Speaker 1: Hi final hour with a program on this Monday afternoon.
Speaker 1: We have done something a little unique today, back to
Speaker 1: kind of our regular scheduled programming for the rest of
Speaker 1: the week. I was out Thursday of Friday last week,
Speaker 1: so I was not able to be on air after
Speaker 1: the passing of frank Leyden last week at the age
Speaker 1: of ninety three, so we are honoring his life in legacy.
Speaker 1: Phil Johnson joined us. Scott Layden live in Vegas, Dave
Speaker 1: Checkets live in New York. Richard Smith is good enough
Speaker 1: to join us in studio live in Salt Lake. Now
Speaker 1: we go across the ocean to the Rock where the
Speaker 1: great Ron McBride is good enough to give us some
Speaker 1: time on a Monday afternoon. Coach Mack, how are you, sir?
Speaker 2: Good? How'd you guys doing.
Speaker 1: We're good, We're good. I'll just ask you the same
Speaker 1: question I've asked all my guests. What was it like
Speaker 1: to be frank Leyden's friend?
Speaker 2: Oh? Man, he was special and ill A number of
Speaker 2: things that in favors he did for me over the
Speaker 2: last thirty years or artist unbelievable because whenever you call
Speaker 2: him for something, he always said, no problem, I got
Speaker 2: you and even when he started out, he still showed up.
Speaker 2: And I think in the last ten years we had
Speaker 2: twenty three events and he showed up for twenty one
Speaker 2: of them. And the only ones he did show up
Speaker 2: was this year because unfortunately was on a huge declaim.
Speaker 3: The coach. It's really nice for me to take a
Speaker 3: few minutes to visit with us about about Frank today.
Speaker 3: Tell us, tell us about the unique relationship that you
Speaker 3: two had, because I've been fortunate to be around you
Speaker 3: guys in some public settings and also private get togethers,
Speaker 3: and and you guys always just seemed to have a
Speaker 3: unique special bond that goes beyond sports but was more
Speaker 3: of just a personal thing involving just how you felt about.
Speaker 2: Each other about it was a personal thing. And and
Speaker 2: we we did a lot together. You know, he had
Speaker 2: dinners together, events together, Uh, games together. You know. I
Speaker 2: can't I can't tell you how many times he spoke
Speaker 2: to my football teams. And it was awesome pre pregame
Speaker 2: speaker and and it's funny, you know, and and uh,
Speaker 2: you know, just he he had a way of of
Speaker 2: reaching every every situation. Then you know, he had a
Speaker 2: way of just okay, what what what's what do you
Speaker 2: got to get get across there? What do you need
Speaker 2: to say? And then I'd say, Frank, if you cover
Speaker 2: this and this and this, and then he gave him
Speaker 2: ideas and then he would just take it from there.
Speaker 2: You know. He was he was funny, he was he
Speaker 2: was passionate, he was you know, he was everything you
Speaker 2: could ask in a in a person. You know, he
Speaker 2: just was uh and we had you know, we had
Speaker 2: a great relationship probably from day one. You know. I
Speaker 2: come omber the first time when they when the jazz
Speaker 2: came here and and I said, who's the guy who
Speaker 2: makes all the decisions? They who are getting Frank Layton?
Speaker 2: I said, well, I need to get hold myself. I
Speaker 2: need to see if I can we can buy some
Speaker 2: tickets for some recruits we have coming in and to
Speaker 2: see whether so I called. I said, so, I called him,
Speaker 2: and he got on the phone. They were talking and
Speaker 2: yucking it up, and I said, look, I said, I
Speaker 2: got these. I got a few guys. He said, okay,
Speaker 2: how many tickets do you need? And I said, well,
Speaker 2: you know we could use around thirty And he says,
Speaker 2: what time can you be here? I said, And from
Speaker 2: that time on, you know, I mean we became became
Speaker 2: great friends, and and that spends alone, you know, a
Speaker 2: long time. And and he always you know, it doesn't
Speaker 2: matter what the community asked him for, he always did.
Speaker 2: It didn't matter what, you know, he was. He was
Speaker 2: great with the with the team, great with the players,
Speaker 2: and he was great with my players. You know, you
Speaker 2: couldn't ask for a better person. And and him passing,
Speaker 2: he's a huge boy in my life because I was
Speaker 2: very dependent on seeing him and and uh, you know
Speaker 2: just uh he was. He's just one of those unique
Speaker 2: people you know that you that you come across in
Speaker 2: your life guard Well, I know.
Speaker 3: Coach, uh you you and Vicky were some of the
Speaker 3: last people to be able to visit with him. And
Speaker 3: and uh, I know you guys had such a such
Speaker 3: a close, uh close bond, you know, with the Leaden
Speaker 3: family and uh and it's just so heartwarming to see
Speaker 3: that how you guys always uh interacted with each other.
Speaker 2: I mean, so I had I forget what you have
Speaker 2: been in the night he passed away. I have been
Speaker 2: doing something pretty much all day and when I when
Speaker 2: I got home, I said, I said to Vicky Kelly,
Speaker 2: I said, you know, we need to go on the
Speaker 2: seafront because I don't think he's I don't think he's
Speaker 2: doing I don't think I don't know what. So we
Speaker 2: my daughter Kelly said, Okay, you guys, get in the car.
Speaker 2: I'll drive you up. And I could tell that that
Speaker 2: you know that, you know he was he was not
Speaker 2: going to make it, you know he was. It was
Speaker 2: just heartbreaking because he fought this for a long time
Speaker 2: and what you can tell you you know he was
Speaker 2: he was satisfied with with with what he did in
Speaker 2: this life.
Speaker 1: Coach. I've been asking people this question all day, and
Speaker 1: of course most people know Frank is a great coach
Speaker 1: and a very funny personality. But upon his passing, he
Speaker 1: and Barbara were married sixty eight years. I wonder what
Speaker 1: sort of insight you have as far as your friendship
Speaker 1: with them as a couple and Frank as a husband.
Speaker 2: Well, we did a lot of things with him as uh,
Speaker 2: you know, we got to eat kind of a and
Speaker 2: Vicky would happen once with Barbara and a group of ladies.
Speaker 2: They're using me, you know, once or twice a month,
Speaker 2: and they kid and Barbara were real close. And and
Speaker 2: then of course we have the old timers lunch, you
Speaker 2: know that that that he done, that put together and
Speaker 2: that was and I, you know, I'd always show up
Speaker 2: a little bit late, and I would always stay afterwards,
Speaker 2: and that's when we that's when we'd have our real
Speaker 2: conversations after once was over and kind of everybody was gone,
Speaker 2: and then Smitty would stay, Frank would be there, I
Speaker 2: would be there, and then we get down to serious,
Speaker 2: serious business of what was going on. You know, he
Speaker 2: loved to talk to baseball, you know, he's a baseball fanatic,
Speaker 2: love to talk about his hometown and uh, and his
Speaker 2: his love for Barbara was just uh unique, you know,
Speaker 2: you know, such a great relationship and and uh and
Speaker 2: how much he depended on on on her and uh,
Speaker 2: it just was you know, it's just you know, I
Speaker 2: don't know what to say except I know that that
Speaker 2: at least a huge voyd And uh he was a
Speaker 2: huge supporter of my foundation for kids, and he was
Speaker 2: always always great with that any just anything anything you want,
Speaker 2: you know, and and uh a very intelligent man, you know,
Speaker 2: just just as far as you know anything about you
Speaker 2: talk anything about sports and uh and politics, you know,
Speaker 2: he was he was he It's fun to talk to
Speaker 2: about politics here he and my wife were on the
Speaker 2: same wavelength, you know, and on politics, so so that
Speaker 2: that was always an interesting conversation between Vicky and Frank
Speaker 2: about you know, the today's today's world, about what was
Speaker 2: going on and uh and uh he had opinions and
Speaker 2: she had opinions. But uh, it was I mean, what
Speaker 2: what can you say? I mean, this guy thought there
Speaker 2: was a ever day one since since the jazz came here.
Speaker 2: When I got to know him, we were instant, you know,
Speaker 2: we had an instant connection. And if I could ever
Speaker 2: do anything for him or he needed me for something,
Speaker 2: I was always glad to do it. But but his
Speaker 2: his favorite saying all the time was you know, in
Speaker 2: closing a phone call or or or when you're getting
Speaker 2: ready of leaving, or what can I do for you?
Speaker 3: You know?
Speaker 2: That was his. He said, Well, just let me know
Speaker 2: what I can do for you. And I said, you
Speaker 2: don't need to do anything for me. Well make sure
Speaker 2: you if you need something, just tell me and I'll
Speaker 2: do it. And I can remember Schmitty would bring him
Speaker 2: to two events and he'd say, Wow, I don't know
Speaker 2: how long I can stay, but I'll stay until until
Speaker 2: you say I can go, you know, I said, hey,
Speaker 2: you go wherever you want to go. But he'd hang
Speaker 2: and he hang and hang, and he'd be there just talk.
Speaker 2: He'd greet everybody when they came in, and you know,
Speaker 2: he just uh he gave up his time and uh,
Speaker 2: he loved to talk to people. He was a great,
Speaker 2: great communicator. Uh. You know, I had a great belief
Speaker 2: in the in the in the jazz, you know. And
Speaker 2: obviously they they practed some great players during this time
Speaker 2: and and they were able to develop these guys and
Speaker 2: and uh, you know, make it a make make us
Speaker 2: a great a great product. And uh you know, and
Speaker 2: with the event of John and Carl and Jeff and
Speaker 2: that group, and you know, there was a special group
Speaker 2: of players here yea.
Speaker 3: Coach uh shifting gears for just second, we need to publicly,
Speaker 3: uh congratulate you on your selection to be uh inducted
Speaker 3: into the Utah Ring of Honor at the University of Utah. Congratulations.
Speaker 3: Tell tell us a little bit about that, about your uh,
Speaker 3: how you got the phone call, how you found out
Speaker 3: about that.
Speaker 2: We were we were at a event, you know, for
Speaker 2: our and I think it was our uh you know,
Speaker 2: our golf our golf tournament. Then we had a deal
Speaker 2: on Friday night, so the Mark Harlan had called uh
Speaker 2: Vicky and said, make sure the coach is on time.
Speaker 2: And I'm thinking, why is the athletic director that you
Speaker 2: don't worried about it from out time to the event. And
Speaker 2: then I get on but he says, we have to
Speaker 2: be on time to this event. I said why, said,
Speaker 2: I have no idea. I thought, well, maybe they're going
Speaker 2: to take my tickets away from you know. So so
Speaker 2: then uh Mark Mark said, hey, I like to make
Speaker 2: an announcement, you know, I be home. My god, what's
Speaker 2: what's this going to be? And he says that, you know,
Speaker 2: coach Max went into the ring up honor them and
Speaker 2: the job was just so you know this this uh
Speaker 2: excited about it and and appreciative and uh uh I
Speaker 2: appreciate it to them, particularly to the uh to the
Speaker 2: players that played for me, and and the and the
Speaker 2: and the families that that that built you know what
Speaker 2: started day and and players and you know, and so
Speaker 2: we had a we had a vision a long time
Speaker 2: ago of what this place could be and uh and
Speaker 2: and the vision is still right there, you know, and
Speaker 2: and and Kyle obviously has has done a great job
Speaker 2: and and to take it to the next step. And
Speaker 2: he's hired the right people and he got you know,
Speaker 2: a great you know, most of less defensive staff that
Speaker 2: played at Utah and and uh and and then in
Speaker 2: the desire the new offensive coordinator whim running back coach
Speaker 2: Jake Kukus and you know, so they got a lot
Speaker 2: of people that I know quite well that are working
Speaker 2: for him in their home. They're all happy, and they
Speaker 2: don't want to go anywhace else and they're committed to
Speaker 2: what Kyle's vision is at the University of Utah.
Speaker 1: Well, Coach Mac, thank you so much for your time
Speaker 1: on this very special day. We will set you loose,
Speaker 1: enjoy Hawaii and say travel sir. Okay okay.
Speaker 2: I would like to say then closing that how much
Speaker 2: I love Frank and how much I'm missing and he
Speaker 2: was a real guy, you know and smite but you
Speaker 2: did for him in the last twelve years thirteen years
Speaker 2: of taking care ofing, being his sidekick, being there all
Speaker 2: the time. I can't tell you, uh how much all
Speaker 2: of us appreciate what what what you did for what
Speaker 2: you did for him, especially through the tough times. And
Speaker 2: that's what tells you a lot about people, is what
Speaker 2: you do when somebody can't do something for you, and
Speaker 2: it's gonna thank you. Thank you for giving up for
Speaker 2: yourself and caring about front.
Speaker 3: Very kind of your coach, Thank you for those words.
Speaker 2: Okay, have a good have a good day, you guys,