Shaver's Prep Football Podcast - Mike Mahlen, Luke Emmerich, and Frank Ragnow

[Music] this is the shaver Prep football podcast episode three thanks for watching we have a pack show this week coming up in just a few minutes I'm very excited Detroit Lions All Pro Center Frank ragn now will join me he is of course a former Chanhassen football star he's in the middle of training camp right now but we're going to check in with Frank and it's a discussion I think you're going to want to hear but first 2 [Music] 1 high school football practice is underway in Minnesota in fact it kicked off at 12:01 Monday morning August 12th as White Bear Lake High School held their annual Midnight Madness practice head coach Ryan Bartlett ran his team through an hour practice from Midnight to 1:00 a.m. and the players absolutely love this and what makes this extra special the Bears practiced at their brand new football stadium at their brand new high school which is opening this year no longer two campuses in White Bear Lake now just one location I was there early Monday morning pretty cool thing here's what coach Bartlett told me Monday morning how much fun they're having yeah I mean it's not for the coaches that's for sure but no they it's an experience you know and I think we try got to make um the whole season needs to be an experience and I think this way to start it is it's a sacrifice in some ways and it's a lot of stuff but ultimately the kids have a ton of fun and so yeah I mean that's the biggest reason we do it the Bears will open the season Thursday night August 29th at home against minaka what a great way to kick off a new era in White Bear Lake football we have three guests on this podcast coming up in few minutes Detroit Lions All Pro Center Frank ragn now will join me of course Superstar at Chan Hassen High School later played at Arkansas also Monaco's Luke Emerick is here he committed to Wisconsin this past spring but his football Journey has been anything but smooth and you'll hear from Luke coming up but first I am honored to have the winningest football coach in Minnesota Prep football history Mike men of burndale kicks off the show Mike Ma of Verndale is the winningest coach in Minnesota Prep football history 3 uh 432 wins 132 losses and three ties heading into year 56 at Verndale high school and Mike joins us now we are in the process of two a day practices in August what do you look for in year 56 at your players in two a day practices what do you hope to see and learn about your team during August as you prepare for your opener well this year we're looking for some receivers we we got a really good quarterback and we're sort of lacking at the receiver position so we'll be looking for receivers for sure is there a position that other than receiver that every year because of the size of Verndale the school size that you that you stress about that you worry about well not so much and like this year we've got uh five senior linemen and we're looking to scrambling to try to find who's going to play line on the B Team you know that's we don't have any kids linemen in those grades the younger grades and stuff so it's a little challenge there for us right now you were 20 years old when you took over the program in 1969 how in the heck did you even know what you were doing well I probably didn't know I was doing but uh then and now I had the really fortunate to have outstanding assistant coaches all the way through and uh that's uh my first game was at Clarissa and the score was 0 to Zer and neither team crossed the other team's 30 yard line so I was wondering what am I getting into here so although I was missing three of my backs that that year you know we're missing three good running backs CU different things happened and it was quite an experience there I've heard Dwight lundine talk about his philosophy of football which is you have um you have goals to win but you also have a purpose in what you do but when you're early in your career doesn't winning isn't it a little bit more important only because you're trying to establish your program and then the rest of the pieces will fall in place as you teach kids and you know you your purpose is to help them be better men but early in your career didn't you worry a little bit more about wins and losses well probably you know it's it's uh hard to remember back that far I guess right now but uh it was uh yeah that was important to us and uh it's it's always been important to you know make sure these boys become good young men and when they graduate and in the society they that's what you like to see is when they get out in the world and they and they're good people and they're good family men and good Fathers and you know stuff like that you've coached three generations of families in Verndale yeah are you are you close to the fourth generation yeah we're close I I had three of them well not fourth generation but I've had three third generations and the fourth is probably coming up now so I mean third right generation but I fourth I don't know that's a stretch but i' I guess I'd like to be around that long to do that but we'll see what happens tell me about coaching a third generation player that was part of your program what is that like yeah it's strange sometimes because you know uh for instance one kid was a his dad was a tight end and defensive lineman and now his son's going to be a quarterback and a safety you know sort of uh and there's been some other things like that too where the kids just seem to be the opposite of what their dad was and stuff and and uh from there you know we had uh oh we had Orlando with had uh their dad was a lineman and and uh one brother was linan too but then Craig was he's up at UND right now and he's he was a really good tight end force and so there's there's been a yeah [Music] and those third three generations all those kids have been good and and the parents have been very supportive and that's that's the thing with you know if you get good support from the parents and the administration and the teachers you know we've always had that burn we've always had that support from those three groups and that's so important and and uh especially from the parents the parents are are backing you up and uh that's seems to getting a little less than it used to be but uh it's it's still pretty good here but you know it used to be really good for people that don't know the first 16 years that you coached at verndell it was 11-man football yeah so it's not it's not always been nine player um that transition um obviously was it difficult was it uh challenging and you've got it down to a science now yeah well I don't think it was it was that big of a deal I guess uh my first 16 years too we had the one assistant coach I had one assistant coach and that guy changed every two years I had a math teacher and he leave and I got another math teacher and he leave for 16 years I had to different assistant coach and I you know I get to the point where you try to do everything yourself well now I've got last number of years I've been able to you know delete some of that or delegate some of some of that to the other other coaches you know first it was tough to do that because you've uh you know right away it started off I had to do it all myself and uh are you kind of that way though did did do you mind doing a lot of the work you're yourself I I assume early on in your career you wanted to set the tone for what you wanted this program to be well yes and I you know and I I I I really appreciate that the you know the coaches now can take over and I am confident that they can you know do the job and uh like I said it was hard right away to get you know trying to do everything yourself and it's impossible in football especially you need three four good assistant coaches in football more than any sport I think so here we are uh year 56 for you and I read a quote where you said as soon as I get sick of practice is when I know that I'm done I'm assuming you're still not sick of practice no why is that well I don't know if you get uh you're not sick of practicing you're not sick of game planning I guess that's the key to it because uh I mean anybody can do the games that's that's the easy part and I guess I learned that when I I coached track and field for 20 years and it got to the point I didn't enjoy I still enjoyed the meets the meets were fun but I didn't enjoy going to practice it's time to get out and same thing in football and I actually enjoy football better now because I'm not the teaching and I'm not the athletic director and all I have to do is coach footballs so that's sort of a nice deal you have to love the grind to love football right because it is a grind and it's you know I I'm not I'm not familiar with what it's like in Verndale but in other schools bigger schools it's a year round sometimes process because of where they are um for you you must love the grind oh yeah and it's like we've got here too you know a small school you need to they need to play other sports you know we we got good good sports here in the in the track and field baseball basketball you know and uh really can't be a year round situation here we try to get the kids to you know lift weights obviously that's good for all the sports and we we've done a better job of getting the weight program going and kids coming in the summertime and uh so it's and I don't I guess I don't think it's a grind I don't feel a grind because I still enjoy doing it and uh like I said I'm having more fun now I've ever had just because that's all I got to worry about is football how how proud are you are of your win total does it mean a lot to you or is it just part of the process of you coaching over all these years yeah it's just it's part of the process I guess I'm I'm I'm not I'm not into coaching for wins you know I'm not here to see how many wins I can get I'm here to try to see good good players and become good young men I guess that's the biggest most most important part of it and uh I uh yeah it's nice to you know it's obviously more fun to win than it is to lose I mean that's sure thought about that so well you're the only coach in Minnesota to reach 400 wins you're at 432 Dwight lundine sits at 399 he is second all time behind you in Minnesota when you reached 400 was that was there something special about that and will Dwight feel that that special moment when you reach a milestone like that well I think it I think it he will and I I did you know and I guess uh uh more important I felt better when I was inducted in the football you know Hall of Fame was more important to me than than 400 wins but uh that meant a lot too and uh and yeah it's it means a lot and uh yeah Scout nine man nine player football for me tell me the teams that we should be looking out for as we begin 2024 well in our we just got moved to a new section last year we got we were in section four which very very competitive over there and uh we got moved to section five and they got they had crl in there and uh had the mountain iron Buel and yeah really good teams over there to ogleby and uh and there there are some you know we we got moved over there but we kept Bertha hu and SAA they got moved too that's our two closest Rivals so it wasn't such a big deal you know everybody said uh well you must have a lot more mileage going over there I said no I figured it out there's five miles difference you know from going there to going and we realized we had to go down to Ortonville you know and weaton and Clinton Graceville and there's some pretty long hauls there too so what's the best advice Mike that you've ever given a player what what's the advice that maybe has stuck with these three generations of players that you've coached that maybe when you see them years and years later they may come up to you and say thank you for whatever it is that you might have said to them yeah I I'm not sure what I've said to them that that uh changed things but uh yeah I've have had several you know kids come up and say that and uh I guess I'm not sure if I said something specific to you know this or that you know just basically give me a give me 100% effort and uh be a good person and it's all you can ask from the kids state of Minnesota football right now if you look across the state from 6A to nine player what's your evaluation what's your thought of how good Minnesota high school football is well I think it's very good and uh I think it's getting better you know it's better and better all along and uh you know I just uh from 68 and N man there's there's some pretty good teams in ninan too I mean sometimes you they look and say well that's the only ninan what uh a lot of a ninan teams could compete with the class A for sure and some of the class 2A also obviously we can't compete with Eden Perry and wi and people like that you know but uh they can compete with I feel was well we did for the first 16 years we had then we were in a pretty good conference too with Battle Lake and Henning and we had a real nice conference back then so and we do now too well now it went to districts you know you can't even have conference anymore you can't name you know we were in the Pheasant conference all the time and we when we changed we wanted to call it the Pheasant conference all we had to call it District Four you know not quite the same no it isn't but Is What It Is Well you open the season Thursday night August 29th against Carlton Rena at home you still get butterflies on opening night oh well I probably get butterflies for every game you know not just opening night after 55 years you still get butterflies oh they're still yeah you still get anxious you know and stuff and uh for every game so well that's a good thing I suppose right keeps you on your toes that's part yeah part of the reason I keep doing it I guess and and it's just fun every year you know see the kids new kids we going to put them okay who's going to you know right now we're struggling to find couple tight ends you know and we're who's who's going to play tight end and we end up moving one of our tackles to tight end just uh you know but nin man football I said that a tight end has to be a tight end and he has to be a tackle you know he's he's I think the tight ends a very important position in in ninan football and uh of course one of my assistant coaches with the tight end I told him that I think the tight end's most important position on the team of course he never lets me forget that whatsoever hey it's been an honor it's been a pleasure to talk with you uh Mike men 432 wins 132 losses three ties over 55 seasons in Minnesota beginning year number 56 in just a few weeks Mike thank you good luck this season thank you very much I was visiting with my friends over at Tru Stone Financial the other day and they're just a warm and welcoming group they're known as The Neighborhood Credit Union and I think that's the best way to describe them when I'm at True Stone I feel like I'm chatting with my neighbors combine that personality with a full menu of services and a lot of financial expertise and you have a winning combination whether I need a checking account a car loan even a mortgage I know I'm going to be working with smart friendly people with 23 local locations in Minnesota and Wisconsin you're not far from a trueu stone neighborhood visit a branch near you or learn more at Tru stone.org Tru stone is an Equal Housing Opportunity lender so we are in early August and training camp around the NFL has opened up and that includes the Detroit Lions and that means that Frank rag now is entering what year is this for you seven or eight with the in the NFL year seven year seven can you believe it is year seven for you in the NFL it is crazy it is crazy how fast it flies I I mean I'm an old man now I guess just it's just nuts are you like the veteran of the locker room where all the media because you're such a great guy does all the media like Flock around you because they know you're gonna talk uh you know there's been there's been some years where I've been more talkative than others but uh I I feel like I'm a straight shooter they respect that I uh try to be the same guy every day I I listened to you after you guys lost to the 49ers in the NFC title game and you were uh you said um something about being grateful but also stung hard by the wha ifs and somebody asked you how long will it take you to get over the wha ifs so how long did it take you to get over it I don't think I'm over it to be honest I think that's but I think that's a good thing I think uh our team in general um kind of has that sting and uh I think it's good to have I mean it's there's all kinds of ways you can Channel motivation and I think it's I think it's just another way we can use as a as a tool to get me through these long days in August is just remember that sting and remember what it takes and what you have and we it took a lot it took a lot to get to that point and it wasn't enough so just knowing that and knowing that you have to do that much more I think is an advantage for all those out there that don't know Frank ragnow was a star football player at Chan Hassen high school he uh went on to play for Arkansas in college and then ended up being drafted in 2018 by the Detroit Lions so your football Journey has been awesome because you've had a chance to experience all of these different things um what is it about the NFL that maybe is just more of a grind than anything else because I've said this before football in itself is a grind you have to love the grind otherwise you don't love the sport but I would think in your case in the NFL for as long as you've been and I've been around professional football players it is mentally almost as difficult as physically right oh yeah 100% I uh you know people just see Sundays but it is uh like I mean we're starting up camp it's kind of like see you later everybody see you later family see you friends like I'll see you when the season's over there is so much that goes on throughout the week mentally and physically to prepare for each opponent and prepare your body and the game plan understand what's going in understand the nuances of what this defensive coordinator tends to do what these players tend to do studying film looking at the Playbook it's a whole different deal and especially in my position as Center I of am in charge I kind of run the show up there for the offense so I need to be on my on my aame understanding like hey is Harrison Smith going to Blitz here when he's on the line of scrimmage or is he going to end up being the Deep safety like I got to know all these things and these Tendencies so and I like that it's the chess game within the game like every a lot of people probably think it's a it's a big brute let's go run and play physical and see what happens but there's a lot of thinking going on and it's something that I've really fallen in love with with the game and that's what makes you a pro bowl Center that's what makes you you are because you there there are more things to this game than just the the 5 Seconds that you're blocking somebody that there's all those things that you just talked about when I was prepping for this I did notice Frank a lot of people asking is Frank rag now gon to retire physically he's been beaten up over the last few years is he G to retire what what how do you I know you're in the middle of a contract how how are you feeling physically and has that thought crossed your mind I think that's more people speculating because of just the physical beating I've been unlucky these past few years I've gone through the The Gauntlet of injuries but I feel really good right now and uh I've I haven't felt this good in a while so we're just kind of taking her day by day and trying to enjoy everything and uh I'm taking my health uh very seriously and appreciating it because I know how how it is because when you get that chronic stuff I've had a toe injury a back like that that really weighs on your mentals and it's a when it's a daily In-N-Out thing it's always in the back of your mind it can really weigh you down so right now to be feeling good feeling fresh is uh really nice and I'm hoping to keep it that way we'll get back to this NFL talk in a second I want to focus on high school um you were a care TV all Metro football player in 2013 for me you were named to my all decade team in 2010 through 2019 and you're also first Team all time all Metro only six offensive linemen were on that team Shan trell Henderson Quinn Carroll JC hassenauer who made it to the NFL played for East Ridge he was the same year as you uh Mike dowy out of Lakeville great football player play for Notre Dame and Ryan Harris who played in the NFL out of creeton what did you take away from your high school experience at Chan that has stuck with you all this time here you are seven years into the NFL and you still somehow relate to something that was said advice that was given when you were a high school football player at champ our defensive coordinator at the time was Josh oming and uh he really said something that stuck with me and has I think is the reason is where I am today is great football players are made in the weight room and I uh I truly believe that I think that is there is so much that can be gained by prepare by your prepar ation in the process in the offseason making sure that your body's in the best physical shape and making sure you're as strong as you can but also the mental toll that takes to be consistent it teaches you so many different things of consistency Integrity self-motivation being able to push yourself like all those things that you don't even realize you're learning all in the weight room and I think that's been what's kind of been a big key to my uh career is I feel like I have this I'm very proud of my work ethic and I feel like that's kind of what has been able to because that that's what will get you places and then it also what will separate you from others if you keep that up and never forget that and that's not necessarily something you'll learn once you get to college or the NFL you really have to have it before you get there right to be successful yeah because it's going to get you there those the kids in high school that are stronger and faster that's going to get you in the door and then if you keep that put keep pushing that throughout and throughout it's going to get you even farther and farther and farther and I think I I think the weight room and I've been blessed to be around some great strength coaches I think that's been a huge difference in my career it's not necessarily the most fun thing to do when you're in high school though right I mean you you almost have to mentally prepare yourself to do that on a consistent basis how did you do that how did you and what I'm saying is like I'm not saying you do the weight room and you don't do other sports because I did all the sports I could play and I I think that's like you know that's a huge Hot Topic now is don't specialize I think yeah you should every sport but I was also like we'd have basketball practice after school while I was in the weight room at 6:00 a.m. before school working out so you just got to have to you have to have your mind and realize that you can do what you want you just have to go do it and uh I think that's a big powerful thing is you're going to have to make sacrifices I wasn't the party kid I had to make some sacrifices and it's turned out pretty good for me for all those High School football players and coaches who are watching and listening there are no shortcuts right there are no shortcuts to get to where you are in your life and your career it takes uh you just don't wake up one morning and you're a pro bowl Center you have to put in the time right you have to put in the time and the effort and I think that's you know it's easy to say but it's hard to do right and you just have to have that mental um yeah ability to do that yeah just uh adversity the Hard Road all that stuff it sucks but it's good for you and I it's it's even if it's the straight path like shortcut and then there's this crazy hard path probably the crazy hard path is the best path for you and that's what I've definitely learned I mean I'm not some old wise guy but through my through my years that's what I've learned like everything difficult and hard and tough and that has made me very very uncomfortable has made me better what made Friday night special at Chan what do you remember from high school football Friday nights I don't think there's anything better I seriously like here it is a guy who's been in the Pro Bowl who's been in the NFC title game and he's saying there's nothing better than high school I don't know what it is I think I think part of it is because like the relationships like you know like you know everybody like you know everybody in those stands you know that student section it's all so intimate like our we were so blessed with our Chanhassen Chas r like those games basketball football all of it was just incredible and I love I love that environment like the the anticipation in school leading up throughout the week like there was nothing better and you hear that from NFL players at least I have a lot when I interviewed them what what was the most enjoyable part of your football life and most of them will say high school football it's real it's real and I think part of it I mean you hate to say this but it's a job now it's just different you know and the the innocence and just the pure chasing of the dream and chasing of the goal with your with your best high school friends it's like there's nothing better yeah what's the best advice you could give to a high school football player sophomore freshman Junior out there who's beginning this journey for real they're playing varsity football what would you say what what would be the things that they should think about focus on set your goal and don't let anybody tell you anything different and put that goal in the back of your mind with every single thing decision everything that you do keep that goal in mind how about for a high school coach or a coach that's coaching young guys because you've you've been around a lot of them including the guy right now Dan Campbell who I know you love and we'll talk about that in a second but what about for a football coach out there who's mentoring and coaching young people what's what what advice would you give them I think the biggest thing that I've learned is I will play harder and it will mean more to me because I will care about you is when you're showing like it's everything's through love everything's through positivity and that doesn't mean you can't be a hard coach because I've had some hard coaches on me that have been tough but I know that guy loves me and he cares about me and it's been throughout the year not just on game day he's shown that and uh I think that's something special that when you develop a relationship because I know he cares he cares about me as a person then I think a player will do anything for you and Dan Campbell is he like that for you he's everybody talks about how great he is on the media he's better I'm telling you he he's as good as gold he's uh he's I'm very blessed to have him especially being seeing some other coaches and stuff like that he's just been he's smart he's intelligent he's s has such a good emotional grasp of the locker room and the players and I think that's something that's just like so hard to have like I think you either have or you and for a coach to have that feeling and have the understanding of a locker room I think it's great 12 and five last year in the regular season get all the way to the NFC title game The Grind is starting again right now here we are in August it's training camp how you feel how you what do you think what's what's the what's the feeling in the in in in the Lions right now I think we know we all kind of have that same feeling we know the standard we know the goal this year and uh if you're not winning it you're a loser and that's kind of uh that's the reality and that's what we want and we're going to hold ourselves to that standard but we're also going to realize that it's going to be a one day at a time and it's not going to be hey blink we're there we gota we got to get through week one we got to get through week two and so on and so on and so on and it's a process and uh I think uh we got the right group we got a great great young hungry group of guys that uh that had their right head on their shoulders when football is over there's so many lakes out there there's so many fish waiting for Frank rag now right oh man I can't wait I'm not gonna lie I love that side of it let me tell you I know you do oh yeah I I I can't wait I look forward to it well I wish you nothing but good luck this season it's been fun following your career from the time you were at Chan to where you are now congratulations and good luck this fall I appreciate you thank you so much you bet thanks Frank we'll be right back well Luke emck is uh committed to Wisconsin to play college football but to get to that point the the road has been a difficult one and Luke is here to share that for people who don't know you you've torn your ACL twice and the second time you did it right before your junior year last year you were cleared to play it was a freak deal and you miss your entire junior year so take us from how it happened last year the mindset that you had to get back in again for the PT uh to where you're sitting right now so happened my sophomore year um just in the playoff game and was doing PT for a solid seven months and right and then I was coming home from a friend's house and was reaching to shut off the garage and kind of felt my knee go a little bit and once you tear your as out once I mean you know you know exactly what it feels like after that but knew right away kind of ran up the stairs got my mom and dad and was like we got to go in tomorrow I mean we got to get another MRI and and I just thinking of everything like cuz it sucked I mean the first seven months were right I mean it's it's it's good stuff but I mean nobody wants to be driving no 17-year-old kid should be having to drive to physical therapy three times a week but it was it was a struggle and then to think about having to do it all again and just restarting from the bottom was tough and the way that I was able to keep doing it was just the the hunger in me to want to fulfill a childhood dream of playing college football and continue playing for my high school team I didn't want it to be like people were saying like oh was your career GNA be over like are you gonna stop playing football and I mean I definitely had some doubts every once in a while but the my idea of what I wanted to do never changed and just wanting to get to the next step was really what drove me in and it worked out great for me and not only does it suck that you tear it twice but you tear it right before the football season starts so then you have to do pt while your team is playing yeah in the fall so you're not playing you're on the sidelines that has had to be like doubly brutal yeah I mean it it was hard to watch but we we figured it out a little bit we we had a decent record we found on some missing pieces but I mean while they're practicing and I'm doing single leg squats on the sideline holding a football just wish I could be out there with the pads and the cleat on I mean it was hard but to just see it's a different perspective from the sideline I mean not I played my freshman year so I never have really sat and just watched and I mean you definitely learn a lot about people's body language the way they act and just every facet of football you don't see when you're one of the 11 22 guys on the field I mean it's it's really different on the sideline so you were being recruited at the time and you know recruiters you know they see a guy he's torn his ACL for the second time um sometimes they'll disappear sometimes they they won't follow up um what you had to do though was to prove to everybody that you were healthy and you did that in the spring and I follow you on X and so I couldn't believe the amount of D1 offers you got in the span of like five or six days after you ran 100 meters in track I think you ran 10 six in the 100 meters and all of a sudden it blows up right talk about that so I I always kind of I did track my freshman year and I mean I I didn't I mean I took it seriously but I never thought that like I would be any good at it but and then after PT I was like I got to do something to cuz everybody knows like for football junior year is like the year you need for recruiting and I didn't get that so I was like what can I do talked with my coach and with my parents about like what can I do to show that like I'm good with besides a workout video I mean they need something like pen to paper like statistical so I'm like 100 meter in track I mean a football field is about close the closest Race to 100 meters is a football field so I did that and I got 10 six and I mean I think right after that I got a phone call from my first or my second offer or power four offer I would say now was Iowa State right after that so I was like oh that worked out well and then it just the do it's just like a domino effect I mean they they roll in right after did did you put I don't remember did you put it out on X that hey I just ran a 106 yep Y and so did you do that because you were proud of the 106 or you knew that once College recruiters see that hear about it it's going to open the doors again I completely did that to as a tool I mean it was my recruiting tool and I mean I was obviously happy about the time but I wanted I mean that's such a strong thing that people I mean speed is like number one thing you need in football and it I mean it was I think I posted it maybe five minutes after the race I did not wait at all so if I have the numbers right 15 offers y you received 15 and you chose Wisconsin and you chose them really quick I was surprised because you had a you like I said he had a ton of offers back to back to back why was Wisconsin uh so I actually went there not on a visit but my freshman year of high school my dad and my sister we just went to go watch the first game of the year and I like I love the campus and I was like wow I want to go to this school whether I'm a student or if I'm lucky enough to be able to play football this is the school I would want to go to it all worked out that I was able to get an offer from them and I knew pretty quick once they offered that was the offer I was waiting for and me and my parents we after I got that offer we went out to dinner that night and we talked about like when are we gon to make a decision like this is all three of us this is what we want to do this is what I want to do and so we knew pretty much right after that offer that I was going to go to Wisconsin so so this really didn't happen at a camp right this is unique because it happened in the spring after you ran the 100 meters in track you didn't go to different different different sport different sport altogether but they obviously still had you on their radar they were still I assume there was still communication between the two of you and all they were waiting for was that that last piece that hey the guy is healthy yeah yeah yeah and I mean if that like the way that they did it so they they I mean they they dialed down on communication a little bit they were pretty heavy on me my sophomore year and then after the track I mean there's just like it's I mean it's the $250,000 investment is a full scholarship so you got to you can't just be throwing those out I mean you got to make sure you do your your correct homework and what in that 100 meter that's exactly what they needed and they told me that a few times and went out and that's the was my whole purpose of doing it so people that don't know Luke Emer is a safety for Mel that's probably what you'll play in college as well um you're you're a unique safety because not only can you cover but you love to go downhill yeah you you love to hit that's that's what and it's almost the linebacker mentality in a safety body right tell me about that so I I mean I I like to cover but there's nothing I personally I think there's nothing like going and cracking somebody but so why not bulk up and be a linebacker I I don't know if I can get that big but no they want me to so at Wisconsin they want me they play a three safeties they play with a true nickel as kind of a strong safety and a free safety so they see me as a strong safety and they want to get me I mean up I think 15 PBS and that's where I'll play at and I think that's perfect position for me because what they do at Wisconsin is that safety either covers or they can Blitz they go play on the box they guard a slot or a tight end or even a running back so I'm super excited that and super versatile so it's a fun position to play so I'm excited for it so for all the young kids out there players who have gotten hurt during the course of their career and you know maybe they've been through the same thing you have um give those people some or those kids those players some some some things to think about something to focus on what did you focus on during your PT that kept you on the track because there's a lot of kids that when that kind of thing happens to them they get off the track right it's just hard to stay focused and maybe you're a little bit different because you knew that this was D1 is where you wanted to go but I think you probably have some insight as to what worked for you that maybe can work for someone else for sure um I think that a lot of I mean ACL is a common injury knee injury I mean it's happening everywhere but I feel like there's more of a mental aspect to an injury like that than there is a physical aspect or just as much because you're you're on top of the world for the play before you're having fun with your teammates and then the next thing you know you're like I'm just going to sit on the cou for the next nine months and it's horrible and there's a kid actually on my on my high school team who just found out yesterday that he tore his ACL also so I just I called him right away and just kind of was like what do you need from me like I I got all the tips and tricks for you and it's hard but just keep you got to do your PT you got to get surgery like it's a long road but at the end of the day once you recover from it and you get like that full clearance from your from the doctor I mean there's no better feeling than that so now you head into your senior season you don't have to worry about recruiting it's over it's done how much are you looking forward to 2024 I'm super excited the stress of not having to try and prove to coaches that they should take me or try to I mean the rankings to Hype none of that really matters anymore just be able to go out and freely play and know what I'm going to do next year and starting in January and I'm super excited to just see what we can do and I we have a good team this year so I think we've got I don't I don't think mon Sol has made it to State since 1988 so I think that's that's our goal in mind and we get reminded of it every practice every lift so I think we're all on the same page that we're going to make it to State this year the magic open the season on Thursday night the 29th against piji and then you're off in running um do you worry I mean are you walking upstairs gingerly or you you holding on to the railings what are you doing to make sure that this that this I mean is it in the back of your mind oh gosh I I can't do this because I'm afraid that that might happen again no I mean definitely like the first couple track practi is I was like kind of like oo like it felt normal I'm just like scared I mean something you don't do it for so long or move so it's like did it did it come back stronger did you feel like it came back strong I can I mean I can lift more now too just like cuz that's all you do I mean when you tear your ACL you lose all of your quad strength so all you're doing is pretty much lifting but no I'm I'm not scared at all I mean I got I got the right people that helped me through PT and they told me that it'll be 110% back and better so and I actually have a it's called a like like a internal brace okay so it doesn't my knee won't twist and my surgery was actually done by uh Dr Chris Larson the vi yep yep he did AP before he won the MVP so that's that's that's what I tell everyone so no I'm I'm super confident in it and just everything that I've done so far it's if it fails me I I don't know what to do with after well here's the good news uh the family doesn't have to change the colors that they wear because red is the Badger color so you're all set with that hey thanks for for coming in here thanks for sharing your story and uh I wish you good health and and good luck this fall appreciate it thank you so much thanks L we'll be [Music] right that's it for our show this week thanks for watching next week Indianapolis Colts running back Evan Hall the Superstar from Maple Grove High School will join us plus the two best football players at least being recruited division one in the state of Minnesota two seniors Abu Tera wal of Providence Academy and Emanuel Carmo of Cooper will be my guests next week for producer Alex halan and the great folks here at talk North thanks for watching we'll see you next week [Music] [Applause]