Longhorn Players Talk Expectations and Preparations For Upcoming Football Season

Craig Way shares what the Texas Longhorns are expecting and how they are preparing for the upcoming football season. It's all here on The Craig Way Show!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:14):
He's a Texas legend, a Hall of Fame broadcaster, the
voice of the Texas Longhorns, and your host of the
Craigway Show. Here he is now Craigway.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yes, yes, Yes, day Friday has rived and we're glad
to be with you here on a Friday afternoon, right
here on Sports Radio AM three teen hundred of the Zone.
Good afternoon, everybody, welcome to the program. My name is
Craig Way. I do thank you very much for joining us,
and we're with you up until five o'clock this afternoon.
And as I always say on Friday, if Friday is

(01:14):
indeed the end of your Monday, the Friday work week,
good on you, Good for you, and hope you enjoy
the weekend.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
For those of you for whom Friday marks.

Speaker 2 (01:21):
The middle, the midway point of your work week, hope
you're over the hump, or we can help try to
get you over the hump and then you can get
on downhill to the end of your weekend. For those
of you who start on the weekend, hey, we hope
it gets off to a good start. My name is
Craig Way. Thanks very much for joining us this afternoon
on the program. Our producer is Ronald Savage Junior this

(01:44):
afternoon on the program, and we do have some of
our regular Friday offerings in store for you. Usually when
we get into Friday, at least this time of year,
there are comments or as has said in the business,
quite often sound bites or cuts, you know whatever, from

(02:06):
long worn football players as they navigate the fall camp
workouts and getting closer to kickoff. We are, after all,
fifteen days to kick off of the season opener for
the Texas Longhorns taking on the Ohio State Buckeyes there
in Ohio in Columbus at Ohio Stadium, and of course

(02:28):
you'll hear that game right here on the Zone beginning
at eight o'clock in the morning with our Longhorns game
day coverage, and we do have that. We have some
sound in fact coming up here momentarily you're going to
hear from Ryan Wingo, Longhorns wide receiver, so we do
have that for you and other Longhorn players you'll hear
at other points this afternoon. We have Inconceivable on a Friday,

(02:53):
and you know what inconceivable means, of course, it is
a Florida Man Friday. We do have that and a
Florida Woman Friday, so we've got those offerings as well.
Fridays during the summertime, in the three o'clock hour, we
bring you the Music Survey, and that's of course where

(03:13):
we bring in somebody to answer twelve questions about bands
or artists of his or her liking, and it kind
of reveals not only their taste of music, you might
learn a little bit about that person. Today, Bob Blue,
sports director at Kai here in town, is coming by
to take the music survey in the three o'clock hour,

(03:34):
so it'll be interesting to hear the bands and artists
that Bob likes and dislikes and what shaped him as
a young man growing up.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
So we'll here. We'll hear from Bob Blood.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Coming up in the three o'clock hour and the four
o'clock hour more Loghorn players, sound and our weekly Conversation.
This is another one of our Friday regular things with
Gene Watson from the Chicago White Sox front office, their
player person and director, to talk Major League Baseball. There
are some big series in big matchups coming up not

(04:06):
only this weekend but over the next week or two,
so we'll talk some baseball with Gino as well, updating
you on the BMW Championship going on in the greater
suburban Baltimore, Washington area Owings Mills, Maryland. Robert McIntyre of
Scotland is the leader in the clubhouse right now. He

(04:26):
followed up yesterday's eight under sixty two with a six
hundred sixty four today, so he is at minus fourteen
at the midway mark right now. That's good enough for
a seven shot lead on two golfers. One who's already
in the clubhouse at Deeckie Matsiyama shot a sixty four
to the day to go yesterday sixty nine. He's in

(04:47):
at minus seven, and Scotty Schffler's on the golf course
right now. He's minus seven playing the par four seventh hole.
Scotty shot sixty six yesterday and right now with seven
shots back, but again he's Bill has most of his
round left in front of him as he plays the
par four seventh hole right now at six hundred par.

(05:08):
Tommy Fleetwood and Ludwig Oberg both minus six and both
are still on the golf course, so we'll keep you
updated on that as well. So happy to have you
with us. As always we do open up the text
line for your questions, your thoughts, your comments. You need
only to text us and you text the word Texas

(05:29):
follow by your question or comment to eight one five
three zero. We had a little bit of a tutorial
yesterday on the program because some folks said, how exactly
what do I do Texas with the capital letters or
just the word text? It doesn't matter either as fine
either texas with capital letters or or with lowercase whatever.
It'll it'll get into the system. And then following typing

(05:52):
in the word texas, you type in your question or comment.
You do that to eight one five three zero. Standard
message and data rates may apply. I had some great responses,
input and questions from folks yesterday, and so whatever is
on your mind, you want to do that again today,
we're more than happy to have that. All right, let's
jump right into some long one football players sound This

(06:14):
was after the guys got done with practice yesterday. They
do have a scrimmage coming up tomorrow. Ryan Wingo is
the young man to whom many Longhorn fans are turning
to pick up a lot of the wide receiver production,
what with Matthew Golden moving on in Isaiah Bond and
so there's a lot of folks excited about what Ryan
Wingo is able to do.

Speaker 3 (06:36):
And so we'll let you hear some sound fro him.

Speaker 2 (06:38):
First of all, the question for Ryan with several other
new guys in the fold as receivers and new guys
on the offensive line as well, he was asked to describe.
But the process of going through all the pre snap
movement and making sure they didn't have pre snap penalties.

Speaker 4 (06:56):
I said, we work on this is spring and a
lot of them got thrown in in there early, so
they kind of got to pick it up faster than
probably I had to.

Speaker 5 (07:04):
So it's been good.

Speaker 2 (07:07):
Sure, this is a question, a standard question that seemingly
several of the writers, not all of them, and reporters
TV or radio. But there's a you know a great
deal of curiosity because practices are closed other than when
they have a fifteen minute viewing window of the individual stuff.

(07:28):
That is a lot by the university just to have,
you know, to make sure that they have their b
roll stuff for sportscast or whatever their video content might be.
And the question is they're always want to know who's
who looks good, who's making a difference or in this case,
as Winingo is asked, how about a young player who

(07:49):
might be a surprise this season.

Speaker 4 (07:51):
Offense, Dade McCutcheon. Really, all our receivers got, Mike Terry,
Jamie French, Kalie Lockett, uh defense, Kay.

Speaker 5 (08:02):
Phillips, he gonna he's gonna be a guy for sure.

Speaker 2 (08:05):
Yeah, we're hearing a lot of those same names offered
up with the youngsters. With the freshman uh so Dylan
McCutcheon or they call him day day uh and some
other ones. And then French as well at receiver. So uh,
back to the veteran receivers. In addition, Wingo, there's DeAndre
Moore And what is the really standout element of DeAndre

(08:29):
Moore's game?

Speaker 4 (08:30):
I think I think with Demo, like like I kind
of said, like over the spring, I didn't get to
watch him for it because he didn't really do too much,
but uh, Demo worked super hard. Like you know, that's
if that's rented roles.

Speaker 5 (08:42):
He run a.

Speaker 4 (08:43):
Roles fullis b everything forth and him like a full
receivers even go block, You're gonna do whatever you need
for him from him. So I feel like, you know,
if you want a complete receiver. That's that's the guys.
This guy you want, So I feel like you're gonna
go in the first round.

Speaker 2 (08:56):
Now, some road oriented thoughts from Ryan Wingo. Remember, of course,
as Texas gets ready to go to the Horseshoe this year,
they went to the Big House last year to play Michigan.
What does Ryan remember about playing in the Big House
last year?

Speaker 5 (09:11):
Yeah, because it's fun. It was.

Speaker 4 (09:12):
It was loud, super loud, big big stadium. Uh yeah,
it was a fun environment to play in. I had
a good run there, so it was super fun playing.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
You heard Ryan talk about guys on the defensive side,
young guys, but then there's veterans like going up against
a Malik Muhammad Manny as they know him, And how
about going up against Manny Muhammad and in the two
kind of exchanging notes on their effectiveness against one another.

Speaker 4 (09:38):
See, Yeah, like we all like we are not best friends,
but like we are super close. So being able to
like really compete with like good friends. And I think
it will set us up for going into the year
when they got to face those good receivers and then
we gotta face those good dbs. So, like I said,
it's just that that good competition, like you said, being
able to give each other tips like on this you

(10:01):
can't break down, like you got to be able to
keep running like stuff like that.

Speaker 2 (10:04):
So yeah, Ryan Wingo is from the Saint Louis area,
and sometimes when players come in as as Sarks recruiting
base has expanded, uh and has been much more broad
based national than recent Texas coaches and landing some incredibly

(10:24):
talented guys like Wingo being from the Saint Louis area.
Some of these guys who come in from out of
state are quite often asked what was the image they
might have had of the university before they wound up
signing with Texas And if that was the case, what's

(10:44):
the difference between then and now? And there's always that
homesickness question as well when you get away from home.

Speaker 4 (10:49):
Uh, image of Texas I think I was like a saying,
like everything bigger in Texas. I kind of got to
see that for sure, like seeing a high school was
out here, like compared to I mean I had a
big high school. Well not big, but it wasn't it
wasn't small, But like being like to see like high
schools and tents got indoors and stuff like that. I
was like, it's everything bigger out.

Speaker 5 (11:10):
Here for sure. Homesick not really, not really.

Speaker 6 (11:16):
Not.

Speaker 5 (11:17):
My parents and stuff come up here.

Speaker 4 (11:19):
They bring my nieces and nephews, so yeah, I'll be good.

Speaker 5 (11:21):
They come up here.

Speaker 3 (11:22):
Yeah, so that's good. No homesickness.

Speaker 2 (11:24):
So what was the appeal that Wingo had in helping
to shape his decision to become a Texas long one.

Speaker 5 (11:33):
I feel like being like like life after football. For sure.
I'm from Saint Louis, so it's super far from here.

Speaker 4 (11:40):
It's like thirteen hours, so so like being able to
get away from my family, I having actually grow up.

Speaker 5 (11:46):
And then he was going into the SEC.

Speaker 4 (11:48):
So it's just it was a lot of just positive
factors on top of got arch Uh and then like
I said, it was going to a great receiver room
cause like I said, d Moore And then yeah.

Speaker 2 (11:58):
So he's been naming those guys in the second as well.
Who's the toughest guy for Ryan Wingo to go up against?

Speaker 5 (12:03):
Some practice many Muhammad Man. So he's super smart. It's
as hard to go against him.

Speaker 4 (12:08):
He he knows you can lean a little bit, or
you can do some off.

Speaker 5 (12:13):
He's gonna know exactly the route, so it's hard to
go against for sure.

Speaker 2 (12:17):
And uh one another before you hit the break here.
Not only in talking about the young receivers, there's also
the portal guys coming in like Mosley coming in from
Stanford at receiver as well. So Wingo was asked what
m at Moseley brings to the wide receiver room.

Speaker 4 (12:36):
It bought another big body, another versus versitive player.

Speaker 5 (12:40):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (12:41):
He gonna also be good. We got a lot of
great up my bad. We got a lot of great
receivers in the room. So it's gonna be a good year.

Speaker 2 (12:47):
All right, there's some from Ryan Wingo. We're gonna hear
some more from Wingo coming up here. And again we'll
update the leader board for you on the BMW and
UH also take a look at to whatever questions you
might have.

Speaker 3 (13:01):
Also, we'll give away.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
We've got one more day to give away a couple
of tickets to see Pantera, and so we'll give you
the opportunity to kind of, you know, increase your odds.

Speaker 3 (13:14):
Of winning the tickets. We'll tell you about that coming up.

Speaker 2 (13:18):
Glad to be with you here on a Friday afternoon
here on Sports MEDIOAM thirteen out of the zone.

Speaker 1 (13:24):
It's the Craig Waishop with the voice of the Texas
Longhorns and Hall of Fame Broadcasting Craig.

Speaker 2 (13:37):
Before we get back to hearing some more from Ryan Wingo,
I did want to drop in the story because we
went into some detail yesterday afternoon, later in the story
or later in the show about what was going to

(13:58):
happen with the University of Michigan with the signs stealing investigation,
and that the involved parties had been informed of what
was going to happen, and then it became official today.
So here's here's the official breakdown on that. This of
course is coming after the NCAA Committee on Infractions found

(14:21):
overwhelming evidence their words, that Michigan engaged in that impermissible
scouting scheme. And of course this was you know, Connor
Stallion's the former staffer, was at the center of it,
and this he was accused of collecting video footage of

(14:42):
opposing team's signals shot from the stands by people who
recruited to participate in the scheme. And these allegations spanned
dozens of games involving other Big Ten teams and potential
postseason opponents. In twenty twenty one, twenty twenty two, and
twenty twenty three, so there was that.

Speaker 3 (15:01):
The allegations came to light in.

Speaker 2 (15:02):
October of twenty three, with Michigan undefeated and headed toward
the national championship. The Big Ten commissioner Tony Pettiti, acting
on information from the NCAA, suspended then head coach Jim
Harball for three games, citing violations of the league's sportsmanship policy.
Harball returned to coach Michigan to victories in the Big
Ten championship game in the College Football Playoff before leaving

(15:25):
the coach to Los Angeles Chargers. So they did all that,
and so here's what the NCAA handed down. Michigan will
forfeit host season revenue for the next two seasons. Head
coach Ron Moore will be suspended for three games as
punishment for what he knew about the scandal. However, the

(15:47):
program will not face a postseason ban or be forced
to vacate the wins. So the full ruling was issued today.
Michigan will forfeit postseason revenue for the next two seasons,
will pay a fine equivalent to ten percent of the
program's budget. That's a pretty good chunk of change, especially
in this dame time.

Speaker 7 (16:07):
Harball.

Speaker 2 (16:08):
Of course, as we mentioned now, the coach of the
Chargers received a ten year show cause order that will
take effect after the four year show cause he received
in the previous case that was contact with a recruit
outside in a dead period, and together the penalties would
effectively prevent Jim Harball from returning to college football until

(16:31):
twenty thirty eight. To be honest, he probably is not
really bothered that much by that. He's back in the NFL.
He's coaching the Charges. He's probably going to finish his
coaching career in the National Football League, so that probably
doesn't bother him too much now.

Speaker 3 (16:50):
Searan Moore.

Speaker 2 (16:52):
Received a two year show cause order that includes a
total suspension of three games in addition to game school
and posed suspension for weeks three and four of the season.
Moore is also going to be suspended for the first
game of the twenty twenty six season, currently scheduled to
be played in Germany against Western Michigan.

Speaker 3 (17:17):
Connor Stallions.

Speaker 2 (17:18):
The former staffer received an eight year show cause that
pretty much bans him from participating in any athletic related
activities at an NCAA school and in a statement, his lawyer,
Brad Beckward, said the punishment was the result of a
rigged investigation about a completely irrelevant rule. It is our

(17:41):
opinion of the NCAA decided the penalties for Connor back
in the fall of twenty twenty three, when they went
public about their investigation a few days later after it started.
He said, So, anyway, that's the ruling that came down today.
So Sharon Moore three game suspension and in including two

(18:02):
games this year, it's games three and four. Interestingly enough,
not the opener, not Week two when Michigan plays at Oklahoma.
So that's noteworthy there, all right, Uh to continue, as
we were in uh hearing from Ryan Wingo. Uh you know,

(18:23):
Ryan was asked about uh the year two players like
himself from what do they talk about coming into this season?

Speaker 4 (18:31):
Well, like I said, I think our coaches prepare us
super well and then we've got a great defense. So
we're going against but I feel like it's one of
the best eavens in the country. Are going against the best,
We're going against the best corners. Uh brand that gotta
go against the best edge in the country, uh in Collin.

Speaker 5 (18:47):
So like we just we just get that that competition
every day.

Speaker 2 (18:52):
So we a lot of the questions is you know
the roads lead back with regard to Texas about our
Arch banning, and you know what's Arch thinking, how's he looking,
what's he doing?

Speaker 3 (19:03):
All this sort of stuff.

Speaker 2 (19:04):
And Wingo has asked what gives him confident confidence about
having Arch going in as the starter against Ohio State.

Speaker 4 (19:13):
I feel like he kind of proved that last year,
having to get thrown in and be a starter.

Speaker 5 (19:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (19:19):
I feel like you're going he'll be able to prove
it proof all the naysayers, Orrong, I feel like you're
gonna No.

Speaker 2 (19:25):
I don't know how many naysayers there are out there.
A lot of people are expecting big, big things from him.
There are those who feel that he's been a little
too much whatever, overrated, over hype. That's not Arch's fault,
that's not the offensive. All the media doing a lot
of that, fans doing a lot of that. But it
is what it is.

Speaker 8 (19:41):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
Parker Livingstone is one of those guys, young guys in
the program and he was asked in another Talented Receiver,
what has he seen from Parker Livingstone?

Speaker 4 (19:52):
H Parker Cole for sure, Parker Cole I got to
watch him a lot in the spring, and he was
like he was at MA targets.

Speaker 5 (20:00):
So he he.

Speaker 4 (20:02):
Did. He did good with all his targets, that being
uh choice shouts. He was taking him to the house
like he's really really showing out. So I'm I'm excited for.

Speaker 2 (20:11):
Parking Wingo had to sit out during the spring recovering,
rehabbing from injury and rest and all of the rehabits
he was going through. So what did he learn sitting
out spring practice?

Speaker 4 (20:23):
Like I said, I just got Like I said, I
got smarter. I think like being able to really watch
the defenses, really learn coverages, how to attack certain things, uh,
how to run routes uh based off the coverage stuff
like that.

Speaker 2 (20:36):
So yeah, and speaking to guys who had to come
back from injury, what does he seem from Cedric Baxter?
You know CJ coming off uh missing all of last
season and the surgery as he prepares to return at
running back.

Speaker 4 (20:49):
Uh, So I got to play with you for a
little bit last spring and then like a day or
two and fuck kemps, I never got to play with him.
And then being able to watch him like really run
the ball and see him open up. Yeah, he got
he got something coming for sure, it's gonna be it's
gonna be a good season for him, to a great
season for him.

Speaker 3 (21:07):
Yeah, that's that's pretty exciting to think about.

Speaker 2 (21:10):
Okay, so maybe that's a big difference between the offense
of last year and this year. What are the differences
that Wingo season between last year's offense and this year's.

Speaker 4 (21:19):
I feel like, yeah, I feel like our offices is
both super good, super versatile. I feel like Quinn was
cold last year, Arch code this year. So we'll see
at the end of the year. But I'll say we
say we even right now.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
Chris Jackson is the receivers coach for Taxes and so
Ryan Wingo has asked what has coach Jackson had him
Wingo focusing on during the off season.

Speaker 4 (21:43):
Really just because, like I said, becoming that complete receiver,
like I kind of said, Demo is like he getting
in out of breaks everything. So me is just focusing
on every little thing that's that's catching and it out
of breaks like does not you know what I'm saying,
Just really being a complete receiver.

Speaker 2 (22:00):
One thing that folks really get excited about is when
they see these videos, especially in the off season about
you know, with players, and there was one that had
Wingo and it had Arch there and it's gone viral.

Speaker 3 (22:16):
So you know what's his thought on all of that.

Speaker 4 (22:19):
I think in my mind was just really kind of
trying to put Saint Louis on the map, Like that's
really the goal.

Speaker 5 (22:24):
From that's been a goal.

Speaker 4 (22:26):
Like when we get out of there, you got like
top receivers in the league right now, like Luther Burri
and Jamison Williams, Like that's our goal is to put
Saint Louis on the map and let the younger guys
that's receivers running back. Everybody from Saint Louis just be
able to get like the opportunity that everybody else gets.
So I feel like being able to I guess you said,

(22:47):
like go viral from that was basically putting St.

Speaker 5 (22:50):
Louis on the map.

Speaker 3 (22:51):
Okay, so wing goes from Saint Louis.

Speaker 2 (22:53):
Arch of course is down river, you know, down the
missipis from New Orleans there, but it did get a
lot of attention. Wing goes another one of the those
guys who had Lasik surgery. And we've heard about football players,
baseball players, basketball players undergoing Lasik procedures to help them
see better. So can he see the football better since

(23:15):
he got the Lasik surgery.

Speaker 5 (23:17):
Oh, since I.

Speaker 4 (23:18):
Got Lasik, I can see a super well now.

Speaker 5 (23:21):
Like I could my eyes got corrected.

Speaker 3 (23:23):
So all right.

Speaker 2 (23:24):
We mentioned earlier about what he learned or how much
fun he had playing in ann Arbor against Michigan in
the Big House last year. So are their tools? Are
their pointers?

Speaker 7 (23:36):
Are there.

Speaker 2 (23:38):
Offensive or mental? You know tips that he was able
to pick up from playing in the Big House and
for that matter of the team getting ready to go
to Columbus.

Speaker 4 (23:52):
I feel like we played in a lot of like
big stadiums, big crowds, a lot of loud games, so
I feel like they also. I'm I never I've been
to the shoo like once for a visit, but I
think it'll be It'll be a good game.

Speaker 5 (24:06):
Be super loud, Yeah, be ready to play.

Speaker 2 (24:08):
Wingo is one of those guys, like most wide receivers,
especially younger guys, who likes to watch the next level
because after all, that's his dream as well. And we
hear Sark talk about this a lot about helping guys
try to achieve their dream of moving on to the
national Football League. So with that in mind, at his position,

(24:28):
who are some of the NFL receivers he likes to watch?

Speaker 5 (24:31):
For sure?

Speaker 4 (24:32):
Why James Williams that he's front the city, so like
seeing his vertical, thereat, seeing him take crosses to the house,
all stuff like that. Jamar Chase, he had bigger receiver
justin Jefferson Devia. It's a whole list I could name,
but those four for sure.

Speaker 2 (24:47):
Okay, So one thing that he was able to do
was switch to Jersey number one. Colin Simmons has done
the same. Is there any special significance to that.

Speaker 4 (25:00):
I hadn't want in high school size on it to
get it back. I didn't even know Colin was gonna
get it until.

Speaker 7 (25:07):
I had.

Speaker 5 (25:08):
Once I had got it, he had told me like
that same day, and yeah, you know, so, yeah.

Speaker 3 (25:13):
He wore number five last year. Okay.

Speaker 2 (25:14):
We live in a day and age in college football
of duplicate numbers, and that's that's one thing as a
broadcaster you have to make sure you're aware of.

Speaker 3 (25:23):
The Loghorns have some.

Speaker 2 (25:26):
Pretty significant duplicate numbers, you know, And really even in
the history going back of the last ten, fifteen, twenty years,
there has been that probably as prolific. A dual number
combo that I can think of was Colt McCoy and
Earl Thomas both wearing number twelve, But there have been

(25:46):
other ones like that. You think about this year, you've
got Arch Manning and Michael Tapp both wearing sixteen. But
the question for Wingo the number one for himself and
for Colin Simmons, is that the best number duo on
the team.

Speaker 5 (26:00):
Nah, Man, we are, we are even on his team.

Speaker 9 (26:02):
I'm not.

Speaker 4 (26:02):
I'm not putting nobody above nobody. So uh yeah, we
all got we got super good number duos. He got fives,
he got fours, We got all the numbers for everybody.

Speaker 1 (26:11):
Good.

Speaker 2 (26:13):
Yeah, that's a very nice answer there for a guy
who's a really nice young man as well, didn't want
to put himself above the team. Same can be said
about Arch Maanning. So he was asked how he's bond
as a receiver, not just receiver and quarterback, but just
to bond overall with Archbanning is developed.

Speaker 4 (26:30):
Yeah, I feel like, uh, me coming in our bond
was good because he used to takes me, try to
give me a commit stuff like that.

Speaker 5 (26:36):
So our poul was already good then and then.

Speaker 4 (26:39):
Like I say, he did come in my camp, so
it increasing there because like I said, we down there together,
so we're still talking to just about life stuff like that.
And then we up paying out in fall camp and
we got up pay together all day, so like gonna
keep increasing and then as the time going.

Speaker 3 (26:54):
So it has all of that.

Speaker 2 (26:55):
All of that helped Ryan Wingo get better going into
twin twenty five.

Speaker 5 (27:01):
I feel like I got better through.

Speaker 4 (27:04):
I think being able to watch, uh like being able
to watch demo work, being I watched like all the
freshmen work. Kind of like I said, it's being able
to I used to have the script like kind of
just getting smarter.

Speaker 5 (27:16):
Uh yeah, just good.

Speaker 3 (27:19):
All right.

Speaker 2 (27:19):
So when he came in with that big recruiting class,
how does it sit with him being compared to other
wide receivers of his class.

Speaker 5 (27:29):
I think I'm just focused on my own land right now.

Speaker 4 (27:31):
I'm not really worried about now outside receivers. I'm focused
on Texas and we got a big game game one,
So I'll just let you know the reported and stuff
talk about that, and I'm just focused on the game.

Speaker 3 (27:42):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (27:43):
Oryan of course has mentioned you know transitioning from Saint
Louis in high school to playing college football in Austin.
What's been the biggest adjustment from high school to college.

Speaker 4 (27:56):
I think it was a speed at first, and then
like they're way more aggressive up here, so trying to
get hands off of you. They were super handy up here,
so he had I speed, and then people are stronger.

Speaker 2 (28:09):
Last year, the long range went thirteen and three. They
had some standout moments, so did Ryan Wingo. So what
was his best moment last year?

Speaker 5 (28:17):
Best moment last year?

Speaker 4 (28:19):
I probably got like I think I got to winning
Oklahoma game, winning Texas A and M game, just being
able to hold the trophies that we had after them games.

Speaker 5 (28:27):
It's pretty cool.

Speaker 3 (28:28):
And individually.

Speaker 4 (28:31):
Now, I'm not really an individual guy. I'm a team guy.
So I think, like I said that, when that takes in,
and then win Oklahoma game.

Speaker 2 (28:38):
And the reporters keep asking them about the individual stuff,
he keeps deferring to the team approach overall. But he
was asked if he kind of hit part of that
freshman wall last year with a grind of practices in
the number of games.

Speaker 4 (28:49):
I think everybody hits a wall. I don't really know,
like a specific game that I did hit a wall.
I felt like I was pretty consistent throughout the season.

Speaker 3 (29:00):
So yeah, a couple more from Wingo.

Speaker 2 (29:02):
One, did his role change now with the team, both
logistically and in the leadership thing, moving from being coming
off the bench to being a regular starter.

Speaker 5 (29:13):
Nah, I mean it didn't really change too much.

Speaker 4 (29:16):
I'm still taking trying to take the top off, still
getting in the rounds, everything like that.

Speaker 3 (29:22):
So it's just more place, Yeah, more plays.

Speaker 2 (29:26):
So then that brings about in one final thing here
from Ryan Wingo about changing his approach to being a
starter and possibly the top target on this team.

Speaker 4 (29:35):
I just feel like my I feel like my approach
is just taking a day by day, working hard every day,
getting good looks for arts, that's specific routes, anything like that.
I just feel like lo and that we gonna have
a great connection. We got to get that through practice.

Speaker 2 (29:52):
And then it'll showIn again that's Ryan Wingo all right.
Coming up later in the program in uh the four
o'clock hour, we'll hear some other sound like from Jelani
McDonald and CJ. Baxter and Colin Simmons. We'll have all
of that coming up. But up next for Friday here
on thirteen under the Zone. Third and final hour of

(30:12):
the program this afternoon here on sports Radio AM thirteen
hundred The Zone. Glad to have you with us this afternoon.
Glad that you could be a part of the program today.
I mentioned at the top of the program that the
NCAA did hand down the punishment for Michigan and head

(30:34):
coach Run Moore in that sign stealing investigation. Michigan has
been hit with unprecedented fines that could surpass thirty million dollars. Now,
I know many of you probably said, eh, what's thirty
million dollars for college football program, especially one of the
ilk of Michigan. It still could wind up being, like
they said, about one tenth of their of their income

(30:56):
coming in, so it puts a dent in it. But
they don't have a postseason ban as part of the
punishment for that elaborate sign stealing scheme that was concocted
by the former staffer Connor Stallions, who got a ten
year show calls. It means basically, he's not going to
get back in to college coaching for at least ten years.

(31:21):
And the thing with Jim Harball, who got a ten
year show Actually it was eight years for Stallions, ten
years for Harball because of being a repeat offender that
effectively bars him from coaching in college football. And to
the year twenty thirty eight, Stallion's an eight year show cause.
So that's what happened with those guys as well. And

(31:46):
then additionally we mentioned what was going on in the
BMW Championships. Robert McIntire in the clubhouse with the lead.
He shot a sixty four. Today he is minus fourteen
for the event. Scotti Scheffler has moved in the sole
possession of second place. He's now nine under five under
for his round and he is playing the par four

(32:10):
fifteenth hole and we'll see how he does.

Speaker 3 (32:15):
We'll keep you posted on that.

Speaker 2 (32:17):
Also, we'll hear some more from long worn football players
coming up this hour. We've got some more sound to
bring you from some of the long worn football players,
so we will do that as well. And coming up
next we'll visit with Geene Watson from the Chicago White
Sox front office to talk Major League Baseball as it

(32:42):
rounds the far turn, you know, down the inside of
six weeks to go in the regular season. So we'll
do that Geene Watson will join us next. We'll continue
to take your questions on the text line as well.
And one other thing I wanted to do before the
break was to give you the opportunity to win a
pair of tickets to see Pantera and at least increase

(33:07):
your opportunity, increase your odds to do it.

Speaker 3 (33:12):
And this is how you do it. What you do
is you go to.

Speaker 2 (33:19):
Your smartphone, if you haven't already, you just download the
iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 3 (33:23):
It's very very easy to do. It's free.

Speaker 2 (33:26):
Once you download the iHeartRadio app, then you search AM
thirteen hundred the zone and that's real easy to do
as well, so you know, and it pops up just
like that. You'll see a little red button with a
white microphone.

Speaker 3 (33:41):
You tap that.

Speaker 2 (33:42):
That activates our talkback feature and you give us the
keyword for today, the keyword for today, and you leave
us a voice message with that talker and say, hey,
I was listening to the Craigway Show. I'd like to
win tickets for Pantera, and the keyword is wild.

Speaker 3 (34:00):
Wild. That's the keyword.

Speaker 2 (34:02):
To win a pair of tickets to see Pantera September
second at the Germania Insurance Amphitheater. All right, Coming up next,
Geane Watson joins us to talk Major League Baseball and
g know at Finway Park in Boston.

Speaker 3 (34:14):
We'll continue on thirteen under the Zone here on a
Friday afternoon.

Speaker 2 (34:17):
Glad to have you with us here, and Friday means
some regular installments, like our weekly conversation with a man
straight from the Chicago White Sox front office who joins
us directly from Fenway Park in Boston. Jean Watson on
the hotline. Now, where does Finway rank in terms of
your favorite ballpark list?

Speaker 7 (34:37):
Number one?

Speaker 9 (34:38):
Me jo, I'm bringing my I'm bringing my daughter for
the first time in her life, and I told her,
if I had to pick one ballpark to go to
every night for the rest of my life, this would
be the one.

Speaker 7 (34:48):
It's just a magical place it is.

Speaker 2 (34:50):
And I found myself, you know, because there's you've been
to every ballpark many many times, and I've I've been
all but just a scant few. But I found myself
having to split them in terms of the old classic
parks and the newer ones, and like of the new ones,
I really like Pittsburgh and Awful, I really love San
Francisco's Ballpark on Off Lot Baltimore, all out of that

(35:11):
newer age. But then when you get to the classic
ones like Wrigley Field and of course Fenway Park, it's
right up there at the top. And even with the
tight seating on all that, they've been able to get creative.
Have you ever been up on top of the Green
Monster in those seats? I have?

Speaker 9 (35:26):
I actually have about five years ago. My son and
I came right after his season end and we got
to go up top. We actually got to go in
the Green Monster and sign the wall. And there's a
very special dedication out in right field and the visiting
bullpen that Mario Rivera wrote that they last and it's
it's a really special place. And what makes it great

(35:48):
is the fans and the generation of fans. I compare
it to the Green Bay Packers in the NFL. It's
just a very sophisticated They know the game so well
and then the history of their organization so well, which
really makes it the most special place in baseball, no.

Speaker 3 (36:04):
Question about it.

Speaker 2 (36:05):
Geene Watson joining us here on the line, Okay, gin
I want to start our visit today with something that
we spend a little bit of time on especially with
regard to pitching from time to time. But I'm talking
about the macro overall, and that is health and injuries
and when guys like, for for example, Ronald Acunya Junior
who's been out with a cab muscle but he's now back.

(36:27):
Josh Hater won't be able to go for about three
weeks for the Astros. The Dodgers still have a multiple
guys on the injured list. There's other guys who have
been banged up around Major League Baseball. And I wanted
to give you an opportunity to describe for folks what
goes through a front office on how they have to
decide in consultation obviously with the manager of the ball club,

(36:49):
what you know, the wisdom that goes into whether you
put a guy on the il, on the injured list,
the call ups, how many call ups you can have
as it relates to running out of options with certain players.
I mean, because there's a real process here. It's not
just about oh, guys hurt, putting him on the injured
list and and just call up somebody. There's there's a

(37:12):
real process here in there.

Speaker 9 (37:14):
There is Craig and you know, it's a really fine line,
especially with today's player, because these players want to play
so badly. But really it begins with the consult of
the team trainer and the doctors and what they believe
the severity of the injury. Every injury has a grade
to it one to ten and really where the players

(37:34):
at with it. You know, a lot of it can
be you know, you got an off.

Speaker 7 (37:38):
Day the next day and maybe two to three days
to evaluate, let's.

Speaker 9 (37:42):
Go ahead and not put him on the il And
some of it can be you know, we got a
player that's hot in triple A and this is an
opportunity to give that player some at bats and get
a look and see if it might jumpstart us a
little bit. And so it's really a lot of conversation
collaboration between the team, team trainers, the general manager and

(38:02):
the manager to decide, you know, what the best decision
is for the course of the player.

Speaker 2 (38:06):
Yeah, look at you adding the ambulance sound for effect
there on that and talking about injuries, that's really nice.

Speaker 3 (38:13):
The uh, you know that the the whole thing.

Speaker 2 (38:18):
And for folks who don't understand about a team running
out of options with a player and what it ultimately
leads to with rule five with some with a with
a draft as well. I mean, that's that's a separate
science in and of itself, isn't.

Speaker 7 (38:30):
It one hundred percent?

Speaker 9 (38:32):
You basically have three years of a player being on
the forty man rostery where you you do, you have
to keep them after the third year.

Speaker 7 (38:38):
If you take them off, you lose them, and they
go through waivers and if they.

Speaker 9 (38:42):
Clear, you can send them triple A and a lot
of times guys will clear and then get put back
on the forty if if they have a prior outright,
the player in itself can elect free agency. And that's
that's a situation where you hope that you've done a
good enough job of being clear for your vision of
the player and that they want to stay. But but
it's just, you know, it's a rule that protects the

(39:03):
players that say you're sitting behind Derek Jeter or Itchy
Row or you know, you've got a player in your
position that's going to be just a pillar of that
organization for a long time. It allows that player to
have opportunities to go somewhere else and reach your ceiling
and their opportunity.

Speaker 2 (39:19):
Talking baseball with Geene Watson from the Chicago White Sox
front office here on thirteen hundreds, and all right, let's
jump to the bigs and let me let me get
your thoughts on a couple of Well, we'll go, we'll
go geographically, starting in the American eng Let's start in
the East.

Speaker 3 (39:34):
And I'm I'm this is true confessions.

Speaker 2 (39:36):
I'm gonna steal absolutely just steal straight from borrow from
a segment I saw on Sports Center this morning, and
I think it was Gary Streisk He was the anchor,
and he was he was visiting with a friend, a
mutual friend of both of ours, Tim Kirchin, national baseball

(39:58):
writer and reporter and one of the best of all time,
and he asked him who was in dire who was
more in trouble, the Yankees or the Mets. And I've
thought that Tim gave an interesting answer. He said, the
Yankees are in more danger of not making the playoffs,

(40:20):
but the Mets are just in a bad place, a
really bad place right now. So I want to get
your thoughts. We'll get to the Mets in the moment,
but let's talk about the Yankees in the American League East,
where Toronto holds a five game lead on Boston and
the Yanks are six and a half back and they've
dropped six.

Speaker 3 (40:34):
Of their last ten.

Speaker 9 (40:36):
I think it comes down to the quality of baseball,
and as we said before, like the identity of the
offensive profile of the Yankees just hasn't been there for
a while now. They don't play particularly good defense, The
offensive identity hasn't been great. They've got arguably on paper,
one of the best bullpens in baseball, but it hasn't performed.

Speaker 7 (40:56):
And so I think that it just takes a little
streak for them, a little run for them to get going.

Speaker 9 (41:00):
But every time they get a win and you think that, Okay,
here we go, they're going to go on a run,
it just goes the other way.

Speaker 7 (41:07):
The Mets, they have a very talented team. What the
Mets have that I.

Speaker 9 (41:11):
Think people are underestimating is like Nolan McLain is coming
up from Syracuse and he's going to make his major
league debut. They have three or four more pitchers and
position players of that ILK that are going to be
able to come up and really inject into this team
in the second half of August and September. And so

(41:31):
it's not a talent issue with the Mets. It's more
of a just an underperformance issue. I would view that
the same way as Tim, and that the Mets really
just haven't played great, but they've got the talent.

Speaker 7 (41:44):
The Yankees, it's a little bit more formidal issue in.

Speaker 9 (41:47):
That you know, they're not hitting, they don't particularly play
great defense, and they've got to try to bring that
all back together as as.

Speaker 7 (41:53):
Soon as they possibly can.

Speaker 2 (41:54):
Well, And to your point, and I guess to Tim's
when he said the Yankees might be in greater danger
missing the playoffs right now, the Yankees still hold down
the third wildcard spot, but only by a half game
of the surging Guardians, who are still trying to catch
up to the Tigers in the Central. Rangers are three
and a half back, Royals are four back, even the
Angels are five back. But you know, here's the Yankees

(42:17):
trying to hold off the Guardians right now, who have
won seven out of their last ten. And we talked
a little bit about them last week, but they're trying
to make a push toward the Tigers, who still have
the best record in the American League Central.

Speaker 9 (42:32):
I think just this American League wild card is going
to play a little bit tighter at the end than
most people think.

Speaker 7 (42:38):
I still think the Mets are the class.

Speaker 9 (42:41):
When they talk about the Mets and the Reds, to
the Reds lost Chase Burns to an injury. That's just,
you know, devastating one of their arguably one of their
best young pitching prospects, and you know, was really solidifying himself.
I still feel like the Mets are going to be
okay from a talent standpoint. But Tito francona man. Don't
count him out. He knows how to get it done

(43:02):
in September. But I still think the Mets will hang
on to that. I don't see much teams in naturally
this American League race, even to the Royals. This has
got a chance to play itself out to the last
week and I think we're gonna be sitting here in
the last weekend of the season and there's gonna be
two or three teams that are within one or two games,
and now all bets are off and you can throw

(43:23):
all out the window, and there's gonna be a ton
of scoreboard watching that last weekend.

Speaker 7 (43:28):
So between the.

Speaker 9 (43:29):
Royals, the Guardians, and the Rangers, I look for it
to be very, very tight all the way down to
the last day of the season.

Speaker 2 (43:37):
You mentioned the Rangers. It brings us to the American
League West, and even though they've fallen off the pace
in terms of the division race now seven and a
half back at the Asteroids. Is this developing into, as
you see it, a two team race over the final
six weeks between the Astros and the Mariners, who won
eight of their last ten and who held first place
or a share of it for one day before falling

(43:57):
back a game and app back.

Speaker 9 (44:00):
Yeah, I'm on record, the Mariners are my team. You know,
the World Series out of the American League has said
it August first. I'll say it again today. This team
built in October for a five or a seven game
when you can, you know, in a five and seven game,
when you can bring your starters back in leverage in
the bullpen.

Speaker 7 (44:17):
This is really a dangerous team.

Speaker 3 (44:19):
Now.

Speaker 7 (44:19):
You know, Eugenios Fez has got to get going since
they made the trade. He's not playing well at all.

Speaker 9 (44:24):
But Josh Naylor has been good up to the injury,
and he's back and he's had a lot of impact.
So they really went out and addressed the needs that
they needed to to get that lineup to where it
needed to be. They're playing great baseball. They've got one
of the best pitching staffs in all of baseball.

Speaker 5 (44:40):
There's a lot of.

Speaker 7 (44:41):
Synergy around that team. In Seattle.

Speaker 9 (44:43):
You talked about the do Old versus the New ballparks.
The end game in Seattle is second to none. It
is a rock and roll show and the player's feed
off of that. So it's going to be a competitive advantage,
you know, going into September October, and to me, this
is still the team in the American League to the
World's for me.

Speaker 2 (45:00):
Talking to Baseball with Gene Watson here on thirteen hundreds
un Let's jump to the National League. The Phillies have
been much better of late, even though they dropped three
in a row, they still have coming off that sweep
of them handed them by the Reds, who have suddenly
got hot again. But they still hold on a five
game lead because of the Mets struggles, having dropped ten
of eleven. Now, how do you see the Phillies as

(45:23):
it relates to the National League.

Speaker 9 (45:24):
East, Well, that's my that's my pick in the National
League go to the World Series. And I just think
that again, the roster is so talented and when you've
got starting pitchers that can take it to the seventh
and eighth inning every time they go out, and a
lockstep bullpen like they have in the lineup. It hasn't
particularly performed well over the last two weeks, but still

(45:46):
this is a very dangerous team. You know, every team
has their umps and downs and ebbs and flows throughout
one hundred and sixty two game season. But once you're in,
you know, everybody says, well, if you get in, you
have a chance. I don't believe that. Once you get
in and you've got three quality starters, a closer in
the middle of the lineup and play good defense, then
you have a chance to win it. And there's great

(46:07):
separation in the teams that get into October that have
and don't have that. But the Phillies do, the Mariners do.
And that's why I feel like they're the two teams
right now to keep an eye on.

Speaker 2 (46:17):
Interesting, fascinating when one takes a look at the Brewers
of late and you've been telling folks to keep an
eye and then they've they've won twelve in a row,
so now everybody even walk He's getting the free hamburgers
from George Webb. By the way, have you ever had
a George web hamburger there in the one? I have
it either, But apparently it's a hot commodity now since
the Brewers have won twelve straight far and away the
best record in all of baseball right now. And you've

(46:40):
mentioned how what a job Pat Murphy's done as the manager,
but you still kind of like the Phillies ahead of
the Brewers in terms of the Nation League postseason. Yeah,
in a.

Speaker 9 (46:49):
Season for October, I think the Phillies have the most
talented team. And what a story Andrew Vaughan has been
that since we traded him over to them, and Craig
it's a great testimony.

Speaker 7 (47:00):
I mean, I'm really close with Andrew, and he.

Speaker 9 (47:02):
Was trying so hard as the fourth overall pick to
just produce for the team that drafted him, and it
just wasn't happening, you know, sixty six percent round ball rate.
And he goes to Milwaukee, tweaks his swing, gets to
take a breath, puts on a new uniform, and absolutely
takes off. And that's that's why there's so much subjectivity
to all of this, because you know, you would have

(47:23):
never predicted he would do.

Speaker 7 (47:24):
This, and he went to Milwaukee right up the road,
and he's doing it and it couldn't happen to a
better person.

Speaker 2 (47:29):
Okay, now we're to the West. The team that your
son works for is red hot right now. The Padres
won five in the row, They won eight of their
last ten, and they have caught and now passed the
Dodgers for first place in the West. They're one game
up on LA, which has dropped four in a row,
including being swept at home by the Angels, who, by
the way, now have won, you know, seven in a

(47:52):
row against LA. Going back to last year, they swept
both series this year and lo and behold, here are
these two teams meeting at Dodger State starting tonight on
a weekend series. How about the Nation League West?

Speaker 9 (48:04):
Well, we talked about what it looked like in April
and May, with the intensity of the series, people getting
hit by pitches, you know, injuries. It was a pretty
intense series and I don't look for it to be
any different starting tonight. When you look at last year
and how close the Padres were to winning that series
and going on and arguably winning the World Series, I

(48:27):
think a j Preller went all in traded arguably the
number one prospect in all of baseball and Leo de Brize,
and he just said, look, we're all in and created
so much depth to that bullpen, and so much depth
and giving Mike Shield the opportunity to mix and match,
you know, when the bullpens come in in certain pockets,
to be able to go to your bench and encounter

(48:49):
with a bat off the bench. Those are the things
that Aj Preller focused on the deadline and just executed incredibly.
And so you look at one game from last year
and you look at how the Dodgers have kind of
been rolling and where the Padres are as an organization,
it would tell you that the advantage truly has gone
to the Padres. But but Dave Roberts, I wouldn't count

(49:10):
that manager and that roster.

Speaker 7 (49:12):
Out in October.

Speaker 9 (49:13):
But it's going to be a great stretch down the
run into October for these two teams.

Speaker 2 (49:16):
Which of these weekend series I think I know the
answer to this, but I still want to I still
want to get your, uh your input on this. Which
of these weekend series holds the most intrigue for you?
Might it be uh Milwaukee at surging Cincinnati Texas at
Toronto or Seattle with.

Speaker 3 (49:38):
The Mets or the Dodgers and Padres.

Speaker 7 (49:42):
No, I think the Dodgers and Padres, and it's not
even close.

Speaker 9 (49:46):
You could say that there's a little bit of statement
for the Reds to go and play the Mets and
play well against the Mets, there's a little bit of
statement there. But the Dodgers and Padres, that's that's great
separation of two of the best teams in Bay Ball
versus everybody else in the league.

Speaker 2 (50:02):
He's Gene Watson from the Chicago White Sox joins us
each week to talk Major League Baseball great stuff.

Speaker 3 (50:07):
Jude, Hey, have a lobster roll for me this weekend, would.

Speaker 9 (50:10):
You don We just went to Cheers and now we're
gonna go into the ballpark right now.

Speaker 3 (50:14):
There you go, Thanks ten, I appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (50:16):
Okay, thanks care correct, all right, that's Gene Watson, play
a personnel director of the Chicago White Sox.

Speaker 3 (50:22):
Cheers is a real place, the real bar.

Speaker 2 (50:24):
You can actually go go to that place if you
got to, you know, became fond of it through the
television series.

Speaker 3 (50:32):
It's there. It's a real place, all right.

Speaker 2 (50:34):
Coming up next, we're gonna hear from long worn football
players when we continue on thirteen under the zone.

Speaker 3 (50:38):
Updating the BMW Championship.

Speaker 2 (50:40):
Robert McIntyre still in the clubhouse with the lead after
shooting sixty four today, he is minus fourteen. Scottie Scheffler
in sole possession of second right now minus ninety, does
have a par puck coming up on the par three
seventeenth hole. It's got a five hundred first round this afternoon.
Missed out on a birdie opportunity to par five sixteenth
now on the par three seventeenth actually hit his t

(51:03):
shot into the bunker, but almost chipped in out of
the bunker into the hole, went just past it and
is at minus nine. A guy making a move on
the board is Rory mclroy. He was in black figures.
He was plus on his round going into the back nine,
but now has turned it around and he has picked
up five shots to parr since then, including an eagle

(51:25):
on that par five sixteenth.

Speaker 3 (51:27):
He is minus four in the tournament and again.

Speaker 2 (51:30):
Robert McIntyre of Scotland went sixty two yesterday, sixty four today.
He's in the clubhouse here in the BMW Championship minus fourteen.
Scotti Scheffler looking to tap in for Parr to remain
in sole possession of second place at nine under. That's
on the par three seventeenth hole, and that would be
going to number eighteen. Let's hear some more from long

(51:52):
worn football players. Joelani McDonald is the guy's exciting a
lot of folks with what he can do there in
the secondary.

Speaker 3 (52:00):
And he was asked, uh, you know why.

Speaker 2 (52:02):
Coaches have pointed to him, pointed out or mentioned by
name as a possible breakout player for this team.

Speaker 10 (52:11):
Because I got good size, I'm very I guess, I'm
very versatile. I'm just I bring a lot of energy
when it comes to the defensive side. So just being
able to play checkers with me is is some is
some that does very very positive effet guess for the team.

Speaker 2 (52:32):
McDonald wore number twenty five last year. He switched to
number four this year. Why number four?

Speaker 5 (52:37):
Oh, I mean, I feel like.

Speaker 6 (52:38):
That's the core, that's that's that's just why how I
came up Just being folk. I'm folk, so as me as.

Speaker 5 (52:46):
It all right.

Speaker 3 (52:47):
Uh, let's move back over to the offense, and here
from CJ. Baxter.

Speaker 2 (52:50):
Of course, he had the knee injury and had to
go through the whole rehab process as well, and he
was asked to describe what that was all about, taking
everybody through that rehab process.

Speaker 5 (52:59):
Who it was.

Speaker 8 (53:01):
Definitely it was a lot, you know, more mentally than physically.
Of course, I'm not even go see and you know,
sugarcoat it, but the first two months were very brutal,
you know, mentally, like watching the games. I had surgery
the week before the first game, so I had to
stay home and watch them the couch because I couldn't
move around as much, and it was it was hard,

(53:21):
Like it was hard for me to watch football. It
was it was hard for me to do a lot
of things, you know, like I was really just sting
on my butt, you know, I couldn't do much at all.
But man, when I look back on it now, is
I'm not glad that I got injured, but I'm grateful
for what it does, what it did for me mentally, physically, spiritually, spiritually,
things like that.

Speaker 3 (53:41):
So yeah, yeah, that's an interesting take on that.

Speaker 2 (53:44):
I'm not glad I got injured, but I'm glad for
what it did for me mentally, spiritually, all of those
kinds of things.

Speaker 3 (53:50):
So what really got him through the process.

Speaker 5 (53:53):
The man above, my.

Speaker 8 (53:54):
Faith, the staff, coaches, players, my teammates. The list goes
on on the trainers, Daryl O'donald Cosark did an amazing job,
Kevin Carroll, He'd be around a lot. I can literally
name a million people, but really those people like I
never felt a loan through the process. My parents, they
did a great job.

Speaker 5 (54:15):
My girlfriend, she took care of me. So it was
I was never alone, all right.

Speaker 2 (54:18):
And then another thing he was talking about and you
heard him make mention to it in that first cut
about being around his teammates. Don't remember he had to
go through the whole rehab process. As he mentioned, he
wasn't even able to go to the first couple of games.
I was on the couch for That was kind of
difficult through that. But then is the season progress, you
started to see C. J. Baxter on the sidelines around

(54:41):
his teammates and offering them encouragement and things of that.

Speaker 3 (54:46):
Is that nature is well?

Speaker 2 (54:47):
A lot of players said they really took a lot
from that. What about the benefit that it accrued to
Baxter being around the team while he was still rehabbing.

Speaker 8 (54:57):
Because I mean, I'm more than just you know, I
want to make plays, but I like seeing other people
make plays.

Speaker 5 (55:03):
I Mean, I feel like the.

Speaker 8 (55:06):
If I'm around and I'm encouraging everybody, I feel like
my voice is kind of big. I feel like I
have a good relationship with everybody on the team. So
if I'm encouraging them and I'm saying stuff tell them
while I'm going through a tough time, then I think
they can think of all right, if he's able to
bounce back from that and look at the light to
this situation, then I know I can. So that was
the real big thing. And I mean these guys, they

(55:28):
they had my back. So I feel like I had
to have it back even though I wasn't playing physically,
I still had to have it back on the sideline
being verbal with things like that.

Speaker 2 (55:35):
Okay, there was a couple other ones. You know, I've
heard coaches say this a lot. When you come off
a knee injury and surgery, you got to go through
that moment when you are back in practice. Maybe you
take a hit, maybe you go down whatever, or maybe
you have to make a cut, you know. Hearing Rory
Harvey talking about it with the women's basketball team. So

(55:57):
was there a moment in practice for she J. Baxter
once he got back on the practice fiel, where he
knew he was gonna be okay.

Speaker 8 (56:03):
Not really like a moment. I feel like I put
in the work for me to not not to have
any doubts. Really like I haven't doubted myself at all.
I think the thing I put the work out. I
mean I had a year of rehab, so that was
to me. That was the whole point of rehabbing or
injury was so that I don't have any doubt or
you know, to get stronger and become better.

Speaker 2 (56:24):
If you followed the Texas softball team, you saw the
log Worns go all the way through and win the
national championship. We also learned about Mia Scott playing through
a torn ACL and CJ. Baxter will tell you he
did learn some things from me.

Speaker 3 (56:40):
Uh, you know, she tough.

Speaker 8 (56:42):
She she played on the you know, torn acl. I
don't know how she did it. H No, she's super tough.
I mean she always missed with me about it. She'd
be like, how come I could play on it but
you can't, so things like that. But I mean, I
mean she didn't she she didn't have surgery, so you

(57:03):
know she's able to do it. I had surgery, so
I had the little set back, but nah, she she
pushed me. If anything, when it was days I didn't
want to get up and you know, feeling lazy, she
made me get up. And then since she's won the
national championship, her her trophy is on my nightstand. So
every morning I wake up, that's the first thing I
see because she said I gotta go win one.

Speaker 3 (57:24):
So yeah, all right, so there you go. And then
finally for CJ.

Speaker 2 (57:29):
So after getting back on the field, following the surgery,
following the rehab, going through all that, and then getting
back on the practice field, can he say he's one
hundred percent?

Speaker 8 (57:39):
Yeah, I felt great. Uh, one day at the time
is the big the big saying I like to I
like to say every day, just one day at a time.

Speaker 7 (57:49):
Co start.

Speaker 8 (57:50):
The training staff, they wouldn't put me in if I
wasn't ready to go. So I felt great.

Speaker 6 (57:55):
Uh.

Speaker 8 (57:55):
I joke with my dad. I was more excited to
get tackled and score a touchdown.

Speaker 3 (57:59):
So all right, So there's from c J. Baxsman.

Speaker 2 (58:02):
Now let's hear from Colin Simmons. Now all sophomore, So
you get along in the tooth right after having that
outstanding freshman season in fact for a National Freshman of
the Year. Uh and uh.

Speaker 3 (58:12):
And he was asked about Lyle and Clark and what
he has brought to the team.

Speaker 9 (58:18):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (58:18):
He brings the energy every single day. He brings the
energy starting off the meetings would get better every day.
So that's that's just our focus right now. Is one
percent better each and every day.

Speaker 5 (58:29):
I kind of pig back chick question.

Speaker 9 (58:31):
I'm not sure that a year to look back at it,
how much more well rounded the player are now?

Speaker 3 (58:37):
Yeah? How much more well rounded?

Speaker 2 (58:39):
Well, that goes into the next question, what does it
take to start as a freshman as he did in
sec play.

Speaker 3 (58:48):
Like he just like he just got saying confidence.

Speaker 6 (58:50):
You gotta have confidence in yourself to be being the
trenches with them big dogs. I mean, you know, it
doesn't take much. You know, of course, you got to
have a skill, love, you gotta have the you know,
the strength and the and the way and stuff like
that to hold your hold your own back the end
of the day.

Speaker 3 (59:04):
You got to have that confidence.

Speaker 2 (59:05):
And you know, reporters are going to ask him about
the comfort level and how much does that help with
regard to the confidence.

Speaker 6 (59:17):
My confidence drives me. That's that's that what makes who
you know, Colin Simmons, that makes me so so.

Speaker 3 (59:23):
How much more comfortable then is Colin hell a comfortable?

Speaker 6 (59:30):
I feel way more way more comfortable than I was
my freshman year, especially with knowing the playbook and and
just you know, flying around out there having fun and
you know that that's the really, that's really the main
thing with me is just having fun out there. I
don't want to think it's like a job or anything
or like you know, something that I have to do.
You know, just go out there and have fun doing
I'm supposed to do, do my assignment and you know,

(59:53):
get better as a team.

Speaker 2 (59:54):
It's one thing to have the fun, and it's another
thing also obviously to have the ability. There's there's also
that work ethic, especially, says Simmons, the things that make
you work out through the little things that can keep
you from reaching your ultimate goals.

Speaker 6 (01:00:09):
I wouldn't particularly say that I definitely was worried about
the little things. When my coach, when PK, brought it
to my attention that I got to focus on the
little details and stuff like that to make myself be
a better player. And I just want to say that, like,
I just took the next step in the next level
of you know, focusing on the little things.

Speaker 3 (01:00:30):
Yeah, makes a big deal.

Speaker 2 (01:00:32):
And then one more from Colin Simmons coming off the
edge and putting the hand down and the dirt as
they like to say, Uh, you know what kind of
effect does that have on him and what he wants
to do.

Speaker 5 (01:00:44):
You would definitely see my hand in the dirt.

Speaker 6 (01:00:47):
Well, my coach definitely sees my get off being given
faster than when I'm in a two point stance in
the league, my hand would be in the dirt, so
while not working out, So yeah, I did. I had
it down my whole till senior year when I started
realizing that these edges in the league is standing up
all right.

Speaker 2 (01:01:07):
So there it is from Colin Simmons, N CJ. Baxter
and Jelina McDonald