Latest / Return to Glory - Nebraska / Episode 40 | Husker Football Program Narratives

Transcript

Episode 40 | Husker Football Program Narratives · Return to Glory - Nebraska

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Go Big Red! The takes, the numbers, the chaos. Hunter, Austin, Dak.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Talking Cornhusker football, basketball, and everything Nebraska sports. Welcome to
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: the Return to Glory podcast. Return to Glory podcast. Hunter
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Zarbonicki here. Solo Tuesday episode three. for you guys. After
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  Speaker 1: the Michigan State win, there's just obviously been a lot
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  Speaker 1: of excitement around the program as we think we finally
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  Speaker 1: beat somebody good, and I think that's a fair statement
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  Speaker 1: for the most part. And the win on the road
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  Speaker 1: is worth celebrating, worth enjoying. The topic today that I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to go through with you all, I have a
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  Speaker 1: little whiteboard here if you're watching live on YouTube, is
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  Speaker 1: how all of the impacts of wins and losses and
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  Speaker 1: moving on to the next game, how that all is
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  Speaker 1: viewed from the different key people involved in Nebraska football
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  Speaker 1: and ultimately what truly matters, right? It's the players and
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  Speaker 1: how they perform and play on the field. And we
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  Speaker 1: all have group chats. A lot of us listen to
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  Speaker 1: various media outlets if you're listening to this right now.
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  Speaker 1: you'll have your own opinion. Obviously, the coaches have their
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  Speaker 1: own opinion. Your parents and family members and friends of
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  Speaker 1: the players and everybody out there has this own frame
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  Speaker 1: of mind of their thoughts on Husker football, where things
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  Speaker 1: are at, at what point should you move on to
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  Speaker 1: the next game if you're each of these key people
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  Speaker 1: or people in the program. So, a little graphing. So,
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  Speaker 1: bear with me here using the old Paint app. So,
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  Speaker 1: first off, I think what matters, right? And I'm going
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  Speaker 1: to make this little bubble over here. These are the players, okay?
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  Speaker 1: These are what matter, I would say, for the outcome
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  Speaker 1: of the game. Most of the outcome of the game,
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  Speaker 1: you know, 90%. Coaches obviously have an impact, but the
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  Speaker 1: players are the ones out there performing, making the plays.
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  Speaker 1: Their minds, their brains, how they're operating matters. the things
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  Speaker 1: that they're doing health-wise from a physical standpoint, that's what matters.
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  Speaker 1: So all of these things that we're talking about today,
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  Speaker 1: from celebrating a win, enjoying it, you hear the trap
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  Speaker 1: game narrative in games after you win a big game.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not saying this is a big game or the
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  Speaker 1: definition of a trap game here against Maryland this week,
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  Speaker 1: but at the same time, coming off a road win,
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  Speaker 1: and then next week, the Indiana time frame, big noon
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  Speaker 1: kickoffs coming. We have Maryland coming to town. So this
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  Speaker 1: whole conversation is how these players right here need to
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  Speaker 1: be focused and ready to go for the game. It
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  Speaker 1: does not mean, though, that if you're any of these
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  Speaker 1: other parties, you can't enjoy and appreciate what happened last
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  Speaker 1: week in East Lansing. So the players, I think, are
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  Speaker 1: the number one most important stakeholders for the outcome of
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  Speaker 1: a game. Slowly, secondly, followed by the coaching staff here.
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  Speaker 1: And I think there's a two-way street between the players
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  Speaker 1: and the coaches and all that combines into the outcome
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  Speaker 1: of the game. That's a very, very key component. Their
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  Speaker 1: coaches are obviously coaching the players on what they want
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  Speaker 1: them to do. The players are then giving feedback to
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  Speaker 1: the coaches based on their performance and tweaks and adjustments
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  Speaker 1: are made to the strategy. And so there's a two-way
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  Speaker 1: street there. These two key people are what's most important
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  Speaker 1: after a big win to Learn from what happened, but
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  Speaker 1: then move on. I would say the coaches obviously are
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  Speaker 1: going to be more particular and have more, I guess,
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  Speaker 1: freedom mindset of seeing the bigger picture. You know, coaches
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  Speaker 1: have in the back of their mind future teams. They've
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  Speaker 1: watched film on them in the offseason. They have an
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  Speaker 1: idea of what they're going up against the players on
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  Speaker 1: the other hand. You want to keep their brains focused
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  Speaker 1: as much as you can on day-to-day, week-to-week practice, to
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  Speaker 1: practice rep-to-rep as you can. You hear that narrative amongst
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  Speaker 1: the Nebraska program, but just in general. Not looking ahead,
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  Speaker 1: not looking behind. You want to learn from the good
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  Speaker 1: and the bad from behind, but you want to stay
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  Speaker 1: focused on being in the moment. And the coaches, I think,
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  Speaker 1: have the largest amount, and that's probably worth multiple arrows here,
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  Speaker 1: to the players on how they are perceiving The game
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  Speaker 1: before or the upcoming game. If the coaches do a
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  Speaker 1: really good job, the players are going to be in
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  Speaker 1: a good mindset here on a Tuesday after a big
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  Speaker 1: win and heading into a game that could be called
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  Speaker 1: the trap game. The next piece here that I think
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  Speaker 1: is important, that I think is often forgotten about, and
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  Speaker 1: I'll draw these guys down here. This is the friends
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  Speaker 1: and family of the players. These people, I think, don't
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  Speaker 1: get talked about a lot. They have an impact on
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  Speaker 1: the players' brains and mindsets as well, especially if things
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  Speaker 1: are going well. You're going to get hyped up. These
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  Speaker 1: are the people that are going to be in your ears.
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  Speaker 1: These are the people that you have love for if
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  Speaker 1: you're the players. And you're going to listen to them.
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  Speaker 1: You're going to believe in them. Hopefully, if you're a
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  Speaker 1: good coaching staff, there's a love connection here between your
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  Speaker 1: coaches and your players. for a good reason, but players
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  Speaker 1: are going to listen to their friends and family a lot.
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  Speaker 1: What's being said at home? What's being said when you
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  Speaker 1: go back to your dorm room? What's being said in
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  Speaker 1: your group of college buddies that aren't football players, that
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  Speaker 1: aren't your teammates? I mean, when you say players, these
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  Speaker 1: are your teammates in this circle here as well. What's
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  Speaker 1: going on with this connection? How are they telling the narrative,
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  Speaker 1: telling the story, and does that get in the players' heads?
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  Speaker 1: That's a very big piece that people, I think, forget
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  Speaker 1: about And when you coach sports in general, anywhere from
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  Speaker 1: professional level all the way down to youth sports, friends
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  Speaker 1: and family, parents, they all are talking to their players
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  Speaker 1: and kids constantly. And that narrative, if these two are
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  Speaker 1: on the same page, the coaches and the friends and family,
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  Speaker 1: then this is good. If they're not, then we're in
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  Speaker 1: a lot of trouble because they're hearing two different things.
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  Speaker 1: And there's this love. for each other, but not across
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  Speaker 1: the board. So this gap needs to bridge between coaches
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  Speaker 1: and friends and family as well, and that's where in
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  Speaker 1: college you're recruiting and all of that matters a lot.
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  Speaker 1: The next group of people I want to talk about,
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  Speaker 1: and I'm going to put them out here because I
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  Speaker 1: think they're a part of it, but they're not close enough.
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  Speaker 1: But they do have an impact. They are there, and
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  Speaker 1: that's the media. The media, and I'm talking more people
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  Speaker 1: that you're hearing from week to week, day to day,
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  Speaker 1: they also have a very big narrative. They get to
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  Speaker 1: tell whatever story they want. They're not typically involved at
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  Speaker 1: any level in the game planning, the scheming, any of that.
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  Speaker 1: But they do get to report on it. They do
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  Speaker 1: sometimes get extra exclusive access to ask questions. questions to
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  Speaker 1: see different things that an average fan would not. This
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  Speaker 1: is a big piece here, I think, that dictates a
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  Speaker 1: lot of stuff. Because guess what? The media interacts with
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  Speaker 1: the coaches, the media interacts with friends and family, and
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  Speaker 1: the media interacts with the players. And they get to
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  Speaker 1: ask and control the narrative. Now, if the coaches can
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  Speaker 1: put a blinding spot and not let that influence your opinion,
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  Speaker 1: friends and family can have their own opinion, then you
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  Speaker 1: can keep this circle over here that matters a lot,
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  Speaker 1: a lot closer to home and keep the narrative in house.
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  Speaker 1: But the media has a very big influence, as we know,
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  Speaker 1: especially in Nebraska. And it's the media's job to do it.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not saying what they do is completely wrong, but
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  Speaker 1: it's their job to report and provide information to this large,
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  Speaker 1: large group way over here. And that's your fans. And really,
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  Speaker 1: I could draw this all the way around the outside.
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  Speaker 1: And make it everything. The fans are the people. There's
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  Speaker 1: so many of them in this diagram. The fans are
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  Speaker 1: few and far between. You guys have us as fans.
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  Speaker 1: The fans have very little impact. Besides, you know, stadium.
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  Speaker 1: Being a home game at the crowd. If you know,
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  Speaker 1: the better the atmosphere, the tougher it is to play
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  Speaker 1: at home. You know, going on the road, providing some
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  Speaker 1: encouragement there. But the fans really, you don't have much say. Right.
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  Speaker 1: So you can have opinions. I would say, you know,
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  Speaker 1: you have the right to think and believe what you want.
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  Speaker 1: You don't have to agree with other fans, but you
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  Speaker 1: have the right to do based on everything you've heard
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  Speaker 1: and seen. Obviously, the media is feeding you information and
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  Speaker 1: you're absorbing it how you want. So, again, when we
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  Speaker 1: go back to this big circle of of narratives of
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  Speaker 1: this game for Michigan State, you know, fans, if you
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  Speaker 1: want to celebrate it, great. Like, go ahead and celebrate
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  Speaker 1: it all the way till Saturday. There's nothing wrong with that.
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  Speaker 1: But know that you're also– the information that you're saying
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  Speaker 1: to at a marginal level does feed back into the
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  Speaker 1: media because what you are– what the media is writing
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  Speaker 1: is what they're writing to cater towards the fans. okay
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  Speaker 1: so that that doesn't matter there so again I'm drawing
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  Speaker 1: these barriers here because like to me what matters a
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  Speaker 1: lot is what's over here on the left side that's
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  Speaker 1: your players and and and their teammates and your interior
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  Speaker 1: culture that's obviously the most important your coaches this two-way
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  Speaker 1: stream is very important Your friends and family, the one
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  Speaker 1: that gets overlooked a lot, that's right there in that
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  Speaker 1: circle too. But this media, and they call this as
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  Speaker 1: noise out here, fans, media, noise, they have an impact.
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  Speaker 1: It's a minimal one. But I think in Nebraska, this
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  Speaker 1: media bubble, okay, this can get shifted over here. And
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  Speaker 1: we've seen that a lot of times with the influence.
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  Speaker 1: And it hasn't always been the best. Now, I will
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  Speaker 1: say this, you can't have a closed door. That doesn't
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  Speaker 1: work either. So, Oh, but there's one other party that
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  Speaker 1: I kind of forgot, and I would put them probably,
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  Speaker 1: you know, from a game-to-game impact, they probably sit right
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  Speaker 1: here in the middle, and that's the administration. And this
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  Speaker 1: goes to your GM, your ADs, your scouts, your people
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  Speaker 1: that are all out there doing kind of the behind-the-scenes work,
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  Speaker 1: not so much on a day-to-day basis, but seeing it
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  Speaker 1: from a program, and especially now in an NIL world where,
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  Speaker 1: there are a lot of moving parts, right? There's a
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  Speaker 1: big line of connection now that connects all of these
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  Speaker 1: pieces together. I would say the admin players a little
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  Speaker 1: bit less, but you want to talk about admin to
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  Speaker 1: the media, admin to the fans, and that goes to
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  Speaker 1: stadium redevelopment, that goes to all of the extracurricular stuff
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  Speaker 1: for the fan experience, and then obviously the direct relationship
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  Speaker 1: that the coaches have with the admin as well. There's
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  Speaker 1: a direct tie there with how they think. So the purpose,
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  Speaker 1: I guess, of today's episode and experiment here, as you
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  Speaker 1: look at a whiteboard that's now cluttered with a bunch
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  Speaker 1: of junk, was just to say that everyone that's related
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  Speaker 1: to a program, and specifically Nebraska football, everyone's got a
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  Speaker 1: different lens, a different viewpoint from where they sit within
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  Speaker 1: the program. There's some connections that I think matter a
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  Speaker 1: lot more in relationships that matter a lot more than others.
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  Speaker 1: And if you can make sure as a coaching staff, right?
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  Speaker 1: That's the coach's job to have the relationships, this love
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  Speaker 1: connection here with the players and teammates, this bond between coaches, friends,
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  Speaker 1: and family. And then because of that, their friends and
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  Speaker 1: family are supportive of you at home. I think it's
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  Speaker 1: going to end very well. And I think, I hope
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  Speaker 1: that's what we're seeing so far this year is a
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  Speaker 1: little bit more of a closed door approach. The coaches
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  Speaker 1: aren't so much trying to feed the media, feed all
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  Speaker 1: these fans stuff that We've seen in the past, try
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  Speaker 1: to make them happy. Guess what? Very little impact coming
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  Speaker 1: from that way over. They're the furthest away. What matters
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  Speaker 1: is what's close to home, close to the doors here.
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  Speaker 1: So thanks for listening today. Just wanted to go through that.
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  Speaker 1: That's what's been on my mind as we talk about
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  Speaker 1: Michigan State win and the prep for Maryland. You know,
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  Speaker 1: Maryland coming off a pretty big loss to UCLA. And again,
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  Speaker 1: how does that narrative sit? What is that narrative that
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  Speaker 1: gets passed to the players and the teammates and the
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  Speaker 1: coaches in the locker room? How do they react to
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  Speaker 1: all of this stuff that's going on and outside noise?
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  Speaker 1: And I'm saying this for Nebraska, but it's in general, right?
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  Speaker 1: If you can control a lot of that narrative and
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  Speaker 1: keep people, keep your players in the right frame of mind,
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  Speaker 1: you're going to be in a good spot. So wacky
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: ducky Wednesday tomorrow. We back. Go Big Red. The headlines change,
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  Speaker 1: but the mission stays From Memorial Stadium to PBA days
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  Speaker 1: Football Saturdays, basketball nights Every story chasing red and white
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  Speaker 1: Recruiting buzz, big time commits Camp battles, coaching hits Transfer
• 14:00
  Speaker 1: moves and rising stars The road to glory's never far
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  Speaker 1: This is Return to Glory Where every headline tells a
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: story Big Red pride every season Husker Nation's got a
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  Speaker 1: reason From touchdowns, dunks, and championship dreams We'll be back
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: with the latest from every team Until next time, keep
• 14:23
  Speaker 1: the faith, keep believing Because the Return to Glory is
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  Speaker 1: just beginning Go Big Red! See you next episode!