Take it down of Ted Colson play action from his own two yard line over the middle, picked off head into the end.
Zue, it's a pick six for smith Stote. It's smith Stote with a big six.
He read it.
It took it to the house. Hello sports fans, welcome back.
It is to drive with Spence check ads here on ESPN seven hundred and ninety two one FM. Of course, I'm not Spence. I do know Spence. I've met his dog before. We crossed paths. From time to time. I have some rather compelling conversations. I'm Scott Mitchell filling in for Spence today and tomorrow. I guess PAC twelve or Big twelve media days were just too much. It was just too much, and Spence need a couple of days off.
And I understand that it's all good. And I'm happy to be here, happy to know that Spence believes in me, he loves me, he trusts me enough to drive the bus for a couple of days.
We have a special.
Guest joining us on the program right now, none other than the voice of the Utes and director of Broadcasting at the University of Utah and my friend mister Bill Riley.
Welcome to the program. How are you.
I'm good. I missed you in Frisco.
Yes, yes, I'm not sure why I wasn't there, but I wasn't. I was there in spirit and quite an interesting an interesting There's a lot that went on there.
I'm assuming that you were there since you missed me.
Was just some general impressions and feelings and thoughts you have from Big twelve media days.
Well, I think the number one football thought is nobody knows who the best team in a Big twelve day. Right when you talk to the coaches and the media, the players, it ranges anywhere from about five to eight teams they think could win the league this year. Now that won't be the case in October or November, but right now I think it's the case. There's a lot of parody, there's a lot of balance, there's a lot of everything in this league.
Well there is. There's a lot of good football.
There'll be a couple of bottom feeders this year, Scott but there's a lot of really good teams, which is good for competition, which is good for fans. It may not be overall good for the league when it comes to maybe cannibalizing itself, right if that makes sense, Because you might have the team that wins the league this year might have nine regular season wins. You might have a regular season sham for the top two teams to get into the conference championship game.
They might both be nine and three, and then.
You've got a four loss team that comes out of that in a three loss team that wins it. It might be tough to get multiple teams. I don't know what you do about that when you've got a league that's so good and so balanced. But it's going to make for good and interesting football this year, that's for sure.
Yeah, And I agree with that.
I you know, it's interesting that they decided not to pick a you know who they thought was going to be the team to win it. And I think it's a wise decision actually, because I don't think anyone really knows, uh And like I said, you'll know in October.
What do you think?
Because the balance is so close with the talent right, And I like personally, I like it. I like that there's a lot of teams that feel like they have a chance. I I like that the league, you know, really almost from top to bottom is competitive that you're gonna get tough, good games weekend and week out.
And I like that and uh that that excites me about the conference.
But what do you what do you think it would take, you know, maybe for a team like Utah or a team to really rise above all of this in the conference? What is the team going to have to do, uh to be better than you know, kind of middle of the pack.
Well, I think you're gonna have It's it's the same you know formula.
Every year.
You've got to protect your home field and then you've got to win two or three games on the road. That's just how it is. You can lose a game somewhere along the line. You can lose too, but if you can, if you can sneak some roads in and protect your home field, that's.
Going to give you an advantage.
And you know, if you're looking at Utah's road games this year that you want to circle. Obviously the BYU game in mid October, the Kansas game to end the season, that's another big game there as well.
Home games.
Texas Tech's gonna be a lot of fun in the opener, Arizona State coming here. So it's a good schedule. Everybody's playing a good sched nobody has a break because the league is so deep, and you know, the top eight or nine teams, I think they can win it. But if you're going to separate yourself, you've got to steal some wins on the road. Great teams, you know this, Scott. If you're a great team, you protect your home field, but you win games on the road.
So if the Big.
Twelve wants to have a good team, whether it's Utah or anybody else, you're going to have to go out and do a lot of damage on the road as well. If you're just five hundred on the road, there's nothing wrong with that might put you in contention, but you might not be one of those teams that everybody's talking about nationally.
If that makes sense, Yeah, it does.
You know, getting back to the conference in general, and like having you mentioned about having your your conference champion might have three losses and it's really hard to get multiple teams in the.
College football playoffs. Where do you think.
The conferences RTT your Mark, as you know, he's been a guy that's been very aggressive. He talks that the
Big Twelve is open for business. Do you get a sense that some of the moves that the conference has made and continues to make and and I'm sure that you heard him speak in in the Big Twelve media days, but you get a sense that the conference is in a position to be competitive on a national stage and has put itself in a position to to be relevant and to kind of fight for, you know, its place in the world of college football.
Well, I think it's the third best conference in college football, in college basketball. I think it's the head of the ACC I do. I just think it is. I think the overall depth of talent the thing that separates the Big Twelve right now, and again, this can change once you start playing games. Because everything's on paper. You know the SEC and the Big Ten are east going to have a couple of dominant teams. Does the Big Twelve
develop a dominant team? Do they have a team that goes eleven and one or twelve and zero, because you know the SEC and the Big Ten are probably going to have each of them probably have at least one
one lost team. Can the Big Twelve do that? I think if the league itselfs in good shape, I think Brett Yourmark and his staff and the ads and everything like that have done a really good job positioning the league, but it's a third, and it's a distant third behind the SEC and the Big Ten from a financial standpoint, from a television deal, all of that stuff. But they're
firmly third. But if you want to compete with the big boys, you've got to you've got to establish a couple of dominant teams, and really and truly, now that there is a playoff, you've got to make your hay in the postseason. And if you want to make hay in the postseason, you probably should have more than one team, because you know the SEC and the Big Ten are
going to have at least two, probably three. So the Big twelve, to me, if they want to compete and be a player, you've got to get multiple teams in that postseason.
So they're talking about you more than just one or two.
Nice.
Is that something that's kind of on the colleges the schools, like, you know, make your program better or are there are there things that the conference can say, hey, let's work together collectively and make, you know, make our programs as strong as they possibly can be.
Well, you can try to schedule better, that's usually a conference initiative. You can find more ways to generate money as a conference for your individual schools, but ultimately it's up to the school and up to the program itself. And as Kyle Whittingham and Rich Rod, a bunch of the coaches said it, and Dion and some said at the media days, it's a financial component now. And we know that the SEC and the Big ten are are financially very solvent, and the Big twelve if they want
to get there, obviously Texas Tech is they've invested. Now let's see if they get it on the field. They've invested for a couple of years now, they haven't had those results. Are other schools going to step up and do that same thing? Because Kyle Whittingham's told me on a number of occasions, best best players come where there's the best money. You can develop to a point, but you've got to have the financial wherewithal to be able
to get those players. Today, that's just where the game of college football and really, you know, big time college athletics is gone.
Yeah, it's it's it's going to be an interesting dynamic because you know, these the people who are investing, are the are the big time donors, and you know, do they get fatigue, do they say, hey, I need a return on my investment or you know, I don't know how you know I can continue to do this, and so it's gonna be fascinating. Do you think do you think college football is broken? Do you think that's the model? You know, you say, these coaches say, hey, it's a
it's a financial situation. I hear some people that are kind of disenfranchised with the game.
Do you do you think college football is broken?
Or broken is the right word. It's different, Scott. It's a new reality, right. I mean, it's still the game, it's still there, it's still Saturdays in the fall, but it's a different reality now. It's not the game you played. Shoot, it's not the game that you know Tyler Huntley played.
Six years ago in Utah.
It's a different game. Broken is a word that people want to use. I'm not going to use broken because it's the same for everybody. You just have a new reality that you have to adjust to and deal with, and it's the same reality for everybody. How you deal within that reality is up to individual schools and programs. So I wouldn't say the game is broken. I would just say the rules and the landscape have changed, and now it's going to the teams that are going to
survive and thrive. Are the teams the best adjust to these changes.
The quarterback position, of course, has a huge impact on the success of teams, and we've kind of seen that at Utah both both ways. We've seen the good side of it and the bad side of it, and a lot of a lot of folks. They voted Devon Dampier as the Newcomer of the Year, so he's got a lot of hype.
He's got a lot of public going into all this.
Where where do you think this year turns out for Devon Dampier And does he live up to this and what does it mean?
Well, I don't know if he's going to live up to it, but he checks the boxes. He was an elite athlete and the player of the Year of the Mountain West Conference a year ago. And I've talked to lots of people, not just within the Utah program but other places that have said his skill set translates and you and I saw him play in spring football practice against a very good Utah defense. So he got my vote. I had a preseason ballot.
He got my vote.
His preseason Newcomer of the Year, and with the offensive line that he's got and the running backs that he's got, I think there's no reason to expect that he doesn't adjust well to the big twelve. Does that mean he's going to be the player of the year.
I don't know.
There's a lot of good quarterbacks and some of that has to do with how the rest of your team does. But I think Devon's going to translate just fine. And I think if he stays healthy, and we know that's the big if because we've seen that reality the last two years, if he stays healthy, this Utah football team is going to be very good this year.
Yeah, you know, I'm excited about Devon. I'm excited about You mentioned the offensive line, and it probably as good as Kyle Whitningham's had since he's been at Utah. I mean it's on paper, boy, it's super impressive. And you get a sense with Jason Beck that he's kind of, you know, I don't want to say, draw stuff up in the dirt, but certainly get a little bit creative on how to create production. And when you have a quarterback who's multi dimensional and he truly is Devin Dan
Pierre is a really good runner. And I like that he's actually a good runner because I think he can protect himself better than maybe Cam did at times, and so because I think he's less susceptible to being injured because he's he's just a more efficient runner in what he does. But it feels like you know that there's there's an ability to create offense and kind of in unconventional ways. And coach Whittingham actually brought up the potential
of Lander, Barton and smith Notden taking reps offensively. Is that something you might see this season and does that make sense?
Well, Kyle Whittingham said it.
I know, so I don't think he's going to say it publicly at Big twelve media days if it's not a possibility. Lander was a heck of a pass catcher at Brighton High School and he's worked at tight end and practiced some during his career. I think the smith Snoton component is go back to si Oni Vaki two years ago. When you have an elite athlete who can do things with the ball in his hand, I think
you figure out ways to get them involved. That doesn't mean smith Snowden is going to be playing forty snaps on offense a game because he's going to be your slot in nickel corner, which we know is a very important position, and probably returning some kicks too. But I think they're going to be very creative with how they
use those guys' skill sets. I mean, it just makes sense if you've got elite athletes that can help you use them, whether they're offense or defense or whatever it might happen to be.
Where do you think this comes from?
Do you think it's Hunter in Travis Hunter at Colorado in the success he had being a two way player.
Do you think it's because the program? You know, you're kind of limited.
In the number of players that you haven't you don't have the luxury of, you know, developing the depth you've had in the pass. Coach winning Ham's referred to kind of changing some of their schemes, simplifizing things a little bit more. Is it kind of one of those hey, we need all hands on deck?
You know what? Where do you think this is?
This is out of or did these players just go to coach and bug him to that and say, man, you gotta put me in a tight end.
Coach, you know where, Well, why do you think this is happening?
Your elite athletes, you find ways to get them the ball. You're silly if you don't use their skill set. That's why I said Sioni Vaki two years ago, what happened when they started handing him the football? Good things happened. He made plays. I just think when you have elite athletes who are playmakers, you utilize those guys.
You don't put them in a.
Box and say you're only you're only a corner, you're only a safety, you're only a linebacker. You utilize those guys where you can. I don't think it's Travis Hunter. I think you look within the program two years ago and you had a guy that was able to help you. Now, they were short handed when they used him. Futah's not necessarily shorthanded. But if you've got a guy that can help, even if it's only for ten plays a game, utilize them.
What you Orlander, we kind of looked at him a year ago and wasn't healthy. It feels like he's healthy now. Looks like he's going to be a most tied dimensional player here. What's the ceiling for Orlander?
Barton? What are your expectations for him if he's healthy.
I voted in my defensive player of the Year in the Big twelve.
Oh wow, okay, so there you go. So you have high expectations, is what you're saying.
Well, why shouldn't we. We saw him before his injury. He was playing at an all Pac twelve level two years ago. We didn't see him back at one hundred percent till the last handful of games last year, and then he was dominant again.
We've seen it.
He also now is playing for a pro contract. He wants to play where his brothers had played. I just think he's healthy. We've seen him play. He was a defensive Freshman of the Year in the Pac twelve. He played at all Pac twelve levels a sophomore than got hurt. So I think my expectations are that if he stays healthy, he could be as good a defensive player as there is in this league.
A lot of good things on offense. You talked about the quarterback. The running back situation seems to be pretty good. You know, I wonder if maybe Lander playing tight end is partly because there's maybe there aren't quite as many there, but there you know, there there are a few good options.
Uh.
Uh.
The wide receiver position really makes me nervous. Is there is there a way to generate enough offense being creative?
Are there enough bodies there? Uh? Is there? You know?
Is it a complete detriment the offensive wide receiver position or is there is there somewhere, somehow, some way an option to get some kind of offense in that in that position group.
Well, we haven't seen him on the field in a game, so I think for us to feel doom and gloom yet is is a little premature. They also added two receivers in the spring window. One guy who's giving great effort right now, Larry Simmons. The Merriweather kids good too. And we didn't even talk about a guy that played in this offense a year ago.
That was Ryan Davis, who caught.
Fifty balls from from from Devon damp here at New Mexico. So I'm not ready to scream the sky is falling till we actually see what's on the field in fall camp. And even if it's not all inspiring eight deep, if you've got a handful of guys that can do it, you know you've got a running game that you can lean on and a quarterback.
That can make plays.
So if this was an air raid offense and you were worried about your receivers, I'd be concerned. But this is a pretty balanced offense, so I'm not Again I think there's question mark. Don't get me wrong, I'm not you know this. I'm not selling this as this is Colorado or something where you've got seven NFL guys, But I just want to see them out on the field and see what some of those spring portal additions can do as well in this Jason Beck offense.
What are you looking most forward to this year?
You know, it's a fun it gets exciting when you talk about you know, it's the countdown to all of it, and it really is exciting to of course from our perspective to broadcast the games.
But what are you looking forward to the most this year?
I'm looking forward to what a healthy Utah football team will look like because I think the last two years they had championship caliber talent and they were let down by injuries at key positions, obviously quarterback, but there were some others last year too. I just want to see what a healthy Utah offense and healthy Utah football team looks like in this new league, because I think it can be pretty good coach winningham.
You know he's not going to go forever. Do you think this is the last go or do you think there's more there where? Do you think his mindset is?
I have no clue, I really I don't. I think Kyle's a guy that's got a well oiled machine and a really good program and enjoys coaching football and if they can have success, win a league, get to the playoffs.
Who knows. But I stopped.
People have been asking this for four or five years, and I think I don't even know that Kyle knows. I think it's really played. Depends on you know, where a program it is, and how he's feeling at.
The end of the year.
I would imagine, well, I know how it is as a former player.
You know, it's hard to let it go, and it's hard when it's over, and when it's over, it's over.
And I'm just sure that's a that's a question, a decision that he's.
Probably thought a lot about and probably had times when he goes, Yep, I'm ready to go. Another time he said Nope, like I'm not ready to go. So I'm sure I'm sure it's difficult for him. Uh, it'll be fascinating to kind of see how this year plays out and if if this, you know, if if this is his last year, if there if it, if there isn't a different I don't know, maybe a different mindset and maybe maybe he knows it no one else will, and so maybe he changes some things that he does.
Who knows, I don't know.
Uh.
On a on another note, really quick, I'm sure you had interactions with Frank Layden throughout your time in the in the broadcasting world here in Utah. Just just some thoughts on coach Layden, and of course he passed away yesterday at ninety three.
He was a friend.
I'm sure a lot of people will be saying that because Frank made everybody feel like a friend. But I met him twenty four years ago when I moved here. One of my favorite Frank's stories is I was getting on a football football charter and he was at the back of the plane and I sat down and he was in the road behind me, and he tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around.
He said, Riley, you need to know this. Nobody listens.
He said, what goes nobody listens to your broadcasts. Just learn that now and you'll live a better life. And he, of course was joking because he would listen. He would occasionally send me a message and go that way. And he once gave me a great compliment. He said to me, Bill, you know how I know you're a good broadcaster. You make soccer sound interesting. He goes, I've never been a soccer fan, but when I listened to you do a soccer broadcast, you make it sound interesting. So that's how
I know you're a good broadcaster. I've got dozens of those stories, Scott.
But he was he was. He was great.
He was self deprecating, he was kind to everyone. I called him the ambassador of sport in Utah. He was just great and I loved him, and he great, was great to me, and I'll miss him, but I'm just happy I got to know him for twenty four years.
You know, that's a true statement. You you really do make soccer sound interesting. So uh and that might be the best compliment someone could give you, by the way, So I love that. I think that's a wonderful thing. You know, I've I don't know that The Utah Jazzer in Utah right now, if there wasn't a Frank Layton, I you know I was, I was here when it all started, and and what he was and what he did, and you know, his just to share personality and presence
that he was. I think, I think really did a lot of interest in and uh and excitement in the Utah jazz.
And uh, Larry Miller and Frank Layton are the two most important figures in jazz history. There's no jazz if Larry doesn't buy them from San Mattistone. But Frank was the ambassador that connected with the community and was a good coach too. I know people you saw him as kind of the clown prince of basketball. Frank Layton was a heck of a basketball coach too, and and he you know, he along with Dave Checketts and and others in the front office, helped put together the Stockton Malone era.
So he's Utah sports fans oh him a dead too.
I love Frank Clayton. I'm really glad. I appreciate your comments on him, and so it's good to hear. All right, appreciate you time.
Bill.
I guess we're going to start here in a pretty I don't know. I'm sure you'd know more of the countdown than I do.
But fist day one day.
Uh are you looking forward to that first game in the Rose Bowl? Think that's a good one to start off this this new season.
I'll look forward to every game, yes, but I think that's a good starting spot.
All right. There you have it, folks.
Thanks Bill, none other than Yeah, none other than the voice of the Utes, Bill Riley, and the director of broadcasting. So Bill and I have a good time broadcasting games and this will be a fun year.
Uh.
Lot to look forward to during this season and of course every season.