Latest / 4th AND BULL / USF LB Grayson "Pup" Howard Sits Down With Nick Wize

Transcript

USF LB Grayson "Pup" Howard Sits Down With Nick Wize · 4th AND BULL

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What up, pup?
• 0:01
  Speaker 2: How you doing?
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: I'm good, man. How are you?
• 0:04
  Speaker 3: Good, good.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Can't complain.
• 0:06
  Speaker 4: It's good to talk to you, man. I know the
• 0:07
  Speaker 4: last time that we talked, you had some big news.
• 0:10
  Speaker 4: You became a captain of the 2026 USF Bulls. Not
• 0:14
  Speaker 4: just the captain, but you got the most votes on
• 0:16
  Speaker 4: the team. What was it like when you got to
• 0:17
  Speaker 4: call your dad and tell him the news?
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: I saw that video.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was good.
• 0:23
  Speaker 3: It's just a testament to the type of guy he
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: is and what he's instilled in.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Me since I was a little kid.
• 0:28
  Speaker 3: So, It was nice to be able to give them
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: that news, and it's nice to.
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: Be able to go out there and honor my last
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: name for them.
• 0:34
  Speaker 4: Hey, I know when you guys are obviously focused on
• 0:38
  Speaker 4: football and you don't get a ton of free time.
• 0:41
  Speaker 4: I was on vacation last week, so I decided to
• 0:43
  Speaker 4: buy College Football 27. You and the guys play College
• 0:46
  Speaker 4: Football 27 at all?
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: No, I haven't.
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: I actually don't even have a P5 to play the game,
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: so I usually just send my code to my best friend,
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: my old coach.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: From back in high school.
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: Oh, that's right. You guys get the hookup.
• 0:59
  Speaker 4: Well, the reason I brought it up, I started a
• 1:00
  Speaker 4: career with USF. I'm now coaching you guys, just so
• 1:05
  Speaker 4: you know. We did destroy FIU, so things are good there.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: That's good.
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: I wanted to know what you think.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: My hair, but that is very accurate.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Because some of them are so off on some of
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: the players. And I saw that one. I'm like, you know,
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: that's not that bad, obviously.
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: That's probably the most accurate one that's out there.
• 1:26
  Speaker 4: Um, the, the most questions are the most common question
• 1:29
  Speaker 4: I'm getting from the fan base right now is, and
• 1:32
  Speaker 4: I think it's because Brian Hartline is now your guys'
• 1:34
  Speaker 4: coach and he's the guy that brings in all these
• 1:36
  Speaker 4: elite wide receivers. He was a wide receiver himself and
• 1:39
  Speaker 4: you will go against this offense every day in practice,
• 1:42
  Speaker 4: the wide receivers, your thought on your thoughts on the
• 1:45
  Speaker 4: wide receiver room overall.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: So we were just talking about our wide receiver room
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: is very deep.
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: Um, and it's very talented as well.
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: Um, I thought our wide receiver room was, was very
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: good in spring. And then, um, Ruben came back healthy
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: and I'm like, wow, like our wide receiver room got
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: even better. Like we're, we're very deep and we have
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: a lot of good talent. Um, one of my favorite
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: guys is, uh, uh, Josh Porter, um, JP, he's very talented,
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: like very quiet, but he does his job and he,
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: and everybody loves him. Um, but with him, Mudia, um,
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: With Branch, with B-Rod, we got a lot of those guys.
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: And then you got other people like Kenny O. The
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: receiver room is just very deep. And there are a
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: lot of good guys as well. And they're good dudes.
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: And I'm really excited to see what everybody's able to do.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: Hopefully there's enough passes to go around.
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: But a lot of touchdowns to be made for sure.
• 2:51
  Speaker 4: How have you been doing in the one-on-one battle with Wyatt?
• 2:54
  Speaker 4: I know last time we talked, we talked about who
• 2:57
  Speaker 4: was winning the battles in practice. How has that been since?
• 3:00
  Speaker 4: I know you guys have a great relationship.
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: Yeah, like I said, the film doesn't lie. But Wyatt
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: is a good competitor, and I love going against him.
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: He's definitely one of the better tight ends in the league.
• 3:14
  Speaker 3: So going against him every day at practice is just
• 3:17
  Speaker 3: preparing me.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: So I'm blessed for that.
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: Is Brian Hartline treating Wyatt Sullivan more like a wide
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: receiver or a traditional tight end?
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: How is he kind of being used in practice?
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so no.
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: Whenever there's 11P, he's a tight end. Whenever there's 12P,
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: he's a tight end. So being able to have a
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: guy that can actually put his hand in dirt and
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: actually block, he was one of the stronger guys in
• 3:38
  Speaker 3: the weight room this offseason. So him being able to
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: be able to move guys and actually go out there
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: and actually create matchups with linebackers, is going to be
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: by far one of our better attacks on offense.
• 3:51
  Speaker 4: So last week when I talked to you guys, well,
• 3:54
  Speaker 4: it was a little over a week now over at
• 3:55
  Speaker 4: Bulls Fest, anybody that I talked to on the defense
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: obviously praised Coach Aldridge. Whenever I brought up, you know,
• 4:02
  Speaker 4: what brought you to USF, if it was a defensive player,
• 4:05
  Speaker 4: they would talk about Coach Aldridge. What is it about,
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: you know, Coach Aldridge that just all of you guys
• 4:11
  Speaker 4: seem to love playing for this guy?
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: What is it about him?
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it starts off by him being just
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: understanding of players. He's a player's coach, but he has
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: a switch, and we appreciate that switch. We can kick
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: it live, but when it's time to actually work, we
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: all have pride, and we all want to accomplish those things,
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: not only just for our teammates and our brothers on defense,
• 4:33
  Speaker 3: but for him as well because we know the time
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: that he puts into it, and just we want to
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: go out there and make him proud.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: But he's a good leader, and like I said.
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: He can kick it with you, but he can also
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: tell you where you need to improve on as well.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: So he's a good overall coach. And I, I think
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: that everybody's bought in and tries to make them happy.
• 4:51
  Speaker 4: What about coach Brian Hartline? Is he a guy that
• 4:53
  Speaker 4: kicks it with you or is he just kind of
• 4:55
  Speaker 4: football all day long? Cause I just, my impression of
• 4:58
  Speaker 4: Brian Hartline is he only watches film and then he
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: comes and practices with you guys, goes back to watch film,
• 5:04
  Speaker 4: maybe sleeps a little bit and then back to practice.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: He's, he's probably pretty much as you just described it. Yeah.
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: He'll laugh sometimes that he, He makes sure that it's
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: good vibes on the team, but he has that head
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: man respect. When he comes around, you make sure that
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: you're tidy up, your chest is up.
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he's trained up a little bit.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: I'm the same way.
• 5:28
  Speaker 4: When we had him on, we're sitting there in between
• 5:30
  Speaker 4: a commercial break, and I've got like three minutes, and
• 5:33
  Speaker 4: every answer is just so direct, right? And I'm like, oh,
• 5:35
  Speaker 4: I asked him, how are you getting used to Florida?
• 5:37
  Speaker 4: And I know he played for Miami, but it had
• 5:39
  Speaker 4: been a long time since he'd been in Florida, and
• 5:41
  Speaker 4: he was just like, Yeah, it's not a problem at all.
• 5:45
  Speaker 4: I was expecting him to be like, yeah, I'm sweating
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: my butt off. But it was just so straightforward. And
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: I'm like, all right, I think he's ready to do
• 5:53
  Speaker 4: this interview. I want these commercials to get over with
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: so we can get him on the air. And he's
• 5:57
  Speaker 4: always a great conversation. He seems like a great coach.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he is.
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: Obviously, you guys love playing for him. That's why you're here.
• 6:03
  Speaker 4: And you guys have a tremendous class coming in. 41
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: new players come into USF. And then on top of that,
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: you have the freshman class coming in. So there's like
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: 60 new guys on this roster. What is it like
• 6:13
  Speaker 4: putting 60 people who don't know each other in a room? Like,
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: how do you guys just get acclimated with each other
• 6:18
  Speaker 4: and all of a sudden, you know, form this brotherhood? Like,
• 6:20
  Speaker 4: you and Wyatt Sullivan, for example, did you know him
• 6:22
  Speaker 4: before coming to USF? Because you guys are like brothers,
• 6:24
  Speaker 4: and it feels like you've known each other forever.
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I haven't.
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: I just met him. I just heard about him when
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: I first came to USF. And, like, we got, like,
• 6:36
  Speaker 3: not only just on, like, me and Wyatt, but, like,
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: me and other offensive players and me and other defensive players.
• 6:42
  Speaker 2: Like we're really connected.
• 6:44
  Speaker 3: And like what, like one of my best friends on
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: the team, like I have a lot, like I have
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: a lot of best friends. Like there's going to be
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: a lot of guys that's going to be at my
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: wedding on this football team.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: Dude, be careful.
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: That's the hardest part about a wedding. I got married
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: a few years ago and trying to limit that guest list, man.
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: Be careful.
• 6:59
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 6:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: And I'm proud to say that, but like one of
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: my best friends on the team, Devin Davis, he got
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: here after spring. He plays offensive line. So like, a
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: late addition and also a different.
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: Side of the ball.
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: And it just shows the like connection that we have
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: on the team. Like that's one of my best friends
• 7:18
  Speaker 3: that me and him hang out all the time and
• 7:19
  Speaker 3: stuff like that. But Mike will literally said in the
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: huddle today that like, this is one of the most
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: connected teams he's felt since he's been here.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: And we all know Mike will Mike was about 87
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: years old.
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: So that's just a testament to like how connected I
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: think that we are and how close we're getting.
• 7:37
  Speaker 4: No, and I think that kind of stuff is important.
• 7:39
  Speaker 4: I don't know if you're a baseball fan at all,
• 7:41
  Speaker 4: but the Tampa Bay Rays are this team, low payroll,
• 7:44
  Speaker 4: and they love each other, man. They go on the road,
• 7:47
  Speaker 4: they go to dinner, and you can tell, and it works.
• 7:49
  Speaker 4: It shows up on the field, and they're one of
• 7:50
  Speaker 4: the best teams in baseball because of it. Also, I'm
• 7:53
  Speaker 4: not surprised you're going to have a million people at
• 7:54
  Speaker 4: your wedding. There's a reason you got the most votes
• 7:57
  Speaker 4: being a.
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: Team captain, man. That is awesome.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I really appreciate that.
• 8:03
  Speaker 4: It's game week. How does it feel that it's game week?
• 8:05
  Speaker 4: There's an actual game this week, and you guys are
• 8:08
  Speaker 4: going to get to go hit another team. I know
• 8:10
  Speaker 4: it's got to get old just hitting your own teammates
• 8:12
  Speaker 4: over and over and over again.
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it does get old. But, I mean, this doesn't
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: even feel like game week.
• 8:19
  Speaker 3: It feels like we're in fall camp week seven and
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: just another bloody Tuesday. So, I mean, we're just keeping
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: it maintained and maintained and just focusing on it each
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: and every day.
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: I think that is the biggest thing.
• 8:31
  Speaker 3: Is, like, we talked about to have a great Saturday,
• 8:34
  Speaker 3: you have to have a great Tuesday.
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: And we, we went out there and we competed and
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: then we got after it.
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: And I feel like, um, we just focused in one
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: day at a time so that we can go out
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: there on Saturday and perform how we want to perform.
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: Um, but I think like game day, like, I feel.
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: Like it's start registering like Friday when you're realizing that
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: you're in a walkthrough instead of actually practicing.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: Um, but yeah, I'm excited.
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: And I think that everybody else is excited and, and,
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: We talk about getting our bodies and our minds right
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: for it, and it started with today, and I think
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: that we really attacked today.
• 9:06
  Speaker 4: You were talking about some of your friends on the
• 9:07
  Speaker 4: offensive line. Your thoughts overall on the O-line? Because I
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: know that there's a lot of experience up there, just
• 9:12
  Speaker 4: not together. A lot of 300-pound dudes on this team.
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: Is the offensive line going to be a strength? Because
• 9:18
  Speaker 4: I know Brian Hartline, coming from the Big Ten, I
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: can envision him wanting to run the football a lot.
• 9:23
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I definitely think that they're a strength. They are
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: deep as well. Um, there's a lot of, there were
• 9:29
  Speaker 3: like a lot of moving parts on, um, like a
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: starting offensive line. Cause they, there are really good players and,
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: and like players that are stacked behind each other that
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: are really, really good. And I think that coach Hartline
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: and coach Beck is going to do a great job
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: as coaches and Lydia as well at doing a great
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: job at making sure that we have the right guys up,
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: but I'm confident in each and every one of them. One, two,
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: three deep that like that each of them, like I
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: practice against them and they're, they're, they're real deal.
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: So FIU, you got them Saturday night, Raymond James. Stadium.
• 10:01
  Speaker 4: How do you prepare for a team with so many
• 10:03
  Speaker 4: different transfers? Do you guys watch film of last year's
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: team to see the tendencies of the coach? Do you
• 10:07
  Speaker 4: watch individual film on players that are coming in? For example,
• 10:11
  Speaker 4: they've got a quarterback coming in. uh jj cole he's
• 10:15
  Speaker 4: the six seven 250 pound monster like how do you
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: guys prepare uh for a team with so many transfers on.
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: Him yeah so i think the biggest thing is um
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: when transfers come in they also have to buy the
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: culture of the program that's already established so watching last
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: year's team is going to be really effective watching um
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: like the offensive quarter from last year like that's going
• 10:35
  Speaker 3: to be very effective as well but going and seeing
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: like like uh the quarterback like the offense is going
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: to run through him. So going back and watch his
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: film as well to see the type of guy he is,
• 10:46
  Speaker 3: what he likes to do, what's his tendencies, not schematically,
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: but just overall. Because at the end of the day,
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: scheme really doesn't matter when you try to get to
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: know a player. And so watching that film really tells
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: you who that player is and what they're about. And yeah,
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: and we're excited to be able to go and play
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: him this week.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 11:10
  Speaker 4: When I started looking at the roster at FIU, they
• 11:12
  Speaker 4: got a pretty good team. So, you know, I think
• 11:15
  Speaker 4: it's gonna be a great game Saturday night. Now, with
• 11:16
  Speaker 4: that game in week one in Army in week two,
• 11:20
  Speaker 4: this is a question I've been asked a lot on
• 11:21
  Speaker 4: social media with folks knowing that you were coming on
• 11:24
  Speaker 4: the show. Army's different than any other team, right? They
• 11:27
  Speaker 4: run that triple option. I mean, have you guys spent
• 11:30
  Speaker 4: any time and I know you don't want to overlook
• 11:32
  Speaker 4: a team like FIU, but have you spent any time?
• 11:35
  Speaker 4: looking at week two in Army and kind of just
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: preparing for the style of game you're going to have
• 11:38
  Speaker 4: to play there?
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: Because it is a tricky week trying to prepare for
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: those guys.
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: We've prepared throughout the summer, focusing on our goal of
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: week one. But like I said, Coach Aldridge at ECU
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: has played Army, and they get as well prepared for
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: any competition that we're going to face. So we're going
• 11:58
  Speaker 3: to be ready, starting with this game first, but.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: We're going to be ready.
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: And last question for you, and I'll let you get
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: out of here.
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: I know you got the team meal going down right now. Which,
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: by the way, when do you guys have them?
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: So they do like a whole broad spectrum of anything
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: that you could get in there.
• 12:15
  Speaker 4: Dude, don't take that for granted because the one thing
• 12:19
  Speaker 4: about growing up and in the married life, it's like
• 12:21
  Speaker 4: trying to figure out what you're having.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: Every single night.
• 12:25
  Speaker 4: Every– that's the most common argument my wife and I
• 12:28
  Speaker 4: have of, like, who's cooking and what are we cooking?
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: So enjoy that. Don't take it for granted.
• 12:33
  Speaker 4: But as a linebacker at USF, Derek Brooks, part of
• 12:36
  Speaker 4: the program, your relationship with him?
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah. I mean, he's a standard.
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: I mean, he's what everybody wants to be like. And
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: not only just as a football player that he was.
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: I mean, he wore his gold jacket at one of
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: our meetings before. But the type of man he is. Like,
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: he has– he has a beautiful family and he is
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: a leader of our community. Um, and he, like he works,
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: he works down the hall and he's just an outstanding
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: person to look up to.
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: Um, and I mean, he was at practice today and, uh.
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: I w I was going through my, uh, I think
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: we were doing like team run or something. And then, um,
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: I looked over and it like, and it's like, all right,
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: there are bridges here. Like you gotta lock in, you
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: know what I'm saying? So like, it's, it's kind of
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: like you want to earn his respect as well. So
• 13:17
  Speaker 3: just having that guy around the building is, is elite.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: Um, especially somebody of his caliber.
• 13:23
  Speaker 4: So when Derek pulls up to the sidelines, a little
• 13:26
  Speaker 4: extra motivation might go in.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, just a tiny bit.
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: I hope he's on the sidelines Saturday night. You guys
• 13:33
  Speaker 4: take on FIU. Grayson Pop Howard, I appreciate your time today, man.
• 13:36
  Speaker 4: Thank you so much for going on. You're my first
• 13:39
  Speaker 4: guest on 4th and Bowl, so I appreciate you.
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: Yes, sir. I really appreciate you.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: And good luck Saturday, and we'll talk again soon, all right?
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: Yes, sir. Thank you.