Andy & Ari On3 - Kentucky hires Mark Pope after Scott Drew STAYS at Baylor | Spring football EXTRAVAGANZA

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to Andy Staples on three. Happy Friday, happy mega spring football weekend. We got spring games all over the place. We're gonna talk about three of those deep dives into three of those into the spring games at Miami at Ole Miss and at UCF later in the show. But first we got news. Kentucky has a new basketball coach this morning. When I created this stream last night, they did not have a new basketball coach,

Starting point is 00:00:30 but Mark Pope from BYU, captain of the 1996 Kentucky national title team, is the new head coach at Kentucky. This is a hire that Kentucky fans, even though he's one of their own, were not super fired up about because Scott Drew was a potential candidate. And remember, when we talked yesterday morning, we had seen members of Scott Drew's family getting off a plane that had been in Lexington earlier in the day, and it was still up in the air. Would he decide to go to Kentucky? Would he stay at Baylor? Well, he stayed at Baylor. So now Kentucky had to move on. It would seem, we have no direct confirmation of this, but everybody in the national college basketball media put out that feelers were sent out to Dan Hurley at Connecticut.

Starting point is 00:01:26 Hey, what if we gave you this monster offer? And the word that came back was doesn't matter how much money staying at Connecticut. Then you had the Billy Donovan thing. He's still coaching the Bulls. They're in the play in tournament. Would, would they wait on him or would they go down the list to some other college coaches? And it became clear as the night went on that there was momentum for Mark Pope. You had Rick Patino, who was Mark Pope's coach at Kentucky, saying he would be an unbelievable choice. There were other names, obviously, in the college ranks, and those names were like Sean Miller. Bruce Pearl was not really because the idea that he'd leave Auburn was a little bit tough.

Starting point is 00:02:16 So Mark Pope winds up being the guy. He's a really interesting guy. He also didn't win a single NCAA tournament game at BYU. And that is the rub. That's where the Kentucky fans are going, oh, wait, wait, wait. We wanted somebody with a national title pedigree. We wanted somebody who's already proven

Starting point is 00:02:40 they can win at the highest level. That ain't Mark Pope. So that's going to be an interesting next few months as Kentucky fans come to grips with this hire and figure out whether they like him or not. Now, I will tell you, he's a very likable person. And we've also never seen him have to coach or recruit at this level. So we don't know if he can do it or not but their thing was you got to get a guy who can already do that who's proven it but they didn't and now we wait now we see what mark pope is at this level we bring in james fletcher the third on threes, resident bracketologist, National College basketball writer.

Starting point is 00:03:29 James, this was a name that was out there. Clearly, Mitch Barnhart, the AD, had done his due diligence. Otherwise, this would not have come together as quickly as it did following the Scott Drew decision. But explain to the folks how Mark Pope wound up on this list other than he played at Kentucky. Well, obviously that plays a role, a pre-existing relationship between him and the fan base, him and the athletic administration, him and just the basketball community there at Kentucky. But of course, we had to work our way down the list. We go from initial thoughts that there would be this big list that included Nate Oates, Jay Wright, and others. Well, they both ruled themselves out before the search even gets started. Then it became clear that it was Scott Drew, Dan Hurley, and then Billy Donovan was the third name listed in there. There were a lot of complications that you would have to go through to get to Billy Donovan,

Starting point is 00:04:27 who is still in the NBA season right now as we speak. So then Scott Drew, his family, apparently they're comfortable in Waco. Who can blame them? They've been there for so long. He has built a national championship contender there at Baylor. So no need to move. So decides to stay home. Dan Hurley sounds like they offered him the world and he is comfortable where he is. Why wouldn't he be? He has won back to back national championships. So in the end, now you've got to go to your second tier of names unless you want to wait for Billy Donovan, which is risky in this transfer portal era. As we know, the portal is open.

Starting point is 00:05:09 People can recruit right now. Not only that, but a lot of your freshmen have requested their release. So you don't have a roster right now. You've got to build one. And waiting would have been very risky sounds like they decided that once they got past that first uh tier of candidates that they had on their list that mark pope was the next guy in line decided not to go with some of the names with quote-unquote baggage uh that were on that next year chris beard john miller yeah Even Bruce Pearl, who was mentioned in that group as well.

Starting point is 00:05:45 So decided with, I don't know if the safe pick is the right way to say it, because I do think that Mark Pope is a very good basketball coach. But at the very least, the coach who had the least amount of baggage that they would have to deal with and reckon with, try to explain away when they brought him in. Well, and that's the thing. They traded that for, like like Chris beard coached Texas tech in the national title game. So they could say, Hey, look, he's, he's been in the national title game with Texas tech. Clearly he can do this

Starting point is 00:06:17 with Kentucky. Uh, you know, Sean Miller, I actually thought Sean Miller would have been a hard one to explain away because even though Sean Miller had the NCAA baggage, that's not really why he's not at Arizona anymore. Like Arizona defended him to the hilt. And then when it became clear, he wasn't going to get them where they wanted to go. That's when they cut him loose. So I don't think it was as cut and dried as, as that would have once Scott drew says no, cause I don't think Dan Hur as cut and dried as as that would have once scott drew says no because i don't think dan hurley was ever a real possibility but once scott drew says no you really have to recalibrate and i think they probably had a pecking order of pros and cons list and and they knew exactly who they were going after first and and clearly it was mark pope uh the scott drew thing very interesting baylor puts

Starting point is 00:07:05 out the the photo of uh of him with the big bass like it chip and joanna gaines celebrating this is one of those situations where scott drew if you've ever met him he's a different cat he's not your typical just climb the rungs basketball coach or football coach. It's kind of the same way. He's just not that kind of person. I'm not surprised, one, that he sent his family to go check out Lexington rather than himself, and two, that after they came back, he's like, you know what? We're good here.

Starting point is 00:07:38 He makes millions of dollars. He's won a national title at Baylor. He doesn't have to leave to do those things. Right. And then you're also just comfortable there. You know that at Baylor, if you have one down season, maybe even two down seasons, nobody's calling for the end of your tenure at Baylor. You are kind of an icon. You made that program what it is. It's similar to what we talked about when Nate Oates and Bruce Pearl came up in the conversation. There's something to say about a program being

Starting point is 00:08:10 yours. And with all three of those coaches, that coach is immediately identified with that school. When you think about that school and basketball, there's only one name that comes up and it's the coach. It's Scott Drew. It's Bruce Pearl. It's now Nate Oates at Alabama. So for that kind of reputation in a community, it means something. So to drop that and go to Lexington, where we just saw Coach Cal who, I mean, for years, a decade really was just this untouchable figure as one of the elites in college basketball, somebody who you could not question. To see him run out of town has to be a situation

Starting point is 00:08:54 where these coaches look at it and they say, do I really want that for me and my family when I know that's not happening here, when I know what I have here? I think we're seeing this in basketball and in football where there's so much money available now. Like it used to be you had to go to one of those blue blood type jobs to get paid. That's not the case anymore. You get paid anywhere.

Starting point is 00:09:18 So you decide what you want to deal with in terms of how much pressure do you want on you and now mark pope's a different story because he he's at byu right now they've just moved into the big 12 from the west coast conference that's a very difficult transition which i think they made very well this first year but the fact of the matter is he hasn't won an NCAA tournament game as a coach. Like he's got a lot to prove. You just ran Cal out of town because he can't get out of the first weekend of the tournament. So the assumption here is that Mark Pope, with all the resources and the cachet of Kentucky, is going to be able to put together rosters that can win national titles.

Starting point is 00:10:03 We'll see about that because he's not necessarily known as a mega recruiter, but this is also, James, a question I have in this era. How much does that matter? Because your NIL collective may be the ones recruiting for you. The coach may say, here are the people I'd like. Go get them. Yeah, those relationships do still matter to get you in the door. But I agree that NIL ends up being a big part of this conversation.

Starting point is 00:10:32 I think his staff will be very important in how they succeed in those areas because he just hasn't recruited in his time as a basketball coach at Utah Valley and now BYU the level of recruits that he's now going to be in the door with at Kentucky. So he's going to need some assistants who have been in those living rooms, who have done this before and have experience with these five-star, uh, you know, high four-star guys. And then the elite of the elite in the transfer portal as well. He's a, he's a coach who has been known for more his development than anything and at Kentucky we

Starting point is 00:11:06 haven't seen much developing going on it has been which actually maybe what Kentucky needs right you could make that argument but I think that the counter and what has a lot of fans concerned is is that a model that's going to work the way that things look right now with the transfer portal with guys able to bounce from school to school does a five-star who didn't play as a freshman really want to come back and be developed in his sophomore season or would he rather jump in the portal and go be an immediate impact somewhere else i think that it's it's just a tough sell for Kentucky fans who have gotten so used to, ironically, the John Calipari method of how to coach a basketball team. And it's going to be a real culture shock now when they see what the team is doing.

Starting point is 00:11:52 But that's the thing. They got rid of Calipari because he didn't want to adjust. We just watched Dan Hurley win the national title with one one-and-done player starting for him like i would i would assume that mark pope can can create that sort of lineup at kentucky where you may have a couple of older transfer guards a one and done player and then one or two guys that you brought in that are at various stages in their development like you can do that at kentucky like even if you're not cal you can get the one, one and done guy.

Starting point is 00:12:26 It's, it's not a matter of getting six, one and done guys. It's getting one or two maybe. And I will say Mark Pope might be the most interesting coach in college basketball. Like this is a guy. So he actually was a transfer in college.

Starting point is 00:12:40 He played at Washington first transfer to Kentucky, did the sit out a year thing and winds up a captain on that 96 team for Rick Pitino. He then goes and plays in Europe, then finds his way into the NBA, plays in the NBA for a while where he jokes that he was the worst player to ever play in the NBA. And then he goes to Columbia Medical School, which he then drops out of after two years because he realizes being a doctor may not be for me. And so Mark Fox, who he had, who had been one of his assistant coaches at Washington at that point is the Georgia coach. He goes to work with Mark Fox at Georgia and goes, Oh, this is my calling.

Starting point is 00:13:18 So he's actually relatively new to the basketball coaching. He's 51 years old, but he didn't start coaching basketball until almost the 2000 teens. And so this is a, this is a new experience. Plus James, he is a, well, if there are any Kentucky basketball recruits who are fans of the theater, they will like Mark Popol.

Starting point is 00:13:39 Do I have a hidden talent just in the hopes that Lin Manuel, that you're watching, I'm going to get a scholarship to King's College. I probably shouldn't brag, but dad got mazed and astonished. The problem is I got a lot of brains, but no polish. I got to holler just to be heard with every word. I drop knowledge. I'm a diamond in the rough.

Starting point is 00:13:56 A shiny piece of coal, everybody. Steven in the chat, they didn't get rid of Coach Cal. He got rid of them. Get the facts straight. No, they wanted him to go like they considered firing they they thought about paying 33 million dollars to fire him and then realized that was expensive but let him leave on his own so yeah they they did get rid of cal yeah and i mean Pope, like you said, very interesting guy. Also, I think he, I believe he now undisputed takes over the title of tallest sec basketball coach. And I would assume tallest sec coach in any sport, six foot 10. So, uh, yeah, he's, he's going to be,

Starting point is 00:14:40 if nothing else, an imposing figure on the sideline. I think that it will be interesting to see what is his style that he recruits to. Because at BYU, you've got a lot of different things that are coming into play in who you're recruiting, who you're able to get on the roster, what your roster looks like year to year. Because I know BYU's top recruit from last year wasn't on the roster this year, and they were still a top 25 team for most of the year because he was on mission for the entire year. So he wouldn't have gotten him into the system until later on.

Starting point is 00:15:17 I think one of the other interesting things is a lot of times when these coaches move jobs, we expect some of their top players to transfer with them and come play there. I'm not sure how much that happens at BYU, given the religious aspect of his last stop and everything else at that school. But also, not all of his players at BYU are Mormon. And that's one of the challenges, especially when you're moving from the West Coast Conference to the Big 12. Creating a team that is competitive in the Big 12, you can't just recruit from the Mormon church. That's not going to work. And Mark Pope knew that.

Starting point is 00:15:52 And so he had a really interesting roster. He had international guys. He had transfers. He had Mormon guys. It was a very interesting roster. This is a lot less restrictive in terms of who you can recruit you don't have to worry about the honor code you don't have to worry about recruits who say listen i'm not going to a to a religious school so you have a bigger world opened up uh eddie in the chat

Starting point is 00:16:18 i was gutted when i heard pope's the choice but after mulling on it reading seth davis's tweets rex chapman's tweets oscar colin's, watching a video going viral, breaking down BYU's offense, I'm excited. And that's the thing, like, James, I am not, I'm done with the predicting this hire will be a disaster. This hire will be great. Like, like I said, with Cal, I said, if he evolves, he'll be great. If he doesn't evolve, it's going to, it's going to end the same way it ended at Kentucky. Yeah. But that's easy. We know where he's at. We know how he works at that level.

Starting point is 00:16:52 The last time I said this hire is not going to work definitively was Les Miles at Kansas. That was the only one. It's been a long time other than that because I'm just not – I feel like we don't think about the fact that a coach coming from a very different situation into a different level, if we've never seen them operate at that level before, we have no idea how good they're going to be there or how bad they're going to be. We just don't know. Right. And that's why I've been a coaching grades for all of these hires and I've tried to make it very clear that the grade that I am giving has nothing to do with

Starting point is 00:17:31 how that coach is going to perform over the next few years. My grade is essentially how the search went. You know, did, did they with publicly on multiple candidates and then land on somebody who the fan base was not happy with? Uh? Did they hit the first guy that everyone had wanted? The name that was on all the message boards, everybody's pumped about it. NIL money is flowing. Like those are the things that I'm looking for when I grade those hires. It has nothing to do with will what Mark Pope did on offense at BYU against the Big 12 and the West Coast Conference before that translate to the SEC.

Starting point is 00:18:03 I can't really predict that until I see what his roster looks like until I see what his staff looks like. And once I know through the first year or two years, how he has performed in those different circumstances. So yeah, we're going to have to wait and see ultimately. And I know that's not what anyone wants to do. They want to just evaluate the higher today. And if I'm evaluating the hire today, I'd say underwhelming

Starting point is 00:18:29 because they went and publicly whiffed on multiple candidates and had others turn them down. And if you're Kentucky, that's a hit to your ego because coming into this thing. And even at the end of the Cal era, when fans were talking about potentially getting rid of him, when they were talking about that buyout, it was, this is Kentucky. We can go get anyone we want. We don't need you. We have all of these options at our disposal. And it was basically just, well, who's ready for the Kentucky job? Because then we'll just bring them in.

Starting point is 00:19:00 Yeah. And that's not how this search played out. And so I do think that it ends up in a hit uh to some kentucky fans egos and makes them kind of step back and i think that i don't think that he's going to have to work against the kentucky fan base because of his because of his connection there i think that they will rally around him for sure yeah but i do think that people will kind of be watching with one eyebrow up uh until he gets it done well and so matt jones from kentucky sports radio a very astute

Starting point is 00:19:30 observation on his show yesterday this was this was i believe in the immediate aftermath of scott drew saying he was staying at baylor and matt said you realize every coach who didn't have a drinking problem won a national title at Kentucky. And he's right. He's absolutely right. Yeah. So I think the infrastructure is in place to be really successful there. Mark Pope seems like a very smart person and a very dynamic personality. So I kind of lean toward he's going to figure it out.

Starting point is 00:20:09 Like, and maybe that's just me looking at him and reading about him and, and, you know, watching interviews with him and saying, oh, this is, this guy's very likable. I can see him being relatable with recruits. He's played in the NBA. He's the type of person that is going to command somebody's respect when he meets them. So yeah, I'm not out on this at all. I think this could definitely work, but I completely understand where the Kentucky fans are coming from because they were sort of sold this, it's Kentucky, we can get anybody we want and that's just not reality when a Baylor can pay about what a Kentucky can pay like that's not how things work anymore we've seen it in football like I think Kentucky's actually a really good example of that

Starting point is 00:21:00 I always say Kentucky football is the best job in America. You get paid $9 million to coach Kentucky in football and you don't have to win the SEC. That's the decision Scott Drew just made at Baylor. Essentially, he's a Mark Stoops. Yeah, that's true. And I think that ultimately my biggest concern for Mark Pope is the athletic director situation there, because it does seem like the perception of this hire is that Mitch Barnhart kind of settle down and whatever but ultimately regardless of how this hire is perceived there's no guarantee that he is still the athletic director two three years from now well i'll stop you right he ain't getting fired but he is 64 he he might he might retire he's the longest tenured athletic director in the sec but yeah that's kind of what i'm pointing to is he's reaching retirement age so if he ends up leaving that job well then mark pope is a much more uh vulnerable coach just in terms of his

Starting point is 00:22:13 pedigree than any of these other names that were thrown out there uh because we know athletic directors like to leave their mark on the program so some big name athletic director comes in he's got this hot coach that he likes that he's got a relationship with. That's where it gets interesting for Mark Pope years down the line. Well, and we say this now we can be sitting here a year from now and Kentucky's gone to the elite eight. And it's like,

Starting point is 00:22:35 Oh, it's a genius. Look at that. Or they missed the NCAA tournament. Like, Oh, he's already on a hot seat. How long is Mark Pope gonna last

Starting point is 00:22:46 we we really don't know I think that's the the key here and this is one where if you trust the people making the decisions then you believe that they did their due diligence that they felt like there's something special about this guy that that makes him capable of doing what you want and in Kentucky what you want is national championships like it is not there's no gray area like your job's to win the national title so you have to kind of put your faith in the in the person who made the hire and decide well or decide if you have faith in the person who made the hire and then you're going to roll with it and I think that's what in the

Starting point is 00:23:27 chat right now caleb says there's no point in being negative pope is the coach might as well give him a shot we'll see which is is right the right attitude to have because i've seen it where a fan base has just decided when the coach gets hired that they can't do it and it's just poisonous from there on out like i i remember distinctly when ron zook got hired at florida after steve spurrier in football like the fan base was out on him from the jump and he never had a chance to succeed he was actually doing okay when you look at it through the prism of like what they are now, but they, I mean, they were ready to run him out immediately.

Starting point is 00:24:08 And so it's up to Kentucky fans to feel however they want to feel. I'm not going to tell you how to feel about higher, but if you can be, I'm not even saying don't judge it. I'm saying reserve judgment. Let's see what his roster looks like. Let's see what, what his first team looks like.

Starting point is 00:24:29 And then if it doesn't make you happy, then get mad all you want, but at least give it a shot. Yeah. You gotta give it a shot, especially his relationship to that program. Like I said, I think that the fans will rally around him.

Starting point is 00:24:42 I think that he will have, he'll have Rupp arena packed out just like it always is. And I think those donors are going to be eager to give him as much money as he needs to put together the staff, this roster, whatever else he needs done over the next couple months here. Here's the other thing. And I'm not a win-the-press-conference kind of person. I don't think winning a press conference matters at all.

Starting point is 00:25:07 Winning games is the only thing that matters. But Mark Pope will win the press conference. I can tell you that right now. I've not met the man personally, but I've seen enough of him in action. He will win the press conference. So this conversation that we're having, if we have it tomorrow after the press conference is over, the Kentucky fans are going to be a lot more positive because they're going to like what they hear. And then it's going to be a matter of how's that work going forward.

Starting point is 00:25:36 Again, I don't care if you win the press conference. I only care if you win games, but this, this guy will win the press conference. So, James, a little surprise, a little nighttime hire. You had a nighttime Cal leaving for Arkansas, nighttime Mark Pope getting hired. Hopefully Kentucky doesn't have any more nighttime drama. Somebody lock down Mark Stoops, make sure he's okay. Get him to the spring game on Saturday. Thank you, James. Appreciate it.

Starting point is 00:26:06 All right. Speaking of spring games, yes, Kentucky does have their football spring game on Saturday. And so does pretty much half the rest of college football. There's a few games next week as well, some big ones. But there are a bunch of big spring games coming up this Saturday. You've got Georgia, Alabama, Ole Miss, Ohio State, Penn State. You've got some intriguing ones where things are not going as well, but you want to see what the team's going to look like, see if they're going to be improved like Arkansas and Florida.

Starting point is 00:26:38 And then we're going to dive deep into some spring games here today, talking to a few players, talking to our guy, Zach Berry from OM Spirit about the Ole Miss spring game, which is not really a spring game because let's be honest, Joey Chestnut's involved, but we're going to be talking to Mish Powell, Miami safety, who just came from Washington, actually started in the national championship game for Washington and is now going to start in that secondary for the Hurricanes. And then we also are going to have RJ Harvey, the 1400 yard back from UCF. He's back. Kobe Hudson, their best receiver, also back. We're going to have both those guys talking about UCF this spring and they're expecting some big things. But first I got to tell you about FanDuel. Go to FanDuel.com slash Staples.

Starting point is 00:27:27 $5 bet gets you $150 in bonus bets for new customers. If you sign up at FanDuel.com slash Staples, there's a lot going on. You obviously got the NBA play-in tournament. You got the Masters. But right now, they've just put these out there odds for your team to make the college football playoff. And I thought these were really interesting. And like Ohio state is a prohibitive favorite to make the playoff. Like they're minus 500 to make the playoff, but like Miami, who we'll be talking about at length today,

Starting point is 00:28:06 plus 250 to make the college football playoff. And as I looked at that, I was like, okay, what are the other ACC contenders? Well, you got Louisville at plus 360. You got Florida State at plus 164 and Clemson at plus 172. It's interesting when you think about it because it's such a new concept with the 12 team playoff, but somebody from the ACC has got to win the ACC and make the playoff. So that's a very interesting race right there. The Big 12, kind of the same thing. They got Arizona. They got Utah in there. They got K state. Like this is going to be a fascinating year. K state plus two 90 to make the college football playoff. So lots going on at FanDuel sign up now, FanDuel.com slash staples bet $5, get $150 in bonus bets for new customers.

Starting point is 00:29:08 That is fanduel.com slash staples. All right, let us talk some spring football. Let us talk about these games that are coming up. This is going to be a really interesting spring summer. Remember, the transfer portal opens again on Monday. There are no rules for transfers because there was a federal court ruling. Essentially, the NCAA cannot enforce any of its transfer rules right now. So anybody who wants to transfer and play right away can, with one notable exception.

Starting point is 00:29:44 The SEC still has a rule that has yet to be challenged that says you can't go from one sec school to another in the spring window and play right away you would still have to sit out a year so unless somebody challenges that successfully nobody's moving from one sec school to another right now now they can move from the sec to another conference or from another conference to the sec so that's still available, but we'll find out more about that as we go on. We've heard a couple of names already, like Damian Martinez, the running back from Oregon State. He's in the portal. There was a lot of chatter about that on Thursday. John Canzano, the reporter out in Portland that had a really good story explaining the whole situation. So, and Oregon State's collective was very upfront about everything that was going on there. They said, basically they were going to

Starting point is 00:30:29 pay him $400,000 this year. Now they pay quarterly and there were, there were differing reports on whether he got paid, everything he was supposed to get paid. And, and Kenzano got to the bottom of it, talked to the collective, talked to the player. And basically what happened was he still owed an $8,000 down payment on a car. He was due a $100,000 quarterly payment. He got 92,000 because of the minus the $8,000 down payment. And Martinez is like, yeah, that's what happened. I'm fine with it. I think the fact of the matter is he doesn't want to play a Mountain West schedule. And that's essentially what Oregon State's playing. He can go play in a different conference, whether that's the Big 10, the SEC, the ACC, the Big 12. There are a lot of schools that would

Starting point is 00:31:16 want him. I don't know that necessarily he makes more money going somewhere else. $400,000 for a running back is a lot of money, but it may be that one of the schools that needs a back in one of those leagues is saying, hey, come here. You'll be featured. You can make the same or more as you would have at Oregon State. It's going to be very interesting, but right now the rosters are what we think they are. We'll probably get news over the weekend. Like, I imagine there might be some guys who do not dress out for a spring game that you realize, okay, that person's going to the portal. We'll cover that very thoroughly on Monday.

Starting point is 00:31:56 Pete Nacos, who is the master of the transfer portal, will be joining us right off the bat on Monday morning. We're going to talk all about that. But this weekend's about the teams on the field, the players that are there right now. And speaking of transfers, Miesch Powell spent five years at Washington, started for the Huskies in the national title game last year. Started 14 games last season. But after Caleb DeBoer left, he went to look for a new team and it found himself all the way across the country at Miami, where he is now emerging as a big time leader on that Miami defense. He joined us to talk about Miami this spring and what to expect from Miami Spring Game. We are honored to

Starting point is 00:32:51 be joined by Mish Powell, Miami Safety. You may have last seen him starting for Washington in the National Championship game but now Mish is starting for the Hurricanes. Got a spring game on Saturday. M Mish how has it been adjusting to to new team new coaching staff new everything it's been great it's been really smooth honestly you know the coaches you know they did you know a great job of you know once I committed getting me down here and making the process very smooth and the locker room is you know just full of you know people laughing and joking as well as the serious side but everyone was just really welcoming of me

Starting point is 00:33:29 and you know I was welcoming of them as well so it's been it's been really smooth. So how hard was the decision to to leave Seattle? I realize obviously uh coach DeBoer was was leaving for for Tuscaloosa but but Seattle's home for you. And you'd been at Washington for four years. I would say it was not, it was probably the biggest decision I made, probably either that or walking on. But I would say that, you know,

Starting point is 00:33:58 this felt like a place for me, especially being here and, you know, being on the visit, they just did a great job of you know establishing that like how I would play on the field and where they see me at and understanding that family part was a big thing for me and you know this coaching staff and this whole like facility and all the staff around it's like a family so you know it doesn't feel too far away from home so I imagine coach Cristobal was was somewhat familiar with you having having coached at oregon so they they were playing you guys every year but what what's it been like you know getting

Starting point is 00:34:32 together with these new teammates who who's who's really impressed you that you've gotten to play alongside that you've had to to cover that you've had to play against on the other side of the ball uh yeah so i would say yeah i mean we play a few times uh coach this spot i don't think i ever beat him but um one thing i'll say about him is that was a team that we always had to play oregon we were like okay like this is a team that's a machine they're disciplined they're physical so that's one thing that i was thinking about when you know coming here knowing the type of coach that coach Cristobal was and the players he produced. I'll probably say who's impressed me the most

Starting point is 00:35:10 or who just impressed me, just a couple of names. Myles Muyung, defensive back, he's been really good. Wes Popo, you know, everybody knows Reuben Bain. You know, he's awesome. Oh, yeah. Jaden Harris. These guys are pretty young. They're going into their third year. I think Bain. You know, he's awesome. Oh, yeah. Jaden Harris. These guys are pretty young. They're going into their third year.

Starting point is 00:35:28 I think Bain's going into his second year. And for them to be playing like they're veterans already, you know, is really impressive. And that's something that, you know, it took me a while to get to. And, you know, I've been going against Xavier a lot. You know, that's someone who I probably go against every single day, the most matchup with him, mostly throughout practice. And, you know, there's a reason why, was all ACC and he broke the record last year,

Starting point is 00:35:49 just go into his work ethic and I'm just grateful to be able to go against a type of caliber receiver with a quarterback like that every day in practice probably won't get any harder than games. I was gonna say you understand that experience very well given who you Roma dunes a Jalen Polk with with Michael Penix jr. throwing on the ball last year how how hard were practices for you guys in the secondary dealing with those guys oh it's just you know you're going to get to lead talent you know it feels how it is now you know it every day it's like a game you know going against cam jacoby um like x and zay horton you know those guys and even elijah arroyo that's a different you know animal right there it just feels like a game every time and if you choose not to bring your a game that day like it's going to

Starting point is 00:36:35 be a long day for you so that's what happens you got to go against a league talent every day so you had to play against cam in the apple cup a couple times was it like teaming up now it's nice it's nice whenever we played him. Was it like teaming up now? It's nice. It's nice. Whenever we played him, we were just like, okay, this is the quarterback that's really good. He's an elite quarterback. We always saw him in that way. And we knew that we had to bring our A game to be able to, you know, contain him and, you know, slow him down.

Starting point is 00:36:58 You know, every day I do remind him that he's yet to beat me like anything when it comes to football. So that's one thing that I always make sure I get in every day that, you know, he's 0 to beat me like anything when it comes to football so that's one thing that i always make sure i get in every day that you know he's all into against me well he he can't actually improve that record until you guys are in the league and hopefully you know you're on different teams because right now every win for him is a win for you too right so i'm kind of like the all-time winner when it comes to that so that's something that they've touched a bit your your journey is is pretty incredible so you you walked on at washington uh what were your other options and and i will point out that your mom has a master's degree from columbia and your dad has an mba from harvard so what what were the other options coming out of

Starting point is 00:37:43 high school um i had a few FCS offers like from the Big Sky and then, you know, like the Ivy League schools, but those were really all the offers I really had. UW is being a hometown kid and that was probably the only like power five that offer that I got that was a walk-on spot. Like I didn't have any other power five offers. So how, was it difficult to, to choose between, you know, you, you've got these Ivy league schools coming after you and you've got parents who went to Ivy league schools who were very successful. And then you decide to walk on where, you know, there's no guarantee of, of anything. Right. I would say for me,

Starting point is 00:38:23 it wasn't that difficult. I think for my parents, they were a bit, you know, knowing, you know, how the Ivy leagues are and the whole idea that, you know, four years of your time at the Ivy leagues are like set you up for 40 years. I think that's something that they were really focused on, but, you know, I wanted the best of both worlds, you know, getting my degree from foster school business, that's, you know, a top business school in the country. And then top you know top 10 football top five football every year was something that i just wanted to live the best of both worlds so the idea it was never like in question you know once i got that um i prefer to walk on i was like yeah this is the option i'm going to take and then you know

Starting point is 00:39:00 it was obviously ups and downs uh coach lake gets let go kaylin devore comes in could you guys tell kind of right away that that the culture was changing or that that it was going to be different i would say a little bit you know we knew we had a bunch of guys we had a bunch of dudes you know similar to this team you know knowing that we have a bunch of you know athletes and guys that can you know get drafted highly and we have elite talent i think that we could feel it but it was more of like the right coaching staff you know getting their hands on us and you know making sure that we stay locked in discipline um because that first year 2022 uh a lot of the players except for me about Mike and a few other guys, were already from the old staff.

Starting point is 00:39:45 So we felt like we were good. And what's it been like taking what you learned in Seattle and bringing it to Miami? It's interesting now in this transfer portal, Eric, because you've got what you learned in Seattle. Cam Ward has what he learned in Pullman. And then you've got the guys who've been with Coach Cristobal at Miami. And it kind of all blends together.

Starting point is 00:40:11 Right. I would say there's actually – I think my experience is a big thing, just playing a lot of snaps and being around guys before me like Tremenduffy, Kyler Gordon, Elijah Moldenen just a few guys that you know really are you know playing well in the nfl right now and you know they always can go to them for advice so just how they pass it on to me you know passing it on to you know these dbs here and you know there's also like a lot of similarities you know being on elite team just like the culture and the discipline and just the drive that you know we have here you know they're just like

Starting point is 00:40:45 similar things that we had at washington's i was like really a big reason why i i even came here just because i could feel that same you know energy that you know it's we're going for the big one so what is the biggest difference in living in seattle and living in coral gables i would say i mean obviously the weather that's one thing that I'm, you know, finally getting adjusted to. It's hot here every day. Like 87 to me is like 95. That's how hot it gets in Seattle. That's a nice summer day. So keep hearing about this weather in the summertime. You know, I'm a bit skeptical of it because people keep saying it gets real bad so i'll say the weather and then i would probably say just there's a lot of different food options here there's a lot of different like food items that you can get in seattle it's a little more not as many like pop-up shots or like food truck is more of just kind of like common you know businesses or food places so those are probably the two biggest things has Has Coach Cristobal introduced you to Cuban food yet?

Starting point is 00:41:48 He's told me about it. I have yet to try it, but he's been to the pizza spot, so I've been going there. You've got to get yourself out to Calle Ocho and just, listen, the easiest way to do it, the classic, like, plate, the best plate you're going gonna get is just the roast pork with the with the fried sweet plantains the maduros and then the moro rice moro rice is rice with beans cooked in bacon grease that sounds really good honestly i'm not gonna laugh yeah they don't mess

Starting point is 00:42:21 around and their coffee's awesome too. The Cuban coffee is incredible. So yeah, it is fun. The heat though, I will tell you is not as bad as they're making it out to be. You chose wisely. I grew up in the state of Florida in various different places. You guys have a little breeze off the water where you are. The Gators and Seminoles don't get that. They're dealing with a lot worse. Straight country. Those are new rivalries to you. You've got to play both those teams this year. Does anybody tell you about how that works? Or is it just something that, okay, we'll get to that when we play them?

Starting point is 00:43:01 That's kind of the biggest thing we get to when we play. Just being from the West Coast, I you know my fair share of rivalries as well so you know i understand the how intense it gets but you know those are just games that you know we got we're going to be a lot different team and we're going to be you know one full style machine we got to play those guys so you know i'm not really thinking too much about them but i know that's a serious game i know the atmosphere i know how important you know, I'm not really thinking too much about them, but I know that's a serious game. I know the atmosphere. I know how important, you know, those games are for sure. I think it's programmed. I was going to say, you're around people still who have experience

Starting point is 00:43:32 with the Oregon-Washington rivalry, have experience with the Apple Cup. So they know you've seen some hated rivals. So how much fun is it learning new scheme, new system, new people? I would say I'm having a great time. You know, being with Coach Guidry and the whole defensive staff, like these guys are just so dialed in and, you know, they're really energetic. They bring it every day. And, you know, they expect us, you know, to play at an elite level at all times.

Starting point is 00:44:02 You know, there's certain plays that we make out there that, you know, we're supposed to make. You know, there's certain plays that are, like, really, like, flashy plays as well. And, you know, that's just because of the scheme and, you know, us trusting their coaching. And it's just been great, honestly. You know, this has been a great time.

Starting point is 00:44:15 I've enjoyed spring ball. And, you know, I'm excited for, you know, what to show, you know, you guys what our defense is going to be like. All right, Mish. Well, we can't wait to watch on Saturday in the spring game. Thank you so much. All right, Mish, well, we can't wait to watch on Saturday in the spring game. Thank you so much. All right, thank you. That is Mish Powell.

Starting point is 00:44:30 And I actually talked to Mario Cristobal a little bit about Mish Powell. Mario had him in camp at Oregon, and they liked him a lot, but it was the same class they brought in Javon Holland, some other really good guys in the secondary, so they felt like they just didn't have room for him. But when Mario got the chance to pick him up after this past season, he was very enthusiastic about it because obviously he'd seen him play, understood what he was about.

Starting point is 00:44:57 And that Miami team is going to be a really interesting one because they've not yet achieved their potential under Mario Cristobal they're talented but we need to see more from them and so that's where this starts and they obviously right off the bat playing Florida in the game I keep telling you guys like whoever loses that game that fan base is melting down and then whoever wins that game is like it's gonna be amazing this season. I don't know if either result actually tells us that, but that's how everybody's going to feel. And Miami feeling pretty good about the roster that they put together this season.

Starting point is 00:45:37 So they've just now got to put that all together on the field. We'll get a look at it in the spring game. A team that definitely has the roster that wants to build on good results. It's the least I need to get over the hump. Ole Miss. Ole Miss last year would have made the college football playoff. Had there been a 12 team playoff. Ole Miss. We know under Lane Kiffin has been really good in the transfer portal. They've been

Starting point is 00:46:06 very active this off season. They have upgraded the roster. This roster should be able to make the college football playoff. Now, Lane Kiffin knows that. Lane Kiffin also knows he's got a bunch of veterans. He's got a lot of guys who played a ton of football. They don't need to do much to show you much in a spring game. In fact, that's why they're going to have the Grove Bowl games instead of a traditional spring game. Zach Berry from OM Spirit joined us to explain what exactly the hell that means. We welcome Zach Berry of OM Spirit for a very different kind of spring game preview because Ole Miss is not playing a normal spring game. They are playing the Grove Bowl games. And Zach, we're talking seven on seven. We're talking hot dog eating contest.

Starting point is 00:46:56 Skills competition. Where do we even start with this thing? I think you've got to start with the Jaws, Joey Chestnut. He will be in attendance. That will be the halftime, you know, quote, halftime entertainment. Actually just got through talking with him. He said he's not sure if he's just judging or if he's going to judge and eat. He said he did tell me if the players are going too slow,

Starting point is 00:47:25 he might just not be able to hold back and just will start eating. Yeah, I got some plans. I can shuffle around. Okay. And I was able to, like, yeah, I'm coming down on Friday and going to go to the game and hang out. And apparently they're going to have a hot dog contest, hot dog eating contest. And I haven't been told that they want me to eat,

Starting point is 00:47:45 but I think I'm judging, but who knows? I might, it's torture for me to watch guys eat hot dog. If they're going slow, it's torture. I might have to, I might have to throw down a couple.

Starting point is 00:47:57 I feel like you have to pay him extra to eat, right? Is that, is that how that works? You know, he said it, not me. He's a self-proclaimed fat boy and he says he loves to eat., he said it, not me. He's a self-proclaimed fat boy, and he says he loves to eat.

Starting point is 00:48:08 So he said that if the itch, you know, if it starts happening, he's going to eat. But he is about to ramp up Nathan's hot dog eating contest training. So maybe he'll hold back. I love that he's like an olympic swimmer and he has like a loading and a taper and all the all the other stuff you know i figure he's 16 time champ at hot dog eating and then his world records are ridiculous uh the cv is long and impressive but i figured he had some kind of regiment, but yeah, I mean, it was impressive what he actually does to prepare. And, uh, like he said, he doesn't eat carbs. Like he has no

Starting point is 00:48:52 carbs in the house. He doesn't eat carbs during the week. Like the weekends are more laid back, but impressive discipline to do that because there's no chance that I'm going a whole week without carbs. That just means he's absolutely craving the buns, which is probably the only way you can eat those buns that are dunked in water. Like that, that makes me want to puke when they, when they dunk the buns in water and you know, they're just swallowing soggy buns.

Starting point is 00:49:16 Oh God. It makes my stomach turn. All right. So who do we think of on the Ole Miss roster? Okay. If jaws jumps in, there's no shot. Like nobody on the Ole Miss roster? Okay, if Jaws jumps in, there's no shot. Like nobody on the Ole Miss roster has a chance. But who do we think is the best hot dog eater on the Ole Miss roster?

Starting point is 00:49:33 So the early favorite person players during media availability this week, they said Diego Pounds, the offensive tackle from North Carolina. Aptly named. Yeah, right. They said that they think that he is probably the favorite. Um, I don't know. I mean, I could see, I could see somebody like a Ulysses Bentley being, being able to put down some groceries, uh, probably still got a high metabolism can probably, you know, some adrenaline kicks in. Maybe he, he throws them down some groceries, uh, probably still got a high metabolism can probably,

Starting point is 00:50:05 you know, some adrenaline kicks in. Maybe he, he throws them down. Um, yeah, I don't know. I mean, like the lineman's kind of like cliche to say that it's not always the huge guy. Like the, the most I've ever seen a person eat in my presence was, was Brock Huard. Who's a former quarterback, but he's one of those you know six five just you know 220 pound like high motor high metabolism like it's those guys the hollow leg guys like there's probably an edge guy there's probably a tight end i like has priest corn what do we think pre-scoring can put down some dogs? You know, probably, um, you know, he probably has to eat a lot of leftovers as, as a father. Um, he's probably having to clean some plates off. Um, you know, at the end of the day, I love when you say have to trust me, it's voluntary. I remember

Starting point is 00:51:02 those days. Yeah, man. You know, it doesn't have to. You know, we compost here in this house, so we do have a place to put it. But if it's something that I made and I know it's good and my kids don't eat it all, I'm going to finish a plate. Oh, you've left half your fries and three chicken fingers. What are we doing here? Let's go. Yeah. No, that is true.

Starting point is 00:51:23 All right, let's talk about non-hot dog versions of competitions. This is the most anticipated year of Ole Miss football maybe ever. So I do appreciate this. They're going to make sure nobody gets hurt. But do you think they're going to give folks a taste of maybe what Juice Wells can do or maybe what the Wells can do? Or maybe what the Jackson Dart-Trey Harris combination looks like right now? I think you're probably going to see more of Trey Harris than Juice Wells.

Starting point is 00:51:56 I've seen him in recent weeks. Juice has been in a boot. So I don't think they're going to rush him back, especially not for this. Kiffin's going to be smart about it. They're planning on him being a large part of the offense, right? So I'd imagine they're going to put him on the shelf for this, and he'll just be out there in street clothes. But, yeah, I mean, I think you're going to see a lot of – you already mentioned Priest-Korn, just another year in the offense.

Starting point is 00:52:24 This is a big draft year for him. Yeah, the Trey Harris combination, that's been big on social media. Him and Trey Amos going back and forth. The transfer corner from Alabama. They've been doing the Iron Sharpens Iron deal on Twitter and Instagram. So, yeah, Trey Harris, by all accounts has had a great spring and looks to have gained a bit of a step. He looks a little bit quicker and faster. The big thing, Andy, is talking with people that have been to practice. They said this is the

Starting point is 00:52:57 biggest offensive line they've ever seen. I had a former player tell me everyone looks like Laramie Tunsil. And then they're saying Walter Nolan and Prince Lee Amami Allen are still blowing stuff up in practice. So that's another iron sharpens iron right there, right in the trenches. You walk me into my next question because they brought back a lot of offensive linemen from last year, but also brought in guys from the transfer portal who had played at their previous stop, significant snaps and could be very competitive so it feels like they are talking about a group where they'll be comfortable playing six seven eight guys on the offensive line i think so i mean i think i had subscribers wanting me to answer, you know,

Starting point is 00:53:45 hey, who do you think starting five is? And I don't know. I'm just taking a guess. But, yeah, I mean, Julius Blello and Nate Kalipo from Washington, I mean, they're on the Joe Moore award-winning offensive line. They're going to be heavy in the mix. You also bring in Diego Pounds, who we already talked about starting tackle for North Carolina, protected Drake May,

Starting point is 00:54:07 and then a veteran in Jerquan Scott from Southern Miss. And you're adding those guys to a group that helped Quinshawn Juckins and Ulysses Bentley and Jackson Dart have success on the ground and then helped Dart have his best season yet. So as fast as Ole Miss can go at times with tempo, you know, that's a big thing to have, right, is, you know, running backs rotate in a lot. Receivers rotate in. They want to keep guys fresh.

Starting point is 00:54:34 But you can keep an offensive line fresh. I mean, I don't know if we'll see, you know, line changes like in hockey. But, I mean, I think that that's a great problem to have where you're trying to find five guys to pick. Yeah. You saw it with Tennessee a couple of years ago where they were moving exceptionally fast and had guys they trusted. And so they would, they would pop them in and out of there, you know, at various times. And it, it did keep them fresher. You mentioned Walter Nolan and Prince Lee Manmiel and Nolan came from Texas A&M. He's a D tackle. Princely's an edge guy came from Florida. And that's the part that has fascinated me about Ole Miss this spring or this off season,

Starting point is 00:55:13 because we've always said really hard to get better in the trenches through the transfer portal. We just talked about what they did on the offensive line. This seems like it's going to be a lot better defensive line too. I think so. And you have the cachet of Nolan and Umami Allen, but Jared Ivey's back, J.J. Pegues is back. I saw a video of Xavier Harris at practice the other day.

Starting point is 00:55:40 The dude's a Coke machine, and he looked like he was moving like a linebacker. Randall Joyner, the defensive line coach is every time I talk to him, he's so fired up, so excited about the potential of what the group can be. And I mean, just, I think it's going to free up Pete Golding and that staff to really be aggressive because of the talent that was brought in in the secondary too. And then, oh, by the way, you get somebody like Pooh Paul at linebacker.

Starting point is 00:56:08 You've got TJ Dudley for a full season and Kari Coleman's back. And then you've got Sundreen Perkins who can just move around everywhere. Truly the sky's the limit. And, I mean, Andy, plus, I mean, the odds for Ole Miss to make the playoff, I mean, I thought it was a typo when I looked at it the other day on FanDuel. I mean, it's at minus 122. Mm-hmm. If you told an Ole Miss fan that five years ago,

Starting point is 00:56:37 that that's what the odds would be in 2024, they'd probably slap you or just laugh and walk away. Listen, they got the roster they got the schedule like it's all it's all lining up as long as nobody chokes on a hot dog which you know joey will be there to coach him through it so i'm i'm confident they'll be okay there all right i have to ask this so because we're dealing with with lane kiffin transfer portal opens on on monday it does do they go shopping again do they do you think do you think they're done and Transfer Portal opens on Monday. It does. Do they go shopping again? Do you think they're done adding to this roster?

Starting point is 00:57:11 No, I think they're going to. It was a couple weeks ago. Time is a flat circle, as you know. Henry Parrish announced he would be entering the portal. He was at Ole Miss. Then he went to Miami with Kevin Smith. the portal. He was at Ole Miss. Then he went to Miami with Kevin Smith. Now Kevin Smith is back at Ole Miss. Parrish entered the portal.

Starting point is 00:57:30 It is expected, barring something crazy happening, he will be back at Ole Miss for the 2024 season. And then I think they're probably going to try to add at least another running back. Logan Diggs, we talk about the knee injury a lot. I think if Kiffin, if you asked him and he honestly answered, he would say that the ideal situation would be to add more running backs to give Diggs that ease his rehab a little bit, where he's not rushed to get back.

Starting point is 00:58:04 He's not needed immediately this season. The expectation is that he will be back late September, October. But, yeah, I think they're going to try to add some running backs and then probably an edge if it's the right fit. That's big for Ole Miss, not just on the field but in the locker room. The pro mindset, the culture, buying into what Ole Miss is doing, that's as big as are you talented enough to play in the SEC? It's probably more important.

Starting point is 00:58:31 But, yeah, Kiffin's going to add at least a couple more. Never stops. Never stops. Well, I know this is not as interesting as talking to Joey Chestnut, but I really appreciate it, Zach, And thank you and enjoy that spring game. Yeah, man, as always. Appreciate it. So we will see how that hot dog eating contest unfolds.

Starting point is 00:58:55 That is one of the things I'm looking for this weekend. I feel like spring games are kind of stage managed. We see what the coaches want us to see. So I don't know exactly how much we're going to learn, but I feel like we're going to learn a lot from the hot dog eating contest. Another spring game. They're not on Saturday.

Starting point is 00:59:14 UCF's is tonight. That's right. Friday night, primetime spring game for UCF. The Knights doing something really, really cool. So you look at their helmets, they're going Knights versus Citronauts and the helmet designs that you look at the colors. They're a little bit different. And what they did is, is they had some of the patients at Arnold Palmer hospital for children and women coloring in the logos. And so that the, those logos are part of a partnership with Arnold Palmer hospital,

Starting point is 00:59:46 which is, it's an awesome partnership. I grew up in Orlando. That organization is incredible, just incredible people. And it's one of the places that, you know, you're getting taken care of very well. If you go there or if one of your family members winds up there. So really cool and a great connection. UCF has done a really good job of connecting with the city of Orlando. And this is a program that one year into the big 12, they learned some things in that first year in the big 12. They probably didn't have the depth they needed. And I think you look at last season,

Starting point is 01:00:21 they definitely should have beaten Baylor. That was an utter collapse in that game. Probably should have beaten Oklahoma. Had the crazy game where they blew out Oklahoma State. This is a team that might be able to compete in the Big 12 right now. If they keep recruiting the way they've been recruiting under Gus Malzahn, it gets better than that. But right now, I don't know that we have to say, wait till two years from now, wait till three years from now. This team might be ready. And part of it is KJ Jefferson comes in from Arkansas. He feels like

Starting point is 01:00:55 the perfect Gus Malzahn quarterback, perfect quarterback for this offense. But also it's the two guys that you're about to hear from. RJ Harvey ran for 1400 yards last year. Kobe Hudson was one of the best receivers on this team. These guys are part of a core that came back in a lot of ways because they felt like they were closer than the record looked, that they're ready to be competitive and they can help themselves improve their NFL draft stock. So that's what makes all of this so interesting for UCF and that Friday, Friday spring game is going to be an interesting one to see because I want to see KJ Jefferson in that offense. And I want to see him working with this guy right here. RJ Harvey,

Starting point is 01:01:45 UCF running back, ran for a ton of yards last year, expecting big things again this year. So RJ, I was watching an old press conference of yours and you were talking about your goal last year was 1500 yards. You came just a little bit short of that. How much does that burn? Yeah, that's been my goal since 2021. Before I had tore my ACL, that was my goal going into that season. But, you know, things happen. 2022, you know, I was, me and Bowser, we were rotating.

Starting point is 01:02:25 Yep. So, and then 2023, I ended up with 1,416. So I was so close. 84 away. Yeah. So one big run. One big run away. I thought I just, everything happened for a reason or so.

Starting point is 01:02:44 Well, what is it like to be a back in this offense? Because it seems like when it's going, you can eat. Yeah, it's great. Coach Gutt is like, he loves to run the ball. That's our main focus in this offense, run the ball. But, yeah, I love getting behind my offensive linemen and just getting yards. That's the plan. So it seems like while you've got new faces here,

Starting point is 01:03:07 there's a lot of guys back who played huge roles last year. How much have you guys talked amongst yourselves about the way last season went? Because Gus has talked about he's never had a losing season as a head coach before. But you think about it, a couple bounces here or there, that would have been a very different season. You guys aren't that far away.

Starting point is 01:03:27 Yeah, we're not. Yeah, there's plenty of games we had. We lost by one or two points, and we were in it. Basically all of them, I'd say, except for the Kansas game. But, yeah, even last year, like, I just couldn't believe that we just lost five games in a row. Like, it was stunning to me because I knew the believe that we just lost five games in a row like it was stunning to me because I knew the team that we had so this year I'm uh me and all the older guys were just trying

Starting point is 01:03:50 to during this offseason make sure that we hold each other accountable and uh make sure we we just we we we take everything seriously so we can take that next up what are those offseason workouts like with with you guys? I mean, do you guys try to tell the young guys, all right, here's how you got to work? Yeah, definitely. You know, we're trying to bring this whole team together, make us all closer.

Starting point is 01:04:17 You know, we got transfers, a new freshman. But I feel like everybody is, I feel like right now everybody is getting on the same page. Yeah, speaking of transfers, K. Jefferson comes in to play quarterback. Obviously, he's played a ton. He started 36 games at Arkansas. How does he kind of fit in to the culture here? He's a great guy.

Starting point is 01:04:38 I love being around him. I used to watch him play whenever I could see the Arkansas games on TV. I used to watch his game. He does some amazing stuff on the field. I know he'll be a big impact on this offense. So the first time you see him in person, bigger than you thought? I knew he was big, but I didn't know he was that big. He's huge, right?

Starting point is 01:05:00 He's huge. It's like, how does anyone ever tackle you? Yeah, it's a few clips of him going against, he's just bouncing off of linebackers. Oh, yeah. He's bigger than them. Yeah, yeah. So, all right, I got to ask you, because I'm fascinated by this,

Starting point is 01:05:18 the guys who play in these offenses that do the read option. And so I've asked a bunch of quarterbacks about this and they never really answer the question i can't tell if they're just trying to keep it a secret or if it's if it's real i always say how do you know when to let the back take it and when to to pull it like do you guys talk about that do you guys have a signal is there like a thing and the quarterback's like you just know all right i going to ask it back now. How do you know? You just, like they say, you just know.

Starting point is 01:05:49 Really? Really. I mean, you'll read the end. You'll see the end crashing down. So you're both seeing the same thing. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know when, most of the time I don't know if he's going to pull it or not

Starting point is 01:06:00 because I can see the end. But sometimes I'll be back there and just be like, just hand it off. Just hand it off. just hand it off. Did you ever have a situation with either John Rice or one of the older quarterbacks where you're ready to clamp down? Oh, you're trying to clamp down and he's trying to pull it away. Definitely. There have been a few runs, well, a lot of runs where John just pulled it and I could have got a lot of yards.

Starting point is 01:06:24 Is that the ones where we see you guys run together for like three yards yeah you're just sort of arguing about it yeah is it it was we're tossed during that or no it's just who can pull it well i chose john john the amazing athlete he gonna make something happen every time and kj's got experience with that oh yeah definitely yeah that's what i was wondering is how do you build the chemistry on that, even when you're playing either without pads or where they can't tackle you guys? Just a lot of practice and repetition. Before we start every practice,

Starting point is 01:06:54 we practice handoffs with the quarterbacks and reads and stuff. So during the games, we'll be fine. Okay, I'm now satisfied by those quarterbacks' answers because I thought there was this big conspiracy not to tell anybody how this worked. So it's instinct. That's crazy. That's what it is.

Starting point is 01:07:11 Wow. I mean, I guess if you see the defensive end crashing on you, you know he's going to pull it. Yeah, he's going to pull it. Okay. I might get hit hard. That's the other part. When you're in the mesh and you see the defensive end coming at you,

Starting point is 01:07:26 you know two things. One, I am not getting the ball in this play. Two, I am getting creamed. I think it was a Georgia Tech game. I think it was that game. I got Chris. He came out the edge so fast. Everybody thinks running back is a glamour position.

Starting point is 01:07:44 Not on that play. Not on that play. Not on that play. So how excited are you all for this group, this team this year? I'm very excited. I feel like we got talent in every position. I'm excited for the spring. Can't wait to see what everybody can do and see how KZ does and all the other transfers.

Starting point is 01:08:03 And when you think about it, because you said last year it could have gone differently five in a row, but you got it turned around there toward the end. Do you feel like you know what you have to do now in the Big 12? Definitely. We've got to finish. That's what we lacked last year, finishing. That's our main focus this year and throughout all season, make sure we finish. What was the biggest difference between playing in the American

Starting point is 01:08:28 and playing in the Big 12? Honestly, to me, I didn't feel like it was a difference. I feel like, I mean, except probably maybe bigger guys on the offensive line. On the line of coverage, yeah. But other than that, skill position, probably about the same. There's a lot of fast guys. Yeah, they're fast. Big fast guys are harder to find. Yeah. But other than that, skill position, probably about the same. There's a lot of fast guys. Yeah, they're fast. Big fast guys are harder to find. Yeah.

Starting point is 01:08:47 Well, good luck. And so what's the next, between now and spring practice, what do y'all want to accomplish? Just, you know, today we start installing team meetings and officer meetings. So just making sure everybody like have have uh have a base of the playbook and just taking every workout seriously and going in uh waking up every day with energy and ready to go just yeah well good luck rj appreciate it thank you thank you Thank you. Thank you. That is RJ Harvey. And I really appreciate him explaining the mesh of the read option better than anybody has to me before, because I always ask quarterbacks about it. And it really they I think the ones who are really good at it just are so naturally good at it. They have a hard time explaining what's going on.

Starting point is 01:09:43 But RJ, I think, really put that in perspective. And also what happens when you're a running back and the quarterback makes the correct decision to pull the ball and keep it for the running back, it just means you're going to get clobbered, but you got to keep going. That's, that's the price you pay for scoring those touchdowns. Another guy who should be scoring some touchdowns for UCF, except this time catching the ball, wide receiver Kobe Hudson. So the second part of our UCF twofer, here's Kobe. Kobe, you're in the middle of off-season workouts. This is the part I think the young guys probably find the most unpleasant. As an old guy, do you appreciate this part a little bit more

Starting point is 01:10:26 or is it still tough? It's still tough, but at the end of the day, you look back, this is where you really won championships and really separate yourself from everybody in the country because everybody's required to do things. It's just what you do on your own time when you're hurting and when you're tired and when your mind's telling you you have nothing else.

Starting point is 01:10:44 So it's just really what you do on your own time when nobody's looking and when you're tired and when your mind's telling you you have nothing else so it's just really what you're doing your own time when nobody's looking at separation for the season well i was outside earlier and one of the younger guys was talking one of the coaches and and the coach was asking him okay so why'd you have to do so many up downs today and he said because my foot wasn't in the right place and what i wasn't leading with the correct foot and the coach said well what are you doing about that? How are you fixing that? And that's, you know, people don't think about that stuff when they watch you guys on Saturdays. But how much of just getting that little fine detail right in February

Starting point is 01:11:14 changes what happens on Saturday in October? Right. Attention to detail is just huge. You feel what I'm saying? Because there's a lot of things that you can do. But if you don't do it a certain way, the play might be messed up. If you don't take these right amount of steps, the timing may be off. So it's just a lot of things that everybody has to be on the same page about. The coaches want things done in a certain way so all things can be on time.

Starting point is 01:11:35 And, you know, football is a timing sport from the offensive side of the ball. So you could be getting ready for the combine right now. You could be getting ready for somebody else's spring practice right now. What brought you back here? What brought me back here is I started with Gus and I trust him. So my trust is with him and I

Starting point is 01:11:54 love UCF. I love the fans and I just love the team and I just feel like this year my leadership role would be more of a leader and I would feel like the team would look up to me this year so I wanted to come back and be able to lead a team and just lead my team to victory and just reach for the stars this year. So Gus

Starting point is 01:12:10 recruited you to Auburn. You played for him for a year and then he got let go. What was it like getting back with him? It was just like it was just great. It was just great to see him and just see how happy he was for us to just reunite so when he left I was really heartbroken so I was just, when see him and just see how happy he was for us to just reunite. So when he left, I was really heartbroken.

Starting point is 01:12:26 So I was just, when I got in the transfer portal, everybody would hit me up. But I really had my mind set from the jump that I wanted to come back and be with him. That's it. KJ wanted to play for him. KJ Jefferson, your new quarterback. But Bo Nix was the quarterback they were taking in that class. So finally, that gets to where, when you see KJ, and you've played in this Gus offense now for a long time, when you see KJ, how perfect is he for this? Perfect. It's almost, he's the closest thing that Coach Gus has to Cam Newton,

Starting point is 01:12:54 so it's very perfect. That's exactly right. It's funny because I keep hearing people say, well, you know, KJ mixes like Cam Newton and Nick Marshall. There's no Nick Marshall in KJ. It's the Cam. It's the old Cam. So this is, I've heard you talk here and in other press conferences about

Starting point is 01:13:14 you don't want to be just a guy. You want to be special. You want to be remembered. How important is it that when youcf that that you're remembered here like me i always felt that i was a better i always felt that i was more talented and i felt like i was one of the best people on the field since my freshman year but like you know god has different plans so i just follow god's process and i always told myself that i want to be a first rounder when i come out of college and i want to break records so I came back this year to achieve all of my personal goals and my team goals so this year is just I'm just reaching for the stars I'm

Starting point is 01:13:50 just trying to break every goal and do everything great and just be one of those guys where they can just go back and remember I just don't want to be an average guy I could have left this year and been the average guy to get drafted and there are a few people talking about me I get drafted I make money but it's really not about that. It's about being a legend, just leaving your legacy somewhere. That's what I'm all about. That's a good way to look at it. Because anybody can be – well, not anybody can just go play in the NFL.

Starting point is 01:14:17 That's what's amazing about this is you're special enough to go play in the NFL right now. Yes, sir. But you want to be that guy. You want to be the one everybody's talking about at the combine, the one yes sir but you want to be that guy you want to be the the one everybody's talking about at the combine the one everybody's talking about going to the draft and do you feel like after the season y'all had last year that the the guys who are coming back kind of understand what they need to do so you don't have the the close losses the kind of one bounce here one bounce their games exactly we started like this morning we started something called

Starting point is 01:14:44 fish drills like towards the end we started something called fist drills. Like, towards the end, we had just got done. We had team sprints at the end. I'm preaching to the team, like, y'all know how it felt last year. It's the fourth quarter. We got to finish. You feel me? A lot of times we didn't finish last year in the fourth quarter

Starting point is 01:14:55 when games got tight. So I just need everybody to just step up and just own it, just take it. It may hurt in the fourth quarter, but guess what? You got to go out there. You got to finish. You got to be there for your teammates. I mean, there's two good things about that though, because like when you're telling everybody that,

Starting point is 01:15:08 and probably telling yourself that too in the middle of sprints, like, it can push you. But also, you were that close. I would imagine that drives you even more. Yeah, it drives you a lot, because you know, like, when you can see the finish, like, I can feel the NFL, like, I can feel it, like, it's just where I'm supposed to be in, it's just what I'm supposed to be in and just what I'm supposed to be.

Starting point is 01:15:28 So, I just feel success coming my way. So, it just drives me to go even harder. So, you feel what I'm saying? So, when my time comes, I can be that guy that nobody wants to miss out on in the draft. So, Gus was saying that even before he got to UCF, even when Josh Heupel was here, like, it was a welcoming place for transfers. And I would ask you, you came during Gus's era, but you came here as a transfer.

Starting point is 01:15:51 Yes, sir. What is it about this place that makes it easier for transfers to come in and shine? I mean, it's just a place where everybody gets a fair opportunity, I feel like, and if you're the best person, I feel like you'll be on the field, and I feel the team like the team like it's a lot of boys who been here since I got here and they just loving and just they they my real brothers build them sense alone Saturday I'm gonna fight my guts out for him and

Starting point is 01:16:14 I just feel like you see up his own it's on the up and stone they'll see this year we in the big 12 I just feel like people want us to win yeah people people think we post to win because of our roster. We have a good roster. A lot of kids that are real talented. So I feel like we're just taking a stepping stone up and up every year, and this year will be a great year for us. When they bring in guys, because they brought in, I think, 18 or 19 transfers this year, do you guys who've been here try to say,

Starting point is 01:16:40 all right, we've got to make sure these guys feel welcome and challenged and feel like they got an opportunity. Like, is it a conscious thing or is it just a vibe? It's just a vibe with us. That's just what we do. When people come in, we're with open arms, but you also have to prove yourself to the team because we don't really care about what you did at your old school.

Starting point is 01:16:59 You feel what I'm saying? So you got to come here and prove it to us and our coaches and our fans that you can be one of those guys that we can count on on Saturdays. What's it like when the stadium starts bouncing? It's crazy. It's crazy. When the stadium is bouncing, it's bouncing. Kobe, appreciate it.

Starting point is 01:17:13 No problem. Thank you. Thank you, sir. You heard it. It's a vibe at UCF. And they've done a good job, regardless of who's been coaching, it seems like, of accepting transfers, making them feel welcome, and using them to the best of their abilities. KJ Jefferson, obviously, is the biggest name.

Starting point is 01:17:35 But they brought in quite a bit. And then you add it to what they already had, like RJ Harvey and Kobe Hudson. Going to be interesting to watch. You can watch their spring game tonight. Then you got tons of spring games on Saturday. The transfer portal will be open on Monday. It's going to be a big, big weekend. And we will talk to you on Monday when the portal is open. We'll talk to you then. Bye.

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