August 13, 2025 • 31 mins
The former Utah & NFL LB previews the 2025 Utah FB season, How good can the defense be, Will Lander Barton take a leap (?) + more
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
You were listening to about Sean O'Connell show, your source
for the best utes football couple. Here's oh scene from
the Murdoch Hyundai Studio of ESPN seven hundred ninety two
one FM.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Sean O'Connell Show on ESPN seven hundred and ninety two
to one FM. Our VIP party is happening to launch
the UTA athletics season in the fall. We had Bethleneer,
the volleyball coach on earlier in the show. We welcome
in a Utah football legend right now, it's always got
something going on in.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
The football world. Trevor Riley stops by. Good to see us, sir.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
Good to see us. Sean, great to have you on.
I was telling your producer that I still have nightmares
about that fight in Orum. Okay, I still do, man.
I just it was rock'm sock and robots in real
life and it really turned me off from everyone to
get in the ring. To be honest with you, come.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
On, don't put that evil on me.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
No, no, no, it wasn't that. It was art. Okay, it
was art, but it's like abstract art, right, It's one
of those things that's a Picasso a fighting it It's
a legendary fight. Everybody look it up. It's one of
the great fights you'll ever see.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
It was fun. Shout out Trevor Carlson. Hope you're doing
well wherever you're at right now. Yeah, we smashed each other,
you know. It is the worst part about that fight.
So people who were there at the whatever it was
called then, but the UCCU of n Center I think
it is now. It was a great night, great fight,
(01:25):
back and forth battle. I hit him with everything but
the kitchen sink. He hit me a bunch of times
and rattled me a little bit, and I was like,
the reason that that was the game plan is because
in the lead up to the fight, it was like, hey,
this kid was a state champion wrestler in Nevada or something. Ye,
so you know you've got really good striking. Just just
(01:46):
strike it.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Out the ground, stay off the ground, right, don't.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Try and take him down. I was like cool.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Back in those days, my back was still healthy enough
where I could take people down, and I was like,
all right, you know what, I like fighting stand up anyway.
And so that's what happened, and thankfully I got to win.
But it was a grueling, long crazy hard fight, right,
and then he didn't get to fight for a long time.
There was issues, like you know, we we both went
(02:12):
the next day, we actually saw him at the They
sent us to get MRIs on our brains.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Mine came back.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Totally normal because I have a skull that is made
of concrete, and I guess his came back with something
that was outside of normal. I don't know what it was,
but they were like, he wouldn't get no one would
clear him to fight for several years after that, and
then eventually, when I'm fighting in the UFC, he did
get cleared to fight, and I went and watched his fight.
It was here at the Mavericks Center or something, and
(02:39):
the guy who he was fighting then took him down
and submitted him in like WW two and a half minutes.
And it wasn't because that guy was like anything special
on the ground. But I was like, what, I'm a moron.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
I did it.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
The heart saved so much time. There's so many brain cells.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
And so much anguish.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
But anyway, so yeah, you always got to know what
you're up against, know your enemy, and you will not
lose in a thousand battles.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
That's what Sun Sue soun Sue. Anyway, it's really good
to see you.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Good to see you still in the football world, Utah
Islanders GM. I heard you talking with Spence Check. It's
on his show the other day about it. Now, you're
also involved in the University of Utah Players Association.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
Right, yep, yep, we went official a couple weeks ago
with that.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Give me a sense of your goals.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
With that, Well, I think first would be to get healthcare. Okay.
There's a lot of guys struggling out there, not because
of any one particular reason. Just life happens, right, And
you know, Sean, and you're overtrained, okay, and you go
out into the real world. It's a different world out there.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Sure.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
And we're not military people, Okay, we're not trying to
equate that to anything, right, We're not telling money, PSD,
a murder or war or anything like that. But just
when you're in the locker room, right, your whole life
and then it's over, right now what And so that
is a struggle for some guys. And also life happens.
You know, you have guys who just go through stuff.
We want to be there for them, right. Greg Newman
was a big wake up call for everybody. And Greg
(03:58):
was a personal friend of mine and Chris Comroddi had
a great story about that. We touched on it last week,
But I mean that pretty much says it. Oh, we
don't want that to happen. In addition to that, on
that side, we want to help the school get make
We need to raise money for the school, okay, and
who better to do that than the players. I mean,
the Crimson Club is great, don't get me wrong, but
if we can find some synergy, right, if we can
get our ex players together right and get the Crimson Club,
(04:21):
you can see where that's headed, right. And then private
equity is always being talked about. So there's a lot
of things that it's a wild, wild West, and so
we just want to make sure that we have a
voice and that we were helping the school.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
You were at the University of Colorado and doing some things.
If people have heard the interview, if you haven't, you
can go find the archive at ESPN seven hundred sports
dot com and just search Trevor Riiley under the link
and you'll find these conversations talking about you know, your
adventures in Saudi, trying to get some funding for Colorado
and things like that. And I'm glad we have you
(04:57):
sitting here because whether it it's for Colorado or it's
people trying to do it for USC, or it's this
billionaire oil tycoon who's giving all of his money to
Texas Tech, it does change the landscape of college football.
And it is for some people that played in your
era or played in my era, or played before, it's
(05:18):
either hard to swallow or it's something they don't fully
understand and they think it alters, you know, the locker
room dynamic and things like that. But you've been part
of it, Yeah, in a way that none of us have. Yeah,
how much different is it when it comes to that stuff.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Well, when I was at Jackson State, Okay, we got
there in the spring. Not to just go back in
memory's let's go back to COVID, Right, COVID happens and
FCSD two, D three, they don't have a season in
the fall. I remember that we had that abbreviated six
game season in Utah. I'm at Utah. We do this season.
I tell coach with, Hey, I want to take a sabbatical.
They're paying me a thousand a month. I'm working for free,
basically on scholarship. We're just trying to get your foot
(05:56):
in the door. Because again going back to the UFIL
it happens with GA that's what happens. I was finishing
my degree and then you just kind of hang on
for a few years and I was do I want
to coach or what do I want to do? And
so an opportunity comes up. You can go to Jackson
State for the spring season. So in this show, I
was just going to go for three months. Okay, So
I get there and the team, you know, it's Hodge Podge, right,
new coach. They didn't have a season. So we we
patchworked this team together and I wasn't a part of that.
(06:18):
They patchworked it. We get through us you know, six
or seven game season or whatever it was, and so
now the fall happens. Right, we cut a large number
of kids. This is twenty twenty one. Wow, So we
cut probably thirty forty kids this They weren't the standard
that we thought they should be. And then that's when
it started. Okay, we started building a roster and then
we knew the money was coming. Our defensive lineman. You
(06:39):
can look this up, Antwine Owens first ever in IL
deal twelve oh one am, and that was the genesis.
So we started to see, wait, wait a minute, here,
we all played pro football. There was about seven of
us on the staff that played pro football were involved
in it. It was easy at that point. Now the
hard part was telling kids you were cutting you, you know,
and then there was administration and families like what are
you doing? But Dion, to his credit, was ahead of
(07:01):
the curve. Okay, he saw what was coming, and so
we went in. In the second year, we cut sixty
kids and that was at an FCS and then we
get to Colorado and we cut seventy. Okay, and no
offense to that roster. They went through COVID. But that
was the worst roster I've ever seen relative to the
level was at. That was the worst roster I'd ever seen.
The spring of twenty twenty three, I think, well.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I was working and we were covering Pack twelve football
for Serious XM, and you know, we were we that
conversation has had that this is this Colorado team one
that Dion took over is potentially the worst team of
the I think it was one hundred and thirty three
at the time that were that were D one teams
like worse than not. We're not talking about worst Power
(07:45):
five team, was the worst. This might be the worst
roster that exists. And respect to Carl Durell and all
those good but like what they were doing, just there
were players there that wouldn't have been able to walk
on at the university.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Well, just to give some perspective to the great city
of Alorado, which I love, you know, I'm still a
resident and Boulder, you know, I still love the great
state of Colorado. We don't get kids out of Colorado, Utah,
go look that up. When's the last time we signed
high school kids? That we don't do it? You think
that'd be a nice little marriage there their next door,
it's a forty minute flight. We don't get kids out
of there. Okay, so there's that thing. But then Covid
(08:18):
right and Carl. I played for Carl with the Jets,
So I'm never going to disparage him his sun Chalner
as a friend of mine. It just happens sometimes, you
know it kind of if you lose one year, then
it's too That's why it's so imperative. You can't have
a losing season because it exponentially gets worse, and so
we goes to go back to Texas Tech. You talked
about money. Money talks now, okay, and this isn't pro football.
This is more like the pro baseball model. There's no
(08:39):
salary cap and if you got money or you don't
got money, that's the storyline. And so going into this
season for the Utes, they got a little bit of money. Okay.
That's where everybody kind of knows. We're kind of in
that path where we're going to see here in the
next two years. Are we going to go to the
way of Texas Tech where they're buying every year, or
are we going to develop and sell? It's just economics
(09:00):
at this point, supply and demand, right, we need more
money so we can get more players.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
By the way, that develop and sell thing is actually
not develop and sell. Where you get any money, you
can develop. And if you're the Oakland A's, you develop
and you decide we can't pay what the Yankees can pay,
we can't pay what the Detroit Tigers or the Boston
Red Sox are going to pay, and it becomes a
miserable situation for the fans. I I'm not as worried
(09:29):
about that as some other people are. But it's not
a non worry either.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
No, it's not. And Robert Black and credit to him
and his staff, they've done a tremendous job, all things considered,
navigating a new landscape, right dealing with an administration where,
let's face it, administrators are mostly you know, non active
lawyers and bad gym coaches or old gym coaches running
at hedge fund. Now, okay, this is a this is
a this is one hundred million dollar a year athletic
department or more in some cases. And I saw a
(09:55):
report that it's the most valuable athletic department in the
Big twelve. And so we have to be prepared to
treat it as such. And right now we're kind of
we're seeing, we're feeling our way in a little bit.
Right we're going to see because we don't have those
big hitters yet that BYU and Texas Techap or if
we do, they're kind of waiting to see. The last
two seasons have not We've been unlucky in some ways
with injuries, but we have not been able to return
(10:18):
on the investment of some of the private money that's
been flowing through here. If that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
More of a big picture of conversation and one that
is I don't know, it's a little bit different now,
the era is different. You played in a time where
if you had chosen to transfer, you would have had
to sit out right Now that's not the case. But
also you played in a time where the program was
still making adjustments to being in the Pac twelve Conference. Yep,
and you are a really a really good productive player
(10:48):
on teams that didn't end up with the win loss
record at the end of the season that you wanted
to see.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Right.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Look, when you're a bad college football player, you're just
happy to be there. When you're a good college football
play who's going to go to the pros and as
a guy who's doing what he's supposed to do, and
you know, double digit tackles for loss and approaching double
digit sacks and one hundred tackles in the year, it's
got to be frustrating to look around and not see
those team results that you're looking for. That's what every
(11:18):
player on this Utah team experienced last year.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Tell me what it's really like.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
So that's a great point. You know, I talked about
that kind of a spense My era was a transitioner.
I played in the Mountain West twenty ten, twenty two
thousand and nine. I saw the dominance right after the
Sugar Bowl year, and then in the Pac twelve, our
first year, we had little success. I was talking to
John Hayes yesterday. By the way, he's at Butt College, right,
we remember running this in a little bit. He's been
helped me get some players and he's done a heck
(11:44):
of a job. Look at his resume. He can really coach.
But anyways, the problem was always this, are we trying
hard or are we just not good enough? Okay, those
teams just to be frank, very low talent level, and
when you don't win, you don't get looked out as much.
I felt like if we would have won eight to
ten games, I had another game to you, a Bowl
game to showcase myself, you probably rise a little bit
in the draft. Right, there's a better chance of that,
(12:05):
especially fifteen ten, fifteen years ago. I think going forward now,
it's a weird thing because eventually I think you and
I would agree. Maybe you wouldn't, but I think most
would agree. There's gonna be some legislation that comes down
on this. Anytime federal dollars are being thrown around, and
there's improprieties on the FED step in. They did with
the NFL at one point, they've done it in other sports.
So they did it with the nca even back in
(12:26):
the forties when Notre Dame was hoarding players and Army
and Navy were winning all those championships, and they had
two hundred guys in the team, right, and they wouldn't play,
but they were making sure nobody else got them. So
to move forward to where we're at here, Okay, we
have a great opportunity this season, Utah, because everything's in line. Dude.
The line is huge, The defensive coordinator is the best
in the country. We got a guy going both ways.
(12:48):
We got a quarterback or they ran for three thousand
yards last year and he put up a bunch of
passing yardage. We got an OC who's super confident, and
he's got some swag about him, right, He's got kind
of that Mike Leach swagger. He's like, hey man, we're
gonna score on anybody. We don't care. I think everything
lines up to have a great season this year, all
things considered, you know, and the money's in another side issue,
because as we saw with Arizona State last year, they
came through. Dude, they came through with not that big
(13:10):
of a budget. They really came through. I mean, and
what they love. I don't love that Utah had the
bad season they have. I loved the story of the
Arizona State season last year because we all love a
good underdog story. But if you had followed Kenny Dillingham's career,
which I had, because he's a Pac twelve guy, right,
he was not just grateful to get a head coaching opportunity,
(13:33):
this is his dream job. He was overjoyed to be
coaching in the place where he became a college football fan. Yep.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
And he famously became a football coach when he was
seventeen years old because injury kept him out and his
coach was like, you know what you're doing, though, why
don't you help me out coaching the team. He found
his calling in life, and he found it in a
place where, really, I mean, it's home for him. I
think you'd have to pay him twenty five million dollars
a year to pry him out of the valley.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
Now. Well, he has a great spot too, because another thing,
he has a great airport. And I used to say
this to Dion about Colorado. I said, the biggest airport
in American get anywhere, And guys don't think that doesn't matter?
Right when you have when you have, offers were the same. Right,
you know, the offers are pretty much the same for
the high end players. Right. You rarely, rarely do you
get out bid for the high end players, but access right,
people want to go see your games. And Arizona State,
(14:25):
I think watching their season last year, they got the
running back from Sacramento State. Credit de Troy Taylor on
that kid. They get the quarterback, right, they get all
these guys and they patchwork this team together and they
put out a product that was not only good, they
were fun to watch.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Man.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Yeah, they were tough.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
And the the ability to do that with guys that
were rising.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
I mean, I've said it before.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
If I was a college football coach now, I think
that I would make my recruiting classes up almost exclusively
of dudes who were under recruited, missed on and ended
up at the FCS level or ended up at you know,
a group of five and overperform those expectations. Number one
overall draft pick this past year was one of those guys.
(15:06):
The Heisman Trophy winner doesn't count as one of those
guys because he should have gone to it, you know,
I mean.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
He went the path, He walked the path of that
even though he shouldn't have. He decided to walk that path.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
But there's just something about those players. It's actually harder
to find the success stories of dudes that bounce back,
right they go from LSU to Ohio State or vice versa.
Joe Burrow's a good example of that. But there's fifty
guys that were highly recruited. Your Florida State seminole didn't
(15:37):
work out there, Now you're gonna go be a Texas
Longhorn didn't work out there. Dan Lanning is dealing with
this right now, this jury on Dickey Kidd, former five
star athlete at the University of Oregon. He had to
kick him off the team, He had to suspend him
in definitely a five star athlete, because you just it's
a different path. So these guys, like the camp scatterboys
(15:59):
of the world, that were a little bit overlooked and
rise up the ranks. Suddenly you're like, WHOA, this guy
is something special. He's had to prove it the whole way.
No one's been powdering his butt and telling him how
specially is since he was thirteen years old.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
I like players like that well. And it also ties
into what we're doing with the Islanders. Okay, we're solid
community college football team. We want to feed players to
Utah and Yu. Okay, And if you look at the model,
there is a state did and what you're talking about,
it's just farming. What you're talking about is farming players. Yeah,
let me get players who've already been in their tough guys,
been in good systems, been coached well, haven't been paid yet.
(16:36):
They want a bigger stage. We want all those guys.
We'll take them. That's a farm system. And so I
think as teams get more organized, why would you not
make a cartel with like Utah State in southern Utah. Right,
let's make a group together, right, let's make it exclusive.
Let's buy you, let's marry you, let's become partners. I
don't know if that's going to happen, But if I'm
a small school at Utah State, they got one guy
on nil there, I would bet maybe two. With quarterbacks,
(16:59):
how do you survive? What's what's the what's the landscape
look like for you as as Utah State. And so
as you start looking at it down the road, you're
you're you're mentioning a model where why not go out
and get guys that are we we state? Look be
what you did last year we were state guys. Yeah,
they killed it. I mean they increased their win three
or four wins. Not only because that, but you know
that's part of the equation. So with the Islanders, with
(17:20):
with Utah, with BYU, with Snow College, right with Utah State.
So in Utah, I think we're gonna see where everything
starts coming together and it gets like, this is our area. Man,
if you're in this system, you're in our area.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Can you hang out for another couple of minutes if
we take a break, you hang out with me? All right,
We're gonna take a break here. Trevor Iley U Taugh
football legend. He he got some access that we didn't get.
So I'm gonna try and pick his brain about what
he's seeing from this Utah football roster.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Right now.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Sean O'Connell show on ESPN seven hundred and ninety to
ONEFN proud part of Utah's ESPN Radio Network.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Another one, you tuned to the Sean O'Connell Show from
the Murdoch Chevrolet Studio of ESPN.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
Heyet another one.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
All right, Trevor Rivley might come back in. We'll have
some more Utah football conversation. We've got a VIP party
going on right now, so we're not gonna sweat it
one way or another. We've got cannafan Fest coming to
the heart of Salt Lake City for part of the
Granary Live Concerts series on September twenty seventh, and a
celebration of cannabis, culture, music, and community. One day festival
(18:35):
with live musical performances featuring Crooked Kings, Changing Lanes, Analiah
Brown and more. Visit ESPN seven hundred sports dot com
for a full lineup of performances. Ticket links are there
as well. All Right, a little uh quietly breaking news
in the NBA world, as we get Trevor Riley coming
(18:59):
back here into studio. The Portland Trailblazers have sold to
the Carolina Hurricanes owner, who is also heavily invested in
the rising pickleball league. He gave he done two hundred
and fifty million dollars into the alternative the alternative football
(19:21):
leagues as well. And now he's just buying the Portland
Trailblazers for four billion dollars. The estate of Paul Allen.
Part of his will was that his sports property would
be sold. He'd passed away in twenty eighteen. I'm sure
people remember four billion dollars the return on investment. He
bought the team for a whopping eighty eight million, and
(19:42):
he gets the estate, gets the four billion dollar return.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Trevor Riley's back in studio. He could turn his bike on.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
Okay, I actually have a story about that guy, Paul Allen, No,
the owner from the Carolina all right, okay, do you
remember the AAF. Yeah, yeah, Salt Lakes Stallions, Dennis Erickson
and the boys. Okay, so I'm on this team and
our investor falls through Charlie ever Saw and so now
this guy comes in and he bought our league. Right,
he took our gambling technology, which we had, our tracking technology,
(20:13):
and he basically ransacked the league. He sunk it. Now
he took their technology out. But that guy was involved
in the AF also here locally. So interesting investor. This guy,
I wonder what he's gonna I wonder if he's going
to be a winner or if he's going to be
a guy that's going to run the team like a business.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Well, we'll see how it plays out.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
I mean, he already he's diversifying his portfolio in sports,
but not beyond sports, because that's pickleball, sport, hockey, sport.
Now getting into the NBA, and he's got Dame Lillard
coming back to play for him on on the home court.
So it'll be interesting to see how that plays out.
But we're not here to talk with Trevor Riley about
(20:53):
NBA basketball team sales. All right, Utah football, you talked about,
you know the position team is in. There's talent, there's
a new offense with some swagger coming in the offensive line,
knock on wood. If that offensive line is healthy, it'll
be the best offensive line that Kyle Whittingham has coached,
most likely at the University of Utah.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
But look, the.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Big Twelve Conference has a bunch of teams that are
optimistic about their outlook this year. When we went down
to Big Twelve Media Day, I was getting ready for it,
reading all the preview magazines and seeing how many returning
starters certain teams have and what Texas Tech brought in
in the transfer portal, and what Colorado.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Tried to do and what Baylor has done.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
A year after, dave A Randa was on the hot
seat and I was like, you know what, there are
eight teams at least in this conference that I could
see making it to the conference championship game. Utah is
one of them, certainly, but separating yourself from that pack
is going to be a lot easier said than done.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
You've seen this.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Team practice, you watched this team scrimmage at this juncture.
Are they ready to have the bounce back year we
hope that they're going to have.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
With Utah, it's always been about injuries. We haven't not.
I don't think we've started and finished the season with
the same quarterback since twenty nineteen, correct me if I'm
wrong with That was Tyler Huntley and that is really
the story. And we talked about last year, right, you
lose the quarterback, we kind of lost the team. We
kind of all agree upon that. It was just kind
of a let down. I think we got it. I
think we have the ability to do it if we
(22:24):
can stay healthy, especially at the QB position. And that
was offensive Linemen. You talk about Lomo. Okay, Caleb Lomo.
He played for my brother at Highland. I called Jim
Hardy and send him that guy. My brother sends me
this Kay. I got this kid. He's about two fifty
tall kid. And so anyways, I've been invested in these
guys for a long time. This is kind of a
storyline that we've been wanting waiting to see, especially with
(22:45):
these Jaron Compass a five star Okay or whatever you
want to go to, a high end four star, Lomu
and Fano. So we got three big dogs We've spent
a lot of money on and so we need to
return on this investment. That means if the quarterback gets hurt.
You know what I'm saying, we just we don't. We
want everything to work. I think it's everything's lined up
to where as long as we can get some good fortune.
(23:06):
I think I was just talking to our VIPs. I
see minimum ten wins on the horizon, which you'll get
us into the conversation about getting in the Big Boys show.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
I mean, I think a ten win year for the
University of Utah. I foresee a situation where the eventual
conference champion, which is guaranteed a playoff spot. It's probably
a three loss team. Yeah, I could see that, and
Utah could be that team. I think BYU could be
that team despite the loss of their quarterback. I think
Baylor could be in that conversation. I think TCU, for
(23:36):
hell's sake, could be in that conversation. And they're barely
getting any love. So the parody. And we talked about
this opening the show today. I've been setting these over
under numbers about what Utah needs to hit in certain
numerical goals in order to be where they want to be.
And last year you had twelve interceptions. That's below the
decade average for Utah football. That's well below what BYU
(23:59):
did it at the top of the conference with twenty
two interceptions. And of course the more important number there
is your turnover margin.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
You want interceptions, you want fumbles forced, and you got
to recover those things as well, but you also have
to take care of the football and Utah was negative
four last year. To overcome a negative turnover margin and
win a conference championship is almost impossible.
Speaker 4 (24:20):
Yeah, and you talked about those plays, you know, Utah,
we call them havoc place Okay, those are QB sacks, bumbles, interceptions,
right tackles for losses. And the reason why is that
the game when you really watch a game, right, if
it's a one or two score game, it usually comes
down to about four or five plays, that's right, meaning
you stale mat in pretty much everywhere else about four
or five plays, right, a tipball, pick, a guy hustles
(24:40):
and you know, knocks the ball out or you know
gets a sack and on a fourth down, the big
stop on a two point conversion. Those are the plays
where supreme talent usually takes over. And that's what we're
talking about. Her Do we have enough supreme talent to
win those four or five plays? And or you could say, well,
BYU didn't have Yeah, well sometimes you get lucky and
maybe b way you did have those guys. But we
(25:02):
don't want to be in that place. We want to
be in a place and I think we are where
we go into a game where we say, well, if
it comes down to four or five plays, we got
better talent. And I think, Utah, all the punnits are
saying we're kind of built like that. This year, at
least on paper, we look like that team that we
should be able to beat. We should be able to
win those four or five plays.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Landerbarton is a guy I spent all summer last year
talking about what he could be for this Utah football team.
He's the next Devin Lloyd, He's the next whatever great linebacker. He,
by his own admission, ended up not being as comfortable
coming into the year, coming off an injury, didn't trust
the leg completely and didn't get to that point where
(25:44):
he was really playing like himself to the last four
or five games of the year. Now, you take word,
You take players at their word until there's a reason
not to believe him. He said it big twelve media days.
He said in private conversation, I'm back, man, I feel good.
I'm ready. The ceiling on this guy is way up
there for me, Landerbarton, what should he be for this defense?
Speaker 4 (26:07):
Just to give you some perspective on why everybody's so
high on him. For those of you who aren't so
familiar with him, Jim Harbaugh wanted this guy in the
worst way. This was the guy he wanted. I coached
his two brothers, and both of them weren't better. Their
best year was their last year. They improved steadily every year.
If it scales that way, Landry Barton's poised to have
an All American season. And I don't say that lightly. Okay,
(26:27):
It's two brothers are dogs for me, so I know
it's in there. His mom is a dog miky, his
father was a dog baseball player. His sister is a
dog volleyball player. I mean, they got the dog, as
the deal would say, they got the dog in them.
And so this is the year. We got to keep
him healthy and he's got to lead, all right. The
leadership starts in camp right now. How tough are those guys?
We gotta be tough, Sean Utah, We've always been tough
(26:48):
as nails. We're run by a biker gang guy. Kyle
Whittingham is an alter ego. He's mad Dog, the biker
gang man. Okay, I could see him afterwards starting a
biker club, a peaceful one. But this is our guy,
all right, This is the mom, This is a moniker
our team has to be. And Lander is the guy.
No one's talking about him enough. He's the heart and
soul the whole team. How he goes is how our
team goes, in my opinion, And so I say that
(27:10):
with all due respect everyone else who's on the team
and everything, that's the guy man, that's the guy that
can make it happen. And I think that that's a
good thing because again I'm going back to Jim Harbaugh,
Jim Harbaugh wanted that guy in the worst way.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Whoever was the Texas defensive coordinator when he was coming out,
he and I were randomly ended up on a flight together.
You know, you can always tell when coaches are in
the airport because they're always wearing their polo. I was
wearing a ball cab and it was his name will
come to Me. But he was coming to Salt Lake City,
and I was like, why is Oh, he's.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Coming to talk to Lander Barton home visit.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
And I as you're on the moving sidewalk in the
in the airport, I was just like going to going
to talk to Barton and he kind of laughs and
he's just like, are you a Texas fan?
Speaker 3 (27:59):
I said, no, go utes. He's just like, I'm not
going to talk to you.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Then it's good natured about it, but like that's a
guy that and look, he's played well in his career.
Lander Barton is already worth the scholarship. Worth, the NIO
deal whatever. But this this year, that is the defining
year of his collegiate career and is the defining year
of his uh pro future. Him being healthy, I think
(28:24):
is going to be one of the keys for this
team soon.
Speaker 4 (28:26):
Let me take it one step further. The best sath
in that family is the sister. Let's not get that twisted. Okay, yeah,
now I'm gonna say Cody, okay, all right, and then Jackson,
but he's fighting for a family legacy on the inside.
Right forget the money. They who's the best dog in
this family? Right now, I'm betting Lander can overcome the sister.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
We had well, we had Danny and Studio in that
chair next to you, and I was just like, who's
the best athlete in the family, And.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
She was like, oh, it's it's Lander. He's on paper.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
But again he's the he's the baby brother. So they
they're all nicer to him than they are to each other,
you know what I mean. But they're you know, the
brothers have said that at different times. You're like, well,
even going back to when they were playing, they'd be like, yeah,
baby brother is going to be the best one. And
right now that by the way Lander with your listener
or not right now, that's not true yet.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
I'm telling you, Lander, you're number three or four. Okay,
so you got some ground to make up. Now you
have a year, okay. But I'm telling you I'm challenging you. Lander.
I want to see you be the supreme bartend of Utah. Okay,
you got to be number one in the family. When
you go to Sunday dinner, you get if you have
a good season, you sit at the head of that table.
I want you to take this family, young man.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
I don't even know if it's possible, because I think
mom was all conference.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
She'd played both sports. I think she was all conference
in both sports. Lander.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
Money talks first round pick. Okay, money talks, and.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
That maybe that.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Oh man, all right, we got to take a break.
I gotta cut you loose, go and enjoy the rest
of this party. Let's do this more often.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
You're tough as nails. I'm scared of you, so any yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Friend, you scared of me.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Actually, the most I've ever gotten in trouble in the
media with the Utah coaching staff was because of this
guy right here.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
You don't even know, don't.
Speaker 4 (30:02):
Know this story did I say something outrageous or something?
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Okay, you didn't say anything.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
It was when you were a player and media availability
was at like after practice, and you were you had
stuck around to talk to the media because you're always
the guy who's willing to give time, right, and everyone
else has already walked back across across for South in
order to get back to the facility. And You're just like, hey,
can you give me a ride? And I was like, yeah, sure,
(30:29):
And so you jumped in my car. I drove you over.
It's a thirty two second drive.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
Oh, I'm sure they read taped you. What are you doing? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (30:36):
And then and dropped you off at the facility.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Some one of the one of the gas saw me
drop you off at the facility. Next day, I get
a phone call and that's an NCAA violation.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
What are you doing? I'm just like, give me a break.
You know, I gave a kid a ride for three
hundred yards.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
Hey, how funny is that? Now I think about that,
That's how funny is that? Man? Just to say one
more thing, we got the break. I remember we couldn't
have cream cheese on our bagels. Hey, I could not
have cream cheese. You know what I'll want up you
because that was a walk on. In those days, walk
ons couldn't get the team. I used to sneak it, baby, Okay,
I used to be walk out and Dave fog Grin
here you go. Have a plate, dude, have a plate.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Oh is Dave.
Speaker 4 (31:13):
I just wouldn't watch him. He's coaching youth football, okay,
and he just whooped up on Olympus pop Corner on
Friday last Saturday, righty, I wouldn't watched him.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Dave foger Grinn. Let me tell you something.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
One of my favorite guys to ever go through the
Utah football program. Led the team and tackles what as
a walk on him for like whatever a five game
stretch he did.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
Dude, day was on fire. Dude, great player. He is
Highland High School. Shout out to Highland.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
All right, shout out to you, Dave foger Grin, Trevor,
You're the man.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
Appreciate you.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
Thanks Sean
You were listening to about Sean O'Connell show, your source
for the best utes football couple. Here's oh scene from
the Murdoch Hyundai Studio of ESPN seven hundred ninety two
one FM.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Sean O'Connell Show on ESPN seven hundred and ninety two
to one FM. Our VIP party is happening to launch
the UTA athletics season in the fall. We had Bethleneer,
the volleyball coach on earlier in the show. We welcome
in a Utah football legend right now, it's always got
something going on in.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
The football world. Trevor Riley stops by. Good to see us, sir.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
Good to see us. Sean, great to have you on.
I was telling your producer that I still have nightmares
about that fight in Orum. Okay, I still do, man.
I just it was rock'm sock and robots in real
life and it really turned me off from everyone to
get in the ring. To be honest with you, come.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
On, don't put that evil on me.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
No, no, no, it wasn't that. It was art. Okay, it
was art, but it's like abstract art, right, It's one
of those things that's a Picasso a fighting it It's
a legendary fight. Everybody look it up. It's one of
the great fights you'll ever see.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
It was fun. Shout out Trevor Carlson. Hope you're doing
well wherever you're at right now. Yeah, we smashed each other,
you know. It is the worst part about that fight.
So people who were there at the whatever it was
called then, but the UCCU of n Center I think
it is now. It was a great night, great fight,
(01:25):
back and forth battle. I hit him with everything but
the kitchen sink. He hit me a bunch of times
and rattled me a little bit, and I was like,
the reason that that was the game plan is because
in the lead up to the fight, it was like, hey,
this kid was a state champion wrestler in Nevada or something. Ye,
so you know you've got really good striking. Just just
(01:46):
strike it.
Speaker 4 (01:47):
Out the ground, stay off the ground, right, don't.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
Try and take him down. I was like cool.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Back in those days, my back was still healthy enough
where I could take people down, and I was like,
all right, you know what, I like fighting stand up anyway.
And so that's what happened, and thankfully I got to win.
But it was a grueling, long crazy hard fight, right,
and then he didn't get to fight for a long time.
There was issues, like you know, we we both went
(02:12):
the next day, we actually saw him at the They
sent us to get MRIs on our brains.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Mine came back.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
Totally normal because I have a skull that is made
of concrete, and I guess his came back with something
that was outside of normal. I don't know what it was,
but they were like, he wouldn't get no one would
clear him to fight for several years after that, and
then eventually, when I'm fighting in the UFC, he did
get cleared to fight, and I went and watched his fight.
It was here at the Mavericks Center or something, and
(02:39):
the guy who he was fighting then took him down
and submitted him in like WW two and a half minutes.
And it wasn't because that guy was like anything special
on the ground. But I was like, what, I'm a moron.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
I did it.
Speaker 4 (02:51):
The heart saved so much time. There's so many brain cells.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
And so much anguish.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
But anyway, so yeah, you always got to know what
you're up against, know your enemy, and you will not
lose in a thousand battles.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
That's what Sun Sue soun Sue. Anyway, it's really good
to see you.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Good to see you still in the football world, Utah
Islanders GM. I heard you talking with Spence Check. It's
on his show the other day about it. Now, you're
also involved in the University of Utah Players Association.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
Right, yep, yep, we went official a couple weeks ago
with that.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Give me a sense of your goals.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
With that, Well, I think first would be to get healthcare. Okay.
There's a lot of guys struggling out there, not because
of any one particular reason. Just life happens, right, And
you know, Sean, and you're overtrained, okay, and you go
out into the real world. It's a different world out there.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Sure.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
And we're not military people, Okay, we're not trying to
equate that to anything, right, We're not telling money, PSD,
a murder or war or anything like that. But just
when you're in the locker room, right, your whole life
and then it's over, right now what And so that
is a struggle for some guys. And also life happens.
You know, you have guys who just go through stuff.
We want to be there for them, right. Greg Newman
was a big wake up call for everybody. And Greg
(03:58):
was a personal friend of mine and Chris Comroddi had
a great story about that. We touched on it last week,
But I mean that pretty much says it. Oh, we
don't want that to happen. In addition to that, on
that side, we want to help the school get make
We need to raise money for the school, okay, and
who better to do that than the players. I mean,
the Crimson Club is great, don't get me wrong, but
if we can find some synergy, right, if we can
get our ex players together right and get the Crimson Club,
(04:21):
you can see where that's headed, right. And then private
equity is always being talked about. So there's a lot
of things that it's a wild, wild West, and so
we just want to make sure that we have a
voice and that we were helping the school.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
You were at the University of Colorado and doing some things.
If people have heard the interview, if you haven't, you
can go find the archive at ESPN seven hundred sports
dot com and just search Trevor Riiley under the link
and you'll find these conversations talking about you know, your
adventures in Saudi, trying to get some funding for Colorado
and things like that. And I'm glad we have you
(04:57):
sitting here because whether it it's for Colorado or it's
people trying to do it for USC, or it's this
billionaire oil tycoon who's giving all of his money to
Texas Tech, it does change the landscape of college football.
And it is for some people that played in your
era or played in my era, or played before, it's
(05:18):
either hard to swallow or it's something they don't fully
understand and they think it alters, you know, the locker
room dynamic and things like that. But you've been part
of it, Yeah, in a way that none of us have. Yeah,
how much different is it when it comes to that stuff.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Well, when I was at Jackson State, Okay, we got
there in the spring. Not to just go back in
memory's let's go back to COVID, Right, COVID happens and
FCSD two, D three, they don't have a season in
the fall. I remember that we had that abbreviated six
game season in Utah. I'm at Utah. We do this season.
I tell coach with, Hey, I want to take a sabbatical.
They're paying me a thousand a month. I'm working for free,
basically on scholarship. We're just trying to get your foot
(05:56):
in the door. Because again going back to the UFIL
it happens with GA that's what happens. I was finishing
my degree and then you just kind of hang on
for a few years and I was do I want
to coach or what do I want to do? And
so an opportunity comes up. You can go to Jackson
State for the spring season. So in this show, I
was just going to go for three months. Okay, So
I get there and the team, you know, it's Hodge Podge, right,
new coach. They didn't have a season. So we we
patchworked this team together and I wasn't a part of that.
(06:18):
They patchworked it. We get through us you know, six
or seven game season or whatever it was, and so
now the fall happens. Right, we cut a large number
of kids. This is twenty twenty one. Wow, So we
cut probably thirty forty kids this They weren't the standard
that we thought they should be. And then that's when
it started. Okay, we started building a roster and then
we knew the money was coming. Our defensive lineman. You
(06:39):
can look this up, Antwine Owens first ever in IL
deal twelve oh one am, and that was the genesis.
So we started to see, wait, wait a minute, here,
we all played pro football. There was about seven of
us on the staff that played pro football were involved
in it. It was easy at that point. Now the
hard part was telling kids you were cutting you, you know,
and then there was administration and families like what are
you doing? But Dion, to his credit, was ahead of
(07:01):
the curve. Okay, he saw what was coming, and so
we went in. In the second year, we cut sixty
kids and that was at an FCS and then we
get to Colorado and we cut seventy. Okay, and no
offense to that roster. They went through COVID. But that
was the worst roster I've ever seen relative to the
level was at. That was the worst roster I'd ever seen.
The spring of twenty twenty three, I think, well.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
I was working and we were covering Pack twelve football
for Serious XM, and you know, we were we that
conversation has had that this is this Colorado team one
that Dion took over is potentially the worst team of
the I think it was one hundred and thirty three
at the time that were that were D one teams
like worse than not. We're not talking about worst Power
(07:45):
five team, was the worst. This might be the worst
roster that exists. And respect to Carl Durell and all
those good but like what they were doing, just there
were players there that wouldn't have been able to walk
on at the university.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Well, just to give some perspective to the great city
of Alorado, which I love, you know, I'm still a
resident and Boulder, you know, I still love the great
state of Colorado. We don't get kids out of Colorado, Utah,
go look that up. When's the last time we signed
high school kids? That we don't do it? You think
that'd be a nice little marriage there their next door,
it's a forty minute flight. We don't get kids out
of there. Okay, so there's that thing. But then Covid
(08:18):
right and Carl. I played for Carl with the Jets,
So I'm never going to disparage him his sun Chalner
as a friend of mine. It just happens sometimes, you
know it kind of if you lose one year, then
it's too That's why it's so imperative. You can't have
a losing season because it exponentially gets worse, and so
we goes to go back to Texas Tech. You talked
about money. Money talks now, okay, and this isn't pro football.
This is more like the pro baseball model. There's no
(08:39):
salary cap and if you got money or you don't
got money, that's the storyline. And so going into this
season for the Utes, they got a little bit of money. Okay.
That's where everybody kind of knows. We're kind of in
that path where we're going to see here in the
next two years. Are we going to go to the
way of Texas Tech where they're buying every year, or
are we going to develop and sell? It's just economics
(09:00):
at this point, supply and demand, right, we need more
money so we can get more players.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
By the way, that develop and sell thing is actually
not develop and sell. Where you get any money, you
can develop. And if you're the Oakland A's, you develop
and you decide we can't pay what the Yankees can pay,
we can't pay what the Detroit Tigers or the Boston
Red Sox are going to pay, and it becomes a
miserable situation for the fans. I I'm not as worried
(09:29):
about that as some other people are. But it's not
a non worry either.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
No, it's not. And Robert Black and credit to him
and his staff, they've done a tremendous job, all things considered,
navigating a new landscape, right dealing with an administration where,
let's face it, administrators are mostly you know, non active
lawyers and bad gym coaches or old gym coaches running
at hedge fund. Now, okay, this is a this is
a this is one hundred million dollar a year athletic
department or more in some cases. And I saw a
(09:55):
report that it's the most valuable athletic department in the
Big twelve. And so we have to be prepared to
treat it as such. And right now we're kind of
we're seeing, we're feeling our way in a little bit.
Right we're going to see because we don't have those
big hitters yet that BYU and Texas Techap or if
we do, they're kind of waiting to see. The last
two seasons have not We've been unlucky in some ways
with injuries, but we have not been able to return
(10:18):
on the investment of some of the private money that's
been flowing through here. If that makes sense.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
More of a big picture of conversation and one that
is I don't know, it's a little bit different now,
the era is different. You played in a time where
if you had chosen to transfer, you would have had
to sit out right Now that's not the case. But
also you played in a time where the program was
still making adjustments to being in the Pac twelve Conference. Yep,
and you are a really a really good productive player
(10:48):
on teams that didn't end up with the win loss
record at the end of the season that you wanted
to see.
Speaker 3 (10:53):
Right.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Look, when you're a bad college football player, you're just
happy to be there. When you're a good college football
play who's going to go to the pros and as
a guy who's doing what he's supposed to do, and
you know, double digit tackles for loss and approaching double
digit sacks and one hundred tackles in the year, it's
got to be frustrating to look around and not see
those team results that you're looking for. That's what every
(11:18):
player on this Utah team experienced last year.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
Tell me what it's really like.
Speaker 4 (11:22):
So that's a great point. You know, I talked about
that kind of a spense My era was a transitioner.
I played in the Mountain West twenty ten, twenty two
thousand and nine. I saw the dominance right after the
Sugar Bowl year, and then in the Pac twelve, our
first year, we had little success. I was talking to
John Hayes yesterday. By the way, he's at Butt College, right,
we remember running this in a little bit. He's been
helped me get some players and he's done a heck
(11:44):
of a job. Look at his resume. He can really coach.
But anyways, the problem was always this, are we trying
hard or are we just not good enough? Okay, those
teams just to be frank, very low talent level, and
when you don't win, you don't get looked out as much.
I felt like if we would have won eight to
ten games, I had another game to you, a Bowl
game to showcase myself, you probably rise a little bit
in the draft. Right, there's a better chance of that,
(12:05):
especially fifteen ten, fifteen years ago. I think going forward now,
it's a weird thing because eventually I think you and
I would agree. Maybe you wouldn't, but I think most
would agree. There's gonna be some legislation that comes down
on this. Anytime federal dollars are being thrown around, and
there's improprieties on the FED step in. They did with
the NFL at one point, they've done it in other sports.
So they did it with the nca even back in
(12:26):
the forties when Notre Dame was hoarding players and Army
and Navy were winning all those championships, and they had
two hundred guys in the team, right, and they wouldn't play,
but they were making sure nobody else got them. So
to move forward to where we're at here, Okay, we
have a great opportunity this season, Utah, because everything's in line. Dude.
The line is huge, The defensive coordinator is the best
in the country. We got a guy going both ways.
(12:48):
We got a quarterback or they ran for three thousand
yards last year and he put up a bunch of
passing yardage. We got an OC who's super confident, and
he's got some swag about him, right, He's got kind
of that Mike Leach swagger. He's like, hey man, we're
gonna score on anybody. We don't care. I think everything
lines up to have a great season this year, all
things considered, you know, and the money's in another side issue,
because as we saw with Arizona State last year, they
came through. Dude, they came through with not that big
(13:10):
of a budget. They really came through. I mean, and
what they love. I don't love that Utah had the
bad season they have. I loved the story of the
Arizona State season last year because we all love a
good underdog story. But if you had followed Kenny Dillingham's career,
which I had, because he's a Pac twelve guy, right,
he was not just grateful to get a head coaching opportunity,
(13:33):
this is his dream job. He was overjoyed to be
coaching in the place where he became a college football fan. Yep.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
And he famously became a football coach when he was
seventeen years old because injury kept him out and his
coach was like, you know what you're doing, though, why
don't you help me out coaching the team. He found
his calling in life, and he found it in a
place where, really, I mean, it's home for him. I
think you'd have to pay him twenty five million dollars
a year to pry him out of the valley.
Speaker 4 (14:02):
Now. Well, he has a great spot too, because another thing,
he has a great airport. And I used to say
this to Dion about Colorado. I said, the biggest airport
in American get anywhere, And guys don't think that doesn't matter?
Right when you have when you have, offers were the same. Right,
you know, the offers are pretty much the same for
the high end players. Right. You rarely, rarely do you
get out bid for the high end players, but access right,
people want to go see your games. And Arizona State,
(14:25):
I think watching their season last year, they got the
running back from Sacramento State. Credit de Troy Taylor on
that kid. They get the quarterback, right, they get all
these guys and they patchwork this team together and they
put out a product that was not only good, they
were fun to watch.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Man.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
Yeah, they were tough.
Speaker 2 (14:39):
And the the ability to do that with guys that
were rising.
Speaker 3 (14:43):
I mean, I've said it before.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
If I was a college football coach now, I think
that I would make my recruiting classes up almost exclusively
of dudes who were under recruited, missed on and ended
up at the FCS level or ended up at you know,
a group of five and overperform those expectations. Number one
overall draft pick this past year was one of those guys.
(15:06):
The Heisman Trophy winner doesn't count as one of those
guys because he should have gone to it, you know,
I mean.
Speaker 4 (15:11):
He went the path, He walked the path of that
even though he shouldn't have. He decided to walk that path.
Speaker 2 (15:16):
But there's just something about those players. It's actually harder
to find the success stories of dudes that bounce back,
right they go from LSU to Ohio State or vice versa.
Joe Burrow's a good example of that. But there's fifty
guys that were highly recruited. Your Florida State seminole didn't
(15:37):
work out there, Now you're gonna go be a Texas
Longhorn didn't work out there. Dan Lanning is dealing with
this right now, this jury on Dickey Kidd, former five
star athlete at the University of Oregon. He had to
kick him off the team, He had to suspend him
in definitely a five star athlete, because you just it's
a different path. So these guys, like the camp scatterboys
(15:59):
of the world, that were a little bit overlooked and
rise up the ranks. Suddenly you're like, WHOA, this guy
is something special. He's had to prove it the whole way.
No one's been powdering his butt and telling him how
specially is since he was thirteen years old.
Speaker 4 (16:14):
I like players like that well. And it also ties
into what we're doing with the Islanders. Okay, we're solid
community college football team. We want to feed players to
Utah and Yu. Okay, And if you look at the model,
there is a state did and what you're talking about,
it's just farming. What you're talking about is farming players. Yeah,
let me get players who've already been in their tough guys,
been in good systems, been coached well, haven't been paid yet.
(16:36):
They want a bigger stage. We want all those guys.
We'll take them. That's a farm system. And so I
think as teams get more organized, why would you not
make a cartel with like Utah State in southern Utah. Right,
let's make a group together, right, let's make it exclusive.
Let's buy you, let's marry you, let's become partners. I
don't know if that's going to happen, But if I'm
a small school at Utah State, they got one guy
on nil there, I would bet maybe two. With quarterbacks,
(16:59):
how do you survive? What's what's the what's the landscape
look like for you as as Utah State. And so
as you start looking at it down the road, you're
you're you're mentioning a model where why not go out
and get guys that are we we state? Look be
what you did last year we were state guys. Yeah,
they killed it. I mean they increased their win three
or four wins. Not only because that, but you know
that's part of the equation. So with the Islanders, with
(17:20):
with Utah, with BYU, with Snow College, right with Utah State.
So in Utah, I think we're gonna see where everything
starts coming together and it gets like, this is our area. Man,
if you're in this system, you're in our area.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Can you hang out for another couple of minutes if
we take a break, you hang out with me? All right,
We're gonna take a break here. Trevor Iley U Taugh
football legend. He he got some access that we didn't get.
So I'm gonna try and pick his brain about what
he's seeing from this Utah football roster.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Right now.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Sean O'Connell show on ESPN seven hundred and ninety to
ONEFN proud part of Utah's ESPN Radio Network.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
Another one, you tuned to the Sean O'Connell Show from
the Murdoch Chevrolet Studio of ESPN.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
Heyet another one.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
All right, Trevor Rivley might come back in. We'll have
some more Utah football conversation. We've got a VIP party
going on right now, so we're not gonna sweat it
one way or another. We've got cannafan Fest coming to
the heart of Salt Lake City for part of the
Granary Live Concerts series on September twenty seventh, and a
celebration of cannabis, culture, music, and community. One day festival
(18:35):
with live musical performances featuring Crooked Kings, Changing Lanes, Analiah
Brown and more. Visit ESPN seven hundred sports dot com
for a full lineup of performances. Ticket links are there
as well. All Right, a little uh quietly breaking news
in the NBA world, as we get Trevor Riley coming
(18:59):
back here into studio. The Portland Trailblazers have sold to
the Carolina Hurricanes owner, who is also heavily invested in
the rising pickleball league. He gave he done two hundred
and fifty million dollars into the alternative the alternative football
(19:21):
leagues as well. And now he's just buying the Portland
Trailblazers for four billion dollars. The estate of Paul Allen.
Part of his will was that his sports property would
be sold. He'd passed away in twenty eighteen. I'm sure
people remember four billion dollars the return on investment. He
bought the team for a whopping eighty eight million, and
(19:42):
he gets the estate, gets the four billion dollar return.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Trevor Riley's back in studio. He could turn his bike on.
Speaker 4 (19:51):
Okay, I actually have a story about that guy, Paul Allen, No,
the owner from the Carolina all right, okay, do you
remember the AAF. Yeah, yeah, Salt Lakes Stallions, Dennis Erickson
and the boys. Okay, so I'm on this team and
our investor falls through Charlie ever Saw and so now
this guy comes in and he bought our league. Right,
he took our gambling technology, which we had, our tracking technology,
(20:13):
and he basically ransacked the league. He sunk it. Now
he took their technology out. But that guy was involved
in the AF also here locally. So interesting investor. This guy,
I wonder what he's gonna I wonder if he's going
to be a winner or if he's going to be
a guy that's going to run the team like a business.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Well, we'll see how it plays out.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
I mean, he already he's diversifying his portfolio in sports,
but not beyond sports, because that's pickleball, sport, hockey, sport.
Now getting into the NBA, and he's got Dame Lillard
coming back to play for him on on the home court.
So it'll be interesting to see how that plays out.
But we're not here to talk with Trevor Riley about
(20:53):
NBA basketball team sales. All right, Utah football, you talked about,
you know the position team is in. There's talent, there's
a new offense with some swagger coming in the offensive line,
knock on wood. If that offensive line is healthy, it'll
be the best offensive line that Kyle Whittingham has coached,
most likely at the University of Utah.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
But look, the.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Big Twelve Conference has a bunch of teams that are
optimistic about their outlook this year. When we went down
to Big Twelve Media Day, I was getting ready for it,
reading all the preview magazines and seeing how many returning
starters certain teams have and what Texas Tech brought in
in the transfer portal, and what Colorado.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Tried to do and what Baylor has done.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
A year after, dave A Randa was on the hot
seat and I was like, you know what, there are
eight teams at least in this conference that I could
see making it to the conference championship game. Utah is
one of them, certainly, but separating yourself from that pack
is going to be a lot easier said than done.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
You've seen this.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Team practice, you watched this team scrimmage at this juncture.
Are they ready to have the bounce back year we
hope that they're going to have.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
With Utah, it's always been about injuries. We haven't not.
I don't think we've started and finished the season with
the same quarterback since twenty nineteen, correct me if I'm
wrong with That was Tyler Huntley and that is really
the story. And we talked about last year, right, you
lose the quarterback, we kind of lost the team. We
kind of all agree upon that. It was just kind
of a let down. I think we got it. I
think we have the ability to do it if we
(22:24):
can stay healthy, especially at the QB position. And that
was offensive Linemen. You talk about Lomo. Okay, Caleb Lomo.
He played for my brother at Highland. I called Jim
Hardy and send him that guy. My brother sends me
this Kay. I got this kid. He's about two fifty
tall kid. And so anyways, I've been invested in these
guys for a long time. This is kind of a
storyline that we've been wanting waiting to see, especially with
(22:45):
these Jaron Compass a five star Okay or whatever you
want to go to, a high end four star, Lomu
and Fano. So we got three big dogs We've spent
a lot of money on and so we need to
return on this investment. That means if the quarterback gets hurt.
You know what I'm saying, we just we don't. We
want everything to work. I think it's everything's lined up
to where as long as we can get some good fortune.
(23:06):
I think I was just talking to our VIPs. I
see minimum ten wins on the horizon, which you'll get
us into the conversation about getting in the Big Boys show.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
I mean, I think a ten win year for the
University of Utah. I foresee a situation where the eventual
conference champion, which is guaranteed a playoff spot. It's probably
a three loss team. Yeah, I could see that, and
Utah could be that team. I think BYU could be
that team despite the loss of their quarterback. I think
Baylor could be in that conversation. I think TCU, for
(23:36):
hell's sake, could be in that conversation. And they're barely
getting any love. So the parody. And we talked about
this opening the show today. I've been setting these over
under numbers about what Utah needs to hit in certain
numerical goals in order to be where they want to be.
And last year you had twelve interceptions. That's below the
decade average for Utah football. That's well below what BYU
(23:59):
did it at the top of the conference with twenty
two interceptions. And of course the more important number there
is your turnover margin.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Yep.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
You want interceptions, you want fumbles forced, and you got
to recover those things as well, but you also have
to take care of the football and Utah was negative
four last year. To overcome a negative turnover margin and
win a conference championship is almost impossible.
Speaker 4 (24:20):
Yeah, and you talked about those plays, you know, Utah,
we call them havoc place Okay, those are QB sacks, bumbles, interceptions,
right tackles for losses. And the reason why is that
the game when you really watch a game, right, if
it's a one or two score game, it usually comes
down to about four or five plays, that's right, meaning
you stale mat in pretty much everywhere else about four
or five plays, right, a tipball, pick, a guy hustles
(24:40):
and you know, knocks the ball out or you know
gets a sack and on a fourth down, the big
stop on a two point conversion. Those are the plays
where supreme talent usually takes over. And that's what we're
talking about. Her Do we have enough supreme talent to
win those four or five plays? And or you could say, well,
BYU didn't have Yeah, well sometimes you get lucky and
maybe b way you did have those guys. But we
(25:02):
don't want to be in that place. We want to
be in a place and I think we are where
we go into a game where we say, well, if
it comes down to four or five plays, we got
better talent. And I think, Utah, all the punnits are
saying we're kind of built like that. This year, at
least on paper, we look like that team that we
should be able to beat. We should be able to
win those four or five plays.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
Landerbarton is a guy I spent all summer last year
talking about what he could be for this Utah football team.
He's the next Devin Lloyd, He's the next whatever great linebacker. He,
by his own admission, ended up not being as comfortable
coming into the year, coming off an injury, didn't trust
the leg completely and didn't get to that point where
(25:44):
he was really playing like himself to the last four
or five games of the year. Now, you take word,
You take players at their word until there's a reason
not to believe him. He said it big twelve media days.
He said in private conversation, I'm back, man, I feel good.
I'm ready. The ceiling on this guy is way up
there for me, Landerbarton, what should he be for this defense?
Speaker 4 (26:07):
Just to give you some perspective on why everybody's so
high on him. For those of you who aren't so
familiar with him, Jim Harbaugh wanted this guy in the
worst way. This was the guy he wanted. I coached
his two brothers, and both of them weren't better. Their
best year was their last year. They improved steadily every year.
If it scales that way, Landry Barton's poised to have
an All American season. And I don't say that lightly. Okay,
(26:27):
It's two brothers are dogs for me, so I know
it's in there. His mom is a dog miky, his
father was a dog baseball player. His sister is a
dog volleyball player. I mean, they got the dog, as
the deal would say, they got the dog in them.
And so this is the year. We got to keep
him healthy and he's got to lead, all right. The
leadership starts in camp right now. How tough are those guys?
We gotta be tough, Sean Utah, We've always been tough
(26:48):
as nails. We're run by a biker gang guy. Kyle
Whittingham is an alter ego. He's mad Dog, the biker
gang man. Okay, I could see him afterwards starting a
biker club, a peaceful one. But this is our guy,
all right, This is the mom, This is a moniker
our team has to be. And Lander is the guy.
No one's talking about him enough. He's the heart and
soul the whole team. How he goes is how our
team goes, in my opinion, And so I say that
(27:10):
with all due respect everyone else who's on the team
and everything, that's the guy man, that's the guy that
can make it happen. And I think that that's a
good thing because again I'm going back to Jim Harbaugh,
Jim Harbaugh wanted that guy in the worst way.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Whoever was the Texas defensive coordinator when he was coming out,
he and I were randomly ended up on a flight together.
You know, you can always tell when coaches are in
the airport because they're always wearing their polo. I was
wearing a ball cab and it was his name will
come to Me. But he was coming to Salt Lake City,
and I was like, why is Oh, he's.
Speaker 3 (27:45):
Coming to talk to Lander Barton home visit.
Speaker 2 (27:48):
And I as you're on the moving sidewalk in the
in the airport, I was just like going to going
to talk to Barton and he kind of laughs and
he's just like, are you a Texas fan?
Speaker 3 (27:59):
I said, no, go utes. He's just like, I'm not
going to talk to you.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Then it's good natured about it, but like that's a
guy that and look, he's played well in his career.
Lander Barton is already worth the scholarship. Worth, the NIO
deal whatever. But this this year, that is the defining
year of his collegiate career and is the defining year
of his uh pro future. Him being healthy, I think
(28:24):
is going to be one of the keys for this
team soon.
Speaker 4 (28:26):
Let me take it one step further. The best sath
in that family is the sister. Let's not get that twisted. Okay, yeah,
now I'm gonna say Cody, okay, all right, and then Jackson,
but he's fighting for a family legacy on the inside.
Right forget the money. They who's the best dog in
this family? Right now, I'm betting Lander can overcome the sister.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
We had well, we had Danny and Studio in that
chair next to you, and I was just like, who's
the best athlete in the family, And.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
She was like, oh, it's it's Lander. He's on paper.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
But again he's the he's the baby brother. So they
they're all nicer to him than they are to each other,
you know what I mean. But they're you know, the
brothers have said that at different times. You're like, well,
even going back to when they were playing, they'd be like, yeah,
baby brother is going to be the best one. And
right now that by the way Lander with your listener
or not right now, that's not true yet.
Speaker 4 (29:12):
I'm telling you, Lander, you're number three or four. Okay,
so you got some ground to make up. Now you
have a year, okay. But I'm telling you I'm challenging you. Lander.
I want to see you be the supreme bartend of Utah. Okay,
you got to be number one in the family. When
you go to Sunday dinner, you get if you have
a good season, you sit at the head of that table.
I want you to take this family, young man.
Speaker 2 (29:29):
I don't even know if it's possible, because I think
mom was all conference.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
She'd played both sports. I think she was all conference
in both sports. Lander.
Speaker 4 (29:36):
Money talks first round pick. Okay, money talks, and.
Speaker 3 (29:40):
That maybe that.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Oh man, all right, we got to take a break.
I gotta cut you loose, go and enjoy the rest
of this party. Let's do this more often.
Speaker 4 (29:50):
You're tough as nails. I'm scared of you, so any yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:53):
Friend, you scared of me.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Actually, the most I've ever gotten in trouble in the
media with the Utah coaching staff was because of this
guy right here.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
You don't even know, don't.
Speaker 4 (30:02):
Know this story did I say something outrageous or something?
Speaker 3 (30:04):
Okay, you didn't say anything.
Speaker 2 (30:06):
It was when you were a player and media availability
was at like after practice, and you were you had
stuck around to talk to the media because you're always
the guy who's willing to give time, right, and everyone
else has already walked back across across for South in
order to get back to the facility. And You're just like, hey,
can you give me a ride? And I was like, yeah, sure,
(30:29):
And so you jumped in my car. I drove you over.
It's a thirty two second drive.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
Oh, I'm sure they read taped you. What are you doing? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (30:36):
And then and dropped you off at the facility.
Speaker 2 (30:37):
Some one of the one of the gas saw me
drop you off at the facility. Next day, I get
a phone call and that's an NCAA violation.
Speaker 3 (30:45):
What are you doing? I'm just like, give me a break.
You know, I gave a kid a ride for three
hundred yards.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
Hey, how funny is that? Now I think about that,
That's how funny is that? Man? Just to say one
more thing, we got the break. I remember we couldn't
have cream cheese on our bagels. Hey, I could not
have cream cheese. You know what I'll want up you
because that was a walk on. In those days, walk
ons couldn't get the team. I used to sneak it, baby, Okay,
I used to be walk out and Dave fog Grin
here you go. Have a plate, dude, have a plate.
Speaker 3 (31:12):
Oh is Dave.
Speaker 4 (31:13):
I just wouldn't watch him. He's coaching youth football, okay,
and he just whooped up on Olympus pop Corner on
Friday last Saturday, righty, I wouldn't watched him.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
Dave foger Grinn. Let me tell you something.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
One of my favorite guys to ever go through the
Utah football program. Led the team and tackles what as
a walk on him for like whatever a five game
stretch he did.
Speaker 4 (31:33):
Dude, day was on fire. Dude, great player. He is
Highland High School. Shout out to Highland.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
All right, shout out to you, Dave foger Grin, Trevor,
You're the man.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
Appreciate you.
Speaker 4 (31:42):
Thanks Sean
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