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Jim Mora - Week 1 Presser v Maryland · Coaches Corner

0:00
Speaker 1: Well, first of all, thanks for being here. We're excited
0:02
Speaker 1: to get going. It's been a long off season, a
0:05
Speaker 1: ton of changes in this program, brought in twenty seven
0:08
Speaker 1: transfers and twelve or eleven or twelve high school guys,
0:12
Speaker 1: and I've been impressed with the way they've been able
0:15
Speaker 1: to gel and you know, hopefully we can maintain that
0:19
Speaker 1: that energy that we have and that connectedness that we
0:24
Speaker 1: have as we go through the season and hit some
0:27
Speaker 1: hurdles and you know, face some adversity.
0:29
Speaker 2: But I like where we're at right now.
0:31
Speaker 1: We've had good practices, there's great energy, really good focus.
0:35
Speaker 1: Some of the guys that have come in from other of
0:37
Speaker 1: other programs have, you know, added a real sense of
0:41
Speaker 1: maturity to this team. And so I think we're excited
0:44
Speaker 1: to get going. You always learn a lot about your
0:45
Speaker 1: team in those early games. You know, we face a really,
0:49
Speaker 1: really good Maryland team on the road. I think we're
0:51
Speaker 1: going to learn a lot about where we are as
0:54
Speaker 1: a team, and you know what our potential can be
0:57
Speaker 1: just going down there and playing a team that we
0:59
Speaker 1: have a ton of respect for. You you look at
1:02
Speaker 1: what they've done, what coach Lockley has been able to
1:05
Speaker 1: accomplish and I look back at last season where they
1:07
Speaker 1: came out hot and they won five in a row
1:09
Speaker 1: and then they had a little lull where I think
1:11
Speaker 1: they lost four and then you know, they finished strong,
1:14
Speaker 1: and me, that's just the sign of a team that's
1:17
Speaker 1: mentally tough and is resilient, and so we know what
1:20
Speaker 1: we're up against, but our guys are excited to go
1:22
Speaker 1: out and play together for the first time against an opponent.
1:25
Speaker 2: You know, they've worked very, very hard.
1:27
Speaker 1: This offseason, starting from the day they came back on
1:29
Speaker 1: campus with a new strength and conditioning coach, adapting to
1:33
Speaker 1: new offensive coordinator, new defensive coordinator. Some of the adjustments
1:37
Speaker 1: we made and the way we practice and prepare, and
1:39
Speaker 1: I think that you know, they're excited to finish this
1:42
Speaker 1: week off in terms of their preparation and then you know,
1:46
Speaker 1: cut it loose at twelve o'clock on Saturday down at Maryland.
1:50
Speaker 2: So that's that's where we're at.
1:54
Speaker 3: What are the biggest challenges with all the things all
1:58
Speaker 3: of these coaches going to their first the things that
2:01
Speaker 3: you used.
2:01
Speaker 2: To like to be the biggest challenges.
2:04
Speaker 1: I think the unknown and how people are going to
2:06
Speaker 1: react to certain situations, you know, we're in a you're
2:09
Speaker 1: in practice, you're in a very controlled environment. Yeah, there's pressure,
2:13
Speaker 1: and we put tons of pressure on them, but just
2:16
Speaker 1: react when when it's real and when you're against somebody else.
2:20
Speaker 1: And you know, it's not just reacting. I think you
2:22
Speaker 1: say react is to you know, the challenges, reacting to success.
2:25
Speaker 1: You know, handle how we handle success, how we we
2:27
Speaker 1: handle setbacks, how we interact as a team, Uh, how
2:31
Speaker 1: we fight, how we compete for three and a half hours,
2:33
Speaker 1: you know, learning a little bit more about your people
2:36
Speaker 1: under those conditions rather than you know, sitting in an
2:39
Speaker 1: environment where we control it a little bit more. And uh,
2:42
Speaker 1: that's always very telling, you know.
2:44
Speaker 2: Uh.
2:45
Speaker 1: I think the the lights come on and it it
2:46
Speaker 1: brings out some truths that maybe you didn't know. And
2:49
Speaker 1: those can be very very positive or those can be challenges.
2:52
Speaker 2: What is the team reacting to the new defense?
2:54
Speaker 3: It seems like it's conservably different.
2:57
Speaker 1: It's it is very different. It's uh, and and they've
3:00
Speaker 1: reacted great. I think they're excited about it. It's a
3:03
Speaker 1: it's an aggressive defense. It's challenged them, and these guys
3:08
Speaker 1: like challenges their competitors, and uh, I'm excited about it.
3:12
Speaker 2: Uh.
3:13
Speaker 1: Of course, you know, we're gonna we're gonna get better
3:15
Speaker 1: as the season goes on, as we play it more
3:17
Speaker 1: in game situations. But what I've seen is a group
3:20
Speaker 1: of guys that have embraced the change and seen how
3:22
Speaker 1: it can help us and understand every day a little
3:25
Speaker 1: bit more how they fit into the scheme and uh,
3:29
Speaker 1: and they've learned to play their roles. So I'm ready
3:32
Speaker 1: to you know, see it under live fire.
3:37
Speaker 2: See. We thought that would be questioned one.
3:46
Speaker 3: It's coming down they going.
3:52
Speaker 2: To know or something like that now.
3:55
Speaker 1: But I will say this, it's a it's a very
3:58
Speaker 1: good quarterback room. And you've heard me say that before.
4:00
Speaker 1: I think we have four guys that we have a
4:03
Speaker 1: lot of confidence in, you know, and talking about Joe
4:06
Speaker 1: and Nick and Tucker and Cole, those guys have all
4:10
Speaker 1: shown their ability to do good things in practice and
4:13
Speaker 1: you know, once again in a game, it's going to
4:15
Speaker 1: be different. The only one on our roster that's played
4:17
Speaker 1: in a game at this level is Joe Nicks played
4:22
Speaker 1: a couple of snaps when he was at Oklahoma versus Texas,
4:24
Speaker 1: but not an extending amount of time in terms of
4:27
Speaker 1: giving the opponent heads up. I think they don't have
4:33
Speaker 1: film on Tucker. They don't have film on Cole, they
4:36
Speaker 1: don't have film on Nick, they don't have film on Gordie,
4:42
Speaker 1: you know, just like we don't have film necessarily on
4:44
Speaker 1: their guys. So I've just never been one in my
4:48
Speaker 1: career that's felt it was important to announce to the public.
4:52
Speaker 2: You know, who's going to start.
4:53
Speaker 1: I've never been one that felt its important to even
4:56
Speaker 1: even though your opponent doesn't have film to give them
4:59
Speaker 1: any inkling of who may run out there for the
5:01
Speaker 1: first snap. You know, I haven't read yet that they've
5:05
Speaker 1: announced their first their starting quarterback. I think they said
5:07
Speaker 1: they were going to do it today, So I'll just
5:10
Speaker 1: let Mike go first.
5:13
Speaker 2: What do you expect to add the smiling match up?
5:15
Speaker 3: You know, what do you think that they're.
5:18
Speaker 1: Well, I think they're they're big, fast, they're physical, they're tough,
5:21
Speaker 1: and they're mentally tough. I think when you look at
5:24
Speaker 1: what they did last year defensively, and they finished in
5:26
Speaker 1: the you know, the top thirty eight, I believe in
5:29
Speaker 1: all major defensive categories. You know, they pressure the quarterback, well,
5:33
Speaker 1: they take the ball away well. Now this is all
5:35
Speaker 1: based on last year, just like us. They're a new
5:38
Speaker 1: team and they've got to re establish themselves, just like
5:40
Speaker 1: we've got to try to establish ourselves. But you know,
5:43
Speaker 1: you base your predictions on the history and and they've
5:46
Speaker 1: shown to be a really tough, physical team. Offensively, I
5:49
Speaker 1: think they've you know, they're big and physical upfront. They've
5:51
Speaker 1: added some some transfers on the offensive line and the
5:54
Speaker 1: skill positions. You look at the number of starts that
5:57
Speaker 1: their guys have had, it's significant. They run the ball well,
6:01
Speaker 1: so they're an experienced team. They know what they're doing,
6:03
Speaker 1: of course, you know, just like us, you know, and
6:06
Speaker 1: whether it's Cole, Tucker, Nick or Joe. They're incorporating a
6:11
Speaker 1: new quarterback. You know, they had tu lea tongue of Iloa.
6:15
Speaker 1: So you know, we don't know exactly what to expect there.
6:19
Speaker 1: But I just I'm anxious to see us go out
6:22
Speaker 1: and compete, you know, I want to see how we compete,
6:24
Speaker 1: and I want to see us play in the moment
6:25
Speaker 1: and just play each play as hard as we can
6:27
Speaker 1: and not worry about external factors and not worry about
6:30
Speaker 1: the scoreboard and just go play, play play. And if
6:33
Speaker 1: we do that, you know, there's a there's an opportunity
6:35
Speaker 1: for things to go our way.
6:37
Speaker 4: There's so much hype around last year's over.
6:43
Speaker 3: How is it different being on.
6:46
Speaker 1: D Well, it's it's different that we're on the road
6:51
Speaker 1: really and uh, you know that changes a lot of
6:53
Speaker 1: your routine. But in terms of the challenge, I mean,
6:57
Speaker 1: the challenge is very very significant.
6:58
Speaker 2: You know.
6:59
Speaker 1: Last year is a really good NC State team that
7:02
Speaker 1: had gotten after us in twenty twenty two. I think
7:04
Speaker 1: they beat us forty two to three or something like that.
7:08
Speaker 1: I mean forty nine to three is a significant score,
7:12
Speaker 1: you know, an ACC team. This year, we're going on
7:14
Speaker 1: the road against the you know, I think they were
7:16
Speaker 1: an eight and five team last year, big ten team.
7:19
Speaker 1: So the challenge is still very significant for us, which
7:22
Speaker 1: I think our guys embrace. You know, these are competitors,
7:27
Speaker 1: you know, and they want to go against the best,
7:28
Speaker 1: and we're going against a very good team. So it's
7:31
Speaker 1: it's similar in terms of the challenge. It's different in
7:33
Speaker 1: terms of, you know, we don't have necessarily the momentum
7:37
Speaker 1: coming out of you know, twenty twenty two like we
7:41
Speaker 1: you know, we don't have that momentum, so we don't
7:43
Speaker 1: have the momentum coming out of twenty twenty three like
7:45
Speaker 1: we did in twenty twenty two.
7:46
Speaker 2: But that's okay.
7:47
Speaker 1: It's always a new year, it's always a new team,
7:49
Speaker 1: it's always a new endeavor, it's always a new challenge.
7:52
Speaker 3: You feel like build moment can't. You feel like you're.
7:55
Speaker 2: Built in camp.
7:57
Speaker 1: You know, you build confidence in you know, overcoming adversity,
8:02
Speaker 1: handling intense practices where you're in pressure pack situations, you
8:07
Speaker 1: build confidence. But I think the true confidence comes and
8:10
Speaker 1: having success in a game, you know, against somebody that
8:13
Speaker 1: you don't know, in a in a really tough competitive
8:16
Speaker 1: environment where you both have a lot on the line,
8:19
Speaker 1: When you can have success there, and then I think
8:21
Speaker 1: that builds the confidence that you need to go through
8:23
Speaker 1: the season. The quarterback, well, he's he's cool, he's calm,
8:30
Speaker 1: he's experienced, he's you know, I think sometimes when you
8:33
Speaker 1: say that we're game manager, people maybe take that as
8:37
Speaker 1: a negative connotation. But he's got really good game management skills.
8:40
Speaker 1: He understands situations very well. He takes care of the football.
8:45
Speaker 1: He's got accuracy as a thrower. You know, we we
8:48
Speaker 1: we saw him that first drive last year against NC.
8:50
Speaker 1: He stayed good drive and then you know, they did
8:52
Speaker 1: some things and they're a good team and you know,
8:55
Speaker 1: kind of put the clamps on us. And then unfortunately
8:56
Speaker 1: got hurt in that second game, and you know, we
8:58
Speaker 1: didn't get to see much of him. But when I
9:00
Speaker 1: reflect back to last year's training camp, in that NC
9:03
Speaker 1: State game, I think there's a lot of positives there,
9:06
Speaker 1: you know, and if you surround him with the guy
9:08
Speaker 1: some guys that can run the ball well, and and
9:10
Speaker 1: you know, we've added talent to our wide receiver rooms,
9:12
Speaker 1: some guys that can get open, and then he can
9:13
Speaker 1: he can make those throws different. Uh well, Nick is
9:18
Speaker 1: less experienced. Nick is uh so he's a little bit
9:22
Speaker 1: more of a wild card there. Nick is is probably
9:26
Speaker 1: a little bit better runner than Joe in terms of
9:29
Speaker 1: just you know, pure speed. Joe can get yards, but
9:31
Speaker 1: Nick's probably a little bit a little bit better runner.
9:35
Speaker 2: You know.
9:36
Speaker 1: I think Nick has tremendous confidences arm in his arm talent.
9:39
Speaker 1: But once again, you know, he hasn't he hasn't had
9:41
Speaker 1: a chance to play yet. I think that regardless of
9:45
Speaker 1: who's on the field for us at quarterback, our team
9:48
Speaker 1: will at least going into this game have great confidence
9:51
Speaker 1: in that player just because of what they've shown in
9:54
Speaker 1: practice on a day in and day out basis, and
9:56
Speaker 1: the way they've been in meetings in terms of their
9:58
Speaker 1: you know, uh, their attitude, their their their seriousness, their
10:02
Speaker 1: work ethic, their ability to take things from the practice
10:05
Speaker 1: from the meeting room out to the practice field, and
10:07
Speaker 1: and you know, and be efficient. So either way, you know,
10:12
Speaker 1: we'll be confident what you saw from your.
10:16
Speaker 4: Group, You can't did you have any major questions you
10:19
Speaker 4: may have?
10:19
Speaker 2: Answer?
10:19
Speaker 4: Can't answered what what you saw and did you have
10:23
Speaker 4: any major questions arise as you went through?
10:27
Speaker 2: Questions arise?
10:28
Speaker 1: Not really, you know, I mean interestingly, enough of the
10:30
Speaker 1: biggest questions who's gonna be our long snapper?
10:33
Speaker 2: You know?
10:33
Speaker 1: Uh, and our quarterback obviously, but uh, you know, I
10:36
Speaker 1: think that the questions will start to be answered now.
10:41
Speaker 1: You know, everything kind of changes when it when it
10:45
Speaker 1: gets real, you know, and uh, so we're gonna start
10:50
Speaker 1: finding out a lot about this team. You have suspicions
10:52
Speaker 1: as you go into the season, you know, positives and
10:55
Speaker 1: things that you're concerned about, but nothing that just stands
10:58
Speaker 1: out greatly to me, you know, I mean, curge by
11:00
Speaker 1: what I've seen, I'm encouraged by the way these guys
11:02
Speaker 1: have come together. I'm encouraged by their work ethic, their attitude,
11:05
Speaker 1: Like I said, their ability to connect all those things,
11:08
Speaker 1: I'm really encouraged by. But uh, you know, hopefully that's
11:12
Speaker 1: hopefully the team that I see on a daily basis
11:15
Speaker 1: is the team that we continue to become and grow
11:18
Speaker 1: and grow and grow into as the season goes on.
11:22
Speaker 1: When it's when it's you know, when it counts and
11:24
Speaker 1: it goes in the paper and it's on the internet,
11:27
Speaker 1: and you know, the highlights are being shown and you're
11:29
Speaker 1: being judged by your record.
11:31
Speaker 2: The quarterback, if.
11:32
Speaker 4: You have, you know, a person started, do you think
11:36
Speaker 4: there's a potential for you to what you know, look
11:39
Speaker 4: to a second option?
11:39
Speaker 1: Given that, no, not, We've had to do that the
11:45
Speaker 1: last two years after one game. It'd be great to
11:49
Speaker 1: be able to settle into quarterback and play. I've always
11:51
Speaker 1: felt that the best thing to do is pick a
11:53
Speaker 1: guy and then just support the credit the heck out
11:56
Speaker 1: of it. Just support them, support them, support and support him,
11:59
Speaker 1: give him confidence, give them your energy, give them all
12:01
Speaker 1: your attention. Try to put them in a great position
12:04
Speaker 1: to have success. I don't want guys that are looking
12:07
Speaker 1: over their shoulders saying, am I going to be replaced?
12:09
Speaker 1: If I make a mistake? Am I going to be replaced?
12:11
Speaker 1: That's you don't play well when when you're looking over
12:13
Speaker 1: your shoulder like that. That's just always been my philosophy.
12:15
Speaker 1: And the men that I've been around that are coaches
12:18
Speaker 1: and gms that have had success, that's been their philosophy.
12:21
Speaker 1: So that doesn't mean you won't if a change is necessitated,
12:25
Speaker 1: you won't. You won't make it, But you don't ever
12:28
Speaker 1: go in or I don't ever go into a season
12:29
Speaker 1: thinking that way, like, that's our guy.
12:32
Speaker 2: We're going to go with him.
12:33
Speaker 1: We've got a backup or two or three that if
12:36
Speaker 1: we need him, they're going to be ready. We can
12:38
Speaker 1: count on them. But this is our guy. Let's throw
12:40
Speaker 1: everything behind him and help him have success right now? Yes, yeah, yeah,
12:48
Speaker 1: And I'm happy with the depth of our offensive line.
12:52
Speaker 1: I think we've got a greater depth. That doesn't mean
12:55
Speaker 1: we have you know, more talent, but we have well,
12:59
Speaker 1: we do have more talent, and it doesn't mean we
13:00
Speaker 1: have better talent, we just have more depth. You know,
13:02
Speaker 1: it's hard to replace the Christian Haynes, you know, to
13:04
Speaker 1: see he start right now. He's he's starting for the
13:07
Speaker 1: Seahawks at guard, you know, so you know it's hard
13:10
Speaker 1: to replace that. But we've we've had guys have stepped
13:14
Speaker 1: up and done a good job.
13:15
Speaker 2: You know.
13:15
Speaker 1: For the first time ever, we've got really three guys
13:17
Speaker 1: that we think can play center. You know, last year
13:20
Speaker 1: we'd be we'd be nervous if we lost our starting center.
13:23
Speaker 1: Now we've got three guys that we think can play
13:25
Speaker 1: in their West Carston and Chris Forton, you know, So
13:31
Speaker 1: once again we'll see, you know, how we hold up
13:34
Speaker 1: and how we how we do against a really really
13:37
Speaker 1: good Maryland defensive front. I mean they're big, and they're physical,
13:40
Speaker 1: and they're powerful, and they're strong and they're aggressive. So
13:42
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a heck of a challenge for us.
13:44
Speaker 1: I think we'll have a real good feel for where
13:46
Speaker 1: we are as a team, you.
13:48
Speaker 2: Know, on Sunday, on what we've seen. No, I'm sorry,
13:53
Speaker 2: I'm sorry.
13:54
Speaker 3: Based on what you've.
13:55
Speaker 4: Seen from the teams put together, and I.
13:57
Speaker 3: Know you've spoken to the groups, how would you and what
14:00
Speaker 3: would you say to encourage people to invest in what
14:04
Speaker 3: gives you the optimism? Why should you know people outside
14:08
Speaker 3: the Optimist support.
14:09
Speaker 2: What are your fins to well?
14:11
Speaker 1: I mean I get to see them every day and
14:13
Speaker 1: I get to listen to them, I get to talk
14:15
Speaker 1: to them. I have a feel for for their personalities,
14:19
Speaker 1: who who they are, their goals, their work ethic, their character,
14:23
Speaker 1: all of those things. And it's it's a it's a
14:25
Speaker 1: top flight group.
14:26
Speaker 2: You know.
14:26
Speaker 1: I've talked about this a lot of domins. There's there's
14:29
Speaker 1: a there's not a sense of entitlement around here. It's
14:31
Speaker 1: a bunch of kids that really want to work for it.
14:32
Speaker 1: They're a blue collar type of crew. They're gonna give
14:35
Speaker 1: you their best every single day, win, loser, draw, They're
14:38
Speaker 1: going to continue to compete to the very end. You know,
14:41
Speaker 1: I see, I see positive things for this program on
14:44
Speaker 1: the horizon.
14:45
Speaker 2: We've still got a lot of work to do.
14:47
Speaker 3: Uh.
14:48
Speaker 1: I would say this, you know, the energy that people
14:51
Speaker 1: bring we feed off of, and yet we have to
14:55
Speaker 1: we have to earn that, We have to earn their energy.
14:57
Speaker 1: I've always felt like that. You know, I don't like
15:00
Speaker 1: when coaches stand up and they criticize a crowd. You know,
15:03
Speaker 1: if you're doing well, a crowd is going to be
15:05
Speaker 1: for you, right and if you're not. I mean, they
15:07
Speaker 1: paid good money. It's it's tough for them to sit
15:08
Speaker 1: there and absorb that stuff. And you know, you never,
15:11
Speaker 1: as me as a coach, you never criticize the number
15:13
Speaker 1: of people in the stands. You thank the people that
15:15
Speaker 1: were there, and you say, hey, we have to earn
15:18
Speaker 1: more people coming in and embracing this program. And I
15:21
Speaker 1: think if if we can go out this year and
15:23
Speaker 1: show continued improvement and be very competitive and have a
15:26
Speaker 1: record that gets us into a good bowl, right that,
15:29
Speaker 1: I know that people will will show up.
15:31
Speaker 2: I think it was proven. You know last year the
15:34
Speaker 2: very first game of.
15:34
Speaker 1: The year NC State, you know, we won six regular
15:37
Speaker 1: season games, we showed some promise. Late we be to
15:39
Speaker 1: a liberty team and the place was, you know, pretty full.
15:44
Speaker 1: I mean there was great energy. So it's really about
15:47
Speaker 1: us doing all that we can to prove to people
15:50
Speaker 1: that want to support Yukon athletics. You know, whether it's football, basketball, hockey, soccer,
15:56
Speaker 1: women's across, it doesn't matter. You know, Hey, these guys
16:00
Speaker 1: they're fun to watch. They're worth coming out and it's
16:02
Speaker 1: worth spending our time and in some of our money
16:04
Speaker 1: and making an investment. So I've always looked at it
16:07
Speaker 1: that way. You know, it's up to us to show them,
16:11
Speaker 1: and that's that's, you know, one of our intentions.
16:14
Speaker 3: I'm not sure you want to call me said the
16:16
Speaker 3: quarterback question for you.
16:17
Speaker 2: No, it's fun when you're.
16:19
Speaker 4: Talking about wanting to throw your quarterback but also play
16:24
Speaker 4: the part of the clothes.
16:26
Speaker 3: And chest because you have a car that you can play.
16:29
Speaker 4: Right now, how he built that in quarterback?
16:32
Speaker 1: Well, they know they know who the starter is. Yeah,
16:35
Speaker 1: they know. They've been they've been talked to like you know, listen,
16:39
Speaker 1: it's I you want to know the starter is. It's
16:42
Speaker 1: not that it knicks the starter. Okay, there you go.
16:45
Speaker 1: You do it out of me, alright, Nick, start and
16:47
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter right like cause after one play, everyone's
16:49
Speaker 1: gonna know anyway. So I just ruined like twenty minutes
16:55
Speaker 1: of missing intrigue. Now, I was thinking about saying it before,
17:00
Speaker 1: where I was like, why am I playing with you guys?
17:01
Speaker 1: You guys come out here and you want to write
17:03
Speaker 1: a story, and you know, like, I'm not gonna stand
17:06
Speaker 1: up here and play it for fools. I mean, that's
17:08
Speaker 1: stupid of me. That's not my character. So Nick's our
17:10
Speaker 1: starter and we're gonna throw all our all our support
17:13
Speaker 1: behind him, and we're gonna put him in a position
17:15
Speaker 1: to win. And we know that Joe and Tucker and
17:18
Speaker 1: Cole are ready to go if if there's a reason
17:21
Speaker 1: to to have them go.
17:29
Speaker 2: No, that's about it. I mean, what the hell ship
17:31
Speaker 2: it doesn't matter.
17:32
Speaker 1: God dang right, everyone's gonna after the first play anyway. Ah,
17:43
Speaker 1: it was, you know, it just kind of slowly greove
17:46
Speaker 1: through camp, probably right a couple of weeks ago, you know, right,
17:51
Speaker 1: a couple of weeks ago. You know, you go out
17:53
Speaker 1: these days when you go out into the portal, well,
17:57
Speaker 1: when you have uncertainty in your quarterback room or any
18:00
Speaker 1: room on your team, which we did, right, I mean
18:02
Speaker 1: we did we you know, uh, last year, you know,
18:06
Speaker 1: Joe in our eyes, beat out Tae Kwon for the
18:09
Speaker 1: starting job and then take Kuon the year before had
18:13
Speaker 1: come in and been the start of it. Last year,
18:15
Speaker 1: Joe beat him out, and then Joe gets hurting and
18:16
Speaker 1: Tae Kwon takes over, and then you know, there's just
18:19
Speaker 1: a lot of uncertainty, and you go out in the
18:21
Speaker 1: portal and you find a guy that you think's got talent.
18:23
Speaker 1: You know, you don't in this day and age, you
18:26
Speaker 1: don't bring a guy in and you know, and help
18:30
Speaker 1: him get nil opportunities unless you're pretty convinced he's going
18:34
Speaker 1: to be the guy.
18:35
Speaker 2: You know.
18:35
Speaker 1: That's that's the way this thing works nowadays. So you know,
18:41
Speaker 1: not to disparage any the other quarterbacks. When you go
18:44
Speaker 1: get Nick Evers, you know, you're hoping that he becomes
18:48
Speaker 1: the guy. You know, and you're cheering for them all,
18:51
Speaker 1: and you're pushing them all and you're coaching the heck
18:53
Speaker 1: out of all of them, and you're loving them all up.
18:54
Speaker 1: But you're hoping deep down that you know you made
18:57
Speaker 1: the right decision that you can really solidify that room.
19:00
Speaker 1: And I think that room's pretty solid right now, but
19:03
Speaker 1: you know, we've all seen around here how fast that
19:06
Speaker 1: that can change.
19:06
Speaker 2: At that position.
19:08
Speaker 3: You talk a little more about the wide receivers and
19:12
Speaker 3: how you go there there. You feel like you know
19:14
Speaker 3: a couple of playmakers.
19:15
Speaker 2: I do.
19:15
Speaker 1: I feel like when you bring in a Skylar Bell,
19:18
Speaker 1: who you know was a starter at Wisconsin and a TJ.
19:20
Speaker 1: Sheffield who's the starter at Purdue that's produced on a
19:24
Speaker 1: big stage, you know, uh that that's going to help
19:27
Speaker 1: your team you see a sense of maturity and confidence
19:31
Speaker 1: in those guys. It's that's you know, we haven't necessarily
19:33
Speaker 1: had here when you bring in uh, you know Ezirajah Easy,
19:40
Speaker 1: you know, big tall guy, because you're always kind. We've
19:42
Speaker 1: been kind of looking for someone that can replace the
19:43
Speaker 1: production that Justin had we lost him den c State.
19:47
Speaker 1: He gives you some of that, you know, big body,
19:49
Speaker 1: mismatch type of guy. Or Josiah or Shamar who you know,
19:53
Speaker 1: six foot two, two hundred and five pound guy that
19:55
Speaker 1: can run like the win. You know, Josiah guys has
19:57
Speaker 1: been a productive player at Akron. It's just a different
20:01
Speaker 1: it's a different feel, you know, like I watch it
20:04
Speaker 1: in practice. I'm not saying they're gonna get open every
20:06
Speaker 1: down and catch every ball, but there's a different level
20:09
Speaker 1: of confidence, maturity, understanding of the game, depth, you know,
20:15
Speaker 1: all of those things. And then you know, a couple
20:17
Speaker 1: of the young guys have come on. You know, Brett
20:19
Speaker 1: Buckman and I didn't talk about Brett Buckman. I mean,
20:22
Speaker 1: you know he's steady Eddy, we saw what he done
20:24
Speaker 1: in some games last year. And then but Brock Montgomery,
20:28
Speaker 1: who's a true freshman. He's going to contribute. So I
20:31
Speaker 1: feel like there's there's plenty of depth in that room.
20:34
Speaker 1: We can ropetate guys through and not have a significant
20:37
Speaker 1: drop off in terms of production.
20:39
Speaker 3: So skylos guy Eagles well here because they had a
20:44
Speaker 3: good friendship chem stry developed early on because they've just.
20:48
Speaker 2: Known each other for a while.
20:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I've seen that chemistry develop with with all
20:52
Speaker 1: those guys and our quarterbacks because it was not unusual
20:56
Speaker 1: for our quarterbacks to have our receivers out on the
21:00
Speaker 1: practice field on a Friday night at nine or ten
21:02
Speaker 1: o'clock on a Sunday morning at seven or eight in
21:04
Speaker 1: the morning throwing the ball around. That was a you know,
21:07
Speaker 1: that was typical and it was also necessary because you
21:11
Speaker 1: have to have that chemistry. And when you bring in
21:14
Speaker 1: the new receivers we did in a new quarterback after
21:17
Speaker 1: spring ball, you know, you're you're playing from behind, and
21:20
Speaker 1: so in order to catch up, they have to go
21:23
Speaker 1: do some of that stuff on their own, and they
21:25
Speaker 1: did it. And so I think, yeah, he's got a
21:27
Speaker 1: good chemistry with Skylett because he knew him, but he's
21:29
Speaker 1: also developed out with the other guys, and so is
21:32
Speaker 1: Joe and Cole and Tucker Jim a few.
21:36
Speaker 4: Times last year of this setting, you really emphasize the
21:38
Speaker 4: importance of support for the programming the areas of Club
21:41
Speaker 4: Brazy Nil eight nine months later that.
21:45
Speaker 1: I think that there's a number of people that did
21:48
Speaker 1: an amazing job in helping us go out and acquire
21:54
Speaker 1: players and retain players. You know, I hate to leave
21:58
Speaker 1: anybody out because a lot of people did a lot
22:01
Speaker 1: of things. But you know, I think about Mike Burton
22:06
Speaker 1: in the commitment that he made, and you know, he
22:09
Speaker 1: essentially became like, you know, our general manager for a
22:12
Speaker 1: while there, you know, in the NIL and and Dennis
22:15
Speaker 1: Naden and John Malfonte.
22:18
Speaker 2: I mean.
22:20
Speaker 1: So many I'm going to leave people out and probably
22:22
Speaker 1: get a text or an email I gave too, and
22:24
Speaker 1: they all gave and I recognize them all and appreciate
22:26
Speaker 1: them all. And that's the world of college athletics right now,
22:31
Speaker 1: you know, right now. I mean it's changing every day,
22:34
Speaker 1: but you're so dependent on people having a passion for
22:39
Speaker 1: their their university and a belief in their program. And
22:43
Speaker 1: so as a coach and I would hope as players,
22:46
Speaker 1: it makes you feel responsible more responsible. I think we
22:51
Speaker 1: all feel that anyway, because we're all competitors, but you know,
22:54
Speaker 1: I mean I feel responsible to those men and women
22:57
Speaker 1: that have you know, given money to this pro and
23:01
Speaker 1: and funded NI opportunities for our players, you know, And
23:04
Speaker 1: I think our players feel the same way. It's it's
23:08
Speaker 1: become very much more like pro football than it's ever been,
23:14
Speaker 1: oh goodness sake, Yeah, much better. And I think we're growing,
23:17
Speaker 1: you know, and there's just a lot of energy that's
23:19
Speaker 1: been expended by a lot of people to help us
23:22
Speaker 1: get where we are right now. And we've got a
23:24
Speaker 1: long ways to go, but there's been a tremendous amount
23:27
Speaker 1: of commitment to helping us get where we need to be.
23:30
Speaker 1: And I think that the people that matter right now
23:32
Speaker 1: see the vision. I think they see the vision and
23:34
Speaker 1: they understand that it's you know, it's a process and
23:36
Speaker 1: it's going.
23:37
Speaker 2: To take a while.
23:37
Speaker 1: And you know, we've been climbing out of a hole
23:40
Speaker 1: here now for a couple of years and we're just
23:41
Speaker 1: going to keep keep you know, trying to trying to
23:45
Speaker 1: dig our way out.
23:47
Speaker 2: Okay, thanks to everyone, Appreciate