Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: So I want to thank Coach Lucas for lowering his standards to let me interview him today. So thank you for that.
[00:00:06] Speaker B: Thank you guys for having me.
[00:00:07] Speaker A: You want to give a little opening or you want me to just go ahead and.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, I can do that. How's everybody doing? Thank you guys for coming out. I want to first of all say that congratulations to you all three. Pete, I was talking to some of the girls up at Grabbing Waters. That's big time. A lot of people don't know it's hard to win state championships. And congratulations to you too.
I just not looking forward to playing you guys in football.
Neither one of you all, but I'm so excited to be back to northwest Arkansas and I want to thank Hoggs Illustrated and Chip for reaching out to reaching out to me and giving me this opportunity to be here to visit with you all today. Thank you.
[00:00:46] Speaker A: Good deal. All right, so Anthony grew up in Tallulah, Louisiana, just right across the border there.
Starred at McCall High School in football and in basketball. Did you have some chances to play college basketball too?
[00:01:00] Speaker B: Yeah, I had a few basketball offers to small, few small schools. So yeah.
[00:01:04] Speaker A: What was it that made you decide football was going to be your thing?
[00:01:08] Speaker B: More people looked at me basketball, I really enjoyed it, Love basketball and football. But I just had more offers in basket and football and.
But every time, you know, when I decided to come up here to the University of Arkansas, I was like, ought to think I want to play for Nolan Richardson and that fast paced offense and fast paced defense that he ran. But no, it was all football. I had a few injuries too from basketball. I had actually two knee injuries in high school from basketball and I knew that all that pounding on my knees and everything, I thought football would be better. You would think it would be the opposite because from getting hit so much playing football, but not. No, I was football.
I'm a Jerry Rice fan today and I was a Jerry Rice fan when I was growing up and that's who I wanted to be like. Some of you youngsters probably don't even know who Jerry Rice is.
[00:02:02] Speaker A: Google him.
Please do Google him.
So you were in this 95 recruiting class, recruited by Danny Ford, a guy who did not pass the ball all that much in his offense.
But you said, I'm going to come anyway.
[00:02:18] Speaker B: Well, yes, you're right, you know, so my, that story was very interesting.
I struggled with the ACT test. I'm not a big on standardized test, taking standardized tests and so I committed to unlv, signed a letter of intent with the I'm sorry. Committed to unlv, signed with Louisiana Tech, and decided to come to the University of Arkansas. And so what happened was, you know, my letter of intent with Louisiana Tech was kind of like what they call null and void because I didn't make the scoring ACT test to be eligible. But at the same time, throughout all that time, it was like, man, I want to play in the SEC and all the SEC school. I was recruited by a lot of schools in the sec.
My dream. And please do not throw any food up here when I say this or throw anything at me. My dream was to play with Peyton Manning. I wanted to play with Peyton Manning. So when Peyton went to Tennessee, you know, Tennessee was recruiting me, but they stopped recruiting me because of my ACT scores. And I knew I didn't have the opportunity to go play with Peyton Manning. But God and Fitz Hill are the reason why I came to play at the University of Arkansas, because I had so much faith in Fitz when he recruited me. And he told me that I would get an opportunity to get the ball because I knew Arkansas wasn't passing the ball then. But he told me if I came here and I took care of business and did what I was supposed to do, that I would get the opportunity. I would get plenty of opportunities to catch a lot of balls at the University of Arkansas.
And so the rest was history. And that was the reason why I came to Arkansas. And I think, too, I don't think if I had to do it all over again, I'll be a Razorback once again.
[00:04:02] Speaker A: There you go.
So when you got here, Peyton Manning wasn't here, But Barry Lunney Jr. Was here.
[00:04:07] Speaker B: Right.
[00:04:08] Speaker A: And it didn't take you guys long to kind of establish a connection there. How did that come about? And you guys, you know, really seemed to connect quickly.
[00:04:15] Speaker B: Well, it was a work ethic in practice. Watching Barry, watching J.J. meadows, Anthony Eubanks, you know, all those guys that were older than me, just watching how they carried themselves on the football field from day to day. And I just. I mean, when, you know, I always was the type of guy who always wanted to put in extra work, whether I was a freshman or if I was a senior, I always want to do more than the next guy because I knew there were other guys in the world doing more. And I wanted to play in the NFL.
That was my goal. I think that's every kid that plays football as a young kid growing up, that's every kid's dream, is to make it to the NFL. And so, Barry, I Think it was my first touchdown I actually caught from Barry, Lonnie and Little Rock. We were playing Memphis. They were Memphis State back then. But I ran a post corner and Barry threw my first touchdown, and the confidence started to build. So that was early on. And, you know, and then in practice, he saw my work ethic. The only thing that Barry, that I dislike Barry for is he didn't throw me the ball enough as a freshman. That's the only thing. But, no, I love Barry London. So grateful and happy for him and what he's doing now on the collegiate level, coaching.
[00:05:30] Speaker A: So you guys were newcomers into the SEC when you got here.
Lundy's a guy that never lacked for confidence at all.
I think anybody who knows him would agree with that.
What was it that you saw in him and his leadership ability that ultimately when you got here, you guys were able to win the SEC west that year?
[00:05:53] Speaker B: Barry was like any other quarterback. He was very confident, and he was the general in the huddle. And I. I was a Barry London fan because I figured if I was. Could get close to Barry, he's going to give me, throw me the football. So. But no, he's just his leadership and, you know, with his dad being a coach and. And, you know, and his knowledge and of the game and how hard he worked, you know, when I was here, because I only had one year with him, and, you know, it was. It was. It was special. Always, you know, that's one thing. Always.
Like, I'm the type of person, like, to give everybody their props, you know, if their guys are doing well, you give them their flowers, you know, and he carried himself well. And again, I told you, I like to watch. I watched all the guys, not just the receivers, not the quarterbacks, but I watched a lot of the guys on that team when I was here as a freshman. Well, I got here in 94, but then in 95, my freshman year playing, I mean, I watched those guys every day, and I tried to mirror myself after a lot of the guys that was doing it the right way.
[00:06:51] Speaker A: So that 95 team, Anthony, did y' all kind of play with a chip on your shoulder, like, you know, you weren't getting a lot of respect in the sec. Did you kind of guys kind of use that as a motivation? And then after you guys won the west, was it like, okay, we're here, we're here now. We're, you know, we're here, and you're going to have to deal with us?
[00:07:09] Speaker B: Well, Danny Ford worked us so hard, so we had I think we played with a tip on our shoulder every time we played. But we had a very talented team in 1995.
Had a chance to, you know, we won, I guess, more games than I think they had won in a while, and it was great. We just. We just worked hard, you know, we kept our. Like, I followed those guys, they led us and, you know, and we. Everybody just bought in and worked extremely hard, and they knew where we were the season before that. It was a down season and guys just believed in. Believed in what we were doing and what we did in the off season because we worked extremely hard. And it was tough, I'll tell you. It was very tough. And it carried over into the season and, you know, it was pretty cool as a freshman playing to make all sec, then go to a bowl game. I'm from Tallulah. A lot of stuff that. When I got to the University of Arkansas and saw the things that. How the system works and then get to a bowl game, you get to go down to Florida and hang out at the Carquest bowl and, you know, down in there. So it was pretty cool. But to go. To have that season as a freshman for myself personally was special.
[00:08:13] Speaker A: Now, you and Marvin Caston didn't go to the same high school, but both Louisiana guys, Did he have any influence on you coming to Arkansas?
[00:08:19] Speaker B: Yes, no doubt. Marvin, man. Marvin and I used to battle in high school. For those of you old school coaches or players that's recognized, I played at McCall and we ran what we call the Notre Dame box. So I was kind of lined up as a tight end and Marvin was a defensive end, linebacker, slash defensive end who walked up.
He had the strongest legs. He was one of the strongest guys I've ever had to block.
And when I had to block down on Marvin one time and I literally almost broke my arm because I tried to cut him. Didn't move, didn't move. He's straight, solid. I was like, God, coach gotta split me out because I ain't hang. I wanted no, no, nothing to do with Marvin Casson at the time, but we did. We were, you know, we're best buds.
[00:09:09] Speaker A: There you go.
So after the 97 season, coach Fortis is fired, Coach Nut comes in. Of course, times were different then. You couldn't just jump in the portal. But. But did you. Did you think about maybe transferring then? Or was it, I'm here no matter who they bring in and you and Coach Nut maybe made it maybe an instant connection there?
[00:09:30] Speaker B: Well, no, I. Well, I was worried when I knew Coach Ford was gonna be gone. I was worried to lose Coach Hill, you know, so if Fitz leave, I'm leaving. And so they kept. Coach Nutt came in, decided to keep him on because he was him and Marvin, and, you know, that was all I pretty much knew. And coming from Louisiana, you know, Marvin and I are like brothers, and we were both like, man, what you gonna do? What you gonna do? But when they kept Coach Hill, we decided to stay. And then the first day Coach Nutt walked in that room in December, and we had that first team meeting, boy, I tell you, like, I'm not going anywhere, man. This. This. This is the guy I want to play. I want to play for this guy. And, you know, and he gave. Gave us, came in and pretty much turned Razorback football around in that 98 season, and we had an opportunity to win the national championship. Unfortunately, one play against. Against Tennessee, at Tennessee, you know, turned things around. So. But. But, man, Coach Nutt was awesome. And that's the only reason I came back to play my senior year, because I think I was blessed and fortunate to leave as a junior early. But for some reason, I said, if I can do it this year, if I have the same season I had in 98, I know God's going to bless me to have another one at 99.
[00:10:51] Speaker A: So Lonnie had left Sterner. Clint Sterner comes in. He's the quarterback.
You guys seem to also have a real quick, you know, connection there with him. Had some big plays.
You know, what. What made that. What made that relationship special with Clint?
[00:11:06] Speaker B: Well, Clint was kind of like. Was like Barry, but more outspoken, more outgoing. You know, Barry did his kind of quiet, you know, was laid back. But Clint would curse you out. He would.
He would. I mean, he would say some things in that huddle, like, if we came in there talking, Clint would chew us out. And he. I mean, he. They gave him those rims. I mean, he was. He was our general. He was our leader, and Clint was a winner. Clint always wanted to work. He was always watching film. We would watch film together. He and I would, you know, would stay late a lot, throwing, working on routes, and I would try to get other guys to stay, and they would get jealous because we stayed out and throwed through. I'm sorry. We stayed out and through after practice. Then in summer workouts, man, we. We put in so much time and effort working on our craft. And, you know, Clint and I developed that relationship. I know you all have heard the stories. Yes. We would be in games, and Coach Nutt would have something called and Clint would look out and I had one on one coverage and Clint would wink his eye or do something and I said, I'm with you. And we, and we threw it up and 50, 60 yards later, we in the end zone. Coach Nut was yelling at first, but we go to the sideline, we're hugging and cheering and high five and so. But Clint was very, he worked extremely hard on his craft and he really, he truly cared about the game. And he, and he knew that he was undersized, but he had a, he had a great arm and he had a great heart.
That kick.
Clint worked extremely hard and he pushed us. I mean, he pushed everybody.
[00:12:42] Speaker A: Coach. That'd be like you calling the pitch and pitcher shaking you off.
That doesn't go so well all the time, does it?
You mentioned the Tennessee game and you guys were kind of on a shock the world, you know, kind of a thing, going in undefeated in one play.
But, but you come back the next year and another good team and, and I know you had a lot of memorable plays at Arkansas, but how satisfying was it to, to catch the touchdown to beat Tennessee the next year?
[00:13:17] Speaker B: It was great.
You know, we were so close. That's one that we had on our calendar all year to get to play them again and play at home. But it was, it was a surreal moment for me. I remember catching, you know, coach calling that, calling that play, and I was like, you know, I want the ball in my hands. I was kind of like Michael Jordan was on the basketball court, you know, you know, get me the football. And when he called past 20 with 26 hop xx double post. And you know, Clint, Clint threw the ball. The only thing I go back and I look at, because when I teach guys every day now with that catch, I always tell the kids, don't let the ball cross the plane of your eyes. You know, you'll drop it, you know, 20%, 50% of the time if you don't look the ball into the tuck. And on that winning touchdown catch against Tennessee at 99, that ball crossed the plane of my eyes. I say God was with me because I've always preached and I always was taught to look the ball all the way into the tuck. But man, guys, I tell you, when I caught that pass, I was shocked. My body went numb, literally went numb because of how loud it was in that place and me not realizing that that was a big catch.
But I knew we had to come back out defensively to hold T. Martin and that that high powered offense that Tennessee had at the time. So it wasn't over. So I tried to keep my composure, but it was like, the guys, the kids on the sideline, my teammates, they kept like, luke, Luke, Luke, good job. You know, I'm like, guys, it ain't over yet. We still got a little time on that clock.
But after the game was cool.
[00:14:54] Speaker A: Were you when the fans stormed the field? Where were you guys at when that happened? And, you know, then they tear the goal post down and completely carry it out of the stadium and carry it down, down. Dixon.
[00:15:03] Speaker B: Well, after the game, I was celebrating with my family right there with some people, with a lot of people just hitting me upside the head and giving me high fives and stuff like that. And it was crazy on the sideline, but I kind of found my family, and I was just kind of standing and they were standing in the stands, and I was, like, on the edge, you know, like now. Same, same setup, but just, you know, just congratulations. You know, after that game, the only thing I missed, I hate that I missed, let me say that was the post game speech with Coach Nutt. I saw. I go back, this was a couple of years after or so or the year after. So. And I go back and I see highlights from that, the post game, you know, after the game, Coach Nutt was in there talk. I was like, clint, we missed this because we were out still celebrating while he was doing the post game talk to the team and inside the broad center. And I'm like, I hate I missed that, to celebrate that with my teammates. I wish that's the only thing I could turn back, turn back the times to do that, to celebrate with them, to be in there and to hear Coach Nutt. I mean, you all know Coach Nutt. Boy, he can make you run through a brick wall. And I'll tell you, man, I just love that guy.
[00:16:24] Speaker A: So you guys get a Cotton bowl bid and you're gonna play Texas.
So I know growing up in Louisiana, did you have any idea of the hated rivalry there before you got here? And how long did it take Coach Nut to ingrain that into y'?
[00:16:41] Speaker B: All?
I had no idea how, you know, competitive the Arkansas Texas rivalry was until I got to the university. But, you know, of course, when we. We got that bold bid and we saw that we were playing Texas, we were all dialed in and we were saying that we were going to go and dominate. So I didn't. Wasn't one that familiar with. With the rivalry at the time, but it was. That was an intense, bold practice throughout the whole time. And, you know, everybody was just. It was so focused. And I was like.
I think I was telling a couple of guys at the time, I said, if we don't win this game, we probably can't go back to the state of Arkansas. I was true guys. I was truly worried about that because of all the pressure and everything and the rivalry and just everything with Arkansas and Texas. And I was like, this is really huge. And, man, but we went there and we dominated on January 1, 2000. Y' all know that's the year 2000. We're going into a different century. Everybody thought the world was going to come to an end. So we out there and we're standing in the Renaissance Hotel off of Lemons highway. And I'm. I'm. I know I was sleep. Didn't want to bring the New Year in, but I woke up, I was like, all right, we still here then? So.
So. And, you know, we. We went through our. We went through our morning, our pre game ritual, and we drove over to the stadium and we played the game and we're still here. So.
[00:18:11] Speaker A: Game was close at halftime. It was defensive, you know, not as defensive defense. Great defense in the first half. Close, close game. And you guys are backed up inside your five. Maybe the one or two down there getting maybe third down. I'm not sure. It might have been four. I don't remember third down.
And coach nut calls in a play.
Most everybody thinks we're going to run it again and try to punt back, but that's not.
Did he call that play, or was this one of those Clint looking at you and wink kind of a thing?
[00:18:40] Speaker B: No, he called the play.
[00:18:42] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:18:42] Speaker B: And when it. When Clint Brock came in with the play, I lit up like. I lit up like Christmas because I knew I had the opportunity to make a play. And again, like I said earlier, I want the ball in my hand. Not saying that selfishly because I'm not that type of guy, but I want the ball. And we called it. I said, if I can. If I can get him to bite, run a good route, quick little hitch route and stop and go. Caught the ball. I just hate that I juggled the ball. I don't know if you remember, if you can go back and watch it. That ball slid kind of down my. I was married to myself because I think. I think if I catch that clean, I might have a chance to go to the house. 99 yards right there. So, no, that was. That was really big. And again, I wasn't nervous. I wanted the Ball. And it was, it was opportunity. And Clint, you know, all he wanted was offensive line to give him a little time and for me to, you know, get out there because they were, they were bringing it.
[00:19:31] Speaker A: So that flipped the momentum of the
[00:19:33] Speaker B: game, changed the momentum of the game. I mean, Cedric Cobbs, I remember Cedric Cobbs just having a field day. And our defense played extremely well. And DJ Cooper, I think he ended up getting the Cotton Bowl MVP of that game. But it was, again, if we didn't win that game, I felt like I could not come back to the state of Arkansas.
[00:19:56] Speaker A: So you get drafted later on that spring packers fourth round draft pick. But, but Anthony, it seemed like you just couldn't catch a break because the injuries.
How frustrating was that? Knowing that, you know, your skill set was enough to do maybe what Jerry Rice did, maybe whoever. But the injuries just. You couldn't seem to catch a break.
[00:20:16] Speaker B: Oh, it was tough.
I just wanted to showcase my talent in NFL just like I did at Arkansas. One of the toughest times.
But I'm grateful. Yeah.
[00:20:45] Speaker A: So it's interesting that injuries prevented you from doing what you hoped could do, but injuries might very well have put you back where you are now. Yeah.
[00:20:56] Speaker B: Oh, no doubt. You know, God never takes you through more than you can bear.
And that opportunity, I feel like that second time when I broke my kneecap after I left Green Bay in 2000, I went to the Cowboys for two years and I broke my kneecap the second time.
I'll never forget August 11, 2002, we were in San Antonio and we were featured on HBO Hard Knocks and went down and I heard God say, I got.
[00:21:24] Speaker A: Yeah,
[00:21:28] Speaker B: You see, I got a better plan for you.
And I knew then I was done.
Yes.
So. And I wanted to chase after my kids.
[00:21:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
So when you're, you're in the locker room at the time, you're 19 or 20 years old and you're hearing coach Nut, man, he's getting you hyped up or whatever are you at the time, you don't think, you're not thinking, I'm going to put this in my back pocket. I can. This is going to benefit me somewhere down the road or you're wherever in the locker room, you're hearing coaches and then you come back and now you have a chance to lead young men and you're like, man, we're down in a game. Remember when Coach Nutt said this, I'm a.
I got this.
[00:22:07] Speaker B: Well, you know, when you bring that up and I think about coaching that, I think that's he's one of the reasons he and Fitz Hill is one of the reasons I got into coaching. And. And yes, I try to mirror myself out the Houston nut when I'm coaching, coaching kids, you know, 14 years, these last 14 years at Pulaski Academy that I had, you know, and like you all, I've been a part of eight state championships, you know, two as an assistant, I mean, two as a head coach and six as an assistant. And, you know, and now being that head coach, having that experience, and now I see some of my players are here today, and I instill the same things that he's instilled in me, and I'm so grateful for this opportunity.
[00:22:48] Speaker A: So you get to PA and you play for a coach who is so far removed, probably from the way you grew up. We're going to go for it on fourth down every time, you know, we're not going to punt. We're not going to, you know, whatever. In your football background, how did that mesh with you? I mean, that had to be, you know, take some time to get used to that.
[00:23:09] Speaker B: Well, when I, you know, when I was in Little Rock and reached out to Coach Kelly back in 2012, by the job and I went there and I was. I was already prepared because I had been watching them and, you know, one of the reasons why that was a school that I reached out to that I wanted to go coach at, because I didn't want to go to a school and coach guys to stalk, block. You know, I wanted to teach them how to run routes. I want to teach them how to catch the football. You know, I want to teach receivers how to come out of their break, but I also want to teach them how to be great kids.
And that no punt. When we first did that in the game, I was like, oh, I was ready for it. I was ready, but I wasn't ready. But, you know, I got used to it. And, you know, statistically, you know, it was proving that, you know, you have a better outcome than punting the football.
You have a better outcome going forward than punting the football in certain situations, because we feel like if we can go for it, we had so much faith in our defense to hold no matter what we, what we. Where the ball was or where the ball was located or what we were forced with, we trusted. And that's what was instilled by Kevin into all of us, even to our defense, to our whole program, was that, okay, we on the minus one, our defense, go out there and stop them. But if the Defense didn't stop them. We were going to go. We had. We felt really good about us offensively, that we were going to get the ball back and go back, go down and score as well. So it was pretty cool, pretty interested. And I'm grateful for Kevin for giving me that opportunity to get into high school coaching.
[00:24:49] Speaker A: So you're there, and he gets an opportunity to go to small college and promote you to being the head coach.
Did you. You pretty much kind of adhered to that same philosophy. You didn't come in and change a lot of things. And was it kind of a hey, if it's not broke, don't fix it kind of a thing?
[00:25:03] Speaker B: Yes, it was. You know, when he left to go to Presbyterian, I was. Asked me to go and I was like. Just wasn't. Wasn't the right timing for me.
And I got a call, and they asked me, would I be interested in being the head coach? Guys, I'm going to be honest with you. That call I got that day was so shocking to me because I did not see that coming, because I felt like there were two other guys on the step. I didn't feel like it. There were two other guys on the staff that had way more experience than me in coaching. And when I was asked for that, asked was I interested in the job, I was. I was like, yes, I can do it. And a lot of people always hit you with the thing. Boy, you gotta. You know, you got some big shoes to fill. I sell them. I feel a size pair. I feel a pair of size 12 every day, so.
And, you know, with God on your side.
Yeah, anything is possible.
[00:25:53] Speaker A: Yes, sir.
[00:25:54] Speaker B: And I had a lot of great people supporting me, too. And I felt pretty good about our staff, too. So I was really. I was really good. And I was very excited about the opportunity.
Was it tough that I feel pressure? Yes. But, you know, I've been in a lot of pressure situations, and, you know, you just handle it as it. As it goes, and you. You keep God first, and you take it one day at a time.
[00:26:16] Speaker A: So you.
[00:26:16] Speaker B: You've.
[00:26:17] Speaker A: You've got your program there. You've. You're established yourself as head coach. You've won a couple of state titles.
Arkansas Activity association bumps you guys up several classifications. You still do. Well, how difficult was it to leave what you had there to make that change to come to Fayetteville?
[00:26:36] Speaker B: It was tough. It was very tough.
I was there 14 years. I put in blood, sweat and tears.
14.
But Fayetteville was a job that I was, you know, Kind of eyeing if, you know, if ever came available.
I said I was going to take a look at it and, you know, and see if they would be interested. And then I had had a few people make a couple calls, and my name was. Was. Was thought about in the process after they made, you know, when Casey left and I came up and interviewed for it, and, you know, the rest is history. I mean, this is one of the top. And it's more pressure. One of the top programs, if not the top program in the state of Arkansas in Fayetteville. And Steve Jansky was the athletic director at Fayetteville. He was on staff at Arkansas when I was there. Like, he was a graduate assistant. So I had a good relationship with Jansky prior to taking this job, you know, and he reached out, like, again, he reached out to me, and I reached out to them and came up and interviewed, and then I got the job. And I'm grateful to be here. Man, I'm jacked about being back in Northwest Arkansas.
After yesterday's team camp, though, I was telling these ladies right here, looking at Bentonville's offensive line and Rogers offensive line, guys, we got a lot of work to do back there, so I hope y' all ready. I want to recognize our Fayetteville family back here, too. I got y' all see Will Caston is here. He's already committed to the Hogs, and his dad is who we were talking about earlier, Marvin Casson. And then Tyler Clark is here, Patrick. Patrick Alexander and Jax Tidwell. Then I got my team moms back here. And this is. I don't know your name, but I'll get that here in a little bit. I know we met before, and that's one of the toughest things, too. Guys, I went from 50 to 60, about 60 kids, to about 100. 140. 150 total. That's from 9th to 12. And I think it's more than that.
It's been difficult learning all these. All these names and everything that's going on. But, man, I love my job. I'm so grateful to be here.
[00:28:48] Speaker A: So last couple of minutes here, you've been here a couple of months. You've put the guys to a spring practice. Now you're in team camps.
What is your vision for the Fayetteville football program?
[00:28:59] Speaker B: Well, my vision is simple.
First of all, we gotta know our purpose.
That's it. Know your purpose.
The second thing. Well, I guess first thing would be the discipline part of it. I feel like if we can get the kids more Discipline and to understand if we can do the little things right. Just the little things, take the right step.
You know, the yes, sirs, the no, no, sirs, yes, ma', am, no, ma'. Am. Doing those little things right, I think everything else will take care of itself. And they're big. They know how big I am on discipline. And I think that's been a problem coming from private to public schools. You know, a lot of kids. A lot of kids that I have on the football team, you know, their home life is a lot different than where I came from. And so I've been very, very, you know, generous to that and trying to understand that. But what I tell kids this, and for you all out there, don't allow your home life to dictate your future.
Don't use that as a crutch. Use that as motivation. And that's what I'm trying to instill in our kids. You know, the kids that, well, coach, my mom or this or my dad. Is this my dad? You don't have to be that. You know, you don't have to be that. Right?
So do the little things right.
That will. And if we can get that. That aspect done, I think big things will happen to us. And, you know, prior to taking. When I was, you know, prior to taking this job and thinking about where I wanted to go, you know, I was coming, I came up, I thought and I prayed really hard and I thought about together, because the things that I've heard about Fayetteville's program, you know, and not. I won't call any names, but you hear so much, is that they were lacking discipline and that they weren't together.
You know, I'm a selfless person, not a selfish person.
I tell them that all the time. Be selfless and not selfish.
And, you know, those are things that carry on in life. Because I'm trying to teach these kids to grow up. I want them to. Football can come easy. But if we can love them, coach them hard and love them harder, these kids will run through a brick wall for you, just like Coach Nutt did. He cared about us. And that's all I'm trying to instill in these kids. Understand their purpose, know that we love them and we care about them and get them to come out on Friday nights to perform to the best of their ability, but not also just doing it right on the football field. You represent Fayetteville. Tell them this all the time. Represent the community well, too, because people see you, they know who you are. You know, especially a lot of kids gonna be looking up to them, too. So you got to make great choices. Are you perfect? No. But I promise you this. If you can just start with the little things, man, big things will happen for you and to you. I'm a big believer of that.
[00:31:57] Speaker A: I think Fayetteville made a home run higher. What do you think?
We normally don't do this. Anybody have a question in the audience you'd like to ask Coach while he's here? Anybody?
[00:32:11] Speaker B: Moment for Houston?
An embarrassing, but something is fun. You know, the one thing I used to, you know, when Coach used to run out with us, you know, saw it on video for the. That, you know, I guess I don't know what year it was, but whenever we run out, you see videos of when he had that limp. You know, Coach had that limp. I'm like, coach, what's going on with that limp? You got to get that knee fixed, boy. He come out there and he had that. That. That little limp. But, yeah, that right there was. Was one of the things that was kind of funny. Funny to me, but, man, that guy's special. God, he was a blessing.
[00:32:51] Speaker C: Going back to the Cotton bowl event here, when we were beating Texas, we were on pretty much our own goal line, and they called that play. I remember when, as they called it, Sterner took the snap and respect the short pass.
My wife even hollered hitch and go.
[00:33:09] Speaker B: That's it.
[00:33:10] Speaker C: And I remember, I think I'm correct about this. Did you say that when you were running that long route that you had knee problems and you didn't know if your knee was going to hold up?
[00:33:21] Speaker B: No, sir. It's crazy that you say that. I did have surgery two weeks before that. Yeah, I did. I had two weeks. I had surgery two and a half weeks or so before that game. And I was so worried that I was not going to play in that game.
Had some college done. That's one of the reasons, too.
I knew my time was up in NFL in 2002, so I've had eight knee surgeries. And so, yeah, but. Yeah, I didn't. No, that wasn't it. I juggled the ball. I didn't catch it clean, kind of because I had to slow down to make sure I caught that ball. Remember what I said? It was third and one. So, yeah, so I kind of. That's what slowed me up. And that cornerback was coming hard after me, so I don't know if I would have scored or not, but possibly. Yes, sir.
[00:34:06] Speaker A: Anybody else?
Anthony Lucas. Thank you for being here, Coach.
[00:34:10] Speaker B: And good luck this season.
