2024 Season Preview, Citadel Football Upgrades

[Music] and welcome in to season number 17 of Citadel greyline yes we've been doing this since way back in 2008 and we are glad to have you back here on this exciting program for this new season of Bulldog football John RW is my name and I've got Andrew Miller of the Charleston Post and Courier and Thomas scrug standing by and we want to hear from you here each and every week we'll be up and going with season 17 from now until the conclusion of Citadel football and you can be part of our show you can text us if you'd like anytime and that's not when just when we do the show but during the week you're welcome to text us we've got a knob knowledge question that we'll be asking in just a few but you can text us at is how you can get in touch with us each and every week here on the program and want to let you know that as we have in years past we have been brought to you by IPS packaging and Automation and now they're a presenting sponsor of this program and we want to let you know that not only is IPS packaging automation joining us here for the new season of Citadel greyline we also have a fellow sponsor on the program and that's Hood construction and we're going to be telling you more about that as we go forward on the program so we've got some great inside knowledge on that but let's kick things off welcoming in to the program Andrew Miller of the Charleston Post and Courier and Andrew we hope you've had a a good off seon and we welcome you back into Citadel greyline yeah it was it was a really good summer uh yeah it uh had have seems like each summer goes quicker and quicker the more and more I I I've been in the business uh I wake up one day it's Memorial Day and the next day it seems like it's uh the Southern Conference football kickoff meeting so yeah had had a great summer actually one of my first Crews this summer to Bermuda not not just first cruise we've been to Bermuda before but yeah had had a great time uh this summer and really excited about the upcoming football season well we excited to have you back on here and you can fill us in as the dogs get ready for the new season against Charles Southern this weekend also with us back is Mr co-host now Thomas Scruggs from the class of 1995 hopefully you've had a good offseason Thomas you know since we were last here the world was shaken by a near assassination we've got a change in the presidential race Wars raging in Ukraine and in the Middle East but most people are concerned about Citadel football and are they going to win 12 games this year hey John glad to be back here in 2024 for Citadel greyline uh I was also very glad a few months to go to uh get to visit you and the uh Citadel greyline headquarters there about eight hours away yes and we're still trying to recover from that visit so are you excited about the new season very excited uh you know one win's an improvement right when you go 0 and 11 there's not much to talk about so uh yeah excited to see this version of uh coach dren's team well we are glad to have you aboard again as we've got not only Thomas with us here this year we also have Andrew Miller we're going to be covering all kinds of goodies here as we get you ready for the start of uh the season and you know don't let me forget fellas that at some point today I need U I need your your projection of how things are going to go I need basically Andrew from you I need your projection of when and losses for the season is that is that asking too much no I I don't I I think the schedule lines up pretty pretty good for the the S at least early on if they can get a win or two here I think in these first uh you know three games I think that that uh is going to BU let them build some momentum I think they'll win two out of the first three um uh and I think that that will give the guys some confidence it's a totally different as far as the uh the attitude and the excitement and the energy when I go out to practices it's a total 180 from last year there's lots of optimism there's lots of confidence there's lots of excitement there's lots of energy um of course though they haven't played a single game yet what do Mike Tyson said everybody has a plan to get hit in the mouth and and we'll have to see what happens come Saturday up at bucker field and North Charleston against Charleston Southern but but I think that the team is going to be a lot I think they're going to be a good bit better than they were last year I think from a Personnel standpoint from a system standpoint a schematic standpoint they're going to be better than they were a year ago now does that equal more wins I think it will because obviously they didn't win a single game last year and I think they're gonna win my if I had to go out in a limb and bet I would say they they win four games so you're going ahead and giving us your projection four wins this year four eight yep that is my that is a that is what I think will happen yes this season all right well I'm going to find out what four wins you're projecting the dogs to win as we go forward here and Thomas I might just have to ask your opinion too me being the journalist that I am I'm not allowed to weigh in on my projection for the year but uh I digress hey want to let you know that we are powered in part by IPS packaging and Automation and they are a great Upstate based company that's been a big sponsor of this program for a long time and want to let you know that IPS and packaging and automation is certainly a company that is familyowned and they also operate this Powerhouse that's been a Titan in the packaging industry since 1976 looking over four Decades of work they stand tall as a leader in packaging products automation equipment and a top notot service that they also provide IPS packaging and automation plays a crucial role in the packaging processes of countless businesses and manufacturing facilities all over the entire country and you know you may not know this a fun fact for Bulldog fans IPS packaging and automation has been a sponsor of Citadel Athletics for the last decade and Beyond so discover what they can do for you dive into the website at ipa.com and ring them up at 800 27777 that's 800 27777 IPS packaging and automation a proud supporter of Citadel Athletics fellas if you'll look above us here we got the nice IPS packaging and automation packaging Citadel greyline each week this program packaged by IPS packaging and automation so uh Thomas how did I do on the graphics you think uh you might I might have a career outside of the show and maybe design I like the Citadel Tartan look there in the background John well done well thank you also we want to uh let everybody know we're looking for a sponsor for this little fun element each week we've got do knowledge back and if your business would like to sponsor that then text us at we're playing the Charleston Southern Buccaneers this week and so our KN knowledge question is tell me what year the first cital Charleston Southern game was and the final score the initial game and the final score of dogs versus UCLA that's University of Charleston at Ladson almost and I can pick on them because I I took a lot of classes there at uh the old B college and so took I took a few more at the Citadel in case you're wondering but uh yes check it out and text us your answer 843 77984 n6 and we will reward you with our knob knowledge winner of the week here on Citadel gry line and gosh it seems like just yesterday these two teams got up and going in that initial game but it actually has been a while we want to know the answer let us know also Andrew big story this week not only did the dogs and Bucks get together on the grid iron for this contest but there is something on the line for the first time ever for this in City rivalry yeah the Low Country Boil trophy uh they have uh unveiled it I have a picture of it on my phone which I probably should I'm GNA put up on online here as as the week goes on but yeah so they're playing for the Low Country Boil trophy add a little bit of spice uh if you were to the Rivalry which I which I think was really good espe especially when Jamie Chadwell was here I I thought that he uh he is he was quite the instigator so I I I actually loved some of his Antics I know Citadel people probably didn't because he won a lot of games but uh I thought he added uh little spice a little extra umph to the uh to the Rivalry between these two schools yeah it was a hotly contested thing back almost 10 years ago especially when 2015 the dogs played them in the regular season and lost and then in the playoff just after the Citadel defeated the Gamecocks and the shantea clears they couldn't beat Charleston Southern in the FCS playoffs uh but luckily chadwell's not there but there is a remnant of that era at charlest and Southern as the Bucks do have a guy who was offensive coordinator I believe during that time as head coach yeah yeah Gabe gar garini Garen garini I can't remember I I I I'm terrible with pronunciations of people's name but he was the offensive coordinator under Jamie Chadwell first year uh as the head coach I think this is his third stint actually at Charleston Southern as an as an assistant or head coach uh so yeah he was the OC on offensive coordinator under Jamie Chadwell does a great job up there uh it'll be interesting to see who starts at quarterback for uh for the uh bucks come this weekend they got a couple of candidates zultan Osborne who's a local kid here in Charleston out of Fort D Fort Dorchester High School and Rob McCoy who is a transfer quarterback from Sacred Heart uh Garen de did not Garen did not say this week who was GNA be a starter it's gonna be one of those two Osborne was the starter last year got injured uh in October and then missed the rest of the season but he's back now at 100% taking full contact uh but McCoy coming out of the spring practice was the starter so it' be interesting to see who takes the first snap on Saturday up at Buck field and a similarity between the former Crimson Tide offensive lineman now that's head coach of CSU this is his second year at the helm of CSU and that of course is where we find Maurice Drayton at his Alma moer in year number two and so uh putting our focus more on the Citadel blue and white Andrew you've been able to to kind of keep up with this team through the spring you've seen what they've done you seem to be you're already projecting four wins this year you're seeing improvements all over the ball with this team yeah I mean it starts at quarterback it starts with Jonathan Bennett the former Somerville High School star played at Liberty University went on the road while he was at Liberty University uh beat BYU beat Arkansas at Arkansas which is a huge win for a a a group of five or group of four whatever whatever they're calling themselves now in those divisions well sometimes FCS schools go and beat Arkansas and pville to you know just ex exactly but still a big accomplishment for for uh any power five school to go in an SEC program and win on their home field um again it starts with him uh the two scrimmages that I saw him play in uh a noticeable difference uh efficiency of picking up third Downs he ran for one the first scriage especially he was really effective you know threw three or four passes for first downs on third down you ran for a couple more um I think we're going to see a vast Improvement there and and what also makes the The Citadel a little bit more dangerous this year as as opposed to last year is that Justin Fletcher their backup quarterback he's had a great off season um and a great preseason camp here and he's a guy that a lot of people thought were going to transfer including me I thought he would just you know as soon as Jonathan they brought Jonathan Bennett in he would you know he would hit the eject button and get out of here but he didn't he hung in there and um his there's not that much of a drop off when he comes in there when he scrimmages at least again the first few scrimmages that I've seen uh really good passer um is able to make plays with his feet and extend plays uh just like Jonathan does but you know again Jonathan Bennett he's you know I don't he he's 22 he looks like he 32 um he is as Maurice Drayton says he is a grown man and he conducts himself in that manner and I think the S is gonna s fans are gonna be really excited to see him go out there and make plays on Saturday all right so Bennett now firmly entrenched as the starting QB what if uh he needs help what if he goes down or having a bad day what are the backup options at QB well again Dustin Fletcher he's there I I I I've been really impressed with the way that he has played uh this uh during the off season during the scrimmages and and then the work that he's done in the offseason um you remember he was a guy that started for the CIT last year and then got knocked out with a concussion in the South Carolina State game uh there's not gonna be much of a drop off with him and then um there's a freshman a kid named Kobe Tomkins sorry I had to look him up I got they haven't the S has not released a depth chart supposed to do it later today uh he is a freshman uh out of Florida left-handed kid uh there is just something about him a Swagger if you want to call that a confidence about him uh he just looks the part he's a true freshman uh but the times that he got on the field um again in the scrimmages that I saw um he's a guy who as soon as he you know gets a little bit more you know gets him playing time gets some experience gets a little bit more confidence although he's got pretty a lot of confidence it sure seems like to me just being around him he's another guy that's going to be able to make plays for the Bulldogs and that's one of the things that that Maurice has just talked about especially on defense and on the defensive line he was talking about the depth that they've been able to create uh since last season uh when the number two defensive line comes in there's not much of a drop off and to have you know eight nine guys that can come in especially on your defensive line and and play and contribute and be you know significant have a significant impact on the game I mean that's huge at the FCS level because one of the biggest issues for the FCS teams is that they don't have a lot of depth but uh I know that coach Stayton is much more pleased with the depth that he's created all around the football team he feels like the backup guys are are really coming along and they're really kind of pushing the starters for uh for playing time so that's good that's a good situation to be in yes it indeed is hey want to let yall know that you can be part of our program not just by texting us and we have that text number up on uh the screen from time to time there and then you can find Cal gr line on the YouTube channel of CRM Sports is where that's located but uh glad to be back we got a lot of people that actually follow both of those sites we're over a thousand followers now on our uh Facebook page rather and on our YouTube channel we got we're doing pretty well on that too so um uh order of the palow coming your way time of Scruggs but we've got on our Facebook page what I was going to get at is you can leave us a live comment and we'll be watching that throughout the show if you've got a question hey Lothian you're our number one interactor if you will and I'm looking for something from you while we're doing the show this this year a lot but anybody is welcome to chime in comment question we got Andrew here he is the only Bulldog beat writer in the world at least that I'm aware of and so uh we want to get you the questions that you might have or commentary about not just the Citadel athletic teams but anything to do with elid we welcome that here so again we still have our knob knowledge question what was the first year and the result of the first game played between the Citadel and Charleston Southern all right Andrew big question for me if you don't mind big questions for me we seen with the Dron era to be getting away from the old option thing obviously uh how much of a role do the does the backfield play now going forward in drton year two yeah it's a that's a really good question you know I think Cooper Wallace is obviously going to be the starter he's a a guy who does a great job coming out of the back field catching the football I I don't think he is big enough to be a quote unquote three down back but um certainly his speed his elusiveness his hands make him a a legitimate weapon uh for the Citadel in the back field you know there a couple other guys uh that have looked good in the preseason uh one guy who's kind of jumped out at me is Cory Ibraham uh has had had a couple of really good scrimmages was able to make some plays uh in in the back field some chunk plays as they like to call them I think had a 40 yard touchdown run in the first scrimmage uh where he looked really good um you know they got a couple other guys back there I'm just I'm sorry I'm just looking at the depth chart I mean looking at their at the roster make sure I'm not missing anybody just ask Thomas he's got that memor Johnny Crawford II he's been held out a little bit here had a some Nicks and bruises here but but he's a guy that they're counting on he understand that he's had a a really good preseason camp as well and then they got this this freshman this Wilshire guy out of Jord out of Florida I'm sorry um who a couple of times against the third string and third string defense which is basically Walk-Ons and freshman guys but he had a couple of nice chunk plays a couple of nice chunk runs I have seed you can tell the guy's got a real bur of speed some acceleration uh I I think he's going to be a a a real threat if they can get him on the field he can work his way and figure out the offense figure out pass protection and things like that trip Wilshire uh this guy can absolutely fly he's a game breaker um getting him on the field hopefully this year uh will'll be will be a key for them Thomas here's your chance uh I have nothing to add about the roster this year John um but I I will say I did watch the press conference uh the other day and the only ongoing complaint there is uh you can't hear any questions from the media I don't know why our sports information Department can't figure this out this is this is Elementary anyway uh so uh coach Drake was saying that uh they had 29 players last year year that had never started before or played High School football they had 16 true freshman playing by week's seven um so if you want to know why we were 0 and 11 last year I mean that's all those statistics are glaring uh so I can tell you more about last year's roster than this year's roster I'm looking forward to getting to know these guys a little better this year Andrew anything you want to add to that you know again he you know Thomas is absolutely right uh when you got 29 guys that you know either didn't play high school football or didn't start for their high school football teams that that's uh that's a telling statistic and then the number of freshmen that they brought in um as well you know they transition from a triple A pure triple option you know run the ball down your throat kind of team to team that's going to do a little bit more offensively some of that by by necessity because of the block rules the perimeter blocking rules and if you talk to you know to people at the military cies who' used this offense for years and years they'll say the same thing and I I went back and and talked to Bren Thompson about this again a little bit and and he said that that's just that was just a huge blow to the way that they like to to play the game and the way they can play the game on the perimeter um and and he's he's 100% right um so s's gonna have to get a little bit more creative with what they do but again it starts at quarterback and this year they got somebody at quarterback who could make plays and I think that's going to be you know Jonathan Bennett if you haven't heard him talk or haven't seen him I mean he's just uh as as I keep on saying he is a full grown man um he understands uh what's at stake you know what's expected of him being the starting quarterback at the Citadel and he's somebody who's gonna Embrace that role um I think SLE fans will really really like him he's just a great kid and again he is the Somerville native who played at Liberty and has come back to the low country and he's one of these many transfer graduate student type players that are part of the roster in my preliminary research before the show started I counted up at least seven there may be more than that that are on the roster these uh oneandone type players is does that sound about right to you there Mr beat Rider yeah I I I thought it was it's between 7 and 10 I'm just trying to look at all the I just do a quick thing in my head that that sounds about right but remember now a couple of these guys have been here for you know a second season you know Pez Nell is a is a wide receiver out of Campbell um played here locally I can't I always get them confused if he played no he played at Goose Creek so you know one of the things that coach drton has been able to do is kind of get these local kids who go into the transfer portal to come back here uh and you know you get them for a year or two you know but I know you guys don't like the non- cadets but you you're gonna have to get over that because that's that's the way College unless the Citadel drops down to division two or division three uh they're gonna have to continue to get these non- Cadet transfers to come in and play W in their various Sports why do you wanna okay so let's let's talk about basketball right how many freshman did did did uh Ed Conroy have on his roster this past year eight or nine right and of those eight or nine seven of them left so you want him to go out and get seven more freshman and every year have to redo and redo and redo his roster he'll never win you cannot win Andrew can I ask a question sure did we did did we lose to VMI at all last year in basketball yeah I think we did did they have non- Cadets on that team I have no idea did they I I I think yeah so you okay so this is so I counted before the show 20 and sorry to jump in here I counted 20 graduate students I believe that are on the current football roster right now not necessar all of those are non Cadet some of them could have graduated you know uh in the core Cadets and then undergraduate school I don't know right we're still talking about if you look at the number of uh folks we have on the roster and the number of graduate students is a very small percentage right and you're never going to you know it's not like the Citadel is going to have some big nil fund uh you know to to to draw in non- Cadets so you know uh even though we like to I guess fuss about it as older guys you know we're old kudin uh the percentage is small now where it's glaring like you just mentioned is basketball it is a little troubling to me that a guy that played basketball as a Cadet you know there at the Citadel seems to be pushing the easy button and like you said understand the very real concern about having to replace seven freshmen every year because they can't hack it in the core cadetes and they don't have to they can go where else and you know elsewhere play uh but I I I do think we have a sister School in Virginia Which I'll be up there uh come October I to watch our football team play uh but you know they've done pretty well I think uh with with all Cadets I don't know why they seem to be able to do it and we can't wow it's a good thing I'm writing a story about The Citadel at the you know in the next in the coming weeks I'm going to write a story uh because I think that the Citadel athletic department is at a Crossroads now um and either they're going to embrace not Embrace but take advantage of the current state of College athletics and you know with the transfer portal with you know the genie is out of the bottom and and it's like when you went to school guys were there graduates uh and transfers on your athletic teams yes on basketball there was a handful most of veterans so I I talked to General Walters the other day and he went to the Citadel in the 70s I I believe if that's correct yes yeah because I went from 82 I'm 82 to 86 so yeah he was there before me and he said this notion the uh old the old school Citadel alumni thinking that only uh Cadets played Athletics is nonsensical because when he was going there there were as he pointed out several and he made a couple of instances of specific guys who had played both football or basketball that there were non- Cadet graduate students on those teams and he remembers vividly this one guy having hair flowing out of the back of his helmet so he said people who think that there weren't guys like that playing for the Citadel back in the day just don't remember it and you're probably right Andrew and I you know I think sometimes we make we make a bigger deal out of it than it actually is that's why I wanted to mention the small percentage Yeah you know folks that actually contribute you know that are that are non- cadets because you know we have a certain percentage of our alumni base all all they ever do is complain they get on social media complain about everything associated with our school and with the program I want to ask them why did you even go there you know then we have the you know uh John and I like to talk about it we like to give you a hard time about it but I think at the end of the day I think most of us are proud of someone that comes and represents us well you know and has the Citadel on the front of their Jersey um so I I really do believe that it's it you know it's a different story if you start talking about 2030 40% of your football team being uh non- Cadets then then you don't really have that connection with the core but I I don't think we'll ever see that I really don't now you mentioned you know we had a Crossroads if we want to continue to compete at this level with the wford and the fermans you know how do we do that and I I don't know the answer I will say this I have posted I hate to do this but I posted on S related boards previously that if you want to absolutely lose your fan support uh it's not going and 11 that's dropping down to division 2 yeah okay we do not want to be Newberry College I'm sorry we have a to me we have a proud history and and and traditions there's there's no way you're going to get majority of our alumni to support that yeah 100 100% agree 100% agree and Andrew you've been threatening this when when can we you said you're working on it when when when is the projected release of your Crossroad story that I'm hoping that I can finish the story and it's it's about right now it's looking to be around 2,000 Words which to to the average viewer is like let's see how many is that that's probably about a 75 inch story and a normal story is around 15 to 20 inches so it's uh you know 900 in story is is is a lot of work so I'm hoping to finish it by end of business on Friday I don't know if I'm going to be able to to get there because I haven't gotten the budgets the athletic department budgets for the last five years that's part of the story um because my understanding and the reporting that I've done is that they've been operating the athletic Department's been operating at a a million five plus budget deficit each year for the last five years that's what I've been told um but again trying to get those final budget uh figures for me but yeah so it'll be in the next couple weeks I'm hoping and and when it does trust me I will let you guys know when there's a Target date on it because it's a I talked to a bunch of people in the alumni association for for players for coaches um everyone has kind of a different idea and a different opinion on on what the Citadel should do next and uh you know I'm I am curious to see what happens next uh with the Citadel because you're right there's a large uh base that's not happy with the way things are going and they're not happy with the non- cadets that are playing for the teams and um you know and I I'm just wondering where the admin ministration and where the athletic department is going to go from here it it will be fascinating to see well John and Andrew I wonder what percentage of those that complain the loudest contribute one penny to the Brigadier Foundation yeah exactly exactly just like just like in politics it's like The Fringe those those outside 10% of the people on either side of the political Spectrum make the most noise but they don't account for you know even a you know a majority of the people I mean they but they talk a lot you think that that everyone thinks that way what no matter what side of the political spectrum that you're on and the same is same I think is with sometimes the Citadel alumni and and athletic supporters well Andrew I know it's going to be tough but I do see some some empty space behind you on those walls and so when you turn that story in this unbelievable investigative story in I do see a pet surprise coming your way and you'll have to clear up a little spot for it I I'm I'm hoping so yeah it's it's been a really interesting uh for me I like doing the Deep Dives I like looking and analyzing data as far as you know athletic budgets because I'm just fascinated to see where people spend money how they spend the money what are they what are the priorities you know um there's there's been talk this year that that there's going to be scholarship cuts that there were scholarship cuts to the teams and and I haven't been able to confirm that um because again I haven't seen the budgets so you know there are things that are happening uh that are going to be really tough for the for the coaches in in the three major sports basketball football and baseball you know to overcome because of just Financial restrictions that have they've been kind of uh forced to adhere to and um not and it's not it's not just their you know the program it wasn't there like it wasn't the coach's fault this this happened part of it was the decline enrollment during covid and having two small covid classes and part of it has been the operating budgets and it just costs more to feed and clothe and house uh the athletes at the Citadel so it's like you know going on uh a trip to Georgia Southern might have cost whatever you know $100,000 five years ago well now it cost 200 Grand and that's uh when you're operating on a budget that SLE head which is around $14 million 100 Grand doesn't sound like a lot but for one trip that that's a huge amount of money uh and then where are you going to make up that the cost for that so yeah Andrew have you heard anything about the uh Stadium project the uh East stands yes I talk to the general about that um they have about two to three million doll in hand but unfortunately you cannot start the project now unless you have all they need $5 million to make this to to to redo the East stands and unless you have it in hand that money for that particular project they won't you know start the permitting process or they won't start construction they won't start anything so uh and and and the general is telling me they have a 97% rate on pledges which is really high and really good it speaks well of the S alumni who do give money to the school but the pledges plus the money they have in hand you know they've got over $5 million uh combine between the money they have in hand and the pledges that they they have right but you know it's just they don't have all that five million dollar so they're not GNA start you know the permitting process until they get that so but they're hoping hoping uh they can start that by the end of the season oh that's great well if anybody can get it done as a Marine General yes sir Airborne uh welcome again to all of you who are tuning in this is Citadel greyline we are going to talk about that Bulldog defense we don't want to leave them out of the picture as we get ready for the opener against the Charleston Southern Buccaneers we'll have that and also get more detail of the four projected wins that Andrew claims the dogs are going to get according to his uh knowledge of this program you know the Citadel and Coach Drayton they're trying to do it the right way and you know there's a company in South Carolina that's been doing it the right way for 38 years and that company just happens to be a brand new sponsor of our program we want to welcome aboard Hood construction as hood is a full service construction management company with offices and work in South Carolina North Carolina and Georgia they take a holistic approach to their clients business and project objectives in order to find the best value Solutions and we encourage you to go to their website Hood construction.com and learn how to build it the right way with this South Carolina based company that you can see them with projects all over the state they have a great team they have opportunities for employment you can go to hood construction.com and learn more about again this South Carolina based company with Citadel connections by the way Hood construction a new partner here on Citadel greyline and uh you're kind of a pro hood kind guy aren't you Thomas Scruggs yeah I'm uh definitely on team Hood you are on team hood and you know give us an idea of the kind of work Hood construction does as far as you know well goodness we do everything you know it's mostly you know I'm working on a church we uh we do schools uh commercial retail I mean you name it John um pretty much you know we don't do Residential we do do we don't do multif family we do a lot of healthcare uh Dominion energy is one of our big clients as well uh matter of fact I will be spending a lot of time in Charleston over the next year and a half uh we're going to be renovating the Student Life Center there uh right in the heart of the campus so I'll get to come visit Andrew for a couple days a week yeah and Thomas can we officially announced here today that you are not only a citadel greyline co-host but you do also work with hood construction absolutely yes uh uh definitely on the hood team uh we've got some strong cital connections here uh the owner of the the owner of our company Mark uh attended the cital civil engineering major his son Austin uh was in the running for regimental Commander uh so we've got him I've got another PM couple guys out in the field so we're trying to give those Clemson guys a run for their money uh you know they they're a lot bigger than us but you know we uh we hold our own well let's not pick on Clemson too much only because they are on the schedule here this year we don't want them to have their feelings heard about what Citadel grey line has to say now let's move over to defense Andrew where do we stand there what is the state of the defense yeah again I I think they will be better than they were last year a lot of it will you know he one of the things that Murray straon talks about is complimentary football one of the one of the keys for the Citadel will be obviously maintaining possession of the ball you know obviously scoring points points which I definitely struggled with last year um and not making the defense play so much and uh I think that the offense will be better and I think that will make the defense better and again I I I briefly touched on the depth that they that that coach drton believes that they have along the defensive front uh he thinks they are too deep there they legitimately too deep there there's not much of a drop off there you they got some you veteran linebackers Thomas Wyatt is coming back after having a really good year last year I thought and then the second AR which was very young a year ago the Bradley Joneses of the world he's grown up they got a kid now starting in the secondary name Will picking who is a transfer from a division three school he went to wandoo high school so again a local kid that uh Maurice Drayton has uh been able to tap and uh he said at the press conference that he's going to be a starter for him and he's a guy who's played a lot of football yeah had the division three level but led his team uh in in tackles last year so guy who likes to be around the football and and um they're going to be a much more veteran team this year than they were a year ago and by veteran I mean they'll have a lot more snaps under their belt than the guys who played especially at the end of last year who were it appeared to me they had probably four or five freshman playing a lot of football on the defensive side of the ball a year ago and and the biggest jump that uh and I've talked to a bunch of coaches about this too that that that freshman make from their freshman to sophomore year especially at the Citadel when they get out of that knob year is is huge and you can just see some of the guys who are freshman last year who are just more mature just bigger stronger uh guys than they were a year ago and if you notice in in last year's press conference what the first thing Mo said was you know we're we stink that I mean he said at the first press conference and and you know I was amazed that when he said that and the optimism from him from last year to this year is again night and day 180 degree turn around uh he just feels like they got more talent and they got a deeper more talent and those are the two things that you want to have all right we're looking for a definite Improvement there now I don't remember this happening we didn't have any Personnel changes as far as coaches during this off season did we uh one guy left in his game his name is skap I hate getting old I I turned 60 last week so my memory isn't what it should be but they had only one coach believe uh and and and then Joe call who was kind of the director of operations for lack of a better word that might have actually been his title he has um you know former quarterback at the Citadel graduate uh he has uh his wife got a great job at MUSC she's a doctor or surgeon of some kind so he's actually gonna be a stay-at-home dad now um so congratulations for Joe on making that uh getting a promotion there but um other than than that no everyone kind of stayed uh and and after an 0 and11 season to only have one coach leave and he and he wasn't fired or anything he just left uh I think for a little bit bigger job that's amazing that just shows you kind of really the coaches that are with Coach Dron they believe in him they believe in his system and and again the there the energy around this team is drastically different than it was last year good well we're excited about that um anything else on this roster we need to get to before we move on to other things Andrew no I think we're good all right I will say love the blue and white going to be pulling for them but guys I got another team that I'm going to have to be watching a little bit more this football season they are the opposite of what we call the graduate student effect this is a citadel guy going off doing great things at the FBS level and get season tickets ready Thomas I'm going to be pulling for the Irish this year that's just disgusting sorry I can't even talk to you you talking about Riley Leonard what's that I said are you referring to Riley Leonard that's why you're gonna be a fan I'm not aware of Riley Leonard but I am aware of Eric goens the hero of the South Carolina game 2015 who's gone off and served in the Army and he's now on the Notre Dame football roster and if that neat connection would Notre Dame football is not enough they also have another kicker on their roster Mitch Jeter who played for the fighting Gamecock so a little sounds battle going on in South B for kicker but yeah that's a interesting thing to keep up with this season well John Mississippi is gonna be pulling for the Notre Dame Fighting aage there you go yeah well I was gonna say Riley Leonard is the son of Chad Leonard who played basketball at the Citadel or coach Dennis have forgotten that yeah yeah I thought that I thought that was why he going to be the starting quarterback for another day he the one wasn't he at Wake Forest he was at Duke Duke that's right Duke Wake Forest sorry uh yes I remember his he beat Clemson last year indeed and so now he's at Notre Dame all right well there's a a great story uh Eric goens again played on that 2015 football team that won the Southern Conference he graduated from The Citadel he went on to serve in the United States Army and had a stellar career I believe he's either a Captain maybe a major in the United States Army right now but he's going back believe it or not to Notre Dame and working on his graduate work and he is a uh a guy that's getting the chance to be a Notre Dame kicker he's a 2016 Citadel alumnus so keep that in mind Eric goens we wish you the best of luck and love our guys who were part of those 2015 and 2016 Bulldog football programs other news going on guys Andrew well I was gonna say the the the next week the sedal volleyball team will travel to Nebraska to take on the Nebraska Corn husters who have uh I think the largest following of volleyball they well they had a outside volleyball match in their football stadium and I think they had like 75,000 people at it so they're going next week Nebraska play for the national championship lost to Texas in the finals last year but the C volleyball team's going to play them which is kind of a cool little story I think yeah wasn't it Nebraska that had the stadium with like a 100,000 people or something or was that Iowa no that that that was Nebraska they they had a volleyball match outside uh and I can't remember I want to say might have been Texas I I can't remember who they played against but it was outside and they had uh yeah they they had 70 880,000 people in the stands for a volleyball match that's incredible so they won't be the S will not be playing outside they'll be playing inside their their normal Nebraska's uh normal Arena so but still pretty cool opportunity to go against one of the top programs in the country next week that's right and again a great season last year historic season with the way they started and perhaps they can have an equal season this year um Ed Conroy I noticed over the summer he got busy doing podcast he's uh giving the Citadel greyline to run for the money what what do we know about what Conroy is doing and his basketball team with a lot of new faces yeah they got a lot of new faces and it uh it um some guys from the division three level they brought in some freshman uh he's excited about the way the team looks um but again you know having to rebuild every single year that's just tough to build kind of that continuity in the program and it just does seem like that the basketball transfer portal um is very active every single year the interesting thing that they came I don't know if you guys saw this today but the football uh the college football coaches or the NCAA I don't know who it was but they've gotten together they're only going to have as of right now one transfer portal and that will be a transfer period that will be in December it'll run 30 days and they're doing away with the spring uh transfer portal although you can still transfer if your coach leaves or you can get a waiver so it just de so but they're doing away with the spring transfer portal which is interesting and I'll I'll be interested to see what college basketball does and if they get down to maybe just one calendar transfer period all right also we have a uh new face on the Citadel campus a guy whose name was already sort of on campus triplet meaning the triplet practice facility for football but Russell triplet brought in as the new baseball coach at elid he was the former head coach of Newberry College and now comes down i26 a guy who played collegiately for the Clemson Tigers what do we we know about Russell triplet Andrew well pretty very successful at Newberry at the division 2 level you know stepping up in in competition as we would say uh has had you know a pretty good track record of of winning there um it'll be interesting to see again how that translates to the Citadel and and and can they get the kind of guys in that they need you know sorry to see Tony skull go I mean the guy was a tremendous uh representative of the CIT life thought as a player and as a coach you're not going to find a better person than than he is but he'd be the first admed he just didn't win here enough and that that was too bad because uh you're not going to find a better human being than Tony skull so I I think coach triplet is gonna do a good job I think you're gonna see a little bit more um I don't know intensity if that's the right word just you know I haven't seen him practice yet but uh certainly seems like he's a no-nonsense kind of coach is going to be make these guys accountable so looking forward to the kind of maybe take it a step forward with that program as well and we will certainly reach out and try to get him on as well as coach Conroy as guest and fact look let me remind you you can text us here 247 at Cal gr line sports or they're just a person who went to school and and wear the ring or if they have some connection to the Citadel we're all about it here at Citadel greyline as we have our Band of Gold spotlights on most of our shows and we just do our part now again our 17th year launching today of this program powered in part by IPS packaging and automation ipa.com is the website for them and again thank you to hood construction for coming aboard as we kind of start closing things out here on our inaugural show of the 2024 campaign of Citadel football Thomas what are you expecting when the dogs lace it up in tow meets leather on Saturday night in Ladson it's hard to know John with uh with so many transfers uh coming in for for Charleston Southern Maurice did talk about that but we also got to witness a team full of transfers losing Dublin Ireland uh last Saturday to Georgia Tech so you know that doesn't really scare me um you know we've had a our series of Charleson Southern I think overall I think they we've got seven wins to their six overall I know they vacated some wins and people made a big deal about that but the bottom line is they have had our number um but I kind of agree with Andrew I think we come out of the first three games two and one uh with a lot of confidence um you know I see four or five wins on the schedule uh if you know if uh if if coach Dron you know with his confidence with his guys um coming back so obviously you know you got Clemson to finish out the year so I really don't count Clemson you know as a win uh but you know without that Clemson game you know four and Seven's a vast improvement over last year and your four wins sir would be uh my four wins would be South Carolina State uh North Greenville East Tennessee State uh VMI and I believe we're going to get one of two either from Sanford or Chattanooga at the end of the year that's almost five wins that's why I said not four and a half Andrew how does that shape up with what your projection is yeah I think they come out two and one in the first uh three games um and however that you know whichever teams they beat you know I think they've got a pretty good chance against Charleston Southern um but you know again don't know first game let's see how that goes but I think they go two and one out of those first three and then I like them against wford and I like them also against vimon to win those two games as well now has SC State had a coaching change yes they have they brought in the guy from Benedict to that's their division two program up in Columbia they went 22- two the last two seasons there had an undefeated season last year in the regular season lost in the first round of the playoffs so um yeah he's gonna chenis Barry is his name and uh I hope I'm pronouncing that first name correctly but yeah he's he's had a lot of success uh at the division two level um yeah I you know they got handled pretty well up there but that was again when Dustin Fletcher went down early in that game with a concussion that kept him out basically the rest of the season um yeah I I think think they can probably win that game you know hey they they beat Charles Southern I think they can go three and0 in their first three games U obviously that's the start of it but again I like him against VMI I like him against wford I thought two games they could have won last year had way too many turnovers I think it what four turnovers against wford or was that BMI I can't remember which one it was but bunch of turnovers they clean that up and and that's a different game and that North Greenville game I want to remind folks that that game in Charleston will be against their longtime head coach coach the Crusaders are Guided by a 1982 Citadel alumnus in Jeff Fairington so a homecoming of sort for him and I know back in the 2016 season The Citadel was supposed to have North Greenville play in Charleston but a hurricane forced that game to actually be played on the North Greenville campus so a very short history with these programs but uh a nice uh connection for that third game of the season but right now all eyes are on the Charleston Southern University campus as the CSU bucks welcome in the instate rival if you will the Citadel Bulldogs it's the Low Country Boil Bowl say that five times fast going on this weekend they need a talk about a a bowl that needs corporate sponsorship you'd think one of those uh seasoning companies out of Louisiana would be all over this particular bowl game but yes it's the Low Country Boil Bowl between CSU and the Citadel and we'll have all of the breakdown of this game when we reunite for our second broadcast of the year coming up uh let's see we'll have that uh broadcast coming up on next week when we get together I'm trying to uh recall we got guys we got you know it's it's been so good to uh be back with you here today because we were off for nearly a year and we're getting our uh our our heart going again we're we're pumped for another year of cital Sports so again thank you for your joining us here today the knob knowledge answer was back in 2002 that was the let me double check here 2002 The Citadel played Charleson Souther in the very first time between these programs a 53-19 drubbing of the Citadel by over rather CSU and that was a great way to get this in in County Series going and unfortunately csu's had their fair share of victory since that 2002 appearance overall this series I think the Citadel only has a 76 Edge and we don't want to see that thing get evened up here this weekend when they get together north of North Charleston guys thank you very much for coming on we look forward to seeing you all right here next week when we reassemble for week two and get she ready for the home opener against the Charleston against the SC State Bulldogs coming to Charleston and I think that might be the first time they've ever actually played a game at Johnson a good because other games got postponed or moved back to Williams Bry stadium in the years's past we'll break all that down next week when we get together again thank you to Thomas thank you to Andrew and thank you for tuning in cital greyline a production of CRM Sports we will see you back here