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O-Zone Podcast: Buddy Martin · The Jacksonville Jaguars Official Podcast Network

• 0:09
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Ozone Podcast presented by by Star Credit Union,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: featuring Jaguars senior writer John Osier and executive producer Dave
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: de Candice the guests this week. I can't say how
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: excited I am about it from for multiple reasons that
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: somebody I worked with. It's hard to believe three decades
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: ago in the Florida Times Union. The astute older Times
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: Union reader will certainly recognize with this person. Uh, he
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: is now very very close as its close to maybe
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: any abody in the media is with new Jaguars head
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: coach Urban Meyer. Without further ado, I'll introduce Buddy Martin
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: of The Buddy Martin Show. And Buddy, it's been a
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: long time since we've talked. We have crossed path a
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: lot over the years. When I was covering Florida in
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: the early nineties, we spent a lot of time together.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: But you, I guess got to know Urban very well
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: when he was the coach there. I want to get
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: to that in a minute. But how have you been
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: and I tell me what you were doing now and
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: about the Buddy Martin Show. Thank you, John. I'm just
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: thinking back about that staff at the time of Union
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: that we had people that were a young guy named
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: Frank Fransie and the young guy Matt Hays, and we
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: had a different a good group of people, and that
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: was a good time I spend Jacksonville. And even then,
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: the seeds of the Jaguars were being it was being uh,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: we're planted, because we were talking about one day having
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: this NFL team in Jacksonville, which most people thought was
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: a pipe drain, you know, but I remember writing about it,
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: what if, what if and the things, and so here
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: we are, all these years later, and uh, good to
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: see you again and talk to you again. Look forward
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: to having a chance to have you on the Buddy
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: Martin Showing podcasts soon. We're on four nights a week
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: and one Friday, Best Fridays of Football. So John, it's
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: good to hook up with you again. Fantastic. It's it's
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: funny when I introduced somebody is somebody I worked with
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: thirty years ago. It makes me feel great the relationships
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: last that long. It makes me feel very old, Buddy.
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: That's right, that's right. We were among the younger people
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: in our positions in the entire business at that point.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: That's how we're playing it. Anyway. Well, tell me about Urban,
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: and there's probably so much about him that we can't
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: cover it all in one podcast. But I guess for
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: fans who sort of no Urban from Florida, they know
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: the person on the TV that they see it in
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: the press conferences. You have gotten to know him better
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: than that. Um, what do you respect the most about
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: the guy? Just give me an overview of maybe that
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: your feelings and your relationships with the guy. I respect
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: his commitment as passion to the game of football and
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: coaching and the way he tries to do it the
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: right way. I respect that he knows there will be,
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: as they say, hiccups a long way and failures, but
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: he is ability to get up and go at it again,
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: and it's remarkable. I respect that he does what he
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: thinks is right despite the critics. And I respect that
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: he celebrates football the way he does. And I've had
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: the opportunity to be, as you pointed out, John fairly
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: close to him, having written a book with Urban his
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: official biography in two thousand and seven. I would plug him,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: but I don't think you can buy it anymore so anyways,
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: called Urban's Way and some experiences I had over two
• 3:45
  Speaker 1: years writing that book. We're really interesting. I'll tell you
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: about something later if you like. Then. Of course he
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: as he went to a high state. I was able
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: to occasionally talk to him. I went up to see
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: him for a game and but didn't really maintain that
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: bunch of connection with Irban and fortunately was able to
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: pick up this podcast Best Fridays in Football that we've
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: done for twenty three secretive weeks, which by the way,
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: he approached me about last summer in a rare call
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: from him from a golf course. So people can still
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: find that on YouTube. Correct, they can find this. Actually
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: it's not on YouTube. It's something I hope it's still
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: up there. It's on a if you go iTunes or
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: if you go any of the platforms you can go. Uh.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: We do rent it on the Bunny Martins Show, Facebook
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: Live on Fridays, but primarily anywhere you get your podcasts,
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: look under Best Fridays in Football. The more podcast it
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: was part of. It was part of an ensemble with
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: Terry Bradshaw and others that were there, but Urban's podcast
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: was always separate and thirty minutes of just one on
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: one talk and over twenty three weeks you get to
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: know a guy suh if you didn't know him before.
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: And so I come away with great respect and admiration
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: for urban, very happy. I texted him and put note
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: just saying I was thrilled for him. Welcome home. Hashtag
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: Hope and Opportunity, which is the title of a book
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: probably don't know about he's working on. We did a
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: little work on it and then we passed it off
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: to somebody else and the book is being written now,
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: not by me, but we'll be out. I don't know
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: what it's gonna be out now, but yeah, so hoping
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: the opportunity. So I I really respect and love his loyalty,
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: but sometimes I think his loyalty is what gets him
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: in trouble. Sure you mentioned something that caught my ear
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: just then, Uh, celebrate the game of football. What do
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: you mean by that? Well, when we talked about the podcast,
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: that was our goal to to talk about, learn and
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: celebrate the great game of college football. College being the
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: emphasis there and what happens in our business as journalists,
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: we always seem to wind up in the nooks and
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: cramp these stories and it sometimes becomes alienation. And now
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: with the modern media it's different. It didn't like it
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: was back in the day. And I hate the sound
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: called old guy, but I am. Relationships used to be
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: really important, and John, you know they are because you
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: you've had some of yourself. Relationships are important. I don't
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: like the word media and urban and I talked about
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: him one of the podcasts. You know, he doesn't listen,
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: doesn't read. He really sets himself off from it. And
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: I said, Urban like it and not. You're a part
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: of the media. You're on Fox, you know well, but
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: I'm not. I'm not one of those guys. I don't,
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: you know. Basically, he's throw a sing he didn't look
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: for clickbait. And I said to him, Urban, don't judge
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: us all the same because we're not. And when you
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: say media, I'm sorry, but Buddy Martin is not the
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: same thing as the guy with a hundred followers on Twitter,
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: Nor is John Osier or Frank Fragie whatever. We're different
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: kind of guys. We look for the story. And I said,
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: wouldn't it be great if we could somehow get together
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: with the voices of college football and coaches and journalists,
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: true journalists, and say we'd like to know the truth,
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: and we'd like to be able to use it in
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: a positive manner doesn't mean we can't question it. So
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: we could have actually a discussion because what we wanted
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: the same thing you want. We want this game to
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: be even greater. But because of all the obstacles we have,
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: because of all the Internet activity, because of the bastardization
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: of the truth, we don't get there. And I wish
• 7:39
  Speaker 1: we could have that, I said, but I guess we'll
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: never have it, And he says, we'll probably never have it.
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: You're right, So that's kind of yeah. Um, when we
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: talked about him a couple of days ago, and we
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: talked for I've got fifteen minutes the other day, right,
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: it's called you about her and set this up. You
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: mentioned a few things that were interesting, one of which
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: there was a time when you talked to him that
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: he particularly opened up. And I think you guys were
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: talking about thank you would go into his lakehouse and
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: it was really the first time that he opened up
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: to you. Is there anything that you can share that
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: you learned about him, and not to give away everything,
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: I'm sure there stuff that he told you that he
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: doesn't want out, but anything that you can give some
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: insight on for fans who maybe just see the guy
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: on the sidelines and they see the persona is there
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: something else there? I guess is what I'm getting at.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: I learned so much on the rig of the book,
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: and the first thing I learned was is that as
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: soon as he had a player get in trouble in
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: the spring of that year of two thousand seven, a
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: player got in trouble with the police by shooting off
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: a shotgun and wound up getting kicked off the team
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: or been canceled the book. He was so upset. And
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: for those who thinks I think he's you know, he
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: coddles criminals, just so you know, that's the side of
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: urban A lot of people don't know. And his good
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: friend hire him, the Freeze, who was sort of his
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: I would say, administrative assistant, a former attorney at Shallow,
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: a very successful man who didn't coach but certainly was
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: a consultant, said to me, look, buddy, we'll just go
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: ahead and pay him. We'll cancel a book and go
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: forward us. I don't want to do that. I don't
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: want money. I wanted to write the book because they
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: chose me to write the book, and they he said, well,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: then if you'd like to do this. Why don't you
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: continue on with your pathway. I wasn't. I was in
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: Atlanta headed to Augusta for the Masters. So why don't
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: you just continue on your pathway. I'll give you access
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: to whatever you need and we will continue to work
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: on the project, even though Urban says you don't want
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: to write the book because one day everyone'll turn around.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: Whatever happened that Bill greggingly write? So I said, okay,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: I'm in, and I did it without getting paid, and
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: and and then for the next that would have been
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: in April. So the next year I had all kinds
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: of access, which was incredible. I was granted access because
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: of the book in places no journalists has ever walked
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: the Florida two thousand seven season. That's correct, I mean,
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: how I mean, I'm not bragging. I'm just telling you
• 10:30
  Speaker 1: if it was an education for me thanks to hire On. Primarily,
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: I didn't have much access to Urban. He was too busy,
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: but I had access to the program. I'll just saying
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: this real fast. He I was able to listen in
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: the headsets and the play caller for three or four games.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: That was really interesting hearing Dan Mallin in the early
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: days you know, on what was going on there. I
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: was able to go on the field. I went to
• 10:58
  Speaker 1: the locker room, game, locker room at halftime several times.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: I went to dinner with the team on Friday night
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: Sun and I had all run access. I went to
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: their family days on Thursday. Had there. I mean I
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: had all access and didn't have it every day. Over
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: a period of that time, I was educated about college
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: football in a way that I never knew existed. So
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: that was a quite an experience. And here's the thing
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: about it. This is getting a long way to get
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: to your answer. You're fine. December of that year, Florida
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: had been picked to go to the bowl game. Uh.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: This was in between national championships, and I was at practice,
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: which by the way, he drove Steve but playing crazy
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: because I was able to go to practice and hide out.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: He didn't like it, but I was there and walking
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: out of practice that day, Urban turning and said, I
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: guess we should probably get together and let me do
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: this interview. I said, yeah, the book is a new
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: out in six months or so. I'm waiting for the
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: big sitting down the interview, and he said, all right,
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: come to my house. Two days from now my lake house,
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: oh Lake Melrose, and we'll get it started and we'll go.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: And I said, okay, I'm there. Okay. So I arrived
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: and there was you know, pitch black outside trying to
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: find the road down to the lake. And got down
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: to the lake and he was there, and he was
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: with Steve McClain, which didn't make me real happy because
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: I really didn't anybody monitoring what I was doing. So
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: I said, people claim for the listeners who don't know
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: is the director of Communications of Florida correct and the
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: PR guy and the protector of the shield, if you will, exactly.
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: So I wasn't gonna be laid there denied by that,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: and I'm just gonna do what I did. And McClain
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: wasn't allowed to stop anything, but he was there to
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: make sure that nothing went wrong doing his job. You know,
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: that was what he's told to do about Jeremy Fallon.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: I'm sure. But this wasn't the University of Florida project.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: This is an Urban Meyer project and Buddy Bark project.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: I say this because the way of setting it up
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: in that day. We talked for four hours and it
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: was pretty good. Talked to a lot of things that
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: just the basics and back around on and what have
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: you on Florida, his his coaching career, et cetera. And
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: at the end of the four hour session, Herban looked
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: at me and said, well, I guess we're gonna do
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: this again, don't we? I said, we really do, Urban,
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: because we've got some more things to cover. And he said, okay,
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: how about Thursday. And I looked at McClean and I realized,
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: and he realized that was Christmas Eves. And so I said, sure,
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: I'm in and see what I'm gonna be tied up,
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: you know whatever. And I said, don't worry about it,
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: but Clay, we gotta come. Nati Urban realized it was
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: Christmas Eve. Okay, Okay, I didn't care. So he was
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: gonna be there. So that's typical full speed ahead ever
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: in mind. So the cool this is the cool part
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: of the story. He's the guy that people say is
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: the loof. He didn't tell you how he really feels.
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: Some people question if he has a soul and so on.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: That's what the critics, you say. I didn't really know
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: Urban that well, I show up on Thursday morning and
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: I don't know six am over there, that old story
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: near Melrose, and he called, he said, pick up some cream.
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: So I went and got some cream and got it
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: and drove down to his house by the lake there
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: right on the shore and with all the beautiful cypress
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: trees out there, and and so he had gotten some
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: kind of apple strewed or something made by the a
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: mother one of the players there on the table, and
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: he had the coffee ready, and so we poured the
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: coffee and we sat there for a minute and looked
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: at each other and started talking about what we're gonna do.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: We started the conversation. It wasn't really ten minutes in
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: the conversation, so you could see the sun just peeping
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: speaking over the edge of the horizon on the lake.
• 15:03
  Speaker 1: And as we're talking and getting pretty intense discussion, he stopped,
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: but he turned he looked at the sun coming up.
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: He said, look at that. He said, that is so cool.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: He said, it reminds me of the mornings when I
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: would get up with Nate, who was in like ten
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: years old whatever it was, his son. We get the
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: boat out and they would get his corn flis. We
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: go out on the boat, sit there and watch the
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: sunrise over the lake. It was a great moment. At
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: that very moment, his soul opened up. At that point
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: we had this fabulous conversation for the next four and
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: five hours. All the many things that I wanted to hear,
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: the stories that I heard, the things I wrote down,
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: take whatever. The book was done that day. So that
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: taught me about Urban, who is, despite what you might think,
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: very spiritual. Uh, he's deep. He gets thinks deeply, he
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: cares passionately. In that moment and then moments that followed, well,
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: I talked over fifty people, formerly high school teammates, relative sisters,
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: what have you about Urban, and learned more and more
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: about him. It was then that his best friend told
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: me Urban probably won't coach in the NFL. Wrote about
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: that obviously, he said, because what's gonna happen is he
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: will leave it all on the field of college. He'll
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: probably spell his guts out and die right there on
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: the side. Huh. That was pretty prophetic, I thought, And
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: it was that was where it started, and we did
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: the book and then that says stories that told me
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: about Urban the depth of his soul. Sure, and that's
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: something that uh, you know it think you alluded to it.
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: And I I don't know him, so I don't know,
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: and I haven't studied it over the years to know
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: exactly what people say about it. I don't pay that
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: much attention two coaches. I'm not covering in that sense.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: But you sort of alluded to it that people think
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: he's a soulless the drive. But from what you say,
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: that is because of the drive. You said you were
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: around Florida's program, but weren't around Urban that much because
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: he was too busy. It really is a obsession, I
• 17:25
  Speaker 1: guess that's the right word. But a singular focus of
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: anything he's involved with. He doesn't have time to be
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: connected with people. Is that I'm saying a long way
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: to get to it, But I'm am I onto something there. Yes,
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: you're accurate on what you're saying. That is kind of
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: what the sort of the path. Uh, he's as I
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: said I think you earlier. He's a very simple, complex
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: man roblem and I think that is part of it
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: right there. And you if you understand that about him,
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: you understand how you can get in trouble if you're
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: so passionate about something and you're so loyal to him,
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: Because he believes truly he works for the players. He
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: is the ultimate players coach and to a fault, and
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: I've said this to it. We talked about it on
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: the podcast. Nick Saban has some of the same stuff.
• 18:17
  Speaker 1: He does many of the same things. He's the second, third, fourth,
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: fifth chance guy. But you know he gives you every opportunity.
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: But he does also penalizes. He doesn't say it's okay,
• 18:28
  Speaker 1: well forget about it. No, you will pay a penalty
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: for what you do. Um, But if you want to
• 18:34
  Speaker 1: try and rehabilitate yourself, you've got a chance, but you
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: better do it exactly like he says. So he's a
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: strict disciplinary but not the same guy he was when
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: he was kicking guys off the team at Colorado State.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: And my friend Or Brown later Brown, who was a
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: former coach out there coach baseball at UNC, said he's
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: another young Bear Bryant because it was so harsh and
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: so strict. And one day something Luba called him in
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: and said, you know that guy that you just kuild
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: off the team. He was our four star recruits. He said,
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: why don't kick him ab he said, but you know
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: why he left the cause of you. He was really
• 19:14
  Speaker 1: hard on players, but he was demanding of them. So
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: that was the footprint, and then from there they all
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: got fired out there. Um and uh. He wound up
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: going to Bowlden Green and he had that unbelievable he
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: had his own junction. I'll tell you about that letter
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: at Bold and Ring. I mean he did it was
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: he said, I was a thirty two year old coach
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: out of control. Guys were running wins Brinson barfing im. Anyway,
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: there's a story there and from each step, but he
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: is matured and grown after each one, and so fashion
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: he will tell you today he's now fifty six years
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: he's a different coach. But the question is how that
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: affects his coaching. And that's something that in listening to
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: some podcast and reading about him over the last week,
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: there really is an ability to adapt. Sometimes when a
• 20:06
  Speaker 1: coach has the personality that he does, which is the
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: hard driving, there's a perception that they never changed, you know.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: And but the storyline through him and what you seem
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: to be saying is he's had the ability to adapt
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: and change over the course of his career, maybe to
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: a pretty extreme to a pretty extreme extent, no doubt
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: it speaks in his coaching. When you look at his
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: teams at Florida, he won with Chris Leak, you want
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: with Tim Tebow, completely polar opposites. He adapted his offense
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: to fit that, he adjusted what he had to do.
• 20:42
  Speaker 1: He's willing to to adapt that. He is a great planner.
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: Spurrier last Sam, he says, everyone's got a plan for everything,
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: you know, and he kind of does. And that's why
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: the book was called The Plan to Win. And that's
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: exactly what it was, a one page document called The
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: Plan to Win. And people would come there and to
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: study Acrods great success at Utah. There's a tremendous story
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: about that, about what he learned from the Polynesian players.
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: Uh In the ability, his ability to adapt a never
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: more present than that. And I think that's what if
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: you've studied every where, you know he has a plan,
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: but he had plans adaptable. The core values are the same,
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: but he can adapt. And I think that when players,
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: when when coaches would come to visit him at Utah
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: or wherever, and there are you in a Florida. They say, hey,
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: I want to learn about the spread option offense. He said,
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: I didn't have any time for them. If they want
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: to talk about the plan to win, I'll take the time.
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: I see. So again it goes back to what sort
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: of was the theme around here last week, exchanging the culture.
• 21:50
  Speaker 1: The culture is more important than I guess the exits
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: and and how you're getting there exactly. Um. And I
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: know Spurger hates that word culture her, but that is
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: that is actually a key. And speaking of culture, if
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: I may, let me tell you the story of what
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: happened in Utah, which I think it will be in
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: the book. I'm sure we talked about his son, and
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: I know he brought it up when he was in
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: Utah the first time he had a chance to look
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: at a portrait of his team in a couple of meetings,
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: he noticed how the groups separated themselves. There's a group
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: of blacks, a group of whites, a group of Asians,
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: a group of Polynesians. And he said, time out, I
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: want you all to change seats. We don't want this anymore,
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: breaking down this division. So believe it or night. There's
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: a large population of Polynesians in Salt Lake, and they're
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: all obviously there's some really good of all Asian players,
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: particularly the offensive alignment, and a few offensive linemen and players,
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: and so he noticed he was having a problem coaching
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: these Polynesians. So his friend hired him. The Freezer from
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: Hawaii is also Polynesian. They got together and he says,
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: we've got to go talk to some of the people
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: in town and that on the other side of town
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: when their Polynesians lived. We gotta go see what's going
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: on here because we can't get these Polynesian players to respond.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: So they did and hire him, of course, being Polynesians himself.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: I mean they wore they wore grass skirts, they were
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: I mean they wore different gear. I mean they were
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: different and and and uh so hire him. And in
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: Um and Urban got together and did a study on it,
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: and they noticed that the Polynesian players when they were
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: being coached, would never look the coach in the eye.
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: They couldn't They couldn't figure out why. And they went
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: to talk to some of the elders and they said,
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: because Polynesians are taught never to look authority in the eye.
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: I see that changed everything. How many coaches would take
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: the time to do that? Right everything. He's a very
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: academic guy. He doesn't read all that many books, and
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: whateverybody loves to learn in academics is you know sisters.
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: I don't know, she's the provost University of Cincinnati or whatever,
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: but she's high up in the organization. They're very intelligent
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: academic family. So so that's one thing he approaches the
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: game mentally. Very smart guy, very smart, and he does
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: study the culture. And then you mentioned earlier the Junction
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Boys story and sort of how he's changed from that.
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: I know you wanted to tell that story, and I
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: want to hear it well and bold and Green said,
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: his first head coaching job, Uh, he had to come
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: in and change a lot of things. First of all,
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: there was really no study hall and no academic counseling.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: So he along with a couple of the coaches, beginning
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: to teach study hall and get into studies and teach
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: kids out of study. It was a very big thing
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: for him. And but he is famous for breaking a
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: team down before they start. If you look at Florida
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: what he did there, you probably remember when he first
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: came in there, he couldn't get a response, so he
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: took away everything from them, and he asked what they
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: called the champions club, and the champions Club the great
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: out there's being the people who practice the best, play
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: the best whatever. During the offseason they are giving perks
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: and at the meal table they get to eat steaks
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: and they get to eat great food. And then and
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: the other guys are in the Champions Club have to
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: eat bologny and what have you. That's just the way.
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: It is definitely a distinction. He wants it to be known.
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: And during that time at Florida, before I get back
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: to Bowling Green, he took away the big alligator there
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: that's in the hallway, and when you go in the
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: locker room, he took away all kinds of gear and
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: let them art it back. And he put the stripe
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: on every young players, every rookie helmet, and they had
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: earned their strikeing by taking it off, and so very
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: very ceremony in that regard. But at Bowling Green, to
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: get their attention, he decided to take them all into
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: the gymnasium, locked the doors, make them run, run, run, run,
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: run until they collapse. They stationed garbage kings in each
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: corner of the gym with the garbage bags, and everybody
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: Barthur guts out and it was really a horrible day.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: How are they were horrible? Scene, and of course players quit,
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: so and that was okay with him. If they couldn't
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: last that way, they were gonna last on the team.
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: They wound up with a core UH players enough to
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: be able to go out and be competitive and win.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: But as he says down, looking back on that, that
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: was a thirty two or thirty three year old coach
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: out of control. He would never do that again. So
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: he's kind of he's a big believer. He he majored
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: in psychology, so he knows about path law's dog, he
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: knows about response and what have you. So that's the
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: techniques he has used, and over the years, different ways,
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: there were different teams, every games he's used those things.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: I don't know if we're gonna call it Urban's back
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: and tricks or not, but it's not really I think
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: that's the question a lot of people have. There are
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: two questions I'm gonna jump ahead of you. There are
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: two questions that people are gonna ask about Urban. Number one,
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: how long when he coach will this health hold up? Um?
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: And and can his way of coaching? Uh? Can you
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: poach that way? And will professional players respond like college
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: players did? Those are two big questions. So now that
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: you've asked the questions. Wait, John, do I have to
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: ask him and answer him to Oh? No, I know,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: I know obviously give you uh so Uh yeah, I
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: mean I don't know the answers. I can give you
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: a guess. That's all it did, educated guests. Uh And
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: I've talked to some people about his health, not medically,
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: but I did have one good doctor friend who said, look,
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: I'm not a you know, I don't I'm not a neurologist.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: I can't tell you about the system the brains. I
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: can tell you what I think I heard read whatever.
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: Um and uh. I said to the doctor who knows
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: him pretty well, can his health be menaced? And he said, yes,
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: it can so so and he was you know, he
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: was an honest guy. And so the iraqnill exists in
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: his brain, which, by the way, apparently I'm not a
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: doctor obviously, or he was a medical expert, but apparently
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: at the end of his career at Florida had flared
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: up and caused him to almost collapse or new collapse
• 28:46
  Speaker 1: on the sideline is I guess it's exacerbated about stress.
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: I don't know. Apparently got bad. Cannot be it's not
• 28:53
  Speaker 1: it's in opera, you can't operate it. It was drained
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: to understand. Then he went to Ohio and had the
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: same thing happened when he passed out in the field.
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: Um and uh. Of course, ultimately he stepped down for
• 29:06
  Speaker 1: other reasons, but that the chem a concern. His family
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: was very concerned about it. He could never sign off.
• 29:13
  Speaker 1: When I said I you're gonna coach again, he would say, well,
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: I won't never see. Everybody said I have to. My
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: family's got to kind of approve it, you know. So
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: so that was that's a big issue. And for those
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: people who say they don't get me started on this subject,
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: who say he created his fake injury or you knows
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: to get out of a job, that's crap. That's not true.
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: I know that for a fact. But people like to
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: use it against him. Well, you know everybody will have
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: a heart attack. Well, first of all, you never had
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: an art attack. I was number one. But trust me,
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: it's like his friends said, with urban goes will he
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: will collapse on the field. So he gives everything he's got,
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: so so, so that would be the health question. I
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: think how long I tried to make an ass for
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: this other day, John, He's watch fifty six, right, he
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: will be a FI seven in July. Uh, let's say
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: that's give him three to four years there at least,
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: because you know, until sixty. I'm just guessing. I don't
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: have any information training, but I'm thinking that he would
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: certainly like to make it to sixty. And I would
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: think there's no reason why I can't unless the losing
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: gets to him. And that's what everybody talks about it.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: I'll tell you a minute about that, my conversation with
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: Mr Spurry about that. But so so where were we? Uh? Yeah,
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: the health question is a big one. I think in
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: my opinion, Uh, I think he will manage himself because
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: he has changed. He does things differently. Um, and he
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: think he will coach there at least three to five years,
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: maybe more. Uh. Some of the people who asked me
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: what you can do? How will he? He will succeed?
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: Depending on what your definition of successes. My good close
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: friend Terry Bradshaw, who have been good friends for the
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: thirty years, no servant a little bit now. He says
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: he thinks he'll be a big success as a coach
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: in the NFL because you're smart and he has a plan,
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: and he's a really good guy, a good coach. So
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: so how long, Well, I'm giving it three to five years. Uh,
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: And I'm a guesting because so what's he gonna do?
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: How's he gonna the question is under the NFL's format
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: where it's a good year, when you lose four games,
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: can you take the hit of those four games and realize,
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: like Steve Spurrier said, you know, you just you want
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: to aspire to go out and go, you know, ten
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: and six or whatever if you can, it's okay to
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: lose four or five because you know it's hard to
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: win in the NFL. How will that impact Urban? He's
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: been asked that question, He's gonna be asking a thousand
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: more times. That's a big one that I can't answer it.
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: So obviously what's in front of him now is a
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: similar right coach eself, which we know he's doing now.
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: He will have a big he will have a strong organization.
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: He's a big organization guy. Find his franchise quarterback. We
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: think we wouldentify it, but we don't know a hundred
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: percent that that's gonna happen. But it looks like they
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: got their guy in Lawrence. I don't think Fields will
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: be the guy, but anyway, what do I know? It
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: depends on the moment. Uh. And then the question is
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: Kenny win, can he motivate the players in this way?
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: And how it will be different? And I'm I'm looking
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: at something like this again, simply guessing what they win
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: one game this year? Right, say that, I think they're
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: gonna win five or six next year. Let's just say five.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: So he goes five at eleven. If you look at
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: his record, he's done very well the second year of
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: his jobs, really good two thousand and six and the
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: actual champion, um and so I think him, But it's
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: harder to win, and you your quarterbacks probably only then
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: beginning to learn how to play. Somebody be conservative. I'm
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: gonna go eight day man. Maybe you know, maybe they
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: maybe maybe a little better, but eight and eight five
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: hundred slightly about in three years at least, if not
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: to he will be in the playoffs eleven twelve wins,
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: and he'll be competing. And I think if he does that,
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: obviously has been a success. Shot kan and so I've
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: got himself a winner. I'm not gonna make a prediction
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: because I don't know, but I think as he shoots
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: forward and goes to age sixty by the time he
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: has sixty, if he's happy with life, which by the way,
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: he has been very happy with his life. Uh, he
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: may hang it up and say I've done my four
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: or five years. I brought the franchise around, Thank you
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: very much. I got me. I'll keep my home with
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: Badavidro wherever he buys one. Um, you know. And uh,
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: and and I'll be a fan. I'll go to the
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: front office hewn about. That's my best projection. It's only
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: a guess. Did you, in spending a lot of time
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: with him in the fall, did you get any sense
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: that he was pairing for this and did you get
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: any sense of what his focuses were in terms of NFL,
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: what he was thinking about, conversations he was having or
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: maybe he didn't come up. You're talking about college football
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: and a word no right? Um? And I said, twenty
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: three consecutive weeks of at least thirty minutes, sometimes more,
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: sometimes an hour somebody didn't record. We talked about it,
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: talked about it. And remember that John every week he
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: was being mentioned for another job. That's right Textas I mean,
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: there's every college job that came up, well, we hope
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: to get our remark every and I finally said to him,
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: could you give me Trace Armstrong. It's not his agent, now,
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: could you give me your agent? And I want him to.
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: I want to get him as an agent because every
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: job that comes open, your name is in it. And
• 34:49
  Speaker 1: somebody said, well, you know he likes that attention. No
• 34:52
  Speaker 1: he doesn't, he do them, but I mean, yeah, he does.
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: He want his name to be brought up. Yeah, but
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: he's not the one isn't and he's interested in And
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: I said, well, what, well, don't you address it because
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: no matter what I say, it would be used against
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: me in some fashion social media. So or the coach
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: is already there, like Tom Marmy was. He didn't want
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: to undercut anybody, so he just didn't speak publicly about it.
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: And so he would say I'm not gonna say I'm
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: not gonna coach again, because you never know. But right
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: now I don't have plans to. And I went back
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: to October the sixteenth and listen to the podcast, which
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: by the way, I think it's still up on iTunes.
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: As I said, and I can, I'm gonna be playing
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: replaying something on our show on Fridays occasionally good bytes
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: by the way, really good. Um. You know he is,
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: as he said, I'm very happy in my life. I
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: love my job at Fox. I love being around my grandchildren,
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: although he couldn't see how much because of COVID uh
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: and he said, I'm not I at this point in time,
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: it's not likely. But that was college Paul, and I
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: kept hearing these rumblings about the NFL, and I heard
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: about the Jack and I never really asked you about
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: the NFL. I think I asked him what the Cleveland
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: Browns one time, but and he sort of just dismissed it.
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: And he wasn't being dishonest. I don't think he really knew.
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: I think he I think I think he thought about, well,
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: I got this in my back pocket if I want
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: to pursue it, you know. And then things began to
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: heat up, and obviously in contest some great conversations. I'm
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: just guessing I don't know what he's like said and
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: that was if you asked me to put my money
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: down John back in October, which way I'm going sixty
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: forty against him coaching? And then finally I went on
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: I became sixty later in the year that he would
• 36:39
  Speaker 1: coach the love he has for players that have sort
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: of led to the philosophy of second, third, fourth chances. Uh,
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: that is a real thing that maybe people brush over
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: with him but don't realize that it's the core. Um.
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: Is there any else you can talk about that in
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: terms of just how important that is to his philosophy
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: and how much that means to him, the trust, the
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: that relationship, because it really seems like it defines him.
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: It's everything to him. And he said to me on
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: several occasions in the podcast, when I took a job
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: at Utah or Bowling Green or Florida or whatever, I
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: would say, and I still say this. I don't work
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: for the University of Florida, and I don't work for you.
• 37:33
  Speaker 1: I work for the players and their parents. That's my commitment.
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: And when you hand off your son to me in
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: the living room and say that, then I have a
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: responsibility to do the best I can for him. He said.
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: My my kids are all played college sports. Trust the
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: coach the same way. So he said, I believe that
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: is with all my heart. That's about the players, And
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: every conversation we talked about is always the players of
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: players and players now have an examples where he gotten
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: bitten in the butt on it. There's a lot of misconceptions.
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: I don't know everything about Urban. I know some of
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: the things that are being written and said about him
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: are absolutely blatantly false and inaccurate. But I know that's
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: what he believes. Now, how does that factor in? And
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: I even said to him sometimes, I said, you know,
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: Urban people think it's your loyal to a fault. You
• 38:22
  Speaker 1: give people too many chances, you know, And he said, no,
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: I don't. I think I'm believe in that. I said,
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: it wants to play to his associate him, what's to
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: the endless player? You guys suspended him no longer with
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: the team. Does that mean is he never gonna play again?
• 38:35
  Speaker 1: What he said, No, So what exactly is it? I mean,
• 38:39
  Speaker 1: how many chances you can the guy get it? Will
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: he ever play again? So that depends, I said, depends
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: on what this is? How he said, well, if I
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: put him in Hawaii in a robot, give him one over,
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: if he works his way back, then you'll play. So
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: there was some very harsh penalties and if you look
• 38:57
  Speaker 1: at his if you look at his record and on.
• 39:00
  Speaker 1: You're a smart guy, and you look at two thousand
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: six in particular, and some degree two thousand eight. Towards
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: the end of the season, he brought back players who
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: were in trouble earlier in the year, and they played
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: a major factor in some of the big games. So
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: he is I called him a preservationist. He would take
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: things off the junk pile and reuse them. He would
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: take these players that some people would have dismissed and
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: band but because they proved themselves in the grays or
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: because they did all the punishments, because they did the protocol,
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: he brings them back for the last two games, and
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: they show up and they show out. And that's the
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: strength there is, because I don't think Urban does. They
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: had a ninety five man roster at Florida. He made
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: sure every single one of them got coached, right down
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: to the ninety They all get coached and says that,
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: but he doesn't. He doesn't. I've seen it with my
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: own eyes. He coaches every player on that roster, maybe
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: not himself personally everyone, but he he knows them all
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: and he does make sure they get coached. And player
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: development is a very big thing, and that's dan Mons strength,
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: which he got somewhat from Herbert Meyer. So anyway, Yeah,
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: so that's kind of who he is. I hope I'm
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: giving you an accurate portray. No, it's fantastic, It's fantastic.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: It's uh, you know again, as I said, when you
• 40:20
  Speaker 1: spend a night, when you spend as much time around
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: a guy as you have, I've had the opportunity to
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: extensive stories as well, obviously, and I know there's always
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: things that you can't get to, and there's a million
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: things we can talk about. Is there anything that we
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: haven't discussed today that you think I'm missing anything about
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: him that it's may of the it's many of the misunderstood,
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: because I think there's a perception of him that I'm
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: sure is not. Yeah, as we talked about accurate, anything
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: we've missed or have we given a pretty good overview? Well,
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: I think it's pretty good. There saw the things we
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: haven't talked about. But I want to say one thing,
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: and I don't want to be listen understood. I'm not
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: here to fight Erbant Meyer's battles. I'm not his defense attorney. Okay,
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: that's not my job. But I think there's been a
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: wrong He's been wronged by some people. Uh. And I
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: get in trouble on this when we talk about it
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: on the show, to a point where I don't talk
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: about it anymore. And I've lost friends over this. By
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: the way, and you say the name Erbert Meyer to
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: five people, there will be at least one and maybe
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: two who will say bad things about him. Let's just
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: make up. Somebody say he's a scumbag, he has no integrity,
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: and he left his tie and drive. Not true. I
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: know the man's heart somewhat. And what puzzles me is
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: how this image has been portrayed. And it's almost like
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: Q nine. People have an alternative truth. They want to
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: believed what they want to believe. It. You try it,
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: you talk to people, and I've talked to a lot
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: of fans, a lot of people. Look, if you don't
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: like I, remember, that's fine with me. I don't care.
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: That's that's up to you. I'm not here to go
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: out of winning friends. I just think when you ask
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: people why they tell you they know this and they
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: do not know it because I can tell you for
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: a fact. Then when they say, well he was there
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: was a there was a plan all along. When he
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: left Florida and he went to ESPN, he was gonna go.
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: He had to plan of mind to go to O
• 42:29
  Speaker 1: High State. That is total be us. I can tell you,
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: I know because one quick story I remembers of the ESPN.
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: I think maybe five six weeks whatever it was that year,
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: the first year out of coaching, and he called me,
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: which he didn't do very often, and he said, could
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: he come for coffee? I thought, were but I don't
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: live nex store. I'm an okay, you know, and say that.
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: Of course, when he calls you, you go right. So
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: I went to his home in Gainesville and walked in
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: and Shelley was there and she left a coffee cake
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: or whatever coffee. We went to his lunai and we
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: sat and talked and he said to me, he said,
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: I want you to take this book. It's a book
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: about him. It's a fictional book about a coach. He
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: kind of sells his soul in high school and what
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: he learned by it. Herbert loved it. In fact, he
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: actually wrote it forward for it. And we talked about coaching.
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: We talked about coaches and about doing things right way
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: and the wrong way, and in general and I think.
• 43:22
  Speaker 1: I asked him, do you think of my coaching? And
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: he said, I don't want to say anything around Shelley,
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: but I'm thinking about it. But I don't know, not yet.
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: Maybe maybe a couple of years. I don't know. I
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: don't know. Well, at that point in time, uh Luke
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: Becker was a coach at the Ohio State and everybody
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: can see it the new the handwritings on the wall.
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: I said, I, what are you gonna do when Ohio
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: State comes looking for a coach? He said, they got one.
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: They're gonna have him all season. You know what. I said. No,
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: He said, lou he's already there and you know, and
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: they got a coach, said Urban, if you think you
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: want to coach, I said this to him. That's why
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: I know he didn't have any plans. If you're ever
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: gonna coach again, you're gonna have to step up because
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: this is your opportunity because Ohio State won't be available
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: next year. He said, well, I don't want to think
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: about that, right, I really don't want to think about
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: someone you're gonna have to think about it. I'm the
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: one telling him, so I know there was no diabolical plan.
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: To do that, right. But if you ask a Gator
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: and they said, wow, he was gonna leave us high
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: and dry, I'll give you a great factor it. I'm
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: saving it for a story of writing this week. If
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: you just go ahead and do your own test about
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: what do you don't what is you don't like or
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: hay about irbeer and that's fine, and people will say, well,
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: he left us high and dry. As a colleague of
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: mine wrote the other day, irban Meyer coached six years
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: of Florida, not six months, all right, exactfully, aside for
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: the two national championships. And he apparently researches and I
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: haven't checked it out yet, he said. People you know,
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: say he betrayed whatever he said, a hundred years of
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: Florida football, only four coach just stayed longer. Yep. So
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: there's one thing I could go on. There's other things.
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: You know that he coddles criminal players. Not true, he's forgiving,
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: maybe to a fault loyalty, but you know they, oh,
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: you know they it's always criminals. Lets them there on
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: the run them up. So there's a lot of misconceptions,
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: and urban does nothing to try and change their minds.
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: He just does what he does so, so I think
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: if you asked me, you know what, that's the one story.
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: And I don't think it will come into play a
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: buch of Jacksonville as part of the history and then
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: will come up again and again. But do your own
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: pole and just ask people, Hey, what do you think
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: it's like saying the red state or blue state? Immediately
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: people get polarized, you know, they get polarized. Why I
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: don't understand. That's a mystery to me right here. Well,
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: powerful personalities tend to be polarizing, and that's that's his reality.
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: And well, Buddy, I could go on and on about
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: I'm respect I have for you, how much I value
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: our relationship and how much I appreciate you doing this
• 46:00
  Speaker 1: fantastic stuff. And I think fans who are listening to this,
• 46:03
  Speaker 1: if they open up their ears, we'll have learned a
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: lot about Urban Meyer. So I want to thank you
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: so much. I look forward to being on your podcast
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: with the other forward to talking you about Urban over
• 46:13
  Speaker 1: the years. Thank you so much, Buddy, Mark a pleasure,
• 46:16
  Speaker 1: and I want to make sure I get the information
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: back to you. We're gonna put those all those bites
• 46:20
  Speaker 1: on Urban someplace where your people will be able to
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: get them. And we're gonna go back to an archive
• 46:25
  Speaker 1: of the best of Urban Meyer on Urban Meyer Podcast,
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: Best Price in Football, let you know where it is. Fantastic, buddy.
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: We appreciate you. Thank you, Johnny