ROF: SMU coach Rhett Lashlee, plus picking the best (and worst) Texas FBS teams in 2024

oh [Music] [Music] hello and welcome to the Republic of football I'm your host Johnson alongside our staff writer Carter Yates and tuning in from via Austin I should say is our senior writer Mike Craven who will be joining us two members of our College staff at texasfootball.com on today's episode we're going to be talking with SMU head coach Rett Lashley uh Carter and Craven sat down with him a little bit earlier today uh to discuss the Mustangs rise and their debut upcoming debut in the ACC Carter also there's another tease Carter also has another story coming out hopefully soon and in the couple next couple weeks over a particular interesting death chart situation they kind of be out by the time this a okay perfectly so there you go it'll be it'll be over uh the two quarterbacks and just that's all I'm going to say their situations they got going on there with uh Kevin Henry Jennings and Preston Stone but before we get into that we're going to continue kind of a pre-season uh fall Camp discussion uh series that we've kind of gotten going we did overall kind of feelings about teams we did questions we did uh you know kind of talking point now this week we're just going to get into some straightup predictions right we're going to start to prict predict offensively the top passer rusher and receiver in the state defensively sacks did we do interceptions too interceptions yes I forgot to say interception St have to kind of wing that one I also did too so we I will come well I sent them in first so you were going off me so that's my bad I copied your work uh Craven did all of his homework um and then we would just be straight up picking the best worst and most surprising team in the state so keep this if you if you're one of those people that loves to rub it in Rider's face that get things wrong uh keep this for when November SE December rolls around you can say hey you guys were wrong about this you're never going to bring up a right none of this will age like milk right exactly so I mentioned Craven's on the line Craven what's up man how are you feeling about some of these predictions how are you are you ready for the backlash that you usually you're usually the one that gets the brunt to this anyway so are you ready for to be proven uh wrong in November yeah I welcome it kind of like Rick and uh Rick and Morty I've seen what you cheer at so your booze mean nothing to me um so I can I can take it all I I have no problem with that all right so let's get into it we'll start like I mentioned offensively we're GNA so passing rushing and receiving uh receiving yard leaders I'll I'll go ahead and say our predictions right and then we'll and I'll let everybody kind of defend theirs because we have some overlap so I don't want to you know say things uh twice so for passing yards Mike Craven picked Chandler MO Carter Yates picked Jordan McLoud in the document I said Chandler Morris but I'm going to amend mine okay here we go I'm going EJ Warner at Rice wow I'm GNA go that was mine EJ Warner at Rice because I do think chandor Morris is like if there's betting odds I think he'd be the favorite right um that offense that quarterback obviously uh him coming down level to the group of five but EJ Warner let's not forget this dude threw for quite a bit before he got hurt at Temple 306 passing per game which was fifth in the FBS fifth in the FBS so I do think Dean Conor is going to take a little bit of the pressure off of that but I I think eventually rice is gonna have to kind of figure this out and air it out so they're still going to be throwing to Dean Conor out of the backfield too 100% he was part of that running that passing game as well yeah I had the Lone Star 50 come out about Dean Connors on Sunday and the biggest thing for Dean Connor is he they're going to build a whole plane out of Dean Conor at Rice whether it's running or passing I think EJ Warner is going to throw a lot lot of footballs this year yeah all right Craven let's start with yours because I had yours as well but I eventually switched to kind of differentiate some things Chandler Morris at North Texas you were kind of the first to put your prediction in why was he first on your board well some of it's just the amount of passes uh North Texas throws if you do attempts per game they're one of the top 20 in in the country so you know Eric Morris is going to throw the ball around the lot then to me the tiebreaker because I think the top three are the guys we mentioned Jordan McLoud EJ Warner Chandler Morris Texas state has ishti yeah rice has Dean Connor North Texas's best running back go uh what school are they playing for now because line right yeah right and so uh I'm gonna go with the with the offense that I know wants to throw the football with the quarterback that can do that throw it around head coach play caller who does that does that and likes to throw it around and then a running back room that I don't think is strong enough to lean on even as much as they did last year so give me give me Chandler Morris I think the underrated pick here maybe Josh Hoover if he's help yeah that's not a bad one Craven I like the Chandler Morris pick the only qualm I have with it is Chandler Morris has not proven he can stay healthy yet for a full season so that's the only reason I could see this not working out and we're not rooting for injuries here of course but like he just needs to prove he can stay healthy I see what you mean yeah all right yeah quietly TCU was the ranked fourth in the last year in attempts per game they were at they were at 41.9 some of that coming from behind and a lot of that was Josh Hoover l in the season so if he plays 12 games Hoover may be in this discussion I like I like I do like Hoover that Hoover pick a lot is kind of a Dark Horse another I mean I don't even want to say I mean Baron Morton obviously they're going to be handing the ball off a ton to Tosh Brooks so if he stays healthy it's probably his numbers probably aren't going to be climbing up there um one I will say that we talked about a little bit on the last episode is going to be Quinn huers I'm very curious to see I don't think he'll lead the state in passing but like would it be like with those with those two running backs say yeah with the injuries to the team like it wouldn't shock me if he's in the top three eventually I can't I can't see aarc you know especially with how much he depends on the running game I can't see him throw for like 4,500 yards but like if he approaches 4,000 it wouldn't shock me at all 100% um cuz you you you know that they would like to get close to at 33500 range and then run the ball quite a bit to kind of control that side so but screw these honorable mentions let me talk about my guy Jordan McLoud at Texas Jordan McLoud uh seventh year senior Texas State's version of Van Wilder if Van Wilder had super high football IQ yes uh with GJ Kenny and mle which two offensive Minds we've seen what they did at UIW Incarnate Word when Lindsey Scott Jr he the bump he got when they came in and threw for 60 70 some odd touchdowns in that single season I think McLoud adds a different dimension to this off than TJ Finley had throwing to Joey hobbert I think really the the sky kind of the limit for McLoud this season yeah I agree I think the only worry not even worry I'm just curious about the depth at Wide Receiver right so was it like which plays into one of Craven's picks later on which I I definitely had a hard time disagreeing with but um it's going to be a lot of Joey hobbert right and until I think Cole Wilson's going to take some of that but it's going to be a lot of Joey Hobert and is there enough depth there to where they feel conf about throwing that much especially like Craven mentioned with ishma in the backfield as well yeah Texas State runs the ball a lot more than people kind of give them credit for on the outside uh they were 44th in the nation in attempts per game J JMU with McLoud was was 47 and so I I don't think he's a guy that's gonna throw the ball 35 40 times a game he'll he'll use his legs a little bit hand the ball off a lot um and then he's going to throw it plenty but I don't think it'll be something that approaches the TCU SMU right type of offensive systems North Texas those kind of those kind of systems are going to air the ball out you know 35 40 times a game so Craven give your top three then of who you think obviously first for you is Chandler Morris but who is number two and three for passing yards this year uh for doing yards uh that may change up the equation a little bit I probably would you know maybe a uers or or wigman somebody with some wide receivers that are more explosive um but yeah if we're doing just passing attempt i' probably go Chandler Morris Josh Hoover EJ Warner kind of in that that area I could see that I could see that that makes sense to me all right we talked a little bit about some running backs so let's talk about who we think uh me and Craven for rushing me and Craven with toos Brooks don't think it's I I I think he's going to be up there in terms of leading the nation in both attempts and yards and things like that Carter went a little bit off the radar which I like he went with Le'Veon this is a misunderstanding though this Craven just threw me off so much is this attempts or is this yards were we going off attempts or yards I was going off yards I was going off yards yards are fine yeah yard I just when you said who's gonna lead in in in passing I just you know I think those two questions are different got my answer off The Radars Le'Veon Moss at Texas A&M and if it was rushing attempts that completely changes to Tosh Brooks it's TSH time and love this year I mean I was going to say like me and Craven can get this off really quickly like Taj Brooks it's Taj time Joey mcgar said he's going to break the rushing record right like he said whatever what was the quote at Big 12 media day whatever the whatever the total is one yard later that's going to be his total this year basically Recs record yeah um and so and Craven I mean you can just Echo the same thing we know it's gonna we know what time it is in leic basically yeah Taj is gonna run the ball a lot you know Zack kitley has openly talked about how it took him about till week four week five to realize this is taj's team and and I don't think he's GNA need that long this year they're going to protect Baron Morton Taj is going to run the ball a lot yeah all right but I don't hate the Le'Veon Moss pick Carter what's your reasoning Ruben Owens being injured for the year and now it's Amari Daniels and Leon moss and then EJ Smith kind of as the distant number third there I just think Colin Klein's offense at Texas A&M likes to put the ball on the ground uh they prioritize a running offense Connor Wegman hasn't shown a lot of mobility in college per se but he was very Mobile in high school I know that so he might be doing some QB Run game as well but I think I saw a report from Brent zerman out of the Houston Chronicle that they were going to lean on Le Moss pretty heavy yeah after Reuben's injury so that's why I picked him Cravin what's kind of your thoughts there on Le'Veon Moss kind of getting more especially if we mention in the wake of the Ruben Owens uh situation yeah I think it's a really good pick that offensive line uh statistically the last few years much better at at running the football than pass protection and Colin Klein coming in there Jaylen knighton's another guy what's what's interesting about this is there's a ton of really good running backs around the league but it's really it's like where are you aone back sure um you know maybe cam cook becomes that at TCU ishma at Texas State I just think the rooms like UTSA Baylor some of those places that are going to run the ball a lot are just so crowded that not one of those guys is probably going to emerge so yeah I think Moss is a player with uh if he gets his hot hand stays healthy yeah probably gonna lead the agies in rushing and and definitely may you know approach Brooks in that category yeah all right let's move on to receiving um I me I hinted at Craven's pick a little earlier Joey hobber at Texas State Carter you had Josh Kelly at Texas Tech I went with Isaiah Bond at Texas let's start with Craven because I mentioned it earlier Joey hobbert because of the loss of Ashton Hawkins I think Cole Wilson has the potential to step into that number two spot but as we saw last year Joey hobbert came onto the scene from the FCS one of the best route runners in the state some of the best just pure hands in the state we make fun of the the lack of gloves but it doesn't matter uh why was here or picked to be the number one uh receiver eventually in the state yards wise uh the no gloves Aura does help no no lie there yeah but I think he's just going to be a reliable consistent Target in the passing game and Texas State's offense doesn't mind throwing to the same guy 15 times a game like if he's open throw it to him you know they're not trying to spread it around for spread it around purposes he is the dude until another person steps up to kind of take some of that pressure off ishat is gonna get so much attention in the Run game I think he's kind of there not a tight end but like that safety blanket that's just such a good route run he's always open it feels like he's going to he's going to put up uh a lot and he just doesn't have as much competition around him to steal the receptions yeah all right Carter you went with Josh Kelly little more crowded wide receiver room a little more crowded wide receiver room but I think probably the most breakout potential if I'm if I'm being honest there yeah I think on the Lone Star 50 Series I put that he's Texas Tech's most important transfer and talking to Craven I didn't really know too much about Josh Kelly going into researching the season but he said you know Texas Tech feels like he can be a different type of receiver a true X wide out kind of allaha Michael Krab since they've had Michael kbry and that's really big shoes to fill of course but that's how high they feel about him everyone talks about Micah Hudson The Freshman coming in the five star but I think Josh Kelly's flown a little bit under the radar uh this off season so I'm banking on Micah Hudson Caleb Douglas taking the defensive attention away to where Josh Kelly isn't getting double teamed and he goes off in that in that high paced offense I can definitely see that happening especially when you have how young or unproven their other options are we talked about Ken a lot obviously you mentioned Micah Hudson you just kind of need the grown-up in the room right and he could be that grown-up in the room and kind of take that to the next level so I definitely can see that happening I went with Isaiah Bond because talk about crowded wide receiver rooms but I think when you look at the guys they brought in Silas Bolden Matthew golden um somebody like a Jon cook maybe stepping into uh stepping into a bigger role I think they that that is a room that still needs the the guy right I think Matthew golden could eventually be that guy maybe next year um jonte cook obviously they have high expectations for um um I'm forgetting the other wide receiver they just signed this past year Isaiah Bond Ryan Wingo Ryan Wingo Ryan Wingo I say Wesco he's a Clemson uh Ryan Wingo yese team um so but guys that are eventually going to be that but this year they kind of without Xavier worthy without um uh oh my God I'm blch thank you ad Mitchell I'm blanking on names today without those guys who were kind of co- those guys we kind of thought ad Mitchell kind of was number one last year but you know allowed Xavier worthy to kind of develop into kind of develop further in his own game they need that guy this year and I think that's Isa Bond I think he can have that potential season where I think Matthew golden could end up around 400 500 yards again but I think this could be like another like a 800 900 potentially thousand yard year for isaah Balden Isaiah Balden because he just has that right now he has that it factor and he's the he's the guy that like every catch that you threw to ad Mitchell last year that's I can see them in situations where it's like all right Isaiah where you at you know we need we need something to take the defense the defense's top off we need somebody that's just going to get us a first down I can see him being that guy in those clutch situations um again I think this unit as a as a whole will be better as a whole next year when all these guys are a year older but this year I think they're so deep so talented but clearly Isaiah Balden to me is the number one guy Isaiah Bond silus B Matthew golden dude my brain is in a pretzel right now these said isaah Bal Isaiah Bond try to say all those names three times fast you can't do it Balden golden Bond too many things going on yeah all I know is they're really good at catching the football they're really great I mean look and Sark knows Alabama wide receivers right he loves the he went to go get one and he was like let me get this guy I I can work with him because the last guy I had from that was aama wide receiver won the Heisman so we'll figure that out later all right let's move a little bit into the defense uh let's go with saxs because this is the one that uh we all had uh when we were assigned the the discussion Craven had Elijah Elijah Roberts from SMU Carter you had Nick skirton and I from A&M and then I had Trey Moore from Texas I want to start with we haven't talked SMU so Craven why was Elijah Roberts your pick for this uh it's really good Edge rusher started his career at Miami has transferred to SMU and grown a little bit in the AAC I think moving back to a conference he's familiar with and wants to prove that he belonged in the whole time he's a senior that can really raise his draft stock he's a big guy uh was right there next to Trey Moore in the sack race last year in the state Co you know second and the American Defensive Player of the Year voting so I just think with the amount of attention the rest of that defensive line is going to get you know Elijah is going to get to 10 12 13 sacks and that that may be able to do it and plug for the Rett Lashley interview we got coming up we talk with him extensively about rebuilding the trenches into more of a power four type program because I mean Craven you talked about it when you went to SMU in 2018 man they don't look like they do now when you go in 2024 yeah he's kind of one of those guys that's LED that charge I mean like I said he started at Miami he's one of those kind of recruits that was recruited to play ACC football regard now they got 12 of those guys along the defensive line and so uh definitely looks a little bit different on the SMU campus and that practice these days I just think he's poised for a real breakout season yeah I'm really curious to see as that SMU defense as a whole that took a step last year seeing those guys like I'm a big fan of obviously I've talked ton about Alex Kilgore as as one on the edge but do guys like Elijah Roberts who have I mean in my opinion NFL potential do they take that next step forward and kind of put them push themselves to the Forefront into the national scene a little bit more now that they're on the the power four scene all right Carter you mentioned Nick skirt the Purdue transfer now ATM working with the defensive Mastermind Mike Elco oh yeah was was that was that a no-brainer for you well Big 10 sack leader working with the defensive Mastermind Mike Elco and everything about Texas A&M's offseason has been we're just about the work like none of that outside noise none of that publicity wor about substance except for Nick skiron where it's like this guy is awesome and he is going to be a beast so I'm going with him for the sack leader yeah back in the state he was out of the state for a little bit at Purdue ran uh grad I'm pretty sure yes I think it was I don't think but Brian High School yeah Brian High School um yeah I mean this is a guy who when they landed him right he had I believe 10 sacks last year as well uh this is another 10 sack guy by the way all these guys are 10 I just realized because you mentioned uh Traymore I think finished with 10 or Cravin did he have 10 I can't remember if he exactly finished with 10 yeah like 15 and a half there you go that's right yeah but Nick skirton the Big 10 10 is like 17 and a half like come on we got to do it saying like all these guys are double digigit sack guys right we're not we didn't just pull these name names out of nowhere all these guys are productive Edge rushers or linebackers whatever you want to call them um but yeah Nick skirton came in he was he was the a massive get for this defense who lost again you lose a guy like Walter Nolan you kind of need to secure that that uh defensive line slash boox a little bit and that's a that's a hell of a replacement um I won with Trey more because kind of obvious you know Craven mentioned it one of the best defensive players in the state in the entire State last year regardless of power five group of five what ever um Texas gets him and this is a spot that they needed desperately Edge rusher pass rush that's not interior get somebody on the outside to pressure the quarterback now stepping up to the SEC that's obviously going to be a big challenge if he could get 15 sacks to the SEC awesome we'll see you in New York probably if that's the case right uh so I don't think that's going to happen but I do think there is a naturally gifted pass rusher here that I wouldn't it would not stun me if he has or 10 sacks 15's a lot for any year regard like I don't think anybody's getting 15 sacks this year I'll put it that way um but I wouldn't be surprised if nine or 10 gets the leader in the state and I wouldn't be shocked if that's him this year Craven do you have any thoughts on either of these guys skiron or Trey Moore yeah so Trey Moore with 22 sacks over the last two years total uh it's gonna be interesting to see him move up not a huge guy doesn't have the length a lot of these Edge rushers at the top half but he's just a motor go after you hair on fire effort player and that can get you a lot of stats um even in the SEC Nick skirt's amazing my my worry with Nick skirton and it's not really a worri is that A&M defensive line is so good like they're gonna be racing through the quarterback he's not gonna win every single one of those um so I I think the Aggie defensive line is going to be great I just wonder who else takes those sacks whereas like SMU I just don't know who else is going to be their sack guy Texas they really need Trey more to be that dude so it would not surprise if he can get double sex you know moving out from the G Vive to the SEC is going to be a proba a top three four round draft pick and his size and his recruiting profile that would be an incred an incredible journey for Mr Traymore yep all right let's go to interceptions Craven you had Bryce Anderson down Carter did you think of a name I I thought I won okay what do you got I'm going SMU strong safety Isaiah noia ah I like that one okay okay so Craven let's start with yours first Bryce Anderson why is he your pick yeah so Elco comes in and IM mediately moves Bryce Anderson from nickel to kind of deep safety and at that deep safety position where you know he's probably recruited more to play he's gonna be able to center field it use his football IQ break on some balls he's like that Troy palalo type type player there I think he's gonna really just be a ball Hawk somebody who outthinks a few quarterbacks Mike Elco if he does anything I mean he does a lot of things really well as a defensive coin the best thing he does is probably manipulate the safeties and use them in tricky ways that that create plays so I think Bryce Anderson's going to be star at a deep safety spot this year I really like that pick all right you picked noia from SMU what you got so I was going to go a big 12 team because I was thinking Big 12 likes to air the football out and then I started thinking actually they're kind of sneaky ground and pound like they they've reverted they reverted back to they're a little more old school this year so I'm going ACC I'm going a team that's going to be competitive so teams are going to be throwing a lot against them okay um I also think Isaiah noia just always has his knows around the football he's just one of those type players with great football IQ great instincts a very athletic type of player in the backfield they gave him the number 23 Jersey again this year for Jerry levas it's this I think the first time they've had a guy back toback wear that number which shows you how his off season's been he hasn't taken any steps back that's I I it's just a it's just a Vibes play for me right here I like that I like that I went a little bit off the board mine is a reach that I'm very much admitting to I'm going Manny Muhammad I don't think that's much of a reach so well I mean two Texas guys for sacks and interception is going to reach but anyway my logic is we mentioned how this may not be the year that he breaks out or maybe like the year that he kind of gets you know I don't want to say like humbled a little bit but he has to get used to being the guy consistent starting guy um next to especially next to trayon Cole or jvon Cole I should say um but I think teams are going to test him I think he's going to get a lot of opportunity to get those picks it's going to be a little bit of a a little bit of an outlier in in the the what was the year that Trayvon Diggs was just thrown at a ton but he also picked off a ton where it was like I think it was the year before he got like he had like 10 interceptions and also 12 touchdowns L up or something like that right something like that and so but like I could see him kind of he's he's he's such a dynamic player that I could see him one having a sophomore slump in terms of yeah teams are going to pick on him he's going to give up some yards but also he has he's has his coverage ability and his size and everything else makes up that of a prototypical modern corner so I could absolutely see him eventually make an all Big 12 cuz it was like oh he had like six picks what the heck happened it was like oh everybody was trying to pick on him because jvon Cole turns out to be a pretty good corner I wouldn't be shocked if teams tried to Humble him a little bit and test him a little bit too much to where he gets some of those highlight picks um I'm going Manny mohammd I know it's a reach a little bit but because again he's a sophomore um after working his way late into the depth chart last year but I see the potential and I see his ability translating into somebody that can get production so Craven what do you what do you think about those either of those yeah I think they're I think they're both good picks uh smu's secondary is probably the most improved unit in the All State last year from 22 to 23 it's a pretty miraculous uh turnaround Jonathan McGill also back there would be a pretty solid pick the thing with Texas I could probably pick two or three guys like John Baron's another name I was bar was my as somebody who usually around the football is going to play a couple of different positions um Michael and we'll see how that goes yeah Michael Taff I mean Michael look we keep saying no to him and he keeps showing up anyway so he might he's like that move like the the party ended four hours ago and he's still here just dancing in the corner I love him mallerie uh who who would you say your picks are for passing rushing receiving sacks based off who we picked who won the arguments um you got our judge whoever picked EJ Warner at passing yeah let's go Bab I actually was I actually was going to pick EJ Warner cuz we are big EJ Warner fans and rice fans here on this podcast maybe maybe ish wins the wins the count here let's go baby I'll take that I have Brook Texas's quarterback and didn't even win this that's actually look her love for EJ Warner overrides her moer that's crazy that's crazy no no no I did pick Taj books at running back though to when I started making my list though so whoever picked Taj Brooks wins as well was that you too is yeah that was me and Craven that was that I mean I appreciate Carter being different I could not be different because I'm like I'm not picking against a mayor guy no I know for sure for sure but everybody wins okay everybody wins okay um laa let's geta yeah let's get to let's get to the last category we'll kind of bundle this all together best team worst team surprise team and yeah I think well first let's get to the best team cuz we all pick the same team it's Texas IED hard to zag here it's hard not to they they have the highest ceiling they have the best talent it's like I man the other the only thing that could different that could like make you feel different in my opinion is if A&M was in a different place right now right because they're the ones that would have potentially have the talent that would have the ceiling right winning the SEC or something right it's hard to talk ceiling and not just say yeah Texas if if all these team hit their ceiling it's Texas I mean it's lowkey we' said it before this is no secret it's low going into the year down year for the Texas teams except for the Texas Longhorns where it feels like expectations are skyh high yeah Craven can you make an argument number two who's number two um like respective to their conference maybe Texas state if we really think they're about to win the fun belt Championship other than that I you would say SMU maybe but I think their cap is not their cap but a good year for them is going to be seven eight wins in the ACC two years two number two is actually tough well Craven you put uh Texas A&M didn't you at number two on your power pole I I think A&M's a playoff Contender um lost a couple offensive linemen specifically their left tackle the quarterback's been injured all off season and it's a quarterback Mike Elco coached against A&M messes around and wins that opener in Kyle Field yeah uh nine and three make get you in the dance and they can definitely go eight you know what is that eight and three the rest of the way so yeah I think A&M's the second best team in the state I think I that I could I have to strain less to C&M as opposed to like other teams cuz like of course we have the discussion about Texas Tech and all these like oh well if this goes right and but it's like okay there's less strings attached to A&M if it's just like okay yeah if they just end up being as good as they are on paper with all these recruiting guys and all these highly touted recruits and all that yeah sure they're there so I think the easy answer is number two for an ANM as well so all right let's get to the worst because we had some some varying a little bit of variance me and Craven had UTEP Carter had Houston carter explain why you hate Willie Fritz that's not it at all do not put words in my mouth here I look my optimism rankings I think have come out at this point Houston they're last in my optimism rankings but the description is my apocalypse bu bunker has enough snacks to last me through this season uh the cutboard at Houston is bare are are you in are you in Chernobyl you're just you're just you're just waiting out the storm in chob stor man I mean Craven said it before Willie Fritz is Nova cane he wins everywhere he goes they got raided in the transfer portal um they're in the Big 12 which is not an easy conference I think if you put utap and Houston on a neutral field Houston would win that game but I think Houston might be like last in the conference yeah and maybe UTEP is too I don't know but I mean yeah up there I'll let Craven start off about why we hate Scotty no I'm kidding but but no like we've talked about how rough this year is going to be Craven for for utep's first year under Scotty Walden yeah I mean they they start off with Nebraska and it doesn't get a ton easier from there you know Liberty early on in the season West K Western Kentucky they go at Colorado State um so it's it's going to be a tough start I I just worry what their attrition looks like and by the time they get to the second half of the Season where they could win some of those games yeah like is the roster still even healthy enough to go play Sam Houston did a great job of that last year UTEP can kind of replicate that and finish strong but yeah I'll take UTEP just because of how quick that turnover is going to be he's just changing so much it just see maybe they surprised me I mean Texas State surprised me last year I had them like 10 or 11 at this point last year but uh it just feels like a very very big project ahead of them in in El Paso but how can you not feel super excited for the season when you got Scotty Walden as your head coach I mean that dude is a ball of energy it's hard not to like buy into it it's like a joey McGuire kind of effect you know that's the thing it's like you look at you look at them you're like oh man what's you know the quarterback situation what's going on but then you just hear him talk you're like yeah you I'm looking forward to you this year the best quarter might be the best offense in the state I don't know you're like he's going to be fun is this offense going to be fun like you got to wait till actual kickoff but the rooff maxim is the new head coach is the polar opposite of the former head coach which is basically like the new girlfriend theory Sure um The Season's now the Third date for UT fans and Scotty wal like this is where we find out if this relationship is going to last cuz he's won the first two dates sure through the offseason social media yeah you want her to call back you're you're okay with her calling back yeah shout out to craving I think that's his analogy oh yeah no that was a great it was a great one he he had that from day one first first three Road games for UTEP all uh before the start of October uh at Nebraska Liberty at Colorado State that's tough that's that's brutal oh their fourth Road game at Western Kentucky oh my God TJ Finley yeah whoever made this tough whoever made that schedu a sicko yeah it's it's nasty all right that's mean let's get to our last topic surprise team we have some variants here all different picks Craven picked Texas Tech Carter picked rice I picked Sam Houston we'll start with I haven't gone first I'm going first Sam Houston this is a team that was brittle hurt all that last last year and we're still like three plays from making a ball game MH I think if they just literally stay respectably healthy as an average college football team should as in not last year I think they get to six and SE six or seven wins I really do this is a team that I'm very I'm very excited to see Sky Cassidy at the division one level like or the FBS level I should say very excited to see what he can do with that defense a defense that was already pretty good offensively we talked about it they were bad last year bad offensive line quarterback play didn't really stabilize until well into conference play well into conference Play No Back Field literally if any of those things just approach below average instead instead of starting off horrendously this is a totally different team and so I think this I think the stretch there from where they were last year to Bow team is not that far to where if this team's knocking on six or seven wins everybody's like oh my God blah blah blah people that didn't pay attention obviously like us who saw how close they were to that margin but this year this year I could see in November people be like hey man Sam Houston that's awesome what a turnaround what you know things like that just cuz so many things went wrong behind the scenes off the field everything went wrong uh to where again just have an average college football season as far as attrition injuries things like that go and I think they walk to six wins I genuinely do believe that so they're my pick for my surprise team in terms of that jump from where they were I like it they lost five games by five plays win some of those plays win some of those games and they're they're a turnaround yeah uh my surprise team I think is rice right now because kind of judging the fan base they're almost expect it and they think if not now then when for rice and I don't know if nationally people think that about rice right now I think they're they're going to have a down year because JT Daniels Luke mcaffry are gone uh but we talked about EJ Warner big EJ Warner podcast here I like Dean Connor's a lot at running back they're the most intact team in Texas and Mike bloomen is coaching for his job this year so put all that mix it in the pot and hopefully it's seven wins in a bowl game I like it I like it I think a lot of people are counting them out and I think that they're a lot more talented Than People realize Craven Texas Tech why are they surpr why would they surprise people this year so I went with Texas Tech because if rice surprises they win seven if Sam Houston surprised they win seven if Texas Tech surprises they win 10 and go to the college football playoff as a big 12 Champion like I I think people got a little too ahead of their skis or too far in front of their skis with tech going into last year yeah uh and it's made people reverse course and not really think about Texas Tech at all going into this year um and this all hinges on Baron Morton being healthy yes and also if Baron Morton's not healthy they could be the surprise Team of the Year as well because they may in Three N I think I think it could go either way depending on the quarterback Health but if Morton's healthy with what they've done with a wide receiver unit the offensive line can come together with Caleb Rogers kind of on the inside now J and Wilson growing up a little bit and we talked about Taj Brooks I'm a Tim to rder defensive guy they're not going to be top 20 in the nation but if they can be top 50 top 60 and uh turn the ball over with the big 12 margin of error being so small a team can win three n three go three and N or nine and three relatively easily yeah um Tech you know with the automatic bid and with an early schedule things set up for them pretty well and they've closed out season so I think Tech could be a team team that that flirts with a big 12 championship and today's world you you win a big 12 championship and all of a sudden you're hosting a first round playoff game in LC Texas yeah no I can definitely see that happening I think they're if we had to do with like a dark horse rankings I think they're that team that's L lurking right they're that team that's like oh man if things go right like that's the team that in November you're talking about where you're like man where'd this come from but you know you know I just remembered yeah what's up uh they they be hosting a first round game they' get a buy oh my God yeah geez I have to refresh myself on all these new roles for the playoff because they'd be one of the top four Conference champions they'd get a buy oh man um and you know be into the uh quarterfinals of the college football playoff you know how about that that'd be a surprise that' be no 100% would be but like you mentioned the road map is there and now the Big 12 is the NEX the power Nexus is gone of the Big 12 it's kind of a you know it's up for grabs they don't play Kansas State or Utah either oh man LC might burn to the ground if they go to the quarterfinals of the college ball playoff win or lose in the quarterfinal they might just burn to the ground uh that's a great Point all right so for all you guys that love to Hound reporters and media members on their predictions you can screen cap those all that stuff to me yeah yeah go for it when you when when UTP wins 10 games this year and they're in the playoff you know send your concerns to Craven Mike on Twitter there we go I'll put it on the graphic so I teased our interview with with uh SMU head coach rat Lashley before we get to that though I do want to tell you with the season approaching college football season week zero is approaching by the way do you remember you remember there's a week zero we got football on week zero appropriately we're talking to Red Lashley but you're going to need a refresher on all your college gear coming up for the season I need a refresher I still haven't gotten a new HomeField apparel shirt in a while I also have too many to speak of so don't you know don't judge me on that uh HomeField apparel has you covered promo code dctf for 15% off your first purchase nearly every single FBS programe in Texas except for Texas State and Sam Houston I'm trying to make some calls I'm trying to get my Bobcats on there UTSA is on there that's unacceptable they that's not that's not fair um so UT so UTSA is on there utep's on there all these schools SMU we mentioned if you're an SMU fan listening for this interview with rat Lashley great great Pony gear the best retro vintage apparel on the market for any college football fan by the way they just are they're also dropping their uh kickoff merch I don't know if you guys have seen this this kickoff kits that they have they're insane they are I think Texas Texas techm Houston and TCU I think are the Texas teams that have their kits they have mugs socks hoodies sweaters t-shirts and I believe flat bill caps and trucker hats all in one box for those programs if you want them right you can shop individually for all those but they have those bundle packs right now that are special edition um just in time for the season if you need a Refresh on all your gear remember HomeField apparel.com promo code dctf for 15% off your first- time purchase if you're watching it's right above my head right here in the top right corner so again please shop there support any of the podcasts as well on the Republic football network they all have their own affiliate codes once again HomeField apparel.com and without further Ado here's our discussion with SMU head coach red Lashley Mike rven Dave Campbell Texas football here here with Carter Yates and SMU head coach Rett Lashley coach welcome back to the Republic of football hey man always good to be with y'all uh I wanted to start off before we got into the football stuff you were an OC at SMU kind of before the pandemic you were recruiting back then you're recruiting now how different is the perception of the Mustangs out on the recruiting Trail as a P4 team compared to five or six years ago uh it's night and day different I mean you know when I got here my first year um you know we'd had a couple I think 500 type Seasons before we got here and then we went 5- seven our first year so it didn't make things any easier but then we did go 10- two that second year but I left so I wasn't here to even feel the bump from just a really good year much less the power conference stuff so you know what back then we always found as people knew about SMU honestly at that time outside the state SMU had a pretty good name but inside the state it was not viewed the same and um you know we were fortunate to get some guys like Preston stone that grew up always wanting to go to SMU that were high profile guys and we had some transfers and stuff like that and the James prochet of the world were here but it was not the same and then you know to come back when I did um you know after the the 19th season but then they had won the next two years like the winning culture helped um you know we were always viewed respectable but still not quite on the same plane just because we weren't in a power conference with some of our peers that we recruit against and so um I think that's the biggest thing now we just feel like there's a Level Playing Field we've now won w at a high enough level consistently and um you know we're received just much differently now what have been some of the tangible benefits you've seen over the last year since that announcement to join the ACC yeah I think you know tangible right away is just recruiting high school kids the the top tier high school kids I mean I think you look at our recruiting class sits in top 25 and most um most you know scouting um organizations have us in their top 25 five and I mean we've never finished in the top 50 that I'm aware of um and that's not because we're in the ACC it's it's because we're able to recruit ACC caliber players now and then come here out of high school you know the last five years it was all through the transfer portals where we would get those guys on the bounce back and and now we still have the ability to get really good players in a transfer piece if we need to but just the best high school kids can choose SMU now the first time because they know that all the things they loved about it from the the school to the city to the education to the winning is great but now they can play on that big stage and not have to go somewhere else to do that and so I think what's funny is I think it's it's really boosted us in a tangible way with the caliber of player we can go recruit now and I think you're going to look up in four or five years and you may go right now we're saying man it Lev of the playing field and gives us a chance to compete with our instate peers that we recruit against for the top players in the state of Texas and in Dallas I think a couple years you might look back and go we have the advantage and Coach one of those places you have the advantage at right now just looking at your team at fall Camp two days ago is in the trenches it's night and day different uh when Craven was talking about going back to SMU at 2018 uh from what it looks like to two days ago was that a conscious change that you had to make uh when you got to SMU or were there other people in your ear telling you about that yeah you know so the first year I was just trying to figure out how to be a head coach um and and I got hired basically on December one of of 2021 and that was the first December that you had the the one-time transfer and onil at the same time with the December signing period And so you know trying to keep your roster there was a lot of things and then okay here's who we have all we we retain the guys that we needed to and you know I had enough history when I was here know we had had good offenses and felt like we could be good on offense again but we just never played very good defense at a high level or consistently so we went through the first year and um um you know after the first year really it was we knew about middle of October but after the season we just sat on his staff and said here's the deal you know we have top 10 offenses just about every year top 10 or 15 offenses but we haven't won a championship here in four decades and we haven't had a top 40 defense in four decades so um we're going to go out and we're going to recruit a defense in the portal we're going to go out and sign an entire defense in the portal we need four D lineman at minimum we need two or three linebackers we need two or three safeties Corners like that's what we're going to do and I we didn't know if it' solve the problem but but we were going to do something to try to do something different than what had been done the last four or five six years here solve the problem and and a big part of that was D lineman and you know we did that um our staff did a fantastic job we brought in you know 12 or 13 really good defensive players guys like Elijah Roberts um guys like Jordan Miller who played alongside Elijah Chapman last year and uh and some others and it changed things and we won a championship we had a top 10 defense or top 15 defense whatever it was and so that was the mindset shift then is you know we're going to score points that's great um but we got to be a place that plays defense and we gota be able to stop the run and uh which we didn't do the first year and we be got to be able to rush the passer which we didn't do the first year and and last year we stopped the Run much better and we were one of the best teams in the country I think second in the country in sacks and so we tried to carry that over now into the ACC one because it's a it's a system that worked for us but also going to the ACC we don't even need better players we need better depth and so that's why we went out and got a bunch of D lineman again and to your point I think just you can just tell we just for the first time ever last year we played at Oklahoma in warm-ups you go we look like we belong physically and uh we're hoping to keep that going well coach you got the defensive lineman to rush the passer you've also got two passers who you're both very confident in and uh in Preston Stone who started all of last year almost then Kevin Jennings comes in for the American Athletic Conference Championship Game it's really not like a QB controversy it's just two quarterbacks you feel really good in and I do want to pose a quote to you though from the legendary John Madden he said if you have two quarterbacks you have no quarterbacks what's your retort to that what's your rebuttal yeah that's a great quote that I've used before um but I think you got to take it for the context that John used it in and that a lot of times we have used it in very rarely do you have two starter caliber quarterbacks on your team um you know very or you already know who your guy is now look um my retort to that is we have a returning starter who's 11- two as a starter in his career um I think Preston Stone's first year as a starter you know he had his ups and downs but to be 11 and two as a career starter to lead his team to a championship I think he finished the season in those last five games or so 17-1 touchdown interception ratio right before he got hurt uh he was played an unbelievable clip and he's back and he's healthy and he's had a great fall Camp so that'd be my first retort the second one would be we have a guy in Kevin Jennings who stepped in and beat two lane on the road who hadn't lost much in the last couple years uh including thumping USC the year before so I think uh I think what we have is a QB luxury to your point I think we have two guys we believe we can win with I think we have two guys our team believes in um and I think we're gonna you know we needed them both to win a championship last year I bet we need them both to to win games this year um I'm excited about Preston being healthy I'm excited about him going into his second year you know getting that first year as a starter under his belt I'm excited Kevin Jennings who's I think even gotten better from last year and then a guy that doesn't get talked about because it's not part of those two is keldrick luster from McKenna that had a fantastic spring and even better fall and it's kind of cool you don't see many places anymore that has three High School quarterbacks um but we got one from South Dallas and Kevin Jennings we got one from Central Dallas and Preston so we got one from North Dallas and Krick luster and they're all really good players and we're excited to have them you've been in crowded quarterback rooms before and been in in battles and what does it do for a team to kind of see the quarterback position be just like the guard or the linebacker or the corner who is battling for their job every single day as well well it helps you uh breed a culture of competition healthy competition which we want to do here and I think it it helps you have some credibility with the guys that you're going to be who you say you are you can't hey guys competition matters and then nobody over here in this position's competing um I also think it speaks to the depth of our team to have two guys and really three count Cel but two guys that have played enough that are quality enough to be battling for that um at a high level um so you know I think at the end of the day the the te times I've been on teams where you either have a quarterback battle or you have multiple quarterbacks good enough to play how the quart the health of the quarterback room permeates to the team and if you have a healthy quarterback room you're going to have a healthy team and a good year and and if you have a divisive QB room or things get off the rails it bleeds into your team and uh fortunately for us we have a very very healthy quarterback room uh it's really cool to see guys like Preston and Kevin and keldrick pull for each other in practice when a guy makes a big time thrower play they're some of the loudest people going crazy for him as opposed to probably what the alternative could be we talked about the defense a little earlier just with SMU we're always talking offense right you're an offensive guy people like talking offense but Scott Simons and that defense as you pointed out has gotten really good I'm curious what is Scott like on a headset during a football game uh I I I it makes me happy that I'm not a defensive coordinator uh to feel how stressed defensive coaches are like you know for years as an OC you don't really know what's going on the other side and and then to to to flip over when we're on defense and here are defensive coaches and the little things that an offense does that just absolutely drive them crazy and stress them out I'm like wow that you know every now and then I have to flip over just just to kind of keep my sanity and be ready to call the next drive but uh man he does a great job he's he really calls the game like an offensive coach and what I mean by that is he's super smart he he studies film he knows film he's great at understanding his opponent what they're good at and the weaknesses and what's going to give us problems and where we have advantages but he's really good at finding the areas we have advantages and and being in an attack mode kind of like an offensive coordinator would be and um trying to build a game plan that you know can adjust and adapt to issues or what a team does against us and try to take away what they do best but then get in positions and put our guys in positions to make plays because he's pretty confident in what's going to happen and he can make a call that almost attacks that like an offensive coach would um and I think that gives our defensive confidence that um you know they just they trust him they trust our system now going into year three they trust him as a play caller um but intense would be the easiest word I could say for that defensive headset on Game Day first year coaches always talk about how hard it is to hire a first staff and if you look at the record of a lot of first year coaches there's some turnover year usually after year two or year three because something didn't work it feels like for your staff most of the guys who have left have gotten promotions or or gone on to do some of you haven't had to make any of those huge changes what is the art to putting together a staff what do you look for when you're assembling guys and trying to find you know a guy like Scott Simons and Beyond well I don't know if I know what the art is I've only really done it once so um you know I think from my perspective what I believe what I tried to do and what I think I would try to do again you know I think people drive and people make your culture um whether it be your staff you're talking about a staff culture or the players on the team culture and so I look for the right people I look for people that I thought look you shouldn't be looking for a DC or a safeties coach or a dline coach or a receivers coach if they're not qualified you know if you're if you're at a place like SMU trying to build a staff so if I'm down to three or four candidates at a DC you know you're going to look at the track record and they're going to get to that point of okay you know they they fit maybe from a from a resume standpoint or a success standpoint or they're from Texas or whatever the things are you're looking for but then it's like within that group who fits me who fits the culture I want to have who are the right kind of people who are the people that yeah they know ball and yeah they're high achievers they want to work hard they're low ego high output people but like you know they also um guys that just they care about kids they care about coaching guys they care about developing the whole person not just coaching ball and um you know at our level you got to look at a lot of things from recruiting and all that I looked an example would be with Scott Simons I looked for fit knowing that as as a as a head coach and as a guy who's going to call the offense I knew a lot of the offensive coaches that we'd be hiring wanted to hire someone on defense that would fit in Texas that would fit with an offensive minded you know fast-paced play calling type head coach um and in a perfect world if you can find someone you know and trust or at least someone you know and trust knows them and it took a while I looked at several people and I you know one day I'm like wow Liberty's been really good on defense and that's Scott and Scott and I worked together in 2012 at Arkansas State Scots from the Metroplex here in Texas so I had at least some um a feel iation with him knew him a little bit as an acquaintance uh knew who he was what he stood for knew where he was from and then the the the IC on the cake for me was he he had been Q F's DC for two years and Hugh frees runs a wideopen fast-paced offense and they had had back-to-back top 15 defenses so when you start looking at all the things you want to me it was just kind of the perfect fit and uh you know I think he's done a nice job transforming the defense here now how much of the staff building did you learn from Gus Maan I know he he was in your coaching career you played quarterback for him in eighth grade running no huddle offenses like what did what did Gus maon mean for your career yeah you know I mean Gus obviously was incredible for me he coached me helped Let Me Be a Player and have a great experience as a player and then he gave me a lot of opportunities as a coach whether it be as a ga or as an offensive coordinator at the division one level so incredibly grateful to him you know a lot of the things I learned from Gus are ball related um in terms of just scheme you know and and but but what you also learned from him and and I had the the the pleasure of getting to or the honor getting you know I worked for for Houston nut I worked for Jee chisik I worked for Pat Sullivan I worked for Gus a couple times I worked for Manny Diaz I worked for Randy edel I worked for Sunny Dykes like I got to see a lot of different coaches do it different ways and everyone's different um I think what I learned from those guys the ones that I liked how they did it that I also thought fit me is again it goes back to people I think life's about people and relationships I think when you start to build a staff it's like man let me get the right people that are like-minded care about the same things have similar values um and need to be qualified okay but once you get to that qualified pool get the right people and then you can solve the problems or the issues as opposed to you know there's pressure I remember I had pressure to go hire this guy because he can recruit or this guy because he can do that and and you have to meet certain markers on your roster or your staff but man I've been been blessed I've been blessed here to be on the healthy staff and if you've ever anyone who's ever been on an unhealthy staff it's it's miserable where there's a lot of egos or guys who aren't really for the team and they're just out for them to pound their chest on all the recruits they signed or you know they're talking behind the coordinator's back and all of that stuff um we don't have that here and I think that's a tribute to the people we were able to get to come here well you keep coming back to the people coach and that's what's driving your culture and I keep thinking about something you said earlier in this interview where in your quarterback room you have Preston Stone and keldrick from both North Dallas Kevin Jennings from South Dallas but all over your roster it's Duncanville transfers it's guys from all over the city how important is that when you're trying to become Dallas's team at at SMU no it's huge and I think you know to some degree um the question earlier about what's a tangible way we haven't experienced all the tangible benefits of the ACC yet like on this team because this team is still a heavy transfer Laden team but you know I think again starting with this recruiting class that'll come in in 2025 and on we're going to be able to recruit even more local Dallas kids out of high school the first time and still have the benefit of recruiting Dallas kids that want to come home the second time um so I think you'll see our roster grow even more with Texas and Dallas kids than it already is um but that's what we want I mean we're crazy if not we're the only School within 30 mies of Dallas and Dallas the Metroplex about 11 counties and I mean most years it's number one in the country if not number two with the most division one kids signing out of a Metroplex and so I mean why wouldn't we start inside our own City and go inside out and so many I mean Dallas is a booming city right it's it's number one in the country for jobs it's top five media Market all the positives of our city it's safe it's clean we have an incredible mayor like kids want to stay here and play they want their family to see him play they don't want to have to leave and for the longest time they would go man I want to go there but you know I want to play on the biggest stage or I want to have a facility Well now we check all the boxes and so our mindset hasn't changed I think it's just we're now better equipped to try to fulfill that Vision at a higher level uh you know you've been a quarterback coach and offense coordinator still still calling plays all that kind of stuff what was it about deark King that made you feel like he was a fit from you and and what is it like going from coach of a player that you've you know been been a CO and then now he's on your staff what was that Evolution like right it was an easy decision because he's a winner and I trust him with my life I trust him with my kids I trust him completely that's just I know who he is going back to the people I um you know I got to recruit I got to coach against him when he was in Houston which is not fun uh definitely glad I was to DC then but uh I do remind him we beat him in those moments but uh he was really good and then um you know when I got the chance to recruit him at my and get to know his family and get to know get to talk to his dad before he passed get to know his mom get to know his brother and sisters and like his girlfriend everybody in his life and then get to know everybody his high school coach everybody around him like there's just certain people you just know man that is just an incredible person incredible human being you know people use the it a lot he's got it okay he does have it like he's just he's the perfect balance of humble and confident and um there's no ego uh he's a team guy he's um he's for everyone around him he he ooes confidence and gives confidence to everyone he communicates with whether it be a staff member or a player he's humble enough to say when he doesn't know things but yet he's got especially as a player he's got he's got that dog in him you know he's got that competitor in him that um he's just a winner he's gonna be successful at whatever he does he could go out right now and become an accountant and not know anything about it within a year he'd be a great accountant like he's just that kind of guy and so that's what made it easy and then just knowing how much our players love him and the fact that he's played at a high level recently he's been where they want to go or where they are he knows our offense he's played in our offense um I just think he's a rising shooting start honestly and uh we're really excited to have him here but it was a it was kind of a a no-brainer decision for me is he the best quarterback on your roster I'm not answering that question you can ask those guys then uh I'll say this he throw Pat and go some days he'll get in throw some quick like of a quarterback maybe I pull on the side I'm talking to him or a guy's getting some water he'll look up he won't stop the drill he'll just jump in catch it and make the throw to the white out and I think him and Kevin were talking just today about who could do more in power clean and I think dick might have him right now so it's like you know he he's still he's still at that age where he feels like he could play a little bit but um you know I think what he does though he reminds these guys it's just a game it's a kids game it's a game we grew up loving to play so don't put too much pressure on yourself yeah you can get caught up in all the stuff around you man just go play play the game you love and uh and allows those guys I think to have a lot of confidence and play free okay let's take the current quarterbacks out then and let's go Prime Rett Lashley at Arkansas um breaking records in high school and dear King who's winning a passing competition he might have you in running but who's winning a winning accuracy comp now hold on a minute I had 29 rushing touchdowns in high school oh my bad my fault now I mean the announcer one time said lashley's feet are Gone With the Wind I mean I don't know what to tell you you're sneaky fast coach I don't know if you know this term you're sneaky fast sneaky fast um Carter was also a high school quarterback he's sneaky fast as well I'm sure yeah um not really I think I think the resume for diar is going to speak for itself you know I may have thrown more touchdown passes than him but he uh he was definitely a better player I would say in high school and I definitely know he was in college and I think you know you also look at where he played in Houston in the competition I mean it's kind of crazy KY TR was his backup yeah I mean KY tras was an NFL draft pick dick wasn't Kyle tras was his backup couldn't even get on the field like that shows you who dear is and was so yeah diar's got me beat there those Manville teams are really really good before we get you out of here uh playing in week zero going to Nevada do you say Nevada or Nevada by the way I say Nevada I don't know what we're supposed to say I say Nevada because I'm from Texas but I think that's wrong we tend to say I may say nobody you know what I may say it different every time I say it yeah that's probably the best way to go about it that's what I do with caramel right that's right uh I was just curious do you like week zero games what is it what is it different is it anything different kind of what does that do for a for a schedule I guess for a coach yeah I I this is my first time being in a week zero game so I don't know I'll tell you at the end of the year if I like week zero I mean it it happened fast you know I don't like the idea that we had to come in July 22nd 23rd to report you know just it extends the season by almost a week to 10 days um but you know that being said you get an extra bye out of it too and on a year like this year when it's a leap year we already had two so we have three by weeks which obviously makes the season longer but when you start looking at who we're going to play and the league we're moving up to and and how we're moving this transition it might help us to have those additional breaks to try to remain healthy and maybe if we get some guys hurt in the middle of year have quicker times to bring them back or if we're banged up you know get a chance to try to recharge so we can um you know try to maintain throughout this season so um look at this point we're about a almost a week from playing I mean you get to where you're just ready to play someone else so it doesn't matter if it's week zero week one we're past the fall Camp part um it's game week in our eyes and um so now all that part's out the window but I I'll know at the end of the year if I like it or not all coach appreciate you taking the time enjoy the trip to Nevada Nevada and we will catch up after that thanks guys appreciate you [Music]