#575 - Lane Kiffin
Episode Stats
Length
1 hour and 22 minutes
Words per Minute
206.62518
Summary
Lane Kiffin is the head coach at Ole Miss, down in Oxford, Mississippi. He s helped take that program to new heights in the past five years, and it was great talking to him about his mentality on life, coaching, and leadership.
Transcript
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We hope you're enjoying your Air Canada flight.
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Fast-free Wi-Fi means I can make dinner reservations before we land.
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Wi-Fi available to Airplane members on Equipped Flight.
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Today's guest is the head coach at Ole Miss, down in Oxford, Mississippi,
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He's helped take that program to new heights in the past five years.
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He's got his own group of fans called the Laniacs.
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And it was great talking to him about his mentality on life, coaching, and leadership.
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Today's guest is the one, the only, Lane Kiffin.
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Yeah, bro, so you invited, did you invite me to Pilates or did you invite me to yoga?
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My daughter's actually a Pilates teacher, but yoga's like better, like the hot yoga part of it.
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And the intensity, like make it so, so miserable.
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Does it remind you almost of game day out there on the field?
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Like, is it, because it gets pretty, I mean, you're in the SEC, so it's really, this is
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So I make it that way, too, like that we're playing like in the swamp or in Baton Rouge,
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So it's like really hot, so you got to like fight through it.
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I was trying to get you to go this morning, so then like you would have gone through the
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misery and the experience, and then we'd like discuss it on air.
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This isn't like traditional yoga, like flow, which that's good.
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Then I was like, I got to go to another level, like make this, put a heater in there, like
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make it as hot, intense, and then like put cardio in there.
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And I just like bringing new people, too, and then they struggle, so it makes me feel
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That was me just a couple hours ago, getting it done with my Cat Williams statue right there.
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I didn't know what that was, like Nutcracker or something.
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That's a statue of Cat Williams that they have.
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But yeah, so is that a big part of your, like, is yoga like a regular part of your
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And so there's no phone for an hour, you know, and you got to like, you got to get uncomfortable
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So I figured if I can start my day, use it like six o'clock in the morning that way
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and be so uncomfortable, that's the hardest part of my day.
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And so that, you know, you just, you get in those poses too, in those positions, you're
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just like, man, this is, I want to get out of this discomfort.
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And over time, just, I'm able to stay in it longer and longer and more intense with
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And I feel like the rest of the day, man, I'm just kind of like chill for the rest of
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What's the next thing you think you would add into, um, to Lane Kiffin, like the Lane
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Kiffin yoga experience, which almost seems like people should wear pads to be at it.
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Well, we have playlists, so we got good music, good energetic music.
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And so we challenged the teachers, like come up with the hardest things possible.
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Like, you know, back when you were like young and you were like training in high school and
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they just put up all the, all the different, like three by 10, three by 15, like all these
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And then like some of the classes like are public.
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So, and then we like, I feel like I'm trying to, I'm trying to take Oxford to another level.
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So I'm like, I want for generations it to be tough.
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And so sometimes they're like, well, open the door.
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So then at the end, like, I'm like, guess what?
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And everybody's like, no, no overtime, no overtime coach.
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I can't believe I, the fact that somebody is trying to start generational yoga is, uh, that's
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I guess that's the Lane Kiffin level, you know?
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And I like the fact, yeah, you hit me up on social media.
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I thought that was cool just to like, kind of welcome me into the area today.
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You kind of have like a notorious, you're kind of notorious on Twitter for like being
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like a unique, like kind of an outspoken coach.
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I looked at social media when I started, it was for recruiting because we weren't able
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You could, um, on Twitter, you can message them.
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You can message them on Twitter, but you couldn't text them personally.
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And then I just kind of started being a normal person.
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I was like, you know, I can't be a normal person as a coach in a lot of my life.
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So I was like on social media, I'll just be normal.
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I just retweet it or other coaches like in the sec, like Kirby smart.
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So he's like got stuff he wants to put out there, but he's like, they just send it to
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I think it's, uh, I think it separates you from some of the other guys out there.
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I think, yeah, it makes you seem a little bit more kind of crazy and personable at the
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I think the reason why I kept going with it was because I would go into home visits and
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these parents would say, or they'd come into my office, like when they're doing a campus
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tour and they would say to me, like, coach, we feel like we already know you.
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And I'm like, well, shoot, how much is that worth that?
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They're already coming to visit us wanting their kid to go here saying we already know
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I mean, look, you're the only, um, you're the only college coach that we've wanted to
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I think it probably does have an effect, you know, I've made it.
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Well, no, this college coach that Theo Vaughn wants to do a show with.
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You don't lose your job by the time this is over then.
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Um, is there a difference between the, uh, kind of the Twitter lane and, and I'm, I'm
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So, but is there a difference between the kind of the Twitter personality and the, the
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I would say the Twitter is probably closer to it.
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You know, um, people that are around me all the time and stuff say like, what was out there
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early on, especially about me or what people think really isn't what he is.
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So I feel like Twitter is more actually how I am just kind of, okay, that's funny.
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I'll just like say that or send that out, you know, like, and so, um, I'm not an old
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school coach in many regards at all, just because I think you should always evolve.
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Cause it was in a book of how to do it before and always kind of test things, you know,
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like around here, we say, you know, instead of just thinking outside the box, we create
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We challenge everything, different ways of thinking things.
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So, um, and social media is part of that because that's not, or how I do a press conference
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or even doing this, probably some coaches that even if they, if you did call them up for
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this, they wouldn't do it because they'd say, okay, well, that's not really the message
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I mean, you got to have amazing, like Louisiana following positive numbers.
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I don't know how they track that, but it's gotta be amazing.
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So why, why do you think like, cause yeah, you do have a unique personality, right?
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And you, at least your personality is able to be seen these days.
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And I think that that's something that just happens more over time with social media and more
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just, we have more video of people in general now, you know?
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So there's just like so many more little moments that get captured.
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And that's how I think a lot of fans, they, I think they gravitate a lot more towards athletes,
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um, coaches, anybody really in the world because they get to know their personality.
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Um, we were talking before about social media and how that kind of like, like why people
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kind of gravitate towards certain people on social media.
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And I think some of that's, that's just kind of the answer.
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And if people are willing to show some of their personality and not kind of follow like
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this playbook of exactly how things are supposed to be, but remain within HR, HR has a box.
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But, um, I think, I don't know if I don't make any sense as a head coach and got a lot
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And that's challenging in these types of settings and these things, because you want to talk
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to recruits and that age group, your current players, your fans, but then you also have
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You've got old donors that have been around a long time, seen things done a certain way
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Um, and you can't, you can't please everybody, which, um, you know, so I've kind of right
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I've always said, Hey, my job is to wherever I'm working at, meaning my job is to Ole Miss
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and not to potential future presidents or ADs at other places or other fan bases.
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And so whether I was at Tennessee or USC, um, or here, wherever I was, it was like, okay,
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a lot of what I say, other fans don't like, maybe even other athletic directors are like,
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He said that, but our own fans, our own administration really like it.
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Cause it's usually me backing Ole Miss and saying what I think about the program, what
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And maybe sometimes taking shots at other programs or something like that.
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And so that, that upsets some people and upsets, um, a lot of other fan bases.
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So, um, I've always looked at, and I think a lot of coaches don't do that.
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A lot of coaches say, Hey, I'm going to say things so that future employers potential that
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Do you, um, you already had two experiences like coaching in the SEC, right?
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Um, like, how's it been different here at Ole Miss?
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Cause I mean, you know, some people call it the Yale of Mississippi kind of.
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Well, I think, you know, I was, as you mentioned, the head coach of Tennessee, then the office
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Um, and those programs really over a long period of time, um, had won a lot of games,
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Alabama, unbelievable championship runs, coach saving, probably a, you know, a decade there.
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I think for a school, not good for them at a certain point, but we're not, not good
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for competitive environment throughout the conference when he was taking all the players
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You know, um, somebody said a stat the other day, you know, in the last four years.
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So the seniors in college here, it's been a cool experience for them.
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You just saw both basketball teams go to the sweet 16.
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And in four years of football here, we've had three top 12 finishes.
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Well, they only had one in the previous 51 years.
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So the difference obviously in the programs was different, but I really liked that.
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It was like a challenge because you can come in at the top of a place.
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It's like, okay, versus wow, let's like change what's happened.
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Let's like create a new winning culture, a new way of thinking, um, in how the locker room
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and the whole university thinks about football and the program.
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And so we've raised the expectations to where we won 10 games and people are upset around
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You guys were 13 points away from 13 more points and you guys are undefeated last year.
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So 16 more points last year and you guys would have been undefeated.
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And then the three losses were all one score games, um, right at the end of the game.
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Um, what, what's, what's kind of different between coaching like in the pack 10 or I think
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it's the pack 12 or something now, everybody keeps kind of like changing their names, but
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It was like, it was eight at one point and it was 10 and it was 12 and some of those teams
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What do you notice different between coaching and like the pack, like a different conference
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Like you coached at FAU, you coached at, um, you coached in the pack 10 to 12, eight, you
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Um, you know, there's a saying like in the sec day coin, like it just means more and it
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really does like the passion in the towns, um, for the football programs, um, the attention
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on it and really the play over time has been dominant.
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The sec's had more draft picks, more championships, all, all those things.
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And the people that can't even read and they can, but they're just yelling, go dogs.
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Cause I feel if somebody come out of a coma and be like, go dogs or something, you know,
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or somebody like come out of a coma and be like, and then just pass away.
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Like people's last words, baby's first words, there's like 30 videos of baby's first words
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And I remember I was walking through campus and I was like, man, I bet like 50, 70% of these
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They just, they're going to school at USC, you know, getting their education.
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And like here that, that like, like 100% know who you are.
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You know, like the, the little kids, like the, you know, you go to like walk downtown
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and like a four-year-old's like coach Kiffin, like they know who you are.
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So it's like, they'll complain about your play for people that haven't been down here.
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Maybe that makes sense to them, like to understand that, you know, like you don't go anywhere
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without any, everybody knowing who you are, but also like that too, you know, kid will
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They're like eight-year-old kid, maybe not four.
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But eight-year-old, well, we've been winning this.
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They don't say that, but that'll happen as soon as we lose a couple.
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They'll, they'll be like, coach, man, like, what about throwing that tight end on the
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You should easily, obviously you're truant, but yeah, it's definitely, it's a lot more
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They're like, like coach, you're three for 14 on third downs.
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And they do, but it's just, it just means more the passion for it.
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It's why the stadiums are the way that they are.
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The electricity before games as people walk into the stadiums, like it's just different.
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I mean, I think a couple of teams do a walk now.
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Do people ever try and tickle you or whatever when you walk by her?
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I, this happened at Tennessee and then here, and maybe this isn't like the best thing,
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Like they didn't have like barricades on the walk and they're like, well, it's great,
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And I'm like, well, this walk is like a half mile.
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Like you're walking through like 40,000 people.
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And like, you gotta wear a suit and everything.
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And then like, they're like grabbing you and everything.
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Plus, I mean, we are in the deep South, so there's a lot of great things.
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And, but I mean, there's just some different things too.
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Now, you know, they're like grabbing you and I got chew spit on her hand and stuff.
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And it's like, whoa, can we like move these just back a little bit?
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But you guys, yeah, it's definitely a ton of tradition here.
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I mean, this is like Morgan Freeman's front porch down here in the South.
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I mean, what's, I mean, it is, Mississippi is the, it's a, it is like wandering back
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And everything you're giving me is just full disclosure anyway.
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I moved here because it was SEC head job and I thought we could win and do a great job.
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It wasn't, I wasn't like, man, I want to move to like, I'm just really dying to move
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So I judged it that way, just kind of like a lot of people do about Mississippi.
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And at first it was a lot because, because I'd spent most of my time before that in South
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And I was like, at first I was like, whew, this is a lot.
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Like, I mean, long winded, like a lot of conversations, slow moving.
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Oh, well, um, what are you, so what are you doing tomorrow?
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Um, I just met you like, you know, like, oh yeah, you can make everybody's a friend.
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Um, they, and there's also so many famous authors of that.
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That's why the South is so full of famous storytellers because everybody is one, you
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know, but then it took me some, I'm so glad that I've been here long enough now, five years
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Now I go back to like South Florida or I go to LA and I'm like, dang, these people are
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So it's like what I thought really was kind of bad.
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You know, it's like a warmth, a sweetness, you know, hospitality and people being nice.
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And I've, and I've learned to, that's actually slowed me down because I was always like, what
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And, and I was like, maybe they're onto something here.
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Maybe this slow down thing that I was judging at first.
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Like I made jokes about the rocking chairs and people sit in rocking chairs.
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And I'm like, at first Charlotte airport or whatever.
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Yeah, I did when I was, and I was like, you'll see somebody has a 42nd layover and they're
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And I'm like, I actually saw some right away and people were in them.
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And I said to some right away, I'm like, what are they doing?
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And so I've kind of said, hey, maybe there's something to the Mississippi lane.
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And I just slow down, taking conversations, listen to people instead of just always talking
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It's definitely like the program is, it feels a lot different.
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You know, my best friend has been in hiding for years.
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He will sit there and, you know, he's betting on test scores.
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He's betting on SAT over-unders for, you know, foreign exchange students.
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But now he's like out and proud, kind of, you know.
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He's rocking that powder blue the past few years.
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I had some cool, a couple of cool things happen like that where I was with Landry, my daughter
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And I'm at the restaurant with her in this, this kid comes up and senior in college.
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And she goes, she, and like the South, because women know the football just as much as
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She's like, my four years here have been amazing.
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So she's like, my four years, the first year the team was bad, then you came.
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And then she's like, you totally changed my college experience.
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You know, that like, like you said, your buddy now like feels better about wearing an Ole
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You know, there's like more pride into it, you know.
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So that's pretty cool that we've been part of that change and part of that experience
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for kids that like, now they're going to want to come back to games, you know.
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I mean, it's like, that's when you want to be there.
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Nobody wants to be like, man, when I was in college, man, our team sucked.
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You know, like, so it's really cool that we've been part of that, again, coming into a place
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When you come in and they've been losing, then the players in the locker room and you
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come in and they just embrace everything and then you start winning and they're just so
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So that's a really cool thing about turning programs around and being in those locker rooms.
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Again, where if you're just coming in and places on top and they're just winning and
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they're just winning again, it's just, they just expect it.
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And so they're not as appreciative of those moments because they haven't had it taken away.
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You're on a pretty famous like text chain with like other SEC coaches.
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Like I keep the group together because like one will beat the other or they'll say something
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and they kind of like get mad at each other and then they won't like text for a week.
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If like you beat him, then he doesn't text for a week or if they're playing each other
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that week, they certainly aren't going to say anything.
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And by you beat him, it means you, when you guys beat Georgia last year, but go on.
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You know, like, Hey man, like you'll probably get us next year.
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You know, like they don't like, they don't think that's funny.
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You know, like then one of them side texts me like, Hey man, you shouldn't have said that.
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You know, and I'm like, dude, it's just a game.
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Do you guys vote on how another coach gets into the text chain or what is the.
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Um, I just kind of, I actually have a, they may not know this.
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So, you know, kind of give you some special insight.
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So sometimes I'll say something that guy's not in it and that guy's, you know, then this
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And so like, I kind of make sure I know who's in them, you know, when I say certain things
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and then, you know, every once in a while I've got somebody who does something and then
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And then like, then I'll like put them back in.
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But, and, and, and they're like typical coaches.
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They don't know how to remove somebody or add somebody.
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That's a big deal to be able to remove somebody from chat.
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Like, Whoa, he must really like have somebody teaching him this stuff.
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Who is, uh, who's the most mysterious SEC coach to you?
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Um, maybe Brian Kelly, speaking of LSU, you know, like I like Brian, um, not a South guy,
00:25:03.540
Um, and so I think maybe people don't really understand him.
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Um, you know, he's just kind of, he's a little bit different.
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Um, then maybe your traditional, like Kirby smart.
00:25:31.300
It definitely looks like somebody ran a slant with some scissors across his forehead.
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And he shows the same haircut from when he was like playing.
00:25:43.580
What kind of, what kind of dishware are you guys using?
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But yeah, like, well, Brian Kelly, they also put him on that lazy Susan.
00:26:06.040
I thought this was for a strip club, to be honest with you.
00:26:09.800
I think I wrote something like, do you actually know they're filming you?
00:26:15.560
Like, like you, you know, they're going to film you when you're doing this.
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I'm like, do you realize you're like kind of grinding on the dude?
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This was also a strip club advertisement near Natchez, Mississippi, I think as well.
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I've spent time there, but yeah, maybe Brian Kelly is kind of mysterious.
00:26:39.480
I think also maybe it's just because he's from, he hadn't, had he coached in the SEC before
00:26:56.640
That's just like, that's as big a change as you can have South Bend to Baton Rouge.
00:27:06.360
South Bend just down there into the Mr. Weatherall belt.
00:27:09.500
I think that's about, I don't think they make a bigger change than that.
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00:30:34.500
And a lot of historic, a lot of like, one thing that's interesting about the SEC is you'll have people that didn't go to college, but they will show up at the games as if it's their school.
00:30:45.000
And that doesn't happen like in as many other places.
00:30:48.860
You have people who can't read, people who can't see, but they'll show up and watch a game somehow.
00:30:54.720
Um, and you don't see that in other conferences.
00:30:59.800
And I, I remember, so my first taste of the South was going to Tennessee as the head coach.
00:31:05.820
And I'm coming from, I was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders.
00:31:11.080
I'm like coming from California to like Tennessee.
00:31:14.980
And I remember, I'm like, there's a lot of people.
00:31:19.280
There's like 70,000 people here at the spring game, like 50,000 there two hours before.
00:31:23.760
And they're like, yeah, at the, at the big games, like the thing will sell out.
00:31:35.040
And then when I went to Alabama, the same thing.
00:31:36.560
They're like, no, half these people didn't go to school here.
00:31:38.460
They just, they lived in the state at one point.
00:31:43.740
It's not because they went to school there and like their passion is unbelievable.
00:31:48.140
And I'm like, wait, you didn't even go to school here.
00:32:03.020
But you like your whole week, your whole year is affected whether they win or lose.
00:32:08.340
Like just angry the rest of the year, whether they win or lose that like Alabama, Tennessee game.
00:32:23.100
I mean, they got that one guy, that Roll Tide Willie now.
00:32:26.220
And he's, he was in the military with my dad's buddy.
00:32:28.900
But what is, what's your favorite place to play, do you think, in the SEC outside of Vaught-Hemingway?
00:32:34.740
Well, I don't know about favorite, because favorite would be like-
00:32:39.720
You know, like favorite might be somewhere really easy.
00:32:46.880
Or just which one of you get out there and you're like, man, this is freaking majestic.
00:32:53.520
This is why you have like such a different audience of like so many different areas of stuff.
00:33:12.440
Like, it's just, like when we would bring recruits there, it is majestic.
00:33:17.820
Like, and then at night, and then there's the river and the boats, and then the intensity in there.
00:33:40.580
You know, like, they were getting ready for like a thumbs down.
00:33:46.960
And probably 12,000 people are carrying weapons in there at that time.
00:33:50.360
They had a real conversation with me during the week about bulletproof vests.
00:33:54.560
Like, but again, I'm like, there's no way, guys.
00:33:57.720
And they're like, they had like three cops with me and everything.
00:34:04.720
Maybe like a golf ball, you know, they're going to throw at me or a bottle or something.
00:34:08.940
So, they're walking in, and I was like, this is awesome.
00:34:17.620
They were like chanting, like, you know, like, fuck Lane, Jeff.
00:34:20.980
And like, that was actually like, felt kind of like intense and cool.
00:34:27.180
If a bunch of people hate you at once, it's easier to go.
00:34:30.600
And then they're like, the student section was like, hey, you know, last night we were with your wife.
00:34:35.680
And I was like, man, that's pretty funny, like, to come up with stuff, you know?
00:34:38.400
Like, so, it was intense, and it was like, and it just kept building.
00:34:43.600
So, maybe like, everybody didn't hate me at the beginning, but then, you know, it's like a crowd, like, storm.
00:34:49.020
They feel it, and then the hatred just kept building.
00:34:51.520
And then it was like, really close game at the end, and then we won.
00:34:55.500
And then they got pissed, and they like threw things at me, like, golf ball.
00:34:59.820
And like, anything they could get, like mustard.
00:35:01.540
And school books, which we need in Tennessee, first of all.
00:35:11.500
Like, hey, hey, we're going to, like, go to the game and sneak the mustard bottle in.
00:35:15.840
Oh, you're in the damn condiment belt over there in Tennessee, brother.
00:35:22.820
Oh, you should see where they keep their relish at, brother.
00:35:26.120
And the golf, like, and I was like, they throw this golf ball that became famous that, like, they throw at me, and I'm like, afterwards, I'm like, okay, mustard.
00:35:43.340
Because I don't think they're thinking I'm going to throw it, like, I'm going to be pissed off in the fourth quarter and throw it.
00:35:51.500
It's like the cheap guy that, like, steals the range ball.
00:35:53.980
So, like, okay, this way I had to, like, have these to hit, like, you know, instead of, like, having to buy a golf ball, so I'm going to steal the range ball, like, for next time I go and play a round.
00:36:15.100
How quick do you want to get off the field when you beat a team in their stadium?
00:36:18.540
Is there a weird energy there for a little, like, is it kind of?
00:36:26.920
Sometimes I kind of like it, you know, like, kind of walk off a little slow, you know, just so, like, you feel the, like, that wind, that you just, like, ruined 100,000 people.
00:36:36.240
Like, especially in the SEC, like, week, not just day.
00:36:44.420
And especially a woman who was going to give birth that week because her husband would be in a good mood and now she's got to hold it another week.
00:36:54.100
Yeah, we ain't having a baby under these circumstances.
00:37:07.880
What's one of the most aggravating traditions that you think and what's one of the best traditions you think in college football?
00:37:17.020
Well, this is, like, a big tradition, like, as far as everywhere, not specific places.
00:37:22.780
You know, before, like, it's just really cool when they have the band out there and they spell things.
00:37:27.480
Speaking of the Tennessee, the opening of the tee and then run out, like, that was really cool to, like, see.
00:37:33.420
You're, like, right there and then, like, the band just opens up the tee and you run out.
00:37:39.480
And is there one that's kind of aggravating that you see at a place somewhere?
00:37:57.880
Um, but then it can be aggravating because, like, they're storming and, like, and you're worried about, like, I'm hitting you.
00:38:06.320
It's, like, very, you know, very invasive at that point.
00:38:10.400
But, um, I think, like, if they could just let everybody out and then let the fans out so they still get to tear the goalposts down because that's the school and stuff.
00:38:20.180
Yeah, I was at that old, at the, um, Alabama Vanderbilt game and that was pretty sick.
00:38:23.960
And some guy on the sideline squeezed me so hard, bruised one of my ribs really bad or dislocated it, right?
00:38:29.440
So I was, like, ee, ee, ee, ee, ee, ee, ee, doing like that or whatever.
00:38:36.340
So it was just one after another, just the biggest guys you've ever even seen just hugging you.
00:38:48.880
That took about eight weeks to get better from.
00:38:50.880
Yeah, but you were at a historic, like, moment.
00:38:58.580
Well, Diego Pavia got that sixth year, that eighth year, I think he got.
00:39:02.600
Did that, uh, were you surprised when he got that?
00:39:04.640
Did it affect any of the way that, were your players able to apply for anything like that?
00:39:10.140
Um, Jack Starr actually tried to get another year, um, or at least see if the option was there.
00:39:28.480
And that's kind of an underdog energy over there too, you know?
00:39:31.480
Is there an SEC team that you also cheer for on the low, kind of?
00:39:37.320
Because I think they have, like, so much stacked against them, you know?
00:39:39.960
Like, they got higher academic qualifications to get guys in, so they can't just get all
00:39:46.320
Like, um, harder, you know, because the stadium's usually half full and stuff.
00:39:50.660
So, um, I, I, I root for them, especially Clark, because that's a hard job.
00:39:55.240
And so that's, that's pretty cool for them to win like they did this year.
00:40:00.820
They carry the goalposts and then they try to valet park the goalposts.
00:40:07.780
I'm like, you can't, who are you going to give it to those three guys up front or whatever?
00:40:12.000
Yeah, but that might be the only, like, SEC town that has valet.
00:40:24.460
I'm at a, um, I think at a, at a McCormick and Schmicks or something over there.
00:40:35.820
I mean, you guys have had like kind of a storied history.
00:40:55.420
Um, he did just learn how in the last, like, two years, two Tex,
00:41:02.220
Like when I was just in coach, Sarah, and just like, I'm not Texan.
00:41:08.500
Like, he's got those old school things that aren't changing.
00:41:10.600
And, um, and then I like got a text like two years ago from that said, good luck or something
00:41:17.860
And I was like, to the group, I was like, dude, I got a saving text.
00:41:27.680
And, um, and then Kirby's like, yeah, I got one or this year too.
00:41:31.960
Like, he's like learned how to text just like you get one or two words, but, um, but that
00:41:37.520
relationship's like almost in a way, kind of like how you can struggle sometimes, like
00:41:43.000
maybe when you're in it with like a parent and then you get out, like you get older and
00:41:49.600
And then you're like, dang, man, he, he was onto something.
00:41:53.980
So I look back and I was there for three years and there was friction initially.
00:41:58.360
And I look back, there's all my, I'm the assistant, I, you know what I mean?
00:42:01.800
Like he's the head coach, you know, whatever he says goes.
00:42:08.460
And that's not, his way is very like, this is the way, like there's not open discussions
00:42:15.500
And, and I was, I'd worked for Pete Carroll as assistant.
00:42:22.700
So like you come in, you have an open conversation and you're questioning the process.
00:42:26.060
No, I just was asking like, we looked at this, you know, like, so I didn't really know how
00:42:40.520
You know, like, so it was, um, it was just something I wasn't used to that way.
00:42:45.860
And so it took a little bit of time, but now that I look back, I'm like, okay, he was
00:42:50.040
so strict on everything kind of like in apparent way, like with his team, with the players,
00:42:55.200
it was the coaches, like nothing, nothing changed.
00:42:58.000
Even we won national championship and there's seven 30 staff meeting the next morning.
00:43:01.600
I'm like, what are we meeting on at seven 30 the next morning?
00:43:03.860
He's like, we're behind, you know, because we won the championship, everybody else was
00:43:10.580
But now I look back and be like, that's why he is what he is.
00:43:14.600
Cause it was like the standard never changed no matter what.
00:43:18.280
And then that took me some time to understand too.
00:43:21.480
Like when you, when we were winning and playing really well and coaching really well, he was
00:43:27.340
harder on you because he didn't want you to have relief syndrome, you know, like, oh man,
00:43:42.080
He'd never explained it to us, but it was interesting to hear.
00:43:46.480
And he said, most people are born with a relief syndrome.
00:43:49.460
He wasn't, he just always had this way of thinking like, Hey, you never relax.
00:43:55.720
So he went above and beyond to make sure people didn't have that.
00:44:05.860
That was because he was guarding against that because he knew that that could happen.
00:44:17.300
So I'd only hadn't had many losses, but I do remember the three losses that we had over
00:44:28.660
Like that's when we didn't get ripped because he's like, they're going to get ripped anyway.
00:44:34.480
I don't need to, you know, like I need to, when they're feeling good about themselves,
00:44:40.580
So, um, I didn't really understand that at first.
00:44:43.080
And now I look back on, man, he was, there's a reason he's the greatest.
00:44:49.840
Um, I think because, um, you know, to bear Brian's to like legends back then, no offense,
00:44:58.100
Coach Saban did an error where there were reduced scholarship numbers.
00:45:03.440
He also did an error when you're losing coaches left and right.
00:45:06.360
You know, he lost so many assistant coaches and he just kept winning.
00:45:09.320
And, and I don't think anybody will ever be able to do that again.
00:45:12.320
And he couldn't even do that again, the way that it's going anyway.
00:45:17.280
And now this with the money part and all that stuff, that's, that's like evening things
00:45:22.220
out that people can't stack the teams like he did because now your second team and third
00:45:29.100
teams, maybe before where they had to sit there and wait, they, they couldn't leave back then.
00:45:34.100
So you lose your backups because someone gives them more money.
00:45:36.760
And, but how was he able to convince players to sit there, be just as good and sit second
00:45:51.080
So he still was able at the end to convince some guys to stay, but he started losing so the
00:45:57.100
Did he have to recruit the whole time or at a certain point did the, did the acumen of their
00:46:00.640
coach of their winning just to be the recruiter for him?
00:46:03.440
Do you think that helped a lot, but he never changed?
00:46:15.800
People always say, okay, well, why did he win so many championships?
00:46:23.580
There's the discipline, all these different areas.
00:46:26.240
But really the number one thing that mattered the most, he out-recruited people.
00:46:33.520
When you get better players, you win a lot of games.
00:46:35.460
And it wasn't, they weren't just coming there just to come there.
00:46:37.900
They came there because he recruited really hard.
00:46:42.240
I mean, did you ever get to spend any time with him?
00:46:43.860
Like, was he good at cards or anything like that?
00:46:45.520
Or was he, did he do anything else besides, like, did he ever take his whistle off?
00:47:00.100
Did he ever invite you, or did he ever dress up for Halloween?
00:47:02.720
Like, was there anything you ever saw Coach Saban do that was like, felt a little bit more,
00:47:07.860
not as much like, who's that guy, Robert Downey Jr.?
00:47:18.460
You know, Nick Saban, and people would joke, Nick Satan, you know, he was born on Halloween.
00:47:27.360
So maybe his whole frickin' existence was a costume.
00:47:32.260
But he did not, there was not, he wasn't gonna wear a costume or something like that on Halloween,
00:47:37.200
so there was no like, he didn't have like Halloween parties and stuff.
00:47:40.180
On your own birthday, even put on a little cattail or something.
00:47:49.640
I will say this, I went to Easter one time at his house, and my kids, they were still living
00:47:55.260
in California with my wife, and, because I took the Alabama job, and then they came for
00:48:02.080
And he invited us over, and, um, we went over there, and he was different.
00:48:08.940
Now, he didn't put on like a bunny costume, but, like, he was helping the kids with like
00:48:13.200
the Easter eggs, and he had one grandkid at the time, um, and he was like carrying around,
00:48:18.380
and like, and it was totally different than the office Nick Saban that we would see all
00:48:23.560
You know, like, so that, that was pretty cool to see that side of him.
00:48:26.720
Now, he's also so competitive that he, his grandkid was like one, and all of a sudden
00:48:31.680
the grandkid found the golden egg, you know, like, while he was with coach way over there,
00:48:36.480
you know, so coach also was going to make sure that he won.
00:48:39.380
Um, but it was pretty cool to see him like that.
00:48:44.020
You can't, when Jesus is making a comeback, you can't play defense on that day, you know?
00:48:47.920
That's when you got to just call the dogs off, I feel like.
00:48:51.800
But it is definitely skeptical that a one-year-old found a golden egg.
00:48:55.520
Was he playing against other kids, of kids, like of age children?
00:49:08.400
Do you think that, um, coach Saban misses coaching?
00:49:12.220
Um, I think that, and he mentioned that in that pivot podcast, but I did always think,
00:49:17.460
okay, if he was going to do this, he was going to have to have, and I, and I used to say
00:49:20.520
he's going to have to kind of have that college game day spot because he's going to want
00:49:26.800
You know, he's just so wired to all day long to do something for his entire life.
00:49:30.640
Now he ain't, he, he's not going to sit around and just, you know, be a grandpa.
00:49:37.720
Um, so I think because of that, that's helped a lot.
00:49:40.720
But I wouldn't actually be surprised if he came back in the NFL, even, you know, as head
00:49:45.620
coach, um, because he just, he's so good at it and so in him that, um, I'm not sure
00:49:52.940
What, um, I want to talk about the NIL and then I want to talk about your team and, uh,
00:49:58.080
Um, does, um, God, I sound like a sports guy or something.
00:50:02.680
You're getting really like, um, I feel like going into this, I was going to, we were going
00:50:06.840
to go a lot of different directions and now you've come back to like, I think people
00:50:13.360
Hey, tell us about your, uh, depth at safety this year.
00:50:32.780
I want to tell you about the, like NIL, do you have to spend more time recruiting players
00:50:40.220
Um, a lot of booster part, um, because they got to get the resources to pay.
00:50:45.280
Now that's going to get a little bit moved now with revenue sharing and, um, coming from
00:50:49.760
But these last few years has been, okay, well, the boosters have to create these collectives
00:50:54.740
and have to source the money to pay the players.
00:50:57.660
So if you don't have the money, you don't have the payroll, it's hard to get players.
00:51:03.000
Look at who just won in basketball, the programs that made the final four, look at what, you
00:51:08.480
know, the final four, um, college football teams, like they're, they're major programs
00:51:14.100
So, um, yeah, you gotta, you gotta do a lot of that and then you gotta convince the players.
00:51:20.160
Now where it's different is the old school, unfortunately, kind of the old school recruiting
00:51:26.000
of the relationships and having a relationship three years since the kid was a sophomore in
00:51:32.080
It's not as important anymore because now I'm like, okay, well, what are you paying me?
00:51:37.140
You know, the school is this, the school is this, the school is this.
00:51:39.620
And most of them usually go to the higher, higher number.
00:51:43.560
And is that just a real question out of the gate is what is the offer?
00:51:46.880
And do most of them have agents or they have to do that directly by themselves?
00:51:50.280
They now, it's now just transitioned to where most of them agents.
00:51:54.260
It's really, you know, we're in my office right here.
00:51:58.100
So I sit here all the time and the recruits sit over there where your guys are and the
00:52:04.860
Like I've sat in so many of these meetings, like whatever, say the last hundred.
00:52:20.820
And then I go, okay, well, when's our NIL meeting?
00:52:26.580
Like, I'm not mad about it, but it's just kind of sad.
00:52:30.800
And I'm also recognizing it to say, I don't believe long-term that's good for the kids.
00:52:37.300
So this has been great for players to make some money, but it's so much money and it's
00:52:40.900
so much focus on the money that then it's like, okay, well then what's next?
00:52:45.420
If I'm already getting the money when I'm 18, then what?
00:52:56.720
And I feel like we're creating a lot of that in this.
00:52:59.560
And now a kid's sitting there listening to his parents that and they want to know the
00:53:02.680
Like, so what's the kids supposed to want to know?
00:53:11.200
If I'd have had some money, I'd have fucking left school.
00:53:13.280
Well, the second you gave me that chat, I'd have driven across country and got me some
00:53:18.100
But I'm sure at that time you thought, man, if I just had a million dollars, man, I'd have
00:53:31.380
If I get money, man, all my problems, then I'll be good.
00:53:36.500
And I go in the homes in recruiting over all these years.
00:53:38.860
I see the most problems in the families with the most money, most money, most success.
00:53:49.820
Like, and then I'll go to a house here in Mississippi or Louisiana, you know, and there'll
00:53:54.740
be 10 people living in this two bedroom house and you just feel like the warmth and like the
00:54:01.780
And then you got hardly anything financially, but then they have this love and this family.
00:54:07.160
And I've just done this for a long time and I see it usually the other way around.
00:54:12.300
The bigger the houses, the more cars, the more money, the more problems.
00:54:29.480
Um, you know, April is financial literacy month and that makes me think, well, how did I first
00:54:40.280
Well, I guess, um, well, I got a little job that a lady paid me to catch these cats.
00:54:46.800
She had, and she gave me a little bit of money and I would take that money and I would store
00:54:51.260
I had one of those crown Royal bags, one of the purple bags that came in and I'd put all my
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00:57:36.880
What's one of the biggest things that keeps players that are good players from succeeding, do you find?
00:57:45.520
Yeah, a lot of them run fast, jump, throw, and it's their minds and then getting in their own way.
00:57:55.720
Here comes this ego coming in because I'm a five-star.
00:58:00.900
Like, the entitlement of that and the ego comes in and out.
00:58:05.480
So it's like they had this drive to get to the NFL because they want to play in the NFL and they want to get the money.
00:58:11.440
So now that's – now I've lost some drive there.
00:58:15.200
And they just get in their own ways, you know, and they get so much attention so early and so much.
00:58:23.360
And then it's like they just think it's going to last forever.
00:58:34.400
So what's the craziest thing a player has ever asked you for just like point blank?
00:58:39.280
Have they ever been like, I need a – give me a Jaguar, coach, or something like that?
00:58:48.440
I wouldn't say – like I don't have a good story, like a crazy thing, you know, like.
00:58:52.320
Like, but it just – what continues to blow my mind nowadays is they want more when they haven't done anything new.
00:59:04.300
I got this to come, you know, to transfer or to come out of high school.
00:59:07.600
And then they come in like, okay, well, I need more.
00:59:09.800
And they're like, well, you didn't do anything.
00:59:16.860
Like, it's just that mindset of like, I just deserve more.
00:59:21.860
Like, I deserve more and more because there's no appreciation in there for where they're at.
00:59:27.220
Or like, man, I got to play better to get more.
00:59:34.340
So like if you could negotiate your contract twice a year, every year, but then for six months you haven't done a show.
00:59:41.740
But after that six-month period, you want a new contract and a new deal bigger than what you had, but you hadn't done anything.
00:59:50.200
Through interceptions, but you still want more.
00:59:56.320
Like, do you still feel like a coach or do you feel like a banker more?
01:00:01.680
It's not really like a banker, but you spend so much time not coaching.
01:00:06.840
And I think that's part of the Nick Saban and, you know, getting out.
01:00:10.480
It's just like, it just changed, you know, because these conversations, these things, and you see the like greed for it, you know, like, but it's, it's a, it's unique because from someone that's been fortunate to make money, have success, get to the highest levels.
01:00:27.440
Like, it's like, I keep trying to tell them, like, that's not going to be the answer.
01:00:33.140
Like that new contract, getting that much more money isn't going to change anything.
01:00:38.480
You're not going to, you know, be happier because of, but it's like, they don't.
01:00:45.980
I can sit in these two chairs right here to some, some, most of them, some will, but most of them.
01:00:52.620
And they just look at me like, there's no, I'm like, listen to me until you fix these internal problems, until you fix how you think that everybody's against you or whatever it is, these issues that they each have.
01:01:03.380
And I'll try to like work through them with, I'm like that, that money, that new contract, that next car, that next girl, like, that's not going to fix that.
01:01:11.880
And I'm like, if I get picked in the first round, I got that contract, everything is fixed.
01:01:49.400
So what is some of your push for players to come here to Ole Miss these days?
01:01:53.180
Like, what is it, you know, what do you sell them on about being here?
01:01:57.520
Yeah, this is a really cool place to go to school.
01:02:05.960
I've seen y'all on there doing makeup or whatever.
01:02:08.740
Like, just like I said, the social media thing.
01:02:11.300
I kind of live like a young person in a lot of ways.
01:02:24.260
Like, you can't do like a makeup TikTok with your daughter.
01:02:29.300
I'm going to be dead or I'm going to be at the end of it.
01:02:32.720
Those last couple of years, you think I'm going to be like, man, I wish I would have spent...
01:02:35.780
Yeah, I think I'm going to be like, man, I wish I wouldn't have done that with my daughter
01:02:43.740
I think a lot of, also a lot of, I bet four of the first round picks this year will be
01:02:52.080
Like, now they're wearing like nail polish and stuff.
01:02:53.880
Oh, have them wear nail polish, eyeliner, booty liner.
01:02:59.400
Some guy, I think, that played for Northwestern or Nickel State or something.
01:03:05.380
Who's putting rouge on their butt cheeks, you know?
01:03:10.260
But that's just kind of like how I, like, I, and I don't know you, like, it seems like
01:03:15.040
you have that too where it's kind of like, man, we're supposed to be growing up and there's
01:03:19.820
But then these other areas, it's like, what's wrong with having youthful fun?
01:03:24.560
And, you know, like we go out and play pickleball and somebody's like, I see some old people
01:03:28.040
look at me like, man, he's playing out there with his kids and like, he's like dancing to
01:03:31.700
the music, you know, to like Taylor Swift playing or something.
01:03:36.460
Just because I'm like getting older, I'm not supposed to like have fun.
01:03:40.040
You know, or like when you come to yoga in the morning and like we're crushing you in
01:03:43.400
yoga and I'm kind of like dancing back, like talking shit, celebrating over you.
01:03:47.080
Like, if that happens in the morning, you might crush it in the morning.
01:03:52.100
I don't worry if you do yoga or I have to wear cleats is the only thing that I'm thinking.
01:03:58.540
I think, well, it also goes back to what you said.
01:04:00.160
It's like, you know, you don't like to follow this old playbook about things.
01:04:02.800
You'd like to have this new playbook about things.
01:04:04.840
What's kind of like part of that that you offer your players or people that want to come
01:04:08.540
Do you sell them like, hey, this is a team that's like, this is a program that's obviously
01:04:13.880
You know, the trajectory has gone up, you know, especially in the past five years, for sure
01:04:21.200
How do you get players to come here to Ole Miss?
01:04:23.500
Because it's always been a little bit more of the underdog in the SEC.
01:04:27.460
I think the kids really like, we create an atmosphere that you want to be at, not have
01:04:33.980
You know, like I feel like in the morning, if you ask them when they're getting up and
01:04:37.340
they're driving their cars over, whether it's players or staff, like they want to be here.
01:04:51.520
But that atmosphere of comfortable and like the players,
01:04:56.120
like I've, I've been around both and I've been around as an employee where you're miserable
01:05:02.140
Like, and it's just like, to me, you're not very productive that way.
01:05:05.200
Like I want our players to come here and like, they play their own playlists, like in practice
01:05:10.120
and stuff, you know, like it's a player's team with discipline, but the same thing around
01:05:14.520
the office, like people, when you have hours, like you don't even have, like you leave when
01:05:18.160
you're done with your work, you know, like, okay, you leave at this time.
01:05:21.200
Um, cause then people just sit there and guard their desk, you know, until the time goes.
01:05:26.220
So I just try to create an atmosphere that people really want to be at and they, they
01:05:31.820
And it's really, to me, it's awesome if you can win and have fun.
01:05:35.820
Cause some programs like they win and, but they're still miserable and I've seen that.
01:05:40.660
So we try to create this atmosphere and I think people love it.
01:05:47.440
And is it tough to be like a coach and a dad and a coach and a husband?
01:05:51.880
Like what's that, what is the cross of like those jobs like for a coach?
01:06:00.640
I think like a lot of questions, I answer them differently now than I did five, 10, 15 years
01:06:06.920
Um, I think, you know, as I look back and I use my failures and experiences now it's awesome
01:06:15.320
cause I get to use to help others and I help our players when they're going through it.
01:06:20.460
I had a lot of stuff happened to me or self-inflicted stuff.
01:06:25.180
Um, that like I struggled for a long time, but then as I like now see, like I get to help,
01:06:32.000
like, cause a coach knows my story or players and they come in and I can help them with
01:06:35.840
Like when you say, okay, how did like the balance of a husband, father and head coach?
01:06:40.660
Well, I failed at that because I'm as a head coach, like I was a head coach, Tennessee USC
01:06:48.460
and I was like, that was my higher power and I'm the head coach USC.
01:07:06.260
And so then like the LA times Sunday morning, man, coach Lane Kiffin, you know, like, and
01:07:13.720
And I remember him asking me like, what do you want someday?
01:07:21.940
Cause then, then I made it like they built a statue of me cause I won so many games and
01:07:31.520
Cause if you asked me that now, what do you want?
01:07:35.840
I want to be a really good boss, a really good friend, a really good neighbor.
01:07:43.360
But I was so focused on that, that it, it controlled everything.
01:07:59.320
It's not like he was, you know, working on chipping at Hooters.
01:08:06.380
So I don't know why I said that, but yeah, yeah.
01:08:13.520
I think John Daly still goes to Hooters for like John Daly, two hour, like signing special.
01:08:21.340
We tell, no, we talk about him every single week.
01:08:29.380
Boy, he's off a couple of honey packs right there.
01:08:36.680
So anyway, so that's where this failure came in because it was like, okay, if you're going
01:08:40.900
to put all, if this is going to be the most important thing to you, then I like look back
01:08:45.140
and shoot, no wonder, like I ended up getting divorced.
01:08:47.520
No wonder that, you know, I ended up having a strained relationship with my kids.
01:08:51.620
And then I kind of figured this out later on and started going, okay, wait, wait, wait
01:08:57.000
This is just part of who I am, you know, being a coach.
01:09:00.940
And then I started to work on the other areas of my life.
01:09:07.000
Um, just not just physical sober, like stop drinking, but like emotionally sober, you know,
01:09:13.880
like, and that's still a constant battle, like working on that, like, and things not
01:09:17.400
making me go way up, way down, like every day, but, and people say, okay, well, what
01:09:26.140
And I was like, what's replaced that is like amazing.
01:09:30.020
Like going to dinner with Landry or watch a movie with her friends.
01:09:33.560
Like, you know, like you just, I just had this shift and it really helped me.
01:09:40.880
And actually I'm a better coach out of it, which you wouldn't think would be like, cause
01:09:44.220
you think, okay, well, if you put everything into it, but then you lose balance and you're
01:09:47.980
just kind of off and everything is so defined on a win or loss that like, it's everything.
01:09:53.360
I remember like losing a really, really important game.
01:09:57.580
Um, and I remember at the time, like seeing why she's like, and I'm like, I don't want
01:10:05.360
We were in our third straight national championship.
01:10:07.540
I'm lost in the Rose bowl national championship.
01:10:12.460
And I'm like, I don't want to wake up tomorrow.
01:10:16.700
And she's like, you have a kid, like you have a whole life.
01:10:19.120
Like we lost the game, third straight national championship.
01:10:23.120
How, how long is it going to take to ever get there again?
01:10:28.500
Um, because that's, I mentioned earlier that the ego had gotten so big when I became a head
01:10:34.300
coach and all the money and success and attention that like, it just built and like, you got
01:10:41.900
And so it's really been cool to, to get out of that spot.
01:10:45.980
And what do you attribute to helping you get out of it?
01:10:50.320
Um, you know, I came to Mississippi and decided like, okay, I started eating more food, not
01:11:00.140
Like, um, and I just was like, man, I'm not the best version of myself.
01:11:03.720
I didn't have this like rock bottom moment, you know, that people have.
01:11:06.600
Sometimes I just was like, man, I don't really like this lower version of myself.
01:11:18.160
Um, and really what I started to do is to pour into other people instead of just pouring
01:11:37.040
I mean, my, I have a certain emotion and I get literally drunk off of it or half of it
01:11:46.580
A lot of times, any feeling that I have, I'm still there.
01:11:52.480
And I really got on this after the physical sobriety after a couple of years of, okay,
01:11:56.880
I got really healthy working out all the time and don't drink, but it was like, okay.
01:12:00.720
But I still was letting people situations like, man, well that, that went my way.
01:12:09.520
We lose that recruit or have an argument with this person.
01:12:12.840
And I was like, man, and I had somebody tell me like, just remember the tide goes in and
01:12:23.720
Or are you just like, Hey, the tide came in, tide went out.
01:12:30.880
And then I'll come in here and then this player has this issue, you know, or a kid has this
01:12:35.840
issue, you know, and then it's like, or this doesn't go this way that, especially like
01:12:40.100
if you're like me, which I feel like you are from your last answer, when somebody doesn't
01:12:45.040
do what you want them to do, like, wait, everything would be good, man.
01:12:51.880
If she does this, if he does that and they do that, I'll be good.
01:12:58.280
It's just total unrealistic expectations of what I have a lot of times.
01:13:01.940
And, um, that's one of my biggest things is unrealistic expectations.
01:13:10.480
I want to expect that people know how I want things done after I haven't shared how I want
01:13:15.720
Like expecting somebody to know what I want them to do, but I've never even told them
01:13:20.760
And that's a crazy person would think that way.
01:13:26.200
And then they don't, they don't act how I want them to act after what I did.
01:13:30.720
Haven't I been, haven't I, haven't I, have you been, haven't I shared with you?
01:13:34.020
But there is a major problem that when you become, and you're in charge of company, your
01:13:38.220
head coach, you know, like, and all the people are working for you.
01:13:41.040
So your whole day, they really are doing what you want.
01:13:44.660
And then now in your personal life outside of it, maybe somebody doesn't do what you want
01:13:51.660
And that's where I was off with the emotional part.
01:14:18.480
He's actually on a spring break here right now.
01:14:33.000
So that'll be exciting to be able to watch all his games here.
01:14:35.700
And he's always up here working out with his buddies.
01:14:37.900
Oh, that's going to be great just to be around that many other players and stuff.
01:14:46.220
To be around those locker rooms and to be around those players and to learn from them,
01:15:07.420
You know, I'm just saying like the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.
01:15:10.960
Like, we probably have the pain of regret from things we weren't disciplined at in life.
01:15:16.960
You know, if you look back, man, if I would have done that or like I would have got, you
01:15:26.200
Well, I think a lot of times people with parents sometimes like when they pass, you
01:15:34.880
Well, my dad worked for me all the way up until then at 84.
01:15:39.340
So all these last three stops, he was here in the building helping us coach.
01:15:48.300
And he was such a coach that like, even as doctors say that was keeping him alive because
01:15:54.540
He was 84 years old with dementia, still coming in the office.
01:15:57.940
And he just was like, he was the ultimate coach, the old school coach.
01:16:01.260
And so I got to be with him every day all the way up.
01:16:05.700
So because of that, of bringing him to all the places, making sure he was at work every
01:16:12.900
So if you don't come here, who knows if that even setup is even kind of perfect for that.
01:16:16.680
But that's where I've gotten to like, who knows what's supposed to be perfect?
01:16:22.040
What I thought, what we thought as a plan should be, I was like totally off.
01:16:27.620
You know, like I'd have been like, there's no way I'm going to like want to move to Oxford,
01:16:32.820
Mississippi, have my kid go to college here, have my other kid go to high school here and
01:16:41.360
And who would have thought they would have ever wanted to come here?
01:16:43.340
Like, it's like, you know, God's plan obviously makes a lot more sense than ours because
01:16:47.880
every time I take that and I'm like, wait, wait, wait, wait, maybe he wants to, let me
01:17:05.520
And then when I just, which is hard, when I just let go and just let it go and whatever
01:17:13.120
And that tide is going to come in and it's going to go out.
01:17:35.060
There's nothing as good as SEC footballers there.
01:17:36.340
Because it's like when the plays work, it's like a video game for me.
01:17:39.160
I feel like I'm playing a video game on the sideline.
01:17:41.300
So think like when you play in a video game, you score a big touch and you throw your controller.
01:17:47.340
You know, like throw my clipboard like your controller.
01:17:52.180
You've had quite a life, you know, you start, you started kind of, you know, you didn't start,
01:17:56.980
but you kind of came on a lot of people's radar in coaching at the highest level, right?
01:18:04.340
You've, uh, you know, you've had like you kind of a polarizing people would say type figure,
01:18:12.140
And I think after talking to you, I learned a little bit more about how you operate so
01:18:19.540
You know, you've had, you've been through divorce.
01:18:23.760
Um, you've had a lot of just experiences in your life.
01:18:26.520
What, um, for somebody out there who's getting into their middle age and is kind of struggling,
01:18:31.620
um, with having a setback or something, what is, what is something you think you would share
01:18:36.720
with them from your experience or a thought or statement or.
01:18:44.860
Like these things happen, you know, in life, these major obstacles that seem so horrible at the
01:18:53.060
Um, maybe you have a health scare, like these things that seem so terrible and they're really
01:18:59.340
not, they just feel like it in the moment and they're going to pass and you're going
01:19:02.880
to actually look back later on and be glad for them.
01:19:05.800
Like my kind of major thing was I got fired as a head coach at USC and like my career is
01:19:12.520
I wouldn't have gotten to work for Nick Saban for three years, you know?
01:19:15.300
So like whatever those things are, or your career's been over like four times.
01:19:20.920
And it's actually feels way better than like, let's say you come out, like I came up and
01:19:32.560
But then to actually have it torn down and all taken away, some by circumstances, some by
01:19:37.920
your own decisions and rebuild from the bottom personally and professionally, it feels so
01:19:44.080
It's like instead of buying the house, you build the house from the beginning.
01:19:47.740
And so just for people that are struggling in whatever one of those areas may be, like
01:19:57.640
Like, Hey, just start working out today, you know, or stop drinking today, you know, or start
01:20:10.060
We don't know what's going to happen next week or next month or next year and just be
01:20:19.420
There's something I've been like, I just feel like kind of the world is ending cause
01:20:22.420
it's something that's kind of like just work stuff.
01:20:25.360
But I just have to look at it as a challenge, adjust the perspective.
01:20:31.260
See, so watching my dad pass through the last couple of years of dementia, but also watching
01:20:41.920
Like what, whatever that is right now that you're starting, you know, you're going to
01:20:45.440
look back toward him and be like, what was I even like losing sleep for or having anxiety
01:20:52.900
If you zoom out to later on, you're going to look back and be like, man, that wasn't
01:21:10.680
And congratulations on what you guys have done here at Ole Miss, man.
01:21:13.980
I want to thank my friend Scott Sackfield and Richie Haik, who helped me think up questions
01:21:17.200
today to talk about as well, because they went to school here and yeah, I'm looking forward
01:21:25.400
We'll be there and our whole team's coming actually.
01:21:31.480
We told them in the team, we had a team meeting today and said, we're going, we're going
01:21:38.200
We're like, wait, you make like a million dollars.
01:21:39.860
Like these guys, but they still, they still just want something for free.
01:21:52.020
Now I'm just floating on the breeze and I feel I'm falling like these leaves.
01:22:03.060
Oh, but when I reach that ground, I'll share this peace of mind.
01:22:07.660
I found I can feel it in my bones, but it's going to take.
01:22:29.980
I can feel it in the waters where it's going in my life.
01:22:33.060
But when I can feel it, I can feel it in my mind.