All right, rolling into the five o'clock hour, busy end of the show coming up. Brian Schmitzer is going to join us at five forty five. Monte Cohler, the legend the legendary coach of the Oday Fighting Irish who has already and Greg Bell reminded us this today that Greg was on the call with Chris Kidd in the state championship game in the Tacoma Dome where Monty Cohler tied Sid Aughten for the all time record that was right here on ninety three point three KJRFM. And he has
one win away from breaking it. We'll talk to him coming up in the six o'clock hour. But Hugh, we had John Wilner on the last hour and I just I simply asked him, you know, obviously there are things, there are many things that need to be need to be changed by college about college football. It's so funny how the popularity of college football is just going through the roof. Eyeballs are there, butts are in seats, and yet we all realize there are things that are just
epically broken in terms of the sport right now. But they're getting through it with still getting you know, millions and millions of eyeballs every single week. But I asked him, you know, what would have been his primary tenets of change? Where would he focus if he was the tzar of college football, or really the czar of all you know, we'll call it the the revenue sports in college athletics. How would he make changes and where he would make changes?
And I'd love to talk about it with you right now. I mean, I wrote down a couple of things that that that just popped into mind. And you know, I have been so so against change in college football for so long. I mean, I was anti free transfer portal big time. I wasn't really anti NIL, but I wanted to see some structure in the NIL. I always wondered when this NIL came out, and Softy and I would wonder aloud, you know when this when this whole and
I thing was coming down. We would sit here on the air and we'd go, what is preventing some dude at a car dealership from paying this high school senior a million and a half and guys at his NIL to come to school? And the rules are all, well, you can't do that with recruits, right, you can't use money to incite recruits to go to college, and we're just like, who's who, says, who's stopping it? Right, nobody's stopping it, And in fact, nobody has stopped it. It
has just totally run amuck. So I'm willing to bend on the transfer portal, specifically if you're moving up or
down a level. I think if you get misdiagnosed at a certain level, and hey, you're supposed to be a you know, a power two player, a big ten sec player, and you sign with you know, Indiana or Ohio State or Michigan or Washington and just you just not good enough to play at that level, I feel like you should be able to free transfer down same way as if you sign with Colorado State and you're a quarterback and you throw for four thousand yards and forty five
touchdowns and you want to trans Michigan wants you, and you want to transfer to Michigan, I think you should be able to free transfer to Michigan. Would I would love to see the transfer portal get chopped down after that to the point where, yeah, you're starting to lose eligibility again. If your coach didn't leave, you sign with a program and you just kind of decide that I want to go someplace else, or somebody is offering me more money someplace else under the table, that's where I
think the punishment should land. That would be my first and foremost change I would make. And then the second change I would make. Is this the nil deal you need? Does? It needs to be out in the open. It needs to be a contract that is signed that has a designated period of time. I have signed a two year contract with the Washington Huskies to be a linebacker, and I am being paid X amount of money of nil dollars which could increase over that period but will not decrease,
Meaning I'm locked into a two year commitment. But Motlake Futures is also locked in to paying me X amount of dollars that it says on that sheet of paper, and it can't be less than next amount of dollars, but it could be more because I could go out and find more endorsements in the two years that I play with Washington. So let's start right there, and you can either comment on those hu or you can, you know, give me some of your own and we can discuss it.
Yeah.
I think for me, my interpretation is shaped by my experience and let me explain what I mean. Certainly, let me get out right in front. I'm not an attorney,
do not have a lot of degree. I was a player rep for ten of my years in the NFL, which there's one rep per team you get voted by, and so I would represent my team various teams through all of the collective bargaining enterprises and efforts, right, And I was right there during the time when we were trying to get free agency part of the NFL, there had been what's called player indemnity where Joe Montana signs a contract with the forty nine ers. When his contract's up,
he's still the property of the forty nine ers. He has no recourse. The only recourse he would have would be to hold out, say hey, you need me right. So that's not a lot of leverage by modern standards. Right, So we're trying to get free agency, and so in the process I had to acquaint myself with the anti
trust laws. And this is before the internet. So I would go to local libraries in Orange County when I represented the RAMS, and by the way, I was flown back to Washington and had to stand on the witness stand and get peppered by NFL attorneys. And by the way, they're really good NFL's attorneys, right, especially when they have an army out of them coming at you, right, and.
You're twenty three years old.
But and then when I was in Atlanta, I went to Emory Law School, drove my ass to Emory Law School, just parked myself in the library and just pulled out anti trust books and and so this is kind of my layman's understandings for a long time. Well, to me, it was just like I need to be educated because I'm the liaison between my team and the union operation.
And so I'm representing, you know, the Falcons or the Patriots, and and then I have to in turn go back and communicate to my team, you know, the the material aspects of what's happening with union matters, right, And particularly when you were going through the free agency, the effort to to have free agency was you know, it is important for me to be aware of this. So now as I and basically what you have that this is
the simple I think every fan should understand this. There are certain aspects of the let's call the NFL, and I'm going to get to the college. Okay, because I'm gona, I'm gonna I'm gonna talk about what I know more and then we'll apply it to the college. There are certain aspects of the NFL operation that are patently in violation of anti trust law. Take the NFL draft. The idea that you can just you can just say, hey, you're not going to have any freedom to negotiate your
contract or where you want to live. We're just going to draft you and we're going to slot you. That is patently anti trust. Anti trust is specifically the German Anti Trust Act that's been around for over one hundred years guiding American businesses. It's you can think of an anti trust as anti competition that the anti trust laws are designed to to prevent prevent practices by businesses that
are anti competition. They want to stimulate competition, right, okay, But within the anti trust laws, then you have the labor laws, specifically the Wagner Labor Act. The labor laws will supersede the anti trust laws.
What does that mean?
If you collectively bargain, you can take your rights. In essence, the players can say, hey, we've got these really cool rights with anti trust. We can hold this as leverage, Like, hey, owners, your freaking draft is so freaking illegal, right and and so, but we will agree to it. We will accede to your your draft provided you give us forty nine percent of the revenue and you know, wages, hours in terms of employment. Those are the things that you're discussing in
collective bargaining agreement, which basically covers everything. Hey, we don't want to have long mini camps, we don't want to have contact and training, we want to have more pension, you know, contributions to pension. Give us all this stuff that we want, and we'll let you break the law, the anti trust right. And then the courts will not they will not find you guilty of anti trust violation because it was collectively bargained. And again remember this term
that will labor laws supersede the anti trust laws. And so so we went that so so and then even we had to desertify as a union when we had an impasse to get to get the operation analyzed under anti trust law. Basically we're saying, hey guy, hey NFL, we're gonna we're gonna nail you an anti trust and you know you're gonna lose. And so that drives them to the bargaining and and that's where we had. You know, you end up having collective bargaining agreements now and with
college understand this. The Supreme Court and the the n c A was fools. They lost in a lower court about education and related compensation. Just you know, Pewter plans for me sing nothing. Oh we're losing.
We're losing. The use me, yeah, just for it, just for a second, just for a second, we might might act. Yep, yeah it sounds good. Now, yep, we're good.
Okay, So let's now let's talk about college football Austin versus the NCAA. I believe it was twenty twenty one. I might be off by a year. I think the summer twenty twenty one that the players we were suing the NCAA for restrictions on education related compensation. It was only education like computers or or musical instruments for music majors or you know, a few post graduate like It was insignificant, and the court sided with the players.
Okay, it was.
The NCAA then appealed it to the appellate court, not the players. The players didn't lose an appeal. The NCAA lost and then appealed, and so then the NCAA, when they lost in the appellate court, they said, well, let's take it to the Supreme Court.
So they took it to the Supreme Court.
Awesome, and they got their ass handed to them nine to nothing. And in the process some very dormant legal matters about legal questions about hey, how would the Supreme Court view the amateur status of college football players? And this is going back to some TV issue this is Oklahoma and Georgia versus the NCAA, about that's the last time that Supreme Court had weighed in on the college
football model, the amateur model. Because the NCAA is basically saying, hey, you fans, you will not go to a Husky You'll go to a Seahawk game and watch the Seahawks knowing that the quarterback is making thirty million, But you won't go to to a Husky game if you know that you're watching professionals down there. There has to be an
amateur distinction. That was the NCAA's position. And so then the chess court you turn around and you say, well, what is the least restrictive system that you could have and still and and the business still thrives. So when the players were getting nothing, I mean these stipends, you
can't even pay your bills. If the NCAA had just been a little less greedy, just give away, they were the ones that kept appealing, just educated, really just take the L, NCAA, take the L. They got lousy legal advice because they end up taking it up to the NCAA and losing, excuse me, the Supreme Court and losing nine to nothing. And this this is not a liberal court. This is a court that overturned row versus weight, Like this is really lousy legal advice that the NCAA had
and they were too freaking greedy. And so now what how how did they interpret this one question?
If they had done exactly what you said and just given a little where do you think.
Still would have been ambiguity about where the laws lie on the amateur that Supreme Court would not have weighed in on the on the amateur argument that the NCAA is held for decades.
So which is again and we wouldn't have an I L yet.
Uh there there would be there, Yes, there would be Uh, well, I can't say exactly what would have happened. But the floodgates have opened up because the nc The I keep saying, the Supreme Court of the nca the Supreme Court, let me say it again. The Supreme Court. They looked at this and they weighed in on the model. They said, not only is it are you the NCAA, you member institutions of the NCAA. Not only are you exposed? Are you gonna lose this? This education compensation again just violence
and computers deal. The entire compensation is patently anti trust, It is anti competition. It is horizontal price fixing. What is horizontal price fixing. Let's take Reggie Bush, a very famous athlete who got in a lot of trouble with the NCAA. When Reggie Bush was offered a scholarship by USC and his stipend was only called it, you know, because this LA was more expensive. We'll call it nineteen
hundred bucks. And let's say down in Austin, you know, it was seventeen hundred, and then you go up to South Bend, Indiana and it's sixteen fifty. And you go to Athens, Georgia and it's eighteen fifty. Like it's basically that is horizontal price fixing. In the eyes of the Supreme Court, it is anti trust, is it is anti competition, and it's illegal. And the Supreme Court said, look, your model cannot supply a survived anti trust scrutiny. And so
then say brought this upon themselves. They didn't have to have done that. And so the Supreme Court they call the players the labor. This is a multi billion dollar enterprise, and the players are not players, they are labor. And there's horizontal price fixing. When you tell Reggie Bush that his stipend is only going to be about two thousand dollars or less no matter where he goes, that is horizontal price fixing. And the analogy that the Supreme Court
used was the fallowing. This is not a humilli in analogy. This is a Supreme Court they said. They compared the model the NCAA compensation model to it would be as if all of the restaurant owners in a community conspired to suppress the wages of the chefs and their defense and Anti Trust Court is the only reason the patrons go into these restaurants is because they know the chef's
wages are being suppressed. They won't have interesting going to those restaurants if they think the chefs are getting fair market value. They only want to have interest in this restaurant if they know that those chefs are being hammered and be and and their rights are being violated in ani trust. So this is the this is the this is the foundation, This is the climate. This is the lens through which I see these things. So every time you when you asked John Wilner, if you were the czar,
what would you do? The first thing I think is, whatever your plan is, all the things that think that we think are common sense, they have to survive anti trust scrutiny. Or you have to have a system where you have collective bargaining by the players so that they on the aggregate can now supersede the anti trust laws.
And until we get that to sitting there talking about what should happen, he said, no, no, no, see it from the Supreme Court's view about competition, and if you're suppressing the right of an of adult American the labor, if you're suppressing his rights in any anti competitive way, you are running a foul of the anti trust laws and the and the Supreme Court has made that clear.
So we'll see if my changes pass that sniff test of anti trust. In the next segment, I want to get your take as well before we talk to Brian Schwetzer at five forty five on ninety three point three kJ RFM.
Casting live from the R and R Foundation Specialist broadcast Studio. Now back to Softie and Dig powered by Emerald Queen Casino, the vetting capital of the Northwest, on Sports Radio ninties three point three kJ R FM.
Brian Spenzel joined us in fifteen minutes, the head coach of Seattle Sounders FC, following their draw over the weekend to the Portland Timbers, Monty Cohler, the winning US coach in Washington state football history. Along with sid Otten, they are tied right now at the top. Sid Aughton has since retired, the great coach from tom Water. Monty Cohler is still going in the fortieth year, forty years at oday high School. You'll join us at six o'clock today.
But you know, Hugh, listening to you educate us on the anti trust situation, I mean it seems to me like no matter how idyllic my selectutions are for fixing college football, nothing is going to be done without collective bargaining, meaning nothing's going to be done without a player's union, right, I mean, how can we have contracts for an NIAOL deal?
How can I force Demon Williams to sign a three year contract with the University of Washington for fifteen million dollars if there's nothing to stop him from saying no, I'm not going to do that. There's no I mean, there has to be something has to be collectively bargained from the players, doesn't or is there a way that the NCAA can somewhat put the genie back in the bottle and repair just some of the damage that they have done over the last five years.
Yeah, well, I think mostly the answers are either collective bargaining agreement or lobbying Congress. Get Congress involved to have some type of legislation that includes exemption from anti trust because right now that just just left to their own devices. The players, again, who are the labor, are going to have a lot of protection because the courts are very
interested in stifling and preventing anti competitive prohibitions. So you know, you can just basically default if you think that that's likely to be anti competitive. It's likely that the court thinks that so my my reading and understanding. So what then, you know, I'll ask you the question that I asked John. I mean, what what principal tenants need to change in college football that you think are actually feasible to do
in the in the short term, meaning the next few years. Yeah, well, you'd like to see certainly some type of adherence to contracts, right that that if there's going to be an ni L world, and we've got we've got the house settlement that's coming up where the the players are going to be receiving portions of the revenue, right and and so you've you've got that, so players are going to be uh receiving that and but they will still be they
will still be available to receive nil. And in that case, I would like to see that the contracts are adhere to, right, Like, if the player signs for a certain service, there's an understanding that he, you know, he's got to fulfill that end of the contract. Well, how about fulfilling.
The end of the con the fulfilling what ni L was supposed to be in the first place, which was using your name, image and likeness to market yourself in order to make money. When the nil world has in a lot of cases has I'm sure in the NIL world works in some places too. I'm sure you know some Michael Pennix did some NIL things and did some
great things in the community. That was that was under the guise of n I L where he was providing a service, he was actually doing something to earn his NIL money outside of just being the quarterback of the Washington Huskies. But it happened so many, so many places where you're just getting a paycheck for doing nothing other than being a star player on a football team. And how can we how can we turn how can we turn it back into NI L instead of just getting paid to play college?
Can't?
It's it's it is literally impossible, And I think that it was foreseen. The idea that NI E O NIO would not be used in recruiting is utterly unenforceable from any pragmatic sense there because if so, let's let's start with what you said, Okay, let's try and be let's let's have some maintenance of purity in this that the only people who are going to get n I L money are the people that are actually out on the field and producing. And then because they're producing, their naming,
image and likeness will have value. And then and only then will they have an NIL deal. Well, if like right now Ohio State is let's go with twenty five million that's been reported. I don't know, it may increase, but let's just say they have and I twenty five million dollar nil. That is something that the players know.
They know from a recruiting standpoint. They they know how my son, I got a son in the SEC that's getting a more NIL than is his his scholarships Titan and I sat there right across from the desk of the coach with my son, and so I've been an eyewitness to how this process works. It's impossible the lines of recruiting mean beforehand versus compensation afterhand. It's just nothing
that can be enforced. And because you're always going to be recruiting, and the player, now that we have the NIL world, you're always you're always gonna have a recruiting check right, tell me when you disagree. And there's always going to be a knowledge that the recruits have of the general budget that the schools have in their collective right. Like if the Huskies, for example, they got Montague futures, so the recruits know what's available to them in monke futures.
Maybe not down to the dollar, but they have a pretty good idea and they can compare that against what Indiana may have.
Right, So.
Yeah, I just think it's I just kind of rule my eyes at the idea that NIL was never meant to h to be part of a recruitment and just say it sounds you know what it is. That is just platitudes, because when it comes down to actually implementing the system, no system can be drawn up to prevent recruit nil recruiting.
As far as the transfer portal, are you in favor of just keeping it as is or it's just a complete open door all the time with multiple transfer windows each year.
No, I don't like that. It doesn't seem fair. Again, I'm always running the filter through what what can pass anti trust scrutiny in the absence of any collective bargaining agreement. Certainly contracts can be written, but you know, things can you can be challenged.
But no, I don't I don't like the.
Idea that a player can can move four times. But the the end is you know, helpless or powerless. Yes, totally, And so you know, until there's some structure that is either collectively bargained or mandated from the legislative branch of government.
I just don't see it. Do you think contracts nil contracts you might be able to marry those with the transfer portal in saying okay, we're going to give you athletes like like what I mentioned before, it's like, okay, we're going to give you some security here, like a contract in football, right, and you can either choose to just you know, go day by day with your nil money and nothing is guaranteed past today. It could be
pulled tomorrow. But you also have the right to transfer in the next transfer window if you wish, or we can offer you this you stay. You know, you know, somebody from you know, a company that is giving millions of dollars to a school can come to a recruit and say, hey, we are willing to be we are willing to sponsor you quarterback guy, but we want to know you're staying in our city and you're playing for
our football team. So we are willing to give you a three year contract worth X amount of dollars to be the quarterback of this football team. Now, if you lose your job, you lose your job, you still get the money, but we just want your commitment to the city. Is that something that would pass the sniff test and maybe encourage athletes to be like, Okay, maybe I should be tied down a little bit to a contract because this is a nice junk of money they're giving me for three years. Yeah.
Perhaps, Again, I've tried to apply what I learned, you know, and and how that applied to the National Football League, and so I've learned basic tenants. I would say the concern that I would have about that model would be, Okay, what about coaches? There are coaches, and the Supreme Courts will compare the freedom that coach just have who move?
You know?
Or Junior Adams, the wide receiver coach for University of Washington. That dude had like four jobs in two years he had He was the the Appalachian State offense coordinated for two weeks. Right, I think it would be the whole thing if.
We do it with the same way we do with coaches. You'd have a buyout. If a school is willing to give a kid a two million dollar buyout to his nil to that collective, that's how you would do it.
That's how you do it if but I think that there may be some some consideration that the player window of opportunity is only four years.
Right right, five thirty nine on ninety three point three kJ RFM, Brian Smetzer will join us. Next, we'll talk about his draw with Portland and what's upcoming, and then Monty Kohler will join Hugh and myself at six o'clock on ninety three point three KJRFM.
Broadcasting live from the R and R Foundation Specialist Broadcast Studio. Now back to Softie and Digg by Emerald Queen Casino, the Vetty and Capital of the Northwest on Sports Radio ninety three point three kJ r FF.
Dun Dun dunk dunk Dun duck dun Dna dun Dana dund dun dun dun dun d I love the fact they've kept this song. I mean they have this was I was like five and they had this song. You might have been negative years old. Actually, well it came out. What's what's beauty? There's many beautiful things about the Sounders. The one beautiful one, really particularly beautifuling for me is the nineteen seventy four that's plastered all over their logo. That's the year I was born. So that's you were zero.
I was zero. You were zero, Brian Smith. So coach of Seattle Sounders FC, joins us, how are you, Brian good?
That is a snappy tune.
You can sing along.
It's it's it's it gets time.
Is there no words to it? Brian?
I never knew If there were words supposed to go to it.
I don't know, but it was like da, I mean, you just made up words as you.
Went along, exactly. Screw Portland, Screw Portland. Dun dun dun dun dun, something like that.
Right.
Oh well, speaking of Portland, the draw against Portland. You know, we've talked about good draws before, We've talked about bad, ugly kiss your sister draws before. Where does this one hold last? Where does this one land on the continuum of draws here?
Coach?
Well, it's you know, it could be in between the two extremes that you just pointed out.
Uh.
You know, we were.
Disappointed in many ways because we felt we had a chance to win. I hate giving up soft goals, and I think the goal that we gave up. I mean, look, they're going to say it was a great goal, but there were some tactical things and I'm sure Jackson's gonna ask me about, but there's some tactical breakdowns on that clip.
And you know it's our arch rival. So we had the lead and we couldn't hold on, and we had some chances and and score the second one, and you know, at the end of the game, they weren't doing much. I mean, they were just sitting back trying to defend. So in that sense, it was pretty good.
Brian, It's funny. I did something that I never do. After the game was over. I went on to the Timbers feeds on the internet and saw what Timbers fans, why.
Would you do that here?
So you know, it's interesting because to your question, Dick, and to Brian your answer, I wanted to see what their perspective was because I was kind of like, I feel like Seattle was the better team throughout the ninety minutes, but sort of our Portland fans feeling lucky to get
a point and a lot of them weren't. So it was interesting, right even though and we can talk about the tactical element of the goal that you gave up and that they scored, we said on the post game that I thought it was a great goal that they scored. But ultimately I think that a lot of Portland people are feeling a little bit lucky to come away with just a point.
I would I would agree.
I mean, look, I didn't go on the Portland chat boards. That would really be that I'm desperate for something. But there was some good half chances. Look statistically, I know, you know, we had thirteen shots to four, we had eight corner kicks, we won the duels battles.
So there's a narrative there.
Based on statistics that you know agrees with.
Some of the fans from Portland might have thought.
So a long road trip comes to an end one one and one when a loss of draw Houston, La Portland. If I if I had to ask you, and maybe we did, I don't remember if we asked you. If we asked you a couple of weeks ago before this, if you would have taken one, one and one on three games in a row on the road before coming home, would you have taken it?
I would have, Dick. But what I wouldn't have liked, or as well, I still don't like it was just the way we play I mean sometimes that's more important for the mental health of the team. You know, that game midweek against LAFC ME and they took it to us, So that was a bit of a bummer there with the score line being four zero. And you know, you want to be competitive in every match, and I think we have been.
Uh you know, maybe the other you know, bad result was the Cruise Azul.
Match that we they took it to us. But you know, we want to be competitive in every match, home and away. And you know if you are, if you work and you you have a five hundred record on the road, and you win most of your home games or just over half of your home games, you'll be sitting good when the playoff pitcher arrives.
Brian, I have no idea what you're talking about. Before nothing, I went to see the Men in Black after that game, so you got from in front of your eyes, gotcha a couple of items of business, Brian. Uh, you know, I did go on the Seattle message boards. One question that came up was Pedro de la Vega didn't start in Portland.
No JP on the bench.
Just making sure that they are still fully healthy, no knocks and are going to be good to go this week.
They're totally fine. JP had played heavy minutes against the l AFC that he came down with some food poisoning, uh de la Vega. You know there's an injury risk. Last time he got injured, Remember he was playing on short rest. I played him like a Wednesday Saturday, and I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. So they're both ready to go and they'll be available for selection for these next three games.
So last week you said that Jackson O Reagan was a possibility for Dallas. Is he still a possibility for Dallas.
He is going to go through full training this week, Dick, and if he makes it to full training then he'll be available as wrong.
That is some great news, Brian.
You got so many midfielders here and Brian Schmitzer joining US Seattle Sounders FC head coach, and so many midfields to choose from. Obviously, it's another busy week, three home games and nine days coming up, starting with Dallas on Saturday, and I'm wondering as you figure out how you put the first game of these nine together. In the midfield, specifically hayesus Ferra, you know, facing his former team in Dallas. But looking at the production he's given you and maybe
not given you over the course. So this first third of the season, as you measure him again up against Pedro, up against you know, Ryan Kent and everybody else, you know, how does he factor into that ranking of who to start amongst those attacking midfielders.
Oh, we're gonna have to wait and see for my life of choices on the weekend. But look, he's got a lot of assists. I think he's the leading assist getter on the team.
He played well down in Portland.
He kept the ball for us well, I mean we had we won the possession duel as well. I mean we had more possession than them. He helped us out of some jams. Pego's electric. You know, people like to watch him because he flies around and he shoots, and he does things that's not necessarily you know, that's not necessarily Hateseus's you know what his personality is like, he's a little quieter. Ryan Kent has come on and done a really good job as a sub and and everybody's all.
Excited about him. But you know that game against Portland, he he he didn't quite have all his dribbling skills in the first half up to up to par So there's gonna be some tough choices to make for this first game, and then we'll kind of follow through with the last last two in the three game week.
Did you like Jackson's sneaky thirty second way of basically just asking you who's starting on Saturday? Did you like that he was kind of weaving in and right well Saturday against Dallas. I was surprised to see Jackson told me pregame starts at eleven thirty in the morning. I was like, this must be a game in Texas. No, it's a game here, noon start. Do you like a noon start on the West Coast?
I hate them?
Actually?
Why?
I don't think our record in afternoon games is very good Jackson. That's something you can look up and we can discuss tomorrow. But I don't think our record at home isn't great when we have afternoon kickoffs.
Brand just wrapping it up. Give us just a couple of seconds here on on Dallas. This team that you beat one nothing on the road facing on Saturday.
Yeah, Acosta their biggest player out due to suspension, but they'll be underdog the coach is going to get them fired up, and they won a little bit of a revenge. I mean, that was the thing that got us started on our little winning streak, and I'm sure they'd like to start one of their own as well.
Go get them, Go get them. We'll be watching and listening on Saturday. Thanks coach, Thanks coaching.
Okay, thanks Dick Cia Jackson.
You bet Sounders against Dallas on Saturday. Head on out there to a loom and Field for that one. You can also listen right here. Jackson felt in the pregame at eleven thirty am. That is just weird at the Sounders. A brunch with the Sounders. Indeed, on Saturday. We'll get back to Hugh when we come back at the top of the hour headlines and the winningest coach now tied for the winningest coach in State of Washington high school
football history, Monty Kohler, is going to join us. Coming up the next segment of ninety three point three KJRFM. All right, rolling into the six o'clock hour, Hugh Reed joins us Jackson when our next guest coached his first game for the Oday Fighting Irish, I'm going to give you one guess and you'll be able to answer this question. Okay, I'm gonna give you one. Guess who just came off an Orange Bowl championship as the quarterback of the Washington Huskies.
Was it mister Breedlove? You was mister Breedlove? And that is that is how long Money cole Because hughes like ninety now so so an impressive run by Money Cohler, the head coach of the ODAI Fighting Irish and now tied for the winningest coach in high school football history. Coach, it's good to talk to I haven't talked to you since the Varsity Football Live days. How are you?
I'm doing great? Thank you. Yeah, it's still out of still enjoying every day of it.
Absolutely.
Well.
Talk a little bit about what happened this weekend. There was a really cool event at the vMac, kind of a two part special event. I was a notified by the Washington State Football Coaches Association. You guys were doing this. You had a Hall of Fame induction ceremony for Tony Davis of Tahoma, Randy Afalter from Kennewick, Rocky Patching from North Thurston, and then you also had this new new
and aspiring head coach mentorship program. So I'd love to just get your take on what it was like this weekend at that great event.
It was awesome. I mean it was one of the better things we've done in a while. Obviously, the Hall of Fame thing is great. Those are great guys and deserving and you know, and then just to have it
at the Seahawks facility, you know, is really special. And so you know, shout out to the Seahawks, Kyle Doherty and Mario Bailey for allowing high school coaches to put this on there, and and then the support that they gave us, you know, funding a lot of the stuff to make the little lunching and that the ceremony happened, and just you know, like I said, being in that facility, being in that team room is pretty special. And then the mentorship program was just uh again, it's something.
Uh we've talked about.
You know, our secretary, Will Garrel put a lot of time and effort and make this happen for us, and and but it was kind of the you know, we want to make sure high school football stays relevant, stays important, and you know, being a high.
School football coach, being any high.
School coach is hard these days, and you know, just the idea that we had some you know, mentorship people there to talk. And we kicked it off with maybe one of my favorite coaches of all time, Randy Hart, who just you know, yeah, Randy had the had him on there the edge of their seat.
You know.
And his message wasn't just to the I mean, the purpose was to get first and second year head coaches and then young coach is that want to be head coaches.
But there were a lot of us old guys.
In the room and again Randy just inspired us to you know, continue to do what we're doing. And then obviously gave us some great insights into his career and into Don James and what it meant to be a coach and and the importance that we you know that we hoped that we're making, uh the difference in the lives of some of these young kids. So and so Randy started it off and he again just set to
toone for just a wonderful day. And then we had brought in coaches, you know, older coaches, uh you know Tom Batner and uh Van Dalen and those guys, and uh, you know, just from different Village and Adam Mathieson and just older coaches and just so we had these different panels in the morning and then different panels in the afternoon with some college coaches talk about recruiting and and you know, and then so the coaches would rotate through these sessions and and I went to a couple of them,
and again it was one of the better things I've been to. You know, Randy and I talked about it afterwards, you know, because it was around he it was a talk. They had a question and they just you know, we're asking, you know, just questions. Well, I got a fire coach that I've worked with me and you know, he's not doing how do I do this? And how do I do that? You know, And there was plenty of experience
in the room. And then again to listen to the young coaches and their perspective on things, it was like, wow, that's cool because they come from a different place than I come through from and some of the older guys.
So it was really refreshing. And you know, I think the state of football, you know, if.
We can keep going this and keep these young guys involved in the game, the state of football high school football in the state of Washington is in a pretty good place.
Money Kohler, head coach of Oda high school football with us and and Money you said there that the goal is to keep high school football the words you said relative and important. So I think for all of us, who you know are Seahawk fans and Husky fans, and and and and fans of this great game, You've got a lot of you got a lot of years under your belt to watch the development of high school football.
What are concerns that you have? What what are what are things that really need to be focused upon so that, in your words, high school football stays relevant and important.
Well, I think that you know, the numbers, We've got to keep the numbers up, you know, and that there's parts to that that and one of those is safety, you know, And I think we do a great job in the state on the safety aspect of high school football.
But the other side of that is, you know, we got to take care of coaches. You know.
I think that you know what I see and again this is just my opinion now, so is that you know, school has become destination spots for different sports. So you want to play football, you go to that school. Basketball, you know, so we got to make sure that the state of Washington is competitive. You know, I understand that, you know, you have your top teams and your bottom teams, but it can't be just four teams on top.
Every year that are running run the gauntlet, you know, and that.
People just so we've got to, you know, help all coaches build programs, and we got to support each other and you know, and and support coaches that you know, when they do have a good group of kids that they're they're you know, shouted out to you that they're getting that what they need to make sure that you know, their program is built and that is continues to build. We've got to help build other programs, you know, to make all of all the high school football better.
And part of this mentor program that you speak of is to get coaches to kind of through those tough early years. Because it sounds to me, if I'm correct, coach and Monty Cooler head coach Oda joining us sounds to me like guys are getting into football coaching or coaching other sports in high school and it's just it's a burden and they get out of it quickly. Is that the case? We just don't have a lot of you know, lifers like like you and said Outen and the rest of them anymore.
You know, I don't have the numbers to back it up, but it sure seems like that. You know, I can really speak to the Metro League and quite a turnover at times in the Metro.
League, and I think throughout the state.
You know, I got when I got a young coach that you know, I just do whatever I can to make sure that he's taken care of, that he stays in the game.
And then if you can get a young coach, it's also a teacher. You know. Nobody makes a whole lot of money coach in high school football.
So you know, it's important that they you know that we that they understand that. You know, all that noise on the outside trying to break you down can't break you down. You know, what you're doing inside is what's important, you know. And it's nice to win, but if you're making a difference in the young man's life, it's just even if it's only one kid a season, that's a success.
I mean, that's a in and you know, those are the things we need to celebrate that we're moving the game forward at the game of high school and I know we all know that it's you know, it's about scholarships, about this, it's about that. But really we need to understand that high school football is not you know, there for those reasons just to build character and all those buzzwords that have gone on with high school over the years,
because they ring true. They still ring true. That these kids need it and they're better because they play it.
Many Kohler with US and Coach Kohler is currently tied with Sid Otten for most wins in the history of Washington State high school football, and this fall, Coach Kohler is going to get that record for himself. And so Money, I'd like to ask you, you know, this is something
we can all relate to. I sometimes wonder if I, you know, my sixty one year old self, if I could write a letter to my thirty five year old self when I had kids, you know, say hey, look, this is what I've learned, you know, learn from my wisdom.
If you could sit down and pen a letter to yourself that you would open up in eighty five, you know, things that you could not have anticipated then, but important things that you've learned along the way, What are some of the things that you would jot down in that letter.
Well, I think the first thing would be, and I think we all know this a coach before, but you need to celebrate and enjoy the wins. I mean, you know, you have to and you have to enjoy it with the kids. And it doesn't matter how you play.
You know, that old idea of an ugly win whatever.
There's no such thing. Wins win and you've got to enjoy those things. Because one of the coaches said it the thing the other day, you need to celebrate to win twice as much as you you know, as that pain of a loss, you know, and that's kind of I'll live on those losses. So I would definitely want to enjoy that that journey, you know, of the winds, even if you didn't play that well. Just make sure
the kids understand. How again, I think that's part of what we're trying to do here, is make sure kids play and stay in the game, and you know, if you can ac celebrate those wins. And the second thing I think I've learned is and I've said this before though, is that the idea that I think when we're young and we're done. We just live for Friday night, you know, the lights and all that. I would tell myself, Hey, make sure you enjoy Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, because that's.
What I enjoy now.
I enjoy the time that you're with the student athletes and the relationship that you're building in those moments. And you know, we have to take a bus to practice every year, and you know, every every day to practice as a twenty minute bus ride to and from and our kids, I mean a lot of times when they come back to years later.
You know, God, do you know what I miss most? The bus?
Right?
You know?
So it's the relationships. It's that locker room, that kind of stuff. So make sure that you build that, enjoy that, and celebrate that as well.
How have you had to adapt? How is how is coaching an eighteen year old football player in nineteen eighty five different than coaching an eighteen year old football player in twenty twenty five.
Well, I think kids now, I mean I think they're better than they were in a censein eighty five. I mean they want to do well, they want to succeed, they want to compete.
You just can't they gotta know. I mean two things. One, you have to have a relationship with them. You know, it's no longer I'm the coach and you do what I say, right, you know, you you have to work hard at building that relationship. And you know, because you know, there's nothing that's going to happen until they trust you, and they have to trust you that you have their best interests, that you're there for them.
And it's not about wins and losses or you know, you're.
The starter, whatever, it's it's about that daily stuff that you do with them, and you know, just saying hi and being a part of their lives and make checking in on them and that.
So I think kids are really good that way, you know.
And I think in general kids are you know, they're they're more motivated, they want to work hard, you know, and all kids are different levels in relationship to you know, what football means to them. Some kids are going to get a completely different experience. But it still needs to be a positive experience. And you know, I think that's for me. I tell my coaches, I mean, we got
to have fun. We have to have fun. It has to be fun for them because I don't want to do it if it's not, and so we you know, there's a gen we've got to do that for the kids too, and and that talks about you have eighty kids on your roster, all eighty need to be a part of that experience. And so that's what I've learned. You know, I want to make sure that we can teaue you to do.
And you know, again, if you got eighty kids, that number eighty kid, he feels as good as that number one kid on your team.
You know that they're all kind of there for the same same reason, and they understand even though I'm not playing, I'm a part of this.
And I think that's what you have to do.
I think, and you know the other days that kids would just run through you know, your coach and do it whatever you said they would do.
And those days are gone. And rightly so, and rightly.
So, coach, it was great to talk to you. Before we let you go, I got to ask you what September fifth is gonna look like. First of all, you got to win the game. It's Graham Capalison if if my schedule in front of me is correct. But I know you're not for pomping circumstance and celebration, but the Oday football family will be So what do you think that day is going to be like or whatever? You know, what is the plan when you do break that record?
There's no plan. I mean, it's another game. I'm sure somebody's going to try to do something we won't do, and you know that I don't know, I really don't. I hope a lot of people.
You know, Compels is a heck of football team, so we might have to wait a week or two or three before it happens, so you never know, and you know, we've definitely got a lot of work to do because they're really good, and you know.
We've lost a lot of good kids. So it'll be fun no matter what. But the game will be fun.
The other stuff that it really I mean, it's I understand the importance of it, but it's not something that I think about.
All Right, that answer didn't surprise me at all coming from you, totally not surprising. And coach, it's just great to talk to you, and congratulations in advance, and hopefully we'll talk to you when you when you break that record.
All right, Well, thank you again and again thanks for you know, mentioning this mentorship program.
Because it is. It's big, it's.
Huge, and our Coaches Association, the board and Willie and you know everybody that they put a lot of hours to make this happen and it was a huge success.
So we look forward to doing it again next year.
Thank you, coach, you appreciate it.
Thank you so much.
You bet Yeah. Great. Great to hear from a living legend and Washington State High School football.
You yeah, and uh, you know a humble guy as well, and and uh, it's a long time to be uh coaching football. And and you know, the thing about Mani is that, uh, while other teams have I don't want to say evolved, but but there's a lot of shotgun around the country, spread formations. You got to get all the best athletes to play wide receiver on your team. Moni's a guy that's just you know that it looks like night you know don James football just ifirmation just
pound you. They got great line and great backs and there's a discipline that he teaches in a consistency there. So their style, you know, you know, is kind of you know, stands the test of time.
It's like novacane. Give it time, give it time and it will always work.