Should be a dandy.
LIST OF AFFILIATES AND LINKS
PREDICTION: I'm still getting a feel for Harsin. He'll speak more words per minute than anyone aside from Terry Bowden.
*****
BERT WATTS is up first. You may know him as the team's outside linebackers coach and special teams coach.
6:16 p.m. — He won an award at Cal when he was a player.
6:17 — Not Andy asks Bert about how he got here. "We've known each other for a few years now going way back to 2016. We played against each other four times in two seasons. We had a mutual respect for each other. When he earned this opportunity here, it all kinda came together. It was an easy decision for me to come down here."
6:18 — Andy asks about getting to know players during the pandemic. "That's tough because you're trying to get to know these young men. We're grateful to have the time with them." (Said the spring and summer allowed them to get closer with the players since off-campus recruiting was truncated.)
6:19 — Not Andy asks about his personality. "I've always been an energetic person. When I get out there, I'm having fun, man. I'm going to bring that juice every day."
6:20 — His mentor was his position coach at Cal. Missed the name. "He taught me the right way to do things."
6:21 — Not Andy asks if the biggest difference between California and The South is weather or food? (Andy thinks the question was pure genius.) Bert chooses weather, though he lustfully recalls an intimate relationship with Memphis barbecue when he worked up there last year. "I'm happy as a clam." (HOW DOES ONE TELL IF A CLAM IS HAPPY OR SAD, I ASK.)
6:21 — Andy asks about Bert's positions, how they played against Akron. He seems pretty happy with special teams. "Very pleased with that." Defensively? "It was fun to finally watch those guys let it loose. You got to see them go play. It was awesome. I loved it. I'm excited to see the improvement we make for Week Two."
COMMERCIAL BREAK
(Brodarious Hamm was interviewed at this time. He didn't say much, but mentioned that he ballooned up from 300 to 350+ during his year off between HS and college. He underwent cancer treatment during that time.)
COMMERCIAL BREAK
6:37 — BRYAN HARSIN IS ON THE LINE!
6:37 — "I think everybody would want to listen to Tiger Talk," Harsin says while riffing off Andy's set-up for the Tiger Tailgate Show. GUFFAWS ALL AROUND.
6:38 — Andy asks about the Akron win. Harsin liked most of what he saw. "It was great to be out there in front of our fans. That's something we can't create in practice."
(My audio feed broke up here and I had to re-start.)
6:41 — Early games? Says they had one at Louisiana Lafayette a few years back. It was hotttt. "It all happens quickly. When you wake up, you don't have all day to get yourself ready. Not everybody is a morning person. You have to get your fuel to sustain your energy. We have to have that mindset that we're ready to play."
COMMERICAL BREAK
6:45 — Andy wants to know about the ASU Hornets. "They don't give up a lot of big plays. They're actually pretty good at situational football. They have a lot of different personnel groups. They have a good, quick-passing game. Their quarterback is a good player. In the one game that we got a chance to see, there were some good things from that. We have to make sure than we step on the field, our intensity is right." (Reminds us that the FCS played in the spring.)
6:47 — Julie/Juli emails in and wants to know about standouts from the weekend. "For the most part, on the defensive side, we were getting to the ball. We did a pretty good job of tackling. On the offensive side, we took care of the ball. I was happy with Tank. It was good to see Shaun Shivers hit it, too, and get a few scores. Jarquez Hunter ripped off a 40-yard run. You want to see guys go out and execute. I felt good about that." (Mentions the missed PAT early.)
6:49 — Andy reminds us that 9/11 was 20 years ago. "We were playing La Tech. I was a graduate assistant at Boise State. (he was giving a practice plan to his head coach when the first tower collapsed.) We knew something really bad had happened. You don't know what else to do — you go about your day. We were just sitting in his office with a lot of different emotions. We didn't practice that day, we didn't play that game. It's something we'll always remember, what happened to us and the pride we have in our country."
COMMERCIAL BREAK
6:54 — Not Andy wants to laud the student section for sticking around for the Akron game from start to finish. "Great energy, you can feel that the entire time. At the end of it, they were all there. We won the game. I went over there and let them know how important they are. It was great."
(CBH continues with his appreciation for the gameday experience at J-H)
6:56 — Not Andy asks about getting into the second game. "You have new things you want to put in. You have Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday to add them and rep them. Then it's game time. That's the real season for the players — the Tuesday practice was "bang" ... who can handle the week-to-week, getting yourself prepared. The process doesn't change a whole lot, our players just have to get better at it."
Harsin signs off with a measured, firm "War Eagle."
POST-SCRIPT: Strong performance tonight from Harsin. He's a little verbose, but he has a much better delivery than Malzahn and I sense more candor. You just have to kinda filter it because he speaks so many words.
BE GOOD. BE YOU.
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