Latest / Coaches Corner / UConn FB HC Jim Mora - End of Spring Practice 2025

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UConn FB HC Jim Mora - End of Spring Practice 2025 · Coaches Corner

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, Chrichy, you just starts off with the gym. Uh.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: It was a really productive spring. We worked extremely hard,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: probably the hardest we worked in the four springs I've
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  Speaker 1: been here now. Uh, these guys just embraced every moment
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  Speaker 1: of it. We saw a lot of progress as a
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: team got The new guys that came in, either as
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  Speaker 1: as freshmen you know, high school guys, earlier rollies, or
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  Speaker 1: the portal guys all just assimilated very very well. We
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: saw that in the in the winter training program as well.
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  Speaker 1: So we stayed healthy for the most part of it.
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  Speaker 1: We had you know, some mix and stuff like that,
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  Speaker 1: but we didn't have any serious serious injuries at least
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  Speaker 1: the guys that are in the depth right now. So
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  Speaker 1: we feel really good coming out of this. Now, the
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  Speaker 1: next phase is the portal's open, so I'm sure it's
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  Speaker 1: madness out there, and these guys will work out for
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  Speaker 1: a couple of weeks and they'll take some time off
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  Speaker 1: and we'll get back at it right after Memorial of
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  Speaker 1: the weekend, so late in May. That's the next phase.
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  Speaker 1: So it's been really good, really competitive cooperative intents. We
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: got about probably over fourteen hundred team reps, which is
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  Speaker 1: more than you have in a season. So that's that's
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: what we needed to do. We needed to work hard
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  Speaker 1: and we did it. What are you approaching this portal window?
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  Speaker 1: Do you feel like you have a lot of bulls
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  Speaker 1: that you still need to No, No, We're we're in
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  Speaker 1: decent shape. I mean, there's some spots that we have
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  Speaker 1: to address, and we'll do that, but I'm hopeful that
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  Speaker 1: you know, guys that are here want to stay here,
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  Speaker 1: appreciate the environment that they've helped create, and are happy
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  Speaker 1: with the progress for making. But there's always going to
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  Speaker 1: be you know, surprises. We'll be actively looking for guys
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  Speaker 1: that can, you know, help us get where we want
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  Speaker 1: to be. And you know that starts a second we
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  Speaker 1: walk off this field because I'm sure there's you know,
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  Speaker 1: priority thousands of kids in this portal. It's it's a
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  Speaker 1: different time now that they're going to reduce the roster limits.
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  Speaker 1: There's gonna be a lot of really good football players
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  Speaker 1: out there, so we'll be hunting. How do you balance
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  Speaker 1: building on the momentum from last season to starting with
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  Speaker 1: Ron you start over, you know, I mean last year
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  Speaker 1: doesn't matter. You know a lot of these guys winning here,
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: we lost some critical pieces, uh to you know that
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  Speaker 1: helped us have the success we had last year. So
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  Speaker 1: it's it's you just start from ground zero. You know,
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  Speaker 1: you talk about culture, you talk about work ethic, you
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  Speaker 1: talk about attitudes, you talk about character, commitment, teamwork, team,
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  Speaker 1: you know, selflessness, all those things. You just got to
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  Speaker 1: rebuild it out. So they're really in this day and age,
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  Speaker 1: there's no such thing as momentum coming out of one
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  Speaker 1: year or not. You just I think if you assume
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  Speaker 1: there's going to be, then you make a pretty big
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  Speaker 1: mistake quotational. So we just start over, start over, and
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: you have a chance to see King when he played Temple,
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  Speaker 1: what did you like about him and say a good figure? Well,
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  Speaker 1: first and foremost, he's a playmaker. You know, he's made
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  Speaker 1: a lot of tackles in his career and that's position
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  Speaker 1: with that experience and a guy that's you know, been
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  Speaker 1: productive is really important. Uh Like the way he played,
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  Speaker 1: like his energy when he came on us visit just
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  Speaker 1: his personality. Uh he fits here. You know, he's a
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  Speaker 1: he's a good natured, tough, hard working team kind of guy.
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: And you know that was what we felt when we
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  Speaker 1: brought him in for the weekend and through this last
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  Speaker 1: since January. That's what he's proven to be. Same thing
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  Speaker 1: in this spring ball. You know, he kind of stepped up.
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  Speaker 1: And it's not easy to come in as a new
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  Speaker 1: guy and gain instant credibility with your teammates and respect
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  Speaker 1: for your team teammates. But he did that just in
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  Speaker 1: his words and his actions. So I'm really excited about him.
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  Speaker 1: So you're missaid last year's last year, but dose last
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  Speaker 1: year helped sell your message when you're looking, It absolutely does.
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  Speaker 1: So that's there. You know, if you're a put in
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  Speaker 1: in a word that or in a realm wasn't necessarily
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  Speaker 1: like the football part. There's more people that are willing
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  Speaker 1: to listen to us than they were in the past.
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  Speaker 1: Recruits transfers a little more attention on your program, and
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  Speaker 1: that's a real positive obviously because we we want to
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  Speaker 1: capitalize on that. But in terms of like resetting as
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  Speaker 1: a team, we don't do that. But yeah, it's been
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  Speaker 1: it's been different. You know, there's there's people that are
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  Speaker 1: making unofficial visits here, people that are you know, in
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  Speaker 1: con tack with us that maybe it was a little
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: more difficult to get get their eyes last year. Look,
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  Speaker 1: especially defensive fronts. I'ven pillars are sort of the program.
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  Speaker 1: How hard is it to rebuild? It's hard. It's hard.
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  Speaker 1: You know, you stand out here and you see Val
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  Speaker 1: and Chase sitting over there. Of course I see him
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  Speaker 1: every day. They're both living at my house, which has
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  Speaker 1: been unbelievably awesome to have him there. Uh, I mean funny,
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  Speaker 1: fun fun I mean, you know, Val and my wife
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  Speaker 1: cook every night, the Vows cookies, zucchini bread, carrot cake,
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  Speaker 1: sourdough bread. I mean I walk in the other day,
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  Speaker 1: VAL's gotta he's got a bowl with a uh a
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  Speaker 1: towel over the top of them. I started to postle, coach,
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  Speaker 1: don't pull that back. That's my My dough is whatever
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  Speaker 1: rising And it's just awesome. But uh, you know, Val, Dal, Chase, Jilawnie,
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  Speaker 1: you know Malik two Wee Ronto. Those guys were here
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  Speaker 1: through the fifth in the fam and so there was
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  Speaker 1: just this there's this grit to them and they've been
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  Speaker 1: the guy. So they understood what we were all about,
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  Speaker 1: and they'd kind of kind of put some skins on
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  Speaker 1: the wall. They earned it, and it's hard to replace that.
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  Speaker 1: It really is and that's why one of the reasons
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  Speaker 1: that this spring is so demanding on these guys. You
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  Speaker 1: want to see who's going to emerge, you know, who's
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  Speaker 1: going to show up and when you put apply pressure
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  Speaker 1: to the team, you know, or things you're kind of
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  Speaker 1: going off off track a little which maybe you create
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  Speaker 1: on on purpose, who's going to try to get it
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  Speaker 1: back on track? And so those are really important things
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  Speaker 1: for us to have accomplished this spring. That's say, well,
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  Speaker 1: I got like a Taekwon and he kind of emerges,
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  Speaker 1: you know, and you they see things kind of going
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  Speaker 1: whack out of whack, he just kind of has the
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  Speaker 1: ability to bring it back in could on that note,
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  Speaker 1: who have been some of the people who have kept
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  Speaker 1: the leadership wise for those group You've us in so
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  Speaker 1: many of that, says Demon Brinson. Wes Ho, you know,
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  Speaker 1: I mentioned Taekwon, Donovan brand Carston and they're all in
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: their own way. Some guys never say a word, but
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  Speaker 1: the way that they work and their attitude every single day, Uh,
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  Speaker 1: you know, they're just there. They're big time influencers on
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  Speaker 1: this team. And uh, Cam Chadwick in his own way,
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  Speaker 1: Joe Figiano obviously, so uh I think there's just a
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  Speaker 1: lot of potential. I think as important as leadership is
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  Speaker 1: just a connection, you know, and the team seems to
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  Speaker 1: be building a connection, and that's really important, really important
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  Speaker 1: as you go forward. You talk about people listening to
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  Speaker 1: maybe more and now more and more willing listening. You've
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: had a few players that you know, went to the
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  Speaker 1: teams that you played against, right impressed them they went there.
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  Speaker 1: It's a must be nice to have somebody now like Taekwon,
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  Speaker 1: that you saw and you liked whatever you saw and
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  Speaker 1: we're able to pull him here. Yeah, no, it is,
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  Speaker 1: it is. It's just just uh, it's a good it's
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  Speaker 1: a good feeling to at least get in the game,
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  Speaker 1: you know, when there's been times in the past we
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  Speaker 1: couldn't even get in the game with a guy, and
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  Speaker 1: now we feel like, you know, people are willing to listen.
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  Speaker 1: It's there's a genuine interest. And then when they come
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  Speaker 1: here and they meet the people and they see the
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  Speaker 1: facilities and the way these kids treat each other. Geez,
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  Speaker 1: I didn't know what it was gonna be like this,
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  Speaker 1: you know, So at least we're getting to that point.
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  Speaker 1: And then we just got to pull a few victories
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  Speaker 1: out of that and we'll keep building this thing the
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  Speaker 1: right way. You know, character is so important to our team,
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  Speaker 1: you know, in that connection, and so we always have
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  Speaker 1: to be really careful that it's it's more than just
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  Speaker 1: about the football player, you know, it's about the person
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  Speaker 1: as well, because that's you know, that's what builds the
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  Speaker 1: strength of your team, is the is the character of
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  Speaker 1: your team. We kind of been Branch was a guy
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: that had decommitted at leave and then you guys got
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  Speaker 1: it to come back and now he's in here four years. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: what what was it that you saw them that made
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  Speaker 1: want him to stay? Well, he decommitted, Like I mean
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  Speaker 1: I said, right when I got here, I didn't know him,
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  Speaker 1: you know, but you watch the film and you saw trades.
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  Speaker 1: He's a guy I just done a tremendous job of
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  Speaker 1: developing himself physically and mentally, emotionally. I mean, he's just
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  Speaker 1: a he's a world class person and he's grounded. He
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  Speaker 1: takes it serious. He's been the same kind of since
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  Speaker 1: he got here, and now you're really starting to see
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  Speaker 1: it payoff. And the way he looks physically, his understanding
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  Speaker 1: of the defense is production. So if you look at
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  Speaker 1: his production. If you went off his pure stats, there's
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  Speaker 1: nothing to write home about. But you know, that's kind
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  Speaker 1: of those people outside that are looking the stats. Fortunately,
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  Speaker 1: we get to see him every day and meetings in
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  Speaker 1: the weight room, we get to see him at practice,
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  Speaker 1: and we know what he's becoming. Jim, I hate the
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: thrower used to be out there, But it used to
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  Speaker 1: be these springs would end with a spring game or
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: a scrimmage or something like that. Not anymore, it's cheaged. Well,
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  Speaker 1: we decided last year when we were out there on
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  Speaker 1: Maron at least, I decided that that was we weren't
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  Speaker 1: gonna do that again again. Number One, the turf isn't
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  Speaker 1: conducive to safety and opinion in football. It's okay for
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: lacrosse and soccer and and the field if they ever
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: play field hockey the things they do out there, but
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  Speaker 1: for our football team, that turf is not safe. Number two, Uh,
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  Speaker 1: it was cold and wet and rainy, and no one
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  Speaker 1: was there, and uh, it just wasn't the energy and
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  Speaker 1: the environment that we needed. And number three, I feel
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  Speaker 1: like in a practice like this, we can get a
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  Speaker 1: lot more done. You know, we can create more situations,
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  Speaker 1: We can create the energy we want, we can get
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  Speaker 1: the evaluations that we want, and so we just decided
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  Speaker 1: last year that we're not doing anymore. Now other people
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: have their own reasons for us, it was really just
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  Speaker 1: a function of how can we have fifteen really really
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: good practices where we can develop as a football team,
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  Speaker 1: irrelevant of what anyone else is doing. I'm so curious
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  Speaker 1: on your position on the state of sort of the
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  Speaker 1: transfer portal and all that stuff where we're seeing at
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  Speaker 1: least one player, you know, show that you can kind
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  Speaker 1: of hold out. Yeah, And I mean I don't, I
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  Speaker 1: don't know. I don't know. There's there's there's really no
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  Speaker 1: rules that are being followed. Tampering is rampant. The NCAA
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: refuses to step in and do anything about it. I
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  Speaker 1: know this. If one of our players that I don't
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  Speaker 1: think is gonna leave all of a sudden leaves, I'm
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: calling that team out. If I have any inkling that
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: there's tampering, I'm naming names. I'm not gonna be one
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: of those coaches says, hey, we the NCAA's got to
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: do something about tampering. I'm gonna say no school X,
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: just like get I did in the winter school X
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  Speaker 1: did this, and then the NCAAs to decide if they
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: want to do something about it, which so far doesn't
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: appear they're going to. I think it's chaos. I think
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: it's unfortunate. I think it's horrible for the players. I
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: don't think it's the player's fault at all. I mean,
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: these players, they see the money out there, they want
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: to go get it. There's no contracts, there's nothing holding
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  Speaker 1: them back from them. They're young, impressionable kids. I don't
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: blame them at all. It's it's it is what it is.
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: You're just the I mean, I consider I'm not bitching.
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: I'm just telling you the facts. It's just it is
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: what it is. I mean, you kind of get a
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: little adrenaline rush out of it. At the same time,
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: you know, I know the positives it. It gives us
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: a chance to go out and you know, better our team,
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: and it gives players a chance to got and better
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: their situation. But at some point in time, at some
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  Speaker 1: point in time, the people that govern this have to
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: have some parameters that they enforce and they stick to,
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: otherwise it's going to implode. You didn't hear anything. You
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: didn't hear anything. At all after anybody mentioned more. It's
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: like Mike Gandhi said, you know, go and look consider
• 11:28
  Speaker 1: my Gundy said about spring games. You know, I'm not
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: going to repeat what he said, but tell somebody's willing
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  Speaker 1: to actually hold somebody accountable. People are just going to
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: do what they want regardless of the this what the
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: rules say, and that is exactly what's happening. But I'm
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: not going to be afraid to call it out because
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: I don't care. You know what I'm saying, because what
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: are the players on your spring roster? Is du Khan? Define?
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: Can you talk about him at all? I don't know
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: how it work. Is this some sort of kind of
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: tryout or how hard if nearly try? He impressed us
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: now he you know, Coach Penders talked about him a
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: lot to me, and Drew expressed an interest in coming
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: out and playing football again. And you would not have
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: known that it had been a while since he played.
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: And when he stepped right in and he was really
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: good and he understood the game, and he's competitive, and
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: he's tough, and he catches the ball consistently, he learns well.
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: I don't know what his plans are going forward. I
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: mean if if tomorrow he's out there, you know, hitting
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: clean up for our baseball team, I'm all for it.
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: You know. I'd love to have him back in the
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: in the summer, in the in the fallback. So whatever
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: he wants to do, you know, and whatever coach Penders
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: thinks is best for him. I like him, you know.
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: I like dual sport guys like I wouldn't mind our
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: guys running track, you know, I'd be great. He just
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: go out there and compete. That's the best thing we
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: can do is go compete. So all right, hey, thanks,