The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - Bobby Bones joins the podcast

Episode Date: July 8, 2024

John is joined by country music radio legend, Dancing with the Stars winner, American Idol mentor, and Arkansas Razorback fan; Bobby Bones. John and Bobby dive into his unlikely win on DWTS, how he got his start in radio, being invited to ride on Jerry Jones' private helicopter, the craziest stadium in the SEC, and much more. 15:04 - Dancing with the Stars 24:21 - Getting his start in radio 55:23 - Where he finds the energy to do all that he does 1:05:34 - Is Saban the best football coach of all time 1:15:11 - Bobby's relationship with Coach Cal Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. For 1979, that was a big moment for me.

84 was big to me. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. It was a wild year.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm 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, unfilled 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 I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. The volume.

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slash DFS. What is going on everybody, John Middlough? That'd be me, three and out podcast. And we have a very, very special guest today. Hopefully everyone had a good vacation. Good Fourth of July, had some hot dogs and burgers. The lake, the pool, some beers, and enjoys yourself. A little inside baseball. We recorded this before Fourth of July, so I probably had a blast. Hopefully you did too. And Bobby Bones, one of the biggest voices in all of music radio, country radio. He's been on dancing with the stars.

He won it. He's part of American Idol. He's everywhere. But we've become buddies. As you'll find out on the podcast, he just randomly does. DM me and I've gone on his he has sports podcast as well he's based in Nashville

Tennessee that's why if you type in on YouTube he interviews all the superstars the country music and just music stars in general but he's the man and he's been he's been good to me in several ways so I love the guy and

special talent in the business so very very excited that he hopped on for for a while I mean, we talked to him, I think, for almost an hour. So we'll dive into just, you know, what it's like working in the business, kind of his story. Nashville in general, which is, you know, one of the last places for Forever Hollywood was like this. You had to go there to become an actor.

And now Nashville, if you want to be in country music, you kind of just have to go there. And I love Nashville. Hell, Maria's kind of loosely planning a wedding and wants to get married in Nashville. So I've only been there a couple times, and it was special. place. So Bobby Bones will be talking with us for a while. A little non-football show, even though he loves football

and we'll talk a little SEC football as well. But you guys know the drill. At John Middlecough, we'll get the mailbag back going probably next week and fire in those DM. Subscribe to the podcast, three and out if you listen to Colin's show. And yeah, everything's

up on YouTube. This interview is up on YouTube as well. So you guys know the drill. Speaking of Nashville, If you ever want to go see a concert, hell, I would go to a concert in Nashville. That would be sweet. But you can go anywhere. You can go wherever you live. If you're traveling somewhere and want to go check someone out, I highly recommend it.

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Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem the code J-O-H-N for $20 off. Download the GameTime app today, last-minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed. Okay, very, very excited. A friend of mine, live from Nashville, Tennessee. You know, many would say he's synonymous with country music, one of the biggest radio stars the last 20 years.

But I was watching my guy Bobby Bones interview. I think Chris Stapleton, and you mentioned that you were once in O-Town. Is that a joke? or is that actually true? That's so funny where that has gone. So, yeah, I was not in O-Town. It was a prank that I pulled off a long time ago, and it still lives on Wikipedia.

O-Town was the boy band that was like, Oh, I remember. Nothing at all. I loved O-Town. But you never knew what the people in O-Town look like. So I started like this bit where I was the long-lost disgrace member of O-Town, and I was just dying to get back in, trying to get the band to acknowledge me.

And that thing has lived, and people of prominence, yourself included. I'll put that on the list of people of prominence who said, hey, were you in O-town? Like, that makes my heart feel warm. It makes my heart feel warm. Almost as warm as when I saw your engagement picture. Those two together.

That was it. You on a knee and you saying, are you in O-Town? Yeah, we got to stay hot right now. You know, she's happy. I'm happy. We're all happy. So big day in the middle-off life, actually. Yeah, how long was that planned as to where?

Well, that was a fluid situation. You know, that was tough. We're going back. We're recording this a little before the 4th of July, but we're going back home and going to Tahoe. And I didn't want to lug it around, you know, and have at risk, you know, go through Southwest or just whatever. And so I had to get it done. And then probably a couple weeks ago, I got sick. I was going to try to pull it off then.

And then it was kind of, you know, we're leaving here in a couple days. I'm like, uh, my brother was in town flying back. from a bachelor party from Cabo and he stayed with us. We were going to go play golf. I was like, well, I got a camera guy right here. So the Princess Hotel, which is behind where they have the waste management golf tournament, really nice, cool little hotel. And I was like, we're going to a restaurant there.

I told Jeff, you just got to make this, just have the camera. I kind of was like, hey, let's take a picture. It was kind of awkward. I mean, she kind of knew what was coming. Again, she picked the ring. So she didn't know when, but it worked out pretty well. Then a monsoon was coming in, right? So about, you know, the hockey game had tipped off.

And I look in the backyard. I'm like, oh, my God. And the monsoon actually didn't happen, but it kind of got nervous for a while. It all worked out. The lighting was perfect. Well, I love that for you. I just got married about to do three years. So, you know, I didn't get married until later in life.

And, you know, it's weird because we're both people who talk for a living, performers. And I don't really get nervous so much anymore, even if it's like live television. But I got nervous, even though I knew what the answer. was going to be. It was a bizarre feeling where I guess I just didn't want to screw up her moment more than anything, more than any sort of, okay, don't screw up on live. I just didn't want to screw up her moment. And so I was nervous. Like I was like talking in an accent or something. I don't even talk like an English accent out of nowhere because I don't know I don't know to do with my hands. Like the whole thing was weird. So congratulations, man. That's awesome.

Yeah, I'm with you. You know, I'm 39. So of all the people I know. That's what I got engaged. Yeah. I'm the last. And she's like, did you even say, will you marry me? She blacked out. I was like, I think I did. I don't know. I don't know. It's done a lot of things in my life. It's a, it's a unique experience. I can't quite compare anything to that, you know, whatever long it is. 30 seconds, 20 seconds where it all kind goes down. But it's cool. It feels momentary. Like, I think I kind of blacked out. I was doing, I compared it to I was doing Dancing with the Stars. I've never danced before. And they were like, hey, come do Dancing with Stars. And the first, you know, four episodes, you'll get kicked off.

because nobody that's never danced wins the show. And so I was going to do a promo for American Idol because I was on Idol at the time. And so I go to the dance with stars, and they go, and there's a click, click track. It counts to four, and the song starts. If you're watching on television, which I'd never watched the show, but you're watching on television, you don't hear the click track.

The first dance I did, I don't remember. It felt like I was proposing because I freaked out, blacked out, finished the dance, completed it, then fell down on stage. All I remember is that click track. All I remember with my wife now walking in to the barn that I was proposing to her in, and then it being over for both of those. Very similar feelings. You know, subtle drop of Dancing with the Stars, but you won the thing, correct?

Yeah, I'm a wildly good athlete. Actually, I did win. It's not because of my athletic ability. It was just because, you know, if you have a strong podcast or a big radio show, or like we depend on our people, and hopefully our people depend on us to be, honest, authentic, as truthful, not always right, but truthful as possible. And there's a bond that's formed. Like really, it's not passive listening. And so, yeah, my listeners, at the end of that show, and this wasn't about that, but the end of that show, the vice president of, like,

non-scripted called me in at ABC because I was still working on a different show there, so I still had a relationship. And I was going back up to Disney, ABC a lot. And he was like, hey, man, you could have taken a dump on the floor. You'd won that final episode. Your vote was so big. So that's all it was. I worked really hard on that show. It was the hardest thing I've ever done. But for me to say that it was my dancing, I would be lying. You know, one thing's crazy, and you've been in this business a lot longer than me,

is the power you have in the audio medium. You know, I get people that, you know, if I see them at a golf course or whatever, and they come up to me and they're a listener, and their reaction and the way they interact with me is like I've known them for a long time. And at first it's a little jarring and you kind of get used to it, and then you realize how cool it is. but the relationship you have of talking with people that you don't see unlike TV or whatever they don't see you and now with these earphones and really the last 20 years of plugging earphones

you're right in their ear it's a it's a very very special like i'm going to use the word again unique relationship you have with people that you just don't get in any other medium of quote unquote entertainment is that fair to say yeah and i think again it's if someone's searching out your show like when i listen to the to three and out or go low or whatever it is. If I'm going to go search for it, I'm not passively listening, meaning I have chosen you. I am putting AirPods in to listen to you,

and unless I'm just not entertained or you piss me off, I'm here. I've chosen you, so you're my friend, and we're going to roll together, and I'm going to know stuff about you. And I think for me, it took me being super fans of other shows, podcasts, to actually revalue how important and how intimate that is.

Because again, like, before we went on, we had just a couple minutes to talk, and you were talking about you were sick, and I wanted to be like, well, I already knew that, I heard you talk about that, how you wanted to do a show, but you were sick. Like, I know all these things that you probably aren't spraying out to individuals. You're spraying it out to like a mass group,

so it's weird when one person reflects back on something you said that they remember. But it's an extremely powerful medium, podcasting is. and you know I'm wrong a lot I say a lot of stuff that pisses people off but I always and I stopped lying on the air even for embellishments of bits probably like seven or eight years ago because I can't remember lies that's really what it is because I think I would still be going hard like just trying to entertain but I think because I always try to be honest even if it's you know not the best look to me people like that I wrote when I wrote my you know my first book I was really nervous about sharing some of the details of my life that I thought

thought people would judge me for and it ended up being the things that they actually valued the most and respected but this is the number one place man I have again you I could say you are like big cat on PTI or Colin or like people that if I walked up to them in an airport for the most part they wouldn't know who I was but I feel like I know them really well and I think that's the beauty of this a win is a win a win a win I don't care what you're saying yep that's me clipper Taylor the fourth you might 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 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.

Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth.

Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with a little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam Jay.

And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so you all know. At this point, this is the second episode where we've discussed, correct.

So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapy. Kier Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking.

Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses.

Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're free? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way.

Open your free, our heart radio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. I'm fascinated by people who at a very young age know what they want to do. Like, I love sports, but at 10 years old, 15 years old, I didn't know I'd be sitting here doing this. And, you know, I've never talked to you about this, but reading a little bit about you, is it fair to say, like, you knew. And the radio business has changed a lot, but you're a little older than me. The power of radio when I was a kid, whether it was KNBR, the sports station in Northern California. I'm sure you've done stuff over the years with KNCI in Sacramento.

It was just all, it's all you had, right? I mean, every single car you listen to the radio, how did that happen? And, you know, and I believe, and I truly believe this to my core, regardless of talent, everyone has more talent than others, depending on the industry. It's borderline impossible to fail when at a super young age, you're like, this is what I'm going to do. And in some form or fashion, you're going to end up around that. I think it's inevitable. Yeah, I think if, and I was very lucky, I was five years old, and I knew exactly. exactly what I wanted to do. There were three things I wanted to do. I wanted to be on the radio.

I wanted to be a stand-up comedian and I wanted to be on television. And so I remember thinking it was weird people didn't know what they wanted to do. Now I'm also from rural Arkansas. 700 people in my hometown, less than that now. But at the time, 700 people, nobody did those jobs. You graduated high school and you went to work at the mill. That's it. You went to warehouse or when you worked at the mill. And people really didn't even leave hot springs, much less mountain pine where I'm from. So town was Hot Springs. That's where the Walmart was. And so if you were going to hot springs, you told your neighbors, hey, I'm going to town. Do you need anything? So it wasn't like there were a lot of creative or arts jobs around. So I just remember thinking like kindergarten

first grade, I remember thinking, how do people not know what they want to do? Because I knew immediately. Now, I think part of it was like the therapy part of things was like, like I grew up without a dad and my mom was a drug addict and she died a little later on but i remember thinking man if i'm funny like people will like me slash love me and it was probably a little bit from that like me just trying to find love in a place but i think that you're exactly right like i knew what i wanted to do and i used to be to me i used to be resentful of how i grew up and you know woe is me food stamp kid whatever i'm so grateful for that now as i'm older it can look back i had nothing to lose. And the power of having nothing to lose is awesome. Because what's the worst that's going to

happen? It's the same? Like that to me is really one of the greatest things to ever happen to me was that I didn't come from much. And that allowed me to actually try because I wasn't worried about being comfortable. And I'm pretty grateful for that now as I've become older. You know, I get a lot of people asking like, how do I get involved in the NFL? How do I get involved in football? And people are torn. And it's hard to get break in. And they go, well, I have this offer from a bank, and I said, listen, I'll never tell you what to do. I'm not in your shoes, but I know this. Once you go a different route, life changes, you get married, you might start making more money because most of these type jobs, I would say radio back in the day,

starting in football, whatever, you're not going to make much. Especially, yeah, arts jobs. You're exactly right. I mean, arts. Once you do a real job, start selling, you might be making six figures by your mid-20s and then meet a girl and it's hard to pivot. You just almost got to put all your chips in the middle of the table. And if it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. But not having a second option. And that was for me because I was like, I don't really like anything else.

And I don't trust like my attention span slash just I'm not the smartest guy. I have to do this. And then it just kind of plays out. You, like you said, the way you grew up getting in radio, even by the time like, when do you, how do you even start? Because not like you got a cousin that owns a station or no this guy. Where the hell do you even go like, what's going to be my first step? I was a teenager. I was 17 and I went and begged at the local radio station to do anything, any side job.

And so they hired me to clean the radio station. That was literally the job. I was a kid that was making minimum wage. They hired me to clean the lobby and then to switch out to Rick D's weekly top 40. And it was a pop station. And so I was like, cool, this is the greatest thing ever. I get to work in a radio station. And I think the key to success in general is,

just being available, right? I think I can learn anything, but I'm going to be available, and if you ask, I'm going to say yes. And so I was just available. They fired a guy for stealing some stuff, and they threw me on in the overnights on the weekend. And of course, it was awful, but the best ability is availability. And I did it. And I just showed up over and over again. I do not have a good voice. There's nothing really about me. I speak with a terrible speech pattern. As a broadcaster, I'm pretty bad, but I've been able to make a pretty good career, whether it's, whatever medium it is, on understanding where I'm not the strongest, but also knowing where I am strong and, like, focusing on the main thing. And I think that's been,

you know, kind of the secret to whatever success this is. And also, I wasn't good looking either, so I didn't have any girls to have some success. So it wasn't like I was trying to get a job and, you know, make money and have girls. I didn't have to worry about anybody to pregnant. I'd have sex on my 20s. So it was like that kind of life. I'm very grateful for that now, but at the time, you know, not my favorite. So did you, like, I equate you with country music. Was that not something, like, did you get involved with country music early on in your career with country music radio?

I grew up in Arkansas, so country music was a part of my life, but no, I mean, I started at a pop station. I did that and moved up. I was only in Arkansas for, you know, all through college. Nobody in my family graduated high school or college, so it was important for me to do that. So I worked in Hot Springs, Arkansas for four years, I went to Little Rock, Arkansas, and I was doing pop. And then I moved to Austin, Texas, and I was doing pop and hip hop. I was doing a national sports show on Fox Sports Radio on the weekends, and I would fill in for, like, Jim Rome and stuff. And that was fun for me because I've always been a sports nerd. And so I felt like, okay, I've kind of got it. But I started investing what little money I had, and I was making like 50 grand a year. this is probably like 2005, which to me I was rich, but I found a technology that now it is used.

It's kind of old now, but it was called Comrex. And we were using it for remotes for like stations to do, hey, come out, $20 off a free spray tan type stuff. And I was like, man, why could I use this and extend it to another station? So I bought two of them and convinced the station to put me on in the morning, I would do it for free, all for free. phone lines producer I paid for everything and we it took us like nine months and we won there and as you know this is universal if you have a W under your belt and you can

make sure the people that hire you aren't at fault if you lose because all they're doing is looking at the data and hiring you if you can have them cover their butts they will hire you and I got a chance to succeed and I did and then I you know I used my own money and had like 30 station, started to make some good money then and then sold part of my syndication company to IHeart, was doing pop and hip hop and some rock stuff, but I just wanted it to be back in like normal America. And we don't play a lot of music. I'm massively in the country fabric now, and I love it, but we don't play a lot of music on like the broadcast show, but we have a lot of country artists that stop in. But we also have, you know, John Mayer, Pharrell. If they're in town,

they'll come by too. Post. Post Malone. Yeah, Post Malone played with me at the Rhyman, which was super cool. So yes, I'm just just, generally a music nerd, a sports nerd and a music nerd. So I think that's why this fits. And I'm also kind of a hillbilly still, as you can hear by how I talk. So it just makes sense. I saw you on Instagram. Someone asked you because you had the event within the last couple of months and post was

there and you hung out with them and he played. I got two questions. One, you were just asked like, can he sing? And two, I have a theory. But why do you think he's kind of making this transition what feels like he's just going to go all country, at least for the time being? I think it is only for the time being. I think he says that pretty openly too.

Like he's not, Nashville doesn't like if people are unsuccessful at their current home and think they can come over to country and have that as a safety net or have that as a last resort. This format doesn't like that. What this format does like is for someone who is successful in another part to go, I love and respect country music and I'm going to do a country project, but I'm also not saying that I'm a full-time country artist.

And he also moved to Nashville, made himself available for the community, the songwriters. This town has embraced him like crazy. So I do a show where I play at the Riemann every year. We've been able to raise a bunch of money for St. Jude, and I just reached out to him, didn't know him, and said, hey, is there any chance that you'll come and play at the Riemann? You could play with me at the end of the show.

And he was like, yeah, sure. But even that day I was, because, you know, he's big Hollywood, big superstar. I was like, man, what if he doesn't show? He showed up half an hour early. He got in. was nervous not to just perform, but he was doing a couple like old school country songs and also doing one of his songs, but he was so nervous to not mess it up. And I walked back during a break and was just introducing myself. And he was singing, he was sitting on

the toilet, lid down pants on. But he was sitting on the toilet because the acoustics just practicing. And that's when I heard him sing. And I was like, oh, Postman can really sing. And on top of that, I knew he was serious about this. But he also grew up in Texas. And he's been doing stuff in country like dabbling for the past seven, eight years. And he's been doing stuff in country, playing with Brad Paisley, putting country covers up, but also at the same time not saying, I'm now a country artist. And I think in general Nashville respects that. I think we're kind of in an age of authenticity, you know, in the sense of music, in what we do. And I think it's kind of shown with Post. It just feels like he really wants to do it.

And it feels like he likes it. And it just kind of resonates. and I was watching an interview you had with Chris Stapleton. It's safe to say he doesn't really look like most country stars in my life. Pretty safe. I saw Luke Combs came to Arizona a couple weeks ago. He definitely does not. Zach, Brian, I don't even know what umbrella you'd put him under. I saw him in Vegas during the Super Bowl.

He is a remarkable performer. And there's just a realness to all these guys that don't look the part. You know, I saw Brooks and Dunn and Alan Jackson, and all these guys when I was a kid in Northern California, and they were country stars, and they looked apart, right? And these guys just resonate. And I also think that, you know, when I was,

when we were growing up, you listened to certain genres. Like, I like rap. I like country. Now it's so much carryover. It's like, yeah, I just like this Zach Brian guy. You won't meet many people that like, yeah, Chris Appleton sucks.

Like, who says that, no matter what you listen to? Do you feel that when you, you know, you had on Jellyroll recently? And I saw you ask him, you like, you don't really look like most people in this town, right? But he just, he just resonates for whatever reason. I think it's pretty obvious he's talented, but it's just something about him, you know? Yeah, I think if somebody now is super polished and even naturally good looking, we look at that twice and go, is this even real? Like, almost unfair to the pretty people now because it has shifted.

And life now as an artist is like a 24-hour reality show where, where you're exposed in every way. And a lot of people keep some stuff private, but in the 90s, early 2000s, I mean, you could go even back further than that. You only expose what you wanted because there was no other way to see it. Now, if you aren't showing parts of your personality,

if you're not recording pre-concert footage, then people are like, what's going on? Why are you not doing this? Like it's expected of you to do it now. There are very few that can get away with not doing it, but I think because of that, authenticity has just become the dominator. So much so that,

Even if you're authentic, but you're super pretty, we don't believe it for a while. So, yeah, I think that's it. You still got to be good. You have to be better now than you had to be 10 years ago. And now everybody knows the tricks of the studio. And sure, you can auto tune anybody. You can put effects on anyone. But eventually, if you can't sing, you're going to get caught not singing or not singing well.

Because everybody records every concert. You have to play live either for like executives or at a private event. because that's where people make a lot of money, concert, and you're going to get caught not being good. So to be good, you really have to be great, and you just have to put a presentation of your being real. And sometimes maybe not as real as others, but it just has to be that presentation.

You don't believe it's possible to fake it in this moment because sometimes I'll hear a guy that I really like that song. Well, the first thing I do is go to YouTube. I type in the song and I type in acoustic. I'm like, oh, it doesn't quite sound the same. It can happen in the short term, but can it happen over the long term? Probably not.

And it's hard for a megastar to happen that isn't really great, especially in the format that I'm in now. Because I don't know anybody that hasn't come to my studio and played for me, and not because they're like, oh, we want to go play for Bobby.

But, you know, my radio show is big, and our podcast is by far the largest in this format. So people want to come by and play just for the exposure, and you can't be bad. I mean, if there are people that come in to perform

and they suck, you usually know by my, my response, and I'm not mean in any way, because sometimes it's just the morning. But I'll say something like, wow, it must have been pretty tough to wake up early this or like, I know it's hard to sing in the morning. But this format, especially, everybody performs because you have to be good to make it. And all those people you mentioned are perfect examples of that. Has there ever been someone recently, obviously not going to throw anyone under the bus,

but on a positive note that came in that you're like, damn, this guy might be better than I thought. And it's a land of giants here. I'm telling you. I'm and this is I'll give you a really it's the answer it's true but like Luke Combs I don't expect Luke Combs because he's such a great songwriter and his songs are good I don't expect him to be a great vocalist because you know it's Luke Combs you know he just he is he's common man that dude can freaking sing like he's in a choir like he is hitting notes that I think people don't give him credit for because of what he sings about which is very

common man type things and he has a very powerful voice but at the same time i'm listening to him sing three feet from me and he could sing any format he wants the same thing with garth brooks like there's a reason they're stars but we don't think of them as like these elite elite singers um mostly because of what they're singing or performing about but they could sing anywhere they wanted to be in any format sing any kind of song and they would have been massive stars we just don't think of them as pure vocalist because of kind of the content of their music You bring up Garth, you know, I'll never forget when he played Central Park. You know, I think it was on like ABC or NBC or whatever in the late 90s.

Is it safe to say that he changed country music forever in terms of all the money these guys made? And then Tim and Kenny and Jason Aldeen, everyone else comes after him and just they get NBA money now because of the popularity of the music where probably before I was born, I would say, is it fair to say in the 70s and even through the mid 80s, country music was nowhere nearly. as popular on the national level as the way that he took it like, I mean, an all-time Rocket Chip, he's the highest-selling artist of the 90s, right? He is the highest-selling American artists of all time, like not even country. You know, he's the guy. He's got like 10 diamonds, which is, except for the Beatles, and maybe he tied the Beatles. He's by far the biggest American artist, which is crazy to think whenever you think of Madonna, Michael Jackson, like all of the legends.

Garth, statistically, is the number one American artist. Yeah, for sure. what Garth did that was different and had a lot of pushback on is Garth did basically with all of his country songs a, I guess what you call like a pop style concert. I mean, he was flying across. He had explosions. He was changing clothes. And at the time, he was getting a lot of crap for that. And I've been lucky enough to have, I mean, I would call Garth a buddy at this point. And I've had talks with Garth where people told Garth he wasn't country because of his presentation, not his music, but how he presented everything else. Like his stage shows.

He did SNL. He did the Chris Gaines thing. The thing about Garth was he tried new things. He was one of the few that was like, you know, if this doesn't work, that's okay. But I'm going to go and just continue to push and like challenge myself, very much like an athlete will do sometimes. But Garth was an athlete. And there's this thing in country music as well where there are a lot of country stars that are athletes. And that's kind of where this comes together.

but like Sam Hunt played Division I quarterback. There's like eight or nine guys that played Division I sports, a lot of Division II guys. But their work ethic through sports is actually what makes them such a great country star because they put the same effort into the training, into the, you know, watching tape, listening back to concerts, that they did when they were in athletics. And a lot of people would ask like,

how are there so many guys that were so good at sports? doing country music. It's just because that translates. It translates being an athlete to being in music. And Garth had that. He ran track at Oklahoma State. And Garth is a guy, and I get a lot of people that are just like, hey, what's Garth like? And I'm not kidding. I thought the first couple times I met him, he was just really good at being nice. I thought he was just like, okay, this is, but there's something, it doesn't matter. If he wanted to be president, he has that ability to eliminate everybody else in the room when just talking to you. He knows everybody's name. And people will say, well, he has somebody tell him that before he goes into a room. To which I say, yes, but you're the person in charge

of hiring good people as well, right? Like, he shouldn't be penalized because he hired somebody, if so, to tell him everybody's name in the room, and then for him to remember everybody's name. But when Garth comes to you, you leave going, I think they got like me. Everybody does it. Everybody thinks Garth loves them. And it's really cool to look and see. how historically dominant he's been in all American music and then see that guy and like he just drives a truck down the road. My cousin, he was playing in Fresno years ago and is in the beer business that was dropping off some kegs at the arena and it must have been, you know, early in the morning and maybe he was doing sound and they just ran into each other. Obviously my cousin stops,

sees him and they just talked for like probably 10 minutes. He said he couldn't have been any more normal. They start BSing about like Fresno State football. And yeah, I mean, I think that's something that it does feel that country music has a lot of their guys, especially this crew of more recent guys, pretty down to earth. I have my brother's college roommate is the right-hand man for the super rich farmer in the Central Valley in California. And he had like a 25th anniversary party. And he knows party because party married a girl from Fresno and he paid party. And Joan Jett was the headliner to play his own party. You know, there's a couple thousand people there.

Then there was an after party. And John Party played that. But for like an hour, they were just beers in his office. And then it just ends with me, my brother, and party, BS him for like 15 minutes. And he gave this story about this businessman in Dixon or Winters where he's from the small town, Northern California. Basically told him, if you ever want to make it music, you have to go to Nashville. And John's like, I don't have any money to go. And he's like, I'll take care of you.

to get going. And I didn't quite realize it until I went a couple years ago with Maria to Broadway. And it's a very, very unique place. Nashville's like, if you want to play in the NFL, you got to play college football, right? Certain industries, like, if you want to work in venture capitalists, you probably need an MBA from a big time school. Like, there are certain requirements. It's pretty hard to make in country music without going to Nashville. Like, Hollywood's not even really like that anymore. You don't need to move to L.A. to become a movie star.

but it feels like country music, like you've got to be in Nashville or it probably ain't happening because they all live there, right? Is that fair to say? I mean, it's 99.9%. There are, occasionally there's a person who comes and makes it and moves back out.

Like Darius did for a while, went back to South Carolina. Justin Moore moved back to Arkansas. Zach Brown went back to Atlanta, but now back. I mean, Zach is probably one of the guys who never came to Nashville. Like, that's the one that I can think of,

Zach Bryan, who, but he wasn't trying to make it as a country star. He just makes music that's country-ish, Americana-ish, rock-ish. But yes, the answer is absolutely yes. When I was on Idol and I would mentor these kids, even on the live shows, they'd be like, I want to be a country store. You have to move to Nashville because the decision makers are there.

And it's funny you mentioned John Pardy. John's one of my best friends. And all that checks. Like I've talked to John about that many times where he was like, I don't know how I'm going to get there. And thankfully, somebody stepped forward and said, I'll help you get there. And that's what John did. And John was grinding it out for 10 years, 7, 8, 9, 10 years before. he was able to even hit.

He's my age. It's not like he's 28. Even when you get here, you know, you have to get here. And then when you get here, it's just surviving until you get your opportunity. And a lot of people get better when they get here. You're around better talent. You tend to get better as well. But yeah, John's a good example of somebody who was grinding along for a long time and then

had a little hit. And it exposed him to a lot of people who then saw how good he was song after song. after song. So it's just about getting that first look somehow. Well, it's like if you go to Alabama or Georgia, you know, even if you don't play there now, you're going to get an opportunity. If you make it to the NFL preseason game, you're going to get a chance

to show. I remember being on Broadway for a couple of days, just drinking half the time of my life. And me and Maria would go, God, that person's incredible. How many people just never make it in that town? incredible singers are everywhere. It's intimidating for people to move to town, even the great ones, because they come from, I would compare it to being like a really good ballplay in your high school team.

All of a sudden, okay, you're going to the minors. And it's like, holy crap, I'm not King Dingling anymore of my high school or my hometown. I had to move up. And that's what this is here, except it's not the minors. It's the frigging major leagues. So even the best will admit they move here and get intimidated quickly because there's greatness everywhere you look. but it's not just about singing and it's not just about songwriting it's about whatever that thing is that is undefinable that a great artist has that makes you want to pay a little more attention to them and sometimes it takes uh you know years to develop and sometimes people just don't see it like the right person hasn't seen it yet so there is no formula obviously but the one thing that most people i know that have made it in this town the one thing they have in common is they just didn't quit you think a lot of people in the town don't make it?

Oh yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it's 95% don't make it. I mean, I would think, I would think even the best. Is that, is that unlucky? Or like you said, maybe they don't try as hard, or maybe they just don't get seen, or it's just all different variables? You know, work is interesting, just in general,

because people can work hard. Like my stepdad worked hard. He worked at a mill his whole life, and he would come home. He was, like, dead tired. He worked really hard. But there's also a lot of, strategy involved to this. So you can work really hard, but if you're not putting a lot of your

effort into strategy, that's work that you probably need to be doing instead of some of that just straight grinding. So it's a bit of the stars need to be aligned. It's a bit of can you just survive? Can you make relationships? You know, it's still a relationship business, all businesses. All business is relationship based. Even if you know nobody, you can move to town, get with a crew, like your class, everybody who comes in around the same time, they're considered like a class. Like my class is like, Dan and Shea, we came to town around the same time.

I knew those guys before they even were together as a duo. But you start to make friends who come up together. One of them makes it. All of a sudden, they want to pull the people in that they love. And it's just how do you get that opportunity? And once you get it, you really have to make the most of it. Can you spot, obviously now you just mainly interviewed the main stars, but over your career you got a lot of people,

and you probably meet people at events that are not household names or have not made it big and probably have no money. I mean, are holding on for dear life. Do you think that's an easy thing to spot or is it not? The great thing about social media now

is a lot of artists already know who they are, have already put it out there, so a label or management company aren't going to try to change it. I think that before social media, that was the thing that labels would go look for people that were good, and then try to shift them into what they felt the void was in the market.

Now that doesn't happen. So there are a lot of people who naturally are themselves already. So you can tell maybe who's not going to be commercially the biggest. And I think in an art, just to be able to have a living and do what you love, that's success. Like to me, if you're in an art and you can pay your bills and you can eat and your kids can go to school and feel safe, that's success. and I think the people that are really good and know who they are, you can tell when people are going to last. I won't say thrive, but you can tell when people are going to last.

And I think that to me is success. So yes, I think now you can see who's going to be around in five, seven years. And not who's not, but who probably is really good but needs to somewhat own who they are. I think that's still part of the problem as well. You know, it's safe to say the old adage like in the business was like, we need a couple songs to put on the radio, which you'd argue, I know a lot of people, you know, the grunge scene always push back against that. But in the 90s or even the 2000s, how am I ever going to hear you?

There's not YouTube, not internet. To be on the radio is a powerful, the most powerful medium. Is that kind of a thing of the past now with the way the consumer listens to stuff? I think it's one of the main avenues now instead of the absolute main avenue. There's still billions of dollars that goes into trying to get artists on the radio because I think it's like 75% of people at some point listen to some sort of live radio during a week. And it's not, and I don't listen to a lot of live radio.

I like things on demand. You know, to me, radio is on your phone. If it's on the phone, and you can download it, stream it. To me, that's what it is. But still, I'm surprised at times at how many people listen to live radio. And again, we don't even play a lot of music on our show. However, I see the money that goes from record labels. There are two things.

One, to get on streaming playlists and to be on the radio. Because if you have a top 10 song, there is an absolute relationship with a song that's top 10 and a song that is massively streaming. Like, it's not a coincidence over and over again. Will that still continue to change? And I don't even think we're going to have streaming music in three to five years. Like, we saw downloads. We saw streams.

You know, music, the one thing about it is it's never just been one thing. never stayed the same. So the answer right now, yes, radio is still a major part of it, but I don't know what the answer is going to be in three to five years. Well, that's a crazy thing. This business has changed so much dramatically. How's a guy who's got his, cut his teeth in radio? I would say you've pivoted as good as anybody. How do you constantly, is it, are you just an open-minded guy? Because some of these radio guys, I'm sure you've been around them, like, did not handle this well. You're like, oh, I'll move. I work with Colin.

Collins and old school radio guy. He owns a podcast company now. Like he'll just transition. No fear. And I would say that's pretty rare for people who have been in a business for multiple decades. I got lucky that I got started really young. And I was always the youngest to do it, meaning most of my career, I was like the young guy. I'm 44 now.

So I'm just like the normal dude at this point. But I think growing up the youngest in the industry, I was very digital from the very start. I got fortunate that my timing, like outliers, Malcolm Gladwell writes about like what Bill Gates, who lived near a computer. And he was fortunate. He lived near a computer. Therefore, he was able to be interested in the computer because there were only like a few of these computers all over the country. I got lucky that I was born when I was born and that I was in my real developmental years when Napster existed. So we were podcasting the show before podcasting was really a thing.

Like I was making a big point about it. So I don't know if it was like a transition for me as much as it was. I've kind of been doing it and waiting on that to be a big part of my revenue, the money that I make. But I just like to make content. You know, if it's, you know, we travel around the country doing sports shows. I've got a sports podcast. We've got, you know, obviously the radio show, more people listen on the podcast of the radio show

than ever before. I just want to create stuff that exists. And when people want to grab it, if it's live or if it's 3 p.m., that they can go get it. 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, 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.

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Open your free iHeartRadio app, search Learn the Hardway, and listen now. How do you have so much energy? You have an early morning, you're up at the Crackadon, and you're doing sports podcast, you're doing sports memorabilia stuff. The dancing with the stars to the, is it just, you've been pretty lucky from where you started? And it's just like you got to strike while the iron totters. Yeah, I mean, you love what you do. So it's much easier to do this stuff. It's both.

Like you have to, you know, make hay while the sun's up. This is our job is, who knows? It ain't digging ditches either. And also, yeah. And also it's like we're doing an art. You may not think it's an art, but we may not be doing this in two years. What we do may not be in demand by the people that want to demand it. And so I also know that.

So I love doing it. And I think if you do what you love, you work harder at it. If you work harder at it, you're rewarded for it, just generally. And so that's part of it. But also it's like, hey, man, I'm saving up the nuts because people ain't going to always like me. And until like the last few years, I was paying like double on my bills just in case I lost my job. My business manager was like, you've got to stop doing that. So I kind of live in that mindset anyway.

But no, I'm happy. You know, things are growing. They won't always be that way. But until they kind of shut me down, I'm just going to keep pushing forward and just grateful that people care. You mentioned him a couple minutes ago, Zach Bryan. Do you think he exists 15, 20 years ago? Because he would never be as big as he was, as quick as he was in just the way that the world used to operate in the music industry. Is that fair to say? It's hard because he's really good, right? And usually he's incredible. I mean, he's one of the most, I don't know if you

saw the clip of John Mayer talking about the show. He's like, I thought he described it as well because I saw listen I liked his music you see him live I've seen Garth I've seen basically every big country music artists over the last 25 years it was just a powerful experience I would say that if he wanted to be successful and exist according to the rules 20 years ago absolutely but Zach kind of seems like the guy that just does not he's going to do his own thing and not move to Nashville and and I think again there's been a benefit to him to be able to make music on Twitter and YouTube and people to find it then because he never moved to Nashville. And I think he could have absolutely. He's so good. He could have moved to Nashville and been a

huge star. I just don't know that he would have moved to Nashville. But then how does his music get spread? Because in the old days, unless you lived in L.A., New York, or Nashville, your music really didn't get made. And it really didn't spread. So cream always rises. So I'll say I think it still finds a way, but it had definitely been more difficult because his success is based on how good he is consistently and that people can mass consume him in a bunch of places. You talk about these stories, I'm sure a lot, but like the pushback against Morgan Wallen, two poppy, he's just, you know, he's just doing it for the money or whatever. He's just a fabricated star.

I saw Jason Kelsey, I don't think took a specific shot, but said basically, I wish country music was the Johnny Cash's and the Willie Nelson's. Like, those days are kind of over, you know. I saw Morgan Live, like, he's good. He's not like, he's very talented. And his music is his music. You either like it or you don't. That's to me, like, in football, you win or you lose.

Arkansas basketball with Calgary, they're going to make it to the Sweet 16 or the elite eight, or they're not. Right. In music, it's pretty subjective. Like, I understand, like, he's not Alan Jackson here. Like, this isn't Hank Williams, Jr. But if you see him, it's a pretty fun experience. And, like, I don't know. I just think music, so many people, like, you see on YouTube, you post something like,

I wish music didn't sound like this, or I miss the old day. It's like, yeah, it's 2024. I enjoy them, but you live in that world. It does feel like there's just a lot of hate. Is it just because of the popularity? Is the money he's making? What do you think it is? I think it's the popularity for sure.

The higher you go on a pedestal, the more people see it, numbers game, more people complain about it. But this is what I would say, because you can always tell somebody who doesn't know about country music by the comparisons they make. By the way, Morgan is so well respected by the songwriters and artists in this town. Like, there's nobody here in this. town that knows Morgan that goes, ah, that ain't real. Right. And this town is tough. But

in the history of country music, like what country music is, it's the slave ships of Africa and European music. So they brought fiddles from Europe and banjos on the slave ships of Africa. That's country music. So you want to go all the way and root of back. That's what real country music is. Okay, so talking to Garth, when Garth was like, I was told I was wasn't country. Johnny Cash, my grandma, and he's from Arkansas, my grandma would tell me about people protesting Johnny Cash because he was not country. He was rock and roll and people wanted old school country. And they would say the same thing they're saying to Morgan Wallen, that they said to Garth Brooks, that they said to Johnny Cash, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys,

they were absolutely destroyed because they amped up a steel guitar. They put an electric amp on a steel guitar and that was considered so not country that people freaked out. The one thing in common is There are always go, that's not country. No, that's not true because every single country artist that has changed country music, all that we've listed, were told that's not country. But what happens is, what you mean is that's not the country that you grew up listening to. Because if it stayed the same, let's just say it stayed the same from the 90s. It wouldn't exist anymore.

So anyone that ever says to me, well, that's not country, I understand they actually have no knowledge on the situation and they're just talking to hear themselves talk. or they're just so in love with the music they grew up with and they have no knowledge of music other than that. One thing that feels like it's become a lot more mainstream is talking about songwriters. Now maybe it's because some of these songwriters now sing also

and become big stars. Like you're SEC football. If Alabama wins a big game, Nick Saban gets a lot of credit and so are the players, right? Like we kind of see the whole thing. Where it's like, oh, this guy just has a hit song. You know, most of my life is like, just hit song. Well, it turned out he didn't write it.

And when I went saw Morgan Wall and his boy, who I'd listen to him a little bit. And when I saw him, I'm like, this is like Chris Cornell or Kirk Cobain. He's awesome. Redneck. It was like, whether you like country music or not, you couldn't go see him live and not be like, that guy is a fucking rock star. Yeah. But he is.

But he's a writer, you know? So like that guy does not exist 15 years ago, at least playing, his writing for sure. But he's got to be the most unique guy in the town right now, wouldn't you say? Yeah, super unique. And not only that, it's in this town. It's just a trailblazer with the way he's doing stuff. Well, they get a publishing. You know, a lot of artists come in, and they're not signed as artists initially.

They're signed as writers. So you try to come and get a publishing deal. That's how you make your first checks. So you're like, okay, I just need to prove that I can write just good enough to get a publishing deal. So a lot of times, most times, artists come to town and they write first for a long time. So they become a really good writer because they're around other really good writers. And most rights in this town are multi-people, like two, three-person rights. How's that possible? How do I write a song with another guy?

Well, you come to town, you go to like the little songwriter rounds, you know, where you go play for free and you wait in line. You make a couple friends. And then you're like, well, we should write it together. Then you write a couple songs and you go out and you just pitch them to these publishing companies, a small one, a big one, a medium one. And sometimes they'll give you like an $18,000 year draw to just write songs. And what they'll do is they'll also set you up with other rights. So initially it's you find your friends and you write with them. And then it becomes once you start to get paid, it's the company that pays you, sets you up on other rights with other writers from your company, other companies.

And then once you have success, everybody wants to write with you. Yeah. So once I write, if I'm paying that $18,000 thing, if I write a song, if I'm Hardy, now he knew Morgan, but let's just use that example. He writes a song for Morgan. It explodes. I don't make any more money than just the baseline money. How do I make money as a songwriter in that scenario? Am I not making much even if I get a hit?

It just explodes me to more people. You are. No, both happens. So you get your draw. Let's say I use the number 18,000. So let's say you get your 18,000 bucks, and they're paying like a regular paycheck, like every two weeks because you've got to pay the bills.

And so then you've got to pay that back. So if you don't pay it back, they'll just end up cutting you. You don't owe them, but you have to pay it back. It's like an advance. And so first you pay it back. And then after that, you get a percentage for every dollar that's negotiated. So let's say a huge song blows up. I'm just going to give some fake numbers

because it doesn't matter. But let's say you get paid 18,000 bucks a year. You have number one song, boom. The song does a billion streams, number one on radio. You're going to get a percentage of that money based on like streaming, you know, mechanical. There's a lot of the deal. But you can make easily a million bucks depending on your deal. So it changes your life once you have a hit. If you have a hit, it changes your life. Absolutely. But you have to pay back your advance first. some big writers get a massive draw. They'll go sign with the company and make a million bucks a year. And they know that money is guaranteed.

Now they're going to write songs, and probably they're going to make more than that and get some of that percentage. But first, that million bucks is going to be paid back. You know, I was talking about with Coward the other day, how fast word spreads in the NFL about a guy's personality, a coach or a player. It's safe to say it's like that in Nashville, right? Yeah, if there's somebody good.

If there's somebody unique, everybody knows about it pretty quick because this is a town of grades but every once in a while there's somebody who i won't say transcendent because that's a word you like morgan wallins transcendent for the industry luke combs transcendent right now we have two at the same time which is pretty bizarre um like al dean luke brine uh garth you can Toby there are these people that come along and they just Kenny and Tim i remember when i was in high school they just yeah usually just kind of kick you a little different it's not like they're reinventing the will but there's something about it it's the same, which is comfortable and amazing, but also different, which is awesome.

And again, you can't really write exactly what that is, but when it's put in front of you, you know it. So, yeah, it's a pretty amazing place, pretty weird place. Sometimes Nashville sucks. Sometimes Nashville's the greatest. I like it. And I'm happy to be here. So I think this has been a really great place for me and my wife, and I don't know.

We'll see what happens. Okay, I get you out here on a couple sports questions. Sabin retires. I think, obviously, Nick's success speaks for itself, but I think what he did is he made the SEC cool all over America. People in California watch the SEC. People in the Northeast watched the SEC. When I was a kid, like, you just kind of watched your region in the Pac-12,

maybe like a rivalry game, but like you couldn't miss big SEC games over the last 10 years. Is there going to be a void in that conference, or is now it's so strong. You're at in Texas and Oklahoma. He won't be missed. or you lose a figure like John Wooden or Bear Brian. Like, I'm sorry. There just is kind of a hole into the ethos of,

I think it's safe to say, the biggest conference in America when it comes to football. I would say the SEC is too big to fail. It's like one of these corporations that the government wouldn't let fail during whatever recession that we had. You can't let the SEC fail. It makes too much money for everybody. All the schools.

And we got lucky to Kirby Smart came along now, not near as dynamic as Saban was. But Kirby Smart has kind of taken that. hey I'm now the head guy role but no it's too it's too big to fail they're not going to let it fail yes and Nick Saban I remember when he went six and six is first year and lost to like Louisiana Monroe at home yeah I was like this is not going to be good Nick Saban's awesome and if you go to Tuscaloosa and you look at the statues they have a statue for every time the coach won a national championship in front of the stadium and it's

like every third step that's another Nick Sabin statue it's really remarkable I hate going to Tuscaloosa because we always lose it's a terrible experience for me as a Razorback fan but it is really one one of the more remarkable places to go and see, you know, the Sabins, obviously the Bear Bryant, the Gene Stalling statue. It's a really cool place, but you see all the Sabins, and it reminds you all together at how freaking great he was. But he also won at LSU, right? Yeah, you know, and set it up for the next guy too. So yeah, Saban is a boss, will always be the boss, just like Bear Bryant was always the boss, but now the SEC, it's because it's such a corporation, it's too big to fail.

Have you been to every stadium for a game in your life? I have not been to, too, South Carolina, SEC wise. I've not been to every stadium, but I've not been to South Carolina because they were, you know, SEC East and we didn't, for a while when I was younger, we played them every year. They were our, and then once I could actually afford to go to games, we didn't as much anymore, so I haven't been to South Carolina, but I think other than that, I would say Vandy, but I've, like, worked out in Vandy, and there's nobody in the stands when I work out, there's nobody in stands whenever they play. So I feel like that counts. What's the best environment that you've been to? I'm going to remove my own. I'm going to remove

Arkansas doesn't count. There are two environments. One, pregame Ole Miss, because the groves freaking cool. It's just, it's a sea of tents and people acting richer than they really are. And it's really like cool, safe, easy to find parking, SEC party vibe. And the Ole Miss people, although a little snooty are pretty nice. Game-wise, like LSU, God dang, dude. like the swamp,

or not swamp second, but Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge at night, it's hard to, it's hard to like your ears hurt. It gets so loud. The worst, because I just leave with a song on my head and I can't shake it for days and days

is Neeland, Tennessee, because they don't stop playing Rocky Tout from the freaking minute you walk into the minute you walk out. So those are probably the more remarkable ones. I think one of the cooler moments in the SEC in probably the last five years is when they beat Alabama on that night game and they carried the,

the goal post to the whatever is there a river or something in there and they threw that that was that's what you don't get I mean you just don't get that out where I'm from in California college football and again I am biased I am from the southeast I am a southeast conference guy

so I would just say college football in general and again I'm lucky enough I'm going in the next couple weeks to work out with the jets and the buccaneers and the Panthers NFL teams like say come in do your show work out with it it's awesome I love the NFL there's nothing there's nothing like college football when it comes to the passion that these places have. Because honestly, a lot of places, this is all we have.

In Arkansas, it's all we have. No pro teams. Think about South Carolina, Gamecocks, no pro teams. Look at Louisiana. It's not like there's a lot going on in Louisiana. New Orleans is cool, but that's the biggest market in the state. It's like we're so passionate because it's really one of the only things that we have. And it's my favorite part of the year.

I love it. I can't wait. I can't wait for it to start, but I know we're going to go like three, and it's going to be terrible. Yeah, you guys are going to suck. But you'll have a new coach next year. Maybe you give a bunch of money to Lane or something. Get you out of here on a Razorback basketball question. I play golf out here in Arizona with a guy Jeff Fong, and he went to Arkansas.

He's from, he grew up in Arkansas, too, and he went there in the mid-90s. And we just played last weekend. He was telling me all about, he's told me before about those Nolan Richardson days and Corliss-Wim, he said it was so awesome to be a part of that. And you guys have been good recently, and I know your buddies is with Mus, and must is an excellent coach, right? I mean, one in Nevada was winning with you guys who'll win at USC. But Calipari, we can debate, you know, the winning in the tournament. But he is, I would say, just one of those old school Sabin.

Not doesn't have the success, but in terms of just his fame and moving the needle, that's a big moment for you guys. You buddies with him already and how you're feeling? Because that was a whoa. Obviously things got a little weird at the end in Kentucky. but that has to be a positive moment for you guys landing John Caliperi, right? It was a woe for sure. Even for someone who's pretty connected to the program is a big woe. I love Mus, like, must was awesome and passionate and like that was my dude.

You guys were winning. Yes, I hated to see Musko. But, you know, I didn't hate to see him go home. So that's what's cool, right? And that's the only place that I think I wouldn't get irritated that someone goes is home. and he wanted to go back to California. I get it. So, you know, we're trying to figure out who we're going to get.

They're like, I think Calipari. But I only knew, like, hours before everybody did. And usually I know days or week. But it was held so secret. And I didn't believe it. I was like, there's no chance we're getting Calipari. I'm not buddies with Calipari. I'm afraid to fly too close to the sun.

I'm going to be honest with you. I've been invited. Like, the athletic director Hunter has been like, hey, do you? I don't. I don't want to not like them. I'll just be honest with you. I don't want to meet them. and not like them because my favorite thing in the world is Arkansas football and basketball

and Arkansas Athletics. It's my number one. And I don't know that I wouldn't like him, but I don't want to go meet him and he be big time and be like too cool for school. And I'd be like, well, I hate that guy because I can't, my heart won't allow it. So I have not, unless it organically happens, it won't happen. I'm not going to fly too close to the sun. I'm not going to I echorus this thing and melt and hate Arkansas because that will never

happen. I don't know John Calipari. I'm okay, never knowing John. Calipari. But what I do like about it is I think he had enough of these one and dones without success. You even see that with this transfer class. Like he went after some mid and upper classmen, which he really didn't do in Kentucky. It was all, let's get all the five-star freshmen. And that resulted in not so great tournament runs in the last few years, which I love to see. Can't stand freaking Kentucky basketball, but can't stand up because I respect them.

So I think we're going to be really good. We're going to be really good. And it's going to be awesome. I don't think most people realize outside of the SEC football. Foothold, Arkansas Athletics, I mean, you guys got some big money boosters. I'll end on this. Do you like my future of, you know, Link Ole Miss goes 10 and 2, 11 and 1, Sam Pittman, probably a rough year. They're going to be looking for a new football coach. Give me who you'd like to see.

Get saving out of retirement? I would like to see Sam Pittman succeed because I can't. Obviously. If it doesn't go well. You know, I guess if Pittman was going to retire next year after winning 11 games, like what would I like to happen? I don't know. I kind of like, like, Rhett Lashley down at SMU.

Like I like those guys that, it's Bobby Petrino's offensive coordinator. It never got better than Bobby Petrano at Arkansas. It never got. That was, that's the best the program has ever been. That was a really amazing time for me as a fan having Bobby Petrino be the head coach at Arkansas. I hope Sam does great, and then when he retires, I hope we go and get a young guy. We have a lot of money in northwest Arkansas. If it's Tyson, if it's Walmart, dude, if it's Jerry Friggin' Jones.

Jerry Jones is a whole football complex named after him. Jerry Jones invited me. So I went to with Cowboys, flew with Jerry in this helicopter only because I'm from Arkansas. No reason, no media thing. I emailed the website and say, hey, any chance I could talk to Jerry? And they're like, he doesn't do any. I said, well, my name's Bobby, da-da-da-da-da. And they're like, oh, okay, Jerry's like, come on down.

So I show up thinking there's going to be 100 people there. It was just me and my boys and Jerry Jones and his son, and Jerry's chopper with the pilot, flew to the game, sat in a sweet. But that's what we do at Arkansas because we only have each other because we have nothing else. So, you know, we rock hard together. I hope to see success. If not, I hope we go to go after a young guy next. Did you go to Jerry's house to get on his helicopter?

You meet him at the facility? Oh, he had his own. Hey, we went to Jerry's helicopter. It was at a, when we got on Jerry's helicopter, that was it like a hangar. It was at a private hanger is what it was. It was awesome. That's a pretty incredible story. That's an all-timer.

How do you ever top that? It's the greatest. My friend Eddie, who's here with me now because we're about to record our sports show called 25 whistles. And Eddie's a massive Cowboys fan. And I'm not. I'm okay. Whatever. I grew up in Arkansas being told I have to love the Cowboys.

So I didn't because I was told I had to. But Eddie's a massive fan. And we got on the helicopter and he put on a head. headphones and Jerry just was just talking to us and it was us with the little headphones like magnum PI flying over Hawaii in that little helicopter it was awesome okay Bobby where does everyone find you what do you got going on this summary TV obviously the radio show every morning all over America you find him on YouTube he's interviewing I watched Kenny Chesney this morning but everyone know what's going on you know I just want people not to look for me I need

a break yeah I'll be honest I just need a break so don't go anywhere this summer for vacation or anything yeah I mean I don't know when this airs but we're going to Switzerland I never traveled until the last few years and my wife and I've never been so we're like let's go do something cool so we're going to Switzerland I'm going to go to Italy I'm you know looking to may go by like a Italian basketball team which so I own a professional pickleball team that was my entry into sports ownership and so we're going to go look at an Italian basketball team and see if we want to get into that business well Bobby I can't thank you enough and you know and I told you a while back when Maria really wanted to see Toby Keith in his last show and

you obviously knew Toby well and you took care of us and that's I don't know if I've told you this but in the bathroom probably in the middle of the show I probably had a few too many had to take a leak they were grown men you were like almost in tears because you knew anyone that's been around cancer

I mean he was he had to weigh 150 pounds you knew you were watching a dying man who didn't have much left given it all and that's of all the things I've ever done in my life concerts sports whatever that's one of the more powerful things I've just ever seen, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking care of. Mainly Maria loved them.

And I just, I've never seen anything like that. And then obviously he passed away a little bit later. But that was, man, that was, that was, it's hard to even put into words because you knew when you were witnessing a guy that just loved to sing and love to perform, but he was, he didn't have much. And he gave it all he had. The coolest thing was that, like, you guys were fans and wanted to go. and what's cool is I can have access to that,

just like you had access to foot. You know, if it's something that I'm in and there's somebody that I like, I think we both are somebody who likes to bring our people with us. And I'm a big fan. I'm just a big fan. You and I didn't know each other. We just messaged you on Instagram,

and I was like, hey, dude, I listen to you all the time. That's literally how I slid into your DMs and we became friends. So, yeah, the Toby thing was unexpected when it happened, but I don't think it was unexpected to happen. Most of us thought he was beating it, but he was struggling physically. So it was kind of a shock.

But yeah, I'm glad you guys got to go. I had some other friends. I went to that show and said they could kind of tell, too, that it probably wasn't long. No one knew it would be that quick. But I really appreciate you having me on. Again, I listen to, if your voice is on it, I'm listening to it. So I appreciate you having me on.

Thanks, Bobby. Enjoy Switzerland and keep rocking and rolling, baby. All right, John, see you, buddy. The volume. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night, comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and headwriter Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group

perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On the Look Back at it podcast. From 1979, that was a big moment for me. 84 was big to me.

I'm Sam Jay. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. With our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Mark Lamont Hill on the 80s. 84 was a wild year. I mean, it was a wild year. I don't think there's a more important year for black people.

Listen to Look Back at it 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 you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey,

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