Speaker 1: All Star Tour. You want to presents Off the Bench
with Jacob Hester and T Bob Abert. Yeah yeah, yeah,
yeah yeah, Off the Bench with Jacob Hester and C
Bob aber.
Speaker 2: I gotta come off the bitch.
Speaker 1: Now here's Jacob Hester and T Bob Abert.
Speaker 2: What's going on, y'all? Welcome man, a brand new day
of OTB here live from Radio Row. It is Thursday,
and we are still sponsored by Labert's Hotel Casino A
matt Rue shout out to Lavera traving us out here
live on Radio Row in Super Bowl. It's incredible experience.
It's been awesome. It's only getting increasingly awesome with each
passing day. Uh. If you're watching on YouTube accomps Twitter
for a five yspan, you see that Jake is not
next to me yet. Unfortunately, Jake seems to be a
bit of a modern day Jonah. If we all remember
he got stuck in all those awful travel hells in
which everything was way over stuff. They only had one
lines open, like the TSA and everything. Well, the conventionence
and or security doing their best TSA impression today despite
the fact there's like six scanners open, they only have
one line so Jake, I believe he's in line. I
think it starts or it ends around Gretna. So we
hope to get Jake in here sometime in the in
the first hour. All Right, we got a really good
show planned for you today. Let's start here, though. I'm
just gonna I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna charge ahead
with all the Greg Brooks stuff off the top.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 2: I want to be clear before I play the Brian
Kelly sound about how I feel about this. So if
you missed it, Greg Brooks had a UH and his
family had an absolutely heartbreaking segment on Good Morning America
where it shows what Greg has been through and we
can talk about that in a second, but within it,
Greg's father says, Brian Kelly's not been a touched with
his son and Costago the Sunstreber of twenty twenty three,
and UH that that well, that's what Brian Kelly was
responding to. I gotta be I gotta be so, so,
so so clear about this.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 2: I don't really care at all to argue about did
Brian Kelly get in touch with me? Did he get
in touch to like I to me? What what we
cannot lose sight of here, and the real hero and
the real tragedy of this all is Greg himself. Do
not use Greg as a launching pad to to to
get your your Kelly beef off your chest. And in
the inverse, uh, do not attack Greg because you want
to defend Brian Kelly. It's it's it's it's it's the
story here. What matters is what happened to Greg Brooks,
a young man in his physical prime, leader, captain of
the football team who you know, in my opinion I
believe was his situation was not handled correctly. But again, regardless,
that is an opinion. The fact in the story and
what matters here is that Greg Brooks was a young
man in his physical prime, had the entire world in
front of him, and he went in for a surgery
in which he was told that it would not be
that he would be up and walking like within a day,
right like. He went in for a surgery that was
not supposed to be life altering, and yet he emerged
on the other side after multiple strokes, unable to talk,
unable to walk, unable to eat. And now this young
man is pouring everything that he has in learning how
to live once again, learning how to move once again,
learn how to talk once again. Even listening to him
in that interview, the fact that he's gotten where he's
got two is impressive in heartbreaking, and I've seen a
lot of people talking about online like, oh well once
the family lord Brian Kelly has to stepped talking to
him first off, saying it like luer it up, Like
that's the wrong thing to do. What would any of
y'all done? What would you do in the same situation?
Everybody would do the exact same thing, says every family's
worst nightmare come to life. And yeah, of course you
feel wronged and slighted and misled, and like the people
who did the surgery weren't qualified to the surgery because
look at what happened. And I'm not a doctor, so
I don't know what the case is there, but to
say that you would it, or that it's somehow wrong
to absolutely absurd and yeah, vk stuff talking abou after
they lord up. I think that's awful too. So again
like I'll play the Brian Kelly sound, but I want
you to know I don't care about it. All I
care about and the story is Greg Brooks and what
he went through and his continued road to recovery and
how can we support him? How can you support him?
There go fundies, I'll we'll look into it, find any
links that we can. But if you have any of
the family, friends, anything like That's the story here is
Greg's continued road to recovery. So sorry, I had to
get that off my chest. I feel like people are
really losing the I feel like people are really losing
the thread here when it comes to what matters in
this story. All right, there's no way to, you know,
when you talk about something serious like this, there's no
way to kind of let's just do the easy transition.
Let's just do the pivot. Thank you, Jake. And there's
Jake Kester. What's up?
Speaker 5: Man?
Speaker 2: You got him from from the Gretna security line. Yeah,
so Bo, it's fine.
Speaker 3: Bo. If somebody takes a picture of this credential and
makes another credential out of it, I'm not gonna get
mad at him. I'm gonna put him in the next
Mission Impossible movie. Okay, because that is impressive. But I'm
saying what you're saying, the man who's.
Speaker 2: Been waiting at security brouh, I mean a little testing.
You can't be here you go. I got I got
so big coffee. This is our for I love you.
This is our fourth day here.
Speaker 3: And we get here and we walk right in and
so I'm just chilling, hanging out, and no, I walked
to security today and the back of the line is
in the West Bank, so it took him minute. It's
and then God bless the guy in front of me.
He was at least one hundred and four if I
had to put a year on it. And he had
all the equipment. He had seven batteries, six cameras, tripods
and everything, and he fumbled him about six times. So,
but we're here. They should have just cut in the line, right,
I mean Rivers was like in the front of the
line when.
Speaker 2: I barely missed me, you could have. Wow, you didn't
hop in with Rivers. I was going to and then
I was like, I don't want to be the cutter. Wow. Uh,
y'all both do that, which I guess speaks to your integrity,
But like, at the same time, it's not the taxi
in writch question, is that cutting the line? If you
have someone who is of your party, you're you're nodding vigorously.
But people do this with family members all the.
Speaker 3: Time because you're not sure, like in Disney, like if
you were in line, I mean not Disney.
Speaker 2: In the airport, if one person's waiting in line, and
then what you're gonna like and the kid wants to
come up, your wife wants to come up, You're gonna
say no, You're gonna kick the wife to the back
of the line. I don't know.
Speaker 3: I am pretty bad. Like when I'm at the National
Championship game. This is funny that it came up. EJ
and I were in line and somebody like they started
a new line and we were like fourth in line,
and like the person that was fifteenth in line thought
that they got to get in the line that just
opened up next, And I was like, hold up, wait
a minute.
Speaker 2: That ain't how that works.
Speaker 3: The people in front of me and EJ they get
to go because they're next in line. So oh yeah
when they opened up a new yeah, yeah, so I
think it's a little bit different.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's a little bit of a wild West situation.
Ain't a wild West.
Speaker 3: It's uh, this person that's waiting next, they get to go,
not fifteen rows back.
Speaker 2: Unless you are unless you are very active and enforcing that.
Oh I'm at people. People will run and uh, you know,
first come, first serve that second line, I'm passer. My
point is there's nothing wrong, especially in a radio o
security line, with hopping in with someone who is on
your show. It's already been waiting and you're about to
go on. I even hit that second glance, like, I
don't think it's wrong. I can't believe we Rivers did
to invite you in the line. I think that's very
wrong personally me. No, there was no imitation, for sure. Unbelievable, dude,
unbelieve it'd be your own people guys. H I agree.
I don't think that's cutting chat. You can let me
know whether or not we are. We are really though.
Speaker 3: It just kind of tells you what it's going to
be like in here today, at least I think so.
Speaker 2: Like they only had one.
Speaker 3: They only had one gate open too, which I don't understand,
just like the Atlanta Airport.
Speaker 2: That's what I said. That's why I described you. I
was like, appears that Jake has a little bit of
Jonah and him because the bad luck is following him around,
just like the super stuff there iPort, you got you got.
Speaker 3: Six X ray machines metal detectors, and on Thursday of
media row at the Super Bowl, you have a singular
one open, and then you're getting mad that the line's
getting along a bull choice.
Speaker 2: You got five that aren't being used. Are those for? Looks?
Are those paperweights? What are those for? Oh my god,
I just got a text from my buddy who works
for the Vikings, completely unrelated. He just got a town,
said Bob. The security line is unlike anything I've ever seen.
It looks like the Gossip Border. Military's taken over Bourbon Street.
So shut out, shut out, Glenn. I hope, I hope
you get in here, all right?
Speaker 3: Oh, proceed to the route, you see. You don't know
how to get to New Orleans. I don't even know.
I'm even confused. I don't keep my behaving that thing tough,
all right, So here's what we are going to do.
Sorry for being late, though you were later, I mean,
I mean kind of. That's first time I've ever not
been here for the open of the show. I feel
like Flynn a little bit.
Speaker 2: I remember back in the day when I first started
to hear and everybody hated me. I woke up at
like six point fifty five. One time got there at
like seven o. He just had an absolute pan. It was,
it was, it was, it was all. I agree, Jake
deserves to week off me personally me. All right, sure
what that's week off? All right, let's do this because
I want to put a bone on this Greg Brooks thing,
because again I don't like how it's becoming an argument
instead of like what it should be, which is just
continue to pray for Greg. Support Greg, like understand the
heartbreak of his story, but also acknowledge his kind of
heroism as he continues to fight every single day to
learn how to move again, learn how to live again.
But because he had the press coffe yesterday, well in
this segment with what Brian Kelly had to say, and
then coming up next segment, we'll get into all of
the actual football stuff. Sports stuff will really start the
show in earnest. So here, just give me bro just
just we'll just here. Just give me Kelly one. Give
me Kelly one.
Speaker 5: I would be remiss if I did not address Greg
Brooks Junior and the situation that unfolded in a interview
that was done on Good Morning America. There's many things
I can't say because it is pending litigation, obviously.
Speaker 2: But here's what I can tell you.
Speaker 5: It is factually incorrect to state that I was not
there by Greg's side through this ordeal. I was there
on multiple occasions. We had somebody from my staff that
was there virtually every single day. We love Greg, We
love him for the person that he is, for the
competitor that he is, and the battler that he is,
and can only wish him continued progress as he goes
through an incredibly difficult time.
Speaker 2: So there you go. It's a good Brian Kelly today
with press conference of today. Now when we get back
here on all the bench, let's get in to everything else. Okay,
you talked about the million dollar match, talking about the
transfer portal, talked about the coaching hires, all of this
and more coming up next. If you want to get involved,
YouTube dot com, Slash one, O four five, ESPN, kep
it locked. We got a whole great three hours of
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Speaker 1: Off the Bench with Hester and T Bob live from
Super Bowl fifty nine Radio Row in New Orleans presented
by Low Bears Casino Hotel Baton Rouge.
Speaker 2: Yo, what is going on? And welcome back to Radio Row.
Off the Bench, by the way, guys, shout out to
Oh we got the Flores Amboni come by hell Yeah.
Also shout out to Lebert's Casino Hotel Batteries for having
us here. I was just told something truly shocking. You've
heard us talk about the bounty paper towel activation here
on radio. I think that's what they call it when
you do like something like pop up time a bit right. Well,
they've been hanging out the free wings at eleven am
and they're good wings, five wings in each box, unlimited
supply Seemingly. I don't know if this is true, but
I was told that bounty that it's four dollars a
wing again again again again. I mean maybe like when
you factor in like all the employees cost everything that
these things are reproduced have four dollars a wing, and
I don't know, people may not realize this, Jake, because
not a ton of people work in this profession. But
there is not a group of human beings, maybe outside
of like war refugees, that love free food as much
as the media. I mean the media are cockerroaches.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's sites, it's producers, it's everybody.
Speaker 2: I mean everybody on the technical side. Engineers.
Speaker 3: Engineers actually might be the number one Yeah, I mean, bo,
do you agree with that?
Speaker 2: I mean, engineers love some free food. Uh like absolutely
love it. It's so if they're really if it's really
twenty dollars, I get five wings in each box. I
mean Downy's probably I mean just twenty thousand dollars a
day there, I mean, who freaking knows.
Speaker 3: I mean, so, I was coasting with Jess Schwartz, former
off into lineman Oregon, NFL big guy. He knocked down
three boxes yesterday during the show Easy easy brooks slight work,
I mean easy.
Speaker 2: Oh, we'll get to light work eating. I had a
dream come true yesterday. But before you get there, let's
go ahead and get this show started.
Speaker 1: It's time to get to work. Courtesy of Tiger Labor
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fording resumes to you, but interviewing and dispatching in person
every morning at five A. All right, let's go ahead
thing guys, and let us let's let's get at some
of this. Brian Kelly sum he talked about everything. First off,
let's just start with the portal obviously a massive hall.
Eight of the top one hundred players, that's the most
in the FBS, the number one portal class. Here, give
me Kelly three here, kat Rian Kelly. On the twenty
five portal class, we.
Speaker 5: Had sixteen total transfers come in, eight on an offense,
seven on defense, and one special teams player. And we're
pretty excited about that. They give us a experienced group
that has played high level football and blends to the
existing program that we have. So from that perspective, combined
with three straight top ten high school signing classes, we
wanted now to enter into adding to that roster, and
I think we addressed it, and we believe that this
group now is such that we can compete for a championship.
Speaker 2: There you go. So he's meeting the expectations head on,
and make no mistake, those should be the expectations. There
are no excuses these last couple of years. Although I'm
not saying like, I understand if you never agree, if
you haven't agreed with some of these sentiments with the
last couple of years, you can always point to one
thing or another as maybe an explanation for why things
aren't quite where they should be. But there's nothing left.
As he said, three top ten high school classes in
a row now infused with the number one portal class
in a row. You bring in Alex Satkins, you bring
in this entire defensive staff last year, like every piece
is in place. If you cannot compete for a championship
this year, I don't think you ever will.
Speaker 3: I mean, it sounds crazy to hear someone say that,
but I understand what you're saying. Yeah, because of all
the things that you've done, and the one thing you
didn't do was attack the portal. You realized it, you
admitted it like you're like, hey, we kind of misjudged
what we needed to do.
Speaker 2: And I think there was some worry about the locker
room tea.
Speaker 3: I think that was because you know, Brian Kelly's been
doing this for what four decades, and there was some
more man, if I bring in too many people, what's
it going to do to the locker room? And I
think coaches are figuring out this is a different generation
of player. If you would have brought in ten new
players when you and I were playing, I think it
would have been awkward. There would have been some chemistry
issues because like it just didn't happen and it was like, hey,
we're loyal. We're loyal maybe to a fault, like if
you ain't one of us, just go ahead and get
out of here.
Speaker 2: Well now.
Speaker 3: And you'll see it on social media when somebody leaves
an LSU or when they come to like whatever, players
that are on LSU are like, hey man, good luck,
go get yours, our best of luck in the upcoming spot.
Speaker 2: Where I'd have been like, the hell you leaving us for? Yeah,
that's but that's not it anymore. That's just not the feeling.
Speaker 3: And so it's just and I'm not saying right wrong
or in different, that's just the way it is now.
And so I think that Brian Kelly and the staff realize, oh,
we can bring in ten to twelve new players and
it's not going to really change the dynamic of the
locker room because this generation of player just expects it
to happen now.
Speaker 2: And so when a player comes in, all right, well
you're our boy. Now.
Speaker 3: We're seeing it across college football. I mean, look at
Riley Leonard, right, he gets to Notre Dame in the spring,
can't even go through spring practice, doesn't work with his
team with pads on until fall camp, and they go
and play for a national championship.
Speaker 2: So I think that this staff.
Speaker 3: Realized that you can bring in new talent from everywhere
across the country and still have that chemistry that you're
looking for in the locker room. And so now that's
why you have, you know, eight top one hundred players
that are going to be beneficial for you in positions
of need.
Speaker 2: So it's definitely a strategic change to go after the players. Also,
it took a monetary investment change, and one of the
ways in which they created some of that money here
recently was with the million dollar match, which Brian Kelly
pledge a million of his own dollars to go to
things like facilities and back to the school for every
new bit of grass roots finding that came in. Of course,
another secret donor walked in and agreed to do it
as well. This is Kelly four on how the million
dollar match was it effective.
Speaker 5: We're very appreciative of our fans and the generosity the
million dollar match that I put out there. Relative to nil,
it looks like we've met our goals and I couldn't
be more excited about that and the direction that that
allows us to continue to move relative to nil. So
we had an anonymous gift that matched it in its totality.
Plus I think there'll be a release here in the
next forty eight hours that we also were able to
match the initial nil.
Speaker 2: Coach Kelly's Boston came out, there was a million dollar match.
But yeah, I mean, look, man, it was very effective.
As you said, it went from making Elis one of
the schools that kind of had the least to spin
to all of a sudden maybe having more grassroots funding
than anybody in the entire country. Shout out to our
awesome Louisiana State troopers keeping us safe here at the
Convention Center. Just brought us by some awesome state tube
repairs as well. All right, here's what Brian Kelly. So,
Alex Atkins comes over from Florida State. He was OC
last year with disastrous You clean everybody underneath, norvel you
into battyman as a tight ends coach. But this is
a very good O line coach, a very good offensive
coordinator man who understands the run game. Jamesbond that else
you really struggled that. Yeah, we talked about yesterday. Here's
a Brian Kelly and it took me Alex Tadkins role
as run game coordinator.
Speaker 5: First of all, excited about Alex. He brings a great
deal of experience as a coordinator, but more importantly his
depth and background in the run game as an offensive
line coach. He adds another perspective in that room with Brad.
He will not be stepping on Brad's toes. Brad's done
an incredible job. This is really having somebody that will
coach the tight ends and have a specific focus towards
our run game and how it marries and matches to
what I'm looking for within our overall offensive structure. So
having somebody that is dedicated to that, having somebody that
has his eye on it every day. I felt where
we are today that that was a great need, and
to get somebody with his kind of experience and building
run games in particular, so the need, the timing, all
those things make it a great fit.
Speaker 2: So, Jake, one thing that I find to be interesting
here is in this no disrespect to tight end coaches,
but in game coaching, I feel like tight end coaches
a lot of times don't have the most to do necessarily,
bro Bro. He literally would no, he would probably back
it up because when Stud went to OC and got
bumped up to the booth, Slinger's just like, oh well, hell,
I'll coatch you a line during the game, like so
like like no, so whatever. I guess The point is
like during the game he can be really focused on
what's going on and strategically, what can we pull out
of our run game to try to have success, more
so than a Brad Davis. He's got to worry about,
you know, having all five what do we see in
what's here? What's here? So yeah, it's pretty pretty nice,
really kind of puzzle piece. It feels like a nice
like slot in.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I bet that those tight ends are going
to be in the offensive line room a lot and
kind of like some combo meetings. Just not to say that,
you know, Udez Green won't go to a receiver meeting.
I mean he probably will at some point. But the
tight end group, before we get to the O line stuff,
it's really important that they have a big year. Yes,
you lost Mason Taylor, that is a massive loss, and
then you kind of have some pieces of you got
a true why You've kind of got Sharp who's a
little bit of a Y and an F, and then
you got Green, who is a true F. He's not
ever going to be a Y and that's not going
slight at him. I think that's a good thing. I
think it's good that you have three different tight ends
that are going to play. So you do have some
work to do in your own room to make sure
everybody's ready to go because of what you lost. But
also you can, like you said, not doing shade at
the tight end coach, but you can't help out with
the offensive line because a lot of times there's an
extension of the offensive front and then you know, when
you're sitting there and I would assume he's going to
be up top and Brad Davis is probably going to
be on the field. Like you're looking at the totality
of the run game and the tight ends is going
to be included in that, and so you can kind
of eye hustle all of it at one time with
somebody that was a rising star in college football before
he kind of had to fall on the sword because
Florida State was so bad.
Speaker 2: I mean, Mike Norval is like, I ain't going nowhere.
Speaker 3: Somebody's got to go, and it's gonna be both coordinators,
which is unfortunate because just a year ago that was
somebody that we were talking about being one of the
true like rising stars. He'll get a head coaching opportunity
here pretty soon. And then the year that they had
he kind of was the you know, the guy that
had to unfortunately lose his job.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, well, fortunate for us. Maybe they go
from yeah, one man's trash is another man's treasure. Right.
It feels right, isn't it? The old says right? Right? Yeah,
I mean it's not. You know, it's a tough job
as an OC no. Granted they probably should have done better,
but it's a tough job as an OC when they
turn Jordan Travis into dj Ungalle and say, hey, do
the same thing. Yeah, that's a tough all right. Last
oneing before we go to break again, not shine from
the expectation. Kelly seven on what the portal plan was.
Speaker 5: The big picture plan is exactly what you said was.
It was to surround Garrett on offense, to give Blake
the pieces that he needs on defense to have a
championship roster. And I believe we did that on paper.
Now we need to go to work on that and
and that work is in the details over the next
few months.
Speaker 2: So there you go. On paper, they have crafted the team.
Now they have to go get it done on the
field where it matters. All right, check it out, guys.
Let's uh, let's let's go to go to break. I's
got a lot more Kelly sound that I want to
get to and that we will get to. So keep
it locked right here on off the bench. Coming up
next with more Brian Kelly from his press conference yesterday
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Speaker 4: Good song.
Speaker 1: Off the Bench with Hester and t Bob Live from
Super Bowl fifty nine Radio Row in New Orleans presented
by Low Bears, Casino Hotel, Baton Rouge.
Speaker 2: Yo, what's going on y'all? Welcome back off the bench
here live a Radio Row. Shout out to the Bearage
Tito Hotel about Rouge for having us out of here.
All right, let's continue to break down some of this.
Brian Kelly sound guys. He had a twenty eight minute
press conference yesterday kind of a state of the union
here after after Oh for wait, signing day was yesterday, right,
I guess that's what it actually is.
Speaker 3: Kind of is well you forgot, I mean almost sort of.
I was talking every guest we had on yesterday over
on Sirius. I was kind of like, hey, today's you know,
national signing Day, and everybody's like, no, it's normally no,
it's the second one. It's like that, it's the one
that we all signed with and so it made him
give me like their recruiting day's story and then like
where they were going to go if they didn't go
to their school.
Speaker 2: And I never really knew this.
Speaker 3: Ej Manuel second choice lsu Oh really yeah, Virginia Beach.
Speaker 2: Okay, is that in Virginia. The sad part is, I
know it's like probably in Florida because you went to No,
it's eight, it's in Virginia. I have no idea where
from Virginia Beach.
Speaker 3: Virginia Beaches in Virginia. And no, he was going if
if Jimbo is probably on the coast, would have stayed.
Speaker 2: Yeah, what right? I mean Bo, I'm not crazy? Okay
for real? Yeah, another new geograph fact learn guys. There
you go. I had no idea. I assume you're talking
about Virginia Beach, Florida. But Virginia Beach, Florida. You say
that again just to yourself now.
Speaker 3: You know, let's get back to Kelly real quick, real quick.
Can you imagine sorry, if EJ. Manuel would have signed
in the I guess seven or eight class either way?
Oh is that when it was Yeah, he would have
been the quarterback in twenty eleven.
Speaker 2: Unfortunately, I don't know how different it would have been.
You know what I'm saying. I just mean in that
our offense was not here. I do hear what you say.
It was not set up to make anybody successful. He
was awesome. Yeah, he would have been better maybe then,
but he also had he also had Jimbo at the
height of his offensive prowess. Yeah, we did not, that's true,
all right, uh one, Okay, Speaking enough quarterbacks, one of
the sneaky interesting editions of the off season was Michael
Van Buren coming over from Mississippi State. Here's Brian Kelly
Kelly nine on what what was the idea behind Addam
Van Buren.
Speaker 5: Michael is as a young man that has sec experience
and and we wanted to supplement that in our room.
If you're going to go out and upgrade your roster
in the manner that we did, continue to develop your
football team. I think we all know that at some time,
you know, number two may have to be called upon,
and if he does, we feel like we've got in
Colin and certainly with Michael, we've got two guys that
can go in and continue to compete for a championship.
Speaker 2: Well then, and that's really smart man. It's almost like, look,
I've made a very big investment and I want a
little bit of insurance. Yeah, for sure. Right, it's a
it's it's a literal football insurance policy with the added
upside of like he did flash very nicely a couple
of times as a true freshman in the SEC and
so maybe he does end up becoming the next guy.
Was it the Georgia game. Yeah, three hundred and three touchdowns.
They had a big day. And it's kind of like
with Swan last year.
Speaker 3: You bring it in because it's a just in case
if ne Smeyer would have gone down. But I think
this player certainly has a higher ceiling than DJ Swan had,
and it's somebody that is, you know, capable of running
almost whatever offense you want to put with him in there.
I think he can be a dual threat guy. He
showed you he can throw for three hundred plus yards
against the Georgia. So if you can convince somebody like
that to walk away from being the starting quarterback at
another SEC school and you can add him to your roster.
Like I'm not saying that he is going to be
the best quarterback in the conference, or maybe even ever
a starter at LSU. But if that guy wants to
come to your school, you're going to give him a
scholarship every time.
Speaker 2: All right, let's then, so we've talked a lot about
the transfers. How good the class is, Brian Kelly, this
is Kelly ten. Which transfers are standing out here early
on in the process.
Speaker 5: Experience at the tight end position to Mary with a
really exceptionally young player in Tredez, but bringing in Bauer
Sharp who's got a lot of experience and you know,
a veteran kind of presence there at the tight end position.
He's been outstanding. I think Jack Pyburn brings more than
just his ability on the field, but how he impacts
everybody in the locker room and in the weight room.
His demeanor, his attitude is infectious. I think those two guys,
and I'd say, you know, Mansor Delante has been very, very,
I think impactful at the cornerback position. We've got some
younger guys, some guys with experience, but we don't have
a veteran player back there. And his leadership and just
the way he's handled himself has been outstanding.
Speaker 2: You can already feel the Piburn psycho white boy element
all the way from over here, attitude in the weight room,
and it kind of infectious energy. What's gonna be interesting,
Jake is you know, uh, sometimes two people start riffing,
they can reinforce one another, him and wit Weeks, both
bringing that same kind of energy trying to outdo one another.
Who knows how crazy could end up getting on that
side of the ball.
Speaker 3: Like you need with you, buppy, You said this a
couple of weeks ago.
Speaker 2: You need enough of those. Yeah, LSU has the perfect amount.
Maybe they're bordered on too many, bored on to me
he got three weeks.
Speaker 3: Brother, they're whispering on the line of having too many,
but it feels like it's just enough to you know,
kind of put together with all the other great athletes
that you have here and look all jokes aside though,
Like wit Weeks is a really athletic human beings. Yeah,
like he's not your typical you know, jack of all trades,
master of non weight room warrior film, he's not like
he's probably all those things. But also like we've seen
him close right when quarterback's been open field and he's
made up that space, and so it does feel like
a great combination of what you're looking for, because I
think you do need some grit on the edge, like
Sabian Jones gave you that.
Speaker 2: He gave you.
Speaker 3: Hey, I like, I'm not here to get ten sacks.
I am here to hold the point, keep contained, be
really good in the run game. And sure I'm gonna have,
you know, a handful of sacks, but I am here
for a job and I'm gonna do my job. And
you do need some of that at edge because you
lost it.
Speaker 2: Now. One element if you were to say, okay, championship bross,
so everything looks so good, they should be a championship
next year. If you were gonna say that there was
one element that could potentially be the fly in the ointment,
it would probably be the offensive line given all the turnover.
I like what they have, but it's a bit of
an experience. It's replacing a ton of starters that have
been at there forever. Here's Kelly eighteen on what he
views this spring portion is going to be like four said,
oh lone.
Speaker 5: We can start with in the portal of Braylan Moore
and Josh Thompson will be too, will be part of
that mix in the spring. But it's important to point
out that you know there's going to be great competition,
and you saw that in the bowl game. How really,
if you if you look across the board, Miles Fraser
is the only player that does not return from Yeah,
in that unit, So all of those guys will get
the opportunity to compete. Plus the two that I've mentioned
that we're starters both at Virginia Tech and Northwestern, we
think that that makes for a very competitive spring.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So again competitive spring, right, this is gonna be
where guys decide pole position for those starting jobs going
into fall camp. It is the position group that I
think I will most have eyes on this spring, as
it is the position group that could likely well decide
the eventual ceiling and or floor of this LSU football team.
So excited to see what those guys can do. It's
kind of a.
Speaker 3: It's an unknown because you just don't know where everybody
is gonna be slotted. But I want to ask you
real quick, for you to take this break, how confident
are you with the additions that they made and seeing
the players that played against Baylor and how successful they were, Like,
what's your confidence level? Maybe now compared to when we
had the conversation before the ball game.
Speaker 2: Uh, well, much more so because of how well the
boy played. The boys played in the ball game, and then,
like you said, adding the experience, because really experience is
the only thing that they were missing in the bowl game.
You added experience in the portal. You saw the talent
in the bowl game. And look, eventually it's got to
be your first time to play, you know, doesn't mean
you're not gonna be good. Yeah, get you, You're gonna
get better over time. The one thing I'm worried about,
I think it's impossible to not take a step back
when it comes to pass protection. But adding Alex Atkins
increased emphasis on we have to get more created more
success on the run game. Like you may take a
step back in the pass unblocking or pass blocking, but
you could potentially take a step forward run blocking. So
I'm much more to your point, I'm much more confident
than I was pre bowl game because I thought the
Boys played really well despite you know, really only having
like a little mini camp to to get ready for
the game.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I'll think Miles Frasier for sticking around yea
and mentoring those players four fifteen practice. It's bettering himself, sure,
but it was a very unselfish move for him to
have that role because I do think it pays off
not only in that game but in this upcoming season.
Speaker 2: Uh. Sarah is Brian Kelly Mere with the media today.
Look else, She's ad a very good offseason. Now they
have to have very good season, which we'll continue to
break down over the next eight months of our lives.
Seven months, I guess at this point. Also real quick
on Colin Hurley. Uh, there's no timetable on Colin Hurley.
I remember he got in a car accident. He is
recovering in Jacksonville again, expected to make a full recovery.
All right, when we get back, I mean we got
Pelican news. I lop to get to keep it locked here.
Oh no, off the bench, Yeah, this right.
Speaker 3: Here goes down to all the babies, mamas, mamas, moms, mamas,
baby mom was.
Speaker 1: Mom Off the Bench with Hester and T Bob live
from Super Bowl fifty nine. Radio Row in New Orleans,
presented by Low Bears, Casino, Hotel, Baton Rouge.
Speaker 2: Mean, give me on a fig was having y'all. Welcome back.
Radio Row brought to you by the Bear's Hotel Casino.
Shout out to the Bearers for having us out here.
Jake jo I mentioned yesterday that we were talking about food,
and I had, oh, such a great meal yesterday in
that regard. So after I got done with work yesterday,
I was heading back to my dad's and you know,
you got a pass through mid City get there, and
so I was like, oh, yeah, you know what, I'm
gonna like, stop it, buy your beer, guard. I'm gonna
grab a beer, maybe get some of the like bar
food or whatnot. And because when I lived here in
my twenties, buy beer garden. I lived a little bike
ride away, used to go there all the time. That
was my version of Cheers, right, lived there, knew all
the staff, loved everybody. Yeah, yeah, exactly right. And and
he's watched all the Saints games there, And I got
big Andy used to cook crawfish in the backyard and
he had like a catering business, but he just set
up his own little rig out there and he always
had these big but they just the best crawfish I've
ever had in my entire life. Well, I've been out
of the city now for what six seven years something,
like that, and a lot. I don't know the city
really at all anymore. It's funny a lot of people
coming to town like what we do. I'm like, guys, I
gotta be completely honest, like I'm not here that much anymore.
And so I just assumed that Big Andy was no
longer boiling bugs and buy you beer garden. Well there
I am. I walk outside in the backyard, order I
order a beer and start sniffing the air. I'm like,
hold up, now that smells good, you know, like in
a cartoon when you have the smell lines wafting through
the air and they pick up the guy by his
nostrils and you kind of float over to it. So
I'm like, okay, somebody's burling back here. And sure enough
I get back there and there he is, my guy,
Big Andy. Only now it's official. He has a full
like pop up wooden little house. They turned the old
parking lot into more seating. He's still burling him and
I took down two boxes. I don't know, probably five
six pounds double fixings, two sausages, four petats, two corns. Jesus,
I hated about five minutes. I was sweating, snot driven
out of my nose. I had white pants on, I
had crawfish grease saw over him. I was eating alone,
bent over in the corner, hunched over, watching a World
of Warcraft YouTube video on my phone, and I've never
been happier in my entire life. God, it was good, dude.
So I guess the point of all this is if
you want some good bugs, no free advertising. But I was.
It was a really like great heartfelt moment to to
to see that big Andy still borrow the bugs, the
best croffics I've ever had. I've always said it, and
it's still it still is. It's still just as good
as I mean.
Speaker 3: I talked to you right after that. I could hear
the glean your voice yesterday. Yeah, yeah, I know.
Speaker 2: I called like, I called you, I called Rivers, I
called Joey. I called a few people to try to
come eat with me, and nobody did. So I was like,
all right, y'all's lost to well. I said there, you
were working. Yeah, to be fair, I live here in
the conventions. Yeah, that's true. Until like five thirty, I
did not call you, Alandra. That's right. I apologize. I apologize,
that's true. I figured you were still working as well.
Speaker 3: She was because I brought EJ over to her after
our show to film some content, so.
Speaker 2: She was working. But yeah, man, oh god, I love
them bugs. And then fix It's these are some big
bugs too. Dudel basketball drops their fifth straight game. How
about it. They made nine threes in the first half, Jake,
they forced ten turnovers. They were still down thirty seven
thirty one. Cool still lost eighty one sixty two. The
state of basketball in Louisiana, if it was not for
Kim Bulky, would be that of a desert right where
oceans once rained and there used to be water and supply,
but it's dried up. I mean, the Pelicans and the
lsumen's basketball team are pathetic. Thank God for the LSU
women's basketball team, who you can catch tonight at Maszoo
six thirty pm, and then home against Tennessee this Sunday
at three pm, which, my god, that's bad scheduling, dude.
What are we doing, dude? This is a massive matchup
of two of the best teams in the entire country.
Tennessee with their new crazy way of playing where they
do like full hockey line shifts and it's pressing its
high speed, high scoring and it's at three pm before
the Super Bowl. Guys, what are we doing? Dude?
Speaker 3: Maybe I'm trying to think, like maybe, like the if
you want to go, I mean you can get there
and get home.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the game starts, little warm up. You just got
to have all your super Bowl party stuff played before.
It's just a bummer because this game's on the Thursday night.
That's a sold out crazy PMAC. That's what it needs
to be for Tennessee. So we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll. Can
we change? I know that? I mean, come on now,
that's what I'm freaking saying, dude. Either way, shout out
to Elsie women. They'll be at Miszoo six thirty night
and then home against Tennessee this Sunday. And yes, I
I said LSU basketball on purpose. I will not grant
them the rank of a bee. Yeah until they win.
It was beautiful five in a row. Now lost in
the sec. Yeah, it looked good till halftime. It didn't.
I mean to play that well and still be losing that,
it's like so depressing. Yeah, all right, coming up next
hour on OTV, we got some Saints news. We got
Mark Roman coming up. I got Chad Johnson with a
very interesting tweet. We got a lot to get to
Oh and Pelicans made a trade branding Ramier or more
to be coming up off the bench