Latest / The Jake Wimberly Podcast / MRA's Track and Cross Country Head Coach, John Weaver, talks everything HS Sports

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MRA's Track and Cross Country Head Coach, John Weaver, talks everything HS Sports · The Jake Wimberly Podcast

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Carrying on here at the missipp Association A coach this
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: convention twenty twenty five, we're brought to you by Sea
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Spire Road Tour. This year it's gonna be powered by
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: our friends Assissippi Sports mess and Or Orthopedic Center. John Weaver,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: director of Athletic Advancement, also a head coach track and
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: cross country at m R A coach.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: You like you just got out of the track. I mean,
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: what do you do?
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: I know you've been over at Pearl doing some stuff,
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  Speaker 1: so I appreciate you jumping in here right off the track.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: We Chris Barnett asked me to do some pull vault instruction.
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: It's an hour session on a power point that we're
• 0:33
  Speaker 3: inside the air condition and then he said an hour outside.
• 0:36
  Speaker 3: I said that hour is gonna be twenty minutes because
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: if I look at the sun, I start sweating and
• 0:40
  Speaker 3: the sweat was rolling literally off my bald head. And
• 0:43
  Speaker 3: it still is. I'm still trying to yeah, get a
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: cold down. This Mississippi heat is no joke.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Oh it didn't.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: That's what we were just talking to Chris thick Pan
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: with Terry about is uh. He said, man I told him,
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: I said, you should like you could play, and he said,
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: I'm just trying to maintain right now.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: He said, this heat kills me. Now it's we all
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: get older. It does, don't it. Uh.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, As I was reminded of doing some drills, I
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: brought my daughter with me to do some drills. Who's
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  Speaker 3: going into seventh grade and she's a alter and I
• 1:06
  Speaker 3: was like, look, you're gonna do some of these drills.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: And then I did some of these drills and I said, oh,
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  Speaker 3: you're gonna do the rest of them. But it is
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: this Mississippi heat. Those heat monkeys get on you quick.
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: And man, it's not playing in July.
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: You Uh, it's weird and not even associating you with
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: a football team this year.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: Tell us what's going on with you?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah?
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  Speaker 2: I figured you were that was going to come up.
• 1:25
  Speaker 3: So I've done football for twenty years, played and played
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: at Warren Central, you know my whole story, played at
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: Hines and then played at Delta State, got into coaching,
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  Speaker 3: so thirty one years playing and coaching, so twenty of
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  Speaker 3: the last year's coaching. But uh man, it was just time,
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: a time in my life where our my main assistant
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: in track and field trace Walters moved to Birmingham and
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: cross country was his deal, and he was my top
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  Speaker 3: assistant in track and he was leaving and I was like, man,
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: we got we got to give our boys cross country
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: program because he did a heck of a job on
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: to the last three state championships. But we went back
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: and forth and our head of school was like, how
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: about you do both? I said, that's a no bueno.
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  Speaker 3: I can't do that. No amount of money can get
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: me to do both. With being so time, I mean,
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: you're looking at two fall sports. You know the demands
• 2:21
  Speaker 3: on football and what I did with our football program.
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  Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, so.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I made the transition doing a little bit bigger
• 2:27
  Speaker 3: role in our director of Athletic Advancements For others people,
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  Speaker 3: that's an assistant ad if you will, but director of
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  Speaker 3: athletic Advancements, much like Josh mccawn in Misissippi State, the
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: deputad for athletic advancement. We have that at MRA with
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: signage and advertising our Patriot Athletic Club, all that stuff,
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  Speaker 3: booster club, if you will. Getting to do that a
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: little bit more and then giving back to our patrons.
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  Speaker 3: I think a lot of times we lose sight of
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  Speaker 3: the people behind the team, even on Friday nights or
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: basketball on Tuesday nights, or soccer on Thursday afternoons. Chants
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: just to give back to our patrons who invest in athletics,
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: to see, you know, the new uniforms, our travel, the
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  Speaker 3: video boards that we have bright just kind of give
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: back to them and be a service to them.
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  Speaker 2: So it's something I did.
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  Speaker 3: It's weird to say I work for the Golf South
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  Speaker 3: Conference when I was twenty five and I was too
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  Speaker 3: young for the job. Well, now I'm at that age
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  Speaker 3: of that job and I'm doing the things that I
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  Speaker 3: was doing at the Golf South Conference when I was
• 3:25
  Speaker 3: twenty five in Birmingham.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: John Weaver on Your Radio, Director of Athletic Advancement also
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: head Coach Track and Cross Country MRA Wednesday edition of
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: the program Coach.
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  Speaker 2: When you and you just mentioned something.
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  Speaker 1: You said, Hey, what I was doing when I was
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  Speaker 1: twenty five, I wasn't, I guess old enough to get
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  Speaker 1: the actual position.
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  Speaker 2: Now I'm doing it. In high school.
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  Speaker 1: I was talking to lanceman Kuso about this and Blake
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  Speaker 1: Pennock down at Goldport and we were talking about the
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  Speaker 1: arms race that is high school sports and you look
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  Speaker 1: at you know, everybody needs a new track and field,
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  Speaker 1: everybody needs a new football stadium, everybody needs a new
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  Speaker 1: weight room.
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  Speaker 2: Things do bleed downhill.
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  Speaker 1: And what I mean by that is you see the
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  Speaker 1: advancement of the Southeastern Conference, the Big Ten, the need
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  Speaker 1: for facilities. We see what's going on in other states,
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  Speaker 1: Texas and Georgia. Mississippi's no different.
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  Speaker 3: Now, yeah, you see that Gulf Court and I just
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  Speaker 3: saw that they're going to get a new deal. Eve
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  Speaker 3: you go stretch into Alabama, Orange Beach High School and
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  Speaker 3: what they're doing. So, yeah, it's trickling down of you know,
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  Speaker 3: we have a project about to get kicked off at
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  Speaker 3: our school with an expansion of weight room and baseball field, stadium, bleachers,
• 4:28
  Speaker 3: and I think it happened. So you look at the
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: trajectory of to keep up with the Joneses, if you will.
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  Speaker 3: So now it's in high school of keeping up with
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  Speaker 3: those guys that you know, you want to go to
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  Speaker 3: place and compete at a nice place. So now you
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  Speaker 3: have to keep up with when you go to a
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  Speaker 3: Clinton or a Madison Central. You know, Jeff Davis is
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: coming to us this year. But you see those things
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  Speaker 3: and you gotta have. You got to have people in
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  Speaker 3: place where and I think about when I was at
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  Speaker 3: One Central they had the Viking a club and it
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: was mainly a parking spots and this, and it's morphed
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: into all kinds of things that where you need a
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  Speaker 3: person running that booster club to hey, we need funds
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  Speaker 3: for this, and this is where this is gonna go.
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  Speaker 3: And just advancement. I mean, that's the whole thing behind
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  Speaker 3: my deal, is the athletic advancement part of it.
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: John Weaver on your radio, as so we continue to
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: move forward, Coach, a few more minutes here with you,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: and I appreciate your time. Talk a little bit about
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: MRI football this year. I know you're not totally involved
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: with that, but I mean I've figured that you'll be
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: kind of watching from a distance.
• 5:29
  Speaker 3: Well, Herbert said, anytime I need to, He said, anytime
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  Speaker 3: you want to wear a headset at home, you can.
• 5:34
  Speaker 3: So it's been a weird transition. I've welcomed it. I've
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: got to see my kids do more stuff this summer.
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  Speaker 3: I'm gonna get to be able to watch my son
• 5:43
  Speaker 3: play flag football and then my daughter do her cheerleading
• 5:47
  Speaker 3: on Thursday nights. So there's a time not saying I'm
• 5:50
  Speaker 3: retired from it. I obviously would go back if sure
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: it opens up. It's a big part of my life
• 5:56
  Speaker 3: since fifth grade. But the football pro if you look
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: at the schedule, holy cow. Herbert Davis has said, hey,
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: we're gonna sign up and have the toughest schedule ever
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  Speaker 3: with Ravenwood, which is a really cool thing out of Tennessee.
• 6:11
  Speaker 3: Hayden Davis, his son, is the officeive coordinator for Ravenwood.
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  Speaker 3: They come down week one, August twenty two to MRA,
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  Speaker 3: and then Jeff Davis comes to town, and then you
• 6:21
  Speaker 3: go to Hartfield. Well, then you have Collierville out of Tennessee,
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  Speaker 3: and then you have Baton Rouge Catholic on there, and
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: then you have Jackson Academy and Jackson Prepp. I mean
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: that's just the first seven weeks. So you look at that,
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: and then you have Park Lane after your bye week,
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  Speaker 3: which is your first district game. Who's the five A
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: state champs. So that's the landscape of it. I've said
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: this in public many times. As long as Herbert Davis
• 6:48
  Speaker 3: is the head football coach of MRA, They're gonna be
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  Speaker 3: just fine. He is that kind of guy. He's you know,
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: since he's had the kidney transplant, he's down I think
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  Speaker 3: like fifty sixty pounds. You talk about people can get
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: back out there and play right now, He's one of
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: those that he looks.
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  Speaker 2: Last time I saw him, he looked really really it
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  Speaker 2: looks really good.
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  Speaker 3: And I think that also plays in the part of
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: just your physical health plays with your mental health. Oh
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  Speaker 3: absolutely for him what he's doing now. And I you know,
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  Speaker 3: I go out to practice when they're doing seven on
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  Speaker 3: seven for like fifteen twenty minutes, and then that heat
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  Speaker 3: shows up, and I'm like, I'm gonna go back in
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  Speaker 3: their condition. But I watch him and I see how
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: energetic he is. I see the kids fueling off of him.
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  Speaker 3: And I asked him. I was like, what's the main difference.
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  Speaker 3: He goes, man' I feel great. I've lost weight. I'm
• 7:27
  Speaker 3: taking care of my body, and I feel I can
• 7:30
  Speaker 3: go another ten years, if not twenty. And I was like, man,
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  Speaker 3: that And I think that's where you get back in
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  Speaker 3: the in the saddle of you know, you're doing it
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  Speaker 3: for the kids, but there's a lot of times that
• 7:40
  Speaker 3: you want to take it easy and eat that big mac.
• 7:42
  Speaker 3: You want to eat that quarter pounder. You want to
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: drink that soft drink and you just want to kind
• 7:46
  Speaker 3: of chill out a little bit. But he's taking like,
• 7:48
  Speaker 3: you know what, I'm gonna take care of my body
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  Speaker 3: so I can do this longer. So it's a it's
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: a good deal for MRI football. But to see him
• 7:55
  Speaker 3: jumping around, I mean, you still have the receiving corps,
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: you still have the assistant coach Danny White, Kenny Williams
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: on the low line, you still have all those guys there.
• 8:05
  Speaker 3: You know, Phillip Short took my spot, moved to quarterbacks.
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  Speaker 3: But man, it's it's it's in good hands, I'll tell
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  Speaker 3: you that. But it's gonna be fun that first game.
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: It definitely should be son. I mean father versus son.
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: They both coached the offensive side of the ball, So
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: think about it. Yeah, I asked him. I was like,
• 8:22
  Speaker 3: what side is Darley your wife.
• 8:23
  Speaker 2: Gonna sit on?
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  Speaker 3: And she's He told me, he said, if I know Darla,
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  Speaker 3: she's gonna sit in the middle. But rupe for Hayden.
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: There you go right root for the sun. It'll bring
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: up some good conversation. Come to the holidays too.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, I'm I'm I'm pulling for her on that one,
• 8:38
  Speaker 3: just from his his mental state. Yeah, if his son
• 8:41
  Speaker 3: out calls him in a game, Uh, there might be
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: some some damage, some recon of like are you okay,
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: do you need to do you need to go and
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: lay down for you to cold town? You need a
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: colt to right something like that. But uh, this in
• 8:56
  Speaker 3: good hands man to say that. I I don't miss
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: it on it's a lie.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: I love it.
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  Speaker 3: I love football of everything about high school fotball. I
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: think we're so blessed in Mississippi with the rich talent
• 9:07
  Speaker 3: in the history of our state. Not from who goes
• 9:11
  Speaker 3: and plays in the NFL and who goes in college.
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: It's just the tradition of Mississippi high school with that
• 9:16
  Speaker 3: none is like none other. And you have Texas which
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: is so big. You have Alabama, I don't know, you
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: have Tennessee whatever, Florida. I think it's so big in
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: But Mississippi is is that.
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  Speaker 2: Grid iron gold it is. There is no doubt of
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: where it's like.
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  Speaker 3: Man, it's a wholesome Friday night, whether you're at Jeff
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: Davis or you're at Tupelo, or if you're at Heidelberg
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: wherever you are in Mississippi on a Friday night, the
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: town normally shuts down for that team and then there's
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: a winner and a loser. So the fun part too
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: is the Saturday morning conversation is probably at the coffee
• 9:50
  Speaker 3: houses of like they should have ran that player or
• 9:52
  Speaker 3: why do they punt the football there? But there's nothing
• 9:55
  Speaker 3: like Missisipi Hig School fotball.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: No.
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  Speaker 1: I agree with the coach. Hey, always great to talk
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: with you. I appreciate you.
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: Doing yeah, And look, it's for guys like you two.
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: They get the game and you promote the game and
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: you do it the right way. So thank you for
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: what you do for missip High School athletics. I think
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: y'all don't get thanked enough. But from me to you,
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: thank you for what you do. Oh absolutely appreciate that
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: to push out not just the players and the teams,
• 10:20
  Speaker 3: but but what you're doing now. You're getting the coach's
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: voice out there, and I think that's a big part
• 10:23
  Speaker 3: of what grows our community, whether you're a public school
• 10:27
  Speaker 3: or a private school. And I was just telling somebody that,
• 10:29
  Speaker 3: like we're one, we're one association, We're Mississippi, no matter
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: what school you come from. You're Mississippi, so that's a
• 10:37
  Speaker 3: that's a big deal for just a state. And kudos
• 10:40
  Speaker 3: to you for being such an advocate for missip high
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: school athletics.
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, it's my pleasure coach, appreciate you. Absolutely got to
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: take a time out.
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: John Weaver kind of enough to join US Director of
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: Athletic Advancement, head coach Track and cross country at a
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: Madison Original Academy back in a moment