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Let's Talk with Carl Lee – Coach Bryce Casto: State Championship Leadership, Education-Based Athletics, and the Transfer Portal Problem · Let's Talk with Carl Lee

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you gotta work.
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: You gotta work, bry Shan. It's mine gotta show. Everybody
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: is my time. Can you gotta work? Cry Shan? Another
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: mile Saga Dogs.
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  Speaker 3: Welcome to Let's Talk with Carl Lee and frequent guest
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  Speaker 3: hosts Hollis Lewis and Lisa Odie, where sports culture and
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  Speaker 3: community intersect. Join the crew as they dive into engaging
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: conversations with guests from all walks of the sports life.
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  Speaker 3: Let's Talk as proudly presented by Attorney Frank Walker. Real talk,
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: real experience, real results. Let the conversation begin on Let's Talk.
• 0:43
  Speaker 4: Hello, ladies and.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: Gentlemen, this is Carly with Let's Talk and uh we
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: have a out. Well, we have a great guest in
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  Speaker 1: the in the building today, so miss Lisa Odie is
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: in the building with me as well. Hollis is unable
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  Speaker 1: to make it today. Lisa, I'm just gonna start this out.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: I just got to talk a little bit about him
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  Speaker 1: without his.
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  Speaker 2: Name yet, Okay, that.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: This has been one of you know, there are people
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  Speaker 1: who you meet in your life and they, for whatever
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  Speaker 1: the reason, they just take you over, you know what
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  Speaker 1: I'm saying, Like they kind of they like they impress
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  Speaker 1: you so much, and they're usually in a position of leadership,
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  Speaker 1: and this individual today has been in leadership and he
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: has been so unbelievably successful. And to this day, I
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: can't reflect back and think of a day that I
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  Speaker 1: heard him scream yell at somebody or anything like that.
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  Speaker 2: It's a unique kind of an individual.
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  Speaker 5: Air of authority. You have to really raise his voice.
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  Speaker 5: He's respected.
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  Speaker 1: So with no further ado, mister Bryce cast though he
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  Speaker 1: is also or just recently retired twenty four from South
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  Speaker 1: Charleston High School. And I and I and I've got
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  Speaker 1: a bio from Ripley, West Virginia, which I already knew that,
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  Speaker 1: but you currently are in Winfield Hall of Fame. Now,
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  Speaker 1: this is this is this is what I think is
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  Speaker 1: the coolest thing going Hall of Fame in baseball and football.
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  Speaker 5: What a feat?
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  Speaker 4: This is true?
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  Speaker 1: Do you know anybody else with that with that honor?
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  Speaker 1: I don't because I don't, and I don't want to
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  Speaker 1: put you on the spot, but I'm telling you again,
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  Speaker 1: you're talking about something that is.
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  Speaker 2: Unbelievable. It's not something that like I could not.
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  Speaker 1: Ever do that because one baseball, I'm scared of the ball.
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  Speaker 1: But if I had both of them, I would everybody
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  Speaker 1: in the world would know.
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  Speaker 5: A bigger truth has not ever been spoken as what
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  Speaker 5: Carl just said.
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  Speaker 4: Everybody would know. Well, I've been blessed to be in
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  Speaker 4: some really good situations through the years, and I'm just
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  Speaker 4: very fortunate, very fortunate West Virginia Sports Hall of Fame
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  Speaker 4: as well, and a member of the All American Academic
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  Speaker 4: and the All American Academic Award. Right, yeah, I was
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  Speaker 4: academical America and West Virginia State.
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  Speaker 1: Now now, okay, so Lisa, I gotta I gotta skip
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  Speaker 1: away from him.
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  Speaker 2: And get to you. What's that student athlete?
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  Speaker 5: Yes?
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  Speaker 2: What does that say for the student athlete?
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  Speaker 1: Here are awards in in athletics, Yes, and academics.
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  Speaker 5: I mean that in today's world that is almost unheard of. Yes, so,
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  Speaker 5: accolades to you coach a lot of accomplishments over your
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  Speaker 5: your lifetime, and well deserved, well deserved.
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  Speaker 1: His wife, Cheryl is here in the building with us
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  Speaker 1: and has one son and ten grandchildren. I have one
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  Speaker 1: grand I have one grandchild, and I spoil him to death.
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  Speaker 4: They are by far the best.
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  Speaker 2: We have a good time, I can only imagine.
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  Speaker 1: So all right, let's just let's just dive into I
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  Speaker 1: want to I want to go back to Bryce Casto,
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  Speaker 1: the athlete at Ripley, when you what prompted you, what
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  Speaker 1: made you, what motivated you to be a football player
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  Speaker 1: baseball and then turn around and then be as good
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  Speaker 1: of a baseball player as you had to have been
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  Speaker 1: to be also in the Hall of Fame.
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  Speaker 4: Well, it's a small town. It was something to do
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  Speaker 4: and I love sports. It was has always been been
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  Speaker 4: very big in my family. And if you know, the
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  Speaker 4: Ripley baseball team is in the state tournament and last
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  Speaker 4: year's defending their defending state champion. I have one of
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  Speaker 4: my family members as the coach and as well as
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  Speaker 4: the shortstop who's been All Stays. He's the junior this year,
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  Speaker 4: has been All State twice already. So wow, just it's
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  Speaker 4: important to the culture of Ripley. Cheryl it is from Ripley.
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  Speaker 4: I'm very blessed to have her and so we we
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  Speaker 4: we've grown up there. It was a great, great place,
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  Speaker 4: a great place to get an education, a great place
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  Speaker 4: to have a childhood, and we just we just are
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  Speaker 4: very blessed.
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  Speaker 5: So I'm going to go back, actually fast forward from
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  Speaker 5: Ripley just a little bit with you, coach, and we're
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  Speaker 5: going to talk about the year of nineteen ninety four
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  Speaker 5: when you were the head football coach at South Charleston
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  Speaker 5: Black Eagles won a Class Triple A football state championship.
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  Speaker 5: Is that correct?
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  Speaker 4: That is correct? Yeah?
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  Speaker 2: Good year, good year, very good year.
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  Speaker 4: Good color.
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  Speaker 5: I was going to say that that's part of my question, coach,
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  Speaker 5: how did you find a way to bring that team
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  Speaker 5: together to win it all that year? What was what
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  Speaker 5: was some of your coaching styles that that helped you
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  Speaker 5: win a championship.
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  Speaker 4: Well, we had a very strong staff, but we had
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  Speaker 4: we had good players, and those players understood their role
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  Speaker 4: and accepted their role. I've never seen a team and
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  Speaker 4: it's so rare. I've never seen a team any more
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  Speaker 4: focused on what their specific role was in terms of
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  Speaker 4: helping us succeed. And we kind of you always heard
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  Speaker 4: of the zone. We kind of hit the zone in
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  Speaker 4: the quarterfinals of the playoffs that year and never left it.
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  Speaker 4: We just just ripped right through it at that point.
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  Speaker 4: Just great players and who were a joy to coach. Wow,
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  Speaker 4: you realized too that.
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  Speaker 1: When you know, when I think about South Charleston, I
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  Speaker 1: think about football, and I think about championships, the first
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  Speaker 1: thing comes to my mind is Robert Alexander and that
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: team losing against Bluefield.
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  Speaker 2: And then.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if I had ever thought at any
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  Speaker 1: given time that there would ever be another opportunity.
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  Speaker 4: For a state.
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  Speaker 1: Championship team in South Charleston. And I say that without
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  Speaker 1: thinking about you as a coach. And again I'm i'm
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  Speaker 1: I'm I'm biased. I think there's something unique about who
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  Speaker 1: you are and your coaching style. I don't even think
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  Speaker 1: we have any more coaching I don't think that's that's here.
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  Speaker 1: And if you were to try to define your coaching style,
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  Speaker 1: how what would you what would you say that it is?
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  Speaker 4: I would always had a great relationship with players in
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  Speaker 4: terms of I always try to do acquired a forty.
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  Speaker 4: We wanted to put our players in the best position
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  Speaker 4: to be successful. Sometimes we had to ask players to
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  Speaker 4: make sacrifices to do that. I know, you know Damon Booker.
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  Speaker 4: Demon Booker was a two time out outside linebacker, was
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  Speaker 4: first team All State. We asked him to move to
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  Speaker 4: free safety his senior year and and this this is
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  Speaker 4: something I don't know what happened today. I asked Damon,
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  Speaker 4: I said, you know, because we had graduated a lot
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  Speaker 4: of players and we put him back there essentially to
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  Speaker 4: save us in case early in the season. And that's
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  Speaker 4: why we are. Our team got so much better on
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  Speaker 4: defense that Year's why we were while we won the championship.
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  Speaker 4: But I asked Damon to move to free safety. He says, whatever,
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  Speaker 4: we need Kosher to be successful, and that that just
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  Speaker 4: is a glimpse of that entire team. That entire team
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  Speaker 4: personified selfless play.
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  Speaker 1: And David Booker, that's that's a that's a big time name,
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  Speaker 1: especially if you know anything about South Chearleston football.
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  Speaker 2: That's that's a big time name. Yeah, you know.
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  Speaker 4: And he made All State as a as a free
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  Speaker 4: safety too.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and we we we've talked from Tom to Tom,
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  Speaker 1: and he to this day enjoyed his time at South
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  Speaker 1: Charleston and primarily with having a coach that was high
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  Speaker 1: on him because he you know, and I've known I
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  Speaker 1: know that his whole family, you know, forever. You know,
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  Speaker 1: we grew all up, we all grew up up on
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  Speaker 1: Bandelia and uh so I knew him and his whole family.
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  Speaker 1: And man, he he's excited when he thinks about you
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  Speaker 1: and and I think you two were probably the You
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  Speaker 1: probably was the perfect coach for him.
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  Speaker 4: We had we had a great relations and continue to
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  Speaker 4: have a great relationship. On one of the good stories
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  Speaker 4: about Damon As. Damon As had had linebacker timseys, but
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  Speaker 4: you know, as a defensive back and you know you
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  Speaker 4: could play a little bit of defensive back and coach,
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  Speaker 4: you know, your primary concern isn't isn't what's happening up front.
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  Speaker 4: You've got to aware a bigger picture. And I had
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  Speaker 4: to remind Damon at late lure practicing Lady Field for
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  Speaker 4: the state semi finals against DuPont, and Damon was just
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  Speaker 4: continued to fly up in there. And you know, yes,
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  Speaker 4: they kind of had a thread at the receiver that year.
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  Speaker 4: Some receiver was sorry I had I had to get
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  Speaker 4: his attention, and I had Damon go on the capitol
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  Speaker 4: end and on the home side and he had to
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: stand and be a pileon for about ten minutes because
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  Speaker 4: I said, you're going to be about as as useful
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  Speaker 4: as as that Pilon in terms of defending DuPont on
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  Speaker 4: that Saturday if if you keep flying up in there.
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  Speaker 4: So he got the message and uh and had a
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  Speaker 4: great game.
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  Speaker 5: And actually I'm a DuPont brad, so I remember that game.
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  Speaker 2: I didn't know that.
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  Speaker 4: I didn't know that.
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  Speaker 5: I know what you're doing there.
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  Speaker 4: It was, it was it was a big day.
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  Speaker 5: Yeah, it sure was.
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  Speaker 4: Sure was surprised if you.
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  Speaker 5: First, Yeah, for sure. So I'm gonna go ahead and
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  Speaker 5: fast forward a little bit with you coach. So, later
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  Speaker 5: after your tenure at South Charleston, you served as the
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  Speaker 5: head while coached for Nitro High School. Correct, you started
• 11:03
  Speaker 5: that in twenty fifteen. Your mission there was a little
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  Speaker 5: different than the one at South Charleston because Nitro was
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  Speaker 5: more in a, you know, a rebuild type of mode
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  Speaker 5: other than you know, going for a championship like you
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  Speaker 5: you had with South Charleston's team. So what was that like?
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  Speaker 5: What was the difference like between doing you know, a
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  Speaker 5: championship team going to a team that was doing a rebuild.
• 11:26
  Speaker 4: Well, I've always always said that coaches, you know, doing
• 11:31
  Speaker 4: in high school it's changed a little bit. You don't
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  Speaker 4: get to select your players, and kids who who may
• 11:37
  Speaker 4: not be quite as physically talented deserve good coaching too.
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  Speaker 4: So it was it was rewarding to try to work
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  Speaker 4: with them, to try to put them in the best
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  Speaker 4: position we could be in to have as much success
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  Speaker 4: as we could. It wasn't you know, We in terms
• 11:48
  Speaker 4: of wins and losses weren't very successful. But in terms
• 11:53
  Speaker 4: of life, those those folks are doing really well. So
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  Speaker 4: that's that's what it's all about.
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  Speaker 1: And see, and I think I'm glad you said that
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: because I think even now, I think we've gotten ourselves
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  Speaker 1: into a situation to where it's not really about, you know,
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  Speaker 1: the student athlete. I don't know if there is such
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  Speaker 1: a thing as a student athlete now I think you
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  Speaker 1: are if you're a good athlete, a great athlete.
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  Speaker 2: I think you're just an athlete, you know. And I
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  Speaker 2: don't know if there's any pressure.
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  Speaker 1: I could be wrong, you can, you can, you can
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  Speaker 1: comment on this after I'm done, But I don't think
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  Speaker 1: that now you have coaches pressing you as much on
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  Speaker 1: the academic side as much as they want to push
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  Speaker 1: you on the on the athletic side.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: I know, like Homer Critical.
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  Speaker 1: Was all over me in school, Sonny Randall was all
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: over me in school because I was that athlete that
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: was just looking to play ball and and every time
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: my grades would go down, I'm I get punished and
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  Speaker 1: and so I understand.
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  Speaker 2: That side of it. How do you how do you
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: see it now?
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  Speaker 4: Well, I'm a huge proponent of education based athletics and
• 13:08
  Speaker 4: athletics in the school environment. And again with the S
• 13:11
  Speaker 4: S A C and the n c A, there are
• 13:13
  Speaker 4: regulations that that have to be be met. The one
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  Speaker 4: that with the S S A C, the two oh,
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  Speaker 4: and that's a non weighted grade point average is a
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  Speaker 4: very powerful persuader. It's one that we've had to utilize
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  Speaker 4: sometimes to motivate students to so they could get on
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  Speaker 4: the field or for the court. But there it's it's
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: it's a good it's a it's a good thing, but
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  Speaker 4: it was important. And and two with athletes who aspire
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  Speaker 4: to play collegiately. Now with with the initial Eligibility Clearinghouse
• 13:47
  Speaker 4: and they they call it the initial Eligibility Center of
• 13:49
  Speaker 4: just the eligibility center. Now, uh you know, a division
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  Speaker 4: one first to be a qualifier has to has to
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  Speaker 4: have a two point three g p A coman Yeah, oh,
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  Speaker 4: I don't know in the academic core, although two is
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: two point two g p A. In the academic core
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  Speaker 4: there's and it's a few more years in uh, I mean,
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: you know, I have four years of English and the
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: high school puts out a list of what they call
• 14:13
  Speaker 4: it's quote unquote academic courses, and that's where you're that's
• 14:17
  Speaker 4: the ones that count for initial eligibility. Yeah, it's it's
• 14:21
  Speaker 4: it's good stuff. So it's uh now, I will tell you,
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  Speaker 4: I think continuing eligibility is a little bit more permissive,
• 14:27
  Speaker 4: but the initial eligibility is is uh is.
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  Speaker 5: It's more rigorous.
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  Speaker 4: It's more rigorous what it used to be back in the.
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  Speaker 5: Day, because wasn't it two point oh that it used to.
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: Be two point oh? And now continuing eligibility as a
• 14:39
  Speaker 4: sophomore is only one eight, and then a one nine
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: is a junior than a two oh any anytime beyond
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  Speaker 4: that it's and that's in division one and division two.
• 14:48
  Speaker 4: But the initial, the initial eligibility center, it's it's it's
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  Speaker 4: two three and two two. Now is it is that?
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  Speaker 1: Do you see that impacting a number of elites at
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: this point?
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  Speaker 4: Is it? Is it?
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  Speaker 2: I don't know? Is it effective or.
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: I think so? One thing, if I could could make
• 15:09
  Speaker 4: a wish, I would love to get to every eighth
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: grader to give those that aspires to play collegiately and
• 15:15
  Speaker 4: always tell somebody, uh, you know, if you've even if
• 15:18
  Speaker 4: you're not certain you want to play collegiately, you pretend
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: like you do to make sure you get your your
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: academic requirements. And so you know you're and you're talking
• 15:26
  Speaker 4: to your counselors about the the uh, the n c
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  Speaker 4: A core courses that are in what's required.
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  Speaker 5: Uh.
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  Speaker 4: The most tragic things. You end up someone who might
• 15:35
  Speaker 4: blossom late as a junior, and with the academic choices
• 15:39
  Speaker 4: they've made as a as a freshman and a sophomore,
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: they're just not in a position where they can go
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: and be a a qualifier, so to speak for for
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: initial eligibility and they have to city here.
• 15:50
  Speaker 5: Mmm, this is new to me.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that that that's that's all. I mean, we did
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: this take effect.
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: It's been it's been several years. It's gotten a little bit,
• 15:59
  Speaker 4: a little bit strict. It used to be a two oh,
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: and it's going, it's going. And there's a sliding scale
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: with the A C T and S A T scores,
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: but generally it's uh, yeah, the higher your test score is,
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: the lower your g p A can be.
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  Speaker 2: But it's I didn't even I didn't know.
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: I didn't even know that there's a two three two.
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: I've got some stuff I can I can give you.
• 16:17
  Speaker 5: He's taking us to school.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: And and I'm thinking there are probably a ton of
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: people that are going to hear this and may.
• 16:25
  Speaker 5: Not Yeah, they don't, may not know that because.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: I didn't know any of them.
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: You have to work. If you want to play collegiately,
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: you've got to work. Your Your academics is as strong
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: as should do your athletics anymore.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: See, I can.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: Remember just thinking all I got to do is if
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: I can just get to that two point. Oh however
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: I get there, I'm good. You know I didn't. I
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: probably would have never made it.
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: If this was it's I studience rise to the occasion
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: there there. They need to be very much aware if
• 16:59
  Speaker 4: they're playing for you, you know what, and they aspire
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: to play at the next level. And I can always
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: encourage all my players to even if you don't end
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: up there, to aspire it, because that's going to assure
• 17:08
  Speaker 4: some academic success. Again, that's where that's where you measure
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: your true successes because you here, it's a cliched, but
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: you know where are they twenty thirty years from when
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: you have them. Are they having success? Are they? Are
• 17:19
  Speaker 4: they they good parents, they good members of society, That's
• 17:23
  Speaker 4: that's success.
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: Well, how how.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: How often do you actually have to have that conversation
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: to remind that particular those particular athletes who are searching
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: for college to play sports in college? How often is
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: it that that it requires you to remind them? Or
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: do they do you tell them once and and it's their.
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: Role to get it?
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  Speaker 4: Or it's highly individualistic and it just depends. Some of
• 17:57
  Speaker 4: folks you don't have to worry about just they just started.
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: Their academic ability and interest are just innate. Others you
• 18:04
  Speaker 4: have to talked to just about every other day to
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: make sure you're on you, on top of them. But
• 18:08
  Speaker 4: it's and that's a great motivator too. And again that's
• 18:14
  Speaker 4: why I'm a big proone of education based athletics. It helps,
• 18:17
  Speaker 4: it helps assure that that folks progress towards graduation.
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I would agree, and I don't is there
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: anything else that's as motivating as sports to to get
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: to a certain degree to get you academically sound.
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: Is there any other.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: System that's out there for let's say the general student body.
• 18:47
  Speaker 4: I'm not aware of one that's that's there. I do
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: think it's important that students be involved in something in
• 18:54
  Speaker 4: terms of whether they're in high school or college, because
• 18:56
  Speaker 4: it gives them a hook end of the school and
• 18:58
  Speaker 4: if they're if there'ssion about something, then they tend to
• 19:01
  Speaker 4: do better.
• 19:02
  Speaker 5: So now, whether it's a club or any kind of.
• 19:09
  Speaker 4: Find something that's so you need to be involved in something. Yes,
• 19:13
  Speaker 4: I think it's And there are folks who go through
• 19:15
  Speaker 4: and not involve anything, and I think that's in a
• 19:17
  Speaker 4: way kind of kind of tragic. I mean, isn't now
• 19:19
  Speaker 4: some opportunities find something you're passionate about and go after
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: sports is my thing I wanted to do. I wanted
• 19:24
  Speaker 4: to me too.
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: And one of the things that I've noticed with some
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: athletes today, they don't want they don't want that yelling
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: and screaming at them or sitting them down and trying
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: to explain to them the facts. I know for me,
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: that was very very helpful for me to understand, you know,
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: where if I want to go to where I'm saying
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: I want to go, then these are the things that
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: you got to do, not just academic, but socially, and
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: all of these kinds of things.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: I'm not sure.
• 20:02
  Speaker 1: I don't I don't know if that is getting to
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: the to the young athletes today or if they're not
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: hearing it or understanding it, not linking it to the
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: reality of how do you be Like how do you
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: become a Bryce casto without following these rules and regulations? Like,
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: how does that even happen?
• 20:23
  Speaker 4: I think I think success leaves clues and if anybody
• 20:26
  Speaker 4: wants to be successful, there's plenty of folks to go
• 20:30
  Speaker 4: out in the study. One thing I always try to
• 20:31
  Speaker 4: do as a teacher and a coach particularly, and one
• 20:34
  Speaker 4: of the things that happened to me when when I
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: was a young coach because I was coaching West Virginia State,
• 20:39
  Speaker 4: we got to go to three training camp when we're
• 20:41
  Speaker 4: embedded with NFL teams for a week, you know, just
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: like and you could go you had the run of
• 20:45
  Speaker 4: the camp and again the best in the world. Now,
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: what do the best in the world do for success?
• 20:51
  Speaker 4: And I never will forget with Jim McNally, with with
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: the Bengals, just how fund how much many fundamentals they work.
• 20:58
  Speaker 4: Here's Anthony Munoz, They're working basic fundamentals you'd work with
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: with a high school or younger player, and he's still
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: doing it. And that was an important part of their practice.
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: So that we tried to bring those methods to what
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: we were doing and worked our way through very small
• 21:15
  Speaker 4: individual groups all the way up to the team. We'll
• 21:18
  Speaker 4: put it all together.
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: When you look at sports now, when you start talking
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: about the fundamentals, one of the things that I think,
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: and I don't know if I'm correct on this, but
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: I don't think that the fundamentals are there are the
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: major focus for most athletes today. I don't know if
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: they're thinking of it that I got to learn it
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: because if I'm good and I'm fast, and oh I'm fast,
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: I'm good, I'm you know, just give me the ball
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: and I'll take care of everything else.
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: If we are on that path of fundamentals to the degree.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: That I think you would be and or where it.
• 21:56
  Speaker 4: Should be if you want to be good on a
• 21:59
  Speaker 4: national level. Fundamentals are the difference. Often in a small
• 22:04
  Speaker 4: state like West Virginia, folks can can get by on
• 22:08
  Speaker 4: talent and some It's been my experience that often folks
• 22:11
  Speaker 4: don't have a global view of how many outstanding, out
• 22:15
  Speaker 4: standing the players are out there and to accomplish you
• 22:18
  Speaker 4: know what, what you accomplished in terms of the number
• 22:21
  Speaker 4: of years in the league and all pro that. I mean,
• 22:24
  Speaker 4: that's that's there's a lot of lessons there. And I
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: can remember coming into we're when we're starting school at
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: at South Charleston at seven o five am. We're we're
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: having instruction at seven o five am and you're I'm
• 22:37
  Speaker 4: coming into school and you're coming off the track and
• 22:40
  Speaker 4: uh with it with a group where you've been training
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: and this is and we're on a very early schedule.
• 22:45
  Speaker 4: And that's what a discipline is. I mean, it's there.
• 22:47
  Speaker 4: And if you want to uh, if you want to
• 22:51
  Speaker 4: be successful on a national level to the best that
• 22:54
  Speaker 4: you can be, fundamentals are the are the difference maker.
• 22:58
  Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean I'm toly on board with that. I mean,
• 23:01
  Speaker 5: he makes so much sense with that. I'm going to
• 23:04
  Speaker 5: go back to your career if you don't mind, coach,
• 23:07
  Speaker 5: so your later career. You served a long time, a
• 23:11
  Speaker 5: long time as an athletic director at South Truston High
• 23:13
  Speaker 5: School until twenty twenty four when you retired. Correct, What
• 23:17
  Speaker 5: were some of the difficulties you experienced in switching from
• 23:20
  Speaker 5: being a head coach to an athletic director.
• 23:23
  Speaker 4: Well, one thing I always try to take pride in
• 23:26
  Speaker 4: is I wanted what folks would consider the non revenue
• 23:30
  Speaker 4: or the Olympic sports to have as much service from
• 23:33
  Speaker 4: my office as say, the more marquee programs that the
• 23:36
  Speaker 4: public would see your footballs and basketball. That was always
• 23:40
  Speaker 4: important to me, and you know, we generally had eighteen
• 23:42
  Speaker 4: nineteen sports. It was important to me for those folks
• 23:45
  Speaker 4: and those students to get the same level of service
• 23:47
  Speaker 4: and an opportunity that the most do your more revenue sports.
• 23:52
  Speaker 5: Like football, by absolutely right.
• 23:53
  Speaker 4: Absolutely, that was the thing we tried to do. So
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: you have to take a global view, and when you're
• 24:00
  Speaker 4: a head coach or sport, you can tend to lock
• 24:03
  Speaker 4: in on on one sport where you have to kind
• 24:05
  Speaker 4: of see why I call it an airplane view, look
• 24:07
  Speaker 4: down and see how it fits in the whole thing.
• 24:10
  Speaker 4: I've I've had folks talk about conference membership, and obviously
• 24:12
  Speaker 4: if you're going to be a member of the conference,
• 24:14
  Speaker 4: you have to look at all sports, not just do
• 24:16
  Speaker 4: it just because of football or just because of basketball.
• 24:18
  Speaker 4: You have to do it because it makes sense for
• 24:20
  Speaker 4: for all your sports and opportunities.
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: But I don't And and to that point, I don't
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: know if if that's.
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: What a lot of people are doing. I think I
• 24:32
  Speaker 2: think some.
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: I think some situations are based solely on a sport.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: So we're going to go to this conference because of
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: this particular sport, and all of a sudden, now you're
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: in a situation where that sport might become great and
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: then everybody else is struggling.
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: As well as travel issues, yes, yes, big time. Yeah,
• 24:55
  Speaker 4: because you know when when uh, California is in the ACE,
• 25:00
  Speaker 4: you see that's uh, that's a different that's a different part.
• 25:02
  Speaker 4: You know, in Stanford's in the ACC, that's uh.
• 25:06
  Speaker 5: Kind of like the VU in the Big twelve sometimes.
• 25:09
  Speaker 4: One of the first of stuff out and that's and
• 25:11
  Speaker 4: that you know, that's that's difficult from a travel perspective,
• 25:15
  Speaker 4: And I think you've heard their basketball coaches talk through
• 25:17
  Speaker 4: the year in particular about their their travel issues when
• 25:20
  Speaker 4: are going to Texas and don't have to in the league,
• 25:23
  Speaker 4: I think tries to schedule them in blocks to where
• 25:26
  Speaker 4: they can do a Saturday Monday to negate some of
• 25:29
  Speaker 4: that travel. But it's it's it's difficult, and you got
• 25:31
  Speaker 4: to take the global view.
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: I don't and I don't you know, you know, I
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: know you know that, and I've learned it as a
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: as a coach, but as a player, that man that
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: travel what it does to you, Like, I don't know
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: if the general public really understands like a bus ride
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: or even.
• 25:51
  Speaker 2: A flight too.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: Across the country and then you're playing in the next
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: day or even a day after that, how all difficult
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: that actually is for the players specifically.
• 26:06
  Speaker 4: Right, It's it's something that has to be a consideration,
• 26:09
  Speaker 4: not only from the travel perspective, but from your nutrition
• 26:13
  Speaker 4: and air aspects. It's if it's it's tough, it's a lot,
• 26:18
  Speaker 4: it's a lot very much.
• 26:23
  Speaker 5: Oh yeah, No, I'm going back to that. He's a
• 26:25
  Speaker 5: fascinating person. I have all these notes about his career.
• 26:27
  Speaker 5: So I was like going down all these rabbit holes
• 26:30
  Speaker 5: on Bryce cast there today. But so, you also had
• 26:33
  Speaker 5: a tenure at West Virginia State University, right, and you
• 26:36
  Speaker 5: served many roles there, And please correct me if I'm wrong.
• 26:39
  Speaker 5: Sometimes my research is a little off. You were VP
• 26:44
  Speaker 5: for student affairs, you were assystant football coach and sports
• 26:48
  Speaker 5: information director. Right. You were active at the national level
• 26:53
  Speaker 5: to advance the athletics at West Virginia State University. Tell
• 26:57
  Speaker 5: us a little bit about that role.
• 26:58
  Speaker 4: Well, I was bleased to get involved with the National
• 27:03
  Speaker 4: Association and Collegiate Directors of Athletics, and I was actually
• 27:06
  Speaker 4: on their large board, which was the inclusive ball of
• 27:11
  Speaker 4: divisions Divisions one, two, and three. I was active in
• 27:13
  Speaker 4: the Division two Athletic Directors Association, and when I moved
• 27:19
  Speaker 4: into student affairs full time, I was the vice president
• 27:22
  Speaker 4: of that organization. I was on the National Football Committee
• 27:24
  Speaker 4: for Division two and helped operate the playoffs, did a
• 27:27
  Speaker 4: couple of national championship games for Division two. So it
• 27:31
  Speaker 4: was it was as interesting. I was blessed with two
• 27:34
  Speaker 4: ten years at West Virginia State. I coached there and
• 27:36
  Speaker 4: when I was a very young man, that's where I
• 27:38
  Speaker 4: got to go to the to the NFL camps for
• 27:41
  Speaker 4: three summers in a row. It was just wonderful. And
• 27:44
  Speaker 4: then went and coached at South Charles and then went
• 27:46
  Speaker 4: back to State as AD and then was promoted to
• 27:51
  Speaker 4: a vice president, and so it was fun.
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: As an athletic director. You know, when you are looking
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: at your.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: Programs, how are you how do you judge them? Because
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: I'm sure that you don't necessarily judge them necessarily based
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: off the coach per se or wins and losses. So
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: how do how how do you dissect like what should
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: we be doing with this particular sport.
• 28:21
  Speaker 4: Well, you have to look at resources. You know, you
• 28:23
  Speaker 4: want to be realistic with resources, because as you see
• 28:26
  Speaker 4: even today with with high level Division I athletes, let's
• 28:31
  Speaker 4: just look at football, there's a disparity within I L
• 28:33
  Speaker 4: and of course you have so you have to you
• 28:36
  Speaker 4: have to take a look. And again, are you are
• 28:39
  Speaker 4: you graduating your your student lees? Not very many go
• 28:41
  Speaker 4: out and play in the in the in the league. Uh,
• 28:44
  Speaker 4: that's that's rare. I always uh, I always told folks
• 28:47
  Speaker 4: that's like me standing here and trying to jump and
• 28:49
  Speaker 4: land on the moon. It's that that's that. It's that rare,
• 28:52
  Speaker 4: And so it has to be respected and and folks,
• 28:54
  Speaker 4: I don't think a lot of folks understand to be
• 28:58
  Speaker 4: a college athlete at any level, how good you have
• 29:01
  Speaker 4: to be. Generally, only about five percent of their high
• 29:04
  Speaker 4: school athletes total in all sports go on to go
• 29:07
  Speaker 4: on to play collegiately. And that's at all levels. So
• 29:10
  Speaker 4: it's it is a rare thing. And it requires a
• 29:13
  Speaker 4: great deal of discipline and a great deal of of
• 29:17
  Speaker 4: work and and a little bit of luck to put
• 29:20
  Speaker 4: to hit the right situations. And that's what you see.
• 29:23
  Speaker 4: I think one thing that's that's I think's a little
• 29:25
  Speaker 4: bit unfortunate about some of this transfer stuff is folks
• 29:28
  Speaker 4: are always constantly looking and always. One of the best
• 29:30
  Speaker 4: pieces of advice they've ever given to me is always
• 29:32
  Speaker 4: be aware of what you have. And uh, if you
• 29:35
  Speaker 4: if you're aware of what you have, you you look
• 29:37
  Speaker 4: at things as folks will go and look at jobs
• 29:38
  Speaker 4: and you look kind of look at the next job
• 29:40
  Speaker 4: or the next place they're going to live with this,
• 29:42
  Speaker 4: and they forget what they have. And and uh, it's
• 29:46
  Speaker 4: been my experience at often, folks, you know, if you
• 29:49
  Speaker 4: want to hop there's somebody that would love to have
• 29:52
  Speaker 4: your circumstance because they realize what you have.
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: And I think I think a lot of times, especially
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: from the athlet he or she is always thinking that.
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: It's better somewhere else.
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: It just they just always believe that the system is
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: gonna fit me over there. If I go over there,
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: I'm gonna be able to be much better than what
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: I'm getting here. I don't really know if that's that
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: that works out more times than not. You know, I
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: feel like you don't get that because you're kind of
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: like a guest coming into somewhere else and all of
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: a sudden, everybody's looking at you.
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: And I don't know if that helps you. I don't.
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I've never been in that situation, so
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: I don't.
• 30:40
  Speaker 4: It would be an immense pressure. I think you you know,
• 30:43
  Speaker 4: you would be pressure to perform and haven forbid injury
• 30:46
  Speaker 4: or something like that, and you end up with you know,
• 30:48
  Speaker 4: your support networks really important too, and in places sometimes
• 30:52
  Speaker 4: that can be replicated a lot of times it can't be.
• 30:55
  Speaker 4: So again, always be aware of what you have.
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I was again, I was that Marshall
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: and guys would leave, you know, we weren't winning, you know,
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: we win three or four games every year, and and
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: guys would leave and say they're going somewhere else, And
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: and in my head I'm saying, I'm thinking, well, wait
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: a minute, I'm I'm starting I'm playing. I got a
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: coach that played in the NFL. I got Bob Prude
• 31:21
  Speaker 1: as my DV coach. Why would I leave here? And
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: I didn't know coach Breut being who he is now.
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: I didn't know him there, but I liked him and
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: he and he was coaching me and I was learning things.
• 31:34
  Speaker 4: There was like.
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: I didn't care.
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: We could have won one game. I just I couldn't leave.
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: I just didn't know. I couldn't give up the choice
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: that I made.
• 31:47
  Speaker 5: You also had a penalty though, if you transferred at
• 31:50
  Speaker 5: that time too, right, I.
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: Think you had to sit a year.
• 31:53
  Speaker 4: Yeah, you're you're saying that. And there's there's even things
• 31:57
  Speaker 4: now in in Division one that's that's come out with
• 31:59
  Speaker 4: all this this stuff, and you see folks now in
• 32:02
  Speaker 4: seven eight years eligibily. That's but I think there's something
• 32:06
  Speaker 4: came out by the Division I board there and I
• 32:10
  Speaker 4: think the Executive Committee Division one of of that. I
• 32:13
  Speaker 4: think might be a good compromise. Five five years but
• 32:17
  Speaker 4: five years eligibility, so you could you play five and five,
• 32:20
  Speaker 4: which is interesting instead of the you know, have five
• 32:23
  Speaker 4: years to play four. But we've got to get back
• 32:25
  Speaker 4: to some normalcy. I I used to be a huge
• 32:30
  Speaker 4: college football fan, much more than I would even say
• 32:32
  Speaker 4: the NFL, And now it's the polar opposite because you
• 32:36
  Speaker 4: can't follow a team. You have teams that that will
• 32:39
  Speaker 4: turn over so many folks and the and the in
• 32:42
  Speaker 4: the in the portal per year that you can't really
• 32:45
  Speaker 4: follow and and develop players or develop relationships in terms
• 32:49
  Speaker 4: of things. So I think that's uh. I just prefer
• 32:53
  Speaker 4: if I'm going to watch professional athletics, I watch the
• 32:55
  Speaker 4: best in the world. Goes back to what I said earlier,
• 32:57
  Speaker 4: I'm going to watch the NFL, NBA. That's where.
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: Isn't it crazy to think that you could?
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: So if I'm I'm I'm playing for you and you
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: have a system and I've learned that system, I think
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: I'm going to try to get me some more money.
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: I'm going to go somewhere else, and now it's a
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: new system, and now I have to learn that system.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: I got to learn that technique. That's not an easy task.
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: But these kids are acting like it's like it's super
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: easy to go to another team that has a whole
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: other scheme, a whole other way of how they do things,
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: and now you got to learn that all over again.
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: How does like what are you thinking?
• 33:43
  Speaker 4: I'm a proponent of of of hometown athletics. I like
• 33:48
  Speaker 4: that a lot. Again, not all successes are measured in
• 33:53
  Speaker 4: wins and losses, right how you develop as a person
• 33:55
  Speaker 4: as a player, there's opportunity there anywhere you're at. Are
• 33:58
  Speaker 4: there places that are better coach and others? Absolutely there are?
• 34:02
  Speaker 4: And I mean and that's fair. But always when anytime
• 34:05
  Speaker 4: I see an athlete jump to another school, I always
• 34:08
  Speaker 4: hope that it works out for them as well as
• 34:10
  Speaker 4: they think it's gonna gonna work out. It It doesn't
• 34:12
  Speaker 4: always right, and and that's that's the sad part about it.
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: And I think part of the reason is is because
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: the system itself might not like. You may have some
• 34:20
  Speaker 1: skill set that worked where you were, You just didn't
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: like where you were, so you're going to leave somewhere else,
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: and now the whole system is opposite of what you
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: thought you had.
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: That's you made the mistake.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: You know, if if you left, you made that mistake,
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: and that's that that's on you.
• 34:41
  Speaker 4: That's a hard lesson. And often there are external forces
• 34:45
  Speaker 4: putting pressure on on folks to make a decision, and
• 34:50
  Speaker 4: the folk the person that ends up for years having
• 34:52
  Speaker 4: to live that decision. Again, That's why I say, I
• 34:54
  Speaker 4: always hope it works out for them as well as
• 34:56
  Speaker 4: they they want it to work out. But it's it's
• 34:59
  Speaker 4: it's tough.
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: If I was coaching, and I'll say this and you
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: never really know, I would not be interested in going
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: after somebody's players. I just wouldn't be. If I can't
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: do it with what I got, then I'm not going
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: to try. And if I can't recruit, if I can't
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: get you my way, I'm not going to try to
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: come and talk to a kid that's that's on your
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: team and try to get them to come to my team.
• 35:26
  Speaker 2: I just think that that feels like cheating to me.
• 35:28
  Speaker 4: But one of my great joys was was player development. Always. Yes,
• 35:32
  Speaker 4: I had a couple of players that we were ten
• 35:36
  Speaker 4: through twelve grade school with South Charles when I was
• 35:38
  Speaker 4: head coach, and you have somebody as a sophomore that
• 35:40
  Speaker 4: might be the I actually had two that were not
• 35:46
  Speaker 4: very good players as a sophomore. It ended up first
• 35:47
  Speaker 4: team All State players. But they put the work. They
• 35:50
  Speaker 4: did the work. But it's that was the That was
• 35:53
  Speaker 4: the rewarding thing, was to watch development. And often you
• 35:56
  Speaker 4: don't get that opportunity anymore, folks. You see that at
• 36:00
  Speaker 4: at the college level. He's at the high school level
• 36:02
  Speaker 4: and hopefully with with this, with the transfer law being
• 36:06
  Speaker 4: being revoked and we we have a new new rule
• 36:09
  Speaker 4: coming in with the S S A C. We'll see
• 36:13
  Speaker 4: hopefully some normalcy start to return around. Yeah. Well, we're
• 36:16
  Speaker 4: we're in a situation right now where a lot of
• 36:18
  Speaker 4: folks are are making that last jump prior to the
• 36:20
  Speaker 4: new rule coming in into effect. That was again when
• 36:25
  Speaker 4: the legislature decided to get out of athletics. I thought
• 36:28
  Speaker 4: that was a that was a good thing.
• 36:30
  Speaker 5: Yeah, for sure.
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: Tell us a little bit about the rule, Bryce, if
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: you can what the what the new rule?
• 36:36
  Speaker 4: Well is as I understand it, the new rule is
• 36:39
  Speaker 4: is is that between your your after your freshman year
• 36:44
  Speaker 4: and after your sophomore year, you can you can transfer
• 36:47
  Speaker 4: and then you have a transfer back, but you can't
• 36:49
  Speaker 4: you can't transfer as a junior and a senior. That's
• 36:51
  Speaker 4: that's again, it's if you're going to make that choice,
• 36:55
  Speaker 4: you have to do it first within the firs and
• 36:58
  Speaker 4: sophomore year. Yeah, and then and you can transfer back
• 37:02
  Speaker 4: within your freshman sophomore year to original school. But as
• 37:05
  Speaker 4: a junior senior three sixty five you said, it's my understanding,
• 37:09
  Speaker 4: which is again it's the old rule which was a
• 37:13
  Speaker 4: good rule, but in the present environment, I don't think
• 37:17
  Speaker 4: it would have It would have got the legislature out
• 37:21
  Speaker 4: of the business. Was you could go between your eighth
• 37:23
  Speaker 4: and ninth grade year and then with one transfer back.
• 37:26
  Speaker 4: I like that rule. I think a lot of folks
• 37:28
  Speaker 4: like that rule. But this is the new rule is
• 37:30
  Speaker 4: a little bit more permissive. But still you have to
• 37:33
  Speaker 4: make that decision.
• 37:33
  Speaker 5: Early, and I think that that's a that's a valid
• 37:38
  Speaker 5: thing to do. I mean, you don't want to be
• 37:39
  Speaker 5: a junior or a senior and leave a school and
• 37:43
  Speaker 5: start over at a different place. I mean, it's just
• 37:46
  Speaker 5: it's not good for It's not a good look for
• 37:48
  Speaker 5: high school football put it that way, or any sport
• 37:50
  Speaker 5: for that matter.
• 37:50
  Speaker 4: There were players this pastball who were un the state
• 37:54
  Speaker 4: championship teams who transferred somewhere else to play basketball.
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: Yes, that's the same place.
• 38:02
  Speaker 4: They go the same place as a No, this is
• 38:05
  Speaker 4: this is down the southern part of the state. Okay,
• 38:07
  Speaker 4: down in southern part of the state. And I you know,
• 38:12
  Speaker 4: if you go the bulk of your high school career
• 38:15
  Speaker 4: with one cohort of students and then you're going to
• 38:17
  Speaker 4: graduate somewhere else.
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: I don't know how. I don't know how that just
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: doesn't seem comfortable for me, you know.
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: And I'm not I'm not, by any stretch of the
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: imagination shy or anti social, but like I couldn't.
• 38:32
  Speaker 5: Especially as a teenager, you know, growing up with your friends,
• 38:35
  Speaker 5: you've you've gone to school, your whole lives and then.
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: We walked to school together and all of that. Like
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: this is it's almost like.
• 38:42
  Speaker 5: Some you have to have an adult in your ear
• 38:44
  Speaker 5: telling you in my opinions, but I feel that this
• 38:48
  Speaker 5: is what's best for you.
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: I agree with that too.
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: I could see a player, okay, if I'm not playing, okay,
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: I could see me thinking about wanting to go somewhere else.
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: But if I'm playing, yeah, and I want to go somewhere.
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: I want now, I want to go somewhere else. Somebody,
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: somebody's talking.
• 39:07
  Speaker 2: To me somewhere.
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, whether we're with you, yeah, because I
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: just don't see why I would leave.
• 39:13
  Speaker 4: I don't know. It's uh again, I'm a big advocate
• 39:16
  Speaker 4: for for community based education, based athletics. I like, it's
• 39:21
  Speaker 4: one thing that I know Cheryl and I enjoy that
• 39:23
  Speaker 4: we go to good Ripley Games, a good bit uh,
• 39:26
  Speaker 4: you know Ripley's, Well, there are transfers there, mean, students
• 39:29
  Speaker 4: have transferred in and out there. It's not as as
• 39:34
  Speaker 4: prevalent as it is here where we have a in
• 39:37
  Speaker 4: the valley, where we have a lot of schools kind
• 39:40
  Speaker 4: of clustered together. It's not as convenient to do so,
• 39:43
  Speaker 4: but yeah, it still happens. But it's uh, it's it's nice.
• 39:45
  Speaker 4: And again, the schools the center of the community. And
• 39:48
  Speaker 4: that's from the elementary schools on up. It's the center
• 39:51
  Speaker 4: of the community. And it's it's it's quite refreshing and
• 39:53
  Speaker 4: we enjoy it. We enjoyed a good bit.
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: Don't you think it's even more challenging because of how
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: close the schools are in this area of Like for me,
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: if I were to leave South Charleston and go to
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: g W, I mean, that's like why, I don't even know,
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: like why I would even do that? And and it's close,
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: you know, Saint Albans go to Saint Albans, Like, why
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: would I go up the road to Saint Albans?
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: Why would Like I just don't. I don't have a
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: mindset for it.
• 40:23
  Speaker 4: I just always enjoyed playing with folks that I knew
• 40:26
  Speaker 4: and me too, and you when I got to college,
• 40:28
  Speaker 4: it was you know, you helped friends and and enjoyed
• 40:32
  Speaker 4: playing with those folks.
• 40:33
  Speaker 5: Yeah, so let's talk about your son, Zach. He's also
• 40:37
  Speaker 5: got quite the athletic history. Tell us about his his
• 40:41
  Speaker 5: career in athletic he's, Uh.
• 40:43
  Speaker 4: Zach is is unique in that as a young coach,
• 40:46
  Speaker 4: he had he's he coached at Western State and at
• 40:49
  Speaker 4: the University of Charleston Young coaches spoken at the American
• 40:52
  Speaker 4: Baseball Coach Association UH clinic twice. That's that's quite oppressive.
• 40:58
  Speaker 4: And UH, you know, and and and UH has a
• 41:01
  Speaker 4: lot of contacts with with major league teams in terms
• 41:05
  Speaker 4: of folks, and he's he got during the pandemic, pretty
• 41:09
  Speaker 4: well known on Twitter for ranalyzing podcasts and so, so
• 41:18
  Speaker 4: it's he's he knows and Zach is Zach sixth eight.
• 41:26
  Speaker 4: And the position he's probably most versed in is catcher
• 41:30
  Speaker 4: in baseball and UH in six eight. But he never
• 41:34
  Speaker 4: never caught a day in his life. And he's just
• 41:36
  Speaker 4: but in terms of knowing the fundamentals and all. UH,
• 41:40
  Speaker 4: that's so he's he's self taught on a lot of things,
• 41:43
  Speaker 4: but he's He's developed quite a national reputation.
• 41:48
  Speaker 5: Runs in the family, right, all the honors.
• 41:51
  Speaker 2: And to that. This is gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna
• 41:55
  Speaker 2: make a tough question for you.
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: Oh gosh, when you look back on all of the
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: things that you have done, the number of players that
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: you've touched, And I'm going to make this assumption.
• 42:17
  Speaker 2: Because how well I know you.
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: I don't know any player that would have played for
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: you who would not have loved you after they were done.
• 42:27
  Speaker 2: I just I don't know, just because of who I
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: see you and how I know you.
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: I wonder if you actually have ever had the time
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: to stop and think about the amount of young men
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: students being a principal that you have touched and something
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: that you said, something that you told them has made
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: a huge, huge impact on their life. Do you realize
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: how important that was for so many people.
• 43:10
  Speaker 4: I always try to be the best example I could
• 43:12
  Speaker 4: be to my students and players, and that's whether they
• 43:14
  Speaker 4: played ball for me or whether they were a student
• 43:16
  Speaker 4: in my class. I always say I always want to
• 43:18
  Speaker 4: be a teacher first, and I think every good coach,
• 43:20
  Speaker 4: every really good coach, is a good teacher because you
• 43:23
  Speaker 4: have to in my classroom in the afternoon, just have
• 43:25
  Speaker 4: to be on a on a field. But I was
• 43:28
  Speaker 4: always took great pride in terms of teaching. I wanted
• 43:30
  Speaker 4: to have academic rigor in my classroom and and and
• 43:34
  Speaker 4: have expectations for my students and they wanted to get
• 43:38
  Speaker 4: wanted to teach them something that might help them somewhere
• 43:40
  Speaker 4: up the road. Again, not every circumstance is in a book,
• 43:43
  Speaker 4: but you want to try to get them in. You know,
• 43:45
  Speaker 4: I always call horseshes and hand grenades close to if
• 43:47
  Speaker 4: a circumstance did present itself in their life, that they
• 43:49
  Speaker 4: had had the skills that that could meet that that
• 43:52
  Speaker 4: that moment, you know, this is this is an option. Now,
• 43:56
  Speaker 4: sometimes you don't always make the right choice, and but
• 43:58
  Speaker 4: you learn from that and then try to try to
• 44:01
  Speaker 4: do better the next time.
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: And I would I would say that there's another gentleman
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: who feels the exact same way as I do when
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: it comes to you, and that's Damon Booker. And I
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: know I love and I know that that was a
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: lot of work.
• 44:19
  Speaker 2: He knows that it was a lot of work.
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: But I think if he had to, if you ask
• 44:25
  Speaker 1: him who was the guy, he would say you.
• 44:30
  Speaker 4: That's quite humbuy, I hope. I always always strove to
• 44:34
  Speaker 4: be the best influence I could be on anybody that
• 44:37
  Speaker 4: was in my sphere of influence.
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: I think me personally, and I've had a ton of
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: I've been around a ton of individuals who have been
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: in sports. I think you're probably one of the most
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: humble individuals that I should know. I would never say
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: of the greatness that you have achieved and the and
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: the the amount of people that you have impacted over
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: the your over your lifetime as a coach, as an administrator,
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: in any in any area. It's just amazing to me
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: that you have been able to from generation to generation.
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: You know, you say kids change, they you know, the
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: generations change.
• 45:31
  Speaker 2: You have been able to.
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: Adjust yourself to meet those people where they are and
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: to get them where they need to be.
• 45:40
  Speaker 4: Well, first of all, thank you, Thank you so much.
• 45:42
  Speaker 4: That means more to me than I can even capture
• 45:44
  Speaker 4: in the words. I always had a philosophy and this
• 45:47
  Speaker 4: is something I read sometime there's no limit to what
• 45:50
  Speaker 4: a person can accomplish as long as they don't care
• 45:52
  Speaker 4: who gets the credit. And uh, and I think that's
• 45:56
  Speaker 4: that's that's something that's voice was influential in my life.
• 45:59
  Speaker 4: And you know, people people will notice if if things
• 46:02
  Speaker 4: go well. I always wanted my students to get the
• 46:05
  Speaker 4: get the credit. They are the ones, as I mentioned
• 46:07
  Speaker 4: earlier on a couple of players, they're the ones did
• 46:09
  Speaker 4: the work. I just tried to guide them the right direction. Now,
• 46:14
  Speaker 4: I always believe too, there's an art to get them
• 46:17
  Speaker 4: to do what you want to do, but make them
• 46:18
  Speaker 4: think it's their idea too. So there's that kind of
• 46:24
  Speaker 4: kind of lead them the correct way. But it's it's
• 46:27
  Speaker 4: been rewarding. I I know, Cheryl and I get a
• 46:30
  Speaker 4: kick every now and then you'll hear somebody and out
• 46:33
  Speaker 4: today and and they'll hol their coach and then they'll
• 46:36
  Speaker 4: come come running up and these folks are some now
• 46:38
  Speaker 4: in their early fifties and give a hug, and that's
• 46:42
  Speaker 4: that's that's the reward right there, uh is you know
• 46:47
  Speaker 4: I always said, you know, may not remember much about
• 46:50
  Speaker 4: our practices or or our games, or whether we won
• 46:53
  Speaker 4: or lost sometimes, but they remember where they had a
• 46:55
  Speaker 4: good experience playing for your being in the classroom. And
• 46:59
  Speaker 4: that's what always tried to tried to guide me, is
• 47:01
  Speaker 4: to make sure that they they would would have a
• 47:04
  Speaker 4: good experience, get tossed some situations that would help them
• 47:08
  Speaker 4: later in life. If we happened to win a few
• 47:10
  Speaker 4: games along the way, so much the better. It's a
• 47:12
  Speaker 4: lot more fun when you when you win. But it was.
• 47:15
  Speaker 4: I always try to keep in mind education always. If
• 47:18
  Speaker 4: you ask me what I did, I was a teacher.
• 47:20
  Speaker 4: I was a teacher. That's that's what I did.
• 47:23
  Speaker 5: And I like that a lot. As a retired teacher myself,
• 47:27
  Speaker 5: I admire that so much.
• 47:31
  Speaker 2: Well, we got a few We got a few more minutes, Lisa,
• 47:33
  Speaker 2: you have anything.
• 47:34
  Speaker 5: Oh, you know, I'm going to just touch back on
• 47:37
  Speaker 5: all of his you know, Hall of Fame inductions. I mean, yes,
• 47:41
  Speaker 5: kind of you. Oh, I've got a list.
• 47:43
  Speaker 2: I got a list.
• 47:43
  Speaker 5: Like I said, it was. It was like a Rice
• 47:46
  Speaker 5: Casto afternoon at my house on my computer. So you
• 47:50
  Speaker 5: you are a member of the West Virginia Sports Legends
• 47:53
  Speaker 5: Hall of Fame, inducted in twenty nineteen. You are also
• 47:57
  Speaker 5: a part of the Mid Ohio Valley Sports h o F,
• 48:02
  Speaker 5: West Virginia State University Sports h o F, and the
• 48:05
  Speaker 5: Ripley High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
• 48:08
  Speaker 4: The football and the baseball.
• 48:12
  Speaker 5: So so kind of to wrap up the whole show,
• 48:15
  Speaker 5: and and and you know, thanks for being on with
• 48:17
  Speaker 5: us tonight. It's been great to have you. Awesome. How
• 48:21
  Speaker 5: did these inductions make you feel about yourself? Like others
• 48:25
  Speaker 5: honoring your body of work throughout the years.
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: Or or when you hear them all being read out.
• 48:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, making one hall of.
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: Fame is really a good thing. I mean, you could
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: be happy as ever you have a list of fame.
• 48:44
  Speaker 4: So yeah, so it's it's humbling. I've always always tell folks,
• 48:49
  Speaker 4: I've been around good folks and and and good situations
• 48:52
  Speaker 4: my entire life. And and uh, I was always willing
• 48:55
  Speaker 4: to put in work and that that that helped. But
• 48:59
  Speaker 4: I always did the best do and got that those
• 49:01
  Speaker 4: values from my mom and dad who had expectations of
• 49:05
  Speaker 4: me academically, and and if I wanted to play sports,
• 49:08
  Speaker 4: if you're going to do it, do it, do it
• 49:09
  Speaker 4: the right way and and give all that you have
• 49:11
  Speaker 4: and then when you when you finish, there's there's no regrets.
• 49:14
  Speaker 4: That's that's the thing that I can sit here and
• 49:17
  Speaker 4: tell you that from my playing career to my educational
• 49:22
  Speaker 4: career to teaching coaching administratively, I have no regrets. I
• 49:28
  Speaker 4: would do it all again in the heartbeat.
• 49:30
  Speaker 2: And the amazing thing is that you were successful at
• 49:32
  Speaker 2: all of them.
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: Thank you, and that I mean, you know, could your
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: head struggled a little bit somewhere.
• 49:43
  Speaker 4: His accomplishes or much more than mine. It's that it's
• 49:48
  Speaker 4: he's And that's always one thing that I admire about
• 49:51
  Speaker 4: Carl Is is he's always humble, you know, he's always
• 49:56
  Speaker 4: focused on on others and doing what he does for
• 50:00
  Speaker 4: the youth and the community at South Charleson just amazing.
• 50:03
  Speaker 4: And folks just just love him there and and we
• 50:07
  Speaker 4: love you too, We love you too.
• 50:10
  Speaker 5: Well speak for yourself.
• 50:13
  Speaker 2: Well, she's getting fired after this show anyway.
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: All right, Well, ladies and gentlemen, we hope you enjoyed
• 50:19
  Speaker 1: the show, and mister Casto, we surely appreciate.
• 50:22
  Speaker 4: You being here so much. And we're out here and
• 50:24
  Speaker 4: we will.
• 50:24
  Speaker 2: Be back again.
• 50:25
  Speaker 3: Let's Talk with Carl Lee as presented by Attorney Frank Walker.
• 50:28
  Speaker 3: Come in on episodes, ask the crew questions or suggest
• 50:31
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• 50:34
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• 50:37
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• 50:40
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• 50:42
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• 50:45
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• 50:47
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• 50:49
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