Feel Good Friday: All Things Football

Mike "Hardball" Hardge talks all things football as we count down the days to the start of Texas Football and the NFL season. It's all here on The Morning Kickoff!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:37):
or wherever you may be listening.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
This is a feel good Friday edition.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Of The Morning Kickoff right here on Sports Radio AM
thirteen hundred The Zone and always free on the iHeartRadio app.
We are thirty six days away from the start of
the Texas football season and we'll talk to sam Ocho.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
That's right, Lifetime Longhorn.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
Sam Ocho joined me last week at SEC Media Days.
We're gonna play his interview and of course talk about
Colin Simmons.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
We also had a chance to sit down.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
With Texas men's basketball coach Sean Miller, and we got
a chance to talk Texas hoops. The Cowboys and Texans
are talking about the camps in the season. We got
Drive Nation and Dynamic Prep head coach Manny Carlton joining
us to talk about Austin Gooseby, a McDonald's All American
and the number one player in the land. Marcus Spears

(01:30):
Junior as he is now on the forty Acres and
Parker Coleman finally finally decides to come back and talk
to us, as she has been away, but she is
back and ready to be full in action. I am
your host, Mike Harball Hart, my cohost is normally a
WWE Hall of Famer and recognized as the world's strongest man.
He is Deve Mark Henry, but Marcus on the road.

(01:53):
So you got your boy today, and of course we
got Ronald on the boards. But if you want to
be a part of the show, all you gotta do
is textas Texas followed by your message to eight one
five three zero.

Speaker 3 (02:04):
Standard data and message rates may apply.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
That's the word Texas followed by your message to eight
one five three zero.

Speaker 3 (02:11):
Standard data and message rates may apply.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
Also, you can leave us a voice bail by using
that talkback feature on the new and improved and always
free iHeartRadio app. If it's good enough, you might hear
it on air. But if not, yeah, well we'll just
talk about it. As I mentioned today, we'll have the
first two segments will be some interviews that we conducted
this week. A lot of times coaches don't have the

(02:34):
time to come on when we want them because of
our time in the morning. So we got a chance
to sit down with Sean Miller and that will be
part of the next segment. But right now, I want
you to hear our interview, my interview with Sam Acho.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
Sam Acho was at SEC Media Days.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
He still works with the All State Good Hands Award
and last year there was a play from the University
of Texas Michael taff who was part of that team.
And now there's a nominee that is from the University
of Texas for his work, and we'll let you hear
Sam talk about that. Welcome back to SEC Media Days.

(03:14):
We are sitting here with the legendary lifetime Longhorn. That's right,
I said, legendary lifetime Longhorn, Sam Acho and sam Every
year we come to these events, and it's always fun
because you get to see a lot of different people,
get a chance to talk about the upcoming season. We're
going to get into what you're doing and why you're here,
but I wanted to ask you about the Texas Longhorn

(03:36):
football team. Obviously, Texas coming into the season, a lot
of height, a lot of names, a lot of big stars.
But what are your true expectations when you think about
this Texas football team.

Speaker 4 (03:46):
Yeah, Matru, expectations for this year and for this team
are a national championship. Expectations at least to be playing
in that game. You have a team that has been
to the College Football Playoff multiple times, but now not
only are they more experienced from a player pective and
a talent perspective, but I also have the coaching staff
to match Will Muschamp. I think it's hard. It's going
to be very difficult to understate the impact that he's

(04:07):
going to have on this football team. Back when he
was at Georgia, you know he wasn't you know, he
was somewhat behind the scenes, if you will. There's other
people who were the names as a defensive coordinator, but
he was helping build up those defenses, the defenses that
back in twenty twenty two and twenty three, we're getting
seven guys drafted. Like in the first round. I was like,
like the best defense in the in the country from

(04:29):
a talent perspective, and so defensively, I have very little
questions about their defense. Obviously, Blake get In is back
as well offensively Stave Sarkisian. Of course, he's a brilliant mind.
The question of what people are going to have is
arch Manning. I think that has to be the question.
But I have a lot of confidence in him. I
got a chance to run into him, I think once
or twice over the last couple of months, and just
a demeanor. It seems different, right, it seems different, And

(04:50):
of course you got to go and play on the field.
But the talent is there. Cam Coleman I talked to.
I talked to Trevor Goosby not too long ago and
about cam and he said, man, cam Coleman is worth
every penny. I mean, some of these guys like, who's like,
some of these guys are taking pay cuts to get right.
Everybody's like, He's worth every penny. And so you know,
if you ask me in years past when I've said Texas,

(05:12):
you know, national champions expectations, No, But this year, realistically,
I think that should be the goal based off of
the talent, the schedule, you know, will they win it?

Speaker 3 (05:24):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (05:24):
I think Notre Dame's a phenomenal team as well. Obviously
you gotta win the SEC first, right Georgia, Yeah, I
gotta go. You haven't be Georgia, right, But I think
that they If any year, I think this should be
the year.

Speaker 1 (05:35):
When you start to look at this team and the
way it's constructed. You talked about Cam Coleman, but there's
other guys too. On that defensive side of the ball.
You go out and you get that big run stopper
Gafar from from Arkansas, but then you also go get
Rasue Miles, you get Bo Mascow in the secondary.

Speaker 3 (05:51):
You return a lot of guys in that secondary.

Speaker 1 (05:54):
You talked about Will Musch champion, what he brings to
the table, How can he get more out of those guys?
And of course Colin Simmons, being who he is, what
is he gonna do with that?

Speaker 4 (06:05):
Yeah? I mean it said everyday thing. I remember back
when I was at Texas, Will muchamp was our defensive
coordinator for three of my four years, and we would
have six am workouts and I mean you would you
would have thought it was the national championship at six
am when I'm like wiping my eyes and he's like
got his lunch pail on the table, like he demanded excellence.
And that didn't just happen on Saturday at noon. It

(06:27):
happened on Tuesday at Wednesday and Thursday at six am.
Then it happened again. It practice happened again in the workouts.
So I don't think there's a question of demanding excellence
or a question of how did you bring it out.
It's gonna get out.

Speaker 3 (06:40):
I remember this.

Speaker 4 (06:41):
Uh yeah, so we had a we had a oh yeah.
It was like we would do like our summer workouts
and things like that, and you know or like guys
would you know we have our spring ball and guys
would have like we called it and na not our standards,
something like the n os not our standard if you
had like a mistake or he didn't get the play rider.

(07:02):
If you got the player, you're you know, a bust
and not our standard. And so people kept on getting
like NOSS and not our standard, not a weekend. The weekend,
and it's almost almost like they didn't care. It's like
in spring ball and we had a meeting one day
and when coach Puschhamp said, he's like kind of like,
I see what's going on. He said, he said, Hey,
here's the thing. Right now, y'all doing what y'all want
to do. Right You're not setting the plays, you're showing

(07:23):
up late to workouts, you're you know, you know, skipping
lifts in the off season. You're doing what you want
to do. He said. When the season comes, I'm gonna
do what I want to do. I'm gonna put who
I want to put on the field is.

Speaker 3 (07:35):
Gonna help me win these games.

Speaker 4 (07:37):
So when it comes to coach musch Champ, there's no
doubt now to the players. Colin Simmons twelve sacks last
year only had it happen sacond half of the first
four games, So what is that like ten and a
half sacks in the last eight or so. So dominant
on the field, but it's the leadership that stands out.
He's a member of the off Sate AFCA Good Works Team.
He urges one of the the nominees for the All
AFCA Good Works Team. Colin Simmons dominant player, but he

(07:58):
started a five on one C three plays color crew
for his younger brother, Clayton, who has autism, spreading autism awareness.
You ask anybody on that team, they're saying, man, he's
our leader. So when your best players are your best leaders,
both on and off the field, it gives the team
an opportunity to have a high level of success.

Speaker 1 (08:15):
We're talking to legendary lifetime Longhorn, Sam Acho and Sam
you just talked about the good works explained a little
bit more because last year there was a recipient from
the University of Texas, and now the nominee is from
the University of Texas, So talk a little bit about that.

Speaker 4 (08:32):
Yeah. So the All State AFCATE Good Works Team and
the All State Warfolo Trophy is the only award that
recognizes players for their not just there on the field success,
but also they're off the field exploits as well. It's academics,
it's athletics, but the primary deal is the community service.
Michael Taff was the winner of the All State Warflo
Trophy last year. Remember at SEC Media Day, he showed

(08:52):
up to SEC Media day with a tie with the
initials of all the people who lost their lives that
can't miss it. He spent his entire season, not just
that year, but even years before, raising money for fentanyl awareness.
And so those are the kind of players. Those are
the kind of things that players are doing in their community.
I talked about Colin and Clay's Color Crew. He could
be using this platform and using den Aile money for himself,

(09:14):
but instead he's actually trying to put a highlight on
people with autism to try to build more awareness, to
try to add more resources. There's a guy named Edwin
Spilman who goes to Tennessee the other ut and he
was born in Sierra Leone. He lived in an orphanage
for years, he got adopted, came to America, lived in Nashville,
went to Lipscomb Academy, so played there, and fast forward.

(09:37):
He now is the All SEC freshman leading tackler for Tennessee.
But he goes back and it's called the Wan fam
Bull Foundation, and he goes back to help out orphans
in Sierra Leone and also does stuff locally in his
community as well. So you think about it, like and
his brother, He's got two brothers who were both who
both adopted with him, and they both played college football.

(09:58):
And so you think about the impact that these players
are making. There's one hundred and sixty two nominees and
so that's fifteen in the SEC. There's actually our first
female nominee, Gjianna Bennett. She's a kicker at Northwestern College
in Iowa, an All Conference kicker, and she partnered with
an organization called Every Kit Counts. And what they do
is they raise awareness for stillborn people who have stillborn

(10:21):
children because they don't realize that in the third trimester,
if the baby's not kicking, you got to go and
get that thing checked out. So she says, I'm want
to use my name, my image, my likeness, my platform.
And she's raised forty thousand dollars for still birth awareness.
And in the ten years that this Every Kit Counts
program has been around, it's reduced to still birth rate

(10:41):
by thirty two percent. And so the reason I get
excited about the y'all State AFT and Works Team, about
the y'all State Worfelo Trophy is that no one else
in the world you got their Housband trophy. Football awesome.
You have your Campbell Trophy. Academic's great. Nobody else is saying, hey,
here's academics, here's football, and there's also the whole human
that's what they do in the community as well.

Speaker 1 (11:00):
I love the fact that you can bring that awareness
from all these other players because they normally see the helmet,
they see the name on the back of the jersey,
they know what school they played for, but they don't
know anything else about those people and what drives them.
And I think what you guys are doing is the
reason why so many people are aware of what's going on.

Speaker 4 (11:20):
Yeah, it helps to humanize them. It helps the humanize them.
I think about it, Lost and Lucky. You see this
tight end at Georgia, right, he's phenomenal and you don't realize. Okay, yeah,
he was a highly recruited tight end. But the reason
he didn't he was from Georgia, from North Cross. The
reason he didn't go to any other school was that
his younger brother was born with a rare genetic disease
called foxg one syndrome where his brain wasn't fully developed,

(11:43):
so mind death brain and developed right like all these issues.
So he said, you know what, I want to stay
close to home so I could be close to my brother.
And now he actually raises awareness for foxg one syndrome
using his nil right. There's a game he played last
year at the in Athletes scored three touchdown dominated the game,
could have gotten anywhere, hung out party with Frans. You know,

(12:03):
he said, now I'm gonna go back and hang out
with my brother and just spend time with him and
read to him and be with him. And so they
all say they have sacred works. Team helps to humanize players.
It helps to shine a light on you know, everyone's
saying college football is broken and it's bad, but if
you actually peel back the layers to get a chance
to know some of these players, you realize that there's
actually so much good that's happening. Michael Taffy was a

(12:25):
great example last year. All American former walk on drafted
by the Dolphins. But what he cares the most about
is being the best he can be, not just as a
football player, but.

Speaker 5 (12:33):
As a human.

Speaker 1 (12:34):
Well, you continue to be the best that you can
be because what you're doing, the message that you're spreading
and giving these kids those platforms, that's what it's all about.
And I do appreciate you pointing out the fact that
Texas will it should be playing championship as always.

Speaker 3 (12:49):
Enjoy talking to you man, and best of work.

Speaker 4 (12:51):
Yes, sir, thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (12:53):
There is Sam at y'all doing his thing as always.

Speaker 1 (12:58):
As you know, Sam, watch your lifetime Longhorn Hall of
Honor inductee, one of the best to do it, and
he continues to spread good messages. When we come back,
we're going to go right into Mark and I's interview
with the head coach of the Texas Longhorn men's basketball team,
Coach Sean Miller, right here on sports Radio AM thirteen

(13:19):
hundred to Zone and always free on the iHeartRadio app.
Welcome back to the morning kickoff right here on Sports
Radio AM thirteen hundred the Zone.

Speaker 3 (13:28):
Myself, Harba Hartch and.

Speaker 1 (13:30):
The world's strongest man, the Mark Henry, are joined by
the head coach of the University of Texas, Coach Sean Miller,
and coach basketball. Season is something that's very important to us.
We're excited about the season, but we're more important, more
excited about what you've been able to do in the
transfer portal. In forming this team, we looked at some

(13:52):
of the numbers players are getting bigger, some are taller,
and things look to be well, and you brought some
big names in here.

Speaker 3 (13:58):
How excited are you for this upcoming season?

Speaker 6 (14:01):
You know, I would tell you this, this is maybe
the most excited that I've ever been to coach a team.
And it's not because of the just the talent. I
believe in our talent, no doubt. I think the new
faces that came via the transfer portal, being able to
get a guy like Modest to return back and I
think become one of the best players in the SEC

(14:23):
this coming season. And then you know, our freshman class
has some really terrific young talented players. All three of
those guys that I'm kind of referring to, they're from
the state as well. So I think all three of
those elements you had And that's the talent part of it.
But I think the thing that I'm really excited about

(14:44):
is just being around these guys for two months. You
learn how much they love the game or don't you
learn where their work ethic stands. Do they just do
it because it's on the schedule. And we have a
group that's just wired to be in the gym and
be in the weight room, and I think you've had
a great summer to this point.

Speaker 5 (15:02):
Coach.

Speaker 2 (15:02):
You mentioned Bill Walton's philosophy about big guys, guys that
they're supposed to play basketball because they're tall, and then
guys that just love basketball and they want to win.

Speaker 5 (15:15):
Aptitude.

Speaker 2 (15:17):
Is there somebody on your team that you feel like
they're the workhorse there, the steady habit guy.

Speaker 3 (15:24):
They're a guy that can get everybody.

Speaker 2 (15:25):
On the same page when you're not around, Like, who's
that guy?

Speaker 7 (15:30):
You know?

Speaker 6 (15:30):
I think it really starts with Motus simply because Mattus
played here a year ago. He was in the game
in the sweet sixteen game against Purdue. He lived it,
he's been through it, and now he returns and I
think that everybody on our team number one respects him
who he is on the court as a player. And

(15:51):
then number two, like I had mentioned, because I use
Modus as the example of the story that you just
talked about Bill Walton, Modus plays the game because he
loves the game, and I think that shines through. And
when somebody who's seven foot walks in the door, who's
been a part of our team before, he sets the
tone for everything that we do.

Speaker 5 (16:10):
And if you watch him in the weight room, you
would you would, you would really.

Speaker 6 (16:14):
Fall in love with him as a player because he's
straight business. He pushes himself, takes great care of himself,
very disciplined with how he eats and how he treats
his body, and I think that sets the tone for
our team, Bodist.

Speaker 3 (16:27):
So your your system is your system is I don't.

Speaker 5 (16:31):
I look at it and I like this system.

Speaker 2 (16:33):
If I would have been a basketball player, I'd love
to play in it. I'm not I wasn't good. So
let's just get it right there. Do you have anybody
that's having trouble learning it? Or is it somebody? Is
your system really falling in line with all of these guys?

Speaker 6 (16:51):
You know, I think that's a big part of recruiting
that you want to get that part right. You know,
you don't want to bring a young man in, even
if he's really talented that that does fit how we
play because there are different styles. Some guys walk the
ball up to court and they win a national championship
Tony Bennett. You know there is a coach that plays
a two to three zone and has won a national
championship and develops players. Jim Beheim, Syracuse, right, So there's

(17:15):
a lot of ways to do it. The way we
like to play. We want to make sure that we
get that part right where we feel like he's a
good fit for how we play and vice versus. So
I think a lot of that's done before they ever
walk in here. But just in the couple of months
that I've coached everybody, I think everybody's in alignment.

Speaker 5 (17:32):
I always worry.

Speaker 6 (17:33):
The most about the incoming freshmen, simply because they're the youngest,
they're the least experienced, and.

Speaker 5 (17:38):
Sometimes the brightest.

Speaker 6 (17:40):
Freshman takes some time, and usually after Christmas is where
you start to see their growth and development. So we're
keeping a close eye on our freshman class, making sure
that we're giving them extra care, talking to them more,
showing them a little bit more film even in the summer,
you know, being able to show them film in addition
to coaching them, I think is a part of the

(18:01):
new way of teaching.

Speaker 3 (18:03):
Fundamentals are important.

Speaker 2 (18:05):
And there's a couple of guys that played for you
that are gone now, but Mada's been a guy that
is coming back.

Speaker 5 (18:16):
We always talk about him high.

Speaker 2 (18:18):
Pointing the ball and keeping the ball high is that
is that something that he is that he's learning more
importantly now.

Speaker 6 (18:27):
Than he did this passage. Yeah, so Mark, this will
resonate with you. Madus last year didn't always trust his
legs in his jumping, in his quickness versus the competition,
the elite shot blocker, the elite athleticism and quickness that
appear in the sec It took him a little bit

(18:49):
of time to say back to himself, like, am I okay,
if I turn and try to shoot.

Speaker 5 (18:55):
This ball, am I going to get it blocked? Right?

Speaker 6 (18:59):
If I if I keep the ball high, will that work?
And the thing that he learned is if he doesn't
keep the ball high and think like.

Speaker 5 (19:08):
That, it never works.

Speaker 6 (19:10):
As a matter of fact, it makes them quicker and
more athletic, right, and they start to gain confidence that
this guy isn't up to task.

Speaker 5 (19:18):
But what Modest learned as.

Speaker 6 (19:20):
The year went on is that he's more agile, he's
more explosive. And then the other part is he just
got stronger. And as he got stronger, he became more agile,
more explosive. And I think he learned to trust that
if he turns that he can go up right away
and score. He doesn't have to bring the ball down
and flop or look for a foul or pivot, So

(19:41):
he does those things more better. If you think about
how he ended the season, he was starting to do
those types of things more and more than he would
have early in the non conference play. So I think
when you watch him now, he's picked up where he's
left off. And now we're trying to add to that
where you only trusts himself in that space. But I
believe he actually super confident, like he feels like he

(20:04):
can go against anybody, which is which is more important
than maybe any attribute for a player.

Speaker 5 (20:09):
Confidence.

Speaker 3 (20:10):
Yeah, we're talking to Texas.

Speaker 1 (20:12):
Basketball coach Sean Miller, and coach I wanted to ask
you this because you're very direct when you talk to
your players, and you make them understand that, Hey, this
is coming from a place I need you to get better.
Number one, Number two, I'm here for you, but I'm
gonna give you the path to be able to do this.
One of your biggest sticking points last year's season was
the lack of defense. That guy's not understanding how important

(20:35):
the defensive end is. Now that you've evaluated some of
your players, I know it doesn't happen until you get
on the court, But do they have a better understanding
of what it is that you're looking for.

Speaker 6 (20:46):
So a year ago, to some degree, you know, it
wasn't always like I'm not going to try on defense.
You know, sometimes when a coach starts to criticize his
own defense, his own team's criticizing from the perspective of
they're not doing what I'm asking them to do. So
a lot of it was not in that category. It

(21:08):
was just simply like the team that we had. We
didn't have great size on the perimeter. We didn't have
great depth as a team, and what gives a lot
of times is like steals, field goal percentage, the fouling.
I thought there were times when and we proved that
we could do it, that you can play really discipline
defense and foul less like I think like as a player,

(21:30):
to some degree, you're in control of that. It took
us a long time to get.

Speaker 5 (21:35):
That last year.

Speaker 6 (21:36):
But when we did, you saw that we were a
much more difficult team to beat. I think just number one,
personnel wise, we have better size on.

Speaker 5 (21:45):
The perimeter and more depth.

Speaker 6 (21:47):
I just think those two things solve a lot of
our problems.

Speaker 5 (21:49):
A year ago.

Speaker 6 (21:50):
But it can't be the same story the second time around.
We have to be able to point towards improvement. More deflections,
more steals, more block shots, team that fouls less because
to really compete, to do what we want to do,
we have to be able to be good both on
offense and defense. Last year, many of our victories were

(22:11):
carried on just one side of the ball. We outscored
the other team with elite shot making or scoring. We
want to be able to win with different ways this year.
And my hope is you guys can point towards our
improved defense.

Speaker 1 (22:23):
And one of the other things is you went out
and got some great freshmen. You know, you look at
what Austin Gooseby was able to do. He actually got
a chance to play with Marcus Spears junior, another freshman
that is coming in, but also bo Ogden.

Speaker 3 (22:35):
This is a nucleus of the future.

Speaker 1 (22:38):
As we like to say, how excited are you to
see their development and their trajectory as they play for
the University of Texas.

Speaker 5 (22:46):
Very excited.

Speaker 6 (22:47):
When you become the coach hit Texas, you know, everything
has to start in our state and when we target
a young prospect who's in high schools born in Dallas,
lives in Dallas, in Houston, lives in our state. You know,
we may not always be successful, but we have to
die trying, you know, we have to try to convince

(23:08):
them to come to our program, this great university here
in Austin. So I think the fact that we were
able to get those guys both who's mister basketball in
the state, Marcus who is one of the best players
in America and Dittoh Frostin that was a big part
of our momentum. You know, to be the best, you
have to be able to recruit at a high level.

(23:30):
And we don't want to just depend on the portal,
and we don't want to just depend on convincing those
who are already here to come back. You have to
be able to hit all three high school recruiting, retention,
and then the right portal guys. So that's part of
our philosophy. And I'm glad that we can speak to
like this is what we hope to accomplish and we

(23:50):
were able to do it.

Speaker 1 (23:51):
Yeah, And the last thing for me, you really want
to make the Moody your place that team's fear coming into.
And I know you wanted to speak to the fans
and let them know about that too. That's the expectation,
and that's what you're trying to build here.

Speaker 6 (24:06):
For sure the best places in the country in any sport.
So I'll use two is the example here football in volleyball,
our fan base comes to watch Texas. It's nice when
Ohio State is the opponent. It might be more exciting
for the rest of the world, but it doesn't matter

(24:27):
who we play in that stadium. They're coming to watch
arch Manning. They're coming to watch coach Sark. They're coming
to watch a team that has aspirations and goals to
win it all. Jared elliott I go to the Gregory
Jim and I watch his team play, the pageantry, the
student section, the feeling there. It's great if they play Nebraska,

(24:49):
but if they don't, they're coming to cheer on a
program that's excellent. They know that they're watching a program
that's trying to win it all. And that's what we
want to become in Moody with men's basketball, and you
know Vick Schaeffer in his program speak to it. I
think they've won now maybe over forty in a row,
and their fan base comes to watch a group of

(25:11):
people and players that are excellent, that are trying to
win and compete for the top prize.

Speaker 5 (25:16):
So our first job is to be good.

Speaker 6 (25:19):
And then once I think we're that, then I think
the expectation becomes, like, let's make this a special place.
Then one of the great I think decisions that our
university made and Chrys Delcante is to keep the capacity
in Moody under eleven thousand. It's a sweet spot where
a gaming game out we can fill it. And I

(25:40):
think if I gave one direction to our to our fans,
or asked for one favor, it would be that if
you own season tickets or you love our team and
you like coming to games, when that moment arises where
you can't come to the game Thanksgiving, I'm going away
give your tickets to a neighbor or somebody who can.
And I think the more that we can have that

(26:02):
building full, it energizes our group and it's in alignment
with what we're trying to do be the best.

Speaker 2 (26:08):
Yeah, cause sometimes you get people in the stadium, they
just come in like.

Speaker 5 (26:14):
Fifteen minutes after.

Speaker 2 (26:15):
The game has started, Like what what do you do
to get people to come, sit their buzzed down and
be ready for the tip off rather than you know,
hanging out in the mezanine drinking and even barbecue.

Speaker 6 (26:29):
Yeah, that's the one thing about the Moody It's such
a world class building. It's so nice that sometimes I
don't blame a mark for staying. But I'll tell you this,
I'd rather have the fan who's there and walks through
his seats a couple of minutes late, then have the
same fan who has tickets and doesn't come to the
game or doesn't come and give that friend or neighbor

(26:50):
or somebody else those tickets who they know that they
would come. So we're going to try to fill it
at gaming game out. And look, that's part of my
job as the head coach here at Texas is to
develop that to I think make the Moody Center a
fun place to watch college basketball. And we're hard to

(27:11):
work behind the scenes different ways with our students, different
ways with our administration and even our own team to
make sure that we're a team they that our fans
want to come and watch.

Speaker 1 (27:22):
You make sure you get your butt to the Moody Center.
Sean Miller needs you there as always coach, thank you
for taking the time.

Speaker 3 (27:28):
We appreciate you.

Speaker 1 (27:30):
And that is coach Sean Miller getting fans ready and
his team ready for the basketball season. Right here on
the Morning Kickoff on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred to
Zone and always Free on the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 3 (27:46):
Welcome back to the Morning Kickoff. Great stuff.

Speaker 1 (27:48):
To kick off the show, Sam Achell talking about the
University of Texas football team. He believes that they're going
to have a shot to play for a national championship,
and of course, with an interview with Sean Miller coming
up at the top of the hour, I will have
the coach who coached both Marcus Spears junior and Austin Gooseby,

(28:11):
my man, coach Manny Carlton will be joining us to
talk about these kids, the expectations and how they have
developed and watched them grow and what they can do
for the University of Texas. Last week at SEC Media Days,
we had a conversation and Coach Sark talked about having
to let guys go and for cap space and all

(28:32):
those different things, and people were in an uproar.

Speaker 3 (28:35):
Well, yesterday he was on Rich.

Speaker 1 (28:37):
Eisen and he kind of cleared up that conversation to
why he made those comments at the.

Speaker 8 (28:44):
Ten yard line with an opportunity to go play for
a national championship, ten and three doesn't feel good enough.
And so you have to evaluate your roster. And then
you've got players on your current roster that other schools
are recruiting and they're offering you know how amounts of
money too, and then you have to make really difficult
decisions because like, coming off of last year's team, I

(29:07):
had to let probably you know, five or six really
good players leave because of the amount of money that
other schools were offering them to ultimately clear cap space
so that I could then go sign other transfers to
where I felt like we could upgrade our roster. And
you know, people are like, how could he say that
out loud? Well, I'm saying it out loud because that's

(29:29):
the reality of where we're at in college football. I
could sit here and make up some story, but that
that's where we're at. And to think that we're the
only school doing that, I think people have their head
in the sand.

Speaker 5 (29:40):
And so, but that's where we're.

Speaker 8 (29:42):
At, and that's the evolution, and that's the ability to
adapt to the times of where we're at in college
football today.

Speaker 1 (29:47):
And that's the interesting point too, because coach Sark made
the comment and a lot of people took it out
of context and ran with it about clearing up the
cap space. And another part of it is, too, is
negotiation time. Guys thought they deserved a little bit more
money and they didn't get it, so they got it
somewhere else and they had to go. So we can't
always take what these coaches say and run with it.

(30:11):
We gotta drill down and get to the crux of
why these comments. The one thing I do say Coach
Sean Miller, Coach Steve Sarcuse, and coach Slasnagel, all the
coach Vick Schaeffer, all the coaches here at the University
of Texas, they seem to be straight shooters. And we'll
hear from another straight shooter in Kirk Signetti a little

(30:32):
bit later, but coming up next, the Dallas Cowboys are
in camp. Dak Prescott is comfortable and coach Schottenheimer is
fired up for one George Pickens. You'll hear that all
right here on the morning kickoff on sports Radio AM
thirteen hundred, The Zone and always free on the iHeartRadio App.

Speaker 3 (30:50):
Welcome back to.

Speaker 1 (30:51):
The morning kickoff right here on Sports Radio AM thirteen
hundred the Zone and always free on the iHeartRadio App.
Coming up at the top of the hour, we will
have a many Carlton, who was the coach of both
Marcus Spears Junior and Austin Gooseby this year, and get
a chance to talk to him about those young players

(31:12):
and how they've developed over the years. We also have
Anne Parker Coleman joining us at eight seventeen. She's back
after her wedding and being on vacation and now after
SEC media Day, she's ready to rock and roll. But
right now I want to continue the conversations about the
Dallas Cowboys. The Dallas Cowboys are in Oxnart. They're getting

(31:32):
a lot of pub they too, like the Texas Longhorns.
Some folks are like, let me see, you got to
figure it out.

Speaker 3 (31:39):
We let's see what happens first.

Speaker 1 (31:41):
But then there are some that believe that Dallas has
built this organization, this team into a championship caliber football team.

Speaker 3 (31:51):
But we shall see.

Speaker 1 (31:52):
But the leader of this team, who just had his
birthday turned thirty three years old, the all time leading
passer for the Dallas Cowboys. Dak Prescott met with the
media yesterday and kind of talked about where he is
as a quarterback, but more importantly, what his goals are
this year.

Speaker 3 (32:12):
I'm never gonna put a celing on how good I
can be.

Speaker 9 (32:16):
Yeah, there's two throws I went back from today's practice,
or through a throw and a half.

Speaker 3 (32:21):
I guess you could say, uh, but very comfortable. It's
just life.

Speaker 9 (32:25):
You grow, you mature, you go through things, you have kids. Uh,
you understand that that it's about the way that you
approach teaching every day. I'm thankful for where I'm at.
I'm thankful for this team. I'm thankful for the leaders
that we have shotty To Jones, what they've done at
this organization.

Speaker 1 (32:45):
And he's proud of one of his star wide receivers.
We also know what Ceedee Lamb is going to bring
to the table. But the person who's been getting the
most conversation this offseason is one George Pickens, and George
Pickens understands the importance of this season playing on the

(33:06):
franchise tag, being one of those hungry wide receivers and
kind of like the situation with Baker Mayfield in Tampa
Bay and he feels disrespected Baker, that is, and he
said it was unfavorable the offer that they made. Well,
George Pickens is kind of in that situation. If Baker

(33:27):
goes out and plays great, the money's gonna go even higher.
And that's the same situation right here with George Pickens.

Speaker 3 (33:36):
But he's shown up.

Speaker 1 (33:37):
He looks like he's in great shape, He's done some
amazing things, and Coach Schottenheimer is fired up from what
he's seen so far from George Pickens.

Speaker 8 (33:47):
George Pickens today was as dialed in in meetings as
I've seen him.

Speaker 10 (33:51):
I think you're going to see a very motivated George
Pickens going into the season and.

Speaker 3 (33:54):
Great news for us and maybe bad news for the
rest of thee And that's the important part, because if.

Speaker 1 (34:00):
You can get him on the same page with one
Dak Prescott, CD Lamb, Jake ferguson the running game, We've
already talked about it. This team is an elite offensive
football team. Gotti greatest offense in football. That is what

(34:24):
they are thinking about. That is their goal for this
football team. But when you start to look at Dallas,
the schedule, the expectations, who's doing what?

Speaker 3 (34:34):
How this is going to happen.

Speaker 1 (34:37):
They're coming off of a seven to nine and one
football season. You start looking at this offense as one
of the greatest. On defense, you have Demarvin Overshawn looking good,
ready to play sideline, the sideline type of player. You
have Deron Bland in the secondary. We heard from s

(35:00):
Attenheimer yesterday talking about the battles that will be going
on in the secondary because they can't give up those
types of plays anymore.

Speaker 3 (35:09):
You've seen what and heard what Caleb Downs is.

Speaker 1 (35:12):
If you're a Texas Longhorn fan, you know what Caleb
Downs is because you've seen him the last few years,
whether he was at Alabama or at Ohio State, He's
shown up every single time. But are the Cowboys actually
positioned to contend a Are they We're hearing that annual
optimism that everybody always has at the beginning.

Speaker 3 (35:35):
Of the year.

Speaker 1 (35:35):
Yeah, Cowboys, they look good, man. Oh, they're the team.
Is there another team that is out there in that East,
like the Philadelphia Eagles who's had a lot of change too.

Speaker 3 (35:47):
They got rid of AJ Brown.

Speaker 1 (35:49):
AJ Brown is gone, so their headache at the wide
receiver position is something that's totally different than what the
Cowboys are. But if they can get everything figured out
with the secondary and that the run stop on the defense,
I believe that this is a team that can contend

(36:10):
for a at least at least an NFC Championship game.
It's NFC Championship Game or bus for me, and I
say this every year, and I know my boy Gooch
is gonna text me and be like, man, why are
you still rolling with the clowns? And it was like,
I like the circus sometimes, you know, I like to
see what the circus brings because there is some good

(36:35):
within there. As I just mentioned, Dak Prescott through for
over four thousand yards last year. You had two wide
receivers go over one thousand yards last year. You had
a running back that was trying to prove something that
wanted to come to Dallas after an injured field season

(36:57):
in Denver, gets there and he goes for over one
thousand yards. So you've had a unbelievable offense. You know this,
But it's that defense that has to get the Cowboys
over the hump and bringing back and bringing in different voices,
different types of players and guys that understand that if

(37:21):
you win a championship with the Dallas Cowboys, do you
understand your legacy? And I believe that's what Dak is
chasing right now, that legacy moment. Look, I don't have
to y'all, don't have to ask me about Dak Prescott.
Y'all know how I roll and how I feel about
that quarterback. I think he's been unfairly treated the entire time.

(37:47):
Does he have to make plays, absolutely, crunch time for sure.
Does he have to win? Does he have to get
to that NFC championship game? Absolutely? But like I saw
an interview from many mature on the baseball field, he
was talking about, y'all, do realize that it is a
team game. In the team game being what it is

(38:10):
when it comes to the Dallas Cowboys, Top ten, top fifteen,
top twenty defense, anything's better than what we saw last year.
Anything help me help you get to the championship. Our
number one is in the books. Coming up next, we're
gonna talk about these young players at the University of Texas,

(38:34):
what they bring in somebody who's worked very, very closely
with them. He gives us a chance to go behind
the curtain right here on the morning Kickoff on sports
Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone and always free.

Speaker 3 (38:46):
On the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 1 (38:49):
Welcome back to our number two of the morning kickoff
right here on sports Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone
and always free on the iHeartRadio App. You know, it's
very rare when you can get two kids from the
same program to get an opportunity to come to the
same school. In college, there's so many different people from

(39:12):
all different walks of life, especially in this day and age.
And as you get a chance to get not one,
but two phenomenal young freshmen to come to the University
of Texas, it also bodes well for the coaches and
the coaching staff. So if we get a chance to

(39:34):
get an opportunity to talk to a person who had
the opportunity to coach both of these young men, you
got to reach out.

Speaker 3 (39:42):
And we are being joined.

Speaker 1 (39:43):
By Drive Nation eybl director and seventeen U head coach.
My guy, coach, Manny Carlton and coach. Appreciate you getting
up with us to be able to talk this morning.
But more importantly, I wanted to ask you this because
you you've been around the game for a long time,
You've dealt with a lot of different players, and now

(40:05):
this past year and a couple of seasons, you got
a chance to work with a young man named Marcus
Spears junior who reclassed and came to the University of
Texas early.

Speaker 3 (40:15):
And then you went out and.

Speaker 1 (40:16):
Got a young man named Austin Gooseby and brought him
to your program. And both of these guys have done
an unbelievable job, and now they're on the forty acres.

Speaker 10 (40:26):
Yes, sir, yes, sir man. There's been a longer journey
than people really realize. I met Austin and using third grade.
I met Marcus when he's in middle school, and we
always talk about that eight factor both players.

Speaker 5 (40:39):
Man.

Speaker 10 (40:40):
Five minutes with him, I was like, they're going to
be a high level basketball player, no question.

Speaker 3 (40:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (40:44):
And that's one of the things too, that Sean Miller
has kind of addressed this past week.

Speaker 3 (40:48):
He talked about it.

Speaker 1 (40:49):
He said, both of these guys, their work ethic is
within them.

Speaker 3 (40:54):
They automatically know what it looks like.

Speaker 1 (40:56):
Obviously, with Austin and his brother Trevor, and his dad Michael,
and his brother Grant, they've already been competitive. But then
you look at Marcus Spears junior and his unique situation
where both parents were high level athletes.

Speaker 3 (41:11):
They work hard.

Speaker 1 (41:12):
They got a sister that's here on the forty Acres
as well who's doing great work and back in volleyball.
But sometimes it has to be within you, and we
can lead you to the water, we can't make you drink,
and those guys have definitely been drinking out of the
same water.

Speaker 10 (41:29):
Man one hundred percent, you hit around the head. We
come across a lot of talented kids, but those two
specifically have a purity and a love for the game
that's really just unparalleled. Never had to ask any of
them if they wanted to work out, they would beat
me to the gym.

Speaker 5 (41:43):
So, like you said, it had to be in you
if you really wanted to work out.

Speaker 1 (41:45):
And so for you, Coach Matt, we're talking to coach
Manny of Drive Nation and eybl and Dynamic Prep. I
wanted to ask you this because me and you have
got a chance to talk, We got a chance to
know each other. I know how your mind works, I
know how the inner has to be. But you, like
you said earlier, you've been around a lot of talented kids,
and you've seen guys go to the next level. You

(42:08):
work with Jermaine O'Neill himself and you coach his son
as well, and there's just certain things that coaches look
for that that put.

Speaker 3 (42:18):
These teams together.

Speaker 1 (42:19):
But you also have to get those guys prepared for
the next level and what it brings. Was there ever
a moment that both of these guys or you could
talk about Austin first and go to Marcus, but where
you really had to sit down with them and say, hey,
there's more in you, go ahead and bring it all
out right now.

Speaker 5 (42:38):
No, for sure.

Speaker 10 (42:39):
I think I had that conversation first with Austin. It
was probably like late mark season, late March of this
past year, where he was being kind of passive in
a game and just really he's very clear. I was like, hey, like,
do you understand how good you're supposed to be at
this game? You need to be more certive and leave
your impact and that's not just scoring, that's leading your
impact the way that you and on both sides of

(43:01):
the ball. I feel like you're not maximizing when you're
supposed to be. That was the one and only time
we had that conversation. We end up taking over the
game and having come back victory. So that for sure
with him and then Marcus has more been gradual. Just
over the years, as I see his capacity increase, I
started to ask more of him for us to win
the game or for us to be in specific situations

(43:23):
that I wanted to be in as a coach. So
just hey, Marcus, I would love it. We can want
a six over run eight or runner. Hey Marcus, let
me see if we can get turkeys getting three stops
in a row. Just trying to challenge in the game
within the game, and both of them answer the call.

Speaker 5 (43:35):
I mean immensely.

Speaker 1 (43:37):
Coach, I wanted to ask you too, because these guys
are getting an opportunity to play at one.

Speaker 3 (43:42):
Of the major universities, the University.

Speaker 1 (43:45):
Of Texas, the flagship station, which we are in the
flagship university. But I sit there and I wonder, you know,
sometimes the game is a little bit faster for those
freshmen when they first get on campus.

Speaker 3 (43:59):
It's a little bit different.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
But you guys have been playing elite competition for such
a long time. Do you see these guys being able
to make an impact early or should we just kind
of be a little bit more patient with them? Just
a little bit when they get to the university. I
put pressure on them. I expected, man, I do.

Speaker 10 (44:20):
I've watched both of them grew up playing a step
ahead of their competition in terms of just the mental
capacity of the game. We were practicing out at twenty
and twenty four second shot clock in high school and
the practices.

Speaker 5 (44:30):
So I'm putting pressure on them. I expect them hit
the floor running.

Speaker 3 (44:33):
Yeah, no doubt about it. That's exactly what a lot of.

Speaker 1 (44:35):
Folks around here are, you know, becoming McDonald's All American
or become the one that was the ranked the number
one player in your class for no reason and not
be able to come out here and expect to get busy.
H What is the ceiling would you say? For Austin
and of course Marcus Spears junior.

Speaker 10 (44:56):
Quite simply, man, just being a high level basketball player,
being an NBA player is dea in their ceiling. They
impact winning in so many ways and such minute details
that I mean, the ceilings me has always been the
same seilings as I met them, being a high level
NBA player.

Speaker 1 (45:11):
Yeah, and I think a lot of folks are looking
at that when you guys are traveling around. I know
that it can be a circus sometimes, and there's a
lot of professionalism that is formed when you get a
chance to travel and playing some of these leagues, like
you guys have done that. What have they taken from
you guys as far as the maturity level? I know

(45:32):
what their home structure is, but you guys as head
coaches and being able to teach them the ways of
college basketball and of course the NBA level. What were
some of the things that kind of stood out from
both of these guys.

Speaker 5 (45:46):
Honestly, I can't take any credit for it. I feel
like the process itself taught themselves. I mean having to.

Speaker 10 (45:52):
Be early, not just on time, but having to be
early to shoot around, having to be early to the bus,
the demanding schedule we played, I mean fifty somethings last year,
so both of them never laid once, always professional to
shoot around, always professional through the process.

Speaker 5 (46:06):
So just growing through that almost every.

Speaker 10 (46:08):
Single day and being the manage your best I think
has really helped mold his shape too.

Speaker 1 (46:13):
They are today and what is Jermaine kind of giving
those guys Talking about the professionalism, we saw some of
the behind the scenes conversations when you guys were traveling
and they had those cameras in the locker room. Jermaine
didn't hold his tongue very much, did he?

Speaker 10 (46:29):
Absolutely not, man, And that's really a big blessing they
were able to have having an NBA All Star like
Jermaine to hold them to even higher level of accountability.
So every day they're being forced to really meet that
expectation of a throw in the making, right, So I
think that helped mold them even more. And you can
go through Jermaine and can go through anything there. So
it's a super high level accountability thing. Man, I knew

(46:51):
it growth and growing then for sure, that's awesome.

Speaker 1 (46:54):
And then this past year, you guys have had you
lost some guys, guys left early. You have some things
going on, but you found your way in peach jam
and got got deep into the peach gym. And I
think you were down to what six players at one
point and was able to continue to roll. I think
that's a lot of credit to you too, and your
ability to coach these kids and be able to make

(47:16):
some things happen.

Speaker 10 (47:17):
Man, First and foremost, all glory to God. I really
appreciate you, and I appreciate that compliment.

Speaker 7 (47:22):
Man.

Speaker 10 (47:23):
I'm just grateful for the opportunity that it happened, not
just for myself but for the boys as well.

Speaker 5 (47:27):
It was a whole lot of fun, man, just being
able to go out there.

Speaker 10 (47:30):
I love nothing more than to compete, and those six
boys wanted to compete at the highest of the possible.

Speaker 3 (47:35):
So it was fun run for sure, no doubt, no doubt.

Speaker 1 (47:37):
So give us something that we should look for from
each of these guys. I know you told them the
high motor, their their their capabilities, But what is one
thing that you think Marcus is really really good at
and one thing you think that Austin is really good at?

Speaker 10 (47:53):
Man, from Marcus, as skilled as he is, he's such
a connector. He's able to guard multiple position, He's able
to make the extra pass. People always talk about the
length and athleticism, but I'm in love. This is intangibles, right,
the little things, the details, and that's something that he
harps on as a player. So really expect that diving
on a loose ball to win a game. He's more
like to do that than anyone else I've ever met.

(48:15):
So those little things with him. Austin Gooseby's floor vision
is just impeccable. He loves making the right pass. He
loves getting his teammates involved, using the gravity that he
creates from his talents to get better opportunities for his teammates.
So I expect him to be a high level playmaker,
scoring on all three levels. So just a certain level
of just great maturity emploise that not many underclass and

(48:38):
may have. I expect both of them to obtain that.
How many games are gonna be at this year? Because
I know you, hey, Man, as many as I possibly canny,
you won't be hearing me screaming.

Speaker 1 (48:50):
I appreciate that Coach Manny as always man continued success,
continue helping these players get to that next level and
achieve those dreams. But more importantly, Man, keep being you, man,
because there's not a lot of them out there like you.

Speaker 3 (49:04):
Man.

Speaker 5 (49:05):
Appreciate you, man, God, thank you so much for your times.

Speaker 3 (49:08):
Appreciate you.

Speaker 1 (49:09):
Here he is coach Manny teaching these young players how
to get to the next level, and he's done a
heck of a job. Obviously, the University of Texas knows
where to go, and he's got that connect as well.

Speaker 3 (49:23):
When we come back, we're.

Speaker 1 (49:24):
Gonna make an appearance, That's right, she's back. She is
going to make an appearance and Parker Coleman of KAVU,
we'll be back to talk to us.

Speaker 3 (49:33):
She was at SEC.

Speaker 1 (49:34):
Media Days and I wanted to ask her her thoughts
on the Texas football team and the expectations of this season,
all that and more right here on the Morning Kickoff
on Sports Radio and thirteen hundred The Zone and always.

Speaker 3 (49:48):
Free on the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 1 (49:51):
Welcome back to the Morning Kickoff, right here on Sports
Radio AM thirteen hundred The Zone. We've had to build up.
We've been excited about it. But she he is officially back.
She's a married woman now, but she's still making time
for us. She is the one and only Anne Parker
Coleman of KVW making her triumphant return back to the

(50:16):
Morning Kickoff.

Speaker 3 (50:18):
AP Let's get right into it.

Speaker 1 (50:20):
Got a chance to see you at SEC Media Days,
and everybody was excited.

Speaker 3 (50:26):
There was a lot of.

Speaker 1 (50:27):
Energy, but a lot of people were taking shots at
the Texas Longhorns, trying to figure out like all Texas
thinks they're gonna win it.

Speaker 3 (50:35):
But the SEC.

Speaker 1 (50:36):
Voting came out and Georgia was still the number one team.
I still don't understand why people think that everybody's crowning Texas,
but it's not even close to that, is it.

Speaker 11 (50:48):
Well.

Speaker 12 (50:49):
I mean, if you look at history, it would say
Georgia has Texas beed? I mean, when you look at
the roadmap to an SEC title or a national title
for Texas, the thing that you have to get through
is Georgia, and so far you've gone zero to three
against them the past three seasons. So I think in

(51:11):
that regard, the voting is kind of correct, like Texas
hasn't proved anything. I think you've got to prove it
before you can get the recognition of, you know, being
preseason number one.

Speaker 11 (51:24):
And the end of the day, these things don't really matter.

Speaker 12 (51:27):
It's pretty much just they're just predictions and something for
us to talk about because we love football and we
have nothing to talk about yet because nobody's playing football.

Speaker 1 (51:36):
Right right And that's one of the things too that
I was I've been kind of locked into this journey
of the season because there's so many different angles, there's
so many different storylines, new coaches, coaches going from one
school in the SEC going to a rival in the SEC.
You got quarterbacks that are fighting for eligibility. You have

(51:58):
the hype machine, as quote people like to say with
arch Manning, is it now or never for coach Sark.
There's so many storylines that everybody's trying to grasp at.
But what was something that you took away from SEC
Media Days that kind of stood out to you as
a whole or for the University of Texas.

Speaker 12 (52:18):
Yeah, something that I found really interesting has just been
the bonding that the emphasis I guess that Texas has
been putting on bonding. I've heard about it at SEC
Media Days, and there's actually been a couple of things
that I've heard since then just about how much they've
been putting in time for that.

Speaker 11 (52:39):
You know, at SEC Media Days, I saw that.

Speaker 12 (52:44):
Arch or no excuse me, Colin Simmons had posted an
Instagram story saying BTA at arch Manning or maybe it
was first arch Manning said that to Colin Simmons.

Speaker 11 (52:53):
It doesn't matter.

Speaker 12 (52:54):
But we asked him about that, being like, okay, what's
going on here? They had a scavenger hunt? I mean
hard on we figured out that they had a scavenger
hunt that apparently got very competitive.

Speaker 11 (53:04):
It kept coming up. You know, if it was Colin, if.

Speaker 5 (53:07):
It was Arch.

Speaker 12 (53:07):
We talked to Trevor Gooseby about it. Everybody had a
lot to say about this scavenger hunt. And it sounds
silly because you know, these team bonding things. A lot
of times, whether you're on a football team or even
like in the corporate roles, they'll force you to do
team bonding. It's not always fun. You don't always love it.
But these guys were clearly very into it. And the

(53:29):
other things that we had heard about, I guess team
bonding too was with Trevor Gooseby. I mean, you think
about some units that really need to be bonded with.
The offensive line stands out more than anything, and Trevor
Gooseby talked so much about all the things that they
have been doing as an offensive line to.

Speaker 11 (53:48):
Build that continuity, to build that bond.

Speaker 12 (53:50):
And you know, along with the scavenger hunt that we
kept hearing about, a big thing for them has been
eating meals together.

Speaker 11 (53:57):
And then they took a.

Speaker 12 (53:58):
Fishing trip recently to a ranch where I don't think
any of them caught any fish.

Speaker 11 (54:04):
But a lot of fun was had and they bonded right.

Speaker 1 (54:07):
And that's one of the things too. We're talking to
Anne Parker Coleman of Caview. One of the things that
we always try to look at and you hit the
nail on the head. Even in the corporate world, they're
always trying to do these bonding events. And one of
the things that Coach Stark talked about early was that
he wanted to make sure that the culture Wednesdays were

(54:29):
started earlier this year than what they had been done
in the past, because there's so many new people that
are here on the forty Acres, whether it's incoming freshmen
or it was the transferst and that was something that
was very important to him. I know that he made
some headways and we played some sound a little bit
earlier about his comments about the cap space and how

(54:52):
it was open, and he gave it some clarity on
The Rich Eisen Show yesterday talking about, well, we kind
of out they got out priced in certain situations and
was still trying to build some things. But one of
the things I wanted to ask you is we're in
the day and age now that that is going to
be norm of the conversation until everything gets kind of

(55:15):
leveled out.

Speaker 12 (55:17):
Yeah, And that's why I'm glad that he went on
the Rich Eisen Show yesterday and kind of clarified.

Speaker 11 (55:23):
What he said at a SEC Media Days.

Speaker 12 (55:25):
It really wasn't different at all, but he just felt
like he said it a second time.

Speaker 13 (55:30):
But again, that's why I go back to bonding and
you write Culture Wednesdays being so important because not only
does you know the transfer portal brings in so many
new faces, but this is uneven playing field now with
the fact that you're literally paying players like a guy
like Kim Coleman and arch Man, and how are they

(55:51):
supposed to feel equal and bonded to you know, whoever's
fifth on the depth chart, never going to see playing time.

Speaker 11 (56:00):
It is as a whole new world, and so much
of it is dictated by money.

Speaker 12 (56:05):
I mean, how many conversations have we had this week
about the Jersey patches and whether Texas should accept some
because Ohio State and Notre Dame were doing it, and
you know, just the hoops that people are willing to
jump through now to get money. It's all dictated by money.
And I think that that's why it's so important that
you bring in Culture Wednesdays, that you emphasize bonding. I

(56:27):
think that's why starting Culture Wednesdays earlier and why they've
been doing.

Speaker 11 (56:31):
You know, it feels like they've really been going.

Speaker 12 (56:33):
Like the extra mile in making sure all the guys
are bonded.

Speaker 1 (56:37):
I wanted to ask you too, because heading into the season,
obviously a lot of anticipation for this Texas football team.
We're thirty six days away from the first game against
Texas against Texas State, but everybody talks about Ohio State
and last year's performance and how at the end people

(56:58):
were like, well, was it the Ohio State game?

Speaker 3 (57:00):
Or was it the Florida game?

Speaker 1 (57:01):
Does the Ohio State game mean more than anything else?
I mean, every game on the schedule means more nowadays.
But with the expanded field, Texas not getting in last year,
still finishing ten and three, is this a season that
Texas not only has to get in to the College
Football playoffs, but they have to win the college football playoffs?

Speaker 11 (57:23):
Yeah, it's funny, that's the question.

Speaker 12 (57:26):
I feel like we kept hearing at SEC media days
is it national title or bust for Texas?

Speaker 11 (57:33):
And ah, gosh, is it? You know, I go back
and forth on this so much. You do have to
make the College football playoffs?

Speaker 3 (57:43):
Yep?

Speaker 11 (57:43):
Absolutely, I think anything less than.

Speaker 12 (57:47):
I almost think you have to make a national championship
birth maybe you don't even win, but I think you
almost have to be at that in that championship game
this year, just because of all the talent that you
have on the roster. Yes, you do have or tmanning it.
Unfortunately for him, the expectations are astronomical. There's there's a
sky high. You can't anything less than a national title

(58:09):
for him, I think people will call him of us
and I don't think that that's fair, but I think
that that is what people will say. And to go
back to your previous point, because I've heard you had
conversations about this this week.

Speaker 11 (58:21):
It was a Florida game. It was not Ohio State.
It was the Florida game that was the nail on
the calf from for Texas.

Speaker 12 (58:27):
If they would have beat Florida, they probably would have
been into CFP. And honestly, by the way that they
were playing at the end of the season, they could
have had they should have made a.

Speaker 11 (58:37):
Good run too.

Speaker 3 (58:38):
I agree with you on that one hundred percent.

Speaker 1 (58:40):
I do want to ask you this because looking at
the schedule, which game, excluding the Ohio State game, which
game stands out to you as either one of the
toughest ones or one of those that AH can't slip
up in that one.

Speaker 11 (58:56):
Yeah, gosh, I would go.

Speaker 12 (59:02):
I think Tennessee on the road playing in Niland, that's
one that you you can't flip up.

Speaker 11 (59:07):
And I personally always.

Speaker 12 (59:10):
Think Tennessee is one of those teams that like gets
over hyped into preseason and then they're just you know
and maybe made the college football player, but they're never
anything special.

Speaker 11 (59:19):
But you can't sleep up there.

Speaker 12 (59:20):
And then honestly, I really look forward to LSU on
the road going to Death Valley. You don't really know
what lank iff it is gonna have loaded for his
first year.

Speaker 11 (59:29):
I mean, I guess we do, But that's one again
like that's a crazy environment.

Speaker 12 (59:36):
You know.

Speaker 11 (59:36):
Last year, look at Texas on the road, Sure, Ohio State, Florida.

Speaker 12 (59:41):
They really tripped up at Mississippi State and Kentucky like.

Speaker 11 (59:45):
They were not very good on the road.

Speaker 12 (59:48):
So I think those two games in particular, when you
were in tough environments, that's gonna be tricky.

Speaker 11 (59:54):
You you can't lose those.

Speaker 1 (59:56):
And then I want to ask you this because all
the SEC teams were announced and again one of the
preseason deals you're looking at it and you're like, well,
why is that guy there and this guy's not there?
Why why didn't Hero Canoe get put on a team,
and all these different things. If you have one player
that you are most excited to see, who would that

(01:00:17):
player be for the Texas Longhorns.

Speaker 12 (01:00:20):
Ooh, I'm gonna go with really Brown. I feel like
we keep hearing a lot about him and how explosive
he is in dynamic and obviously Texas didn't have a
run game last year, so I really want to see
them get that back, and I think that he could

(01:00:42):
be key to at So he's probably the guy that
I'm most looking fortant to seeing.

Speaker 1 (01:00:46):
Yeah, he is definitely one of those those home run hitters.
And that's what I kept trying to explain that to
somebody the other day, is like Texas had good running backs,
they just couldn't take it to the house. And it
looks like Hollywood's mothers and Relique Brown have that type
of ability to once they make a guy miss, they
have the ability to stretch the field and get that

(01:01:09):
touchdown and that will help coach Sark in the red
zone and not have to be in the red zone
near as much because they've got some guys that can
make some things happen. I do want to leave you
with this because obviously you've been on vacation, you got married,
you've got a whole new life, but you're back to work.
What is something that you're most excited about now that

(01:01:33):
we're getting ready to head down this home stretch.

Speaker 12 (01:01:37):
I'm excited for Texas football practice to start up.

Speaker 11 (01:01:40):
As a media member, Texas football is so red.

Speaker 12 (01:01:45):
Taped, like we don't you don't get anything from from
these guys except for, like you know, they might let
you have five minutes over pross.

Speaker 11 (01:01:53):
Conference side of it.

Speaker 12 (01:01:54):
But I love preseason when we get to go to
a few practices and actually sit there and watch and again,
it is like maybe two or three practices for maybe
fifteen minutes. It's not a ton of access, but it
is really funny to just go in there and observe
and see everything. Because you know, as a media member,

(01:02:14):
everything that all the information we get is from the players.
It's interesting to go out there before the season and
actually see things for ourselves and actually observe and take
it all in.

Speaker 3 (01:02:27):
Well.

Speaker 1 (01:02:27):
I'm excited about it too. I'm ready for football season.
As I said, thirty six days, but who's counting. Yeah,
and we're going to continue these conversations and I'm glad
that you're back so we can continue to talk about
this before the games and then of course recapping them
every single week. As always, Thank you so much for
taking the time and getting up with us.

Speaker 3 (01:02:48):
And hey, the computer worked.

Speaker 11 (01:02:50):
Yeah, I know. I was a little nervous, so I
was like, we have been doing this in a while.
Is my sounds my audio gonna work? It does? Enhearge
and Parker Clifton.

Speaker 3 (01:03:00):
There it is, there, it is. I know I was waiting.
I was waiting. I know. It's like.

Speaker 11 (01:03:07):
So that's all about.

Speaker 1 (01:03:08):
That does make it a lot easier. As always, Thank
you so much for taking the time. Thanks all right,
when we come back, we're gonna do a different version
of the World's Strongest Take. It's more of the hards
Knocks life, and we're going to hear from one Kurt Signetti.
This is a guy that is ready to dance, he's

(01:03:28):
ready to go into a street fight, and he's got
a lot of confidence in himself. Right here on the
morning kickoff on sports Radio AM thirteen hundred, The Zone
and always.

Speaker 3 (01:03:38):
Free on the iHeartRadio app Get Yourself a dose of Positivity.
I am a positivity magnet.

Speaker 1 (01:03:49):
Right now with a tremendous amount of positivity.

Speaker 4 (01:03:53):
Okay, it's the Hard Knocks Life with Mike Harge.

Speaker 1 (01:03:58):
Great stuff from coach Manny, and of course great stuff
from Ann Parker Coleman.

Speaker 3 (01:04:02):
We're gonna be back in the routine.

Speaker 1 (01:04:04):
We were thirty six days away from Texas and Texas State.
I will give you the complete Texas Athletics Hall of
Honor list in the next segment as we head into
the weekend. But I wanted to play a little bit
of sound from coach Kurt Signetti. Coach has always been

(01:04:25):
a SoundBite waiting to happen. If you remember in the
very beginning when he took over he left James Madison
to go to Indiana, a lot of folks was like,
why do you believe that you're the right guy for Indiana?
And his kent famous words were because I win Google me.
And ever since then, we've always paid attention to some

(01:04:47):
of the things that he had to say. We thought
he was going to fall on his face, not in
a bad way, but just the arrogance and the confidence
in which he shown he was able to go over
there and back it up and eventually win the national title,
going undefeated with Fernando Mendoza winning the Heisman Trophy. Well,

(01:05:09):
now a lot is being debated when it comes to
SEC versus Big Ten and the SEC rain is over
and all this other stuff because over the last three seasons,
Go Michigan, Ohio State, and Indiana all have won the
national title. And con kudos to them and congratulations. But

(01:05:32):
I don't think anyone's truly running around saying SEC is
SEC that. But Kirk Signetti letting you know that, Hey,
we're here for the fight and we're going to continue
to fight.

Speaker 7 (01:05:46):
The Big Ten is the best league in football, and
a lot of really good football teams. It's hard to
win on road, very physical football teams, very well coached.
It definitely prepares you for the playoffs. There's no doubt
about the numbers speak for themselves. I mean, we don't
run a hype machine up here in the Midwest. We

(01:06:07):
believe everything's earned, not given. And when we fall short,
we say we fall short. We don't cry a river
wine and complain, all right, And that's why we're the
best Coachingnetti.

Speaker 3 (01:06:22):
Thank you so much for your time. Thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:06:25):
I mean, he just trying to be matter of fact, right.
We're not running a hype machine. We just go out
there and win. Listen.

Speaker 3 (01:06:34):
I totally totally get all of that. I get it.

Speaker 1 (01:06:38):
But I don't think anybody is fighting or hyping the
SEC that's going overboard. I don't think anybody's hyping or
building up the Big Ten is going overboard.

Speaker 3 (01:06:53):
What I truly understand is when you.

Speaker 1 (01:06:56):
Watch football, and over the last last couple seasons, we
all know that football and any other sport is what
have you done for me lately? Well, lately, the Big
Ten has the ability to boast and brag. Now I
have an idea and it's partially going to happen as

(01:07:19):
Texas will take on Ohio State SEC Big Ten matchup,
Oklahoma will play Michigan SEC Big ten matchup, and there
will be more games in that nature. And I believe
that in every conference, if you were to put them

(01:07:42):
side by side, the top will always be what it
is because it's been very consistent, and the.

Speaker 3 (01:07:50):
Bottom will be what it is.

Speaker 1 (01:07:54):
And if all those teams were to play against each
other and we were go league for league, I think
it would be a pretty evenly matched discussion. As we've
talked about before, the SEC, the Big Ten, certain schools
have a lot of money in the playing field now
is you can pay your players to come to your school.

Speaker 3 (01:08:18):
So there will be a lot.

Speaker 1 (01:08:19):
Of parody in college athletics from top to bottom. But
there will be a time where some of this is
going to max itself out, so to speak, and there
will be a super conference at some point and all
of this discussion will go away. But as somebody that

(01:08:43):
works in the media and somebody that is passionate about sports,
I love it, man, I love it.

Speaker 3 (01:08:52):
It is a conversation piece waiting to happen.

Speaker 1 (01:08:56):
How many of your Big ten friends are calling you
for your SEC buddies that are giving you crap about
your team? Well, you know, the SEC hasn't won the
national championship in over three years.

Speaker 3 (01:09:11):
Yeah, you're right, But that is why you play the game.

Speaker 1 (01:09:16):
That is why we have these discussions, and that is
why football is the greatest at this time of year,
because everybody has their talking points and everybody.

Speaker 3 (01:09:29):
Is ready to rumble.

Speaker 1 (01:09:31):
So shout out to coach Signetti and shout out to
coach Sharp for standing Tinto's down on his business and
that's why he believes his team has got a chance
to play for a national championship.

Speaker 3 (01:09:43):
When we come back, we got the final drive, We've
got some conversations. It's a feel good Friday edition, and
we got some feel good stories.

Speaker 1 (01:09:50):
And of course I'll give you the complete list of
the Texas Athletics Hall of Honors that will take place
September the eighteenth, right here on the morning kickoff on
Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred, The Zone and always free
on the iHeartRadio app. Whatday, great, great show we have
for you today. We started it off by listening to

(01:10:13):
Sam Acho talk about this Texas football team and how
he believes that this team will be able to compete
for a national championship. Then you got a chance to
hear our interview myself and Mark Henry with coach Sean Miller,
men's basketball coach who has been able to construct one
heck of a basketball roster, wants you to fiel the

(01:10:36):
seats in the Moody. We also got a chance to
hear about coach Shark talking about the cap space and
clearing up the comments about what he meant. We also
heard from Dak Prescott, entering his tenth season after ten
seasons in the NFL. He's one of the best and
he believes that this team has a chance to be special.
We also got a chance to talk to the head

(01:10:56):
coach of the Nike eybl seventeen U team that had
Marcus excuse me, Marcus Spears junior on that team, and
he also coached Austin Gooseby. We heard from Ann Parker, Coleman,
and Kurt Signetti Well right now on the Final Drive.
I wanted to give you this on a feel good

(01:11:19):
Friday edition of The Morning Kickoff.

Speaker 3 (01:11:21):
The Texas Athletics Hall.

Speaker 1 (01:11:23):
Of Honor official officially was announced yesterday. The class of
twenty six has thirteen total individuals who will be there.
The ceremony will start at seven o'clock on September the eighteenth,
and then they will be recognized on the game against UTEP.

(01:11:44):
It will open the doors at six point thirty at
the LBJ Auditorium and Conference Center on the ut campus.
Twenty three thirteen Red River Street tickets will be sold.
General admission are available twenty five dollars per person. Cat Bell,
Marcus Boswell, Malcolm Brown, Connie Clark, Ryan Crozer, Jackson, Jeffcoat,

(01:12:07):
who we will get on the show next week, Blair,
Luna and well Out and Mum, Lawrence Stapleton, Amy Shaw,
Janet Walker, Garrett Weber, Gail and Mike Williams. We had
Cat Bell and Mike Williams on the show. If you
missed any part of that, get over to our podcast
page wherever you get your podcast, but of course you

(01:12:28):
can always find it at AM thirteen hundred the Zone
and get the latest.

Speaker 3 (01:12:35):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:12:36):
I told you we want to give a feel good story,
and there's two feel good stories that I wanted to
touch on right now. Jonathan Brooks is one heck of
a football player. We saw him on the forty Acres.
He was one of the best when he got his
opportunity and he ended up having a couple of knee
injuries and not.

Speaker 3 (01:12:54):
Being able to be on the field.

Speaker 1 (01:12:56):
Well, Jonathan brook Brooks had his first day in full
pads in nearly two years.

Speaker 3 (01:13:05):
So good to be back out there. The trusting process
and the trainers and coaches happen me.

Speaker 4 (01:13:10):
And myself throughout the hold the process, and it was
a lesson.

Speaker 3 (01:13:14):
Big to be back happen. Uh no man, no man. Happily.

Speaker 11 (01:13:20):
I don't three day he's as game a turgy.

Speaker 3 (01:13:25):
I guess yes. I felt I would have to let
him back after having fun.

Speaker 1 (01:13:32):
And I'm glad that he is because he is a
special talent. He's gonna get his opportunities in Carolina. Carolina
is building something there and he wants to be a
part of that. And I'm hopeful that he'll get a
chance to continue his journey in the NFL because I
think he's gonna be one of the best backs in

(01:13:53):
the league and that'll give another shining moment for the
Texas Longhorns. Another shining moment for the Texas Longhorns happened
yesterday as one former Longhorn did something that we've seen
him do here on the forty Acres a numerous times.

Speaker 7 (01:14:11):
Feel two from Stromp Clemens in the yuterwhite center field
and deep.

Speaker 4 (01:14:16):
Beckett goes deep, It goes gony.

Speaker 1 (01:14:20):
Clemens wins it and the.

Speaker 3 (01:14:22):
Twins walk off the Royals once.

Speaker 10 (01:14:24):
Again a target failed?

Speaker 4 (01:14:26):
Can you believe it?

Speaker 3 (01:14:28):
Four?

Speaker 5 (01:14:29):
Three? The final down, the final strike?

Speaker 3 (01:14:32):
Twitch when twitch when the Twins win.

Speaker 1 (01:14:40):
Cody Clemens making the most of his opportunities every single
time he gets a big moment. He always seems to
stand there in the face of it and has done
an excellent, excellent job. And that's just another way for
Cody Clemens' legacy to continue to grow. Whether it's on

(01:15:01):
the forty Acres or at the Minnesota Twins, He's done
a really, really great job since then. This weekend is
a big series for the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros.
Both of these teams are trying to find their way
number one above five hundred and to stay there, but

(01:15:21):
this is an opportunity for them to knock each other
out of the park. The Rangers are sitting at fifty
five and fifty four. The Astros are a half game
back of the Rangers, sitting at fifty five and fifty five.
They will go out each other starting tonight. This is
a big series for both teams. This is big moments

(01:15:43):
for both of these teams, and that is why you
need to make sure that you stay locked in all
week in long, because this is gonna be one of
those great series. It'll be on Apple TV tonight, Hunter
Brown versus Nathan Uvaldi. That is a big series for
those that are involved.

Speaker 3 (01:16:01):
Now.

Speaker 1 (01:16:01):
I do want to point out this and Mark is
up at WrestleMania or not, excuse me, not WrestleMania Summer Slam,
and this is a big weekend for Summer Slam, so
he'll be back with us on Tuesday. I'll have Eric
Henry of Horns two four seven joining me as we
get closer and closer. The next week, Texas getting back
onto the football field. Practice will begin once again, and

(01:16:26):
the conversations will be generated a little bit differently and
will be focusing on the Texas Longhorns Texas State the
upcoming matchup for both of these teams. But I wanted
to talk about this because Major League Baseball is in
a tough, tough spot. Their best team and one of

(01:16:46):
their best team, excuse me, not their best teams.

Speaker 3 (01:16:49):
One of the best.

Speaker 1 (01:16:50):
One of the teams that gets a lot of publicity
is the New York Yankees. The New York Yankees are
in a free fall. One of my good friends used
to pitch for the Yankees, he was one of my teammates.
He posted something that is really in a tough spot
and the Yankees have to make some moves, and they

(01:17:10):
got to make some quick moves. And my boy, Joe Asina,
he's a softball coach at a college up north at
Merist and he talked about this. He said, the New
York Yankees as a team has struck out more times
in the last sixteen innings than Luisa Raise did last year.

(01:17:32):
Let that sink in for a minute. The New York
Yankees have struck out more times in the last sixteen innings.

Speaker 3 (01:17:42):
Than one player did in the entire season.

Speaker 1 (01:17:50):
The New York Yankees problem goes back to them. They've
got a shortened up. They got to quit trying to
hit the ball out of the ballpark.

Speaker 3 (01:18:00):
But the analytics tell me to do so.

Speaker 1 (01:18:03):
No, the analytics is showing you that the Yankees are struggling.
They're not scoring runs and if they don't get it
figured out. Once again, we're gonna be having a conversation.

Speaker 3 (01:18:15):
Is Aaron Boone gonna get fired? We talk about it
every week.

Speaker 1 (01:18:19):
Once again, Thank y'all so much for enjoying us all
week long. We'll be back next week bigger and better.
Don't forget Monday. I'll have Eric Henry of Horns two
four seven with us talking all things Texas football. Because
we are right there. And by the way, folks, Jaydon
Blue continues to do well for the Dallas Cowboys. I

(01:18:40):
want to thank Ronald for holding it down. I want
to thank Sam Acho, coach, Sean Miller Manny Carlton, and
of course I want to thank Ann Parker Coleman for
joining me today. And just remember this, folks, don't believe
everything you see, because even salt looks like sugar. Craig
wat showed this afternoon, Dan Patrick, Colin cow heard, and

(01:19:01):
of course Bucky and bk ended all for you right
here on Sports Radio AM thirteen hundred to Zone and
always free on the iHeartRadio app.

Speaker 3 (01:19:10):
Peace