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Auburn HC Alex Golesh - Transfer Portal Additions - Senior Bowl · The Auburn Undercover Podcast

• 0:00
  All right, question for coach Gish.
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  >> Alex, talk about portal hall for you
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  guys and just are you in the final
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  stages of that or are there any other
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  positions you're you're looking at
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  adding? I know it's kind of late in the
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  game here with classes and everything
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  like that.
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  >> Yeah, we uh you know, we we have a
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  little bit of room. It's this last part
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  of there's there's going to be this last
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  surge of kids that potentially graduate
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  in May. Um you know, they still got to
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  go to school. It's like a thing still.
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  Um, so graduate in May, there's some
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  late May out junior college guys, um,
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  some late qualifier high school guys.
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  We've left ourselves a little bit of
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  room, but for the most part, you feel
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  like it's close to them.
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  >> Running back room, being able to keep
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  Jeremiah and adding multiple proven
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  backs, I guess, what's your vision for
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  that room and how big was it to add
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  Bryson and Nikai?
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  >> Yeah, you know what, it was it was a
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  matter of adding just college reps. you
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  you you feel like the the younger you
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  are in that room, the scarier it is
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  going into the year, it was a matter of
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  adding like Bryson brings real two
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  really two and a half years of starting
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  game experience at the power four level.
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  Uh more than anything the kind of kid he
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  is like he he was hungry to go play in
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  an offense where he can run the ball,
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  wanted to play in the SEC, wanted to
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  play against the best talent in the
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  country. That's what you were looking
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  for in general in the portal. We wanted
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  guys that that ran to an opportunity to
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  play in the best league in the country
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  and and truly ran to an offense, at
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  least offensively ran to an offense and
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  then defensively ran to a defense that
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  they knew they were going to play at a
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  high level. Bryson was was that
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  certainly Nikai brings Nikai's still
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  young. That that's the thing with as
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  excited as we were about Nikai, he's
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  still a baby. I mean, he's a red shirt
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  freshman. Missed his whole freshman
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  year. everything he did was kind of on
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  raw talent and he's still got to
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  continue to develop uh Taye in the same
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  breath. You wanted a guy that that had
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  experience playing um and and running
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  the ball is one thing. The pass
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  protection is is the biggest thing that
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  comes with experience and seeing
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  defenses and seeing pre-nap reads and um
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  you feel like we went from man, what
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  exactly are we going to do here to to a
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  really really good room? You started off
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  with Jeremiah having him back. It was
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  actually just at at his high school two
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  days ago. Kind of a deja vu moment. Last
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  time I was there was four years ago,
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  five years ago, I guess, now at a
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  different school recruiting him. Um, but
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  he brings a a veteran presence and a
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  true Auburn man that that started there
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  wants wants to finish there and
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  certainly really excited about that.
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  >> You got DJ Broen from this area over at
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  MGM, Bryce Kane from uh Baker High
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  School. How important is the Gulf Coast
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  uh in your recruiting efforts from this
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  season and moving forward?
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  >> Yeah, huge. I think just really covering
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  this state has been such a priority for
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  us. It's where we started, you know,
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  this period's so crazy. I I think I end
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  up with nine days out on the road with
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  with finishing portal recruiting um
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  which was a priority, our own team being
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  a priority and then being able to get
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  out. But the entire state's huge
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  certainly right here in Mobile is
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  absolutely huge for us. Um, you look at
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  the guys that have come out of here,
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  that have played at Auburn. Um,
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  absolutely huge.
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  >> Wanted to ask you about what's going on
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  in college basketball right now with
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  Charles Federako and how that could
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  translate potentially to college
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  football. You know, if a guy declares
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  for the draft, goes undrafted, or is
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  even on a practice squad in the NFL,
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  them potentially coming back and, you
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  know, using up the rest of their
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  eligibility, the college ranks.
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  >> Would you believe me if I haven't paid
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  much attention to it? Um I I man crazy
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  would add a bigger pool of players,
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  wouldn't it? Um I don't know. Um I
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  really don't. It It would certainly
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  add a bigger pool of kids. You know, I I
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  think college football is evolving so
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  fast and every single time there's a
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  situation like that, your my antennas go
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  up and, you know, I think with every
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  change or every
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  ruling or lack of ruling, you you've got
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  an opportunity to either sit and
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  complain about it, which I think we tend
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  to as coaches. Um I've always looked at
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  it the other way. It's like, man,
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  where's the loophole in here? Where
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  who's available out there that we can go
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  get that fits what we do? Uh but
• 4:20
  certainly fascinating um from legal
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  side. Fascinating. Um
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  >> yeah, how did it work out for him last
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  weekend?
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  >> Pretty good.
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  >> Did it?
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  >> Well, he won last night. 14 and six in
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  18 minutes. So,
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  >> gotcha.
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  >> Alex, is this the offensive line
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  rebuild? What What do you think of that
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  room and and having to go out and and
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  you guys brought in some experience,
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  some depth. What do you think about the
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  offensive line group so far? Yeah, that
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  was a group you go in and um man, if if
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  there was anything you were like, how's
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  this going to play out? Um it because it
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  wasn't just filling the what you felt
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  like were the starters. you felt like
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  you needed to fill some backup roles and
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  and we're in a situation we walked in,
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  signed a big freshman class and a really
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  talented freshman class and you felt
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  like there was a really talented young
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  group in there but it was filling
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  filling those roles where those guys can
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  develop and give those guys time to
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  develop. Um I think you know you you
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  kind of saw how it progressed. We
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  started with the tackle spots. We felt
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  like we wor then worked to the interior
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  of the line. feel like we got a ton of
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  experienced guys. That was what similar
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  to the running back group, we wanted
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  guys that had played at a high level and
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  and not just a year, but guys that had
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  started for multiple years and can
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  understand the tempo at which which
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  defenses in this league play. And I I
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  think we did a really really good job. I
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  I still feel like, man, if there's one
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  out there, you feel like you can go get
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  one. I think that's a position where
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  you're always looking and you're never
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  really done. But I do feel like we've
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  got some veteran presence. I'm really
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  excited about the youth in that room.
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  Um, you hope you don't find out about
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  the youth here for a while, though.
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  >> How much does having a center and a
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  quarterback who've played for you before
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  speed up the the installation of the
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  offense?
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  >> Monumental. Um, I I think absolutely
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  priceless. It honestly lets you go to
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  sleep at night a little bit to where,
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  you know, like we're not there right
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  now. Um, you got our got our young
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  coaches there. Obviously, they're with
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  the strength staff, but they're plugging
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  already. And I I think every day that
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  that you can get ahead offensively, uh,
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  and you feel like there's continuity and
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  rhythm, you got a chance to have
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  success, you you can kind of skip that
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  first couple of games where people are
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  are figuring it out. Um, both Cole and
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  and Byum honestly let you let you sleep
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  at night a little bit. And and Cole has
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  position flexibility. Um, there's some
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  guys in that room on the interior that
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  have position flexibility, but I would
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  tell you priceless. Alex, on that
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  similar note, I mean, how important is
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  it to have guys with familiarity in this
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  offense at other positions, particularly
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  wide receiver? And I guess were those
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  conversations maybe a little bit easier
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  than some other guys in the portal? I
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  know you've talked a lot about proof of
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  concept. Those guys have had proof of
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  concept within your offense. I guess
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  what were those conversations like with
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  them following you from your from your
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  previous stop?
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  >> Yeah, I think twofold. The the
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  familiarity with the offense is
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  absolutely huge. Um, to be honest with
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  you, I think more than that, because
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  you've got time, you can install an
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  offense and we're going to evolve
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  offensively because it's going to fit
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  personnel and it's been that every year.
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  I think just as important as that and
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  honestly more important in a lot of ways
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  is those guys coming in and and almost
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  stamping the staff, stamping myself,
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  stamping um several of the coaches, the
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  strength staff, stamping those guys. And
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  when I say stamping, the locker room
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  controls the narrative of of the
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  program, right? Like that's where guys
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  either walk in and say, "Man, what the
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  hell are we doing?" Or they walk in and
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  and say, "Man, like I like what's going
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  on in here." Well, you've got a
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  foundation of guys that either which way
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  that conversation goes, they can say,
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  "Man, like, hey, give that guy a shot."
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  And that's everything. That's not just
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  the coaches. That's not the offensive
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  scheme. It's the strength staff. It's
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  sports medicine. It's nutrition. It's
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  every part of the program that touches
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  these guys. those guys can stand and I
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  think more than anything that group of
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  guys can can say hey listen like
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  whatever this was here these guys are
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  are about culture about relationships
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  about development like these are real
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  guys and when you can have somebody walk
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  into a locker room especially guys that
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  have played and have the respect of the
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  guys around them I I think it it helps
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  you gain credibility quicker helps you
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  gain trust quicker and that's what this
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  game is right now is it from a roster
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  retention standpoint um amongst other
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  things it truly is how fast can you
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  build trust how fast can you build a
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  relationship with the guys that that you
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  haven't been around and and I think for
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  the guys that stayed that chose to stay
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  um like those guys perception of what
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  college football is totally based on
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  their relationships and their experience
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  with previous staff has nothing to do
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  with us and the guys that came with have
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  you give you a level of credibility that
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  you need to have to be able to go and
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  build quickly.