Spring Fever

1
00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:23,160
And welcome back to the Boundary
Corner podcast, a part of the

2
00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:26,840
College Total Network along with
my partners, Brian Siegler,

3
00:01:26,840 --> 00:01:30,560
Jonathan Talley tonight with our
special guest managing editor of

4
00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:34,560
Tech Sideline, David Cunningham.
I am Curtis Wilson and we are

5
00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:36,520
brought to you by a Moments on
the Morning.

6
00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:39,960
Looking for a weekend getaway
this spring or summer?

7
00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:43,200
Check out Moments on the Morning
might be exactly what you're

8
00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,840
looking for.
Owned by a proud Hokie located

9
00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:49,560
just outside Lexington, VA,
Place gives you fishing,

10
00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:55,760
kayaking or just relaxing by the
river with a nice cold brewski

11
00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:58,360
right out the back door.
Check out the links in the

12
00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:01,000
comments or visit them on their
Instagram page.

13
00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:06,480
Moments on the Mori David
Cunningham Long time no talk

14
00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:07,760
man.
How you been?

15
00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:10,720
Doing well guys, Great to see
all you guys.

16
00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:14,480
You know, it's, it's funny, I, I
travel all over the place during

17
00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:19,360
basketball season and it's nice
to be back at my desk in my

18
00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:21,560
house.
Honestly, getting ready to chop

19
00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:24,000
up some spring football.
It's been a while since we

20
00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:27,280
chatted and basketball season's
taken a little bit of a toll on

21
00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:30,680
me, but I am, I am.
I'm ready for football, man.

22
00:02:31,520 --> 00:02:34,000
Can I ask a question?
How many miles have you logged

23
00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,080
this January?
Because you you went to just

24
00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:42,120
about every away game run.
Yeah, I mean, well, it's funny,

25
00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:45,400
the winter storm kind of threw
everything out of out of whack a

26
00:02:45,400 --> 00:02:47,920
little bit because I didn't, I
was supposed to go to Louisville

27
00:02:47,920 --> 00:02:52,960
again and didn't go.
I know in in the first two weeks

28
00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:56,600
of in in the final week of
February, in like the first two

29
00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:59,680
weeks of March, I think I drove
around 2000 miles.

30
00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:04,080
And that's not, I mean, and that
doesn't even factor in flying to

31
00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:09,520
Austin for the NCA tournament.
So busy, man, going a lot of

32
00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:12,040
places.
What helped this year was I did

33
00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:15,240
not travel over Thanksgiving
because both teams were out of

34
00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:17,440
the country.
Usually, you know, past couple

35
00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,240
years I've gone down to Florida.
So that was actually kind of

36
00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:22,200
nice.
I got to got to spend

37
00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:24,720
Thanksgiving with family for the
first time in a in a couple

38
00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:27,200
years.
But but yeah, basketball

39
00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:30,600
season's done and in the books.
And we got spring football on

40
00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:34,240
the horizon, man.
And James Franklin's got those

41
00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,200
boys working.
There, there's definitely some

42
00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:38,920
juice.
We're we're starting to see some

43
00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:42,320
things start to trickle back
onto the to the X timeline a

44
00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:44,800
little bit.
It was a little quiet in in

45
00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:47,160
January and February there at
least relative kind of what

46
00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:50,680
we've seen the last few years.
But it's nice to get things

47
00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:56,080
cranking up again.
Yeah, it looks like get getting

48
00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:57,680
some every time a practice is
out.

49
00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:00,040
We're getting some some cut UPS.
They're getting to see a little

50
00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:01,560
bit of action.
So that's been nice.

51
00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:08,320
Yeah, when I think, yeah, the
the really cool thing was and I,

52
00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:10,800
I, I did not get to see it
because I was trout.

53
00:04:10,960 --> 00:04:14,240
But the really cool thing is
last Thursday, Tex, I think

54
00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:18,800
second full practice, James
Franklin opened the entire thing

55
00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:21,240
to the media.
So the media got to watch a

56
00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:25,440
whole practice a whole.
A whole like beginning to.

57
00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:28,800
End like beginning to end
talking like 2/2 and 1/2 hour

58
00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:32,400
practice.
So I mean, that's something that

59
00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:34,800
haven't, we haven't had to
happen in a real really, really

60
00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:36,960
long time, probably going back
to Beamer, so.

61
00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:41,040
That was a bitter call to the
Unicorn, I think, when he was.

62
00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:43,200
I don't know that I would expect
it.

63
00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:45,320
I wouldn't know that I would
expect it often.

64
00:04:45,320 --> 00:04:47,320
But you know, and I wish I was
there.

65
00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:54,600
Of course I was in Texas, but I
think it is it, it's been an

66
00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:57,200
interesting, you know, getting
to know Coach Franklin obviously

67
00:04:57,200 --> 00:04:59,480
and, and building up that media
relationship with him and the

68
00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:02,120
Virginia Tech media contingent
is a bit different from Penn

69
00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:08,160
State and, and kind of starting
from Ground Zero in that regard.

70
00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,800
But yeah, I mean, him opening up
an entire practice, like I know

71
00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:14,960
talking to Chris and Andy, they
they really appreciated just

72
00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:19,280
getting a chance to yeah, to, to
watch guys work and and get a

73
00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:23,080
real sense more than just like 5
to 10 minutes at, you know, at,

74
00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:26,600
at practice once a week.
So yeah, pretty, pretty cool.

75
00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:28,280
And of course, we'll have the
spring game coming up.

76
00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:31,640
That's going to be exciting.
I know like like you were just

77
00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:33,760
alluding to, they're usually
like that'll meet that media

78
00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:36,400
availability is more like one or
two practice sessions, not

79
00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:39,240
necessarily a full, a full
length practice.

80
00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:40,960
So that's that's pretty exciting
stuff.

81
00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:43,680
So let me ask you something,
David.

82
00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:47,240
First of all, Brian, if you'd
have put some glasses on the

83
00:05:48,280 --> 00:05:50,760
avatar when it first started,
that could have been David.

84
00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:54,720
Like, I mean, it looked it was
Sheldon, but it could have been

85
00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:57,120
David.
So you needed to change that up

86
00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:01,280
a little bit.
But just a quick question,

87
00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:06,240
because you are in the media
from a scale of, you know, we're

88
00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:08,560
cool to a scale.
I want to slash somebody's

89
00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:11,560
tires.
How mad does media members get

90
00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:15,800
about the no access?
Not saying you or your kind of

91
00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:19,840
Co workers that you work with,
but just overall, like, is it a

92
00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:23,560
thorn in the side of like media
guys that can't get access to

93
00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:25,000
programs?
And not just saying like

94
00:06:25,280 --> 00:06:28,400
Virginia Tech in general, but
just overall, because that's

95
00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,360
what your job is right to, you
know, cover a sport.

96
00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:33,960
But when you have a lot of
coaches that are more closed

97
00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:40,280
off, how does that feel in your
in in your from what you've

98
00:06:40,280 --> 00:06:43,000
seen?
Yeah, it, it, it honestly is

99
00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:50,320
very, it can be very frustrating
because the difficult part is

100
00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:55,600
it's not like I, I think a lot
of people by my colleagues in my

101
00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:59,000
position, you just want to kind
of tell what's going on, right?

102
00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,560
You got to, you have a job to do
to the fans.

103
00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,240
Hey, man, like you're investing
money into this program, you're

104
00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:08,560
paying for season tickets.
Here's what's going on in your

105
00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:10,600
football program on a day-to-day
basis.

106
00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:14,440
That's my job to to say, hey,
here's what's going on.

107
00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:20,400
And when coaches, I saw a lot of
them, you know, now in this era,

108
00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:24,240
it's not like Frank Beamer, who,
you know, who ran his own

109
00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:27,600
website and and posted stuff
about what was going on all the

110
00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:28,560
time.
Every day.

111
00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:33,160
Coaches have become more secure
and more closed off about a lot

112
00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:36,600
of that stuff.
And the most frustrating part

113
00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:41,280
becomes when there's not a lot
going on like this past season

114
00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:44,520
when they're when the team is
interim head coach and it's just

115
00:07:44,520 --> 00:07:46,600
losing game after game after
game.

116
00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:52,400
And you're not, you know, they,
they cut off practice access and

117
00:07:52,400 --> 00:07:56,680
kind of just shut things down.
It just becomes very dull and

118
00:07:57,720 --> 00:07:59,760
repetitive where you're not
getting anything.

119
00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:02,320
And it's really difficult
because it's like we have no

120
00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:04,760
really no idea what's going on
outside of games.

121
00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,560
You know, I think a lot of my
colleagues, even across the

122
00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:13,000
country and even across the,
it's, you're just looking to

123
00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:14,600
kind of say, Hey, here's what's
going on.

124
00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:17,960
You're not necessarily looking
to take take shots or find the,

125
00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:20,720
the, the good or the bad.
You're just kind of like, hey,

126
00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:23,640
here's here's this guy, he's
playing well, you know, here's,

127
00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:26,360
oh, this guy's a guy to watch at
practice.

128
00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:33,440
And I I think the, the Penn
State media, yeah, James

129
00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:36,280
Franklin was there for a dozen
years and I think that kind of

130
00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:39,559
that relationship wears after a
little bit.

131
00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:45,760
And I think it was got a little
frustrating for him because

132
00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:48,040
they're Penn State.
The Penn State media contingent

133
00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:50,200
is large.
The Virginia Tech media

134
00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:54,600
contingent is not that big.
You know, normal practice,

135
00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:59,320
there's 5 to 10 people for us at
Penn State practices, probably

136
00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:02,760
20 to 30 people.
So it's much different.

137
00:09:02,760 --> 00:09:06,720
And I think the opportunity for
him to kind of start fresh and

138
00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:10,760
say, hey, you know, the, the
press conference we had last

139
00:09:10,760 --> 00:09:16,640
week, he handed us, he handed us
a sheet of player availability.

140
00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:19,080
Hey, you're all the guys that
are out for spring practice and

141
00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:21,720
asked us if it's helpful.
It's like, yeah, that's very

142
00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:25,600
helpful because we don't have to
spend our time asking silly

143
00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:28,920
questions about injuries, but at
the same time, we kind of want

144
00:09:28,920 --> 00:09:30,960
to know what's going on with
with guys, right?

145
00:09:30,960 --> 00:09:32,760
Like.
What what, what David is saying

146
00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:35,520
is he doesn't have to be over
there on the sideline, is that?

147
00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:39,200
60, yeah.
Who's got the blue on today?

148
00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:41,960
Who's got the blue all on?
Oh my God, yeah.

149
00:09:41,960 --> 00:09:45,160
I get how helpful that can be
because if you know, a guy's out

150
00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:47,960
and again, in that in press
conference, there were a couple

151
00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:50,840
guys missing that he that
forthright came beyond and said,

152
00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:54,040
oh, no, they're not practicing
or they're out for a while.

153
00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:56,480
They may come back.
Well, that that that helps with

154
00:09:56,480 --> 00:09:59,040
the story, right?
Because y'all are looking to say

155
00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:01,320
like, you know, we know Logan
Howard, he's recovering

156
00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:04,600
immediately.
OK Johnny Garrett started last

157
00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:05,920
year.
Aiden's played two games.

158
00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,520
Are any of these other transfers
going to step up now?

159
00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:14,640
You know, you get to walk in and
say who's over at left?

160
00:10:14,800 --> 00:10:17,920
Who's at right, whether it's the
full session of the past or the

161
00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:21,520
half session or which are the
ones are going against the bags

162
00:10:21,520 --> 00:10:23,480
together.
Oh, now I know who that is.

163
00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:28,040
And that gives us information as
fans out here.

164
00:10:28,240 --> 00:10:29,480
And and that's what you're there
to do.

165
00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:35,600
I always liked what what you
just said and what you're saying

166
00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:40,040
is you're just trying to report
it because you have a vested fan

167
00:10:40,040 --> 00:10:42,120
base.
People want to know what's going

168
00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:43,800
on.
You made even better point.

169
00:10:43,920 --> 00:10:46,360
There are some people that are
stroking checks.

170
00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:48,800
Some of those people have big
enough checks where they'll know

171
00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:51,200
what's going on.
Others who aren't stroking big

172
00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:54,760
enough checks, we'll know what's
going on.

173
00:10:54,760 --> 00:10:58,800
Like I gave $2000 last year.
You know, it's not a lot, but

174
00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:01,360
it's what I can afford.
Can I get something?

175
00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:06,080
And if they aren't letting y'all
in there or you know, Damon from

176
00:11:06,080 --> 00:11:09,600
Roanoke Times or other people,
then nobody knows.

177
00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:14,360
And, and, and occasionally fans
can check out.

178
00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:17,960
They can just check out and say,
you know what, I don't know

179
00:11:17,960 --> 00:11:20,320
what's going on.
I'm not going to watch the

180
00:11:20,320 --> 00:11:21,960
presser.
You know what, maybe I'll turn

181
00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:24,600
the game on Saturday, so.
Well, this is my thing.

182
00:11:24,600 --> 00:11:29,120
If you're not a good enough fan
that you can't call D Kuna and

183
00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:33,120
say hey man, what's going on?
That's your fault.

184
00:11:33,600 --> 00:11:37,360
I mean, I've never checked out
because I have access to my guy

185
00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,720
right here.
I want to know something that

186
00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:43,120
y'all don't need to know.
I just called David.

187
00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:46,000
I haven't seen man so.
Oh my God.

188
00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:51,400
If you are not a good enough fan
when you're not friends with

189
00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:53,240
David, shame on you.
Oh my.

190
00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:58,640
God, hey, I appreciate it.
The the, the, the and tally's

191
00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:00,720
not wrong either.
I mean, and that is the thing,

192
00:12:00,720 --> 00:12:03,840
like there are times where like,
like Curtis or Brian will

193
00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:06,240
message me.
He's like, hey, like especially

194
00:12:06,240 --> 00:12:07,400
Curtis.
Curtis will be like, what, yo,

195
00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,520
what's going on with this guy?
And I'm like, I'm honest.

196
00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:14,800
I'm like, hey, here's what I'm
hearing like and, and but, but

197
00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:18,760
yeah, I mean, it's you got, you
got season ticket holders, man.

198
00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:20,960
Like they need to, they deserve
to know what's going on in the

199
00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:23,800
program.
And I think some coaches look at

200
00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:26,480
the media as an adversary.
I think James Franklin's been

201
00:12:26,480 --> 00:12:29,400
doing this long enough that he
understands the relationship and

202
00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:33,120
understands that he can build
from Ground Zero and go, hey, we

203
00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:35,640
can set the kind of the
foundation of what we want this

204
00:12:35,640 --> 00:12:38,960
to look like, what we want the
relationship to look like at

205
00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:41,600
Virginia Tech.
Now I'm, I'm doing this here for

206
00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:44,800
the first time and things I like
that we did at Penn State,

207
00:12:44,800 --> 00:12:48,080
things I didn't like, hey,
here's how we're laying it out.

208
00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:52,840
You know, if we give the media a
full practice to just get a

209
00:12:52,840 --> 00:12:56,000
sense of watching guys run
around and how they stack up

210
00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,440
against each other and, and
really see them on the field,

211
00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:03,040
that's helpful.
And as long as everybody's on

212
00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:05,960
the same page, I think it's
beneficial for everyone.

213
00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:08,480
So it's been really cool to
build a relationship with him so

214
00:13:08,480 --> 00:13:11,960
far and, you know, heading in
the right direction.

215
00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:15,000
And I, and really I'm, I'm
excited to to now that

216
00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:18,160
basketball season's done, kind
of focused fully on football for

217
00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:21,120
for the rest of the spring.
And I know that spring game, you

218
00:13:21,120 --> 00:13:22,840
know, he wants that stadium
full.

219
00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:25,960
I'm interested to see what that
crowd is going to be like.

220
00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:27,920
Yeah, it'd be.
Interesting.

221
00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:31,040
I remember the Fuente year me
and Brian went and that was like

222
00:13:31,720 --> 00:13:35,240
40% that was like that was jam
packed.

223
00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:38,280
But, you know, we're only a few
years off of a Sugar Bowl at

224
00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:40,520
that point in time.
Now we're a few years off of a

225
00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:43,320
yeah, but we're going to get
back to football in a little

226
00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:45,960
while.
Basketball season's over.

227
00:13:45,960 --> 00:13:50,640
As David said, he logged like
8000 miles between airplane

228
00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:53,000
travel, car travel and all that
stuff.

229
00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:56,560
But we want to talk about both
teams and we're going to start

230
00:13:56,560 --> 00:13:58,080
with the better of those two
teams.

231
00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:00,120
How about that?
I'll I'll be nice in that phrase

232
00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:05,120
and let's talk with the lady
Gokey because I think for a lot

233
00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:09,040
of us, you pay attention to it a
few years ago when they were a

234
00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:11,480
top ten team.
I mean, all eyes were on.

235
00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:14,680
I don't think the eyes were on
them as much this year because

236
00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:17,160
it was it was Megan's second
season, Megan Duffy's second

237
00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:19,240
season.
And it was just kind of like,

238
00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:24,920
you know, they did OK last year,
but then they had that huge in

239
00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:27,160
the middle of the season beat
some good teams.

240
00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:29,240
It's like, well, wait a second,
they got a chance to make the

241
00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:32,400
tournament and then they count
winning, pick off some more wins

242
00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:34,440
near the end of the season.
And then the next thing you know

243
00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:40,240
is they're in to me, just from
my knowledge of it, I feel like

244
00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:42,920
a year ahead of schedule.
So David, you know, before we

245
00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:46,120
get into the, the, the your trip
and everything, do you think

246
00:14:46,120 --> 00:14:50,040
they were a year ahead of
schedule when it comes to making

247
00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:52,160
the turn?
A little bit.

248
00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:55,640
I, I think, I think they, I
would say they probably

249
00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:58,880
overachieved a little bit.
I think they did more with with

250
00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:05,600
less as far as this roster goes.
I think I, if, if you know,

251
00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:08,760
Megan Duffy kind of squeezed
everything out of this team.

252
00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:14,480
And I, I, I look at this team on
paper and go, man, there are,

253
00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:16,840
there are a lot of holes and,
you know, there.

254
00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:22,760
And, and by that I mean that
some of the depth I had

255
00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:28,600
questions about they, they
relied on a lot of role players

256
00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:31,680
that had not played big moments
before.

257
00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:34,720
And sometimes it works,
sometimes it didn't.

258
00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:38,680
But you're talking about a
program that and, and what

259
00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:42,760
people, but it's hard for people
to forget is, you know, before

260
00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:46,920
Virginia Tech made the NCAA
tournament in 2021, the Hokies

261
00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:50,240
went 15 seasons without making
the NCAA tournament.

262
00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:57,240
And we're 59 and 159 in the ACC.
We're talking 125% of it's

263
00:15:57,240 --> 00:15:58,920
games.
You're finishing bottom of the

264
00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:01,400
league every year.
And Kenny Brooks came in and

265
00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:03,760
stabilized.
It obviously took him to the ACC

266
00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:07,120
championship game and one one
titles took him to the final

267
00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:11,440
floor.
But when the 2 greatest players

268
00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:15,560
in program history walk out the
door and you have to rebuild and

269
00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:18,640
you're in this era with the
portal and NIL, it's difficult.

270
00:16:19,160 --> 00:16:22,360
And I think Megan Duffy has done
a great job of stabilizing.

271
00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:27,160
They went 12 and six in the
league and tied Notre Dame for

272
00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:29,880
fifth.
Like, that is a great

273
00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:32,280
accomplishment.
They maybe could have been a

274
00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:35,760
little bit of a higher seed in
the NCAA tournament, but but

275
00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:39,520
just getting back there I think
is a great accomplishment in

276
00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:42,840
itself.
And I, I, I, I wrote about this

277
00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:45,600
the other day on
techsideline.com.

278
00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:49,160
It shows that the program is
moving in the right direction.

279
00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:53,640
And I think they overachieved a
little bit compared to how good

280
00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:56,520
their roster actually is.
And it shows that they've

281
00:16:56,520 --> 00:17:00,120
really, they really maximized.
They obviously have two really

282
00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:02,440
good players and Carly Wenzel
and carries Baker, but they

283
00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:05,319
maximized everyone else around
them.

284
00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:06,760
And I think they were really
fun.

285
00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:10,480
Watch, they lost two games in
January back-to-back to

286
00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:12,200
Louisville, Miami and
Louisville.

287
00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:16,680
And it kind of felt a little bit
like, oh, man, like we, how is

288
00:17:16,680 --> 00:17:18,839
this going to go?
Like, they've got an interesting

289
00:17:18,839 --> 00:17:21,119
stretch coming up where they
could string together some

290
00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:23,440
games, but they really need to
show it.

291
00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:25,800
They haven't really found
consistency yet.

292
00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:28,240
And to their credit, they
stepped up.

293
00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:32,120
They won seven games in a row
and they really went from being

294
00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:34,800
towards the bottom of the league
in terms of this actual

295
00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:39,000
standings to up towards the top.
And yeah, they dropped a couple

296
00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:41,480
games here or there against
Notre Dame, NC State, North

297
00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:45,040
Carolina, but they ended the
season on a high, secured their

298
00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:48,280
spot in the NCAA tournament.
They were way off the bubble and

299
00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:53,280
step in the right direction.
And the biggest thing for me is

300
00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:57,200
you got to keep building on it
like, like I think recruiting to

301
00:17:57,200 --> 00:17:59,600
an NCAA tournament, like, hey
man, we just went to the NCAA

302
00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:00,920
tournament.
We're going to have most of our

303
00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,840
pieces back.
You want to come be be a part of

304
00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:05,080
this.
I, I think that's a great

305
00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:08,160
recruiting pitch and credit to
the staff and the players and

306
00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:12,480
everyone involved because they
did a really good job of, I

307
00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:16,440
think surprising a lot of people
in terms of expectations.

308
00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:19,200
And I think a lot of people
looked at this team on paper and

309
00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:24,000
said, yeah, they'll, they'll
probably be, you know, WBIT or

310
00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:28,240
WNIT team, you know, maybe if,
if, if, if they're on the

311
00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:30,640
bubble, that'd be good.
And they were way off the

312
00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:32,280
bubble.
They did better than that and

313
00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:36,760
job well done by them and I
think this this program has a

314
00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:38,600
bright future under under Megan
Duffy.

315
00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:42,800
Yeah, I I'm with you on that.
And, you know, when we look at

316
00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,880
what they were able to do, I
mean, it's really kind of

317
00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,320
impressive to Curtis's point up,
you know, definitely feel like

318
00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:50,600
they were, you know, ahead of
schedule.

319
00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:53,560
You know, I probably had them
like flirting with the bubble

320
00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:56,120
this year.
Maybe not quite, you know, not

321
00:18:56,120 --> 00:18:58,320
quite getting in, you know, kind
of right there on the bubble.

322
00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:01,920
But you know, they were able to
you're really string some good

323
00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:04,640
games there in that one stretch
you talked about with that seven

324
00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:07,640
game turn around finished off
off the season strong.

325
00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:10,840
Let's talk about your your trip
out to Austin.

326
00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:13,680
I know you kind of alluded to
the the seating may may wasn't

327
00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:17,920
as as favorable to the Hokies as
as we would have wanted.

328
00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:19,960
What was that trip out there
like?

329
00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:24,120
How did that match up kind of
your work against work against

330
00:19:24,120 --> 00:19:27,280
them a little bit in that game?
Well, I, I think the, the

331
00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:32,000
difficult part is, you know,
anytime in the women's game,

332
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:34,800
anytime you end up in an 8-9
game, it's going to be very

333
00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:39,720
difficult because in the women's
game, top 4 seeds in every

334
00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:43,520
region host.
So unlike the man where you go

335
00:19:43,520 --> 00:19:46,680
to neutral sites like Florida
played in Tampa, Duke played in

336
00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:50,680
Greenville in the women's game,
you know, Virginia Tech's going

337
00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,440
to Texas.
That arena's gorgeous.

338
00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:56,440
I'd never been to Austin.
Really cool city, lot of really

339
00:19:56,440 --> 00:19:59,240
good food.
Had a great trip, would highly

340
00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:03,120
recommend they get matched up
with Oregon.

341
00:20:03,160 --> 00:20:05,400
Only ever played them once and I
think that's the unique part of

342
00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:07,120
the NCAA tournament.
You're seeing teams that you've

343
00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:11,000
never played before.
I thought the difference was

344
00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:14,560
Tech's.
Oregon's role players honestly

345
00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:16,560
were a little bit more
consistent than Tech's.

346
00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:18,840
And Hokies got in foul trouble
early in the game with Carly

347
00:20:18,840 --> 00:20:20,960
Winslow, Kerris Baker, they fell
behind.

348
00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:23,920
And when your top two players
are on the bench in foul

349
00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:26,760
trouble, it's.
How how do you handle it?

350
00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:30,240
And took Tech's credit, it
pulled out of the hole it it

351
00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:34,000
allowed A12O run, bounced back
with a 12/2 run was in within 4

352
00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:37,000
at halftime.
And then in that third quarter,

353
00:20:37,760 --> 00:20:40,160
Tyler Freeland got in foul
trouble and Tech really

354
00:20:40,360 --> 00:20:43,400
struggled a little bit in the
interior and organ dominated in

355
00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:47,080
paint.
They they have a, a couple

356
00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:52,320
pretty good post players that
they kind of fed through and you

357
00:20:52,320 --> 00:20:54,400
know, Tech, Tech struggled
offensively.

358
00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:59,200
I thought the Oregon defense,
they took away a lot of what the

359
00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,680
Hokies wanted to do and just
wasn't a really good shooting

360
00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:05,920
game from Tech until the fourth
quarter when, you know, Kerris

361
00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,560
Baker went off for 17 points and
a little bit too late.

362
00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:16,280
But it just it's difficult.
This is a team that at times

363
00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:20,160
this year, you've seen it, North
Carolina, NC State, Notre Dame,

364
00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:24,720
you know, they, they've had lows
for maybe not an entire quarter,

365
00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:29,520
but a couple minutes at a time
where they've either struggled

366
00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:33,240
really, really poorly on the
offense or defensive side of the

367
00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:36,080
ball where they can't get a
bucket or they can't get a stop.

368
00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:39,200
And that's what happens when
there's a little bit of

369
00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:42,440
inconsistency, you know, it just
pops up for 5 minutes maybe.

370
00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:46,880
And that's why I felt like you
saw it in the first half and

371
00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:49,560
then to Tex credited battled
back, and then you saw it again

372
00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:51,520
in the second-half and it was
just a little too much to

373
00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:54,320
overcome.
But like I said before, making

374
00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:56,960
the NCAA tournament in itself, I
think it's a huge accomplishment

375
00:21:56,960 --> 00:22:02,960
for this staff and much better
feeling for them last year then

376
00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:05,120
last year, you know, when they
were the first team out of the

377
00:22:05,120 --> 00:22:07,640
tournament, a lot of
disappointment going around and

378
00:22:08,960 --> 00:22:11,560
they they were the fact they
were securely in that they

379
00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:16,720
didn't have to flirt with the
bubble that they were a solid 9

380
00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:19,200
seed.
Now the question is, OK, can

381
00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:25,240
next year, can you be 567?
Can you, can you, it's not easy,

382
00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:30,000
but can you move up a couple
seed lines and potentially be in

383
00:22:30,000 --> 00:22:35,200
that realm where you avoid a
dominant #1 seed and can you win

384
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:38,280
a game in the tournament Now?
You know, I think they have

385
00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:40,520
positioned themselves well to do
that in the future.

386
00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:43,480
It's just difficult.
I think Oregon is is a is a

387
00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:48,080
pretty good good team and
honestly just got better of that

388
00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:51,600
match up if that makes sense.
They, they came out to get, I

389
00:22:51,600 --> 00:22:54,520
mean that first quarter was what
was it 20 or 18?

390
00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:59,400
It was a it was a big.
Yeah, I mean, they had a 12O run

391
00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,520
and it's like you get, you get
put on your heels like that and

392
00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:05,680
just makes it.
You can't allow big runs like

393
00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:06,720
that.
And, and there have been a

394
00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,720
couple different times this year
that that tech has allowed it

395
00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:13,240
something like that.
And and it just makes it really,

396
00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,000
really difficult to recover.
Yeah.

397
00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:19,280
Let me let me ask this because
it it is you know where we got

398
00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:21,280
to look forward now to it
because you just kind of

399
00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:25,040
mentioned it saying can they
steal one next year etcetera,

400
00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:27,080
etcetera.
There are only two players

401
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:31,360
effectively graduating.
Now, I'm not going to talk

402
00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:35,360
portal because it's tough to
keep up with men's basketball

403
00:23:35,360 --> 00:23:37,880
portal.
I can't imagine the women's

404
00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:39,840
basketball portal being even
crazier.

405
00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:45,800
But you got Mel Daly with just a
backup guard, a nice piece, and

406
00:23:45,800 --> 00:23:49,000
they replace if I'm butcher in
the name, Kyla Freelon.

407
00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:53,520
Yeah, Kyla.
Kyla Freelon because basically a

408
00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:57,040
double double right at 10
points, close to 10 rebounds a

409
00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:01,240
game, Definitely kind of a force
in the middle or the force in

410
00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:04,280
the middle, I should say, for
the Hokies on that aspect.

411
00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:09,080
And they replace her production
And I and I, and I like to pose

412
00:24:09,080 --> 00:24:11,680
this to you because you've been
keeping up with them all year.

413
00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:14,480
You obviously saw some of the
freshman play.

414
00:24:15,120 --> 00:24:16,640
Is there someone to slip into
her spot?

415
00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:20,360
Because what you feel is if
someone comes into her spot,

416
00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:25,400
maybe higher regarded, maybe a
better overall player, that is

417
00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:28,240
that bouncing point to say, you
know, you already mentioned

418
00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:31,880
carries Baker coming back.
We already know Carly Wenzel

419
00:24:31,960 --> 00:24:33,640
lean score coming back next
year.

420
00:24:33,640 --> 00:24:35,320
They'll both be, I think,
seniors.

421
00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:38,120
But can you get that replacement
in the middle?

422
00:24:38,120 --> 00:24:43,960
And can that person, you know,
can they go 13 and 10 a game and

423
00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,440
add that little bit extra?
And if they are, who is?

424
00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:48,680
Well, that that's a great
question.

425
00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:51,920
I I like the the two freshmen
they have on the roster this

426
00:24:51,920 --> 00:24:56,840
year in the post, Anaya Trent,
who who played a good bit in in

427
00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:00,480
kind of a backup role and and
Imani Jenkins, who didn't play

428
00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:02,600
as much.
I think they're really good

429
00:25:02,600 --> 00:25:04,240
pieces.
They are both highly touted

430
00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:08,960
freshman.
The the thing about Freelon is

431
00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:11,760
she she was really, really
athletic, a little bit

432
00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:16,760
undersized at six one, but ran
the floor extremely well and and

433
00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:21,280
was very like exactly what you
want from an athleticism,

434
00:25:21,280 --> 00:25:23,240
ability to jump up and grab
rebounds.

435
00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:26,920
The the part that was missing is
they didn't really have any back

436
00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:30,600
to the there was no back to the
basket outlet there.

437
00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:34,480
Tech had that a little bit last
season with Rose Meesha playing

438
00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:39,000
the five.
I think if in my opinion,

439
00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:41,600
Curtis, they they need two
things in the transfer portal.

440
00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:45,600
They need a post player, a back
to the basket post player,

441
00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:47,680
somebody you can kind of throw
the ball into.

442
00:25:47,720 --> 00:25:50,200
They can go one-on-one on the
block a little bit.

443
00:25:50,560 --> 00:25:55,480
They're a good rebounder and a
good score and they need, they

444
00:25:55,480 --> 00:25:58,360
need a three-point shooter
because they've got a lot of

445
00:25:58,360 --> 00:26:03,560
good role players, but not a lot
of them are consistent 3 point

446
00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:05,800
shooters.
They're really two good ones are

447
00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:09,640
Carly Wenzel and Karis Baker.
And as a result, when your two

448
00:26:09,640 --> 00:26:14,320
leading scorers are not shooting
it well or being limited or just

449
00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:17,960
aren't having a good day from
3:00, you need to have another

450
00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:21,080
outlet.
And you saw it last year with

451
00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:24,960
Matilde Eck and Lonnie White.
They were able to make threes.

452
00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:27,240
They were able to kind of face
it a little bit.

453
00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:30,600
Now, Tech was better, much
better defensively this year,

454
00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:36,680
Tech rose about 75 spots in
adjusted defense from last year

455
00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:40,080
to this year.
Tech was a top 25, top 30

456
00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:41,440
defensive team.
This year.

457
00:26:41,800 --> 00:26:44,080
The offense took a little bit of
a dip, though.

458
00:26:44,480 --> 00:26:47,920
And I think if you can it it,
it'll probably the defense might

459
00:26:47,920 --> 00:26:51,440
might dip slightly with Freeland
gone because she was such an

460
00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:55,840
integral piece.
But but I think if you can go

461
00:26:55,840 --> 00:26:58,600
out and get a big in the portal
and get a three-point shooter

462
00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:02,280
and then, you know, see, I don't
know who who might leave.

463
00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:06,400
I would expect probably one to
two players to portal out just

464
00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:09,760
because that's kind of the norm.
But they've got a good core to

465
00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:11,880
build around.
And I think that's the exciting

466
00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:16,160
thing.
You, you can kind of identify

467
00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:21,840
the exact roles that you need.
Hey, we need a, we need a

468
00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:28,200
starting center to come in and
get us 12 and 10A game, right?

469
00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:33,440
And, and our freshman bigs who
are going to come in, they're

470
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:35,680
going to take the next step and
they're going to play a little

471
00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:38,160
bit more and they're going to
take some of that pressure off.

472
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:41,840
Like Anaya Trent was really good
defensively, but she was limited

473
00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:45,320
offensively as a true freshman.
And and they've got two really

474
00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:48,320
good highly touted recruits
coming in, two McDonald's All

475
00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:52,000
American Game nominees.
They've got they got a a guard

476
00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:56,880
from Washington state, like way
out West, Kaleo Anderson coming

477
00:27:56,880 --> 00:28:00,480
in and she's at ESPN like top 70
recruit.

478
00:28:00,840 --> 00:28:05,080
And then they have Ariana Harris
Mont, who is 64 post player from

479
00:28:05,080 --> 00:28:07,560
Maryland Abu Williams product
that's coming in.

480
00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:10,320
So they continue to add good
pieces.

481
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:15,000
I think they're probably one or
two piece pieces away.

482
00:28:16,240 --> 00:28:20,200
Like I said in the portal, you
add those, those players and,

483
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:24,040
and everyone else, the role
players continue to get better.

484
00:28:24,040 --> 00:28:27,240
And I think you've got a really
good team on your hands and you

485
00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:30,320
probably do maybe you're a next
year, you're a six or a seven

486
00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:32,720
seed.
And I think that's that's kind

487
00:28:32,720 --> 00:28:35,640
of the next, the next step for
for this program.

488
00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:37,040
And I really like where they
stand.

489
00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:40,920
And it'll be very interesting to
see who they go after in the

490
00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:44,680
portal who's available.
And again, it's so much about

491
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:48,560
money now that that it just, it
makes stuff a little bit more

492
00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:52,480
difficult than it would before.
But if you can keep everybody

493
00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:56,040
together, you're in your bot.
Yeah.

494
00:28:56,120 --> 00:28:58,880
Let me ask this one last thing
before we move over to men's and

495
00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:00,760
we'll let Tally ride on that a
little bit.

496
00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:05,400
And and this is kind of a segue
question because because this is

497
00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:07,800
like kind of a little bit of a
comparison.

498
00:29:07,800 --> 00:29:11,440
When we look at the NIL
challenges that basketball has,

499
00:29:11,440 --> 00:29:16,400
is it significantly more
difficult in the women's game

500
00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:19,280
with NIL versus the men's or, or
what are the challenges in

501
00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:22,520
women's that you know, we we may
not see in the men's and vice

502
00:29:22,520 --> 00:29:25,280
versa?
Well, I think the, the big,

503
00:29:25,480 --> 00:29:28,480
that's a great question.
I think the, the in the women's

504
00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:36,680
game, the the ceiling.
Like if you say that Yukon's a

505
00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:40,040
good example, right?
If you say Yukon is making

506
00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:44,960
Yukon's payroll is X Yukon is
Yukon was an overall number one

507
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:46,680
seed in this year's NCAA
tournament.

508
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:50,560
You say that team has the most
payroll of anyone in the

509
00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:55,960
country.
What is it the gap from that to

510
00:29:56,280 --> 00:29:59,840
the final at large team that
made the NCAA tournament?

511
00:30:00,600 --> 00:30:03,000
I would say is like this.
It's pretty small.

512
00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:06,720
Like the teams at the top
obviously have are really,

513
00:30:06,720 --> 00:30:13,160
really, really well resourced,
but it's kind of scrunched a

514
00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:19,680
little bit because in the men's
game, it's like the Dukes and

515
00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:25,200
the Carolinas are writing blank
checks and the teams kind of in

516
00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:29,400
that next tier, like the
Virginias, the Louisville's, you

517
00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:33,400
know, they're like double what
Virginia Tech's roster was this

518
00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:35,760
year.
And and Virginia Tech's

519
00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:39,320
competing for an at large spot.
You you saw Virginia was a three

520
00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:42,200
seed.
So like that there's just a

521
00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:50,720
giant gulf in in in the men's
where the the amount of money it

522
00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:54,440
takes to fund an NCAA tournament
team in the men's continues to

523
00:30:54,440 --> 00:31:00,720
skyrocket and it continues to to
take crazy jumps up on the

524
00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:02,840
women's side.
It's not that steep.

525
00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:08,840
Like I would say 1,000,000 in
the women's game is a ton like

526
00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:14,640
that is, you know, but a million
in the men's game that might not

527
00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:18,280
even get you a starter.
And I think that is that is the

528
00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:21,520
difference, Curtis.
Let's see one player.

529
00:31:21,600 --> 00:31:23,920
Could you get one player for
1,000,001?

530
00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:26,000
Starter for a million.
One in the men's game.

531
00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:29,960
Maybe.
I mean that and that's people

532
00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:31,920
were talking about this on on
Twitter earlier.

533
00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:36,920
If you guys remember my Nigel
Pack from Miami, he transferred

534
00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:38,920
from Kansas State to Miami a
couple years ago.

535
00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:41,400
First era of the portal was when
when the Canes went on their

536
00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:45,640
final Four run and it was like a
two year $800,000 deal.

537
00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:48,640
And he was like, that was like
one of the biggest deals at the

538
00:31:48,640 --> 00:31:53,360
time, man.
You've got guys moving places

539
00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:58,560
for like 2 to $3,000,000 for one
year now.

540
00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:04,400
And, and it's just, it's very,
very difficult because there are

541
00:32:04,400 --> 00:32:11,960
some teams in the ACC, but
they're, I mean, like when you,

542
00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:14,840
you're a school at Virginia,
like Virginia Tech, where you

543
00:32:14,840 --> 00:32:19,280
also got a football program and
the football program is getting

544
00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:22,680
the majority of your Rev share
and the majority of your IL,

545
00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:26,880
which it should.
It's a little bit different from

546
00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:31,600
a place like VCU where VCU
doesn't have football.

547
00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:34,400
So VCU can invest all at once
essentially into men's

548
00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:38,080
basketball.
And there are some mid majors

549
00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:40,440
that have really been able to
take advantage of it.

550
00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:43,200
And there are some power
conference schools like Wake

551
00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:48,680
Forest and Notre Dame that
simply do not have the resources

552
00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:50,640
for their men's basketball
programs.

553
00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:53,960
And it's a really tough spot to
be in because if you want to

554
00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:56,640
make coaching changes, you got
to show that you have the money

555
00:32:56,640 --> 00:32:58,880
and resources to get an
attractive coach.

556
00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:02,640
But the reason you're in the
position you are, unless you

557
00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:05,720
just have a flat out terrible
coach, is because you don't have

558
00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:07,360
resources.
It's a cycle.

559
00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:12,960
And you don't see that as much
on the women's side because your

560
00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:17,000
your typical NCAA tournament
roster in terms of payroll is is

561
00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:18,760
lower.
So it's easy.

562
00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:22,360
You know, again, $1 million in
women's basketball that can get

563
00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:28,600
you 234 starters maybe.
You got a much flatter curve.

564
00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:31,720
Yes.
On on those those payrolls.

565
00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:33,520
Yeah, it's a lot of numbers,
man.

566
00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:37,240
And it's, it's so interesting.
And, and that's why I think

567
00:33:37,240 --> 00:33:41,360
what, what the women are doing
is very exciting because if, if

568
00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:47,480
they get a bit more investment,
they can, they can go from being

569
00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:52,320
a, a nine seed in the tournament
to being a six or a five seed.

570
00:33:52,400 --> 00:33:56,560
Like you're not.
The gap is is much smaller than

571
00:33:56,600 --> 00:34:01,960
than it is on the men's side.
So real quick, who's this

572
00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:06,040
Another.
Tech W Hold this one right here.

573
00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:12,120
On the one, the one above that
one where he says the NIL

574
00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:15,159
challenge is the same, Brian
Franklin wants it all.

575
00:34:15,159 --> 00:34:20,400
So I've heard a lot of people
have taken this stance and the

576
00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:23,280
only thing that I say about it
is Mike Young has been here.

577
00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:26,760
How many years?
Seven years.

578
00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:29,600
James Franklin, he just got
here.

579
00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:34,679
So what is the caveat of what
happened before now?

580
00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:38,320
Like, I don't think it's a James
Franklin problem.

581
00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:41,520
And I'm not saying that people
are blaming James Franklin

582
00:34:41,520 --> 00:34:47,880
because of Tech basketball not
performing well, but I think

583
00:34:47,880 --> 00:34:51,560
that some people use that as a
lazy argument.

584
00:34:53,760 --> 00:34:58,160
You can't sustain a good
basketball program year in and

585
00:34:58,160 --> 00:35:02,360
year out without having a
budget, without having the money

586
00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:06,600
to keep players, pay players.
I understand that we had a

587
00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:08,920
roster this year that could have
made the tournament.

588
00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:12,400
Some of the games that we lost,
we were out coached.

589
00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:15,720
Some of the games that we won,
Mike out coached the other

590
00:35:15,720 --> 00:35:17,440
coach.
So I'm not saying that he's a

591
00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:19,640
bad coach.
I just haven't been hearing a

592
00:35:19,640 --> 00:35:23,560
lot about, well, you know,
Tech's going all in on football

593
00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:27,000
and it doesn't leave anything
for the other programs.

594
00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:32,120
The other programs have to sell
themselves to get a share of the

595
00:35:32,120 --> 00:35:34,480
money.
And I'm not saying that Mike

596
00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:39,080
Young isn't doing that.
But anyway, that just segues us

597
00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:42,120
into talking about basketball on
the men's side.

598
00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:45,920
So, David, I'm going to be quiet
and let you kind of jump in on

599
00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:49,320
this rant that I've kind of went
on and set me straight.

600
00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:52,280
Well, I think it's AI.
Think it's a great point.

601
00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:56,040
Think think back to last men's
basketball season.

602
00:35:56,200 --> 00:36:01,680
Virginia Tech won 13 games and
at after the season, the the

603
00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:04,920
Virginia Tech administration
essentially admitted that it did

604
00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:08,400
not.
It underestimated how much it

605
00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:11,400
took to compete and under
severely underfunded the

606
00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:14,560
program.
It's like, yeah, you won 13.

607
00:36:14,560 --> 00:36:17,040
You only won 13 games because
you didn't have money to retain

608
00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:22,760
guys.
That Tech was in a much better

609
00:36:22,760 --> 00:36:26,280
position this year.
Like the jump Tech took from

610
00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:31,040
last year to this year when it
went from, you know, somehow

611
00:36:31,040 --> 00:36:36,960
finishing with 888 ACC wins with
that bad of a roster but only

612
00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:40,920
winning thirteen overall to
being on the NCAA Tournament

613
00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:43,280
bubble this year.
Huge jump.

614
00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:48,120
And Tech did really well in the
offseason last year in terms of

615
00:36:48,160 --> 00:36:51,200
getting the funding right to
give Tech a chance.

616
00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:55,680
But your point is exactly right.
Hokies should have made the NCAA

617
00:36:55,680 --> 00:36:57,720
tournament this year.
They had an end.

618
00:36:57,880 --> 00:37:01,680
They had the roster capabilities
of making the NCAA tournament.

619
00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:05,320
But they dealt with injuries, of
course, but they also did not

620
00:37:05,320 --> 00:37:08,960
necessarily, they didn't close
games, to be frank.

621
00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:14,720
And that that falls back on
everybody, everybody involved.

622
00:37:15,240 --> 00:37:18,080
So another question too, David,
I don't want to cut you off, but

623
00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:22,640
another question just of me
watching Neo got a lot of, I

624
00:37:22,840 --> 00:37:26,240
don't want to use the word hate,
but he got a lot of people that

625
00:37:26,240 --> 00:37:28,240
was on this case through the
year.

626
00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:32,480
I understand it, you know what
I'm saying?

627
00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:35,200
If you're supposed to be the
star, you know these, they bring

628
00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:39,000
you in to be the star and you,
you know, fail at certain or

629
00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:40,920
certain times of the year,
you're going to, you're going to

630
00:37:40,920 --> 00:37:44,680
catch that flag.
You may know a little bit more

631
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:46,760
than us.
How hurt was he?

632
00:37:47,040 --> 00:37:51,480
Because I, to me, it seemed that
he was a much different player

633
00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:55,680
before he started getting a
couple of injuries than he was

634
00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:59,680
toward the end of the year.
How much of that do you think

635
00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:02,680
was confidence to compare it to
injury?

636
00:38:03,360 --> 00:38:09,640
Well, he, he got banged up with
his ankle like November, I think

637
00:38:09,880 --> 00:38:13,160
if you remember, he took a spill
and Chuck was playing in the

638
00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:17,480
Bahamas and it was like, Oh my
gosh, is he going to come back

639
00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:19,400
in the game?
And, and he did.

640
00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:28,760
But Mike Young told us in
January that for basically a

641
00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:33,520
month or two that Neo had kind
of been being he, he had he

642
00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:38,840
hadn't been do like practicing
like extra because they were

643
00:38:38,840 --> 00:38:42,720
trying to basically save him.
Like he was banged up to the

644
00:38:42,720 --> 00:38:46,920
point where he could play and he
could do the normal practice,

645
00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:50,120
but it wasn't like he was
necessarily doing one-on-one

646
00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:53,600
individual drills, right?
So he's not necessarily working

647
00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:56,360
on his craft.
And the other thing is, I think

648
00:38:56,680 --> 00:39:01,360
he overcompensated a little bit
just by nature, by by human

649
00:39:01,360 --> 00:39:05,040
nature with the injury, because
if, if your ankles hurt, well,

650
00:39:05,040 --> 00:39:07,120
you might put a little bit
pressure on your other ankle,

651
00:39:07,760 --> 00:39:09,680
but that throws off your
shooting motion.

652
00:39:10,240 --> 00:39:14,240
And it's like then then you're
you're overcompensating with

653
00:39:14,240 --> 00:39:17,760
your shot.
And he went on that cold spell

654
00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:21,160
in January.
And that really hurt because

655
00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:24,520
when Tyler Johnson's out and
Toby Luau is out and you're

656
00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:28,960
dealing with all these other,
it's just at, at the same time

657
00:39:28,960 --> 00:39:34,400
though, man, they, the, the, the
number of games that they had.

658
00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:37,920
I mean, trust me, man, I'm
sitting there in the Moody

659
00:39:37,920 --> 00:39:41,560
Center in Dallas.
I was, I was front and center.

660
00:39:41,560 --> 00:39:43,960
I was the only Virginia Tech
media member there when, when

661
00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:46,440
Booby Miller had that buzzer
beater on Virginia Tech.

662
00:39:46,440 --> 00:39:53,040
I mean, I, I, I, I, I literally
was even with him where he shot

663
00:39:53,040 --> 00:39:56,520
that on the court, my vantage
point behind the basket.

664
00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:03,360
I mean, that changes where you
don't, you make free throws and

665
00:40:03,360 --> 00:40:05,440
don't turn the ball over in the
final seconds.

666
00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:11,600
You win that name at Miami if
you don't foul when it's a tie

667
00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:14,000
game and they're in the bonus.
Why did he?

668
00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:16,640
Why are you taking me through
all of these games?

669
00:40:16,680 --> 00:40:17,400
Why?
Did he?

670
00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:19,040
Why?
Did he told him in a while go

671
00:40:19,040 --> 00:40:23,000
foul him and he wasn't even Like
he just ran to the three-point

672
00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:26,280
line and fired the man, the
hottest guy on the court?

673
00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:29,440
Yeah, I hate, I hate to bring
all of it up, but my, my point

674
00:40:29,440 --> 00:40:33,440
is that like, despite all that,
there were chances for wins,

675
00:40:33,440 --> 00:40:34,440
man, like.
Oh.

676
00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:37,600
For real.
And it's and it's part players

677
00:40:37,600 --> 00:40:40,400
got to go out and make plays,
but also in those key moments

678
00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:43,480
down the stretch, you got to
close out you, you've got to

679
00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:45,680
coach better.
Like those guys have to be

680
00:40:45,720 --> 00:40:48,960
prepared.
And I think the Stanford game is

681
00:40:48,960 --> 00:40:53,680
a great example.
You don't you don't lose a 13

682
00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:57,760
point lead in the final three
minutes by one thing.

683
00:40:57,760 --> 00:41:03,320
It's a it's a perfect storm.
And and the difficult part is I

684
00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:08,240
thought Virginia Tech to circle
back around tally to what you

685
00:41:08,240 --> 00:41:10,800
originally asked.
I thought Virginia Tech did a

686
00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:15,400
good enough job giving Mike
Young and this coaching staff

687
00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:18,160
the resources to compete this
year.

688
00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:23,080
They had a good enough roster
and they just didn't go out

689
00:41:23,080 --> 00:41:25,680
there and win enough games.
It's as simple as that.

690
00:41:26,360 --> 00:41:30,080
And the tough part is you talk
about marketing yourself if

691
00:41:30,080 --> 00:41:36,200
you're a Virginia Tech fan,
knowing that that a little money

692
00:41:36,200 --> 00:41:39,160
goes a longer way in the women's
game than the men's game.

693
00:41:39,240 --> 00:41:41,120
The women are coming off an NCA
tournament.

694
00:41:41,720 --> 00:41:46,080
The men declined an NIT bid,
which is a whole nother story.

695
00:41:47,680 --> 00:41:51,200
Which you've.
Got and you've got a football

696
00:41:51,200 --> 00:41:56,120
program that is turning things
around with one of the best head

697
00:41:56,120 --> 00:42:00,520
coaches in the sport.
What program are you going to to

698
00:42:00,720 --> 00:42:03,520
to give money to you?
You said it yourself, you have

699
00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:07,800
to prove that that you deserve
the right resources.

700
00:42:08,120 --> 00:42:12,040
So it's not like, Oh my gosh,
all these resources are being

701
00:42:12,040 --> 00:42:18,080
diverted football necessarily,
because from my understanding,

702
00:42:18,080 --> 00:42:21,560
Tech will at least have what it
had last season as far as

703
00:42:21,560 --> 00:42:25,000
resources go.
But it's like, if you want more,

704
00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:28,400
I mean, you got to prove that
you deserve more.

705
00:42:29,280 --> 00:42:32,640
Yeah, I don't know, man.
And another thing with me,

706
00:42:32,640 --> 00:42:34,720
again, I'm not a coach, I'm not
a recruiter.

707
00:42:34,720 --> 00:42:38,360
I look, I'm a salesperson.
So I always look at things from

708
00:42:38,360 --> 00:42:43,480
a sales perspective.
Again, this is just me looking

709
00:42:43,480 --> 00:42:47,960
at it.
Isaiah Vick is a decent

710
00:42:47,960 --> 00:42:51,640
basketball player, on the verge
of being a good basketball

711
00:42:51,640 --> 00:42:54,360
player. 2 years removed from
high school, went to prep

712
00:42:54,360 --> 00:42:58,000
school.
I'm not saying Tech isn't on

713
00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:01,600
him.
I don't know how the NIL works

714
00:43:01,760 --> 00:43:04,880
on players, how much you give to
a certain player.

715
00:43:04,880 --> 00:43:08,120
But I do know he's from Virginia
and I do know that the Victoria

716
00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:13,720
family is Virginia Tech.
I don't think that you have to

717
00:43:13,720 --> 00:43:17,280
sell Virginia Tech to a kid like
that, and I don't think that you

718
00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:20,760
have to sell as a Victoria to
Virginia Tech.

719
00:43:20,760 --> 00:43:22,480
I just don't understand why he's
not there.

720
00:43:22,920 --> 00:43:26,120
I just think that low hanging
fruit like that is the thing

721
00:43:26,120 --> 00:43:29,840
that makes me feel like has the
game passed the coaching staff

722
00:43:29,840 --> 00:43:34,800
by at Virginia Tech?
I would be getting legacy kids

723
00:43:34,800 --> 00:43:38,800
like that just for nostalgia,
just for.

724
00:43:40,400 --> 00:43:46,040
I mean, Carmelo Anthony's son
can play, but did he really do

725
00:43:46,040 --> 00:43:48,560
anything this year?
You know, they didn't really

726
00:43:48,560 --> 00:43:52,560
have a good coach, but there was
no there was no way that they

727
00:43:52,560 --> 00:43:56,640
were letting him like, not be
highlighted to go to Syracuse.

728
00:43:56,960 --> 00:43:59,440
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, I'm.

729
00:43:59,440 --> 00:44:00,840
Just saying that's a.
Great point.

730
00:44:00,840 --> 00:44:03,280
We don't want to rehash the
Steph Curry conversation.

731
00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:06,600
So, so, yeah, so I don't want to
go into all that, but I'm just

732
00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:09,960
saying it's not the same, you
know, with the vigs being

733
00:44:09,960 --> 00:44:14,320
football players, I understand
it's a different sport, but I'm

734
00:44:14,320 --> 00:44:16,800
just saying it's little things
like that, the game within the

735
00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:21,400
game where you can sell tickets,
where you can sell the program a

736
00:44:21,400 --> 00:44:24,120
little bit more.
Hey, it's going to be Victoria

737
00:44:24,120 --> 00:44:24,960
night.
I don't know.

738
00:44:25,360 --> 00:44:28,880
And we talk about Michael Vick
so much, put his fucking nephew

739
00:44:28,880 --> 00:44:32,120
on the team and let's see if we
can sell some more tickets and

740
00:44:32,440 --> 00:44:34,920
raise some more money.
Maybe.

741
00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:38,480
I don't know.
But that's just me on on little

742
00:44:38,480 --> 00:44:41,000
things that I see that I think
we can improve on.

743
00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:44,600
But David really kind of hit the
nail on the head with what he

744
00:44:44,600 --> 00:44:47,960
came into taking a run and
actually put him into some

745
00:44:48,640 --> 00:44:52,080
decent words so everybody can
kind of follow.

746
00:44:52,640 --> 00:44:59,840
We had a good enough team to win
to be a a tournament team again.

747
00:45:00,920 --> 00:45:05,320
Another tech W, he said.
Very low team IQ, very low IQ

748
00:45:05,320 --> 00:45:10,680
team as a which is which is
right, but as a coach, you have

749
00:45:10,680 --> 00:45:13,600
to know that team.
You have to know who needs to be

750
00:45:13,600 --> 00:45:17,520
on the floor at certain times so
we can close the game out.

751
00:45:18,080 --> 00:45:20,840
Oh, go ahead, go ahead.
That was my.

752
00:45:21,040 --> 00:45:24,560
Biggest issue with those 3 or 4
losses?

753
00:45:24,680 --> 00:45:28,400
Giving up sizable leads in the
last three minutes.

754
00:45:29,280 --> 00:45:31,960
If it happens one time, OK,
we'll coach them up.

755
00:45:31,960 --> 00:45:35,880
If it happens a second time,
it's like somebody needs to come

756
00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:38,240
off the floor during this
period.

757
00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:41,760
We need to make in those three
games, it didn't happen.

758
00:45:42,040 --> 00:45:44,360
It almost happened to 4th.
I don't know if you were in

759
00:45:44,360 --> 00:45:48,400
Syracuse that night, Syracuse
was that close and I would have

760
00:45:48,400 --> 00:45:51,680
lost my shit that night.
Because it's like, why are you

761
00:45:51,680 --> 00:45:55,040
keep running at the last three
minutes with 7 plus point leads?

762
00:45:55,160 --> 00:45:57,680
You're running the same five
guys, you're running the same

763
00:45:57,680 --> 00:46:00,600
place and it has failed three
times.

764
00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:04,400
Because we go back and look at
those three games, all buzzer

765
00:46:04,400 --> 00:46:09,080
beaters, all late game chokes,
I'll say it chokes players,

766
00:46:09,080 --> 00:46:12,000
staff, whatever, whoever you
want to blame, you win those

767
00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:13,840
three games.
They're playing last weekend.

768
00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:19,960
Because at that point in time,
what's the record 24249 you're

769
00:46:19,960 --> 00:46:22,800
in?
Heck, you might even be a seven

770
00:46:22,800 --> 00:46:25,000
seed.
All right, Ron, what do you

771
00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:27,120
have?
I'm sorry, I had a you started

772
00:46:27,120 --> 00:46:28,760
saying.
I'm like, oh, Tally Rehash.

773
00:46:29,320 --> 00:46:32,200
We, we, we put it to a good
point now because we got it to a

774
00:46:32,200 --> 00:46:33,920
point.
We've assessed what's going on

775
00:46:34,520 --> 00:46:37,520
with this year.
We've, we've assessed how, how

776
00:46:37,520 --> 00:46:41,120
things are looking from a, from
a talent standpoint, from an

777
00:46:41,120 --> 00:46:44,240
output standpoint.
It, it, it wasn't exactly what,

778
00:46:44,600 --> 00:46:49,080
what they wanted it in, you
know, the, the, the, the root of

779
00:46:49,080 --> 00:46:51,080
the 'cause there, there's
probably a lot of things in

780
00:46:51,080 --> 00:46:52,400
there.
I mean, we mentioned injuries,

781
00:46:52,400 --> 00:46:54,880
we mentioned, you know, not
being able to close out games.

782
00:46:54,880 --> 00:46:57,640
We mentioned, you know, some of
those struggles that NEO had.

783
00:46:58,200 --> 00:47:00,920
But let's focus on Mike Young a
little bit from a future

784
00:47:00,920 --> 00:47:04,480
perspective because, you know,
we're looking at him kind of

785
00:47:04,480 --> 00:47:06,680
heading into this kind of lame
duck year.

786
00:47:06,680 --> 00:47:10,760
But David, as you pointed out
earlier, you're not necessarily

787
00:47:10,760 --> 00:47:16,560
getting more money into the NIL
this year, more than likely, but

788
00:47:16,560 --> 00:47:18,640
you're also at a point with a
lame duck coach.

789
00:47:18,640 --> 00:47:21,400
It's going to be harder to build
a roster that it was this past

790
00:47:21,400 --> 00:47:24,760
year, even with the same money,
even if everyone else stands pat

791
00:47:25,240 --> 00:47:29,760
because of that situation.
What's Tech's strategy kind of

792
00:47:29,760 --> 00:47:31,560
moving forward?
Are they are they going to look

793
00:47:31,560 --> 00:47:34,160
look towards like having a coach
in waiting?

794
00:47:34,160 --> 00:47:37,120
And to your point in until that
investment comes in, I don't

795
00:47:37,120 --> 00:47:40,840
know if landing a big splash
outside of that is, is a

796
00:47:40,840 --> 00:47:44,840
possibility in the near term.
It's, it's a complicated

797
00:47:44,840 --> 00:47:48,400
situation, man.
And that's like, imagine if they

798
00:47:48,400 --> 00:47:52,280
had, imagine if they were
pitched this offseason was we

799
00:47:52,280 --> 00:47:55,080
made the NCA tournament and
we've got guys from an NCA

800
00:47:55,080 --> 00:48:01,680
tournament team coming back or
even or even, or even we we made

801
00:48:02,080 --> 00:48:05,880
we went to the NIT.
I mean, I saw I was.

802
00:48:05,880 --> 00:48:08,440
Going to ask like what you
thought.

803
00:48:08,960 --> 00:48:11,800
About this, I saw the comment
about Ace Custis man, can you?

804
00:48:11,840 --> 00:48:15,440
I mean, this is a program with,
yes, this is a program with NIT

805
00:48:15,480 --> 00:48:18,480
history.
Like Hoagies have won it twice.

806
00:48:18,480 --> 00:48:21,440
Ace Custis and David Jackson.
We're on staff now.

807
00:48:21,440 --> 00:48:26,960
We're on that team and like.
So Ace Custis is not dead, Jim.

808
00:48:27,120 --> 00:48:29,760
FYI.
He's literally on the stand.

809
00:48:31,600 --> 00:48:33,440
Yeah, but.
Metaphorical grave, yes.

810
00:48:33,800 --> 00:48:40,200
Yes, no, I but I mean you're
you're in a weird you're in a

811
00:48:40,200 --> 00:48:44,760
weird spot because you can't and
and and Wake Forest and Notre

812
00:48:44,760 --> 00:48:47,720
Dame and Pitt.
You know, Pitt has Pitt has Jeff

813
00:48:47,720 --> 00:48:50,440
Cable coming back for another
year, man God.

814
00:48:51,040 --> 00:48:54,520
But like, there are a lot of
programs that are in this exact

815
00:48:54,520 --> 00:49:01,720
same spot where you don't really
have the kind of money to go out

816
00:49:01,720 --> 00:49:06,480
and, you know, A, get rid of the
current code, but then B, go out

817
00:49:06,480 --> 00:49:10,760
and shell out resources for a
new coach to get a, a better

818
00:49:10,760 --> 00:49:15,640
roster.
You don't really have that if

819
00:49:15,640 --> 00:49:18,520
you run it back with the same
amount of money.

820
00:49:19,920 --> 00:49:26,640
It kind of depends on what you
can get at value at value, but

821
00:49:27,160 --> 00:49:32,080
your chances to win are are more
difficult and it's it's it's a

822
00:49:32,120 --> 00:49:35,120
it's a it's a damned if you do
named if you don't situation.

823
00:49:35,120 --> 00:49:38,040
I believe you said that earlier,
Brian, and it's it's really

824
00:49:38,040 --> 00:49:43,160
difficult and I'm not I'm
interested, you know, when the

825
00:49:43,160 --> 00:49:46,600
portal opens in about two weeks.
Interested to see how the Hokies

826
00:49:46,600 --> 00:49:51,640
attack it.
What I will say is losing, you

827
00:49:51,640 --> 00:49:55,080
know, I, I am expecting of
dollars to leave, whether or not

828
00:49:55,080 --> 00:49:57,640
he's going to seek professional
opportunities or or portal

829
00:49:57,640 --> 00:50:00,840
somewhere else.
That frees up a good, a good

830
00:50:00,840 --> 00:50:06,960
chunk of, of space in terms of
payroll that that should help a

831
00:50:06,960 --> 00:50:10,960
little bit.
And maybe if you get a slight, A

832
00:50:10,960 --> 00:50:17,240
slight bump, it would help too.
But you're just in this weird

833
00:50:17,240 --> 00:50:23,600
middle ground where you look
over to Charlottesville and they

834
00:50:23,600 --> 00:50:26,320
had about double your payroll
this year.

835
00:50:26,680 --> 00:50:29,200
And it if you don't do anything,
they're going to have like

836
00:50:29,200 --> 00:50:34,560
triple your payroll next year.
But to Tally's point earlier,

837
00:50:34,960 --> 00:50:40,400
like, why if, if there are
questions about the staff, about

838
00:50:40,480 --> 00:50:44,600
the administration, if I'm a big
donor, why would I?

839
00:50:44,720 --> 00:50:47,520
They have not proven that I
should give them my money?

840
00:50:47,600 --> 00:50:49,800
Like I'm thinking about this
from a fans perspective.

841
00:50:50,080 --> 00:50:53,800
So exactly, so my thing is, I,
I, I'm tired of having a

842
00:50:53,800 --> 00:50:56,160
conversation.
So most of the time in the

843
00:50:56,160 --> 00:51:00,840
chats, even on on X Twitter,
whatever you want to call it,

844
00:51:01,200 --> 00:51:04,680
like I'm fatigued at having a
conversation about money.

845
00:51:05,360 --> 00:51:10,200
Again, coming at it from a sales
perspective, you, you're never

846
00:51:10,200 --> 00:51:12,880
going to get where you want to
go unless you don't, unless you

847
00:51:12,880 --> 00:51:14,160
ask for it.
You got to have something to

848
00:51:14,160 --> 00:51:17,440
show and you got to ask.
A year ago we talked about

849
00:51:17,440 --> 00:51:19,000
football.
Well, we can't compete because

850
00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:21,400
of this.
And then, you know, we get rid

851
00:51:21,400 --> 00:51:23,400
of a culture where we can't get
this coach because we don't have

852
00:51:23,400 --> 00:51:26,160
enough money.
Lo and behold, James Franklin

853
00:51:26,160 --> 00:51:30,320
walks through the door.
So it can happen that you can

854
00:51:30,320 --> 00:51:33,240
get certain things to happen.
I'm not saying you get there

855
00:51:33,240 --> 00:51:35,160
overnight.
I'm not saying you get there in

856
00:51:35,160 --> 00:51:39,920
a year, but if you're showing
improvement, steady improvement

857
00:51:39,920 --> 00:51:42,240
or you're showing a plan,
sometimes it's not even

858
00:51:42,240 --> 00:51:47,000
improvement because some coaches
are just out here low in the the

859
00:51:47,400 --> 00:51:50,800
freaking AD to sleep and they're
just giving them what they want.

860
00:51:51,240 --> 00:51:55,800
So if you have a plan, you can
get to a certain position.

861
00:51:56,680 --> 00:51:58,560
I just think Mike's happy to be
there.

862
00:51:58,640 --> 00:52:02,080
That's been my that's been my my
stick on Mike.

863
00:52:02,120 --> 00:52:06,360
I just think that he's a great
guy, and sometimes great guys

864
00:52:06,360 --> 00:52:08,920
finish last.
We don't need a great guy.

865
00:52:08,920 --> 00:52:10,920
We need a good guy and a little
bit of an asshole.

866
00:52:10,920 --> 00:52:13,440
All right.
Can I, can I close out

867
00:52:13,440 --> 00:52:15,520
basketball with this?
Dave Well, I was going.

868
00:52:15,840 --> 00:52:17,600
To I was going to say something.
Well, I was going to say that

869
00:52:17,600 --> 00:52:23,160
you, you also have to have the
right people in place to to get

870
00:52:23,160 --> 00:52:25,760
stuff accomplished.
I mean, part of the reason that

871
00:52:25,800 --> 00:52:30,560
that Virginia Tech has James
Franklin is because the board of

872
00:52:30,560 --> 00:52:36,720
visitors said we are appointing
this search group search

873
00:52:36,720 --> 00:52:39,640
committee to go find the next
coach.

874
00:52:40,360 --> 00:52:45,200
And in part because with Babcock
went to the board of visitors

875
00:52:45,200 --> 00:52:48,640
and outlined this plan with Jay
Pearson and Ryan McCarthy and a

876
00:52:48,640 --> 00:52:50,680
couple others worked on this
funding plan.

877
00:52:50,880 --> 00:52:53,240
Virginia Tech now all of a
sudden over the next couple

878
00:52:53,240 --> 00:52:57,200
years is going to invest
$229,000,000 into athletics.

879
00:52:57,680 --> 00:53:00,040
James Franklin's not here if
that does not happen.

880
00:53:01,520 --> 00:53:06,760
But that does not happen if a
guy like Jay Pearson, a guy like

881
00:53:06,760 --> 00:53:10,200
Ryan McCarthy are not in the
current positions they're in and

882
00:53:10,200 --> 00:53:13,720
they're not the ones that are
pushing stuff along.

883
00:53:14,000 --> 00:53:16,840
You have to have the right
people in place and and they

884
00:53:16,840 --> 00:53:18,480
have to want to do something
about it.

885
00:53:19,640 --> 00:53:21,360
Yeah.
Like I would think about it from

886
00:53:21,360 --> 00:53:23,720
like a a business perspective or
a project management

887
00:53:23,720 --> 00:53:24,960
perspective.
You got to have like that

888
00:53:24,960 --> 00:53:29,360
project champion that's kind of
moving things in the right

889
00:53:29,360 --> 00:53:32,920
direction, even if they're not
the ones that are touching the

890
00:53:32,920 --> 00:53:35,680
day-to-day operations of the
program.

891
00:53:35,680 --> 00:53:39,200
You got to have somebody that's
ringing that bell consistently,

892
00:53:40,000 --> 00:53:43,720
whether it's and that I can't
always be your coach like it.

893
00:53:43,720 --> 00:53:47,160
It's at some, at some point
you've got to have advocates in

894
00:53:47,160 --> 00:53:50,680
the front office as well and in
the in the AD office that are

895
00:53:51,200 --> 00:53:54,160
ringing the bell on your behalf
to kind of move things in the

896
00:53:54,160 --> 00:53:56,400
way that you need to do them
from a from a financing

897
00:53:56,400 --> 00:53:58,160
standpoint.
And I feel like basketball

898
00:53:58,160 --> 00:54:01,320
doesn't necessarily have that.
And some of that is the output

899
00:54:01,320 --> 00:54:05,640
we've seen on the court.
And I think some of that is just

900
00:54:06,560 --> 00:54:10,280
basketball hasn't always been
the bell cow at Virginia Tech.

901
00:54:10,280 --> 00:54:14,480
So there isn't that like natural
voice to say we need to get this

902
00:54:14,480 --> 00:54:19,640
thing where we're consistently
competitive in the ACC, you

903
00:54:19,640 --> 00:54:21,880
know, competing for an ACC
Championship, making the

904
00:54:21,880 --> 00:54:25,080
tournament, you know, once every
four years at minimum.

905
00:54:25,440 --> 00:54:28,480
Like we don't have that kind of
voice, I think in that in that

906
00:54:28,480 --> 00:54:31,200
group that's really ringing that
bell on a consistent basis.

907
00:54:34,000 --> 00:54:36,960
So, David, real, real quick.
Curious to hear what you have to

908
00:54:37,000 --> 00:54:37,640
say about this.
Oh.

909
00:54:37,640 --> 00:54:38,720
No, no, no.
This is.

910
00:54:38,720 --> 00:54:40,560
This is.
More I didn't know if I didn't

911
00:54:40,560 --> 00:54:42,800
know if you were going to go go
on another on another rant.

912
00:54:42,800 --> 00:54:44,920
I'm not going on another tangent
with basketball.

913
00:54:44,960 --> 00:54:48,240
I'm I'm, I got mine out.
But here's my question.

914
00:54:49,120 --> 00:54:51,720
If Mike Young pulls things
together, makes the tournament

915
00:54:51,720 --> 00:54:55,280
next year, it's all hunky Dory.
He's going to get extended three

916
00:54:55,280 --> 00:54:57,240
years.
He'll get a solid contract.

917
00:54:57,240 --> 00:55:03,000
He'll take a hometown discount.
What happens if he can't pull

918
00:55:03,000 --> 00:55:05,160
things together?
It's a I'm looking at the

919
00:55:05,160 --> 00:55:07,480
records here from the last few
years.

920
00:55:07,520 --> 00:55:10,800
It's a 16 and 16 season.
What happens?

921
00:55:10,800 --> 00:55:13,640
Because the contract is up at
that point, right?

922
00:55:14,880 --> 00:55:20,920
Let let me ask you this if
Virginia Tech needed to hire a

923
00:55:20,920 --> 00:55:23,560
new men's basketball coach,
who's hiring him?

924
00:55:24,720 --> 00:55:29,760
No search committee.
The search committee to actually

925
00:55:29,760 --> 00:55:33,800
get shit done.
Probably, but.

926
00:55:34,480 --> 00:55:38,760
And and at that point like so so
I guess that's another thing

927
00:55:38,760 --> 00:55:43,200
like David, I've got an AD where
in in the two biggest the the

928
00:55:43,280 --> 00:55:46,800
the two sports that actually
make money for your school, the

929
00:55:46,920 --> 00:55:47,400
AD.
Can't.

930
00:55:47,680 --> 00:55:51,160
The AD is is now not trusted to
hire that coach that.

931
00:55:52,040 --> 00:55:54,880
That mean that's the that's the
difficult, that's the difficult

932
00:55:54,880 --> 00:56:00,480
part.
Like, like seriously, there are

933
00:56:00,480 --> 00:56:03,160
just so many moving, moving
parts in terms of the

934
00:56:03,160 --> 00:56:08,520
administration.
And yeah, I mean, the Virginia

935
00:56:08,520 --> 00:56:11,320
Tech did not let wit Babcock
hire the football coach and he

936
00:56:11,320 --> 00:56:13,440
was home blown.
He was involved.

937
00:56:14,200 --> 00:56:17,440
Well, maybe Buzz Williams will
get fired from Maryland and it's

938
00:56:17,440 --> 00:56:19,920
a layup for.
You do not, Curtis.

939
00:56:20,040 --> 00:56:22,400
You're kidding yourself.
You don't want buzz back here.

940
00:56:23,520 --> 00:56:26,360
All I can remember is that team
should have been.

941
00:56:26,440 --> 00:56:29,000
You're just all, all you're
remembering is this is going to

942
00:56:29,040 --> 00:56:30,560
a Sweet 16.
You're damn right.

943
00:56:30,760 --> 00:56:34,760
You're.
Not I mean.

944
00:56:35,560 --> 00:56:38,960
All you If all you remember is
Hunter Couture blasting Duke in

945
00:56:38,960 --> 00:56:42,360
the ACC Tournament championship
game, you'll be you'll be great.

946
00:56:44,360 --> 00:56:48,320
Hey, just remember he made 3
consecutive tournaments.

947
00:56:49,280 --> 00:56:50,840
Oh yeah.
So.

948
00:56:51,320 --> 00:56:52,840
Get the fuck out of here.
But.

949
00:56:53,080 --> 00:56:58,520
Hold on, that is Wit's best
higher as AD, right?

950
00:56:59,280 --> 00:57:00,680
Buzz.
Buzz.

951
00:57:01,480 --> 00:57:02,800
Yeah, man, it would be.
It would either be.

952
00:57:02,840 --> 00:57:08,240
I mean, no.
No, Bill Martelli is not coming

953
00:57:08,440 --> 00:57:11,600
to Virginia.
Martelli, you signed a contract

954
00:57:11,600 --> 00:57:14,080
extension.
He just found an extension and

955
00:57:14,080 --> 00:57:16,440
his next step is probably going
to be to go up north to

956
00:57:16,440 --> 00:57:19,480
Villanova.
And and the way the way VCU is

957
00:57:19,480 --> 00:57:22,400
able to put money into into
that, like I don't know if we

958
00:57:22,400 --> 00:57:25,640
can necessarily offer him more
than than what VCU is doing.

959
00:57:27,960 --> 00:57:29,800
We'll do that.
Behind paywalls, right?

960
00:57:30,360 --> 00:57:32,080
Here, I mean, I would, I would
here's the thing.

961
00:57:32,080 --> 00:57:36,440
I would say that that VCU not to
get off on a on a big tangent,

962
00:57:36,440 --> 00:57:40,800
but VCU just VCU Villanova, like
being a mid major with no

963
00:57:40,800 --> 00:57:44,440
football program.
Those are great positions to be

964
00:57:44,440 --> 00:57:46,120
in.
And the VCU men's basketball

965
00:57:46,120 --> 00:57:48,680
program, man, it basically runs
itself.

966
00:57:48,680 --> 00:57:51,720
It does like they have.
They have not missed on a

967
00:57:51,720 --> 00:57:56,280
coaching hire in 20 years.
My neighbor's a BCU alum and we

968
00:57:56,280 --> 00:57:59,040
were talking about it.
Go back to when they hired Jeff

969
00:57:59,040 --> 00:58:02,680
Cable.
Jeff Cable and every single guy

970
00:58:02,680 --> 00:58:08,920
they had hired in the last 22
years has gone to the

971
00:58:08,920 --> 00:58:11,760
tournament, won some games and
got a bigger job.

972
00:58:12,400 --> 00:58:15,120
Yeah.
But Curtis, to to your point

973
00:58:15,120 --> 00:58:20,400
about what happens, it is a it's
a very interesting discussion

974
00:58:20,400 --> 00:58:24,640
because the Virginia Tech Board
of visitors did not let the

975
00:58:24,640 --> 00:58:28,560
current athletic director hire
the football coach like there

976
00:58:28,560 --> 00:58:33,360
would not have been if if that
group trusted him to do so,

977
00:58:35,440 --> 00:58:37,000
there wouldn't have been a
search committee.

978
00:58:37,840 --> 00:58:41,000
Well, the search committee,
thankfully for Virginia Tech,

979
00:58:41,000 --> 00:58:45,920
the search committee was
involved and as, as has been

980
00:58:45,920 --> 00:58:50,360
discussed, Jay Pearson, Ryan
McCarthy, Bud Foster pulling the

981
00:58:50,360 --> 00:58:53,480
right strings and getting James
Franklin to Blacksburg.

982
00:58:53,480 --> 00:58:56,440
Do you want to assemble a search
committee to hire a new

983
00:58:56,440 --> 00:58:58,160
basketball coach?
That might be what you have to

984
00:58:58,160 --> 00:59:04,240
do, but the but but the fact
that you can't just go have your

985
00:59:04,240 --> 00:59:09,320
AD hire a guy, it makes it a
little bit difficult.

986
00:59:10,040 --> 00:59:14,200
And, and yeah, to to since Phil
Martelli, Phil Martelli stuff

987
00:59:14,200 --> 00:59:16,200
keeps coming up.
I think he's a great coach and I

988
00:59:16,200 --> 00:59:20,800
think he fits VCU perfectly.
And that, I mean, it's always

989
00:59:21,000 --> 00:59:24,160
like I have, I have friends that
live in Richmond that are die

990
00:59:24,160 --> 00:59:28,440
hard VCU fans And they, I mean
that that program, that

991
00:59:28,440 --> 00:59:30,600
program's fun, man.
And, and, and you could argue,

992
00:59:31,480 --> 00:59:37,080
you could argue that that the
only reason Virginia Tech and,

993
00:59:37,080 --> 00:59:44,720
and VCU are even close to to
being comparable jobs is because

994
00:59:44,720 --> 00:59:48,800
the Hokies are in the ACC and
the Rams are in the A10, which

995
00:59:48,800 --> 00:59:52,000
is only really a one or two bid
league most of the time.

996
00:59:53,640 --> 00:59:56,520
But if VCU is putting as much
into the program as Virginia

997
00:59:56,520 --> 01:00:01,840
Tech and is in the A10, that
kind of tells you all you need

998
01:00:01,840 --> 01:00:03,720
to know, man 100.
Percent all.

999
01:00:04,400 --> 01:00:06,200
Right.
Let's move.

1000
01:00:06,600 --> 01:00:09,720
Great basketball, Paul, we just
did an hour on basketball.

1001
01:00:10,080 --> 01:00:12,640
That's how impressive you are,
Mr. Cunningham.

1002
01:00:13,000 --> 01:00:14,720
But let's get over to spring
football.

1003
01:00:14,720 --> 01:00:18,800
A lot of different stuff going
on until we just want to hit

1004
01:00:19,120 --> 01:00:24,400
more than a few here.
Give me, give me some from what

1005
01:00:24,400 --> 01:00:27,800
you've seen and what you heard,
not just quarterback

1006
01:00:27,800 --> 01:00:31,800
observation, because it, I mean
it just it, it seems like Ethan

1007
01:00:31,800 --> 01:00:34,480
Grunkemeyer is just like you.
You were doing the little thing

1008
01:00:34,480 --> 01:00:36,480
earlier.
It seems like it's like that,

1009
01:00:36,480 --> 01:00:39,480
like Ethan Grunkemeyer's here.
Everybody else is well below.

1010
01:00:40,080 --> 01:00:44,000
Do you get that feel in person?
Yeah, I mean, I feel like, I

1011
01:00:44,000 --> 01:00:48,640
feel like Grunkemeyer is the guy
they they wouldn't have brought

1012
01:00:48,640 --> 01:00:52,120
him in otherwise.
And, and, and it's interesting

1013
01:00:53,760 --> 01:00:57,000
getting to know James Franklin
and how he portrays himself to

1014
01:00:57,000 --> 01:01:00,880
me and how he builds a
relationship with us, Something

1015
01:01:00,880 --> 01:01:03,000
that has come across which makes
sense.

1016
01:01:03,040 --> 01:01:08,320
And, and all coaches go through
this, but James Franklin and the

1017
01:01:08,320 --> 01:01:12,120
coaching staff don't want to
say, hey, Ethan Gronkemeyer is

1018
01:01:12,120 --> 01:01:16,440
going to be our starting
quarterback in practice 5 of

1019
01:01:16,440 --> 01:01:21,240
Spring Law.
Because when you are preaching

1020
01:01:22,040 --> 01:01:26,600
open competition to every single
player on the roster and then

1021
01:01:26,600 --> 01:01:31,560
you pencil a guy in and said,
tell the media, hey, this guy's

1022
01:01:31,560 --> 01:01:32,880
going to be our starting
quarterback.

1023
01:01:33,680 --> 01:01:37,840
You're, you're just going,
you're, you're giving mixed

1024
01:01:37,840 --> 01:01:39,240
messages to the team.
I can see.

1025
01:01:41,440 --> 01:01:44,360
That, yeah.
But Curtis, to your question,

1026
01:01:44,400 --> 01:01:47,360
yeah, I mean, I, I, I don't
think there's a a way that

1027
01:01:47,360 --> 01:01:49,840
Gronka Meyer is not the starting
quarterback and that's why you

1028
01:01:49,840 --> 01:01:51,080
bring him in.
And he's got a great

1029
01:01:51,080 --> 01:01:53,120
relationship with Danny O'Brien,
the quarterbacks coach.

1030
01:01:53,120 --> 01:01:59,880
And from my understanding the
the Virginia Tech wide receivers

1031
01:01:59,880 --> 01:02:08,080
are have been excited about just
having a quarterback that is as

1032
01:02:08,080 --> 01:02:10,800
pass friendly.
If that's the right way to

1033
01:02:10,800 --> 01:02:14,720
phrase it as as as drunk a
Meyer.

1034
01:02:14,960 --> 01:02:17,880
I mean, he's a, he's a pass
first guy that's.

1035
01:02:17,920 --> 01:02:22,360
What we do well, Dee, we know.
We know one person who is not

1036
01:02:22,360 --> 01:02:24,920
going to be the quarterback, AJ
Bryan.

1037
01:02:25,120 --> 01:02:28,000
Yeah.
Because he is moving to receive

1038
01:02:28,000 --> 01:02:30,440
them from what we've seen.
Yeah, he and he weren't.

1039
01:02:30,440 --> 01:02:32,400
You the first to report that.
It was.

1040
01:02:32,400 --> 01:02:34,000
It was Andy.
It was Andy.

1041
01:02:34,160 --> 01:02:39,000
Well, but, but I think I mean
Andy and of course Colby

1042
01:02:39,000 --> 01:02:41,120
Crawford and, and all, and
Damien sort of let all the

1043
01:02:41,120 --> 01:02:43,280
people that were in practice
and, and that interviews the

1044
01:02:43,280 --> 01:02:48,480
other day got that.
But OK, you, you move AJ Brand,

1045
01:02:48,480 --> 01:02:51,240
who, who's a really good athlete
out of South Carolina, you move

1046
01:02:51,240 --> 01:02:52,840
him from quarterback, a wide
receiver.

1047
01:02:53,080 --> 01:02:54,840
You pare down your quarterback
room a little bit.

1048
01:02:54,840 --> 01:02:58,280
Now you got four guys in there.
You got a red shirt sophomore

1049
01:02:58,280 --> 01:03:01,160
and and like 2 red shirt
freshmen and A2 freshmen.

1050
01:03:01,200 --> 01:03:05,480
That's a really young room.
But I think they really like

1051
01:03:05,480 --> 01:03:08,520
what they have in Gronk and Iron
Man and he's your quarterback of

1052
01:03:08,520 --> 01:03:12,880
the future.
And you you go from having a run

1053
01:03:12,880 --> 01:03:15,320
first quarterback in Kyra and
drones to a pass first

1054
01:03:15,320 --> 01:03:17,560
quarterback and and Ethan
Gronkemeyer.

1055
01:03:17,880 --> 01:03:23,480
That is a big difference as far
as players, you know, just the

1056
01:03:23,480 --> 01:03:25,720
working relationship behind the
scenes.

1057
01:03:25,720 --> 01:03:32,680
And Curtis, to your point, I, I
cannot, I mean, I'm interested

1058
01:03:32,680 --> 01:03:36,000
to see how Bryce Baker continues
to progress.

1059
01:03:36,440 --> 01:03:40,160
Obviously, he's kind of a local
guy from like the Winston Salem

1060
01:03:40,160 --> 01:03:44,240
area, Greensboro area, you know,
he was highly recruited.

1061
01:03:44,240 --> 01:03:49,440
But it kind of seems like Cronk
Mayer's job lose.

1062
01:03:50,360 --> 01:03:53,600
And I it'd be hard to imagine a
world where, considering how

1063
01:03:53,600 --> 01:03:57,800
well he played at Penn State
last year, he's not, he's not a

1064
01:03:57,800 --> 01:03:59,560
starter.
But I, I can't fault the

1065
01:03:59,600 --> 01:04:01,920
coaching staff for not coming
out and being like, Yep, he's

1066
01:04:01,920 --> 01:04:03,640
our starter.
Because the one thing you don't

1067
01:04:03,640 --> 01:04:08,520
want to do is is say there's no
competition.

1068
01:04:09,040 --> 01:04:11,240
Right, Yeah, Yeah.
And especially when you're

1069
01:04:11,240 --> 01:04:13,560
coming in and you're preaching
like nobody's job is safe.

1070
01:04:13,640 --> 01:04:17,480
I'm evaluating everybody across
the board, you know, as a new

1071
01:04:17,480 --> 01:04:20,360
head coach, you, you, you're
doing that regardless.

1072
01:04:20,360 --> 01:04:23,280
And, you know, I think it's also
one of those things where it

1073
01:04:23,280 --> 01:04:27,280
doesn't want to seem like he's,
yeah, potentially playing your

1074
01:04:27,280 --> 01:04:28,960
favorites with Penn State guys
either.

1075
01:04:28,960 --> 01:04:31,280
So you got that dynamic that's
thrown in there as well.

1076
01:04:31,280 --> 01:04:34,640
But to that point, I think the
one thing that I've seen

1077
01:04:34,640 --> 01:04:37,200
consistently when I'm, you know,
following on social media and

1078
01:04:37,200 --> 01:04:40,520
things like that, you've got
Penn State accounts that have

1079
01:04:40,520 --> 01:04:45,600
obviously been in our mentions
across the board, but they have

1080
01:04:45,600 --> 01:04:49,920
not said one bad thing about
Grunk and are very fucking

1081
01:04:49,920 --> 01:04:53,280
disappointed that he didn't
stick around even with them

1082
01:04:53,280 --> 01:04:57,080
getting Rocco coming over.
So that that alone and obviously

1083
01:04:57,080 --> 01:04:59,360
the output that he had, you
know, the back half of last

1084
01:04:59,360 --> 01:05:01,960
season, that they kind of speaks
for itself on that front.

1085
01:05:02,520 --> 01:05:05,480
So it's yeah, I mean, it's it's
exciting that, you know, feel

1086
01:05:05,480 --> 01:05:08,800
like you got a quarterback that
knows how to get the ball out,

1087
01:05:08,800 --> 01:05:12,160
knows how to, you know, throw
back your balls can get the ball

1088
01:05:12,160 --> 01:05:14,080
to guys in different places on
the field.

1089
01:05:14,080 --> 01:05:16,640
I think that's one of the things
we struggled with really going

1090
01:05:16,640 --> 01:05:19,680
back a number of years, not
just, you know, with Kyron Jones

1091
01:05:19,680 --> 01:05:23,000
at the at the helm there.
Those kind of intermediate the

1092
01:05:23,080 --> 01:05:24,560
same routes.
I mean, think things that

1093
01:05:24,560 --> 01:05:29,320
require precise location.
You know, those, those are

1094
01:05:29,320 --> 01:05:31,800
starting to, you know, probably
come back into play in the

1095
01:05:31,800 --> 01:05:33,800
offense a little more
consistently with somebody with

1096
01:05:33,800 --> 01:05:36,320
that type of accuracy and and
and poison the pocket.

1097
01:05:36,320 --> 01:05:40,280
So excited about that.
I know we've seen some some word

1098
01:05:40,280 --> 01:05:44,040
come out with some, you know,
position shuffles along the

1099
01:05:44,040 --> 01:05:47,600
offensive line.
You know, we, we heard some

1100
01:05:47,600 --> 01:05:50,080
conversations with Johnny
Garrett slide inside a guard,

1101
01:05:50,080 --> 01:05:55,640
some kind of being that swing
player from what you've heard,

1102
01:05:55,640 --> 01:05:58,680
from what you've you've seen
read all that.

1103
01:05:59,600 --> 01:06:01,880
What are they doing?
And it does any of this have to

1104
01:06:01,880 --> 01:06:05,200
do with the fact that Howlin's
kind of out for for the spring

1105
01:06:05,200 --> 01:06:07,640
at this point?
I, I think so I, I mean,

1106
01:06:07,640 --> 01:06:09,200
obviously that hurts your tackle
depth.

1107
01:06:09,600 --> 01:06:12,840
You know, I think he's, I don't
know that I would pencil him in

1108
01:06:12,840 --> 01:06:16,920
as a, as a starter at one of the
tackle spots, but he's Logan

1109
01:06:16,920 --> 01:06:19,800
Allen, Oklahoma transfer.
He's played a lot of ball man.

1110
01:06:20,400 --> 01:06:23,280
He's he's one of your most
experienced guys.

1111
01:06:23,480 --> 01:06:26,680
And Justin Terry, the Ohio State
transfer who's with Matt Moore

1112
01:06:26,680 --> 01:06:29,080
at West Virginia, he's also been
a little bit banged up.

1113
01:06:29,680 --> 01:06:33,160
But I, I think right now it's
been interesting.

1114
01:06:33,360 --> 01:06:36,120
Montavious Cunningham's at right
tackle, Johnny Garrett's at

1115
01:06:36,120 --> 01:06:41,800
right guard.
Part of it is Matt Moore, I

1116
01:06:41,800 --> 01:06:44,880
think has a good feeling for
what some of these guys can do

1117
01:06:44,880 --> 01:06:48,320
at their normal positions.
And and something that James

1118
01:06:48,320 --> 01:06:51,600
Franklin talked about is we got
we just got to put the best five

1119
01:06:51,600 --> 01:06:54,120
guys on the field.
So you got to test stuff.

1120
01:06:54,160 --> 01:06:55,960
And that's the perfect time in
spring ball.

1121
01:06:55,960 --> 01:06:58,920
Just kind of mess around a
little bit and go, all right,

1122
01:06:58,920 --> 01:07:01,840
let's let's throw Johnny Garrett
in here at right guard and and

1123
01:07:01,840 --> 01:07:04,120
see how he holds up and if he's
playing pretty well.

1124
01:07:04,880 --> 01:07:07,240
All right, cool.
You know that that gives us

1125
01:07:07,240 --> 01:07:11,360
another option.
You know, like from Franklin

1126
01:07:11,360 --> 01:07:14,880
gave a good example of last
week, he said, you know,

1127
01:07:14,880 --> 01:07:22,520
sometimes say your right tackle
gets hurt, sometimes your next

1128
01:07:22,520 --> 01:07:25,360
best player is not your backup
right tackle.

1129
01:07:25,720 --> 01:07:29,560
Your next best player is your
backup right guard and then you

1130
01:07:29,560 --> 01:07:31,520
slide your right guard over to
right tackle.

1131
01:07:32,320 --> 01:07:34,160
So I think it's just it's
continuing.

1132
01:07:34,160 --> 01:07:36,440
Hey, that's what I do.
That's what I do on the game all

1133
01:07:36,440 --> 01:07:39,680
the time.
It's continuing game all the

1134
01:07:39,680 --> 01:07:40,360
time.
It worked.

1135
01:07:40,680 --> 01:07:45,880
It's continuing to develop depth
and I think, honestly, I think

1136
01:07:45,880 --> 01:07:47,920
bringing Matt Moore back is
huge.

1137
01:07:48,240 --> 01:07:50,840
Like just from a continuity
standpoint man.

1138
01:07:50,840 --> 01:07:53,280
I think what is it?
Has it been four coaches in four

1139
01:07:53,280 --> 01:07:58,520
years or.
We had Crook for like a year and

1140
01:07:58,520 --> 01:08:00,600
a half.
Like 4 coaches in like it's like

1141
01:08:00,600 --> 01:08:02,800
4 coaches in six years, man.
That's crazy.

1142
01:08:03,000 --> 01:08:07,160
Like that's nuts.
I mean Vice, Vice, Rudolph,

1143
01:08:07,160 --> 01:08:12,480
Crook and more dating back to
2021.

1144
01:08:12,760 --> 01:08:17,760
Yeah, yeah. 54 coaches, five
years, I mean, and so like just

1145
01:08:17,840 --> 01:08:21,880
having a a guy, yeah.
But the, the big thing is your

1146
01:08:21,880 --> 01:08:25,200
your offensive line coach and
your offensive coordinator have

1147
01:08:25,200 --> 01:08:27,560
to be on the same page.
And it was interesting when we

1148
01:08:27,560 --> 01:08:29,520
talked to Matt Moore back in
February.

1149
01:08:30,000 --> 01:08:33,399
Seems like he and Ty Howell
really understand each other.

1150
01:08:34,080 --> 01:08:38,640
You know, just that relationship
of how the offensive line is, is

1151
01:08:38,880 --> 01:08:43,240
panning out and being, I mean,
offensive line, I would say is

1152
01:08:43,240 --> 01:08:47,319
one of the hardest spots to
recruit just because you've got

1153
01:08:47,319 --> 01:08:51,720
to develop guys over time and
being able to map, keep map

1154
01:08:51,720 --> 01:08:54,840
more, which means keeping all
these guys and then adding a

1155
01:08:54,840 --> 01:08:57,960
bunch of Penn State guys, adding
a couple other portal guys.

1156
01:08:57,960 --> 01:09:01,279
It's like, all right, that group
is much different from from

1157
01:09:01,279 --> 01:09:03,479
where it was last year.
But but we all agree you

1158
01:09:03,520 --> 01:09:06,920
actually have to recruit and
attempt to get off at zip line

1159
01:09:07,080 --> 01:09:09,920
and end the door.
Why would you think otherwise?

1160
01:09:12,040 --> 01:09:15,640
Like what, 5 / 3 years?
It seemed like you just wanted

1161
01:09:15,640 --> 01:09:18,000
to kill yourself.
Tell it what you got.

1162
01:09:18,359 --> 01:09:20,840
It's it's why we ran into a
situation last year where we

1163
01:09:20,840 --> 01:09:21,880
had.
A Lynch.

1164
01:09:22,120 --> 01:09:24,560
The the next guy up at tackle
and and that's not, I'm not

1165
01:09:24,560 --> 01:09:26,399
trying to knock aid Lynch when I
say that, but I.

1166
01:09:26,520 --> 01:09:28,560
I don't think he would he.
Was not.

1167
01:09:28,800 --> 01:09:32,439
He was not ready to have to play
the number of snaps he played

1168
01:09:32,439 --> 01:09:35,600
last year, but you didn't have
any tackle depth.

1169
01:09:36,359 --> 01:09:38,960
And so all of a sudden you've
got a guy that you know, is

1170
01:09:38,960 --> 01:09:42,160
probably at least a year away
from, you know, you being

1171
01:09:42,160 --> 01:09:44,160
comfortable with him playing
that number of snaps ended up

1172
01:09:44,160 --> 01:09:45,560
getting kind of thrown to the
fire.

1173
01:09:45,560 --> 01:09:50,200
And I don't think it it helped
him or his development or his

1174
01:09:50,200 --> 01:09:52,240
perception.
I think with, with the fan base

1175
01:09:52,240 --> 01:09:54,680
that, you know, throughout that
process and you know, getting

1176
01:09:54,680 --> 01:09:58,040
guys in the door that, you know,
with a guy like Terry and a guy

1177
01:09:58,040 --> 01:10:02,880
like Howlin that have, you know,
are either highly touted or have

1178
01:10:02,920 --> 01:10:05,880
played a significant number of,
of, of snaps at this point.

1179
01:10:06,360 --> 01:10:08,240
I think that that that bodes
well.

1180
01:10:08,240 --> 01:10:10,760
And that gives you that, you
know, position versatility to be

1181
01:10:10,760 --> 01:10:12,720
able to see what Johnny Garrett
can do at guard.

1182
01:10:12,720 --> 01:10:15,720
And obviously we've seen
Cunningham play guard and

1183
01:10:15,720 --> 01:10:18,920
tackle, you know, alternatively
throughout his time here as

1184
01:10:18,920 --> 01:10:21,680
well.
So having guys with that

1185
01:10:22,080 --> 01:10:25,480
position versatility where you
can go a man or two down at

1186
01:10:25,480 --> 01:10:29,400
guard or tackle and still feel
like you've got a, a decent 5

1187
01:10:29,400 --> 01:10:34,080
that you can put out there.
I think another thing too is

1188
01:10:34,920 --> 01:10:38,040
just with the recruiting of
offensive lineman.

1189
01:10:39,560 --> 01:10:43,160
A lot of times, like I think
David just said, like offensive

1190
01:10:43,160 --> 01:10:45,160
lineman, you have to develop at
that position.

1191
01:10:45,480 --> 01:10:49,760
And it's so hard to like go into
a high school and know who's

1192
01:10:49,760 --> 01:10:52,160
going to be a good offensive
lineman and how long it's going

1193
01:10:52,160 --> 01:10:55,200
to take them to be ready because
most high school offensive

1194
01:10:55,200 --> 01:10:58,400
lineman are either much bigger
than everybody else they're

1195
01:10:58,400 --> 01:11:00,080
playing, or they're just more
athletic.

1196
01:11:00,080 --> 01:11:03,120
So depending on who they're
playing, they just look so much

1197
01:11:03,120 --> 01:11:04,640
better.
But when you get to college,

1198
01:11:04,640 --> 01:11:07,480
everybody's big.
What I like about what they've

1199
01:11:07,480 --> 01:11:12,320
done is they've brought a lot of
lineman in and a lot of them are

1200
01:11:12,320 --> 01:11:16,680
already at plain size.
So even if they're not on the

1201
01:11:16,680 --> 01:11:20,440
field to contribute in the two
or 3D, they're going to give

1202
01:11:20,520 --> 01:11:23,680
some of those defensive players
a good look because it's at

1203
01:11:23,680 --> 01:11:28,160
least a body that is the right
size to be playing in the ACC.

1204
01:11:28,880 --> 01:11:31,600
Because you can go back to some
of our defensive lineman.

1205
01:11:31,600 --> 01:11:36,480
It's like, Oh my God, Burgos
just killed Clemens.

1206
01:11:36,480 --> 01:11:39,160
He's going to have a good year.
And then he can't fucking tackle

1207
01:11:39,160 --> 01:11:42,880
nobody on South Carolina when
he's in the backfield.

1208
01:11:43,360 --> 01:11:46,640
So yeah, I mean, getting a good
look at practice probably helps.

1209
01:11:47,000 --> 01:11:51,000
So I'm glad that we at least
have some depth there so some of

1210
01:11:51,000 --> 01:11:55,240
these guys can develop, can get
some practice run and they went

1211
01:11:55,240 --> 01:11:57,640
and got a lot of them.
I think we may have like 910

1212
01:11:57,640 --> 01:12:00,360
lineman.
They're coming in out of those.

1213
01:12:00,360 --> 01:12:04,440
It's like somebody's got to be
ready to step up and do

1214
01:12:04,440 --> 01:12:07,480
something, you know?
So when I say do something, hey,

1215
01:12:07,640 --> 01:12:10,160
he just rolled his ankle, we're
going to wrap him up, put him

1216
01:12:10,160 --> 01:12:11,880
back in.
I need you to go give me a

1217
01:12:11,880 --> 01:12:14,360
series.
Last couple of years we didn't

1218
01:12:14,360 --> 01:12:17,160
even have that like we didn't,
we just had nobody that could

1219
01:12:17,160 --> 01:12:20,600
step up and go play or we didn't
trust anybody enough to be able

1220
01:12:20,600 --> 01:12:23,480
to go do that.
So I'm, I'm definitely, you

1221
01:12:23,480 --> 01:12:26,920
know, excited about getting just
a little bit deeper on that

1222
01:12:26,920 --> 01:12:32,320
offensive line so we can
determine who the best five are.

1223
01:12:32,920 --> 01:12:37,280
Or 7 and you say that tally you,
you start from where and where

1224
01:12:37,280 --> 01:12:41,440
you were last year, this year,
truly guys who were offered

1225
01:12:41,840 --> 01:12:47,720
somewhat rated or coming from
it's 1717 offensive lineman.

1226
01:12:47,720 --> 01:12:50,520
And I know a lot of freshmen,
right Cunningham, a lot of

1227
01:12:50,520 --> 01:12:53,040
freshmen.
But that's what you have to do.

1228
01:12:53,040 --> 01:12:55,480
You have to just stack and you
have to pray.

1229
01:12:56,240 --> 01:12:58,680
We will come out of this place.
You don't have to pray, you just

1230
01:12:58,720 --> 01:13:00,040
have to develop.
You have to pray.

1231
01:13:00,040 --> 01:13:04,000
I mean like what you have to do.
What you I was going to say,

1232
01:13:04,000 --> 01:13:06,040
hey, yeah, we ain't going to go
into the Bible study here

1233
01:13:06,040 --> 01:13:09,160
because I'm going to tell y'all
right now You can you think that

1234
01:13:09,160 --> 01:13:11,360
you're just going to be a
millionaire by sitting at home

1235
01:13:11,360 --> 01:13:12,520
and praying?
You ain't.

1236
01:13:12,800 --> 01:13:15,880
You better get that Bible.
No, but Curtis, what you have to

1237
01:13:15,880 --> 01:13:19,240
do is you got to get a lot of
them and not all of them are

1238
01:13:19,240 --> 01:13:20,840
going to pan out.
True.

1239
01:13:21,400 --> 01:13:26,640
But that's why you go get you.
You get 5 or 6 lineman in a

1240
01:13:26,640 --> 01:13:34,160
class and hope that two or three
of them hit. 111 high level one

1241
01:13:34,160 --> 01:13:38,920
OK one.
And I was going to say even with

1242
01:13:38,920 --> 01:13:41,880
that too, in the years past,
that's kind of how it's been.

1243
01:13:41,880 --> 01:13:44,680
You had this one guy that you
were like, we got to get him on

1244
01:13:44,680 --> 01:13:47,600
the field right now because
that's what we need.

1245
01:13:48,040 --> 01:13:51,560
Well, they wouldn't got about
four that have the same about

1246
01:13:51,560 --> 01:13:54,240
the same talent level.
You know what I'm saying?

1247
01:13:54,240 --> 01:13:57,200
When you look at like Tommy
Wilder, Tommy Wilder is not on

1248
01:13:57,200 --> 01:13:59,040
campus yet, you know what I'm
saying?

1249
01:13:59,040 --> 01:14:01,960
So of course his development is
going to be behind some of the

1250
01:14:01,960 --> 01:14:03,760
guys that are there.
But you look at like a Marlin

1251
01:14:03,760 --> 01:14:06,520
bright.
These are high level football

1252
01:14:06,520 --> 01:14:08,600
players.
These are high level guards, I

1253
01:14:08,600 --> 01:14:10,200
mean high level offensive
lineman.

1254
01:14:10,200 --> 01:14:15,800
So you went out and get three to
four of those guys and you say,

1255
01:14:15,880 --> 01:14:19,880
like you said, if we develop
them in two hit and we're

1256
01:14:19,880 --> 01:14:24,400
bringing in five one next year,
you know, like it's what we got

1257
01:14:24,400 --> 01:14:26,000
to do.
That's what you have, That's

1258
01:14:26,000 --> 01:14:27,600
what you have to do.
You have to build in the

1259
01:14:27,600 --> 01:14:30,120
trenches.
There's no other way to win

1260
01:14:30,120 --> 01:14:32,240
football games.
Yeah.

1261
01:14:32,360 --> 01:14:34,640
And one of the things we weren't
doing is that we weren't

1262
01:14:34,640 --> 01:14:38,000
recruiting, but we also really
weren't attacking the portal at

1263
01:14:38,000 --> 01:14:41,160
that position either.
And I know that position is very

1264
01:14:41,160 --> 01:14:44,400
hard to to bring in high caliber
players in the portal anyway,

1265
01:14:45,600 --> 01:14:48,160
but when you're when you weren't
doing both, it's like we're not,

1266
01:14:48,240 --> 01:14:51,160
we're not backfilling, but we're
also not getting better on the

1267
01:14:51,160 --> 01:14:54,760
front end either.
And so you get situations like

1268
01:14:54,760 --> 01:14:57,280
we've had the last two or three
years where the offensive line

1269
01:14:57,280 --> 01:15:00,320
is really, you know, even with
some of the problems that we had

1270
01:15:00,320 --> 01:15:03,120
at quarterback, like a lot of
those were offensive line

1271
01:15:03,120 --> 01:15:07,560
related to some degree.
So you get this trickle down

1272
01:15:07,560 --> 01:15:11,160
effect where you're not good up
front and it affects every other

1273
01:15:11,160 --> 01:15:16,560
position group on the team.
Let's move over to wide

1274
01:15:16,560 --> 01:15:18,400
receiver.
I mean, we, we, we, we know that

1275
01:15:18,720 --> 01:15:23,640
James Franklin is a Aiden Green
disciple at this point.

1276
01:15:23,640 --> 01:15:25,840
He's, he's been, he's been
hyping him up a lot and, and

1277
01:15:25,880 --> 01:15:28,720
talking about him and really,
you know, highlighting his

1278
01:15:28,720 --> 01:15:33,960
leadership and his ability to,
to come in there and not be

1279
01:15:33,960 --> 01:15:35,280
afraid to say what he's
thinking.

1280
01:15:35,280 --> 01:15:37,440
I think that's, you know, that's
been a big thing that that

1281
01:15:37,440 --> 01:15:39,160
Franklin has complimented him
on.

1282
01:15:39,800 --> 01:15:41,520
But let's go back beyond him a
little bit.

1283
01:15:41,600 --> 01:15:44,400
Who else is standing out in that
room that you've seen so far?

1284
01:15:45,360 --> 01:15:50,200
Well, I think the it's funny,
Franklin, you, you can tell how

1285
01:15:50,200 --> 01:15:55,120
Franklin feels very easily about
a position group because like

1286
01:15:55,120 --> 01:15:58,320
wide receiver, like last week he
was asked about the wide

1287
01:15:58,320 --> 01:16:02,520
receivers and he was like, there
are a lot of guys who are

1288
01:16:02,520 --> 01:16:08,680
unproven and I, they, they have
not done enough for me to talk

1289
01:16:08,680 --> 01:16:13,360
about them.
Like it's like, hey, you got a

1290
01:16:13,360 --> 01:16:17,320
lot of chance, Wiggins, Keelan
Adams, like how's that room

1291
01:16:17,320 --> 01:16:20,800
coming along?
And he's like, we got a lot of

1292
01:16:20,800 --> 01:16:25,120
guys that need to step up.
We got Aiden Green, Keyshawn

1293
01:16:25,120 --> 01:16:28,200
Brown from Duke.
I mean, he's the big one.

1294
01:16:29,240 --> 01:16:34,280
And Franklin touched on him the
other day and he's he's, I think

1295
01:16:34,280 --> 01:16:36,400
he's going to be an instant
impact guy.

1296
01:16:36,480 --> 01:16:39,040
He was very, very productive at
Duke last year.

1297
01:16:41,240 --> 01:16:43,280
Yeah.
I, you know, Fontelle Mines

1298
01:16:43,280 --> 01:16:45,720
raved about him.
Actually.

1299
01:16:45,720 --> 01:16:46,920
I thought this was very
interesting.

1300
01:16:46,920 --> 01:16:51,520
I mentioned this on our podcast.
We spoke with Fontelle Mines

1301
01:16:51,840 --> 01:16:57,320
back in February, and he's, he
told me that he recruited

1302
01:16:57,320 --> 01:17:01,800
Brown's from Winston Salem.
He recruited Brown and Brown had

1303
01:17:03,160 --> 01:17:10,520
Brown visited Virginia Tech for
a camp and Fontelle did not

1304
01:17:10,520 --> 01:17:15,040
offer him.
And this time around in the

1305
01:17:15,040 --> 01:17:18,520
portal, Fontelle said the first
thing he did was he reached out

1306
01:17:18,520 --> 01:17:20,440
and apologized for not offering
him.

1307
01:17:21,480 --> 01:17:25,360
He was like, that's my bad, man.
Like I missed like, I feel like

1308
01:17:25,360 --> 01:17:28,400
you don't really see that kind
of honesty, you know, just in

1309
01:17:28,400 --> 01:17:31,560
that process like that.
But I mean, he he could not stop

1310
01:17:31,560 --> 01:17:35,920
raving about about Brown and
he's he he kind of he's very

1311
01:17:35,920 --> 01:17:39,120
reliable in terms of I think he
catch, he catches everything.

1312
01:17:39,960 --> 01:17:42,880
He's maybe a little bit
undersized, but I think it's

1313
01:17:42,880 --> 01:17:45,600
kind of exactly what you want in
terms of bringing another

1314
01:17:45,600 --> 01:17:50,840
experienced guy to pair with
Green after that, Brian, it's

1315
01:17:50,840 --> 01:17:55,640
pretty open-ended, man.
Like one of the reasons I think

1316
01:17:55,840 --> 01:17:59,720
sliding AJ Brand over to wide
receiver is so interesting is

1317
01:17:59,880 --> 01:18:03,040
because it's kind of an open
competition.

1318
01:18:03,560 --> 01:18:07,040
You scroll through the list, you
know, Marlene Jackson, he's got

1319
01:18:07,040 --> 01:18:08,160
it.
He's got his arm in it sling.

1320
01:18:08,160 --> 01:18:10,400
He was the Louisiana Tech
transfer that they brought in.

1321
01:18:11,640 --> 01:18:16,600
But this is also an offensive
coordinator, Ty Howell, who had

1322
01:18:16,720 --> 01:18:20,240
in the past at Penn State, he
and James Franklin, I know he

1323
01:18:20,240 --> 01:18:24,120
wasn't the OC, but he's been a
tight ends coach and they love

1324
01:18:24,120 --> 01:18:28,000
using tight ends.
So the nice thing is you've got

1325
01:18:28,000 --> 01:18:32,760
a really good tight end room to
kind of maybe balance it out a

1326
01:18:32,760 --> 01:18:36,280
little bit, But they need wide
receiver is a room I look at and

1327
01:18:36,280 --> 01:18:38,600
they'll go they need guys to
step up, man.

1328
01:18:39,080 --> 01:18:42,320
Like there's there's kind of an
open competition, you know,

1329
01:18:42,320 --> 01:18:46,280
outside of green and brown.
It's like everything else is

1330
01:18:46,280 --> 01:18:47,760
open, man.
You got to go prove it.

1331
01:18:47,760 --> 01:18:50,120
And and this is a great
opportunity for Wiggins.

1332
01:18:50,160 --> 01:18:54,640
Adams highly touted guys like
that to to kind of prove that,

1333
01:18:54,840 --> 01:18:57,960
hey, like we belong.
Like, you know, it's our turn to

1334
01:18:58,000 --> 01:19:00,480
to play.
Yeah, that room is a bunch of

1335
01:19:00,760 --> 01:19:04,480
talented guys who they're saying
exactly what you're saying.

1336
01:19:04,480 --> 01:19:09,280
They have to prove it.
They all mostly were pretty high

1337
01:19:09,280 --> 01:19:12,080
end guys coming out of high
school, played well in high

1338
01:19:12,080 --> 01:19:18,000
school, have shown flashes at
times, some in games, some at

1339
01:19:18,000 --> 01:19:20,880
practices, some at spring games
and stuff.

1340
01:19:21,480 --> 01:19:23,680
But it's who's going to take the
who's going to take the crown?

1341
01:19:23,680 --> 01:19:26,960
Who's going to take to me?
You, you want 5 like who wants

1342
01:19:26,960 --> 01:19:29,440
3-4 and five?
Because if you take it this

1343
01:19:29,440 --> 01:19:34,160
year, you're likely going to
have it for the next two years.

1344
01:19:34,400 --> 01:19:37,480
It's going to be yours.
It's it's going to be your show

1345
01:19:37,480 --> 01:19:39,360
to run tally.
What do you want to talk on

1346
01:19:39,360 --> 01:19:41,720
next, man?
Well, I mean, we kind of brought

1347
01:19:41,720 --> 01:19:44,240
them up already when you talk
about the tight end room and the

1348
01:19:44,240 --> 01:19:49,920
tight end room being pretty, I
mean pretty looking like it's

1349
01:19:49,920 --> 01:19:51,600
going to be pretty good.
I don't want to jump the gun.

1350
01:19:51,600 --> 01:19:55,320
But I mean, when I look at Luke
Reynolds, I just think that he's

1351
01:19:55,800 --> 01:19:58,840
a can't miss tight end.
And when I say can't miss, I

1352
01:19:58,840 --> 01:20:01,960
don't know how far he goes.
I'm not saying he's a NFL tight

1353
01:20:02,000 --> 01:20:05,840
end, but I've seen him play a
couple of games of college

1354
01:20:05,840 --> 01:20:09,200
football and I've seen him into
practices with the limited

1355
01:20:09,200 --> 01:20:13,960
access that we've got and he
looks like he is head and

1356
01:20:13,960 --> 01:20:19,600
shoulders better than.
What we're normally having in

1357
01:20:19,600 --> 01:20:23,000
our tidying room, no disrespect
to any of the other tight ends

1358
01:20:23,000 --> 01:20:27,600
that we had, but what have you
got to take a look at Luke

1359
01:20:27,600 --> 01:20:31,080
Reynolds and when we talk about
that tight end room and what do

1360
01:20:31,080 --> 01:20:34,560
you think about him, David?
I mean, I and anytime I think of

1361
01:20:34,560 --> 01:20:37,040
Luke Reynolds, I just go back to
the Pinstripe Bowl.

1362
01:20:37,720 --> 01:20:41,040
If you recall, he, he put a spin
move on one of those Clemson

1363
01:20:41,040 --> 01:20:43,800
defenders.
You're, you're talking like a, a

1364
01:20:43,800 --> 01:20:46,360
tight end who looks like he's
playing like running back.

1365
01:20:46,840 --> 01:20:49,920
Just the way he moves.
Very agile guy.

1366
01:20:50,160 --> 01:20:53,240
He's he's big.
The the biggest thing for me

1367
01:20:53,240 --> 01:20:57,480
Tally is I I think he is a
pretty proven blocker.

1368
01:20:57,880 --> 01:20:59,560
And the.
Virginia Tech tight doesn't

1369
01:20:59,560 --> 01:21:01,720
struggle with blocking man over
the last few years.

1370
01:21:03,520 --> 01:21:05,240
Yeah, let's, let's get Sheldon
on that one.

1371
01:21:07,440 --> 01:21:12,200
I, I think, I think Reynolds, I
mean, he's, he's a tremendous

1372
01:21:12,200 --> 01:21:15,360
upgrade.
He just makes that room better.

1373
01:21:15,360 --> 01:21:18,080
It's kind of one of those like
rising tides lifts all boats

1374
01:21:18,080 --> 01:21:18,600
then.
Like.

1375
01:21:19,120 --> 01:21:24,160
Your tight end room was fine.
I can really use the tight ends

1376
01:21:24,160 --> 01:21:27,320
a lot under that last coaching
staff.

1377
01:21:28,440 --> 01:21:30,440
It it'll be different now.
And I think the interesting

1378
01:21:30,440 --> 01:21:33,560
thing is I think Benji Gosnell
is a little bit underutilized.

1379
01:21:33,560 --> 01:21:37,320
Again, not great as a blocker,
but he's been pretty reliable as

1380
01:21:37,440 --> 01:21:43,520
a as a pass catching tight end
If if you compare him with Luke

1381
01:21:43,520 --> 01:21:47,920
Reynolds and you brought in Matt
Henderson, who I believe is a

1382
01:21:47,920 --> 01:21:54,280
Richmond guy.
And and I mean, he he's a really

1383
01:21:54,280 --> 01:21:56,880
good athlete.
And Harrison is saying Jermaine

1384
01:21:56,880 --> 01:21:59,040
is back.
I mean the tight end room might

1385
01:21:59,080 --> 01:22:00,320
be one of the.
Harrison.

1386
01:22:00,320 --> 01:22:02,520
Don't forget Harrison.
Yeah.

1387
01:22:02,680 --> 01:22:03,920
Oh, and sorry, Jerrikas
Harrison.

1388
01:22:03,920 --> 01:22:05,120
I knew I was.
Yeah, I knew I was leaving

1389
01:22:05,120 --> 01:22:07,200
somebody out.
You know, Jerrikas Harrison, I

1390
01:22:08,320 --> 01:22:10,960
was talking to Andy and Chris
about this the other day.

1391
01:22:11,280 --> 01:22:13,920
You know, they said they went
out to they went out to practice

1392
01:22:14,280 --> 01:22:17,680
and they were doing tight end
blocking drills and the guy who

1393
01:22:17,680 --> 01:22:19,720
was standing out more than
anybody was Hairston and just

1394
01:22:19,720 --> 01:22:22,880
how he was just flat out
blocking dudes.

1395
01:22:23,040 --> 01:22:26,320
Yeah, I think it was one of the
videos that they posted where

1396
01:22:26,440 --> 01:22:29,560
Franklin got all over him in a
good way, like just giving him

1397
01:22:29,560 --> 01:22:34,840
props on his on his blocking.
And I mean, as a, as a, as a

1398
01:22:34,840 --> 01:22:40,440
tight end, that that it's you
got to be able to catch passes,

1399
01:22:40,440 --> 01:22:42,720
but you got to be able to block
and you got to be able to block

1400
01:22:42,720 --> 01:22:46,520
in space.
We can go into a whole, I'm I'm

1401
01:22:46,520 --> 01:22:51,080
sure Brian can write up a whole
show for pulling, ripping,

1402
01:22:51,080 --> 01:22:52,800
reaching, different things like
that.

1403
01:22:53,120 --> 01:23:00,280
But again, big man, usually
tight end being in space, trying

1404
01:23:00,280 --> 01:23:04,360
to block little shifty guys
sometimes doesn't work.

1405
01:23:04,640 --> 01:23:07,760
So when you're bending that
corner and you're coming out and

1406
01:23:07,760 --> 01:23:11,160
you got a block of safety or a
cornerback, a lot of times

1407
01:23:11,160 --> 01:23:12,840
they're not going to come and
meet you head up.

1408
01:23:12,840 --> 01:23:15,800
They're going to find a way to,
you know, Juke you get around

1409
01:23:15,800 --> 01:23:19,680
you, you know, slide under you,
different things like that.

1410
01:23:19,680 --> 01:23:22,360
So when I just watched that clip
again, we ever had a lot to

1411
01:23:22,360 --> 01:23:24,200
watch.
But I'm a tight end guy.

1412
01:23:24,480 --> 01:23:27,240
So when I seen that, I got
pretty excited as well because

1413
01:23:27,520 --> 01:23:32,800
I've seen US run plays or us run
screens and somebody goes, why

1414
01:23:32,800 --> 01:23:35,480
do we keep running that?
I'm like, we're really only one

1415
01:23:35,480 --> 01:23:39,040
block away.
Miami running the fake field

1416
01:23:39,040 --> 01:23:41,680
goal.
I mean, form a play call, but we

1417
01:23:41,680 --> 01:23:45,040
were one block away from scoring
a touchdown on that fake field

1418
01:23:45,040 --> 01:23:48,280
goal and that and that block
would have came from a tight

1419
01:23:48,320 --> 01:23:50,200
end.
So I think I'm pretty sure it

1420
01:23:50,200 --> 01:23:53,840
was a tight end.
Yeah, I, I look at, I look at

1421
01:23:53,840 --> 01:23:56,920
the tight end room and I think
that is probably one of the best

1422
01:23:56,920 --> 01:24:01,960
position rooms on the team from
and I like the variety of skill

1423
01:24:01,960 --> 01:24:05,320
sets you have because you've got
you know, I mean, and you talk

1424
01:24:05,320 --> 01:24:08,200
about Doricas, I mean, he's a
former walk on man.

1425
01:24:08,320 --> 01:24:11,880
Like he has worked his way up
and he caught some touchdowns

1426
01:24:11,880 --> 01:24:13,840
last year.
He paved the way for Kyron for a

1427
01:24:13,840 --> 01:24:16,520
couple touchdown runs.
I mean, he's a guy who has

1428
01:24:16,560 --> 01:24:20,960
earned his keep and, and you've
got him and Saint Germain and

1429
01:24:20,960 --> 01:24:24,840
Gosnell along with Henderson and
and Reynolds and that's a pretty

1430
01:24:24,840 --> 01:24:27,800
stacked room.
That's the kind of problem you

1431
01:24:27,840 --> 01:24:30,280
will have.
You won't have 100.

1432
01:24:30,280 --> 01:24:31,760
There's depth there and
everything.

1433
01:24:32,240 --> 01:24:34,640
And, and, and to Tally's point,
I mean, you know, Titan is such

1434
01:24:34,640 --> 01:24:38,520
an interesting position with,
with the type of blocks that,

1435
01:24:39,120 --> 01:24:41,120
you know, you got to execute.
I mean, you got to be able to

1436
01:24:41,120 --> 01:24:42,640
stalk block like a wide
receiver.

1437
01:24:42,640 --> 01:24:44,600
You got to be able to, to block
in the alley.

1438
01:24:44,600 --> 01:24:47,760
And then you also have to do
pretty much anything that a

1439
01:24:48,080 --> 01:24:51,120
tackle would do in those, you
know, tight formation run

1440
01:24:51,120 --> 01:24:53,160
situations.
So I mean, it's a, it's a very,

1441
01:24:53,840 --> 01:24:56,680
very skill set that you have to
have on top of, you know, also

1442
01:24:56,680 --> 01:25:00,800
being a, a reliable receiver.
And, and it sounds like there,

1443
01:25:00,800 --> 01:25:03,240
there's going to be a whole lot
more receiving that we saw with

1444
01:25:03,240 --> 01:25:06,000
Monty last year coming from that
tight end group.

1445
01:25:06,720 --> 01:25:09,360
So I'm excited.
I I think, like you said, I

1446
01:25:09,360 --> 01:25:12,280
think this is probably, you
know, top to bottom, probably

1447
01:25:12,280 --> 01:25:14,680
the the deepest position, at
least on offense.

1448
01:25:14,680 --> 01:25:20,520
I would say, you know, when you
combine experience with ability

1449
01:25:20,520 --> 01:25:23,160
and then some of that, you know,
guys like Hairston that have

1450
01:25:23,160 --> 01:25:26,280
really earned their keep and,
and, and have shown, you know,

1451
01:25:26,320 --> 01:25:29,760
flashes in, in, in various
capacities over the last couple

1452
01:25:29,760 --> 01:25:33,200
years.
Let's flip it over to defense

1453
01:25:34,160 --> 01:25:36,400
and I'm going to focus on the
safety room to start out here.

1454
01:25:37,640 --> 01:25:41,800
Yeah, we did.
You know, we were some delay in

1455
01:25:41,800 --> 01:25:44,320
kind of finalizing the coaching
staff who was going to coach

1456
01:25:44,320 --> 01:25:47,520
safeties, who's going to coach
cornerbacks didn't really go out

1457
01:25:47,520 --> 01:25:52,320
and get anybody in the portal to
to shore up that room.

1458
01:25:52,920 --> 01:25:56,720
What's your feeling on that room
and and is there any new faces

1459
01:25:56,720 --> 01:25:58,960
that are kind of mixing in there
that we didn't see last year?

1460
01:25:59,720 --> 01:26:02,800
Well, I think I think it's good
that Ted got Quentin Reddish

1461
01:26:02,800 --> 01:26:05,040
back.
I think that's that's important.

1462
01:26:05,120 --> 01:26:07,080
But he's also coming off an
injury.

1463
01:26:07,640 --> 01:26:09,920
That's a little bit that's
difficult, man.

1464
01:26:12,240 --> 01:26:15,360
I will group the safeties and
corners together because I think

1465
01:26:15,360 --> 01:26:20,000
they're in kind of different
situations.

1466
01:26:20,400 --> 01:26:23,560
I look at the cornerback room
and I go, I see a lot of guys

1467
01:26:23,760 --> 01:26:27,520
with experience and a lot of
guys that can play right now.

1468
01:26:27,880 --> 01:26:31,600
And there might be a point where
it's like, man, we've got more

1469
01:26:31,600 --> 01:26:35,240
corners that we want.
Like we, I wish we could play,

1470
01:26:35,240 --> 01:26:39,160
you know, we got to sit one or
two of these guys because they

1471
01:26:39,160 --> 01:26:42,280
all can't be on the field at the
same time with corners.

1472
01:26:42,600 --> 01:26:46,920
I look at safeties and I go
there.

1473
01:26:46,920 --> 01:26:48,680
There is a there a lot.
Don't you?

1474
01:26:49,800 --> 01:26:52,200
There's, I mean, there are,
there are questions, man, Like

1475
01:26:53,840 --> 01:26:56,000
I'm, I'm just interested, I'm
interested to see how that

1476
01:26:56,000 --> 01:27:00,800
dynamic plays out.
You, you bring back some guys at

1477
01:27:01,040 --> 01:27:05,600
like Tyson Flowers, I think
Franklin spoke, Franklin spoke

1478
01:27:05,600 --> 01:27:08,400
about his leadership ability and
I think that's great.

1479
01:27:08,400 --> 01:27:11,120
But Flowers was a little bit hit
or miss at times last year.

1480
01:27:12,680 --> 01:27:15,040
David said.
David said we we glad you're a

1481
01:27:15,040 --> 01:27:16,560
leader, but.
We That's being kind.

1482
01:27:16,760 --> 01:27:19,960
Of some ways people that get
tackled.

1483
01:27:20,120 --> 01:27:23,440
Well, you need you.
Need either you need.

1484
01:27:23,440 --> 01:27:27,280
Leaders and he's a guy that that
last year after losses stood in

1485
01:27:27,280 --> 01:27:29,160
front of the media and and
spoke.

1486
01:27:29,360 --> 01:27:32,760
That takes a lot of guts, man.
Yeah, with the season going the

1487
01:27:32,760 --> 01:27:38,200
way it did, what can under a
under a different coaching

1488
01:27:38,200 --> 01:27:41,840
staff, can he kind of take that
next step a little bit and be a

1489
01:27:41,840 --> 01:27:45,680
little bit more consistent?
And I think you look at that

1490
01:27:45,680 --> 01:27:48,040
room as a whole and that's kind
of a theme.

1491
01:27:48,040 --> 01:27:53,200
It's a lot of unproven guys who
it's like, can they all kind of

1492
01:27:53,400 --> 01:27:55,240
vibe?
And I don't want to like get off

1493
01:27:55,240 --> 01:27:57,600
topic and go look at
cornerbacks, but like there's so

1494
01:27:57,600 --> 01:28:01,560
much experience there.
And, and, and also I really like

1495
01:28:01,560 --> 01:28:05,680
a lot of the young, young guys
that are kind of coming off up

1496
01:28:05,680 --> 01:28:07,760
the ranks.
It's like, OK, you know,

1497
01:28:07,760 --> 01:28:11,040
acknowledge Herald, right?
Like seems like he's chomping at

1498
01:28:11,040 --> 01:28:13,560
the bit a little bit ready,
ready to play.

1499
01:28:14,760 --> 01:28:17,280
It just seems a bit of a
different situation.

1500
01:28:17,280 --> 01:28:21,240
And I'm curious to see how the
coaching staff kind of manages

1501
01:28:21,240 --> 01:28:25,040
it because it seems like the
safeties and corners are in two

1502
01:28:25,040 --> 01:28:26,920
different spots.
Yeah.

1503
01:28:27,240 --> 01:28:30,120
Definitely always doing with
that safest position just to be

1504
01:28:30,120 --> 01:28:32,560
honest.
Let me ask this real quick on

1505
01:28:33,000 --> 01:28:33,960
Curtis.
I'll let you go ahead.

1506
01:28:33,960 --> 01:28:35,520
Sorry.
Well, Woody, honest truth, I

1507
01:28:35,520 --> 01:28:40,000
think it's like, I'm not trying
to downplay the position, but

1508
01:28:41,080 --> 01:28:45,400
don't spend money on safeties.
Like don't like the NFL doesn't

1509
01:28:45,400 --> 01:28:47,800
spend money on safeties.
The teams that normally spend

1510
01:28:47,800 --> 01:28:51,880
money on safeties, they're
usually ADS teams that just like

1511
01:28:52,080 --> 01:28:55,160
they figure out the safety room,
you figure out what they can do.

1512
01:28:55,560 --> 01:28:59,160
And my thought is kind of what
you said, David, it's but with

1513
01:28:59,160 --> 01:29:01,400
the exception of Reddish,
because you feel like Reddish is

1514
01:29:01,400 --> 01:29:03,120
young.
He took a step last year, he got

1515
01:29:03,120 --> 01:29:05,800
hurt, but he he took a legit
step from first year to 2nd

1516
01:29:05,800 --> 01:29:08,040
year.
I think they're figuring out

1517
01:29:08,440 --> 01:29:10,480
each of these guys can do
something OK.

1518
01:29:11,640 --> 01:29:16,120
If the front 7 can be OK and the
outside guys can cover, we can

1519
01:29:16,120 --> 01:29:19,400
figure out what each can do.
And when we get to that

1520
01:29:19,400 --> 01:29:23,520
particular point of the game,
y'all to go in because y'all are

1521
01:29:23,520 --> 01:29:27,040
good at playing cover too high.
Y'all good at playing cover 1.

1522
01:29:27,360 --> 01:29:31,760
You can play somewhat man on a
tight end matchups across the

1523
01:29:31,760 --> 01:29:35,400
boards.
I would love David in nine

1524
01:29:35,400 --> 01:29:40,880
months because that'll be
Christmas to get snap counts on

1525
01:29:40,880 --> 01:29:42,360
safeties.
I guarantee it.

1526
01:29:42,360 --> 01:29:44,800
With the exception of Reddish,
the other ones are going to be

1527
01:29:44,800 --> 01:29:49,400
level unless someone like a
Sheldon Robinson steps out

1528
01:29:49,800 --> 01:29:51,880
because if a young guy jumps.
In.

1529
01:29:52,360 --> 01:29:54,880
Huh.
Robinson looks like a grown man.

1530
01:29:54,880 --> 01:29:57,560
He doesn't like a grown man and
I'm saying if he takes a step

1531
01:29:57,720 --> 01:30:00,520
then those guys are done to him
because it's going to be radish

1532
01:30:00,520 --> 01:30:03,360
it strong, it's going to be him
at free and those other guys are

1533
01:30:03,360 --> 01:30:05,520
just going to be hoping to get
on the field for punt block.

1534
01:30:06,240 --> 01:30:06,960
Go ahead, Brian.
Sorry.

1535
01:30:06,960 --> 01:30:09,720
I was just going to say, you
know, I think the, you know, the

1536
01:30:09,760 --> 01:30:12,960
the dark horse of the unknown
quantity and all this thing is,

1537
01:30:13,680 --> 01:30:17,000
you know, where does Sherrod
Koval maybe maybe fit into this

1538
01:30:17,000 --> 01:30:20,680
conversation?
Is he at a point now where he's

1539
01:30:20,680 --> 01:30:23,480
going to be a heavy contributor
or is, or is he still kind of

1540
01:30:23,480 --> 01:30:27,720
floating in that four or five
area in the in the in the depth

1541
01:30:27,720 --> 01:30:30,680
chart?
You know, we saw Jordan Bass,

1542
01:30:31,080 --> 01:30:37,040
you know, go out there and he'll
hit somebody, but there's

1543
01:30:37,040 --> 01:30:39,680
there's some other areas where
where he struggled.

1544
01:30:39,680 --> 01:30:43,200
I mean, I think, you know, on
the whole, to Curtis's point

1545
01:30:43,200 --> 01:30:45,840
with, you know, not really
overpaying in that position, you

1546
01:30:45,840 --> 01:30:48,720
know, if we can get guys that
can, that can play Cover 3 match

1547
01:30:48,720 --> 01:30:52,400
and you know, fill the alley and
hang and fit properly and and do

1548
01:30:52,400 --> 01:30:55,040
all those things that you need
to do, from a basic standpoint,

1549
01:30:56,000 --> 01:30:57,720
maybe that doesn't matter as
much.

1550
01:31:00,760 --> 01:31:04,080
I mean, I got a lot of
confidence and not to get us off

1551
01:31:04,080 --> 01:31:07,560
topic, but I got a lot of
confidence in the the cornerback

1552
01:31:07,560 --> 01:31:11,840
that came from Troy, not because
I watched so much of his game,

1553
01:31:12,360 --> 01:31:16,240
but of course, being in Alabama,
I've seen a lot of Troy team, a

1554
01:31:16,240 --> 01:31:20,360
lot of Detroit team play.
And we've had some local kids

1555
01:31:20,360 --> 01:31:23,080
that have went there and I've
kind of talked with, you know,

1556
01:31:23,080 --> 01:31:27,600
some coaches, high school
coaches and Troy alums and

1557
01:31:27,600 --> 01:31:29,880
things like that.
And they really, he was a really

1558
01:31:29,880 --> 01:31:33,840
good player for them.
He just has a lot of ability and

1559
01:31:33,840 --> 01:31:36,680
I'm hoping that that translate
to him getting, you know,

1560
01:31:36,680 --> 01:31:40,040
significant snaps with us and,
and, and contributing there

1561
01:31:40,040 --> 01:31:45,120
because I think we have a lot of
talent in that room.

1562
01:31:45,720 --> 01:31:48,840
When you talk about, you know,
the cornerback room and it's a

1563
01:31:48,840 --> 01:31:52,960
mix of a little bit of
experience along with talent.

1564
01:31:54,360 --> 01:31:57,720
Indiana showed us that you're
going to need experience to win

1565
01:31:57,720 --> 01:32:01,040
it, you know what I'm saying?
So having experience is good,

1566
01:32:01,040 --> 01:32:04,680
but they also had talent too.
You can't just be old, you know

1567
01:32:04,680 --> 01:32:06,080
what I'm saying?
Like they had.

1568
01:32:06,320 --> 01:32:08,400
Experienced.
Talented guys.

1569
01:32:08,720 --> 01:32:12,640
So I'm hoping that we have a
good balance of that enough in

1570
01:32:12,640 --> 01:32:16,520
like the cornerback room that it
helps with the safety because

1571
01:32:16,520 --> 01:32:19,520
you do see sometimes those get
kind of interchanged and things

1572
01:32:19,520 --> 01:32:23,000
like that.
But I'm excited about, you know,

1573
01:32:23,000 --> 01:32:26,760
that room.
But the next thing is what I

1574
01:32:26,760 --> 01:32:30,280
wouldn't be excited about is
being a young offensive lineman

1575
01:32:30,280 --> 01:32:34,040
and having to block Kamari
Copeland on the defensive line.

1576
01:32:35,320 --> 01:32:38,120
Kuna, have you seen anything out
of our defensive lineman?

1577
01:32:38,120 --> 01:32:41,360
I know we've had a lot of
transfers to come in and it may

1578
01:32:41,360 --> 01:32:45,800
be a lot of unknown things
there, but as far as the

1579
01:32:45,800 --> 01:32:49,120
defensive line, what are you
kind of seeing and knowing and

1580
01:32:49,240 --> 01:32:52,320
thinking?
Kamari Copeland's a big dude,

1581
01:32:52,360 --> 01:32:54,440
man.
He is big.

1582
01:32:54,440 --> 01:32:58,880
Strong big strong dude too.
I mean, Frank Franklin basically

1583
01:32:58,880 --> 01:33:02,920
said it that that Kamari
Copeland was like the the number

1584
01:33:02,920 --> 01:33:04,840
one guy.
Hey, we need to bring, we need

1585
01:33:04,840 --> 01:33:06,960
to make sure he's back on this
team next year.

1586
01:33:08,000 --> 01:33:12,240
And.
And I'm curious to see maybe

1587
01:33:12,240 --> 01:33:14,080
Sean Spencer kind of said that
too.

1588
01:33:14,280 --> 01:33:15,800
All the interviews kind of run
together.

1589
01:33:15,800 --> 01:33:18,720
But but when we had a chance to
talk to Sean Spencer, he raved

1590
01:33:18,720 --> 01:33:21,920
about Copeland.
Just man, this he he's a hard

1591
01:33:21,920 --> 01:33:25,080
working guy and obviously he's
got a lot of talent, but I I'm

1592
01:33:25,080 --> 01:33:27,440
curious to see what other guys
come up around him like.

1593
01:33:27,440 --> 01:33:32,160
I think Elaj Fall is a guy who
who quietly had a good year last

1594
01:33:32,160 --> 01:33:33,200
year.
I agree.

1595
01:33:35,120 --> 01:33:38,760
Can, can, can he be a pretty
good duo with with with

1596
01:33:38,760 --> 01:33:41,360
Copeland?
And then outside of that, it's

1597
01:33:41,520 --> 01:33:43,840
kind of a bunch of unproven guys
at at tackle.

1598
01:33:44,440 --> 01:33:49,440
A guy I, I'm really curious to
to see where he ends up, is T

1599
01:33:49,440 --> 01:33:52,480
Ron Richardson.
He's a big dude, man.

1600
01:33:53,120 --> 01:33:57,400
He is a monster.
He's from the Richmond area.

1601
01:33:59,360 --> 01:34:03,400
He got rave reviews from from
Spencer and the coaching staff

1602
01:34:03,400 --> 01:34:07,680
and I think they've got a lot of
guys with with good work ethics

1603
01:34:07,680 --> 01:34:12,560
in that room and Laws.
I think this is his redshirts

1604
01:34:12,560 --> 01:34:15,840
sophomore season.
Maybe maybe like this is his

1605
01:34:15,840 --> 01:34:20,640
opportunity, I think to kind of
be a a big piece as like that's

1606
01:34:20,880 --> 01:34:24,600
maybe the second or third guy
behind Kamari Copeland, you

1607
01:34:24,600 --> 01:34:28,160
know, and they brought in, I'm
looking at my roster here.

1608
01:34:28,160 --> 01:34:31,240
They brought in Aterica from
from Penn State and they brought

1609
01:34:31,240 --> 01:34:34,640
in Eric Mensa from Ohio State.
It's like, OK, you got some some

1610
01:34:34,640 --> 01:34:36,720
guys with experience a a little
bit.

1611
01:34:36,720 --> 01:34:38,800
The guys have been in programs
before.

1612
01:34:39,080 --> 01:34:43,000
Can can that translate over?
But I'm kind of curious to see

1613
01:34:43,000 --> 01:34:46,320
how that that rest of the depth
chart shakes out kind of behind

1614
01:34:46,760 --> 01:34:50,120
those three guys at the top, you
know, you what you have in them.

1615
01:34:51,640 --> 01:34:54,000
Yeah.
And, and and that kind of where

1616
01:34:54,320 --> 01:34:57,200
so many of the positions are, it
feels like, right.

1617
01:34:58,120 --> 01:35:03,360
But I think we all feel like
this the talent levels raised.

1618
01:35:03,840 --> 01:35:07,920
I think I don't, I mean,
everybody goes back to 16 and

1619
01:35:07,920 --> 01:35:10,960
17, right?
And that's a decade ago, first

1620
01:35:10,960 --> 01:35:14,680
of all, that's a decade ago.
And that's the last time we felt

1621
01:35:14,680 --> 01:35:17,880
like we had we looked at, hey,
I'm just being real.

1622
01:35:17,880 --> 01:35:22,240
But in 16 and 17, you start
looking at the roster, it's like

1623
01:35:22,240 --> 01:35:24,120
it was a lot of talent on those
teams.

1624
01:35:24,200 --> 01:35:29,560
It was a lot of talent.
And I know, you know, schemes

1625
01:35:29,560 --> 01:35:31,920
are great, you know, coaches are
great.

1626
01:35:32,680 --> 01:35:35,080
And James Franklin understands,
I think better than anyone.

1627
01:35:35,080 --> 01:35:38,440
And he's said it numerous times,
all this stuff's great, but if

1628
01:35:38,440 --> 01:35:41,200
you don't have the players, if
you don't have the players to

1629
01:35:41,200 --> 01:35:44,360
compete, if you don't have the
depth, you're not, you're not

1630
01:35:44,360 --> 01:35:47,640
going to compete.
And that's simple as it is.

1631
01:35:47,640 --> 01:35:52,480
And to me, he's taking us just
from my vantage point, he's

1632
01:35:52,480 --> 01:35:57,080
taking us like somewhere between
4050.

1633
01:35:57,760 --> 01:36:00,560
You feel like it's somewhere in
the 20s.

1634
01:36:01,200 --> 01:36:04,520
Just talent watch, just talent.
I know you get the blue chip

1635
01:36:04,520 --> 01:36:07,640
ratios, but you start looking
and it's like, well, the

1636
01:36:07,640 --> 01:36:10,400
quarterback has experience and
not this guy has experience.

1637
01:36:10,400 --> 01:36:14,120
Well, that guy has experience.
And that's that piece you talked

1638
01:36:14,120 --> 01:36:16,640
about the rising tide.
Well, if you have a quarterback

1639
01:36:16,640 --> 01:36:19,960
who can play, you don't need to
lean on everything.

1640
01:36:20,040 --> 01:36:21,600
We need to talk running backs
tonight.

1641
01:36:21,600 --> 01:36:25,520
And we're going to lay off that
for a little while because that

1642
01:36:25,520 --> 01:36:29,880
room again, I think it's when we
feel like it is what it is.

1643
01:36:30,280 --> 01:36:34,280
But David, in any, any last
words before we close her out

1644
01:36:34,280 --> 01:36:36,920
tonight, man?
Well, I want to, I think

1645
01:36:36,920 --> 01:36:42,040
linebacker, linebackers will
just be like, like how they, how

1646
01:36:42,040 --> 01:36:45,400
they balance.
We, we, you know, tally

1647
01:36:45,400 --> 01:36:47,680
mentioned Jacquez White, the
Troy kid.

1648
01:36:47,680 --> 01:36:50,480
You know, how they balance the
corners and safeties and also

1649
01:36:50,480 --> 01:36:52,880
the strengths.
The linebackers, like, I think

1650
01:36:52,880 --> 01:36:56,920
they, you know, they bring in
Keon Wiley from, from Penn State

1651
01:36:57,120 --> 01:36:59,880
and I think they really like
Caleb Spencer and and Curtis

1652
01:36:59,880 --> 01:37:04,760
Jones from West Virginia.
But like obviously Noah Chambers

1653
01:37:04,760 --> 01:37:07,400
had a phenomenal freshman year.
But like, what does that look

1654
01:37:07,400 --> 01:37:09,680
like like?
And I think that's the beauty of

1655
01:37:09,680 --> 01:37:11,840
spring ball with the new
coaching staff.

1656
01:37:12,080 --> 01:37:14,880
It's like you have all this time
to figure all this stuff out.

1657
01:37:15,160 --> 01:37:18,200
You can look and go, all right,
well, we're working this guy

1658
01:37:18,200 --> 01:37:20,280
here and this guy played really
well today.

1659
01:37:20,680 --> 01:37:22,320
All right, maybe we can give him
another look.

1660
01:37:22,320 --> 01:37:28,400
And I, I think for Virginia Tech
fans who, who, who are are

1661
01:37:28,400 --> 01:37:31,320
excited to go to the spring
game, like I think that's the

1662
01:37:31,520 --> 01:37:34,640
going to be the beauty of like
this year's spring game is like

1663
01:37:34,640 --> 01:37:38,760
there are a lot of young guys
the, the talent level, as Curtis

1664
01:37:38,760 --> 01:37:42,440
has just talked about in this
program, the talent level is

1665
01:37:42,440 --> 01:37:44,760
much better.
There's more talent in this

1666
01:37:44,760 --> 01:37:47,120
program and as a result, there's
going to be more competition.

1667
01:37:47,360 --> 01:37:49,280
And as a result, it's going to
be hard for guys to get on the

1668
01:37:49,280 --> 01:37:51,800
field.
And that's exactly what you

1669
01:37:51,800 --> 01:37:53,400
want.
And I think you're going to see

1670
01:37:53,400 --> 01:37:59,560
that and it's not just one
position, it's across the board.

1671
01:37:59,960 --> 01:38:04,400
And I'm curious to kind of
continue to, you know, got a

1672
01:38:04,400 --> 01:38:05,840
couple weeks before his spring
game.

1673
01:38:06,200 --> 01:38:11,320
Curious to see like what kind of
young guys or, or transverse

1674
01:38:11,320 --> 01:38:17,240
newcomers kind of crack these
rotations and, and maybe do a

1675
01:38:17,240 --> 01:38:21,080
little bit more than just like
flash at this spot or flash at

1676
01:38:21,080 --> 01:38:24,640
that spot like, oh, hey, this
guy like, you know, are we going

1677
01:38:24,640 --> 01:38:28,080
to see I'm making this up?
But like Akeel on Wiley, Oh,

1678
01:38:28,080 --> 01:38:32,800
he's he he's won the spot at
he's he's the kind of the leader

1679
01:38:32,800 --> 01:38:37,280
at at the will right now, right.
Like do we see a kind of a any

1680
01:38:37,280 --> 01:38:40,280
of these transfers or any of
these freshmen kind of come in

1681
01:38:40,280 --> 01:38:43,280
and make an instant impact?
But it's going to be more

1682
01:38:43,280 --> 01:38:46,680
difficult now because you have
raised again the talent level in

1683
01:38:46,680 --> 01:38:49,200
this program.
So they're just in a much better

1684
01:38:49,200 --> 01:38:54,080
spot and spring ball is fun
because they can get all hands

1685
01:38:54,080 --> 01:38:55,280
on.
They don't have to worry about

1686
01:38:55,280 --> 01:38:59,040
all the, Oh my, the constant
game planning for, for different

1687
01:38:59,120 --> 01:39:01,760
opponents and whatnot.
It's just ball, man.

1688
01:39:02,160 --> 01:39:08,120
And you, you, I think more than
anything, every single time you,

1689
01:39:08,120 --> 01:39:14,280
you see a clip, every single
time you watch them, the the

1690
01:39:14,280 --> 01:39:17,840
program has started to exude
toughness again.

1691
01:39:18,600 --> 01:39:21,920
And that's what Virginia Tech
football was built on.

1692
01:39:23,080 --> 01:39:25,440
There we go.
Let me ask you one more

1693
01:39:25,440 --> 01:39:27,160
question.
But, and this is going to be

1694
01:39:27,160 --> 01:39:30,440
directed at at Tally's drinking
buddy here because because you

1695
01:39:30,440 --> 01:39:35,600
brought up the linebacker room
and and not even approaching it

1696
01:39:35,600 --> 01:39:38,320
from the well, that's a good
point.

1697
01:39:40,280 --> 01:39:42,240
We have that.
But Phil.

1698
01:39:42,280 --> 01:39:43,640
Phil's had a couple beers
tonight.

1699
01:39:43,960 --> 01:39:48,120
Bill's had a couple beers.
Phil's also not prized biggest

1700
01:39:48,120 --> 01:39:53,400
fan either so we get that.
But thinking about it from just

1701
01:39:53,400 --> 01:39:56,560
the position group standpoint,
you know, we, you know, we look

1702
01:39:56,560 --> 01:39:58,600
at the opposite side of the
ball, you retain 2 coaches on

1703
01:39:58,600 --> 01:40:01,200
the defensive side of the ball.
Obviously prize is the guy back

1704
01:40:01,200 --> 01:40:05,280
here.
So he has familiarity with the

1705
01:40:05,280 --> 01:40:08,040
guys that are remaining on the
roster from last year.

1706
01:40:08,800 --> 01:40:12,240
And obviously he's got a, you
know, close confidant and

1707
01:40:12,240 --> 01:40:15,000
Franklin there to kind of assess
some of the guys, especially the

1708
01:40:15,040 --> 01:40:16,600
the Penn State guys that are
coming in there.

1709
01:40:16,600 --> 01:40:20,840
Does he have that kind of?
A unique lens to look at his

1710
01:40:20,840 --> 01:40:24,320
position group relative to kind
of where everybody else is on

1711
01:40:24,320 --> 01:40:26,840
the defensive side of the ball.
Absolutely.

1712
01:40:27,360 --> 01:40:30,400
And he's the guy.
I mean, there's no one that

1713
01:40:30,400 --> 01:40:33,360
should know the defensive
personnel for Virginia Tech

1714
01:40:33,360 --> 01:40:37,080
better than Brett Prye,
considering these are all guys

1715
01:40:37,080 --> 01:40:39,640
he's recruited.
I mean, even even the guys who

1716
01:40:39,640 --> 01:40:42,560
Tech got this offseason, he had
a hand in recruiting them.

1717
01:40:44,240 --> 01:40:50,640
And I think you've seen he's
refreshed, man, Like he's, he's

1718
01:40:50,640 --> 01:40:52,840
different.
I think there is a giant weight

1719
01:40:52,840 --> 01:40:57,360
that's been lifted off his
shoulders as far as like he

1720
01:40:57,360 --> 01:41:02,040
didn't have to do with the deal
with the day-to-day, all the

1721
01:41:02,040 --> 01:41:04,360
pressure that comes with being
the head guy.

1722
01:41:04,360 --> 01:41:06,040
You've got so much on your
plate.

1723
01:41:06,440 --> 01:41:12,320
You can just go coach X's and
O's and, and, and push your kids

1724
01:41:12,320 --> 01:41:14,400
and be in team meeting rooms
again.

1725
01:41:14,840 --> 01:41:17,160
I mean, at the end of the day, I
think that's what most, most

1726
01:41:17,160 --> 01:41:20,320
coaches like to do.
They like to, to recruit and

1727
01:41:20,320 --> 01:41:23,400
develop kids and, and build
relationships with them and, and

1728
01:41:23,400 --> 01:41:27,520
push them and, and put them in
the right positions to succeed

1729
01:41:27,520 --> 01:41:29,720
and scheme up stuff.
And that's what you're seeing

1730
01:41:29,720 --> 01:41:33,360
from Pride.
And it'll be interesting him

1731
01:41:33,360 --> 01:41:38,280
being the defensive coordinator
it if if the Hokies don't play

1732
01:41:38,320 --> 01:41:43,960
well defensively mean.
It could be rough on him.

1733
01:41:44,440 --> 01:41:48,720
It could be rough on him, but Oh
my gosh, David, the content that

1734
01:41:49,000 --> 01:41:53,680
I hope we don't have it.
I hope the content is I sit here

1735
01:41:53,680 --> 01:41:57,440
and pray the content is that guy
was never a hoe coach, but damn

1736
01:41:57,440 --> 01:42:00,360
it, look at that defense.
Just look at he knows what he's

1737
01:42:00,360 --> 01:42:01,720
doing.
He's in his vibe.

1738
01:42:01,720 --> 01:42:05,240
Let's just hope it's that way.
Yeah, I mean.

1739
01:42:05,640 --> 01:42:08,480
Because I don't feel like
sitting here having drinks every

1740
01:42:08,880 --> 01:42:12,440
Tuesday night feeling miserable.
I'm such a.

1741
01:42:12,720 --> 01:42:16,560
Good dude too, He.
Is yeah, might be his problem.

1742
01:42:18,240 --> 01:42:22,600
This is what I'll say, though.
I mean, just everybody knows how

1743
01:42:22,600 --> 01:42:24,240
I felt about it when it first
happened.

1744
01:42:24,240 --> 01:42:27,040
When it went down, I was like,
what are we doing?

1745
01:42:27,040 --> 01:42:30,880
I've never seen this happen.
We we just fired a coach and

1746
01:42:30,880 --> 01:42:33,240
hired him back.
Whatever, we all what we are

1747
01:42:33,240 --> 01:42:35,560
now, right?
So when I look at things from a

1748
01:42:35,560 --> 01:42:40,720
holistic standpoint, you're
either giving, I mean, just say

1749
01:42:40,720 --> 01:42:42,840
we were building a house with
Legos.

1750
01:42:43,320 --> 01:42:45,960
At least now they're going to
give him bricks to build a house

1751
01:42:45,960 --> 01:42:48,160
with.
If you look at the if you look

1752
01:42:48,160 --> 01:42:54,400
at the linebacker room compared
to kind of what we had, again,

1753
01:42:54,400 --> 01:42:57,440
the talent levels raised, Like
if I had to see Jaden Keller go

1754
01:42:57,440 --> 01:43:01,840
out and not make a tackle one
more time, I may have drank

1755
01:43:01,840 --> 01:43:05,000
myself to death.
Like, you know, if I had to go

1756
01:43:05,000 --> 01:43:09,800
see Sam Brumfiel not be big
enough to bring ACC running

1757
01:43:09,800 --> 01:43:14,080
backs down, it just you got
tired of it And it's not, you

1758
01:43:14,080 --> 01:43:16,320
know, I get it.
All of that falls on the head

1759
01:43:16,320 --> 01:43:19,360
coach.
Brett Pryor was the head coach.

1760
01:43:19,360 --> 01:43:23,040
He's not the head coach now.
So I feel like, again, this is

1761
01:43:23,040 --> 01:43:27,880
me looking at it, you know,
sober mind, months after this

1762
01:43:27,880 --> 01:43:30,320
happened.
I think that James Franklin

1763
01:43:30,320 --> 01:43:35,680
knows what is expected.
And I think he stepped up to

1764
01:43:35,680 --> 01:43:39,280
say, OK, if you give me this, I
can produce this.

1765
01:43:39,560 --> 01:43:42,480
And he knows what's on the line.
More than just Virginia Tech,

1766
01:43:43,240 --> 01:43:47,240
His name's been ran through the
mud for the most part by Penn

1767
01:43:47,240 --> 01:43:50,480
State people, you know, a couple
of other fan bases, but mainly

1768
01:43:50,480 --> 01:43:52,440
them.
So I think he's really out to

1769
01:43:52,440 --> 01:43:54,160
prove something.
You know what I'm saying?

1770
01:43:54,520 --> 01:43:57,600
I mean, he's still one of the
best head coaches in college

1771
01:43:57,600 --> 01:43:59,200
football.
They don't want to admit it, but

1772
01:43:59,200 --> 01:44:01,960
he is.
So I think that I mean, this is

1773
01:44:01,960 --> 01:44:04,200
his stop.
This is where he goes out and

1774
01:44:04,200 --> 01:44:07,640
proves like y'all don't realize
that I've been doing this for

1775
01:44:08,400 --> 01:44:10,640
everywhere I went.
I built the program.

1776
01:44:10,920 --> 01:44:13,480
I was at Vanderbilt, I built the
program when I was at Penn

1777
01:44:13,480 --> 01:44:15,120
State.
I built that program.

1778
01:44:15,120 --> 01:44:18,240
So now I'm here and if you're
not going to be here and do this

1779
01:44:18,240 --> 01:44:20,200
with me, you're not going to be
here.

1780
01:44:20,200 --> 01:44:24,000
So I think Brett pride knows
that he he wouldn't have stuck

1781
01:44:24,000 --> 01:44:27,760
around and and risked because
he's in a he's in a weird spot,

1782
01:44:27,760 --> 01:44:31,640
man, you know what I'm saying?
Coming off of him loving, he, he

1783
01:44:31,640 --> 01:44:35,560
legit loves Blacksburg and loves
Virginia Tech, but he did a

1784
01:44:35,840 --> 01:44:39,080
shitty job of being a head
coach.

1785
01:44:39,440 --> 01:44:42,320
He knows that.
So he's got to look all of the

1786
01:44:42,320 --> 01:44:46,760
same people in the face
everywhere he goes.

1787
01:44:46,760 --> 01:44:49,040
And I, I don't think that he's
taking that lightly.

1788
01:44:49,040 --> 01:44:52,000
So that's what's in my mind.
That's what I'm thinking.

1789
01:44:52,800 --> 01:44:55,560
Phil, I'm with you.
I understand where you coming

1790
01:44:55,560 --> 01:44:59,000
from, but let's give him just
maybe a little bit of grace

1791
01:44:59,440 --> 01:45:04,000
after the first drive of the
season.

1792
01:45:04,480 --> 01:45:07,120
Then we can start in and kind of
figure out what we.

1793
01:45:08,680 --> 01:45:12,400
Want I got one drive one drive.
You got.

1794
01:45:13,640 --> 01:45:14,640
One drive you got?
Yeah, I mean.

1795
01:45:15,040 --> 01:45:17,200
It's going to be going to be
interesting once we get to like

1796
01:45:17,200 --> 01:45:20,720
ACC play.
I mean, he's just going to be

1797
01:45:20,720 --> 01:45:23,160
judged by by such a unique
light.

1798
01:45:23,160 --> 01:45:28,240
But I think Franklin made the
point that wherever he went,

1799
01:45:28,320 --> 01:45:32,760
pride was going to be his top
option as defensive coordinator,

1800
01:45:33,280 --> 01:45:35,920
right?
You know, say for example, he

1801
01:45:35,920 --> 01:45:38,080
took the Franklin took the
Arkansas job.

1802
01:45:38,160 --> 01:45:40,440
He was going.
There he like he's probably

1803
01:45:40,440 --> 01:45:42,640
taking pride there.
Nobody bests not.

1804
01:45:43,000 --> 01:45:43,640
So what?
Yeah.

1805
01:45:43,640 --> 01:45:46,040
So why not Virginia Tech?
It's just weird because he's the

1806
01:45:46,040 --> 01:45:50,160
former head coach, but it says a
lot about him and his family

1807
01:45:50,160 --> 01:45:55,080
that they're able to kind of
weather this and and wear it and

1808
01:45:55,080 --> 01:45:58,720
own it and go we're going to.
And and I think he truly is

1809
01:45:58,720 --> 01:46:01,320
like, I want to get this program
back.

1810
01:46:01,720 --> 01:46:04,680
And I know I did a poor job, but
I want to help fix it.

1811
01:46:04,680 --> 01:46:06,600
And I think he's in a good spot
too.

1812
01:46:08,040 --> 01:46:09,840
And again, I think he feels more
free now.

1813
01:46:09,840 --> 01:46:13,320
He feels more like himself.
He can, you know, instead of

1814
01:46:13,320 --> 01:46:17,480
having to deal with with with
with donors and money and and

1815
01:46:17,480 --> 01:46:21,360
managing a roster, he can just
go, yeah, I like that blitz.

1816
01:46:21,840 --> 01:46:25,480
Like.
Yeah, I know I don't got 2 zeros

1817
01:46:25,480 --> 01:46:29,400
on the field.
Hey, well, also, I mean it,

1818
01:46:29,400 --> 01:46:33,520
it's, it's something to say, you
know, he's, he's now in a

1819
01:46:33,520 --> 01:46:36,640
position where he knows he's
good at what he's doing.

1820
01:46:36,920 --> 01:46:40,240
Yeah.
And, and so he's, he's going

1821
01:46:40,240 --> 01:46:42,160
into game day with that
confidence.

1822
01:46:42,160 --> 01:46:46,920
Like, I don't think he was going
into a ton of games where as a

1823
01:46:46,920 --> 01:46:51,520
head coach where he felt like he
was 100% confident in, in, in

1824
01:46:51,520 --> 01:46:52,920
what was going to happen in that
game.

1825
01:46:53,680 --> 01:46:56,760
Now matchup dependent,
obviously, but I, I don't, I

1826
01:46:56,760 --> 01:47:00,360
don't think he you'd always felt
100% confident in what, in what

1827
01:47:00,360 --> 01:47:02,440
was going on there.
I think it's a defensive

1828
01:47:02,440 --> 01:47:04,040
coordinator.
I mean, this is something that

1829
01:47:04,040 --> 01:47:08,680
he's done, you know, for over a
decade at a very high level and,

1830
01:47:08,680 --> 01:47:12,960
and done it very well.
And, you know, that gives you

1831
01:47:12,960 --> 01:47:15,040
some confidence and, and, and
you've done it at a, at a

1832
01:47:15,040 --> 01:47:17,520
program like Penn State.
So it's not like he's, he's done

1833
01:47:17,520 --> 01:47:21,480
it well at some, you know,
middle tier big 10 school.

1834
01:47:21,480 --> 01:47:24,000
He's, he's done it in a top
four, top five program in the

1835
01:47:24,000 --> 01:47:27,240
Big 10.
So, you know, I, I think that's,

1836
01:47:27,240 --> 01:47:30,640
that's something that, you know,
he's going into each game on

1837
01:47:30,640 --> 01:47:33,160
Saturday or Friday or Thursday
or whatever the fuck night we're

1838
01:47:33,160 --> 01:47:35,280
playing on.
And he's he's in a position

1839
01:47:35,280 --> 01:47:39,040
where he feels confident before
the whistle's blown and and not

1840
01:47:39,400 --> 01:47:42,320
dependent on the game flow going
the way he wants it to.

1841
01:47:42,320 --> 01:47:43,440
He's.
Back.

1842
01:47:43,440 --> 01:47:45,200
In the field.
Oh, go ahead, David.

1843
01:47:45,200 --> 01:47:46,880
I'm sorry.
Sorry, Tammy, go ahead.

1844
01:47:47,440 --> 01:47:50,480
No, I was just going to say I
know Curtis is getting ready to

1845
01:47:50,480 --> 01:47:51,960
wrap us up.
Are you going to the spring

1846
01:47:51,960 --> 01:47:55,360
game?
I mean, I'll be working, but

1847
01:47:55,360 --> 01:47:58,160
yeah, I'll be I.
Figured I will I will be there.

1848
01:47:58,800 --> 01:48:03,080
Yeah, I'll, no, I'll be there
and I'm I'm excited to first

1849
01:48:03,080 --> 01:48:04,520
spring game under James
Franklin.

1850
01:48:04,520 --> 01:48:08,360
I hope the weather's great,
excited to to see what's

1851
01:48:08,360 --> 01:48:11,760
hopefully a great crowd.
And I'm sure we'll be a very,

1852
01:48:11,960 --> 01:48:14,440
very lively couple days in
blacks for for the Boundary

1853
01:48:14,440 --> 01:48:15,880
Corner crew.
Oh yeah, yeah.

1854
01:48:15,880 --> 01:48:18,120
Oh yeah, definitely.
I'll be there with bells on

1855
01:48:18,120 --> 01:48:19,400
towel.
I got to talk Tally into getting

1856
01:48:19,400 --> 01:48:21,320
up there with me, man.
Yeah, I'm trying to get that,

1857
01:48:21,320 --> 01:48:22,960
man.
I'm, I'm, I don't know, I'm

1858
01:48:22,960 --> 01:48:24,960
about 5050 on it for my bid to
make it.

1859
01:48:24,960 --> 01:48:28,000
But Curtis keeps getting.
Talked into assistant coaching?

1860
01:48:28,000 --> 01:48:30,120
Yeah.
We're going to have to work on

1861
01:48:30,120 --> 01:48:34,160
Curtis, man.
He got he he he doing too much

1862
01:48:34,160 --> 01:48:35,560
for that baseball team right
now.

1863
01:48:35,720 --> 01:48:37,480
Man, I just hope the weather's
better than last year.

1864
01:48:37,480 --> 01:48:39,720
That was that was some of the
worst spring game weather that

1865
01:48:39,720 --> 01:48:43,320
we've had and without rain, like
normally like rain can be a

1866
01:48:43,320 --> 01:48:45,440
factor obviously like but like
that was some of the worst

1867
01:48:45,440 --> 01:48:46,840
spring game weather we've had
where.

1868
01:48:46,840 --> 01:48:49,960
Rain was ever talked to me about
Blacksburg and rain in.

1869
01:48:50,000 --> 01:48:54,200
Your no no no after the game in
20. 20 that Purdue game and I

1870
01:48:54,240 --> 01:48:56,760
thought we was going to die.
I legit thought that that was

1871
01:48:56,760 --> 01:49:00,120
the last day I was going to be
on earth for about an hour

1872
01:49:01,520 --> 01:49:04,000
because I remember us sitting up
in the stands and we were like,

1873
01:49:04,560 --> 01:49:06,720
man, this ain't maybe it's just
going to pass us over.

1874
01:49:06,720 --> 01:49:09,400
And then I was like, no, this
ain't passing over, Curtis.

1875
01:49:09,400 --> 01:49:11,880
Like we probably need to.
We need to get out of.

1876
01:49:12,440 --> 01:49:14,280
This somebody's like, hey, it's
a tornado over there.

1877
01:49:14,280 --> 01:49:17,000
And I'm like.
Curtis had some intuition like

1878
01:49:17,000 --> 01:49:19,400
y'all, we need to like get over
here.

1879
01:49:19,440 --> 01:49:22,400
It's kind of you all the way to
die.

1880
01:49:22,720 --> 01:49:24,600
That was that's what was in my
mind.

1881
01:49:25,320 --> 01:49:29,280
And then we waited like 10 hours
and we had the best seats I'm

1882
01:49:29,280 --> 01:49:32,800
ever sitting in Atlanta Stadium.
Ever, ever.

1883
01:49:33,160 --> 01:49:36,600
Well, listen David, almost 2
hours in, we, we knew it was

1884
01:49:36,600 --> 01:49:39,000
going to be this way.
Anytime you join us, you're,

1885
01:49:39,080 --> 01:49:45,120
you're so much fun to talk with.
Man, I hope these boys, because

1886
01:49:45,200 --> 01:49:47,000
in all likelihood, I'm not
making it.

1887
01:49:47,200 --> 01:49:49,760
And if I'm making it, I'm coming
in sideways and I probably got a

1888
01:49:49,760 --> 01:49:52,480
kid on my side.
So I can't go too crazy.

1889
01:49:53,240 --> 01:49:55,960
But hopefully y'all can catch up
with them.

1890
01:49:56,560 --> 01:50:00,360
Everybody go follow David D Real
D Connor out on Twitter.

1891
01:50:00,400 --> 01:50:04,120
Yes, it's still Twitter.
Go to tech sideline, watch him

1892
01:50:04,120 --> 01:50:06,360
on their pod, watch his
writings.

1893
01:50:06,360 --> 01:50:10,560
He's an awesome individual when
it comes to just Virginia Tech

1894
01:50:10,560 --> 01:50:13,000
in general.
So we appreciate you taking your

1895
01:50:13,000 --> 01:50:15,160
time with us tonight, man.
I appreciate it.

1896
01:50:15,200 --> 01:50:17,280
This is this is awesome.
I always enjoy it.

1897
01:50:18,200 --> 01:50:20,600
Sorry I couldn't do it last week
because I was traveling for

1898
01:50:20,600 --> 01:50:25,240
basketball, but I appreciate you
you fitting me in and man

1899
01:50:25,360 --> 01:50:29,640
anytime I talk with you guys
it's always a blast and two

1900
01:50:29,640 --> 01:50:33,360
hours man it went by quick we
but guess what man, there's a

1901
01:50:33,360 --> 01:50:36,720
lot to talk about and and I.
Well, David, when you spend an

1902
01:50:36,760 --> 01:50:38,640
hour and 30 minutes talking
about how much you love

1903
01:50:38,640 --> 01:50:40,160
basketball, that's what
happened.

1904
01:50:41,960 --> 01:50:42,560
What it is?
It was.

1905
01:50:42,840 --> 01:50:45,200
Like 45 minutes.
It was an hour.

1906
01:50:45,520 --> 01:50:48,880
It was an hour on that.
We did talk 15 minutes to open

1907
01:50:48,880 --> 01:50:50,200
up other stuff.
Though it was.

1908
01:50:50,360 --> 01:50:52,200
Asking the questions.
Man, I was going to say it was,

1909
01:50:52,200 --> 01:50:53,840
it was a good talk about
basketball.

1910
01:50:53,840 --> 01:50:55,800
I needed some of that man
because I was coming from a

1911
01:50:55,880 --> 01:50:58,120
negative.
Place you and Curtis got your

1912
01:50:58,120 --> 01:51:00,920
rants off so I hope you guys
feel much better.

1913
01:51:00,920 --> 01:51:03,640
After I do feel better after
talking to you, Andrei, we see

1914
01:51:03,640 --> 01:51:05,440
you, man.
Andrei's sitting going to the

1915
01:51:05,440 --> 01:51:08,000
spring game, Brian.
So if I'm not there, you find

1916
01:51:08,000 --> 01:51:09,560
Andrei you.
Got to find you.

1917
01:51:09,800 --> 01:51:11,320
See me?
You come holler at me, man.

1918
01:51:11,320 --> 01:51:13,920
We're going to be the game,
we're going to have a little

1919
01:51:13,920 --> 01:51:16,880
little live stream on Chicken
Hill before the before the game

1920
01:51:16,880 --> 01:51:18,520
kicks off too, so.
That's where it's like, we'll,

1921
01:51:19,120 --> 01:51:22,960
we'll, we'll tell you.
And ready and ready since it's

1922
01:51:22,960 --> 01:51:26,360
going to be your first time
trying to message us, trying to

1923
01:51:26,360 --> 01:51:29,200
message Brian or Tally or myself
on Twitter at the Boundary

1924
01:51:29,200 --> 01:51:32,240
Corner.
Well, so we can get you where

1925
01:51:32,240 --> 01:51:34,200
Chicken Hill is and where folks
are going, man.

1926
01:51:34,200 --> 01:51:38,240
But with that being said, this
wraps up the this episode of the

1927
01:51:38,240 --> 01:51:41,240
Boundary Corner podcast brought
to you by moments on the more

1928
01:51:41,240 --> 01:51:43,920
with our very special guest
managing editor of Tech

1929
01:51:43,920 --> 01:51:46,600
sideline, David Cunningham.
I'm Curtis Wilson.

1930
01:51:46,600 --> 01:51:47,640
I'm.
Brian Siegler.

1931
01:51:48,200 --> 01:51:51,680
Jonathan Tally.
As always, visit our website

1932
01:51:51,680 --> 01:51:55,880
boundarycornerbt.com to listen
to all of our episodes.

1933
01:51:55,880 --> 01:51:58,960
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook,
Instagram, subscribe to the

1934
01:51:58,960 --> 01:52:00,960
YouTube or your favorite podcast
source.

1935
01:52:00,960 --> 01:52:05,200
We're on them all.
As always, we are played in and

1936
01:52:05,200 --> 01:52:08,640
out by our buddy down in
Roanoke, Jason Long.

1937
01:52:08,920 --> 01:52:12,280
Check out his website
jasonlongmusic.com.

1938
01:52:12,640 --> 01:52:17,480
Also check out he is going to be
doing some live shows on the

1939
01:52:17,520 --> 01:52:22,480
weekend of April 10th at Pollard
One O 7 S and at Crooked

1940
01:52:22,480 --> 01:52:25,200
Shoreline on the 11th.
Go check him out doing some

1941
01:52:25,200 --> 01:52:28,120
acoustic sets down there.
We appreciate y'all for

1942
01:52:28,120 --> 01:52:30,280
listening.
We appreciate y'all in the chat.

1943
01:52:30,280 --> 01:52:35,840
Phil, have another beer and
let's go.