Mario Cristobal and Greg Schiano talk 2023 Pinstripe Bowl -- #Rutgers Scarlet Knights Football

ladies and gentlemen you're watching yes hey everybody it is great to have you with us today on YES streaming on the yes app and pinstrip bow.com for today's press conference covering the two teams that will be playing and this year Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl is Bob lenson executive director Mark Holzman with you in studio we will be joined shortly by the athletic directors and head coaches of the two teams going to head-to-head Thursday December 28th at 2:15 on ESPN ruter against Miami Mark take us through the selection process because I know you had a lot of good teams in contention sure well thanks Bob first of all we've we've wanted ruter in the game for many years they haven't been in our bowl game for a number of years and it's great that coach shano was back their qual qualifying for a bowl game and we had our eyes on them for a long time for many years Miami has played in our bowl game once before it was very successful and since the beginning of the year when it looked like coach chrisal had really turned the program around we really wanted Miami to play as well they were our first pick on the other side and it doesn't always work out the way you want it in life but this time it did and we're actually got both of them and we're we're very excited to have both of them um I want to First of all welcome uh the head coaches who are on this uh on today on with us as well as the athletic directors the head coaches you know Greg shano from ruter Mario Christal from Miami and the athletic directors Pat Hobbs from ruter and Dan rakovich from Miami it's it's great to be on board with you and we look forward to a terrific month and a terrific game it's believe it or not Bob it's the 13th year of the Bad Boy Mowers pinstrip ball hard to believe hard hard to believe and I wanted to thank of course first of all the steinbrener family I mean for those of you that don't know you know George steinbrener in his early years was an assistant head coach of both Purdue and Northwestern and after baseball his first love was was college football and he's smiling today that this ball has grown the way it's grown and we appreciate the support of his entire family in considering this tradition then of course team president Randy this game could not have started without Randy and could not continue without Randy he's there to discuss it with me every day he supports every initiative and uh this game could not have gone to the heights that it's gone to today if it wasn't for Randy then of course our title sponsor Bad Boy Mowers wonderful title sponsor perfect fit with what we're trying to do and of course our television partner ESPN they've been with us since the beginning and promote this game heavily um you know Yankee Stadium is all about history Bob I mean we've we've had so many great sports events over the last 100 years at Yankee Stadium it's an iconic Stadium throughout the world and both schools believe it or not both Miami and ruter you know have been part of that history I mean ruter has played in our Bowl now U this will be their third time in our Bowl um previously uh they played against Iowa State Big Win um had a close game against notra Dame and and and now they're back uh coach Gio's also won a regular season game at Yankee Stadium so they're they're two and one and Miami played Wisconsin they were here five or six years ago so it's great to have them back and it seems like everything we do at Yankee Stadium there's so many storylines that that help that really make the game very special I mean first of all I mean the storyline with Mario Christal and Greg shano you know a lot of coaches go way back and a lot of and some of the coaches are good friends I mean coach Christal and Coach shano met in the late 1990s on Butch Davis's staff with the Miami Hurricanes they obviously became close friends and from there obviously they went on to a lot of success coach shano being hired uh by ruter is I believe at that time the youngest division one coach in the country and Coach Christal going on to head coaching at FIU Temple Oregon and now he's back at his alamada Miami U and it's really it's really a great story and you know coach shano you know there's a personal relationship going way back he's been a close friend of the Yankee organization he was at ruers once for a while brought the program back to prominence they went through some hard times then Coach shano's back and wouldn't you know it within a few years they're back in prominence again and it wasn't easy I mean they had the apparently the second toughest schedule in all division one this year yet they were still able to qualify for a bowl game and you know coach shano also would tell me there's a there's a personal connection when he was younger he used to do a lot with his father Barry and they were at a lot of the Yankee playoff games with Reggie Jackson and Thurman Munson and those are some of the Fondest Memories he spent you know with his dad so you know there's a there's a real connection there with coach and also coach was hired actually uh at by Bob M he the old athletic director at ruter and Bob also was on the staff of the bad boy mower's pin strap balll for many years and became a close friend and Confidant of mine as he was with Coach shano so there are a lot of there's a lot of complimentary stuff there and you know coach Christal I mean he's pure Miami I mean he was a he was on the 89 and 91 uh championship teams of the hurricanes and obviously he coached under coach shano at ruter and his team you know you're talking a quality team they finished strong okay they were at one point ranked up as high as 17 in the country this year and were also in the top 25 for a while so Miami's done very well and we were following them the whole year and of course the players I mean what a history on both sides I mean the Miami players might have gotten you know more notoriety in the NFL players like Vinnie testy uh Bernie Kosar remember those from our day absolutely um Warren Sap uh they've had some terrific players U Michael Irvin and then you look at Ruckers and I I think the embodiment of Ruckers is the guy we just watched on Monday Night Football Isaiah P Pacho he just keeps chopping he was a low draft pick and the guy has an incredible work ethic Rutter's graduate and look at him now he's one of the best receivers Best best running backs in college football and I think he credits A lot of that to what coach shano did for him and of course there are a lot of other Ruckers has had many graduates go on to play in the NFL our good friend Marco baglia uh senu uh Brian Leonard um Devin mccordi so ruers has done very well you know in the NFL too um and currently you know you want to have star players in the game and both schools had some players this year that really stood out and I'd just like to acknowledge a few of them um on the Miami side they had maybe one of the top receiving tandems in the country and Xavier ESO and jacobe George uh great story and then in addition to that there's a very special story they have a quarterback who's going to be uh starting um this game and he was an all city and all state player at Cardinal Hayes High School if that sounds familiar it's in the Bronx New York on the Grand Concourse and just recently a few days ago in Kudos Cardinal Hayes they won the the city and state Catholic school championship and he's going to be playing in that game and they have high hopes for him he could be one of the top quarterbacks in the nation next year and it's be quite a story that he's coming back to play on the turf you know just a few miles from where where he went to high school pretty good and on the on the ruter side you have the number one rusher in the entire Big 10 Kyle manang number one and that's a that's an accomplishment you got some pretty good running backs you know in the Big 10 and then a quarterback uh I've been watching him because I live in New Jersey and I've been watching him mature Gavin whims set's come a long way I mean he's a dual threat both as a runner and a passer and uh people fans should be looking to watch him too so there's going to be star power in the game as well and it's really going to provide for what I think is a terrific matchup and one of the more compelling uh Bad Boy Mowers pinstrip balls than we've had in a while well it's going to be exciting you've set the table for us now let's bring in some of the dignitaries that are with us and we're going to start with Miami's vice president and athletic director Dan rakovich and Dan I know you have to leave sunny in 75 in Miami what does this mean to you to be playing in this Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl Bob thank you and uh you know Mark it's great to see you again uh as as we start this journey to the Bad Boy Mower pinstripe bull you know University of Miami is delighted to be a part of it and we are we're looking forward to spending that time uh between Christmas and New Year's in uh in New York uh but it's been uh it's been a good it's been a good operation thus far and and the guys in inside the uh organization Mark and and say as he said thank you to Randy I want to do the same for uh for the invitation on Sunday we're just delighted to be a part of this and and looking forward to uh to getting there and uh putting on a great uh football game against the ruers [Music] university Dan thank you for that we're gonna now get to your head coach Mario christall and Mario there is that great connection besides just Ruckers against Miami Greg shano on the other side who of course you were a coach with what does it mean for you to take this Miami team and continue to rebuild that bowl pedigree for Miami well first and foremost just honor to be a part of this of this bowl game and everyone that was involved in granting us this opportunity really grateful to them um with Coach shano obviously he was um he gave me my start forever grateful to him was the best Mentor I've had um in this business and always a great friend I know on that game they will be trying to knock each other out but aside from that uh you know certainly him and his family from the moment I I got in the coaching industry he was the reason why I was able to actually happen for our team we're growing and we're growing fast and developing and progressing uh certainly it was a priority to get Miami back on track and bringing in some great recruiting classes developing our current players and there's been a lot of progress in that direction over the course of the last 18 months 24 months and we look forward to continuing that um and certainly starts with a a great opportunity against great football team like Ruckers and we're looking forward to it Mario thank you we'll hear from you again in just a bit now to the rutar side of things and their athletic director Pat Hobbs and Pat ruers back in the Pinstripe Bowl and having that connection with Yankee Stadium what do you think about this matchup coming up you know we we couldn't be more excited um you know I grew up here in New Jersey and like Greg um pretty early in life started going to Yankee games lifelong Yankee fan uh even had the pleasure to throw out a first pitch once which was a lot of fun and so to be part of this um Mark uh thank you um eight years ago when I took this job Mark said we want to get you back to the Pinstripe bolt so it took a little longer than we wanted but we're here and uh so I thank the Yankee organization uh particularly Randy LaVine and and Stein brener family um you know I did not know that about uh George's past in terms of football coaching doesn't surprise me the way you're Randy Yankee sometimes um and you know you named some of those players uh and I think about against some of those great moments on the baseball side in Yankee Stadium I was H fortunate to be at Don mingle's first playoff game which was pretty fun uh and I the stadium was actually shaking but so to be there and to be part of football is is hugely exciting uh I I want to extend my congratulations to the University of Miami to Dan rakovich and to coach christall um listen I I I know the job that you took over coach and how hard that is uh and so we're really looking forward to a great contest on December 28th uh and then Coach shano um you know some people say he's GRE shano 2.0 I always say he's GRE Chanel 4.0 uh it's that sort of developed and um four years now watching the culture that he's developed how he built this program uh the young men in the program um it's uh it's a testament to him the staff that he's put together uh to the great young kids that that um compete for us so to be in this bowl game is just incredibly exciting our fans aren't very far away so we're hoping get a little home field advantage if we can as we as we uh you know in welcome and expect the Hurricanes to come up full force uh from from Miami so we're very very excited um and and again I should mention uh sponsors are incredibly important so thank you to the Bad Boy Mowers as well um so yeah just excited and can't wait till the 28th well Pat it's great that you have that personal connection with not only this bowl game at Yankee Stadium as well and another guy who has that Greg shano the head coach of ruter Greg what does it mean to you to be back in this bowl game well first off I want to thank um the Yankee organization and Bad Boy Mower for the opportunity to get back to a bowl game um it's really exciting for us it is h a testament to the work that the players put in they're the ones who get us there and coaches we try to direct and help you know my my whole thing is equip and Inspire and you got to have the right guys that want to be equipped and want to be inspired and we do so uh my congratulations is out to them uh to the University of Miami what a great opponent uh to have in the bowl game and again Mario said it now I'm in bad shape if we're gonna he said we're gonna knock each other out if you've ever seen Mario and you've ever seen him train I'm not I'm not having any chance of knocking him out so I'm in I'm in big big trouble right now but we're we're going to have some fun and it's going to be a great contest and uh two really good programs that I think are on the rise on their way back and it it should be real exciting and you're right there's so many connections to Yankee Stadium uh to the Yankees growing up uh my my late father we used to watch the Yankee games in my basement I can remember big bag of peanuts watching the Yankee game and then when having the opportunity to be at the game when Reggie hit the three homers three first pitch homers uh literally when Pat said the stadium was shaken the stadium was shaken and we were about six rows from the top so would have been a big fall but uh really some great great memories and to be able to play in a such a prestigious bowl game in our backyard uh is certainly a bonus but again I want to congratulate everyone involved and I can remember going to the first Pinstripe Bowl back when I was here I think it was 2011 and what a great experience our players our coaches our families our fans everybody had so I'm looking forward to it uh can't wait to get started great thank you for that we're going to hear from the coach NES coming up in our Q&A segment Mark I do want to ask you and I I love asking all the time it's such an experience coming to New York around the holidays what's in store for the players and the coaches well it's a lot of the same stuff that's we've that's been so special and so successful but we have you know we're the Yankees and we've always we always add one or two new twists one new twist that we're going to have is there's actually going to be a field goal contest at halftime where there's going to be one represent one kid from ruter at ruter picks and one kid from Miami and they're going to compete for scholarship money funded by Bad Boy Mowers and it's a significant amount they both get $5,000 just for appearing then they get their choice of where they want to kick the field goal from they can kick it from the five yard line and potentially make $10,000 they could go from the 10 yard line and potentially make $20,000 then if they really feel adventur they can kick from the 20 yard line and make $35,000 so that something tells me you're going for the long field goal is that right AB for it all why not I think both I think both schools teach their kids to go for it and I think both uh I think the kids are going to go for it but it'll be exciting I mean the F the kids will be behind it in the sections and everything rooting for their their own kids to do it and uh I hope they both do it I mean there's no everyone's a winner here because kids get something and I you know Bad Boy Mowers came up with the idea and and I give them a lot of credit well something look forward to it half time besides the game and you mentioned some of the stars that are playing this game and you heard from both Greg and Mario about how exciting that sort of personal connection is and they're not physically going to beat up on each other but they want their teams to do that and win the game right it sounds like if they tried to Mario would win I guess but maybe I'll discuss that with Greg later but no we're going to do all the fun stuff that and all the charity stuff that makes our Bowl special I mean we're going to have the appearance at the uh uh the the the kids pediatric area at Memorial Salone K ketering I mean we're going to do the chalk talk uh at Yankee Stadium for the Kips boy boys and girls club and then we're going to all the old Staples we're take on Christmas uh night we're taking all the all the kids and the families to Radio City Music Hall that's obviously a very special evening you get to see the iconic uh Rockets we're ringing the bell of the stock exchange there are only about 200 million people worldwide who see the the ringing of the bell of the stock exchange and we're going to bring both coaches athletic directors and some team captains there to ring the bell it's great exposure for the players it's great exposure for the schools you know just not only the athletic programs and the football teams but the schools as a brand to get that kind of exposure uh throughout the world and on CNBC uh then of course we're going to you know one world Observatory um uh we every year we want this to be educational for the kids too so we take them to the 911 memorial because with some of the kids it's the first time they've ever been to New York City yeah and we think it's very important even though believe it or not most of these kids were not born when 911 occurred hard to believe that the years have gone on so quickly but we're going to take them there too the night before the game uh the the Empire State Building is going to be lit up in the two schools col and then we're doing something a little new at a place called spin um in Midtown we're having we're taking both schools and there's G to be a little pingpong contest and a few other athletic contests but we're making everything close so every so so you can walk so the kids can walk important so well we don't want we don't we've learned you know we tried to make some improvements over the years so and then of course we're going to take the the wives we do a lot of stuff for the wives we're taking them for a special lunch at Tavern on the Green so you know and once again um there's going to be very nice gift bags for everyone so we make it special and I think one of the things which really separates us from a lot of bowls is all the stuff we do do for the families and we and the wives and we will continue to do that so uh you know we're looking forward to a great week once again we have the uh the Sheran and the Hilton you know as our two hotels you know two iconic New York hotels and uh you know we're very excited it's going to be a special week that is that is a full week but again it all comes to aead Thursday the 28th 2:15 on ESPN The Bad Boy Mowers pinstrip bow ruter against Miami we will take a quick break here on yes the yes app and pinstrip bow.com and when we come back more with Mark a Q&A with the ads and head coaches as they play for that Bad Boy Mowers pin stri B trophy stick around reminder lock it in Thursday December 28th at 2:15 at Yankee Stadium it will be ruter against Miami and the Bad Boy Mowers pinstrip Bowl the latest edition it's good to have you back let's get it to the head of media relations Michael Margolis he's standing by with some reporters that have questions for the athletic directors the head coaches and potentially Mark as well Mich take it away Bob thank you very much uh we will kick it off with Bruce Beck from wnbc Channel 4 New York thank you Michael uh Mark talked about Yankee Stadium in New York but I wanted to ask Greg and Mario what is the the magic of this experience for your programs New York City during the holiday season Yankee Stadium great well Bruce I think you know um it'll be a great time for our families for our players for our staff for everybody that's involved in the game time there's no place like New York around the Christmas holiday uh and then throw in the the great part of playing in such a great bowl game it doesn't get a lot better than that so we're certainly looking forward to it and uh you know when you have an opponent like the University of Miami it just it's icing on the cake hey Mario I Echo kiano's sentiments and you know for for our players it's such a different and new experience you know they they obviously know the legendary status of where we'll be playing at and the caliber of opponent great opponent that we have in ruter and we have a couple players from the Northeast as well so all in all everyone U when when it was announced the excitement was awesome in our play so for them a great experience another opportunity to play game number 13 um all in all just an incredible opportunity thank you very much we'll go to Adam lonstein from the south Florida Sun Sentinel uh hi Mario I hope you're doing well uh so far it looks like uh half dozen players uh from the team have gone into the portal uh my question is first do you expect more players to to go into the portal and then among the players who have like announced for the NFL draft jvon T James Williams do you know if they expect to play in the bow game well you know I expect a couple a handful of guys to go pro uh we certainly have to keep supplementing our roster and finding ways to sign a certain amount of members to 2024 class both high school and through the portal so um hopefully we'll achieve that number and make be able to make that room on our roster and also find opportunities for guys on our roster to find a place that suits them and their future and their plan so I think it's very fluid um and I think U we have a really good plan for it and happy for the guys coming in and wishing well for the guys that are on their way to another opportunity we'll take the next one from j.com hi coaches uh I was hoping that you could answer a question about Ruckers running back Kyle manangi who leads the Big 10 in rushing I specifically want to know uh what what you think of his style and what makes him a special player are you asking me or Mario uh both of you get I know you've answered this question before coach but uh mostly Mario if he's had the time to watch I love being in the Northeast again because the Northeast I'm Mario down in Miami I'm Mario or Mario but I'm back to being Mario and I'm very excited about that so um but what can you say about him he's he does it all and every down back back power speed tremendous balance runs behind his pads excellent in protection catches the ball really well now you can tell that he cly ignes that offense um yards after contact you're not bringing him down he makes the first guy Miss just very very natural football player obviously I'm sure he's a tremendous team leader and certainly one of the best in the country we'll take the next one from Mike Cohen at Fox Sports New Jersey all right uh this was a question to both coach chano and also Pat Hobbs uh if you could just both speak about uh the opportunity before the program you've spoke both spoken about the steady Improvement and return to prominence for Ruckers football and just speak about how big this is going to be uh for the program want me to go first why don't you go ahead Pat sure listen this is it's it's like the next step right so when coach came back uh the program obviously had tremendous challenges and um you know it's a coach says like this is a developmental program so it's getting really good young men in here um building them up and and watching their growth um not just athletically but their maturity and all those things are really important so this was a really big step this year for our program and um couldn't be happier for the young men who were on our program uh so you know we're building right as coach says keep chopping and I I was there when coach came back and he explained what that meant um and and sort of the focus that you have to bring every day and that's where we are now we're we're program with Focus we're program with leadership in the locker room um really really fine young men uh the number that I get I get to talk to them uh before game sometimes but always after the game and win or lose they're just unbelievable uh and so now our fans are really excited I think we're competitive even in the games that we lost this year uh fans saw we're a really competitive program we believe we can beat anybody uh in the country and look you got a tremendous um opponent who's very similar I think in in the way Mario builds uh his program as well so looking forward to the contest it's another step as we build this program back to the same prominence that Greg had it when he was here the first time coach yeah I think Pat really described it well um we got a lot of young men in our program that are fully committed to building something special in New Jersey at ruter and uh we don't claim to want to be like everybody else we try to do things that maybe are a little different um but they're unique to us and I think our team our staff our fans we Embrace that so it's exciting it's uh as Pat said it's a it's a stop along the way you know up here in New Jersey everybody goes on the Garden State Parkway and every single mile there's a mile marker and as I told the team U becoming Bowl eligible we're passing one of those mile markers it's not our exit and we'll keep cruising along we got a great opponent in the University of Miami which is going to be a great Challenge and I know how Mario christall will prepare his team they'll be tough they'll be resilient so it's going to be a knockdown drag out fight at Yankee Stadium and uh that's fun I think both our teams and both the staffs that's kind of how we're built so it should be it should be an exciting game thank you we'll take the next one from Susan Miller Dean from the Miami Harolds hey Mario um as far as Jakari Brown goes uh what would you like to see from him in the bow game um how difficult might it be for him when he hasn't played all season and U do you expect to see Jakari Brown back next season he's played a lot of football you know through throughout the course of his high school career he's been playing football since he's been knee high so we expect him to play his very best and and that's it nothing more and nothing less he excited about the opportunity he'll be well prepared and his only focus is this football game in this team nothing that's happened before nothing after so he has the confidence of his teammates and the entire coaching staff and Mario as far as the transfer portal goes um I talked a little bit about it but um how you know are you hoping to add more than I guess one quarterback from the portal and do you feel like you're close to adding at least one as you know Susan we don't discuss Personnel stuff uh openly with the media it's just not policy we have a great plan in place we have certainly uh built the roster in a short amount of time more to the level and the expectation the caliber of what Miami football should look like uh and that being said we will continue to do so and we feel extremely confident uh that by the end of the recruiting cycle will be exactly where we need to be okay thank you you're welcome we'll take the next one from Christian Dyer from ruers wire uh this one is for coach chano and Coach just wanted to ask you um getting to this point get getting the program to where it is made a little bit more of a difficult and challenged by the fact that you do play in a tough conference and tough division with the second toughest strength of schedule this year uh in the country um is it more rewarding that the team is Battle tested and can you just speak to the challenges of kind of going through the grind that you did this year to get to this point and to now play a historic program in Miami that's a that's a great question Christian I mean it it is the Big 10 East which will be you know dissolved after this year um and we'll have one big conference but the Big 10 East to me was the hardest division in college football the toughest Division and week in and week out you you're in a slugfest uh but it really did help our team grow and we had opportunities where we you know Pat had mentioned it we were really competitive in games that quite honestly before we weren't competitive and so again that's another mile marker uh we're a developmental program we're going to we're going to bring in quality young men who love football and then we're going to build them and build them and build them and that's how we did it when we were here the first time and that's how we're going to do it this time and it's a a process and I do think that when you play a schedule that is as challenging as the one we did it definitely helps you grow it it speeds up your growth and uh but you have to have resilient guys or it can Crush you and it didn't our guys will uh you know we were a little beat up at the end of the year that's for sure so we need this little break here to to get well and we will and uh the young guys will get some valuable reps and that's one of the things that's so important when you're building a program to have the opportunity to get these practices for your young players initially to get a a lot of work and then as you get closer to the game for your established players then to really start to get into game mode so it's an interesting process it's one that our guys have not experienced so um I think it's really good for them to go through this we'll take the next one from Marcus Benjamin from KES uh kanes County this this question is for first uh coach Chris the ball I just wanted to ask about your relationship with Coach shano you mentioned earlier that uh he was basically a mentor or is a mentor to you and you're forever grateful if you could kind of just explain that relationship that you have with coach shano and then Coach xano if you could follow and just kind of um you know describe your relationship with uh chrisal over the years and how that's developed he was uh I had actually had the honor of picking him up at the airport when he was interviewing to be the defense coordinator at Miami uh and instantly he was the hardest worker in the building uh so it's someone I patterned my habits after uh someone that U you knew was a rising star in the profession and when he got his opportunity at ruter he afforded me the opportunity which was a tremendous blessing and honor um just always just found a way to teach and because you know what when you're a head coach and you're really really busy you sometimes forget one of your your major obligations is develop the people under you and he always just found a way to push and challenge me to help me develop um just really and never held back and I appreciated that and whether it was you know I was a South Florida kid to be up in the Northeast and a way for that was new it was different for me and whether it be my family visiting uh my brother in town and stoping he was just always really gracious and my my momy she rest in peace always always always would ask and appreciates coach shano for everything that he always did for myself and the way he treated my family but uh consument professional unbelievable grinder teacher and whatnot you know um I can't um you know I could go on and on and on but certainly someone who uh I'll forever be indebted to for um just about everything career-wise and Beyond next question goes to John Schwarz from Yankees Publications you guys doing this is for both coaches obviously the Focus right now is the game on the 28th but when you look ahead to the 2024 season what is your hope of what your teams will have gotten from this experience both the off field parts of it and also certainly the practices over the next three weeks I'll start with that I I think 2024 feels like a long way away but you know it's going to be here upon us quickly so um our focus is obviously to get get ready to to go compete in this game but these first practices at the beginning of our preparation are so important for the development of our younger players that haven't had a lot of opportunities that haven't played very much in games and um just we've had two practices and it's been great and you know I I kind of hearken back to what Mario was saying the opportunity to be a teacher you know when there isn't a game coming up on Saturday to be able to stop the practice with the young players and talk about okay this is what we're doing here this is what we're trying to get accomplished some things that might seem to the older players yeah no kidding coach but to the younger players they haven't heard it yet they haven't seen it yet so it's a great opportunity and you know the tough part is you're recruiting during that time and it's the transfer portal and nil and all the things that go into being a head coach but to me there's absolutely no other way to have it as I've said to our staff the month of December when you're Bo eligible is a grind but it's one that uh if you're doing it it means your program's going in the right direction no doubt you know we feel the same way you know and all focuses on this opportunity and everything that comes with it and you know this is you rarely have time with your players when there there aren't any a ton of academic obligations is as they wrap a final exams now similar like they do at the end of the summer you have their attention so your practices you know you're starting to see guys get opportunities that didn't happen throughout the course of the Year guys go to the NFL or some guys opt not to play whatever it may be or guys get in the portal and you start to realize you know what these are guys that they they might have been or seem like they were waiting their turn they're good football players now they're GNA get a chance to play and go that go out there and perform at a high level um and you want to make sure they get every ounce of what you have as a coach it's also a great time for the team to spend time around each other to understand that they've been playing football since since they were in KN high and that football is supposed to to be fun and this is supposed to be a grind it's supposed to be fun it's supposed to be an opportunity to recognize and always looking for Progress you know we just want to keep getting better and just keep the focus on us just continuing to progress uh towards what we want to be we'll go to Bobby Darren with 247 Sports he uh this question is for Greg um you played in the pinstrip Bowl before you left for the NFL what do you remember most about that experience and can you just talk about what really sticks out in your mind uh regarding that experience in game well first off I remember it being a great experience for like I said everyone involved in the program players coaches families the the Yankees just do an incredible job I also remember we had a really uh challenging opponent in Iowa State uh and it was a great game uh I remember the end of it when uh when we were awarded the trophy and Eric Legrand had just been injured the year before and being able to recognize him he was sitting up in the uh in the box and being able to recognize him and acknowledge that that meant a lot to me and obviously having no idea what the future held um it was really a special moment we'll take the next question from Anthony fusil from ruter Radio heyy uh just your thoughts about what it was like working down in Miami and how it helped you uh recruit the area and Mario the opposite what was it like for you working at rut Cruz what do you remember and how it's helped you well I'll start uh I I owe a ton to Butch Davis who hired me at the University of Miami Mario uh reminds me that he picked me up I I forgot that but uh I knew immediately when I met Mario that this was a future star and I learned a ton about being a head football coach coach um from Butch he involved me in so many things that often times you don't get involved in as a defens of coordinator as an assisant coach so it prepared me for the opportunity that when it came I thought I was much more much better prepared than I would have been otherwise um but I I I do look back at the time meeting Mario in in South Florida and knowing that I wanted to bring him with me and it wasn't easy prying him out of there I mean you'd think a full-time job but he was so close he had he had and has one of the greatest families uh I never got to meet his dad but I heard so much about him from his brother Lou and from him and then meeting his mother just a tremendous woman and uh we've kind of grown together right we've been through some tough times some good times and he's always a guy that that I looked at I knew when we got here he was the best coach on my coaching staff and he was whatever he was 25 years old 26 years old uh I trust him blind and there's not a lot of people that I trust in this world and that to me is the biggest thing and again we're gonna have to compete and we compete and recruiting and we compete in in in many ways but I love him he knows that I can't wait to see his brother Lou he's like family to me and you know I know my dad who passed away this spring he's looking down and he he's really excited excited for Mario excited for ruers excited for me and uh in life you meet people you can probably count them on one hand people that you truly trust TR truly admire Mario chrisal is one of those guys and he you know he truth be told he laid a huge found part of this Foundation you look back at what he did in the three years he was here my goodness he was relentless and he was my partner he was a guy that that again I trusted with anything and now to be going against him I was so proud as he became a head coach and then he went out to Oregon did a great job and then to go back to the University of Miami which I know he he loves right I mean that's who he is uh the city of Miami where he grew up where his family is and to be back there for him it's very similar to me to be back in New Jersey where my family is and in an area that I love so I'm so happy for him it's going to be uh in that time when we compete on the field it is going to be special but two great competitors two great programs and uh I just can't wait and a lot of it for me started down at the University of Miami well I mean Ruckers um was an unbelievable experience when when coach rob me up there I didn't know anything I just um check into the Embassy Suites with a large pizza a whole milk a bottle and said I'll see you at 5: am tomorrow and the work ethic I learned work ethic uh to a different level from coach shano it was something that I think other people couldn't fathom the detail that went into recruiting the detail that went into game planning drawing up first and second down football in the field Zone versus the Red Zone in third down and the details that went with it and how to teach it he taught me how to teach he taught me to he even afforded me the opportunity to have a camera set up so I could learn and watch myself teach before I presented the next day to our players like every he's a vocational teacher you know like this is not a job or it's it's not just a you know an occupation this is like a way of life and uh and the way that coach shano approached that that job that opportunity over there at Ruckers that brought me along we all learned from him that was an opportunity where it required a program to go from one in 11 to win in three games to five games to 10 win Seasons National prominence um it was absolutely incredible and I was there for a small part of it and I loved it I loved the uh the the energy and the enthusiasm the people in New Jersey have family in New Jersey and Union City so that was a natural you know fit up there with uh with whatnot and um I I could go on forever and ever but the the learning processes the experiences the people to be part of what it truly is to build a program was invaluable there's no way to to ever receive an education like that you know and was able to be a part of that in serving under coacho guys as we reestablish a solid connection with Michael Margolis who's uh mediating this let's uh get to Adam lonstein next Adam what is your question all my question's for Dan um have you had a chance to review Charlie Baker's uh proposal that came out today uh regarding a new FBS subdivision where basically uh teams will be able to pay or schools will be able to pay uh athletes directly through nil through uh trust funds for UC education and things like that and uh if you hav't a chance to review it just what are your thoughts and and is Miami interested in that kind of uh NCAA setup well Adam thanks um I've had a brief uh opportunity to review it it just came over slightly earlier than uh this call did um but in looking at it there were some things and some themes that uh president Baker had talked about previously uh about giving more autonomy uh to the schools uh especially the higher resource schools to be able to control their own destiny uh whether it's being able to do that educational trust fund uh but all the while making sure that uh we're abiding with Title Nine at the same time which is a uh very important uh circumstance but I I think that you know being able to invest and have the schools have the opportunity to do this is is really refreshing coming from the NCAA because you know for so many years it had been more of a least common denominator approach uh to how they they put rules in uh and I think this opportunity and the discourse that will happen you know uh after now that this is out front and we'll have opportunity to talk through it and and move ahead I think it's going to be really good for uh College athletics and we're excited to be a part of it and we will we will continue to be uh at a high level involved in these conversations we'll go back to Susan dnan at the Miami Herald Mario um with you know this time of year with recruiting and signing day coming up trans transfer portal U how tough is it to concentrate on Bowl preparation and you know how many practices can you fit in how how do you make that all work look and and I'm glad that we're on here with coacho one of the best things that he taught me was that anytime you have situations like this that arise where there be and then then this time could reflects it right right January is the most difficult um Challen would see the most challenging time for head coaches there's coaches to replace sometimes there's players like you mentioned the portal whatnot but if you look at for what it really is every single one of these opportunities whether it be a defection someone you asked to move on someone declaring for the draft all it should be in everybody's mind is an opportunity to upgrade that's what he taught me that's how we look at it so what I think was like an ominous Cloud early in when this whole port and everything else came on now it's an exciting time in terms of focusing on that I don't think it is I mean it's you know you just you have 24 hours in a day and you use every hour that you possibly can but I mean that's um I don't I don't think it's difficult is it challenging with the time constraints of being on the road and playing Str and Automobiles I get that but I mean we do this because we love it and we love everything that comes with it so I don't there's no complaining we just just attack it okay thank you thank you we have time for one or two more we'll take the next from Bri nj.com uh hey this questions for uh Pat similar question that was just asked to Dan just uh if you've been able to review Charlie Baker's proposal and uh whatever thoughts you have on it if you could share them thanks Brian I'm just taking a brief look at it what I'll say is um we need we need rules right we need a set of rules we need to come up with a system that works uh and you know this is a proposal obviously for the better resource schools and so we'll take a look at it I'll be interested to hear what our commissioner Tony petiti thinks of it um one of the things that I love what we're doing here at ruers and I'm sure they're doing at Miami as well is we work every day to see how do we how do we help our student athletes how do we provide for them in ways that grow them uh and prepare them for life both you know during football and after football and um there's a lot of attention on this uh we've got a lot of different bills out there we've got State um involved in it so I I think if this is what kicks off the conversation of let's finally figure out the best way to move forward in a way that takes care of our student athletes very well allows us to be competitive across our conferences then it's all for the good so I I view it as a conversation starter and so I'm glad he put something out and we'll take a final question from John Schwarz from Yankees Publications I again for both questions you both talked about teaching and things like that as you look to the experiences around New York you were both working in the area obviously on September 11th the players you're going to be dealing with you know these guys weren't alive or if they were they have no memories of that how what's that experience like of going to to share that with the players in your team and share your own experiences from that day well I'll start you know Mario was here with us and I'll never forget it it was an ominous day uh we were game planning and I was in the defensive room game planning and and one of the assistants stuck their head in and said a small plane hit hit one of the towers and then we you know 10 12 minutes later we knew it was no small plane and because of where we were located we were the first game to cancel for the for that weekend and then obviously everything got canceled but our players there was a couple of our players that for some time couldn't locate their parents and it was really scary I remember getting everybody together as a team and we had just gotten here it was our first season and the players wanted to go out because they didn't want to just sit around and look at each other so we went out even though we knew we weren't playing we went out and practiced and it was ominous because from our practice fields you could see the Smoke on the horizon and you know I think when you when you hearken back it was such a a different time and our players like you said weren't born so every every anniversary of 911 that week I always show a small video to our team just you know being that we are here in this location and share it with them and I'll do that again because I think it's great I know we get to go to the memorial and before we do that I'll share share that with our Squad again just to just to kind of inform them and educate them about exactly what happened that day and uh I'll tell you what I lost a lot of people that I know you know from that tragic day having grown up here in in New Jersey and so many people that worked in New York City it's uh it leaves an indelible Mark we did something in the in the game against Syracuse a couple years ago that was played on September 11th we had a special uniform that commemorated all the all those that were lost to 9911 and we were able to give those we were able to reach I think it was there was 37 Ruckers alums lost in 911 and we were able to reach I think 15 or 17 of them and we were able to put their names on our helmet and uh we we gave a one of the commemorative jerseys to each one of the families and just to get back the responses how much it meant to them uh you know it a very tough time and and as time goes on certainly you move on in life but I think for those people those people who lost family members that was a special uh a special thing to receive that Jersey so yeah there's still a lot of ties being here in the Northeast and being in New Jersey yeah I don't know if I can articulate um the the confusion the the feelings I came with that day um and I the opportunity to have our team go down and I spent a week there with my family by the way this past summer and took my kids 12 and 13 down there and it hit them as I never saw my kids react to anything as what they did when they saw the memorial and watched the videos and walk through the museum so um it's so important for our players to understand you know the more recent events in our history to understand what really goes on outside of our bubble right our football bubble what really goes on in the world and when they see a person and like we did earli this morning our person that was helping us get here someone that serves in the military all right the importance of let them know how grateful we are for their service because what they uh what our Our Generation has seen and has experienced um certainly was I mean as what can you say it's um something that we hope to never ever see again but it's the reality of the world and our our players need to understand that that that is a day in history that forever has to be uh we have to remember and honor those that you know unfortunately you know fell that day and that we keep them always in our hearts and our thoughts and prayers of their [Music] families well thank you gentlemen for joining us we certainly appreciate it we look forward to seeing you again Thursday the 28th of December at 2:15 on ESPN that will be the Bad Boy Mowers pinstripe hole ruter pitted against Miami again gentlemen thank you look forward to seeing you that week and certainly that day for the game we'll take a quick break final Thoughts with executive director Mark Holzman coming up next back with us G to wrap things up Mark final quick thought thanks first of all I want to thank Greg Mario uh Pat and Dan for taking time out from their busy schedules to participate I also want to thank the Press I thought there were some great questions remember buy tickets ww. pinstrip ball.com the good seats are going fast so we look forward to seeing you all there look forward to seeing everybody Thursday December 28th 2:15 at Yankee Stadium until then take [Music] care [Music] hey hey hey