1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Sadio Fenner (Nebraska Track & Field) - March 24th, 2024

Episode Date: March 24, 2024

Sadio Fenner (Nebraska Track & Field) - March 24th, 2024Advertising 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 couple Chevrolet GMC Studios. Here is your host, Derek Pearson. Brought you by Mary Ellen's Food for the Soul. On 93-7 The Ticket and the Ticket FM.com. Let's get to it on a Sunday. I appreciate all of you who are on the streams just hanging out with us on a Sunday. Shout out to Jeff Nicole, I think, for what they do.

They're making things so much better for just an incredible amount of people changing their bodies, changing their lives, changing their nutrition, changing how they value themselves. Shout out as well to Pete Ferguson, bigger than the score. He gets up every Sunday morning and elevates and highlights some incredible young people in Lake of Nebraska. and it's a big part of the mission of this station, which is from a community standpoint, holding up a mirror, and when you hold up a mirror and you see good, you say good, you do good.

That is so profoundly what it is, and then it becomes a meeting place when things aren't so good. And it gives us a chance to talk about it. in a positive way about how to make it better for the people that we care about. So community, family, self. And it doesn't matter which order you work those things. It's what it is.

So I would, today's hour is, and I know some folks are going, wait a minute, DP, the breeze isn't until later. No, no, the breeze will be, the breeze will be there at 12. And me and Haas, the breeze will do a thing. but I wanted to inject some more good into your Sunday. And I want to inject more good into your understanding of the athletes, the young people who attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the ones that are athletes who happen to be athletes and good people,

and then to allow them to be heard so that they can, from their own power source and their own belief, their own lessons, their own missions, share with you who they are and what this experience is. Because ultimately, their experience in Lincoln, Nebraska is way more important than mine. Like, ah, you know,

and through the course of my time here, we run into young people and you say, okay this is good this is good this is these are the moments when you really start to identify

what this is all about there are young people who are put here on purpose to make it better for us and them beyond not everybody

gets it. But they're athletes that want to make it better for every other athlete. They want to make it better for everybody else in the community. And not everybody can handle that responsibility. Not everybody's built for it. But this next gentleman, in fact, is. He is. And I wanted to take time to say publicly that that's the space that we in, who I see, and the expectation level. because if I can't highlight this young man, then I never deserve a microphone. Sadio, Fender, Sadiou, first of all, good morning. Thank you for coming in, man.

This is having to be here. Yeah, this is the first of many. And it won't be under one-on-one. It'll just one-on-one today is just the launch for it. And just for us to walk through kind of who you are and what ideally an hour with you would be like and about, right? Right. So in order to do this properly, I'd have to ask you this. Everybody stands on the shoulders of some really great people who love them and allow them to aspire.

inspire and develop and grow. Whose shoulders do you stand on, Sadio? That's a really difficult question because I think, and you hit this perfectly right when we started, it's, you know, there's a lot of people that, whether they know it or not, are integral parts of getting someone to where they are today. And again, like I said,

they don't know that they're going to be a part of that journey, whether it's for better or for worse. The people that I think that, like, I stand on the most, I mean, so obviously those core values, so I start with my parents, It's like my mom really set the foundation for me of saying, you know, I'll just say it for what it is. Like, you were a black man in a space that was not necessarily made for you. And so there's going to be a lot of challenges that, like, some other people will not have to face that you're going to have to face.

So when she set that precedent early, it was like that being said, that's not me giving you an excuse to, you know, to shirk away from those things that are going to present themselves to you. This is now kind of the standard that I'm going to set for you where it's like even when presented with those challenges and everything else, you were still going to. going to rise to the occasion and you're not just going to meet the expectation but you're going to exceed it because that is like that is what I see for you so like I said it starts it started at home so it started with like a the fundamentals were provided to me very early but then I looked down the line and it was the coaches that I met the friends parents that I met that all saw the potential because there's a lot of people that I can think back to that were not those supportive elements of my life where they just wanted to tear me down tell me that like I would never achieve these things but then

you know it only takes one voice to say hey i see something in you i don't want you to waste the potential that you have let's make something of this and like i said there's some people like that that have just kind of popped up out of nowhere and i mean you being one of those people like like you mentioned earlier there's people that you continually meet out of nowhere that have a purpose and like that purpose might not you know make itself known right there in that moment but you know eventually it'll come to light and you'll see why like i think uh somebody that i really have to a tribute, especially if I look at my time here in Nebraska, Dewan Baker, he's at Colorado now, but one of the things that he really did for me was he changed my perspective on how I look at,

I guess, life as a whole. So when I first got to Nebraska, one of the things I really struggled with was obviously like just the adjustment to being at a PWI where there is, unfortunately not a ton of diversity, like in the classroom, at least in my major. And there was a lot of racism that I had to do with on my team within coaching staff at the time. And that was something difficult that I wasn't entirely sure how to navigate. And I found myself at a point where it's like, I don't know what to do. I have no one to turn to. Nobody can help me with this.

And so I found myself giving up, which is not something that I'm ever used to be, like, ever used to doing. But one of my teammates who did have my back, it was like, you know, I think that there is someone that can help you. And in my head, I'm like, there's no one that can make this make sense to me. But I go talk to DeWan. And DeWan gave me arguably the best advice. have ever been given and it was you know unfortunately your circumstances are not unique you're not the first person that's coming to my office expressing these sentiments and I was like well cool what does that do to help me and he goes well you're different from everybody else though simply

because you have a voice and you care most people would sit here and do what you've been talking about where it's like they give up they turn their back away from wherever but I think you have something in you that is different I think you want to fight this and so he said you essentially have two choices you have the choice where you turn your tail and you run or you stand and fight and you try to make it better for everybody else. And that first year, you know, I buckled down. I said, you know what, I'll do whatever you think is going to be best and we'll try to work for it.

And, you know, everybody would say, and be like, oh, you're going to tell me it turned around and got better. No, that first year got worse. And I was like, I could not have imagined it being worse, especially because, you know, you put your time, your effort into something. And I sat there and I was like, well, this is horrible. This is not where I wanted to be. But he continued to challenge me and say, you know, like, we know that progress is

never going to be linear. We can never expect everything to go exactly our way the way that we wanted to. But again, like we talked about divine timing and things of that nature, like, it'll present itself when it needs to. And I found myself that junior year where everything started to fall into place, everything started to get better. And I could have never predicted the way that it would have came out. But it was one of those things like where if I hadn't had somebody to push me and to continue to, again, like push me to strive for better, I would have never gotten to that point. And so I have to, again, all those people that pushed me in positive ways, all those people that I look to support.

It only really takes one person to make a massive difference. And that's something that I think we oftentimes overlooks society. We're sitting here. Like we need tons of people to be doing things. It's like, no, it always starts with one person. It really is that simple and that profound that from day to day, and we were having the conversation before we went live, that we miss the mission.

Right. Like we miss it. That the real idea is that we find some good. and we work from that good. If we're in a place of bad, we find some good and work our way out of it. And I think your ability to fall in love with where you are, how you are, allows you to go forward and up. You can't go forward and up if you don't love where you are.

Right. And it requires something that moves you because otherwise you get comfortable when you stay as you are. And a lot of folks that can be comfortable. They don't aspire. But here you are as, and by every definition, an elite athlete. Fair? Is that a fair statement? It is.

I mean, I'd sit here and I'd hold myself and say, you know, like, I still have a level. And that, and that getting to the University of Nebraska and then excelling academically puts you in an elite space as well, right? Right. So then what we learn is that no matter what time and circumstances that you have figured out a way to excel at two extremely, rare and difficult things to excel at at the same time. That screams, screams the way. Right. That screams that amongst a community of folks, you have figured out the way.

So I'll ask you this. Let's start academically. Where does your academic success come from? Oh, you're hitting me with all these great questions. So, I mean, again, I have to look back at my mom because my mom is arguably the smartest person that I know. And I mean, that's not me just putting her on a pedestal. But I mean, my mom went back to school because she got bored into the second PhD. I don't know a lot of people that are doing that.

Right. Like, I mean, you have to, like, sometimes we miss the thing that it requires in order to be exceptional at anything, there has to be a natural curiosity. They're just like, I'm just telling you, as an athlete, as a business person, as a partner in life, whatever it is, there has to be a natural curiosity. And I think it's a great identifier for greatness. If you want to put greatness in air quotes, I think it's necessary. So your mom has this natural curiosity that keeps her moving. Right.

And then she did the loving, active thing, which was shared with you. Correct. Yeah, no, I mean, and I find this funny because, I mean, a lot of people look back at their childhood and it's like, what did you do? And it's like, I didn't do anything different. I mean, I wouldn't hung out with my friends on the block, you know, play basketball, all those fun things. But then, like, I think an integral part of, again, like my upbringing was I spent

tons of time in museums and other places where it was like, you now have an opportunity to experience all this new knowledge, but also, like, learn and explore. And my mom always encouraged that because on top of that, I mean, she made sure that I was well traveled, which I think is a blessing, like, beyond comparison. Because, I mean, I got to experience people from all over the world at a young age. And so my, just in terms of how I just handle people in general, like, it's very different because I wasn't limited to a small pocket of people. And so, like, I can look at things from other perspectives and not, you know, be one-sided, whatever I look at things, which, again, very, very

different from how most people were brought up. And so, right, this natural curiosity that I have, I think, has just made it so that wherever I'm at, it's, it's dual. It's one, one part where, again, I want to be the best at what I do. But then it's also, like, humbling yourself and knowing that I don't know everything. So keep learning as much as you can. that you are at least equipped to handle these difficult questions that were faced with. Through most of the thing that, that, and it was a gift that my uncle gave me. And he said, get out of the space where you have to know everything. Get in the space that you're present and you want to learn the next thing.

Right. Now, again, I mind you, an 11-year-old kid, there's no way for that to land. No. But that was what I recognized then that it was just the seed to be there for me later, where I would go, oh, that's what dude was talking about. That's, oh, and then fruit, boom. Now things make sense. Right. And then you, you now carry it with other people and you go through this thing.

When did you know that academically that you were built for this? that you were able to succeed academically. When did you know that, you know what, I can handle this next level thing. And sometimes it's because, like I learned that I can handle the academics because I wanted to play sports longer than everybody else. Right?

Like I was like, oh, that was literally the thing that was dangled in front of me was if you love sports in general, the way for you is academically. And you're going to have to not only excel, but you will understand this since some folks won't, that you're going to have to be better academically than not only the other students, but the other athlete.

Right. Right? So you have to be a better, you have to be smarter and more credentialed academically so that everybody, just says, okay, I can put down everything else, Sadio's capable and able. See, so you ask me like when I, like when I knew that I'd be capable of doing this. And like, the honest answer to that is I don't think I ever knew that I was capable of it.

And the reason I say that is, I mean, I look back at when I first got to college. Like I said, there's a lot of things I struggled with. And so academics was one of those things, part because, I mean, I come from a different school system. Like some people were already used to how things worked here because either they had a parent that came here, older sibling, something that at least gave them some introduction. I didn't have that. My parents both went to college. But I mean, again, different colleges, different systems, different time period, all these different things.

But again, like I said, when you've got all these, like, thoughts racing through your head that are just distracting you from the bigger picture. Like, school was one of the last things I was thinking about. So, like, I look at my, and again, I'll be completely honest because I'm not here to spread misinformation or anything like that. Like people think that I'm the smartest person in the world. I'm putting myself on a pencil there. But my first two years, my GPA,

was crap because like I said I couldn't focus on the things that were important to me in one of those things was cool but again my mom being who she is she was like I don't care like you need to figure it out because that's you don't have a choice you have to figure it out because again the success the thing that people you stood on did not elevate you so that you could fail and so my junior year it was like okay like there's clearly other people here who like in my competitive nature I'm like you know I would hope that I can compete with you in the classroom just as much so as I can on the field of competition. So I started to change my perspective in that lens, and it was like, okay, we can do this.

And again, like, you know, I had moments where I excelled. I had moments where I failed. That's all part of the process. But, like, when I got to the point of graduating, I sat there and I was like, wait, we're done. I did this. Like, I somehow managed to find my way through it. And now, after having gone through those first four years, it was just a lot of learning. Now it's like it's all kind of coming together because in my master's program,

I would argue that a lot of what I'm responsible for knowing as far as constantly, content and everything else is much more complicated than anything that I had to do during my undergrad. However, that is going far better than what it was in the undergrad portion of it. And I'm like, how is this making any sense? Because this stuff, again, like, conceptually, is so much more difficult than whatever I was doing here. And I struggled with it here. But now it's all making sense. But it's like I wouldn't have known how to make sense of this if I hadn't struggled here.

The way is often in the process. Right. It's really interesting things. Somebody said, well, if you're people that might. mountain and the mission, if misidentified is the apex, is the top of the mountain. But no, the reality is the top of the mountain only has value for all the things that you went through getting it. Correct.

Correct. And then you learn how to breathe at the bottom of the mountain. You learn how to keep moving when things get difficult on the way up. You acclimate. Yeah. And then you go, well, wait a minute. Wow. Once I learn how to do all of these incubulation of things, this greatness appears,

and then you take that and you go, wait a minute, I'm not done walking. Like, I'm not done because I have to maneuver all the way back down. And then the next thing I see, I'm already better just from having done step by step. When I got really sick years ago, I had to learn how to walk again. Right. I literally had to learn how to walk again. new spine, new everything, like, and in a full body, right? So learning to walk and, and they tell you, you got to learn how to walk.

And Sadio, I have to tell you, it's humbling for an athlete to have to learn how to do the basics all over. Right, to go back to basic. But that reminder was there to help me achieve some greater things later. Because if I said, at my weakest point, my most enabled point, unable point, I had to get in my head and go, move. Right. Go. And it doesn't matter, just take the next step.

That's like literally a 55-year-old man with a walker trying to move his foot. Right. One step. And I went, man, I'm never going to forget that. Like, I'm never going to go through that. I think for students, student athletes, and then for leaders, the ability to get people to take, just take the next step. And as runners, and my brother used to talk about this, that what runners do is that they learn to constantly take one more step. Like in life, you just, like, there's no fatigue allowed, there's no weakening allowed, there's no lack of oxygen allowed.

Right. Right. Like it is, you are literally in the propulsion business. And then that helps you become the academic and the person that you want to be because all those things still apply. Is that not fair and true? That's 100%. I couldn't have put it in any better. Yeah.

Like it's a thing. So here's what we'll do. And again, I'm with Sadio Fenner, Nebraska Track and Field. And it's kind of the, the, the hip-hop culture. messaging that I'm not here for a long time, I'm here for a good time, that you are meant for this world in such a bigger way than just Lincoln, Nebraska. I wish there was a way that Lincoln, Nebraska, you figure out how to keep you. Right.

Right. As a tree planner and a facilitator. But I have a sneaky suspicion that the world has already got its closet. you to pull your greatness out of Lincoln. But in the meanwhile, while you're here to have you share some of these stories, and you know, you've met some incredible people. Oh, yeah. Here.

And I think what we'll do, we'll go to break. When we'll come back, I'll ask you about some of the great people of Lincoln, Nebraska, whether it's teammates, whether it's coaches, whether it's academics, whatever it is. We'll talk about some of those things because I have a sneaky suspicion over the next few months, we're really going to meet those people in conversations with Sadio Fetter. So we'll George, break. You're listening to One-on-one, 93-7 the ticket. You're listening to One-on-One-on-one with DP, sponsored by Mary Ellen's Food for the Soul, on 93-7 The Ticket and The Ticketfm.com.

Welcome back one-on-one, 93-7, the ticket on a Sunday special conversation with Sadie O'Fennar and Nebraska Track and Fields. just joined and setting the table and the place for it. And again, you can text in 402, 4, 6, 4, 6, 8, 5, 6, 8. Start on a hammer text line if you want to be a part of what we're doing. You can follow on the live video streams and the app. And if you want to be a part of it, just shoot us the text. I'm sure there are questions in play because the young man is going to be,

has been, is going to be a game changer and how things are done for student Athletes. Sadio, I asked the question of some of the great people. Lincoln is filled and Nebraska Athletics is filled with great people. Great people do a great thing. Who are some of the people that have landed in your space that are just, they're not only good at what they do, but they're great people. You know, and over the break, I had to think really hard about who I wanted to talk about first. And I'm still having trouble with it because, again, there have been so many great people that I've been blessed with meeting since I've been here. But one person who I think just, again, just from the longevity of it, because he has been around for the entirety of my time here,

and he's been there long before I got there. But Keith Zimmer, that man is holding it down. Yeah. Like he, I don't think I've met somebody who cares more about his athletes than Keith Zimmer does. And I appreciate and applaud everything that he's done for me in my time here because, again, And like you said, there's certain people here who can identify talent, potential, greatness, whatever you want to call it early, just based off of how people operate. And he's one of those people where regardless of whether or not you are one of those people who presents with potential, he realized that everybody has it. And so he will push you regards to whether or not you want it to try to be great.

And it's the same thing with people like Dennis LeBlancke's the same way. A lot of people, you know, have whatever opinion they want on Dennis because he pushes too hard sometimes. And I'm like, you know, sometimes you need somebody like that, though. And those are the types of people that, again, like, just really challenged me to be better because, again, with all good things, they can be great. So when I first got here again, like, I had this notion of this is what I'm going to do. This is who I'm going to be. And Keith is like, okay, you can be those things.

But how about we also try this at the same time? Or how about we dip our hands and toes into this and see what happens? And over my time, like, you know, I saw what I thought was possible be pushed far beyond those limits. and I'm like, I would have never thought, but this is coming from somebody who has that experience. They've been here for that long. They've seen the space evolve and they're flexible. And I think that's something that I really aspire to be because, I mean, you think about it. The athletic space is constantly changing. And if you're not adapting to it, well, then you just get spit out and chewed up on the back end. But Keith is always seemingly like on top of things.

He knows what's going on. He's aware. He's in tune. But on top of that, he's not thinking about himself. And I think that's the most important part is he's selfless, like he's thinking about others. He's who can I put in this space? Who can I like who can I put here that I think is a good fit? And you can only do that if you have a good understanding of the people you work with. And he's so people oriented that I can do nothing more than like I said, just give praise and thanks because I would not be where I am today without people like him. If I asked you,

uh, I'm going to put you in a position of power. Right? I'm going to say, okay, you are now, uh, in control. You now have the ability to to assist elevate, amplify the people in the, young people in the athletic department. If I asked you the first thing that comes to mind, if there's a thing that you could change, adjust, adapt for the next group of student athletes that come to the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, is there a thing that you would love for people to know that, you know what? this is who we are and this is what we need. So this might come off as being a little bit backwards

because you would expect that the expectation would be that what I'm going to say already exists and that being a department that is people-oriented. However, unfortunately, the space usually is not people-oriented because if we really had people's best interest in mind, things would not occur with. You do understand that this is the exact reason you chose for this, to sit here and do this, right? Harrison can vouch for this, that as we sit here and had these conversations with student,

athletes, coaches, et cetera, on a daily, off, and weekly basis, the best, greatest ideas are so simple in their concepts, that what you've just landed on. So let's go, let's go to that. That a department for people, for the people, what, why is that needed and what would it serve? So why is it needed? So in the break, we kind of talked about this. And I think, like, it's needed because there's a lack of facilitation of different things. Because, again, like, an athlete is, okay, so we're going to look at them and you and say,

okay, they're an athlete. They're somebody that does sports. No. Like we talked about, like, you have to understand how the athlete got to be where they are, right? You need to understand all the different parts of their being because we're not one-dimensional people. There's so many different things that make up who Derek Pearson is. There's people that make up. There's stuff that makes up who I am.

And that goes for everybody. And so if you're placed in a space that doesn't accept, support all parts of you, you're not going to be able to compete at the highest level, regardless of what you're in, whether it's athletics, academics, whatever. So, you know, I think back to one of my teammates. And I get made fun of when I say this because, I mean, some people don't really understand it. but happiest cows make the best milk, right? So if the environment that you're in is not conducive to supporting you on all levels,

you're not going to be able to perform at the level that you're expected to. And so I feel like that's the expectation that you have to hold the people in power to because it's if you are not, if you don't have my best interest in mind, how can you expect to get the best outcome? Because you're not giving me the resources that I need. And the resources don't necessarily have to be financial. You can put me in the best place financially. But if the people that surround me are negative, they, again, don't have my best.

best interest in mind, they're constantly making me question, re-evaluate whatever it is that I'm doing in a way that's not positive or constructive, then it doesn't matter. And you see it in the sport, like just in the realm of sports a lot because I mean, how many people actually stick around for the entirety of their time that they can compete? You see a lot of people either leave the place that they're in, hoping for something better. But again, there's nothing that says that the grass is greener on the other side. The grass is greener where you water it. But who's providing the water as the people up top? through all of it, right?

Okay, so now we have created this, this awareness, because awareness that something there is a vacuum that exists is very vital. Right. But you have to say, I know that you think you're doing everything, but in this there is a blind spot that you can't possibly see. Right, there always is. Right, like this.

So let's give the people in positions of authority, credit for at least being of the right place. They just have blind spots that they cannot see. Right. And cannot know. And you're going to help them in awareness, in awareness that the blind spot exists and that this is a thing that would help make everything better.

And I think in the people, we as coaches would say, I should never choose the game over the people. Right. I like that. Right. Like there's no situation that as a coach that I should forget about the person playing the game rather over the result of the game itself.

All of those things are entangled. So then now that we are aware that this thing exists, what is the thing that needs to exist? And how will it reach the people that you're trying to get it to reach? Part C to that question is who were the people that you're trying to reach? Because some people would believe that the elite people, the elite athletes, elite students have everything they need because that's how they became elite. Now, the reality is that it's, it's, it's, there are their portions to it. There's, right.

Right. It's exponential that the more you gave the elite athlete student, the more they would achieve and the higher they would elevate everybody else. So, and again, like you said, it's so simple, but so often overlooked. And I mean, it's something that like I see in plenty of spaces. So it's not just limited to the athletic. one, but communication. Communication is key because if I can't tell you how I feel, then how are you expected to know what I'm going through or what I need? Like, that's basic, right? At the same time,

it's like, you think about it. There's always this issue with dissemination of information, which causes issues all over the place. Because again, like, if the top is doing something and the bottom doesn't know what's going on or why it's happening, then all you get is questions. And here's the thing. People, communication, like I said, communication is not me to saying, me talking to you. Communication is how am I delivering that message? Am I giving the information that you need? Do we have an understanding that you are allowed to question me

from a place of respect so that we can all be on the same playing field of understanding? And that's something where you see the most oh, in the nicest way possible, the most insecure people get very defensive because again people don't like being questioned but it's like I'm not questioning you because I don't respect your authority, your judgment,

whatever, I'm questioning it because I don't understand and I'd like to understand you. But that's literally the definition of intelligence is your ability to be curious about a thing that you don't have knowledge of. And rather than running from that lack of knowledge, you run towards it for more information. Right. Like that's literally the definition of it in a higher education situation. Like it should always be one more answer. As a matter of fact, definitions of successes and.

And right. Here's what I know. And will tell you that I want to know more. I don't know enough. I know enough. I'm right. I'm wrong. I'm idling.

Wouldn't you agree with this and saying that like somebody who's effectively done their job as a teacher isn't somebody who's answered all the questions, but more so challenge you to ask more questions? Harrison will tell you, like this is the space that we're saying, look, it's not my job to have all the answers.

It is my job to facilitate natural curiosity so that we get to the right question. Right. Like it's just like as an athlete, as a coach, All of the, as a partner in life, if you don't understand that the next question can be the difference between happy cow or not happy cow. A curious cow is active and producing. The one that shuts down and says, okay, I'm done. I'm done.

Right. I'm done. Like, it doesn't matter. So it becomes, it becomes pretty amazing. Sadiou, I, here's the thing for all of this, that. the people that are in the University of Nebraska, and Lincoln Athletic Department, almost to a fault are just highly driven,

overly ambitious. And again, they are, and you need that. Yeah. But, but, and this is what we talked about during the break. There's a component of the communication piece where it's like, you need to, again, allow yourself to be challenged. And this goes for anybody, not just University of Nebraska, because, I mean, again, this is something that exists everywhere.

Because like you said, I've been fortunate enough to meet people, and this is something that is consistent across all those conversations. But it's how are you able to use all the people in that space? Because, I mean, again, to be successful, you want to surround yourself with successful people who are right, those highly ambitious, highly motivated, highly driven people. However, one of probably the most common things that is less common in people who are truly successful is that they're able to, right, humble themselves, realize that they don't know all the answers. be willing to like and again i hate saying this because it's not at all what it is but show weakness for lack of better words and go and ask for help because that's not at all what that is if you go and ask somebody to you know shorten the gap of disparity of knowledge that you have you're all the stronger for it and so are they because now they're having an opportunity to like one

determine whether or not they can actually teach whatever it is that they're an expert in because i mean an expert isn't necessarily somebody that knows everything but somebody who can share that information with somebody effectively which goes back to that communication piece but it's so good again it's so good like it's just you're just elevating people by you know asking those questions because again like everybody wants to say like

oh I'm an expert I'm a doctor therefore it's implied that I know everything but you don't so who you're going to go and ask to hopefully fill in that gap and that's one of those things like where again when you're working with people you need to use all the resources that you have the resources being the people and use that to create a plan that ultimately

impacts the people the other people you're serving so these are the athletes in this case. But it's also the staff you work with. Because again, if your environment and this crap, then it trickles over into everything. Right. If the office doesn't work, then the office that's working for the athletes doesn't want to do the job it's supposed to do for the athletes and the athletes don't get what they need. And then it's like, well, the athletes are mad at this department, but really it's this department is mad at this department because of something else. And it's like, okay, well, if we can figure one of these issues out through communication, then you figure out

all these other issues. Getting all of those people on the same bridge. and walking it together. Yeah, like it was, it was, my college coach used to say the thing, if there are problems on either side, get on the bridge. The key is getting everybody on the bridge because nothing makes people work together, like being on a bridge that's under duress. Because if both sides don't make it work, neither side wins. Neither side survives.

So, yeah. Well, and I find it funny that you bring up that because, I mean, the first memory that comes to my head is, like, I was fortunate enough to have gone to Selma for the Big Life series with the Big Ten. Great. And I got to walk the Edmund Pettus Brig with all of these schools from the Big Ten, the Pack 12, the ACC, the commissioner at the time. And I'm sitting here and I'm like,

how many people can say that, like, they've walked in solidarity with people who, I mean, you think about it. It's like, oh, well, you probably hate all these other schools. repeating against him it's like no like I respect their you know I respect their craft but then it's like I can also walk with you and work towards something greater than ourselves do they do that every year they're they're making it a a yearly thing that would be another great thing right that you make this the thing that together we work and that's why like I think that the Big Ten is doing God's work because they are bringing

people together in ways that like you would not expect them to coming together. I mean, the Big Life series is more than just the Selma trip. They started with that one and from there, now they're doing a thing in Iowa where they're taking students from all over the Big Ten and taking them to Iowa to experience what it is to be on a farm. I think that's a unique experience. I mean, being

in Nebraska, people are like, oh, that's, that's everyday life for us, but it's every day. They're a kid from Maryland. They're not experiencing that. They don't know. Chicago. Chicago's not experiencing that. No, nope. It is it is, I always say that sports is the great vehicle. It is a spectacular mirror to who we are, but

It is also a great vehicle for where we're going to go next. And we have to be really purposeful when we choose that. Exactly. Yeah, really purposeful. All right, so we'll go to another break and we'll get to the final segment. Sadio, here's the question for you. I'll ask you to answer this question and give you time to think about it out of fairness. Are you going to be coach, Fener, when you're done with this thing?

Don't give me the answer now. We'll get that answer when we come back from break. You're listening to one-on-one with DP, sponsored by Mary Ellen's Food for the Soul, on 93-7 The Ticket and the Ticketfm.com. Welcome back. It has been a fantastic hour. And again, the things that we want to put in play is that I want to enable some of these young, great, exceptional people to be heard and to share their experiences and relationships and knowledge. with the Husker fan base. And that's really what it is.

And for them to kind of shine. And it is a simple acknowledgement that they are excelling in the space and that they deserve to be heard. Sadi O'Fetter, Nebraska, track and feel kind, sir. I asked the question before the break that, sir, with all of your experience and knowledge, all the things that have gone on, would you ever consider coaching? So in short, yes. Yes, I would 100% consider coaching. I think that coaches are much like teachers. They are the fundamental component of how successful an athlete will be.

And I say that because I attribute, again, another shoulder that I stood on was that of my high school coach. I would not have a prayer of being where I am right now if he had not given me the mental tools, the social tools and everything else that he gave me during my time in high school to shine like I am right now. because again like those all those things that he taught me like can be applied to so many things outside of just running um so i attribute a lot of my leadership styles and everything else to him because he just he knew and that was something again like where i don't think there's ever a time in which like you really learn these things you experience them and that's your learning but going back to whether or not i think i'll be a coach i don't necessarily know how or in what capacity

I mean, like, I coach some kids here in Lincoln just, like, kind of on the side, just giving guidance and things of that nature. But long term, I mean, like, look at my career aspirations, everything else. Like, I'm looking to get a doctorate in exercise physiology. So obviously, like, from that standpoint, it's like. Slow down. What in the world? You just said some words that none of us understood. What?

So is it doctorate in exercise physiology? Is that? Yeah, yeah, okay, yeah. Right. So I'm sorry. I'm talking a thousand miles an hour. No, what is that? What did you just like, he just said, that was a word salad.

So PhD in exercise physiology would essentially just mean looking at how all the different components of the nutrition and everything else play into how, I guess, like, effective the body will be when asked to meet the demands of exercise or strain. There's a lot of different things that. He's not even one of us. Like, hey, that, you're like, we're like, we're, let's bear more. portals are just out here, Sadio, trying to get, trying to get, you out here beating people in races and, and, and then mastering nutrition and physiology and then, oh, goodheartedness as well. Yeah, thanks, Sadio. What is that the standard? No, but, I mean, in looking at kind of, I mean, I'll tie everything back in the other point we've been talking about. Like, yes, that's the main focus, right? So we'll say, like, exercise, that exercise nutrition component is the main part of, like, what I'm interested in. in because that's like, I guess, like the most direct component to athletics. But again, you look at everything else that I bring to the table in terms of my resume.

Those are all things that I don't plan on just like disappearing. I'd like those things to continue to be a role in whatever it is that I do. And so if you look at, like, so if you were to ask me the follow-up question of that, which would essentially be like, well, what do you plan on doing long term? It's the next thing. And it's, I mean, I plan on being people facing. I plan on being a servant. We kind of talked about this in terms of there's two types of people.

There's the people that wear the napkin on their chest and expect to be served. Or there's the people who wear it on their sleeve who expect to serve others. And that's something where, again, we talk about paying it forward. Man, that's Sunday gospel right. That is so good and so necessary. But it's necessary, right? Because again, I don't exist unless there are people who were servants who served to my needs. And by that, I mean, like they saw where I needed guidance and growth.

And they provided me either with the opportunity or they provided me with the guidance. And so I would be doing the world such a disservice if I did not pay that forward. Because again, I don't exist without somebody having done that for me. And who knows how many people would benefit from having that same sort of attention. And that's again, like just talking about the athletics piece. Like you see the best athletes thrive, not because they're necessarily getting, you know, their athletic department has the most money or whatever. It's because they have the right people who are giving the athletes the time of day.

Like I see, I mean, I look at my first three years here. Like I struggled a lot, part because like I felt like I wasn't really getting attention from the coaches. And then I had coach Matt Wackerley, who, you know, he helped recruit me here and he gave me some attention. And now I go from somebody who, I mean, and I'll be completely transparent just so that everybody kind of knows. Because again, like you said, people don't really know me. I have a walk on. So I don't get anything for from my athletic talent. But I, again, when you think walk on, you're thinking, oh, you're probably bottom of the barrel.

you're not really competing, which I was in the first three years. But now it's like last year I went from being one of those bottom of the barrel people. So finishing ninth at the Big Ten conference in a conference who I would arguably say is the strongest distance conference in the country. And that'll definitely be true when you add Oregon, Washington next year. How about that? But and again, it's like I was off of scoring by less than half a second. And you sit there and it's like, well, walk on shouldn't be able to do that. And it's like, you're right.

But this walk on had something that most other walkons don't get. And that was attention and faith from their coach. And that's something where, again, like, if you have somebody that understands, like, where the gap of knowledge comes from, they can work to fix it and then give you the tools you need to excel and grow. So this goes back to, again, what we're talking about with facilitators. The best minds are the ones that can communicate effectively with the other components that all make up the individual and then provide whatever it is that's needed to elevate them to the next level. And that's essentially how I've gotten to where I am. it's because I've always been blessed enough to have had some sort of facilitator that's realized that gap. And they've pushed me to either finding somebody that had the answer or they, again, just like we're at my side the entire time just making sure, hey, don't crumble.

Yeah, let's figure it out. Right. Let's figure it out. It is a power move of service. It's just to say, you know, I'm here. That's working out. Yeah. And it doesn't matter.

And look, through all of it. The beauty of this is I know that there's zero chance. Sadio and I could ever spend an hour, either him talking or be listening, that we would ever get to everything we need to get to. So what we're offering is this. We're going to give Sadio an hour each week to come and have conversations for the first couple to be you and I just chopping it up. And then I'll get out of your way and let you bring in some of your people to have these conversations. But I think conversations with Sadia would be some pretty incredible radio as this hour has been. So kind, sir, thank you.

I appreciate you, D.P. Like I said, I'm not, I'm not sitting here without great minds and great people, and you're one of those great people. So I have to give praise and thanks to you for everything that you do for not only myself, but the greater Lincoln community. We will do it again next week, kind sir. Greatly appreciate it. Folks, don't go anywhere of the breeze is next here on 937. The Ticket and the ticket FM.com.