Hey, dude, don't make it bad. Take a side sun and make it banner Lean and du Lettereal Home. Then you can stop to make it Banner.
Pay two broadcasting live today nineteenth year out here at the road Homes, thinking about that this morning, we are asking for your donations to help families in need. The road Home operates eighty percent of our communities year round, shelter beds. Tell you more about the spot out here. The Connie Crosby Family Resource Center serves up to three hundred individuals with families nightly. So here's how you donate. Five bucks, ten bucks, whatever you can do, no amount
too small. Eight oh one eight seventy three hundred. That's eight oh one eight three hundred. You can also go to the road Home dot org. Slash donates. Our next guest used to come out here with me every year.
It's been a minute.
Gordon Monson back on the drive on a Thursday. Gordon, Happy Thursday, sir.
How are you?
I'm doing fine? Thanks, Vince Taylor. Road Home is always close close to the heart, you know. I mean, anybody who goes out there and sees the work that's gone, I think would be happy to open the.
Wallet, no doubt, And I always have these memories because back in the day, they don't do this anymore. But back in the day, they used to have like a competition among the stations as far as who could get the most donations, and I think they saw that that was probably a little.
Bit cringey to do, so we don't do it anymore.
But back in the day, we used to be neck and neck with some of the bigger stations, and because your buddy Spence Echels would roll in last minute and write a big check and give us credit, we always shot to the top.
Of the list.
So I was kind of remember those days back in the day, Gorda.
I do remember those days. It was kind of like it was a friendly competition, and we knew we knew Spence was coming in with the big hammer, and so that always gave us a big boose. So we were grateful to him, and he used to bring like his entire family down and I have great respect for him.
For that, no doubt, no doubt.
All right, Gordon, I want to start with you where I started the show today, because I think you'll be good with this and the you know, the sports talk radio or the sports calumnist topic of culture building is not new and sometimes probably hit over the head a little bit too much. But there's an article today in The Athletic about my hapless, hopeless, pathetic New York Football Jets.
And if you think it's bad, it's even worse when the owner is enlisting the advice of his sons based off their Madden video game experience to make personnel decision. They have not been to the playoffs in thirteen years. They married themselves to an idiot who wants to go on Netflix and just smash mushrooms instead of actually be a serious person.
It is bad.
And so I was thinking about this today from a local standpoint, Gordon, about the culture that the Miller's built in, you know, twenty five ish years owning and operating the Utah Jazz, and even though it never led to an NBA championship, it was one of the healthiest and most enviable cultures in all of pro basketball. When Greg Popovich took the job with San Antonio, he said, I want to build it the way Jerry built, you know, the Utah Jazz. And look, I'm not saying what Ryan has
done so far is either good or bad. We don't know, but it is different. Over the course of three and a half years, Larry, you knew him well, was front.
Facing, authentic and honest.
Ryan seems to prefer to do a lot of his business behind the scenes and in more of a clandestine way.
That leads to a lot of questions.
And then we'll get an occasional puff piece from his PR team that they give to ESPN. But we don't really know this group the way that we all knew the Millers. And again, I want to be clear, it's not good or bad, it's just different. But from your seat, the way the Millers built this thing up over the course of twenty five years juxtaposed to the way that Ryan approaches it and his group over the course of about three and a half.
Well, when it comes to culture and you bring up the Jets, I mean, it's not who you say you are, it's who you are, right, That's what builds the culture, right. And I had great respect for Larry and for his you know, it's funny because if you used to talk to him all the time, you know, and he would say things that you would think, Okay, that's unusual for an owner to say, But you knew where it was
coming from. It was coming from deep inside that vast brain of his, and he was honest in what he said. And I think there is a great blessing to that kind of transparency. Even though every once in a while you might hear something you don't like Ryan, I still haven't figured out to say the truth. When he first came in, I I sat down with him and we talked for maybe an hour and a half or so, and I did a big kind of Lifetime feature on him.
And when I do that, I usually feel like, Okay, I have a pretty good idea who this guy is. I'm still not sure about Ryan Smith. I'm not quite sure who he is. And maybe those who are closest to him know that. But based on what we've seen, certainly out of the culture that's being built with the jazz, that's a big old question mark right now. I mean, we've seen what's happened with that team. You and I have watched it closely, and we have asked questions, and
we're still asking questions. You know, if they were going to tank, why didn't they tank? I'm a go it's really your options are limited in the NBA, as you know, Spence, when it comes to rebuilding, you don't have a lot of choice unless you get extremely lucky. And the Jazz have sent mixed messages that way. And so if that's what you mean, but building a culture, I think what Ryan has built is very much in question right now.
Yeah, And also I want to follow up because I want to be very fair here and you bring up a really good point, because we're gonna discuss this rather the course of the show. There is a little bit of a different approach with the modern day and age of roster construction. What Danny and Justin are tasked with is a little bit different than what Scotty Layden was
tasked with, or Kevin O'Connor or Dennis lindsay. But you bring up the luck portion, and not even frank Leyden himself, God Bless the legend, would tell you that he knew John was gonna be John and Carl was gonna be Carl. Kevin O'Connor, I doubt knew that, you know, Darren was gonna be well, maybe Darren.
Because he was like a top three guy.
But Dennis Lindsay has said to me and you as well before, no idea Donovan was gonna be Donovan and Rudy was gonna be Rudy. You know, the O'Connor stuff is different because he drafts Darren early. He hits on that, he signs Booze and o'curran. So that's a great group, and Kevin did a hell of a job. But you referenced luck portion and as of right now, what we have as far as the three year sample size of talent that has been acquired via draft, I think Walker
Kesseler is probably the best news. But if you go down the list, Taylor Hendrix is hurt, Keyante George looks like he's miscast. Bryce Senseiba not unclear if he's even a rotational piece. Kyle Philipowski a couple of things here there. Isaiah call you're nothing really. Cody Williams is in the G League, and all we have as far as the data so far is that the team has not won anything even close to a high level type situation.
They're not close to the postseason.
And Gordon, there's an argument to be made that there's like one young player on the team that provides consistent hope to the point that you think he's a rotational player. So the luck or whatever you want to call it, that potentially franken Scott had with John Carl or Dennis had with Rudy and Donovan has not manifested itself so far. But is it only luck or is it a failure to do your job as a talent evaluator.
I think it's a little bit of both. And as was the case when I did the show with you for all those years, I can't say it any better than you just did. I think you put a rap on it perfectly, and I think that is an issue. It's funny you bring up Frank, and I remember Frank saying, Hey, if we knew, if we knew these guys doctor Malone was going to be as good as they ended up being, we would have moved up to draft them. You know,
they did not know, but they did get lucky. And when I talked to Phil Johnson about this, I'll never forget what he said. He said he hit the luckword hard, and I do believe there is a part of that. But in a market like ours here, and this may or may not be fair, it isn't fair. Let's come right out and say it. You got to be smarter than the rest of the guys. You've got to be smarter in order because you can't make up for your mistakes by being a destination team. And so these guys
have to get their picks right. There are there is talent available later in the draft, as mister uh uh As the joker himself in Denver has proved that there are there is talent out there, it's just hard to get. And the Jazz have to be smarter. They have to be smarter than they've been, both from a philosophical standpoint
and from a selection standpoint. Everybody praised them when they got all the draft picks for Rudy and all this stuff, and okay, but what are the draft picks turning into Spence? Not so great so far as you pointed out. So I mean, I know there are those on the inside who say that what the Jazz were with the elevated Rudy it wasn't gonna work moving forward. Well, it would have been a whole lot better, a whole hell.
Of a life here for people that are listening that may be workover at the old spot.
I love the Utah Jazz.
In this job, you have to be agnostic, and Gordon, you taught me as much as anybody did about that.
I care about the Utah Jazz.
I want nothing more than in five years from now to and again, I want to be clear about today. I'm not saying it's good or bad, It's just different. But I want to be proven wrong, you know. And if the starting front court Gordon in three years is Lowry, Markin and Cooper Flag and aj Debantza all eat some crow, okay, happily so right, absolutely absolutely all right Away from that
for a moment, over to some college football. Since since you and I last spoke, Isaac Wilson, who hit the transfer portal to potentially look at playing at other places, ends up back where he started. And I gotta say, Gordon, I give him a lot of credit for wanting to compete. I I got to be clear, I do not know what the status is of his knee. We got to remember that he hurt his knee, and so will he be ready to compete come springball?
I'm not sure.
And it does feel like Devin Dampier is going to be the starting quarterback no matter what. But what are your thoughts on Isaac entering the transfer portal and essentially decided to come back to play for the Utes.
Well, let me start a little broader than that, and I'll get to that specifically. But what did Kyle say at the end of the season. He said, essentially, Hey man, we're going to go out and we're going to sign a bunch of guys. We're going to get a bunch of guys. What did he say? I think he said they were looking at you get forty some guys and half of those would come through the transfer. What are they at now about ten? You know? And so they are changing it up because Kyle sees the need to
do that. You compare that with like BYU, what is BYU gotten so far in the transfer one? I think they've gotten one new guy, you know, and it came from Utah Ryan to tight End yep. So, so the youths are going about their business exactly the way. I don't know, forget everybody they wanted to, but they're doing what Kyle said they would do. As far as Isaac Wilson goes, you know, Isaac is a really interesting case. I'm not sure you know. Zach Wilson was crazy for football,
and I hope I'm not misstating that. I'm not sure that Isaac Wilson is crazy for football so his brother was. That's just the way it seems to being one of the whispers I've heard around him. Does he have talent, Yeah, he has talent, has a live arm, and yeah, I like guys who are willing to compete for their job. Everyone's making a big deal over this damn pier guy, and Kyle has always talked about the usefulness of a dual threat quarterback. But can Isaac Wilson be that? I
don't know. I don't know. I don't think he's as good as Zach was, but I think he's got a live arm, and I think he's a decent athlete. Is his care factor crazy for football? I'm not sure of that. I'm not convinced of that either. But what we saw this last season isn't really fair to him. I don't think you don't just throw a kid in like that right near the beginning of a season and expect him
to be completely polished. So you wait to see I wouldn't be surprised if we see a whole lot more of Isaac Wilson at Utah.
So, according to their dad, I have in front of me ten ten additions to the transfer portal from the youth so far. Cameron Calhoun announced that he's had to di Alabama, which is a big time gut punch, and there are a bunch of other players still in the transfer portal that have not landed in a spot. You reference Carson Ryan, who's headed to bring him young and then we'll get to the BYU side of this in just a moment. But Gordon, I haven't talked to you
about the dynamic. I mean, it's a statement and a testament to the power of the game of college football, in the product of college football that a business that is that is run by a confederacy of dunces continues to bring in the consumer numbers.
That it does.
I can't believe that the transfer portal is open when coaches are trying to win national championships. Can you imagine if the NFL playoffs are about to start. Lamar Jackson was like, yeah, I'm out, just so you know, Like it's so it's beyond stupid, and it's it's even dumber that the idiots in the room haven't done anything about this.
And every time I hit like I feel.
Horrible for these coaches that are in the twelve team CFP or even in the Alamo Bowl like Brigham Young that have to run a practice and then finish practice and go to damage control to make sure their players are going to actually play for them. Like, what's your thought on this dynamic of essentially having free agency during the season.
Yeah, it's chaotic. They need to do something about that. And at least the teams that are in the College Football Playoff have something to play for, you know. I mean when Deion Sanders said that his stars were going to play against BYU and the Alamo Bowl, I mean, a lot of people were shocked by that. He's to be said, We'll see if it actually happens that way. But with these bowl games, be I don't want to call a meaningless, but it seems like that's what they've
turned into. Unless you're in the playoff. I mean, if I'm a player, I may be looking at for my best interests in front of of the Team's interesting you're playing and you know, the tidy Bowl down in some small town in the South somewhere. But I agree with you. I mean, look, you could find some way to organize this, and there's a whole lot of organizing that needs to take place in college football and college basketball for that matter these days, and maybe revenue sharing will help that,
but it's not going to solve it. There's going and with all the things that are out there that are about to be added to the college game, with more money pouring in and pouring in, it's like you said, it's like the fools are getting richer and richer because there's more and more money being invested all right over.
To the BYU side of things. According to the data have in front of me. Maybe I should just ask Crittle. Here is Chase Roberts coming back? Okay, okay, I've got a BYU host next to me. I should just tap into his knowledge. Eleven BYU players in the PORTALASA now. The one player they picked up was Carson Ryan. But Chase Roberts did some meat after practice and it said he's going to announce his intention via social.
Media this week. You know, we have this really.
Fun matchup with Chase against Travis Hunter coming up in the Alamo Bowl that we all kind of want to watch. And Chase I love what he said this week. He said I'm gonna find him and follow him. So he has to cover me. So that's kind of the white whale out there right now. BYU again one edition. Eleven players have left and we're waiting on Chase Roberts. But you know, Klonie, well, how do you think he's traversing because they're not in the CFP.
But it's an awesome Bowl game.
They're gonna get like six mil I think is a payout and Kilanie's got to deal with the same stuff with the game coming up on Saturday.
Yeah, a lot of people are wondering where are all the transfers for BYUYU had a pretty good year. I don't know if the need is as great for them as it is for some other teams to make a whole lot of moves. But Chase Roberts is a guy you've got to hold on to. If this guy sticks around, he's going to be in a very strong receiving core. He's going to be the star.
Yep, the star.
They will utilize him in a way that they utilized him a lot this last year, nothing compared to what he'll be next season if he stays at BYU. And if I'm Jake Ritz laugh, I'm talking to him, avag I'll give you the ball every other down. Come on back because I need you to come back. And I kind of agree with Ben. I think he will come back. But we've all been shocked before. But he's a clutch receiver, he's got great size. He's a guy that I think can improve his draft stock if he sticks around.
So it was announced.
I don't think I talked to you about this, and of course it's BYU, so we don't know all the details. Kilanie given his extension, and you know I was thinking about this, and because you know him well, I want to get your thoughts on it. The one job I think Kilanie might leave BYU four is USC and Lincoln Riley's buyout is like seventy million.
Dollars or something like that.
Which is just insane. That's nature of college football coaching. And again, Colonie just got extended. But do you think if that job came open and the powers to be at Southern cal decided to call down to provo, Colonnie answers the phone.
Yes, he answers the phone. I'll say it this way, and I'm not going to quote Klaney in any way here, but I do know him well and I think he's been somewhat pissed off about the amount that he's gotten in the past. I did not know the details of this particular extension. My guess would be that it was enhanced substantially. But I'll go back and quote what gorbe Chow said many years ago when I was talking to him, and of course he was the offensive coordinator down at Troy.
He said, quote, USC gets what USC wants, and yeah, so I think Klane would pick up the phone and see what that is all about. Although I see right now, I mean that's not the US, see that I remember it. They seem to be in some more a pile of turmoil right now. They have players who are abandoned that program, and so if I'm the powers that be a USC, I would be very interested in a guy like Kolani Sataki. They need to do something because what they're doing right now is very much hanging in the air.
Gordo, I got to say, I got your family Christmas card in the mail last night, so thank you so much. Everybody looks like they're thriving and doing well. So I'll set you loose, but happy holidays to you and List and the girls, and you know, only love from this direction.
You guys hope you know that.
Well, they do know that there's nothing but that admiration in our family for you. And I'll say that on a professional level and on a personal level, nothing but love in this direction too, Spence, thanks for having
Me on Okay Gordo, Happy holidays.