Latest / Johnny's World / Episode 64- Rod Gibson and Arizona Game Preview

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Episode 64- Rod Gibson and Arizona Game Preview · Johnny's World

• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to the Johnny's World Podcast.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is BW here with my esteemed colleague Johnny.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: How are we doing today, Johnny?
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, I'm doing doing quite well.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_02: How about you?
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_02: Feeling the taste of victory this week.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: The taste of victory is right.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I had feeling the taste of Obi's still.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: We we we ate a little bit too much when I was at Obi's this past weekend, but uh had a great time.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Great, great to get that victory.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: I was a little concerned in the first few minutes there, but we rode the ship and everything, everything looked good.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, man, it sure was great to be back in uh in Davis Wade.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: And and uh, you know, everybody was worried about the beginning of the season how we had those hundred degree weather, you know, and man, it was perfect.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: The game a little overcast and felt great outside and uh felt like fall weather.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, it was good.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_02: Uh good to see dogs back in action and always good to get a win.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you can't go undefeated if you don't don't win the first one in there right.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_02: So I want to know exactly.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, pretty excited to see how the season um going forward.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we'll get on in a little while and talk a little bit more about this past week and what we think about this week coming up.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: But we've got a really good, really good guest this week.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so let's get him on get him on and introduce him and um find out what he's got to say.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: So you want to introduce him?
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um man, I'm happy to uh to introduce introduce our guest uh for this week's episode.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: Uh all you Bulldog fans out there, you all y'all know exactly who I'm talking about.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_02: He played uh he played football at Mississippi State during the uh Jackie Sherrow era, and now he's on staff at Mississippi State.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_02: And uh Rod Gibson, welcome to Johnny's World.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_02: We really appreciate you coming on.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_03: Good afternoon, man.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_03: Glad to be uh part of you guys' podcast today.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, sir.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_02: Well, well, Rod, just tell uh our viewers out there, our listeners out there pretty much uh what you're doing in Mississippi State these days.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, to sum it all up, I'm I recruit um uh for our football program here in Mississippi State.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um I communicate communicating with parents and several recruits throughout the year.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_03: And especially right now during the season, me and the rest of the staff, recruiting staff, we pretty much the on-the-field coaches, um, keeping in constant contact with parents, um, any updates on anything that might be going on with any kid that we got committed or trying to recruit, making sure we give them uh up-to-date information uh each and every day, seven days a week from now until Saturday in December.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_03: So, I mean a lot of other things with the program, uh, but that's mainly what I do as far as recruiting.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's like you said, constant contact.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: It seems like these days, um you're probably the hardest working man on the whole football team.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: You probably don't get a single day off the whole year, do you?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_03: Uh we all we all kind of collectively do it together, but no, we we work a lot.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's what you sign up for, it's the SEC.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_03: Um make sure you get the um the best players that you could possibly get to help us compete in our conference.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah, we do work a lot, but it it comes with it.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_03: And um just glad to be a part of um this staff here with Coach Arnett and try to get really good players in here to help us know be successful moving forward.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: Well, Ronda, I don't um I have to ask you about your about your plan days, uh, and tell us a little bit about how you ended up uh coming to Mississippi State and you've been a part of the Bordock family for quite some time with with Coach Cheryl.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_02: Then you were, I think you're on staff at uh Mullen, is that correct?
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: And then Leach and Ornette.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_02: So you've been you've been part of the Bordock family for quite a while.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_02: So tell us how it all started.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: How'd you how'd you get started?
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_03: Um yeah, um out of high school in Greenwood, Mississippi, where um um Coach Cheryl and Coach Melon Smith, you know, recruited to come here, had to go to junior college because of some issues in Mississippi Delta, and then after Mississippi Delta, kind of um um had a lot of opportunities to go play football at different places, but chose to um, of course, come back here to Mississippi State.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_03: And so after having one of the best runs in school history, being a part of the 98 championship team and going 10 and 2, um, and after getting my master's degree here and was on staff of co-shered, graduate assistant with running backs, and then in the weight room.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_03: And after that, worked for uh over a decade of junior college at Mississippi Delta, a little bit at Colin, and and then Dan Mullen reached out to me and Brad Peterson and Pat Austin about revamping the recruiting department.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_03: So we all decided to come take a chance and see how we would do um in terms of recruiting here in Mississippi State.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_03: And so far, we had a lot of success signing a bunch of you know big-time players, Montez Swiss and Willie Gay, and I mean Forbes, and the list goes on with the number of guys that we've been blessed enough to be able to sign our program.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_03: So um I've been a part of Mullin staff, Joe Moorhead and um coach Mike Leach and now Zach Garnett.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_03: So um I guess when you do a good job, they'll keep you around, you know.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_03: So yeah.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_03: Well, so the most part, but it's it's been me and um the people that I work with.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_03: It's not a real big recruiting staff, but I think we're very efficient and look for a certain type of player um to come here to Mississippi State and be a part of the culture here at Starbucks.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so how does that feel?
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, almost reaching the top of the mountain as a player and then as a member of the staff, is there a difference there?
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, doing so well, getting all the way up to number one back in back in the the DAC days and then back in your playing days, is is there a difference there or was it both just really good?
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_03: Well, to be honest, especially back in my playing days, looking back to even I think when they brought back the the logo, uh the interlock logo this um a couple weeks ago, and I think us former players was all just kind of like take a step back, was like, man, look what no, look what we did, you know, and to even bring that back up.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_03: We was a part of that era.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_03: Um, and then from Mullin being number one to seeing what the program was and and how it kind of like you know went down a little bit, you know, um in 16, and then to like to jump in with with Brad and Pat and all of our connections and to really work at signing some really, really good blue-collar players and to kind of get the program to go back, you know, trending in the right direction.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_03: So, and I think um because of that success, it keeps you hungry, you keep on trying to go out and find those type of guys that you know make sure Coach Arnana and the rest of his staff have the same type of success.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_02: Well, yeah, you mentioned the the um the logo, interlocking logo coming back.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, I gotta ask you about that team.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you know, um I've I've been ever since I was a little kid, Coach Sherrill has been a dear friend of mine.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: He let me travel with the team when I was a when I was a kid growing up.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I I got to go on some of those road trips with the team that in the late 90s.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_02: And man, that was a special time.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_02: Those are the glory days of Mississippi State football.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_02: You have any games that stand out that you want to talk about?
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: I gotta ask about that LSU game.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: I know everybody probably asked about that one, about about that one in 99.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_02: Just uh tell us a little bit about that and and any games that stand out that that brings back memories.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_03: To be honest, to be honest, those two years, it's hard to even even pick a game, even the LSU game.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_03: That each week, I mean, with the way Coach Cheryl had us conditioned to say somebody was gonna go out there and make a play each and every game.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that those two seasons, and it was just that, somebody different each week.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_03: And um they came here and we fought hard and in the end, was able to, you know, be in the right place, right time, getting that play called by Coach Spark Woods, and everybody up front did an unbelievable, unbelievable job of blocking and was able to get in the end zone.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_03: I know people kind of question it, but you go back and look at it how many times you won't.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, my the ball was in my right arm and touched the you know, touched the goal line.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_03: What's what's funny about that when we played them the following year, they actually fumbled the ball on the three-yard line and they gave them a touchdown to tie it up and did us in overtime.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_03: We should have beat them, you know, no uh two years in a row.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_03: But you know, but those those were some really great years in Mississippi State history.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_03: And I think it's just hard to pinpoint one game because they all came down to the wire each week in '99 to go 10 and 2.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_03: So I think it's just hard to pick one game.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that that uh it seems like we're always on the wrong end of the stick when it comes to the refs.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, it just seems like that.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: But in that particular game, you know, you got over there and and and they called you, and they called you a touchdown.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and that's that's one of the few times I can remember that the refs it was in our favor on that.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we don't have them too often.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't happen often, but man, that was a memorable game and a memorable season and memorable run.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: So I know I know seeing that interlocking coming back, and I know that brings you and all your teammates back then.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_02: That brings so much joy.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: I know knowing that it's back on campus, we're gonna be wearing it this year.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_03: Man, I'm telling you, the to be honest, even with the former players that I've talked to about it, it's almost like everybody get emotional.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_03: Just even talking about it.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_03: So it was, it was, it's real weird, man, to even to see the jerseys and to see the logo and to think back to what all went into making that run uh coach chair here in Mississippi State history.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that, like I said, when former players we talked about it almost like we all kind of get a little worked up to know that we was a part of of the area of Mississippi State that no people would never forget.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you mentioned a minute ago about uh having a blueprint for players you're looking for.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Does that blueprint change a little bit as coaching staff changes, or are y'all mostly looking kind of for the core you know, qualities, characteristics in a player that that meets a Mississippi State player?
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: How does that look from coach to coach?
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I think I think coming in, you know, with Coach Muller when he first started, and I want to really work with him, but behind the scenes, you know, being a part of some you know, some recruiting stuff, I think that um he found out quickly that it's a certain type of player that comes to Mississippi State, you know, to be able to compete.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_03: You know, you're not it's hard to compete with the Georges and the Alabamas and all anywhere, but what you can find is tough, hard-nosed football players that go out there and compete week in and week out.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that the transition to Joe Moorhead um to Mike Lee, of course, Coach Arnett already knew.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_03: So I think it kind of took a minute to get them to be like, hey, no matter what you say, no matter where you go to recruit guys at, it's only a certain type of player that'll come here that wear boots and cowboy hats and jeans and go out to farming um with horses and cows in the background, you know, and you know, only a certain type of player want to do that.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_03: So and and uh there's only a certain type of player that fit in doing that.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_03: So we try our best as much as possible to go out and and and hopefully do our research and find that type of player that comes in and best fit the culture here at Mississippi State.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I remember uh Coach Cheryl used to always talk about it, uh, and it's the truth about uh recruiting the state of Mississippi.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_02: We have some of the best athletes right here in the state, and and I know that we our coaching staff, I know Coach Arnettes feels the same way.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_02: If you recruit the state of Mississippi, you're gonna be a winner right there.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_02: And and uh it's just proven time and time again how many great players come from the state.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, and I know that's probably what y'all we all talk about.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_02: And and and also I want to talk, I want to congratulate you also.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you're being one of those players from the state, uh getting inducted into the uh Hall of Fame in your hometown.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: Talk a little bit about that, what that means, and and what it means to be recruiting in the state of Mississippi.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_03: Um well, first uh that's the first part of it.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_03: I think that you know, with Coach Arnett being here, the kind of person he is and kind of how he wired, he just wired as like, you know, blue-collar mentality, just like um he he everything that this school is about.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that um between our state and you know, and Mississippi Junior College and in Louisiana and Alabama, you really don't have to go far to get um the type of player that we want in this program to be able to fit the identity in Mississippi State.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that that's his approach.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_03: I think that we all know his approach, and I think it's just now about us, you know, winning games on Saturday to go out there and kind of execute the plan in terms of winning and recruiting, just kind of go hand in hand.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_03: As far as the Hall of Fame, I think that it kind of surprised me, you know, um, with that phone call from um the people in Greenwood.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_03: And uh, you know, I just kind of like it took me a minute to kind of be like, oh, whoa, you know, so it's one of those moments in life that you kind of sit back and just look at um on the accomplishment and um the way people think think about you and view you.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_03: So it was pretty special to be a part um in Greenwood.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_03: So it was a really good time, you know, being Greenwood for that event.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, what you were saying about um the type of player and everything that y'all are recruiting, it makes me feel a little better just about the NIL and worrying about competing with that.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: But really, it sounds like the kind of guys that we're going after are not necessarily gonna just care about the money.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I'm sure that you've got these really high profile forward five-star guys that highly recruited, like it may come down to that.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: But if it's the right personality type for Mississippi, then it sounds like if they meet that, it's a lot easier to find those guys despite all the NIL and all that kind of stuff.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_03: I think I think Coach Arnett has his way and his approach towards the NIF, which I like.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_03: His approach is kind of an in-house thing.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_03: I think that um I think that we want to target guys that it's not just about money, you know.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_03: Not just competing football-wise, but compete in the classroom.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_03: We pride ourselves off you know, having a good graduation uh rate in terms of our athletes here in Mississippi State.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_03: So um we really don't want to talk to kids that just want to talk about money because it never just you know, it is the day and age we live in, and you have to have those conversations.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_03: But at the same time, we want to make sure that a kid know that yes, we're gonna take care of them, but that's not the number one goal.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_03: The number one goal is have success, let's compete on Saturdays, get your college degree, and hopefully get a chance to play in the NFL, all the other stuff to kind of take care of itself.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that Coach Arnett and and Coach Peterson, I think that they do a phenomenal job along with the Bulldog Initiative of kind of uh preaching it.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_03: So far, so so good.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_03: We kind of stay in our own lane as a program in terms of the NIL.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_03: So the huge recruiting tool, but we do inform people that we we do take care of our student athletes here in Mississippi State, but it's not the most important.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_03: And we want you to come here and have success and get your degree and hopefully get uh get a chance to play the next level.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the only other thing I was gonna ask too is so with the transfer portal and everything, are you tasked you know with making sure you know all these players are happy?
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like you're all having to check in with them throughout the year to make sure everything is going okay, or does it become more of a recruiting thing again once you hear somebody's thinking about leaving and the transfer?
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: Like, how does that work from your standpoint, or is that something that's mostly handled by the coaching staff at that point?
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: You mean like guys that's already in our program that we get from other places?
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, or that or or guys that you know, you gotta think about them transferring out.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know, every year it seems like you're hearing about somebody wanting to leave or something like that.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_03: In terms of that, you mean just like guys within our roster that are thinking about leaving.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_03: I think that this day and age in college athletics, when you have kids that be successful and kind of like us losing raw tunnels, you know.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that you're always really recruiting your own roster first and foremost before you think about being in a transfer portal.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_03: And I think all of us are college athletics now.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_03: So you have to one, make sure you do a phenomenal job throughout the year, you know, trying to keep kids happy, to be honest with you.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_03: Make sure you recruit your own roster first and keep that intact before getting about the kids that's on campus and going out recruiting kids from other places.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_03: At least we know what we got with kids here already in the program.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_03: So you want to make sure we do the best job that we can with them and their families to make sure that this is the right fit and the right situation for them before going out and recruiting someone that we don't really know nothing about.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_03: So I think we kind of handled it the right way here.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_03: So we had a you know, a lot of people try to come in on various guys that we had, and we was able to hold on to most of them all except one.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_03: So I think we did do a great job in terms of that.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_03: So we know this year is gonna be challenging again because we think that some people are gonna make some runs and some other young guys that we got.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_03: So we're just trying to make sure we stay on top of it, you know, daily.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_03: So we'll decent around here.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_02: So right, I don't I don't think I I don't have anything else.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_02: He pretty much uh covered it.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh what what are your expectations?
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_02: I guess I'll say what are your expectations on the rest of the season for the Borderwalls.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_02: You think, well, I I after watching Saturday's game, I I have a good feeling, uh, and especially after LSU's losing, uh, I feel like we can compete in the SEC, and that's what you what you want.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_03: I I think I think first and foremost, um new situation.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_03: Talking about being in the ARA for you know three years and right being conditioned to know for what they had to buy into from when Coach Leaks first got here to where he went and won nine games this past season.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_03: So it took year one to kind of get it going, and year two was better in this year, this past season.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we won nine games and could have won ten possibly.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_03: So you know, retooling them to a whole different situation of offensive football from an offensive standpoint.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_03: So I think that everybody's kind of still feeling their way out a little bit, you know.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_03: And I think though third, fourth quarter, guys start playing loose, playing free, they kind of show with the outcome of the game.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that week two, I think that we just gotta build on what happened at the end of the third and fourth quarter and and um be better against Arizona from the first quarter to the end of the game.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that if we play well this week, I think it'll set up us to build on to going to the LSU game.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_03: But you know, we had a lot of mistakes that we uh hopefully got corrected that we would be better at this week from the opening quarter to the end of the game.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_03: So instead of putting together two good quarters, hope we can put together, you know, hopefully four solid quarters of football, you know, and see where the right.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, I really liked what Coach Arnett said at halftime.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_00: They when they were asking him about the game, and he said he was still mad about that one drive in the first quarter.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm sure some guys heard about that in the locker room at halftime because they sure came out, look like a like you said, playing play a lot looser and just relaxed and just started getting to the rhythm there.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I was gonna go in there, but I chose not to because I'm pretty sure he had the words getting going.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_03: So really good because they came out fired up in the third quarter.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_03: So I actually don't know what he said to them, but apparently it worked.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_03: Hopefully, we get we can get a good start, uh start the day of practice, and hope we have a great week of practice and be ready for Arizona on Saturday.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Rod, we really appreciate you coming on.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and we appreciate everything you do.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um getting us all these great players and helping us build this this great program.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I I don't think guys like you get enough credit.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, y'all, y'all are working, working hard every single day, and we really really appreciate it.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's great.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_02: Rod, I did have one more thing I wanted to ask you about it.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we didn't hit on Coach Leach.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_02: Uh uh one last thing before we before we close.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_02: Just tell us what it was like working with Coach Leach.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: Do you have a funny Coach Leach story, or what was it like uh being working under Coach Leach?
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_03: You know, you you look back on it, man.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_03: I think that none of us really have completely you know got over the fact.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that even saying, and I think I was you know, even shed a few tears and turns of, you know, in this picture in our office, and we look at it every single day.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_03: Me personally, when he and I was in Vegas, at you know, we went to Charles Cross, um his uh NFL you know deal out there in Vegas.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_03: And one night there, and and and it was probably 50 people standing in line to wait and talk to him.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_03: One by one, he spoke to every single person up until about two o'clock in the morning.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_03: He talked to every single person that waited to stand there and talk to him.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, whoa, this is this is really cool right here, you know.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_03: So I mean, I probably can't talk about this podcast when me and him had together, but publicly was my one of my no one of the most surreal moments.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_03: He's like, I'm really with a with a hall of fame here at Coach Lee.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_03: So he was a great person to be around, great for the program, great for the university.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_03: And man, we were so blessed and thrilled to have Coach Lee to be a part of Miss City.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: state know before what happened happen.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: So absolutely.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_02: And I feel like uh coach Coach Arnett, you know, what he's doing with our program right now is going to be honoring Coach Leach and and uh and and Coach Leach will never be forgotten with the Bulldog community.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: We're so grateful for everything he did for us and his memory will will live on through all our uh Bulldog Nation.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_02: So uh that's really all I had Rod.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for joining us like Brandon says people like you who do the do the hard work behind the scenes bringing this talent in so that we can coach them up and play.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_02: So we we commend you for all you do for Mississippi State and it really appreciates you.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_03: Well thanks a lot man thank you guys for having me a part of this today.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yes sir yes sir all right thanks Rod thanks Rod all right Johnny that that was a great guest thanks for getting getting old Rod lined up there that was really good to hear kind of his perspective of everything there.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: So Rod is True Maroon True Maroon through Coach Cheryl and uh Coach Mullen Moorhead Leach and now Arnett he's he's been a consistent part of the program so very thankful that he's he's still here and bringing in that talent to uh to compete at Mississippi State.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_02: So yep.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah I think that says something that he's been there throughout that whole coaching staff you know that that they've all elected to keep him on staff.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: So that's that's pretty cool.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_02: Kind of reminds me of uh coach Brooks on the basketball team remember him he was with Stansberry and then Rick Ray and Howland and now Coach Jans kept him on staff.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_02: So it's good to have that person that knows Mississippi that can go out and work relationships and recruit Mississippi and that's what you want and uh and yeah Rod is is is perfect in that role.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah well um what did you think about the game Johnny I mean what uh what are your takeaways from the weekend and what do you think about next week and all that stuff well the uh probably unlike with the majority of your uh fan base out there the first uh first quarter so I was getting a little nervous I was like man what's going on here then I figured you know it's new season working out kinks and kind of expect that and then I figured we're turning it on after a while and uh sure enough we did and uh yeah it was a lot a lot different uh not throwing the ball every every down which we kind of knew going into switch it up and wouldn't be strictly passing all the time but I did like how they worked in Will and and Mike Wright and that's cool because I saw someone post or something saying Mike Wright needs to be our quarterback and then the guy responded back was like look the reason why Mike Wright was successful the other day is because of Will Rogers.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: He was like they work side by side you know you get one in there you you got Will's strength with his arm and you got Mike's strength with his leg.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_02: So it kind of like kind of reminds me of uh uh the Florida time with uh with Chris Leek and Tim Tebow that year they won the national championship leak was and then they put in Tebow for a run play and it was unstoppable.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_02: So uh so I kind of liked it how how we worked in Mike Wright running the ball and then he had will throw in it and uh you know we got some playmakers and and Creed Whitmore was kind of the guy that kind of stood out to me and everybody else like wow this guy's legit.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_02: I went up and looked him up and it turns out he was a quarterback all throughout high school played in Gainesville Florida uh under his dad I believe was the coach and so he's out there catching balls and he didn't play receiver I think since I read we're like maybe a freshman year or something like that in high school.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_02: So uh wow he's he's gonna be a name I feel like that we're gonna see for a long time uh out there.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah that was cool to see him have a good game and uh I think it's only gonna get better from here.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_02: I'm expecting Will to have a good game this coming week against against Arizona.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_02: You know we played him last year in at Arizona and uh you know the difference between that and this year is we don't have to play Pac-12 at dark.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_02: It's actually a normal time for us.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_02: Right last game started at 10 p.m our time so yeah uh that that's that works in our favor.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_02: But I feel like uh like like we like Rod said man if you can put four quarters together a solid football game going on through you know it it it it'll it'll make a difference because you can't and and some in inferior opponents kind of like what we played last week you can have games where you slow first second quarter and then you come out strong but when you when the competition starts picking up you start getting in these STC teams you can't afford to have any quarter where you're you gotta get the kinks out.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_02: You need to go in and get these out now.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_02: So hopefully in practice they've been working on all that and uh and we can see four solid quarters of football come Saturday night in David Sway.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah it really made me appreciate like the fact that we were playing against them versus you know some of these teams like Alabama or some of these historically have started these big games like LSU Florida State.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah I mean if if you make a mistake in a game like that you're you're done.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: So it was nice to be able to just have this as a as a warm-up and let the guys kind of get out there and you know kind of kind of flow together.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: I think that at the in the second half it it definitely looked like what we were expecting it to look like.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I was I was like I was thinking you know man we made that prediction you know we were thinking we'd score in the 40s there and I'm looking at the first half and thinking man we're not going to get anywhere near that and then all of a sudden just it's like an avalanche and it just kept rolling rolling down and and we we finally we built up that big lead that we thought we'd have yeah I I think I I remember texting the game I was like because I said 42 to 42 to six was my prediction last week and uh and we ended up 48 seven so I was like wow that's pretty dang close.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah yeah if you're out there listening you listen to our picks take them to the go to the golden moon put it down but hey don't blame us if if we if that might be the jinx don't do that because if you go do it we might might mess us up so uh yeah yeah just just we'll see what happens.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: One thing that was throwing me off though is that um our quarterback I thought it was Bookie Watson out there for a minute because they have the same number.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah and I was like what is what is Bookie Watson doing playing both sides of the ball here and uh it took me the longest time to figure because I could never see his name on the jersey and uh man they need they need to give him a new number or something like that.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_02: I bet you're like what the heck Buki Watson yeah yeah this is crazy.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_02: Uh yeah that's kind of weird I I've noticed that in recent years that a lot of the roster has a number for offense and defense the same player that's kind of kind of strange how that works I remember that happening in the past but uh yeah that's that is a little weird.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah yeah yeah well um we had a good time I took took the kids down there like I said we ate at obs and um just uh hung out around campus went to uh to to be unlimited bought bought some stuff went to campus bookmart I tried to use the beautiful Steve Robertson discount code it didn't work there um we we got lots of lots of gear kids loaded up everybody had a great time so um you know the stadium was probably what three fourths full yeah um which was just a little disappointing because I mean the weather was perfect I mean you couldn't ask for any better weather um but I guess people just it holiday weekend and people assumed it was gonna be hot and just plan to not go um so hopefully every game going forward will be be full because I mean they're saying the season tickets are sold out so um let's hope that hope we get a bigger crowd for games but it was still loud i mean I felt like the student section it was really I was I was kind of at the 40 yard line on the west end and man it was it was loud over there where the student section was uh those cowbells they it was as loud as I can remember in the beginning of the game for sure what did you think of the uh the sweet dreams uh in the fourth quarter with it with the cowbells will ferrell and that that's pretty cool huh yeah yeah I liked it and I like the uh the new intro music as well the uh dream on was that what they were playing yeah it was good yeah that's cool you know everybody had kind of gotten tired of doing the uh don't stop believing in the fourth quarter i mean it was cool when when model and the Dak were here but just kind of you know over time it kind of got old and they were looking for I think this was it might have been last year or the year before they were gonna switch it up and they tried the first game they did uh they did Garth Brooks uh friends in low places and people were complaining like that's baseball that's baseball that's what we do at duty noble so then they they found this uh sweet dreams remix and and put the Saturday night live skid up there with the cowbell will ferrell and man it kind of it kind of sticks i i like it a lot it because it the whole crowd started ringing their cowbell in sync with everybody and the song and it's really cool and then they ended up playing uh if you notice they ended up playing don't stop believing at the end of the game but but it wasn't the fourth quarter song and and uh but man it was good to see uh coach leach's family out there getting getting it getting recognized and uh I know that was probably an emotional time for them and and um I believe his son is on staff at Mississippi State so um that was that was cool to see that he's still part of the Bulldog family and and then uh and then you know jimmy buffett died that that same day and and I noticed they uh they played uh margaritaville so I thought that was pretty pretty neat neat tribute to uh him but uh yeah overall it was a uh successful day like I said anytime you get a win can't complain of that about that at all because I was there I remember 2016 when we lost to South Alabama opening game started off 0-1 so you know you gotta enjoy even though there's inferior opponents a win's a win you gotta enjoy every win you get so uh um but yeah like you said it's only uh going from here you gotta you gotta do it hey we do it what 11 more times we'll be undefeated that's right oh I don't know about that happening but hey just 11 more times but I I was really kind of disappointed that LSU uh kind of just laid an egg against Florida State because we really needed them to be undefeated and us beat Arizona and then we'd have an undefeated matchup in in game uh game three um for us to shoot up in the standings and stuff because now I can already tell you know if we happen to somehow beat LSU in week three they're gonna be like well ls you're not good and it's not gonna do us any good in the rankings and but uh that's how it always is so but I do like our chances a lot against LSU now uh even though we got Arizona now but I do like our chances after watching them the other day they weren't and you know I picked them I think you picked them did you pick them too to win the West I picked them to win the west and I I if I had to change my prediction now I'd I'd change it to Bama.
• 32:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah because I I don't doing it now after watching them.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: I know and you texted me it was close to halftime you were like I don't know about LSU and I was like oh they'll be all right just you know you're speaking too soon or whatever and then you were right man they they just fell apart in that second half so it was bad I don't know if Florida State's really that good or LSU has a lot of issues but uh right something something happened for sure.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: I kind of hope Florida State's good and and we we beat LSU and then they then they go undefeated or something like that.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it's good for me.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_02: That would be good.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_02: Did you have to watch the game uh game last night Clemson and Duke that was uh I didn't I didn't see any of that Duke beat Clemson 28 to seven which is just unbelievable it was a they stormed the field it was at Duke and uh you know they said the cameron crazy is coming out for a football game like you never hear Duke football being good and I don't know if they got a really good coach or what but but they they whooped up on Dabo and Clemson last night.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_00: It was pretty pretty pretty awesome seeing all the fans storm the field and everything and yeah like football's back here we go there you go yeah and I I don't know a whole lot about Arizona coming up this week um you know they they won their game last week but I think it was against somebody that wasn't great and last year I think they were like five and seven or something like that.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: So um I you know I I feel pretty good about it not not knowing a lot about them I still think you know talent wise we should at home I mean we shouldn't have any problems with them.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think?
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah I I need to text my friend uh friend Shane Power uh see if he's gonna be making it to the game.
• 33:55
  SPEAKER_02: I remember we had him on this podcast a year ago from right now because uh he lives in Arizona and we talked about that about him going to the game so I need to follow up see if he's if he's coming but um you know I I I feel like uh that last year I said this game was the game that Mike Leach always had that um you know he would always you there'd be one game where where he he'd liable to go off and beat LSU and then lose to somebody not supposed to and I was always like with that last year I was like that game's Arizona and uh man we we beat LS beat we beat Arizona last year.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it was that Pac 12 after dark game starting at 10 p.m and that from what I remember on the game um I can't remember uh I know we I know we won handedly but I think it took a while to get going and uh I just feel like we we we don't need that to happen.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_02: We did that this past weekend we need to from the get-go just jump on them right off the bat because even though we we're obviously a better team than them you can't let any team uh hang around um for a little bit so um I like I like kind of what we did like you said in the second half and and and split it off and let uh let let will throw and then put in Mike right let him run and get some yards Woody marks you know he had over 100 yards the other day running so uh run the football and then and then do the deck and dunk that's will's deal with uh with when they a raid and you know get get yardage that way and I feel like uh I feel like we'll win.
• 35:24
  SPEAKER_02: I feel I don't know I I think it'll be maybe a little bit closer than than last week but I don't think it's gonna be I don't think we're gonna be in like nervous like oh we're gonna win the game I think we'll win it handily um I had to if I had to pick the score I was thinking about score uh I'd probably go 3813 is what is what I'm saying.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_02: Johnny what were you thinking?
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: I was saying I was gonna say 3514.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: So we're right there.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_02: We don't need we didn't say this before like no yeah so yeah so if you're out there listening take that to the bank it's gonna be somewhere around there more than likely um but yeah I I I just feel like we'll we might start off a little slow but I don't think we will and I think we'll turn on but I do think we'll we'll give up a touchdown or two it might be towards the end of the game but uh where it's where it's under control.
• 36:17
  SPEAKER_02: But I I like I like us getting a win moving to two and oh on the season and then LSU fighting tigers will be coming to Davis Wade next weekend.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_02: So uh I gotta get this one first.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_02: I I hope I hope that our guys are not looking forward to that LSU game and overlooking Arizona.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_02: Hopefully our coaching staff and everyone has drilled in one one opponent at a time because that could be the case oh lsu's coming next weekend got to focus on Arizona right now and then and then move on but I I don't I'm not real real worried about it.
• 36:46
  SPEAKER_02: I think I think we'll we'll take care of business.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yep I agree all right y'all we all stay tuned uh what about hey we gotta gotta hit on the pick 'em thing real quick before we end this thing oh yeah what are your thoughts on the on week one on the on the Yahoo pickings well I'd say yeah I did I checked it uh I guess it was Sunday night and I didn't I didn't check it after the game yesterday so I didn't ever I think I was in second or third I didn't see how it how it played out um but you know we had have some players back from last year and uh elite mothers in there like I was telling you but he was he was elite mother was tear tearing it up last year but this this week he didn't quite do it so I noticed he forgot picks in until the very end like I said that if you miss picking your picks in that that kind of it it hurts you man cumulative contest and and so he has some work work to do if he wants to catch up uh but yeah we're like you said we're gonna do uh the a monthly prize and right monthly prize weekly prize so we'll have a September winner October winner and November winner so we'll have three winners and each winner went win something from johnnypacker.com and help support net.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah net excuse me excuse me we switched it now johnnypacker.net uh go check it out you know that's the coffee products that we uh promote to help raise uh funds and awareness for cystic fibrosis in my fight with CF and uh so yeah uh if you make your picks and uh you come on uh first place at the end of each month you'll you'll win something special from johnnypacker.net and uh yeah so it's fun it's a lot of like I think we had about over 20 people on there uh this year so it's a good competition going on and uh keeps you interested in games that otherwise you might not be be interested in but uh a lot of upsets like coach prime you know you picked that one I believe anyway I did pick coach prime i i should have more feet than him uh i i picked t cu but man uh you know he he's a heck of a coach and uh just look what i think they went one and eleven last year and yeah they already knocked off tc u play for the national championship so uh look for colorado to make some noise this year and uh it cost football so it's be interesting to see just glad it's back and and uh yeah hopefully we can take care of business and then we'll be here next week and talk about lsu that's right well folks if y'all have made it this far you you're a loyal follower and listener to our show so please pay your dues go to jonypacker.net get on there get some coffee and also share this episode give us rate us review us help more people find it so we can spread the awareness and spread some word raise some money for cystic fibrosis amen amen all right johnny well uh we'll have hopefully everybody has a good week we're gonna be talking about a victory next week and really good guests coming up next week so y'all definitely stay tuned get ready to listen to that one for the LSU game all right that sounds great go dogs