Collge Football Forecast: Overtime With San Jose State DPP Beca Perez

[Music] for those of you that can't get enough of college football forecast we double stacked this one that's right you say to yourself gosh we just got a bunch of ACC Knowledge from Jeffrey fan guess what that wasn't enough show no now I've never made a 30 under 30 list I have a shot maybe a 60 under 60 if I if I get hustl right away um but we have a guest with us who is one of the most amazing smart driven energetic and already exceptionally and rightfully recognize people in her profession already uh ladies and Gentlemen please welcome the director of play Personnel of San State University of Spartans Becca perz how are we doing Becca I'm doing great thank you appreciate you guys having me on today we appreciate you somehow finding time despite the fact you don't have any time yeah so I'm going to begin at the beginning um I dreamed of making football my profession and I never managed to pull it off most of us dream of it right never managed to pull it off when did it click in your head you actually could do football for a living and how did it happen um so it probably started for me back in high school I was a an equipment manager um at my high school for both the football and baseball team um and then when I graduated I knew I you know wanted to continue somehow in sports um went to a junior college College of s up the road where you know I kind of got to get my feet wet in different you know departments within the program um and really fell in love with it and you know was there for two years doing recruiting with the defense um operations and Equipment still and had a chance to come to San Jose State and finish my undergrad and be a volunteer student assistant for four years and uh I haven't looked back since you know it's been a dream come true um you know I think that if you asked me a few years ago you know if I'd be in this position back home um I would think you're crazy but you know very fortunate to uh have some great mentors and some people that have helped me along the way well at some point I'm going to have to introduce you to my friend Amy tras um who is one of the great uh Pioneers in football period uh she of course got hired by Al Davis I think close to 30 years ago and caused a Ruckus um I think at the time there was lots of tongue clucking hand ringing and oh my God you know and the the league survived uh for those that didn't hear the NFL is still going uh I remember when Jennifer King got named to her position we saw the U Buccaneers win Super Bowl with a woman coach who is incredibly important to their success so I'm going to ask you a couple questions I'm GNA throw up in the Brock so obviously you get interviewed and asked the same questions over and over again what's it like to be a woman in football blah blah blah blah blah um I'm gonna ask you a slightly different version of the question there are young women who are 10 11 12 years old 13 whatever looking at you you are already a role model right crazy as it sounds to say if you could give somebody who is essentially a younger version of you looking at you advice about how do you get from being told you can't do this it's not possible to doing it and shoving it in their faces uh what would you say are the things you need to do to get to the position you're in yeah you know and I you know whenever I get asked something similar like this I always talk about you know for any young little girl just never let anybody tell you know um that's the biggest thing for me you know whether it's in sports or in a different you know um Avenue you know the biggest thing is just you know keeping your head down and and being a grinder uh you know when I first got started in this you know there weren't many women in in football um you know and over the last I would say five years it's definitely you know grown significantly which is really cool to see but uh you know for any young little girl just whatever it is that you're passionate about don't ever let anybody tell you no and just keep trying to you know break Doors Down um you know like I said I was fortunate enough to have some great mentors but uh some people along the way that you know broke down barriers for me like Jennifer king um you know there's a few of us that are in this you know Woman's Group and so you know we always help each other out you know whether it's job opportunities that come open um and it could range from coaching to marketing within the NFL or or in college so um you know and just kind of clicking with the the right people um you know that are have a vested interest in you to to help you along the way okay I'm gonna throw it open because I know Brock has some questions as well and Brock is actually you know at least in your your general age demographic so maybe you guys could you know discuss Pokemon I don't know but um but Brock what questions do you have for the amazing Becca Perez yeah when it comes to football Staffing I think you can agree with me when I say the it expanded uh beyond what it was 20 years ago especially in the 21st century every great coaching staff has a non-coaching support staff just like yourself could you talk about what your role is as a DPP and how does that affect football operations on a day-to-day basis yeah so um you know and I'm pretty fortunate here at San Jose State I'm actually the only one in recruiting um I have a full-time volunteer inter turn but other than that it's just me so when it comes to anything involving recruiting whether it's evaluations uh when recruits are on campus um to coaches travel and kind of picking where they're going to go um that's all you know just corresponded by me um whereas like at other programs Even in our conference they have you know maybe another full-timer um you know and then as you go to the power four level they probably have you know four to five full-timers along with an army of interns so for me it's it's pretty cool cuz it's just me right you know you have now these other positions within the recruiting departments on campus director of you know recruiting operations um and stuff like that but to be able to do it all um at in one location is actually pretty cool for me um you know because I have that experience just having been at you know the other Academy and and at Stanford um last season so so you know no day is the same for me um whether it's transcript breakdown or dealing with admissions to try to get our our transfers in uh you know it it all goes through me so and oh God yeah that's wow yeah no that that is a unenviable amount of work but you guys you guys are doing such an incredible job at San Jose State you're coming in with a new coaching staff with Kenne matalo can you just talk about what are some of the differences You' seen under his tenure compared to what you've seen in some of your previous stops yeah you know so I was fortunate enough uh I was here for four years with the previous staff as well so um you know from living in the old building the old facility to now you know having my own office in this brand new facility that we got um you know it's it's pretty cool but most importantly the people um you know I owe a lot of respect to the previous staff for kind of helping me um kind of get my feet wet at this level but um Coach Ken I I mean it when I say that he's the greatest human being ever um you know he he's so humble um but he's so appreciative too and he lets me kind of do what I want in recruiting and how I want to do it um but what makes my job easier the coaches you know they're great recruiters they're great people um you know when we're all together you know the recruits feel it the families feel it um and so you know I'm really excited about what we have going for us this upcoming season um you know and we got a brand new offense um you know I'm lucky enough that you know the defensive coordinator still here um coach Odum and Coach mcgiven who was the previous OC um and so having those two here to kind of help support me as well um when I need it you know if I have questions or hey how should I do it here here um just because it's different you know being here at San Jose State than it was at you know army or or at Stanford um but you know these guys have welcomed me with open arms every single one of these coaches um and you know I'm really really excited uh for what we got going and and the players too you know the the kids have been nothing but great um some of them are still here from when I was here a couple years ago so it's pretty cool to see some of them you know grow and learn um and but sure uh both on and off the field you mentioned just oh sorry you just mentioned moment ago uh that you you deal with everything which is insane um but so my new nickname for you is one woman Army but the um I'll let Brock back in in a second you mentioned obviously being at the um at West Point which is one of the most demanding places to recruit on the planet Earth because you all the normal football stuff plus you need somebody who has a letter of recommendation from like a congressman you these are people that have spotless there's no oh you know they were just 17 when they did this no people with spotless reputations and Records right who are excellent students and fantastic athletes and you have to find enough of them to put on a football field um the the challenge is insane and then Stanford would which is essentially a West Coast Ivy League school that is also a giant school that is a tremendous athletic reputation and Legacy if you'll just walk through the different challenges of recruiting players to those three places where you've been and sort of compare and contrast and then Brock I'll set up for a while I promise yeah you know so um obviously at West Point like you mentioned you know it's you're you're looking for a different type of kid um you know the difference also is that you're you're really recruiting a hundred um kids because you're recruiting 70 for the prep school that you got to think about and then 30 kids roughly will be direct um and come to the direct roster so you know retention is obviously uh difficult every year as well but you're you're offering and actively recruiting at one point I was sending Graphics to 500 kids whether it was from my phone or from our head coach's phone because he wanted to send stuff to everybody um and then you know you're having asked questions of hey do you have a peanut allergy or you know do you have ADD are you on medication because if so then you know we can't recruit you um you know and obviously the the test uh the Act and the SAT scores um you know plays a major role in that so there was a lot um and I think it was a great experience for me just having to manage and work with that load um I was responsible for the communication plan so making sure that you know each active recruit um was either getting a phone call or or a Written Letter um every week and uh and you know as long as it was from one of our our full-time coaches uh but just trying to find that balance of being able to make sure that every kid um was getting love and then you know you trans I transition to Stanford which you know you're you're looking for you know a needle and a hay stack almost sometimes because um you want obviously a student that a recruit that can get into school um but most importantly that's really good at football and uh you know at the time when I first got there you know having to deal with nil you know from the start um was something new for me and so when you know what made it hard at Stanford though is I I felt like some kids were devaluing the degree because they were picking you know a 100,000 you know from some other power four versus getting a degree from Stanford um you know so it uh it was definitely a wakeup call for me um to realize you know there's a lot of things that you know we have to deal with in recruiting nowadays and it's forever changing um and when I came back to San Jose State the one thing I learned was uh just trying to find kids that want to be here um kind of your blue collar old school just want to play football you know doesn't matter about nil or you know anything else just wants to come in and work um and I feel like this team that we have is is everything you know um with that you know a lot of our guys are transfers and um you know we brought a bunch of new kids in uh over the summer so you know the dealing with the transfer portal now is something new for me as well but uh you know it's been a lot of fun and it's been a great experience to say the least you know learning a lot as we go but those two two other spots for me just uh open my eyes and you know kind of now I can be a little strategic with you know what we can do in recruiting here at s State um we got 12 commits in the 25 class which uh you know doesn't really happen um here at San Jose State that early but because recruiting is forever changing it was something that you know we were able to get done and uh really excited about the class that we're building and and the future of this program excellent okay Brock back to you so I want to to get into that nil discussion and as much as I tried to research it it's still very unclear what are the boundaries when it comes to what you can mention with nil when it comes to recruit and what is off limits yeah to be honest I don't like to have those conversations with recruits um you know if if our coaches choose to uh you know that's fine but um you know just because there's so many you know kind of red tape areas that you have to to go through and you know what's allowed and what's not I I don't ever have those conversations with any of our recruits or even with our current players um I let the higher ups handle that um just because it it's you know something can get twisted so easily um you know and then you hear about all these contracts being broken and and you know so um I try to stay out of that as much as I can um and just focus on whether it's our team or current you know 2025 commit um so because there there's a lot of rules that are forever changing within the nil stuff too so uh once they get that figured out then maybe I'll start to dig into that a little bit more but right now I'm I'm just trying to stay out of it absolutely and then those conversations with recruits what do they look like and what is your aim whenever you get on the phone with a recruit yeah you know it's it's about the kids um at the end of the day it's you know trying to help them be the best version of themselves right while while also being the best version of of us uh you know and that's whether it's in the classroom or you know it's on the field or just in life um you know and so I think that a lot of our guys if you ask them you know and I tell them all the time like I love them you know they're like you know they're like my sons or my little brothers you know and uh at the end of the day I just want to be able to to help them pursue their dreams um and I've been able to build some really great relationships with a lot of these guys and um you know when it's with recruits it's hey look this is what your future's going to be like like you know your best memories with your football brothers are going to be you know from the locker room stuff um you know and the Championships that you win um the hard times and the good times um you know when when you look back at your college experience that's what you're going to remember um and those that impacted their lives you know and so I want to be able to at least impact you know the lives of the guys that were recruiting um you know and help them pursue whatever it is whether that's the NFL or they want to be a you know CEO of a major company um whatever it is just trying to help them be the best version of them um at the end of the day with your role obviously there's a lot of work that comes with it can you just take us to what a daily schedule looks like in your life yeah so right now um you know I uh I'm actually pretty lucky that you know because we're at a smaller program you get you know a lot of people wear a lot of different hats so right now it's it's all ball it's all football um you know so I'm sitting in you know our offensive and defensive meetings um I know our defense I was with the staff um previously so um you know I feel pretty comfortable in it now it's just learning you know the spread and Shred under coach stutzman um you know and so uh during the scrimmage today that we actually had I was on the sideline you know charting for the defense um and so you know just just for me it's all about you know just right now making sure our guys are right the football looks right um trying to help some of our players through you know hey um you know we're getting closer to game week so just trying to help them understand that some guys are going to be on Scout team and some guys are you know are going to be uh traveling and everything like that and um you know just trying to help them all through that is what I'm doing right now it's kind of like a Player Development type of deal that I got going right now as well um you know and right now recruiting is dead so we don't have any recruits on campus which is kind of nice I get a little break from that um but just prepping for the season you know it's it's prepping for okay hey what do we want to do on game days with recruits or you know what what do we want to what events do we want to invite recruits to um throughout the year and maybe even finding some official visit weekends but you know it's it's a lot right now um kind of get to do a little bit of everything and so uh but the nice part is that you know we get this month to just focus on football kind of put recruiting to the side a little bit um you know check in on our recruits and make sure that you know school's starting off well and sending them good luck Graphics every week but uh it's it's all just football which I love you know I love this time of the year um because that that's also what keeps me saying to be honest absolutely and I want to go out that to my final question and that is for any recruit that's watching right now why should they consider why should they commit to s because they're going to have fun at the end of the day um with how much recruiting is changing um they just get a focus on football you know and and that's the nice part about San Lou state is you know we don't have all the bells and whistles which is fine it's just hey it's just we all we got you know and that's all we need um we have each other whether it's as coaches or as as players um you know so they're going to get you know a lot of they're going to get a second family uh by coming to San Jose State they're going to be able to get coached really well by some amazing coaches um they're going to learn how to become leaders uh by Coach Ken and you know win a lot of games uh but just have fun again like I said that's the biggest thing we all got into football um at one point in time because it was fun you know and with this nil stuff and the portal it's turning it into a business a little bit but you know we're still pretty lucky that you know it's still a lot of fun and we're not having to deal with it you know as much as some of the bigger programs are um you know and our guys are going to play you know especially like you'll see during our scrimmages and during our you know um our games our dline especially all those guys are going to play whether they're a walk- on or not um you know because that's just the grind of of the position but um you know those are just some of the things that you know we're fortunate enough to have here um is guys are going to play you know all it takes is one one snap one bad play or something and next man up you know Bill I'll get over to you well first of all I I know you hear this all the time but you're an incredibly impressive person Becca when I hear all the stuff you're doing and it's like oh I'm also doing this uh it's it's it the mind just staggers when I think of your your your output of energy mentally and physically I'm surprised you aren't in the cold tub right now I'm surpr recovery tub just try to get through this um I'll tell you I do have a couple questions that I'll was fire at you real quick uh so if somebody's trying to figure out how do I do this thing you know get to where you're going in terms of skill sets or things you should learn things you should major in or things like that what are the things that it takes to be successful in a field like yours back yeah to be honest uh you know as I've gotten older and kind of just been you know meeting different coaches and kind of talking to to them about their different backgrounds as well the one thing I realized is is you know I I majored in Communications and I majored in Communications because it was something that I was going to be able to you know um translate that into uh the football side of things and and that's you know learning how to communicate with different people um you know we're in the people business here um in football and so learning to you know deal with guys when they're you know um at the highest level or you know when they're at a low point in their life and just trying to bring them up um you know so it the other thing is you know sometimes it doesn't always matter what you major in um it obviously helps if it's you know like sports management or something but really it's the experience um and you know for me it was when I was a volunteer here for 40 years that's the best experience I had because I had the mindset um that you know I was full-time and I had to be there the same time the coaches were whether it was 5:00 am or 6:00 a and you know drawing cards with the G at midnight you know the game the week of games um you know so just having the the experience is the biggest thing um and just you know learning how to grind you know there's going to be some bad times but um you got to go through it kind of your like your typical old school GA life a little bit um you know but uh you know it's forever changing you know now with the new rules that anybody can really coach on the field um you know so a lot of that's going to get lost but just having the work ethic and the the grind mentality um for me has been the biggest thing okay and I know you can't have you're not allowed or it's not right or whatever to have a favorite recruit or favorite player I get that because they're all your little brothers they're all your sons I get that but give me like a coolest or most surprising recruiting story maybe like a player that you didn't think you had any chance of Landing with you did land or maybe a player that you didn't really think much of at first but you kept watching and you kept watching and then the more you watch the more you began to believe in them something like that yeah so um the the first story that actually comes to mind is uh you know uh a previous relationship uh you know recruiting relationship we were I was recruiting a kid here um the last time I was here and he ended up going to walk on at a at a power four um you know we had this offseason some positional needs and uh he hopped in the portal you know and we kind of just stayed in contact after that and he actually ended up walking on here um and I told him I go look you know I call him son you know and um you know some people yeah you know I might be a little biased or anything like that but um you know was fortunate enough he he worked his way up and we were able to put him on scholarship after the spring um and so it's kind of an emotional moment because it's like you know we recruited him early on kept the friendship you know kept in contact you know he would hit me up if he just needed some advice and then um I told him hey I just need you to promise me and just trust me that this is going to work out just be you just come work and grind and uh he did and you know now he's you know competing for a starting job um and he's on scholarship so to see that um you know look back at how that friendship started um you know and where we are now it's it's pretty pretty cool because those are the ones that you know you impact the most and um the ones that you remember um forever so excellent my last question well okay semi last question so I'm also gonna be writing an article about you Becca so I'm gonna be emailing you some more questions I'm just warning you now um because I don't want to come too much your time right now so there'll either be questions I didn't get to or a more in-depth version of a question I did ask but you mentioned the things you've learned that have allowed you to be successful and you even talked about if you're talking to some younger person sounds funny saying to me saying that to you a younger person but but but you already are at this place in your profession and I know part of you is just trying to live in the moment right but there can't there has to be a part of you that's also thinking about what's next when you're when you are preparing yourself like what things you still working on what things you still trying to put into to your your your your box of skills your toolkit to prepare for whatever is next for you what things you still trying to learn and where you still trying to grow as a professional yeah you know for me um I'm I'm obviously the type that you know kind of be where your feet are um you know and uh obviously just you know having two previous stops before this uh you know someone yeah I I would I look back at Stanford and I was there probably under eight months um when it's all said and done and you know one of the things that I never wanted to um like just make sure of is that you know I'm not trying to hop around um you know level to level or opportunity to opportunity um this is really the first time that I've actually been you know uh just enjoying the moment um you know not thinking about the future or anything like that uh because I I really believe that under coach Ken's leadership you know we can do some really cool things and this is my alma modder so it's it's a little special to me um you know but you know I want to obviously you know continue to help those kind of pay it forward um for those that you know come behind me and um you know some of the things I'm working on you know just making sure okay hey you know if it's evaluations um you know whether it's for the NFL stuff or anything like that and just you know being more sound with the football and the X's and O's and being able to you know understand the language uh when talking with some of these coaches and um that way you know when I have conversations with recruits you know just hey this is what we see you as um you know this is how we want to utilize you where I can have those same conversations with those guys um you know we just finished watching the Hard Knocks as as a team and so to kind of see you know what the GM role is um you know they they did the Hard Knocks offseason with the Giants and just being able to see that whole uh perspective from the GM you know one day hopefully I you know that could be me but but you know to be honest I'm not in a rush uh to get there because at the end of the day you know like I said it's it's about having fun and um just trying to be where my feet are but um make an impact on those guys that we have here on this team and and this in this 25 class that we're building so well I'm excited about your future I know you are focused on the present uh but I don't have to be I I'm allowed to to start because I I I don't just Scout players I Scout I Scout front office people like I Scout Scouts I've got I've got a big old Target around you you're five star in my book reca oh boy so um I definitely going to be okay I'm gonna kind to calm myself down but look for uh a few more questions from me uh and then I'll be writing an article if you could also send I don't know like an action shot of you doing some cool football thing uh and that will be part of the article as well but most importantly I want to say this um you know that you are in a a position that just a decade ago people would have you said yourself people you would five years ago even you would said some somebody said you'll be doing this you would thought that's crazy you are part of changing not just this game but I think our world for the better so so I thank you for having the grind the courage uh the willingness and when I think about what you're workday must be like off the charts level of energy I don't know who's in charge of getting coffee uh for the sow State football program but God help them uh it is exciting it is a privilege it is a pleasure so uh once again your your email box is going to getting about you know 12 to 15ish questions from and good I will be following you this point forward so uh okay I do semi sort of have one more question so how do you define success in your role obviously you want to win football games but it's not just that simple I'm assuming what else do you look for to define success in what you do nope uh oh uh oh well that'll be one of the questions that maybe I'm emailing to Becca yes I did make the Mist saying I made the mistake of saying that was my final question so that might have uh and then realizing I did have one more question but be that as it may uh if indeed she had to go I can live with that I will uh yeah that's apparently what happened so no problem that'll be an email question let me just say this Brock now I clearly am a fan right I'm not going to pretend otherwise what got to me was how impressed with herself she was not you know what I mean like she didn't seem to seem to be I'm way more impressed with her than she is with herself like she didn't seem to think like yeah I'm doing all this amazing stuff uh and that's of course the mindset of people to do amazing things just they don't think of it as anything special this oh wait wait hold on we might be back in business yes here we go okay I semi I have one actual real final question for real this time sorry about that my phone overheated being outside in the sun oh I get it happens my for real final question uh for today that's not is defining success now obviously winning football games is clearly you know a very real way of looking at success but beyond just wins and losses how do you measure success in your role back um you know for me it's uh you know being able to impact the lives of those that you know I'm around um you know and just making you know making sure that everyone's the best version of themselves you know um for me it's not about the money um you know and it's not about you know the the fame either whatsoever there's some other great people that you know broke some tremendous barriers for for me to be able to have these opportunities and so um for me it's just you know obviously the wins and losses you know are are a huge thing for me um you know as well because that is the profession we're in right it comes down to wins and losses but uh you know most importantly the relationships that I build with these guys uh you know I hope that uh you know 10 years from now we can still stay in contact and look back and um just know that you know I made a positive impact on their life whether it was you know when they're husbands or fathers you know um just making sure that you know they can continue to just pay it forward as well um you know I always say it takes a village I didn't get here by myself um you know so being able to have these opportunities um just trying to take advantage of them and uh just kind of you know pay pay it forward but most importantly try to thank um those that help me get to where I'm at um while doing so thank you now for real I'm going to give you back the rest of your very busy day to do the things you must do uh ladies gentlemen uh anyone watching anyone who will watch this and will hopefully read the article when I'm done I want you to understand that we are like I said you she may not think she's anything special uh she may not think she's doing anything particularly important but I know she is so I am going to watch the rest of Miss Becca Perez career with extreme interest uh you have any last thing to say Brock before we close the second segment out of today's college football forecast well all I gotta say is thank you so much for joining us and I wish San Jose State and yourself the best entering the season thank you guys I appreciate it more than you know well we appreciate you more than we can say thank you once again everyone it has been a pleasure and honor and privilege uh we will do this again in another week and we'll have football actual football happening to discuss uh once again I thank you once again Becca Perez the director player Personnel of Santa State State University the mighty Spartans and you'll be getting some email questions from me very very very very soon take very good care of yourself young lady sounds good thank you guys you guys have a great one too appreciate it we did it we did it two a days two days Brock two days so I'm GNA go you know stretch um and and make sure I I do a a nice cool down so I don't pull something but this was hydrate indeed hydrate yes hydration also key hydration is also super super key super super super key uh but yes certainly certainly certainly this has been a great great great great day and uh I will indeed be firing off um to backa some follow-up questions and some deep ER versions of some of the questions I was able to ask like a more in-depth version of and we will uh we'll be talking about an actual game actual do you believe it it's back football it's back we are so back we are so back we'll find out soon if Florida or Miami is back but we no matter what we are back I think I may actually write an article called that the calling it that the we are we are we back B but uh once again on behalf of nope he moved there it is we have of the baby face assass himself Brock Vieira and I'm Bill Caroll this has been a great great day for college football forecast we will do this again in one week and uh yeah that's what we'll do we'll do it again in one week that's what we'll do and uh then [Music] um what