JMU Sound Off GameDay Live from Charlotte

[Music] and good afternoon everyone I am Jonathan mcar with JMU sound off we are at the Marriott in UNC Charlotte directly across from the stadium where tonight the James Madison University Dukes will take the field for the first time in 252 days Steve uh a lot has happened in this offseason coaching changes 60 plus new players to this roster finally on a game day uh your thoughts just as we we get ready with some special guests today that we're goingon to have on the show uh just to celebrate another season of Jamie football it's going to be a great one it's is a beautiful facility beautiful hotel it's not going to be beautiful for those guys at 8:00 tonight 8 o00 tonight 49ers it's coming and it's coming hard you thought that thunderstorm last night was hard you wait till we hit the field baby we're coming hard well per usual it's become something that you never want to take for granted a massive sea of jamu fans have made the trip down to Charlotte uh from All Points uh Northeast West but also a huge community of jamu supporters from the Charlotte area we're gonna Michael Evangelista he's getting set in the green room right now to come on about the event last night getting his makeup taking care of but but just again another sign of the health of this program um having so many people invested uh wanting to celebrate another season of jamu football but just to help launch this team into a season that we believe can be another special one in the history of Jamie football yeah I mean tons of support last night at the alumni event tons of people in the hotel um tons of our people are here at the bar we've got a lot of people coming up from Atlanta a lot of people have come in from all over the country a lot of people live here so it's going to be a great event uh tonight with a bunch of our folks here so we'll have a ton of the JMU people um in the having a great time at the Charlotte 49ers game so uh you're somebody who obviously has watched the kind of the growth and the maturation of this team uh through the spring as well as obviously the the camp a lot of excitement centered around the fact that how quickly this team has come together uh and how much they've really embraced the challenges ahead of him with a coaching staff that's really made people uh the centerpiece of what this program is all about that seems to be when you hear from coaches across the country one of the central questions leading into the season is how quickly can these teams gel how quickly can chemistry grow your thoughts just on on how quickly the staff has been able to build again a genuine team atmosphere and a genuine family uh that is going to really lead them into the season yeah I think the key that we're going to see tonight is what coach chzn and staff have been able to do for the last nine months eight or nine months um they've been able to really coales everybody been able to get everybody together as a true Brotherhood every team out there will tell you they're tight they're collected you know they're all together they're a Brotherhood that's not necessarily true um but it's very true when you see this team and you'll see how this team is together we've seen it during practices we've seen it during scrimmages we've seen it during just charity work the charity work these guys have put in and how they're all together and have done such a nice job together um as a Brotherhood really does shine and it does when you see it on the field that's what brings it all together per usual from your perspective uh what happens on the field is obviously an important part of football game weeks but it's also the bringing together of a JMU Community old friends uh you know alumni who maybe they seen each other for a while but there's also a group of people who come to every game and you're seeing the social post you're seeing people really excited again about what this season represents in terms of so much more of a connection to something bigger than themselves uh it's been really impressive to see over the last 24 hours of of the post coming people wearing their their their purple their school colors days but then again to see that wave of people make the trip down to Charlotte as well as so many people at viewing parties in other parts of the country uh using this again as a way to celebrate James Mass University and then also to um highlight what makes this University so special the community and the passion uh for this program yeah I mean it's the passion we have with our fan base and you see it on social media um when I say there'll be thousands of people here from JMU we'll have thousands and when I say there'll be Millions watching from home there will be um we are a brand we're a national brand that's why we're on ESPNU tonight and the reason that they want to watch us is because we are one of the best programs in the G5 so Bas is great well with that before we get to our first guest we're going to bring on somebody who needs no introduction Michael Evangelista our other brother on the show had a little bit of car trouble this morning it's okay you lived up the event last night in a big way oh it was fantastic so Michael first couple minutes we talked all obviously what happens on the field is really important we're gonna get to that in a minute but last night was really the perfect example of the jamu community coming together in a big way talk about the event that the AL Association hosted at the brewery and just the celebration it was of of not only the new leadership for this football program the new leadership for the athletic department uh but uh Jeff bne in attendance and so many supporters from the Charlotte area uh really just embracing the excitement around this season yeah first off super excited to be here wouldn't be a game day without some uh some Gremlins every now and then um but we're all here we're all together adapt we adapt we figure it out we keep it moving but no last night was so much fun we uh got to meet Matt Ron again um got to ran into Steve Buck Hance Mickey Matthews paules did a great job really hyping up the crowd but it was a great way to really celebrate a new era right so Matt Ron was there addressing the crowd there was a ton of new people there huge uh Charlotte contingent of jam alums that were all represented which they were super excited about shout out to uh our buddies Justin partlo taking over the Charlotte chapter by the way and really reinvigorating energy into that group um but it was a huge celebration uh I think we're all excited Steve you alluded to we're going to have thousands of Dukes here today and they're wearing gold we're wearing purple it's going to feel like a really good home atmosphere in my opinion um but it was a great time we celebrated a lot of people were having a lot of Buzz around the seen a ton of pictures of these posted which has been awesome fantastic but also like the people that maybe don't check their email as much or maybe don't aren't on Twitter aren't on Facebook got to learn a little bit more about what the collective what we are doing a sound off and how we're evangelizing j& new sports all around so it it was a really fun night um had a couple drinks after words with Jake and some of the guys so it was a good time all around so so Michael shifting gears to what's going to happen on the field tonight uh again a number of questions around every college football program in the country in the era of the transfer portal over 60 new players on James Madison's roster over 70 new players on Charlotte a lot of discussion about the team that wins tonight likely is the team that figures it out from a chemistry perspective the earliest in this game what are you looking at when you look at the roster for JMU but also across the field a lot of questions about this Charlotte lineup who's going to be in the lineup there's talk about multiple starters missing for Charlotte um but you're kind of keys to how this game's going to focus in terms of the players on the field yelling quickly yeah I think um let's start off with what you mentioned right 70 new players of Charlotte we've got 60 plus new players uh our defensive coordinator Lyall Hemphill Set It Best in a conversation with Dave rigard what do you expect he doesn't know what to expect right no one knows what's going to be on the field every player majority of players that were there last year are not there anymore um and now we've got news of Biff talking about starters sitting out eight to nine of them due to injury um I think this game is all about you know who's gonna get comfortable faster and I was thinking about it this morning what what do we need to do we need to win first down right one of my buddies Ryan who we tail get up in the convo lot loves to say it four times which your flag by the way is arrived so there'll be a sound off flag flying in convo next Saturday four times three is 12 if we can win first downs stay out at the chains we get into more comfortable situations if we get into situations of second and 12 second and 14 third and long where they've got guys that can Rush we've got guys got the rush and now you're putting pressure around players that are in that position for the first time together that's going to cause a problem so we got to win first down we got the best offensive line in the country love it so it's going to be difficult I think for them to stop our guys from blowing them off the line um I think our guys are going to open up holes I think you're going to see 200 I'll predict 240 yards rushing tonight combined of our guys it's going to be a huge night on the ground well the best way to get two new quarterbacks obviously comfortable in the game is we don't know who's going to start for JMU is to have a great running game to get them into the game get them comfortable um how do you look at this running back room in terms of what they can mean for the success of this program both in the long term but also today in the short term as whoever gets uh the start at quarterback gets comfortable in this offense gains confidence uh both himself but as well as his teammates yeah I think you know it starts up front right like Steve m we've got over 200 starts on the offens line across the board Pat mcmurrey coming from Holy Cross started three years he's all conference player Jessie R started I think two years at St Francis All Conference player but I think for us it's like a heavy dose to AO heavy dose to pedway but how are we GNA create matchups on the outside um I I forgot who it was I think it was Dean K offensive Court it says you know modern college football is all about matchups and creating a numbers game can we throw the quick bubble screen can we t attack him around the edges it's not necessarily do we have hat on hat but like can we attack and we have two corners outside where we're in the three wide receiver set throw a quick bubble to Camaros throw a quick bubble to taji get the four or five yards get in front of the chains I think whoever can manage that chess match who's coming who's going on defense is going to be really key to today is there something you've seen in the past from from Bob chesy coach teams from Kennedy coach teams in terms of how they use the running backs in creative ways not just as tradtional backs but putting them in the slot using them in the passing game uh and how could that be a factor in again getting a Young quarterback or a veter quarterback whoever makes a start comfortable early on in this game I think when we've seen when you look at the last two or three years of a Holy Cross team with chese he really tries to maximize his talent right when they had sluka it was a very qb1 run first scheme he goes down they go into a four or five wide receiver spread I look at a guy like perie um sort of a uh you know he comes on here from Holy Cross we don't really know what his role is but when I look at his tap it kind of reminds me and here's for all the New England fans Patriot fans like a Danny Woodhead like Kevin Faulk comes in on third down gets the five or six yards when you need four he's that type of player and I think that's the type of offense we'll see from Chesney take the plays that are in front of him don't force anything down the field we don't need to right control the time of possession I think that's what we're going to get and once again it's a matchup game we've got quick guys on the out outside we've got very versatile tight ends that could provide matchup problems and we need to spread these guys out they've got some beef on the inside I've problem we can handle it but how do we get them running laterally get them tired it's going to be a hot day I know it's 8 o'clock it's going to be warm and humid I think that's going to be a very good big key to the game again if really quick if you're watching this feed let us know uh where you're tuning in for the game today if you've got questions you want things you want us to address on the show uh let us know in the comments we'll be sure to highlight those uh as we go throughout the broadcast um with that Steve who is your kind of maybe a player on offense or defense that you're focused on uh that could be a game changer in terms of the outcome of today's game is there any that you are kind of focused on as we lead into Saturday yeah uh the defensive ends looking at both of those and Bush in the middle along with Chris um chunky butt in the middle um really looking at I watch the line play and it's going to be um it's going to be our tackles both of our tackles on the offensive line um will be key tonight both of them are massive guys and I think with them anchoring with Cole with Co pots kind of in Tanner you know really working all that stuff out I think they're going to be really jelling well tonight and that's what I'm looking I I'll add to that too John like you think about last year where we had a lot of guys that we knew their names at at the end of the season we didn't know who they were at the start and I look at the max mosses the way Knights um the folks like guys how many people knew Eliza strat's name he was he he was on the third team nobody thought Reggie Brown was gonna be a breakout start who knew nobody so it's those types of people I'm really excited it's the taji Hudsons that battled hamstrings over the last couple years the the Taylor Thompsons like how are we going to leverage those resources I think we're I think those are the guys have a chip on their shoulder this is a statement game it's the first game it's the game um I think they're going to be pumped up and ready to rock and roll awesome and with that we are going to get to our first guest of the night uh this is a very special edition of our Mont Piller Collective athlete Spotlight a blast from the past somebody who's G to be no stranger to our audience uh but somebody who I think is uniquely capable of speaking to uh not only the moment that we're experiencing today but the history of James madis University football uh and with that we're going to get to our M piler collection [Music] and with that we're back with our first guest of the evening Mr Joe shoker an alumni of JMU football and a proud supporter who has uh really secondary to none in terms of what his family's impact has meant to this football program and University as a whole Joe first of all welcome to Charlotte um my first question for you is an obvious one this is just another season in the proud history of jamu football you're somebody that I think speaks um so well about the historical context that these events happen um just where is your head at uh today as we lead into again another season that brings people together uh and another season we think is going to be very exciting for the history of jamu football it it is indeed very exciting to be 50 plus years into a football program and uh a football program that started on a grass field beside Godwin Hall uh with one set of goalpost back in the 70s and uh I was very honored and and very proud to be on the team in the late 70s we were a division three team and we were ranked number one in the nation with CW post while I was there uh we were the first division three football game on ABC Wide World of Sports when we played the squids from Hampton squidney our our Rivals and uh the rest is history we've had M we've had such a great walk and and coming here to Charlotte uh after two years of probation with the NCAA and having incredible teams but not getting the respect we needed except from the whole nation's football fans and ESPN game day and all that it's kind of the culmination of a walk of a journey with a lot of quality people a lot of quality students and fan base a lot of quality players and a lot of quality coaches who received Coach of the Year honors and we're extremely excited about Bob chzn and what he's brought to the program this year talk a little bit about your history with your dad and Dr carrier because they were the guys that really had the vision your dad and Dr carrier are the ones sitting in the lawn chairs and Godwin talk a little bit about that how proud both of them would have been to be able to see this oh my gosh oh my gosh um Dad was a entrepreneur and business owner here in the Harrisonburg area and uh he and Ron hit off a friendship early on when Ron came to the valley because Dad was a food service and JMU uh was a monstrous customer of Dad's and dad helped him set up the hotel and restaurant Management program which we now know as the Hart School of hospitality and interestingly enough I graduated with GJ Hart from Harrisonburg High School in 1970 so we're classmates but um yeah Dad and and and Ron uncle Ron uh Dr Ron they formed a a friendship and a partnership that uh span decades and last night at the alumni event I spent the the last part of the evening and it was almost empty with Mickey Matthews coach Matthews and my father and Mickey were good friends and uh I'll never forget and and I I mentioned this to Mickey last night after my father passed in the summer that we won the National Championship that fall I heard this knock at our front door and I went out to the front door and there was no one there but down on the concr in the in front of the door was a shirt and a plastic bag and there was a sticky note on it and it said you're next Mickey and I'm sitting there tears running down my face where he had brought the shirt that he always got dad he brought it to me so friendships lifelong friendships Legacy generational friendships and really there's so many people in the JMU nation that have those same kind of relationships with their parents and their kids and grandkids and um I posted a picture day of my grandchild which is four generations of JMU Duke fans so very special relationship you you mentioned Mickey uh and this his re-engaging with the program comes uh as we approach the anniversary of our first national championship B jamu to have him there last night and to be only a week away from celebrating that program it's kind of a special coming together of of again the team that launched this program into another Stratosphere and that energy is still being felt at events like this on podcasts like this I doubt we have Champions drive without the 2014 team uh and we're certainly probably not sitting here uh in this context today uh without Mickey's efforts and without the programs efforts on that day in Chattanooga well Mickey was the if I'm not if I'm not maybe I am correct maybe not but I think Mickey was the second or maybe first long-standing head coach in the program uh more so even than maybe chalice was who was my head coach and Mickey came in and and uh uh inherited a program that was kind of fledging just kind of sitting on the shelf waiting to to get good and and he quickly brought them up to speed and then uh and then our national championship even we were not supposed to do that we were not supposed to get that far along but his coaching and his coaching staff from Coach Price to coach Nome and all the great coaches he had um he established the national class National presence that we know today and we're very pleased and proud of what they did for that first national championship so Joe wanted to lean in on your expertise here a little bit there's been a lot of Buzz around JMU on special teams we've got All-American arguably one of the best punters in the country in Ryan Hansen got two or three new kickers that we brought in that are knocking letters off the stadium hitting literally literally knocking letters hitting 70 yard field goals cold walk me through that tell us a little bit you've had a chance to be close to the program like tell me a little bit about like an impact like that and what would it be I was uh I've attended several practices and uh I was out there on a Saturday morning and Hansen was doing hurry up drills inside of his own 10 yard line line where you get you got a big rush and if you if you mess up it's a safety or a touchdown and he was quick stepping two Quick Step punting and I had my clock going and he was getting four to four and a half second hang times on quick steps uh fair catch even if he didn't turn it over he has such a strong leg that he is he has a pro leg he's kicking that ball so far down the field and I'm I'm I don't know if I was standing with you or somebody else but I'm like that's a pro leg and the the place kickers they have three kickers our specialty room is looking good we have they have three long ball kickers that uh have big range and having kicked in that stadium and kicked on the east in into the goal poost I can tell you that if your place kicker is kicking the ball so high it's hitting the Jumbotron screen you're in good shape you're in real good shape and I talked to Matt trans and I said Matt you got to come up with a net or some plexiglass stuff up there because these guys are going to break up the Jumbotron so your every practice do not stand under the scoreboard when those guys are kicking that is a safety hazard they are not a sticker if they hit those those things weigh 10 pounds those letters they come down and hit you um it's a waiver of liability I'm just telling you now we are not responsible for that I just gave you the warning I gotta tell you the C that came down is smack dab in the middle of the uprights now they said they hit the Z one time and Zayn and I looked at him I said they don't want to be over there he goes no they're not over there very often but they're hitting that se a lot what an advantage though right when we look at coach ch's background I think he led um the Patriot in Block kicks block punch like special teams is a big part of his Mo and he puts athletes on special teams exactly we find ways to maximize athletes whether starters or not I think that's a major component and Advantage for him to the point where apparently his younger days he kicked he will get out and kick and punt in the drill sometimes with the team how crazy I still want to see our Harry O Kelly uh Showdown with Bob chesie ches can chese can kick he actually can punt I was surprised how far he could put he can punt that thing about 40 yards so my question for you Joe is what's in front of us uh we've had a very successful launch of Champions Drive um not only is the bourbon a big piece of this but what this represents again is that the championship spirit that is not only in our football program but that goes throughout all of our Athletics programs at JMU um how proud of you have been to see the response to this product uh but also to see uh that it's another vehicle to Bringing people together and then ultimately its contribution to helping to grow the monel collective which is really what this is all about uh is making sure that our Athletic program has the resources necessary um people may wonder why we talk about this so much is because we need to increase support um speak to that or any other aspect of what this has meant for you well we we conceptualized this along with my buddy Jake an alpha dog and a board member a year ago and then we when we decided to push the green button and the Go Button we spent nine months of development in this many nights in cars driving home in the night on the phone talking about names and series and how we can Market it and went through a lot of legal legal processes on the name and the copyright and the mark of the name chose and the name Champions drive just came to us I think it was late one evening because we had looked at Blue Stone but the copay people said no no no you can't use blue stone so we choose Champions drive and it was even hyphenated a hyphen s to to make it more unique but the lawyers at the end literally two weeks before the label went to Prince said you get rid of The Hyphen you're gonna blame me on that one so anyway Champions Drive is a road that leads into bridge for stadium and it was the perfect name and we wanted this to reflect the fan base we wanted this to give uh a shout out to our fans and our patrons and we we thought through that said how can we do this and they said well what's the most incredible passion pump moments in JMU football games other than the game and I said the tailgates before the game and the Lots tailgate the gowin lot the F lot the pl lot so that's where we came up with the naming and uh the liquid is high quality we did the barrel picks with our supplier swill dog uh Distillery and the double oaked wheed 107 proof reflects a lot of other good good bourbon in the industry and we I've actually blind tested them and ours uh ours did very well in the contest so we are extremely proud of the bottle the label the name what it personifies and the the whole narrative story of JMU is about the drive of Champions we have been champions in so many sports uh been national champions in in quite a few Sports and it just personifies our fan base our coaching staff our Administration the whole JMU experience is the drive of Champions and then again if you're somebody watching this I want to drive this point uh home one more time we keep focusing on this because to compare ourselves to a program like Charlotte there are many group of five programs with very robust nil collectives um north of a million dollars that they can give directly just to one of their programs uh and that's why the more we can raise awareness about the need for everyone who's watching this to make a contribution of whatever they can whatever fits their budget um there is no wrong amount it directly affects success on the field and it's something coach chess has said there's never been a time uh where you the fan can make more of an impact not only the football program the basketball program our volleyballs field hockey Sockers then you can right now and at champions.com when you purchase a Champions Drive tailgate Bergen you're impacting our ability to be successful in the field I think you made a big point is a for a lot of younger fans younger alums it's how do I make a tangible impact I thing now more than ever this is an opportunity for that uh I don't know if you guys were watching game day this morning sa made a big point it's like if you don't pay the right guys you're sh say that on the internet but you also but you also heard what M did exactly M gave a million dollars yesterday to West Virginia's nil exactly yeser we don't have somebody that's GNA give us a million yes we got thousands and thousands of you out there that can buy a bottle I feel like we got to call him back though after the after the performance we had for game day last week we don't maybe this a million but we got to get something got get something give us give us 200 Grand Pat come on Pat 200 Grand I want to make a a kind of closing comment on our bourbon project we're we're at about 300 bottles left after everybody's receiving them and tasting them which is happening this week and after the home game next week with all the tailgates this will be gone in the next two weeks and this was a blended run of uh 1,00 bottles and uh once it's gone it's gone now we have two others coming this year we have a winter release and a spring release and uh we have Great Hopes And expectations for those but of our Barrel picks this was the best pick of six different Barrel picks and that's why we put it up first because we wanted to bring you our best first and kind of set the brand so it's time to order if you haven't ordered this and I've talked to so many people that haven't ordered you I'm like dude they're like well can you get me some can you hold me a bottle I'm like no buy your own go online to Champions dr.com and uh put your credit card in there it will ship to your door from New York State and let me give you a little tip if you're busy during the day and there's no one home send it to a location where somebody can sign for it because you have to be 21 to receive this and that'll elate some issues there so send it where someone can sign for it and don't get one bottle get three get as a gift absolutely GI that keeps on giving throughout season like tell your friends tell your family get your uncles involved get your aunts involved like I mean I've had I've had a number of glasses of this you can give up a couple Starbucks so you can give up you know if you drink Starbucks every day give up a couple of those put it toward the bourbon buy the bourbon the bourbon's unbelievably good what we what the viewers can't see is we had a rolling bar uh that was was going to bring some Champions drive into the show but some some issues with our our host here I think the the home team the hotel staff didn't like the fact we had our own liqu Ratt on a bar that was coming in so Joe uh your final comments but then you get to actually uh do the task of picking who our next guests is from the peanut gallery so I don't know who you want to to toss the mic to but we'd love to have some of the other uh supporters join us on the show okay well last comments are we're here in Charlotte we're on ESPNU tonight at 8 o'clock time um streaming on that we have many more games this year that'll be on ESPN and uh JMU football and the the uni the James Madison University is the gem of mid major athletic departments our academic prowess is nationally known and uh we invite everybody to dive in and associate with JMU attend our games our tailgates uh get on campus uh the recruits when they get on campus they're like wide eyed saying oh my gosh I had no idea so we love JMU we bleed purple profusely I'm on blood thinner so I bleed purple a lot more but uh it's all good and and join us in the future on SoundOff uh podcast and I wanna I want to bring up uh a friend of mine that was involved in the bourbon project uh Jake and uh Jake's GNA come up here and Jake's an entrepreneur and a JMU grad and uh kind of a tough guy and but he the creative energies and producing this with Jake were stellar and epic so here we go on Jake ladies gentlemen Mr Jake C Sam Crow motorcycle club than for the introduction Jake gets Jake obviously gets extra points because of his choice of a tire todaying this thing for a while you get Jam sound off.com if you're liking what he's modeling today oh well I was going to say he should get three more glasses too he gets whatever he wants at this point it was a little bit of a problem earlier she took care of it so Jake uh just high level your thoughts and excitement for another season you have the pleasure of getting to know a lot of these players um because of your involvement with the collective your involvement in athletics as a whole um this is kind of the the celebration the kickoff of a new Athletics year there are other JMU teams who have been winning on the field already um but it really starts the year when our football team kicks off uh your thoughts just on the new athletic season I mean great question as always Jonathan but uh with so many new folks it's it's been tough uh you know so even for some of us that get access like this still getting to know everyone still getting to to learn what's going on and Michael and I last night I don't know if he's talked about it yet we had a very spirited debate over some beverages about the team it's very spirited very Spirit full of spirit ering in the back and forth in debates is why we started this show it was a little bit of bickering he was being nice and going I hear what you say but I don't agree but I I think in general um I don't know what to expect today and I think it's the same you know the first time we moved up the FBS like didn't know it was going to happen in that game um I feel good but I not sure why yet I we're g to see what's going to happen at 8 o'clock tonight how the how this team comes together so one thing that I think you might do better than anybody that I talk about this is you challenge this fan base uh you you challenge them to to find new and creative ways to get involved um that's the thing that I appreciate from you as a friend is that you're always thinking about what's the next way that we could take this to another level um now you have a platform with people watching it um kind of your message to the fan base about why them stepping up to another level um to embrace what this program not only has been but can be um I'm curious what you would say to uh to an audience watching now about uh why this is a moment that's so critical to the success of this program so look I I went I went to JMU had a good time went away did my masters but I was really not that connected with JMU for a while to be quite Frank right and so you know a lot of you guys will talk about oh I was at this game and I'm like I don't know I was doing something else at that time I don't know um but I've reconnected you know I'm a towy now which is which is interesting I never thought I would say that when I was a student but loving living in Harrisonburg you don't look like the average Towny well I don't think Jake looks like the average anything I'm I'm a Towny um so I would say for those that haven't reconnected yet time is now right reconnect get back involved it's great Community I run into so many people that are like I haven't been back and I'm just kind of shocked right um same thing with giving too like for a long time I didn't I wasn't even a member of the Duke club for a long time um so I I think the time is now everyone if you you know Steve says it all the time and challenges you guys but I think the same I just say from a different perspective I was disconnected and felt like why would I give them any damn money why would I do that why would I get involved and like um and then I started to and uh it's been great and I think it's great for the community I think it's great for for me and my family reconnecting and I would I would say Now's the Time get involved you won't regret it well let's lean in on that a little bit like you know I think you your story resonates to a lot of our listeners maybe our friends friend of our listeners of like hey I love jamu I left I built my career I built my personal breand now I want to come back so like what brought you back um T J I met a lot of Duke Club new Duke Club um reps last night and they were asking like I feel like we need to understand like what is it about JMU so you share with it share with the fans share with us like what brought you back to the program um I have to get my wife credit actually it's always a smart move by the way it's a truth though you know um you know look I still Richmond I still love Richmond I still have a house in Richmond I'm there all the time my wife was getting slightly annoyed with Richmond to be quite honest and she was like uh looking at places at JMU found this house she loved and she was like you know you said you always wanted to get back to JMU and that's what started I mean you know my kids are in school now there I mean like so we're again I say we're townies like it's it's it's it's real so um she started that and then we started you know connecting with the people and and the people are I don't call it the friendly City for no reason you know it really is a great place but you know going back to all the games we're going to all women's uh sports that we can women's basketball men's basketball football everything and it's just um it's just been great reconnecting so it's hard to put into words but that whole feeling that you get of going to school there and Jame M Nation like it's still there when you as an alumni come back right but I want to thank you and Joe but for you guys really with the partnership you guys put together I know cliff and Jonathan were involved but the two of you spent many a night rumbling and going over this Bourbon and getting this bourbon where you know where you wanted it and I know it's a labor of love but want to thank you for doing that I think this will go down in history as something that we'll look back on 10 years from now and say you know what a great idea that was and it really is so I I want to thank you for that and you know we already thanked Joe but I want to make sure we recognize you as well it's it's delicious by the way I'm not sure if this is supposed to be on camera it's apple juice it can a little apple juice I just wanted to highlight one thing you said because you you talked about the support for the women's programs as well on campus we saw Jamie volleyball get their first win of this season yesterday we saw Jamie field hockey kicks off their first season in the Mac uh with the victory is this isn't just about supporting our football and basketball programs this is about supporting our our women's programs which have had incredible success um over the decades but incredible success recently um and these programs are something that you have really put your personal support behind in the big way I I know you're out at Jamie softball games on a regular basis um to fans of those programs um why is collective investment so important now as well um as we again try to put wind in their sales for new season yeah um so from with the collective haton look we wanna we want to support every team it's no secret that men's basketball and football get a lot of attention there's so many other amazing athletes and and programs so when you go to the millarc collective.com you hit donate which I hope you all do you can choose the fund you can choose where you want that to go too um but things like Champions drive that goes to our general fund which is great and then from there we we're allocating and working with um all all the sports we this year we're really trying to add a lot more athletes and a lot lot more programs so yeah and what we heard from those coaches is that is truly the difference between winning and and sustaining success uh in this new environment as more Athletics programs across the country are making significant Investments uh in the quote unquote Olympic sports uh and our programs we want to make sure that they continue to have that National brand that National success and that takes investment from all of us and we all know that the landscape is changing right I think as early as next year we'll go from a roster of 120 to 105 do we do we fund the 105 scholarships up from the 85 there's a lot going into it so um I think starting now building that culture is super important um but think about today Jake who are you excited to watch um in J me tonight against Charlotte you any specific players I'm gonna be the reporter right now I'm gonna change this up still like it see this is the innovator we're on offense we get out there what's the first play is it a run or is it a pass and we've all by the way had a chance this was a spirit we have we have a gentl wager on this but we've also had a chance to play our EA College Force 25 so all of us have been coaches over the last couple months what was let me I'm gonna take it I'm gonna change this question what was your first play when you fired up the game against Charlotte and do you think that translates today I my first play was a RPO bubble screen and I love the r package learn the option before you were able I couldn't figure out the button on how to not get college football so I I I I pushed Circle as hard as I can I threw that screen pass we got we got four yards out of it and that's gonna be the first play of the game we're g figure out how to not hand it off so you're gonna have to tell me off screen how to figure that out because it has not been a successful program John's gonna John's gonna quarterback keep to the right no what I'm gonna say is I I think whoever starts a quarterback one of the key things in this game is to set them up for success and to get them confident they're onun the game so I'm running the ball with my first play and then I'm trying to do again sort of short or intermediate pass to either a running back or tight end I think the tight end group the damn I think the tight end group for this team is is a group that maybe hasn't gotten the attention uh from a lot of fans but I think it's actually an area that I really like Kai Wright Taylor Thompson there's a lot D feifer there's a lot to like in this group that again it could be a really great way to build confidence for a quarterback is a throw to the tight end maybe that's my first play of the game is a change it up maybe a play action pass to one of our tight ends we're not doing that we're going Old Washington old school we're going right down your throat so get for you want to get ready for it we're coming I like say there's a variety of ways to quote unquote run the ball all I hope is our you get it to the guys that's all I not only do I hope this is the case but I know it's the case they're not listening to us Knuckleheads uh for what the first play the game we have a gentleman's bet $1 I say they're running the damn ball first play he's got this bubble screen for four yards can we go double or nothing on that I'll tell you who they're going behind they're going right behind MC merry oh that's who they're going behind right side lot of beef on the right side Cliff says Co pots from the AUD so Jake uh maybe last thoughts but then you get to introduce our our final guest of the show uh Mr Cliffwood I know we all have a chance to to work with him on a very regular basis uh to Champion this Athletics program and the investment in it um pretty special God to welcome as our final guest yeah uh Hey appreciate what you guys do you've brought a lot of attention to the collective JMU it's fun I'm looking forward to you guys doing some cool new stuff this coming season too so thanks that the Nature Boy yeah wood not I mean some of you know this but without Cliff this wouldn't be doing nothing so uh Cliff's been huge and you know we appreciate it so here you go brother thank you nice shirt Cliffwood has the best shoes in the game right now so this is the collective non-athlete Spotlight Joe's up here he's got KT tape on like he's been running a marathon supps that's right like he was kicking field goals right before he got up here Cliff my first question for you it's kind of the first question we ask everybody is just a new year um there's been a lot of work that's happened behind the scenes all of our coaches uh to get so many new players ready for this you've had chance uh to get to know a lot of these players um more than anything that happens on the field just kind of speak to the focus on bringing good people into Harrisonburg uh and why we all think that that's going to translate into helping this team jail quicker in the year I mean I I think you can look at it just like you would look at a job that any of us have like how excited are you to go to work with your co-workers and all of us if probably had jobs where you look at the schedule and you go oh geez Steve is working my shift today it's a long day but when you look that schedule right you look at that schedule and you're excited to go to work every day that that means a lot and and I think the the big addition with Coach Chesney and and you've been around him a little bit Jonathan uh he prepares for everything for everything when when the guy watches his own press conference to get notes on himself to go to the uh to the sunv Bel uh meetings I think that speaks volumes if he's going to do that what do you think he's doing for game day preparation like you a lot has been said about well we got a we got a prep for 70 new players on the other team he's probably scenario planned for every one of those people playing and so uh I think his level of preparation trickles down to the other coaches and the players so you know I'm I'm very confident and look this just one game longterm I feel great very bullish on where we're going uh with him at the helm and look I feel that way about all of our coaches um whether it's men's basketball field hockey you mentioned their big win the other night like we have really good coaches so yeah what I love about chz I think just like other coaches we've had he lives and breeds football I think on a press conference he mentioned you know was seven months without his family they were still moving down to Harrisonburg bunch of coaches living in a frat house literally living and breathing the game and to your point like Charlotte's got 70 new players he was talking about they were pulling High School tape um they were pulling tape from practice tape from prior schools okay what is this right tackle can do and if you look down the line in the charlott's depth chart a lot of games played not a lot of games started so the ability to really go to that level of detail I think we're very fortunate as a fan base to see so Cliff when you look at today as maybe it's not the official start of the athletic season but it is the maybe the Milestone start to the Athletics season uh we did want to give a hard sell opportunity for for you to give fans uh an update on the collective we released our annual report uh which I think is a awesome job by the way like that was did and Jake did the majority of that work and Eric designed it graphic was a graphic check your emails fans if you you donate Collective you should get a copy of but that was really a deliberate effort obviously to to lead with transparency because there are fans who want to know where their investment is going uh we've been uh releasing our Mont pillar Collective athletes over the past couple of days more of those videos to come uh because we want to show fans directly what impact they're making um kind of your message to the fan base about why we cannot rest on our Laurels uh and why we have to continue to push the envelope to get us to another level yeah like you know people don't want to talk about but I'm on here to ask for your money so Michael actually sent a uh to a group of us sent a podcast from UNCC Charlotte and you know everybody's talking about what Biff said in the press conference but I wanted to listen to the nil section of that and they talked about Max Brown who was a transfer from Florida getting $300,000 I just walked this campus beautiful campus they have a 14,000 seat stadium and they can pay their quarterback 300 thou we can't do that by the way and we won't be able to do it unless we raise ra more money this is a a a school that I'm going to be honest we should be competing at a higher level but they are fundraising at a much higher level than we are which is 100% my fault since I am the fundraiser on the board uh but so it's going to take money and and I'm proud of where we where we what we did last year the offers that we have out for this year but I spoke to all of our student athletes a couple of weeks ago we have 500 student athletes most of them 90% of them are not on an nil deal you heard Jake talk about our goals for this year we would like to have every sport have at least one nil athlete one Mont pear Collective athlete so uh look it's imperative that if we're going to continue to grow we can't rest on our laal Laurels and if you like being in everything school we need to be in everything Collective then we need everybody to give because at the end of the day we don't have Pat McAfee dropping a million we don't have a donor here that's dropping a million in our nil um what we can do though collectively as J nation is everybody give something if you give something to the collective we can get to the number right we don't need somebody to give the million we just need multiple people to get us them to though I'll be happy so pat pat got famous on a podcast so we need just to find somebody that runs a podcast that could give us a million dollars well I was gonna say so not looking to this side of the well I mean we we we've played the the game of right like I know that there's a certain Facebook group that has 20 25,000 people what if they gave a 100 bucks each this show is is airing right now right now exactly so like I'm just making it real for everyone that goes okay we you said $300,000 that sounds like a big number for 90% of the fans but together everything I love what you said everything Collective like how do we live and breathe that in our day-to-day lives and how do we do that for something we're so passionate about and um I think that's how we make it happen just everybody that goes to the game give a hundred bucks 26,000 people give a hundred bucks or 10 bucks right like I'll take well whatever give whatever and also but to to Really highlight why we've been so deliberate and featuring coaches on our program and the athlet spotlight each and every week is don't take any of our word for it we're we're on the board of the collective we're obviously you know bleeding purple every day and and we've embraced this movement but listen to the coaches talking about specific numbers of how in volleyball how the nation's top Setter what they're paying what we heard from coach Lauren leaport about what softball players are now starting to get and if we want to make uh trips to the College World Series again for softball if we want our baseball team to continue uh to compete in in Regional uh Every Spring if we want our football team to be able to go out and compete for top prospects in the country we do have to reach that number because at the end of the day it does come to Dollars and cents uh when you're dealing with some of these athletes however we're going to continue to recruit well we're going to continue to to find Diamonds in the Rough but it is about uh having the resources that our coaches feel they have every opportunity uh to continue this success and to continue this momentum for a programs and to add to that I think coach CH I forgot which interview it was he talked about we may not always get the tallest the biggest the fastest guy but we're not going to miss on people and I I think that's the jmua right when we look at like how the collective operates giving back to the community being part of the community that's what this has been all about for the last what 18 to 24 months I love that about him and I think all of our coaches reflect the same um narrative as well and look you you guys talked about the event last night with shout out to the DU club and the alumni association for that but a number of people came up to me and some of them are concerned they they they don't they don't like this about College athletics and I get it but it's here and it's not going anywhere so we can choose to ignore it or we can choose to do make it a JMU a unique opportunity that only we have like a collective that is unique to JMU so everybody that has supported I appreciate you and we all appreciate everything that you've done for us and those of you that we're about to contact thanks in advance for your support thank you for answering the phone exctly replying to a text exactly all right well um this is kind of the end of our our show today because we know a lot of people want to get out to the tailgates we're gonna tailgate uh here in the Charlotte area um maybe Cliff your final word to just fans of JMU Athletics uh as we start a new season of JMU football um over 50 years now where this program has been an integral part of so many people's lives um just wear your heads at as we kick off uh the 2024 year yeah I'm excited I think uh this is I think somebody said it earlier it was like the first FBS game I have no idea what's going to happen but I couldn't be more excited or more proud of where we're going uh so again this is one game no matter what happens today I'm not going to be too excited or too down um but football Saturdays are here and I I can't wait Steve your final thoughts I'm going to be really freaking excited and I'm going to be over the freaking top so I've got bail money for anybody that throws a streamer if they try to throw you out or lock you up I got you and if they come after me you're looking for a fight 49ers bring it on I'll do whatever I want to do if I want to throw a streamer so bring it my good news is I know I'm faster than Steve so he's definitely so that so Cliff mentioned I did send a podcast out to the alpha dogs and one thing they mentioned they were they were like I'm really curious how JM is going to travel and I thought that was really funny I was like man like new fan base they probably just watched football for the first time recently like they were like how interested like they were like how many people will be bring and I think for the audacity to have a all gold out gold out first game of the season certainly gonna make the pople purple GNA make the it's gonna be beautiful so I'm really excited to see what the stadium is gonna look like I think it's called Jerry Richardson it's gonna be a lot of purple there we haven't played them in 10 years we won 48 to 40 to barn burner back in 2014 when we had vad Ley as a quarterback so I'm excited to see what we can do I Echo Steve sentiment very th excited and motivated and nervous like I've got those Jitters like against Minnesota oh not Minnesota Middle Tennessee State in 2022 we had no idea what we're gonna do we had no idea how we're gonna match up and I think until we see them um in that first quarter like that's I'm gonna have that same feeling from that on my final thought is uh just a thank you uh thank you to so many people who uh continue to make jamu Athletics a part of their lives thank you for people who continue to support this program uh support our podcast support all of the content that's out there in the jam Universe um special shout out to the the Dave rigger to the world the Katie Harpers um the other podcast Jamie Sports SP sports news um who continue to make great content uh Delvin Joyce now getting into the podcast game we know there's there's a real Community uh that's creating content each and every week and that is because this is a healthy program healthy programs only exist because of people like you who are watching this program uh to our sponsors Skyline Financial Partners we's Woody Talent corpse shoker Enterprises yourp pur.com the collective obviously which you've talked lot about today I was going to leave that for last just hold on um it's it's been a commercial for the whole show let's just be honest um that's why this show is able to happen that's why we're able to bring athletes on each and every week we will be back tomorrow for our recap um on Sunday we're gonna have a new segment with a player of the week we're going to highlight thanks to our friends at Skyline Financial Partners uh but again thank you for joining on us on this journey this season uh we're excited for tonight's game and excited for another season of jam football uh and with that we will see you tomorrow night 800m for another episode of J you sound up go Dukes enjoy the game 8:00 P.M tonight on ESPNU [Music]