The Garrett Klassy era has begun! #GoDogs

The Fresno State Football Kick-off Dinner was electric! Fresno State AD Garrett Klassy joins CK On Sports!!! And remember #GoDogs

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
On Sports.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
It is Fox Sports Radio. It is always a pleasure
when we get the athletic director from Fresno State joining us.
Garrett Classy, The Classy era has begun. Here's what I'm
gonna say, Garrett, I have officially took go Dogs and
I've started running with it. Anytime I see someone wearing
Fresno State gear, I say, go Dogs. Anytime I finished

(00:24):
a conversation a phone call with someone, I say, go Dogs.

Speaker 1 (00:28):
The Go Dogs era is here and it's here to stay. Garrett.
I love that.

Speaker 3 (00:32):
It's good to see it last night. I think you
heard a lot of go dogs. Yes, well, kick off
of that last night. I mean everyone, it's catching on.
We gotta keep it going.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
We definitely gotta keep it going. And it feels good.
It felt good to be in that energy last night.
Because the one thing that you get concerned about is
you have a coach like Jeff Tedford, who we all know,
who we all love, who we're all near and dear to.
You want to know how that event's gonna go off,
especially no knowing that change is upon us. The one

(01:02):
thing that I realized quickly last night, the change has
been embraced. They are embracing you. They are embracing coach Skipper.
And let's talk about how amazing Tim Skipper was when
he got on the microphone last night, Garrett, I wanted
to run.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
Through a wallday, right. I mean he said he's an
incredible motivator. If you go out to practice and you
can see the kids love and respect them, I think
it's you know, the practices are crisped, they're working hard.
So yeah, I'm excited. It should be an incredible season.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Let's talk about that for a minute, because the last
time that we spoke was, Hey, you know what, Garrett,
classy is here introduction to the five five nine. People
are excited, can't wait to see what's going on. We
had just announced a new basketball coach. Everything's going crazy
and we're like, all right, football season right around the corner,
and then you get the news about coach Jeff Tedford.

(01:53):
When that news happened, what was your initial response? And
the transition to Tim Skippers seemed extremely seamless. Of course
he was the interim head coach previously. But I'm just
curious to know your thoughts, like, Hey, I just got
the job and here's what's going on.

Speaker 3 (02:11):
Yeah, I always need to not know that to the
interview process, you know. But I had a couple of emotions.
I mean, selfishly, as great of as coach as he's been,
he's one of the best coaches in college football history,
I was hoping he coach Presno State for the next
ten years, right. But then the other side of it,
I always see, people's health is all they have, it's
all it matters, and we want people if you all
take care of himself. And so I get it. It's

(02:33):
understandable that's not something that you can not take lightly
or you don't take lightly, that you need to take serious.
And I'm excited that he's going to get some time
away to relax, take care of himself, but still be
involved and still be part of the Boatdog family. And
then you know Coach Skipper obviously, his energy, his enthusiasm.
I mean, all I kept hearing about was the enthusiasm

(02:56):
that you saw before the bowl game last year, how
important and how important it was to get that little
extra pep in the step and get the guys fired
up for that bowl game. And so I think it's
been amazing. Obviously, when you have a Bulldog replacing a bulldog.
That's very important our valley, in our valley, and our
fans love it, and I think everyone's embracing it.

Speaker 1 (03:16):
You haven't been here very long.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
But the one thing that I think you see and
you truly understand is we truly support the valley. We
truly support Fresno State. We believe in the product. We
don't mind being the underdog. We love being blue collar,
and we love shocking the world. But this fan base,
I can't say it's unlike any other, but it's infectious.

(03:41):
They love being the red Wave. Have you felt that energy?

Speaker 3 (03:47):
Oh my lord, yes, absolutely. I was expecting an incredible
fan base. I was not expecting this. It's all blown
any of my expectations that I had. And man, is
everyone is embracing it. I mean, I grew up with
the valley DNA. I grew up on a farm. You know,
outwork people, you do more with less. You know, you

(04:10):
were up your sleeves all hours a day. You have
a little bit of a chip on your shoulder. It's
you against the world. I love it. The people have
been really embracing. I love the culture. Freso State University
has been amazing. The city of Fresno. Everyone in the valley.
This place is almost like an SEC or Big ten
fans Yes in California, And I love every second of it.

(04:35):
Seeing eight hundred people there last night, eating involved in
programs like Alabama Nebraska. Yes, we never had eight hundred
people for a football kickoff event like last night.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
Yeah, last night was truly amazing. The energy in the
building was electric. I loved being a part of it.
Love seeing the community come together. And the one thing
I want to talk about right now before we let
you go, because you hit the nail on the head.
The l Era is here and it's here to stay.
You talked about Bulldog Bread. Talk about how important it
is for the community, whatever outlet they may use to

(05:08):
help give back and to help these players, whatever sport,
it may be, understand how much the red wave supports them.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
Yeah, I mean the reality is is college athletics is changing.
It has been changing for a while, It's going to
continue to change. And I get it. People support the
red waves or the red wave supports our programs in
different ways, and I want to plog that. I want
them to continue to do that. But NIL is not
going anywhere, and we need everyone's support to really kind

(05:37):
of get this thing off the ground and run. And
you know, if you work for a company and you
have a marketing budget, support nil that's going to be
import If you believe in scholarships, give to the Full
Dog Foundation, I mean those things. I don't want people
to feel bad about giving back because we need we
need support almost buckets, and it's all going to be

(05:57):
important to the livelihood of our program movement. But I
have confidence in the valley. I got confidence direct Wave
they're going to keep supporting. And if you can't do
something monetarily, I want you to keep watching games on TV,
following us on social media, doing everything you can because
all those things make a difference. Is we're trying to
grow our brand and become the school that we have

(06:18):
been and what we're going to become.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
The one thing that I really enjoyed last night was
seeing the synergy. I'm talking about the synergy between head coach,
athletic director and the president of Fresno State. Everyone on
the same page, everyone moving forward. Even when President sold
him and Assandoval got on the mic, you could feel

(06:42):
he knows something real special is right here on the CUSP.
And I'll tell you going into this Michigan game, I
feel bad for Michigan if they're sitting there thinking to themselves,
we have a big game against Texas coming up after
Fresno State. Don't you dare overlook Fresno State. Because Frisnoe
State we've been to be giant killers. We're not afraid

(07:02):
of anybody. But it felt real good in that building
last night. And to hear presidents sold him in as
son of all say the things that he was saying.
That has to feel good as an athletic director to
know that you have the support of the Fresno State president.

Speaker 3 (07:16):
I've been a part of a lot of universities and
you could not get bad. It doesn't matter how good
someone is at their job. If there's not alignment, especially
at the highest levels, there's no way to advance and
make the things better. And it's been amazing working with
the president him and s Standevel. He's a transformational leader,
he's a visionary. He's gonna make the tough decisions to

(07:40):
make us better in a lot of areas the whole university,
not just athletics, and he's aligned with athletics. He understands
the value that athletics brings to the university. Those things
are all important and to be aligned with Coach Skipper
as well too. I mean it is an incredible environment.
We're all in lockstep, and yeah, you're gonna see some

(08:00):
great things. Like I said last night, if you haven't
bought stock and Fresno State yet, you should buy it
now because it's only going up from here.

Speaker 2 (08:07):
And I want to say this before we let you go.
One of the best moments last night Paul Leffler on
the mic introducing Tim Skipper to the stage, and as
he was walking up the stage, you see a smile
on his face. But then you look around that building,
eight hundred people, everyone standing up and giving him a

(08:28):
standing ovation before he gets on the mic. It just
shows you the energy, the passion, the community uniting behind
Tim Skipper and the Bulldogs. Those players standing up and
cheering for their coach. There was not one person in
that crowd who was not fired up and ready to go.

Speaker 3 (08:50):
Garrett, I mean, I have chills you just talking about it.

Speaker 2 (08:53):
Cek.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
I mean, you know he's one of our own, right, Yeah,
you have a better resume than playing for coach Hill
and coaching under coach Tedford, I mean, and then everything
he did in between. He is his father, his brothers coaching.
It's in his DNA and he's he's you know, he
talked about last night he made there from New Orleans,
but you know he may be born in New Orleans,

(09:15):
but he is from the value yes, and always will be.
And he made some bold proclamations too that he's going
to be here a long time. I mean, that's the
attitude we need here. I'm going to be here a
long time. President him and a standival is going to
be here a long time. And if that happens, you know,
we got some special years ahead of us. But yeah,
I mean, I've never been involved in a situation to

(09:37):
where a legendary coach steps down from a job. And
as sad as people were that coach Tedford set step down,
they're almost as equally as cited. Yes, Coach Skifferd finally
get this opportunity, and that's special. That speaks volumes about
Coach Skipper, that speaks volumes of the red waves.

Speaker 2 (09:54):
There. He is our athletic director, Garrett Classy, And I'm
gonna say this, and I'm gonna say it over and over.
You hear me talk about it all year long because
I want to get to the point where we're not
even talking about this anymore. You see someone in the
grocery store with a Fresno State hat or a Fresno
State shirt, Go Dogs. You see someone in your office

(10:15):
building representing Fresno State. As we get ready for the
big football game, Go Dogs. You have a family member
before they leave your house and you guys know you're
excited for the upcoming Fresno State Michigan game. A simple
go Dogs. It goes a long way, and it really
goes a long way to uniting this community. Garrett Classy,
thank you for your time, Thank you for joining me

(10:37):
today in k ON Sports and as we say, Go Dogs,
Go Dogs.

Speaker 1 (10:42):
Thank On Sports, Fox Sports Radio,