SportsTalkSC show podcast
Zak Willis 10 - 07
[MUSIC] Now, first and 10, is Zach Willis in the Sports Talk Media Network. [MUSIC] >> All right, Monday night on Sports Talk, manic Monday. First and 10 was Zach Willis. Here on Sports Talk, good to have the coach back with us for another Monday nights. Lots to talk about, start with South Carolina. And just a bad day, just a bad day at the office in many, many ways. But I don't think you can just shrug it off as a bad day at the office either. What did you see going on out there? >> Well, there were a couple of obvious things to me, feel as a coach. And again, having to come off the way that season started with it, even in the loss of great effort and good execution, to see the way they played Saturday was really frustrating, I think, for everybody. Really disappointed in the game management, the fake punt really kind of spilled it. I mean, it was kind of a day in a capsule. They go out in an obvious formation that's going to be a fake. Ole Miss is not stupid, they're a fairly well coached team, at least it's schematically. And they get the punt safely, which for the fans out there, we're going to talk dirty for a minute here, Phil. >> Talk dirty to me. >> They are, Brett Michaels made that famous, Denny. But anyway, they get the punt safe, which basically means they've got one of the best defensive lines in the country. And they leave those cats out there, South Carolina trucks out there, a long snapper who looked like he was about a buck 85. He was probably bigger, but against those guys, he looked tiny. And the rest of the coverage team, which are not offensive linemen, they line up with their first defense and a base defense look. And proceed to destroy that line and hit the guy that caught the snap and the mouth and body slam him. And they do all this and I don't know, Miss is 36 yard line, but they're on 36 yard line to make matters worse. There was no reason for it, no D&M if it's set the wrong message as a message of desperation. You're not going out here to be all that, we know. South Carolina has athletes to play with teams like Ole Miss. They beat a Kentucky team, beat them badly. They just beat Ole Miss in a tight game in Oxford, Mississippi. And it just, to me, from there it went downhill, driving the ball, second driver of the game. They decided to bring Robbie in and Robbie Ashford in. And what a trick played with the mesh, read on a zone pool like that. It's something you need to practice. Any thumbles of all and they give up, they give up 14 points off two turnovers. One, it was, you know, I think I can live with a fumble, I guess. I wish it had been sailors running the ball. He can run it just as good if not better. But okay, but the, the fake punt just, you know. And I felt like they just were not the same team we've been seeing all year long. They had two weeks to prepare for this game. I'll cut it there and let you guys ask questions. But there was a lot, a lot of things not going right on Saturday. Yeah, they had, they had a number of different issues. What about the confusion that Beamer admitted to on the penalty deal where he, he took the penalty, did not take the sack left. We gave, basically gave Ole Miss another down to play with and they were able to get out of the hole and to get a first down eventually. Let that, I mean, okay, I'm trying to edit myself without editing myself. But that was about as, as boneheaded as I've seen. And the thing is it's not just on him or some of his staff. Somebody should have stepped up, but I mean, there's no Pete Limbo anymore. You know, you got, got guys over there. Now I would think that a loggens, if he was paying attention and he may not have been, I don't know, because that's the defense. But somebody's got to step up there and say, hold on a minute, coach. I was standing up in my living room, having a fit and it's just a basic deal. I mean, if it was a lot of high school in Macaula, 19-day coaches would have known better either one than to do that. And I'd say their whole staffs would have, and I hate to have to do this. But we got to praise them when they deserve it. But this is not one of those times and that was a rough. And I am glad he didn't pull a real must chant and try to lie about it. He owned up to it and owned it. So good for him, there's respect, there's a mistake. Yes, but a reflection on the man's character. No, thank God for that. Look on the positive of that, I guess. He's owned everything. He's owned everything, but I mean, the Dylan Stewart deal, how I think that that should have been handled considering, you know, and everybody likes to say, well, this day and age, this day and age, this day and age, this is, yeah. The quote to quote Deon Sanders, Bulljunk on that. OK, that's Bulljunk. As he says, you all know what I mean. Look, that's inexcusable. This shows a lack of character on that young man's part. He's not controlling his emotions. That's a lack of character. That means by a kid, he came back and made a play later that, I'm going to be honest, I'm going to today be clown is capable of making the sense I've been walking South Carolina play. This kid is going to be a superstar. And by being a superstar, everybody's going to be watching every single thing he does all over Columbia, no matter where he goes, he's going to be followed along with the sellers. So you're going to have to give them some tough love. Hopefully he was up bright and early this morning, running the stadiums at Carolina or doing something to that measure, and he'll do them every day until he realizes, yes, what, but you can't lose your mind like that. And that was a huge sack, a huge sack and a great play. But you can't, there's never been a day and age where that's allowed because there's such a violent act. I mean, what he was looking like, he was shooting a punk shotgun into the guy's face or chest. I don't know how anybody, no matter how progressive you want to be, can say that's okay. And he's a kid being a kid too, we don't want to overdo it. But I mean, it was just kind of a meany meltdown. They can come back from all this stuff. But it was, again, you know, you just want to throw something at TV and you just get really frustrated at it because we know they're better than this. We know they're capable of far better, far higher level play. What about playing hard? Yeah, but what about from the coaching standpoint on the sideline? Do you, I mean, my thought is you, you bench a guy like that and he sits the rest of the game. I'm sorry if it hurts the team, but I mean, you got to get, but people will say, well, they, they punished him during the week or they punished him in the running the steps and they had a talking to him and I don't know. I've always heard the greatest punishment is sitting on the pine. Well, playing time, I mean, here's the thing. You got to, you got to bounce in college football day. Shane Beemer's at a critical juncture with his team. He's got to head in the right direction. But, you know, I'd say he's on the hot seat after last year. I don't know, I hope not. I don't, in a way, I really do. I'm not for that. But see, it pushes coaches who weren't really resolute in what they believe to kind of waver in favor of, I don't want to hurt the team. I want to chance to win this game, especially the big lane. Kevin, who's a symbol of everything is wrong in college football. We can deal with that later. Um, I would have ripped his rear end verbally and I would have sat him down and I would have had my coaches, especially his position coach monitor, his behavior, because it was still a lot of time left on that ball game. And if I saw that he was contrived and had the right attitude, I would put him back out there, but the whole stadium would have saw him. He did it in front of people. He embarrassed the team in front of people. He would have gotten embarrassed in front of those same people so that the people that care about the program, they're putting money in the program, people that are supporting that program, covering that program like me. And you are seeing the discipline that's going down. Okay. And the fact that I don't know what, cause I couldn't watch the sidelines. You guys have to tell me if you saw any consequence that I'm sure they said something. Um, I can't imagine they wouldn't because it was such a huge penalty. But at the, that's the very least. And then he'd be consequences, we'd have a captain's meet and the captain's that hold him accountable. And he need to run the crap out of you for at least a week, at least a week. And he wouldn't start the next ball game. That's how I handle things like that. I didn't want to overdo it, but I would let the punishment fit the crime. He came back later and seemed to have himself under control, but they got to send a message that would not be tolerated because that's what everybody else on that football team is watching what's going on there. And that's a critical that the coaching staff handle that immediately and in a very direct way, no, no, no wavering on that. You mentioned Lane Kiffin and of course the fake injuries. So why is there no rule? Why has the NCAA not implemented something at this point time? Now listen, Kiffin, I think he's a jerk for doing it. I think it's very non sportsman like to do that, but there's no rule against it. He knows there's no rule against it and he might just be flaunting it because there is no rule in daring them or maybe trying to convince them to make a rule. So why, why do you think they haven't imposed a rule? He had he stands for everything that people like you and the sports talk team. And honestly, I think the entire NCAA as far as fan base goes, the problem is he's got Jimmy Sexton and his man as his agent and Monte Kiffin as his daddy. And he he's shameless. He doesn't care. He's ruined three or four programs in his career. Tennessee, Southern Cal, the Raiders and Alabama and started a clone. He was there from the inside out and we don't need to get into details of that. Everybody knows what happened there with him and Nick Saban. Um, and he is just, that's who Lane is. And I've known him since he dated one of my fellow, my teammates or fellow coaches, dollars and ended up marrying her, I know the guy, okay? And what you're seeing is a middle finger to the, to, to, not, not to the establishment. Probably doesn't even, they're scared to make a rule. Cause what is some kid really is hurting. Oh, we might hurt their feelings. It's not kid around about this. And they coddle people like him because he takes advantage of them. No problem. What are you teaching these young men? Okay. You know, Dabo Sweeney, and I, I thought to think that Shane's doing this too, they're trying to build carry Dabo, but Dabo's got to heal. He's dying on it. He ain't taking a transfer. So he's doing his own way and he's stealing right now. And I'm going to be honest. I'm pulling for him too. I want, I want both of these programs to be successful, but because of people like Lane kissing and he did, here's one big one, Phil. You hear this in baseball all the time, he's disrespecting the game. That's what he's doing. There's not a rule against it, but he also said it half time. Hey, man, we are, it shouldn't even be this close. We did this is he had no respect for South Carolina, their players. He doesn't respect himself. How can he respect another human being? I mean, he didn't respect his marriage. And I could go on and on with him. He is a hot button subject for me because I diametrically oppose everything he stands for, including, I mean, we talk about mental toughness and you're giving kids a signal to fake and injury. How do you, how does that translate into building character in the young people? And we got people paying to watch these ball games, you know, paying these kids to play down. You're telling the fake injuries. I don't understand other than to say he doesn't respect the game because he never had to work hard to get a job. He didn't grow up in Atlanta. He didn't grow up in the cotton fields of South Carolina, dreaming about being in one of those states. He was born into it. He is exactly what this country does not mean in leadership of an SEC program and every time he wins, it makes us weaker. And I hate to say it doesn't matter what school is at. OK, but when you when you fake an injuries, you're teaching people to be cowards. That's a coward's way out. Put somebody gets a big play on you. Now you're a hurry up team to and you fake injuries. I don't know why he fakes them on our fence. It's just like then I think he used to throw them in his nose. It is at the game. It's not the rules. He doesn't respect the game. And I'm sorry, I sound so judgmental on him, but I mean, I go by what I see. And then when and here's the thing when you got Jimmy Sexton back in you and you've got an ounces that are also represented by Jimmy Sexton and I'm talking dirty politics and football now and they're replaying it coming out of a break and showing the signal being given in the kid just falling down. No, when it's faked, I think I think a rule is coming. But we need to have a rule against people like him being in the sport. If you want my opinion, that's all it is, but I just don't. I do not use he needs. He needs to start going to church and have somebody pray for you. And that's all I can say without cousin. One correction. I am from Ladda, but I never stepped in a cotton field. So just just so you were in the department store and you had to work there. I did. I swear, I did sweet floors and sold underwear and things like that. Measure. I had some good, good Sunday socks to according to my mom. I measured, measured crotches for pants and things like that. That's awesome. So that's a good meaning job. You can bounce back from that one. Get in your fill. It's a good meaning. Say I've been topped and I've been in hog pins. I've cleaned them out. I've cleaned chicken pins and I've cleaned, I've been in cotton field, but I ain't never measured nobody's crotch, but he got me on that one. It's an important part of selling a suit. Um, well, the worst part was Phil was doing with his eyes. That was the bad. All right, real quick because I got to get recruiting in, but thoughts on Clemson and their climb up. Well, I'll tell you, man, you know, Dabo's been doing this a while on shows. It's like, you know, he went into that ball game, they got a lead and they started working on their run. It's like a listen to the show when you talk about them being able to run the ball. Could they run the ball? And we're all big film off of fans and he showed us why, you know, they, they, they did not turn it into an ugly game, but they dominated that game with four minutes and oh gosh, I got it in my notes. So when we were four minutes and 22 seconds ago, in the third quarter, Clemson had 23 first downs in Florida state had one. Yeah, that's the kind of dominance that a championship team has. They didn't win by a ton of points, but they were never not in control of that. That game, and I really felt like he did a great job playing smash my football, just getting physical, working on his physicality for down the road. Cause that's what playoff football comes back to. And you know that as well as anybody feel your Packers were the best at it back in the day. And then we did again with Dorsey leavens. It is a must have for playoff football. And I think that's what we saw. I was very impressed with what they did. Accent their field goal team got to get that left side straightened up. This footwork that they got to correct is very correctable. And you know the Tigers, they, they tend to correct things very quickly. And I'm hoping the game cops will do the same thing. All right. Yeah, the game cocks, huh. They're, they're stepping into the, uh, into the lion's den on Saturday because, uh, Vanderbilt certainly got Alabama's attention. I can't imagine what their practices look like this week. Well, we don't have Nick Saban down there anymore. We got a cow. We don't know what he's going to do. And so that's the only hope as far as winning. I just want to kind of go in there and play with great effort and intensity like they did until this and get their wide receivers straight down on pick place because those were legit pick place Saturday just for the fans out there. Yeah, got to clean that up. All right. Clean it up. Thank you, sir. Great talking to you. Talk to you next week. OK, have a good one guys. Appreciate you first coach and 10 with Zach Willis here on sports talk. [BLANK_AUDIO]