This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jagon zalez Son Fox Sports fourteen fifty powered by Nova Insurance Services. It's sure your most prized possessions. Kati z R two SAA and iHeartRadio Station.
Good, good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to I on the Ball Hero Fox Sports fourteen fifty. I'm Steve Rivera, my partner Jacon Zalas, got a guy Henry in today. I think it's gonna be a fun show, informative show, because we're gonna talk a lot about football to a football past and present. It should be a lot of fun. And we have a lot of we have some clips from today's first practice. Right Troy Hutchinson will be with us today in the second hour talking about today's first practice.
He was out there, he got to go, we did it. Yeah, we have a real job, job, we have air job, and then we're gonna have a special treat. I think it's gonna be a special treat. I've never really spoken to miss Smith Ali Smith. Yeah, the daughter of coach Smith right back in the day, and her son is a preferred walk on. When the announcement was made all this disclosure, he's the son of Heath Bray right, and everybody in the family was excited that he's coming home.
Almost yes, almost yeah, So yeah, it's gonna be fun to talk to her. I didn't know what to call her, right because she does have a business, she's got it.
What did you call her? I just called her airson a football mom.
Yeah, and she was. I asked her that, but she said she was.
So she's gonna talk to us about you know what that means. But you know, again, with the history of being Larry's Smith's a daughter, you know, she mentions in her in her bio on her website that you know, she comes from a from a football coaching family, uh Corby. Her brother is a coach at one of the high schools up in Phoenix. So it's football in their blood.
But now now you know, Larry Smith's grandson is now a preferred walk on the Arizona So well, just kind of find out what all that means to you.
I'm the family and we talked about this. We talk about him every now and again, right, talking about the history, just how it was for them right up here being part of it.
Right, Well, this thing, you know, the cool thing again and as I always loved this is that the family, out of all the places they've been, they settled here, right. I mean Larry Smith came from Tulane, came here, went to usc uh, went to uh went to Missouri, and then I think that I think that was his last last stop, right, yes, and then then the family came back and settled.
Here, including including including her.
So, uh, you know, my interesting to find out, you know what, why they felt this was the place to to to settle, to settle down, and then just what this is going to be like for her as her son goes through this and you know, as a preferred walk on, you maybe have probably a better chance to ultimately be a scholarship player that you know, mates may see the field at some point, you.
Know, right, He's he he had a fantastic career. It took him a while to develop because of people in front of him at a football kind of the football school, right, but when he was able to play as a senior, he had a great year.
Yeah.
Yeah, So we'll see, we'll see what you've got to say about all of that. And then you know, just some of her thoughts on on you know, the program over the years, you know, she grew up in it, right, even though they you know that the family you know, was another places. You know, it seems like Arizona was still sort of you know, in their hearts a little bit, right, And so see what she says.
So we're looking forward to that, and then we're gonna hear us from in fact, any moment now we're gonna talk to uh, we're gonna hear from coach Brennan.
Right, we've got some It was a first day of practice, so there's a you know, press conference of brief press conference after each after each practice. So let's get let's get into those right now so we can get them all in before our first guests. Okay, you know, just right out of the box, just kind of asked, you know, what what was the first day?
Like, uh, what, you know, what did you think of it?
And here's justin Spears asked, you asked the question.
Here's what he had to say the overall thoughts on the.
First day, And that was great, It was great, It was great to be out there.
I just I love how much his team enjoys practicing and being together. And I think they did such a fantastic job in this offseason with coach Carol and his staff, and everyone's really really prepared and they look great and they're flying around.
And it's just it's awesome. It's it was a fun first day. It should be, right, everybody, What was the last time you heard of coach say it sucked?
Well, if somebody gets hurt on the first day or something like that, they're gonna say it sucks. But yeah, so you know, just kind of basically, you know, again, these guys have been gear enough for this. It's here. They are officially in the Big twelve on tomorrow, Friday, I think August second second when it starts. So so then he got that's an interesting question by Brian Peers,
and I thought this was a good question. What was what was this date like, your first day at Arizona like compared to your first day at San Jose State.
Here's what he said, How did today compare to your first day at San Jose that first year and then and maybe that year with coach Tumba Here in Arizona.
I would say that.
I think the biggest difference for me the first day here versus the first day at San Jose was I just felt so much better prepared for this day, right, I've been a head coach for a while now, I know I've been through a lot of first days. I think that I'm also inheriting a more mature football team in this situation. And then the difference between when to coach.
Tell me, like, you know I was, I don't know who I was, but I know I didn't know much then, you know, So I'm you know, coming looking at it from the position of graduate assistant to being a head coach, like there's a lot of there's a lot of life, there's a lot of football in the not twenty four years and so drastically different. My wife would tell you the same because we are newly weds at the time.
Now she's been stuck with me for twenty four you know, she's she maybe doesn't think it's as good of a deal.
Yeah, it's been a long time. Obviously, things are different at different places. Do you get into you know Twitter? You you watch switter? I do it.
I don't even know why I do it.
It's just a bunch of drama. But you know the Sheer and Luke get into fights without everybody right all over the country and talk about well, you've got a guy who's went seventy and five at sanls State, and I'm thinking there's got to be grown men talking about stupid things about you know, my my brother is bigger than your brother. Yeah, blah blah blah. What is it? At the end of the day, what does it matter?
It doesn't, It doesn't, Steve.
And that's and that's the crazy thing about social media and things like twitters that people get into these discussions and they poke at each other, and in the end, what has to happen is you go out on the field and you do it right, and you see what happens, and then you're either a great coach or a good coach or you're not. And and you find out on the field exactly right, who thought Jed Fish was going to be a really good coach here?
Not anybody that they that they hired him. Not when they hired after the first year, what did we think? I don't know, Yeah, I don't know. Right, and then and then the second year when he had better players, you can kind of guess, but he was better, a better player, and then they obviously everything happened in year three. I still think he caught magic in a bottle. He had people around him, and and he needed people and what coach doesn't, right, need people around him to make
things work. Because he was more of a CEO than he was a coach. Yes, I could be wrong.
Yeah, yeah, no, I agree, he was. You know, when you have.
Duayna Keina doing what is doing what he's doing, you had the offensive guys doing what they did. I mean, come on, you are the summer of your parts.
Right exactly?
I mean he he you know, he did a good job because he hired some good people around him well and and look and and and his background as an NFL coach and the coaching and made you know, we made fun of all the stops. But because of all those stops, he had all these contacts and he was able to pick out guys that he thought would make his staff really good. And you know, I don't think there's anybody debating that was a really good, really good coaching staff and that he took to Washington with him.
So now the question becomes, does Brent Brannan have that kind of staff, that those kinds of contacts and did he bring in those guys. Let's let's move on to the next one, because the question number one a uh, is what's up with tam Mac with the foot. He didn't participate too much in drills. I think he did some stuff on the satellites. There were a series of questions on this, so let's let's just play that conversation. I think there are three or four questions about Team Mac and his status.
So here it is what is the plan for team act as far as building him up, of course took the next month or so.
You know, that's that's in the hands of our of our medical staff and so you know they have in our strength and conditioning staff and the doctors, so they all have a very clear plan for him. He's making great progress. We're very optimistic about how it looks.
Would say, in a situation like this with a star player who's very important to a team, who.
Has NFL aspirations, that you want to be cautious on that side.
Sure, we're always going to do it's best. We'll always do what's best for the player in that situation, you know what I mean. Like, we don't want to everyone want to rush a player to play in right like, so we're always those decisions are not coaching decisions ever, Those are medical decisions and player decisions, family decisions.
Troy and David a little bit on that as well.
Has it kind of surprised you how fast he's come along and just to the point of where he is right now working with the strength of staff is a little how to schedule or just where guy's kind of predicted at being.
I think he's where he should be, and that doesn't surprise.
Me in all. First of all, he's very young.
He's got like a fantastic you know, he's blessed with this incredible healthy body. Right he's just healing fast and recovering quicker than somebody old like me.
Would you know.
I love the self deprecating because you feel like he's not he's not going to be. And I'm not talking about in terms of how great good he's not going to be Nick Saban, who's going to be kind of grubby and grubby up there, very serious all the time, what kind of questions?
You know? Even Jed wasn't you know that much? You know?
And really I can't think of any coaches really recently that we really like that. So I like, you know, Tommy Lloyd is a bit so I like that style because you feel like with all the stuff flying around, he's still kind of relaxed about things.
That's a great question. Uh, And I don't even know if there's an answer. It could be whatever. I don't want to sway your decision. Who's more important tam Mat or no, because one is one's one and one needs the other kind of.
They they're they're both making the other better. Is what's happening there. I'll almost say though, that the FDA is because I feel like if t Mac doesn't come back to what he was, there's still a bunch of guys that can do that. I don't know if there's anybody else on the squad that can do what defeated does. We don't know enough about the back of the corner.
All Right.
I don't disagree with you there, because he's going to be pivotal in the success. However, however, dot dot dot team act to me, if he has a great year, is the best player to ever play here?
Yes, eventually could be.
There's kind of like, you know, he's very very good, and he's important, but we need this other guy to do very well.
If he texts another if he takes the kind of leap that he took from two years ago to last year. No, I'm talking he's he He'll he'll be you know, yeah, without a doubt, the best player ever. He'll win you know, awards, will be a first consensus, first team All American and all that stuff.
Is it, Who's the best player ever?
Man, that's a tough call because you have to think of somebody like you know who going to kind mentionine yesterday?
Christ McAllister? Right? Was it Teddy Bruce King?
I thought I was no question. Well that's where I'm going. I'm working my way to that, you know, to that era.
Right? Was it? You know? Was it was it? Ricky Huntley? Was it Chuck Cecil? Was it Gronk?
For the one year that he the one full year that he had? You know, what's what's the criteria? You know, multiple great years or maybe one great year?
So in basketball, you know, is it?
You know when the other day, uh Wilner put uh.
Football?
Yeah, football running back? Uh Kadem Carry? You know on the Mount Rushmore? Did you see you know, is it Kadem Carry?
Did you put? Did you see his basketball Rushmore?
No?
Oh, you gotta go find this. Talk about that, Okay, talk about that Okay, So I was gonna go here with it. So if it's not Ricky because you didn't say it right away. In basketball, it's not even a question, right right, So football doesn't have that, and.
I don't think it does.
Wow, I would I would have said, you would have said Ricky Huddy the Ques? Well yeah, and I don't.
I mean, the only thing about that, Steve is that they didn't win a championship.
Okay, So this is my that is what that's a criteria. This is what I wanted to go with it, because if you would have said Ricky Hunting or whomever, because you've you've spent your life here and I watched his blast thirty some years where you saw the god and said that dude is good. Yeah, like you know what I'm saying. When you were a kid, you it's a different impression. You walk into a building, Oh this is a big building. You're an older dude, that's not so big.
So was it that when you saw them play?
Oh?
Yeah, his but Ricky Huntley's best team went seven three and one, right, the eighty three team went seven three and one.
He's only one man, I know that. But but but what let's say Arizona.
Arizona gets into the college football playoffs this year by either winning or or finishing set, you know, getting to the Big Twelve championship. Let's say that the Big Twelve Playoff and and and uh or the college Football Playoff and teammate goes off and breaks the all time receiving record at Arizona and all those things.
Is he the best player ever? I think you have to make that.
I just love the in the times I've seen football be played here. He was fantastic. Hey, darrel Lewis was fantastic. So I just gotta rob waldro.
Rob waldro right and right and rick I mean, Ricky was a two time All American. He didn't win like best linebacker in the country, right, and you know, he didn't win one of the one of the one of the national awards.
So there's a lot of there's a lot of guys in there. Let me put it.
This way, Ricky is you can if somebody tells me I think Ricky Hunt is the best player ever, I'm gonna I'm gonna say yes, I'm gonna agree with that. But he's not done. Don't have the gap that Sewn Elliott has in BASKETA.
Okay, we gotta go.
All right, we do gotta go. We're gonna come back. We've got Ali Smith is gonna come and talk about what it's like to have your kid play for your dad's former program.
So stick around.
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Stringy Live, I mean iHeart radio. Who This is I on the Ball with Steve Rivera and Jacob Zalez on Fox Sports fourteen fifteen.
Hey, welcome back to the ball here Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. I'm Steve Vera. He's Jacob Zawas. We were anticipating having Ali Smith, but our situation where the phones is not good, so let me let me do this. I'm oh, you try to call right it. It didn't work, Okay, so I'll give her the number, but just to see just in case. I don't know if you can get in though I don't think she can. Yeah, okay, what do you need to say? Right where? Yes, So we're trying to reach out to her and see see what's up.
I was looking forward to and we're still looking forward to having her on the show. Obviously talked about the good old days of the Larry Smith era when she was a younger woman and then now and that her her son is on the team as a prefer walk on. What that feels like? Uh, yeah, ship she trying to call on.
Yeah, it's.
I'm trailing telling.
H we have some great readar going on here.
Yeah okay, No, So I just told her we're working on it and we're having people, uh trying to figure this out for us. So just a hold on, okay, So we're gonna figure it out. This is strange this this storm. It was wet here, so I don't know if it was something that hit got hit all right, Well he hung up on this, okay, So I said, we're working on it and we'll see see what happens.
Yeah, the way we just had.
When do we move? Actually we're doing the tour tomorrow.
Yeah, we are.
We're getting a tour where there's gonna be a new we're going to a new studio. I don't know, get to talent everybody. So well we'll see how that goes. But uh, you know, uh you know where we're you know we're I mean Arizona is a program now where you know you've got cool things like this can happen, right, Uh, you know you're somebody's kids, somebody's grand yeah, all that kind of stuff.
Right, I think well we said, you know how you have legacy guys. The Feenix kid went to where he went to, Parker went, uh, we had the tight end.
Kem Burnett is here. But they says, you know, looking pretty good already.
Yeah.
So yeah, no that that dude, You know.
What that says we were old because we covered those dudes. Yeah, we covered the recovered these guys thirty years ago, recovered them thirty five.
Years ago when they yeah, when they were playing.
Five years ago, because thirty thirty five years ago was a long ass time.
Yeah, I see, Yeah, my first year covering football was eighty eight. Well I covered it's some in eighty seven. So that's what sevn years ago, thirteen and twenty four. Yeah, thirty seven years ago, Steve, come on, man.
I mean I thought I'd be here four years and get the hell out of Dodge.
I love Dodge.
I love Dodge.
Come on, and I think the Smith's have like Dodge, you know, right of course the Corby's up in Phoenix.
But yeah, well no, she's in Phoenix too.
She's in Phoenix too.
Oh okay, she just she's here in town now and talked, I ad are you nearby? Maybe she can go to get her in the studio because this phone thing, this phone thing, this is the first time this is happening.
We've never had this happen, I know.
Outside of a store, like a major store.
Or our buddy Nick is he's trying to get it fixed and maybe we can. Yeah, yeah, get because we've got a couple of guests today that we're open to have.
But you know, I don't know, you know, we were hoping to talk about this, but look, it's uh, you know, the season has started. I really wanted to get out there today just to see, I feel, just to see if there's any buzz right to the season. I heard a little bit of of nor Fleda's uh part of the press conference?
Is it coach the only one that talked, No.
Coach and know and then they had no Flafida and Dalton Johnson. We're up on the podium, you know, and I Fafita said what you would expect for to say, what happened to be out here? We got work to do. It was great to get out here. We love the guy, you know, we love each other. We're we're fired up
about getting started. You know, kind of stuff I didn't say anything earth shattering, you know, talked about you know, they asked him about team at he said, yay, you know, he wants to get out there, so sure, everybody's got to take care of business.
And sure, sure and he is he is. You know, we talked about this with just last out last segment. He he's the guy you cannot afford to lose. And earlier we didn't uh and then we already talked. We didn't talk about it with the political right.
I mean, how good is how good is Fefeita because of t mac and vice versa? Right, So you know you gotta have both of them out there. I mean that this whole mhm, all of the expectations really emanate from those two guys.
We're having those two guys.
No question. I mean, there was a reason why uh umberto deep in his in his pocket to keep these kids here.
Hey, did I say something on a note somewhere, whether it's on social media or something, that that those either both of those guys or Fafita is getting uh some sort of a major nil deal.
I didn't see.
I saw something to.
That effect on your Twitter, the Twitter world, in the Twitter world, Well, do you have that tourism thing that the.
Airport, but it sounds like this is something bigger.
You saw you saw Jada what's her name, the point guard for women's basketball. I can't remember her last name. She's got a deal she's doing, she got a back. Spalding made a basketball with her, you know, uh, promoting it basketball that looks like a marble or something like that.
And she was all over social media with that. So she's got a deal with Spalding, which is you know, for a you know, a women's college basketball player at Arizona, to have a national brand like that, to get a deal from them, it's pretty cool.
Yeah, no, of course, man, Just what would Dick to me be thinking about this one? I know, I know would hate it, maybe not hated.
You know what, you know, you know what, you know what Dick, Dick and a certain and I think even you know Larry Smith, because you know, they kind of a couple of down to earth, you know guys. But I think what they would do is they would say, let's make the best of this, and and I think they would be happy for the players and they would say let's you know, yeah, I mean, I don't you know, I don't know that they would quit because of this. I just think they would say, Okay, this is this
is our our this is what it is. You know they would make the adjustment to it because that's that's the kind of guys that they were. I mean, how many times did Dick say, you know, you just go on to the next guy up right?
He was?
Yeah, he was that dude, just you know, what can you do? Right?
You figure it out and you just you get you go with the hand that was dealt.
So so let me ask you, since we talked about this with football and now with basketball, easy, the best baseball player is he? Is he Francona, isn't it?
Yeah?
I guess you'd have to throw in a guy like Dave Stegman.
Okay, so he would be the who would be.
Right up there probably top three guys. You know, people say, well Trevor Hoffins in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Well, Trevor Hoffins was he was a light hitting shortstop in Arizona. You know, you think about all the guys that made the Major lea if Scott Erickson had the best pitching year, but he was only here that one year, right, Uh?
You know, J T.
Snow. You know, uh, there's Ron Hassey. There's a bunch of guys like that. I I yeah, I think you got to give it to Frankcna. He won the National Warder, he won the Heisman Trophy of baseball. So yeah, you're gonna have to say Terry Francona. But you know, Dave Stegman may have had the greatest single year. Was seventy six seventy six? I think, yeah, seventy five or seventy six seventy four had the greatest single year.
You badted like four fifty or something. Great.
How far did he get? How far he got?
He got to the majors. He played for the Detroit Tigers. Not a long time, but he played. He played with the Detroit Tigers. Wonder if he's still a run.
This is a dumb sqush at Leon, What do you do?
Leon? Yeah, he played with the Indians.
Was he here?
Yeah? Yeah, he went to school here.
How good was he?
He was really good? Okay, he's good enough to get drafted so twice.
Top ten he's a.
Top ten guy. He's the top ten guy. So you know, but Jake Kennell rolled a bunch of guys out there uh, you know who you know who got to the majors and what's his name? Kevin Long was a really good player there on its still you know in baseball in the majors. He's a hitting coach for somebody. Well, you know, so there's guys like that that you know, have had great years like.
That, even even the guys that played in twenty twelve thirteen.
Yeah, Robs, I saw him strike out the other.
Day again, he got paid about fifteen thousand.
He's playing. He's with Boston. I think, who do we who do we also see what's the name of the catcher?
Yeah, no, no, no, was just a couple of years ago, Caesar what's his name?
Anyways, he's been up and down with the Astros. I think Seth has breened. That guy has been has been around Bobby Dahlbeck. I think he's back in Triple A. But he's been up with the with the with the Red Sox a bunch of times.
So the Yankees, he's been playing really well. Yeah, yeah, there's a guy that you know.
His name doesn't even come to my mind when you think about, you know, the best players ever we have Henry, I can think of the old guys, but I can't think of the new guys.
Nice job, that's a very nice poll.
Yeah, so is our guy working on this?
Yes, you said, he said, give me a couple of minutes.
I'm trying to Yeah, T and T or whoever is get the scroll to work.
You know, Steve, you know, we don't come in. We don't check.
I mean, I look at the buttons on the board to make sure all the buttons are right. But I don't pick up the phone and say the phone working.
You don't expect after you know, five hundred shows that we've done, that says this is the day it's gonna screw us. So we'll see. She's hanging on for us. Uh, she's got to get out of here by four for something. Okay, well we're gonna we're gonna get on.
Yeah, well we'll try and get this work done.
But yeah, you know, I mean, you go through the years and and the funny part is like the reason Ricky Hunters didn't come to me right off, and it should. I hope, I hope you and Lamont aren't listening right now. Ricky's too busy, But hopefully.
We were working for Dancing with the Stars and then.
But you know, but but you know, to me, I think there's so many guys in football that are kind of on a on a level, right, and Ricky is one of them. Cecil Ruski I always hesitate to put Gronk up there because you just didn't do it long enough. But Rob Waldrop, dear Lewis, Antoine, Cason, McAllister. I mean, look, who was the most impactful and athletic guy. It's between McAllister and Ricky hun Trump Canada. Trunk Canada had a great year. He had a great year. It was a
great year. But but but so did Kadem Carry had a great year. Yeah, Deem Carrey had had a better years of running back. We didn't see Art Lapino, what what the hell that was like? But you see some of those highlights and you go, that was crazy, you know how you know, how far back do you go?
And you're not even talking about aquarterback because this is not a place for quarterback, right, Who.
Are the top quarterback? Is Bruce Hill one of the top two or three quarterbacks? Because you know, there's a lot of dead people who you know, saw him, and a lot of people who were around they didn't.
There was a highlight. I saw either yesterday the day before and talked about whatever your Solomon?
What year was that to Solomon? Twenty fourteen freshman year?
He came he came in and replaced somebody, I think because once he came in. No, no, maybe not maybe maybe.
Because bj Denker was the quarterback the year before that. So who was I got recruited? Sat out the twenty thirteen as a as a red shirt while bj Denker was the quarterback. You thought, how bad is honwd Solomon's a quarterback? But you know rich Rod clearly had a plan for that. Yeah, and Honod Solomon had arguably the greatest freshman year of any quarterback in Arizona history. Yeah, you know, won a championship, a back to off South championship team goes, you know, wins ten games. But then
after that what right? Yeah, you know he got he got concussions and stuff and the next.
Thing, you know, who's the one that had to throw up post?
That was Matt Scott Scott and again Matt Scott with you know, we're doing pretty good, had trouble, you know, passed up Nick Foles, took a red shirt year and then played the played that one full season under under rich Rod, which when you when you think what rich Rod did in his first year twenty twelve with Matt Scott, twenty thirteen BJ dankor twenty fourteen with Andrew Solomon, Ego, I mean what kind of coach was he to be able to get quarterbacks to be that good?
Right? Well? And then he of course we had uhlil tate for that segment. Yeah, but then you wonder what were you seen in practice that he couldn't do their three.
Or four weeks right?
And how did that go south so fast? But you know, so uh, when you're talking about the greatest player in the in the various sports, you know, there's always somebody that you don't think right, you know, I mean there's probably guys that you I mean they were not thinking of, you know who were some guys in the in the stoops there Mike Thomas, right, didn't he didn't he uh uh set the single season record for receptions or something like talking to the wrong guy.
Yeah, you know, but in the middle in the middle of the in the middle of the stoops years.
Uh, you know, super fast Willie Tatama, you know, you know he he he came in at it. You know, when Arizona was digging itself out of out of the memage on start? Did he start?
He started as fresh.
Because because there was a there was a thing on Twitter. I saw that, Oh he's coming in replacing this guy, and then they go.
He got the starting job in the middle of his fresh.
Maybe that's what it was. Who was the replacement.
I think he replaced Richard Colvile.
That must have been because it must have been Tetama. He came in and did really well, that's who it was. It wasn't the other guy.
Yeah, he came in, uh against Uh he came in a game. Is this is gonna be one of those things? How do you remember this? But you don't remember that. He came in and they were getting their butts kicked by Oregon. They put him in the game. He he nearly brought him back. Then they go to Oregon. He gets his first start at Oregon State and they beat at Oregon State, he beat the hell out of him. And then he comes here and they beat the hell out of an undefeated lak and that, and he went and then.
He goes out.
Maybe they played harder for him.
Yeah, But then the next year.
You know, they opened with the with with l s U or they played LSU in the first couple of games, he gets concussion and and that kind of killed his career, you know, but you know, he ended up playing some more. Took him to took him to the Las Vegas ball as the first bowl Arizona had gone to since the what since the uh since that that Festa Bowl, you know, after the Festol the Holiday Bowl, after the ninety eight season.
Yeah, and you know, and he was a hero.
Okay, So we were out of time, So let's go to break. Okay, maybe we can get her in this other half hour, unless twenty minutes, fifteen minutes, that'd be great.
Okayhead, all right, okay, we'll right back.
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Breaking down all the excess at Alls. It's Steve Lavera and Jagen Salviaz. This is I on the Ball on Fox Sports fourteenth fifty.
Hey, welcome back to one in the Ball here Fox Sports fourteen fifteen. I'm Steve, you're Jag Jef Henry, and we're.
Trying to quet.
We still don't have Funday Wednesday. Okay, you know what, we'll figure it out. If she doesn't come on today, maybe do tomorrow. Yeah, maybe tomorrow. And I'm gonna text her now. We're still gonna try to get her on today, right and see what happens. But I but I think it's a good story. A proud mom history here, history, family history here.
Yeah, a lot of stuff like that again. And the Smiths have been, you know, a big part of Tucson since, you know, since they came here in nineteen eighty even though you know, Larry went to USC and went to Missouri and you know, was gone and stuff. Again, the fact that that they kept coming back, you know, to be here is very cool. Yeah, and I've always thought that about them. And you know, you can't you know, if you got mad at Larry when he left, you couldn't stay mad at him.
Uh. You know.
He again, he was doing what was best for him and his family. And there's no one you can't argue with that. Yeah, for the same reason you can't argue about jet Fish leaving.
It was so almost forty years ago, right, for almost forty.
Years it was following the nineteen eighty six season.
Do you think do you think? You know everyone has revisionist history and still grudges. I won't say whom, but there could be a person or two or three out there that says, no, he left, and I don't you know.
Of course there are people whole grudges.
No really really, but you know what I'm saying.
Yeah, even though.
It's it's like forty years ago, what is at Steve?
There's people who feel who still don't like Dick Tomy because he never got him to a rose Ball. Oh you should you know, well, he was a good guy, as was Larry Smith.
You know.
I mean, if you don't want to like Kevin Sumlan and if you don't want to like John mcavic, go ahead, because those guys came here and trash the place, all right, they trashed the place.
I mean they were you're not I mean that.
I mean, there's no other way to put it. They trashed the program. Yeah, both of them did. Yeah, and so yeah, you know if if if you have sports grudges, that's and you're an Arizona fan, that's to to hold. On the other hand, Ben lindsay, who had the worst basketball season? And ever, well, he'll debate that because you said that, right right, that's so funny debate it. But without Ben Lindsay, you don't have Loudolfson. Yeah, so you almost say thank you for being so bad?
Right, Well, you you were there at the table yesterday when we talked about Jed possibly not leaving. Are you there? Oh, you were talking to Aquina. You were talking to Aquina I think at the time. And he says, Okay, let's assoom for a second that Jed stays stays for this year, right, and where do we think Jed's gonna end up eventually? Okay, so the timing of this, Okay, what if he stays here, then get rid of their guy at Florida the next logical move would.
Be Jed fish.
But now he goes to Washington. What if he doesn't do well two or three years, you think Florida's gonna go?
Now I was there for that conversation.
Yeah, so the so the hold the domino situation doesn't fall like he could have played out if he stayed here one more year.
Yeah, no, you're you're absolutely right, because let's say Jed. Let's have this conversation. Let's say Jed does stay and they go ten and three, get in, get in the playoff, he has a great year, he has a pick of jobs, and maybe, you know, Florida opens up and he goes to Florida. You know, I think people would be less unhappy with him if that would have.
Happened, no question, right, you would expect.
That, right, would Brent Brennan still have been available?
Or would Brent Brennon have gotten the u c l A job after after and we had that was part of the conversation. Right, Okay, Let's say Jed doesn't take the Washington job, but then later the UCLA job opened up, you know, way later. Yeah, you know, would would Jed have gone to u c l A? Because that's still a big ten program.
Do you believe in stuff like that the butterfly effect? Yeah, yeah, I know, I do. Yeah, you know, I knew had I taken a left at album Crooky and something would have happened or now you know what I'm saying.
No, I do believe. I do believe in that stuff.
I I you know, you know, just without without going you know, too deep into it. I mean, I had some things happened in my life back in the early nineteen eighties that had that not happened, I wouldn't have the family that I have now. And it's not just you know, I've been not just getting into divorced, but things that were part of that that whole period of time. If these things don't happen, I don't get divorced, and
I don't have the family that I've gotten now. And I think I consider myself the luckiest person on the planet with the family that I have. I totally agree with you all that to me, the way I see this, all that was meant to be right right. It all fell into place the way it was supposed to fall into place. And so yeah, I think that I think there is something to that, and I've I've because of
those things. I've always believed that, you know, the fact that I didn't get I didn't get a promotion at the Star put me on the path that I went on with, you know, to go to tep and you know, and have that kind of you know, a career in in pr and then do all the things that you know that I've been able to do.
Yeah. Yeah, No, I think everybody has that.
If I had stayed at the Star, I wouldn't have been a statistician in Arizona basketball for thirty years.
I'd be a spectator like everybody.
No, I think everybody has that. If they don't believe in that, that's up to them. Yeah, but there's no question. You know, had I done something else where would I have been? And everyone says, you know, how not get married? I wouldn't have two great kids, Yetta, Yeah, yeah.
All those things. Yeah, No, I hear you, I do hear you.
I think philosophical are we drinking here? What?
I didn't put any rum in it.
So I think we're gonna get I think this is what we're gonna do. Ali says she's affected flexible, so we can probably move her tomorrow. Fifteen. All right, we'll have we have another great guest, got a bed Amanda Beard, So will have all Women show tomorrow, which is great Amanda Beard and then Ali and uh, we'll just go without a guest this first up.
Okay, sounds great.
All right, solved, and we just got to get the bold which.
And we got to get to this last ten minutes here that we gotta we somehow got to kill.
And then remember we gotta still get Troy hoping the phone works.
All right, that's right, We've got to hope what the phone's working by by four fifteen.
Yeah, so they're so we didn't mention that Pluto is a Raymond Plato.
I don't know. We did talk about it.
It is going to be out, yes, Uh so what does that mean?
I an'swer a big deal, Steve. You know there's a you know, there's a belief belief that the the that the offensive line for the most part intact with h with only the guy.
Got drafted Morgan. Uh yeah, what was his first name?
Jordan?
Jordan Morgan Morgan Wallace Andry you're supposed to step in here and give me that. Okay, you got it, Jordan Morgan. You know and and uh, you know the importance of making sure that uh North Folfida is protected and stays healthy and has the protection he needs to be able to do what he does.
You know, it's gonna be a big piece of it now.
And and just the way it was said, if you listened to it on the press conference, it was just like, you know, somebody asked him just about the lying and he said, well, Raymond Polito was not going to be available to us.
Well, I thought it was more direct about it.
Maybe it was about him, but he just said, Raymond Polito is not gonna be available to us this season. Didn't say he's injured, didn't say he's academically ineligible, didn't say he failed a drug test, didn't say anything. He said he's not available to us. And and you know that's what that means. And I, you know, I get the whole We got to be careful about what we
say about guys and whatnot. But that's so now you're in so you're now you're in a situation where guys are gonna have to adjust right now the time about moving Jonas Savonne over to left tackle.
Uh.
Then so he's you'll be learning an the position, and we saw all that, remember all that shifting around for the Alma Bowl, and they were getting the hell beat out of him by Oklahom. Then they said screw it and they went back to something more where people were where they belonged, and all of a sudden, Arizona shuts them down, or I mean not shut them down, but starts moving the ball again.
So that's it. That's and we're gonna know about Team Mac and the rest of them. So they can't afford to have anybody else go down, right, and guess what they're playing football? Guess what happens in football. You go down, People go down.
People go down, no matter what you do.
And you're talking day one, right, yeah, so who.
Knows what you know what what that's gonna do. But you know, Brandon was kind of okay, you know this. You know, you gotta fix things, you gotta adjust uh and you said, we've got a lot of time to figure this out. And uh, you know, you said, they'll try some things and if those things don't work, they'll try something else.
And that's what you do. And that's what a coach does.
Right. You don't feel cursed yet.
No, not yet.
Look if look, if no Off of Fia goes down, if Tam Mac goes down, if all the running backs get hurt, you know, you know, or Jacob Moni goes down. Because remember the twenty fifteen years Scooby, right, you know.
Goes down, goes down. That was that that was a huge deal too, because he was so important to that defense. Right, So you know, and it's one dude.
If things like that happened, then you're talking about, you know, the curse coming back of the of the sixty eight.
So no, no, no soup for you. He went ten, ten wins, Guess what happens, Yeah, automatically.
Pull the rug out.
Man, it's Lucy, as you say, Lucy pulling the ball away once again. But I'm still hanging it on what Duayna Kina said yesterday that last year reminded him of the ninety two season as opposed to the ninety three season when they won ten games. He compared to the U said the USC game last year to the ninety
two Miami game. Both losses both you know at the buzzer, and both both of those games set you know, U of a on a path where you know they were able to have a good, you know, a really good season at least a great, you know, great period of time. The ninety two season didn't end up great. They went six to five and one, but they also beat number one Washington here in one of the best games ever
to be at at Arizona Stadium. So, you know, until those things start happening, and Steve, you know, we'll we'll we'll keep We'll just keep rolling along.
Okay, Uh, cool, cool, cool, We got a five minute stuff. Anybody want to give us a quick call? Oh, you know, you can't stop.
I think Henry was, I think, what's your day?
So Ali compared, we're gonna do three three fifteen tomorrow. I said, of course that the phones work. If the phone the phone phones work, yeah, uh, it'll get fixed hopefully.
Yeah.
And uh and then as we said, Amanda Beard, former Olympian, Uh you know right, you know, in the middle.
Of she was she was one of the she was the only UH swimming coach retained RENU coach.
Yeah, good for her. Yeah.
So, and I've never really spoken to her. And back in the day she was like on.
The show, did we Yeah, did we?
We've had her on when I don't remember that.
Last Olympics. I don't know, No, I don't we had her on. We had it, we've had really, yes.
Because you have her on the list, yes, do you? Yes, I don't remember.
I already had her mugshot and I already.
Had her list because she was one of the darlings back in the day of the two thousand.
And while that.
Stretch of of teams that that Frank Bush had.
Over he yeah, yeah, I don't remember that having her on.
Let's see we had her on. Uh, we've had her on. Oh, we had her on in June of twenty twenty three, last summer.
Really, yes, Now it was just last night.
I know what we had her on when she got hired.
Oh maybe maybe that's when we got on just after she got hired in Arizona.
Who are you? What's your name?
That's why these who's been on our show. I keep a record back, you know, I need to find well one to find out what we call.
You keep the cop notes. I don't even where my notes are. Yeah, okay, cool, cool, So she'll be back. Ali will be here tomorrow as well as I'm on the beard. God, I remember talking to her. But that's cool. That's cool, and then we'll have Troy Hutchinson here hopefully at the four.
Cann I Teyson.
You know, it's Hutcheson, Hutchinson, Hutchinson, Hutchison, right, no end, there's no ending.
There's an N at the end, but not in the media. Yeah, he says his name, like my dad would probably say, call Troy the kid, my kid. I think it's gonna hopefully we can get him on. They're working on the phone, so if not, you're gonna have to listen to us for for another for an extra fifteen minutes. Yes, okay, So Hutchison, Hutchison, It's okay, Troy hutches It's like Peterson with the no. No, it's all ease.
Yes, it's all ease. Yeah.
You know, listening to the press conference that you know, I know, the guys you know who have to write about this and they're writing about this stuff every day that you have to go into some detail on some of the you know, some of the things they're talking about, specific players and that kind of stuff. We're kind of
flat a little a little higher level. But again, you know, there was a discussion of the offensive line, the discussion of the receivers, well, you know what we got time, let's play this last quote, the last clip, because you know we talked about what if team at right or you know who what tell us a little bit about your receiver room, uh and what you know what you've got going on there, because you know, if they don't if they don't get team AC or if he gets
hurt again, you know, you gotta feel good about that group. So here's what the Brandon had to say about his receiving group.
For I'm excited about that group. You know, I think the the guys that we added this spring, I'm really excited to see what they can do or you know, added post spring ball.
And then I think there's a big group of guys.
There's kind of like a log jam there after the first three or four guys, and someone needs to separate there. I mean, I think that's the beauty of football is that they're all going to get reps, and those reps are going to dictate who moves up the ladder and who doesn't. And so that's that's a huge part of training camp is you know, starting starting those things starting to separate and and decide themselves. And we'll make those evaluations daily.
As we go, you know, uh, and I think you can probably say similar things about the running back room. Right, they got a bunch of guys. Now the question is which which of those guys can play?
Right? Well, they got the new Mexicool guy back, right, so he's the veteran. He knows how to play the game. Hopefully for them that he's capable, and he needs at least one or two of those guys. Yeah, because because I thought, I thought, you know, I know, Noah was important. I know, Tam Mac was hugely important, both of them. But the dude I really liked was the running back who left jan Jonah Coleman. You give him the ball. He was a bowling ball going down five six yards, yes, five six yards.
Yes, every time, every time, every time.
You know, you could probably think, well, those three guys, those three guys alone.
Yeah, no, yeah, yeah, I mean that they right, they had a running game. They had guys they could count on. They had a bunch of different guys.
And one doesn't work without the other, Right, It creates the opening.
That Michael Wiley was, you know, and then TJ DJ DJ Williams. You know that that group of guys they had as much to do with how good Arizona was last year as t Mac and the receivers and defeated quarterbacks.
Well, I just got some there's some storm warnings in the show breaking into the shop, so right, I think that's what I think that's what may have done.
All right, Well, we're at the top of the hour, so uh, we'll take our breakaway to come back where I think we're gonna have breaking you right, We're gonna have breaking news and then hopefully we're gonna.
Have Kyle is not coming from inside the house, right, hopefully we're gonna have destroy it.
But