May 13, 2025 • 9 mins
As part of our #513Day broadcast from the Lindner Center at the University of Cincinnati, we were joined by the General Manager of the UC Football program, Zach Grant.
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Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Away from five o'clock. This is ESDN fifteen to thirty
mol Wegger broadcasting from the Lenner Center at UC. It's
five to one, three day. The general manager of the
UC football program, Zach Grant, with us here for a
few minutes. I said this to Scott Saderfield earlier. I
come here in the fall, I come here early in
the winter, and you guys look war out. You guys
(00:20):
look fresh in May Man well rested. Right.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, well, this is a period of time now where
the coaches are on the road. They're probably a little
less rested than we are. Yeah. You know, April with
the spring portal window, was a bit of a grind,
a lot of nervous nights trying to make sure we
kept our team intact during that time. But now we
get into a normal routine. We got four weeks here
(00:47):
in May leading right up tomorrow day where our coaches
are on the road evaluating the twenty six and twenty
seven class.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
All right, let's talk about the offseason work by you
and your staff. What do you like most about your additions.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I think it was a well round off season compared
to the previous two. I felt like we had fewer
holes to fill, and we're kind of more calculated in
our approach where you know, we wanted to get revamped
kind of the playmakers on offense. We needed to replace
some very good players on the offensive line, and then
(01:22):
just enhance the overall team size and speed on defense.
And you know, comparing it to the previous offseason where
it felt like we needed to overhaul things, this was
more of like, all right, we feel like we have
a talented team, let's keep it in place, and then
from there, you know, let's add some players that are
going to make an impact. So I don't want to
(01:44):
use the word easy. It was just different because we're
you know, looking at it from more of a play
an advantageous place rather than more of an overall.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Give me something. If there is anything that the average
college football fan doesn't understand about roster construction in this
day and age in.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
The sport, that's a good question. The way we look
at it, you know, which probably differs from the overall
fan is, you know, we are truly trying to find
the right body types with the right traits that can
(02:23):
be developed. And when I say that, I'm talking about
out of high school and then using that in the
mindset of the draft, you know, we want as many
picks as possible to get the right body types or
the right traits that we're going to develop and trying
to be cost efficient in that area too. And then
(02:43):
when we hit the portal, we're looking to where do
we need to make the team as competitive as we
can to win a Big twelve championship for that season
and the couple seasons beyond that. When you look at
multi year guys, I guess to answer your question more
specifically with a certain example. Yeah, you know, right now,
(03:07):
with the house case starting to you know, it looks
like it's going to be passed in the next couple
couple of weeks, college football is no longer a head
count sport with the scholarships. It's an equivalency sport. So
to the normal fan that might not mean anything. But
now you have a roster limit, and there's obviously a
(03:28):
question about that with the with the judge. We'll see
what she says, but they're going to institute a roster
limit of some sort, but they can all be on scholarship.
So each team now has the decision to make Like
you know, we used to deal with just eighty five scholarships.
Any kid on scholarship on the team was on a
full scholarship. Right now, if we have a guy who
(03:51):
has only six credits that they need to graduate in
the fall, his scholarship is going to go from counting
as a full to you know, in our books, it's
like seventy five percent. And so we can squeeze that
number of scholarship players from eighty five to you know,
ninety ninety one ninety two, So the idea of your
(04:11):
roster numbers change a little bit. So that's added a
little wrinkle in the last year, kind of under the
radar from the fan perspective, where you know, you look
on Twitter, you just kind of see money. That's all
everyone talks about. Yeah, there is a little bit more
to it.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
And I guess that was my question because I think
people focus on, well, you know, to replace this guy,
it's going to cost this or they could have kept
this guy but they didn't because he costs that, And
I think there's more nuance to it.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah, there certainly is. I think what I'm learning and
I think what everyone in college football is learning as
we go through the months, in the years. In the
short term, now is every situation is different from year
to year, player to player. Every situation is unique just
because things are revolving and adapting at such a fast
(04:59):
paid you can't even look at the market trends of
last offseason because everyone in college football had more money
this year, right. But beyond that, each player situation is
different based on who is influencing them, what agents they have,
what their mentality is, and what their goals are, whether
that's short term focus or long term focused. You know,
(05:21):
you might we always want long term focused players, like
we're going to help develop you to the NFL and
in your life beyond football. But some players are really
talented and care about one year. If they can get
them to buy into the team, it's still worthy of
that player and their skills and using them. So that
(05:42):
just kind of adds when I say, to a case
by case, yes, it's truly. We need to adapt to
every type of scenario.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
There's two portal windows. There was the spring, which opens up,
you know pretty much right when spring ball is coming
to an end. Do you approach that maybe with the
little bit more specific position groups in mind, sort of
a shopping list, where you go, we need this guy
on defense, we need a player who could do this
on offense, maybe need a specialist that sort of thing,
(06:10):
or are you just looking for guys that could play
regardless of position.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yeah, a little bit of both. It starts with we
evaluate our roster at the end of spring ball and
look at what specific positions we need to put ourselves
in a position to be as good as we can
be the next year. Right, I guess that's probably step
number two. Step number one is keeping our team intact.
(06:36):
This year it was a little different than years past,
where the house case hadn't been passed and a lot
of money that doesn't counter towards a salary cap was
being thrown around around college football, which made us a
little more nervous about whether we could or could not
keep some of our guys. And thankfully, I think the
relationships that our coaches have with the players played a
(06:57):
huge part. When we get into a few of those conversations,
they do want to stay here. It's not just about
the money, so we're able to keep it together. And
if it's not for those genuine relationships, then you know
things can can go left or right. So that's number one.
Number two is the specific position but always. And the
(07:19):
third thing is any avenue at which we can improve
the football team, especially along the lines of scrimmage, we're
going to do that.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
So, we have a theory in our recruiting office. It's
from Bill Parcells, but it's called the planet theory, and simply,
there just aren't a lot of big humans walking the
earth that are athletic enough to play football, right, So
if you think of it in that lens, like we
need to have as many of those big humans as
possible if we're going to try to be a big,
(07:49):
physical football team.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
So the spring portal we look at as another opportunity
to acquire some of those pieces. You know, last offseason
we did that with Cam Rutherford. This offseason in the
spring portal, we did it with Elijah Gunn from SIU
three year nose tackle. So you know, we're always going
to take that opportunity. But it does start with, all, right,
what specific positions do we need to be as successful
(08:14):
as possible, what resources do we have, and what's available
to make that happen.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Of all the different things that have happened to college sports,
the proliferation of people who have your job is to me,
what is most interesting, So I was gonna kick out
of getting a chance to talk to you. Enjoy the
off season, I mean, you'll be really busy and hopefully
we catch up once fall practice begins.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Absolutely, I appreciate. It's always a pleasure. Go Bearcats.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
There you go. Zach Rand, general manager of the UC
football program. We're broadcasting from the Lender Center on five
to one, three day. It's seventeen from five o'clock on
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the UC Health
Traffic Center. You see health as expert trauma tear focus
on prevention, treating injuries, and supporting long term recovery and rehabilitation.
Earn more at UCHealth dot com. Getting reports of police
(09:09):
activity along westbound two seventy five at the Hamilton Avenue.
That's got traffic backed up the Springfield Pike with a
thirty minute delay at the moment. Moro Conzondale Road. It's
an accident near Ludlum That is a single vehicle crash
off the side of the road. I'm at Ezelic with traffic.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
This report
Away from five o'clock. This is ESDN fifteen to thirty
mol Wegger broadcasting from the Lenner Center at UC. It's
five to one, three day. The general manager of the
UC football program, Zach Grant, with us here for a
few minutes. I said this to Scott Saderfield earlier. I
come here in the fall, I come here early in
the winter, and you guys look war out. You guys
(00:20):
look fresh in May Man well rested. Right.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, well, this is a period of time now where
the coaches are on the road. They're probably a little
less rested than we are. Yeah. You know, April with
the spring portal window, was a bit of a grind,
a lot of nervous nights trying to make sure we
kept our team intact during that time. But now we
get into a normal routine. We got four weeks here
(00:47):
in May leading right up tomorrow day where our coaches
are on the road evaluating the twenty six and twenty
seven class.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
All right, let's talk about the offseason work by you
and your staff. What do you like most about your additions.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
I think it was a well round off season compared
to the previous two. I felt like we had fewer
holes to fill, and we're kind of more calculated in
our approach where you know, we wanted to get revamped
kind of the playmakers on offense. We needed to replace
some very good players on the offensive line, and then
(01:22):
just enhance the overall team size and speed on defense.
And you know, comparing it to the previous offseason where
it felt like we needed to overhaul things, this was
more of like, all right, we feel like we have
a talented team, let's keep it in place, and then
from there, you know, let's add some players that are
going to make an impact. So I don't want to
(01:44):
use the word easy. It was just different because we're
you know, looking at it from more of a play
an advantageous place rather than more of an overall.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Give me something. If there is anything that the average
college football fan doesn't understand about roster construction in this
day and age in.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
The sport, that's a good question. The way we look
at it, you know, which probably differs from the overall
fan is, you know, we are truly trying to find
the right body types with the right traits that can
(02:23):
be developed. And when I say that, I'm talking about
out of high school and then using that in the
mindset of the draft, you know, we want as many
picks as possible to get the right body types or
the right traits that we're going to develop and trying
to be cost efficient in that area too. And then
(02:43):
when we hit the portal, we're looking to where do
we need to make the team as competitive as we
can to win a Big twelve championship for that season
and the couple seasons beyond that. When you look at
multi year guys, I guess to answer your question more
specifically with a certain example. Yeah, you know, right now,
(03:07):
with the house case starting to you know, it looks
like it's going to be passed in the next couple
couple of weeks, college football is no longer a head
count sport with the scholarships. It's an equivalency sport. So
to the normal fan that might not mean anything. But
now you have a roster limit, and there's obviously a
(03:28):
question about that with the with the judge. We'll see
what she says, but they're going to institute a roster
limit of some sort, but they can all be on scholarship.
So each team now has the decision to make Like
you know, we used to deal with just eighty five scholarships.
Any kid on scholarship on the team was on a
full scholarship. Right now, if we have a guy who
(03:51):
has only six credits that they need to graduate in
the fall, his scholarship is going to go from counting
as a full to you know, in our books, it's
like seventy five percent. And so we can squeeze that
number of scholarship players from eighty five to you know,
ninety ninety one ninety two, So the idea of your
(04:11):
roster numbers change a little bit. So that's added a
little wrinkle in the last year, kind of under the
radar from the fan perspective, where you know, you look
on Twitter, you just kind of see money. That's all
everyone talks about. Yeah, there is a little bit more
to it.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
And I guess that was my question because I think
people focus on, well, you know, to replace this guy,
it's going to cost this or they could have kept
this guy but they didn't because he costs that, And
I think there's more nuance to it.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Yeah, there certainly is. I think what I'm learning and
I think what everyone in college football is learning as
we go through the months, in the years. In the
short term, now is every situation is different from year
to year, player to player. Every situation is unique just
because things are revolving and adapting at such a fast
(04:59):
paid you can't even look at the market trends of
last offseason because everyone in college football had more money
this year, right. But beyond that, each player situation is
different based on who is influencing them, what agents they have,
what their mentality is, and what their goals are, whether
that's short term focus or long term focused. You know,
(05:21):
you might we always want long term focused players, like
we're going to help develop you to the NFL and
in your life beyond football. But some players are really
talented and care about one year. If they can get
them to buy into the team, it's still worthy of
that player and their skills and using them. So that
(05:42):
just kind of adds when I say, to a case
by case, yes, it's truly. We need to adapt to
every type of scenario.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
There's two portal windows. There was the spring, which opens up,
you know pretty much right when spring ball is coming
to an end. Do you approach that maybe with the
little bit more specific position groups in mind, sort of
a shopping list, where you go, we need this guy
on defense, we need a player who could do this
on offense, maybe need a specialist that sort of thing,
(06:10):
or are you just looking for guys that could play
regardless of position.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
Yeah, a little bit of both. It starts with we
evaluate our roster at the end of spring ball and
look at what specific positions we need to put ourselves
in a position to be as good as we can
be the next year. Right, I guess that's probably step
number two. Step number one is keeping our team intact.
(06:36):
This year it was a little different than years past,
where the house case hadn't been passed and a lot
of money that doesn't counter towards a salary cap was
being thrown around around college football, which made us a
little more nervous about whether we could or could not
keep some of our guys. And thankfully, I think the
relationships that our coaches have with the players played a
(06:57):
huge part. When we get into a few of those conversations,
they do want to stay here. It's not just about
the money, so we're able to keep it together. And
if it's not for those genuine relationships, then you know
things can can go left or right. So that's number one.
Number two is the specific position but always. And the
(07:19):
third thing is any avenue at which we can improve
the football team, especially along the lines of scrimmage, we're
going to do that.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
So, we have a theory in our recruiting office. It's
from Bill Parcells, but it's called the planet theory, and simply,
there just aren't a lot of big humans walking the
earth that are athletic enough to play football, right, So
if you think of it in that lens, like we
need to have as many of those big humans as
possible if we're going to try to be a big,
(07:49):
physical football team.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Right.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
So the spring portal we look at as another opportunity
to acquire some of those pieces. You know, last offseason
we did that with Cam Rutherford. This offseason in the
spring portal, we did it with Elijah Gunn from SIU
three year nose tackle. So you know, we're always going
to take that opportunity. But it does start with, all, right,
what specific positions do we need to be as successful
(08:14):
as possible, what resources do we have, and what's available
to make that happen.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Of all the different things that have happened to college sports,
the proliferation of people who have your job is to me,
what is most interesting, So I was gonna kick out
of getting a chance to talk to you. Enjoy the
off season, I mean, you'll be really busy and hopefully
we catch up once fall practice begins.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
Absolutely, I appreciate. It's always a pleasure. Go Bearcats.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
There you go. Zach Rand, general manager of the UC
football program. We're broadcasting from the Lender Center on five
to one, three day. It's seventeen from five o'clock on
ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Station, Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty. Traffic from the UC Health
Traffic Center. You see health as expert trauma tear focus
on prevention, treating injuries, and supporting long term recovery and rehabilitation.
Earn more at UCHealth dot com. Getting reports of police
(09:09):
activity along westbound two seventy five at the Hamilton Avenue.
That's got traffic backed up the Springfield Pike with a
thirty minute delay at the moment. Moro Conzondale Road. It's
an accident near Ludlum That is a single vehicle crash
off the side of the road. I'm at Ezelic with traffic.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
This report
Mo Egger News
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