1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Husker Tennis HC, Peter Kobelt, in studio: Recruiting and the Transfer Portal - December 20, 2025

Episode Date: December 20, 2025

Husker Tennis HC, Peter Kobelt, in studio: Recruiting and the Transfer Portal - December 20, 2025Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's time to go one-on-one with D.P. Coming at you live from the heart of Lincoln America, a 93-7-the-ticket and the Ticketfm.com. Sponsored by the Downtown Lincoln Foundation. Here is your host, Derek Pearson. It is Saturday, which requires a Saturday. Boom. Lincoln, Nebraska, you're gorgeous.

Gorgeous today, I tell you. 42 degrees, 1103 in the city. You've got to pay old-time radio tribute. Give time and weather at the top of the hour. Let people know. Let people know what's going on. We talked about it. Be the aura.

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You can follow on all the live video, streams, Facebook, YouTube, X, hello channel 961, download the ticket app, take us wherever you go. There is no signal. It just goes with you wherever you go. You want us with you. So, download the ticket app. And we have some advancements coming in January, where you'll have multiple options of things to choose.

So the app will be far more. convenient. Yes, follow on the social media streams. You'll have those options as well. But on the app, you'll be able to decide option A is a little sexier than option B. And you won't be wrong either way. So I'm just going to give that to you in advance. Go ahead and download that. I know some of you were fancy folks and you're, you know, you want to be fully on Amazon Prime. okay if we if we must go ahead and jump on over there um lots going on in sports lots going on on huskerland let's bring in the head coach husker men's tennis peter cobalt coach what's good what's up tp oh another another day in paradise cancer another day in paradise it's a little

warmer today there was a one or two days last week that were that were tough winters starting to poke its head out there that's for sure but well but you're a winner guy i am yeah you're built for this man i do i take the take the cold shower every morning from from the midwest so it doesn't bother me too much see i knew that about you i knew that about you man i never even asked but i knew that about you you you see when you're tall and tough there's an advantage in life well first part's true the second part you got to earn every day this is the one day i don't think we've had this much height in the room room with you interested in both.

Sure. Yeah. We're both sitting down. So you know, I got some wings. I got some wings. We can go, we can run the three on one break today, man. I got I got some dudes in the room. It is, it's, it's playoff time in college football and then in the transfer portal.

And then recruiting. And there's always news. Kind sir, there's hot, hot news off the press about your program. What are you, what are you guys doing? in the tennis program yeah we just had a we just signed a commit for for next year which we're excited about we he officially signed so we're allowed to talk about his name's kelly kelly geis plays uh right now um lubbock christian university he's got one more season there and he's going to come as a grad transfer next year right great guy loves tennis great work ethic you know

really resonates with me and and how i see uh you know our program evolving i think he's he's only going to be here for one season so when we when we bring in the guy like that we're really careful and selective with you know who we bring in um i feel like he's he's a guy that really fits our mold his tennis is also good he's a he's a great player but really like he we see him being able to come in and being able to lead by example and guys buying into him and um what he's going to bring to the program because for one he has a lot of experience and two like he fits he fits the mold and he's going to fit in well with the guys in the team already in my opinion so you you you have those things the verbiage that that resonates so

i'll ask you go further into it fits the mold what does that mean let's go deeper into that what is the husker tennis mold yeah well we sit down with our recruits and and you know whether this is the right thing to do or not um i think it is in today's day and age when transferring is really easy but we sit down and we say hey you know at here at nebraska every every coach is selling something different some of them are selling uh development pro tennis um we got you know great campus great school great university like we have a lot of those things too but the thing that we're really trying to sell is work ethic dedication discipline and toughness so we say we you know we're just straight up with these guys we're like look if if if you don't want to be held accountable every day if you don't

want to work if you don't want to be pushed your absolute hardest every single day then and then this isn't the right place for you so uh we get a lot of you know we'll have a lot of phone calls guys will come on visits and we'll have that talk with them and you know that sometimes that it ends right there and that's fine so the guys that do say yes though um they lean into that we know we have something we have something on um special on you know on the line there so kelly leaned into it hard um you know He was trying to make his decision quick, so we gave him some, we gave him a week or a week or so to kind of make up his mind, and he called back two days later, said, I'm in. So those are the types of guys.

We want guys that want to be here, that want to work hard, that want to buy into the culture. And I think if you can get 10 guys on your roster, tennis, you're all to have 10 guys on your roster that are all like-minded like that. I think you can really, in my opinion, I want to see what that looks like, because I think that's when you can go from a good team to a great team. I think that's where you can be from, you know, going like fourth and fifth in the big 10, what we were the last couple years to pushing for a Big 10 championship. I think you've got to have the right people and not just in the, you know, in the

building, but in the locker room especially. So how quickly does that enter into the recruiting process? Right away. Right. Like that's early on before we get too deep in the dating. Right. You got to know whether somebody's worth worth it worth. Well, I'm really fortunate because we have an amazing assistant coach, Brett, Brett Foreman does an

amazing job. he probably does 80% 90% of our recruiting he does all the dirty work goes and messages digs and recruits recruits recruits and then you know the guys that are interested he has the initial conversations of him and hey this is kind of how we do things so after brett kind of vets the situation he puts the guys on my desk and i talk to him and we go we kind of go from there so uh you know as you know like as the head coach you're responsible for a million different things now so i'm really lucky to have a guy like brett that is willing and able and an amazing job of relay relaying the vision of what I have for the program and he also agrees

with it 100% too so you have two guys that are like-minded that kind of spearheading the program I view us as a team more so than a than a coaching staff you know a partner to really go in and do this with that's kind of the unique thing with tennis is you kind of have smaller smaller rosters and smaller coaching staff so it's more of a really close-knit family type of vibe where you know everyone and you have deep relationships with everyone so I have a great relationship with bread and And yeah, so the first the first call I have with the recruit is usually the second the second time he's hearing a lot of this information. So I'm able to kind of see and cut through some of the some of the BS, I guess, and really tell and see if, you know, if they're really meant for the program. And you know, I usually, we usually like to do like a FaceTime so you can kind of look in their eyes a little bit.

Sometimes it's over the phone, but I prefer like a face or Zoom call or FaceTime, something like that where you can see how they react. some of the questions you act and a couple things like that. But I think then that that's the easiest way to kind of know what we're getting. And they can also see like what we have to offer to more than just through words, but through expressions and kind of the energy you get through the relationship piece that you can build the best you can over a phone call. And when does the parents join into this? You know, a lot of times, I don't, you know.

Well, that was the question because in other sports. I think it's a lot different in other sports. A huge, when packets of money and large contractual agreements fall into play, the simplicity of recruiting gets, it gets messy sometimes. And often coaches will say that even in an Olympic sport or a non-revenue, it may be more important to know what parents are going to whisper. to your player and shout in the background about how this should play out. So the fact that you remove from it is, it's pretty special, actually.

Well, every recruitment is a little bit different. I think most of the American families, the mom and the dad tend to be a little bit more involved. You go overseas further away. I think there's not as much. I don't know if they know quite exactly what's going on. So sometimes you have, you know, relationships with. the with the family. Like with Kelly, I only communicated with him. And then after he committed his, you know, I got on the phone with their family and we spoke for 10 minutes quickly over the phone.

Some families like to be really involved and talk to them once a week, once every, once every month. Some of them, you know, there's guys I've never met their, never met their family. So it's just, sometimes that's just how it works and how their family likes to do things. Some of them like to be involved. Some of them trust their, trust their son. And they, just want them to have a great time and experience. Luckily, like we, you know, I think we build a great culture. And, uh, uh, the guys are pushed really hard, but they also have a lot of fun and they don't really have too much to call home and complain about.

So, um, that part that, you know, you always, you always knock on, you always knock on wood there too. Um, but, uh, but, but yeah, I mean, every, every situation is different. Every family is different. I always say like I can, you can be as involved as a, as a parent or as family as you'd like to be. I'm always available. You can talk to me as much as you want or you can talk to me as little as you want. And it's 10 sets instead of the hundreds that you have to deal with football. Sure. Yeah. If you have 120 guys in your roster, that's 120 different families plus all the recruits. That's a whole different. That's a whole different monster.

So, uh, yeah, positives and negatives to. Would you like for your roster to be bigger if, if possible? I'd like 12. Because I think, um, with 10, You know, you have six guys that play the majority, but usually you have a guy that can maybe play doubles or a guy that just play singles. So you have six to eight guys that play. We have 10 roster spots. And then, you know, every spring,

there's a guy that goes down for an injury, usually. Someone gets sick. A couple guys get sick. So you really need nine or 10 guys that can play. So. Yeah, you never have one guy get sick on a team. Usually, you know, we play. There's a buddy.

There's a buddy going down as soon as you. Yeah, we play January to May. So, you know, the sniffles are going strong there. You know, the things just happen. It's just they go to class. You sit around other people. You walk around camps. You go to training table.

Like, you're just around people. So I know that. The guys know that. You know, there's times where they, you know, they have to push through some things and play through them. But ideally you have nine or ten guys that are able to play. And you need to rotate and get reps in. I think getting reps in just like it is for football and basketball and volleyball,

all it's in reps and matches are extremely valuable for for tennis too you don't want to just have guys sitting on the bench and you need to get them matches so if you had 12 guys on your team you could recruit a guy or two um that you could develop a bit more there's not as much pressure for them to have to play right away but now with 12 10 roster spots like hey like maybe we have one spot to to do that maybe not like that's so this is that everybody or is that a Nebraska thing the big 10 is at 10 and each institution can decide um if they want to go lower than that or not so we're at 10 i think other conferences are you a lot of practice squad like every like some of the other sports we have to

declare our roster early on in the fall so okay um that's something that i that i don't we don't have much control over um i think that's a that's an i ta thing a tennis thing um i if in a perfect world i'd like to have it you know we don't we wouldn't have to declare our roster until january when our season starts so you can we can bring someone in and work them out and see if they'd be the right the right like walk on yeah walk on and then if they're if they're not if they're not fit then you you know you let them go who do we have to talk to i think it's a i think it's a tennis like a like a iTA commissioner type of deal there's somebody it's not there's somebody tristan it's not there's got to be someone nebraska thing and i don't think it's a big

10 thing either but each conference does it different each school you kind of leave it up to the institution to to how they want to run things so i'm we're lucky that that Troy and my boss Brandon Meyer are on board with having 10 and and letting us do do that. You know, each body is extra, extra money. It's extra everything, extra food at the training table, extra equipment, clothes, plane tickets, you name it. So all that stuff counts. Yeah, because you've got this radio guy that you have to dress up.

And then it's a whole other thing. More expensive. You got your tennis shoes on this. You know, I'm rocking them, baby. Come on, coach. Come on. I'm paying attention. Come on, man.

This is, listen. Every now and then, you just got to show up. They look like they've been getting some work. They've been getting some work. You've been out there hitting some balls or what, D.P.? It's the five-mile walk. It's the five-mile walk. I'm more metal than man these days.

So my workouts have to be under control, bro. I got, the Euler's talking about his back. Yeah, he's gone through it three times. I've gone through it twice. They've talked about a third. I'm like, nope, I'm going to walk until if I'm walking, and you got to leave me alone. Like those are the rules.

So we're going to stick with that. Peter Cobalt, Husker, Vince, tennis, in the building today on a Saturday coach. You're talking. So you talked about the international aspect of it and the recruiting aspect of it. Is it how much more, how many more intangibles are in play

when you're recruiting international? Because you'd like to say, we'd like to get the standard. You recruit the way you recruit. Sure. But there's a little. there's some different conversations that have to go on when it's an international player. Travel expenses are different, locating, language differences between them and family.

Like, there's all sorts of things. What's in play when it comes to international versus within the States? Well, the first thing I think that everyone needs to know is that you do, like, if you want to be number one in the world in tennis, you do not have to play college tennis, whether you're American or foreign. You know, like Carlos Alcraz, Rafael Nidal, Roger Fedder, never played college. tennis the best tennis players to walk the planet arguably so the first thing is when you get on these recruiting calls is you kind of have to convince them or they have to be convinced um at some point that

college tennis is the right fit for them so that's what has to happen first and then once they decide college tennis is the right fit then you have you know um you lift up the rock and you see all these all these tennis coaches come crawling out from underneath it and you're like man like holy cow we thought we were the first to get here and you know it's it's very competitive so there's that and then you know you know uh they have to pass an english proficiency score uh you have to get their transcripts and they have you know all the syllabus and they have to be translated and all the credits have to swap over you know there's a you know they have to show the uh high school degree if they're transferring you can just like in the states you can transfer from

Colorado to Nebraska. You can also transfer from an international university to Nebraska. So you have transfers, international transfers as well. So, yeah, there's a lot that goes into it. Getting them to commit is sometimes the easier part. And then everything else after that can be can be difficult. And then, you know, every, every instance is different. But Americans are obviously the easier to recruit the you know the families understand the process better the kids understand the process better i understand college tennis better um there's uh there's just a smaller pool to to pick from um you go in you go overseas and you got you know tons and tons and tons of players to kind of to kind of look through and brush through but i think sometimes the transition from

for them is a little bit slower than it is for the americans just because of the familiarity that they lack from college from college tennis so yeah it's it's tough but um luckily the university's fully behind it here and they support us and they let us go on these recruiting trips over the summer in the in the fall that costs a lot of money to to go and kind of do some groundwork over there and build relationships with players and agents and coaches and families and you name it but uh but yeah it's it's it's hard but it's also fun you know you get to you get to go overseas and see the world and travel. Tennis is obviously international sport. It's played on six out of the seven continents. You know, you go to a country and they probably play tennis. So you can find players

anywhere. It's interesting that you mentioned that that bridge between NCAA tennis and being number one in the world. And I immediately, it struck a nerve. I'm trying to think of the only, the only two I can think of, maybe McEnroe and Arthur Ash. Yeah. um now went to the college route like actually won a single college like yeah there was a james blake played at harvard yeah he was good um but he did he win the title single's title no right but he was top five in the world i think john isner was top top five ish top 10 um but like andy roddick didn't play jack sock didn't play agassie didn't play pete sampress didn't play like there's a lot of so tennis is one of those things where college

tennis was always viewed as like a okay if you if you're if I'm not good enough to be one of those players so I'll go to college and I'll study and I'll play tennis and now it's becoming actually a viable pathway there was just a post I saw two days ago that 16 of the top 100 players in the world have ties to college tennis on the men's side so that would be by far if college tennis were a country college tennis would be by far the most successful country in the world in terms of having the most top 100 players. And then the Husker program just got a pro win. Yes.

Yes, Anton, Anton, Shep. Yep, so we've had Anton just won a first pro title, actually in his hometown in Hamilton, New Zealand, which is really cool. He grew up five minutes away, and that was the club he grew up playing at. So that was super emotional for him. His whole family was there.

Really cool, really happy for him. He's a really hard worker. He's gone through it a little bit out there on the tour. He's worked through a lot of things. things. But, you know, he absolutely deserves it. He's put in the time and the effort. So I'm really happy to see him to start to find his way out there. And then not too long ago, Calvin Mueller, who was also playing number one and two. They were trading off one and two at the end of last season. He also won his first pro title in singles. Both of them were in

singles. And he won his in France, which is very tough to do. That's one of the better countries in the world to win a tournament. So, yeah, I mean, see, those guys do. Great is awesome. I think it's a testament to everything that they've done the last three or four years here at Nebraska and the work that they're continuing to do on tour and hopefully the recruits can

see that, hey, like, these guys aren't just having success in college. It's also translating to the pro tour, which is kind of one of the other selling points that we have for our program. To go backwards, from the text, I'm Bill and Bennett. Asked the question, are international players more

expensive to recruit? they it's just like an out-of-state recruitment so um they're not paying the they're not paying in-state tuition they're paying the out-of-state tuition but yeah usually you have to come to the table with a bigger scholarship offer and you got to give them a few more things in order to get to get them to come maybe helping them out with the flight or uh you know something small like it's not not anything extraordinary but if you like if you want to go and visit them you know you're going to spend a couple thousand dollars to go and do that whereas if you're going to fly to florida you can do that for just under a grand probably so you kind of know what you're dealing with

yeah like that okay you we're going to go through chicago it's going to be some sure i mean yeah you know uh you can you can you know they just opened american airlines just i saw that news they just opened up some new flights yeah weren't you in the picture what what's going on here you know i rachel's a rachel barth she's i have she's good people she's great yeah she's tried to help us out a little bit with the pro tournament come in the town yeah um and she's awesome So, yeah, Rachel, what's going on? You didn't let me know. Right.

I mean, I saw Rocky Russo on that rule. Like, I was like, wait, Rachel. And I just, I literally- Tennis coach, ain't. No, I just had coffee with her like last, last Thursday. And then she's like, yeah, big announcement coming. And I was like, cool. Crickets.

I was like, what is it? Well, they held on to it good. No one knew until they posted it. You know, she's good at hold on. We're having coffee in the lounge with her and her husband. and we were all buddy, buddy, and then crickets. Like Rachel Bart, get it together, sis. Well, no, all that stuff, all that stuff's great.

The development of the city, you can, you can clearly see that Lincoln's growing and the leadership here in town is doing a great job, building, renovating the city, you know, getting some more, more things down here, even in this downtown area, the hay market area and expanding out, not just with our facilities, but just the overall. structure of the town to make it a real destination when recruits come in town. I think that all everything kind of plays hand in hand. So having more flights out of Lincoln's huge, you know, that's one of the things that I think

all the coaches, coaching staffs and well, Houston, Dallas, Orlando Phoenix gives you some other options. Oh yeah, for sure, you know. Different areas of attack and it'll be important. All right. We'll take our first break. We'll come back. We'll get into the transfer portal calendar because there's such.

much conversation about it, you know, does it work? Is it, I'm going to ask a head coach in a division one program. What's the ideal calendar for transfer portal? For simplicity sake, I would just think for your own sanity, you'd like some say so about when this should happen, Peter Cobalt, DP, Tristan, man in the board. We'll be right back. Back to one-on-one with DP. Sponsored by the downtown Lincoln Foundation on 93-7 the ticket. Welcome back, Husker tennis head coach, Peter Kobo, breaking it down for us. Coach, a lot of conversation and most of it's true curiosity, authentic curiosity, about what the transfer portal calendar should look like in a logical sense.

I think we're just trying to get to logic, right, saying, sure what makes sense and as as a program lead what windows do you think are appropriate so i'll ask you for tennis sure like i mean i feel comfortable commenting on tennis i can i imagine like what sports like football and basketball are having to kind of go through with all this money involved um contracts school like everyone forgets about school too but for tennis it's um i think it's in a good good spot you have two portals one um just ended December 15th um it goes December 1 through 15th and then there's another one that opens up in May um that's not ideal if you're doing well in the NCAA tournament so if i if it ever were to change you probably put that to the last week of

may and open up you probably only need one portal tennis is the only sport by the way it the there's only tennis is the only sport where um you have two portals but if you compete say say you're playing for for us dp this this fall and you're not very good i don't like you're not very good coach cobel again i'm going to transfer after the fall but if you've already accepted scholarship or if you've competed for nebraska at all this fall you can transfer but you're not eligible to play right away at your next institution without some kind of a waiver okay every other sport you can do that so that December 1 through 15 portals kind of weird you know you have there's it doesn't really apply so much for that first for the for that for this that next season that upcoming season

so for coaches you you always look at it and see and we did you know and there was a guy or two that would have fit the bill um that that didn't do those two things um that could be eligible in in january but the one in the one in may is you know kind of where a lot more of pieces move. So for me, I'm just like, well, let's just make one, put it at the end of the NCAA tournament, and then let's go. Do you consider the commitment contracts,

or are they just agreements? Because some people have said, this should all be simpler, that if you offer somebody and reach agreement with a student athlete for a year, that should be it for the year sure right like that wouldn't that simplify this a little bit more to say that we're under agreement for a year and then we can renegotiate or recommit or go in different directions mutually yeah i mean in in tennis like i don't think you have that

much of an issue with it right now but i can see how in other sports there's you know because you're paying these guys and how you'd pay them and things like that all matter and structuring all that stuff. So, yeah, I mean, ideally there's a world where you sign for at least two semesters of school and you got to honor those two semesters of school. And then if you want to transfer out after that, then you've done your due diligence and you've held you've held up your end in the bargain. And what that fair is fair.

Right. I mean, that would simplify it, right? I mean, I'm not missing. You know, on paper, yeah, but I'm not in, you know, I don't know what's exactly. is going on. Well, but this is why we ask, right, that if, if a standard can be set in the Olympic sports, it would allow us to at least have some understanding or path to having a greater understanding and simplicity in the bigger sports. Sure. Right. And at least in my mind. And this, to me, your answer and response in philosophy was a responsible, well thought out,

insightful, consider it. You considered the other parties in the thing. You considered the legality of it. And then it makes sense. Like you can go, yeah, this would simplify it for us. It might as simplified football or basketball or whatever because there's more money, different money involved. But it is Division I, Big Ten Athletics.

And so if it could work in this space, maybe it's part of the answer for the bigger space. potentially i the the the only issue i have with all of this is that it's like this the school piece always gets forgotten about and you have these guys that transfer one two three times like transferring and transferring your credits is like a nightmare you know you go like you just think that if you go to this school of your all your transcripts and all your credits from that school are going to come to Nebraska usually you know they don't not all of them do so how many of these guys are graduating and getting their degrees and you know at the end of the day that's

you know one of the selling the greatest pieces about nebraska's we offer an amazing um education here all the resources you get not just as a student student student student the business school the journalism school number one number one sports journalism program in the country so many amazing opportunities to study something great here and in a lot of those things kind of gets swept underneath the table because of you know this or that so finding a way to still value the education piece for me is important and it's it's important for our players i know that for sure they they really value the school piece they study hard but i think there's a way you can kind of combine everything where it's the best for the many you never as a as a

leader you know i have something on my window it says no matter what you do you're always going to you're always going to make someone unhappy so you got to do the best for the most so i think there's a way to to do something in all the sports, even football and basketball, you're doing the best for the most. Well, I think that's, and that's, that is an interesting part of it, right? That of the 685 to 750 student athletes at the University of Nebraska, the majority of the athletes aren't a part of the three big programs on,

on either side of it. So that's a bit of the conflict. sure and the the larger percentage of money revenue generated comes from a different pocket so those people feel like I should have more say so and otherwise I just think if we find simplicity in how the adults in the room are going to approach this thing we have a chance to get it right we have a chance to get it right and maybe it takes you know those the the the money generating sports maybe they're governed differently and they're on one they're in one bucket in the Olympic sports that that aren't.

They're in another bucket. Well, they've been identified, right? So, yeah, I mean, so every school is identifying them differently. But I don't know. I think it's just, it's really, it's, there's not a one size fits all, simple cookie cutter answer. You know, Troy's got, you know, it's a tough job right now for not just him, but all the other athletic directors that are trying to do their best for the most. So I just know that we're in a good.

spot. Nebraska's in a really good spot from resource standpoints, leadership standpoints. There's so many great head coaches here. You just look around. Yeah. You know, what volleyball just did, unbelievable. Both basketball programs, you know, I have a great relationship with Justin, the track and field coach. They're doing unbelievable. They just had a um one of their shot putters throw like the collegiate record actually low key axelina last friday best in the world hanging out in lincoln right i mean just like it's where there's a there's it's a bag of riches here right now so um obviously there's a lot of things going right here and i think that's something that we need to focus more on is the things that are going right and the things that we

are doing well and and we all know troy's going to to put us all in the best position that we can to to be successful going into the future we all believe that and uh and yeah we all also know that football leaves the way in in a few different areas um for the athletic department so we all keep that in mind but we're happy to we're happy to be in the leadership role that we are and and represent the the great the university that we're at here at university in Nebraska and it's an honor and a privilege every day. It seems that momentum kind of moves everybody in the volleyball success. Football is going to play in the Vegas Bowl, New Year's Eve, basketball having an unprecedented start.

You're a basketball guy at heart. So, you know, how often do you find yourself in the Divani watching hoops? Um, so I'll, Fred and I have a great relationship. He was just messaging me earlier this week trying to hit some tennis balls. He's a little, he's got a tennis side to him. Him and his wife play some tennis, which is, which is fun. Um, we, we actually brought when I, we brought a recruit in Kelly. Um, we snuck into the, to the, to the men's, uh, gym to shoot a few hoops. Uh, I didn't tell you, Fred. Sorry, but we, we snuck in. He loves basketball. So the, yeah, we got in there and shot five minutes of hoops or whatever, but, um, but, but I, love it man you just watch that team play um i went to a one of the women's basketball games earlier this year too that when they played oral roberts they just both teams look really organized they look very they look like they're a team on the court great spacing great movement great execution um they also have a few like really experienced leaders in my opinion you look at the guy like rink mask and um you know sam sam hoiberg you just look at those guys

and you're just all right those two guys just aren't going to let that team be bad they're gonna you know you have when you have a great point guard and you have a great center i think you bring a lot of like sturdiness to the program i think if without a great point card you're when i say a great point card ball handling no turnovers setting up the play start getting everything going on time like all those things are extremely valuable and sam brings a lot of that to that team whether it shows up on the stats or not like i think oh it does you listen to all those listen to all these head coaches that talk about because i I listen to all this stuff.

I love it, but they're all like, hey, that Sam Hoyberg guys, like their best player or their second best player. And, you know, I, I just think they're doing a great job. And Coach Hoyberg's got them really focused and dialed in and process oriented. And I'm really happy to see him because I know how hard he works and how hard Amy works. And no one wants them, no one wants to win more than those guys. So to see both of those programs really doing well after, you know, the building process that they've had to go through is awesome to see.

And for him to even want to come hit some tennis balls with me is fun. Well, you're a coach's kid too, right? So there's some benefit and value to all of those life conversations on it. You watch the process growing up. You feel you with how hard it is. So there's a level of respect. And then you get to carry that messaging to your players. I guarantee you hear some of your dad when you're talking to your kids.

for sure my dad my dad's like uh he's he's been he's been my coach since day one i still call him and talk ask him how he would handle this or how he handle that he's like a uh six foot he's six foot nine but he's like a giant teddy bear so he kind of brings me back to like the like the all right pete like hey like you're dealing with you're doing with the young kids here you got to you got to you got to you got to come out of him with so much fire come out of him with a little bit more love. He kind of, he kind of balances me out a little bit more there. My mom's the fiery one. So if I need, if I need a pep talk show, whip me back in the order that way. So I know where to go if I need help. But, uh, well, yeah, I mean, lucky to have great parents. And, um, I look at myself

kind of like a, uh, a second parent to a lot of these guys that are on our team and the guys that we bring into our program. So to have a balance off the court, I think is really important and have family that like the like that i have and my sister's actually in the building too um makes it makes it makes it more fun and and a lot more uh enjoyable who's more fiery you're your sister i am but she has some in her she just doesn't like i'm i'm i show it all the time she'll show it every now and then but she needs she needs to show more she's really good at it when she does it but um she's got to let go and let show some more fire but it's pretty remarkable to have two siblings

at different sports at the same university. Yep. Yep. Like, I don't know how common that is. It was funny when I was here first and then when Hermann got the head coaching job, he asked me about my sister and I said, I'll ask. And she was all about it. So she came over and then I must

have had 20 or 30 people in the athletic department. It says, oh, it's great that your wife got a job here too. And I'm like, what are you guys talking about? I'm like, oh, it's my, no, it's my sister. Like, oh, we're sorry. oh my goodness yeah i don't know that i don't know we have to check on that i can't imagine that many siblings who coached different sports at the same university that they didn't attend no less

no i know so i think in today's world especially here in the states um you grow up and you want to spread your wings and you fly to new york and you get a job there and your family's back here and then your other siblings over there and west coast so it's really easy to be separated and to have family in like real close by immediate family real close by i think um is really is really awesome it's really nice to have my sister around and when my when my other parts of my family do come in town it's real easy for them to kind of kill two birds with one stone and um i don't take it for granted that's for sure well the huskers are and lincoln are are blessed to have you and uh it means a lot we'll go take a break we'll come back we'll get his play is his his

college football playoff predictions. Okay, let's go in three ball games today, coach, no pressure. Three? No pressure. No pressure. No pressure. We're going to get, we're going to get picks from the coach when we come back. Back to one-on-one with D.P. Sponsored by the Downtown Lincoln Foundation on 93-7 the ticket.

Oh, this music. It means only one thing. paint your face paint your face pump up the visets high the tassels to your arms go sprinting through your house

just go running through the house grab the wall shake it shake the walls get your warrior spirit on it's time coach go into the vault get your warrior spirit and tell me who's going to win these three college football playoff games today and it's started in college station

currently 0-0 between the number 10-seat Miami Hurricanes and the number seven Texas Aggies. Kyle Field, how do you think it plays out, kind sir? That game should have been another night game. That game should have been the night game. That would have been crazy. You are such a, you are such a big school. Why are you hating on the, on, they can't help it?

James Madison can't help it. Lead them kids alone. I'm not saying that they don't. Tag, Ohio Stateer. come on now um well i think in in other sports you it's like in basketball you can see how a cinderella's story can kind of work i think in football where it's so physical and it's about size and strength and this is i think it's a little bit harder to see a Cinderella team come through so as much as i'd love to see jm u or two lane win here i think you know i the organ i think

Oregon's too strong. I think if there's a if there is a chance for one of the two programs, I think maybe to Lane with some of the tumultuous times. Old Miss has gone through here the last two or three weeks. There might be a little bit of a distraction and things going on, you know, is Lane trying to get some of his guys to come from Old Miss and are they that focused on the game? So I don't know. We'll see. I would assume it's they're all on. Tristan watch this. Watch this. I just want to point out something. You know that there's a program that, you know, quite frankly, a winning record at the big house in Ann Arbor. They've never lost to Michigan in that building, as a matter of fact.

It's James Madison. Tiny James Madison has no fear. Ask them why they don't, why Virginia Tech and Virginia don't schedule James Madison. Because you get tired of getting beat by them little dudes from Harris and Burke. Listen, y'all can go through and have all these conversations. I want y'all to know. Stop it.

stop it. Hey, I, I, I just don't know enough. I just don't know enough. I don't say that Kurt Signetti is, uh, was just there and he might, he might be willing to share some notes from the game earlier this year with, with those guys. I wouldn't be surprised if he did. D.P. You got James Madison today. Yeah. I don't make prediction. Okay. Oh, come. I never do. I never do. He doesn't. I never do. I never do it on the guess. Well, no, no, because it's on the get like, I put it on you. Like, I listen, man, you, you listen. And I, I, I, I stir the pot because I know. So I've always said this, that from the inside, if you know insider information, you really shouldn't share the things that go on. There are too many, you know as a Division I coach that your college athletes from day

to day and from week to week are not the same human beings. It's tough. There are too many things you talk about, you mentioned, this scholastic part of it, the academic part of it, and the burdens and stresses of being in an elite academic vacuum and the pressures that go along with it, and, oh, by the way, you're playing tennis in the big ten, which means you've got to outlast yourself, outwork yourself. Sometimes you get in your head. Sometimes it's a dating problem.

Sometimes it's a family problem. So when it comes to especially college sports, I stay away from guessing and going, I don't know whether Cobalt's number one's girlfriend broke up with him last night. So why would I even? Sure. Right? Like, why would I say that?

Tulane and Ole Miss, they met earlier in the year. It wasn't pretty. But I'm going to ask Cobalt. Who do you have? Number six, Ole Miss, number 11, Tulane. Krista, man, you see what he's doing. I'll go.

Look, I haven't lost a bet in 17 years. Because you don't bet. Just like, oh. Fair enough. Neither do I. So if I was a betting, man,

I would put, I would say, Ole Miss. I would take Ole Miss. Okay. I would take Oregon. Okay. And the game right now,

for me is a 50-50. I am a big believer as a head coach that, the teams that make less mistakes that are more disciplined, that play each play, um, or play each point the best they can over and over and over again, end up being the best teams and the teams that win. So out of those

two teams, like they both are prone to making a lot of mistakes. So I don't know. So I'll give the home team the edge. I'll go Texas A&M. Well, it's currently 0 A&M at the 9-yard line driving in. They'll have to settle for a field goal. It appears.

All right. Well, Miami's really good too. They have a lot of studs and you know, Chris the ball, I think, is one of the better head coaches in college football. Who's your favorite coach? not mat rule the easy answer is to say signetti but i just him and i don't i resonate a lot with him and how he does things and how he operates um other than that i kind of like i kind of like uh dan landing i think he i think he's a little bit he's his ego's a bit bigger than i think uh

it might need to be from time to time But I think he's also a young head coach and what he's doing out there is amazing. Like he's very smart. He knows they, you know, they play with an edge. He knows how to motivate his team.

Like they're disciplined, tough. I like, I like when we can, when teams are dominant at the line of scrimmage and they're tough in football. Like I'm like, okay,

those guys are, those guys are good. Talk about winning at the line of scrimmage. Aggie's lineup for a short fuel goal. Block. Blocked. Blocked. At the nine?

Blocked. This was like a 26, six yard. See, this is what I mean. They're just mistakes already being made. Blocked at the line of scrimmage, man. Blocked at the line of scrimmage. All right, coach. Thank you for your, for your Saturday, kind sir. Appreciate you. Tristan, I'm going to hand over the keys, bro. Yes, sir. We got a college football game day show coming after this. We're talking all of it. Hey, man, let, let it happen. Don't go anywhere. More sports ticket Saturday. 93.7 FM.