Latest / The Jake Wimberly Podcast / Eugene Clinton Interview

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Eugene Clinton Interview · The Jake Wimberly Podcast

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  Speaker 1: We got that and a whole lot more around here
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  Speaker 2: my Bookie dot ag will join us next segment. We'll
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  Speaker 2: talk a little sports gaming right now. Eugene Clinton, the
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  Speaker 2: head football coach and athletics director, here at rand on
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  Speaker 2: your radio at his Bulldog day on your radio. Coach Clinton,
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  Speaker 2: Great to see you, sir. How are you, man? I
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  Speaker 2: am wonderful man. Just living the life. Man. I tell
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  Speaker 2: you what. It's it's hot, but it's fun. This is
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  Speaker 2: the greatest time of year in it.
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  Speaker 3: Man. You couldn't ask for anything better. Man, football is
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  Speaker 3: about to start. We out here looking at the band
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  Speaker 3: working on the field. You know, it's ninety nine degrees
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  Speaker 3: out there and you're practicing early in the morning. So
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  Speaker 3: it's a great thing man.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's interesting to see how everybody kind of handles
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  Speaker 2: the heat. We were Germantown earlier this week. They were
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  Speaker 2: going at seven at night. You guys are doing everything,
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  Speaker 2: what five thirty in the morning, Yes, sir, five thirty
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  Speaker 2: five forty five. We're getting the guys in here, you know,
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  Speaker 2: getting them, you know, running through the workouts and you know,
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  Speaker 2: getting it done. I think it's best. You know, it
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  Speaker 2: teaches discipline as well. You can get up there early.
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  Speaker 2: You know, you get here, you're ready to go. You
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  Speaker 2: gotta focus, You got to be disciplined. Did you have
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  Speaker 2: any any you know, late entries to practice early? Maybe
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  Speaker 2: some discipline going on with that earlier?
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  Speaker 3: This stadium deters that.
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  Speaker 2: You know, what you're saying is that if you come
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  Speaker 2: in here late, you're running the stadium.
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  Speaker 4: You said that I did. That's right, that's right, that's right. No,
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  Speaker 4: that's absolutely right. I mean if I knew I was
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  Speaker 4: going to be late and then I had to run
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  Speaker 4: the stadium. Which you know, what's interesting is all your
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  Speaker 4: stadiums now bulldog stadiums.
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  Speaker 2: One of them two is the home signs are pretty elevated. Now,
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  Speaker 2: so take us through what the last two weeks. Coach Hunter,
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  Speaker 2: you know, said you guys have been obviously getting after it.
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  Speaker 2: We'll be visiting with Michael Turner here later on the program.
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  Speaker 2: You're a defensive coordinator. Take us through what the last
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  Speaker 2: few weeks been like the.
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  Speaker 3: Last few weeks just the learning process, you know, building
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  Speaker 3: team building, you know, camaraderie, building a fellowship with each other,
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  Speaker 3: as well as teaching young men. Like I said, discipline, structure.
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  Speaker 3: Understanding football is more than just the exes and oles,
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  Speaker 3: and so it has a lot to do with everyday
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  Speaker 3: life being disciplined when you need to, and we've been
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  Speaker 3: doing that. It's it's a process. We've been learning and
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  Speaker 3: continuing to grow.
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  Speaker 2: You know, it's interesting to hear you say that, and
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  Speaker 2: of course you and I have known each other almost
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  Speaker 2: twenty five years now. It's hard to believe. But Chris Jones,
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  Speaker 2: who we do hines football here as well, he talks
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  Speaker 2: a lot about that and he you know, it's not
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  Speaker 2: lip service. I mean, Chris is you know, he's a
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  Speaker 2: big you know, camaraderie guy. He's a big culture guy,
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  Speaker 2: and your culture gets thrown around a lot that that time.
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  Speaker 2: But if you talk to him and then you go
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  Speaker 2: watch him. We were at Heines the other day. They
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  Speaker 2: are lockstep in that in that kind in unison and culture,
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  Speaker 2: and he says the same thing, Hey, look, yeah we
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  Speaker 2: want to win. Yeah, ex's and o's are going to
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  Speaker 2: come together. But it's way way more building this team
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  Speaker 2: than what we do out there on Thursdays or Fridays
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  Speaker 2: or Saturdays exactly.
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  Speaker 3: You know, anytime I see Chris at a function or something,
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  Speaker 3: I'm always in his ear. You know, it's just trying
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  Speaker 3: to hear what he has to say, you know, get
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  Speaker 3: some insight from him, because I admire a young man.
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  Speaker 3: He's done a great job and he's built himself up.
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  Speaker 3: And what he has and what he does, you know,
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  Speaker 3: represents what I want to represent. Discipline, structure, you know, camaraderie, teamwork,
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  Speaker 3: dedication to the craft. And if I can get that
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  Speaker 3: done done, I think we'll be doing the great job here.
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  Speaker 2: Visit with Eugene Clinton had football coach athletics director Brandon
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  Speaker 2: Bulldogs on your radio Thursday edition of the program. We
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  Speaker 2: had Tyson Robinson and Slat and Shocky in earlier talk
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  Speaker 2: a little bit about what those two men. You know,
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  Speaker 2: what you've seen out of them now is this is
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  Speaker 2: their last run here.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. Man, those two young men are. This program loves them,
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  Speaker 3: you know, this community loves them, This school loves them.
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  Speaker 3: Slayton shack Man a leader, a leader. He's out here.
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  Speaker 3: He's the first one out here when I'm out here
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  Speaker 3: walking the stadium, he's the first one out here, and
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  Speaker 3: he runs his lap, gets set working on warming up
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  Speaker 3: his arm before anybody else does, you know, And that's
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  Speaker 3: what the leader does. Leader leads by example. He sets
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  Speaker 3: the example of getting out here, being first. You know,
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  Speaker 3: Tyson Robinson being more vocal man, you know, he he's
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  Speaker 3: being more vocal. Hey guys, let's go, Hey, hey, let's
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  Speaker 3: let's make sure we make these blocks. Let's make sure
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  Speaker 3: we're tackling when we're supposed to. Let's make sure we
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  Speaker 3: sit in the edges. I mean, he's he's learning, he's
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  Speaker 3: learned in the game on both sides. And that that
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  Speaker 3: just states exactly how dedicated he is to this craft
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  Speaker 3: as well.
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  Speaker 2: You know, it's it's interesting because talking to both of
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  Speaker 2: those young men about it is and you know this,
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  Speaker 2: you you played your whole life, You've been around this game,
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  Speaker 2: your whole life is every year a senior class, some
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  Speaker 2: are really good leaders. Then you get some years from
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  Speaker 2: maybe they're not as good as leaders. And you know,
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  Speaker 2: they both kind of spoke of, hey, what we learned
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  Speaker 2: last year, And I don't want to speak directly for them,
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  Speaker 2: I'm paraphrasing, is we've got to do a better job leading.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that's they're showing that that, hey, now
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  Speaker 2: it's their turn. They want to make sure that you know,
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  Speaker 2: they're not doing it the wrong.
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  Speaker 3: Way exactly exactly. You know, I always tell them, you know, hey,
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  Speaker 3: I can't want it more than you do. You know,
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  Speaker 3: you have to want it as a as a senior,
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  Speaker 3: as a leader, as someone that the community looks up to.
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  Speaker 3: And I mean, you know, these little kids look up
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  Speaker 3: to you. So you have to want it more than
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  Speaker 3: we do. And you show that by coming out here
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  Speaker 3: every day, dedicating to yourself to hard work, discipline and
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  Speaker 3: you know, structure.
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  Speaker 2: Let me ask you this with you know, next week,
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  Speaker 2: Conviasly Warren Sitchral comes in, So you guys are about
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  Speaker 2: to flip if you haven't already kind of the way
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  Speaker 2: you do practice mean, and you're getting close to hey,
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  Speaker 2: we've got to prepare for another jersey, which the guys
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  Speaker 2: aren't gonna mind in that right, right, I mean you're
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  Speaker 2: kind of past the time now where you're tired of
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  Speaker 2: seeing the same you know, red and black jerseys. You're
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  Speaker 2: ready to see another jersey. When you look at this team,
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  Speaker 2: what do you like? And then where do you say? Hey,
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  Speaker 2: we still and you're never not evolving, but you say, hey,
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  Speaker 2: today I like this, but we still got to go here?
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  Speaker 3: What is that today? I like the direction that we're going.
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  Speaker 3: I like I like our focus. You know, we hadn't
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  Speaker 3: got there yet and it's going to take a little time,
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  Speaker 3: but I like our focus. I like our dedication to
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  Speaker 3: wanting to, our will to you know, continue to push
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  Speaker 3: on regardless of the situation. You know, like I said,
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  Speaker 3: it takes a lot from parents and kids to get up.
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  Speaker 3: If I be here and start practice at five forty five, right,
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  Speaker 3: not get here at five forty five, but to start
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  Speaker 3: practice at five forty five. You know, that's dedication. And
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  Speaker 3: if you're willing to do that, you're showing your efforts,
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  Speaker 3: You're showing your your grit and your want to and
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  Speaker 3: that's what we're looking for. That's that shows that we're
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  Speaker 3: going in the right direction, because, like I said, football
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  Speaker 3: is more than just excellent and the o's it has
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  Speaker 3: to deal with life.
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  Speaker 2: So we got a couple of minutes left here with
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  Speaker 2: Eugene Clinton. He's the head football coach here in athletics
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  Speaker 2: director Brandon, you know you were thrust into this job.
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  Speaker 2: And I've said this on a different scale, kind of
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  Speaker 2: like Pete Golden. Was it old man's right change? You
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  Speaker 2: jumped in, we got to win a ball to get
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  Speaker 2: to the playoffs. The oh by the way, we got
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  Speaker 2: to win, you know, and went on a run to
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  Speaker 2: South State. How has that helped you become who you
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  Speaker 2: are even today on just a short window because you know,
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  Speaker 2: if we were sitting here talking last year, you weren't
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  Speaker 2: expected to be a head coach. Now obviously you are
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  Speaker 2: the coach. How how did that situation maybe help you
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  Speaker 2: to where you even are today?
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  Speaker 3: It gave me a quick insight on what to expect
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  Speaker 3: things that will pop up. You know, as first time
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  Speaker 3: head coach, you really don't know what to look for. Well,
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  Speaker 3: now I kind of have an idea of what I'm
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  Speaker 3: looking for, what I'm what I expect, How to talk
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  Speaker 3: to the refs, you know, how to manage my team
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  Speaker 3: on the sideline, how to communicate about a coach were
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  Speaker 3: coming your way. Do you guys have an officer that'll
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  Speaker 3: meet us at the stop light so we can come through.
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  Speaker 2: Track or whatever?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, all those little things, yeah, and they make a difference.
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  Speaker 3: And so now I'm understanding and learning a little bit
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  Speaker 3: more on how to deal with certain things of that aspect.
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  Speaker 2: And of course, you know, knowing who you are and
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  Speaker 2: people that know you come from, you know, ground up,
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  Speaker 2: growing up in someone I believe you told me your
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  Speaker 2: stepfather military, a kind of resup in a military family.
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  Speaker 2: Play for Willie Collins and provide Jackie Cheryl's early done
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  Speaker 2: very You've talked about structure. You come from structure. You're
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  Speaker 2: starting to see that in your guys too, because teams
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  Speaker 2: become who they coach are and they're becoming as you said,
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  Speaker 2: you like our direction today, they're becoming that.
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  Speaker 3: Like, Yes, I love the direction that we're going. You know,
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  Speaker 3: I asks two great coaches to come in. I think,
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  Speaker 3: you know, Justin Hunter and Michael Turner both have great expectations,
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  Speaker 3: great minds. You know, their skill set is as wonderful
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  Speaker 3: that what they do, and I think they fit well
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  Speaker 3: with this program. I think the other coaches that I have,
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  Speaker 3: you know, continue to grow and continue to push the
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  Speaker 3: young men to be better, stronger, and faster. So that's
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  Speaker 3: what that's what I think helps.
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  Speaker 2: Eug and Clinton. He's the head football coach and athletics
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  Speaker 2: director Brandons Meet the Dog's Day for all the sports
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  Speaker 2: here today. They'll have a little scrimmage tonight and then
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  Speaker 2: of course turned the page into a preseason week next week. Coach,
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  Speaker 2: thank you so much. I appreciate your time today.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you, Jake, I appreciate you.
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  Speaker 2: Appreciate it. Righthylsparza my bookie dot Eg he'll join us
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  Speaker 2: next back in a bit