Mike Elko on Building Success & Travis Steele on Staying Unbeaten | Others Receiving Votes

All right.

Welcome to the pod.

Others receiving votes is rolling on.

I am Sports Illustrated's Brian Fisher, joined by my colleagues, Kevin Sweeney and producer Kent back for another week.

The Olympics have come to a thrilling conclusion and that means Pat 40 is gonna be slowly making his way across the Atlantic to, to join us here in the not too distant future.

So don't worry if you're waiting for, uh, some plenty of discussion on everything going on.

Across the pond these last couple of weeks, plus, uh, everything going on here on this side of the Atlantic as well.

But before then, uh, we got a lot of ton of things to, to happen on this podcast.

Not one, but two guests are gonna be joining us this week.

First up, Miami of Ohio head coach Travis Steele is gonna be chatting about having an undefeated team in men's basketball at this point in the year.

Plus, Texas A&M's head coach Mike Elko is gonna join us as well to talk a little bit of college football.

And plus, uh, he, he's got 13 Aggies headed to the NFL Combine.

So, fun coming your way.

But before we get to All of that, fellas.

Uh, we must first have a discussion about college basketball because it was a weekend that certainly felt like March.

I was out at Duke, uh, Michigan out in DC and I managed to make it out, uh, certainly before everything in terms of that bomb cyclone hitting the Northeast, uh, managed to trap a lot of folks there, but, uh, it was, it was a number of thrilling upsets.

We had some great games and, uh, the rarity of, of really the top 4 all in action against each other for the first time in years.

Kevin, you are the expert on all this.

How, how great was ball this past weekend and what were your big takeaways?

Yeah, I mean, it was a monster.

Um, everything you could have hoped for in terms of, um, all the high-level games being really good , um, you know, certainly Duke, Michigan, I think you, you, you can attest from being there was a, you know, Final Four level game.

I thought Arizona Houston was a Final Four level game.

Uh, I thought Illinois, UCLA may have been the best game of the day in terms of just the thrill, neither team really being able to stop each other, and then, Uh, the phenomenal finish with Donovan Dent, um, channeling Tyus Edney and, uh, flying to the rim as, as time expired.

So, um, yeah, I mean, look, I, I am, I am Mr.

College basketball.

I will happily beat the drum for it all year round, but, uh, if you are just joining us on the journey to March Madness, you certainly were not disappointed on Saturday.

Yeah, and like, and like you said, big games all around, but all night too, like that, that UCLA win was crazy, and they needed it.

It was a weird week for Mick Cronin.

We discussed how Illinois is kind of that, not sleeper pick per se, but a team that if they cut down the nets in April, you wouldn't be shocked.

So that was a huge one.

Arizona State win, I think we all look at that Arizona team.

As a real challenger, a real contender to go into Houston and be able to beat Kelvin Sampson the way they did was awesome.

And then the Duke Michigan game, like you said, it felt like a Final Four feel, it had playmakers all around.

It was also the type of game, and you see this in the Final Four a lot, lower scoring than maybe what people would think, and I feel like for both teams, it's It's kind of nice to have one of those games where it's a defensive struggle, two teams where you just, you value good shots, you value late possession scoring, you understand that in the final 34 minutes, the set plays you run are gonna be the difference, and that's what John Shire and Duke were able to do on Saturday night, were execute late in that game, better than what Michigan did, but none of us would be surprised if we see a rematch in March or April with those two teams again.

Yeah, I think that was, that was the kind of takeaway from, from a lot of folks there in DC was like, let's, let's see this again in, in, in Indianapolis.

Like, like round two would be fantastic to see between these two of them.

Hopefully, foul trouble, you know, will, will not, uh, be quite of a, quite as much of an issue for, for either side.

I think that did kind of an impact thing certainly for, for Michigan, maybe more so than, than Duke, but, uh, I, I mean, Carlos, uh, Cameron Boozer, excuse me, Carlo, Carlos Boozer, of course, I was, was, uh, I saw his dad there along the sidelines, but, uh, Cameron Boozer, National Player of the Year, I mean, he, he was a guy that, uh, you know, a lot of people, uh, Um, he, he played pretty well with, with 4 fouls there down the stretch, and that was certainly key.

I, I don't think he did anything to dissuade folks out there that were thinking that he was, he's not gonna sweep up a lot of those National Player of the Year awards, probably enhanced it with a near triple-double there against Michigan and so many clutch shots, uh, by the Blue Devils.

I, I think that, that was my, my biggest takeaway was from the weekend was, I, I, I've long thought that this, this, this Blue Devils team was not quite to the level of last year.

And look, that was, that was a historic team.

If you look at some of the Ken Palm numbers that they put up with Cooper Flack.

and K Knipple, who was, who was in attendance last night.

I mean, those are two NBA Rookie of the Year candidates right now.

You, you can understand the talent on last year's team, uh, that certainly had the heart, heartbreaking loss there in San Antonio.

But I, I, I never kind of thought that this group was, was at that level .

But, but I think after what they did against Michigan, I mean, 9 ranked wins this season, that they've put together the resume, that they've put together the execution as well in, in, in a game like that against Michigan.

This is a team that, uh, I think with John Shire and only learning the lessons from last year, talent-wise, they, they, they can still.

Cut down the nets.

And, and I think that was, that was an important thing for Duke.

I, I think Michigan will certainly be fine.

Like, I, if I were filling out a bracket, you know, at this point, like I was doing coming into the weekend, I probably would still have Michigan winning it all, but, um, that, that's more of a, really a statement for Duke in, in particular, I think, over the weekend.

And I, I mean, the, the amount of teams right now that you can kind of consider national title contenders, it seems like that list is growing a little bit, you know, inch by inch as we make it into March.

Uh, do you feel the same way, Kevin?

Yeah, I, I think.

We've, we've seen the best of the best from Michigan, from Duke, from, from Arizona, maybe more consistently, but I think over the last couple of weeks, we've seen, you know, like the, the ability to exploit them, right?

Like, this Duke team is really, really good, and as you said, they're probably more talented than they get credit for.

But I don't think they're an unbeatable force, like, they're not an overwhelming team to play against, and I think Michigan is probably by far the most overwhelming when they're good, and, you know, when they, you know, beat Purdue earlier in the week, it felt that way because they made shots.

Um, but at the end of the day, if you can force Michigan into the half court the way Duke did, and You, you, you, you basically make them play, you know, 3 point roulette, like, good luck.

They're not a great 3 point shooting team, right?

Cade is up and down, Yael is up and down, and they don't generate great shots in the half court, um, because of the way their offense is structured.

Part of that is the personnel, um, and being so reliant on, on size and physicality, and that's what's made them so good in transition, but when you can keep them out of it the way Duke did, um, it's massive, and so, um, yeah, I think it's brought teams back to the field a little bit, um.

I, I, I do think that, that there's, you know, a handful of others that that could win it, but I do think with, with the way this year has been, um, and with the number of teams, number of, number of elite teams, I do think it shrinks the, the, the total number of teams you can envision winning the championship because, like, I can sit here and say, Purdue is really good, right?

Purdue's, you know, Purdue's 7th and Ken Palm right now.

They're a monster statistic analytically, but like, I've, you know, you've watched them play enough times against the best of the best.

It's not just, oh, could they beat one of them on an individual night, it's, could I beat two or three in a row, right?

That's what it's gonna take, an Elite Eight game, a Final Four game, a national championship game.

And I don't envision this being a year where the bracket gets completely blown up and, and, and uh, you know, the, the, the, the, the path is cleared for a team that otherwise isn't built that way.

I think you're gonna have to go through the big dogs, so that shrinks the, the list a little bit to me, but, um, I don't think as good as Michigan is, as good as Duke is, that they are unbeatable, and I think that makes what what's coming in March very, very compelling.

Yeah, and then, of course, with some injuries too, you have like the top end injury, that's a team that I think would have been in the mix a bit more, they're probably not there now.

You even look at teams that have maybe overachieved, Nebraska, Vanderbilt, I don't buy into them all that much.

So to me, if you're gonna give me Michigan, Duke, Arizona versus the field, I would still take those three and feel pretty good about it.

Well, it's interesting, you mentioned that, kit.

I mean, obviously, there was a lot of news, uh, on, on Saturday in terms of the men's basketball selection Committee, kind of doing their annual checkup and, and releasing their, their top 16.

Obviously, Michigan was the kind of the #1 overall seed, uh, according to the committee, followed by Duke, Arizona, and Iowa State as the other, uh, #1 seeds and, and promptly, obviously, 22 of those, uh, ended up losing in , in Iowa State to BYU and obviously, Michigan as well, probably, probably doesn't really.

Changed much in terms of the bracketing, but, uh, certainly does open things up.

I, I think that South region is, is going to be really interesting because you, you had the committee kind of label Iowa State there, um, as that top team over Houston, but, uh, we, we could certainly see Houston get right back into it, to where they get that kind of home regional final.

Gonna be an interesting jockeying going on.

Obviously, a number of other teams ended up, uh, losing as well that were up there.

Uh, you had UConn, you had Houston, Illinois, Purdue, Florida, and Kansas around.

Up the top 10, uh, from the committee, and I'm sure there will be plenty of movement as we kind of, uh, kind of close in down here, uh, going into conference tournaments and into actual Selection Sunday.

But, uh, Ken, I, I, I'll, I'll leave it up to you.

Any anybody kind of out there, uh, a little bit miffed at where they were, uh, being considered by the committee, or, or do you think everybody's kind of properly rated, uh, given that, uh, we, we do have kind of that up and down nature, uh , of college basketball nowadays because, you know, teams are so closely bunched.

Yeah, I think they did, I think they did a good job with it.

There's nothing that stood out that much that was overly surprising.

I do just kind of wanna throw a little shout out to Virginia.

They scored 86 points over the weekend in the game, and I know, uh, even though they beat my Hurricanes, Tony Bennett must have watched that and thought, that's not how you win basketball .

You don't need 86 points.

So, it's a different Virginia for those that are just getting into college basketball.

Remember, this isn't gonna be a Virginia.

The team that wins 48 to 47, a whole lot going forward to keep that in mind, but I thought as a whole, maybe Gonzaga is hard to value just because they just don't have the quality of games the way that, a lot of these other teams do.

So, whether Gonzaga ends up like a 3 or a 4, I don't think it's that big of a difference, but overall, there was nothing that stood out to me that wasn't overly expected in that initial 16.

I, I would just give a quick shout out to uh Sun Belt, Sun Belt commissioner and chair of the committee, Keith Gill, because we have had our share of adventures with the committee chairs, uh, struggling to show their work.

That's been an issue both in, in football with the college football playoffs and, and certainly in the NCAA tournament.

Um, I thought he did a phenomenal job of like clearly and concisely explaining where teams were and why.

Uh, and hopefully that, that continues into Selection Sunday.

I'm sure there will be, uh, there's certainly more drama on Selection Sunday than the mock mock top 16 reveal, uh, but that was an encouraging site, um, because I, I, I think .

Uh, given the process is so convoluted at times, um, and feels often like, you know, you , you sort of find the answers and then find the justification for those answers.

Um, it, it was nice to feel like there was someone, uh, out there that could competently explain how the committee got to where they got.

Uh, I think that's critical for a kind of faith in the process moving forward.

Yeah, and, and I mean, Keith, uh, certainly one of the, one of the more, more affable commissioners, you know, no surprise to see him, uh, thrive up there on , on CBS and, and on that set, and really doing a good job of explaining things, especially some of the bracketing principles.

I, I know there was a mock selection committee with a number of our, our peers in the, in the media.

And I think that Kind of does get lost going into Selection Sunday.

It really does kinda add to this kind of final close of the season.

I mean, you're talking about some of those Big 10 teams, they're gonna end up playing each other .

Um, you know, you talked about some of the Big 12 teams in particular, uh, even, you know, we , we got Duke, Virginia coming up as well in terms of the ACC.

Uh, those wins mean a whole heck of a lot down the stretch in terms of avoiding some of these teams, in terms of landing in their same region.

Um, you know, certainly having that more preferable path from a geography standpoint.

We all know how difficult it is to, to travel nowadays with everything going on on that front.

Not only speaking To the weather at this point.

But, you know, it's going to mean a whole lot if you can, uh, end up getting some of those, those bus games, you know, and certainly in the 1st, 1st couple of rounds or even getting that preferred regional path, it's gonna be huge down the stretch with some of these big games coming up to say, hey, you know what, maybe there is that nicer path for us, uh, available .

No question.

No, it's, it's huge and, and, you know, there's some interesting kind of convoluted things in terms of, as you said, conferences, uh, being joined, especially with these big conferences now, uh, the challenges that puts on the committee, but yeah, I mean, Iowa State and Houston would love to be able to play in Houston in the Sweet 16 Elite Eight.

Maybe Iowa State blocks their path to do that.

Illinois would love to play in Chicago.

Um, that, that may be complicated by Michigan.

So, there's a handful of those, and those will be, be fascinating to watch because so much of this is, is about the path.

And I, I know Houston AD Eddie Nunez talked about it, uh, after, after last year when they had to go up to Indianapolis and play Purdue as, as, as a top seed in, in their region.

Um, you know, playing in a lower seeded team in the Sweet 16 and like basically playing a road game.

That was why it was so important to them to, uh, relinquish hosting duties and and try to have, have an opportunity to go through Houston.

We'll see if they can, they can pull that off, but, um, I, I think if you've been in this, in this world, uh, the way that ADs and coaches have over the years, you understand the importance of, of the path, um, both in terms of the teams you play, but also where you're playing those games.

Awesome.

Well, uh, well, we're, we're gonna keep, uh, keep this, this college basketball train rolling, and, and we're gonna have, uh, we're, we're, we're gonna duck off for a few minutes and come back right after the break.

We're gonna have Miami of Ohio head coach, the undefeated Red Hawks, certainly rolling through, uh, not only in terms of the MAC, but they're rolling through the rest of college basketball.

We're gonna be fascinating to see how they fit into March Madness and, and, uh, to give us some more insight.

We'll have Travis Stee on right after this.

Welcome back, others receiving votes.

Kevin Sweeney, Brian Fisher joined by the last undefeated in college basketball.

Coach Travis Steele, coach, uh, we know you're busy trying to keep that streak up.

Appreciate you hopping on.

Yeah, thanks for having me on, guys.

I, I guess where I would start, um, you've been around elite teams before, back, back at Xavier.

Imagine you know what it looks like.

When was the point with this group where maybe it felt a little different, that there was a chance that this could be a, a really special group, not just a really good basketball team.

Yeah, Kevin, I, I think last year when we lost in the MAC tournament, uh, championship game against Akron, you know, we led for 39 minutes and 55 or 56 seconds, and we lost a heartbreaker, man.

It was tough, and I think those hard moments really define who you are.

Right, they show, they reveal who you are and I, when I started meeting with our guys individually right after that, on Monday, it was 2 days later, trying to figure out who's on your team, who's out, you know, it's all that, um, and all of our guys were so hungry to get back going, you know, but the NCAA says you have to shut it down, I think for a couple weeks, you know, like what if you're not gonna play in any postseason, and, uh, but I knew the spring.

Listen, it was the best spring I've ever been around in all, all my years of college basketball.

Just the competitiveness, um, the fight, the extra work, the player leadership, whether it was in the weight room on the court, was elite, and I was like, man, we got a chance to be really good, and I was interested to see if we could continue that.

And kind of into the summer when we brought in our freshman and, and, and our one transfer that we brought in out of the portal and it just continued.

I was just like, man, this is the consistency piece has just been incredible .

And that's due to the player leadership that we have with Evan Ipsaro, who's injured right now, but he's a, he's still an integral part to our team, um, Peter Sutter, Ian Elmer, guys that have been here, and it goes a long, long, long way that retention does.

Yeah, I mentioned the, the, the one, the one transfer there, coach.

I mean, it, it seems so rare that we, we can, can rely on that for, for some of these teams.

Do you, do you feel like you're kind of going against the grain at this point in terms of your roster building?

Yeah, you know, a little bit while everybody else is zigging out outside the zag, you know, and, and sometimes it's easier just to be different and be better.

And, you know, Miami, listen, it's an elite academic academic school, and it's original public Ivy.

I, we have to recruit a lot of high school here.

There's no doubt, um, but we use that as our main source, like we have 5 freshmen on our current roster, right?

We play 4 of them, you know, varying minutes, but they're getting experience, and then we brought in 1 transfer, so we'll supplement with with with the transfer portal, but it's gotta be the right fit out of the portal, cause the portal is like speed dating, and I don't like taking a young man not knowing exactly what we're getting.

Um, anybody could watch film or pull up stats.

But who's impacting winning?

Who's helping you build your culture, make it even stronger, like those things we really value here.

What what's the secret sauce to have guys want to stick around , right?

Like I imagine there was financial implications for, for those guys that, uh, in, in many ways probably took less money to be back and we're hungry to be back and and chase that championship.

What were, what were you guys able to sell differently to make, make them want to be back?

Yeah, I think, you know, their, their recruitment is their experience here.

I'm not gonna talk them into staying.

Their, their decisions are probably had probably already been made for being honest when you have that meeting.

And so for me it's how they're treated on a day to day basis, you know, like one of the best things I ever I've ever done was I coached my, uh, he's now a 7th grader, my 4th when he was in 4th grade, I coached his AAU team.

And it just like it opened my eyes to like, man, why do, why did I love basketball cause it's fun.

You can make basketball fun and work hard.

They're not like , you don't, they, they, they don't have to be separate, separated, right?

And so the experience we give our guys, I think is very important.

The development's gotta be real.

Are they getting better?

Can all their dreams come true here as far as being a pro?

Are they getting a great degree?

The connectivity, does the culture, do they enjoy it?

Do they enjoy each other?

All those things are in place here, which I think has really helped us with the retention of our roster.

is that kind of showing up, you know, I, I mean, you guys have played some, some close games, but you guys have been able to execute certainly down the stretch when normal teams might, might wanna falter or, or, or go away from that.

You, you guys have, have come out with execution, uh, down the stretch and, and able to pull out some of those, those close wins to remain undefeated.

Is that where that, that kind of carryover happens?

I think so.

And, and listen, we got winners.

I mean, all of our guys have won, whether it's state championships or one at their previous school.

We value guys that have won and impacted winning.

And that retention, like to your point is, is that they trust each other.

The connectivity is there.

I mean, it just is.

So when we go through adverse times, we get tighter, whereas a lot of teams may start to splinter a little bit, I'd argue we get tighter and we get better in those moments than we are when we're doing well.

What was, was there ever a fear that with success and with the attention you guys have gotten, that it would be harder to keep the group together, and I guess how have they responded, um, so well to the success and not had the letdown spot that I think a lot of people would, would think comes naturally with, with the type of season you're having.

Yeah, complacency can really set in, right?

And you know, like I, I love visuals.

I showed our guys a picture of a guy driving a car and he was driving it from the inside.

You could see his hand on the wheel and he had a phone in his hand, and I asked Antoine Wolfolk, I said, what do you see?

He said, I see a guy texting and driving.

And I, I said, that's right.

I said, well, it seems like he's pretty distracted.

I said, what, what does that lead to?

And, and, and Peter Suter said, well, that leads to you, you're hitting an obstacle.

So it's exactly right.

I said at that time this was probably about a month and a half ago.

I, and we've used, we use different pictures and metaphors and all that, and, but our guys understand me and they keep the main thing, the main thing.

We have not had a bad practice all year.

The consistency has been incredible, and it's because we got great player leadership, like I've said before, we got great character, um, we have fun though.

I want our guys to enjoy this ride.

Right, I mean, dude, we're, we're whatever we are, we're undefeated.

I don't know how many wins we have, we have a lot, and it's just like I want them to enjoy the moment and enjoy each other, you know, so I've made myself a little vulnerable in front of the group.

I said, fellas, as we start winning more and more, people are gonna try to pull us apart.

They're gonna try to pull at us, whether it's agents, whether it's other schools, whether it's, it just happens.

It's, it's just part of success, and we all made a pact to each other that we were just going to stay focused on the ride that we're on and, and enjoy each other.

At the same time, there is still a little bit of pressure that comes with that dash 0 in, in, in that record and more national television appearances, it seems like every, every time you guys do it, end up playing a game, we, we kind of got circle it on the calendar now.

We gotta, gotta tune in.

How are you guys handling the, the increased pressure that comes from that, that, that 0 in that loss column?

Yeah, I, I, it's weird.

Like I, I, I had a, a family, uh, a, a friend of our family was at our Marshall game on the road a few weeks back and And he hit my father-in-law and said, man, I can't believe how loose.

Travis' and their team.

He said, I thought they'd be uptight, you know, being undefeated.

We have fun.

I mean, like we, I, I, we work really hard.

We do everything we could, we focus on the things that we can control, and I also think when you do it for others rather than just yourself, like when you do it for yourself, I think you feel more pressure.

When you do it for others, like, hey, I want to do this for our players, our staff.

You don't feel it as much, man.

Um, and that's where that those relationships that we have, and that it's nice to have the retention, uh, they really help us.

Obviously, we, we have to ask about the, the schedule, um, that is the common refrain, and no, Miami hasn't played anybody, why, why should we take them seriously?

And, uh, I, I think, uh, myself and lots of others would, would, would respond.

Have, have you tried scheduling games when you're bringing back half your team from a 25 win team, I guess, can you take us through the realities of what it's like to try to get quote unquote better non-conference games and, and, and, and what it's like in this era of non-conference scheduling at a place like Miami, Ohio.

Yeah, um, you know, my first couple years, there was a line from Oxford, Ohio to Cincinnati, Ohio to play us.

Um, there was a long line, and then all of a sudden I probably didn't realize, guys, how hard it was gonna be to schedule.

Coming off a 25 win season with a lot of retention.

It's like all of a sudden it's like, man, it's June, and it's like, man, we don't have, we gotta get a lot of games.

And I, I'm like, man, usually we have a good portion of the schedule done by then.

And Jonathan Holmes, who's my associate head coach, who does a great job.

Listen, he should have been a head coach yesterday, um, quite honestly, he's been doing scheduling for 15 years, 16 years at this level.

He said, coach, we got a major problem.

This isn't good.

We're either getting all hard nose or hey, we'll hit you back and couldn't get any P5s or P6s to play us.

Um, and I understand why.

Right, like from their standpoint, it's like, well, they're supposed to play, there's quad 1, quad 2, quad 3, quad 4 games.

Obviously they're not gonna come here to Miami and play us, nor should they.

That's ridiculous, you know, so it's like we gotta go there, so it's a home game for them.

So they need quad 1 and quad 4 games.

They're not supposed to play quad 2 quad 3.

Well, that's where we are.

So I totally understand from a numbers perspective why they they didn't want to play us, and we talked to the Blue Bloods.

I mean, you, I mean like it wasn't like cause there's levels to this thing, you guys, you guys know at at the P5, P6 and they all said no.

And so I hated that for our guys and then you start to, OK, well, let's play other really good mids.

Like, like teams, and it's like, man, you'd send in a contract, they'd agreed to it or we're gonna play on a neutral site.

Hey, we agreed to it, and then all of a sudden, nope, we're not doing that.

It's like it's, it's the most frustrating part of our job scheduling.

It's awful.

I just wish our athletic directors would deal with it and take it out of the coach's hands.

I think it would be a lot simpler in my opinion.

Well, you know , David and, and your, your AD and, and everybody else involved in that, they, they have a few things on, on their plate as well, but we saw some terrific success this, this past weekend.

Duke and Michigan went out and and played a non-conference game.

We used to have bracket busters, you know, back in the day.

Would, would you be in favor of, of either more teams kind of doing what Duke and Michigan did in terms of kind of taking that break at this point in the year to maybe build up that resume or, or bring something back like bracket busters that we used to have?

I love it.

I love it.

I used to love the 24 hour marathon too.

I mean that was awesome.

What I mean you get to watch ball all day, all night.

I mean there's, but we tried it, so we do the Max Sun Belt Challenge.

We play one game at the beginning of the year, the first game of the year, we played, uh, Old Dominion at home, and then we had a road game slotted more towards, I don't know, it's a couple weeks ago, and they try to slot comparable.

Uh, nets, right?

So like Marshall's had a really good year, and so we, we, we got kind of positioned to play them to hopefully that that would help us later on maybe a seed line if we win the game, you know, if we're, if we're able to make the NCAA tournament.

So we try to, I think the Mac and Sunbelts trying to, to kind of like, uh, duplicate that a little bit, you know, um, that bracket busters a little bit, but I love the bracket busters, man.

You're, you're, you're talking my language right now.

I, I, I have to imagine that one of the most rewarding parts of all of this has been seeing the, the crowds and the fan support and seeing the community kind of embrace you guys.

Obviously, Ohio is a , a big basketball state, and you think about, you know, Cincinnati and Xavier and Dayton, but like to, to see, to look around and see these monster crowds that you have right now, I, I guess how cool is it, especially from, from where it was when, when you first got the job.

Yeah, you know, my friend, uh, one of my buddies down in Cincinnati, he, uh, he used to come, he used to ask me for tickets all the time, and I just give him, I say, hey man, give these away, whatever we gotta do.

I mean, cause we, we would have maybe 100 people at our games.

This is the worst environment in all of college basketball, in my opinion, my first couple of years here.

We had 0 home court advantage, and I was like, man, we have to flip this.

If we're going to give ourselves a win a chance to win our league, you have to be able to dominate at home.

And we've won 30 games in a row now at home, but it's really flipped, man.

I, I give our, our, the Miami community, um, has gotten behind our team so much.

I mean, we're selling out Mallett Hall, which we've had the biggest crowds ever here, which is insane from where it was.

I think like.

Because now my buddy said, he said, well, can I get tickets?

And I said, well, you can go on StubHub and pay $300 or $400 for a ticket, which is insane to even say that now kind of kind of compared to where we were.

So it's been a lot of fun.

Uh, hopefully we're curing memories for our student base, um, that are that are attending the games.

I it's a blast.

It's it's like a big party in Mallett Hall, and for our for our players, man, I'm just so, so happy for them that they're able to experience this.

Travis, you were at, you're at, you're at Xavier.

You've never had a losing record.

Obviously, they, they let you go before the team ended up winning, uh, the NIT, but you jumped right back in to, to grab this job.

You know, some normally coaches might, they might take a year off, they might, uh, go join it as an assistant, especially at maybe a, a P4 type of, type of school.

You, you jumped right back in, into coaching.

Why, why, why take this Miami of Ohio job, you know, initially and then kind of, did you see it becoming what it's become up to this point?

Yeah, you know, um, when the Xavier thing happened, man, it, it was sudden, as it always is for, for anybody that's been in that situation.

Um, I love Xavier.

My Xavier experience was awesome, man.

The relationships that I have, uh, are with me for the rest of my life, man.

Some great memories, um, love that place.

I appreciated the opportunity, you know, and then all of a sudden it's like I'm down in Florida.

With my family down at the beach and it's like, man, you start, I've never been not been around the team.

I mean, you think you play sports, you sports, you play high school sports, and then you're coaching, and it just feels weird.

You feel like you're just isolated in a weird spot.

So I was like, you know what, I need to coach.

I think, I think Amanda, my wife probably said, hey, listen, you need to go back to work too.

I'm tired of you at this point.

Um, so 2 weeks later, I mean, I was unemployed for probably 2 weeks.

And it just kind of the timing is everything, right, in life and um I, I thought Miami had a lot of upside.

Very proud tradition here.

Ron Harper, Wally Zerbiak, Wayne Embry, Ira Newble, all-time winningest program in the MAC, but it just had not been done in a long, long time.

And I knew it was gonna be a rebuild, and I asked David Sailor if you'd be patient with me.

He's our athletic director, and I just said, will you be patient with me, cause I'm gonna try to build it really slow.

I'm gonna build it exactly like I wanna build it.

It's like building a house.

You don't have to.

You you're not, hey, I'm just gonna paint this wall.

I got to build it from scratch, and I told him, I said the first two years are probably gonna be a little, little, little tough.

Um, I said, but year 3 we'll, we, we, you'll see significant growth, and you'll see like the framing of the house, right?

That goes up quick and everybody's excited about the new house.

We'll shoot the foundation's been built, they, they for the last 67 months.

That was our 1st 2 years getting our foundation right, and I knew it had a place that had a great upside to it, and, and I'm just excited and super fortunate to be here.

Is it, is it hard to not get overly obsessed with the, uh, at large bid conversation and things like that?

Like, is there, is there ever a point where you're just sitting here like, and it's, it's so ridiculous that we're 27-0, and when we have to like politic our way potentially into the NCAA tournament, and, and obviously you have a path in regardless by taking care of business in the MC tournament.

I, I, I guess.

Uh, how do you view the at-large conversation around your guys, and, and how do you, how do you approach it as things get very real in the crunch time to Selection Sunday?

Yeah, you know, like I've addressed it with our guys too, Kevin, like cause I, I, I, cause I know again they see everything, they hear everything.

Um, we just got control, the controllables, right?

And that's a good thing you mentioned it.

Listen, we can get the automatic qualifier by winning the MAC tournament in Cleveland, um.

We got control every day, having a great practice, great lift, great film session.

Uh, but listen, we're, we're blessed to be in the position we're in.

We're playing meaningful games.

I mean, it's a , it's pretty cool.

I mean, that's the way I look at it, man.

It's, it's awesome.

Like, and again, I, I.

I think we're, we got a really good team.

We've won a lot of games on the road, neutral.

Like I said, we've again, we played good teams too, man.

Like we played some good teams.

We, again, you're gonna say, hey, we played some teams that aren't as good too, and we have.

We've had a mixed bag, so, um, but we played those that that would play us and, and, uh, I like our team, man.

I, I know this.

Our group feels like we can beat anybody in the country.

It doesn't matter.

When we step on that floor, uh, they have complete belief and swagger that that I that that that you need in order to win those games in the NCAA tournament.

Yeah, I mean, there, there's always a, a, a time, you know, I think in kind of mid-February, if, if there is a team that's undefeated, you start hearing that talk, oh, they need to lose one, you know, to, to experience that, or maybe you can fuel it, or you guys are like taking the opposite track, you know, you're, you're out there on game day promising, jumping in, in Speedos.

Like it seems like you guys have embraced this run more than anything.

Hey, listen, any coach that says that they need to take a lot is, is no way.

No we ain't playing to lose, man.

I, I do think you can learn from losses, but you can learn from wins.

Right?

That's what the great teams do.

They learn from winning, because there's so many areas we gotta get better at still here that I think we could take another jump as a team here over the next few weeks and, um, you know, we just take it day by day, man, like just enjoying the process, like I said, of practice and lifting and film and uh getting better, man, cause I still think we have some upside with our team.

I, I guess, you know, closing the book, you, you said that at the end of last year and, and, and experiencing heartbreak that that your guys were, were hungrier than ever from that, I guess, where they are now having, I guess, experienced the fruits of their labor, do you still see the same hunger every day?

I do.

Listen, this guy Peter Sutter.

I, I, I mean he's, he's like we're in the spring last spring.

We're playing 3 on, I like to play 3 on 3 in the offseason cause you get more touches, more decisions, and, and, uh, this guy's diving on the floor, taking charges in the spring.

He's taking charges at practice today.

It's like, dude, slow down.

It's like pal, but everybody's like that.

Ian Elmer is everywhere.

I mean, Antoine Wolfolk, I mean like.

These dudes care.

They really care, and they and they and they play to win, man, we compete, and it's a Like I said, it, the practices are are more fun than the games.

They really are, and I think our guys would all say that to a man.

Well, I, I'm not sure I'm looking forward to, to Selection Sunday Speedo, Travis Steele, but I'm, I'm certainly looking forward to the Cinderella story that could come.

Coach, we appreciate the time and, uh, and good luck the rest of the way.

Thank you.

I better go work out so I can get ready for the Speedo.

All right, the calendar is about to turn to March, but that's still football season around here for a lot of us, and that's why.

Why we're thrilled to give a big howdy to the head coach at Texas A&M, Mike Elko today.

Mike, thanks so much for, for joining us.

And, you know, before we talk a little bit about a few of your Aggies in, in this past season there in College Station, I, I'm just kind of curious, what, what is this time on the calendar like for you?

Kind of between the roster building of January, February, you got things like the portal going on.

And, and spring football coming up.

Are you catching up on like some Netflix shows?

Are you crossing the honey do list off?

Like, like , what's, uh, are, are you Mr.

Chauffeur?

What, what is Mike Elko doing, uh, nowadays?

Yeah, I , I wish, I wish there's certainly some honeydew stuff.

I think you get to this time of year and you're pretty much.

At the mercy of whatever your wife wants you to do.

You have no choice if you want to stay married.

And then, uh, I think some of it is just kind of getting in the building and, uh, it feels like I, I, I told the media this the other day, it feels like such a race from, you know, you walk off the field, you, you lose your last game.

Um, and you literally don't feel like you breathe, and it's just nonstop.

It's, it's roster retention, it's portal recruiting, it's high school recruiting, and then you hit February, and it's like, finally, you just kind of take a step back and you get to regroup and start to build some, some foundations for what you want this to do.

Start to look at some scheme stuff and um just nice to be in-house and, and able to go back to work with your team.

Well, you know, the biggest reason that we wanted to have you on was, was a couple of you guys that, uh, I'm sure you have been watching, uh, quite a bunch of film.

The NFL Combine obviously starts this week.

And the, uh, you know, Aggie not only set a school record there with sending 13 guys to Indianapolis, but most schools of, of any school in the country.

What , what's that gonna say about your program in the season that you guys just had?

Yeah, I think it says that we're moving in the direction we want to move.

And I think one of the things we talked a lot about when I got here was, you know, the need to develop players in this program, the need to have more NFL draft picks, more representation at the combine.

Those were all marks for us for what a successful program looks like, especially one.

That wants to compete year in and year out for championships.

And so, uh, you know, it's a, it's a nice step obviously to see our players get the recognition, um, to have 13 guys at the combine.

I'm actually gonna go up there on Thursday to get a chance to just kinda support those guys and, and it's just, again, that's, that's what we need this program to become.

And so, it's a good first year of doing that.

Yeah, Mike, whenever you look at your program, you now made the CFP.

You were in that hunt in the, in the top 5 for a portion of the year, the big win over Notre Dame to start the season, making the college football playoffs, putting your program now with a chance to say, we have done that, we have put ourselves in that position.

How much is that also a sell to know that not only do you have guys in the NFL, but now you have the background to go in to recruit homes, to go into the transfer portal and say, you come here.

You have a chance to not only compete for an SEC, you have a chance to legitimately play for a national championship.

Yeah, we, we wanna be known for a program that accomplishes things, and I think that's something that has been really, uh, a message from this staff in this era of what we're trying to do.

And, um, you know, it's, it's nice to be talked about for potential.

It's nice to be talked about for what you can do.

Um, but now I think you're, we're in a conversation of, of what we are doing, right?

And that's, that's a big difference.

When you're talking about high school recruiting and attracting top talent is, you know, we have put 13 guys at the combine.

We are gonna get double-digit draft picks.

We have competed to be in Atlanta down to the last week of the season.

We have qualified for the CFB playoff.

We are a top 10 program at the end of the year .

Like those are, those are tangible actual things that this program has accomplished, and I think maybe lost in some of the hype in some of the past years was, you know, being able to actually do those things and sell that.

I mean, 7 of those 13 guys that, that are, you're, you're gonna be joining there at the combine are, are offensive and defensive linemen.

Is that kind of scary to, to think about in terms of, hey, we got to replace all those guys or are you kind of saying, hey, that is also more reflective of kind of the program we want to be in terms of who we are producing for, for.

That kind of NFL talent, yeah, probably a little of both, you know, obviously I think, I think, um, it's the program you wanna be, especially playing in this conference where the line of scrimmage is so critical.

I think everybody knows that, you know, that's a little bit of the separator when you talk about SEC football is the quality of the line of scrimmage, I think.

Defensively, it's been something we've been doing honestly since 2018 when I got hired here as the D coordinator.

We've had more NFLD linemen draft picks than any other program in the country since 2018.

And so, we've kind of got into this rhythm of replacing defensive line draft picks.

We had 3 last year.

Uh, everybody wondered what we would be able to do this year.

Uh, it looks like we're gonna have another 3 this year.

And so, um, Now, this is the first time we're doing it on the other side too, right?

And so now it's, it's both lines and, you know, we were able to go out in the portal and add some guys and um we've got some young players that are going to need to step up and develop, but it is, it's, it's where it starts.

And if, if you're, if you're getting 5 to 7 draft picks on the line of scrimmage year in and year out, it probably means you've had a pretty successful season and you're building a pretty successful program.

Yeah, and, you know, those 3 draft picks last year, also top 100 picks as well.

You know, Cassus Howe is probably the next guy to, to join them.

And certainly when you kind of look at some of those kind of mock drafts and all that, he, he's just a, you know, I, I, I think he's kind of a Tasmanian devil off the edge.

He, he's so good at that.

What, what makes him kind of special?

What are NFL teams talking, talking to you about, uh, him, and what, what are kind of some of those teaching points that you emphasize with guys like Cassius that, that do end up translating from Saturday into Sunday?

Yeah, I, I think the first thing is he can rush the passer, right, and the NFL is such a disrupt the quarterback league.

And so when you see a guy who has played against the top competition in, in college football and has produced pressure rates and sack rates at the level he has, uh, that's obviously a really strong starting point.

I think he's got a variety of rushes.

Uh, he's got some flexibility and coverage too, which is, uh, something that some of the coordinators across the league are excited about, just having that flexibility, not that you do that a lot, but just a little.

A bit of that flexibility is is always good and um I just think he's a really cool story.

I think it's a kid who was recruited during COVID, uh, didn't probably get the exposure that he warranted coming out of high school, winds up at Bowling Green.

Um, our scouting department finds him when he enters the portal, and we're able to get him here, uh, you know, in large part because we got some Bowling Green connections on our staff, and, um, you know, and to watch him flourish in our system into what he became this year and, um, to follow him through this offseason and, and watch his name get called, it'd be really special.

And how great is it to have your quarterback back?

When you look at this landscape of college football, there's a lot of one-year starters, one-year transfers.

The fact that you have a guy like Marcel Reed back.

In College Station, prepping for another year as a starter, that has to be a relief as a coaching staff to have that investment, have your starter back as not only a returning starter, but a true leader to your team.

Yeah, I, I think in a lot of ways, I think one, us as a staff, knowing who he is, knowing what we have, knowing, you know, kind of a plan of attack in the offseason in the areas we want to see him grow and continue to develop.

But also knowing kind of how to build an offense around him because we have.

We've played a lot of really competitive football games with him as our quarterback.

And so, that helps, uh, the familiarity with the locker room, you know, to say, OK, hey, listen, we brought in some new linemen, we brought in a new wide receiver, like, let's bring all this thing together.

And now you're looking at your quarterback as the guy that can be able to do that.

That helps a lot.

And, um, you know, I, I do.

I, I think there's continuity in, in system that matters.

I, I think one of, uh, one of the things that, that got lost a little bit in the Indiana story is how many of those kids played at JMU.

You know, it's, it's not just all transfers, you know, and there certainly were a lot of them, but, but, you know, there were a lot of kids who had been in those systems for a really long time between JMU and Indiana, and I do think there's continuity of system that matters.

Well, well, you, you bring it up.

I, I feel like a lot of coaches are gonna get asked that question.

What do you take away kind of from those most recent national title runs and , and certainly, Indiana kind of comes to mind.

Uh, is there, is there a coaching point?

Is, is there a roster building thing that you kind of say, that you kind of say, oh, I, I didn't think about things that way, but, you know, after seeing them in action and making that run to Miami, hey, maybe, maybe we can bring some of that magic here to College Station.

No , I, I, I think we have our process that we believe in.

I, I think obviously, you're seeing more parity in college football.

That, that's great.

I think that's something that you can sell.

I think you're seeing talent get distributed a little bit more across different , different landscapes.

And so, um, I think that, that leads more teams going into the season to believe they've got Got a shot to go win it all and go compete for those playoff berths.

I think that's all really good for college football and, um, yeah, I think we've just got to, we stay focused on our process and, and what we feel like we need to do each year to build a roster that gives us a chance.

And, and I think we've done that again, and I think we're, we're really excited about where this program and where this team will be this year.

How, how have you kind of adjusted?

Obviously, two new coordinators for, for you, uh, in, in terms of the program.

Some guys that obviously you knew, knew well that, that got promotions, but how have you kind of adjusted to this offseason and especially not only integrating new guys in that coaching staff, but integrating so many new guys, uh, certainly from the transfer portal and the high school ranks that are coming into the roster as well this year.

Yeah, you know, it kind of feels like that's what college football is, you know , I, I think, um, you, we were able to have some staff continuity last offseason going from year one to year 2, which you would.

would and would expect.

But, you know, now that you've been a successful program, you know, it's great to see Colin Klein get his chance to be a head coach at Kansas State.

That obviously moves some, some pieces with him, and you're gonna have to replace that.

And, um, you know, we've had some other guys get some opportunities that are right for them and their families, and, you know, those are things that you want in your program.

And so, um, you know, defensively, we're able to bring in Lyle Hemphill and, and he has been here with us for over a year now, and a guy that I've known for a really, really long time.

And so that, that transition, I think will be.

Teamless and it's great to have him in the building ready to roll to, to run the defense for us.

And then, um, Holman Wiggins is a guy that I've gotten to know over the last two years and, and has been a real integral piece in our offensive success and our wide receiver development and, and a lot of what we've done in the passing game.

And so, um, he made the most sense for us with where we are as a program right now to, to take that next step in his career and call plays for the first time.

And so we got a ton of confidence in him and, you know, kind of what he'll be able to do with this system moving forward.

The one debate that's come up recently, especially expanded playoffs, things of that nature, out of conference big games.

And you look at last year, you guys beat Notre Dame.

Miami, who only got in the playoffs because they beat Notre Dame, and then even Ohio State was able to get a bye because they beat Texas.

You start to look at those big games, there's now the backlash of, what if you don't play those games and you play a cupcake, will your record get you in the play.

Playoffs, but I think you probably look at those big games, and I would imagine going forward, you probably want to keep playing those signature out of conference games because don't you feel like winning those big games outweigh any sort of negative that can come from those even if you happen to lose those?

No, I honestly, I don't.

I think if you look at us, I, I made this point a couple of weeks ago in head coach meetings, you know, we were an 11-1 football team who beat Notre Dame, but I don't know where that showed up.

Uh, when you looked at us compared to the 11 and 1 teams, you know, from 4 to 7, all of those teams finished 11 and 1, and we had the most signature out of conference win and we were 7.

And so, to me, there was only risk in that game.

There was no reward.

Um, and so, I, I think, You know, it's a challenging situation.

It is.

It's, it's, um, you, you're, I, I say this all the time, and it's really the reality .

There's no sample size, right?

So, you look at the other sports and they play 1820 out of conference games and basketball and baseball, which create these formulas to identify.

Conferences as being stronger or not stronger in any given season.

We don't have that in football.

And so, um, year in and year out, the NFL tells us that the most NFL talent is spread evenly throughout the SEC, which makes our conference top to bottom, one of the most challenging gauntlets to go through.

How do you Equate that.

Like, how does that get quantified?

I don't know.

Uh, they're still having a hard time figuring that out.

And so then you throw in these out of conference where really the only thing that seems to matter on these schedules is wins and losses.

Um, and I think that's the biggest challenge, and I don't have a great solution.

Because I don't think there is one, to this thing as you look forward, um, you know, if the AFC only played the AFC and then all of a sudden it was getting compared to NFC teams when it came time to pick playoff teams, uh, that's probably the best way to relate it, right?

And there's just no way to compare them.

Well, are, are you mentioned those, those head coaching meetings.

I mean, is there a concern in that room now, especially with the SEC moving to 9 games, that, that maybe that conference schedule is not going to get maybe evaluated as properly as you guys certainly would like it to be, uh, by the committee moving forward?

Yeah, I think it's, I think everybody's a little bit nervous about what this selection process looks like as you move forward.

I think that's one of the, again , it's What we're all being judged on is getting into the playoffs, and I think that's one of the biggest challenges is, is, what is that formula and how does this thing look moving forward.

And, and again, I'm not complaining, I'm not saying this, there's an easy solution that people aren't identifying, but it is.

It's a challenging, it's a challenging situation, um, and how you identify 9 conference games in our conference versus 9 conference games at another conference, and how does that all get equated.

Um, I don't know.

The, the committee's got their hands full, that's for sure.

That, that they do.

And it, you know, I brought up the calendar to, to you earlier and I know that that seems like to be the thing that a lot of coaches love to complain about, you know, this time of year.

Now, you, you know, you're super smart coach, you're an Ivy League grad.

If, if we made you college football czar and, and put you in charge of not only the calendar, but really the sport in general, are there any broad changes you, you kind of bring to the table?

No, I, I think, I, I think the thing people miss in the calendar conversation is, is that we're driven by academic semesters.

Uh, and I think people throw around calendar ideas without understanding that, um, there's a spring semester, and, and so we can't just.

Do things in the middle of the spring semester because part of our, our roster management strategy is getting kids into school and getting them enrolled.

Um, and Texas A&M doesn't enroll kids in March.

And so, um, you know, the conversations about trying to do it all after the season.

Um, that's 3 weeks into the spring semester.

Uh, and so that'd be a really awkward time to start the process, uh, of enrolling your team.

And so, I, I don't know that there's a solution.

I don't think there is, given the current structure of when games are played and how they're played.

And so, I actually like the calendar, the way it stood this year.

I, I enjoyed, um, being able to be off the road in December and being able to kind of focus on things that we wanted.

To, uh, I like the portal being in January.

I felt like that was the right time for it.

It, it saved it, um, in a lot of ways.

And so, um, again, I think we got to just continue to evaluate each year and, and see where we can find opportunities to improve.

But I don't think, uh, what I do know is, is there's not a very easy solution like a lot of people are calling for because, um, you know, the academic semesters make a big difference.

Ken, you got anything else?

I guess one other thing I would say is when you brought, you bring up 9 conference games and that's become one of the big issues.

The Big 10, of course, similar, ACC has not quite done that.

When you look at the landscape of college football as a whole, it does seem like there's nobody in charge, so to speak.

You have conference commissioners, but then that's really about it .

And at the end of the day, we understand the conference commissioners are serving their Schools, their constituents.

What would you want if you could have a magic wand and say, there needs to be an overall commissioner, everybody in the power school should be under the same sort of nine-game schedule.

What would you want that you think would help the longevity of how college football is trying to go towards the fact that it's seemingly moving where it's the power schools versus everyone else, but what would be something you would want to put in place?

Yeah, I, I, I've said this before.

I, I, I think, I think the need for somebody to be in charge of and whether it's somebody or it's a board, um, but there has to be a, a singular group running college football.

I, I think the way this thing has changed, the way the landscape has changed, uh, it's critical that we're no longer making regional.

Decisions.

It's critical that we're making no longer making decisions just based on what's most important to any individual conference.

You know, we need a group of people to be in charge of what's best for college football, uh, moving forward and, and to understand all of the, the landscape and what goes into it, um, and to try to figure out how to create a structure in and.

Around it.

And so, um, you know, it's, it's, it's an extremely lucrative business.

It's an extremely popular business.

Um, I don't know that there's anything like it in the world that, that doesn't have singular leadership, right?

And so, uh, when you think about it from that perspective, I've said this before, it's a $1.1 billion dollar industry, um, and you guys can't tell me who's running it.

That seems weird.

Is there any magic number on a perfect amount of playoff teams in your mind?

No, I, I don't think so.

I don't think so.

I, I think the, the expanded playoff has been good.

I think keeping the regular season important is, is, is critical to football.

I don't think you ever want it to water down to where the regular season doesn't feel like it means something.

Um, but no, I, I don't think there's a magical number.

I, I think, um, sometimes it's good to just say, OK, hey, we made a big jump from 4 to 12.

Like, let's see kind of what this thing looks like before we go jumping around to what the next, you know, we, we always look for what the next iteration is, um, before we try to perfect the one that we have, but, uh, I don't think there's a magic number to it.

Well, speaking of numbers, you, you've improved that win total year over year since you've been in College Station, but we all know that that jump from, from going from 11-1 regular season to, to an even better record than that, making there's not a big, there's not a big mark above that.

No, there's, there's not.

I mean, but as , as, as small as it might look on paper, it's obviously a big jump on the field.

What, what, what, what's gonna be that difference for, for you guys this season upcoming, uh, in terms of making that, uh, possible leap from, from going, uh, down to Atlanta?

Yeah, we're focused on brand elevation and program elevation.

I think that's kind of where our focus has been since I got here and, and we knew we had a lot of things that needed to elevate to, to ultimately be a team that, that could achieve those things you're talking about, right?

Being in Atlanta, going further in the playoffs, and so, um, you know, we're focused just kind of on the day to day operation of, of Building and improving this brand and as we do that and continue to maximize who we are and what we're capable of, I think results will continue to follow.

And so, um, you know, we're excited for another great offseason, we're excited for another opportunity to put a team together, um, to go accomplish things on the field for Texas A&M football and, um, again, as long as that, that stays the focus, I think ultimately we're going to get this program where we want it to go.

Well, certainly some exciting times there in College Station, Mike.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Best of luck in Indianapolis with, with all your guys.

Hopefully, there's no weather issues for you getting there, but, uh, I'm sure there will be plenty of fun, uh, to be had with, uh, with your combines and then, uh, down in the draft, uh, with, with a lot of Aggies, I'm sure to hear their name called.

Yeah, we're excited.

We appreciate you guys having on us, having us on, and, uh, looking forward to the draft.

All right, fascinating, uh, conversation there with Mike Elko.

Certainly appreciate.

time on the podcast as well as Travis Steele a little bit earlier from the Miami of Ohio Red Hawks.

Uh, some, we'll try to get some, definitely some more coaches on down the stretch, uh, between, uh, spring football and, and of course, March Madness.

It's certainly a fun time for a lot of those, uh, sitting at home and, uh, catching all the action there going on.

Uh, we will be back.

Uh, we will see if, uh, certainly when, when Pat Ford, uh, wants to, uh, Pat Fordy wants to join us at some point.

Point, uh, down the, down the road, but, uh, we'll, we'll give him a little time off, uh, certainly after getting back from Italy, but, uh, he will be back on the pod in no time.

In the meantime , be sure to rate and review, give us 5 stars.

Um, whether you want, uh, want some more guests or go ahead and leave us a comment, uh, whether you don't want us to have Pat back, uh , we, we will take those comments in under advisement as well, uh, for, for, for Kevin and producer Kent, I am Brian Fisher.

We'll catch you again next week.