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Jaime Horton discusses his Reimagine Prep Football Team for 2025 · The Jake Wimberly Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Our coverage of the twenty twenty five Mississippi Association of
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Coaches Clinic, that is the clinic, the Multi sports Clinic.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Excuse me out here at the refuge.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Glad to be with you as we continue to go
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: around the state of Mississippi visiting with coaches of various classifications.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Right now, our next guest is not really guess he's
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: more of a friend, be a part of what we've
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: done before at Alpha Media and than of course with Jackson
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: State and More's Jamie Horton. He's had football coach athletics
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  Speaker 1: director reimagined prep.
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  Speaker 2: My ma'am, how are you?
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  Speaker 4: I'm good man. How you doing.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: We're hanging in there.
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: I appreciate you chalking time out. I know we missed
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  Speaker 1: each other yesterday. I was late today getting in here
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  Speaker 1: just because of parking, which that's the only bad thing
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  Speaker 1: about this play. Look, I don't know of a place
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  Speaker 1: in Mississippi you could actually do this event and have
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  Speaker 1: the park.
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  Speaker 3: Well, let me put this sherifan's a great problem, of course,
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  Speaker 3: I mean it's beautiful, but the parking is a huge problem.
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  Speaker 4: I think I'm in peril right now.
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  Speaker 1: Park you probably are, so seriously let's talk Reimagine and
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  Speaker 1: I'm not talking about Reimagine this or that. We're talking
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  Speaker 1: about Reimagined Prep. And a lot of people may not know.
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  Speaker 1: Off West McDowell Road. Take us through before we get
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: into you know, obviously, you guys want a championship last
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  Speaker 1: year twenty twenty four, you're playing in a new district
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  Speaker 1: this year.
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  Speaker 2: There's a lot of movie pieces here. But take us through.
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  Speaker 2: For those that don't know, tell us about Reimagine Prep.
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  Speaker 3: Re Imagine Prep is a charter school, public charter school
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  Speaker 3: that's located in South Jackson, in the heart of South
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  Speaker 3: Jackson West McDowell Road, and we enroll kids just like
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  Speaker 3: you know, regular students who like JPS. The Ranking County
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  Speaker 3: School District homes kind of school district at the Mason
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  Speaker 3: County School District. It's free of charge in it's grades
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  Speaker 3: fifth through eight and they get a quality of education there.
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  Speaker 3: We know the difference between charter schools, and I would
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  Speaker 3: say probably like JPS is we just do things a
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  Speaker 3: little bit differently, teach a different way. Our curriculum is
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  Speaker 3: a little bit more rigorous. We demand a lot from
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  Speaker 3: our students, and they didn't coincide with demand a lot
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  Speaker 3: from our teachers, and you know, the administration put pressure
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  Speaker 3: on us to get these kids ready for high school
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  Speaker 3: because that's what it's all about.
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  Speaker 2: No, absolutely, yes.
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  Speaker 4: And when they leave middle school they go to mainly
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  Speaker 4: go back to JPS.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, yeah, so re imagine prep.
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  Speaker 1: This is I wouldn't call it like a little six,
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  Speaker 1: but little six will be like seventh, eighth, ninth grade.
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  Speaker 1: But you guys are kind of in that in that
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  Speaker 1: realm there. Yes, reimagine prep. Yeah, so reimagine prep. You
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  Speaker 1: guys have been playing football. Told us about last year.
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  Speaker 1: You guys were able to win a championship. Take us
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  Speaker 1: through that. I'm sure you know for the young men
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  Speaker 1: that were on that team their parents, that was that
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  Speaker 1: was the heck of a year.
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  Speaker 4: Oh yeah, let me tell you something, Jake.
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  Speaker 3: We started off one and three and it was frustrating,
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  Speaker 3: I tell you the truth. So I had to make
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  Speaker 3: some changes, and I had to make some change about
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  Speaker 3: coaching staff and also our system a little bit too.
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  Speaker 3: And we had to switch some players around, and we
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  Speaker 3: also had to get rid of some players because you know,
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  Speaker 3: you got certain players that mixing with the players that
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  Speaker 3: dedicated and the one is not dedicated and it calls
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  Speaker 3: it's like a cancer.
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  Speaker 4: So I had to remove that cancer. And after that,
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  Speaker 4: by week.
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  Speaker 3: That we had showed us a little tough love, trust,
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  Speaker 3: men had to go to church and ask forgiveness. And
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  Speaker 3: we went on a seven game winning street and we
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  Speaker 3: end up winning the Little Swat Championship. We be Yazoo
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  Speaker 3: County two to six in the championship game, and I
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: could have been more proud of my kids.
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  Speaker 1: Visit with Jamie Horton, he's the head football coach athletics
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  Speaker 1: director at Reimagined Prep West, McDowell wrote, you know, I
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  Speaker 1: love stories like this because you know what you guys
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  Speaker 1: have done with Reimagine Prepper at least is what it
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  Speaker 1: sounds like. You said, Hey, look nothing wrong with you
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  Speaker 1: know where kids go to school, what you want to
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  Speaker 1: you want to go to school? You know here there yonder.
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  Speaker 1: You can go to a JPS school if you've got time,
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  Speaker 1: go to Hartfield or Prep or wherever you can do it.
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  Speaker 1: But we're going to build a school that caters to
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  Speaker 1: our kids and our community with athletics. And you know,
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  Speaker 1: the kind of been the theme this week. Talking to
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  Speaker 1: a lot of coaches is sometimes and this isn't everybody. Administrators,
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  Speaker 1: people that are in education tend to forget the front
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  Speaker 1: door property of an educational center regardless. Is your football team, right,
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  Speaker 1: and you know that doesn't mean that it's more important
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  Speaker 1: than education, but I think equally, as your football.
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  Speaker 2: Team goes, so does your school.
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  Speaker 4: That's right.
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  Speaker 2: Here's a great example.
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  Speaker 1: They did a study that showed when Nick Saban came
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  Speaker 1: to Alabama two thousand and eight, student enrollment started once
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  Speaker 1: they started winning ticking up.
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  Speaker 2: It was going up.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, And you know you're talking about economic development people.
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  Speaker 2: Football matters to schools.
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  Speaker 3: Very much so ands and athletics is a key to
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  Speaker 3: me to enrollment. I mean, so a lot of parents
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  Speaker 3: want their kids to go somewhere, especially in sports that's
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  Speaker 3: gonna be successful. Teach them how to be mean, and
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  Speaker 3: that's what it's all about, Jake. More than anything about football,
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  Speaker 3: is teaching any young men how to be mean and my.
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  Speaker 4: Tough on them.
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  Speaker 3: Of course, you know why, because life is tough, and uh, I'm.
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  Speaker 4: Not gonna sugar coat nothing with them. I don't.
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  Speaker 3: You can ask some of my players now former players,
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  Speaker 3: and that's what it's all about. But at the same time,
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  Speaker 3: I care about them. And I love them and I
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  Speaker 3: want them to get the best education possible.
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  Speaker 4: And you use.
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  Speaker 3: Football as a way to you know, as an outlet.
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  Speaker 3: You know, you want to go hit somebody instead of fighting. Hey,
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  Speaker 3: come out down the field and hit somebody, absolutely, and
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  Speaker 3: it's legal.
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  Speaker 4: You know.
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  Speaker 1: And I've always said, I mean, some of my best
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  Speaker 1: teaching moments and this isn't a shot at my own parents,
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  Speaker 1: but some of my best teaching moments were my football coaches.
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  Speaker 1: And uh, you know they're near and dear to my
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  Speaker 1: heart so much that you know, one of my former
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  Speaker 1: coaches is now in a nursing home. A bunch of
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  Speaker 1: our players, former players went visiting him a couple of
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  Speaker 1: months ago. That was thirty five years ago.
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  Speaker 4: That's right.
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  Speaker 2: So the all that to say is the mark that coaches.
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  Speaker 1: Like what you guys are doing over there, reimagine what
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  Speaker 1: these other coaches that are here. The marks that you
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  Speaker 1: leave in a positive way or negative sometimes on a
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  Speaker 1: young man's life, It can affect them the rest of
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  Speaker 1: their life.
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  Speaker 4: That's right. And let me tell you something.
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  Speaker 3: We were so successful last year that Chris Dick Penn,
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  Speaker 3: the head coach at Terry as Well, coach phelps for
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  Speaker 3: as Hill coach speaks profide. The coaches at Coach Fred
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  Speaker 3: and Mu all of them came up to me day
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  Speaker 3: and thanking me for sending me to their kids. I
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  Speaker 3: had two kids that got scholarships to Hartfield and I
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: got one that's supposed to be going to PREP. And
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  Speaker 3: I don't care where they go, as long as they
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  Speaker 3: continue their education. That's what it's all about. And at
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  Speaker 3: the end of the day, we went over there and
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  Speaker 3: we bet Prep twenty six zero. Really Prep coach. Coach
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  Speaker 3: told me when I was going to dress wrong either, coach,
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  Speaker 3: I need to talk to you. I need some of
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  Speaker 3: these kids. That's I tell you what. You give me
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  Speaker 3: your name, I mean your number and everything, and I
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  Speaker 3: get to the parents and if you know, y'all work
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  Speaker 3: that out and we're working that like that.
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  Speaker 4: But Heartfield saw us play.
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  Speaker 3: One of the coaches with them and he saw one
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  Speaker 3: of my defensive linem and then he saw my running
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  Speaker 3: back and he wanted them. And you know, of course
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  Speaker 3: you got to pass certain standards. Of course, academic standards.
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  Speaker 3: That's what it's all about.
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  Speaker 4: It is. The academic stands went no problem for.
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  Speaker 3: Them, and they end up going to you know, getting
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  Speaker 3: it admitted in the heartfield and they're practicing with the
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  Speaker 3: team right now.
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  Speaker 1: Jamie Horton on your radio, had football coach athletic director
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  Speaker 1: rematche Prep tell me about this year's group.
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  Speaker 2: I know you guys had to practice for a couple
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  Speaker 2: of weeks.
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  Speaker 3: Maybe yes, And I'm gonna tell you hot oh man man,
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  Speaker 3: look and we go to teachers, we report back Monday,
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  Speaker 3: and school this year starts on July of twenty eight.
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  Speaker 4: And it's been an adjustment.
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  Speaker 3: I tell you that it's it's been one of those
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  Speaker 3: things where you know, I'm used to just standing into August.
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  Speaker 3: But it is what it is. You do what you
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  Speaker 3: gotta do, and the kids are adjusting to it. But
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  Speaker 3: you know, we just got to be rid. Our first
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  Speaker 3: game is office at twenty third. We're playing Ruleville Middle
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  Speaker 3: School out of Ruleville, Mississippi. Yeah, and we were playing
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  Speaker 3: at Hill Chris. You know, we don't have a field,
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  Speaker 3: so we Hill Chris has been so cordial to let
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  Speaker 3: us borrow their field, so we're gonna we're gonna play
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  Speaker 3: over there.
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  Speaker 1: So final question for you, what's next for reimagine Prep?
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  Speaker 1: Be youre taling my need? I mean, I'm assuming maybe
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  Speaker 1: master plan to try to go ahead and get a
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  Speaker 1: facility at some point where you guys can play kind
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  Speaker 1: of a long range for forecast.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, reimagine and smiler. You know, we fall up on
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  Speaker 3: the same umbrella we're trying to get, like, you know,
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  Speaker 3: buy some I mean either Bill or a boy you know,
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  Speaker 3: a school with all the athletics facilities up and there.
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  Speaker 3: We got a gym, but it's not like a regulation gym,
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  Speaker 3: so I had to move my basketball game to you know,
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  Speaker 3: a regulation gym, forwarding them.
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  Speaker 4: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: I can't do that or they'll come shut it down
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  Speaker 3: and I ain't got time be paying no fines. I really, yeah, exactly.
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  Speaker 3: So that's our learned term goal. Uh maybe even one
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  Speaker 3: day get a high school here. So Republicans, you know,
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  Speaker 3: looking at that because at the end of the day, Jake,
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  Speaker 3: it's all about the children, not about an adult. And
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  Speaker 3: you're right, yeah, I mean it's along with the kids
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  Speaker 3: are learning and doing what they're supposed to do and
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  Speaker 3: be successful. That's all that boutles quick question, you be
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  Speaker 3: do anything with Jackson. Yes, I'm still the sideline port
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  Speaker 3: for Jackson State. I talked to coach Old last night
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  Speaker 3: and I talked to Javansi and and and uh some
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  Speaker 3: of the defensive coasts. Yes day they had a session here.
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  Speaker 3: It was good seeing those guys again. And uh, I'd
• 8:12
  Speaker 3: be reading outing with them very soon. But when I understand, uh,
• 8:16
  Speaker 3: you better watch out.
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  Speaker 1: I was gonna ask you. So he hadn't asked me
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  Speaker 1: to say this. I'm asking you, my guy, my guy,
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  Speaker 1: YO got Nate Blunt. Are you all gonna give him
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  Speaker 1: the ball this year? Nate Blunt is gonna get the ball,
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  Speaker 1: sleep with it and everything. And let me tell you something.
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  Speaker 3: We had Tyrone Anshley's son last night and he was
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: telling me that he's Yeah. He told Preston said, coach,
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  Speaker 3: I'm telling you, once they get that ball, it's gonna
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  Speaker 3: be hard to stop. You know. They had some shine
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: last year a little bit in some of the games
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  Speaker 3: that he came in. And when I tell you that
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: kid is a is a ball player, he's a ball player.
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  Speaker 3: And speaking of Brandon, I mean, I think this year
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: they're gonna they're gonna win the state.
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  Speaker 2: It's gonna be tough. I mean, look, they've got they're
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: gonna have a really good shot. But there's some really
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: good team.
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  Speaker 3: So I'm gonna tell you they're looking for revenge against
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: Houx because they said and they should have had that game.
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: So it's gonna be it's gonna be interesting, of course,
• 9:08
  Speaker 3: you know, I gotta get a love to my to
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: my hometown or homes kind of central of course in
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: the PA announcement with coach Rodgers, good, very good friend
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: of mine, one of my best friends, and he's doing
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: a great phenomenal job with.
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  Speaker 4: Those kids up there. He really is.
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  Speaker 3: People don't realize the challenges that he faces, uh you know,
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  Speaker 3: being you know in home from homes kind of one
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  Speaker 3: of the poors in the in the state. But good
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  Speaker 3: school district, good people is that's the thing. Good principal,
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  Speaker 3: good leadership, and hopefully we can get over there.
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  Speaker 4: Hump.
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  Speaker 3: I'm still kind of hurt by that West Point lost
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  Speaker 3: last year that we should have won. But you got
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: to give to West Point is a great program. They are,
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: I mean, they're one of the best in the state
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  Speaker 3: and you gotta give it to them. They are really
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  Speaker 3: talented and it's gonna be tough in five A ill
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: tell you that, But I really think Brandon's gonna do
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  Speaker 3: something this year.
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  Speaker 2: It'll be fun. Hey, make sure to check them out.
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  Speaker 1: We'll be following Reimagined Prep here in Johnson West mcgaal
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  Speaker 1: Rod Jamie Horton had football coach athletic director in front
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  Speaker 1: of ours.
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  Speaker 2: Jammie, thank you so much.
• 10:00
  Speaker 4: I appreciate it. Jake, thanks, but thanks.
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: Got to take a time out more coming your way
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: back in a moment