Latest / The Craig Way Show / Texans Joint Practice Notes, Auburn Football Preview

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Texans Joint Practice Notes, Auburn Football Preview · The Craig Way Show

0:00
Speaker 1: Yes, we welcome you to the program, albeit a little
0:05
Speaker 1: bit abbrevia, actually a lot abbreviated, truncated version of the program.
0:09
Speaker 2: But we knew that, and we.
0:10
Speaker 1: Told you about that over the past couple of days,
0:13
Speaker 1: that we would have a shorter edition of the show
0:17
Speaker 1: due to the Round Rock Express game n El Paso today.
0:20
Speaker 1: But we're happy to be with you this afternoon. Welcome
0:23
Speaker 1: to the program here on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred zone.
0:26
Speaker 1: My name is Craig Way. Glad you're joining us. Hope
0:29
Speaker 1: you're staying cool, dry and comfortable here in this triple
0:32
Speaker 1: digit heat of the Dog.
0:33
Speaker 2: Days of August in which we exist.
0:37
Speaker 1: The producer of the program is Jay Carmon, who does
0:39
Speaker 1: not have a dog, not here in Austin, not yet, anyway,
0:43
Speaker 1: are you planning.
0:44
Speaker 3: I'm treating a dog like you treated moving to Texas.
0:48
Speaker 3: Didn't have one right away, but I got one as
0:49
Speaker 3: soon as I could. I'm waiting until my kind of
0:53
Speaker 3: lifestyle allows a dog.
0:55
Speaker 2: Right now.
0:55
Speaker 3: With the small apartment and the strange hours, I don't
0:58
Speaker 3: think I'm ready yet.
1:00
Speaker 2: Is your apartment complex pet friendly? It is okay, all right.
1:03
Speaker 3: But it's a little I don't think a dog has
1:04
Speaker 3: enough room to roam in my apartment at the moment.
1:06
Speaker 1: I got you okay, all right, and I've thought about
1:10
Speaker 1: that because of dog days, because it's kind of hot.
1:13
Speaker 2: Let me tell you what we have coming up here.
1:15
Speaker 2: In this.
1:16
Speaker 1: Abbreviated portion of the program that we have for you today,
1:22
Speaker 1: we're going to continue our SEC football previews. We have
1:27
Speaker 1: three schools remaining the preview. If you haven't heard any
1:31
Speaker 1: of those, you can go to our podcast page, correct
1:35
Speaker 1: Jake to any of the others.
1:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, those are separated out by individual segments.
1:40
Speaker 4: You can also hear the entire show there as well.
1:42
Speaker 1: Okay, So to this point, we have looked at twelve
1:48
Speaker 1: of the other fifteen schools in the SEC, obviously not
1:51
Speaker 1: counting Texas the sixteenth, but the other teams around the
1:55
Speaker 1: Southeastern Conference. We've previewed the twelve of the fifteen to
2:01
Speaker 1: this point, and each individual school's preview includes a conversation
2:06
Speaker 1: with that schools that football program's play by playvoice. So
2:11
Speaker 1: we started this thing on back week before last with
2:16
Speaker 1: the defending conference champions to Georgia Bulldogs. We visited with
2:19
Speaker 1: Jeff Danzler, who has been doing their baseball a long
2:22
Speaker 1: time he's moving into the football play by play chair
2:24
Speaker 1: as well this fall. We visited with Jeff a week
2:26
Speaker 1: ago Monday. A week ago Tuesday, it was Arkansas. We
2:30
Speaker 1: visited with Chuck Barrett, the Razorbacks played by play voice.
2:33
Speaker 1: On Wednesday, Sean Kelly, the voice of Florida Gators, joined
2:36
Speaker 1: us to preview the Florida Intrey and our SEC previews.
2:40
Speaker 1: On Thursday was Tom Leach, the voice of the Kentucky Wildcats.
2:44
Speaker 1: When we took a look at Big Blue under new
2:46
Speaker 1: head coach Will Steinen. On Friday, we looked at Mississippi
2:50
Speaker 1: State at the Bulldogs and visited with Neil Price to
2:53
Speaker 1: played by playvoice. That was the first week, and then
2:56
Speaker 1: the second week we started on Monday with South Carolina.
3:00
Speaker 1: Got Ellis, their play by play voice was with us
3:02
Speaker 1: on Monday. On Tuesday that was the Missouri Tigers. Mike Kelly,
3:05
Speaker 1: the voice of MISSOO was with us. On Wednesday, another
3:08
Speaker 1: group of Tigers from LSU. Chris Blair was on with
3:11
Speaker 1: us the voice of the LSU Tigers on Wednesday. Then
3:15
Speaker 1: on Thursday and Friday, we went back to back entries
3:18
Speaker 1: from the volunteer State. On Thursday, it was Vanderbilt and
3:23
Speaker 1: Andrew Aligreta their play by play voice, and on Friday,
3:26
Speaker 1: the Tennessee Volunteers with Mike Keith their broadcast.
3:29
Speaker 2: Voice joining us.
3:30
Speaker 1: And then this week we started on Monday two days
3:33
Speaker 1: ago with Old Miss David Kellam play by play voice
3:37
Speaker 1: of the Old Miss Rebels with us on Monday Yesterday.
3:41
Speaker 1: On Tuesday we shifted to the Yellowhammer State. It was Alabama,
3:45
Speaker 1: the Crimson Tide and Chris Stewart their play by play
3:48
Speaker 1: voices with us. We keep it in the state of Alabama. Today,
3:51
Speaker 1: the Auburn Tigers Andy Bircham, their play by play voice,
3:55
Speaker 1: will join us to talk about that program. One of
3:58
Speaker 1: several to have ANUE head coach like Florida, like Kentucky,
4:02
Speaker 1: like Arkansas, to have a new play by play voice,
4:05
Speaker 1: I mean a new head coach and their play by
4:07
Speaker 1: play voice, Andy Bertram will join us today. Tomorrow it'll
4:11
Speaker 1: be the Oklahoma Sooners and Toby Roland, their play by
4:14
Speaker 1: play voice, will be with us. And on Friday we'll
4:16
Speaker 1: conclude our previews with those rivals.
4:19
Speaker 2: Nineteen miles to the east.
4:20
Speaker 1: The Texas a and M Maggie's and Andrew Monico will
4:23
Speaker 1: join us so that's how it's doing. And so we
4:26
Speaker 1: do have time to bring you the SEC preview today,
4:28
Speaker 1: so we will do that. We are also going to
4:32
Speaker 1: give away a copy of Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine
4:36
Speaker 1: this hour, so we'll do we'll do that as well,
4:38
Speaker 1: and that will be done on a random call. All right,
4:41
Speaker 1: let's jump right in with the Houston Jacksons.
4:43
Speaker 5: Now.
4:44
Speaker 1: We have some sound that we're gonna let you hear
4:45
Speaker 1: from Demiko Ryans, because the Texans and Raiders had joint
4:51
Speaker 1: practices yesterday and in terms of the practice, and you'll
4:56
Speaker 1: hear these comments from Demiko Rans, the Texans head coach,
5:00
Speaker 1: everything went really really well in terms of that. What
5:02
Speaker 1: he did not know at the time was that Jaydon
5:07
Speaker 1: Higgins has had torn his acl and I'm sure we'll
5:10
Speaker 1: hear more about that from Ryan's tomorrow. But I wanted
5:13
Speaker 1: to bring you some of this where they're talking about
5:15
Speaker 1: the joint practices, because we've heard the head coaches of
5:18
Speaker 1: all of these teams talk about the value of being
5:23
Speaker 1: able to practice, and it's another team. Last week, the
5:25
Speaker 1: Cowboys were doing that with the Rams, and the Cowboys
5:29
Speaker 1: will be in Arizona and the new Orleans Saints are
5:33
Speaker 1: out there, and then of course they have the preseason
5:35
Speaker 1: game on Saturday with the Cardinals.
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Speaker 3: They did practice with the Saints and it did get
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Speaker 3: extremely chippy.
5:40
Speaker 2: Of course it would.
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Speaker 3: As seat and I ever talked about what we're not
5:42
Speaker 3: going to get to it today, but he talked about
5:45
Speaker 3: Donovan Azerakuho had to be pulled back and he's like, yeah,
5:47
Speaker 3: we're not going to take you know what from anybody.
5:50
Speaker 3: But at the same time, we got to be smart.
5:51
Speaker 3: So I think it was a valuable learning experience with
5:54
Speaker 3: the Cowboys, all right.
5:55
Speaker 1: On that score, then let's hear from Dimiko Ryans where
5:57
Speaker 1: he talked about the expectations he had for joint practice.
6:01
Speaker 6: With the joint practice tomorrow, we're trying to accomplish two
6:04
Speaker 6: good teams going out competing against each other and going
6:07
Speaker 6: against some different schemes. That's the biggest emphasis of being
6:10
Speaker 6: able to see some different things tendency wise, play wise,
6:14
Speaker 6: going against different players. They have a lot of good
6:16
Speaker 6: players there, starting with the defensive end. Max Crosby is
6:19
Speaker 6: gonna be great for our guys to go against him.
6:21
Speaker 5: At the quarterback position.
6:23
Speaker 6: Having Kirk Cousins and Mendoza two really good quarterbacks, so
6:27
Speaker 6: we're excited to see our group going up against those guys.
6:31
Speaker 6: Can't forget Bron Bauers as well, one of the best
6:33
Speaker 6: tight ends in the league. So personnel different, right, scheme different.
6:38
Speaker 6: It helps us to continue to develop and grow our
6:40
Speaker 6: team throughout training.
6:41
Speaker 2: Camp, all right.
6:41
Speaker 1: The other thing that he's wanting is players to practice
6:45
Speaker 1: is based on technique over knowing what's coming as they
6:49
Speaker 1: line up against an opponent.
6:50
Speaker 6: We have a lot of variety to what we're doing
6:52
Speaker 6: offensively and defensively, so it's never one rep that's the same.
6:57
Speaker 5: Guys have to be on it. You have to be
6:59
Speaker 5: deliberate and what you're doing.
7:00
Speaker 6: You have to trust your eyes, trust your techniques, and
7:02
Speaker 6: be where you're supposed to be. I think we had
7:05
Speaker 6: a couple of plays where like one play we had
7:08
Speaker 6: yesterday with a huzzy playing a nickel position, right, he's
7:12
Speaker 6: gotten better.
7:13
Speaker 5: He got beat on a similar route a couple times.
7:15
Speaker 6: And yesterday he was able to play his technique a
7:17
Speaker 6: little bit better, a little tighter. He was able to
7:19
Speaker 6: step in one and make an interception. So that's the
7:22
Speaker 6: type of growth you see. Although it may be a
7:24
Speaker 6: different route, different little different formation. Can you just trust
7:27
Speaker 6: your technique be or you're supposed to be and make
7:29
Speaker 6: a play And Huzzy was a good example.
7:31
Speaker 5: Of that yesterday.
7:32
Speaker 1: All right, and NFL teams are not so far along
7:36
Speaker 1: completely into their fall camp that position battles are all
7:40
Speaker 1: but decided now. A lot of that goes down to
7:42
Speaker 1: the waning days. But Ryans was asked, what is the
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Speaker 1: percentage there of preseason practice as opposed to what decides
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Speaker 1: position battles.
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Speaker 6: There's no percentage. To me, it's all I take everything
7:58
Speaker 6: into account. It's not just one is heavier than the other.
8:03
Speaker 6: I just look at how guys are working every single day.
8:06
Speaker 6: How are they improving every single day. That's what out
8:09
Speaker 6: taking to consideration. And also you get you know, towards
8:12
Speaker 6: the end, you're talking about backup guys, role guys like
8:16
Speaker 6: you know, how many things can that guy do for us?
8:19
Speaker 7: Right?
8:19
Speaker 5: Where's his versatility?
8:20
Speaker 6: And versatility helps a lot when you have to limit
8:23
Speaker 6: the roster you have, you need guys who can do
8:25
Speaker 6: multiple things on game day, So that definitely helps.
8:28
Speaker 2: Okay, all right.
8:29
Speaker 1: Then he was asked about his quarterback ce J Stroud
8:32
Speaker 1: and how the value is for a quarterback working against
8:36
Speaker 1: another team's defense.
8:38
Speaker 6: The value for CJ is you get to see again
8:41
Speaker 6: different coverages, right, You get to see different players and.
8:43
Speaker 5: How are they responding and reacting to your movements?
8:47
Speaker 7: Right?
8:47
Speaker 6: You discipline, keep your eyes down the middle, being able
8:49
Speaker 6: to move, you know, hook players, your advantage like seeking
8:53
Speaker 6: He go out and still execute his discipline, his techniques
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Speaker 6: the proper way.
8:57
Speaker 5: Really for him, it doesn't matter you go against.
9:00
Speaker 6: But it's also like, are you trusting your process every
9:03
Speaker 6: single time that you go out. So he's done a
9:05
Speaker 6: great job all camp, and I don't expect anything different
9:09
Speaker 6: on tomorrow.
9:10
Speaker 5: Expect them to come out and have a good day,
9:12
Speaker 5: all right.
9:12
Speaker 1: When you get into joint practices, quite often sometimes guys
9:16
Speaker 1: will go on instinct what they're doing instead of just
9:19
Speaker 1: necessarily following the script of what's going to happen. The
9:22
Speaker 1: constant repetition of the plays, and Ryan's misasked about the
9:27
Speaker 1: contrast of the two.
9:28
Speaker 5: For me, consistency is key. You want to be a
9:31
Speaker 5: really good player.
9:32
Speaker 6: The great players in this league, one thing you can
9:34
Speaker 6: say about all of them like they're consistent. They were
9:37
Speaker 6: consistent in what they did and the plays that they made.
9:39
Speaker 6: It wasn't about the wild plays, But they make the
9:42
Speaker 6: wild plays because they're consistent, and you add in great
9:46
Speaker 6: instincts and anticipation with being consistent on your technique, that's
9:50
Speaker 6: when you become a really great player.
9:53
Speaker 5: So it can't get.
9:54
Speaker 6: Monotonous and boring at times, as by an old lineman,
9:58
Speaker 6: for instance, just being able to stay inside right, protect,
10:01
Speaker 6: inside out, inside out. You may hear the same thing
10:04
Speaker 6: over and over again, but the one time you don't
10:06
Speaker 6: do it, then disaster happens, you know, for the place.
10:10
Speaker 6: So you just have to remain consistent. You have to
10:13
Speaker 6: remain confident in what the coaches are telling you, like
10:16
Speaker 6: is right. It works when you try to do it
10:18
Speaker 6: the right way, so consistency is key.
10:21
Speaker 2: All right.
10:22
Speaker 1: Then you get to things about going up in a
10:25
Speaker 1: joint practice against the defense that has a different structure
10:28
Speaker 1: than your own.
10:29
Speaker 2: What are the benefits of that?
10:32
Speaker 6: Ideally, when I'm going through and picking a joint practice,
10:35
Speaker 6: it first starts with our scheduling, and we don't get
10:38
Speaker 6: to get to pick our schedule. But it works out
10:40
Speaker 6: a lot of times in our favor where offensively and
10:44
Speaker 6: we're consistently going against a four man down front which
10:48
Speaker 6: we run defensively, so if I could get the opportunity
10:51
Speaker 6: to go against teams that present five down fronts and
10:54
Speaker 6: different structures, different coverages, that works out great for us
10:57
Speaker 6: because again it's developing our offense to make some different calls,
11:01
Speaker 6: different communication checks up front, making sure they're on it,
11:04
Speaker 6: because we know we're going to see a ton of
11:06
Speaker 6: five down teams throughout the season.
11:08
Speaker 5: So if we are able to get that.
11:09
Speaker 6: Work early on, right in August, it definitely prepares us
11:12
Speaker 6: for the season.
11:13
Speaker 1: Okay, you probably heard that they're down one quarterback due
11:17
Speaker 1: to injury, and so they had to bring in Brett
11:19
Speaker 1: Ripping as well. Is it hard to evaluate his wide
11:22
Speaker 1: receivers when you have such a brand new quarterback and
11:24
Speaker 1: Ripping getting his reps.
11:26
Speaker 5: Brett's played in his league. He's done a really good job.
11:28
Speaker 6: He's won a couple of games in his league, so
11:30
Speaker 6: he has the experience. So I'm not worried about that
11:33
Speaker 6: from the evaluation standpoint. He's his track record has proven
11:38
Speaker 6: that he can go in smart guys, picked up the offense,
11:41
Speaker 6: already done a great job with the plays that we've
11:43
Speaker 6: given him.
11:44
Speaker 5: So nowhere is there at all.
11:45
Speaker 1: Now we've heard that sometimes the way to make an
11:50
Speaker 1: NFL roster is what you do on special teams, even
11:52
Speaker 1: if you were a standout player on offense or defense
11:56
Speaker 1: in college, ask Devin DuVernay. Yeah, that's where you've got
12:00
Speaker 1: how to earn your stripes, so to speak. So Dimko
12:04
Speaker 1: Rymes was asked, how do the young players earn these
12:06
Speaker 1: special teams opportunities to increase their profile and their chances
12:10
Speaker 1: of making the club?
12:12
Speaker 6: When it comes to the responsibility piece for all of
12:15
Speaker 6: our guys, it goes to whether you're a young guy,
12:17
Speaker 6: old guy, Like, how can you help us on game day?
12:20
Speaker 5: Right?
12:20
Speaker 6: We only get forty eight guys on game day? So
12:23
Speaker 6: who can go out there again and do multiple things?
12:25
Speaker 6: So if your receiver, you can't just line up and
12:28
Speaker 6: be a starter receiver. You have to be able to
12:30
Speaker 6: provide something for special teams wise, whether that's returning or
12:35
Speaker 6: you know, helping out to some of the other phases.
12:37
Speaker 5: So the more you can do it, the better.
12:39
Speaker 2: Okay, all right? And then a couple other things.
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Speaker 1: One, how the communication works with other coaches before and
12:46
Speaker 1: during these joint practices.
12:47
Speaker 6: I want the joint practice, you definitely communicate with the
12:50
Speaker 6: other coaches, myself and the other head coach and communicate. Also,
12:54
Speaker 6: our coordinators are talking, so you know, you want to
12:57
Speaker 6: try to get some some thing schematically that we haven't
13:00
Speaker 6: seen a ton of, so we can do that. We
13:02
Speaker 6: want to work there for sure. And then you know,
13:06
Speaker 6: from my mindset, just put the ball down and let's
13:08
Speaker 6: go to work. Right, It really doesn't matter like throw
13:11
Speaker 6: your playbook at us. Let's see how our rules and
13:14
Speaker 6: things were teaching our guys.
13:16
Speaker 5: How do they hold up?
13:17
Speaker 6: So it's not a lot of coordinating. Hey, I want
13:19
Speaker 6: to see this. I want to see that there's some
13:21
Speaker 6: one offs here and there. But for the most part, man,
13:24
Speaker 6: we want to see our guys go out and just compete.
13:27
Speaker 5: Let's go against a really good team, all right.
13:29
Speaker 1: And then finally, one other thing from Namiko, Ryan's talking
13:32
Speaker 1: about the ball skills he's watching for out of his
13:35
Speaker 1: defense as they continue to develop as well.
13:39
Speaker 6: From our perspective, when you talk about, you know, taking
13:42
Speaker 6: the football away. In my short history of doing this
13:47
Speaker 6: and coaching evaluating guys, guys who have taken the ball
13:51
Speaker 6: away in high school and college, they tend to take
13:55
Speaker 6: the ball away in the NFL. Kaitlyn Bullock, for him,
13:58
Speaker 6: says he's done it at a high level in college
14:02
Speaker 6: going up taking the football away. Of course, I think
14:04
Speaker 6: his baseball background has something to do that, playing center field,
14:08
Speaker 6: being able to.
14:08
Speaker 5: Track the football.
14:09
Speaker 6: I mean, he's has a really great hand eye coordination
14:12
Speaker 6: and confidence in his hands. Derrick Stanley another guy we're
14:16
Speaker 6: doing our ball meeting a couple of years ago, and
14:18
Speaker 6: Coach Dino pulled up old high school clip of Stingley
14:22
Speaker 6: picking the football off and he picked it off exactly
14:25
Speaker 6: the same way he picked it off versus Denver overhead going.
14:28
Speaker 5: Up picking the ball. So did I coach Stingley to
14:31
Speaker 5: do that? No, it's this guy.
14:34
Speaker 6: Giving a great ability that God has given him, that
14:38
Speaker 6: he has a knack for going and taking the football away.
14:41
Speaker 6: So I'll try to find guys who have production in
14:45
Speaker 6: their history high school, college, and it will definitely translate
14:49
Speaker 6: to the NFL same way.
14:50
Speaker 5: If a guy hadn't caught any in.
14:52
Speaker 6: College, I can't give him too much of a hard
14:54
Speaker 6: time when he doesn't catch one here.
14:58
Speaker 1: So there's some work from my Demko Ryans. And again
15:02
Speaker 1: these comments came before they found out this morning they're
15:06
Speaker 1: going to be without the receiver Jaden Higgins, who suffered
15:10
Speaker 1: a torn acl in the joint practice with the Raiders,
15:13
Speaker 1: So that's unfortunate. He fell running around in the end zone,
15:18
Speaker 1: kind of fell awkwardly during some red zone eleven on
15:20
Speaker 1: eleven drill. So they're going to be and I'm sure
15:22
Speaker 1: we'll hear from Demko about that coming up on tomorrow's show. Okay,
15:27
Speaker 1: we're going to give away a copy of Dave Campbell's
15:29
Speaker 1: Texas Football magazine. I was thinking, okay, we need to
15:31
Speaker 1: do this random. It's time to do one random and
15:34
Speaker 1: a what call or what call?
15:35
Speaker 2: You know what.
15:35
Speaker 1: We're going to do this just like we do with
15:36
Speaker 1: the trivia question. First one, number one, the first one.
15:41
Speaker 1: All you have to do. First of all, you got
15:44
Speaker 1: to make sure you have the download of the iHeartRadio app.
15:47
Speaker 1: You download that, you search AM thirteen under the zone.
15:51
Speaker 1: Then you'll see the red butt with a white microphone.
15:53
Speaker 1: You push that button and say I'm number one. I
15:56
Speaker 1: want the magazine and if you truly are the first
15:59
Speaker 1: one to eat on that, you will get a copy
16:03
Speaker 1: of the magazine. Just make sure to give us your
16:06
Speaker 1: name and your phone number as well when you do that.
16:09
Speaker 1: All right, Up next we continue with our SEC football previews.
16:12
Speaker 2: Will visit with Andy.
16:13
Speaker 1: Bircham, play by play Voice of the Auburn Tigers. When
16:15
Speaker 1: we continue on Sports Radio AM thirteen under the Zone
16:18
Speaker 1: and the iHeartRadio app. Okay, I realized, I fully realize
16:24
Speaker 1: and understand that on the yacht Rock Wednesday survivors Ayah,
16:30
Speaker 1: the Tiger doesn't exactly fit the profile of yacht Rock,
16:33
Speaker 1: but it is in the early eighties there and maybe
16:36
Speaker 1: it's a.
16:36
Speaker 2: Lap of post.
16:37
Speaker 1: Since we continue our SEC football previews by taking you
16:41
Speaker 1: look at the Auburn Tigers and a good friend. Andy Urchin,
16:43
Speaker 1: play by play Voice of the Auburn Tigers, joins us, Now,
16:47
Speaker 1: how many times do they do they roll out Aya
16:50
Speaker 1: the Tiger on any given Saturday at Jordan Hare Andy, Yeah,
16:55
Speaker 1: you'll hear the original eighties version, and you will also
16:58
Speaker 1: hear the marching band play. As a matter of fact,
17:01
Speaker 1: when Auburn's defense comes on the field at Jordan Hare
17:03
Speaker 1: Stadium for the first time, they're playing I have the
17:05
Speaker 1: Tiger in the Auburn University marching band. So it is
17:08
Speaker 1: a It is a major part of game day and
17:11
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter if it's football, basketball, or baseball, you're
17:15
Speaker 1: gonna hear I have the Tiger on the planes. Okay,
17:17
Speaker 1: all right, I feel a little less self conscious about
17:20
Speaker 1: it now. It's great to have you on and I'm
17:24
Speaker 1: gonna I'll start the conversation much as I've done with
17:28
Speaker 1: some of it. Because we visit with every between two
17:31
Speaker 1: weeks ago and last week and this week, every SEC
17:33
Speaker 1: play by play voice has been kind enough to join
17:35
Speaker 1: us here to preview their school and.
17:38
Speaker 2: Those schools.
17:40
Speaker 1: Like Florida for example, or some other ones that have
17:44
Speaker 1: a new head coach. Kentucky comes to mind clearly, that
17:47
Speaker 1: have a new head coach coming in. I open with
17:51
Speaker 1: what the atmosphere is like, the environment's been like, and
17:55
Speaker 1: that sort of thing with the new man on campus
17:57
Speaker 1: and with Alec cohlas taken over coming over from that
18:00
Speaker 1: highly successful run at South Florida. What's the vibe been
18:03
Speaker 1: like on the plane since he's taken the reins.
18:06
Speaker 7: Great deal of anticipation on the planes, and it's just
18:09
Speaker 7: be one. It's because it's this time of the year.
18:11
Speaker 7: I mean, we're a couple weeks away from the opener
18:14
Speaker 7: as Auburn plays Baylor in Atlanta for the opener this year,
18:18
Speaker 7: and it's just there is that excitement where we're getting
18:20
Speaker 7: closer and closer to football season, and fans in this state,
18:25
Speaker 7: fans in Texas, I mean football is it.
18:28
Speaker 4: I mean goodness, So we're excited to be sure.
18:31
Speaker 7: I've really been impressed what Alex Goldich has done since
18:35
Speaker 7: he was named the head coach at Auburn the day
18:37
Speaker 7: after the Iron Bowl in twenty twenty five. And the
18:40
Speaker 7: roster that he put together, forty new players on this
18:43
Speaker 7: roster through spring ball, a really good twenty seven class.
18:46
Speaker 7: Now of course you have to get him to December
18:48
Speaker 7: and get him on the dotted line. Really good start
18:51
Speaker 7: on the twenty eight class as well. And just the
18:55
Speaker 7: way he goes about his job and how hard he
18:58
Speaker 7: has worked. And one of the things, Craig that has
19:00
Speaker 7: impressed me the most about Alex Golish. And remember he
19:04
Speaker 7: spent time in this league at Tennessee, so he had
19:06
Speaker 7: been through the wars in the SEC.
19:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, albert is.
19:10
Speaker 7: Right in the middle of Alabama to the west and
19:12
Speaker 7: Georgia to the east. That's your two biggest rivals, and
19:16
Speaker 7: in the last fifteen years, that's the two best programs
19:19
Speaker 7: in the Southeastern Conference. That doesn't seem to intimidate Alex
19:22
Speaker 7: Golish in the least and that's what you have to
19:24
Speaker 7: do when you coach at Auburn in this day and age.
19:27
Speaker 1: Absolutely no question about what in your estimation and from
19:31
Speaker 1: what Coach Colish has talked about are the first roll
19:36
Speaker 1: up his sleeves and get down to business things that
19:39
Speaker 1: he wanted to address. Whether it's the program over all
19:43
Speaker 1: of the numbers of the depth, or the overall talent,
19:46
Speaker 1: or the culture, whatever it might be, what has struck
19:50
Speaker 1: you about what he felt was job one or at
19:54
Speaker 1: least hitting the ground running with it.
19:57
Speaker 7: D all of the above everything you just mentioned, but
19:59
Speaker 7: here there's one thing that he talked about in his
20:03
Speaker 7: very first press conference, and every time that I'm with
20:06
Speaker 7: Alex Skolish, whether it's a launch event or an ambush event,
20:10
Speaker 7: or right before SEC media Days or this past weekend
20:13
Speaker 7: with Tigers Unlimited and the scholarship donors that were on
20:16
Speaker 7: the planes. Player led culture has been something that he
20:20
Speaker 7: has talked about since day one, and he admits they're
20:24
Speaker 7: not where he wants them to be at this point,
20:26
Speaker 7: but they have made strides in the right direction and
20:29
Speaker 7: he's talked about that every single time, so I think
20:34
Speaker 7: in his mind that is the most important and as
20:38
Speaker 7: a result, you're going to get production on the field.
20:41
Speaker 7: You're going to get pace of play, rhythm offensively, tempo offensively,
20:47
Speaker 7: you're going to get that hardcore defense. With DJ Dirkin
20:51
Speaker 7: back as Auburn's defensive coordinator, That's an interesting that's a
20:54
Speaker 7: really interesting dynamic because DJ Dirkin was a finalist for
20:57
Speaker 7: this job, and to the very last moment, there are
21:01
Speaker 7: a lot of folks that thought he was going to
21:02
Speaker 7: get the job, and yet when Auburn went with Alex Skolish.
21:06
Speaker 7: DJ Durkin his family loves Auburn. I think he loves
21:10
Speaker 7: those guys that he coaches on the defensive side. I
21:13
Speaker 7: think Auburn is better or established on the defensive side
21:17
Speaker 7: at least right now. And DJ Dirkin state it maybe
21:19
Speaker 7: it's been one year, who knows at this point, but
21:22
Speaker 7: they have that defense back so well. There's a lot
21:26
Speaker 7: of things but that that team culture and I listen,
21:28
Speaker 7: I understand that that's talked about everywhere from coast to coast,
21:32
Speaker 7: but it is genuinely a hot button topic. It is
21:37
Speaker 7: something that is very very important to this head coach
21:39
Speaker 7: and the staff. Yeah, it's that's it's a real thing.
21:42
Speaker 7: Whether people realize it or not. And it's very similar
21:45
Speaker 7: to what you have just laid out, what you've just described.
21:48
Speaker 2: You know, it's it's it's not that long ago.
21:51
Speaker 1: It was five years ago when Steve Sarkishan came into
21:53
Speaker 1: Austin and Sart had very similar words about structuring the program,
21:59
Speaker 1: similar what you're talking about with Alex Golish about the
22:03
Speaker 1: culture and building up the numbers and getting as he
22:07
Speaker 1: and Kyle Flood, the offensive co coordinator and offensive line coach,
22:11
Speaker 1: like to say, big humans in the interior lines, both
22:14
Speaker 1: offensively and defensively. So it really is kind of the
22:18
Speaker 1: combo platter, isn't it, where you've you've got to build
22:21
Speaker 1: up those numbers in that depth by the same token
22:24
Speaker 1: having a guy who understands how to build culture, which
22:27
Speaker 1: he clearly does.
22:29
Speaker 4: Auburn has forty new players on this roster.
22:31
Speaker 2: This year. Auburn lost a lot of talent.
22:33
Speaker 7: One of those will be playing for the Longhorns this season,
22:36
Speaker 7: and Auburn had to go to the transfer portal a
22:40
Speaker 7: great deal maybe is maybe more than Auburn would have
22:42
Speaker 7: liked for this coming season.
22:44
Speaker 4: He did not have a choice.
22:46
Speaker 7: Now, it did help Craig that with Alex Golish and
22:51
Speaker 7: a lot of the staff that was with him at
22:54
Speaker 7: USF and came with him to Auburn. There are ten
22:58
Speaker 7: players that were on that USF team a year or
23:00
Speaker 7: ago that will be in the Orange and Blue for
23:02
Speaker 7: Auburn this season, including the starting quarterback Byron Brown and
23:06
Speaker 7: the starting center Cole Best. There are three receivers that
23:09
Speaker 7: will be part of this offense, so they know what
23:12
Speaker 7: they are, what's expected of them. There's a tight end
23:14
Speaker 7: and tight ends really important Alex Golish. That was his
23:17
Speaker 7: position that he coached throughout his assistant career for the
23:20
Speaker 7: most part, was that that tight end spot. Most of
23:24
Speaker 7: the USF players that will contribute to Auburn, and there
23:28
Speaker 7: are ten of them double digits are going to be
23:30
Speaker 7: on the offensive side, including Cole Best at center and
23:33
Speaker 7: right now Cole Skinner at right guard for the Tigers.
23:36
Speaker 7: So there's an interesting dynamic in that. Yes, they are
23:39
Speaker 7: brand new to this Auburn team, but they are not
23:41
Speaker 7: brand new to this staff. They have played in this
23:44
Speaker 7: staff or they've played in this offense before under the
23:47
Speaker 7: head coach Alex Golish and the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks
23:51
Speaker 7: coach Jie Gordon.
23:52
Speaker 1: Anybody that saw South Florida play last year saw what
23:56
Speaker 1: Byron Brown was capable of doing. He eclipsed three thousand
24:00
Speaker 1: passing yards and eight hundred rushing yards in twenty three
24:02
Speaker 1: and twenty five. He missed half of that twenty twenty
24:04
Speaker 1: four season. It looks like anyway by all description and
24:08
Speaker 1: from the quotes and things I've read, that he brings
24:10
Speaker 1: the dynamism I guess to use a word to that
24:13
Speaker 1: offense that coach Golish.
24:14
Speaker 7: Is looking for six and two hundred and thirty five
24:17
Speaker 7: pounds one. This is an athlete that has really good size.
24:21
Speaker 7: He's not quite as big as Cam Newton, but nobody
24:24
Speaker 7: is saying again who he is, right right, But he
24:28
Speaker 7: is the first true duel threat quarterback that Auburn has
24:31
Speaker 7: had since Nick Marshall led Auburn to the National Championship
24:34
Speaker 7: Game following that twenty thirteen season. So it's been that
24:37
Speaker 7: long since Auburn has had a guy that can throw
24:40
Speaker 7: it and run it as well as Byron Brown.
24:43
Speaker 4: And he is a fifty year senior at Auburn.
24:47
Speaker 7: You know, unherlded coming out of high school in Raleigh,
24:50
Speaker 7: North Carolina. Really his best bet was was USF. It
24:55
Speaker 7: helped that it was Alex Golish at USF and they
24:58
Speaker 7: developed that offense together. And he's got the swagger. Craig Listen,
25:03
Speaker 7: we've not seen him take one down of football yet.
25:06
Speaker 7: That will occur when Auburn faces Baylor in Atlanta on
25:09
Speaker 7: September fifth. But he has a swagger about him that
25:13
Speaker 7: you want for your head, that you want from your quarterback,
25:16
Speaker 7: that you want from your seedter quarterback that has the
25:18
Speaker 7: talent that this young man has and he has done
25:21
Speaker 7: everything that Auburn and this staff have asked of Byron
25:24
Speaker 7: Brown getting ready for the start of this season. And
25:27
Speaker 7: that's one of the reasons his potential, his talent, he
25:31
Speaker 7: is one of the reasons that Auburn fans are very,
25:33
Speaker 7: very excited about this twenty six season.
25:34
Speaker 1: I would imagine, also, Andy that having some of his
25:38
Speaker 1: offensive teammates coming over with him that lessens the curve.
25:41
Speaker 1: And not to mention obviously playing under the same coaching
25:44
Speaker 1: staff for most of it, Well, you're.
25:47
Speaker 7: A baseball guy like I am, and he brings his
25:49
Speaker 7: battery with him. It's the quarterback in the center, the
25:52
Speaker 7: guy that he has taken snaps from for the last
25:54
Speaker 7: couple of years. Cole best will be his center for
25:57
Speaker 7: Auburn this season. So these two are a cuss them
26:00
Speaker 7: to each other, and they're accustomed to this offense because
26:03
Speaker 7: they played under Alex Golish and Joel Gordon at USF.
26:06
Speaker 7: So yes, I mean there is a tailback that comes
26:10
Speaker 7: from USF, a tight end that comes from USF, A
26:12
Speaker 7: couple of these receivers and two offensive linemen, and every
26:16
Speaker 7: one of these guys is going to get playing time
26:18
Speaker 7: for Auburn and early in this season.
26:20
Speaker 4: So that that's the one dynamic.
26:22
Speaker 7: While, yes, it's forty new players on this roster and
26:25
Speaker 7: that's that's a lot, and even in this day and age.
26:29
Speaker 7: But the fact that so many of these guys, while
26:31
Speaker 7: they're new to Auburn, are not new to this system.
26:33
Speaker 7: They're not new to this head coach. I think that
26:36
Speaker 7: gives Auburn a step up in that regard.
26:38
Speaker 1: Where do you see the running back spot? Obviously, you
26:40
Speaker 1: have a leading returning rusher clearly in Jeremiah Cobb. I
26:43
Speaker 1: saw Bryce and Washington play a bit for Baylor as well.
26:45
Speaker 2: How about your thoughts on the running back spot.
26:48
Speaker 7: I think Auburn really loves the depth that it has
26:50
Speaker 7: in that running back room right now. Craig and Cobb
26:53
Speaker 7: was within an eyelash of a thousand yards a year
26:56
Speaker 7: ago for Auburn and is bigger and stronger season at
27:00
Speaker 7: five to eleven, two hundred pounds, and he's a senior,
27:03
Speaker 7: and he looks like a senior. He looks like a
27:05
Speaker 7: guy that you know had a bust out season for
27:07
Speaker 7: Auburn a year ago and wants to take that next
27:09
Speaker 7: step this year. The one guy that is fascinating to
27:13
Speaker 7: me is the youngest guy in that room, and that's
27:17
Speaker 7: Omar maps And and he is from here in Auburn, Auburn
27:19
Speaker 7: High School, graduated a year early when he played for
27:23
Speaker 7: Auburn last year. He could have been should have been
27:25
Speaker 7: a senior at Auburn High School, but was playing as
27:27
Speaker 7: a true freshman at Auburn University.
27:30
Speaker 4: And he's not a big guy. He's five nine, two
27:32
Speaker 4: hundred and thirteen pounds.
27:33
Speaker 7: He's the kind of guy that fans fall in love
27:35
Speaker 7: with because he's not the biggest.
27:36
Speaker 4: Guy out there.
27:37
Speaker 7: But he has an enormous heart and he plays hard
27:41
Speaker 7: and I think he's going to get a lot of
27:43
Speaker 7: playing time early. And then you have guys like Nikai
27:47
Speaker 7: Davenport who played at USF a year ago. You mentioned
27:50
Speaker 7: Bryce in Washington, who played against Auburn with Baylor last year,
27:54
Speaker 7: and then Alvin Henderson is an interesting story. He's kind
27:57
Speaker 7: of made a little bit of a move this year.
27:59
Speaker 7: He came from a very small school in the state
28:01
Speaker 7: of Alabama, but all he did there was run for
28:04
Speaker 7: over almost eleven thousand yards and two hundred and two
28:08
Speaker 7: touchdowns two hundred and two touchdowns in his career at
28:12
Speaker 7: Little Elba High School. Didn't do much a year ago,
28:15
Speaker 7: starting to insert himself. Auburn likes that running back room
28:19
Speaker 7: because of the depth that it has there.
28:21
Speaker 1: Visiting with Andy Bertram played by play voice of the
28:24
Speaker 1: Auburn Tigers here on our SEC previews on thirteen hundred zone.
28:27
Speaker 2: Would it be a fair.
28:28
Speaker 1: Assessment to say that if you get to that question
28:32
Speaker 1: where you say, if this fill in the blank whatever
28:36
Speaker 1: works out, and this filling the blank works out, that
28:38
Speaker 1: could be really really good, that that would apply largely
28:41
Speaker 1: to the defense.
28:43
Speaker 7: Well, I will give you two scenarios there. One, it's
28:47
Speaker 7: a brand new offensive line as it stands today. If
28:51
Speaker 7: they go with the guys that they have right now,
28:53
Speaker 7: it's five new starting offensive linemen, at Auburn. Now, these
28:58
Speaker 7: guys have played elsewhere at Michigan State USF, they've played
29:01
Speaker 7: at James Madison in Oregon State, all right, but they've
29:04
Speaker 7: never played together at Auburn. So that to me is
29:07
Speaker 7: still I hesitate to say a question mark, But that
29:11
Speaker 7: has to be answered obviously in this day and agent,
29:13
Speaker 7: in this league, that offensive line has to come together
29:16
Speaker 7: quickly for Auburn, and then it is in the trenches.
29:20
Speaker 4: On the defensive side of the ball as well.
29:21
Speaker 7: Auburn is by far at its best in the linebacker room.
29:25
Speaker 7: It is experienced with Xavier Atkins at preseason All American,
29:29
Speaker 7: He's on every defensive watch list. There is just exploded
29:32
Speaker 7: for Auburn a year ago at linebacker. And then there's
29:35
Speaker 7: a sophomore in Elijah Melendez and DeMarcus Riddick is coming
29:38
Speaker 7: off of a and Auburn feels really good about it's
29:40
Speaker 7: linebacking a year ago. One of the best things about
29:43
Speaker 7: that DJ Durkin defense and Von Trull King Williams, who's
29:46
Speaker 7: the defensive line coach, was the depth that Auburn had
29:49
Speaker 7: up front. That front four. Now that included a guy
29:52
Speaker 7: in Keldric Folk. That was the first run draft choice.
29:55
Speaker 7: At the end the NFL Draft, Auburn lost a lot
30:00
Speaker 7: that defensive front, not only in starters, but in its depth.
30:03
Speaker 7: How do they replenish at the defensive at the edge,
30:07
Speaker 7: the defensive end spot, the nose tackle, and the defensive tackle,
30:11
Speaker 7: and how do they fill in the depth that was
30:13
Speaker 7: such a strength for Auburn a year ago. That to
30:16
Speaker 7: me or the I mean, it's in the trenches for Auburn,
30:18
Speaker 7: both defensively and offensively for the Tigers this season.
30:21
Speaker 1: Andy, I always conclude, or I have with all of
30:25
Speaker 1: our fellow play by play brethren in this conference with
30:28
Speaker 1: the question about the nine game conference schedule, Auburn falls
30:31
Speaker 1: into the category of a handful of SEC schools that
30:35
Speaker 1: you know in the past, you would have say three
30:38
Speaker 1: non conference games start conference playing to have that late
30:41
Speaker 1: season non conference game. Once again, Auburn has that late
30:44
Speaker 1: season non conference game, this time with Samford, but with
30:48
Speaker 1: only now with nine conference games, you only have the
30:51
Speaker 1: two weeks on the run up with Baylor and Southern Miss.
30:55
Speaker 1: So how closely you're watching interested are you in seeing
30:59
Speaker 1: how quickly they can adapt everything with only two non
31:02
Speaker 1: conference games before they start off with conference play.
31:05
Speaker 2: At home against Florida in Week three.
31:08
Speaker 7: It's just it's the reality of the Southeastern Conference now.
31:10
Speaker 7: And we knew it was coming. We knew it was coming.
31:13
Speaker 7: And I think ESPN had a great deal to do
31:15
Speaker 7: with that and the money that they're spending with the
31:18
Speaker 7: Southeastern Conference that they want that ninth game, and they
31:20
Speaker 7: got the ninth game.
31:21
Speaker 5: All right.
31:22
Speaker 7: I think if you truly pulled each and every coach,
31:26
Speaker 7: they'd love to play eight and get another game where
31:28
Speaker 7: they're paying somebody to come to town.
31:30
Speaker 4: Right, But the reality is you've got nine now.
31:35
Speaker 7: And for Auburn, that is Auburn, and that is Alabama
31:38
Speaker 7: and Georgia every year. You don't get a break from
31:42
Speaker 7: Alabama and Georgia. You play them every year. They're the
31:44
Speaker 7: two biggest rivals. Auburn and Georgia is the oldest rivalry
31:47
Speaker 7: in the Deep South back to eighteen ninety two. The
31:50
Speaker 7: Iron Bowl is a rivalry like none other across the world.
31:55
Speaker 7: So you've got those guys, and the way the schedule
31:58
Speaker 7: is right now, Craig, Auburn plays all or Alabama and
32:01
Speaker 7: Georgia at home once or every year and then on
32:04
Speaker 7: the road the next This year, Auburn is in both
32:07
Speaker 7: Athens and Tuscalussa, where it hasn't won in a long
32:09
Speaker 7: long time at either spot.
32:12
Speaker 4: Vanderbilt is Auburn's other permanent.
32:14
Speaker 7: Team, and the Commodores have beaten Auburn the last two
32:17
Speaker 7: years with Diego Pavia running the show for Vandy. But listen,
32:22
Speaker 7: I mean, you've got Florida coming to town for the
32:25
Speaker 7: conference opener. After that Southern Miss game in week three,
32:28
Speaker 7: you go to Mississippi State, you go to a really
32:31
Speaker 7: good ole Miss ball club where they're they're talking another
32:35
Speaker 7: playoff run in Oxford. We go to Tennessee this season,
32:40
Speaker 7: where Auburn hasn't played in a long long time, and
32:42
Speaker 7: you get Florida and LSU here. Florida used to be
32:46
Speaker 7: a part of what coach die always called a man corner.
32:49
Speaker 7: He grew up near Augusta, Georgia, and when Auburn would
32:52
Speaker 7: play at the end of the season, they would be
32:54
Speaker 7: playing Florida and Alabama and Georgia at the end of
32:57
Speaker 7: the year, and so that's what he called game in corner. Well,
33:01
Speaker 7: Florida hasn't been Auburn in a long long time, so
33:04
Speaker 7: that game is also the the SEC opener for both schools.
33:08
Speaker 7: It features two quarterbacks that played each other a year ago,
33:13
Speaker 7: or excuse me, the first game features Auburn and Baylor,
33:17
Speaker 7: and both of those quarterbacks were playing elsewhere a here
33:20
Speaker 7: you go Byron Brown at USF and Dj Lagway at Florida,
33:24
Speaker 7: and both of those those teams, Auburn and Florida both
33:27
Speaker 7: have first year head coaches, and both of those coaches
33:29
Speaker 7: were named were mentioned prominently in Auburn's search for a
33:33
Speaker 7: head coach that ends up with with Alex golis. So
33:37
Speaker 7: there are no breaks for Auburn in this conference season.
33:40
Speaker 7: And Arkansas comes to town as well, and you can
33:42
Speaker 7: take a look at both Arkansas and Mississippi State kind
33:46
Speaker 7: of in the same boat with Auburn. They're trying to
33:48
Speaker 7: re establish themselves at this point. So there's not a
33:51
Speaker 7: break for Auburn. I mean, you get Baylor to open it,
33:54
Speaker 7: you get Southern miss in the home opener, and you
33:56
Speaker 7: get Stamford at the end of the year before you
33:58
Speaker 7: go to Alabama. Well, let me say this about what
34:01
Speaker 7: the Auburn family is all about here, Craig, and you
34:04
Speaker 7: probably hear this from everybody you talk to at with
34:07
Speaker 7: their school. Auburn hasn't had a winning season in football
34:10
Speaker 7: since twenty twenty, the COVID year that was the year
34:13
Speaker 7: that Gus Malzan was let go. Auburn announced another sellout
34:18
Speaker 7: season at Jordan Hare Stadium. There they will continue to
34:21
Speaker 7: break each and every home game a record of consecutive
34:25
Speaker 7: sellouts at Auburn and haven't had a winning season during
34:29
Speaker 7: this entire string. So that tells you about the passion
34:33
Speaker 7: for this Auburn team and also tells you a little
34:35
Speaker 7: bit about the expectations for this Auburn team as it
34:37
Speaker 7: gets ready for the twenty sixth season.
34:39
Speaker 2: No doubt about it.
34:40
Speaker 1: He's Andy berchm outstanding play by play voice of the
34:43
Speaker 1: Auburn Tigers, and what I quickly learned when I got
34:46
Speaker 1: into this league, one of the most welcoming guys among
34:51
Speaker 1: our play by play you were right at the top
34:53
Speaker 1: of the list. My friend and I appreciate the warm
34:56
Speaker 1: welcome when we got into the whole thick of the
34:58
Speaker 1: fight thing, and we'll look forward to it again. And
35:01
Speaker 1: obviously if I see you this football season, it would
35:03
Speaker 1: be in Atlanta for the SEC Championships at Texas and
35:06
Speaker 1: alten't play, so we'll hope for the best, but I
35:09
Speaker 1: appreciate you joining me this afternoon if.
35:11
Speaker 4: I don't see you.
35:12
Speaker 7: But if I don't see you, then I'll see you
35:13
Speaker 7: when we when we come to Austin for basketball, we'll
35:15
Speaker 7: look forward to it, and I always always look forward
35:17
Speaker 7: to our time together.
35:18
Speaker 2: Craig, thank you, Thank you.
35:19
Speaker 1: That is Andy Berchman, play by play voice of the
35:21
Speaker 1: Auburn Tigers. We'll get more coming up on sports Radio
35:23
Speaker 1: AM thirteen under the zone of the iHeart Radio