GVSU Football - Head Coach-Scott Wooster & Lakers Radio Play-by-Play Voice - Steve Lloyd-Jones

We sit down with Grand Valley State University football coach Scott Wooster and Lakers Play-by-Play voice Steve Lloyd-Jones to discuss the upcoming season!

Episode Transcript

(00:04):
Hey, West Michigan, are youready for some football? I know the
season doesn't kick off again until thisfall, but ninety six one The Game
is proud to present this two hourspecial Local College Football Spring Preview. It's
presented by Power Strength Training Systems withfour locations in West Michigan. Visit powerstrengthpro
dot com for a free consultation.Today. From GVSU to Farris State,

(00:25):
Davenport University, New Hope College,and new this fall Calvin University with their
first team in school history. We'llcover it all and you'll hear from each
head coach over the next two hours. It's the ninety six one The Game
Local College Football Spring Preview, andnow here are your hosts, Brett Pikita
and Jason Hutton. Well. Welcomeinto the ninety six to one The Game

(00:46):
Local College Football Spring Preview. It'sour first but hopefully annual edition. Here
on ninety six to one The Game. Following the great college football we have
in West Michigan, whether it's GrandValley State, Farris State, Davenport,
Thegliac and then Hope College and youthis year in the fall Calvin University in
them I double a but we haveto start first and foremost in Allendale.

(01:07):
They are the back to back LEACConference champions and under a new head coach
a year ago, but certainly notnew to the program. He joined us
right now head coach of your GVSULakers, Scott Wooster coach. I can't
believe as I looked back at thetimeline and both Jason and I were there
at your introductory press conference and youget the job in late January, as
ad Kerrie Becker comes to you,Matt Mitchell had left to go to Wisconsin

(01:30):
to be a part of Luke Ficklestaff. I mean, can you take us
back to that day and those fewdays leading up to it, in the
whirlwind of you're the head coach ofone of the top programs in Division two
Grand Valley State. Yeah, BrettonJason number one, thank you for having
us and covering Grand Valley State football. But no WorldWind probably describes it the
best. You know, As Ihad left my Alva mater a few years

(01:52):
back, you know, I kindof put some head coaching dreams and aspirations
behind me and making this move.And my wife and my Christina and I
had talked about that quite a bitand then when this opportunity came along,
Coach Mitch just the man he is, you know, he kept us abreast
of any opportunities he had. Andthen when this one came along, we
knew because of some of the relationshipsand what it meant to him, there

(02:15):
would probably be a little bit moremotivation to do it. And then when
we got the news, it wasa WorldWind of a week. And I'll
just say this, the people thatwe have in this building, our guys,
our student athletes, our coaches,the people. And I said in
the press conference was makes Grand Valleystay so special as the people. Yes,
I wanted this position so badly tokeep this group of people that have

(02:38):
that I love so much, thatlove each other so much together as long
as we possibly could, so extremelyimportant. We Yeah, there was some
cortisol rolling through the veins to makesure that we could, you know,
a little stress level there to makesure we got this position because of the
people that are in this building,keeping them together. Coach at your presstop

(03:00):
and Spat brought it up. Youknow, you talked about Grand Valley state
lofty expectations, right, you guysare here to win national championships. You
didn't win a national championship last year, but eleven game winning streak, a
second consecutive GLEGG title, you beatFairs State twice. I thought there were
a lot of really really good thingsthat came out of a year ago.
How did you look at year onefor you as a head coach as you

(03:20):
get set to go into twenty twentyfour here, Yeah, man, it
was it's one point. It's onepoint to get to a semi final and
then quite possibly play a team thatwe had lost to on the last second
field goal in Week one. Andthat one point is is on my mind.
Is not the back of my mind, it's it's on my mind every
single day. And yeah, therewere some really really important steps that Grand

(03:42):
Valley State took in twenty twenty three. Amazing group of seniors, an amazing
group of guys that really came togetherand believed, you know, took some
took some huge steps, some thingsthat had never been done in Grand Valley
State history. Of beating that teamup North a couple of times, and
you know, obviously the the dominantGleiac performances, the schedule that we played.

(04:03):
I don't know if there's ever beena run in college football in terms
of Super Region three, of playingthe number three team we were number two
in the country and the number three, four or five team in the playoffs,
and then our regular season schedule aswell. But it's one point away.
It's one point away from doing exactlywhat I came here to do,

(04:23):
that that we come into this buildingto do every day. You know,
I drive down one campus drive andit's it's marketed like we have it right
on our stadium, right on thepress box, the Lubers Stadium, the
expectations for national championships that we're tryingto get to. Five. I walk
in my office, walk in tothe Hospit Football Center, and right right
on right outside my door championships,right, national championships, regional championships,

(04:46):
playoff appearances, GLEEAC championships. Andwe were one point away from that in
twenty twenty three. So we gota hungry football team, we got a
hungry staff to take that next step. Coach, with everything that you celebrated
the Spring Classic not too long longago and the seniors getting their rings and
you could celebrate that season. Youknow, it's all about the new right,
and you had some new this spring, including a new offensive coordinator,

(05:09):
tell us about him, and alsowe know it's going to be a new
starting quarterback this year for the Lakers. Absolutely, And it's a really cool
kind of tradition of having that ringceremony before the Spring Classic the Spring Game,
because it does really close that chapter, right and it put some closure
on the twenty three get to celebratethose seniors one more time, but remind

(05:30):
us you know what it's all about, and we put those silver rings on
and going after the gold rings andthen close the chapter of Springball twenty twenty
four and really focused now on thefall of twenty four and getting getting back
this summer and getting going. Butno, loved every minute working with coach
Vince and he did a tremendous jobhere as the offense cord in the last
three seasons personally our relationship, butas he moved on, we're just looking

(05:55):
for some continuity, which struck goldwith coach Schumaker because coach vits them actually
GA for coach Shoe. So therewas some procedural things that were very similar,
but then also a shot in thearm, you know, just some
things a little bit different, differentway of looking at a different way of
calling games and struck absolute goal withcoach Shoemaker. He's come in here aligned

(06:18):
culturally, aligned, philosophically, believesin the same things we do in terms
of how treating kids in about thenext fifty years and taking care of guys
not just these five years, butgrowing into men and preparing them for the
next fifty years of their life.And then offensively, he's done a tremendous
job, tremendous buy in from ourroster, and tremendous excitement of seeing the

(06:41):
flashes of what we could be.And then, yeah, Kate Peterson can't
say enough man like the ultimate competitorand the senior here that he had just
got off the phone with a coupleof CFL teams this morning about him and
you know, hopefully that football futurefor him. But I can't say enough
about Kate Peterson and his performance,his leadership and everything he ought to Grand
Valley State football. But that chapterhas closed as well. And then you

(07:03):
know, Avery Morris played a lotof awesome football for us, and uh,
think about Avery more is He's beenthe biggest in the biggest moments in
the biggest football games. You know, and now just taking that step to
be the you know, the starterand the complete quarterback. And we know
what he can do running the balland coming in and you know, having
those you know that role of ofthat uh, you know, kind of

(07:24):
rotational quarterback and short guard his goalline to be in the being the guy
and I thought he had a tremendousspring doing that. Benny Meshi had a
great spring. He was a guythat kind of came on late in the
year. We had some injuries atthe quarterback position and he was kind of,
you know, thirsty for this roleand did a great job. And
then Alex Stole had a great spring. He came in Week two last year,

(07:47):
won US a game in double overtime. So he's been out there under
the bright lights and uh and hehad a great spring. Aidan Lesero showed
some flashes and he's got some tremendousarm talent. Ristian Johnson, you know,
our young guy or our freshman weread shared last year, had a
great spring classic and you know,learning the offense. Bringing in two guys

(08:09):
Andrew Schuster and zach O Lenizchek inthis class of twenty twenty four. So
excited about that position. You know, it's uh, you know, Caide's
done so much for so long,and you know now it's the next the
next guy, and we got somegreat candidates to fill those cleats. Coach,
Let's go to the other side ofthe ball. I thought your defense
is up standing last year. Imean the last game you guys played,

(08:30):
you about seven points, but youlose just like an offense, Abe Swanson,
Christian McCarroll. I mean some outstandingplayers. You return, guys like
Anthony Cardamo and Ian Kennelly. Ilook at Niles King led the GLEEAK and
Sachs last year. He doesn't haveChristian McCall on the other side anymore.
What's it going to take to getthe defense to where you wanted this season?
Yeah, And that's awesome thing aboutGrand Valley State. You know we've

(08:52):
got great players. And you know, I think the thing about this senior
class with Kid and Nave and Christianand Garrett and Seth and all these guys,
it's not just a senior year.They were so productive for so long.
I got here in twenty twenty wedidn't have the season because of COVID,
so twenty one, twenty twenty three, they were just the production leaders.
They were also the leaders of thefootball team. So I think because

(09:15):
of that, you know, likethere's so much what are you going to
do without him? Well, there'sbeen a lot of guys that are have
been waiting their turn and developing.And that's the thing about our coaching staff.
They're tremendous teachers, coaches, mentors. Uh, And we developed.
You know, we had one transferstarting in that regional championship game and basically
all year last year, and theseare high school guys that we recruited and

(09:39):
are developing. So you know,when you ask that question, yeah,
Niles King doesn't have Christian McCarroll.But but there's been some guys Charlie Nylander,
Elias Beldez, Josh Shell, abunch of guys at that defensive end
position that that have been waiting inthe wins and just and the Ode weight

(10:01):
room with Coach Flutter strength conditioning andcoach Dunning for this, for this opportunity.
You got a couple freshmen that hada great spring, Derrick Rude and
Kimanie Potts. So yeah, it'suh, you know, you're losing a
tremendous amount of production. But butthere's there's the guys ready for that,
ready for this opportunity. The springspotlight is on the GVSU Lakers football program.

(10:22):
Head coach Scott Wooster has joined ushere. It's the ninety six to
one of the Game Local college FootballSpring Preview, brought to you by Power
Strength Training Systems. Faster, stronger, more confident athletes. That's what Power
Strinth Training Systems is all about.And you know, Coach, it wouldn't
be springball talk without talking about andgoing back to your recruiting class you brought
in just this past year. Lovedthe class, Coach. I covered a

(10:45):
lot of these guys, so didJay with our high school football coverage.
I mean Kellen Russell Dixon, Jakever Moss, cam Van Sulkam up.
You have to be so pleased withwhat you did, not only with athletes
here in West Michigan, but againstaying true to the state of Michigan and
the Midwest for GVSU. No.And I'm glad you brought that up because
that's you know, with the transferportal talk, and that's all the talk

(11:05):
on social media right now and alot of the pundits in college football and
to me and maybe it's because ofa former high school coach, just the
development of seventeen eighteen year olds intotwenty to twenty three year old men.
And then you know, the windowof opportunity to do that right here in
our own backyard in West Michigan,and getting the opportunity to recruit a kr

(11:30):
D and all those guys Jake Vermasand Cam Benskama Ryer Snow, all these
guys Mason Kern right from our ownbackyard, and then the level of football
is played in the high school coachinghere in the state of Michigan and West
Michigan in particular. Yeah, Ijust wanted to capitalize on that window of
opportunity because we got some of thebest football players in the Midwest, maybe
across the country right here. Let'skeep them home. And I think I

(11:54):
don't know, seventy five seventy sevenpercent something to that effect. We recruited
right here from the state of Missischigan. We're not flying down to Florida to
get our guys. We're not inthe transfer portal trying to top grade talent.
We are recruiting guys from the stateof Michigan right here in West Michigan.
And our phenomenal coaching staffs develop theminto those guys. We had five
guys go to the Gliac Crode,you know, and get you know that

(12:18):
next UFL or NFL CFL opportunity,and you know, those are all high
school guys. Those are our guysthat we recruited and developed right here.
And I'm super excited about the classat twenty twenty four and super excited about
our West Michigan guys. To followup on that, coach, one of
my favorite things covering high school footballis seeing the college coaches on the sidelines.
I remember seeing you week one,Rockford, Michigan. Love that.

(12:41):
What is like? You know whatrecruiting is, right, You've done it
your home career. How does thatchange for you now that you move over
a chair and you sit in thehead coaching role. Do you recruit or
do anything differently in that process thanwhen you were an assistant? No,
the thing, you know, justmoving moving chairs there. Like you said,
had twenty four years as an assistantand then become a head coach.

(13:03):
And the thing that I probably missedthe most is the relationship, the intimacy
of the relationships of having twenty guysin the room. Now we've got one
hundred and forty one guys. Theintimacy of recruiting face to face an area
and getting to know guys in therecruiting process, so you know, I'm
not going to miss it. I'mgoing to continue to do it because that's
what I love about this game isthe relationships, the people and building those

(13:26):
relationships. So yeah, that hasn'tchanged a ton for me in terms of
I'm going to be on the road, I'm going to be meeting with recruits.
One of the families was told mywife, she said, at a
commitment commitment visit, she said,man, I went all around with you
know, all these visits and everythingelse, and you know your husband is

(13:50):
so involved as the head coach andrecruiting, and I said, because that's
that's what recruiting is. There's somuch garbage in recruiting right now with Portal
and all these offers and all thisstuff up. It's it's people, it's
relationships. These seventeen eighteen year oldsget to go through this once in their
life, right and it's not ait's not a game, it's it's their
future. Like these five years setup the next fifty years of their life.

(14:13):
So I want to get to knowthem. I want to I want
to know who we're bringing into thisprogram. My number one job as the
head coach is protect that GV andprotect our culture, and I want to
know those guys inside and out.I want to know their families. I
want to know their parents. Iwant to know what makes them click.
I want to know what they wantto do for the next fifty years after
these five years. So when youask that question, yeah, change a

(14:35):
little bit of I'm not you know, I don't have an area, and
I'm not recruiting a position, andI might not know you know, all
the ins and the outs. Butin our recruiting meetings, those are questions
I ask and every chance I get. I'm going to be at Rockford Uskegan,
I'm going to be at South Christian, Grand Raptids Catholic Central. I'm
going to be at those games andseeing the interactions and you know, and

(14:56):
we're going to have those guys oncampus. We had over fifty sixty juniors
over spring ball at our junior days. I want to get to know those
guys, get to know their families. That's why they love them as far
as the players in the program,he is now their head coach at GVSU.
Scott Wooster, coach, congratulations again, tremendous season. We're looking so

(15:16):
forward to the fall. I knowyou guys are excited about a team like
West Florida coming to Lovers Stadium.It's going to be rocking and the fall
can't get here soon enough, right, coach No, and it's it's amazing.
I don't know if you hear itbehind me, but we got construction
going. We got a new pavilion, restrooms, concessions upgrade to Lovers Stadium
right now. We've just got allthe turf off, like there's a little

(15:39):
quarter. We're getting a new AstroTurfsurface in Lovers Stadium. We sold out
all the club seats. We're liketwenty away from breaking a record for season
ticket sales. Yeah, what isit, April eighteenth, nineteenth, whatever
it is. And yeah, wegot a heck of a lot of work
to do this summer. But alwayssmokes. I mean with the schedule,

(16:02):
Central State flying outs, Colorado StatePeblo bringing lacrosse in ausesome weak team,
and then like you said, WestFlorida and then this phenomenal GLEEAC schedule,
got Roosevelt coming in to the GLEIACit. Yeah, you better check your
paulse You can't get excited about this. You better check your pulse because you
ain't alive man Like Grand Valley Statefootball. It's ultimate college football experience and
what's going on right now, youcannot beat it. We'll look forward to

(16:26):
seeing out on Friday nights, likeJason said, with the high school games
as well. Thank you so much, coach, and really appreciate the time.
Yes, Brett, Jason, likeI said anytime, I so grateful
that you're covering Grand Valley State football. You're listening to the ninety six won
the Game Local College Football Spring Previewwith GVSU, Farris State, Davin Fort

(16:47):
University, Hope College, and CalvinUniversity, presented by Power Strength Training Systems
Faster, Stronger, more confident Athletes. Well, you just heard from GVSU
head coach getting ready for his secondseason, Scott Booster on the ninety six
to one The Game Local College FootballSpring Preview. Brett Pikita and Jason Hutt
and welcome you back. And we'rehappy to have long time colleague joining us

(17:08):
right now it's been a while sincewe caught off to him voice of Lakers
football on the radio for the GrandValley Sports Network, Steve Lloyd Jones and
Steve first and foremost you and BobMitchell doing a great job covering the Spring
Classic, both on video and theradio broadcast. And got to be excited.
Back to back LEAC championships for theLakers, and they do it under
a first ye head coach who yes, was with the program. But when

(17:30):
you look at that timetable and thatschedule at the start of the season,
you guys go on to Colorado andlose the very first game. It's amazing,
Steve, the year the Lakers reallyhad. Yes, it is.
I appreciate it. Brett, thankyou. Jason, good to talk to
you too, And yeah, guys, it's just an incredible year that the
Lakers put together a lot accomplished kindof between two bitter losses. You know,

(17:53):
you lose basically at the Horn thereto on the road to Mines at
the beginning of the year by three, and then you lose in the regional
championship game on the road to Hardingthe eventual national champs by one. But
in between they put together a fantasticstring of just high quality football. I
was really impressed. I know I'mbiased, you know, at the Grand

(18:17):
Valley, but it's really impressed withScott his staff, the level of preparation,
the innovation. They were willing totake risks, you know, when
they felt like that would be advantageous. They knew when to challenge calls,
which at this level is much moredifficult than the highest level. So yeah,

(18:37):
really impressed with just how they wereable to step right in in year
one. There was a lot ofcontinuity within the staff, of course,
but to be able to work likethat on game day as seamlessly as they
did. Scott just had tremendous poise. He is definitely a guy that the
guys gravitate too. They love himplaying for him. It was the combination

(19:02):
of his leadership and the leadership ofsome of the seniors, you know,
the Abe Swanson's, Christian mccarroll's,Kate Peterson, Tari Greek kind of guys.
You put that together and Grand Valleyhad, you know, an unbelievable
year. They won the conference outright, They beat Farris State twice. They
knocked off the MIAA champ, whichif you know, Division two football,

(19:26):
that conference and the GLEEAK are thetwo best in the country. So to
beat Pitt State as well, andthen to go down and put a you
know, a defensive clinic on againstHarding and just lose by one, which
of course was was brutal, butin terms of the emotion of that,
but yeah, just an unbelievable year. A lot to build on, and

(19:48):
hats off to Scott. He didan amazing job. You know, you
meet you meet coach Wooster, andI think it's impossible not to like him.
He, as you just said,did a phenomenal job in year one.
He mentioned at his introductor at presscont Reference their goal was to be
one on one. You know,when you're a grand Value, you're trying
to win national championships. What doyou think year two will look like for
Grand Valley State with Scott Wooster ashead coach. Obviously they're not trying to

(20:12):
reinvent the wheel. There's a tonof success recently. Last year was a
very good year. What do youexpect to see differently, if anything,
out of the coaching staff here nowin year two? Yeah, you know,
I think some of that I'll getto it a minute, I agree
with you. Scott is a guythat the players love to play for.

(20:33):
He's got that. He's got thatcombination. Guys Dan Campbell of course has
this. It's a I don't knowquite how to describe it. It's both
you know that he cares about youas a player, he loves you as
a person, but he's also willingto get in your face and give you
tough love. But when guys knowthat they're cared about at that level and

(20:56):
that hey, I might be injuredat the moment or might not be a
star player, but coach still cares, and then you get the tough love.
You listen to it and you respondto it. And that's why it
gets guys to you know, Campbelldoes to run through a brick wall,
and you feel a little of thatwith Scott. These guys just rally to

(21:17):
him. And it's that combination thatthat unconditional care and love. But also
he can get after you, hecan he can challenge you. But you
accept it well because you know whereit's coming from, and it's coming from
a you know, a heart thatcares about you. I guess what I
would say by way of difference isdefensively, they're basically loaded at every position.

(21:42):
Group quarterback are a little bit unproven. Uh. I don't think it's
a capacity issue at quarterback. Ithink it's it's just experience. You know,
Averymore is going to be the leadguy. He's going to have to
shoulder, you know, the fullload of the offense on a regular basis.
But but while he shows that he'stalented, there's no question about that.

(22:03):
What I'm curious to see is theeffect of the new offensive coordinator,
Ian Schumacher. Okay, this isa guy. I won't go through the
laundry list, but a really reallyimpressive history for him. D one level,
some some successful D two schools,very innovative, creative guy, good

(22:25):
communicator. I think, I saythis, I'm not trying to hold anything
back. I think he's going toput his own, you know, his
own imprint on this offense and we'llsee what that is. I don't know
exactly what that entails, but Ithink that he will, you know,
he'll tweak that to what he wantsto do. And I'm excited because I

(22:49):
think I think he's going to maximize, you know, what he has here.
There's a whole lot of talent onoffense, as I say, some
inexperience at quarterback. But I wouldthink you're going to see a lot of
what makes Grand Valley great success inthe trench is an aggressive turnover you know,

(23:11):
hunting defense that stops the run,the ability to run the ball when
we need to. They're going tohave a good offensive line, but they
have so many good chess pieces onoffense, particularly in the passing game,
that that's what I think they're goingto see a little bit different, a
little more, probably get it toguys quickly in space and see what they're

(23:33):
going to do. Some of thatis to take pressure off of averymore.
Some of it, you know,you want to keep them healthy, so
get the ball to the playmakers andlet him do it. But I would
expect Ian Schumaker to definitely leave hisimprint on that offense this year. Voice
of Laker Steve Lloyd Jones joined usin our local college spring football preview.
Obviously GVSU on the clock right now, And with that said, I think

(23:56):
Ohio State, I think Alabama,obviously Michigan this last year in the fact
of the wide receiver group and therunning back group that I heard you and
Bob talk about and I know someof the players because of their local ties
coming back as deep as maybe youcould argue it's been in a while at
Grand Valley State, right, Steve, Yeah, I would agree with you

(24:18):
definitely on the depth and the adaptability, the versatility, excuse me to whatever
they want to do with that,a lot of speed they don't bread.
The difference I would say is asa group, there's great talent and depth.
I don't know that you have aDavid kirkis Or and Eric Fowler back
in the day of Brandon Bean fromtwenty sixteen. You know that six foot

(24:42):
three, two and ten pound guy. You know, not that you have
to have those guys all the time. Smaller players were great, but you
there isn't that one standout all Americantype. Maybe in the wide receiver crew
physically, but you've got You've gotmismatches and depths. You've got a huge

(25:03):
tight end who can run. Youknow, he's six to six, Gavin
Coser Greenville. You've got excellent guysas slot receivers. I think we're going
to get a little more from KellanReid and lynn Yschell in the slot this
year. I mean, good luckcovering them. That's going to be really,
really tough. And then you knowwhen you have the stalwarts that they

(25:26):
do, Cody Tierney on SAT,Kyle Nott, who, by the way,
can run the ball. Any ofthese guys can run the ball,
you know, so they utilize thata lot in these formations. It is
a very very deep, talented teamwith a variety of ways they can hear
you, no question, Steve.Talking about when we first started this interview
with you, you mentioned a bunchof guys that were so pivotal in last

(25:48):
year's success. Those guys have allmoved on. The leadership that is going
to have to be replaced. Howdo you see that happening in Just how
important is it going to be tofill the shoes just leadership wise of guys
like Kate Peterson and Abe Swanson.Yeah, yeah, not not easy to
do. I wouldn't lie to it. Yeah, they were some of the

(26:08):
best Grand Valleyes ever had, andthose guys, what was neat to see
was to watch their progression individually.You know, they didn't necessarily start at
that, you know, all Americanlevel at day one, but they certainly
grew there quickly. But what Iloved about those guys. Was accountability too,
that they would take accountability. Youknow, Hey, that wasn't a

(26:29):
great game by me. Hey Igot to play better, I know,
I got to be a better leader, and so I think the loss is
big. Christian McCarroll was not areal outspoken guy, but what a warrior
too, you know, and justguys all over the place on that team.
I don't know that it's a specificguy or two. You know,
Offensively, guys like Kyle not CodyTierney, they're going to be big playmakers

(26:53):
and lead by example. They're notThey're not necessarily vocal guys so much,
but certainly they'll by example. ButI think I think the defensive guys that'll
probably switch to them a little bitmore. You know, I would look
at, at least initially, Ithink coach Wooster, you know, I'm
sure as training camp goes, oncethey get into the fall, he's going

(27:15):
to be able to see this alittle bit better. But yeah, Anthony
carterm on the linebacker I think willdefinitely set the pace there. I think,
you know, JVR sugs up front, no question. And then the
secondary, which is we're talking aboutthe wide receivers, but the secondary.
I don't remember a deeper secondary thanthey have right now. Now there's not

(27:36):
a Brandon car that goes to theNFL and a Bill break in per se,
but they're really good players, allAmerican types, you know, to
some degree. Ian Kennelly one ofthose, so I think he's going to
be a leader. So Jason forleadership, I would look at probably the
defensive guys more by way of beingthe vocal leaders. Everybody's going to do

(27:59):
their best by example, but it'syou know, definitely Cardimone, Kennelly,
you know, and then JVR sugsup front. Those guys will set the
tone and yeah, it should begood. The quality of people just individuals
here is really high. Yeah,they're great players, and I know as

(28:21):
fans that's kind of where we stop. But they're all high quality. So
I don't think there's going to bea problem finding good leaders. You're not
going to necessarily replace the kind ofguys that left right away real easily,
but I think the Lakers can getthere. Steven, my final question about
thirty seconds left with this just talkabout and I think it's great with the

(28:42):
Lovers Stadium expansion, everything that's goingon. You know how we see this
in Division I football. The schedulesfor Grand Valley State have been incredible.
I mean, three top twenty nationalrank opponents last year. It just makes
for good football, especially when theycome to Allendale and I look at Central
State this year to kick it offand then don't forget about this one.
Mark it down like your fans SaturdaySeptember twenty eighth to the three o'clock early

(29:03):
kick. But West Florida, asyou know, one of the best teams
in the country. Yeah, no, you're right, Brett. So it's
a combination of a couple of thingson the scheduled. Okay, in all
honesty, Grand Valley loves to playthe best. They never shy away from
competition. Can't say that's always thecase for teams they talk to across the
country. Nobody wants to play GrandValley, so you are forced to go

(29:27):
find some of these these matchups andat the moment they're out of region,
which is the key thing for theseteams. Okay, they don't want to
play a regional game with Grand Valley, so you get you know, this
road game will have this year toColorado State, Pueblo, which they're a
very good program, won it intwenty fourteen, should be solid. We'll

(29:48):
have to go there. And then, as you mentioned, the end of
September, you get West Florida,who what it was twenty nineteen they win
the national title, so they're verygood. Of course, have you know
Ferris in your own conference, SaginawValley is improving to Davenport is solid there
on the rise. So yeah,it's a tough schedule. It's one of

(30:11):
the toughest conferences in the country,and then you're kind of forced to go
hunt some of these other teams toplay because people don't necessarily want to play
you too much. But hats offto you know, places like Peblo and
Mines and West Florida and you know, I believe next year starts the series
with West Texas A and M,which is another big powerhouse, so hats

(30:33):
off to them. It's great football, it's great for the fans, and
you're right, Lakers will be testedon that schedule and going to be good.
The stadium renovations should allow for evenmore people to get in there and
a better fan experience there too,with the bathrooms and concessions. So that's
good. Get your tickets EARLYGVSU Lakersdot com. You can follow Grand Valley

(30:55):
State football on all their sports rightthere, and make sure you tune in
Voice the Lakers Football nine season strongand going, Steve Lloyd Jones, thank
you so much for joining, Steve, We appreciate it. We look forward
to covering the Lakers this fall.Yeah, no problem, guys. Brad
Jason, thank you great talking withyou.