Latest / ESPN 700 & 92.1 FM | Utah's #1 Sports Talk / Utah FB Coaches Show: Morgan Scalley, DB Bobo Chenault + WR Creed Whittemore

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Utah FB Coaches Show: Morgan Scalley, DB Bobo Chenault + WR Creed Whittemore · ESPN 700 & 92.1 FM | Utah's #1 Sports Talk

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Go Utes!
• 0:03
  Speaker 2: It's time to talk Utah football with the head coach
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Morgan Scali. The Morgan Scali Coaches Show is brought to
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: you by Pepsi, Bamboo.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: HR, and Anheuser-Busch.
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: Now here's your host, the voice of the Utes, Bill Riley.
• 0:19
  Speaker 3: Utah fans, good evening and welcome into the Coaches Show
• 0:21
  Speaker 3: presented by Smith with head coach Morgan Scali. We're live
• 0:24
  Speaker 3: tonight at the Eccles Football Building on campus. in advance
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: of the big one this weekend. Best matchup of the
• 0:30
  Speaker 3: year for Utah as they welcome in number 14, Houston,
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: to Rice-Eckel Stadium, 8-15 start time. Our coaches show tonight,
• 0:37
  Speaker 3: brought to you by Smiths, the official grocery partner of
• 0:39
  Speaker 3: University of Utah Athletics. Smiths is fresh for everyone. On
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: tonight's show, we'll take a look back at the Colorado game,
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: welcome in a couple of players, look at some mid-season
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: stuff on Utah football. I think Creed Whittemore is going
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: to come by, Bobo Chenault, James Chenault will come by, and, uh,
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: Talk to the head coach as well. A little bit
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: about these Houston Cougars who will come in far and away,
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: at least on paper, the best team Utah has seen
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: this year and one of the best teams in college football,
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: hence their 14th ranking. So all that coming up on
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: the Coaches Show tonight. My broadcast partner, Stevenson Sylvester, in
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: here with us as well. You ready to go?
• 1:13
  Speaker 4: Always, always.
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: Even on a Tuesday?
• 1:15
  Speaker 5: Oh, yeah.
• 1:15
  Speaker 4: Tuesday is my favorite day. Come on now.
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: Bloody Tuesday.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Taco Tuesday.
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: Taco Tuesday. Very good. Well, it wasn't Taco Tuesday for
• 1:22
  Speaker 3: the football guys. It was Bloody Tuesday for them, but
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: they're Enjoying some dinner right now. Morgan Scali joins us
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: fresh off the practice field. How did things go today?
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Really good day.
• 1:31
  Speaker 4: Really good practice day.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: Guys were fired up. I mean, these are the games
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: that you play for, right? National television, college game day.
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: And it doesn't take much to get these guys motivated.
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: Now that you've had a couple of days to kind
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: of marinate and watch the tape, you know, we talked
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: to you right after the game. You need to see
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: some things. Biggest takeaway from Saturday night in Boulder was what?
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: Uh, I would say it was better on film than I,
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: than I had anticipated in terms of things that were
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: there that we just misfired on opportunities. Uh, the, the
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: biggest issues obviously were, you know, turn the ball over
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: in the red zone and then, and then having to
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: kick two field goals in the red zone. Otherwise you're
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: probably going up 24, nothing at halftime. And, uh, maybe
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: sending some of those fans home early. But then you
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: give them life, and that's exactly what happens. Like I said,
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: it's a game of momentum. They stole the momentum. And
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: this was the first time that we experienced a deficit
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: in that second half. So it really took our guys
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: to fight to come back. So credit to the defense
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: for getting the stops when they needed them. The offense
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: for capitalizing. Creed with a huge catch. Pagan with the touchdown.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: The two takeaways on defense were huge with Rabbit stealing
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: the one away from the tight end and then Bobo
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Chennault with his interception. So, you know, self-inflicted stuff. Turning
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: the ball over, missing on some reads. And so the
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: good thing is that we weren't just getting beat athletically.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: It was a matter of, okay... You know, schematically, we
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: missed some things. And then on the defensive side of
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: the ball, coming off coverage on, you know, a couple
• 3:24
  Speaker 1: reps in a row, you know, one that went for
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: a touchdown. So, I mean, just stuff that you just
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: can't do.
• 3:31
  Speaker 6: So when you say a little easier when you looked
• 3:34
  Speaker 6: at the film, do you mean that it's coachable? Those
• 3:37
  Speaker 6: mistakes that were, it's easily coachable. We can like, hey,
• 3:40
  Speaker 6: let's bring some attention to this and easily fixable.
• 3:43
  Speaker 7: Oh, yeah.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, like I said, the stuff that you
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: look back and say, these are the plays that really
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: cost us. It's errors on our part. It's not a
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: lack of talent. It's not a lack of ability. And
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: that all goes back to the coaching staff. Are we
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: giving them too much for them to handle? Are we
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: too complicated? Do we need to tone some things down
• 4:10
  Speaker 1: a little bit? So that was, you know, the positive
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: looking at the film. I thought the offensive line did
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: a really nice job. I thought the offensive line did
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: a really nice job, particularly with a defensive front that's
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: very disruptive. And they're going to face another disruptive defensive
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: front this week as well.
• 4:26
  Speaker 6: So is that something where you guys kind of had,
• 4:28
  Speaker 6: because the guys were kind of beating themselves up too.
• 4:30
  Speaker 4: I know as a former player, you know, we're our
• 4:32
  Speaker 4: own biggest critic.
• 4:33
  Speaker 6: So is that something where you coaches kind of got like,
• 4:35
  Speaker 6: hey guys, it's not that bad and you had to
• 4:38
  Speaker 6: calm them down?
• 4:38
  Speaker 4: Or how was their reception.
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: Of watching the film? I think everyone gets a dose
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: of reality by just watching the film. You can make
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: up stories in your mind. You can make up narratives.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: We weren't prepared. Just look at the film. We missed
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: on some really good opportunities. Which happens. We're humans. Yeah,
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: but the thing that I tell our guys is, and
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: it's hard. for anyone outside this building to hear, but
• 5:11
  Speaker 1: don't pay attention to anyone, what anyone else is saying.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: You have to pay attention to the film and what
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: the film is saying and how we need to improve
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: and how we need to get better. Was it a
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: lack of energy?
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: No.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: Was it a lack of preparation?
• 5:22
  Speaker 8: No.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: You know, we just need to execute. And, but if
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: they listen to the voices that don't matter and, and
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: those stories and the narratives, then it just, it goes
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: south and you don't need it to go that way.
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: Well, I mean, how do you guard against that, though?
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: In a day and age where everybody's got a phone
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: and text and social media, you can tell them that, right?
• 5:46
  Speaker 3: But do you think they listen or do they mostly
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: listen to that?
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: Some of them listen. Some of them listen. But it's
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: a part of their lives. You just try and educate
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: them on what are the negatives that come with social
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: media you know and what's the downside and how can
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: you protect yourself what are some things that you know
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: you can some some safeguards that you can go in
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: and not allow people to comment on your on your
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: posts or you know we don't allow our guys to
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: you know once we leave the locker room for kickoff
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: they don't they're not allowed to look at their phones
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: until after the game um Just because everyone in this generation,
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: they're just so used to, what are they saying? What
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: are they saying? What are they saying? I mean, did
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: you have... I did not have that in 2004. I
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: didn't have that. You had message boards and stuff like that,
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: but nothing's social media. Everyone's got an opinion on what
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: should have been done. Everyone is a better decision maker
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: than we are. And so.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: I never had to deal with that as a player.
• 7:02
  Speaker 1: And these guys deal with it on a daily basis
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: from everywhere, every, you know, XM radio, social media, it's
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: all over. And so, honestly, those that are really serious
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: about it do a really good job of cutting it
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: off during the season. And just, okay, I have to
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: control what I can control and not play into that.
• 7:25
  Speaker 6: Well, if it was around when I played, then people
• 7:28
  Speaker 6: just didn't know how to use it, you know? Just
• 7:30
  Speaker 6: make sure people stay out of my top five.
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: You know, it's good. My space.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: No. There you go. Yeah. But a lot about a
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: person when it was.
• 7:38
  Speaker 4: Hey, hey, it's not the line wire bear share all this.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 7:42
  Speaker 4: Anyway, coach, going into environments like that, you can always
• 7:46
  Speaker 4: learn something.
• 7:46
  Speaker 7: Right.
• 7:47
  Speaker 6: Everybody was talking about how not good of a team
• 7:49
  Speaker 6: Colorado was, what they showed. You saw, you know, on
• 7:51
  Speaker 6: any given day, athletes can show up. But even more
• 7:55
  Speaker 6: so being in environments like that. And you talked about
• 7:57
  Speaker 6: the adversity you guys face first time being down. So
• 8:00
  Speaker 6: all of those kind of learning moments, how does that
• 8:04
  Speaker 6: help you going forward?
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: Well, it only helps you if you learn from it.
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: If you learn from it. Yeah, you can make mistakes,
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: but learn from those mistakes, and let's not keep doing
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: the same thing over and over again. And that's us
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: as coaches as well. We're constantly learning. I'm constantly learning
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: about the responsibility of a head coach, just as I
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: was the responsibility of a defensive coordinator, like Colton Swan's learning,
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: and Kevin, again, like anyone that has a job, you're
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: continually learning on the job. You're continually learning. I mean,
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: it's just you're going to make mistakes. And the thing
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: also that, in my opinion, is a story, is a narrative,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: is Colorado's not a good team. Well, you can look
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: at a record, or if you actually watch the film,
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: you'll say, okay, no, there's really good aspects of what
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: they do. Defensively, they're sitting there, and is Texas Tech
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: a good team? You know, they're, what, top ten in
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: the country right now as well?
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: Mm-hmm.
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: So they're sitting there going toe-to-toe with Texas Tech up
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: until the fourth quarter, and turnovers are what did them in,
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: but their defense was playing lights out. Right. And they
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: were getting TFLs. Just as disruptive, you know, against our offense.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: Who can say that, you know, Arkansas is a good team?
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: Is Arkansas a good team? Well, they went toe-to-toe with Tennessee.
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: Who did Tennessee beat? Just beat Alabama. I can't control
• 9:31
  Speaker 1: those things. I can control what I see on film
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: and what I teach our guys. And that's to respect
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: everyone you play. Every time you get on that field, boys,
• 9:41
  Speaker 1: anyone can beat anyone. And you've got to come prepared.
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: And these are the things that win and lose football games.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: Turning the ball over, not scoring in the red zone,
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: that stuff is going to lose you football games or
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: put you in a situation where you're in a dogfight
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: with someone that you shouldn't be in a dogfight with.
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: So at the end of the day, we have to
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: be able to watch the film and say, okay, guys,
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: we're staying true to who we are. This is what
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: we believe is elite behavior. This is what we believe
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: wins and loses football games. And we had way too
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: many things happen in that game for us to say,
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: we should have won that.
• 10:18
  Speaker 5: Right.
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: Your team's 6-0, and you can't be any better than
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: 6-0 after six games. Different teams have different personalities, and
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: you say tape doesn't lie, watch the tape, learn from
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: the tape. Some teams are very good at that, some
• 10:33
  Speaker 3: teams aren't. Do you feel like this team, through six
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: games this year, has been good at watching the tape,
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: listening to what you guys are teaching, and learning from it?
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: I believe so, yeah. I've never come... to work like
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: very like upset about the way our guys practiced or
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: upset about. Now there may be some things with, you know,
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: guys paying attention during a walkthrough or something like that. Um,
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: but our coaches understand what I'm asking and they hold
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: guys accountable. So, um, yeah.
• 11:07
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 11:07
  Speaker 6: So midway point through the season right now, um, you know,
• 11:11
  Speaker 6: where you're at as far as, you know, you always
• 11:14
  Speaker 6: come into a season, um, you know, the preseason, we
• 11:18
  Speaker 6: kind of broke it up in the quarters, right? Um,
• 11:22
  Speaker 6: are you where you feel like your team needs as
• 11:24
  Speaker 6: far as what you've seen? You've seen adversity. You've seen, uh,
• 11:28
  Speaker 6: where you've been up and then let them come back
• 11:30
  Speaker 6: in the game. You've seen where you've blown them out.
• 11:32
  Speaker 6: You've seen where all these different aspects are. Is there
• 11:35
  Speaker 6: something you haven't seen yet, uh, through.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: Halfway of the season? Well, this team presents, um, just
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: like you had mentioned, probably the most complete team that
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: you will have faced all season long. Very good quarterback,
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: veteran quarterback, very good skilled players, solid on the defensive side,
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: very active on the defensive side of the ball, great
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: in rush defense, good special teams unit. And that's why
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: they're ranked what they are. Now, I think everyone's starting
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: to figure out who's who. I mean, look at last week.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: I think everyone thought, okay, we know kind of who's who.
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: Georgia should stomp Auburn and, you know, Texas should take
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: care of Florida. It just goes to show. People think
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: they know. Oh, yeah, no, we know. Vegas told me.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: All right. Yeah, that's why they play the game.
• 12:33
  Speaker 7: Right.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: That's why we play the game.
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: It's the greatest reality show there is. That's sports. There's
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: no script. Unless you talk to some of the guys
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: in the NFL. Some of your former teammates with the
• 12:42
  Speaker 3: Steelers probably thought there was a script. That was a
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: guy's name, Antonio Brown. Anyway, got a good one this weekend.
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: We'll talk a little bit about Houston coming up and
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: a few other things. Midterms, we'll get Morgan's thoughts at
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: the midpoint of the season and game day coming and
• 12:56
  Speaker 3: all that good stuff. Smiths is a proud sponsor of
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: Utah Athletics and The Coaches Show. They're our game sponsor
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: on Saturday, as is Pepsi. They bring you The Coaches
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: Show each and every Tuesday night. Pepsi Zero Sugar. Pepsi's
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: a proud partner of Utah Football. Football watching, especially the Utes,
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: is better with Pepsi. We'll come back and talk about
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: the midway point of the season, game day coming to town,
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: Big 12 football and more with Morgan Scali. Then we'll
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: hear from Creed Whittemore, and we'll also hear from Bobo Chenault,
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: all on the Coach's Show tonight, right here from ESPN
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: 700 and the Utes Sports Radio Network.
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: You're listening to Utah Football, brought to you by Smith's
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: on ESPN 700 and the Utes Sports Network.
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: The Coach's Show tonight brought to you by G2G, where
• 13:37
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• 13:41
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• 13:44
  Speaker 3: need to reach your full athletic potential. G2G, the Utes
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: and the Houston Cougars coming up on Saturday night. Game
• 13:52
  Speaker 3: day will be here coming up on Saturday, 7 a.m.
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: to 10 a.m. over President's Circle. I don't know if
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: Morgan Scali is going to get up that early with
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: a late game, but maybe he'll go over and see
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: the guys at President's Circle. He's already up.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: What do you mean?
• 14:03
  Speaker 3: He's probably been up for a couple of hours and
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: doing some of that stuff. What's it mean to both
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: the program but also the school? You've been here every
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: seventh time. You have been here the first time was
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: when you were a player, your senior year, the Fiesta
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: Bowl year. I've been here for every single one of them, too.
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: They're all a little bit different, but they're all kind
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: of the same. It's the great traveling road show that
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: is college football. It's great. Everybody loves it. But what's
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: it do for the program from an exposure standpoint in
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: the university and all that stuff, Morgan?
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: It just opens it for those that watch it, and
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: obviously millions watch it. It opens their eyes as to
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: what our program is about, what is our culture about,
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: how we do the things that we do, but not
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: only just from an athletic perspective but just for them
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: to see campus and see how beautiful this place is
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: um if you are a college football fan it's it's
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: like the ultimate right you want that on in your
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: backyard showcasing your team and so we're blessed for sure.
• 15:09
  Speaker 6: Yeah i think you talked about it on your uh
• 15:12
  Speaker 6: press conference yesterday about how big of a recruiting tool
• 15:16
  Speaker 6: it is man i i find that fascinating and If
• 15:19
  Speaker 6: you expand a little bit on that, it's like being
• 15:22
  Speaker 6: able to go into someone's living room and talk to
• 15:25
  Speaker 6: them about just where this program is, where this program
• 15:29
  Speaker 6: can be, and how beneficial is that for you when
• 15:32
  Speaker 6: you have those conversations?
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: It's great. I mean, they're doing essentially it's an infomercial
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: on your program and to the entire country for guys
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: that maybe can't visit your campus, that can't come see you.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: It opens their eyes that, you know what, maybe I
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: need to get out to Salt Lake City and see
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: what they got going on. And, you know, there was
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: a time where I felt like people just didn't respect
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: or know the University of Utah. People know the University
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: of Utah now. So it's just a matter of taking
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: care of business. For the most part, no one remembers
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: the experience. They remember the outcome. I remember game day.
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: tcu oh and getting boat raced you know and i
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: i can't wear camo ever i anytime i see camo
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: i'm like no we will never wear camo at the
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: university of utah as long as i'm the head coach
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: i'm just telling you right now you know but uh
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: you just you remember the the outcomes of those games
• 16:35
  Speaker 1: and how special that first one was right and people
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: rushing the field and throwing Tostitas chips up in the air.
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: I lost my helmet. Someone took my helmet out again. Nowadays,
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: it's not a big deal. Back then, it was like, no!
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: You only had one! You mentioned the recruiting tool, and
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: you did too. Everybody gets up Saturday morning. If you're
• 17:04
  Speaker 3: a high school football player, you're playing later in the day.
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: You're sitting in your hotel room, you're sitting in your
• 17:10
  Speaker 3: house at home, whatever it is, you flip it on.
• 17:13
  Speaker 3: And as you said, there's the University of Utah and
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: President's Circle and Rice-Eccles Stadium for three hours. Every other
• 17:20
  Speaker 3: segment is something featuring where they are. It is such
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: a great sales point, and then you're right. Maybe they're
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: coming on an official visit later that year, or maybe
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: they're not, or maybe they're going to change their mind
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: and come on one because they got a chance to
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: see it. All right, that's game day on Saturday, which
• 17:34
  Speaker 3: is fantastic. I wanted to ask you about kind of
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: the midpoint of the season and the fact that there's
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: five undefeated teams left in Power 4 football. And three
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: of those five teams reside in the Big 12 Conference.
• 17:47
  Speaker 3: And I think you said the other day two of
• 17:49
  Speaker 3: them are in the state of Utah.
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: State of Utah. How cool is that?
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: What does it say about this conference this year? And
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: I'm not going to play the woe is me pity game,
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: but a couple of other power conferences maybe get a
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: little bit more shine for the networks from time to time.
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: But what does it say about this league that three
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: of the remaining five are from the Big 12 Conference?
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: There is so much parity in this league.
• 18:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: And, I mean, you watch Oklahoma State and what they've
• 18:14
  Speaker 1: been doing after a year of no one thought they
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: could do anything. And a lot of that is due
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: to the transfer portal and stuff like that. But at
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: the end of the day, there's really good coaching. There's
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: really good coaching in this league. And, you know, we
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: can only control what we can control. So when you play...
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: And out of conference schedule, when you play the dudes
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: from those other big conferences, win.
• 18:42
  Speaker 8: Yep.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: Show up, win, you know, and then no one can
• 18:46
  Speaker 1: say anything.
• 18:48
  Speaker 6: Yeah, that's what I try to tell people. Football's football, right?
• 18:50
  Speaker 6: You know, somebody's got to score, somebody's got to stop them.
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: You got 11 on the field at a time. Right.
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: Let it be the best 11.
• 18:55
  Speaker 6: I want to kind of talk to you about big weeks, right?
• 19:00
  Speaker 4: You've coached them, you've played them.
• 19:03
  Speaker 6: In your experience, how do you keep, as his coach,
• 19:06
  Speaker 6: How do you keep everybody even kill right now? Not
• 19:08
  Speaker 6: be too anxious. You know, what a lot of people
• 19:11
  Speaker 6: don't understand is how worked up the players get, right?
• 19:14
  Speaker 6: Because they want to perform, you know, at the highest level.
• 19:17
  Speaker 6: So they need to make sure that they're not putting
• 19:19
  Speaker 6: too much. Because when you put too much in it,
• 19:21
  Speaker 6: you can go hard.
• 19:22
  Speaker 4: How do you keep everybody at that even kill?
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: By the way, isn't that funny coming from this guy?
• 19:27
  Speaker 6: Oh, man.
• 19:27
  Speaker 4: I used to.
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: I mean, this guy.
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: The hype man.
• 19:30
  Speaker 3: The hype man who used to get as fired up
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: as anybody.
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Hey, there's levels to it. I think number one is,
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: we've already talked about it, is stay away from social media.
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: Stay away from what people are saying, for good or
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: for bad. you know and just what is the study
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: film go in your football cave and and just study
• 19:54
  Speaker 1: film and study your assignment and what are the keys
• 19:57
  Speaker 1: how can how can we win this game what are
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: the keys to winning this game and go out there
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: and give everything you got I think the minute you
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: start listening to narratives and and what other people are
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: it just clatters your mind and it's not worth it
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: so number two is well if you're preparing you know
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: different for this game than the last like why every
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: game is huge don't make one bigger than the other
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: every game you never know we won the Pac-12 championship
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: second time and we lost to Oregon and And we thought, okay,
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: that's it. You know, we need like four things to
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: happen in order to go to that. So you never know.
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: Every game is important. Every game matters. And people will say, well,
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: it's game day. It's this and it's that. And then
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: they're just filling your mind with junk that does not matter.
• 20:57
  Speaker 1: It doesn't matter, you know. And so if you want
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: to lead the orchestra, you have to turn your back
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: on the crowd.
• 21:06
  Speaker 8: Right.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: I love that quote.
• 21:08
  Speaker 5: That means, yeah.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: You know, you just, you have to. You have to
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: turn your back on the crowd and focus on what
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: you can control. And then, you know, your behavior will
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: show me how much it matters to you. Or you're
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: going to be in there studying film instead of being
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: in the player's lounge playing ping pong. You're going to
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: be studying film. You're going to be out there practicing,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: getting extra reps in. Those are the behaviors that win
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: you games. You know, Floyd... Mayweather Jr. talking about emotion
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: in fighting, talking about, you know, don't fight angry. You know,
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: you fight angry, you make mistakes. When you fight a smart,
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: witty fighter like me, you can't afford to make mistakes.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: Keep the emotion alive. Now, some people are driven by emotion.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: It helps them perform or execute better. That's okay, as
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: long as it's allowing you to execute better. You've got
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: to know yourself, though. You have to know yourself, yeah,
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: what gets me going.
• 22:09
  Speaker 3: Before we break, we've got Creed Whittemore coming over here
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: to chat with us just a little bit. He joined
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: your program a year ago and began to shine at
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: the end of last year and has kind of picked
• 22:21
  Speaker 3: that up again this year. Florida guy, played a little
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: bit of Mississippi State. Now he's here. What's he meant
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: to that wide receiver room and into the program?
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: I love team guys. Creed's a team guy. Creed's a
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: guy last year when he didn't feel like he was
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: doing enough to help on the offensive side of the ball.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: He said, Coach, I can help you at safety. What
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: can I do? What do you want me to do?
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: Let me return kicks. He just wants to add value
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: and help. And you watch this guy every time he's in.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: He's giving everything he has. Watch him block rep after
• 22:55
  Speaker 1: rep after rep of not getting the ball. And so
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden he gets his opportunity to shine.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: He's ready. He's ready because that's the way he is.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: He's just a worker. He wants to add value no
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: matter what it is. I am so... Those are the
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: guys that you champion. And it's like you love to
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: see those guys... get the spotlight and have the success
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: because they work and they grind. And all of a sudden, man,
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: you know, so cool.
• 23:27
  Speaker 3: Did you think about playing him at safety at all?
• 23:29
  Speaker 4: I was about to say, you've got to know what
• 23:31
  Speaker 4: program you're coming into.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: We're known for changing positions. Exactly right. But as a
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: defensive coordinator, I was not about to overstep my bounds
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: and say anything. That's like, you know, tantamount to war.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: You know, you were talking to my guy. No, he
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: came to me.
• 23:48
  Speaker 3: Show him some Mekhi Bernard tape from the Rose Bowl.
• 23:51
  Speaker 3: There was a guy that would do anything for you, too.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: And then he had to go against three wide receivers
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: that are first-round draft picks. Oh, you guys don't have
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: to face Olave and Harrison. Okay, well, no, it was
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: Olave and it was Wilson. But Harrison came in, and
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: then you had Smith and Jigba. Exactly, all of them.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: It didn't matter. He could have handed the ball off
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: to those wide receivers, and he couldn't have thrown it.
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: He was money.
• 24:22
  Speaker 3: Well, we're going to talk to Creed Whittemore, who's been
• 24:24
  Speaker 3: money so far for Utah this year, and he'll join
• 24:27
  Speaker 3: us next on the Coaches Show, which is brought to
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: us by Bamboo HR. Ready to tackle your toughest HR needs?
• 24:32
  Speaker 3: That's Bambooable. See what they can do for you at
• 24:34
  Speaker 3: Bamboo HR. Creed joins us next on the Coaches Show,
• 24:37
  Speaker 3: right here from ESPN 700 and the Ute Sports Radio Network.
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: You're listening to Utah Football, brought to you by Pepsi
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: on ESPN 700 and the.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: Ute Sports Network.
• 24:48
  Speaker 3: The Coach's Show tonight being brought to you by AAA,
• 24:50
  Speaker 3: proud sponsor of Utah football. For your nearest AAA branch,
• 24:54
  Speaker 3: for DMV services, insurance quotes, travel planning, exclusive member discounts,
• 24:58
  Speaker 3: and so much more. Discover all the benefits of AAA
• 25:02
  Speaker 3: and enjoy the game. We're joined right now by senior
• 25:05
  Speaker 3: wide receiver Creed Whittemore, who had three grabs for 88
• 25:09
  Speaker 3: yards against the Buffs, including a 43-yarder the other day.
• 25:13
  Speaker 3: But before we talk about any of the football stuff...
• 25:16
  Speaker 3: I've got to ask you, who's the best athlete in
• 25:18
  Speaker 3: the Whittemore family? Because your mom was a big-time volleyball
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: player at the University of Florida.
• 25:24
  Speaker 8: Yeah, it's my mom. She's by far the best. Yeah,
• 25:32
  Speaker 8: it's not even close. So we like to throw it
• 25:35
  Speaker 8: around the house a little bit, but she gets defensive sometimes.
• 25:39
  Speaker 8: She was a She was the all-SEC and all-American. That's pride,
• 25:44
  Speaker 8: right there.
• 25:45
  Speaker 5: We can't take that away from her.
• 25:46
  Speaker 3: Was she a hitter? Was she a middle blocker? Was
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: she a libero? A setter? She's set, yeah. Okay, so
• 25:50
  Speaker 3: she's set.
• 25:51
  Speaker 8: Yep, so my dad married tall. So I got the
• 25:57
  Speaker 8: short jeans, unfortunately. All my brothers are above 6'1, but
• 26:02
  Speaker 8: I'm down there with my dad.
• 26:04
  Speaker 6: So you said your dad's a coach as well. So
• 26:06
  Speaker 6: your mom's all SEC. Your dad's a coach. You got brothers.
• 26:11
  Speaker 6: How competitive is this household? What games do you guys
• 26:15
  Speaker 6: play to compete on?
• 26:16
  Speaker 8: Yeah, you know, we grew up just playing ball. That's
• 26:20
  Speaker 8: kind of what we knew just at the practice field
• 26:22
  Speaker 8: with my dad. My mom calls games on ESPN. She's
• 26:27
  Speaker 8: an analyst. So we were either, you know, at volleyball
• 26:30
  Speaker 8: games watching my mom or at practice with dad. So
• 26:34
  Speaker 8: It was always ball, and we're also very religious. We're
• 26:40
  Speaker 8: big on the Lord in our family, so we didn't
• 26:42
  Speaker 8: get into many fights because Dad wasn't going for that.
• 26:45
  Speaker 8: We were definitely scrapped around the front yard a little bit.
• 26:48
  Speaker 3: Dad's a coach. Mom's in the media. And a former player.
• 26:50
  Speaker 3: That's why he's so media savvy.
• 26:52
  Speaker 4: He's just not saying when Dad wasn't looking.
• 26:54
  Speaker 5: What was going on.
• 26:55
  Speaker 8: Yeah, we were tussling a little bit, but things never
• 26:58
  Speaker 8: got out of hand because Dad was going to walk
• 26:59
  Speaker 8: in the room.
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: You were a dual threat for your dad, I think,
• 27:02
  Speaker 3: in high school. Quarterback, right? Yes, sir. So when did
• 27:05
  Speaker 3: the move to wide receiver come? Did somebody say, if
• 27:07
  Speaker 3: you want to play on the next level, probably not
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: going to be a quarterback?
• 27:10
  Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Grew up playing quarterback. That's kind of
• 27:14
  Speaker 5: what I knew.
• 27:16
  Speaker 8: You know, that's where, you know, my high school needed
• 27:18
  Speaker 8: me and we had some good players around me. So
• 27:21
  Speaker 8: I was able to, you know, flick it out there
• 27:23
  Speaker 8: to them and they were going to go score.
• 27:25
  Speaker 5: So I grew up playing.
• 27:26
  Speaker 8: Quarterback in middle school and high school. And I had,
• 27:30
  Speaker 8: you know, lower level offers at quarterback, you know, the Sunbelts,
• 27:34
  Speaker 8: the Conference USAs. But all my bigger stuff was at receiver.
• 27:40
  Speaker 8: I would go camp at receiver and, uh, things like that.
• 27:43
  Speaker 8: But no, I, I never, you know, I tell people
• 27:46
  Speaker 8: all the time, you know, I never caught a touchdown
• 27:48
  Speaker 8: until I got to college. And, um, I had like
• 27:51
  Speaker 8: one reception in high school. So, um, coach bump, uh, is,
• 27:55
  Speaker 8: is a big credit to that. So when I got
• 27:57
  Speaker 8: to Mississippi state, um, I knew I was going to
• 27:59
  Speaker 8: play receiver. There wasn't really any, um, question about that,
• 28:02
  Speaker 8: but he changed me into a receiver for sure.
• 28:04
  Speaker 5: I was, I was raw and, um.
• 28:07
  Speaker 8: You know, knew a lot about the game because I
• 28:08
  Speaker 8: played quarterback and, um, but just a raw athlete. And, um,
• 28:13
  Speaker 8: I feel like, you know, even this year I'm still
• 28:16
  Speaker 8: learning just how to play receiver. So coach bump has
• 28:18
  Speaker 8: been a huge, um, kind of just lifeline for that.
• 28:22
  Speaker 7: Yeah.
• 28:22
  Speaker 6: With hearing your story, I hear a lot of resiliency, right. And, and, uh,
• 28:27
  Speaker 6: a lot of perseverance through, you know, whatever you go through. And,
• 28:30
  Speaker 6: and so, um, talk to me about your mindset with, uh,
• 28:35
  Speaker 6: preparation when you're facing adversity you know we were just
• 28:38
  Speaker 6: talking to coach scali he's talking about how much he
• 28:40
  Speaker 6: loves team guys and your willingness to do whatever the
• 28:43
  Speaker 6: team needs or where can i be used what is
• 28:46
  Speaker 6: your mindset um when you're when you're going through the grind.
• 28:49
  Speaker 8: Yeah well i mean if i can be honest i
• 28:52
  Speaker 8: started out well at mississippi state um i'm joke with
• 28:55
  Speaker 8: coach bump we were tied for the freshman uh first
• 28:59
  Speaker 8: game touchdown record we both got to um so i
• 29:02
  Speaker 8: started out well um, had a, had a great freshman
• 29:05
  Speaker 8: year and, um, you know, was kind of just relying
• 29:10
  Speaker 8: on athletic ability. Um, and I think when I got here, I,
• 29:14
  Speaker 8: I just learned that, um, you know, I need to
• 29:18
  Speaker 8: take a step back, um, and kind of reevaluate myself
• 29:21
  Speaker 8: as a receiver. And, um, I was, you know, obviously
• 29:25
  Speaker 8: upset at the time, uh, because nobody doesn't want to,
• 29:28
  Speaker 8: nobody wants to hear that, you know, but, uh, it
• 29:30
  Speaker 8: was true. And, uh, coach Scali is a, a big
• 29:33
  Speaker 8: part of that, and, you know, he helped me learn culture,
• 29:38
  Speaker 8: learn just the art of becoming a football player. And
• 29:42
  Speaker 8: that starts in the film room. It starts on practice,
• 29:45
  Speaker 8: on the practice field. And I like our our mindset
• 29:49
  Speaker 8: here of, you know, practice like you play. And a
• 29:51
  Speaker 8: lot of people say that, but we really do it.
• 29:53
  Speaker 8: If you come out to a Tuesday practice, you know,
• 29:55
  Speaker 8: our one on ones are more competitive than the game.
• 29:59
  Speaker 8: I tell people all the time I get more nervous
• 30:01
  Speaker 8: going against Jackson Binney than I do on Saturdays. You know,
• 30:04
  Speaker 8: Saturdays are fun for me. You know, practice is where
• 30:07
  Speaker 8: I get, you know, I'm losing sleep.
• 30:09
  Speaker 5: Man, what am I going to run versus Jackson tomorrow?
• 30:11
  Speaker 8: You know, like I'm literally thinking about that.
• 30:13
  Speaker 5: So going against our defense, Bobo over here, who's about
• 30:18
  Speaker 5: to come on.
• 30:19
  Speaker 8: Man, they play a big part in just learning how
• 30:21
  Speaker 8: to be a receiver and taking everything seriously.
• 30:24
  Speaker 3: Morgan told us that you came to him last year
• 30:26
  Speaker 3: and said, Hey, I want to play. I want to
• 30:28
  Speaker 3: help the team in any way I can. I'll play
• 30:31
  Speaker 3: safety if you need me to. Was that just a, Hey,
• 30:34
  Speaker 3: I want to get on the field and contribute. I
• 30:36
  Speaker 3: want to help the team. Where does that come from?
• 30:38
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 30:39
  Speaker 8: I mean, I think it maybe a little bit comes
• 30:41
  Speaker 8: from playing quarterback. I'm used to, um, having the ball
• 30:43
  Speaker 8: in my hands being out there. Um, so, uh, yeah,
• 30:47
  Speaker 8: I mean, I, I'm a, I like to call myself
• 30:50
  Speaker 8: a team guy. Um, you know, everybody has their moments, but, um,
• 30:54
  Speaker 8: I think I just wanted to be out there and
• 30:55
  Speaker 8: help the team. We were on a roll last year
• 30:58
  Speaker 8: and it's hard to sit on the sideline. I wanted
• 31:03
  Speaker 8: to be out there and do everything I could.
• 31:05
  Speaker 3: How excited were you when Coach Bump got hired last year?
• 31:08
  Speaker 8: I don't know if I'm supposed to say this, but
• 31:13
  Speaker 8: I texted Coach Scali. I knew Coach Bump's situation at
• 31:18
  Speaker 8: Mississippi State because we keep up. He's obviously my coach,
• 31:24
  Speaker 8: but a mentor in my life as a receiver and
• 31:28
  Speaker 8: I kept up with him and I knew kind of
• 31:30
  Speaker 8: his situation and I texted Coach Scali when the previous
• 31:35
  Speaker 8: offensive staff left and I was like man if if
• 31:37
  Speaker 8: you can you know go get Coach Bum that'd be
• 31:39
  Speaker 8: awesome you know I think he's a heck of a
• 31:41
  Speaker 8: coach he played the game which is big for for
• 31:46
  Speaker 8: receiver groups just because you know we can we.
• 31:49
  Speaker 4: Could be a, we can't say you don't know.
• 31:52
  Speaker 5: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
• 31:52
  Speaker 8: Yeah.
• 31:53
  Speaker 5: We can be divas.
• 31:53
  Speaker 8: You know, we can, we can be a hard group
• 31:55
  Speaker 8: to deal with. So, um, you know, he's got sec status. Uh,
• 32:00
  Speaker 8: he did it at the highest level. You know, he
• 32:02
  Speaker 8: returned the punts. He caught the touchdowns. He went against,
• 32:04
  Speaker 8: you know, the guy every week. So, um, I texted
• 32:07
  Speaker 8: coach scouting. I was like, you know, coach, you know,
• 32:11
  Speaker 8: you know, look, you know, look out for coach bomb.
• 32:13
  Speaker 8: You know, I think he's, you know, wanting to, wanting
• 32:16
  Speaker 8: to leave, you know, that type of deal. And, Coach
• 32:18
  Speaker 8: Galley didn't respond, but a week later, Coach Moff was hired.
• 32:21
  Speaker 8: So I was pretty hyped up, and, yeah, that was
• 32:24
  Speaker 8: an awesome moment for us to kind of get back together.
• 32:27
  Speaker 8: I remember coming in and seeing him in the facility.
• 32:30
  Speaker 3: That was awesome.
• 32:30
  Speaker 4: I bet Scali's phone was just a little busy, you.
• 32:33
  Speaker 5: Know, during those times. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: So he probably read it.
• 32:35
  Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, Coach Scali's got a lot going on.
• 32:39
  Speaker 3: Speaking of a lot going on, there's a lot going
• 32:40
  Speaker 3: on this week. Game day will be here this Saturday.
• 32:43
  Speaker 3: It's a big primetime evening, Big 12 after dark game.
• 32:47
  Speaker 3: And the best team you guys have seen this year.
• 32:50
  Speaker 3: Thought on Houston coming in and where you guys have
• 32:54
  Speaker 3: to be better and build to get better this week
• 32:57
  Speaker 3: and maybe the excitement of playing a top 15 game here.
• 33:01
  Speaker 7: 100%.
• 33:01
  Speaker 8: That's what you dream of is a top 15 night game.
• 33:05
  Speaker 8: Being able to go out there and perform. I think
• 33:09
  Speaker 8: it starts at practice. It's kind of a cliche answer,
• 33:11
  Speaker 8: but it really does.
• 33:12
  Speaker 3: If we can.
• 33:15
  Speaker 8: From us to the scout team, how they're practicing. That's
• 33:19
  Speaker 8: the look we're going to get all week. That's what
• 33:21
  Speaker 8: we're expecting on game day. It takes everybody. Speaking on Houston,
• 33:26
  Speaker 8: they're a great team. We've got a lot of respect
• 33:28
  Speaker 8: for them. We respect everybody, fear none. I know a
• 33:31
  Speaker 8: couple guys on that side and they're going to give
• 33:34
  Speaker 8: the same effort that we are. It's going to come
• 33:36
  Speaker 8: down to technique and who wants it more.
• 33:38
  Speaker 3: Have a good week. Get healthy. Stay healthy. And good
• 33:43
  Speaker 3: luck against Houston.
• 33:44
  Speaker 5: Sounds good.
• 33:45
  Speaker 3: Thanks, Creed.
• 33:45
  Speaker 5: Yeah, thank y'all.
• 33:46
  Speaker 3: Creed Whittemore with us here on the Coaches Show tonight.
• 33:48
  Speaker 3: Saturday night, 8.15 or so, Mountain Time. The Houston Cougars
• 33:53
  Speaker 3: will be in. They've got a really good offense. We're
• 33:55
  Speaker 3: going to talk to Bobo Chenault about matching up against
• 33:57
  Speaker 3: Connor Wegman and all those wide receivers. That'll be next
• 34:00
  Speaker 3: on the Coaches Show, presented by Smith's, right here from
• 34:02
  Speaker 3: ESPN 700 and the Ute Sports Radio Network.
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: You're listening to Utah Football, brought to you by Bamboo
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: HR on ESPN 700 and the Ute Sports Network.
• 34:14
  Speaker 3: Tonight's coaches show being brought to you by University of
• 34:17
  Speaker 3: Utah Health, where you can get the same great care
• 34:18
  Speaker 3: the Utes trust. Find them online, uofuhealth.org slash Utes. From
• 34:23
  Speaker 3: the offensive side of the ball to the defensive side
• 34:26
  Speaker 3: of the ball, but staying in the state of Florida.
• 34:28
  Speaker 3: We go from Gainesville down to the middle of the state,
• 34:31
  Speaker 3: not too far, an hour and ten minutes or so,
• 34:32
  Speaker 3: to Orlando, Florida. Home of James Bobo Chanel. We've got
• 34:37
  Speaker 3: to start with this. Where's the nickname come from?
• 34:40
  Speaker 7: It's just a childhood name I grew up with. One
• 34:43
  Speaker 7: day I just woke up, my mom's siblings were calling
• 34:45
  Speaker 7: me Bobo. So it just stuck along and it's just
• 34:48
  Speaker 7: been great ever since.
• 34:49
  Speaker 3: So mom gave it to you years ago. Yes, sir. Okay,
• 34:51
  Speaker 3: there we go.
• 34:52
  Speaker 4: Man, it's great how those nicknames just come about, bro.
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: It's just like, wait, what? All right, it sticks.
• 34:58
  Speaker 3: Just start rolling with it.
• 34:59
  Speaker 4: I mean, how's your experience been at Utah?
• 35:01
  Speaker 6: I mean, we, of course, you know, call the games
• 35:04
  Speaker 6: and we say your name frequently. And you're making plays
• 35:07
  Speaker 6: all over the place, not just from the interceptions, but
• 35:09
  Speaker 6: from tackles to PBUs. We have Arkansas where we had 13,
• 35:13
  Speaker 6: 14 PBUs in that game. How's your experience been here
• 35:16
  Speaker 6: at Utah?
• 35:17
  Speaker 3: It's been great.
• 35:19
  Speaker 7: My teammates, Coach Shaw, have been making my experience great.
• 35:21
  Speaker 7: Everybody around me has been making it feel like home
• 35:23
  Speaker 7: ever since I left Florida, even though it's very different
• 35:26
  Speaker 7: out here. But everything has been smooth.
• 35:29
  Speaker 6: I've been loving it.
• 35:30
  Speaker 3: I'm always curious where the track, how you get connected.
• 35:33
  Speaker 3: You grew up in Orlando, you're playing at USF. We're
• 35:37
  Speaker 3: two time zones away in a different conference. So how
• 35:40
  Speaker 3: did your journey from, or from, uh, from Tampa get
• 35:43
  Speaker 3: you out here to Salt Lake city?
• 35:45
  Speaker 7: Um, once I entered a portal, just, uh, having West
• 35:48
  Speaker 7: coast schools hit me up like other schools, like UCLA, Washington,
• 35:51
  Speaker 7: and Utah was the farthest I went out West. So
• 35:54
  Speaker 7: I came out here, um, I've seen the city, I've
• 35:57
  Speaker 7: seen the school, I've seen the culture. I love my coaching,
• 36:00
  Speaker 7: and I just think I love it from there. So
• 36:03
  Speaker 7: that's what got me out here.
• 36:05
  Speaker 6: All right, tell me about this DB room, right? There's
• 36:07
  Speaker 6: a lot of personalities. We talk about how many Elijahs
• 36:10
  Speaker 6: is on this team and how many nicknames have to
• 36:12
  Speaker 6: go around. But from you, Elijah Reed, even Jackson Biddy,
• 36:17
  Speaker 6: he's kind of the utility safety nickel corner.
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure.
• 36:22
  Speaker 6: Um, but the, the many personalities and then the pride
• 36:24
  Speaker 6: that you guys play with, you guys play with a
• 36:26
  Speaker 6: lot of aggression and pride. Tell me a little bit
• 36:28
  Speaker 6: about the personality and mindsets in this, uh, DB room.
• 36:31
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 36:31
  Speaker 7: I just think we pride ourself on getting better every day.
• 36:34
  Speaker 7: Like 1%. I mean, they say 22% here, but I
• 36:38
  Speaker 7: say 1% ever since I was like back at the crib.
• 36:40
  Speaker 7: So there's 1% better every day. We don't want to
• 36:43
  Speaker 7: come in and make the same mistakes we made like
• 36:45
  Speaker 7: prior or the day before or the game before. So
• 36:47
  Speaker 7: just know what we got to do and knowing that, um,
• 36:50
  Speaker 7: really got a lot of, uh, uphold as a, um, backend.
• 36:52
  Speaker 4: So just trying to, uh, last line of defense.
• 36:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: Trying to do our job.
• 36:57
  Speaker 3: That's it. You made mention of him a minute ago.
• 37:00
  Speaker 3: Sharif Shaw used to be my sideline reporter.
• 37:02
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 37:03
  Speaker 3: Before he was the coach, he was on the sidelines.
• 37:05
  Speaker 3: He was an attorney, but football was always in his heart.
• 37:08
  Speaker 3: And I think he made the right choice. What's it
• 37:10
  Speaker 3: like being coached by him? How does he make you
• 37:12
  Speaker 3: a better DB?
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: Uh, I'm loving it. I love being coached by coach.
• 37:17
  Speaker 7: Uh, he's definitely, um, I don't know how to explain it.
• 37:20
  Speaker 7: He's a character every day, though.
• 37:22
  Speaker 3: Every day.
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: Every day.
• 37:24
  Speaker 7: I love him, though, because he gets me going. Some
• 37:26
  Speaker 7: days I don't want to come in. Some days I
• 37:28
  Speaker 7: might come in sluggish, and he always gets me going.
• 37:30
  Speaker 7: He gets me going to practice. So that's why I
• 37:32
  Speaker 7: love playing for him, and he always gets me ready.
• 37:35
  Speaker 6: I'm always trying to find out. Because I hear him
• 37:38
  Speaker 6: even before I come down to practice. Yeah, you're going
• 37:39
  Speaker 6: to hear him for sure. I know exactly who that is.
• 37:41
  Speaker 6: I hear him from the streets.
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: Special teams.
• 37:43
  Speaker 3: He's going to hear you. You're going to hear him.
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: I'm telling you. That's awesome, man.
• 37:46
  Speaker 6: What does a game– so we got these pink game
• 37:48
  Speaker 6: day coming here this week, I assume this is your
• 37:51
  Speaker 6: first ESPN game day. What does that mean to you
• 37:54
  Speaker 6: in getting ready for that moment and knowing how big
• 37:56
  Speaker 6: this game is?
• 37:58
  Speaker 7: It's a big game, but it's not really nothing different
• 38:02
  Speaker 7: for me. I'm trying to come in and use the
• 38:03
  Speaker 7: same tactics I've been using every other game to get
• 38:06
  Speaker 7: me ready. I'm not trying to treat this as no
• 38:08
  Speaker 7: other big stage game or nothing. I'm just trying to
• 38:12
  Speaker 7: come in and use the same things I've been using
• 38:14
  Speaker 7: to get me better and get me ready for the game.
• 38:16
  Speaker 3: You've seen a lot of good teams this year, good
• 38:18
  Speaker 3: wide receivers. I'm not sure if you've seen a team
• 38:21
  Speaker 3: as well-rounded as this Houston team. What are your thoughts
• 38:24
  Speaker 3: on the Cougars and matching up with them on Saturday night?
• 38:27
  Speaker 7: They definitely have a great team, great quarterback. Everything moves
• 38:30
  Speaker 7: through him, great receivers, good speed on the outside. So
• 38:33
  Speaker 7: I'd definitely say we have to communicate well, just hold
• 38:36
  Speaker 7: down our one-on-ones, and I'll say just win. That's what
• 38:39
  Speaker 7: it comes down to out there. On the back end,
• 38:41
  Speaker 7: you've got to win your one-on-ones.
• 38:43
  Speaker 6: Yeah, so coming away with this– If you can envision
• 38:48
  Speaker 6: kind of how this game will go or end, this defense,
• 38:52
  Speaker 6: not just the DB room, this defense needs to do what?
• 38:57
  Speaker 7: I would definitely say communicate more to make sure we're
• 38:59
  Speaker 7: all on the same page. And once we're all on
• 39:01
  Speaker 7: the same page, we're flowing like better. So I just
• 39:04
  Speaker 7: say once we just get communicate, communicate the main thing.
• 39:08
  Speaker 3: James, thank you for coming by tonight.
• 39:10
  Speaker 8: Yes, sir.
• 39:10
  Speaker 3: I appreciate you. Have a great week of practice.
• 39:12
  Speaker 8: Yes, sir.
• 39:12
  Speaker 3: And we'll see you on Saturday. See you, too. James
• 39:15
  Speaker 3: Bobo Chenault. Mom gave him that nickname many years ago.
• 39:18
  Speaker 5: Yes, sir.
• 39:18
  Speaker 3: And it has stuck. He'll be there Saturday night with
• 39:21
  Speaker 3: Creed Whittemore and the rest of the guys. We'll talk
• 39:23
  Speaker 3: to Morgan Scali back on the other side in our
• 39:24
  Speaker 3: final segment. A little bit more about the Houston Cougars.
• 39:27
  Speaker 3: They'll come in Saturday night right here. and you'll be
• 39:30
  Speaker 3: able to hear it right here from ESPN 700 and
• 39:32
  Speaker 3: the Ute Sports Radio Network. Presented by Smith's tonight and
• 39:37
  Speaker 3: always our game day sponsor Saturday night when the Houston
• 39:39
  Speaker 3: Cougars come to town. It's a really good football team.
• 39:42
  Speaker 3: They're 6-1 on the year. Their only loss was at
• 39:45
  Speaker 3: Lubbock to Texas Tech. And they came up inches short
• 39:49
  Speaker 3: of sending that game to overtime as they reached for
• 39:51
  Speaker 3: the goal line. And on a two-point conversion, just beat
• 39:54
  Speaker 3: a good nationally ranked Oklahoma State team last weekend. So, Morgan,
• 39:57
  Speaker 3: you put the tape on. What do you see with Houston?
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: Starts with the quarterback. He's a competitor.
• 40:03
  Speaker 3: Wegman?
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, he is a competitor, man. He's not your traditional
• 40:08
  Speaker 1: dual threat. But when they need a first down or
• 40:11
  Speaker 1: they need something to happen, he's usually the one getting
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: the ball.
• 40:16
  Speaker 8: So.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: Very savvy, really good arm, and they've got skilled players
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: for days. Fast, athletic. The running backs we've faced before
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: a couple years ago. And then on the defensive side
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: of the ball, a very athletic front. It's fun to
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: see Cionefotu back there starting for him. Such a great kid,
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: and he's doing so well. So again, this is... They're
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: special teams units. I like to watch how teams run
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: down on kickoff. It usually tells me a lot about
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: what a team's like. Man, they are flying down there.
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: This is a good, complete football team. Coach Fritz has
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: done a great job.
• 41:04
  Speaker 6: In preparation for games like this, coming off a game
• 41:09
  Speaker 6: in Colorado, we didn't play our best game. I always
• 41:12
  Speaker 6: find it, because I've played for a couple different coaches
• 41:14
  Speaker 6: that felt things were different, like, you know, coaches that
• 41:19
  Speaker 6: had walkthroughs are more important than even practices. If you
• 41:24
  Speaker 6: had an opportunity to practice or walkthrough and there was
• 41:27
  Speaker 6: only options, you would choose walkthrough, you know, slow things down,
• 41:30
  Speaker 6: really work on communication. Is that something that you implement
• 41:34
  Speaker 6: in weeks like this, maybe another period of walkthroughs or
• 41:37
  Speaker 6: maybe another period of, like, let's make sure we're seeing
• 41:40
  Speaker 6: the right things?
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: What other things do you do in preparation of games
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: like this? Well, we try and utilize as much as
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: possible because every kid learns different. So, I mean, the
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: room that we're sitting in right now, our guys get
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: a lot of work from the video wall, from just
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: being able to walk through things, walk and talk. Rarely
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: are you just sitting in front of a board for
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: an hour. Just young men don't, you know, nowadays they
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: don't learn like that. You know, they got to be
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: up and doing. I mean, I have to be up
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: and doing. I learned better just walking through things, and
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: so it's a good mix of film and getting in
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: here and being able to walk through the stuff. It's
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: one thing for a kid to say, well, yeah, I've
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: got the A-gap. It's another thing for him to step
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: to the A-gap and show you exactly the movement that
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: you're asking for, and that's why this room is so important.
• 42:31
  Speaker 3: You mentioned their offense, and they're very good, very balanced defensively.
• 42:35
  Speaker 3: Front seven seems to be good. You mentioned it's the
• 42:36
  Speaker 3: only foe to former. You'd play linebacker for them. Up front, though,
• 42:40
  Speaker 3: kind of like last week, they've got some really good
• 42:41
  Speaker 3: defensive tackles.
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: They do. They do. And physical, they also do quite
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: a bit, you know, not just sit there in a
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: four down. They'll show an odd front. They'll slant. You know,
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: they'll see movement, my guess is, from last week and think,
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: you know, yeah, we can get some movement on these guys.
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: So it's very similar to last week.
• 43:02
  Speaker 6: How do you help your offensive coordinators? You know, this
• 43:05
  Speaker 6: is Colton Swann's kind of first year here. I'm doing this,
• 43:09
  Speaker 6: this is a big game, you know, just like we
• 43:11
  Speaker 6: were talking about with the players and keeping them even-keeled.
• 43:13
  Speaker 4: Do you have to do that with your coordinators?
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: I'm just, on game day, I'm a communicator. I'm just
• 43:20
  Speaker 1: trying to, okay, so... Oh, but like in preparation, like.
• 43:23
  Speaker 4: Through the week as well.
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. You know, I will give my two cents. Like,
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: I'm in both meetings, offensive meeting, defensive meeting, and you
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: have to be aware of what are our strengths... What
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: do we need to get done? And what are their strengths?
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: You know, because the stuff you have to practice is,
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: you know, okay, who are their dudes? Who do you
• 43:48
  Speaker 1: got to take away? And then what are the hardest
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: things that you're going to have to do? Because you
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: have to practice. You may not see those hard things
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: over and over, but you have to practice them. And
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: so both coordinators, I mean, I knew Colton as a teacher.
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: I knew him as how organized he was. I spent
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: pretty much all offseason with offense. Defense, I would poke
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: my head in and I would watch the film just
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: because I knew that there was going to be so
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: much carryover. But on the offensive side, I wanted to
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: just see how things were gelling. I wanted to see
• 44:23
  Speaker 1: if the culture was being taught and implemented. And so
• 44:28
  Speaker 1: I have the utmost confidence in both these guys. And
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: come game day, it's just a matter of, okay, what's
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: Are we seeing the same things issue-wise? How do we
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: correct them? And how can I help? You know, you
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: can't panic on game day because then everyone else panics.
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: It's just like you've been through so many big games
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: and so many heartbreaking moments and just moments of elation,
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: and you just got to rep by rep. Play by play,
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: you know, what's going on? How can we improve? How
• 45:11
  Speaker 1: can we get better? How can we right the ship?
• 45:13
  Speaker 3: Last thing. What's it going to take Saturday night for
• 45:16
  Speaker 3: the Utes to walk out of there with a victory?
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: Well, we've got to take care of the football. We've
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: got to score in the red zone. And we have
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: to take the football away. I think in a game
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: like this where you're evenly matched, those takeaways are huge
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: to be able to flip the field. So takeaways and
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: the ability to keep the ball Those are going to
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: be huge in this game, and I do think special
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: teams is going to play a huge factor.
• 45:41
  Speaker 3: It's going to be a big Saturday here in Salt
• 45:43
  Speaker 3: Lake City. Game day in the morning and the Houston
• 45:45
  Speaker 3: Cougars in the evening. Two nationally ranked teams, two top
• 45:48
  Speaker 3: 15 teams squaring off. Sly and I will be joined
• 45:51
  Speaker 3: by Zach Moss, and we'll have the call for him
• 45:53
  Speaker 3: just a little after 8.15 on Saturday night. Big thank
• 45:56
  Speaker 3: you to Creed and to Bobo, to Sly, to Alonzo,
• 45:59
  Speaker 3: our entire crew here, Porter back at the studio, and
• 46:02
  Speaker 3: for head coach Morgan Scali. I'm Bill Riley saying we'll
• 46:05
  Speaker 3: talk to you Saturday from Rice-Eckel Stadium. This has been
• 46:07
  Speaker 3: the Coaches Show from ESPN 700 and the Ute Sports
• 46:10
  Speaker 3: Radio Network.