2025 Mountain West Football Media Days - Day 2 Hour 1

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Mountain West Media Days on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
With Cam Morrel.

Speaker 3 (00:05):
I'm Paul Leffler and Cam's been a fun couple days
here in Las Vegas. I've lost count of all the
conversations we've had, but it sure has the juices flowing
for a football season that opens August twenty third in Lawrence, Kansas.

Speaker 4 (00:17):
Yeah, it's always great to be here, and every time
I come don't really know what to expect. You know,
a lot of coaching changes, people in new roles. But
every time I leave, I'm so impressed with the quality
of coaches that this conference has, and you know, the

(00:37):
quality of coaches that will be in the Pac twelve
next year when Fresno State makes that move.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
It's it's a.

Speaker 4 (00:44):
High level of football intelligence and really just a lot
of good people.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
That's what it is.

Speaker 3 (00:51):
And I think today, you know, you love talking to
the student athletes, but today with the coaches, you're just
reminded of why they're head coaches. You know that you
see the leadership, you hear the communication skills, and I
think more than anything, you see there's a lot of
people that really care.

Speaker 4 (01:07):
Yeah, Yeah, to make an impact on young people's lives.
And you know, everybody knows that this is a results
oriented business. You have to win games, you know, especially
in today's era of college football, like it is big business.
But you know, all those things come from transforming young

(01:27):
people's lives. And when you're able to do that, you
can put a successful football team on the field because
you know, you make that type of an impact.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
So yeah, it's.

Speaker 4 (01:37):
Energizing, man, it really it really gets me going.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
I just love it.

Speaker 4 (01:40):
I love listening to all the different philosophies, different styles
of leadership, different personalities. I think this is a great
group of coaches. And yeah, it's always great talking to
the to the players, but I really do enjoy talking
to the to the head coaches.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
And that's what we're going to be doing for the
next couple of hours. We'll be with you till three clock.
Then from three to four our man ck on Sports.
We'll have some things that we talked about yesterday that
we didn't get to share with you, So he'll have
some extra content with some of the players from yesterday.
Also tomorrow he'll have more highlights from conversations that we
didn't have time to bring you. People like Garrett Classy

(02:18):
Fresno State's athletic director who was here, had a great
conversation with Garrett Gloria Navarrez, the commissioner of the conference,
some more people who cover the league today. You're going
to hear from Fresno State coach Matt Ens, of course,
but also ken Neio Montalolo, the head coach at San
Jose State, Jeff Choate from the University of Nevada, Sean
Lewis from San Diego.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
State that rival rivalry will be renewed this year.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
But cam of all the conversations that we've had so
far today, I don't know if any of them kind
of stopped our train as dead in its tracks as
just listening to Bronco. Mendenhall candidly addressed question.

Speaker 4 (03:00):
Yeah, I mean I ordered his book right after that interview.

Speaker 5 (03:03):
I ordered it.

Speaker 4 (03:04):
I was about to tell a man, as soon as
you write a book, I'll be the first person in
line to read it. And I thought, you know what,
he probably has written a book. When on Amazon. Sure enough,
he's written a book on leadership. And that's really all
he sat here and talked about was how he approaches
being a leader and how if he's not living what
he's talking about as genuinely as possible. Every single day,

(03:28):
it's impossible for him to make the impact that he's
able to make. We talked to his two players yesterday,
and his quarterback said, I wish I had played under
him my entire college career because I would be a
completely different not player, but a completely different person. And
I mean a testament to broncomenden Hall the person and

(03:50):
his ability to make an impact on young people.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
And as you listen, you're going to hear that for yourself.
You know, sometimes we have a chance to bring you
live interviews, other times because of just a insane nature.
There are twenty two different tables on Radio Row this year,
and they're shuffling coaches and players through So if we
didn't pre record some of this, you wouldn't have a
chance to hear it. But we want to start out
with that conversation with a guy who last year was

(04:13):
here representing the University of New Mexico, now is the
head coach at Utah State, Bronco menden Hall. How do
you handle because I know you're such a relational guy,
how do you handle the moves, the changes, the relationships
in seasons of transition like this.

Speaker 6 (04:31):
It takes this toll for sure, and I think that
comes so the downside to the approach of investment in
young people at the depth and the vulnerability that I have.
And it never is intentional when you leave a place,
especially after one year, and that's been that's multiplied the

(04:51):
difficulty especially coming back. And yet guiding principles help. And
so our first guiding principle and the programs that I've
rue is simply if we name it family first last always,
so I don't make any decision without considering how it
will affect my family. And so, in relation to your point,
difficult moves have to be guided by a principle, that

(05:12):
principles governed by a belief, and when you're in alignment
with that, you can be at peace. And so the
move I made to Utah State is the best family
situation that I could have ever imagined. And and ultimately
there's peace. And when I looked my two captains in
the eye yesterday in New Mexico, and like we gave
each other hugs and it was so great to see

(05:33):
them are the ones that want to get it, get
it and understand and support and the ones that don't don't. Ultimately,
I have to just be at peaceful hell come and
and that has to be enough.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yeah. I like the way you explain that.

Speaker 3 (05:47):
And there's you know, there's a piece that transcends understanding,
and a lot of times when we talk about that,
we just focus on the peace part, but we forget
about sometimes it means not everyone's gonna understand. It may
not make sense to everybody.

Speaker 6 (06:01):
I was given advice by a faith leader when I
became a head coach at BYU, and I've never forgotten it.
And he said, you can't please everyone, nor should it
be your intent. And in my position, with the visibility
that comes, sometimes we don't win by enough points.

Speaker 2 (06:21):
Sometimes we don't win.

Speaker 6 (06:22):
Sometimes it's not right, not the right play call on
third and whatever. There seems to always be something. And
yet you have to know and be at peace with
what you're doing, why you're doing it, how you're doing it,
striving to get better, and that has to supersede anyone
else's opinion. And if you really become subservient to other's opinions,

(06:47):
you lose your moral compass, You actually lose your identity.
I think you lose your soul and and then you
are just manipulated by external forces and you kind of
lose yourself. And as leaders, man, I think the strongest
ones are the most clear and the most authentic and
the most anchored in things that really matter. And players
recognize that. And so I really make it a point

(07:10):
to when the players come in our building, they don't
ever after wonder who I am or how I am.
It's just this is who, this is how, and it's
going to be like that each day. And there's a
confidence that comes with arriving into known and not have
to worry about that, and it kind of builds their
confidence of regardless of a big win or a big
loss or in between, here is our program, here is

(07:34):
our approach, here's our methodology. That doesn't mean we're not
looking to improve and change and make the necessary adjustments,
but it's not going to be with some wild approach
from the leader of overreacting to whatever and whoever.

Speaker 2 (07:50):
Has an opinion.

Speaker 4 (07:51):
I'm ready, coach, I'm sign me up, I'm ready to go.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
Say is there anything else you need to talk about?

Speaker 4 (07:56):
I mean, is it's just so refreshing to here the
honesty that you speak with We talked to your guys
yesterday and your QB said he wishes that he was
able to spend his entire college career under you, because
in the short time that you've been at Utah State,

(08:16):
you've made such a tremendous impact, not with him as
the football player, but with him as the person. The
lessons that he's learning that transcend football, that lasts for life.
It's h yeah, it's it's very refreshing to hear you
speak in that way.

Speaker 6 (08:33):
You know, the two seasons I step when I stepped
away at Virginia and my wife and I were in
Montana building our property in our ranch. It was really
interesting and I didn't start this way, but I was
my phone. It took on a different role. Normally it
was as the head coach. There's it goes all the time,
and there's all kinds of nonsense that you're having to address.

(08:55):
But in this case it quieted. But the calls or
the text that came through, there was a disproportionate number
that were former players that became almost the only source
coming in, which was surprising, you know, and my wife
and I were just kind of paying attention, and then
we started paying attention to the content, and only one
text over that two season period mentioned a game, a score,

(09:17):
or a season. They all mentioned the moments much like
you were just talking about Bryson and our team meetings
and the connections that were through football, but really had
nothing to do with the game. And so I'm thinking
about here's media day. Well, I just had a sample
size of two years of a number of texts that
I won't even share. That's mind boggling. And the primary

(09:40):
message was the same. It was the connections and the
relationship and the lessons that they valued most. And yet
where doesn't mean we'd all don't want to win a
need to, That's not what they were talking about. And
so to Bryson's point, my favorite part of the day
are the team meetings, and I rarely talk about football,
and it's the coolest part. They're already motivated learners. They're

(10:03):
already ready to show and perform and compete and do that.
And when you have that opportunity, if I think, if
we're not passing on more, then we're passing on less,
and then that windows shut and then where do they
get it?

Speaker 2 (10:18):
So I don't know. For it to make sense to me,
there has to be more.

Speaker 3 (10:22):
Well, then it's kind of seems silly to talk about
your schedule and what your record might be.

Speaker 6 (10:26):
So it's crazy, isn't it, Because like with that framework,
and but we all know the script is absolutely flipped
in relation to and it's okay, that's to do the job.
You have to then be successful. And if you're not,
no one really cares about the messaging. But if you
are and you are over time, then it's like how

(10:47):
and then the messaging is, oh, that must be correlated.
But if it doesn't work, it's kind of mocked and
made fun of. But when it does, it's like, oh,
that's now the you know, climbing the steps to meet
the guru at the top and get the mess you know,
put in the scroll in your backpack and you know
whatever take it to.

Speaker 3 (11:06):
Speaking of movers, I'm gonna guess that at least one
or two of those texts in your two years in
Montana came from the guy that we hang out with
every college football Saturday. Pat Hill has the utmost respect
from you, and he's think Cam and I have been
there when he dictates those texts to Bronco, it doesn't.

Speaker 2 (11:23):
It doesn't matter who's around or what said he's going
to just be himself.

Speaker 3 (11:26):
Oh yeah, so we've heard from Pat what he values
about you. I'd love to get your perspective on what
makes him unique and also while you're looking forward to
coming to Fresno November twenty sex.

Speaker 6 (11:36):
So, Pat, it's cool because I think the best leaders
are authentic and he is him. He's not anyone else.
Pat Hill is, That's who he is. And his programs
reflected that identity because it was clearly real and truthful,
and players saw value in that and in many cases

(11:57):
wanted to emulate that, And so the program and Pat
kind of became the same, which was man not afraid
and competitive and confrontational and confident and physical and just
thought they could go anywhere and beat anybody. And that
reflects the leader, right, And I think that's a testament

(12:17):
to the leader when the organizational identity can then be
traced to the leader. And I don't think he was
trying to make the kids him. The influence simply shaped
them into a unit that reflected him. And I just

(12:38):
liked it because he was himself. And I don't think
he was afraid of offending anyone. I don't think he
cared about what I mean was yeah exactly. I don't
think he was too concerned about looking at how many
likes see God or et cetera. And he was just
him and fortunately for us all he had success. And
that's a powerful lesson and was really cool.

Speaker 4 (13:00):
I'll never forget, you know, going into my senior year,
I was there, I flunked out, had to go to
junior college, came back played as a junior. Going into
my senior year, me on one side of the table,
everybody on the coaching staff, strength staff, training staff, all.

Speaker 2 (13:14):
The other stuff.

Speaker 4 (13:14):
Yeah, and I mean just let me absolutely have it.
And there was a turning point in my entire life,
totally right. I either took the message and improved myself
did the things that I was asked to do, or
I was not going to be successful in anything. So
and I would add a little bit of crazy to
Pat Hill right, all those things, and just a little
bit of crazy, not too crazy, but justin I think, yeah,

(13:37):
and crate just short of crazy as wild, I think.

Speaker 6 (13:40):
But we have a saying in our program that feedback
is a gift. When the feedback is asked for, it's
applied more appropriately in that setting, the player has to
choose when he comes in, will he be receptive to him?
And that's different than him in the first to sign up. Hey,
I want to go first like that guy, And there's
probably in order. But if someone came into that meeting

(14:02):
and here's all the people giving you feedback, motivated and
a line person couldn't wait, some bec became that in
the meeting. Others were just resentful. And I've seen that
happen before. Really cool process though, and Pat used to
share that and I was like, man, that's awesome.

Speaker 2 (14:19):
And coach, I know you've got other folks waiting to
talk to you. They just kind of stand and wait.
Don't they like that? That's our cue of like, would
you guys hurry up?

Speaker 3 (14:26):
Well, you have the gold standard in sports information in
the Mountain West. Dot Com then helping you out here.
But I do want to hear one thing. What's the
number one thing on your football list this year that
can make the difference between a banner year for the
Aggies and a disappointment.

Speaker 2 (14:39):
Oh it's it's really simple.

Speaker 6 (14:42):
If I go to outcomes, quarterback play always determines outcome
more than anyone else.

Speaker 2 (14:46):
That I love our quarterback.

Speaker 6 (14:49):
What I care about most is maximizing the resources I have.
That means the kids that I have, giving them their
best chance to improve and to become and I know
what that looks like, and they know what that looks like,
and usually lead that.

Speaker 2 (15:05):
Leads to the successful teams.

Speaker 6 (15:07):
The outcome usually to me is the byproduct but making
sure that they're trying as hard as they can try,
expecting enough of themselves, with the right leadership, and then
if you have the player at quarterback that can lead
and make plays, you normally have a great chance.

Speaker 3 (15:24):
November twenty second, we'll see you in Fresno. Coach saw
good luck this year. Thanks us a lot. Nice to
visit with you, guys, Bronco.

Speaker 2 (15:30):
Menden Hall, you toss date.

Speaker 1 (15:31):
It's Mountain West Media Days on Fox Sports.

Speaker 3 (15:34):
Radio Presno State's oldest rivalry, the Bulldogs and the Spartans.
It'll be the last game of the year this year
in the Silicon Valley. In fact, I just realized the
Dogs will be heading the San Jose two years in
a row. Next year as a non conference we have
Ken new Montalolo, the coach of the Spartans. Coach, now
that you've been in the Silicon Valley for a little while.
You have a better feel for who San Jose State

(15:56):
is in the college football landscape and where you can
take these spartans way.

Speaker 5 (16:01):
Better than last year. Last year it was chaos, you
know what I mean. I mean, I got hired January
twenty first, and trying to assemble a staff. Obviously when
the coach leads. So when coach Brandon left, the portal open,
so guys are leaving, you know it just it was chaos.
And I come from a school that I was at
twenty five years, so I knew everything about the Naval Academy.

(16:23):
Then I go to school, I don't know anything, you
know what I mean? And so yeah, I was learning
a lot. Guys are you know, the coaches when I
got there, the those guys are there. You know, we're
teaching me about the rivalry between Fresment State and something.
I mean, I didn't know anything about anything, you know
what I mean? So I was learning on the run

(16:44):
when I got there.

Speaker 3 (16:45):
Well, and it seems like you fit right in with
your coaching colleagues in this league, and the league has
a lot.

Speaker 2 (16:52):
Of confidence in your team this year.

Speaker 3 (16:53):
Picked third in that preseason Paul, you do have a
returning quarterback in Walker, you got you got some studs
coming back on defense, but a really tough schedule right
at Texas Week two, you get that neighboring battle down
the road at Stanford. What do you think is going
to make the difference in twenty twenty five?

Speaker 5 (17:10):
Well, I think number one. I mean, I just try
to keep the game simple. I think first and foremost,
we got to do a better job of taking care
of the football just to give us ourselves a chance.
Last year we were second to last in the country
in turnovers. We did a good job of getting takeaways.
We were second in the country and getting takeaways, but
we turned the ball over way too many times. And

(17:32):
I feel like if we can do that, we can
least give ourselves a shot. And you talked about Walker,
and I think Walker would do a way better job
this year. Has been really excited about what he's done
in the offseason. But number one, we got to do
a better job in the turnover margin.

Speaker 4 (17:46):
I mean, how much of that is I mean a
quarterback that has experienced But also, like year two of
your offense, there's so much your quarterback and your receivers
in your system. They have to be on the same
page or the offense doesn't work right you do turn
the ball over. What has the progression been of the
understanding of those units going into your two?

Speaker 2 (18:08):
In this system, you hit it right on the head,
you know.

Speaker 5 (18:11):
Fortunately, as you said, I was just thinking about it
in our game against Fresle we had two picks last year.
We're guys, I thought you were doing this and I
threw it here and you kept going or whatever. So
there's so much post snap and pre snap really in
off it's all quarterbacks. There's a lot. But we don't
have a ton of predetermined routes in our offense. You know,
it's all based off coverages. So you have to see

(18:32):
the same things, you know, I mean, the receiver and
the quarterback have to see the same things. And going
into the second year, I can already see the difference
in that, you know, because when I first got here,
you know, implement his offer, like what are we doing?
Way to go there? You know what I mean? Like
what was and in spring ball you could just see

(18:53):
it's a lot where Chris guys know where they're going.
The quarterback knows where he's going to football, So It's
given me more peace because I'm I'm an option guy,
you know what I mean, and so in my first
year you're kind of like looking at things and so
this is not a very complicated game, and everything starts
with the quarterback, I mean at all levels, and it's

(19:14):
gonna start with Walker, and I'm excited about him. You know.

Speaker 3 (19:17):
You mentioned that being an option guy and being at
the academy for so long, and it just made me
wonder if last year was fun for you having it.

Speaker 2 (19:25):
It wasn't fun with the turnovers.

Speaker 3 (19:27):
I know that's probably why you're saying I like the option,
but was there an element of it, especially with what
Nick Nash did that kind of touched some areas of
your football personality you hadn't seen it in a while.

Speaker 5 (19:39):
I'm a former quarterback, you know what I mean, and
so obviously I love to throw the football. We ran
the option at maybe by this necessity we're throwing the football,
you know here, And I mean there's sometimes obviously that
I would want to run the football in certain situations,
but also as a head coach want to give you know, Craig,
who I thought that awesome job as coordinated. I mean,

(20:01):
you don't want to. You want to give him liberties
to do things. You know, you can do suggestions, but
in the course of the game, you can't be saying
too many things. Haven't played call play myself. You can
have twenty guys talking in your ear. You got two
seconds to call it. Okay, shut up. I can't think
you know what I mean? So I get that. So
I just like just keep my mouth quiet. But you know,
maybe in the off season we've talked about some things.

(20:24):
We definitely got to get better. It's shortyarded stuff and
red zone stuff. I mean, that's just universal and any
type of football. I'm not saying we're going to run
the ball, you know, a thousand times like you know,
or run the ball a ton. We have to run
the ball more and we have to be more efficient.
Shortyard is, run game in the red zone, and take
care of the football. I mean, it's I mean, that's
in all levels of football, and hopefully we can do

(20:45):
better than that.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
You know, So how hard is that?

Speaker 4 (20:48):
You know, your your offense is based on a spread
out passing game. You want to, you know, try to
utilize every piece of green grass that you can. But
when you get in the red zone. When you are
in short yard situation, the game is completely different. How
difficult is it for you to have that kind of
wide philosophy but really try to develop those specific you know,

(21:11):
offensive skill sets so to speak, that can help you
win football games.

Speaker 5 (21:15):
That's a great question. I feel like you got to
practice it, you know, and so just in your practice structure,
how you do things, and so you know, we're still
going to be a passing team. That's what we are
and that's not going to change. But there's got to
be parts in your practice that you do short yards
stuff and red zone stuff, and it's got to be
everyday deal, and it's got to be part of your

(21:37):
individual fundamental stuff. So as you look you know, so
as I've looked back at this year, just kind of
looking at our Indie and our team stuff. Just try
to hit our owline. Coach, Hey, it can't be all
passport stuff. We've got to do more time Indy for this,
and we got to get them shoots and and some
of our practice stuff being able to implement making sure
that we hit every component during the course of week,

(22:01):
and I think just making it a priority, and we've
done that in off season. Just kind of Okay, we
do these things, great, that's awesome. Continue to do that.
Here are our weaknesses. How are we going to incorporate
that in our practice? And then you still only got
twenty hours a week in the NCAA. So but just
making sure we just cut off the fat. Just okay,
we're doing this at this time. And that's where I

(22:22):
come in as a head coach, just looking at the
overall practice, how much time we spent on this. I'm okay,
while you spending that time on this, you can cut
some fat here. Let's do that. And so those are
some of the things that we've had to do an
off season to address getting better in the run game,
because like you said, like that's all, it's all good,
but okay, wait are you practicing it. You can't get
better for not practicing. So trying to my part of it,

(22:46):
be more organized in our structured part to make sure
it gets accomplished.

Speaker 3 (22:50):
We're talking to ken Ney, you Mount the lolo, the
head coach at San Jose State, and coaches you talk
about trimming that fat. I'm just imagining all your years
a quarter century at the Naval Academy probably helped in
that regard because those midshipmen had so many other responsibilities,
you didn't have a whole lot of time. And I
know every coach keeps in touch with former players, but

(23:11):
I imagine that might be different for you. You might
hear from some guys who are doing things that most
former college football players aren't.

Speaker 5 (23:18):
Yeah, I mean, I still do get a lot of
texts from different guys and emails, you know, from guys
that are serving our country. A lot of I've been
doing it for so long that a lot of guys
are coached, got their own families now and kids, and
they you know what I mean. So guys have gotten
out of the military, starting their own companies. So we
had quite a few former players that of mine that
came and visit us at San Jose that were stationed

(23:40):
in the Monterey area, and some of the guys have
gotten out in the Bay area. So it's probably the
biggest part of coaching. It's I've always felt like you
eventually forget about the games after it's the experiences, the
relationships that you've had with your players. You know, when
you see guys you know nice, Like I said, I've
been doing for so long, did guys come back and

(24:01):
the introduced me to their wives and coach here and
my kids, and those are the things for me, are
really the victories in his profession.

Speaker 3 (24:09):
Well, it's clear you still have the passion for it,
and there are gonna be a lot of passionate people
at your stadium on November twenty ninth, the end of
the regular season, the rivalry game.

Speaker 2 (24:18):
I know that Valley trophy may not be the Commander
in Chiefs.

Speaker 3 (24:20):
Trophy, but it means a lot to people in the
Silicon Valley, in the San Joaquin Valley. What does it
mean to you that to know that that rivalry is
going to continue even if these two schools aren't in
the same conference.

Speaker 5 (24:31):
Well, it's important. And be honest with you, I didn't
recognize the intensity and how much the rivalry meant because
be honest, I didn't. I did a poor job begetting
this ready last year. I didn't mean of all the games.
I mean, we got whipped in our rivalry game. You
know what I mean to me, it was the worst game.

(24:53):
I feel like we played better against UNV and Boise
and we but we got our butts kicked. You know,
when we played fresh last year and as I look
back at that I didn't do a really good job
getting us ready because I could see some of the
kids that were here before kind of get you know,
I saw them not playing the same They got tense stuff,
and I'm and I didn't recognize that how big the

(25:18):
ribbery was because I could see the guys that have
been here how bad they wanted. The new guys that
just got here, like me, they're trying to figure it out.
But the guys who'd been here didn't play as well
because they're so tight and wanted it. And so it
was it was a learning experience for me that I
didn't recognize the intensity of the rivalry game. And I
think I saw it early on down the ramp when

(25:39):
I saw Brozy come down. I mean, you know, the
Bulldogs come down and they're like, whoa, okay, this is
you know, we've played a couple of games in the conference,
but that game, like okay, they've told me about this.
But and then as we're walking to the locker room
and the fans, you know, barking at you, like, okay,
I don't think I did a good job in a graduated.

Speaker 4 (26:01):
Now you know, yeah right, And look Kevin Coyle, who
I played for at Fresno State. Was a defensive coordinator
at Fresno State last year. Was a mastermind and did
a fantastic job of just disguising coverages and really making
it hard.

Speaker 2 (26:15):
For your quarterback to see what they were gonna do.
What are you most excited about going into year two?

Speaker 5 (26:21):
I just feel like last year, at this time it
was chaos. I feel like guys now have bought into
the way I do things. And I keep saying this
in every interview. It's not a knock against coach Brennan.
He did a great job at San Jose. But we're
just different people. We do things differently, and I think
early on some of the guys that been Okay, why
are we doing that way or why do we have
to do that. I don't feel like I'm having to

(26:43):
fight those battles anymore. Guys that bought in this is
the way we're doing things, and this is why we're
doing it. And the guys that we brought in, I
made sure, especially in this portal age where guys are
trying to find how much money they make and all
these certain things, I want to make sure we got
the right people. I didn't care their accolades before that,
and how their pedigree. If they didn't fit in the

(27:05):
way we were doing I didn't want them. And I
just feel better that guys have bought into the way
we're doing things. And you know, we'll see where it
goes from there, but I just feel better about that.

Speaker 3 (27:16):
Well, we're looking forward to a coach, especially November twenty ninth.
I've got one last question for you. I know there'll
be a lot of Bulldogs who are from the Bay
Area who will be happy to be back in the
Bay for that game on the twenty ninth. There are
usually some kids from our side of the Pachaco Pass
that are on your roster, and I saw a couple
of them this year, and one of them is from
my hometown, which is pretty much in the middle between

(27:37):
Fresno and San Jose, the center of the universe Lostvantas, California.
In fact, I thought maybe one year we should play
in Last Spantas because both teams can travel there.

Speaker 2 (27:45):
Maybe next century.

Speaker 3 (27:46):
But you've got a guy in your d line toey
Tupo from Pachaco High and Loast Banis and Merced College.

Speaker 2 (27:52):
Is he factor in it all for your defensive scheme?
This year.

Speaker 5 (27:54):
Well, he'll be in the mix, you know. I mean
he's a special teams guy now he's and it was
kind of went back to our culture stuff. He's not
maybe in the top, you know, too deep right now,
but everybody in the team loves him. He's one of
those guys that you know, he's always grinding, he works hard,
he's always early to meetings. He's a guy that runs

(28:15):
through the line. You know. He's not one of these
guys that you know, why am I not playing? And
I feel like in order to have a great program,
you need guys like him. I weren't done a kickoff,
Yeah we will. You want to be right at thehead
of it, you know, not like how come I'm not
getting the ball, how come I'm not running it? Or
And so I feel like when you build a programs,

(28:38):
those guys are glues that you need in order to
be like this. And he's an integral part of our
football team.

Speaker 3 (28:44):
I can see Cam nodding his head out in the
corner of my eye because he's played special teams with
the Super Bowl.

Speaker 4 (28:48):
Yeah, I mean I made a living running down on kickoffs,
so I understand the mentality.

Speaker 2 (28:53):
And that's it.

Speaker 4 (28:54):
Right, you're the guy that does anything and everything you
can to help a team win. And those guys there,
they're a super important part of your football team.

Speaker 5 (29:03):
You wouldn't guys would have been in a super Bowl
with guys out to I mean that that's just what
people wants to see, the who throws it, who catches it.
But those kind of guys, you know they're run down
and kickoffs or gunners on punts. I mean, that's an
important part of the game, but you just don't focus
on it. But if you don't have that element, you
can't you can't succeed.

Speaker 3 (29:23):
I mean it's a team game. And glad to have
you on the Mountain West team. Coach, good luck this
year and we'll see at the end of the season.
Thanks for having you, guys, Ken Neio Matololo, San Jose
State the Bulldogs will be there November twenty ninth, and Cam,
speaking of your NFL days, did you ever have in
training camp one of those, not an exhibition game, but
a scrimmage with another team where you both practice together.

Speaker 2 (29:43):
Yeah, scrimmage against the Rams.

Speaker 3 (29:46):
So how about Lofton Stadium in Lost Banas, Fresno State.
San Jose State Spring scrimmage.

Speaker 5 (29:53):
I think it was.

Speaker 4 (29:53):
I mean, you would have to sell, you know, limited
seating seats, and I think those would sell very quickly.
If there was a spring scrimmage with Fresno State in
San Jose State in the center of the universe Lospanos, California.

Speaker 3 (30:07):
To raise nil money for both schools. But the winner
gets a higher percentage.

Speaker 4 (30:11):
Let's go sixty forty. Winner takes sixty, loser gets forty.
I think you're onto something, Garrett Class, he's around here somewhere.

Speaker 3 (30:19):
We'll tell them, Hey, we've got a lot more to
come for you from Mountain West Football Media Days. With
you till three o'clock today. C k'll have bonus Mountain
West Media Day coverages from three to four. Up next,
we're gonna hear from the voice of the Bronco. Not
the voice the coach of the Broncos. No, he used
to be at the Broncos, the coach of the Nevada
wolf Pack. That's what I'm trying to say. Jeff Chot's

(30:39):
been at so many places at CAM and he some
of these guys. I mean, the name Pat Hill has
come up a lot more than I expected this week.
That's all I'm saying, yeah.

Speaker 4 (30:47):
A lot of Pat Hill type mentalities in this conference
among the head coaches, and Jeff Chod I think is
probably number one on that list. If he and Pat
Hill sat down together, I think they would talk for
hours and hours and hours and share quite a bit
because he's very similar to our guy.

Speaker 3 (31:07):
And you'll find out for yourself when we come back.
Nevada comes to Fresno October fourth, the first Bulldog Mountain
West home game this year. Here from the Wolfpack head
coach Jeff Choate, and we come back to Vegas Mountain
West Media Days.

Speaker 2 (31:19):
On the home of the Bulldogs, Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 1 (31:21):
It's Mountain West Media Days on Fox Sports Radio.

Speaker 3 (31:24):
Another team that Fresno State will play in fact, that's
going to be the first conference home game October fourth
at Sierra Showdown rivalry with the University of Nevada. Jeff Choate,
the head coach, has been going up against the Bulldogs
for a long time, a longtime assistant at Boise State,
had success at Montana State, and now at Nevada.

Speaker 2 (31:43):
We're coach.

Speaker 3 (31:44):
It was fun last year watching the team start to
take on your personality. Bronco Menden Hall was earlier here earlier,
and we were talking about Pat Hill, and what he
said about Pat was how he loved watching Fresno State
kind of become an extension of Pat's mindset. When will
we see the full Jeff choate Nevada wolf Pack and

(32:04):
do you really want to see that?

Speaker 2 (32:07):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (32:08):
I think we saw, uh, we saw glimmers of it
last year. I mean I think that you know, the
teams that that I've had the good fortune of beyond
that and coach that you know, ultimately had a high
level of success, had an edge to them, ran the
ball consistently well, but most importantly did not beat ourselves.
Played with the hygh degree of discipline, and that was
the that was our Achilles heal last year. I mean,

(32:28):
in the Fresno game, I can think of, you know,
two blown protections on punt and that's the difference in
the game. You know, I mean, we we we'd had
an opportunity to beat a really good Fresno State team
and we allowed that to go. And it was about discipline.
And so that was really the message in the off
season was like, hey, but I'm not into team building
right now in kuba Ya, I'm into discipline. And accountability, okay,

(32:48):
and uh and and then we'll decide if you get
to be a part of kuba Ya later on here
and so uh and so I think that that transformation,
I think is underway in our locker room. And you know,
I read a book a long time ago and it
always said, hey, take eighteen twenty to twenty four months
to transform a culture. And let's not be s ourselves.
I mean, we all have culture. Every organization does. Some
of it sucks, some of it's really exceptional. But whatever

(33:10):
we're building, it's going to take some time. And I
always thought, well, no, you know, I'm really smart and
hard working and industrious. I'm going to be able to
get this done faster. And the reality is that's that's
not true. And the better job you do building it
to more sustainable, it's going to be over time. And
that's what I'm trying to do is not turned about
into a we had a great season and you know,

(33:31):
hey we're jumping to the next thing. It's let's let's
build something that we can be proud of and that
has some legs.

Speaker 4 (33:36):
Here, how tough is that to do with with eighteen
to twenty two, twenty three year olds who have a
lot of different things going on their students as well,
they have personal lives. I don't even want to start
talking about nil and all the things that you have
to navigate there. But how difficult is it for you
to really instill the discipline that you need to have

(33:57):
success on the football field and kids.

Speaker 2 (34:00):
That you know have a lot going on.

Speaker 7 (34:02):
I think there's two things. One, I believe in the
law of attraction. If I pay attention, if I talk
about this is what I want this place to be about,
these are the types of kids that we want to coach,
this is what this experience is going to be for you,
then eventually that's what's going to show up at your doorstep, right.
And so it's you know, like, hey, if you want
to be a faster team, recruit fast players. You want
a discipline team, you better recruit discipline players. So it

(34:24):
starts with that piece. The you know, the the identification
and the selection process is always critical there.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
Okay.

Speaker 7 (34:31):
I think the second thing is be very very consistent
as a leader. You know, you cannot be a stock
market guy like you. You know, when I walk and
I stand in front of the team and I say,
this is how we're going to do things and these
are my expectations, and if you don't do this, this
is what's going to happen. We all know that, you know,
treating people differently and enforcing standards unevenly leads to chaos,

(34:53):
and yet you see it every day in every organization
that you can think of imaginable. So so having self
discipline as a leader, I think can be really consistent
in my approach is to the other thing.

Speaker 3 (35:03):
Last year, you had a real dynamic athlete at quarterback
who presented some problems for defenses, and you also had
a unique athlete at that position who played some other
positions in Chubba Party, and he was with us yesterday.
I think we were both struck by his comfort in
who he is and his confidence. How special of a
leader do you think he can be for your team

(35:24):
this year?

Speaker 7 (35:25):
Yeah, I think that's that's actually something that you know
Brennan was. Brennan has arm talent, he can run. I
think we did a really good job of building an
offense that he could be successful in. And that's what
we're going to do for Chubba. That's our job as
coaches is to take the talent that we have and
put him in a position that they can use that talent.
Right that maybe the most striking difference between Brennan and

(35:48):
Chubba is exactly what you spoke of. He's got a
little bit of the it factor. He's got a little
more personality. He's a you know that kind of joke.
He's always got this permegran, you know, and he connects
very well with our locker room, and he's well liked
and he's respected because of the work he's put in
the journey that he's had, and I think that matters.
And I think that uh, you know, you know, wispering

(36:11):
and all the success in the world, but that quarterback
thing might have gone a little bit different if Chubba
hadn't heard his shoulder going into fall camp.

Speaker 2 (36:19):
You haven't played ping pong against him, have you? You know?
I stay with so like you, let me explain something.

Speaker 7 (36:25):
As you mentioned, I had a birthday, right so I'm
fifty five years old, all right, so I can get
my ARP card. I shouldn't have to. I shouldn't have
to do this social media games they make us do
a media day. I shouldn't have to play ping pong
unless I choose to I'm a pickleball guy, now right,
you know. Okay, So anyway, I just had a knee replaced,
you know, I got I gotta be careful. You know,

(36:46):
my hand eye is not what it used to be.

Speaker 3 (36:47):
I've seen more pickleball injuries than just about anything, so
so be careful.

Speaker 2 (36:51):
I'll be here.

Speaker 3 (36:52):
Chubba told us he can beat his big brother Brock Pertty,
the forty nine er quarterback, at ping pong.

Speaker 2 (36:56):
So that's why I brought it up.

Speaker 3 (36:57):
But one of our fans did send me this picture
and wanted me to ask you about steer wrestling.

Speaker 7 (37:04):
Yeah, that's that's that's clearly ai.

Speaker 2 (37:08):
I did.

Speaker 7 (37:09):
I went to the Rio rodeo and they asked me,
if you know, hey, what pc R event would you
participate in if you could? And I said, well, I'm
not getting on bowl, but I do think you'd be
pretty exhilarating to fall off a horse and going as
fassage as it can go and try to avoid that horn.
I mean, I dot, you know. And I went to
so I'm I'm you know. I went to Directional Montana.
I went to Western Montana College and we had a
rodeo team and and uh so I actually have a

(37:30):
ton of respect for those athletes.

Speaker 2 (37:32):
Oh yeah, and uh And.

Speaker 7 (37:33):
I've always thought like, if you want to get an
adrenaline rush, that's the one. It's not bull riding. Fall
off a horse onto a steer and try to get
it on the ground. I think that'd be kind of cool.
And it's a hip drop talcol that's all it is.

Speaker 2 (37:42):
So yeah.

Speaker 7 (37:43):
So, although they've outlawed that in the NFL, I'm sure
it's coming to colorfootball.

Speaker 2 (37:47):
You can't do that anymore, but you could do it.
You can do it on a steer. Uh.

Speaker 4 (37:52):
Year one to year two, Like that's usually a pretty
big jump. Well, we talked to your guys yesterday. You know,
they really kind of focused on we were three and ten,
but we were in a lot of close games that
we just didn't win. What is it going to take
for your program to win those games this year? Like,
what are the things that your team needs to do
to you know, turn some of those losses into wins

(38:15):
in twenty twenty five?

Speaker 7 (38:16):
Yeah, I think three things come to mind immediately. I
talked about two of them already and kind of the
emphasis of our offseason. Right Number one, that is going
to be disciplined, right, like, don't jump off sides, don't
hit the quarterback late, you know, don't right. Two is accountability,
be where you need to be when you need to
be there, and be your best when your best is needed.

(38:40):
And and three, to me, you know, is becoming what
we call situational masters. The game of football is all
situations and so being being you know, understanding what's going
on in a moment on a third down, Hey is
this a third and six? That this could be a
hardcout situation where they're in the go zone and analytics
are going to say this is going to be a
four down deal. All right, Well now we have to

(39:00):
be a four down defense, not a three down defense. Okay,
understand And what are teams going to do when then
we've got a backed up who are they in the
red zone? How are we going to operate in four
minute and two minute situations into half into game? All
the things that can win or lose games for you?
Because I suspect it we'll be in a lot more
close games. You know, my job as a coach, and
I've always looked at it like this, My job of
a coach is to get the game into the fourth

(39:21):
quarter to manage the game appropriately. Their job as players
is to win the sun of a guy. And so
that's what we've got to do, is I've got to
continue to do I think a good job of getting
us into a competitive game in.

Speaker 2 (39:32):
The fourth quarter.

Speaker 7 (39:33):
And then now we've got to become those situational masters
with discipline and accountability.

Speaker 3 (39:38):
And we've seen you do that and put some real
scares in teams in at other stops.

Speaker 2 (39:43):
You've won a lot of those games.

Speaker 3 (39:44):
And you have an opener on the road against a
team that was in the college football playoff last year
that's paying you to come out there and play them.
How do you motivate a team for those kind of games?
What's your real mindset?

Speaker 2 (39:56):
What's the value of that opportunity for you?

Speaker 7 (39:58):
Well, I think there's two things that come to mind.
You know, I mean, this isn't my first rodeo doing this,
and whether it was at Montana State and going to
play in Texas Tech or or you know, going to
play Minnesota last year, or you know, any of the
any of the things that you're going to do, the
thing you got to remember is, hey man, this is
a fantastic opportunity and you're going to get to see
the splendor and the grandeur of college football at its best.

(40:20):
And so take a second and do the ambiancedro and
enjoy that part of it and appreciate that right, and
then go play football, disciplined, accountable, specific, situational masters football, right.
And and then also keep in mind that one game
doesn't make a season, and one game ain't going to

(40:40):
break a season. And so you know, what we want
to do is we want to show we want to
put a product out there that we can be proud of.
You know, hopefully I can do a good job of
managing the game and we'll be not turn the ball
over and look like we're you know, playing JV football
and h and give ourselves a chance to maybe put
that scare into a Penn state. And but at the

(41:01):
end of the day, we've got to we got to
strap it up again the next week. And so, uh,
you know, you know, I think that's one thing I
learned from Coach Peterson. We tended to play a lot
of early season, impactful games, and there was the psychology
of well, if we witness we could be you know,
it was the BCS. Then you know, we're gonna have
a chance to maybe make a run. But what if
you know, okay, well, how do we balance that? You know,

(41:21):
we were fortunate to go to Georgia and knock them
off and go out and knock off Virginia Tech. But
there was a downside to that too, And I think
you always got to remember that there's a balancing act
that you're taking place. That's taken place here, is that
you know, what's a win for us look like against
Penn State, Well, part of it staying healthy, right, and
and and and improving and being better when we go
play sax State the next week.

Speaker 3 (41:42):
This guy lived that in two thousand and one on
Presno State beating Wisconsin on the road, beat Colorado in
Oregon State.

Speaker 4 (41:49):
Unfortunately lost to Boise State at home for the first
time in like twenty five games. But we didn't understand,
you know, we were ranked eighth in the country. We
didn't understand that we were getting everybody's best shot, right,
Like you don't understand the team that you see on
tape is not the team is going to show up
on Saturday. They're going to be different, They're going to
be extra motivated to knock you off. I'm curious. You're

(42:12):
you sound like a very straight shooter. You remind me
a lot of coach Pat Hill. Like you guys, Yeah,
I mean you guys.

Speaker 2 (42:17):
Just without the hat. Yeah yeah, if you, if you,
if you shave the foo man shoe.

Speaker 7 (42:22):
You know, that's all I gotta do, and I'm there
not going to do it, by the way, but they
call that something else in Montana. I can't stay on air.

Speaker 2 (42:31):
We got to take that. But but I'm guessing that.

Speaker 4 (42:37):
You identify kids in the recruiting process fairly earthy, if
they're going to fit within your culture or if.

Speaker 2 (42:44):
They're not going to fit within your culture.

Speaker 4 (42:45):
Do you find that that's the case with the way
that you operate, the way that you handle yourself, and
the way that you build your program.

Speaker 7 (42:51):
Yeah, I think that. I think now more than ever
that transparency and honesty no BS type approach is absolutely
critical and you've got to you know, I've got to
model that behavior. I've got to live that every day
and I know that, you know, part of leadership is
understanding that people are going to let you down but
still having high standards for them. And if they but

(43:12):
they're going to tell you who they are Eventually and
once they do, then you've got to be able to
say this is one of us or that's one of them.
And you know, the quicker you can do that, the
faster that you can kind of get the flywheel spinning
and start to gain some traction and and move the
needle a little bit. I mean, this is not an
easy job. None of our jobs are easy. This one's
particularly challenging. Yeah, and so so you know, if you're

(43:35):
gonna climb Everest, you're not going to do it with
a donkey. You know, you better have some you know,
you better have some elite surpas around you. And and
so you know, you better have the right people. And obviously,
you know, to your point, you got to identify them
early and you got to be honest.

Speaker 5 (43:49):
With one another.

Speaker 3 (43:50):
Now he really sounds like Pat Hill. What the Everest
and the donkey thing? That might added some more adjectives
to the donkey. I don't know, coach to be a
bowl team this year, what's the number number one thing
that has to go right for your squad?

Speaker 7 (44:03):
Yeah, I think it's really the non conference is going
to be critical. I mean, obviously, you know the conference
schedule in the conference slate is going to be every
game is going to be you know that this league
is not as as you know, Yeah, boy C's up here,
they've got their deal, but you know, get them on
the right day at the right place. You know, you
never know, right, But really, I mean I look at

(44:23):
last year. I mean I didn't feel like we were
out class by Colorado State. I didn't feel like, you know,
we were out class by by San Jose well you know, Fresdent.
I felt like we were maybe not as deep or talented.
But I think if our guys play the way I
want them to play, we're going to be in those
games and have an opportunity. Right So, so I think
for us, it's really getting confidence in the non conference,

(44:44):
right like, and that was hard to do last year.
I mean, you're playing you're going to Troy Alabama, you're
playing a BOLL team in Georgia Southern, and you're playing
at Minnesota and you're playing a CFP team SMU. And
even though we were close and we had maybe did
develop some of that confidence, the wins are the wins. Man.
You've got to have the w and so I think
that's going to be a really critical factor for us,
is you know, what kind of confidence do we come

(45:06):
into conference play with and what kind of momentum does
that create? Is we all know football's a game of momentum.

Speaker 3 (45:11):
Well, you will have just answered that question when you
get to Fresno on October fourth, and so that'll be
your first conference game. Yeah, and Fresno, Yeah, gonna be fun.
Anything else you want to say about.

Speaker 7 (45:22):
Well, I mean, I think you guys made a great
hire in matt EN's. You know, I've never had I've
gotten my butt kicked by that guy, Like I mean
every time we went to Fargo's, Like you got to
be kidne me and I'll never forget, you know, going
up there. I had a pretty good team in twenty
nineteen before COVID, and we were a little banged up
going into the National semi finals. And they roll out
and they got this guy named Trey Lance, and he's
thrown it to this receiver that gets drafted by the Bears,

(45:45):
and they got a defensive end that's going to LSU
the next year, and three offensive linemen. There's first and
second round draft picks. And you know, I just like
his identity. I think he's a perfect fit in terms
of the toughness in the style of play that that
No States been known for for a long time. And
the other thing I'd say is, and I mean this,
a guy I missed the most here today is Jeff Tedford.

(46:08):
Jeff Tedford is the most underrated coach west of the
Mississippi in the history of the game. And you know,
is innovative as an offensive play caller, but he also
brought something to our room as head coaches that has
missed and his his candor and honesty and and his
humor and his and his h understanding the history of
the game. And so I hope he's doing well and
having a glass of vino somewhere and enjoying life. So

(46:31):
I will not look forward to making that walk from
the visitor's locker room down down the field, though. Let
me make sure of a clear.

Speaker 4 (46:38):
I mean, that's you got to have some sort of
home field advantage in Fresno, and that's one of them.
At least, you know, back in the day, there there
was no barrier between fans, and I loved those.

Speaker 5 (46:50):
So now at least there at least they have done that.

Speaker 2 (46:52):
Yeah, at least, yeah, at least you.

Speaker 4 (46:54):
Know, you're not the vitriol is not as in your
face as it used to be, especially when you came
as Boise State, like there's absolute hatred.

Speaker 2 (47:04):
He's speaking for himself. It still feels it.

Speaker 7 (47:08):
I mean, I mean, I've coached there for a long
time and there's some things I don't like about him too.

Speaker 2 (47:14):
Well, and you'll get to deal with that, October.

Speaker 7 (47:16):
To trust me when I tell you, whatever team's really good,
we're going to play them, and so we've got to
have our best every time we have the opportunity to
go line up, and so.

Speaker 3 (47:24):
Well, coach, we'll make sure Coach Tedford, here's that and
we'll look forward to seeing you not too far from now.
All good luck, yep, awesome. Enjoyed the conversation.

Speaker 1 (47:31):
Guys, It's Mountain West Media Days on Fox Sports Radio.