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Seg 6 - FB Show 9-29 w TE Matt Ragan · Coaches Corner

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the UConn football coaches show we spoke
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: with Jason Candle obviously and Tommy Warner the punter from
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Melbourne Australia now we come east Westboro Massachusetts Matt Reagan
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: is our guys the tight end he wears number 86
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: transferred from Boston College to play his fifth year here
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: at UConn Matt welcome to the show it was good
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: to see you on the field I gotta believe that
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  Speaker 1: you couldn't wait to get back to playing football after
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: missing the first three games this.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Year yeah absolutely um I want to start by thanking
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  Speaker 2: my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for putting me in
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  Speaker 2: this position, allowing me to get healthy and come back
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: for the game that I love. And yeah, it was
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: so good to be back. Can't even describe kind of
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  Speaker 2: how antsy I was to just get back on the field.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: And it felt great. Obviously, wanted to come up with
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: a win there. Tough how it ended, but good to
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: be back. Can't wait to be with these guys for
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  Speaker 2: the rest of the season.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: This is a team that is 2-2 now, Matt. You've
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: got Syracuse coming up. We'll talk about them in a minute.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: But back to Miami, Ohio for a minute. You have
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: a 14-0 lead in that game. You guys looked dynamite
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: in the first 15 minutes. But it got away a
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: little bit. You were able to bounce back. How important
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: is that? You lost the lead. They scored 21 straight points.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: You did answer. And then you had a chance to
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: win it at the very end. I mean, as a team,
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: big picture. how do you think the team responded to
• 1:24
  Speaker 1: what happened on Saturday?
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  Speaker 2: You know, it's their offense and kind of how their
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: team is designed. Um, they took a lot of clock. Um,
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  Speaker 2: so that kind of how they play is it's definitely
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: kills momentum a little bit. And that's kind of how
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: they set up their offense. Um, I thought we responded after,
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: you know, you're like you said, we're up and then it's,
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: they score and they score again as a tie game.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: Then we ended up going down and, then score again.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: And then it's close game coming down to it. And
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  Speaker 2: I think just momentum and over always in football, overcoming
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: adversity and responding and just next play, no matter what happened,
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: no matter what the score is, is the most important thing. Um,
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  Speaker 2: and I thought we did an okay job. It was,
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: we obviously could have been better in finishing that. Um,
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  Speaker 2: we started and we were driving a little bit and
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  Speaker 2: then it just stalled out a little bit at the
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  Speaker 2: end there. Um, And credit to them, you know, they
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: sealed the game and they beat us. But that's definitely
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: an emphasis that everyone has got to work on in here.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: And we're all thinking about is kind of just that
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  Speaker 2: response and just next play, move on and just positive
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: and keep going.
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: All right. Lessons learned, I guess, every week in football.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: No question. Late in the game, you got involved. Obviously,
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: you made four catches, some big ones on that drive.
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: Getting open as a tight end. I always thought that
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  Speaker 1: was one of the toughest things. I mean, that I've
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: been around some great tight ends over the years, covered
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: the giants and Mark Bavaro, and then later a Gronkowski
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: in new England. And I always thought the toughest thing
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: is getting off the line of scrimmage for you guys.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: Cause there's so much, you know, there's so many bodies
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  Speaker 1: in there. You gotta, you gotta get around or get
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: through to get into your past patterns. How difficult is that?
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: It varies. Um, we got coach Campbell's a great job
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  Speaker 2: of mixing up the formations, whether it's splitting us out
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  Speaker 2: or putting us in bunch. Um, then crossing guys off
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  Speaker 2: the line which just always helps us with kind of
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: making the defense whether they're playing whether they're matching or
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: they're just passing off um that always helps just having
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  Speaker 2: a little bit of that going on but i mean
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  Speaker 2: that's stuff we work every day and the releases and
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: you're right it is definitely usually against quicker guys or
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  Speaker 2: linebackers or smaller um but it's all about we got
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  Speaker 2: a definitely emphasis on hands here and we do releases
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: stuff every day um jabs, hands, footwork, just making sure quick,
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  Speaker 2: violent movements. And it's really the same thing once you
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: get into the road. It's a secondary release, which can
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: be just as important, especially when they're playing off and
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: not getting jammed and not getting held up. But, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: that's something we work on all the time. And I
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: think everyone's gotten that instilled, especially since we've been here
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: in the spring, and Coach Ray's done a great job
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  Speaker 2: of that. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Matt Reagan's with us. Where's number 86? Tight end
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  Speaker 1: for the Huskies. You're 6'5, almost 250, growing up in
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  Speaker 1: high school. Were you on the basketball team as well?
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  Speaker 1: I'm guessing yes.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely. Basketball was definitely my favorite sport when I
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: was younger, and what I thought I was going to play,
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: or I wanted to play in college, and then that
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  Speaker 2: was before I started playing football, so I fell in
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  Speaker 2: love with football when I started playing that, and I
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: also You know, not that I'm complaining, but once I
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  Speaker 2: got to 6'5, I was tall, really tall for football
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  Speaker 2: and not so tall anymore in basketball. So it helped
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  Speaker 2: me decide that a little bit too.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Lawrence Academy, you went to. That experience, you know,
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  Speaker 1: there's so many of these prep schools in New England,
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  Speaker 1: and you know this, and I know a lot of
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: folks who work in prep schools in New England, you know,
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: coaching football and other sports. That experience for you, how
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: do you think that helped you in your, you know,
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  Speaker 1: your growth as a player and as a person getting
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: to where you are today?
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  Speaker 2: It was huge. Um, it's, it was definitely a lot different. Um,
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  Speaker 2: even from just, just the athletic standpoint of kind of
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  Speaker 2: guys we were playing, um, comparatively to, you know, a
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  Speaker 2: lot of the public schools in Massachusetts, it was a
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: lot higher level of competition for really football and basketball. Um,
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  Speaker 2: and so that alone was just great to play against.
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  Speaker 2: You're playing against college guys every week. Um, Our team
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  Speaker 2: had multiple college guys, especially in my senior class and
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: my buddy here, Ty Chen, who is also on the
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  Speaker 2: team who I live with. We were in the same
• 5:40
  Speaker 2: class at Lawrence. So you get surrounded by those guys
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  Speaker 2: and it's great because you kind of get grouped with
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  Speaker 2: a bunch of people that are, you know, young and
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: in high school and everyone wants the same thing and
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  Speaker 2: wants to play in college and wants to play in
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: the NFL. So it's easy to motivate, easy to work out.
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: The school experience itself was great. I think it, force
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  Speaker 2: you to mature a little bit because it's kind of
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: more like a college atmosphere comparatively to just like a
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: normal public high school. You got a little more responsibility
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  Speaker 2: and the class schedule was very college-esque, but it was great.
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  Speaker 2: I loved it. I had a great experience. I'm very
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  Speaker 2: thankful for my time there and definitely helped me into
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  Speaker 2: who I am now.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's definitely served you well. Our final question. You're
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: a BC guy. Now you're at UConn. Now, you know,
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: there's history between Boston college and UConn when you were
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: an Eagle. Did you really hate UConn? I mean, did
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: you really dislike the Huskies? And now you're part of
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: the Huskies.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know if I had a hatred. That was,
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  Speaker 2: that was a, uh, I was, I was, my freshman year,
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  Speaker 2: we came to the rent and we lost. And, uh,
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: that was a, that was a big loss for us
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  Speaker 2: at the time. Um, and people were definitely beat up
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  Speaker 2: about that. Um, And the fans are definitely letting us
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  Speaker 2: know about it walking out. But it's great to be here.
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  Speaker 2: I've had an unbelievable experience here. I love UConn. It's
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: been so good to me. Like everything at school, football,
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: the coaches, the relationships I've already built in a short
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: time here. I love it. I'm so thankful and blessed
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  Speaker 2: to be here. And yeah, I'm honored to play on
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: this team for Coach Kendall. All right.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: Well, we're certainly happy to have you, my man. Forget
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  Speaker 1: the Eagles. Now you're a Husky. Let's go get them
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  Speaker 1: this weekend against Syracuse.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. Absolutely. I can't wait.
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: All right. It's Matt Reagan. We thank him. We thank
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: Tommy Warner. Of course, Coach Jason Candle on the UConn
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: Football Coaches Show. I'm Mike Crispino. Thanks for joining us.
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: Don't forget, noon start, kickoff, be in the rent Saturday
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: against Syracuse on Learfield.