Transcript
Speaker: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the first ever episode of the 700 Pelham Road podcast, your one-stop shop for all things Jack State Sports.
Speaker: My name is Caleb Williams, alongside co-host Jalen Cooper.
Speaker: Let's get going.
Speaker: Jalen, how are you doing today?
Speaker: I am doing good.
Speaker: I'm doing good.
Speaker: Just sitting here enjoying the afternoon, trying to stay cool in this hot weather.
Speaker: But you know how bad it is.
Speaker: Yeah, Alabama weather sucks.
Speaker: Yeah, we were hitting feels like temperatures of around 106, 107 today, at least where I am in Birmingham.
Speaker: So not fun.
Speaker: Yeah, it's pretty hot down here at the beach, so not fun.
Speaker: Good to be inside right now.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: So for those of you who are finding the podcast, it is our first ever episode.
Speaker: We are...
Speaker: the official podcast of the Sidelines Jack State Twitter account.
Speaker: There are a lot of JSU podcasts out there, some good, some maybe not as good, but we're hoping that we can be one of the good ones.
Speaker: So I guess we'll just dive straight into it with the news around the university.
Speaker: I guess we'll start with the stadium construction stuff.
Speaker: Yeah, so for those of you who are not familiar with Jacksonville State University and especially the football program, one of the biggest things that was announced a few years back was the creation of a new stadium.
Speaker: As Caleb can attest, the vision for that new stadium has changed several times since it was announced.
Speaker: And now we're just kind of stuck in no man's land.
Speaker: We know for sure we're getting the field house that is projected to be done for the start of next season.
Speaker: But as of right now, the visitor stands are still kind of ripped apart and it's now just pure concrete.
Speaker: So I haven't really heard anything, any concrete updates.
Speaker: No pun intended.
Speaker: What about you, Caleb?
Speaker: Have you heard anything?
Speaker: Um, not officially.
Speaker: I mean, we've seen people on Twitter say that they've heard one way or the other.
Speaker: Um, I mean, the biggest rumor right now is after this season that they'll eventually start the, the original plan for the, for the visitor side, which is to, um, which is to add in the, I don't know if they'll actually add in the dorm building on the back of it, like they do the home side or not, but, um, um,
Speaker: I've heard rumors that that's what they're going to do after the season as they kind of get in towards the end of the field house construction.
Speaker: But nothing concrete yet.
Speaker: I mean, it's just rumors right now.
Speaker: I'm waiting for the university to actually say they're doing that before I believe it.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm just kind of worried, especially with us moving into CUSA and having some bigger games.
Speaker: I expect us to have bigger road crowds, and I just don't want that to be their first impression than just sitting on a big, giant concrete slab, not even your old-school stadium bench seating.
Speaker: So I at least hope there's some sort of
Speaker: some sort of contingency plan in place until we can bridge so we can bridge the gap, um, for whatever their final plans are for that visitor side.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I'd love to see them.
Speaker: I'd love to see them do the, do the project.
Speaker: I mean, the stadium mock-ups looked really good.
Speaker: Um, it looked more like an FBS stadium.
Speaker: Um, you know, I mean, it's no one's fault.
Speaker: We've been FCS forever.
Speaker: We haven't needed a bigger stadium or even really a nicer stadium because we never got any big home crowds outside of really, I guess, UNA and Kennesaw State.
Speaker: But yeah, I mean, you're 100% right with bigger teams probably coming in, whether it's, you know, Liberty, Coastal Carolina, you know, those type teams.
Speaker: Like we're going to have to have a nicer facility for them to come to because it,
Speaker: I know that, you know, what happens on the field is really what matters, but people are going to go on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and trash us if we have a, you know, a bad looking away stand for them.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Especially when our home site at least looks a lot more presentable.
Speaker: But who knows, maybe they have a plan in place.
Speaker: Maybe we can talk to some people and get, you know, a better idea of what's going on and what's the plan.
Speaker: But, I mean, in general, I know the field house is – the construction seems to be going along pretty steady.
Speaker: And I know the guys are really excited about that.
Speaker: I've said for the longest they deserve a new facility, new equipment, you know, everything to match what we expect out of them.
Speaker: Because, I mean, like I said, like you know, we've always had the talent.
Speaker: And so I think that'll just be something that will be good for them to have and to feel like it actually lives up to the expectations that they have and the coaches have and the fans have.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And I –
Speaker: I don't imagine that Rich Rod will probably accept the condition of the stadium much longer.
Speaker: I mean, he's a big time coach.
Speaker: He's coached, you know, in the, in the big East, in the big 10 pack 12.
Speaker: I mean, he's coaching the sec as an offensive coordinator.
Speaker: I mean, he's seen some big stadiums.
Speaker: He's coached in big stadiums.
Speaker: He's worked at big universities.
Speaker: I don't, I don't imagine that he would stay at JSU long if they weren't committed to putting together a good facility for him.
Speaker: So, I mean,
Speaker: I have some confidence, you know, just because, again, it's – I mean, it's Rich Rod.
Speaker: He's a big enough name.
Speaker: He'll get what he wants.
Speaker: And I imagine the university – I mean, I can't imagine that Greg Seitz is going to want probably one of our best coaches in school history.
Speaker: I mean, I say that – I use that term lightly just because it's only been one year.
Speaker: But, I mean, this is a guy who's almost made it to the national championship on multiple occasions.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: with, I think, two different schools.
Speaker: So I don't imagine that they will not try to appease him as much as they can.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah, I agree, especially with him knowing that the game day atmosphere is so important.
Speaker: And one of the ways you build a great game day atmosphere is having a stadium that people want to come to.
Speaker: And even though it is the visitor side, our goal is to have such a big home crowd that some people are just forced to sit on that side.
Speaker: Sort of like an overflow side, I guess, of sorts.
Speaker: So, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: it's very imperative for our game day atmospheres going forward to just try and have the best and most put together looking stadium that we can find.
Speaker: And I have faith.
Speaker: I have trust.
Speaker: Um, so far, I mean, our athletic department has not let us down.
Speaker: So, uh, we, we just keep it pushing and we, we're going to see.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker: Um, um, all right.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: I guess moving on, we'll get into the uniforms and the logo redesigns, which have been a conversation that has, I don't want to say has dominated JSU Twitter the last month and a half, but it's almost dominated JSU Twitter the last month and a half.
Speaker: Yeah, it's been one of those that it went hand in hand with the university rebranding to Jack State.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: it was kind of a given that the logos and the uniforms were going to get a revamp going along with that.
Speaker: So, yeah, like you said, it's, it's been the talk of the town for a good little bit and there are definitely mixed reviews.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I, um, I could be mean and really say what I think about them.
Speaker: Um, I'm not going to do that because I do support the university.
Speaker: I mean, you know,
Speaker: I hold one degree there.
Speaker: I'm working on my second, so I'm not going to be too mean, but I'll be honest.
Speaker: They, they look like high school uniforms.
Speaker: I mean, they really do.
Speaker: The, the helmets are not bad.
Speaker: I like the Jack state on the helmet.
Speaker: But the, the jerseys and the pants outside of the fact that they kind of, you know, like the pants are kind of like a throwback design to like the nineties when they won the national championship.
Speaker: But,
Speaker: The jerseys are just really simple.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's almost like a dumbed-down version of what they were just a few years ago.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I mean, I think a lot of that really just has to do with it being Adidas.
Speaker: And it is what it is.
Speaker: Like, Adidas is known for making some good stuff.
Speaker: But especially when it comes to football uniforms, with us only using Jack State, you're kind of –
Speaker: expecting it to be super simple, kind of like you said, the high school uniforms.
Speaker: I think the Jack State can work really well on your baseball, softball uniforms, and even on like basketball jerseys.
Speaker: But for football, you want something a little bit flashier.
Speaker: So yeah, it definitely kind of gives you that high school look and that high school feel.
Speaker: But, hey, I mean, the rebranding to Jack State definitely differentiates us because for the longest, if you just kept searching up JSU, it would pull up that other school that Deion Sanders was coaching at, good old Jackson State.
Speaker: Yeah, that school.
Speaker: I actually just typed into, I think, Google –
Speaker: JSU football uniforms and Jacksonville State was like the 15th link.
Speaker: Everything else was Jackson State.
Speaker: So if that tells you anything, I mean, I don't necessarily blame Adidas.
Speaker: I do, but I don't outside of the uniforms they were making for Texas A&M when Johnny Manziel was playing for them.
Speaker: Adidas hasn't really made any good uniforms in
Speaker: Adidas uniforms are a lot like the early Nike basketball, like NBA uniforms.
Speaker: They tear a lot.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: They're really tight on the pads.
Speaker: I just, those would be honest, they're really not high quality uniforms to begin with.
Speaker: But throw that in with the design, which I'll be honest, the design's not, like I said, it's not great.
Speaker: I don't know how you feel about that black portion of the neck.
Speaker: I'm not a big fan of it.
Speaker: It just doesn't look right.
Speaker: It feels like it was kind of thrown in there at the end.
Speaker: I mean, I don't know.
Speaker: A lot of these uniforms also, you know, obviously we're seeing close-up pictures online.
Speaker: Maybe it'll look different from the stands.
Speaker: Maybe it'll look a little bit better and a little bit cleaner.
Speaker: Just being able to see the close-ups, it's nothing impressive.
Speaker: It's not necessarily the worst we've seen, but it's definitely nothing that sticks out or, you know, separates us uniform-wise.
Speaker: Yeah, and, you know, kind of, you know, all, you know, the stadium reconstruction stuff, you know, opposing fans will notice it for sure.
Speaker: And I don't want to get made fun of.
Speaker: I really don't.
Speaker: Especially coming, you know, into the FPS, you know, year one, it's really easy to kind of be that school that gets made fun of.
Speaker: Unless you're, you know, coming out and winning by, you know, half a hundred every week, it's really easy to,
Speaker: become a laughingstock your first few years and I feel like just adding ammo to the cannons really it's not the best idea but I don't work for the university so I really can't say too much.
Speaker: I think one thing that the university should do is I've seen them posting pictures with that old school throwback rooster.
Speaker: They need to incorporate that somewhere in the uniforms.
Speaker: Maybe on a helmet.
Speaker: Maybe we have a throwback uniform week or something.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: I just want to see
Speaker: that rooster involved with athletics a lot more.
Speaker: It looks so, it just looks so JSU, if that makes sense.
Speaker: I've seen a lot of our fans on Twitter raving over that.
Speaker: Everybody loves that look.
Speaker: It's just, it's classic.
Speaker: It's nice.
Speaker: It's clean.
Speaker: It's nothing too flashy, but it helps us stand out just a little bit.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker: I mean, like you remember the, uh,
Speaker: like the Nike helmets that they used to make for college teams back maybe 10 years ago, where the logo was like the Boise State helmets where the Bronco was super big.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: If they could do that with a white helmet for us with the red throwback rooster and red face masks.
Speaker: That would look.
Speaker: I mean, I feel like people would lose their minds over that.
Speaker: All I'm saying is you do that with a red jersey and white pants.
Speaker: All I'm saying is that would be one of the best looks that we've had in a long time.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: I'm excited to see some of the combinations.
Speaker: With the colors that we use on our uniforms, you can't go wrong with just about any combination.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I'd love to see a red out or a white out.
Speaker: Honestly, I'd love to see a blackout, but a lot of our alumni and our fans have mixed feelings on the blackout.
Speaker: I just think a blackout would be extremely hard, especially for a night game under the lights.
Speaker: Yeah, especially like, you remember how North Carolina used to do the Zero Dark Thursday games?
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, if we ever play, like, for one of our weeknight games, if we get, like, Liberty or Sam Houston in here and we go blackout on a Thursday night, you, man, that would be awesome.
Speaker: Yeah, honestly, just think about rolling into Jacksonville.
Speaker: The stands are packed on a Wednesday night.
Speaker: You know, the student section is actually full because it's not a weekend and kids got class the next day.
Speaker: So you're rolling in.
Speaker: The stands are packed.
Speaker: It's 630 at night.
Speaker: The lights are shining.
Speaker: And then the boys come out in all black.
Speaker: I think people would absolutely lose their minds, man.
Speaker: Oh, and to correct something you said earlier, there is one wrong combination with our colors.
Speaker: If we never pull out the digital camo ever again, I think I'll be okay.
Speaker: The digital camo was something that I think, I've heard a lot of fans want to forget that game.
Speaker: It looked kind of cool from afar, being at that game.
Speaker: It looked kind of cool from afar, but
Speaker: the longer you pay attention to it, the more of an eyesore that uniform becomes.
Speaker: It was definitely different because what that was, uh, was that the veterans day game or Memorial day game or something like that?
Speaker: Yeah, I think, I think it was veterans day that in 2015, um,
Speaker: Here's the thing.
Speaker: When they first came out with those, I was still in high school.
Speaker: I thought they were like the cleanest uniforms ever.
Speaker: So that was around the same time that Army had a digital camo uniform as well.
Speaker: And I thought it was the coolest thing.
Speaker: And the more I look at it, the more I hate it.
Speaker: In the stands, not knowing that that was the uniform and saying that, it was cool in the stands.
Speaker: But the more I look at pictures from that game and just see –
Speaker: see it up close.
Speaker: It kind of just looks like somebody took a bunch of paint and flicked it on a uniform and called a camera.
Speaker: Yeah, it wasn't, if it had been better planned, I think they could have done something with it, but it, I mean, all they did really was take like five shades of red and start throwing them onto a canvas.
Speaker: And so, you know, it is what it is.
Speaker: I think if they had done like red,
Speaker: like red and black digital camo or maybe like red and white and black digital camo, that would have been pretty good.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But multiple shades of red, not so much.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Especially because some of that red started to look like pink.
Speaker: And at that point we don't have pink anywhere in our colors.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I think that's where it kind of threw it off a little bit is if they had incorporated a little bit more black and a little bit more white, like you said,
Speaker: then maybe it could have looked a lot better, but trying to have so many different shades of red, it can only work out so well.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But I mean, you know, it is what it is, you know, kind of going back to the original point.
Speaker: Um, yeah, there's, there's a lot of things they can do with the uniforms, whether it's, you know, you know, red out.
Speaker: I mean, we already do red out now.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: We have the alternate helmets that are the throwback with the white oval with the J in it.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: We have those.
Speaker: Those are pretty clean.
Speaker: I mean, there are a lot of things I can do with it.
Speaker: I'm not going to lose faith.
Speaker: Like I said, I'm not a huge fan of the uniforms, but...
Speaker: I'm not going to lose faith because it's a long season.
Speaker: Um, and it's our first year in FBS.
Speaker: So they didn't really have too much time to plan.
Speaker: Cause we went from a son to conference USA and all literally, I mean about five months after joining conference USA, um, sorry, joining a son, uh, we got an offer from CUSA.
Speaker: So, uh, you can't blame me.
Speaker: It was like, well, we just got here and now we're leaving.
Speaker: Sorry.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: Yeah, I remember everybody kind of getting whiplash because, like you said, we had just joined the A-Sun.
Speaker: We were all, as fans, kind of excited because they were a good bit of our rivals or teams we like to consider our rivals in the A-Sun.
Speaker: So we were excited to see them every year in all of our sports.
Speaker: And then almost out of nowhere, we hear rumblings that,
Speaker: some of the FBS conferences are coming and calling and next thing you know, the official announcement that we're moving to CUSA drops and it's like, whoa.
Speaker: Like I'm obviously not upset, always excited to move up another level.
Speaker: But like you said, it came out of nowhere.
Speaker: We had just gotten out of the OVC and it almost felt like we were just kind of,
Speaker: throwing the ace into the side, which honestly, after the way they did us in football last year, I kind of don't care anymore.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Well, and you know what's crazy?
Speaker: We hadn't even finished our first season in the conference in football.
Speaker: I think it was like October, November, and we heard that we were moving.
Speaker: And we were like, we haven't even finished the season yet.
Speaker: The ink had not dried on that season yet.
Speaker: And we were already –
Speaker: on to the next bigger and better thing.
Speaker: But I mean, that's the way it happens sometimes.
Speaker: Sometimes we forget that that side of college athletics is very much a business.
Speaker: And that's just the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.
Speaker: So, you know, you pick yourself up and you keep moving.
Speaker: And obviously, like I said, all the fans loved it.
Speaker: We were excited.
Speaker: And CUSA, it's going to be a challenge, but
Speaker: I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker: We got some big hitters and after the big news of the grant of rights deal, it looks like we'll be pretty much locked in to play these dudes going forward for at least the next six years.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And I'm pulling it up right now.
Speaker: Um, I mean, that was a great segue to kind of get into that.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: you know, we've seen a lot of grant grant of white rights deals with, um, like power five conferences.
Speaker: Um, and we've also seen the lack of a grant of rights deal be the end of, of certain conferences.
Speaker: Um, you know, like PAC 12, they can never get a media deal.
Speaker: So naturally no one even stay in the conference.
Speaker: Whereas, you know, the ACC and like the SEC just signed huge grant of rights deals.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: And I think the Big Ten did too with CBS, and it locks their teams in.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And so, you know, to have an FCS conference with a grant of rights deal with both ESPN and CBS, you know, it's huge for stability because you can still add teams.
Speaker: in that period, but the teams in the conference would have to pay to leave, which, which I think is good.
Speaker: I mean, you know, just from, you know, from a non-biased, you know, standpoint of someone who's, you know, if I weren't a fan of the team in the conference, it's good.
Speaker: You don't want to see teams just, you know, bar hopping around the country, um, you know, for the next, for the next best conference.
Speaker: Um, you know, you want to see stability.
Speaker: You want to play a lot of the same teams over and over again and build those rivalries, build those traditions.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: Kind of like I mentioned, we didn't get to do that with the A-Sun, which is fine because it's not like we went from A-Sun back to OVC.
Speaker: We went from FCS all the way up to FBS.
Speaker: So, I mean, I like it.
Speaker: I would have loved to have seen the deal maybe be a little bit longer, maybe closer to 10 years.
Speaker: But, I mean, six years is still six years that we're locked into an FBS conference.
Speaker: I don't have to look for another place to play.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: For those of you who may not know what a grant of rights deal is.
Speaker: So basically the conference went to all of the teams, all of the teams in our conference and came to an agreement that all of the media rights for each school will be basically, they will become property of the conference.
Speaker: for the next six years and if a team were to want to leave the conference they would basically have to buy their way out of the deal or else the conference would still own their rights for media whether it be radio or tv broadcasts or anything of the sorts which would make leaving for another conference extremely extremely difficult
Speaker: because then that new conference wouldn't get any of the revenue from your media deal.
Speaker: So yeah, it essentially locks all the teams that are currently in the conference in for another six years.
Speaker: And like Caleb said, other schools can join.
Speaker: Like Kennesaw State will be officially joining before next year.
Speaker: And I know CUSA has their eyes on a couple of other teams.
Speaker: So whenever they join...
Speaker: they essentially have to agree to the grant of rights as well, um, for the period that it is in effect.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know, you mentioned, I mean, I think, I think we both mentioned it is like teams buying their way out.
Speaker: Um, you know, for example, you know, Texas and Oklahoma bought their way out of the rest of the big 12 deal, um, to join the sec.
Speaker: And we all thought it was going to happen, you know, for 2025.
Speaker: And then they bought out to join next season.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: So, you know, not to say that JSU is going to the SEC or the Big 12 anytime soon, but let's say a Power 5 conference were to come calling, there is a route to, you know, to go to that conference.
Speaker: I don't see it happening.
Speaker: I really – I don't want it to happen.
Speaker: You know, I'm happy where we are.
Speaker: But in that instance, you know, any team that maybe wants to go to a different conference, I mean, they have the ability to do that.
Speaker: They just – they've got to pay out their remaining portion of the deal.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, like you said, it's one of those to where it just, it essentially makes sure that we lock in those rivalries and we just don't have teams leaving for greener pastures, which makes games better year after year after year because
Speaker: then the fans and the athletes and the coaches themselves can go into next year, you know, circle that game on the calendar.
Speaker: No matter how many times people admit they don't, everybody circles certain games on the calendar.
Speaker: And I think making sure you have teams locked into a deal, especially in this day and age of conference realignment, being able to know, hey, we may have gotten our butts kicked by so-and-so this year,
Speaker: But next year, I know they're going to be on that schedule, so I'm watching, waiting for that schedule to come out.
Speaker: So I know, hey, this weekend I've got to be at the stadium because we're going to get them back.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, I know that Liberty, I think, is a Tuesday or Wednesday night game this week.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Look, I work in Clanton.
Speaker: I could see myself taking the day after off and driving up there for the game just because it's Liberty.
Speaker: It's a good school, good team.
Speaker: Like you said, I'd love to see us have a rivalry with Liberty, with Coastal, for several years.
Speaker: Because like you said, losing to them sucks, but the next year, if you beat them, it's all that much better.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I, and I just want natural rivalries.
Speaker: I don't want the force stuff.
Speaker: I love that.
Speaker: We're a part of CUSA, but them trying to force this gravy bowl versus Sam Houston down our throats.
Speaker: I just, I don't get it.
Speaker: We didn't play them that much in the FCS.
Speaker: It's not a game where fans can just casually drive over.
Speaker: I think they should have waited for more of a natural rival who's
Speaker: already set to join the conference cough cough Kennesaw state um and just called it the battle of i-20 or something i don't know the the gravy bowl and it being sam houston which is like a 12 13 hour drive both ways for fans it just doesn't seem like it should be our rivalry but that's a that's a conversation for another day yeah for sure um
Speaker: You're not wrong, though.
Speaker: But, you know, I mean, it is what it is.
Speaker: You know, at the end of the day, like you said, Kennesaw is joining next year, and they can not recognize it as a rivalry.
Speaker: There's not a team on our schedule I'm going to want to beat more than Kennesaw State next year.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: It won't even be close.
Speaker: Yeah, the closest one will be Liberty, and even then, it's nothing on Kennesaw State.
Speaker: It's one of those where the opposing team may not be as good as other teams on your schedule, but there's just something there.
Speaker: And JSU fans and KSU fans can tell you there's something there.
Speaker: We don't like them.
Speaker: They don't like us.
Speaker: And as much as they like to say it's a one-sided rivalry, they have been close games, and the game at SunTrust, now Truist,
Speaker: We should have won because that was a fumble.
Speaker: It was a fumble, and you can't change my mind.
Speaker: It was a fumble.
Speaker: I don't care what anybody else says.
Speaker: That was clearly a fumble.
Speaker: I've gone back and seen that replay at least 20 times since that game.
Speaker: It's clearly a fumble.
Speaker: The refs were just ready to get home, and then oddly enough, we were there for about 30 overtimes.
Speaker: And still, you know, I don't want to harp on that game too much because it will make me mad.
Speaker: Still, Zarek is doing some stupid stuff in OT.
Speaker: I don't even know how he threw that one touchdown pass when he was nearly out of bounds.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Man.
Speaker: You know, like, I mean, it is what it is.
Speaker: You know, in Kennesaw State, it's weird because they didn't have football until 2016 or 17.
Speaker: Somewhere around there, yeah.
Speaker: It may have been 2017.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: immediately like it became a rivalry because we were playing them every year in the playoffs.
Speaker: And then we joined the ACE son and they did.
Speaker: And so then we were playing them every year and right in, you know, in regular season play.
Speaker: And it's just, that was one of those that it wasn't forced.
Speaker: It just naturally became a rivalry really quickly.
Speaker: And, you know, partly just because we're so close to each other, we're an hour and a half away from their campus.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: Not that they – I mean, it's not like they play on campus or anything.
Speaker: They play across the street from their campus in the soccer stadium, but that's not the conversation.
Speaker: I don't want to go too far down that road, but I'm not lying.
Speaker: That's what it is.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker: You're right.
Speaker: You're right.
Speaker: But enough of looking in the past.
Speaker: Let's look to the future.
Speaker: Week one, week one, we have an opponent that I'm not sure we have seen before.
Speaker: I could be wrong.
Speaker: I should have looked that up.
Speaker: But we are playing UTEP, University of Texas at El Paso.
Speaker: Yeah, let me look it up real quick.
Speaker: I don't know if we've played UTEP, but we can find out really quickly.
Speaker: Yeah, I don't think so.
Speaker: I know for week one, this is a pretty good warm-up game for us.
Speaker: UTEP is not, not, not a bottom of the barrel team.
Speaker: They're not necessarily one of the people picked to win the conference, but I think it'll be a good warmup game for us being our first game in FBS.
Speaker: And it's our first conference game, which, which is weird to start the season off with a conference game.
Speaker: You, you really don't get that.
Speaker: Uh, we can throw this game away type feel because it matters for our conference standing.
Speaker: So, uh,
Speaker: It'll be a good one.
Speaker: I know we get that game at home, and I think it's like a 4.30 kickoff, or maybe it's a 3.30 kickoff, somewhere around there.
Speaker: Yeah, I think it's 4.30.
Speaker: With it being a 4.30 kickoff and it being week zero, I expect us to have a good bit of fans in the stands.
Speaker: Hopefully the weather will chill out just a little bit.
Speaker: But with it being 4.30, the sun will start to go down, and we'll just be a little muggy, that's all.
Speaker: Yeah, I don't think it's going to be too bad.
Speaker: Oh, well, never mind.
Speaker: Never mind.
Speaker: It's a high of 97, which is the highest over the next week and a half.
Speaker: Hopefully that humidity stays down.
Speaker: It's going to be 96 degrees at kickoff.
Speaker: Yeah, never mind.
Speaker: And the real field is going to feel like 100 at kickoff.
Speaker: This is one of those games where I am glad I am no longer in the marching band because I'm going to feel bad for those guys.
Speaker: That's not going to be fun.
Speaker: It's not going to be fun for the football players either.
Speaker: That's one of those games where it's the first game of the season.
Speaker: You can try and emulate game speed and practice all you want, but you don't ever get game speed until you get to a game.
Speaker: So that first game of the season and with it being that hot, even though both of these teams are from, you know, hotter areas, you just worry about stuff like cramps, you know, affecting the game and the speed of gameplay and just guys in general.
Speaker: You really want to make sure they're hydrated before the game and trying your best to avoid any sort of health scares as far as heat stroke cramps and that kind of stuff goes.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, I've even seen, you know, night games, you know, in high school where the other – you know, my high school, we went really fast and we would put a lot of people in cramps.
Speaker: But even night games, you know, in October, we'd have people cramping up.
Speaker: So, they're going to have to keep an eye on it.
Speaker: What's crazy is the temperature is going to drop like two days after the game.
Speaker: It's going to get down into the 80s.
Speaker: But, no, Saturday, it's going to be the hottest it's been all week.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Also, not just the players, any of you fans listening, if you're going to the game, be safe, be careful.
Speaker: Make sure you're drinking enough water before the game.
Speaker: Make sure you're drinking enough water and Gatorade during the game.
Speaker: Yes, I know we sell beer at the game, but don't just drink beer the whole time.
Speaker: It doesn't hydrate you.
Speaker: It does not.
Speaker: Especially because I know a lot of y'all, especially the younger ones, will not just finish at the game.
Speaker: You will go somewhere around town and continue to party throughout the night.
Speaker: And odds are a lot of you will have already pre-gamed, so we know where your bodies are going to be.
Speaker: So please take care of yourself.
Speaker: We're begging of you.
Speaker: We don't need 5,000 students dropping out in the middle of the game.
Speaker: It would be a PR nightmare waiting to happen.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Speaking of pre-gaming, this will be our first week seeing what the tailgating atmosphere is like now that we're FBS.
Speaker: I really expect a lot of those fans that we see coming back year after year that reserve tailgating for the whole season, I really expect a lot of them to go all out for that game.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Let's say this.
Speaker: If you're a UTEP fan and you're coming to Jacksonville, there will be plenty of places to eat because I guarantee you some fans are going to offer you some food.
Speaker: Like Jalen said, I bet we go all out.
Speaker: I know I'm going to be there.
Speaker: I know my dad's going to be tailgating.
Speaker: I know we're going to have food set up.
Speaker: It's going to be one of those weekends where I'm hoping we have one of the best atmospheres we've had in a while.
Speaker: Oh yeah.
Speaker: For, for any UTEP fans that may be going to the game, just know that we are the friendliest campus in the South and you can walk up to just about any of those, uh, tents or grills or whatever they got going on.
Speaker: And they will offer you food.
Speaker: They will offer you a drink conversation.
Speaker: There might be some lighthearted trash talk, but you know, nothing too crazy.
Speaker: Our, our fans are pretty cool.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: We got a couple of guys who tailgate that our fans know are like the tent to go to or the person to hang out with.
Speaker: So don't hesitate to walk up to some of our resident JSU tailgaters and get to know people and try to build those friendships since we are going to be playing each other and seeing each other year over year and across all of our various sports.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker: I'd love to meet some new people this week.
Speaker: I'd love to – I mean, you know, in the spirit of good sportsmanship, I'd love just to, you know, maybe make some new friends and, you know, have some friendships that we can have some lighthearted trash talk to, you know, over the years.
Speaker: It's not like – no offense to you KSU fans, but sometimes it gets, you know, we go a little over the top because we genuinely just do not like each other.
Speaker: UTEP, it's probably going to be a little bit different, you know.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: So, you know, I'm hoping for a good tailgating atmosphere.
Speaker: Week one, you know, oh, sorry, week zero.
Speaker: And, you know, looking at week zero, there really aren't any big matchups, right?
Speaker: I mean, it's just – I mean, we're – honestly, sadly enough, because of who our coach is, we're one of the bigger games.
Speaker: So, a lot of eyes will be on Jacksonville, Alabama.
Speaker: I'm really – you know, I'm hoping it'll be one of those atmospheres we look back on and think, yeah, that's the –
Speaker: that's the JSU that we expect to have week in and week out.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: There have been a couple of week one or week zero games in Jacksonville in my time that have just been insane lights out.
Speaker: We had a couple of years where our week zero game was in Montgomery, and we had mixed results there.
Speaker: But the week zero or week one games that I've been to that were in Jacksonville –
Speaker: Fans did not hesitate to show up.
Speaker: It was a great atmosphere from start to finish.
Speaker: Just everybody finally ready to have football back.
Speaker: It's the South.
Speaker: Everybody knows in the South.
Speaker: On a Saturday, you're in the stadium or you're on your couch glued to the TV from sunup to sundown.
Speaker: Everybody's ready for football.
Speaker: And I just know before we even step foot in that stadium, it's going to be electric and I'm ready.
Speaker: Yeah, man, it's going to be electric.
Speaker: I need football badly, and I know it's only four days, but still, I need some, not even four days, it's Wednesday.
Speaker: No, it's Tuesday.
Speaker: Four days to football, so I can't come soon enough.
Speaker: The countdown is starting, and I mean, hey, we're expecting it to be electric inside.
Speaker: I can assure you once the clock starts running,
Speaker: It's going to be electric inside.
Speaker: I mean, just look at our offense.
Speaker: Zion Webb will most likely be our week one starter.
Speaker: For all of our JSU fans out there, we have become very familiar with that man.
Speaker: It feels like he has been at the university for about 20 years now, but he never fails to put on a show.
Speaker: No, I mean, he's been here.
Speaker: This will be his sixth year.
Speaker: He redshirted in 2017.
Speaker: He played in 2018-2019, started in 2020 after Zarek got hurt in the fall and ended up turning into a pretty solid, you know, duals wreck QB, put up some good numbers.
Speaker: And then in the playoffs against, was it?
Speaker: I think that was Delaware.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It was Delaware.
Speaker: Yeah, he didn't tear his MCL, but he strained it pretty badly and just ended up getting surgery on it and was out all last year.
Speaker: Well, sorry, out all of 2021.
Speaker: 2022, he came back and ended up becoming a really good player for Rich Rod.
Speaker: And so this is year, actually year seven for him.
Speaker: on campus because of his medical red shirt and his COVID year.
Speaker: Um, so it, um, it's weird.
Speaker: This doesn't show his 2022 stats, but, um, but yeah, this is going to be year seven for him on campus.
Speaker: So it's his last ride regardless.
Speaker: Um, um,
Speaker: Look, I think he's going to have a big year if he stays healthy and if he's improved as a passer.
Speaker: I think that, you know, that was kind of his one whole, you know, even in 2020, you know, I know different offensive staff, different system, and, you know, we can get into that another time.
Speaker: But, you know, his one issue is that he's never been the most accurate downfield passer.
Speaker: And, you know, I feel like at times that kind of – at times it hampered the offense last year.
Speaker: And they ran the ball well.
Speaker: I think they led the A-sun in rushing yards per game, I think even over Kennesaw State, who was running triple option.
Speaker: Even though they're not doing that anymore, and we'll get to that at some point this year.
Speaker: But, you know, if he's improved, I think he's got all CUSA written all over him because, I mean, he averages about six yards of carry.
Speaker: You know he can run the ball.
Speaker: And he's made some good throws.
Speaker: He just needs to do it more often.
Speaker: Yeah, I definitely agree.
Speaker: He has all CUSA potential.
Speaker: I think the only roadblock for him is his teammates, his quarterback roommates, because we say he's most likely the starting quarterback because that's what was reported by our friends over at the Aniston Star.
Speaker: But apparently it was really close, and Rich Rod said if all goes well this week,
Speaker: all signs point to Zion, but he expects to see some of Logan's, some others, and possibly even Tayshaun Smoot.
Speaker: Yeah, I've been Tayshaun Smoot's biggest advocate all offseason.
Speaker: I think anyone who knows me and has listened to me talk JSU football, they know that I've been on the Tayshaun Smoot train pretty much ever since we saw him in the spring game.
Speaker: I think the kid is just a phenomenal –
Speaker: player within Rich Rod's offense, especially, you know, you know, running zone read.
Speaker: He's got really good arm talent, you know, underrated arm talent for being a three-star, you know, committing to an FCS school when, which we were when he, when he first got on campus last year.
Speaker: I mean, the dude can absolutely, he can play.
Speaker: I think
Speaker: Like you said, if all goes well, we're going to see all three QBs because we're hoping that we'll be up 40, 50 points.
Speaker: And I'm not saying UTEP's that bad of a team.
Speaker: You hope that you're going to blow out everyone.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I think Tayshaun is a –
Speaker: Like I said, I think he's a phenomenal player.
Speaker: But, you know, Logan Smothers, he's a guy who's a four-star committed to play, you know, for Scott Frost at Nebraska.
Speaker: He's a good athlete.
Speaker: He's a really good thrower at football.
Speaker: I think they're just working on making him a good passer at football, right?
Speaker: I mean, he spins it well.
Speaker: I think they're trying to make sure, you know, improve his decision-making, improve his consistency.
Speaker: You know, if he's consistent, if he's performing well, he's by far the best QB in this room.
Speaker: That's not a knock on Zion or Tayshaun, but I mean, this is a guy who committed to go play for, I should be honest, one of the biggest programs in college football history in Nebraska.
Speaker: And we already kind of have a history of taking guys that were committed at bigger universities and having them ball out with us.
Speaker: Yeah, shout out to you, Zarek.
Speaker: But yeah, I mean,
Speaker: We have a problem in our quarterback room that a lot of teams, a lot of fans, a lot of coaches would love to have is looking at three guys that you could trust to plug into that position and manage the game, take over the game, go win the game.
Speaker: And if there's one thing about Rich Rod...
Speaker: He's used to having multiple quarterback options, at least at his last school.
Speaker: I remember that was one of the first things he told us in the press conference here at JSU.
Speaker: He had, I think he said like seven or eight quarterbacks on his depth chart.
Speaker: And it was not a guarantee of who was going to play, you know, weekend and week out.
Speaker: It was just whoever worked the hardest, whoever, you know, showed and proved that they could hang and they could, they could, uh,
Speaker: win the day.
Speaker: So it's a great problem to have, but definitely not something that Rich Rod is a stranger to whatsoever.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, and I remember when he was the OC at Ole Miss, I think in 20...
Speaker: I think, yeah, it was 2019 was his year at Ole Miss.
Speaker: And, I mean, the QBs he had, he had Matt Corral, who got drafted by the Panthers last season, and I think led the SEC in passing in 2020.
Speaker: He had John Rhys-Promley, who's now...
Speaker: who I think just led the ACC in total yards.
Speaker: Not started the ACC, the American Conference with UCF and noted offensive guru, Gus Malzahn.
Speaker: So, you know, he's used to having, like you said, multiple QBs who can do it.
Speaker: You know, obviously he favors a running guy because his offense is a lot of his own read.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But, you know, to his credit, look at what he's got.
Speaker: Zion Webb, who I would say probably runs in the 4-5 to 4-6 range.
Speaker: He's got Tayshaun Smoot, who I'm sure, from what I've seen, runs in the 4-6 range.
Speaker: I think Logan Smothers ran in the 4-6 to 4-7 range in high school.
Speaker: So he's got three guys that can carry the rock and can throw it.
Speaker: And when he's got that, his offenses are deadly.
Speaker: I mean, they're absolutely deadly.
Speaker: We all saw what he did at West Virginia with Pat White, what he did at Arizona with –
Speaker: Cheese, what's his name?
Speaker: Oh, Anu Solomon.
Speaker: He's had good QBs and he's a good QB coach.
Speaker: I'm looking forward to see not just how Zion builds off of last year, but how these other two guys do.
Speaker: If you've got three quarterbacks, yeah, technically they say if you have two quarterbacks, you don't have any, but year one of FBS, you're going to throw the kitchen sink at people trying to win games.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: To go along with those
Speaker: Three quarterbacks, I mean, you can't just base your offense solely off of passing.
Speaker: You become two one note.
Speaker: So it's a good thing we have three running backs that can complement those guys just as well.
Speaker: I mean, coming out of the backfield, we got Anwar Lewis, Ron Wiggins, and Malik Jackson.
Speaker: Now, I'd say we have three, but I know for at least the first week we will be down one.
Speaker: As of right now, Anwar Lewis is not on the depth chart.
Speaker: Rich Rod said it's not a huge deal, nothing to freak out over.
Speaker: So I am assuming we will see him at some point this season.
Speaker: But even if we don't, Ron Wiggins, that man is a beast.
Speaker: And I fully expect for him to step right in, take on those running back one
Speaker: responsibilities and carries and keep us going, keep us chugging right along.
Speaker: Yeah, and, you know, obviously, you know, we wish the best to Anwar.
Speaker: I mean, we don't know why he's out.
Speaker: But you mentioned it.
Speaker: You know, we got Ron and Malik who behind him, you know, we saw Ron last year.
Speaker: The Duke could absolutely play.
Speaker: When Anwar wasn't on the field, Ron Wiggins was – realistically –
Speaker: basically running back 1B.
Speaker: I mean, so it's a stacked room.
Speaker: You know, even without Anwar, I think we've got really, you know, three, whoever plays at QB plus two running backs, we've got three really good runners in the backfield on any given snap.
Speaker: Obviously, we want Anwar back.
Speaker: The dude's just insanely talented.
Speaker: I mean, I think he could start at a lot of Power 5 schools just because of his vision and his path protection.
Speaker: I mean, he's really an overall all-around back.
Speaker: So, I mean, yeah, Anwar, you know, best wishes to you.
Speaker: Hopefully you get better, you know, whatever it is.
Speaker: Can't wait to have you back.
Speaker: But, you know, looking at these other guys, will you?
Speaker: I'm not saying we're not going to miss a beat, but we won't miss too much just because of how good Ron Wiggins and Malik Jackson are.
Speaker: Oh, 100%.
Speaker: And from what I've been reading and seeing, Malik Jackson is apparently an A1 pass catcher out of the backfield, which a lot of people –
Speaker: value running backs differently.
Speaker: I think a running back who can basically turn into a slot receiver or even, you know, catch some of those wheel routes and whatnot out of the backfield, I think that makes the game much more deadly, especially with the kind of offense that we're running or that, you know, we expect Rich Rod to run some of that up-tempo stuff.
Speaker: If you can find the right mismatch coming out of the backfield and you can keep those guys on the field,
Speaker: that's lights out you can chug right on down the field and put it in the end zone yeah absolutely and you know one of the things about rich rod you know he did it at arizona and west virginia didn't really do it well at michigan i think part of that was just they didn't have the right personnel for him but he did almost to his obviously five offensive linemen and a qb but
Speaker: After that, he looked and said, all right, who are our five best weapons and how do we get them on the field?
Speaker: So if he had two elite tight ends, he'd run a lot of 12th personnel.
Speaker: If he had five elite wide receivers, he'd go five wide.
Speaker: And, you know, same thing, two great running backs, they're running a lot of two-back sets.
Speaker: So he's all about getting the five best players on the field as much as possible to make it as hard to defend as possible.
Speaker: So if that's Anwar Lewis and Ron Wiggins in the backfield,
Speaker: We'll see it, and that's just the offense that we're going to see.
Speaker: You mentioned Malik catching passes out of the backfield.
Speaker: I saw a lot last year, even in week one, he really likes to put Anwar not necessarily in the slot, but almost in a wing, tight end, almost like an H-back position at times, and they run him almost like a little out route
Speaker: from there just to get a quick first down.
Speaker: I'd love to see Malik in that role because he's a little bit faster than Anwar.
Speaker: I think he can get space a little bit better.
Speaker: And when he turns up field, he's still got the size to hit someone.
Speaker: Oh yeah.
Speaker: I know you mentioned just the varying formations and plays that we can run.
Speaker: I'm curious to see with the breadth of talent that we have.
Speaker: I'm curious to see some of the trickery and
Speaker: some of the slight of hand that Rich Rod has up his sleeve for some of these interesting situations that we will inevitably end up in.
Speaker: Because, you know, everybody loves a good trick play or a good flashy play that you just did not see coming.
Speaker: Yeah, obviously you don't want to do it too often because you can play your way into some turnovers pretty quickly.
Speaker: But, you know, a well-timed trick play with the amount of weapons we have, I mean, the ball could really go anywhere.
Speaker: You know, you could run a reverse and the ball end up back in the QB's hands on a little throwback.
Speaker: Or they could run a reverse and then turn it into a flu flicker and throw a deep ball.
Speaker: There's so many ways that they could dress up the talent this year.
Speaker: I'm really looking forward to it.
Speaker: And, I mean, obviously we've got some big games.
Speaker: or they're going to have to pull it out.
Speaker: So we'll see pretty quickly, especially against Liberty.
Speaker: But, you know, like you said, Rich Rod can design up plays with the best of them.
Speaker: So I think we're in for a fun year on offense.
Speaker: Man, I really hope that we have a solid O-line and they can hold up because if we can run some plays and get some deception in there, we have some burners at the wide receiver position.
Speaker: that could flip the game on its head in a heartbeat.
Speaker: I mean, like you mentioned Flea Flicker.
Speaker: I could just see one of those going to Michael Petway for like a 60-yard touchdown.
Speaker: And if that was at home, I'm telling you right now, that stadium would go nuts.
Speaker: They may want to stay on their feet.
Speaker: They may knock down the construction project.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Oh boy.
Speaker: I mean, you're not kidding.
Speaker: We've seen our fair share of trick plays and big plays in Jacksonville.
Speaker: And when I tell you, like if that, if that, if those stands are full, everybody in the city of Jacksonville, which is not big to be fair, everybody in the city of Jacksonville will hear it.
Speaker: Everybody will know that something just went down in Burgess snow field.
Speaker: Oh yeah.
Speaker: It,
Speaker: for it only being a 24,000 seat stadium, it, like you said, you can be a Walmart and you'll know pretty quickly if something's happened.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Because Walmart's like a mile and a half, two miles down the road.
Speaker: But I mean, I've been in Walmart during, I think, I can't remember what, what game it was during COVID.
Speaker: I didn't go.
Speaker: And so I went to Walmart during halftime to pick up something.
Speaker: And I walked out and I think Zion threw a bomb like on the first play of the second half.
Speaker: And I even just the small amount of people that were there during COVID, I could hear it from there.
Speaker: So, you know, packed house.
Speaker: We run a little flea flicker for a touchdown.
Speaker: You might hear it from McClellan.
Speaker: I'm telling you, man, I'm honestly just excited.
Speaker: We have so much potential on offense.
Speaker: It's probably, and this is crazy to say because we've had a lot of talent in general in our years, at least in the years I've been a fan.
Speaker: I think this has the potential to be one of the most talented offenses that we've seen in a good little bit.
Speaker: Yeah, I agree.
Speaker: You know, I look at 2018, you know,
Speaker: really that's the last time we've had a truly elite offense.
Speaker: That's when we had Zarek, Josh Pearson, Trey Berry.
Speaker: Man, what was his name?
Speaker: The 6'7 receiver?
Speaker: That other dude that they lined up opposite of Josh and you just couldn't guard him?
Speaker: I can't remember the name off the top of my head, but I know exactly who you're talking about.
Speaker: We also had Dalton Screws, man.
Speaker: He was underrated.
Speaker: And that was also when we had like four running backs who were all toting the rock.
Speaker: Or even, you know, you go back to 20, I think it was, yeah, 2015, the championship year, when you had, obviously had Eli, you know, the next year he then got, we had Rock Thomas.
Speaker: Yeah, we've had some hitters.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Some of those guys were hitters in other ways, but we won't talk about that.
Speaker: Oh, goodness.
Speaker: We remember the discipline issues under the previous staff for sure.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Luckily, based on last season, it seems those days are long, long behind us.
Speaker: Yeah, but you're not wrong.
Speaker: This has potential to be one of our most talented offensive units ever.
Speaker: And the defense, defense ain't going to be too bad either.
Speaker: Colby Fuquay is playing his 30th year of college football, but other than that, I swear that man, I swear he transferred from Auburn in 2019 and he's been here for like four years.
Speaker: And I swear, like,
Speaker: on everything that I have earned at my job.
Speaker: I swear he was a junior at Auburn when he transferred.
Speaker: That's how old it feels like he is.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: There's a couple of guys where it just seems like, even if they're not there for that long, it just seems like you hear their name at a game for about six or seven years in a row.
Speaker: And it's like, how long are you here?
Speaker: How do you still have eligibility?
Speaker: How much longer do you have?
Speaker: Like, what is going on?
Speaker: Well, for example, like,
Speaker: How many years in a row did we listen to the starting lineups waiting to hear Your Majesty Sanders' name called?
Speaker: Dude, I swear that man was at JSU for about 20 years.
Speaker: But I also think that was just because he has a really cool name.
Speaker: So people were just waiting to hear his name called.
Speaker: Yeah, he was there for five years.
Speaker: But man, it felt like it was longer than that.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: He got here in 17, and his last year was fall 21.
Speaker: But, man, it felt like he was there for like seven or eight years.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: I mean, going back to the defense, another guy who just feels like he's been here that long, he really hasn't.
Speaker: I'm ready to see what J-Rock Swain can do in his first year in the FBS.
Speaker: Because if there's one thing that he is known for, it is disrupting.
Speaker: the QBs and making them uncomfortable.
Speaker: That man, that man is almost like a bullet coming off the line.
Speaker: If, if you don't double team him, there is a good chance he will at least have his face in the face mask of your quarterback.
Speaker: If not putting him on the ground.
Speaker: Yeah, man.
Speaker: Jay rocks.
Speaker: He's a monster and it's, it's wild because when he got here, you know, we knew about the athleticism, but we weren't sure if he'd have enough size or,
Speaker: And I think year one, he put on about 20, 30 pounds, and now he's one of the best edge rushers in the conference.
Speaker: I expect that he will be an all-CUSA performer this year.
Speaker: I think he's that good.
Speaker: I'm hoping they just let him loose and just let him go play football because he's, I mean, I know we, you know, you know, in the last few years we've had Will Anderson, Aiden Hutchinson, you know, those type of guys who, you know, you can line up kind of whether it's a standup D lineman, whether it's an edge rusher, whether it's an outside linebacker.
Speaker: He's obviously he's not, you know, Will Anderson, but he, he has that kind of versatility where you could put them in three or four different positions and send them after the QB and just dress up blitzes different ways.
Speaker: And it's so hard to stop them because he could be coming from like, he, he could almost line up.
Speaker: I don't want to say line up and nickel.
Speaker: Cause he's not that fast, but you know, he could come off, off the edge, you know, almost out of the slot.
Speaker: He could come out of the defensive backfield.
Speaker: He'd come off the line.
Speaker: He, he really could come out of everywhere.
Speaker: He's, he's that good.
Speaker: Yeah, he's one of those guys.
Speaker: We don't have a long list of guys playing in the league, but he's one of those guys that I could see leaving good old Jacksonville, Alabama and ends up playing somewhere on Sunday nights.
Speaker: And, I mean, with a name like that, he almost has to make the starting lineup or at least make a team somewhere because I definitely want to hear that name being called on an NFL broadcast.
Speaker: Yeah, maybe we could get him to Buffalo, play with Saran.
Speaker: Oh, dude, that would be awesome, man.
Speaker: Saran, you know, he got drafted in 18.
Speaker: He's been with the Bills every year since then on the active roster.
Speaker: He's got 93 tackles in five years, which is not bad, you know, for a guy who's mostly, you know, special teams.
Speaker: He's made some impact plays on defense, too.
Speaker: There have been a couple of times where he'll have a highlight that will make it on ESPN, and I'm just like, dang.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, and he just signed a three-year extension, so obviously we've got some guys that are, you know, that they're having prolonged NFL careers.
Speaker: And like I said, I think J-Rock, one of those guys who can do it because he's got the talent, he's got the athleticism.
Speaker: And that's what they're looking for in the NFL is athleticism.
Speaker: You can put size on later.
Speaker: You know, you can coach size and strength.
Speaker: You can't coach fast.
Speaker: Nah, not at all.
Speaker: You either got speed and quickness or you don't have it at all.
Speaker: I mean, between him and the rest of the defense and just our team in general, not only do I like our chances in week one, I like our chances on the season.
Speaker: Obviously, you have to be realistic.
Speaker: We're not going to go 12-0.
Speaker: But I don't see us hitting the floor or I don't see our ceiling being what some of
Speaker: These guys on Twitter are saying, I've seen a lot of people saying our ceiling is 4-8, or I've even seen 3-9.
Speaker: I honestly think that's more of our floor, because this team is just way too talented.
Speaker: I think
Speaker: we can easily go in and win enough games to where we would have been bowl eligible.
Speaker: Um, we just have a lot of guys that are FBS ready that are CUSA ready, even though we have to go out there and prove ourselves.
Speaker: I think they're going to step up to the plate.
Speaker: I think they're going to, they're going to go out there and do it.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And you know, you know, you mentioned people saying our ceilings at four and eight, um,
Speaker: I just want people to keep in mind we've won in the last three years two games against FBS opponents, one of which is in our conference.
Speaker: I think actually we've beaten them twice as FIU.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I think we beat them two straight years.
Speaker: And then almost beat Florida State two straight years.
Speaker: Yeah, we had Florida State.
Speaker: I think we were winning at halftime the first year.
Speaker: I'm not saying we're going to come out and we're going to be 2017 UCF or 2021 Cincinnati where we're going to play off, but we're not, we're not going to be scrubs.
Speaker: You know, we, yeah, we have a gauntlet of a schedule because we got Liberty Coastal.
Speaker: I think we play, I think we have like six straight weeks for every team we play one, at least nine games last year.
Speaker: So yeah, that's tough considering they're all FBS teams, but we still have teams we can beat.
Speaker: And, you know, a few of those hard games are at home, right?
Speaker: Liberty's at home.
Speaker: Eastern Michigan's at home.
Speaker: Louisiana Tech is what didn't make a bowl last year, but they should be better this year and they're at home.
Speaker: Coastal's on the road, but Coastal Carolina isn't necessarily known for being this insane atmosphere.
Speaker: And they've got a new coach with Jamie Chadwell having left.
Speaker: There's a route for us to win six, seven maybe.
Speaker: I think eight or nine is pushing it, but I'm not going to rule it out just because I know who our coach is.
Speaker: And he's won games outside of Michigan.
Speaker: He's won everywhere he's been, so I'm not going to rule out him doing it in year one now.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I hate that we have to wait so long to be able to play a bowl game because I genuinely believe that we could
Speaker: we could be bowl eligible after this season.
Speaker: But, you know, it's the transition rules and we knew it when we were, when we were joining, but yeah, I definitely don't, I definitely don't see our ceiling being four and eight.
Speaker: If we end up, you know, hitting four and eight and those guys were correct.
Speaker: And so be it.
Speaker: My main thing is, and I said it on the podcast, we were on the last time.
Speaker: I just want, I want our guests to go out there and play hard.
Speaker: and give 110% effort the whole game and try and make them as close of a game as possible.
Speaker: Because, I mean, if we do go 4-8 and we lose some of those really big games by 10 or less or even 7 or less, I know people don't like the phrase moral victories, but I would think that would be a moral victory in a sense.
Speaker: Because, I mean, first year in FBS, if we go out there and we can prove to them that we're hanging around our first year,
Speaker: that's enough said right there.
Speaker: We can prove that, you know, we're here to stay.
Speaker: We're not messing around.
Speaker: You're not just going to come in and it's not going to be a cupcake game that you can just say, Oh, we're going to win.
Speaker: We don't have to worry about them.
Speaker: No, I want them to know that year in and year out, whether it's in Jacksonville or we're coming to them, it's going to be a knockdown drag out fight.
Speaker: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker: I, I mean, I totally agree with you.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: Yeah, I'd love to see us win six, seven, even eight games.
Speaker: But like you said, if we can come out with moral victories and, you know, at least push some teams to the edge and let them know that, you know, year two, year three, we're going to be coming for them.
Speaker: Teams are going to get uncomfortable real quick, I think.
Speaker: I mean, just knowing, you know, the kind of coach Rich Rod is, you know, he's hard-nosed.
Speaker: Obviously, we've all heard the phrase hard edge, you know, the last two years.
Speaker: You give him a year to really get these guys accustomed to FBS football, watch out because he knows this level.
Speaker: He has been there and done that.
Speaker: I knew he was itching to get back to it when they hired him.
Speaker: I feel like that's the reason he said yes because he knew that we were going FBS and he wanted back.
Speaker: So, you know, look out.
Speaker: For those of you who are maybe, you know, doubting us early, all I'm going to say is, is, you know, just watch.
Speaker: I hate saying just watch because that's what Brian Harsin said last season.
Speaker: And then it just, and then, and then Auburn tanked.
Speaker: Um, but they feel like just watch, like, I'm not saying we're going to come out and win the conference, but we ain't going to lay down and go and 12 either.
Speaker: Yeah, no, definitely.
Speaker: I don't, I don't see us going to win 12.
Speaker: We're going to come out fighting no matter what our record is.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: But, I mean, I think that's pretty much it as far as, like, the football talk goes.
Speaker: Yeah, I think so.
Speaker: I mean, as we're wrapping it up, do you have a prediction for how the week one game is going to go?
Speaker: Let me see if I still have it pulled up.
Speaker: I made a lot of notes on that other podcast that we did.
Speaker: Shout out to the –
Speaker: Man, I can't even remember the name of the podcast.
Speaker: I'll have to look it up.
Speaker: We'll plug it again on our Twitter.
Speaker: But I think I had some notes, and I mentioned that they were kind of in... I don't want to say transition, but... Let's see here.
Speaker: I don't still have it, but I mean...
Speaker: I don't know if we're going to run them off the field, but I do think that we'll be able to come out and win.
Speaker: You know, if we play a clean game, you know, so whoever's at QB, whether it's Zion, Logan, Tayshaun,
Speaker: They take care of the football and make good decisions.
Speaker: Don't try to do too much.
Speaker: If the offensive line is disciplined, receivers aren't dropping passes, I think we have a chance to win maybe one or two scores.
Speaker: UTEP, I think, won four or five games last year, so they aren't terrible by any means.
Speaker: Let me pull it up real quick, and I'll give you the final prediction before I let you do yours.
Speaker: Let's see if I can get it pulled up real quick.
Speaker: While I'm looking for it, why don't you go ahead and do yours?
Speaker: I definitely think we walk out of there with a win.
Speaker: It can easily go either way, but I'm going to go with us coming in.
Speaker: First game of the season.
Speaker: First game FBS.
Speaker: It's not a night game, but it's an afternoon game.
Speaker: The sun will be going down.
Speaker: I think all of our fans have been itching for some JSU football.
Speaker: I think the energy is flowing.
Speaker: I think once we hear the Southerners hit that first note pregame and then again in the stands, I think between all of that and then not to mention UTEP, they're on the complete other side of Texas.
Speaker: They're a long way from home.
Speaker: We got the home cooking and I would say their own beds on their side, but I know they don't stay on campus the night before the games, but either way,
Speaker: You got the home cooking and, you know, I think these guys are going to come out just ready to fight, ready to fire it off.
Speaker: I could easily see us winning with a score of like, like a 42 to 17 type deal, but I can also see it being a little bit of a, a little bit of a fight.
Speaker: I could see it either being like a 42 to 17 or maybe like a 35 to 28 type deal.
Speaker: All right, all right.
Speaker: I like it.
Speaker: You know, look at how they played last year.
Speaker: They had some good wins.
Speaker: They beat Charlotte.
Speaker: They beat Boise State.
Speaker: They beat FIU and FAU.
Speaker: But they also – and, you know, they even hung close with UTSA, who I think finished as like the –
Speaker: I mean, they wouldn't.
Speaker: I remember UPSA was ranked going into bowl season.
Speaker: Had some good wins, had some good losses, but they also got ran off the field by some teams that really aren't that good.
Speaker: You know, like you said, we can have home cooking.
Speaker: Hopefully that's also on the officiating.
Speaker: I'd love to see some calls go our way.
Speaker: You know, fans have been itching for football, itching for that first year at FBS.
Speaker: I know Rich Rod's probably going to be foaming at the mouth ready for some football.
Speaker: I think I'm going to go into like a 35 to 24 type game.
Speaker: Yeah, I think we can definitely win it easily.
Speaker: It's one of those games where as long as we show up and take care of business
Speaker: with it being a home game and with it being an afternoon game, I think we should have absolutely no problem going in there, taking care of business, coming out with a big win to start the season and hopefully, you know, to jumpstart our momentum and keep it going and carry us so that we can get to that gauntlet and get through it.
Speaker: Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker: Hopefully –
Speaker: We're going to find out for sure one way or the other in four days, um, at Burgess snow.
Speaker: I don't know about you.
Speaker: I know I'm going to be there.
Speaker: I'm going to try to be there.
Speaker: I'm going to try to be there for sure.
Speaker: Love me some JSU football.
Speaker: Nothing better than being there in the stadium when the lights are going.
Speaker: And, uh, I mean now JSU or not JSU, the city of Jacksonville has a little bit of nightlife going.
Speaker: So, uh,
Speaker: You might just catch me at Apothecary after the game.
Speaker: For all the people that are going to be in Jacksonville, definitely hit up Apothecary.
Speaker: Definitely hit up Jefferson's, Cooter Brown's, The Rocket, several places.
Speaker: Local mom-and-pop restaurants in Jacksonville.
Speaker: Hit them all up.
Speaker: They're all good.
Speaker: Yeah, there's plenty of places to hit up, whether it be food, drinks, anything.
Speaker: We...
Speaker: We might be small town, but we've got a decent amount now.
Speaker: So, yeah, looking forward to it.
Speaker: And then I want to do one little final shout-out because I know we have it on our notes.
Speaker: JSU has a bowling team now.
Speaker: Yeah, we do.
Speaker: I mean, that was one of those things.
Speaker: Obviously, when you move up to FBS, there's a lot of sports that are a little bit more – I say secondary, but –
Speaker: No disrespect to any of those sports whatsoever.
Speaker: Bowling is one I did not expect us to ever add, but hey, we got a bowling team.
Speaker: I know I can't bowl enough to be on a team, but I can't wait to see what our bowling team can do.
Speaker: We do have a history of our secondary sports winning championships.
Speaker: Shout out to our cornhole team.
Speaker: I was about to say.
Speaker: I can't remember what year it was.
Speaker: I think it was like 2018, 2019.
Speaker: But now, yeah, Cornhole won the natty.
Speaker: I just remember scrolling Twitter and it's like, JSU has won the collegiate doubles championship for Cornhole.
Speaker: And I was like, oh, I didn't even know we had a team.
Speaker: Hey, but you know what?
Speaker: You know what they say.
Speaker: Okay, they don't say it, but we say it.
Speaker: We're the school of champions.
Speaker: We just win championships.
Speaker: It doesn't matter what sport.
Speaker: We won it.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: I mean, I can't wait to
Speaker: get more into it and see how they do throughout the season.
Speaker: Um, and all of our sports, uh, on our next episode, I hope to have a little bit more information on all of our sports in general, because, uh, we're not just a football podcast.
Speaker: We want to include all of our athletics.
Speaker: We are blessed to have a lot of really strong, uh, sports programs, a lot of great coaches that have graced our courts and our fields.
Speaker: Um,
Speaker: So we definitely want to make sure everybody gets the proper recognition they deserve.
Speaker: Absolutely, man.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: Hopefully we can – hopefully the next few weeks we'll have some basketball news we can touch on.
Speaker: That's what I'm looking forward to is seeing how we – how the basketball teams match up in the new conference.
Speaker: Because for those of you who haven't been to the Pete for a basketball game on Saturday nights, it is something else.
Speaker: Oh, the Pete is –
Speaker: When it's a packed house, the Pete, I think, could rival almost any atmosphere outside of your super, super major ones.
Speaker: I think it could rival just about any other atmosphere in college basketball.
Speaker: So, yeah, definitely for any of the fans out there, whether you're a fan of one of the teams on our schedule or just a fan in general, make your way to Jacksonville once basketball season starts because you're definitely going to want to be there for a game.
Speaker: hear the amazing pep band, hardcore, watch Coach Harper just conduct magic on the court.
Speaker: It's one of those venues that you show up, it doesn't look super overwhelming, but then you leave and you're like, wow, that was a really great game from start to finish.
Speaker: Yeah, and the student section, I tell you what, now that I'm not in hardcore and I can be down in the student section for games and not, you know, not get in trouble for doing stuff I probably shouldn't, you know, when I'm in uniform.
Speaker: Student section, yeah, and I know you can attest to it because you've been in the cock flock for a while now.
Speaker: Our student section for basketball is wild.
Speaker: Rowdy.
Speaker: Most of us stand up the whole time.
Speaker: Oh, yeah.
Speaker: You will rarely ever see the students and the band sitting down.
Speaker: It's just one of those environments where opposing coaches have even come up to the students and the band after the game and just remarked on how wild and how insane of an environment it is.
Speaker: I mean, we've even seen during timeouts where coaches have to set up their timeout huddle
Speaker: damn near a half court because the atmosphere is just way too rowdy for them to be able to get the information they need to get across.
Speaker: And we've definitely gotten under the skin of a couple of players.
Speaker: We've gotten at least one player kicked off the team.
Speaker: Yeah, it's gotten physical before.
Speaker: And that doesn't mean that we're afraid of it.
Speaker: If you want to get physical, get physical.
Speaker: We're more than willing to see that Facebook post that you're not playing anymore.
Speaker: Trust me.
Speaker: Hey, but they're lucky now.
Speaker: Now, JPD and UPD, they stand right there in between the student section and the opposing team as they're leaving.
Speaker: So maybe nothing will happen going forward.
Speaker: But, you know, all that to say the atmosphere and the beat on a good night.
Speaker: Pretty electric.
Speaker: It's electric, man.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: I think that pretty much wraps it up for us.
Speaker: I think it was a successful episode.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I mean, this was our first week.
Speaker: So if any of y'all out there have any advice, any critiques, I mean, we're genuinely open to anything you have to say.
Speaker: This is our first episode, so we know it's not perfect.
Speaker: Whatever you have to say, any advice you have, any suggestions you have,
Speaker: Please don't be afraid to send them our way.
Speaker: You can DM us on our Twitter page, SSN underscore Jack State.
Speaker: That is SSN underscore J-A-X-S-T-A-T-E.
Speaker: Yeah, send us – and it's not just even like suggestions.
Speaker: Like give us, you know, ideas on what we should talk about.
Speaker: You know, I think outside of the uniform stuff and the stadium stuff, we came up with pretty much everything this week.
Speaker: So I'd love to get, you know, some, you know, fan feedback.
Speaker: whether it's from the other Sidelines accounts, whether it's from JSU fans.
Speaker: We want to know what you guys want to hear from us so we can talk about it.
Speaker: Because at the end of the day, I mean, yeah, doing a podcast is fun and all.
Speaker: We want to do it for y'all, give y'all something to listen to on the ride home from work.
Speaker: So give us suggestions.
Speaker: Like Jalen said, we are a blank canvas right now as a podcast.
Speaker: We have a name and we have –
Speaker: that's about all it.
Speaker: That's, that's literally all we have right now.
Speaker: So hopefully, hopefully we can get a theme song or something down.
Speaker: So, uh, and something to play so you can have a little break and don't have to hear us talking for an hour and a half, two hours straight.
Speaker: But, uh, we're, we're, we got some things in the works for sure.
Speaker: No question.
Speaker: Uh, well, I guess that wraps it up.
Speaker: Uh, we'll be back next week for episode two.
Speaker: Um, and,
Speaker: Hopefully at that point we'll be talking about a big JSU win against UTEP.
Speaker: But whether or not, regardless, we will be there.
Speaker: So good night to everyone.
Speaker: Hope everyone has a great week.
Speaker: Hope to see you Saturday at Burgess Snow.
Speaker: Let's go, Cox.
Speaker: Let's go, Cox, baby.
Speaker: See you all later.
