The fellas recap Old Dominion Football's 24 to 10 victory over South Florida Bulls in the Cure Bowl, discuss the trip to Orlando and all the bowl game festivities.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction and Co-Host Welcome

00:26 Recap of Orlando Trip and Bowl Game

00:58 Special Guest: Justice's Take on the Game

02:16 Interview with Cure Bowl MVP Quinn Henicle

04:43 Travel Woes and Comfort Plus Experience

07:34 Pre-Game Events and Tailgate Highlights

09:10 Game Day Walkthrough and Strategy

16:33 Press Box and Field Experiences

24:20 First Half Game Analysis

26:07 Analyzing South Florida's Performance

26:41 Key Moments and Plays

27:11 Challenges Faced by the Offense

30:17 Offensive Line Adjustments

33:42 Behind the Shield and Membership Benefits

35:10 Coaching Changes and Future Prospects

40:16 Reflecting on the Season and Bowl Game

46:17 Fan Engagement and Future Plans

53:08 Senior Leadership and Team Culture

59:21 Final Thoughts and Thank You

The following presentation is brought to you by the pride of

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ODU, the official NIL collective

of Old Dominion Athletics.

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Be a monarchist.

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Join the Pride

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Monarch Nation.

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We are back from Orlando, ready

to talk Old Dominion Football.

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But first we gotta introduce

my co-host, as always.

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Aaron, how are we doing today, buddy?

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Aaron: Not

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Mike: too

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Aaron: bad.

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I was riding super high after that bowl.

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Victory was brought down a little bit

by the basketball game yesterday, but

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that's not what we're here to talk about.

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So it was an awesome trip to Orlando.

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I look forward to talking about it

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Mike: and our new recurring guest.

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He's here almost every week now.

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Ladies and gentlemen, justice,

how are we doing today?

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Justice: I'm doing great, man.

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Like Aaron said it, it was

a great time in Orlando.

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Um, awesome experience and glad to

see the guys get the 10th win, send

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off the se seniors the right way.

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It was awesome just to see like their

smiles at, I mean, at the basketball

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game yesterday, they had, uh, was

it, uh, Steph, Zach, Devin, uh,

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coach Rahne, like they got honored.

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Ricardo.

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Oh, Ricardo.

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I, for can can't forget Ricardo.

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Um, mm-hmm.

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But just the, the smiles on

those guys' faces, you know, like

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they were just, I don't know, it

was just awesome sight to see.

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Mike: Yeah, it was very special.

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Uh, we'll get to it later, but

we had the special opportunity

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to talk with Quinn Henicle after

the game, and that was a special

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moment for me and Aaron, I believe.

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But, uh, his smile and his,

like his, it just looked like

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he had a sense of relief on him.

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On his entire body.

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You can almost sense it.

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I don't know if I'm off base

there, Aaron, but it almost like,

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like a, a lot of weight was taken

off of his shoulders in that.

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Aaron: Hundred percent.

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It's hard to explain.

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Why, why don't we just show it?

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It's whenever you guys are ready.

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Yeah, it looks good on you, Quinn.

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Mike: All right.

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We're here with Cure Bowl MVP.

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ODU starting quarterback Quinn Henicle.

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How's it feel?

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Quinn Henicle: Feels awesome.

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I mean, this is everything I dream

about playing a game of football.

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I mean, it's incredible playing

in a big stadium like this

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with my guys in a bowl game.

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You know, I grew up watching bowl games,

making picks and stuff, and to be able to

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experience this and be a part of it, it

means, it means everything for me, man.

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It's, it's incredible.

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Mike: And this line, obviously you, we had

the same five guys while people mm-hmm.

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Zach goes, sits out early in the game.

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But what can you say about this line

and what they've done for you today?

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Quinn Henicle: Hope.

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Incredibly tough.

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Those guys, those guys will

do anything to protect me.

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And I think they showed that today.

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They're dogs.

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I love them.

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They're, I mean, they're so supportive.

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You should see 'em at practice

in meetings, in the locker room.

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They're, they're really team guys and

they, they encourage me a lot and everyone

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around them, I mean, they bring the juice.

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That's what we like to say.

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So it's, it's awesome.

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Those guys are incredible.

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Mike: Alright.

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And then obviously the defense,

you gotta shout them out.

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They hold USF to 10 points.

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A very high powered offense.

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Oh yeah.

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Quinn Henicle: Again,

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Mike: defense,

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Quinn Henicle: like I said, team game.

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They couldn't have done it without 'em.

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Key stops, huge stops.

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They were able to get the ball back

to us when we needed the most, I

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mean, incredible effort by them.

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I couldn't, couldn't

have done it without 'em.

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It was awesome.

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Mike: Last question.

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Well, congratulations again on the MVP.

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Thank you.

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That second touchdown run, once you

broke through that line, she saw Yeah.

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The grass.

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Yeah.

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What was that feeling?

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Quinn Henicle: It was unbelievable.

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Like I said, it like a dream.

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I mean.

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It was crazy.

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Like again, it was almost

like that Arkansas state.

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It was just nobody there, just running

almost, I like to say run into the ring.

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You know?

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I mean, just incredible.

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Couldn't have done it without my o line.

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Running back, making that hole.

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So it was awesome.

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I, you know, words can't

really describe it.

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Mike: Right, man.

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Congratulations.

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Aaron's got some thing for you.

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Aaron: One last one, man.

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You heard all those fans from

the 7 5 7 that came down.

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Yeah.

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What's your message from monarchy?

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Quinn Henicle: Love the support.

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Thank you so much.

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We had a great crowd.

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Role Narcs baby.

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Let's go.

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Let's

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Mike: go.

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Like you said, role narcs.

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Uh, fantastic game by Quinn.

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Uh, I don't know if we wanna start

back at the beginning or do we want

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to talk about like, the trip overall

before we really get deep into the game?

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Aaron: Start

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Mike: from the

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Aaron: very

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Mike: beginning with the

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Aaron: trip man.

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Mike: All right.

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So me and Aaron had the bright

idea, 'cause we've flown Delta

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before of getting comfort Plus.

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Yes.

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Aaron: Because that was going to be

more comfortable and regular, right?

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Mike: Yeah.

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Uh, in my experience, you get

more leg room, more width.

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Um, but I had not flown in a little while.

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It had been a minute,

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Aaron: but in all fairness,

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Mike: we did

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Aaron: have more

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Mike: lake room.

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We did, but that's because

we chose the exit row.

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It wasn't because of how Deltas

constructed the, the flights.

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Um, I need leg room.

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I'm a big dude.

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I need a little bit of extra width.

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I'm a big dude.

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We did not have that width.

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We were scrunched in there like sardines.

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That was terrible.

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Um,

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Justice: it, it was bad man.

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And every, everyone wa

walked right past you guys.

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Like that's where you

were, right by the door.

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Aaron: It was, we were like the

butt of the joke, the saving graces.

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We had cool flight attendants that

were right in front of us and uh,

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that helped to blunt the pain and

the uncomfortableness of, I mean,

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those seats, I mean, I, I'm not a

small guy, but I'm not, I'm not like

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football player size by any means.

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And there wasn't a whole lot of

room widthwise for me sitting in it.

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So like, it was really

bad before we took off.

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And then once we took

off it was this justice.

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You don't even know 'cause

you were back behind us.

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But I reclined the seat enough

that I could get my left arm

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and shoulder behind Mike.

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So like, we're kind of trying

to stack people because the

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width wasn't enough, like Legos.

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Legos.

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Lego?

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Yes.

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Lego Mike is all like up against

the window part, uh, trying to gimme

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a little bit of room, but his left

knee couldn't really go anywhere

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because of when the door closes.

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They've got this pad over.

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That was terrible.

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I did get a survey from Delta yesterday,

and I very politely, but honestly

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told them how much that trip sucked.

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Mike: So here, here's what I'll tell you.

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My old experience that made me

think Comfort Plus was great.

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There was two seats on

each side of the row.

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They've done.

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Yeah, that

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Justice: huge difference.

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Mike: They've done

shrinkflation and made a three.

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Uh, we sat on Coach on the way back

and it was the same exact seat except.

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We actually had a TV in

the, in the front of us.

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Aaron: Well, I don't even want to talk.

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Well, we'll get to that part.

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That's the return.

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Mike: Alright.

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Freaking Canada.

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Well, we were lucky enough

to come in on Tuesday.

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Um, we had an, an amazing

one-on-one meeting with Ron Moses.

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Um, we can't talk much about that, but

we followed it up with the ODAF pre-game,

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uh, event at Sports and Social Orlando.

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Did I get that right?

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Aaron: Yep.

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Yeah.

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Mike: Amazing event free food.

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Um, lots of OD fans showed up.

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Great opportunity to

mingle, meet some new fans.

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Um, really spec spectacular night

at sports and social Orlando.

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Aaron: In the last episode where we

kind of told folks, Hey, make sure

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you might want to eat before you go.

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'cause you just never know with

these things, man ODAF knocked

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it outta the park on this.

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They made sure that there was food

like the entire time and when stuff

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got depleted, they were talking

to the restaurant and making sure

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that they were filling back stuff.

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So, uh, filling back things.

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So hats off to ODAF for making

it a great experience for

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everybody, not just the food.

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Everything was like, you know, was

awesome including Ted Alexander

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and Andy Shaw and uh, um, shit.

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Who else was there?

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James with, uh, there to kind of get the

crowd pumped up and preview the game.

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Mike: Yeah, I enjoyed myself.

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Got to meet some fans

I've never met before.

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Um, some listeners of the show.

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Great meeting all of you.

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Good chance to talk with some of

the parents we've met over the

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years and just kind of celebrate

Old Dominion in football and where

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we're at right now in Old Dominion.

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Athletics.

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Uh, the next morning we wake up,

we get start getting ready for the

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game and we have a balcony facing

this parking lot and Sea World.

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Um, we go out there, I think it was

Aaron that went out there and he opens

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and sees the offense doing walkthroughs.

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It's like,

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Aaron: Hey

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Mike: guys, get out here.

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Come here.

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We immediately go out there and watch

this walkthrough for like the entire

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walkthrough, and we get a good idea of

what the game plan was for the Cure Bowl.

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Obviously we couldn't say anything

before the game, but we knew it was

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gonna be a lot of short, intermediate

throws and a lot of running.

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Aaron: We were looking from our

balcony all over the parking lot,

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the other balconies up and down

looking to see if there were any

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South Florida drones or people.

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We were like, anybody here

potentially watching this besides us?

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And we saw too, I think ODU

fans down in the parking lot.

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They might have been player,

parent, I think they were parents.

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Justice: Yeah.

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Aaron: Yeah.

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I think you're probably right.

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Um, I saw a player after they were done,

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Justice: I saw a player

go over and hug him.

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So,

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Aaron: but that, yeah, that was cool.

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Mike.

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Mike: It was also interesting to

see, 'cause the defense was inside

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the conference room doing their

walkthrough, so they were going against

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an ODU offense on the defensive side.

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So you see guys like Elijah Hoskin at D

Tackle and uh, it was just funny to see

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that kind of figure out who's at playing

defense and where they they were at.

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Um, yeah.

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But it was also great to understand kind

of what they were kind of trying to do.

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Ahead of the game before it even

started, what their plan was.

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So from there, we go to the

Old Dominion Alumni Association

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tailgate that went from one to five.

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Uh, I wanna say this might be

the best tailgate experience

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we've had at a bowl game.

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And that's high praise considering

how good the Myrtle Beach one was.

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Justice: Yeah.

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Yeah.

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It, it was, it was def I mean,

the others were great too, but

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like, this just was like a, a

whole nother level in my opinion.

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Aaron: It was, we talked

about it last week.

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We talked about the two price points

for if you're a drinker, a non drinker,

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uh, everybody's gonna eat, of course.

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And the value that it usually

brought, and it didn't dis disappoint.

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They had three different restaurants.

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I think they had pizza more than that.

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They had actually four, right?

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Justice: Yeah,

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Aaron: four.

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Well, pizza

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Justice: burger, if you include

the cupcake guy, it's five.

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But yeah.

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Aaron: Uh, some like taco I didn't,

or nachos and I can't remember.

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I, I didn't get that.

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And multiple, lots of bar setups.

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It was not, you did not have to

wait to get stuff and plenty of it.

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Justice: And for the drinkers,

it included liquor too.

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Like it was, it was

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Mike: an interesting setup where they

shared space with the USF tailgate,

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um, which didn't open until three.

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So we ended up with a lot of USF fans

in our tailgate because we actually

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committed to the full tailgate window.

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Aaron: Fortunately, there's no beef

between, so you wouldn't even know

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if they weren't wearing other colors.

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It was very cordial

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Mike: and there weren't many USF fans

there, so no, it worked out okay.

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Justice: Yeah, I mean, that was thing,

that was one thing that I guess like

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surprised me just overall, not just

a tailgate, but like even at the

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game, was the fact that Old Dominion

fans, like, to me it was pretty

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clear outnumbered South Florida fans.

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Mike: Yeah.

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Uh, a lot of the fans we talked to at the

game thought it was maybe South Florida

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had more, but looking from the press box.

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Justice: Yeah.

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Mike: To me I thought it was obvious

that we had the clear numbers.

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Justice: Yep.

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Mike: Um, maybe it's 'cause

we were more compact and we

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were smarter with how we sat.

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But if you think about we were

going almost from end, like end

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zone to end zone on that side of

the field and there weren't many

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gaps with, uh, big empty seats.

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Aaron: That, that's true.

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At first I thought we were

very compact over there until

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I kept walking the sidelines.

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And when I went to the other end zone,

I was surprised 'cause I was like, oh,

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we've got a lot of people down here.

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Um, where they put the swim.

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I traveled.

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Well, yeah.

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All the way around.

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Yeah.

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I mean there, there was people, there

were ODU fans all the way to where

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the swim team was over the end zone.

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Mike: And speaking of the swim team,

we've shouted them out on here before.

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Yeah, but they really came

in, uh, clutch for this game.

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They had their, uh, overalls on

their, their striked overalls that

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they've become famous for at Dominion.

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They were loud, they were into it.

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Uh, it's just great to see other sports

supporting, um, other sports on campus.

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It's, it always makes me smile

knowing that like the swim team is

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there and supporting ODU football

or ODU, volleyball, whatever.

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But, uh, those guys have been awesome all

season long and for years now, they've

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been our best student group on campus.

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Aaron: Yeah, they were

really into the game.

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It, it was awesome to see.

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And uh, they were having a great time.

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Mike: Yeah.

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You got some great shots

from the field there.

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Um.

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I, I, I would ask you, Aaron, so

we're, we're onto the game now, right?

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Yeah.

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Me and Justice are in the press box.

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You were on the field.

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How different was that experience for you?

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Aaron: You know me, man, I

love, I love being on the field.

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It's, it's much more difficult to watch

the game because of, well, one, I'm not

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tall, so I can get stuck behind people.

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But two, the, the, the depth perception

is difficult, but there's nothing

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that matches being able to, you feel

the game when you're on the field.

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Uh, it's like the, I don't know if the

right word would be percussion, but

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when guys are hitting like, you can,

you can feel that even on the sideline.

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Um, it was great.

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And from the very start, from

pre-game, from the pre-game warmups.

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You could tell, it was very easy to tell

that the guys were into this game and

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the coaching staff was into this game.

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They were fired up.

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Um, it was, I almost texted you guys

to say like, we're gonna win this

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game because when, uh, when the, the

offensive line and the D line were

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warming up in the end zone and Seiler

and those guys were there, like they

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were getting after it, it just, you could

tell that it meant something to them.

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And then all throughout the game,

the, the, the team was engaged

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when things were going well, when

things weren't going so well.

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The position groups, like

everybody was focused.

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Everybody was into it.

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Everybody was lifting each other up.

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Uh, with the exception of that one

thing that we saw late in the game.

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Um, but it was.

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They were on a mission, it

was very clear early, and that

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carried all the way throughout.

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Mike: Alright.

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Just, was this your first

press box experience?

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Justice: Yeah.

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I mean, obviously like we can sit in

the press box at Old Dominion Games,

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but like, just like you guys, I sat

in my normal seat, so this was the

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first time like I sat in a press

box for the entire game and yes.

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So, so it was a, it was a fun experience,

but a different experience, right?

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Like it's it, you know, as it's so

hard to not root for your team, right?

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That was, that was probably

the single hardest thing to do.

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Um, but it was, it was fun, you know,

like the, the, I enjoyed being able to

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like, again, a new appreciation for like

the stats crew, the spotters, right.

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Um, you know, so that was like a benefit

I guess, of being in the press box.

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We never had to guess like.

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Who made the tackle or who was hurt.

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'cause they're constantly calling out

the numbers and like who the player is.

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And so that part, you know, I really

enjoyed, um, you know, the, the other,

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I guess if there's a downside, like,

because you can't cheer, you're not

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like, surrounded by other Monarch fans

and enjoying the game with them though.

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But, you know, it, it, it was a

cool and a fun experience for sure.

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Mike: Well, at least, at least

there was me and you together.

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We could do, we kept doing fist

bump bumps under the desk so no

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one would see or call us out.

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Aaron: Yeah, I, I would say that I had

a little bit, a little bit more freedom.

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Uh, I didn't, you know, I wasn't

like magnanimous in cheering,

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but um, I'm on our sideline.

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Um, yeah.

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Kind of blended in.

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It's not in a quiet

environment, so I could do that.

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The other cool thing that I don't

know if I shared with you guys

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was, uh, I was able to, there's a

lot of folks on the sidelines that

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people might not realize, and even

I learned, I was looking at people's

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badges to kind of see who they were.

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I didn't recognize them.

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And so there were a couple,

uh, official, official liaisons

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for the officiating crew.

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So, you know, I was able to stand next

to one of those guys and ask a number

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of questions throughout the game.

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Uh, two critical points.

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One was the hit that Quinn took

and how there was no flag at first.

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And then once there was, um, we,

we talked about that and that

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was an interesting conversation.

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Um, and then the second was the, the

end zone, the, the kick, um, where they

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downed it on like the one yard line.

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And I will say on that one, the, the guy

that I was talking to was shocked that

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they did not call down to review that

because it was something that couldn't,

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they didn't call it on the field and so

they couldn't initiate it on the field.

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It would've had to come from top

and it didn't come up from up top.

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Like, uh, like the hit to

Quinn on the targeting call,

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Mike: uh, I'll say everyone in

the press box was confused why

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they did not review that either.

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Yeah.

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Justice: A another fun press box

moment, I won't repeat what was said,

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but, uh, there was a point in time

when the referees were talking to, uh,

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south Florida's, uh, head coach and um,

that was quite a colorful conversation

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that we got to hear in the press box.

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Hot

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Mike: mic.

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Right?

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Hot mic.

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I don't think it was on for a good minute.

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Like, yeah.

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And when it turned off and he

finally corrected it, there was

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a collective aw in the press box.

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Like everyone did it

at the same exact time.

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It was pretty, uh, funny.

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But, um, it was also not surprising to see

him get that penalty like very soon after

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Aaron: the next.

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Yeah.

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Was it a little bit like the Clark

Griswold moment after he gets

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his boss with the red bow tie?

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Yeah.

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Justice: Yeah.

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Aaron: Lots of, lots of F-bombs.

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Lots of, yeah.

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He

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Quinn Henicle: wouldn't,

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Aaron: and he wouldn't talk

about it after the game either.

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When kind of asked about it,

he was just like, um, I'm not

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gonna talk about the officiating.

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He was fired up.

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It, it sounds like you,

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Justice: y'all heard the whole thing.

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It was bad.

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I mean, I think officiating

wasn't good on either side.

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Like holding.

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I don't think it was

ever called all night.

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And there were lots on both sides where.

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They didn't call any holding play any

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Mike: penalties.

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They called it once on a receiver

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and it was an egregious

call against South Florida.

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They had to have, they had to have

called it 'cause it was really bad.

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But, uh, it is funny going on

to Twitter and seeing the South

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Florida fans reactions to the game.

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They think the the fix was

in the rest were on our side.

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But if you talked to any old

Dominion fan, they would talk

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about how bad the rest were.

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Were for Old Dominion.

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Yeah.

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They were bad.

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Both.

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I think that kind of seconds like

that supports our idea that the

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refs were just bad all around.

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Um, I talked, I think I

talked to you about it.

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So at some point, maybe it was the

second or third quarter go, uh, every

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year there's points of emphasis rules.

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Like these are calls we're gonna

have and we're gonna, we're

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gonna call it whenever we see it.

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It felt like the exact opposite.

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Was that for holding in this game?

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'cause they did not wanna

throw any holding flags.

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Justice: Yeah.

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Mike: Um.

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In the second quarter, me and Justice

decided to explore a little bit.

483

Um, we wanted to go say hi to

some fans in the, in the stands.

484

We go down from the suite

level where the press box was.

485

We walk through the club, the lounge,

which is very nice, very nice.

486

They don't stop us.

487

They, they say, come on in.

488

We walk through there, come out

the 50 yard line, we see wood, ick.

489

Uh, I tap him on his shoulder, ask

him to do an interview at halftime.

490

He says, great.

491

So then we continue on trying to find

the, our, our friends can't find.

492

Gary and Harry have no idea

where they're at still.

493

Um, but we find the bar loves.

494

We find the cobras, we find the

Hoskins, and we end up watching, uh,

495

most of the second quarter with them.

496

And that was a fun experience

getting to, to root on Old Dominion

497

and not have to hold anything

back for that period of time.

498

Uh, I also wanna shout

out to Marquez family.

499

Got to say hi to them, uh,

Troy Marquez's parents.

500

Um, but yeah, that, that was fun.

501

Um, but then at halftime we go back into

this, the lounge to try to meet wood.

502

And me and justice are

told we gotta kick rocks.

503

We're not welcome there

504

Aaron: straight.

505

You guys were, uh, busting into a

place that you were not clear to be.

506

Yeah.

507

Apparently.

508

Mike: Apparently.

509

But the other people

were cool with us there.

510

Yeah.

511

They let us right in.

512

They didn't say

513

Aaron: anything.

514

Mike: Well, she woke us right in.

515

She said, come on in.

516

How y'all doing today?

517

The next lady was not having it.

518

Yeah.

519

Uh, so I grabbed our buddy.

520

Major Monarch Harry McBrien and tell him,

Hey man, we're getting kicked outta here.

521

Can you tell Wood we

can't do the interview?

522

Thank him for his time.

523

I get a phone call in the press

box from Harry and Wood Selick.

524

He's coming right on up.

525

And we knocked out that

interview at halftime.

526

It was, it was pretty awesome.

527

Yeah, that was cool.

528

Um, I wanna thank Wood for doing that.

529

He didn't have to do it, but he went

out of his way and made the extra

530

effort to make sure our fans got

his take on the game and the bowl.

531

Um, so thank you Wood.

532

Really appreciate that.

533

Uh, you didn't have to do it.

534

All right.

535

Now, this game,

536

first half, I mean, it was kind

of a, a defensive struggle, right?

537

Justice: He, well, we had

some missed opportunities too.

538

I mean, we were, we were

able to move the ball.

539

We just didn't always

capitalize on, uh, on that.

540

Mike: Yeah.

541

I will say it was clear from the way,

the way they were defending us, they

542

had seven men in the box constantly.

543

They were daring us to throw and

they were committed to not letting

544

Quinn burn them with his feet.

545

Very aggressive,

546

Justice: aggressive path rush.

547

Mike: I mean, they were, they're

bringing all seven, almost every play.

548

Aaron: Yeah.

549

Mike: And we

550

Aaron: anticipated that

is what was gonna happen.

551

You've got a guy, it's only his

second start ever, you know,

552

being thrust into that role.

553

And, um, it wasn't shocking that,

that that's what their game plan was.

554

Mike: The, but the surprising thing was

like Devin had some great runs in the

555

first half and so, and Quinn had a couple.

556

Was how poor a tackling South

Florida had at the second level.

557

I mean, there was one really impressive

run by Ro Devin Rochet, where he

558

felt like he was tackled like four

different times and suddenly got

559

away again and again and again.

560

I mean, obviously credit to Devin for

making that play, but I was surprised

561

at the tackling efforts by South Florida

562

and maybe that kind of you guys

would know, goes, maybe that goes

563

into what you were saying, Aaron,

that we had the energy they did not.

564

It's per, perhaps,

565

Aaron: perhaps that's the case.

566

You guys would know better than me.

567

I don't know.

568

I mean, south Florida is a good team.

569

They had a, they had a really nice season.

570

I'm assuming they're a good tackling

team, but I don't really know.

571

Um,

572

Justice: I think they're better than what

they put on on, uh, Wednesday, I guess.

573

Mike: I mean, we did note

they gave up a lot of yards.

574

Along in the season.

575

Yeah.

576

And that they struggled against Navy,

which is a predominant rushing team.

577

Um, so that's why I think it was so

crucial for us to commit to the run

578

and stay with the run throughout.

579

'cause we saw that damn

break in the second half.

580

Um, I mean that big in a big way,

that big resounding run by Quinn

581

to put the game away 51 yards.

582

I mean, that shows you that

committing to the run really helped

583

and worked out for us in this game.

584

Justice: Yeah.

585

Their aggressiveness just leads to, I

don't necessarily wanna say undisciplined,

586

but you know, there's gonna be gaps.

587

Right.

588

Because there's so aggressive

with the pass rush that they

589

just can't cover everything.

590

Mike: But that pass rush did make

it difficult for Quinn to have a

591

clean look throughout the game.

592

Yeah.

593

Or much time.

594

Yeah.

595

Um, he, he missed a couple

throws in this game.

596

Two deep balls and then one, um,

medium range throw to Jalen Butler.

597

That would've been a sure touchdown.

598

But watching from the press box, you

could tell he was surrounded on bo on

599

all of these throws where if he waits

another second or half second, he's hit

600

like he was under dures the entire game

601

Aaron: and he got hit, uh, a couple

times as he was throwing the ball.

602

Yeah.

603

Hey, I, I would show I was slow

on the share, but you were just

604

talking about that one breakaway.

605

I mean, this is right before I

almost got taken out, uh, on the

606

field, which I said I wouldn't do.

607

But once Quinn got through, and I'm

sorry if that's coming through slow,

608

um, but you can tell how pumped up he

was and and all the guys around him.

609

And what's funny is there's

Sidney 17 coming in.

610

He takes off right there

to go to the sideline.

611

And then about 20 seconds later, after

everybody, uh, departs the pattern, Quinn

612

is coming from the end zone right past me.

613

I kind of smack him on the back,

dap him up, and Sydney comes flying

614

in from where the players are.

615

They give them a big chest bump

and I have to kinda like do a

616

spin move to not get taken out.

617

The whole, the joke the whole time

was to not get taken out and I had

618

made it almost the entire game.

619

Um, and, uh, it quickly almost happened.

620

Justice: It's so easy on the sidelines.

621

It, it almost happened to me.

622

I don't know if it was a spring

practice or a fall practice.

623

I had, I had the tripod set up.

624

I was shooting some video.

625

They were doing end zone drills and

I had to, I had to pick everything

626

up and run really, really fast

or else it was including myself.

627

We were all gonna be smashed.

628

Yeah,

629

Aaron: but it's, so that's

what makes it so great.

630

So awesome.

631

Mike: But that, that, uh, pressure

that they were bringing all game.

632

Um, there was a few times where me

and Justice were pointing out guys

633

that were unblocked before the snap.

634

Justice: Yeah.

635

Mike: Um,

636

Justice: or the one sack, like, uh,

that guy off the edge, like, you know,

637

like I don't, I don't know, like Yeah.

638

He was just uncovered and it was

clear what was gonna happen there.

639

Mike: Well, there was a couple

issues there with he could have.

640

So he had the running back

to his left on that play.

641

He should have moved him.

642

Right.

643

Uh, the line, the lineman should

have communicated and said, Hey,

644

I got an uncovered man here.

645

Uh, Stefan should have had to be

forced to block that guy, but if he's

646

uncovered, so is one of those linebackers

that's screaming through the blitz?

647

Yeah, so I, I don't know it.

648

It's tough when they're breaking seven

and you have six blockers, you're

649

gonna have a tough time no matter what.

650

What, what

651

Aaron: we haven't talked about a little

bit is really, this is the first game this

652

season where our o line wasn't intact.

653

So Zach started the game, but, um,

so our line was a little different.

654

Uh, and, and everybody who watches

Old Dominion Football realizes how

655

big of a, a part of that offensive

line in leadership is Zach Barlev.

656

So for him to not be out

there, that makes an impact.

657

Justice: It's, it's also the first time

since a year ago that Quinn's taken snaps

658

in a game where they're meaningful snaps.

659

You know, we're like, we're, we're letting

him run the whole playbook, et cetera.

660

Mike: Yeah.

661

I do wanna give credit to Logan Cox.

662

I thought he played very well

in, um, substitution for Zach.

663

I do also wanna note that.

664

That was designed removal

of Zach from the game.

665

Um, he didn't get re-injured.

666

He knew he couldn't play, but the

O line as a group said they wanted

667

to start every game as a unit.

668

So they let him go out

there for that first drive.

669

And when he, you, you could see it when

he was coming off the field, he did the

670

little tap, let them know I'm coming out.

671

And Logan Cox I thought

played really well.

672

It gives us, gives us a

good preview for next year.

673

'cause Logan Cox will be a

starter on this O line next year.

674

Um,

675

kind of answers one of the was

676

Aaron: number folks right?

677

Was Can you say that again?

678

I was gonna say, I mean this, one

of the great things about the Bowl

679

game and the extra practices that

team got is you, a lot of guys that.

680

Um, ordinarily don't get snaps.

681

Yeah.

682

Got a lot of that.

683

And, and we heard Ricky talk about it.

684

I, I think he said, and it might've been

in the, the conference, the, uh, Monday

685

press conference or whatever that, that

you guys covered, was that there were

686

like three practices where it was all the

young guys and the, the starters and the,

687

the, the old heads were kind of getting

their rest and being able to watch the

688

young guys go and get really excited

about watching what the future was of ODU.

689

And it gave Ricky and his staff

an opportunity to evaluate which

690

guys, which young guys are.

691

You know, going to make impacts.

692

'cause I know he said that it really

opened his eye eyes up on a few guys

693

to go, okay, that guy, that guy's

ready, that guy can contribute.

694

It was a good, good opportunity for

both the players and the staff, uh,

695

for the future of Dominion Football

696

Justice: and, and their development.

697

Right?

698

The, the development of those players.

699

Yeah.

700

Mike: That was in our last episode

where I talked to Ricky one-on-one.

701

Um, yeah.

702

Uh, there's a lot to like about

what's coming back next year.

703

I'm very excited.

704

Um, IW we will share more and behind

the shield coming up, I got a new,

705

another one in the chamber ready to go.

706

Uh, I just gotta put it on

the, on onto the screen.

707

I gotta write it out.

708

But, um, we've been very lucky.

709

Before you

710

Aaron: move on from that, before

you move on from that, Mike, well,

711

Mike: hold on.

712

I wanna finish this mo this thought.

713

Uh, we've been very lucky to develop

some great relationships with the staff.

714

With Dominion Athletics and we

can't wait to share more with it

715

with you in behind the shield.

716

So please sign up a lot of

great information in there.

717

Aaron, what was your thought?

718

Aaron: What, what I was going to say is

that we got a lot of questions while we

719

were down there and on social media with

what's behind the shield or what's BTS?

720

There's a lot of folks that don't know.

721

So when Mike talked about signing up,

when you become a member of the pride of

722

ODU U, if you go to the pride of odu.com,

723

um, under the membership

portion, BTS or behind the Shield

724

comes with that membership.

725

So if you are a member at any level,

you get access to all those exclusive

726

articles, the web pages where we talk

about the, uh, what we call the churn,

727

recruiting, all those sorts of things.

728

Um, we do a lot of stuff

that is for everybody.

729

And that is free.

730

And on YouTube we put a lot of stuff out,

but for our members, we wanna reward them.

731

And there are some exclusive, and

those exclusive sort of things seem to

732

grow over time and continue to grow.

733

So if you gotta be a member,

go to the pride of od.com,

734

join at any level, and you will get access

to all these BTS articles and content.

735

Mike: Yeah, we put out one on late

Friday night that kind of walks you

736

through a lot of different things.

737

Uh, a new signing that

came through on Tuesday.

738

Um, the coaching changes that are

going on at Old Dominion right now.

739

Uh, as you guys know by now, uh, coach

Decker is moving on to Memphis and

740

Ricky has named Coach Cody Cook, who's

been the wide receiver coach and coach.

741

Alex huddle, the o offensive line

coach, uh, co offensive coordinators

742

Aaron: before people freak out.

743

We're okay with this, right?

744

I mean, we can talk

you to be okay with it.

745

That's, that's, that's well, sure, but

gonna be successful's gonna happen.

746

There's a difference in coping

and being like, it is what it is.

747

And then there's like, oh, okay.

748

It's change.

749

You know?

750

We wish Coach Deck the, the

best and hope he does awesome

751

at Memphis, but now it's time to

evaluate what we have going forward.

752

And I think we like what we see.

753

Mike: Yeah.

754

This is a, I think this is an exciting

thing and it has a chance to make Dominion

755

Football even better in the future.

756

Um, co the, when Colton took over running

that wide splits offense, they knew it

757

wasn't working for Colton's skillset.

758

Aaron: Mike, when you say wide splits,

offense for everybody who's watching

759

that main, maybe more of a casual fan.

760

What does that mean?

761

Mike: That was when we were

having both receiver groups on the

762

very outer edge on the boundary.

763

We did On

764

Aaron: the hash or just outside the hash.

765

Like all the way down there.

766

Right.

767

Spreading the defense out.

768

Mike: Uh, it, it's a great offense for

spreading the defense out and running the

769

ball 'cause it creates huge running lanes.

770

I do like the offense, I do believe in it.

771

However, it doesn't fit every

of your quarterback skillset.

772

And for Colton, uh, it

didn't work for him.

773

So we kind of incorporated more of

the RPO and it became more of the

774

veer and shoot offense that Kansas

State runs has run for a long time.

775

Coach Cody Cook just happened to play wide

receiver and quarterback in that offense.

776

Um, you do get some wide splits in

this offense, but it's not every down

777

and that's the biggest difference.

778

Um, you get a lot more looks, you

get a lot more pool blocks, which

779

is where Coach Huddle comes in.

780

Um, the influence on this offense this

last year is clear that it was mainly

781

it had been shifting away from decker's

wide splits to more of Ricky's and

782

coach cooks and coach huddle's offense.

783

So take it for what you want.

784

But, uh, the other thing that's

important about this move is every

785

coach, every person in their job does

their job a little bit differently.

786

They might have different

skill sets, right?

787

Yeah.

788

Coach Cody Cook is a fantastic recruiter.

789

Like if you look at this receiving

corps, these are guys, most of 'em, he

790

recruited to Hutch and they liked him.

791

Enough to follow him to Old Dominion.

792

Aaron: Enough said,

793

Justice: brought, brought in a lot

of good recruits, uh, wide receiver

794

recruits in this last cycle too.

795

So like, it's not like it

was just a one time thing.

796

Aaron: Yeah.

797

And uh, and when you have guys, when you

have guys that succeed at the level that

798

they did this year of coming in, just

Jaco and Trey, the kind of years that

799

those guys had, that that next class of

guys who are jucos or wherever they're

800

at, that are looking for an opportunity

they can point directly to here at Old

801

Dominion and go, I can be that next guy.

802

Why not me?

803

And we saw three guys, three

guys eat big time this year.

804

So if you're a guy that's looking for

an opportunity, you're not, I would be

805

less worried about being going, oh, they

already have one or two good receivers

806

because you saw three people really

excel and have an awesome season to go.

807

I can go and be part of that

room and I can succeed too.

808

So I'm gonna be that next guy.

809

Mike: Yeah.

810

And um, we got kind of a preview

that there's quarterbacks calling

811

left to right trying to become a

part of this, this team because of

812

how we looked offensively this year.

813

They know we have the weapons

and then we know we're gonna

814

have more weapons in the future.

815

So, uh, the portal's gonna be

very interesting to see what

816

this team ends up looking like.

817

But I'm very excited for the

future of Dominion Football.

818

Aaron: Yeah, me too.

819

Mike: Absolutely.

820

Alright, so

821

Aaron: I got a question

for you guys real quick.

822

And Les, where were

you going, Mike, first?

823

Mike: Well, um, I want, I, I, I,

I guess we're done talking about

824

the bowl game, uh, and how we

played, but where were you going?

825

Aaron: I was gonna ask you

guys what your thought is.

826

Ricky made a comment, he got asked

the question with regards to the

827

10 10th win, and does this help

build momentum for next season?

828

And it's been very clear that Ricky talks

about culture of the team and how every

829

year is a new year, and there's pretty

limited carryover from year to year.

830

Obviously, if you have continuity

within the locker room, those guys can

831

help you bring the culture next year.

832

And as I'm saying this, I'm kind

of thinking of, uh, where the, uh,

833

where this word comes from as, um.

834

It's almost like the starter, the starter

you have for like a sourdough bread.

835

You've gotta have a piece of it before.

836

So you've gotta have guys

that will help build that.

837

So Ricky's not sold that.

838

The 10 win is going to really

build any more momentum.

839

But from a fan base perspective, so

that's players a locker room team.

840

But from a fan base perspective,

how important was it winning the

841

Bowl game, getting a 10th win if

it's not so important for the team?

842

Is it important for the

fan base in Monarch Nation?

843

Justice: I think it's important.

844

Go ahead Mike.

845

No, you go ahead, justice.

846

I was just gonna say, I think

it's important for both, right?

847

Like, I understand Ricky's point, but at

the same time it, it does help, right?

848

Like if you're a recruit or, or someone

interested in a team, you wanna go to

849

a 10 win team or a two win team, right?

850

So like I can't sit there and think

that it doesn't help in some way.

851

Um, but I understand Ricky's

point as well, but from a

852

fan base, it's huge, right?

853

Helps build excitement.

854

Um, you know, winning cures everything.

855

And, and, and so, you know, it, it,

it, it certainly helps in that regard.

856

Hopefully helps us sell, you

know, more season tickets next

857

year, attract more sponsors again,

attract better recruits, et cetera.

858

Mike: I'll also add, like this

season, considering some of the wins

859

we had, how exciting, um, the games

were, our exposure, this level,

860

like in media was so much higher

than it has been in years past.

861

Yes.

862

Um, I mean, you still see people

tweeting about this Alderman

863

football team and how good they were.

864

Um,

865

that is valuable because it, it

is putting your name out there

866

again and again in front of both

Stu, like potential students,

867

student athletes, and the fan base.

868

Um.

869

The other thing is, I think it's gonna

be crucial for bowl games in the future,

870

because I saw a lot of Old Dominion

fans using how we played in Myrtle

871

Beach and Charlotte as an excuse to

not go down to Orlando, and they missed

872

out on a fantastic fan environment.

873

I think it was the best environment we've

seen as a fan base for a bowl game by far.

874

The stadium, um, while very

old, had a lot of upgrades.

875

Um, the, the lounge was immaculate.

876

The suite level was great.

877

The press box was like brand new.

878

The field was fantastic.

879

The scoreboard, like the

video boards were awesome.

880

Like it felt like it wasn't far

from being an N like it's probably

881

the closest to an NFL environment.

882

A lot of these players

will ever get to see.

883

Aaron: It was, and the level

of organization was awesome.

884

So we've, we've done media, multiple

polls and gone through the credentialing

885

process and everything was very organized

from the stuff that Old Dominion did.

886

The stuff that O Dapt did, uh, to

how we're submitting our things and

887

getting there and picking stuff up,

and it just, everything was top notch.

888

And I don't know if that's just

the kind of the bowl, the bowl

889

level being a little bit better.

890

Everything just was bigger and

better and more organized and just

891

a more well, well-oiled machine.

892

And then plenty of parking

893

Mike: for fans, which was nice.

894

Oh my God, it was awesome.

895

And close

896

Justice: proximity,

parking, like super close.

897

Mike: Yeah.

898

Mm-hmm.

899

Um, I, I don't, that was a great bowl.

900

It's clear that, I mean, they, they

host three bowl games there each year.

901

They used to host the, they were the first

host for the Pro Bowl after Hawaii lost

902

it for, I think for like eight years.

903

So I think that's where that

investment came from initially.

904

But, um, they host a Poptarts bowl

there and then one other bowl, um,

905

the che, it used to be the Cheez-It

906

Justice: Bowl.

907

Cheez Bowl.

908

I don't, I don't think that bowl

exists anymore, but maybe I'm wrong.

909

It does.

910

It does.

911

Was that originally the

912

Mike: Outback Bowl that

turned into the cheeses bowl?

913

Justice: Yeah.

914

Aaron: You gotta eat

something there with the Gator

915

Mike: Bowl.

916

Aaron: Either way.

917

And security office is organized and

timely and being able to pick things up.

918

Mike: They are, we don't need

to talk about that though.

919

Enough.

920

All right.

921

Uh, uh, yeah,

922

Justice: the, the Cheah Bowl, the

other bowl is gonna be there this year.

923

Mike: So, yeah, like this, their,

the people that were running the

924

bowl clearly knew what they were

doing and had that experience,

925

and it made the experience for us.

926

And all the other fans that much better.

927

Like it was a smooth operation.

928

Like one example, most stadiums have

like one, uh, wifi code for media.

929

We know of at least two that they had.

930

Yeah.

931

Like they had one just for photography

and then they had one for the suite level,

932

like, and they worked, they worked great.

933

Yeah.

934

It allowed us to keep updating

fans throughout the game.

935

I mean, it, I uploaded that video of wood

like almost immediately after it was done.

936

Um, yeah, I was just really impressed with

the whole experience and I would not mind

937

going back to the cure bowl in the future.

938

Yeah.

939

For real.

940

Aaron: Great.

941

And we're talking about that.

942

I just wanna, uh, send a thanks out to

everybody who watches the show or consumes

943

our social media or website stuff.

944

Um, we're able to put a lot of

stuff out this week and we saw

945

more interaction on social media,

YouTube than we have ever before.

946

So we appreciate everybody.

947

Y'all are as much a

part of this as we are.

948

This, we're a fan podcast website.

949

We do this stuff, you know,

for the fans, by the fans.

950

So having that interaction and

commenting and, and going back

951

and forth means everything.

952

It was just as fun for us of being able

to read and respond to people's comments

953

than actually putting the stuff out.

954

Mike: Speaking of the fans, if you're

interested in helping us out in any

955

way, whether you wanna be an advertiser,

maybe you wanna write about, uh, women's

956

lacrosse or something, if you wanna

contribute in any way, reach out to us.

957

Give us your pitch.

958

Let's hear it.

959

Uh, we're open to adding more fans.

960

I mean, we, we've shown justice

has become a big part of the show.

961

That wasn't always the case.

962

Um, we're always trying to add more

to this channel and this website.

963

Um, so if you wanna get more,

more involved, just let us know.

964

We'll fi we'll

965

Aaron: figure it out.

966

Yeah.

967

And I'll double down on

that advertiser thing.

968

If you think that this is

a good market for you, if

969

Virginia's a good market for you.

970

If the 7, 5, 7 in particular

where, uh, what is it?

971

Northeast North Carolina

is a good market for you.

972

Hit us up, man.

973

Podcast, website, uh, everything.

974

Uh, we are open to ideas and partnerships.

975

Uh, we're very protective of the

brand because we're protective

976

of dominion and, um, but yeah,

if you're interested, hit us up.

977

Mike: Yeah, please do.

978

And, or, hey, you might

not even need advertising.

979

You might just need to

do some tax avoidance.

980

Give us a call.

981

Justice: O one thing, looking back on

the season, we were talking about like

982

momentum and stuff and like I look back

on the season and, and the bowl games

983

kind of the culmination of it, but like

when we had our opportunities on ESPN,

984

look at that Thursday night game, look

at the bowl game, like we really seized

985

and took control of those opportunities

and like, you know, showed out really,

986

really well and that, that all, that's

gotta be part of the positive momentum,

987

uh, whatever you want to call it to

help, you know, build for the future.

988

Mike: You can add in the tech

game and how we played against

989

Indiana to an extent, right?

990

Because those were both, uh, national

television and we did not leave bad

991

taste in people's mouths about Dominion

football on national TV this year

992

Aaron: and Indiana fans.

993

That was a cool for most of the

season, having Indiana fans watch.

994

Keep up with what Old

Dominion Football was doing.

995

That was a cool little thing

that, uh, that was going.

996

Mike: Yeah, that was fun.

997

Um, very excited for next year though.

998

I mean, Devin Roche's growth through

this season was another thing that I

999

was very surprised and, uh, happy to

see because this is a guy that we've

00:49:41,183 --> 00:49:47,183

talked about for a few years now, and

we, we saw his skillset, but, uh, about

00:49:47,183 --> 00:49:51,593

Midseason, he kind of really hit his

form and is a big part of why we went on.

00:49:51,623 --> 00:49:53,843

We finished the game on a

six game winning streak.

00:49:56,648 --> 00:49:58,343

Huge, huge part of it.

00:49:59,573 --> 00:50:04,793

The crazier part is when you see him

in person and you get a real, i, uh,

00:50:05,213 --> 00:50:07,523

idea of how tall and small he is.

00:50:07,628 --> 00:50:11,783

Yeah, it makes, it shows

you how tough that guy is.

00:50:11,843 --> 00:50:15,083

First of all, how strong he is.

00:50:16,058 --> 00:50:19,718

For his size, like pound for pound, he

might be the strongest guy on the team.

00:50:21,578 --> 00:50:21,908

We've, we've

00:50:21,908 --> 00:50:23,618

Aaron: heard that multiple times.

00:50:24,458 --> 00:50:26,348

Justice: It was, it was

really evident yesterday.

00:50:26,348 --> 00:50:29,288

Like at the basketball game

with, you say you see Ricardo

00:50:29,288 --> 00:50:31,478

and Zach and Steph and then Dev.

00:50:33,608 --> 00:50:33,878

Mike: Yeah.

00:50:33,878 --> 00:50:38,678

I mean he is, their height

and weight for him might be a

00:50:38,678 --> 00:50:40,448

little generous on the roster

00:50:43,028 --> 00:50:46,088

'cause uh, yeah, but shout out to Dev man.

00:50:46,088 --> 00:50:49,418

He's been so much fun to watch

this year and I can't wait to see

00:50:49,418 --> 00:50:50,918

what he looks like in the future.

00:50:51,758 --> 00:50:55,598

Um, 'cause he is gonna, uh, next

year he is gonna be the guy I think.

00:50:56,618 --> 00:50:56,798

Aaron: Yep.

00:50:59,408 --> 00:50:59,828

Mike: There's the

00:50:59,828 --> 00:51:00,308

Aaron: picture.

00:51:04,268 --> 00:51:04,958

It is like me standing

00:51:04,958 --> 00:51:05,263

Justice: next to you, Mike.

00:51:08,243 --> 00:51:09,188

That, that's that.

00:51:09,188 --> 00:51:11,618

If they were closer

together, that's the plane.

00:51:11,618 --> 00:51:13,208

If, if Zach,

00:51:15,578 --> 00:51:19,373

Aaron: yeah, because the dude

to my right was, was not a a, a

00:51:19,378 --> 00:51:21,428

short, small individual either.

00:51:22,208 --> 00:51:22,958

You're so right.

00:51:23,018 --> 00:51:23,468

Justice.

00:51:23,468 --> 00:51:26,228

Thank you for reminding me about that

00:51:28,238 --> 00:51:28,658

Mike: trip.

00:51:31,538 --> 00:51:35,468

Uh, I also want to, uh, commend

the band before we end the show.

00:51:35,798 --> 00:51:38,408

Uh, they took a small, like,

I think they took a hundred

00:51:38,408 --> 00:51:39,668

members of the band down there.

00:51:40,628 --> 00:51:45,218

Um, they did a little battle, the

bands before the game started and

00:51:45,218 --> 00:51:48,458

you wouldn't know that we had a

fraction of the band size that

00:51:48,458 --> 00:51:51,278

USF had 'cause we sounded amazing.

00:51:51,998 --> 00:51:53,888

Um, they brought the energy down there.

00:51:55,028 --> 00:51:59,918

Uh, overall just fantastic experience

down there and great to see the

00:51:59,918 --> 00:52:02,228

students, the band, the spirit groups.

00:52:03,458 --> 00:52:06,998

The Alumni Association ODAF

all contributing to a great

00:52:07,058 --> 00:52:08,318

game day on Wednesday.

00:52:09,068 --> 00:52:15,008

Aaron: All the fans that traveled

from the 7, 5, 7, the fans that are

00:52:15,008 --> 00:52:20,018

local to Florida, we had fans that

we saw that traveled from California.

00:52:20,948 --> 00:52:22,598

Modern Nation came from

all over the place.

00:52:22,598 --> 00:52:23,198

It was really cool.

00:52:24,338 --> 00:52:25,148

Justice: And they were loud

00:52:27,218 --> 00:52:27,668

in the game.

00:52:27,668 --> 00:52:28,088

So loud.

00:52:28,088 --> 00:52:28,418

Yeah.

00:52:30,188 --> 00:52:30,518

Mike: Yeah.

00:52:30,638 --> 00:52:34,118

So moving forward, uh, I'm, we're gonna

have, we'll be back with some more

00:52:34,118 --> 00:52:39,668

basketball shows in the future, but we're

gonna try to do the foot this football

00:52:39,668 --> 00:52:41,798

show more often in the off season.

00:52:42,638 --> 00:52:47,168

We're not sure on the cadence yet,

but we're gonna try to up, keep you

00:52:47,168 --> 00:52:51,188

updated on recruit, like the portal

and stuff once it becomes official.

00:52:51,908 --> 00:52:53,318

Um, maybe try to do some

more, which is what,

00:52:53,318 --> 00:52:54,938

Aaron: January 2nd?

00:52:55,958 --> 00:52:58,148

Mike: It's very, very soon.

00:52:59,228 --> 00:52:59,438

Aaron: Yeah.

00:52:59,498 --> 00:52:59,888

Mike: Um.

00:53:01,258 --> 00:53:05,243

And, and I do wanna go back to that,

that question you had about Ricky

00:53:05,243 --> 00:53:07,343

and building the culture every year.

00:53:08,213 --> 00:53:09,413

It's understandable, right?

00:53:09,413 --> 00:53:14,093

Because if you look at the last

three years, regardless of how,

00:53:14,273 --> 00:53:20,753

who's retained, we're still seeing

a, uh, 50 new guys in each year.

00:53:21,563 --> 00:53:21,773

Aaron: Mm-hmm.

00:53:23,513 --> 00:53:25,343

Mike: That's 50 new guys

they need to buy in.

00:53:26,843 --> 00:53:27,533

That's a lot.

00:53:28,553 --> 00:53:32,333

And we've, we've seen in the past, it

doesn't take many to kind of derail that

00:53:32,333 --> 00:53:38,813

buy-in, but this year we saw complete

buy-in from these guys and we saw the

00:53:38,813 --> 00:53:41,483

end result of that is a 10 win season.

00:53:43,403 --> 00:53:46,043

Maybe it's easier to

sell the new guys on it.

00:53:46,703 --> 00:53:49,433

The culture coming off a year like this,

00:53:52,043 --> 00:53:57,293

Aaron: you have to have the right guys

because when things don't go right.

00:53:58,628 --> 00:54:01,268

There's almost always gonna

be a time where that happens.

00:54:02,318 --> 00:54:08,708

For example, this year was the second

half of JMU and Marshall almost kind of

00:54:08,708 --> 00:54:10,718

smack dab in the middle of our season.

00:54:11,678 --> 00:54:18,038

That was the, you know, if you had a

seesaw, that that is the part, the point

00:54:18,038 --> 00:54:19,988

in the season where you can go either way.

00:54:21,338 --> 00:54:27,848

And we asked those questions at that time

and the guys said that they were, you

00:54:27,848 --> 00:54:31,658

know, they were committed to the one and

oh mentality and that the locker room

00:54:31,658 --> 00:54:33,608

was tighter than it's ever been before.

00:54:34,178 --> 00:54:39,638

And they showed that was the

case and finished the season

00:54:39,728 --> 00:54:42,158

just ridiculously strong.

00:54:43,088 --> 00:54:46,418

Justice: And I think that, so, you know,

and another point, like to emphasize

00:54:46,418 --> 00:54:48,548

what you were just saying, Mike, that

doesn't get brought up enough, is

00:54:48,548 --> 00:54:50,198

the character of the players, right?

00:54:50,198 --> 00:54:53,978

Like and the job this

staff does, making sure.

00:54:54,623 --> 00:54:58,523

They're bringing in not only talented

players but players of you know,

00:54:58,523 --> 00:55:02,213

of, of you know, high character to

kind of help that, uh, that locker

00:55:02,213 --> 00:55:06,533

room and, and, you know, portray ODU

football as they want 'em portrayed.

00:55:07,883 --> 00:55:10,433

Mike: I mean, Aaron, um,

you went to bootcamp.

00:55:11,693 --> 00:55:14,513

Um, the drill instructors do a big part.

00:55:15,083 --> 00:55:19,703

They do a big part of, you know, getting

them to learn the culture, but if it isn't

00:55:19,703 --> 00:55:26,093

for the guys leading in that, that group

of candidates or recruits, what happens?

00:55:27,923 --> 00:55:28,733

Aaron: It's so true.

00:55:28,823 --> 00:55:29,993

It is so true, man.

00:55:30,353 --> 00:55:36,773

Um, I like to make that,

that, uh, I don't think it's a

00:55:36,773 --> 00:55:39,653

metaphor, but it's very similar.

00:55:40,058 --> 00:55:44,468

And, you know, I don't think on

the, the football team that the

00:55:44,468 --> 00:55:48,398

coach coaching staff are, they're

not breaking down the team.

00:55:48,398 --> 00:55:52,448

Like a drill instructor would

break down, uh, the class.

00:55:52,868 --> 00:55:58,328

But there is probably some component

to that of whether you're rallying

00:55:58,328 --> 00:56:02,108

because you, you love that leader,

or you rally together as a team

00:56:02,108 --> 00:56:07,928

because you detest that leader and

you're going to win in spite of it.

00:56:08,318 --> 00:56:12,638

But you've gotta forge that,

that locker room or that, that.

00:56:13,463 --> 00:56:17,183

Bootcamp class or the officer

candidate school cohort.

00:56:17,693 --> 00:56:20,453

And within it, you're always

gonna have some leaders.

00:56:20,483 --> 00:56:25,403

So for example, in my, in my class, in

my officer candidate school class, we

00:56:25,403 --> 00:56:31,913

had, you know, three or four guys, uh,

that were prior enlisted guys and they

00:56:31,913 --> 00:56:33,863

understood the culture of the military.

00:56:33,863 --> 00:56:37,973

They understood how to make

rack properly, they understood

00:56:37,973 --> 00:56:39,623

how to shine shoes or brass.

00:56:39,623 --> 00:56:43,403

So they got a lot of the core

kind of things and how to,

00:56:43,578 --> 00:56:46,673

to, to march as as a cohort.

00:56:47,213 --> 00:56:52,703

And we looked up to those guys and we

learned from them and we respected them

00:56:53,033 --> 00:56:59,123

and it helped kind of forge everything

and much more quickly if we had a, a

00:56:59,123 --> 00:57:01,463

class that had no leadership at all.

00:57:02,333 --> 00:57:06,443

We probably would not have developed as

quickly as we did or maybe ever at all.

00:57:06,533 --> 00:57:12,053

So I think it's a good comparison that if

you turned over an entire team, a hundred

00:57:12,053 --> 00:57:13,613

people, it's gonna be very difficult.

00:57:13,613 --> 00:57:18,413

But if you have guys, if you have

the right guys that are there

00:57:18,413 --> 00:57:25,163

from year to year, you can help

expedite that, um, that process.

00:57:25,583 --> 00:57:29,663

So you're hopefully doing it before

you hit the first game, or as you

00:57:29,663 --> 00:57:33,473

hit the first game rather than, you

know, the seventh game of the season.

00:57:34,493 --> 00:57:39,233

Mike: And I, I think it goes back to

what we saw, what late last season

00:57:39,563 --> 00:57:41,723

and early this season at Media Days.

00:57:42,593 --> 00:57:47,093

Zach Barlow called out guys

that quit last year, right?

00:57:47,843 --> 00:57:48,058

This year.

00:57:48,078 --> 00:57:49,178

Wasn't afraid to say it.

00:57:50,753 --> 00:57:51,303

He wasn't afraid to say it.

00:57:51,503 --> 00:57:55,223

This year, he's one of our team

leaders, and he was disgusted by that.

00:57:57,203 --> 00:57:59,963

I imagine other guys

like Steph and Ricardo.

00:58:00,563 --> 00:58:04,253

Were disgusted by that and they

didn't let it happen and they

00:58:04,253 --> 00:58:05,543

didn't let it happen this year.

00:58:06,413 --> 00:58:10,523

So it's crucial to have those important

key leaders on your team each year.

00:58:11,483 --> 00:58:15,503

And um, it's gonna be interesting

to see who those guys are in 26.

00:58:16,703 --> 00:58:18,113

'cause someone's gonna have to do it.

00:58:18,803 --> 00:58:21,233

Aaron: Yeah, because Ricky talked

about he's not in the locker room

00:58:21,233 --> 00:58:23,093

all the time, most of the time.

00:58:23,963 --> 00:58:29,783

Those guys, uh, who was, was it,

was it Blake Seiler that made the

00:58:29,783 --> 00:58:32,513

comment that it was a player led team?

00:58:32,603 --> 00:58:34,463

I'm trying to remember who had that quote.

00:58:35,123 --> 00:58:35,573

Yeah, it was Blake.

00:58:36,263 --> 00:58:36,503

What?

00:58:36,563 --> 00:58:41,093

That he's not saying that the coaching

staff isn't building this thing and

00:58:41,093 --> 00:58:45,623

leading this thing, but what he's saying

is there are guys in the locker room,

00:58:45,623 --> 00:58:51,383

there are student athletes that are

leaders on this team that are making.

00:58:52,688 --> 00:58:55,598

Those things that the coaches

are talking about and they're

00:58:55,598 --> 00:58:57,158

emphasizing making it happen.

00:58:57,518 --> 00:59:00,128

Because if you don't have buy-in

from the student athletes, it doesn't

00:59:00,128 --> 00:59:04,058

matter what the coaches are talking

about, they're not going to do it.

00:59:04,328 --> 00:59:06,968

If they don't believe in it,

they're gonna go their own way.

00:59:07,898 --> 00:59:11,228

And that was the difference this year.

00:59:11,228 --> 00:59:15,518

We all saw it, we saw it on the

field on Wednesday from the very

00:59:15,518 --> 00:59:19,268

beginning of how into it these guys

were and what it meant to them.

00:59:21,008 --> 00:59:21,338

Mike: Yep.

00:59:21,398 --> 00:59:25,418

So I think that's a good way for us

to close the show by thanking this

00:59:25,418 --> 00:59:31,028

senior group, uh, for being the leaders

that they were and having the impact

00:59:31,028 --> 00:59:32,438

they had on the field this year.

00:59:32,918 --> 00:59:37,418

'cause without that senior leadership,

who knows where we're at right now.

00:59:37,958 --> 00:59:39,278

So thank you guys.

00:59:39,938 --> 00:59:41,468

You did the, you did the thing.

00:59:42,398 --> 00:59:43,478

You should be proud.

00:59:45,908 --> 00:59:48,818

Uh, thank you for what you did

for Dominion Football this year.

00:59:49,598 --> 00:59:50,108

Absolutely.

00:59:52,088 --> 00:59:54,548

All right, well that's it for me.

00:59:54,548 --> 00:59:55,178

I guess.

00:59:56,048 --> 00:59:57,998

You got anything else you wanna unload?

00:59:59,018 --> 00:59:59,618

Aaron: Say thanks.

00:59:59,708 --> 00:59:59,888

Say

00:59:59,888 --> 01:00:00,758

Justice: go Monarchs.

01:00:01,718 --> 01:00:06,008

Aaron: I, before I say those

two words or three words.

01:00:06,548 --> 01:00:10,808

If you're not a member of the pride

of ODU, go to the pride of ODU.

01:00:11,168 --> 01:00:17,798

Join at any level, go check out

the back issues or old articles of

01:00:17,918 --> 01:00:20,468

BTS because they're more coming.

01:00:21,158 --> 01:00:21,458

It's.

01:00:23,408 --> 01:00:25,748

Mike puts almost all of it together.

01:00:25,838 --> 01:00:28,898

I have the privilege of being able

to read it and take a quick review.

01:00:29,408 --> 01:00:34,328

Um, and I enjoy reading every single

article and I usually know what's coming

01:00:34,328 --> 01:00:35,978

out of them before because we talked.

01:00:36,368 --> 01:00:41,528

But if you want to be, uh, I think

I, I don't know if I heard Mike

01:00:41,528 --> 01:00:43,058

say this or if I saw it in a tweet.

01:00:43,058 --> 01:00:46,718

If you want to be like the smartest guy

in the room about Old Dominion Sports,

01:00:47,018 --> 01:00:48,488

you gotta be reading those articles.

01:00:48,518 --> 01:00:51,818

'cause you're gonna know what's

going on before most everyone.

01:00:52,028 --> 01:00:55,028

And when you see things that happen

on the field or on the court,

01:00:55,538 --> 01:00:57,428

it'll make a little bit more sense.

01:00:57,668 --> 01:01:01,478

And, uh, I think it'll just

give you much more context to,

01:01:01,538 --> 01:01:03,728

to what's going on, uh, around.

01:01:03,728 --> 01:01:07,418

So if you are a member,

thank you very much.

01:01:07,658 --> 01:01:08,618

We appreciate it.

01:01:09,278 --> 01:01:12,518

And then now I'll go to my Thank you.

01:01:13,568 --> 01:01:14,408

Go Monarchs.

01:01:16,178 --> 01:01:17,018

Go Monarchs.