Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
All right, all right, all right, welcome back and bring
the juice. I'm your host of Frank Milian It's Day
on the Pod. A great episode in head Uh. We
got Fresio State Athletic Director Garrett Classy back with us. Garrett,
welcome back to the Fringy Jue.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Always good to hear. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Frank, good to see you. We'll dive right into it. Obviously,
in today's day and age of college fool there's a
lot of moving parts. Presdo State is right in the
middle of it. Before we dive too deep into it,
I just want to make sure everyone knows. Everyone here's
Bulldog bar and Bulldog Bread. Everyone here is exciting for
the future of the dogs in any way, shape and form,
(00:37):
and bringing the juice is always going to be an
asset to Fresno State Athletics. With that being said, I
think there's a lot of unanswered questions that people of
Fresno State are interested in, and the reality of things
are the dogs. We went six and six this year.
We're headed to the famous Idaho Pa Tato Bull which
I seems like the boys are fired up. They turned
a page they said, next man up. Mentality let's go
(00:59):
get this win Dogs of one. I don't know it
was like four or five of the five bowl games. Yeah.
Fun fact Delana brother has never lost a Bowl game.
Oh fun Basher in the house back. But you know
this season wasn't normal, right. These guys have had three
head coaches now in six months. And it started off
(01:20):
with coach Jeff Tedford in mid July having to retire
you to health reasons. Correct, Coach Skip was given the
interim head coach tag and that it was his role
throughout the season. Start with that. How how how did
you decide, Hey, Skip, you're going to be our intern
for the year. Where did that go about?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah, it was a unique situation. Coach Tedford was on
my search committee. I mean in that room in that
final meeting was the president DeBie A. Stone and Coach
Tedford and I literally got the job offer, came out
here for the press conference and then flew back home
and a day later, Coach Tedford calls like, I don't
know if I can go this season, and I'm what's
going on? He goes my health issue and need to
(02:01):
really take care of myself, and of course health needs
to be number one right of course, and I said,
you know, I said that you did this once before, Like,
what's the plan more do you thinking? I mean, I
hadn't set foot in the you know, sets a brand
knew at this point, he goes, well, coach Skip did
a great job at the Bowl game last year. I
think it's gonna be a you know, a seamless transition
having them coach you know this year, get through this year,
(02:22):
and then you know, we can evaluate them for the job.
And I'm like, okay, let's go. And you know the
President was involved in those conversations as well too, and
so you know, we went in the season, you go,
and you know, Skip earned this job, like, We're gonna
do everything in our power to support you throughout the season.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
That being said, was there, like in your head necessarily
a record that needed to be attained? Was there a
certain goal that you were looking forward to? And you know,
I know some of these questions might be dicey, but
I just think, you know, we are in a sport
in which measurables touchdowns enough of those achieve a win,
So sure wins matter. That's that's that's the nature of
(03:00):
the Beast. It's a business, right, did you have certain
goals that you wanted to see or be attained or
was there, you know, things that needed to happen to
have that interim tag be removed throughout the season going
into it.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
No, I don't think there is measureables. I don't ever
want to box myself or back myself in the corner.
It's got to be the improvement throughout the season is
a big part, Like does the team improve throughout the year?
And and listen at the end of the day. And
we tried to support Skip as much as we could, right,
and we care it's best for Bulldog football. And me
(03:33):
coming in brand new to this thing, it would have
been premature for me to set goals of the being
the year saying if he wins x amount of games,
then he's going to be retained, right because I had
to understand the Bulldog culture and understand the talents we
have the team, the coaches that we had on the team.
You got to look at the full big picture. And
that's why early on so out a ton of practices.
That's why early on I wanted to get coach Tedford,
(03:55):
not just as feedback but just the background of the program.
What got us to where we are the good, the bad,
and the ugly, right, you have to look at it
a full picture, and so I knew that I had
full season evaluate and that's what we did. We evaluated
the entire season to make sure that we were making
the best decision for our program. And so at the
end of the day, I don't think it was about
achieving X, Y, and Z. Is more about what kind
(04:16):
of candidates can we draw here to get us the
next level That included coach Skip throughout the process.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Was there a point you think where the coaching search accelerated.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
I was a valleying candidates throughout the year, including coach Skip.
I wouldn't be doing my job if I wasn't watching
football NonStop making sure that we had the right candidates.
And it can't just be hey, this guy was successful
at football, this guy's going to be our next coach.
It had to be who's going to fit the community
in the valley, who's going to fit the bulldog away
of football, Like we wanted to make sure that we
(04:49):
could attack the line of scrimmage, We wanted to mistake
free football, wanted to make sure someone could handle pressure situations. Football,
as you know, was very much situational football, the clock
management piece. We wanted to make sure that Fresno State
has always been about doing more with less. We couldn't
just pluck someone from a Power five program that's only
been a coordinator position coach at Power five come here
(05:10):
and always be wondering what I need X, Y and Z,
instead of being I'm grateful that I have this and
we're gonna work within these confines. And I think that's
very important. That's the way we've always been, and so
we wanted to make sure that we had someone that
could fit that and dynamic and fit those needs and
those values of the Fresno State football program.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
I very much agree with that, because one thing people
don't quite understand is Fresno State has never been a
school full of five star recruits, right. It's been some
of our best players have been walk on, some guys
who weren't recruited, guys who got kicked out of a
place and needed a second chance, and they found there,
you know, their wits about them here at Fresno State,
and that's part of the culture that there is. And
(05:51):
you know, there's been the diamonds in the rough here
and there, and there big recruits. They're gonna go to
places in today's day and age that might pay more
money or promise certain things. But here one thing that
we've always thrived in is you work with what you got.
You utilize whatever assets you have. Let's use their strengths, right,
use our strengths. We've got a bunch of fast guys.
Let's let's let's let's be quick with it. If we
(06:13):
got if they're going to be a downhill runners, let's
run some jumbo package whatever it might.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Be, and to your personnel exactly. And it's.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
No matter the personnel though. The culture of saying we
are gonna play hard nosed football, we're gonna do things right.
You overly hear about the blue collared presence that we
have here in the valley, and our football team is
in the shadow of that phrase itself. There is valley
grit we talk.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
About, correct.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
It's something that you know, bulldog born, bulldog bread. It
means something to the people who know, who have experienced it,
who go to the games, who maybe don't even go
to the games and didn't play football, but they just
live here and they know this is as the way
we are.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
I mean, the valley revolves around bulldog football. Right, that's
a great responsibility to have on anyone's shoulder. And I
and I have great respect and I understand that, right.
I mean every day there's pressure, but great pressure. I
love that pressure. Knowing how important bulldog football is, it
was very important to make the right decision for this
football program moving forward because it it's not just the
(07:20):
athletic department, it's not just the university, it's it's businesses
is in this area. It's from you know, whether it's
from Stockton down the Baker's Field, like it is bulldog
football and it's a huge economic driver in this valley,
and so it's important it increases a successful Bulldog football team,
increases the value of a degree from the school, and
increases the demeanor like people. I mean, you know when
(07:44):
there's excitement around bulldog football, I mean everyone's in a
great mood in the valley when that happens. And I
think that's that's that's it. We are the NFL team
in the valley, and I think that that comes with
the great responsibility. And I understood that going in this
process like this was an important higher for us moving forward.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Right, And I think you know, One of the biggest
reasons people did you know they favored Skip is because
they said, oh, he's bulldog born, bulldog bread And you know,
did you know going into the coaching hire though, although yes,
Skip's bulldog born, bulldog bread, do you make sure any
candidate we have has an understanding that there's an already
established culture here, right and and with and with you know,
(08:23):
our new coach, coach Entz that's coming in, he has
you know, I don't know if there's a history lesson
that needs to be said. And I'm not the guy
to say, well you better learn today, Like I'm not
that guy at all. But it's not like I'm not
gonna throw you into the program. But it's not like a
Nevada or or San Jose State or you know, Wyoming
maybe even who they're not really known for anything. Razo
(08:46):
State's known for the checkerboard end zone, for the for
the for the Green Valley v and the brand of
football which is played here. Is that part of the
hiring process, you think.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, the last thing we go on to do from
was start from s right. We have to understand who
we are and that's why this full year process during
football season was very educational for me, Like the last
thing when you do is to reinvent the wheel. You know,
as we said on the farm growing up, if it
ain't broke, don't fix it, right, So we needed to
find out someone that could take those same values, that
(09:17):
same culture and build off of that. And coach Enz
fits all those qualities and trades. He's not Bulldog born,
he's not bulldog bread, but he has those bulldog qualities, right,
And I think, you know, I think people tend to
lean back towards the Bulldog family for obvious reasons. Right,
It's a very special culture. And you know, one of
the things I keep hearing about is, you know, we
(09:39):
don't want someone to treat this as a stepping stone.
And my thought going through that was the same thing. Right,
I'd love to have someone here the next fifteen twenty years.
But if you look at schools that are deemed stepping stones,
those are the schools that haven't consistently reinvested into their programs. Right.
And at the end of the day, you know, it's
just as much on the administration on any football coaches
(10:01):
left here about making it a or treating it like
a stepping stone program. We need to reinvest in the program.
When I got to Oregon in nineteen well, now, in
two thousand and five, our operating budget was thirty five
million dollars and when I left in twenty thirteen, it
was one hundred and ten million dollars. And I ain't
grid granted everyone's going to say, well, that was Phil Knight,
(10:21):
right had he had a part of that. But there's
a lot of other generous people, and there were success
from the football programs that went through it. I mean,
Oregon football has founded, not founded, but the success happened
with Rich Brooks that got carried on to Mike Blatti,
and they didn't have a lot of resources there either.
But when they started reinvesting in the football and started
treating it like the power of you know, the powerhouse
(10:44):
of the state of Oregon and being an economic driver,
then coaches started to stay because it wasn't a stepping stone.
And so I don't know if it's so much because
people don't like Fresleo, because this place is an incredible place.
A stepping stone has to be we have to show
that we are in reinvest saying the football program. There's
many coaches that have had multiple stints here and they
come back. I'm like, boy, thirty years ago we had
(11:05):
great facilities. I came back twenty years later and they're
the exact same, Right, So we have to do our part.
This isn't on football coach. This is on myself. This
is on our administration to get serious and start investing
in the football the right way.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Right in my red shirt freshman year, I don't know
why my head went to this. My redfirt freshman year,
we had coach Tim de Ruter and we It was
the year we went one and eleven, which was tough.
He got fired. We played at Utah State in a
late game. We got home at like four in the morning,
We had a coach, We had a team meeting the
(11:39):
next morning at like nine am. And I'm nineteen years old,
eighteen years old at this point, just just happy to
be there. Sure getting a little burn playing college football.
It's awesome. But it went zero to one hundred real quick.
It's my first big boy conversation of hey, this is
a business. Right. We didn't know that coach Ruder was
(11:59):
getting fired that morning. Necessary now there was signs we
were losing. Social media leaks everything these days and I
think the guys in our locker room we weren't shocked
by it, but we were just disappointed that we learned
about it over Twitter. Yeah, how what was your goals
and your communication with the team in the program right now?
(12:22):
Knowing this is ongoing, trying to get ahead of it
before leaked with social media. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
One of the things I did was to make sure
that I sat down with some key returners for this
upcoming season on Sunday after the UCLA game. And it
wasn't to endorse a candidate, and wasn't not to endorse Canada.
I wanted to find out what qualities they wanted in
the next head coach for present, they stayed football, and
so I tried to involve some of the key players
in that part of the process, right. And then as
(12:51):
we went through this whole process, it was important to
me that whoever we decided to hire as a next
head coach, whoever did not get the job, that they
heard it from me and not through social media. And
that's tough to do. And as we went through the
process and it became apparent to myself and the president
that we wanted to hire Matt Enz, it came increasingly
more important because of who Tim Skipper is as a
(13:14):
person and him being bulldog born and bulldog bread that
this needed to come from me face to face. And
so I did meet with him first thing. What morning
that was, I guess that was Wednesdays last Wednesday morning,
to make sure I had that meeting with him face
to face and he heard it from me. And it
was important because A it's important how we treat people,
how everyone needs to have respect and treat it as respect,
(13:37):
and B from personal experiences, I was the interim ad
at Nebraska for about four months and I know how
that process went down, and I found out from a
text message at two am and in social media in
the morning, and to me, that still doesn't sit well
with me, and it's going to hurt for a long time.
And so both it's who I am as a person,
but also past experience like this needs to be a
(14:00):
face to face, a man the man conversation. And so
you know, I've heard some feedback from community members like
I wish we were more involved in the process. I
wish they were too. It doesn't mean I don't value
the people. It doesn't mean I don't value the red
Wave I don't. I extremely value the supporters of our program,
but there's certain ways to handle right things, and I
felt at that time that that was the right way
(14:21):
to handle things.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Not an easy job. Not an easy job.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
It's part of leadership, right, and there's no rule book
for it. It's like you being a new parent. I
found out the hard way too, there's no rule books
for those things, and after were everyone would be sitting
in these chairs, right. But you have to handle things
the best way that you can, treating people the right
way and with integrity.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
I love that. Like you said, there's there's a thousand
ways of skinny cat here man, and you have your
values held to a certain standard, which it seems like
you do than I respect you, and obviously I put
a little video out when the news broke, But utmost
respect to coach Skip, I mean, the best he handled it.
(15:02):
He got thrown into a unique situation at the beginning
of the season. He went through this year. There was
highs and lows. But one thing I mentioned is this
team foff every every step of the way, and I
think they'll finish strong because that's just who they are.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
The model of this year has been finished and I
don't expect anything less from this team or this coaching staff.
They want to finish what they started this year.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
So again tip my hat to coach Skip. Like you
mentioned when we've talked in the past, he's bulldog warn,
bulldog bread. Whether he's the head coach or he's you know,
walking down the street, doesn't matter. Correct, we got a
new football coach. We do why, what were the difference
makers and ultimately making coach ends demand for the job.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
You know, through the process, we really emphasize someone with
head coaching experience. Right, there's just going going from a
coordinator to a head coach. That's not an easy transition,
you know, seeing one side of the ball, and especially
you know a few years ago you weren't you didn't
have thirty support staff, you didn't have one hundred and
twenty players. You need to be a CEO of a program.
(16:00):
And then you need to know what it feels like
to win championships, right, I think that's really important. If
you have a championship pedigree, you know what it takes
to get there, you know what it takes to stay
on top of that mountain once you get there as
well too. And then I just think there's certain game
decisions right. I mean, there's a certain situations that you
can't emulate by standing on the sideline and evaluating right.
(16:23):
You have to be in that moment. You have to
make tough decisions when the game is on the line.
You have to make adjustments not just at halftime, but
during the game to make sure that you were doing
the right thing to help the team win the game.
And we really value that type experience going through this process,
and I think getting someone like Matt Enz that's one
(16:43):
national championships been part of way. You know, I think
what six national championships total, not as head coach, but
as an assistant coach and a head coach there, and
then getting that experience at USC being at a Power
five program, knowing what a school does with these resources,
because we as we continue the fundraise and bring more
revenues program, we got to make sure we're investing in
(17:04):
the right way. And that combination experience really put him
towards the top. He's really big on recruiting, retaining and
developing players, and I think that's always been the model
here and so as we go through and as nil
and the revenue sharing gets to be a bigger piece
of it. We don't want to go out there and
just buy players. What we want to do is evaluate
(17:25):
incredible talent and really turn them into something special. And
when they become something special as a player, then we
retain them because that's where we should be investing our resources.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
I love that. So what makes it to where coach
is the perfect fit for president State? Why is he
going to win here?
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Just that blue collar valley grit, that valley DNA. I
mean he is. He talks about controlling the line of scrimmage,
he talks about clock management. He has coached through some
of the most difficult situations. He's done it at schools,
the questions I asked him and has said, Listen, North
Dakota State has some of the better resources in your conference,
(18:07):
like we have some of the we're one of the
lowest resource institution or conference goes. But that wasn't my competition.
I was out recruiting against Iowa and Minnesota and other
Power five schools and we were beating them for kids.
He goes, so I know what it's like to do
more with less. So he understands that value even in
a short time here. I mean, he's been working straight
(18:28):
throughout the clock. I don't know if he's slept since
he's been here. And he is a valiating talent. He's
meeting with coaches and players. The guy has relentless work
at it, work ethic. You know. Being a farm kid
from Iowa, he understands it. He's part of agriculture. He
is you know, he was part of a dairy farm
to turn in the beef farm. And you know his
wife same way, grew up in small town Nebraska. They
(18:48):
are going to be incredible fits here and they are
going to they understand how to win the bulldog way,
and I think that's really important to anyone. We want
to hire this guy who if you haven't met him yet,
you're going to be in awe all football all the time.
And he loves it. He eats, breathes, and sleeps football.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
I love that. So ultimately, you know the landscape college fotball,
like we've discussed with the transfer portal, guys are leaving
for both money and other opportunities for playing. Maybe they're
not happy with their playing time, their statistics, whatever, mych
sure does that make it harder to establish a culture
where you bring guys in and you groom them for
(19:29):
four to five years to really create that that long
term culture that we have here at Fresno State. I
think Kirby Smart said it, really, really, really nicely a
couple of years ago when the transfer portal first got
a little wacky, where ultimately you're not gonna get to
bring a guy in as a freshman and he's gonna
wait his turn as a freshman and then a sophomore
(19:51):
he plays a little bit more than a junior. He's
ready to go to have a big senior season. That's
not happening as much anymore now. It's you don't play
it right away, I'm going to the next place. So
how can we here at freds of State because we
kind of have a lineage of guys coming, getting developed,
and then blossoming towards the end of their careers. Sure,
how are we going to create that culture in one year?
(20:14):
Because it's one at a time, right it is?
Speaker 2 (20:16):
And I think that's why are you're going to see
in college athletics, You're going to see coaches win eleven
games one year and maybe five the next because I
think the culture is going to change year to year
from your team. But how it pertains the Forreso state.
You know, a coach Ens is committed to recruiting valley
kids like this is one of the few places where
it still matters to where the bulldog in your uniform.
(20:39):
Course you have to go.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
You know who guys want to stay here?
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Absolutely, you have to go get those kids. And whether
it's from junior college, from the smallest high schools that
twenty four to seven doesn't go in and evaluate, we
need to find those diamonds in the rough and that's
who are always going to be and once again this
campus and they have those bulldog values. You know, I'm
not going to judge a kid that goes and leaves
here and maybe get a million dollar offer from another
(21:01):
school that we can't manage. I want people to do
what's best for them right, and we're going to do
everything our power to retain that. But I think we're
gonna have to be physically responsible with the gifts, with
the nil that we have working through this process, and
so we're always going to be talent evaluators here and
Coach Ens has talked exclusively about that. How is he
going to do high school coaching clinic's camps to cater
(21:22):
to the small school kids, the junior college, junior college kids,
so that he can evaluate so many kids in one spot,
and he's going to make sure that him and his
coaching staff that's the value. He's looking for people that
are relentlessly out on the road visiting with high school coaches,
visiting with kids, and so, yeah, it does it get
more difficult, absolutely, But if you do things the right
(21:43):
way and you show them that you're investing in their talent,
you show them that they can get to the NFL,
which we have hundreds of cases of kids going to
the NFL from this program. They're still going to want
to stay here, and so we got to make sure
we continue that culture. And we're going to lose them, right,
but I think at this place we have a history,
we're going to retain more than and we lose.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
So what is there any secret sauce to getting guys
to stay here versus going to the portal? Is there
anything besides Cheddar right now? That's keeping guys.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
You know, every individual is different, right, But I mean
the money is a big part of it. But I do,
as I mentioned earlier in this conversation, we need to
be doing what we need to do. We need to
make sure we have a robust nutrition program, a robust
strength and conditioning program, a robust academic program. We have
to make sure our coaches are invested in our kids.
(22:32):
They can coach them hard, but those kids you know
that you love them at the end of the day.
Our administration, I need to get to know these kids
in a one on one level. We have to make
this very difficult for them to want to leave here.
And like I said, if an SEC or Big ten
school is going to come in and off from seven figures,
I don't know what there's much we can control about it.
But next man up, right, that is what you say,
(22:54):
So next man up. We're going to make sure that
we build depth so there's people that can come in,
come up through the year and coach ends is really big,
you know, it's it's I'm probably gonna screw up talking
about it, but the way he's going to practice is
going to build a ton of depth in the program.
And it's very unique. A little bit he my word's
not his. A little bit. How Tom Osborne had two
(23:16):
full fields going on at one time when Nebraska's walk
on program was in his heyday, So there's certain ways
that you can build depth and where these kids are
getting reps, where they want to state these they know
they're getting better every day, and even if you're showing
the third four string kids that they're getting reps and
getting better, hopefully they'll want to stay.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
So I think one thing that people have kind of
at least in from a president state perspective, people are
confused about and they you know, we see other programs
in IL structures are everything's different, right, There's certain programs
out there whe everybody makes the same amount of money.
There's certain programs out there where there's some guys not
(23:56):
making any money and their best guys are making a
lot of money. All these different formats has there. And
I know you can't do a pay for play necessarily, sure, right,
but is there any sort of way that there could
be a structure of It's not performance based, but everyone's
paid consistently throughout the entire year, and then at the
(24:17):
end of the year there's something similar to a business
where you could have endi year bonuses.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Yeah, the whole system is changing with the revenue sharing piece,
and players are going to start having contracts and there
will be some bonus structure. I'm not talking about Fresno
State in general, talking to colleagues across the country that
there will be a bonus structure in there, and primarily
some of those bonuses could be for performance, could be
for staying, could be for you know, for retention. But
that's where we're getting at. In return, they're gonna have
(24:44):
to make public appearances for the university or if it's NIL,
through those companies that are supplying those NIL resources. And
so there there's a way to do it. And right now,
you know, we're looking at every model possible to figure out.
You know, right now, it's we don't have revenue to
share now. Marcus does a great job with Bulldog Bread.
Luckily we have a great NIL program and we always
(25:07):
can do more. But in the day there's gonna be
some tough decisions made on how do you distribute that money?
And I'm sure you know, coach ensis strategy is gonna
be a little bit different than coach Tedford's strategy, and
so we're still working through those pieces right now.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
The pay for play thing is really going to change
the game, it seems.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Yeah, it is. I mean, at least with the revenue
sharing piece, those schools that can afford it. It's it's
a you know, it's a static number like the max
you can share through an athletic department's twenty point five
million for this next year. The ANIL is always gonna
be additive. That's where the arms race is going to
be who has the most NIL dollars above and beyond
that And so listen, we're gonna get creative here. We're
(25:46):
gonna change our business model and how we operate administrative
here in the next year year and a half that
I believe strongly that our kids are gonna be able
to monetize more after nil than ever before. And I
can't go too deep into it, but we're looking at
ways where we can get an advantage at least of our
peers that we're competing with every day to where there's
just gonna be some natural dollars that come just on
(26:07):
how we operate the assets that we control.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
As the university coach ends, I'm not we already mentioned
he's not going to reinvent the wheel here. If you
had to say in your you know you're you're you're
the man behind the wheel as athletic director right now,
and you got this this this steering wheel, which is
coach Mike. Excuse me.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
You know he took some heat calling a mic.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
I know that, you know, you know what. I saw
a bad tweet. I wrote it down. I was trying
to get the tweet out fast.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
And I follow that guy because he's a he's a
Packers beat writer as well as an NDSU wrote.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Now real quick gave me from all right, man, whatever,
just call him coach.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
It's easier.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
That's why I mean, that's why I do sach Ens.
What do you think his first first thing he does
is going to be out of the gate. What's his
what's his first thing he's gonna put his thumbprint on.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Well, I mean he's hiring a staff right now, he's
trying to retain a lot of our key players, and
he's reaching out to a lot of local kids. But
I think his thumb print right away is gonna be instilling.
I'm not I'm not saying we're not a tough program,
but he wants to make sure that there's toughness through
up and down throughout the program, from every single position
to no matter what string you are. And so I
(27:22):
think toughness is key to him. Fundamentals, attacking things with
great detail. Those are the things that are non negotiables
for him.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
The alumni right now, some some Bulldog alum they feel
some type of way. Sure, what would your message be
to the alumn that feels some type of way, and
how can we turn the page and being on board
into a positive, positive foot forward with this coach.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
And you know, I completely understand there's a group of
Bulldog alumni that aren't happy with this, this this decision,
and I understand it. I mean, Tim Skiper is an
incredible person, incredible human being. Those that played with them,
those that that he coached. Of course, he made an
impact on the life. You know, I'm not I'm not
disputing that. By the end of the day, the decision
(28:12):
was made. And you know, if if the alumni aren't
happy with the decision, they aren't happy with me. I
understand it, and and I haven't. I'm not hiding from
the criticism. I've returned emails, text messages, phone calls to
people that were upset about it, and I can explain it.
But at the end of the day, we need to
support these young men that are Bulldog football players. We
(28:32):
need to support coach NS and his coaching staff. They
had nothing to do with this decision. They've been they've
been given an opportunity. And the one thing I've learned
from day one, United United Bulldog family is a force
to be reckoned with. And you know, or I always
say United Red Wave are unified. Red Wave is a
(28:53):
force to be reckoned with. And so we need to
be unified to this process. And we need to cheer
for Coach Nce. We need to cheer for these and
more importantly for these players because they're part of that
same fraternity as they are. And you know, I hope
time heals all wounds. But we have to do our
part as administration too, to do more to show these players,
these alumni that they're valued and they're welcome. And Coach
Ens and I have already talked about ways around spring football.
(29:15):
How do we get the alumni more involved, what kind
of program we do to get the alumni more involved.
It's important to him, it's important to me. So you know,
hopefully they'll understand the division and the direction of this program.
And you know, we can all cheer. There's no there's
nothing wrong with cheering on what coach Skipper does or
what coach enz does, right, But I think you know,
anyone that wears those a bulldog color, especially the ones
(29:36):
that are competing on the football field, we need to
back them up and be unified throughout this process. I agree.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
I agree, it's done. It's done in business business.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
And listen, at the end of the day, we have
going into the PAC twelve. We have a short audition
to prove that we belong on this stage. You know,
it's a short term deal, and so animosity within the
program is not going to help us get there, right,
So listen, I hope I'm here. My plan is to
be here for the next twenty years, and obviously we
(30:07):
need winning football for them for me to achieve that goal.
But it's not about me, right, It's about the making
sure this program is relevant for years to come. And
I think that's I've talked to some former football alumni
and when I first got here, they're like, classy, just
keep us relevant. I'm like, well, no, that's not the plan.
We're not here just to get a participation trophy and
(30:29):
cheer because we're in the Pac twelve. We're going there
the win championships, and we need to invest. We need
people to be behind us and listen anyone listens podcasting, like, yeah,
easy for you to say, you know, I get it,
But feelings aside for Garrett Classy, support this program, you know,
really and that doesn't mean monetarily. You know, if you
(30:51):
don't feel like you want to do it monetarily, fine,
but come to the game mentor these young men, I mean,
they are an incredible student athletes, and so listen, there's
be a time. You know, the emotions are high. Right now,
I understand it. I respect that, I get it. Like
I said at one point, I said, as as amazing
as a person a Skip is, I'd be shocked if
(31:13):
people weren't upset about this, right, I mean, you just
he's that special of a person. But this is his
direction we're heading. And I hope, I hope they decide
at some point to get back on board with us.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
They will, and I and again I will be a
spokesperson for nobody besides myself to say initially, yeah, you're
Maybe it took some people buy a swing of things,
but I think you gotta trust the man in charge,
like I said, you are, and you clearly did it
for a reason. And I again, I think you got
to look at this glass half full, glass half empty.
(31:44):
Right now, right Skip's gonna land on his feet. I
have no doubt about that. Moving forward, though, Coach and
the guys will winter. The guys want natties. The guys
wanted He's I mean, I said it in my little
video where I called him the wrong name. But North
Dakota State's a program where there's a lot of similarities
to Fresco State in North's Kirsty, the guy has done
(32:06):
it and clearly, you know, growing up on a farm,
he had a little taste of Hollywood this year, and
I'm sure he was like, I'll I'll be okay. I
think Fresno traffic's a little better than La tracking. I
think I think the future looks bright. I think it's exciting.
I think we're not the only people in the country
that are going through coaching changes, transfer portals, things like that.
(32:30):
It's it's it's the nature of the beast. This is
a business. You got to find a way to adapt
or die. And I think we're adapting. I don't think
we're dying. I think if it was I'll be full
of transparency. I think if it was today, if transportal
opened up today and we didn't know what we were doing.
I'd be like, hey, we're kind of a little bit
of a wound eddainable right now. But that's not the case.
And I you know, again, i'd tim, I hat to
you for for trusting your gut, making decisions and going
(32:52):
things about about the way you think they should be done,
and sticking to your guns. Because when bullets are flying
and everyone's in your ear, chit chat here, blah blah
blah blah blah, everyone's got everyone's got one right. So
I again, I I think you've you've handled it well
and bring the juice backs to dogs and they back coaching,
and I think I think the future looks bright. What
(33:13):
else do you got for me?
Speaker 2 (33:14):
I mean the one thing to fallow up on that
the red wave. They're gonna love this Skuye. The football alumni,
they're gonna love this guy. The community, the valley, everyone,
they are gonna love this guy. I mean, this guy
is cut from the same cloth. And you know, one
thing that's important that this that your listeners need to know.
We absolutely have the right leader for this program moving forward.
(33:35):
I mean everything that he is doing right now, he's
handling it the right way, you know, whether it's with
the current coaches, the players, handles with respect, dignity, with integrity.
He's a hard working guy. And tell you this, this
is someone that anyone that meets him is going to
be ready to run through a brick wall for. And
the futures is bright. It's in great hands. And I
(33:57):
think you know. One of the things that that you
know that I hope the Red Wave knows is that
you know, when I make decisions for an athletic department,
or we make decisions for an athletic department, it's for
the long term success. I'm not this person that's doing
it for the next job. I'm not doing it for
anything else. I've never made a decision in my career
that wasn't in the best interest in the university at
least how I felt like. How decision, how it turns
(34:19):
out in the end, History will write that for himselves.
But we're going to support Matt. Their future is bright
and I couldn't be more excited having him here as
a bulldog.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Last thing before I wrap it up, so end of
years coming up. Yeah, some people are looking to move
some money around. If I'm a guy and I got
a thousand bucks. Ye where am I going with it?
If I want to support President State Athletics right.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Now, I think the best, you know, especially if you're
football specific, giving it to Yeah, there you go, an
I L Bulldog Bread is the best placing give and
I think that's really exciting. In fact, Tyler mariuciin I
just got back from a visit today and I think
we're really close to getting a seven figure commitment directly football,
and I think you're going to see us in the
(35:02):
next few months release a football Excellence campaign. It's not
many called that, you know, but but it's going to
be a combination of including NIL with given to the
BDF the Bulldog Foundation and making both places stronger because
we need both both places to succeed. But right now,
with what the transfer portal and trying to retain some
of our best players, NIL is absolutely the best place
(35:24):
sing you can give right now. And there's some tax
deductible gifts you can do the ANIL and it's your
end giving. It's in December. You need those tax breaks
right now, and so this is the best time to give.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
We'll bring the juice, will continue to support the Dogs
thank you the way the dogs support the juice Garrett class,
everybody Frezo State's athletic director. Check out, coach, it's sense, Matt,
it's Matt, it's matt Ense. We'll get them on the
pods soon enough, I'm sure, and we're fired up to
back you. But seriously appreciate your time. I'm I'm sure
the dog fans are gonna walk away from this fired
(35:55):
up and ready to go buy some more gear and
cheer on these dogs that the famous Idaho potato. There
you go, you're going.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
I will be there, yes, and I think we're going
to play at Boise next year on the blue turf.
So for the kids that are returning, it's gonna be
really good to get a game game on there before
they go up there next year. And listen, yes, buy
the gear. Everything helps right watch on TV if you
can't make it. But it'll be fun. It'll be a
great celebration of the year and excited to get up there.
(36:23):
I mean, six wins isn't easy, right, so it's a
good way to celebrate.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
Arks leaders, gentlemen, bring a juice
All right, all right, all right, welcome back and bring
the juice. I'm your host of Frank Milian It's Day
on the Pod. A great episode in head Uh. We
got Fresio State Athletic Director Garrett Classy back with us. Garrett,
welcome back to the Fringy Jue.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Always good to hear. Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Frank, good to see you. We'll dive right into it. Obviously,
in today's day and age of college fool there's a
lot of moving parts. Presdo State is right in the
middle of it. Before we dive too deep into it,
I just want to make sure everyone knows. Everyone here's
Bulldog bar and Bulldog Bread. Everyone here is exciting for
the future of the dogs in any way, shape and form,
(00:37):
and bringing the juice is always going to be an
asset to Fresno State Athletics. With that being said, I
think there's a lot of unanswered questions that people of
Fresno State are interested in, and the reality of things
are the dogs. We went six and six this year.
We're headed to the famous Idaho Pa Tato Bull which
I seems like the boys are fired up. They turned
a page they said, next man up. Mentality let's go
(00:59):
get this win Dogs of one. I don't know it
was like four or five of the five bowl games. Yeah.
Fun fact Delana brother has never lost a Bowl game.
Oh fun Basher in the house back. But you know
this season wasn't normal, right. These guys have had three
head coaches now in six months. And it started off
(01:20):
with coach Jeff Tedford in mid July having to retire
you to health reasons. Correct, Coach Skip was given the
interim head coach tag and that it was his role
throughout the season. Start with that. How how how did
you decide, Hey, Skip, you're going to be our intern
for the year. Where did that go about?
Speaker 2 (01:38):
Yeah, it was a unique situation. Coach Tedford was on
my search committee. I mean in that room in that
final meeting was the president DeBie A. Stone and Coach
Tedford and I literally got the job offer, came out
here for the press conference and then flew back home
and a day later, Coach Tedford calls like, I don't
know if I can go this season, and I'm what's
going on? He goes my health issue and need to
(02:01):
really take care of myself, and of course health needs
to be number one right of course, and I said,
you know, I said that you did this once before, Like,
what's the plan more do you thinking? I mean, I
hadn't set foot in the you know, sets a brand
knew at this point, he goes, well, coach Skip did
a great job at the Bowl game last year. I
think it's gonna be a you know, a seamless transition
having them coach you know this year, get through this year,
(02:22):
and then you know, we can evaluate them for the job.
And I'm like, okay, let's go. And you know the
President was involved in those conversations as well too, and
so you know, we went in the season, you go,
and you know, Skip earned this job, like, We're gonna
do everything in our power to support you throughout the season.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
That being said, was there, like in your head necessarily
a record that needed to be attained? Was there a
certain goal that you were looking forward to? And you know,
I know some of these questions might be dicey, but
I just think, you know, we are in a sport
in which measurables touchdowns enough of those achieve a win,
So sure wins matter. That's that's that's the nature of
(03:00):
the Beast. It's a business, right, did you have certain
goals that you wanted to see or be attained or
was there, you know, things that needed to happen to
have that interim tag be removed throughout the season going
into it.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
No, I don't think there is measureables. I don't ever
want to box myself or back myself in the corner.
It's got to be the improvement throughout the season is
a big part, Like does the team improve throughout the year?
And and listen at the end of the day. And
we tried to support Skip as much as we could, right,
and we care it's best for Bulldog football. And me
(03:33):
coming in brand new to this thing, it would have
been premature for me to set goals of the being
the year saying if he wins x amount of games,
then he's going to be retained, right because I had
to understand the Bulldog culture and understand the talents we
have the team, the coaches that we had on the team.
You got to look at the full big picture. And
that's why early on so out a ton of practices.
That's why early on I wanted to get coach Tedford,
(03:55):
not just as feedback but just the background of the program.
What got us to where we are the good, the bad,
and the ugly, right, you have to look at it
a full picture, and so I knew that I had
full season evaluate and that's what we did. We evaluated
the entire season to make sure that we were making
the best decision for our program. And so at the
end of the day, I don't think it was about
achieving X, Y, and Z. Is more about what kind
(04:16):
of candidates can we draw here to get us the
next level That included coach Skip throughout the process.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
Was there a point you think where the coaching search accelerated.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
I was a valleying candidates throughout the year, including coach Skip.
I wouldn't be doing my job if I wasn't watching
football NonStop making sure that we had the right candidates.
And it can't just be hey, this guy was successful
at football, this guy's going to be our next coach.
It had to be who's going to fit the community
in the valley, who's going to fit the bulldog away
of football, Like we wanted to make sure that we
(04:49):
could attack the line of scrimmage, We wanted to mistake
free football, wanted to make sure someone could handle pressure situations. Football,
as you know, was very much situational football, the clock
management piece. We wanted to make sure that Fresno State
has always been about doing more with less. We couldn't
just pluck someone from a Power five program that's only
been a coordinator position coach at Power five come here
(05:10):
and always be wondering what I need X, Y and Z,
instead of being I'm grateful that I have this and
we're gonna work within these confines. And I think that's
very important. That's the way we've always been, and so
we wanted to make sure that we had someone that
could fit that and dynamic and fit those needs and
those values of the Fresno State football program.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
I very much agree with that, because one thing people
don't quite understand is Fresno State has never been a
school full of five star recruits, right. It's been some
of our best players have been walk on, some guys
who weren't recruited, guys who got kicked out of a
place and needed a second chance, and they found there,
you know, their wits about them here at Fresno State,
and that's part of the culture that there is. And
(05:51):
you know, there's been the diamonds in the rough here
and there, and there big recruits. They're gonna go to
places in today's day and age that might pay more
money or promise certain things. But here one thing that
we've always thrived in is you work with what you got.
You utilize whatever assets you have. Let's use their strengths, right,
use our strengths. We've got a bunch of fast guys.
Let's let's let's let's be quick with it. If we
(06:13):
got if they're going to be a downhill runners, let's
run some jumbo package whatever it might.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
Be, and to your personnel exactly. And it's.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
No matter the personnel though. The culture of saying we
are gonna play hard nosed football, we're gonna do things right.
You overly hear about the blue collared presence that we
have here in the valley, and our football team is
in the shadow of that phrase itself. There is valley
grit we talk.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
About, correct.
Speaker 1 (06:42):
It's something that you know, bulldog born, bulldog bread. It
means something to the people who know, who have experienced it,
who go to the games, who maybe don't even go
to the games and didn't play football, but they just
live here and they know this is as the way
we are.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
I mean, the valley revolves around bulldog football. Right, that's
a great responsibility to have on anyone's shoulder. And I
and I have great respect and I understand that, right.
I mean every day there's pressure, but great pressure. I
love that pressure. Knowing how important bulldog football is, it
was very important to make the right decision for this
football program moving forward because it it's not just the
(07:20):
athletic department, it's not just the university, it's it's businesses
is in this area. It's from you know, whether it's
from Stockton down the Baker's Field, like it is bulldog
football and it's a huge economic driver in this valley,
and so it's important it increases a successful Bulldog football team,
increases the value of a degree from the school, and
increases the demeanor like people. I mean, you know when
(07:44):
there's excitement around bulldog football, I mean everyone's in a
great mood in the valley when that happens. And I
think that's that's that's it. We are the NFL team
in the valley, and I think that that comes with
the great responsibility. And I understood that going in this
process like this was an important higher for us moving forward.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Right, And I think you know, One of the biggest
reasons people did you know they favored Skip is because
they said, oh, he's bulldog born, bulldog bread And you know,
did you know going into the coaching hire though, although yes,
Skip's bulldog born, bulldog bread, do you make sure any
candidate we have has an understanding that there's an already
established culture here, right and and with and with you know,
(08:23):
our new coach, coach Entz that's coming in, he has
you know, I don't know if there's a history lesson
that needs to be said. And I'm not the guy
to say, well you better learn today, Like I'm not
that guy at all. But it's not like I'm not
gonna throw you into the program. But it's not like a
Nevada or or San Jose State or you know, Wyoming
maybe even who they're not really known for anything. Razo
(08:46):
State's known for the checkerboard end zone, for the for
the for the Green Valley v and the brand of
football which is played here. Is that part of the
hiring process, you think.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, the last thing we go on to do from
was start from s right. We have to understand who
we are and that's why this full year process during
football season was very educational for me, Like the last
thing when you do is to reinvent the wheel. You know,
as we said on the farm growing up, if it
ain't broke, don't fix it, right, So we needed to
find out someone that could take those same values, that
(09:17):
same culture and build off of that. And coach Enz
fits all those qualities and trades. He's not Bulldog born,
he's not bulldog bread, but he has those bulldog qualities, right,
And I think, you know, I think people tend to
lean back towards the Bulldog family for obvious reasons. Right,
It's a very special culture. And you know, one of
the things I keep hearing about is, you know, we
(09:39):
don't want someone to treat this as a stepping stone.
And my thought going through that was the same thing. Right,
I'd love to have someone here the next fifteen twenty years.
But if you look at schools that are deemed stepping stones,
those are the schools that haven't consistently reinvested into their programs. Right.
And at the end of the day, you know, it's
just as much on the administration on any football coaches
(10:01):
left here about making it a or treating it like
a stepping stone program. We need to reinvest in the program.
When I got to Oregon in nineteen well, now, in
two thousand and five, our operating budget was thirty five
million dollars and when I left in twenty thirteen, it
was one hundred and ten million dollars. And I ain't
grid granted everyone's going to say, well, that was Phil Knight,
(10:21):
right had he had a part of that. But there's
a lot of other generous people, and there were success
from the football programs that went through it. I mean,
Oregon football has founded, not founded, but the success happened
with Rich Brooks that got carried on to Mike Blatti,
and they didn't have a lot of resources there either.
But when they started reinvesting in the football and started
treating it like the power of you know, the powerhouse
(10:44):
of the state of Oregon and being an economic driver,
then coaches started to stay because it wasn't a stepping stone.
And so I don't know if it's so much because
people don't like Fresleo, because this place is an incredible place.
A stepping stone has to be we have to show
that we are in reinvest saying the football program. There's
many coaches that have had multiple stints here and they
come back. I'm like, boy, thirty years ago we had
(11:05):
great facilities. I came back twenty years later and they're
the exact same, Right, So we have to do our part.
This isn't on football coach. This is on myself. This
is on our administration to get serious and start investing
in the football the right way.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
Right in my red shirt freshman year, I don't know
why my head went to this. My redfirt freshman year,
we had coach Tim de Ruter and we It was
the year we went one and eleven, which was tough.
He got fired. We played at Utah State in a
late game. We got home at like four in the morning,
We had a coach, We had a team meeting the
(11:39):
next morning at like nine am. And I'm nineteen years old,
eighteen years old at this point, just just happy to
be there. Sure getting a little burn playing college football.
It's awesome. But it went zero to one hundred real quick.
It's my first big boy conversation of hey, this is
a business. Right. We didn't know that coach Ruder was
(11:59):
getting fired that morning. Necessary now there was signs we
were losing. Social media leaks everything these days and I
think the guys in our locker room we weren't shocked
by it, but we were just disappointed that we learned
about it over Twitter. Yeah, how what was your goals
and your communication with the team in the program right now?
(12:22):
Knowing this is ongoing, trying to get ahead of it
before leaked with social media. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
One of the things I did was to make sure
that I sat down with some key returners for this
upcoming season on Sunday after the UCLA game. And it
wasn't to endorse a candidate, and wasn't not to endorse Canada.
I wanted to find out what qualities they wanted in
the next head coach for present, they stayed football, and
so I tried to involve some of the key players
in that part of the process, right. And then as
(12:51):
we went through this whole process, it was important to
me that whoever we decided to hire as a next
head coach, whoever did not get the job, that they
heard it from me and not through social media. And
that's tough to do. And as we went through the
process and it became apparent to myself and the president
that we wanted to hire Matt Enz, it came increasingly
more important because of who Tim Skipper is as a
(13:14):
person and him being bulldog born and bulldog bread that
this needed to come from me face to face. And
so I did meet with him first thing. What morning
that was, I guess that was Wednesdays last Wednesday morning,
to make sure I had that meeting with him face
to face and he heard it from me. And it
was important because A it's important how we treat people,
how everyone needs to have respect and treat it as respect,
(13:37):
and B from personal experiences, I was the interim ad
at Nebraska for about four months and I know how
that process went down, and I found out from a
text message at two am and in social media in
the morning, and to me, that still doesn't sit well
with me, and it's going to hurt for a long time.
And so both it's who I am as a person,
but also past experience like this needs to be a
(14:00):
face to face, a man the man conversation. And so
you know, I've heard some feedback from community members like
I wish we were more involved in the process. I
wish they were too. It doesn't mean I don't value
the people. It doesn't mean I don't value the red
Wave I don't. I extremely value the supporters of our program,
but there's certain ways to handle right things, and I
felt at that time that that was the right way
(14:21):
to handle things.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
Not an easy job. Not an easy job.
Speaker 2 (14:25):
It's part of leadership, right, and there's no rule book
for it. It's like you being a new parent. I
found out the hard way too, there's no rule books
for those things, and after were everyone would be sitting
in these chairs, right. But you have to handle things
the best way that you can, treating people the right
way and with integrity.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
I love that. Like you said, there's there's a thousand
ways of skinny cat here man, and you have your
values held to a certain standard, which it seems like
you do than I respect you, and obviously I put
a little video out when the news broke, But utmost
respect to coach Skip, I mean, the best he handled it.
(15:02):
He got thrown into a unique situation at the beginning
of the season. He went through this year. There was
highs and lows. But one thing I mentioned is this
team foff every every step of the way, and I
think they'll finish strong because that's just who they are.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
The model of this year has been finished and I
don't expect anything less from this team or this coaching staff.
They want to finish what they started this year.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
So again tip my hat to coach Skip. Like you
mentioned when we've talked in the past, he's bulldog warn,
bulldog bread. Whether he's the head coach or he's you know,
walking down the street, doesn't matter. Correct, we got a
new football coach. We do why, what were the difference
makers and ultimately making coach ends demand for the job.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
You know, through the process, we really emphasize someone with
head coaching experience. Right, there's just going going from a
coordinator to a head coach. That's not an easy transition,
you know, seeing one side of the ball, and especially
you know a few years ago you weren't you didn't
have thirty support staff, you didn't have one hundred and
twenty players. You need to be a CEO of a program.
(16:00):
And then you need to know what it feels like
to win championships, right, I think that's really important. If
you have a championship pedigree, you know what it takes
to get there, you know what it takes to stay
on top of that mountain once you get there as
well too. And then I just think there's certain game
decisions right. I mean, there's a certain situations that you
can't emulate by standing on the sideline and evaluating right.
(16:23):
You have to be in that moment. You have to
make tough decisions when the game is on the line.
You have to make adjustments not just at halftime, but
during the game to make sure that you were doing
the right thing to help the team win the game.
And we really value that type experience going through this process,
and I think getting someone like Matt Enz that's one
(16:43):
national championships been part of way. You know, I think
what six national championships total, not as head coach, but
as an assistant coach and a head coach there, and
then getting that experience at USC being at a Power
five program, knowing what a school does with these resources,
because we as we continue the fundraise and bring more
revenues program, we got to make sure we're investing in
(17:04):
the right way. And that combination experience really put him
towards the top. He's really big on recruiting, retaining and
developing players, and I think that's always been the model
here and so as we go through and as nil
and the revenue sharing gets to be a bigger piece
of it. We don't want to go out there and
just buy players. What we want to do is evaluate
(17:25):
incredible talent and really turn them into something special. And
when they become something special as a player, then we
retain them because that's where we should be investing our resources.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
I love that. So what makes it to where coach
is the perfect fit for president State? Why is he
going to win here?
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Just that blue collar valley grit, that valley DNA. I
mean he is. He talks about controlling the line of scrimmage,
he talks about clock management. He has coached through some
of the most difficult situations. He's done it at schools,
the questions I asked him and has said, Listen, North
Dakota State has some of the better resources in your conference,
(18:07):
like we have some of the we're one of the
lowest resource institution or conference goes. But that wasn't my competition.
I was out recruiting against Iowa and Minnesota and other
Power five schools and we were beating them for kids.
He goes, so I know what it's like to do
more with less. So he understands that value even in
a short time here. I mean, he's been working straight
(18:28):
throughout the clock. I don't know if he's slept since
he's been here. And he is a valiating talent. He's
meeting with coaches and players. The guy has relentless work
at it, work ethic. You know. Being a farm kid
from Iowa, he understands it. He's part of agriculture. He
is you know, he was part of a dairy farm
to turn in the beef farm. And you know his
wife same way, grew up in small town Nebraska. They
(18:48):
are going to be incredible fits here and they are
going to they understand how to win the bulldog way,
and I think that's really important to anyone. We want
to hire this guy who if you haven't met him yet,
you're going to be in awe all football all the time.
And he loves it. He eats, breathes, and sleeps football.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
I love that. So ultimately, you know the landscape college fotball,
like we've discussed with the transfer portal, guys are leaving
for both money and other opportunities for playing. Maybe they're
not happy with their playing time, their statistics, whatever, mych
sure does that make it harder to establish a culture
where you bring guys in and you groom them for
(19:29):
four to five years to really create that that long
term culture that we have here at Fresno State. I
think Kirby Smart said it, really, really, really nicely a
couple of years ago when the transfer portal first got
a little wacky, where ultimately you're not gonna get to
bring a guy in as a freshman and he's gonna
wait his turn as a freshman and then a sophomore
(19:51):
he plays a little bit more than a junior. He's
ready to go to have a big senior season. That's
not happening as much anymore now. It's you don't play
it right away, I'm going to the next place. So
how can we here at freds of State because we
kind of have a lineage of guys coming, getting developed,
and then blossoming towards the end of their careers. Sure,
how are we going to create that culture in one year?
(20:14):
Because it's one at a time, right it is?
Speaker 2 (20:16):
And I think that's why are you're going to see
in college athletics, You're going to see coaches win eleven
games one year and maybe five the next because I
think the culture is going to change year to year
from your team. But how it pertains the Forreso state.
You know, a coach Ens is committed to recruiting valley
kids like this is one of the few places where
it still matters to where the bulldog in your uniform.
(20:39):
Course you have to go.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
You know who guys want to stay here?
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Absolutely, you have to go get those kids. And whether
it's from junior college, from the smallest high schools that
twenty four to seven doesn't go in and evaluate, we
need to find those diamonds in the rough and that's
who are always going to be and once again this
campus and they have those bulldog values. You know, I'm
not going to judge a kid that goes and leaves
here and maybe get a million dollar offer from another
(21:01):
school that we can't manage. I want people to do
what's best for them right, and we're going to do
everything our power to retain that. But I think we're
gonna have to be physically responsible with the gifts, with
the nil that we have working through this process, and
so we're always going to be talent evaluators here and
Coach Ens has talked exclusively about that. How is he
going to do high school coaching clinic's camps to cater
(21:22):
to the small school kids, the junior college, junior college kids,
so that he can evaluate so many kids in one spot,
and he's going to make sure that him and his
coaching staff that's the value. He's looking for people that
are relentlessly out on the road visiting with high school coaches,
visiting with kids, and so, yeah, it does it get
more difficult, absolutely, But if you do things the right
(21:43):
way and you show them that you're investing in their talent,
you show them that they can get to the NFL,
which we have hundreds of cases of kids going to
the NFL from this program. They're still going to want
to stay here, and so we got to make sure
we continue that culture. And we're going to lose them, right,
but I think at this place we have a history,
we're going to retain more than and we lose.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
So what is there any secret sauce to getting guys
to stay here versus going to the portal? Is there
anything besides Cheddar right now? That's keeping guys.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
You know, every individual is different, right, But I mean
the money is a big part of it. But I do,
as I mentioned earlier in this conversation, we need to
be doing what we need to do. We need to
make sure we have a robust nutrition program, a robust
strength and conditioning program, a robust academic program. We have
to make sure our coaches are invested in our kids.
(22:32):
They can coach them hard, but those kids you know
that you love them at the end of the day.
Our administration, I need to get to know these kids
in a one on one level. We have to make
this very difficult for them to want to leave here.
And like I said, if an SEC or Big ten
school is going to come in and off from seven figures,
I don't know what there's much we can control about it.
But next man up, right, that is what you say,
(22:54):
So next man up. We're going to make sure that
we build depth so there's people that can come in,
come up through the year and coach ends is really big,
you know, it's it's I'm probably gonna screw up talking
about it, but the way he's going to practice is
going to build a ton of depth in the program.
And it's very unique. A little bit he my word's
not his. A little bit. How Tom Osborne had two
(23:16):
full fields going on at one time when Nebraska's walk
on program was in his heyday, So there's certain ways
that you can build depth and where these kids are
getting reps, where they want to state these they know
they're getting better every day, and even if you're showing
the third four string kids that they're getting reps and
getting better, hopefully they'll want to stay.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
So I think one thing that people have kind of
at least in from a president state perspective, people are
confused about and they you know, we see other programs
in IL structures are everything's different, right, There's certain programs
out there whe everybody makes the same amount of money.
There's certain programs out there where there's some guys not
(23:56):
making any money and their best guys are making a
lot of money. All these different formats has there. And
I know you can't do a pay for play necessarily, sure, right,
but is there any sort of way that there could
be a structure of It's not performance based, but everyone's
paid consistently throughout the entire year, and then at the
(24:17):
end of the year there's something similar to a business
where you could have endi year bonuses.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Yeah, the whole system is changing with the revenue sharing piece,
and players are going to start having contracts and there
will be some bonus structure. I'm not talking about Fresno
State in general, talking to colleagues across the country that
there will be a bonus structure in there, and primarily
some of those bonuses could be for performance, could be
for staying, could be for you know, for retention. But
that's where we're getting at. In return, they're gonna have
(24:44):
to make public appearances for the university or if it's NIL,
through those companies that are supplying those NIL resources. And
so there there's a way to do it. And right now,
you know, we're looking at every model possible to figure out.
You know, right now, it's we don't have revenue to
share now. Marcus does a great job with Bulldog Bread.
Luckily we have a great NIL program and we always
(25:07):
can do more. But in the day there's gonna be
some tough decisions made on how do you distribute that money?
And I'm sure you know, coach ensis strategy is gonna
be a little bit different than coach Tedford's strategy, and
so we're still working through those pieces right now.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
The pay for play thing is really going to change
the game, it seems.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Yeah, it is. I mean, at least with the revenue
sharing piece, those schools that can afford it. It's it's
a you know, it's a static number like the max
you can share through an athletic department's twenty point five
million for this next year. The ANIL is always gonna
be additive. That's where the arms race is going to
be who has the most NIL dollars above and beyond
that And so listen, we're gonna get creative here. We're
(25:46):
gonna change our business model and how we operate administrative
here in the next year year and a half that
I believe strongly that our kids are gonna be able
to monetize more after nil than ever before. And I
can't go too deep into it, but we're looking at
ways where we can get an advantage at least of our
peers that we're competing with every day to where there's
just gonna be some natural dollars that come just on
(26:07):
how we operate the assets that we control.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
As the university coach ends, I'm not we already mentioned
he's not going to reinvent the wheel here. If you
had to say in your you know you're you're you're
the man behind the wheel as athletic director right now,
and you got this this this steering wheel, which is
coach Mike. Excuse me.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
You know he took some heat calling a mic.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
I know that, you know, you know what. I saw
a bad tweet. I wrote it down. I was trying
to get the tweet out fast.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
And I follow that guy because he's a he's a
Packers beat writer as well as an NDSU wrote.
Speaker 1 (26:42):
Now real quick gave me from all right, man, whatever,
just call him coach.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
It's easier.
Speaker 1 (26:49):
That's why I mean, that's why I do sach Ens.
What do you think his first first thing he does
is going to be out of the gate. What's his
what's his first thing he's gonna put his thumbprint on.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
Well, I mean he's hiring a staff right now, he's
trying to retain a lot of our key players, and
he's reaching out to a lot of local kids. But
I think his thumb print right away is gonna be instilling.
I'm not I'm not saying we're not a tough program,
but he wants to make sure that there's toughness through
up and down throughout the program, from every single position
to no matter what string you are. And so I
(27:22):
think toughness is key to him. Fundamentals, attacking things with
great detail. Those are the things that are non negotiables
for him.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
The alumni right now, some some Bulldog alum they feel
some type of way. Sure, what would your message be
to the alumn that feels some type of way, and
how can we turn the page and being on board
into a positive, positive foot forward with this coach.
Speaker 2 (27:50):
And you know, I completely understand there's a group of
Bulldog alumni that aren't happy with this, this this decision,
and I understand it. I mean, Tim Skiper is an
incredible person, incredible human being. Those that played with them,
those that that he coached. Of course, he made an
impact on the life. You know, I'm not I'm not
disputing that. By the end of the day, the decision
(28:12):
was made. And you know, if if the alumni aren't
happy with the decision, they aren't happy with me. I
understand it, and and I haven't. I'm not hiding from
the criticism. I've returned emails, text messages, phone calls to
people that were upset about it, and I can explain it.
But at the end of the day, we need to
support these young men that are Bulldog football players. We
(28:32):
need to support coach NS and his coaching staff. They
had nothing to do with this decision. They've been they've
been given an opportunity. And the one thing I've learned
from day one, United United Bulldog family is a force
to be reckoned with. And you know, or I always
say United Red Wave are unified. Red Wave is a
(28:53):
force to be reckoned with. And so we need to
be unified to this process. And we need to cheer
for Coach Nce. We need to cheer for these and
more importantly for these players because they're part of that
same fraternity as they are. And you know, I hope
time heals all wounds. But we have to do our
part as administration too, to do more to show these players,
these alumni that they're valued and they're welcome. And Coach
Ens and I have already talked about ways around spring football.
(29:15):
How do we get the alumni more involved, what kind
of program we do to get the alumni more involved.
It's important to him, it's important to me. So you know,
hopefully they'll understand the division and the direction of this program.
And you know, we can all cheer. There's no there's
nothing wrong with cheering on what coach Skipper does or
what coach enz does, right, But I think you know,
anyone that wears those a bulldog color, especially the ones
(29:36):
that are competing on the football field, we need to
back them up and be unified throughout this process. I agree.
Speaker 1 (29:42):
I agree, it's done. It's done in business business.
Speaker 2 (29:45):
And listen, at the end of the day, we have
going into the PAC twelve. We have a short audition
to prove that we belong on this stage. You know,
it's a short term deal, and so animosity within the
program is not going to help us get there, right,
So listen, I hope I'm here. My plan is to
be here for the next twenty years, and obviously we
(30:07):
need winning football for them for me to achieve that goal.
But it's not about me, right, It's about the making
sure this program is relevant for years to come. And
I think that's I've talked to some former football alumni
and when I first got here, they're like, classy, just
keep us relevant. I'm like, well, no, that's not the plan.
We're not here just to get a participation trophy and
(30:29):
cheer because we're in the Pac twelve. We're going there
the win championships, and we need to invest. We need
people to be behind us and listen anyone listens podcasting, like, yeah,
easy for you to say, you know, I get it,
But feelings aside for Garrett Classy, support this program, you know,
really and that doesn't mean monetarily. You know, if you
(30:51):
don't feel like you want to do it monetarily, fine,
but come to the game mentor these young men, I mean,
they are an incredible student athletes, and so listen, there's
be a time. You know, the emotions are high. Right now,
I understand it. I respect that, I get it. Like
I said at one point, I said, as as amazing
as a person a Skip is, I'd be shocked if
(31:13):
people weren't upset about this, right, I mean, you just
he's that special of a person. But this is his
direction we're heading. And I hope, I hope they decide
at some point to get back on board with us.
Speaker 1 (31:24):
They will, and I and again I will be a
spokesperson for nobody besides myself to say initially, yeah, you're
Maybe it took some people buy a swing of things,
but I think you gotta trust the man in charge,
like I said, you are, and you clearly did it
for a reason. And I again, I think you got
to look at this glass half full, glass half empty.
(31:44):
Right now, right Skip's gonna land on his feet. I
have no doubt about that. Moving forward, though, Coach and
the guys will winter. The guys want natties. The guys
wanted He's I mean, I said it in my little
video where I called him the wrong name. But North
Dakota State's a program where there's a lot of similarities
to Fresco State in North's Kirsty, the guy has done
(32:06):
it and clearly, you know, growing up on a farm,
he had a little taste of Hollywood this year, and
I'm sure he was like, I'll I'll be okay. I
think Fresno traffic's a little better than La tracking. I
think I think the future looks bright. I think it's exciting.
I think we're not the only people in the country
that are going through coaching changes, transfer portals, things like that.
(32:30):
It's it's it's the nature of the beast. This is
a business. You got to find a way to adapt
or die. And I think we're adapting. I don't think
we're dying. I think if it was I'll be full
of transparency. I think if it was today, if transportal
opened up today and we didn't know what we were doing.
I'd be like, hey, we're kind of a little bit
of a wound eddainable right now. But that's not the case.
And I you know, again, i'd tim, I hat to
you for for trusting your gut, making decisions and going
(32:52):
things about about the way you think they should be done,
and sticking to your guns. Because when bullets are flying
and everyone's in your ear, chit chat here, blah blah
blah blah blah, everyone's got everyone's got one right. So
I again, I I think you've you've handled it well
and bring the juice backs to dogs and they back coaching,
and I think I think the future looks bright. What
(33:13):
else do you got for me?
Speaker 2 (33:14):
I mean the one thing to fallow up on that
the red wave. They're gonna love this Skuye. The football alumni,
they're gonna love this guy. The community, the valley, everyone,
they are gonna love this guy. I mean, this guy
is cut from the same cloth. And you know, one
thing that's important that this that your listeners need to know.
We absolutely have the right leader for this program moving forward.
(33:35):
I mean everything that he is doing right now, he's
handling it the right way, you know, whether it's with
the current coaches, the players, handles with respect, dignity, with integrity.
He's a hard working guy. And tell you this, this
is someone that anyone that meets him is going to
be ready to run through a brick wall for. And
the futures is bright. It's in great hands. And I
(33:57):
think you know. One of the things that that you
know that I hope the Red Wave knows is that
you know, when I make decisions for an athletic department,
or we make decisions for an athletic department, it's for
the long term success. I'm not this person that's doing
it for the next job. I'm not doing it for
anything else. I've never made a decision in my career
that wasn't in the best interest in the university at
least how I felt like. How decision, how it turns
(34:19):
out in the end, History will write that for himselves.
But we're going to support Matt. Their future is bright
and I couldn't be more excited having him here as
a bulldog.
Speaker 1 (34:29):
Last thing before I wrap it up, so end of
years coming up. Yeah, some people are looking to move
some money around. If I'm a guy and I got
a thousand bucks. Ye where am I going with it?
If I want to support President State Athletics right.
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Now, I think the best, you know, especially if you're
football specific, giving it to Yeah, there you go, an
I L Bulldog Bread is the best placing give and
I think that's really exciting. In fact, Tyler mariuciin I
just got back from a visit today and I think
we're really close to getting a seven figure commitment directly football,
and I think you're going to see us in the
(35:02):
next few months release a football Excellence campaign. It's not
many called that, you know, but but it's going to
be a combination of including NIL with given to the
BDF the Bulldog Foundation and making both places stronger because
we need both both places to succeed. But right now,
with what the transfer portal and trying to retain some
of our best players, NIL is absolutely the best place
(35:24):
sing you can give right now. And there's some tax
deductible gifts you can do the ANIL and it's your
end giving. It's in December. You need those tax breaks
right now, and so this is the best time to give.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
We'll bring the juice, will continue to support the Dogs
thank you the way the dogs support the juice Garrett class,
everybody Frezo State's athletic director. Check out, coach, it's sense, Matt,
it's Matt, it's matt Ense. We'll get them on the
pods soon enough, I'm sure, and we're fired up to
back you. But seriously appreciate your time. I'm I'm sure
the dog fans are gonna walk away from this fired
(35:55):
up and ready to go buy some more gear and
cheer on these dogs that the famous Idaho potato. There
you go, you're going.
Speaker 2 (36:03):
I will be there, yes, and I think we're going
to play at Boise next year on the blue turf.
So for the kids that are returning, it's gonna be
really good to get a game game on there before
they go up there next year. And listen, yes, buy
the gear. Everything helps right watch on TV if you
can't make it. But it'll be fun. It'll be a
great celebration of the year and excited to get up there.
(36:23):
I mean, six wins isn't easy, right, so it's a
good way to celebrate.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
Arks leaders, gentlemen, bring a juice
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