Gordon Monson will stop by sometimes we're in studio, but Craig is traveling.
The Jazz are on the road for a while.
Now we're gonna bring in Chris Camaraddi, but the TV voice of the Utah Jazz Craig Bowler Jack on a Thursday.
Bowler, Happy Thursday, sir, how are we doing?
Hey, I'm doing good. I just got to Portland and no rain, so that that's a happy that's a happy Thursday for me.
Oh that's good. That's good at this time.
And you're in Portland, you're gonna experience the rain for sure, all right, Bowler. Look, man, uh, it's just it's tough watching, you know, watch and tough. Tough it is it is and we all know the deal. And I will say this Oklahoma City is scary good even without Chet.
I mean, that's a good team. And what they do.
They get a lot of attention for, you know, SGA and their offense, and deservedly so. They're a nasty ball, howking defensive team. So let's just start in a vacuum. Nineteen turnovers in the first half, which tied an NBA record twenty nine, leading a forty five point it's Jazz fall to OKC NBA Cup group play.
What'd you see from your front row seat?
Well, I saw a team Oklahoma City Spence let's start there. Who could be a title contender in my opinion, which when Chet gets back healthy. I've never seen a defense that swarms and just constantly works as one unit. I mean, swing it from one side to the other, run it down the paint, force a shot out. The Jazz again don't have the experience to handle that type of pressure on a nightly basis, and it's been an issue all
season long. This one was out of sight in the sense of steel steel Steel eighteen In all, it's the most steals I believe, or ties the steals, most steals this season in the NBA.
It was rough.
You know, Will Hardy continues to try to find a positive or two out of things as this team continues to grow. But you know, it gets to the point spend where you just kind of sit back and just go wow, you know what will be the turning point? What will to take And maybe that's another player or two down the road, but right now, the experience you get from my chair is you I think the concern
for Will would be not to get demoralized. That is, I think that's a correct phrase or one word to use in a game like that that it totally stunts your ability to grow and move forward. So, you know, we're in Portland, they've struggled. You know, it's a whole new life without Dame as they continue to make those adjustments. So I look on the schedule where to go like
Sacramento as well. Do the Jazz want to win? I think one win on occasion obviously helps boost morale and get you back in the gym with a more positive attitude. But we all know what you know the situation is, and that is to let the young guys play at the bulk of the minutes and that's where we're going. And it's tough. It is tough to sit there and see some great moments and then just that six minute span or so that just absolutely derails what the Jazz are trying to do.
So prior to the team taking off for the road trip and you guys will have a home game, it was announced prior to the announcement that Phoenix will be in town next Friday, you guys are going to be on the road until Saturday, December the twenty eighth, when Philly rolls into town and then you're going back on the road for New York, Miami, Orlando, So it is
a lot of time away from home. And Will talked about the opportunity to come together as a group on these trips, and you're on the trips with the team, how did they seem? Man, getting your head kicked in like this, night in and night out has to take its toll.
It does, And I think there's a huge learning curve that's happening right now and what it takes to play a shake Guilt's Alexander and even brought into a wall of Lougan's Dort an undrafted player bind you who's made a living in the league being a defensive just you know, wall and understanding what it takes to play at this high level n after night. I think they're getting a
huge taste of that right now. And Spence Aday of the road, Yeah, I'm in the lobby and guys are walking through and heading up to the room and probably thinking about some late lunch around town. They'll practice with a shoot around in the morning and then play the Blazers tomorrow. But I still since they get it. Keante's driven. I take Colin Sexton is driven, as you know Walker Kesser has. You know, I think bodied up a little bit this year also mentally as well, physically and mentally,
which was a must in his third season. But a long way to go, you know, a long way to go, and that's my biggest concern as we roll into game forty. In game fifty, the you know, have you stripped these guys of confidence that they definitely have to have moving forward in their pro career, And I think Will's trying to balance that with positivity. In his postgame comments, you know, I thought he did a great job of explaining himself.
And I made the call that Colin had run it to the rack and scored against the Lakers, But yet I didn't hear it or even my eyes are going to the you know, going to the rim. Will was at about at half court and made the call, the timeout call. But you know, I think he at least goes to the microphone, and you know, he admits when he's right and also admits when he's wrong, and also
in the sense of you know, talking to Colin. You know, that's one thing I've noticed about Will he talks to you, and I think he talks truths and that's what the players need to hear right now.
Yeah, and you know, just I want to continue on this theme, Greg, because you know, to start the year, Danny Justin anybody who took a mic, including Will said, it's development, it's young players. We need to see what sort of hand we've been dealt. I'm paraphrasing obviously, and
of course that has been the deal. You know, they are playing the young players, and they are playing these young players through difficult moments when they're making clear errors and mistakes where if you're playing for something maybe a little bit more serious this year, you take them out of the game to maybe play a vet give you a better chance to win.
But there has to be, Craig, a very fine line.
Between wanting them to learn what it's like to play with the varsity, as Gordy Chaser would say, but not allowing this consistent losing to seep into their psyche and the risk of them learning. You know, habits, they lead
to losing and winning. They're both habits. They're both things that are created with day to day you know, good habits, right, And ultimately I'm not saying that bad habits, but tell me from your vantage point, your thoughts on the fine line between learning lessons and allowing losing to seep into your culture.
Man Spence Bingo, it's a razor thin. It's probably the biggest conversation had behind closed doors with Utah Jazz management. I think the balance is all on Will to make sure that they stay positive. It's hard. There's there are moments he tries to I think highlight to say this really went well, and he's always told me, look, well, what the problem is. Great teams can handle two minutes where they may see a seven to eight oero run happen, but then they're able to put things back on track.
The Jazz are in the six minute category or even beyond, and all of a sudden, what was a five or six point lead allows is allowed to be taken away and then down fifteen. So the runs are fifteen, two, seventeen four, sometimes twenty to four, twenty to six, And I look into players eyes as they run across by the table, and you know, I think they are in kind of this shock mode of like, damn, things were
going well, what happened? And that's where Will has to step in and explain that good teams start to up their defense, they'll doub you. They'll they'll trick you into thinking you're good, or they'll go to your weak hand and make you turn the ball over. And so if that's the process of learning, so be it right. But I'm with you on the psychological part of it, and that may be the biggest challenge for Will this year is to still be able to say, hey, here are
some positives that we're moving forward. But also when you take a win, enjoy it and understand why you want and you know, there's have been a lot of wins and you know they're in line. I try to just keep, you know, pumping the wheels a little bit and try to look at things. But in reality, what you see is what I see, and their struggles. They don't handle ball pressure and that's something and they don't, you know, really understand the need to play both into the floor
and be a defensive minded player as well. The box score means nothing right now. And I think that's probably one of the biggest conversations he has with these young guys.
Craig.
They have really bad defensive habits. They just do and you know I can't spend it any other way because we have smart basketball fans here and I'm watching against o case, and yes, turnovers lead to runouts, but you have to try to get back, and then you have to track your man like there are so many what I call pick six is just a steal and a bucket or a dunk on the other end, and then there are a ton of missed rotations where players are getting wide open looks and that look I know that
everybody loves well, and he's had his option picked up for both year four and year five.
I know they're riding with them, but.
There has to be some sort of conversation about improving defensive habits, whether that's personnel or coaching or a little bit of both. We're thirtieth last year in defensive efficiency and they're thirtieth again this year. There's no defensive metric where they excel. There actually are a few offensive metrics where they're acceptable, none elites, but there's nothing on defense that they do well.
Why do you think that is? I guess is a long way of me asking.
You that, well, you know, I think you have to just look down and see, you know, our Danny and Justin Zanik and Will have said, this is a difficult league to make and to stick. And you know what, the data points are being collected fence as we speak, and they'll have to make some tough decisions on right guy, yes, wrong guy no, and move forward. I mean that's just kind of the way this whole thing happens. Are all the right pieces here, No, are more pieces coming in, absolutely,
but at what speed? And fans want that to be accelerated at a very quick pace. And you know what Will does too. Look, his career is going to be I had to say, you know, judged on success, but you know everyone wants to win now. And for him to have an the options picked up through his fifth year is a wonderful thing for him. But I guarantee you he doesn't just like sitting here getting you know,
beaten every night. He's a talented guy with some good ideas, some great ideas learned well with pop a vision San Antonio. But at the same time, are the pieces right? And that's where Danny and Justin have to do that evaluation with Will's help to say, yes, he works in the system, No he doesn't. He can't play both ends of the floor and those are going on as we speak, and that's about as clear as I know. It's frustrating, it's disappointing.
Fans have been really incredible at the arena so far this season, and you know, I plauged them as they watched some of these young guys make mistakes and grow. And you know, Kyante's got most of the pressure on him. Spence, I think he would agree. It's a tough position to really selling in this league because you have so much responsibility. How much time do you let a player grow into that Walker is making himself known more and he looks healthier,
and he looks more mentally fit. As the rem protector in marketing is always a target now because there's really not a second option, and so market is getting double team friple team to time and his shot production and just point productions down. So you know, it's it's a tough time. And I still like what you just said to me was the fine line of the mental side of making sure are you setting the right trends of
winning and developing and how do you balance that? And I think we're going to find out more, obviously in the next twenty games, on what direction they want to go.
So I mentioned some of the offensive metrics that at least are somewhat positive. They're playing quickly, they're tenth in pace, and they're number two in offensive rebound percentage. You know, that's not a great great stat because it does mean you're missing a lot of shots, but it also means you're getting some offensive boards. They're the worst team in the league in turnover percentage. They're the worst team in
the league and giving up points off those turnovers. But the rebound percentage has to directly tie to Walker in a lot of ways, and I do want to give him a lot of credit because if there's an a plus early season story, it is Walker. Okay, he's played himself into the conversation, and I'll say back into the conversation. I was never out on him, but it was so fun to watch him evolve as a rookie and so
disappointing to watch him flatten out as a sophomore. That now, in year three, to see him recapture what we were all excited about and even build on it, I think is such a positive. Nearly three blocks a game, eleven boards, eleven points. I'd like to see the free throw percentage up a little bit, and he's only shooting a couple
of free throws a game. I wouldn't mind to see that up a little bit myself, but I don't want to be completely overtly negative when there's a real clear positive from your seat.
What have you seen with this evolution so far? From Walker Kessler?
Your numbers are more spot on Spence last year. The early injury really just negated anything he accomplished his rookie season. I think he lost a lot of confidence. He was a bench looker, as you know, Will talked a lot about don't look at me, go play. You don't need my You know, I don't need to tell you yes or no. You did well. And you know that's another thing about being young. You don't want to make a mistake.
And I think the Jazz make the mistakes in those those panic moments that occur, which only makes the situation worse and you forget to get back on defense, or you look at the bench and say, oh, it's my fault. Well, by that time your man has left you and is twenty feet down the court and ready to run to the rack, and you've left your man, you know, on an Island back there defensively, so that's part of the problem.
But for Walker, I think John Collins is another positive this year in my opinion, just because he's another tenacious rebounder and has helped the Jazz the offense and defensive side quite a bit. But getting back to Walker, I'm proud of him. This was a could be a make or break year for him. I know it's only in his third season. A lot of teams need bigs, but I'm just girl glad that he finally found some toughness. I think he's a tougher guy in the paint. He's
learned to keep the ball above his head. He can finish. I select to like you said, at one point he hit four out of five free throws and everybody you know was like, you know, cheering, like hey man, maybe he's getting into a groove. But I don't know why. A lot of bigs have problems in the line, Spence, but it's it's true, and a lot of us just practice and the mental side of belief go up and you know, don't think about it, go aheap and take
the shot. But little by little, Walker Kesser has matured and I think physically, he feels much better about himself.
You know, you reference John and for listeners that don't know, this is very incredible. And look, it's only you know, sixteen seventeen eighteen games played as of now. I mean, you know, we'll see how long this lasts and hopefully he can stay healthy. John's played in twenty games. He's only missed one game so far. He's a fifty forty ninety guy.
This year.
He's shooting fifty three.
Percent from the floor, forty percent from three, and then ninety one point two percent from the line, and he's taking three threes a game. This is not forty percent on like one or two attempts. And I am a well known, not huge John Collins guy. I guess is how I'll put that. And I didn't think it looked great last year. And look, if they're playing him to showcase him, all good because he's got a player option for twenty seven mil next year, so he's fine wherever
he is. Do you think this is a scenario where they're kind of allowing John to get some usage and get some minutes to maybe move on from him, or do you think because he's what is he twenty six. I mean, it's not like he's thirty four or do you think, no.
He's you know, he and Colin Sexton both are still in that in that area of where they could be used in this jazz lineup. And you know, is it money, is it youth? Is it a combination? Does he not fit? But I'll tell you what, John's been a pro. I've talked to him several times at Big T and you know what he's all in. I mean, I don't if he's blowing smoke. He does a great job at it. But I'm looking at his performance on the floor, Spence, and you're seeing what I'm seeing. The guy's busting his tail.
He's much more comfortable with Will as his coach and understands the system better and understands what he has to do. He's had to play a couple three different positions at times, you know, five, four and three. That's the way it's happened. Philipowski's injury not you know, put him back into more
of a centerpiece. They've used Michael Potter, They've used v a little bit, you know, like like Will told us, we're one injury or two injuries away from playing a lot of veterans to fill those minutes, and Jac's out now, so that gives Sins of Bos some time. So this is a constant, revolving door. But I think John's been the most consistent of any Jazz player. I said it on the air the other night with in the pregame show.
I just think if you look at the numbers and the production, and the way he's hand handle himself and the way he's mentored these younger guys, I'd put him as the early twenty five game nearly twenty five game MVP for the Jazz And that's probably something and no disrespect to John, that Danny or Justin would want to happen.
But I think the mentoring is but the way he's played, he has busted his till and if they do put him on the market, it only highlights him to receive something even higher than just a John Collins or a player or maybe a higher draft pick, which is what Danny and Justin seemed to continue to want to stockpile John. Yeah, probably doing himself a favorite expense, but he's also doing the Jazz a favorite as well.
Yeah, John Collins fifty forty ninety is not a sentence I thought I'd be saying this this year, So a lot of credit to him for sure. All right, last thing, I'll set you loose on this, and unfortunately, I do want to ask you about Keante and I just am starting to wonder whether or not he is miscast, whether or not it's a square peg, round hole sit you. He just turns it over way too much. The shot
selection stuff I'm not a huge fan of. I'm not willing to dismiss or annoint a twenty twenty one year old player, but he is the He's the young guy that is getting the most opportunities with the combination of his rookie year minutes and now soft year minutes as well, and we just haven't seen improvement, Craig, I mean, that's just how it is. I wonder how you're kind of digesting the first part of the season for Keyante George.
Yeah, I would think inconsistency is the first word that comes to mind. I think knowing him and talking to Will a lot about him is that he coaches him very hard, okay, And what that tells me is that when you have to coach somebody that hard, is that there may be you know, do you get what I'm
trying to tell you to do now. To his to his credit, you know, you know, he's a two who's trying to be a one in this in this very difficult league, and there's only a few elite point guards, and those are the ones that leave teams to multiple titles, or multiple playoff runs, or win conference titles, and it's difficult to do. I think the Jazz see something in him, obviously, and they're not willing to throw the towel in. But you are correct, and the numbers prove that there is
a panic. There is still the uncertainty of I'm doing the right thing. When does that settle down? If ever? I don't know, but I think what they're going to do, going back to when you heard the same thing I did with Danny and Justin as all these data points and the way that the metrics are all set up now in the league, they're going to find those numbers and decide one way or the other if they're going the right way or the wrong way. The turnovers are a big issue, and it starts those ten two runs
that the opponents take. And he still has to be able to handle backcourt pressure. You've noticed in the early part of the season, a lot of teams decided on the inbound after I made bucket, they come back and put two guys on him and try to get him on an a count or let him, you know, or have a turnover. You know that he's been able to
handle that a little bit better. But look, they know the weaknesses of the Jazz and teams are trying to exploit that, and they're they're roughing up lowry marketing because there's not another guy that really at the moment can be a consistent score and they've had good looks, right Spence, But the bottom line is can you make those shots? I mean, this whole conversation is about Keyante market and you know, the growth of Kiante, the growth of Walker.
What do you do with jac and John and what do you what do you do with sins of baw and is Isaiah call you're getting enough for reps?
You know?
So it's it's it's intriguing just to be a part of it and watch the pieces being moved around and the injury to Taylor Hendrix we haven't talked about real quick and now you got to go yes, but that may that may have set the whole game plan back because Taylor spoke yesterday and I'm glad to see in recovery is in his second year, but cut way short and that really threw probably John Collins into the mix even more so. And you got to see Philipowski before
he had his ankle and leg injury. And maybe you know, the second round pick at thirty two, You know what, that may be the best pick of all just in the sense of the potential that he you know, has, and the and the NBA body that he has, and it seems to be the IQ of the Duke basketball program allows you to understand the NBA game better. But injuries always always impacts the team spence, and that injury by uh from by Taylor Hendrix may have really turned
the Jazz a little bit sideways. I don't the expectations for his growth this year was big. He worked hard in the off season. He looked, you know, stronger, physical, more mentally prepared to play in the riggers of the NBA. But man, I hate to see him sideline and will and you know you may not see him back until the of next year. You know, twenty twenty five is coming up, and you may not see him until January at twenty six, so we'll have to wait and see.
But I think that's a big, a big storyline that will be followed. Is this, you know, continued growth process of the Jazz continue.
No doubt.
All right, Butler, thanks for the time, travel safe, have a great call, and hopefully we get you back in the studio soon.
Okay, yeah, next week, I think we'll do it.
Love it, love it, Thank you, Sir, Craig Bowlerjack TV Voice off the Utah Jazz. The Jazz are in action against the Blazers. Jazz have seven of eight on the road, starting tomorrow at Portland. They'll be in Sacramento on Sunday, quick trip back here for a Friday game against Phoenix. So that's actually nice. They get Sunday through Friday off and probably here in Salt Lake before hitting the road for another five roadies. We'll do some more jazz coming up.
Gordon Monson is gonna be live in studio, do a lot of college football at Pordo. Chris Cambronni stops by, latest on Utah's offensive coordinator search, do a little sports court later, a big show, Big Hour on the Drive is brought to you by Big OD Tires. It's their extended Black Friday sale. I learned something yesterday. B three G one free is buy three get one free. Nailed it going on right now. Big Obrand Tires select sets of all their premium tires right now are buy three,
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Running U head coach Craig Smith is more than waiting for the season.
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I bet you can see this coming on the Spotify on a wrap. For me this year, it's like we've switched roles. It's like bizarro world, little uh Zach Bryan. Zach Bryan was one of my top five this year.
That's fair. That's fair changing. And I like the country angle. I'm not a big Zach Brian guys particularly, but I like that you're expanding your horizon.
Is that because you're a big Dave Portner guy. No, aren't they beefing.
They are beefing, but it's I mean, it's there. I guess it's ancillary. Zach Brian's not how do I put this? He's a country singer who isn't a country guy, and he also also also is not reportedly a very great guy. Listen, I know people who know folks in the country industry, so some things will leave off air.
You're being a country music gaykeeper a little bit.
That's fine, but not really I think if you're into the music, all on board, come along. But also, you know there's some off the stage stuff too.
All right, all right, off stage stuff with Zach Bryan.
I'm unfamiliar with Gordon monson Thursday afternoon, Gordo, Are you a Spotify guy?
Do you use Spotify?
No? Not really, I don't, but everybody else my family does. But I am something of a country music expert. So if you have questions about that, I'm new to it. But boy, I'm telling you I'm having to cram down my throat quickly.
Yeah that's uh. Lisa and the girls all love country music.
Yeah, yeah, they do. And I'm married a rock and roller, but I don't know what happened to her, but she's gone country on man. I guess I just you know, one of the nice little battles I gotta I gotta overcome.
I think you can overcome that one based off the quality of your your your wife's life. Okay, I think I think that's something that you can deal with.
Just fine. Is that fair?
Yeah? And the quality of the poor quality of my choices and music, as you know, for many years of deal with what I like. But one thing we do have in common is our affection for rap music. As you know I as a former rapper myself, I uh, I uh, not very good at it. I'll say it that way.
If only we had that sound of MC godfather back in the day doing a little Biggie, one of the best radio memories I have. Man, if only we had that sound somewhere. But all right, Gordo, let's let's start with Okay, So from I'll just unpack my take on this and then give you the space. I feel like if Kyle was going to retire, we would know. I feel like if he was done, there would be an announcement. And because there has not been an announcement, like, look,
he's a coach under contract. You don't need a press conference to say I'm coming back. We know that he's under contract. My take on it is because there's been space between the end of the season and today with silence, he's coming back.
What do you think?
So that's pretty good logic there. I think. I just don't know yet. I don't know because in my conversations with people around Kyle who I trust that the way the season ended had nothing to do with it whether he was going to stay or go, because as you and I have talked about this before, he's based it more on what he feels inside, what he thinks is
most important. But what's interesting is that you heard that press conference about a week or so ago when he said he would base it on what was best for the program, not what was best for him, which I thought was sort of a weird claim considering what he's already contributed to the program through the years. But if it is what's best for the program, then go ahead and make it clear to everyone what they're going to do, because there are big decisions that the program is facing
right now. It's kind of a critical point in time, and so wouldn't it be in the best interest of the program for him to come right out and say what his intention is so that it's clear to everybody. And maybe he's doing that privately, I don't know, but publicly people are asking these questions and they don't know.
And when you're trying to hire an offensive coordinator and you're trying to get your program back in a good place after what was a disappointing year, make it clear, man, That's what I would say.
Yeah, And to your point, I have to surmise that those in the know that are in the need to know room are probably people that have already been informed of his intention.
That's just a guess of mine.
I do agree with you, though, you know, make it publicly known, and even if it's the most Kyle thing of all time where it's just like, oh yeah, coming back, just say it. I don't view the man as a wishy, washy emotional decision maker. He's always struck me as a very pragmatic thinker. And my guess is, you know, if he was going to go, he would have just told people and then moved on to the next phase of
his life. But as we sit here with no offensive coordinator hire just yet, do you feel like maybe the ambiguity surrounding Kyle is one of the reasons why they haven't been able to hone in on who they want to hire.
Yeah, so I think that's a reasonable suspicion, Spence, And I mean, they're losing out on guys they want, and I think that that would contribute to it. And that goes back to what I said before. It would be in the best interest in the program for him to make it clear because of it is unclear then that's not helping in this process. You know. On the one hand, you have Kyle Whittingham, a grizzled veteran coach who hasn't always been the easiest coach for offensive coordinators to operate under.
There have been good years offensively for the Utes, there have been bad years offensively for the Utes, and there have been sort of a vague years where it was somewhere in between. But Kyle, you know, I mean, remember all that he had the revolving door what was it, ten coordinators in ten years or something. I'm not sure that he has the best reputation among promising young candidates
because of what's happened in the past. On the other hand, you have a coach in waiting, Morgan Scally, a respected defensive coach, but who has never been a high level college coach, and so an offensive coordinator wouldn't know exactly how that's going to play out. How is he supposed to know it? He's never seen it. Now Morgan might be saying to him, Okay, look, this is what my philosophy's going to be, the kind of offense I want.
But until you're actually on the field in the action, the heat of the moment, the pressure is on who knows what he might favor, and so it's kind of here, the utes are in the middle of this and if they if a decision hasn't been made, then how is a candidate for offensive coordinator supposed to navigate those waters?
Yeah, it's a fair point.
And as of now, according to reports, Utah has tried to hire Ben Rbuckle, who signed a contract with Oklahoma and Mac Leftwich. Mac Leftwich, according to several reports, was in saw Lake yesterday but elected to stay in Texas decide a contract with Texas Tech. Now we're hearing rumors maybe Jason Beck potentially is on the list the offensive coordinator for UNLV. Of course, they're playing tomorrow night, so
Brennan Marion is their offensive cor to their quarterbacks. Coach, I wonder, Gordon, when we actually hear the announcement, what will you be looking for to indicate whether or not this is a Kyle Whittingham hire or maybe an out of the box, you know, maybe Morgan Scalley's looking to uh, you know, approach his tenure offensively a little bit different than coach Witt has.
Yeah, that's that's a good that's a good point sense. I think that on the one hand, Kyle has always he's never wanted his defense to be put in bad positions that he even this season, has talked about that, and and that's been an emphasis of his Now Morgan Scaley is a disciple of Kyle Whittingham, But does the
does the eight corn fall far from the tree? If I'm Morgan Scalley, I want an innovative offensive coordinator who's going to take pressure off my defense by staying on the field, by controlling the ball, and by putting points on a board. Because without that, and you got pressure
on your defense either way. And so why not go ahead and get I'm not talking about necessarily some you know, some pass happy nut who's just going to chuck the ball all over the field, but at least get some sort of new fangled approach which will move the football and score points. And that hasn't necessarily been the case or the priority as far as all things considered under
Kyle Whittingham. So if they do hire sort of this new guy who's going to do something dramatic, maybe that would be a hint that it will be Mortgage Scaley. But we're all kind of guessing at this point.
All right, So I am of the opinion that based off of preseason expectations, you combine preseason expectations with the results of the season, this is the worst Utah football season under coach Wait, and I actually think he would admit.
That and say it out loud.
How confident are you that this season was a blip on the radar moment in time as opposed to who Utah football is now?
I think, well, there are arguments to be made both ways. As far as look, the track record is clear that Kyle Wallingham, if he's going to stay, he's a great coach, and he wins his program, wins. Utah football deserves its newfound reputational relatively over the past decade or so as being, you know, a prominent program that does things the right way, or a lot of things anyway, They're not perfect. I think he would admit that. But that does a lot
of things right. But I'm telling you, they have to have a quarterback. They have to have a quarterback. You can't get buy any more spence in the college game without that particular position being stellar by being stellar, and Kyle has talked about that. He said that himself and so you know, I think Morgan Skelly would agree with that. And so will they get that guy? Can they get that guy with the reputation the program has. I don't know. I don't know, but they better know and they better
get that solved. If they do get that salved, then I would be bullish on the Utes or a whole lot of other programs. The culture is there. What's the nil situation? Will they be able to pay the guys they need to really make it work? This last year, as you said, was so shocking that it does make you wonder can this thing be turned again? Will it be Utah football as we have known it? Or is this the beginning of a demise. I don't know how we would know that completely at this point. We have to wait.
See, these things are fleeting. I mean, dynasties don't last. I'm not saying it was a dynasty. You have to win multiple championships to create a dynasty. But it has been kind of a golden era of Utah foot and all that can be had can be lost. There's your lesson for the day, kid, So things can change. One more thing here, Gordon, and look, this is clearly not going to happen.
Can I interrupt with one thing? What you just said there, Spencer, minds me. Remember how Jerry Sloan used to He used to legitimately be afraid he would never win another game, right, He thought it was so slippery that he didn't know whether he would ever win another game. And if a guy like Jerry Sloan, who thought the way he did, who coached the way he did, was afraid of losing to that degree, it tells you exactly what you just said is absolutely correct, that it is fleeting. It is tricky.
Nothing can be assumed for sure.
And I want to move over here because I feel like I might either just be taking crazy pills or there's just no possibility that this would happen. But according to the data that we have, Brian Johnson makes about six hundred and seventy thousand dollars, which is a very nice living. We'd all love to make that amount of money. It's like Gordon mottson money back at the old station. But ultimately Brian has a really good thing going because
Jayden Daniels is awesome. Brian's the assistant head coach and the passing game coordinator for the Washington Commanders, but coach lot I believe was close to two million bucks. So no matter how comfortable your situation is, you wouldn't mind quadruper quadrupling your salary. And by Brian's owned admission and Kyle's own admission, back in twenty twelve when he was the OC here, he just wasn't ready for it. But my goodness, talk about experience since then, both at the
college and pro level. It just seems like that's an avenue that is at least worth exploring. But a lot of guys, once they taste that charter, you know, the charter food on the NFL side of things, they don't want to give up their pro football, cushy life. But give me your thoughts on the potential of Brian Johnson offensive coordinator for Utah football.
I was a proponent of Brian Johnson being an offensive coordinator back when they hired him the first time, and that turned out to be probably a mistake. He wasn't quite ready yet. But Spence, you will remember him, remember we used to talk with it. He's an impressive person. He carries himself well, he knows his football. You saw what he did with the utes when he was the guy in control out on the field, and so what
I think that's a good idea. Yes, I would think that's a very good idea, especially with a reputation on the whole that he's built in the NFL. He has coached some terrific quarterbacks and run some pretty good offenses.
All right, quick, BYU thought, you know, it's funny. You can actually make the argument that both Utah and BYU blew it right. So Utah preseason favorite Big twelve obviously that didn't go well, didn't work out. BYU puts themselves right in the mix as the favorite. After a nine to zero start, they stumble losing two of three down the and it looks like it's the Alamo Bowl again. And I'm cheering for an Alamo Bowl BYU Colorado. I think that would be a really fun game to watch.
You have two really strong brands. Deon brings a lot of eyes. So it's a decent payout for the BYU athletic department and a lot of eyes on your program. But what are your thoughts on the way the season ended? And BYU, with everything in front of them, could not get the help they needed. And now instead of the CFP and the Big Twelve Championship. It looks like it's the alimobole.
I don't know how it's how anyone can characterize it, characterize it any different than disappointment to see the way BYU lost those games where they did not bring their a game. They did not they didn't look prepared at various times in the game to be able to handle that after the way they had put the ball up on the tee with nine straight wins, and then to stumble the way they did. I don't know how, and I don't think this is being overly cripped. I think
it's looking at it for what it is. You judge a team based on what it's accomplished, right, and when they won their first nine games, you say, okay, I see what this team can do. Now go out and do it. And to lose a game against Kansas on your home field the way the Cougars did in that game and with the mistakes that they made, that's got to be disappointing to anybody who is really paying attention to the program, let alone fans who root for it.
And then what happened against Arizona State again more mistakes getting in the way. And the funny thing about it is, check me if I'm wrong on this fense. If the Ute had beaten Iowa State, then that would have cleared made the path clear for BYU to get into the championship game. Am I getting that right?
That is correct?
And you lose that game. It's like, I can see you fans going, well, it would have been great to win that game, but maybe it wasn't so bad after all. But disappointment for BYU after a great start. And I was really surprised that Klanie Sataki that he was as upbeat as he was after those defeats, because it seems to me like he should have been heartbroken and kind of pissed off too, and he came out all buoyant and whatnot. And I like Kilani you and I know
him well and he's a bright guy, smart guy. But I don't know what message was being sent there. It seemed like it should have been some degree of anger and a whole heaping of disappointment as far as the Utes. I mean, that thing just blew apart. And I'm as
guilty as anyone you are too. We both predicted a great season for Utah, and I've been watching football forer where longer than I really want to admit right now, and I still look back and I mean, I understand what happened to the team, and I can see why it's all apart, but I'm still I mean, Utah's too good of a football program to have what happened to it happened.
All right, Gerido, last thing before I say you loose, and I'm glad you wrote on this. So Kevin Young and the BYU basketball program went back east for a non con game at Providence and they got smoked and they've lost two of three.
So Young team's going to take some time to Joe.
That really wasn't the main story because once again a group of fans at a sporting event decided to launch into the chant that we've heard before, which is f the Mormons over and over and over. And look, I don't really exist in the space of what Aboutism's very much. I'm not here for the whole like, well, what if it was the Jews or what like in a vacuum as far as what this chant has kind of done, as far as the damage to folks that you and I know in this community, that certainly are members and
active members of the LDS Faith. I just don't know why it feels like it's more acceptable for an f the Mormons, chance that we hear often not just basketball, but football too, And I don't know why it seems to be so societally acceptable to knock on a group of people that, from my vantage point, most of whom are very kind, hardworking, community orientated people. I know there are plenty of people that have issues with the faith. That's not a time, that's not a conversation. That is
for this time and for this platform. But unpack what you wrote and your thoughts on yet another chant aimed at members of the LDS faith.
F the Mormons.
The BYU basketball experience to Providence, Yeah.
Pretty remarkable. And look, as I wrote, I have great respect for the LDS Faith. I'm a part of that. I do have some questions, and I bring those questions up well in the regular in public settings. So you know, I mean, I'm not sitting here being defensive or having some sort of persecution complex. This is totally out of line and it's a cheap shot, and I just I don't understand why people do that. I mean, I could get a little political on this, and then it gets
real sort of contradictory. But we're living in a place now that seems like a blessing has been given to be able to describe other people in detegrating terms. I'll say it that way, and people can read into that comment whatever they want or blame whoever they want. But for a crowd to be chanting, that is ridiculous. And I talked to a guy I had in a column who was at the game with his ten year old daughter, and he just said it was very uncomfortable for them.
And he said, look, I'm not a prude. He said, I wouldn't even mind it if they said F BYU, but f the Mormons and really all of them, the entire religion. And I get it. It's a conservative faith that take some positions that some people don't like, and they feel as though they're somewhat disrespected by some of
those positions. I understand that we can disagree, though, without chanting F the so and so, especially a religion that and just like in my calm, the father the president of Providence College, he said, look, this is totally out of line. We're going to address it on campus. This is not a reflection of what we peach here, and I think the students there should listen to what the preschool president says.
Yeah, well said. All right, my friend, appreciate the time. Hopefully we can get you back in studio coming up next week.
Have a great week.
An all right, Cordo, all right, you too. Spent's good talking with you.