North American Head Football Coach Ken Apande

good morning and we welcome you to the 2024 sooner Athletic Conference football virtual media day I'm Jim Powers assistant commissioner of the sack and we've got a full morning of great interviews with all of our coaches here in the sooner Athletic Conference but we're going to start with a team and a school that's a scheduled partner with us they're not a full-fledged member yet but they are a scheduling partner that they do great things and it's North American University and their head coach Ken aond joining us and Ken first off thanks for taking the time and talk a little bit about the sack and being a scheduling partner with how it is for you guys because number one you're not only football coach you're also the athletic director so it kind of helps out with the whole scheduling piece being a scheduling partner with us yeah most definitely definitely um we are uh ever since we joined the ni back in 2022 and we've been scheduled partners with the sac you know we are very blessed for the opportunity to um get an opportunity to basically play you know seven to eight games each and every year um the sack is very competitive um you know we're we're trying to make sure we're you know meeting our champions of characters and being uh um you know um um what's the word I'm looking for you know being professional and and making sure that we meet the standards for the conference and everything like that so um you know from trans uh going from being independent to to the sack was a big transition for us and I think we've been up to the task and we've been doing a good job making sure we're laying out the foundation for the future moving forward talk a little bit about your spring practices and laying into the summer um obviously upgrading the schedule a little bit but also you've got some great returners coming back for you guys that a lot of our teams know about so how was that you know spring workout spring game and transitioning into the summer for you yeah most definitely our our coaching staff did a phenomenal job of teaching this spring and and making sure to implement our our new new items moving forward um coach Valentine is our defensive coordinator um and Coach Richardson's our o our OC those two did a great job of kind of getting them prepared for this moment far as moving forward for the fall um we had um about 50 kids for Spring um those guys came in there every single day working hard and competing um we kept a good handful of kids from Spring to this year um some standouts I think we kept about seven guys on offense and eight guys on defense and we returned a couple people on on special teams offensively um we have some guys who make some big big differences for us as far as our our guys on the offensive line so we're looking forward to seeing how how they do this upcoming year um I can name a couple couple people Devonte price um great outstanding uh tackle Gabriel Turner our guard um Sauron Harry another guard and then we have a phenomenal receiver on the outside Jason Reeves he did a phenomenal job for us last year um we did have a couple losses but we're looking to kind of improve with the recruiting class that we brought in um offensively or defensively we we had about eight guys returning back um key guys in the secondary our two corners came back you we felt like they were lock lock Corners they did a great job this spring um our our strong safety which we moved to linebacker possibly could go back to the strong safety Jim Evans is is is a doing a great job D Carlos Johnson uh one of our linebackers um is is competing hard and we're just kind of looking forward to putting it all together this upcoming year you know and having a better year than we did last year talk a littleit about those those core leadership guys you know you've got a bunch of young kids coming in you know for fall camp and everything but I know you and your staff you're leaning on some of those veterans coming back to you know not only take control of the locker room but also practice is to make sure that the younger guys know what the expectations are how have those guys really taken a Reign for you this spring and summer oh man they they definitely shown great characteristics of leadership you know um implementing we're very big on culture culture is very big for us so change that environment to where um you know everyone in there is working hard is a great thing because it trickles down we don't want any cancers on the team but uh our leaders have definitely stepped up uh as far as our returners of getting everybody set um that's uh younger than them we brought in a phenomenal recruiting class that's going to come in and challenge everybody else they're they're they're up for the challenge and and um I'm looking uh forward to kind of seeing everything play out this fall Camp let's talk a little bit about the offense I know you mentioned a couple guys on your line that really really good uh thread out on the edge but it all starts with your quarterback position talk about how that battle's been going and what the battle is going to be like leading into your first game this year yeah um this spring we had um Griff Williams and we had Jasper um uh cork Lincoln um both of them are coming back um they were competing did a great job kind of split the snaps um this uh this spring and kind of battled out I think Griff ended up topping them off getting the head uh the head head spot but uh Jasper isn't that far behind um running back wise we had jarus Donald who did a who did a great job for us um um he's kind of staring and leading the the front as far as uh with our Run game um but we we we had a a h on our offensive line this is the first time we kept them all together they were all young last year all freshman so for them to come back and and get get in the weight room get get a little bit bigger a little bit more physical just to kind of see them kind of Prosper is looking good for us you know and once again having that Core Group up front you really you know this as well as I do me being the former football coach if you don't have dudes up front that can get the job done you can throw everything else out the window and you just mentioned having the how important it is to have that group back you know for another year and especially now that they know each other they've played with each other and they've practiced with each other yeah most definitely you know defensively and I I just think across the board in the sooner this year the back end of everybody's defense is are really good you mentioned a couple of your guys they're going to be in the secondary talk a little bit about what they're going to bring to the table and then go down to your linebackers which I know you've got a couple young linebackers that are going to step in and do some great things for you yeah uh we were uh blessed to have two freshman cornerbacks who were who did a phenomenal job for us this year um creating turnovers um Kenneth Barry and kesan uh langum two outstanding guys who who do a good job of closing in and just making plays for us man so we're we're excited to kind of see them Propel you know their freshman campaign now is their up to their sophomore campaign to do it a lot better than he did the freshman year another uh DB SL linebacker that did a great job for us he led our team in in turnovers last year was Jem Evans I mean he's almost kind of like the honey badger wherever you put him you know you're gonna you're gonna see some things happen so we're excited to see him um kind of escalated because he's going to be a senior and he wants to end out on a good note um the Carlos Johnson is also going to be a senior for me he plays linebacker um made a big difference in Run Run Stop game for us um so we're we're definitely looking forward to seeing um what he can do his senior year his last year and then obviously the defensive guys in the room will talk about dline being important and I know you got a couple bookends on your you know on that line to do some great things for you yeah most definitely um just to kind of off the top of my head cavius waters he was a freshman um D tackle he U kind of worked his way into the starting lineup um after the fourth game or so he was on uh on and rolling we also have um uh Amari Calhoun um who did a great job he was our our team's uh defensive MVP um creates a lot of sacks he's a terror out there on the edge Andrew laws also does a great job for us out there on the edge too so um a lot of times man sometimes we could just let fourman pressures do his job and so whenever you got a dine that can kind of cause havoc and put pressure on the quarterback is a great thing without uh bringing any pressure so we're looking forward to see our recruits uh coming in and challenging these guys but um we want to make it competitive all throughout practices but they're they're willing and and able for the task you know coach the one thing with you guys being a scheduling partner with us is you get a chance to see you know almost all of our teams and the one thing that I've talked to everybody about is you know how good the sooner is football-wise and we you know we should be in that conversation amongst the national leaders in football and the Nai I mean you got three teams that were co-champs last year I mean the the the bar has been raised but also the Gap has been closed a little bit and you could speak to that because you've seen almost all of our teams yeah most definitely we've played every single person in the in the conference um and everybody competes um everybody's out there um you know our conference is going to do well in the in the National um uh National playoffs and everything like that so just gave an opportunity to just kind of be in this conference as a scheduled partner and then y'all are just getting us ready so whenever we're a full-time member we know how things are supposed to be um definitely respect this the sack definitely no doubt about it well coach I appreciate the time I know it's a busy busy uh time of the year for all of us as we're getting ready but appreciate it looking forward to seeing you guys throughout the year this year and uh good luck and have a great season yeah thank you guys so much man thank you guys for having us no problem the head coach down at North American University K of pond joining us and when we come back we'll continue to talk to some of our outstanding coaches talking about their teams here it's the 2024 sooner Athletic Conference football virtual media day