October 3, 2020 • 42 mins
The 2020 football schedule is out! It all begins with a marquee matchup on November 7th and culminates in Championship Weekend December 18-19. Ashley Adamson and Yogi Roth dive deep with Senior Associate Commissioner for Football Operations Merton Hanks and the head coaches of two national contenders: Oregon's Mario Cristobal and USC's Clay Helton.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
It's real now. It's when peoplecould actually, you know, it has
teeth, they could put it topaper see it. So there's a lot
of balance of that, a lotof juice that come with that. So
all in all, I guess thebest way to say it is absolutely awesome.
(00:25):
All right, Yogi, Hot offthe press. Version three point zero
of the twenty twenty PAC twelve footballschedule it is out. If you're listening
to this, be sure to pullup Pactashtwell dot com you can see the
full schedule. They're welcome to thePactwell Perspective Podcast. Yogi Roth, Ashley
Adamson with you, and we gotsome big time guests for you in this
(00:46):
podcast. PacTel Senior Associate Commissioner forFootball Operations Merton Hanks is going to walk
us through how the schedule actually cametogether, and then head coach Oregon Mario
Christa Ball and head coach the USCTrojan's Clay Hilton joining us after that.
So, Jugs, I'm just gonnastart right off, like initial reaction when
that schedule popped up in your inbox? Would you feel well? I couldn't
(01:07):
sleep all night, you know,it felt like I was going to like
do the pregame at the Rose Bowlor call a big game on our network.
So I was really excited, andthen when you see how it got
laid out, I was amped becausefrom jump, week one is really intriguing
and then from there there's a gameor two every week that's going to have
a big impact on the trajectory ofthe champion in both respective divisions. So
(01:32):
I think the hype is there andthe stakes are there. Every week is
playoff football, like every week isMarch Madness. It's single elimination and you
kick it off with ASU at SCthose quarterbacks Stanford and Oregon like the program,
and those quarterbacks Washington Cal like,oh, by the way, Chase
Garber's has the best record of anyreturning quarterback in this conference. There are
(01:55):
some real fun elements and even UCLin Colorado like who are they? Who's
carled team? I can't wait tofind out? And then the you know,
of course Wazoo Oregon State in Arizona, Utah. So I love week
one. You throw yourself right intothe mix. Well, and speaking of
week one, I think one ofthe big storylines and we're going to get
into this with with Martin Hanks andClay Helton in a minute, but ASU
(02:15):
and USC big neon kickoff on FoxNovember seventh, we talked about, you
know, the nine am starts inthe PAC twelve. Could it be a
thing? Could it be a thing? Well, now it is a thing.
This is the first time we're actuallygonna get to see one yogi,
and I don't know, I'm firedup. I know there's a lot of
logistical things that have to go intomaking it so, but there's a there's
a big opportunity there. Yeah.Look, you know, we both have
(02:38):
talked to players at USC and they'rethey're jack. You know, the rumor
was kind of floating around the facilitybefore the schedule got released, so they
were all thinking, is it real? Are we're gonna play at nine am?
When they found out they were Iknow the players were at because they
just want to play. And Ithink that's the big thing right now where
we are and college football in thePAC twelve is players have found a different
love for the craft because it wastaken away from the right. I mean,
(03:00):
that's the currency here right now isplaying time. It was games and
now they get this run up andI think for SC specifically, Remember they
were supposed to play Alabama in Weekone, like their big Their Week one
was huge heading into the season,and now it's huge heading into this air
Quotes season. So I love thestage, I love the stakes, and
like how both programs went forward.And now I'm so intrigued by the details,
(03:23):
you know, COVID nineteen testing allthose things. And I don't think
we'll have to be worried about ateam sleep walking in the first quarter.
I think if anything, we'll seelike too many false starts because they're gonna
be so jacked up. Yeah,I agree, and I you know,
I think a another nuance of theschedule that people are really interested in seeing
is we new teams that would facetheir five divisional opponents. But the big
question mark was what that crossover gamewould look like. So just to give
(03:44):
our listeners an idea, that thecrossover games are Arizona at Washington, kalid
Asu, Colorado gets Stanford at Stanford, Oregon State is at Utah, UCLA
at Oregon, and Washington State atUSC. So we're going to ask Martin
as to how the process came togetherfor how those crossover matches were chosen.
But I think another thing, Yogithat I want to point out, and
(04:06):
you brought it up earlier CFP,they moved their first ranking back to November
twenty fourth. That's when the firstranking is going to be released. And
that is big for the PAC twelvebecause why well it's huge and I'm the
first one to I've criticized the collegefootball playoff process because I thought it should
have expanded. Clearly they're not goingto do that, but they did what
(04:26):
was right regarding first impressions. Rightif we looked at the Week one of
SEC football, clearly the defending nationalchampions looked average at best, as Mike
Leech and kJ Costello rolled well,I don't think anybody in the PAC twelve
and Week one is going to looklike a playoff team day one, Like,
how can they right training camp whilethey have the same amount of a
(04:47):
lot of days to practice they wouldif it was August. It's just different,
right, Like they're not going toscrimmage as much because you haven't been
training as hard. Sc just gotanother weight room a week ago. So
for them to move back, thefirst public display of this is where the
CFP ranking stand was huge because teamsare gonna get three games, right,
there's no buys, right, soteams will be able to say yet.
(05:08):
Maybe let's say it's Oregon. Theydon't play their most flawless game in Week
one against Stanford, but by thetime they play UCLA in their third game
of the season on a Friday night, like, there'll be a much different
team. And I think that wasa great decision, a wise decision,
the right decision, the respectful decisionto the game. So hats off to
the committee, Bill Hancock and companyfor making that call. I still think
(05:30):
they should expand, but I wasreally appreciab of what they did. Okay,
last thing before we get to MertonHanks predictions yogi are fools errand in
twenty twenty, we all know that, but just for fun, give me
your best guests. Who's in thePAC twelve Championship game? Now that we've
seen the schedule, who's in thePACTWEL Championship Game December eighteenth, when all
is said and done. Okay,so to be fair, I don't know
if you did this, but weget the schedule. You know it gets
(05:50):
released at seven thirty. You getit in your inbox this morning as you're
referenced, and I immediately printed itout and went as fast as I could
predicted every game. Right, howcan I just go as fast I can?
Not to analyze over analyze, butjust go with where they are today.
And there's a lot of games Icall circle games where like you circle
it like as USC could go eitherway. But right now, if I
(06:15):
had to pick it, I'm gonnapick with what I thought in the preseason
in a normalized year, which isOregon sc I don't think it'll be an
easy path. I think Oregon's pathis easier than than the Trojans, just
because the way the schedules laid out, you know, back to back Friday
night games, but their road gameis driving distance against Oregon State, and
then they get an extray to preparefor Cal, which to me has upset
(06:38):
written potentially all over it, butgive an extra day. I like that.
So I go with those two teamsundefeated in the Pac twelve title.
But don't count out Utah, ArizonaState, Cal. You dub Standford like
there is a world where the endof the day, the most disciplined team
is going to find their way inthe title game because of all the things
that teams have to deal with thisyear. But all things considered, well,
(07:00):
today I'm going the Trojans and theDucks hype it up, and the
winner hopefully is competing to get intothe playoff. Amen to that. I
love it all right, And weshould remind everyone that, you know,
schedules like this usually take months toput together. This one got figured out
in basically a week. So forsome insight on that process. Merton Hanks,
the Senior Associate Commissioner for Football Operations, joins us and Merton, I
(07:23):
loved what you said last week.If everybody's a little bit mad about the
schedule, then we probably have apretty good schedule in terms of competitive balance.
What was the hardest part about solvingthis puzzle and getting the pieces to
fall into place. Well, Ithink our fans looking at our schedule,
they'll quickly notice that their teams thatthey cheer for will at least have one
home game and one away game inthe first two weeks. We thought it
(07:44):
was important, operationally speaking, tomake sure that our student athletes get at
least one home game the first twoweeks. We're able to preserve our great
rivalry games, as you know,being calendar constraint the way we were in
regard to the amount of weeks wehave to work put together a schedule.
We want to make sure and preserveour great rivalries. Also always wanted to
(08:07):
proceed in a manner that gave eachinstitution an opportunity to really show their wares
and Yogi and actually, you hitit right on the head. Usc ASU
stepped up to the plate, comingright out the gate, big noon kickoff
on Fox. We're excited about it. Yeah, I cannot wait to get
rolling now. Fans are excited aswell. There's a lot of anticipation on
(08:28):
who is the crossover game going tobe well, went into the crossover matchups
and then specifically to SC and UCLAcol Stanford. First time in a long
time they're not going to play eachother in the state of California. Protect
not only this season, making surewe have a competitively balanced season, but
we also need to protect your twentytwenty one as far as the calendars the
(08:50):
season moving forward. If we wouldhave done our crossovers any other way,
Yogi, we would have put anumber of our institutions in a negative position
in regard to having a go toan opponent up to three years in a
row, which competitively is just simplyunfair. So we want to protect not
only this season, make it competitive, but we also had to protect twenty
twenty one. It really narrowed whatwe could do as far as crossover opponents
(09:13):
and keep that continuity in consistency.And you know, I mean, I
think it's probably worth pointing out.I guess we want to ask you there's
a chance that USC and Stanford couldpotentially play on the very last weekend.
Can you walk us through what theprotocol in the process is around how the
teams will be chosen those for thatlast crossover matchup on the nineteenth. We're
working with our television partners, certainlyour athletic directors, coaches, and all
(09:37):
our stakeholders. As far as thelast week we will hope to be able
to roll that out here in shortorder, but we're still working through a
couple of nuances there. We wantto put forth the best product and give
our teams ample opportunity not only toshow their wars for CFP consideration, but
potential Bowl consideration, So we wantthe best matchups. We'll still working through
(09:58):
that process and hopefully actually we'll beable to back to you what clear directive
in short order, I feel likethe word of the year is fluid,
and this season is fluid. Whilewe have a schedule, who knows if
we'll get to every one of thesegames. So if there is a situation,
let's just take Oregon. Let's saythey're five and ozero and Stanford is
five and oh, but their respectivegame was canceled due to COVID nineteen for
(10:20):
instance, who would be the Northchamp And how would you guys figure that
out? Oh, we've got anumber of tiberingcause jogi in a sense that
even that process, we're in themix of re engineering a bit because again,
we have less games potentially to play, right, So if we find
ourselves in a situation where we've losta number of games, we could conceivably
(10:43):
go to A one through twelve andyou take the top two if we lose
enough games to cancelation, COVID relatedsituations, that sort of thing. So
we're tweaking our tiebreakers. Hope toroll it out to the PAC twelve community
here shortly, because we do haveto account for that potential eventuality. You
know, we mentioned the nine amkickoff between a SU and USC that's going
(11:05):
to kick off the entire season.Nine am kickoffs have been something that we've
talked about the last couple of years. This is the first time it's actually
going to happen. A couple ofquestions for you on that, What in
your mind is the value of startingin that early window and what are some
of the logistical issues that teams aregoing to have to face, especially you
think about this year in terms oftesting, Well, two things the testing
(11:26):
pieces first and foremost health and safetyissue. Obviously, we lead with that
in regard to putting together not onlyour schedule, but everything we do when
it comes to our student athletes.We'll make sure our testing regiment stays consistent
before every game. We're working withcertainly the PAC twelve Medical Council and making
sure that we have enough time toget testing done before going into those contests.
(11:52):
That was the number one topic whenwe're having discussions around starting at nine
am. Secondly, the national exposure. You know, when our television partners
come to us and say, hey, we we we've got this great slot
for you if you can get twoteams to consider it. Congratulations to USC
and A SU, A D S. Mike Braun, certainly Ry Anderson at
(12:16):
ASU working with their coaches Clay Hiltonand Herm Edwards and stepping up and willing
to put their programs on the lineearly. We all recognize that this is
a big game. It's a biggame early. Our television partners recognize it.
It's no secret why they're leading theiradvertisements with this matchup. So again,
we're excited about it. We wantedto come out the gate hot,
(12:39):
and you can only do that whenyou have great teams lining up and being
willing to put everything on the lineearly, which is what USC and as
you are doing. Let's let's justcall that what that is. Yeah,
I love that. I left lookingat the photo over your left shoulder about
putting it on the line like youplayed with so many people that knew how
to do that. And every weekis a playoff game for a pact to
a football right now, bottom itseems like it's a single elimination tournament.
(13:01):
See if P choosing to not expandthe playoff earlier this week. But Bowl
conversations are still a thing. Whatdo you have to do to be Bowl
eligible? I'm sure a lot ofthe fans are going to want to know
if their teams will make the postseason. Well, the Football Oversight Committee on
the NCAA level has moved forward legislationYOGI to the D one Council and they'll
vote on what the new parameters willbe fool eligibility and consideration. Once we
(13:26):
get that information back, and thenwe can gather, certainly as a Pac
twelve community and make sure our legislationmatches the reality of what Bowl season looks
like this year. We want tohonor our Bowl partners, all be meeting
with them. A matter of fact, I've already met with their Bowl partners
here in this past week. We'llbe meeting with them again in depth this
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coming week to make sure that weare one accord moving forward. Obviously,
we've got a system on how weslot our teams for bold considerations. So
I'm excited for the young men tobe able to play not only for our
Pact twelve championship for CFP consideration,but to play in our great bowl games
(14:09):
with our bowl partners. Again,everyone putting themselves on the line in this
COVID nineteen world. Flexibility. Asyou said earlier, YOGI is the thing
that we have to have and they'veexhibited that for us, you know,
Martin, now that we've got thematchups and the dates and you know at
least one kickoff time, we knownine am USC and a s U.
(14:30):
As we've talked about when can fansexpect a TV schedule and to know when
weekend and week out they're going tobe able to watch their team well,
as you know, Actually, wealways like to put the schedule out and
then get with our partners and tryto slot what works best and what windows
as far as Friday matchups and soon and so forth. So I would
imagine that I'd be coming here relativelyquickly. Our TV partners are moving as
(14:52):
fast as possible and working with usto get those slots. Hopefully we can
get those times out relatively. Ican't say I have a hard date for
you as of today, though.Yeah, everybody wants to kind of fill
up their calendar with when they're playing, how they're playing, but also recruiting,
Like do you anticipate now that theschedule's done, like the recruiting calendar
is gonna shift them here so muchto deal with. I'm curious what's next?
(15:16):
Yo. Yeah, it looks assoon as the schedule came you,
you know, you did the samething I did. You start. Okay,
this game right here, yeah,this game right here. Yeah.
That's that's what we do when itcomes to college football, right. So,
I'm just excited for the fact thatwe're able to finally get a schedule
out. Look, this schedule isas as coach David Shaw at Stanford said
(15:37):
numerous times, it's a gauntlet.When you're playing in the Pac twelve.
You've got a tough game every week. So the challenge to us was how
can we create you know, competitivebalance. You want some tough games early,
you want some tough game scattered inthe middle. And we clearly have
tough games at the end, notonly our rivalry games. When you when
you look at you know, Oregon, Washington, right at the end of
(15:58):
our schedules, there's some tough gamesscattered in every portion of the schedule.
Try to give our institutions every opportunityto impress not only our peers within the
conference, the CFP and our bowlpartners moving forward. So I have to
believe our student athletes, our coaches, everyone associated with our football programs are
excited about what we put forward.I think everyone is excited, and everyone
(16:23):
is just excited that now it's real, we actually can sink our teeth into
a schedule and it'll be here hopefullybefore we all know it. Last thing
for me, Martin, and youknow we kind of alluded to it,
But for you, the schedule.You come in, you start your job,
and this is like you're all inon trying to figure out how what
this is going to look like.Now that the schedule is out, what
is the next most immediate pressing orderof business on your plate? Well,
(16:47):
two things, Ashley. I've gotto shore up and make sure our Bowl
partners in great position to move forward. Obviously, COVID nineteen from a business
model standpoint, has been tough onour Bowl partners, so we want to
make sure that they're in a goodplace. Obviously, we've got some legislative
items to attend to. As we'vetalked about earlier, updating our tiebreakers to
(17:07):
match the length of our schedule willbe important. Prepared for all eventualities,
which again the Pact twelve has donelegislatively already a great job. We just
need to tweak them just a littlebit. We'll be able to roll those
out to the public here shortly andcertainly making sure our teams, from a
testing, health and safety standpoint,are officials all the support staff that go
(17:30):
into putting on contest. We needto make sure our processes are in great
shape again from a health and safetystandpoint, from a testing standpoint, from
an operational standpoint, who's going where, who's going to allow to be in
the vicinity of said athletes during thegames. We've got a little bit of
(17:51):
work to do there, but Ithink we'll be ready to go November seven.
I can't wait. I can't wait. It's going to be fun.
I mean, you see that schedule, it's I'm just so proud of USC.
I'm so proud of ASU. Look, we all know that's a huge
game. It was a huge game. When I'm looking at it on the
(18:11):
calendar and I'm looking at the SAMImean, that's a big game. It's
a big game. Early they steppedup to the plate. You gotta give
them credit for it. I thinkit's just indicative of the not only the
will of the Pac twelve to comeout and come out strong. I think
the winner that that game will bein good position moving forward, and quite
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frankly, I think the person whofalls short in that game will still have
plenty of window to recover. It'salmost a benefit, but playing that game
early as opposed to late. SoI'm excited about it. I'm looking forward
to it. This whole thing hasjust been one giant Rubik's cube. Congratulations
on the first or business, whichwas getting the schedule together. An out
Patrol Senior Associate Commissioner Fooball Operations,Merton Hanks, appreciate your time and hope
(18:55):
you can squeeze in an app today. No, that's not going to happen.
Actually got work to do. Ifigured as much. All right,
Martin, thank you so much.All Right, here it is. You're
looking at the twenty twenty football schedulefor the defending Pack twelve champs from Oregon,
(19:18):
and they get going out of thegate with Stanford at home November seventh.
They got back to back Friday nightgames in weeks three and four,
including that divisional crossed over matchup withUCLA. Ashley Adam said, Yogi roth
with you. And right now,Mario Kristin Ball, the head coach of
the Ducks, joins us to weighin on the schedule. Now, coach,
you about about what thirty minutes tosoak this in. What was your
(19:38):
initial reaction to see in the schedule? It was awesome to see that it's
real. You know, when yougot word a few days back or weeks
or so back that we were playingfootball, and that right there was the
ultimate just explosion of emotions and enthusiasm, and now this just the solidifies and
validates us everything. It's it's real. Now, It's when people could actually
(20:00):
has teeth, they could put itto paper see it. So there's a
lot of value to that, alot of juice that come with that.
So all in all, I guessthe best way to say it is absolutely
awesome. We agree and cannot waitto start watching you guys get back to
supports. When we look at theschedule, you guys have two straight Friday
night games, but you're not necessarilytravel a lot, just one is down
(20:22):
the road in Core Vallots. Whenyou look at that, what was your
initial reaction? You know, yeah, I saw it. It didn't hit
me till about the third or fourthtime I had to see. I've never
been part of a success of Fridaynight scheduling situation, but I mean it's
you might pay a little bit onthe front end because you're a day short,
but you're also getting that back onthe back end. And at the
(20:45):
end of the day. Right now, I think the entire country is playing
playoff football. Right everybody is inan elimination type game, possibly every single
week, every time you set footon the field. So there's going to
be a given and take for everybody. And I think that the most important
thing that we say along the linesof our processes, which is we attack
(21:07):
them. We don't look for anyI would say issue with it orange that
might be uncomfortable. We welcome everybit of every challenge that come with whatever,
and we see it strictly as opportunity. So we are fired up and
coach. There's a lot of opportunity. There's also a lot of challenges obviously
along the way in a season inwhat you're planned during a global pandemic,
(21:30):
in terms of the logistics around testingbeing in place and camp officially starting.
Can you kind of just get usup to speed on where you guys are
right now as a program. Sure, you know, we've been very fortunate.
Our protocol has been off the charts, it's been you know, just
just about flawless. It's been asgood as you can get, so we
feel great about everything. We startcamp on Friday now. We have been
having our strength conditioning sessions, skillinstruction sessions, walk lows, all things
(21:55):
allowable you know, by the conferenceand by the NCA. So we've been
ramping up and it looks a littlebit different, just because you've got to
be careful. The guys have beenaway for five and a half weeks,
but they came back in a really, really good shape, especially the front
line guys. Being out there watchingthem run, you can tell, you
know, we have all this.We have great equipment, We have the
best sports science center in the entirecountry. But you know the other sports
(22:18):
science center are these eyes right here. Your eyes can tell you exactly how
guys are doing. You can tellin the demeter of the body language and
the communition of the enthusiasm, theamount of effort, and the numbers out
they're putting on these CATAPULTA systems,these GPS systems. Their bodies are a
lot more ready than we thought.So we're going to continue ramping up so
we can practice at a certain leveland eventually play at a certain level.
(22:41):
We feel great about every bit ofprotocol, testing practice, and this daily
testing thing which kicks in probably infull force. I would say either Sunday,
Monday, Tuesday in that area onthat range, and we feel awesome
about it. We're blessed to haveit. So let's roll. Speaking of
the eye test, anybody who lovesfootball can tell real quick the culture that
(23:03):
you're building. They could also tellthe players that you lost how talented they
were. You and a few guysopt out might be some of the best
players, not only in the conferencebut in the country. They left this
culture that they helped build. Whatdid you notice about the gap that's been
there since your guys have been back, and how has it been filled or
is that still a work in progress. You guys are dused because they see
(23:25):
opportunity and then there's no flint inthem. You know, they know those
guys aren't great players. Heck,there there's some of the best players in
college football will be you know,first round draft picks. That one of
them might be a top three pick. They know the value of those guys.
They recognize this and they're super happyfor them, and they know that
guys can step up and get itdone right. The sport is an eleven
(23:45):
man at a time opportunity for aboutwhat two hundred times a game, So
they understand how that works. They'reexcited about the opportunity. And I'll tell
you the guys that opted out,they're excited for those guys as well.
So all and knowledge, it's gonnabe um, it's going to be an
unbelievable camp watching these guys. Fee. You know, the one thing that
(24:06):
has remained consistent on this roller coasteryear that we're on is that you guys
continue to absolutely crush it in recruiting. And I know you're always thinking about
it in terms of recruiting. Whathas it been like for you to get
to know guys to have them feelwhat your program is all about, without
you know, being able to bephysically with them or have them on campus.
Well, you know, it's um, real is real, and real
(24:26):
is real on this side of thecountry, the East side on a zoom
in person, It's just real isreal. People and recruiting nowadays are advancing
their processes. They're going to talkto players they're gonna find and they're going
to seek former players and parents ofplayers to find out exactly what is a
program made of what's the substance behindit? And it's besides to success on
(24:48):
the field and academically, but there'sbeen built here as a brotherhood and a
family that's you know, beyond comparison, and it's just getting started. You
know, that's a big part.And I think that you know part of
it. People when you look atthe opt outs, how you'd love to
have that type of talent playing thisyear. But it's also hard not to
see that, well, these guysare developing players at an extremely high rate,
(25:11):
and they're going on and projected tobe really high picks in the NFL
draft. So we are holding ourselvesto our word, and I think parents
and players are seeing that. Icannot wait to see some of the freshmen
that you've brought him this past year. But a guy who's been there for
a while now, he's waited histurn, Tyler Shuck. You've raved about
his leadership, his intangibles. Whathave you noticed now that you've been around
(25:33):
the team, you've had your workoutspreparing for camp, really fired up about
Tyler because Tyler attacks every process,takes advantage of every opportunity, like you
want to see the great ones do, Like Justin did as well. But
he's his own man, and neverhave we tried to compare him to anybody
else, and what we've seen sofar out of him has been absolutely fantastic.
(25:56):
This guy really is a team player, a natural leader. He's athletic.
He can do with his legs,he could do with his arm.
The range in his arm, hisability to get the ball out and get
it out accurately, deep, intermediate, short, quick has been off the
chart. So Tyler is poised fora big time college season. Mario,
(26:17):
I think everybody understands right now thatthe success of any team this season is
going to depend on the decision makingoff the football field of eighteen to twenty
two year old young men. Howhave you guys approached and how are you
approaching that as the head coach,making sure that everyone really understands what is
at stake and that every decision thatthey make away from the football field in
(26:37):
particular, is going to have animpact on what you guys are going to
try and achieve this year. Well, that's a great question, because without
a doubt, the season is goingto be more than just about practice and
I play on Saturday. It's goingto be your decisions on a daily basis,
from the moment you wake up tothe moment you put your head down.
I mean wearing a mask and socialdistancing and washing up really well.
And that's part a normal life nowand that can't be compromise for anyone or
(27:00):
anything. You know, we toldthem and the hit home pretty well is
like, if you're willing to compromiseprotocol, if you're willing to compromise all
the things that can keep us safeand healthy going forward. What you're saying
with your actions as you're willing totake these trophies behind me and hand them
right over somebody else. That's essentiallywhat you're doing. It's got to be
that important to you where everyone isconsidered a keepers of the culture. And
(27:25):
culture is not a light switch youturn on an office on a T shirt
you put on and take off.It's a way of life. So that's
what we've been stressing, and sofar we've done some pretty good results.
Yeah, I think you guys areone of the strongest cultures in the country
regarding so many things. You referencethem, but this specific team, and
you know every team is different,but have you been able to understand the
identity of this team maybe different thingin years past because of all the things
(27:49):
that have happened, whether it's withfootball, anti racism, There's been so
much that has gone on this quoteunquote offseason for you guys, and I'm
curious if you just have gotten toknow them better than You're absolutely right.
Every single team is different, veryvery different. And you've got a lot
of guys that have been emotionally justin pain, have seen a lot,
(28:11):
They seen a lot back home andthen see a lot of it come to
light across the country with some ofthe issues that have happened from a social
injustice standpoint and so on. Soa lot of stuff, a lot of
emotion has come out, a lotof guys that have put their feelings and
their stances on the table when they'vereceived strong support from their teammates and the
coaching staff, and you know,we've decided to use our platform, and
(28:36):
we're going to be getting together andfinding ways to continue to use that platform
to be the best sounding board thatwe could possibly be, you know,
for them, and then of coursetake that out into the community. And
I think you also see a teamthat recognizes that they are talented, that
they're young, what we may lackand experience with the opt outs that may
have occurred that they Sarah try tofill those gaps. And I think sometimes
(29:00):
times, you know, I've beenon teams where people have been apprehensive about
that, and I'm watching these guystraining, I'm watching attention to detail,
and I like to focus on notwho's in in a practice rep. I
want to I like focusing on thesecond and thirteam. Guy, what are
they doing when the first team isin? Because that'll tell you, right
who's locked in or how wired youyou know your team is in terms of
(29:22):
winning and having a winning culture.And I see the twos and the threes,
correcting, talking through the play,stepping through the play, mirroring the
guys that are in there. Thattells me something and tells me this team
is hungry and tells me this teamis driven. And you know we stressed
being humble. So combining those thingsare going to be just paramount for our
team and its success because we aregoing to have the B seat, We
(29:47):
are going to have challenges, andyou wouldn't want it any other way.
Yeah, you really don't want footballto ever skip the painful steps that come
with it are. Guys are lookingforward to those challenges in camp. We
could take off and have a groupraces. That is so beautifully said Mark
chris Ball, head coach of theOrgan Ducks. We appreciate you being with
us, taking some time today towalk us through the schedule. I know
(30:08):
you're excited. We're excited. Can'twait to see you guys compete on the
field. And I do know whatit would mean to have the opportunity for
you guys to be able to hosta PAC twelve championship game in December.
So looking forward to seeing an allplay out. Thanks so much for joining
us. Thank you guys. Thatsounds awesome and always good us fight on.
(30:36):
USC fans still soaking in this twentytwenty schedule, which was released early
Saturday morning. We heard Merton Hanks, of course, commending USC and a
su for stepping up to the plateand agreeing to play in that early nine
am window on Fox. Cannot waitfor that game. USC's three road games
by the way at Arizona, atUtah, and at UCLA, and their
(30:56):
North Division crossover matchup is a Fridaynight showdown with Washington State in week five.
And how about of the head coachof the Trojans, Clay Helton here
to join us and break down theschedule. Clay, it's great to see
you, and I just want tostart by asking about that Week one showdown
with ASU. I know you andHerm Edwards had to agree to that nine
am start time. Why did youfeel like that was the right move for
your program? Well, you alwayswant to be able to play on the
(31:19):
biggest stage and the brightest lights anda noon kickoff Eastern where the entire country
can watch two great quarterbacks, inmy opinion, two of the best quarterbacks
in the country in Jaden and Keetongo at it in the opening ball game
of this Pac twelve schedule. Howexciting is that? And I think we're
just all so grateful as coaches asplayers to be able to play the game
(31:42):
we love. I think our attitudeis just put the ball down. It
doesn't matter where it's at, whowe're playing, what time it's at.
We're just so appreciative to have theopportunity to play and to play in that
big a game. Versus an immensePAC twelve South team that got its own
aspirations, a great quarterback on anational stage. What could you ask for.
(32:06):
That's that's why you come to USC. The only thing we got asked
for is that we want to bethere coach, So that's the only other
thing that we want on top ofthat. But in addition, you know,
what are the players like right now? You referenced like they just want
to play? Like, have youseen a change with that to say,
yeah, let's throw it out atnine am Pacific at home at the coliseum.
Yeah. You know, you probablygot a sense of where our team
(32:28):
was at by the letter that theywrote to our governor. I thought it
was a very educated letter, avery respectful and thoughtful letter, And they
did it as a team. Theydid it as a collective unit, expressing
their voice and expressing their want toplay and being able to see the change
that's happened in our environments and inour communities in the Pact twelve geographics with
(32:52):
infection rates coming down, are usgetting it an opportunity to have everyday testing
through Quiddell and the study of hardin the protocols that go along with it.
Now, if you have the virus, the environment for us has changed,
and it's raised hope for our players, our team, And now you
give us the opportunity to go havea chance to win a Pac twelve championship
(33:13):
and present a national resume to aplayoff committee. That's exciting. And so
we've got five weeks five weeks rightnow to be able to implement systems and
prepare for a good Arizona State team. I want to ask you about that
letter, Clay that you know.I'man ross A Brown Keen Slovis. I
know several of your guys had ahand in formulating that. Can you just
(33:35):
give us some context into how youfound out that they were doing that.
Did they come to you and tellyou we've got this idea. Did they
give you the letter and Sarah youokay, we sent it. Like what
was the kind of behind the scenesof how that all came together? Yeah.
I had a couple of calls ona Sunday, you know, after
a college an NFL slave from someof our leaders and saying, coach,
you know, we want to havethe chance to play. How do we
(33:58):
get our voice out? And Isaid, is this the feeling of the
team And they said yes, Coach. So I came in to work on
Monday, had a chance to lookour players in the eye as they were
working out get their feeling, andit was I mean, it was evident
that it was across our team.So visited with our leaders instead. Guys,
if you want to do this,our administration, our coaching staff are
(34:21):
going to support you. The onething that I do want you to do
is one to educate yourself. Educatewho the letter needs to go to,
what it needs to be about,make sure it's professional, make sure it's
respectful. And then it's not anindividual This is a team decision. And
so they put the context together asour leaders, they presented it to our
(34:42):
team. We voted on it asa team, and it was evident that
our team wanted this, and Iwas extremely proud. I've always said I
got three children by birth one hundredten, I get down and to adopt,
and as an adopted father, whenyou saw those youngmen put that out
there in the way they did,it still gives me goosebumps today because that's
that's what you want for children,the opportunity for them to have a voice
(35:05):
and to celebrate their voice. AndI thought they did it in a first
class, extremely respectful and educational way. Speaking of your players, you've been
able to probably hear them on thepractice field as well. You've had a
version of OTA's organized team activities.LA is different than other places in the
Pac twelve, let alone the entirecountry. How have you been able to
keep this team who clearly has ahunger to play focused, even if it's
(35:30):
in small groups. If you guyshave inched your way closer to a training
camp on the night, Yeah,you know, one was the messaging and
then two was the plan. Andthe messaging right when the season was postponed
was very important to our football team, and it was this that guys,
you know, the mission is stillout there. Okay, understand that.
(35:52):
And when you're in the military andyou're you're given a mission, sometimes the
conditions aren't right to go perform themission. It's postpone, had set back,
but you continue to train, youcontinue to prepare because you know the
mission is coming. We just didn'tknow if it was going to be in
fall, winter, spring, falltwenty one. But we have to have
(36:13):
the toughness and the discipline and beingunited as a team to make sure that
we continue to prepare. So wecame back on July sixth, and our
focus was the plan of preparing ourkids physically to be able to play,
not schematically, but being able toconcentrate ourselves on soft tissue and joints,
(36:34):
making sure that they were football readywith functional football movements, and preparing a
body. So that's what we didin July, August, and September.
Now we're sitting here in the OTAperiod, two weeks of OTA's four weeks
of training camp, and now weare implementing schematics and schemes. So you've
got a new defensive coordinator, newspecialties coordinator, and we're in the second
(36:54):
year of Coach Hare's system offensively,so there's a lot to be done,
and we started this week implementing thosesystems. We got another week next week
of ootas and then we get intothat training camp and that's going to be
big for us. Kids are inshape, they're ready for camp, and
now it's about implementing our systems.You know, I think one guy that
(37:15):
a lot of people are excited towatch in year two of his young college
careers, Keeten Slova's your quarterback.It's easy to forget that he was a
true freshman last year and with everythingthat he was able to do in Graham
Harold's offense. What have you seenfrom him from a leadership standpoint and even
just a physicality standpoint, from wherehe was at the end of last season
to it to where he is rightnow. Yeah, it's been amazing.
(37:37):
As he has grown, our teamhas grown, and you saw it last
season. I thought he played hisbest football in the second half of the
season, and we grew as ateam and we played our better football in
the second half of the season ashe grew. He is so coachable.
He takes everything in, absorbs itand truly perfects his craft. And what
(37:57):
I have seen from him, youknow, last year was just okay,
I'm a true freshman thrown into thesecond game of the year, and it
was really focusing on him and hisimprovement. Now he's in year two and
you can see his leadership qualities comingabout. You know who won with his
actions of how he works. Imean, he's daylight till dark. He's
(38:19):
a gym rat and really has becomea stronger player. I mean he walked
in here two hundred pounds and nowhe's two fifteen. His core his strength,
you could see the chemistry that's comingabout in year two. You can
just see it with these receivers thatnow he's been with you for a year,
the ball's coming out so much quickeras far as timing the accuracy because
he's on the same page with thekids chemistry wise. So you know,
(38:44):
there's been tremendous progress. I can'twait personally, being a quarterback coach by
trade and a football fan, Ican't wait to see the kid play,
especially with the receiving group that hehas around him. It's gonna be a
lot of fun to watch. Andyou know, he has done a tremendous
job of being big example of whatwe want as a Trojan and what we
want as a as a quarterback onour team. Your reference a trojan quarterback.
(39:07):
You've been around there for a longtime, and it is a who's
who right when you start your heismcandidates. How it is this season is
relatively single elimination tournament. How areyou talking to him about dealing with the
expectations that come with just playing quarterbackat USC Yeah, you know he's done
such a great job as you sawit from day one. I mean one
(39:30):
he plays in a Frozeno state ballgame and really leads us to a win
in a tough situation and then hasto go against Stamford the next week and
first start, and you know,we saw something in recruiting with his intangibles
that you know, bright lights didn'taffect him, situations didn't affect him,
adversity didn't affect him. And thatwas evident as we went through the season
(39:52):
last year and now we enter yeartwo and to be able to see him
have those qualities that had been SamDarnold and Cody Kessler and Matt Barkley and
the likes of the Santez's in theLiners and the Parson Palmers. I mean,
he's just he's continuing a tradition ofexcellence at the position that I think
(40:15):
is second to none in college footballsince a year two thousand and one.
He knows what is expected at theposition. He welcomes the expectations as we
all do as players and coaches.Here. When you put on that jersey
behind me in the USC jersey,you know what comes with it. And
he loves those expectations and loves theopportunity to wear that uniform and go out
(40:37):
and represent it. Clay, Iknow that it feels like November seventh,
can't get here fast enough, ButI'm curious for you. What is it
like to be able to actually watchcollege football Saturday games, you know,
almost like as a family. Whatdo your Saturdays look like right now?
Well, you know, when itfirst started off, you're my soul hurt
(40:58):
because I don't know it's if wewere going to get to play or not.
But now you know, hope.Hope makes everything better. And when
you have a light at the endof the tunnel and you know your time
is getting ready to come, itmakes you happy. And I've always said
you only as happy as your unhappiestchild. And to be able to see
(41:19):
the hundred and ten kids, Iget the honor to coach and see their
happiness right now when I step onthe grass, you know that time with
them and engaged with them, I'ma lot more pleasant person. But I'll
say this, my wife is happiertoo. She's she's had to put up
with me for a while, andnow I get to be back on that
field and my soul is alive again. So I'm looking forward. I had
(41:43):
the most fun last week being withthe guys, and I can't wait for
the next twelve weeks. To behonest, with you. So good coach.
If I know you, you've gotyour pen out. You're one of
the best of the country at teachingsituational football and you're saying, right,
special teams that happened, I gotto teach that. I got to teach
that. So yes, I'm sureyou're a dial then and how to use
these weekends to teach your players.Then, yeah, it's gonna be h
(42:06):
It's a lot of coaching is goingon right now in a short period of
time, and it's really fun.It's a challenge. It's adverse, but
that's why they put coach in frontof your name. You know you love
these situations to be able to teachand educate kids and then go watch and
play the game they love. Sothis is a fun time. It really
is. You. We're excited tosee that big smiling face and glad to
know how happy all of your studentathletes are. We feel the same way
(42:29):
at Pack twelve and can't wait tosee you guys get out there nine am
on November seventh. Cannot wait,coach. Thanks for the time today.
We really appreciate it. Thanks Ashley. Thanks you going to be take care
of me.
It's real now. It's when peoplecould actually, you know, it has
teeth, they could put it topaper see it. So there's a lot
of balance of that, a lotof juice that come with that. So
all in all, I guess thebest way to say it is absolutely awesome.
(00:25):
All right, Yogi, Hot offthe press. Version three point zero
of the twenty twenty PAC twelve footballschedule it is out. If you're listening
to this, be sure to pullup Pactashtwell dot com you can see the
full schedule. They're welcome to thePactwell Perspective Podcast. Yogi Roth, Ashley
Adamson with you, and we gotsome big time guests for you in this
(00:46):
podcast. PacTel Senior Associate Commissioner forFootball Operations Merton Hanks is going to walk
us through how the schedule actually cametogether, and then head coach Oregon Mario
Christa Ball and head coach the USCTrojan's Clay Hilton joining us after that.
So, Jugs, I'm just gonnastart right off, like initial reaction when
that schedule popped up in your inbox? Would you feel well? I couldn't
(01:07):
sleep all night, you know,it felt like I was going to like
do the pregame at the Rose Bowlor call a big game on our network.
So I was really excited, andthen when you see how it got
laid out, I was amped becausefrom jump, week one is really intriguing
and then from there there's a gameor two every week that's going to have
a big impact on the trajectory ofthe champion in both respective divisions. So
(01:32):
I think the hype is there andthe stakes are there. Every week is
playoff football, like every week isMarch Madness. It's single elimination and you
kick it off with ASU at SCthose quarterbacks Stanford and Oregon like the program,
and those quarterbacks Washington Cal like,oh, by the way, Chase
Garber's has the best record of anyreturning quarterback in this conference. There are
(01:55):
some real fun elements and even UCLin Colorado like who are they? Who's
carled team? I can't wait tofind out? And then the you know,
of course Wazoo Oregon State in Arizona, Utah. So I love week
one. You throw yourself right intothe mix. Well, and speaking of
week one, I think one ofthe big storylines and we're going to get
into this with with Martin Hanks andClay Helton in a minute, but ASU
(02:15):
and USC big neon kickoff on FoxNovember seventh, we talked about, you
know, the nine am starts inthe PAC twelve. Could it be a
thing? Could it be a thing? Well, now it is a thing.
This is the first time we're actuallygonna get to see one yogi,
and I don't know, I'm firedup. I know there's a lot of
logistical things that have to go intomaking it so, but there's a there's
a big opportunity there. Yeah.Look, you know, we both have
(02:38):
talked to players at USC and they'rethey're jack. You know, the rumor
was kind of floating around the facilitybefore the schedule got released, so they
were all thinking, is it real? Are we're gonna play at nine am?
When they found out they were Iknow the players were at because they
just want to play. And Ithink that's the big thing right now where
we are and college football in thePAC twelve is players have found a different
love for the craft because it wastaken away from the right. I mean,
(03:00):
that's the currency here right now isplaying time. It was games and
now they get this run up andI think for SC specifically, Remember they
were supposed to play Alabama in Weekone, like their big Their Week one
was huge heading into the season,and now it's huge heading into this air
Quotes season. So I love thestage, I love the stakes, and
like how both programs went forward.And now I'm so intrigued by the details,
(03:23):
you know, COVID nineteen testing allthose things. And I don't think
we'll have to be worried about ateam sleep walking in the first quarter.
I think if anything, we'll seelike too many false starts because they're gonna
be so jacked up. Yeah,I agree, and I you know,
I think a another nuance of theschedule that people are really interested in seeing
is we new teams that would facetheir five divisional opponents. But the big
question mark was what that crossover gamewould look like. So just to give
(03:44):
our listeners an idea, that thecrossover games are Arizona at Washington, kalid
Asu, Colorado gets Stanford at Stanford, Oregon State is at Utah, UCLA
at Oregon, and Washington State atUSC. So we're going to ask Martin
as to how the process came togetherfor how those crossover matches were chosen.
But I think another thing, Yogithat I want to point out, and
(04:06):
you brought it up earlier CFP,they moved their first ranking back to November
twenty fourth. That's when the firstranking is going to be released. And
that is big for the PAC twelvebecause why well it's huge and I'm the
first one to I've criticized the collegefootball playoff process because I thought it should
have expanded. Clearly they're not goingto do that, but they did what
(04:26):
was right regarding first impressions. Rightif we looked at the Week one of
SEC football, clearly the defending nationalchampions looked average at best, as Mike
Leech and kJ Costello rolled well,I don't think anybody in the PAC twelve
and Week one is going to looklike a playoff team day one, Like,
how can they right training camp whilethey have the same amount of a
(04:47):
lot of days to practice they wouldif it was August. It's just different,
right, Like they're not going toscrimmage as much because you haven't been
training as hard. Sc just gotanother weight room a week ago. So
for them to move back, thefirst public display of this is where the
CFP ranking stand was huge because teamsare gonna get three games, right,
there's no buys, right, soteams will be able to say yet.
(05:08):
Maybe let's say it's Oregon. Theydon't play their most flawless game in Week
one against Stanford, but by thetime they play UCLA in their third game
of the season on a Friday night, like, there'll be a much different
team. And I think that wasa great decision, a wise decision,
the right decision, the respectful decisionto the game. So hats off to
the committee, Bill Hancock and companyfor making that call. I still think
(05:30):
they should expand, but I wasreally appreciab of what they did. Okay,
last thing before we get to MertonHanks predictions yogi are fools errand in
twenty twenty, we all know that, but just for fun, give me
your best guests. Who's in thePAC twelve Championship game? Now that we've
seen the schedule, who's in thePACTWEL Championship Game December eighteenth, when all
is said and done. Okay,so to be fair, I don't know
if you did this, but weget the schedule. You know it gets
(05:50):
released at seven thirty. You getit in your inbox this morning as you're
referenced, and I immediately printed itout and went as fast as I could
predicted every game. Right, howcan I just go as fast I can?
Not to analyze over analyze, butjust go with where they are today.
And there's a lot of games Icall circle games where like you circle
it like as USC could go eitherway. But right now, if I
(06:15):
had to pick it, I'm gonnapick with what I thought in the preseason
in a normalized year, which isOregon sc I don't think it'll be an
easy path. I think Oregon's pathis easier than than the Trojans, just
because the way the schedules laid out, you know, back to back Friday
night games, but their road gameis driving distance against Oregon State, and
then they get an extray to preparefor Cal, which to me has upset
(06:38):
written potentially all over it, butgive an extra day. I like that.
So I go with those two teamsundefeated in the Pac twelve title.
But don't count out Utah, ArizonaState, Cal. You dub Standford like
there is a world where the endof the day, the most disciplined team
is going to find their way inthe title game because of all the things
that teams have to deal with thisyear. But all things considered, well,
(07:00):
today I'm going the Trojans and theDucks hype it up, and the
winner hopefully is competing to get intothe playoff. Amen to that. I
love it all right, And weshould remind everyone that, you know,
schedules like this usually take months toput together. This one got figured out
in basically a week. So forsome insight on that process. Merton Hanks,
the Senior Associate Commissioner for Football Operations, joins us and Merton, I
(07:23):
loved what you said last week.If everybody's a little bit mad about the
schedule, then we probably have apretty good schedule in terms of competitive balance.
What was the hardest part about solvingthis puzzle and getting the pieces to
fall into place. Well, Ithink our fans looking at our schedule,
they'll quickly notice that their teams thatthey cheer for will at least have one
home game and one away game inthe first two weeks. We thought it
(07:44):
was important, operationally speaking, tomake sure that our student athletes get at
least one home game the first twoweeks. We're able to preserve our great
rivalry games, as you know,being calendar constraint the way we were in
regard to the amount of weeks wehave to work put together a schedule.
We want to make sure and preserveour great rivalries. Also always wanted to
(08:07):
proceed in a manner that gave eachinstitution an opportunity to really show their wares
and Yogi and actually, you hitit right on the head. Usc ASU
stepped up to the plate, comingright out the gate, big noon kickoff
on Fox. We're excited about it. Yeah, I cannot wait to get
rolling now. Fans are excited aswell. There's a lot of anticipation on
(08:28):
who is the crossover game going tobe well, went into the crossover matchups
and then specifically to SC and UCLAcol Stanford. First time in a long
time they're not going to play eachother in the state of California. Protect
not only this season, making surewe have a competitively balanced season, but
we also need to protect your twentytwenty one as far as the calendars the
(08:50):
season moving forward. If we wouldhave done our crossovers any other way,
Yogi, we would have put anumber of our institutions in a negative position
in regard to having a go toan opponent up to three years in a
row, which competitively is just simplyunfair. So we want to protect not
only this season, make it competitive, but we also had to protect twenty
twenty one. It really narrowed whatwe could do as far as crossover opponents
(09:13):
and keep that continuity in consistency.And you know, I mean, I
think it's probably worth pointing out.I guess we want to ask you there's
a chance that USC and Stanford couldpotentially play on the very last weekend.
Can you walk us through what theprotocol in the process is around how the
teams will be chosen those for thatlast crossover matchup on the nineteenth. We're
working with our television partners, certainlyour athletic directors, coaches, and all
(09:37):
our stakeholders. As far as thelast week we will hope to be able
to roll that out here in shortorder, but we're still working through a
couple of nuances there. We wantto put forth the best product and give
our teams ample opportunity not only toshow their wars for CFP consideration, but
potential Bowl consideration, So we wantthe best matchups. We'll still working through
(09:58):
that process and hopefully actually we'll beable to back to you what clear directive
in short order, I feel likethe word of the year is fluid,
and this season is fluid. Whilewe have a schedule, who knows if
we'll get to every one of thesegames. So if there is a situation,
let's just take Oregon. Let's saythey're five and ozero and Stanford is
five and oh, but their respectivegame was canceled due to COVID nineteen for
(10:20):
instance, who would be the Northchamp And how would you guys figure that
out? Oh, we've got anumber of tiberingcause jogi in a sense that
even that process, we're in themix of re engineering a bit because again,
we have less games potentially to play, right, So if we find
ourselves in a situation where we've losta number of games, we could conceivably
(10:43):
go to A one through twelve andyou take the top two if we lose
enough games to cancelation, COVID relatedsituations, that sort of thing. So
we're tweaking our tiebreakers. Hope toroll it out to the PAC twelve community
here shortly, because we do haveto account for that potential eventuality. You
know, we mentioned the nine amkickoff between a SU and USC that's going
(11:05):
to kick off the entire season.Nine am kickoffs have been something that we've
talked about the last couple of years. This is the first time it's actually
going to happen. A couple ofquestions for you on that, What in
your mind is the value of startingin that early window and what are some
of the logistical issues that teams aregoing to have to face, especially you
think about this year in terms oftesting, Well, two things the testing
(11:26):
pieces first and foremost health and safetyissue. Obviously, we lead with that
in regard to putting together not onlyour schedule, but everything we do when
it comes to our student athletes.We'll make sure our testing regiment stays consistent
before every game. We're working withcertainly the PAC twelve Medical Council and making
sure that we have enough time toget testing done before going into those contests.
(11:52):
That was the number one topic whenwe're having discussions around starting at nine
am. Secondly, the national exposure. You know, when our television partners
come to us and say, hey, we we we've got this great slot
for you if you can get twoteams to consider it. Congratulations to USC
and A SU, A D S. Mike Braun, certainly Ry Anderson at
(12:16):
ASU working with their coaches Clay Hiltonand Herm Edwards and stepping up and willing
to put their programs on the lineearly. We all recognize that this is
a big game. It's a biggame early. Our television partners recognize it.
It's no secret why they're leading theiradvertisements with this matchup. So again,
we're excited about it. We wantedto come out the gate hot,
(12:39):
and you can only do that whenyou have great teams lining up and being
willing to put everything on the lineearly, which is what USC and as
you are doing. Let's let's justcall that what that is. Yeah,
I love that. I left lookingat the photo over your left shoulder about
putting it on the line like youplayed with so many people that knew how
to do that. And every weekis a playoff game for a pact to
a football right now, bottom itseems like it's a single elimination tournament.
(13:01):
See if P choosing to not expandthe playoff earlier this week. But Bowl
conversations are still a thing. Whatdo you have to do to be Bowl
eligible? I'm sure a lot ofthe fans are going to want to know
if their teams will make the postseason. Well, the Football Oversight Committee on
the NCAA level has moved forward legislationYOGI to the D one Council and they'll
vote on what the new parameters willbe fool eligibility and consideration. Once we
(13:26):
get that information back, and thenwe can gather, certainly as a Pac
twelve community and make sure our legislationmatches the reality of what Bowl season looks
like this year. We want tohonor our Bowl partners, all be meeting
with them. A matter of fact, I've already met with their Bowl partners
here in this past week. We'llbe meeting with them again in depth this
(13:48):
coming week to make sure that weare one accord moving forward. Obviously,
we've got a system on how weslot our teams for bold considerations. So
I'm excited for the young men tobe able to play not only for our
Pact twelve championship for CFP consideration,but to play in our great bowl games
(14:09):
with our bowl partners. Again,everyone putting themselves on the line in this
COVID nineteen world. Flexibility. Asyou said earlier, YOGI is the thing
that we have to have and they'veexhibited that for us, you know,
Martin, now that we've got thematchups and the dates and you know at
least one kickoff time, we knownine am USC and a s U.
(14:30):
As we've talked about when can fansexpect a TV schedule and to know when
weekend and week out they're going tobe able to watch their team well,
as you know, Actually, wealways like to put the schedule out and
then get with our partners and tryto slot what works best and what windows
as far as Friday matchups and soon and so forth. So I would
imagine that I'd be coming here relativelyquickly. Our TV partners are moving as
(14:52):
fast as possible and working with usto get those slots. Hopefully we can
get those times out relatively. Ican't say I have a hard date for
you as of today, though.Yeah, everybody wants to kind of fill
up their calendar with when they're playing, how they're playing, but also recruiting,
Like do you anticipate now that theschedule's done, like the recruiting calendar
is gonna shift them here so muchto deal with. I'm curious what's next?
(15:16):
Yo. Yeah, it looks assoon as the schedule came you,
you know, you did the samething I did. You start. Okay,
this game right here, yeah,this game right here. Yeah.
That's that's what we do when itcomes to college football, right. So,
I'm just excited for the fact thatwe're able to finally get a schedule
out. Look, this schedule isas as coach David Shaw at Stanford said
(15:37):
numerous times, it's a gauntlet.When you're playing in the Pac twelve.
You've got a tough game every week. So the challenge to us was how
can we create you know, competitivebalance. You want some tough games early,
you want some tough game scattered inthe middle. And we clearly have
tough games at the end, notonly our rivalry games. When you when
you look at you know, Oregon, Washington, right at the end of
(15:58):
our schedules, there's some tough gamesscattered in every portion of the schedule.
Try to give our institutions every opportunityto impress not only our peers within the
conference, the CFP and our bowlpartners moving forward. So I have to
believe our student athletes, our coaches, everyone associated with our football programs are
excited about what we put forward.I think everyone is excited, and everyone
(16:23):
is just excited that now it's real, we actually can sink our teeth into
a schedule and it'll be here hopefullybefore we all know it. Last thing
for me, Martin, and youknow we kind of alluded to it,
But for you, the schedule.You come in, you start your job,
and this is like you're all inon trying to figure out how what
this is going to look like.Now that the schedule is out, what
is the next most immediate pressing orderof business on your plate? Well,
(16:47):
two things, Ashley. I've gotto shore up and make sure our Bowl
partners in great position to move forward. Obviously, COVID nineteen from a business
model standpoint, has been tough onour Bowl partners, so we want to
make sure that they're in a goodplace. Obviously, we've got some legislative
items to attend to. As we'vetalked about earlier, updating our tiebreakers to
(17:07):
match the length of our schedule willbe important. Prepared for all eventualities,
which again the Pact twelve has donelegislatively already a great job. We just
need to tweak them just a littlebit. We'll be able to roll those
out to the public here shortly andcertainly making sure our teams, from a
testing, health and safety standpoint,are officials all the support staff that go
(17:30):
into putting on contest. We needto make sure our processes are in great
shape again from a health and safetystandpoint, from a testing standpoint, from
an operational standpoint, who's going where, who's going to allow to be in
the vicinity of said athletes during thegames. We've got a little bit of
(17:51):
work to do there, but Ithink we'll be ready to go November seven.
I can't wait. I can't wait. It's going to be fun.
I mean, you see that schedule, it's I'm just so proud of USC.
I'm so proud of ASU. Look, we all know that's a huge
game. It was a huge game. When I'm looking at it on the
(18:11):
calendar and I'm looking at the SAMImean, that's a big game. It's
a big game. Early they steppedup to the plate. You gotta give
them credit for it. I thinkit's just indicative of the not only the
will of the Pac twelve to comeout and come out strong. I think
the winner that that game will bein good position moving forward, and quite
(18:32):
frankly, I think the person whofalls short in that game will still have
plenty of window to recover. It'salmost a benefit, but playing that game
early as opposed to late. SoI'm excited about it. I'm looking forward
to it. This whole thing hasjust been one giant Rubik's cube. Congratulations
on the first or business, whichwas getting the schedule together. An out
Patrol Senior Associate Commissioner Fooball Operations,Merton Hanks, appreciate your time and hope
(18:55):
you can squeeze in an app today. No, that's not going to happen.
Actually got work to do. Ifigured as much. All right,
Martin, thank you so much.All Right, here it is. You're
looking at the twenty twenty football schedulefor the defending Pack twelve champs from Oregon,
(19:18):
and they get going out of thegate with Stanford at home November seventh.
They got back to back Friday nightgames in weeks three and four,
including that divisional crossed over matchup withUCLA. Ashley Adam said, Yogi roth
with you. And right now,Mario Kristin Ball, the head coach of
the Ducks, joins us to weighin on the schedule. Now, coach,
you about about what thirty minutes tosoak this in. What was your
(19:38):
initial reaction to see in the schedule? It was awesome to see that it's
real. You know, when yougot word a few days back or weeks
or so back that we were playingfootball, and that right there was the
ultimate just explosion of emotions and enthusiasm, and now this just the solidifies and
validates us everything. It's it's real. Now, It's when people could actually
(20:00):
has teeth, they could put itto paper see it. So there's a
lot of value to that, alot of juice that come with that.
So all in all, I guessthe best way to say it is absolutely
awesome. We agree and cannot waitto start watching you guys get back to
supports. When we look at theschedule, you guys have two straight Friday
night games, but you're not necessarilytravel a lot, just one is down
(20:22):
the road in Core Vallots. Whenyou look at that, what was your
initial reaction? You know, yeah, I saw it. It didn't hit
me till about the third or fourthtime I had to see. I've never
been part of a success of Fridaynight scheduling situation, but I mean it's
you might pay a little bit onthe front end because you're a day short,
but you're also getting that back onthe back end. And at the
(20:45):
end of the day. Right now, I think the entire country is playing
playoff football. Right everybody is inan elimination type game, possibly every single
week, every time you set footon the field. So there's going to
be a given and take for everybody. And I think that the most important
thing that we say along the linesof our processes, which is we attack
(21:07):
them. We don't look for anyI would say issue with it orange that
might be uncomfortable. We welcome everybit of every challenge that come with whatever,
and we see it strictly as opportunity. So we are fired up and
coach. There's a lot of opportunity. There's also a lot of challenges obviously
along the way in a season inwhat you're planned during a global pandemic,
(21:30):
in terms of the logistics around testingbeing in place and camp officially starting.
Can you kind of just get usup to speed on where you guys are
right now as a program. Sure, you know, we've been very fortunate.
Our protocol has been off the charts, it's been you know, just
just about flawless. It's been asgood as you can get, so we
feel great about everything. We startcamp on Friday now. We have been
having our strength conditioning sessions, skillinstruction sessions, walk lows, all things
(21:55):
allowable you know, by the conferenceand by the NCA. So we've been
ramping up and it looks a littlebit different, just because you've got to
be careful. The guys have beenaway for five and a half weeks,
but they came back in a really, really good shape, especially the front
line guys. Being out there watchingthem run, you can tell, you
know, we have all this.We have great equipment, We have the
best sports science center in the entirecountry. But you know the other sports
(22:18):
science center are these eyes right here. Your eyes can tell you exactly how
guys are doing. You can tellin the demeter of the body language and
the communition of the enthusiasm, theamount of effort, and the numbers out
they're putting on these CATAPULTA systems,these GPS systems. Their bodies are a
lot more ready than we thought.So we're going to continue ramping up so
we can practice at a certain leveland eventually play at a certain level.
(22:41):
We feel great about every bit ofprotocol, testing practice, and this daily
testing thing which kicks in probably infull force. I would say either Sunday,
Monday, Tuesday in that area onthat range, and we feel awesome
about it. We're blessed to haveit. So let's roll. Speaking of
the eye test, anybody who lovesfootball can tell real quick the culture that
(23:03):
you're building. They could also tellthe players that you lost how talented they
were. You and a few guysopt out might be some of the best
players, not only in the conferencebut in the country. They left this
culture that they helped build. Whatdid you notice about the gap that's been
there since your guys have been back, and how has it been filled or
is that still a work in progress. You guys are dused because they see
(23:25):
opportunity and then there's no flint inthem. You know, they know those
guys aren't great players. Heck,there there's some of the best players in
college football will be you know,first round draft picks. That one of
them might be a top three pick. They know the value of those guys.
They recognize this and they're super happyfor them, and they know that
guys can step up and get itdone right. The sport is an eleven
(23:45):
man at a time opportunity for aboutwhat two hundred times a game, So
they understand how that works. They'reexcited about the opportunity. And I'll tell
you the guys that opted out,they're excited for those guys as well.
So all and knowledge, it's gonnabe um, it's going to be an
unbelievable camp watching these guys. Fee. You know, the one thing that
(24:06):
has remained consistent on this roller coasteryear that we're on is that you guys
continue to absolutely crush it in recruiting. And I know you're always thinking about
it in terms of recruiting. Whathas it been like for you to get
to know guys to have them feelwhat your program is all about, without
you know, being able to bephysically with them or have them on campus.
Well, you know, it's um, real is real, and real
(24:26):
is real on this side of thecountry, the East side on a zoom
in person, It's just real isreal. People and recruiting nowadays are advancing
their processes. They're going to talkto players they're gonna find and they're going
to seek former players and parents ofplayers to find out exactly what is a
program made of what's the substance behindit? And it's besides to success on
(24:48):
the field and academically, but there'sbeen built here as a brotherhood and a
family that's you know, beyond comparison, and it's just getting started. You
know, that's a big part.And I think that you know part of
it. People when you look atthe opt outs, how you'd love to
have that type of talent playing thisyear. But it's also hard not to
see that, well, these guysare developing players at an extremely high rate,
(25:11):
and they're going on and projected tobe really high picks in the NFL
draft. So we are holding ourselvesto our word, and I think parents
and players are seeing that. Icannot wait to see some of the freshmen
that you've brought him this past year. But a guy who's been there for
a while now, he's waited histurn, Tyler Shuck. You've raved about
his leadership, his intangibles. Whathave you noticed now that you've been around
(25:33):
the team, you've had your workoutspreparing for camp, really fired up about
Tyler because Tyler attacks every process,takes advantage of every opportunity, like you
want to see the great ones do, Like Justin did as well. But
he's his own man, and neverhave we tried to compare him to anybody
else, and what we've seen sofar out of him has been absolutely fantastic.
(25:56):
This guy really is a team player, a natural leader. He's athletic.
He can do with his legs,he could do with his arm.
The range in his arm, hisability to get the ball out and get
it out accurately, deep, intermediate, short, quick has been off the
chart. So Tyler is poised fora big time college season. Mario,
(26:17):
I think everybody understands right now thatthe success of any team this season is
going to depend on the decision makingoff the football field of eighteen to twenty
two year old young men. Howhave you guys approached and how are you
approaching that as the head coach,making sure that everyone really understands what is
at stake and that every decision thatthey make away from the football field in
(26:37):
particular, is going to have animpact on what you guys are going to
try and achieve this year. Well, that's a great question, because without
a doubt, the season is goingto be more than just about practice and
I play on Saturday. It's goingto be your decisions on a daily basis,
from the moment you wake up tothe moment you put your head down.
I mean wearing a mask and socialdistancing and washing up really well.
And that's part a normal life nowand that can't be compromise for anyone or
(27:00):
anything. You know, we toldthem and the hit home pretty well is
like, if you're willing to compromiseprotocol, if you're willing to compromise all
the things that can keep us safeand healthy going forward. What you're saying
with your actions as you're willing totake these trophies behind me and hand them
right over somebody else. That's essentiallywhat you're doing. It's got to be
that important to you where everyone isconsidered a keepers of the culture. And
(27:25):
culture is not a light switch youturn on an office on a T shirt
you put on and take off.It's a way of life. So that's
what we've been stressing, and sofar we've done some pretty good results.
Yeah, I think you guys areone of the strongest cultures in the country
regarding so many things. You referencethem, but this specific team, and
you know every team is different,but have you been able to understand the
identity of this team maybe different thingin years past because of all the things
(27:49):
that have happened, whether it's withfootball, anti racism, There's been so
much that has gone on this quoteunquote offseason for you guys, and I'm
curious if you just have gotten toknow them better than You're absolutely right.
Every single team is different, veryvery different. And you've got a lot
of guys that have been emotionally justin pain, have seen a lot,
(28:11):
They seen a lot back home andthen see a lot of it come to
light across the country with some ofthe issues that have happened from a social
injustice standpoint and so on. Soa lot of stuff, a lot of
emotion has come out, a lotof guys that have put their feelings and
their stances on the table when they'vereceived strong support from their teammates and the
coaching staff, and you know,we've decided to use our platform, and
(28:36):
we're going to be getting together andfinding ways to continue to use that platform
to be the best sounding board thatwe could possibly be, you know,
for them, and then of coursetake that out into the community. And
I think you also see a teamthat recognizes that they are talented, that
they're young, what we may lackand experience with the opt outs that may
have occurred that they Sarah try tofill those gaps. And I think sometimes
(29:00):
times, you know, I've beenon teams where people have been apprehensive about
that, and I'm watching these guystraining, I'm watching attention to detail,
and I like to focus on notwho's in in a practice rep. I
want to I like focusing on thesecond and thirteam. Guy, what are
they doing when the first team isin? Because that'll tell you, right
who's locked in or how wired youyou know your team is in terms of
(29:22):
winning and having a winning culture.And I see the twos and the threes,
correcting, talking through the play,stepping through the play, mirroring the
guys that are in there. Thattells me something and tells me this team
is hungry and tells me this teamis driven. And you know we stressed
being humble. So combining those thingsare going to be just paramount for our
team and its success because we aregoing to have the B seat, We
(29:47):
are going to have challenges, andyou wouldn't want it any other way.
Yeah, you really don't want footballto ever skip the painful steps that come
with it are. Guys are lookingforward to those challenges in camp. We
could take off and have a groupraces. That is so beautifully said Mark
chris Ball, head coach of theOrgan Ducks. We appreciate you being with
us, taking some time today towalk us through the schedule. I know
(30:08):
you're excited. We're excited. Can'twait to see you guys compete on the
field. And I do know whatit would mean to have the opportunity for
you guys to be able to hosta PAC twelve championship game in December.
So looking forward to seeing an allplay out. Thanks so much for joining
us. Thank you guys. Thatsounds awesome and always good us fight on.
(30:36):
USC fans still soaking in this twentytwenty schedule, which was released early
Saturday morning. We heard Merton Hanks, of course, commending USC and a
su for stepping up to the plateand agreeing to play in that early nine
am window on Fox. Cannot waitfor that game. USC's three road games
by the way at Arizona, atUtah, and at UCLA, and their
(30:56):
North Division crossover matchup is a Fridaynight showdown with Washington State in week five.
And how about of the head coachof the Trojans, Clay Helton here
to join us and break down theschedule. Clay, it's great to see
you, and I just want tostart by asking about that Week one showdown
with ASU. I know you andHerm Edwards had to agree to that nine
am start time. Why did youfeel like that was the right move for
your program? Well, you alwayswant to be able to play on the
(31:19):
biggest stage and the brightest lights anda noon kickoff Eastern where the entire country
can watch two great quarterbacks, inmy opinion, two of the best quarterbacks
in the country in Jaden and Keetongo at it in the opening ball game
of this Pac twelve schedule. Howexciting is that? And I think we're
just all so grateful as coaches asplayers to be able to play the game
(31:42):
we love. I think our attitudeis just put the ball down. It
doesn't matter where it's at, whowe're playing, what time it's at.
We're just so appreciative to have theopportunity to play and to play in that
big a game. Versus an immensePAC twelve South team that got its own
aspirations, a great quarterback on anational stage. What could you ask for.
(32:06):
That's that's why you come to USC. The only thing we got asked
for is that we want to bethere coach, So that's the only other
thing that we want on top ofthat. But in addition, you know,
what are the players like right now? You referenced like they just want
to play? Like, have youseen a change with that to say,
yeah, let's throw it out atnine am Pacific at home at the coliseum.
Yeah. You know, you probablygot a sense of where our team
(32:28):
was at by the letter that theywrote to our governor. I thought it
was a very educated letter, avery respectful and thoughtful letter, And they
did it as a team. Theydid it as a collective unit, expressing
their voice and expressing their want toplay and being able to see the change
that's happened in our environments and inour communities in the Pact twelve geographics with
(32:52):
infection rates coming down, are usgetting it an opportunity to have everyday testing
through Quiddell and the study of hardin the protocols that go along with it.
Now, if you have the virus, the environment for us has changed,
and it's raised hope for our players, our team, And now you
give us the opportunity to go havea chance to win a Pac twelve championship
(33:13):
and present a national resume to aplayoff committee. That's exciting. And so
we've got five weeks five weeks rightnow to be able to implement systems and
prepare for a good Arizona State team. I want to ask you about that
letter, Clay that you know.I'man ross A Brown Keen Slovis. I
know several of your guys had ahand in formulating that. Can you just
(33:35):
give us some context into how youfound out that they were doing that.
Did they come to you and tellyou we've got this idea. Did they
give you the letter and Sarah youokay, we sent it. Like what
was the kind of behind the scenesof how that all came together? Yeah.
I had a couple of calls ona Sunday, you know, after
a college an NFL slave from someof our leaders and saying, coach,
you know, we want to havethe chance to play. How do we
(33:58):
get our voice out? And Isaid, is this the feeling of the
team And they said yes, Coach. So I came in to work on
Monday, had a chance to lookour players in the eye as they were
working out get their feeling, andit was I mean, it was evident
that it was across our team.So visited with our leaders instead. Guys,
if you want to do this,our administration, our coaching staff are
(34:21):
going to support you. The onething that I do want you to do
is one to educate yourself. Educatewho the letter needs to go to,
what it needs to be about,make sure it's professional, make sure it's
respectful. And then it's not anindividual This is a team decision. And
so they put the context together asour leaders, they presented it to our
(34:42):
team. We voted on it asa team, and it was evident that
our team wanted this, and Iwas extremely proud. I've always said I
got three children by birth one hundredten, I get down and to adopt,
and as an adopted father, whenyou saw those youngmen put that out
there in the way they did,it still gives me goosebumps today because that's
that's what you want for children,the opportunity for them to have a voice
(35:05):
and to celebrate their voice. AndI thought they did it in a first
class, extremely respectful and educational way. Speaking of your players, you've been
able to probably hear them on thepractice field as well. You've had a
version of OTA's organized team activities.LA is different than other places in the
Pac twelve, let alone the entirecountry. How have you been able to
keep this team who clearly has ahunger to play focused, even if it's
(35:30):
in small groups. If you guyshave inched your way closer to a training
camp on the night, Yeah,you know, one was the messaging and
then two was the plan. Andthe messaging right when the season was postponed
was very important to our football team, and it was this that guys,
you know, the mission is stillout there. Okay, understand that.
(35:52):
And when you're in the military andyou're you're given a mission, sometimes the
conditions aren't right to go perform themission. It's postpone, had set back,
but you continue to train, youcontinue to prepare because you know the
mission is coming. We just didn'tknow if it was going to be in
fall, winter, spring, falltwenty one. But we have to have
(36:13):
the toughness and the discipline and beingunited as a team to make sure that
we continue to prepare. So wecame back on July sixth, and our
focus was the plan of preparing ourkids physically to be able to play,
not schematically, but being able toconcentrate ourselves on soft tissue and joints,
(36:34):
making sure that they were football readywith functional football movements, and preparing a
body. So that's what we didin July, August, and September.
Now we're sitting here in the OTAperiod, two weeks of OTA's four weeks
of training camp, and now weare implementing schematics and schemes. So you've
got a new defensive coordinator, newspecialties coordinator, and we're in the second
(36:54):
year of Coach Hare's system offensively,so there's a lot to be done,
and we started this week implementing thosesystems. We got another week next week
of ootas and then we get intothat training camp and that's going to be
big for us. Kids are inshape, they're ready for camp, and
now it's about implementing our systems.You know, I think one guy that
(37:15):
a lot of people are excited towatch in year two of his young college
careers, Keeten Slova's your quarterback.It's easy to forget that he was a
true freshman last year and with everythingthat he was able to do in Graham
Harold's offense. What have you seenfrom him from a leadership standpoint and even
just a physicality standpoint, from wherehe was at the end of last season
to it to where he is rightnow. Yeah, it's been amazing.
(37:37):
As he has grown, our teamhas grown, and you saw it last
season. I thought he played hisbest football in the second half of the
season, and we grew as ateam and we played our better football in
the second half of the season ashe grew. He is so coachable.
He takes everything in, absorbs itand truly perfects his craft. And what
(37:57):
I have seen from him, youknow, last year was just okay,
I'm a true freshman thrown into thesecond game of the year, and it
was really focusing on him and hisimprovement. Now he's in year two and
you can see his leadership qualities comingabout. You know who won with his
actions of how he works. Imean, he's daylight till dark. He's
(38:19):
a gym rat and really has becomea stronger player. I mean he walked
in here two hundred pounds and nowhe's two fifteen. His core his strength,
you could see the chemistry that's comingabout in year two. You can
just see it with these receivers thatnow he's been with you for a year,
the ball's coming out so much quickeras far as timing the accuracy because
he's on the same page with thekids chemistry wise. So you know,
(38:44):
there's been tremendous progress. I can'twait personally, being a quarterback coach by
trade and a football fan, Ican't wait to see the kid play,
especially with the receiving group that hehas around him. It's gonna be a
lot of fun to watch. Andyou know, he has done a tremendous
job of being big example of whatwe want as a Trojan and what we
want as a as a quarterback onour team. Your reference a trojan quarterback.
(39:07):
You've been around there for a longtime, and it is a who's
who right when you start your heismcandidates. How it is this season is
relatively single elimination tournament. How areyou talking to him about dealing with the
expectations that come with just playing quarterbackat USC Yeah, you know he's done
such a great job as you sawit from day one. I mean one
(39:30):
he plays in a Frozeno state ballgame and really leads us to a win
in a tough situation and then hasto go against Stamford the next week and
first start, and you know,we saw something in recruiting with his intangibles
that you know, bright lights didn'taffect him, situations didn't affect him,
adversity didn't affect him. And thatwas evident as we went through the season
(39:52):
last year and now we enter yeartwo and to be able to see him
have those qualities that had been SamDarnold and Cody Kessler and Matt Barkley and
the likes of the Santez's in theLiners and the Parson Palmers. I mean,
he's just he's continuing a tradition ofexcellence at the position that I think
(40:15):
is second to none in college footballsince a year two thousand and one.
He knows what is expected at theposition. He welcomes the expectations as we
all do as players and coaches.Here. When you put on that jersey
behind me in the USC jersey,you know what comes with it. And
he loves those expectations and loves theopportunity to wear that uniform and go out
(40:37):
and represent it. Clay, Iknow that it feels like November seventh,
can't get here fast enough, ButI'm curious for you. What is it
like to be able to actually watchcollege football Saturday games, you know,
almost like as a family. Whatdo your Saturdays look like right now?
Well, you know, when itfirst started off, you're my soul hurt
(40:58):
because I don't know it's if wewere going to get to play or not.
But now you know, hope.Hope makes everything better. And when
you have a light at the endof the tunnel and you know your time
is getting ready to come, itmakes you happy. And I've always said
you only as happy as your unhappiestchild. And to be able to see
(41:19):
the hundred and ten kids, Iget the honor to coach and see their
happiness right now when I step onthe grass, you know that time with
them and engaged with them, I'ma lot more pleasant person. But I'll
say this, my wife is happiertoo. She's she's had to put up
with me for a while, andnow I get to be back on that
field and my soul is alive again. So I'm looking forward. I had
(41:43):
the most fun last week being withthe guys, and I can't wait for
the next twelve weeks. To behonest, with you. So good coach.
If I know you, you've gotyour pen out. You're one of
the best of the country at teachingsituational football and you're saying, right,
special teams that happened, I gotto teach that. I got to teach
that. So yes, I'm sureyou're a dial then and how to use
these weekends to teach your players.Then, yeah, it's gonna be h
(42:06):
It's a lot of coaching is goingon right now in a short period of
time, and it's really fun.It's a challenge. It's adverse, but
that's why they put coach in frontof your name. You know you love
these situations to be able to teachand educate kids and then go watch and
play the game they love. Sothis is a fun time. It really
is. You. We're excited tosee that big smiling face and glad to
know how happy all of your studentathletes are. We feel the same way
(42:29):
at Pack twelve and can't wait tosee you guys get out there nine am
on November seventh. Cannot wait,coach. Thanks for the time today.
We really appreciate it. Thanks Ashley. Thanks you going to be take care
of me.
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