The Bobby Bones Show - 25W: Most Memorable Conversations from 2025 PT1

Episode Date: December 25, 2025

We’re doing a special episode highlighting some of the best interviews we had all year—moments you may have missed, plus a few that are worth a second listen. This collection features Heisman runner-up Diego Pavia, Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire, Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck, and longtime Tennessee basketball coach Rick Barnes. Across these conversations, we get into what it takes to build a program, lead a locker room, handle pressure, and keep a team’s identity when expectations are high. It’s a quick-hit tour through four very different voices in sports, with stories, lessons, and a few behind-the-scenes details that stood out most from the year.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. The 2026 NFL draft is here, and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, and Jordan Rodriguez after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks.

Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the IHard. Art Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media.

Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest.

The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galco, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or

wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slice of Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist, they take matters into their own hands. I vowed.

I will be his last target. is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves. We always say that trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In 2023, Bachelor star Clayton Eckerd was accused of fathering twins.

But the pregnancy appeared to be a hoax. You doctored this particular test twice, Ms. Owens, correct? I doctored the test once. It took an army of internet detectives to uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Greg Gillespie and Michael Rancini. My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young.

This is Love Trapped. Laura, Scottsdale Police. As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. We've had some awesome guests sit down with us on the podcast this year. So I want to look back at some of our favorite interviews that maybe you missed. First up, head coach of the number four seed in this year's college football playoff, Joey McGuire from Texas Tech.

Tech's 12 and 1 on the year. They won the Big 12. Coach McGuire put his name up there with the best up and coming coaches in the country. He just signed a new seven-year contract extension with Tech. So big congrats to him. And man, they're awesome. Here he is. Coach Joey McGuire.

Let us welcome one of my favorite coaches. he's now the hunter. The hunted is turned into the hunter. Coach McGuire, what's up, oh, yeah. And what's up, brother? So good to see you

and be on your show. I appreciate it, man. Where on the priority list is it for you to make sure your guys have maybe an advantage or are just ready to take a shot at the NFL? It's high.

You know, we talk about it all the time. You know, number one, you're coming here to get a great education. And 1B, you're preparing yourself to be a pro. Now, we talk about being a pro, like being a great dad, being a great husband. You know, I mean, you're a pro at what you do. But these guys that we have on this team, there's a lot of them that have the ability

and athletic and mindset to be in the NFL. So we want to make sure we're preparing them for that. You walk into our team meetings. Everybody's going to have a notebook. Everybody's taking notes. Everybody's locked in. You teach them how to watch film, watch an action. film. One of my big deals that I talk about, excuse me, every single day, is taking care of your

body because you and I both know there's a lot of guys in the NFL that are still in the NFL because they can stay healthy. And there's a lot of guys that have been cut over the history of the NFL because they can't stay healthy. And they might be better than one guy, but they just can't stay healthy. So we spend a lot of time with that. Are you all football all the time even when it's not your football? Yeah, I love it. I'm heat up with it. You know, especially college football. I love watching. It's just the pageantry and, you know, it's almost like a movie at different stadiums. And, you know, it's, I'm heat up with it. You know, I'll watch a little bit of pros. Pro wise, I'm trying to watch our guys. Anybody was playing, you know, I'll tune in and watch a couple of, you know, have it in the background while I'm watching film.

But, yeah, I don't have a lot of hobbies. You know, it's hanging out with my dog. get my wife and watch a football ball. Is it different every year what the players do as leaders? You have some years where you just trust your captains to actually have meetings with the team and some maybe your captains aren't as established. Is it based on who the captains are every year? 100%. You know, we've got a really strong group.

Three of my captains are back. I had five captains last year. Three of them returned, Baron Morton, Jacob Rodriguez and Bronsonarez. But one thing that we did, there were some really strong alpha males that came in. And they had big voices. They had been captains at their previous schools. And so we wanted to make sure they had a voice. And so like a guy like Scholar Gil Howard has been huge for us.

And so this is a player-led team. You know, I can send out one text to my leadership group. Whatever that text says, it's going to get taken care of. Next up is the runner-up in this year's Heisman trophy race, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia. Diego became Vandy's first ever Heisman finalist, led Vanderbilt to their first 10-win season in program history, had 36 total touchdowns and had over 4,000 total yards.

The crazy part is when we had Diego in studio before the season, he said, hey, I want to win the Heisman. And we didn't like, oh, yeah, right, but it was like, okay, but he did it. Congrats to Diego on a great season. Here he is. Good to see. Thanks for spending some time with us. Appreciate you, Bob. Thank you for having me. We were talking to Coach Lee last year, and he was talking about, you know, it's hard to get into Vanderbilt. Oh, yeah. And to recruit players, it's got to be a special type of

player. I didn't realize that you, it sounds like juniors and seniors can't transfer in. You have to have graduated to come in. So that puts a lot of stress on you then at school, right? Like to get all that done? For sure. I mean, I was taking 21 credits. I was still working out, you know, two, three times a day, still going to practice, watching them practice. But it was all online, so that was cool. Whenever I tried to do like online, when I got a ticket, I spent way less time invested in being on it. Because it was like easily available,

so I did terrible at taking like driver's ed online. Yeah? Yeah. So I feel like if I took online classes, I would not pay attention. Well, you should have just typed it into chat, GBT. What you got to do? That's true.

Yeah, different times. Not saying I do that, not saying I do that. I just know a few students. What's Vandy like to go to class? I'm assuming you're going to class. Oh, yeah. You meet a lot of interesting kids at class that want to like basically own the world, you know, or someone like, their parents are just really interesting or

they just tell you their background. And that's what I like doing. I like learning about people and then building relationships like that. And so I met a few people, just like in the hallways and stuff who are just interesting. You know, their parents or something are high up or they're from Nashville. They own some like real estate. But I really like the students at Vanderbilt. Can you go online classes now? So I have an all online major right now. Oh yeah, that's awesome. So I'm really bought into football.

Yeah. Did they make sure, do most guys do that? No, actually, not from Vanderbilt. Really? We got a lot of smart kids on our roster. That's what makes us elite. Yeah. You know?

Why did you choose Vanderbilt? Well, I chose it because at New Mexico State, my head coach, offensive coordinator, safety's coach, quarterback coach, let me think who else, running back coach. They took, Vanderpicked up about six or seven of our coaches,

and then they took like four of our players, and then so I was like, shoot, I might as well join them, you know? And then once Coach Kill really went to Vanderbilt, that's when I was like, okay, I'm bought in. Whenever you come over, or you're thinking about coming over, are they like, hey, Diego, there's a good shot you can play, or is it just you just believe in yourself and go,

really knowing, I guess not knowing, not how to say it, but not really having an understanding of where you're going to fit in the death chart. Well, there was a quarterback battle going in. I kind of scouted that going into it, but the starter had just left. So I knew the spot was open and there wasn't going to be no favoritism or anything like that. And all I asked for going in is, because I know there's a lot of politics in the SEC and like these big conferences. So I told them, I'll come if you promise me that it's a 50-50 shot and the better person will play. So you didn't even ask for the guarantee to start. You just wanted a fair shot to win the job.

I just wanted a fair shot to win the job. What was the scheme difference offensively from New Mexico to here? Same thing. Because the coaches came. A lot of it were running the same terminology and everything. Same terminology. There was a little bit of a twist because of our offensive line coach. He coached like Lamar Jackson at Louisville.

And so we took a slight little twist with that. And so I had to learn a little bit. But it wasn't too much learning that I had to do. Did you feel that when you came in, you were equal to the guy immediately, and I don't know who you were in the quarterback battle with. Did you guys start at the same place, or did you come in a little behind and you had to catch up? I would say I was probably ahead just because I was at New Mexico State for a year and a half with the offensive coordinator and stuff. So you knew what he was saying, what you were expected to do.

And I was in the background, so I would go watch practice every single day in the spring because I couldn't practice. and like on seven on seven and in team reps I would take my drop back when he said hike I would take my drop back I'd go through my reeds and I'd fake throw the ball before like the quarterback would do it so it's like being on the on deck circle

and timing pitches you're there taking cuts just you know timing it just mental reps what are you like in the huddle? I'm a I'm real serious in the huddle like once it's business once that clock starts it's all business from there on out

and then I try to just get everyone prep, give everyone confidence to go into the next play and just succeed. If someone misses a block or something, you know, I'm smacking him on his ass and just tell him, hey, you got it. Why do your guys believe in you? I think they just see that, you know, I'm not going to go out without a fight. Like, I want to win more than anything else in life. Like, this is all I know. All I know is football. Without football, I don't know what I would do. Do you like before a game to be extremely hype or because we've had other guys come in like m may fighters they don't want to be hyped they want to have good adrenaline but they don't want to be hype because then they don't

react and think the same they want to be as calm as possible where are you before the game starts oh i'm hyped um i'm jumping up and down i'm ready to go you know and then sometimes what's kind of like embarrassing though is sometimes when your energy is too high and then you're just like starting to come down and focus you'll catch like these yawns that are like really kind of embarrassing and you don't want no one to see it, so you're like hitting like one of these or something like that. What are the facilities like at Vanderbilt, and I would like for you to walk back to both schools? Because I would assume each time was a big come-up, and it felt different. So coming from Juko, we worked out in a tent.

Literally, it was squat racks. Like if you walked out on concrete and you were working out in the parking lot, we just put squat racks on them, and it was a dome kind of, kind of like Arizona State's indoor, but it was just concrete and we just, we squatted in there, we benched in there, and then- It sounds like prison, I'll be honest with it. That's kind of what it sounds like, the prison yard with like a little tent over the top of it. Right, right, it was a military school, and the only way that you were able to get

like an extra workout in is they had like the pull-up bars, the dip bars. And so at Mimmy, you really couldn't be up at a certain time. and I would like sneak out of my room 4.30 in the morning and I'm like trying to like creep on the wall so no one would see me. And I would go and like work out from like probably like probably get there at 445, workout until about 6. And then I had or like 530 and then come back, take quick shower and be in formation by like 545. Because it was a military institute. Yeah. And then when when I went to New Mexico State, it was like, oh my God, this is heaven, you know.

And obviously, you know, they. They had a really, actually, a really good weight room there, but there was, like, no indoor, no grass field. And then I come to Vanderbilt, and I'm like, they're serving steak every single day, chicken every single day. I'm like, what, like, what's going on, you know? The nutrition's a big difference. Oh, the biggest difference for sure.

And so you can get whatever food you want whenever? Yeah, shrimp. There's sometimes lobsters. That's what I was, I had the same face. That's crazy. Yeah, no. And then the desserts are great, too. So they just have like chefs, cooks, always cooking food?

Always cooking food. Oh, dude, they have like a thing from this wall to this wall filled with, what's your favorite snack? I mean, I love a lot of fruits. I love a lot of cookies. So I'm a big fruit and cookies got probably. Yeah, they got that. Yeah. They got gushers.

What's those climb bars or something? And those are any time. One of the morning, eight in the morning. Eight, yeah, all day. Dude, they wouldn't have anything left, but we were there. Dude, I know. We can't even have a break room here. Oh, you should have saw my sister.

So my sister came down. Well, we took her in New Mexico State. Obviously, there was like just bagels and stuff. We go over here. She asked for a bag and she's like walking around, make sure no one looks, just like putting snacks in the bag. We went to Auburn and worked out with the basketball team. That's what we did in the room.

Yeah, dude. They had like a trail mix with M&Ms. That's the high stuff. Oh, yeah, those are fire. Yeah, so we took those. And we were like putting them in our bag so like I understand what your sister was doing. Yeah. No, the stuff's expensive too.

Unlimited anything is awesome. Oh yeah. I remember I asked for like a protein shake and they took me to the back and there was like stacked to the top like it was Costco, you know? And I remember I took like a protein box just home and I was like, I'm the man. I would feel the same way. Yeah. What was your greatest high school game?

Oh, shoot. So junior year I had to actually play JV because of the transfer rule. And I would say I probably had maybe six touchdowns in the half. And then I just sat off like the rest of the day. So they made you had to play JV and then you just dominated. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah.

I played freshman I played varsity. Sophomore year I played varsity. And then my junior year I transferred and they made me sit down and play JV. The whole year? Yeah, the whole year. Was that boring? Oh, it was bad. You know, like, it was, there was like a crazy play.

I was playing running back, receiver. I would just, like, told me, hey, just throw me the ball real quick. And, like, we had this other kid who played quarterback, too. And if they drew up the route for him, I would like, hey, switch, you play quarterback real quick. And I would run the route, you know? And so I would run the route. But there was one time, like, I took a hand off. and I'm running up the left side.

I curve it back to midway and then like some kid face masks me. I come back and score a touchdown. And that was the day I had like six touchdowns and a half. And so I just like sat on the sideline. And it got really boring. I wish I was able to play varsity.

Maybe that affected why I didn't get any offers. But I'm also from New Mexico, you know. How was your senior year then? Oh, I ended up getting hurt the first game and I had to sit out for like six games. But we were 11. and one, and we lost in the playoffs like 49 and 56. So you miss your whole junior year. Well, miss it. You had to play junior varsity,

and then you missed a big part of your senior year because of injury? Yeah. So is that why you didn't get the offers, at least any Division I offers? No, I felt like, because towards the end I was still playing football and I was still playing really good. Were you playing quarterback? Yeah. And no, I don't think just no one wanted 510, 5-11 quarterback. They didn't believe in me. So why did you choose to go to, what did you, how'd you call it? New Mexico military. Nimi.

NIMI, yeah. Why did you choose NIME? Oh, my brother chose it for me, really. I was thinking about maybe walking on to like a powerhouse, maybe like Oklahoma. Obviously, Baker Mayfield was a walk-on. Twice. Tech and Oklahoma. Exactly.

And so I was thinking of doing like maybe one of those. And it was like literally a week before. And then the NIME offensive coordinator, coach. Kaiser came into my school and was like, hey, you need to come to Nimi. Like, this is, it'll work out well for you. We've had five Division I quarterbacks in three years. It'll be great. Like, you'll have a great opportunity.

So we kind of, and that was when that Netflix show, last chance you came out. And so Juko was big at the time and everyone was taking looks at it. So I was thinking just, all right, I'm going to go Juko for a year. And then I'll transfer D1. And then so went Juko. went six and four, and then we went to the next year,

we went to the National Championship, won the National Championship, and then that's why I ended up at New Mexico State. Did you start to get other offers other than New Mexico State? Oh, I had, I'll tell you when the offers came in, so I switched my Twitter. Twitter has all the offers.

Like, that's how you get offered nowadays. And on my Twitter, I said I'm from Albuquerque, New Mexico. I changed it to Tampa, Florida. And then once I changed it, literally a week after, I started getting offers and started talking to schools. It was crazy. Because you said you're a Florida player and they just respected the Florida players more?

I guess. That's how it works, you know? Are you sure they just didn't get put on to you? No, I'm sitting. I don't know. But once I switched it, it was like, oh, now these coaches want to talk to me, you know? You were a three star? No, I was a no star.

I was a negative star. What sports did you play? I wrestled and played football. You're a negative star. Okay. I was just saying. Is that a real thing? That's what they have me ranked as.

You wrestled? Wrestled, played football, and then I played baseball for two years. Which sport were you the best at? People thought I was the best at wrestling. But I believed that I just loved football so much. You love football more. Yeah, way more. Could you have wrestled in college?

Yeah. Could you play baseball in college? If I would have worked at it, yeah. What coaches have the most impact on your career? Jerry Q. Why? What's special about him? He's hard hat.

He's just different. Like, you just talk to him, and he just realizes that you realize that he would never, he's never lied to me. Even at New Mexico State, I was going through a bad time because I wasn't in the starting lineup. We were one in five, and it just sucked being one of five. Like, losing just is just terrible. And I was like, hey, like, I want to help the team.

I want to come back. I want to go to a bowl game. Like, how can I step on the field again? And he told me just, you know, stop turning the ball over, get better in my reads. And literally, once I stopped turning the ball over and got better my reads, he He pulled me back in the started lineup. And he told the people over there, hey, play this kid, you know? Just let him be.

Just let him play. And so once that happened, he gave me another chance. It was last off to the moon. But I respect Coach Killed because he's never lied to me. There have been times where if I were playing a celebrity golf tournament, we're playing a big course that I can play as a video game, I'll get on and play the video game. Or I have a simulator in my house, or I get on and look at the course.

Yeah, yeah. Do you get on, can you get on college football? Or do you have that, like, that Jane Daniels was famous for even doing stuff in the simulator. Do you have any, do you have the ability to do that at all? Like, look ahead. Oh, well, we watch film like, uh, so say we play Kentucky. We've watched film already in the Kentucky stadium, but you don't realize what it is until you actually play in that environment. What do you mean in the stadium? Like once you're in it, once you're there. Like sometimes like Auburn's debt perception is kind of different than Kentucky's because it just like goes up higher

and stuff on the, on the walls. But. So, hold, I don't know what you're saying on the walls. Like, like, they digitally put a room around you? No, no, no, no. Like, this is like when you step into the arena. Okay, in real life. In real life. Okay, yeah, yeah.

Auburn holds like 104,000 Kentucky doesn't hold as much. Sure. I don't know how much they hold. But it's like a whole extra layer, you know, that goes up. So, like, the debt perception is a little bit off. Could you play college football 26, though, and diagnose, like, look at coverages they're putting in and go, okay, what would I do here? What would I do there? Yeah.

Have you played with yourself? I've only got to play once, and that was at the media days. Can you call every defense, though? Even if you're not good with your fingers on the sticks, could you go, okay, they're going to blitz safety. You know, number two, obviously, so we'll look at the hook here. Yeah, I always do that. But sometimes it's, the video game's different than real life.

And so that's why sometimes it's kind of cracked. But I also like to mess around on the video game, just throw one-on-one jump balls to Eli. Well, that's what you guys are doing in JV. chunk in balls. I tried to get him to widen me out how Cam Newton did at Auburn. But Eli's like, man, I ain't throwing a jump ball to no five-nine Mexican. What quarterback do you watch or did you watch as a kid that inspired you?

Johnny Mansell. He was cold. That guy is just a different athlete. Has he reached out to you at all? We talked a few times. He's a real cool dude. He's a real cool dude. just when I watch this tape too he's just he's wired different that's what I really like about him

what do you do right after a game for your body oh shoot I usually just relax um let me think that's a good question you ever getting that like the chamber the cold thing that cryo oh the chiro therapy yeah no we don't have one of those at vanderbilt I probably I just go in the next day they have treatment like at eight in the morning so I always go into there and just I'm big on my legs, just making sure those are healthy, because my arm's always going to come with it. After this season, NFL aspirations? For sure. I mean, they can't tell the Heism winner that he can't get drafted, you know?

They can't, and it's also, you know, there have been other 5, 10, 5, 11 quarterbacks. Right. That have gotten drafted. And have played well. Exactly. Yeah. I haven't, I actually know more quarterbacks over 6'1 who have played. I guess less not as good

than people under six foot. With Coach Lee being such a defensive guy, do you spend much time with him? Oh yeah, I ask him a lot of questions about the defense. He's like thinking about different types of ways. Like we see NFL coverages all day and like they'll get to a cover two doing some weird stuff and it's like,

how are you doing that? That's not even a true cover. It looks like cover three, you know? But that's how. is just way different. Just a lot of third and long stuff that they get to. Eddie, you have a final question? No, man, it's just awesome having you here. I mean, my favorite was watching you in New Mexico

because that was like late for us. Right. You know, so like after I lost all my bets of the day, I'm like, all right, New Mexico. Let's go, Diego. So, dude, it's really cool having you here. That's funny because those are the games we watch after Central Time Zone, after all of our games,

Eastern and Central Go. We're watching like Oregon State, New Mexico. It's our last chance. You guys are playing later, so we can watch those games later. I remember at New Mexico State, we were like 9 and 3 against a spread or something like that. That's pretty. Eddie, you should know that. That's why he was watching. Diego, good to see you, man.

Really appreciate the time. Well, I appreciate you guys having me. The 2026 NFL draft is here and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles. Join me, Greg Rosenthal and Jordan Roderig after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

you get your podcast. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined.

And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment.

And the next, we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galko, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects, from hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode.

Listen to the Sports Slice Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. There's two golden rules that any man should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that, trust your girlfriends.

I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the girlfriends, Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no.

I vowed. I will be his last target. He's going to get what he deserves. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Ago Wadam.

My next guest, you know from Stepbrothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live and the Big Money Players Network. It's Will Ferrell. Woo! Woo! Woo! Dad gave me the best advice ever. I went and had lunch with him one day.

And I was like, and Dad, I think I want to really give this a shot. I don't know what that means, but I just know the groundlings. I'm working my way up through and I know it's a place that come look for up and coming talent. He said, if it was based solely on talent, I wouldn't worry about you, which is really sweet. Yeah. He goes, but there's so much luck involved. And he's like, just give it a shot. He goes, but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't

feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat, just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right, it wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Yeah. Listen to Thanks Dad on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Now let's get over to Minnesota head football coach PJ Fleck. Coach Fleck has been leading the gopher since 2017, known for his high energy and row the boat phrase. Coach holds the school record for most bowl wins, his head coach with six,

and he hopes to extend that this week when they play New Mexico in the 2025 rate bowl. Good luck to coach and his team. Here he is. Coach, PJ Fleg. What up, Coach? Bobby Bones, what's up, man? There's a lot of things that I do now

in the different jobs that I have where I can use AI. Have we got to the point now where you can just stick other teams in AI and to see what their tendencies are through a computer program? You can. And I think that we have been doing that for years.

We've been doing that in a very different way, though. The analytics have been around for a while, but AI is taking it to a completely different level, in my opinion. But there's still a human element of football. Remember, our product is people. Apple's product is the iPhone, the iPad, the earbuds, and, you know, like, that's the product. When you're dealing in a world where the product is 18 to 22-year-olds, there's still a sense of the human part of it.

So yes, like going forward on fourth and one and having analytics on this and that and what's the book say on this and what's the AI say on that, which is fine if it was all robots going out there and playing. These are human beings. So there's still that human element.

There's injuries. What does your team really do well? What do they not do well? The type of opponent you're playing. What injuries do they have? I mean, it's crazy. It is the most unpredictable sport, I think, in the entire.

entire world. Have you been to a concert lately at all, Coach? Yes. Love concerts. Love concerts. What'd you go to? Well, we've been to a few concerts. We went to, we took the staff last year to Bruce Springsteen. I'm a big fan of Bruce. We went to, we went to a small concert for the TB1F Foundation, which is a great friend of ours. She's a, she's a teenage girl, has cancer, and unfortunately just got it for the third time. But she had like Graham Barham in and got to spend some time around Graham Barham, who I thought was absolutely awesome, you know, having that, that oil

money song. And I'm a big country music fan. Luke Combs, Riley Green. I got to see those guys. Oh, gosh. Last one. Kenny Chesney in the sphere. Did you go?

How would I forget that? Unbelievable. In fact, went to the show, not necessarily with, but met up with Matt Rule, the head coach from Nebraska, UNLV, Dan Mullen, the head coach there. And we were all at the show kind of together, got to be around Kenny a little bit. He was so gracious. Matt Ruhl is friends with the guy. Dan Mullen's friends with the guy.

I'm not friends with him. So I was starstruck, man. I was like, hey, I met you outside this Malibu Hotel like five years ago. And I was like fangirling, man. It was crazy. I know Kenny relatively well. And he invited me out a couple times and I didn't go. And I was like, I've seen Kenny before.

But that's Fier's show. Is it pretty special just that venue? It is the greatest entertainment spectacle, I think, in the world. I've seen Lae Miz in London. I've done a lot of things what people say you have to see this show. I love concerts. I go to a lot of concerts.

By far the greatest thing I've ever seen. You're immersed in the experience. I don't think I've had. And we where we were sitting was perfect. But I don't even remember looking at Kenny Chesney or the stage. Like it's the only concert I've ever been to where I never looked at the stage. You're immersed in this feeling and experience of what. Kenny Chesney is all about.

The feeling he wants you to feel, you feel it. I mean, it hits your heart, your soul. It's unbelievable. I mean, I've never been, and Heather and I love Vegas, so it's great. But this fear is unbelievable. And Kenny put on such a live show. What an entertainer. All right, there he is.

Coach Fleck, good to see you, Coach. Big fan of you, Bobby. Thank you very much for having us on the show. Thanks, coach. See you later. Let's change the sport for the final interview of this episode and our talk with Tennessee Head Basketball Coach, Rick Barnes. Coach Barnes spent a decade at Tennessee, turning them into a consistent contender in college basketball. He built his name up with the Longhorns, where he coached Kevin Durant.

We talk about that. He just signed a lifetime contract with Tennessee. Here he is. Coach, Rick Barnes. Hey, coach, I was doing a little intel on you. I don't want to put my person out, but I have a very close friend that is an SEC official, and I said, I want to read you a quote from him. I said, And this is a very close friend of mine who will come to the house here sometimes in Nashville. And it doesn't live here, though. I said, what's up with Rick Barnes? What kind of guy is he?

Because he'll tell me, because some coaches, coach, he's like, I ain't good. He said, tremendous man on and off the court. And I said, I'm about to talk with him. And he said, Rick and I have a great relationship. And so that's from somebody very close. So now that I know you're a tremendous man, I'm so excited to talk to you. Well, I appreciate it. Good to be with you. I was living in Austin almost the whole time that you were there and then moved to Tennessee, basically when you moved to Tennessee.

Some would say you'd chase me. That's fine. That's fine. Coach, you can chase me if you want. That's all good. But what's the real UT? Well, you know what? When I first got here, I don't think, I bet you for two or three years when I would go out and meet and speak, everybody says, welcome to the real UT. And obviously, their line was. You know what the line was? or would not be at Texas if it wasn't for Tennessee. And so I got to go to the University of Tennessee. Whenever you leave a school that's color, because you're in two distinct,

you went from one very distinct. I mean, even at Clemson, distinct colors of the version of the color, do you, all your burn orange stuff, does it go away, like there's that fire sale, and then it's all now the Tennessee orange?

Oh yeah, yeah. Once I, you know, the color is shamed. change people that you know that are there that you were close to you. I've always said, hey, come get what you want. It's all here. Getting ready to get a new wardrobe. A ties and everything. Yeah, you got to think it's not even just like the stuff with the logos on it. Like ties, hats, everything you have. Like all things must go. So what you guys at Tennessee have been, it's an awesome experience. Like you guys have a great game day atmosphere. Now I've been there

and I've lost. I'm an Arkansas guy. You guys pounded it. It was terrible. It was miserable experience. but I respected how passionate and how loud those fans were. Do you feel when you came in that you have amplified the basketball culture there, you and your staff, I feel that way as outside looking in. And where do you guys, what do you kind of rank you guys SEC-wise as far as like arenas? Well, you know, I will say this on that. People tell me all the time just how hard it was to be. play in Stokely Athletic Center back when before they moved in the food, which is now the

Foo Sini Center. They, our fan base here is incredible. I mean, you think about it, we're the only programs in the country that sell out, you know, women softball, baseball, football, and basketball. And I can tell you this. We've had people tell us that they think this is as hard a place to play as there anywhere in the country. I can say the same thing about what you're talking about.

You're an Arkansas fan. Walton Arena is a tough place to play when that thing's cooking now. It is. That ceilings low. That is, we sit around a lot and we talk about Justin Ganey and I, and people ask me the question all the time in my lifetime. The hardest arenas,

the loudest arenas to play in. I've always said the loudest arena ever in my coaching career was the old Gallagher Abba arena before they raised the roof on. it. That thing, when we had some incredible games in there when Coach Sutton was there, and it was so definitely you couldn't even hear if a person was three inches from your face

sometimes. The old Reynolds College of Sam at NC State, Cole Fieldhouse, obviously Kansas still has what they have gone, but there are some places that really stood out like that. But when I'm coaching a game, I'm kind of oblivious to all that, to be quite honest. But

I have had a lot of people tell me how hard it is to come in in play. Yeah, Tennessee sucks to play because you guys are so loud. I'm biased Arkansas. Auburn, it's small, but Auburn gets loud because it's so small and right on top of you. So there's a dynamic there to where they hold like 9,000 people, but that's a loud freaking 9,000 people, right?

Yeah, it is. I mean, you know, that does, you know, I think about, you know, Ole Miss can get going, you know. I think now, you know, obviously a lot of people have cut their arenas down, you know, you go out in Texas now. think about it. Baylor wins the national championship, goes from a 10,000-seat arena to like a what, a 7,000, 8,000-seat arena.

Texas goes from a 17,000-seat arena to a 10,000-seat arena. But there's still something to be said about an arena that, you know, 21, 6, 7, 8, and especially when you fill it up. But there's a lot of them that can be loud in some ways, obviously, but they all have their own really unique personalities. What about staying in that box? I don't feel like they give you enough room. And, you know, you come out of the box,

you give you a little warning? You feel like that box should be extended a little bit or what? Well, what I think they ought to do, they ought to move the officials where I have the worst seat in the house. Where I sit on the bench, the official's butt is right in my face the entire game. Because his job is to stand at the foul line, and my seat lines up with a foul line.

And so that makes me have to get up and move. But sometimes I will literally, he said I'll push him to the side a little bit, but that's where they're supposed to be. But, you know, back in the day, you know, you could walk down as far as you, I remember when you could walk to half court. But, you know, again, it just goes back to where they want to try to feel like they got control of the game and trying to keep people under control. When did they hit you, though, with the tech?

Because I'm assuming they'll say, coach, do they give you like a quiet warning first, a loud warning second? Like, at what level do they go, that's too much? We've told you twice, three times already. It depends on each guy. You know, back earlier, I'll never forget one night when I was coaching the province in the Big East. And, you know, coaches and referees, you know, we all, I thought we had pretty good relationships. We knew each other.

But Timmy Higgins one night, who I loved to death and did a lot of games. And games just started. And, you know, we weren't playing well. And I'm getting after him a little bit. And next thing I know, he comes by me. And I just yelled out, Timmy, and he turned around, he teed me up. I looked around. I said, what?

And he looked down, and I promise you, my foot was a half an inch out of the box. He looked at me. He looked down. He said, you're out of the box. And he turned back, and I said, are you kidding me? He said, Coach, I had a bad day today. I don't want to hear it. You know?

And that, you know, I go back. I think there's guys that referee the game, there's guys that manage the game, too. And you ask me, what, I'd rather have a guy that manages the game or referees the game. I'd probably, I just want referees to call the rules of the game, but they need to manage it too. And I think older guys probably are a little bit better at that as they get experience.

Do you have a person on your staff that whenever you have been triggered so much, they go, all right, coach, stop, that you actually will listen to? Not really. Not really. I mean, if I do get going, I'm going to get going. You know, it's really funny. I think, I don't remember the last time I was a tactic. I think it was here when John was at Kentucky, and he got a technical foul, and I looked at him, and I was laughing.

Because I didn't think he had done anything, and he turned around and teed me up. Like kids. Because I didn't think, I'm like, what did he do? And they teed us both up. And that's one of the last ones I think I remember that I got. But, you know, officials, you know, I think there's been a lot that has gone into helping officials to learn how to communicate. That's the key between games with coaches and referees and the communication level. And obviously, some coaches are going to get along better with others and vice versa.

But it's a communication factor that has been, you know, Mike Eads, who is our supervisor of official. He has done just an incredible job, incredible. And I will tell you this, I really do respect those officials. I was on the rules committee for five years. and knowing and learning how hard they work at it, have to work at it, and it's a really difficult game to officiate. They gave me a whole different perspective,

but it also helped me because I can, I know where they're supposed to be. If they're not there, I can kind of get at it a little bit, but they work at it and they want to get it right. That's all I'm going to tell you. They do want to get it right. It's important to them. And back in a day,

everybody used to feel like it was a part-time job for those guys. It really isn't. Those guys, you know, that money, if they might have another job, but it still is important to them to help take care of their families. And I think you've got to respect them because it's really, it's a tough game to officiate. Eddie? Hey, coach, my first job out of college,

I was a news cameraman for NewsAid Austin. You were head coach at Texas. And I never did sports, really, but they sent me out to one of your press conferences because the photographer wasn't available. So I go up there, and it's the first time I'd ever seen you in person. And they had, you guys had planted a fart machine under one of the reporter's seats. So every time that reporter started to ask a question, you guys would hit the button in a fart noise would come out.

And he just couldn't get his question out. I thought that was the funniest thing in the world. I became a huge fan of yours after that moment. After that. Do you still do that kind of stuff with the media? I thought that was so great. Hey, if you want me to get up, I walk in my locker and I'll get that machine. You remember that, coach?

Oh, yeah, I'm sure I've done worse than that. But, you know, sometimes you just want to have fun doing what you're doing. And I'm not sure who it was, but I'm sure it was a good reason why we put it underneath their chair. That's funny. Okay, final two questions. Let's talk about Kevin Durant for a second. How cold was he as just a freshman at Texas? Man, oh, man, I can tell you.

I could tell you stories all day about him. I remember, you know, I tell everyone, when you coach a guy like Kevin Durant, he's the hardest worker. He's as hard a worker, maybe the hardest worker that we've ever coached. He's just an incredible teammate, very unselfish. All he cared about was winning.

But, you know, he just loves being into gym. And he still does, even today. I mean, I mean, I, he works as hard as now or harder. I mean, he just loves the game of basketball. And so when you coach a guy like Kevin, and, you know, he came in and we had lost three guys early to the NBA draft. And Daniel Gibson, P.J. Tucker and Lamarcus Aldridge. And we were down to three players in our program.

We signed Best Recruiting Class in the Country. We had, you know, Kevin and DJ Augustine, Damien James. And we signed seven freshmen. And four of them started. But Fran Frischella called me in September. he was doing getting ready for the season. He says, what do you think about your team? I said, well, we're going to start four freshmen and a sophomore and our junior.

And I don't know how good our team is, but I've got the best player in the country. He said, you mean you got the best freshman? I said, no, I got the best player in the country. I said, he is the very best player in the country. And he became the first freshman to win the national, you know, I was, I think seven national player of the year awards. But he had an incredible game where he kind of, broke out we were playing against coach night at Texas Tech

and it was one of those nights where I think he had 30 some points, you know, maybe 20 rebounds and almost a triple double. And game after that, we came back a couple weeks later. And Kevin had, we won out there and, and he got rolling. Man, he was cooking, he was rolling and playing at just an incredible level. And Texas Tech comes back and right before the game, you know, five minutes before the game, you know, you're supposed to put your start lineup in and we had prepared for Texas Tech to come in.

And the next thing I know they come in is the tax change their lineup. They're starting to walk on. And I'm like, what in the world? I'm looking there. And I started thinking, you know what they're doing? Another good player in the league, Martin Zeno was a really good one-on-one player. And I said, by the way they're starting, Kevin's going to have to match up with him. And so coach and I's going to go out Kevin with Zeno.

He's going to make Kevin. And so I told Kevin, I said, look, whatever you do, you don't even leave the lane. You just stand in front of the basket. And we jumped on those guys, and we were up probably, like, something like 30 to 5. And all at once I hear is somebody stomping her foot, and I look around. Coach Nikes looking down there, and he looks at me, and he calls me a name and starts laughing at me. And we're up at halftime by 30 points. The second half, it took 30 minutes to get the entire half over.

He went in zone, and I'd never seen him go zone. And after the game, he told me at the team at halftime, he said, if anybody foul, we're going to get into two three zone. If anybody fouls, you're going to walk back to Lubbock. I want to be out of here. And that game was, that half was over in 30 minutes. But Kevin put on, and then I can just remember some of the things he did. One of my favorite stories is we go to Kansas and a place is, you know, is going.

And we start that game. And Kevin Durant, I'm telling you, it's one of the greatest 20 minutes in entire college basketball history. and Danny Manning told me later he was on the bench with Bill and I mean we were running a play that we couldn't guard when Carmelo Anthony beat us in the final force just in simple isolation but it's up to KD just to pick it apart and every guy on the court has scored a point because he either made the pass or did something and Danny they couldn't stop him

I mean he was unstoppable and Danny told me that Bill looked at him and said what do you think and Danny said I looked at him Bill. I said, Bill, that's a bad mother. But he gave it to him any and every way you could. Everybody I know that knows you, loves you, and so it's really nice to talk to you. Thank you, guys. All right, coach. Thank you, coach. See you later. The 2026 NFL draft is here, and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles. Join me, Greg Rosenthal, and Jordan Rodriguez after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything that went down.

over the three days in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement

to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment. And the next, we'll talk about life,

mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok.

This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galko, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. From hidden traits teams look for to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar, this is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 and TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. There's two golden rules that any man

should live by. Rule one, never mess with a country girl. You play stupid games, you get stupid prizes. And rule two, never mess with her friends either. We always say that trust your girlfriends. I'm Anna Sinfield, and in this new season of the girlfriends, Oh my God, this is the same man. A group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist.

I felt like I got hit by a truck. I thought, how could this happen to me? The cops didn't seem to care. So they take matters into their own hands. I said, oh, hell no. I vowed. I will be his last target. He's going to get what he deserves.

Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, everyone? I'm Ego Vodom. My next guest, you know from Step Brothers Anchorman, Saturday Night Live,

and The Big Money Players Network, It's Will Farrell My dad gave me the best advice ever I went and had lunch with him one day And I was like And dad I think I want to really give this a shot I don't know what that means But I just know the groundlings

I'm working my way up through And I know it's a place that come Look for up and coming talent He said if it was based solely on talent I wouldn't worry about you Which is really sweet Yeah He goes but there's so much luck involved

And he's like Just give it a shot He goes but if you ever reach a point where you're banging your head against the wall and it doesn't feel fun anymore, it's okay to quit. If you saw it written down, it would not be an inspiration. It would not be on a calendar of, you know, the cat, just hang in there. Yeah, it would not be. Right. It wouldn't be that. There's a lot of luck. Yeah. Listen to Thanks Dad on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to this episode and some of our favorite interviews from

25 at 25 whistle sports if you want to follow us and leave a comment if you're on Spotify leave a comment it helps us helps the algorithm tell your friends appreciate you guys so much have a great week theme song written by bobby bones that's me and performed by brandon ray follow brandon on socials at brandon ray music you can follow the show on instagram at bobby bone sports thanks to our crew co-host at producer at producer at kickoff kevin and executive producer at Mike D. Strove, but most importantly, thank you for listening. I'm Bobby Bones. We'll talk to you next time here on 25 whistles. The 2026 NFL draft is here and the NFL Daily podcast has it covered from all angles.

Join me, Greg Rosenthal, and Jordan Roderig after night one on Thursday. Nick Shook joins me night two Friday and then Sunday to recap everything that went down over the three days in Pittsburgh. We'll tell you who won the draft and which players were my favorite picks. Listen to NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifers Show. This is a place for raw, unfills of conversations with

athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. This week on the Sports Slice podcast, it's all about the NFL draft. And we've got a special guest. The director of the NFL's East West Shrine Bowl, Eric Galko, joins the Sports Slice podcast to break down what really matters when evaluating draft prospects. from hidden traits teams look for

to the biggest mistakes franchises make to the players flying under the radar. This is the insight you won't hear anywhere else. If you want to understand the draft like an insider, you don't want to miss this episode. Listen to the Sports Slice podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12

and TikTok podcast network on TikTok. When a group of women discover they've all dated the same prolific con artist. They take matters into their own hands. I vowed. I will be his last target. He is not going to get away with this. He's going to get what he deserves.

We always say that, trust your girlfriends. Listen to the girlfriends. Trust me, babe. On the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. In 2023, Bachelor star Clayton Eckerd was accused of fathering twins. But the pregnancy appeared to be a hope. You doctored this particular test twice, Ms. Owens, correct? I doctored the test once.

It took an army of internet detectives to uncover a disturbing pattern. Two more men who'd been through the same thing. Greg, a lesbian. Michael Mancini. My mind was blown. I'm Stephanie Young. This is Love Trapped. Laura, Scottsdale Police.

As the season continues, Laura Owens finally faces consequences. Listen to Love Trapped podcast on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. you get your podcasts. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.