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Convo with Coach Huey
65 Plays10 months ago
Pete and Chuck have a great conversation with Coach Huey about how to build a staff, what really matters in coaching, and how to make sure that kids and coaches are valued, while sharing some hilarious stories about their early coaching careers.
https://coachhuey.com/
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Transcript
Rapid-Fire Favorites
00:00:00
Speaker
Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Without thinking, what's your favorite football video game of all time? Tecmo Super Bowl. Tecmo Super Favorite fast food burger? Thick and Hardy. A1 Thick and Hardy. Favorite place to get new plays? Mad 19. Did we just become best friends? Yep. You want to podcast in your kitchen? Yep.
Pulled Pork and Cooking
00:00:25
Speaker
Pete, what's up, dude? How's it going? It's going good, buddy. You sent me some ah pictures some food a while ago. It made me hungry. Oh, I have been eating pulled pork all day. 160 pounds worth of pulled pork that we did this weekend.
00:00:42
Speaker
It looks good. They know how to cook pork in Arkansas, I guess. Hey, man, that easy, easy.
Sports Team Woes
00:00:49
Speaker
Did you see, speaking of which, real quick, and I've got, we have a special guest today I can't wait to get on the phone with, but I have to say this.
00:00:56
Speaker
Did you see, speaking of pork getting cooked, like, ah my boys laid an egg against South Carolina, man. What the heck happened? Did you see it? I'm like, Coach Cal and the boys?
00:01:09
Speaker
Yeah, against SC. Like, they've been playing so well. And then i when I got in the game, there was like 12 minutes left in the game, and they only had 20 points.
00:01:24
Speaker
Yeah, it's – I mean, the Aggies aren't doing so hot right now either. They've lost four in a row after they got up to the number seven in the country and – ah projected as a two seed so of course they got to tumble back down a little bit so i'm right there with yeah we were on a winning streak bro i mean we're sitting there talking about going 500 in the sec like winning our last five games and we still have a good shot at winning the last four out of five and being eight and ten but still i'm like golly what are you doing we don't we can't lay those eggs this time of year
00:02:00
Speaker
The conference is a bloodbath. It's crazy. There's no let-up game. There's no easy one.
Meet Coach Brandon Houston
00:02:06
Speaker
They're all tough.
00:02:09
Speaker
Well, let's get – I can't wait to get ah guest on. So this this coach that we have on today is, ah first of all, a mentor specifically to me, to Pete.
00:02:23
Speaker
It has been. he gave us our, both of us, our first, ah coaching jobs actually the same year in Buffalo. And it was the same year that he it was his first head coaching job, a D job in Buffalo.
00:02:37
Speaker
And, uh, I think he's one of the finest high school coaches in Texas. Um, has been, which puts you in the running, in my opinion, for one of the best high school coaches in the country.
00:02:51
Speaker
If you're one of the best in Texas, you're one of the best in country. And this is a man that has taught us so much. And ah him being our first guest to have on here just makes so much sense.
00:03:06
Speaker
Some of we y'all know him as Coach Uwe. This is Coach of Brandon Houston. How's it going, Coach? I tell what, I'm excited to jump on with you guys. are we Go way back, man. We've had a lot of memories, a lot of fun together and a good time. So I'm looking forward to the talk today.
00:03:24
Speaker
Yeah, and we're going to – we could sit here and pick this man's brain. ah Question after question, we get a lot out of it. But, um Coach, I'm going to ask you, because you say
Teamwork and Coaching Philosophy
00:03:35
Speaker
this all the time. You and I kind of laugh tongue-in-cheek at this.
00:03:38
Speaker
So your first year at Buffalo, we were talking about that staff. And you were like, man, we had such a good staff. And I think about it and I'm like, dude, it was Pete's first year, wide receivers coach.
00:03:51
Speaker
He at least had played. It was my first year. You hired me. Must have been out of pure desperation to coach D-line. I've never even played football before. You had two coordinators with some experience.
00:04:04
Speaker
um an outside linebackers coach that had some experience but he was a baseball guy and then ah basketball coach that had not coached football in a long time and you still like when i talked to you last time you're like man that was a good staff tell me why that was a good staff you know the big thing is you know there were no egos about, you know, we didn't care about titles or job duties or roles. It was just, man, we were all, man, everybody just grabbed an oar and we were rolling in the same direction and everybody had the same vision and mission.
00:04:45
Speaker
And I think that is pretty unique in staffs because inevitably, you I've done this 30 years, you got guys that are not Why, why ain't I calling the plays? or you know, I want the credit. They're looking for their next job, man. We were just together in the moment, just trying to be the best we could be for each other, for our kids, for our community.
00:05:09
Speaker
And I think it showed in just how the relationships that we built and then obviously the, yeah I don't know. we We probably won in spite of what we were doing. But, Holly, we were pretty darn successful early on So it was just a lot of fun. Like I said, we every every one of you guys are just great, you know, great men and good friends of mine to this day.
00:05:36
Speaker
Yeah, go ahead, Pete. What were you to say? Yeah, i'll ah I'll second a lot of that. And and he said ah we were all kind of there in the moment. there was We were. I mean, that kind of the definition of nobody was was thinking about what's next or or what's going on after this place. We were all all there in Buffalo, America at the time.
00:05:56
Speaker
And, boy, we were really good. Boys athletics were good at pretty much everything. I mean, when we rolled out there, you knew Buffalo was going to compete. We had the kids that could compete hard. and And they got after it, and and the coaches did too, and we kind of just melded together. And it was it was a big, familiar family atmosphere, I guess, and it just made everybody comfortable. whatever In the second year, whatever new coaches we brought in just made it better, and it just added to the culture of of what we were building there. and and And it was an awesome thing to be a part of at first, you know especially when you're first getting into it. it kind of
00:06:31
Speaker
It really sets a high bar for what you want to – the type of place you want to work at, and the type of staff you work with.
Coaching Methods and Challenges
00:06:40
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I mean yeah mean, again, I can't say enough about just how we all just came together. mean, quickly, because, know, I got the job. Very quickly. You're right. yeah Late spring and got to put a staff together. i mean, I think some of y'all actually moved in before I did, you know, with just with our, you know, housing situation, everything. But and it was the right time. I mean, you know, let's call it what it is. I mean, most of your first time.
00:07:07
Speaker
first head coaching jobs, you know, you don't walk into a situation like, you know, they hadn't been very successful, but they were, well, they were right on the brink and I don't know, just. and goingows man we great kids Great. I just, I cannot say enough about the community. You know, it was an honor to ah have lived there, been a part of that community. And I was blessed to, you know, when, you know, getting to recruit that school in that area,
00:07:34
Speaker
you know, when I moved on to the collegiate ranks. And I knew this, I had to block off a lot of time to spend in Leon County because I may not have been recruiting a bunch of those kids while i was catching up with a lot of people.
00:07:46
Speaker
I do think there was something to, I think also coach that we can't like overlook. You said God put that staff together and and we can't even begin to explain like how that was.
00:07:58
Speaker
um in the time we're given, but you're absolutely right. I agree a hundred percent, but I think there was also something about, you know, the offensive coordinator. So Evan, great guy, great coach was from there.
00:08:13
Speaker
But other than that, I mean, you had all of us from, you know, Pete went far away. You weren't too far away. I came from East Texas at the time, you know, um But there was a ah camaraderie also, I think, in the fact that the people we spent time with were also, you know, and not that the community didn't reach out and grab onto us quickly.
00:08:36
Speaker
They really did. But I think there was something to the yeah to the way that we all connected because – And we all got there about the same time, you know.
00:08:47
Speaker
Well, and there was enough. I mean obviously, Pete and I kind of worked together the year before, you know, when I was coaching at his alma mater. And, you know, as Pete was doing some lot a lot of heavy lifting on the weekends for us. You know, our D.C., you know, Roger and I knew each other from way, way back.
00:09:05
Speaker
Obviously, you and Evan, you know knew each other. And so there was enough. where we're like, hey, these are good guys. You know, and we built a staff knowing, hey, we're going to trust the people. And then obviously, you know, we brought in, you know, what we had called those other two guys, but they were, you know, knew enough about them and where they'd been. And now we just, it was kind of, ah I don't want to say an eclectic glue ah group, but we were We were all over the place, but we also had a common several common threads. I mean, we cared about kids, and we we cared about just doing a good job by everybody we served. It wasn't, hey, let me – I can't wait to put this on my resume. We really –
00:09:47
Speaker
we were just trying We knew the community was hungry, and they embraced us from the get-go. I mean, golly, remember we won the – what was that? Chamber of Commerce gave us some award. Oh, yeah, yeah, man. I was like, what are we doing?
00:10:00
Speaker
you know We're at some dinner. You're like, hey, man, you're going to have to put on a jacket or a sweater. I'm like, why not? pete Pete had a newborn, so he didn't have to go. Yeah, I missed that game because I was – no, it was bad it was already basketball. I was coaching a basketball game, yeah so I missed that dinner. Yeah.
00:10:17
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, um remember, you know, we go do the the stampede. What was it? The stampede days or whatever. the Yeah, the Buffalo Stampede. You know, they got me and they somehow, you know, Mr. Tatum or whoever it was, talked me into getting in the dunking booth. And, my gosh, you know, people, I mean, it was just good fun. You know, they're up there throwing them softballs as hard as they could. Just it was I'm telling you, was such a – I'll never forget – um my my time there and and the relationships that we forged there.
00:10:49
Speaker
Yeah, it was a special time. we We all needed help from each other in one way or another. I mean, I think even Coach Houston would say that he needed help from us just kind of feeling his way out his first year or two, you know, as the as the big guy and the stresses that come along with that cause it's different.
00:11:07
Speaker
And so I think it was just a good melding, you know especially for me, us me and my wife coming from college where, you know, we were away from home, but we still had a lot of people around there that we knew, you know, a lot of people from around here that went to college with us.
00:11:22
Speaker
And so moving there was really the first time that we were – you know quote unquote alone, you know we were we really just
Coaching Experiences and Adaptability
00:11:28
Speaker
weren't. i mean The support system there was was just perfect. but i mean I remember how you got your those's first house. was yeah correct You were with the landlord looking at houses and I texted you and said, hey, this coach just gave me his resignation. They're moving back to his hometown.
00:11:50
Speaker
Get Jack to show you this place. and And everyone's like, well, it's it's ah not coming open. He's like, it will. Trust me, you'll get something in it.
00:12:02
Speaker
That's exactly, guys, remember, that's exactly how I ended up with the house in Taylor whenever I came back with Taylor. Because landlord was like, he's like, he's not leaving. And I'm like, no.
00:12:14
Speaker
I've got a pretty good idea. yeah, because that actually was a coach that coached with us that second year. He came with me to Taylor and was was leaving, heading back to East Texas. And when you were coming on board, I was like, hey, he's leaving, so come on, I'll show you over.
00:12:33
Speaker
I remember, and i'm going to i'm not going to put the coach's name out there, but one of the most awkward things in the world, we thought he'd laugh at me.
00:12:43
Speaker
I went to the house because I was going to take a look at it just to find out like what kind of furniture because we weren't going to move on the furniture yeah we had the garage door opener and just thank we did not just hit the garage door opener and we knocked at the door and coach answered and is like oh dude I thought you were gone and he's like no I don't leave until the end of the month
00:13:12
Speaker
It was so awkward. It's just like, how's it going, bro? Good to see you.
00:13:21
Speaker
Yeah. But that's how fast and i mean that's how fast this industry moves. I mean, it it goes quick. hello know it It does. and Oh, man.
00:13:35
Speaker
I'll tell you, Coach, ah I don't want to, I, we're definitely going have plenty of stories, but I do want to make sure we get into things. One of the things I remember um early on with you that I want you just to kind of talk about as a d and a head coach, I want to say maybe about halfway through that first year, you and I were in the shop there, you know, we had that shop there across the way. And you told me then i I'm learning that my job as a head coach is to coach coaches for
00:14:07
Speaker
as much as coach kids. And can you spend just like a few minutes talking about like that realization and what that meant to you? Well, I mean, I'll go way back to when, you know, I was getting into the profession in the you know mid nineties and, you know, just soaking in everything I could because I was like, Hey, and I was a big question guy, you know, like, Hey, why do we,
00:14:31
Speaker
arrange our bus situation like this? Why do we have our locker room? like I mean, it was because I wanted to know when I kept everyone I worked for was really patient. I'd tell them, listen, someday I may be in a position where I have to make choices like this.
00:14:45
Speaker
And I want to make sure that I'm not just doing something on a whim or, well, that's just the way I've always done it. You know, i think there's nothing wrong with the way you've always done it. If you know why you're doing it that way. So, you know, fast forward, you know, about,
00:15:01
Speaker
eight, nine years and, you know, the internet and the message boards were really starting to take off. And I was like, i want to start giving back. And that's obviously what led me to to start, you know, my my message board, CoachEwe.com 20 years ago or whatever it was now.
00:15:17
Speaker
So I just felt like, you know, you hear it all the time. You know, it's not not what you know. It's what your players know. But that's not 100% true because if I'm the only one that knows how they're supposed to get in their stance, then it means I have to be the one to teach them how to get in their stance, right?
00:15:39
Speaker
So you need to make sure that all of your coaches know – how to teach, right? How to teach the players, you know, this is what we're doing. Here's why we're doing it. Here's the best, you know, techniques and all of that. And so ah just felt like we're all better when we, everybody understands the reasoning behind why we do what we do.
00:16:01
Speaker
And then again, I know that, you know, every, I mean, even for us, um don't think anybody came to Buffalo with the idea we were going to live there forever. Right. And at some point,
00:16:13
Speaker
You know, we're we're all going to end up like we are now and in different places. But we want to make sure that when we go, we can bring something to the table. Each one of us are extremely hireable and extremely valuable to the places we work.
00:16:27
Speaker
And I think that's because not only do we, you know, know and knowledgeable about how to coach young men, but we're also willing to be coached. And what's the best way to learn something?
00:16:40
Speaker
That's what learned something is teach somebody else. So I felt like if I could teach, you know, or I shouldn't say teach, that sounds arrogant. If I could impart what little bit of knowledge I had in my methodology that was taught to me, I would learn it better.
00:16:55
Speaker
And then that would enable you guys to go teach our players, teach our other coaches. And we all kind of just share in that. So I think that's huge. Yeah, verbiage has a lot to do with that, and that's something that
In-Game Adjustments and Communication
00:17:08
Speaker
I've carried over. you you know ah You talk about coaching coaches, and the kids got to know what you know. All your coaches have to be on the same page with what you're teaching the kids. you know From 12th grade down to 7th grade, you need to call everything the same as far as what they do, the techniques, the schemes.
00:17:24
Speaker
when they hear something as an 11th grader, they've now heard it for – you know, five years at that point if they're hearing it as a seventh grader. So verbiage is a big thing. And to make sure that your coaches know the verbiage, just like our old rule.
00:17:37
Speaker
And people probably think it's silly, but we made our, ah you know, you're an offensive guy, obviously. So our defense would label all the other offenses that they scouted in our terminology. So if the kids pulled it up on huddle, it's in our terminology. That's the only way they know it.
00:17:54
Speaker
so that you're going to see it that way over and over again. don't let you know So keep everything the same and just keep it keep the information and verbiage small enough for the kids to be able to remember it and retain it.
00:18:05
Speaker
Right. Yeah, we did the same thing with with scout cards. you know We would put it in whatever – I mean, I know we went round and round. and What is Rambo? and What is – whatever. don't know. right Part of that is it's helping kids, you know, because one year you may have kids that play both ways. You may have a kid, even if you're a, you know, we were, you know, we had some two-way guys, some one-way guys, but, you know, guys may play for offense as a junior and defense as a senior. You want to be able to to minimize the learning curve.
00:18:38
Speaker
So, yeah, I think that's that's a good point. I think that was something, I mean, again, don't even, we, I One of those things, we always did it that way. And I never really understood why until, you know, probably six, seven years in about why we did it like that.
00:18:53
Speaker
And that was another, that was a, for me, a huge thing because I haven't never coached before and only being on the defensive side. I remember the second year ah we were talking about power and what power looks like in our verbiage, right? How it, cause everything in that system was designed around the count and inside zone.
00:19:12
Speaker
And I'm like, well, isn't that the same thing as zone right pound? If you're running a power left. And the O-line coach just looked over at me. i don't know if he, I remember looking at goes, it's not that simple. And I'm like, that's how you'd count it.
00:19:24
Speaker
Right. Wouldn't just count it like it's own right bound. Yeah. And, uh, and he goes, yeah, yeah, I guess, I guess you would, i guess that's how you'd count it.
00:19:36
Speaker
And so even i had an idea in my second year of what we were seeing, what you guys would call it, you know, um, But that was big. And it was huge.
00:19:49
Speaker
The other thing that you, I remember you saying, coach, you stood over and over and over is your offense. Now your scout team's getting offensive reps and you're not just getting defensive reps.
00:20:00
Speaker
Yeah. I was real big on, you know, if you read a card, you're, you're going off memory. Right. Sure. So I'm like, okay, that, that blue line is me. And it says, go get blocked that guy.
00:20:11
Speaker
Well, you just go block that guy. But if I took the book away and just said, Hey, you we're going to run counter left or, you know, whatever, they understand that. Like, hey, now but now they've got to solve whatever defense you put up there, right? I remember way, way back, the one coach I worked for that didn't do it this way, we this is when I was on the defense.
00:20:35
Speaker
It was last my last year coaching truly a defensive coach. I was a secondary coach. We all had to draw cards. Well, we had to draw up – you know, buck sweep versus every possible front we were going to run that week.
00:20:48
Speaker
and So that scout team could then look at, and I'm like, well, this is, why don't we just teach them how to run buck sweep and whatever we call buck sweep and just tell them, block that play, you know, and guys, I'm just telling you how we did it that way at, you know, at Hire Payne, you know, they'd have the cards. I wouldn't show them the card. I'd just say, Hey, and if,
00:21:07
Speaker
It was a play that we didn't have. I'd be like, hey, everybody's running Cougar X. I want you to run it like it's Vegas. You know, and we could pick it up. And we went so – and people started to realize it went way faster because you weren't having to huddle as much. You weren't – let me see that again. It was – you could just yell it out. And it got to where, you know, obviously defensive guys, you know, we used to laugh at Lorena a lot of times. go we do it all the time. We do one-on-ones.
00:21:34
Speaker
Turn around, quit looking at the signal. You know, because they'd know what the slant call was or, oh, he's running a
Coaching Mishaps and Adaptation
00:21:43
Speaker
post. Well, I know what that is. so But, you know, anyway, those are little things I felt like helped our kids, at least at the – and honestly, at the collegiate level too because you're you've got third and fourth string guys running scout team. Well, they need to get reps better what you're doing, you know. Sure, yeah.
00:22:02
Speaker
I just remember – leaving Buffalo and coming back up here to Arkansas in the first school I was with in Arkansas, watching their, what we would call run hole here, we call it inside drill.
00:22:15
Speaker
um Same thing, right? It's inside runtime. And I'm watching the defensive line coaches in charge here, just like I was, you know, there. And, and it's a five minute period and they got like four plays off.
00:22:30
Speaker
And I'm thinking, oh, dude, ah Roger Masters and Brandon Houston would be so far up my rear end at this point if that's all that we got off, you know.
00:22:41
Speaker
and And it took me a minute to figure out what was taking him so long. And I'm watching the DC at that school's super knowledgeable, but super patient, man. and ah And I'm going, oh, well, he's showing cards and going, you go do this, you go do that.
00:22:59
Speaker
and And that was when I really appreciated like, hey, if we can teach the kids our terminology, then we're going to get more reps, better quality reps, and we get reps on both sides.
00:23:12
Speaker
Right. Right. Yeah, you better script out all your better script out all your holes, man. so taylor At Taylor, it became a science. but I lost more sleep over whether I effed up the practice script for run hole, where I was the only guy there. So what nobody would have ever known but me. But if I got out there and it was messed up, because we were going to go through that thing twice. If we didn't make it through that thing twice in five minutes, then we weren't going fast enough.
00:23:41
Speaker
And so you better have it on there and not have to think about what four plays you wanted ran. Like, so i probably lost more sleep over whether my scripts were right than whether we were prepared for the team we were going to play.
00:23:51
Speaker
I was more worried about if my scripts were ready to go. And looking back, that was the scripts, the notebooks. I probably was a bigger pain in the rear about that probably than anything. I don't know. I probably was a pain in the rear about a lot of stuff. But – Man, that script better be right. If we were going to use a notebook or whatever, play cards, they better be in a certain order where we can easily.
00:24:18
Speaker
Oh, you brought it up. You went to the play card. Oh, yeah. Yeah, you ended up taking buttcheeks for that one. Oh, man. Unintentional. That was my I got I led you out in the middle of the street there and did said, hey, I didn't even tell you bus was coming. I just led you in middle the street. but Oh, guys. Well, no, I tried to head it off. What happened was I tried to head it off, and I didn't communicate well. i I deserved what I got.
00:24:48
Speaker
But just so the coaches that may listen to us know, if you can imagine this. So I was D-line coach. The inside linebacker's coach is sitting in ah sitting in the we're in the coach's office. We're getting ready to go to practice here in about 20 minutes.
00:25:04
Speaker
And I get called into a meeting, which happened to me a lot because I have i hate not knowing what I'm doing. So sometimes rather than go, I don't know, coach, exactly how that happens, I just give the Chuck Carr best explanation you could find for it.
00:25:20
Speaker
Very rarely was that right. And so the defensive coordinator would have to, Roger would have to come over and like clean up the Chuck Carr crappy explanation for what we're actually doing.
00:25:33
Speaker
So we're in one of those conversations. We're about to go into one of those meetings where I'm like, crap, this meeting is my fault. I caused this. And we're trying to set up. I'm trying to set run whole cards up.
00:25:45
Speaker
And I look at the inside linebacker. like, hey, put them in this order. They need to be exactly in this order. Here's the script. Put them in that order. And I go in the meeting. And the poor guy, when I come back out, there's cards that Everywhere. Just all over the desk.
00:26:06
Speaker
And not only do I have to go, what are you doing? Now, Roger and Coach Uwe are like, why are there cards all over your desk? What are you doing? And that poor dude was like, he looked like he was just in full panic. He looked like deer in headlight. And he looked at me and I'm like, well, I just got my butt chewed for not knowing what I'm doing. And it's about to happen twice this afternoon.
00:26:30
Speaker
you
00:26:32
Speaker
oh but ah But it was, and maybe it's a, maybe, I don't think it's a function of, I always tell people it's a function. I got into this career late in life. you know I was 40 by the time I got that job.
00:26:44
Speaker
um So I just, butt chewings have been part of my life for my whole life. I was like, well, you know, when you mess up,
Team Dynamics and Relationships
00:26:53
Speaker
it happens. And I never took stuff too personal, but I'll never forget turning the corner and looking down and being like,
00:27:01
Speaker
dad comment here here comes another one because I just didn't give enough instruction on what I needed that kind to you know But it's funny how that kind of led to a repurposing of how we you know did some of our whole stuff. you know sure you know We didn't bounce around as much. Hey, we're in trips. Hey, we're in pro. hey we're you i was Let's kind of do all. right yeah We started doing you know more multiple huddles, grouping our you know, grouping things better to help that efficiency, to help make it easier. Because there are hard times you've got to go to a scout card. I mean, you know. Yeah, absolutely.
00:27:39
Speaker
So I think it it led to some troubleshooting. Now, we had about 10 minutes to troubleshoot before Francis started that day. But I think it got better as as it went on.
00:27:50
Speaker
And, you know, just kind of like the play, you know, the the score clock and stuff like that. You know, the kind of score clock that that segment timer, you we used to use that segment timer. Then we're like, Hey, we've got this big old scoreboard right here on the end zone. Why don't we just use that?
00:28:07
Speaker
and Sure. one So, yeah. I'm still on the scoreboard. I still remember when it was Pete's, I guess, first time. when we had all that heat.
00:28:19
Speaker
We were taking a break, and we're like, hey, somebody's got to go sit up in the press box. Well, it was air conditioning, Pete's going to be the one to pause the time. but Well, we get ready to restart. Now, Pete's going to lie, but he decides I'll just scroll through Twitter while I'm up here.
00:28:35
Speaker
So we're kind of like, waving my arm, you know, like the third base coach. Like, all right, started. We're ready. Nothing, nothing. I'm blowing a whistle. soul And so I'm like, what is he doing? And Matthew's like, I bet that's something goes on Twitter.
00:28:49
Speaker
So I grabbed my phone and made a post that said, Pete, turn the scoreboard off. So i me the Rangers were in the third inning, okay?
00:29:05
Speaker
but I don't know how many you know coaches can say, you know what, we sometimes use social media to start practice. Coach, I'm going tell you, that was like, that's passive aggressive level one right there.
00:29:18
Speaker
Oh, yeah, no doubt. I'm not calling the man directly. I'm going to post on Twitter so that he sees it. but I think that but that goes back to why I think we had so much fun is, yeah you know, we didn't take that like, oh my gosh, why is he not just eyeballing me for the whole 10 minute break? to The split second I say, let's go.
00:29:42
Speaker
We kind of like, all right, we're going to give him some good old fashioned ribbon over this, which we did. We still are six, seven years later. But I think that again speaks to just one, our relationship with each other. We all, we could,
00:29:56
Speaker
you know, we could have fun, we could joke around and it wasn't a moment to get bent out of shape about like, okay, whoopity doo, start the clock, let's go. You know? Sure. And it was, ah I think for all of us, it was a time to, you know, where we learned what's the end game, what happened in the end, right? What, um you know, in the end, who was better, who was right, who was wrong? Did it matter? You know, did the kids get what they needed? Right.
00:30:23
Speaker
And when we could answer those okay, then we would just laugh. And the times that we got concerned were if we were like, okay, did the kids really – we don't know if the kids got what they needed, so we need to revisit change and figure out yeah how to do it differently.
00:30:39
Speaker
um No, that was – oh, man. I'm sorry. i just – I keep thinking about like that is – that's That's passive-aggressive level right there, Coach. That's up there. I'd forgotten about that. Well, you know, I mean, I was pretty good at the passive-aggressive. You remember everybody would – if we – for whatever reason, if we weren't on script or if somebody would – I'd have to blow a whistle like, hey, why are we not coming together for team or why am I having – and I'd always tell me, I'll remember I'd be like, hey, you know what we're going to think next week – I think next week we're going to do this. Yeah, I'm going to talk something up.
00:31:18
Speaker
and put it on paper like where everybody needs to be and what what we're going to do each every time we'll break it down into five minute periods maybe I mean I'll just basically instead of just saying hey guys read your practice plan I could have said that but where's the fun in that right I mean come on yeah exactly I would fix a play on the script. Like maybe we were doing our install stuff. I'd go there say, hey, Larson, Chuck, when you all signal in play three, you all need to change.
00:31:46
Speaker
ah You know, it's got to be zone pound whatever. It doesn't need to be zone ice something. And when get out there, that play would come up and Houston's like, hey, we can't run this play. We got it, Coach. We got it. We already fixed it.
00:31:59
Speaker
yeah Well, yeah, because that's inevitable. I would do that. or How many times would we really put chips in the bathroom? Well, no. ah Originally, it was going to be on the right hash, but then I remember you forget to go back and switch it. So I did all the time. We can't run this.
00:32:15
Speaker
already got it. I got it. Of course, I do appreciate when I would script. So sometimes I would screw up and y I would just kind of look around like, Does anybody want to be the one that says we can't run this? Who's all see that. Who's going to say it? Yeah.
00:32:29
Speaker
And eventually go like, man, we can't run this. What are we doing? Who typed this? You know, I think that was, you know, the line coach we had, Taylor, when, you know,
00:32:41
Speaker
Like the quarterback would make it be a bad play on the script. I'd be like, man, who but coaches that guy? Who called that play? And they're like, is that a redundant question? I mean, my a rhetorical question? Like, I don't know. And just so like for our listeners, so everybody kind of gets the history because we kind of jump forward a little bit.
00:33:04
Speaker
but So Pete and not our first two years were with Coach Houston, his first two years at Buffalo.
Coaching Careers and Achievements
00:33:09
Speaker
He was first two years as head coach, our first two years coaching. When COVID happened, we kind of scattered for different reasons.
00:33:17
Speaker
Pete went on to Elgin, which was a little bit closer to home for him. I came back up to Arkansas um because it was just a weird time. And Coach Houston stayed for another year at Buffalo,
00:33:30
Speaker
And I'll interject real quick, but before yeah continue you continue, and because of you two guys leaving, I firmly attest that's why we had the greatest season in school history that year that y'all left.
00:33:44
Speaker
I thought he was going to say they would have won state if we had stayed, but he went the opposite way. Honestly, but probably so. I mean, y'all would have, at that point, y'all could have talked a little bit of sense into me about punting the You know, in the quarterfinals, we punted twice, and they ran it back twice. And you would have said, hey, let's don't punt. After the first one, both of y'all would have said, we're not punting anymore. Let's go for it.
00:34:08
Speaker
But, yeah. but I'm sorry. Go ahead. Well, you know, Franklin, Texas might have had a little bit to do with that, considering the program they've built over the years. They're really good. You've got to remember. a good friend You got to remember the year before Rodgers, we thought we had them.
00:34:25
Speaker
And they drove right down the field on us in the first round the playoffs to knock us out. yeah So you guys got past Rodgers twice, you know.
00:34:36
Speaker
Fourth down. Fourth down play call. yeah i was No, let me tell you. Go ahead, guys. That was a tough one to take. i yeah You know, their head coach at the time was a really good friend of mine.
00:34:48
Speaker
And, you know, is it was fourth down, red zone play. I mean, we we get the stop. You know, we we win it and probably, you know, play another two or three more weeks. Who knows, you know. but Yeah, it was a tough one. i made a good play when it counts. And, you know, I guess if you're going to get beat, you know, both those, you know, all three of our losses in the playoffs there were two ah really good guys. Two of them I not consider good friends of mine. So, you know, it's it's way easier to get beat by somebody you're, you know, not that I didn't respect other guys that beat that's all I'm saying. But, you know, just guys you have a relationship with. You're like, hey, I like it when the good guys win, you know.
00:35:26
Speaker
yeah Well, my thing my thing I take away from that game, I remember that game in particular as a position coach, we're listening and we kind of know there was there was a moment probably three seconds before the snap.
00:35:39
Speaker
Defensively, man, our headsets light up. We realize that we're in a spot, that they that we've got a player who's not in the right spot. and ah And I remember over the headset going, let's call a timeout, let's call timeout, let's call timeout.
00:35:55
Speaker
But not... stepping out and going, Hey, timeout. I'll take my rear end to you. And later, if it, you know, we're wrong, but if we all know this is wrong, um, let's fix it.
00:36:07
Speaker
And, uh, anyway, I just remember that. I still tell that story often that I wish, you know, I didn't want to step on toes. So I'm back and, and the guy, ah you know, Aaron's up in the Aaron's up at the top board. Hey, we're not right. You need to call timeout, call timeout, you know, and I'm still,
00:36:26
Speaker
I didn't have the the faith in him to go, hey, we're going to call it. We saw something that we didn't like. But anyway, it is what it is. You know, that again, that was a great team. It was great game. Remember, because they started out putting it on us pretty good. Oh, yeah. We played so terrible in the first time. We turned it over three times, which was pretty uncharacteristic for us.
00:36:48
Speaker
Right. We were down. They shut us out in the first half. We're down either 14 or 21. And then battle back, take the lead anyway. It was a good game. it was a fun game to be a part of. I mean, you you know, you coach long enough, you're going to win games like that.
00:37:03
Speaker
You're going lose games like that. I mean, i and and I've won plenty of games. I probably had no business winning, you know, and I've coached games where you you should have walked away with an easy victory and you come out there with a loss. You're like, what just happened?
00:37:18
Speaker
And um so, in fact, I think, you know, the loss at homecoming, you know, my last year at Taylor, that was when I realized think I'm the reason why we lost. I mean, I felt in my head that I was the reason that we lost that game because all week, you know, athletic director roles had taken such a big strain on me. I didn't really put into the time and effort that I needed to, to be a great play caller. And, you know, from that point on, you know, Pete took over exclusive play calling duties. And I think,
00:37:50
Speaker
that helped two things. One, helped us make the playoffs because now I had somebody that was fully ah invested in that, but then also think it helped our overall athletic program. Everybody made the playoffs that year, first time in school history. Yeah. was Because now I didn't feel anchored to, you know, the play caller role.
00:38:10
Speaker
I could go during, ah you know, of the week and go help, you know, be be around volleyball, be around some of these other sports and answer and deal. And, and help coaches and support coaches in ways that maybe I wasn't able to do prior, you know, as being a full-time, you know, play caller with the offense.
00:38:32
Speaker
Yeah. And I, I got a sidetracked there, but so I'm going go back to kind of our history as coaches together. So we coached two years together at Buffalo, have a great first year.
00:38:44
Speaker
and we got a couple more stories you'll hear from that. Have great first year, great kids, hardworking. They wanted to achieve. um And that year we actually set a record for the furthest that Buffalo had been in the playoffs.
00:38:58
Speaker
um And then two years later, y'all beat it. So the year that Pete was at Elgin, I came up and I was coaching back here in Arkansas. um They went around further.
00:39:09
Speaker
As a matter of fact, the only team y'all lost to that year was freight with Franklin, wasn't it? Yes. And did they win the state championship that year were they runner-up? No, they got beat on a play that I promise you, it it was it was shift pirates.
00:39:23
Speaker
And I promise you that that team got it off film because we had run it on them. Well, obviously we ran it multiple times. mean, that play has been around. That play dates back to like 2010 and it's taken on different names. We don't call it shift pirate anymore. But so I swear the team stole it from video of us and they used it at the end to, uh,
00:39:48
Speaker
I think they scored with like 17 seconds left on that play to to win by one. Mm-hmm. I think they went for two to win, if I remember right. um I might might have been. but I can't remember. but i think they went for I think they went for the win and went for two.
00:40:04
Speaker
Yeah. But anyway, I mean, who knows you know how that shakes out. But it was still a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun. And then, so, after that year – um Coach Houston, coachui Coach Hewitt, Coach Heinze go to Taylor.
00:40:22
Speaker
And the two seasons prior, Taylor had been 0-20. I'm still up in Arkansas. um Coach in junior high. Actually, I was a junior high D.C., freshman in eighth grade D.C.
00:40:34
Speaker
at a school here. And ah we got together at Glacier, at Glacier Clinics, which we all kind of worked Glacier back then. in February after their first year.
00:40:46
Speaker
And I said, well, how'd go? how we you know How was it? They were like, you know hey, we went three and seven. you know We got better. ah And we started joking about me going back and coaching with these guys at Taylor.
00:41:02
Speaker
And I won't get into the bevy of jokes we made about it. um it It did as far as a joke and then You know, we started trying to, you know, joke with, you know, the lives started kind of picking up on it. Next thing you know, it's like, wait a minute. Yeah. There's a chance here.
00:41:21
Speaker
Yeah. I missed Texas football. but Finally, I was like, well, if I come back, I want to try out the offensive side. And, um, cause I've coached only defense up until then, but ended up working out and the three of us got to go. I got to be the assistant O-line at tight ends coach.
00:41:38
Speaker
Um, Pete was offensive coordinator and earned play calling privileges and they got play calling experience there. And man, that year at Taylor was fun. We ended up was a six and five was our final record, but made the playoffs lost to lost to Bernie in the first round and they went all the way so state runner up.
00:42:01
Speaker
Right. Yeah. I don't know what our record was, but it was a, you know first time they'd made the playoffs in three or four years and, And great kids. yeah great kids Good timing. you know that the you know They were freshmen when I got there that spring.
00:42:17
Speaker
They ended being sophomores that first year. that was ah That was, again, similar to the the kids in Buffalo in that they were ready for you know ready for change, ready for something different. So timing definitely matters.
00:42:32
Speaker
Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, that group of kids was hungry to be coached. And at the end of that first year, man, the the last game we took it we took a whipping from number one in the state LBJ.
00:42:47
Speaker
And we we rolled into that game with, I want to say, out of 22 – Yeah, 24 players on the bus. yeah twenty four players on the bus And i I think we started 18 sophomores, if I'm not mistaken. Out ah out of 22 starters on ah offense and defense, I think we started 18 sophomores.
00:43:08
Speaker
And a freshman. Yeah, and it really it really paid off. It really paid off, obviously, the next year, the experience those young guys got, and they took into that next year. And obviously, we had a really special player in Jarvis.
00:43:23
Speaker
And then even the year after we left, man, they they were really good. Obviously, I was in Rockdale. We faced them, and it was like, just watching them out there, i was like, God dang, these guys have grown. We watched these guys really grow and and blossom.
00:43:35
Speaker
Well, you know you know, one of them I recruited – uh, here. And, uh, he started 10 games for us as a true freshman was our third leading scorer, you know? So yeah, special, special group.
00:43:50
Speaker
ah Yeah. That O-line, uh, You know, none of them, not one person that we started on the O-line that year had started, at a varsity start. That's right, yeah. another bill One of them's at Cal right now.
00:44:02
Speaker
One of them's at Cal now. He ended up coming on. California. It wasn't Bill Marcy as a sophomore. theres guys No. Yeah. He only played three or four JV games as a sophomore because he, he yeah I believe he was ineligible. failed. Yeah, yeah. And so he didn't even play very many games his sophomore year.
00:44:22
Speaker
and And this may speak to a lot more to me as a coach. I think have told you he was our third best lineman that year too. That's what's crazy. yeah But, you know, I think that you take it all the way back to, you know, if you have coaches that pour into kids, kids will develop. And that young man definitely did.
00:44:40
Speaker
Yeah, he did. Good kid, man. car Unbelievable young man. So, and all of them, I can't say, you know, a negative thing about, uh, the you know the the the locker room we had, you know.
00:44:53
Speaker
yeah Yeah. Yeah. And we had some we had some fun games there in that year, too. Had some fun games in that year, too. ah Even the ones we lost. We made it exciting.
00:45:06
Speaker
And that that first year, you know, them coming off 0-20 and we get there and we go to Robinson and we win that first game, you would ah you would have thought they were going to throw a parade when we were driving the bus back. Like statues are going to be built.
00:45:19
Speaker
ah It was like the kids won a Super Bowl. It was really cool to see the emotion of the of the fans
Recruitment and Program Building
00:45:25
Speaker
and the kids that night. It was pretty cool. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. A lot of fun.
00:45:30
Speaker
Well, Coach, I want to um want to hit you up with something, and I'm cheating a little bit. I mean, this has got a little bit to do with just something I've noticed. we both We've all coached mostly in smaller schools. You've coached bigger schools at the high school level or big schools at the high school level and even at the collegiate level.
00:45:47
Speaker
But when i i just want to hear kind of what your thought process is so So you find yourself in smaller school and let's just say, you know, we talked about the kids at Taylor were eager to be coached.
00:46:03
Speaker
um Not all kids are eager to be coached. Some of them want, you know, the path of least resistance. And you're trying to, you're one of these coaches that I know we got thousands out here.
00:46:13
Speaker
You're trying to build a program. You want to set good discipline. You want to set good expectations. You want to throw the four golden rules. You know, let's attention to detail. Trust your coaches.
00:46:25
Speaker
Be good teammates. You know, give effort. Relentless effort. Do I get, I should get brownie points for still having all four gold rules. You don't get them in order, but got, didn't get them in order, but you know, I could, but I didn't anyway, be great teammates first. That's the most important thing.
00:46:44
Speaker
But you're trying to set those standards in today's and man, other coaches aren't, you know what I mean? Maybe in other sports or whatever. So you're trying to build a program and bring athletes in, but man, what you're doing is hard.
00:46:59
Speaker
And some kids sometimes don't want to try hard, hard, hard, you know, um how do you balance that? Or what is your advice for a situation? So when I talk about, you're always recruiting, right? I mean, you're recruiting guys to join your program.
00:47:17
Speaker
You're recruiting guys to buy into your program. You're recruiting guys to do things a certain way. I mean, so, you know, you want to use the word recruit, you want to use the word sales, you're a salesman. I mean,
00:47:30
Speaker
But the way I always look at it is value. You know, what is the value of being a park? What is the value of in and doing things this way?
00:47:43
Speaker
You know, because, you know, for the most part, if you're not careful, you get caught up on the 2025 season. And that's, well, if you got a sophomore, he's like, well, I'm not doing that. i'm a sophomore. I want to, how does it, you know, you got to value is at the end when it's all over, what did I get?
00:48:03
Speaker
And so you have to both look at the immediate value and then the long-term value. And I think that starts with just trust in that, Hey, I, at the end of the day, we all want the same thing. We want everybody to have a good experience. We want to be as successful as we can be.
00:48:20
Speaker
But, you know, if you think back, you don't know, well we ever really talked about winning, right? I mean, you can't control winning directly. right So many things beyond our control. Yeah. can cost the game You know, and so it was, let's, let's deal with all these other things.
00:48:35
Speaker
That's where the value lies. That's where you become important. You know, you're important. Um, in lots of different ways. And so I think it's trying to get them to see the value. It's more fun. It's gotta be some fun in there, right? I think they gotta see. I think that's why it was, you know again, um, your kids seeing you have fun together.
00:48:59
Speaker
I'll equate it to something, you know, my, I think, uh, you know, being raised, you know, and, uh, uh, you know my parents, my, you know, uh, my grandfather, you know, my dad and,
00:49:11
Speaker
We've all heard this, but always I take it into my coaching. But, you know, the greatest thing to me, what was taught to me, the greatest thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.
00:49:22
Speaker
Right. So to me, if I think the greatest thing you can do for your players is for the coaches to love each other genuinely. Right. If they need to see that there is a genuine relationship between the coaches.
00:49:37
Speaker
Right. You know what mean? I think when they see that, they understand that, Hey, it's not just the value. Isn't just winning. The value is relationships. The value is the fun.
00:49:51
Speaker
And if coaches can have fun with each other, then i think, you know, the players understand, okay, this is a I don't want to use the word safe space, but you know, they they they get that. Hey, you know what?
00:50:04
Speaker
Uh, It's
Memorable Coaching Stories
00:50:05
Speaker
going to be okay. The coaches aren't – when things go bad, coaches care about each other. They're not going to, you know, cut bait and take off, right? And so I think that's important.
00:50:16
Speaker
And then that allows you to get through the hard times. like You know, I say hard times, the struggle. I mean, you think about, you know, you play on Friday night, but you practice – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, you might have a Saturday treatment session. and I mean, you're practicing five to one, right? So if all you cared about was the fun and the value of the game, why would you do that, right?
00:50:41
Speaker
So you've got to get them to understand and and then see that there's genuine fun and value in a Monday afternoon, you know, and ah in a Tuesday morning film session or wait wait session or whatever. And, you know, some years we we do a better job that than others.
00:50:55
Speaker
you know But those those years when it really clicks, that's when you pull off the the three-year run we had at Buffalo, how you can you can go from 0-20 to you know making the playoffs in year two. And in fact, every every sport, you know varsity sport team in the playoffs. And so I don't know if there's a magic formula really other than you just got to be genuine in what you do.
00:51:19
Speaker
Yeah, Pete, but I don't even have anything I can add to that, Coach. That's well said, I think. Very well said. Absolutely. Let's do something just for fun here.
00:51:31
Speaker
and I'm going to make Pete start because he's been kind of backseat. Like he's still learning again. You notice that? Pete's been. kind of just sitting back and taking in today. so we're gonna make Pete start, but I want to, let's, let's, uh, share just a story. And again, for our listeners, man, I love these two guys. They are so special in my life and we don't get to actually like, we're looking each other on the screens. the First time we've seen each other. Well, three of us probably in a couple of years.
00:52:01
Speaker
Well, no, I mean, well, you, you, uh, when we played out at, uh, you know, we went played Lion. you know y'all Right, I got to see you, and I got to see Pete.
00:52:12
Speaker
Yeah. Not all together. Not me, the three of us. I guess it would have probably been, yeah, spring of 23, somewhere near summer, spring or summer of 23. Yeah, somewhere around, yeah, somewhere around that time.
00:52:24
Speaker
But, yeah. Pete, I want you to share a story that could be, I mean, I'll let you pick if it's funny, if it's just something that kind of spoke to you. uh, from time. I think it was kind of a fun time to end it.
00:52:41
Speaker
Man, there's some that could really be outing some people. If I talk to some stories, you know, taking the marker away from, from coach Houston, as he's trying to tell the junior high team, you know, yeah absolutely that's that's a good one.
00:52:59
Speaker
um
00:53:02
Speaker
Oh, gosh. ah the ah Let's just say the poopy bag story from the Christmas party in Taylor. That's a good one. yeah that's a good one um yeah but yeah so Oh man, there's some good stories. i don't know.
00:53:22
Speaker
It just seems like, you obviously I've known coach Houston since, 2017. If it feels like a lot longer than that, it just feels like there's been so many life events that have happened since I've known him. You know, he was around for the birth of my, of my son. he was around, know, my, uh, both my grandfather's deaths.
00:53:44
Speaker
Um, And he's just always been kind of a constant there. But there's there's some there's some good stuff, man. One of the stories I remember, and its it doesn't really involve him, it kind of involves all three of us, but we we always went and hung out at at your shop in Buffalo.
00:54:00
Speaker
And we play we played cornhole a lot. And i was alwaysspe I was always Chuck's partner because I really sucked at it. I was very inconsistent. Chuck was very good. So, like, we were the one and four player against the two and three when Huey and whoever else would show up, Roger, or whoever.
00:54:18
Speaker
So then we're and we're going to go have our – it was either before the football season party, whatever it was, our last get-together. Yeah, our coaches party. Yeah.
00:54:29
Speaker
We were doing a cornhole tournament, and Chuck gave me up as his teammate. He took somebody else. He took the basketball coach. I did. yeah so so So I roll into the tournament, me and the baseball coach, Coach Ellert, and we ran through that bad boy like nobody's business. We we won that tournament.
00:54:48
Speaker
And I just thought that was always hilarious. ah Chuck gave me up, and then we ended up winning the whole damn thing. Walked it off. Walked it off. Remember, he called his shot. but yeah He threw three bags.
00:55:00
Speaker
He might throw it. It might hit the bass boat. And then the next one is straight in the hole. i mean, it wasn't like he was close. Just missed it. I mean, it would just be off by eight feet.
00:55:12
Speaker
And then it would just be money. And I'm like, what in the world is going on? You know? Oh, man. That's so funny. He was definitely he was in his bag that night. I remember, yeah, he was on a roll.
00:55:26
Speaker
He probably bought a lot of tickets. I was playing the ball game. I was playing the long game, the long cone. Well, I got to tell this story because this is one of my favorite Chuck Carr stories.
00:55:39
Speaker
It was – it might have been the second home game. wasn't the first home game because our very, very first home game ever – Oh, my gosh, yeah. Started awful. We were down 21-0 in the blink of an eye and and came back to win it, you know, and – Going back six months prior to that or whatever, you know, in the state championship game, Pete and I get down 21 to nothing. I'm like, we're about to get blown out on national TV.
00:56:07
Speaker
And you know ended up flipping the script and blowing their doors off. But anyway, so that first home, that next home game, and we had kind of a, man you know, we were still offense kind of handled certain things and we had PAT or whatever.
00:56:24
Speaker
And were pretty good offense. I remember who we were playing, but we were we were considerably better than them. And we, unbeknownst to me, one of our D linemen who happened to be on PAT, we get a stop and he's like, tell us Coach Carr, I got to go to the bathroom.
00:56:40
Speaker
Yep. I got to go coach. I can't, can't hold it. He runs into the locker room. Well, we don't know. We scored like in two plays. You know, big play. I don't know what happened. And look, I only got 10 guys. I don't know we – and our kicker was a little – you know, bless, you know.
00:56:59
Speaker
And so we call timeout, and I'm just living. And I'm looking up now. Where is – you know, we'll get – We only had 10. Where's Junior? Where's Junior? And Chuck decides I'll switch over, I'll get on the headset, and I'll switch over to whatever. think we all had to where we could all call, make an all, you could hit the button and talk to everybody one time.
00:57:19
Speaker
Oh, gosh, Junior had to go to the bathroom. I'm like, you don't think that have been some important information we could know beforehand? Like, hey, so-and-so, you need to go in because if we scored, Junior's not here, you got to go.
00:57:33
Speaker
And anyway, it worked out. So we kick off. I don't know, three or four minutes later, just we're walking and rolling along. All of a sudden, just somebody breaks in. Hey, guys, Junior's back.
00:57:46
Speaker
And I was like, you smart, Alex. Son of a gun.
00:57:52
Speaker
Okay, thanks. I appreciate it. yeah now you on that Now you want to communicate that. Hey, I just wanted to make sure everybody was aware I learned from my previous mistake. I was communicating personnel matters.
Game-Day Operations
00:58:05
Speaker
no what am i You know, same kid, actually. Same kid. We were playing that first year. were playing Edgewood in what was essentially the district championship game.
00:58:17
Speaker
yeah I mean, um essentially that was it. And we won't even go into everything that went wrong when we went to Edgewood that day. It was travesty.
00:58:28
Speaker
so just Just one mistake after another, after another, after another. It starts with my daughter, who at that time was still in high school, and she was one of our student trainers.
00:58:40
Speaker
And she kind of wrapping up the pregame. And she comes up and he's like, man, where are the water bottles? I'm like, throw it on the saddle. Yes. i can't i I'm like, well, go ask Coach Carr. He's in charge of the equipment.
00:58:52
Speaker
and but but did i i let Let's be honest. Coach Carr was not in charge of the water bottles. I was in charge of huddle, the cameras, like all that stuff. But the one thing i was not in charge of was the water bottles. Okay, go ahead. Go ahead. I mean, I did put it this way.
00:59:11
Speaker
you You quickly climb the ladder of someone I'm like, I'm going to put a lot of faith and trust in you, which, I mean, that that's to your credit. yeah Sure, yes. But for whatever reason, people, whenever they had to break bad news to me, y'all would always try to go to Roger first and see how he might react.
00:59:31
Speaker
And then it's like somebody y'all would try to, I guess, can figure out who had, whose turn it was to come break the bad news to me. So you got to be the one to to break.
00:59:44
Speaker
And what would made it worse, what made it worse was, and I coach, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to step it. So Roger had given me the key to the locker room. Yes. I forgot. Remember?
00:59:54
Speaker
yes And so he's like, look, dude, I've gone to masters and I threw, I'm not going to say what coach it was, but i threw him under the bus to Roger. I was not a good guy that day. I was not a good teammate.
01:00:06
Speaker
i I threw him under the bus and said that moron didn't bring the water bottles. And he said, go to the opposing coaches and see if we can borrow water bottles.
01:00:18
Speaker
So I left with the opposing coach and you whistled up everybody to leave the field for pregame and go back to the locker room.
01:00:29
Speaker
And when I saw y'all turn it, I remember I was on the other end the field. I'm thinking I'm holding the key around my neck. Yes. Cause when I get up there, I'm like, why is everybody standing outside the locker? Why are we not going inside?
01:00:41
Speaker
And the guy who I thought had the key, you know, Roger's like, uh, I gave Chuck the key. So I'm like, what, what kind of fiasco is this? So, yeah.
01:00:53
Speaker
So that, that was all pregame that all that happened pregame. So now fast forward to the middle of the game and it we ended up winning comfortably. Yeah. At the time we're not up comfortably.
01:01:05
Speaker
It's, it's a game. And I've got the same kid. I've got J.R.A. He's the backup nose tackle. And he's got Junior. I'm sorry. But ah it's fourth and two And sure enough, if you're a D-line coach, you know what happened.
01:01:21
Speaker
I'm fourth and two They hard count, and the f freaking nose shade jumps all sides. And immediately – Coach, he turns her around and goes, what's he doing? And I wanted so bad. I was so new. and Coach, if this had happened the other day, I'd have looked at and well, I told that son of a gun to jump all sides on fourth and two so that you would not get to have the offense back on the field. Like, that's what I coached him to do. Anyway, so I like – I just take it for a minute. I get on junior.
01:01:56
Speaker
And to Coach Houston's credit, and this was – um I thought this was really big. after Shortly thereafter, he goes, I know that's not your fault. I know that we were all coaching them to watch and the kid just made a mistake.
01:02:10
Speaker
but You just got to let it out sometimes. yeah In the moment, it was so funny. He's like, what's he doing? And then i'm like, what the hell do I know? I don't know what he's doing.
01:02:22
Speaker
Well, I think, you know. didn't you put somebody else in and then they jumped again? Didn't happen like two times in a row? I thought that was the whole thing. It happened several times. It happened several times. And then fourth and two when we didn't need it to happen, which, I mean, you know, again, I've never coached one kid to throw an interception, but we've done plenty,
Career Reflections and Legacy
01:02:44
Speaker
you know. Right. Yeah.
01:02:46
Speaker
So, yeah, i mean, I think that as is what it is. But, you know, you know Pete has a special place because it can't be easy being a ah play caller for me because, you know, I never once called a bad play, you know, ever.
01:03:04
Speaker
And so when when plays didn't work, I'd be like, Pete, what are we doing? Why are we calling that play? You knowing good and well that has no bearing on it, I mean – Yeah, i think back, the was it the Smithfield game when they punt it?
01:03:18
Speaker
And he decides to grab it. It ricochets off the kid's helmet? Yeah, yeah. He hits it, but I'm like, what's he doing? And then in a blink of an think somebody's on head said, well, he's about to score a touchdown. That's what he's doing.
01:03:34
Speaker
So, yeah, we've all we've all been there. Yeah, yeah my my favorite one from the Smiths. This is a good Huey story. So Houston houston gets into it with the ref in Smithville.
01:03:46
Speaker
they call They call something, I think they call our tackle for unnecessary roughness because he pancakes a guy in pass pro. And basically just lays on him after. is It was a right tackle.
01:04:00
Speaker
They call him for unnecessary roughness. It backs us up. We're already like third and 15 at about the plus 30. Now it's like third and 30 at the 45. And Huey's like at the hash with the ref.
01:04:12
Speaker
And I'm like, what are we going to call? like well I got to tell Chuck and them something. Because at this time, he was still calling it. And we had just ran. Trips left a win. And Jarvis beat the guy, and he basically tackled Jarvis. They didn't call it because they called the thing in the backfield.
01:04:28
Speaker
And so we just call A1. He's like, F1, just run it again. just run that same play, we score. We're at the third and to 45th. Sometimes it's not about the plays. It's about the players' voice. and Right? Yeah, that's right.
01:04:43
Speaker
That's what I always say. thanks Just run it again. like Yeah, just run it again. Well, you know, we had that really good player in 2017 when we won the whole thing. And then that next year, you remember. we We get to Buffalo and the kid that was our A was a really good player. He just wasn't, you know, he wasn't Big 12 caliber like we had.
01:05:01
Speaker
I remember after about the season, I just remember saying, gosh, we've got to reassess how we're coaching the win route. I can't get it coached up like how it's how it's looked the last two years. And you're like, I don't think the guy we got running it is.
01:05:17
Speaker
That's the issue. Yeah, you're right. Yeah. He may not be same caliber athlete as you had in the last two years. Jamal, run yeah, he'd he'd run he'd run heck of a route. He'd make good catches. He just wasn't going to make eight guys miss him on the way to 70-yard touchdown, you know?
01:05:35
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, that was there was a two-year span where I know excel our head coach would look. Sometimes he would get – I know this, if you're on defense and you did any kind of jaw, and our head coach just be like, score this play.
01:05:47
Speaker
And we could literally throw it to Clay just about any time we wanted. And, i I mean, it wasn't 100%, but it was it was way better than any odds you're ever going to get in Vegas. Let's put it that way.
01:05:59
Speaker
So, yeah, that was a nice to have.
01:06:04
Speaker
I heard my, I think, funniest play call that I remember, and it was also a Taylor. And that's super. As a of fact, another kid running back that, is he going to Wazoo? Is is he going to go ahead and go? I know he got offered. I don't know. i haven't talked him yet. Wazoo.
01:06:22
Speaker
um but ah he was one of those guys that was a very good running back. Let's just say he didn't catch the ball real well sometimes. And we had just got, remember this, we had just got a sack or something. Was this the screen against, against, against, against the, y'all it was okay, why don't you call that? I'm like, it's going to work.
01:06:46
Speaker
we like He says, and yeah, he calls so he calls a screen, only he's not really happy about it. He's like, I don i don't know. It was like 30 forever.
01:06:57
Speaker
I throw the slow screen to the back, and they're like, Coach, you know so-and-so's in. I'm like, nah. He's in there, and he goes, oh, it'll be all right. And sure enough, that kid houses it. But every one of them were like, no, I know what it was. I was like, oh, I'm thinking about Frisco. What do y'all think? That's it.
01:07:14
Speaker
And I like, what do y'all think? And before y'all could even go, I was like, you know what? Heck with Run it. And so I just, think I might have been the one that just signaled it. Like, heck with it Run it. And I forgets.
01:07:26
Speaker
Pete was like, well, okay, let's, don't matter what I think. And it worked. I mean, you know, it wouldn't have worked for me to give grief. But, yeah, that was, I mean, like said, i could talk about, that's that's you know, what I'm going to miss about, you know, this profession is just, you know, all those, all those stories over the years. I mean, it's 30 years in you know, transitioning out of it, you know, that'll be tough. But, you know, yeah.
01:07:55
Speaker
Because at some point you got to hang up the whistle and go out to pasture, I guess. Well, I, I tell you, I, uh, and I think, i don't know if I, I know I opened with this, but I truly believe coach. I'm like,
01:08:08
Speaker
And I know this is going to open some doors for you, and I'm excited, you know, for what your future is. But ah I think hands down, and I've, you know, gotten to know a lot of coaches over a few years, that I truly believe you're one of the best.
Support and Future Plans
01:08:25
Speaker
And the kids that I talked to that you got a chance to coach, and the coaches that I talked to, I think, all in all, we'd agree with it. And man, I am so excited that you came on with us this evening and just shared some of your wisdom again.
01:08:42
Speaker
Well, it's it's a lot of fun. You know, you two guys mean a world to me. And obviously my wife and I, we will be traveling to Rosebud, Arkansas sometime this summer. I just got to figure out what my schedule is going to look like. But, you know, I hope I'm able next year. know I will.
01:09:00
Speaker
I'm hoping I can get a sideline pass to the Battle of the Bell next year. Um, something, yeah you know, so, uh, this new chapter, I hope, uh, gives me some opportunity to go visit and see some of, you know, some of my friends still do what they do.
01:09:17
Speaker
Um, you know, and, uh, so I'm looking forward to that. So what's your area now, coach, if you want give them just a minute, tell everybody kind of what you're doing. So, um, You know, we talked about that school where, you know, the the kid jumped offside that we lost the water bottle. So, you know, that that head coach of that school, became we became really, really good friends. In fact, we worked together ah here at Howard Payne.
01:09:42
Speaker
he had an opportunity to go back to that school. And I just took that opportunity as a chance to get to work for a, you know, one of the largest sporting goods, you sales or sporting goods companies in the country and in this area, you know, here where my wife is is from. And so just felt like the good Lord was saying, hey, man, it's time to, you know, I'm 52 years old. It's time to grow up and get a real job.
01:10:11
Speaker
So obviously I'll be servicing about 40 different high schools up here. know, Lord willing, I can i could manage that. And their uniform and equipment needs, that's the goal. and So, you know, we feel like a year, 18 months from now, as that area gets built out that maybe it'll afford me a little bit more, more time to go, uh, you devote to, obviously, you know, our wives. i mean, you think about our wives, i mean, we're, uh, both you guys are blessed with, again, two of the best coaches, wives there are, you know, they're, you know, they're in the business of education. So they understand, I mean, golly, they followed y'all. I mean, your wife, Chuck, y'all moved all over and, you know, y'all, y'all, um,
01:10:53
Speaker
you know, had a lot of experiences. so I think that's important for guys understand how important your your support system has got to be more than just, you know, your your your friends and your coaches that you coach with. Because, you know, I lay my head down at night next to you, the biggest supporter. And so you've got to make sure that they are taken care of and that, you know, you're doing right by them. I think I'd like to think that our staffs, we we tried to incorporate the family atmosphere into it. You know, you know, we've had Christmas parties and impromptu barbecues at each other's houses and kids are over. I mean, you know, I get my cardio in when, ah you know, Pete's kids are around because if, yeah it's the first thing, chase me, chase me, you know, and I'll never get we're eating pizza at that place on 79 and
01:11:44
Speaker
Zane just, we're just talking at that big picnic table thing. And Zane's just, he's making these laps around the table. and What's he doing? All of a sudden he just whacks me right on the backside and takes off like we're playing duck duck.
01:11:57
Speaker
He was just trying to entice me to get up and chase him. him and Enough with the conversation. We got to play. And I think, again, that's just, you know, comfort that our families have with each other, knowing that it's ah it's bigger than ah than a game, you know. I mean, this – you know i don't I don't consider you know myself, you know football doesn't de define me, but it's been obviously a big part of my life. and I wouldn't wouldn't have friends like you guys if it weren't for football.
01:12:24
Speaker
you know and so I think the greatest thing I've ever been called in my life is dad, but you know high up on that list is coach. and so yeah It's an important business in my opinion. important fact professional we We need good men in the profession and you two guys do a great job with with that. And so I'm proud to be associated with you.
01:12:47
Speaker
Appreciate it, coach. Absolutely. But, well, this is, ah we're going to get ready and cut this loose. Pete, you got anything you want to, you want to add? No, um I'm scrolling on BSN right now, looking at the Holloway jackets, looking at, you know, what kind of free samples I might be able to get.
01:13:08
Speaker
yeah Oh, yeah. All right. We can talk. I love me some Holloway jackets. Heck, yeah. We got all kinds. We do Adidas now. you know For a while, we didn't carry Adidas. Now we're back.
01:13:20
Speaker
so I'm at a Nike school, man. We have to. Our uniforms have to be Nike. ah we We got you covered. We could talk shop and business here a little bit.
01:13:31
Speaker
There you go.
01:13:35
Speaker
But man, this has been so much fun and coach. I appreciate again, just your wisdom. I know that, uh, your heart even now, and i I don't ever see it changing is to see kids change, like kids touched by the game, becoming men learning and, um,
01:13:55
Speaker
And like you said, there's just, there'll never be enough men willing to to do that or to have that vision. And so, again, i know that doesn't stop. That's not going to end. you're gonna You're going to continue to be active in in any area. You can be a help. And this, just some of the things we talked about, besides of the stories, just...
01:14:15
Speaker
um about what to look for in a staff and how to, how to reach kids and show them the value that they have and, and to put winning in its right place. And, you know, man, I appreciate I've just, I go back, I go back in time to how many times we sat around that dag whiteboard in that shop and I'm Hey coach, isn't this a great play? And you're like, well, is it any better than this?
01:14:43
Speaker
but i' like to go I know right you were always disappointed in me and that I wasn't immediately giving you instant affirmation, but I don't feel like I was saying, let me tell you why. No, no, no, no, no. I remember. I kept asking questions. Well, what about this? so What about this?
01:14:59
Speaker
And because I had a mentor of mine from way back, he would he would take me full circle asking me questions, making me troubleshoot my own you know schemes, if you will. And eventually I would either figure out, oh, maybe this isn't as good or we don't need to add this or we could come up, maybe come up with a better way to run a drill or whatever. And I think, again, that goes back to don't just tell somebody this is how we're going to do it because I said so.
01:15:28
Speaker
Let's all get on the same page and and understand why we need this. Why is it better than what we're doing and all of that. And so hopefully maybe that's something you could take. And hopefully you – and I know you're doing that with younger guys or other guys that y'all are coaching with now. It's ask a lot of questions. I mean – Yeah.
01:15:49
Speaker
So –
01:15:52
Speaker
Well, guys, again, it's been a blast. um For our listeners there, we still have, there's no, I don't guess we have really any new news. We're working on a few things.
01:16:03
Speaker
So we'll hope to have ah some fairly exciting news. I i don't know. We're going to shoot our shot at one big event this year and just see if we can make some things happen. um And we'll get you more info for that as it comes along.
01:16:18
Speaker
But ah again, Pete, Coach Huey, man, it's been a blast. So appreciate it. And totes and throws, by the way, that is that's that's Coach Huey's name. We were trying to come up with the name we wanted.
01:16:36
Speaker
Remember? That's right. took to why could it be And he yeah he came up with
Nostalgia and Humor
01:16:42
Speaker
totes and throws. We were missing the totes part. And it was like, because what about totes and throws?
01:16:47
Speaker
And he still laughs. He's like, I can't believe you kept that freaking name. The original graphic, did nothing beats that. That's the best one. Hey, it's still there. it's still the one. it's still the one.
01:17:00
Speaker
Hey, wait until, I don't know. going to go ahead and preview it. So I think we're going to use the Heinzee limousine tagline when they're ready to run an ad. It's going to be, you've had the old bull. Come get the young calf.
01:17:15
Speaker
That's right. We might want to do a test subject, what do they call that, where study groups or test groups can. Yeah. we put this Group on that one to see how the that would go.
01:17:28
Speaker
yeah tell you i think at coaches school, you'd give those shirts away like hotcakes. Yeah. Again, what ah I don't know what to say. it Just because something sounds like a good idea doesn't mean you should do it or whatever.
01:17:43
Speaker
Yeah. that's Probably right. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Yeah, there you go. Anyway, I love you guys. i Have a great time. I'm going to go ahead and sign us off. i'll See you next time.