Locked On Titans - Daily Podcast On The Tennessee Titans - Tennessee Titans Malik Willis' TIME TO SHINE, Andrew Rupcich Opportunity & 'Titans of the South' Review

Episode Date: August 16, 2024

The Tennessee Titans will take on the Seattle Seahawks for their second preseason game of the year and all eyes will be on Malik Willis who will get a chance to start. Next, there are plenty of young players who will need to take advantage of their opportunities on Saturday including Otis Reese and Andrew Rupcich. Finally, Justin Melo talks about his new book, 'Titans of the South' which documents the history of the Tennessee Titans franchise. Subscribe to the TicTacTitans Film Channel:https://www.youtube.com/@TicTacTitansTicTacTitans Merchandise: https://dixons-dream.square.site/shop/tictactitans-gear/C3AAPNWXSXA6SBYG3USV2I7R?page=1&limit=30&sort_by=category_order&sort_order=ascFollow Tyler on Twitter @TicTacTitansFollow the show on Facebook @LockedOnTitansPodSubscribe to the Locked On Titans YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/c/LockedOnTitans/videosFor your next listen, check out the Locked On Fantasy Football podcast. Get daily insight to the best Fantasy draft strategies so you can win your league this season. Click HERE to listen now. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON today to get 10% off your first month.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON and add a big win to your summer bucket list!FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

The Tennessee Titans are not expected to play many of their starters on Saturday night, which means it's Malik Willis's time to shine I'll preview the game on today's edition of Locked on Titans You are locked on Titans your daily Tennessee Titans podcast part of the locked on podcast network your team every day. Welcome to the Locked On Titans podcast. I am your host, Tyler Rowland, Titans fans. The Tennessee Titans play their second preseason game of the year on Saturday night. We don't expect to see a lot of starters, but we are expected to see Malik Willis get

the start. What should be the expectations for Willis in that game? Also, there are a ton of young players who will have the opportunity to step up and make the roster, and I got a special guest on today's show who just put out a fantastic book on the Titans that you guys need to hear about. We're going to discuss all that before we get into it. Do want to thank you for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day, Monday through Friday, Tennessee Titans content and a ton of bonus content too, if I do say so myself. All year round, always for free.

You're not going to beat that anywhere else. Make sure that you get subscribed, stay subscribed. It's your team every day here on the Locked on Titans podcast. And speaking of every day, shout out to my everydayers out there tuning in Monday through Friday. Couldn't do it without you guys. I'm going to be going live tomorrow immediately after the game ends here on the Locked on Titans YouTube channel to break down all of the action. So make

sure that you stay with me for that. With all that being said, make sure again, you get subscribed, stay subscribed, throw a thumbs up on the video, throw a Titan up in the chat, and now I'm excited to bring on our special guest. And that special guest is none other than Justin Mello. Mello, as he is affectionately called a lot on the interwebs of Titans Twitter. But Justin Mello covers college football for the Draft Network,

does a ton of scouting stuff. Also writes for Titan-sized. Also writes for Music City Miracles. I got to mention it. I'll do that, Justin. I've had my issues there. But also one of the hosts of the Music City Audible. So excited to have Justin on. He recently just released an excellent book that is a must-have for any Titans fan.

Now, we will talk about that. But obviously, we got this game to get into. And as I said, Malik Willis is going to get the start. Not expected to see a lot of starters. Justin, kind of what's your expectations for Malik Willis, or what are you wanting to see out of Malik Willis? Well, I think Malik Willis has to be what he's been lately in joint practices. Remember that training camp scrimmage at Nissan Stadium a couple of weeks ago?

He was decisive, he was accurate, and he was aggressive, right? Those were a couple of things we didn't see from him throughout his first couple of years in Nashville. He seems to be really comfortable in this new system, playing for Brian Callahan in this offense. I think there's also some natural third-year quarterback growth that we've seen from him, but God, it's really shocked me some of the steps he's taken forward, right? Like in those, again, in those areas that he really struggled. Remember when Mike Vrabel benched him because he wasn't aggressive enough in like his

first preseason game? We've come a long way from that. So this is a big opportunity for him. Callahan's getting him a chance to run with the twos. He deserves this opportunity based on how he's played at practice, at training camp. This is going to be his best remaining chance to prove he belongs on the 53-man roster. I think they're pretty locked in with Mason Rudolph at QB2, but this is going to give him a shot to say, hey,

we should carry three teams on this 53-man roster. I belong here. This is going to be a great chance for him. Yeah, I honestly think that that's more the question. I know, at least from my comment section of my shows and stuff, I know a lot of people are rooting for Malik. I mean, you got people out there who act like Malik is better than Will Levis. You know what I mean?

So there are a lot of people out there who are in Malik's corner, but I think the reality is he's not necessarily battling for the backup quarterback spot at this point. He's battling for his roster spot with the team. Because I think there is an opportunity that the Titans could consider churning that position and maybe grabbing a third quarterback, their QB3, off someone else's cuts, you know, if there's somebody else that they were interested in.

So I think Malik definitely is fighting for that opportunity. For me, I just want to see him throw the ball. I think there were a few opportunities last week watching the tape. He could have uncorked it, and he just didn't. There's one to Jaquan Jackson over in the middle that stands out in my mind. So while there's been improvement, I like to, I guess I try to quantify things because we could just talk with words over and over, but I try to, like to put numbers on things sometimes.

If Malik Willis, say you need to be a six or a seven to be a starting quarterback in the NFL, and Malik Willis was a one or a two in his first season, he could have improved majorly and still only made it to about a four or five, which isn't maybe necessarily good enough to make the team. So I think this is, I think Brian Callahan really wants to see it here. He's betting on it.

I guess looking at his opportunity here, I'm guessing he's probably going to play maybe the whole game, like the first half. I don't know how much we'll see Mason Rudolph. I hate to put stats on it, but what kind of stat line would you want to see from Malik Wills? I mean, throw a touchdown. Don't throw an interception. You know what I mean? Maybe we can start there. Don't make any boneheaded mistakes that are going to hurt the team because when you look at his roster chances, one of the

things that I think hurts him history-wise, they never really kept three quarterbacks in Cincinnati with Brian Callahan there. And keep in mind, this past year, they started the season with Joe Burrell Hurts. He had a calf injury, and they still didn't keep three quarterbacks to start the year. So that's not great for his chances. But stat line-wise, throw his watch down, take care of the football, don't throw an interception. I don't know that he's going to get the whole game. I think we'll see Rudolph at least a little bit,

but he did at least two and a half quarters. I'm thinking Malik Willis more than one half, having at least midway through the third quarter, but looking forward to what he does out there. It's a huge opportunity for him. I'll be honest with you. With the plan for the Titans to not play many of the starters, the reality is in this game,

one of the only things that can really get people juiced up to watch it is to watch Malik Willis and just see what he does. So I agree with you. I am excited from that standpoint to see what he does. And, you know, I asked the stats and blah, blah, blah. I agree with you. Would like to see him put up points. Would like to see him not turn over the ball. But you know, like I know that really what they want to see, get the ball out on time. Don't hesitate. Don't run when you don't

have to go through your progressions and deliver. Like really, it's not a statistical expectation that we're talking about. It's just doing quarterback things. I know that seems reductive in a way way but that is kind of what we're looking for it's not necessarily the stats it's the way you behave when you have the ball and have your chances so absolutely you said it I mean yeah it's about it's oh sorry you want me to cut in or? Yeah, yeah, go ahead. Yeah. I mean, you said it, it's doing things right. Like you kind of the progressions, getting the ball out on time,

because I think he did a lot of those things really well in practice and training camp slowed down. I think a little bit for him. The progress did it. It's really about making sure those training camps are okay. Yeah, I hear you. A little bit of technical difficulties here, everybody. We're working through it cross-country. This is an international podcast now, so keep that in mind. But we talked Malik Willis. Now we've got to get into the rest of the young players on the team

that we're excited to watch because there's a lot of battles that are really, really, really important on this roster. And I think a big point that Callahan's trying to make here with not playing the starters is trying to iron out some of these end-of-the-roster battles that they they got going on. So we'll talk about some players that work, expecting to step up here, players that need to step up with this opportunity. Before we do that, though, I do want to let you guys know that

today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. GameTime is the best place to buy tickets. Also, it's summertime, so it's a perfect chance to go to a Major League Baseball game. And to buy those tickets, again, there is no better place than GameTime. They have the best features in the industry. They have all-in prices. You got to toggle it on in your settings. But once you do, I mean, that's hard to find in a ticket-buying app, quite honestly.

You also get a view from your seat as well, so you know what you're going to be looking at when you sit down, and you get the game time guaranteed, which makes sure you're going to be paying the lowest price possible. Take the guesswork out of buying MLB tickets with GameTime. Download the GameTime app,

create an account, use the code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account, redeem the code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account. Redeem the code L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-F-L for $20 off. Download GameTime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest price.

Guaranteed. Titans fans, let's continue today's preview edition of the Locked on Titans podcast. We talked about Malik Willis, our expectations, what we're looking on, what we're looking for as well. Now we want to move into the rest of the roster because there are a lot of end of the roster guys who really need to take this opportunity and run with it. Before we get into that, I do want to thank you again

for making Locked on Titans your first listen each and every day. For your second listen, check out Locked on Fantasy Football. It's that time of year, folks. You want the best draft insights. You want the best draft strategies so that you can win your league this year. Check out Locked on Fantasy Football, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. We do have a special guest on today's show.

Very happy to have Justin Mello, a fantastic follow for all Titans fans. Does great written work as well. Speaking of written work, he's got an excellent book out about Tennessee Titans history called Titans of the South. It is freaking awesome, man. I had the opportunity to skim through it, to read a couple of sections. We're going to talk about that here in just a moment, but do want to focus on some of these younger players at the end of the depth chart.

And Justin, again, try to be a gracious host here. Speaking of Titans of the South, try to have some Southern hospitality. You tell me what end of the roster players you think really need to step up here or maybe that you're expecting to step up. Well, I'm just looking for the position battles, right? At defensive tackle, that now looks different with Marlon Davidson suffering a season-ending injury. We've got guys like the

UDFA from Rutgers. Isaiah Iton is battling for a spot there. I think Keiondre Coburn, the nose in Texas, was probably going to make it anyway, but it's a bit more straightforward there for him now. Quilohana, I think, has a better chance now that Davidson is out. TK McClendon Jr. So really what's going on at D-Tackle,, I think just got more interesting. RB3, like Brian Callahan has talked about how the starters aren't going to play. That means a lot of Hassan and a lot of Julius Chestnut, I think, at running back in this game. Probably some Jabari Small as well, the UDFA from Tennessee. So the RB3 battle, I mean, they won't say this, but probably get settled on Saturday. You know, if one of them can separate from the other, you look at tight end three,

lots of guys still in the mix there with Thomas Odekoya, David Martin Robinson, and Nick Vannit, the veteran option there. And I'm also looking at edge, you know, guys like Thomas Rush, Shane Ray, they're probably going to play a lot in this game as they try to carve out roles. I'd like to see more from Jalen Harrell at edge. I mean, I can go on and on. Wide receiver, who's going to play, who's not? You know, a Kiaris Jackson, Jaquan Jackson, Mason Kinsey, Kyle Phillips, expect to see a lot of those guys as well. Yeah, no, you're 100% right. And honestly, I'll kind of just go through there. Just a few thoughts, to be honest with you. The two positions that you mentioned out of the top, they are for sure roster battles, but they make my stomach

turn. I just do not like the interior defensive line depth. Quite honestly, Keiondre Coburn was going to make this roster because he's got to babysit Tavondre Sweat. That was a big thing. Hey, we got Coburn and we got Simmons and Tavondre Sweat's locker is in between them so that they can keep him on task. And, you know, you could say babysit is too harsh of a term, but at the end of the day, they want Keiondre Coburn to be a voice in Tavondre Sweat's ear.

So that's the nice way to put it. Babysit's probably the more harsh way to put it, but to me, it's really the same thing regardless. But I don't like the interior defensive line depth on this team. That's one of the positions where I think they're weaker. So watching them play out, I think they should turn a little bit there. Right before we started recording, they're apparently working out Marvin Wilson, the former highly touted prospect from Florida State.

So maybe they bring him in. Tight end three, this is when we talked about Malik Willis, and you mentioned that Brian Callahan and the Bengals experience only kept two quarterbacks. To me, I would rather have a David Martin Robinson at tight end four than have Malik Willis at QB three. I would rather have seven wide receivers than have Malik Willis at QB three. I would rather have nine offensive linemen than have Malik Willis at QB three.

So it'll be interesting to see. That's why watching Malik this week is so interesting. But a name that I wanted to mention, you mentioned as well, Jalen Harrell. Like, I think that Rashad Weaver in year four, we know what he is now, had an okay moment in that game last weekend, but hasn't really stood out and taken the leap that you kind of hope that he could take in his fourth year. So Jalen Harrell, I think for better or for worse with this edge group in the depth, Jalen Harrell is going to be relied on to be a rotational piece for the Titans.

And I just want to see him continue to hone in on his pass rush skills. He looked good dropping in coverage last week. It looked like he had good awareness. He wasn't a fish out of water in my opinion, so I do want to see him. But a name that I really want to see a ton of is Andrew Rupsich. So I did a film breakdown on Andrew Rupsich this week, and I think that his size, being the converted tackle, he's still got good athleticism.

I think Andrew Rupsich has a real, like I think he's a lock to make this roster now. I think there's no question about it, especially with the Sadiq Charles retirement. I think Rupsch is a lock to make this roster, and I'm excited to see him because I think he could battle out and take the spot away from Dylan Radins. Maybe not week one, but at some point during the season, do you have any interest in kind of the Andrew Rupsch experience on Saturday night or any other offensive lineman

that you think could make a move? I've got a ton of interest in seeing Andrew Rupsch on Saturday night. I think the most interesting thing to me is how is it going to start, right? Because Cal has talked, okay, the starters are going to play. Well, what does that mean right is Dylan Radins a starter you know I mean like it's get to take this game oh that he deserves that kind of grace right so with Andrew so it does he play does he not play when does he play if so and how does Andrew Rupstitch factor into that equation so I got a lot of it look man I remember he was coming out of Culver Stockton baby like you know a lot of drafts he, man, I remember he was coming out of Culver Stockton, baby. Like, you know, I do a lot of draft stuff. He was on my radar coming out of there.

So I know his people really well. So I'm pumped for him. I think he's, you know, he almost made this roster last year. He just missed out, but he's back. He's battling. He's competing. And I've been saying it on Twitter. I wouldn't be shocked if we get a bit of a stutter here

when he takes the job outright. So really curious to see what happens at right guard on Saturday. Yeah, no, 100%. I think that's one of the spots where it's, I mean, most of the starter spots feel like they're kind of locked in, like we know who to expect. But that's one spot that still feels very, very open. So will be interesting to see.

Do want to ask you this question, put you on the spot here. Out of the three young linebackers, now hopefully we get, you know, Cedric Gray back out there. Will he play? We'll see. But Cedric Gray, James Williams, Otis Reese, out of those three linebackers, if one of them could take a major leap, who would you want it to be? Who do you think it would be? Well, I guess I would want it to be Cedric Gray because they've got the most invested in him, right? Like they'd probably answer that way too

because you use a fourth. It's not a ton of investment, but you use the fourth into the other guys are a more yeah picks in the drafts will he be the one they'd like to see us from if i had to pick who it's going to be though i'm going with now we all know how how well he played down the stretch of last season. And then, you know, we didn't hear a lot from him in camp, but now the pads come on. He was pretty damn good against San Francisco in last weekend's preseason game.

He popped a little bit during joint practices. I think Otis Reese is the one that's most capable of taking that step this year James Williams super high upside he looked good I know you know that he looked good when he came in last week against San Fran James did but uh but let's see him a ton against Seattle uh on Saturday in my opinion so James Williams will be a good one to watch yeah 100%, 100%. And it's funny that you say his name there because that's a perfect segue for me because that's who I would want to take the leap. Look, I know Cedric Gray is the fourth round pick.

I know they have more invested. It's not a ton, but more. But James Williams, I think if you saw the best version of Cedric Gray and the best possible version of James Williams, the version of James Williams is better. I just think he's got like more natural ability. He was just more of a raw project converted from safety. I think James Williams just natural build and natural skills and his skill set as a

player, although less refined than Cedric Gray. I think it's like, you know, if they both reach their max capacity, best potential version, I think James Williams would actually be the better player. It's just it's less likely that James Williams will get there compared to Cedric Gray. But yeah, that is something that I'm watching for. But you're 100% right on all those. Good discussion. Good young players.

Now, Justin, we got to talk about this excellent book that you put out. So we're going to get into that now. Before we do, though, do want to let you guys know that today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. When you're hiring for your small business, you want to find quality professionals that are right for the role. That's why you have to check out LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs helps you have the tools to find the right professionals for your team faster and for free. LinkedIn isn't just another job board, okay? LinkedIn helps you hire professionals.

You can't find anywhere else, even those who aren't actively searching for a new job but might be open to the perfect role. In a given month, over 70% of LinkedIn users don't visit other leading job sites. So if you aren't looking on LinkedIn, well, you're looking in the wrong place. On LinkedIn, 86% of small businesses get a qualified candidate within 24 hours. So hire professionals like a professional on LinkedIn. It's why 2.5 million small businesses

use LinkedIn for hiring. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions do apply. Titans fans, let's cap off today's preview edition of the Locked on Titans podcast, taking a look at Titans Saturday night preseason game number two against the Seattle Seahawks. We talked about Malik Willis,

talked about some other young players that we would like to see step up in some of the other position battles that are going on. Now I do want to take the opportunity to talk about something that's really, really cool, and it's a book that Justin has put together. It's called Titans of the South. Now before we get into it, I do want to thank you again for making the Locked on Titans podcast your first listen each and every day. For your second listen, again, check out Locked on Fantasy Football.

It's that time of year. You guys got fantasy drafts lined up. I know I got a couple here in the next few weeks. And if you want to win your league, you need the best fantasy insights. You need the best fantasy draft strategies. And you're going to get that on Locked On Fantasy Football. The link to that podcast is down in the description.

So you don't even got to search. It's Locked On Fantasy Football, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. So Justin, I was lucky enough for you to send me an advanced copy of the book. I had a great time looking through it this week. I spent a little bit of time in doctor's offices and different places and stuff like that. And it gave me a lot of time to do some reading. So just to give my audience a little quick rundown, basically it is a complete history of the Tennessee Titans. Like every year, I love how you put the depth charts in there. There's great visuals. There's good pictures

that you added in. And Justin, I got to say, it's not just every season. I like how you had special sections about the cool things that have happened. Like, you know, Chris Johnson's run to 2K. Eddie George's run to 2K. Like, you had cool, the Music City miracle, of course. Of course, like, some of the coolest moments that deserve their own recognition, not just, hey, in the 1999 season, the Titans pulled off the Music City. No.

Like, it gets its own kind of spot to live and breathe. So I love everything that you've done here. It looks like a ton of work. I guess from your own words, the words of the author, what was kind of your favorite part about putting this book together? Wow. You know, I think it was really diving into the history of the franchise because uh you know full disclosure i'm 34 years old and i had to cover 63 seasons in franchise history so i had to go way back to 1960 1961 and figure everything out and's funny, like I'll tell a story I haven't told anyone. When I decided, or when I thought I decided I was going to do it, I think I needed one final vote of confidence that my heart was in the right place.

So I picked up the phone and I called Jim Wyatt and I said, Jim, I've got this opportunity, like this has come across my desk. I think I gonna do it but you know you're someone you've covered the team forever essentially right literally yeah I mean since it's been in Tennessee obviously how do you and this it gave me a quiet offense he said the way to do it and I didn't cut him off but I said I think the best way to do it is start the beginning immerse myself in 1960. Everything else matters. We start 1960, immerse myself in every year, every year, and then move on to the next. Exactly it. You got to start at the beginning. You got to not care about 1997 until you get to 1997, right? You start at the beginning, you immerse yourself, enrich yourself with the

culture and go from there. So that's what I did. You know, time management, research put together. So I think my favorite part about it was honestly learning more about the franchise that I love. Yeah. Well, honestly, that's my favorite part of reading it because Justin, like you said, we're about the same age. I'm 33. I mean, you're an old man at 34. You know, I'm a young 33-year-old. So all jokes aside, like we're about the same age. And I'll be honest with you, even since I've been alive, like when I started following the team when I was eight, nine years old,

like I'm eight and nine years old. I'm 10 years old. And I'm from Ohio. And I know, you know, you're from Canada. So it's like, I didn't get to watch the Titans locally. My family didn't have money for NFL Sunday ticket. The only way I got to watch the Titans game on a Sunday when I was 11 years old is if I went to a buddy's house and his family had Sunday ticket and then they're Bengals fans. They don't want

to watch the Titans game. So I'm like, can you click over during the commercial? Can you know? So like, I never really got to like focus on the Titans in the way that I wanted to until I got to be an adult and I had my own money and resources to watch the team and do that. So this was a great way. It's like, I remember those seasons and I remember watching the highlights and I remember knowing the team and playing Madden and knowing the guys and all that. But like a lot of it, you know, you forget or you just never knew the true story. I, we all at this age taken the season way different than we did when we were kids. It's just totally different. So getting to go back through those seasons,

even the seasons that I saw and were experiencing, it just gave a whole new kind of breadth of information to it. And I, like you say just learning about everything to me the best part is just learning about everything with reading it um is there anything in the book any I know like that was your favorite part in general but is there any like one moment or one season or anything that really captivated you you 1978 if there's a year I had to choose that obviously I wasn't familiar with I wasn't even alive yet I wasn't following the team I think 1978 was really interesting because that they sucked near rather like after the AFL years, right?

Well, in 78, what does Bum Phillips do? He acquires the number one overall pick in the draft. I think he gave up four or five picks now, if I remember correctly, and a player. And he goes get Earl Campbell, right? Like he gets Earl Campbell, who goes on to rush for like almost 1,500 yards. He's named like a PFWA MVP, Offensive Rookie of the Year. I think AFC Player of the Year it was.

They go to the – like they win a ton of games. Playoffs for the first time, AFL merger. 1978 was, I think, really, really cool. Really, really cool. So that's a year that really, really stood out to me. I mean, you got legends like Bum Phillips and obviously Earl Campbell. Honestly, I think 70 to this day, I think best season in franchise history. I know they won in 60 and 61. And of course, 99 for me, nothing's top 99 yet, but 78's right up there, man. I had such a blast writing the chapter on 1978.

Yeah, that's awesome. And see, that's the kind of stuff that nobody's pulling out right now, which makes the book such kind of a unique piece for Titans fan to have. If you're a Titans fan and you care about the history, you absolutely have to have this. So I guess, Justin, last thing,

just tell people where they can get the book, any other information that you want to give to people. And of course you could tell them where, where to find your work. So the book is available for pre-order right now, everywhere books are sold. I mean, so if you get your books from Amazon, if you get your books, Barnes and Noble, wherever you shop for your books, you're going to be able to find Titans of the South at least for a local online order free shipping to your house, your store, your local store whatever it is, you're going to find Titans of the South

it's been really humbling and cool so far, we've sold copies already in Brazil, Spain France, the UK, New Zealand I think China we sold copies of so it's like anything I can do on my part

to bring this Titans community together, it's been amazing. I've had parents reach out to, who are our age, by the way, Tyler. I've had parents who are old men like us and moms reach out and say, hey, I bought my son the book because I want this to help foster his love

of the franchise. You know what I mean? And I'm like, wow, I wish I had something like that when I was that age, right? So it's like, I'm just so grateful. I'm so humbled. It's coming out in a couple of weeks. It's not out yet, but it is available for pre-order.

It's coming out early September. Get your pre-order now. You ensure that you'll get it as quickly as you can. You'll be the first. I've sent out a ton of digital copies to media like yourself. The feedback has been overwhelming. You know, I've heard from so many incredible people in this market that are so pleased with the book.

Jim Wyatt, by the way, I mentioned how much I leaned on him for his advice early on. He actually wrote the foreword for the book. I was so honored that you probably saw it. There's like a whole page of Jim Wyatt endorsing the book and talking about his experience covering science. It's like a whole page of Jim Wyatt endorsing the book and talking about his experience covering. It's like one of the first pages in the book. So I was so

honored to get that stamp of approval before I did that by the, before Jim agreed to do that. And I don't blame him by the way, he said, can I see what 1999 looks like? So I sent him the copy of 1999 before he wrote the four. He wanted to make sure i was on the right track and i don't blame him you're not going to put your name on something that's right right and when he read 1999 he said wow this is look i can't i can see how this is coming together and this is really good stuff so i'm so excited to get uh for everyone to get their hands on it it's been about two years uh i don't have to ask anything i really don. So when I agreed to take this project on, it was two years of my life.

63 seasons summarized, full color photography. Yep. You're going to see beautiful photos of my early 60s. Like, I'm really, really proud of how it came together. Yeah, it's really excellent. And I'll be honest with you, Justin, you may have sent me a digital copy,

but I'm still going to purchase the book in its, you know, physical form as well because, you know, you deserve the support for the work that you put in and how well you did it. But that is Justin Mello, folks. Again, you can find his written work, Music City Miracles,

but Titan Size is better. Sorry, Justin, it's personal. Also, Music City Miracles, but Titan Size is better. Sorry, Justin. It's personal. Also, Music City Audible does work for the Draft Network. I mean, nobody in the football writing business does better pre-draft interviews with the prospects and stuff than Justin does. So thank you so much for coming on, Justin. Again, guys, check out his book, Titans of the South.

Really a must- have for Titans fans. And with that being said, that's going to do it for me today folks. As always I am your host Tyler Rowland here with my guest Justin Mello and this was Locked on Titans.