Speaker 1: Dot com.
Speaker 2: If you're looking for spin, try a press release if
you want that true you're listening to it on one
O three nine ninety eight three ESPN. No Fan Time
for Keeping up with the Cougars. Brought to you by
Odion Men'swear, proudly outfitting young professionals, young adults, boys and
missionaries across the globe with quality suits and apparel. Find
a location near you or Odionmenswear dot com.
Speaker 1: Welcome back Cougar Sports. One of three, nine ninety eight
point three ESPN. The Fan. I've been crual broadcasting from
our Banterwilth Studios, Banterwealth dot com. Get on that free
Q and A, no obligation to invest Q and A
with our tax more wealth Advisors, our certify financial Planners.
Nobody does it better than Blaine Anderson and his crew
at Vanderwealthanderwealth dot com. We're gonna get into a keeping
up with the Cougar segment. A young man that's to
be playing in the alumni game, I stay young. He's
still young in spry. He still's got a little bit
bit of biggeran VM. He's still a good athlete, still
got some proper quick twitch fast twitch muscle fiber. He's
gonna be balling out for the Brigham Young University fans
at the alumni game. Hopefully he stays warm and toasty.
We do have a cold front that he's uh has,
that he's upon us here, and we do have precipitation.
But we've had this before and this man has played
in many games up in Cash Valley, Cash Money in
the inclement weather, so he's no stranger to it. Let's
welcome in one of the best tight ns BA football history.
We got Moroni Laoluputu Tao MLP. What's up? Bro?
Speaker 3: What's up? Can you hear me?
Speaker 1: You feel hey? Loud and clear? Bro, he sounded.
Speaker 3: That's quite the introduction.
Speaker 1: So what like, that's an easy peasy one.
Speaker 3: Bro.
Speaker 1: That ain't that? Ain't that? Ain't nothing? My friend?
Speaker 3: I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Yeah. One of the reasons why I like MLP is
because he was like he was a defensive back and
a wider receiver in high school and then uh converted
to the tight end room.
Speaker 4: That's right, yeah, play both ways. I think I first
got on the radar was Nick hal the defensive coordinator.
Speaker 1: Nick is the one that found you.
Speaker 3: And then I found me.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so, and uh, what was his pitch to you
at the time. There's no pitch. There's no pitch. It
was just they we love you athlete. I think at
the time he just got guys like Alani Fua, you know.
So I think he first initially was looking at me
and was like, we could do a lot with the frame.
Speaker 1: And then so he was looking at defense first.
Speaker 3: He's looking at defense first.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I first got on the field as
a sophomore as a corner. I didn't start as receiver
in high school high school, so I started as a
corner and that's where I got all my pt and
then and then I'd rotate a little bit here and
there receiver.
Speaker 1: But so you're like, what six two at the time?
Speaker 3: Six three the twig?
Speaker 1: Oh man, that's great, kind of.
Speaker 3: Jarring to look at when I go back and look
at the film.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I was until Yeah, it's it's pretty crazy.
Did you play multiple sports though? Were you more than
a football, basketball, track?
Speaker 3: Football?
Speaker 1: Yeah, we're kind of getting out of the era of
like multi sport athletes.
Speaker 3: It's interesting. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, how do you feel about it? Like when you're like,
you know, because you have you got some boys. You
got some kiddo's coming on that. I mean they're still
ways away from specializing obviously, but are you gonna kind
of make them like you got to play all the sports?
Speaker 4: I'm going to try and prolong multiple sports as long
as I can. Yeah too, and that that's kind of
my thought process. I mean, I have three boys, so
they're already in like some Muay Thai mixed martial arts,
they've done some gymnast.
Speaker 1: Because you've been doing some way time.
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, yeah, And I mean they're young, but I
can already see like they're figuring out their bodies. I
don't want to keep that as long as possible. I
think I think it will help in the long run.
Speaker 1: It's great names and ages.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I got three so Maroni, Junior A, Malachi and Gid.
So yes, they're all. They're all booking more Renee keep
it in the six. Four and two are the ages?
Speaker 2: Man?
Speaker 1: Ye wait, wait, you're you're Malachi is four?
Speaker 3: Malachi's four, okay.
Speaker 1: So my Malachi is four and a half. So yeah,
we got to get them together. A little Malachi a
little do you call Kai Kai.
Speaker 3: I think it'll come. I mean, friends will probably give
him on your nickname.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it is long. Yeah, but you guys
go on Malacha. Yeah, it's a beautiful name, man, beautiful name,
no doubt about it. What convinced you? Who convinced you
to play the alumni game this year?
Speaker 3: Jack?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Jackson out there back? He said, who's ready to running back?
Speaker 1: I enjoyed it.
Speaker 3: Last year was my first year. Yeah, I really enjoyed it.
Seeing all the guys and getting back on the field.
It was fun.
Speaker 4: So and we're coming from Boise Eagle, Idaho area, so
it's kind of becoming a trip, a fun little thing
to look forward to.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I know you guys made the move up there.
I want to say a couple of years ago, about
three years now, and you were you were in the
kind of the real estate development world. Is what you
were looking at and what you were you were getting into,
I want to say, even five years ago. And so
how's the move been. It gives a little update on
the corporate world that you're living in.
Speaker 4: Yeah, the movesment awesome. It's been really good for our family.
We love the area that's been. It's been great for us,
super good fit. I think it's funny because myself included.
You think of Idaho and it's like all you think
of is East Idaho, like Rexburt, like that's everyone's perception
of Idaho. And so when we got to you know,
the West side, it's completely different, different vibe, different climate,
different everything.
Speaker 3: So we've enjoyed it.
Speaker 4: I'm still in the space, so I'm still in the
real estate development space, specifically land development. I have a
civil engineering side to my company now, so we just
help other developers or landowners develop land so kind of
manage the development process for them.
Speaker 3: And it's been fun. I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 1: Naming the company and how can they follow you, connect
with you on LinkedIn, et cetera.
Speaker 4: Yeah, LinkedIn, just my name and then our company's SD
Group land Development Management and civil engineering firm.
Speaker 3: And yeah, it's been good.
Speaker 4: We're we're pretty much all in Idaho now, Treasure Valley,
just trying to stay in my backyard. And we're small,
we're still new, we're still a startup.
Speaker 3: Growing and building to building and still alive, still in it.
Speaker 1: So I love it, man, Yeah, I love it. And
then you've been doing some moy Thai. Then somebody decided, like,
did you do any MMA stuff prior to but that's.
Speaker 3: Something I always wish I could have done.
Speaker 4: I think a lot of athletes, especially football players, think
the same thing, and you just can't really get in there.
Speaker 1: I learned the guard in arm barring from my brother
when I was like twelve, because he had gotten into
it so likely with brothers like you're like and that
he they like like the octagon and like some of
the MMA stuff. It was just coming about right. Like
it's true, it's still fairly new, Hoyce Gracie. Like I
knew all like the names of like these individuals, like
so the the the og jiu jitsu world, Yeah, that's
the jiu jitsu world. And then but you had some
really good moy Hi guys and boxers and like wrestlers,
you know, and Ken Shamrock and like all these guys
that were just jacked. Yeah, you know a lot of regulations,
no regulation jack. That's some t RT if I've ever
seen any anyway, But yeah, dude, I was. It was
something that I was kind of taught a little bit.
I mean, you grew up with so many brothers who
grew up in the big family too, It's like you
kind of get into some scuffles.
Speaker 4: Yeah, stuff, So you learned a little bit able to
actually get in there and learn it. I mean, I'm
six years out now from from playing yep, and about
last year I got that itch that I was like, man,
I need something competitive. Yes, and pickleball is just not
doing it for me. You don't you know what I mean, Like,
people don't like playing with me. It's like, dude, it's
not that serious.
Speaker 3: I'm like, I'm sorry, this is in my DNA. Yeah.
Speaker 4: And so I tried it and I just fell in
love with it, and I'm like, oh, this gives me
that This scratches that itch that football gave me. And
it's competitive and it's something my joy keeps me in shape,
gives me something to work out for.
Speaker 3: It's hard to just work out for nothing, at least
for me unless I have it.
Speaker 1: No.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So I'm like, oh, I got a fight coming
up where I got something to do. Yeah, it's been good.
Speaker 1: I love it. That's awesome. Yeah. Well ben bo is
like a you know, a bare knuckle boxer. Don't ever
do that.
Speaker 3: That's crazy.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I try to stay in shape, enjoy it, but I'm not. Yeah,
gotta go home to the wife and the kids.
Speaker 1: Well, what's interesting is, like I thought, once upon a time,
we did We've done this maybe I think once or
twice where we have a rivalry like Legends boxing matches
where we pit. It'll be like a corporate sponsored thing
where like there's like corporate entities involved in it and
they're like boxing each other. But then we'll have some
premiere fights where like Riley Nelson boxed I want to say, man,
who did Riley box? He boxed the former place kicker
for Utah, who's like an Olympic skierd I must have
been side no Snowski. You look up Riley Brian Keel
boxed Boo Anderson, a former Utah linebacker. So we need
to do this again. You missed it? Oh yeah, man,
you can look it up. It was a Legends fight
and so he boxed Andy Phillips. We should probably continue
to Yeah, oh, it totally does because it gets a
bunch of fans out there like, oh, well Utah and
you know Utah football player versus b what you football
player and you do enough marquee fights. There are different
weight groups. Yeah, it's it's pretty good.
Speaker 3: Cool.
Speaker 1: You'd be a heavyweight, heavy heavyweight right, because you're over
to a five, right, a little bit over to who
do you? Who do you? Who do we match you
up with?
Speaker 3: You know what I mean? Not a lot of people
in our class.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm trying to think who you played against during
that time, roughly in the in the in the in
the Holy War games.
Speaker 3: Yeah, the Holy War Let's see.
Speaker 1: I don't know, say, like in my era, it would
have been like me and like Steve Taate or something
like that. You know, it's like me, you know too,
two white defensive backs brawling. Yeah, and then in the
fight club, you know, I like it. Yeah, yeah, I'm
just keeping you in mind. I mean I think, uh
you know Jan Jorgenson was it was into m n
AT and uh so we've got some fighters. We've got
some fighters in our crew. But Gladow's well with you,
b AU football. I don't know if you've been able
to get Ayes on Camp Koalani during spring ball yet.
Did you just get here into the town, just.
Speaker 3: Got to town. I haven't been there, but yeah, keeping yeah,
keeping stuff.
Speaker 1: Cody Barty you want to fight there? Cody? Oh yeah, yeah,
have a good matchup. Cody Barton. Is Cody still playing ball? Okay,
is he still playing balls?
Speaker 3: He don't know, is he Let me take a look.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm taking more m LP all day on this one.
Cody is a good football player, though. What did you
make of the of the b A Cougar football season? Though, Yeah,
he's he's still playing in the league, so he's probably
gonna may want to fight still. You know, you good shape.
But twenty twenty five, twelve and two almost gonna you
get to the Big twelve championship game. I mean, this
is the stuff that you know, we dreamed about nil
nil money, big total championships on the knocking on the
door of the College Football PLAYFF, I think were you
a part of the twenty twenty team?
Speaker 3: Uh No, the twenty nineteen was technically this season.
Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, so you didn't get to be a part
of the two. They were kind of knocking on the door.
They were c FPAF. Well, yep, no, it's been fun
to watch.
Speaker 4: It's just like you said, it's every fans dream was
like that season, and yet you still have the fans.
Speaker 3: That are like complaining. You know, I'm like, this has
been the best year and arguably history.
Speaker 1: It really is versus the strength of schedule really good.
Speaker 4: So it's so fun to watch, so fun to be
a fan again and just and just watch them do
their thing, and and also see Kilane like because I
was his first year sixteen twenty sixteen.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was my sophomore year.
Speaker 1: Great year by the way, Yeah, it's a great year.
Speaker 4: And so just to see how the culture's grown and
the team he's built around them and how dialed in
they are. There's a lot of momentum velocity, and you
can see it on the field, you can hear it
from the players.
Speaker 3: So it's been fun to watch.
Speaker 5: Yeah, how have you seen Kilane change and evolve over
time since that first year because obviously you're around him
that year.
Speaker 1: Yeah, like what has what has grown.
Speaker 5: In Kilanie's coaching philosophy since then that you've seen.
Speaker 3: I think the main thing was culture.
Speaker 4: I think I mean any coach right there trying to
figure out who their team is, what their culture is,
and then also how that's actually practically implemented, right, how
the schedule looks, how the systems within the team work,
how your leadership operation works within the team. Right, how
do you want to operate as a coach or you
kind of more hands on or more hands off, or
you player led, and so I think at the beginning
it was it was interesting because every year we felt
something there, like we felt him tweaking something. Oh, we're
moving more and more towards the leadership roles of the players,
more and more into the love and learning culture. And
it actually like you could see it visually as a
player from year one to the next year to the
next year. Oh, things are starting to change. Also, he has,
you know, a bunch of staff changes those years, if
you remember. I mean there's a new OC every year.
Speaker 3: So that's one of the big things.
Speaker 4: Him finding his people too right and and dialing that
in and it's just man, you can see it just
dialed right now. It's cool to watch.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you bring up some really interesting points. We were
talking about dynamic duos in the tight end room. I
know you started off as a wide receiver, kind of
like a slot, big, big body, wide receiver that could
be deemed as a flex anyway. But I saw you
some iso I think a couple of deep posts early
on in your career, coming down with some balls. Who
who's the best? Uh, you know what? Who was the
the counterpartier? In twelve personnel settings. You were at b YU.
Speaker 3: Oh it is Matt Bushman.
Speaker 1: That's a great crew MLP and a young Matt bush
that's Matt Bushman.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Matt Bushman.
Speaker 1: You guys are good together. That's a good deal. That
was a fun That was a fun time because you
were more of the in line, but you could flex
and then Matt was a flex Yeah, yeah, I had.
Speaker 3: I had a couple of pounds on him and it
just fit. It just worked normal that way.
Speaker 4: And so I ran a lot of the true Y positions,
although we we switched and flip flop, but if it
was twelve typically we'd say he was at the F
so he's in that like you back off offset position.
Speaker 3: And I've run a lot of the Y and I
loved playing with Matt because.
Speaker 4: I mean, you get people that take an eye off
you to go worry about someone else and vice versa.
Speaker 3: It just it just works.
Speaker 1: It was fun. Yeah, I was kind of pulling up
like the best duo tight ends in BYU football history.
And I was like, I was like, I'm pretty sure
you crossed over with Matt, but it wanted to make
sure because like he had some injuries as well.
Speaker 4: That's the most years I crossed over with We had
a young dollon Hoole at the beginning. So the cool
thing about playing with Matt was it was just the
IQ right, Like we knew going in. We could just
give a look or a glance and we knew, or
we could swip switch the drop of the hat in
the middle of the play and be just fine. And
so it was fun playing with Matt.
Speaker 3: In that garden.
Speaker 1: Because you had your injury in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I had one in twenty seventeen and twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1: The twenty eighteen was the was that getting rolled up
on or yeah? That was Washington in twenty seventeen, was
that Liz Frank? I was Liz Frank before the even
the season even, Yeah, So we didn't get to see it,
but two thousand, yeah, twenty eighteen and nineteen yep, yeah yep.
So I was looking at it kind of like the
stats with Matt Buschman in twenty nineteen forty seven reception,
six hundred and eighty eight yards and four touchdowns and
then you had nine with one twenty four in a touchdown.
Yeah yep, and you played in eleven games that year,
So yeah, that's a good duo right there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was fun.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and the year prior you had only played in
six games, but Matt, I think Matt ended up having
where was Matt at there? And as far as his receiving,
Matt led the team in receptions in twenty eighteen. Yeah,
twenty nine for five to eleven, two touchdowns. And then
in six games you were trending really well too, fourteen receptions,
one twenty in a touchdown.
Speaker 3: Yeah, was a good year.
Speaker 1: That would have been. Actually, you play all twelve thirteen
games and you know you're at you're at almost thirty
receptions and he's trending forward fifty sixty. That's a really
statistically that's like where you guys were trending at that time.
Is one of the better seasons in Buley football history.
From the tight ends and that twelve person off set.
Speaker 3: It was a fun first five six games for sure.
Speaker 1: All Right, sorry, I'm bringing up the pass. This is
what we do on radio. And then my knee up
blow down. Tried to try to make it's hard, man,
this game I can't I call football game of attrition
right like it's just is it's just it's.
Speaker 4: A it's all out war on and off the field
and physical. It's it's not for the faint of heart.
And I mean, but but that's what makes it great.
That's what makes it, you know, worthwhile and makes the
memories fun to go back and look at it, no doubt.
Speaker 5: What do you got a p Yeah, Well, we were
talking a little bit earlier about tight ends and running backs,
and and I noticed that buy us all time. Great
running backs usually have really great tight ends to go
with them, Like you know, Luke Staley had had a
couple of great ones with them, Harvey and had, Dennis Pitta,
and Andrew George and and and I mean you were
with Jamal and LJ had Carson Ryan last year. What
role is or if it like, what is the role
of a tight end? And and how do they how
do they connect with a running back? Do you guys
help take the load off of a running back?
Speaker 1: How does that? What's the connection? Now?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think anytime you have more weapons on the
field in general, it's gonna help everybody.
Speaker 3: Right, you just can't focus. You can't just load the box.
If you've got tight ends.
Speaker 4: That can leak out and make plays downfield, you can't
just focus on LJ or jamal right and and things
like that. I think a tight end specifically in the
run game is super underrated. I think their impact in
the run game is huge. And if you have a
tight end that can block to your point, it makes.
Speaker 3: Running back shops a lot easier.
Speaker 4: You can have an extra guy that you bring in
the box that is not also going to bring more
guys on the defensive side in the box, but actually
add value and and and and and affect the game
in that regard.
Speaker 3: So yeah, it's cool.
Speaker 4: And running backs always love their their O line or
their tight ends right whoever's blocking for them.
Speaker 1: So yeah, okay, I think, uh you know, I will
say that double digit wins in BYU football history seemingly
come when there are two NFL caliber tight ends. It
coincides two thousand and one, does Jolly Spencer ned both
NFL guys. There may be a few outliers, right, like
you had, I want to say in twenty twenty, you know,
you kind of had like Mason Wake in combination with
with Isaac Rex and Isaac was on the on the
trajectory for NFL until he dislocated his ankle twenty twenty one.
You had you had Isaac Rex and Dallan Holker right
my era, Johnny Harlen, Dan Coats in six and then
you know, like you had like seven, which was uh
Dennis Pitta, Andrew George so uh, Chad Lewis or Tulameily.
You just go down the list. It's like, oh the
double digits.
Speaker 4: You know, there's just so much you can do with
tight ends and yeah, to that point, it just mismatches, mismatches.
It helps you wins game and just to stay unpredictable.
Like as a defense, you love nothing more than knowing, oh,
it's either gonna be this or that, Like I only
have to guard this if it's not that is this?
Speaker 3: So when you have the tight ends that are such
a versatile piece, Yeah, it's.
Speaker 1: Most underrated position in football.
Speaker 4: Well, I would also say one of the most difficult,
I know, the corners besides quarterback.
Speaker 3: I don't bias, but I don't think there's a harder
position to play tight.
Speaker 1: End stuff, especially Q and physically you.
Speaker 4: Block every single person. You're blocking a d tackle and
you're blocking a safety in a corner. You're also running routes.
You have to know the whole route tree. You have
to do all the past pro So it's a lot.
Speaker 1: You're in space and in your stock blocks, and so
you're you're, you're you're matching up with some good athletic
guys in the slots. But then you got to get
in the trenches the next place. Yeah, then you got
a down block on a y. You know, you're like,
Holy Cad, that guy's master.
Speaker 3: Block this three tech Right now, let's go run out
of little patri towel m l P.
Speaker 1: We appreciate you hopping on and now uh message to
Kugarnation to come out and support the the the old
heads that they're gonna be playing now in the alumni
game tomorrow.
Speaker 4: Yeah, come come cheer on. The old farts are running
around all of it. It's gonna be cold, it's gonna
be cool.
Speaker 1: Little trip down autographs, man, coming get into the autographs
and let these guys really soak it up, these former
b A greats.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, it'll be fun. I'm looking forward to.
Speaker 1: And connect with Moron I. If you're looking at you know,
land Development, hook up with him on LinkedIn. He does
great work and great stuff. MLP appreciate you, man,