Streaming live on the iHeartRadio app. This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty eight.
Hey, welcome back to me in about Hero Fox Sports fourteen fifty I'm Steve Rivera. You're Cody Richie. Thanks for coming in. It's been a lot of fun so far. This is and it goes by like that when you have a good guess.
Yeah, oh yeah, and then we're.
Gonna go We're gonna go back to your subject. I can't remember when it puts now about Kenny. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's because that's a big deal. Now we have Henry's breaking news.
This is Eye on the.
Ball breaking news on Fox Sports fourteen fifty.
The college football playoff bracket was announced yesterday. The buys went to Oregon, Georgia, Boise State, and Arizona State. The first round matchups are number twelve, Clempson at number five, Texas, number eleven, SMU at number six, Penn State, number ten, Indiana at number seven Notre Dame, and number nine Tennessee at number eight Ohio State.
So I think that if if Dylan had is not the coach of the Year, something's wrong in this world.
He should who else could it be?
I don't know, I don't know and that, and it's not going to be a Dion. It's not gonna be any No, it's gonna be Yeah, it has to be Glass Pig dead last in the conference.
Another.
They're playing for national title.
And you know things, things were really looking good for them because if they would have got the festival. Can you imagine they get the semi final.
It's a stupidity that it didn't get the Festa.
Bawl Yeah about Boise. Yeah, they were seated fourth and Boise wow.
Yeah, we'll talk more about him when we have time.
NFL Week fourteen, yesterday, the Seahawks defeated the Cardinals thirty to eighteen to improve their lead in the NFC West.
Yeah. Yeah, okay.
The Rams defeated the Bills forty four to forty two, despite Josh Allen six touchdown.
They were my best bet. I think Jays as well. And I'm thinking there's no way they're gonna come back. There's no way they're not going to cover. And then they came back. It was like, holy crap, one hundred and one hundred pretty much.
Yeah.
Was that the Buffalo game? Yeah? Yeah, I kind of like we talk about nil money.
Since I went to Wyoming, what would Josh allen in twenty sixteen, you would.
Have gotten a lot of calls from Wyoming. Can we take care of this quarterback of ours?
Yeah?
They would, but but no, but what would have school paid them in two thousand?
What would they have though? What would they I mean Wyoming to have some kind of slush fun.
They do, but not like the you know, maybe they could pay I got.
Fifty thousand dollars. Yeah, and do you pay him the entire budget?
You know?
To talk about That's what I was getting into, because what are you gonna pay your quarterback? What are you gonnay your running back? What are you pay your Well it's a business guy. A lot of our guys will be like, well, okay, you know Henry makes sys, how comes toeves making all I get the day it's all commissioned. So it's kind of like Earn, like Corey was saying, but oh for you your place, Yeah, okay, for for
the salespeople, but for the support people. It could be like, well we hire somebody in one market and not another market. Somebody may have an advantage, Yeah, an advantage exactly.
The Chiefs defeated the Chargers nineteen to seventeen on Sunday Night Football to clinch the AFC West.
Always finding a way to win, always finding a way to win.
I'd cheer for against Kansas City every weekend. The guy hit the field goal that went.
Through, well, yeah, banged off the thing.
Yeah.
They they've really looked at on a lot of things.
I don't think they're the jaggernaut that they know. No, but would you find ways to win exactly?
They're gonna have home field advantage Buffalo losing.
Monday Night Football tonight at six fifteen. The Cowboys at the Bengals.
Is there at the Bengals or no? Cowboys are home home? Yeah. I used to be a I think you probably knew that, right. Yeah, I came from Dallas Becta. No, I'm no fan of theirs anymore.
Is a huge cowboy?
Oh yeah, I see his stuff on there. He's like the tier the tiery Jordan guy. Yeah, you should the Sun, sorry, Michael Mike.
Arizona players. A lot of Arizona players entered the portal this weekend, including linebacker Jacob Manu, offensive lineman Wendel Moe Junior, and tight end key On Burnette.
Man Cody, Cody, I feel sorry for you Booster guys. You you people who have really some some emotional steak of this, maybe some financial or whatever, because it's not good. It just doesn't feel good.
It really doesn't. Like I'm kind of apathetic right now. I don't blame you, but I'm never ever ever going to be like anti militant, like tear it all day own. Yeah, you know, you just can't be that way if you if you signed up to be a sports fan, you have to live.
You have to live with That's why the good.
Times are so much better when you win, because it's a long drought.
Just do we have a lot of stuff or though not that much? Okay, So let me ask you if a give me the best time at U of A as a fan. For you, the best one was, like you know, obviously ninety seven was pretty big, but other than that.
Well, well ninety seven ninety eight were awesome, right because football really good too, and then baseball was good.
Another really good era was.
That Festival team if there was a playoff, If there was a playoff then like there is now. Yeah, that nineteen ninety four U of A Desert scoring team. When they destroyed Miami thirty nothing, twenty eight nothing, whatever, they would have won the national championship.
They played really and Miami didn't want to be there.
They didn't want to be there, but our defense was coming on so strong that it just was like a tsunami.
And I think we're the best team in the country.
We would have been in the playoffs in ninety eight, you know, well, eighty seven, eighty eight. You know the basketball Dick Tommy's first year four four and three, right, And I texted coach Brandon one night, you know, and I just said, hey, remember who your mentor was his first year here was a four four and three year and we hired coach told me to come speak to
our Crest team. And a few years ago before he passed away, and he told some really cool stories about you know that they they were playing Washington State that year and they lost to Washington State, and he on the in the locker room afterwards, he said he just read every by the Riot Act because half the guys were still Coach Smith guys. And they came back to Tucson. They got back and it was a night practice practiced
at six and six or seven in the morning. Remember, remember that full full pats, I remember that, and he goes, doesn't it feel good to get that anger out of you? And he goes, he goes. We didn't lose a game. They tied a su Remember the last game year to keep the street going?
Yeah, no, I remember that. I had to go cover the practice.
So those were good times.
Last year when Jed won, my buddy Heath Ray who passed away, and I went to the Alima bowle. It was just we're like, wow, we're back. Basketball was you know, had just beaten Duke. Yeah, we we we beat Oklahoma even though they didn't really want to be there. Sure, but you just felt everything was.
From one year. What a different Sure?
Sure, No, you're right, okay, okay.
The new AP College Basketball poll came out today. Tennessee is up to number one after Kansas dropped Aumurn number two, and Iowa State is number three. Kansas felt like seven and is ten ten because they lost twice as well.
Yeah, they did the college and that's what I wanted to ask for it because it's right now, it's kind of crazy. All the top teams are losing. UCLA's in the top twenty five. Right, twenty four was the last time Arizona and UCLA were not in the top twenty five, and they played this weekend and then Ucla ahead of Arizona.
It's been a long time, you know, my my this as an amateur watcher of sports, which really kind of a bomber the traditional schools like at Kansas, Yeah, losing to Missouri, so you know they talk about that group of four schools. There's really are a power for there's only really power two conferences now because the big twelve in the ACC don't have the money from football, so it's going to bleed over into the basketball. Look it up the Tennessee, Alabama, Auburn, all these schools.
Do you because you're you go to the tournament, don't you? You find a way you go?
Yeah?
Yeah, so you know you're still entrenched in basketball as well.
I love basketball basketball. Someone in March Madness is so much fun. I normally won't go if Arizona's not playing in it. You asked me. My favorite was the spring of ninety seven, so Tucson. Back then we had spring baseball. The Rockies were over there at High Corbett with the LPGA. The first round of the tournament was in Tucson where Rickman Jarris was here with Utah wake Force was here. I mean a lot of good teams. Arizona was in Memphis,
you were right there. I didn't go and then I caught it the next week in Birmingham.
Yeah, and I went down there for that great weekend.
Great weekend. And then the final four weeks.
Yeah, great weekend because they beat up. They beat the Kansas in three sixteen. Uh. And then the call could they beat Providence? Providence? People forget about over time. They almost lost that game. They had a big lead and they almost lost in the last time.
I still remember to this day because you know, I think loud Olson maybe one of the top two or three coaches ever, and we had him here.
I think people, you know, well, you need that guy who, like you said, to buy in and stay here. Yeah, you know, I love it here because I'm good here. Why would I leave here? Why would I leave? Right?
And and uh.
When he he called it, Providence got the ball to win the game. Remember the corner in the cord that guy got Sham got here.
Amazing.
Yeah, Luke called the time out.
Normally the defensive coach doesn't call timeout to set up his defense.
They missed a couple of three pointers at the end to to not tie it. No, it was great.
They doged a lot of bullets, true, especially that game. No one ever talks about the game. They remember we beat Kansas North Carolina and uh Kentucky, Kentucky.
Well, the first game, the first game South, they were down by ten with the like four minutes left, right, they won in that one because you always had to get best to that first game, and they did. They you know, they won the next game pretty easily. And then then the role started happening.
Right, Yeah, and lud always adjusted with the times because remember he wanted.
To have the big guys. Then you went to the three guard line.
What I laugh about today is a couple of guys in our office forgive me a hard time because I used to tell the guys, well, like twenty years ago, who's the most successful business guy to ever come out of t uh twenty years ago? No, the guy from your jets. Nope, it'd be a two soon t s. No, wouldn't you say ardi Moreno?
Oh okay, this is how can I forget?
What's several billions of dollars, yes, and owns Anaheim Angels. He's to make all those guys because I knew a lot of the guys that worked for him. You see him all over time. They wear blue Oxford shirts and white Oxford shirts with a striped tie, usually the U of A TI because he hired all these guys out of U of A and so any you know, clean shaven,
kind of blah blah blah. So I'm like, I kind of wanted to do the old Cincinnati Reds New York Yankee thing, like guys don't wear beers, blah blah blah. And then all of a sudden, I talk to you, guys have beers, right, And I'm like, and then as left at the core, I go, I remember when Luke went let the guys wear earrings, and then all of a sudden he let him wear earrings and they won the national championship.
Remember that that was Yeah? Well, you know they had They had an efflected group of personalities too, led by Miles, who was a pain in the neck, but he was their pain in the neck, Byby who just kind of went about his business. J T, who was perfect for the situation.
He was the guy being a fan GT. Yes, because his ego he put aside.
He did the kJ Williams J. Lewis thing.
He did the kJ lowising and on only did he do it one year, he did it three years. Yeah, and Louke rewarded him by giving him the keys of the car that senior Yearah.
Yeah, and he took the car and got it Arizona in trouble.
Yeah.
But he's also averaged, like, oh, he was the player of the year. He's the player the year. And then they had a guy who was very, very good, may have been the best player of all was Dickerson, who kind of had that funky you know, maybe I played, maybe I don't.
Right, he kind of had that yeah, in an out guy.
In and out guy. And then and then you had a guy. Now I know you didn't want to go this way, but now we're just kind of you know, we're talking to you talked about the ninety sixteen with Corey. Yeah, so they lose that game. Joe McClain sick Kansas game. Joseph Blair was ineligible.
Right, and look at you and you remember, yes, So they.
Forced aj Bramblet to get a lot of playing time that he no, he wouldn't have gotten right.
And they had him, they had him on the ropes.
But how invaluable was that playing time for A. J. Bramlett the next year?
Yeah?
And who was the hero Danielle Harris?
Yeah, usually Kentucky or yeah. No, but I thought, I'll always say this in sorry Henry's for taking your time. But but the being able to play Kansas close the year before in eighty six, they had him, they had him, uh, and then and they lost in the final seconds helped them beat him the next year.
And and I was talking that I spoke about earlier at Judy Kessler's retirement party, and Luke's daughter came to it, which was which was Dy, the youngest one, okay, And so she came and and we were just talking, and I said, you know, we I gotta go with mister Mueller,
Bob Muller, my boss on that trip. And we got off the plane in Birmingham, Okay, with the team, Yeah, with the team, and the assistant coach, Phil Johnson came back and was talking to Bob and Peter Evans, a couple of guys, and he was telling how they were going to defend Jock Vaughn and they weren'ting to have baby. They were gonna Michael Dickerson. It was four inches long, which is brilliant, right.
Yeah.
But as they got off the plane, the ESPN announcer greeted the team and Loot had on his blue blaze or sunglasses. He looked like like movie star. Yeah, and they're like, what do you think about this David versus Goliath matchup? And he goes, who's David? Who's Goliath? Where Arizona? And I was like, that was so cool, right because Michael Dickerson, we're underdogs. Really Yeah, yeah, Dickerson didn't know any better, but.
He didn't know any better.
But it was just it was just a finally you know, you talk about like it hadn't been that one game was the greatest, and the Washington football game in ninety.
Two years Yeah, no, no, no question, both those games are huge. God, you just took the thoughts on oh and Kansas at the time the best easily the best college basketball team in that year.
Yeah, yeah, you know, they mean thirty six and one. I think there was Scott Pollard, they had the other Rayfel of friends. Look at you, Jared Hass you remember yesterday, but you can remember anything important? Yeah, exactly, your waitning dated, your waiting date, you remember that. Yeah, okay, anything important, okay, Henry, Uh, just like a minute, I got nothing else?
Oh okay, perfect, perfect timing. Okay, great, So we're gonna get get out of here and then we're gonna talk to Max Marty. Obviously Dan Marty's son. He's doing really well at Pima.
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Conference streamy live on the Ihearts Radio. While this is I on the Ball with Steve Rovera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty eight.
Hey, welcome back to Win the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifty I'm Steve Rivera. In today with me is Cody Richie. Now we have Max Marley with the Pima basketball men's basketball program.
Max.
How are you.
I'm good. I appreciate you having it.
Yeah, no, no, great, great to talk to you. This is how old Cody and I are. I covered your dad's team back in the early nineties when they were with Barkley and all those guys. So god, I'm how old and you're very very young, Steve.
I remember when you got drafted and they and they boot him and they boat him in cotton Fait.
Simm's got all mad and said, you'll remember this, and.
I do remember them. No, do you play? I haven't seen you guys play, but I know you're bring it up. Do you play a similar style?
Yeah, very similar style to him, which is.
Of course, just a little taller than me, but yeah, which is dynamic. Are you? Are you a pretty good defender then yeah.
I like to pride myself on defense for sure, and I know that's something he used to pride himself on and just all around hustle, so I try to take that after him.
How did you end up at PEMA having lived in Phoenix?
Yeah, so I.
Actually did my first year at basketball over at Central Michigan University, where that's where actually he played. Yeah, so that's where I committed out of high school. And then it was great over there, great great, great education, but
it just wasn't the right fit for me overall. So looking in that transfer portal, I talked to coach Brian Peabody a lot over at TEMA, and I already knew of his track record just from talking to him in high school and then also from my dad who used to recruit from PEMA back when he was a coach at GCU. So right, yeah, so that's how I came down the team. I just really talked to coach Peabody a lot and just thought to be the best fit for me.
And the style must fit you too, because he scored like two hundred points a game.
Yeah, that was the big thing is he loves to run up and down and that's something I think really good in my game. Is I love to just go. So that was a big reason why to come down here.
Also, So so you came down, did you look at other places? Because obviously Central Michigan, your dad played there, if there's a legacy there, and what the weather's different? So what really drew you to here besides maybe a peabody because now you have to kind of reset your goals.
Yeah, so what really dreaming here is once again tea body. But the way that he plays, like how you said, the fit is really what I was looking for. I was looking to go somewhere this year where I can be able to play my game, yeah, and play with a bunch of great kids and a good team that's looking to win a lot of games. Because that was
really important to me too. So just I came down here for a little visit and played with the guys, and I just thought it would be a really good place for me to grow grow my game one more year and uh, just have a great season.
So do you already know where the next step is or is it too early to tell.
Too early to tell right now? Still seedons pretty much just go and it'll probably be until a little bit later. But starting to hear some things. But just wait until later.
For sure, right right? Okay, No, no great future ahead of you.
Uh.
And your dad probably comes down to visit every now and again to see you play.
Yeah, he'll be if you ever come down to a game, it's a great chance to probably see him. He's there most most of the time, as long as he's not out of town, he's at a game.
So yeah, a Max.
Steve sitting friend today when you're when when your dad went into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame a few years ago, by a chance for you there at that event.
Okay, So I was actually not at that event. I was off at school at that time. Okay, So I wasn't there. I wasn't there for that sadly, but it was cool experience.
Is that the time you were?
Yeah, that's event we sponsored. So I got to hear his best friend. Well, Dan's speech was incredible talking about Central Michigan because and and the reason I mentioned this, Max is it's your dad's buddy. They came down together from Central Michigan.
They didn't even have cars up there. They were just two college guys. It was his best buddy, and he left on his first road trip and he left his buddy the keys to his car that he just bought with his first contract, and when he got back, his buddy put like four or five thousand miles on it or something like that.
Like it was a pretty funny story. So I think I think it was one of his Central Michigan guys. And you know our old ad here, Dave. He keats a Central Michigan guy, So I hear it. It's great up there. But we know Brian really well and he plays a great cell of basketball. What high school did you go to?
So?
I went to Arcadia High School, Local and Phoenix, and then I left my last year and I went to a prep school over in New Hampshire called Brewster Academy.
Oh yeah, yeah, great.
Yeah, it's a great school for young basketball players and a great education.
Right right, So how in the hell do you survive up there for two years or whatever after having lived in Phoenix?
Yeah, So I don't know. Maybe I have like a little Michigan blood in me, but I don't mind the cold too much. I actually kind of enjoy like looking like a little snow but it was hard at first. But I'd rather honestly be in the cold weather than the blazing hot weather over the summer.
So yeah, makes sense, makes sense. So what else tell me about this team doing very well? And maybe I don't I don't know this, and I should ask Ray this what your stats are?
Yeah, so our team is really good right now. I believe we are nine. I know. I want to say we have a game. Our next game is on this Wednesday, we go down and play Mas Up, so I'll be good. But we're a really good team this here, looking to go far. And I'm pretty sure we're favored to win our division, which is our goal as we go to that tournament and win it all. So seeing our team's really good and we can do that. And then right
now I'm performing, it's pretty well. I'm averaging sixteen, shooting forty plus from the three point line, and it's good. It's a good good, it's a good time, and it's a fun team to play with, especially with all the guys and the coaching staff. Everyone's really good.
Well, if you're averaging sixteen, you're probably averaging as a team eighty eight or something.
I'm just our teams averaging like one hundred and.
So there's a bunch of you guys averaging sixteen or more.
Oh yeah, our whole team is all about just one more passes and getting everything. That's how averaging one hundred and tenmes points a game is going to be multiple scores. So our team's really really talented this year.
Has anybody come close to beating you guys?
Our last game was our only game that someone game close. We won by six, But we don't have our best game, and then I founded out pretty early too, so it just wasn't the best. But uh, you know, besides that, it mostly blowouts.
Okay, what's it like to play? Have you played down at Cochiese yet? I heard that say Rockets environment?
No, so, uh, we don't play Coach Chief this year, but I know they played them last year, but that'd be a fun game. I wish we could play against them. But we have a Christmas tournament coming up down here at tim of the twenty eighth, twenty ninth, and thirtieth, I believe, and there's gonna be like some of the best teams in the country down here, So that's gonna be a really fun tournament to plant.
Outside of knowing about Peabody and your dad knowing about Peabody, what did you know about Tucson? You know, you're in Phoenix, but what did you think about Tucson? And what did you know about Pima before all this?
So I really didn't know much I knew. I mean, I knew about Tuson of course, being from Phoenix, and a lot of my close buddies from home go to the local U of A down here. But besides that, I'll probably visited two song like one time in my life. And uh, I didn't know much about it, but I knew it was a great place. And then Pema wise, I really didn't know much about Pema. I knew they were well respected in Arizona, and I knew that they were the best, one of the best, one of the
best or the best Jucos in Arizona. But besides that, I really didn't know much about any of.
It, honestly, right, No, no, no, was it difficult because of one the last name uh and and you had that you decided to step down take it, you know, go to the j C level. Was that kind of a what was what was your thought process for that? Because you had a very good school, you had a d one doing it over there, and then you kind of say, okay, let me think this through again. Yeah.
So the reason why I came down on j C level was really just that best fit for me. My biggest thing this year was being able to play in a system where I can play my real game of basketball and be able to produce and show people however produced that was only probably without my last school, is that I wasn't able to do things that I know it can do. Yeah, it was kind of just limited there. So that's kind of why I chose the JC route.
And the reason why I came to pump is because again coach Pbody is really good at getting players so the next level. And that was one thing about me is he is like, if you come here, I'm gonna get you back to where you want to go. And he said, I'm able to play my type of game. So it's just really perfect.
Sure, sure, no, of course, doing well doing well with that? So you play Wednesday? You said, what's after that?
We played Wednesday at Mason and after that we're have like a little break and then twenty eight, twenty ninth, and thirtieth we play a little Christmas tournament down at Pima, and it's going to be a really, really, really competitive tournament. Some of the best yeah games in the country are going to be down here.
Okay, So then I'll check with Ray and maybe get out there and see you guys play together, see I see you in action, and maybe see your dad. Bill. Thanks a bunch of MAXs. Good luck to you. Great to hear from me.
Good luck, Yeah, thank you, guys.
I appreciate you.
You'll be well. Have good luck to week. Fantastic next Marty from Pima. They're obviously very good. Peoboddy's working in his magic, you know. Here's the ball goes scores the boys into.
Some being the small, small, small world. Joe Hickle, who works with me to be an assistant for only for a few years over at p for who for Brent, he was part of us, He's partly Eddie Eddie and people.
All those guys are all great.
And Brian was a judge for our holiday party one year party, once a year, part once a year.
This is the Christmas party, the Christmas I know, you get a stinky you get, you get mcave. I talked to my cave every now and again. He's with the honor health.
Now, yep, we're we're trying to get the guy that we're trying to get this year, even though who this guy is Paul and that is nasty Henry.
Do you know who he is?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, he was recently like he fought the six guys.
He fought the six guys at the Houstons. It's a story. You got to follow us the hockey guy.
Oh no, I'm not.
It's one of the Henry high It's one of the great stories of all time.
Yeah, you fought these six Irish gypsies up and and he still lives in a great guy, awesome guy trying to get.
You must be distraught that there's no more hockey.
Oh I was just yeah, there is here, but it's not the same.
Yeah, I mean it's still great here.
He's saving a lot of money though, Oh yeah, yeah, with the endorsements or sponsorship more for the nil That's that's true. Mister mister Cody. Do you have how how's it going? I'm sure you get calls like that all the time.
Kind of the way you start thinking about it is like, I'll just say, I'll be generous.
Let's say you go six and six in football.
We weren't six and six in football twenty years ago, and you didn't have to pay anyone, right.
Right, No, we talked about this, We'll talk to we'll talk about Dillingham on the other side of the break. But I've said this very candidly, Cody, because it's not my money. But I would assume that some boosters kind of like you, and you know a lot of them would be kind of buyer's remorse and say I'm not paid for this and do this again.
Well.
The thing that makes you frustrate is when you read, like if you read social media or Twitter x or whatever, you don't.
Do that, and people are going, what are the boosters doing?
And I'm like, what are the it takes everybody takes you as a person criticized it buying a ticket to the.
Game, right and totally right.
The quote unquote boosters is like, you know, our top three or four or five boosters are sitting this out right now. I mean, Cole and Jeanie Davis deserve a presidential war. Jennie Clements. Some of the people that we have, but they can't just keep going to the well over exactly.
Yeah.
Yeah, I feel I don't know if I feel sorry for rich people, but yeah.
Yeah, because you know is rich people like everybody thinks everybody else is rich. But until you really know, it's all relative. I'm not inviting you to do some pay per views anymore. Yeah, well no, I know, but I mean it's just like my priority is our employees, Yeah, taking care of out right and making sure they have healthcare coverage and stuff like that. So I mean the excess stuff that you might want to get involved in.
We may want to help out the Sister Jose or or the or the the Boys and Girls club, you know, stuff like that.
Yeah, and so it's just one thing after now.
And you're pretty targeted. You know, you do your best with who with whomever you want to well, you want.
To help out the people that help you.
So like if if if if an organization does business with us, we want to reciprocate it maybe ten times. But but that you have to be very very very diligent and careful how you spend your money. And and then it's it's just it's it's a it's a tough deal.
It really is.
But I'm hoping it all because, like one coach and my friend of mine said, the basketball coach at woman, there's only so much playing time that there's the same amount of minutes.
Sure, sure, you know, yeah, and it'll be.
It'll be interesting now that we're two or three years into it, whether to see that. And I think I saw somebody mentioned the money that these guys thinks out there isn't really out there.
Right, No, that's the whole thing. Well, you saw the kid from Vegas, right, he goes to Vegas and gets promised this thing and doesn't get paid, and he gets pissed and decides to leave. I think that happens more often than not.
Right.
But then if you're if you're another coach, or what's that saying about that kid for life?
Yeah? You know, do you want him working?
No? You know, very good point, very good point.
And you and you how many people you have working for you just locally about eighty so and you do a lot of the hiring.
You can't do the interviews. Yes, okay, so you you've you've better than most no good teammate rather than no good teammate. And that's on his resume, right, But you if you've had.
People leave and it's their prerogative, right they can.
They can leave, and you probably want some some people to leave.
Some Yeah, but there's been a few that have left that you're like, geez, I wish they hadn't left. But you can't please everybody, sure, But you want to build a good culture and be authenticn and and have just good people.
Yeah. No, it's any organization, any team that you have, No, because you guys have a good product. Obviously you're a good dude. And we're going to get back to that because I've always last week since Brendan got rehired or didn't get fired or whatever, and think of this over the break and don't don't talk. We're not gonna talk about it.
Right.
How many good coaches good coaches and I use that word all caps are good dudes, right, don't say don't say you know what I'm saying. In my mind, you have to be a pain in the neck or I want to say, cuss Ward here to be a good coach, right because the kids respect you that way, if that makes any sense. Good dudes don't do well, right, But okay, we go to ask you, how many of those do you know? I don't know many, if any. Okay, let's
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This is I on the Ball with Steve Ravera on Fox Sports fourteen fifty Subscribe now to the podcast on the iHeartRadio just search Ie on the Ball.
Hey, welcome back to Wind the Ball here on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. I'm Steve Rivera in today with me is Cody Richie? You and I should start a show here. I like you could. It's fine, but I have real job.
You have a real job. I mean I'll live right down the street. So I didn't know that you moved. I could I could pop in it. Yeah, no, great here seven eleven up here. I gotta get Henry in all with me. We could maybe give Henry some scratch. He'd come here for a real job. Yeah, cool, cool, cool.
You want to go?
You can do? When do you graduate? And the spring?
Yeah?
Do you want to move back to east? He wants to go out west.
Here still figuring that out.
I think I'm down for anything, all right, I always love Yeah.
Yeah, it's too cold over there here. Just yeah. So let's let's go back to your your daily stuff. You talked to Hey, you talked to the president Robins, and they responded. How did they respond?
Dave goes, hey, I'm intrigued, and uh.
This is two thousand, this is COVID.
Right, twenty twenty, and he goes, I'm intrigued. And again it was Charlie reaching out to me because he loved his time here. Charlie, and he said, you know, can you can you get us, uh, can you you know, get his an audience. I'll go and try my best because you keep giving me a ton of credit. I don't think I'm as big a hitter as you might think.
Oh you know you mean me.
Yeah, yeah, I don't know. Yeah, but but in the very least I tried, and so Steve. This is the text.
Yeah, it's a long text.
That's a long text, and I'm not going to read the whole thing.
But I basically said, hey, I've lived here for for many, many many years, support the program as an advertiser. I don't at one time as a walk on football player, it wasn't very good. It is on a team, and I kind of know what football coaches are about and what they need to do. And I go, I've lived here for thirty three years at the time, this is twenty twenty. In my years of Twoston, I've sat back
and watch other people dose stuff. And I said to this, I said, my advice is, you need someone who wants to be here, not someone we have to talk about staying here. You need a staff that recruits Arizona first. And that year in twenty twenty, the four starting quarterbacks in the Pac twelve and Big twelve championship game all were from Arizona. Because high school football in Arizona big right.
I said, we office about half the our eye office by half the time up in our Scots Sell office, and our brand is bad with the.
High school coaches in the state.
That's when someone was there and they said, you have a lot of friends, a lot of places where to go. I'm just texting to give you a name that I would guarantee would win. And here's my witness, Kenny Dilleham defense coordinated a Florida state along with the most pastors savvy football guy Charlie Ragel. And then I said, I can only offer one idea. It is this, have a conversation with Charlie and Kenny. If you aren't fired up and intrigued by what they offer, I'd be shocked. They
have the blueprint work, ethic, integrity, smarts. But most importantly, they know twoson in Arizona. Last, they have some extremely heavy hitting friends. Because that's when some of the boosters boosters. Yeah, yeah, I stake my reputation blah blah blah blah blah. I hope you have a Mary Christmas, happy all day blah blah blah. And here's a text from my friend Heath Ray the light great Heath Ray. And Heath was pushing hard for him, so Dave did talk to him.
Yeah.
And at the time they probably, I mean, in fairness to them, Kenny was only thirty at the time.
Yeah.
And then he went and left and went to Oregon for the year. Yeah.
And the reason why I think we could have had him is because her was still up at ASU.
But now that he's there, he'll never leave.
Yeah.
And that was As an Arizona fan, that miss is my worst nightmare. It'd almost be like a sundfl fan. When Loot was here. Yeah, they tried to like, how can we replicate, Oh well, let's hire Bill Freedro but there was only one Loot.
Sure, sure, lets go. We got a call on the Hello, you're on the air and nine on the ball. Who's this Steve?
How you doing buddy?
Hey? Rick? How are you good?
Cody?
We go back many years and I can't help but think of our old friend Dave Sitton.
This Rick Granelle, Yes, yeah, I Rick, Yeah.
But uh, you know, you guys were talking about some of the best seasons I think when a coach. Owes best coaching jobs came after Bobby passed away.
Oh yeah, one definitely.
And I think, you know, with all the emotional stress and everything and that he was under, he really was able to set aside his personal aims and brought these kids a long way. And I think for me that was probably his best coaching performance.
Yeah, I should have won the championship. The foul, well, remember that Gilbert got hurt and Luke and so there are two dudes playing hard. The reps were kind of a little biased. Let me tell you a story real quick, Rick.
When she passed, he took time away for two months, and everyone knows I covered the team pretty religiously then, and I said, if he's going to come back, he's going to come back now, like two weeks, right, So I went and kind of stalked the McHale and and him and I had a relationship right for a long time. So I went and stocked and found out he was in the locker room. He had just finished, he was getting ready for practice, and I asked the y SID at the time, I'm gonna go and I'm gonna ask
him if he can interview. And he saw me, and he says, come in into the locker room and I got an exclusive with Loot about his return. Holy crap. So he gave me like twenty minutes, and it was fantastic because he was, you know, putting on his stuff and he was like, you know, very sad. But Bobby, Bobby wanted me to come back. I mean, there was no doubt that I was not going to come back.
She wanted me to come back because but it was like, holy crap, he's like your grandfather sitting down with you and talking about all this stuff that had just happened. And he came back and they were brilliant because Ross took over and and you know, it's a little difficult for Ross because the guys were kind of whatever. And then he rolled with it.
Well again. And I had become friends with Josh Passner and I never intruded on the coach or the team or Josh on personal stuff with Coach O. And he said to me one time, he says, Coach O is digging deeper than he ever has to make sure this team goes the wrong way. And I'll never forget that conversation. And it's just one of the stories the Tucson. I think that we really forget about the historic run that he had here.
So did you, by the way, you got my book? Didn't you get a few of my books or my books?
No, you didn't give me any steeds?
Well, he take I take it. I taken it with a bigger price on Tuesdays.
And by the way, Cody, Steve's a cheap date for dinner. Eat his salad.
Really, Yeah, you're.
Looking great, trying to try to slim down. Thank you, Rick, thanks for calling in there. Yeah, that's right.
See, yeah, that he was talking about the dinner that Cody. Cody was saying, well, we'll all go to dinner.
We'll get Rick to go. Corey.
You mean yeah, so let me ask you, Okaye. So so Cody, So that's a great story with Dilli Ham and it just didn't happen. It just didn't happen. They went with Fish and we all know what happened with that, did you? And who didn't know Fish was gonna leave? Of course everybody knew he was gonna leave right at some point.
And I don't hate him.
I mean he he brought us back to relevance. I went to the game last year Glow. We we donated. He got us to buy one hundred tickets up in the nosebleeds at the at the bowl game, No, at the at for the season taking. Oh, okay for crass. Okay, we did his camps. We did all of them. You know, I got to meet Rich Roddie knew all that. You know a lot of the coaches. But you asked the question before the break about well coaches a good guy?
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Okay.
The best guy, I mean, coach told me he's not asking to coach Olson was a good guy. The best guy is Brent Brennan. Brent Brennan is an unbelievably good guy. And when I figured this out is last year at the Phoenix Open, we were up there and Erica asked us, Erica Barnes asked if we would go out to dinner with them. So a bunch of us went to dinner with them, and then we went out and had a beer at like a bar.
And he's just a regular guy. He's just like seems like a friend.
But when my buddy Heath, who was at that dinner passed away two months later, Brent was at his memorial service. You know, and he wasn't there. He was just there as a person paying respect and mad respect.
So I heard some.
People saying, well, he wasn't in the community. I think he did more little things with people, just one on one that were authentic. Maybe not, and not that Jed is not a fake guy. If I was a fortune five hundred CEO of of IBM or something like that and and need to hire a new president, Jed would be the guy, or if I was on the board of directors, because he's he's driven, he's he's he's he's a plan, he knows the buttons to push, he's he's
very smart. Although I think I would love to have a private you have a guy like you talked to him and say, do you wish you would have stayed one more year?
Oh?
Okay, let me let me say this to you. But remember my question, though, how many good, good dudes are good coaches. We don't know this about Brendan.
Yet, right, He was a good coach at San Jose and he did a lot with because I know that conference pretty well, he did a lot.
You know what I'm saying, Yeah.
I know, but you know what, like I don't know because most coaches have an edge to him. They have to have an edge too. Sean had an edge to him. He was a nice guy. He had more edge than anybody, right. And and what he did is sometimes as coaches or leaders or whatever, you start thinking like who's out to get me?
And your circle gets really, really real good.
And that was Sean.
Yeah.
And and somebody told me a long time ago, keep your circle tight, and I'm like, maybe circle yeah, even in business. And I'm like, no, like that as many friends, you know, as possible.
You a people person, I mean, and you're in a business where you have to be, Yeah, you have to be. I mean, I'm in a business that you have to be. You know, I'm not coming on the show and people say negative. Yeah, I'm telling good guys. Lou was a good guy. But he was very demanding, very demanding, and and and if you disappointed him, you were it was bad.
To me, it looked like but you have to think about like a football coach, NFL coach, they have to cut people. So you can disappoint people like Pete Carrolese seemed like he was a good guy, you.
Know, Yeah, but we don't know behind the scenes.
We don't know behind the scenes, but authentically, behind the scenes.
Coach told me it was a good man.
Yeah, yeah, great man.
I didn't know.
Coach cameell very well, you knew and probably really no, No, I didn't know. He's supposed to be a good guy.
Brent. Though.
Last week my wife Patsy asked me to go down with our kids and she wanted us to go work at the Gospel Rescue Mission. It's not like I do that every year, true, we did it this year. We're out there him and out turkeys and stuff like that and food. I guess who is right there in line doing it too, Brent Brennan, right before they issue.
That's funny because you don't hear about that stuff.
No, And it's like he's down there and probably a lot of those people in their lot in life didn't even know.
Who knew he was right.
Yeah.
It's funny because when I met with Tommy when he first got here a few months into it. You know, Tommy replaces these guys, right, uh. And he we went to lunch, He took me to lunch, and so we went and we went and he's gonna help you blah blah blah. They didn't have any idea who he was or whatever. He pulled out his card. It was it was like, I said, God, that's refreshing.
But now they probably do.
Oh of course, of course, but but it's a refreshing He's a good guy, don't you think he is? But he can also tell it. He's he's got an edge to him.
Now he does.
He has to have an edge to him. If he doesn't have an edge to him this, this team could be in trouble. But I think doing he needs to have an edge with him.
He's got to get sense of humor. Though.
You know what I remember we got a ride back on the team plane after we lost to Houston that first year, in that magical year, and he's walking on and here he has a T shirt on, different than Loot with the sport and he walks up to my friend and I and he's like, you guys still like me because it was his first big DECI like, of course, he goes, he goes, we got our butts kicked my guy wearing freaking sweatpants.
It was Kelvin Satan. But I'm gonna learn from this game. So what I liked about Tommy is he's always trying to better himself.
Sure learn yeah, no, and he says all the right things. He's a normal dude. He's just a normal dude. I'm hoping that he has an edge to him, because that's what this teams are. His team's need to get beyond with the guy to.
Have it as the head coach, you better have an assistant and if you want to So this is if if I ever come back on, because he asked me if I sure, of course, spend two hours talking about a uh uh dinner dinner slash beer, just going out having a beer with a guy about four years ago over in San Diego, Kevin O'Neill.
Oh god, oh god. If you talk about an edge to him, yeah, that was too much edge. But he goes, You know what, if I'm such a bad guy, he goes. You know how many he goes? You know how many weddings I was in a former course seventeen. If you want a loyal dude, he's that dude. But what do you think Luke brought him in for that purpose?
Exactly?
He wanted to. He was going to be the hammer to Loot's you know, not hammer.
He said.
He goes one time he was cussing and swearing and just carrying on and goes, would you kiss your mother with that mouth? And he goes, that's gross, coach who kissed your own mom? So he always had the sense of humor. That coach also was such a gentleman. And Kevin, but I like, like Kevin at that camp where people that don't like him or love him.
Yeah he was, but he was always He's.
A pretty fun guy. But you know, yeah, he had he had He definitely had that.
Yes, yes, well I remember when I said a good guy, who's a good coach. The debate is whether he was a good coach. I think he was a.
Bitter even a good guy to some people.
Right right, it's very very rare enough.
Since we're talking about basketball and sports and stuff and he's kind of reminiscing. I asked him who, and and our conversation was just like this. I just asked him tons of questions. I'm like, who's your favorite player you ever coached at any level, NBA anything? Just guess Steve No, Sean No, I don't know. Matt Milbach, Oh the dude, you know what?
You know? Who has an end to him? Do you never know? Yes, exactly. That's so funny you say that because invariably when I asked the same question, it's Matt Milblok. He's got this, he's got this something that you know, little opie looking dude. But he wanted to kick your ass. Yeah, that's what you need. That's and that's what that's what I'm saying. If you can be oh, hey, our shocks and didn't want to beat that crap up.
I always thought Matt would be a phenomenal coach.
Yeah, I've talked to him about that. Why what the headache coach? Yeah, and he would have an ads to. Corey would too, because he hates to lose. That's what you have to have. You gotta hate to lose. I hate to lose knowing I'm gonna if you and I played and we've never really competed against, exposed to, I want to beat the hell. I hate that crap. Yeah, I hate that crap. Are we good to go? We gotta go. We're pretty over. Thanks, Thanks Cody, I appreciate your time. This is fantastic.
Thanks