Latest / Tigs Bits Podcast / On The Road With Jon Sumrall!
Transcript
- 0:00All right, everybody. Welcome to today's show Tigs
- 0:02Bits Podcast. We got a good one today.
- 0:04We got Coach John Summerall from Troy University stopping by to
- 0:07talk with us a little bit today on his way down to Sunbelt Media
- 0:11Days in New Orleans. We're going to talk about some
- 0:13football, some food, some music, some culture stuff.
- 0:17You know where he's from, what he's got going on now.
- 0:20So y'all stay tuned for this episode.
- 0:22Let all your friends know about this episode and past episodes
- 0:25we've put out already. Hit the light notification rate
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- 0:34notification button there. We don't really know how all
- 0:37this stuff helps our show, but we know it does somehow.
- 0:40So please do this. Thank you guys for listening to
- 0:43each and every weeks to the Tigs Bit Podcast.
- 0:45Here's the show. What's What's up guys?
- 0:53How are? You good?
- 0:54How you doing man? I'm good.
- 0:56Can y'all hear me? We're good.
- 0:58I got you loud and clear, man. Yeah, sorry for the delay.
- 1:01I was sitting here thinking I was getting like a phone call or
- 1:04something and I finally asked Jeremy, I'm a football OPS guy.
- 1:07I'm like one of these guys calling me.
- 1:10He's like, you got to log into the link and I'm like, well
- 1:13damn, I didn't know that. Like, I'm not somebody.
- 1:16I'm not. I'm not an IT guru.
- 1:18You know what I mean? Yeah.
- 1:19So I try to tell. Adam, hey, only one extra step
- 1:22here, but like you know when we get him in here, we got him on
- 1:24video. Great.
- 1:25So I appreciate you going through that extra step.
- 1:27I mean, folks, we're we're happy to have today.
- 1:30Right now. I mean, he is the Sunbelt
- 1:33Conference Coach of the Year from last year.
- 1:36The head coach of the Sunbelt Conference champions, the Troy
- 1:39Trojans. John Summerall.
- 1:41Man with the maddest social media game in the business as
- 1:44well? Yes.
- 1:46Sir, Yeah, I don't. I don't know if I rival Lane
- 1:48Kiffin, but I like to have a good.
- 1:51Night I love the rat boys and stuff you do on there and the
- 1:53little thing that's that's always fun.
- 1:55So I. I will say this, you did have me
- 1:58one time. I think it was May, April, May.
- 2:00You've had something. You had Morgan Wallen had the
- 2:03trailer out there at Troy that was parked and I almost got in
- 2:06my car. I thought it was time to go to
- 2:07Troy that day. Hey look, I was, I was going my
- 2:13my youngest daughter, she was in her last year at pre-K.
- 2:17She goes to kindergarten this year and so we had to go to a
- 2:20function at her school and my wife is driving me up.
- 2:24She came, My wife came to pick me up at the office and we're
- 2:27just pulling in and I'm like, is Morgan Wallen at the preschool?
- 2:30Like, what are we doing? And So what?
- 2:34But they come to find out one of his truck drivers, his parents
- 2:37live in Troy, and so he had left the truck there.
- 2:41And I'm like, this is way too big of a tease.
- 2:44Like, I thought maybe Morgan Wallen was coming to play in the
- 2:47vet. No, yeah.
- 2:48So and and and nobody gave me the.
- 2:51Men, that's great. That's awesome.
- 2:54Well coach I'll tell you who you're talking to.
- 2:55So first of all I'm I'm Chad Blacey.
- 2:57I'm I'm just a big Troy guy. I went to school at Troy
- 2:59graduated there in 99 be coming back this year.
- 3:03Bunch of us got a tent there in the North End zone.
- 3:05That's an awesome setup great experience to watch football.
- 3:08Then we've got over there with the blue room in the background
- 3:11that's that's Brantley Salter Tigs.
- 3:13He's he's from Baton Rouge. Just talks all things Southern
- 3:15and food and music and everything else and then.
- 3:19Over here the left with the Alabama poster behind him that's
- 3:22that's Jr. the handler. He's a he's a tour manager and
- 3:25works on tours work with John Party now with Justin Moore.
- 3:28And so with the music thing I didn't know.
- 3:31You know we do talk a little music and a little sports, a
- 3:34little a little food here. So are you a big music guy?
- 3:37I mean, who's your what's your jam?
- 3:40Man, I love music. I love music, man.
- 3:42I like John Party. Not just said that, I like, I
- 3:45like Chris Stapleton. I love Tyler Childers.
- 3:49Timmy just dropped a new record too.
- 3:51I think today or yesterday, some new.
- 3:53He dropped some new stuff I saw. Is is that right?
- 3:56Or teased it, at least. Everybody's excited, you know?
- 3:59Oh heck yeah. Well, yeah, yeah.
- 4:01Stapleton has a new album come out November, but he released
- 4:05one song on Friday and I saw it pop up and like, hey, there's a
- 4:08new album. I'm like, Nah, it's just one
- 4:11song I like. I used to love Sturgill Simpson.
- 4:15He's gone a little too far off the deep end, homie, you know.
- 4:21But not I I really like if you said hey, you get you got to
- 4:24listen to two people the rest of your life, it's it.
- 4:27I'd probably be Stapleton and Tyler Children's.
- 4:30But love music. Love music like John Party.
- 4:34I'll sit on my back porch and play John Party.
- 4:36After after a night of just hanging out.
- 4:39So yeah. Like, like him.
- 4:41Well now I was gonna say Tigs, your name had me really thrown
- 4:44off when I saw about this podcast.
- 4:47If we reverse reverse 2 letters, I'm going to be in big trouble.
- 4:50I'm like. You're not the 1st to tell me
- 4:52that, coach. In fact, when I was, I was at
- 4:55the beach last week and uh and I'm walking along.
- 4:58I saw this mom and her girl and her daughter.
- 5:01They were out taking pictures at sunrise.
- 5:04And I kind of walked by him and I thought I heard him talking to
- 5:06me. And I I heard Sir.
- 5:08So. And I turned around.
- 5:09I was like, oh, yeah, I'm so sorry.
- 5:11I can come take your picture. Not a problem.
- 5:13I wasn't, you know? And they were like, no, no, no,
- 5:15I want to take a picture of your shirt.
- 5:17I thought it said something else.
- 5:19I'm like whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Yeah.
- 5:22I forgot to tell you boys that, but yeah, that happened.
- 5:28That's outstanding. So Brantley Tiggs, he's he was
- 5:31also fortunate enough. Coach to be there.
- 5:34In 2017 he invited me down to Baton Rouge to come over and
- 5:38tailgate with him and hang out and you know like we got to
- 5:41watch Troy play that year so he he got to experience that that
- 5:44awesome game as well. So, well, the.
- 5:46Tigs Mona Moniker obviously comes from.
- 5:50I'm an LSU fan. It's OK.
- 5:53We we hopefully, hopefully we're done with y'all.
- 5:56I'm also a Troy fan too, but I'm.
- 5:59I'm good if we don't ever play again.
- 6:01I'm going to support you guys though.
- 6:04Yeah that was that was that was a fun night.
- 6:07That was one I'll never forget man.
- 6:10People people ask you like what games do you remember the most
- 6:14And usually as a coach you remember like the brutal losses
- 6:17but that was a win that that I'll I'll I'll cherish forever
- 6:22and. What a great environment though
- 6:24I've I've played coach, been to LSUA handful of times and always
- 6:29an electric environment. Such a fun place to play a game.
- 6:32It's the it's the best, man. We we have a we have a good time
- 6:36and and hopefully you're going to have a fun season too.
- 6:38You know, hey, maybe we can play you in the playoffs, coach.
- 6:42That would be fun. Yeah, we're going to 12 teams in
- 6:482024. I don't see why.
- 6:50Not exactly, exactly. That'll be interesting.
- 6:52Yeah, it's going to be. I think that's going to be a lot
- 6:54of fun. We've kind of talked about that
- 6:57on the show, some as well of, you know, you start getting the
- 7:00Troys of the world into the college.
- 7:02Football playoffs. And anything can freaking
- 7:05happen. So that that's going to be
- 7:07really exciting. I can't, can't wait to see it
- 7:10all, see all that start to take place.
- 7:12For the Group of Five schools to have access to the getting to
- 7:16the College Ball Playoff in 24, just it's it's exciting because.
- 7:22You know that's all you want is access and opportunity and so I
- 7:26think it definitely creates almost a March Madness type by
- 7:30when you allow that access to maybe the the G5 schools.
- 7:34We're losing you a little bit. The good news is everything
- 7:37you're doing is being recorded on your end, so we'll have it on
- 7:39the back end. Yeah, sorry about that guys.
- 7:42We're we're on the way to, we're on the way to media days in New
- 7:45Orleans. And you just left the golf
- 7:47tournament, I mean. That was a golf tournament
- 7:49today. It was a great turnout, man.
- 7:51We had a full flight this morning.
- 7:54It went lakes and then a full flight this afternoon too.
- 7:57So a lot of lot of guys out there playing.
- 8:00We had former Troy Trojan quarterback Brandon Silvers, who
- 8:04was our quarterback in that game against LSU there today, and him
- 8:08and him and A J McCarron. A J was our celebrity golfer of
- 8:11the day. So A J came out, which we had.
- 8:14We had a great crowd though, and a lot of.
- 8:16A lot of people came to support what we're doing with Troy
- 8:19football. And that's awesome.
- 8:20I wish I could have been there. I'm actually in Nashville right
- 8:22now for work, so unfortunately I couldn't make it.
- 8:25But it's it's one of those things that I definitely want to
- 8:28be be able to attend hopefully next year.
- 8:30So. So now you're heading down to
- 8:32some Belt conference media days down in New Orleans.
- 8:35I mean, hey, I tell you one good thing about it.
- 8:37You got some good food that you're heading down into, that's
- 8:40right. We are.
- 8:42We're going. I'm taking our two
- 8:44representatives, the student athletes.
- 8:47Ready Stewart, who plays DV for us and Clayton Island Dyke.
- 8:50We're going to dinner tonight. I think they're probably pretty
- 8:53excited about getting the opportunity to go eat some some
- 8:56good food. And I was.
- 8:59I coached at Tulane for three years, so I probably know too
- 9:01many good restaurants. Oh yeah.
- 9:05We moved to New Orleans in December of 2011 or January of
- 9:112012. And within I moved there.
- 9:14Me and my wife before we had children.
- 9:16And I was like 200 and 25230 pounds and within like six
- 9:21months I was like 260. I mean, it was because, you
- 9:24know, like. That Rice and Gravy will stick
- 9:27coach. Yeah, they're like, they're
- 9:29like, hey, we're going to put some sauce on top of the sauce,
- 9:32All right, so. That's exactly right.
- 9:35Next next next thing you know is I was on the road recruiting
- 9:38like later that May in 20/20/12. I'll never forget I was in
- 9:42Shreveport, LA. Just had gone to watch a high
- 9:45school practice. And I walked into a hotel room
- 9:48right there in Bossier City, near the casinos.
- 9:51Not, not that I went to the casinos, but I looked in the
- 9:55mirror and I thought, golly, I was really bad.
- 9:59But you felt really good inside, you know that like.
- 10:02Yeah, I was. I was happy.
- 10:04I was real happy. Yeah.
- 10:06Yeah. But none of my parents fit so
- 10:09but my wife's from South Louisiana.
- 10:10Coach and I I live in Houma, LA is where my wife's from and I'm.
- 10:14I'm from. I grew up in Elmore County.
- 10:16I went to Elmore County High School and then I went to Troy.
- 10:18I went to Troy 98 through oh something before I hit up on the
- 10:22road. But we live in Gulf Shores now.
- 10:24But I I can remember being over there and and and you know
- 10:29everybody does New Year's resolutions well.
- 10:33Living in South Louisiana for a few years I learned you make
- 10:35those post Mardi Gras resolutions nothing nothing
- 10:38good. I'm wait till after Mardi Gras
- 10:39day before any resolutions kick in if you're in South Louisiana.
- 10:44Yeah. There's no doubt which.
- 10:46What? Yeah, you you don't, you don't
- 10:48make New Year's resolutions down there.
- 10:50You you give up something that's yeah, that's what you do.
- 10:52Yeah. Yeah, no doubt.
- 10:55Talking about those players, Coach, and you've had a bunch.
- 10:57You've worked with and coached over the years and probably
- 10:58played with, I'm sure. You know, when I was in school I
- 11:02had class with DE Marcus Ware and OC Minora when I heard a lot
- 11:05of classes together and Troy was a great place to watch ball
- 11:07games. Then I could remember my first
- 11:09year we were still D2 and then we went D1.
- 11:12The second year I was in school and we would beat Marshall.
- 11:15We'd beat a Missouri once at the house.
- 11:17I remember, I mean we had some big wins and great players and
- 11:21and it was starting then, but this is still back.
- 11:24When you just showed your student ID to go in, you know,
- 11:26we had the smaller stadium. It was not any upgrades like
- 11:29we've got now. Coach Blakeney was on, you know,
- 11:31his last several years of his tenure there.
- 11:34And, you know, the few times I've been back, unfortunately, I
- 11:38my schedule on the road takes me on the I work on weekends, so I
- 11:41don't get to go near as many games as I like to over the past
- 11:4415 years or so. But I do make some back.
- 11:46And every year, man, campus is even more electric.
- 11:49Each year I go back, the stadium looks better, the crowds are
- 11:52bigger, they're more, it's more Troy, you know you.
- 11:55It always was Troy, but it seems like it's grown.
- 11:57And then outside of just in town and in Alabama where I travel,
- 12:02if I mentioned I went to school at Troy, I used to have to
- 12:04explain and probably something to do with that big win over a
- 12:07big team like LSU. Now I say Troy, they're like, Oh
- 12:10yeah, they know and they know where Troy is.
- 12:12So we were talking about before we came on air, just the
- 12:15evolution of the game and sports and media in general.
- 12:19And you know since you've been there this, this go around.
- 12:26I mean do you see that keeping on?
- 12:28I mean, I'm sure there's nothing but bigger and brighter things
- 12:30in store for Troy and General, but definitely football program
- 12:33since the sunbelts, as big and as popular it is now.
- 12:36Without question. I think, you know, the stadium
- 12:40has changed over the year so much.
- 12:42I mean, when I left to go to Old Miss as an assistant and then I
- 12:47returned, I had never stepped foot in the North End zone
- 12:49building. We were building it.
- 12:51When I was on Neil Brown staff and then what?
- 12:55It was not completed and I returned and it was completed
- 12:58and I never been in it and I was just blown away with how well
- 13:02done that building is and really how that sort of completes our
- 13:06stadium. It makes it feel whole.
- 13:08You feel like you're in a big time college football
- 13:11environment now that it's closed in and when our crowds last year
- 13:15were terrific, we played the Army and had a sellout and.
- 13:20You're already seeing right now, I think we're going to shatter
- 13:23our season ticket record this year.
- 13:26And there's certain areas of the stadium that are already sold
- 13:29out. You can't get a suite, you can't
- 13:31get it North End zone 10, you can't get certain access areas
- 13:35because they've been sold out or whatever for a while, which from
- 13:39a football perspective is real. The town is really changing.
- 13:44I mean, you see the growth. And and the the new, you know
- 13:49restaurants and shops and it's a quaint town.
- 13:53It's a neat place. It's a college town that that is
- 13:56giving our students more and more to do.
- 13:58Entertainment wise. You're seeing certain things pop
- 14:01up around town that I think are exciting to add just quality of
- 14:06life and value to to what our students are able to do day in,
- 14:10day out. But I love it because it's a
- 14:13college town and. Most college towns, football
- 14:17matters. You know, there's some places
- 14:19where they might play football on Saturdays and a few people
- 14:21care, man. Football matters.
- 14:24In Troy, AL, the sign, I can tell you that is I can't go
- 14:27anywhere with asking me, hey coach, how's the team going to
- 14:29be or tell me about this. That may keep me at home
- 14:32sometimes because I just want to hang out, but I'd much rather be
- 14:36the place that they care about. Is the football team good than
- 14:41than don't care? And so the town is a really
- 14:43special place. It's a it's an awesome place to
- 14:46live and raise a family and and I think it's a tremendous place
- 14:51to be a student and and we love it man.
- 14:55I mean, we absolutely love. It, man.
- 14:56That's that's awesome. Coach here you say that and
- 14:59you're right. Going back to that expansion of
- 15:00the stadium and closing that end zone in how just complete that
- 15:04place is. Gary Wilbert gave me a tour of
- 15:06that facility one day during a game that that's out.
- 15:09My mind was blown. And just how nice that is in
- 15:12there, man. Like you would.
- 15:14I think, you know, I remember years ago like Oregon, you know,
- 15:16we're kind of on the cutting edge of facilities and what you
- 15:19would say and I felt like are we at Oregon, you know, but it says
- 15:21Troy here, you know, it's just that nice.
- 15:24But we appreciate you being here.
- 15:27I mean, what you've done so far, you've kind of continued what
- 15:29Neil Brown had started, well started with Larry Blakeney and
- 15:32then what Neil Brown carried on and you've kind of continued
- 15:35that again. And I think one thing I think
- 15:38coach, I mean obviously you know what you're doing there as a
- 15:40coach. But one of the biggest things
- 15:42that you bring to the table in my opinion that comes across
- 15:45when you talk is your authenticity.
- 15:47You know it's just I believe everything that you're saying
- 15:52you actually believe where a lot of people just have the coach
- 15:54talk like I actually think you believe that.
- 15:56I mean how much is that do you think is been a factor into the
- 15:59success that you've had and like in the buy in from?
- 16:02Not only the you, your players, but just the fans and everybody
- 16:06around. Yeah.
- 16:06Well, First off, I'm not smart enough to have any more
- 16:09personalities than one. I got one personality.
- 16:12Like, I I don't have a a political spiel or a different,
- 16:17like, hey, I put this hat on here.
- 16:19My wife will tell you my greatest strength is also my
- 16:22greatest weakness. I'm brutally honest, like I when
- 16:26people like, don't ask me how I feel about something, I don't
- 16:29want to know the truth. And so I'm going to.
- 16:32I'm going to shoot you straight whether you like it or not.
- 16:35But no, I and I'll tell you this, I think the the biggest,
- 16:40the biggest group that I that can identify fake or BS is 18 to
- 16:4723 year olds. And so I mean you're not going
- 16:50to trick a college kid on what's real.
- 16:53They see through fake real fast. And so I mean I care.
- 16:58I care deeply about what I do. I care deeply about who I do it
- 17:03with and I care deeply about where we do it.
- 17:05And I I believe that if you're real and you really invest in
- 17:10others, man, you get rewarded tenfold.
- 17:13Like, I don't, you know, I tell our whole staff, I remind them,
- 17:17probably weekly, hey, this ain't about us.
- 17:21Like the last time I checked, if there weren't any players, there
- 17:25wouldn't be any coaches. I got four young kids at home
- 17:28that love coming to watch our football games.
- 17:30None of them show up to the game to watch me coach.
- 17:33Not one of them like they like. And so we're there to serve our
- 17:38players. We're there to develop our
- 17:41players. We're there to provide them with
- 17:43the resources and support that they need to grow to become
- 17:46their best. And yeah I can you know I I I
- 17:51have a great deal respect for Larry Blakeney.
- 17:55I've gotten to spend, you know, I got to spend a decent amount
- 17:57of time around Larry when I. Was an assistant at Troy when I
- 18:00came with Neil and just developed such a friendship with
- 18:04him. And I've got to spend a decent
- 18:06amount of time with him since being back, which has been fun
- 18:08for me to see him and Janice, you know, since being back a
- 18:13handful of times. And then Neil and I, Neil and I
- 18:16were at the beach together a couple weeks ago.
- 18:18We we go to the beach couple miles apart every summer and see
- 18:23him every summer and Neil's been a tremendous friend to me over
- 18:27the years. And and you know away from
- 18:31football, but also in regards to the game and and so much of what
- 18:36we do at Troy is sort of a hybrid of what we did at Troy
- 18:41when I was with Neil and and then what we did at Kentucky
- 18:44with Mark Stoops. It's kind of a a mash of both
- 18:48things. So I don't know if you like
- 18:51bourbon or not, but. It's the football match of Mark
- 18:54Stoops and Neil Brown, kind of how we do.
- 18:56It I think that's a recipe for success, Coach.
- 18:59I think that's going to work no doubt.
- 19:02Hey and and and and I know first hand that that that it it does
- 19:06affected it and it and it shows. Outside of even there I met a I
- 19:10met a ball player of yours last year or earlier this year on a
- 19:13flight somewhere and I saw his Troy and a big fella and we got
- 19:16to talking offensive lineman. Couldn't have been nicer, kid.
- 19:22You know just totally what you want an athlete from your school
- 19:25to go represent when he's not with the team, you know what I
- 19:28mean? So I just, I just know that
- 19:29first hand that that does transfer over to the players
- 19:33with the authenticity and being real and you're from Alabama
- 19:36like like rest of us you're from Huntsville area, right?
- 19:39That's correct, yeah. Me and my wife both grew up in
- 19:41Huntsville, yeah, and I saw a Grisham high school, that's my
- 19:44brother is about your age, and he had some wars with some
- 19:47wrestling guys from your high school back then.
- 19:50That was a good they had some good wrestlers during that
- 19:53during those years. I remember because my brother
- 19:55had some some tournaments with some boys from there and you
- 19:58know, we were talking about. Music earlier in the Huntsville
- 20:01Do you get back to Huntsville much your family's still?
- 20:03Yeah, My mom and dad still live there.
- 20:05My inlaws still live there. I got back up there in April for
- 20:11an event that I that I was at. Don't get back.
- 20:14As much as I like, I get back for recruiting here and there.
- 20:18But yeah, we get up there every now and then.
- 20:19My wife probably gets there a lot more than I do.
- 20:22Yeah, because you've talked about we're talking about places
- 20:23growing and that is, that's the number one place to move in the
- 20:26country right now is the Huntsville area.
- 20:29And you know, talking about music earlier, we haven't played
- 20:31it yet, but I've had a few friends that have played the new
- 20:33amphitheater there and they say it's amazing.
- 20:36Yeah, yeah, the, the yeah, I've heard a lot of people rave about
- 20:40it. I I need to go check it out.
- 20:43It's supposed to be nice growing up.
- 20:44As a kid up there, we used to have the Big Spring Jam.
- 20:48And that was kind of the big thing we used to have.
- 20:50They don't have that anymore. But that new empathy up there,
- 20:53people have said great things about they've gotten some big
- 20:56acts to come there. Huntsville, every time I pull
- 21:00in, I I don't recognize. I'm like this is not really
- 21:03where I grew up. It used to kind of be sort of a
- 21:06a slower, smaller, sleepy, you know, town city where a whole
- 21:11lot really didn't go on. And now it seems like there's.
- 21:15Something new popping up every time we pull into town.
- 21:18The only the only thing I ever remember, when do we get the
- 21:21times when I go back now is Sammy T's is still there.
- 21:25Sammy T's is still hanging on somehow.
- 21:27And yeah. Sammy T's Music Hall Yeah, I did
- 21:30that with Wayne Mills right when I first got the music business.
- 21:32We would go up there and play and and man, good times in Hunts
- 21:35Vegas back in the day and he knows that too.
- 21:38And Troy, when I was at school at Troy we had, I remember
- 21:40Paisley came through town and played right on my way out and
- 21:43we used to have some big acts play on the tennis courts there
- 21:46and stuff like that because there's really a venue in Troy.
- 21:50You know we'd either have at the basketball stadium or the the
- 21:53parking lot. You really have to go to
- 21:55Montgomery or Dothan for anything like that.
- 21:57But but there was some, there was some good ones there too.
- 22:00Speaking of that, we're going to actually be in Dothan in a few
- 22:02months. Coach.
- 22:03If y'all aren't got a game that week or something.
- 22:05Love to have you and any staff want to come down.
- 22:08Take care of y'all for sure. Heck yeah.
- 22:10Heck yeah, man. When are y'all going to be in
- 22:12dozen? It's Thursday, the October 26th.
- 22:15Got it. Yeah, I'm probably busy October.
- 22:18Yeah, I got a feeling you may be coach.
- 22:21That's what I just realized. I thought it was in like, no,
- 22:24end of November, but yeah. Yeah, I was hoping you're going
- 22:28to tell me like February or something?
- 22:30So what's your idea, coach? Jr.
- 22:32We should. We should definitely, though we
- 22:34should arrange. You know, a big concert at the
- 22:37vet. I don't see why not.
- 22:38You know what I mean? We got a great video right
- 22:40there. We should get the get in touch.
- 22:43The university, I think we could have a good time.
- 22:46That sounds like a good idea. Yeah.
- 22:47There was some good ones like I said back in the day.
- 22:49And yeah, I'll, I'll mention that to to one of the agents
- 22:53until it see who they talk to and then get the ball rolling
- 22:55on. That I'd like for it to not
- 22:56happen during the season though, so I can have, I can partake in
- 23:00the party. You know, if it happens in
- 23:02October, I can't party, so I got.
- 23:04We need that make it happen the offseason so I can throw down at
- 23:07the at the concert. Well, Coach, I know we're up
- 23:09against it here. We're actually over and I
- 23:10appreciate you spending time with us.
- 23:12I did want to point out I noticed the other day that your
- 23:15wife Jenny has Jenny's charities and I saw where they've got like
- 23:20a. A a coffee drink they they've
- 23:22made after you there. John's Joe.
- 23:25Can can you tell us a little bit about that and how that can be
- 23:27supported a little bit? Yeah, so Village Coffee there in
- 23:30Troy. There's one location out on Hwy.
- 23:3387. There's one down the square too,
- 23:36right catty corner to where Birds drugs is.
- 23:40And they they they came up with the idea of making a a coffee
- 23:45named after me. So John's Joe.
- 23:48Is the regular coffee? And then they got a couple other
- 23:52ones. One's called coach's cup and it
- 23:55can be the ice coach is the cold version and the coach's cup is
- 23:58the hot version. Those are like the fancy drinks
- 24:01but really we got involved. They they brought the idea to us
- 24:07and $1.50 or so off of each cup of coffee is going to charities
- 24:13that my wife sort of has partnered with.
- 24:16The biggest one that's really our focal point is common
- 24:20ground, which really serves as a mentor group to to young boys in
- 24:26the in the Troy community that our team is very involved with.
- 24:30A lot of our players spend time over there and I do as well.
- 24:36It's a it's a tremendous organization.
- 24:38One of our former players that played Troy, Kyle Nixon works
- 24:42over there full time and so. Couple other charities that
- 24:46we'll give to as well, but common ground is the main one
- 24:49that we've partnered with and really just trying to to give
- 24:53back to the local community. We like I said earlier, we do
- 24:57have a passion for Troy and want to be able to serve not just the
- 25:02football program or the university but the community at
- 25:05large in any way possible. And they brought the idea to us.
- 25:09I show up and tasted the coffee and they let me pick which ones
- 25:12we were selling. It was good stuff.
- 25:15They gave me some of it. I I drink spark, I drink coffee,
- 25:18I drink anything to give me energy.
- 25:20And so we're excited about it. We're excited to partner with
- 25:24them and really we're we're we're thrilled to be able to.
- 25:27Give back to to some local charities that help our
- 25:30community. That's all.
- 25:31That's awesome. That's really awesome, man.
- 25:34Well, listen, we're going to be again, we're going to have a 10
- 25:36up there in the North End zone. So, I mean, I don't know, maybe
- 25:40you guys get up real big and 1/2 or something.
- 25:42Possibly you come up there, have a beer with us, you know what I
- 25:45mean? Maybe hang out in halftime?
- 25:47Yeah, last year we weren't up real big at many games at
- 25:51halftime. We were always making it real
- 25:53interesting. And uh, today at the golf
- 25:56tournament, I had a guy say, hey.
- 25:58You know, if you if y'all don't play well in the first half, how
- 26:02would you respond to somebody yelling at you like, hey, get
- 26:05your act together. I'd probably look up and say
- 26:07nothing at all. Or if I did say anything, I'd
- 26:10say you're right, we're playing like crap.
- 26:11We need to get better. We're not playing any good.
- 26:13So I'm pretty honest on that too.
- 26:15And so no, we I'd like to get some leads, but last year's
- 26:19team, the way we played, we just, we kind of threw.
- 26:22We had rock fights each week. We tried to see if he could.
- 26:25Beat somebody with submission and win 8:50.
- 26:30That's old school. Old school.
- 26:31Hey, it was fun. It was fun to watch.
- 26:33It was stressful, but it was. Fun it was.
- 26:35It was we had we had a few games like the championship game where
- 26:38we kind of blew the doors off. But I think we'll be yeah I
- 26:43think we'll. I think we'll probably be a
- 26:44little more explosive offensively this year and
- 26:47hopefully we can take some of the stressful moments out of it.
- 26:49But look forward to seeing y'all there to North End zone.
- 26:53That's that's a great, a great fan experience and a tremendous
- 26:57place to watch a game. It really is yeah no doubt.
- 27:00And and we'll have to make sure coach I get your OPS guys info
- 27:03and we'll swap info because if there's any everything in the
- 27:05country music world you ever want to go to let me know.
- 27:07I know everybody I can get you guys hooked up and also I'll
- 27:10send you some send you some music some some new up and
- 27:13coming acts I think you'd like because your musical ears right.
- 27:16I think I can see where you where you lean to, So we'll make
- 27:19sure to hook up with him and. Come on, man, I love.
- 27:22I love it. Yeah, I'll get, I'll get you his
- 27:24info. And you might regret making that
- 27:27offer, because I'll be asking you for everything.
- 27:29It's all good, bro. Hey, I mean, I've been needing
- 27:32some. I'm wearing my early 2000s Troy
- 27:34swag, so I think we can make a swap here, you know what I mean?
- 27:38Yeah, we'll get you. We'll get you.
- 27:39We'll get you taken care of there.
- 27:41What we can make that we can make that we can get you
- 27:44upgraded. All right, well, y'all.
- 27:45Don't eat. Don't let.
- 27:46Don't let the the the student athletes come in with you.
- 27:49Eat too many mufalattas and jambalaya and or she's romulade
- 27:53tonight, but y'all have a good time in the Crescent City, no
- 27:56doubt. Thank y'all, I appreciate y'all
- 27:58having me on.