Roundtable - MTSU Football - 8-28-24

Plus app today Beacon always building we're the Good Neighbor Network FM 101.9 and am450 Murphy's Boro FM 100.5 smna audio and video streaming at wgnsradio.com this is the round table a look at the news views politics and people that are shaping rutherwood County welcome in it's a Wednesday on the round table chip Walters here from exit realy Bob lamman Associates and the Blu Raider Network glad to have you with us and today uh we are number one trying to avoid the 103° temperature that is uh uh scheduled or or uh forecasted uh in well in Nashville they say it's going to be 103 in Nashville so uh once you get outside of Davidson County it should cool off a little bit but uh Brian uh with Rutherford weather uh what what are you uh and and your crystal ball what are you seeing today and tomorrow 101 and a half here oh 101 and a half okay no um it's going to be hot I don't know that it makes that big of a difference between 101 and 103 it's just hot okay the real thing is what do you have for about from about 3:00 on on Saturday that's what we need need you to check that out because home football on Saturday Middle Tennessee opening up the new era the new Derek Mason era getting underway and that's what we're going to be talking about today and we're going to spend the really the first half of this hour talking about all the things like parking and ticketing and what's going on and uh things like that and then Sam dton is here and Sam and Jeff Murphy will join us at 9:30 and we'll do a little Dosey D Jeff will come in Chelsea Floyd will will move out and and uh Sam and uh and Jeff and I will be talking uh more of the football side of things so so what you what are you seeing on on Saturday afternoon 50 shot at showers and 95 showers and storms so it's going to be hot humid and pop up storms so so yeah but not over Floyd Stadium we put a little Dome over there well I remember back in the day John Stanford used to uh have he would say uh you know if if when you're coming in from the West out on Highway 96 out there near the castle you know he would he called that the Stanford wall he goes we're not going to have a rain out in baseball he goes he goes the Stanford wall is going to knock it around and most of the time he was right he would it would it would get about right there and and a storm would split up or go the other way so it storm and Smyrna and everything would be okay here Smyrna and eagal would get it and uh and we'd be okay and play the baseball game but all right uh we we are uh talking about uh this home opener this weekend and try to answer a lot of questions first of all Chelsea Floyd uh associate ad for marketing and uh and Sam d who has joins us a good bit he is the staff writer for gobl raiders.com and has probably seen more practices than anyone other than the coaching staff this year and uh and so we'll we'll get uh some of the the uh inside dope on on the team as we move along uh but Chelsea this is a is a very busy week and and and I think probably the best piece of information we can give folks is plan early whether that's get your tickets whether that's parking any of that if you do something that if you kind of handle some of that about 24 hours ahead of time you you could you could save yourself uh a little bit of indigestion on Saturday absolutely my motto is always planing early I think we set our fans up where they can do almost everything except for show up to the game and if you are prepared with knowing where you want to part having your tickets ready being ready to tailgate it should be a seamless day it should be and uh kickoff is at six o'clock but everything is going to get started uh much earlier than that on campus and uh and and like the the tailgate areas will open up I mean you 8 a.m. 7 a.m. yeah whenever you really whenever you want to wake up and come on exactly and you can get over there but uh all the the action really gets started after noon around 2:30 something like that 3 and 1 half hours prior to kickoff yeah so we're kind of labeling it party in the Grove and that is the official pregame kickoff event and that will start about three hours before kick we'll have an opening act and then of course Raider walk okay and then a then a headliner uh right after Raider walk right yes and uh the uh first three Headliners uh for the first three home games were announced yesterday and what I think is really cool is they all have middle ties they're all alums they're all alums and uh Beverly Keel over the dean of the College of media entertainment she has done a a good job of starting to put uh pull these together as she has connections like you wouldn't believe like Lionel Richie is in her is in her contact she was like I'll just text them and I'm like huh yeah and uh and uh but uh uh hip-hop artist legendary nedge he is his name is Nick ederson he gradu ated in May uh and and the other thing I like is there's there's a different flavor every week I mean it's going to be a little hip-hop flavor the first week you're going to have Hunter girl for for the Western uh game and then for Duke you've got cat The Cadillac 3 which that's an established uh uh group that's out there and uh they're MTSU alone as well one of their members is MTSU Alum and I had no idea um but I'm always here to drop secrets too the good thing about having MTSU alums that want a headline is that they want to do all they can do to give back to this University and so I mean I guess I can drop a little secret because you're watch or listening and watching y but legendary nedge is actually doing a rehearsal with our band of blue on Friday oh really um he actually wrote a song between for a hype song between third and fourth quarter to get our fans ready for fourth quarter on Saturday Okay so the and that means I need to get over there and watch a little band practice but we've uh that that that's something I I'll put in my notes for the broadcast on Saturday that we'll have a little extra special hype song and Sam how are all of all three of these in your playlist uh they are now I need to go on Spotify and add them to my like songs list that's sort of the way I I take music is I throw all you know 2,000 some odd songs I've liked and listened to them so have to add all three of them in there one thing to add on the band from our office in athletic Communications is the band's going to have a hype intro video before they take the field before before the game starts uh for right after lineup introduction so that's another little thing for fans to look forward to got see that yesterday and it was really good I'm really excited about it part of the the new and improved um you know presentation that that we're going to be able to do with the new video board that's been installed over the summer which uh we're all very very excited about and I'm excited to see really get in action um this fall yeah it's good the the it's it's very uh and Nathan Wallock chastised me one day because I said oh it's it's a high death boy goes well not technically no but but but to your eye that's what it looks like it it it's all about pixels and all kinds of stuff like that but but uh to uh and and and and one thing that uh Sam I think you you may know about this as well is The Fan Experience committee that was put together to help Elevate you know people always have you know have have uh ideas all of that so there was a there was a Committee of fans put together and said hey bring your ideas bring your complaints bring your your your uh your compliments as well so that committee has been pretty active and and it's my understanding coach Mason's been involved in in in all those meetings is that what you understand too so you know that's that's my committee um and they have they've um implemented a lot of things that you've seen even last year um it was because of this fan committee and the ideas they brought forth um coach Mason did drop by our last meeting to welcome them and thank them for all of their input and just tell them that he appreciated them and that I think that meant a lot that's good and and you know you you've seen uh him everywhere Sam and you know and and we I didn't get a chance to really talk to him about it on Monday but you know he came in and obviously was coached up very well on things that you know were thought needed to be done uh within the program as far as community outreach things like that uh and just being invisible and he's been he's been that you know as as much as possible but uh you know it it had to be almost a relief for him once the season and and football camp got here because you know at the end of the day he's a football coach and that's where they feel most comfortable is is out in the stadium in out on the practice field uh there's no question CH I mean you know coach Mason coming in you know from the SEC world that that he's been in for the better part of the last decade uh there's no question he's sort of in that CEO coach mold where he wants his hands on everything that touches his program uh whether it's you know videos going out you know on the team's social media accounts um to you know what recruiting Graphics are they sending you know high school recruits that they're interested in uh two things like the game day experience in and in this pregame experience that that we've come up with with the party in the Grove this year I know he's had input in every step of that as it's been implemented um but there's no question that he you know he's higher because he he's a football coach and that's the part of the job that I think he loves the most and it's been really fun for me to see that passion come out on the practice field this year uh in a way that maybe I didn't get to see over the summer where he was maybe focused on some other things that that needed to get done before the season got started you know and it you know it doesn't surprise me at all because uh that he has been involved in the party in the Grove because I think if if I remember correctly because I mean there was we learned a lot about Derek when he first got here and I think one of the things we learned about out is that in his house for Christmas he got from his family got a DJ setup so he he uh he likes to play around and and he's really media conscious very social media conscious uh I mean just from everything from you know you know making sure that uh you know he he understands uh like if you're going to shoot a video okay where's the light coming from and and what's the background looking like so he's very conscious of all that and and and wants to to be first first class all the way yeah I'll say this was a first for me um which was great this summer we met every other week about just marketing like we met just about marketing it was he walked in the room and he sat down and we didn't talk football but it was hey what are we doing in marketing and here's some ideas that I've seen or things that I think you should Implement and I think that was the most fresh air is that this coach cares this coach cares about what the Fan Experience is and he wanted to know what I needed from him and so I think that is that's been a big change yeah and uh and you know he uh he I mean I I still think about the first week he was here uh you know how many hands did he Shake in the Christmas parade uh the very first you know that first Saturday that he was here and that kind of set the tone for what was to come throughout the spring right Sam uh no no question you know he he was somebody that that knew that he needed to you know be a part of the Murphy's Boro community and and and he needed to to learn from them as well learn what they needed from the Middleton football program what did they need to see and you sort of saw that a lot with some of the community service work the team did throughout the spring throughout the summer I believe you know just before Camp it was you know something like 700 you know team hours that the team spent you know in the Middle Tennessee Community volunteering at different Civic organizations and you know particularly Big Brothers Big Sisters is a group that they've worked with uh extensively it's an it's a group that Derrick Mason is very close to something that he grew up with in the Phoenix area going to I believe his uncle was actually involved in a Boys and Girls Club running it um when when he was a kid and you know we have some guys on the team that grew up in the Boys and Girls Club ruford County um that that are now getting a chance to Mentor you know those kids in the club um so pretty cool stuff going on you know sort of behind the scenes well they showed up out in the did Park cars at the boys and girls club uh dinner the night Jeff Foxworthy was there that's right you know even little things like that did the popup the at the farmer market farmers market and uh you know just they they've been very accessible and and and that that's all part of it uh when folks come to the stadium on Saturday uh and come to campus on Saturday you know a lot of times if PE you know the the university and the campus is kind of its own little world within the bigger uh community of Murphysboro and Rutherford County and you know if you're not over there all the time sometimes they people think okay well if I'm going to the stadium the only place I can park is Greenland Drive uh if Let Me Tell You Folks if you're if you don't have a parking pass avoid Greenland Drive there's there are multitudes of other places to go don't be scared to get to the interior of Campus uh other places around the perimeter along Middle Tennessee Boulevard there's a great little secret lot over behind the Ellington building right there uh that's within the Shadows of the Press Box literally that people don't know about it's on either kesin or division whichever Street goes parallel with with Middle Tennessee Boulevard and then there's a big lot right there at the corner of Crestland and division one block from the front door of Murphy Center and that holds a lot of folks so the th those are short walks to the stadium and uh maybe even shorter than some of the the lots that have donor parking yeah absolutely one thing about our campus is we're very pedestrian friendly so you know just think externally a little bit that there's parking and it's flat so it's great for walking but the parking lots there's plentiful I mean we don't charge except for the Greenland lot um but yeah don't be afraid to get out a little bit more I say my favorite hidden secret is livestock lot which is you just pass Greenland and go to livestock lot and they have free shuttles we have shuttles running so park and hop a shuttle yeah the the the the Tennessee livestock Center there on Greenland Drive right across from Reeves Rogers Elementary free parking there and youve got the shuttle or if you want to take the shortcut walk uh right across uh by uh right between the practice field and the baseball Outfield there's that little area right there that you can that you can go through and uh it's a good spot uh to do all that we're going to take a break and uh be back with more if you've got questions about you know Ingress egress tickets all that Chelsea's going to be here for another 10 minutes Jeff Murphy's going to join us at the bottom of the hour Sam's going to be here for the full hour and we hope that you're here for the full hour it's the Wednesday round table on [Music] wgns support first shot at Autumn at the alley it will be held at Saddle Woods Farm on Franklin Road in Murphysboro on Wednesday September 25th from 6:00 until 9:00 p.m. it supports first shot STEM Academy and academic Allstar initiatives the night is a fantastic event with unique tastings from various Spirit Brands and great wines and food from the alley on Maine top the night off with a fabulous silent auction go to first shot tn.org for more information and see 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Reinventing men's Healthcare I'm really excited to announce that Lisa Trevor and I just got back from Market we were in Los Vegas picking out all new things to show you guys brand new stock of gold earrings fashion pieces I mean I can't even name everything that we saw that we cannot wait to show you guys so come visit us at Bel Jewelers and see all the new pieces that we picked out for you Bell Jewelers 821 Northwest Broad Street across from tootes this is Bob Cornell pastor of coveted church right here in Murphysboro Tennessee the answer that you've been looking for is found in Jesus and what he accomplished at the cross you see Jesus changes lives from the inside out we would love for you to join us at Covenant Church located at 11:24 Brinkley AB right here in Murphysboro we have Services Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. and Tuesdays at 7 p.m. you can learn more about us at our Corno Ministries YouTube channel we want you to grow in Christ at Covenant Church this is good neighbor events 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tickets are going quickly for live in the burrow this is the great talent show that Greenhouse Ministries offers each year and this year it's at MTSU right there in the Student Union Ballroom it'll be Tuesday September the 10th 6:00 in the evening at MTSU dinner and live entertainment the tickets are on sale on their website greenhous men m.org and that's September 10th oh yes arsonic and Old Lace wraps up this weekend at the Center for the Arts in uptown Murphreesboro those are wgns good neighbor events mother Ro weather we'll see sunny skies here this afternoon high around 101 tonight mostly clear laner 73 Thursday a slight chance for storms late blend of clouds and sunshine develops a high of 100 I'm meteorologist Jennifer vitsky on News Radio wgns currently it's 74 wgns is powered by Middle Tennessee Electric seriously looking at solar power generation mte offers a free consultation with an energy expert and has an entire library of educational resources to learn more visit mte.com proler this is the round table from news radi wgns on FM 101.9 and am450 Murphy's borl FM 100.5 smrna listen and watch at wgnsradio.com all right today we're talking about the bluerider home football opener this week against Tennessee Tech the totem bowl is uh Revisited as middle and Tennessee Tech will play 6 o' on Saturday night Jeff Murphy's going to be joining Sam and I here at the bottom of the hour but uh here for the next five minutes we're going to get uh uh Chelsea Floyd to give us all the uh the info on uh like getting tickets right now it it's never been easier to uh to get tickets just go Blu raiders.com tickets uh if you're I mean I I know folks who are on my mailing list I gave I sent you out a QR code uh that uh has a nice some some really good seats and uh at a at a uh a nice price so but still $20 ticket but uh there's there's opportunities to to get great seats for this weekend yeah go.com tickets and it's the Mt vers Tennessee Tech you'll see the logo um one thing with us is it is very easy if you have the Blu Raiders app if you have our mobile app there's a spot that says tickets and you click it right there you can manage your own tickets you can buy tickets you can transfer tickets the biggest thing that we are just educating our fans for Saturday is those phones Google and apple have wallets they have those little mobile wallets go ahead and put your tickets in there because it doesn't use use Wi-Fi and we all know that Wi-Fi is not the best but if it's already in there when you walk up to the gate it's a tap and go I think that's the best piece of advice that there is right now is go ahead and move it over to your wallet uh any tickets if you're going to make any transfers do it before you get to the stadium because any place you have that has lots of people around and everybody's trying to use Wi-Fi nobody has good Wi-Fi at that point so uh and that's that's something that is a work in progress uh Wi-Fi around the stadium and in in Murphy Center but once uh so again do all that early uh we've talked about parking we've talked about the pregame entertainment uh the timeline on things uh 3:45 will be Raider walk yes 3:45 4:00 is that is that route any different this year route is no different they're still going to walk straight through there um we might have implemented the touch the Horseshoe for some good luck there you go just trying to bring that some life um but the route will be the same blue horseshoe likes anacott steel if anybody gets that movie reference so go ahead a couple a couple other things that uh fans should know that are changes for this year is we are a strict clear bag facility now so make sure you have your clear bags um we gave out 500 at fand last Saturday but Textbook Brokers ra it didn't take long to do that no people are waiting for them um but any place you can get them on Amazon just a clear bag a ziplock back put your stuff in there um and a new thing that is not going to affect lines but we do have a weapon detection now but you're just going to walk straight through it so no carrying your weapons in if you got pocket knives just leave them in the car um this machine will catch them but it's it doesn't it doesn't mess up the ease of the flow it just walk straight through and keep on going anything new on concessions once you're in the stadium concessions nothing new we still have our food trucks we still have the normal concession areas we have more options that are just like if you need a drink um if you just want some popcorn we're going to have little popups um a new thing that was is being released this morning should be in your email if you are a braaa member we now have a combo just for br members so it's a discounted um hot dog popcorn and a drink for $11 so so there's uh again membership has its privileges and uh and of course there's going to be all kinds of new content on the brand new video boards so that's going to be very immersive very interactive and I can tell people I've been up there getting ready for the season with the new video board on one end of the stadium and the new student athlete performance center on the other the stadium has a different feel to it this year it does we were out there Monday night doing rehearsals and it just felt different like I was like it's the same stadium but it feels different um last couple things that will look different um inside the stadium is right under the video board I mean you're not going to be able to miss it but we're going to have a house band now that is there stationed there and they'll perform a couple of times throughout the game the first game is Stones River Revival one of the members is a for is an Alum and we're actually going to have a student DJ now it's just all kinds of new things inside beer garden is back yes beer Garden's back and like Sam said popular very very popular make sure as Sam said that you're in the stands with 20 minutes before kick now with the band of blue hype video but also our team has a new entrance way so it's it yeah we played with it and it's it's huge that's all I can say okay so that that's something else to look forward to and again uh get in the stadium early uh 2:30 the party in the Grove starts uh 3:45 right around there you've got uh you've got Raider walk the headliner uh as far as music in the Grove is going to kickoff right after Raider walk and then at uh what 45 minutes prior to kick kick off at 5:15 uh the follow me to Floyd parade out of uh The Grove will will head to the stadium right yeah which is what our our student organizations are leading that they're leading that charge so different organizations have picked different games that they're going to lead the follow me to Floyd which is our Initiative for our students to go inside the gate but don't be weary it is the Grove we're trying to be more to our students but it's still a family area out there there's food trucks for people that don't want to set up a tailgate there's the live music like we said but there's also the bounce houses still the license plates the um photo booths all that stuff face painting will all still be out in the Grove all right if you got questions if you just go to gobl raiders.com the splash page comes up uh and just scroll down it's or or click on it click on it and and all the information is there that you need about tickets parking all of that stuff timeline of what's going on so uh and then we're going to get into the stadium and have the game and Jeff and Sam and I are going to talk about what the product on the field is going to look like so thanks so much yes I'll see everyone Saturday now everybody that's watching on YouTube watch Chelsea get up exit and uh and Jeff will come in by chelse and so Sam the you know to me you know obviously it comes down to what is the product on the field going to be and and uh and I think uh it's going to it's going to have a different feel and a different look to it Jeff Murphy former Blu Raider quarterback uh former Blu Raider network analyst and a a founding member of the group of Five Guys joined us and jeffro how are you today I am fantastic man excited we got kickoffs sat it's just the best time of year slinging sandwiches today down at dominicos absolutely I'm doing that every day of my life best spot in town for for sandwiches folks if you haven't been there on the Square uh Jeff and and his family have a great family-owned business there but um you were someone who played for Coach stock and all but you have taken a a uh a leadership ship role among football alums uh in saying hey you know change happens let's our coaches now our new coach is our coach now and love our Old Coach but our new coach is here now let's support him yeah I mean is that the message yeah I think it's got to be the message you know I'm a stock guy and I love that man and I will love him for the rest of my life um but you know they made the decision to move on and uh excited about what coach Mason has done so far uh can't wait to see the product on the field this weekend but I think everyone's just got to be on the same page we're we're a Blu Raider community and uh we got to support whoever the coach is and most importantly you know the players it it matters the most to the players that you know when they walk out of the tunnel or run out of the tunnel there's more than three or 4 thousand people in the stands yeah it makes a difference whether you hate the coach whether you hate somebody in the administration whatever it is it makes a difference to the players and and it effects on the field performance because you know with with our podcast we travel around the country and go to different group of five venues teams that are on you know our level so to speak and when you go to App State you know when you go to Troy when you go to you know all the all these schools their home field advantage makes a difference offenses can't communicate neither can defenses it affects the onfield product so when people you know want to get on social media and complain this and that it's like well first and foremost are you going to the game yeah if your answer is no then you really don't have a dog like you really can't say anything so so best thing you can do is go to the game and support Co because I mean if you don't eventually you know when you get right down to it if you're if you're not there and you're uh you're uh you're you're hurting the kids and this and this they've got a great group of kids and we're learning all of them and Sam like I said you've seen more practices than anyone and and and from what I've seen the thing that was most impressive to me and I go back to the spring is as few opportunities as they get their hands on them now in the spring they can't came out and played a spring game that there wasn't a lot of mistakes and and stuff going on they were organized and uh and I think that's that's continued here in Fall camp but make no mistake about it the offense is going to have a different look about it the defense is going to have a different look about it I mean no question CH you talked to you know bod reader who's our new offensive coordinator and and Brian Stewart are new defensive coordinator they talk about playing to their current group guys strengths they're going to do stuff that their current team can do whether that's what they want their team overall to do uh you know sort of longterm you know in in this you know what what they want Middle Tennessee football to look like under Derrick Mason but they've been able to do some new things with this group right now that that I think are really interesting really exciting uh on the offensive side you're going to see a lot more tight ends involved than you've probably see middle play maybe maybe more than one per play yes I would I would expect you might see two n maybe more often you might see one in sometimes depending on you how the matchup is whe How much they want to run the ball this year and they have a really talented group of guys that have a really diverse skill set they got some guys that are really good pass catchers some guys really strong blockers some guys who can do both really well um and I think you're going to see you know as many as six guys in that room um play on a given weekend so that that's exciting for me just to see how they're going to use that group Joe Gans um you know former quarterback Nebraska is their tight end Coach uh has done some really good stuff with that room I think that fans are going to like yeah Calvin Lowry former Titan uh running back is the is the running back's coach and there could be times when you see two running backs and two tight ends and they in in power situations but Jeff you as a former quarterback and I've said this before I think one of the biggest gifts that Derek Mason was given was that Nick vato chose to stay here and if you've not seen Nick vato play if you've not been around him this is one very very special person and a very very special quarterback yeah I agree I mean if you look at what he did over the last couple years last year specifically uh over 3,000 yards passing 23 touchdowns 13 interceptions um but that was without essentially a running game so my biggest thing is you know you talk about the multiple tight ends the different formations the pre-nap shifts all of that is going to assist in the Run game because it makes defenses have to move have to change you know their calls mid play right before the snap so if we can get you know Frank p on and cedo and these guys running the ball effectively we don't have to have a thousand yard back but have a run game that a defense has to at least consider now you get favorable matchups on the outside where you can get one-on ones and go up top and you know you got Amari Kelly and these other guys that transferred in we're longer on the outside taller than we've been so that's where those one-on-one matchups will really pay dividends but having vato back I think was huge as far as helping build a culture at middle cuz when you have a new coaching staff come in like you're trying to build a whole entire new you know expectation cure and when you have 59 or whatever new players on this roster like it is huge to have veteran leadership especially at the quarterback position so excited to see what uh what it's all going to look like yeah and one of the one of the new things and in the stands you really won't you this won't have much effect on you but the new coach to player communication uh Nick will have a speaker in his helmet and bod reer uh will be able to talk to him uh up until 15 seconds left on the play clock so how do you think that is how do you see that playing out this year in college football this is the first year to have what virtually the NFL has had for several years now yeah I think it's uh I think it's huge and I think it's what needed to happen interested to see we already saw it this past weekend with I mean you got guys that are like covering their ears and I don't know if the technology is probably not quite as good as the NFL stuff uh but interested to see how much you have issues with it going out but just being able to have your offensive coordinator in your ear uh it's it's absolutely huge I mean you don't you're talking about getting the play in quicker you're not having to analyze signals you can get it and go and really move even faster and I know they're going to want to do Tempo this year uh it's just a huge part of the style of offense that we run uh so I think it's going to be I think it's going to be a big time Improvement what about on defense because uh who who they break them I think they can have eight people that have the communication and it's up to the schools on how they want to break that up it could be four offense four defense but you can never have more than one on the field at any given time uh who will have it on defense and by the way folks if you're in the stands with your binoculars look for a Green Dot on on the helmet and that's who has a speaker in their helmet oh the defensive starter that's going to have it Brendan Harris who's the the safety at transferring from Wake Forest in his seventh year seventh year one of how many Seven Year guys are there in college football there's 34 in all of college football and middle has two of them that's right take it that's right but but Brendan's you know somebody the coaching staff trusts a lot and you know he plays safety and you know I talked to Coach Stuart about why he picked the safety because traditionally you think the middle linebacker is usually the guy who who gets a helmet usually in the NFL and he and Stuart says that in college game you're a nickel and dime so much that those linebackers can shift out depending on you know sort of the situation that a guy's skill set has but the safety is going to be on the field every single play and so having a guy like Bryan that has so much experience that can see things that that coach Stewart wants to alert him to uh they think it's going to be really good communication and you know they figured out you know sort of what how quickly coach Stewart has to relay that information for for Brendan to be able to get it to his guys on the field so I think you're going to be excited with it you know they're sort of running a bit of a hybrid system this year overall as a defense it's kind of a 4-3 it's kind of a 34 um but they're they're once again they're going to use what they're going to do what these guys can play the best if they have an edge rusher that's an edge rusher that's what they're going to do if it's an edge rusher that can drop a little bit you might see them you know do some unusual things pressure-wise um to to get some you know confus the quarterback confused opposing offenses but I think it's going to be really Dynamic really exciting to see and I've really enjoyed watching them grow as units over Camp there's a lot of young guys that have gotten chances um in the linebacker room in particular that I think folks are going to be excited to see come Saturday Jeff obviously uh keep it a quarterback upright and uh and and being able to block in the Run game is a huge deal so they've had to retool and rebuild an offensive line and they've gone out and F found guys and just looking at the two deep you have in in in the five positions in the offensive line you have one guy who is 6 feet1 outside of that the shortest offensive lineman is 6' three and the lightest offensive lineman is 299 lbs out side of that they're all three bills plus yeah and that's one thing I noticed when uh we got the broadcast for media day a couple weeks ago is we look bigger on both sides of the ball and longer and longer um which is which is what you need uh you know doesn't always equate to being a better player but it's a good starting point to jump off from um and it's going to be interesting to see I think the biggest question marks for me is our offense and defensive line you're having so many new es on there and until we see him on the field it's kind of hard to judge but those are your two also most important groups on the field uh they start up front that's why they always say it and uh if if we can't block anybody or get pressure on opposing quarterbacks it poses for long days yep it all starts on Saturday at 6:00 as the blue Raiders host the Tennessee Tech golden eagles we'll take a timeout and back to head down the home stretch with Jeff Murphy and Sam dton here on the Wednesday round table on wgns [Music] if you're driving a car or truck with an expired warranty and suddenly lost your transmission or needed a full engine repair would a $4,000 repair Bild leave you stranded I'm Danica Patrick don't get caught off guard with a vehicle breakdown choose the company I trust endurance no matter the mileage if your vehicle is less 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I'm chip Walters with exit realy Bob Lam and Associates at buds Tire Pros we sell all major brands of tires and we invite you to stop by today for that next set of tires or maybe you need us to check out your vehicle before you head out of town we offer everything from brakes to batteries alignments and more no appointments necessary just stop on by I'm Alison Mitchell with buds Tower Pros we're located on East Main Street exactly 3 mil from the Town Square 1 mile past Rutherford Boulevard visit us online at budster Prost tn.com Rutherford County is one of the fastest growing communities in Tennessee this is Mike Classen the general manager at middlepoint landfill as a class one landfill middlepoint accepts nonhazardous Municipal Solid Waste approved special waste and Commercial waste we have served this region for two decades providing free disposal to all Rutherford County residents and lowcost Disposal to Rutherford County businesses learn more at middle point landfill. for public services we are sustainability and action this is the round table from news radio wgns on FM 101.9 and am450 Murphy's Boro FM 100.5 smna listen and watch n wgnsradio.com welcome back in to the round table chip Walters here along with Jeff Murphy uh and also Sam dton of gobl raiders.com and and uh and and Sam as you've uh seen this come together uh who who has impressed you and and and because there's so many new names out there uh one that came out of the spring was I I can't wait to see Omari Kelly in a real game uh we talked about vato being a gift as a returner as a rury I I would say the same thing goes for Holden Willis that that is a great gift for for the offense as well as having Frank pant and flip cradle back uh no question you know I think a a younger guy that is gonna be back but maybe you know fans haven't seen a lot of yet that I I suspect will play a big role is another running back jaale Middlebrook um who in particular you know chip you and I know he had a big scrimmage you know in Fall Camp you know really productive day in in that setting uh and he's somebody that if he's got the hot hand they're going to lean on a lot and somebody that I think we identified as early as last year somebody that could be an impact player for Middle Tennessee for a very long time on the offensive side uh another player to look out for Miles Butler C Arkansas transfer really good size on the outside that receiver somebody that that Nick's going to need to get on the same page with for this offense to be as productive as they can be another guy who uh played against middle last year that is now wearing blue who I kind of think we'll see a lot of is slate Alexander uh played at Jack State last year transferred here you know the portal giveth and the portal taketh away and and he was one of the one of those that came in and uh and and in their multiple tight end set you know and like you mentioned earlier those tight ends all have different skill sets and can be used in different ways some are better blockers some are better catching the football mean sled somebody that that coach gan's identified as somebody that just loves the physicality of football you know former linebacker he he he really loves to get out in space and hit people uh and that's something exciting for that tight end room to have where you have a guy like Holden that's maybe a little bit better receiver that that maybe you compare him up with with Slade and have some different looks cuz Slade's also athletic enough to to go out on Route and make a catch as well um you know he's somebody that that joined the team as a walk-on uh earned a scholarship you know sort of this Camp cycle along with a couple other guys uh Trayvon frell is a guy that they expect to play a lot at nickel who was also initial walk on um and Cory Smith right here in uh from Oakland High School in Murphy's bro another linebacker that is is getting a chance to be on scholarship this year so exciting to see those guys you know get the credit for the work that they've put in um but yeah Slade is a guy that people need know number 41 uh he's somebody I think will play a lot more maybe people were expecting early in the spring Jeff one of the things that that coach Mason put out there very early was that he wanted to you know recruit From the Inside Out uh from you know start on campus and you know recruit Rutherford County then Middle Tennessee and then the state and then he goes basically within a three and a half hour drive which means uh Memphis Birmingham Atlanta they're all still going to be in play uh all of those but uh you know I was looking at uh and don't hold me to these numbers I was just counting off the top of my head but the I think the numbers are up in all of these categories slightly because you can't do it all at one time but I I counted 39 in state guys 24 from Middle Tennessee the Middle Tennessee area which includes Nashville and all that and nine out of Rutherford County so they want to continue that and and they did a couple of things on social media media this year uh what they called their Blitz days where they hit 59 high schools within the footprint yeah I think that was huge um I mean you definitely want to try and recruit local as much as you can uh you're also competing with the Tennessee Vanderbilts of the world I mean and others who come in here yeah exactly Tennessee is a hot bed of high school football and talent um and and you got to be able to attract these kids I think the new facilities have been a huge um enticing factor for kids to want to come here especially you know if I come there as a freshman should hopefully be done by you know 2025 26 like I'm going to get to be able to use that now when you've come here in years past like nothing had been touched in a decade from when I played so you know some of these high school facilities have been nicer than what we've had so having the new facilities is huge having the excitement with Derrick Mason really pounding that message of going and and hitting the local spots I think we've been able to get some good talent because of those factors yeah now there if I'm correct there are four new head coaches in Conference USA uh obviously Jamie Chadwell came in last year at Liberty after Hugh freees had been there and they've built that up they've got a ton of money behind them they were the uh they were the group of five entr into the New Year's six bowl game and played in the Fiesta Bowl this is the new year the first year of the 12 team playoff group of five conferences uh and we're talking about uh Conference USA the Sun Belt the Mac the uh Mountain West and the American the American that's right and so the best team out of those five conferences has an automatic into the playoffs this year uh will it be Liberty will it be potentially another Blu Raider opponent the Memphis Tigers uh or is it going to be uh Boise who a lot of people are touting uh so it's going to be interesting but group of five now has a seat at the table yeah and that's what we've wanted all all along is uh man there's this false narrative that the group of five can't play with the power of four now that's Oklahoma yeah and I mean look at Oklahoma State and South Alabama last year yeah you know and that was Oklahoma state was in the Big 12 Championship so you know there's there's Miami yeah exactly there there's you know there's five to eight teams on a given year that physically they're different and but nobody matches up with those teams and that includes the teams in their own conference you're telling me vanderville and Arkansas line up just as good as Georgia does no they don't so as far as Conference USA goes Liberty's obviously the top team they were undefeated last year I think playing Oregon and getting beat as bad as they did hurts them a little bit perception wise but you got to remember Oregon there are only two losses each by three points were to the runner up to the National Championship so I don't think anybody was beat organ last year they were really really good so a lot of question marks I mean Liberty's definitely a top team Boise's in that conversation Memphis is going to be loaded Memphis is really really good and I don't think people enough people are talking about him and they're our fifth game on the schedule so yeah yeah it's one of those things okay how does all of all of the the hype all of the uh this the you know the the marketing that's out there it comes down to what you do on the field and uh the other the other thing we talked about Derek M inheriting a a great quarterback the other thing he inherited is by far the toughest schedule in Conference USA I mean you play Tennessee Tech which is an old traditional rival and it is of course it's an FBS versus FCS but it's one that has a little juice to it because of history and uh thank goodness Jamie blatnik uh has kind of uh coached up he's coached up the guys about what the totem pole means and what means all that kind of stuff but then you go to Old Miss who right now uh right now people saying they're going to be in the 12 team playoff come home for Western Kentucky who now has TJ Finley at quarterback uh that that just continues then you've got Duke uh with our our pal Manny Diaz funny that's on homecoming is it well I mean it's it's one well homecoming was going to have to be western or Duke well I know but just with Manny and Willie Simmons and all the whole crew coming back that's that's right and and interesting um Jamari ladimore will be going in the Hall of Fame that weekend and Manny was his defensive coach when Manny was here so that's kind of nice and then you go to Memphis uh and so at the end of September I mean it's one of those things where you look at it and I mean you go out you want to try to win every game but if you can come out of out of out of September if you can come out two and three or three and two you then you can kind of take a breath a little bit yeah I mean if we you know and I'm just being realistic with what we have in the schedule and this is no different our schedule is set up like it's front loaded it seems like for the past decade we're playing I think Wisconsin's on it next year yeah you know I mean it's just open with Alabama last year and we had Missouri which was a top 15 team at the when it was all said and done and in last year I mean most of our losses were within seven points that's what's crazy five losses within within uh within a touchdown yeah so it's like you look at how close those games were last year if we can get through that first five game stretch healthy to as as best as we can then our schedule opens up very nice in the back end like like a couple years ago we went down and beat Miami we open up that after that was UTSA the number one team in our conference and we didn't have we had may maybe a quarter of the stadium full so like I'm just telling the listeners despite what our record may be after five games I hope we go five and0 whatever it is show up because conference is what matters that's going to be the biggest thing and we need Floyd Stadium packed every game not just when all man you know not just when Duke comes in not just wi Western for 100 miles of hate every week we need that Stadium full yeah kind of kind of you want kind of pull the rock here go it doesn't matter who we play exactly it you know be there for our guys yeah yeah and uh be there for the kids man but I'm I'm telling you you know September is loaded for fun home games though when you you talk about your family coming out I mean your boys and and I mean you've got uh you got Tech coming in which will be fun and uh you feel like you know middle should have an advantage there then you've got Western two weeks later and then a week after that you've got a great homecoming opponent in Duke who came in here a few years ago and David cutcliffe did a great job of game planning that night and they jumped out 14 to nothing and and really uh put middle in a in a in a box uh that night but you know different Duke probably lost as many guys through the portal as anybody when they went through their coaching change when Mike Elco left to go to Duke so this first couple of weeks you really don't know what it's hard to predict uh and uh ask Florida State how hard was it to you know because they were they were everybody was picking them to to cover against uh Georgia Tech but Georgia Tech came out hit him in the mouth and and I I think you're going to see a physical middle team that has that has gone through more contact in Fall Camp than in recent years and and uh and the players that I've talked to they said they they've liked that and and and and Coach Mason wanted to be prepared he he's taken the the mentality of I want to practice so hard that the games become easy yeah I I I love that mentality and I think probably our biggest acquisition in the offseason in my opinion was strength and conditioning coach Jamie glck if you haven't seen this guy well number one he he's a he's a doppelganger for the New Mexico State mascot so I mean he he's an absolute unit I mean if you just look at him you can tell a unit to to me it makes a difference when a guy looks the part and he can do everything your players believe in the system that much more and when you talk to this guy on his philosophy it's different from a lot of other strength and conditioning coaches uh around the country and I really like it and when you're talking about building a culture as well there's nobody that's around the players more than the strength coach so they they take on that mentality you know that work ethic and I think he's done a great job and we've been banged up the last couple years and I'm excited to see if our health uh you know if we're better off in after that five game stretch than we've been in years past because that's going to be huge for us well Sam did a a a podcast with Jamie and you can find that as as part of the the podcast series he did this summer and and it's not all what he does I mean let's say they have the guys four days a week there's two days where they're maxing out and and building strength but the other two days they call Dynamic days it's all about flexibility and speed and and I mean they're doing these box jumps you know 7 you know 60 Ines you know close to 70 inches it's I mean and Jamie blatnik has he's he's got there and do it I know he well there's I haven't seen a a drill yet involving what they're doing that he has not done at first and uh and and and been done the example but it will be interesting to see from a speed and strength standpoint how this team is and and I think you're going to see positive results in that well you know one thing Derrick Mason you know mentioned about this team that he really likes is that there's no bad bodies on the team and and that's a really big credit to sort of Jaime's work uh that that they've done in the waight room and the players work for for buying into that system I mean if you if you talk you know off the Record sometimes about the gains that some of these guys have made and you know their strength and what their Max out in and and even just you know what their weight is going to be listed as you know this fall like it's kind of shocking how you know 25 30 lb gains in a single off season that he's able to pull out of these guys and you know we're seen a lot on the basketball side too with some of the strength coaches he's brought in for those programs as well um so you know it's been a whole Revolution on that side of things and they're doing it you know in a dance studio weight room that they've got until the sapc is built so even more impressive and that's one thing to Jaime's credit too he he has not complained of about anything that they don't have yet he is you know just telling them hey get excited about what we do have and and and you've got 12 opportunities to go play games and that's and uh and that that's I hear coaches talk about that all the time and the first opportunity is Saturday we don't know a whole lot about Tennessee Tech except they do have three uh you got a new coaching staff Bobby Wilder will have get them better he was at Old Dominion uh and and uh when they beat Virginia Tech a few years ago uh and the the quarterback that went to the commanders was with him Taylor hinei was up there uh but he he he he gets a a good quarterback that returned at Tech and three allconference players on defense so they will you know they will be Scrappy middle should have you know the better roster coming in and uh but you can't take any of that lightly when you and because we're going to be on the exact opposite end of that the following week yeah I mean uh games these games when you're playing an FCS opponent you should go out and dominate now it's not might always be pretty you're going to make mistakes but you should go out and physically dominate the team in front of you and and I think that's what's going to happen and see next week all the SEC folks are going to say the exact same thing about middle coming in so you know that you you can't take anything lightly no matter no matter which side of it you're on no and and and the best thing you can do is you got to go about it is our you know ourselves are we're our own biggest enemy you know we got to make sure we play sound football play clean football as much as we can and the scoreboard will take care of itself all right Sammy thanks so much for coming in Jeff thanks for coming in go sling some sandwiches going to happy birthday to Monty hail today uh want to get that out there and also a reminder 2:30 on Saturday the party in the Grove gets underway out in Walnut Grove 3:45 is uh the uh uh Raider walk and then the headline act out in the in the Walnut Grove gets underway uh just after 4:00 and at 5:15 it's the follow me to Floyd parade kickoff at 6:00 be there for the band of blue uh Craig head band coach Craig Cornish has uh quite a halftime show set up uh so you want to be there when they take the field 20 minutes prior to kickoff Brian Barrett standing by on this hot hot day keep yourself cool stay hydrated and we'll see you at the stadium on Saturday [Music] m