Breaking down ASU's 2024 football schedule

welcome to speak of the Devils the premier podcast for Sun Devil football I'm Brad Denny with 3TV and there's no Joe Healey voice popping in right there in usual spot Joe is off this week on some work business so we had to go to the bench and really just the top Sixth Man in the game I believe this your sixth or your second podcast of the day kind of filling in already the one the only the man the myth the legend for appearance number 43 Ralph amson is g to be co-hosting Ralph always an absolute pleasure to have you join the show how are you I'm very excited I am not Joe Healey but I did four sets of 25 push-ups today just to get in his head space and make this an easy transition for your listeners so uh let's get to it yeah it's uh the news always breaks on the day that we record of course the P the Big 12 kind say we mixing up those conferences for years to come the Big 12 schedule has dropped so we're going to break that down a little bit and kind of maybe tip a cap uh for me uh to Joe's absence I'm just getting back from a trip to Dallas so you know bringing some of that that Texas Swagger to this episode where we got a lot to talk about yeah can he get away with being as Pro Texas as he is now that there are several Texas teams in the conference that Arizona state is in feels like a conflict of interest will let viewers and listeners decide yeah I I I will say though I mean I had been to laba covered the game in 2017 uh first time to Dallas uh it was uh interesting it was rainy I like that you know being a native Arizon and you ever been to Dallas Ralph I have I have how did you how did you like it before I get into my one time in Dallas you know you know it was okay the drivers were terrifying and I know that might be cliche but like legitimately like not quite like Rome Italy level terrifying but like horrific didn't get to explore as much as we wanted uh went out there for a girlfriend's father's retirement so it was kind of a lot of family stuff um so just got a little little taste little susant of Dallas okay any any downtown stuff or we in the outskirts uh outskirts like kind of uh I don't know like where on the map but like we were kind of near Plano I guess that's okay somewhere okay um so I I've been to Dallas once uh it was to cover the Shaun aguano coach Chandler wolves in the Geico Bowl against valdasta Georgia I think they were like the Georgia 7A state champion or something like that uh Jacob Conover at at quarterback I think maybe De Carlos Brooks early to Carlos Brooks on that on that team uh took a red ey to Dallas got there at about 5:15 in the morning rented a car and and uh had never seen Dallas before so I drove uh downtown uh to find a a breakfast spot and um I found a place that was it it wasn't opening yet um but there were people inside and they saw me standing outside they invited me in they invited me to sit at the bar so I'm in this bar in downtown Dallas and the the manager of the place could have been the owner I'm not sure but he had he had laid out several bowls of grits and I've right seen my cousin Vinnie but my experience with grits up to that point very limited and uh and he said we're trying out some new menu items do you want to do us a solid and try them and I was like this is like a Eat Pray Love moment like I'm I'm at I'm in Dallas is 5:45 in the morning I'm sitting at a bar counter and I get to sample you know all all these grits and uh he's like all right just be careful with them they're like whisky infused or whatever and I was like yeah cool and so um you know they had like a cheddar whiskey grip grits and then they had like a like a honey maple rum grits and they're all like set out I take a few bites of each and uh in about like 10 minutes in I'm like I feel strange and I you know I'd been up for 24 hours I flew Redeye hadn't eaten and uh and like I by about 6:15 a. in a city I've never been to alone in a restaurant am destroyed and it came on so fast it was horrifying I was sloppy I was apologetic I gave the bar manager my car keys and he took my rental car and he parked it out behind the restaurant in the employee parking and he kept my keys and I went and I slept in my car for like four and a half hours so I wake up it's 11 in the morning I'm still drunk how how many how much of the boozy grits did we consume here dude like two and a half bowls it was gluttoning it wasn't it wasn't slow it was gross it was disgusting and I this isn't like a lightweight Behavior at all um and he's like oh maybe we went a little heavy there and like I have no excuse I'm so embarrassed but I sleep I sleep for four and a half hours in a rental car behind this bar I wake up and I am still not feeling so good so I go in and I'm like I'm not okay to drive yet I really appreciate you have my keys how much longer you going to be here he said I'm here till we close that's like 3 in the afternoon so I was like what is there to do because I'm not I'm not I'm done sleeping I'm just Tipsy and he said you can go on the JFK assassination tour I've heard good things I it was recommended to me I was drunk in The Book Depository and in in every part of the tour like barely able to like process any information this is your own personal episode of Drunk History oh yeah not great and then so we finish we go to the little gift shop Museum and there's a guy standing outside and he's like do you want to know the real story do I Rec yeah recruiting reporter I'm like absolutely and uh and yeah so he like takes me out to where like the x is painted on the street and he's talking about the CIA and like the mafia or something like that he probably talks for 40 straight minutes and I hear maybe 10 words and I'm I'm struggling and I'm starting to come to toward the end of it and then when we get done talking he's like cool that'll be $20 I tip this man $20 for lying to me and or giving me the absolute truth about JFK's assassination and then I went back to the restaurant had an a more food on the house that was not uh that was not alcohol infused there you go drove to Frisco watched Chandler beat the living hell out of this team interviewed all the players talked with Shan iguano and then was back on a plane that night so I spent one day in Dallas was probably the most bizarre day I've ever had not really a drinker it is it's the drunkest I've ever been in my life ever and it was it was in a city I'd never been to before and I took the JFK to her and I gotta tell you there's some fishy stuff going on someone should look into into that according to a man on the street yeah we never did get the JFK sequel from Stone so maybe you want to step up screen play these things can only happen to you Ralph only see you say that but it's never happened to me before and it never happened since it felt very much like a oneoff well there's that then there's you know the hitting the monster rabbit on the drive like just your life is just the the series of wonderfully that just like we should get like Wes Anderson to just like do like life a b pick on you just the vignettes of just like oh man yeah I've never seen a Wes Anderson movie but heard I've heard they're delightful and so delightful The Life Aquatic number one in my personal book I know it's a little Against the Grain for those West heads out there whatever they call themselves I don't know we're Deep In The Weeds on this ASB football podcast later on Brady white the former ASU quarterback uh turned uh record setting quarterback back at Memphis who's now back in Tempe part of Kenny Dillingham staff coaching the wide receivers he's had a chance to catch up with him really great conversation that you'll hear at the end uh we will of course dive into the uh the uh 2024 schedule but uh Ralph let's dive into just a couple of news items since our last episode that Joe and I failed to tackle um now of course you know we in the last episode we kind of got the tail end of the first wave I guess of the kind of U OFA drama down there and obviously ASU fans have a have a lot of opinions about what would happened there Adam green of the wild of Wildcat radio 2.0 came on gave us the Tucson perspective but you know as somebody who covered uh this conference so well here with Rivals Devil's digest and of course most recently With The Pack 12 Apostles podcast which by the way looking forward to the college football Apostles podcast and I like one of us I I do appreciate that my my take was the last take on the last episode of Pack 12 Apostles I appreciate you you and five other people for listening for for four and a half years we worked very very hard on it to have our small group of of of people who hate George's food takes so I I really really appreciate it and I I I I too just like like I when I he was going on that that response and that Preamble of self-reflection or whatever like I knew exactly where that was going of course you did he's not gonna change his mind on a thing that's not who he is um here here's what I'll tell you um it is within every University of Arizona fans right to be optimistic um and what I heard a lot of before jedf fish left for Washington was that one issue is not going to affect the other I heard it a lot read it a lot had a lot of conversations about it never believed that to be true uh and here we are um this is not an Told You So the financial issues at University of Arizona permeate all levels it's why there's a hiring freeze um it's why and I would love for somebody in the know to address this very specific issue it's why there was an agreed upon contract between Jed fish and the University of Arizona uh that remained unsigned right it's um it's why your athletic director is no longer employed it's why there it's in part not fully why there are student protests to have the president removed um it's why you were able to raise so much money behind closed doors to retain jetfish only to turn around and sign Brent Barnes for the same money that jetfish was making pre-extension with a much better buyout by the way um there are Financial issues permeating every level of University of Arizona now does that make it a worse place to like the level of defensiveness I'm trying to get to the root of of where it comes from I do believe when it comes to University of Arizona there is this permeating attitude that like nobody is allowed to hate us but us and I I respect the territorial nature of those half participants in the territorial cup I get it uh I would say that the difference between Arizona and Arizona State f over the last couple of years have been that if an Arizona state raises the issue of University of Arizona's Financial issues they're like nuh-uh it's not 22.1 billion it's 22.0 99999 billion so get your facts right like that has very much been the the the attitude um that that they have presented you're not allowed to criticize US unless you have all your ducks in a row and if you do have your ducks in a row who the hell are you anyway are you a duck like that's not a wild cat away and I I I think when it comes to University of Arizona's issues especially post the 2021 season things are pretty tense there for a minute so don't have a lot of room to talk on this but come January 2022 and on University of Arizona fans could be like I heard Ray Anderson kicked a baby and we'd be in the background like I think it was two babies might have been a third like it you know I I think that they they if they ever come to terms with the fact that like things are bad there and there are going to be uh far-reaching effects in all um areas of of academic support staff Administration recruitment marketing uh what you're able to do with your sports programs um who you're able to to to bring in a sports staff until they get to the point where they're able to just reconcile that realize it had nothing to do with them as people they didn't cause it these are you know these are problems above their head that a lot of them stem from uh from covid right so you know once they come around to that then I think we we might be able to have a good uh cry uh about it together about the state of both universities but as far as it stands right now I don't feel like they're in a sense of denial but they're certainly not being completely honest with themselves as to the far-reaching nature of the financial issues that they that they are in it is costing people their jobs it is costing uh them their ability to retain um people and they've galvanized over this and the support for the athletic programs has skyrocketed I do think that that's uh crappy reason to Galvanize but any reason is a good reason when it help when It ultimately helps you and retaining Noah F and tedar Royo McMillan and Raymond pedo keeping all these guys in the building that's huge and maybe that's where some of that money that that that was raised for Jed um ultimately was was spent but as a college football fan I don't want to see a whole team break apart just because somebody else like got lifechanging money I'm happy all those people stayed back and it gives Arizona State a real opportunity at the end of the season to say no excuses for us no excuses for you let's run it back in Tucson see what happens right I want that um but I will say that like it I have listened to a lot of people talk about this that are on the University of Arizona end and I sympathize empathize with you but it is not good and no amount of beating around the bush or policing details is ever going to get me convinced that firing your athletic director um and the athletic Department's being on a hiring freeze is actually like a good thing it's not yeah and so that was the kind of the big thing because obviously there's a I say not insignificant portion of the ASU fan base who enjoys hating U OFA probably more than they like enjoyed loving the sundevils and so obviously when when this was kind of coming down and just you know we saw the the fish Pro departure becoming more and more of a of an actual reality and just you know the the speculation of who he take with you know we saw you know perhaps not so much the current roster but a lot of the recruiting are the the recent SES and recruits are now a lot of them are heading up North generally speaking this from probably from the biggest thing I've seen from ASU fans what is it what do you think this potentially could mean for ASU in terms of just you know hurting the Rival and maybe helping ASU close that Gap or getting them back ahead if if you're an ASU fan and you believe that Arizona is in some way a recruiting rival let's say for prospects in Arizona uh if you're one of the people that believes that that should be a priority what you need to understand is that jetfish Grassroots built up a really impressive operation uh over the last three years like really put in a ton of work now was it all a grift to impress his next Suitor who cares he did it you benefited from it you know um ASU is behind on that it is always helpful when you're behind for the leader to stumble and they didn't just stumble like they they forgot to jump hit the hurdle they're missing teeth on the ground and and we get to keep chugging along until Brent Barnes establishes the operation that he's going to move forward with he's got good coaches on his staff Danny Gonzales is great um yeah so I've seen this is something that actually bothered me about that that's something we haven't talked about on the show here yet Danny Gonzalez obviously I think you and I both hold him in in high regard from his time here both as as a coach as a man as as a as a family man um just to see the fan base just like I think there's I saw some uh another publication out there see you know had a graphic with his face and like traitor and some some and and some other other people just like really going in on him and just like for taking it like a job like you know unfortunately you know things didn't work at his alma mater um but there was a the percent there was a lot more of that than I would have liked to have seen obviously there's always going to be some people with some some bad takes but there just seem to be given what Danny did during his time in Tempe and the quality of person that he was it it just seemed really unfair yeah Danny Gonzalez is the best I it like took my breath way when I saw I don't know it was Pete Dam I don't know who put it out there but it it like I think it was Pete daml it shocked me I I mean I it could have been any name on Earth that was sitting at home not working right now and I would have been like okay um short of Todd Graham and Danny Gonzalez I don't I don't really know of any assistant and it's funny because it came on the heels of Bobby Wade getting a position coach job with the University of Arizona and I like my reaction to to uh Bobby Wade getting the job is like well first of all Bobby Wade is the best Arizona high school football player I've ever seen that's home for him he worked hard he bridged the gap for ASU stuck around he's a good dude I'm very happy for him go home took do your thing yeah he even like he was a position coach here then like got basically kind of got demoted but still stuck around putting in the work you know as an assistant uh uh after you know being a position coach prior to that yeah and so my my attitude on the on on that was like oh good for him good for Bobby Wade and then the a couple days later the Danny Gonzalez news comes out and I'm looking at my phone like is it time to start pouring more liquor in my grits like this was it was really really hard to take now now now the idea of getting mad at him for taking a job when he was unemployed I don't fully understand it I I mean it really felt like somebody was a very good employee at Circle K they left for QT they were there for four years they got fired 7-Eleven is hiring Circle K is not hiring 7-Eleven gives this man a job and his old manager at Circle K is like you can't do that like that's you don't have the right like we we don't own these people uh he's you know he you got to understand he he was probably making about as much as he would have continued to make as Arizona State's um defensive coordinator as the head coach of New Mexico yeah man he got a family um and he's a football coach and Brent Brandon seems like a really cool guy to work for and it's not even like it's a de it's like a double demotion um I I mean I saw people come out and be like well he wasn't good anyway you what like he he made San Diego State an absolute Menace and then gave us our best defense since 2012 yeah like there's numbers and everything people wanted him to be the head coach in waiting they did they did and and he's a cool guy and he's got a cool family and I wish him nothing but the best I hope those linebackers play well in 11 games and I hope they stink in the 12 and it's it's that simple to me but I will tell you just it shocked me I mean I I was maybe five six seconds just not able to get a breath out like because you know it he meant a lot to the ASU community and he pushed all the right buttons the anti 200 the the anti-u OFA rhetoric like he extended that like he was at baseball games with that with that like he became a part of the sunev community yeah and I mean and they're short on money and this is way I'm choos to think about it they're short on money and he's taken some of it this is Oceans 11 if they can if they can have a University of Arizona Alum and I don't know if in Antonio pearce's eight months at U OFA he graduated but if they can have an University of Arizona Alum out here ruining our lives we can certainly have somebody that we hold in high esteem uh out there wrecking stuff for them so the the the very long game double agent infiltration yeah I don't think it's him though I think the linebackers are gonna be awesome I hate that he's there I really do oh wild wild sub yeah I I saw that I sorry I I know that was like kind of a tangent but see the the the the number of sunal fans just throwing throwing throwing heat his way was I thought totally and like just totally unjustified a lot and very ridiculous I respect people who are consistent um they have their principles and they live by it but like you're not John Wick and nobody killed your puppy right like this is not as serious as that um this is a position coach job for an unemployed man and you're fine like set you didn't need him he didn't choose them over you um the head coach he worked for isn't even here anymore not that he would probably work for him again but like th this is uh this is this is not a great offense and you'll be able to go on with your life I guarantee you if something opens up at Arizona State those same fans will be like we get Danny gonalez in here which to me would be a fantastic idea yeah uh speaking of that coach that he used to work for uh Herm Edwards now that the Super Bowl matchup is is set and uh the Valley's own Brock py uh is heading to the Super Bowl uh and I think one of the local law firms out here had like go Brock py Billboards around here that's pissing off a lot of Cardinals fans which Jesus I love it I I I love that they did the Billboards and I love that people got mad about it I think it's equally commendable it's great um so Herm Edwards on ESPN where he is now returned to his analyst role um has had some thoughts as documented by some folks most notably Tim Ring's tweet was probably the one that got the most traction uh in which Herm said that he was a a fan of party and recruited him and um you know then what he said that he had a great career at Iowa again you know that herm's attention to detail on full display uh Ralph is somebody who is extremely plugged into the local recruiting scene how far from accurate was Herms assessment it was pretty it it was it was pretty far from the truth um I got a good giggle out of it I I know that people thought maybe like I was coming off as angry about it on Twitter it's just not true I I I I knew that he was gonna make the radio rounds and I knew he was gonna lie and I fired off a tweet a couple of days before that was just like it's journalistic malpractice to not bring up the fact that nobody has ever been more wrong about Brock pie than Herm Edwards was in 2017 now that's hyperbole yes that is what that is that it's Twitter but it's the truth it's the truth Herm Edwards thought that Brock perie was not worth a scholarship and that he was a walk-on there's nothing wrong with Walk-Ons Arizona state has a very rich history of Walk-Ons I don't even know if anybody as a sun devil has been drafted higher in the last 30 years than Levi Jones he's a walk-on out of what Eloy Santa Cruz um I was an incoming ninth grader when Adam archeleta walked on at at Arizona State from the same high school um Trenton boray you know love love that guy like there's there there's nothing wrong with being a walk- on but Herm Edwards said that he knew this was the type of quarterback that Brock pie was going to be starting in a super he was never the head coach of a team that played in the Super Bowl nope his Kansas City Chiefs team he had to give the ball to Larry Johnson 400,000 times in one season you can see the effects of that in Larry man CTE oh something gave him something um and and you know he he was very very well known for like not being able to manage quarterback situations outside of Chad Pennington I think what he went two and 20 in his last 22 um NFL games and and and that he is I believe he's good on TV I believe he is very good at explaining things to lower common denominator fans and I think he's a pleasant voice to have on when you're at getting your uh break pads changed or you're getting or you're at like Sport Clips or something like that like I think he's a good he's a good guy to have on TV that you don't have to like invest too much in what in what he has to say um and I've always felt this way so if people think this is Sarah grapes I think Herm is excellent on TV I think that daytime TV Believe It or Not guys daytime TV is dedicated to people who are watching TV in the daytime think think about who that is is that you if that's you I'm sorry but it is for daytime TV viewers for for what Danny Gonzalez was before he took the linebacker coach job at University of Arizona that's what it's for so so you know for for for him to make these media rounds which you know this is when he worked for ESPN there was always a huge Super Bowl Blitz and he's going to do a ton of radio shows and he has to talk about about Brock pie and and I knew that the Temptation was going to be there um to paint this as something that it wasn't but I was there for it so let's recap uh Brock perie was not recruited by Todd Graham Todd Graham in his final probably year and a half at Arizona State what he was doing locally malpractice I mean he was like Jake Smith's 12th offer and his son was classmates with Jake Smith so like that's the best way that I can explain that he was the 12th offer on the eventual Gatorade player of the year um and didn't give attention to Tyler shuck didn't give attention to Brock pie Sports 360 a was covering like crazy there was all these people writing about it there was public pressure to do it felt like Todd Graham was maybe even just like digging in his heels and being stubborn um about about some of the locals why that was I don't know I haven't had that conversation with him but in November Herm Edwards takes over and one of the first things that has brought to his attention is you could get a easy dub easiest dub ever be the first Power five school to offer Brock pie he had I believe yet to play in the state championship game his senior year he was at the time I believe the first ever 4,000 1,000 quarterback in Arizona high school football history so like this whole idea that he's always been like this Meek Underdog NOP he was a straightup killer a straight up killer and H Rino I know Devil's digest as a sponsor of the program think he had um kids at Perry so he's at all these games and he and he he's tweeting it out like offer Brock pie I'm tweeting out offer Brock pie and and you know it it would have been a very big community relations uh score for like the first offer to go out to be him and then there were people that were left over from the previous staff that knew that when Billy Napier left and when Phil Bennett left and when Ray Anderson's design fell apart immediately um the people that were still left on staff were like hey easw Brock pie and from what I understand um Al lugan who wasn't officially on staff yet Herm Edwards they look at his film and they're like walk- on see if they'll walk on and so um you know how they were on like physical stature height all that stuff so they wanted mandres they wanted mandres they they they somebody owes nikelle Harry um some type of like licensing fee for that photo by the way like I'm still looking for mandre I'm like you to that that is a photo of nikelle that is a photo of nikil Harry you absolutely know who Mandrake is you are lying so back to that press were you at that press conference where they like yeah I we were just sitting there and they brought out the big art and like okay and nille with wings yeah like pre-i very very funny and they then they had like the mandre helmet for the the practices yeah you the people on the field are clearly not Mand Drake I have not found them yet but you can pretend to be one for the day yeah U do you got to do whatever you can to to motivate people he had some funny he had some funny ideas he was entertaining he's good for daytime absolutely so he watches the film he's like no this isn't this isn't what we're looking for this Brock P's not Mand Drake so um so Brock P's recruitment post state championship game um there are teams that need a quarterback and he's the last one left and if you've ever been in like an auction draft an auction Fantasy Draft yeah where like toward the end of it there's just people with money left over and there's like one kicker and people get into a bidding war for no reason it felt like that to the untrained eye to the people that followed him they we knew like oh the absolute diamond in the rough is still available and uh and so you have Oregon State boisey State Iowa State Kansas UCF Texas A&M and then a really weird flirtation with Alabama that happened like in between coordinators um so Nick sain didn't actually know who Brock P was and didn't understand why he was on an official at Alabama but Alabama did recruit Brock p uh Nick Sabin didn't and it kind of mirrors what happened with ASU we'll get into that in a second but all of the sudden all these teams want him he's the hottest quarterback in the country and there's rumors that nol mazone thinks that he can bring him to U OFA so the pressure mounts there is no additional film none everything that has happened in Brock PR's High School football career had already happened by the time they watched his film and decided he was a walk- on so what Herm Edwards comes up with was to tell Donnie Yantis to call Brock perie because Donnie Yantis had a relationship with him and say we will offer you if you say yes if you don't say yes it's not an offer if if you are open to saying yes maybe it's an offer but like it's not an offer unless you take it and it wasn't Herm that made the call Herm did no personal recruiting of his own in in this um d manucci u Brock's private coach all through High School quote tweeted me when I said that like Herm missed really bad in 2017 he's like oh I remember like all of these things happened but anyway Herm shouldn't be getting thrown into the bus right now for something that was really a Todd Graham problem because he would have taken Brock if he was committed but he inserted himself he said he recruited him he did not he said he knew what kind kind of player he was going to be not only did he not know he dissuaded his own staff from offering and only went back due to public pressure that and he didn't do it himself he had no involvement in this whatsoever Brock P said no thank you therefore there is no official offer on record it does not exist because it was if you say yes it's an offer well he didn't say yes so technically Arizona State never recruited Brock pie and that wasn't even the one that were most interested in at the time the one that people were Furious about was Kean slovis because he came back with USC and shredded Arizona State at home and he was another one that that Donnie Yantis wasn't allowed to offer by the staff this happened on multiple occasions now her Edward says we ended up with Jane Daniels we were fine yes but you said that Brock party went to Iowa he went to Iowa State Jaden Daniels was here putting up stats like he was at Iowa under under you so like we can say in hindsight like yeah jayen Daniels was a better quarterback in college than Brock pie but we can only say it as of the moment that Herm Edwards stopped being his coach so he took credit for like five things that he had absolutely no hand in making better I it's funny that Tim ring pointed it out he just I this is what I said I said this once already today so if it feels like I'm plagiarizing take it up with Jason sheer so we were raised by an entire generation of men who saw no problem if they caught a 8 inch trout saying that they caught a 10inch trout this is the generation that raised us okay I have a high tolerance for the embellishers the people that try to make a story more interesting the people that that polish things up right what I don't have patience for is somebody who didn't go fishing saying that they caught a Marlin because no you didn't you weren't even there and and that's that's I you know it felt like it felt egregious and I'm I'm glad I'm I'm never glad when it turns into a circus of people calling Herm Edwards a liar and a snake because then we just come off looking exactly like University of Arizona fans looking Jed fish's mentions right now um so not a big fan of that but like I think it's you can just acknowledge like oh he lies a lot and then just move on with your day and be glad that he's gone I am so eternally grateful that he is not here and nor is the person who thought he should be here in a position to make these decisions anymore um because it would be really really hard to like he was employed by by Arizona state if he was still the head coach and he brought this up about Brock pie that'd be a hard thing for him to have to face down I mean he survived his what's a devil press conference so maybe he'd survive this too but it I I just wonder if he has anybody around him that's like hey man maybe tell the truth like you you you kind of represent you know Mickey Mouse and and and Disney and maybe don't lie so frequently because that it would be really really cool if um whoever is running your social media didn't have to like sift through uh the worst of the worst imaginable things that you can read um Ju Just to get through their day so like take care of your social media manager maybe quit lying for a minute do you ever just get the the like there's reminisce about the Herm era or not mean remist but just like think back to it and just like that happened like that that that that those years are like weren't yeah some weird fever dream like Herm Edwards was actually the head coach here for a while it's wild yeah it I will tell you that it is it's difficult to forget because of his prominence on television and because uh secret time I'm a daytime TV Watcher so I'm gonna see if mask comes off yeah yeah yeah it's Herm Edwards is for people like me so if you don't like me think about that um but I I I will say that like it it's impossible to forget because we we haven't received notice of allegations yet um we don't have an athletic director yeah it's like 30 plus months now like right this is Summer of 21 yeah and every single time somebody submits a new complaint to the NCAA whether it's this Florida Jaden rashada thing or the Tennessee Nico I Amala thing I'm like please wait your turn we were here first I want to know I want to know how how bad it's GNA be because Ray Anderson told me he has deleted his Twitter account so we can't respond to him on this but Ray Anderson told me that he left his job having taken care of all this so I want to see how much he took care of it wild times man ju H well it it has been a rocky few years for the son of football program but a New Horizon is upon us uh and today the Big 12 release the uh the 2024 schedule so Ralph now we can take turn a hopeful eye towards the future uh let's break down this 2024 schedule now of course the noncon we've known for uh a while few years at this point and perhaps no better no better person we we'll run down the schedule and you know of course as we get closer to the season have greater more detailed profiles of these teams but no better person to talk about this 2024 season season opener that is going to be happening on on Saturday which is I believe I looked it up the first uh season opener on a Saturday at home since 2018 because everything's just been like Thursday Thursday Thursday so it's it's nice change of pace Ralph your Wyoming Cowboys are coming to town thanks I hate it I don't I I think I'm coming in for the game hot damn yes uh I don't know man my relationship with Wyoming is definitely different than my relationship with ASU um my when I turn on a Wyoming Game on a Saturday I my I am anxious the whole time because it's it's not a fun brand of football and it's just like please don't embarrass me because the the level the they are it is like seeing somebody with my build on a on a high rise like a trapas right no net like these are not the most athletic kids in the world and they are extraordinarily well coached and they just have a wreck it all mindset and um they've been more successful than they've ever been uh the last few years under Craig Bowl it really has been the Golden Era of Wyoming football and he retired Jay saille is taking over I don't know what it's going look like I think their quarterback that might be starting for them is actually from Mesa winter red mountains so that you you might have a you might have some black and red in the stands um but I don't care if they win or lose I just don't like I just want it to be over every time it just it's an anxiety-ridden experience um I just don't want them to be embarrassed I just want them to survive the Mountain West I want them to be on the right side of like the 11 to eight score that they're going to post and you should know about this you're a Steelers fan so um with ASU like I want the thing to work I want all the things to look like football and like you know people to get sacks and interceptions and run kicks back and throw beautiful Spirals and have awesome running Lanes I just like I want to admire it and have fun with it and so like I I feel like I'm gonna be in this place of like really wanting like having this excitement about what Kenny Dillingham is able to do with a full off seon and like a non- patchwork roster while at the same time like praying for the players on the field because they're not great not at home like they're very very good in laramy scary even chaos team like Texas Tech found out that the hard way last year yeah but laramy boys in Tempe in August like you better keep him from going out the night before like it's it's going to be wild and so you know I just I'm I'm I'm nervous already ASU should murder Wyoming and what you have to understand that might look like is like 21 to six but like a two-score win over a team that that slows things down this much the nice thing is Brian Ward is from that coaching tree from the the North Dakota State like answers based defense coaching tree so it's not it's not like they're gonna surprise um Arizona state with anything they do um but they're they're not going to be able to match the athleticism they're picked over every single year in the transfer portal somehow they still end up competitive um I would say that it's a dangerous game but to me not only a guaranteed win a guaranteed double digit win yeah it should be interesting because I will say that because of you I've taken a interest in Wyoming over the years watch a lot of CBS Sports n games of there in the late night Mountain West type stuff and always yeah just like one of those kind of chaos teams that you mentioned just unfortunately my Steelers have been like this with the under the the the black cloud of the mat Canada era it's just just kind of like real just like Rock fight football um so it'll be real interesting to see exactly how a fully presumably healthy Sun level team now in year two under Kenny Dillingham is able to to start off and get a better read than you know perhaps like a na type of opener absolutely and you do have to be super careful and I'm glad it's not a home in home because yikes but you know I I have a neighbor who has a son that plays baseball at App State he's an app State Alum and uh and you know we're texting back and forth during the Wyoming game because they app State's up like 10 points with eight minutes left and he's like your boys fought hard and I was like there's eight minutes left in this game and your app State guys have been in 7200 feet for 52 minutes there's no way oxy is still getting into their brain like just wait something weird going to happen I promise you and I think Wyoming blocked a field goal ran it back for a touchdown like onside kicked and then scored and won and he texts me he's like you're right it got weird but luckily you're not in laramy um which is not a place where human beings should live so it should be okay it really should be okay um I hope it's okay so then we move on to the rest of the non-con or the first legs of a couple of respective home and home starting on the next week on Saturday the 7th Mississippi State come on Town believe it's the first SEC match up asu's had since the uh A&M opener in 15 obviously a program that's kind of still feeling the effects of Mike leech's untimely death death yeah Zack aret out as head coach Jeff lebby coming over from uh Oklahoma as their guy who I pretty sought after and lot saw the names connected with a lot of jobs obviously you know a power five opponent is kind of this the second year that this has happened after Oklahoma State came in uh last year how do you think that the the devils are going to handle the the SEC team I think that Mississippi State Will Be Frisky and fun however even in the era in which you can immediately rebuild through the portal what you're not always able to do is do it in your first season when you're making a a dram IC shift into a new style of offense and and and running the type of plays that you want to run so and not only is that what happening at in Starkville right now but also it's the second time it's happening in two years because Zack Arnett inherited Mike leech's air raid style team and decided not to run the air raid um and all of the sudden Will Rogers went from being this like 4,000 yards a year Gunslinger um to you know doing play action stuff and then being run first and they were putrid yeah and they were not built for what Zack Arnett was trying to do but he's assuming that he's gonna have the job long term so he's starting to shape this roster and then he gets fired and now you have you have Jeff leby come in and this is going to be not necessarily like spread air raid type stuff but it's definitely going to be a much more uptempo much more like downfield pass driven offense but who do they have right so they're going to have to learn some stuff about themselves and that's going to be their first real contest um and that that that is going to be a very very challenging game but I give the advantage to Kenny Dillingham this might feel like I'm being a homer but I followed Mississippi State this year because they had to play Arizona and because it was just fascinating like you have an air raid team and your and you have the quarterback with the most passing yards in all of college football and you're not employing that at all it was insane to me and and um and to and to watch them struggle it's really really hard for me to believe that that they're going to be on Pace or have outpaced Arizona State I think that's a game you should expect to win yeah so two winnable games right off the bat against you know not insignificant opposition and of course this is a game in week three that I've been I don't say complaining about but just kind of pointing out for years just because it's just so weird it's the first of a home and home and a remnant of the Todd Graham era I believe if I remember correctly this was a series set scheduled back in 2016 I could be incorrect on that but ASU will be traveling to San Marcos Texas the first of back-to-back weeks in the state of Texas uh to close up the non-conference Slate against Texas state which currently I don't believe has a uh as a quarterback or at least some interesting management there with TJ Finley who had a record setting season a year ago as Texas State really I believe it pretty much the best season in program history um was I don't know it seemed like he was maybe shown the door after Jaden Delora uh the disgraced former Wildcat cougar quarterback uh was brought on board and then it seemed like the the Bobcat fans there made made their vo hurt and he is now no longer with the program Finley is I believe gone to Western Kentucky leaving the Bobcats uh without an experienced quarterback yes um really really confusing situation not sure they're going to do um you know this is a team that went eight and five last year and they've got a first year head coach in Gary Joe Kenny um who has one of the more fascinating stories in all of um college football and if I'm not mistaken I believe he played for Todd Graham uh at at Tulsa yeah uh and he might have even um it Graham might have even helped him get on for his first coaching gig in uh in Allen Texas but this is a guy like th this is a guy whose dad is a coach um he's probably got an incredibly bright future um you know he helped out at UCF he helped out at Hawaii um I think when Todd Graham was there and and you know could be a could be an important name in coaching soon but it it shouldn't be an issue now especially without um a quarterback don't love that it's on the road um pretty weird right yeah I know you I know you don't love it either um but you know this is an offense that it it it's it's almost like when they had to play was it Cal paully that ran like Dives and triple option stuff yeah and then you could just like not worry about having to scheme against any of that for you know the rest of the time like he he was an Incarnate Word and they run like a crazy uptempo throw the ball five million times offense and I don't think ASU is gonna see too much more of that though at a bare minimum it could prepare them for what they're about to see the following week um Joey McGuire is not Cliff Kingsbury but they do throw a lot uh so I don't know I I don't it it's one of those scary games to me especially if you just finish getting blanked by Fresno um type of game you don't want to play you just want to get get into the games count you really can only lose but maybe it builds up your confidence maybe it gets you used to playing on the road uh maybe it it helps you get a a firmer grip on what you need to do with the quarterback position maybe some good can come of it but I I don't love this game it should be a big ASU win but after the season that we just came off of pointing to anything and saying win feels like like a Fool's errand yeah yeah it should be I mean ASU I think you know at that point in the of the Season should be two- one three a chance 3 and0 if we we seeing some things that were trending and projecting well uh we'll see but yeah I mean th those games even just like going back to like the uh the 2014 New Mexico road trip which just like the little like a little like really like kind of like the reverse of the buy game type thing why why are we here um but that as you mentioned that's going to prepare ASU to do for the first of two games on the road as they will open up the Big 12 Conference play for the first time uh the following week as they head back to Leck for the first time since 2017 facing Joey Maguire's Texas Tech Squad and I know a lot of you know that's an interesting program with has had some pretty successes in terms of talent acquisition but all I'm sure all ASU fans eyes are going to be on uh their new tight end Jaylen Conor yeah I wonder it given what happened with Danny Gonzalez I wonder what the reception is going to be toward watching um you know Jaylen Conor's play in in a Texas Tech uniform um Joe McGuire was equally as snake bit at quarterback last year as Arizona state was I'm sure he's looking forward to having some type of stability uh the thing about Texas Tech is their checks clear um that's not an insult I Louisville the checks clear right like the schools where the checks clear are the places that if if that's what you're into you want to be and I think that Texas Tech has done a really good job Joe McGuire is already one of the best Recruiters in the country but to to unleash him with resources on the the transfer portal I anticipate this being a pretty scary team and I know that people are going to be all over Utah and Arizona as Big 12 favorites right and then you're going to have your people who are just sort of like riding on on the the Dion hype um they're going to be very much better but I don't think they're quite there yet if there was one team to bet on that's in the current Big 12 on on having a like a really really big year I think it's Texas Tech so um huge test fun test yeah um for the people who listen to this podcast I feel like a lot of them are Travelers if you didn't go to the Texas Tech game last time around you gotta go it's fun environment when there's not a tornado delay like the 2017 at least it was a nice Press Box to to chill in for while we're waiting out that storm very um and again just a kind of reminds me of laramy in that it's just school and kind of nothing tumble weeds for forever uh but they they love their football and Todd Graham made sure that every single ASU player was standing at attention so that they could take in the environment the fly over to watch him soak it in I think was a really really cool experience because um Texas Tech was one of the schools that he was trying to make ASU into um as far as just having that gain day in environment and the hype surrounding it I think the Big 12 is going to be really really good for ASU especially the the the c n casuals is is an insult to the kids these days so we will say um especially the fans with good work life balance um they if they get to experience Big 12 Football I think it'll be a lot more enticing for them to be involved than going to La schools or to the Bay Area you know where where the town isn't on display and where the fans of that town aren't looking to impress you right they want to beat you but they also want you to have a good time because their City matters to them that's not a UCLA fan that's not a u USC fan you're going to find that in the Big 12 you're going to find it in Spades and so if you if you want a taste of that very first one I I did the drive in 11 hours I think I saw Billy the kids grave along the way um it's doable you can make a little road trip out of it um Southwest does fly to Leck though it is true it is true and I've heard good things about their airport however um it it will just give you a taste of what the future is for Arizona State and and I think it will really make you want to go back home to Tempe and be um an ambassador of Tempe I really do I think that that's going to be the positive effect of the time in the Big 12 they have a pretty cool horse and mask Rider and any ASU fans who have you know had that tortilla toss itch scratching on for a while you get to to you know indulge I believe they still allow that out out in LC uh that game at Texas Tech Will uh precede the first of two by weeks for the sundevils they will be idle on the weekend of the 28th back in action at home on the can I stop you can I stop you can I stop you can I stop you absolutely you are a worldly man trying to be uh a traveler uh like experience new things when I saw that you bu I I was like oh Brad might get a vacation you trying to build something in now that the schedule's out it has been discussed so we're going to see in about April whenever the NFL maybe there's a Steelers game the Steelers do have two games and they're coming back to Vegas and and uh Denver so maybe ideally it'll fall on one of those two weekends or they're gonna play in Charlotte I got a place for you oh oh oh oh I believe so anyway all right um yeah interesting uh yeah so like that I was like w two two by I when was the last time there was two I don't know but I I love it when I first saw it I was like oh we're so lucky and then I looked and everyone had it and I was just thinking back to win University of Arizona played 13 straight weeks with Rich Rod with no buy at all like the week one buy or something like that or some weird weirdness I was like man is this part of our deal um I thought like two by weeks usually like if you have Hawaii a road trip to Hawaii on the schedule or something like that where you that NCAA allowed 13th game right right they didn't have break between any of their games so to see two by weeks is really cool and my thoughts immediately went to you because I was like oh fall vacation Brad is the best Brad and also there's been times where like in in the by week's past where I'll just like look at the other SK like the the schedule of games across Nation like what's a cool environment to like go like you know go to Virginia Tech or something like that the inter live or check one of the bucket list items that like otherwise I'll never get to see uh but you know maybe you got to make use of all those HomeField t-shirts you have somehow that's true actually we're not wearing a homefill shirt today like it's a rarity so it's just like like what are the legitimate odds one in 11 one in 12 that you're going to be found in something not HomeField oh jeez let's see the HomeField counts like 126 I I there's maybe 12 in the RO in that are still hanging in in the closet that have not been relegated to The Sleep shirt drawer so yeah yeah it's it's it's it's it's tough now that they're not in conference anymore I wonder if I could get away with the UCLA bomber jacket it's very nice so I was very upset because I do have a lot of Big 12 shirts because it was they're homefields collection by the way use offer code sd23 at checkout for 15% off your first purchase from the good brand at H HomeField apparel.com and check out their 25 piece ASU collection um but yeah and but then I stayed away from other than Wazoo and in Oregon State I I stayed away from any Pack 12 but now like all of a sudden like oh now I have bunch of shirts of as's new conference Rivals that I can't wear anymore hey you could do uh you can do the like know your enemy giveaways that's true Brad Brad Den game warn shirts sign him for charity love it love it um as so we getting back to the schedule after the uh the week off who knows where Brad will be on the weekend of the 28th of September but on the 5th I will be in Tempe as well the sundevils and the Kansas Jayhawks as Lance comes in town with uh perhaps Star Quarterback also injury-prone quarterback Jaylen Daniels uh who's returning should be a very interesting game because God damn that offense is so fun to watch and they they recruited Arizona hard so you know that there's gonna be people showing up for for that um Kansas being good at football is fascinating to me because if I had to name like the three worst teams um you you do kind like there's a formative time that if a team is bad then like to you they're always bad so like if you were one of the first three teams that I played in NBA Jam the first version the Clippers always terrible yes you are an eternal poverty franchise so like the Dallas Mavericks and the Clippers are always gonna be bad because they were at the beginning of NBA Jam um I look at Kansas as the worst football school in America and so to and you know to see what Lance liol has been able to do to see the investment that's coming Kansas another place where checks clear um and I'm also really curious because we know we know this you especially know this you've been in Arizona forever right yes there are people from the Midwest yes there are people from California yeah we got our people from Salt Lake and Seattle but there are so many people from pl's country so many like and they don't they don't get to participate in really anything and and so I I'm really curious as to that first home game how Kansas shows up because the in their minds if they are a Kansas fan they are going to watch the best Kansas football team potentially there it has been right so like they're they're going to watch the best non Mark manino coached Kansas team of all time and and if ASU fans don't fill that place out it could be a very interesting environment and so I really really really really hope the Arizona State builds up some momentum and they protect sundevil Mountain America desert Financial Frank Kush bankfield with you know you know with everybody I hope everybody shows up for that game um because it's going to be a really good team it's a Well coached team and if their quarterback is healthy big if he is electric he's not like Dollar Store Jaden Daniels um he's like he's like at that level like could have done a lot of what Jaden Daniels did in LSU's offense this year had he been running LSU's offense electric so I think it's going to be a fun Challenge and I really hope people show up and and keep the opposing fans to a minimum in that game yeah the off the the scheme is just so fun to watch a lot of option elements just like creative stuff that just like real schoolyard stuff but just it really works and when you have a a a trigger man like uh like Jaylen Daniels or even like I believe Jason Bean was the backup who saw most of the time this past season due to injury like it was just a real fun offense to watch and to your point of just like those teams that are just like imprinted in your mind is just like always God awful but like seeing them like New Mexico state was a great example this past year you know Diego Pavia just you know getting that offense going and just seeing those those like those FR or franchise those universities finally get success after Decades of dmat status really cool to see but now that they're conference rival maybe not so much but should be a really intriguing uh Big 12 home conference opener uh but just six days later Ralph a familiar face coming to Tempe for the lone nons Saturday game this will be on Friday October 11th and good thing Joe's not here because this is damn sure a rivalry game ASU hosts Utah absolutely average temperature you say October 12th right uh October 11th Friday October 11th okay um did I see that it was optional like it could get moved to a Saturday is that on the table still ASU is just putting it as the 11th I don't know perhaps if there's leeway a Saturday game I wouldn't complain then make them all Saturdays okay the record high uh record high on October 11th is 106 the average high is 92 and if you have been in Arizona anytime during the last five years I was say what's the fiveyear average yeah uh 201,000 it's gonna be and I'm so excited I hope they melt I hope they melt and I I what I am hoping for is a healthy cam Rising I think he's in like like I got on his third major knee blowout and they're a completely different team without him I want to square up with Utah as Utah um Brent kei's coming back too right brt keithy is coming back too and um they should be Briton C's probably in there somewhere in his 47th season he he's um he's a he's a punt returner in the NFL I just can't remember for whom but I see his name all the time and every time I clench my jaw um and it also has been very very weird to to be a temporary Bills fan um and and have to cheer for a former Utah tight end um you know as the target of Josh Allen passes so that's been tough uh to me this absolutely is a rivalry embrace all rivalries I'm going to suggest later in the podcast that we start a new one um but uh yeah Utah in Tempe make them feel unwelcome let it be the hottest day on Earth and uh and like let's let's be physical back you know that that's kind of how I feel about it yeah it's going to be tough because I mean Utah with the with they returning and their status as just perennial Pack 12 contenders have you figured that they're just going to slide right over and I mean especially with the Blue Bloods leaving for the SEC that Utah is going to be able to kind of contend from from the jump out there so that's going to be an interesting game and just that's the uh second of only three October games that ASU will play uh this this uh season because and then you know perhaps that extra day being a Friday game might help because they ASC will then be making the longest journey of the Season uh for a October 19th game at Cincinnati which is not the capital c Cincinnati of you know the playoff run the Desmond Ritter uh SCE Garder type of years they were kind of a a mess last year uh emry Jones unfortunately not able to find a whole lot of success out there but it's going to be interesting cuz that's a it's a far far trip and I don't I don't know like the the weather in Ohio late mid late October maybe could be tricky it could be yeah this is a game that you're going to have to win they're still you know they're they're still trying to find their footing they they tried to rely heavily on the portal last year as many schools have didn't necessarily work out in their favor also I think it was their first year having to run the gauntlet of an actual major College schedule um in a while so you know they they are um they're trying to find their footing it getting this game at home is probably the best thing that can happen for them I am slightly irritated that I am going to have to finally learn how to spell one of the two words that I've tripped over as long as I've been alive um Cincinnati is has is is my Everest can't do it rhythm is my word I I just let the the red red squiggly line come up and take care of that that's a tough one I'm I'm on license in Cincinnati have been kicking my ass for almost 40 years now do do you go like the British license is that the problem sure if it's right whatever is right I'll do it that way however I do it is is is bad enough for spell Che to not ever do anything about that's when you know when it just refuses to right right like um so after the trip to Cincinnati which uh ASU you should be able to handle that one the second of the two by weeks on the the weekend of the 26th but then ASU will be I think it might be nice because they get the bye extra time to prepare for the uh at this point very familiar opponent third year in a row the sundevils will be facing Oklahoma State second time in Still Water uh this a team that obviously took down ASU a season ago when they're still in the midst of their early season just Gundy weirdness of just let's play three quarterbacks even though clearly we there's a guy there but then they decided hey let's just give the ball to Oly Gordon and just have him run for a billion yards and finish as a 10- win team yeah um they lost 18 players in the transfer portal didn't do a good job really replacing anyone went into last year without a quarterback took two of the most embarrassing losses of the college football season and did not look like they were on Arizona State's level at a time when Arizona State didn't even know what they were doing and they won 10 games it it was a master class um by coach Gundy and now olly Gordon is back because he was only a sophomore and Allan Bowman get ready for a stat Allan Bowman who played for Cliff kingsberry at Texas Tech multiple seasons for Cliff Kingsbury CL is lung at one point yes is back for a seventh season so it you're gonna you're going to be experiencing a very similar team to what you squared off against last year um and with and it's not just Jaylen coners as we'll be seeing but Isiah glass as well that's true um I believe that he'll be he'll be featured pretty prominently um in in that offense so you know I love the kid um I cover high school and people whose's only allegiance to Arizona state is being an Arizona State fan I don't expect you to be a big fan of uh of isai glass especially when you have like media taking parting shots at him on the way out you know it's not really set up for success but you know I wish him the best best it it'll be good to see him and and that's just kind of the way you have to treat it at this point because people can come and go you never knew who's going to come back around it's it's a strange time to be a college football fan but you know if the end product is just being a more decent human being maybe it's not all bad so the Oklahoma State game will be the uh first of three Road games in the month of November of the final five so as the uh after the trip to still water again ASU comes back home on November 9th they be facing off against UCF don't call them Central Florida yeah they get very sensitive about that all right who is in who's with me this is our new rival oh go on UCF I why not the best thing that ever happened to them was Scott Frost the best thing that ever happened to us was playing against Scott Frost like we're we're probably the most ameni city in the Big 12 outside of Orlando um they have managed to have a rabid fan base despite existing in the city with the most distractions on Earth plus an ocean so if they can do it we certainly can do it um their fans are insane matching their energy is only going to be a net positive for us might be a headache for people like you but um you know I why not it's a little space School nobody even cares about space little also they have like 65,000 students oh so I I can't help but here whenever UCF is brought up I can't think of uh help but think of Stephen Godfrey's epic tweet that since Le but like he's got kind of a fun rivalry with the school he called it like a degree farm for Hilton KN managers see why not why not they they have an unearned reputation we have a also have a reputation ER is Up For Debate depending on who's listening to this yeah they think theyed outer space yeah they think that they in invented outer space and we think we invented fun and I think it that's who I I just want I want bad blood I want it with UCF I want them to be thinking about us all the time I want them to be calling us the Florida the Southwest um like I all of it whatever whatever they can break out to to make this one a little bit more fun because there there are some schools you're just going to have a rivalry with based on interacting with their fans like I can tell you this right now the first time that ASU fans and West Virginia fans interact on the internet like it you're gonna have even the most hardened ASU fans be like well my word like they're gonna be they're gonna be uh shocked at at how aggressive that fan base is that's not necessarily reflective of the product that they're going to put on the football field right Mountaineers are by the way com into town next year and uh the trip that Ray Anderson's very happy to avoid uh to Morgantown was 2027 yes yes that is the thought that he would still be available to attend that game was horrifying to me um yeah uh but I I I mean like there's definitely going to be fan bases that you interact with that make this um a little bit more of an intense matchup but I feel like there with every fire there has to be some kindling right like there there has to be some level ignition and I just like whatever I can say to upset UCF fans I just want it to happen I just want to step back and and and let it exist as a rivalry because you figure we're always gonna have um uh you know we're always gonna have dicey contests with the corner schools um but you know Texas Tech is nearby but is that really going to be it I I don't think so yeah I say why not why not Orlando why not we set our sights on on Disney Town well one thing they've done horribly is uh you Rebrand and get rid of their original mascot the citronaut which was absolutely awesome and adorable and uh that shirt is available at HomeField barrel.com use offer code sd23 at checkout to get score that shirt as well for the golden kns I mean come on man that's pretty eff and generic oh yeah no I love the hockey team like it's it's yeah I can't I can't wait for that one because I do feel like and I would love for the rest of the conference to receive it as very much like two elitist cities um you know one has Goofy and Daisy Duck and one has chuckbox and therefore we look down Advantage Tempe upon yes exactly Advantage Tempe for sure um but we you know we we look down our noses at at everybody else because there are other things to do in in our college football Town um I would love for that to be uh to be the case I just I I want bad blood with UCF and I'm I'm I'm still in the process of brain storming how to make it happen but I I think we can artificially start a little bit of a war here all right I'm on board Let's Do It um the next week ASU will be taking a trip this might be one of the harder games on the Slate even more so being on the road at Kansas State November 16th could be a cold one it could be it could be is it you know is it going to be that much different than like Eugene OR or Corvalis um shivering even saying the word Corvalis I had the worst time of my life covering a road game in um Seattle Frank Derby was in uh but you know it it could be it could be bad um I've heard that it gets pretty cold that's where my my mother-in-law went to school there my wife lived there before she moved to Arizona she hadn't been in back in like 26 years so I think we're going to make the trip but man I I I'm really looking forward to that game because Chris kimman he's just the man yeah like and again North Dakota State coaching tree love it love everything about it and you know he won multiple championships after he followed Craig Bowl went to Kansas State and he's just made him tough because I think for a long time people believe that if unless it was Bruce Snyder coaching up a bunch of kids from Dodge City Garden City you know and and all the Kansas [ __ ] that that Kansas State wasn't gonna be able to compete um but they're they're they're building a heck of a team and they lost their quarterback to Ohio State and you know they're spitting mad because you know they don't want to be second place to anybody and so it will be really really interesting to see what they come back with as Arizona State fans them not having will Howard not the worst thing in the entire world so you know if if they're not able to replace his production it could be a winnable game for Arizona State um but yeah I mean the weather could be um it could be not fun for sure although did you see the the the young kid quarterback they got Avery Johnson um I believe in the bowl game he was he's exciting he's a dual threat guy made some really incredible plays um and just kind of you know obviously kind of you know bowl games come with a little bit of an asteris but um just seems like they got the T but of course you know that's just a program that just likes to smash you in the face and even going back you know I've been kind of a fun of them since the days of Michael Bishop doing his thing back in the in the late 90s but so it's always a program that is just year after year really good of course you know that they're just a year removed from a big 12 Championship as well so going on the road it's going to be uh that's I think that's gonna be one that I I have circled as well it's going to be a lot of fun and I think that they believe you know I don't think they love the will Howard thing but I do think that they believe um that they should be a top three team going in and I think that they're going to feel really disrespected when they end up at like five or six in these preseason polls because all of a sudden you have a bunch of new voters who have never watched any Big 12 Football this is going to be the most inaccurate preseason poll since every Pack 12 poll that has ever come out and those are the people that are going to vote in this new thing so get ready oh it's gonna be great at Le at least they're bringing media day to Vegas so they're doing us a favor there so that's pretty cool uh then in the home stretch asu's home finale it'll be senior day on November 23d when uh this is the team that I will pitch a rivalry I I think it might be doesn't need too much help from me BYU coming to Tempi yeah um gosh it could be the Bor Gable that's true TR Trenton versus trayon um be very very interesting if if that's the case uh I I don't think people would need any extra reasons to consume this football game uh BYU has a massive massive fan base in the valley obviously and everywhere they go they have people who are not fans so it's going to be a wild game regardless I think about the fact that they met in like a neutral site in their game with University of Arizona they played in Glendale or whatever almost pack that place out um My Hope Is that the Arizona State fans hold on to their their tickets for that one or at least um absolutely fleece any P fans that you sell them to and then donate the excess proceeds to to sun angel or something but you know I I think that the the Stadium's going to be full it's going to be rocking this is not a shot at BYU I don't think they're going to care but because of the time period that we're in with so many super seniors so many super duper seniors um it's G to be nice to go up against a BYU Squad and be the same age like that's gonna be like a that that's been a thing I've been I've been I've been bothered by BYU for a really really long time you know I don't get hung up on the fact that like a bunch of their players are 24 25 or whatever um but it's definitely the first excuse I bring up when they beat Wyoming so of course I'm going to be you know um out of excuses this time as ASU has you know got Fifth and six years still on on the roster this is probably gonna be the last year of it for a lot of people um but yeah I mean I that game's gon to be so much fun um I am worried about its proximity to Arizona because those both of those are emotions up games maybe not for the players on on the BYU side um but certainly for the fans and so you know to to have to take on BYU then go down to Tucson the next week it's gonna be a lot and then of course as uh as tradition dictates and as Doug tamamo pointed on Twitter something that they uh but the folks at both schools made sure the big 12 knew that it's the proper way to end a season with the territorial cup battle this one of course uh being in Tucson on on November 30th six home games six Road games games Ralph any any just kind of you know as we close out we kind of gone week by week but just any kind of big picture thoughts as we uh put a bow on the the schedule review um I I will say I want to say I'm grateful to to the Big 12 for allowing that to take place because if you look at some of these um some of these new teams don't know each other yet like how they finish is crazy like Utah finishes the season in Orlando you know The Natural end of season rivalry between Salt Lake City and Orlando um there's actually a musical that involves both those cities I don't know if you've seen it but um anyway uh the I I am uh I am very very grateful that that is the case uh and then big picture you know I I look at um there's there's a couple a couple of these schools just have Murderers Row schedules um University of Arizona getting tested early I love the way Arizona State's set up I I really do um to get the opportunity to kind of like judge your team uh over that first quarter of the season and then take a week off reassess do what you need to do and then the break in the middle I think is very very important to separate your season in chunks and chapters um so I I love the way that it's set up I'm really looking forward to talking to as many people as possible about what cities you're going to this year because you know I'm I'm fascinated by by all of these new places and like I said with the big 12 these are people that are going to want to show off right it's important to them how you view them and and and their City and and so I think I'm going to try to go to Cincinnati I think I'm going to try to go to to to Manhattan uh and maybe do two a year um but yeah I think um I'm just EXC I'm excited about the new chapter I'm excited about the way it's laid out for Arizona State I look at some of the other schedules that other people have and it it seems like we didn't get the shortest end of the stick and that's really all you can be grateful for this point yeah it's uh going to be takes some getting used to but it's a lot you know it's going to be real fun to see a lot of new places it sounds like you I might be able to see at a couple of these uh these destinations as well uh as we close out here real quick Jacobs Le had a had a question for us he posed it to us on Twitter and just so with a caveat outside of the schools coming over from the Pack 12 so that eliminates Utah Arizona and Colorado give us two to three schools y'all would want to see ASU face every year in football going forward he thinks that yearly rivalries with UCF maybe you guys are in cahoots there Kansas and U would be fun uh sure I mean I I think I think there's probably a much bigger football fan base of of K State um and I think having that fan base there adds a little bit of flavor to it but I mean on a personal level I just want all of Orlando to be upset with all of Tempe and vice versa um were they involved in the fake the fake rivalry were they part of the Civil conflict I can't remember oh that's what that's likeon and was it South Florida Florida I think yeah South Florida okay so not C okay so we're not stealing from anybody we have we'll have our own fake rival we can make a trophy there we go um and uh yeah I'm excited that's that's who I want I I'd play them tomorrow I'm I'm not in charge but why not line it up all right so there's a look at asu's 2024 schedule uh if you want the uh the uh Big 12 while back released the Home and Away opponents through 2027 some interesting things so some teams that will be coming to town in the future some road trips as will be taken in the years to come are also pretty interesting because of course with uh the the uh size of this conference now there's going to be six teams per year that uh you don't see so I think they got a pretty good rotation so uh it's going to be real interesting real fun um but as we kind of put a cap on this now it's a good time to bring you a conversation I had recently with Brady white uh the former former ASU quarterback I believe Ralph he he was like the at the time the highest rated quarterback s ASU had ever pulled in and that and was a member of the 20 2015 class I believe so Hart Hart High School California kid and uh was a midyear transfer and was actually in ASU for quite a long time you don't you you don't realize it but when you come in in December um he I think he might have even got a degree I think he might be a Sun Devil oh he he he absolutely did and then yeah extreme smart kid U Got His degree then transferred to Memphis where he threw for over 10,000 yards 90 touchdowns uh one I believe uh the Campbell trophy is like the top scholar athlete in the NCAA in his final season there uh really impressive young man played a couple seasons in the usfl but now coming back to Tempe as a offensive assistant they'll be working under Rashad samples with the son of a wide receivers so had a good chance to catch up with Brady so here's that conversation all right Brady obviously coming back to Tempe rejoining the son of a football program walk our listeners and viewers how this opportunity came up and why it was the right move for you yeah I mean um I've obviously always stayed in touch with Coach Dillingham just from the strong relationship that we have and um it's been fun to follow his success and throughout throughout his journey in college football but um it really just came from a phone call you know I was uh I was back home and got a phone call from coach Dillingham um letting me know that there was an opportunity available and then got to you know talk more to him about that and also talk with Coach a Royo and um things just kept rolling from there and you know within a few days um the the things went in my favor and they offered me the job and and then I uh was able to get out here shortly after that and and now we're kind of settled in here in Tempe and excited to be sundell was again all right so kind of maybe the a three-part question here obviously you mentioned the relationship with Kenny Dillingham goes back quite a ways obviously you know his Origins kind of you know as a member of the staff I believe at J at the time uh during your playing days what are your what are the the things kind of you when you hearken back to those days when you you were a player for the Sun Devils that you remember about Kenny the G yeah I mean I got to not only you know be with Kenny when he was first getting started here at Arizona State but also you know when he was a um play caller at Memphis and so you know the one thing I know about Kenny is is he's extremely intelligent and bright and he's bringing a lot of energy obviously extremely passionate and energetic and so um I think he's shown that to his hometown here in Tempe um in the valley of Arizona and I'm excited to be joining his staff what are some of the things that you think that you know when you guys were at Memphis together and you obviously were having tremendous success during for 10,000 yards what were some of the things that he kind of imparted upon you that allowed you to have that success yeah we we worked really well together I remember you know he's a great teacher of football um and really gives you know boost confidence in his players um really empowers them and and gives them all the tools and the knowledge to to be prepared to step on that field and and give your best every day and so it was a lot of fun and and a great experience to to play for him um and also he's he's big on the relationship piece and I think that's a strength of his and that's something that is truly special to find in college football nowadays especially um you know a really good person and human being not just a coach um who really genuinely cares about you and so to be a part you know to be you know right next to that guy day in and day out and to be a part of his journey and to be a part of his staff you know it's a great honor and privilege and so I'm excited to get started of course you know going back to those days when he was Jay you were a son of a quarterback you know unfortunately your time here in Tempe you know by injury in that one start and not a whole lot of playing time but you know when you look back on your days your your first in I guess we can say now as a sundevil what were some of the the most the Fondest Memories that you have yeah I absolutely love Arizona I obviously picked ASU over a bunch of different options coming out of high school and you know you know that would have never changed if I could go back um this is a special special place a fantastic University and obviously I've been able to and and get to know a lot of really really um unique and special individuals you know starting here in Arizona um and so you know you know while I wasn't able to play a ton and and you know the one start I got you know you you suffer a season ending injury that kind of puts you out for some time um I've found a place that you know has brought me a ton of amazing relationships whether it's you know close friends I've obviously known my wife since high school but you know she was also a Sun Devil and and then obviously a myriad of of relationships throughout the coaching you know coaching business and plenty of teammates that have gone on to to play professionally that go on to coach that go on to do you know things in their own own lives that you just stay in touch and and continue to grow those relationships and so it's always been a place that's been near and dear to my heart and I'm really excited to you know be bringing my wife and I back to to Arizona State what's it been like just knowing to that seeing over the years so many members of that sun level staff whether it's Kenny you know Dan lan Mike Norville of course you know that you had you teed up with to great success in Memphis just so many of those names that you knew and got to work with on a day and day out basis having massive impact on the college uh sport or college football landscape now yeah absolutely that's you know that's what I'm talking about I think it it speaks volumes you know to obviously the people and the coaches that have come through this place and you know you got to give credit to the to the coaching staff that you know coach Graham had had put together in those years and um like you mentioned it's just incredible to see you know not just the the amount of good coaches but guys that are like considered stars in The Profession now and having you know massive impacts on the game and you know are running top tier programs so you know to be able to have been here with all those people and you know to know them and have relationships and got to experience how they coached and learn some things you know along the way and obviously continue to do that now um really cool experience so that's you know a great great kind of Honor that I've had of course you go off to Memphis and throw for a bunch of yards a bunch of touchdowns uh all kinds of records that you have for the tiger still uh you know obviously you had great success off the field as well um you know when you look at the totality of your college career what are the accomplishments you're most proud of yeah you know it was I'd be lying if I saying doing all that on the field wasn't an absolute blast in in the time of and you know U the time of of my life so it was tons of fun to have taken that field and had you know massive amounts of success with with the coaches and the teammates um and the people in the building day in and day out I was very blessed to have been with those guys and to have played with awesome guys alongside me you know I definitely need to make sure that I give all those guys the credit and and the great coaching staff that I've been a part of um i' also you know I'm super proud of I think you know the accomplishments off the field as well that's something that I've always prided myself in is you know taking care of my business in the classroom but also you know giving back to the community and making sure that you know whatever platform and Stage that I have using that you you know for the benefit of of others and you know the people around me and I you know I feel like I did that I feel like I had a a positive impact in the places that I've been um and so those things are are are things that I'm always going to you know be proud to hang my hat on um as well as as the uh the football accomplishments but you know I I think it feels even better to be a better man and a better person on top of being a good football player of course it runs in the family a bit but when did the the idea of jumping into coaching whenever your playing days were over kind of first pop in your head yeah it's it's funny you know I I was always told by you know these coaches that that have coached me like you know whenever you're done you know you're GNA play a while and whenever you're done you're going to be a phenomenal coach and I always heard that but you're so set on you know accomplishing your goals and playing as long as you can um I think it's always been in the back of my mind something that I that I've known I want to do eventually and I've had the great privilege to have been coached by you know my father who's a fantastic dad but also you know he was a wonderful coach growing up and then getting into high school and having some legendary coaching staffs um with Coach Harrington and then obviously you know we've already touched on the people that I've been able to connect with um in my college career and I just love this game man this this thing is is my drug I'm addicted to it and I and I love everything thing about it and so it was a it was a pretty easy choice you know once I decided to to finish playing to make the transition and you know I'm very very fortunate and blessed that you know coach silverfield helped me get started with that out in Memphis and now we're here we are where we are today now as you mentioned you know in Memphis you know working with the wide receivers over there and sounds like he'll be doing the same here uh in Tempe with the sundevil receivers what's it been like just kind of you know making that Mark from you know going to the other side of that passing connection yeah it's been obviously there's there's little things here and there in details and nuances to to learn and and I've had great you know people to learn from um out back in Memphis but also here you know obviously with Coach samples being a fantastic coach with a a fantastic resume um I'm really excited to work alongside him you know day in and day out and learn from him um but it's been really fun and it's it's a very easy transition you know for me since I was able you know that's that's who those are the guys that I've been working with my entire career um whether I was intentionally doing it or not you're always communicating with them connecting with them because those are the guys that you know you have to be yin and yang with you got to be super tight with on and off the field um so for me when I was you know first getting into coaching and had that job um it was pretty a pretty smooth transition and like I said you kind of learn the day in and day out duties um certain things that you need to do in order to help them be best prepared and and to benefit them um as you go but I'm really excited to kind of pick that back up here and and see the guys that we have in our room and get them ready for the fall you touched on Rashad samples you know one of the rising stars in The Profession Kenny Dillingham last year a few times actually said he's probably going to be the the the next youngest head coach in in major college football uh just early on you know some early Impressions about Coach samples and what do you think that you guys can accomplish together yeah well so far it's been it's been communication through the phone because he's been on the road recruiting so I I have yet to uh to meet coach samples in person um because he's busy right now which which is good um but no I've it's funny I was I was actually in Memphis when I first saw his name we were me and someone else on our staff were just looking at um NFL coaching staffs and saw this young young coach for the Rams and I I was just extremely impressed and obviously I've had a a team teammate who played for the Rams and Daryl Henderson who was a running back so coach samples was probably coaching him so I'm excited to connect with him on that um but I've heard nothing but extremely positive things um I know that you don't get where he's at without being a guy that deserves it and works his ass off and obviously he's extremely intelligent and talented and so you know getting to meet him here soon probably this week and and being able to work with him I'm really excited to to pick his brain to be you know be learning from him um and I I agree with Coach Dillingham he's probably going to have a pretty significant role here in college football quickly and of course you know still early but you know this is a receiver group that has one of the conferences best and Elijah Badger some other guy some very talented guys Jake Smith's now going to be eligible to play you know what's your kind of early read on just you know this 2024 group of sundevil wide receivers you know kind of obviously ear early on yeah it's been fun to follow this group you know obviously being a a former Sun Devil in Alum I've always kept tabs on the team and obviously with Coach Dillingham here I watched a lot of their games um even across the country and you get to see you know the skill level and the talent that this group has and you know getting here um not too long ago just picking the brains of of the staff that's that's here in town um about those guys you you get to hear a lot of really good remarks things that you want to hear as a guy who's going to be in that room you know coaching those guys um every day um and it's been fun to watch them you know go to work every day you know since I've been here obviously they're in their their workout programs and um they're kind of grinding away and it's been fun to just go introduce myself get to know them a little bit um early here and watch them you know their work ethic um and you can see you know some of those traits and those skill sets come out in some of those drills but um I'm really excited to for when we get started here soon officially and to get to know them more you know learn about them hear what makes them tick and and what their dreams and aspirations are and help them achieve those you know as you mentioned so many people telling you that you're of a bright future in coaching and you know just a young guy getting started in this business what are the long-term goals in the profession what do you what do you hope to accomplish uh as a coach yeah I'm obviously really excited to to see what this journey has for me um it is it is crazy but it's it's super fun and I'm blessed to be in the position I am um I've got my my dreams and aspirations obviously want to continue to elevate and grow in the college football you know world and in the coaching profession um and I know that'll come with time so um we'll see I've got my goals but you know I've I've shared this with a bunch of people I've in my short time as a coach I've I've already heard from many many people that it's very important to be where your funer at it's very easy to get ahead of yourself and um you know just be going going going and trying to you know accomplish and Achieve and continue to to level up and obviously you do that and you work hard and and you have you know the things that you want to attain but um something big for me is I really want to just enjoy this moment I want to enjoy this stage in my career as a coach and be very present with this group give them everything I've got my heart and soul and and give back to this community of Tempe and and all the sundevils here and and I really want to help these kids man grow to be better football players and achieve their dreams of playing hopefully at the next level but also to develop as young men and you know if I can share just a little bit of wisdom from my experience and help them you know get 1% better you know I feel really good about myself all right great stuff from Brady there but we cannot have Ralph Amon on the program without talking a little bit of local recruiting now it's probably good time for that because it's been just a little bit over a year since Kenny Dillingham took over in temp and obviously as we've well documented with you and just overall just the relationships kind of the state of local recruiting under the prior regime had really deteriorated obviously the the Brock P Story coming you know from the jump things weren't good but now as we're a year into this just what in your estimation Ralph what progress if any or how much has been made in kind of repairing those relationships between Arizona State football and the local high school Community Players coaches Etc so Kenny Dillingham is still on borrowed time as one of them right there's a grace period uh he was a Arizona high school coach he helped out at Arizona State he had jobs all over the country and everywhere he went he stayed in contact with all of the coaches of the the major programs and some of the smaller programs there were people in the state of Arizona at one point with offers from Memphis Auburn and Oregon at the same time and like those are three very different places to be recruiting somebody in Arizona but it was him and he was the one maintaining those those relationships um because he he he had his eye on the the possibility of the future and um he knew what he would do when put in this situation now you spend all that time envisioning what your life is going to be like as Arizona State's coach and how to fix a lot of the things that the fans complain about the most and you dedicate a bunch of your energy to this future problem that you might be able to solve but when you get to the Future the problem has evolved to the point where there's not even a recognizable environment anymore now name image and likeness is involved and now you you have access to uh anybody who wants to make a change either as a graduate transfer or somebody who is disgruntled somebody who's not in the right situation so I have long long put out my theory that every ASU coach has to to go to the mat to protect the state with the understanding that they're going to lose and it's okay to lose these fights because you set up the potential to get somebody on the way back like a Casey Tucker uh like a Christian Western you know you you set that up for yourself I believe very much that that should have been the strategy all along but you don't tell people that that's your strategy you don't you know you don't just come out and say it like hey you know and if we don't get you we'll see you tomorrow like that's that's not how you go about you have to do it in earnest and then Kenny Dillingham comes along and he sees that and he's like yeah but why can't you just say it and he has been saying it publicly and privately look Johnny wide receiver you are going to have all of the opportunities in the world you deserve them if you find a situation for you that is better than Arizona State I'm going to be your biggest Fame I want nothing but success for you you deserve to be rewarded and if that's where the name image and likeness um opportunity is then and and that's important to your family that's something that you have to consider if you're looking at the depth chart and and early playing time is the most important thing to you I'm looking at that same depth chart too and you might not be wrong and I'll tell you what not only am I going to root for you I'll be here if it doesn't work out and if there's not a spot for you here I'll do whatever it takes to make sure people know the type of young man that you are and what you could do for them for the right program I am in your corner I'm on your team even if you're not on mine and that is that is how he's going about this and that is like psychotic to think is is even a thing you know and and there's like I'm sure an old school school of thought that's like you you play to win the game you know you don't punt for field position in recruiting but you absolutely do punt for field position in recruiting you do and so this strategy will not pay immediate dividends is a thing that Arizona State fans have to understand but they have to understand what he's doing and how can you understand something that hasn't been done in an environment that you're not too keen on in the first place so be patient the seeds are planted the stocks are sprouting gardening metaphor garding metaphor fruit like it's gonna happen it it it is already happening but these kids if they do leave are leaving knowing that that there's no bitterness you didn't get blocked on social media you didn't get badmouthed Kenny Dillingham understands that the people that he's dealing with are also very young and one of my least favorite things about the recruiting beat when I was really on it full time um you know covering Arizona state is we all have our principles and how we're going to treat um a young athlete until they've offended us in a way that we that that goes beyond what our value system will allow for right so take University of Arizona for example they very much all of the media that doubles as fans which I semi exist as now and understand um are like don't tweet at the kids don't tweet at the kids whatever decision they make is whatever decision they make you know these are these are kids they don't have fully developed frontal lobes they were recruited by somebody else you don't want to gain the reputation as Mal contents you want to show these players that you're with them and then you have a guy like Ephesians pryck tweet out his jersey as if he's going to stay at University of Arizona and then tweet out his commitment to University of Washington and then all of the sudden it's yeah I know I said all that but this guy sucks and I need to let him know he sucks because if I don't let him know he sucks how's he gonna know he sucks so I know I said don't tweet at the kids but this guy sucks he's not gonna know he sucks unless I tell him and so the cognitive dissonance that starts to exist right so you have to be gracious you have to be forgiving you have to be understanding and you have to have security you cannot be insecure as an Arizona State fan you have to know what you have in the building in Kenny Dillingham in these coordinators in the Tempe football experience and I've said this before and I'll say it again I believe it with all my heart Arizona State University is the best second decision you will ever make in your life ever you will not regret it you won't especially if you and I remember Charlie Turner Thorne talking about this of like how she loved transfers because then she was dealing with adults who actually had considered what they need to get out of a situation in young people who have been just going around doing what they're told by other people all of the sudden have goals all of the sudden have an aim and even if it's the pendulum thing of wanting to stay away from something that they don't like at least they understand that much more about themselves there's an emotional maturity that comes with it now is it annoying to recruit and field the team in this environment absolutely but I think that what Charlie Turner Thorne said is true so so you have to be willing as a fan base to follow Kenny dillingham's lead on this and understand that it's a long play right he he currently and it's one of the reasons he publicly Praises Jordan Travis and Bo Knicks so often he currently has the ability to point to both of those guys because people know who those guys are in a couple of years recruits aren't going to know who those guys are so he needs to produce on his end in order to be able to be one of the few that can just say like hey if you're a quarterback I'm that dude because there's only a handful of those you know Lincoln Riley one of them sometimes the institution takes care of it for you um but sometimes it just is the coach and wherever that coach goes good quarterbacks are going to follow um Kenny Dillingham is on the precipice of being that because he can point to B Knick and he can point to Jordan Travis in a couple of years that's just not going to be as relevant so as long as they produce this strategy can work twofold he can meet his standard for the type of player that he wants to coach within the program as far as high school rankings and he can make Arizona State appealing as a second option to people who maybe have left and and come back and I don't think I ever really understood the the magnetic ISM of Arizona State as a bounceback for Arizona kids until I moved to a state that had 70 options for postgraduate football I am two hours in Charlotte North Carolina I am two hours from Clemson from South Carolina from Duke from North Carolina from North Carolina state from Wake from appstate and then you get into like the d2s and the HBCU also University of Charlotte is right here you know I'm I'm wford and Ferman and Gardener web all of these places are right next to me and Arizona doesn't have that at all there is no other option if you get homesick if there's a spot at na for you you that's still three hours from home so your options are really Tucson or or Tempe and so you have to make yourself open to that Kenny Dillingham is the most open to this environment of college football um of anybody I've ever seen and I'm trying to be objective about that I'm trying not to be hyperbolic but I'm telling you even if his methods seem weird even if they're foreign to you I think he has the best strategy I think he has the best hand at the table and I think he has the best way to play it what it's going to come down to is are the resources and backing of the Arizona State fans available assuming the NCAA doesn't swoop in and and pay for play altogether um but in in in that case I think Arizona State also has mechanisms by which to make sure uh that people are working for the U the nil money that they that they bring in some of these amounts at some of these colleges can't be justified you g to go tie some animal balloons together for $8 million at Tennessee that's not I checked jobs.com indeed $8 million balloon man not on there right so it has to be more realistic and more sustainable situation but as long as that Financial backing is there you're going to have a lot of people who want to come back to Arizona State and and that's gonna just benefit ASU and with their hooks in Texas for the young guys and with as much games as they're playing in Texas I think California is going to be a really hard road to I'm sorry it just it is Brent Brennan you know they they've got a built-in Advantage he's fantastic St Jose State was almost always the first guy to come in on every California player Jayden rashada I think included um they're just always really good at identifying Talent really young and since he's got that builtup base they might be able to get some people out of California but other than that I think Arizona state is set up better in the transfer market I think that they're set up better with the um uh with with the hometown bounce backs and I still I believe Kenny Dillingham at least through the end of the season is still operating in the grace period of having been one of these guys the offers aren't going to be as plentiful because he knew a four-star kid's not coming out to Memphis you know so he really really has to be intentional with the offers that he delivers but the trick is do you know the kids and he is doing his best to get to know every kid that's out there this is the first staff that has ever been in communication with my staff on a regular basis ever to to talk about what kids are doing well in sevens to talk about what kids are um uh you know what their characters like to talk about what freshman to look out for so that you're not the third fourth school to offer them you know these are conversations that that I know for a fact weren't happening at least with my staff before that are that are happening now so I I've got all the faith in the world in him it's a new it's a new day though it's a new thing and so he could have the best strategy in the world but because everything turned on a dime I think he's playing this as well as he possibly can but until next summer you might not see what it is you really really want to see um and maybe beyond that because you know guys like demand you know don't want to stay it you know demon Williams don't want to stay at Washington you know does he go back to Arizona where he was once committed or does he consider you know playing closer to home because he was at basa and that's ston throw from temp so you know that's the type of situation that ASU is going to be in in the future quite a bit and as long as you're open to it and I believe that he is I think ASU will benefit now given this new strategy and this openness and this forthrightness that we've seen from Kenny you know basically from the jump you know on the flip side of things how is this new look son of a program this approach by Kenny Dyan being received uh you know from the local high school Community the people that were on the wrong end of these Frid and and sometimes just completely absent uh relationships over the last several years yeah like I said he's he's in the grace period um and and so you know he also has the [Music] um you know what's that the Garfield or is the Bart Simpson cake meme at least you tried you know like the these coaches will serve up the at least you tried cake like they you know they they will appreciate your attention um and your effort and that exists now we've watched coach after coach come into Arizona put in effort for like a year in this area and be like this part of my job sucks and then just kind of like not continue it um and I know that Kenny Dillingham from the outside had to be looking at this situation and being like why like why not just keep the keep the same energy year over year and but he's the type of person that's trying to think about being here for 25 30 years good luck you know that's almost impossible um in in this environment I want that to be the case and he's gone around and told people he thinks this will be his last head coaching job so you know I I think I think it can um his relationship with Arizona High School coaches right now can be uh considered as like satisfactory um they would love and every High School coach loves to say that they sent a kid that that you know they can root for locally and I think some people still have the belief that these head coach have more involvement in highle recruiting than they actually than they actually do if you get to a point where a kid has four or five offers the involvement of the high school coach is at a very very minimum level um if you get to the end of the season and a coach is making calls to like Rocky Mountain and Billings Montana on your behalf and Fort Lewis you know um to get you into an armac D2 school then yes like you you're going to be able to take credit for that kid's Commitment if he if he gets in in one of those places but when somebody goes to Arizona State and they're a multiple offer kid it doesn't have much to do with the High School coaches at all all you want to do is make sure they're not whining and what you'll notice is when Herm was here and Antonio Pierce and in the latter years of Todd Graham post Mike norell somebody would complain and then a bunch of other High School coaches would be like here here that hasn't happened yet that has that part of it has yet to happen and so it's not so much the one person complaining you need to be worried about it's the everybody like retweeting it and favoring it and thanks for saying the thing that's been on all of our minds and I will tell you that if it's been on all of their minds it would be a thing that I'm hearing um and it certainly would be a thing that that Chile's hearing but it's just not that's not where it is yet people still believe that Kenny Dillingham cares that it says Arizona on the Jersey and that he he wants this to be a school that represents the community in some way and as long as they have that belief you're you're not going to see the pylons that were very very common in the Herm Edwards Todd gram eras so in Kenny Dillan has talked about and you know like assistant coaches and that I've talked to with shot samples and Brian kington for example have all told me that you know obviously this is a relationship game it takes time and you you talk to it as about a fans should have patience that this is going to take time to kind of undo that damage build those relationships strengthen those relationships over time a couple of them have also said that you know you might you know the 25 classes when you might start to see some of those you know some of the the fruit start to to kind of to come to bear from you know all the work that they're putting in and everything that since they've taken over a little over a year ago obviously there's uh you know some very talented guys in that 2025 class in Arizona Cooper Perry seems to be no secret that that he's coveted by this sundevil program how long do you think it might take do you think that's an accurate timeline from when ASU can become you know go make that move from you know not just you know the best second decision and the bounce back but being that first choice for the Lo the top local guys yeah so what what you need is one right you need one person to say um yeah let's let's do it let's stay home once that happens the ease with which you you can Market yourself to everybody else you know it's it's especially in a fomo generation where everybody is worried about what everybody else has going on it was like this before but now it's it's even crazier and so you say you know Cooper Perry's going to ASU if it's good if it's good enough for him it's good enough for me you know I think about there's a there's a um there's a very very dumb movie It's called Opportunity Knocks it's not as good as the Devil Wears Prada which Joe Healey still has not watched it's a nice seven-year call back um but the show Cannon runs deep yes in so in this movie Opportunity Knocks Dana Carvey is a crook and he sees a house with a bunch of newspapers out front and so he just goes in and he lives there and then he adopts the guy's life that that was in that home who's like overseas traveling for months and he ends up going to a job interview that this guy had scheduled that he meant to cancel and literally becoming him and the the job that he takes on is like the war against people moving to uh paper towels over like bathroom blowers right so like that's that's the job he takes on and it's it's a Dana Carvey movie so they have to fit in excuses for him to do impressions and there's a scene in this movie where he pretends to be uh George HW Bush the first one not gonna do it that George Bush and he uh he has a he pays a bunch of guys to run into a bathroom at a at a baseball game I think and at this baseball game everybody's at the urinal and all of a sudden there's security yelling like Secret Service Secret Service like nobody moves so everybody's just up against the Ural no one can look and then he walks in he goes a stall and he talks to himself as George HW Bush just doing the impression and then he comes out and he says uh paper towels bad Blower's good and he like dries his hand in the blower and then all the people that he paid to be security run over and he pretends to be one of those guys too and he's like if it's good enough for the president it's good enough for me like and then all of a sudden everybody is excited about hand dryers right uh electronic hand dryers because uh there's en enthusiasm and I and it's very very dumb uh thing to relate to but I always one of your best like I mean it took a while to get there but you nailed the landing of course it did um I I'm I I am not uh uh good at being succinct but I say all that to say this like enthusiasm is very very contagious and if you can get somebody to commit that is a big name like a Cooper Perry University of Arizona saw this they got Noah faf and that turned into four different players all from cite right this it is very very possible for this to happen in Arizona but all it takes is one and I think that Kenny Dillingham knew that with Duce Robinson and I think he took about a big of a swing at Deuce as you possibly could um Duce was locked in at at USC and and he's a dual sports star and and you know maybe he'll stick it out and and you know go to the NFL or whatever but I think that Kenny Dillingham knows who those guys are to get the rest of Arizona uh and the talent in Arizona to say if it's good enough for Cooper Perry it's good enough for me and then just have a bunch of people jump on board but it's always going to be a domino effect it can't be you know five or six Diamonds in the Rough and then you point to it and you say we did a good job in the state of Arizona because that's not what Arizona is anymore Arizona is the state that gives you five players on the San Francisco 49ers playing in the Super Bowl in two weeks five like what eight% of that roster is from Arizona so like that that is what Arizona is becoming you need the big names the leaders the people that that uh can can get other people on board maybe recruit while they're um while they're uh in flux waiting to enroll the way that Manny Wilkins did you know that is what you need and if Kenny Dillingham believes that Cooper Perry's that guy then you got to get Cooper Perry but the problem with the Cooper Perry is he fits in that category that Kenny Dillingham talked about of if you're the elite elite go away for a year you know but come back which is what Cole Martin just did with his one year at Oregon before coming to to Arizona State but once they've been removed for that one year that excitement goes away there are a lot of people that are very excited to see Cole Martin be part of Arizona State's recruiting class but it's not GNA make the high school kids stick it's just not a very interesting complex issue I mean we've talked about this local recruiting The Saga over multiple staffs over the life of this show and man it's it's always interesting so it just uh so many layers at play here and you you guys your team covers it so well Ralph for the like the the four people listening to this who perhaps don't know where to find all your great content uh you know where can they find all the great stuff in the coverage of not just Arizona high school football recruiting but of course you know now branching into college football on a national level yeah I mean we we we'll see if people have an appetite for um obscure Dana Carvey movie references uh on a national level I I doubt that that's the case but um if I could plug anything um it it would be it would be this um I I write for a show YouTube based on afraid show um love it hate it share it with a friend if they hate it have them share it with a friend and just keep hate sharing it um but uh it's a it's a really cool show that gets into uh Faith football food fatherhood um and just family hug huge huge guests we've had um we got Greg mroy this week I'm really really excited about that didn't know much about him going into it and it was a fantastic interview um and uh and we just came off having um Dan Lanning and he was fantastic we had Reggie Bush on here and that that's one that I went back and watched twice just because you know it doesn't get much better than that um uh for me and so and we had Josh Pate too and he he was our first guest and for him to co-sign what we're trying to build like it meant the world because I think he's really the guy uh right now but unafraid show on YouTube is the thing that I'm pouring a bunch of energy into um Arizona Varsity is still around if if if you want to support Arizona Varsity follow my guy at just Chile um he's the most plugged in guy in in the state nobody cares about the welfare of of high school athletes in the state of Arizona than he does and he's like a multiple time Arizona State Alum you've had him on the show plenty um he he he he loves the school and he would love nothing more than um you know he's not a Salesman but he would love nothing more than for Kenny Dillingham to do the best job selling this school as possible so that we can continue to cover these kids on a local basis yeah just absolutely indispensable content love Chile and everything he does love what you guys have built over the years of just you know tireless hard work uh and really awesome to see new new uh Adventures going you know with you and George and all the cool stuff like when you guys were talking about the Rebrand and I saw like the the guests that are com like just wow I mean like in one like it's not surprising knowing that the quality of stuff that you guys put out and the work that but behind it but just really cool kind of cool to see you know like you know this is like like you have Heisman winners on your show Reggie Bush is is there a bigger name in in the pack 10 history than perhaps I don't know it's really cool you guys are doing that question yeah and I'm and hopefully we can get back to doing some college football podcasting but I got tell you I love the Pack 12 I'm a college football fan beyond the Pack 12 it's not something I'm super passionate about and so I'm open to the I'm I'm certainly open to the idea um but it's going to be it's going to be tough I I will miss the the Pack 12 its fans its cities its experiences a great deal absolutely hate that it came to this but just objectively speaking the Big 12 is the cure for what ales Arizona State it really is it provides the biggest opportunity the most stability and the the the most enthusiasm um in football basketball and other sports that that I believe will rub off on ASU fans at a positive way and hopefully the uh this 2024 schedule that we uh broke down earlier will be just kind of the first of many great years of sunville football in the conference uh a lot of new sites to see and a lot of new opponents to Fan fans interact with uh we'll see about all that so Ralph your 43rd appearance that be the second time as as a full-fledged co-host here always so fun really amazing of course you know give him a follow at Ralph amson everywhere uh as we close out here Want To Tell You Folks about a couple of exciting things going on Burrito Express longtime partner of the show you can find out all about them at the burit express.com but this Saturday February 3rd they are having a grand opening of their newest location kyne and Elliot 744 West Elliot in Tempe to be precise the first 50 Folks at the Grand Opening that morning will get free burritos for a year there'll be other giveaways Elijah Badger Trenton and cin boray will be there signing autographs and taking pictures and couple of uh ASU podcasters might be on site as well so come drop by and say hi check out get a great burrito I'm very loyal to the BSB with the red sauce as well Ral you uh Burrito Express I know I know you you got your your Chandler joint that you turned me on to really great I have my CH I have my Chandler joint I I will tell you I had like machaka from Brio Express on this is this what people haven't told me what the go is what I should be getting I I my staff at Burrito Express every single day I've been there once I've been there once and it was the the Alma School um an Elli is location and I had a really really really great experience and this was before I knew that it was run by one of the biggest Arizona sports fans genius marketers um sponsor of great podcasts uh in in in the history of the State of Arizona so I will be back twice in March I think for a total of like 20 days oh and um I am looking forward to uh to having it for the first time in like eight nine years so I just need some guidance on what to get that's all I get the the BSB the breakfast Supreme um you coin Borg actually gave me some leveling up tips in terms of just like things to add as well I I take it with red sauce one thing that kind of jumped out to me during media day if we can go back a little bit and maybe this will tie into the Rivalry a potential rivalry with Texas Tech Jaylen coners doesn't use salsa on his burrito Ralph I mean what's what's up with that man I guess it depends on the type of burrito like is he just want a bad burrito because those are you can you can eat those but no you got have a little cup yeah with with chizo you use the green with shredded chicken uh you use the red with a good bean burrito you use the traditional salsa mixed in to give it like a a lighter feel like come on yeah I know just Amateur hour I I don't think find out about this yeah when he sees those tortillas flying through the air he's like these are good just the way they are why are people wasting perfectly good burritos oh we we i' have to bring this back uh eight months from now also absolutely come join us uh yeah February 3rd 744 West Elliot Road at Breo Express of course the Breo express.com get the BSB uh with get it with the red it's great um also of course you heard me talking about their good friends at the good brand HomeField apparel.com offer code sd23 at checkout will give you 15% off your first order they have a great ASU collection they're adding new schools throughout this offseason as well also check out our friends at devilsdigest outcom join the Huddle get access to uh great message Awards and get the inside scoop on all the information coming down also wanted to shout out our friends at the spaghetti Shack sundevil owned and op operated also former Sparky owned and operated you can find out more stuff at the spaghetti shack.com check out grab some great Sunil gear at Cactus Sports 514 South Mill Avenue and also you can find out uh see their great selection at cactuspainted on a very positive note so would you mind giving us a sign off in terms of kind of leave the folks after another great episode great conversation let's leave everybody feeling good and grateful about uh you know where things are at at this point of the Year sure uh let's go with graham rosini 2024