This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty powered by Nova Insurance Services insure your most prized possess yets.
For hearing everybody.
Welcome to Eye on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera in with me today Troy Hutcherson. We got our guy Ray at the controls back from a Friday vacation. It was a national holiday, Steve's birthday, Steve's birthday. Yeah, so we'll see what happens up to today. We have a big show today. You got mister Brennan, coach Brennan coming on the show today about three seventeen.
Coach Brennan three seventeen is calling us. He's calling us, he's calling us out. Yeah, okay, call Barbie, have that number.
What do you go?
Uh yeah, no, cool. We'll talk about a lot of things. You know, I'm more about interesting him. You thought you can get the football stuff and we'll sell.
The barbecue stuff. Barbba, this guy's a barbecue matter. Okay, we'll go there too. That'll be fun, okay. And then for seventeen, I'm not sure yet.
It was a tough day trying to figure out a lot of stuff going on u of a whether people like the people or not. We're trying to see if we can still get somebody at four seventeen, so I'll know later.
It's gonna be on socials anytime. Now.
My my cracky older intern, jigins Allis is working on the on the post now. So if you guys are interested, just like that and you know, share it or whatever. Big weekend over the weekend right with you. I don't want we're gonna screw with your breaking news man, does it really?
Yeah?
Okay, softball, tennis, Yeah, we're gonna talk tennis, hell with him, Hell with Chris.
The Warriors. They played a night yep. Yeah.
And uh I just saw breaking news now with basketball men's basketball.
I was walking in.
Yeah, it's it's not that big of the ah wait for we well love because you don't never have anything. No, No, it is actually Kevin and Caleb Love. Yeah, it's not. It's not the measurement thing off, that's yeah. No, it's just that we get talking about it now just because and then we'll talk about it in breaking news again. Carter's not going to be participating in and he was invited. No, he's not gonna work out it gains in the combine. I guess he's buying getting good news that he doesn't
need to. That's not good for Arizona. And Caleb Love did not get invited. Yeah, it's not a shock.
No, we talked about that, I think throughout the season.
Yeah, it's funny. It's funny though I saw Bruce's synopsis. I guess yesterday other Saturday where Caleb did great at the measurables and the athletic.
That's anything shock you there.
No, because he's fantastically gifted athletically. It's not about that for him. And at the next level for him.
It's about the pace of play, the rhythm, the consistency, and probably other things not too but I mean, if you're if you have all the measurables in the world, that doesn't mean you're.
Going to take it. No, And I've said this all along.
It's funny because I've said this example a number of times having covered the long time wild Cats back in the day, and Richard Jefferson, one of my colleagues national colleagues, was surprised that Richard decided to declare after his junior year one, he didn't have great numbers. Twelve points a game, maybe six rebounds a game, and blah blah blah. And he was still, you know, could have used another year, but he was obviously gifted and ready. And he says,
how can he go with his numbers? It's not about that, It's not about numbers. It's funny when the guys take their the stats and we do the interviews and they're looking at the said, those stats mean nothing, no nothing, because if you're good enough, guess well, you play. If you're not good enough, you won't play.
Peyton Watson, a freshman from UCLA a couple of years ago, average, I think like six points off the band, playing in minimum minutes. First round draft pick, twenty third overall. Is that the kid that said, who's it? I think it's Peyton Watson? Something Peyden. He's played for one year. He was star guard.
I love the way he played. It was very good.
He was very good, like he needed another year to you know, to explode. No, I love, but he was the first round raft Yeah, yeah, no, no, I think he's with Carolina or Charlotte.
I think right now some one of those.
Yeah, you know, if you're good enough to play and you've seen enough good and you know right away who's good enough, right, because you see the same things and Caleb bless his heart. I mean, he was fantastic here when he was on. Uh, just there's something, there's something that he's missing.
You can I don't know how to phrase it. You can tell when a guy is an elite college guy, a very good college guy.
Where you go. He's not an NBA guy, right, No, No, he's not going to be an NBA. Sure.
I think the one curveball that we missed or we totally missed TJ McConnell. Yeah, did you're thinking how does that translate? And it's translated for ten years because he does so many other things.
You can't replace somebody or you can't measure the intangibles to somebody that is head smart, high basketball IQ doesn't commit stupid turnovers and mixed a steady voice on.
It and makes other people look good. Yeah, and works his ass off. And not that Caleb doesn't. It's just that Caleb has some asterisk asterisks that are kind of undescribable in a number of different levels. Right, And maybe he'll break through because all it takes is one and and and hale. I wish I had his future because he's gonna make a lot of money playing basketball somewhere.
Yeah, I mean G League invite.
You know, you go through that route Europe, Europe, you go to China, you know, somewhere overseas Italy, you can make a ton of money.
Askkyl Fog.
He didn't make the NBA, and he made a ton of money and that that million dollar bracket basketball.
And China, and China's building houses for under privilege. Yeah, I'm not cancer. I can't be aware, but you know, one of those guys a fantastic career. Yeah, so you know, we'll see what happens with Caleb and Brian. I guess he's not he's chosen not to. I just saw the flash uh to participate, but he's going.
To be there.
Brian kind of reminds me in a way. And you were there obviously I was too young to really remember fully, but andre Iguodala was a guy that needed a lot of development, six seven six, a guy that could handle the ball, shoot when you needed him to, but wasn't perfect offensively. And then the NBA he get you know, you practice every day, you're with the right coaches, you're
with the right people, and his career just shot up. Yeah, and don't I don't know if anybody expected that back then, but kind of similar, similar build, similar frame.
Yeah, yeah, I actually Brian's pretty better. And the funny thing about it back then in two thousand and three, I think it was Luke said. Luke Walton said if if Andre would All was to stay four years, if he were to stay four years, he would be the best all time best it was at a basketball player ever And he said that, and I was in that conversation, and I think it really I'm thinking, well, yeah, probably if he stayed four years, and he wasn't only here
for two. He was a thorn in Lut's side for a couple of years, right, because he was just kind of like the smartest guy in the room, even though Luke was in the room. But he had a fantastic career and it was exactly that guy.
He was good, very very good.
And you can argue that he has had the best Arizona career out of the pros that have made it and had long careers. I think he's up there. Richard's up there. Shawn's up there. Jason Terry, Jason Terry. Now Aaron Gordon's kind of giving in that area as well.
Mike Bibbee Yeah yeah, yeah, no.
And if you're talking about ngevity, yeah, because he was that guy and now he's doing so many other things in the game.
I mean, if you're talking just NBA star gilbled Arenas for three years was probably the best three years.
Strategy. Yeah, he was pain.
Oh yeah, they're having I don't know if you saw they have a doc I saw last night a documentary on Netflix called Shooting Guards.
Yes, have you seen? Have you guy seen it? I have not seen.
I saw the last Like I just saw the the Prome advertisement for.
He was on it.
He was on it with with with what's his name from ESPNS in the morning radio show talking about it the whole Crittenton, Mike greenber No, no, no, no, the ESPN guy, former long time guy, ESPN guy. You know who it is, morning guy Early Morning Now on radio.
I was thinking Mike and Mike in the morning. No no, no, no, yeah, you know Collin Caller. No no, no, that's this Fox guy. Well it's Fox Now, but.
No, no, no, no, no, long time with all his guys. He's behind the screen, behind the glass, but he was talking about it, and he's, you know, the Gilbert being Gilbert. Gilbert was paining here. I mean, I was kind of, you know, doing things he shouldn't have been doing. But yeah, it's I'm gonna have to try to.
Listen to this.
I would wish you'd do some stuff on when he was in college because he was a pain. He was just a quotable pain, but he was a pain well.
And the and the stories that he's he's shared with Channing Fry in their podcast. That seen this clip where he joined Channing for his class one year, his freshman year, and he stood up and he goes this insert explicit whatever is boring, and he shut off all the lights of come on, Jenny, let's go. I don't know that, dude.
Yeah, that's just the way it was.
And he would get into it with Geene Edi Christian because Genie was the like, the like the father figure of the team, blah blah blah, and did get into it a lot. You know, he was seventeen, eighteen years old, but a thing crazy at a time where social media didn't exist to the degree that he would say some crazy stuff and then Luke would get on him and get on us for you know, re quoting him and tell him not to say it.
You know, it was the best lineup.
It.
Well, if you don't like it.
Yeah, yeah, well say it. Well here we are, I mean asking. These guys were begging the SID office to kind of open it up, and that's what they're afraid of. Yeah, you guys like that would just pop off and say some crazy stuff.
Yeah.
And you know, I can't imagine because I think it was Jay on this radio show was sharing a story back when he was with The Star how he did an interview with Steve Kerr and he picked him up, went to the apartment, did an interview there, took him to lunch.
There was somebody else. Yeah, yeah, you can't do that.
No, no, I've done that a few times back in the day I went I went to senior year, so I mean in my the senior year of Miles, all these guys, I had them over to the house. Yeah, we played ping pong, We we cooked them dinner, My wife and I, uh, and we could It was great. Ben and Davis and all these guys and they were just had a good time at the house and that's when I got all my interviews.
But yeah, that ain't happening anymore.
And it happens a little with the national people, oh for sure, when they come in and they spend a couple of days, and especially ESPN or one of those national brands. But here's the funny part of it. You know what their stories are just the compilation of everybody else's. Yeah, they just put them together. All the information, very basic. Yeah, lets just get more time with it, unless you're doing a documentary where you can really get into the grit and grind.
It's Yeah.
I was hoping to get Jason on the USA D to talk him about, to talk to him about that because he can c you know, where he's been, what he's going, and he thoughts about maybe opening it up even amage board. Uh and maybe maybe he says, yes, maybe he's looking into it now.
In fairness to the side the office into Arizona in general, a lot of that is also who's ahead of you in terms of the aletic director and also the head coach.
How the head coach no question, runs their program, no question.
It's a little control free type of stuff. Hey, Dan Patrick, Thank you Bill for that.
No, oh, there we go. That was Dan Patrick.
Yeah, it was last week and then because he had him on talking about his son too, and then talked about the the title of it is shooting guard, Shooting guard guards, and that dude got into big trouble afterward. I mean, yeah, he's in prison now shooting somebody. Okay, that's uh, he's calling us.
What time?
Three seventeen seventeen, okay, how much time was for a commercial desserve show five?
Yeah, we got like three minutes, three minutes okay to get us back by.
Like oh no, okay, no, let's go, let's go, let's go now, and then come back and we'll be ready for his phone call and ready to go.
Thanks Now.
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Streamy Live on the iHeartRadio WI. This is I on the Ball with Steam Rivera on Box Sports fourteen fifty.
Hey, welcome back to I on the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. I'm Steve Rivera and with me today is Troy Hutchinson from Goezy Cats. Now on the phone, we have coach Brent Brennan from U A football coach.
How you doing.
I'm doing good. How are you guys?
We're doing fine fine. Thank you for joining us.
This is about three guys just going to a bar and having a soda or two. So we're kind of just relaxing here, so enjoy enjoy the show. I hope we can have a little fun here. How are things going for you? I know you're kind of already still busy, right. Did you have a daughter graduate here?
Yes, had a daughter graduate from University of Colorado over the past week, So that was a really cool event for our family and got to have all you know, my wife and kids together and our grandmas were there, and it was a great event.
Was a great time, right, Nice being able to get away from football, because you guys are just wrapping up screen football. You've had all these transfers come in, you've had recruits coming on campus. Just being able to get away for just a short little bit, how does that feel on how you know, just refresh yourself from what is now? It seems like a never ending job being a football coach or a college coach nowadays.
Yeah, I wouldn't say that trip was a refreshing time. You know, hectic time, right and with like screaming at each other, you know, you get the family back together, everybody falls back into their old you know, dinner reservations and all that kind of thing. But no, I think your college college football has gotten crazy that way, and it's, uh,
it seems to never end. And that's okay because we love what we do and we and we love what we're building here at Arizona and so we're all here for the fight.
Yeah, no question. Let me ask you.
I covered Dictomy from eighty seven to ninety and then I started coming loop for all this time that he was here. Uh, and then you have a lot of dictomy traits. Of course, are you a different coach today than you were a year ago?
Well, I think absolutely. I think anytime you take over a new job, there's going to be moments of learning, and obviously there are lots of tough learning moments for us over the last calendar year. But I also feel great about the progress we've made. I feel great about where our players are at and where our coaching staff is at, and I'm excited and optimistic about the future here.
You know, throughout this spring one of the themes that not only you talked about, but coach day he talked about as well, was obviously the leadership ability of no Fafida and how is the guy in the locker room that everybody looks to, but also challenging Noah in terms of being more of a vocal leader on the field, being a little bit more vocal. How do you think he met that challenge this spring, because it seemed like he was growing from beginning to end of this spring practice.
No.
I think Noah's made great strides that way, you know, on the field, with his leadership, with his voice, And I think that's one of those things that you know sometimes for guys, it's just, you know, everybody's personality is different, and everybody has to lead in their authentic way, otherwise everyone thinks they're full of it, right, And so Noah
finding that voice and really pushing the team. You started to see those moments happened this spring where it wasn't Coach Daggy or me stepped in the huddle, nos like I got it and we would start a series or start a drive. And so it's been really fun to see that part of him really developed. And I'm excited about what you guys are going to see in the fall when we start playing real football.
Yeah, that's no question.
It's funny because I was at the Spring Game Spring Showcase and you guys all wax poetics so highly unknown and that's not new, right, But for me it was like I've never and I've covered a lot of games here, thirty seven years of games and events and teams, you guys wax poetic on him like crazy. And I'm thinking to myself while you guys were talking, I'm thinking, I can't remember Luke doing this or Dick Tomy on a
specific player so highly. Can you maybe remember someone like that where you says, this kid has it and it's it's something that's maybe from the family and from the field.
No well, I think.
Yeah, I mean who Noah Flafida is definitely starts at home with his incredible parents, you know, Less and Winona, great parents, and I think, you know, you see that translates into how he interacts and how he communicates with people. It's really really a special thing. I think one of the reasons we feel so strongly with Noah is because Noah is one of those kids. It is a high profile player that has had a certain level of success here, who continues to choose to be loyal, chooses to stay
at Arizona because he loves Tucson. He loves the University of Arizona, he loves his teammates, he loves his coaches, he loves where he's at and what he's doing. And I think that's one of those reasons that we're so appreciative, appreciative of him and how he carries himself is because he is one of those players that in today's day and age, you know, you don't see as many guys making that choice that Noah Flapita makes every year.
You know, there is a lot of coaching changes for you guys this year, bringing in Seth Day, you return dannigan ZoZ but promote him to the defensive coordinator. You have coach Nivar, coach Joe Salavea as well, And we mentioned this with coach dannigan Zaz when we had him on last week. The relationship that him and Dagi have built together, it's very interesting. You don't see it a lot from offenses and defense coordinators, just the level of
admiration for one another. Can you just talk about that and how you've been able to see coach Daghi do what he does here and kind of develop as a coach in this new coaching staff as he's the first year offense coordinator.
Well, I think on you know, every coaching staff, you know, everybody's always trying to push each other, always trying to challenge each other. But it's also important that you are respectful of each other. And I think that's one of those things with coach Gonzalez, with coach Dagi, they both have a super high level of respect for each other. Now that doesn't mean every day in practice they're not trying to rip the other guy's throat out because they are,
you know what I mean. But it's competitive as hell and it's dead ass serious. But those guys are also respective of what they're seeing from how each other side is coming together and how the offense is growing and starting to move with the football, or the days where the defense dominates and controls a line of scrimmage and you know, the offense can't move it, and so they're
respectful of each other. I think that's healthy because they also have a great communication about like, hey, you're giving this away with how you motion this or how you formation this, or you're given this away by the rotation of the safety. You know, do you guys know that? Or is that guy making a mistake. So I think the communication is healthy because it gives us a chance to move forward as a team and it's not us
against them or you know, offense versus defense. We're all in this thing together and we're all moving the same way.
Well that's how teams get better, right, You competing against each other daily daily, it's like you and your brothers. Probably you don't each one of you guys want to kick each other ass but at the end of the day, have dinner together.
That's right, That's exactly right. Yeah, yeah, there's nothing more fierce than this in a backyard basketball game back in the day between Brad Brennan and I. But but yeah, no, I think that's important, and I think it's also healthy for the staff. Right, there has to be that, you know, the football competition, the intensity of the work you do when you're on the field has to be high level, and it has to be everybody outbsolutely committed to their role, their side of the ball, their job.
Right.
But at the end of the day, it's about all of us making progress, and we know that we have to play good and all to play well in all three phases to make the move in the Big twelve conference we want to make.
So coach I wanted to bring up I think it's a little bit less than a month away. You're going to be having your summer camps seven on seven prospect camp and a big man O line versus D line camp. Can you talk a little bit about that and how has the sign up been for that with local high schools and high schools. Is it across the country or just here locally in Arizona.
Well, so like the prospect camp will have kids from all over the country, and you know that part of it is just you know, it's camp season.
Right.
The month of June, you know, used to be such a kind of a you know, get ready for fall camp kind of digest the spring recruiting period that you know, like detail your scripts and everything for for fall camp. But now it has become you know, there's you get to work out with you get to get on the field with your players a little bit. Right, you have official visit recruiting weekends, and you have camp. So it's
a chaotic month, it really is. It's one of the busiest months of the year that we're not actually playing football in and so when we go through those prospect camps, so there are great opportunities for us to valuate. You know, lots of times when we get a chance, we might look at a film of a kid or go watch him practice or watch him play, but we want to coach him and see how he responds to coaching. Does
he listen, is it important to him? Is he busting his tail into drill work or is he kind of going cool guy and not putting forth the effort, you know, like we're not looking for cool guys. We're looking for badass football players and love the work and love the grind and want to be great, you know what I mean. So trying to identify some of that stuff, you know, as we're recruiting young people through the camp process, and so we'll have camps here and then the seven on
seven things. Those are always good evaluations for us, you know, especially for the skill positions quarterbacks, receivers, running back, DB's tight ends, all those, all those people. But those are really highly competitive because we ate a lot of the best teams from the state of Arizona to attend those, uh, to attend the seven or seven tournaments. So those are a lot of fun for us.
I'm curious because I haven't really talked to you one on one much. We had you on when you first got your got your own, got your job, When did you see yourself being a head coach and when did that dream start?
You know, it's funny. I think, uh, that's a great question.
You know.
I think everybody thinks they can do the job better than the guy that's doing it. Sure, and and I would say as an assistant coach, I'm sure I was guilty of that at certain times. But I was really fortunate because I did get to work for good head coaches. I got to work for Dick Tom and I got to work for Rich Ellerson. I got to work for, you know, Mike Riley and Mike mcintar. I got to be around for coaches, and every opportunity that you're you have like that you're learning kind of ways that you
would and ways that you would not do it. So there was so much I was so fortunate that I got to be around all these head coaches that had so much experience, you know, you coach Riley, you know, coach calling me. Like, those guys have been head coaches forever and on a bunch of different levels and a bunch of different different places, and so I just really valued the time that I was with them, And as I was going through it, I was, you know, there's part of me that I was like, I wonder if
that will ever happen for me. But then at the same time, I also thought it would be an incredible opportunity because I think, uh, you know, my personality loving being around people, loving you know, focusing on the development a young man, loving the focus, focusing on kind of the community and the engagement on that level, and then also being really really highly competitive. I wanted to see what that what we could build when I got that opportunity.
So I would say early in my career I started thinking about being a head coach.
So did someone have to convince you to do that? You know, says hey, I think you have the qualities of being a head coach. You should you should pursue that job.
No, no, not at all. It was you know, when the San Jose State. I had interviewed for a head coaching job at cal Poly god like forever ago, like twenty eighteen years ago, and I didn't get it, and then you know, it was probably a decade later something like that that the San Jose State called, and so
I was excited about the opportunity. You know, the places that I had been or the places that I that I believe in San Jose State was one of them, because I had to stretch in my career there where I thought we could build a consistent winning football program there.
And then also University of Arizona. Right, I know, I'd coach against and played against great teams here in the past, I'd seen them have all kinds of success and kind of be all over the place, and so I was excited about the challenge and the opportunity of coming to the u of A.
This recruiting season.
It seems like it could be setting up for a special recruiting class for you guys after the first recruiting class somewhere in you know that twenty thirty range of you believe in the rankings and stuff like that. As a person that that works for rivals, I have to
say that kind of stuff. But just what is what has been the feedback you've been getting from recruits after the first season, but still keeping them interested in Arizona and seeing the development and seeing the progress that you guys are making and where your vision is.
I think that's been really positive. You know, I'm excited about where we're at with this recruiting class. I think, you know, as we go through the next month and a half, where it's going to have to start to have a little bit more clarity. Now none of it matters still signing day, right, I mean that's one of the weird things, right. You recruit players in May and
June and they commit or they don't. But if they commit, then you know, they don't sign until December, right till the beginning of December, so there's you know, four and a half months there where you're continuing to recruit them, continue to build that relationship, you know, trying to make sure that you know, since they are committed, that they stay with that commitment. I think it's going to be
really interesting. You know, hopefully the settlement goes through with the the you know, the how settlement, and we'll be able to have a little bit more clarity of what college football is going to look like for everybody. I think one of those things where you know, all those things have not been the same program to program, and hoping that would give us a little more consistency and
a little bit more you know, parodying college football. I think that would be really really valuable and that everyone you know is playing with the same you know, with the same deck. And so I think it's going to be exciting to see what transpires in the next week or so, you know, with the house settlement, because I think that's really also going to impact recruiting in a significant way.
What would today's Brent Brennan tell the Brent Brennan of nineteen ninety whatever. Maybe the eighteen year old kid.
Oh gosh, I told you, I told you this is white rangings.
But go to class.
Yeah, go to class.
No.
I think.
You know. Football has been so good to me, and I loved it when I played. I love the camaraderie of it. I love the brotherhood of it. I love the works, the grind of it, you know, I love kind of the schematic and kind of the cerebral part
of it. And I don't think you know that that ever eighteen year old, nineteen year old kid would have ever thought that football would have taken me just on this incredible life journey for friends, family, wins, losses, up to down, highs lows, all these incredible, you know, incredible moments and these incredible challenges to find ways to overcome. So I'm incredibly grateful to the game of football. And
I love coming to work every day. I love coming to work with the players and the people we have in this building here at Arizona, and I love where we're headed.
How let me ask you this, how frustrated or I don't want to put a word in your mouth, was last year for you? And did you have to maybe find your Interdictomy or whomever Ellerson to kind of say Okay, I'm going to get through this and everything's going to be okay.
Yeah, Oh my gosh, yeah, Yesterda's the last year was incredibly frustrating. I mean, it was miserable for just just that that was so challenging. Yeah, you know, and for more than anything, I felt for the players and for our fans, because everybody was disappointed, you know what I mean. And so the biggest thing when you're in a situation like that is, all right, what's broken, you know, and how are we going to fix it?
Yeah?
And you know what things are we doing to make this thing better and and improve the issues that we had? And I feel like we've made a lot of strides there. I feel like we're in a great spot with our coaching staff and the decisions and and the things that we chose to do there. And I feel good about the pieces that we've been able to retain of our own roster and the pieces that we've been able to acquire through the transfer portal. And so I think you're
always building a football team. It doesn't it never stops. There's no like pause button on that. And I think every day we continue to make good progress towards building the kind of program that we can all be proud of it. Arizona.
Yeah, let me, we had your running back who wasn't eligible last year. I think we had the right before the draft, and I've said this openly that how you had him the season would have been totally different. I'm sure you may or mean not feel that way, but a lot of people just when that happened, I'm thinking, God, that's a huge blow.
Absolutely, that was a really tough situation. And you know what's so great about that young man, Corey, is it he's still got drafted. Yeah, and he's still going to get a chance of being an NFL football player. And I think that is just really special because every day that young man showed up for work, he busted his ass. He ran down on the Scout kickoff team, he played Scout running back, he played Scout team dB. If we needed him, he did whatever it took. He just kept playing.
He loved being here, he loved being around the team. You know, the University of Arizona was great to him, and his experience here was really positive. So he kept showing up and giving to the team. I thought that was just it's a great ending to that story in terms of him getting drafted even without playing his last year.
Coach, not a lot of people in Tucson, I think, know that you are a big barbecue guy, and a lot of the coaches on the coaching staff had said, oh, he's a pitmaster type of barbecue guy. Coach Navar, I know, is a big barbecue guy as well. Who would you say is the best barbecue guy or barbecue coach on the team?
Oh? Shoot, that's a good question because I have not coached with coach and Ivory yet and I know he's serious. It's funny, you know, my a few years ago, my son told my wife that when I became a head coach, I lost the spirit of barbecue because you just didn't. I didn't have him as much time for it anymore. When I was an assistant coach, I used to barbecue for the players all the time, which was just really fun.
It was great to get the guys around the house and you know, just have a good meal, and I want to make sure the food was good. So I worked really hard at it. But you know, I got to spend all the time with coach and Iver and find out, you know, what his what his go to move is. But it is a fun way to bring people together. And as long as the food's good, people players, everybody will show up. And so you got to make sure you know what you're doing.
As a barbecue guy myself, because I used to work at a barbecue place and I also have my own smoker at the house. Would you be willing And again you said you have not a lot of time on your hands.
President, Yeah, let's go. Yeah, we're talking about here.
I was thinking either a brisket, pull pork something where you know it's thirteen sixteen hours smoke. But that's up to you. Whatever, whatever you want to do.
I would love it.
Can I can?
I have Nither in the pit with me.
Oh, he came on. Okay, three of you guys do it?
Yeah?
Yeah, why not? A contest for Cherry. I would love it for Cherito love it? Okay, and we have love it.
A couple of coaches and players on the team decide who wins.
Yeah.
Cool, Yeah, that'd be awesome. I'd be all for it.
Coach, thanks so much for joining us. I know it's all over the map, but we wanted to get you on the show.
Appreciate you, no problem, had a great time coming on with you guys. You got to take care.
Thank you have a good one.
Coach Brent Brennan, obviously from football. Let's take a break and tug moore about what happened. If you're an Arizona men's basketball fan, you know it's been successful for nearly forty years. Now take a look back at the Ludolsen era. In my new book, Lessons from Loot, it was a labor of love through the eyes of twenty five former players, coaches, and friends to give insight to the coach and the man who led them, competed against them, and inspired them.
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This is I on the Ball on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. Want to take part in the show Call up Steve now went five to two oh four one seventy four.
Hey, welcome back to me in the ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Roberta. He's Troy huts Us Sam from Goasycats and we got ray with us today.
That was fun.
This is my show, my premise before you know, I started another station a while back and then brought Jay Uh. Just like dudes sitting at a bar drinking beers, and that was kind of like that definitely because he was relaxed.
Right, That's one of the.
Most relaxed interviews I've seen from Brennan in a while. Yeah, and I think, well, this brain he was pretty relaxed. But in compared to that first year, Yeah, that just yeah, you don't let it rep just a dude talking sporting football and sports and life.
Yeah, it was good.
If you missed it, just go be sure to see the podcast later tonight and we'll have it on for a few a few hours.
I'll have it on all the time, but once it goes up. That was good. That's fun.
I'm going to be doing a magazine story on him here in the fall, So I just kind of wanted to talk to him about, you know, about life, because it's it's more about life and football.
Yeah, and you know, everybody knows okay, he's the football coach Texas, and but they don't know the coaches, they don't know the staff.
We don't get for them.
Not enough time to meet with those guys and say, you know, you know how you doing and you bought we bought up or you guys brought it up. And I asked the question about the daughter being Colorado and graduating and they do have lives right outside of work.
Family dynamics of getting everybody's scheduled to go and dinner plans here nobody thinks about that stuff.
Yeah no, and then you know how it is, Oh family, what great family, and it's chaotic for everybody. It's just like Thanksgiving for everybody.
You're ready to eat? No, mom, I'm not hungry right now, and go sit at the small table. Thanks when's the and all?
When you were at the Citizen and at the Star during that Thanksgiving time, when do you remember a time where you were able to have a normal Thanksgiving?
No?
Not never, never, in funny, never, very rare because I was on the road in the game most of the time. And I remember nineteen eighty nine, eighty eight, I was dating nineteen ninety maybe my Thanksgiving dinner was spaghetti, spaghetti. I had to cook spaghetti and that was my dinner. You know, I talk about all the time because we're on the road all the time right right, And Bruce is living it now. When we were on the road, him and I would get together every now and again,
but it was always doing something. For the ninety seven Final four and they had won that Friday, that Saturday, right, and then Monday was a championship game. That Sunday was Easter. So I guess where our our Easter dinner was? Are collectively all the sports writers some.
Of the sports writers at some restaurants because it was.
The only thing opened at nine o'clock where we were all done. Yeah, you know, it was packed obviously because it's you know, a huge fantast but we had finally done writing all day or writing.
And what's open? Hooters?
So we went to Hooters. Yes, yes, but that's just the way life is. I mean, even now, how I live my life is it's'm a fast food dude, because this how I lived my life for thirty five years, you know, the last like I want to say, five six Thanksgivings. I've always heard, Oh, how was your things doing?
Yeah?
Yeah, I mean I had dinner at the family later, but yeah, it was good. What do you mean you were, Well, you're covering a game or you're watching a game where you're watching something covering something because there's the women's basketball non conference tournaments are happening during that time, and the men's basketball and non conference tournaments or somewhere are happening at that time most likely, and you know what the championship game is usually Thanksgiving Day.
Yeah, yeah, we're always working.
We were at covering the team in probably in New York for the NIT preseason, and it was like that down we're to have the parades and all that stuff, the floats, and we were right there on Central right there in Manhattan. It's crazy and the people massive, and if you were outside, you wouldn't get back into your room for four or five hours because there was so many people there. So you just stayed in your room, got room service, and watched it from the hotel. It was just that busy.
It's funny.
I did a column about that, speaking of ninety seven where we ate a Hooters and there was you know, twelve hour days, blah blah blah.
And one of the one of the.
Fans or whoever sent the letter to the Edter Steve stopped your complaining. People would love to do what you do and and go to games for a living, and you know that's not work. You know, roofing in Tucson and July is is work. That wasn't my point. That wasn't my point. I understand all that and this is what I wanted to do all my life. That wasn't my point. My point is it's not as glamorous as you think it is.
No, and then yes, that sounds great, But then those people that write you that or say that, oh you don't work and dah da da da da, then they.
Do it for oh this things. Yeah yeah, well yeah, And I'm not trying to Are you.
Less of that said? Are you less of a people know that I'm not a sports fan like they used to do. Are you less of a sports fan for college?
At least?
Because I cover college sports for pros I can be a fan like I don't cover pro sports. So like I'm a huge linebacked Sons and Bronco fan. But now I grew up here in Tucson. I was a huge u of a Wildcat fan. Not as much, No, no one. You have to be unbiased. I do believe in that.
And sure you know how I am. I am definitely.
And I believe my coverage in my writing is very unbiased. And I'm fair to both sides too. You see how everything is put together now you know how the pie is now again, I think it's a lot better than when I first got here in terms of covering.
There wasn't an athletics.
But you meet a lot of great people and you meet sometimes yeah, some great people along the way, Sue. The good thing is it's like eighty twenty, if not maybe nineteen ten. Yeah, yeah, but you do remember the ten? Do you remember the ten and you remember the top of that ninety? Yeah, Like coach Andrea, I will always be appreciative for I got to cover his last four years.
And you learn a lot from coaches like that.
Yeah, Andy Lopez, Andrea, all these people, Rubios. The funny thing about it is I could write back in the day when I wrote a lot in every day. I'm sure Bruce does too. We're got a call, okay, I'll tell the story later. Hello, you're on the air, nine on the ball. Who's this Hey, it's been a while, Howard.
How are you doing? Yeah? Good, doing great. Just what you guys were saying.
You know, you're not a sports fan and makes so much sense, Steep because you cover it. It's just like being construction. I hate watching those do it yourself for shows. Yeah you know what I mean. You know how to do it people? Yeah, I mean most of it. But you know, because it's different parts of the country. We do things different. But yeah, they're so boring to me and I just turn it off.
Yeah yeah, for here, it's just like this is what we do twenty four seven. Especially like when I was married, we'd go to dinner this says, oh h can we talk and my wife would be like enough enough.
We don't need to hear about basketball time. You know that?
And that's how move was you excuse me?
Coach Olsen? Can I sorry to bother you?
Well, you're gonna bother me, sorry, right, you know, he's too much basketball.
It's like, give us a break for a minute, right right, Yeah, for sure. But but I just have to say something good about Chicago. I'm not a bullstand, but the Cubs are. They're doing good. They just needed a little help. And I think my Cubs are doing way better than Jay's team.
Than the Dodgers. Are they close?
Well yeah, but remember they're in a little bit better division. I get that the Dodgers, but if they don't have show, he's to turn it really up because he's not gonna have a season like last year.
So Howard, I have to take a dig at you. How the Sun's doing.
All we can say, Hey, at least Boston is going to be out of it.
That's all I want. No, they're gonna win this. They're gonna win this series. They'll get to this series. We'll see what that.
So it's going to be the Western team winning. So that's what we care about. It's a tougher conference.
Thanks Howard, thanks for calling, Thanks for right. Okay, so I did what was I talking about? Ninety seven? Did this story blah blah blah bother Yeah, no, there was something else N said. I'll tell this story my suspend as everybody knows.
That sucks. But that's just the way the job is.
Yeah, no, it definitely isn't. I don't know if it's the degree to Howard's point in terms of I can't watch the I love watching sports.
I do. Oh yeah, yeah, you know that the same.
Yeah, that stasts the same, but you watch it differently. Yeah, Like, okay, you're at home when you're a kid, as a uo a fan, every little thing that doesn't go of it, Oh, it's the rest fall itself. Now it's like, no, they just fumbled. They played like yeah, they played like not very good. Well yeah, well I didn't want to pull them brenn in it buzzed out. So but yeah, they didn't play very good or you know, it just didn't go the way.
You get less attached to.
It, Oh yeah, of course, and you get older to you, you know, all that fandom goes away.
I think it's like kind of getting back to what Howard was saying, it's more like comparable to like how you watch like maybe like ESPN Sports putting its where it's like they're just talking like, you.
Know, that's fair because I can't do that.
I don't do that at all. I don't at all, even when I'm coming to the show and I maybe take an interurn back to the to the to the campus and we'd listened to sports because you know, my music and their music is not the same. You hear these things and I'm thinking they're talking about this, who really gives a crap about that?
Or they know nothing about this because they don't really, they're not there.
And I'm grateful for people listening to us in the show and to me, wex poetic on nothing. But but I mean they're price saying, Steve, what the hell are you talking about? Your opinion sucks? You know, what I'm saying when I listened, I don't listen to stephen A. I don't listen to some of the other guys. I'm thinking they're gonna tell me that I don't already know.
I if I listen to like a sports thing, like let's say pro something, probably I'm albing at work at the end of the day, quick pitch something like that. Yeah, probably specifically on Bronco coverage, if there's a Bronco podcast, this and that. But what I've learned while doing this, like we saw this year with the draft, you have a national guy and Steve, Steve Smith trashing Bobby Wade trashing that Darro McMillan. It's like, well, you were never
you don't see how hard he worked. You ever had practice. Here's the problem. Do you blame them? I don't know about Steve. I didn't listen to that, that gibberish. But but he got that information from somewhere, so he was the messenger for somebody.
Yeah, but you have to you have to see it though, right. No, No, I don't disagree with you. I don't disagree with you.
But if someone's gonna tell me and I say, hey, a scout's telling me this and blah blah, and this is what he said. It's not coming from me, it's coming from them. But they were total he was and it proved to be totally incorrect. Yes, that's and that's why I agree with you. Some of these guys say some crazy stuff and it doesn't turn out to be true.
No, and then when the guy does succeed, they're like, oh, everybody knew, well, the local media that was covering them dead, but the national media that was trashing them, No, you didn't. Yeah he had them at number fifty on your big board or whatever reason. But yeah, No, that to me, that's what drives me nuts now more than anything in terms of sports, is like, yeah, I can't enjoy that sell coverage the way I used.
To wear Oh well, because you know, you know now how it actually works.
It's just a bunch of crap because you know they're not there for me at least, Like, Okay, they have their sources, sure, but who are your sources? And if you're never at these events, if you're not watching everything, you don't know.
No, I mean Kendrick Perkins, like this weekend, I think Sun Sunday after the Pacers game. He was like, oh, I didn't know who Miles, Like, I didn't know Miles Turner could do all that.
And it's like, man, he's been in the league for like ten years, right right in the fact.
And then you start having uh uh, sports people on sports people crime. I mean, Charles Barkley rips into your that guy you just Perkins, you just mentioned it, and they're all fighting with each other because everyone knows more than the other guy.
Yeah, well, and you're on that station. We're on this station, so automatically we're gonna rip that station.
Sure, sure, And do they know It's like Charles, who's very good at what he does, But the.
Thing is he's never right on anything. He's not good at predicting. But I think in terms of the so you.
Know what you you stop, well, you know what you do is when he predicts your team to win it, I'm sorry, it's probably over.
It's probably over.
And Arizona asked him to stop picking you if you want to win a national title because.
You a lot.
I hear that all the time. Charles picked us to win. That said, that's not a good thing, not a good thing, and he's never right, which is a good thing. That's why they call it a Charles Barkley guarantee.
Yeah, okay, we gotta go get the first hour. Thanks Coach Brennan for coming on. We're gonna get breaking news from my boy Roy here in the next five minutes.