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November 3, 2023 • 42 mins
It's another Texas football game week with a matchup against Kansas State. Coach Sark previews Saturday's game with Craig Way and the pair chat with Longhorn Legend Ricky Williams.
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(00:01):
Hello again, everybody, and welcometo another edition of Long Worn Weekly with
Coach Sark, presented by the TexasLottery coming away from Pluckers here the location
here in Austin. It's now aseven and one record for the Longhorns,
part of a five way tie atopthe Big Twelve conference standings. Never mind
about the other four guys, who'rejust glad your guys are part of that

(00:21):
deal right now, right, yeah, we are. You know, we'd
like to be out there by ourselves. But I understand where it's at.
And you know, I referenced thisearlier in the week. I think the
Big Twelve is a much better conferencethan the nation gave it credit for early
in the season. You know,the conference suffered a couple tough losses earlier
in the year. But all ofa sudden, now you look up at

(00:43):
these these CFP rankings, there's fiveBig Twelve teams in the top twenty five,
with Iowa State probably not far behindof being another team that's in there.
So you know, we've got ourwork cut out for us here in
the month of November obviously starts aSaturday with Kansas State. Well last Saturday
again, be why you you mentionedthat there was going to be a grind.

(01:03):
Your team got off to an excellentstart and then had to grind through
some moments in the game. Butyou've mentioned that that's always a test of
adversity, a test of character andthings of that nature. Well, I
think so, you know, Andone thing you know, I think,
naturally, as a fan, myselfand whomever, we all just want to
go out and score fifty points andpitch a shut out and all that.

(01:26):
And sometimes when you when you wina game, you know, thirty five
to six, and there's some frustrationbecause we had opportunities to score more points.
I don't never want to lose sightof how great our defense played in
that game. I don't want tolose sight of how great our special teams
played in that game. And Idon't want to lose sight of some of
the things offensively that we did well. Now, naturally, right, we

(01:48):
put a spotlight on areas where wecan improve, most notably in that low
red zone and opportunities to score somepoints, most notably our ability to possess
the ball better and not turn theball over. But we were good on
third down. Jonathan Brooks had anotherexcellent game. Adie Mitchell made some great
plays for US Malik Murphy first careerstart. So's some real positives in that
game against the team, by theway, coming in that was five and

(02:09):
two. It wasn't like this teamwas just some slouch, you know.
So I think BYU is going toshow out here the rest of the way
of that they're a pretty good footballteam as well. Let me get your
thoughts on something that someone asked meabout with regard to They were talking about
the red zone things, and Isaid, you have always felt like your

(02:30):
offense is good enough, talent enough, schemed well enough to where you can
go on fourth down, you cango in the red zone in those situations
if it gets down to a fourthdown. But I would say, you
tell me if I'm wrong that there'sis there also an added comfort level knowing
when you're down inside the ten,when you're down inside the five, that

(02:51):
even if you don't get it,even though all the whole design is to
get it and to finish it inthe end zone, you've got a defense
playing well enough that you can defendnight four yards or whatever if it comes
to them. Well, I thinkthat that's a great point. I think
that you know, every game takeson a personality of its own, and
there's some games where you need thosepoints in that moment. There's other games

(03:14):
where you get a sense and afeel of the way you're playing defensive football
that there's no way these guys aregonna go ninety eight yards and score a
touchdown. So if we don't score, they're probably gonna go three and out,
maybe they get one first down,and then they're gonna punt it right
back to us and we're gonna getit right back around midfield again. And
so there's strategy involved in that.Not every game or we just reckless we

(03:35):
go forward on every fourth down.Right, there's analytics that tell us one
thing. Then there's the idea ofa coach of how do you play complimentary
football to help each side be successfuland then keep momentum in the game in
a way that is effective to ultimatelybuild confidence but yet win that ballgame and
what you need to do to winthe game. And so that game was

(03:59):
unique that I felt so great aboutthe way our defense was playing. We
were going to go I mean,there was no there wasn't even a thought
about it, knowing, hey,if we don't, I'd love the score.
But if we don't, I feelreally good about the way our defense
is playing right now, They're gonnahave a really hard time going ninety eight
yards for a touchdown. All right. I got to get you to repeat
what you said at the news conferenceon Monday when somebody asked you about the

(04:20):
book and the analytics and which isI mean? Because that is effective.
I thought it really captured the momentin that ballgame. The question before you
ask about how much are you leaningon the book and how much are you
leaning on your gut? Yeah,so we have the book, right,
We have the book, and wehave someone kind of assigned to that book

(04:43):
to give me information on what analyticstells you of a computer that has no
emotion, that if this is asituation, this is what you should do
in the game. I use thatas a resource. Ultimately I make the
decision. Sometimes I go with thebook. Sometimes I go in a different
direction, probably more times than not. Saturday, in that game, I

(05:04):
didn't go with the book. WhenI was punting the ball, the book
was telling me to go for itfourth and four on our own forty eight
yard line or forty four yard linewhatever that was. But what I said
Monday was Jay Hartzel, the presidentof the University of Texas, and Chris
del Connie, our athletic director.They didn't hire the book. They hired

(05:26):
Steve Sarkisian, And at the endof the day, they hired me for
the coach that I am, Andultimately, if we aren't good enough,
they aren't going to fire the book. It's gonna be Steve Sarkisian. So
I'm gonna make sure we do thingsthe way that I think are in the
best interests of our program to besuccessful. And that's one aspect of it.

(05:48):
We got it. We got athousand other aspects that we have to
go through, but that's one aspectof it that I like to make sure
that, man, whenever we makea decision that's in a critical moment of
a ball game, is something Ifeel good about that that I feel like
this is in the best interest ofthe team, not a computer telling me
what to do. Yeah, you'reyou're gonna have the call, not the
book. Right, That's exactly Okay, That's why I said I wanted to

(06:11):
get her thoughts on that. Let'stalk about Malik Murphy and I know there
was for a lot of long wornfans we hadn't seen him other than the
spring game. There was probably themystery, what are we going to see?
What are we going to get getfrom him? And I thought we
saw some adjustment after a couple ofdifficult moments early on, and he really
seemed settled in, especially as thegame continued to unflam. Yeah. I

(06:33):
think a couple of things we sawone You probably saw a little of his
personality Saturday, and I think that'swhy his teammates like him so much.
Malik has got a he's a greatteammate. He's uh, he's got a
great personality. He loves the Universityof Texas, he loves this football team.
He loves the game of football.And I think you see it in

(06:54):
the way that that he plays.I was really impressed with how he responded
to some of the adversity that hefaced. You know, the first interception
that he throws is kind of abusted play where you know, Exavier it
doesn't get the call, so hereally ends up not running. He's blocking
when he should be running a route. And it was a great learning lesson

(07:15):
for Malik where sometimes playing quarterback.You got to eat it and you got
to live to fight another day.You take a sack, you throw the
ball away. He forces a throw, we get an interception, our defense
gets a stop, We get theball back. Later in the ballgame,
we drive down inside the five.We don't block, We don't block something
correctly at all. And again Xavier'sopen. Now he's trying to get the

(07:38):
ball out and he can't. Againanother learning lesson. Sometimes it's better to
eat it and not try to forcethat and create a turnover. But how
he responded after both of those werescoring drives, and so I learned a
lot about his mentality. I learneda lot about his resilience, and I
learned a lot about his ability tomove on to the next play and focus

(08:00):
on the task at hand. Sothere was a lot of really things that
he did in this game that werevery impressive. I think there's a lot
of things that he learned about ingame and the speed of the game,
and some of those things that hecan continue to grow from. Here's the
other reason why I'm asking this.I was curious as to the vibe you
got from him, the feedback hegot from him after the mistakes. Similar

(08:20):
to I remember two years ago whenX fumbled the kick of the ends against
Oklahoma and you said, let mesee you smile and you wanted to loosen
him up a little bit. Whatwas the vibe you got from a leak
even after the mistakes? Well,same thing. I think. One thing
I credit maleak On he's very coachable. And you know, this year obviously
having the shift of having coach Millwyon the field with us coming out of

(08:41):
the box and being down on thefield with the quarterbacks, I think is
very helpful for Malik, especially aguy making his first first career start,
that we were able to have someof that dialogue and a lot of the
times with players when mistakes occur,if we can explain why and how it
happened, that's calming that It's notjust like if they don't know, then
they walk back out there the nextyear it's like, oh my gosh,

(09:03):
I don't know what's going on.So when we can walk them through the
issue, Okay, this is whatwe're going to go to next. Are
you seeing this or you're seeing that? Then I think it gets their confidence
back to where it needs to be. But you know, I think one
thing with Malik how Lucy is andhow it appears. And you know he's
dancing, he's excited. I mean, he's excited to play. That doesn't

(09:26):
mean he's not focused, that doesn'tmean he's not intentional. He very is.
He's dialed into what we're trying todo. And again I think that
the guys respond to him that way. Hey, eighteen years ago, the
biggest dancer on this team was VinYoung and there's never any question about his
focus. He was ready to go. So that that's why I said that.
And then and then you also saidyou wanted to get the vibe or

(09:48):
you wanted to get the feedback whathe saw after a mistake. I remember
you said that in a press conference. If there's a mistake, what did
you see? So I get abetter understanding of what he saw and the
understanding of what you need from himexactly. And I you know, again,
b Yu is a really well coacheddefense and Klonie Sataki has been doing
a long time. Jay Hill theykind of had those Utah roots with Kyle

(10:09):
Weddy Hamps, so they had alot of defense going and everything that he
was seeing was what was happening,and that that's a real positive. Again,
those two mistakes that occurred were oddplays. You're gonna have odd plays.
We jokingly say this, but it'strue, Like we don't ever want
at the quarterback position to turn fenderbenders into fatalities. And those were two

(10:33):
fender bender plays. They could haveeasily been two sacks. That's okay,
maybe a throwaway in there in life, but you try to make a play
when there's already a fender bender,now that really bad things can happen to
you. So I think, again, really good learning lessons for him.
But the things he saw were exactlywhat was happening to him by the defense.

(10:54):
And you know it was close.You know, he missed Xavier just
on the deep shot down on thefield. He hit ad on a really
beautiful deep shot. He had acouple of great throws to JT on play
action pass stuff. So I feellike, and I hope in people watching
us we ran our offense Saturday,that it wasn't like it was, hey,
we're gonna go out here and notlet Malik go play. I mean,

(11:16):
we were very aggressive early. Iwanted to let him get some of
those jitters out and just start doinghis thing and get comfortable playing the game
of football. All right, We'vegot a lot to get to on the
program. Here we have a specialguest who will joined us by phone tonight.
You want to stay tuned for thatLong Worn Weekly with Coach Sark percent
about the Texas Lottery. From herea Pluckers seem mellows will be watching on
the Long warton network and hurt allacross the state of Texas on the Long

(11:37):
Warn Radio network from Learfield, CoachSart coming your way from Pluckers the West
Campus location here in Austin and presentedby the Texas Lottery. The first College
Football Playoff runs did come out yesterdayevening for folks who didn't know this seven
and one Long Worn team, whichby the way, seven to one is

(11:58):
the best for this team since twothousand and nine, and we know what
happened that year. The team gota chance to play for a national championship.
Also, the number seven ranking inthe College Football Playoff rankings is the
highest emper for Texas Longgrange's previous highi'd been fourteen in the ten years of
the CFP. Now I know youget your guys to focus in on the

(12:22):
here and now and getting ready forKansas State. But when you get to
this point in the season, yourtwo thirds of the way through the regular
season here, and you guys havereally done something to get to this point.
They really have. You know,I'm really proud of this football team.
You know. I think coming intothe season, I was probably as
bullish as anybody in the fact thatI thought we had a really good team.

(12:43):
But ultimately you have to go doit right. It's something I've been
preaching from day one. It's notwhat other people think of you, it's
what do you actually do. AndI think this team has done some really
really good things to come into theseason and play that the type of defense
were playing, the way our defensivefront is playing, the amount of depth
that we're utilizing, the versatility thatwe've created on special teams, whether it's

(13:09):
you know what Bird Auburn kind ofresponding from a little bit of a struggle
there early in the year to bekicking the way he is, what Ryan
Sanborn has provided at the punter spot, and how well he's been, the
impact now on punt return with theXavier getting that punt return and now we're
blocking punts and we're returning punts andwhat that provides. I think what Jonathan

(13:31):
Brooks has done for this team thatmaybe people didn't notice and didn't know coming
into the year. And not toreflect on the season so much, but
I want to remind everybody to gointo Tuscaloose, Alabama. There were fifty
two to one before we went inthere to win that game, and so
this team's done a lot of reallycool things. Naturally, as a coach,

(13:52):
I focus on how do we keepgetting better? Right where the area
is for us to improve, andthere's plenty of room for improvement week in
and week out. Like I said, championship teams get better as a year
goes on, and we need tocontinue to improve. But man, I'm
proud of this team and it's anexciting team, and I love the fact
that we've got a great opportunity Saturdayfor this team to go back into DKR
in front of our fans and playanother top twenty five opponent to try to

(14:16):
stay in first place in the conference. Is it fair to say that you
feel that where your team is positionedat number seven in the CFP rankings is
due and this was largely speculated.I know Heather Dentage from ESPN and some
other one said they thought that yourteam would be ahead of Oklahoma in the
conference or in the CFP rankings evenwith the loss to Owe you given that

(14:41):
very unique and rare road win thatyou had at Tuscaloosa, and they did
lose last week, and they struggledagainst Central Florida as well. And I
know you don't look at Oklahoma anymoreuntil unless and until you have to play
them again. But just the accomplishmentsof your group being at number seven,
or does that make sense to you? What what you feel the committee?
So? I think? So?I mean, do we think we're the

(15:03):
best one last team? Sure ofcourse we do. You know, we
wish we would have could have finishedthat game a little better, and who
knows where we would be ranked.But what I also know is, like
I expressed to the team, everythingwe still want coming out of that Ou
game was still right there for us. Now we have to go take care
of our business. It's not reallyabout what anybody else does anymore. What

(15:26):
do we need to do week inand week out? And if we do
that one at a time, we'llbe exactly where we want to be.
And that's in our conference, andthat's moving forward if that presents itself.
So I think that's the key tothe drill is what's the tasket hand.
The task at hand this week isKansas State. Is it fair where they
put us? Probably it's fine.It's probably fair for just about everybody.

(15:48):
Everybody's got big games left here inthe month of November. Let's make sure
that we handle our business in ourbig games all right toward that end.
And then, curious to get yourthoughts on this the You have an eleven
am kickoff this week. It's areally good football team you're playing. Clearly,
they're they're ranked in the polls,they're ranked in the CPP, they're
part of the five way tide forfirst in the conference. Needless to say,

(16:11):
I don't think you have to doanything supremely special to get your guys
fired up for this game, allthat sort of stuff. But does it
help if you got the stadium fullpretty early, even though you got an
eleven am kick to make sure thatfolks are out there early and making noise
to get your guys a little moreamped up. I'm fired up for DKR

(16:32):
to be rocking Saturday morning. Can'tI can't tell you enough. The loudest
DKR has been since I've been herein three years was when we played Alabama
And what time was that kick out? Craig eleven am kick? And so
I know we can do it.I know our students can fill the student
section before that ball gets kicked off. I know our fans can be in
their seats before that ball gets kickedoff, because on that first possession,

(16:56):
that case State has the ball,it has to be deafening. This is
a really good football team that we'regetting ready to play. We're not playing
them on a neutral site. Weget the home field advantage, and we
need this home field advantage in thisgame. It's gonna be a heck of
a challenge. And I love whenit's rock and I'm getting goosebumps right now.
I mean, there's nothing like itfor our players, there's nothing like

(17:17):
it for us as coaches. Whenyou have that backing of one hundred and
five thousand people in DKR rocking,and so I'm everybody get their early Saturday
right, get their early Saturday.Let's make this thing rock and make it
the best environment in the country.And we can't wait to kick this ball
off. Weather, by the way, is gonna be outstanding, beautiful.

(17:38):
Yeah, it might be the nicestday of the year, Saturday. Yeah,
so well, people will be therefor that. All right. We're
gonna get to some questions here andsome more things coming up when Longhorn Weekly.
But coach start present about the TexasLottery. You're from Puckers the West
campus location, Austin, continues ina moment, we welcome you back to
Longhorn Weekly. But coach start fromhere Pluckers West, Pampu's location here in

(18:00):
Austin. Take it earthly with thepunt return there you mentioned, uh,
you said, we can do boththings. Now we can block punts and
we can return punch pick. Sothe question is when do you decide one
is favorable over the other. Iguess what opponent and situation determine those things.
Yeah, I mean I would saythis. I think Jeff Banks is

(18:21):
the best special teams coordinator in thecountry. He's phenomenal. And so just
like we game plan on offense anddefense, we game plan special teams and
we look for weaknesses, whether it'sin protection or coverage units. But the
thing that that we've been we've beenseeing is people are really trying to protect.
And when you when you try tostay in and protect, now your

(18:44):
coverage lanes and your coverage isn't quiteas good. And so when you have
an electric player like like like xand and then we we spent weeks at
really you know, dialing into ourblocking and how to block and de penalty
free. Uh, and so towatch it all come to fruition Saturday was
really cool to see. Now what'scoming, right? Is Keelan coming off

(19:06):
the edge or Mo Blackwell coming offthe edge or are we doubling your gunner
and Xaviers you know, running upthe middle or hit hitting the wall return.
But and a lot of young andnew faces out there. I mean
that there was some big time blocksby Jan Davis right he's at you know,
third string tight end made a hugeblock. Austin Jordan had a huge
block on that return. Gavin Holmesis a is a starting corner with a

(19:26):
really big back block Leon de lafoul. So a lot of young new
faces that are very talented football players. But homing the skills on special teams
is different than maybe an offense anddefense, and so you've got to work
that skill set, But I thinkwe've got it now. But then it
comes down to the scheme, Right, when is the right time the right
situation to go for a block,When is the right time to get a

(19:48):
return? And when is the righttime to play it safe? Right?
When is the right time, Hey, we're not going to rush, we
might not return. We got tomake sure they don't run a fake.
Right to handle those situations as well, it is is anytime the right time
to play it safe? Where Xis concern, where he's concerned. I
mean he had to make a guymiss and that was close, and all
of a sudden he scoots outen he'sgone. Well, I think that that

(20:11):
that goes to confidence too, right, You know he had he had met
if you remember he drops the puntagainst Baylor earlier in the year, and
so there's a confidence factor in thisthing as well. To where go field
the punt, you're more than capableand you're a hard guy to get on
the ground, And on that one, the gunner was really free. He
was unblocked, and he makes theone guy miss and then is able to

(20:33):
get right up the middle where hekind of blocked everybody out and he got
to you know, get him oneon one with a punter. It's a
problem. A couple of questions here, One from Jennifer's is glad you're here
with us considering our remaining games casestate here at TCU at Iowa State than
Tech here and Quinn's injury. Uh, is is your thought that, depending
on the situation, that both Malikand Arch may see some action before Quinn

(20:57):
returns? Well, I think youknow, naturally, I would love to,
uh, and and I really Iwanted to last weekend, but the
flow of the game, knowing whatthe future kind of held with with Quinn's
injury and and and then Malik's opportunitiesand the games that were coming, I
wanted to make sure that he foundenough of a rhythm to where coming out

(21:21):
of that game building confidence going intothese games that we have coming up.
And so, uh, my goal. Sure, I'm hopeful that I get
to play Arch and get some gethim some experience, but the games are
going to kind of dictate that.And so the key to the drill is
that when when Arch plays, it'son our terms. Uh. That that's

(21:41):
the most important thing. But he'smore than capable. I mean, he's
practicing at a really high level rightnow, And like I said earlier in
the week, a lot of teamswould would love to be in the situation
that we're in at the quarterback position. Our number one fan, Jane,
wanted to know. Was there adegree of personal satisfaction for you with getting
the win over your alma mater lastweek? I think it goes without saying,

(22:02):
Uh, I've got a ton ofrespect for BYU. You know that
that was a That was a greattime of my life playing there, The
friendships that I forged in my timethere. One of my best friends was
their head coach. And so whenwhen you get to compete against friends,
and you get to compete against youralma mater, like anything, I think
there's an expectation that how are wegoing to perform? You want to make

(22:25):
sure that we perform well. Sobut after the game, it was great
scene everybody, But I'm more thanhappy. The biggest satisfaction I got was
that our team got the win andour players got that win and we continue
to forge forward on a on achampionship quest. All right. Coming up
next will be joined by a specialguest by phone. You'll find out al
special coming up when longhortn Weekly withcoach Start from Pluckers presented by the Texas

(22:48):
Lottery. Continues on the Long WornNetwork and the Long Worn Radio Network from
Lyripel. Welcome me back to LongornWeekly from Pluckers West Campus location here and
Austin present about the Texas Lottery.I'm Craig Way, joined of course by
Long Horns head coach Teve Sarqis.You know time flies when you're having fun.
It was twenty five years ago todayor this weekend, twenty five years

(23:11):
ago this season when Mac Brown's firstLong Worn team had some landmark victories,
a snapping Nebraska's forty seven game homewinning streak and going on and winning a
Cotton Bowl. They also had anothermilestone and that they had the second Heisman
Trophy winner in school history. Andhe's joining us now on the hotline,
Ladies Jumple's welcome. Ricky Williams isjoining us now. Ricky, I appreciate

(23:36):
the time and we're glad to haveyou on with Coach Sark. How are
you these days? Oh, youknow, I'm great. When you said
twenty five years I was thinking twentyfive years ago. I was sitting at
my apartment ordering pluckers. Yeah,it was a It was part of my
weekly ritual during my senior football seasonThursday night. Hey, rick coach sark

(24:03):
here, Man, I can youbelieve like we were playing college football is
twenty five years ago of twenty six? I mean, you're just younger than
me. But man, that seemslike a long time ago, doesn't that?
I cannot believe it? No,I can't. What stands out to
you, Ricky about that that ninetyeight season. I mean, you'd already
established yourself as one of the toprunning backs in the nation. They're as

(24:26):
a freshman on that Southwest Conference final, Southwest Conference championship team and then the
first ever Big Twelve championship the seasonin ninety six, even in the struggling
season of four and seventy, hada great year, great game against Oklahoma.
And then in coach Brown's first yearnineteen ninety eight, he always said
his number one recruit was you decidingto come back for your senior year.

(24:48):
What goes through your mind when youthink about going into that senior season of
nineteen ninety eight? Team? Team? Is It's true that football ultimate team
sport. But for me, Iknew that I led the nation rushing and
scoring and didn't even get invited toHeisman Trophy because we were four and seven.
So I knew put all my eggsin one basket coming back from my

(25:11):
senior year, and I knew thatthe team had to show up. Hey
one thing, you know, havingcome in and you take over a team,
and you know, going into myfirst year, Bijon obviously was going
into his second year. But whatwas it like being one of the leaders
on the team and here comes anew coach that's trying to instill his culture,

(25:33):
you know, his philosophy, histhings. How did how did you
you know? Did you feel likethere was I had to do this from
a from a leadership standpoint to changethat culture? Or do you look back,
like at the five season and allthe great run that Coach Brown goes
on that do you do you recognizethe impact you had on kind of that
culture that got built. I didso. When I when I was thinking

(25:57):
about where I wanted to go tocollege, I had a checklist, and
number one on the list was Ineeded to start as a freshman because I
knew if I was as redshirt andor playing behind some what I would be
lost Okay, so I knew Ihad to start as a freshman. Two,
I wanted to go to a programthat would be on national television.
And three, like a caveat ortwo B was that the program had to

(26:18):
be rich tradition, on the vergeof greatness again getting back on top.
And I wanted to be part ofthat missing piece. And it didn't necessarily
occur during my four years, eventhough I got the Heisman Trophy. But
I know all the recruits, allthe talent, all the attention that our
team was able to generate, reallyhelped. And what you know, Mac

(26:41):
Brown did a great job coaching,and all that really came together at the
same time to help catapult Texas backon top. Ricky Williams is with US.
Ricky course forty year starter to wouldfull back two running back completed the
UT career were twenty one NA fortixrecords at the Texas Athletics Hall of Honor

(27:03):
in twenty ten, Texas Sports Hallof Fame in twenty twelve, College Football
Hall of Fame in twenty fifteen,Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame in twenty eighteen,
San Diego Hall of Fame as well, and Texas EXAs distinguished Alumnus where
you'll be honored on Friday night andthen again at Saturday. What does what
does that mean to you, Ricky? The fact that the university, your
university wants you to come back tohonor you as a distinguished alumnus this weekend,

(27:29):
Well, it means a lot.I mean, it means that that
I graduated, you know, Andif I'm being honest, but I came
to Texas. You know, Isaid what I was supposed to say.
Even when I gave my speech aboutcoming back for my senior year, I
talked about graduating, but I wasfar I was far away from graduating,
you know. And so and so, after I retired from from the Ravens,

(27:51):
you know, my mom kept buggingme go back to school, and
you know, kind of founded likea good idea. And so I went
into eric o hated office, andI said, have the eye do I
need to finish? And he said, like seventy I started doing the math,
and I was like, goodness,gracious, but I committed to it.
And you know what, I lovedevery minute of it. You know,
I didn't realize how much of astudent, how much of a student

(28:15):
that was I didn't realize how muchof a wonderful opportunity it is to attend
the university where you have access toso many brilliant minds. You know.
I look at the things that I'mdoing right now that give me fulfillment,
and it's ninety nine percent based offthe things I learned when I went back
to school to get my degree.So I think it's a I think it's

(28:36):
a wonderful story, and and itmakes me so grateful that I chose to
attend the University of Texas not justfor the football, but for the educational
stuff, even though it took mea while to appreciate it. Ricky Williams
is our special guest, rick I'mnot asking to hold on the line for
a moment. When we come back, I want to ask you about your

(28:57):
path beyond football now and your life'swork and all the many roles that you
have. So hang with us,Ricky, Ricky Williams with us, and
we'll continue with Longmoor and weekly withcoach start from Pluckers the West Campus location
here in Austin and presented by theTexas Lottery. When we continue in a
moment, we welcome you back toLonghore Weekly with Coach Sart Premiere Pluckers the

(29:19):
West Campus location presented by the TexasLottery. You were talking about Malik Murphy's
throws that slant ad that was arocket right to it. It really was.
And the hands that Ad has arepretty impressive, both touchdown catches.
That was a rocket to catch andthen the other one the deep ball fifty
to fifty for he's got a knackfor making those tough plays, especially down

(29:40):
around the end zone. Ricky Williamsis on the line with us our special
guests, and in addition to thefact that he was a Heisman Trophy winner
at Texas and spent all the yearsin the NFL eleven NFL seasons with the
Saints, the Dolphins, and theRavens. In addition to that, Ricky,
I remember when you were playing baseball. You were an eighth round draft

(30:02):
choice of the of the Phillies outof high school, and then you played
minor league ball for a time atcollege, which was part of the reason
why you had a little more workto do to finish the degree. But
what was that like for you asa competitor minor league baseball in a professional
baseball organization and then transitioning into thefootball season. You know it. It

(30:23):
was great because I got to missthe grueling summer workouts a man. That's
why I heard the guys tell storiesand I was like, no, thank
you. But also, you know, I put on about ten fifteen pounds
in the in the spring, andso I'd come back, I'd come back
from baseball and down twenty pounds andreally fast and explosives. So it really

(30:44):
worked out and it kept me inthat state of a kid because when I
was a kid, right, youjust go to the next season. And
I got to keep that change.And also I had so much more success
on the football field than I didon the baseball diamond. That was a
very humbling experience every summer. Hey, so, Ricky, you know,
I I I was not as goodof a baseball player as you, but

(31:06):
I do I do appreciate the guysthat do do two sports still today.
Uh and and I think it's gettinglost a little, you know that.
You know, we try to findthe guys that are multi sport athletes in
recruiting them because it speaks to yourcompetitiveness, right, it speaks to your
your your kind of sport. Iq right to be able to do both

(31:26):
sports at such a high level likeyou did. They just don't make them
like you anymore. Man, whereguys are doing both like that. So
I commend you for that. Hey, I wanted I want to switch gears
to your to your NFL career youhad. You played for a couple guys
that obviously had a huge impact onme. Uh. The first guy I
want to touch on is Norv Turner, And you know, Norv really impacted

(31:48):
my career. I worked for himfor a year when he was the head
coach for the Oakland Raiders, anda lot of our play action past game
really derives from Norv's system. ButI also know about Nor's system. The
running back is the bell cow,and you better be able to run downhill,
and you better be able to runthe power play, the counterplay and

(32:09):
the stretch play. If not,that offense doesn't work very well. But
how how was your relationship with Norvin your time? Yeah, this this
makes a lot of sense. Youknow. The thing I harp on about
football these days is if there's nomasters anymore, or not very many that
know how to scheme of run games, you know, and so you know

(32:30):
in Northern around great running backs,Eric Dickerson, you know, Danian Tomlinson.
Until when with me, It's likeit took us a little while,
but pretty quickly Nor figured out whatI what I did well, and we
you know, we'd run, we'drun the belly, the belly lead,
and then we started running scissors andteams had no idea what we were doing.

(32:52):
And you know, he might callthat play fifteen times in a game,
and it just gave me the abilityto choose whatever who I wanted to
run, and then we got thecounter going, you know, and he
knew back to back two hundred yardgames and yeah, I was doing the
work, but but Norm saw whatI did and he schemed it up,
put me in positions to do whatI did. It was so I love

(33:14):
Nors My favorite offensive coordinator by farever, Yeah he spoke higha The other
guy who speaks really really highly ofyou was Nick Saban. He was always
referenced you were his favorite player inthe NFL. And I wonder what that

(33:35):
was like being an offensive player forNick Saban in the NFL. What was
that like? You know, likemy my relationship with Nick, and I'll
say He was my favorite head coachbecause Nick had this way and asking me
to do something that you like,you just said yes, and you're like,
why did I say yes to doingthat? You know? So when

(33:57):
when when Nick first came, Iwas suspended for the first four game of
the year, so I played throughthe preseason and then it was right before
the first week of the regular seasonand he called me in his office and
he's like hey. He was likeI was thinking. He's like, since
you're not going to be playing forfour weeks, he probably should find a
way to practice every day and Iwas like yeah. He's like, so
every day after the guys go offthe field, the hottest part of the

(34:20):
day, you should go out thereand we should go send the trainer out
there with you to do practice byyourself. And I was like okay,
And you know, it was toughand it was hot, but it got
me in really good shape and Ihad a really good year. So I
love Nick because he'll push you,but he's always seeking greatness. And I
think the way I responded to it, he really appreciated that. And I

(34:42):
think that's why we like each otherso much. Ricky, you since ending
your football career. I guess theways to describe you entrepreneur, businessman,
spokesman, public speaker, podcaster.You've been an analyst at L A.
Jen you weren't assistant football coach andincarnate word what what what is appealed to

(35:07):
you about all of these things?And and and uh, you know,
is is that the Ricky Williams thatwe should know going forward, that that
life is always going to be opento you to experience new and different things
and different ideas. Yeah, youknow, like I had opportunities, you
know, and for me, Ilike the way I lived my life is

(35:28):
I want to experience as much asentrepreneurs, you know, like what's gonna
work? You? And I hadideas that I, you know, I
wanted to get into coaching, andso I said, I'm gonna take you
know, I go all in becauseif you go all in and you know
if it's for you or not.And so I I coached and I loved
it, you know. And theback that I coached, you know,
they where they broke records. SoI I proved to myself that I had

(35:52):
the ability to in some way conveywhatever whatever I learned coaching myself to these
kids, you know, and Ihad these fantasies of becoming a head coach,
and that's what actually sent me backto school because I needed to get
my degree if I wanted to coachat the collegiate level. And then I
fell in love with school and kindof went in a different direction. But

(36:13):
that's just me. You know,something catches my attention, and it catches
my attention, I go all intoit and figure out it's for me or
not. Well, it certainly hasserved you well throughout your time. Congratulations
on being named the Distinguished Alumnus.We look forward to seeing you here on
Friday and then again on the fieldon Saturday. It's always great to visit
with you, Ricky. We appreciateyou taking the time with us tonight.

(36:36):
Yeah, thank you guys for havingme. It was great to go down
and relaying a little bit. Ricky. Can't wait to see a Saturday man.
None of the team's gonna be firedup to see a man. Hook
come buddy, Yeah, great job, Starry, Seriously, I love it.
I love what you're doing. Thanksbuddy, Thank you. That's Ricky
Williams joining us here. When wecome back, we'll take a look at
this week's opponent, the Kansas StateWildcats, with long n Weekly continues on

(36:59):
the Long one network and the longWard Ready that worked from Lear we welcoming
back to long warton weekly. Atwas a special moment there breaking Tony Dorset's
record on the sixty yard touchdown runagainst Texas A and M in the final
game of the regular season, andRicky Williams I went in the Eisman try.
Of course, we were talking aboutrunning backs during the break and what

(37:19):
Jonathan Brooks has done for you hasbeen pretty dog gone impressive. It really
has been. You know, Iwas just saying to it too during the
break. It's amazing how certain schoolsthey just have a niche for a position
group year in and year out.And the history and tradition of the running
back position here at the University ofTexas is second to none. And Jonathan

(37:40):
Brooks just kind of steps into thefold, really doesn't start the first two
games of the year, and thenopportunity came, and man, he's playing
really good football for us. He'srunning the ball extremely well, he's catching
the ball out of the backfield reallywell. He's so reliable in pass protection.
And then the thing that I'm mostimpressed with is his leadership and the

(38:02):
camaraderie he has with his teammates,the connection he has, the ability to
help the younger players on how togo about their business, not only on
the field but off the field.He's just grown up kind of before our
eyes. And now he's a juniorand he's just playing fantastic football for us,
and you're gonna need a good gamefrom him given what this k State

(38:22):
defense can do. Obviously they're secondin the Big twelve and rush defense,
so they they're they're pretty good.This is this is a good Wildcat defense,
very good Wildcat defense, you know. I think the thing that that
stands out to us is they losta couple big name players off the last
year's defense, a really good defensiveend. They lost both corners. They

(38:42):
lost their starting mike linebacker earlier inthe year who was a really good player
for him. But at the endof the day, what they are doing,
they're playing really good team defense.They're playing really well together that they
as we always say, really gooddefenses are tied on a string. Right
when one guy's adjusting to something,the other ten are adjusting with him at
the exact same time and so verysound, very physical, very tough.

(39:07):
And that's what this game is goingto take for us, that we've got
to play a really physical brand offootball, but we've got to execute at
a high level. And then ultimately, you know, you've got to make
people miss in the open field whenwe get their opportunities. And then on
the offensive side, they're kind ofunique in that they do run the two
quarterback system, and Will Howard andAvery Johnson they do. I think the
first thing that stands out when youlook at Kansas State's offense is that the

(39:30):
experience on the offensive line, abunch of experience, really good offensive line.
They run the football on a highlevel, and they run it traditionally
with the runner, but they alsoutilize the quarterback. They'll run the quarterback
of Fairmount, whether it's Will Howardor Avery Johnson, the scheme really doesn't
change. It's just the person andhow they run it. Right. Will's

(39:52):
got long speed, which we sawa couple of years ago where he out
ran us. Avery Johnson's the truefreshman who's a little quicker, a little
bit more explosive. But in theend, they utilize the tight end,
who's a very good player. Theyspread the ball around a little bit more
traditionally in the passing game, butyou got to stop the run when you
play Case State or it will bea long day. So what you're saying
is it's more important to defend thescheme than any one individual player, no

(40:15):
question. This is a and that'sthis team in general. When you look
at them on offense, when youlook at them on defense, and you
look at their special teams, youhave to defend the scheme. And when
you look at the offense, itdoesn't matter if it's Will Howard or Avery
Johnson. We've got to defend theirschemes. And it starts up front with
the run game and how they're tryingto block us and to get their runners

(40:37):
going, to get the quarterbacks going. And then you have to defend their
schemes in the past game. Allright, we'll be back to wrap up
this week's edition of long Orton Weekly, But coach start from Pluckers and present
about the Texas Lottery when we continuein a moment, back Carol long Gorton
Weekly, But coach start, that'sanother guy who's been a really good story
for his Michael tal What a greatstory. You know, you have opportunities

(40:59):
to get scholarships to some other universities. Chose to walk on here and just
never took a backseat, continue tofight for what he felt like he was
capable of doing. Earned a scholarship, was playing on special teams, found
his way onto the field. Nowhe's on the field more. He's making
plays two weeks in a row withan interception at critical moments of the game.

(41:21):
So just really proud of him,but also proud of who he is
as a person and the leader thathe is on our team. Hey,
before we get done, a coupleother things for folks who didn't know.
This week, it was announced ColeMcCoy and Jamal Charles both will be in
this year's class of the Texas SportsHall of Fame. Two more long worn
legends. Pretty cool, ary cool, no doubt about it. All Right.

(41:43):
I want to remind you we'll beon the air at ten am on
the network. The kickoff is ateleven AM. Get to the stadium early
and make a lot of noise.It's a big game, the Texas Longhorns
against the Kansas State Wildcats. Forcoach Sark, I'm Craig Way. We
thank you for joining us. We'lllook forward to seeing you right here next
week on Longbarn Weekly
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