,639 state of Florida again. We're part of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast 42 00:03:20,759 --> 00:03:24,000 network. If you haven't already done, so hit subscribe it on your podcast 43 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:29,719 platform and you'll subscribe to this podcast. I also host the Powers on Sports 44 00:03:29,759 --> 00:03:32,759 podcasts as well as the No Quarter Given podcast. If you're a Tampa Bay 45 00:03:32,759 --> 00:03:38,120 Buccaneers football fan, we talk No Quarter Given, All bucks. If you're 46 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:42,840 a sports fan in general sports media, we talk all things sports on the 47 00:03:42,919 --> 00:03:46,879 Powers on Sports podcasts. So again, appreciate you finding us Twitter handles at 48 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:51,400 JPO Sports. If you have any comments, I love to hear from you. 49 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:54,800 And again, you're gonna enjoy the podcast. Jim Levitt's former head coach 50 00:03:54,879 --> 00:04:00,319 University South Florida, Joey Johnston, media member here in the Tampa area, 51 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:04,319 and Matt Michelle from the Orlando Sentinel breaking down recruiting into bowl season in the 52 00:04:04,319 --> 00:04:11,240 college football playoffs. So enjoy the podcast and we'll be back in just a 53 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:15,639 couple of minutes with coach Jim Levitt. College football fans, we know that 54 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,439 the season is winding down. Bowl games are in the near future as well 55 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:24,199 as the college football playoff, and we know you're looking for the best seats 56 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:30,040 at the most competitive prices. 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You can use it 69 00:05:23,759 --> 00:05:28,160 as many times as you'd like during the college football season to see the biggest 70 00:05:28,199 --> 00:05:32,560 games left to be played. Check out the selections pricing now with tickets Smarter 71 00:05:32,959 --> 00:05:39,600 and remember our code Gridiron twenty two think smarter tickets, Smarter all right, 72 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:44,360 welcome back Florida Football Insiders Podcasts. We're happy to be joined again by coach 73 00:05:44,439 --> 00:05:48,000 Jim Levitt. Coach Lett Mary Christmas, Hope you had a good holiday with 74 00:05:48,079 --> 00:05:55,040 your girls. Merry Christmas. Yes, it was busy. You know, 75 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:59,879 Christmas is a huge holiday. You know, Christ is born, very power 76 00:06:00,079 --> 00:06:05,439 full day and then then the gifts and the gifts seem to take pressing over 77 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:11,720 everything and that's a big deal, that's for sure. With my girls, 78 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:15,399 it's a big deal. Talk about talk about during the holidays when you were 79 00:06:15,439 --> 00:06:18,000 a coach, both in the NFL and college, how did you work around, 80 00:06:18,519 --> 00:06:20,519 you know, just the holidays. And I'm sure in the NFL you 81 00:06:20,519 --> 00:06:25,319 had you didn't probably play on Christmas, but you had practice up until Christmas 82 00:06:25,319 --> 00:06:28,439 Eve, things like that. How did you handle just the personal life things 83 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:30,959 of shopping a little bit, you know, getting some stuff for your girls 84 00:06:30,959 --> 00:06:34,079 and for your family and just those kind of things. Balancing that was still 85 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:39,240 your coaching responsibilities. No, it's very difficult for all coaches, and it's 86 00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:43,120 one of the things that is kind of sad. Thanksgiving. I never saw 87 00:06:43,199 --> 00:06:47,000 Thanksgiving, you know, really, because you're always playing or you're so involved 88 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:50,600 with game planning. Usually had that day. You might eat a meal, 89 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:56,920 ye to your family for a few hours, but that's it. And especially 90 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,240 the last sumber of years when I was gone, you know that that time 91 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:06,160 was tough. Christmas same way because usually bowl games or you're traveling, like 92 00:07:06,279 --> 00:07:13,319 last year, I was at SMU. We were set to travel the day 93 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:17,319 after Christmas to go to Boston. Well we found out on the twenty sixth 94 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:21,600 that Virginia was not going to play in the bowl game because of COVID, 95 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:30,519 so that completely canceled the Bowl. I was in a car that day. 96 00:07:30,879 --> 00:07:35,079 I packed up everything and Dallas and drove to Tampa. Wow. You know, 97 00:07:35,199 --> 00:07:41,680 really missed Christmas last year. So it's very difficult for coaches, very 98 00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:45,160 difficult for families all that. A lot of times you'd like to incorporate that 99 00:07:45,199 --> 00:07:48,720 into the bowl game, and if you have an understanding family and understanding wife, 100 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:53,439 then it works. If you don't, it doesn't. It doesn't work 101 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:57,680 right for the kids. When you guys are at bowl season this time of 102 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:01,399 the year, do you give the kids a couple of days off before Christmas? 103 00:08:01,639 --> 00:08:03,680 Let's say you have a bowl game in New Year's Obviously, most teams 104 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:07,720 probably meet a day or two after Christmas to get back prep prepping for the 105 00:08:07,759 --> 00:08:11,240 New Year's bowl game. Do you give them a couple of days off and 106 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:13,040 is it their responsibility to get to the bowl game? Do they get a 107 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:18,279 perdem or do you guys all meet back in your central campus to travel together. 108 00:08:18,279 --> 00:08:24,360 I always have everybody traveling together because I was concerned about something happening right 109 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:28,199 either, you know, you just don't know when you have everybody traveling on 110 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:33,480 their own, are they gonna get their own time or are they're gonna be 111 00:08:33,519 --> 00:08:37,679 there is something gonna happen? Is you worry about a lot of different things. 112 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:41,519 So I always went on the side of safety. Now the problem with 113 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:46,000 that is and recruiting other coaches that will use head against you, because other 114 00:08:46,279 --> 00:08:52,240 coaches in bowl games they'll let their own they'll they'll let everybody travel to the 115 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:56,120 site and meet there because they can make a lot more money because they can't 116 00:08:56,120 --> 00:09:03,600 get their own flights. It's just, you know, it's just it's a 117 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:05,600 balancing act. Yeah, it's a balancing act. Yep. Yeah, it 118 00:09:05,639 --> 00:09:09,480 just depends on if you want to get more money to the players and more 119 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:13,960 autonomy as far as getting there and not. I don't know what most coaches 120 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:18,320 do now, I would imagine a lot of them. Maybe it's split, 121 00:09:18,639 --> 00:09:20,720 you know, depending on the bowl game where it's at all. Right, 122 00:09:20,879 --> 00:09:24,519 let's talk about recruiting. You mentioned recruiting. Obviously, the signing day was 123 00:09:24,519 --> 00:09:28,399 a couple of a week or so back. Interesting, a couple of weeks 124 00:09:28,399 --> 00:09:31,720 back. Interesting. Now the NC double A is in the last several years 125 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:35,480 they've created two signing days, an early signing day in December and then the 126 00:09:35,519 --> 00:09:39,600 traditional one in February. How did that? How did you like? Do 127 00:09:39,639 --> 00:09:43,759 you like that concept now having two different days or were you? Would you 128 00:09:43,799 --> 00:09:48,279 prefer to all be done one day. That way you can spend all your 129 00:09:48,279 --> 00:09:50,279 time and then you can move on to the next thing. As being a 130 00:09:50,279 --> 00:09:54,000 coach, well, I'm kind of old school, so you know, I 131 00:09:54,039 --> 00:09:58,000 always like the one signed date and that's it. However, the one nice 132 00:09:58,039 --> 00:10:01,600 thing about the early days you get a lot of things out of the way. 133 00:10:01,639 --> 00:10:05,519 A lot of these players are they know where they're gonna go. You 134 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:09,360 know, you don't want to waste any more time on the phone traveling go 135 00:10:09,399 --> 00:10:11,120 and see kids if they're if you're not going to get them right. And 136 00:10:11,399 --> 00:10:16,799 sometimes these players can kind of keep you, you know, on the hook 137 00:10:16,799 --> 00:10:20,840 a little bit, and cause you spent a lot of time with those guys 138 00:10:20,879 --> 00:10:24,320 that are number one or two or three people on your board, and you're 139 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:26,759 losing ground with number four or five or six on your board, you know. 140 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:31,120 So one thing it does, it cleans up your board. It allows 141 00:10:31,159 --> 00:10:33,799 people to make decisions where they're gonna go, and it has has you. 142 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:37,000 Now you have the ability to kind of regroup a little bit. You know, 143 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:43,039 have you met your needs? What has changed? Who did you get? 144 00:10:43,639 --> 00:10:46,080 And you know your staff can kind of come back together and and really 145 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:52,200 focus in on those fire six guys you have to get. Now, those 146 00:10:52,240 --> 00:10:56,840 guys are getting really hit because all these goals are in the same position, 147 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:01,720 and so now they're gonna they're gonn to really go after those those some of 148 00:11:01,720 --> 00:11:07,039 those guys and they wait for that second sign period get hammered so hard because 149 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:13,720 everybody because everything else, all the dust is cleared right, and they're all 150 00:11:13,799 --> 00:11:16,559 going after you hard. So but it cleans it up. Yeah, there 151 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:20,960 was one, there was a couple of steal Obviously you hear stories on recruiting 152 00:11:20,039 --> 00:11:24,399 every year, but there was one high profile kid this year that had committed 153 00:11:24,399 --> 00:11:26,759 to Notre Dame, then could then he committed to Oregon, and then he 154 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:31,919 ended up at Oklahoma, all within a twenty four hour period on signing day. 155 00:11:31,159 --> 00:11:35,759 How frustrating for you as a coach or exciting for you if you're the 156 00:11:35,799 --> 00:11:39,440 recipient of that kid, or if you're the kid that you're the school that 157 00:11:39,519 --> 00:11:43,480 loses a kid like that that has told you for three months or two months, 158 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:45,879 hey, I'm coming to your school, I'm coming to play for you, 159 00:11:45,919 --> 00:11:48,360 then he changes his mind at the last minute, or you're the beneficiary 160 00:11:48,399 --> 00:11:50,440 of it. A kid you've been working hard and all of a sudden he 161 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:56,919 flips to you. It's it's really stressful. You know, you've worked on 162 00:11:56,960 --> 00:12:01,000 some of these guys for years, not months. Yeah. Um, I 163 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:05,240 mean you bring somebody the table that committed to you, you're you're all set, 164 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:09,879 and then you lose them. That's stuffs, you know, And emotionally 165 00:12:09,879 --> 00:12:15,120 it's tough because you've you gained such a relationship, right I only him, 166 00:12:15,120 --> 00:12:18,039 but his family, his friends, all his teachers at the school, the 167 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:22,919 principal, everybody. You know, you to get a high profile athlete, 168 00:12:22,919 --> 00:12:28,279 you gotta you gotta, you gotta throw your time. Yea, you know 169 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:33,399 the uncle that might be two states away, You know who is that who 170 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:37,440 is that person that's really helping that player with the decision, and you got 171 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:41,360 to find out who they are and make sure you get close to them. 172 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:45,240 So it's shortly or hard. Um. Obviously, if you flip somebody to 173 00:12:45,399 --> 00:12:50,159 you, it's great, but you know, in the end, you work 174 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:52,679 your tail off, you try to stay away from the emotion of it all, 175 00:12:54,559 --> 00:12:58,480 and you you realize that you're not going to know how good these guys 176 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:03,039 are for year. Anyway, you're us sometimes two years, and really, 177 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:07,399 if coaches are honest and these services ask you, how do your class look 178 00:13:07,480 --> 00:13:11,120 this year, every coach in the country is going to say, yeah, 179 00:13:11,759 --> 00:13:16,600 right, we got everybody we wanted. We're gonna be great. And obviously 180 00:13:16,639 --> 00:13:22,960 half the schools in the country are not half are or either way, so 181 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:28,200 you don't really know because there's so many variables with these players. Adversity that 182 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:33,600 hits these guys in college from different angles that they've never experienced before, and 183 00:13:33,679 --> 00:13:37,879 you don't know who's going to be handled adversity. So it's not all about 184 00:13:37,879 --> 00:13:41,120 the athletic talent. It's about the character of a young man, his heart, 185 00:13:41,159 --> 00:13:46,519 how he's driven, how well he gravitates and grabs, the investment of 186 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:52,879 time living on his own in a dorm with other people and not his family 187 00:13:52,919 --> 00:13:56,679 around, and all that stuff, especially your freshman year because your motion university 188 00:13:56,720 --> 00:14:01,200 is going to make you live on campus, and sometimes those storms are not 189 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:05,679 very nice or they're okay, and you're coming from home or you know, 190 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:09,600 who knows what the home life is like, sometimes good or sometimes bad. 191 00:14:11,159 --> 00:14:15,200 You know, usually given to that freshman year, you got better chance, 192 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:18,200 but now you got the portal. So now all of a sudden, you 193 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:22,480 don't play, you're gone. So it's there's so many, so many factors 194 00:14:22,919 --> 00:14:26,440 that enter into a recruiting class of whether it's going to be a successful one 195 00:14:26,519 --> 00:14:30,320 or not. It seems like in the last probably you tell me, you 196 00:14:30,639 --> 00:14:33,360 know it's better than I do that. You know, years ago, when 197 00:14:33,399 --> 00:14:35,519 I was playing, when you were playing, there was kind of an unwritten 198 00:14:35,559 --> 00:14:39,120 rule with coach, with Jim Levitt, the safety committed to somewhere, the 199 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:43,759 coaches kind of hands off. He's going to that school. Nowadays, Is 200 00:14:43,759 --> 00:14:48,919 there any kind of unwritten rule among you coaches about when a guy formally says 201 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:52,399 I'm going to South Florida or I'm going to Florida or Texas or Oklahoma, 202 00:14:52,759 --> 00:14:56,399 that other coaches kind of hands off of them, unless unless the kid opens 203 00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:58,879 the door and says, I'm going to reopen my recruitment or is that just 204 00:15:00,039 --> 00:15:03,960 completely out the window, completely out the window, you know, I mean, 205 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:07,360 it's it's evil, you know, I mean, it's you know what 206 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:11,320 I usually tell I usually prep a guy that commits to us and say, 207 00:15:11,399 --> 00:15:15,320 now, you're gonna get hit by a lot of coaches. The most important 208 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:18,120 thing you can do is have your mom or dad, whoever is, you 209 00:15:18,159 --> 00:15:22,360 know, run the show. Make sure that they're the ones that talk to 210 00:15:22,399 --> 00:15:26,320 these other coaches. Tell them they appreciate them, they appreciate the interest. 211 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:33,159 But Johnny has made his decision. He's going to so and so and appreciate 212 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:37,200 if you don't call anymore. Okay, Now that's if you can get a 213 00:15:37,279 --> 00:15:41,440 parent to do that, which you should be able to. Then that goes 214 00:15:41,480 --> 00:15:45,200 a long ways. Now, is that going to stop schools? No, 215 00:15:45,519 --> 00:15:48,919 because they're gonna go work the coach or are they're gonna work if the dad's 216 00:15:48,960 --> 00:15:54,320 making that comments. They're gonna work the mom or aunt, They're gonna work 217 00:15:54,360 --> 00:15:58,320 somebody else because what do they care. They're gonna, they're gonna, they're 218 00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:03,600 gonna be relentless and getting this this player. So that family's gotta be on 219 00:16:03,720 --> 00:16:10,320 board together. They gotta be strong and that player's gotta be strong and know 220 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:15,120 what they want or things happening, and it happens all the time. All 221 00:16:15,159 --> 00:16:17,279 right, it's great. It's a great in the answer because you, like 222 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:18,759 you said, it goes on. You know, I'm sure it's even worse 223 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:22,679 now with nil money and all that stuff and the ease of the transfer portal 224 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:26,240 and things like that. So all right, let's go to some bullprep a 225 00:16:26,240 --> 00:16:32,080 couple bull prep questions. How do you as a coach when you're you know, 226 00:16:32,399 --> 00:16:34,960 there's varying level that you always hear analysts and people on TV talking about 227 00:16:36,039 --> 00:16:38,480 the excitement level of a team going into a bowl game, a team that's 228 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:42,399 maybe six and six versus a team that's had an unbelievable year they're nine and 229 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:47,039 three, ten and two, when they're the emotional level and the motivation level, 230 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:51,360 How did you always handle the motivation level of a team that you were 231 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:53,759 coaching. Maybe you didn't have as good a year as you thought, but 232 00:16:53,799 --> 00:16:56,759 you're still in a bowl game. Or maybe you overachieved and now you're in 233 00:16:56,759 --> 00:17:00,440 a bowl game. How do you handle that motivation level? To keep the 234 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:04,519 motivation level up? Now, it's very difficult. Now, very difficult because 235 00:17:04,559 --> 00:17:07,640 most of these bowl games, like I think Baylor played air Force, and 236 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:11,960 Baylor had a lot of players that didn't even play. Right, you have 237 00:17:11,200 --> 00:17:15,160 all these top players, seniors, juniors that are going out in the draft. 238 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:19,599 They're gonna play in the bowl game. So it's really not the team 239 00:17:19,640 --> 00:17:25,680 that played that year. You have to try to play the guys that are 240 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:30,079 probably the most ambitious who really want to play, might be younger guys. 241 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:40,440 The bowl practices are are really really important for development of players. You try 242 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:42,400 to have as much energy as you can in that bowl game because if you 243 00:17:42,440 --> 00:17:48,079 don't have the energy, you're not gonna have prior chance to win. I 244 00:17:48,079 --> 00:17:53,839 mean, I just it's um, it's still so different today, you know, 245 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:59,599 it really is. And everybody seems to focus on the last four teams 246 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:03,279 that are playing and maybe some of these other bowl games. You know, 247 00:18:03,359 --> 00:18:07,200 I haven't watched a lot of Bowl games this year. Ye playing you don't 248 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:11,759 know who's playing. It's just it's just very, very difficult. But play 249 00:18:11,799 --> 00:18:15,119 the guys that you feel like we want to play, even if it's a 250 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:19,839 younger guy. Try to try to find you really have to get your players 251 00:18:21,279 --> 00:18:25,440 excited about playing. Try to drive home the fact that you're playing them for 252 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:30,279 the seniors that are playing, the seniors that are going them. You know, 253 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:33,359 you've got to find a way for cause. You've got to develop a 254 00:18:33,359 --> 00:18:37,319 cause for that bowl game one way or another. That's a really really important 255 00:18:37,319 --> 00:18:41,200 thing to do. So the experience for the kids. Some of these kids 256 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:45,920 and maybe he'd never been to a bowl game, and two they've never never 257 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:48,359 really traveled much. These bowl games are cool things. You get to go 258 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:52,319 to different places, whether it's California, Texas, Florida, wherever Fenway Park, 259 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:56,599 you talked about, Yankee Stadium. How do you balance the we want 260 00:18:56,599 --> 00:19:00,079 to work hard and get ready for this Bowl game, but also understand it's 261 00:19:00,119 --> 00:19:03,839 an experience for the kids to travel to enjoy a new a new environment, 262 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:07,680 a new All these bowl games have events where they go to a you know, 263 00:19:07,799 --> 00:19:11,799 have an event a couple of nights during the prep. How do you 264 00:19:11,839 --> 00:19:15,799 allow them to enjoy that experience but you keep their mind focused on the on 265 00:19:15,839 --> 00:19:18,160 the task in hand. Well, that's difficult too, you know, it 266 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:22,519 depends on the motivation of players, certainly. But my point is this, 267 00:19:22,559 --> 00:19:26,119 a lot of bowl games now, because of money or travel or whatever, 268 00:19:26,559 --> 00:19:30,240 they don't do as many things. Okay, I've been to a bunch of 269 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:33,200 bowls in my career way back. When you go to bowl game, you 270 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:37,240 win a lot earlier, You spend a lot of time there in your first 271 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:40,200 two days. You might not even have a curfew for the players. You 272 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:41,480 go to the beach, like down here, they would take kids to the 273 00:19:41,519 --> 00:19:45,640 beach, clearwater beach, bush gardens, things like that, you know, 274 00:19:45,759 --> 00:19:49,839 but you might let them go to kind of just you know, enjoy that 275 00:19:49,960 --> 00:19:52,960 experience and you tell them if they mess up, you're gonna send them home 276 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:57,160 on the next bus, you know. So, because you don't want to 277 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:02,079 embarrass your program, you don't want to embarrass school. And and you've got 278 00:20:02,079 --> 00:20:03,519 to make sure you set a pressing with your players that you know, you 279 00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:07,640 just you better understand you better, you know, and you're always gonna worry 280 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:12,119 about three or four guys they're gonna keep you up all night, you know, 281 00:20:12,240 --> 00:20:15,160 think about it. That guy gonna do the right thing. Uh, 282 00:20:15,599 --> 00:20:19,079 we're gonna we're gonna be good. Um. And then you and then you 283 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:22,440 and you tell them ahead of time, you know, the schedule kind of 284 00:20:22,440 --> 00:20:26,839 what's gonna go on, how you're going about this and why each day is 285 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:30,519 important and what you're gonna try to get done. The stays. You try 286 00:20:30,559 --> 00:20:34,039 to make sure you get all your preparation done before you leave for the bull 287 00:20:34,119 --> 00:20:40,319 site. Your game plans for your defense coordinator offense coordinaors should be done established. 288 00:20:41,039 --> 00:20:44,039 They should be able to play the game before you even get on a 289 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:48,720 plane to go to the bowl. And then you know, try to wrap 290 00:20:48,799 --> 00:20:51,799 things up as you go, because you know the distractions are gonna be there. 291 00:20:52,480 --> 00:20:55,880 So I always you always watch bowl games too, where unless it's for 292 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,960 the national title or you know, humongous bowl on the humongous bowl game, 293 00:21:00,319 --> 00:21:04,880 coaches are are always very loosey goosey in there coaching trick blaye new things. 294 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:08,680 You know, they they empty out the playbook and so to speak. Did 295 00:21:08,720 --> 00:21:12,240 you always have that mentality of hey, we're gonna be loosey goosey in these 296 00:21:12,279 --> 00:21:15,960 bowl games? I'm gonna go fourth on fourth down more often things like that 297 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:21,079 as opposed to a little more close to the vest during the regular season. 298 00:21:22,559 --> 00:21:23,920 You know, I don't know. You know, as a head coach, 299 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:30,319 I went to five bowl games, and you know, we always had the 300 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:33,640 trick plays. I remember when we played against Holt said. Our first bowl 301 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:37,400 went at East Carolina Papa John's Bowl. Yeah, we had all kinds of 302 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:40,720 trick stuff we're doing with our funt team, and we were beating the pretty 303 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:44,480 good h and uh. And I went ahead and did some of the stuff 304 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,720 at the end of the game just to kind of because I'm curious how they 305 00:21:47,759 --> 00:21:49,519 were going to respond, so I kind of did it. It was kind 306 00:21:49,519 --> 00:21:53,839 of probably probably, you know, I don't know how ethical necessarily is. 307 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:56,480 I don't know. I guess it's okay. But I did all kinds of 308 00:21:56,519 --> 00:22:02,160 things with that punt team just up to it, because we had so many 309 00:22:02,519 --> 00:22:06,599 fake punts that we had put in, you know, two or three things, 310 00:22:06,640 --> 00:22:11,200 and uh about it. You used them all that day. You use 311 00:22:11,279 --> 00:22:12,920 them all. Yeah, But you know, you always want to have some 312 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:15,880 things that you want to do some things different because you know the team you're 313 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:21,160 gonna play is gonna have all that time and the gas. Everybody else is 314 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:23,160 gonna be looking at every piece of film. Yeah, you know, you 315 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:26,599 have your base core what you're gonna do, but you always want to do 316 00:22:26,640 --> 00:22:30,240 some things different. Now let's get to the to the two bowl games that 317 00:22:30,279 --> 00:22:34,119 do matter ultimately, the two semi final games, and how the difference in 318 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:38,119 prep might be different than if you're in the Outback Bowl or the Relia West 319 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:41,759 Bowl or the Military Bowl. That it's really just an X I'll take exhibition 320 00:22:41,799 --> 00:22:47,759 game, but there's no national championship implications these two bowl games, and that 321 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:52,519 Jason that I think is so sad. And I'm coaching. Of course, 322 00:22:52,559 --> 00:22:56,039 I've been in a forty years. Yep. They never had the playoffs. 323 00:22:56,599 --> 00:23:02,480 Every game was so significant, right. I know people will beat me up 324 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:06,960 for this, but I enjoyed that. And then you had to name a 325 00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:12,680 natural champion off just whatever, right, And there's always the debate or the 326 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:18,160 controversy whatever, but I didn't mind it. You know, I never was 327 00:23:18,200 --> 00:23:22,599 in that. Well, we're in that position in Kansas State. One time 328 00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:29,079 we were we were fished eight so we're close. Um, but you know 329 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:33,400 now it's yeah, all these other bowl games are bowl games there, you 330 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:37,400 know, how you know how much people pay attention to them, how much 331 00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:41,480 people really watch them because everything is on the last four teams. So I 332 00:23:41,559 --> 00:23:42,559 think I've playing it. And I would say this as you know, New 333 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,400 Year's Day is kind of the traditional bigger ball. You know, you got 334 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,960 the Rose Bowl, you got the Citrus Bowl, in the Cotton Bowl. 335 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:52,039 Those are the games that I think more fans, even though they don't have 336 00:23:52,119 --> 00:23:56,119 national championship implications, are still paying attention to. And you know, the 337 00:23:56,160 --> 00:24:00,039 pageantry of the Rose Bowl, the pasThe try of of of the or the 338 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:04,720 Rose Bowl out in California, those are just historical things where even though you're 339 00:24:04,759 --> 00:24:07,720 not playing for a title, you still want to show out well as a 340 00:24:07,759 --> 00:24:15,920 program, correct, right, you know you really do? And uh yeah, 341 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,880 I mean yeah, people are gonna watch those games. But you know 342 00:24:19,119 --> 00:24:23,400 things have just changed a little bit. How does your preparation, like you 343 00:24:23,440 --> 00:24:27,400 said, now, it's the seriousness of the of the semifinal games. George 344 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:33,720 Ohio State, Michigan TCU Coaching wise, you've had a month off one one. 345 00:24:33,799 --> 00:24:38,640 Are you worried about your your players physical conditioning having that much time off 346 00:24:38,640 --> 00:24:42,599 of not playing and then you had the holidays mixed in with Christmas. How 347 00:24:42,599 --> 00:24:47,000 do you handle the just the physical part of getting them back physically ready. 348 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:49,960 Well, it's um you know, I haven't been in that situation. Now 349 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:55,519 I have coaching a bowl game on January seventh or January ninth. Okay, 350 00:24:55,559 --> 00:24:57,559 but that's the only thing I can kind of go by. Okay, Yeah, 351 00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:02,279 you know, you do have you give them. You have to know 352 00:25:02,319 --> 00:25:06,359 when that bowl game is and how many days that you think you'll need to 353 00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:10,680 prepare them. And you're right they you do want to have to make sure 354 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:14,480 you get them in back in shape. And you know, the weight room 355 00:25:14,680 --> 00:25:18,200 is really big. You know the conditioning is really big. All those things 356 00:25:18,200 --> 00:25:21,519 are important. And yet you when you have a when you have these games 357 00:25:21,519 --> 00:25:26,759 so so far push back. You have to give them some time the finals 358 00:25:26,759 --> 00:25:30,759 and time and with their family and all that kind of stuff. So I 359 00:25:30,799 --> 00:25:34,160 haven't prepared for a national championship. I haven't been in that scenario. But 360 00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:38,039 the one thing I can go buy is when we played in Toronto play against 361 00:25:38,039 --> 00:25:45,319 someone Illinois Jerry Hills team. We won the game. We want it pretty 362 00:25:45,319 --> 00:25:49,000 big. Yeah, And that's my last game I coached in South Florida, 363 00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:53,680 and uh, you know, we played well, played really well. And 364 00:25:55,319 --> 00:25:56,880 let me let me give you something that it may be comparable on the pro 365 00:25:57,000 --> 00:26:00,160 level, pro level, you have a bye week in the playoffs or two 366 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:03,720 weeks between the championship and the Super Bowl, would that be a time where 367 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:07,759 you would potentially put in a new scheme defensively, or a new scheme on 368 00:26:07,880 --> 00:26:12,319 special teams that you haven't shown all year, or you just or the mentality 369 00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:15,720 of let's be really good at what we're really good at. Well, you 370 00:26:15,759 --> 00:26:19,079 know the difference with the NFL, as you're playing all the way through it, 371 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:23,880 you know you're not gonna have five weeks off till you play a game, 372 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:27,599 right, I mean I was involved three years in a row, three 373 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:32,720 NFC Championship games and Super Bowl. We were playing twenty four games, twenty 374 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:36,680 three games, you know, and you just play right through it. Yes, 375 00:26:37,759 --> 00:26:41,480 we did do some things defensively, I know, we had some things 376 00:26:41,519 --> 00:26:45,680 in there that were different, different pressure package, different things like that you 377 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:49,640 know that we were that we had. But you know, you you've got 378 00:26:49,680 --> 00:26:55,079 your personality that got you there after twenty seven games, right kind of who 379 00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:57,720 you are. You don't want to screw your cell phone. You know, 380 00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:02,759 your own players, even those those men at the pro level. I mean, 381 00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:07,839 you know we we I coached the Super Bowl against the Ravens and um 382 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:14,480 came down last play the game. Yeah pretty much. Still still no flag, 383 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:19,519 coach, still know what theirference called the Z and all that passing reference 384 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:25,359 but on the Michael krap But there were two games before that came down last 385 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:30,160 play just to go to the Super um and you know, no, we 386 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:33,079 we you know, you keep your base stuff and but you're always gonna have 387 00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:37,559 some different things, both offensively defensively. Of course we had we had Kaepernick 388 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:41,279 our quarterback, so we ran a little bit more of the option I know, 389 00:27:41,359 --> 00:27:45,680 offensively than we had shown before going through the playoffs, especially year we 390 00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:48,599 played in Super Bowl, and he was so good, you know, at 391 00:27:48,599 --> 00:27:52,519 the option game because he could run. Uh so that I know helped our 392 00:27:52,559 --> 00:27:59,319 offense and and made made challenging for defense. Of course, Ravens handed fairly 393 00:27:59,359 --> 00:28:02,079 well, although they should have lost game. If we would have got that 394 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:07,720 call, coach, I'd love to see you with that big Super Bowl ring 395 00:28:07,720 --> 00:28:10,599 on your finger right now, I really would. Yeah, that'd been nice. 396 00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:12,440 All right, let's let's get to the games. A couple a couple 397 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:15,920 of matchups in the games. I want to eat your thoughts on. Let's 398 00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:18,640 go to Georgia and Ohio State first. To me, one of the one 399 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:22,720 of the factors in this game is one Kirby smarts pressure on defense. You're 400 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:26,880 a defensive guy. Kirby's a defensive guy. It'll be interesting how they play 401 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:30,640 this Ohio State high flying offense. Will they blitz them, will they play 402 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:34,240 coverage? How do you think? You know, what do you think Georgia's 403 00:28:34,319 --> 00:28:38,039 kind of philosophy is gonna be going up against Ryan Day and that high flying 404 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:41,799 offense. You know, it's interesting because these are the two teams that were 405 00:28:41,799 --> 00:28:47,359 the hottest teams throughout most of all the year. Ohio State kind of stumbled 406 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:49,720 at the end the last number of games. But these are the two teams 407 00:28:49,720 --> 00:28:52,440 that everybody thought was gonna be in the national championship game. A lot of 408 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:56,400 people thought that the way it was going to the first six, seven, 409 00:28:56,440 --> 00:29:00,559 eight weeks this season, it's gonna be really interesting. I don't believe it's 410 00:29:00,559 --> 00:29:03,599 gonna be whoever can run the ball, you're a big deal. I know 411 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:07,400 they both can throw it to these teams all can run in throw, but 412 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:11,440 I think the physicality of the line of scrimmage and be able to run the 413 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:15,440 ball, it's gonna be a big deal Ohio State. I think when maybe 414 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:19,680 you'll throw it a little bit better and they might, uh, you know, 415 00:29:19,799 --> 00:29:22,559 it's gonna be a heck of a game. I'm telling you, I 416 00:29:23,119 --> 00:29:26,240 don't know. I think Ohio State's got to get back to what they were 417 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:30,079 at the beginning year when they were really humming along, yeah whatever that is, 418 00:29:30,079 --> 00:29:33,400 and they've got to kind of analyze what happened to them towards the last 419 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:38,480 three weeks or so and then get that back. You know that this could 420 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:41,920 be one heck of a game because if they can play that they were early 421 00:29:41,920 --> 00:29:45,240 in the season, this game will be a heck of a game. But 422 00:29:45,279 --> 00:29:48,200 if not, George is gonna gonna get them. You know. To me, 423 00:29:48,319 --> 00:29:52,799 the matchup to look for, I think for George's offense and Ohio States 424 00:29:52,839 --> 00:29:56,359 defense is how does Ohio State match up with George's tight ends. They've got 425 00:29:56,359 --> 00:30:00,119 a tremendous set of tight ends that can run, that can catch, that 426 00:30:00,119 --> 00:30:03,519 are gonna be effective in the run game for them. For George and the 427 00:30:03,599 --> 00:30:07,880 run game. How is ohiosteak going to deal with that physicality and the talent 428 00:30:07,920 --> 00:30:10,559 at tight end, because you don't see a lot of college teams that have 429 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:14,519 good tight ends. You know, it's it's coming around a lot more the 430 00:30:14,559 --> 00:30:18,720 last three or four years. So I see it a lot more. I 431 00:30:18,119 --> 00:30:22,200 was used a bunch um. I know a number of a number of teams 432 00:30:22,039 --> 00:30:26,680 start using those tight ends quite a bit more because it's hard. It's hard 433 00:30:26,680 --> 00:30:30,799 for defense, you know, just because the ability to run or throw and 434 00:30:33,119 --> 00:30:34,640 you just you have. There's a lot of things you can do with those 435 00:30:34,680 --> 00:30:38,759 athletic big tight ends, yep, flexing them out but him into the core 436 00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:45,000 or the wings and the three tight ends, two tight ends. There's a 437 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:48,839 lot of things you can do with it. And I and I know defensively 438 00:30:48,119 --> 00:30:52,559 when I go against team that use those tight ends a lot like University of 439 00:30:52,640 --> 00:31:00,720 Washington did Champion when I was at Colorado, really tough to defend, really 440 00:31:00,759 --> 00:31:04,240 tough, you know, And so I agree with you, that's gonna be 441 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:08,480 a challenge throw house. See let's get to let's get to Michigan and TCU. 442 00:31:08,599 --> 00:31:11,319 I know you know the Michigan program well with your your your ties to 443 00:31:11,359 --> 00:31:15,359 coach har Ball. You think this is gonna be a game for Michigan where 444 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:18,279 they just really trying to pound the ball down TCUs throat and see can you 445 00:31:18,319 --> 00:31:22,920 stop us? Yeah? I do. I think if Michigan can't run the 446 00:31:22,920 --> 00:31:27,160 ball, tc will probably win. TCU is so explosive with their receivers and 447 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:32,480 the deep ball, but they'll run it too. They'll spread you out, 448 00:31:32,559 --> 00:31:36,519 and you know when you when you they're gonna they're gonna throw their shots. 449 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:41,839 Now you're gonna get six to eight shots by TCU, and Michigan's gonna have 450 00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:45,960 to hold up with that with the explosive plays. But I think it's gonna 451 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:48,720 come down again to Michigan be able to run the ball. If they can 452 00:31:48,799 --> 00:31:51,279 run the ball and have success for that, and they'll do some play action. 453 00:31:51,359 --> 00:31:53,559 They're a little bit at a quarterback and uh, but they can run 454 00:31:53,599 --> 00:31:57,400 the ball, I think they'll win. But boy somehow, And and the 455 00:31:57,400 --> 00:32:04,039 thing is TCU runs at three three defense, which can be very tough on 456 00:32:04,079 --> 00:32:07,559 an offense that spreads it out. And you know, because you don't know 457 00:32:07,559 --> 00:32:13,000 where that safety is gonna fit in the run game. But West Virginia you 458 00:32:13,119 --> 00:32:15,319 used to run that three to three defense. We beat West Virginia three out 459 00:32:15,319 --> 00:32:19,039 of four. We should have been four out of four. And the way 460 00:32:19,079 --> 00:32:22,039 we did it offensively, if we got into the eye formation, we really 461 00:32:22,200 --> 00:32:24,759 ran right at it because by the time that safety came down, we felt 462 00:32:24,759 --> 00:32:29,880 like we could get four or five yards right and moving the chains. And 463 00:32:30,039 --> 00:32:32,359 uh. I think the way you go against the defense for TCU is you 464 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:36,759 gotta be all run the ball, you know, you know, And that's 465 00:32:37,559 --> 00:32:40,400 what it'll be interesting to watch the I think the defense for TCU gets run 466 00:32:40,440 --> 00:32:44,880 game, Michigan's gonna be gonna be it right there. It's gonna be interesting 467 00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:46,720 to watch that. I agree. I agree, well, coach, great 468 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:51,640 analysis. Glad you had a great Christmas with the girls. And I know 469 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:55,119 you'll you'll be watching as the NFL at the NFL teams get get to get 470 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:59,519 to the to the finish line here for the playoffs Bowl games, you get 471 00:32:59,519 --> 00:33:04,079 the National Championship games on or the playoff semifinal games on Saturday. Any big 472 00:33:04,079 --> 00:33:07,519 New Year's Eve plans? Are you? Are you a stay at home fireworks 473 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:09,839 watch the fireworks kind of guy on New Year's when he had a chance to 474 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:14,000 do that, No, I can I can. I can do it all. 475 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:20,440 I can go out and I can celebrate with the best of them, 476 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:24,799 or I can sit home. So um, you know we'll see well, 477 00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:29,920 I know you got You'll have a great view from where you're at to see 478 00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:32,599 some fireworks in downtown. They do a good job down by where you're at 479 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:37,160 and all that, So coach, appreciate the time. We'll definitely we may 480 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:39,400 try to get you on next week preview in the championship game and all that 481 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:43,720 stuff, if you'll do that, and if not, we will We'll talk 482 00:33:43,759 --> 00:33:45,960 soon, okay, coach, all right, thanks Jason, have a great 483 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:52,519 week. We'll be right back with Matt or with Joey Johnston talking about USF 484 00:33:52,559 --> 00:33:57,079 recruiting. Hey, guys and girls. With the college football season getting to 485 00:33:57,119 --> 00:34:00,519 the holidays here in November and December, you need a sportsbook with integrity and 486 00:34:00,599 --> 00:34:05,440 long jevy that you can rely on like bet Us. Bet Us has been 487 00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:08,599 pioneers in the sportsbook industry for over twenty five years, thriving and paying their 488 00:34:08,639 --> 00:34:15,400 local loyal customer base quickly and securely. 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Bet Us also has all the NFL 496 00:34:45,320 --> 00:34:49,960 World Cup, NHL, NBA, and even college basketball that's about to tip 497 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:52,920 off here in the holiday season, as well as almost any other sport you 498 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:58,760 can think of. But we all know you are college football fans at heart 499 00:34:58,920 --> 00:35:01,159 as well as NFL, and we want you to be with us all season 500 00:35:01,239 --> 00:35:06,719 long on bet us. Check them out at bet us dot com and remember 501 00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:09,960 one hundred and twenty five percent matching bonus for all initial sign ups with our 502 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:15,159 code Coast twenty two. Bet Us, you bet, you win, and 503 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:21,559 you get paid all right, Welcome back, Florida Football Insiders. Up next 504 00:35:21,719 --> 00:35:25,719 is Joey Johnston. Joey covers USF Football is a sideline reporter for the Bulls. 505 00:35:27,079 --> 00:35:30,679 He's also a longtime media member here in the Tampa Bay area. Joey 506 00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:35,360 Johnson Communications dot Com is where you can find Joey if you're looking for some 507 00:35:35,639 --> 00:35:38,159 help in the sports media world. Marry Christmas, Joey, and thanks for 508 00:35:38,239 --> 00:35:43,719 joining us. Marry Christmas, Jason. Happy holidays. Everybody looking forward to 509 00:35:44,599 --> 00:35:47,719 little football around the New Year's time. Always the fun time of the year. 510 00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:52,840 All right, So we've got a new coach at us Jeff Scott let 511 00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:59,039 go Alex Goleesh, the offensive coordinator Tennessee comes in. There's a lot of 512 00:35:59,079 --> 00:36:05,519 speculations other names, potentially Dion Sanders and some other people. The USFUH gets 513 00:36:05,519 --> 00:36:08,480 their guy and Alex Golesh. I know you were You've you've covered his uh 514 00:36:08,599 --> 00:36:12,960 introductory press conference, and I'm sure you've talked to him a little bit, 515 00:36:13,199 --> 00:36:15,280 giving you just your initial thoughts of coach, and how do you think the 516 00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:21,000 fit's gonna be here in a USF. I think the fit's gonna be pretty 517 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:23,599 good. I mean again, it's it's it's early on and we're talking about 518 00:36:23,639 --> 00:36:28,199 you know, a press conference, and and and and just you know, 519 00:36:28,239 --> 00:36:30,599 five or ten minutes here or they're shaking hands and saying how you're doing. 520 00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:36,320 But um, he certainly appears to be a guy that's very sincere, that 521 00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:42,199 heart, works very hard and values that over anything, over any flash and 522 00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:45,639 dash, over any kind of you know, uh, anything like that. 523 00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:50,960 He's gonna he's gonna get in his bunker and work and try to find players. 524 00:36:51,039 --> 00:36:54,320 That's you know, he makes no mistake about that. That's his his 525 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:59,760 His first mission is to increase the talent here. And I couldn't agree more 526 00:36:59,800 --> 00:37:02,840 because it all starts with players. And to me, he appears to be 527 00:37:02,880 --> 00:37:07,199 a guy that, you know, if you look back at what what made 528 00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:09,880 usf really good back in the day, it was it was hard work. 529 00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:14,119 It wasn't anything beyond that at all. I mean, this is a program 530 00:37:14,159 --> 00:37:20,239 built from the ground up that built itself into a into a great program. 531 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:24,280 And I think he's going to take that example and run with it. Um, 532 00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:27,760 he's not a real he's a he's a personable guy, but he's not 533 00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:30,440 a real flashy guy. But he comes across as somebody you can have a 534 00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:35,400 genuine conversation with. And I think that's what the kids are going to get 535 00:37:35,440 --> 00:37:37,880 from him too, is a guy that they can look at look in the 536 00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:42,079 eye and feel like he's not giving him a line, and feel like he 537 00:37:42,159 --> 00:37:45,599 sincerely cares about him and is speaking from the heart. And I know he 538 00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:51,039 um. He believes as do I, as do most people, that this 539 00:37:51,079 --> 00:37:55,199 program at USF should be much better than it is. It should be a 540 00:37:55,480 --> 00:38:00,480 certainly an annual Bowl contender, certainly a program that wins conference championships, and 541 00:38:00,599 --> 00:38:05,960 maybe, uh, at the right stars aligned, could could go even bigger 542 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:07,599 than that one day. And I couldn't agree more. And I think he 543 00:38:07,679 --> 00:38:12,800 sees that he understands that there's a lot of work to get there, and 544 00:38:13,079 --> 00:38:15,519 he will tell he will tell anybody that I think that wants to pat him 545 00:38:15,559 --> 00:38:19,280 on the back and say, hey, great, great job coach. Really 546 00:38:19,280 --> 00:38:21,480 looking forward next year, he's gonna say, hey, we got a lot 547 00:38:21,480 --> 00:38:25,000 of work to do. And that is absolutely true. So he is, 548 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:28,960 uh, you know, wasting no time. He's starting to dig in, 549 00:38:29,119 --> 00:38:34,800 dig in right now, and and uh he sees no other route than a 550 00:38:34,880 --> 00:38:37,639 straight line with hard work to get to the goal, do you um. 551 00:38:38,119 --> 00:38:43,360 Obviously, one of the concerns, obviously with this hire is you're hiring a 552 00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:45,559 guy who's never been a head coach before you know, he's he's he was 553 00:38:45,639 --> 00:38:49,960 kind of in the shadows of Josh Hypel. You know, who knows how 554 00:38:50,039 --> 00:38:53,360 much truly he does or he was involved in the in the offense and Tennessee 555 00:38:53,440 --> 00:38:55,920 or not. I'm sure he was, but you know, he didn't call 556 00:38:55,960 --> 00:39:00,280 plays at Tennessee. Josh Hypel called plays for the most part. From all 557 00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:04,679 indications, do you worry about lack of head coaching experience? And then two 558 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:07,320 where he's kind of been the primary play caller on one side of the ball 559 00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:12,480 or the other. Yeah, I mean, that's a legitimate question and a 560 00:39:12,880 --> 00:39:16,000 question we nobody's gonna be able to answer until September, October, November, 561 00:39:16,840 --> 00:39:21,559 at which, you know, actually, I'm good with I'm good with the 562 00:39:21,559 --> 00:39:25,320 philosophy of Hey, great, welcome coach. Happy to have you here. 563 00:39:25,320 --> 00:39:30,159 We'll see on September two. I mean, I'm I'm I'm really happy with 564 00:39:30,280 --> 00:39:37,760 bypassing all the interim you know, stages of signing day and spring football, 565 00:39:37,960 --> 00:39:40,480 it summer, working out all that stuff. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 566 00:39:40,480 --> 00:39:45,400 it is what it is. Those are all necessary things. But but the 567 00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:49,280 bottom line of all bottom lines here is can they win games? Can they 568 00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:54,920 progress on the field? So yes, um, obviously, and we won't 569 00:39:54,920 --> 00:39:59,039 know the answer until he coaches games. But yeah, he has no head 570 00:39:59,039 --> 00:40:02,960 coaching experience. That was that was a legitimate gripe on Jeff Scott. Now, 571 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:06,920 everybody has to become a head coach for the first time at some point, 572 00:40:07,519 --> 00:40:10,000 So the hope is that he is one of those guys like a Bob 573 00:40:10,079 --> 00:40:15,760 Stoops, like you know any number of other examples that steps in and from 574 00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:19,639 the get go is a great head coach. So you know, that's what 575 00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:25,559 athletic directors are here for, is to judge hirings and potential potential and to 576 00:40:25,719 --> 00:40:30,920 identify these people. That's why that's why they're in these jobs. So I 577 00:40:31,239 --> 00:40:35,079 do know that Alex Golish, had he not landed at USF, he would 578 00:40:35,079 --> 00:40:38,840 have landed somewhere. So he It's not like they're they're taking a flyer on 579 00:40:38,920 --> 00:40:42,480 some guy that nobody else knows about. He would have been somebody's head coach. 580 00:40:43,119 --> 00:40:45,880 So um. You know, he certainly appears to have the right stuff, 581 00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:50,800 and no knock on Jeff Scott, but I will say there is a 582 00:40:50,840 --> 00:40:54,880 difference in terms of Alex Golish. Jeff Scott came up through Clemson State at 583 00:40:54,880 --> 00:41:00,960 Clemson the whole time and was part of the Clemson and way. Alex Golish 584 00:41:01,000 --> 00:41:06,239 has come up from the bottom, had a lot of bad jobs and tough 585 00:41:06,280 --> 00:41:09,679 places that he's grinded through, and he's worked his way up, had a 586 00:41:09,679 --> 00:41:14,679 lot of different varying experiences. So you got to give him that that he 587 00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:20,880 has a very varied resume and he has worked himself from the bottom to where 588 00:41:20,920 --> 00:41:22,559 he is now. So I think there is something to be said for that. 589 00:41:23,159 --> 00:41:25,960 And you know, again the proofs in the pudding we'll see in September. 590 00:41:27,519 --> 00:41:32,440 But you know, he appears to have the right read on what this 591 00:41:32,519 --> 00:41:37,679 program is and how it can get back and I and I would agree with 592 00:41:37,679 --> 00:41:45,239 that wholeheartedly. Is a return to the humble days of hard work identifying players, 593 00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:50,840 developing players. You know, I will take a developed player versus some 594 00:41:51,519 --> 00:41:54,639 alleged four star that may or may not work out. Let's let's see it 595 00:41:54,639 --> 00:41:58,239 with our own eyes. Let's judge whether this guy can play or not, 596 00:41:58,280 --> 00:42:01,159 and let's develop him. That I think is what USF's program was based upon. 597 00:42:01,639 --> 00:42:07,559 Is he gonna call plays? Uh? He says, I think yes. 598 00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:12,880 Right now, He's he's holding out proviso that if once they go through 599 00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:16,480 spring ball and fall workouts, if if the staff is such he you know, 600 00:42:16,840 --> 00:42:21,639 I'm guessing yes, but he's he's leaving it all out in case, 601 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:27,039 um, somebody else on the staff shows that ability. It doesn't appear he'll 602 00:42:27,079 --> 00:42:31,480 have an offensive coordinator in name that will be him. So I'm guessing that 603 00:42:31,480 --> 00:42:35,880 that leads to the logical conclusion that he'll be the playmaker. He'll be the 604 00:42:35,920 --> 00:42:38,360 play caller, I should say, on the field, So he'll be the 605 00:42:38,480 --> 00:42:42,679 I guess the spur your esque, you know, headset, play caller, 606 00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:45,920 head coach guy, what do you get? What do you feel like a 607 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:47,719 public sentiment is of the higher here the Bay Area? Do you think there's 608 00:42:47,960 --> 00:42:52,559 there's optimism or like you said, let's get to September seventh and let's see, 609 00:42:52,679 --> 00:42:54,920 let's see what he is. Yeah, I think that's that's mostly what 610 00:42:54,920 --> 00:42:58,679 it's going to be from a lot of people. I think there was UM 611 00:42:59,320 --> 00:43:01,960 obviously, with a lot of talk and chatter out there about Dion Sanders and 612 00:43:02,000 --> 00:43:07,920 some others, the hopes were very high for that. We'll see how that 613 00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:10,880 works out of Colorado. I don't know ultimately if that would have been the 614 00:43:10,960 --> 00:43:15,440 right move for USF or not. It certainly would have put USF on a 615 00:43:15,559 --> 00:43:21,199 huge national exposure drive, but again, is that what we need here to 616 00:43:21,239 --> 00:43:23,880 get the program winning on the field. It would have given him great attention. 617 00:43:23,880 --> 00:43:28,440 Their offseason would have been unmatched. This is not going to be that 618 00:43:28,519 --> 00:43:31,360 kind of offseason here. But I think you know, again, as long 619 00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:36,199 as as long as the Bulls win and they make progress, that's what any 620 00:43:36,239 --> 00:43:40,360 fan would want. I think any fan that comes in contacts in contact with 621 00:43:40,400 --> 00:43:45,760 Alex Goulish, I think we'll come away pleased and feeling like he's a sincere, 622 00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:50,280 hard working guy. So I think I think when he goes out and 623 00:43:50,320 --> 00:43:54,079 meets and greets, he's gonna make a favorable impression. But again, and 624 00:43:54,639 --> 00:44:00,400 unjustifiably so, everyone should have a skeptical eye until the results are divided on 625 00:44:00,440 --> 00:44:04,320 the field. From a recruiting perspective, do you think, obviously they had 626 00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:07,440 the first wave of early signing Day a couple of weeks ago, there'll be 627 00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:10,719 another wave here in February like the traditional signing day, just we won't talk 628 00:44:10,840 --> 00:44:15,039 names and specifics. Do you think his mentality is going to be a little 629 00:44:15,079 --> 00:44:17,480 bit of the transferport on a little bit of high school. Is he more 630 00:44:17,519 --> 00:44:21,800 going to be more high school or do you think he's looking for a quick 631 00:44:21,840 --> 00:44:23,719 and not saying quick fix, but the more transfer as you bring in, 632 00:44:23,840 --> 00:44:28,280 the more chance you can win quicker is what do you think what his vision 633 00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:31,559 on the recruiting front goes. I think philosophically, the bottom line is he 634 00:44:32,239 --> 00:44:36,880 sees the need to build it up and develop players from the high school ranks, 635 00:44:36,880 --> 00:44:39,679 and that will be the foundation, and the transfer portal will be used 636 00:44:39,719 --> 00:44:45,000 to fill needs and to fill gaps, and maybe they can take a flyer 637 00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:47,000 on somebody here and there. But for the most part, I think he 638 00:44:47,079 --> 00:44:52,880 understands that it's about building relationships in the Tampa Bay community in the state of 639 00:44:52,880 --> 00:44:59,519 Florida first and foremost, and getting guys that will stay, hopefully for a 640 00:44:59,519 --> 00:45:02,599 few years, and plugging in with transfer report. USF went pretty heavy on 641 00:45:02,639 --> 00:45:07,440 the transfer report last year. I think it was twenty one, and they 642 00:45:07,440 --> 00:45:13,039 were ranked high and whatever rankings that was for transfers, but honestly, there 643 00:45:13,039 --> 00:45:15,920 weren't many of them that were great impact players, maybe two or three, 644 00:45:16,000 --> 00:45:21,320 so I don't think that worked out very well at all. So again there's 645 00:45:21,360 --> 00:45:24,239 a reason why guys are transferring a lot of times, and sometimes there's there's 646 00:45:24,280 --> 00:45:29,480 problems or a warts on the player, So you have to have to really 647 00:45:29,760 --> 00:45:31,360 dig in deep and make sure that you're taking the right kind of guy. 648 00:45:31,920 --> 00:45:37,719 Again, when we look at USF when at its best, historically you're talking 649 00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:44,519 about guys like George Selvey, Augie Sanchez, Matt Growthie. These were not 650 00:45:44,639 --> 00:45:47,400 five star players. These were for the most part, overlooked players that the 651 00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:53,400 coaches saw something in and they developed them into first team All Conference type of 652 00:45:53,440 --> 00:45:58,119 players. And you know, these are the USF legends, and I think 653 00:45:58,119 --> 00:46:00,119 they need to get back to that sort of thing. And there's plenty of 654 00:46:00,159 --> 00:46:02,760 those guys in this area. Yes, you know, I think you would 655 00:46:02,760 --> 00:46:07,679 probably agree, as would I, that that we all want USF to you 656 00:46:07,679 --> 00:46:10,079 know, they're not gonna get all the great players from this area, but 657 00:46:10,079 --> 00:46:14,639 that they can certainly give some of them. And if you build uh, 658 00:46:14,840 --> 00:46:17,239 you know, most of your team with players who who thrive in Hillsboro, 659 00:46:17,280 --> 00:46:22,320 Pinella's, Pope Pascal Counties, I think you're going to develop a following. 660 00:46:22,519 --> 00:46:24,239 And that's I think the kind of thing the program needs to build upon. 661 00:46:25,960 --> 00:46:30,119 UM two more things I'll get you out here again. To me, one 662 00:46:30,119 --> 00:46:31,960 of the things that I didn't see a whole lot of Jeff Scott doing. 663 00:46:32,280 --> 00:46:35,360 You didn't see him on the radio, you didn't see my TV. You 664 00:46:35,400 --> 00:46:37,599 didn't see him do a lot of media stuff outside of the just the absolute 665 00:46:38,119 --> 00:46:43,320 within USF Athletics kind of stuff. I think, and you know, you 666 00:46:43,320 --> 00:46:46,079 you've been in this media forever. I just think that's a that's a the 667 00:46:46,199 --> 00:46:50,280 more that you do, especially early on in your tenure, to get some 668 00:46:50,599 --> 00:46:52,119 sent them into the community. I think you got to do that stuff as 669 00:46:52,119 --> 00:46:54,360 the head coach. I know it's not fun stuff to do as the coach. 670 00:46:54,679 --> 00:46:57,800 They want to have to do that stuff, but you gotta do that 671 00:46:57,840 --> 00:47:00,800 at a place like USF. Yeah, you know, you have to sell 672 00:47:00,880 --> 00:47:04,280 yourself. You have to sell your program. And I will say I think 673 00:47:05,239 --> 00:47:08,760 there's been you know, for the most part his time, Alex Coolish's time 674 00:47:08,760 --> 00:47:12,800 has been spent on recruiting because he hit the floor running, so he hasn't 675 00:47:12,800 --> 00:47:15,079 had a lot of free time. But I have noticed on two or three 676 00:47:15,079 --> 00:47:19,800 occasions he's gone on a little media blitz and he's been on all the morning 677 00:47:19,800 --> 00:47:22,920 TV shows, He's been on the radio shows. He has a really interesting 678 00:47:22,960 --> 00:47:27,519 guy. He's very personable. He's a football coach for sure, and if 679 00:47:27,559 --> 00:47:30,119 you leave him to his own devices, he's going to coach the ball and 680 00:47:30,239 --> 00:47:32,800 do that stuff. But you know, he's an interesting guy. He's a 681 00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:37,599 funny guy. We had a press conference with him the other day to talk 682 00:47:37,639 --> 00:47:42,159 about the signing class and I asked him, I think a question about, 683 00:47:42,239 --> 00:47:45,599 hey, since the time you took the program too, now he took the 684 00:47:45,679 --> 00:47:50,599 job, since you had your feet on the ground, anything you've learned since 685 00:47:50,679 --> 00:47:52,480 being here about the program that maybe he didn't realize. And he said, 686 00:47:52,559 --> 00:47:55,280 yeah, I tell you something I didn't realize. We got a Portillo's on 687 00:47:55,360 --> 00:48:00,480 Follower Avenue. That's awesome. And he went on this Portillo's jag. And 688 00:48:00,519 --> 00:48:04,519 I tell you, I have to think I'd be shocked at this point if 689 00:48:04,519 --> 00:48:07,199 he doesn't end up on a Portillo's commercial or something. But you know, 690 00:48:07,320 --> 00:48:10,880 he's you know, it's gonna be fun getting to know him because he looks 691 00:48:10,880 --> 00:48:14,079 like he's a kind of guy that, hey, let's go out and go 692 00:48:14,079 --> 00:48:16,519 out and get go a hot dog and chat that kind of thing. So 693 00:48:17,360 --> 00:48:20,320 he's a little bit, you know, kind of a dry sense of humor. 694 00:48:20,360 --> 00:48:22,920 But he you know, he's got a little playful sense of humor in 695 00:48:22,960 --> 00:48:25,840 there. But but again, make no mistake, he knows his job. 696 00:48:25,880 --> 00:48:30,880 It's it's and it's primarily to to coach this team and to recruit players. 697 00:48:31,079 --> 00:48:37,360 And but I you know, you get a feel for somebody when you're around 698 00:48:37,400 --> 00:48:39,400 him a little bit. And he certainly appears to be a guy that I 699 00:48:39,440 --> 00:48:45,119 could see where people who would respond to him and and and he would come 700 00:48:45,119 --> 00:48:49,679 across in a really favorable way. So looking forward to getting to know that 701 00:48:49,719 --> 00:48:52,119 a little bit more. Um. Jeff Scott was it was a great guy 702 00:48:52,159 --> 00:48:55,000 to be around as well. But this is a little bit of a different 703 00:48:55,000 --> 00:49:00,039 sort of personality, a little bit more understated. But um again, and 704 00:49:00,480 --> 00:49:02,840 whether it's Jeff Scott, whether it's talent's goalish, let's get to September. 705 00:49:04,039 --> 00:49:07,519 Let's make some progress. They're at Western Kentucky on September second, and that'll 706 00:49:07,519 --> 00:49:12,079 be the first time I think we can really see if we've moved they moved 707 00:49:12,079 --> 00:49:15,519 this thing forward at all. Last thing gives give the USF faithful in the 708 00:49:15,559 --> 00:49:19,840 audience, a a update, a progress report on the stadium. I know 709 00:49:19,880 --> 00:49:23,119 a lot to talk about the stadium where we at the If you don't know, 710 00:49:23,239 --> 00:49:27,679 they just open a brand new indoor facility on campus, a beautiful indoor 711 00:49:27,719 --> 00:49:30,199 facility that's going to really help them and you know the things they need to 712 00:49:30,239 --> 00:49:35,199 be doing recruiting wise, and just from operationally being able to practice and things 713 00:49:35,239 --> 00:49:37,320 like that with the weather. Give us an update on the stadium progress. 714 00:49:38,039 --> 00:49:43,840 Well, there, it's in the design phase and we haven't seen those mock 715 00:49:43,920 --> 00:49:46,679 ups yet, but but they're being done. It's it's a process. That's 716 00:49:46,719 --> 00:49:52,559 the next step in the process, and when those are unveiled, presumably they'll 717 00:49:52,599 --> 00:49:58,440 present a funding plan and a construction plan. Their state ed goal is to 718 00:49:58,519 --> 00:50:02,760 open this open the twenty twenty sixth season there. That would mean my math 719 00:50:02,800 --> 00:50:07,639 would be three more seasons and then the fourth season would be the stadium season. 720 00:50:07,000 --> 00:50:10,840 So you know, some of the guys they're recruiting now conceivably could be 721 00:50:10,880 --> 00:50:15,280 in that stadium. So this is a real thing, a real selling point 722 00:50:15,280 --> 00:50:16,760 for recruiting. If they're getting these players, they say, hey, you 723 00:50:16,840 --> 00:50:21,400 can finish your career in this stadium. You can help open it. So 724 00:50:21,440 --> 00:50:23,559 that's a pretty big selling point. I've you know, I haven't heard haven't 725 00:50:23,599 --> 00:50:29,719 seen it concretely, but I hear all kinds of whispers about some really innovative 726 00:50:29,760 --> 00:50:32,159 things they want to do with it, some things that that are cutting edge 727 00:50:32,199 --> 00:50:37,320 that maybe haven't been seen before. So that that's exciting to think about. 728 00:50:37,360 --> 00:50:40,320 That they could have not just you know, slap up a stadium, but 729 00:50:40,360 --> 00:50:45,719 this could be really something special and something something unique and one of the better 730 00:50:45,760 --> 00:50:49,920 stadiums in the country. And I can just imagine what it's going to be 731 00:50:49,960 --> 00:50:54,360 like to have an on campus facility and have an on campus football weekend at 732 00:50:54,440 --> 00:50:59,480 USF. It'll make huge difference. Love Raymond James. What an awesome place 733 00:50:59,559 --> 00:51:01,760 Raymond James is. But the problem with Raymond James is it's not on the 734 00:51:01,800 --> 00:51:06,880 campus, so we miss that college atmosphere. So it's gonna be a huge, 735 00:51:06,920 --> 00:51:08,760 huge difference maker. And I think, you know, you can make 736 00:51:08,760 --> 00:51:12,360 the argument, boy, this should have happened before, and it probably should 737 00:51:12,400 --> 00:51:15,039 have, but at least it's happening now. It's finally happening, and um, 738 00:51:15,280 --> 00:51:19,519 you know, so it's got to be a major positive for the program 739 00:51:19,519 --> 00:51:22,599 moving forward. All Right, I know you're a huge obviously you've covered a 740 00:51:22,599 --> 00:51:25,199 lot, tons of tons of big sporting events over your career. What do 741 00:51:25,239 --> 00:51:30,079 you Who are you like in the playoff games on Saturday, Georgia, Ohio 742 00:51:30,159 --> 00:51:35,719 State, TCU, Michigan. I'm gonna go with Georgia and Michigan in the 743 00:51:35,800 --> 00:51:37,960 in the championship game. That's not really going out on a limb at all. 744 00:51:38,119 --> 00:51:42,400 I would I would think those would be the favorites. Uh, Georgia, 745 00:51:42,440 --> 00:51:45,440 I think is just I'm gonna pick Georgia till until I see otherwise. 746 00:51:45,519 --> 00:51:49,280 They they are the I guess, the new Alabama so to speak. They're 747 00:51:49,280 --> 00:51:53,719 they're the top dog and they have everything going on. Carbi Smart it's at 748 00:51:53,719 --> 00:51:59,079 the top of his game and um, they're they're absolutely the team to beat. 749 00:51:59,760 --> 00:52:04,440 Um. I'll be really curious how Ohio State shows up in this game 750 00:52:04,480 --> 00:52:07,760 because last time out, as we saw, they didn't didn't show up very 751 00:52:07,760 --> 00:52:10,480 well at all against Michigan. So we'll see what kind of how they have 752 00:52:10,639 --> 00:52:15,880 left. I'm happy that TCU made it. I was thinking all along they 753 00:52:15,960 --> 00:52:20,679 were going to get jobbed in the end, but they made it. And 754 00:52:21,000 --> 00:52:23,960 uh but uh, but I don't I don't see them having quite enough firepower 755 00:52:23,960 --> 00:52:29,320 to overtake Michigan. So Georgia Michigan. That's that's those are two brand name 756 00:52:30,199 --> 00:52:34,159 products right there to top of the line football programs. That will be a 757 00:52:34,159 --> 00:52:37,599 really a really great final. One thing I would hope for is um sometimes 758 00:52:37,599 --> 00:52:42,239 these games in recent years in the final four, I've had a Tennessee to 759 00:52:42,280 --> 00:52:45,480 kind of fall flat. I don't know that we've had these classic games and 760 00:52:45,599 --> 00:52:47,360 any of them. So I hope, I hope the quality of the games 761 00:52:47,800 --> 00:52:52,519 are are very very good. Uh. Sometimes we get just this relentless build 762 00:52:52,599 --> 00:52:58,480 up for for not much, not much to remember. So I'm hoping that 763 00:52:58,519 --> 00:53:02,639 the final four in the championship game or are great games. And I'm certainly 764 00:53:02,639 --> 00:53:07,039 looking forward to the day in a few years when we go to twelve and 765 00:53:07,440 --> 00:53:09,039 that'll be that'll be a ton of fun. And uh, you know, 766 00:53:09,119 --> 00:53:15,559 for a program like usflutely there is hope to get into portnity opportunity. If 767 00:53:15,599 --> 00:53:20,039 you can win your conference and that conference is the best one, well then 768 00:53:20,039 --> 00:53:22,880 you've got a road to it. So um, and uh you know, 769 00:53:23,000 --> 00:53:27,639 you could even argue that USF in some ways may have a better road than 770 00:53:27,719 --> 00:53:31,280 some other teams and bigger conferences. So UM, looking forward to that, 771 00:53:31,400 --> 00:53:37,559 looking forward to all the things that that are ahead, not only for USF 772 00:53:37,559 --> 00:53:39,800 but for college football, and hope we get it straightened out because there's craziness 773 00:53:39,840 --> 00:53:45,519 going on right now with the portal and with with an IL, and I 774 00:53:45,639 --> 00:53:49,239 have to think that we've got to figure out some kind of way to keep 775 00:53:49,280 --> 00:53:52,440 this in order somehow. I don't know how that's going to work, but 776 00:53:52,159 --> 00:53:55,239 uh, the NFL has a commissioner, has a set of rules. College 777 00:53:55,280 --> 00:54:00,559 football has neither, and I think it needs one, if not both of 778 00:54:00,599 --> 00:54:02,480 those things. Speaking of now, I'll give you one more question, ni 779 00:54:02,679 --> 00:54:07,239 L. What is Alex's philosophy on that? In USFS philosophy, do they 780 00:54:07,239 --> 00:54:10,920 have a I know, the biggest a collective in place and all that stuff. 781 00:54:12,320 --> 00:54:16,559 What is USF stance on all of nil stuff and making that a asset 782 00:54:16,599 --> 00:54:21,480 to them? They want to be as as big a players they possibly can 783 00:54:21,559 --> 00:54:25,480 be within the rules. They have the Fouler Avenue collective which Matt growthy Is 784 00:54:25,480 --> 00:54:31,000 is associated with. Certainly it's not maybe as large as says some of the 785 00:54:31,000 --> 00:54:35,519 other ones, of course, but they are. They are trying their best 786 00:54:35,599 --> 00:54:39,159 to make it as attractive as they possibly can. And that is that is 787 00:54:39,519 --> 00:54:44,119 the way of life, not only for football but for other sports at USF 788 00:54:44,119 --> 00:54:46,719 and other schools. Is that is that is part of the process now, 789 00:54:47,199 --> 00:54:52,079 part of the evaluation, part of the recruiting is uh, maybe in some 790 00:54:52,119 --> 00:54:55,079 ways the most important part of the of the of the equation is what what 791 00:54:55,280 --> 00:54:58,840 sort of n I L do you have in place? And you know, 792 00:54:58,960 --> 00:55:04,400 other than these five star NFL bound guys that get you know, who knows 793 00:55:04,480 --> 00:55:09,639 what, it's not life changing money or life changing stuff for these other athletes. 794 00:55:09,719 --> 00:55:14,559 It's just something that allows them to maybe have some comfort in their life, 795 00:55:14,559 --> 00:55:17,199 to be able to afford some things and give them some merch and some 796 00:55:17,360 --> 00:55:21,239 swag and some stuff. You know, like all of us would have liked 797 00:55:21,280 --> 00:55:24,480 us kids, you know, grab a bag full of cool stuff will just 798 00:55:24,519 --> 00:55:30,480 make us pretty happy and just enough spending money. So again if and I 799 00:55:30,719 --> 00:55:37,000 you know, and I'll work this into I love what I see from some 800 00:55:37,079 --> 00:55:42,280 of these kids who are using their NIL to help charities and help causes. 801 00:55:42,360 --> 00:55:45,360 That's really cool. Not everybody's going to do that, but I love it. 802 00:55:45,400 --> 00:55:46,639 I love the ones that I've seen that are doing it, that are 803 00:55:47,360 --> 00:55:52,760 taking this found money and using some of it to turn it around for a 804 00:55:52,800 --> 00:55:54,679 good cause. That's a pretty that's a pretty cool thing in my eyes. 805 00:55:55,039 --> 00:55:58,679 I agree with you know that you're right. There's some great stories around the 806 00:55:58,679 --> 00:56:01,400 country or guys are doing stuff or other people with the money that they're getting 807 00:56:01,400 --> 00:56:05,519 for that so well. Joey Johnson, appreciate the time, a great great 808 00:56:05,519 --> 00:56:09,719 analysis on usf Alex Golish the stadium and such and hope you have a great 809 00:56:10,000 --> 00:56:15,760 New Year's and stay safe. Thanks Jason, appreciate it. May Happy New 810 00:56:15,840 --> 00:56:19,679 Year to everybody and certainly to you. Appreciate. We'll be right back with 811 00:56:19,760 --> 00:56:23,159 Matt Michelle from The Orlando Sentinel. Are you in the market for a new 812 00:56:23,199 --> 00:56:27,400 home as we enter the fall? First time home buyer, you want to 813 00:56:27,519 --> 00:56:31,719 upsize or downsize your current living situation, reach out to Titan Home Lending for 814 00:56:31,760 --> 00:56:37,320 all of your home lending needs. If you need an fha VA, conventional 815 00:56:37,559 --> 00:56:40,480 jumbo, or even a bank statement loan, Titan is the place to help 816 00:56:40,519 --> 00:56:45,199 you. We will work with whatever financial situation you are dealing with. Again, 817 00:56:45,320 --> 00:56:51,400 from Key West to Pensacola to Orlando to everywhere in between. Tighten Home 818 00:56:51,480 --> 00:56:54,559 Lending is your home lending source in the state of Florida. Reach out to 819 00:56:54,639 --> 00:57:01,320 Jason Powers two zero five seven nine zero one four zero four. Now a 820 00:57:01,360 --> 00:57:07,119 word from our partners at Print and Marketing Solutions, as well as Star Alvarado, 821 00:57:07,360 --> 00:57:12,360 our realtor here on the podcast. If you have any buying and selling 822 00:57:12,440 --> 00:57:16,000 needs anywhere in the Bay Area, reach out to Star Alvarado eight one three, 823 00:57:16,079 --> 00:57:20,679 five three eight nine five seven two. She can help you on the 824 00:57:20,719 --> 00:57:23,960 selling side or the buying side of any real estate transaction here in the Tampa 825 00:57:23,960 --> 00:57:29,639 Bay Area, from Saint Pete to Tampa to Wesley Chapel and anywhere in between. 826 00:57:29,760 --> 00:57:34,320 Reach out to Star Alvarado eight one three, five three eight nine five 827 00:57:34,480 --> 00:57:39,480 seven two and Print and Marketing Solutions My guy, Todd Tedesco eight one three 828 00:57:39,679 --> 00:57:45,079 four nine eight two eight eight seven. Todd's located on the corner of Lineball 829 00:57:45,480 --> 00:57:49,119 and Gun Highway over in Carrollwood. Todd can help you with all of your 830 00:57:49,159 --> 00:57:52,760 print and supply needs, corporate events, golf tournaments, signs and banners, 831 00:57:53,159 --> 00:58:00,039 marketing pieces, color copies, anything in between. Todd is your print and 832 00:58:00,400 --> 00:58:07,280 marketing specialist. Again, Print and Marketing Specialists, Todd Tedesco eight one three 833 00:58:07,400 --> 00:58:12,159 four nine eight two eight eight seven. All right, welcome back Florida Football 834 00:58:12,199 --> 00:58:15,920 Insiders podcast where you just heard from Joey Johnston talking USF. Now we're gonna 835 00:58:15,920 --> 00:58:21,800 talk to Matt Michelle. Matt covers UCF in Florida State for The Orlando Sentinel. 836 00:58:22,039 --> 00:58:24,519 You've heard Matt on the podcast several times throughout the football year, and 837 00:58:24,800 --> 00:58:28,920 as we get through signing day in the bowl game from Florida State coming up 838 00:58:28,960 --> 00:58:31,000 here, no better person to talk to than Matt. So welcome back, 839 00:58:31,039 --> 00:58:35,199 Matt. Happy holidays, Happy holidays too. How are you doing today? 840 00:58:35,480 --> 00:58:37,239 Things are going well, Things are going well. All right, let's talk 841 00:58:37,679 --> 00:58:42,480 signing day for Florida State and UCF. Just get we don't need to talk 842 00:58:42,559 --> 00:58:45,559 specific names and all that a whole lot. Do you think that, I 843 00:58:45,639 --> 00:58:47,119 know, you know one of the things you heard out of Florida State was 844 00:58:47,119 --> 00:58:52,320 the they were pretty active in the transfer reporter. They got some guys, 845 00:58:52,320 --> 00:58:57,159 some some knee positions. The other part you heard was not all their guys 846 00:58:57,159 --> 00:58:59,880 are playing in the bowl games. None of their guys are not playing. 847 00:59:00,000 --> 00:59:02,400 And that's really something that you've heard a lot out of. Coach Norvelle and 848 00:59:02,400 --> 00:59:06,679 company. Just talk about signing day for both Florida State and you SEEFF a 849 00:59:06,679 --> 00:59:08,519 little bit and what are your thoughts. Well, I think for Florida State, 850 00:59:08,519 --> 00:59:10,800 you know, this wasn't like an extraordinary class. I mean, if 851 00:59:10,840 --> 00:59:14,840 you look at the numbers and you look at rankings, which fans love to 852 00:59:14,880 --> 00:59:16,360 do, this wasn't a class. I think everyone's gonna go, oh wow, 853 00:59:16,440 --> 00:59:19,559 you know what I mean. But it was a solid class from Mike 854 00:59:19,639 --> 00:59:22,639 Norville. I think what it did is it addressed some needs from the high 855 00:59:22,679 --> 00:59:25,039 school level. And as you mentioned, he jumped into portal and he got 856 00:59:25,039 --> 00:59:29,679 once again. Mike Norvella has become the transfer portal master, you know, 857 00:59:29,719 --> 00:59:31,199 of being able to get guys. I mean, he added up some big 858 00:59:31,239 --> 00:59:35,800 pieces on the offensive line. You know. I think Jeremiah Buyers, the 859 00:59:35,840 --> 00:59:39,280 transfer from UTEP, is probably one of the most elite almost step in playing 860 00:59:39,320 --> 00:59:44,000 ready guys. He could probably step on that right backle spot right away and 861 00:59:44,199 --> 00:59:45,920 be a contributor, probably one of the better ones they've picked up. Got 862 00:59:45,960 --> 00:59:51,800 a couple of other guys. They landed a guy actually yesterday and Brad Fisk, 863 00:59:51,880 --> 00:59:54,039 who is a one of the top defensive ends that they've been you know 864 00:59:54,079 --> 00:59:57,800 that's out there in the transfer portal. He's going to be huge for them. 865 00:59:57,840 --> 01:00:00,599 Again, he gives them strength to that position. Seems to be a 866 01:00:00,639 --> 01:00:04,079 trend from Mike Norvell where he's he's gone out of the portal and grabbed you 867 01:00:04,119 --> 01:00:06,559 know, every year it seems to grab an edge rusher, you know, 868 01:00:06,559 --> 01:00:08,320 because he wants to kind of fill that spot. Um. So they were 869 01:00:08,360 --> 01:00:10,480 able to handle that as well. They got a couple of good tight ends 870 01:00:10,480 --> 01:00:15,480 as well. Um yaham Bell is supposed to be a guy who's really ready 871 01:00:15,519 --> 01:00:17,559 to go. Um, a guy who would step in gives Mike Novell a 872 01:00:17,599 --> 01:00:21,599 different option, a different look at the tight end position. So as a 873 01:00:21,639 --> 01:00:23,840 whole, as a class, I think the class was strong. I think 874 01:00:24,039 --> 01:00:28,119 Kim Williams is going to be really good. Who was the high school that 875 01:00:28,400 --> 01:00:31,800 their top high school recruit that they signed a five star player who I think 876 01:00:31,800 --> 01:00:37,159 will be a guy who could step in him and play almost immediately, and 877 01:00:37,199 --> 01:00:39,039 they also filled some other needs there. I think same can be said for 878 01:00:39,119 --> 01:00:43,360 UCF. UCFS class isn't something that you would go out was it was, 879 01:00:43,440 --> 01:00:45,800 you know, it was amazing. They got some good solid position players. 880 01:00:45,840 --> 01:00:49,519 You know, they added the two or three four stars, something that this 881 01:00:49,519 --> 01:00:52,280 program hasn't had and I think ever you know is that many four stars in 882 01:00:52,320 --> 01:00:57,000 a class. But this is a this is you know, a program that's 883 01:00:57,039 --> 01:01:00,599 moving on from the Group of five to the Power five, the Big twelve. 884 01:01:00,679 --> 01:01:02,760 So they're going to have to continue to add some of these pieces and 885 01:01:02,800 --> 01:01:07,559 continue to get stronger on the recruiting trails. So again, I think Gus 886 01:01:07,599 --> 01:01:09,599 Maall's line has a lot more work to do than Mike Norvell does in his 887 01:01:09,639 --> 01:01:12,719 class. I mean, I think he's probably gonna hit the portal a little 888 01:01:12,760 --> 01:01:15,400 hard as well. I think they've added some pieces from other SEC schools, 889 01:01:15,920 --> 01:01:20,480 a talented wide receiver, talented offensive lineman. I think that's what Gus is 890 01:01:20,480 --> 01:01:22,320 going to continue to do it just keep adding these pieces. Let's not forget. 891 01:01:22,360 --> 01:01:25,360 The portal window will close and then I'll open up again after spring, 892 01:01:25,400 --> 01:01:29,320 and I think that's where you're gonna see maybe some more movement. But I 893 01:01:29,360 --> 01:01:32,360 think the biggest telling sign for both, mainly for Florida State in this is 894 01:01:32,400 --> 01:01:35,760 as you mentioned, there weren't a lot of opt outs. I mean, 895 01:01:35,800 --> 01:01:37,519 when you go to this Florida State goes to this bowl game this week, 896 01:01:38,039 --> 01:01:42,519 they have all their players and it's something I'm gonna write about tomorrow about this 897 01:01:42,559 --> 01:01:45,960 is an amazing fact that that Mike Novelle has been able to keep a team 898 01:01:45,000 --> 01:01:49,599 together when every other team in the country it seems like as players are opting 899 01:01:49,599 --> 01:01:52,760 out or going into the transfer portal and leaving the program, this is gonna 900 01:01:52,800 --> 01:01:55,519 be probably the best lineup you're gonna see bowl wise, when you talk about 901 01:01:55,559 --> 01:01:59,000 from roster from top to bottom, because those guys are all coming back. 902 01:01:59,599 --> 01:02:01,280 Yeah. One in the one big loss. I know, you know Mikey 903 01:02:01,400 --> 01:02:06,239 Key, the quarterback at UCM, did he not believe he he transferred? 904 01:02:06,280 --> 01:02:08,760 He's he he left and he's going to Fresno State to play him. I 905 01:02:08,760 --> 01:02:12,760 think Mikey's decision was based kind of on you know, he was the starter 906 01:02:12,840 --> 01:02:15,840 last year, filled in for Dylan gabriel Um. A lot of people felt 907 01:02:15,840 --> 01:02:17,519 like he was going to be the starter of this year. But then Jordan, 908 01:02:17,599 --> 01:02:21,559 you know, the John Rice Palmy comes in for the transfer portal from 909 01:02:21,599 --> 01:02:25,039 and from Old Miss and Gus really kind of embraced that, you know, 910 01:02:25,039 --> 01:02:29,280 I think he really kind of wanted that John Rice fit kind of what they 911 01:02:29,320 --> 01:02:31,639 were trying to do offensively. So Mikey decided to leave. So I think 912 01:02:31,679 --> 01:02:36,639 there's gonna be some interest at that quarterback spot. They've got some Timmy McClain 913 01:02:36,960 --> 01:02:39,639 as a transfer they brought in past season who had to sit out from USF. 914 01:02:39,760 --> 01:02:42,880 He's a very talented player. I think you can help them out. 915 01:02:42,960 --> 01:02:45,960 And Tommy Castellanos, who is the backup right now for Plumb League. He's 916 01:02:45,960 --> 01:02:49,559 an up and coming, you know, player who's been on the roster. 917 01:02:49,800 --> 01:02:52,400 They have a lot of enthusiasm for him. And so I think, you 918 01:02:52,400 --> 01:02:54,239 know, Gus is kind of looking around, think, okay, fine, 919 01:02:54,280 --> 01:02:57,840 we just got to add pieces to kind of get some depth at some positions. 920 01:02:58,239 --> 01:03:01,360 Yeah, and give and give, you know. Obviously, the culmination 921 01:03:01,360 --> 01:03:06,920 of the year, the USUCF loses in the championship game to Tulane. You 922 01:03:06,960 --> 01:03:08,639 know that. I think it was a you know, good game both both. 923 01:03:08,880 --> 01:03:13,039 They beat Tulane a month or so back prior to the championship game and 924 01:03:13,079 --> 01:03:15,880 then they lose to him the second time around. I think, I think 925 01:03:15,000 --> 01:03:19,280 success. I think, from all indications, very successful season, Orlando. 926 01:03:19,320 --> 01:03:22,079 But he's pretty happy some what I mean, I think people felt like this 927 01:03:22,159 --> 01:03:25,079 was a team that could win the AAC this year. It felt like they 928 01:03:25,119 --> 01:03:28,519 I know, they got to the championship game and loss. But there are 929 01:03:28,519 --> 01:03:30,039 a lot of people who felt like this was a team that could that could 930 01:03:30,079 --> 01:03:32,280 get to ten eleven wins. You know, they felt like they had enough 931 01:03:32,320 --> 01:03:37,400 talent there as well, so to have some of the losses they had were 932 01:03:37,400 --> 01:03:39,039 difficult. Um, I think you know, obviously the Louisville game, they 933 01:03:39,039 --> 01:03:43,079 were up at halftime, they gave that game a win the second half. 934 01:03:43,559 --> 01:03:45,320 Um. You know, you mentioned the loss in the championship game. Obviously 935 01:03:45,360 --> 01:03:49,280 there was a lot there, um, and they faced some challenges with injuries. 936 01:03:49,280 --> 01:03:52,000 I mean John reres Plumby was hurt at a hamstring injury. UM, 937 01:03:52,039 --> 01:03:54,119 really kind of limited in that in that championship game. So there were just 938 01:03:54,159 --> 01:03:57,760 opportunities that fans think they could have done a little bit better. But again, 939 01:03:58,679 --> 01:04:00,239 you know, now you're making them to the Big twelve. Everyone's just 940 01:04:00,239 --> 01:04:03,039 happy to kind of to put the season behind them and see what's gonna happen 941 01:04:03,079 --> 01:04:06,239 next year. So let's let's wrap up with Florida State in the bowl game. 942 01:04:06,280 --> 01:04:09,559 I know, Florida State, it's gonna be super excited. They think 943 01:04:09,559 --> 01:04:12,559 they've kind of turned the corner here, you know, nine and three, 944 01:04:12,800 --> 01:04:15,480 nine and three finish you know, a lot of excitement coming out of Tall 945 01:04:15,519 --> 01:04:18,400 Lassie. I think this will be one of the few Bowl teams in the 946 01:04:18,400 --> 01:04:21,880 country. They'll have no lack of motivation. They will be very excited to 947 01:04:21,920 --> 01:04:25,440 play. You're getting some of these Bowl games, you're not sure what the 948 01:04:25,480 --> 01:04:28,679 motivation level is for some of these teams. I think by the indication of 949 01:04:28,679 --> 01:04:31,159 everybody's staying and not opting out, I think that's a great sign. I 950 01:04:31,239 --> 01:04:34,679 think you're gonna have no problem having a very motivated Florida State team to play 951 01:04:34,679 --> 01:04:39,119 Oklahoma. Yeah. I mean it's interesting. We spoke to the They had 952 01:04:39,159 --> 01:04:42,599 media day yesterday for the Cheese At Bowl and a lot of Florida State players 953 01:04:42,599 --> 01:04:45,039 were there and they talked a lot about you know, they want to get 954 01:04:45,039 --> 01:04:46,920 that tenth win. The tenth win to them is important. They've seen the 955 01:04:47,000 --> 01:04:50,679 Florida State brand returning to where it needs to be in the national landscape, 956 01:04:50,880 --> 01:04:54,800 and people are talking about Florida State again. It's in the national it's talking 957 01:04:54,800 --> 01:04:58,119 about in the national rankings. And all these players said, listen, we 958 01:04:58,199 --> 01:05:00,760 understand how important this is and we and I think the thing that kind of 959 01:05:00,760 --> 01:05:04,440 helps them along on this process too, is that Jordan Travis is committed to 960 01:05:04,480 --> 01:05:08,360 coming back next year. You said that Tatumthune's coming back, you know, 961 01:05:08,400 --> 01:05:12,920 Mica Bittman, Trey Benson, all these solid players. Normally at this time 962 01:05:12,960 --> 01:05:14,679 here, these guys are maybe on the fence. I don't know what I'm 963 01:05:14,679 --> 01:05:16,039 gonna do. I'm gonna they all came back. They all came back announced 964 01:05:16,039 --> 01:05:19,960 this early, and they're trying to convince Jared Verse and Jamie Robinson to come 965 01:05:19,960 --> 01:05:21,800 back because they say, hey, man, you come back, imagine what 966 01:05:21,840 --> 01:05:26,800 we could be like. And so there's so much positivity surrounding this program right 967 01:05:26,800 --> 01:05:29,000 now. They feel like this going in this game. Man, we've got 968 01:05:29,000 --> 01:05:30,400 so much to go for it, and they're gonna play. I'm gonna guarantee 969 01:05:30,400 --> 01:05:32,599 you probably gonna sell out. They're really close to it. I think they 970 01:05:32,639 --> 01:05:35,400 got less than fifteen hundred tickets left. It's gonna be a sought and it's 971 01:05:35,440 --> 01:05:40,199 gonna be a very very pro Florida State crowd at this in the stadium. 972 01:05:40,440 --> 01:05:43,639 So it's gonna be a great atmosphere. They understand exactly what's going on. 973 01:05:43,800 --> 01:05:45,360 They want to kind of continue to push, you know what. They're trying 974 01:05:45,400 --> 01:05:47,840 to do it and next year they realize there's gonna be a lot of people 975 01:05:47,840 --> 01:05:50,800 who are gonna look at Florida State and maybe actually put them in some preseason 976 01:05:50,880 --> 01:05:55,519 rankings where we get down to it. Oh yeah. And the other interesting 977 01:05:55,599 --> 01:05:59,639 nugget here as you got Dylan Gabriel, the former UCF quarterback coming back to 978 01:05:59,679 --> 01:06:02,199 town and he's now the quarterback for Oklahoma. Yeah, it was interesting. 979 01:06:02,239 --> 01:06:05,079 We spoke to Dylan yesterday for a while. Um, it was kind of 980 01:06:05,119 --> 01:06:10,559 a surreal moment for me because I covered Dylan and Mackenzie Milton, the former 981 01:06:10,719 --> 01:06:14,000 Florida the former UCF quarterback, was there as well. He was actually friends 982 01:06:14,000 --> 01:06:15,400 with Dylan, and they were both there and they kind of were talking for 983 01:06:15,440 --> 01:06:17,639 a bit. And it's kind of little eerie to look back at see like 984 01:06:17,679 --> 01:06:20,679 he's two UCF guys who were still there, but Dylan's you know, Dylan 985 01:06:20,840 --> 01:06:25,119 talked about his kind of his journey from where we left UCF. You know, 986 01:06:25,199 --> 01:06:27,519 he went in the transfer portal. So it was a very difficult decision, 987 01:06:27,960 --> 01:06:29,800 um, you know, but he felt like it was best to move 988 01:06:29,840 --> 01:06:31,400 on. You know, he got to Oklahoma. It wasn't a great year. 989 01:06:31,440 --> 01:06:33,559 I mean they're six and six, you know, they've had some struggles 990 01:06:33,880 --> 01:06:38,639 obviously. UM, they're going into this game trying to maybe you know, 991 01:06:38,719 --> 01:06:42,400 come off with some positivity getting a win, maybe against a top fifteen ranked 992 01:06:42,400 --> 01:06:45,480 team. Um, you know, they won't have some of the key players. 993 01:06:45,440 --> 01:06:46,800 Whose guys who hindered the portals we talked about on the flip side. 994 01:06:46,800 --> 01:06:49,400 For Florida State, they've got some guys who entered the portal and the left 995 01:06:49,400 --> 01:06:53,960 and guys who opted out. So it's gonna be kind of an Hodgepodge roster 996 01:06:54,039 --> 01:06:57,000 I think for Oklahoma. So you know, Dylan wants to kind of showcase 997 01:06:57,039 --> 01:06:59,719 and and you know, hey, I'm back back in Orlando. I want 998 01:06:59,719 --> 01:07:01,239 to show case what we're able to do. And he's got a decision on 999 01:07:01,280 --> 01:07:03,800 his own. I mean, listen, afterwards, he's got to decide whether 1000 01:07:03,880 --> 01:07:05,679 or not he wants to try to go for the NFL, if he wants 1001 01:07:05,719 --> 01:07:09,719 to come back for another season in Oklahoma. And I talked to Jeff Levy, 1002 01:07:09,760 --> 01:07:14,119 their offensive coordinate, who was a former UCF quarterbacks coach, and he 1003 01:07:14,159 --> 01:07:15,440 said, you know, Nielsen, Dylan wants to focus on this game and 1004 01:07:15,480 --> 01:07:19,039 doesn't want to worry about that decision. Though they have had conversations about it, 1005 01:07:19,079 --> 01:07:21,719 so it's gonna be interesting. So Oklahoma wants to finish strong. They 1006 01:07:21,719 --> 01:07:25,599 would love to do it against a great team. Yeh, I saw some 1007 01:07:25,599 --> 01:07:28,320 social media pictures, you'd like the hot dogs over there they were. They 1008 01:07:28,320 --> 01:07:31,039 had a good media day spread, Yes they did. They actually had some 1009 01:07:31,159 --> 01:07:35,840 really good so some good media day spread. What's really interesting was side note 1010 01:07:35,880 --> 01:07:40,320 is that most of the Oklahoma Beat writers weren't there at the event because of 1011 01:07:40,360 --> 01:07:44,039 the weather the travel delays that have kind of bampered the country. They weren't 1012 01:07:44,079 --> 01:07:46,320 even there. So it was literally maybe about a handful of us from local 1013 01:07:46,360 --> 01:07:49,480 media, Florida State media as well. They're kind of doing the interview. 1014 01:07:49,599 --> 01:07:53,679 So it was interesting, but it was a good opportunity to kind of catch 1015 01:07:53,719 --> 01:07:56,599 up with everybody. And like I said, we talked to Jared Verse, 1016 01:07:56,679 --> 01:07:59,760 we talked to Jamie Robinson about their decisions maybe the Boss to come back, 1017 01:08:00,119 --> 01:08:01,960 Jared said. Both of them said their moms have been very crucial in this 1018 01:08:02,039 --> 01:08:05,920 decision. They've really kind of stepped forward and almost acted like managers for them 1019 01:08:06,079 --> 01:08:10,960 and have taken on the responsibility of letting them focus on football and worried about 1020 01:08:11,079 --> 01:08:13,719 kind of creating their you know, getting everything set up. In fact, 1021 01:08:13,800 --> 01:08:16,920 Jared Verset said his mom has created a war room in their house where she's 1022 01:08:16,960 --> 01:08:20,199 got a wall pinned up with stuff and pros and cons and things like that. 1023 01:08:20,279 --> 01:08:24,039 So she's really handling it. And Jared said, honestly, it's been 1024 01:08:24,079 --> 01:08:27,239 it's been a blessing for me because I can focus on football and enjoying this 1025 01:08:27,279 --> 01:08:29,960 week of bowl preparation. Who do you like in the Who do you like 1026 01:08:30,000 --> 01:08:32,840 in the semi final playoff games? Oh, I'm gonna say it's gonna be 1027 01:08:32,880 --> 01:08:36,960 Georgia that it's probably gonna be Georgia Michigan getting into getting into the national Championship. 1028 01:08:38,000 --> 01:08:41,279 I think George's got a stronger defense. I think OHI State's got a 1029 01:08:41,319 --> 01:08:44,199 chip on the shoulder, would love to come into this game and kind of 1030 01:08:44,399 --> 01:08:47,600 pull the upset. But George's played really well most of the season. TCU's 1031 01:08:47,640 --> 01:08:50,039 had a great run, and you know, but I think Michigan's will get 1032 01:08:50,079 --> 01:08:54,039 a team that's been there before. I don't think people understand when you haven't 1033 01:08:54,079 --> 01:08:57,079 been in these kind of situations how difficult it can be in challenging for a 1034 01:08:57,119 --> 01:09:00,720 coach and a team to kind of put all that aside while you're focusing on 1035 01:09:00,720 --> 01:09:03,399 what you're gonna do. And so I like this idea of Georgia Michigan going 1036 01:09:03,439 --> 01:09:05,840 to the national town again. All right, Matt Telby, where they can 1037 01:09:05,840 --> 01:09:09,560 find out your great Bowl coverage and all the great works you do with the 1038 01:09:09,680 --> 01:09:13,199 Orlando Sentinel. Yeah, they can go to Orlando Sentinel dot com or you 1039 01:09:13,239 --> 01:09:16,399 can follow me on Twitter at os Matt Michelle and got all sorts of coverage 1040 01:09:16,399 --> 01:09:20,159 for this week and bowls and transfer portals and all sorts of nil deals. 1041 01:09:20,199 --> 01:09:25,039 So it never seems to end, doesn't It does not. And I said 1042 01:09:25,039 --> 01:09:27,840 you'll get a little break here, a little bit, but but not for 1043 01:09:27,880 --> 01:09:30,720 another couple of weeks for sure. Well, Matt, appreciate the time, 1044 01:09:30,720 --> 01:09:33,720 Matt, great, keep up the great work covering all things Orlando sports and 1045 01:09:33,800 --> 01:09:39,920 Florida State Athletics. Really appreciate the time. That's the end of our podcast 1046 01:09:40,000 --> 01:09:43,239 for the week. Appreciate you find us on a Florida Football Insiders podcast. 1047 01:09:43,600 --> 01:09:45,319 I'm your host Jason again. We talked to coach Jim Levitt, we talked 1048 01:09:45,319 --> 01:09:49,640 to Joey Johnston, and now Matt Michelle trying to give you a good recruiting 1049 01:09:49,720 --> 01:09:55,000 update as well as Bowl updates here as we get to the semifinals and find 1050 01:09:55,079 --> 01:09:58,800 us on Twitter at JPO Sports. Appreciate you find us, and we'll see 1051 01:09:58,800 --> 01:10:02,359 you next week on the Florida foot Insiders Podcast. Thanks for listening to the 1052 01:10:02,399 --> 01:10:10,000 Florida Football Insiders Podcast as part of the College Gridiron Coast to Coast podcast network. 1053 01:10:10,199 --> 01:10:14,479 Please remember subscribe rate in review if you've not already done so, and 1054 01:10:14,600 --> 01:10:17,399 you can reach out to me on Twitter at j Post Sports. Love to 1055 01:10:17,439 --> 01:10:23,520 hear your comments and feedback about our episodes and any program suggestions moving forward. 1056 01:10:24,119 --> 01:10:29,520 Check out our video interviews as well on my YouTube channel, Jason Powers Sports 1057 01:10:29,600 --> 01:10:33,920 Channel, and we'll see it next week on the Florida Football Insiders Podcast