Speaker 1: It's time to celebrate the greggest team sport known to man,
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the grid. I let's talk some college football on Cougar
Sports with Ben Kred.
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is time for the Little college Football segment going to
get into all the knoks and grantings with a former
b You great a former NFL VET as well as
being a quarterback scientist. This segment's going to be brought
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you twenty percent off your order. Let's get out to
the hotline. Welcome to former BYU Great The Gunslinger John
Beck is on the line. John, how you living.
Speaker 3: I'm doing good, man, Man, I haven't heard the Gunslinger
one in a while. You kind of made me still
young right there with that one. Dude.
Speaker 2: I remember, just a few years ago, we had an
alumni game at Lavelle Edwards Stadium, and I saw a
man that still could throw a sixty mile an hour
football to the opposite hash on a deep comeback, on
a deep out. And I said to myself, of my
he's better than Philip Rivers. I said to myself, he's
better than all these old heads that get a chance
in the NFL. That was John Beck that I saw
at level.
Speaker 3: Well, I appreciate that. Buddy, me, Austin and Dennis had
to go put a little practice time in the week
leading up to that, so that's kind of help that
out a little bit. But it is crazy seeing Philip
Rivers out there. You know, what a cool opportunity for
him to get out there and spin it once again.
I think all of us old quarterbacks, you know, we
all would go back in a flash and just be like, man,
for sure, I go back out there, play a little bit,
have a little fun.
Speaker 2: What provides a like retired quarterback or one of those
old head the unks of the quarterback world, to get
the opportunity again?
Speaker 3: John?
Speaker 2: Like Philip, how did he get the call? Why didn't
you know, anybody else get the call? I mean, we've
had Fitzpatrick and I you know, I I think Andy
Dalton's still playing ball in the league, you know what
I mean, He's a contemporary of ours, and I'm just like, like,
what gives them the opportunity?
Speaker 3: Do you think? Well, first off, Philip Rivers is a
whole and so you can do a lot. When you're
moving somebody or bringing somebody in that is a Hall
of Famer, there's going to be no you know, no
one can sit there and question the person like can
they do it? Of course they can do it. They
did it for a very long time at a really
high level. The second thing, it's always about relationships. When
you see guys standing on rosters, getting second opportunities to
come back in the league, or kind of following a
coach different places, or actually, I should probably say when
you see a coach bringing a quarterback places with him,
it always comes down to relationships. Like at that level,
there are so many skilled players, so many guys have
worked hard, but when you get somebody that has experience
in a system, that just provides so much value. And
so really what it is is Philip is a guy
that has tons of experience in that system. He's really
good friends with Shane Steichen. Shane is a guy that
came up through the Chargers organization as an assistant, as
a position coach, as a coordinator, and then he goes
over and he brings Philip to Indian You know, all
of those things lead to being able to do what
they did of bringing Philip Rivers back. And you know, look,
I mean I also know Philip has a place in Alabama,
build a football field on it. He runs his son's
training stuff there, and he actually has a lot of
college quarterbacks that at times will bring some of their
wide receivers to train at Phillip's place. And so he
basically has a football practice facility. And you can bet
on it. When somebody loves the game as much as
he does, he's not just watching other people do stuff.
He's still getting out and throwing the ball here there
to have some fun. You know, when you have a
son that plays quarterback and you're on the receiving end
of a lot of throws, your arm stays in pretty
good shape. You know, because of my job as a
quarterback coach, I'm on the other end of a lot
of throws, and so my arm has been able to
stay in pretty good shape over all these years, just
because of how much throwing you around.
Speaker 2: And you were already a lower half rotational torque thrower
with a really quick release from the ear, if I remember,
like so, you haven't had as much strain on your
showld because of your mechanics, I think growing up from
what I remember, that's what I recall about your mechanics.
Speaker 3: Well, thanks, I mean I appreciate that. I think a
lot of it goes back to my baseball days. Played
a ton of baseball, always hitting the baseball. My dad
was very much trying to be a forward thinker, and
so I grew up with a lot of bands, light, dumbbells,
all types of different little training things to kind of
help me as a thrower. Because I was a scrawny,
little weakling growing up, I had to work really hard.
But because of that, when all of a sudden my
body finally caught up, all of those things that I
was doing helped and you know, people out all the
time like hey, where'd you get your quick release? It
was from baseball and just the millions of hours that
I spent in trying to get better as the middle
and so during baseball.
Speaker 2: Speaking of baseball players, Jake Retzloff is in the college
football playoff leading the Tulane Green Wave against Ole Mesh.
Give me your perspective on on Jake's journey right, obviously
still very positive, loving towards BYU.
Speaker 3: You know, in his experience.
Speaker 2: He went onto the From the Logo podcast with Jimmer
Ferdett and Spencer Lynton and just discussed you know, some
of his most difficult times have turned into his best times.
One of his best sotsuits he ever made was coming
to BYU. Obviously didn't want to take that seven game suspense.
I ended up walking on at Tulane and now he
led them to an eleven and two season and opportunity
to beat oh Miss a great seeding, a great draw
for him in that Green wave, considering Lane Kiffin is
now at LSU. But give me your thoughts or perspective
on the journey of Jake Retslaw.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, I'm really happy for Jake. You know,
when Jake was on his way out of BYU, he
still had nothing but great things to say about the
university and his experience, even though it didn't end the
way that he had hoped, and it happened in such
a strange way. I think that Jake, you know, once
that initial thing happened and he you know, had to
have the dust settle and deal with the reality of
the position he was in, I think that he took
a stance of all right, Well, I got to move forward,
and he found a great place in Tulane, a place
that welcomed him. He had to battle, you know. That's
what also, I don't know if everybody realizes, like it
wasn't where they just handed him the job. This was
not a university that said, hey, I guarantee you'll be
our starter. All they provided him with was an opportunity
to compete and say, well, I mean, shoot, we'd love
to have you and if you can be the best
guy here, and they come to be that guy, and
so you know, to get there in June whenever he
got there to compete to earn the job. I believe
in training camp the other guy had some little injuries
that kind of kept him out for a little while,
and I think Jake just rolled and they never looked back.
I watched his first game to start the year, because
I believe it was against Northwestern if my memory's right,
and I want to say Jake ran for a bunch
of yards in that game. You know what, It's just
been cool to see Jake take the opportunity that he's
been given. And you want to talk about a unslinger
like Jake's mentality is that you know and I think
that he's evolved over his time as a D one
college football player. I think he's grown in a lot
of areas. I think he's he's learned how to, you know,
improve and be smart with the ball. And I know
he's playing with a little bit of a bum leg
right now and he's not able to run as much.
But you know, at the end of the day, Jake's
a competitor. He's a great person. He's will will always
speak highly of his experience at BYU, and I think,
what a cool ambassador to go to some place which,
if my memory is right, also Tulane is a very
high Jewish population of students, and I think, what a
cool opportunity to go represent his faith and to play
in front of a crowd with a lot of people
that share his faith as well. And he's been a
great ambassador for BYU being somebody of the Jewish faith,
And you know, I mean, I think it's just it's
worked out for him, you know, And if you look
at both parties, you know, Bear steps in takes over
as the guy. A lot of good things have happened
with Bear, and a lot of good things have happened
with Jake. And he might be one of those guys
that says, you know, down the road, even though it
was disappointing and I wanted to end at Uyu, he
may say this was a great experience at Tulane and
he wouldn't want to change it. And he's getting an
opportunity now to compete as a playoff quarterback. And I
think they have a really good opportunity as well because
of the coaching situation at ole Miss, with the departure
of Lane Kiffen and some of his staffs. I think
they got a great opportunity to shock the world and
maybe pick up.
Speaker 2: A w love that breakdown and I can't wait to
see what Jake and the TWU Lane Wave can do.
Hopefully they shock the world. John Beeley, who's got a
bowl game that they're prepping for, Bear Bachmeier and the
BYU Cougar's heading into Orlando with an opportunity to beat
Georgia Tech, a top twenty five team. It's a rarity
to have BYU matched up historically against a ranked opponent.
You have ninety six with Kansas State, you have the
Vegas Bowl with Oregon State in two thousand and nine,
you had Colorado last year. You know some of the
the eighties games, I guess you know you have, like
the Holiday Bowl Holiday Bowls where you were facing some
formidable foes in the eighties in a glory era of
BAU football. But how much does a bowl win in
the modern era determine maybe the legacy of a season,
right and how it's remembered.
Speaker 3: Do you think you know? That's an interesting question because
I think there's probably different standpoints on that, some coming
from players, some coming from a stand base. If you're
a player on the team where this is your final
college football game, I'm going to go back in the
archives here to coach Jeff Grimes. And when he spoke
to the seniors of my class, he told our class,
you will always remember the last football game you played in.
And He's like, I know it sounds funny, but for
whatever reason, you play all of these games throughout your career.
Some of you have played forty games, some of you thirties,
some of you in the twenties, whatever it is, you
always remember that last game. And so he challenged everybody
to go out the right way, invest in all those
practice says, make it matter, and go out on top
with a win, and I'll say, like, as a former player,
I love that the opportunity that we had to finish
a season. To me, that game is part of that season,
especially because how it ended with the fans on the
field and everybody being super excited. You know, it kind
of capped off a great season. You know. Do I
think that if BUYU beats Georgia Tech that it'll feel like,
oh yeah, there's absolutely capped off a great season. It
may not feel that exact same way because everybody wanted
YU to be in the playoffs, and I think it
was a major letdown when really everybody voting just seemed
like they just left BYU out. But for the seniors
it absolutely does matter. And then if you're a coach
on that team, you want the momentum to continue. This
is a winning football program. Kilani and the rest of
the coaches there, along with their recruits have built something.
They have built winners. And so what do winners do
when they step on the football field. They play to win.
And so the hope would be that everybody recognizes the
momentum that a Bowl win can provide going into the
next offseason. And you know, whether the fan base wants
to say that the win caps off a great season
or not, like that's that's up to each individual fan.
But I just think it would be a travesty in
such a good season that BYU has had, one that
should be remembered, and quite honestly, it will be hard
to duplicate to have a season where you only lose,
your only losses come to a top five team and
potentially one that may be playing in the National Championship
a few weeks from now. Like, this is a great
season and it's going to be hard to continue and
to duplicate. And so I would hope that everybody truly
recognizes just how good of a season it's been, and
because of that, go finish this week and this season
with a win.
Speaker 4: Yeah, John, A big part of that incredible season that
we've had has been Bear Bachmeyer, true freshman had a
great season, especially for a freshman, best in YU history.
I would say, as a fresh best freshman season. What
kind of what improved me? Do you see that Bear
needs to make in this offseason going into a sophomore
season to be able to follow that up and have
a similar or even better season next year.
Speaker 3: Well, the great thing about Bear is he's going to
get all of these plays, however, many pass attempts, however,
many times he took off and ran with the ball. However,
many times he had to throw the ball away or
take a stack. All of those things are learning experiences.
He had never been in a practice with BYU and
this offense until he got to training camp, fall camp,
a camp that he ended up competing and winning the
starting job in, and so that feeling of getting all
of that experience and then now building upon it. He's
going to go back through every single game and he's
going to try to improve on decision making. He's going
to improve all what he's seeing, and he's going to
get to have all that experience in his back pocket.
Then he can also go back and say, Okay, from
a physical standpoint, what are some areas that I can
improve some areas that I can improve on? Are maybe
some of my early season Let's look at some of
the downfield throws and why were we just barely off?
Let's look late season, maybe on some of my decision
making where some of these pressure looks, did I have
all the answers? Offenses, when you build an offense, you
want to build it for answers versus a variety of things.
Sometimes in pure progression reads, you have to quickly get
to maybe that third in progression because it is your
hot outlet. Maybe sometimes you have to be able to
identify shelves a little bit better For a true freshman,
I thought he did a great job of recognizing coverages,
but I'm sure that there's some times that he's like, oh,
they got the best of me right there. You know,
you can tell in that last playoff game or the
game not playoff with the championship game, that there were
some times that you could tell that the pressure where
his eyes were, what his feet were doing, showed that
it might not have been as clean as a picture
to him. So now you go back and you take
all of those things and you try to clear up
the pictures. Because of experience, you try to improve on
some of those things, and ultimately the goal is how
can I be a more efficient quarterback so we can
keep the chains moving and continue to score points at
a higher level.
Speaker 2: John Beg Former b A, You're great to and some
Cougar football here on your Utah ESPN Radio Network, brought
to you by Premo Golf Apparel. Primo golf Parrel dot com.
We gotta get you some Primo golf apparels. Yeah, I
know you're not.
Speaker 3: How you do? I know the Premo guys. Yeah. I
every year I go and I do stuff in the
Forever Young Foundation event and uh yeah, the Premo guys,
they've they've been good to me. I actually got some
stuff sitting here at the house, the Premo golfware that
I wear when that me and Dennis go play down
at the Stankle Many Muni. So I really like their
golf apparel. Love it. Man.
Speaker 2: Hey U Rider Lions coming to BYU obviously, and Walker
Lions you're talking about, you know, California kids and with
BYU ties Walker Lines.
Speaker 3: Just entered the portal.
Speaker 2: Do you think a four star Walker could end up
in Provo as well?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Absolutely. I'm not a betting man, but if I was,
I would probably bet on it. I think that when
you take a step away from a program like USC
and the direction of that day's kind of gone, and
you know, I think that there's probably some decisions that
it's probably more than just football. It's probably some of
the things that I think a place like BUYU can
provide that a kid like him, I'm sure would love
the opportunity to be around. And I also think with
how much BYU is winning, going back to the culture
that Kilani has built, everybody could recognize it. You know,
I think it's going to be interesting to see how
these last two seasons will impact Bui U's ability to
bring people in in the transfer portal. Because you're not
only providing an atmosphere of quality people of the right
things in life and the way that Kilanie talks about
the program he's developing, but you're backing it up with wins.
I think that you now will grab the attention of
people that want to win the right way with the
right people and get to have an experience that obviously
is a very unique experience. And so you know, I
think it would be awesome for them to be able
to get Walker. And I think that it's probably you know,
BYU's got to be high on it list of schools
that he's going to be looking at.
Speaker 2: John as we get you know, as we evaluate this
BYU football team, you were part of some great teams
and you know, I think, you know, like that sixth
season one of the best in BA football history. I
wonder if BA wins this Bowl game, right ranked opponent
you mentioned, like you you remember that that last game,
that Oregon game you bawled out. It was tremendous. If
BA wins this game, I'm wondering, you know where this
this team will be ranked all time in BAU football history.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's got to be up there, you know.
It's just here's the tricky thing. If this was like
a season where you know they're okay, I'm gonna go
back to the ninety sixteen. Okay, the ninety six team
plays against the Wyoming team in Las Vegas that I
believe was it a patchman I think kicked the game
winning field goal. I actually ran out on that field
as the ball was going through the uprights to go
see how tall I was compared to Steve Sarkigan. But
you know, you look at that team that's considered a
great team. They they beat a Wyoming team in the
Whack Championship by a field goal to get into the
Cotton Bowl, you know, and yeah, like an amazing season
all of these wins. That game against that Wyoming team
is so different from the Big twelve championship game against
a top four team in the country. In Texas tech Ye.
You know, So it's just tricky, Like that's why comparing teams,
Like teams aren't ever in the same situation. They're not
playing the same opponents. We like, we remember teams off
what they accomplished. Like my hope for this team is
that they're remembered for what they accomplished rather than where
it felt like there was a letdown, like it you know,
part of the letdown was out of bi used control,
Like are you trying to tell me that James Madison,
who's twenty one and a half point underdog, should be
allowed to be playing in a playoff game? Like I
completely disagree with. If you're going to have the twelve
best teams playing in a playoff format, why is there
a twenty one and a half point underdog in a
playoff game? Are you telling me if BYU were in
that exact game that it would be greater than twenty
one and a half, not even close? And so, you know, yeah,
it feels like a little bit of letdown that byus
out there, but that's out of their control. Like again,
this goes back to BYU has been a very good
football team all season long. They just came up short
against a very good opponent twice, had they not had
to face them again, has BYU's sole lost into Texas Tech.
And let's say they weren't in a conference championship game
and they were going and probably being invited based off
of the old rules, based off of the old rules,
they'd be playing in some really big bowl game somewhere,
you know, and it would feel magical. But because of
a conference championship, because of an outcome, BYU gets left
stout and the season feels different. And that's where I
feel like, I hope that the fan base doesn't take
that route. Even though it feels like a little bit
of a letdown, this is still a really, really special
team and it is going to be hard to continue
to match what this BIU team did this year in
following years. I promised that it's just it's hard to do.
Speaker 4: Yeah, John, I wanted to shift gears here just a
second and ask you a question that you might have
some unique insight on. You are a part of the
Dolphins organization, and it's been pretty well documented that you
know Zach Wilson very well. What do you know or
what do you make of the Dolphins choosing to go
with Quinn Ewers over Zach Wilson, and are we seeing
maybe the tail end of Zach's opportunities in the NFL.
Speaker 3: I mean, look, here's the thing. I know way more
than I can say on a radio show. I mean,
here's here's the thing. I'm just gonna broadly talk about
what the NFL does. At times. Sometimes the NFL makes
decisions for the organization and it does not come down
to players or players' abilities to perform on the field,
or necessarily what is going to give the team the
best opportunity to play at their highest level. And although
somebody may come out and say, well, you know, this
decision was made because this player gives us blank opportunity,
there are so many things that go on in the
business dealings of an organization. And when you look at
sometimes business dealings when players are owed you know, upwards
of fifty plus million dollars and a backup is being
paid a handful of millions of dollars, and there's a
rookie that is on a rookie contract, and you know,
I mean I've seen it. At the end of seasons,
sometimes the end of season turns into a tryout for
the people that are on smaller contracts because you get
to now determine their value going forward. So much of
the NFL is about how do I have the most
good football players on the cheapest contracts. Especially if I'm
going to sign superstars, I have to have I have
to have other people that I can count on on
smaller contracts. And so sometimes opportunities are given to people
to find out can this person be somebody on the
contract that they're on, And it just it doesn't always
come down to, all right, we've got to put the
best people on the field to go get a victory.
It's just it doesn't. And that's that's all I'm gonna
say on that thing. There's there's always way more going
on within the building than people know about.
Speaker 2: Great insight. There john a final question for you, and
we'll let you go. We appreciate you joining us as always. Uh,
you remember your final game? It was that that Vegas
ball you balled out. It was one of the greatest
performances I think from a by quarterback in history, and
definitely in a Bowl game.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 2: What do you remember about that game?
Speaker 3: Number one?
Speaker 2: And what was favorite throw or favorite play of that game?
I have a couple in mind. I want to see
what you have to say.
Speaker 3: I remember going into the game, Oregon had one of
the best secondaries that we have faced all year. I
believe the top secondary in the pack twelve. Where were
they the twelve or ten pack? Ten pack ten? Okay,
So I mean that's funny. I played against two of
those guys later in the NFL, so we knew they
were talented. It's funny. I just remember being on the
bus ride talking to some of the receivers, like, guys, look,
we're probably gonna to hit some back shoulder throws early
because if we just tried to go downfield early on
these guys, these guys cover really well. There was a
lot of things that we knew we were gonna have
to kind of check to. I remember we had a
bunch of drops in the beginning of the games, and
I remember just trying to be like, you know what,
I'm just gonna stay settled in, Like the defense isn't
giving anything up right now, so it's not like we're
falling behind. We're just about to click, you know, like
we're almost there. And then some things clicked. I I
you know, I would say that there were a couple
of throws to Johnny. One was on like a slot
fadeball and this guy covered him really, really well. And
I remember when I threw it, feeling like this is
either gonna land perfectly in the bucket or Johnny's gonna
have to go up to get it. And I just
remember he kind of shielded his guy when right over
his shoulder, right in the bucket. And then there was
the right.
Speaker 2: Towards our sideline, right we threw it to your right.
Speaker 3: I think that one was the one I threw back
shoulder tobout our sideline. Okay, yeah, the origin stride. But
there was another one. We were backed up and coach
and I called like not a backed up drop back pass,
like you're just like, whoa, we're going with this right here.
And but I remember this feeling of like, you know what, though,
like we've been running this play for so long, it's
a staple. I'm a little surprised this was the call,
but we'll roll with it. And there was just this
little itty bitty window and I just remember like this
is when it's fun. Man. You just got ultimate trust.
And I remember just letting it fly and Johnny caught
it and ran for a bunch of yards afterwards, and
if I like, if my memory's right, I think Johnny
broke the record for receiving yards, maybe by a tight
end or something in the bowl game. I just remember
he had a ton of yards, had a good game.
You know, it's funny because, like all quarterbacks, the things
that stick out also are the things that don't go
your way. I remember we called the hell Mary before half.
We're already up by a lot, and I remember thinking, like,
why are we calling a hell Mary right here? We're
up by a few scores. But then I remember thinking like, man, whatever,
it's my last game, Like I'm just gonna let it fly.
And so I threw it, and I remember like Johnny
was kind of the main point jumper. I watched him trip,
he fell on the ground, and I remember my ball
just went right to this Oregon guy in the chest.
I remember thinking like, oh, freek you gotta be kidding me,
just like it ended up in an interception like yash.
But anyway, you know, that's the funny stuff that you
remember that you know probably nobody else does, But because
it was something that didn't go our way, I remember it.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna watch that game now
after listening to that and just rehash it all. John Beck,
ladies and gentlemen, always a pleasure man. Thanks for talking
some ball with us today.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're welcome, Ben, We'll see guys. There you go.
Speaker 2: That's John Beck and that segment was brought to by
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We're gonna take a brief time out.
Speaker 3: We'll be back.
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