Season 2, Episode 1 feat. Austin Lewis, Jenna Orner, and Aston Rhoden

[00:00:08] [SPEAKER_04]: Thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Blue Raider Podcast hosted by Jake Bolden.

[00:00:14] [SPEAKER_04]: Don't miss another Tuesday episode by subscribing to the podcast on all streaming platforms

[00:00:18] [SPEAKER_04]: or catch our visual presentation uploaded every week on YouTube.

[00:00:23] [SPEAKER_04]: Don't miss our upcoming ticket giveaways by subscribing and following on all Blue Raider

[00:00:27] [SPEAKER_04]: social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok at Blue Raider Pod.

[00:00:37] [SPEAKER_04]: Welcome back to the Blue Raider Podcast and a happy Season 2 of the BRP.

[00:00:42] [SPEAKER_04]: I want to thank all the listeners that have stuck around since last December and

[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_04]: I wanted to welcome all the new listeners that might have joined over the summer

[00:00:48] [SPEAKER_04]: series where we interviewed some of your favorite Blue Raider athletes and players.

[00:00:52] [SPEAKER_04]: I have so much planned for this upcoming athletic season.

[00:00:57] [SPEAKER_04]: Production upgrades, a brand new intro that most of you just heard there at the beginning.

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_04]: Working on doing some sponsorship deals, quarterly giveaways and all that kind of good stuff.

[00:01:06] [SPEAKER_04]: Piggyback off the idea of doing giveaways.

[00:01:08] [SPEAKER_04]: We're actually doing our first giveaway here at the BRP.

[00:01:11] [SPEAKER_04]: If you haven't seen already on all of our social media, there's going to be a post out

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_04]: and I'm going to present it right here onto my screen.

[00:01:17] [SPEAKER_04]: So if you're listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts,

[00:01:21] [SPEAKER_04]: you'll have to check out our social media pages at Blue Raider Pod to find this post

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_04]: that I'm talking about.

[00:01:26] [SPEAKER_04]: But it's in plain language as ticket giveaway.

[00:01:29] [SPEAKER_04]: If you want to be a part of that ticket giveaway, all you have to do is find that

[00:01:32] [SPEAKER_04]: post on social media, like it, follow, subscribe to our page and then share it.

[00:01:37] [SPEAKER_04]: So with Twitter, you just retweet it with Instagram.

[00:01:39] [SPEAKER_04]: You put it onto your story, you tag your friends, anything like that will put you

[00:01:43] [SPEAKER_04]: into the entrance for the giveaway.

[00:01:46] [SPEAKER_04]: Big thing to note with the giveaway, you can enter up to five times with all

[00:01:51] [SPEAKER_04]: of our social media. We have Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook.

[00:01:55] [SPEAKER_04]: Find our page like the post, follow those accounts and share.

[00:01:59] [SPEAKER_04]: And again, that gets you five entries.

[00:02:01] [SPEAKER_04]: And that's not just any two tickets, that's two tickets to the upcoming football

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_04]: game against Tennessee Tech that sidelines chairback seats for that upcoming

[00:02:09] [SPEAKER_04]: game against the Golden Eagles on the 31st.

[00:02:11] [SPEAKER_04]: So I'm excited about that giveaway and so much more.

[00:02:15] [SPEAKER_04]: And without further ado, we're actually going to roll into our first interview

[00:02:19] [SPEAKER_04]: today, someone who is a familiar face to the podcast.

[00:02:22] [SPEAKER_04]: He is a cohort of mine over at Go Middle.

[00:02:25] [SPEAKER_04]: He's a we call him the football analyst.

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_04]: He's the guru in my mind.

[00:02:29] [SPEAKER_04]: He knows everything there is to know about football, but he has a lot of

[00:02:31] [SPEAKER_04]: excitement about this upcoming season.

[00:02:33] [SPEAKER_04]: Without further ado, I introduce Austin Lewis.

[00:02:35] [SPEAKER_04]: Austin, how's it going, man?

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_04]: It's going well, man.

[00:02:37] [SPEAKER_04]: How's it going with you?

[00:02:39] [SPEAKER_04]: Excellent.

[00:02:40] [SPEAKER_04]: For those that don't know Austin's life, he's moved on to the West Coast.

[00:02:43] [SPEAKER_04]: He's a little out of pocket in regards to Murfreesboro, but he's definitely

[00:02:47] [SPEAKER_04]: in tune with what's going on here at in Murfreesboro.

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_04]: And there's, there's so much to talk about.

[00:02:51] [SPEAKER_04]: And I know you, you're excited because there's, there's just a different energy

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_04]: about, uh, Murfreesboro this time of year.

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah.

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_05]: You know, anytime you're in a college town and it rolls around to football

[00:03:03] [SPEAKER_05]: season and there's an excitement level that comes up with it.

[00:03:06] [SPEAKER_05]: It's, it's like small town Texas high school football where, uh, everybody's

[00:03:12] [SPEAKER_05]: kind of looking has one eye on the football team that year.

[00:03:16] [SPEAKER_05]: With Murfreesboro, um, with the new head coach there in Murfreesboro, there's

[00:03:19] [SPEAKER_05]: going to be a lot of excitement, a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm

[00:03:23] [SPEAKER_05]: surrounding the program with the.

[00:03:26] [SPEAKER_05]: The addition or, uh, change whatever word you want to use there,

[00:03:30] [SPEAKER_05]: um, with coach D Mason, uh, at the helm.

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_04]: I know you have some input as a guy that's been on the inside

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_04]: there before with the program.

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_04]: Like when we talk about staff, who Mason has a staff and, and we've

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_04]: talked, you know, off air about the chief of staff.

[00:03:45] [SPEAKER_04]: We have Caitlin Manning now who just seems to be able to do all the

[00:03:49] [SPEAKER_04]: stuff, to take some of that, that, that off field stuff from Mason's plate

[00:03:53] [SPEAKER_04]: makes life a lot easier for him as a football coach.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, that dynamic seems to be working terrific and it's again,

[00:03:58] [SPEAKER_04]: it's only a short tenure he's even been here.

[00:04:02] Yeah.

[00:04:02] [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah.

[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_05]: You, the, the mechanism, the operation of a football team is, is huge.

[00:04:08] [SPEAKER_05]: Um, just, just for scope, I was talking, I think with my wife about

[00:04:11] [SPEAKER_05]: this a couple of weeks ago, you know, anytime the blue Raiders go on the road,

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_05]: you're looking at a travel party of 120, 130, maybe even 150, depending

[00:04:22] [SPEAKER_05]: on how many people join that trip.

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_05]: And so you're looking at as many as five or six buses, uh, those big

[00:04:28] [SPEAKER_05]: touring buses you see going down the interstate, you're looking at five

[00:04:32] [SPEAKER_05]: or six of those, uh, if they're flying, uh, you're looking at,

[00:04:36] [SPEAKER_05]: you know, a Boeing 737, uh, they're going to go have to take buses down

[00:04:41] [SPEAKER_05]: to Smyrna, fly out of Smyrna.

[00:04:43] [SPEAKER_05]: All of that takes time.

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_05]: All of that takes energy.

[00:04:46] [SPEAKER_05]: All of that takes planning to, to move 150 people fast, efficiently

[00:04:52] [SPEAKER_05]: and securely right now in our day and age.

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_05]: Uh, and that takes a lot of planning, um, months in advance.

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_05]: My guess is the operations team for middle Tennessee started

[00:05:03] [SPEAKER_05]: planning for this season.

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_05]: Basically the moment they walked in the office, uh, they were sending

[00:05:09] [SPEAKER_05]: out RFPs for hotels, for flights for this upcoming season, the moment

[00:05:15] [SPEAKER_05]: they walked in, it takes that much time and that much energy and focus

[00:05:20] [SPEAKER_05]: to make sure you find the right hotel and the right flight, um,

[00:05:26] [SPEAKER_05]: for that specific away game.

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_05]: Now with some of the travel games this year, middle Tennessee has gone.

[00:05:31] [SPEAKER_05]: They know this specific hotel is going to work.

[00:05:34] [SPEAKER_05]: They know the specific airliner works well at a Smyrna and

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_05]: they have some experience, but certainly, uh, Derek Mason's staff,

[00:05:42] [SPEAKER_05]: the operations staff may have some people they've worked with in other

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_05]: stops that they want to try, uh, during their time here at middle Tennessee.

[00:05:49] [SPEAKER_05]: So I'm excited to see how things evolve, uh, on the operations side,

[00:05:55] [SPEAKER_05]: the recruiting side, uh, for Derek Mason and his staff going into year

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_05]: one and how things may be changed just a little bit, uh, from

[00:06:05] [SPEAKER_05]: stocks still, uh, for the last 15 years.

[00:06:08] [SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely.

[00:06:09] [SPEAKER_04]: And we'll, and we'll have the opportunity to kind of dive into that here in just

[00:06:11] [SPEAKER_04]: a second, but to continue with the off field stuff, that's really impressed me.

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_04]: I had the pleasure of sitting in on the fan experience committee last week

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_04]: with Chelsea Floyd, AD of marketing, as well as Lee de Leon, who is a fan

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_04]: favorite amongst many that we were able to kind of game plan and talk about

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_04]: what's to come this upcoming year, um, in preparation.

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_04]: And I don't want to break any news cause I haven't seen anything

[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_04]: on social media.

[00:06:31] [SPEAKER_04]: It's all out the MTSU communications department to do all that

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_04]: spiel and stuff.

[00:06:36] [SPEAKER_04]: But I will say that the excitement about what they're doing on campus,

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_04]: then only get fans there to get students there.

[00:06:43] [SPEAKER_04]: And I think one thing that they're really doing and they're putting money

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_04]: and they're putting dollars in the right place is that if you were within

[00:06:49] [SPEAKER_04]: a 10 mile radius of campus, there's not a mystery if there's a game

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_04]: on Saturday, if you drive within the vicinity of Murfreesboro,

[00:06:57] [SPEAKER_04]: within the campus MTSU, you know, there's going to be a football

[00:06:59] [SPEAKER_04]: game against Tennessee tech on August 31st.

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_04]: And hopefully all the ensuing or all the, all the home games to follow,

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_04]: like the Western and Duke game.

[00:07:06] [SPEAKER_04]: So I'm excited to see that finally those dollars are going to an area

[00:07:10] [SPEAKER_04]: where they need to be because it's always, it's always been a question

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_04]: of is MTSU even play this week?

[00:07:15] [SPEAKER_04]: So that's exciting.

[00:07:16] [SPEAKER_04]: I know that stuff that you'll see on social media as well, that

[00:07:20] [SPEAKER_04]: Mason's plastered everywhere and that's, and it's so good.

[00:07:24] [SPEAKER_04]: It's a, it's a breath of fresh air really, cause it's really

[00:07:27] [SPEAKER_04]: how, how it should be run.

[00:07:28] [SPEAKER_04]: That's how the program should look.

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_05]: Well, and you and I kind of saw the energy that Derek Mason brought to

[00:07:35] [SPEAKER_05]: the table when we interviewed him back in, was it March or April?

[00:07:39] [SPEAKER_05]: I mean, Derek Mason is a guy who wants to be out.

[00:07:41] [SPEAKER_05]: He wants to be in front of people.

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_05]: He wants to be shaking hands.

[00:07:44] [SPEAKER_05]: He wants to be kissing babies.

[00:07:45] [SPEAKER_05]: He wants to be meeting people.

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_05]: He was at the Easter parade.

[00:07:48] [SPEAKER_05]: I think it was he's out in the community going to basically every

[00:07:53] [SPEAKER_05]: country club, every civic organization he's gone to chamber of commerce

[00:07:57] [SPEAKER_05]: things, anywhere he can go to meet people, to encourage them to come

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_05]: to the game this fall, he's done his part to build relationships with the

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_05]: community.

[00:08:09] [SPEAKER_05]: Now it's Middleton, or Murfreesboro citizens turns it's the Blue

[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_05]: Raider community turn to return the favor.

[00:08:16] [SPEAKER_05]: And with those signs, like you said, there's going to be no doubt

[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_05]: his face is on, it seems like every sign I've seen plastered on

[00:08:22] [SPEAKER_05]: social media, you know, about the games, about the football season coming up.

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_05]: Uh, you can't go to the website, go blue Raiders.com without seeing Derek

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_05]: Mason right there, right front and center, reminding you that Tennessee

[00:08:35] [SPEAKER_05]: tech is coming to town.

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_05]: The football season is about to kick off and you need to buy your season

[00:08:39] [SPEAKER_05]: tickets and it's paying off.

[00:08:41] [SPEAKER_05]: I think it was reported a week or two ago, uh, that they have something

[00:08:46] [SPEAKER_05]: like 300 new BRAA members this year.

[00:08:49] [SPEAKER_05]: Um, I don't want to put the cart before the horse, but it seems to me

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_05]: that maybe just maybe, uh, the change at top of the football program and

[00:09:00] [SPEAKER_05]: the inclusion of Derek Mason as the leader may be playing a role in the

[00:09:08] [SPEAKER_05]: energy that surrounds the program.

[00:09:10] [SPEAKER_05]: And I know I've said that four or five times, but I see it.

[00:09:13] [SPEAKER_05]: You see it on social media.

[00:09:15] [SPEAKER_05]: You see it in the practice.

[00:09:16] [SPEAKER_05]: You see it in how he's engaged the community.

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_05]: There is an energy.

[00:09:20] [SPEAKER_05]: There is an excitement that surrounds the program right now that, that

[00:09:24] [SPEAKER_05]: wasn't there a year ago.

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_05]: Um, and I'm excited to see how it plays out this season.

[00:09:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah, absolutely.

[00:09:31] [SPEAKER_04]: He's he's the center of all that energy.

[00:09:33] [SPEAKER_04]: He's the source of it all.

[00:09:34] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, and we'll just go right into it.

[00:09:37] [SPEAKER_04]: Now we're talking about the football team.

[00:09:38] [SPEAKER_04]: I know you've been able to kind of keep a close eye on where he is in

[00:09:41] [SPEAKER_04]: regards to recruiting as far as personnel additions, we were able to,

[00:09:45] [SPEAKER_04]: uh, or I was able to sit out at fall camp last week and see some of these

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_04]: bodies. I think a lot of things stand out to us.

[00:09:52] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, Nick is as good as advertised.

[00:09:53] [SPEAKER_04]: We always anticipated that.

[00:09:54] [SPEAKER_04]: I think the, uh, the skill position groups continue to get better.

[00:09:58] [SPEAKER_04]: I think one thing that may stand out to us when we go to August 31st is

[00:10:02] [SPEAKER_04]: we're going to see a slew of running backs.

[00:10:03] [SPEAKER_04]: And I don't think that has anything to do with the opponent.

[00:10:05] [SPEAKER_04]: Uh, would you kill metal?

[00:10:06] [SPEAKER_04]: Brooks had a great scrimmage this last weekend.

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_04]: We already know Frank P's flip cradle, but then to go on the wide

[00:10:12] [SPEAKER_04]: receiver talk, cause I'm really trying to lead us onto is like

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_04]: Omari Kelly, Camarion Carter.

[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_04]: These are names that have stood out to us.

[00:10:18] [SPEAKER_04]: And I think the offense is going to be a lot better than we were

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_04]: giving them credit for say back in January or February.

[00:10:24] [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, for me, the key to the offense is not the skill position players.

[00:10:28] [SPEAKER_05]: Uh, during Rick Stockstall's 15, 16, 17 years and at the top of the

[00:10:33] [SPEAKER_05]: program, they had good skill position players and that hasn't changed this

[00:10:38] [SPEAKER_05]: year. You mentioned Omari Kelly.

[00:10:40] [SPEAKER_05]: You mentioned Camarion Carter.

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_05]: You mentioned all the running backs though.

[00:10:45] [SPEAKER_05]: There's a lot of skill position talent.

[00:10:48] [SPEAKER_05]: In the blue Raider offense, uh, even at tight end, you know, when I look

[00:10:53] [SPEAKER_05]: at holding Willis at tight end, I see some things in him as a kind of

[00:10:58] [SPEAKER_05]: that split out why that older people may remember Shannon Sharp 20, 30

[00:11:03] [SPEAKER_05]: years ago, the younger generation may remember somebody like a Tony

[00:11:07] [SPEAKER_05]: Gonzalez and maybe even somebody a little younger may remember the

[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_05]: old Titans tight end, uh, Jared Cook, who played a couple of years

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_05]: for the Titans before going on, hopping around several teams, a little

[00:11:19] [SPEAKER_05]: undersized tight end who can move around and maybe split out more

[00:11:24] [SPEAKER_05]: than a normal inline, uh, tight end.

[00:11:28] [SPEAKER_05]: And so I'm excited to see maybe how he's utilized in 11 and 12

[00:11:33] [SPEAKER_05]: personnel groupings.

[00:11:35] [SPEAKER_05]: That's one tight end, one running back groupings or one tight, one

[00:11:38] [SPEAKER_05]: running back and two tight end personnel groupings.

[00:11:40] [SPEAKER_05]: I'm excited to see how he's utilized in the offense.

[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_05]: So there's a lot of talent on the offensive side of the ball.

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_05]: My one question mark is the offensive line and it's not a knock on the

[00:11:54] [SPEAKER_05]: coaching staff, it's just a matter of you don't know what you have until

[00:11:59] [SPEAKER_05]: you see him take the field on August 31st against Tennessee tech.

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_05]: That's been a thorn in the side of the blue Raider football

[00:12:06] [SPEAKER_05]: team for five, 10 years.

[00:12:09] [SPEAKER_05]: And I want to see what they look like against Tennessee tech.

[00:12:12] [SPEAKER_05]: I want to see what they look like against Ole Miss and Duke and Western

[00:12:16] [SPEAKER_05]: Kentucky.

[00:12:17] [SPEAKER_05]: I want to see how they, uh, how they compete and are they able to move the

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_05]: pile?

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_05]: Are they able to create holes so Middlebrooks and Pisa and

[00:12:27] [SPEAKER_05]: Credle can hit the hole and they have a hole to hit and run through.

[00:12:32] [SPEAKER_05]: Uh, that hasn't really been, um, available for them in the last couple

[00:12:37] [SPEAKER_05]: of years, I want to see, can't can they do that this year?

[00:12:41] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:12:42] [SPEAKER_04]: And it's been the question all along is how good is this offensive line going

[00:12:45] [SPEAKER_04]: to be?

[00:12:46] [SPEAKER_04]: They lack experience, but I give my side of it, at least my case for, I

[00:12:51] [SPEAKER_04]: think that I think we're in good hands, but when we're talking about

[00:12:54] [SPEAKER_04]: the experience of these guys and who they're replacing Mateo Gavera, who

[00:12:57] [SPEAKER_04]: was an all CUSA freshmen last year, when the original first depth chart

[00:13:02] [SPEAKER_04]: came out, he was never even on the list.

[00:13:04] [SPEAKER_04]: And so the reason I say that I think that that's a good sign for where

[00:13:08] [SPEAKER_04]: the experience level is, is that if a guy that was all CUSA freshmen is

[00:13:12] [SPEAKER_04]: no longer on the starting lineup by transitive property, as I would say,

[00:13:15] [SPEAKER_04]: that means you got better.

[00:13:17] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, but as I've seen through fall camp this far, the depth chart

[00:13:21] [SPEAKER_04]: is so tentative, like it changes on a practice to practice basis,

[00:13:25] [SPEAKER_04]: which again, as we've heard guys say there after practice, that

[00:13:30] [SPEAKER_04]: that sort of, um, that sort of competition breeds excellence within

[00:13:34] [SPEAKER_04]: that group.

[00:13:35] [SPEAKER_04]: I feel like they're in good hands and I'll say this, and I agree with you.

[00:13:38] [SPEAKER_04]: We're going to see a lot in those first three weeks because they're going

[00:13:41] [SPEAKER_04]: to get, they're going to get the whole gambit.

[00:13:42] [SPEAKER_04]: They're going to face a Tennessee tech team has a good interior lineman,

[00:13:46] [SPEAKER_04]: but they're going to be undersized when it comes to division one talent.

[00:13:48] [SPEAKER_04]: You're going to play old miss who is arguably top 10 type talent.

[00:13:52] [SPEAKER_04]: They're going to be a college football playoff contender when the

[00:13:54] [SPEAKER_04]: year's over, you'd like to think.

[00:13:56] [SPEAKER_04]: And then you got Western who's going to be the cream of the crop

[00:13:59] [SPEAKER_04]: when it comes to conference USA.

[00:14:00] [SPEAKER_04]: So you're going to see where this team stacks up early on in the year.

[00:14:04] [SPEAKER_04]: But my, my point is, is I have my concern with the offensive line.

[00:14:08] [SPEAKER_04]: I think can lay at rest of the fact that one they're physically better to,

[00:14:13] [SPEAKER_04]: I think they've improved the coaching staff there and three, this is a

[00:14:17] [SPEAKER_04]: ground and pound offense that, that Derek Mason loves to run.

[00:14:20] [SPEAKER_04]: So I think when he, when we're talking about personnel, he knows

[00:14:23] [SPEAKER_04]: the guys that he needs the offensive line.

[00:14:25] [SPEAKER_04]: And I, and I truly think that they're going to be all right.

[00:14:27] [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah.

[00:14:28] [SPEAKER_05]: And with Simmons at all offensive line, a guy who has four years as

[00:14:32] [SPEAKER_05]: analyst at Auburn and eight years coaching in, or at playing in the NFL.

[00:14:38] [SPEAKER_05]: He has that experience, that wisdom from playing in Pittsburgh

[00:14:42] [SPEAKER_05]: and, and coaching at Auburn.

[00:14:44] [SPEAKER_05]: I think he's a guy that I think can do some things with that

[00:14:48] [SPEAKER_05]: offensive line will just have to wait and see I'm a, I'm a.

[00:14:53] [SPEAKER_05]: Prove it to me type of guy, I guess.

[00:14:55] [SPEAKER_05]: And I want to see them go out there and I want to see a middle

[00:14:59] [SPEAKER_05]: bust off a couple of long runs against Tennessee tech.

[00:15:02] [SPEAKER_05]: I want to see those holes big enough that they can run inside

[00:15:08] [SPEAKER_05]: runs, um, against Tennessee tech.

[00:15:10] [SPEAKER_05]: I know those are going to be a little harder against Ole Miss because

[00:15:13] [SPEAKER_05]: like you said, they're top 10 team.

[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_05]: But you would expect those holes should be there against Tennessee tech.

[00:15:20] [SPEAKER_05]: And I want to see that and I want to see those holes, um,

[00:15:23] [SPEAKER_05]: against Western Kentucky, because if they're going to be a balanced

[00:15:27] [SPEAKER_05]: offensive, um, team, uh, if they're going to be physical, tough, uh,

[00:15:32] [SPEAKER_05]: and intelligent, they've got to run the ball and run the ball

[00:15:36] [SPEAKER_05]: successfully and consistently every game.

[00:15:41] [SPEAKER_05]: And we haven't seen that for middle Tennessee football in five years.

[00:15:45] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:15:45] [SPEAKER_04]: Oh, absolutely.

[00:15:46] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:15:46] [SPEAKER_04]: The run game has just been non-existent and it, it definitely

[00:15:50] [SPEAKER_04]: is, is what is, it allows you to control the game.

[00:15:52] [SPEAKER_04]: We're not, not only the clock, but also the pace of the game.

[00:15:54] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, but I think for once, I think I feel comfortable that at least this team

[00:15:58] [SPEAKER_04]: will have a better opportunity to do so.

[00:16:01] [SPEAKER_04]: Tennessee tech again is no slouch when it comes to defense.

[00:16:04] [SPEAKER_04]: It'd be a top 25 FCS defense.

[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_04]: They're returning a lot of guys from that all OVC slash big south

[00:16:10] [SPEAKER_04]: conference, whatever you want to call it nowadays, but, um, exciting

[00:16:13] [SPEAKER_04]: to see what they're able to do with the golden Eagles, but we'll switch

[00:16:15] [SPEAKER_04]: our attention now over to the defense, um, a lot of new faces over

[00:16:19] [SPEAKER_04]: there, but one thing you kind of feel confident in is that line

[00:16:21] [SPEAKER_04]: in the front seven, um, you're replacing some talent at the line, but that's

[00:16:26] [SPEAKER_04]: been the area that seems to be getting a lot of attention from the CUSA

[00:16:29] [SPEAKER_04]: media poll you've got like any Nwoko, um, from Stony Brook who somehow

[00:16:33] [SPEAKER_04]: made his way onto the preseason, um, first team, which is a pleasant

[00:16:37] [SPEAKER_04]: surprise because you didn't know what you had at edge outside of James

[00:16:40] [SPEAKER_04]: Stewart, who had three sacks in the spring game.

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, but we'll start with the conversation there at that front seven.

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, given where things are after fall camp, I think the front

[00:16:49] [SPEAKER_04]: seven also looks pretty solid too.

[00:16:52] [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah.

[00:16:53] [SPEAKER_05]: With Derek Mason, um, Vernon Hargraves at defensive line, Derek

[00:16:57] [SPEAKER_05]: Mason and his experience on the defensive side of the ball.

[00:17:00] [SPEAKER_05]: And just all the people on that who are coaching on that side.

[00:17:05] [SPEAKER_05]: I'm not worried about the defense nearly as much as I am concerned

[00:17:08] [SPEAKER_05]: and have questions about the offense.

[00:17:10] [SPEAKER_05]: I mean, you have guys with NFL experience all over this place

[00:17:15] [SPEAKER_05]: on the defensive side of the ball.

[00:17:17] [SPEAKER_05]: And it's hard to ignore that, that experience and their wisdom and

[00:17:24] [SPEAKER_05]: their ability to kind of mold the players and adjust the players

[00:17:28] [SPEAKER_05]: and give them not just run, run at this gap, it's the here's the why.

[00:17:34] [SPEAKER_05]: You need your hands here and you will need to attack the offensive

[00:17:38] [SPEAKER_05]: line with this kind of leverage or with your hands in this specific

[00:17:42] [SPEAKER_05]: location and explain the why.

[00:17:44] [SPEAKER_05]: So the players can be more complete players.

[00:17:47] [SPEAKER_05]: And that's something that the players have alluded to themselves during,

[00:17:51] [SPEAKER_05]: during various media availabilities over the last six to nine months is

[00:17:54] [SPEAKER_05]: how they're, they're beginning to understand the coaching staff.

[00:17:57] [SPEAKER_05]: It's explaining the why and showing them the why.

[00:18:00] [SPEAKER_05]: And that's going to make the entire team a more complete football team.

[00:18:05] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.

[00:18:06] [SPEAKER_04]: And, and to expand on that too, the secondary has kind of been the

[00:18:10] [SPEAKER_04]: same way. They're, they're kind of experimenting with a few guys.

[00:18:12] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, you have like Tyrell Rabie, who's been a standout form in the past.

[00:18:16] [SPEAKER_04]: The Memphis transfer Diari McDonald's another guy who has shifted from that

[00:18:20] [SPEAKER_04]: outside linebacker, Nickelback now he's going to be what seems to be

[00:18:23] [SPEAKER_04]: the CB one for him, a local talent there out of Oakland.

[00:18:27] [SPEAKER_04]: Excited to see what he does, but you look at the secondary, you've got

[00:18:30] [SPEAKER_04]: a deeper secondary Brendan Harris, I think has, has been above expectations

[00:18:35] [SPEAKER_04]: for Derek Mason and the secondary, um, Bryce for, for a secondary coach,

[00:18:41] [SPEAKER_04]: Bryce Lewis.

[00:18:42] [SPEAKER_04]: So, um, the secondary was, has areas of concern, especially in the

[00:18:45] [SPEAKER_04]: conference USA, which is when you talk about the top.

[00:18:48] [SPEAKER_04]: Echelon of the conference, you got quarterbacks like Logan Smothers

[00:18:51] [SPEAKER_04]: at Jacksonville state.

[00:18:52] [SPEAKER_04]: Now you've got TJ Finley at Western.

[00:18:54] [SPEAKER_04]: You got Kate and Salter who's going to be a shoe in for offensive

[00:18:57] [SPEAKER_04]: player of the year amid being healthy.

[00:18:59] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, you gotta have a solid secondary.

[00:19:01] [SPEAKER_04]: And right now I think again, physically they play the part.

[00:19:05] [SPEAKER_04]: I think the confidence level is there.

[00:19:06] [SPEAKER_04]: I think that was an area that for me on the defensive side, I had more

[00:19:09] [SPEAKER_04]: concerned than say the defensive line was because you're having to piece

[00:19:13] [SPEAKER_04]: all these guys together that have never really played together.

[00:19:16] [SPEAKER_04]: And the secret to success when it comes to secondary play is how well

[00:19:19] [SPEAKER_04]: do these guys, how well is their chemistry?

[00:19:22] [SPEAKER_04]: Cause a lot of it has got to be given, give and take with, with

[00:19:25] [SPEAKER_04]: the secondary and this crew seems to be, um, together when it comes

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER_04]: to spring ball and fall ball practice.

[00:19:33] [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah.

[00:19:34] [SPEAKER_05]: And for me, the secondary's at least on paper, at least where we stand

[00:19:39] [SPEAKER_05]: now heading into the season, I think the strength of the roster, you

[00:19:44] [SPEAKER_05]: have two safeties that will likely be the starters at free and strong safety

[00:19:49] [SPEAKER_05]: that know the defense and they play for Mason at Vanderbilt.

[00:19:54] [SPEAKER_05]: And so they know the defense backwards and forwards.

[00:19:57] [SPEAKER_05]: They are the quarterbacks of the secondary.

[00:19:59] [SPEAKER_05]: They can communicate and make the adjustments with their counterparts

[00:20:02] [SPEAKER_05]: at corner in ways that maybe a safety who wasn't as familiar with

[00:20:08] [SPEAKER_05]: Derek Mason's defense would maybe struggle a little bit, but these guys

[00:20:12] [SPEAKER_05]: know it, they played in it.

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_05]: They understand where they need to be and how they need to be there.

[00:20:17] [SPEAKER_05]: They understand the weaknesses.

[00:20:18] [SPEAKER_05]: They understand the calls and the leverage and how to communicate it.

[00:20:22] [SPEAKER_05]: And so for me, the safety spot, at least when guys are healthy, I

[00:20:27] [SPEAKER_05]: think is maybe the strength of the team with at corner.

[00:20:31] [SPEAKER_05]: I think corners, maybe strength of safety is one a corner is one B.

[00:20:38] [SPEAKER_05]: And that's purely because of the talent there, but not just the

[00:20:43] [SPEAKER_05]: talent, but the coaching staff there.

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER_05]: I mean, Derek Mason, his, his background is secondary.

[00:20:48] [SPEAKER_05]: James Stewart has coached secondary.

[00:20:50] [SPEAKER_05]: If I'm not mistaken, you have guys across that back end who

[00:20:56] [SPEAKER_05]: understand that position on a deep level.

[00:21:02] [SPEAKER_05]: They have experienced there, uh, that experience enough that they

[00:21:06] [SPEAKER_05]: could be coaching in my opinion, probably at an sec or another power

[00:21:11] [SPEAKER_05]: five power four conference.

[00:21:13] [SPEAKER_05]: Um, that's how good that secondary coaching can be.

[00:21:17] [SPEAKER_05]: And so it's not the secondary is not, not a concern of mine,

[00:21:21] [SPEAKER_05]: at least right now.

[00:21:22] [SPEAKER_04]: And even to add onto that, the depth there too, there's so

[00:21:25] [SPEAKER_04]: many guys that Mason said is battling for that spot and they, and they all

[00:21:29] [SPEAKER_04]: have experienced at least within the MTSU system itself, like Marvay Myers

[00:21:33] [SPEAKER_04]: is another guy that I didn't mention that that's going to get an opportunity

[00:21:36] [SPEAKER_04]: to play a Ricky Smith.

[00:21:38] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, you've got the kid from Indiana, James Mons, and there's just

[00:21:41] [SPEAKER_04]: so the secondary is so deep.

[00:21:43] [SPEAKER_04]: I do feel, like I said, I felt iffy about them going in, but I

[00:21:47] [SPEAKER_04]: feel they're very confident about them now.

[00:21:50] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, but all that said, go ahead.

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah.

[00:21:52] [SPEAKER_05]: So you look at that secondary, it's possible.

[00:21:55] [SPEAKER_05]: It's possible that all five positions in the secondary, and I'm

[00:21:59] [SPEAKER_05]: including the nickel position.

[00:22:02] [SPEAKER_05]: Um, all five could have somebody with power five power four

[00:22:07] [SPEAKER_05]: conference experience or Memphis in the case of Rabie, uh, guys who

[00:22:12] [SPEAKER_05]: have played at higher level schools.

[00:22:15] [SPEAKER_05]: Who understand have gone against the best of the best of the best in practice.

[00:22:21] [SPEAKER_05]: And now they're at mental Tennessee and they brought their experience

[00:22:25] [SPEAKER_05]: in their talent to Murphreesboro.

[00:22:27] [SPEAKER_05]: And so the potential for that secondary just to be one of the

[00:22:32] [SPEAKER_05]: best secondaries in the conference.

[00:22:35] [SPEAKER_05]: For me, it's super, super intriguing to watch this season.

[00:22:40] [SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely.

[00:22:41] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, awesome.

[00:22:42] [SPEAKER_04]: Let's start breaking down a little bit about that schedule.

[00:22:44] [SPEAKER_04]: I know we, you talked about before we came on thinking about where

[00:22:48] [SPEAKER_04]: that schedule is going to end up.

[00:22:49] [SPEAKER_04]: We know in years past, we're just kind of fingers crossed.

[00:22:51] [SPEAKER_04]: Let's get to six wins and get to a bowl game.

[00:22:53] [SPEAKER_04]: Although this year, you know, six wins kind of feels, um, you feel

[00:22:57] [SPEAKER_04]: really good about six wins in Mason's first year, but I, to be honest,

[00:23:00] [SPEAKER_04]: the more I talk to him and the more I see this team, I feel

[00:23:03] [SPEAKER_04]: even better about six and six.

[00:23:05] [SPEAKER_04]: I'd even say seven, but you got to find a way to kind of flip one

[00:23:08] [SPEAKER_04]: of those middling conference games.

[00:23:10] [SPEAKER_04]: They are, I think Jacksonville state's a game, Western Kentucky is

[00:23:13] [SPEAKER_04]: a game that you obviously could love to flip early on in the year.

[00:23:16] [SPEAKER_04]: And then the Liberty game at home, you have the benefit of, of

[00:23:19] [SPEAKER_04]: two of those three being at home, Jacksonville state being on the road.

[00:23:21] [SPEAKER_04]: But if you're able to flip one of those games, you get to seven wins.

[00:23:24] [SPEAKER_04]: You feel great.

[00:23:26] [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah.

[00:23:26] [SPEAKER_05]: There's a, there's it starts off difficult.

[00:23:29] [SPEAKER_05]: Let's just acknowledge the first four games of the year,

[00:23:32] [SPEAKER_05]: five games of the year, Tennessee tech with their new coach.

[00:23:36] [SPEAKER_05]: They're going to be good, but middle Tennessee should on paper.

[00:23:41] [SPEAKER_05]: Good.

[00:23:42] [SPEAKER_05]: When that game, but then you play top 10 Ole Miss, you play Western

[00:23:48] [SPEAKER_05]: Kentucky, middle Tennessee has not beat Western Kentucky in several years.

[00:23:52] [SPEAKER_05]: How much of that was stock still?

[00:23:54] [SPEAKER_05]: How much of that was Western Kentucky and how much of that

[00:23:57] [SPEAKER_05]: was in the heads of the players.

[00:23:59] [SPEAKER_05]: And then you go from Western Kentucky to Duke with head new head coach

[00:24:03] [SPEAKER_05]: Manny Diaz and then Memphis.

[00:24:07] [SPEAKER_05]: So the first four, the first five games are going to be difficult games.

[00:24:13] [SPEAKER_05]: If you can make it through that stretch, two and three, the odds of going

[00:24:18] [SPEAKER_05]: to seven wins increased dramatically.

[00:24:21] [SPEAKER_05]: But if you're sitting at one in four, going into Louisiana tech in October,

[00:24:27] [SPEAKER_05]: uh, it's going to be rough getting to six wins as possible, but seven wins

[00:24:33] [SPEAKER_05]: becomes extremely difficult once you get to Louisiana tech, um, if you

[00:24:41] [SPEAKER_05]: not go two and three in the first five games.

[00:24:44] [SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely.

[00:24:45] [SPEAKER_04]: I broke that down at nauseam one at fall camp there with Shane

[00:24:48] [SPEAKER_04]: Pickering, uh, two weeks ago to cap off the summer series was that

[00:24:53] [SPEAKER_04]: mid game stretch after your five.

[00:24:55] [SPEAKER_04]: So you start the year off with that five game stretch.

[00:24:56] [SPEAKER_04]: You finally get yourself a bi-weekend.

[00:24:58] [SPEAKER_04]: Then you have three games in two weeks, which speaking with coach

[00:25:01] [SPEAKER_04]: Mason, um, you know, off camera, you know, it's brutal.

[00:25:04] [SPEAKER_04]: That's a brutal to a team that have to perform three games in two weeks.

[00:25:08] [SPEAKER_04]: And on top of that luck, I say, luckily you've got Louisiana tech and

[00:25:12] [SPEAKER_04]: Kennesaw state at the beginning of that.

[00:25:13] [SPEAKER_04]: But you end it with Jacksonville state who is, you know, your top tier.

[00:25:17] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm going to be pushing Western Kentucky for that two spot in the

[00:25:20] [SPEAKER_04]: conference, so you hate to finish that stretch there, but that's

[00:25:23] [SPEAKER_04]: how conference USA is everyone's having to work with those quirks

[00:25:26] [SPEAKER_04]: and those kinds of things.

[00:25:27] [SPEAKER_04]: And that's another thing that Mason has spoken about.

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, he's going to have to figure out, you know, it's something

[00:25:32] [SPEAKER_04]: that he's just going to have to play with his first year here at

[00:25:35] [SPEAKER_04]: conference USA, see how things are, are going to play out for his team

[00:25:37] [SPEAKER_04]: and see where that comfort level is with the guys, give them the

[00:25:39] [SPEAKER_04]: necessary breaks during those that, that 14 day period.

[00:25:43] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, but he's going to learn it just like all of us do.

[00:25:46] [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah.

[00:25:47] [SPEAKER_05]: And once you get past that, that 14 day period with Kennesaw state

[00:25:51] [SPEAKER_05]: and Jacksonville state and Louisiana tech, once you transition and get

[00:25:55] [SPEAKER_05]: past that three game, you have UTEP.

[00:25:58] [SPEAKER_05]: Well, UTEP has a new head coach in Scotty Walden.

[00:26:01] [SPEAKER_05]: Liberty is still Liberty Liberty still has talent all over the field.

[00:26:06] [SPEAKER_05]: New Mexico state is perhaps not the new Mexico state we're familiar with

[00:26:10] [SPEAKER_05]: under previous head coach Jerry Kiel, but then you close your season out

[00:26:15] [SPEAKER_05]: with FIU you think of the last four games, there's the potential to go

[00:26:21] [SPEAKER_05]: two and two, maybe three in one.

[00:26:25] [SPEAKER_05]: So if you break down the season into quarters quarters, or let's even do

[00:26:29] [SPEAKER_05]: it this way, break down the season into four games, three, three,

[00:26:32] [SPEAKER_05]: um, groups of four games.

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_05]: The first four games, if you can go one in three, you're doing good.

[00:26:41] [SPEAKER_05]: You go into the next group.

[00:26:43] [SPEAKER_05]: If you can go maybe two and two, you're doing pretty solid.

[00:26:47] [SPEAKER_05]: It's that makes the last four is going to make the difference

[00:26:50] [SPEAKER_05]: between bowl eligibility and sitting at home in December.

[00:26:54] [SPEAKER_05]: And here's the key for me.

[00:26:57] [SPEAKER_05]: And it comes to bowl.

[00:26:58] [SPEAKER_05]: If you can make it to a bowl in year one for Derek Mason, he,

[00:27:02] [SPEAKER_05]: he wouldn't say this because he's a competitor and he wants to win all 12

[00:27:07] [SPEAKER_05]: games.

[00:27:07] [SPEAKER_05]: And I would love for middle Tennessee to win off 12 games.

[00:27:11] [SPEAKER_05]: The excitement in the, in the borough, if middle Tennessee pulled that

[00:27:14] [SPEAKER_05]: off would be incredible, but let's, let's live in a real world where

[00:27:19] [SPEAKER_05]: the likelihood of that happening is slim.

[00:27:24] [SPEAKER_05]: If you can get to six and six and get to a bowl, you're looking at two

[00:27:29] [SPEAKER_05]: to three weeks of practice for the football team, two to three weeks

[00:27:33] [SPEAKER_05]: where freshmen are getting a couple extra weeks of reps for their development.

[00:27:38] [SPEAKER_05]: Guys who may be redshirted didn't get a lot of reps because they were

[00:27:43] [SPEAKER_05]: redshirting.

[00:27:44] [SPEAKER_05]: They were farther down their depth.

[00:27:45] [SPEAKER_05]: Now they get two to three weeks where they get a couple extra reps

[00:27:49] [SPEAKER_05]: to grow and to develop that lays the groundwork for 2025.

[00:27:55] [SPEAKER_05]: That sets the momentum and puts some momentum in Derek Mason where he's

[00:28:00] [SPEAKER_05]: going on the recruiting trail saying, look in year one, I went bowling.

[00:28:04] [SPEAKER_05]: Think about what I can do in year two.

[00:28:07] [SPEAKER_05]: And so it sets the wheels in motion for 2025 and into 2026 when the

[00:28:12] [SPEAKER_05]: schedule becomes just a little more favorable for a eight and four or

[00:28:17] [SPEAKER_05]: nine and three type season.

[00:28:19] [SPEAKER_05]: And that's where middle Tennessee fans want to get.

[00:28:21] [SPEAKER_05]: They want to get to the eight and four to the nine and three and the

[00:28:24] [SPEAKER_05]: two seasons where you're competing for a conference championship and a

[00:28:29] [SPEAKER_05]: conference USA championship game in Murfreesboro.

[00:28:34] [SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely.

[00:28:34] [SPEAKER_04]: And I think that a lot of people are testing that five year timeline

[00:28:38] [SPEAKER_04]: that his current contract is under is can he find a way to a conference

[00:28:41] [SPEAKER_04]: USA title game within that five years?

[00:28:43] [SPEAKER_04]: And with the amount of leeway that he's had this first year,

[00:28:47] [SPEAKER_04]: he has so much momentum built up.

[00:28:49] [SPEAKER_04]: I always caution fans one thing to just take, take the season with a

[00:28:53] [SPEAKER_04]: green assault, because the reality is, is he's got 60 new players.

[00:28:57] [SPEAKER_04]: He has a brutal non-conference schedule and let's, let's, let's face

[00:29:02] [SPEAKER_04]: the facts here with it, with, with four of the first five games being

[00:29:05] [SPEAKER_04]: so tough, there's a real possibility that if we come out of that

[00:29:09] [SPEAKER_04]: unhealthy, we don't, we come out of it with injuries.

[00:29:12] [SPEAKER_04]: This could be a bad season, but like, let's just put that out on the table.

[00:29:16] [SPEAKER_04]: I don't wish that into existence.

[00:29:17] [SPEAKER_04]: Obviously there's a real chance that this comes out to a rough start,

[00:29:22] [SPEAKER_04]: a rough first season.

[00:29:24] [SPEAKER_04]: But one thing about Mason that I think he would instill in the fan base

[00:29:26] [SPEAKER_04]: and the event that something like that were to happen is that stick with me.

[00:29:30] [SPEAKER_04]: This is all new.

[00:29:31] [SPEAKER_04]: We're going to figure this out and we'll go back to the recruiting

[00:29:35] [SPEAKER_04]: conversation just for a second.

[00:29:37] [SPEAKER_04]: He's got these guys in place.

[00:29:39] [SPEAKER_04]: He's in, and he's going to be able to have these guys ready

[00:29:42] [SPEAKER_04]: for that 2025 season, 2026 season.

[00:29:44] [SPEAKER_04]: I've been impressed.

[00:29:46] [SPEAKER_04]: I know we've talked about this with our go middle group, the fact

[00:29:48] [SPEAKER_04]: that we're competing with Western Kentucky, we're competing with Vanderbilt.

[00:29:51] [SPEAKER_04]: We're competing with Memphis for recruits, something that hasn't happened

[00:29:55] [SPEAKER_04]: in quite a while that sets up for a promising future.

[00:29:59] [SPEAKER_04]: So I know I started this off with a pessimistic view, but the reality

[00:30:03] [SPEAKER_04]: is that there's an optimistic outlook in three to four years

[00:30:06] [SPEAKER_04]: with this program behind Mason.

[00:30:09] [SPEAKER_05]: And that's kind of where it sounds pessimistic on the surface,

[00:30:12] [SPEAKER_05]: but it's more of a, an attempt to be realistic.

[00:30:16] [SPEAKER_05]: If any one of our listeners went into their jobs today

[00:30:21] [SPEAKER_05]: and they were replacing half of their workforce, half of their

[00:30:27] [SPEAKER_05]: coworkers had been replaced.

[00:30:28] [SPEAKER_05]: There is going to be some bumps in the road.

[00:30:31] [SPEAKER_05]: You're, if you work in fast food, somebody's fry is not going

[00:30:35] [SPEAKER_05]: to get fries in their bag.

[00:30:36] [SPEAKER_05]: It, if you're working on the assembly line at Nissan, there's a high

[00:30:40] [SPEAKER_05]: probability that some car's not going to have a screw somewhere

[00:30:43] [SPEAKER_05]: where it should be a screw.

[00:30:45] [SPEAKER_05]: If you're replacing half of your workforce, half of your team,

[00:30:49] [SPEAKER_05]: there's going to be some bumps.

[00:30:52] [SPEAKER_05]: And so for Derek Mason, for middle Tennessee and for the

[00:30:55] [SPEAKER_05]: middle Tennessee fan base, my challenge for them is to endure

[00:31:00] [SPEAKER_05]: the bumps they are going to happen.

[00:31:04] [SPEAKER_05]: He's replaced half the team, but he's laying the groundwork for 25 and 26.

[00:31:11] [SPEAKER_05]: Anytime you bring in a new coach, whether it's football,

[00:31:15] [SPEAKER_05]: basketball, to a lesser degree, but especially with football,

[00:31:18] [SPEAKER_05]: you're looking at two to three years down the line before you see

[00:31:21] [SPEAKER_05]: the real impact that they will have.

[00:31:24] [SPEAKER_05]: They've got to get their players in, they've got to develop their players.

[00:31:29] [SPEAKER_05]: And Mason's been straight up with the fan base.

[00:31:32] [SPEAKER_05]: We are a developmental program.

[00:31:34] [SPEAKER_05]: And so I'm interested on a small side note, how being a

[00:31:39] [SPEAKER_05]: developmental program affects 2025 and even 2024 from this extent.

[00:31:45] [SPEAKER_05]: How many players, how many freshmen that can play, don't play and are redshirted

[00:31:53] [SPEAKER_05]: to set the stage for a better and a stronger 2025 and 2026 season because

[00:31:58] [SPEAKER_05]: they've had a year in the weight room, a year to develop and a year

[00:32:02] [SPEAKER_05]: to redshirt and just kind of learn what it takes to be a division one athlete.

[00:32:06] [SPEAKER_05]: And so if you can endure the bumps, the growing pains of 24, the

[00:32:12] [SPEAKER_05]: possibility and probability of success, I think becomes more probable in future years.

[00:32:21] [SPEAKER_05]: But the fans have to stick by him.

[00:32:24] [SPEAKER_05]: Fans need to realize this is part of the process.

[00:32:29] [SPEAKER_05]: Growing pains are going to come and just stick by him until 25 and 26 and

[00:32:36] [SPEAKER_05]: see where you're at in 25 and 26 before making any final

[00:32:39] [SPEAKER_05]: judgments on the Mason era.

[00:32:42] [SPEAKER_04]: I agree.

[00:32:42] [SPEAKER_04]: And moving into this season, I was so excited for the start of it, but 2025 is

[00:32:46] [SPEAKER_04]: a year that I've had my eyes on looking at this recruiting classes coming in as

[00:32:50] [SPEAKER_04]: well as like you said, the youth and the experience that they're going to

[00:32:53] [SPEAKER_04]: gain this first year under Mason.

[00:32:55] [SPEAKER_04]: So Austin, it's been a pleasure having you back on the show.

[00:32:59] [SPEAKER_04]: Always give the fans where they can follow you on social media.

[00:33:04] [SPEAKER_05]: I'm on Twitter or X or whatever it's called today at Austin Lewis, a T in

[00:33:13] [SPEAKER_05]: the postal abbreviation TN postal abbreviation for Tennessee.

[00:33:17] [SPEAKER_05]: You can find me there, follow me, shoot me a DM, be happy to talk

[00:33:21] [SPEAKER_05]: Blue Raider athletics there.

[00:33:23] [SPEAKER_04]: Of course.

[00:33:24] [SPEAKER_04]: And we're always over on the go middle forums as well, talking about games

[00:33:28] [SPEAKER_04]: and Austin, I'm sure we'll have have you back on at some point when we

[00:33:31] [SPEAKER_04]: have a reaction episode after what we hope to be a successful season.

[00:33:36] [SPEAKER_05]: Yeah, let's do it.

[00:33:41] [SPEAKER_02]: Did you know the Blue Raider podcast has an online store?

[00:33:43] [SPEAKER_02]: You can now support your favorite podcast by checking out our selection

[00:33:47] [SPEAKER_02]: at our website, Blue Raider podcast.com and stay tuned for new merchandise

[00:33:51] [SPEAKER_02]: releases as we collaborate with athletes and NIL partnerships.

[00:33:56] [SPEAKER_04]: Joining us now on the Blue Raider podcast, going into her eighth season

[00:34:00] [SPEAKER_04]: as a part of the lady Raiders volleyball program and her second as

[00:34:03] [SPEAKER_04]: associate head coach.

[00:34:04] [SPEAKER_04]: It is head.

[00:34:04] [SPEAKER_04]: It is associate head coach Jenna Warner coach.

[00:34:07] [SPEAKER_04]: How you doing?

[00:34:07] [SPEAKER_03]: I'm good.

[00:34:08] [SPEAKER_03]: Thanks Jake.

[00:34:09] [SPEAKER_04]: I am excited to talk about your upcoming season and for those

[00:34:13] [SPEAKER_04]: there's a lot of reasons for that.

[00:34:14] [SPEAKER_04]: One thing is that the program itself and you've been a part of the transition

[00:34:17] [SPEAKER_04]: over the last couple of years where things are trending upwards for you guys.

[00:34:20] [SPEAKER_04]: You go to the COVID year, things were a little bit down, a lot of

[00:34:23] [SPEAKER_04]: questions in you had injuries, all sorts of stuff going on.

[00:34:26] [SPEAKER_04]: And now you get your first 21 season and I believe it's,

[00:34:29] [SPEAKER_04]: it's just over a decade now.

[00:34:30] [SPEAKER_04]: You got an invitation to the NIVC.

[00:34:32] [SPEAKER_04]: So things are looking up for the volleyball program.

[00:34:35] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:34:35] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, I think when we first got here, uh, when Chuck was hired,

[00:34:39] [SPEAKER_03]: it was one of those that we knew it was going to be, you know, a slower

[00:34:43] [SPEAKER_03]: climb to make sure we built things the right way.

[00:34:46] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, and so it's been really, really rewarding to see that doing things,

[00:34:50] [SPEAKER_03]: you know, recruiting culture and making sure you have the right kids

[00:34:53] [SPEAKER_03]: and with the program and, and doing things maybe a little bit slower,

[00:34:57] [SPEAKER_03]: but making sure that it's like their culture set, the foundation is there.

[00:35:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, and just seeing it kind of flourish right now in the last

[00:35:05] [SPEAKER_03]: three to four years, especially, but it's been really rewarding and

[00:35:09] [SPEAKER_03]: it's been awesome to see that the kids kind of grow into their own too.

[00:35:13] [SPEAKER_04]: Tell me a little bit about, uh, where things have gone to this point.

[00:35:17] [SPEAKER_04]: What has gone right for the program?

[00:35:18] [SPEAKER_04]: I know you kind of touched on it there a little bit with recruiting as

[00:35:20] [SPEAKER_04]: you are the recruiting coordinator.

[00:35:22] [SPEAKER_04]: What are some things that you think have kind of led

[00:35:24] [SPEAKER_04]: you to where you are now?

[00:35:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:35:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, I think one thing that's really special about our staff as a

[00:35:30] [SPEAKER_03]: whole is that, uh, we've all been together for eight years.

[00:35:33] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, Taylor's been in some different roles during that time, but she's,

[00:35:36] [SPEAKER_03]: she's actually been at MTSU, MTSU the longest, uh, as a regular student.

[00:35:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, she was a student manager and then a GA and then, uh, obviously full time now.

[00:35:46] [SPEAKER_03]: So what's been really cool is like, that's such a rare thing that you see

[00:35:49] [SPEAKER_03]: nowadays, um, and we're just, it's really become this, this family

[00:35:53] [SPEAKER_03]: within the staff, which then trickles down.

[00:35:55] [SPEAKER_03]: And so I think we sat down about four or five years ago and we were

[00:35:59] [SPEAKER_03]: really like, what do we want to be known for and what does our

[00:36:02] [SPEAKER_03]: culture stand for and who are we?

[00:36:04] [SPEAKER_03]: And from there, like being gritty blue collar, um, tough, like the workhorse.

[00:36:10] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, and just kind of setting that foundation of knowing, okay, if that's

[00:36:14] [SPEAKER_03]: who we are, we got to go out and recruit that type of player.

[00:36:17] [SPEAKER_03]: And so we really sat down and hammered out what our recruiting

[00:36:20] [SPEAKER_03]: scheme was and where we want it to go.

[00:36:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, you'll notice a lot of our players are from the Midwest,

[00:36:26] [SPEAKER_03]: um, and internationally as well.

[00:36:28] [SPEAKER_03]: So that's kind of been like our bread and butter of, and then also

[00:36:32] [SPEAKER_03]: just being very, very honest and upfront about what the vision is for the program.

[00:36:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, recruiting kids that are coming from winning programs, so that's

[00:36:39] [SPEAKER_03]: their high school or their club teams.

[00:36:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, other colleges, uh, we've done really well in the transfer portal

[00:36:46] [SPEAKER_03]: of finding the kids that value what we have going on here, um, that

[00:36:50] [SPEAKER_03]: want to push the program forward for themselves and for the team.

[00:36:53] [SPEAKER_03]: So it's just been a really cool experience to see like that, that

[00:36:56] [SPEAKER_03]: five year goal setting kind of come to fruition now, um, and just

[00:37:00] [SPEAKER_03]: who we're about.

[00:37:02] [SPEAKER_03]: And, and we're really proud of the players, not only physically what

[00:37:05] [SPEAKER_03]: they bring to the table, but they're just awesome kids.

[00:37:07] [SPEAKER_03]: Like there's some of the best people you want to be around.

[00:37:11] [SPEAKER_04]: And there's so much to unpack there when we talk about the upcoming

[00:37:14] [SPEAKER_04]: season as we're previewing it today, the recruiting aspect, as you touched

[00:37:18] [SPEAKER_04]: on a lot of girls from the Midwest.

[00:37:20] [SPEAKER_04]: And I know one, one area in particular, Minnesota seems to be an

[00:37:24] [SPEAKER_04]: area you've recruited very heavily.

[00:37:26] [SPEAKER_04]: And, and one name that stands out as Audrey, she's a girl, a very

[00:37:29] [SPEAKER_04]: young player still in her own regard, but she's very talented.

[00:37:32] [SPEAKER_04]: Talk about the college transfers, you, uh, Laura Jensen who came from

[00:37:35] [SPEAKER_04]: Little Rock, we had her over on the episode over the, over the summer.

[00:37:40] [SPEAKER_04]: You returned some key pieces in Jensen and Rhoda.

[00:37:42] [SPEAKER_04]: Tell me a little bit about their game.

[00:37:44] [SPEAKER_04]: What are expectations?

[00:37:45] [SPEAKER_04]: Does the coaching staff have for them to elevate?

[00:37:47] [SPEAKER_04]: Cause you're going to have some pieces that are missing, especially

[00:37:49] [SPEAKER_04]: there on the offensive hitter fronts.

[00:37:51] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, tell me a little bit about what their game wish

[00:37:53] [SPEAKER_04]: we should expect this upcoming year.

[00:37:55] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:37:56] [SPEAKER_03]: So I think in regards to both of them, they're both very special

[00:37:59] [SPEAKER_03]: individuals, but very different at the same time.

[00:38:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, Avery has always come in as more of an L one, which means

[00:38:06] [SPEAKER_03]: she is more of like the person that's going to put the ball away.

[00:38:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, she has a lot of power.

[00:38:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, Avery touches well above 10, four, uh, 10, five.

[00:38:15] [SPEAKER_03]: I think she just tested out, which is very, very few percentage

[00:38:18] [SPEAKER_03]: of people in the world can do that.

[00:38:21] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, Avery is one of them.

[00:38:22] [SPEAKER_03]: And so when you watch her, she's very physically gifted.

[00:38:24] [SPEAKER_03]: And so Avery knows that she is able to hit certain shots that you just

[00:38:28] [SPEAKER_03]: will not see across the net from you.

[00:38:31] [SPEAKER_03]: And so for her, one of the things is her freshmen and sophomore year,

[00:38:34] [SPEAKER_03]: she was obviously put up some great numbers.

[00:38:37] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, I think for her, one of her goals is to really be a firm

[00:38:41] [SPEAKER_03]: lockdown six rotation player.

[00:38:43] [SPEAKER_03]: And it's really hard.

[00:38:45] [SPEAKER_03]: You want someone like Avery on the court because she's experienced.

[00:38:49] [SPEAKER_03]: She understands at this point going into her junior year, what

[00:38:51] [SPEAKER_03]: it takes to win at a high level.

[00:38:53] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, she also just has this really great ability to drive others, um, to

[00:38:58] [SPEAKER_03]: really motivate in a different way as opposed to Lau who is also just her,

[00:39:04] [SPEAKER_03]: how she plays the game.

[00:39:06] [SPEAKER_03]: There's very few people that play the whole entirety of the game like Lau.

[00:39:10] [SPEAKER_03]: And I mean, from passing to hitting and when you look at her numbers,

[00:39:14] [SPEAKER_03]: just on a stat sheet, sometimes it's not these, you know, these

[00:39:17] [SPEAKER_03]: huge numbers and highlights.

[00:39:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, but Lau is the reason why we've won a majority of our games, especially

[00:39:23] [SPEAKER_03]: over the last season last year.

[00:39:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, she received almost over like pass the ball almost 1200 times.

[00:39:29] [SPEAKER_03]: We passed doubles.

[00:39:31] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, so even when she's front row, she's having to pass half the

[00:39:34] [SPEAKER_03]: court and then kick out to approach.

[00:39:35] [SPEAKER_03]: And so she carries a large, large load offensively defensively serving.

[00:39:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, and she's just, when you get her, like when you get her in person,

[00:39:45] [SPEAKER_03]: she just has this light about her that attracts everyone to her.

[00:39:48] [SPEAKER_03]: Like when you're around Lau, it's really hard to have a bad day.

[00:39:52] [SPEAKER_03]: So between both of them, I mean, we say you live and die by your pins.

[00:39:56] [SPEAKER_03]: And so the fact that we have two of our two of the best outsides

[00:39:59] [SPEAKER_03]: in conference returning is huge for us.

[00:40:00] [SPEAKER_03]: Cause we know that that's consistency there.

[00:40:02] [SPEAKER_03]: Uh, they also are going to obviously continue to carry a heavy load, but,

[00:40:07] [SPEAKER_03]: um, you know, we did absolutely graduate a big part of the program

[00:40:12] [SPEAKER_03]: last year or of the team prior years, but I do believe, uh, especially

[00:40:18] [SPEAKER_03]: we've had at this point, we've had a couple of practices.

[00:40:21] [SPEAKER_03]: Uh, now the report day is coming on.

[00:40:22] [SPEAKER_03]: And so we're, we're really excited about what we bring to the table.

[00:40:26] [SPEAKER_03]: And even though we're a little bit younger, we have five freshmen.

[00:40:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Uh, we have three transfers as well, two grad and one, uh,

[00:40:33] [SPEAKER_03]: she'll be a redshirt sophomore.

[00:40:35] [SPEAKER_03]: People could say we're young and that it's a newer, it's a, it's a rebuild year.

[00:40:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Uh, I don't love to use that term because I don't think we're rebuilding.

[00:40:43] [SPEAKER_03]: I think with the players and the talent we have coming in, it's

[00:40:46] [SPEAKER_03]: going to be a really special team.

[00:40:47] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, and they've bonded really quickly.

[00:40:49] [SPEAKER_03]: And I think that is attributed to them being open and just wanting

[00:40:53] [SPEAKER_03]: to play at a high level and respecting each other and, and really just

[00:40:59] [SPEAKER_03]: committing to this process early on.

[00:41:02] [SPEAKER_04]: Yeah.

[00:41:02] [SPEAKER_04]: Let's let's build off of that roster breakdown there.

[00:41:04] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, Adri, like you said, uh, she has aspirations to be conference

[00:41:08] [SPEAKER_04]: USA player of the year.

[00:41:09] [SPEAKER_04]: I think one thing about her game is as I'm sure you would agree with

[00:41:12] [SPEAKER_04]: is, is making it a full facetim much like Lars is where she wants

[00:41:15] [SPEAKER_04]: to be more of a defensive player as she has been.

[00:41:18] [SPEAKER_04]: Obviously she's excellent at serving great at killing, but, um, those

[00:41:21] [SPEAKER_04]: transfers, Kiara Booth, uh, the middle blocker from Villanova, Olivia

[00:41:24] [SPEAKER_04]: Bronner, uh, defense specialist from Northern Iowa, Brooke Springer,

[00:41:28] [SPEAKER_04]: um, who's a middle blocker from Evansville.

[00:41:30] [SPEAKER_04]: Those are the three, uh, transfer portals that you bring in.

[00:41:32] [SPEAKER_04]: What kind of contribution are they going to provide for this

[00:41:36] [SPEAKER_04]: roster as you talk about filling in some of those gaps as some

[00:41:39] [SPEAKER_04]: people may allude to as a rebuild?

[00:41:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:41:41] [SPEAKER_03]: So I think Liv, uh, Liv got here in the spring.

[00:41:43] [SPEAKER_03]: So Liv is someone who comes from a really talented Northern Iowa program.

[00:41:47] [SPEAKER_03]: She knows what it takes to win.

[00:41:49] [SPEAKER_03]: She understands great culture, um, immediately from the get-go when

[00:41:53] [SPEAKER_03]: lit like Liv's back road defense is something that you just, you can't

[00:41:57] [SPEAKER_03]: help but watch like every time she steps foot on the court.

[00:42:01] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, she's definitely grown into her personality a little bit more now

[00:42:04] [SPEAKER_03]: that she's comfortable and she understands like that you can be

[00:42:07] [SPEAKER_03]: yourself here and like really grow into that.

[00:42:09] [SPEAKER_03]: And so it's been really cool to watch her grow.

[00:42:11] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, so she will definitely help us defensively and she has a killer serve.

[00:42:15] [SPEAKER_03]: That's fun to watch.

[00:42:16] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, Kira, Kira was a captain at Villanova.

[00:42:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, and she was one of the best offensive hitters in the big East,

[00:42:24] [SPEAKER_03]: which is also a very strong volleyball conference.

[00:42:26] [SPEAKER_03]: So she not only understands what it, what it takes to be a high level

[00:42:31] [SPEAKER_03]: middle, she runs the slide.

[00:42:33] [SPEAKER_03]: What?

[00:42:34] [SPEAKER_03]: Oh my gosh, it's, it's so fun to watch her off of one foot.

[00:42:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, she's really dominant on in that way.

[00:42:40] [SPEAKER_03]: So it adds, you know, that kind of is someone like Kaylee

[00:42:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Oscarson was that person for us last year.

[00:42:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, and Kira can do a lot of the similar things as well as hit off of two.

[00:42:50] [SPEAKER_03]: She's really dynamic in that way.

[00:42:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, so she's going to add to us in the offense of having something

[00:42:55] [SPEAKER_03]: to run behind the center, uh, which gives the defense on the

[00:42:59] [SPEAKER_03]: other side of different look.

[00:43:00] [SPEAKER_03]: And then, uh, also just bringing a lot of like personality to the team.

[00:43:05] [SPEAKER_03]: She's hilarious.

[00:43:06] [SPEAKER_03]: You got to watch her on the sideline.

[00:43:07] [SPEAKER_03]: She's always dancing or like cracking a joke.

[00:43:10] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, and so then there's Brooke.

[00:43:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Brooke is also a really dominant blocker.

[00:43:15] [SPEAKER_03]: When we look at our middles right now, um, Emma Nelson, who's

[00:43:19] [SPEAKER_03]: an incoming freshmen as well.

[00:43:20] [SPEAKER_03]: Like, so we have three brand new middles.

[00:43:23] [SPEAKER_03]: Uh, so that, that is, that has been a really fun to kind of train

[00:43:27] [SPEAKER_03]: because they're really hungry to buy in right away.

[00:43:30] [SPEAKER_03]: All three, I really believe we'll have some playing time this year.

[00:43:33] [SPEAKER_03]: It's going to take all three of them to win consistently, but Brooke

[00:43:36] [SPEAKER_03]: is phenomenal at like, she just has this knack of understanding like when

[00:43:41] [SPEAKER_03]: and how to press over the net.

[00:43:42] [SPEAKER_03]: And she's a really big blocking force for us.

[00:43:44] [SPEAKER_03]: So same with Emma.

[00:43:46] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, and Emma is just a powerhouse.

[00:43:48] [SPEAKER_03]: Like I would not, I was a libero when I played in college.

[00:43:52] [SPEAKER_03]: I would not want to be the one digging her ball.

[00:43:54] [SPEAKER_03]: Her, she hits her arm as a hammer.

[00:43:57] [SPEAKER_03]: So, um, those are the three transfers that what they, why we recruited

[00:44:02] [SPEAKER_03]: them and what they bring on top of, again, like I think for the fifth

[00:44:05] [SPEAKER_03]: years, especially it can be a little daunting coming in for one year.

[00:44:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Six months really with the team.

[00:44:10] [SPEAKER_03]: And then you're quote unquote done.

[00:44:12] [SPEAKER_03]: Although both of them will be a part of us, um, following

[00:44:15] [SPEAKER_03]: year, uh, with staff, but.

[00:44:17] [SPEAKER_03]: They've just really bought in and the girls have welcomed

[00:44:20] [SPEAKER_03]: them with open arms.

[00:44:21] [SPEAKER_03]: So I think they've been able to really have an uphill climb pretty quickly.

[00:44:26] [SPEAKER_04]: And to go back there on the freshmen, uh, one thing about this, this

[00:44:29] [SPEAKER_04]: team that may be a little bit different last year was a very veteran

[00:44:31] [SPEAKER_04]: team, which obviously led to the success you had.

[00:44:33] [SPEAKER_04]: Now you're talking about the continuity that this team brings.

[00:44:36] [SPEAKER_04]: You're still bringing in five new freshmen.

[00:44:39] [SPEAKER_04]: Anyone that I know you mentioned a middle blocker, they're

[00:44:41] [SPEAKER_04]: getting some playing time.

[00:44:42] [SPEAKER_04]: Anything else as far as that freshman group that you look forward to

[00:44:45] [SPEAKER_04]: not maybe necessarily in the immediate playing time, but the

[00:44:48] [SPEAKER_04]: potential that some of these girls bring to the squad?

[00:44:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:44:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Well, you know, I think with the team last year, a lot of our,

[00:44:54] [SPEAKER_03]: a lot of our veteran kids, um, they were really pivotal in helping

[00:44:59] [SPEAKER_03]: push this program forward past this hump that we had always been through.

[00:45:03] [SPEAKER_03]: We were really trying to get, and that was really like, I give them so much

[00:45:06] [SPEAKER_03]: credit and I love them all very much.

[00:45:07] [SPEAKER_03]: And we are very close with all of them.

[00:45:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Still.

[00:45:09] [SPEAKER_03]: We talk every other day between all the staffs.

[00:45:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, but they were really part of a pivotal point of getting over

[00:45:17] [SPEAKER_03]: to this success, consistent success.

[00:45:19] [SPEAKER_03]: Right.

[00:45:20] [SPEAKER_03]: And so they helped us get back.

[00:45:21] [SPEAKER_03]: Uh, that was the freshmen class that helped us get back into

[00:45:24] [SPEAKER_03]: the conference tournament when before we got here, they had

[00:45:27] [SPEAKER_03]: been on a six year hiatus.

[00:45:28] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, they got us, you know, back to being in the tournament consistently

[00:45:32] [SPEAKER_03]: getting post-season bids, the NIVC.

[00:45:35] [SPEAKER_03]: So they are incredible.

[00:45:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, I think with this freshman class coming in, all of them were recruited

[00:45:40] [SPEAKER_03]: and with the expectation of not just, you know, the getting to

[00:45:45] [SPEAKER_03]: the conference tournament is, is bare minimum in our eyes now,

[00:45:48] [SPEAKER_03]: now where we're at with the program and expectation, if you will.

[00:45:52] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, but it's also been, you know, the program has been to a sweet

[00:45:54] [SPEAKER_03]: 16 in program history.

[00:45:56] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, we've won multiple conference championships and they were recruited

[00:46:02] [SPEAKER_03]: and committed under the understanding of like that.

[00:46:05] [SPEAKER_03]: That is what your goal is every year freshmen through senior year.

[00:46:07] [SPEAKER_03]: It is your turn to now push it to the next level.

[00:46:10] [SPEAKER_03]: And so, um, honestly, all of our freshmen have the ability

[00:46:14] [SPEAKER_03]: to come in and have some playing time right away.

[00:46:17] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, they work extremely hard.

[00:46:18] [SPEAKER_03]: They understand nothing is given to them and they know kind of

[00:46:21] [SPEAKER_03]: the roles that they're walking into, but they're awesome.

[00:46:25] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, they, for freshmen, you know, we always talk about, don't come

[00:46:30] [SPEAKER_03]: in and just tip toe in like full dive in, go in for it all the way.

[00:46:34] [SPEAKER_03]: And they've done an amazing job of that with really just buying

[00:46:38] [SPEAKER_03]: into the culture.

[00:46:39] [SPEAKER_03]: And I think the upperclassmen have to give it to them too.

[00:46:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Like it's, it's been a really great transition for them.

[00:46:45] [SPEAKER_04]: It's great to hear about the chemistry growing as well as

[00:46:48] [SPEAKER_04]: talking about the culture.

[00:46:49] [SPEAKER_04]: You're, you're improving every year.

[00:46:50] [SPEAKER_04]: You got to that 20 year clip this last year.

[00:46:53] [SPEAKER_04]: It's all about how are you able to continue that culture?

[00:46:56] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, and a big part of that culture as well is in this position we haven't

[00:46:59] [SPEAKER_04]: talked about as a setter position.

[00:47:01] [SPEAKER_04]: You lose Taylor from last year, obviously a pivotal part.

[00:47:04] [SPEAKER_04]: It's a player that the ball goes to every set.

[00:47:07] [SPEAKER_04]: Right.

[00:47:07] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, and so that's a part that you have to replace.

[00:47:11] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm curious where, where you guys stand as far as finding

[00:47:13] [SPEAKER_04]: that next setter is McCander.

[00:47:15] [SPEAKER_04]: Is she kind of the obvious choice?

[00:47:16] [SPEAKER_04]: Where, where do you see that, that position going this year?

[00:47:19] [SPEAKER_03]: You know, it's, it's interesting because all three setters, we

[00:47:23] [SPEAKER_03]: have Caroline McCander, Andy Spies and Reagan McIntosh and, uh, Reagan

[00:47:28] [SPEAKER_03]: and Andy, they are both freshmen this year.

[00:47:30] [SPEAKER_03]: They both graduated high school semester early, so they have both

[00:47:32] [SPEAKER_03]: been with us since the spring and both extremely talented setters.

[00:47:37] [SPEAKER_03]: But all three of them have very different styles of setting.

[00:47:40] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, you have Caroline who's a little bit more like she's

[00:47:44] [SPEAKER_03]: not afraid to be a gunslinger.

[00:47:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Like she'll be on the run and she'll just, she makes some pretty

[00:47:49] [SPEAKER_03]: great, like amazing athletic plays to the pins.

[00:47:51] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, she understands the culture.

[00:47:54] [SPEAKER_03]: She understands expectation.

[00:47:56] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, she's not afraid to tell people like, Hey, we got to,

[00:47:59] [SPEAKER_03]: we got to make this better.

[00:48:00] [SPEAKER_03]: We got to run this drill again and make it better.

[00:48:03] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, Reagan, Reagan's hands are beautiful.

[00:48:06] [SPEAKER_03]: They're like butter that the ball comes out so smooth.

[00:48:09] [SPEAKER_03]: She is very, she has a lot of wisdom to her for as young as she is.

[00:48:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, and so that's been, that's been really fun to watch her kind

[00:48:17] [SPEAKER_03]: of grow into that even for as young as she is, I don't like to put

[00:48:21] [SPEAKER_03]: like that label on the freshmen.

[00:48:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Cause we expect everyone, no matter what year you are, you should be

[00:48:25] [SPEAKER_03]: coming in and, and participating and giving what you can in a leadership

[00:48:29] [SPEAKER_03]: role, whatever that looks like at that time.

[00:48:31] [SPEAKER_03]: So she's been giving a lot in that sense.

[00:48:33] [SPEAKER_03]: And then Andy is someone who is extremely athletic.

[00:48:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Not only is she a great setter, but she also is very offensive.

[00:48:40] [SPEAKER_03]: She can hit on the right side as well.

[00:48:41] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, has a really fast arm.

[00:48:43] [SPEAKER_03]: So, you know, I think right now it's a lot of like connection work.

[00:48:47] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, obviously offensively, we want to make sure that we're

[00:48:50] [SPEAKER_03]: trying to put up a great block as well when they're front row, you know,

[00:48:54] [SPEAKER_03]: uh, system wise, we're still trying to hammer out what's going to be best

[00:48:57] [SPEAKER_03]: for us if we're running, you know, one setter at the time, two setter

[00:49:00] [SPEAKER_03]: at the time, um, just trying to figure out our system and what

[00:49:03] [SPEAKER_03]: that works, um, looks like.

[00:49:05] [SPEAKER_03]: And, you know, we've had, we've had four practice at four practice

[00:49:08] [SPEAKER_03]: days, eight practices total.

[00:49:09] [SPEAKER_03]: And so we're, we're kind of starting to hammer some

[00:49:11] [SPEAKER_03]: of that out a little bit.

[00:49:13] [SPEAKER_04]: Would it be accurate of me to say that you kind of have battles everywhere?

[00:49:16] [SPEAKER_04]: It seems like, you know, no one's position is necessarily safe, but

[00:49:19] [SPEAKER_04]: that competition can kind of breed some sort of, uh, level of excellence

[00:49:23] [SPEAKER_04]: within a program.

[00:49:25] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:49:26] [SPEAKER_03]: I think this year has been the best year since we've been here that

[00:49:30] [SPEAKER_03]: the, you know, the difference in talent is so close to each other.

[00:49:35] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, you know, one name I haven't said yet, Eowyn Schrader.

[00:49:38] [SPEAKER_03]: He's a freshman.

[00:49:39] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, you know, she's trading on the, on the pin right now.

[00:49:42] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, and then Trey McCutchen as well.

[00:49:45] [SPEAKER_03]: Trey has worked her tail off, um, the last two years, uh, her vertical's

[00:49:50] [SPEAKER_03]: gone up three inches.

[00:49:51] [SPEAKER_03]: She's just a workhorse and she's, she's one of the toughest kids I know.

[00:49:56] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, she's super gritty and she really wanted that right

[00:50:00] [SPEAKER_03]: side position to be hers.

[00:50:01] [SPEAKER_03]: And she's worked so hard in the off season.

[00:50:04] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, and so I'm really excited to see what she does this year.

[00:50:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Her arm is also like when some, if you walk into the gym and you're

[00:50:10] [SPEAKER_03]: not looking, you can hear Trey hit the ball, she hits it that hard.

[00:50:13] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, and plus she's just an awesome kid who really is another, like showing

[00:50:17] [SPEAKER_03]: a lot of leadership qualities.

[00:50:19] [SPEAKER_03]: But between the four pins, um, with Adrie Lau, Trey, and then Eowyn Schrader,

[00:50:24] [SPEAKER_03]: he's a freshman, um, Eowyn comes to us from Iowa and she's a six to

[00:50:29] [SPEAKER_03]: just absolutely yoked freshman hitter.

[00:50:33] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, and she learned so fast.

[00:50:36] [SPEAKER_03]: Uh, so what's really cool is just again, like the level

[00:50:39] [SPEAKER_03]: between people right now.

[00:50:40] [SPEAKER_03]: It's a, it's a great healthy competition.

[00:50:42] [SPEAKER_03]: And I think, you know, even the, even the more experienced or the

[00:50:47] [SPEAKER_03]: returners are understanding like, Hey, you got to really work every single day.

[00:50:50] [SPEAKER_03]: And that's one thing Chuck talks about all the time is like, you don't

[00:50:54] [SPEAKER_03]: earn your playing time in a match.

[00:50:55] [SPEAKER_03]: Rent is due and it's due every day in practice.

[00:50:58] [SPEAKER_03]: And the girls understand that yet.

[00:50:59] [SPEAKER_03]: It's still as competitive as it is and as fun as it is, you know,

[00:51:02] [SPEAKER_03]: cause they'll, they'll talk a little trash sometimes it's all healthy banter.

[00:51:06] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, it's like, it's such an incredible environment that they know and they're

[00:51:10] [SPEAKER_03]: happy that they want to keep pushing each other forward because they know

[00:51:13] [SPEAKER_03]: it's going to take all 14 of them to win a championship this year.

[00:51:17] [SPEAKER_03]: And so, um, it's been really fun to see so far.

[00:51:22] [SPEAKER_04]: And we're running low on time here, but to build again off of what you're

[00:51:26] [SPEAKER_04]: saying there about winning a championship, it all starts in that

[00:51:29] [SPEAKER_04]: conference and last year you kind of put yourself into that conversation.

[00:51:32] [SPEAKER_04]: They are atop of the conference and a slight look ahead in

[00:51:35] [SPEAKER_04]: regards to your schedule.

[00:51:37] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, you've got, you starting off in Montana, you're taking a big

[00:51:40] [SPEAKER_04]: road trip out there.

[00:51:41] [SPEAKER_04]: You're going to play a really good Washington team.

[00:51:42] [SPEAKER_04]: You're going to play the host, Montana state.

[00:51:44] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, you've got some other non-conference games I have noted for quality

[00:51:47] [SPEAKER_04]: opponents like Southeast Missouri.

[00:51:49] [SPEAKER_04]: You've got Virginia, Arkansas state.

[00:51:51] [SPEAKER_04]: So really good teams, but I want to get back to the conference

[00:51:53] [SPEAKER_04]: championship aspect of it.

[00:51:55] [SPEAKER_04]: Western Kentucky, a hundred miles of hate, really good program

[00:51:58] [SPEAKER_04]: always has been a really good program.

[00:52:00] [SPEAKER_04]: You get, you lose the two matches against them last year,

[00:52:03] [SPEAKER_04]: but you do take a set from them.

[00:52:05] [SPEAKER_04]: What, what does it take not only to just win a conference

[00:52:07] [SPEAKER_04]: championship, but to kind of get over that hump when you're talking

[00:52:09] [SPEAKER_04]: about beating teams like Western it.

[00:52:11] [SPEAKER_04]: And I'll allude to last season as well, you beat a top 25 Auburn team.

[00:52:14] [SPEAKER_04]: So, you know, the skills there, what does it take to kind of get over

[00:52:17] [SPEAKER_04]: that hump with and get the monkey?

[00:52:19] [SPEAKER_04]: That is the Hilltoppers off your back.

[00:52:22] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah.

[00:52:23] [SPEAKER_03]: I mean, I think a lot of that is just the mental side of it.

[00:52:26] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, you know, we have a lot of, we have a lot of built up frustration

[00:52:32] [SPEAKER_03]: and knowing that, that they're, that our girls are very capable, um, for

[00:52:36] [SPEAKER_03]: anyone and, you know, one of the things that we talk about is I think

[00:52:38] [SPEAKER_03]: that the top 25, the Auburn win last year really just showed them like you.

[00:52:43] [SPEAKER_03]: It doesn't matter what logo is on a Jersey.

[00:52:46] [SPEAKER_03]: We're not afraid to play anyone at this point, respectfully.

[00:52:49] [SPEAKER_03]: It doesn't mean, you know, we're going to have an undefeated season.

[00:52:53] [SPEAKER_03]: It just means that we want to make sure that we are really like the

[00:52:56] [SPEAKER_03]: mental side of our culture, right?

[00:52:59] [SPEAKER_03]: Like we're gritty, we're tough.

[00:53:00] [SPEAKER_03]: We will not be outworked.

[00:53:02] [SPEAKER_03]: We're going to outwork you and you're going to have to, you're

[00:53:05] [SPEAKER_03]: going to have to swing to beat us because defensively that's been a

[00:53:07] [SPEAKER_03]: huge focus.

[00:53:09] [SPEAKER_03]: Um, I think the overall level from we've been hammering out defense a lot with

[00:53:14] [SPEAKER_03]: blocking and defense the last for spring and even like early on for our

[00:53:18] [SPEAKER_03]: first couple of practices.

[00:53:18] [SPEAKER_03]: And that was something that, you know, I think Western Kentucky really.

[00:53:23] [SPEAKER_03]: Kind of sought us out a little bit on.

[00:53:25] [SPEAKER_03]: And so I really do think with the new players that we have, and then

[00:53:28] [SPEAKER_03]: our returners just developing so much, I mean, Ali Echol, um, and

[00:53:34] [SPEAKER_03]: you know, Marie and all the players that are returning right now have really

[00:53:39] [SPEAKER_03]: just, I've seen a huge difference in these last eight months.

[00:53:43] [SPEAKER_03]: And so I think the mental side and just knowing like being confident

[00:53:47] [SPEAKER_03]: that you have what it takes.

[00:53:49] [SPEAKER_03]: So just go out there and play without that pressure on you.

[00:53:52] [SPEAKER_03]: But knowing that, you know, the girl, the girls aren't

[00:53:55] [SPEAKER_03]: afraid of a challenge.

[00:53:55] [SPEAKER_03]: They don't, they won't back down to anyone.

[00:53:57] [SPEAKER_03]: And I love that kind of gritty blue collar attitude that we have.

[00:54:03] [SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely coach.

[00:54:03] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, as this episode airs this weekend, you'll have your first exhibition

[00:54:07] [SPEAKER_04]: match with Belmont at home alumni Memorial gym.

[00:54:11] [SPEAKER_04]: As I said previously, you'll be going to a Bozeman Montana at the end of

[00:54:15] [SPEAKER_04]: August, early September, and then you'll be coming home for the blue

[00:54:18] [SPEAKER_04]: Raider bash.

[00:54:18] [SPEAKER_04]: So plenty of opportunity to see the lady Raiders in action early on here

[00:54:22] [SPEAKER_04]: at the alumni Memorial gym.

[00:54:24] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, but coach Warner, I appreciate your time and coming on

[00:54:27] [SPEAKER_04]: to discuss your upcoming season.

[00:54:29] [SPEAKER_03]: Yeah, thank you.

[00:54:30] [SPEAKER_03]: Come out and check us out.

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[00:55:04] [SPEAKER_04]: Joining us now on the blue Raider podcast, going into his 23rd season

[00:55:09] [SPEAKER_04]: as the MTSU women's soccer coach coming off of 200 career victories

[00:55:13] [SPEAKER_04]: just two seasons ago, but we are, we are well underway in their season.

[00:55:16] [SPEAKER_04]: Uh, joining us now head coach Aston Rodin coach, Rodin, how you

[00:55:20] [SPEAKER_04]: doing?

[00:55:20] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm good.

[00:55:21] [SPEAKER_01]: Thanks so much for having me on this podcast.

[00:55:24] [SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely coach.

[00:55:24] [SPEAKER_04]: And it's a pleasure to have you join us.

[00:55:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Like I said, you've had quite the storied career here at MTSU.

[00:55:29] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, I want to take a second, uh, maybe for yourself, just to reflect

[00:55:33] [SPEAKER_04]: a little bit about your time here.

[00:55:35] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, you've had some ups and downs and the team is moving in and

[00:55:38] [SPEAKER_04]: what I presume to be the positive direction after the improvement from

[00:55:41] [SPEAKER_04]: last season, I just want to hear kind of your take on, on your

[00:55:44] [SPEAKER_04]: last two, two decades here.

[00:55:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Uh, I mean, it's, it's every day is a fun day.

[00:55:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, this is, I get an opportunity to work at a fantastic university

[00:55:54] [SPEAKER_01]: with some great people doing what I love to do, you know?

[00:55:58] [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, it's certainly a blessing and, and a privilege that I,

[00:56:04] [SPEAKER_01]: that I really, really am thankful for.

[00:56:07] [SPEAKER_04]: And to build on that too, one thing about this university that I

[00:56:10] [SPEAKER_04]: think is so special and I'm sure you'll agree is, um, Christmas

[00:56:13] [SPEAKER_04]: sorrow and, and as well as the athletic department's commitment to

[00:56:16] [SPEAKER_04]: women athletics and the amount of time and energy and effort they

[00:56:18] [SPEAKER_04]: put into the two women's sports.

[00:56:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, without a doubt.

[00:56:22] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, do you know, I think, you know, the Advent of title

[00:56:25] [SPEAKER_01]: opened up a lot of opportunities, but you know, even with that, it doesn't

[00:56:29] [SPEAKER_01]: necessarily mean people would do the right thing.

[00:56:32] [SPEAKER_01]: So it's good to be in an environment, you know, where, you know, they,

[00:56:35] [SPEAKER_01]: they do, you know, we do take a lot of pride in our female sports and.

[00:56:40] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, and there's, there's no shortage off us wanting those

[00:56:44] [SPEAKER_01]: sports to do well as well as the men's sports.

[00:56:48] [SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely coach.

[00:56:49] [SPEAKER_04]: Well today's episode really is just to kind of highlight a little bit

[00:56:52] [SPEAKER_04]: about your team this upcoming season.

[00:56:55] [SPEAKER_04]: You're coming off of a loss to Belmont this last weekend and a tight two, one

[00:56:58] [SPEAKER_04]: matchup there, but I kind of want to hear from you, um, your perspective on

[00:57:02] [SPEAKER_04]: this year, what are, what are kind of some, some highlights for you,

[00:57:05] [SPEAKER_04]: things that you're looking forward to with this, with this new group?

[00:57:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I think, you know, certainly to build on last season,

[00:57:12] [SPEAKER_01]: you know, I mean, we were very young.

[00:57:15] [SPEAKER_01]: Uh, last year we had 28 kids on the roster, 20 of them were freshmen

[00:57:19] [SPEAKER_01]: and sophomore, you know, so now they've grown up a little bit.

[00:57:23] [SPEAKER_01]: And the mental maturity, the tactical maturity has improved tremendously.

[00:57:29] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, so, and I think adding some new faces to the mix with a

[00:57:33] [SPEAKER_01]: strong returning group, you know, bodes well, you know, for the future for us.

[00:57:38] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, we certainly, you know, not happy with the loss that

[00:57:43] [SPEAKER_01]: we incurred last night, you know, but it's one of 20 games and that

[00:57:47] [SPEAKER_01]: one game doesn't define a season for us.

[00:57:50] [SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely.

[00:57:51] [SPEAKER_04]: And as I was saying earlier, you had an improvement as far as the

[00:57:55] [SPEAKER_04]: wind total last season going under this year.

[00:57:57] [SPEAKER_04]: How are you able to kind of garner that momentum that you gathered

[00:58:00] [SPEAKER_04]: last year with also bringing in all these new faces moving into this year?

[00:58:04] [SPEAKER_01]: I think a lot of it is just being able to, to play and live

[00:58:09] [SPEAKER_01]: by our core principles, right?

[00:58:12] [SPEAKER_01]: Um, you know, I mean, we're, we're not going to react to every

[00:58:15] [SPEAKER_01]: single game and every single result.

[00:58:17] [SPEAKER_01]: We're going to stick with what we believe in and stick with our

[00:58:19] [SPEAKER_01]: principles.

[00:58:20] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think if we can do that, it is going to help us standardize the

[00:58:25] [SPEAKER_01]: way we train, the way we play, the way we compete and in time will

[00:58:29] [SPEAKER_01]: give us the results that we want.

[00:58:31] [SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely.

[00:58:32] [SPEAKER_04]: And another kind of key part of that is a coach, Hannah Haves.

[00:58:35] [SPEAKER_04]: She was just promoted to the associate head coach position.

[00:58:37] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm sure you had a lot to say with that.

[00:58:39] [SPEAKER_04]: Can you tell me a little bit about coach Haves and her, her

[00:58:42] [SPEAKER_04]: place within the program?

[00:58:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[00:58:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Hannah, you know, has established herself as a very critical piece

[00:58:48] [SPEAKER_01]: of what we're doing.

[00:58:49] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, she's certainly one of the top and brightest young coaches

[00:58:53] [SPEAKER_01]: in the U S you know, and is on a really high trajectory to become

[00:58:58] [SPEAKER_01]: a fantastic head coach, you know, in the very near future.

[00:59:02] [SPEAKER_01]: So we're just excited that, you know, she's a part of us, you

[00:59:06] [SPEAKER_01]: know, at the moment, and we're trying to take every advantage of

[00:59:09] [SPEAKER_01]: that to help our program grow.

[00:59:12] [SPEAKER_01]: And at the same time, help her grow

[00:59:15] [SPEAKER_04]: and, and her place is in regards to the whole recruiting aspect of it too.

[00:59:18] [SPEAKER_04]: Cause soccer is kind of unique and relative to other sports.

[00:59:21] [SPEAKER_04]: You know, you're, you have a lot of international players on your roster.

[00:59:25] [SPEAKER_04]: You have to kind of travel quite a bit.

[00:59:27] [SPEAKER_04]: There's there's good soccer in the mid state, but tell me about her place

[00:59:30] [SPEAKER_04]: as well as, as the program, the coaching staff in general, how you're

[00:59:33] [SPEAKER_04]: able to cover up that landscape of all these talent throughout.

[00:59:37] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I think it's, it's, it's about your network and, and

[00:59:41] [SPEAKER_01]: certainly it's about, um, you know, as, as rare as it may sound

[00:59:45] [SPEAKER_01]: a lot of people's about the work that every other coach does here, you know,

[00:59:49] [SPEAKER_01]: to promote, you know, our brand in terms of the success that we've had

[00:59:53] [SPEAKER_01]: in all the other sports that are here.

[00:59:56] [SPEAKER_01]: And so that generally helps us, you know, all of us, when we go out

[01:00:00] [SPEAKER_01]: recruiting, um, and, and certainly as far as being able to cover the

[01:00:05] [SPEAKER_01]: landscape, when your brand is out there, it doesn't really matter

[01:00:09] [SPEAKER_01]: where you go, you know, there's, there's always a Blue Raider or

[01:00:13] [SPEAKER_01]: somebody who knows about the Blue Raiders.

[01:00:15] [SPEAKER_01]: And if there aren't there's somebody who wants to be a Blue Raider,

[01:00:17] [SPEAKER_01]: you know, so I think a lot of it is us being able to strategically,

[01:00:21] [SPEAKER_01]: you know, with our recruiting model, be able to figure out the best places

[01:00:25] [SPEAKER_01]: to go that has the kids that fit what we're looking for and then secure them.

[01:00:33] [SPEAKER_04]: Do you, do you find that finding some of those players through current,

[01:00:37] [SPEAKER_04]: um, roster or current players find that to be the easiest avenue as

[01:00:41] [SPEAKER_04]: far as word of mouth getting, cause I know when I, when I speak with

[01:00:43] [SPEAKER_04]: coach Boren Dame on the tennis program is he has a lot of his

[01:00:46] [SPEAKER_04]: international athletes.

[01:00:46] [SPEAKER_04]: It's always easiest to find that avenue of, of players that

[01:00:50] [SPEAKER_04]: are currently here and they have their clubs back home wherever they

[01:00:53] [SPEAKER_04]: are. Do you kind of find that as the easier avenue?

[01:00:55] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, or are you always trying to leave every, every stone unturned?

[01:01:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, it's, it is a little bit of both, right?

[01:01:03] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you, you go any and everywhere that you think there

[01:01:07] [SPEAKER_01]: might be a player that fits your program, you know, and,

[01:01:10] [SPEAKER_01]: and I think we've been fortunate much like Jimmy, where we've had some

[01:01:15] [SPEAKER_01]: outstanding international players, you know, what World Cup experience or

[01:01:19] [SPEAKER_01]: national team experience at a faster program and the experience that they

[01:01:25] [SPEAKER_01]: enjoyed has allowed them to still essentially be recruiters for us.

[01:01:29] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, so, you know, we oftentimes will hear from either

[01:01:33] [SPEAKER_01]: current players or former players about players in their country or

[01:01:36] [SPEAKER_01]: on their club.

[01:01:38] [SPEAKER_01]: That at least gives us a pathway that maybe some other schools may not have

[01:01:44] [SPEAKER_01]: and an association that some of the schools may not have and help us secure

[01:01:48] [SPEAKER_01]: those players.

[01:01:50] [SPEAKER_04]: Tell me a little bit about, um, this, this current class that just came in a

[01:01:53] [SPEAKER_04]: little bit about this young team or any players that really stand out to

[01:01:56] [SPEAKER_04]: you, names that we should keep an eye on.

[01:01:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh yeah.

[01:01:59] [SPEAKER_01]: There's been a lot, a lot of kids that have come in, but I think with

[01:02:03] [SPEAKER_01]: time we'll be, we'll do extremely well for us.

[01:02:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Um, you know, Alexa Dendes has done really well.

[01:02:09] [SPEAKER_01]: Ryan Colton has done well.

[01:02:11] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, we have our first ever Japanese player in Rizui Asaki, you

[01:02:17] [SPEAKER_01]: know, is doing really well for us.

[01:02:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Emma Brown, a graduate transfer, um, you know, did really well at the

[01:02:25] [SPEAKER_01]: division two level and is also doing well for us right now.

[01:02:28] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, so, you know, there's, you know, there's a lot of transfers

[01:02:31] [SPEAKER_01]: that we have in Ariana Kingsley, you know, Ali Draper, Mackenzie

[01:02:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Shores, who are all coming in with some collegiate experience to help

[01:02:41] [SPEAKER_01]: balance out the youthfulness that we had from last year.

[01:02:45] [SPEAKER_04]: Do you plan to kind of play around a little bit with the starting

[01:02:47] [SPEAKER_04]: 11 early in the season?

[01:02:49] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[01:02:50] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, there's, you know, we're still somewhat as much as we just

[01:02:55] [SPEAKER_01]: played our first game, we're still trying to discover just certain

[01:02:59] [SPEAKER_01]: combinations that work, that will allow us to determine, you know,

[01:03:06] [SPEAKER_01]: where do we go with it within the first 30 minutes of a game versus

[01:03:09] [SPEAKER_01]: the first 45 and what rotation works best and who works best with each

[01:03:15] [SPEAKER_01]: other.

[01:03:15] [SPEAKER_01]: So we're still trying to figure some of those pieces out.

[01:03:19] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, we're close to having that rotation settled in, but

[01:03:23] [SPEAKER_01]: you know, as you know, soccer is a sport where different kids start

[01:03:28] [SPEAKER_01]: peeking at different times.

[01:03:30] [SPEAKER_01]: And when you have young players, it's about how quickly can they adjust

[01:03:35] [SPEAKER_01]: to the speed of the college game?

[01:03:38] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, and some kids that takes them two games, some kids that

[01:03:41] [SPEAKER_01]: will take them 10 games, you know, and I think that in itself is

[01:03:46] [SPEAKER_01]: a good thing because it means for us, there might be a player that

[01:03:51] [SPEAKER_01]: shows up five, six games from now that everybody wondered where this

[01:03:56] [SPEAKER_01]: player was.

[01:03:56] [SPEAKER_01]: And it was just that player's time.

[01:03:59] [SPEAKER_01]: And she just needed that maturity piece to her game, to be able to

[01:04:03] [SPEAKER_01]: fulfill the things that we know she's capable of doing.

[01:04:07] [SPEAKER_04]: Any areas on the roster now that you feel real comfortable about?

[01:04:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think the team is wearing more balance than last year.

[01:04:16] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, we have a lot of new faces in the back line, you

[01:04:21] [SPEAKER_01]: know, but I think those guys have adjusted really well.

[01:04:23] [SPEAKER_01]: We definitely have a new faces in goal.

[01:04:26] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, Hannah Suter left who was a perennial starter for us.

[01:04:30] [SPEAKER_01]: And now, you know, we have Demi, Cal, Emily that are battling

[01:04:34] [SPEAKER_01]: for a starting role in that area.

[01:04:37] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, the midfield has changed quite a bit.

[01:04:39] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, so there are new faces with, you know, Arisaki in there

[01:04:43] [SPEAKER_01]: with Dunez, with Colton, you know, so those are some new faces in there.

[01:04:49] [SPEAKER_01]: And it's the same with up front, you know, Kingsley is there,

[01:04:52] [SPEAKER_01]: Dendis is there, you know, you've got Emma Patterson that's coming back.

[01:04:57] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think it's just a lot more balance and there's a lot more depth,

[01:05:02] [SPEAKER_01]: you know, which hopefully over the course of the season will prove to be

[01:05:07] [SPEAKER_01]: beneficial for us as other teams start weighing in, you know, we can

[01:05:10] [SPEAKER_01]: start bringing in new and fresh players that are just as capable.

[01:05:15] [SPEAKER_04]: One area that stands out for those that follow a lot of Lady Raiders

[01:05:18] [SPEAKER_04]: soccer is the loss of Caroline Manley, obviously a four year captain for your

[01:05:24] [SPEAKER_04]: squad. Is that kind of an area that are you needing that leadership or

[01:05:28] [SPEAKER_04]: has that role kind of been filled by some experienced players already?

[01:05:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I it's a little bit of both.

[01:05:35] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you know, Caroline gave us four years worth of experience as a

[01:05:39] [SPEAKER_01]: leader. And, you know, and I think you've got, you know, Lauren Sponstra,

[01:05:44] [SPEAKER_01]: you've got Sasha Nielsen, who are all the players now that have been here

[01:05:50] [SPEAKER_01]: and bring through the rigor and the grind that knows what it takes to

[01:05:53] [SPEAKER_01]: survive in our environment.

[01:05:55] [SPEAKER_01]: But I also think a player like Emma Brown, who has had two, you know,

[01:06:02] [SPEAKER_01]: excellent years in terms of her accolades that a very strong Division

[01:06:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Two level, you know, is coming in with a lot of experience in the

[01:06:14] [SPEAKER_01]: have. So I think that group, you know, in some respect is probably the most

[01:06:21] [SPEAKER_01]: experienced outside of our goalkeeper in our program.

[01:06:26] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I think their experience probably the least amount of change.

[01:06:31] [SPEAKER_04]: You bring up Lauren there, the defender for you, a great player,

[01:06:35] [SPEAKER_04]: again, another player that's been there for a very long time.

[01:06:38] [SPEAKER_04]: And I spoke with her over the summer talking about taking over that

[01:06:40] [SPEAKER_04]: leadership role, something that's so unique with her, especially in the

[01:06:44] [SPEAKER_04]: post-COVID area that we live in now is having a player that's been a part

[01:06:47] [SPEAKER_04]: of a program for four plus years.

[01:06:49] [SPEAKER_04]: How important is her role as far as instilling the culture that you

[01:06:52] [SPEAKER_04]: talked about at the beginning of the episode with these new collection

[01:06:55] [SPEAKER_04]: of players?

[01:06:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, it's extremely important, you know, because she's able,

[01:07:01] [SPEAKER_01]: she's lived it.

[01:07:02] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, Lauren has been through where we've had, you know, great

[01:07:09] [SPEAKER_01]: seasons and she's been through where we've had down seasons.

[01:07:12] [SPEAKER_01]: And so, you know, she's lived through it all and is able to help keep the team

[01:07:19] [SPEAKER_01]: in a sense of neutrality, you know, where we're not overhyping the great

[01:07:25] [SPEAKER_01]: things that have happened, but we're also not living down and being depressed

[01:07:29] [SPEAKER_01]: about the drop seasons that we've had.

[01:07:31] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, because I think, you know, for her having experienced both, she now

[01:07:37] [SPEAKER_01]: is able to see the potential that this group has relative to groups that she's

[01:07:43] [SPEAKER_01]: been on, you know, and I think she'll be the first to tell you that she's so

[01:07:48] [SPEAKER_01]: much happier with the group and where they are and how talented they are.

[01:07:53] [SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, what we really should be able to accomplish this year.

[01:07:59] [SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely.

[01:07:59] [SPEAKER_04]: She's a great character on and off the field.

[01:08:01] [SPEAKER_04]: I know that she's someone that again, just kind of exudes that principles

[01:08:07] [SPEAKER_04]: that you instill in your players.

[01:08:10] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[01:08:10] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, she's done really well and, you know, her development

[01:08:15] [SPEAKER_01]: path has been fantastic.

[01:08:17] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I mean, she started as a freshman, didn't see much playing time

[01:08:21] [SPEAKER_01]: and, you know, was able to stick through it, believe in what we believe

[01:08:25] [SPEAKER_01]: in, believe in us, believe in herself.

[01:08:28] [SPEAKER_01]: And now, you know, she sat in as an all conference player and hopefully we'll be

[01:08:33] [SPEAKER_01]: able to repeat, if not enhance or improve on some of the accolades that she won

[01:08:38] [SPEAKER_01]: last year.

[01:08:40] [SPEAKER_04]: And some other players, as far as accolades go, Amanda Labarge picks up a

[01:08:44] [SPEAKER_04]: preseason first team All-C USA as a midfielder there.

[01:08:48] [SPEAKER_04]: She's your returning leading goal scorer as well as points total.

[01:08:52] [SPEAKER_04]: So I mean, her game is you got to expect to just continue

[01:08:55] [SPEAKER_04]: to skyrocket this season.

[01:08:57] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[01:08:57] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you know, Manon is a student of the game and I think that's what

[01:09:00] [SPEAKER_01]: makes her special.

[01:09:02] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, she likes to learn about the game and the different things

[01:09:07] [SPEAKER_01]: that are happening and the ways to play.

[01:09:09] [SPEAKER_01]: And I think that, you know, that quest that she has for knowledge as

[01:09:13] [SPEAKER_01]: well as just her passion for the game is something that's going to take

[01:09:17] [SPEAKER_01]: her extremely far.

[01:09:18] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, so we're excited that she's a part of our group.

[01:09:22] [SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely.

[01:09:22] [SPEAKER_04]: Another one goal score returning is Faith Adji, a player that totaled

[01:09:27] [SPEAKER_04]: four goals, nine points as a forward.

[01:09:29] [SPEAKER_04]: And I would assume you're kind of expecting her to for her

[01:09:32] [SPEAKER_04]: production to pick up this year.

[01:09:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[01:09:35] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I mean, Faith has been training well and excuse me,

[01:09:39] [SPEAKER_01]: let's go some really nice goals are training for us.

[01:09:42] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I think right now it's, it's a matter of helping her to

[01:09:45] [SPEAKER_01]: transfer some of those into the college game and into this, into

[01:09:51] [SPEAKER_01]: this league, you know, but she certainly has the ability to unlock

[01:09:55] [SPEAKER_01]: games and choose the ability to win games extremely late for us.

[01:10:00] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, and that's something that we lacked last year, you know,

[01:10:03] [SPEAKER_01]: but I think with a little bit more time, Faith will be able to

[01:10:07] [SPEAKER_01]: help do us help us do those things.

[01:10:09] [SPEAKER_04]: And I want to talk about schedule now.

[01:10:11] [SPEAKER_04]: The one thing about it, if there was ever an advantageous home

[01:10:15] [SPEAKER_04]: home field advantage ever, it would be this schedule right here.

[01:10:17] [SPEAKER_04]: You got 11 home games, you got 10 left now, and then you got two

[01:10:21] [SPEAKER_04]: road games that are within a hundred miles of Nashville and Huntsville.

[01:10:23] [SPEAKER_04]: Um, I mean, it's got to play to your advantage.

[01:10:27] [SPEAKER_04]: As I said, being home almost the entire season, it feels like.

[01:10:31] [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.

[01:10:31] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, we, you know, we've got, like you said, I mean, when

[01:10:35] [SPEAKER_01]: we built this schedule, you know, you always look at where your

[01:10:39] [SPEAKER_01]: team is and what they need and what opponents might fit them and how

[01:10:44] [SPEAKER_01]: does that flow into the full schedule?

[01:10:48] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, and I felt with the maturity that we lacked in last season was

[01:10:57] [SPEAKER_01]: we needed to play a lot more at home to prepare us for conference play

[01:11:02] [SPEAKER_01]: than we did on the road, you know, because we do have some really

[01:11:07] [SPEAKER_01]: tough games on the road, especially in conference.

[01:11:11] [SPEAKER_01]: Uh, and so we're certainly using this to hopefully help build our

[01:11:17] [SPEAKER_01]: confidence in our young players.

[01:11:19] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, there's anyone will tell you young players are so much better

[01:11:23] [SPEAKER_01]: at home than they're on the road.

[01:11:25] [SPEAKER_01]: And so, you know, that's, that was our plan was to be able to

[01:11:29] [SPEAKER_01]: showcase our team and our maturity from last year to our home fans

[01:11:34] [SPEAKER_01]: and help get them behind us so that, you know, we can actually

[01:11:39] [SPEAKER_01]: now be able to win games and have that mentality of winning

[01:11:42] [SPEAKER_01]: games, home or away.

[01:11:44] [SPEAKER_01]: And, you know, and if our first game is any indication of it, I mean,

[01:11:51] [SPEAKER_01]: the fans were, were absolutely outstanding, you know, and big

[01:11:56] [SPEAKER_01]: thanks to coach Mason and his boys.

[01:11:58] [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, the football group was there and that made a huge

[01:12:00] [SPEAKER_01]: difference for our girls.

[01:12:02] [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, I think just being able to play at home in front of our

[01:12:07] [SPEAKER_01]: fans will help our younger players grow up faster so they can manage

[01:12:12] [SPEAKER_01]: games on the road.

[01:12:14] [SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely.

[01:12:15] [SPEAKER_04]: And you said it there too, that the conference slate gets tough,

[01:12:17] [SPEAKER_04]: especially in those road matchups.

[01:12:19] [SPEAKER_04]: And I want to hear from you as someone who's a lot more familiar

[01:12:21] [SPEAKER_04]: as far as the landscape goes with CUSA this season, you know,

[01:12:25] [SPEAKER_04]: where do you kind of see the stronger programs at and what is

[01:12:28] [SPEAKER_04]: it going to take for your program to kind of overcome those road games?

[01:12:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I think, you know, it's just a matter of consistency.

[01:12:36] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, I mean, we had really won goal games with the top two

[01:12:42] [SPEAKER_01]: teams in the league last year, which was Liberty and New Mexico.

[01:12:46] [SPEAKER_01]: Liberty we lost to 1-0 at home and New Mexico State, we lost to 3-2

[01:12:52] [SPEAKER_01]: on the road, you know, so certainly, you know, with those two

[01:12:56] [SPEAKER_01]: teams, you have to believe that they're going to be the top

[01:12:59] [SPEAKER_01]: two teams just based on their performance from last year.

[01:13:02] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, so, you know, I feel with the group that we had

[01:13:05] [SPEAKER_01]: last year, we were very close in those games and could have

[01:13:09] [SPEAKER_01]: gotten the result that we wanted.

[01:13:10] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, so I think this year, despite both of those games being

[01:13:15] [SPEAKER_01]: on the road and I know they're going to be extremely tough on the road,

[01:13:18] [SPEAKER_01]: you know, but I think the great news is they're a little bit later

[01:13:21] [SPEAKER_01]: in the year for us, which hopefully means that we're a lot more

[01:13:25] [SPEAKER_01]: seasoned by then and be able to manage those games a little bit better.

[01:13:31] [SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely, coach.

[01:13:31] [SPEAKER_04]: Well, I appreciate you taking the time.

[01:13:34] [SPEAKER_04]: I know the season is just now underway and you're a busy man,

[01:13:36] [SPEAKER_04]: so take in a few minutes just to speak with us and the Blue Raider Nation.

[01:13:39] [SPEAKER_04]: I just want to highlight, too, that you got a road contest coming up,

[01:13:43] [SPEAKER_04]: but you're back home again shortly this coming Sunday against Tennessee Tech.

[01:13:46] [SPEAKER_04]: That kickoff that kicks off at five p.m.

[01:13:50] [SPEAKER_04]: But coach, I wish you the you and the Lady Raiders the best of luck this season.

[01:13:54] [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, thank you so much.

[01:13:55] [SPEAKER_01]: And thanks for having us and giving us this platform to,

[01:13:59] [SPEAKER_01]: you know, allow other people to know a little bit more about who we are

[01:14:02] [SPEAKER_01]: and what we do with love to have our fans come out and support us.

[01:14:06] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, we'll definitely always need a 12th person.

[01:14:09] [SPEAKER_04]: Absolutely, coach.

[01:14:10] [SPEAKER_04]: And you heard that Lady Raider fans be out there, be the 12th person,

[01:14:13] [SPEAKER_04]: coach, I appreciate you again.

[01:14:15] [SPEAKER_01]: No problem. Thank you so much.

[01:14:20] [SPEAKER_04]: I appreciate having everyone on the episode today.

[01:14:23] [SPEAKER_04]: Austin Lewis with the football talk.

[01:14:24] [SPEAKER_04]: We had Jenna Orner there with the volleyball talk.

[01:14:27] [SPEAKER_04]: And of course, coach Aston Rodin able to squeeze us in

[01:14:30] [SPEAKER_04]: to talk a little bit about his Lady Raider soccer season coming up.

[01:14:33] [SPEAKER_04]: This is our Raider wrap up portion of the episode for those that are new

[01:14:36] [SPEAKER_04]: to the Blue Raider podcast at the end of every episode.

[01:14:39] [SPEAKER_04]: We'd like to wrap up with the previous week in all things

[01:14:42] [SPEAKER_04]: Blue Raider athletics, as well as talk about the upcoming week

[01:14:45] [SPEAKER_04]: and outlook for the schedule.

[01:14:47] [SPEAKER_04]: In regards to the wrap up, it's pretty short and sweet,

[01:14:50] [SPEAKER_04]: as I just spoke there with Coach Rodin, you have the

[01:14:53] [SPEAKER_04]: Lady Raiders drop their home contest on Sunday to Belmont

[01:14:56] [SPEAKER_04]: by a score of two to one.

[01:14:58] [SPEAKER_04]: Emma Pettersen, as he said, with the one goal versus Belmont,

[01:15:00] [SPEAKER_04]: got him that one lead there before the half.

[01:15:03] [SPEAKER_04]: And then this upcoming week, as I previously stated,

[01:15:05] [SPEAKER_04]: they'll be on the road in Lafayette, Louisiana on Thursday.

[01:15:08] [SPEAKER_04]: The 22nd, where that kicks off at 7 p.m.

[01:15:11] [SPEAKER_04]: And then they are back home on Sunday, the 25th to kick off at 5 p.m.

[01:15:15] [SPEAKER_04]: against the Golden Eagles of Tennessee Tech.

[01:15:17] [SPEAKER_04]: So Tennessee Tech spending a lot of time here

[01:15:20] [SPEAKER_04]: in Murfreesboro for football, as well as Lady Raider soccer coming up.

[01:15:24] [SPEAKER_04]: And that'll do it for the Raider wrap up.

[01:15:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Just to reiterate the giveaway that we're doing here

[01:15:29] [SPEAKER_04]: at the Blue Raider podcast, I'm extremely excited to finally

[01:15:31] [SPEAKER_04]: do some giveaways, get some outreach here for the Blue Raider podcast.

[01:15:36] [SPEAKER_04]: If you want to be a part of that, if you want to get your name

[01:15:39] [SPEAKER_04]: into the drawing to win those two tickets to the MTSU Tennessee Tech

[01:15:42] [SPEAKER_04]: football game on the 31st, all you have to do is you're going to have

[01:15:45] [SPEAKER_04]: to like and share the post and all the social media.

[01:15:48] [SPEAKER_04]: And you can enter your name in at a maximum of five different times.

[01:15:52] [SPEAKER_04]: That's right. If you follow us on our Twitter, Instagram,

[01:15:55] [SPEAKER_04]: Facebook, TikTok and YouTube, all you have to do is follow, subscribe,

[01:15:59] [SPEAKER_04]: share that post, and then you will be entered in to the drawing

[01:16:03] [SPEAKER_04]: to win those tickets to the MTSU Tennessee Tech football game.

[01:16:06] [SPEAKER_04]: On August 31st.

[01:16:08] [SPEAKER_04]: So that'll wrap up our episode for today.

[01:16:10] [SPEAKER_04]: I appreciate everyone tuning back in.

[01:16:11] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm excited for a season two.

[01:16:13] [SPEAKER_04]: I'm happy to put out some new content for you guys,

[01:16:15] [SPEAKER_04]: interviewing more coaches, more players should be an exciting

[01:16:18] [SPEAKER_04]: 2024-25 season for a lot of reasons.

[01:16:21] [SPEAKER_04]: Football being the main one

[01:16:22] [SPEAKER_04]: with the new administration under coach Derek Mason.

[01:16:26] [SPEAKER_04]: Next week, we will begin previewing our week one matchup

[01:16:29] [SPEAKER_04]: against the Golden Eagles, as well as have a conversation

[01:16:32] [SPEAKER_04]: with our women's golf coach, Lauren Gusecki.

[01:16:34] [SPEAKER_04]: And then we will wrap it all up with our cross country head coach

[01:16:38] [SPEAKER_04]: Keith Vroman to talk about his upcoming season and indoor track and field.

[01:16:43] [SPEAKER_04]: So again, thanks for tuning in to the Blue Raider podcast.

[01:16:45] [SPEAKER_04]: And we will catch you next Tuesday morning.

[01:16:47] [SPEAKER_04]: And until then, go blue.