September 25, 2025 • 34 mins
On this episode, Alex Bozich is joined by Rick Bozich to discuss the upcoming IU basketball season and IU football's 4-0 start and incredible program trajectory.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Welcome back to a new episode of Podcast on the
Brink Thursday, September twenty fifth.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Took last week off.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
But we're back this week with my favorite guest on
Podcast on the Brink. A little bit biased in that regard.
He's my dad, so he has to be my favorite,
but joining us, I think for the first time on
the show since his retirement. Before we get to today's conversation,
if you enjoy the show, please leave us a five
star rating and review over on Apple Podcasts. Leave us
(00:47):
a five star rating over on Spotify. Also, if you're
watching on YouTube, like the video, please subscribe to the channel.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
We've seen a lot of growth on the subscriber numbers
over on YouTube, so I really appreciate that everyone falling
over there.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
A lot of good stuff there.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Kurtz Signety's press conferences every week is postgame press conference
is getting a lot of views and as they should.
With Indiana football is four and oh start before you know,
we get into the nuts and bolts of the IU
football IU basketball discussion. We're gonna touch I think briefly
on both this week. How how is it, what's it
been like for you the last couple of months not
(01:25):
having to cover college football and you know, stay up
to date on it, maybe as much as you have
been in the past.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Quite relaxing and enjoyable.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
I could pick and choose the games I want to
watch every weekend and scandal hop and don't have to
deal with crowds and all that other good stuff.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
So I've enjoyed myself.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
How much IU football have you been watching?
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Watch every game four for four. We'll see what happens
as they move forward, but yeah, it's an entertaining product.
And I remember listening to IU football games in the
late fifties early sixties when they had guys like Earl Faison,
Marv Woodson. A little bit later, Richie Betar was the quarterback.
(02:14):
So when you've been going out as long as I have,
you just keep going year by year.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
So I'm gonna talk about football later in the show,
but I want to start with with basketball. Obviously, that's
the main thing we cover with the site of the podcast.
You know, a couple was, what three months ago, we
had a chance to go up and talk to Darren Debrees,
you and I and him in his office for about
thirty five forty minutes. I don't think we've you've talked
much about that conversation, at least not on this show.
(02:44):
I'm just curious for your big picture takeaways from from
talking to him, what you maybe learned from that conversation
and his vision for how he wants to run this
program and how he wants.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
To build this team.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Yeah, I mean, the thing I learned that he just
seemed like a normal person who loves basketball. He didn't
seem like he was.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Paranoid.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
He didn't seem like he was trying to tell us,
you know, a new washing machine or something.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
He just was a guy who loved basketball and talked about.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Some what of his philosophies are, where he came from,
what he likes, what he wants to do, what the
challenges are. And he's a very relaxed and normal conversation.
I didn't feel like he wasn't trying to tell me
a bunch of stories or funny you know, anecdotes or
things like that. He was just a basketball coach. And
I've heard from other people since then that have encountered
him around Bloomington that they get the same feel. I
(03:38):
think at home football games, I've seen pictures that he's
outside the cook hall playing cornhole and people walk by,
and he's willing to go over and take pictures with him,
and I know that stuff.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
You know, in the end, what.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Matters is whether you win or lose. But he seems
like somebody who's very comfortable just being you know, Dared Devrees.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
How I mean, I think maybe sometimes us in the
media make too much of that in terms of like
how he'll handle the job. And obviously he's he's undefeated
right now, so it's it's easy to kind of go
out and do those things when there's no one criticizing you.
Everyone Usually when there's a new coach, everyone's excited for
the future. Everyone thinks it's gonna work out. But just
having kind of that even keel temperament, do you is
(04:25):
that maybe a built in advantage for when some of
that adversity does come, because any coach is gonna have
scrutiny and people questioning things they do. But it seems
like his the way he kind of handles things and
the way he talks to people and addresses the media,
it doesn't seem like he's gonna maybe get too far
either direction in terms of you know, when things get
(04:48):
if they win a big game, I don't think he's
gonna get carried away with that. But if they lose
a tough game, I don't think it's really gonna maybe
get to him as as much as some other coaches
we've seen.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Yeah, I mean it would appear that way, but not
going to know until he, you know, goes through a
losing streak. And looked at the schedule last week. There's
their stretch where they play four out of five games
on the road and the home game is Purdue. That
includes the West Coast trip, so that looks like a
really difficult part of the schedule. Well Salari racks if
(05:19):
they don't do well during that stretch, But I think
it's more important to look at the other signs of
I got the email this week that they're having another
open practice coming up, So that's two open practices, and
I can't think of another ide basketball coach who's opened
up two practices to.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
All of the media.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
I mean, I go back tonight, maybe Mike Davis did,
I don't remember. He was pretty cooperative with the media,
but definitely since Cream, there hasn't been a coach who's
opened two practices to the media. So It tells me
he's not super paranoid. It also tells me he's investing
(05:59):
in trying to diop a you know, a reasonable relationship
with the media instead of you know, Woodson really felt
unbattled and had diminishing interaction with the media in his
last year. I think Archie did a lot of it grudgingly,
or he did it, but he wasn't really into it.
(06:21):
And you know, hopefully this will be different.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Why why is it important in your I mean, you've
been doing this for as long as you know, anybody
that we have on the show. You've started at the
IDs obviously covered a ton of different coaches.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
But I think.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
As as time has gone on, obviously there's been I
don't want to say an attack on the media, specifically
sports media, but I think in a lot of the
eyes of a lot of people, our role has been
maybe diminished. But why is it important for a coach
to maybe give that access and give an opportunity for
the media to get in there and kind of see
practice and be able to maybe tell stories that the
(06:59):
other wise wouldn't if they weren't given that access.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
I think it humanizes the coach and it humanizes the program,
and I always go back to a covered grip. Patino
many many years, and he always had an open locker room.
He always made his players talk to the media win
or lose, and he famously would make players get off
the team bus and come back in the locker room
(07:24):
and talk to the media after a loss. And he
always told his players to view interactions with the media
as an opportunity to make a commercial or sell a
commercial about yourself. And I think it's good because in
many ways, the media is a conduit to the fans
and they can tell stories about the team instead of
you know, just what you get in press conference situations,
(07:47):
which usually isn't very insightful. And I think it's also
important for the players as part of their development as
young adults. It'll serve them well in the business world
if they learned, they get put in situations where they're
answering questions that they don't expect and how to answer them,
and they become more self assured, more confident people. You know,
(08:08):
it doesn't translate to winning losses, no, but I think
it helps the product. I mean, let's be honest. In
many ways, this is an entertainment business and you're selling yourself.
You want people to invest in your product. And I
think if you like that story that came out two
weeks ago about Wilkerson taking some of his NIL money
(08:29):
and giving it back to Sam Houston State that came out,
I guess from an interview that did a field of
sixty eight and then the Athletic wrote about it, everybody
else wrote about it. Brings a lot of good publicity
to him to debrees into IU basketball. So you can
always turn those media opportunities into a positive for yourself
(08:50):
and your school.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Looking ahead to the actual season, you know, I've heard
people obviously based on where we live down in out
down in Louisville, but southern Indiana, a lot of AU fans.
But you know, there's also a lot of attention in
this area on the Louisville Kentucky programs, and people look
at what Pope and Kelsey did last year and they say,
can DeVries do the same thing? And you're one Obviously,
(09:13):
the situations are different. And the one thing I've cautioned
people against what the Louisville comparison is not to take
anything away from what they accomplished last season. Had a
really good season, blew the doors off Indiana down in
the Bahamas, but the conference that they played in had
a lot to do with the record they were able
to accumulate.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
So people have.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Asked me, you know, can can Devrees have the same
impact as Kelsey and you're one, it's not an apples
to apples comparison because he's going into a Big Ten
that's ultra competitive, and I think what Louisville played in
last year with the ACC was obviously a pretty light
schedule in terms of conference opponents and a chance to stack.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
A lot of wins.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
And we saw saw when they got into the tournament
playing Creighton didn't go so well in that first NCAA
Tournament game. But what in your mind would be a
good season fair expectations for Derees in Indiana basketball going
into year one of his senior.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
That's a great question.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
I think probably middle of the pack in the Big
Ten and probably a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament.
You know, I wouldn't be surprised if they don't make it.
I'd probably be a little surprised if they do make it.
But that's what I think is a fair forecast because
(10:25):
they really have a brand new team and they got
You know, when you look at the portal, I don't
think the group they got out of the portal was
as good as the group Kelsey got out of the portal,
mainly because they don't have a Chucky Hepburn. Chuckie Hepburn
(10:45):
was fantastic for Louisville last season. He's a guy who
started from as a freshman at Wisconsin. Then many of
them started for three years and he came into Louisville
and he had a really good He was the second
best player in the ACC after Cooper Flagg and Kentucky
had you know the kid the Butlers that wasn't that
his name? The kids from San Diego State who played
(11:06):
in the Final four. Oway was a really good player.
I'm not sure Indiana has as much talent on this
roster as those two teams had last year. And your
point as well taken that people talking about Kentucky seed
and they had a good season. They did go to
Sweet sixteen, but what did they finish in the SEC?
Weren't they like fifth or six They weren't one of
the top teams in the SEC. Louisville was the second
(11:28):
best team in the ACC. But would the ACC get
in the tournament three teams or fourth the most, I
don't remember exactly what it was. And their schedule was
very fortuitous. They played Duke one time here and they lost.
I think they played Carolina only one time here and
they won. Pretty sure there was another good team in
the ACC they only played one time, so they had
(11:50):
a very favorable schedule.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
That I mean that to me is, you know, it's
obviously natural to make the comparisons of a first year
coach taking over and people being excited about what they
could accomplish, But I do think it's important to keep
real expectations realistic when you look at this team in
terms of how they're going to play. What Deres talked
about when we just from interviews and when you had
(12:14):
a chance to talk to him, what do you think
are the major Obviously we know that there's going to
be a more up tempo, free flowing offense with more
three pointers, But what do you think are some of
the other differences that we're going to see this year
in terms of the OnCore product compared to what we've
seen maybe the last couple of coaching tenures.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
Faster paced, for sure, less thrown the ball into the
low post and playing out of the low post, maybe
a more flexibility in the lineup. I think that's one
of the things people always were missed about. Woods says
he had his five that he picked and usually wrote
(12:56):
them all the way, no matter how they played.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
I think Devrees might mix that up a little bit.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
Uh And obviously you know, uh, Botre's more willing to
actually spot the three point shot and incorporated into the offense,
not just as something that is used when other options
break down, or whether you've fallen behind in the game
and you have to try and catch up in a hurry.
It's going to be a that's gonna be good or bad,
because there's probably gonna be nights they don't make them,
(13:22):
and it's gonna when you don't make them, it looks
a team looks really bad and people.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Say, oh, they're you got tired.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
Legs, or they're not into it or tonight. I mean,
the three point shot shapes fans opinions in so many ways,
because if you get through a four in a row,
everybody says it's the most exciting basketball they've ever seen.
So I think those are the main differences.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
In terms of players specific players. Is there anyone that
you're intrigued to see when the games actually start from
a roster perspective, any any guys that you think maybe
you could be an X factor for this team.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
I mean, I'm intrigued to see all of them, because
they haven't seen any of them that much. I mean
Tucker Devrees I saw in person in Albany when Drake
played in the NCAA tournament and was very impressed. And
I watched him play last year when he had his
team down there with the Bahamas and he was good.
I want to see Wokerson because he's His three point
(14:18):
shooting seems to be proven, and he's a more experienced
player and he was highly sought after in the portal.
I want to see Connorway because he's going to be
the point guard and we know that point guard is
a very critical position. I want to see Cecily because
he's the main recruit. And I'm curious about the two
(14:39):
European guys to see if they're going to actually be
able to contribute at all, If not at the beginning
of the season, maybe by you know, February or something,
so those would be the main ones.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
The one guy that I've then I think people are
gonna love just from talking to him and talking to
Devrees about him a little bit, and just seeing some
interviews with them the Field of sixty eight interview Connor Enright,
because Indiana hasn't really had a player like that in
terms of talent. He's not going to be the most
talented guy on the court, but a player that can
(15:14):
do the little things and get under the skin of
the opponent. Indiana's lacked that for quite a while. I mean,
I can't really remember the last player to have a
player that kind of remind you maybe of Michael Lewis,
the guys in the Wisconsin you know, the guys that
Wisconsin drove Indiana fans that Brad Davis and Ben brust Right,
those guys have driven big ten in Indiana fans nuts
(15:36):
for a long time. I think he's going to be
someone that when you look at the end of the
game at the stat sheet, maybe he's not filling it up,
but from just doing the little things of competing, I
think he's going to bring a lot. And Reed Bailey
is another guy that I look at and say he's
going to have to play a pretty big role for
this team because they're not big in the post and
don't have a dominant shot blocker. But he can create
(15:58):
some matchup problems with his ability to pass out on
the floor and maybe it makes some three pointers. So
him and Sam Alexis, I think two or are pretty
big keys. Just in terms of college basketball in general
with the portal era, do you think before we move on,
I obviously want to talk to you about AU football,
but do you think as a whole the portal has
(16:18):
been a net positive for the sport, just in terms
of drumming up more year year round interest and how
do you think maybe it's impacted fan interest and you know,
specific teams with all the turnover on a year to
year basis.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
I mean, like it depends on where you're talking about.
I think it's a been mostly a positive for you know, a.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
Lot of the upper era, upper.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
Tier Division one schools because they can rebuild quickly and
get veteran players in there to replace the guys who've left.
I think it's been detrimental to the lower mid major
lower major schools because their top players are leaving as
soon as they do well. And if you're a fan
(17:08):
of those kind of one of those schools. That's got
to be tough. They are coach at one of those
schools of they've gone out and find somebody that the
other recruiters overlooked or dismissed and they've developed them into
a solid player. As soon as they do their rewards
for that isn't you know, two or three more seasons
of productivity.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
It's see later.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
There's not really a program like that that I really
follow that closely. I mean, bellarm has lost a few
guys that got hurt by it last year, but I'm
sure there are programs around the country where that's the case.
And you know, for every Reed Bailey that comes to Indiana,
then Davidson fans take a hit. For every Lamar Wilkerson
that's Sam Houston State, they take a hit. Where was
(17:54):
Connorway at Troy. I'm sure they'd love to have him
for another year after they went to the NCAA Tournament
last year, but they don't. So you know, those are
the drawbacks that I see from it.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
So Shifting Gears obviously don't talk a ton of value football,
but with covering it this season on the site, Josh
has done a terrific job. He's actually going to be
in Iowa City at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday to cover
that game. Looking forward to his coverage, I know he's
excited to get there. It's been just a lot of
fun to read everything that he's put out so far
(18:28):
this season, and now I've written a little bit on
football this year too for the first time. Been a
lot of fun to follow, a lot of fun to watch.
This team just seems so relentless in terms of how
they play every play, with with everything that Kurtz Signette
has been able to do the first year and four games.
(18:49):
You've covered college football for a long time, Is there
anything comparable that you can remember to a coach coming
into a program and taking it from basically the bottom
for a long time to going to the playoff in
year one and then having you know, a top what
top eleven, top twelve ranking four weeks into the season.
(19:11):
You know, I'm not the historian on college football, haven't
covered the sport in depth at all, but it just
seems like this is one of the more improbable turnarounds
that college football seen in a long time, if not ever.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
No, nothing comparable, nothing, Cause Indiana really, in many ways
was the worst of the Power four programs in terms
of one boss record and losing seasons and not winning
a bowl game, not sending guys to the NFL and
all those different things. People like talking about Kansas State
and what Bill Snyder did, but that wasn't like, you know,
(19:44):
he didn't go from zero to one hundred in one year.
It took him two or three years to get it going.
And I don't think, well, there wasn't a twelve team
playoff back then. They were going to bowl games, but
they I'm not sure they would have been.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
In the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (19:59):
I mean, Clemson was mediocre under Tommy Bowden and then
they became great under Dabo Sweeney, but they ever were
down as far as Indiana was down. Florida State was
pretty bad back in the seventies, I think before Bobby
Bowden went there.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
But they weren't Indiana bad. I could.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
West Virginia had a rise under Don Neelan from mediocrity.
Louisville had a major rise, but it didn't happen overnight.
People Howard Schnelberger had three or four losing seasons before
they broke through in nineteen eighty nine, and what a
Fiesta Bowl and they had some They had a down
season under Ron Cooper and John L. Smith brought him back.
(20:39):
So they've had some rises. But to me, considering Indiana's legacy, Uh,
this is the most dramatic one I've seen, because not
only have they won games and made the playoff last
year and go Fournoh this year. Now they're selling out
the stadium which.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
They never did before.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
They're getting you know, primetime game on TV, they're getting
better recruits, and they're investing in the program and so
it's it's a it's a phenomenal story.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Yeah, it's it's obviously there's the caveat of having the
portal and you know some of those older stories where
it was going to take longer. But the thing is
is that it's not like they're doing it with a
bunch of all four and five star recruits. I mean,
he's he's found guys from obviously brought some JMU guys,
but also in the portal, he's found players from Obviously
(21:34):
Mendoz's a really talented player. Pat Coogan the center came
from Notre Dame. But he's also found some under the
radar guys that he's been able to plug in and
it seems like everyone that he gets is committed to
being a part of the system and being part of
the culture. And it's just it's been fascinating for me
to watch just how they've been able to how they
(21:56):
present themselves in terms of press conferences.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Everyone's nighted in the same message.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Obviously there's not been a lot of adversity, so there's
a lot of positive, positive speak.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
But what do you think it.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Says about just Signetti in the way he runs his
program that he's been able to kind of keep this
positive momentum for such a sustained period of time now,
which not hitting any bumps in the road, and we'll
see if that changes. But and also just drawing the
fan base like he has so quickly. You know, a
lot of places it would take time to change the culture.
(22:30):
Obviously winning has a lot to do with it, but
even the fact that they had a completely sold out
Memorial Stadium for the Illinois game and the atmosphere. I
wasn't there, but to see it on TV it looked
like I mean, if you would have if you'd have
told me two years ago that this is that Indiana
football was going to be, like, I would have told
you were crazy.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
I mean, he's really good at what he does in every.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
Aspect of it. He's good at messaging. He knew exactly
what he was doing.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
He sized it up real quickly on how I'm tridden,
I you fan base was. And so when he made
that first appearance at the basketball game and made the
comment about Purdue Michigan Ohio State, people responded to it
because there's a there was a hunger for success in football.
And he kept it up with the Google me and
(23:19):
all the other comments he made. And you know, he
how many times every game do the show him on
the sideline frowning if they're up by fifty points, and
they always say, this is a guy he's never happy,
And so that's a message he wants out there. He's
never happy, he's never satisfied. And after the game he
usually has got some pithy comments on the field that
(23:39):
usually resonate pretty well. They probably annoy the other team.
And he's really good at organization. I think the part
of it that sometimes has overlooked is that it wasn't
just that he brought players from James Madison. He brought
his staff from James Madison. He brought the strength and
conditioning coach, who brought the offensive defensive coordinator, he brought
(24:00):
a couple of other position coaches, and those guys are
already proven to him and they know what he wanted
and they could deliver it and coach it the way
he wanted and they've been able to maintain it. That'll
be one of the next challenges going forward, because at
some point Haynes, especially or Shanahan, will be a guy
(24:22):
who will get a head coaching job. But you know,
when you're good, that's what happens. Coaches lose their Ohio
State lost their both their coordinators after last season, so
that's that's a good problem to have. But that's the
main thing. He's really organized, he's smart and knows what
he's doing, and they're good at telling the evaluation from
(24:42):
the standpoint of they can look at guys and say
he's not great now, but if we get them in
the weight room and we train him, he'll be great.
And the best example of that is this Mario Landino
guy who was committed to James Madison but never played there,
and then he changed his commitment and came to IU.
I think he's just the sophomore true sophomore, and he
(25:02):
had a bunch of big plays against Illinois, And you know,
he's sort of like the next Camara where they can
find these guys and say, he's a little bit undersized,
but we can put weight on him. He's got a
good first step, or he's competitive, he's good in another
sports or whatever it is. Let's get him and make
him into something. Let's just not we don't have to
get the four or five star recruit. We can turn
(25:23):
a three star recruit into a four or five star producer.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Is that Do you think that's sustainable long term just
in terms of being able to compete at the top
of the Big ten, being able to find these under
the radar guys and or do you think they're gonna
have to maybe get their toes and try to get
some higher rated I mean, they've obviously the high school
recruiting has improved, but do you think they can continue
to get these type of results with under the radar
players and work in the portal Maybe for some under.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
Recruited guys, It's hard to say.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
I mean, you probably at the end to get to
the very top of the mountain, you need some of
the you need some of the really talented guys. I mean,
Ohio State won last year with the mostly four or
five star lineup. The year before, Michigan won with mostly
a four or five star lineup. Alabama has won an
LSU has one, or Clemson has one. They had really
(26:15):
talented players who went on to go and playing in
the NFL. So to get to the very top of
the light of the Mountain, you probably have to have
more of those guys, because you know, not all of
them when you're not all the five stars work out. Anyway,
look at Clemson right now, they've got more recruiting. Every
recruiting service in the country would tell you that their
(26:35):
talent is miles and miles and miles above Indiana's. Uh,
but yeah, they're probably gonna have to get a few talent,
more talented guys, and I think they're trying to. But
you know, he's got his system and he's really confident
in it and he sells it, and uh, I'm not
gonna question him.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
You mentioned the fact that there's probably gonna be a
time where, you know, Brian Haynes at the offensive coordinator, Shanahan,
other coaches are going to be targeted I know Indiana
has made a huge financial commitment, you know, locked him
up with the extension last year. Is there any concern
do you think from the AYU side that if some
some of these sec jobs potentially opening the offseason, that
(27:15):
he would be a candidate?
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Do you think?
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Do you think best age and kind of yeah, Signetti.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
People are already pumping the Florida thing. What's he making
eight million? I mean I think they could raise him again.
I don't know him well enough to know it's just
a guess. I would think he would stay. He seems
more of a Midwestern guy. He seems to like the
Big ten. I think he likes the role that he's in.
I mean, he's doing something at Indiana nobody's ever done.
(27:42):
He's doing something in Indiana nobody's done in college football.
That's a really good way to make your name. What
Kirk's next? If you go to Florida Urban Meyer won
at Florida. Steve Spurger one at Florida. You know you
can win at Florida. He seems to be the guy
of a guy who's Indiana is a good fit for him
because everybody's talking about him and what he's doing and
(28:05):
nobody else has done this.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
The challenge that they'll have this Saturday going to Iowa.
How significant is that challenge? And obviously their favorite going
in is it? Do you do you kind of agree
with this is the game that Indiana should win and
maybe what are maybe in your eyes two or three
things are gonna have to do to well to prevail.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
Yeah, I think they.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
Should be favored over because of the way they played
last week. Do I think this should be an overwhelming favorite. No.
I was really hard to beat in Iowa City. They
had an impressive win themselves last week at Rutgers, scored
more points than they're used to scoring.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
On the road.
Speaker 4 (28:45):
Maybe that quarterback they got from South Dakota or whatever
is you had three or four games now and is
more comfortable in the role. And I was always really
good on defense. I looked it up over the last
I don't know, it's the last two plus or three
plus seasons. Only one team's gone into Iowa City and
beaten io Will by more than seven points.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
And I use favored by seven.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
So even if they lose at home, it's usually by
two or three points, So I expect it's going to
be a close game. The key thing to me, it's
an obvious thing. It's nothing incredibly insightful. Is just turnovers
because that's what Iowa thrives on. We're going to run
the ball some They're going to try and shorten the game.
It's not going to be a high scoring game because
(29:30):
it never is against Iowa.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
So and I go back to twenty twenty one when
there was a lot of build up before Indiana went
to Iowan panics through an interception on this third or
fourth pass of the game and it went downhill from there.
Speaker 4 (29:46):
It's the kind of environment when things go bad, it
can get hostile. So I think I got'll be a
really competitive game. It'll come down to the fourth quarter.
And you know, I think I thought I read that
Iowa was down one of their TI up running backs,
So I don't know how much that'll play into it,
but I think it'll be a Yeah, it's one of
the better and a weekend when you've got Alabama plane
(30:09):
Georgia and you've got Penn State playing in Orion, it's
probably the third best game on the card this weekend.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
One thing it just came into my mind. I wanted
to ask you about earlier because I know you voted
in this for a long time, the Heisman. Obviously there's
been some early we're super early to be talking about that,
but a lot there's been some. I think Kirk Farrence
mentioned Mendoza as a potential Heisman candidate in his press conference,
obviously talking up the opponent. But I'm just curious from
(30:38):
your perspective, I'm not sure if you're still going to
vote in the Heisman now that you're retired, but you
voted for it for a long time. When when do
you start thinking, like as a voter, when do you
start thinking about that? And like, how soon do you
start to form opinions based on different players. Is it
too early to even have that discussion or is it
something that voters around the country will take notice of
(30:59):
a game like what he had against Alinoli and that'll
put him in their mind at least to be considered
as the season moves along.
Speaker 4 (31:07):
I think I put him in the mind that people
saying that somebody need to keep track of week by
week and all the different Heisman polls and high Heisman updates.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
Will do that.
Speaker 4 (31:15):
I mean, I didn't really start paying serious attention until November.
Because if you're going to win it, you got to
sustain it pretty much for the whole year. Your team
pretty much has to win across the whole year, and
you probably have to have one or two signature moments
and people.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Say, why did you see that or that guy he
did something nobody else can do.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
So, I mean, Mendoz is in the mix right now.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
It can change from week to week.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
You gotta stay healthy, you got to stay productive, and
you got to win games.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
But yeah, he.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
Deserves to be right in the top five or six
guys that everybody's talking about. And if he can, let
plenty of opportunities to prove that he's a worthy candidate.
If he can beat Iowa at Iowa, if he can
play well at Oregon, that he can play well at
Penn State. Now you keeps winning, he'll he'll be in
the mix. No, was Anthony Thompson the last guy they
have who really was a candidate. I don't think Antoine Randall.
(32:09):
He was well regarded and played well, but I don't
think he was a heisman. Anthony Thompson was the last
one get to get invited to New York.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Yeah, his next opportunity, obviously, as you said, will be
Saturday afternoon, three thirty Eastern time kickoff on Peacock. I'm
sure that's going to go over well with the fan
base having a game behind the Peacock paywall. But if
you want to see that game, you'll have to just
subscribe to Peacock. Thanks for thanks for coming on taking
the time out of your busy retirement day. How's it, Uh,
(32:45):
how's the thing's been so far?
Speaker 4 (32:49):
You know, I've got plenty of things to do these days,
so still haven't decided what I want to do. We'll
figure it out, and just getting ready for Post c
In baseball.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Who's who's the favorite going in? What I mean are
the time I didn't check the scores last night the Tigers.
Speaker 4 (33:09):
And again they're behind Cleeve when they're tied with Houston
for the last wild card spot.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (33:16):
If I had to pick a team right now, I'm
going to go with Philadelphia, but we'll see. The Yankees
are playing pretty well right now.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
All right, Well, thanks for making the time to come on.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
We'll hopefully have you on again once the Once the
season begins and there's some actual.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
Hoops to talk about.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
It's it's hard to believe the first exhibition game is
October seventeenth, So what twenty two days, three weeks from tomorrow,
we'll have Indiana basketball against mary And University and Pat
Knight in Assembly Hall. Crazy to think about, but the
fall has it used to be?
Speaker 3 (33:53):
You know?
Speaker 1 (33:53):
It would it would be IU fans would be suffering
through the football season in the fall, waiting for basketball
to arrive. Now it's they're excited about this football team,
as they should be, and who knows, basketball maybe an
afterthought at the beginning of the season for several weeks.
If football keeps playing the way it does, so not
a bad problem to have. If you're Scott Dolson, I
think there's a ton of excitement for both programs. Thanks
(34:15):
again for listening everybody to this week's show. If you
enjoy the show, please leave us the rating review on
Apple Podcasts. Leave us a five star rating over on Spotify.
If you're watching on YouTube, as I said earlier, please
like the video, subscribe to the channel, and we'll be
back soon with another episode of Podcast on the Brain.
Welcome back to a new episode of Podcast on the
Brink Thursday, September twenty fifth.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Took last week off.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
But we're back this week with my favorite guest on
Podcast on the Brink. A little bit biased in that regard.
He's my dad, so he has to be my favorite,
but joining us, I think for the first time on
the show since his retirement. Before we get to today's conversation,
if you enjoy the show, please leave us a five
star rating and review over on Apple Podcasts. Leave us
(00:47):
a five star rating over on Spotify. Also, if you're
watching on YouTube, like the video, please subscribe to the channel.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
Really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
We've seen a lot of growth on the subscriber numbers
over on YouTube, so I really appreciate that everyone falling
over there.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
A lot of good stuff there.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Kurtz Signety's press conferences every week is postgame press conference
is getting a lot of views and as they should.
With Indiana football is four and oh start before you know,
we get into the nuts and bolts of the IU
football IU basketball discussion. We're gonna touch I think briefly
on both this week. How how is it, what's it
been like for you the last couple of months not
(01:25):
having to cover college football and you know, stay up
to date on it, maybe as much as you have
been in the past.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Quite relaxing and enjoyable.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
I could pick and choose the games I want to
watch every weekend and scandal hop and don't have to
deal with crowds and all that other good stuff.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
So I've enjoyed myself.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
How much IU football have you been watching?
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Watch every game four for four. We'll see what happens
as they move forward, but yeah, it's an entertaining product.
And I remember listening to IU football games in the
late fifties early sixties when they had guys like Earl Faison,
Marv Woodson. A little bit later, Richie Betar was the quarterback.
(02:14):
So when you've been going out as long as I have,
you just keep going year by year.
Speaker 1 (02:21):
So I'm gonna talk about football later in the show,
but I want to start with with basketball. Obviously, that's
the main thing we cover with the site of the podcast.
You know, a couple was, what three months ago, we
had a chance to go up and talk to Darren Debrees,
you and I and him in his office for about
thirty five forty minutes. I don't think we've you've talked
much about that conversation, at least not on this show.
(02:44):
I'm just curious for your big picture takeaways from from
talking to him, what you maybe learned from that conversation
and his vision for how he wants to run this
program and how he wants.
Speaker 2 (02:56):
To build this team.
Speaker 4 (02:59):
Yeah, I mean, the thing I learned that he just
seemed like a normal person who loves basketball. He didn't
seem like he was.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
Paranoid.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
He didn't seem like he was trying to tell us,
you know, a new washing machine or something.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
He just was a guy who loved basketball and talked about.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
Some what of his philosophies are, where he came from,
what he likes, what he wants to do, what the
challenges are. And he's a very relaxed and normal conversation.
I didn't feel like he wasn't trying to tell me
a bunch of stories or funny you know, anecdotes or
things like that. He was just a basketball coach. And
I've heard from other people since then that have encountered
him around Bloomington that they get the same feel. I
(03:38):
think at home football games, I've seen pictures that he's
outside the cook hall playing cornhole and people walk by,
and he's willing to go over and take pictures with him,
and I know that stuff.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
You know, in the end, what.
Speaker 4 (03:55):
Matters is whether you win or lose. But he seems
like somebody who's very comfortable just being you know, Dared Devrees.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
How I mean, I think maybe sometimes us in the
media make too much of that in terms of like
how he'll handle the job. And obviously he's he's undefeated
right now, so it's it's easy to kind of go
out and do those things when there's no one criticizing you.
Everyone Usually when there's a new coach, everyone's excited for
the future. Everyone thinks it's gonna work out. But just
having kind of that even keel temperament, do you is
(04:25):
that maybe a built in advantage for when some of
that adversity does come, because any coach is gonna have
scrutiny and people questioning things they do. But it seems
like his the way he kind of handles things and
the way he talks to people and addresses the media,
it doesn't seem like he's gonna maybe get too far
either direction in terms of you know, when things get
(04:48):
if they win a big game, I don't think he's
gonna get carried away with that. But if they lose
a tough game, I don't think it's really gonna maybe
get to him as as much as some other coaches
we've seen.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
Yeah, I mean it would appear that way, but not
going to know until he, you know, goes through a
losing streak. And looked at the schedule last week. There's
their stretch where they play four out of five games
on the road and the home game is Purdue. That
includes the West Coast trip, so that looks like a
really difficult part of the schedule. Well Salari racks if
(05:19):
they don't do well during that stretch, But I think
it's more important to look at the other signs of
I got the email this week that they're having another
open practice coming up, So that's two open practices, and
I can't think of another ide basketball coach who's opened
up two practices to.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
All of the media.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
I mean, I go back tonight, maybe Mike Davis did,
I don't remember. He was pretty cooperative with the media,
but definitely since Cream, there hasn't been a coach who's
opened two practices to the media. So It tells me
he's not super paranoid. It also tells me he's investing
(05:59):
in trying to diop a you know, a reasonable relationship
with the media instead of you know, Woodson really felt
unbattled and had diminishing interaction with the media in his
last year. I think Archie did a lot of it grudgingly,
or he did it, but he wasn't really into it.
(06:21):
And you know, hopefully this will be different.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Why why is it important in your I mean, you've
been doing this for as long as you know, anybody
that we have on the show. You've started at the
IDs obviously covered a ton of different coaches.
Speaker 3 (06:35):
But I think.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
As as time has gone on, obviously there's been I
don't want to say an attack on the media, specifically
sports media, but I think in a lot of the
eyes of a lot of people, our role has been
maybe diminished. But why is it important for a coach
to maybe give that access and give an opportunity for
the media to get in there and kind of see
practice and be able to maybe tell stories that the
(06:59):
other wise wouldn't if they weren't given that access.
Speaker 4 (07:03):
I think it humanizes the coach and it humanizes the program,
and I always go back to a covered grip. Patino
many many years, and he always had an open locker room.
He always made his players talk to the media win
or lose, and he famously would make players get off
the team bus and come back in the locker room
(07:24):
and talk to the media after a loss. And he
always told his players to view interactions with the media
as an opportunity to make a commercial or sell a
commercial about yourself. And I think it's good because in
many ways, the media is a conduit to the fans
and they can tell stories about the team instead of
you know, just what you get in press conference situations,
(07:47):
which usually isn't very insightful. And I think it's also
important for the players as part of their development as
young adults. It'll serve them well in the business world
if they learned, they get put in situations where they're
answering questions that they don't expect and how to answer them,
and they become more self assured, more confident people. You know,
(08:08):
it doesn't translate to winning losses, no, but I think
it helps the product. I mean, let's be honest. In
many ways, this is an entertainment business and you're selling yourself.
You want people to invest in your product. And I
think if you like that story that came out two
weeks ago about Wilkerson taking some of his NIL money
(08:29):
and giving it back to Sam Houston State that came out,
I guess from an interview that did a field of
sixty eight and then the Athletic wrote about it, everybody
else wrote about it. Brings a lot of good publicity
to him to debrees into IU basketball. So you can
always turn those media opportunities into a positive for yourself
(08:50):
and your school.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
Looking ahead to the actual season, you know, I've heard
people obviously based on where we live down in out
down in Louisville, but southern Indiana, a lot of AU fans.
But you know, there's also a lot of attention in
this area on the Louisville Kentucky programs, and people look
at what Pope and Kelsey did last year and they say,
can DeVries do the same thing? And you're one Obviously,
(09:13):
the situations are different. And the one thing I've cautioned
people against what the Louisville comparison is not to take
anything away from what they accomplished last season. Had a
really good season, blew the doors off Indiana down in
the Bahamas, but the conference that they played in had
a lot to do with the record they were able
to accumulate.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
So people have.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
Asked me, you know, can can Devrees have the same
impact as Kelsey and you're one, it's not an apples
to apples comparison because he's going into a Big Ten
that's ultra competitive, and I think what Louisville played in
last year with the ACC was obviously a pretty light
schedule in terms of conference opponents and a chance to stack.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
A lot of wins.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
And we saw saw when they got into the tournament
playing Creighton didn't go so well in that first NCAA
Tournament game. But what in your mind would be a
good season fair expectations for Derees in Indiana basketball going
into year one of his senior.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
That's a great question.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
I think probably middle of the pack in the Big
Ten and probably a bubble team for the NCAA Tournament.
You know, I wouldn't be surprised if they don't make it.
I'd probably be a little surprised if they do make it.
But that's what I think is a fair forecast because
(10:25):
they really have a brand new team and they got
You know, when you look at the portal, I don't
think the group they got out of the portal was
as good as the group Kelsey got out of the portal,
mainly because they don't have a Chucky Hepburn. Chuckie Hepburn
(10:45):
was fantastic for Louisville last season. He's a guy who
started from as a freshman at Wisconsin. Then many of
them started for three years and he came into Louisville
and he had a really good He was the second
best player in the ACC after Cooper Flagg and Kentucky
had you know the kid the Butlers that wasn't that
his name? The kids from San Diego State who played
(11:06):
in the Final four. Oway was a really good player.
I'm not sure Indiana has as much talent on this
roster as those two teams had last year. And your
point as well taken that people talking about Kentucky seed
and they had a good season. They did go to
Sweet sixteen, but what did they finish in the SEC?
Weren't they like fifth or six They weren't one of
the top teams in the SEC. Louisville was the second
(11:28):
best team in the ACC. But would the ACC get
in the tournament three teams or fourth the most, I
don't remember exactly what it was. And their schedule was
very fortuitous. They played Duke one time here and they lost.
I think they played Carolina only one time here and
they won. Pretty sure there was another good team in
the ACC they only played one time, so they had
(11:50):
a very favorable schedule.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:54):
That I mean that to me is, you know, it's
obviously natural to make the comparisons of a first year
coach taking over and people being excited about what they
could accomplish, But I do think it's important to keep
real expectations realistic when you look at this team in
terms of how they're going to play. What Deres talked
about when we just from interviews and when you had
(12:14):
a chance to talk to him, what do you think
are the major Obviously we know that there's going to
be a more up tempo, free flowing offense with more
three pointers, But what do you think are some of
the other differences that we're going to see this year
in terms of the OnCore product compared to what we've
seen maybe the last couple of coaching tenures.
Speaker 4 (12:35):
Faster paced, for sure, less thrown the ball into the
low post and playing out of the low post, maybe
a more flexibility in the lineup. I think that's one
of the things people always were missed about. Woods says
he had his five that he picked and usually wrote
(12:56):
them all the way, no matter how they played.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
I think Devrees might mix that up a little bit.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
Uh And obviously you know, uh, Botre's more willing to
actually spot the three point shot and incorporated into the offense,
not just as something that is used when other options
break down, or whether you've fallen behind in the game
and you have to try and catch up in a hurry.
It's going to be a that's gonna be good or bad,
because there's probably gonna be nights they don't make them,
(13:22):
and it's gonna when you don't make them, it looks
a team looks really bad and people.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Say, oh, they're you got tired.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
Legs, or they're not into it or tonight. I mean,
the three point shot shapes fans opinions in so many ways,
because if you get through a four in a row,
everybody says it's the most exciting basketball they've ever seen.
So I think those are the main differences.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
In terms of players specific players. Is there anyone that
you're intrigued to see when the games actually start from
a roster perspective, any any guys that you think maybe
you could be an X factor for this team.
Speaker 4 (13:58):
I mean, I'm intrigued to see all of them, because
they haven't seen any of them that much. I mean
Tucker Devrees I saw in person in Albany when Drake
played in the NCAA tournament and was very impressed. And
I watched him play last year when he had his
team down there with the Bahamas and he was good.
I want to see Wokerson because he's His three point
(14:18):
shooting seems to be proven, and he's a more experienced
player and he was highly sought after in the portal.
I want to see Connorway because he's going to be
the point guard and we know that point guard is
a very critical position. I want to see Cecily because
he's the main recruit. And I'm curious about the two
(14:39):
European guys to see if they're going to actually be
able to contribute at all, If not at the beginning
of the season, maybe by you know, February or something,
so those would be the main ones.
Speaker 1 (14:51):
The one guy that I've then I think people are
gonna love just from talking to him and talking to
Devrees about him a little bit, and just seeing some
interviews with them the Field of sixty eight interview Connor Enright,
because Indiana hasn't really had a player like that in
terms of talent. He's not going to be the most
talented guy on the court, but a player that can
(15:14):
do the little things and get under the skin of
the opponent. Indiana's lacked that for quite a while. I mean,
I can't really remember the last player to have a
player that kind of remind you maybe of Michael Lewis,
the guys in the Wisconsin you know, the guys that
Wisconsin drove Indiana fans that Brad Davis and Ben brust Right,
those guys have driven big ten in Indiana fans nuts
(15:36):
for a long time. I think he's going to be
someone that when you look at the end of the
game at the stat sheet, maybe he's not filling it up,
but from just doing the little things of competing, I
think he's going to bring a lot. And Reed Bailey
is another guy that I look at and say he's
going to have to play a pretty big role for
this team because they're not big in the post and
don't have a dominant shot blocker. But he can create
(15:58):
some matchup problems with his ability to pass out on
the floor and maybe it makes some three pointers. So
him and Sam Alexis, I think two or are pretty
big keys. Just in terms of college basketball in general
with the portal era, do you think before we move on,
I obviously want to talk to you about AU football,
but do you think as a whole the portal has
(16:18):
been a net positive for the sport, just in terms
of drumming up more year year round interest and how
do you think maybe it's impacted fan interest and you know,
specific teams with all the turnover on a year to
year basis.
Speaker 4 (16:36):
I mean, like it depends on where you're talking about.
I think it's a been mostly a positive for you know, a.
Speaker 3 (16:43):
Lot of the upper era, upper.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
Tier Division one schools because they can rebuild quickly and
get veteran players in there to replace the guys who've left.
I think it's been detrimental to the lower mid major
lower major schools because their top players are leaving as
soon as they do well. And if you're a fan
(17:08):
of those kind of one of those schools. That's got
to be tough. They are coach at one of those
schools of they've gone out and find somebody that the
other recruiters overlooked or dismissed and they've developed them into
a solid player. As soon as they do their rewards
for that isn't you know, two or three more seasons
of productivity.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
It's see later.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
There's not really a program like that that I really
follow that closely. I mean, bellarm has lost a few
guys that got hurt by it last year, but I'm
sure there are programs around the country where that's the case.
And you know, for every Reed Bailey that comes to Indiana,
then Davidson fans take a hit. For every Lamar Wilkerson
that's Sam Houston State, they take a hit. Where was
(17:54):
Connorway at Troy. I'm sure they'd love to have him
for another year after they went to the NCAA Tournament
last year, but they don't. So you know, those are
the drawbacks that I see from it.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
So Shifting Gears obviously don't talk a ton of value football,
but with covering it this season on the site, Josh
has done a terrific job. He's actually going to be
in Iowa City at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday to cover
that game. Looking forward to his coverage, I know he's
excited to get there. It's been just a lot of
fun to read everything that he's put out so far
(18:28):
this season, and now I've written a little bit on
football this year too for the first time. Been a
lot of fun to follow, a lot of fun to watch.
This team just seems so relentless in terms of how
they play every play, with with everything that Kurtz Signette
has been able to do the first year and four games.
(18:49):
You've covered college football for a long time, Is there
anything comparable that you can remember to a coach coming
into a program and taking it from basically the bottom
for a long time to going to the playoff in
year one and then having you know, a top what
top eleven, top twelve ranking four weeks into the season.
(19:11):
You know, I'm not the historian on college football, haven't
covered the sport in depth at all, but it just
seems like this is one of the more improbable turnarounds
that college football seen in a long time, if not ever.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
No, nothing comparable, nothing, Cause Indiana really, in many ways
was the worst of the Power four programs in terms
of one boss record and losing seasons and not winning
a bowl game, not sending guys to the NFL and
all those different things. People like talking about Kansas State
and what Bill Snyder did, but that wasn't like, you know,
(19:44):
he didn't go from zero to one hundred in one year.
It took him two or three years to get it going.
And I don't think, well, there wasn't a twelve team
playoff back then. They were going to bowl games, but
they I'm not sure they would have been.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
In the playoffs.
Speaker 4 (19:59):
I mean, Clemson was mediocre under Tommy Bowden and then
they became great under Dabo Sweeney, but they ever were
down as far as Indiana was down. Florida State was
pretty bad back in the seventies, I think before Bobby
Bowden went there.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
But they weren't Indiana bad. I could.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
West Virginia had a rise under Don Neelan from mediocrity.
Louisville had a major rise, but it didn't happen overnight.
People Howard Schnelberger had three or four losing seasons before
they broke through in nineteen eighty nine, and what a
Fiesta Bowl and they had some They had a down
season under Ron Cooper and John L. Smith brought him back.
(20:39):
So they've had some rises. But to me, considering Indiana's legacy, Uh,
this is the most dramatic one I've seen, because not
only have they won games and made the playoff last
year and go Fournoh this year. Now they're selling out
the stadium which.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
They never did before.
Speaker 4 (20:57):
They're getting you know, primetime game on TV, they're getting
better recruits, and they're investing in the program and so
it's it's a it's a phenomenal story.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
Yeah, it's it's obviously there's the caveat of having the
portal and you know some of those older stories where
it was going to take longer. But the thing is
is that it's not like they're doing it with a
bunch of all four and five star recruits. I mean,
he's he's found guys from obviously brought some JMU guys,
but also in the portal, he's found players from Obviously
(21:34):
Mendoz's a really talented player. Pat Coogan the center came
from Notre Dame. But he's also found some under the
radar guys that he's been able to plug in and
it seems like everyone that he gets is committed to
being a part of the system and being part of
the culture. And it's just it's been fascinating for me
to watch just how they've been able to how they
(21:56):
present themselves in terms of press conferences.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
Everyone's nighted in the same message.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
Obviously there's not been a lot of adversity, so there's
a lot of positive, positive speak.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
But what do you think it.
Speaker 1 (22:07):
Says about just Signetti in the way he runs his
program that he's been able to kind of keep this
positive momentum for such a sustained period of time now,
which not hitting any bumps in the road, and we'll
see if that changes. But and also just drawing the
fan base like he has so quickly. You know, a
lot of places it would take time to change the culture.
(22:30):
Obviously winning has a lot to do with it, but
even the fact that they had a completely sold out
Memorial Stadium for the Illinois game and the atmosphere. I
wasn't there, but to see it on TV it looked
like I mean, if you would have if you'd have
told me two years ago that this is that Indiana
football was going to be, like, I would have told
you were crazy.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
I mean, he's really good at what he does in every.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
Aspect of it. He's good at messaging. He knew exactly
what he was doing.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
He sized it up real quickly on how I'm tridden,
I you fan base was. And so when he made
that first appearance at the basketball game and made the
comment about Purdue Michigan Ohio State, people responded to it
because there's a there was a hunger for success in football.
And he kept it up with the Google me and
(23:19):
all the other comments he made. And you know, he
how many times every game do the show him on
the sideline frowning if they're up by fifty points, and
they always say, this is a guy he's never happy,
And so that's a message he wants out there. He's
never happy, he's never satisfied. And after the game he
usually has got some pithy comments on the field that
(23:39):
usually resonate pretty well. They probably annoy the other team.
And he's really good at organization. I think the part
of it that sometimes has overlooked is that it wasn't
just that he brought players from James Madison. He brought
his staff from James Madison. He brought the strength and
conditioning coach, who brought the offensive defensive coordinator, he brought
(24:00):
a couple of other position coaches, and those guys are
already proven to him and they know what he wanted
and they could deliver it and coach it the way
he wanted and they've been able to maintain it. That'll
be one of the next challenges going forward, because at
some point Haynes, especially or Shanahan, will be a guy
(24:22):
who will get a head coaching job. But you know,
when you're good, that's what happens. Coaches lose their Ohio
State lost their both their coordinators after last season, so
that's that's a good problem to have. But that's the
main thing. He's really organized, he's smart and knows what
he's doing, and they're good at telling the evaluation from
(24:42):
the standpoint of they can look at guys and say
he's not great now, but if we get them in
the weight room and we train him, he'll be great.
And the best example of that is this Mario Landino
guy who was committed to James Madison but never played there,
and then he changed his commitment and came to IU.
I think he's just the sophomore true sophomore, and he
(25:02):
had a bunch of big plays against Illinois, And you know,
he's sort of like the next Camara where they can
find these guys and say, he's a little bit undersized,
but we can put weight on him. He's got a
good first step, or he's competitive, he's good in another
sports or whatever it is. Let's get him and make
him into something. Let's just not we don't have to
get the four or five star recruit. We can turn
(25:23):
a three star recruit into a four or five star producer.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Is that Do you think that's sustainable long term just
in terms of being able to compete at the top
of the Big ten, being able to find these under
the radar guys and or do you think they're gonna
have to maybe get their toes and try to get
some higher rated I mean, they've obviously the high school
recruiting has improved, but do you think they can continue
to get these type of results with under the radar
players and work in the portal Maybe for some under.
Speaker 3 (25:50):
Recruited guys, It's hard to say.
Speaker 4 (25:53):
I mean, you probably at the end to get to
the very top of the mountain, you need some of
the you need some of the really talented guys. I mean,
Ohio State won last year with the mostly four or
five star lineup. The year before, Michigan won with mostly
a four or five star lineup. Alabama has won an
LSU has one, or Clemson has one. They had really
(26:15):
talented players who went on to go and playing in
the NFL. So to get to the very top of
the light of the Mountain, you probably have to have
more of those guys, because you know, not all of
them when you're not all the five stars work out. Anyway,
look at Clemson right now, they've got more recruiting. Every
recruiting service in the country would tell you that their
(26:35):
talent is miles and miles and miles above Indiana's. Uh,
but yeah, they're probably gonna have to get a few talent,
more talented guys, and I think they're trying to. But
you know, he's got his system and he's really confident
in it and he sells it, and uh, I'm not
gonna question him.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
You mentioned the fact that there's probably gonna be a
time where, you know, Brian Haynes at the offensive coordinator, Shanahan,
other coaches are going to be targeted I know Indiana
has made a huge financial commitment, you know, locked him
up with the extension last year. Is there any concern
do you think from the AYU side that if some
some of these sec jobs potentially opening the offseason, that
(27:15):
he would be a candidate?
Speaker 3 (27:17):
Do you think?
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Do you think best age and kind of yeah, Signetti.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
People are already pumping the Florida thing. What's he making
eight million? I mean I think they could raise him again.
I don't know him well enough to know it's just
a guess. I would think he would stay. He seems
more of a Midwestern guy. He seems to like the
Big ten. I think he likes the role that he's in.
I mean, he's doing something at Indiana nobody's ever done.
(27:42):
He's doing something in Indiana nobody's done in college football.
That's a really good way to make your name. What
Kirk's next? If you go to Florida Urban Meyer won
at Florida. Steve Spurger one at Florida. You know you
can win at Florida. He seems to be the guy
of a guy who's Indiana is a good fit for him
because everybody's talking about him and what he's doing and
(28:05):
nobody else has done this.
Speaker 1 (28:08):
The challenge that they'll have this Saturday going to Iowa.
How significant is that challenge? And obviously their favorite going
in is it? Do you do you kind of agree
with this is the game that Indiana should win and
maybe what are maybe in your eyes two or three
things are gonna have to do to well to prevail.
Speaker 3 (28:27):
Yeah, I think they.
Speaker 4 (28:28):
Should be favored over because of the way they played
last week. Do I think this should be an overwhelming favorite. No.
I was really hard to beat in Iowa City. They
had an impressive win themselves last week at Rutgers, scored
more points than they're used to scoring.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
On the road.
Speaker 4 (28:45):
Maybe that quarterback they got from South Dakota or whatever
is you had three or four games now and is
more comfortable in the role. And I was always really
good on defense. I looked it up over the last
I don't know, it's the last two plus or three
plus seasons. Only one team's gone into Iowa City and
beaten io Will by more than seven points.
Speaker 3 (29:06):
And I use favored by seven.
Speaker 4 (29:08):
So even if they lose at home, it's usually by
two or three points, So I expect it's going to
be a close game. The key thing to me, it's
an obvious thing. It's nothing incredibly insightful. Is just turnovers
because that's what Iowa thrives on. We're going to run
the ball some They're going to try and shorten the game.
It's not going to be a high scoring game because
(29:30):
it never is against Iowa.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
So and I go back to twenty twenty one when
there was a lot of build up before Indiana went
to Iowan panics through an interception on this third or
fourth pass of the game and it went downhill from there.
Speaker 4 (29:46):
It's the kind of environment when things go bad, it
can get hostile. So I think I got'll be a
really competitive game. It'll come down to the fourth quarter.
And you know, I think I thought I read that
Iowa was down one of their TI up running backs,
So I don't know how much that'll play into it,
but I think it'll be a Yeah, it's one of
the better and a weekend when you've got Alabama plane
(30:09):
Georgia and you've got Penn State playing in Orion, it's
probably the third best game on the card this weekend.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
One thing it just came into my mind. I wanted
to ask you about earlier because I know you voted
in this for a long time, the Heisman. Obviously there's
been some early we're super early to be talking about that,
but a lot there's been some. I think Kirk Farrence
mentioned Mendoza as a potential Heisman candidate in his press conference,
obviously talking up the opponent. But I'm just curious from
(30:38):
your perspective, I'm not sure if you're still going to
vote in the Heisman now that you're retired, but you
voted for it for a long time. When when do
you start thinking, like as a voter, when do you
start thinking about that? And like, how soon do you
start to form opinions based on different players. Is it
too early to even have that discussion or is it
something that voters around the country will take notice of
(30:59):
a game like what he had against Alinoli and that'll
put him in their mind at least to be considered
as the season moves along.
Speaker 4 (31:07):
I think I put him in the mind that people
saying that somebody need to keep track of week by
week and all the different Heisman polls and high Heisman updates.
Speaker 3 (31:14):
Will do that.
Speaker 4 (31:15):
I mean, I didn't really start paying serious attention until November.
Because if you're going to win it, you got to
sustain it pretty much for the whole year. Your team
pretty much has to win across the whole year, and
you probably have to have one or two signature moments
and people.
Speaker 3 (31:31):
Say, why did you see that or that guy he
did something nobody else can do.
Speaker 4 (31:37):
So, I mean, Mendoz is in the mix right now.
Speaker 3 (31:39):
It can change from week to week.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
You gotta stay healthy, you got to stay productive, and
you got to win games.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
But yeah, he.
Speaker 4 (31:46):
Deserves to be right in the top five or six
guys that everybody's talking about. And if he can, let
plenty of opportunities to prove that he's a worthy candidate.
If he can beat Iowa at Iowa, if he can
play well at Oregon, that he can play well at
Penn State. Now you keeps winning, he'll he'll be in
the mix. No, was Anthony Thompson the last guy they
have who really was a candidate. I don't think Antoine Randall.
(32:09):
He was well regarded and played well, but I don't
think he was a heisman. Anthony Thompson was the last
one get to get invited to New York.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Yeah, his next opportunity, obviously, as you said, will be
Saturday afternoon, three thirty Eastern time kickoff on Peacock. I'm
sure that's going to go over well with the fan
base having a game behind the Peacock paywall. But if
you want to see that game, you'll have to just
subscribe to Peacock. Thanks for thanks for coming on taking
the time out of your busy retirement day. How's it, Uh,
(32:45):
how's the thing's been so far?
Speaker 4 (32:49):
You know, I've got plenty of things to do these days,
so still haven't decided what I want to do. We'll
figure it out, and just getting ready for Post c
In baseball.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
Who's who's the favorite going in? What I mean are
the time I didn't check the scores last night the Tigers.
Speaker 4 (33:09):
And again they're behind Cleeve when they're tied with Houston
for the last wild card spot.
Speaker 3 (33:15):
I don't know.
Speaker 4 (33:16):
If I had to pick a team right now, I'm
going to go with Philadelphia, but we'll see. The Yankees
are playing pretty well right now.
Speaker 2 (33:25):
All right, Well, thanks for making the time to come on.
Speaker 1 (33:27):
We'll hopefully have you on again once the Once the
season begins and there's some actual.
Speaker 2 (33:33):
Hoops to talk about.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
It's it's hard to believe the first exhibition game is
October seventeenth, So what twenty two days, three weeks from tomorrow,
we'll have Indiana basketball against mary And University and Pat
Knight in Assembly Hall. Crazy to think about, but the
fall has it used to be?
Speaker 3 (33:53):
You know?
Speaker 1 (33:53):
It would it would be IU fans would be suffering
through the football season in the fall, waiting for basketball
to arrive. Now it's they're excited about this football team,
as they should be, and who knows, basketball maybe an
afterthought at the beginning of the season for several weeks.
If football keeps playing the way it does, so not
a bad problem to have. If you're Scott Dolson, I
think there's a ton of excitement for both programs. Thanks
(34:15):
again for listening everybody to this week's show. If you
enjoy the show, please leave us the rating review on
Apple Podcasts. Leave us a five star rating over on Spotify.
If you're watching on YouTube, as I said earlier, please
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