Hour 3 Flock University Take Over

As the Firebirds take on the West Texas Desert Hawks tonight, Levack and Goz air this week Flock University, the Albany Firebirds coaches show to get you ready for tonight's action 

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Short weeks, like like this weekwe had, you know, our week
two was a short week. Uh, we've got this week is a short
week. It's those are tough games, and so, uh you know,
for us as a coaching staff,it's just keeping our players healthy. That's
the most important part. And soI think we've done that for the most
part. Is keeping our guys healthy. And uh, you know, we're
looking forward to another fun game onFriday night. Fun game on Friday night,

(00:24):
and we will get to the previewof that game, of course.
But first thing is our quarterback numberfive walking in right now, Jake Medlock.
It's I got to Derry Townsend.Like everybody's walking in they I love
these guys. Man, you're tellingthis pizza available, our guys will show
up and they rock out. Ienjoy it. That's that's why I love
this team. I can relate tothem. Uh. Just a great group
of guys. It's cu Genus pizzaiais. It's a family vibe. You

(00:46):
know, it's it's it's you know, tables, it's you know, it's
the it's got the the red,the green, the Italian feel to it.
It feels good to have our family. This this team feels a lot
like a family. Absolutely. Wegot a great group of guys that came
here to the cow. We'll reachinga bunch of guys that they all they
like each other, We like beingaround each other, and so that's always

(01:07):
great. The last couple championship teamswe had were like this, that they
enjoy each other, they respect eachother, and ultimately you win together.
So that's an important thing absolutely,all right. So so coach, let's
let's let's kind of let's kind ofcatch people up on where we are and
how we got here. Again,we are alive from Kajinos. We'd love
you stop bio, grab some pizza. Uh just found out about the Huge

(01:27):
lou Challenge, right, okay,all right? So the Huge Lose Flu
Challenge is a five pound cal zonethat you have to eat in thirty minutes.
How much damage could you do inthirty minutes? I think only about
half of that still two and ahalf pounds. That's not right, Like

(01:48):
everybody looks at me like you're fat. You can probably eat a lot.
I could eat a lot. Ican't eat fast. Yeah, like thirty
thirty minutes, i'd be in Ithink I probably get about halfway through and
be laying on the ground crying,right being a food coma. You know
that bread blowing up in there?Oh brutal well. And the worst part
is it, I'm sure it's amazing. You watch everybody eating here. We
have a sample jet. We're goingto it a little bit. You see
everybody smile and join themselves. There'snothing worse than not liking great tasting food

(02:12):
because you ate five pounds of itin forty minutes. Yeah, it's a
bit much. Come on down,pet yourself the loop, Yeah, and
do your thing. We'll be hereto watch it. Which one of our
guys you think would have the bestchance of actually taking down the Huge lou
challenge? It's probably not the bigguys. It's always like, it's always

(02:35):
like the little guys who can eat. Yeah, Like like Verry Tony,
I bet you, Farian could fivepound cow zone thirty minutes? Could you
eat it? Could you eat afive pound cow zone in thirty minutes?
He goes, You know the problemis our director of game dayops you couldn't
do it. I guarantee you can'tdo it. We might have to let

(02:57):
him try. I think we shouldlet him try. I think this has
become a thing. I think he'she's already and though we got to bring
him back another time when he's gotany stomach. All right, so we
know what the next episode of LockUniversity Live from Kachinos is gonna be about.
Uh, lou all right? Soso coach, we we get we
get to three and oh, Iknow there was a debate whether or not

(03:20):
we wanted to even take the fourthfit where how did we get to three?
And oh, where where are we? How do we get to that?
Before we even had a chance toplay our third game? I mean,
we've beat three opponents. That's howwe got to three. And oh
we beat a very good Orlando team, a very good or Nashville team,
and ultimately South of West Kansas Storm. We took care of those those challenges

(03:43):
and came out on top. Ultimately. Again, the worst part was the
Minnesota game. Ultimately, we werescheduled to go to Minnesota, and we
booked our tickets and we were readyto go and enjoy the Twin Cities as
much as we could, and uh, ultimately they couldn't do it. They
had the Minnesota de simber Wolves planin their arena. So we brought the

(04:03):
game back here to the Capitol region, which was great. You know,
nobody can complain about another home game, and then ultimately they couldn't do that
as well, and ultimately folded andand that's an unfortunate thing. And it's,
you know, just a part ofthe game you just never want to
see. It's you know, there'sa lot of moving parts in the course
of the season, and the lastthing you want to see is somebody fold

(04:26):
shop and run a date that you'vegot with your home crowd. So luckily
it was a bonus game, itwasn't that big of a deal, but
but still it's it's it's not afun moment to go through those things and
ultimately have a bye week on aon a week that you didn't think you
were going to have one. Allright, So I see people trying to
correct me to four and oh,I know how we got to Fouri and
oh and that was a sixty sixto fifteen win over the South of West

(04:47):
Kansas store coach this game, Ilove when I sound like I know what
I'm talking about, and it's rare, but I have been mentioning like I
saw what you and the other coachesin the guys were building in practice.
I saw it click more. Youknow, the overtime win over the Predators,
that was just that. That wasgut. That was great. That

(05:08):
the determination. Then it was theyou know, the game against Nashville where
the ball bounce is the wrong waya couple times, and all of a
sudden, we look like we're introuble, and we get that done in
a pretty commanding fashion. I said, we look like we were clicking,
and when we did click, itwas me a problem, Holy clicks like
this? Could you have drawn thatone up? Anybody? At the sixty

(05:28):
six fifteen win over the Storm.I mean, as a coach, you're
never satisfied. You know, you'renever as satisfied as you think you are,
and it's never as bad as youthink it is. But but ultimately
our ceiling is still higher. Westill got a lot of work to do
to be a great football team.We still had several errors throughout the course
of the game, but ultimately itwas a It was a three phase game,

(05:50):
and we played well in all threephases and allowed us to win the
game. So again, it's alwaysexciting. Getting wins is the most important
part, obviously, and we wereable to do that, but we're still
need to force forward, still needto play our best football. Ultimately for
us, our goal is to playour best football the second half of the

(06:11):
season. We're still technically in thefirst and like I said, we're gonna
play a very good team in theWest Texas Desert Hawks who have a great
roster, and uh, you know, let's see what happens with that challenge,
coach, let's let's talk quarterback room. So Jake Medlock, has he
always run because he I mean,he's he's a threat through the air and
he's a threat on the ground.Has he always been a running kind of

(06:31):
quarterback? So, yeah, he'salways been an athletic quarterback, not a
running quarterback somebody that looks to run, but but but somebody that when all
things break down, the pocket breaksdown, he can go out and get
yardage. And he's a bigger,stronger quarterback, and he's done a great
job of rolling out of the pocketwhen he needs to and running the ball
and and getting us first downs andtouchdowns when we need them. So again,

(06:55):
like he's when he when he gothere, the joke was he's built
like a linebacker. He runs likea linebacker. He hits, he looks
for contact. When you're out thereon the headset calling the plays and you
see medlock number five looking for contact, is it under the breath or out
loud that you're swearing at him?So obviously we talk about the quarterback roma
was just not taking unnecessary shots.But when we're in control the things,

(07:18):
and you know, again I understandthe maxia of it, the attitude it
takes to run somebody over and geta touchdown, I can appreciate that as
well. But obviously we don't wantour quarterbacks to take any unnecessary shots.
All it takes is one good hitand things can change in a hurry.
But you know, we're doing agreat job obviously with our backup. You

(07:41):
know, it was a great youknow, we wanted to get lou a
chance to play in a high pressuresituation. We wanted to know what we
got. We feel tremendously about whatEvan Lewandowski's done throughout the training camp.
So, like I said about midwaythrough the second quarter, I said,
no matter what happens, you getin the second half. And you know,

(08:03):
ultimately we were able to pull aheadand get a good lead. But
still you know close enough where it'sa high pressure situation. Evan came in
one seven for ten through for fourtouchdowns, and so he showed that he
is the future here and we're excitedto have him that. I mean,
the old saying is if you havetwo quarterbacks, that means you don't really
have one. It's not true inthis game though, right No, we've

(08:24):
got two excellent quarterbacks that we couldwin games with. And it's we got
a one A and one B andthat's a great thing to have. Obviously,
you always need to have two quarterbacksat your disposal. You never know
how things go. Obviously, knockon wood. We never want an injury
to happen to our sigamal caller.But you know, you've got to have
two guys ready to play. It'sa long season, it's a sprint again

(08:48):
with minimal bye weeks. Obviously,you've got to have two guys that can
spin it, and we do that. Have two guys that are that are
great players and can move us downthe field. It's Flock University live from
Cougenus Pizzeria Wrenstler. We're having agreat time. The guys are all enjoying
the food right now. I dolove that everybody's got a salad, smart,
everybody's everybody doing the right thing.And of course it is a floggy

(09:09):
version which can be heard on FoxSports Radio ninety five and nine eighty.
Coach. This will be a specialedition because the game is on Friday.
We normally are aired Saturday morning atnine am. Guys has told me this
will air before the game on Fridaynight, so we will be on there
so to goble to hear it there. So tell us a little bit more
about Lewandowski's Is he athletic? Doeshe run like we're because again I've seen

(09:31):
him in practice, but I've neverseen anything like what we saw with the
four dutchdown passes. So you know, I haven't played at Wisconsin Whitewater,
a very good quality Division III school. You know he's on his film he
was very athletic, you know,a pocket passer, but somebody that could
get out of pocket and make plays. And he's done that for us.

(09:52):
And we want both of our quarterbacksto understand that, hey, there's at
times things will break down and wewant you to go be an athlete.
And so we've got two guys thatwhen they need to go be an athlete,
they can do that. Yeah,it's the same with the team president.
You know, I just got itwhenever I'm needed. I just I'm
very, very spry for a fatguy, all right. So also,
I mean, here we go anotheranother great performance from Darius Prince. You

(10:18):
know, I've heard a lot ofa lot of like jokes. I've told
a lot of jokes about Darius,but like when will he slow down?
The guy's tough as Dal's. I'veseen him wrapped in ice and stem packs
and everything else and then go catchfive touchdowns. Like how does he continue
to do this? He's the toughestreceiver in the game right now. There's

(10:39):
just nobody that will go attack offootball like him. And again, his
body hasn't taken a lot of abuse. I mean, he was a college
basketball player, so a lot ofthat abuse that would have happened during college
football he did not sustain. Andso his body's right at his prime right
now. And so you know,everybody you know thinks they can they can
stop him and keep him out ofthe end zone. But we have a

(11:01):
lot of unique ways of getting himthe football, and he never disappoints.
I've been hearing that more and morefrom these other teams, these other fan
bases, that there's some player likesome it's always number such and such can't
wait to get a hold of numbersix, and this that like what what
do they see? What do youthink they see? That things that these

(11:22):
don't believe they're the guy who mightbe able to slow him down. And
I get it when it's when you'retalking about your team, you've got to
say those things that you can slowdown somebody that's dominant. But you know,
we've got a very diverse offense.We we do a lot of different
things, a lot of innovative things, and a lot of other people don't
do. So we got a lotof ways that we can get number six
to the ball. And he's sucha team guy. It's he's not looking

(11:46):
to get the ball every play andhe's he has no problem being a decoy
for for four quarters and as longas he gets a couple of touches,
he's more than happy to to dothose things for the team. Ultimately,
all he wants to do is win. And that's uh. You know again,
you know that you've got a greatguy when when you know, they're
like that when they're like, Idon't care about my individual statistics, I

(12:07):
just care about team goals. Andso, uh, he's one of those
players that people probably wouldn't understand thathe literally would be a decoy for four
quarters if he needed to be towin a game. And then we've got
you know, Mark Halway, DarianTowns are just throwing Farry and Tony.
These are all guys that would beones on almost every other team in this
league. And they're like one they'reone bees. You know, they're right

(12:28):
there, But like, what doesit take to get those guys is there?
Dude? Are they chomping at thebit to play with a Darius Prince
or do you have to convince themthat they're gonna get theirs too? You
know, it's tough, and that'suh, we go through that in the
recruiting process that coming here is atough place to play. We have the
best athletes in the country that comehere to the Capitol Region and want to

(12:50):
win championships. So coming in hereyou have to be a team first guy.
You cannot be worried about individual statisticsand come here and do a good
job. And so we do havea lot of athletes that could be superstars
on other teams. Uh, theychoose to be with us because they want
to win and ultimately, again,you know, you look at Darien Townsend

(13:13):
last couple of games. We foundsome ways to be able to get him
involved in the offense and catch touchdownsand he had you know, three touchdown
catches from Evan Lewandowski in the secondhalf. Those are those are big moments
and we'll we'll continue to just beinnovative and find our playmakers a way to
get the ball and be successful.And so you know, you can shut
down one, but we really dohave six receivers that could light up the

(13:35):
scoreboard at anytime before we get intoyou know, next week's game and all
of that. Uh, what's thewhat's the thing that, like, coach,
what you're breaking down the film hereat Flock University, What's something that
you saw that you're like, Iwish everyone else noticed our guys do this
or this guy did that. Likethere's because I know there's always something that's
underappreciated when you look at great athletes. You know, for years it was

(13:56):
blocking, Like nobody paid attention toblocking, Like what is it our team
does that people just don't notice.I mean, it's everything. You know,
we take the game very serious.We we put in an eight hour
day every day on football. Andso it's it's the little things, it's
the little details. It's the preparationthat that makes us who we are here.

(14:18):
You know, we're a special placeand we have a special culture.
And so there's not one thing inparticular that I would say is you know,
I'd like people to to to realizeor see, but just watch across
the board. A. Our playerslove to play the game of football.
They love to be uh with theAlbany Firebirds, and they play every snap
like it could be their last.And that's that's an important piece. Flock

(14:41):
University head coach didn't wear here.The guys are enjoying some food at Puginos.
I didn't notice. Even Medlock,he's still throwing passes. He got
everybody on a napkin. He's he'sstill taking care of his guys. He's
still a team leader. Vibe alwaysalways there for you, Uh, coach
the we we have the new playerscoming in too as well. Correct.
Yeah, you know, there's alwaysa need to make a couple of small

(15:03):
adjustments to the roster. I'm bigon keeping our guys together, and so,
uh, it does take a lotfor me to change some pieces on
the roster, but sometimes it's necessary. And so we let go of a
couple of linemen Bam and Joe Banaftigreat, you know, rookie, great,
great kid, you know, he'sright there. But again we we

(15:24):
felt that we could be a littlebit better there. And also Justine Smith
another offensive lineman that we let gothis week. Ultimately we brought in,
uh, you know, Dwayne Wallace, kid that started games for San Antonio
the XFL last year. There's alot of these kids out there that from
the USFL and XFL merger that justdon't have a place to play in and

(15:48):
that's you know, also part ofthe reason why just you know, when
we talked to all one of ourshows about all the negativity out there,
we need all these places to playbecause there's not enough places for kids to
play. And so Wayne Wallace isone of those kids. Played at CAL.
He's had a great career, beenwith you know, obviously San Antonio
of the XFL, and and ultimatelyagain he just hasn't been able to crack

(16:10):
that that seal on getting into theUFL. Ultimately, he's a great football
player. We wanted to bring himin here and and add him to a
great culture. Uh. He's comein, enjoyed himself, He's having a
great time and UH he'll be uha part of our roster going forward.
Uh. We also picked up adefensive lineman. Great kid, another kid
you know, started with the uhyou know Saint Louis BattleHawks of the XFL

(16:33):
last year. Uh in Eric Hanson. Eric Hanson's from Upper Iowa. UH
has you know, the single seasonsack record, a single game sack record
at Upper Iowa, has played inthe XFL. He's another kid that's just
right there at the edge of ofgetting back into the UFL. You know.
For me, as I've always said, I'm gonna bring in the best
athletes in the country and we're gonnaproduce uh, you know, a great

(16:56):
culture and a great football team.And so any chance that I can get
to upgrade our roster and make ourroster even better as we each inch forward
towards the playoffs, I'm gonna doit. And so signing two kids with
that caliber was a no brainer forme. And we're really excited to have
them on our team. It's it'salmost you know, Listen, a lot
of people have taken credit for alot of things in the Albany market when

(17:18):
it comes to arena football, whenit comes to everything, you have this
pipeline of young talent that looks upto you, that that wants to that
wants to play for you. Likethe amount of emails I get from Hey,
I was on this team, I'mI would just I would just like
a chance to talk to coach whereyou know, how how do you build
that? Because it's something that it'sa it's a level of respect that you

(17:42):
just don't see in a lot ofplaces. You gotta take care of your
guys. I'm uh, you know, I'm old school, but I'm still
a player's coach, and ultimately Ihave a plan for every single player that
walks through our door, and thatit takes time. It's it's in the
way we recruit. We recruit alittle differently than everybody else. Does you

(18:02):
know. We take these kids throughthe ringer before we decide to bring them
in. As I always say,the kid's got to really, really really
want to be here before I'll actuallyget him signed to a contract. I've
got to feel that love for thecapital region and and wanting to be here
and so but ultimately it's about make, you know, building value in these
kids. And that's one thing I'vedone over my career is you know,

(18:22):
I've been a lot of places andI've created a lot of value for players.
And so ultimately, you know,what, what does most of the
players want to do. They wantto come into a league like this and
ultimately want to shot at you know, moving up to you know, currently
the UFL, the CFL or theNFL. And so, uh, you
know, I've I've produced a lotof players that I've been able to move
up and so again building that value, knowing that you can come in someplace

(18:45):
and somebody's gonna teach you the game. They're not gonna, you know,
treat you a n a foul mannerand and they're gonna be all about the
game and they're gonna have a planfor you. And that's and that's the
key thing is I truly uh youknow, and every coach that you know,
I make them participate in that processsays we want to know every little
detail about a player. Obviously,all these players come in with weaknesses and
strengths. We want to make surethat we have a plan for every little

(19:07):
detail of that. And that's youknow, that's part of what we do
here. And that's that that youknow, that gets out and that gets
out in the open, and playerswant to come play for a coach that
does that. All right, SoFlock University Live Caujino's Pizzeria right here in
Rents for two forty Broadway. I'mgonna ask you a question that like I
don't even want to ask. Whyis it Arena football for you? You

(19:30):
obviously have a pathway to outdoor ifyou want, Like you talk about our
guys working hard, getting a chanceto move up UFL, CFL, you
know, possibly NFL. Why haveyou chosen this level of football for your
expertise? You know, I've beenat all the higher levels and it and
it takes a great deal of time. And you know, my biggest thing
is I'm a family guy, andso you know, to have you know,

(19:55):
my son's got one more year ofhigh school. He'll go into a
senior year next year. Obviously thatwas the most important thing for me and
and Arena football. Obviously it's ina time where I can still be a
part of my my family's life ona regular basis, and still take my
son to school every morning, andthen again I get in my busy period
and then for a short time,and then it's summertime, and and again

(20:18):
my son can can spend the restof the time with me. So uh,
you know, those those are partof the reasons why you choose to
be, you know, in arenafootball. But you know, when you
build something special, it's it's I'venever been the one to have one foot
out the door. And a lotof people do that. They coach and
they're always looking for what's that nextopportunity or whoever gives me a job,
I'm going to be out of here. And I've never coached like that.

(20:41):
Maybe when I was a young coach, you feel like that, But but
as I've matured, how do youcoach with one foot out the door?
You don't. You won't give yourall to something if you're always looking for
something else. And so, asI said, when I came to the
Capitol Region right after COVID, itwas just special because a year of football
was taken from me. And whenI got here and I saw the people

(21:03):
and and the arena and the peoplearound it, and meeting you know,
you and Mike and the and theindividuals that really cared about the game.
It became infectious and and ultimately again, I you know again, I want
to do this for the next tenyears and be right here in the Capitol
Region winning championships. You know,you know, is there always the thought
that, hey, if you know, if the right offer came along in
the outdoor game, would I wouldI entertain it? Yeah? I mean

(21:26):
I would entertain it. I mean, obviously network was important in our business,
but I don't have one foot outthe door. I'm not looking for
another opportunity. I'm looking to winanother you know, five, six,
seven, eight, nine championships righthere in the Capitol Region. And I
will continue to be here as longas as the Capitol Region will have me.
You uh, you said, youknow, family is important to you.
And obviously we know that the coaches, coach, the boss's boss,

(21:48):
not anywhere is watching. Hi Nani, everybody, Hi Nanni. She's the
best. She's so nice, LikeI didn't know she was in your office
the other day. I want todrop stuff on your us. I opened
the door and she's standing. I'mlike, I'm sorry, and she's like,
no career, She's just good people. Uh is it is? It
is flock University, Coach Where andmyself and all the guys. If you

(22:10):
want to come to Guginos right nowand uh and hang out and legitimately break
bread with the firebirds, this isyour chance to do it. We're here
tonight. We're having a great,great meal and I cannot wait. I
was a little shocked. Coach where, you know, Lou came over said,
you know what, what do youwant your pizza? And you said
lots of meat and Jalapanias. AndI was like, oh my god.

(22:32):
We we really are brothers, likewe really we really we really have become
family, because that's exactly wrong.Meet and Jalapenia. Oh I know it.
Oh yeah, let's not talk aboutwait a second, after the morning
we had just off. For thoseof you listening, Uh, Darius Prince

(22:53):
has taken issue with our pizza order. I hope, I hope you get
I hope you get a whole wingin your beard. I hope you get
a whole wing in your beard.I hope you do. All right,
let's move on. He waits forthat one moment like, like, all

(23:15):
right, how did how did youhow did you two like you guys are
very different dudes, How did youtwo become so close? Coach war and
Darius Prince and like you guys havelike I like I said, you guys
are brothers, Like you're separated atbirth or something. I don't know what
it is, because you guys have. When you guys get together, it
is you can't keep you can't keepyou two under under wraps like you get

(23:38):
going. We have a lot offun, but we work hard. And
that's the thing. We work hardand play hard. And you know,
he's a he's a character, andhe keeps me on my toes. He
keeps me young. And so nowI've always enjoyed uh you know again,
I've told the story a thousand times. He was my first recruit here and
the rest is history. And Ijust I enjoy watching people at their best,
that will give their all to doto accomplish a goal. And so

(24:02):
you know, I'm the same wayfrom the coaching aspect, he's the same
way from a player aspect, Andwe just came together at a perfect time
and perfect time in his career.And and we've just done nothing but special
things together. So hopefully we canget him another m v P this year
and uh, another championship ring andhe can continue to build memories for his
wife and his kids. Absolutely,and and I'm not gonna say nothing because

(24:25):
I don't know. Everything I say, he turns it, he turns it
on me. So it's it's that. It's that Philadelphia and him. Ask
him about this morning, We'll happenedthis morning. Dari's want to jump on
Mike. He's he's chewing, he'schewing away. He's in a way right
now. He said. I lovehow the kids, kids gravitate to Prince
too, like which I always Ialways love that. Like when when I

(24:45):
first met Darius, he played forPhiladelphia, and of course, as an
aubny guy, I hated him becausehe's so freaking good. And then he
gets here and I started making funof him, like finally you're in the
right uniform and uh, and it'sjust you know, he's so good,
you think he might be he wouldn'twant to spend time with the kids,
But hating those footballs, I knowthat's real. That's really who he is.
A thousand percent excellent kid and lovesthe game and and he loves to

(25:10):
to to be a part of thecommunity. That's exactly why we invited him
up here this offseason to come upand spend the part of his life here
in the Capitol region. And andthat's those are all special things. And
uh no, we definitely appreciate himand what he's brought to the organization absolutely.
So wait, you're noan he checkedin. Now one of one of

(25:33):
Darius's best friends has just checked intoo, Darius. I'm just gonna tell
you what he said. You tellme who it is, Darius. Let
me tell you who he said.You tell me what it is. Here
we go, Booka Dan, allright, so all right, let's go.
Here we go. You can hearhim during the game. During the

(25:53):
game, him and his son arerunning like at first his kids running back
and forth, and all of asudden, you know, book At Dan's
running. It's it's it's fun.It's the community has embraced us better than
ever before. All right, Coach. I keep before I want to talk
about West Texas, but I keepseeing people asking your question that I feel

(26:18):
like only the professor can answer accurately. Are there rule changes. Have we
changed rules, Yeah, definitely madea few adjustments. Obviously, had a
change in leadership at the top ofthe AFL, which was much needed.
We were going through a little toughperiod and you know, we didn't want
everybody to panic, and Jeff Fisherwas able to take the reins and you

(26:41):
know, a great respected football officionadoand so that was a great thing.
You know, the Ironman rules havebeen tough, and you know, we
started the iron Man Rules in twentytwo and ultimately won the championship and continued
on in twenty three and adjusting onall those things. And it's it's just
some thing that isn't as common anymore, of players playing both sides of the

(27:03):
ball. You know, it justhappens a lot, you know, less
and less in today's game. Sothere's a lot of players that specialize in
one position. And ultimately, againit's you know, with all the injuries,
guys are bigger, stronger and fasternow than they've ever been. So
again, playing an iron mcgam isa pretty brutal, but you know,
game on the body, and soit's it's a safety thing. And so

(27:25):
we just with the collective group andeverybody talking about safety and all the things
that are necessary to continue to havegreat professional football seasons. We decided to
go back to free substitutions, andso that'll go back to you know,
how we were in twenty twenty one, where guys play offense and guys play
defense, and so I think it'sa great thing. You know. Obviously,

(27:45):
it's always tough to kind of adjustrules a little bit in the in
the course of a season, andespecially the way we recruited. You know,
I do think we're the best twoway football team in the country,
but ultimately we're the best team inthe country as well. So we'll take
these rule changes with a with agrain of salt. We'll adjust and adaptive
practice, and we'll ultimately get readyfor West Texas. All right, let

(28:08):
me ask, Let me ask thequestions that pop into my brain right away,
because obviously we're four and oh we'reclicking. Everything feels good here,
Uh is this team filts to dofree substitutions? Obviously was built perfectly for
iron Man. You know again,do I think we give away a little

(28:29):
bit of an advantage by changing therules? I do, But I'm all
for the greater good. If it'sto help the players maintain better safety,
If it's to help the league grow, I'm all for those things. And
so if it if it means givingup maybe just a little fraction of our
advantage, I'm okay with it.I will adjust and adapt. I will

(28:51):
get our players to adjust and adapt. And ultimately, again we're gonna be
just fine. We have a greatfootball team. And and so again it's
not gonna take anything away from ourperformances by changing the rules a little bit,
all right, And who who hascelebrated this and who has like acted
like you know what, man,you're kind of taking half of what I
like to do away. Everybody reallycelebrates it. It's you know, it's

(29:14):
a tough thing to go in thereand play several series, go back and
forth and run down on special teamsand all those things. It's it can
be brutal, you know, especiallyfor the bigger guys. And so you
know, of course, the biggerguys are not gonna want to do those
things. And so and that's okay, And ultimately we made the best decision
for the league moving forward. Wewant this league to grow and be the
best, you know, indoor leaguein the country. Moving forward. We

(29:40):
took some very good steps, youknow, outside of a little bit of
chaos, and so you know,we're gonna do whatever it takes to make
this league get back to its dominance, and we'll do whatever it takes to
make everybody better, all right.So I'm just trying to think of any
other potential issues. So is isthis going to be this league moving forward
or is it something all right,we're going to table this discussion we'll have

(30:02):
in the off season. Is wheredo you see it going? You know,
we got to just get better everyday, no different than than than
our football team. The league's gotto get better day by day. And
so the owners are doing a greatjob of us coming together and redoing the
schedule, putting everything into it,making sure the productions are right, and
so all of those things ultimately againare going to get better and better.

(30:26):
You know, there's other teams thatare looking to join obviously in the future.
There's a lot of things going onin this business, and ultimately,
again, we just want to beon the right side of things. Obviously,
I think our organization is one ofthe best in the country. So
we'll continue to be kind of thatguiding light for some other franchises, But
ultimately, again, we're all aboutthe game and growing the game, and
so whatever we need to do togrow the game and make it better,

(30:48):
I think all of us have embracedthat, and that's what we're going to
continue to do. Block University Livefrom Kagino's Pizzeria Wrenstler As we are,
we're hanging out. Apparently our gameday operated manager Nick is gonna do the
the Huge lou challenge next time wecome here. Five pound cal zone in
thirty minutes. Do it. Ifeel like he's gonna fail, but yeah,

(31:12):
I'll put money on it. I'llbet you. All right, you're
not doing it today. Yeah,he's just said five slices of the pizzas.
All right, all right, we'llsee. We'll do it, though,
no like this is listen, thisis this is the first time the
team has been to Cadinos. Itis not the last. Uh, don't

(31:33):
forget. You'll be able to listento a flock University Live on every every
Wednesday. We're all live on ourYouTube on the Firebirds Facebook and then we
play it back on Fox Sports Radioninety five, nine and nine eight.
You'll be Friday night to this weekbefore the game kicks off. West Texas
is good. They are arguably thesecond best team in the AFL, maybe

(31:56):
the third best, depending up onhow Orlando's playing that week. What is
tell us about this West Taches team? What do they bring to the table
veterans? Anytime you have good qualityveterans at this level, you're gonna be
a little bit better. And especiallystarts with your signal caller. Jonathan Bane
is obviously there. He's obviously beenaround the block many times, and so

(32:19):
again he's their signal caller. Buta lot of you know, a lot
of players obviously that have been aroundhere, and Calvin Fance and and Kenny
Veal and you know, and JonathanBay and so a lot of these guys
have had an opportunity to come throughthe Capitol Region at some point in time
of their career. But they've gota lot of good players. I mean,
you know, again, their receivingcorps has got got great veterans,

(32:39):
and and Devin Wilson and and JordanGandy and and they picked up Caleb Smith
that we cut in training camp.We thought Caleb Smith was a great player,
just young, and we had justa few too many bets ahead of
him that that kind of prevented himfrom making our team. But they picked
up him and he had a greatgame last game. And so there's a

(33:00):
lot of players that have come throughthe Capitol Region. But a good football
team. Everybodys Joseph. We wona championship with US an offensive line in
twenty one and so US huge human. Yeah, so there's a lot of
players that we're all familiar with.It's gonna be a great game, a
game about it, you know,just who executes their their game plan better
and who makes the better adjustments athalftime. But ultimately it's gonna be a

(33:21):
fun game. We're excited for it. Friday night game. I've you know,
I've never done a Friday night gamehere in the Capitol Region. So
hopefully everybody will get their tickets,come on out. Nobody's you know,
most of the people aren't working onSaturday, So hopefully we can pack the
house and and do those things andand and put on a great show and
show West Texas some Capitol region hospitality. How much fun is it gonna be

(33:43):
to beat the team from Odessa underthe Friday night lights, Like I mean,
just like to beat them in theirown thing, like Friday night Lights
you said, do Adessa, andthen we just slap them around a little
bit. I like the sales ofthat, all right, see, I
I'm not holding back anymore. Iwas talking to their owner, Zach bag
and he he thinks they're pretty good. And when the first time I ever

(34:07):
met Zach, we had a bottlebet over which team was gonna win.
A lot of things have gotten inthe way of that bottle bet. So
Zach, if you're paying attention,pick a bottle. I've got one,
You've got one. Let's bet abottle on Friday night. I'm I'm here
for you, I think because Ibelieve in my guys. I believe my
guys top to bottom. I thinkthey they're the best. And I and

(34:30):
I think it's cute that you hadto go get our old guys to to
have a chance to compete Block Universityagain, Live it Ginas and all right,
so we've got so we've got WestTexas coming up. It is you
know, when you look at ifyou were to do a power rankings right
now, would you would you bewilling to do a power ranking? Would
you? Because I mean I mean, maybe not a power ranking. I'm

(34:51):
not trying to give anybody any bolletinboard material. We know everybody tries to
get my job best. Uh.But again, if you're looking at the
at the four teams, you'll knowtowards the top, obviously you're looking at
an Orlando, You're looking out ofWest Texas, you're looking at a Nashville.
You know, you've also got teamsin Salina and Billings that are playing
very well. So the top partof our league is incredible. I look

(35:13):
forward obviously to how we're going todo the playoff seating and those announcement's coming
up, but I'm super excited,you know. Right now for us,
we're just focused on putting our headsdown and winning as many games as we
can through the course of the seasonand getting ready for the playoffs. So
we just like to see us ontop of the standings. Right now.
Our offense is playing at a highlevel. We've only you know, missed

(35:35):
one drive in three games, soagain we're doing a credible job of just
moving the ball offensively. And thenour defense, who's young, they're only
getting better and better every game,and so we got a lot to look
forward to. A lot of workto do, but ultimately, again,
we really enjoy this football team andwe feel that we can go a long
way if we continue to work hard. All right, coach, Before we

(35:55):
go and enjoy some of these wingsand this pizza, let's use some questions
from the flock right now, Denisaearlier. First things first, can we
talk about Nick Haig's touchdown? Headsup touchdown and that was also helped by
Shorts. Obviously, again the ballon the ground, Haig jumps on it.
You can hear Shorts scream, getup, get up, get up.

(36:16):
Nobody touched you. And so thatwas great heads up played by Shorts,
and ultimately Nick was able to jumpup and run for a touchdown and
that's just a great moment. Superexcited for him to be able to score
a touchdown in the game. Butwe had a really great defensive effort when
we played Southwest Kansas. All right, speaking of Haig, can we talk

(36:36):
about the number? Sure Haig hasbeen wearing number fifteen at this season.
He has not been thrilled about that. So a lot of work from you,
a little bit of work for me. We now have his forty seven
back. For those of you whohave been ordering number fifteen hagg jerseys.
I haven't ordered them yet. I'mgoing to reach out to each one of

(36:58):
you individually and see which number you'dprefer. I think he would prefer if
you it is uh, you know, it's you know, I'm not a
huge the number thing. As acoach. It's one of my worst things
in training camp is to figure outeverybody's number. Everybody wants something different,
everybody wants the same numbers, andso it's really a brutal process. I

(37:22):
let our vets, you know,or returning players pick their numbers from the
previous year, and then it kindof goes on a seniority based system on
picking the numbers. And so ofcourse we got the order you know,
come in this year. Of course, Haiges Jersey was not a part of
it. I had to break himthe news and put him in the fifteen
jersey. And boy, that hasspurred fury in this man. That that

(37:46):
has no bounds and it is justit's has been very comical to hear him
discuss jerseys through the first couple ofgames. But he was you know,
I could have messed with them,and there was everybody like we should messle
with them. When the jersey camein, I ultimately just put a picture
of it right into our group andI just said, hey, jerseys arrived,

(38:07):
and he was super excited. Hecalled up right after that. He
was super, super excited to havehis jersey. And like I said,
there's not that many people that havethat much, you know, concern for
their jersey numbers. But but youknow, Haiges deserves that. Obviously,
he's been a long time bet andhe's in the later stage of his career.
So ultimate we were able to figureit out. We finally got it.

(38:29):
All the delays, everything that's happenedto get it here, it's here.
And so Friday night he'll be ata don his number forty seven.
It's also gonna be a whiteout,so we're actually gonna wear our white jerseys
on Friday night. So if everybodywants to wear white and we can wipe
the building out on a Friday night, that would be great. Iceberg,
if I wear all white, I'mAlia freaking land Iceberg. Good stuff.

(38:54):
Oh uh, his wings, I'lldo. I'll do mild Chrispy. I'm
a Krispy guy, all right.So but he's played so good in the
fifteen, Like I told him,I uh, I've had some jokes and
now'll they'll keep those in the house. But but we're told him, may
if you don't come out and comeout firing in the forty seven, we'll,

(39:17):
uh, we will definitely be danglingthat fifteen at halftime. So we'll
see what happens. We got tofather Flocker over here. Steve is in
the house. Fifty to fifty ticketson sale Friday night on the concourse,
Section one fifteen by the parking garageat ris. Uh there's a coloring station,
temporary tattoos section one to ten.So UH. Flock support has been

(39:38):
great, just the stuff they've beenbringing for the kids, the the fifty
to fifty year affle, which they'reusing, you know, to sustain flock
support, to sustain some stuff forthe guys, the Adopt a Player program,
everybody a lot of people here.Lisa is here, she's she's been,
you know, getting stuff so theguys all have something cool with them
when they go on the road.It's it's a I don't think like I

(40:00):
don't think everybody realizes we take theseguys out of their homes for months.
They come here, they make ittheir home. But at the same time,
those little acts of kinds go along way. Thousand percent. Flock
Sport is doing a great job ofmaking our kids feel at home. They
were so appreciative of all the bags. I mean we had I don't know,
twenty five bags in the office toto, you know, give out

(40:22):
to the players. They were allsuper excited when they came to pick them
up. You know, they stilltalk about it. So just just awesome
little things that you could do forthese kids while they're on the road.
We really have a very supportive systemall the way around our organization, and
so it's always great to see thosethings happen. I'll people asking, we

(40:43):
don't know one hundred percent where thehow the arena bul is gonna go correct,
Like I we don't have that answeryet. Correct playoff seatings and championship
game locations and all those things.Uh, those are things that are being
worked on and those things will bein soon, all right. I like
this one. Vicky so glad thatDP is back here where he belongs,

(41:06):
especially how last season ended with Orlando. He's the goat. I mean you
can speak to that as well.You know, our you know, our
core went went to Orlando and thankgod y'all came back, just just the
season to forget. It was justno fun. I mean, with all
the work that that was put inin the off season, it was this

(41:28):
unfortunate. Uh, just somethingile justkeep it in the memory banks as a
memory. But ultimately, I don'teven want to think too much about it.
But uh, yeah, it wasUh it was just odd going to
somewhere else and setting up camp andand being a part of another organization without
you know, being involved in ourway of doing things. And so if

(41:49):
you've ever you know, maybe changedcompanies and and you go somewhere else and
the culture is one thousand percent differentthan what you're used to. Uh,
we went through all those things lastyear. You see. I always wish
we'll landle the best with coach birththe best, and and there's a lot
of good quality players on that footballteam, but ultimately it just wasn't the
kind of place that you know,fit the you know, just how we

(42:12):
want to play the game. Andultimately we were glad to come back.
All right before before we go onmore, uh, Dan Buka Dan said
you're here, we go, hesaid, your the we He said it
needs work, coach, We've gottawork on that. I guess that's well.
We'll keep working on it for you. Dan. We are alive here
at Kugino's Pizzeria and Wrenstler That isFlock University for the week. Thanks all

(42:37):
the players for coming out, Thanksto Lou and the crew for feeding us
all. Man, Come on now, how good is that food? What's
ups you ever? Even the foodhere is so good that that game day
ops. Nick has been quiet.That's how good the food is. I
have in a few months that I'vegot to know that kid. He isn't
breathe, he doesn't Slee's like atalking shark. So it's it's good to

(42:58):
have have that going five Lou fiveslices? How does that set him up
with a huge Lou challenge? Nothing? I like it. He swears he's
gonna come do it all right,everybody? Uh like run him? Apos
for our host Puginos Lou, everybodyhere, Thank you so much for the
Firebers players who are outside eating.Uh four. He is the head coach,

(43:22):
the general manager of beensive coordinator.He helped design the dang uniforms Damon
wear. Everyone I ride his coattails with sheer cray sign your team,
President, Jeff Levak, I loveit. Greatest croup of fans in the
entire world of arena football, theFlock. Everybody Hey Hey, Then of

(43:46):
course I'm sorry. Benny Ice,Everyone's favorite. Benny Eyes. Can't end
an episode of Flock University without sayingtwo simple words one two three fuck you.