[Music] man [Music] [Music] please be joined by Louisiana Tech Bulldog sunny kby in the third season at the helm joined by quarterback Jack Turner and Jesse Evans welcome appreciate you having us man we're excited to be back tough stretch you guys had in the season last year and you lost four onep possession games what was last year like and how do you kind of turn the table to this season yeah I think last year it was tough and I think when you had in really you had five games that you lost by one score less when you factor in you how we lost the game Sam Houston State late and so I think these guys have uh you know and coaches as well we've learned a lot from that and I think we've grown a lot as a program there's been a lot of positive momentum um within the walls of our program the alignment that we have with our players I think the excitement that we have from a Personnel standpoint um I think the changes that we made defensively I think are going to do um wonders for us from that standpoint and and I think that um ultimately you have a group of players and a group of coaches that are ready to win football games and and we've learned a lot of tough lessons from those those games that we were in late last year and I think that you try to to take that into the offseason and what you're doing you know here today um from the standpoint of what our guys are doing back working out and and trying to make up that ground and to make sure that you're on the right side of those close games whenever it comes October November let's talk about those changes a little bit because after every season every staff reassesses figures out what they can improve on defensively what were some of the changes you've made heading into the season well I think that from a defensive standpoint um we were able to bring in Jeremiah Johnson defensive coordinator um that was at Northern Iowa and really excited about Coach JJ was at Kent State for a season with sha Lewis and and had a great turnaround in one year and was able to bring back Jeff Burrus who's our co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach and I think Jeff Burrus is has done a phenomenal job with our players um he has a great knowledge of our defense and is just a really good teacher as long uh with ke brookens our Corners coach that came with them from un Andi and I think anytime that you know kelen played for Coach JJ and for coach burus and so you have that lineage and you have that chemistry um when you add it in with Cortez Carter our linebackers coach that we retained and then jakori Greer defensive line coach I think the number one thing that these guys have done a phenomenal job of is connecting with our players and I think a scheme is really important in terms of what you call on special teams defense and offense but I think from the standpoint of the connection that they have with our kids I think the trust level that they have earned from relationship capital standpoint um that's what um I'm excited about um not only to mention when going against our defense in the spring the problems that it caused us on offense um with just how multiple we can be um I think that's at the end of the day what you want to see and our kids believe in what they doing they have an identity on defense and they're playing fast which level on the defensive side would you say is the strongest right now you know I really like the I think football games are one you know in the trenches with your offensive line and your defensive line and I think Jesse's a representative of that group probably one of the closest groups that we have on our football team is our defensive line and he's the leader of that defense and leader of our defensive line and and uh they have a lot of great personalities but they have a lot of strength from the standpoint of what they can do as players and so I think our defensive line sets the stage I'm excited about our linebackers we have a couple of guys there that um that are joining us and and kobby Fields didn't get to play for us last year I think we'll have an impact and then uh through the transfer portal we brought in a couple of safeties in addition to the guys we already had on our team you know and so I think that uh our defensive Personnel is in a good spot and and I think coach JJ and his staff have done a good job of getting those guys going in the same direction we got to bring Jesse in cuz you were just nodding you were just loving everything coach was saying showing love to the guys up front what is the defensive line unit looked like so far in your eyes in my eyes the defensive line we just look like a family like even with the big offensive line like we do things as far as like team bonding so I feel like and we work out together so us doing our team bonding that bring us closer together as a dline we just we just he hang out with each other like outside the field like we just do everything together like that's just my guys right there 32 tackles two and a half sacks last season have you set any goals for yourself 2024 my goals to just giveing my all each snap each down and also be a good leader to my teammates like whatever they need done I just want to be there for them let them know I'm always there for them whenever they need me being one of the leaders on this team now how have you stepped into that role and kind of taking younger guys under your wing really Just sh them that the standard is the standard like doing everything right when nobody's watching always doing extra work in and off the field doing extra film just being a good role mod to my teammates when they look at me and see that I'm doing good they want to follow behind me and do what's good and that's what's good for the team now the standard for Jesse Evans is you got to dress right correct yes sir as a fashion guy I I saw you got some heat on your feet I've never even seen those before yes sir tell me what you're wearing uh some uh amiris some Amir something that I like yes sir I mean seeing you light up clearly you love fashion what is it about it that that's drawn you to Fashion I I just like fashion so so much cuz I get to be myself and like the way I dress shows my character that's just why I love fashion so much okay so those how did you pick those out how do those represent you I just feel like they stylish yes so I just feel like they stylish to me and it's like it's kind of like the oversized look with like a suit it just kind of match with my size cuz I'm kind of oversized too I try to get a slim suit but the ladies helps too like wild for slimsuit so I just went to oversiz look a little bit does fashion play a part of your game game rushing the quarterback do you have a little style little finesse when you try to get to the quarterback like I just do everything like fancy like especially like my celebration and I also got to have like a little field drip on the on the field too okay okay well we we do have a highlight of yours so let's Che take a look at the little field drip against Nebraska on the big stage and look at this chasing down the quarterback take me back to the snap what' you see pre- snap how you get the sack well pre-nap I just seen I was just playing my man and once I se he still had the ball and I seen him roll out said I got to get my it's a big game Nebraska I got to get paid like once he stuck his arm out I grabbed him I held on for dead life until he went down would you would you define that his field drip yes sir yes sir yeah you see the left leg he got he got a little something on that left leg yes sir little sleep I tried to celebrate then I seen the ball was down I tried to dive on the ball but I tried to celebrate too but then when I seen the ball was on the ground I said oh I got to get on the ball oh you just completed the play you got the sack the strip and then jumping down on it I like it I like it okay um let's go to the offensive side what have you seen so far it's bring ball and heading into the season from the offensive unit you know I think from our offensive standpoint again it starts with the offensive line I think you have a guy like Bert hell and jiren Gilbert who've played a lot of football in this league have played a lot of successful football in terms of them their personal development and growth um I'm looking forward to those guys anchoring our offensive line I think we have a chance to be bigger on our offensive line and really um be able to move people more so than anytime that we've been here in the previous two seasons I think we have guys big big bodies that tackle um that I think are athletic um that can move people in the Run game and and I'm really excited about seeing that group continue to jail um really under the leadership of Bert and jiren and I think our running back room you know Maris Crosby was hurt all season last year and it's a Difference Maker for us in the running back room add in nario Davenport who we got through the transfer portal then also Amari Wiggins is another young name that I think will really help help us at running back I think the receiver room there's Talent it's just getting those pieces all together and where do they fit from the standpoint of of outside receivers inside receivers and and getting that that unit together um and putting those players in the right position for success but I think you have guys that have been um successful in our offense we were able through the transfer portal also to add some age in that room in terms of you brought in you know two to three players who have had over 500 snaps of college football and so I'm excited about a guy like Jimmy holiday who played at Western Kentucky um coming over and I think brat provides immediate you know experience um he can stretch the field vertically you know and and I think that you know at our quarterback position you know I think Jack solidifies that room we've got two young guys behind him and and Blake Baker and Evan bulck who are really talented and and it's a it's a great room and our tight ends they really make the whole thing go we ask those guys to play really three different positions and and we got a guy like Nate Jones Eli Finley and John Lock coming back um and so I think from an offensive standpoint we had the ability to be explosive throwing the football which we we've shown and had that ability in the previous Seasons but I I think from running the football when we have to when we want to I think we'll be a lot more explosive from that standpoint Jack was a guy who emerged late in the season getting four starts down the stretch what did you see from him and how did you challenge him to take the next step this year you know I think one of the most impressive first starts that I've ever seen a guy have was at Nebraska when Jack had his first start at Nebraska on the road in that hostile environment did a phenomenal job we had a drive going late in that game to get us within one score um and and and really had you know didn't didn't weren't able to execute and capitalize on the drive but I think just the Poise I think the command that he showed of our offense um and I think he was very unflappable that day and I think he carried that over into the previous in the following weeks and I think from those experiences that he's had because I think that that's the number one thing that Jack and is just go out and play he has unbelievable talent I think 85 out of 85 of our players named him as as one of the best leaders that exudes the cornerstones of our program and and he just needed the Reps to go out and do it which he got last year and then he's had a phenomenal spring I think most of our summer really all of our summer workouts the thing that we talk about with our program is creating ownership within our program from the players and coaches and when you talk about that tangible examples of how he runs our offense in the offseason this summer um a lot of our workouts the offensive meetings are led by Jack and and he leads them on the field and and he organizes the practice um based off of what we've given but um we have a lot of input that he's given us in terms of the script building in the summer as well so I mean those are those are those are the fruits of the labor that he's put into it and and really our football team and our coaching staff are excited to see you know not only defensively but offensively where um you know where what Jack can take us and where this offense can take us all right Jack the stage is yours now uh where does this leadership ability come from um I I think honestly it's just come from a desire to lead um I've always had a desire to lead a desire to to have a voice and quite frankly I don't think I've ever been in the position to you know it's been a lot of waiting a lot of um learning from others and seeing other lead but now I feel like I am in a position I do have a platform to lead and um it's a lot of trial by error you know they there are some things that I've tried and I've said you know I don't I don't necessarily like how I do that go back to the drawing board and just try to figure out what is my way to lead um but the biggest thing I think is just serving those guys under me um and really around me uh just doing my best each and every day to to build them up you know there are a lot of guys with a lot of talent um a lot of ability and sometimes they don't even realize it and so just building those guys up and making them aware of how uh talented and how capable they are if someone's never seen you play how would you describe your game I think compose like he said not trying to do too much at any point um and just going out and reacting uh you know having awareness of the defense having awareness of of any blitzes that are coming um and just being being ready for anything that's thrown at me what did you do this offseason to get ready for this starting role and to really take control of this team yeah part of it was just really going back and looking at cut-ups from this past year looking at games uh situations and kind of just reliving those and saying okay what would I have done differently what you know um whenever things are slowed down a little bit okay I can think clearly and just figuring out okay what's a better decision that I could have made here what's um something that coach kamy may have seen here that I could have done differently um and so just going back and trying to flesh out some of those mistakes that maybe were made last season I hear you're quite the golfer yes we hear at the PJ of America headquarters incredible facilities incredible I mean what have you seen and what have you gotten your hands on so far yeah I mean this this place is amazing um just looking in this facility going to the lounge getting to play Top Golf um knowing that there's I think 46 holes out on here um we've been joking that we have to have a leash on me out here because I'm just wanting to wander around try everything out um haven't got an opportunity to but uh it's this is an amazing facility how would you compare your golf game to being a quarterback you know golf has honestly taught me a lot about football um about just kind of playing within yourself you know you don't have to be any different than than you are you don't have to hit the ball any harder you don't have to hit it perfectly but uh just playing within yourself all right so we have a highlight of yours uh in a game against UTP okay and I want you to take a look at the monitor what was the play call do you remember this this touchdown pass yeah I do remember we were running I believe uh Zone to the right with uh an RPO tagged um and knew I had a vertical on the outside with Drew Edwards and have a lot of trust in him you know we were in junior college together there's a lot of belief in him knew that he would go up and make a play if I just gave him a chance what would you say your best ATT attribute is as a quarterback physical physical attribute um I think athleticism that's something that coach kbi has continued to try to just um get me to realize is I do have maybe more athleticism than I give myself credit for and so whenever plays aren't perfect things break down just being able to go and make plays with my legs 65 225 sometimes he just you just got to go beast mode you you just got to go so do you want to more quarterback runs or is this more improv improv and and scrambling on his own I think a little bit more of improv and scrambling on his own and uh but I think his skill set is is perfect for what we do on our offense and and so I'm excited about the opportunity to see him live into it this season nice all right let's take a look at your schedule coming up right we're go to the Monitor and walk us through some of the highlights that you see well John I like how our schedule set up just in terms of the balance where we play four games and we finish at FIU we have a bye-week that leads us into our midweek Thursday versus Middle Tennessee at home I think one of the things in going through the midweek games is is understanding the importance of having a midweek game at home and then the turnaround at New Mexico State on that Tuesday on the road and so feel really comfortable about that turnaround and then we go Tuesday Tuesday uh at home versus UTEP um at on the road at Sam Houston State and then we have basically another buy and we start the last four games of our season with Jacksonville State Western Kentucky Arkansas and kennes so the thing that I I really like about how it sets up is basically it's a four game season you know and and we have a bye a four game season and then we have a bye and then we finish in November and our goal is like everyone else is to be playing those meaningful games in November but I think from the setup of how it's it's it's set up this year I think it's great um and really looking forward to the challenge of of all of our conference opponents and uh you know we have some great non-conference games that you see there with Nicholls opening up it's going to be a great contest there coach rebo's done a phenomenal job there so um I'm looking forward to our third season this schedule sets up great and and I think we've got a good football team to go and attack it tough schedule but best of luck NC State at Arkansas yeah those will be two games they're tough games yeah NC State they've done a great job I think they're maybe top 15 in the country right now defensively Tony Gibson does a phenomenal job I think Robert and I are offensive coordinator which he was the o line coach many days ago whenever I was playing a Texas Tech and so it'll be fun it'll be a great challenge for us but um these guys and our staff are looking forward to it