Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's gonna be a big day on Saturday at the
University of Cincinnati. A lot going on. You've got a
baseball game. Jordan Bishall's team is really good and really
fun to watch. It's Bearcats at the ballpark night at GABP.
Lots of stuff happening around the open practice at Nippert Stadium, activations,
as they say in the events business, autographs from some
(00:22):
of the top players, and get a chance to watch
Scott Saderfield's team. They're not going to do a spring game,
it's an open practice, but a lot of eleven on
eleven stuff there at Nippert Stadium, and so hopefully the
weather holds out, will have a good day on Saturday.
You see the head coach of the Bearcats joins as
Scott Saderfield. You have gone through most of your spring practices.
(00:42):
What have you learned so far about your team?
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Yeah, we have, we we've you know, we're we're over
the halfway point now and you've got to finish strong
these these next uh these last few leaks here, and
you know, I think for us, you know, we we
felt like we had, you know, a bunch of guys
that were coming back off a team last year that
I was he started strong, did not finish as well,
but we were able to bring back a lot of
good players and we've been able to continue to develop
(01:06):
those guys and watch them get better and better each
and every practice. But also, you know, bringing in fourteen
transfers into winter Portal along with twelve high school players,
he's really a great chance for us to least see
what those guys can do. And I think we've learned
a lot about those guys over this period of time,
which has been great. A couple of guys that have
stood out. I think Tylee Walker running back they came
(01:29):
in was that Wisconsin last year had eight hundred and
sixty four yards last year and ten touchdowns. He's really
done some great things. He's kind of picked up where
Corey Conner left off last fall, which has been great
to see. Along with the other guys in the running
back room, they've really improved their game as well. I
think probably one of the biggest groups that we've added
the most was a wide receiver and bringing in a
bunch of guys at that position, and it's been really
(01:51):
good to see. You know, Cyrus Allen has been a
guy who's competed at a high level throughout spring practice.
Jeff Calwells kind of stood out of him. He's a
guy six six foot five, you know, has one of
the biggest verticals on our team. He can go get
the ball and so he's he's been as been great
to watch him play. Coming from a small school at Lyndon,
would not mean if you've probably heard of that, but
(02:12):
I think he's got he'll be a name that that
Bearcat fans will will certainly want to know as we
head into the season next year. And also I think
in the secondary, we've we've added some you know, three safeties.
We had a Matthew McDoom at corner. I think those
those that position there is certainly one that that were
certainly we think have increased the talent pool.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
A year ago, at this time, you were working in
a new quarterback in Brendan Soresby, and you know, anymore,
it's a luxury to have the same QB from one
year to the next. You enjoyed that luxury. How much
does the team benefit from having the same QB and
how much does Brendan Sowersby benefit from that conduity?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah, I mean I think it's big certainly to have
a returning quarterback. You know, this time last year, we're
trying to teach Brendan just you know, some of our
basic plays and go get through spring. Guess he's trying
to earn the respect from his teammates. And I think
throughout the course of his this past year and him
being here, you know, he's worked really really hard to
try to continue to get better and better and better.
(03:11):
He's playing with great poise right now, obviously understands what
we're trying to do offensively. You know, the game has
slowed down in his mind. I think he certainly has
always had the talent. You know, we've seen that last year,
you know, highlighted by the Texas Tech game, where he
had four hundred and seventy eight total yards, which is
the most by any Big twelve quarterback, and also played
really well in the first half of the season. You know,
(03:31):
of course, we beat Arizona State, a team that ended
up winning the Big Twelve last year, and you know,
didn't didn't play as well in the last half of
the season, and I think certainly decision making came into
that and just trying to do too much at times,
and I think for him just slowing down and playing
with great pois this spring. I mean, you really can
see how he has advanced his game and certainly hope,
(03:52):
you know, hopefully he'll go out and have a great
season for us this year. We all know and in football, man,
if the quarterback's playing well, you got a great chance
to go win a lot of games.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
With the added experience of Brendan and then the added
players you've brought in. What are some things you could
do offensively this coming season that you maybe couldn't do
as much of last year.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
Well, I think the big thing for us is we
were not able to push the ball down the field,
and that's one thing that we wanted to go out
and try to go get some speed at wide receiver
and guys that can stretch the field. And I'm certainly
Jeff Calwell can do that. I mentioned Cyrus, you know,
and then you know Caleb I think, is another guy
who can stretch the field. I mean, so you know,
you bring it back Tony Johnson who had six touchdowns
(04:33):
for us last year at receiver, you know, and now
you know, adding these other guys to the mix, I
think we're certainly helped open up the offense a lot more.
We still were able to run the ball last year,
you know, very well. I do think we'll continue to
be able to do that with the running backs that
we have. Certainly our quarterback position can run the ball.
But being able to stretch the field and push the
ball down the field and get some big plays in
(04:53):
the passing game, he's got to be critical for us
in order to score enough points. You know, in this league, man,
there's a lot of great offenses that score a lot
of points, and you got to be able to keep
up with him.
Speaker 1 (05:02):
Maybe a month or so ago, I had a chance
to talk with Joe Royer, and obviously he's back. He's
a guy who had he put his name in the draft,
certainly would have had his name called in a couple
of weeks. But in talking with him, he you know,
told me, I've there are a lot of areas where
I can improve. There are parts of my games that
I need to tap into a little bit more. So,
(05:22):
how do you expand upon his role? He had a
very good first year at UC last year. What can
he do more of this coming season?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Yeah? I mean he broke the record for catches. I mean,
so you know, hopefully we'll be able to match that,
if not do a little bit more. I think I
do think, you know what I just mentioned, if we're
able to have pushed the ball down the field and
create you know, some more vertical passing game, I think
that's going to help Joe and and underneath coverages, you know,
you get more one on one routes. I think certainly
for him to be a more crisp route runner, to
(05:53):
be able to to get in and out of breaks
in a better clip, I think will certainly help him.
And you know, I think he's very comfortable in our
offense now as well, you know, compared to them you know,
when he first got here. So I mean, he certainly
has great talent. You mentioned he could have could have
been a pretty high draft pick last year. Wanted to
come back because he continue to develop, you know, love
being around our guys in the locker room. So you know,
(06:16):
I think for him, he brings some great experience back
for us, you know, as a first team all Big
twelve you know player, And I think he will continue
his role, you know, to to really help our offense
get first downs and touchdowns. And I think and certainly,
you know, obviously got to stay healthy, could have even
a better year.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
In what ways does your defense improve just by not
having to install a new scheme during the spring, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
I mean that's a huge I mean it's the first
time in five years we've got the same defensive coordinator,
so you know, we're able to pick up and with
our defense as from the end of the season, with
a lot of the guys that were turning he particularly
in the front seven, our defensive line with corle O
and and and a lot of those linebackers that are
back that had really good year for us last year,
I think, you know, we're able to really fully understand
(07:01):
what we're trying to do offensively. And then, like I mentioned,
we brought some you know, several dbs in that one
of the things we were not good at. Whenever we
try to play some man, we're getting beat down the
field and in the vertical passing game. We got to
do a much better job with that. And I feel
like we're able to do that with Midoom out at corner,
you know, and I think, you know, we move Logan
from safety out in the corner as well. I think
that'll help we have more depth at corner. Now, so,
(07:25):
so I do think we're able to play a little
bit better in the vertical passing game. That will certainly
help our defense to create more pressure and to get
after offenses.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
You know, you mentioned a lot of kids who have
joined the program directly from high school, and we we
don't talk about them nearly as much as we used
to because of kids coming in from other college football
programs and the transfer portals. Has developing young players right
out of high school changed because of just the nature
of the sport and how it's changed.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's certainly it is different,
There's no question about it. We still want to be
able to go into the high school ranks and get
those players. If you signed twenty two players, you know,
two years ago, we just signed twenty high school guys
this year. You know, we played a ton of freshmen
last year, the most freshmen that's played here I think
in maybe device five years combined. So we feel like
all the guys that got so much, so much playing
(08:15):
time last year as freshmen there, they're so much better
now they have that experience under their belt, you know,
and hopefully you know, now they're sophomores. You know, A
year in the system. And you know, a guy like
Simian Coleman, who was a freshman All American with thirty
two tackles last year, had an incredible year and I
think he'll have it even a better year this year.
I mean, And so just getting those homegrown guys man.
And the other thing is, you know, I feel like
(08:37):
as a freshman, you know, you to me, you want
to play those guys a little bit anyway, because you know,
if guys are unhappy now, I feel like these guys
are jumping into Portal. But but you know, we had
a bunch of our freshmen. They're all coming back and
they all, you know, love what we're doing in the program,
and so they know they have an opportunity to play
and play at a high level. So I do think
it has changed the game a lot with with the
way the so many teams are going after portal guys
(08:59):
and kind of leaving those high school guys to kind of,
you know, maybe go to smaller programs and try to
fend for themselves. But I think for us, you know,
we still want to continue to build throughout the high
school ranks.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
The Portal reopens for the spring, a couple of days
after Saturday's open practice. Do you do you have a
to do list? Do you have one or two positions
that you want to address more specifically than others? How's
that going to work?
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yeah? You know, I think we're fortunately, we're we're you know,
about where we need to be. I think potentially an
offensive tackle is something that we're looking at for sure,
Potentially a defensive lineman maybe, uh and maybe a linebacker,
you know. So so for us, the good thing is
we don't have to go out and get ten or
twelve players. I think we're we're pretty close to where
(09:44):
we need to be talent wise. You also always look
at you know, chemistry on a football team and a
culture on a football team, and you look, when you're
thinking about this many guys and so you know, you
startingly don't want to have to go out here and
rebuild your team at this point. So I think for us,
you know, maybe two or three guys and that's to
be it and then go out and have a great summer.
You know, there's a lot still going on in college
(10:05):
football right now, really in college athletics with the house
case that's coming down, you know, so over the next
week or two we'll get up some more clarity on
that as well.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
I was I was going to ask you, somewhat jokingly,
could you explain the house case to me? Because I
tried to follow it yesterday and I was totally lost.
Speaker 2 (10:20):
Yeah, I'm you know what, I'm just gonna let it wait, glade,
they get put it all out there. There's a lot
going on with that. There's there's so many layers with that,
you know, and as far as you know, the government's concerned,
and you know, you're getting to got a judge involved,
and you have all these athletic departments trying to figure
out and for us planning what what are we going
to do? I mean, we talk about roster limits, like
you know, they're talking about throwing a number round of
(10:41):
one oh five. Well I saw yesterday that they pushed
that back and table that a little bit. So I
you know, we don't know. We're just kind of sit
back and waiting and and let's see what happens. But
hopefully for the better. I do know, we need to
get some guardrails around what's happening right now, and and
particularly you know, men's basketball and football. So hopefully, hopefully
we'll be able to get some clarity on.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
That twelve to two open practice. There will be some
eleven on eleven's autographs with some of the top players
you see baseball game at three o'clock, by the way,
so you can make it a full day on campus,
and you're gonna have a couple of guys chucking out
the first pitch on Saturday at Great American Ballpark, which
should be a lot of fun as well.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Yeah, it should be a great day for us, you know,
go out there and watch this, you know, play a
little bit, will scrimmas, you know, have some great scrimmage
reps on Saturday. And then of course our U see
baseball team is having a really good season as well.
Would be a great time to go check those guys out,
and of course obviously trying to pull the Reds through
on Saturday evening. And yeah, it'll be interesting to see
if Joe Roy or Dante can throw the ball across
(11:38):
the place for the first fit. So that'll be interesting.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
We'll see what happens. I appreciate the time as always.
We'll do it again, man, thanks so much.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Yep,