The Texas Longhorns arrive at the SEC Media Days! Day 2 from Atlanta

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're glad to have you with us. My name is

(00:01):
Craig Wait. Thanks so much for joining us this afternoon.
We have a lot to get to on the program
this afternoon, and I am not exaggerating by saying a lot.
First of all, the producer of the program, Cameron Parker,
will be back momentarily, as will Mike Hardball hard They
were working on getting some additional interviews. But here's what

(00:23):
we have to let you know. Coming up in just
a few minutes from now, we're going to bring you
Steve Sarkesian's news conference live from here at SEC Media Days.
He has his opening comments, his opening remarks for the media,
and then in addition that he will take questions a

(00:43):
Q and A. So we have that with sark coming
up later in the program in the four o'clock hour,
I have my annual sit down with sark at Media Day,
So we've got that. My annual sit down one on
one with the long Oarns head football coach, that's coming
up in the four o'clock hour, but also in the
two o'clock hour, we and throughout the course of the

(01:04):
rest of the program we have other guests. I also
had an opportunity to have along with my card, an
interview with Michael Taff, who is here, and it's a
pretty heartwarming story about the way he is attired today.
You'll be able to hear that story coming up in

(01:24):
the three o'clock hour. The commissioner of the Southeastern Conference,
Greg Sanky, we'll join us. We'll get his thoughts on
and I'll ask him about some of the comments that
he made yesterday with regard to the relationship with a
Big ten and with some of the other things going on.
So will I will visit with him about that that's
coming up in the three o'clock hour. Also, later on

(01:46):
in the program, I had a group conversation with arch Manning,
Michael Taff, and Anthony Hill. So we'll have that conversation
coming up uh in the program this afternoon. And we'll
also visit with Peter Burns of ESPN. So UH, actually

(02:08):
we have we have we have some convers conversations that
will be coming up tomorrow, including Peter Burns, but we
have a lot of a lot of other things that
we'll get to on the program as well. So we're
glad to have you with us, UH this afternoon. On
this I mentioned this Cameron Parker Jorines just now they
you and Hart were up trying to knock out some
additional interview stuff. Is that right.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yeah, we're able to visit with Arch Manning himself and
Anthony Hill Jr.

Speaker 1 (02:30):
And Man, I you know, obviously I have seen Arts before.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
You know, I've been in some media scrums after his
performance against UTSA. He got bigger, Like he got bigger
and thicker and stronger. That's a big dude. Yeah, he
has built like a linebacker.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
Yeah, so he's he's uh, he's ready for the challenge,
I think, and I think we'll hear that echoed from Sark.

Speaker 4 (02:53):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
We'll hear that echoed probably in the news conference coming up.
Uh And then uh, you know in that conversation that
Harge had, you'll be able to hear that one on
one with Arch tomorrow morning. And again, like I said,
had a conversation with Arch as well as Michael Taff
and also Anthony Hill, and that we're going to bring

(03:14):
that to you coming up later this afternoon on the program.
So we have those things as well on the program
this afternoon. It's a it's an exciting time. Also, we're
going to hear from Kirby Smart, the head coach of
the Georgia Bulldogs, who is here, so we'll hear from him,
because as we know, at least in terms of the

(03:35):
sec the you know, the great white whale, so to speak.
The mob dick for Texas was trying to be able
to beat Georgia, and they had two shots last year
and came up short both times decisively so at home
and then an excruciating overtime loss here in Atlanta at
Mercedes Benz Stadium. Now the log runs then turned it

(03:58):
around a few weeks later after they had the playoff
home win against Clemson, then defeating Arizona State in double
overtime here in Atlanta back of Mercedes Bend Stadium, and
they wound up advancing farther in the college football playoff
actually than Georgia. Georgia lost in the quarterfinals in the
Sugar Bowl and Notre Dame. However, all of that sort

(04:22):
of stuff just kind of sets the scene and in
visiting with people throughout the course of the day, not
only from our broadcast position here on what's called the
Digital Drive, the now updated name of Radio Row is
the Digital Drive, and there's more than fifty different broadcast outlets,

(04:43):
and the reason why it's digital drive is because not
all of them are actual radio stations, although there's a
lot there's a lot of radio stations here, but there
are ones that are digital podcasts. Our friends from Texas
are here, they're right over there Saturday. In fact, almost
every guest we visited with today seemed amused by the

(05:04):
fact that they put the long Horns in the Aggie's
pretty close together and Oklahoma's just down the way from
us a little bit, and it was like, well, they
sat us all in the same corner of the classroom,
that sort of thing. So anyway, we'll look forward to
those conversations coming up, so we need a break. When
we come back, we will hear from Long Horns head
coach Steve Sarkegan. We'll bring you his press conference, just

(05:28):
like we do all your long when we bring you
the weekly press conference on Monday mornings in the eleven
o'clock hour, So we're gonna do it here in the
two o'clock hour this afternoon. We're gonna hear from the
head coach of the Texas long Horns as he takes
the podium here on day number two of SEC Football
Media Days, whereas they call it, the SEC Football Media

(05:49):
Day's kickoff here from the College Football Hall of Fame
in Atlanta, Georgia. First this break, then we'll be back
to here from start from here in Atlanta on Sports
Media Am thirteen under the zone of the IHEA Radio app.

(06:22):
We're in SEC Football Media Days here on thirteen hundred
the zone. Craig Way as well as Cameron Park of
the producer My Cardball hoards alongside as well. As we've
all been pretty busy this I would venture to say
to you that this is one of the busiest days

(06:46):
of the year for us as a radio station, as
a program, this particular program, same thing this morning on
the morning kickoff with My Cardball, Hargs and Mark Henry.
They had a constant stream and influx of guests joining them,
and there will be more tomorrow including Harge's interview with

(07:11):
Arch Manning and also for those who don't get a
chance to hear my one on one this afternoon with
the coach Sark, that will we air tomorrow morning. Uh
so you know that they'll h a full slate of
activity on the programs here on the Zone throughout the
course of our time here with Texas here at SEC

(07:35):
Football Media Days. We're just a few moments away from
the start of log Worn head coach Steve Sarkeesian's address
the press conference, which we will bring to you live UH,
so we'll do that here coming up in just a
few moments the UH. This is also a day for Georgia,
Auburn and Tennessee on day number two here and we'll

(07:56):
hear from the head coaches during the course of the
program this afternoon, so we'll look forward to bringing you
that and tomorrow on the program we'll have kind of
a couple of encore presentations of some of our Texas
related conversations. But also we'll visit with Laura Rutledge of ESPN.

(08:17):
Sam Acho, the lifetime lag Worn, we'll visit with him
and with Peter Burns of ESPN, So we'll visit with
them tomorrow on the program as well. And then for
the first time.

Speaker 5 (08:30):
In eighteen days, twenty two days, twenty two days, I'll
be back in the studio for the first time in
twenty two days.

Speaker 1 (08:41):
It's got a little bit lonely without Jim. Well, I'll
tell you, vacations are great, and Lynn and I both
had a great time. We were on the North Carolina
coast with the entire family there the first week. My
oldest son is engaged now to be married. He's going
to get married out there next summer, just as Lennon

(09:02):
and I did three years ago. It's a great place
to do that. I did hear the program one day
when you were out there and you said it was
at as you called it, dirty Myrtle, Dirty Myrtle. Yeah,
I was not in the dirty Myrtle part that for
folks you wanted to Dirty Myrtle is no different than
dirty sixth you know. It's just kind of like bars
and restaurants and stuff like that. So there's a lot.

(09:26):
But we weren't staying right in the belly of the beast.
We were not right inside of Myrtle. I usually stay
in a little place north, about thirty miles north of Myrtle.
It's just across the North Carolina state line, little little
place called Sunset Beach. It's on an island accessible by
a causeway, but it's largely just rental houses on that

(09:47):
and it's a way you can really and truly get
away from things. And then we did that the first
week and add all four of my kids and all
four of my grandkids out there, so it was it
was great. It was great for one week and then
we sent them home. And when we sent them home,
then Lyndon and I checked out of that house and
we went down to Garden City Beach, which is just
south of Myrtle and we were in a condo for

(10:09):
a week there on the ocean. So that was nice,
just to be able to get that time away. You know,
I love my kids and my grandkids, but you know,
it's it's nice to be able to do that. So
that's what it was. All right, let's go to the
podium now for the press conference. Why from here in
Atlanta SEC media days with long orange Head coach Steve Sarkisian.

Speaker 6 (10:29):
Being part of the Southeastern Conference. Now to be in Atlanta,
this is where you always want to be and I
just want to say we appreciate all that you do
and covering our sport.

Speaker 7 (10:40):
A ton of respect for the job.

Speaker 6 (10:42):
That you all have in celebrating our game.

Speaker 7 (10:45):
Our games at an.

Speaker 6 (10:45):
All time high from a popularity standpoint, the passion and
the energy, so the job that you all do is
greatly appreciated. I think before I get started. I'd be
remiss if I didn't address the Central Texas and the
thoughts and prayers with those families, those communities that have

(11:06):
been affected by the recent devastating flooding and are they'll
always have our continued support, and like I said, thoughts
and prayers for all affected and continued support as.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
We go.

Speaker 7 (11:20):
Year two in the SEC, It's gone fast.

Speaker 8 (11:24):
You know.

Speaker 7 (11:25):
Year one was a great year for us.

Speaker 6 (11:28):
We uh you know, making it to the SEC Championship
game in year one, going to back to back college
football Playoffs semi finals, having twelve players drafted off of
last year's team, twenty three drafted in the last two years,
leading the country there speaks to the development I think
that we have going on in our programs, speaks to

(11:49):
the recruiting that's happening. But this is a new year,
new faces, new team, and obviously expectations are high for
our program. I'm not naive to that. I don't put
my head in the sand, and expectations are very high.
But I also say, we're the University of Texas, and
the standard is a standard here and that's competing for
championships a year in and year out, and it didn't

(12:11):
matter when we're in the previous conference. It didn't matter
now that we're in the SEC. It is what it is.
But I think there's one thing that's important for us.
It's not what other people think about us. It's not
what other people say about us. It's about what we do,
and that's taking action and doing things the right way.
I do think we have a very hungry football team,

(12:32):
one that is talented. I really like our roster. We've
strung together now three really good recruiting classes of very
talented people, but really good people that I think represent
the University of Texas the right way.

Speaker 7 (12:47):
I really feel like.

Speaker 6 (12:48):
We've navigated the portal well through three years, and this
year was no different. I think we filled needs on
our roster where players can have an impact on our
team immediately, not just to fill roster spots, but I
think this is a championship roster. Now we've got to
play like a championship team, but I do think it's
a championship roster. H Starting on the defensive side of

(13:08):
the ball. We brought Anthony Hill and Michael taff with
us today, both all American players for US. But it
goes well beyond those two. We've got great depth on
the defensive side of the ball, Manny Muhammad, Colin Simmons,
Marod Watson, Trey Moore, Brad Spence, Ethan Burke, Travis Shaw,
Cole Bervard, Jalen Gilbo, Jlani Jelani McDonald, Derek Williams, just

(13:33):
to name a few, Leongo La Fal. So this is
probably the deepest and most talented defense that we've had,
uh and we've made incremental growth on the defensive side
of the ball now through four years, and we're gonna
need to do that again. I think championships are one
on the defensive side of the ball, and we've got
a We've got a defensive football team that we're very
excited about. From a special team's perspective.

Speaker 7 (13:57):
You know, the one thing I love is that we've
got all I've got.

Speaker 6 (14:01):
A senior long snapper, a senior holder, senior punter, senior kicker,
senior kickoff guy, and so the experiences that they've had
and what they've been through I think is going to
serve us well as this season goes on.

Speaker 7 (14:13):
So we're excited about that unit.

Speaker 6 (14:14):
And then obviously offensively is probably where we've had the
most turnover got a new quarterback, Arch Manning. If you
didn't know, he's replacing Quinn who.

Speaker 7 (14:24):
Had a great three years for US.

Speaker 6 (14:26):
But we're replacing a lot of offensive linemen. We're replacing receivers,
tight ends. But that unit is really good. You know,
we're returning the leading rusher in the SEC and Trey Wisner,
which some of you probably don't even know that, but
bring that to your attention. We get Cedric Baxter back
with the addition of Jared Gibson who played a ton
as a true freshman for US, to along with Christian

(14:47):
Clark in that room. The receiving corps is one we're
really excited about. You know, we've had receivers drafted in
the first round in the last two years draft. But
this group is really good. DeAndre Moore is how the
leader of that group who played.

Speaker 7 (15:01):
A ton for US last year on the slot.

Speaker 6 (15:04):
Ryan Wingo was a true freshman last year who probably
in a lot of other schools, probably had more opportunities,
but when you had the room we had, you know,
he was very efficient, had a bunch of catches and
critical moments for us.

Speaker 7 (15:16):
We're excited about him.

Speaker 6 (15:18):
We brought in Emmitt Moseley, a transfer from Stafford who
had fifty catches there as a true freshman Stanford who
were excited about to go along with a really good
recruiting class and a group of young guys Parker Livingstone
leading that charge of younger.

Speaker 7 (15:33):
Players in that room.

Speaker 6 (15:34):
And then at tight end we lost a really good
player in Gunner Hilm. We brought in Jack Injuries from
cal who was a great player there, with an uptick
of young players Jordan Washington, Spencer Shannon to go along
with Lamar Winston and Nick Towns, and we're excited about
that group. And on the offensive line, we're replacing four starters.
DJ Camp will be in the one coming back, but

(15:55):
Cole Hudson's played a ton of football for us. We
found out a lot about Trevor us by last year.

Speaker 7 (16:01):
He played in some.

Speaker 6 (16:01):
Big time games against some big time fronts. We're excited
about him. But the beauty of when you have that
group the way that we had it for the last
few years, we had a chance to develop offensive lineman
and that's one thing that you really love to do
is develop those players throughout their time and not throw
them into the fire. So we're really excited about that
group and what they can do. Another continuity and quicker

(16:24):
they can gel and grow together is going to be
critical from a staff perspective, I think one of the
keys for us is staff continuity. You know, we've had
turnover it position coaches, but we've had the same offensive coordinator,
the same defensive coordinator, same special teams coordinator, and same
head coach now for five straight years, which I think
has been big for us because we know our schedule

(16:46):
is going to be really challenging. We've got road games
out Ohio State, at Georgia, at Florida, at Kentucky, which
are all going to be very difficult environments to play in,
not to mention playing in the Red River rivalry and
every year against Oklahoma, and then playing at home against
a couple of traditional rivals again with Arkansas and A

(17:06):
and M. So we'll be the most traveled team in
the SEC this year, which is a great challenge for us.

Speaker 7 (17:11):
We're looking forward to it.

Speaker 6 (17:13):
But at the end of the day I talked about
the popularity of our sport. I think the popularity of
the Texas Longhorns is at an all time high as well,
and so I appreciate our fans and their support. We
averaged over eight million viewers a game last year on TV.
We averaged over one hundred and two thousand people in
attendance at DKR last year, which was fifth in the country.

(17:35):
Our season tickets were sold out in May for the
four straight year, and so the environment at DKR has changed.
If you haven't been back in a while, it's an
electric atmosphere. Love our fans and the support that they
give us for that. But I think the key for
us this fall is going to go we got to
go enjoy this journey. We need to be present. We
need to be present in the moment, enjoy the journey,

(17:57):
and then ultimately finish the mission right we've been We've
been there, We've been knocking on.

Speaker 7 (18:02):
The door of the last two years.

Speaker 6 (18:03):
But to go do that, we need to take it
one step at a time as we embark on the
summit that we're looking for, and that's going to take
great discipline, it's going to take great commitment. It's going
to take great toughness mental and physical toughness that's needed,
and it's going to take accountability for our actions and
doing our job. And so I think we've got the
culture in place to do that. We've got the connectivity

(18:24):
on our roster. These guys have grown up together. I
was thinking about arch and Ant today. These guys don't
know any different in college than playing for a conference
championship and being in a.

Speaker 7 (18:35):
College football playoff.

Speaker 6 (18:36):
That's what their experience in college has been so far.
So it's going to take the resiliency, the confidence and
the belief, and it's going to take being at our
best when our best is needed. And that's going to
be laid into December and into January if we want
to accomplish the things that we think we're capable of accomplishing.
So looking forward to it again, appreciate all that you
do in supporting college football, and with that will open

(18:59):
it up.

Speaker 9 (19:00):
Coach, thank you for your comments. If you have a question,
raise your hand. We'll get a microphone to you. So
we're going to start right here in front of me
about Fort roseback.

Speaker 10 (19:10):
Coach Ryan Spiro Texasport Network. Hope you're doing well today.
I just want to ask over the last couple of seasons,
the red zone offense has been faltered a little bit
in late game situations and big moments too. I just
want to ask if the red zone offense being better
would help push you guys over the hump to get

(19:31):
you into that national championship game.

Speaker 6 (19:33):
That was a good start, man, I GetUp with jabs
right there.

Speaker 1 (19:36):
R a the rep.

Speaker 7 (19:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (19:38):
I mean, clearly, the last two years we've had the
ball inside the ten yard line to score to either
play for a national championship or tie a game to
go play for a national title. So huge point of
emphasis of ours. Every year, as a staff, you look
for areas of improvement where you can improve your team,
and as a coaching staff, that's clearly been an area

(20:00):
for us where we want to improve and need to improve.
I think that our staff has put forth the effort
to do that. I think our players recognize that. You know,
hopefully that we're good. Like I said, we need to
be at our best when our best is needed, and
those are two critical moments in the last two years
where we needed our best and we just weren't quite
at our best as coaches and or players. And so

(20:21):
big point of emphasis of ours. Hopefully next year you
ask me a different question. You say it, since you
got that resolved, what are you working on this year?

Speaker 1 (20:29):
And we're going to stay. We're on the left hand side.

Speaker 7 (20:32):
That goes Travis Brown kBT X.

Speaker 11 (20:35):
With the new enforcement arm the CSC, how confident are
you that if a enforcement is laid down on a
team that they will do what's best for college football
as a whole and not work in their own self interest.

Speaker 7 (20:50):
Honestly, I have no idea.

Speaker 1 (20:52):
I don't know.

Speaker 6 (20:53):
We're in such the beginning stages of this thing. I
think that everybody is operating differently. Everybody's trying to navigate
this differently. And what are exactly the rules and are
they going to be enforced? Nobody really knows. And one
thing about me, I tend not to get into the
hypotheticals of what might be. I tend not to worry

(21:16):
about what might happen down the road. I try to
keep my focus on what we're doing, and my focus
is on our team. And that's you know that the
more time I spend on those things outside of our team,
then I'm doing a disservice to our players and to
our team. So I'm gonna let the powers that be
figured that out. My job is to be the best
head coach I can be for the University of Texas because.

Speaker 1 (21:38):
We're gonna stay in front of me. Second row.

Speaker 12 (21:40):
Kurt Cartballs from the Houston Chronicle. I was curious about
the linebacker position. How strong you feel like it is?
And I don't know if you move called them around
from edge rusher linebacker.

Speaker 7 (21:54):
Yeah, great question. You know our linebacking room.

Speaker 6 (21:57):
What we've tried to do in that room, and we'll
see if it all plays out. We tried to make
it a really versatile room, and we know about the
versatility of Anthony Hill's ability to play off the ball
and off the edge. Leon g Lathal is a steadfast
player for us there.

Speaker 1 (22:12):
We love the.

Speaker 6 (22:13):
Development of ty Anthony Smith and how far he's come.

Speaker 7 (22:16):
And excited about him.

Speaker 6 (22:17):
And we love the addition of Bo Barnes and the
physicality that he brings in, the speed factor that he brings.

Speaker 7 (22:23):
In the size.

Speaker 6 (22:24):
But we also moved Tray Moore to linebacker and we
brought in Brad Spence, two guys that both play off
the edge and play off the ball linebacker. And if
you really look at the body type of a Colin Simmons,
he really can do those same types of things.

Speaker 7 (22:37):
And so we're trying to create a room where.

Speaker 6 (22:39):
We can give multiple looks but still stay true to
who we are.

Speaker 7 (22:43):
But you got to have the players to do that.

Speaker 6 (22:46):
And I think that we've recruited that room that way.
And I think PK has done a great job of
evolving the defense with Coach Nansen to allow our players
to utilize their versatility to make it difficult on our opponents.

Speaker 9 (22:59):
Go over to the right hand side section, Hey, goach
Hamilt's Culpepper with Bodog illustrated and the Hanmi Show.

Speaker 7 (23:06):
With the recent news that today.

Speaker 10 (23:08):
That Tyler Atkinson committed to Texas and you got justice
Terry last year, how do you come into the state
of Georgia get those guys And what's the importance of.

Speaker 1 (23:17):
Locking up some national big time recruits.

Speaker 6 (23:20):
Well, I can't speak directly towards any recruit, just I'm
not trying to not answer your question to see you
know the rules there. I think in this day and
age of recruiting, one thing is of note. Players are
leaving states all over the place going to other states.

Speaker 7 (23:33):
To go play.

Speaker 6 (23:34):
And we've had a ton of players lead the state
of Texas and go play at other schools. We've obviously
made it a point to recruit more in the Southeastern Region.
I think when we moved into the SEC, it was
a lot more natural for players from Louisiana, Alabama, Florida,
Georgia to be willing to come play at the University

(23:55):
of Texas. They were already kind of going to A
and M because they were in the SEC. But now
that that we've joined the conference, it's a lot more
palatable for those families, more palatable for those families and
for those kids to want to come play at Texas
knowing we're playing in the Southeastern Conference, and so we've
tried to take advantage of that. Again, we don't we

(24:16):
don't major in that, but we do definitely try to
recruit the high level players that fit our scheme, that
that are rated, that made of the right stuff, not
only as football players but as people.

Speaker 13 (24:27):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (24:27):
And so so far, so good, you know, Like I said,
We've recruited Florida, we're recruiting Georgia, recruiting Alabama, recruiting Louisiana,
and it's it's been good to us. But at the
same token, we're still recruiting the state of Texas. We
got a lot of great players in our own state
as well. So but again I think we've got a
good product. And the product is what we've been putting

(24:47):
on the field and in the classroom, and the success
we've had as a team, success our players have had
in the classroom, and then the success that our players
have had getting drafted in the NFL. And I think
all those things adding up are you know, We're we're
in attract of school for players to want to come
take a look at. And then if we can start
to develop the relationships the right way and start to

(25:09):
weed out some of those that are just there to
take the trip and really hone in on the ones
that we think fit us, then we try to take
advantage of it.

Speaker 1 (25:15):
But we're going to go straight in front of me.
Second row may Steve Cedric Golden, Austin, American States. Arch
Manning cares himself like he's thirty years old.

Speaker 8 (25:27):
How will that maturity benefit him as he takes on
his challenge in the starter?

Speaker 6 (25:33):
Well, I think he learned a lot over time, right,
And so for Arch, he grew up in this era
of seeing high level football. He's watched Super Bowls, he's
watched gold jackets getting put on, He's been to playoff games,
he's been recruited at the highest level as the number
one player in the country. He watched Quinn navigate through

(25:53):
the ups and downs of being a starting quarterback at
the University of Texas, and I think the one thing
that you find out about Arch is one, he's got
a very even.

Speaker 7 (26:01):
Key about him. Two, he's very quick witted.

Speaker 6 (26:04):
He's got a great sense of humor about himself, and
he's okay to laugh at himself. And I think that
that's a great quality to have because at the end
of the day, there's there's gonna be adversity that's going
to strike this season, and we all talk about resiliency
and grit and all those things that are needed when
adversity strikes.

Speaker 7 (26:21):
But but I think some of that.

Speaker 6 (26:23):
Resilience he can come from calm, remaining calm, and Arch
definitely has that about him. He's a he's a he's
a great guy, he's a great teammate, he's got unbelievable
work ethic and I think if he stays true to himself,
that that's going to help him navigate these waters as
they present themselves. And we've got to do a great
job of supporting him around him as coaches, as players,

(26:45):
you know, and and ultimately I think he's prepared for
the moment, but now it's just time for him to
go do it and enjoy doing it quite frankly, which.

Speaker 9 (26:54):
We'll stand in the same section about three rows back
in the middle.

Speaker 14 (26:58):
Any Davis Austin says, and Steve, over the years, how
have you seen Michael Taff go from being a walk
on to someone whose voice is respected in your locker
room and being a bigger leader.

Speaker 6 (27:10):
Yeah, probably the coolest story on our team right now
is Michael Taff. Here's a guy who was a state
champion at Westlake High School two years in a row,
state championship game, MVP two years in a row, has
scholarship offers to go to other universities. His lifelong dream
was to be a longhorn and walks on at the

(27:30):
University of Texas, and all he did was work hard
and he never put a ceiling on himself. I think
in his mind he always expected to be an All
American safety at the University of Texas as a captain representing.

Speaker 7 (27:44):
US at SEC media days.

Speaker 6 (27:45):
I think that that's how this guy thinks, and that's.

Speaker 7 (27:47):
How he's wired.

Speaker 6 (27:49):
And so now when you when you chronologically. Look at
his path of walking on you know, being Scout Team
players of the week, earning a little bit of playing
time I'm on special teams, to earning a little bit
of playing time on defense, to becoming a regular down
player on defense, to becoming a frontline starter on defense,
to becoming an All American on defense. It's like, how

(28:11):
do you not respect the guy all the while? The
way he carries himself and the way he represents the
University of Texas in our community, I think is something
to be admired.

Speaker 7 (28:21):
And I think that that's what his teammates do.

Speaker 6 (28:23):
They respect him, they admire him, and he's probably as
hard on his teammates as he is on himself, and
he's probably harder on the other walk Ons than he
is on himself because he knew what he had to
do to earn what he got, and so I couldn't
be happier for him. It is huge for us that
he decided to come back for.

Speaker 7 (28:40):
His senior season.

Speaker 6 (28:41):
His leadership, his ability to communicate in the back end
for us, I mean, he is like a coach on
the field, and so you know, just proud of him
and proud to be his coach. And like I said,
you know, I think nobody deserves the accolades that he's
getting more more than Michael Taff right now, coach.

Speaker 15 (28:59):
Right in front of this front row, coach Terry Middleton
with Orange illustrated. So this season, Orange Illustrated is gonna
write a lot of stories. We're gonna post a lot
of social media posts about Anthony Hill, about Art Manning,
about Michael Taff. But who should We absolutely not forget
to mention anyse stories when we write about them, because

(29:22):
these teammates are these coaches, are These unsung heroes we
never hear about, are the reason why they're so great.

Speaker 6 (29:29):
Yeah, I think we have a we have a bunch
of great stories. You know, I referenced Trey Wisner, like
this guy's gone unforgotten, Like he has a thousand yard
rusher in the Southeastern Conference last year. It's a fantastic
story of who he is. I think that there's so
much work that goes into developing our players. You think
about our strength staff, you think about nutrition, you think

(29:51):
about academics. I'm going to brag on our academic team
for a minute. When we got to University of Texas
at the end of our spring semester. We had a
two point three to two team GPA in twenty twenty one,
which is I couldn't believe it, And I said, man,
I know the University of Texas is a tough school,
but that's really low. Well, what was the byproduct of
that team gpa? We went five and seven. We had

(30:13):
zero players drafted in the NFL Draft, So we pour
into the academic side of things, we pour into the culture.
At the end of the spring semester in year two,
we have a two point seven eight. The byproduct is
eight and five five guys drafted, one first round draft pick.
At the end of year three, the team GPA is
a two point nine to eight. We go twelve and two,

(30:34):
We win the Big Twelve. We go to College Football Playoff.
We have eleven guys drafted, two first rounders. At the
end of last year, we had a three point two
seventeen GPA. We go thirteen to three. We go the
SEC Championship Game. We have twelve guys drafted, three go
in the first round. At the end of this past spring,
we had a three point three to one team GPA.
So a lot of people get a lot of praise

(30:56):
in the development of our players and the program and
the commitment that everybody puts in to this. But I
think Jeff Nelson and his team and academically what they
do as well as our player. Our players buying into
the idea of who you are some of the time
is who you are all the time. So how can
our GPA go up every year? Our wins go up
every year, our draft picks go up every year. It's

(31:16):
amazing how the correlation of those things occur.

Speaker 7 (31:19):
And so there's a lot of credit. There's a lot
of great stories.

Speaker 6 (31:21):
That go into that, but that would probably be one
that we should tap into and write about, which.

Speaker 9 (31:26):
We're going to go in the center aisle just over
here to the right, Yes, Coach.

Speaker 16 (31:30):
Sarkis and Drew DEARMANWZZN Radio Hunts with Alabama. I wanted
to ask about a key member of your staff that's
from our backyard and Boaz Alabama. I know you've you
started your relationship with him at the university on the
coaching staff and.

Speaker 13 (31:44):
You took him with with you.

Speaker 16 (31:45):
He was key in helping you develop quinn ewers and
recruiting arts manning.

Speaker 1 (31:49):
But tell us about.

Speaker 16 (31:50):
Aj Milwey and the role he plays and his development
as a coach.

Speaker 6 (31:54):
Yeah, Coach Milwee is a vital piece of the puzzle
for us, for sure. You know, we forged a great
relationship at Alabama when I was the quarterback coach offensive coordinator.
Coach millwy was an analyst on staff. He had just
come from Akron where he was one of the younger
offensive coordinators in the country. And when I got the

(32:15):
job at the University of Texas, he was the first.

Speaker 7 (32:16):
Guy I hired.

Speaker 6 (32:17):
You know, we had worked, you know, step by step
all the way through those two years at Bama and
went in a national title, brought him on here to Texas,
and he's grown into now he's not just our quarterback coach,
he's our co offensive coordinator. I don't think I definitely
there's nobody I work closer with on a daily basis
than Aj Millwiy, From you know, the development of game plans,

(32:40):
to the scripting of practice, to talking about play calls
during the game, to recruitment of players. I think he
forges a great relationship with all the guys in that room.
And there's not a day or a moment in the
day where I don't feel very comfortable. If I can't
do something that Aj Millwey can handle it and handle
it at a really high level. So we're very fortunate
to have them.

Speaker 1 (33:01):
We're gonna go front left, front.

Speaker 4 (33:02):
Row, Hey coach Alba richardson Orange Floyds.

Speaker 15 (33:07):
Yesterday, Lan Kivin came up here and said they're trying
to operate within their cap, but didn't necessarily feel like
everyone else was doing that.

Speaker 1 (33:15):
Curious how you, maybe, Brandon.

Speaker 14 (33:17):
Harris, figure out how to operate within your cap?

Speaker 1 (33:20):
Who's worth what?

Speaker 4 (33:21):
Who's not worth?

Speaker 13 (33:22):
What?

Speaker 1 (33:23):
Do you feel like everybody else is playing within the rules?

Speaker 6 (33:26):
Yeah, I can't speak on behalf of everybody else. I
really don't know. And like I said, anymore email me
well enough. I don't have time or energy to worry
about what everybody else is doing. We're trying to build
a roster that is one that can withstand the test
of time. And we never wanted to come here and
be a one year wonder team and then the next
year be not very good. So we're trying to be sustainable, uh,

(33:49):
for for a long period of time. I think that
that's what good programs do, and so managing that takes
a lot into account. It takes a lot into ultimately
the production players. Are they performing right? And and you know,
we've created this environment that this is a production based
business in sport, and so are players producing one?

Speaker 7 (34:10):
Two?

Speaker 6 (34:11):
Do they uphold the standards of the organization off the field,
And if not, then that could be a factor.

Speaker 1 (34:17):
Three.

Speaker 6 (34:17):
We got to retain those players because as much as
we've built a really good roster, I promise you, other
schools are trying to hire our players off of our
roster to get them to transfer. And our players are
very transparent with me about that. And then the fourth
piece is then we're trying to recruit to our roster.
And so you only have so much money to go around.
You got to be mindful of that, and you just

(34:40):
don't want to be reckless with what you do. And
now more than ever with a cap in place, you
really have to be effective and efficient. And you have
to make sure that you're filling your needs on your
roster with high level people when you know another high
level person is leaving and or or is this a
depth move? And so it's no different than you know,
to say, the NFL draft, you only get so many

(35:02):
first round picks, but man, your roster's really made up
of those third, fourth, and fifth round picks. It's not
a whole lot different that we only have so much
money to go around, and so we've got to do
a great job evaluating. We've got to do a great
job of rewarding those players that are doing it at
a high level within our program so that they don't
go anywhere else. But we've also got to continue to

(35:22):
develop our players as they grow and make sure that
our players aren't doing this for the idea of money.
And I think sometimes, quite frankly, I think it hurts
us a little bit in recruiting and the fact that
when kids come on our campus, one of the first
things we do we don't talk about NIL. We don't
talk about NIL or revenue sharing or publicity rights until

(35:43):
the very end. And that may hurt us on some kids.
But if a kid is coming to Texas for that reason,
we don't want them anyway, you know. We want kids
that want to be at the University of Texas because
of the school, the coaches, the team, the culture, all
those things that go into it. And oh, by the way,
you can get publicity rights or revenue share, so on
and so forth. If you're coming for the other reason,

(36:05):
he's probably going to be the guy in eighteen months
that's back in the portal, going somewhere else where. They're
going to offer him more money because I can't offer
every player the most money that he might get offered
from another school.

Speaker 7 (36:16):
It just doesn't work like that anymore.

Speaker 1 (36:19):
We have time for two more. We'll start in the middle.
It's a section in front of me.

Speaker 17 (36:26):
Head coach meggani English from The Daily Texan earlier, you
talked about how you have a hungry team with back
to back playoff appearances. How do you keep your team
hungry and battle complacency?

Speaker 6 (36:38):
Yeah, yeah, I think there's a fine line there of
what does complacency look like, of monitoring it.

Speaker 7 (36:46):
And I watch the intent of our players.

Speaker 6 (36:48):
I watch the way they work, I watch the way
they interact with one another, I watch the way they
compete with one another. And so I don't feel complacency
whatsoever amongst our players. But what I do know about
our team I think about Anthony Hill was a state
champion in high school. Colin Simmons was a state champion
in high school. Michael Taff was a state champion in
high school. Trey Wisen was a state champion in high school,

(37:10):
and I could.

Speaker 7 (37:11):
Keep going down the list.

Speaker 6 (37:12):
We've got winners in our locker room, and we specifically
and intentionally recruited winners into our locker room. So when
these guys are going into a locker room after a
loss in the semi finals, I promise you, it hurts them.
And so we don't forget that feeling. Okay, And so
we're back to work. And the leadership on this team
is full of winners, and that's the way they want

(37:34):
to go about the season is try to go win
a championships.

Speaker 13 (37:36):
That's the goal.

Speaker 9 (37:37):
Take one final question on the aisle about three quarters
the way.

Speaker 18 (37:40):
Back, Eric G ninety two won the ticket in Fayett Vail.
You mentioned the traditional rivalries of A and M Texas
and even through Arkansas in there. Whether it's your fan base,
whether it's your program, where does Arkansas fit or how
do you view Arkansas compared to A and M and O?

Speaker 6 (38:03):
You you well, from a fan based perspective, especially the
traditionalists fan base, they love the rivalry with Arkansas, and
I think naturally, when I took the job, I knew
of a rivalry with OU. I knew of the rivalry
with A and M made sense. I found out about
the rivalry against Arkansas when the whooped our ass in

(38:24):
the second game of my career when I got to Texas.
So that rivalry got really good, really fast for us.
So we respect it, we honor it.

Speaker 7 (38:31):
It's a heck of a rivalry. It's a great game
to be part of.

Speaker 6 (38:35):
Good Sark, thank you for your time, heart y'all, thank
you book them.

Speaker 1 (38:38):
It's quite a way to in that. Notice that we're
playing Texas fight there on the end, Mike Hardball Hart's
joining me. We're gonna get We're behind, so we'll get
to the break here momentarily. But word came down now
we did not have it all the time. Isa, our
studio producer, got us right to the start of sarks

(39:00):
comments his opening statement. But they're supposed to introduce each
coach with their fight song. Uh, Texas was not introduced
with their fight song. They when Sark got up there,
the introductory music was the Aggie wore him. Yet us
a little bit different there, great that it hit different. Yeah,

(39:22):
it hits a lot different. And I know it was
a mistake. I don't think anybody did. Don't purpose remember
they're going alphabetical in terms of how they're lining up
the fight.

Speaker 3 (39:30):
Still it's still in all. You knew he was coming,
you knew that the show was here.

Speaker 1 (39:35):
Cam's bud, Kim's buddy, c J. Vogel said that said
that it was like a big twelve type of mistake.
What's the line from Seinfeld? From Costanza? Was that wrong?
Should I have not done that? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (39:46):
That's whoever pressed the wrong button over there, that's got their.

Speaker 1 (39:51):
Ago. All right, there's the press conference live with head
coach Team Sarkisian. Again, I had a one on one
with sark we'll hear that in the four clock hour.
We have SEC Commissioner Grerag Sanki coming up at the
three o'clock hour. We have more coming up. Stay with
us as we continue from SEC media days. I'm thirteen
under the zone. All right, we're gonna trying to get

(40:20):
caught up obviously since we've brought you Steve Sarkesian's news
conference there. So I just want to take care one
bit of business before we hit our final break of
the hour, and that is the contesting that we have
going on. You have an opportunity to win a pair
of tickets to see Ghost August fourteenth. I'm not talking
about the movie and talking about the band at Moody Center.

(40:43):
And it's very simple. All you have to do is
download the iHeartRadio app, you search AM thirteen under the Zone,
You tap that red microphone, that little red butt with
the white microphone, and you leave us a message. I
mean real short, no longer than thirty seconds. It can
me be real short with the keyword you say, I
was listening to the Craigway Show to win those tickets
for Ghost. Put me in the drawing. Today's keyword is drama. Drama,

(41:07):
that's the keyword. So you just let us know that.
All right, We'll be back to wrap up Hour number
one from Atlanta. I'm thirteen under the Zone, Craig Way
with you, alongside the on site producer Cameron Parkers Arts
our producer back in the studio as well. So we
begin hour number two with a tease because coming up
in just a few minutes, we're going to visit with

(41:28):
the Commissioner of the Southeastern Conference, Craig Sankey. Also this hour,
the conversation that Mike Hardball Hart and I had just
a little bit of go with Michael taft Longhorns safety
and in the four o'clock hour you'll hear a conversation
I have with Taff also with Anthony Hill and Arch Banding,

(41:49):
So that's coming up in the four o'clock hour. Arch
right now is surrounded. It's like you know, ants and
a picnic. There a warning. They're just swarming around him
right now as he goes through all of that. And
one bit of Texas Football news to let you know,
came down this afternoon, and you might if you were
listening to the news conference, you might have heard somebody

(42:10):
ask Sark why they would ask him about a specific recruit.
I have no idea he's not going to be able
to comment on that. That actually happened. Yeah, was it
by one of our Austin friends? No, it was not.
It was it was from a guy in Georgia. I think.

Speaker 2 (42:25):
Are they just hoping is that like, hey, we'll pay
you twenty bucks if you asked him this question and
hope he messes up so get fine or something.

Speaker 1 (42:32):
Well, he asked him about him coming into Georgia and said,
and you got Tyler Atkinson to commit today and yata
gotta and Sark quickly said, well, I can't comment on
specific recruits, but and he went on to talk about
a little bit of recruiting philosophy. However, Tyler Atkinson, the
number one outside linebacker according to ESPN in the twenty
twenty six recruited class, announced his commitment to Texas today.

(42:55):
He did it on the Pat mcabee Show. He picked
Texas over Clemson, Georgia, and Oregon. He's from Grayson High
School in Georgia, number fourteen overall prospect in the twenty
twenty six ESPN three hundred and one of the nation's
most productive high school defenders. So he's the third five
star recruit for twenty twenty six, along with number one

(43:16):
overall quarterback Diabelle and defensive end Richard Wesley. So there's
three set up for that, all right, We need to
take a break. When we come back, we'll visit with
the Commissioner of the SEC, Greg Sankie, and we continue
from SEC Media Days here in Atlanta. I'm thirteen under
the zone. We continue from SEC Football Media Day in

(44:00):
Atlanta and glad to have you with us this afternoon.
Craig Way joined by the on site producer here, Cameron Parker,
who's with us We're a few minutes away from getting
an opportunity to visit with Greg Sanky, the SEC commissioner
who was making the rounds and doing all kinds of interviews.

(44:23):
So we'll hope to visit with him.

Speaker 2 (44:25):
I think he's tired of being asked, but the playoff expansion, well.

Speaker 1 (44:29):
I'm going to ask him, you have to. I will
tell you this, it's been really good. I've gotten a
chance to visit with him, more so than I have
with any conference commissioner since probably Steve Hatcher when he

(44:56):
was the commissioner of the Big Twelve, the first before
he went on to the Orange Bowl and then the
College Hall of Fame.

Speaker 13 (45:03):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (45:03):
He's very present as a commissioner. Yeah, very present and
accessible and and so so I probably him, and there
were a couple of other commissioners I could visit with
that that I had the opportunity to visit with a
bit more over the years, but but not nearly as

(45:24):
many uh as what we've seen uh here in the
SEC with Greg Sankey. So we'll look forward to having
an opportunity to visit with him, uh and and to
and to talk about uh that you know, the issues
of college football. One thing I'm curious to get your
thoughts on. I mean, we heard Sark talk about it.

(45:45):
The comments that he made were very, very much, very
similar to what we've heard what we heard him do
last year, that he doesn't really he doesn't want his
team shying away from the moment or the opportunity. He
doesn' want his team not feeling that they are not

(46:06):
worthy of being in the position to be viewed as
one of the favorites.

Speaker 2 (46:12):
He talked about this a few weeks ago on a
couple of different podcasts. When he got to Texas in that
first season, they had all those second half leagues, right,
I felt like it was four or five or six games.

Speaker 1 (46:22):
How long was that losing streak? Five six games?

Speaker 2 (46:26):
Yeah, Texas led in the second half and pretty much
almost all of them ended up blowing the second half.
And he said it wasn't a talent issue, it was
a culture issue. They didn't he didn't have the guys
in there that cared about winning. And I thought he
had a fantastic point when he was talking about you know,
Michael's staff was a high school football state champion, Trey
Wiser high school football state champion, Colin Simmons Anthony Hill,

(46:49):
a couple other guys who were also Texas high school
football state champions. So it's a winning mentality that he's
helped build at Texas. But he goes up and recruits
players like that Tyler Atkinson who committed today. He's a
high school football state champion in state of Georgia, so
even out of Texas, and he shows you how much
high school football means. And maybe not to the casual fan,

(47:12):
but you know, in this age of nil, a lot
of these kids and I understand why they'll commit to
a school because of money, right, you know, this is
their career, this is their job. They got to be
able to pay for their family and support their family.
But also to some guys like Michael Taff and Trey
Weisner in Arch, they want to come in and not
only develop, but they want to win, right, And you've

(47:33):
got to be able to have find players that want
to win. Sure, money's a great benefit of playing football,
but you got to have guys that want to win.
And that's what Sark's been able to do this at
this program. And now it's the next step.

Speaker 1 (47:43):
Right, We've had.

Speaker 2 (47:44):
Two years where you've reached the college football Playoff semifinal,
how do you keep it going? And he was asked
today about you know, you know, how do you avoid complacency,
and you know, Sark talked about there's a fine line
between you know, between that.

Speaker 1 (47:57):
Yeah, he wants his guys to understand the accomplishments at hand.
And when I was, when I was upstairs with him
getting ready to do the uh, the one on one
sit down with him, which we'll hear in the four
o'clock hour. Uh, the players were also in the room.
They came upstairs in the room as well, and uh,

(48:19):
those players were, as we mentioned, uh, you know, Anthony Hill,
Arch Banning and Michael Taff and they they were all
in and he had a quick word with them before
they embarked on what they're doing right now, which is
the individual as they call the breakout sessions, because it's

(48:41):
it's like this big cluster of reporters at each of
those stations, none larger than the one for Archbanding. And
what Sark said, Harjee, I'm sure you you heard this
reflected when you were up in the room as well. Uh,
with the interviews, he said, let's let's not forget let's
remember that at we're we're talking about the team. He should.

(49:03):
You're gonna be asked a lot about playoff. You're gonna
be asked about in IL. You're gonna be asked about it.
But remember what we're talking about here, that no one
man is bigger than the team. And then they all
were like, yes, coach, Yes, sir, absolutely, Well.

Speaker 3 (49:18):
I think that's the messaging that all the players are
relaying themselves from Michael Taft, the ultimate leader and somebody
who's talked about leadership and being able. He could went
through a list of everybody on the defense when we
asked him about it. Then you look at what you've
been able to talk to Anthony Hill, like I said before,
to you, we've had this conversation numerous times, and you're

(49:40):
a lot closer because you get to spend and travel
and see and be around the team. They all have
the same messaging, and the messaging continues to be about
each other, the love for each other, the ability to
go out and play hard for each other.

Speaker 1 (49:56):
Yes, we understand. It's Arch manning the name.

Speaker 3 (49:59):
There's a beautiful pitcher that the College Football Hall of
Fame has of Arch holding up his grandfather's jersey. It's
floating around right now, and that's what it's all about.

Speaker 1 (50:10):
This is the opportunity.

Speaker 3 (50:11):
But let's not forget this is going to be his
first SEC media days, this is his first time being
the starting quarterback for the foreseeable future at the University
of Texas. But he still has to go out there
and perform. But it's not the arch Manning show until
the game start.

Speaker 1 (50:29):
It's the team effort moving forward. Yeah, I think that
that it's important that it has to has to be
that way, that that that there has to be that
that that that mindset that teams have, winning teams have.
The mindset is about the team, right, it's not about
the individuals, and and it's more than ever a challenge

(50:53):
in this day and age of n I L and
early departures for the next level, I think, no doubt.
So that's a big part of it, all right, As
we mentioned, we have the opportunity here and it's it's
always a great pleasure on this and I pointed this out.
I pointed this out that there is a distinct feeling

(51:23):
and also a distinct air of accessibility when you have
the opportunity to visit with your conference commissioner and the
nice thing about it with Greg's hanky is that there
was enough just a little bit smidge in a history
from his days when he was doing great things of
the Southland conference up in Plaina, when I was working

(51:45):
in Dallas at KRLD. So I almost feel like it's
kind of an old home week and it's good to
have you with us in those Southland days.

Speaker 19 (51:51):
Had a nineteen ninety six green Hunter Corn I would
drive to Nagadochis And Huntsville and San Marcos and every
place in between, and I would listen to you do
games at some of that point. But the Dallas k
l D station back in the days when Norm Hitskis
was still on KLD.

Speaker 1 (52:06):
That's right, our Dallas were at the affiliate on the
Long Horn Radio network. So it's good to see. I
know you've been extremely busy on this. I want to
jump right into something because I was kind of taken
aback a little bit by and I guess I shouldn't
be by by some of the reporting that's gone on
that the impression that they got from your statement, your

(52:28):
message your press conference yesterday was more of and not
just with the Big ten, but with others coming from
an adversarial approach. I didn't get that vibe from you,
and I said ope, and you said something like hopefully
that that narrative is one in just terms of the
conference thing overall. But I guess maybe it's just something

(52:49):
you should expect.

Speaker 19 (52:50):
Or so I'm glad you raised the issue Benjamin Watson
did on the SEC. Now we're going like, there's not
a rift, there's not like this adversarial relationship. We have
different views from time to time, and I'll go to
the Big Ten, but I'll talk about the Big twelve
in the ACEC as well. What we really want is
the kind of disagreement that produces better results. That's the

(53:13):
kind of disagreement you ought to have, and that means
you talk, you talk through the issues, you identify your
concern Maybe you can't resolve different perspectives. We shouldn't agree
all the time. If it's just some kind of passive
situation of agreement, we're not challenging ourselves to improve an
idea or a concept.

Speaker 1 (53:30):
And differences are inevitable.

Speaker 19 (53:32):
Oh yeah, and especially when you have you know, eighteen
members in the Big Ten spread from New Jersey to Oregon,
and then you have sixteen members ours or in the
Southeastern footprint. Just different history, culture, expectations produce perspectives. Then
you add in that we work with the ACC and

(53:54):
Big twelve, there are going to be The more people
in a room, the more different views you have. The
responsibility is to work through those different views.

Speaker 1 (54:05):
And I'll give you a really good story.

Speaker 19 (54:06):
Roy Kramer was the sixth commissioner of the Southeastern Conference.
I once called Roy and I said, Hey, what did
you do to when you had these moments? He said,
you know, back when we were developing maybe the BCS
or the Bull Coalition, He said, we get so angry
at each other we just had to stop and had
walked out the room and didn't talk at dinner, he said,
But you know, we always came back together and worked
through the issue. And I think that Craig is the

(54:28):
responsibility and it's fun to write a narrative. And I
said this to Benjamin. I saw after our spring meetings
when I talked about the different view of the college
football playoff, that there was a rift.

Speaker 1 (54:39):
There's not a rift.

Speaker 19 (54:41):
We've actually never said we would never ever look at
this AQ model, we said, And I've said this to Brett,
to Jim to Tony the three colleague commissioners. You know,
we have an interest in that model, but we're not
committed to that model. What we do think needs to
happen is expansion is a positive step that's justifiable and
improving around the selection process and protocol.

Speaker 1 (55:04):
That's where we put our emphasis.

Speaker 19 (55:05):
Now, if you get to a point where you can't
make progress on some of the key issues from our
perspective that could benefit others as well, then maybe we have.

Speaker 1 (55:14):
To look at a different direction. Is it your thought
that you're the vibe you've gotten from your conversations with
those commissioners that there is a mutual interest in an
expansion of the playoff, but everybody has their own thoughts
on how to get there, how to build the mouse strap.

Speaker 19 (55:34):
The reality is the twelve team playoff has approved for
the twenty six season. People kind of missed that, and
the presidents on the CFP board said, if you can
start earlier, due so we did. We started in twenty four,
but there is a format for twenty six. There's also
a process for changing that format, and that's where the

(55:54):
big tenant SEC role has significance. Can we agree on
something different? I don't know at this point, we'll certainly
talk through the issues, but there's a format and we
can bring in others to that conversation. I tend to
think that the access of a larger number is favored

(56:18):
but not guaranteed.

Speaker 3 (56:19):
Well, let me ask you. You talk about his favor
but not guaranteed. At what point do you say too
many is too much? You know, it's like you have
a product, and I thought last year was unbelievable.

Speaker 1 (56:32):
You've got a chance to see some different teams.

Speaker 3 (56:35):
Arizona State looked amazing, and now a lot of folks
are looking at Kenny Dillingham and what he was able
to do. But when you look at the college football
landscape and all of the change that is continuing to
happen because it's inevitable, what is a good number where
everyone will be happy?

Speaker 1 (56:53):
I don't think it ever happened, but I just thought I'd.

Speaker 19 (56:54):
Ask I think twelve and it continue to think twelve
was a healthy number. When when we went through all
kinds of iterations on a subcommittee in twenty nineteen, twenty
twenty had the athletics director at Notre Dame at the time,
Jack Swarbrick, Bob Bowles, we led the Big Twelve, Creig

(57:16):
Thompson led the Mount West, and myself, so I'm like
the only one still standing if I don't know what
that means for my long dat but it was well reasoned,
and I think the year that we launched the twelve
team playoff was exactly the right year.

Speaker 1 (57:31):
You think about some of the competitive games we had.

Speaker 19 (57:34):
In the teams in that and then you think about
in Ohio State that wouldn't have been in the playoff
but for expansion, or Clemson that wouldn't have been in
the playoff, or SMU that would not have been in
the playoff but for expansion, and our league did not
need to go beyond four, and we never had unanimity
about going beyond four. And last year, had we been
a four, you would have had two Big ten teams

(57:55):
and two Big twelve, or excuse me, two SEC teams
and two Big ten teams. The Big and ACC wouldn't
have been in the mix. So I actually took a
detour to explain the numbers. Like I'm asked about my
responsibility for the good of the game. If that doesn't
show taking that responsibility seriously, Like I don't know what

(58:16):
the second one is and I've got those as well,
So I think we did something healthy for the game.
Your question, then, is is twelve the only place you
can reside for the health of the game. To be
at the center of this conversation, here's the trick for us.
You've got an Alabama team that beat Georgia and an
Old Miss team that beat Georgia. Beating Georgia was the

(58:37):
best win on the board last year in college football,
they were ranked second. Beating Texas was the next best
win because Oregon was undefeated. Remember, beating Texas was the
next best win on the board. Georgia had two of those,
nobody else did. So you look at Old Miss, You
look at at Alabama, say, while they could beat the
second ranked team in the College Football playoff, they get

(58:58):
some things figured out, people get healthy, maybe.

Speaker 1 (59:00):
They could have made a run.

Speaker 19 (59:01):
You look at South Carolina that may have been playing
better than anyone outside of our top three teams.

Speaker 1 (59:07):
At the end of the year.

Speaker 19 (59:08):
They beat Clemson, who was the ACC champion. Comes and
gets in, they don't get out. So that's what drives
expansion a little bit. You had Miami mixed in there,
But you know, I'm not responsible for representing there, but
you look at it and that's where you're trying to
figure out the balance. I do think a pressure point
is and I'm highly concerned about this. Teams outside the
twelve brought in last year was Clemson. When we did

(59:32):
the modeling of the twelve team playoffs, you've never had
a power five other than the COVID year.

Speaker 1 (59:38):
Not in the top twelve. We just had one.

Speaker 19 (59:41):
You had a bunch of group of five teams outside
the top twelve.

Speaker 1 (59:45):
Boise was inside.

Speaker 19 (59:46):
If you start to have multiple teams outside the top
twelve displacing the eleventh and twelfth ranked team and they're
coming from like twenty third in the ranking, that is
an enormous problem and that will create more pressure around
expansion or discussion of about why are we allocating those
five spots the way we do.

Speaker 1 (01:00:03):
Visiting with the Commissioner Greg Sankey here on thirteen hundred,
the zon Okay, let's talk about another conversation piece that
involves a wry smile on that's the word unanimity with
regard to scheduling conference. I was all set to ask
you yesterday in the press conference, and this flory of

(01:00:25):
hands went up as they invariably do to ask you
questions after your opening comments, and I thought, I'm be
willing to bet somebody's gonna ask the question, and so
I'm just gonna keep my hand down. And sure enough,
I think it was our friend from Charleston who asked
you about a time table if there was one on
the decision of eight or nine conference games, and your

(01:00:48):
comment was along the lines of, we're not that far
from it. You know, you didn't want to be pinned
down to a definite date, but eventually it's on the horizon.
One of the.

Speaker 19 (01:00:58):
Lessons for me during COVID is I said we wanted
the decision by July twenty third, like.

Speaker 1 (01:01:02):
I wrote this timeline out. We made a decision July thirtieth.
So was I right or was I wrong? Didn't can highline, but.

Speaker 19 (01:01:09):
We made good decisions right. And so the lesson is
when you have time, use it. We've about used up
all our time. The shot gets drifting down. If we
take the play clock I guess would be the right
one in football, or the pitch clock in baseball, And
so we're going to have to make a decision because
you either have to remove opponents or you know, just

(01:01:31):
make things fit within games that are already scheduled. We
wanted as much information as we could access. So part
of answering the question is we really like to better
understand the CFP protocol. If there's going to be clarity
or additional information brought in.

Speaker 1 (01:01:47):
It shouldn't be all about that, though. I think what
we did last year.

Speaker 19 (01:01:51):
You think about the Texas experience, right the Georgia game
at home, the Florida game at home, and returning those
going to start Arkville beat an experience. If we're going
to Kentucky, people are excited about it. I've had more
calls about going to Kentucky. I think that's when Keeenland's running,
maybe in October. I mean, yeah, that'll be an experience
like you didn't have as a fan of the Big Twelve.

(01:02:12):
And I'm unashamed of saying the trips and the travel
in the SEC and our communities are at the top
of the list.

Speaker 1 (01:02:21):
I mean it's just great communities, great people.

Speaker 19 (01:02:23):
Now they want to beat you when you come into
for sure, but in the same by going to Norman
and Austin, so you want to.

Speaker 1 (01:02:30):
Do that more.

Speaker 19 (01:02:31):
You want more of that, absolutely, And there's a balance
in there. In the COVID year, we played ten conference games. Man,
it was intense.

Speaker 1 (01:02:41):
It was intense.

Speaker 19 (01:02:42):
We're the coaches out, but we had the best viewership
we ever had on our network that year because you
weren't mixing in you know, God love them Lamar and MacNeice.
I mean, I worked with those two schools. They're great
when they play each other. But I think our fans
are sophistic and you want more. Now, there's a balance
in there because college football is still a developmental game.

(01:03:05):
The NFL is not a developmental game. Minor league baseball
is developmental game. We're not a developmental game like minor
league baseball. But you have young people going. You've watched
it with your quarterback situation for the year ahead. The
fact that I think it was in the US utsa
game got some other snaps.

Speaker 1 (01:03:20):
I mean that's part of the growth process because.

Speaker 19 (01:03:21):
Man, you guys know, it speeds up when you're actually live.
That's where we're trying to strike the right balance. And
there's a lot that goes into that eight or nine games.

Speaker 1 (01:03:29):
Okay, the final thing the conference tournament. I got my
first full ride experience of the SEC basketball Tournament in Nashville.
I thought they do a bang up jobs, a great building,
great arena. Hoover is Hoover. It was tremendous. I mean,
obviously the only real challenge is either that is weather
related when we have that fog fog just a little bit.

(01:03:53):
But you've it's their thought about sawball tournament going to
true neutral site. I know you've done it with volleyball
and Savannah.

Speaker 19 (01:04:03):
Yeah, there is, and in fact with volleyball, I was
I was more of a westward lean myself, but that's
not where our members came out. Really a great opportunity
in Austin. We've got a couple of things and I
just had a briefing today on softball.

Speaker 1 (01:04:14):
I'd like to see us do more west We do.

Speaker 19 (01:04:16):
That naturally, rotating championships, so you know, track and field
and tennis and those events. We've got a lot of
legacy with some of these things. You know, Sea Island
for men's golf is one of those traditions.

Speaker 1 (01:04:31):
It's special to us and especially I don't know if
anyone who could would complain about it.

Speaker 19 (01:04:35):
Yeah, you know, Hoover and Baseball were popping nine thousand
a night during the week, and people once they experience
it with those RVs they come back. What can we
create in softball is very much on our mind, and
we'll see where that decision goes.

Speaker 1 (01:04:51):
It's always great to visit with you. I appreciate you
taking the time in a busy time. Right.

Speaker 19 (01:04:54):
Thanks, And I opened with, you know, watching from afar
what's happened in Central Exus and having friends. I called
Chris del Conti and she said, Chris, are you okay?
And your staff okay? In any way we can help.
There's not much you can do from a farther than
pray and grieve with people, and then you see kind
of the ripple effect of people in other states talking

(01:05:15):
about loved ones or friends impacted. I just want to say,
the people make the Southeastern Conference special. And when you
see people affected, there's an effect that may not be seen,
but it touches us all. So our prayers and are
whatever we could do to encourage people are real for
those affected by the tragedy and the flooding. And I

(01:05:37):
know there's still weather challenges taking place right now.

Speaker 1 (01:05:39):
Appreciate the time, Thanks so much. Thank you all right,
this Commissioner Greg, thank you to the SEC. We will
continue here from Atlanta. I'm thirteen under the zone.

Speaker 20 (01:05:52):
We're bath It's the Craig Way Show with Hall of
Fame broadcaster and voice of the Texas Longhearts Craig.

Speaker 1 (01:06:01):
All Our. Thanks again to SEC Commissioned Reg Thanky. We
thank him for his time with us this afternoon. Let's
jump back into talking some football and some other topics.
It kind of piggybacks on what the Commissioner said right
at the tail end with the tragedy that happened in
the Texas hill Country and along the Guadalupe River. Toward

(01:06:23):
that end, listen carefully here. This is the conversation that
Hardball and I had, Mike Cards and I had just
before we took air with the Longhorn safety Michael Taff
about his attire as well as his direction and his
directive that he's going to. Here's the conversation we have
with Michael Taff. We continue here from SEC Football media

(01:06:45):
days and this being the day when the Texas Longhorns
are here. Includes the fact that our good friend, the
supersedor super in so many ways, Michael Taff is with
us down. I want to start with something because I
had a conversation just a little while ago with Mookie

(01:07:07):
and also uh with an Hill and also with Arch Manning.
And we'll have that conversation later. But I didn't you
had your jacket button at the time. I didn't even
get to see on your burnt orange tie. You have
initials here and now, and and I want to give
you a chance to talk about this because I think
this is extremely meaningful.

Speaker 13 (01:07:27):
Yeah, it's the uh.

Speaker 21 (01:07:28):
Obviously, everybody knows about the Texas floods, and one of
the camps, one of the summer camps that got impacted,
probably the biggest, was Camp Mystic in All Girls Camp
right down off the Squad River. And so I have
the initials of all the girls that passed away in
the floods. And then I have the camp director, Dick
east Lynn, who was heard saving lives drove back into

(01:07:51):
the floods to go save lives, to try to save
some of those those girls and it's eight year old daughters.
And then the counselors of those girls, and I heard
that they were heroes also trying to save lives and
trying to pull every girl that they could, And so
I just wanted to shed light on such a tragic
moment in Texas. And migrate state and y'all's great state,

(01:08:13):
and y'all are locals to the central Texas area. And
to know that the main message here is SEC what's
going to happen in the football world of SEC. But
I wanted to shed light on something that's way more
important than a game, and that's life.

Speaker 1 (01:08:29):
Well, you made a reference in our conversation earlier about
legacy and how will I be remembered in things of
that nature? Is that also part and parcel what you're
talking about here?

Speaker 13 (01:08:39):
Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 21 (01:08:39):
I think I have such a unique platform being at
the University of Texas because the Texas fan base is
so loyal and it's just so big and so supportive
of us, and so I want to do everything that
I can to be significant instead of successful, because you know,
why not me give light to some of these families
that are dealing with such terrible loss, to give them

(01:09:04):
an opportunity to show what their daughter stood for and
their daughters were all heroes and they should know that
going forward in a light like this.

Speaker 3 (01:09:16):
We're talking to Michael, Mookie Taff and Mike. You and
I have been friends for quite some time now, and
we've had some moments to have these types of conversations,
but getting an opportunity to shed light on something that
has been so tragic. You said something just a little
while ago about the perspective of it all. You know,

(01:09:37):
everybody's obviously here sec media days. It's a big time event.
It means we're getting closer and closer to football. But
as football players, y'all are still human beings and you
still live and breathe every single day, and there are
some now that have lost their lives and are less
fortunate in these situations. So I'm proud of you for

(01:09:59):
pointing that out out. I mean, it's very significant because
it's a gesture that just your way of giving back.
But that had to be done pretty quick, you know
what I'm saying, Because it was just something that you
were thinking about. You just had to get a tie done.
But you got that done pretty quick.

Speaker 1 (01:10:14):
You know.

Speaker 21 (01:10:16):
Yeah, Anderson Parker, it's a it's a local company and
West like my mom's friends with the owner, and she
got it done and she actually gave it to me
for free, so showing her support of of such a
tragic moment. And so it's so cool, like Texas has
totally come together and you've seen it, how close Texas

(01:10:38):
has been the last two weeks, and to know that
they've you know, everybody's there for one another because somebody,
if you're from Texas, somebody has a tie to those people,
and so you know, everybody's really warning these losses. And
so h, I think I have a unique opportunity today.

Speaker 1 (01:10:57):
I appreciate you doing that and uh and Sark talked
about it as well in my conversation with him. Okay,
this is that you and I joked about this and
said there won't be in next year. This is this
is it. This is the last go around for the
guy that some of some of your teammates are starting
to call you unk and uncle and grandpa and all
that kind of stuff. But it does also set up

(01:11:19):
a more important theme, and that's the theme of leadership
and guidance. Doesn't it from you?

Speaker 13 (01:11:23):
Yeah? It does. I think.

Speaker 21 (01:11:26):
The topic of being significant and set is successful.

Speaker 13 (01:11:31):
What good does it do.

Speaker 21 (01:11:32):
When you just bring your success with you and don't
shed light on anybody else? And so I think I
have a I think I was born with the trade
of being a leader, and so I want to try
to shed that on on other people and show them
and be a disciple in the locker room of how
it's supposed to be done, because the game of college

(01:11:52):
football is definitely evolving, and there's things that are time tested.
Working hard, being a good teammate, loving on your teammates,
caring about the team. Those are time tested that you're
going to be a successful team if you have those
four traits. And you know, nobody grew up when you're
three years old playing in the backyard and was like, oh,

(01:12:13):
this game of football is really cool. I'm gonna make
a lot of money doing this. You were playing it
because you had a lot of fun. And so to
remember that you're playing to have fun and all the
other stuff's cool, but you're here to have fun is
what I try to tell tell the younger guys.

Speaker 3 (01:12:26):
Well, speaking of the younger guys, this is a different secondary.
This is something that some of these guys are going
to get an opportunity to step up. Obviously Malik Muhammad
had a lot of time. But there's a guy that
everybody's been kind of putting on.

Speaker 1 (01:12:40):
Their radar, their radio with their radar.

Speaker 3 (01:12:44):
And that is Jelani McDonald from the two five Full
and he is somebody that I continue to hear nothing
but great things about about his energy, the way he's learning.
Is he somebody that has stood out during the summer
workouts and looks like he's gonna be poisoned.

Speaker 21 (01:13:00):
For a good season. Yeah, you're under right. The two
five four finest Jelani McDonald is just a creature. He
is a guy that is not afraid of contact. He
is a guy that's physically checks every single box and
then mentally he's already there. And to be a guy

(01:13:20):
that's you know, projected to be a starter and hasn't
really gone a ton of starts in his career and
to mentally already be there as a leader shows a
lot of you know, respect that we have for that
for that guy, and shows what type of guy he is.
And so, yeah, Jelanne's gonna have gonna be really, really good.
He's gonna have a really good season. He's gonna have
a great career in his life. But you know, I

(01:13:43):
love talking about Johnny, also love talking about all my
other teammates. I think Manny, I think you know Gilbo,
I think Grayson Littleton, I think Kobe Black. I think
that the knuckleheads that are in my room. That are
my best friends, Uh, Xavier and Jordan Johnson and Zealous
and on and if I'm forgetting anybody word, el Max

(01:14:04):
and ten all those guys.

Speaker 1 (01:14:05):
And Williams, you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 13 (01:14:09):
So you know, you know he knows the.

Speaker 21 (01:14:13):
Funny story about d Will because I can't rave enough
about d Will. I told I told the media this,
the press. But if y'all go watch the Michigan game
from last year and see d Well and I communicate,
it looks like we were best friends for like ten years.
But that's just he just has trust in his teammates
and it's so cool, like he just is he. When

(01:14:34):
he talks, everybody listens, and when everybody else talks, he listens.
And that's the definition of a leader is being able
to listen.

Speaker 13 (01:14:40):
And so he's so cool.

Speaker 1 (01:14:41):
I'm curious to get your your thoughts on how well
the room has gotten to know Jonah because he was
kind of busy in the springs the freeway making an
impact there for coach swats on baseball. How how well
is is everybody gotten to know him him and to
help him get ingrained in things.

Speaker 21 (01:15:02):
Yeah, well, it's not hard when you have a guy
like Jonah to get to know because he's very personable,
super personal guy, has a relationship with everybody on the
team already. He's been here for what seven weeks, and
so it's really cools telling arts.

Speaker 13 (01:15:15):
The other day, I was like, you know, I know
he's young.

Speaker 21 (01:15:18):
I hope he figures it out, and I'm gonna do
everything I can to try to get him to figure
it out, because man, it's fun playing with that guy.
Like when I when I make a play or somebody
else a teammate makes a play, great play on arch,
which is not easy to do, as y'all know. When
we make a great play on arch, Jonahs the first
one up in the oh line talking smack. I'm like, dude,

(01:15:38):
if I had those guts when I was a freshman,
my face would be bloody every day.

Speaker 13 (01:15:42):
But it's a good thing that he's what six', four,
yeah team it can run.

Speaker 1 (01:15:47):
And not afraid to stare down a. Picture and he can.

Speaker 21 (01:15:50):
Also run like twenty two miles an. HOUR i, mean
he's he is the. MAN i mean he. WAS i, Know,
god you.

Speaker 13 (01:15:57):
Know creates every single one of us hand in my, hand.

Speaker 21 (01:15:59):
BUT i Think god put a little bit more on
him because he's he's but he's also just such a good.

Speaker 3 (01:16:06):
Guy, yeah we've seen that during the baseball season because
of the way that he is with his teammates and
being able to transfer from baseball now going into. Football
what are some of the things that you're kind of
leaning towards these guys to kind of understand what college
football is truly, about because, everybody as you, said goes
about it, differently but the steps remain the same and

(01:16:28):
if you fall in, line good things can.

Speaker 13 (01:16:30):
Happen, RIGHT i try.

Speaker 21 (01:16:31):
TO i, think you, know you can be a leader
so many different, ways BUT i think every leader has
to lead by. Example and if you're leading by, example
you're giving people a platform of what it looks like.

Speaker 1 (01:16:43):
To do things.

Speaker 21 (01:16:44):
Right AND i try my best to do that BECAUSE
i would be a hypocrite If i'm just talking about
it and then not doing. It and SO i try
to lead by example and give them the recipe for.
Success but at the end of the, day nothing's better
than learning from. Failure and it's such a competitive environment
and fall camp when you have sixteen on the other

(01:17:06):
side talking trash to, everybody when you Got DeAndre moore
talking trash. Everybody when you Got ryan wing go running
the route that he, does when you GOT Dj, campbell y'all,
know y'all see him on my good, grass.

Speaker 1 (01:17:18):
And you talked about when we talked me. Early arch
isn't afraid to talk a.

Speaker 4 (01:17:22):
LITTLE i know he's.

Speaker 1 (01:17:23):
Not he's.

Speaker 21 (01:17:23):
Not, yeah he we get into it a, ton BUT i,
think like nothing's better than failing in fall. Camp so you,
KNOW i all, right this is how college football. Is
because If i'm IF i can do it against The
texas long run, OFFENSE i can do it against. ANYBODY i,
MEAN i you give me an, Offense i'll go toe
to toe with anybody with. That you, know first two,

(01:17:46):
deep you know the twenty two players that are in
that too, deep and even the guys behind. Him but
just that twenty two THAT i can think of off
the top of my. Head it's, like all, right quarterbacks,
check receivers, check, oh line. Check and by the, way
we just had four drafted running backs check and now
all of them are starting to get. Healthy that's gonna
be you, know a recipe for, dangerousness you know What i'm.

Speaker 13 (01:18:09):
Saying and so every.

Speaker 21 (01:18:10):
Tight end of, check we just got another one out
of the portal so and by the.

Speaker 13 (01:18:15):
Way jack looks really really SO.

Speaker 21 (01:18:18):
I think, like if you can compete against our offense
and have some, success then you'll Be you'll be pretty
good On.

Speaker 1 (01:18:25):
Saturdays final thing here before we let you, go there's
an enduring, image good, bad, whatever of you after The
Cotton bowl walking in to the locker. Room your emotions
are out there for all to, see not just because

(01:18:46):
of that apped up within. That does it make opening
your final season against the team that ended the season
last year a little more? Special for?

Speaker 4 (01:18:57):
Sure?

Speaker 13 (01:18:59):
Yeah, yes the answer to that question is, YES i.

Speaker 3 (01:19:01):
Saw a LITTLE i saw a little fire and, CLEAR
i saw a little firing his eye real.

Speaker 21 (01:19:06):
Quick but WHAT i will say is all of that,
was all that emotion was BECAUSE i felt like that
team's potential was to be the Best texas has ever.
Seen and that's truly WHAT i. Thought from top to.

(01:19:28):
Bottom we had such a together, team very talented, team but.

Speaker 13 (01:19:33):
Just a very good.

Speaker 21 (01:19:33):
Culture and SO i was more not even upset At
Higo state because they played a heck of a. Game
hats off to, them And i'm so excited to get
to go challenge them. Again BUT i was so upset
BECAUSE i know how how badly all those guys wanted.

Speaker 13 (01:19:48):
IT i know how Badly Baron surrell wanted.

Speaker 21 (01:19:50):
It Johnny, Barron Quinn, Gunner Matt, golden all those, guys Hating, Connor, Drick, Majors.
Calvin and to know that we fell short was, like you,
KNOW i wanted it for those, guys for my, Teammates
and so that's where the emotions all, came, was you,
know we we fell short of our.

Speaker 1 (01:20:09):
POTENTIAL i got. Too, hey you're always fulfilling your. Potential
we appreciate you taking the. Time great to see you,
again and it'll be cool to run this back one more, time.

Speaker 13 (01:20:18):
Right for, sure run it back one more. Time all.

Speaker 1 (01:20:22):
Right That's Michael taff with. Us we'll continue on thirteen
under The. Zone all. Right we've, had you, know one
full show and then two thirds of the second show
with some exciting. Stuff and coming up in a few,
minutes we're gonna hear the one on one to sit
down THAT i have every year With Steve sarkisian App Media,
Day SO i have that conversation with sark later this.

(01:20:43):
Hour also we will hear the group, conversation the chat
THAT i had with not Only Michael taff from whom
you heard in the conversation we have With sark with
Hardbar hards and myself With Michael, tapp but also With
Anthony hill And Arch banding that's coming up later this

(01:21:04):
hour as. Well but AS i, said we're also interested
in what the other coaches have to, say and perhaps
none more so than the head coach of the team
that Handed texas two of its three losses last. Year
that would be The Georgia, bulldogs and they're head Coach Kirby.
Smart so here is the press conference from earlier, today

(01:21:29):
his opening statement and THE q AND a with the
head coach of The Georgia, Bulldogs Kirby. Smart tenth season AT.

Speaker 22 (01:21:35):
Uga this, SEASON i want to say a couple of
words about somebody that is kind of stepping down from our,
program and he's been one of the biggest. Parts and
people do not give athletic trainers enough, credit but for thirty,
years the face OF uga athletic training and in most
cases THE sec athletic training has been Doctor Ron. Courson

(01:22:01):
he got his doctorate yesterday in athletic, training AND i
want to give a shout out To ron and all
he's meant to our program at The university Of georgia
and what all he's. Done he is a selfless man
that is given to multiple head coaches and he's been
basically the primary care physician for every coach and their

(01:22:21):
family and every former player AT. Uga so thank you
for what you, do Doctor, ron and what you continue
to do for our. Program real, Quick three football players
we brought. Today we brought TO i know everybody likes
to talk about, there, Guys i'm going to brag. Online SO.
Cj allen is a rising junior and one of the
best leaders we've had in our program at. Linebacker he

(01:22:43):
is From, Barnesville, georgia right down the road and.

Speaker 23 (01:22:46):
Is a tremendous. Leader quick story ABOUT.

Speaker 22 (01:22:49):
Cj my son needed to get treatment for the last
couple of months and he would come in the office
every morning around six fifty six to fifty five to
get treatment at seven so he could make it to
school by. Eight and there wasn't a morning that we
got there THAT. Cj allen was not already in the
training room doing some kind of, prehab, rehab, running getting warmed,

(01:23:11):
up taking care of. Injuries he's just a relentless worker
and a relentless competitor who got to play in some
big games as a, freshman probably even before he was.
Ready and that's paid all for us last year and
this year WITH. Cj next With Jay Gunner stockton from
the great community Of Raven.

Speaker 1 (01:23:31):
County he's with us.

Speaker 22 (01:23:33):
Today gunner is a kid that leads from the. Front
gunner is a. Winner he comes from an athletic family.
Background his dad played At Georgia southern and he is
the kind of kid you want at the front of the,
line and he leads from the.

Speaker 1 (01:23:47):
Front SO i appreciate What gunner.

Speaker 22 (01:23:49):
Does he's going to be a big part of our
program this year in leadership and doing that with the offensive.
Players he's already begun to do, that and he begun
to his leadership groups that he runs right. Now and
then the last one Is Dalen Everett daylan is a.
Senior dylan to graduate this next. Summer gunner just graduated
this summer.

Speaker 1 (01:24:09):
AND cj will. Graduate i'm, Sorry dallyan will graduate this
fall AND.

Speaker 22 (01:24:13):
Cj allen will graduate next summer being a third year.
Player But daylan's From, Norfolk. Virginia daylan's been a part
of our program for four, years really a two year.

Speaker 23 (01:24:21):
Starter in my. Mind he had a big year for
us last.

Speaker 22 (01:24:24):
Year he gives tremendous confidence to a secondary that's going
to be young next. Year dalan is a kid that
ever since we've met, him no challenge is too.

Speaker 23 (01:24:34):
Big he loves to, practice he loves to, compete he demands,
excellence and he is here representing us.

Speaker 1 (01:24:40):
Today So i'm proud Of daylan our.

Speaker 22 (01:24:43):
Team our team is going to be comprised of fifty
four percent first and second year.

Speaker 1 (01:24:48):
Players very big change FOR.

Speaker 22 (01:24:50):
US i thought last year was probably one of the
most veteran teams Veteran i've been a part. Of you guys,
know THE covid class has kind of aged, out so
we had multiple players that were in their fifth and
sixth year last, year especially across.

Speaker 1 (01:25:07):
The offensive and defensive.

Speaker 22 (01:25:08):
Lines we had a tremendous group that all went out
kind of at the same, time aged out at the same.
Time and so we're going to be really, young especially
young the offensive and defensive. Lines but fifty four percent
of our players are coming into their first or second.

Speaker 1 (01:25:24):
Year so what do you get with? That you get youthful.

Speaker 22 (01:25:28):
Exuberance we've had practices that have been. Spirited we had
a great spring practice that we talked about the words, fire,
passion and. ENERGY i think the biggest thing that separates
college football teams today is complacency among players versus, fire
passion and energy among. Players so we've tried to highlight

(01:25:50):
those traits as much as possible with our. Players our
players need to bring juice and energy each and every.
Day if they, don't they'll be confronted by the players that.
Do and if the players continue to do, that we'll
have a successful season and a successful football team in
a day and age THAT i Think sankie referenced it.
Yesterday you, know times are changing college athletics and college

(01:26:14):
football is not.

Speaker 1 (01:26:15):
Broken he used the word.

Speaker 22 (01:26:17):
STRAINED i would say that it's in a time of
change and influx that you have to navigate better than your.
Opponent you have to navigate better than your, competitor whether
that's conference to conference or within your own.

Speaker 1 (01:26:32):
Conference and we continue to find ways to do. That
At university Of.

Speaker 22 (01:26:35):
Georgia we sell relationships over. Transactions we think the relationship
still wins out because the relationship allows you to push
people and demand. Excellence and we're going to continue to do.
That At, georgia we don't believe in just being, transactional
because when you're, transactional you cannot accomplish whatever your ultimate goal,

(01:26:57):
is whatever your greatest reach, is whatever the seething is
for every player and every team we, have you don't
reach that without. Relationships so we're going to try to
win twenty four hour increments each and every day to
make sure we still attain. That a great example of
WHAT i think about in college. ATHLETICS i wanted to
Share leland and our sports information department has a young

(01:27:19):
lady that just won a national championship with our track.

Speaker 1 (01:27:23):
Team kayla is with us. Today Kayla jackson.

Speaker 22 (01:27:26):
From, Detroit, michigan came all the way To, Athens georgia
to run.

Speaker 1 (01:27:30):
Track she won a.

Speaker 22 (01:27:32):
National championship with our women's track, program and she is
kind of, interning kind of mirroring us A sid, today
and that wouldn't be possible without college. ATHLETICS i don't
think enough of those stories are, told and that is
important to.

Speaker 23 (01:27:48):
Me i'm a.

Speaker 22 (01:27:48):
TRADITIONALIST i believe in the college athletic background and what
it does for, people what it did for me and my,
family what it did for my wife being a female
athlete at The university Of georgian play basket. Ball that
experience paves the way for future success AND i believe in.
That so with, That i'm gonna opening it up in
honor of the Great Bob. Holt will caught The Bob

(01:28:10):
holt question because he used to have the first one every.

Speaker 1 (01:28:13):
Time kurb you.

Speaker 12 (01:28:14):
Beat texas twice last. Year now you get him at.
Home do you have any special secret to beating start
and any insights from your days At alabama together that
work well toward that.

Speaker 22 (01:28:25):
End, NO i think if you're going to be a
good football, team you've got to be sound football team,
yourself you. Know AND i didn't overlap with A sart
THAT i remember At, alabama so we weren't.

Speaker 1 (01:28:37):
There at the same.

Speaker 22 (01:28:39):
Time tremendous respect for him in his, program the job they.
Do you, know to be good, teams you got to
be a good. Team we had a good football team last,
year so did. They it's it's not about us as.
Coaches it's really about the players and what you believe.
In and you, know we got a lot of really
good football teams to play next year besides Just, Texas
so we're preparing for all.

Speaker 8 (01:29:00):
Them, Hey kirby's Cent Golden Austin American states And gunner's
relief appearance Against. Texas how did that benefit the locker
room the way he came in For Carson and how
does that serve as a teaching tool for young players.

Speaker 1 (01:29:14):
Who may not be.

Speaker 22 (01:29:15):
Started, YEAH i don't know that the benefit in the
locker room is as great as the other parts you just.
Said you know what does it teach a young player
that's sitting in the wings that you just don't ever
know what your number is going to be? Called and
the one thing THAT i really appreciate About gunner in
most quarterbacks is he prepared every game as if he
was the. Starter and people can say that and say

(01:29:35):
that's coach, speak but he actually did. It he went,
in watched extra, tape and he knew that at any
point in time he could be called on to have
to go in the game and. Play and you, know
he didn't go in in a normal, environment you, know
where you got a big, lead you, know maybe you're
beating an. Opponent he went in against a top defense
in the country in one of the biggest games of
the season and performed well for a guy that had

(01:29:57):
not gotten a lot of reps with the. Ones SO
i thought he handled that moment well and he taught
a lot of our young players that you've got to
be prepared and.

Speaker 24 (01:30:03):
Ready Eric henry twenty four Seventh Sports kirby just. Curious you,
Know texas has got a lot of attention during this,
season and you talk about how underclass been heavy your
program is do you sense a level of eagerness from
the underclassman to go prove, that, hey you, know we
can be just.

Speaker 1 (01:30:16):
As good as The georgia teams in the. Past and quite,
frankly we Beat texas twice last.

Speaker 22 (01:30:20):
Year, yeah a lot of those kids. Didn't they weren't
the guys on the. Fields but, YEAH i do since
in our practices and our workouts and the things we've
been able to be a part of in the, spring you,
know there.

Speaker 1 (01:30:31):
Is a youthful.

Speaker 23 (01:30:32):
Exuberance there is a you know that can be positive and.

Speaker 1 (01:30:35):
Negative you, KNOW i can.

Speaker 22 (01:30:36):
Sit up here last year and tell you how experienced we.
Were we had all these guys coming. Back they played
a lot of, football but are they motivated and are
they really wanting to be great as supposed?

Speaker 4 (01:30:46):
To.

Speaker 1 (01:30:46):
Something when it's, new there's a lot more.

Speaker 22 (01:30:48):
Excitement it's their first time getting a chance to, start
it's their first time being a major player in the.
Rotation so there's good and bad about. Both we got
to manage.

Speaker 23 (01:30:57):
That we got to be patient with, them and we
got to get them.

Speaker 4 (01:30:59):
Better gouch.

Speaker 15 (01:31:00):
Smart Terry mullinson From barns. Illustrated, first congratulations on your
uh your marriage or nineteen Years thank you?

Speaker 5 (01:31:07):
So.

Speaker 15 (01:31:07):
Uh john McDade talked just before you did about all
the rule changes uh in the.

Speaker 1 (01:31:10):
Game did y'all love? That y'all love. McDade everybody loves
mc dade's. Talk, Man, yeah it's.

Speaker 15 (01:31:14):
Fantastic So i'm curious what your take on some of
those rules, are but specifically about the he calls it
the abrupt movement on, defense and you could people could
attend that that was one of the reasons that you
probably Beat texas and pulling them off sides with your
defense last. Season so curious about all the, rules but
specifically the abrupt movement on.

Speaker 1 (01:31:35):
Defense how does that impact your?

Speaker 22 (01:31:36):
Team, yeah you would need to define abrupt for, me
cause we could get in here and talk for hours
about what's abrupt and.

Speaker 1 (01:31:42):
What's not was that movement? Abrupt or was that?

Speaker 23 (01:31:44):
Slow you shitt now like you got to define.

Speaker 22 (01:31:47):
Abrupt he's got to define, abrupt and he's got to
teach his guys that go out in the, field AND
i think they do a tremendous job of tape study
and how to go about. That, so, uh it's one
of those things that is very intricate among football and football,
minds and people try.

Speaker 23 (01:32:05):
To manipulate it and do things and change.

Speaker 22 (01:32:07):
Things the games ever, involving, Evolving SO i Think john
mcdaden his staff do a tremendous job navigating.

Speaker 9 (01:32:13):
That, Coach we'll go straight in front of me about halfway, Back.

Speaker 23 (01:32:18):
Coach nickolasa from Case you And.

Speaker 10 (01:32:20):
Columbia you mentioned a young sik secondary a couple of
minutes ago.

Speaker 1 (01:32:24):
In one possession.

Speaker 23 (01:32:25):
POSITION i wanted to ask.

Speaker 1 (01:32:26):
You about was the strong Safety you've brought in us some.

Speaker 10 (01:32:27):
Transfers you have some young talented, freshman but you also
for familiar names in the. Roster you kind of give
us some insight on how the business was going in
heading Into.

Speaker 22 (01:32:34):
Fakham, yeah we've got a great competition. There kJ bolden
played a lot of snaps last year he's coming.

Speaker 23 (01:32:40):
Back we need him to be a.

Speaker 22 (01:32:41):
Leader we need him to help set the tone for
how to go about. Things we've got some older players
there that are going to be in. Competition we've got
a couple of transfers, in so you, know we do
things a lot of times eventively by.

Speaker 23 (01:32:52):
Committee we play a lot of.

Speaker 22 (01:32:53):
PLAYERS i think we had third or fourth most players
over one hundred. Snaps so if you come To georgia
you expect to. Play we want to give you an
opportunity to. Play so we get a lot of those
guys reps and grow them and we'll see where we
are in fall camp at that.

Speaker 9 (01:33:07):
Position we'll take one final question in the section in
front of me again about halfway.

Speaker 25 (01:33:11):
Back Coach jugate Through Alabama Crimson tide on. Side the
last time That alabama Played georgia And. Athens you are
At even's coordinator for The Crimson. Tide what are your
thoughts on that game this coming up? Year last year's
game was. Great what are your thoughts on Hosting alabama this?

Speaker 22 (01:33:26):
Season it's a great, atmosphere just like we went into
last year to play them a night game on the.
Road they'll come to our place and play a tremendous.
ATMOSPHERE i know a lot of people From tuscaloosa coming
over to the Game. Athens the city of loves. It
we bring a great. Environment it's what college football is.
About this game is about playing great matchups like. That

(01:33:48):
it's what the fan bases, want it's what the nation.
Wants it's what college football. Needs it's what college football
and the N scc is. About you, Know Georgia alabama
at home in our. PLACE i wish it could happen more.
Often seems like we've played over there three or four
times since they've come to see us at.

Speaker 23 (01:34:05):
Play so it's a great opportunity.

Speaker 1 (01:34:07):
And look forward to. It Tooters, smart all, Right so
there it. Is that's From Kirby, smart the head coach
of The Georgia. Bulldogs from one to head coach to.
Another up next my one on one with Sark. Is
we continue FROM Sec Football Media days on thirteen hundred
The zone.

Speaker 20 (01:34:31):
Back to The Craig Way. Show connect With craig through
the text line by Text Team texas to eight one
five three, zero followed by your. Message standard message and
data rates may.

Speaker 1 (01:34:41):
Apply hey before we before we bring you my one
on one With sark big recruiting news coming down this
afternoon For texas. FOOTBALL a couple of. Things first of,
all we told you About Tyler, atkinson the outstanding linebacker

(01:35:02):
From georgia who has announced that he will go to
The university Of. Texas he'll be in the twenty twenty six,
class and it's a big get. Obviously he's the top
outside linebacker in the twenty twenty six recruiting. Class he

(01:35:24):
made that announcement on The pat McAfee show, today Picking
texas Over, Clemson, georgia And oregon out Of Grayson High
school In. Georgia number fourteen overall prospect in the twenty
twenty SIX espn three hundred and one of the nation's
most productive high school, defenders he becomes the third five
star to add to the twenty twenty six, class along

(01:35:49):
with the Quarterback Da bell And Richard wesley those, three
and then just moments ago it became. Official James, johnson
the number ten overall in the country prospects according to,
rivals has flipped his commitment From georgia To texas six,

(01:36:10):
two two hundred and eighty, Pounder so that that came
down just a few minutes. Ago interesting and ironic that
it happens on the day when we hear from both
The georgia head coach and The texas head. Coach we
just heard a few minutes ago listening To Kirby, smart
the head coach of The Georgia. Bulldogs now the sit,
down the one on one conversation THAT i had just

(01:36:32):
a little while ago With longhorn's head, Coach Steve. SARKEGEN
i always ask you this about it being a rite
of passage here and signposts and all that other kinds of,
stuff meaning that we're inside of fifty days to kick.
Off so is it a different? FEELING a lot of
folks have asked, me is it a different feeling For
texas this time around going INTO sec media?

Speaker 4 (01:36:53):
Days, WELL i think it is a little bit.

Speaker 1 (01:36:56):
Different first of, all it's great to be, here isn't.

Speaker 6 (01:36:58):
IT I, MEAN i love this time of, year getting
ready for the college football.

Speaker 4 (01:37:02):
Season it's right around the.

Speaker 6 (01:37:03):
Corner last, year there was such hoopla our first year
in THE.

Speaker 4 (01:37:06):
Sec it was In.

Speaker 6 (01:37:08):
Dallas they're handing out cowboy, hats they're doing all the
things to the, players and here it kind of feels
a little.

Speaker 4 (01:37:14):
Bit more like we're back to.

Speaker 6 (01:37:15):
Normal we're In, atlanta, obviously this is where THE Sec
championship game is, played and having earned a trip to
that game last year and then coming back to The
Peach bowl winning that, game and now being back for
this this kind of feels like second home to some,
degree which is a good. Thing when you're in The Southeastern,
Conference atlanta's got to feel like a second home because

(01:37:35):
there's so many big games that you have to play
here if you really want to be successful Into.

Speaker 1 (01:37:40):
January what was the takeaway you had coming out of
spring ball with the guys who were a big part
of what happened last year and even the young guys
who are learning it and now stepping into some of those.
Roles the vibe that you got from those guys coming
out of, that coming out of their individual, work now
getting ready for this, next this next.

Speaker 6 (01:38:00):
Rive, yeah you, KNOW i think spring was a unique
one for us because we had so many new. Faces you,
know we had twenty two high school, kids you, know
that were enrolled early in. School jonah was still with
the baseball, Team so so twenty one plus ANOTHER i
believe five or six you, know, transfers and so there
were so many new faces in, spring and so many

(01:38:20):
players on our team that were elevating into a new.
Role when you have a new, quarterback that's obviously changed.
There we had offensive line, Turnover we were nicked up
at the receiver. Position DeAndre And moore was, Out Ryan
wingo was down for a significant amount of. Time so
a bunch of new faces and so we got a
lot of quality work done throughout. Spring What i've, noticed
AND i was talking to the team about this at

(01:38:42):
the end of last, week is how far they've come
this summer and the connectivity that they. Have you can
really feel the leadership growing on this. Team you can
feel the connectivity amongst the, players the work, ethic the,
continuity which is something that you're always striving for as a.
Coach right what's the continuity like up? Front what's the
continuity like with the quarterback and, receivers what's the continuity

(01:39:04):
like in the back? End you know with the, dbs
you got some new faces, there and you, know what's
that communication, like and so.

Speaker 7 (01:39:11):
All those things are very encouraging to. Me right.

Speaker 6 (01:39:13):
Now you, know we gotta we got a week and
a half or so more to, go which.

Speaker 4 (01:39:17):
Is going to be.

Speaker 6 (01:39:18):
Needed they'll get a little bit of a break and
then and then we really start to tighten screws when
training camp. Starts and but that's that's such the exciting
part of everything that we get to.

Speaker 4 (01:39:27):
Do but BUT i really like this. TEAM i like the.

Speaker 6 (01:39:29):
LEADERSHIP i think we've got a got a very talented
roster full of good people with great depth on both
sides of the. BALL i love the fact that that
our specialists are all, seniors you, know senior long, snapper senior,
holder senior, punter senior, kicker senior kickoff. Guy so the
idea that we've got experience. There now we got to
put it all, together you. Know, now now we gotta

(01:39:50):
we gotta pour it all in the pot and start making,
it making the stew and and hopefully it tastes.

Speaker 1 (01:39:54):
Good interested to get your thoughts on. This there are
always narratives that go into, things and you, know from
the commissioner's, perspective all the narratives about the playoff and
the relationship with The big ten and YadA yad and
on and. On with regard to your own, student one
of the popular narratives, is, hey this is a really good,
team but only the one returning start on the offensive. Line,

(01:40:16):
well that's a big question, mark And i've continued to
say those are always going to be annual. Questions but
when you have a group like you had that played
as many snaps as YOUR o line, did it's a
bit more comforting these days than, say five years ago or,
so isn't.

Speaker 6 (01:40:31):
It, Well i'm grateful for those guys that they did
play as much as they. Played you, KNOW i think
one of the biggest mistakes you can make as a
coach is you recruit young offensive linemen and then you
throw them to the, wolves especially in this, conference because
that's when your confidence can start to struggle because you're
going against the elite defensive players all the.

Speaker 4 (01:40:50):
Time the fact.

Speaker 6 (01:40:51):
That we've been able to develop offensive linemen in the
lab as we like to call, it as opposed to
having them throwing them on the, FIELD i think is
really going to benefit us. NOW Dj campbell's played a
ton of football FOR. Us Cole hudson's played a ton
of football FOR. Us Trevor gooseby got great experience last
year when when he got when he got forced into.
Action but we've got some really good young players too

(01:41:12):
that are, growing and we've got guys who have been.
Working NATO's been, Working Brandon baker's been, working you, Know
Nate kibble's been, Working Jayden chapman's been, Working Connor strow
has been. Working you Know Nick, BROOKS i, mean how
fast can this guy come? On you, know he's built
like he's been at ten YEAR NFL. Vet so those
guys have had the opportunity to. Grow but yet they're,

(01:41:34):
growing you, know behind the. Scenes and that doesn't mean
they're not going to be really good.

Speaker 7 (01:41:38):
Players you.

Speaker 6 (01:41:38):
Know we we think that we've got a very good
chance to be a good offensive. Line but that's all
got to tie together With archie, quarterback and then you
Know trey and AND c four And jerrick And christian
in the. Backfield the we got new faces at tight
ends With jack injury showing. Up but then There's Spencer,
Shannon There's Jordan. Washington we Love lamar And, winston we
Love Nick. Townsend so there's some. News but if there's

(01:42:02):
ANYTHING i learned at my time with With Pete carroll
And Nick saban and the and you know that some
of those great teams that they, had we never felt
like it was a year where this is a rebuild.
Year it was more reload because we've recruited the right.
Way but the key to that is developing your young
players when they're in year one and year two in their,
program when maybe they're not the frontline starters.

Speaker 1 (01:42:22):
YET i always ask you for a health update to
let fans know where guys are in relation to getting
ready for the start of.

Speaker 6 (01:42:27):
Workout, yeah you, know the one guy WHO i think
is probably going to be the most limited at the
start of camp would Be smith Of, rogbo which we
knew when we signed them a year, ago and so
hopefully we can get him back going kind of in
the middle of. Camp everybody else is going to be practicing.
Camp some guys may be at more limited than. Others,
HEY i would Love Cedric baxter to go out the

(01:42:48):
first day and be ripping and running all those.

Speaker 7 (01:42:50):
Things but we got to be. Smart this is a long.

Speaker 6 (01:42:53):
Journey this is a long season that We're i'm about
to bark, on AND i want to make sure that
that he can continue to grow and get better and
better better and become the best player that he can
be in the second half of this. Season so we're
gonna be mindful of that in training, camp but then
and then there's a few other guys that are not
maybe not quite that.

Speaker 4 (01:43:09):
Extreme Derek williams seems.

Speaker 6 (01:43:11):
Great it's great to have him back in the, secondary
so we feel good about it health.

Speaker 7 (01:43:17):
Wise and you, know.

Speaker 6 (01:43:18):
See me at the end of their first week of training,
camp and HOPEFULLY i don't have to say WHAT i
said last, year you, know where we were looking for
a running back in the portal after five.

Speaker 1 (01:43:26):
Praxis final thing, here this would be it may not
even be the, first but it'll be one of empteen
thousand questions you get about. Arts But i'm curious to
get your thoughts on how you've seen him encompass, everything
not just command of the offense and the leader and
then being in the locker, room but just the whole

(01:43:47):
concept of he's the guy now for your.

Speaker 7 (01:43:50):
Program, yeah, no this definitely feels like his, team you.

Speaker 6 (01:43:54):
Know and when you look at our, roster you, Know
arch is going into year three in our, program and
you think about that class of guys With anthony Hill Manny,
mohammad you, Know. Gooseby there's a lot of guys that
have been in that group and they don't even know
any different than playing in a conference championship game and
going to the college football playoff and playing in the semi.
Finals that's all they've seen their first two years of

(01:44:16):
college and their. Experience but the bulk of our, roster
those first, year second or third year players that really
makes up our. Roster there's a few fourth year seniors
in there mixed, in and Obviously michael taffs that the
great ambassador of that group of guys and what they're.

Speaker 4 (01:44:30):
About but this feels like his.

Speaker 6 (01:44:32):
Team these are his guys either guys that he's been
working with in his time. Here AND i think he's very,
relatable which is a key. Component you, know whether it's
in the locker, room on the, field when when we're,
traveling when they're out and.

Speaker 4 (01:44:45):
ABOUT i think it doesn't.

Speaker 6 (01:44:46):
Matter all the guys can relate To arch and they
feel good about and if there's a sense of comfort
in having a relationship with, Him and that's the key
at quarterback.

Speaker 4 (01:44:55):
MAN i say it all the.

Speaker 6 (01:44:56):
Time is physically gifted as you need to be at
quarterback as, talented you, know mentally to knowing your system
and knowing your, scheme do you instill belief and that's the.
Key do you still belief in your, teammates do you
still belief in the coaching? Staff do you and still
belief in the? Fans AND i think Arch manning does
that for. Us and there's gonna be some bumps in the, road,
obviously BUT i think he's poised for a great.

Speaker 1 (01:45:18):
Season and by the, way somebody asked me about WHAT
i thought one of your great traits, was AND I
i used that word, relatable relatable to your. Guys you
always strive for, THAT.

Speaker 6 (01:45:27):
I really, do you, KNOW i try to have a
connection with all the guys on a personal. Basis, naturally
when you talk to the group of the, team you
know on the, regular that's that's a little bit of
the easier. Part BUT i do get them to try
to get to know. Me AND i think the one
thing about this group maybe as much or more than
ever as these guys reaching out to me directly one on.

Speaker 4 (01:45:47):
One AND i really appreciate.

Speaker 6 (01:45:49):
That you, know when you get a text From michael
taff last night about today or or or you, know
arch Or Ant, hill all these guys about you, know
the things that we have going on for this it's
JUST i love that they have enough comfort level with
me that they can reach out directly to me and
they don't have.

Speaker 1 (01:46:04):
To go to their.

Speaker 7 (01:46:05):
Position coach all the, Time appreciate the.

Speaker 1 (01:46:06):
Time i'm ready to get this thing.

Speaker 6 (01:46:08):
On, HEY i just want to say one last thing, Here. Craig,
obviously thoughts and prayers with everybody In Central texas the
devastating flooding that has occurred and the impact that has
had on so many families and that and so many.

Speaker 7 (01:46:20):
Communities just know The longhorns are.

Speaker 6 (01:46:23):
There with, y'all and our thoughts and prayers are with,
you and we'll be here in full support as we
get everybody through it.

Speaker 1 (01:46:29):
All, okay appreciate the. Time thanks you got, It thank.
You all. Right That's longhorns head Coach Steve sarkisian our
annual sit down one on one during NOW sec media.
Days but it goes all the way back obviously in
the big twelve media days and this one and so,
forth and some great stuff from, him and that's why
we said it presents a little bit different perspective than
just what's coming out of the general news. Conference and

(01:46:52):
also there was also a breakout with him with with
media after, that and we're going to bring that to
you on tomorrow, show so you'll get everything, everything and
we'll have the breakout conversations With Arch manning And michael
taff And Anthony. Hill speaking of those, THREE i had

(01:47:12):
a little sit down with all three of them at
the same. Time that's next when we continue here FROM
Sec Media. Days i'm thirteen under the. Zone we're.

Speaker 20 (01:47:24):
Back it's The Craig Way show With hall Of fame
broadcaster and voice of The Texas Longhearts Craig.

Speaker 1 (01:47:31):
Way so we continue FROM Sec Media days and there's
so much heavy, duty heavy duty stuff going, on a
lot of talking and football and all this kind of.
Stuff sometimes the guys just want to loosen up a little.
Bit SO i had the opportunity to sit down With

(01:47:52):
michael Taff Arch manning And Anthony hill and just kind
of be a little casual with this as they were
waiting before they went into the full media. Swarms here's
the CONVERSATION i had with them just a little while.
Ago so this is the unique opportunity here to visit
With Anthony hill And Arch manning And Michael taff.

Speaker 4 (01:48:14):
All at the same. Time this is.

Speaker 1 (01:48:15):
GOOD i like the perspective And i'm going to start with,
you and you've been down this road a little. Bit
so what's the feeling like coming back TO sec mediaday
and get ready for another.

Speaker 4 (01:48:25):
YEAR i mean it feels pretty.

Speaker 26 (01:48:26):
Good this is my first time here just doing, media
So i'm as ready to learn some new, things get
to talk about myself and have some.

Speaker 27 (01:48:31):
Fun.

Speaker 1 (01:48:32):
Man, yeah, well all, right speaking the first, times everybody's
going to ask You arch about the first, time this
first time that all that kind of. Stuff how much
does how much having the first year out of the,
way now in the program and now getting ready to
be the quarterback of this? Team how much had last
year help for this?

Speaker 4 (01:48:52):
Year?

Speaker 27 (01:48:52):
YEAH i think last year helped a lot of getting
in some games and game like.

Speaker 1 (01:48:55):
Reps it was huge when we learned From. QUINN i
think it's ready to take off this. Year do you
guys refer To bookie is like a old head, grandpa
any of.

Speaker 4 (01:49:06):
That kind of? Stuff is? That?

Speaker 1 (01:49:09):
Yeah and you're used to that by, that? RIGHT i
Guess i'm used to.

Speaker 21 (01:49:12):
That we used to make fun Of David benda all
the time last year for six, years and so Now
I'm i'm glad that the uh the kar is coming.
Back to me And I'm i'm getting called On i'm
getting called uh coach. Granddad so, yeah it's a tumbling for.

Speaker 1 (01:49:27):
Sure, okay all, Right so on that uh, Subject, michael
how important is it for you and your role to
be kind of a bigger, Brother not necessarily an uncle
or a, grandpa but the guy that that that kind
of provides some of the guidance as well as the leadership.

Speaker 21 (01:49:44):
Stuff, YEAH i think it's important for the university and the.
BRAND i always try to talk about being significant instead of,
successful because at the end of the, day If i'm
successful AND i only bring that with, me then that
does no good and my name will die and have no.
Remember but IF i can try to be significant in
this locker, room then maybe a guy Like Grayson, littleton

(01:50:06):
who's a, young you, know, stud he can see What
i'm doing and that carries on down the. Line and,
uh Burn orange isn't just you, know something that's talked
about in twenty twenty, five but it's talked about in
twenty thirty, five and you, know the, standards the standard
at The university Of. Texas So i'm trying to hold.

Speaker 1 (01:50:24):
That, yeah you brought up the remembrance by how important is?

Speaker 21 (01:50:28):
That, YEAH i think that's really important just because you
you die and you don't carry any your, money you
don't carry any of your, success but your name gets,
remembered and so who are you going to be remembered
as when everybody's at your? Funeral AND i try to
think about, that not in a in a negative, way
but in a positive. Way and, uh just trying to
be significant and you, know trying to shed light on

(01:50:51):
everybody THAT i.

Speaker 1 (01:50:51):
Can and, yeah really as well said, right that's.

Speaker 4 (01:50:55):
Right following that, Up, well here's What i'm.

Speaker 1 (01:50:59):
Going to ask, you because because there's always going to
be so much attention on the way that this program has.
Evolved and now into the what what's what's the biggest
change you've seen from that first year went in The
big twelve for you to last. Year what's what's the
biggest change you've seen to?

Speaker 26 (01:51:15):
That the biggest CHANGE i, Seen the biggest Change i've
seen is just the.

Speaker 4 (01:51:18):
Environment. MAN i feel like we have a good.

Speaker 26 (01:51:20):
Culture we're getting better every, year and some of the
younger guys are kind of taking the next steps even
more than we. Took and we're just getting better every,
year and we're just finding new ways to learn how to.

Speaker 1 (01:51:28):
Win and it's not like your fresh face. EITHER i,
mean here's third, Year so how do you judge your
role in the leadership? Thing for some of the young,
guys it definitely.

Speaker 26 (01:51:37):
CHANGED i kind of think about what guys Like Murf Murph, Bearing,
Surreal Jay. FORD i kind of think about what they
did and try to make it into my own way
and my own type of.

Speaker 4 (01:51:46):
Style.

Speaker 1 (01:51:47):
Arch one of the things That i'm sure that everybody
in the assemble media will be asking you is all
about the lineage and family and not just your uncles
and your, grandfather but just the family overall and what it.
Means how important is family to you with the team
and family with your immediate family and your extended.

Speaker 27 (01:52:08):
Family, yeah family means everything to. ME i think our
team is really closest. HERE i, can you, know talk
crap with all these guys on and off the field
and go get dinner, together and SO i think that's
when it comes to tight. Moments you rely on each
other and play for each, other and that's why we're so,
close and that's why it's like a.

Speaker 1 (01:52:23):
Family, So, michael how good a crap talkers?

Speaker 4 (01:52:26):
Are?

Speaker 13 (01:52:27):
YEAH i.

Speaker 21 (01:52:27):
DON'T i don't love to admit that people get under my,
skin but he can admit if he got under my
skin or not on On tuesday when they caught a
choice rout on me and he let me.

Speaker 1 (01:52:38):
Know but do you see it the similar way with
what do you?

Speaker 26 (01:52:42):
Do i'm in a box SO i can hear a
little bit, more BUT i try to get after we.
Compete we've been give peen since we were fish, miss
SO i get to see, it see it a lot.

Speaker 4 (01:52:49):
More all, right.

Speaker 1 (01:52:50):
One final thing here from the three, Here i'd like
to get all of you to tell me what is
it you're looking forward to the most once practice starts
and you get ready for the coming. Season i'll start with,
you INN i just.

Speaker 26 (01:53:02):
Like taking it all the, moments, MAN i really don't
think about just one little. THING i just want to
go out there and focus on focus on the details
every day and just get.

Speaker 27 (01:53:10):
Better, archier make you thanks selfishly. Enough i'm looking forward
to taking the reps with the ones this. Year it
kind of means a. Lot, Yeah i'm not going to
take it for. Granted is it more of a comfort thing?
Now but taking those REPS i think? So, Yeah, sure
you Know we've got a spring and summer to build
up those reps and ready to go for it in fall.

Speaker 1 (01:53:28):
Camp, OKAY i have a feeling this is your last
score around this, time, right.

Speaker 13 (01:53:32):
This is my last go.

Speaker 4 (01:53:33):
ROUND i have no choice this.

Speaker 1 (01:53:34):
Time so what are you looking forward to the most
once you get practiced? Going, Michael, YEAH i think, football
at LEAST dB. Wise it's all about, confidence and we
have a pretty good opponent week. One you, know that's
going to challenge our defensive back room with all those
guys At Ohio state and so getting to guard a
man a, Man Ryan, Wingo DeAndre moore and Then Moseley Parker,

(01:53:56):
livingston that's gonna give me a lot of confidence going
into week. One So i'm excited to have them win some,
battles but hopefully me win some battles. Too there it
is the conversation With Michael taff And Arch manning And Anthony,
hill and you'll hear from some individual media breakout sessions
with all three of those guys. Individually. Tomorrow we'll be

(01:54:17):
back to wrap up today's edition of the program From
atlanta on thirteen under The zone

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