3 & Out - Florida State Football GM; Darrick Yray joins the show

John is joined by Florida State GM, Darrick Yray to discuss his journey from working with John at Fresno State to becoming the GM at Florida State. Darrick dives into being the first GM at FSU, his journey from Fresno to Oregon State to Florida State, what he does as the FSU GM, how the recruiting process works, working with Coach Norvell, and some of the top guys at FSU. It's all here and more!

8:23 - Transfer portal at FSU

11:00 - Being the first GM at FSU

16:07 - Darrick's story

19:32 - Working at Oregon State

27:04 - First task at FSU

29:55 - What does a GM do

34:30 - The recruiting process at Florida State

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
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Speaker 2 (01:52):
What is going on everybody? Hopefully you had a great
Memorial Day weekend? I know I did. Why don't actually,
because I'm recording this before more and Moral Day weekend.
But it's now already happened and it's Tuesday. So hopefully
everyone enjoyed themselves, found a little son, had a few bruskies,

(02:16):
a few cocktails, Spend time with your loved ones, your buddies,
your friends. Big show today. My guy Derek Ray, who
is the general manager, the first ever general manager for
the Florida State Seminals, one of the more iconic college
football programs the last I don't know, thirty five plus years. Obviously,

(02:40):
had a tough end of the season with the quarterback
getting injured and being left out of the playoffs, but
he's been a part of multiple recruiting classes. There was
a huge part of Keon Coleman, who we will discuss
knows Jared Verse and just we'll go through the draft picks,

(03:00):
talk about his job. He started with me at Fresno
State way back in the day. We were actually roommates
on the road. He was like nineteen, I was probably
twenty three, twenty four, so we've known each other a
long time. And he was at Oregon State and we'll
just talk about his career, the business. I just thought
it'd be kind of unique. I mean, we hear from

(03:22):
NFL people all the time, but we don't usually hear
from these type guys in college football. And he's I mean,
they got that thing rolling. I mean they were top five,
six seven program in the country right now. Norville's stud
they're good and they're gonna be good for a while.
So yeah, it was fun interview. Hopefully you guys enjoy
it and share with your friends. But that's the plan

(03:46):
today and then probably more normal podcasts as the week
goes on. But before we dive in and he's he
invited me last year to LSU Florida State opening night
in Orlando. I didn't go, and I kind of regretted
it immediately long flight, but that watching that team kick
the crap at LSU. And I've said for a long

(04:09):
time it's hard during football season because Sunday is such
a big day in this in my business, recording with Colin,
recording for myself, I can't really afford to be traveling.
I don't want to get stuck somewhere and then have to
come back Monday and deal with that. But I gotta
find a way, and if there's a will, there's a way.
I gotta go to a game in the South, whether
it's Florida State, Clemson or one of the SEC games.

(04:31):
I gotta go. I gotta make it happen, and I'm
gonna do it with my friends at game time. And
if you want to go to a game now, the
big ten in the SEC, they're gonna have incredible matchups Oregon,
Ohio State, Texas, Bama right, Florida State, oh I guess
Florida State's and the ACC but you know what I mean,
Michigan Washington. We're just gonna get some of the best

(04:53):
matchups we've seen a long time because of conference realignment,
which sucks the PAC twelve is gone, but I get
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is guarantee. Let's dive into Derek Okay Honored to be
joined by a guy I once knew when he was

(05:37):
a little old student assistant and now he was just
named the Football Scoop Personnel Director of the Year. He
is the Florida State General Manager. Last week he played
golf at Michael Jordan's country Club. Well, there's about fifteen members.
I don't even know how he got in the gates,
but he did. And he saw Michael, he saw Ken, Griffy,

(05:59):
Derek Ray. What is up, Brood?

Speaker 1 (06:02):
You having me on? It's funny, you know, full circle.
We've known each other for what fifteen plus years now?

Speaker 2 (06:07):
Long time. I think you were in my roommate early on,
weren't you. We traveled two thousand and.

Speaker 1 (06:14):
Eight, we shared some we shared roommates, you know, together,
we got some stories, probably.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
The Redikers UCLA. Now you're just saying, now you're just
playing Grove twenty three.

Speaker 1 (06:27):
Yeah, thankfully, I know they're right people and cover up
smoking mirrors.

Speaker 2 (06:31):
How long have you had this job?

Speaker 1 (06:34):
Going into my third season? So it got hired and
officially February of twenty twenty two, and probably one of
my better decisions in my life to take this opportunity
and grateful for it.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
Okay, we'll go into the job. But you told me
something right before we hopped on that this was a
was an anniversary for you and the program. Can you
go into that?

Speaker 1 (06:54):
Yeah, just I mean I remember a year ago at
this time, Keyon Coleman gave us the news that he
was going to commit and happy he did. Happy that
obviously took part and that went exactly how we planned.

Speaker 2 (07:04):
So the transfer portal, you know, Keon is at Michigan State.
When a guy obviously there are I mean you know
the exact number, I mean a ton of names in there.
There's a guy like him. Is there a certain level
of guy that's just on a different level in the competition?
I how did that materialize when he went in? Did

(07:27):
you ed Norvel already recruited him, Like, how did that
play out?

Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, there was a little bit of a pre existing
relationship from when he came out in high school. Keon
actually came out his during the COVID year. So his
very first official visit that he took was when he
went in the transfer portal, which was too Florida State.
He went into the last week and he came down
in an official visit here and you know, sitting down
initially with him, I was like, well, this guy is
like smart and it's no surprise everything of how he

(07:51):
is right now, because that's how he is twenty four
to seven. Like that's not an act. He's authentic as
what you see. And he is a great, great young man.
I think what most pe don't realize about him, Like
he's you know, he was twenty years old last year
when he played a senior year or not excuse me,
not a senior year, but his last year in college.
And so he's young and I truly believe he's just
scratching the surface. But you know his is dominant, Like

(08:12):
the comparable that I would have John as a guy
we probably spent time around and like he reminds me
very similar in the red zone threat? Is that how
DeVante was when at Fresno.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
I mean that first game he played for you guys
against LSU there happened to be a lot of people watching.
Didn't he score three touchdowns?

Speaker 1 (08:28):
It did? And you know playing LSU was one of
his requirements. And you know a lot of people, you
know the narratives around nil and transfer port, Oh you
just buy kids, and it's you know, Keyon was very
specific and what he was looking for. He said, I
want to go somewhere that you know has a veteran
proven quarterback. I was like, okay, good, we checked that box.
We had Jordan Travis and you know, I want to
go somewhere where I'm not the only featured weapon. I

(08:50):
was like, well, great, we have Johnny Wilson, we have
Trey Benson, we'd had Jaheen Bell transferring from South Carolina,
Kyle more Lock from Shorter, obviously Jordan that quarterback, and
cut a bunch of other pieces of round and he goes,
I want to go somewhere that's playing LSU as like, well, perfect,
we have them game one. So I mean we're three
for three. We're off to a good start in this.

Speaker 2 (09:07):
Thing, you know, speaking. I want to dive into your
career because I get asked a lot by people that
want it on football, and obviously the timing in twenty
twenty four is a lot different than like when me
and you got in. The landscape has completely changed. I mean,
how your role didn't really even exist anywhere in college football.
It's it's become much more prevalent. When you say, the
last five six years at programs, how long Florida State

(09:30):
had a GM to are you the first official GM?

Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yes, sir, they created this position and then I was
lucky enough to be selected to fill it, So it
didn't exist, you know, two and a half years ago.

Speaker 2 (09:41):
So there's a lot of conversation. I'm sure you hear
about it and read about it at the nil you
don't specific are you allowed to talk about money when
a prospect of sitting in your office here with the coach?
How does that? Is that a weird situation for you?

Speaker 1 (09:53):
Specifically it is and the rules are ever changing. We're
allowed to to I guess now be aware of certain conversations,
but there's you know, you're still not allowed to provide
an inducement. Luckily, we have a strong collective with the
battles end that is there is founded you know, by
a group of individuals that have done an outstanding job
and I think more important than just you know, actively

(10:15):
going out on what you're finding, it's huge in roster
attention and so that's where coach Morvell has done a
phenomenal job of really retaining the right guys identifying the
right talent. Because it's one thing to put an investment
into someone who might be coming in the portal high school,
junior college. But once you've identified who that person is,
you want to make sure they stick around in your
roster so you have multiple years with them.

Speaker 2 (10:33):
Is there a number and you guys won't mess with
with a high school guy. That is different with recruiting
a key on Coleman level play or is it? How
does that work?

Speaker 1 (10:41):
I don't think it's necessarily a number. That's something that
we won't mess with. I think it comes down to
fit and so really not to put it, you know,
this much of a to where it's just simplified. But
if money is the main reason that someone's making a decision,
there's a good chance they're not going to fit here
at Florida State. But we want to be competitive in
all aspects. You know, from academically, how they're you know,

(11:02):
how they're going to be improved, and that structure that's
in place that we provide, but also you know the
support factors that are in place and how they can
grow you know, socially, you know, and also then athletically
when you look at it. And so the facilities have
to have a check right, the gear, the equipment, the
weight room, all that stuff is the same forty five
pound weights are you know, they're going to weigh forty
five pounds no matter how shiny and bright they are.

(11:23):
But it all matters because now the comparable especially the
area where we're around, it's how do we have to
be different than you know, what's within our state, but
also it's within the five hundred mile radius.

Speaker 2 (11:33):
Around us, because let's face it, you're recruiting against in
your conference directly Miami, Clemson and then obviously Georgia, Bama, LSU, Texas, Oklahoma.
Is that in even Ohio state, I'm sure and schools
like that are coming down, So it's it's the list
of all the top seven or eight programs, right, I mean,
is that who you view as your direct competition you're recruiting.

Speaker 1 (11:54):
Absolutely, And I mean, if you're going to recruit the best,
you're going to go against the best. And everyone has
a little different of how they do that. But you know,
we try to be authentic to who we are. And
also there's so much to showcase at this great university.
I mean, you can have a top twenty institution education
and you get a diploma from here. You can live
a true college lifestyle here. You know, you're a professional
sports team in the capital city of Tallahassee, Florida, And

(12:17):
I mean there's eighty thousand they're gonna be raining down
on you a dope, and you know, when you get
to go out and see that war Champ play. It's
a pretty cool thing.

Speaker 2 (12:23):
Yeah, it's a pretty bad ass. You know. I get
so many young people listening to this podcast and ask
for advice, and I think your story is pretty remarkable.
I kind of want you just to tell it because

(12:45):
when I met you, you were you a freshman or
were you a sophomore? President State sophomore? So you're from Lynden, California,
where Aaron Judge is from correct.

Speaker 1 (12:55):
Next door neighbors growing up.

Speaker 2 (12:57):
Yeah, so it's the valley's small world and you come
to Fresno State, kind of go from there. How you
ended up the GM fifteen years later at Florida State.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
Just knew I wanted to do something, and you know,
I just try. I wanted to be involved in the
next thing that I could, and just I knew I
wanted to do that from the time that I was
very very young, and I moved on and you know,
just tried to work as hard as I could and
try to soak it in. And luckily I had a
lot of great people around me to help guide me
and shape me. And you know, thankful, I mean, even
as much like you had as much of an impact
on me when I was younger and you were a

(13:29):
ga as you know a lot of people did. And
you know, there was times where I was probably not
acting the right way that I should have been. And
we always have those times when you're younger, you think
you know it all and I really knew nothing. But
there are so many great people that were good to me,
and you know, Pat Hill, Drew Hill, Dougnas Meyer, John Baxter,
Tim Skipper, I mean yourself, Like you know, this goes
on and on and you look back at those experiences

(13:50):
and people providing that service to you, like, just so
thankful for the impact they had early in my career
to steer me that way.

Speaker 2 (13:57):
When you graduate Fresno's, you worked for the program the
whole time. Pat was he fired when you were there.
Talk to me about so when you first became a
full time employee and kind of how that led to
Oregon State.

Speaker 1 (14:10):
Yeah, so Pat, Pat ended up getting let go and
then Tim Druger got hired and went going through the
transition and you know, hey, there was you know, you
can't coach on the field, you know, we're not sure
we're gonna have a spot, and kind of worked my
way and just proved it. Then our DFO at the
time left and then I got to prove being a
DFO for you know, a month and a half and

(14:30):
I think twenty one years old, and just kind of
worked my way from there, and that turned into hey,
you know, we're not going to give you this job,
but you know, we want to keep you full time.
And so at that point I was like, hey, it's
not nine hundred dollars a month anymore. It's twenty thousand
dollars a year. All right, I'm rich.

Speaker 2 (14:45):
Yeah, made it.

Speaker 1 (14:47):
You know, we spend a little few more dollars at
Jimbo's and doghouse.

Speaker 2 (14:51):
Heck yeah.

Speaker 1 (14:51):
So, you know, just kind of worked up from there.
Got ended up getting another raise after after that, and
actually interviewed with another institution with Anderson and ended up
not mutually working out. And then he took the job
at Oregon State and he called me and said, hey,
you know, how much do you want to make? I
was like, okay, well this is simple in my mind,
like can you pay me double? So yeah, I'll see

(15:12):
you on the plane. Enjoy Hawaii. We're at the Hawaii
Ball at the time. And went up to Oregon State
and got started as the assistant director of player personnel
and kind of worked my way up to the director
recruiting operations to what.

Speaker 2 (15:22):
Number do you think you could have got looking back
what you asked for.

Speaker 1 (15:26):
I don't know if I could have gotten that much,
but that was probably the right number, you know, double
for at that time was like, hey, I want to
go to fifty thousand and went up there sight Onseen
at corp of Allie and I remember driving up and
you know, you get through I know you're from northern
California too, and you get to the Oregon Bart You're like,
all right, I'm almost here, and then GPS still said
four more hours, like what the hell like and so
but there's some great times, great people, and you know,

(15:47):
even Gary, like he had a huge impact on my career.
Vince Gentta was the mutual connection there and a big
part of that as well. And you know, I just
when I talk to young people too, it's just you
need a few breaks early, and so when you get
those few, your first couple of breaks, it's like, hey,
you know, let's go. And you know, once you hit
that roulette wheel and you guys have some things in motion.

(16:08):
But at the end of the day, that. I do
believe you get what you get in the short term,
you get what you deserve in the long term.

Speaker 2 (16:12):
I think Gary Leaves and you know, you know this
much better than me. I've talked to him before. You know,
they bring in a former quarterback Oregon State who is
just let's face it, he's a shooting star. I mean,
he's an absolute stud in Jonathan Smith. Are you nervous?
You know sometimes with their transitional period, how that works
out and then your guys relationship from there, how that grew.

Speaker 1 (16:32):
Yeah, absolutely, you know and knew of you know Smitty
and you know he's coming in and he's done phenomenal
things and he's going to continue to do phenomenal things
over in Michigan State. I he came in and I
remember looking with people like counting off the plane, all right,
who's this guy? Who's this guy? Who's this guy? Like,
because you would never know, like when you're going through that, like,
you know, are you going to have a spot and

(16:54):
you know it kind of went through a month and
a half try out or felt that long when he.

Speaker 2 (16:58):
Got what was your job what was your job title
at the time, was.

Speaker 1 (17:00):
The director of recruiting Operations, at that time, and then
he came in and still kept that role, ended up
getting retained and as he called it, re hired or
hired like that was the choice. And that staff was,
you know, as phenomenal. There are so many great people
on that staff and you know, kind of working through
their first year was twenty eighteen with him, and you know,

(17:21):
game one we opened up at Ohio State and so
we didn't quite have the roster at that time was ended.
We scored thirty plus points in that game, first first
drive of the game, you know, Chase Young and I
think I think they had one of the Bosa brothers too,
that they sandwiched our quarterback and he got out with
a concussion and we were down to the second string
and you know, it was put up thirty points. We

(17:43):
just allowed seventy, so you know, but it was good.
And then we go through twenty eighteen and the nineteen
and transitioned and you know, we end up barely missing
the bowl game. We had a huge back and forth
game over with the Washington State by twelve and end
up going up by two and then they go down
and score. You know, oh, there's two different point swings

(18:06):
and the last four minutes of that game, go down
to Oregon, loose to them, don't make a bowl. Twenty
twenty is the COVID year and making strides in twenty
twenty one. You know, in between that time, get promoted
to be the director player personnel, and we make our
bowl game and go play in the LA Bowl and
Sofi Stadium and play Utah State and you know, win
some games one bit, you know, one down at the coliseum,

(18:28):
which at that time for Oregon State was the first
time I think they had one down there since like
nineteen sixty or something like that. And I remember that
one of the cooler moments I had with Smitty is,
you know, we're sitting there and he pulls down his
mic and they're lighting the torch in the coliseum and
he's like, hey man, this is pretty cool. Look at this, like,
you know, it was almost four hundred yards rushing, Like
it's a pretty good feeling being from California doing this

(18:50):
in the coliseum. I was like, that's a pretty good
take it in moment.

Speaker 2 (18:53):
Yeah. So then your experience that with Pat Hill, I
would imagine getting with Jonathan Smith kind of similar guys.
You know, Jonathan's younger but old school, tough guy, loves
running the ball. How much did that help working with him?
Because you watch those teams, I see a lot of similarities,
especially like when we were young, some of the early

(19:15):
two thousand Pat Hill teams. I mean it's he's kind
of a throwback. I mean, he's got a little Harboll
brother to him, Pat Hill. I mean Harball's and Pat
Hill are buddies. He feels of that world. So that
that was probably a pretty easy transition knowing what he wanted.
That's what you're used to looking for.

Speaker 1 (19:31):
You know, Coach Smith, you know being there, And obviously
luckily I had some mutual friends that knew him and
were able to speak for me. I mean Doug Nussmeyer
was someone who called him for me and just said, hey,
like you have this guy. And first interaction I had
with him was, hey, you know I talked to Nuts
last night. He told me he said great things about you.
I was like, okay, so well those good things. So you,
alays need people on your corner. I mean, we all

(19:51):
know that it's people business, and that's why try never
to burn a bridge if you if you can help it.
But had a great experience in my time in Vallas,
and you know, it's just when this opportunity presented itself,
it became something and clear to me that it was
not something I could turn down to you know, go
to Tallahassee and Florida State.

Speaker 2 (20:10):
How does that play out? Obviously we read about like
head coaches, you know, the agents and stuff. But when
Mike Norvell and Florida State are interested in you, how
does that materially? Do you get a phone call or
a text? Does it go through the head coach? How
does that play out?

Speaker 1 (20:25):
Yeah, there was a couple different So you know, there's
a few mutual friends that we had on staff. So
Marcus Woodson, who was on staff at that point, you know,
him and I had worked together at Fresno State. And
then there's another there's a West Coast scout that I
had known and you know, keep his name out of
this one, but he had kind of asked me. He goes, Hey,
they might have this opening year and they're creating a
general manager role, and I think you'd be perfect for it.

(20:46):
He goes, I know you've met coach Norvel before, but
you know, would you be interested? In the beginning, it
was happy. I was like you know, I have to
hear more about it, but you know, and then you
start thinking, it's you know, Florida state and all those things,
and what it's going to present. I lived, I'd never
been at that time when that first interest phone call happened,
I'd never been to the state of Florida, and so
we just so happened to be going the next week.

(21:07):
We were visiting a young man down in Tampa. And
so till the time that I stepped foot in Tallahassee,
I'd only been in the state of Florida for about
eighteen hours or so. That's it. Never been to Tallahassee before.
And you know, the hardest thing about it was, I
was riding around with Coach Smith and you know, Mike
Marvel's calling, man, you know, it's on Apple car plane.
It's like, hey, what's going on there? So you're balancing

(21:29):
that and both were understanding. And I've never been the
type to try to leverage situations in that. I've never
believed in it that way, just trying to be honest
and upfront and looking for the fit. The fit was there,
and so there was a couple of face times, and
there was a couple of different phone calls that took place,
but there was never an interview, really an a formal interview.
Coach Schnorbell was really the only person that I discussed

(21:50):
with besides Bruce Warwick, and it was an easier process
and it ended up getting hired luckily, and came out
here the day after signing to in February and landing,
and I'll ask him like, oh, there's not as many
palm trees as I expected there to be.

Speaker 2 (22:03):
So I've never been there, but I don't think palm
trees when I think Tallassey. You'd obviously, you know, you
had told me before you had turned down other pretty
prominent jobs when you were at Oregon State, So you
don't know this guy, you know a little bit like
Jonathan Smith, clearly a big you know, trajectory's pointing at

(22:25):
the sky. But besides, just how'd you ultimately make the decision?
Is it just black and I can't turn down Florida
State or Oh.

Speaker 1 (22:34):
I've tried to never make a decision off of money
or the logo or the play or a place. Really,
and you know, I think you looked at kind of
the landscape of college football and what it was becoming
and you know, trying to align yourself with the university
who is going to be in those conversations, you know,
studying the roster of what they were going to have,
but also understanding the person that you were going to
go work for and have the pleasure to serve with.

(22:55):
You know, I can't say enough great things about Coach
Morville and the things he's done in Tallahassee in his
time here and even before. But the man, the character,
the integrity, and the leadership that he provides on a
daily basis, Like, there's just not a better person that
I would want, you know, to do that with. And
you know, the vision that was aligned of what we're
trying to create. Our athletic director had just been hired

(23:17):
the month before I got here, you know, you or
spend the time with the Dallas Cowboys, with USC with
Alabama and knowing what that looks like. The investment that
was going to get continue to pour in. They're just
getting ready to hire a new president, the new facility
that will be opened here in twenty twenty five, our
new stadium that's going to be done in twenty twenty five.
We're putting four hundred million dollars of investment in facilities

(23:38):
just for football in the next eighteen months. That are
all happening right you know, behind me and in front
of me right now as I look at my office
and so you look at all those things align and
you're like, hey, then you look at the history of
Florida State and the vision of everything that was getting sold,
and you're like, this thing is like too good to
turn down. I don't know how many more of these
opportunities I'm in to have and ants and so far,

(24:01):
so good.

Speaker 2 (24:03):
Yeah, I'd say, so you get hired, what's the first task?
I mean, is just immediately going to the bunker with
coach and trying to figure out or do you kind
of have a good idea because you get hired after
the recruiting When you get.

Speaker 1 (24:14):
Hired, yeah, I got hired after it got hired earlier
before the recruiting period closed. Obviously kept it quieter before
until that broke. You know, first task was really just
to listen and understand. And I've never been a believe
a believer in just coming in and let's make wholesale
changes on everything. Because it was clear like there was
a lot of great things that were already happening. There's

(24:35):
so many great people involved here. There's so many great
people doing the right way. But so I wanted to
come down and I wanted to sit down with everyone
and just hear everyone's words and you know, thoughts on
how things were going to be going. Hey, what are
a couple ideas and what can improve? Tell me things
that I need to know that I don't know. You know,
we're just different things and slight tweaks. And so my
plan when I sat down with Coach was saying, you know,

(24:56):
I'm just gonna kind of listen for the first couple
of weeks. Then we're going to slowly implement different changes
and things of what I think need to be addressed
and changed, and then you know, six months from then,
hopefully it's unrecognizable and we'll make a couple couple different weeks.
And so we did that, and you know, the staff
that we had in place that was already existing, and
the staff that we brought in, you know, John Garrett

(25:18):
and Justin Krause arrived at the same time with me
working on our offense and defensive scouts. John's now at
Duke as the general manager, and JC is still here
both of those guys have an high NFL experience, you know, John,
you know coaching in the NFL, being a prior head
coach and obviously has spent some time in Corvallis as well.
So just kind of implementing different things and changes and

(25:38):
structures in place. And you know, recruiting is just how
recruiting comes down to communication in my opinion, and personnel
and talent evaluation is how can you get all parties
to be on the same page to where everything has
you know, the same heartbeat and everything is pumping too
the same organs of what you needed to go to.
And so if you have a coaching staff as an
arm and your recruiting staff as an arm and your
personnel's staff as a lag, you need to make sure

(26:01):
that blood's getting pumped to the proper places. And so
a centralized location for all information to be accessible for
all and making sure language was a force multiplier of
having everyone in the same evail terminology, you know, the
same ranking system, the same keys of what we're looking for,
those player profiles of exactly what ideally we want them to
look like when they we're recruiting them. That also look

(26:22):
like when they're their senior year, and you know, just
doing some numbers and being an analytically based because sometimes
you do go in with a bias, right, but the numbers,
you know, numbers don't lie, but people do, right, and
people tweak those numbers, and you know, what do the
numbers say? Do I feel that same way? But can
I do a study that might actually confirm or disprove
what I feel already and try to take as much

(26:44):
bias out? And how can I be an asset and
making sure that coach has the best information that he
can make the best decisions for Florida State in the program?

Speaker 2 (26:52):
So what does a GM do?

Speaker 1 (26:54):
Yeah, I got to ask that question a lot a
lot of people have. Man, you got a great job.
You know, just sit there and watch the whole day,
like I wish that was the case. You know. The
simple way to put it is, you know, making sure
that we retain and we have the best roster every
single every single Saturday that we go out there and
so constantly improve in the roster. Any way that we
can improve that, you know, daily, and a couple of

(27:16):
different ways. That's done in development, that's done in talent acquisition.
But that's also done in retention as well, and so
I think, like when you look at it, there's so
many people involved. You know, as it comes to recruiting,
it's not just acquisition, it's how you're marketing yourself, right,
it's the customer service that you're providing. And our recruiting
operation staff does a phenomenal job of making sure that

(27:38):
the experience when someone comes on campus is a first
clap class experience from the time they step foot to
the time they leave visits now, especially official visits, it's
like an all inclusive vacation and it needs to be
that way. And so if you and I decided, hey,
let's go down to the Bahamas, we're going to feel
a certain type of way. If we go to the concierge
desk and we're not greeted with a smile, well that's it.
And you need to be on point every single time

(28:00):
when someone's coming on campus because it needs to be
serviced with a smile. And so there's a lot of
intricacies that do go into that, but the oversight is
something I have the responsibility to have every single day
of that and making sure we're providing that experience.

Speaker 2 (28:14):
How many people we have working for you.

Speaker 1 (28:16):
We have nineteen full time people and the recruiting personnel
or scouting staff, and then we have about sixty student
interns and then about fifteen fifteen content folks.

Speaker 2 (28:28):
You know what's funny is I tell people all the
time the biggest benefit I had was cal Pauly, which
was really tiny, and when we were at Fresnel State
wasn't much bigger. And you hear like me, and you're
a great example, right, you immediately got to do a
lot as a nineteen year old. How difficult is this

(28:48):
like the Hunger Games with these guys? Because I would
imagine a lot of these students on campus aspire to
have a role like you did or do what I
ended up doing. How do you it was just me
and you? Right, how do you? That's got to be tough?
I mean are you managing that group? I mean is
there infighting? You know? Because just the competition, it's like

(29:08):
it's like a separate team.

Speaker 1 (29:10):
And the way the games changed, Like you need all
those folks, and you know, even our students, the amount
that they sacrifice they choose. Hey, I'm I'm going to
give up my whole game day so I can put
Florida State in a better position to recruit someone. And
I mean when you think about a game day here
in Tallassee, like game day is a big event obviously
the sides of the football game and everything else that
goes into it.

Speaker 2 (29:29):
He yeah, well, if you got twenty people doing it,
how many applicants do you have for those jobs?

Speaker 1 (29:34):
Last year? So last year we had five hundred people
that apply to Jamie Jesus and it's it's it's a
volunteer job too, And so there's five hundred people that
wanted experience, and you know, you win. Obviously, people want
to be a part of things. And because early I
think the first time when we opened this back up,
when I'd gotten in here, we only had about ten
to twelve student interns. And I said, okay, we need

(29:55):
to we need to open this up and create just
to move people and provide the best experience we can.
And I think at that time we had thirty applicants.
And so just getting a word and you know, speaking
at different classes and advertising that. And there's forty four
thousand students that go to Florida State. You know, there's
people big school and be involved and so how can
you showcase that and making sure that you're providing an experience.

(30:18):
But also, you know, I tell them all the time,
I want them to grow and be better versions of
everyone around to where hopefully they can learn from some
of my prior mistakes that I've made and you know,
things I wish I would have done better when I
was growing up and younger, and you know, here like
I'm an open book and try to be a resource
as much as I can. But I think that, you know,
I'm thankful for those individuals that do sacrifice.

Speaker 2 (30:40):
That time when we were at Fresno State, when I
was there with you, it might have changed when de
Ruder came in. The coaches would go out in the
spring and this as well before the transfer portal so
separate that would bring back you group of guys that
would fit, you know, the presdo state level for then
coach Hill myself true whatever to watch and kind of

(31:00):
whittle down. In the NFL, the scouting department watches the
guys and then whittles it down for the coaching staff.
How is that? Where are you guys on that? Like
your coaches are out spring recruiting. Are they bringing you
back guys or have you already given them guys to
go see. Obviously your program is a little unique. You're

(31:22):
not looking at everybody. How does that play out.

Speaker 1 (31:25):
Yeah, it's a little it's a good question. It's a
little bit of both. You know, the majority of those
times that they're going out to see someone. So the
spring period's changed. Now they're allowed to have contact with
the you know, with the juniors, so they're allowed to
sit down at the school and have actual face to
face contact with them, which back then you couldn't do.
This is the first year they're allowing that a.

Speaker 2 (31:44):
Guy who's a sophomore now going into his junior year,
or a junior is going into a senior year.

Speaker 1 (31:47):
Junior who's going into a senior year. Okay, And so
that's a lot of time we're it's spent there, but
also the evaluation in the spring moments, and you know,
if there's someone that we're not aware of, obviously that's
good that they're coming back with that. But then we've
done a poor job on our side of making sure
our coaches have the best tools to utilize, you know,
their resources. But it can happen a couple different ways,

(32:09):
and there's a lot of you know, it's not the
days of now with huddle and social media. It's hard
to find a diamond in the rough because chances are
he's been watched and evaluated by someone. That does happen.
But I think the area that we recruit, you know,
it's there's a lot of people that go through, so
there's not any secrets that are left out there.

Speaker 2 (32:27):
What's the kid's name who was disdrafted by the Saints
at Oregon State?

Speaker 1 (32:30):
Tall the Esa Fuaga.

Speaker 2 (32:32):
So when you're at Oregon State, probably a lot of
similarities to Fresno State. You kind of have to see
the bigger picture, like a lot of those guys aren't
getting recruited by you know, programs like Florida State. Now
in your role, like would you even did you watch
him in high school?

Speaker 1 (32:47):
So tall? The essay he was when he was actually
he came out in the class, he was the COVID year,
he was from Mount Tahoma, he had a lot, he
had the majority that packed twelve and.

Speaker 2 (32:57):
A lot of so he was a relatively bigger recruit.
But like, would you guys at Florida State because you're
just kind of recruiting the cream of the crop, Like
how do you balance of like, well, we might have
something here, but he doesn't have Alabama LSU, Like, do
you guys even concern because that was a famous Sabin thing,
Like he wasn't as concerned like if he liked the
guy Atmari Cooper, I don't give a shit at LSU

(33:18):
and George and Florida don't like I've taken him. How
does the balance of like, well, is this guy quite
good enough? Or like this is our type guy?

Speaker 1 (33:25):
We're going to star evaluation, trust our own eyes and
not We're not going to have lean on anyone else
to confirm of what we see. And that's one thing
our coaching staff and coach Mornvelle do a phenomenal job
of just trusting our own opinions. You know, coach Coach
actually talks about this all the time. No one is
allowed in the evaluation process to bring up a kid's stars.
And so when you know, if you talk to coach

(33:46):
about it, he said, well, he's a forcer. I don't
want to hear it. I don't care like And so
we're going to trust our own evaluation in the sense
of making sure that we're getting the right fit for
Florida State and so, uh, in all these cases, specifically,
he'd probably be someone that we to watch just because
he would have met the parameters we're looking for as
far as size it goes and that offensive tackle and
defensive end, pass rusher, quarterback, and those three you'd probably

(34:10):
go anywhere in the country to go get and we'll
go anywhere in the country to go get anyone, but
those three specifically are so unique that you're willing to
travel and you're always looking.

Speaker 2 (34:21):
Before we dive into the recent draft class, just on
Mike Norvel, Obviously, you guys had a rough end of
the season with getting left out and Jordan's injury, but
pretty clear you had what ten guys drafted. Your team
was I mean, defensively it was on another level. And
bringing in key On, I mean, you guys were pretty elite.

(34:43):
And clearly he's i mean talked about immediately as the
Alabama replacement when Nick retires. So what's your experience, what's
your thoughts on coach Novel? I know what you've told me. Personally,
you think he's as good of a play caller as
you think humanly possible.

Speaker 1 (34:58):
Outstanding first of all, outstanding person and the person before
the coach like you know, the humility, the leadership, all
the qualities that he has, you know, just to serve
others and be around and him and I have gotten
the ability to be pretty close now, you know, I
think the world of him as a person, as a father,

(35:18):
as a husband. But also you know, on top of that,
like he's one heck of a football coach too, you know,
the ability to motivate, the energy and if you ever
come to one of our practices, he never stops running.
I mean he's running the whole time, races the D
line before every single practice. I mean, he is one.
But just the ability to instill confidence and the culture
that he's out lay to Florida State, you know, it's

(35:40):
something that I'm excited about the future and wants to.

Speaker 2 (35:42):
Come safe to say, practices of Florida State aren't exactly
a country club when the pads come on.

Speaker 1 (35:48):
No sir, no sir. But besides maybe the weather in October,
you know when it's eighty degrees in the high seventies,
there's nothing country club about this. Our twenty four period practices, per.

Speaker 2 (36:08):
Okay, let's really quick, just hit on some of your
top guys. Verse was already there when you got there, correct, Jared.

Speaker 1 (36:14):
Came in and he transferred into January of twenty twenty two.

Speaker 2 (36:18):
Are you the pro liaison four four Saint.

Speaker 1 (36:20):
No Kewan Ratliffe is. But I do have some involvement
with the with the NFL staff that does come in.

Speaker 2 (36:25):
I'd imagine you know a lot of those guys and
they come to you, Okay, Jared verse story is pretty
well established. Transfers from Albany former tight end, correct puts
on him to wait, ends up going to the to
the LA Rams. What's your scattering report on a pretty
dominant pass rusher for you?

Speaker 1 (36:44):
Jared for outstanding person work, ethic, high motor plays in
with high high intensity about it. Powerful and as best
of a bowl Russian I've seen in person time is
what he does as one arm, one arm stuff two arms.
He can bowl and overpower you. You know, I'm excited
to see what his career is going to unfold. Who

(37:04):
play in the league for a long long time.

Speaker 2 (37:06):
Was he on the fence about coming out two years ago?

Speaker 1 (37:09):
He was on the fence about coming out last year,
you know, and just made the decision to you know,
he loved Florida State and who he got to do
it with and I think a big part of that was,
you know, there's a core group of guys that decided, hey,
we want to come back after leading into the bowl game,
just felt that twenty twenty two could have got gone
a little bit differently, and they wanted to chase something
and collectively go into an approach and you know, come

(37:31):
and plug some pieces in and you know also, you know,
go go acquire some different now and see what happened
in twenty twenty three. And you know they did they
did that on the field.

Speaker 2 (37:40):
So well, this guy's taking the internet by storm. Keon
Coleman clearly quite the character. I mean, obviously one of
the more sought after I mean, what would you say,
one the more sought after guys? In last year's transfer
portal was on everyone's radar. I talked to you in
the NFL coming out of Michigan State and then the
way that started in that game against LSU, and then

(38:01):
it was on. It's kind of crazy as the season
went on. It feels like you got dinged for speed.
It's funny you bring up Davante also a little bit
of a ding on him. I'd say that's worked out
pretty well. Uh, just what are your thoughts on just
his game and kind of where he needs to go.
Is that a fair assessment just separation stuff or just
he's a young he's twenty years old.

Speaker 1 (38:21):
Yeah, I mean he can separate now. And I think
with key On two, like last year was really his
first year that he had a full offseason training because
he was a basketball player in Michigan State too. I
mean talking to Tom Izzo and those guys, they said
he was going to start his junior year versus sophomore year.
So and you know, you always wonder, okay, you're a
basketball player. You see the high school highlights, and you

(38:43):
know it's coming up. Today's the year anniversary. He told
us that, you know, he was going to come to
Florida State and made a public the next day. But
his first event was memorial to Coach Norvel's house and
he reports and he's in skinny jeans, and you know,
I think it's well documented what happened, but you know
there's coach has about caball hoop out in front of
his house and Keon goes out there and skinny jeans,

(39:04):
no warm up and three sixty windmills of dunk and
I'm like, oh boy, we got one. And but the
person in the athleticism, that's one thing, Like how smart
he is and how he studies the game. And you know,
the first conversation we had on his official visit, he's
talking about it's like, okay, ke On, like what happens
if we don't forget the ball? He goes, well, you know,

(39:24):
I'm gonna I'm gonna ranch the dB and I'm gonna
knock him over. He's got family in the stands too,
And that was his answer, Like he he is study,
knows it like the back of his hand, understands concepts,
like it's so so smart of how he understands the game.
I just I truly believe he just scratched the surface.

Speaker 2 (39:42):
Well when's the last time, Josh, I mean, in his
NFL career hasn't had a guy like this. They've had
more speed guys. There. There is a guy I once
heard of that pounded the table for a quarterback coming
out of junior college and wanted him at Fresno Steak.
But you know, according to that person, the coaches and
listened to him, is that is that a true story
out there in the world?

Speaker 1 (40:03):
We all have misses in Hindsight's twenty twenty. I guess
not missus, but yeah, I did. The Josh was an
interesting story, and obviously high school, he came to camps
all the time from fireball, and then when when he
transferred to the junior college, he ended up sprouting up
and became his current size. And I remember going up
to oorg and say like, oh, there's two guys, and
he was one of them, and we already had a
quarterback committed at that time, and so oh for two

(40:25):
and there's a guy on staff that went to Wyoming.
He remembered the conversations while we got Fresno, and that's
how he ended up getting brought up to Wyoming.

Speaker 2 (40:33):
I'm sure, you guys, I'm sure. And Recruiting retweeted this
and had it all over your guys social The video
of the rams with first running up the stairs and
McVeigh handing him the phone and Braden Fisk just basically
breaking down is probably the coolest video of the entire draft.
Talk to me about him. I guess I wasn't on

(40:54):
him as much you've described him to me offline. Just
your thoughts on him as as a player, and obviously
as a person, seemed like a pretty high level dude.

Speaker 1 (41:06):
Toyeah. They getting ready to go over to an event
that we had to do, and remember sitting I remember
sitting there and I'm like, gosh, I hope they captured
that moment. And I hope that you know, Verth got
on the phone and all of it, because just the
reaction of what it would have been. And then we
got to Texas said, hey, Verse, actually they wanted him
originally to make the call, the very first call from
the RAMS, and he didn't get there because of traffic
and you know, just to be a fly on the

(41:27):
wall and what that is. But Braiden, Braiden came in.
You know, he gets in the portal coming out of
coming out and he he had to have shoulder surgery.
And so that was the very first conversation and coach
just to let you know, I'm gonna have to have
shoulder surgery. Still want to come down, and you know,
we battled. There's other schools involved with him, and he
had a lot of great options and brought him down here.

(41:47):
So his first practice that we actually got to see
him do anything was the fall camp and so you
can all see the athleticism, what it was on tape
and whether it's going to be. But the very first
fall practice, he goes up to Jay and he goes, hey,
it's you and I in every single group, Like, I'm
gonna I'm gonna be faster than you. I'm gonna have
more sack, all of it. And so, you know, he
got to the point and he had some goals written

(42:09):
up throughout the year and he was getting frustrated too,
and you know, not that it was affecting him, but
you know, he wanted so many sacks and so many TFLs,
and you know, he had good years and he had
he just didn't have the production to necessarily show for it.
And so we're through eight games and I think he
only had half half for a TfL. That was it. Well,
in the next four he absolutely goes on a tear,

(42:30):
and the ACC Championship goes on a tear. And you know,
he works his tail off and the effort that he
plays with, and you know he's his knock obviously, Oh
hey he has short arms, but that's not turn on
the tape and that fifty five was everywhere.

Speaker 2 (42:45):
Yeah, it feels like as a Niner guy, I mean
those two guys at a level of physicality and toughness
that you can't replace with Aaron Donald. But it's pretty
clear they knew what they were looking for. And I
know they a lot of people like you can't trade
up to get fists. But like you said, when you
pair him with his buddy, I don't know. I think
I'd be shocked if these two guys aren't pretty good
for the Rams, won't you.

Speaker 1 (43:05):
I got a potional on that call, and it was
just so cool to see in my brotherhood. And those
guys were together for a year, and I mean that's it.
They were together for a year. That's all they spent together.
And that was the reaction. So I mean it speaks
to the culture of what coach Morvell's built.

Speaker 2 (43:18):
Okay, the forty nine ers at the end of the
second round took Ronaldo Green, who I think it's safe
to say as a defensive player, his tape against Neighbors
in week one, just in an individual game is probably
as good as any. And your experience about him tell
me about the guy and the player.

Speaker 1 (43:38):
Yeah, doesn't. I mean, he's he's such, he's so even
keeled as a corner. I mean, there's no panic in
his game. He's consistent in his technique. You know, can run,
can play press man, and I think you look at
our defense, you know ninety percent of the time we're
going to play press man or some version of it.
And you know that ends up helping those guys. And
so you had him and you know Jerry and Jaron

(44:00):
Jones playing and playing nickel for us and then ventral
cypress on the other side, and you know the two
corners that we have this year are going to be really,
really good as well. But Ernardo is so impressed with
you know, the growth that he showed and everything, and
you never had to worry about, right, And it's just like, hey,
you know that he's going to be out there and
he's going to make more plays than he gives up,
and sometimes he might not give up anything.

Speaker 2 (44:22):
Watching just some highlights of him, it seems like a
pretty tough corner, like he ain't afraid, no.

Speaker 1 (44:27):
He will stick it in there, He'll be physical, he's
not afraid of much. And you know, another great, great
young man. So happy for him, and I'm excited that
he gets to to go out to the left coast.

Speaker 2 (44:37):
Now Trey Benson, Yeah, awesome.

Speaker 1 (44:41):
You know, Trey going to Arizona. You know, was at
Oregon originally transferred at a catastrophic knee injury where he
did everything. But you know, he got here in twenty
twenty two, transferred in from Oregon. You know, he's the
first person in Florida State history against Boston College in
twenty two to run for a touchdown and return a
kick for a touchdown in the same game. And you
think of all the great history and of all the

(45:02):
great players in Florida State, he was the first person
in history to do that. You know, how he carries himself,
how professional he is, and just the time that he spends.
And you know he's run, he's a bigger back. He
runs physical, but he's got true top end speed. I
mean there's four different times last year he's hitting twenty
one plus miles an hour in our GPS. I mean,
he's he's got all of it. So I'm excited for him,

(45:24):
and it'll be fun to watch him play against Braden
Fisk and Jared versus at least twice.

Speaker 2 (45:29):
Here heay went on from a draft standpoint, Jordan Travis,
who you know that the injury was obviously sucked I mean,
if you like football, even if you're not a Florida
State fan, that that was awful. Obviously, his medical must
be going pretty well to get drafted. Just he when
was healthy last year, you guys were, I mean, let's

(45:50):
face it, a national title contender. And then he goes
down with just what's your thoughts on Jordan Trouse before him?

Speaker 1 (45:58):
And you know, I think you know Jeordan. You look
at the type of leader he is and the type
of person. You know, the quarterback stuff speaks for itself,
but you know the ability that he has to extend plays,
to create plays when something's not there, but also you know,
pushing the fall ball down field, and you know, I
think he's only he again is only probably scratching the
surface too and what he's going to be. But you know,
spoke to him a couple of days ago and just

(46:19):
his recovery of what that's going to be, and they
expect him to kind of be cleared for fall camp.

Speaker 2 (46:24):
How long did the the final four that video went
pretty viral of your players in my how long did
that linger just in the program?

Speaker 1 (46:36):
Yeah, I mean it was hard for it to linger.
I mean I look back in de summer and coaching.
I talk about this often. That was probably one of
the more challenging times that I've been a part of,
just in anything in life. So we get back from
the a SEC Championship. I think I got back to
my house at four thirty in the morning, and so
we're in the selection show at eleven am eleven thirty

(46:58):
the next day. Yeah, and you have no insights, contrary
to what people think, like, no one knows what's going
to happen, there's no tips, there's no hey, at least
one person in your an athletic department knows. No one knows,
and so that was truly the live and rob reaction. Well,
coach and I had to be out on the plane.
We were going out recruiting, and I traveled with him
when we go out recruiting. We were out on the plane,

(47:19):
you know, three hours later from that. And so just
for our team to have that, and we had five
coaches that were on the road that had left Charlotte
and stayed overnight that we're going to different locations because
we're right in the middle of a contact period as well.
And there's one of our coaches who had landed and
you know, he just saw and didn't think anything of it,
didn't really know the semi final locations and he's like, oh, okay,
we're playing Georgia and didn't realize. Still someone at the

(47:42):
rental car attendant man Florida state you all got you know,
that's messed up, and he's like, what are you talking about?
We're playing Georgia and then he looks down and that's
how he found out. And so there's different ways that
found out. I just feel so bad for our players
and the opportunity that you know should have been there.
But you know, that is history, and that was in
twenty twenty three. We're on the twoy twenty four.

Speaker 2 (48:00):
Now for sure. How many gms travel with their coach?
Why can you do that?

Speaker 1 (48:05):
I think a few guys do. I think the amount
of conversations that that happen, it's important in the amount
of ever changing roster. But there's also a lot of
trust and the confidence that we have in our office
here to make sure everything's run right. But you know,
the the ever changing roster and being able to be
there that does save a lot of phone calls.

Speaker 2 (48:21):
How often you guys run into like Kirby Smart or
lank if it or Nick Saban or these guys. You
guys cross paths a lot or is it pretty not very.

Speaker 1 (48:28):
Often because when I go out on the road, I'm
not allowed to go win anywhere. So I just sit
in the car and you know, turn on the turn
on the internet, or answer different calls or checking with
our coaches just to make sure I can provide those updates.
You know, there's a couple of times you do cross
some people, but not not very often. And we didn't.
We didn't very much last year.

Speaker 2 (48:48):
Okay, looking at the draft, you lost a lot, you know,
two defensive linement high your star receiver, your quarterback, you're
running back, you're starting two corners. You're got to be
a top five team. Is it easier to transition now
with the transfer portal? Obviously you bring in DJ Is
that I am not saying that right? Who ungay?

Speaker 1 (49:11):
Who? Well close, we'll get you there.

Speaker 2 (49:13):
So talk to me about the transition. Expectations are going
to be high, playoffs expand, so that's we can breathe
a little easier. You would have you would have been
in Uh, how'd you let's start with the quarterback? How
do you you need a quarterback? How'd you pick him,
how does that transpire?

Speaker 1 (49:33):
Yeah, looking for the fit and obviously our quarterback room.
You know, Brock Glynn you know, played playing a few
games for us last year, started the a SEC Championship,
started the bowl game against Georgia, and played in some
other games, and you know, just where we were age
wise and everything, We're always going to take the best
fit in what made the most sense for us to do.
We had another young man that decided to transfer out,

(49:54):
and so there was a need there in our quarterback room.
And you know, the more and more we got involved
with dj the the more we liked what we saw
and just the ability for what he is and being
able to push the ball downfield and you know match
up with the receivers that we had coming in or
that were we were actively going to get. You know,
I'm just excited at what he is as a player,

(50:14):
and you know, just being out there for spring and
you know, he can push the ball, he can make
all the throws, he's athletic, he can extend, I mean
he could. He's got as strong as an arm as
I've as I've been around, and I mean that's all
the quarterbacks that we've been around and so I think
he's just I'm excited to see him in this offense,
that's for sure.

Speaker 2 (50:31):
I mean it's safe to say. I mean you could
argue Florida State has been as successful as any of
these last couple of years in the transfer portal.

Speaker 1 (50:37):
Right, and then that's you know, coach coach Norton starts
and stops Coach Nortvell. I mean, he does an outstanding
job evaluating. But just talent is one thing, but fit
is a whole another, and just getting the right fit
is important for us.

Speaker 2 (50:51):
Do you automatically look at a guy or does he
have to reach out to you? Like if I'm a transfer,
if I'm a starter at Frisno State and you know
nothing about me, whether I'm good or bad, I'm just
a starter. It's Florida State looking at him? Or does
there does it have to be powerful? How does that
play out? Because there's names to get thrown in there.

Speaker 1 (51:09):
We have a couple of different processes and there's a
lot of there's many people that are involved and making
sure we're always evaluating what's around us, what's in our conference.
Maybe someone we had a previous relationship with or someone
who you know might be Hey, we've heard whispers that
they're looking to go into the portal. So there's an
evaluation in database, much like the NFL was in your time. Right,
there's a there's a per side, and there's a college side.

(51:29):
For us, there's a high school side, and there's a
there's a college side.

Speaker 2 (51:32):
Is that easy to manage for you now or still
a lot?

Speaker 1 (51:36):
There's great people that I get to work with every
single day that that do make it easy.

Speaker 2 (51:40):
What do you got to do the rest of the spring? Now?
You guys done?

Speaker 1 (51:43):
Yeah, we're getting ready. We got official visits coming up
in the month of June. We got high school camps
in the month of June, So we got some other
guys that are coming by and uh, getting ready for
everything that the month of June does present.

Speaker 2 (51:55):
You better have a smile on your face when they
show up.

Speaker 1 (51:57):
Absolutely well, well, good luck.

Speaker 2 (52:01):
Derek, And who knows, maybe next time I talk to
you're a national champion.

Speaker 1 (52:06):
Yeah, well, one game at a time. Right now, we
open up at Georgia Tech in Ireland in August and
looking forward to that event.

Speaker 2 (52:11):
You're going to Ireland to open it up?

Speaker 1 (52:13):
Yeah, we get to go to Ireland.

Speaker 2 (52:15):
That's pretty cool. Well, I mean safe to say you
made the right decision at Florida State. Congrats on all
your success, man, it's been really really cool to watch,
and I watch all your games now and follow your
guys program closely. So keep crushing it, bro'. You're an inspiration.
I'm sure to a lot of people listening to this
that want to get involved in football. And there's never
been a better time because all these opportunities in college

(52:36):
that didn't exist ten years ago. Now you've got the
NFL and college football and obviously there's just more college
football team. So it's you're crushing, bro keep it rolling.

Speaker 1 (52:46):
I appreciate you got to get out here to Tallahassee
for a game.

Speaker 2 (52:50):
I definitely do. I will make sure that happens in
the next couple of years.

Speaker 1 (52:53):
Well, in twenty five we come out west to you,
so we'll worry about twenty four.

Speaker 2 (52:57):
So calor Stanford, go to Stanford in twenty five US.
I'd rather come out to you guys than go to
that you would, Okay, talk to you soon, bro, alright,
take care

Speaker 1 (53:12):
The volume