SDSU's Sean Lewis joins Annie & Elsten

we are thrilled to break format when the time is needed such as when we get the opportunity to welcome on to Annie and Elston for the first time the head coach of San Diego State football Sean Lewis who gets to be on the sideline for the first time in anger so to speak taking on Texas A&M Commerce in the home opener tomorrow coach Lewis uh Craig ston Annie halr here thank you so much for your time Craig Andy great to be out with you guys well how how are the feelings now you've worked for this so long I'm sure just like anybody going to any kind of opening night you feel like there's still so many things that you want to touch on in the next 24 hours and and make sure everything's lined up properly but but how do those emotions feel as you Cascade toward that opening kickoff yeah I mean feel great feel feel really excited about the work that the whole program's put in you know especially all the hard work of the kids and you know we'll we'll dot the eyes we'll cross the tees do our last few formation checks and tips and reminders and all the good tests and everything and you know looking forward to a a great evening tomorrow night in Snapdragon yeah and you have been running full speed since you were hired by SDSU it's been amazing to see how much you've been out in the community how much you've been promoting SDSU football the public appearances you've made over the past nine months what's it been like getting out in the community and is there anything that's surprised you or stood out to you it's been great you know I mean this is obviously our new home and and want to get embedded within the community and and make sure that they get a chance to know myself and our staff and so you know wanted to take advantage of all those opportunities and the buzz and the excitement I mean it it's been amazing the the way that we've been welcomed you know into San Diego the response of the fans and just the overall excitement you know that they have for this change and for this upcoming season you know coach I think part of that excitement comes because you you bring a brand of excitement with you uh there's a lot of Aztec fans that maybe got used to watching uh some pretty grinded out football uh the last few years so uh let me ask you just a very broad question about Aztec fast someone asked me this this morning is Aztec fast a run and shoot for for those of us who know just kind of like the most basic of football parlament in terms of classical offenses uh how would you in in an elevator describe your offense to someone yeah I guess you would Define it as a Veer and shoot offense I mean the biggest things that the fans are going to see you know tomorrow evening is that we love to utilize space and we love to utilize speed right so we're going to spread the field from sideline to sideline have a vertical passing game a part of what we do um you know going to be balanced both run and pass but we want to create the opportunities wherever we can to get our speed and space and allow our Playmakers to do their thing yeah and at the helm of that will be true freshman Danny O'Neal your starting quarterback I read in the paper that through sdsu's 55 years of division one football the asex have never opened the season with a true freshman starting quarterback so I'd love to know what did he show you what stood out about about Danny O'Neal and and what did he do to earn that honor yeah I mean it was a tremendous quarterback competition really going all the way back to to January with all the guys that were in the room because Danny AJ javance the three guys that were battling for the starting role they were all here from day one of winter conditioning through spring practice and you know we really weighed everything that the guys had done through through the whole process you know of leading up to the season through training camp and and Danny did a great job in terms of you know his overall production his day-to-day process and his competitive nature so you know obviously he's Lots being made about true freshman you know getting the ball and getting the start but we got some great supporting pieces around him and I know everyone's going to play at an elite level so that he can do his piece and he knows that he doesn't have to do it all on his own but he's a good facilitator uh he's got a good understanding of the offense and looking forward to helping him have some early success here on Saturday night uh yeah you get the opportunity to start against Texas A&M Commerce obviously there's some very challenging games uh coming up very shortly down the schedule uh what are you excited for Aztec fans to right away what is something perhaps about the club that you'd like to to let them know to be patient about yeah I mean well it's just exciting to have an opportunity to compete right I mean winning is hard we only get 12 of these opportunities so we need to maximize each and every single one of them I would say fans theyy don't be surprised by Texas commerce's record from a year ago they're they're more than capable they're they're dangerous and with all the new pieces and places you know that we've acquired our talent from and the new schematic shift that we've made I know everyone just wants to flip the light switch and make it happen right right but there's going to be some Growing Pains probably a little bit but there'll be some great moments as well so settle in get your popcorn obviously it's going to be a fun brand of football that's going to be played with a lot of changes in all three phases with us shifting from the 335 to the 425 right obviously the changes that we're making offensively but kids that work tremendously hard they're confident in the plan we're confident as a staff and looking forward to to taking on a pretty challenging Texas A&M Commerce Squad yeah and Coach Lewis as you build that identity right you have some players with you who were with you at your previous coaching jobs how can they help you build that identity how can they help spread the message inside the locker room and Advocate to the rest of the players what exactly you are trying to do here at SDSU yeah me I think it's just good when you have those shared experiences right and that's what's been so great about our time on the Mesa is just you know the the time on task that we've had you know creating our identity building our culture and the kids having a greater appreciation and understanding of how we want things done so when you have people like Marquez Cooper right Jon poke and and Michael Harrison who were all with me at previous spots right they they really act as a catalyst to to make that happen sooner and to really Advocate because they have felt you know the effects of the way that we do things and how we do them in a very very positive way so you know they've been great guys in the locker room they've been great teammates and I believe there's a true you know bu with with how we're doing it from our kids and from our staff and and looking forward to seeing what that looks like come Saturday night we're talking to Sean Lewis the head football coach of San Diego State Aztec and uh coach Lewis everybody along the way that becomes a head coach has had that belief in themselves at some point in the past that you can do that job that you you look at it as an assistant in the past you aspire to it and you say I can be in that position I can handle that job now you get the opportunity to start to have a win and a loss record attached to your name as a head coach but I'm wondering in these months before you kick off what about ascending to this position the CEO of the franchise so to speak uh what about it has surprised you along the way I mean not to many new surprises right I mean I had the opportunity to sit in the head coaching chair for five years at at Kent State right and so you know have taken those lumps have taken those bumps taken those bruises those hard Lessons Learned I'm very proud of the scars that I acquired you know during my first go around of being a head coach and obviously the scars that were acquired last year as well and but there's also the joy in those moments right you know and so just want to be constantly learning and growing we talk to our kids all the time you know about our B the alpha mindset and Mantra which is to improve and compete today and each and every single day right so I just want to model and live those behaviors as well right there's a ton of change that's happening right now in the world of colleg Athletics right so I want to pride myself on that Hey My My rate of learning is greater than that rate of change and so just keeping up with all the changes that has occurring and the the previous experiences that I've had as a head coach you know just taking all that knowledge leaning on the really smart people that we got in the building the unbelievable staffs that we've been able to assemble here right and take all of our knowledge and give it to the kids so that they can apply it and we can continue continue to move this program this Elite University forward right so that we are we're an innovator in this day and age when it comes to what's going on within collegan Athletics but excited about the future here on the Mesa and excited to be a part of San Diego State coach Le we talk on this show uh we kind of have a a humorous bit going about how different college football is now how it continues to change month-to month right you got to keep up with it with the transfer portal with nil with everything going on what is recruiting like for you and and how have things changed in the last year what's what's your strategies you go about that yeah I mean obviously there's a ton that goes into it now with with nil and opportunities and I think we're positioned in a great spot with Aztec link and our Collective and within our community obviously it's one of the competitive advantages I feel that that we have here at America's Finest city right with the corporations and the Partnerships that we have and the opportunities that are available for our young men you know that that's obviously a big piece of this puzzle that was not the case you know just a few short years ago but at the heart of it when it comes to recruiting and that town acquisition process right it's still just about people in those relationships so pouring into that identifying the young men you know in whatever Talent bucket they're coming from whether that's you know High School ranks the junior college ranks or the or the transfer portal ranks but building those relationships making sure that you find the people whose character aligns with yours and and whose ethos of what they're about is what you want your program to be about right and have those constant Communications and and really show them how they can be developed and how their time here at San Diego State will be the best experience that they could possibly have you know and then we get them here and obviously deliver on those expectations deliver on those things that we had talked about and I think that becomes a force force multiplier as we establish our identity as we build our culture to have a championship program a championship caliber roster year and in year out D great question anny great answer coach Lewis because it's something that's just been really uh honestly confounding or or or mystifying to see how many things change and I was just thinking about as you were answering like the work you do as a staff just to go establish relationships with High School coaches right to be out there to to be on campus to to have that opportunity to develop those relationships along the way that used to be everything and and now it still is but then there's that other level of okay here's this kid just like you said here's the character here here's the skill set this is what we want okay but then there's a there's a cost at some point there there's a cost involved it's just got of a a a complicator for you guys that's almost exponential yeah I mean it's just it's great opportunity though right but it starts with the people and getting to know the people in the community obviously there's tremendous High School football that's being played right outside our back door right and so getting to know those coaches getting know those kids getting know those families and then having a great experience here you know within our locker room within our program day in and day out to where guys don't want to leave right they want to be a part of that and you know again putting a great prod between the white lines but yeah you got to invest your time you got to invest it smart right and you got to make sure that you're spending that time that energy in a worthwhile and efficient manner because there is some layers to it all but I think it's a tremendous opportunity for our community they've really stepped up in the ni nil space through Aztec link um you know it's a great campaign that we're running right now with our 100 yard challenge um we're well over $30,000 for that and you know what's great about that too you know so much negative is made about the nil space but you know like this 100 yard challenge we we've partnered with the lucky duck foundation and for you know the the amount of money that we are um that we're you know taking in we're also going to be investing time back into the community to help those less fortunate you know to to get propped back up the right way so there there's a great silver line to all of this where I think the community and the kids are benefiting and it's a great time to be a part of Collegian Athletics yeah and it should be a lot of fun out there tomorrow with the warrior walk with the tailgating at River Park out there on the grass so I think it'll be a lot of fun I I do have a question about your coaching career um and I got this from Wikipedia so if it's wrong please correct me uh before coaching you you worked various jobs including as a personal trainer and a dull office supply sales job I want to I want to know more about the dull office supply sales job and if during that time were you dreaming about getting into coaching like how did you pivot there yeah I mean right when I got done with college right it's like all right get a degree and then then what's next I'll get a job right and so there was a yeah it was an office supply sale job where I was selling reams of paper and and an office toner that was not great right but there was an opportunity that came available um at my high school album monor to jump into coaching and it was something that you know obviously being a part of the game and the impact that coaches made in my life um it was something that that I was really really strongly considering and started doing obviously and you know the the bug bit me and and here we are out in beautiful sunny San Diego right it's taken me all over the country and back and and so fortunate for the opportunity and the journey B on awesome well coach we're all excited uh for this journey for you to get underway in red and black as well thanks for some time with us here on the midday show on 973 the fan we really appreciate it hope to catch up with you again uh as the season continues forward and best of luck to the Aztec uh can't wait to see how this thing develops under your watch guys appreciate it thank you for your time Jo asex