The Monarchists sit down with ODU football alum and current San Diego Charger Isaac Weaver and discuss his path from Georgia to Norfolk, the intricacies of playing on the offensive line, what it's like playing for Coach Wilder and Coach Rahne, the COVID season, beating Tech and so much more.

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Hey Mon ag nation.

Before we get to today's episode, we'd like to first thank you for

pitching in on the dollars for Junior's fundraiser, with your support.

We were able to raise $14,000.

Hopefully we can knock that out the park next year, but you guys

have really raised the bar in 2022.

So thank you for your support.

We'd also like to give you an update on the show over the next month

or so we are gonna take a hiatus.

To, refresh and recharge for season two, we got a lot of great things in store

and we hope you're ready to tune in.

All right.

Now, to the episode,

Hello.

I'm Keith Gill, commissioner of the Sunbelt conference, and you're

listening to the monarchist.

podcast

I'm Aaron and I'm Mike, and you're

listening to the monarchist podcast today.

We welcome Isaac Weaver to the show, a beast on the football field.

Isaac proved that he can play anywhere on the offensive line.

A true Ironman.

Isaac can only miss one game in its entire careers.

A Monarch.

In fact, he only missed one snap during the entire 2017 campaign.

And that was because his helmet just came off just like us, the San Diego charger.

See Isaac's potential and sign him as an undrafted free agent.

Following the NFL draft.

Isaac just recently completed OTAs and rookie mini camp with the chargers.

Welcome

to the pod, Isaac.

Yeah.

Thank you for having me.

Absolutely.

So Isaac, we know you're from the Georgia area.

We know you started football a little bit later in life.

What grade did you start?

And at what point did you realize you could

get a college scholarship outta football?

I wanna say I started playing.

I think I was, it was like the spring football for my sixth grade year.

So it was coming into my seventh grade when I finally had my first fall season.

And it was a ton of fun.

It was something I'd really wanted to play played mostly my whole life.

I mean, all the kids in my neighborhood always played.

We always played in the backyard and everyone always said, oh,

you gotta come play with the team, come play with the team.

And it was just something that my mom never really was

fully bought in on, honestly.

And then finally she, she caved and, and let me play that really thankful for that.

But I don't think I really realized I could, you know,

keep on playing football until.

And mainly my sophomore, junior year of high school was when our,

our coach does a pretty good job.

Our, my, my head high school head coach did a pretty good job with

helping recruiting and kind of preparing you for the journey and

kind of setting expectations and, and kind of letting you know what the

college coaches who were coming by school were saying and all that stuff.

And so I think it's when I started getting a little bit of that interest

that I kind of realized, oh, I can actually do this at the next level.

What

So Isaac, Once you did realize, and you were starting to get interest

from coaches and things are starting to pick up steam, talk us a little bit

about what that recruiting was like and why you ultimately chose old dominion.

Recruiting was definitely an interesting process.

It's something you never really experienced until you go through it.

And I think I was pretty lucky.

Like I said, my coach did a pretty good job of preparing me.

I had the offensive line coach I had in high school.

He went through the process himself.

He played at Eastern Kentucky and he had a lot of great advice for me

about how to handle it and how to, you know, handle the visits and kind of

what questions they were gonna ask me.

And, and he's really just got me, you know, ready to do all that type of stuff.

But I don't think I was really too heavily recruited.

You know, aside from ODU, obviously they offered me, there was a few other

FBS schools and a handful of FCS ones.

But I think we're really.

Drew me to ODU was, I mean, I'll be honest with you.

I hadn't heard of until they started recruiting me and, you know, being

from Georgia, it's a little bit of a drive from Virginia Beach or

Norfolk area and all that stuff.

And it was, you know, a smaller school at the time and something that

I just really wasn't familiar with.

And so I remember, you know, getting a message from my mom or, well, I was,

I was with my mom getting a message from coach Forrest at the time.

He's he, he was my recruitment coach and he was like, Hey man,

have you ever heard of ODU?

We'd love to get you on a visit.

And I told him the truth.

I was like, I haven't heard of y'all, but I'd love to come and visit.

And when I got there, it really just kind of blew me away.

I mean the campus was awesome.

It was it, I think it honestly had the like an advantage of me never

having heard of it, cuz I had.

Almost no, no, you know, idea of what it might be.

And so, like the first impression I got the coach put on for me and the first

impression of, I guess, the students that were on campus then, and the area that

it was, then it really just blew me away.

And that's kind of what sold me on it.

It was one of the schools that I just kind of felt like I, I, you know, if

I lost that offer, if they pulled it, if they took some other guys, then

I would be pretty upset with myself.

And that's kind of when I realized that's where I wanted be.

Was it clear, did you, did you know, a hundred percent at one point

or were there others that were, close that it was a hard decision for you?

I honestly think looking back at it, it was a pretty easy decision.

I think I committed June going into my senior year of high school.

So before we even played before I even played my senior season and

that's, I think that's really just because I, I knew it was, it was

pretty a clear decision for me.

And, and I was ready to be done the recruiting process.

And I knew that that was a place that I was gonna be happy and I went ahead

and committed and, you know, I never really looked back from that decision.

I was, you know, committed a hundred percent until the day I signed

and I was a Monarch, you know, even, even still today, Monarch,

you know, for the rest of my life.

So,

so as a, so Isaac you got to campus you registered your freshman year.

Was that something that was discussed before you committed

or during your senior year?

Or did, was that just something that you just, you found

out when you got to campus?

That's something that had been thrown around.

And honestly the person who kind of prepared me for that the most was

my high school offense, blind coach.

He, you know, haven't been through the process and, you know, he

had a good idea of where I was physically in the weight room.

And even just like mentally with having to learn a new offense, he was, you know,

he was very much so prepping me for the fact that, Hey man, you might get there

and you're probably gonna red shirt.

And he kept on like, reassuring me.

He was like, red shirting is the best thing for you.

It is one of the best things that can ever happen in your football career.

And so when I got to school, I was kind of prepared for that.

And the mentality I took into camp that fall was basically just, you

know, I, at that point I really didn't have anything to lose.

I was a new guy on the team.

I was just gonna play as hard as I could.

And for I ever played pretty well.

And then when they told me I was retroing, I was like, okay, that's fine.

Like, I feel like I set myself up for the future, but in the back of my mind,

and they told me as well, when I did that, they were like, you're gonna

develop, you're gonna gain weight.

You're gonna get stronger.

You're gonna learn the offense.

And the one thing that I remember, they told me a bunch was, are

you gonna be better as a fifth year senior or true freshman?

Because that the end of the day, that's the season that you

trade when you don't red shirt.

And in my mind, I was like, yeah, I'll be better as a red shirt, senior.

And that was kind, you know, something that I wasn't too upset about.

Admit, I,

As an 18 year old, it's gotta take a lot of patience and you gotta be able to

look into the future if you realize this is the smarter decision, but I admire

you for taking the high road on that.

Cause I know a lot of kids don't want to red shirt anymore.

And I think it's pretty cool how you Took that opportunity and

made the best of it.

Yeah.

I appreciate that.

And that's something that I try and tell guys that we would come get

in as freshmen and say, Hey man, like, cuz you know, like you said,

some guys would get down about it.

I'm like, listen, man, red shirting is the best thing for you.

And even now like red shirts, they get to play four games when I was red

shirting, that rule didn't happen yet.

So you were, you knew for a fact you weren't touching the field at all.

At least when you red shirt now it's like, okay, well you can still,

you know, get your four games in.

You can still see the field and see what it's like.

You know, back back when I was a freshman, you were kind of it out,

especially if you're looking to make it a career, it's something

that's your long term goal.

You know, you want to make it to the NFL.

The question that you asked yourself to go, am I gonna be better as a, as

a true freshman or am my fifth year?

I mean, that's a, that's a mature career decision that I think.

More guys should probably make.

And I think things are playing out to show that you made the

absolute correct decision.

Yeah.

That's that's for sure.

I think so.

You know, I'm happy with where I'm at right now and, and if I didn't have

that red shirt season, who knows what would've happened, you know what I mean?

So you know, I'm very thankful for it.

And it gave me this past year with, with the team in 2021.

And it was, it was one of those fun football seasons in my life.

And, you know, I'm really glad I was able to experience something like that.

So let's go back to 2016.

So, you know, you knew you were gonna red shirt, you were prepared your high

school coach prepared you for that.

So you know, you got a lot of work ahead of you.

You're trying to get your sea lakes with regards to taking classes and

being a college student along with being a college football player.

Was there a particular guy on the, on the team or a particular

alignment on that 2016 squad who was influential in your learning process?

Yeah.

I mean that, that whole team it was full of great guys and really a lot

of guys that, that did a ton to try and help, you know, mentor all the

young guys like the, it was, it was not a very hostile place at all.

Everyone was very welcoming.

Everyone was super nice and able to answer questions and everything.

And one guy there, I guess there's two guys that I really remember.

One of them was Tyler Compton.

He was you know, he, he kind of rotated and played a good bit that year.

He was one of the, like one of the smartest guys I've met, but he

just, the nicest guy in the world.

He, you know, I think the first, the first plays I ever took in team were

with him and he was feeding me the plays, like do this on this play,

cuz I was, you know, out there for my first ever time I was completely lost.

And so he was a huge anchor for me and then he continued to

be there the rest of the way.

But the other guy, I think that I, you know, would have to give a

big shout out to is is Nick Clark.

And him and I are still super close to this day.

We were roommates actually.

Once I moved off campus and everything but he, you know, through his entire time

there with what we were there together, you know, he helped me have a ton, you

know, showed me kind of, you know, how you wanna act as a college football

player, how you wanna, how you have to, you know, all the extra stuff you

have to do in order to be successful.

And just kind of, you know, was really, I think, influential in a lot of ways.

So we know Nick is now running haw academy.

It's pretty cool.

What he is doing there, training the lineman of the future.

Mm-hmm yeah, I, I think he's doing awesome stuff with that.

I've I've been able to, I know he, he likes to have guys

come up and help with camps.

And so I got the first hand see how he kind of operates,

you know, in that capacity.

And he did a phenomenal job.

We, I went to one, I think it was two years ago or a year ago.

Yeah, it was last year and he you know, he, he runs a great show and he, you

know, he, he knew what he was doing and, and all the, all the kids that

were there, they absolutely loved it.

And it seemed like they all got a lot of stuff out of it.

And so, and I know he really enjoys doing that, which is also a pretty big thing.

So I'm, I'm really happy to see him doing so well with stuff like that.

So I grew up playing football.

I just think it's cool that they're getting more specialized training now.

Cause.

My my day and age, we went to camps and it was just a football camp.

So you try to pick up whatever you could, but there wasn't gonna be a, a whole day

just for Lyman, like what he's doing.

So I feel like it's got a lot more useful for the kids.

All right.

So, Isaac you started at five spots on the offensive line.

How difficult is the process of learning each and perhaps having to

play more than one in the same game?

Like what kind of mentality do you have to do when you're playing guard versus

center or, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, so I actually, I actually am missing right tackle from my game day.

Statistics.

That's the one position I never got to play in game.

I got plenty of reps in practice.

I can pull up the film if we need to, but that's the one game.

And the, and the thing is too, is I remember talking to coach and he kept on

saying, yeah, we're gonna get you in it.

Right.

Tackle at the end of the season, you know, like maybe at the end of

a game, we're up, we're throw you in there and, and throw you that bone.

And it never happened.

So it's a bone.

I still gotta pick with him about that.

Cuz you know, he, he's not stick to his word about that.

So, you know, that's something that, that bugs me a little bit.

But to your point to your question it is something that's pretty difficult.

I think it's something that a lot of people don't necessarily realize

that each position, you know, you look out and you sort of field.

And so most people offensive, linemen are just offensive,

linemen they're interchangeable and it doesn't really matter what

position you're playing center is.

The same as left tackle is the same as right guard as left guard.

And in reality it's they, they all have.

You know, there are differences, you know, even as basic as the stance

is, is, is different and the, the angles that you use for your sets

and that changes a lot of stuff.

And it's something that, you know, I'm, you know, I'm thankful, I

think that I've been able to play all these different positions.

And I think it goes, I think it's another credit to my coaches.

Who've, you know, kind of prepped me for that and told me, Hey, you know,

they, they saw that I had the ability to maybe do something like that and said,

Hey, we're gonna take advantage of this.

Like, we want you to be able to do all this different stuff.

But like, you know, mentality wise and everything, I think once you

learn the plays, especially being as old as I was in this offense.

Cause it was something I mostly did this past season was, was all this

swaping across the offensive line.

I think just the fact that I'd, you know, I, I I'd played as much football as I had.

And I had all this experience that they kind of trusted that, okay.

He knows what he's gonna do wherever he goes across this line.

So we can kind of put 'em in there and then it was all, you know,

you gotta prepare, you know, and learn the different techniques.

And at the end of the day, like it's the same techniques.

It just changes a little bit here and there, depending on, you know, the

angles you're using and stuff like that.

And I think that's kind of the tough part.

But it's something that, you know, is valuable and I hope that it's something

that can, you know, keep me playing football for some few years to come here.

So Isaac center is a much more cerebral position than a lot of

folks might realize often referred to as the governor of the offense.

It's so important, that role in what happens along that line.

Everybody sees the quarterback, you know, the quarterback is the sexy physician,

looking all over the place, making calls, pointing at different things.

They don't realize how much is actually happening at that center position.

Can you tell us a little bit about all the pre-snap

responsibilities that a center has.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, so like you said, the center is, I, I, in my opinion, a little bit

of a underappreciated position you know, maybe I'm biased cuz I've been

playing there for two years, but.

You know, you ha you, the center is definitely he's the, you know, the

composer, I guess, of the offensive of the offensive line, like whatever

he says is going for everybody and everyone's assignments are all based

off of, you know, where, what he says is what we would call at ODU.

The key.

So that's the, I say that's the main responsibility of this center

is you have to be able to sit down and ID the defense and let

everyone know based on this display.

This is the, the, the key that we're working off of, and that sets everyone

else's assignments and responsibilities.

And you also need to be able to change, change things when, when situations arise.

I mean, if, if the defense is showing a certain blitz look it's really on every.

To be able to change the play.

But at the end of the day, in my opinion, the burden usually falls to the center.

He does have, he's sitting right in the middle.

He's got a better view of everything than everyone.

Now, obviously the tackles can see the edge of the field much, much better, but

at the end of the day, they can see, you know, defenses will beat you into stuff.

Like they might be showing something on the play side.

And in reality, it's coming on the backside.

But like, you don't, you don't, you can't see that at one side, you can only

see that from such a central position.

And so those are the big ones.

And really just the biggest thing is making sure that

everyone's on the same page.

We like, there's, there's a saying, I feel like that goes

around football all the time.

That the worst thing you know, the worst thing that can happen is, is

half the line's doing one thing half the line's doing the other, like if,

if everyone is wrong, but they're, they're doing the wrong thing together.

You got a good shot of being, right.

So as long as like I make a call and all five of us do the same thing,

like something good has a better chance of happening comparatively to,

if I, you know, I say something to the left side or they're going left

and the right side's going right.

And all of a sudden, no one's blocking the, the defensive

tackle sitting in the middle.

Like that's a recipe for disaster.

So,

so if you're in a situation where it's, it's really loud

and is tough to hear anything.

Give us a little bit of an insight as to what that looks

and feels like for you guys?

It definitely makes things challenging.

And I remember we were playing the first time.

We played in lane stadium playing against Virginia tech, I guess that was 2017.

That was one of the first games I played in.

I was still a young guy playing tackle, and I remember lining

up next to next to the guard I played next to for so many years.

Tony Barnett, a great guy.

And I remember trying to get a call from Nick who was at

center and I couldn't hear it.

I mean, I was leaned over and Tony and I were screaming basically in each other's

ear, trying to figure out the call because like I said, like we needed to know that

information and that that's made it tough.

And the other thing that becomes difficult is trying to hear the snap count which

when, when we're we were in environments like that, or when you're in environments

like that at any level of football, you start going to silent counts.

And so it really is just based off of the centers kind of whenever the

center wants to go, you know, and it's, so that's, that's a different thing.

That's something you gotta practice and get, get used to.

But it really just boils down to when you're in that kind of environment, it's,

overcommunication over communication.

You gotta make sure everyone gets those calls.

But it definitely makes things more difficult.

But at the end of the day, you kind of gotta figure it out as you go.

And I guess use a little bit of intuition if the center makes a key and you know,

the game plan, you, you know, like, okay, I know what everyone's doing.

I can, I can do my assignment now.

It's it is, it comes back to that preparation.

So Isaac you kind of let us into our next question a year later after that

game we had a pretty great one in Ballard.

Why don't you tell us what your favorite memories were of 49

35?

Yeah, that was that game was a ton of fun.

I think the one thing, I mean, that whole game was, was crazy.

I mean, I just remember Blake coming in and, and doing his thing and being

so incredible, like player of the week and everything for the like national

player of the week, it was nuts.

And it's something that you love to see happen for a guy like that.

Cause Blake is such a good dude, you know?

But I think the one, the one memory that sticks out to me I remember I was living

with Nick at the time and we, we were going out right before right before Jeremy

ran that last touchdown to put the score up of 49 and I guess we didn't, we didn't

really need to run, run that play there.

I like, we, I don't think they had timeouts.

There was not a lot of time on the clock.

I don't remember the specific time, but there, like the game

was like wrapped up and done.

And so I remember we're walking out of the field and they just told us like,

Hey, we're gonna run this one, play.

Like, it was, it was basically just like, we're going out with a bang.

We're gonna run this one play here, you get one sh they told

Jim, you got one shot at it.

And if not, we're just kneeing it down.

And and I just remember going out there with Nick and he, he

turned to me, he was like, Hey man, like, like this game's done.

Like we won this game.

And I looked up at the scoreboard and I was like, yeah, you know what?

You're right, man, we really did win this game.

And it was just, it was one of those things that were, that was like the moment

where it finally hit, hit me, where I was like, oh, we, we actually did this thing.

You know, cuz it's coming in oh three, you know, they're the 13th team in the

country coming to coming to the home.

And it was just I don't, that was the moment that finally hit me.

And I that's probably the one memory.

I I'll probably remember that forever.

You

know, what's interesting is I think it hit y'all the same time it

hit us cuz we're in the stands watching this thing, look at each other, going,

oh my God, we're gonna win this game.

It would be interesting to have cameras on people in the stands

and have cameras pointed the two of you guys at that conversation?

Cuz I, I bet it was quite the same.

And Jeremy did truck, a couple dudes on this two runs that

are nice to watch every now and

then.

Yeah, he definitely made the most outta that one opportunity.

I'll tell you that.

So Isaac, we know 2019 was a rough season.

There's no way to really say it softly.

It was, you know, time to make a change into December coach Ronnie

was hired and then COVID exploded and derailed the whole 2020 season.

Let's talk a little bit about that quote unquote COVID season.

Can you give us some insight into some positives?

Some negatives and anything interesting that came outta that season?

Yeah, I mean, obviously the big negatives,

we didn't get to play football.

I mean, that one hurt.

It hurt everybody.

I remember we, I remember having that fall camp and it was the

weirdest fall camp in my life.

I mean, it was, we, our team was divided up into like three groups and they

would, we would go out for an hour at a time and the coaches were out

there for, for all three periods and we would do special teams in between.

So like the first group would practice special teams with the second group and

then the second group would practice and then they'd do their special

teams again with the third group.

I mean, it was one of the most.

Insane practice schedules I've ever seen.

And it was at a necessity, but I remember when we got told the news, we were in

a zoom and it was, you know, it's camp.

So we, we have all these team meetings regardless.

So having a team meeting at night, wasn't weird, but we get

into the team meeting and all the coaches are in the, in the zoom.

Cause we were zooming.

We didn't meet in person.

So all, but all the coaches were in there.

And then you start seeing like, oh, like Dr.

Sea's in this meeting, that's weird.

Like that's not supposed to happen.

Like this is a team meeting, you know, he doesn't go to those.

Like we usually talk about football stuff.

He's usually, you know, he's got, he's got his athletic director stuff to do,

but I remember having that, having that meeting and then, you know, them telling

us the news and then, you know, it was just, it was one of those things where

it was kind of a tough to believe.

And at the time we thought, you know, we thought everyone was gonna cancel

shut down by the end of the week.

And then that never happens.

And then you sit there at home and you have to watch.

You know, watch all these teams play football, do do the thing you love to do.

And that that's tough.

Like that was definitely a little bit brutal.

But I mean, looking back at it now, there was definitely

some good stuff that came up.

I think it gave the team a big edge going into 20, 20 20, 21.

I think it, I think it grew us closer as a team than, than a team I've ever been on.

Like that was, that was probably that 2021 team was one of the closest teams I've

ever been a part of, probably the closest.

And I think it's because we went through, you know, that type of event together and

we had this thing to kind of rally behind.

And then I guess like the interesting things that might have happened.

So we ended up, we did end up getting to go on the field.

And so we got like 15 practices.

So we basically did spring practice in the fall, which is different, you

know, but it, I think everyone was just pretty excited to get out there

and actually get to play a little bit of football again, even if it

was just in a practice capacity.

So I guess like the interesting thing is it kind of felt like it gave,

you know, practice and do light.

At least for me, it did, like in the past, like practice was always, it

wasn't like a bear, but you know, it wasn't necessarily the, oh, like

it's the most fun thing in the world.

Like sometimes, sometimes practice is a drag.

That's just kind of the reality of it.

Like everyone loves playing football, they love it.

And they'll tell you like, oh, football's the best.

Football's the best.

Football's the best.

But like going to practice every day, sometimes, you know, it

can get a little monotonous.

So I think having that taken away and then letting us go out there.

And then getting to go out there and, and be on the field, even if it

was just to practice was a blessing.

So I think it kind of gave practice and put football into this big perspective.

Like this can really be taken away at any point, you know, in your life.

So we better appreciate it for, you know, while we have it while

we know we have it because you never know what's gonna happen.

Well, it's good to

hear you guys had that mentality cuz you guys could have easily went

the other way, where you lacked the motivation to really go at it.

While you were out there.

Cause there wasn't the game to be prepared for.

Yeah, no you're con spent.

Right.

And the thing is too is I think, I think that gave us a good jumping off

point to get into that spring ball because we had, we had our spring

ball for the previous season canceled.

So that fall, if you like, if you don't count those three.

You know, fake fall camps.

We did, which I, I won't count cuz they, you know, we didn't get to do and we

didn't even get to run plays and team.

That was the first time that we had ever gotten on the field

with coach and his new staff.

Cause we had spring ball canceled.

So we really just gone through a winter workout cycle and

then went home for months.

And then we came back and did three fake practices and then we got sent home again.

So like we got to go out there and we got to kind of understand

how he likes to run his practice.

We got to understand his, you know, his style of coaching and all of

his, you know, all the whole entire coaching staff, how they operate

and how they like to do stuff.

And it really gave us a ton of, you know, background in that offensive defense.

It really led us learn and kind of marinate in that.

And I think that helped a ton when we got around to playing games.

Cuz you know, even though it was our first season with coach Ronnie and,

and, and that whole staff, like we'd really been in that system for over a

year, which I think helped us a lot.

So

Isaac as one of the few guys that got to play under Ricky

and Bobby, you have a, kind of a different perspective on things.

Why don't you talk to us about Bobby and his leadership style

and how he was on and off?

Yeah, I mean, he coach Wilder.

He's the guy that recruited me, you know, he, he was one of those guys and,

you know, he, he's a guy that I, you know, I owe a lot to because he, you

know, he helped get me there and he, he got me to a great place in my career.

And then he, he actually you know, him and coach Scott.

I remember when they left the team, they were, they were one of, some of

the guys that were encouraging me to stay at O they wanted to see me, you

know, remain there and they wanted to see me help, you know, the, the, the

new team kinda like, you know, just come back and come back stronger, which.

I'm super thankful for, and I'm super thankful I ended up doing

that, but, you know, he was, he was a guy that I, I think I did.

I definitely learned a lot from, I mean, he, I was elected a team or

he made me a team captain in 2019.

And so he kind of started showing me, you know, the ropes about this is kinda, you

know, like sat, sat me down and was like, this is kind what I think you've done.

Well, this is what I think you can improve on.

And I think that's something that's super valuable, you know, for anybody,

especially for me, when I was at such a, you know, turning point in my career

where it's like, you know, you need to be able to sit down and look and say,

I do this well, I don't do this that well, let's work on these weaknesses

and try to become, you know, better or better in, in, in everything.

But I think, you know, he, he did a really good job you know, with the

start of the program and, and, and, you know, taking it as far as he did.

And, and I do owe a lot to him for helping me get there and, and, and,

you know, being in a place I am today,

So at that point, obviously there was a transition coach.

Ronnie was hired.

And like you just mentioned, coach water and coach Scott, they talked to

you about their opinion that you should stick around, that you should stay

at old dominion at, you know, in the current landscape of college football

with a portal it's not uncommon for a fifth year senior who is as skilled as

you are and has a lot of FBS teams that would love to have you transfer over.

Can you talk to us a little bit more about, obviously you had to meet coach

Ronnie, you had , to meet the staff, tell us what solidified you staying and,

and not going for another opportunity.

And then talk to us just like you did about coach water, about

coach Ronnie and, and kind of what it's like playing under him.

Yeah.

So like you said, I, I, I met with coach Ron.

It was right after I graduated.

I think it was the day I graduated.

Right after I got, you know, done walking across the stage.

I went over to the facility and sat down and, and got to

meet him for the first time.

And, and, you know, we sat down in his office and he told me,

you know, his plan for the team and why he thought I should stay.

It, it, I mean, honestly it kind of felt like recruiting a little bit

again, where it was like, you know, this is what I imagine for the team.

This is what I imagine is your role and the team's gonna be, and this

is, you know, I think you should obviously is like, I think you should

stay here and this is what we're gonna do when you do stay here.

And I think it was that meeting that really solidified it for me,

that this is the place I'm gonna be.

And, and like, There's a, there's a big, big part of me that didn't wanna leave.

You know, a big part of me didn't wanna leave because you know, it,

it, ODU felt such, felt like such a, it was, it was such my team.

That's what it felt like.

It was, you know, I was obviously like, you know, voted a team captain and,

and I felt like, you know, I didn't wanna leave all my friends and, and all

the guys, all the people that had, you know, trusted me to become a leader.

And then obviously that built on top of the fact that, you know, coach Ron

believed in me so much to, to, you know, tell me his, his plan for the organization

and kind of his thought process behind it.

And, you know, hearing everything and, and hearing what he, you know, his, where he

knew that this program could go, it, it really sold me and, and made me realize

there was, you know, may, maybe I could have transferred and, and played somewhere

else and one game somewhere else, but it wouldn't have felt the same to me, you

know, even, you know, to, you know, to go.

Win 10 plus games with the team that I had just transferred to

comparatively to winning, you know, the six that we did here.

It, it just, I don't think it would've been quite as rewarding.

So we, you mentioned at the six games how did getting to that six win

feel after the one win season and then the, the rough start to even this year?

Yeah, I mean, just, just getting to six.

It was, it was a great feeling.

Cause obviously like y'all mentioned it like 2019 was a really rough season.

One of the, one of the harder ones I've had in my career and going

from that to then having the season canceled, like we just talked about,

it was kind of like a double whamy.

It was like, so not only did we not, you know, play well in 2019,

but we didn't even get to get a chance to per se redeem ourselves.

Like we were out there like, you know, getting kicked, kicked in the teeth twice.

So.

That like that building on top of each other.

And then, like you said, we start in season one and 6 1, 1 and five.

However you wanna say it.

And it was again, not, not necessarily looking great, like the feeling

around the building, wasn't all, you know, sunshine and rainbows.

And, and so when we finally started to win some games, you know, we get the

lot Louisiana tech game and then we get the FIU game, we get a road game

under our belt and it's like, oh, okay.

Like, you know, we're not in bad spot we're we got three games left and.

Like there's, you know, there's still hope, you know, there was like

whispers of, oh, you know, if we win three more, you know, you know,

we got six win that's a bull game.

And so, but no one was really saying anything, you know what I mean?

Cause it was all so one to know, want to no want to know, but then, you

know, we finally, and obviously we had some awesome games with the FA

and middle 10 and, and everything, but then you finally get to the end of that

Charlotte game and, and you know, you look up at the scoreboard and had that

nice, big win and, and you know, the scoreboard up there said bull eligible.

It was just, I don't know, it was, it was a great feeling because cuz all

the stuff that we'd been through as a team was, you know, like, you know, we

get knocked down, we get knocked down, we get knocked down and we finally

fell finally kind of got back up and get got, you know, got our swings in.

Yeah.

It had to feel validating.

I mean, in Harry's article you wrote about how you believed in Ricky's vision

for turning the program around quickly.

And going to the bowl game first year that validates your belief.

That's it was awesome to watch.

I will say, though, when you guys were struggling at the beginning of

the season, we saw the difference in you guys from the jump.

We were down there awake.

I've never seen an old line from ODU play with such a mean streak.

It was awesome.

I've never seen an ODU defense hit that hard before.

I mean, it was the progress.

Was there just, we weren't seeing it on the scoreboard

yet.

Yeah, you're right.

I mean, I do think that there was, and there was a lot of stuff where.

I don't know, sometimes in football, you know, the ball just

doesn't quite bounce your way.

Like the Buffalo game, like there, it was just a few times where the ball just, it

didn't quite bounce our way, you know?

And, and as a credit to our guys, like, I mean, we fought so hard the entire game

and it, you know, shows with having a second half comeback like that and end

the day doesn't, doesn't really matter, cuz it's a loss is still a loss in

that, you know, in that win loss column.

But I think just the fact that we were able to get to that point, because I think

that there were probably some teams in the past that being down that much, at that

point, it would've just kind of thrown in a towel and we wouldn't be able given our

cha ourselves a shot to be in a position we were, you know, to tie the game

with, with that little bit of time left.

So I think even, even like you said, like the results might not have been showing,

but I think that if you really watch the tape or watch the games, like, like you

were saying, like you get to see him in person that there, it was a different

team on the field and I'm, I'm very.

I like you said, I'm validated.

I feel like I'm validated cuz we got the results.

Like we ended up being able to figure it out and it clicked and we, we

got those results and at the end of the season where you're not sitting

there saying, oh, this is the team, that's almost got it together.

Well, it's like, no, that's the team that almost had it together

and then did get it together.

So it's something that's really cool to see.

What's even more impressive is how young you guys were.

I mean, you were such a young team and the coaching staff is

such a young coaching staff.

And like Mike said, we could see the progress early on, but then when you

turn the corner, it went from you guys.

Like we just can't get over the hump.

We can't get over the hump to we're over the hump and no one can

pull us back to the other side.

So it was, it was really cool as fans to see such a young squad,

just you figured out how to win and then you didn't know how to lose

anymore.

Yeah, exactly.

And like you said, the team, the team was extremely young.

And that's, I guess that goes back to the, the other the question y'all had

a little bit ago where like, what was the positive for not playing in 2020?

Well, it's the fact that all those guys who were so young that contributed

so much to our team in 2021, they really got a ton of experience.

Practicing against, against we, we practiced against ourselves a bunch.

So they, they had like, they were young guys and they, they definitely were, but

you know, they at least had it like you know, a year's worth of college practicing

experiences and obviously games are, are different and they're faster, but they'd

at least seen, you know, what college football can look like in some capacity.

So they, they were coming out there, obviously games are different, you know,

Adrenalines pumping and, you know, you got fans in the stands and it's all a little

bit different, but they still had a little bit of time of true real development.

So like, while we were super young, absolutely.

In the, in the sense of not having game experience, but those weren't

necessarily normal freshmen.

Like a lot of those guys were second year freshman, which I

think was a big, big help to us.

So as, as we all know now you're with the chargers, you you've been

through rookie mini camp and OTAs.

So how do you think ODU has prepared you for

where you're at now?

I, I really do think that ODU gave me a really good base

to, to, to go into the NFL.

I feel really confident in my football knowledgeability I guess you'd say one of

the things that my offensive line coach past few years Kevin Rainier, he would

he would always say how, how how similar his, you know, the way he teaches in some

of the schemes he does is to the NFL.

And, you know, when you're sitting there in the meeting room at the

time, you're like, yeah, yeah, whatever, man, I'm sure it is.

But I guess after, you know, sitting in the NFL meeting rooms and seeing how

they do install it and, and teach all the stuff and, and how some of the schemes

kind of translate over you, I kind of sit back and realize, okay, like I could,

I could see the stuff on the board and think, okay, like, this is, I've done

this before I've seen this installed.

Like it might be in different verbiage and it might be taught

a little bit differently.

But it, it is kind of.

You know, similar.

So it's not like I'm going there completely blind.

I think another big thing.

So I gotta, I gotta get a shout out to him, but another thing that I think

really prepared me really well was our strength staff and you know, de he did

de and the whole and all those guys, I guess, you know, they're at Virginia

tech now and everything, but or some of them are, but I think having that,

having him come into the program when he did in 2019 was probably one of the,

you know, biggest things that, that, that changed my career for the better.

He, you know, I think I can, I can speak for, I think a lot of the guys on

team are hope I can with this statement saying that he completely changed, you

know, the culture and, you know, the mentality of a lot of guys and also

just the, the bodies of a lot of guys.

Like, I mean, we, we gained a ton of muscle.

We gotta so much stronger.

And that's, I think that's where a big, you know, a big part of

getting ready to play at the next level comes from for me is the fact

that I, I feel like I'm physically able to perform with these guys.

And I think that's a huge thing.

I think those two things combined, like the fact that I feel like I,

I came in, you know, ready to learn with a base knowledge of some of

the stuff they're gonna be teaching.

Plus the fact that I feel like I'm physically able to perform with these

guys, you know, gives me a really, really good, you know, you know, base

or hopefully an easier transition.

Won't be an easy transition, but a smoother transition, you

know, into this next level.

So Isaac you've mentioned being physically ready, a.

You had an incredible knack for staying on the field and being healthy during

your old dominion career, do you attribute that to that physical preparation?

What or something else?

I mean, injuries, injuries happen in football.

And so at a point, you know, you kind of get a little bit lucky when

you play that much football, but I think that luck is, is very, very

small when it boils down to it.

I think a huge part is being strong enough and big enough to play, especially

at a position like offensive line.

I mean, you, you know, you're hitting somebody, every single play.

And so if your body's not like, I, I guess like there, you know, like they're

just saying like week things break, like you can't, you can't really be

weak and play anywhere in football, but especially on the offensive line.

And so I think having that.

You know, base strength really helps.

And then like the other thing too is, is, is just kind of learn

how to take care of yourself.

So like we talked about earlier with like, who, you know, people who might

have helped me out when I was a freshman.

Well, I like all those older guys, like Nick and, and all them, like,

they kind of showed me, like, you gotta be able to spend time in that

training room cuz it pays dividends.

And that's something that I think I carried out through the rest of my time,

like, you know, getting in the, the hot and cold tubs, doing some contrasting

or if you have like a little, little injury or a little ding up, come up, you

gotta go into the straining room and.

And and, and see them and, and make sure that they can help you out.

And so, like, especially my last season there our athletic trainer, we have

one of the best, probably the best athletic training staff in the nation.

They do a phenomenal job like with Justin Walker.

He is a great guy, but he also is amazing at his job.

And he helped me a ton, especially in my last season, staying on the field.

So, you know, it's about utilizing your resources in the weight room and

getting, getting strong enough to play.

And then it's also, you know, utilizing the tools, they give you

with the training room and, and making sure you're doing rehab and rehab

and making sure you're using all these different tools for recovery.

But that, I mean, and that's something that I think a lot of

young guys can learn a lot from.

And I think that they did because honestly, the, the, the tubs at ODU

were never as busy as I've ever seen them that they were this past season.

I mean, it was, it was hard to find a spot in there, which.

I guess if you're complaining about things, that's a good

thing to complain about.

It means everyone on the team cares about their bodies.

So

So Isaac, one of the things that a lot of football players

talk about when they go from high school to college or college to

the NFL, is the change in speed.

How was that transitioning from high school to college?

And then I'm not sure if you've really had it challenged yet with mini mini

camp and OTAs, but how is that process

going?

Yeah, I mean, there's, I think the, I think the, there's a huge jump

between co high school and college.

I remember, I remember my first camp and.

Like I remember that was how I thought I was doing everything.

And I remember looking back and thinking I was doing pretty decent.

Like, you know, I was, I felt like I was keeping up with everything, like a little

bit, like, because the bullets are flying, but then I look back and I watch, I, I

remember there was a, like if I ever went back and watched that film, I think I did

at one point in my career where, where I was probably like, you know, I was a

few years removed from that first camp.

And I was like, I wonder what that looked like.

And I, I went back and watched it and I looked like a deer in headlights.

I mean, I, I couldn't set.

Right.

I, I was running around like, I didn't know what was going on.

And I think that was just because like, everything was that much faster.

And it's something that I just don't know if I realized at the time

where, you know, you don't even, you don't even know what you don't know.

You know what I mean?

Where it's just like, It it's a completely different game.

And then, and then obviously you get, you know, you get used

to the speed and then you start learning and everything slows down.

And then eventually like the game feels slow, you know?

Or it feels like normal speed.

It feels like it's very comprehendible.

You, you know, you expect how everything's gonna move.

You can see it coming before it happens and everything like that.

And that's when I think football gets fun or is super interesting or it gets

more fun and more interesting because like, at that point, you're kind of like,

you're looking at the defense and they're, they haven't moved yet, but you're

like, oh, you're lined up like this.

You might as well just move down here right now.

Cause I know it's gonna happen anyway.

Like, you know, save yourself the effort.

And then as far as like going from college to the NFL we haven't done

a ton of full speed stuff quite yet.

They've been, you know, keeping a light on us, but I'm expecting there to be,

you know, just as much and even still like doing the drills and everything.

Like I think the best way to describe it is like in college I was one of the

bigger guys I was, you know, on the offensive line or on the team in general.

But I go out to practice now and you know, everybody's my size,

you know, everybody is insanely strong, everybody is super quick.

And so, you know, it's, it's just like, it, it, you know, it goes from, you know,

you're playing college at this level.

It's, it's just taking that next step and, and seeing how, you know, cuz I

mean there, like those guys out there they're the best in the world, you know?

Like there's you know, there's, there's, there's all pros on

this team that I'm playing on.

And so it's like, these really are like.

The best people in the world, but this, the thing that they do and it's, it's

kind of crazy to watch them, you know, practice and see how they operate.

So,

Isaac when you were going through the UND free agency period, how many

teams did you end up talking to and what was the interest level like?

And then how did you make your

selection?

I talked to a handful of teams but the, the team that was always the

most interested was, was the chargers.

And I guess like, so I made my decision.

It, it was because this, the, this was the team that was the most interested.

They they'd done their homework the most by far.

They, they talked to me a T in the pre-draft process.

And then once it, once it came down you know, down to.

There was them.

And there was, there was a few other, you know, offers on the table.

And, but I was talking to my agent and we, we had just kinda like, you

know, gone into this, knowing that the charters had done their Mo done their

homework on me, the most they had, they had clearly shown the most interest.

And, and we examined, you know, the looked at the roster and, and kind of

saw where I, I, where I might fit in and, you know, seeing what they were

kind of needing and, and all the pieces just kind of fit together really well.

And then, you know, since I've been out there and gotten to see

how they run their organization, I am super thankful that I am.

Cause I think they do a, a phenomenal job at running it just the way

that, you know, the way that they do things is it makes a lot of sense.

And, and you know, to me, it looks like a team that is gonna be extremely

good over the next few years.

And I'm, I'm happy to get a chance to be a part of it.

Yeah.

It's gotta be pretty exciting to have a chance to play with such a young

Gun like Herbert also you get to go and practice against all these,

all pros on that defensive line.

I mean,

those guys are loaded on defense.

Yeah.

That's for sure.

I mean, there's just, you know, there's, there's, there's dudes

everywhere as a good way to put it.

And, and so like, it's, it's been super cool to see, see all these

guys and, you know, go to practice with him and, and BEBS with him.

And like, especially just in, in the room, I'm in, in the offensive line, like

there's, you know, Corey Lindsay who's been in league for 10 plus years, he's an

all pro highest paid center in the league.

And, you know, getting a chance to learn from him has been amazing.

Like I'm super thankful I'll able to do that.

And he's been very welcoming and, you know, willing to answer questions whenever

and, and help me out with technique.

And then also having, you know, right, right, right.

Over there at left tag with the Rashaan Slater.

And he's, you know, think all pros, a rookie, and it's just kind of

crazy to see how, you know, how these guys work and, and what they do.

And I think there's, you know, a lot to learn from.

All right.

So let's have a little bit of fun.

Let's talk about a little bit of non-football stuff here real quick.

So can you tell us about a hidden talent or something interesting about

one of your old dominion teammates that fans would never know about?

Ooh, hidden talent.

Let me, I gotta think about that for a second.

Let me think.

I mean, we got guys, I feel like all, I feel like a lot of guys on team had

a bunch of stuff that they would do in their free time that like would

impress a lot of people or just like they wouldn't expect feel like we

had a few guys who would sing or rap throughout my entire time on the team.

But I know like Isaiah, Spencer, I think he does a pretty good job with it.

I'm trying to think.

Off the top of my head.

Hmm.

I don't know.

I feel like a lot of the stuff like, you know, in my time there, I remember playing

a ton of beach volleyball out in out on the Whiters courts over there near the,

near the river, I guess, near those dorms.

And we had some, you know, like everyone was just kind of like, you can kind

of get by in that game with just your athleticism, you know what I mean?

And just like the technique necessarily, wasn't always there for a lot of guys

that, like, we probably would've, I dunno if you can foul out in volleyball,

but they probably would've done that.

Like the volleyball team probably could have come over and taught us

a bunch of lessons, made our games a lot better, but we could a bunch

of guys that were pretty good.

And one of the guys that he might have been, you know, one of the

better ones out there was Hayden Wolf.

I think, you know, growing up in Florida on the beach probably helped

him out a little bit, but he had one of those serves that like had that,

you know, down spin or whatever it is, made it a little hard to handle.

And he's, you know, he's, he's, I feel like he's sneaky athletic.

Like he'd get up there and be able to.

Spiked the ball back and stuff like that every once in a while.

So I, I, I probably put him up there for something that people might not guess.

We're gonna continue with the fun questions.

Alright.

So we ask these questions of everyone that comes on the show.

Favorite restaurant on campus and off Norfolk or,

or Hampton reds.

Okay.

I think my favorite restaurant, that's just kind of around the area.

It's pretty close to east campus is no frill.

I mean, I went there a ton.

There was.

Many of times that the whole offensive line for, for ODU was out there for,

we would do like Thursday Thursday night was like our position dinner.

Like we would like, it was just like Claire organized.

We'd go to like different restaurants all across the city and stuff like that.

But I remember we went to no frill more than probably any of the other

ones, especially this past season that that's gotta be my favorite on campus.

I think my, my favorite on campus is P Franks.

I mean, you really can't go wrong with that.

Like they got, they got all the cheap skate plates, so you can eat on a

budget and everything like that.

It's easy to go in.

It's quick.

And it's just like, you know, it's a good spot like that.

That's probably on campus is the best, but no frill for me takes

the cake out of all of those ODU.

I mean, Norfolk area restaurants.

Yeah.

You really can't go wrong.

There's something on the menu for everybody at no frill.

Exactly.

That's the thing too.

Like, you know, people would come from out of town and it's like, well,

what, what type food are you feeling?

Well, it doesn't really matter.

Cause they got everything.

Like, you can't go wrong and it's not like it, you know, breaks the bank either.

Like it was, it's never really that expensive there, but like, like on

one of those questions, like I'm an offensive line and I love to eat.

Like I could probably talk about Norfolk restaurants for an hour straight

alone, because there is like, I, that's probably the most underrated thing

about the city is, is the fact that it's got, I think it's got some of the

best food in any city I've been around.

Like it's the restaurants around there are awesome.

Like that.

That's, that's probably one thing I miss the most about being around

there honestly, is all the good food.

Well with that, I mean, I, you might as well give us like your

number two and number three, are

you pretty passionate about it?

and Isaac, I will add that our, our listeners, this

is some of their favorite stuff.

Like my brother-in-law.

He says I'm waiting for the food segment every time and he

gets excited to listen to it.

So the longer you spend on it, the half you'll make.

Oh, shoot.

I hope I don't disappoint with these next ones.

Then that's a lot of pressure y'all putting on me, but I guess

there there's one restaurant.

It it's, it's got a special place in my heart because it was so frequently

visited and it's something that I feel like it's almost a legend on ODS campus

with the students now is, or as TECA down military highway, the, the Mexican spot.

I mean, that's one of probably the most frequently visited

spots of all the O students.

And it's the best, like, I mean, they've got the fastest service I've ever seen

in my life and it's also great food.

I mean, again, the other thing that we love about it is it's portions.

Like we're, we all go and it's a bunch of big guys, like, so they get huge

portions that are out super quick.

I mean, you can't go wrong with that.

Gotta give a shout to them, but one place that, that I really love, that's

probably up there in my top five for me is I mean, it's gotta, it's gotta be up

there with the, volcano's a great spot.

You know, all, you can eat sushi again, going with the, the big portions

you can eat as much as you want.

That was, that was a football, football player's dream in, in school.

But there's a place right near that Bangkok garden.

I absolutely love that place.

Oh yeah.

That's high

food is, mm,

good.

Yeah.

The Panang Curry there is, is some of the best I've ever had.

That is one of the best spots.

And that's another spot like that.

Not a lot of guys, at least on the team knew, really knew about.

And so you could, you could show 'em to be like, Hey man, like you want some

Thai food and they I've heard Thai food.

Like, yeah, trust me.

You're gonna love it.

Like, you know, you can come here and they, again, big portions,

like pretty affordable, like that is a top tier spot in Norfolk.

Well, you've landed yourself in another great food city.

If you haven't been, you need to go grand central in LA, it's

a foodie dream.

You can

try.

They have little stance for everybody.

They got Mexican food, they got Asian food.

It's it's awesome.

Yeah, absolutely.

Grand central.

I'm gonna have, I'm definitely check that out.

I've been looking for a really good spot out there.

You know, DoorDash has been trying to DoorDash little food every now and then

it's, it's tough to find, you know, you're just going off of pictures online, so good

to have a good recommendation like that.

So I read somewhere that you taught yourself how to play

guitar, watching YouTube, the one.

Did you bring your guitar out to San Diego with you and then two what

are some of your favorite things to

play?

I didn't bring it out there with me.

I, I, you know, I got on a plane, I checked one bag.

I didn't really know what I would need.

What, I didn't know.

I figured I wasn't gonna have much time to.

To, you know, mess around.

I, we did hand up having more free time than I imagined, but still it's

something I wish I would've brought out, but I'm a big country music fan.

And so I play mostly the music I like to listen to.

So I, I play a lot of country music like one guy, like probably my favorite

artist right now is Tyler child's.

And I try and play his stuff, but the thing that's tricky about that

is he is such a good guitarist that like, I mean, his, his talent

for that absolutely dwarfs mind.

So like every time I try and play it, it's like, oh man, this sounds like crap.

Like I really wish, you know like maybe I should spend more time doing

this, but you know, he he's he's, he's got some really good songs.

I love playing, but I I've always had that kind of mentality where it's

like, if I hear a song and I think it sounds cool, I'll, I'll, I'll be

like, yeah, I could try and play that.

You know, sometimes I can sometimes I can't.

But it it's something that I just kind of find a lot of you know, stress

relief from like, it it's, it's like one of those outlets in my life.

That's not football cuz most of my life is football.

So having one of those things that like is completely separate where the two really

can't ever get tied up is very nice.

Because it's just like some, a way to forget like, you know, decon, Deconnect

for a second disconnect for a second.

Speaking of disconnecting, when, when you were at old dominion, if you

had 30 or 45 minutes of free time, which you probably didn't have often with your

schedule, but if you were on campus there and you had just a little bit of time

to get away and disconnect and kind of.

Just you know, have yourself, where on campus would you go?

Oh, I mean, the easy answer is you gotta time it upright,

but you go over to the Whitehurst beach area or even the, the street.

What, what would it be like?

40 49th.

I think it is, it goes all the way down to the water.

Those areas are amazing for catching a sunset.

So like talking about like disconnecting and kind of like taking a step

back from everything and, and, you know, relaxing for a second.

I mean, the sunset's over the water.

There are absolutely beautiful and I it's, it's a spot that like it's every

night, I feel like it's got a ton of students out there, a ton of people

who's got, who've got the same idea.

So I guess if it's popular like that, you know, it's probably a decent,

you know, a decent recommendation or a decent idea to use, but that was

definitely the, the, the place to do that.

All right, Isaac.

So

if there was something you could share with a recruit or maybe a family

member that's considering old dominion,

What would it be?

Hm, just one thing, I guess it would be, I, I loved how

I think ODU is an extremely.

Extremely different place, especially from where I grew up is it is

very unique and it has a ton of culture and it is its own entity.

Like, I don't think there's really a place like ODU anywhere else.

And I think that's the best thing about it is you're gonna get an extremely

unique experience if you go there, when you decided to go there from even even

having like the proximity to everything I think is another thing that makes it

huge and also adds into that, that great diversity about it is the fact that you've

got so much different stuff around it.

You've got the campus, obviously, which I, which was awesome.

I loved that campus, especially because like it's, it's a campus that.

It it's, it's big enough to where, you know, you, you, you don't feel like you're

in the same place the whole day, but it's also small enough to where you can walk.

No problem.

Like, I had a bunch of buddies who go to SCC schools and stuff like

that, and they live it's in like, they're like, yeah, I gotta walk

uphill, like 30 minutes to class.

Like, yeah, that sucks for you, man.

I got, I got a flat, straight shot in my next class is 20 minutes away.

Like that's nothing, you know?

So like, that's a big part of it.

But even you got downtown Norfolk, so close, which has so much to offer,

like you got the food down there.

Like, and even like the part I miss a lot right now is the fact that summer.

Around there is the best.

I mean, you've got all those, like you got Harbor Fest and, and a Cajun

festival and all that stuff that they do downtown in that Waterside area.

Then you got like Virginia beaches, so close, like, which was a ton of fun in

the summer, like, cause we were there the whole year, you know, so we would, you

know, get done with our summer workouts on Friday and then we had the weekends off.

Like, what else are you gonna do?

Except go down at the beach and have a good time.

So I think the accessibility to all that stuff is, is incredible.

And it, it, it like really added a ton to my college experience.

And I think it would add a ton to anybody's college experience really

as a country music fan, you had no limit on country

concerts in the era either.

So I'm sure that that was a big

plus.

Yeah, absolutely like the, yeah.

They have a patriotic festival downtown or down in G beach every year.

It was awesome.

I had some great times going to those and obviously they have the

Nova and everything like that.

Like there is, and even the am down there, there's just a, a

ton of different spots to go.

Like, there really is.

Like, if you can't find anything to do down, like in that area, it's really on

you at the end of the day, because there's no shortage of opportunities and they

moved the patriotic festival this year.

Oh yeah.

Was that water?

Oh, I bet that would be awesome too.

The

stage on Waterside

drives and they shut that street down for the whole weekend.

Yeah, I bet that would be a ton of fun.

It, it was always cool having it on the beach, but the worst part about that

was like, it was kind of a hassle to get down there and back out, you know,

at the end of the day, it was a little bit of a drive down, having it downtown.

It was, that's pretty awesome.

So, Isaac, I'm not sure if you, you know, much about the monarchists,

but we started kind of as a tailgate group and then we kind of morphed

into a fundraising group and now we have a podcast, but the fundraising

part is the most important part to us.

At the oyster bowl every year, we have a toys for tos fundraiser.

We're currently raising money for the baseball team with dollars for dingers.

And in December, when you guys made it to Myrtle beach, we helped the school send

students down to Myrtle beach so they could attend it and support you guys.

So, you know, we love charity.

We'd love to know if you have a favorite charity or a few that you like.

You'd like to talk about.

Yeah, so like, first of all, like the stuff

you're all doing is awesome.

Like I know everyone who appreciates that and it's, it's some great stuff.

The, I guess the, the one, the one, cause that I'm actually, I'm not sure

if it's, it's still going right now.

I really hope that if it's not, it continues to do so in the future,

but we AC we actually started a Blair mentorship project or a program where

we were, you know, and we partnered with the, the middle school Blair middle

school and were helping a mentor, those kids that, that go to that school.

And that was I was a part of that.

A bunch of our players were parts of that, and it was a ton of fun just

to get to, you know, interact with those kids and, and, and and try and

make a positive impact on their lives.

The, the unfortunate thing was it was happening during Like COVID

kind of got mixed up with it all.

And so it was kind of like, it made it difficult and then, you know, code

regulations kind of threw wrench in the plan, but that's, that was a, you know,

a program that I really love doing.

And I know that other guys on the team love doing as well.

And so that's something I hope that, you know, can get back up and running

over at ODU, cuz I know there's a ton of guys on the team that would love

to do it and I think it would also have a huge impact in that community.

Isaac, obviously you've got a lot of stuff going on in your life.

A lot of new things, a lot of great opportunities.

What's the future look like for Isaac Weaver?

Well my, I mean, I guess my goals are to play

football as long as I possibly can.

That's, you know, what's, that's what I've done for a long time here now and.

You know, it's something I really don't don't wanna stop anytime soon.

So I, I, you know, doing everything in my power to, to continue to do that.

But I do kind of in the back of my mind, I guess have inklings of, of

coaching at some point in my life.

I think that's kind of the, the next step I'd want to go down.

I guess football's just a game I love so much.

I don't know if I could see myself really stepping away from it fully.

But the big thing too is I've had so many, like I've had so many

positive coaching figures in my life that have helped me do so much.

Like they've, they've helped me a ton in life.

They've taught me a ton.

And it's something that I kind of would like to give back in a way and kinda, you

know, do my part, pay it, pay it back.

Cuz you know, I owe a lot in my life, in my opinion, to sports in

general and especially football.

So that's something that like, if I'm able to do something I love

and also something I think could help, you know, people a ton.

I think that's like, you know, in my mind the perfect match.

So I guess like, hopefully that's way down the road, you know, like, you

know, 15 years and I, you know, retired and made myself some money, but that's

kind of, I guess, where I see myself venturing out to at some point in my life.

Other than that, you know, I'm just kinda hanging out, trying to take it day by day.

Like those are obviously the big plans, but you know, you'll wanna

know every day as, as, as coach Ryan would say so that that's kind of the

mentality I'm caring with me right now.

Well, we love to hear, we know with your experiences, you you'd bring

a lot of new things to coaching and we think you'd obviously kick ass doing.

But we don't wanna stop seeing you play football either.

So thank you for joining us today, Isaac.

It was awesome.

We wish you nothing but the best.

We hope the best for you.

Yeah, absolutely.

Thank you very much for having me.

I really do appreciate that.

And like, I wish y'all the best of luck and, and, and

everything y'all are doing here.

Like I really do think what you're doing is awesome.

So please, please keep up the great work guys.

It's it's good stuff.

Awesome.

We will, we'll

be watching you.

We'll be keeping track of what's going on and hopefully you'd be

happy to come back and talk with us

sometime.

Yeah, absolutely.

That I'd love that.

All right.

Go

monarchs.

Go monarchs.