Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Nicks turns hands to Harvey.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Harvey left side into the in zone touchdown, Denver.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Nick's under center with RJ. Harvey behind it. Troutman comes
in motion.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
They handed off big hole left side Parvey to the
goal line touchdown.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Denver Broncos Country.
Speaker 4 (00:15):
Tonight, I'm your host Grant Smith felling in for Benjamin
Albright alongside my guy Nick Ferguson. You can join at
the Burndown this Sunday two pm to watch the Broncos
and the Raiders with Benjamin Albright Hopefully he's feeling better
by then burn.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Down off Broadway.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
You can enter to win Broncos Packers tickets. It's all
presented by Arta Tequila, the official tequila of the Denver Broncos.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Nick played those two RJ.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
Harvey touchdown highlights because you want to see how we
can get this Broncos running game going. You know, we
saw a couple of good plays, but still, like you
mentioned in the first hour, only thirty five yards on
thirteen carries for RJ.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Harvey. Julia McLoughlin sporadically used, I love him.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
We're always running hard, but how do we get this
Bronx offensive run game going well?
Speaker 5 (01:02):
First and foremost, Grant, I wanted to take a rewind
to the Washington game and say that the first thing
the Broncos can do is stop that initial penetration, because
anyone who knows anything about football knows that the game,
as far as run game is concerned, is dominated up front.
And when the opposing defense re establishes a new line
(01:26):
of scrimmage in your backfield, I don't care who the
running back is.
Speaker 6 (01:31):
It could be Roger Craig, Hell, it could be Immis Smith,
Walter Payton.
Speaker 5 (01:36):
Doesn't make it different because what you're seeing with that penetration,
it takes the running.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Back off his path.
Speaker 5 (01:43):
And what you see happens with the running back he
has to check his feet. What I mean by that
is now his feet are going forward towards the line
of scrimmage. Now they come to a complete stop. Now
he's got to redirect his body and his movement because
he's got penetration right in his face. So what the
Broncos need to do first and foremost is I would
(02:06):
start off the game and with bow Nick's under center,
and we've seen that a couple of times this season,
but not a steady dose of it.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Start with bow under center. Now, I would be so
bullish right.
Speaker 5 (02:21):
To start off the first two drives, and I'm talking
about all three plays of each drive running the ball.
Speaker 6 (02:29):
It sounds ridiculous, It sounds with Sean Payton calls an offense, right.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
It sounds ridiculous. But here's what we're getting.
Speaker 5 (02:39):
We will get a consistent dose of the run game
and the defense will go oh, the Broncos are truly
serious about running the game. They're not just talking it
into existence.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Not just writing it on the play sheet. That's right.
They're actually trying to do it.
Speaker 5 (02:53):
And what that established to the offensive line is it
gets them in the rhythm. Because offensive line in one
a start in the rhythm like every single player, especially
the running back. Don't give me two carries and then
start throwing the ball or screen.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
We get another personnel.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
Because if you go back and watch howy Broncos open
up the game against the Washington Commanders.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
The first play run play to RJ Harvey.
Speaker 5 (03:20):
I think it was about eleven yards best run of
the day.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
And that run.
Speaker 5 (03:28):
You will say, okay, well, there are two things that happened.
RJ found the crease, the tight end did a great,
great job. I think it might have been Adam Trutman
and looking up Bobby Wagner and blocking him because and
to that point there was penetration.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
I think, let me what was it.
Speaker 5 (03:46):
Let me see the lineman that Duran Payne six seven
three twenty he was a problem. Now when you look
at the stat sheet, he's not going to show up
with quarterback kids and sacks like that. But if you
were to chart rush and penetration, he was in the Broncos.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Backfield all night.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
And that's a problem because you said, well, how can
we get something going if we can't block at the
point of attack. So what that does is that says
to Sean Payton, we can't run.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
The ball, gotta throw it now, we got to throw it.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
I like your point, though at first I was like,
this does sound crazy running the ball six times in
a row to start the game. But this would be
the perfect game to do it against the Raiders, absolutely,
because you know you're gonna have a little leeway most likely,
like they're not gonna.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Put up a ton of points.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
You're probably gonna get a couple of turnovers from Geno Smith,
especially with.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
How our defense is playing.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
That would establish something and then the rest of the
game you've got the Raiders defense looking out for the run.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Patrick Graham now has to think about it, right.
Speaker 6 (04:45):
And then once you now it only works if you
run the ball, but you gotta put bowl under center.
I'm not talking about these shotgun pissed through a note.
Put him on the center, because once you put your
quarterback under.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Center, the defense has no idea what it is. Yeah,
he's turning us back to the defense. It could be run,
it could be passed.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
And if you run it six times in a row
to start the game, you're setting up that play action
pass right.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
And we were just talking about Evan Ingram yep so.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
Now because the Broncos run is played with Evan Ingram,
and sometimes they try to run the boot keep game,
but they're running out a shotgun instead of being on
the center, where you have Evan Ingram blocking down and
crashing down on that end.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
And then he's just.
Speaker 5 (05:28):
Gonna leak out and you throw it to him and
both turns his back and there are the routes set
up and progression wise one, two, three, and he's just
got to choose which one he wants to throw to right.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
But you can only really do.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
That and getting into your boot play action game if
there is a threat of the.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Run, which we have not had no So but what
and that's.
Speaker 5 (05:49):
That's that's the stat that drove me crazy because.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
When you look at RJ.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
Harvey, Yes, he had two rushing touchdowns, So that told
you when the Broncos got inside the low red zone,
they were going with the more hypercentage play, which was.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Handing the ball off, something they didn't do over the
past two years.
Speaker 6 (06:08):
So watching the stat line, thirteen carries thirty five yards
longest of eleven yards, it sounds, oh my god, he.
Speaker 5 (06:18):
Had a great day because he had two touchdowns. But
Harvey can catch the ball out of the backfield and
he's right there isolation.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
You can hand it to him. It's two yards.
Speaker 5 (06:28):
If you trust your offensive line in that situation because
it's that.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Close, trust them out in the field.
Speaker 6 (06:34):
Let them big boys get warmed up by spacking someone
else in the face.
Speaker 4 (06:37):
And there's nothing an offensive lineman loves more than a
little bit of run blocking. Yes, it's so hard to
go backwards when those big customers, this big defensive linemen
are coming at you and you just got to kind
of stay in your ground when you get to push
forward towards someone, and like you said, that gets them
immediately jacked up for the game and ready to roll
and sets everything else up on your offense.
Speaker 5 (06:59):
It does because now if I'm an offensive lineman and
bows throwing forty five times, which he threw in that game,
and you know, you add some of some of that,
not all to the overtime. Now I'm always you know,
backing up. I'm in retreat, retreat mode when I'm doing
my kick slide. I want to have the ability to
fire out and put someone in the face.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Figuratively, not literally.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Nothing.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
But the idea is, can you control the men in
front of you? And I go back to something the
late Alex Gibbs used to say, and I'm gonna give
it to you the PC version.
Speaker 6 (07:38):
I can't give you the other version. Hey I'm behind
the border button. But the idea is being able to
whip another man and move him off of his spot
against his will, even when he know it's coming. That
is establishing a physical run game, something that Broncos are
(07:58):
gonna have to do if they're hoping to one capture
the number one seed two not only get to Santa
Clara Levi Stadium.
Speaker 5 (08:08):
But win the whole damn thing. You have to tell
a physical running game. I'm not talking about, well we
run the ball. No, no, no, no, no. There's a
lot of teams that run the ball. You want to
intimidate people because I remember watching this Broncos team under
Mike Shanahan and when Alex Gibbs was here as the
(08:28):
offensive line You know, Guru, they.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
Were blowing dudes off the ball and run the same
playoffs over and over again until you proved you could
stop this.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
That is dominance. That's dominance.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Hey, last, every time the Broncos have started ten and
two in franchise history, they've at least made it to
the Super Bowl.
Speaker 6 (08:49):
Well see, I see, I see, Grant, I don't want
to at least make it.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
You want to win the whole damn thing. And the
whole damn thing.
Speaker 5 (08:57):
I mean, come on, man, why are guys in this
game in the first place. Why was it that Sean
Payton was hired not just to get there and say
you know what, guys, you know what, we had a
great year and it just didn't work out for us.
It's like, no, we want to hoist up that damn
(09:17):
Lombardi trophy.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Bring that forth Lombardi Trophy to Denver.
Speaker 5 (09:20):
Right, So, now you need a great defense in a
physical run game. You know why because as a kid,
I root it for Chuck Noll and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
There's two things that the Steelers did well, ran the
ball and play great defense. And that's the reason they've
(09:41):
only had three head coaches in their franchise history.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Well, they may be moving on towards the fourth with
the fire Tom Chance last weekend, but oh yeah, that's
the recipe for success in the playoffs, no matter how
great these quarterbacks are. And we'd love to pump up
the quarterbacks in the NFL run on the ball and
stop in the run as the recipe for success. One
of those guys who would love to see the Broncos
probably run the ball a little bit more and bring
(10:07):
home that fourth Lombardi Trophy to Denver, especially how rough
his first couple of years here were with the Broncos.
Garrett Bowles he joins at KOA Sports every Tuesday, but
this is from his appearance on the Fits and Wits podcast.
And you know, sometimes you and I Nick like to
get a little bit deep and talk about life and
other things than sports. On Broncos Country tonight. This was
(10:27):
Garrett Bowles talking about his childhood and kind of the
man he's become throughout his time in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
I've had a crazy life.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
You know.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
I've been arrested, I've gone you know, been addicted to
drugs and alcohol at a very young age, and you know,
dealing with you know, a mother that was a drug
addict and a father that you know that had to
deal with that at the same time on top of that,
and so I don't really talk to my biological family.
I've sort of put them to a side and just
focus on, you know, who I am as a person,
(10:56):
you know, growing up in that lifestyle and truly, you know,
being in the dirt and trying to realize, you know,
who you are as a person. It makes you appreciate
where you are now. And I want to be where
I'm at if it wasn't for those lessons and those
things I learned. And quite frankly, you know, God is
God is good, and He's given me a second chance
in life. Like the way I was going down, I
(11:18):
should be in prison. I really should, because I'd get
in trouble at night. The cops knew me by my
first name, which is embarrassing. So every time I go home,
I always see these cops and they're like, dang, GiB,
you change your life around. I was like, well, it's
because you you're giving me so much that I had
to change my life around. I'm grateful for what they did,
and they pushed me to the limit to where I
(11:38):
had to figure out who I was. And either I
could be the old gear and wake up every day
and you know, continue to do the things, or I
can be the garret that I am now that have
a family and and you know, be a father to
my three beautiful kids and be a husband to my wife.
And you know, that's just the greatest story of my
life is knowing that I have my own family, you know, basically,
you know, I have an income that I can bless
my kids with. And you know that that's just the
(12:00):
greatest gift that football was given to all three of us,
is we can bless our families lives, and I don't
have to think about where I was. I can think
about where I am now, and my family is everything
to me. And I think just those hard times of
understanding where I came from. I had to realize, like
one of my favorite quotes, it doesn't matter how you start,
(12:22):
it matters how you finish.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Doesn't matter how you start, it matters how you finish.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
I am such a huge fan of Garrett bowles Man
getting to know him a little bit this year with
him joining KOA Sports every week. And it's not about
you know, having making mistakes.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
We're all human.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
We're going to make mistakes. But if you learn and
grow from those experiences. I know you had a bit
of a tough upbringing in Miami. I had a couple
of run ins with the law at an early age,
but I learned from those mistakes. And if you can
grow and evolve and learn those lessons throughout your life,
there's no telling what you can do.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Yeah, the biggest thing is growth.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
And sometimes when we look at life, everyone looks at
change as being a negative and change is not a
negative thing. Of grant and you and I have discussed
this before, so this is going to sound like taking
for granted podcasts with you and I on it, but
(13:19):
I think people need to hear this message because change
is not a bad thing.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
It's growth.
Speaker 5 (13:26):
You're morphing from one thing into something else. And it's
almost like metaphorically speaking, think about the caterpillar, if you will.
The caterpillar kind of gets itself into cocon right, and
then all of a sudden, sometime later they burst out
of some cocoon and it's this gorgeous, beautiful butterfly.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Right.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
We all have that capability if we're willing to adopt change,
and not just change for the sake of change, but
change where we're changing not just our outer appearance, but
our inner appearance as well, meaning spiritually. And that could
be whatever that means for whoever is out there, but
(14:07):
for me, I mean, I've gone on in like a
spiritual journey way. I had to look inside because yeah, man,
I played over a decade in the professional sports, but
guess what, I'm not perfect. I have issues sometimes and
I need something or someone that I can lean on.
That kind of puts me back in a sense of
(14:29):
focus where I go like, you know what, Nick, that
wasn't right what you did, but you have to clean
it up. And I don't justify well, you know what,
Like I used to.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Say, whatever, that's how it was real talk.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
I would be like, if what I said, hurt your feelings,
you bet a cowboy to hell up and give yes,
because that's how it was for me and my growth
with my dad and my family. But I realized that
I can't live my life the same way, and Garrett
has come to that realization. And Garrett, when he first
came to this, to this team, he was criticized and
(15:08):
ostracized by several individuals in this local media, and I
took issue with that right where I wanted to say something,
and in most cases I did say something to people
in the media directly, like let that man live.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
He's trying to overcome his hurdles.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Now.
Speaker 6 (15:25):
The best thing you can do is try to help him,
but not bring him down.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
But we know how this media thing works. People want
to bring you down more than uplift you. Now with that,
I'll step down off my soapbox.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
I love when you get out of your soapbox, man,
it is always great. And uh yeah, I mean I
remember when I moved out here to Colorado from Ohio.
I had one of my buddies that I grew up
with all my life. He's like, hey, man, just don't change,
and I'm like, dude, that's the goal.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Yes, I'm trying to change.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
I'm trying to expand my mind beyond this small town
where of thinking in Southeast Ohio. Like, I want to
grow and I want to become the best version I
can of myself. And I think that's what life's all about.
And that's something that that you carry in your life
and something that I carry with my life. And you know,
someone like my mentor Rick Lewis, who you know, is
always trying to grow and evolve and find new ways
(16:17):
to think about things.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I think that's the ultimate goal.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
And I think it's it's great to hear someone like
Garrett Bowles say, you know, like you don't have.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
To be the person you were before.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
You can become a better version of yourself and live
the life you want to live.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Turn into a butterfly, baby, turn.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Into a butter like a cocon to come out with
some beautiful wigs.
Speaker 6 (16:36):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
If you want to share a story about you overcoming
or growing and adapting to suit yourself better in your life,
shoot us a text on the Common Spirit health text
line five six six nine zero. We got Sean Keiller
next on Broncos Country Tonight on k Away alongside my guy,
Nick Ferguson, we are efforting Sean Keeler to join the
show talk a little bit about the CEU buffs. I
(16:58):
believe he's calling me right now. But Nick, what was
your final take on this season for the Bus? Obviously
not the win they wanted, but got coach Prime back
for another year, hopefully Juju lewis back as well. How
do you think the season went overall? Obviously disappointing, but
are there things to look forward to going into next year?
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Yes? Absolutely.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
The one thing that I'm happy about was, you know,
Juju's year as far as eligibility is concerned. I thought
they were going to waste that his first year of
eligibility in their final game of the season. I'm glad
that they didn't. But knowing as though he has some
experience in regular season games and I'm not just talking
(17:41):
about scrimmages, this should actually help him moving into next season.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Well, let's go out to the KAA Common Spirit health
hotline and talk to our guy, Sean Keeler, who covers
all things sports for the Denver Post.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Sean, how are you tonight, man?
Speaker 2 (17:57):
I'm great, shovel off the walk, I'm good. My back hurts,
but life is great.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
I said the same thing. Start the show.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
I was like, man, I was not prepared for the
seven inches we got in Lakewood.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Like, my back is so sore.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Yeah, we've been so spoiled we forget, like ten months,
what this is gonna feel like. So it's just my
wife says, it's just a affirmation of my mortality. But
I'm old, I'm fat, and I've got a bad back.
So thank you mother nature.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Well, if we keep getting snowstorms like that, you'll be
in shape and no time, have no shovel.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Out, driveway dead or dad right one or the other
we had.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
We wanted to bring you on tonight because you wrote
a great article in the Denver Post. The headline your
headlines are always so good. If Dion Sanders won't change
how he recruits, see you, Buff's football won't progress. Experts
say portal reliance is dangerous. We've known Dion has a
pretty much revamped this roster every year since he's been
here through the portal. Tell us why you think that's
a dangerous take?
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Well, I those aren't my words. Those are words smarter
men than I. Most specifically Brandon Huffman at twenty four
to seven sports, who is an old friend international recruiting editor.
There a good guy West Coast guy and recruiting now.
And this is the way Brandon put it. He said,
(19:16):
it's dangerous. I happen to agree, not I mean bulk.
Let's put this way. I think a better nutritional balance.
If we want to compare this to a diet, speaking
of me being fat, like I would know of a
good diet. The bus recruiting class under Dion has too
(19:37):
many carbs or whatever term you've already used to it.
Where when you are turning over continually, twenty to twenty
five transfers a year after year after year, what happens is,
and the stats have borne this out, and the results
have borne this out, is when you hit, it becomes
a bit like a roulette wheel. When you hit, you
(19:59):
can get a jackpot. Last year was a jackpot. Look
at all those white outs to the pass rushers, the
guys that they hit. When you miss, you get three
and nine. And I think the point that everyone, and
I think a lot of bus fans actually are kind
of coming around to this and they're like, well, okay,
let's see year one, all right, it's a lot of change.
You're two Okay, great, I can see that you're adding
(20:22):
to this base and then we're right back when we
started in year three. Because it feels like it's the
kind of thing that's going to go up and down,
up and down, because portal recruiting means when that's the
majority of your your influx over year, you're going to
go up and down, up and down. And I think
that's I'm just trying to help. That's not counterintuitive coming
(20:44):
from me. But the programs that have sustained what they
want to sustain, what Deion Sanders wants to sustain, see
you and says he will give his last breath to sustaining.
Do not keep leaning on transfers a year after year
after year after year, because that's and it's risky. And
I think that was the point about the word dangerous,
is that maybe not so it's dangerous, but risky. And
(21:06):
I think that has been born out, hasn't it. I
think that's dead on.
Speaker 5 (21:11):
So, Sean, how would you attack this situation? Because when
we look at.
Speaker 6 (21:15):
Where college football is, or better yet, college sports, it
is all in with the transfer portal and dealing with
nils and so much so that even high school seniors, some.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Of those guys are being left out.
Speaker 5 (21:30):
Of the mix because there's a pool of guys who
are already in college that you can dip into, almost
like free agency. You can get a guy who's already
gone through the shortcomings that are incoming freshmen would incur.
Speaker 6 (21:43):
But I still think that there's some value in the protal.
You just have to be I guess spot on with
the players that you bring in.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Is there some truth to that good?
Speaker 2 (21:53):
There is? There absolutely is, and I think there's truth
when Dion says, look half the guys when you get
press again, I agree with Dian way more than I don't. Honestly,
he says, when you look at the numbers, half of
the guys that they don't play their first two years,
they leave. Okay, that's been true at CU, that hasn't
been universally true everywhere. But I see the logic in that.
(22:17):
Here's the thing. If you're gonna lose half of your base,
wouldn't you rather have that be Let's put this way,
fifty percent of thirty guys or twenty five guys in
the prep base is better than fifty percent of ten.
And yeah, I understand the whole. I don't want to
(22:38):
develop somebody for somebody else because you use a free
agency analogy. I'll give you another one. It's basically a
feeder system my major league in minor league baseball, right
the Colorado States in the world trying to get somebody
developed by UNC or by a juco somewhere. Although that's
that kind of kind of upward mobility has always been
(23:00):
happening kind of there. And CEU wants to be a
school that finishes guys who start somewhere, not start them
for say Bama or Florida State or whoever, Ohio State. Right,
he has become a feeder system, a bit of a
pyramid system, the way that the professional baseball has become.
That's not ideal. I think the Buffs in Deoncea themselves
(23:25):
at the top of that pyramid, and there is a
season out of the three one or the three where
that's been the case. I don't know that the talent
all necessarily sees them that way. And again it goes
back to the risk factor. I think I think we
kind of summed it up trial mainly where he said
you've limited your margin for error when you lean on
(23:45):
that many guys who may or may not fit in
a one year or two year window, and we will see.
I don't know base hardnything they've said. I wouldn't shock
me the Buffs are really really good next year because
they looked at this year what didn't work. The health
issue is obviously that Dion dealt with that. You can
rededicate yourself into tweaking staff and tweaking the roster and
(24:06):
then coming up with a plan that looks more like
twenty twenty four. I wouldn't rule that out at all. However,
I also wouldn't rule out that a year after that
you might before and eight. Again, I think it's just
that kind of roller coaster existence, and that when you
have more high school kids and you invest in better
high school kids, you limit the possibility that you're going
to go up and down, up and down, up and down,
(24:28):
because you're hopefully you are investing in keeping those kids
and in developing those kids. And I think there is
some concern that the Buffs are not interested in developing
kids as much as letting somebody else develop them and
then finishing them off, which is a strategy. And again
it's worked one on three years, and it could work again,
(24:48):
but it's really really hard to escape.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
Talking to Sean Keeler of the Denver Post, you mentioned
CSU and that answer as well, and you wrote a
great article on Jim Mora, the new head coach there,
and him talking about make to the playoffs, but I.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Wanted to stick with CU.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
There was a story in USA Today that said Colorado
projects a twenty seven million dollar deficit after Dion Sanders'
contract pay rise and the nil payouts.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Is are we starting to see like.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
That the alumni and the boosters are just not willing
to put up the money when they go three and
nine for a year. What's the cause for this twenty
seven million dollar deficit?
Speaker 2 (25:25):
I think we're seeing that there there is a limit
to even how far that enthusiasm goes. I'm not you know.
The cynic would say it means the honeymoon's over. I
don't know.
Speaker 6 (25:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
I mean, clearly you tended to slips a lot of
the a lot of the blue is off the rows,
but you know you're still a lot better placed than
you were three years ago. Yeah, you cannot deny that
as well. I think, which goes back to does the
prime method work? Can it be sustained at a power
forward level. I think it can, but you need more
(26:01):
money and bigger donors Texas tech sides donors, and a
few more oil wells than what the buffs have at
their disposal. To the point about the report, you mentioned
that this is a bit of a rubber hitting the
road where you know he said it. We didn't ask
him to see it, Rick George said to all of
(26:21):
us in December of twenty twenty two, in a moment
of candor.
Speaker 7 (26:26):
Let's say, we were like, how are you going to
pay for one of the hottest coaching candidates you could get,
you know in that market, which they did, and some
of the attention and the kind of resources it's going
to take to build this.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Thing the way you want it. And I said, we
don't have the money. We'll figure it out, but no,
we don't have it. Yeah, they don't have it. What's
your funding? See, there are a lot of bills that
are come to do and you get a lot of
bust apologists and coach primebologists saying no, they'll break even
though you ran it wrong. They broke even last year.
They broke even last year with about twenty million in
(27:01):
general funding from student fees and from the university, and
they had something like sixteen or seventeen million from the
year before that. There are public numbers, you can go
look these up. They have had to go into the
general campus fund to break even, and they are going
to have to again in large part because of where
we're at with revenue sharing, not just just coach primes raise.
(27:22):
I mean, there's a lot of factors that play into this.
This is a bigger, bigger money game, a crazier game
than before. I'd say, if you have an oil well
and you're a bus fan, please call Rick George. They
could use that. If there's some more grateful Dead concerts,
you know of other bands that want to come through,
call the bus because we need some more tours. This
(27:44):
revenue thing is real. And it's not just CEU Arizona
States run into this. Houston's run into this. The private
schools are running into this. That they don't have those
those those public declarations of their budgets every year at
the NCAA. It's just this is the market and you're
either gonna play the game big in the long game,
(28:06):
or you're not. In the long game. Is that we've
got another round potentially of realignment coming, which is a
whole nother show on a whole other topic. But keep
an eye and we say this is a Big ten, alum,
keep an eye on what's going on with the Big
ten there, because where this thing is going is wherever
that whole fight with Michigan USC is going. Right now,
Let's try and get the some of the equity firms involved,
(28:28):
private equity and trying to keep that league together because
ultimately there's a lot of feelings that this is going
to turn into a premier league of college football teams,
and the premier league is gonna want Deion Sanders and
see you as banking that they will want them in
that if you make the cutoff forty eight schools or
fifty or whatever you do. But you're gonna have a
lot of conferences that are fighting to try to keep
(28:50):
those teams together to keep this from happening with these
when once these TV deals are up. So it's gonna
be fascinating and it's it's it's not gonna be boring.
If you thought the last seven years were crazy, you'll
buckle ups. An.
Speaker 5 (29:02):
We got a couple of minutes with you here before
we let you go. But CSU rams hire Jim Mora Jr. How,
if at all, does it change the I guess, perception
of college football, because I mean, you got coach Prime
and up and Boulder, and then you have you know,
(29:23):
coach Troy Calhoun out in the springs.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
At air Force.
Speaker 5 (29:27):
So how does this kind of impact or will impact,
you know, college football here and in Denver for a while.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
I think it's a declaration of intent. I was on
the calling client train, and now we know why Colin
Klein doesn't come in to see it coming home to CSU,
because he's coming home somewhere else. He was going to
be on the move, and I think he would have
been great fit here. He had some interest here. Some
(29:56):
mutual friends and sources told me, and I covered Colling
he was at k State and I was at Fox
Sports ten years ago and super dude. And now he's
going home in Manhattan. And I think not having brought
Klein here, I think Jim Mora is about as good
or as close to a home run higher for the
(30:19):
kind of stability and attention that you want going into
this new look Pack twelve. If they could have could
have gotten you, Hey, he was what was he ten
games over five hundred, twelve games over five hundred UCLA.
How it's a little bit like the Mark Mangino thing.
How big does that look now? Right?
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Pat, the old PAC twelve is not what the big
ten is now. And that's again, that's a whole now
discussion about the wisdom of that expansion and how long
that's going to last. But he's a good coach, he's
a name and you know historically in CSU's history. And
I'm kind of kicking myself because I should have considered
(31:00):
him a little higher up the food chain, because I
figured Yukon might be his last job, or is his
springboard to something even bigger than CSU. It wasn't. That's
a cup for CSU. He's had ties to the area.
He knows a lot of people here. So it's not
a Steve Dazio East Coast guy. And there's some stronger
words that the SEC would get us. You know what
(31:22):
you're yelling us for to use about Steve Adazio.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
He's not that.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
It just ticks a lot of boxes. And there's the
ability not just to hit the ground running, which is
something that the RAMS really wanted to PAC twelve, he
might be not just the best. I mean, think about
the coaches of the PAC twelve now or that's set up,
and you have to kind of think who's in this
PAC twelve. He might be the best coach walking into
(31:47):
this in year one of this New York League, and
he might be the best coach of an FBS program
of the three in the state. You mentioned Calhoun and
Dion no disrespect, and Troy's been kind of gold standard
for years and years and year, but they're not adapting
well to house versus the NCAAA life, and and CU
is going to have to adapt it for the reasons
(32:08):
that you talked about with the budget deficits. So there's
an opportunity there. I think the RAMS out take their
coverage a little bit and they feel pretty good about that.
And I think they've had some history. Your recent history
was CSU certainly, if you want to take the last
twenty five years, Sonny Lubick was an older coach that
worked out. Okay, Oh, Bruce was an older coach that
(32:29):
worked out. Okay. I think I don't know if lightning
will strike three times, but I think the odds are
pretty decent and we're gonna find out because they are
going to have to hit the ground running in a
league that's really kind of Mount West plus that's really
what the Pac twelve is. But you're not getting a
lot of weak sisters. You're getting the biggest budgets of
that league, you know, pulling off separating from the old
(32:52):
Mount West. You're Super West, where we just come up
with a better naw. I mean, they're like Pack twelve
for Brandon, but it's more like the Super West or
the the mountainous more mountainous Mountain West. Uh, it's gonna
be pretty unforgiving, and so hopefully this gives you a
chance of you're a ramsman, to get a little bit
of a faster start for what's going to be a
pretty interesting week.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
Seawan.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
We always appreciate your time, man check We always check
out your articles in the Denver Post.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Can't wait for the next one. Appreciate the time tonight,
and we'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Sounds good, you guys, take care of stay warm.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
Yep, We'll try no more shoveling for Sean Keeler in
the driveway, facing his ownmortality.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
We got the NFL six back, We come back. I'll
broad Coast country Tonight on Kaway
Nicks turns hands to Harvey.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Harvey left side into the in zone touchdown, Denver.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Nick's under center with RJ. Harvey behind it. Troutman comes
in motion.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
They handed off big hole left side Parvey to the
goal line touchdown.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Denver Broncos Country.
Speaker 4 (00:15):
Tonight, I'm your host Grant Smith felling in for Benjamin
Albright alongside my guy Nick Ferguson. You can join at
the Burndown this Sunday two pm to watch the Broncos
and the Raiders with Benjamin Albright Hopefully he's feeling better
by then burn.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Down off Broadway.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
You can enter to win Broncos Packers tickets. It's all
presented by Arta Tequila, the official tequila of the Denver Broncos.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Nick played those two RJ.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
Harvey touchdown highlights because you want to see how we
can get this Broncos running game going. You know, we
saw a couple of good plays, but still, like you
mentioned in the first hour, only thirty five yards on
thirteen carries for RJ.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Harvey. Julia McLoughlin sporadically used, I love him.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
We're always running hard, but how do we get this
Bronx offensive run game going well?
Speaker 5 (01:02):
First and foremost, Grant, I wanted to take a rewind
to the Washington game and say that the first thing
the Broncos can do is stop that initial penetration, because
anyone who knows anything about football knows that the game,
as far as run game is concerned, is dominated up front.
And when the opposing defense re establishes a new line
(01:26):
of scrimmage in your backfield, I don't care who the
running back is.
Speaker 6 (01:31):
It could be Roger Craig, Hell, it could be Immis Smith,
Walter Payton.
Speaker 5 (01:36):
Doesn't make it different because what you're seeing with that penetration,
it takes the running.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Back off his path.
Speaker 5 (01:43):
And what you see happens with the running back he
has to check his feet. What I mean by that
is now his feet are going forward towards the line
of scrimmage. Now they come to a complete stop. Now
he's got to redirect his body and his movement because
he's got penetration right in his face. So what the
Broncos need to do first and foremost is I would
(02:06):
start off the game and with bow Nick's under center,
and we've seen that a couple of times this season,
but not a steady dose of it.
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Start with bow under center. Now, I would be so
bullish right.
Speaker 5 (02:21):
To start off the first two drives, and I'm talking
about all three plays of each drive running the ball.
Speaker 6 (02:29):
It sounds ridiculous, It sounds with Sean Payton calls an offense, right.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
It sounds ridiculous. But here's what we're getting.
Speaker 5 (02:39):
We will get a consistent dose of the run game
and the defense will go oh, the Broncos are truly
serious about running the game. They're not just talking it
into existence.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Not just writing it on the play sheet. That's right.
They're actually trying to do it.
Speaker 5 (02:53):
And what that established to the offensive line is it
gets them in the rhythm. Because offensive line in one
a start in the rhythm like every single player, especially
the running back. Don't give me two carries and then
start throwing the ball or screen.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
We get another personnel.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
Because if you go back and watch howy Broncos open
up the game against the Washington Commanders.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
The first play run play to RJ Harvey.
Speaker 5 (03:20):
I think it was about eleven yards best run of
the day.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
And that run.
Speaker 5 (03:28):
You will say, okay, well, there are two things that happened.
RJ found the crease, the tight end did a great,
great job. I think it might have been Adam Trutman
and looking up Bobby Wagner and blocking him because and
to that point there was penetration.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
I think, let me what was it.
Speaker 5 (03:46):
Let me see the lineman that Duran Payne six seven
three twenty he was a problem. Now when you look
at the stat sheet, he's not going to show up
with quarterback kids and sacks like that. But if you
were to chart rush and penetration, he was in the Broncos.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Backfield all night.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
And that's a problem because you said, well, how can
we get something going if we can't block at the
point of attack. So what that does is that says
to Sean Payton, we can't run.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
The ball, gotta throw it now, we got to throw it.
Speaker 4 (04:19):
I like your point, though at first I was like,
this does sound crazy running the ball six times in
a row to start the game. But this would be
the perfect game to do it against the Raiders, absolutely,
because you know you're gonna have a little leeway most likely,
like they're not gonna.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Put up a ton of points.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
You're probably gonna get a couple of turnovers from Geno Smith,
especially with.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
How our defense is playing.
Speaker 4 (04:37):
That would establish something and then the rest of the
game you've got the Raiders defense looking out for the run.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Patrick Graham now has to think about it, right.
Speaker 6 (04:45):
And then once you now it only works if you
run the ball, but you gotta put bowl under center.
I'm not talking about these shotgun pissed through a note.
Put him on the center, because once you put your
quarterback under.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Center, the defense has no idea what it is. Yeah,
he's turning us back to the defense. It could be run,
it could be passed.
Speaker 4 (05:05):
And if you run it six times in a row
to start the game, you're setting up that play action
pass right.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
And we were just talking about Evan Ingram yep so.
Speaker 5 (05:13):
Now because the Broncos run is played with Evan Ingram,
and sometimes they try to run the boot keep game,
but they're running out a shotgun instead of being on
the center, where you have Evan Ingram blocking down and
crashing down on that end.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
And then he's just.
Speaker 5 (05:28):
Gonna leak out and you throw it to him and
both turns his back and there are the routes set
up and progression wise one, two, three, and he's just
got to choose which one he wants to throw to right.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
But you can only really do.
Speaker 5 (05:40):
That and getting into your boot play action game if
there is a threat of the.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Run, which we have not had no So but what
and that's.
Speaker 5 (05:49):
That's that's the stat that drove me crazy because.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
When you look at RJ.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
Harvey, Yes, he had two rushing touchdowns, So that told
you when the Broncos got inside the low red zone,
they were going with the more hypercentage play, which was.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Handing the ball off, something they didn't do over the
past two years.
Speaker 6 (06:08):
So watching the stat line, thirteen carries thirty five yards
longest of eleven yards, it sounds, oh my god, he.
Speaker 5 (06:18):
Had a great day because he had two touchdowns. But
Harvey can catch the ball out of the backfield and
he's right there isolation.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
You can hand it to him. It's two yards.
Speaker 5 (06:28):
If you trust your offensive line in that situation because
it's that.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
Close, trust them out in the field.
Speaker 6 (06:34):
Let them big boys get warmed up by spacking someone
else in the face.
Speaker 4 (06:37):
And there's nothing an offensive lineman loves more than a
little bit of run blocking. Yes, it's so hard to
go backwards when those big customers, this big defensive linemen
are coming at you and you just got to kind
of stay in your ground when you get to push
forward towards someone, and like you said, that gets them
immediately jacked up for the game and ready to roll
and sets everything else up on your offense.
Speaker 5 (06:59):
It does because now if I'm an offensive lineman and
bows throwing forty five times, which he threw in that game,
and you know, you add some of some of that,
not all to the overtime. Now I'm always you know,
backing up. I'm in retreat, retreat mode when I'm doing
my kick slide. I want to have the ability to
fire out and put someone in the face.
Speaker 1 (07:22):
Figuratively, not literally.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Nothing.
Speaker 5 (07:27):
But the idea is, can you control the men in
front of you? And I go back to something the
late Alex Gibbs used to say, and I'm gonna give
it to you the PC version.
Speaker 6 (07:38):
I can't give you the other version. Hey I'm behind
the border button. But the idea is being able to
whip another man and move him off of his spot
against his will, even when he know it's coming. That
is establishing a physical run game, something that Broncos are
(07:58):
gonna have to do if they're hoping to one capture
the number one seed two not only get to Santa
Clara Levi Stadium.
Speaker 5 (08:08):
But win the whole damn thing. You have to tell
a physical running game. I'm not talking about, well we
run the ball. No, no, no, no, no. There's a
lot of teams that run the ball. You want to
intimidate people because I remember watching this Broncos team under
Mike Shanahan and when Alex Gibbs was here as the
(08:28):
offensive line You know, Guru, they.
Speaker 4 (08:30):
Were blowing dudes off the ball and run the same
playoffs over and over again until you proved you could
stop this.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
That is dominance. That's dominance.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
Hey, last, every time the Broncos have started ten and
two in franchise history, they've at least made it to
the Super Bowl.
Speaker 6 (08:49):
Well see, I see, I see, Grant, I don't want
to at least make it.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
You want to win the whole damn thing. And the
whole damn thing.
Speaker 5 (08:57):
I mean, come on, man, why are guys in this
game in the first place. Why was it that Sean
Payton was hired not just to get there and say
you know what, guys, you know what, we had a
great year and it just didn't work out for us.
It's like, no, we want to hoist up that damn
(09:17):
Lombardi trophy.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
Bring that forth Lombardi Trophy to Denver.
Speaker 5 (09:20):
Right, So, now you need a great defense in a
physical run game. You know why because as a kid,
I root it for Chuck Noll and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
There's two things that the Steelers did well, ran the
ball and play great defense. And that's the reason they've
(09:41):
only had three head coaches in their franchise history.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
Well, they may be moving on towards the fourth with
the fire Tom Chance last weekend, but oh yeah, that's
the recipe for success in the playoffs, no matter how
great these quarterbacks are. And we'd love to pump up
the quarterbacks in the NFL run on the ball and
stop in the run as the recipe for success. One
of those guys who would love to see the Broncos
probably run the ball a little bit more and bring
(10:07):
home that fourth Lombardi Trophy to Denver, especially how rough
his first couple of years here were with the Broncos.
Garrett Bowles he joins at KOA Sports every Tuesday, but
this is from his appearance on the Fits and Wits podcast.
And you know, sometimes you and I Nick like to
get a little bit deep and talk about life and
other things than sports. On Broncos Country tonight. This was
(10:27):
Garrett Bowles talking about his childhood and kind of the
man he's become throughout his time in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
I've had a crazy life.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
You know.
Speaker 3 (10:35):
I've been arrested, I've gone you know, been addicted to
drugs and alcohol at a very young age, and you know,
dealing with you know, a mother that was a drug
addict and a father that you know that had to
deal with that at the same time on top of that,
and so I don't really talk to my biological family.
I've sort of put them to a side and just
focus on, you know, who I am as a person,
(10:56):
you know, growing up in that lifestyle and truly, you know,
being in the dirt and trying to realize, you know,
who you are as a person. It makes you appreciate
where you are now. And I want to be where
I'm at if it wasn't for those lessons and those
things I learned. And quite frankly, you know, God is
God is good, and He's given me a second chance
in life. Like the way I was going down, I
(11:18):
should be in prison. I really should, because I'd get
in trouble at night. The cops knew me by my
first name, which is embarrassing. So every time I go home,
I always see these cops and they're like, dang, GiB,
you change your life around. I was like, well, it's
because you you're giving me so much that I had
to change my life around. I'm grateful for what they did,
and they pushed me to the limit to where I
(11:38):
had to figure out who I was. And either I
could be the old gear and wake up every day
and you know, continue to do the things, or I
can be the garret that I am now that have
a family and and you know, be a father to
my three beautiful kids and be a husband to my wife.
And you know, that's just the greatest story of my
life is knowing that I have my own family, you know, basically,
you know, I have an income that I can bless
my kids with. And you know that that's just the
(12:00):
greatest gift that football was given to all three of us,
is we can bless our families lives, and I don't
have to think about where I was. I can think
about where I am now, and my family is everything
to me. And I think just those hard times of
understanding where I came from. I had to realize, like
one of my favorite quotes, it doesn't matter how you start,
(12:22):
it matters how you finish.
Speaker 1 (12:23):
Doesn't matter how you start, it matters how you finish.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
I am such a huge fan of Garrett bowles Man
getting to know him a little bit this year with
him joining KOA Sports every week. And it's not about
you know, having making mistakes.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
We're all human.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
We're going to make mistakes. But if you learn and
grow from those experiences. I know you had a bit
of a tough upbringing in Miami. I had a couple
of run ins with the law at an early age,
but I learned from those mistakes. And if you can
grow and evolve and learn those lessons throughout your life,
there's no telling what you can do.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
Yeah, the biggest thing is growth.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
And sometimes when we look at life, everyone looks at
change as being a negative and change is not a
negative thing. Of grant and you and I have discussed
this before, so this is going to sound like taking
for granted podcasts with you and I on it, but
(13:19):
I think people need to hear this message because change
is not a bad thing.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
It's growth.
Speaker 5 (13:26):
You're morphing from one thing into something else. And it's
almost like metaphorically speaking, think about the caterpillar, if you will.
The caterpillar kind of gets itself into cocon right, and
then all of a sudden, sometime later they burst out
of some cocoon and it's this gorgeous, beautiful butterfly.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
Right.
Speaker 5 (13:46):
We all have that capability if we're willing to adopt change,
and not just change for the sake of change, but
change where we're changing not just our outer appearance, but
our inner appearance as well, meaning spiritually. And that could
be whatever that means for whoever is out there, but
(14:07):
for me, I mean, I've gone on in like a
spiritual journey way. I had to look inside because yeah, man,
I played over a decade in the professional sports, but
guess what, I'm not perfect. I have issues sometimes and
I need something or someone that I can lean on.
That kind of puts me back in a sense of
(14:29):
focus where I go like, you know what, Nick, that
wasn't right what you did, but you have to clean
it up. And I don't justify well, you know what,
Like I used to.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Say, whatever, that's how it was real talk.
Speaker 5 (14:45):
I would be like, if what I said, hurt your feelings,
you bet a cowboy to hell up and give yes,
because that's how it was for me and my growth
with my dad and my family. But I realized that
I can't live my life the same way, and Garrett
has come to that realization. And Garrett, when he first
came to this, to this team, he was criticized and
(15:08):
ostracized by several individuals in this local media, and I
took issue with that right where I wanted to say something,
and in most cases I did say something to people
in the media directly, like let that man live.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
He's trying to overcome his hurdles.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Now.
Speaker 6 (15:25):
The best thing you can do is try to help him,
but not bring him down.
Speaker 5 (15:29):
But we know how this media thing works. People want
to bring you down more than uplift you. Now with that,
I'll step down off my soapbox.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
I love when you get out of your soapbox, man,
it is always great. And uh yeah, I mean I
remember when I moved out here to Colorado from Ohio.
I had one of my buddies that I grew up
with all my life. He's like, hey, man, just don't change,
and I'm like, dude, that's the goal.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Yes, I'm trying to change.
Speaker 4 (15:57):
I'm trying to expand my mind beyond this small town
where of thinking in Southeast Ohio. Like, I want to
grow and I want to become the best version I
can of myself. And I think that's what life's all about.
And that's something that that you carry in your life
and something that I carry with my life. And you know,
someone like my mentor Rick Lewis, who you know, is
always trying to grow and evolve and find new ways
(16:17):
to think about things.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
I think that's the ultimate goal.
Speaker 4 (16:20):
And I think it's it's great to hear someone like
Garrett Bowles say, you know, like you don't have.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
To be the person you were before.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
You can become a better version of yourself and live
the life you want to live.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
Turn into a butterfly, baby, turn.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Into a butter like a cocon to come out with
some beautiful wigs.
Speaker 6 (16:36):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
If you want to share a story about you overcoming
or growing and adapting to suit yourself better in your life,
shoot us a text on the Common Spirit health text
line five six six nine zero. We got Sean Keiller
next on Broncos Country Tonight on k Away alongside my guy,
Nick Ferguson, we are efforting Sean Keeler to join the
show talk a little bit about the CEU buffs. I
(16:58):
believe he's calling me right now. But Nick, what was
your final take on this season for the Bus? Obviously
not the win they wanted, but got coach Prime back
for another year, hopefully Juju lewis back as well. How
do you think the season went overall? Obviously disappointing, but
are there things to look forward to going into next year?
Speaker 1 (17:16):
Yes? Absolutely.
Speaker 5 (17:18):
The one thing that I'm happy about was, you know,
Juju's year as far as eligibility is concerned. I thought
they were going to waste that his first year of
eligibility in their final game of the season. I'm glad
that they didn't. But knowing as though he has some
experience in regular season games and I'm not just talking
(17:41):
about scrimmages, this should actually help him moving into next season.
Speaker 4 (17:47):
Well, let's go out to the KAA Common Spirit health
hotline and talk to our guy, Sean Keeler, who covers
all things sports for the Denver Post.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Sean, how are you tonight, man?
Speaker 2 (17:57):
I'm great, shovel off the walk, I'm good. My back hurts,
but life is great.
Speaker 1 (18:02):
I said the same thing. Start the show.
Speaker 4 (18:05):
I was like, man, I was not prepared for the
seven inches we got in Lakewood.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Like, my back is so sore.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Yeah, we've been so spoiled we forget, like ten months,
what this is gonna feel like. So it's just my
wife says, it's just a affirmation of my mortality. But
I'm old, I'm fat, and I've got a bad back.
So thank you mother nature.
Speaker 4 (18:25):
Well, if we keep getting snowstorms like that, you'll be
in shape and no time, have no shovel.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Out, driveway dead or dad right one or the other
we had.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
We wanted to bring you on tonight because you wrote
a great article in the Denver Post. The headline your
headlines are always so good. If Dion Sanders won't change
how he recruits, see you, Buff's football won't progress. Experts
say portal reliance is dangerous. We've known Dion has a
pretty much revamped this roster every year since he's been
here through the portal. Tell us why you think that's
a dangerous take?
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Well, I those aren't my words. Those are words smarter
men than I. Most specifically Brandon Huffman at twenty four
to seven sports, who is an old friend international recruiting editor.
There a good guy West Coast guy and recruiting now.
And this is the way Brandon put it. He said,
(19:16):
it's dangerous. I happen to agree, not I mean bulk.
Let's put this way. I think a better nutritional balance.
If we want to compare this to a diet, speaking
of me being fat, like I would know of a
good diet. The bus recruiting class under Dion has too
(19:37):
many carbs or whatever term you've already used to it.
Where when you are turning over continually, twenty to twenty
five transfers a year after year after year, what happens is,
and the stats have borne this out, and the results
have borne this out, is when you hit, it becomes
a bit like a roulette wheel. When you hit, you
(19:59):
can get a jackpot. Last year was a jackpot. Look
at all those white outs to the pass rushers, the
guys that they hit. When you miss, you get three
and nine. And I think the point that everyone, and
I think a lot of bus fans actually are kind
of coming around to this and they're like, well, okay,
let's see year one, all right, it's a lot of change.
You're two Okay, great, I can see that you're adding
(20:22):
to this base and then we're right back when we
started in year three. Because it feels like it's the
kind of thing that's going to go up and down,
up and down, because portal recruiting means when that's the
majority of your your influx over year, you're going to
go up and down, up and down. And I think
that's I'm just trying to help. That's not counterintuitive coming
(20:44):
from me. But the programs that have sustained what they
want to sustain, what Deion Sanders wants to sustain, see
you and says he will give his last breath to sustaining.
Do not keep leaning on transfers a year after year
after year after year, because that's and it's risky. And
I think that was the point about the word dangerous,
is that maybe not so it's dangerous, but risky. And
(21:06):
I think that has been born out, hasn't it. I
think that's dead on.
Speaker 5 (21:11):
So, Sean, how would you attack this situation? Because when
we look at.
Speaker 6 (21:15):
Where college football is, or better yet, college sports, it
is all in with the transfer portal and dealing with
nils and so much so that even high school seniors, some.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
Of those guys are being left out.
Speaker 5 (21:30):
Of the mix because there's a pool of guys who
are already in college that you can dip into, almost
like free agency. You can get a guy who's already
gone through the shortcomings that are incoming freshmen would incur.
Speaker 6 (21:43):
But I still think that there's some value in the protal.
You just have to be I guess spot on with
the players that you bring in.
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Is there some truth to that good?
Speaker 2 (21:53):
There is? There absolutely is, and I think there's truth
when Dion says, look half the guys when you get
press again, I agree with Dian way more than I don't. Honestly,
he says, when you look at the numbers, half of
the guys that they don't play their first two years,
they leave. Okay, that's been true at CU, that hasn't
been universally true everywhere. But I see the logic in that.
(22:17):
Here's the thing. If you're gonna lose half of your base,
wouldn't you rather have that be Let's put this way,
fifty percent of thirty guys or twenty five guys in
the prep base is better than fifty percent of ten.
And yeah, I understand the whole. I don't want to
(22:38):
develop somebody for somebody else because you use a free
agency analogy. I'll give you another one. It's basically a
feeder system my major league in minor league baseball, right
the Colorado States in the world trying to get somebody
developed by UNC or by a juco somewhere. Although that's
that kind of kind of upward mobility has always been
(23:00):
happening kind of there. And CEU wants to be a
school that finishes guys who start somewhere, not start them
for say Bama or Florida State or whoever, Ohio State. Right,
he has become a feeder system, a bit of a
pyramid system, the way that the professional baseball has become.
That's not ideal. I think the Buffs in Deoncea themselves
(23:25):
at the top of that pyramid, and there is a
season out of the three one or the three where
that's been the case. I don't know that the talent
all necessarily sees them that way. And again it goes
back to the risk factor. I think I think we
kind of summed it up trial mainly where he said
you've limited your margin for error when you lean on
(23:45):
that many guys who may or may not fit in
a one year or two year window, and we will see.
I don't know base hardnything they've said. I wouldn't shock
me the Buffs are really really good next year because
they looked at this year what didn't work. The health
issue is obviously that Dion dealt with that. You can
rededicate yourself into tweaking staff and tweaking the roster and
(24:06):
then coming up with a plan that looks more like
twenty twenty four. I wouldn't rule that out at all. However,
I also wouldn't rule out that a year after that
you might before and eight. Again, I think it's just
that kind of roller coaster existence, and that when you
have more high school kids and you invest in better
high school kids, you limit the possibility that you're going
to go up and down, up and down, up and down,
(24:28):
because you're hopefully you are investing in keeping those kids
and in developing those kids. And I think there is
some concern that the Buffs are not interested in developing
kids as much as letting somebody else develop them and
then finishing them off, which is a strategy. And again
it's worked one on three years, and it could work again,
(24:48):
but it's really really hard to escape.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
Talking to Sean Keeler of the Denver Post, you mentioned
CSU and that answer as well, and you wrote a
great article on Jim Mora, the new head coach there,
and him talking about make to the playoffs, but I.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Wanted to stick with CU.
Speaker 4 (25:03):
There was a story in USA Today that said Colorado
projects a twenty seven million dollar deficit after Dion Sanders'
contract pay rise and the nil payouts.
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Is are we starting to see like.
Speaker 4 (25:15):
That the alumni and the boosters are just not willing
to put up the money when they go three and
nine for a year. What's the cause for this twenty
seven million dollar deficit?
Speaker 2 (25:25):
I think we're seeing that there there is a limit
to even how far that enthusiasm goes. I'm not you know.
The cynic would say it means the honeymoon's over. I
don't know.
Speaker 6 (25:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
I mean, clearly you tended to slips a lot of
the a lot of the blue is off the rows,
but you know you're still a lot better placed than
you were three years ago. Yeah, you cannot deny that
as well. I think, which goes back to does the
prime method work? Can it be sustained at a power
forward level. I think it can, but you need more
(26:01):
money and bigger donors Texas tech sides donors, and a
few more oil wells than what the buffs have at
their disposal. To the point about the report, you mentioned
that this is a bit of a rubber hitting the
road where you know he said it. We didn't ask
him to see it, Rick George said to all of
(26:21):
us in December of twenty twenty two, in a moment
of candor.
Speaker 7 (26:26):
Let's say, we were like, how are you going to
pay for one of the hottest coaching candidates you could get,
you know in that market, which they did, and some
of the attention and the kind of resources it's going
to take to build this.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Thing the way you want it. And I said, we
don't have the money. We'll figure it out, but no,
we don't have it. Yeah, they don't have it. What's
your funding? See, there are a lot of bills that
are come to do and you get a lot of
bust apologists and coach primebologists saying no, they'll break even
though you ran it wrong. They broke even last year.
They broke even last year with about twenty million in
(27:01):
general funding from student fees and from the university, and
they had something like sixteen or seventeen million from the
year before that. There are public numbers, you can go
look these up. They have had to go into the
general campus fund to break even, and they are going
to have to again in large part because of where
we're at with revenue sharing, not just just coach primes raise.
(27:22):
I mean, there's a lot of factors that play into this.
This is a bigger, bigger money game, a crazier game
than before. I'd say, if you have an oil well
and you're a bus fan, please call Rick George. They
could use that. If there's some more grateful Dead concerts,
you know of other bands that want to come through,
call the bus because we need some more tours. This
(27:44):
revenue thing is real. And it's not just CEU Arizona
States run into this. Houston's run into this. The private
schools are running into this. That they don't have those
those those public declarations of their budgets every year at
the NCAA. It's just this is the market and you're
either gonna play the game big in the long game,
(28:06):
or you're not. In the long game. Is that we've
got another round potentially of realignment coming, which is a
whole nother show on a whole other topic. But keep
an eye and we say this is a Big ten, alum,
keep an eye on what's going on with the Big
ten there, because where this thing is going is wherever
that whole fight with Michigan USC is going. Right now,
Let's try and get the some of the equity firms involved,
(28:28):
private equity and trying to keep that league together because
ultimately there's a lot of feelings that this is going
to turn into a premier league of college football teams,
and the premier league is gonna want Deion Sanders and
see you as banking that they will want them in
that if you make the cutoff forty eight schools or
fifty or whatever you do. But you're gonna have a
lot of conferences that are fighting to try to keep
(28:50):
those teams together to keep this from happening with these
when once these TV deals are up. So it's gonna
be fascinating and it's it's it's not gonna be boring.
If you thought the last seven years were crazy, you'll
buckle ups. An.
Speaker 5 (29:02):
We got a couple of minutes with you here before
we let you go. But CSU rams hire Jim Mora Jr. How,
if at all, does it change the I guess, perception
of college football, because I mean, you got coach Prime
and up and Boulder, and then you have you know,
(29:23):
coach Troy Calhoun out in the springs.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
At air Force.
Speaker 5 (29:27):
So how does this kind of impact or will impact,
you know, college football here and in Denver for a while.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
I think it's a declaration of intent. I was on
the calling client train, and now we know why Colin
Klein doesn't come in to see it coming home to CSU,
because he's coming home somewhere else. He was going to
be on the move, and I think he would have
been great fit here. He had some interest here. Some
(29:56):
mutual friends and sources told me, and I covered Colling
he was at k State and I was at Fox
Sports ten years ago and super dude. And now he's
going home in Manhattan. And I think not having brought
Klein here, I think Jim Mora is about as good
or as close to a home run higher for the
(30:19):
kind of stability and attention that you want going into
this new look Pack twelve. If they could have could
have gotten you, Hey, he was what was he ten
games over five hundred, twelve games over five hundred UCLA.
How it's a little bit like the Mark Mangino thing.
How big does that look now? Right?
Speaker 1 (30:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Pat, the old PAC twelve is not what the big
ten is now. And that's again, that's a whole now
discussion about the wisdom of that expansion and how long
that's going to last. But he's a good coach, he's
a name and you know historically in CSU's history. And
I'm kind of kicking myself because I should have considered
(31:00):
him a little higher up the food chain, because I
figured Yukon might be his last job, or is his
springboard to something even bigger than CSU. It wasn't. That's
a cup for CSU. He's had ties to the area.
He knows a lot of people here. So it's not
a Steve Dazio East Coast guy. And there's some stronger
words that the SEC would get us. You know what
(31:22):
you're yelling us for to use about Steve Adazio.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
He's not that.
Speaker 2 (31:26):
It just ticks a lot of boxes. And there's the
ability not just to hit the ground running, which is
something that the RAMS really wanted to PAC twelve, he
might be not just the best. I mean, think about
the coaches of the PAC twelve now or that's set up,
and you have to kind of think who's in this
PAC twelve. He might be the best coach walking into
(31:47):
this in year one of this New York League, and
he might be the best coach of an FBS program
of the three in the state. You mentioned Calhoun and
Dion no disrespect, and Troy's been kind of gold standard
for years and years and year, but they're not adapting
well to house versus the NCAAA life, and and CU
is going to have to adapt it for the reasons
(32:08):
that you talked about with the budget deficits. So there's
an opportunity there. I think the RAMS out take their
coverage a little bit and they feel pretty good about that.
And I think they've had some history. Your recent history
was CSU certainly, if you want to take the last
twenty five years, Sonny Lubick was an older coach that
worked out. Okay, Oh, Bruce was an older coach that
(32:29):
worked out. Okay. I think I don't know if lightning
will strike three times, but I think the odds are
pretty decent and we're gonna find out because they are
going to have to hit the ground running in a
league that's really kind of Mount West plus that's really
what the Pac twelve is. But you're not getting a
lot of weak sisters. You're getting the biggest budgets of
that league, you know, pulling off separating from the old
(32:52):
Mount West. You're Super West, where we just come up
with a better naw. I mean, they're like Pack twelve
for Brandon, but it's more like the Super West or
the the mountainous more mountainous Mountain West. Uh, it's gonna
be pretty unforgiving, and so hopefully this gives you a
chance of you're a ramsman, to get a little bit
of a faster start for what's going to be a
pretty interesting week.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
Seawan.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
We always appreciate your time, man check We always check
out your articles in the Denver Post.
Speaker 1 (33:17):
Can't wait for the next one. Appreciate the time tonight,
and we'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Sounds good, you guys, take care of stay warm.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
Yep, We'll try no more shoveling for Sean Keeler in
the driveway, facing his ownmortality.
Speaker 1 (33:29):
We got the NFL six back, We come back. I'll
broad Coast country Tonight on Kaway
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Are You A Charlotte?
In 1997, actress Kristin Davis’ life was forever changed when she took on the role of Charlotte York in Sex and the City. As we watched Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte navigate relationships in NYC, the show helped push once unacceptable conversation topics out of the shadows and altered the narrative around women and sex. We all saw ourselves in them as they searched for fulfillment in life, sex and friendships. Now, Kristin Davis wants to connect with you, the fans, and share untold stories and all the behind the scenes. Together, with Kristin and special guests, what will begin with Sex and the City will evolve into talks about themes that are still so relevant today. "Are you a Charlotte?" is much more than just rewatching this beloved show, it brings the past and the present together as we talk with heart, humor and of course some optimism.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.