April 4, 2025 • 21 mins
In this episode, Coach Parker talks with Brennan Marion, the new Head Football Coach at Sacramento State University. Coach Marion talks about his "Go Go Offense", his transition from High School coach to College Coach, recruiting in the current climate, and his vision for Sacramento State Football.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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Services email is info at siddh services dot com. That's
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sid services dot com. All right, please be joined this
(01:06):
time by one of the best coaches in the United States,
Coach Brenna Mary and coach thanks for joining.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Me, Chris. I appreciate you having me on man.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Thank you, yeah, man, it means a lot to have
you coach. I mean, those people that follow closely in
the coaching world know you've done a great job ascending
in your career and now the head coach of Sacramento State.
So before I even ask you some other questions, let
me just say congratulations on that head coaching job. Man,
well deserved.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
It's been a big blessing for me and my family.
We're excited to get this thing rolling.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
You're going to get it. Coach, coach. People that don't
know you might know you're a high school coach, You're
a good football player. You start coaching in high school,
you move up pretty quickly in the ranks in college.
What have you seen as the biggest thing that high
school coaches maybe don't know about college coaches you wish
they knew.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Yeah, I think sometimes when you're a high school coach,
you feel like you're inadequate or you couldn't coach at
that level, Like you don't have the you know, aptitude
or intelligence to you know, really you know, be at
that level. And I tell high school coaches all the time,
like I'm running the same offense that I ran when
I was a high school coach, and I'm coaching the
(02:20):
same way that I coached when I coached high school,
and so, you know, I think that gives them a
lot of you know, inspiration to know that they can,
you know, make that jump and make it up to
another level. If you're if you're highly organized, very detailed
in your approach, you do it for the right reasons,
you take care of the kids, then you have that
(02:40):
chance to ascend in your career as a coach.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Coach, I think a lot of people have the opportunity
and they're not taking it or they don't maybe have
confidence self, but they also have to You have to
jump when the opportunity presents the self. Is that something
you would say? I mean, that's what I would tell
people when the opportunities itself got be ready.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
I mean anytime you talk about you know, uh, high
earners or high paying jobs, you know the jobs are
going to be hoarded. You know, like it's not it's
not for everybody. It's not just you know, there's not
just like you know, a million jobs out there. It's
when you get an opportunity or a chance to get
into a building, you know you have to take it
(03:22):
because that window off opportunity might never come open again.
And so a lot of guys say, oh, I'll do
it this time, I'll do at that time and then
the opportunity never arises again, and you know that can
lead to being bitter and upset. But you know, if
you had a chance and you didn't take it, that's
on you.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
That's exactly right, and that's you know, you've got to
be ready. You got to stay ready, You got to
prepare yourself for when you have an opportunity. But then
you got accelerated. I think for you coach too, when
I'm looking following your career as a fan, you know
you've had to you've had to move right. I mean,
you've had to go where the opportunity was to get
yourself in this situation. So you'll be willing to make
(03:59):
a lot of sack devices your family's got to make
a lot of sacrifices. Uh, But you are you are
definitely somebody that that we as coaches look up to
as somebody showing it can be done.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
No doubt.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
I mean, anytime you you know it is it is
hard on your family.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
You know, it's also very rewarding to your family. There's
a lot of you know, a lot.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Of perks and things that come with it and your
opportunities that your family wouldn't get to experience if hitting
you know, make the moves and make the jumps.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
So you know, it's it's a it's a double edged sword.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
But at the same time, I mean, it's if you
feel like you're you're good at something and the players are,
you know, saying, coach, you're you're you're really talented in
what you do. You know, you want to see what
it feels like to get to the highest level you
want to you want to achieve and strive for greatness.
Why not try to be excellent in everything that you're doing.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Absolutely so, Coach, you mentioned your offense. You know, people
that know you that are listening to this know about
your offense. You guys are great. Uh, but tell somebody
that doesn't know about your offense a little bit. What's
the philosophy of what you're trying to get accomplished.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah, I tell people all the time.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
We're trying to be you know, violent as hail and
a very tough football team. Play downhill football, old school
you know, country football, run the ball, you know, and
really after that then it's playing basketball on grass grash,
trying to get our skilled players in space, you know,
and giving them opportunities to make plays and line them
(05:26):
up everywhere and not have a set position, but be
conceptual learners and be able to line up anywhere and
play and adjust and you know, get the ball in
their hands.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
So it's very simple for us.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
I mean, we really want to run the ball and
dominate you out the run and try to you know,
bloody your nose with the run, but we also want
to be you know, able to spread the ball around
to our skilled players. And then you know, we use
unique formations that give us an advantage, and we use
the triple option style of.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Run games games too.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
I'm more a shot to be able to you know,
really work double teams and work up to the next
level and help our run game be effective.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
And that's kind we've done.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
For a while now, been for you know, fifteen years now,
offensive football, and it's been successful.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Yeah, it really has, coach and I love it because
I love to run the football, but I love to
spread offense, you know. And there was a time fifteen
years ago or so when the teams that spread the
ball couldn't run, you know, they just couldn't be physical,
and they had to find creative ways to do that.
And the people that were coming up with things have
really excelled. What's what's uh, what's something maybe that you've
(06:42):
seen grow over that time, Like what aspect of your
offense have you seen really evolved in the last several years.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Yeah, just the ability to be so multiple.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
I mean, if you watched us, you would see I
always tell people, I want people to see Friday night
high school plays, you know, I want people to see
a Saturday NCAA offense, and then I want people to
see Sunday NFL through drop back passes, you know, pro
style runs.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
You know. We have all those elements in our offense now.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
And you know, when I first started, like a lot
of coaches, I said, we only do this, you know.
But as I've grown in coaching and gotten older, you know,
I'm a I say, I'm an angry, middle aged coach
now and I you know, yelling all the time. And
but really, what's all that about is just really just
making sure you don't uh leave the kids out there
(07:33):
with with answers. You know, you just want to have
solutions and answers for the kids so they have a
chance to be successful when they're out there playing. And
I mean that's what our offense does now. It presents
a lot of challenges to the defense because we can
we can morph into a lot of different things at
any given time.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Yeah, you know, you see a real philosophy argument here,
especially in high school ball with a lot of people
listening on. Do you have just a few things and
be really good at them or do you take their
pro' being you know, pretty high level with the kids
and teach them a lot of things. The truth is
you need both. But we all when I was coaching,
we always did that with formations, and you mentioned formations.
(08:10):
You guys are awesome with formations. Can you tell me,
And it's okay if you can't tell me, but I'm
gonna ask you anyway. Can you tell me what's the
process for you guys putting one in? Like, what what
do you you go through the week and say, hey,
we're gonna try these things or is it something the
defense is doing that you say, you know, this is
a formation we're gonna need for this week only. What's
the process to devote to coming up with some of
(08:31):
these newer formations, some of these more innovative formations you
guys use.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Well, really, the innovative formations, we've been doing those for
so long that to me, it's not innovative anymore. And
people are still saying it's innovative, like I've been doing
it for so many years now, I'm like, you know,
that's that's kind of the cool thing is we're doing
something that we feel like we have, you know, a
PhD in and everybody else is like a big inner
(08:57):
at looking at it. And so you know, for us,
anytime we implement something new, we have to know how
to fix it.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
You know.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I don't like to put things into our offense that
if it breaks down that we're not able to fix,
you know, And so because then we can't teach it
well to the kids, and it's not something that they're
gonna have confidence. And if if the guys that are
leading them to the coaches, you know, can't teach you
with confidence. And so really, when we look at something,
if we put something new in our offense, we've done
(09:25):
a full offseason study on it, We've called the coaches
that ranted, and we have like, you know, we want
to make sure we present it to the kids it's
full proof. We'll always do a little subtle route adjustments
or emotion or a shift, but you know, we're never
going to put things in that we don't really have
answers for it too.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Yeah, that's what I was saying, Coach, I think we
got a tendency. I was bad about it sometimes to
throw some stuff in and just throw throw against the wall.
See what sticks, you know. And I don't know that
I've gotten older. I don't really prescribe to that coach
talk a little bit of let's talk a little bit
about recruiting and high school and college. And you know
it's different from when you started, right when you were
(10:07):
coaching high school. It's definitely different. What do you wish
how high school coach is understood about recruiting? You know,
there's a lot of disconnects sometimes both sides. I think,
what do you wish the high school coaches understood better
about what you guys are trying to get accomplished at
Sacramento State and recruiting.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yeah, I can only speak for our program.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
I can't really speak for others, you know, And I've
worked a lot of different places with a lot of
different philosophies on how you go about being successful as
far as you know, acquiring talented players. But for us,
as Sacramento State, we're going to be a high school recruiting.
You know, that's the foundation of our program. It's a
(10:47):
young man's game. We want to get young, fresh players
in there that are still you know, approachable, you know,
still are teachable, you know, and obviously have fresh bodies.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
You know, that's what's going to be the core of
what we do. We're gonna not miss anybody in the
Juco realm.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
We're gonna try to you know, get talented Juco players
that can be starters before they get on campus. And
then when we go to the portal, you know, we
really want to get players.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
We have two types of players.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
We want to get veterans, tough, old guys that have
proven themselves, maybe had some injuries, been banged up, and
we want to use those guys to great leadership in
our team. You know, showed it looks like work ethic,
you know, blue collar guys. And then we want to
get some talent you know that maybe had you know,
gott into trouble or you know, really just hasn't reached
(11:39):
the potential yet. We want to go and find that
top tier talent that has nflbility in the portal and
get those guys a second or third chance to really
prove themselves, you know, and when they fit in their
in our program, there's enough support around them with our
support staff and our administration, our president where we give
(12:00):
those guys another another chance and and and and hopefully
be a place where they can you know, bloom and
blossom into the guy that they were supposed to be
when they came out of high school and so and
and For us, it doesn't matter like when you're in
the portal, it doesn't matter if you're.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
An NAI guy, a D two guy Division one.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
We look at it from an NFL standpoint of can
you help our team win? And we don't care where
you come from. We'll scout you from anywhere. So that's
how we do it. You know, we want to sign
twenty twenty to twenty five high school players and bringing
the best high school players from around the country. Obviously,
you know, California being home base, we want to start
there and we're in a great area Sacramento where there
(12:41):
is a lot of talent.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
And so that's how we do it.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
You know that it's it's been tough for me to
see that people are going away from recruiting high school kids.
Being a former high school coach. You know, I know
those guys been you don't know how many car rides
and feeding the guys and them staying at your house,
and much investment that the high school coach makes to
get those guys to the next level, and now they're
not even getting opportunities. So my advice to high school
(13:08):
coaches is when when a player does have a real opportunity,
and you know, it doesn't matter where the offer comes from,
if it comes from the seven on seven coach to trainer, whatever,
if that kid has a real offer, you got to
get that kid on campus and try to get that
get that locked in because now you know a lot
of schools just aren't giving high school kids a chance.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
And wouldn't you say, coach that those offers are you know,
they have an expiration date, right. I mean, if if
you guys are recruiting somebody now more than ever and
you did all from you want to get them on campus.
You know, my advice to people now is you may
seriously consider taking that offer. You know they're not gonna
(13:51):
be able to wait on you forever like they used to.
Is that good advice?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Absolutely?
Speaker 3 (13:56):
I mean a great piece of advice that I got,
you know, in my young life from my dad was
you know, when I became a grown man, you know,
he was like, it's easier to get a job when
you got a job.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
And so I tell these kids all the time, like,
if you take.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Our offer, you know, our little old Sacramento State and
then you know, Ohio State comes and offer you, Now
you got something to talk about. Now you got to
figure out, Okay, do I want to go Do I
want to stay loyal to this deal to the first
school that maybe was out there for me, or do
I want to you know, try to jump and take
that lead and see if I'm you know, have the
talent to go play there. And so to me, I
(14:34):
would say lock it in, you know, and and and
have that opportunity there, because you know, so many times
these kids get a whole bunch of offers early, then
the spots fill up. You know, it's a business at
this at the end of the day, like I can't
go to my boss and the people that I'm that
I have to report to and say, well, we we
(14:55):
offered a whole bunch of kids, nobody said yes, and
we just didn't feel the spots.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
We don't have any players. Sorry, we can't. We can
have a season, you know.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
And I think high school coaches get all upset about
you know, expiration dates on offers, but it'd be the
same thing in a high school program. You're trying to
field the team. You know, you got to find a
way to field the team.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
You know.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
When I was a high school head coach, I started
off my first meeting with seven players. In the meeting,
I couldn't tell the principal like, hey, I'm just not
going to coach this year. I had to find a
way to get a team. I had to, you know,
go recruit the hallways, go go recruit the small Catholic
schools that fed into to our Catholic school.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
I had to find a way, you know.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
And so that's the same thing that we have to
do as college coaches.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
It's the process. You didn't make it up, you didn't
design this, you guys, both sides. High school coach and
the college coach have to work through that system. And
I think that's the high school kid does not have
the opportunities they did, but therefore when they get an offer,
they need to take it. That's where I'm going, like,
don't me sitting around all day waiting on another one,
(16:02):
like I think they did. Maybe when you were getting recruited,
maybe that's a better question. You know, when you were
getting recruited because you were a good football player, you know,
it was different, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
I mean I wasn't. I wasn't a highly talented recruit.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
So I don't know how it feels to be the
parade All American guy where.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
I can wait for fifty schools.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
So I really don't resonate with kids when it comes
to that because I'm like, you know, University of Tulsa
offered me a scholarship. Coach Mileson and you know, Todd
Graham and those guys off for me a scholarship, and
I was like, where do I sign?
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Like I want to be here?
Speaker 3 (16:34):
You know, I thought, Hey, if it's a Division one
football and you guys are going to give me the
opportunity to show my skills, this is where, this is
where I want to be.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
And so.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
For me, kids looking at you know, the ultimate goal
is to get to the NFL, and that's what I
always try to I always that I struggle with kids
on that because I'm like, if the goal is to
get to the NFL, you need to be somewhere where
you can get developed and play, because you can't. You
can't develop when you're not playing right, because then depression
sets in. You know, if you're a real ballplayer, you
(17:06):
want to play ball, and you have to be somewhere
that gives you that opportunity to actually play and be developed.
And so because the NFL is not a development league.
You know when you talk about going from high school
to college, when you get to the NFL, if you
don't have the skills, it's a job.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
They're gonna move they're gonna move on from.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
And so where you pick your college is It definitely
can't be just off of logo. It has to be
off of playing time, development, education, community, character. You know,
like there's a lot of things that go into that
that I try to explain to kids and families. You know,
they're waiting on a certain logo. That logo might not
(17:43):
not have a lot of love for you to develop
you and you'll be sitting there riding the bench getting depressed.
And then that's why the portal is so prevalent. I mean,
the portal's blown up because kids choose the wrong school
because their parents thought that one logo was cooler than
the other, and they wanted to break to their friends.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
But that didn't help the kid, you know, be successful.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
No, that's exactly right, coach. Hey, coach, I'll get you
out of here on this though. Don't don't forget about
it us out here in Georgia. Now you in California.
You still got a lot of fans over here. I
didn't know much about Sacramento State. I knew Cam Scatibo
went there, and I knew Ken O'Brien got picked ahead
of Dan Marino and I think he played there.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
That was my.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Sacramento State knowledge. But I'm learning and I'm a fan. So, hey,
what's got to happen for Sacramento State to have the
season you want to have this year? What do you
guys got to do over the spring, in the summer
to be where you want to be in the fall.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
I think right now we've done a good job, the coaches,
the players, to support staff, the administration on you know,
getting the right people here to Sacramento. I think every
day we have a plan and we have a program.
I tell the players, really, what has to happen for
us to have a you know, that one great year
(18:57):
can change our life. Type of season is it has
to stop being my program and what I want for
the players, and it has to be their program. They
have to take over and make all the things that were,
you know, saying it's mandatory. They have to start being
volunteers and not prisoners to the information and start taking
everything over, the ownership and the own thiss, you know,
(19:20):
on themselves. And so I think once we get there,
you know, when we finish spring ball, and obviously we
got to keep guys healthy, then I think we'll have a.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Chance to be really really successful. And Sacramento, well.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Kellich, we really are pulling for you, one of the
good guys and a guy that a lot of people
here in Georgia really respect. Coach so excited that you
took a few minutes to talk to me. I know
you're busy anytime you go a new job, man, it's crazy.
So it means a lot that you took some time
to talk to me. It really does.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
I always got a lot of love for Georgia. I
lived in Atlanta with my grandmother and my aunt. In
eighth grade, went to Sweetwater Middle School in goodnet w
Net Georgia. So I have a lot great football players
that I coach, Ricky White and all those guys that.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Are from Georgia. You know.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
So Georgia football is always welcome and Sacramento for sure.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Yeah, absolutely, coach. I appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Take care all right, now, appreciate it. Tell you.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
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The Parker Resource Podcast was brought to you by our
platinum sponsor, SID Services Ads and Coaches. Does the idea
of a sports information department at your school sound appealing?
Sid Services was founded with one goal in mind, help
athletic directors and coaches with their sports information duties and responsibilities.
Developed the full service agency, they can help you with
(00:21):
all things sports information. SID Services will not graduate or
lead for another school. Instead, they will provide an ongoing
and knowledgeable resource for the entire athletic department. Their game
plan will be based off your needs, your wants, and
your wishes. Your direction will lead their services. For more
information and schedule an initial consultation, contact them today. Sid
(00:43):
Services email is info at siddh services dot com. That's
info at sid services dot com and their website is
sid services dot com. All right, please be joined this
(01:06):
time by one of the best coaches in the United States,
Coach Brenna Mary and coach thanks for joining.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Me, Chris. I appreciate you having me on man.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Thank you, yeah, man, it means a lot to have
you coach. I mean, those people that follow closely in
the coaching world know you've done a great job ascending
in your career and now the head coach of Sacramento State.
So before I even ask you some other questions, let
me just say congratulations on that head coaching job. Man,
well deserved.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
It's been a big blessing for me and my family.
We're excited to get this thing rolling.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
You're going to get it. Coach, coach. People that don't
know you might know you're a high school coach, You're
a good football player. You start coaching in high school,
you move up pretty quickly in the ranks in college.
What have you seen as the biggest thing that high
school coaches maybe don't know about college coaches you wish
they knew.
Speaker 3 (01:58):
Yeah, I think sometimes when you're a high school coach,
you feel like you're inadequate or you couldn't coach at
that level, Like you don't have the you know, aptitude
or intelligence to you know, really you know, be at
that level. And I tell high school coaches all the time,
like I'm running the same offense that I ran when
I was a high school coach, and I'm coaching the
(02:20):
same way that I coached when I coached high school,
and so, you know, I think that gives them a
lot of you know, inspiration to know that they can,
you know, make that jump and make it up to
another level. If you're if you're highly organized, very detailed
in your approach, you do it for the right reasons,
you take care of the kids, then you have that
(02:40):
chance to ascend in your career as a coach.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Coach, I think a lot of people have the opportunity
and they're not taking it or they don't maybe have
confidence self, but they also have to You have to
jump when the opportunity presents the self. Is that something
you would say? I mean, that's what I would tell
people when the opportunities itself got be ready.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
I mean anytime you talk about you know, uh, high
earners or high paying jobs, you know the jobs are
going to be hoarded. You know, like it's not it's
not for everybody. It's not just you know, there's not
just like you know, a million jobs out there. It's
when you get an opportunity or a chance to get
into a building, you know you have to take it
(03:22):
because that window off opportunity might never come open again.
And so a lot of guys say, oh, I'll do
it this time, I'll do at that time and then
the opportunity never arises again, and you know that can
lead to being bitter and upset. But you know, if
you had a chance and you didn't take it, that's
on you.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
That's exactly right, and that's you know, you've got to
be ready. You got to stay ready, You got to
prepare yourself for when you have an opportunity. But then
you got accelerated. I think for you coach too, when
I'm looking following your career as a fan, you know
you've had to you've had to move right. I mean,
you've had to go where the opportunity was to get
yourself in this situation. So you'll be willing to make
(03:59):
a lot of sack devices your family's got to make
a lot of sacrifices. Uh, But you are you are
definitely somebody that that we as coaches look up to
as somebody showing it can be done.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
No doubt.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
I mean, anytime you you know it is it is
hard on your family.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
You know, it's also very rewarding to your family. There's
a lot of you know, a lot.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Of perks and things that come with it and your
opportunities that your family wouldn't get to experience if hitting
you know, make the moves and make the jumps.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
So you know, it's it's a it's a double edged sword.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
But at the same time, I mean, it's if you
feel like you're you're good at something and the players are,
you know, saying, coach, you're you're you're really talented in
what you do. You know, you want to see what
it feels like to get to the highest level you
want to you want to achieve and strive for greatness.
Why not try to be excellent in everything that you're doing.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
Absolutely so, Coach, you mentioned your offense. You know, people
that know you that are listening to this know about
your offense. You guys are great. Uh, but tell somebody
that doesn't know about your offense a little bit. What's
the philosophy of what you're trying to get accomplished.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Yeah, I tell people all the time.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
We're trying to be you know, violent as hail and
a very tough football team. Play downhill football, old school
you know, country football, run the ball, you know, and
really after that then it's playing basketball on grass grash,
trying to get our skilled players in space, you know,
and giving them opportunities to make plays and line them
(05:26):
up everywhere and not have a set position, but be
conceptual learners and be able to line up anywhere and
play and adjust and you know, get the ball in
their hands.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
So it's very simple for us.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
I mean, we really want to run the ball and
dominate you out the run and try to you know,
bloody your nose with the run, but we also want
to be you know, able to spread the ball around
to our skilled players. And then you know, we use
unique formations that give us an advantage, and we use
the triple option style of.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Run games games too.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
I'm more a shot to be able to you know,
really work double teams and work up to the next
level and help our run game be effective.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
And that's kind we've done.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
For a while now, been for you know, fifteen years now,
offensive football, and it's been successful.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Yeah, it really has, coach and I love it because
I love to run the football, but I love to
spread offense, you know. And there was a time fifteen
years ago or so when the teams that spread the
ball couldn't run, you know, they just couldn't be physical,
and they had to find creative ways to do that.
And the people that were coming up with things have
really excelled. What's what's uh, what's something maybe that you've
(06:42):
seen grow over that time, Like what aspect of your
offense have you seen really evolved in the last several years.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Yeah, just the ability to be so multiple.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
I mean, if you watched us, you would see I
always tell people, I want people to see Friday night
high school plays, you know, I want people to see
a Saturday NCAA offense, and then I want people to
see Sunday NFL through drop back passes, you know, pro
style runs.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
You know. We have all those elements in our offense now.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
And you know, when I first started, like a lot
of coaches, I said, we only do this, you know.
But as I've grown in coaching and gotten older, you know,
I'm a I say, I'm an angry, middle aged coach
now and I you know, yelling all the time. And
but really, what's all that about is just really just
making sure you don't uh leave the kids out there
(07:33):
with with answers. You know, you just want to have
solutions and answers for the kids so they have a
chance to be successful when they're out there playing. And
I mean that's what our offense does now. It presents
a lot of challenges to the defense because we can
we can morph into a lot of different things at
any given time.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Yeah, you know, you see a real philosophy argument here,
especially in high school ball with a lot of people
listening on. Do you have just a few things and
be really good at them or do you take their
pro' being you know, pretty high level with the kids
and teach them a lot of things. The truth is
you need both. But we all when I was coaching,
we always did that with formations, and you mentioned formations.
(08:10):
You guys are awesome with formations. Can you tell me,
And it's okay if you can't tell me, but I'm
gonna ask you anyway. Can you tell me what's the
process for you guys putting one in? Like, what what
do you you go through the week and say, hey,
we're gonna try these things or is it something the
defense is doing that you say, you know, this is
a formation we're gonna need for this week only. What's
the process to devote to coming up with some of
(08:31):
these newer formations, some of these more innovative formations you
guys use.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Well, really, the innovative formations, we've been doing those for
so long that to me, it's not innovative anymore. And
people are still saying it's innovative, like I've been doing
it for so many years now, I'm like, you know,
that's that's kind of the cool thing is we're doing
something that we feel like we have, you know, a
PhD in and everybody else is like a big inner
(08:57):
at looking at it. And so you know, for us,
anytime we implement something new, we have to know how
to fix it.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
You know.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
I don't like to put things into our offense that
if it breaks down that we're not able to fix,
you know, And so because then we can't teach it
well to the kids, and it's not something that they're
gonna have confidence. And if if the guys that are
leading them to the coaches, you know, can't teach you
with confidence. And so really, when we look at something,
if we put something new in our offense, we've done
(09:25):
a full offseason study on it, We've called the coaches
that ranted, and we have like, you know, we want
to make sure we present it to the kids it's
full proof. We'll always do a little subtle route adjustments
or emotion or a shift, but you know, we're never
going to put things in that we don't really have
answers for it too.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Yeah, that's what I was saying, Coach, I think we
got a tendency. I was bad about it sometimes to
throw some stuff in and just throw throw against the wall.
See what sticks, you know. And I don't know that
I've gotten older. I don't really prescribe to that coach
talk a little bit of let's talk a little bit
about recruiting and high school and college. And you know
it's different from when you started, right when you were
(10:07):
coaching high school. It's definitely different. What do you wish
how high school coach is understood about recruiting? You know,
there's a lot of disconnects sometimes both sides. I think,
what do you wish the high school coaches understood better
about what you guys are trying to get accomplished at
Sacramento State and recruiting.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
Yeah, I can only speak for our program.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
I can't really speak for others, you know, And I've
worked a lot of different places with a lot of
different philosophies on how you go about being successful as
far as you know, acquiring talented players. But for us,
as Sacramento State, we're going to be a high school recruiting.
You know, that's the foundation of our program. It's a
(10:47):
young man's game. We want to get young, fresh players
in there that are still you know, approachable, you know,
still are teachable, you know, and obviously have fresh bodies.
Speaker 2 (11:01):
You know, that's what's going to be the core of
what we do. We're gonna not miss anybody in the
Juco realm.
Speaker 3 (11:06):
We're gonna try to you know, get talented Juco players
that can be starters before they get on campus. And
then when we go to the portal, you know, we
really want to get players.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
We have two types of players.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
We want to get veterans, tough, old guys that have
proven themselves, maybe had some injuries, been banged up, and
we want to use those guys to great leadership in
our team. You know, showed it looks like work ethic,
you know, blue collar guys. And then we want to
get some talent you know that maybe had you know,
gott into trouble or you know, really just hasn't reached
(11:39):
the potential yet. We want to go and find that
top tier talent that has nflbility in the portal and
get those guys a second or third chance to really
prove themselves, you know, and when they fit in their
in our program, there's enough support around them with our
support staff and our administration, our president where we give
(12:00):
those guys another another chance and and and and hopefully
be a place where they can you know, bloom and
blossom into the guy that they were supposed to be
when they came out of high school and so and
and For us, it doesn't matter like when you're in
the portal, it doesn't matter if you're.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
An NAI guy, a D two guy Division one.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
We look at it from an NFL standpoint of can
you help our team win? And we don't care where
you come from. We'll scout you from anywhere. So that's
how we do it. You know, we want to sign
twenty twenty to twenty five high school players and bringing
the best high school players from around the country. Obviously,
you know, California being home base, we want to start
there and we're in a great area Sacramento where there
(12:41):
is a lot of talent.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
And so that's how we do it.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
You know that it's it's been tough for me to
see that people are going away from recruiting high school kids.
Being a former high school coach. You know, I know
those guys been you don't know how many car rides
and feeding the guys and them staying at your house,
and much investment that the high school coach makes to
get those guys to the next level, and now they're
not even getting opportunities. So my advice to high school
(13:08):
coaches is when when a player does have a real opportunity,
and you know, it doesn't matter where the offer comes from,
if it comes from the seven on seven coach to trainer, whatever,
if that kid has a real offer, you got to
get that kid on campus and try to get that
get that locked in because now you know a lot
of schools just aren't giving high school kids a chance.
Speaker 1 (13:30):
And wouldn't you say, coach that those offers are you know,
they have an expiration date, right. I mean, if if
you guys are recruiting somebody now more than ever and
you did all from you want to get them on campus.
You know, my advice to people now is you may
seriously consider taking that offer. You know they're not gonna
(13:51):
be able to wait on you forever like they used to.
Is that good advice?
Speaker 2 (13:55):
Absolutely?
Speaker 3 (13:56):
I mean a great piece of advice that I got,
you know, in my young life from my dad was
you know, when I became a grown man, you know,
he was like, it's easier to get a job when
you got a job.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
And so I tell these kids all the time, like,
if you take.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Our offer, you know, our little old Sacramento State and
then you know, Ohio State comes and offer you, Now
you got something to talk about. Now you got to
figure out, Okay, do I want to go Do I
want to stay loyal to this deal to the first
school that maybe was out there for me, or do
I want to you know, try to jump and take
that lead and see if I'm you know, have the
talent to go play there. And so to me, I
(14:34):
would say lock it in, you know, and and and
have that opportunity there, because you know, so many times
these kids get a whole bunch of offers early, then
the spots fill up. You know, it's a business at
this at the end of the day, like I can't
go to my boss and the people that I'm that
I have to report to and say, well, we we
(14:55):
offered a whole bunch of kids, nobody said yes, and
we just didn't feel the spots.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
We don't have any players. Sorry, we can't. We can
have a season, you know.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
And I think high school coaches get all upset about
you know, expiration dates on offers, but it'd be the
same thing in a high school program. You're trying to
field the team. You know, you got to find a
way to field the team.
Speaker 2 (15:14):
You know.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
When I was a high school head coach, I started
off my first meeting with seven players. In the meeting,
I couldn't tell the principal like, hey, I'm just not
going to coach this year. I had to find a
way to get a team. I had to, you know,
go recruit the hallways, go go recruit the small Catholic
schools that fed into to our Catholic school.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
I had to find a way, you know.
Speaker 3 (15:33):
And so that's the same thing that we have to
do as college coaches.
Speaker 1 (15:40):
It's the process. You didn't make it up, you didn't
design this, you guys, both sides. High school coach and
the college coach have to work through that system. And
I think that's the high school kid does not have
the opportunities they did, but therefore when they get an offer,
they need to take it. That's where I'm going, like,
don't me sitting around all day waiting on another one,
(16:02):
like I think they did. Maybe when you were getting recruited,
maybe that's a better question. You know, when you were
getting recruited because you were a good football player, you know,
it was different, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:12):
I mean I wasn't. I wasn't a highly talented recruit.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
So I don't know how it feels to be the
parade All American guy where.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
I can wait for fifty schools.
Speaker 3 (16:21):
So I really don't resonate with kids when it comes
to that because I'm like, you know, University of Tulsa
offered me a scholarship. Coach Mileson and you know, Todd
Graham and those guys off for me a scholarship, and
I was like, where do I sign?
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Like I want to be here?
Speaker 3 (16:34):
You know, I thought, Hey, if it's a Division one
football and you guys are going to give me the
opportunity to show my skills, this is where, this is
where I want to be.
Speaker 2 (16:42):
And so.
Speaker 3 (16:44):
For me, kids looking at you know, the ultimate goal
is to get to the NFL, and that's what I
always try to I always that I struggle with kids
on that because I'm like, if the goal is to
get to the NFL, you need to be somewhere where
you can get developed and play, because you can't. You
can't develop when you're not playing right, because then depression
sets in. You know, if you're a real ballplayer, you
(17:06):
want to play ball, and you have to be somewhere
that gives you that opportunity to actually play and be developed.
And so because the NFL is not a development league.
You know when you talk about going from high school
to college, when you get to the NFL, if you
don't have the skills, it's a job.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
They're gonna move they're gonna move on from.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
And so where you pick your college is It definitely
can't be just off of logo. It has to be
off of playing time, development, education, community, character. You know,
like there's a lot of things that go into that
that I try to explain to kids and families. You know,
they're waiting on a certain logo. That logo might not
(17:43):
not have a lot of love for you to develop
you and you'll be sitting there riding the bench getting depressed.
And then that's why the portal is so prevalent. I mean,
the portal's blown up because kids choose the wrong school
because their parents thought that one logo was cooler than
the other, and they wanted to break to their friends.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
But that didn't help the kid, you know, be successful.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
No, that's exactly right, coach. Hey, coach, I'll get you
out of here on this though. Don't don't forget about
it us out here in Georgia. Now you in California.
You still got a lot of fans over here. I
didn't know much about Sacramento State. I knew Cam Scatibo
went there, and I knew Ken O'Brien got picked ahead
of Dan Marino and I think he played there.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
That was my.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
Sacramento State knowledge. But I'm learning and I'm a fan. So, hey,
what's got to happen for Sacramento State to have the
season you want to have this year? What do you
guys got to do over the spring, in the summer
to be where you want to be in the fall.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
I think right now we've done a good job, the coaches,
the players, to support staff, the administration on you know,
getting the right people here to Sacramento. I think every
day we have a plan and we have a program.
I tell the players, really, what has to happen for
us to have a you know, that one great year
(18:57):
can change our life. Type of season is it has
to stop being my program and what I want for
the players, and it has to be their program. They
have to take over and make all the things that were,
you know, saying it's mandatory. They have to start being
volunteers and not prisoners to the information and start taking
everything over, the ownership and the own thiss, you know,
(19:20):
on themselves. And so I think once we get there,
you know, when we finish spring ball, and obviously we
got to keep guys healthy, then I think we'll have a.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Chance to be really really successful. And Sacramento, well.
Speaker 1 (19:32):
Kellich, we really are pulling for you, one of the
good guys and a guy that a lot of people
here in Georgia really respect. Coach so excited that you
took a few minutes to talk to me. I know
you're busy anytime you go a new job, man, it's crazy.
So it means a lot that you took some time
to talk to me. It really does.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
I always got a lot of love for Georgia. I
lived in Atlanta with my grandmother and my aunt. In
eighth grade, went to Sweetwater Middle School in goodnet w
Net Georgia. So I have a lot great football players
that I coach, Ricky White and all those guys that.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Are from Georgia. You know.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
So Georgia football is always welcome and Sacramento for sure.
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Yeah, absolutely, coach. I appreciate you.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
Take care all right, now, appreciate it. Tell you.
Speaker 1 (20:15):
The Parker Resource Podcast is brought to you by Coastal
Sports Turf. Coastal Sports Turf mission is to provide beautiful,
healthy and safe natural turf grass playing surfaces for.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
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Speaker 1 (20:26):
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(21:08):
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