One of the best to ever do it. You know him, you love him.
Scott Mitchell on a Tuesday afternoon. Scott, Happy Tuesday, buddy, How are we doing?
Excuse me? Thanks, I'm doing wonderful, Spence. You know, I was up in Ogden last week. I drove through there on my way to Logan.
All right, well, I wish you were back up here today, but we'll do it over the phone today, Scott, we'll do it over the phone. I want to start with a question about two before we get to the utes, which is where we'll spend most of our conversation. So news just came down, Scott. He's going to the IR so he's gonna miss four. And the conversation, of course,
is should he just stop playing? Should he step away from the game as a father and as a husband who's already made generational wealth, is it something he should consider doing. I don't have the perspective you do, because you guys are unicorns. What do you make of the conversation right now surrounding Tua tonguava loa.
Well, it's a history that you know. This isn't the first time, it's not even the second time. It's the third time, and you really start to have to ask yourself the question. There's a lot of history with guys who have had concussions. They they start to get them and then they just they don't go away and they come back more frequently. Steve Young had the Troy Aikman Chris Miller back in my time, and so it's it's something that more than likely is never going to go
away in his career. And it's a real thing that the concussions, and you know, it's it's not about you know, your life, because your life in the NFL, even if it's a long time, it's really a short time in your life. There's a lot a lot to go, a lot of life to live after you're done, and you really have to ask you thisself a question. It's hard, though, to answer that question, because to get there, you put your you put your body through so much, you put
your mind through so much. You've sacrificed so much, and in a lot of cases, you know, you've sacrificed a lot of having a normal body ever again. And that's just the reality of it. And so to get there, to have that drive, to have that competitive it's hard just to turn it off. I mean, you thought kind of dealing that with that with Cam Rising. You know, he's a guy that doesn't know half speed. He doesn't know when the runout of bounds, he doesn't know discretion.
You know, He's just like full speed ahead, and I'm going to you know, and I'm gonna I'm just going to run into whatever I can and and you don't want to take that away, you know, from from a really good player, and I think it's hard to So it's a hard, a hard decision. On top of you know, Spence, it's really cool to go to go do that. Like I can't even describe to people what it felt like to play. It was incredible, It was amazing, and I
loved it and I loved every minute of it. And when it's over, it's over and you don't go back to that. So it's a lot of conflicting emotions and feelings going through a decision to go, Hey, you know, I'm I'm going to pack it in. But you really, it's your health, your family, and your your life, your quality of life really should should win the day.
I wonder some interesting stuff there.
And I was talking about this earlier because ultimately you had an experience that most of the rest of us who played sports growing up dreamed of having but weren't able to get there. You were able to get there. And you know, I talked to a lot of X pros. I work with a lot of X pros on the media side. I was on the team side for a number of years. Do you ever come close to experiencing anything, anything at all like you did when you were a player?
And attendant to the question, have you ever talked to a.
Peer or a former teammate that has been able to find that thing that fills that board? It always is interesting to me to witness former longtime successful pro athletes try to figure out what to do next, and even if they're successful in those endeavors, which plenty of them are, they never seem to find that thing.
Man, you know what I mean. So give me your thoughts on that.
Well. The only thing that I've come close to feeling like when I played is some of the interviews I've had on your show. But they were close, they just weren't quite there.
Okay, I'm glad I can help till the board.
Actually one of the things that I really enjoy because you can't there's nothing. There's nothing that I've I've not found anything that that replaces it. But I'll tell you something that was close. And it was coaching and coaching high school football even And it's one thing to go out and do it yourself. And and the entery, you know, the excitement of a game. And and I don't care where you play, you know, or a coach or whatever. Going out and playing in the game, it's fun, it's exciting,
and it's it's a great thing. But to see other people learn and have success from something you taught them that that was a that was a cool thing for me. And and to see them, uh progress and get better and win and succeed at it and and and really, you know, seeing you change lives, that that was extremely exciting for me. I had an opportunity to spend some time with Roger Staubach, who did an incredible transition from his playing career into very very successful commercial real estate endeavor.
And I actually asked him, I said, you know, you impact the lives of so many people in your business, you know, I think he had fifteen hundred employees. And I said, that must be a really satisfying thing. And he says, It's the one thought I think about every day that my decisions and how I run my business, you know, impact the life of thousands of people every day, and it's really the driving force of what I'm doing.
And so I think, you know, engaging in things that make a difference and impact people in a good way, that's kind of where I've found. It Certainly doesn't replace or feel the same as when you played football at its highest level, but it's it's a very rewarding thing to be a part of.
Well said, all right, last pro football question that we'll move on to some mute stuff. Britain Covey Scott last night, I got six targets, six catches, which equals the targets and catches he had had prior to last night.
Now, no Aj Brown, that's.
Philly's wide receiver one, but that's still a crowded room. They got DeVante Smith some other good players. Do you think we're going to see this moving forward? Britain Covey being utilized not just as a punt or a kickoff returner, but actually getting wraps and getting looks from Jalen Hurts as a wide receiver.
Yeah, you know, I've always loved Britain. I don't think they utilized him as effective as they could have. At Utah. I mean he's in that slot position where you're not going up against the team's you know, shut down corner. You're a little bit undersized, but amazing speed quickness. You know, he has that speed and quickness that translates to the NFL. He's a playmaker. He's a guy that can make plays and and he's got a you know, he's just a
tremendous human being. I mean he's just a really good person. He understands, he gets it, he works hard at it and there and for guys like that, there's always a place. You know, Taysom Hill at Buyu, he was a quarterback, but he was a much greater athlete and they figured out how to utilize him. And the NFL is good at that. They just find they find places for people
who have unique abilities and talents. And you see that Julian Edelman's and some of these undersized receivers have a ton of success in the NFL because they're they're quick, and they can get open and they can be productive and and uh, you know, I just see Britain being a guy like that, and he's he's done enough. He's found ways to keep himself there and relevant because there you know, your opportunity will come at some point if you stick around, you just have to be ready for
it when it happens. And you're seeing a little bit of that with with Britain UH in Philadelphia.
All Right, moving over the Utes, Let's go back to last Saturday, Maverick Stadium, first time up in Logan in twelve years.
For the Utes started out a little Harry and a lot of people were nervous.
You could definitely feel it, getting the text messages from buddies and family members like is this really going to go down? But Isaac answered some questions Scott, I mean, I was proud of the kid.
It's weird to say, but youte fans.
Of course, a little PTSD from a year ago when it you know, Cam goes down, then Brandon goes down, and it was Bryson, then it was Nate, then it was Bryson and Nate, and it just it never looked.
It never looked the way it needed to to.
Be prepared for an emergency if you lose a couple of quarterbacks, and I think at least for one day. Isaac answered some questions about what it does look like should Cameron have to miss time. So give me your thoughts on Isaac's performance against UTAs here.
Well, we witnessed the Cam rising backup full on Saturday, you know, between Bryce and Barnes and Isaac Wilson and won the former and now the present, and you know that was that was the really big thing for me. Football. Football seasons are and games have emotional ebbs and flows and you know, the whole the whole tide of the game kind of you know, it just it just changes all the time, and good teams, mature teams and capable teams find a way to kind of change that momentum
and answer to that momentum. I think Utah was down fourteen to three, and you know I was one of those nervous people as well, and that's when that's when it just clicked in and they went on a drive, went down and scored and it was really that moment of kind of changing that low point in the game into a really positive thing. And look, two things are happening. First, it's a road game, and road games are real regardless of the opponent. And you're in and Utah's in this
new environment. It's tough. They came to play, they have they have some players, and then you're starting a true freshman quarterback, Isaac Wilson is it's I mean, he's fairly out of high school, barely looks like he's at a junior high school. And and it's and so he's, you know, he's dealing with that, and the whole team's dealing with that. You know, houses kid's gonna respond even though it's you know not they're not playing Texas, They're still playing a
good football team. And and and you still get nervous before your first start. And so it took a minute and and and it and then when he started gaining confidence, it's when everyone else really started gaining confidence. But I appreciated coach Whittingham, coach Ludwig for saying, we're not going to abandon this kid, We're not going to stifle him. Where I mean, they started the third quarter, I think they threw the ball five or six straight times in
a row. I don't know that. I don't know that's ever happened with Cam Rising in the game, and he and Isaac Wilson was way up to the challenge. I mean, he made some really really mature moves and throws in the location, and you know, he can throw the ball pretty much anywhere you need him to, and you can just see him getting more comfortable and more confident as the game went on, and I just I was just thoroughly impressed with the very beginning of Isaac Wilson.
So let's move over now to what Utah State was able to do and what you think it means as far as what Utah has to improve upon moving forward, because look, there was soul Faizan kid is a good back. But they're about to see Ali Gordon, who won the dok Walker a year ago nineteen carries one point fifteen. Utah State goes for three eighty five in total. Oh, I would imagine that Morgan and Kyle aren't thrilled with that.
And I think it's probably fair to say that if you're not better in those areas, Okay States can provide a really really stiff challenge on the road. So your thoughts on that dynamic and other dynamics you think Utah needs to improve upon this week to go get that win in Stillwater?
Well, offensively, you know it's being able to consistently go down the field and score. You're just going to have to do that. You're gonna have to. You can't get shut down and go three and out four or five times in a game. You don't. They don't have very many possessions even anymore in college football with the change of time, you can't get your defense tired. So and that's what Cam Rising is really good at is he can consistently go down the field and score on teams.
Oklahoma State has had some challenges defensively, but on the defensive side, you know, Utah decided to go after Bryce and Barnes put their dvs who really haven't been put in a lot of tests, you know, press man coverage, and bryceon took shots, I mean, and some of them he connected on amazing catches, but also some really good defensive plays. You know, you kind of throw those fifty to fifty balls and it was kind of fifty to
fifty fifty percent of the time. They made great catches and we had two really really good interceptions smith Snowden and Cameron Calhoun. But you tak dna is to stop the run, Oklahoma States, dna is to run the football. And so it's a it's a it's a matchup of power versus power. What Oklahoma State has shown is that they're not afraid if you're gonna stack the box on them, which everyone has done. Everyone's just so far this season just said we're not going to let Olli Gordon beat us.
You're gonna have to be to throwing the football and and Alan Bohannon has actually been able to do that so far. And that that's the thing I think that's really surprised me is Oklahoma State's willingness to throw the ball and throw it a lot early this year. I think I think that's going to be the challenge of the game is you know, you've got to be able to stop the run. I mean, if you don't stop the run, you're just not gonna win. So you've got
to be able to stop the run. But you also have to minimize the success that Oklahoma State's going to have throwing the football.
All right, Scott, before I set you, I mean, look, I hate to even say it this way, but if I told you that you had to place a sizeable bet with the Scott Mitchell quarterback NFL savings on whether or not Cameron Rising was going to play all season. My guess is you would say probably not. I don't know what the confidence level is around here that the kid can stay healthy.
I want him to.
We all want him to. So let's move over to Saturday and let's go under center with Cam. We all believe he is going to be the guy. What do you hope to see from him? Because the whole conversation I had it with you, I had it with other coaches, other people leading up to the season, is can you change the way that kid's mind is wired so that when he is in trouble he gets out of trouble as opposed to trying to make something happen. So from the standpoint of that, what are you hoping to see
on Saturday? And then just from a big picture standpoint, what are we hoping to see from Cameron Rising in Stillwater against Okay State.
Well, the thing I'm curious about is how much does this impact his ability to throw? I mean, he had a glove on last week. There's a lot of speculation that will wear a glove. Some quarterbacks have had a lot of success. Kurt Warner started wearing a glove all the time and really liked it. And I know, I know when you go from not wearing a glove to wearing a glove, there's just a time of getting comfortable
and confident with that. And if it if it helps Cam to be successful, you know, maybe wearing a glove makes all the difference in the world. And he's totally fine throwing the ball, but if it's if it's awkward and it feels weird and he can't feel get comfortable with it, it's going to be an issue. But to me, can he throw effectively? And he's going to have to because they're going to stack the box against Utah because
these two teams are mirror images of each other. They want to run, they're going to try to run against you know, an expanded front, but they're also going to throw the ball down the field when they have to. And I just to me, can he can he throw and not not have this be an issue. One of the good things Utah has this year is two bye weeks.
Have a bye week it's the first of October in the first of November, and a lot of these kind of nagging injuries that some of these players are going to get, they're going to get some really good time to rest up and go through what I think is going to be a long season. And but Cam has got to be able to to throw the football. I'm not gonna at this point in Cam's career. I think Kyle's kind of come to this as well. He's not
going to change who he is. He's going to go out there and he's gonna, you know, he's gonna storm the beaches and and do his thing and and I think you just have to roll with it. And but I think you can feel pretty comfortable with Isaac Wilson being a, you know, a solid backup and he'll probably end up playing some more this year.
All right, Scott, thanks for the time, Buddy, travels safe and have a great call on Saturday.
Okay, I appreciate it. Thanks