Fresno State Bulldogs 2024 Mountain West Football Media Days - Day 1

'The Voice of The Bulldogs' Paul Loeffler broadcasts from the 2024 Mountain West Football Media Days, live from the Circa Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. Enjoy the podcast!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The Fresno State Bulldogs football season startsAugust thirty first, but Iheartradios coverage is
already full. Skeet a Half nowlive from the Circa Resort and Casino in
Las Vegas. It's the twenty twentyfour Mountain West Media Day show. We'll
get up close and personal when thecoaches and players from across the conference.

(00:21):
Here is your host, the voiceof the Bulldogs, Paul Leffler. Well,
good afternoon, and it's nice andcool inside the air conditioned Circa Resort
here in downtown Las Vegas. Thetwenty twenty four Mountain West Football Media Days
in the second year it's been heldat this venue. Las Vegas also hosting

(00:42):
the Big Twelve football Media Days atthis point, so there's a lot of
focus in the college football world onLas Vegas, and if you're a Bulldog
fan, we know where your focusis. The Bulldogs missed a chance at
the championship last year and are lookingto fix that this year. The preseason
predictions are out. We'll talk aboutthat, but for the next two hours,

(01:03):
we're going to spend most of ourtime talking to players. The coaches
will be here tomorrow today, studentathletes from all twelve Mountain West football playing
schools. You're also going to hearfrom the commissioner of the conference, Gloria
Navarz. In fact, we'll talkto her next after we set the stage
here, and then you'll hear beforewe're done today from Fresno States representatives Stevo

(01:26):
Bridges and Malik Sharrat, both onthe preseason All Conference team. By the
way, we'll run through that ina moment. You're also going to hear
from a Fresno native who is oneof the best players in the league for
another school. In fact, he'llbe coming two Valley Children Stadium in November
the last home game Senior Day.The opponent's going to be Colorado State,
and that means former Washington Union HighSchool panther Tory Horton will be back in

(01:48):
the Valley. We'll talk to Tory. Got student athletes here from all the
other schools that you'll be hearing fromover the next two hours today and then
tomorrow we'll be here as well.From one to three on the radio,
we'll be hearing from coach Jeff Tidfordand his Mountain West counterparts Manyana. Today.
The student athletes taking center stage,But a few things to catch you
up on if you haven't been onsocial media digesting every little tidbit as it

(02:14):
breaks. The preseason predictions are out, of course, and it's a twelve
team Mountain West Conference. Of note, this is the first year of the
twelve team college Football Playoff and abig emphasis on that from Commissioner Navarees.
I'm sure we're going to hear anemphasis on that from the coaches. Big
opportunity for the league this year.If they are ranked one of the top

(02:36):
five football leagues in the country,their champion, the Mountain West champion,
will be part of the College FootballPlayoff. So that is an exciting bit
of access that has never previously existed. The Mountain West Championship game this year
will have a little different wrinkle.Two. Instead of a Saturday, it's
going to be played on a Fridaynight, December sixth. It'll be in
primetime. It'll be five o'clock Pacificthe old Trapper Beef Jerky Mountain West Football

(03:02):
Championship. Just to be clear onthat, but five o'clock Pacific time on
Friday, December sixth on Fox Television, Real Fox, not Cable Fox over
the Airfox. So that's a bigvenue, a big stage, a big
opportunity for the conference this year.Speaking of big stages, what's bigger than

(03:23):
Fresno State opening the year August thirtyfirst in the big House against the Michigan
Wolverines, the defending national champs,on national TV on NBC. Boy,
we can't wait. We are excitedto bring you all that action. Pat
Hill and Cam Morrell will be withme again this year as long as our
engineer Eric Austlin does the great jobhe always does, and we'll bring you
every play from every game, whetherit's just twelve regular season games or whether

(03:46):
it's a Mountain West championship game,a college football playoff game. Who knows
a lot to look forward to thisyear. But it all kicks off August
thirty first at Michigan and you'll hearas I said, every snap here on
the Bulldog Sports Network. So thepreseason predictions in the conference. Who was
picked to win it? H BoiseState. So the Broncos got thirty eight

(04:13):
out of a possible forty six firstplace votes in a poll of Mountain West
Media. I was part of thatpoll. I had my votes, and
we'll talk about that Boise State pickedto win it UNLV, who ended up
playing the Broncos in the championship gamelast year as part of a three way
tie atop the conference. Remember SanJose State was the odd man out in

(04:33):
those wild tiebreakers that cost the Spartansa chance at the championship game. But
those two teams who played in thetitle game a year ago, Boise State
and UNLV the first two on thelist of twelve and the preseason predictions the
Broncos with thirty eight first place votes, UNLV with four. Also with four
first place votes, you're Fresno StateBulldogs who are picked third in this preseason

(04:57):
poll, Air Force predicted to finishfourth, Then Colorado State in the five
spot. Now that's a Rams programthat hasn't been to a bowl game since
twenty seventeen, but has a prettyfavorable schedule this year with seven home games,
including some big opportunity games. TheRams picked fifth in the preseason poll,
Wyoming selected to finish sixth, andyou have Utah State with the preseason

(05:20):
prediction of seven. Keep in mindthe Aggie's just lost their head coach,
Blake Anderson, who was let doafter some off the field issues and he's
certainly fighting that at the moment.San Diego State predicted to finish eighth out
of twelve in the Mountain West.They've got a new head coach. Seven

(05:40):
of the twelve coaches in the MountainWest seven new coaches this year for the
conference. And you never know what'sgoing to be next. But so one
of those new coaches is Sean Lewisand San Diego State, his Aztecs are
picked eighth. Hawaii has its coachback in Timmy Chang. He's looking to
make a big leap this year.He's got a senior quarterback in Braden Schagar,

(06:01):
who you're going to hear from alittle bit later. The Rainbow Warriors
picked ninth. San Jose State.Now this is interesting. This is a
team that tied for the regular seasontitle last year. Part of that three
way tie. San Jose State undernew head coach ken Neio Montalolo, who
will get to meet tomorrow and lookingforward to that. He's had so much
success at Navy and now takes overin the Silicon Valley. The Spartans picked

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tenth in the preseason poll, ayear after tying for the regular season title.
Of course, the coach Brent Brennanleft for Arizona. New Mexico is
predicted to finish eleventh and bringing upthe rear Nevada, which also has a
new head coach. New Mexico hasbrought in former BYU leader Bronco Mendenhall,
who will get to meet tomorrow,while Nevada has Jeff Chote, a former

(06:47):
Boise State assistant and head coach atMontana State, who's taking over in Reno.
So Nevada picked last at number twelve. Fresno State tied for the second
most first place votes with four yes. I did pick the Bulldogs to win,
and my ballot had them number oneon the list, mostly because not
only do they have a returning startingquarterback and Mikey Keane, who played one

(07:11):
of his best games in the bowlgame, they have a lot coming back
on defense. They've bolstered their defenseto the transfer portal and that coaching staff.
I mean to me, that isone of the reasons Fresno State should
have a chance to win every timethe Dogs line up. They have just
an incredible coaching staff. When youblend the experience, the resume, the
commitment for many of those guys they'realma mater. They really understand what Bulldog

(07:33):
football means to the valley. AndI don't know that Fresno State could have
a better coaching staff for Fresno Statethan what Jeff Tedford and company will bring
to the sidelines this fall. Speakingon those Bulldogs. In addition to the
preseason prediction of finish and the Dogspicked third but the same number of first
place votes as second place UNLV,the Dogs have four players who were selected

(07:59):
preseason in All Conference. Now thepreseason offensive player of the Year in the
league, that's not a big surprise. That's Ashton Genty of Boise State,
who has a legitimate Heisman campaign.Here's a fun little wrinkle because these Mountain
West Football media days are held atthe Circa Resort here in downtown Las Vegas,
where you must be at least twentyone years of age to enter.

(08:20):
Well, Ashton gent He's not twentyone yet, so he was not allowed
to participate in the media days.The Broncos brought their kicker, Jonah Dalmas
and their preseason co defensive player ofthe Year in the Mountain West, Ahmed
Hasanan, the senior defensive lineman.They're not allowed to bring Ashton Genty to
the Circa Resort for Mountain West Footballmedia days. They did bring to Las

(08:41):
Vegas, and tonight he's going tohave a special media availability at a nearby
hotel because they are trying to puttogether a real, full scale Heisman campaign
for Ashton Genty, the junior runningback who was just phenomenal last year running,
receiving a touchdown machine, who didnot play in that game of Valley
Children Stadium when Fresno State beat BoiseState. Ashton Genti, the preseason Offensive

(09:07):
Player of the Year for preseason DefensivePlayer of the Year. Jackson Woodard,
the senior linebacker for UNLV, sharesthat with Hasenana Boise State, and the
Special Teams Player of the Year onthe preseason list is a Valley native out
of Mantica. Jacob DeJesus, thesenior return man for these hometown rebels at
UNLV. As far as the allconference list in the preseason, Mikey Keane

(09:35):
was selected as your preseason All MountainWest quarterback. When you look at the
returners around the league, certainly thevictories he led the Bulldogs to at Purdue
in Arizona State last year that strongfinish in the bowl game that made Mikey
Keene the pick. The junior quarterbackis joined on that all Conference roster by
one Bulldog offensive lineman, Mosse Laval, a preseason All Conference pick, Malik

(09:56):
Sharad joins Genti as the running backson that preseason list. Keep in mind
Moleik last year, if you lookat his last nine games of the season,
he averaged one hundred and twenty oneyards from scrimmage in those nine games,
and once he was healthy, hewas certainly dynamics. So the Dogs
have three Bulldogs on that preseason AllMountain West offense, just one on the

(10:16):
defensive side of the ball, andit's Devo Bridges, the senior defensive lineman
who's here. You'll hear from hima little bit later. A little surprised
that cam Lockridge was not selected,but maybe his season ending injury last year
had a hand in that he certainlycould return to that all conference form.
So four Bulldogs on that preseason AllMountain West list. Also, you have

(10:39):
Tory Horton, who's from Fresno,as one of the wideouts, joining Ricky
White of UNLV and Jalen Royals ofUtah. State, and I already mentioned
Jacob DeJesus, the preseason Special TeamsPlayer of the Year who hails from Mantica
and played at Medesto Junior College.You can find that full preseason all conference
list online, but here on theradio. When we come back, we're

(11:01):
going to talk to the person incharge, the commissioner, now in her
second year, Gloria Navarez. She'llbreak down the landscape with us, and
I want to ask her about afew things, not just the college football
playoff, the machinations of conference realignment and all that. But you know,
football is not the only sports.Maybe we'll squeeze in some other talk

(11:24):
with Gloria as well. But GloriaNavaraz, the commissioner of the Mountain West
Conference, will join us when wecome back. This is the twenty twenty
four Mountain West Media Day Show onFox Sports Radio. Gloria Navaras with us.
Gloria, First things first, themost important question. How much purple
do you have in your wardrobe?That is the most important question, and
every year a little bit more.We're the only conference to have purple,

(11:48):
Is that right? So? Howmany different shades of purple? I guess
is the question. Yeah, tryto stay right down the middle on that
really. Yeah, happy royal purple. So if it's a little two light,
little too dark, yeah, okay. And you know when you jumped
in here to take the reins fromCraig Thompson, college football was a crazy

(12:11):
landscape. A year later, it'sprobably even crazier. Right. What's the
biggest difference you see with your joband this conference's position now compared to when
you stepped in day one? Well, not even compared to when I stepped
in here. But when I startedthis business twenty five thirty years ago,
you know, conference work was aboutgovernance and hosting championships. Now conference work

(12:33):
is about meteor riites, generating revenue, branding, elevation of brand. And
you know, it's just it's adifferent world, and it's exciting and certainly
we're positioned to take advantage of it. But it certainly has changed a ton.
Yeah, A conference that you spenta lot of time working for doesn't
even exist anymore. Oh, Iknow I still don't feel right about that

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at all, nor should you.And and it's well, I won't pontificate.
Let's talk about the Mountain West,and I just mentioned that the twelve
team playoff first year. How highon the list is it to have a
Mountain West team in that twelve teamplayoff? And in your mind, what's
it going to take for that tohappen? That is the list, frankly,

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And you know I mentioned it earlierthis morning that Craig Thompson the Mountain
West have been out in front advocatingfor an expanded playoff and just as importantly
access and that's what we have today. And you know he was served on
a committee decades where the work wentinto this. The equity behind access was
important. The top five conference champions, top five conference champions in FBS will

(13:46):
get an AQ seven will be atlarge. So the implication is the Mountain
West needs to be one of thebest five conferences to guarantee you exactly and
how do you feel about the positioningfor that With the schedule that these twelve
teams are about to embark on.Well, as we were talking about earlier,
we have the most A four opponentson our schedules this year as compared

(14:13):
to our peer conferences. The nextclosest conference is like twenty games behind that
as far as A four opponents.So our coaches were deliberate and strategic in
scheduling non conference to position themselves forselection themselves for and Fresno State's one of
those teams who will have a coupleA four as you call them teams on

(14:33):
the schedule. They'll open at Michigan, the defending national champ, finish at
the Rose Bowl against UCLA. IfFresno State wins that opener against Michigan in
the Big House, can you putinto words what that would mean for the
conference? Oh my gosh, thoseare my words speaking it into existence.

(14:56):
Keep going, Paul, That's whyyou play the games, right, Yeah,
exactly. Crazier things have happened.Crazier things have happened, and a
lot of crazy things have happened incollege football. One of the things that
you brought out in your remarks thismorning is that while some of these Mountain
West teams are losing players to theA four teams who can you know,

(15:16):
throw a lot of money at people, there are also a lot that are
staying. And you know, AshtonGenty, the preseason player of the Year,
was offered a lot of money fromthose schools. He stayed at Boise
State. And you mentioned there area lot more coming in more than twice
as many players from those Power Conferenceteams coming to the Mountain West versus leaving
for those leagues. Why is thatso significant? What does that mean to

(15:41):
you? And certainly you can diveinto the data and talk about the you
know, the impact some of thoseplayers might or might not have, but
I think the greater trend that we'reseeing there is what makes us special.
You know, we find raw talentand develop it at all levels administration,
in the chair, at the headcoaches levels. We have a lot of

(16:02):
first time in those leadership position typepeople in our league and we've always been
a pipeline for all of those thingsfor players, coaches, players, coach
administrators. And I think that's thatabout student athletes coming into our league is
a testament to that ability. Youcan come here be a developmental player and

(16:23):
leave here being a true leader well, and leadership is going to be very
important in this uncertain time in collegesports, and you're not shying away from
some of that uncertainty or from someof the tough realities. One of the
things I heard you say this morningtoo, that I think is probably the
most concerning thing for the presidents inthis league for the athletic directors. Correct

(16:48):
me if I'm wrong, but youmentioned that the gap between those four power
conferences and all the teams that areoutside of those conferences, that that gap
is getting bigger. What does thatlead to? And what can the Mountain
West and these member institutions do totry to close that gap? And that
gap has always been there, it'sgetting bigger, certainly, but we're not

(17:11):
trying to be them. We're tryingto be the best version of ourselves.
And I think what I hear fromour board and our leadership is we have
to continue to move forward. Wehave to continue to invest, not keep
pace with them in those but keepour position in the competitive environment, keep
ourselves viable for that fifth spot andeven at large selections for the CFP.

(17:34):
And so how we are addressing thatbecause you know, the Conference Office,
we don't build facilities on higher coaches, we don't recruit athletes, We provide
information. We're trying to provide ourschools the best information, data, spending
comparisons so that they can make informeddecisions that make sense for each individual campus.
Another thing you talked about this morning, which I think a lot of

(17:57):
presidents and certainly athletic directors are thinkingabout and wondering when is everything, When
is the rubber going to meet theroad? When is it going to hit
the fan? This house settlement andlong term what does that mean? I
mean, what's it going to looklike two or three years from now?
Do you have a clearer idea thanwe have? No, No, it's

(18:17):
kidding. So I think the houseis still in development. But what we
have heard and learned both from theNCAA and media reporting are some of the
big pieces of that settlement. Andone of the key pieces to your question
is the embargo gans future cases regardingname, image likeness, and so hopefully
that brings us some stability in thatspace through the settlement. What the settlement

(18:41):
actually means rubber hitting the road,there's so much TBD, there's so much
nuance that folks that are dealing withit. So we're not in the room
for that because we're not a namedefendant, thankfully, So our role is
really trying to source as much informationas possible, be a voice in the
room with when that rubber hits theroad In the end double governor instructure,
how that applies to everyone, butI've heard from our ads and presidents that

(19:06):
were committed. Don't know what thatmeans yet and how it activates or how
much because it is optional for schoolslike us to participate in some of the
pieces of the settlement. But youknow so much TBD. But it seems
like most people think that in Xamount of years, student athletes in college
are likely to be employees of theathletic department. So yes, that has

(19:33):
been the talking point. I hopethat this settlement paves the way for student
athletes to have their cakey needed too, so to speak, basically, be
able to monitorze any image likeness,participate in revenue sharing, and have a
voice in the governance process and structurewith call it you don't have to call
it collective bargaining and be an employee. You can get that kind of leverage

(19:56):
and voice in the structure without beingemployees. That would be my personal hope
and stance, because I do thinkstudent athletes would get less as employees.
There's a whole world out there thathas to employment that You've heard Charlie Baker
at the NCLA speak about how alot of aletes don't want em what they
want is voice well particularly, andI don't want to get too far off

(20:18):
in the weeds. We're here atMountain West Football Media Days, and there's
a lot to be excited about thisfootball season and a lot of new faces
for you to get to know.More than half the coaches in this league
are new this year. New athleticdirector of Fresno State. I want to
ask you about him in a moment. But with what you're talking about on
the employee front and the future,the thing I think about the most,
and you've had unique perspective on thisin decades in college sports. You've seen

(20:42):
how opportunities for women in sports havechanged, have grown. Isn't that in
jeopardy if we go to an employeemodel? I mean, are there some
real concerns on that front. Yes, And all of our institutions still,
regardless what happens in house and youknow, employment are subject to Title nine.

(21:04):
And again this is all case offirst impression type stuff, so we
don't really have any prior history orprecedents to rely on to guide us here.
So we are certainly experiencing a renaissancein women's sports like I've never seen.
It's been incredible. The impact someof these all star players have at
the professional level, And I thinkthat's what's important about making our decisions in

(21:26):
accordance with our mission and values,because we do value equity and inclusion in
the Mountain West and that's a bigpart of it. So we need to
be really deliberate and stick to whowe are when entering this new world.
So you want to weigh in onCaitlyn Clark versus Angel Rees or No,
No, not at all. I'mjust kidding. I would like to have

(21:47):
you weigh in on Garrett Classy.Now, like I said, you've got
a lot of new people to know. There's been a lot of changes at
Mountain West schools in this last offseason, but Fresno State just hired a new
athletic director arts in a couple ofweeks. I'm sure you've at least touched
base and heard a few things.Why should Fresno State fans be excited about

(22:08):
this new leader? Well, Idon't know him personally, but we certainly
have reached out welcomed him to theleague. All of that. We'll sit
down and have an in depth orientationonce he gets his feet under him.
But even though I don't know himpersonally. Immediately after the announcement, I
had several people I know and trustin the business reach out to me and
talk about what a great administrator heis. And so, of course,

(22:29):
I, like many, I waswatching his public comments and he just seems
to bring a lot of energy,a lot of big picture focus, and
he has a strong background in resourcegeneration. He's been in a lot of
places that have had a lot ofsuccess, and he articulated his vision very
well and embraced the fan base.So hopefully the fan base will return that
favor here. So another thing that'sgoing to be a little different this year

(22:52):
in Mountain West football is the championshipgame primetime on a Friday night on Fox.
Could make for a short week forsome of those teams playing in that
game. And how are you gonnamake sure you don't have a three way
tie this year that you guys haveto sort out. As soon as I
make sure we don't have a threeway tie, we're just guaranteed to have
a three way time, if nota four or five week time, inevitably

(23:15):
conference one on one. But yes, we're very excited about the old Trapper
Mountain West Championship Football game. Ifyou haven't tried a beef turkey, it's
delish. What's your favorite flavor ofOld Trapper beef jurkey It's the spicy one.
Me too, Yeah, same page. But you know what I love
about all our championships, but footballand basketball, especially this year, the

(23:37):
fan bases just show up and rock. I mean, that is what is
so special. That's what brings valueto our partners, to our media partners,
is how the high level affinity ourfans have. They travel and when
they come in, they are justbringing the energy. Well, and one

(24:00):
more thing before I let you go, and if you have anything else I
didn't ask you about, that's apriority for you. Feel free. You
know. Major League Baseball is stillgoing strong and college baseball just ended a
few weeks ago Forresno State end upwinning the Mountain West Tournament down in San
Diego. Would love to host itagain if that becomes a possibility. I
understand that maybe a neutral site couldbe in the future for Mountain West Baseball.

(24:22):
Do you have a timeline for maybewhen that might get sorted out.
No, but it is a priorityto take a deep dive and all of
our championships across the board as ourultimate goal, getting the most teams in
the postseason at the best possible positionor seat, And so we need to
analyze how we structure the championship,who's how you seed it, and where

(24:45):
it's located for all of those things. Football's a great example because this past
season we were coming up into thelast week, we had seven teams who
could qualify and four different locations logisticallya challenge. Now, when you go
to a home campus, you getthis great built in support system, but
it also makes travel for fans challenging, sponsorship activation, building a regular home

(25:08):
market. So there's pros and cons. But we are actively going through championships
top to bottom to take a lookat every single sport because that analysis changes
sure sport. You know, I'mjust saying the Mountain West can claim the
best player in Major League Baseball rightnow, Aaron Judge who's rewriting the record
book, a Fresno State Bulldog,and the best picture in baseball right now

(25:30):
in Paul Skians, at least themost exciting prospect. So I mean,
I think I know football is thelead dog here, but there's some good
things happening with Mountain West Baseball yeah, and I think in this new world
where institutions, especially in the Afour, are going to think maybe differently
about how they have funded squads,you know, up or down those of

(25:53):
us in the Sunshine States and thathave great outdoor programs, we'll have an
opportunity. One more thing I didn'task you about. You mentioned it earlier
Oregon State and Washington State being partof the scheduling arrangement for football this year
and that there are some discussions aboutcontinuing that on into the future. Yeah.

(26:15):
Well, you know, it's aone year scheduling agreement for this season.
Now is the time that schools needto determine what we're doing for the
next year. So it's important thatwe resolve soon. And every football schedule
is never made in a singular yearvacuum, and so when you have competitive
inequities and any schedule, typically they'rebalanced out over time. So there is

(26:37):
some efficiency in the fact that we, you know, are thinking about two
years of this schedule. But againwe're in discussions. I'm very excited about
playing them this year in the strengthof schedule, and we have to just
keep an eye on that and makesure it continues to make improves the Mount
West football experience. So when youhave those discussions, it's yeah, we're
interested in playing you in the future. Just don't try to steal some of

(27:00):
our teams from our league. Yeahsure, I mean, I'm not trying
to be flippant, you know,isn't It's got to be a challenge to
figure out what to say and whoyou can trust and how much you can
put yourself out there because everyone's tryingto find their best path to survival.

(27:22):
Truth, comm a butt. Ifeel we're in a better place now right.
I mean, we've got stability inthe CFP, we are recognized,
the only recognized FBS league in theWestern region. We have a media deal,
we have viable conference office operations.You know, we're in a good
spot. And so it's a littlebit about looking at all the possible options,

(27:48):
gravitating towards the ones that make usstronger, staying away from the ones
that make us weaker, and thosechange week to weeak, month to month.
Some of those options that originally looklike they could make us stronger maybe
in a couple months might not allright. That is Commissioner Glory and Navars
here in Vegas Mountain West Football MediaDays. Something was missing last year for
Fresno State. The Bulldogs did notplay Hawaii after thirty one years in a

(28:10):
row playing in each other dogs didnot get to face the Bows. But
that'll get fixed this year November two, when Hawaii visits the valley and we
have a couple of Rainbow warriors withus now, the senior quarterback out of
Dallas, Braiden Shagar, and thejunior safety from right there on Hawahu,
Peter Manuma. Guys, what dothey call Vegas? It's an extra island
in the chain, isn't it?Is that? Yeah? Yeah? Is

(28:33):
that true? Yeah? Have youfound any tastes of home here across the
street at the cow Yeah? Yeah? What they have just just the local
food. It's got an ABC storetoo, Yeah, they got an ABC.
Braiden, had you ever heard ofan ABC store before you? I
have not, no, but nowI love going there. He gets family

(28:56):
subs there and love eating that stuff. He almost sounds like the Kamaina now,
Peter, for sure, he is. He gets kind of come at
discounts. Well, I guess you'vebeen there long enough because Presno State fans
remember when you were a freshman,and they didn't think you were going to
play that day. They thought JakeHayner was going to own the day,

(29:17):
and then you guys had a littlesurprise. It's been a few years now.
I'm sure you remember that game,and you know it cost Presno State
a few things that year, butit seems like that was a big moment
for you and and your guys teamtoo. What do you remember about that
game for sure? Yeah, thatwas my first career start. It was
pretty crazy. Yeah, there wasa lot a lot going on. We
didn't we couldn't even have any fansat the game. It was during COVID,

(29:40):
but you know, it was ait was a wild time. It
feels like a long time ago now, but uh, you know, I
was just a young kid out thereand not really know what I was doing,
and finally, uh turned it onin the fourth quarter and threw a
couple of touchdowns to win. So, you know, I was a really
fun experience, and I think thatjust propelled me, uh in my career,
just kind of let me know thatI could do it, and you
know, it was a lot offun and h I think that was just
the starting point of my career.So it was very cool. Yeah,

(30:03):
you didn't have any fans, butyou guys did have your band, and
I you know, you did finallygive them something to get excited about there
at the end. And I guess, you know, going back now,
I'm thinking of that game, andI was back with Coach Graham before Coach
Chain came home. When did youfind out you were gonna play that day?
Did you know all week? Orbecause I mean Chevin Cordero was out
there running around and everybody was wondering, when did you know? I really

(30:26):
did. Schevin didn't practice all week, But I didn't really know that I
was gonna play until about Thursday orFriday night, like really right before the
game. So you know, Iwas preparing like the starter. You know
that I was the backup that thatwhole year, so just you're supposed to
prepare like the starter, but uh, you never really know when you're gonna
go in, so it's tough.But yeah, I think I figured it
out on like Thursday or Friday night, and you know, I just had

(30:47):
to get ready to play, andyou know, I was just excited about
it. I didn't really know whatI was getting myself into. I think
y'all are ranked at the time,which was crazy. And yeah, so
it was a lot of fun andthat was that was a great experience for
sure. I know that fans backhome right now are saying, shut up,
quit talking about that game. Already. We tried to erase that from
our memory. Uh, Peter,for you, growing up in Hawaii,
is the Fresno State rivalry something thatthat you were familiar with, maybe you

(31:11):
saw a few installments of or yourecognize that there was some intensity there.
Yeah, for sure, growing upyou see you see a lot of rivalries,
but President State in Hawaii is abig one. You know. I
heard of some some crazy thing,something about a fork or something being thrown
on a field. Oh the screwdriver. Screw driver, that's what. Yeah,

(31:33):
I heard of that, but Idon't know how true it is.
But yeah, there is a goldenscrewdriver trophy running around somewhere and it's supposed
to symbolize the rivalry. Yeah,the good old days. Did you grow
up going to a Loha stadium andall that? Uh? Not really,
But growing up we watched a lotof games on TV and stuff, and
you look up to guys that wereplaying in you just wanted to be licked

(31:56):
them. So you were familiar withthe legend of Timmy Chang before he came
your head coach. Oh yeah,I heard about him. Yeah. What's
he like as a head coach?Guys? And for Braiden, I mean
you're playing his position. I'm sureyou hear him in your ear quite a
bit. What kind of leader ishe? What kind of coaches he He's
He's done a great job, youknow. I think he's continued to learn
as going into year three now.And you know, I have a great

(32:20):
relationship with him. And you know, like you said, he was a
legend in Hawaii. H Everyone knowshim everywhere, and you know, it's
just I try to live up towhat he's done, and you know,
running the same offense that he did. It's been great to just pick his
brain on things and learn from somebodywho's done it at like the highest level
in college. And you know,I'm just blessed to have a great relationship
with am. I want to comeback to you on that offense piece.

(32:43):
We're talking to Braidon Schegar and PeterManuma from the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors. Coach
Chang Peter for you as a dbeat. Is he harder on you guys?
Does he not like you as much? For us? Yeah, that's
what we think. But he lovesus for sure. On defense, he
knows that if we bring it tothe offense, you know, that that
will get them better, that'll getus better. So he just he just

(33:05):
loves the energy that we bring tothe to the field. And yeah,
I don't think he coaches us anydifferent than he coaches Braden. Can you
notice the difference in how he engagesthe community, because you know, it
is a unique culture and environment.You're part of it, right, I
mean I can see the ink onyour arm part of your Hawaiian heritage,
and and I mentioned the kamaa,right, that's a real thing for you,

(33:29):
and and he's been part of that. Does it seem more prominent or
more authentic with him in the saddlethere as the head coach? Oh?
Yeah, I feel I feel likehe's more authentic. With him, he
understands the culture, you know,and how much the community means. So
with him, he's he's all aboutthe community. We have a lot of

(33:49):
opportunities to go out and give backto our community. So for him,
it's we need the community just asmuch as the community needs us. So
it's good. Yeah, and theycan pack the chain complex until the stadium
gets built. You guys won't bethere playing anymore when the stadium is built,
but maybe you can come back forsome alumni functions or something braden for

(34:12):
you. You mentioned the offense andwhen you went there, that's not the
offense you were running. That's certainlynot the offense you were running against Presno
State with that big upset win yourfreshman year. And now you're a senior,
you've had some time in the offense. What do you think it's really
capable of this year? Where areyou setting the bar as you guys open
at home against Delaware State, thenhave UCLA coming in the next win in

(34:34):
the next week, a big opportunitygame for you. What do you think
this offense is really going to becapable of. I think that people saw
what it was capable of back backin the day when when Colt was doing
it at the highest level. Youknow, in two thousand and seven they
go undefeated. You know, it'sjust that's what that is, what it's
capable of. If everybody gets onthe same page and we all start you
know, running it the right wayand seeing defenses and seeing coverages and you

(34:57):
know, just reacting to each other. It can be special. I mean
it's it's hard obviously to get onto get to that point. I think
year two really helps, getting gettinganother year in that system, and you
know, bringing in Dan Morrison,who's really helped and uh, you know,
define the offense more and just tweakthese little things that we've been working
on. I think, uh,you know, this guy's the limit as
far as h as far as whateverwe're gonna do, and you know we'll

(35:20):
be we'll be throwing the ball alot. So I think everybody's excited about
that. Yeah, I mean youwill be throwing the ball a lot and
and getting it out pretty quick.Uh. What's do you have like a
benchmark you set for yourself with howquickly you want to make that decision,
read what the defense is doing,and pick one of those five guys who's
out there running around. Yeah,you know, I think that that comes

(35:43):
with experience and comes with you know, going into my going into my senior
year. You know, my myeyes are starting to get in the right
place now, and uh, youknow, coach Dan's really helped me with
that, and Coach Chang of juststarting my eyes on the right spot and
you know, making those quick decisions. Like you said, a lot of
this offense is getting the ball outreally quick. I mean there's times where
we throw a lot of deep balls. But at the same time, you

(36:04):
got to know when to take thoseshots. You got to know when to
get the ball out quick. Anduh, you know how to read those
coverages and read those little things thatdefenders do that that make you make those
decisions. Defenders like Peter who youknow. I think there are a few
guys in the league who know hisname because they've felt when they've been hit
by a heat seeking missile, aheat see over there. What what would

(36:28):
you say is your defensive mentality,Peter? For us, it's just just
that mental toughness that we go through. For us, it's it's really just
simple just don't don't let the otherteam score. You know, by all
means don't don't let them score.So for me, I just fly around

(36:49):
the field. Is fun. Ilove it, but I like to play
a competition theme with my teammates wherewe bet against each other who will get
the most tackles and whatnot. Sothat gets us all going and been running
around the field. She mean,you're keeping track during the game, like
it's the fourth quarter and the teammatesgot one more tackle you have to get
well. Yeah, I remind themall the time, even when I'm up,
I tell them. I let themknow. Oh, that could be

(37:13):
dangerous for some of your teammates onthe other side of the ball, I
suppose. Hey, Peter, canI talk to you about your family a
little bit? Yeah, for sure, because you know some of us heard
about it a couple of years agowhen when you lost your mom to cancer.
And you know, I've been aroundother players who've been through things like
that, and everyone handles those thingsdifferently. And some people it's it's front

(37:34):
of mine all the time. Othertimes maybe they handled a little differently.
What what did your mom mean toyou and how does her memory kind of
still inspire you with what you doon the field. Yeah, No,
my mom and a lot to me. But she always she always just wanted
the best for me in life.So she's been battling she was she's been

(37:58):
battling cancer, but she just waitedtill I was in a good place,
I guess, and you know,it was her time to go, but
yeah, she keeps me going.She with all those years that she was
going through it. It just showedme that, you know, if she
could do it, I could doit. So I just pushed myself every
day to be better. Is itone of those things where you don't complain
a lot because you saw what shewent through? Yeah, for sure.

(38:21):
Yeah. Do you have any kindof routine or anything that a way that
you remember her on her Yeah?I have so, me and my siblings.
I have two older brothers. Wehave her her ashes, and I
just every day just talk to it. I see, I prayer with her
real quick before I leave, orjust talk stories and yeah, anything else

(38:45):
you want to say about her.I just miss her. I wish she
was here, but yeah, she'llforever live and live through me. She
knows when you have the most tacklestoo, I'm sure, which you did
quite a bit last year, includingthat big game against Air Force. When
you're in the Mountain US Defensive Playerof the Week. What's it like going
up against this guy in practice?We were just talking about him, but

(39:06):
oh, we go out of itevery day. We talk our smacks to
each other. But We get eachother better every day. You know,
it's not every day you're gonna seea running shoot offense, so and it's
not every day he's gonna see thetype of defense we're running. So it's
just good to give each other thatdifferent look. And you know, why
not keep it competitive, So wejust talk smacks to each other. Dbs
have to love practicing against a runand shoot right, Oh yeah, for

(39:28):
sure. It gets so fun.You get the most action. That's why
the balls in the air. Thed line hates it though they passed us
for like a second, and theygotta run. They gotta run to the
ball. So, Braden, ifyou know, hypothetically Peter were to pick
off one of your passes and innersquad, would there be a few words
exchange, Would there be some attentiondrawn to what just happened? Oh for

(39:49):
sure. You know, I thinkthat's just part of it. It goes
the same way if I if Ithrow a ball over and I'm gonna say,
I'm gonna talk to him, Andyou know, I think that's just
what drives us. You know,you got to be compared it out there.
You gotta you gotta want to talkto each other like that, and
uh, you know, I thinkthat right raises our level of competition and
raises our whatever we're gonna do onthe field. So it's just it's fun
and I think that's how you competewith each other. You know, you

(40:13):
guys will be talking to a lotof people today and it's fun to do
it before this season because everyone isoptimistic and nobody really knows what's possible.
So give me this scenario, Braden. What what would have to happen for
you guys this year to be aball team, to be a Mountain West
championship contender. What would happen toto make that goal reality. I think

(40:35):
it's just all coming together as oneand continuing to work together as a team,
and uh, you know, that'sbeen our ultimate goal. And uh
it's just getting on the same pageas far as offense, and uh,
you know, having everything click,you know, not not being not having
the moment be too big for us, you know, being able to go
on the road and win games,which has been a big deal for us
that we need to do and uh, you know, but I think that

(40:57):
we we might have the team todo it, and uh, you know,
we just got to continue to worktowards that goal, Peter, I
can't let you go without one morequestion, selfishly for the fans who are
waiting for the next chance that FresnoState has to come play on the island,
because it's been a few years,not since COVID, I think the
Bulldogs haven't been there. But growingup on Eva Beach, I mean you
got to have some favorite haunts,some places that only the locals know to

(41:21):
go to eat that aren't the touristtraps. Can you share a little secret
with us where if you had onemeal to eat, where you would be
heading? Oh, for sure,I have a couple of places. It'll
probably be the Montopool Chuck in thea Beach, super cheap but super good.
And then there's a there's a storedeep in in a beach. It's
called Silver Store. They got thebest food over there. So if you

(41:42):
ever come to have a beach,just hit those spots, I promise a
tourists, and never better than theSPA spam moose would be from the ABC
store that Braden's eating. Yeah,we did it. We better. What
are you order it? Give usyour menu selection? For me, it's
a fried noodles with three fry portcash and then one fried chicken big plate.

(42:04):
That is a big plate. Yeah, eating like alignment. You burn
it off running around against that runand shoot. Oh yeah, for sure,
I've burned it. Hey, Bradonlast thing, man, what's the
number one thing you've come to loveas someone who grew up in Texas moving
to the Islands. It's pretty bigculture shock, I would imagine initially.
What's something you've come to really loveabout Hawaii that those of us who don't

(42:27):
live there maybe would miss. Yeah, like you said, a big culture
shock coming from Texas. It wasa big change for me. Really struggled
with it at first. But youknow, now that I've been there for
three and a half years or howeverlong it's been, you know, I
just really fell in love with theisland and just I love the culture more
than anything. It's been. It'sbeen great. This is the twenty twenty
four Mountain West Media Day Show onFox Sports Radio One Team. I think

(42:50):
Bulldog fans should be excited about havingback on the schedule, especially at a
new and improved falcon Field. OnNovember ninth, Veterans Day weekend, the
Bulldogs will travel to the Air ForceAcademy and take on the Falcons. We
have a couple members of the Falconssquad, receiver Brandon Engle and defensive back
can be golf with us here.Guys, your senior season, you've accomplished

(43:13):
a lot just to get to thisprecipice at the Academy. Senior you're supposed
to be a little easier, right, Is that the way it works in
Colorado Springs? Supposed to Yeah,supposed to be. Yeah, you think
that's going to be the truth.I still have one more tough class.
I gotta take what is it?Astronautical engineering? Oh? Is that all?
Yeah, that's just the only oneof guys? Is that your major?

(43:34):
No, No, it's not.It's just a core class we have
to take. Uh huh. Iguess you know the core classes at some
other schools probably are not astronautical engineering, But at the Air Force Academy that
works. Cam Be. What aboutfor you? What are you looking forward
to your senior year? Just haveanother shot at it? You know,
as you probably know, my seasongot cut short of just Michilles injury.

(43:58):
So just being back out there withthe guy and you know, just have
another shot at it. Yeah,and even without you that secondary had a
pretty good year last year. Youmust have had something to do with that,
coaching them up or something encouraging themon the sideline. I was trying
to. I was trying to,you know, being moral support and everything,
you know, but they definitely dida really good job. So Fresno

(44:20):
State's gonna come there November ninth.I mean, every day at the Academy
is special, but Veterans Day weekend, I'm guessing that Saturday game is going
to have a pretty cool flyover,probably right. I was definitely not say
so, you guys ever get tiredof the flyovers? Do they become like,
you know, just running the mill? Because they happen every game.

(44:40):
I don't think you ever get tootired of them. I mean, you
get to see a jet flying over, I think it's pretty cool. So
you don't see them too often,you know, especially like gay time.
You know, maybe the ones overthe school we see them kind of often,
but not the one that's game gaytime. Yeah, what does that
feel like? When you're in uniformat the Air Force Academy on the field,

(45:06):
it's almost kickoff and you get Ffifteen's or F twenty twos or f
thirty five's or whatever flying over?Can you help us understand what that feels
like to be you guys in thatmoment. I kind of say, it's
like a journal rush, you know. It kind of lets you know that
it's on. You know, it'slike the mark. You know, it's
like the whistles already blown after thatpoint, you know, I'm already in

(45:28):
tune. It's it's game time,you know. So I think it's really
cool. What's it like for you, Brandon? Yeah, it's just that
rush, you know, seeing themfly over, you know you realize that,
you know, you gotta buckle upthat chin strap and get ready to
play. So you got a toughopponent coming up. Do you guys have
a favorite? Has there been likeone flyover over all the years that was
like those are the best goosebumps?Or that was the coolest thing to see

(45:50):
or hear? Have a favorite?I don't. I don't really know.
I think, you know, it'ssomething that's very loud, you know.
I think the best ones are theloudest ones, you know, where I
can really hear it. I thinkeveryone to hear it, you know,
So I think those are the bestones, the ones you feel in your
toes. Ye, what's something youguys can tell us about life at the

(46:13):
Air Force Academy that maybe we haven'theard, where we don't see, or
maybe we misunderstand. As long asit's not classified, it's just a lot
of work. I mean everyone knowsthat. But you got a lot of
people that come together to help youdo it. You know, you're all

(46:34):
fighting for this, you know,the same thing. So it's just not
you're not working by yourself. Youknow, you you're a unit the whole
time, whether that's you know,on the field or in the classroom.
So you got a bunch of peoplelike working together, you're not You're never
doing anything by yourself. So yeah, as hard as it is, you
know, you never go any throughanything alone at the academy, which is
kind of contrast to the direction thatcollege sports is moving, where it's me

(46:57):
me, me, transfer portal andI change teams every year. You guys
are an exception to that rule,yes, sir, And I don't see
you complaining about that can be Yeah, not not really. I kind of
like the fact that you know,we don't really indulge in the transfer portal
or in il and stuff. Justbecause I feel like it creates more of

(47:21):
a brotherhood and I feel like,you know, with just all that stuff,
you kind of lose loyalty, Youkind of lose you know, just
the team dynamics and stuff, justbecause guys can come and go at any
point and you know, you canlook up and there's a new face in
front of you, you know.So yeah, I think it's interesting that
the word you use there indulge,And it strikes me there's probably a lot

(47:45):
of things to be successful at theAcademy that maybe you can't indulge in the
same as other people, or maybeas much as you used to. Are
there some sacrifices that you guys canlook at just in the last four years
there that you say, you know, here's something I might have been doing,
but I decided not to because thisgoal, this purpose, this mission

(48:06):
was more important. Are there somelike real examples of that that you can
share at the Academy? I know, you just kind of give up your
weekends. You know, you mayhave to study quite a bit, and
so staying out late on a Fridaynight may not help you out too much
when you got to wake up earlyto study on Saturday. So you definitely
have to sacrifice some you know,time and hanging out with friends, but
it's worth it in the end.What about you, Cammy, Yeah,

(48:29):
I say the same thing. Youjust studying. Also just just on the
military. You know, we havemilitary requirements we have to do so you
know the fact that they'll take takeup time, take up free time,
you know. So yeah, yourtime really isn't yours? Is it not?
Really? Hey, what's the coolestnon football thing that you've done at

(48:55):
the academy and your time there?I probably say jumping out of airplane our
jump program. I think that's probablyjust the coolest experience, just because normally
when you parachute, you parachhote withthe instructor first time, you know,
But with us, they throw usin the fire, you know, like

(49:15):
full blazing fire. You jump byyourself, you know, that first jump.
So it's very nerve racking, butyou know, I feel like it's
really getting the long run. What'smore nerve wracking that? Or being like
singled up on Ricky White or oneof these great receivers in the Mountain West.
Oh. I have to say thejump. You know that they're really

(49:38):
good of our receivers, you know, but just staring at the earth,
you know, when you're you know, ten thousand feet in there, it's
very scary, you know. Soyeah, how about you, Brandon,
what's the coolest non football thing you'vedone in your time at the Academy.
Yeah. I'm a big outdoors guy, so survival training was actually a very

(50:00):
fun time for me. You know, it's a free seven day trip out
there into the desert. So otherthan the scarce amount of food I was,
I was pretty happy with my time. I've heard a lot of stories
about this down at Opinion Canyon.In fact, I just saw a broadcaster
here whose son is going into asecond year at the Academy and he's in
that survival training right now. SoI've heard stories that maybe you can kill

(50:23):
a rattlesnake and eat that. Didyou resort to eating anything you wouldn't normally
eat? Yeah, I mean youeat anything you can find out there.
That was kind of up to you. That's kind of what you're learning.
It's just like what you can eat, what you can eat, and how
you're supposed to get there. Soyou know, you know, whether that's
grasshoppers, you know, eating thoseor you know, whatever it comes down
to. I mean, you're prettyhungry out there. So did you eat

(50:44):
grasshoppers? I did? How'd theytaste like peanut butter? Like peanut butter?
Peanut butter, can be shaking hishead. You're not buying that one.
No, No, I'm not veryfond of grasshoppers, particularly. Have
you tried them? I have,you know, and I don't think it
tastes like peoku butter. Yeah,I can't say that I've ever tried to

(51:05):
grasshopper, and I'm not necessarily ina hurry. You know what I did
try the last time I was inColorado Springs was the Manitou Incline. My
nephew's a cadet Squadron sixteen there andhe and his roommate and I made it
to the top of that Manitou Incline. You guys ever done that? No,
sir, why not? No freetime, I've just never gotten down
to it. Also, you know, with my free time, I don't

(51:27):
really want to do another thing thatsucks, So it's try to stay away
from that. That might be thequote of the day, Brandon. I
didn't want to do another thing thatsucks. Well, some people would say,
to play your position at your programisn't the most fun thing because most
wide receivers want to play that positionbecause they want someone to throw them the
ball. What goes into playing thereceiver position for an Air Force Academy offense.

(51:52):
I think it just, you know, shows that we're a selfless team.
I think, you know, justbeing a receiver, you're not going
to get the ball ten fifteen timesa game like you might have been in
high school, which is how yougot recruited here. You know, it's
all about the team and what youcan do, you know, to provide
them with a win. So Ithink we pride ourselves on being you know,
pretty nasty receivers out there blocking andthen when we get the chance,

(52:13):
you know, hopefully take the topoff the defense. Do you ever feel
like those receivers play a little dirtyon your cami? Do they ever played
a little dirty on me? Idon't think they're really playing with dirty dirty
with me. Yeah, there's somegood guys, you know. And you
mentioned what happened to you last year. How have you handled that injury?

(52:37):
And are there any silver linings thatyou can see yet that going through something
you didn't ask for that you didn'twant has helped you grow in other ways.
Yeah, I definitely just a hugeadversity, you know, So just
dealing with that, I feel likeI've you know, I've been able to
talk to more people, you know, just really network and you know,

(52:59):
yeah, well I've talked Tola toldme about you know, just the next
steps and everything. So I justyeah, okay, and speaking the next
steps, you guys are both gettingcloser and closer to finding out what your
assignment is going to be. Youknow, the end of the school year,
you'll you'll graduate, You'll be commissioned, right, both be second lieutenants

(53:22):
come may do you guys have somesome hopes and dreams of what you hope
to do in the Air Force.So I particularly already have my job because
I was a senior last year,so that's right, so you get the
year back. Yeah, So I'mI'm gonna be a cyber officer, all
right. You want to tell uswhat that means? What that entails?
So cyber I mean it's kind oflike the hacking and like defending, you

(53:44):
know, so it's all in thatrealm of cyber stace. So I'm really
interested in that and I'm really excitedto go in that round, the ethical
hacking. Yes, sir, well, it could be both in the military,
you know, offense and defense.We're just their So you play defense
on the grid iron, you doyou know something you really can't see but

(54:05):
it's there. Yeah, well,I'm you know, we're going to see
you play defense November ninth when FresnoState shows up. But when it comes
to the cyber warfare, do youlike the offensive capabilities or the defensive capabilities
better? I'm more of a defenseof cybers have a person. Okay,
I guess that, you know,kind of falls in line with football too,
but you know, yeah, yeah, you get more interceptions that way,

(54:29):
probably, I think you do.You know what about for you,
Brandon, what's next? So Ijust put in for my job this past
semester so we get those in October. I'm looking for anything in the business
realm, finance, contracting, acquisitions, so if I get one of those,
I'll be pretty happy. Okay,well, you know, in all
seriousness, guys, I want tosay a heartfelt thank you to both of

(54:51):
you for your willingness to serve ourcountry and know, especially in times like
the world is going through right now. That's not a lighthearted decision that you
guys have made, and we allthank you for that, the commitments that
your families have made. We hopesome Bulldog families are going to visit the
Academy November ninth. Hopefully you guysare going to have perfect weather November ninth.
The sun will be shining, It'llbe like seventy degrees, no wind

(55:12):
at all, nothing falling from theskies. But I would love to hear
you two tell us what the fanshave to see at the Academy. Maybe
you guys get used to some ofthese things that for someone who doesn't live
there, it really is going tochange their perspective or be something that they're
going to remember if they take thetime to visit a certain spot on around

(55:34):
campus. Are there some places thathave become really meaningful to you, particularly
this kind of broad but just themountains, you know, I think you
know, just being in the standsand seeing the mountains right behind the stadium,
this is a really surreal view.So I think if you take the
time to go out there to thegame, I feel like we'll be really

(55:57):
nice. All right, Brandon,What'm about for you? Yeah, I'd
love if the chapel was done rightnow, and I would definitely tell them
to look at that. But youknow, just you know, taking the
views, look at the mountains andthe Yeah, just take a drive around
the academy. It's a beautiful campusfor sure. Yeah, the chapel has
been the signature, signature spot,but it's been under construction since before you
guys arrived on campus. I think, are there any like monuments or memorials

(56:22):
or just even buildings on campus thatwhen you guys pause and read a plaque
or look at this or that thatit it kind of centers you or brings
you back to why you do whatyou do, or maybe you don't have
enough time to do that. Howabout this one, Because there's a lot

(56:42):
of aircraft on a lot of aircampus, right, what's number one on
your list? If you're going pastthat particular aircraft, you're like, yeah,
that's Numero Uno. I think ifyou're walking past the F four,
the fans on, which was aworkhorse in Vietnam for US, I mean
you just you got to think aboutwhat those pilots went through and you know,

(57:02):
just what we're going through in theair. I mean it's just difficult,
and that's it just kind of representsthe sacrifice that you know everyone's you
know, put down before us,and you definitely take it in for a
second. You're like, wow,this is it's getting real. So all
right, how about for you camping? I say, for me, it's
probably at fifteen. I think it'skind of right next to F four,
But I say probably at fifteen justbecause it really shows you just how you

(57:25):
advance, you know, we reallyare in terms of just the arrow they
are not or the aerospace and stuff. So yeah, I thought for sure
one of you guys was going togo with the A ten with all that
firepower. Nah, fifteen for speed, Yeah, I got you. Last
thing, football wise, what shouldwe expect? What do you guys believe

(57:49):
this Air Force team is capable ofthis year? I think this Air Force
team is very young, with awhole lot of young talent. You know,
we don't have too many returning starters, so I'm excited to see what
we can do. But I thinkwe're just very young. Back here in
Las Vegas, a lot of peopleto talk to. There are a lot
of players that we're going to talkto that we won't have time to bring

(58:12):
you on the radio time today.We will be with you again for two
hours tomorrow when the coaches take centerstage here in Las Vegas. Will be
with you from one to three tomorrowas well. And of course you're saying,
hey, we heard from Tory Horton, we heard from these Air Force
guys, we heard from Hawaii guys. And I'm telling you we've got a
lot more than that that we're goingto make available via podcast. Keep tuned

(58:34):
to ck On Sports the rest ofthe week as well. He'll be sending
you some of that content now.A couple familiar faces leaders of the Bulldogs
on offense and defense, and twopreseason All Conference selections defensive lineman Devo Bridges
and running back Malik Sharad or isit kick returner Malik Sharade? You know,
how do you identify your teammate overhere? Athlete? Yeah, mister

(58:59):
does it all? Ask him?Well, I got to ask you then,
the leak, how do you identifyDevo? Because he lines up outside,
he lines up inside. He probablywants to get in the backfield and
block for you every once in awhile on the go a line or something
we should we should get him inthere too. Nah, he'd disrupted a
record ball, the recond ball.He's gonna tear that whole whatever side he's
on, he's gonna tear that wholeside up. What do you think of

(59:20):
that? Defo? Could we throwyou at full back lead block from a
leak down there? Uh? Yeah, we definitely can actually just get the
handoff. Yeah, I say,I was gonna say, look what we
should what we could do is likeput him out there. They go think
that he just blocking the whole time. He ran the full back down.
Yeah, jumping over the lawn likethe sound of that. Yeah, let's
talk the coach pat about that back. Yeah. See, we've already accomplished

(59:42):
a lot, guys, and it'sonly been like a minute. You've been
talking to a lot of people.Are you getting the feel for how the
rest of the league sees you guysand what their expectations are? Yeah?
I feel a little bit. Youknow, I feel like we're always respected,
you know, on the top programsin the league. Kind of don't
like how we was voted with thirdthe finish, but this preseason, preseason

(01:00:06):
doesn't matter. So but you know, I feel like it's mutual respect shown
definitely. What are you picking upon the league? Same thing, mutual
respect and they all they all agreethat that present state is always a top
contender in the league. Well,yeah, you did get four first place
votes. I'll confess I was oneof those votes because you know, I

(01:00:29):
look at returning quarterback, who's thepreseason All Mountain West quarterback? All the
things you guys have coming back ondefense, and to me, it's your
coaching staff. Do you guys seethis coaching staff the way I do that?
Not too many teams have that kindof continuity and experience and buy into
that program. I mean half theseguys were Bulldogs themselves, exactly. Yeah,

(01:00:50):
I love that. Especially my sideof the ball got coach Franklin,
Coach Ki, both guys who playedhere. We got coach Quo used to
coach here. Coach Backs has themost years under his belts coaching as a
Bulldog, and coach Tedford quarterback here, and uh, just a blessing.
All those guys are coming back andcoaching here. That could be anywhere in
the country, but they're here coachingus. So that's definitely blessed to have
them coaching us. Don't get coachJD mad at you, JD Man.

(01:01:19):
I talked to him every day tothat's crazy first man, fresident State man.
Yeah, Hey, what's the craziestthing somebody's asked you guys so far?
I think probably I think it wasprobably when I was on the Boise
State podcast they asked me how itfelt to run that uh uh kick return
off back against him. I thinkthat was probably wild, just because I

(01:01:42):
know that's where the game like changedfor them. Like, I think that
was probably a wild question. Itfelt good for me answering though, you
know, I let him. Igave him great, great detail how it
happened. You should be talking aboutthat for the rest of your life.
Man. Hopefully I make some moreplays this year that can can that one's
like, you know, the bottomof the list. That would be something
because I got to tell you,man, I've called a lot of football

(01:02:05):
games, and that moment in thatstadium was one of the most goosebump excitement
kind of things that I've seen.Devo, did you see it happened?
Like, oh yeah, when thathappened, yeah, oh yeah, the
stadium was so loud. I'm thinking, you know, I'm thinking he was
going a little squid Hey ned runup the ram. I'm ready to run
the ramp like hold on, holdon, hold on, hold on.

(01:02:27):
And the craziest thing is because weknow what happened. But if you ever
gone back and looked at that,I'm sure Malik has. Oh yeah,
I've probably watched that video over amillion times. I mean, how close
that came to being almost and notmeaning anything at all, because if he
gets tackled on the one yard line, it's worth nothing, worth nothing.
Bring the field goal team out there. Yeah, it was. It was
definitely like I went back and watchedthe special teams, and we probably watched

(01:02:49):
about ten times special teams. Buthow you finished the run and I was
just so surprised he stayed on hisfeet. I don't know. I don't
know if I would have kept myfeet. I ain't gonna lie. It
was pretty impressive. I appreciate that. Of the millions of times that you've
watched it back, Maleik, whatwas the element of that play that you
impressed yourself the most with? Ithink it was the probably the the ending

(01:03:15):
part, like the switching the ballat the last minute and then being able
to clear him and stay in bouncedbecause as I was the whole time I
was running, and as he ashe started closing the distance, and I
noticed I was getting closer and closerto that sideline. I just told myself,
like, all right, you can'tgo out of bounce like. There's
there's as soon as I broke throughand I started breaking off, I looked
up at the clock. Triple zeros. I gotta get in now. So

(01:03:36):
I just was telling myself, like, you can't get caught. You can't
get caught. He got closer,I switched the ball jump. I was
trying my absolute hardest to stay inbounce like and honestly, that's why,
like I kind of turned sideways whenI was running into the end zone because
I was looking back at the refto see if he called me out no
signal, turned back around, thedude try. The dude tried to still

(01:03:57):
chase me into the end zone.That's why I knew I was good.
Oh yeah, touchdown, touchdown,crowd going crazy. Cane here eb talking
to me right next to me.Oh I bet yeah. That was a
special moment, man, And I'mgoing to hold you to it. You
said you're gonna top it. Sowe look forward to that one more thing
about that though, because it's usuallyat media days you got somebody from offense,
you got somebody from defense. Nottoo often you see a kicker come

(01:04:19):
to media days. But that kickeris actually here. He is for Boise
State. Cool. Yeah, Iain't even know that. Yeah, he
might not want to talk to probablythat's probably why I ain't seen him yet.
Well, if you do happen torun into him, I'm just going
to be interested to know how thatconversation goes. That was the most I

(01:04:40):
want to know what he how hefelt like after you know, he dove
and then he looks up and thenI'm in the end zone. So he's
the last line of defense. Ithink we can probably imagine how he felt,
but that'd be yes. We certainlycan imagine how Jonah Doalmas felt,
and we might have a chance totalk to him. He is here in
Vegas. I don't think that hee Eliksha I have had that conversation yet,

(01:05:00):
but if it happens, we'll letyou know. And we're going to
have more with Malik and Devo Bridgeswhen we come back. I don't know
how these two hours have gone byso quickly here in Vegas, but they
have or wich it till three todayand again two more hours tomorrow when the
coaches make it here. We'll havemuch more bonus material posted later on on
our website, so you can podcastall these interviews and stay tuned to ck

(01:05:21):
On Sports and the Days Ahead formore content from Las Vegas Mountain West Football
Media Days and more from your Bulldogswhen we come back. This is the
twenty twenty four Mountain West Media Dayshow on Fox Sports Radio. Just a
reminder we'll be back with you tomorrow. Coach Tedford will be here the other
eleven coaches in the conference. Sevenof the twelve programs have new head coaches

(01:05:43):
this year. But before we runout of time today, we do want
you to hear a little bit morefrom the Bulldog representatives who are here in
Vegas, Malik Charad and Devo Bridges, both on the preseason All Conference team.
We're able to record that conversation withthem earlier. You heard part of
it. We want you to hearthe rest of it, and that should
take us just about to the endof our time together this afternoon, so

(01:06:05):
we'll pick it up where we leftoff and talking to Malik and devo about
the chance they have to open theseason August thirty first in the Big House
against the defending national champion Michigan.I'm looking at the schedule. I do
a double take because I'm I'm lookingfor the spot on there. You know
where it says Boise State. It'sjust not there, not there. It's

(01:06:27):
okay, we'll see them boys inDecember. Yeah, we'll seek par in
Boodock Stadium, a Bulldog stadium tothe blue Yeah. Well, we don't
we done, we don't. Wedon't put enough w's on that blue turn.
Let's let's try to bring something backto that raid wave. It's doing
in front of a red wave thistime. Yeah, and that it did
make your incredible kick return, yourbuzzer beater going into halftime even more satisfying

(01:06:49):
because of the team that it wasagainst. And that was a high point
last year. But I want totalk to you guys about the low point
too, because you know it,it caught a lot of people off guard.
You guys were riding so high.You go perfect three non conference play,
nationally ranked, lose the game atWyoming, but okay, we can
still do everything else. And thenthat three game losing streak hits and nobody

(01:07:12):
knows what's going on? Can youdo you guys have better perspective or understanding
of it now of what happened,how you guys righted the ship for the
bowl game, and how that experienceis going to help you in twenty twenty
four. Let's start with you,Devo. What was going on there?
Well? During the season, wesold confused on like what's going on?
I've we losing and stuff like that. But looking back, I feel like

(01:07:35):
we struggled with the rush, somethingwe struggled with last year. I feel
like teams started attacking us more onthe ground, and team started attacking this
more on the ground. That's whatwe struggle with. I saw me focusing
on a lot this off season isstopping the rushing attack. And it's like
injuries to her, that's a lottoo, you know, but it's part
of football, you know, nextman up mentality. But injuries definitely did

(01:07:57):
play a role and our success ornot. And I want to get Malik's
take on this too. But youtalk about stopping the run, I guess
if that's one of your goals andthat's where you guys are really trying to
improve that. Starting out your seasonagainst the defending national champs in the big
house, in a program that youknow wants to establish the run, that's
a good way to start out,a great way to start off to see

(01:08:17):
if all the work putting off seasonit was worth it if it worked.
So and we saw what Devo wastalking about Malik that the defense wasn't quite
as sharp during that losing streak,but the offense missed a lot of opportunities
too. Have you come up witha reason in your mind why the same
team that you know had such agreat start struggled so much late in the

(01:08:41):
year. I just think we justit got a little bit harder when we
started towards the end of the season, just keeping the main thing, the
main thing. You know, Ibelieve that everybody was on the same page,
but I just felt like we hadsometimes where we just get out of
our game. You know, wewouldn't be playing bulldof football, and when

(01:09:02):
we're not playing bulldof football, whenthe Bulldogs aren't playing boodof football, nobody
playing bulldof football, So it's notgood. So I just think that we
just got to continue to work onkeeping the main thing, the main thing,
which is winning football games? Andwhat was the most important thing that
happened going into that Bowl game?Because you know how fans are. I
mean, they love you when you'reon top of the world, and some

(01:09:24):
of them don't love you as muchwhen you're not. And a lot of
people had doubts going into the bowlgame. You know, coach wasn't there.
They didn't know what was happening.Was there something Coach Skip did?
Was it about you guys as players? Was it all the above? What
helped you get to what we sawin that Bowl game and the dominating performance
that the Bulldogs produced. I thinkI think it was a mixture of all

(01:09:46):
those things. You know, likeyou said, we obviously we're on a
downhill a trend right there. Soeven when we lost the first game,
you know, it was we werethat following week, we were let's get
back on track. Now, okay, we lost that one, Let's get
back on track. So it wasalways about getting back on track. And
even though that was the last game, and see now with the Bowl game,
it's still a chance to get backon track. So Coach Skipp was

(01:10:09):
just preaching that, Coach Taffer waspreaching it even though he was not there,
we all knew that he was therein spirit with us. He was
there on the field with us,still watching from back home. So it's
just about going out there and doingit for that, you know, getting
back on track, doing it forcoach Teffer who was not here, and
doing it for coach Skip. Youknow, it's his first interim head coach
game. Why not get him awin and get him a Bowl trophy.
So and we brought that bow trophyback to coach Tafford too, So it

(01:10:30):
felt good being able to give thatto me because he wasn't there. Well,
we're looking forward to another Bowl trophythis year. Devo. Did you
want to add anything to that aboutwhat led to the success in the bowl
game and to finish the season onthat kind of high note, finishing off
strong. We just went on athree game losing streak, and uh,
you know, I feel like that'swe knew, that's not us, that's
not how we're gonna end this season. Off for not going off this season

(01:10:53):
just losing, lose and losing.So it was it was to go off
with the win was big and totake momentum with us going and offseason.
You know, so to keep theenergy high and things like that. You
know, dudes not walk around pout, you know, filling down themselves.
We've ended off seasons, would havewin and doing it for coach Skid,
doing for coach Teffer, you know, getting it was his first in them
head coach win, especially him beinga black coach. That was pretty big

(01:11:15):
too. So that put a bigrole for us and coach Skipp. You
know, he brought the energy.You know, we was playing for Skid,
playing for Tefford, he was playingfor ourselves, playing for our prior's,
playing for the Valley. So there'sa lot of things. He's playing
for us. So we have toget it done, yep. And you
get a chance to get it doneAugust thirty first against the defending national champs
in the biggest stadium, on thebiggest stage, and it's your first game.

(01:11:39):
So you can't say, hey,we can't look past somebody else.
I mean, you can get allexcited about this opportunity against Michigan. Can
you help us understand what that meansto you guys as players to be part
of that historic scene and that opportunity. There's definitely a big opportunity for us
you know, to get put onnational scene, national ranks, no opening,
national defending champions. But we seethat as another game. You know,

(01:12:01):
ain't no game too big for us, too little for us. You
know, we expect every opponent andwe're ready, ready to go in there
and do our thing and play boodofffootball, play our style football. So
we can't lay out those things thestadium, the team and get us off
our track and get us rattled,because the end of the day, it's
football. Yeah, and there's elevenpeople on that side of the ball.
There's love people on our side ofthe ball. So at the end,
they just gotta play ball. Whatare you guys more excited about that or

(01:12:27):
ending the regular season at the RoseBowl against U C. L A.
Both of you guys grew up insouthern California. That seems like that might
be a pretty special November thirtieth,right after Thanksgiving with your families. Yeah,
definitely. We definitely don't look toofar ahead. Were definitely, I'm
definitely definitely one. We got atime type team coach that preached out of
time to look too far ahead andthings like that. But it'd be great

(01:12:48):
to end off our regular season coegecareers in southern California, you know,
try to pack the house with U, with our families and leave out,
leave off with a win and takethat momentum to the championship and you know,
and take them on to the playoffs. So yeah, the college football
Playoff is a possibility this year,the first time it's been a realistic possibility

(01:13:10):
for Fresno State with this expansion oftwelve teams. How often do you guys
actually let that kind of bleed intoyour consciousness, bleed into my personal consciousness?
Probably almost every day, all right, Yeah, almost every day because
I feel like that's that's you know, that's part of the motivations, part
of it, you know, tryingto put the work in so that our
team could make the plays enough toget into a situation like that. So

(01:13:33):
I feel like, yeah, Ithink about it every day, all right.
I can't let you guys go withoutgiving our fans a taste of what
you know that we don't know.Because you guys have been up against all
the new Bulldogs. You have afeel for the twenty twenty four team that
nobody else has. So I wouldlove for each of you to give me
one or two names of somebody you'veseen either on your side of the ball

(01:13:55):
or you have had a nightmare dealingwith on the other side of the ball,
that you think this and Bulldog fansare gonna say, Hey, that's
one of my guys. That's somebodyI love to watch. I really don't
don't have any problems with anybody onthe other side of the ball. But
here we go. There's one personI have say you watch out for.

(01:14:17):
I think it gonna make some noise. It probably be Phoenix Jackson. Yeah,
I think Phoenix Jackson's gonna come outand make a lot of noise that
people don't think he's gonna make.I think it go out there shock a
lot of people. He showed ussomething last year, man, and that
speed sideline A sideline right, howabout on your side of the ball,
somebody that that you've been noticing onthe offensive side on the OFFENSI on the

(01:14:41):
offensive side of the ball, Isaid, it's earlier. I'm really looking
forward to seeing Joe Siah and JalenMoss. I feel like they had a
great year last year and I wantto see it. I want I can't
wait for him to come back anddouble it. Up. So I think
the boys real playmakers could really makesomething happen with the ball in her hair.
So I'm excited to see those boysplay. Takes one to know one
dvo. How about you my sideof the ball, So I'm excited probably

(01:15:03):
have cam Lock back. I'm sorryto have him back. Yeah, yeah,
yeah, I'm very excited to havingyou know, he his season ended
early last season. I hate tosee that. But man, championship Man,
He's one of the best defensive backsin the country. So I'm excited
to have him back. Literally givesme chills talking about him. Man A
right, shout out that boy,Yeah, man, yeah, shout out

(01:15:23):
be No. On the offensive side, I'll probably say, give an old
lineman some love. Heart Baylen Nelson. You know, I've seen his development.
For me, first came in twentytwenty one. You know, he's
want a better freshmen that came in, you know, and got able to
play his freshman year. But I'veseen his progress from over the time.
He's gotten a lot better. So'ssome of them definitely excited to see.
And you've got somebody else gonna belining up next year on the d line.

(01:15:46):
Transferred in from USC Corey Forman.A lot of fans are excited just
because they know how highly he wasrecruited way back. Between him and his
buddy Sevie there, who do youthink is going to have the bigger impact
this year? With bigger impact?H I don't know. I'm excited for
both of them for real, becausebecause because Corey Man, he brings his
unathleticism, Like you could see theway he moves, like I could see

(01:16:09):
why he was number one player inthe country. I'm like, yeah,
the hype is I'll see is thereand Cebe you know year six guy.
You know, his speed is unreal. He's probably went the fast doom.
The team might even go lie.He's hitting twenty one twenty two miles per
hour and he finally gets the keysto lead the defense. So I'm excited
to see him for real. SoI can't even choose which one. So
I don't know if that even thatkick returner guys Sharrod reaches twenty two miles

(01:16:30):
an hour, Oh yeah, Ithink he's probably twenty three twenty four.
Actually, yeah, I'll pull theGPS stats right now, but we race
right now. Is checking for thatcheeah DNA? Yeah, I am the
fastest on the team, so that'sreally hands down. I ain't go I
think he's Magdalena. Mac Dalena isnot fastening me. Well, no,

(01:16:51):
if it could have caught Cashmere Allentoo. If I was on the if
I was on a kick, ifI was on kickoff, he would have
caught you. He was on theother side, the team would have caught
you. Who Mac on your ninety, he would have caught you. He
would have caught me, just likethe kick it dad exactly. He didn't
exactly see. I shouldn't have askedany questions. I should have just let

(01:17:12):
you guys just go back and probablytalking about hour and I'm glad you're having
fun and a lot of other peopleare waiting to talk to you, so
I don't want to hog the time. But is there anything that I didn't
ask you guys about that you thinkBulldog fans should really be looking forward to
or really be aware of. Fortwenty twenty four, I just do electricity
on game days. I think thisyear, for some reason, I just

(01:17:32):
feel like there's got a lot ofyou know, older guys, so I
think like game day is going toreally be like something special. This is
the twenty twenty four Mountain West MediaDay Show on Fox Sports Radio