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(PSR) Prep Sports Report 6.29.2024 w/guests Rodney Orr and The Legend Series w/Ben Harris
Coming to you live from the Eastern Shore, Toyota and Hyundai studios. The Thompson Tractor Prep Sports Report. Here's your host, Randy Bergen with Coach Rick Cleveland and Coach Mark Leseter. Good morning and welcome to the Thompson Tractor. Prep Sports Report presented by our good friends at Alpha and we are coming to you from the Eastern Shore, Toyota and Hyundai studios. Good morning, Mark Leseter. How you doing, bud? Doing good. Randy Bergen is on assignment in Texas. He's traveled. Yeah, he's traveled. I've heard all of them dang long horns. He's out there and I'm telling you right now, he's had a long car ride. I don't know why he didn't fly. A long way out there. That's a long way out there for our little man. But we're taping today and today is the day. Today is the day. It is a day. It is the day. Happy birthday to you, Mark Leseter. Thank you, bud. I appreciate it. You know, I told somebody in a picture today that that picture must have been taken five or ten years ago because you're not nearly as tall as that. I'm not stupid. I'm not falling. I'm not mending. I am same height in that picture. That was last September 29th. It's when that was at Brooks' wedding. And Michelle just looked absolutely ridiculous. Absolutely. You talked about it. I married way, way up on that one. Well, you most certainly did. And she'll tell you being an Auburn fan. She'll tell you that she married way, way down since I'm an Alabama fan. You know how that goes. Yeah. And let's get into this. Let's get out of that. Let's get into this and let's say that just breaking news today at high school All-American Viagra Storm, Micah Dubos has transferred to Theodore. It just keeps on, keeps on. And, you know, I'm going to tell you this. I understand the transfer rule and I know what he's done because Viagra is considered with the Alabama Education Department. They are a failing school. So therefore he can transfer. And from the public school, Viagra, because of that rule. And I don't understand that rule, but you may know it better than me. I really don't know I understand a lot about it, but I do know it's a real thing. Yeah. And they have to go from that school to a school that's not failing. And I don't understand if they have to make a bonafide move to be able to go on. I think where they live, from what I understand, where they live, they won't have to move. It's just the way of the world it is. It is telling you. It is. And people are moving from one school to another. And what's going on at Viagra is they don't have a head coach right now. And they may not have one for a month. So I understand that I do. And you know, congratulations to Theodore High School. They get a great football player, who from what I understand wants to graduate in December and be on campus at the University of Alabama. That's great. That's great. If it's good for that child or young man, then that's amazing. But let me tell you, when you get an offensive lineman like that guy, that completely changes. You do a lot of stuff. I'm just telling you, he's one heck of a football player. He's a really good player. He's a good one. I wouldn't think he said, you know, I read a little thing, what he said in Exhort. And he said that coach Cook had done a lot for him. Yeah. He had developed him into a player that he was. And he didn't want anybody else taking credit for it at Viagra High School. That was kind of his thoughts. And, you know, I understand that a lot of people weren't happy with coach Cook getting like guys. That's right. A lot of upset people. And a lot of kids were upset. A lot of parents were upset. Yep. Why it happened? As you and I have said a million times, we don't know. And we're not going to throw darts at anybody. No. Not jumping on that button. Nope. But I just hated for those kids. But I hope things work out for my, and I hope that I think Steve Mask is probably a happy man. Oh, I'm sure he is. And I talked to Steve Mask earlier today. He's never met him. No. He's never met him. He's met his mom and dad. They came in and talked to Steve. But from what I understand, Steve's never met the kid. And probably, I'm going to tell you this, probably he might not have seen a lot of film on him because he's playing a completely different lead in what Viagra has been in the past. You know, congratulations to everybody. If it makes his situation better, then congratulations. And I know it's above board. There's no doubt in my mind it's completely above board. And when the parents want to do that, then that's what the parents need to do. And, you know, let's move forward and do the best we can do with that. He is a tremendous football player. He is a really good football player. And I'm going to tell you that. That's one that will make a difference. Sad news coming out of Birmingham. We had called Chris Jager earlier today and he was getting on the football field. But they lost a long time Mountain Brook football coach, Mike Thorson passed away this week. I'm going to tell you, Mike Thorson, he's -- Mike is the guy that when Bob Finley passed away at Barry, Mike Thorson became the interim head coach there. And I'm going to tell you right now, Mike did it his own way. He really did it his own way. He was a special, special football man. He was tough on kids, but he loved them before they got out of that parking lot. I mean, he was. He was that guy. He demanded perfection. And boy, he was a man for the ages. He transformed boys to men. He mentored coaches. But boy, I'm going to tell you right now, that man loved the Mountain Brook Spartans. Twenty-five years. Twenty-five years he was there. It's going to be a big absence on that staff. It's going to be a huge absence on that staff. Chris Jager is one of the finest offensive line coaches that's ever graced the sidelines in the state of Alabama. I put him in Philadelphia and kind of a class by themselves. And the guy that used to be at Theodore. And I can't think of his name, but he was one heck of a football coach. And I'll think of his name before this day's over. But you put the guy that was at Theodore. Phil Lazimby. And Mike Thorson, you know, he's working for one of the best that ever was in Chris Jager. I believe that. So, and I'll throw Mark Lester in there because he worked for Sabarice. And so, he had to be pretty stinkin' good to be a boy for me. He didn't let me do it. I only got the offensive line during the spring training. See, that's not fair. That's what I got there. Oh, we always swapped. Oh, guys, I was usually probably cleaning out the bus. Yeah, here you go. That's not, that's not true. That's not true. You know, that's not true. Busbee might have been training out the bus. Oh, Busbee called me today. Oh, that's good. Yeah, he did. He called me. He wants you to play golf with him. No, he don't want me. Nobody wants me to play golf with him. There's too many stories on radio about my golf man. Okay. But yeah, I'm really, really saddened to hear that about my guy. I remember when Mike took over at Berry and what I mean. It takes a special person to fall behind or try to fill the shoes of a legend. No doubt. Like Bob then. I ain't no doubt about that. I mean, he's one of the finest men, finest coaches ever in the state of Alabama, in the state of, in the United States of America. Yep. Tremendous football coach. Mike stepped in and took his place and, you know, did a great job there for that. Most competitive man I've ever been around in my life, Bob Finley. Yeah. No doubt. On Sunday afternoons, we would go over and play basketball at Berry High School. It was a, it was a war. I'm telling you, him and Larry Harbin and those guys, they got after it. It was never a crossword set. I mean, it was elbows thrown. You better not call a foul. You could not call a foul. No, you couldn't call a foul and buddy, they got after, and nobody I've ever known. Love the University of Tennessee Vols more than Bob Finley. That's true. Just a, just an amazing man. Delightful man. Yep. Mike Thorson. He's going to be missed by everybody that knew him. That's right. We send out our deepest sympathy to his entire family. And especially to that staff at Mountain Brook, Chris Jager. Chris Jager told me today, he said, you know, Rick, I lost my dad years ago, and I hadn't had the feeling of that loss. Like anything like that until Mike Thorson died. That's pretty man. That's, that carries a lot of weight with me knowing Chris Jager the way we know him. Exactly. Joey Jones is also a guy that, he worked with Mike Thorson. And, and Joey says he's one of the best coaches I've ever been around. Pretty coach. Yeah, he's a pretty doggone good football coach. And he's always said that. He's always said that he's one of those guys who really motivated his players. They loved him, but he was extremely hard on them. And he could, he could do that. Yeah. He could do that because they needed to do that. Rest in peace, Mike Thorson. You're in a lot better place than we are today. And for that, we are thankful that you've been a part of our coaching lives. We'll be back with more of the Thompson Tractor Press Force Report with Rodney Orr, tighter inside, right here on the Thompson Tractor Press Force Report. Welcome back to the Thompson Tractor Prep Sports Report. Brought to you by Alpha Insurance. This segment, presented by Green and Phillips Attorneys at Law. Now, back to the show. You know, we always come in with that. And, stately Dan's always talking about seeing your picture more. My picture. Your picture. Hope it's not in the post office. It's all about you, buddy. We love us some stately Dan. I would imagine Rodney Orr loves some stately Dan and probably loves some bias gags too. Well, just about anybody who's an Alabama fan knows a stately Dan. Oh, absolutely. They play that thing in the stadium. Deacon blues. Yeah, that's just absolutely ridiculous. That's ridiculous. Great song. You see, I think one of the movers in shakers and changing the culture of how we follow our football teams is Rodney Orr. He and his brother Dalton started tighter inside or in 1996. And it has been nothing but a complete success. And we're going to welcome Rodney in today because Rodney, I received his book the other day called Bigger Than Bama and I want to welcome Rodney to Prep Sports Report. Rodney was a guest on Prep Sports Report almost when this show first started what 25 years ago or right in that sometime. Rodney, welcome to PSR, pal. Hey, Rick. I appreciate you having me. Well, you were one of the originals. I mean, you got on here. I mean, I guess we'd been going for maybe a year when we first got on board with you. But wow, you've had a great run what you and Dalton started and now it is the website. Or it is the place for people to go to learn about tighter insider. You want to talk just a little bit about how that got started? Ambassador is here with us, former president of the Alabama High School Football Coaches Association. And boy, we absolutely love reading about Alabama and you are the main source that we loved to hear from. Yeah, thank you, Rick. And yes, I remember Coach Lasseter really, really well from back in the day. I think, as I recall back in the day, was it Alma Bryant? Yes, right. I'll remember correct. That's Anton Odom. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, you sure did. But you had a great program down there, obviously. Yeah, I know it's crazy because in a detail that's in my book that Rick and Coach, we actually, my family, I grew up, I was born in Mobile. And we moved to Corpus Christi, Texas in 1966 when Brooklyn Field closed. And my dad was transferred to Texas. I always tell this story that I didn't know I was from Alabama or we were from Alabama until we got to Texas. And they let us know it. They really let us know about it. And, you know, it was 1966, a lot going on, you know, at that time, of course. And they called us every name in the book because we were from Alabama. But I asked my older, one of my older brothers, I said, you know, they're calling us. And why are they calling us these names? And he said, he told me, he said, yeah, they're jealous. I said, well, they don't sound jealous. And he said, well, let me tell you why. And you got to remember, I might have been six years old at the time. And he says, well, because we were number one in '64, we were number one in '65 and we should have number one again this year that they screwed us out of it. So he planted a seed at that very moment of an obsession that just really blossoms, you know, into my identity following Alabama football back in the late '60s. And then, of course, Coach Bryant's great running the '70s just really kind of, you know, setting me ablaze with the obsession. So that's how it all started. But, you know, just my dream to follow Alabama football, to cover Alabama football, you know, through the years really kind of built. And, you know, Coach and Coach Rick, I never really thought it was going to happen, you know, by the mid, by say, 1994, I'm living in Corpus Christi after I attended school at the University of Alabama, of course, and I'm living in Corpus Christi and thinking there's no way this dream's going to ever come true. And then this thing called the Internet came about. And my older brother, as you mentioned, Dalton, he told me, he said, "Listen, this is going to take over TV stations. It's going to take over newspapers." And I was like, "No way. This can't be, you know, true." I mean, it just seemed too far-fetched. Then it did, and we put tighter and tighter, of course, on the Internet, 1996. And it's awesome. And within 18 months, I was making more money on tighter and tighter.com from a small bedroom in Corpus Christi than I was. The real job that I've been with 10 years with BFI in the trash industry, waste management industry. So that's how it all kind of came about, long story short. You know, and then within two years, we're moving to Tuscaloosa, me and my family taking and taking the tighter and tighter full-time. And that's how it really all kind of came together. Well, Rodney, and we're talking to Rodney over, tighter and insider. Rodney, I want you to tell people, right here, we're going to try to keep you for two segments, because I know you've got a grandchild back there, and he is being fabulous. But we want to try to keep you for two segments. But I want you to tell folks how they can get in touch with you to be a part of tighter insider as we get started here. Yeah, tighter and tighter.com. It's only 48 days a year. That's amazing. And they can get instant access with their credit card if you're an Alabama fan. Or if you prefer, there isn't a dress there to send a check, gives you all our premium recruiting and all that other information. But also our kind of, I guess, the famous tighter and tighter message board are all sports for them, which is our community of Alabama fans. And, you know, that's been going strong for nearly 30 years, it'll be 28 in October. But, yeah, it's been going really strong and still continues to go strong, thanks. You know, Mark, I bet you didn't know this. But when you go on tighter and tighter and you get on the message board, Rodney knows everybody that's on that message board, which is good, I think. It's really good. It's good that you know that. Yeah. I may have put some things on that one time. If I did, they were positive. We got about two minutes in this segment, Rodney. I kind of want you to bring us up to date currently. How do you feel about the new staff? No, I think they've come in and, you know, I was around when Coach Bryant transitioned to Ray Perkins and it wasn't so smooth, honestly. And a lot of the transitions have not been smooth. Yeah. But this one has been so far so good. I mean, I would have never imagined going from, you know, Coach Saban to someone else and that it would have gone as smoothly as it's gone so far. Now, you know, we still long way to go, obviously. But, you know, they came in, they retained much of the roster that they had. They kept most of the guys and then they did a great job of holding the recruiting class together and then I thought he did a fantastic job of getting Ryan Williams, a great player from Sarah Land, who had decommitted back in the fold. And now, you know, all of it, great job in the portal in the spring. And now with this recruiting class, you know, they got what, 19 commitments? Yeah. The number two or three class in the country right now. Yeah. So it almost looks, say, to ask, if you will. It does. As we get into the last minute, breaking news today out of Viger High School, Mike Dubos has transferred over to Theodore High School because they don't have a head coach at Viger right now. You got a pretty good player in Mike Dubos. I'm going to tell you, he's one of the best ones I've ever seen offensive line wise in High School. Mike Dubos. Yep. He's transferred from Viger. Yeah. Yeah. I understand he's going to be put. He is leaving. Yep. And that's, I was told yesterday he would be at Theodore. Yeah. So that's a big pick up for that Theodore program. That's for sure. You know, obviously he's a great player. You know, committed Alabama last Saturday now. All right. We're going to get out of here. We're going to take a break. Thompson. And we'll be back in about two minutes with Rodney or tighter and tighter. Welcome back to the Thompson Tractor Prep Sports Report. The Pops Market communication lines are open at 251-3430-106. Here's your host, Randy Bergen with coach Rick Cleveland and coach Mark Leseter. Now not really wish Randy were here this morning. I can tell you that because he would love, love, love, love to be able to talk to Rodney about Alabama football. And really all sports. Rodney's not just football. I mean, it's everything at Alabama and does a great job of it. One of the main reasons we've got Rodney on in the off season, so to speak, is yesterday at home I got his book, Bigger Than Bama. The inside story of tighter insider. Our buddy Ray Melick worked with Rodney on this story, this book, and this is wonderful. I can't put it down to be honest with you. So it'll be read by, I'm sure, by Saturday, and I'll be able to give it to you. Good. That's not good to tell Rodney. Rodney wants to sell you more. I know, Mark, you had something you wanted to ask Rodney. Yeah, I did. Rodney, there was something that was, when coach Dibor took over, one of his first hires was a position I've never heard before in college athletics. Now, I'm sure it's been going on. I just never heard about it, was a general manager, and he's got this fellow by the name of Courtney Morgan, who has kind of come in and done this. And I think he is one of the backbones of their recruiting process. Do you know much about what his role is and what he's doing? Yeah, I mean, you know, again, he's kind of an overseer, and I say overseer, is actively involved in evaluations of prospects, you know, offers, who they want to offer, who they want to recruit. The personnel that they have now, you know, are managing the roster, portal decisions. All of these things, when it comes to personnel and management, he's got a hand in. And, you know, I think it's really a role that's going to continue, I think, to grow across the country because it gives these coaches, I mean, right now, I don't know how they do it, to be honest with you. I do not know how these coaches do their jobs with everything that's going on. You know, I said about two years before the portal opened for the first time, I said, these staffs are going to have to hire retention staff just to keep your current players. It's really, you know, that's part of Portland. Morgan's a big part of his job is having his finger on the pulse of the current team, the current roster. So it's just a really tough task for head coaches now. They're spread so thin. And so with all that said, I do think it's going to be a position that's going to continue, we're going to continue to see that become more popular around the country. Mark, we also had a young guy that I'd love to know what's going on with him on the staff at Alabama from Fairhip. Ellis Ponder. Yeah. I think Ellis's position is the same as it was, but I haven't talked to Ellis as a hard man to catch up with, but Ellis was Coach Saban's right hand man. And I don't know what his role is right now. Maybe you know, I'm sure you do. I don't know more than I we do about it, but Ellis was a kid who was a man now, but he was a kid. When I knew him at Fairhip High School and we just love that boy to death, I guess he's got the same role. Yeah, I mean, again, I think he's got the same title. I don't know if actually, you know, he's doing the same things, what exactly, you know, his day-to-day responsibilities are. But I certainly know that he's still around and certainly active in doing what he has to do to, you know, carry out what he was doing. But Ellis Ponder's still here. There's still several guys from Saban's regime that are still here, you know, and he's got a big staff now. The boy's got a really big staff with the guys. He's brought in and the guys that he's kept from the Saban's group. All right, Rodney, let's talk about bigger than Bama. Where did this start because this is a testimony? It covers a lot of subjects at Alabama, but talk a little bit about how this came to fruition. I'm sorry. Let's talk about bigger than Bama. I know this is a testimony. It's a book about Alabama athletics. It's a book about Alabama coaches, rival coaches. Kind of give us how this, the background, how this book became, came in to be. Well, you know, I explained earlier a part of the book, you know, how it all kind of came about. The fandom, the dream of covering Alabama, all of those things, and I talk about that and how against all odds, tighter and tighter came about. But in the process of all of that, once we got to Tuscaloosa, once things really kind of just, I mean, it exploded. The internet exploded, tighter and tighter exploded. And, you know, as I tell the story, it can be really overwhelming because I was like one of the first, I was the first premium Alabama website. And I really didn't even have any competition when we first got here. And so there was, you know, it was, I was constantly working, constantly busy. All of it just kind of got to be an overwhelming thing. And in the process, guys, to be honest with you, I had lost contact with my family, you know. I wasn't the husband that I should have been. I wasn't, you know, I wasn't the father that I should have been. And I made a lot of mistakes along the way. And before I knew it, you know, with my focus being completely on my job, I, you know, the next thing I knew was my wife who had been the spiritual pillar of our home. She was diagnosed with ADD. And this was in 2000. And they put her on a drug called Adderall. And I never would have dreamed that my wife who, again, was a spiritual pillar of our home would get addicted to prescription drugs. And it was a nightmare. If you've never dealt with addiction, you don't want to trust. It was a seven-year battle. Over the course of seven years, I can't tell you what all happened to our family. I mean, it's, I said, I detail it all in the book, but it's just, you know, I have enough time here to tell it all. But, you know, short stories, long story short, my wife, ultimately, the last month of her life, and she had five accidents. She totaled several vehicles. And the night she was killed, March 7, 2007, my son-in-law was killed in a separate accident just an hour and a half earlier. And, you know, when this all happened, my step-son, who I raised since he was five, had been a two-sport athlete on scholarship at Alabama. And he had lost, well, he had been suspended due to failing drug tests. And at the time of his mother's death, he was placed in five years in prison for drug trafficking. So, at this point, I've got a step-son, who's placed in five years in prison. I've got a daughter whose husband had been killed, the same night her mother was killed. I've got a 14-year-old daughter whose drinking, smoking marijuana, threatened suicide. I've got a little nine-year-old daughter asking her dad, "Did mom even love me?" So, that's the story in a nutshell of where we were. But I just remember, you know, after my wife's funeral standing in the kitchen of our home, and it was like a EF5 tornado that had swept through. There was debris everywhere, you know, in the debris being my family. Right. And how did you pick up the pieces? You know, as I said, step-son, facing five years in prison, one daughter lost a mother and her husband had been saying, "Night." Wow. And the others that I've mentioned as well. I mean, I just remember saying, "Lord, I can't do this, but you can." Yeah. And it was a long process. It was a difficult process. You know, I was left having to raise two young girls at nine and 14 years old. And to make a long story short, you know, over the course of time, what God did to transform my family was miraculous. My step-son now, he has ascended life ministries in Des Moines, Iowa. That's amazing. Wow. It's an international ministry, travels the world. He's got a wife and seven kids now. Oh, he's trying to eat. My daughter, Vanessa, she got remarried and she has two daughters, one just finished her freshman year at the University of Alabama. My daughter, Natalie, who was smoking marijuana, drinking and threatening suicide, now has her own business. She owns a very prosperous boutique here in Tuscaloosa. And she's married and has a son, 11 and a daughter, seven. And, you know, my youngest daughter, Natalie, has done a great job as well. She's doing really well. And she has a son, Jackson, who is five to turn five next month. So I say all that to say that, you know, it's all in the book, things that happen. But, you know, guys, I'll just tell you the truth. I lost focus on what was main priority, which was my family. And I got so entrenched in what I was doing, so focused on my business. And I made a lot of mistakes, you know, and I detail a lot of those mistakes. And I realized it was something that my wife had told me all along, really, way before the addiction even started. And that was that God had called me and calls all of us as men, as fathers, as husbands, to be the spiritual leaders of our home. He didn't call my wife to be the spiritual leader, he called me. But you see, I didn't want to be that. I wanted her to be that. But anyway, with all that said, that's kind of my passion now, is to speak to men, you know, and encourage them to become that spiritual leader of their home that God designed us to be. And, you know, that's the short of it. Rodney, I want to thank you. Mark and I want to thank you. We got to get out of here. But that's a strong testimony, bigger than Bama. And we're going to keep talking about it for the next couple of shows. I can tell you that. Rodney, thank you so much. Thank you, buddy. God bless you. God bless you. Remember this, in our weakness, God's strength is powerful. Take care. That's correct. ♪ Welcome back to the Thompson Tractor Prep Sports Report. PSR is live every Saturday from 8 until 10 a.m. Now, back to the show. ♪ ♪ You know, in 25 years, I don't know that I have ever heard of me and lay it on the line like Rodney Orr just like me. Let me tell you something, folks. Quite powerful. If you want to know that story, bigger than Bama, the inside story of tighter insider and the life story of Rodney Orr and his family. And I'm going to tell you right off the bat, it's going to break your heart. But it's also going to build you right back up because you're going to see the power of our Lord and Savior. I want to thank Rodney for being with us, boy. I'm telling you, that was something special. And if you don't know how to get the book, get in touch with us here at PSR and we'll turn you on to how to get it. Let me appreciate that. The leadership segment today is five choices that change everything. And, you know, one of the things that most of us seldom think about is the fact that our minds take in everything we see. Everything we hear and everything we read, it all influences us. It influences what we think and influences those thoughts that determine our actions. And every bit of it, in every single one of those choices are influenced by the people we spend our time with. So you see, our life is basically a compilation of the lives of the five people that you're around the most. And if you believe that you are influencing them and they are not influencing you, then I'm guessing you may be excited about an upcoming visit from the Easter Bunny. There are some choices in life that only you control. And five of those choices are the people you allow to be closest to you. Those are the five choices that can change every other choice you make in life. These are the people considered to be your inner circle. Are you allowing unmotivated people to be a part of your life? If you are, I can also guarantee you that you have motivational issues. You likely can't seem to get started on the things you say that you want to accomplish. And that's probably because that your natural motivation is being negatively impacted by unmotivated people close to you. And if you're allowing negative people into your inner circle, then I can be fairly certain that other people around you see you as a negative person. Even if you don't, pandemics have been in the news a bit lately. But nobody talks about the pandemic of negativity around us, you see negative attitudes are as contagious as any virus that has ever existed and mass do nothing to stop it. And the only way to avoid catching negativity is to stay away from it. I've heard a lot of people talk, and I heard Tony Vitello talk this past week on Monday night, he talked about his team. The most important thing about his team was he had a bunch of guys who were great teammates. Those people that are negative, that negativity, those people aren't great teammates. And we see it in coaching all the time. There's always somebody on our staff, on some staff. And any staff that you want to be a part of, there's always going to be somebody that's going to have that negative attitude. This is an worthy effort to try and infect a negative person with a strong dose of positivity. Understand the contagious that you're dealing with, however, and make things make sure you keep some space between yourself and the person you're trying to help. Invest some serious time right now to consider the people who you are closest to. Are they helping you? Are they supporting your efforts to have a better, more meaningful life? Are they a good influence on you, or do they overpower your good intentions? Now you've got to be honest with yourself about that. And if you want a better life, you may need to make some tough choices. You may need to say goodbye to some of your friends. Even though some of your friends may mean you know harm, they may be harming you with their choices. Because see, you are influenced and impacted by them. The number of people you allow into your personal inner circle may also be less than five. If you determine you currently know only three people capable of being builders of you, then three people is the perfect number. Don't let a couple of nattering knabobs of negativity into your inner circle just so you have a circle of five. Surround yourself with as many positive caring and supportive people as you can find. Make sure the five people closest to you fully match the positive caring and supportive criteria. Now the quality of your life depends on it. You know Mark, we see that all the time in our business. I think when you look at, I think of the staff, we talked about Chris Yeager's staff. Twenty-five years, that whole staff, most of them have been together, they just lost one of the main clouds in there in Mike Thorson. They all went to see him the day that he passed away. You know, I think sometimes people wait to go. They know when they're going to go. If you talk to the people that deal with that stage of life, sometimes they know when to let go. Chris Yeager took his entire staff to see Mike and within five hours, Mike had passed. He had passed. He was waiting to tell his boys goodbye. That's the way life is guys. You know I had a guy tell me this week. He said, you know coach, he's on the tennis court. He was playing tennis and he said, coach, you know, my wife and I agreed a long time ago. We don't say shut up to each other. We just don't. I'm trying to think of what his comment was. He says, when she wants to say shut up, she says, get off the plane. Get off the plane so that she doesn't say be quiet. She doesn't say shut up. She says, all right, get off the plane. I love that. Absolutely love it. You've been flying around long enough. That's right. Get off the plane. Hey, if you're in a bad inner circle, get off that plane. I'm telling you right there. I will be back with more of the Thompson tractor prep sports report. Mark Lasseter and coach Cleve right here. Randy's in Texas. We'll see you later. Coming to you live, the Thompson tractor prep sports report. Presented by Alpha. Here's your host, Randy Bergen with coach Rick Cleveland and coach Mark Lasseter. [Music] All right, welcome back to the Thompson tractor prep sports report. Mark Lasseter, Rick Cleveland. Randy Bergen, he's on the assignment. I don't know what kind of assignment it is, but he's working. I can promise. He's out in Texas and we'll see him when he gets back. I do want to wish you a happy birthday today, Mark. Thank you. And we're recording on Thursday. Good to be 65. Yes, sir. All right. On Medicare. Keep talking. All that good stuff. [Laughs] You know, Mark, one of the guys and one of the men that we have the utmost respect for is the young man who took the job at Blunt High School in the late 1980s and took over a football program that had lost more games. The previous ten seasons and any other 5-8 team in Alabama. And what an amazing job Ben Harris did at Blunt High School. And we want to welcome coach Harris to the prep sports report. And he's been a guest before, but it's been years. But we want to welcome him back. And coach, welcome back to prep sports report. And we are excited to get to spend some time with you today. Well, you know, I'm excited to be here and thank y'all. Thank y'all for inviting me to the happy birthday. Coach, thank you, buddy. Man, it's good to hear your voice, coach. That's insane. You're good to hear y'all, boys. Good to be here. You know, coach, take us back to when you took the job at Blunt. There had to be a culture that you just weren't satisfied with. And there had to be some major changes. And let's talk about how you just -- you and your staff went in and changed the culture of Blunt High School and their football program. Well, let me start off with the beginning. You know, I was over that ball. We came to high school. I went in to interview that -- I guess that Monday, and then that Thursday, they told me -- when I went, they told me I had the job. There's a suit that I'm told me to be there for a first country. There's three of them. So, you know, so I took the first cover. Some of my coaching was already picked for them. I never -- you know, like I said, I never had met them before. -Right. -We were for the coach that I never had met. So that Friday, I went over to Blunt to try to meet with the kids. And I had six players to show up, and practice started that Monday. So I took the job on the Friday, and practice started that Monday. So, you know, I just -- I was just blessed to be able to turn around that first year, because that first year, we won the school first playoff game ever. So it just wasn't me. I was just -- I was just blessed. And we started out with six players, and I was able to hire Rachel Parker, who coached me in Alabama State. He was a wide receiver. Coach, I was slower to be on my staff. And then we got up to about 20-something players, and then I finished the season with about 24-26 players. And then we went 6-1 to school first playoff game. So it was tough. We had to start from scratch. So, you know, most coaches would know to have a chance to have spring training first, so you can see what you've got to get a chance to know the kids and coach them. But I took the job on that third, and then that slide went over to Blunt and Monday was the kid. Monday was trying to start practice. Yeah. So only had like two or three days to try to get ready. Well, and we know that you had Rayford Parker. That was your offensive guy that you really thought the world of. And those of us that knew Rayford Parker, he's a Hall of Fame coach in our mind. Oh, yeah. That was a great high for me, because, you know, he started off being an offensive line coach. He wasn't running the offensive for me, but he did a super job with it. You know, Coach, I remember things about that first couple of years when you got there and hearing you talk about it. You know, I kind of think God was working in a way at that time that he knew that you needed to be the guy for that job. And coming in, only a few people in America would take a job on a Friday. And have start practice on Monday. No spring training. Not able to hire your own defensive coordinator. Not even having your own staff. You know, you got what you got. And you got six kids. And it takes a special person to come in. I do believe that God knew what he was doing when he moved you there, Coach. Because after you got started, the wins and losses were great. But man, you changed the lives of a community. Tell us a little bit about your thoughts or what you felt like had to be done to change the way things were done in that Blonde High School and those kids and their lives and their families. Yeah, thank you for the comments on us coming. That's right. Law was involved because most coaches and people told me that you crazy for taking that job. You know, you know, you're not going to have enough time. You won't be successful with that. But I had no idea I was going to be successful. That's why I said the law was involved. And like I said, I was able to hire a coach, talked about a couple of days later after that Monday. So, you know, we started out, you know, just telling the kids, just give me a chance. A lot of them were upset because of what had happened with the previous school staff and teachers. Because all the teachers had to reapply for the job. Again, that Blonde High School, that's all of them. They'll never come to the better day. They can case. Right. You know, so all of them have to reapply. So like I said, when I took the job, my defense called me that I never met him in my life. The baseball coach, the trainer I never had met. All of a sudden, I knew it was the basketball coach. That was Willie Scott. I knew him from playing against him. Right. I didn't really know him personally. So, you know, it was a blessing that I was able to come to Blonde because I went in. And, you know, like I said, we went in the thing that we want to take care of the kids. And then all day I told them, I want them to give me a chance. Just don't look at where I came from. Because they were talking about Bobby County. So, you know, they sent us a coach over here. I went to Bobby County. Y'all didn't win for one day. So, you know, so it was a tough situation. But I didn't cry about it. You know, you can't go around the point playing it. So, when I did work, and a lot of people don't know the first pleasure that I had at Blonde High School. Excuse me, that money was not at Blonde High School. We had it at eight by a part. Right. Because of all the, you know, the burn of the day in case people was upset. Y'all don't want your coach to be bad. So, it was tough. So, you know, so the kids saw it slow to come around. You know, they were trying to see what the new coach was about. But like I said, when I got there, you know, we, we started implementing the pride thing, having pride in each other's school. You know, then once school started, I would go around and check all the kids' classes, you know, after I did a list from the teacher to find out what class they were taking. You know, then I would sort of tell the discipline. You know, that was my thing with discipline doing the right thing. Then, then in place, and then I always show them respect. And then I tell them to even start in the cafeteria. Because the cafeteria, you know, we know what the place where all the kids would come. And I, I thought making them pick up trains, making them say no thanks to the lady. If someone didn't say nothing, just be appreciative. Don't go around there complaining about the food or whatever. It's just the lip thing that you do. And then some of the cafeteria workers, you know, they would come up to me to like not saying what you're doing. You know, man, you know, not really make up to you. It's somebody who cares. So, you know, you don't start with this thing like that. And then, you know, you know, with practice, we try to implement, you know, just basis on the Miller and we were trying to not, you know, down the pre-vit culture. I don't, I don't believe in criticizing other coaches or whatever. I just told them to give me a chance. And then, you know, the first game we won, we won it. Yes. Mobile talent high school. I was in Graham Bank. Yeah. So that was the first game we won. You won that game 12-7. You did. Yes, sir. I, I think it was 12-7. It was. It sure was. I'm sorry what the beat is. It's called near that office. It's called near that office. Well, Ben. We're former coaches, but. Yeah. We're talking to coach Ben Harris, legendary coach. And we're going to take a quick break here. And when we come back, we want to talk about some of the culture that you developed there at Blunt High School. I mean, on Sundays, church was part of your culture. And that's something that we want to talk about is how you got those, those young men to be a part of what you wanted Blunt High School football to be about. It wasn't just about playing football. It was about becoming a young man. And when we come back with Ben Harris, we're going to talk about some of those football players that became prominent young men in the Prichard and the Mobile Area. Right here on the Thompson Tractor Prep Sports Report. Welcome back to the Thompson Tractor Prep Sports Report. Call or text the Prep Sports Report at 251-34306 on the Pumps Market communication lines. Now back to the show. All right. Welcome back to the Thompson Tractor Prep Sports Report. We're continuing our legend series this morning. Mark Laster, Rick Cleveland. And we're talking to a member of the Alabama High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame, the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame. And one of the finest men has ever walked the sidelines here in Mobile, Alabama. Coach, we want to talk about your third season as a head coach at Blunt. In that third season, you won 13 games. You're the Region 1 champions. And you won the state championship when you defeated Homewood. And I'm trying to find a score. And I believe it was like 36 to 24. But I want to talk about that season because I want to talk about a couple of the young men played on that team, Sherman Williams, who went on to fame at Alabama and with the Dallas Cowboys. But one of the stories that Sherman tells is the way that Coach Harris took us in like we were his own children and taught us how to be young men and taught us about the Bible and what God expected of us as young men. I want you to share some of those stories with us, Coach. Well, you know, the first thing I'd like to say, you know, I wouldn't -- I wouldn't be where I met, but once in a while, you know, we were blessed. He blessed me with a lovely wife and kid. And she was really supportive. Like first she had blood. And we did that program from scratch with the law to help. And then with everybody's prayers, like I said, we had no idea that third year we was going to win the state. I was just hoping my father still was living there. And we were just hoping that we have some, you know, a successful win and season. But I didn't know about the third year we was going to win the state. Well, you know, one of the things we started doing it, but the first year I told them that we want to start going to church on Sunday as a team. So we did the first time. And then Coach Father said, "Well, Coach, it'll be good if we could go every Sunday for some of the kids that didn't have a church during the season. It kept going from that first year. It's the second year. Then the third year I got up to about -- or if I have a different player, then it grew up at about 60. But, you know, taking them to church, being around our team chaplain, we had two team chaplain. We had Reverend JJ Phillips. We have an 18 day. We're working that way. So we've been leaving prayer. We played after practice. We tell the kids to show respect during the classroom at school, after school, at home. You know, just a lip band that would be a tragedy in young people. So I think that really helped by the third year. And the kids are believing in this. They're believing in the program. And we got some shirts you say to them. The blunt weightless and club. That was something that they never did before. You know, we started doing the lifting away. I had them doing that. I had them turning progress support. And, you know, we did a lot of stuff differently than when they got in trouble at the deficit. You know, so we was able to win the state championship that first year in Sherwin William was one of those, one of the players coming. I first got there. Sherwin William was a wide receiver. But then we tried him at a quarterback. And then he thought I would tell you about it. He changed the play over it. That second year I was there. And that was it. I told him the third year when he was a senior, it was going to be a senior. He said, "Co, this is my senior year. I want to win." I said, "Yeah, we're going to put you at running back. We're going to try to give you 25 or 30 touches." Again, we had no idea that we were going to win the state championship. Then I put Daniel Craig at quarterback. Pretty good. And Tony Harrison. We had some lot of great plans. You know, we were able to turn around. But really we're building on the defense. We're trying to build a strong defense. In offense, you know, like I said, it exploded. Sherwin had over 3,000 y'all rushing in one season. So that was over there. Right. Yeah. And you know, Coach, I was trying to think of the offensive lineman's name. And I think it was Chris Jones. Yeah, Chris, y'all wasn't singing with Sherwin. You know, Chris Jones passed away. I think in 2008, but he was a big part of it. We had Tony Harrison, Steve Blackwood. We had some good officers in line, you know? You really did. And I was amazing that we did. And then one thing I thought doing, I would get the quarterback to the backs of Berklee and the Big Mac. Give him the money to try to build up character and pride with the lineman. So the lineman, so I think that helped you. Absolutely did, Coach. And after your years at Blunt, then you went to Alabama State and coached there for five years. And they came to Delville and then finally returned home and coached at Blunt for what, six more years from 2003 to about 2009, if I'm not mistaken. How was that when you came back on it? I left out of 2007. Okay. And it was the heart of the coast against you, even though it was a suit out over there, I hope. We had a couple good ball games, Coach. That was a lot of fun. And so did. Well, talk a little bit about leaving and then coming back because that had to be something that was, I mean, it was different because-- You know, it was hard leaving because we had just one state and nine and seven. I think I had about 20-something starters coming back. And I took the job at Alabama State and then after I left, because I don't care the team. They went under feet of that. Right. So, you know, it was a tough situation that, you know, but I had a chance to go back to my alma mater at Alabama State and it was tough. I knew it was tough on the kid because I showed them a lot of love and they showed me the same thing to me and my family. But like I said, we believe in putting the law in it because I think that really would help. You know, like I said, when we wanted to stay championship and my third year there, you know, Sherman would tease me, and say, Coach, after I leave you, I ain't going to win no more. And then we wound up with going every year. So it was a blessing. I was shocked to them. Some kids just believed. So I think the law was involved. Well-- It's so hard to win a state championship with my father. My father died in 1992, and that's all it takes. You can tell me, after the season over, son, you got to win fireball game to be the state championship. That's all to do. I said, yes, sir. It is all to do. Both of y'all know how hard it is. It is. Y'all told you. It's a matter. You have to be blessed, too, man. You have to be blessed to get there. Well, and one of the things that I think you were one of the first ones that when you got into play, so we got about 30 seconds here before we go to a break, but you were the first ones that when you got into the playoffs, that was a special time of year. And you made it special for those kids, and we'll talk about that after we come back from the break. But you know, when I look at your players, I think about DeAndre Green and Demarcus McNeil, Robert Malone, and all of those guys, Anne Toyn Heel, boy. I just have just great players. We want to talk about those when we come back, coach, right here on the Thompson tractor. Crep sports report. [music] Welcome back to the Thompson tractor prep sports report brought to you by Alpha Insurance. Now, back to your host, Randy Bergen. [music] It's hard for me to rock my eyes. We got bein' hairs on here, and I... It's got a lot of wisdom. [music] All right. Welcome back to the Thompson tractor prep sports report. We're talking to Hall of Fame coach, state championship coach, one of the finest men I've ever been around in my life, and coach bein' Harris. And coach, I want to tell you a little story. 1997, I grew up in Silicon Alabama. And coach Lasseter and I have a dear friend by the name of John Blackman. John Blackman was the head coach of the Silicon Aggies in 1997. And I still vividly remember the conversation John and I had in that 1997 season, and they won 13 games that year, and John was really excited about his team. They won the first round of the playoffs. They beat Citroneel 41 to 13, beat Greenville in the second round, 11 to 9, beat Jackson, 25 to 6 in the third round. They get to the semifinals, and John says, "We're playing the best team in the state of Alabama, but I think we've got a chance to win." You take your 1997 team with DeAndre and McNeil, and I'm talkin' about some really good players. You go to Legion Stadium in Siliconaga, and you beat our Silicon Aggies 35 to 7. And John Blackman told me after that game he said, "It's the best high school team I've ever seen." Do you remember that? Do you remember going into Siliconaga and winning that game 35 to 7 over what... Siliconaga had a really good running back by the name of... Let me tell you his name. His name was Galinski Smith. He went on and played, I think, at either UAB and UAB. And a really good player. Do you remember that year? Do you remember that game? Yes, I do. That was a tough game, but we was on the road, and we know Siliconaga was undefeated, but we were blatching, and we were real grateful. You know, I'm real grateful all my players and coaches, 'cause they believe that we could win. We had a good week of practice. We know Siliconaga was undefeated. We had Tyrone Jane, that quarterback. And then the year before we had Eric Jane, Eric Jane was a quarterback in 1996. That's the only team that went undefeated. And Daniel Craig won two-state championship. I had Calvin Robinson in 9-5. So we were having a quarterback practice now, but we had some great linemen like Marco, receiver, the Andre Green, and 20-year-old. We did that with some great players. We had Rob Malone, and Cory Malone. So we were really fortunate going there to beat a great team like Siliconaga. They had a great running back. They were going to see it. I didn't know we were going to go, you know, no way about that being a court, but we played so well that game. And we went on to win the state championship that year. So like I said, I'm just great for all my players and coaches and the people and coaches, blood high school, because I wouldn't have done it by myself. I couldn't have did it by myself. So it was hard to do. I had no idea that we were going to win one-state championship, but we've been six, so we were blessed. I think the law was involved. And being really one of my teammates from Alabama state, he came and played for the team during that time also. We were able to mark the cook. So the kids and John, him so much, they keep asking me that the next year we're back. They say coach, your team ain't coming back. So you can play. You really gave them a felt job. They're Mike and Chris from Bayman Ed. So I saw him today at our coach, Jerome Hopkins, one of my players, the way I was in Montgomery. So, you know, like I just said, folks, there's just too many great players that name all of them, but we had to mark on McNair was the first defense in the line, and the way that the football. Mr. Football. That's an honor coming from Bloodhouse School. And like I said, Daniel Craig, quarterback, two-state championship. Aaron Jay, quarterback, the undefeated team. I talked to Aaron Jay in the day, you know, either here or coach, coach Kicking University. Right. You know, they were doing a football camp yesterday. I thought they were doing one today. I went by that and see him, but principal was empty. So, so he told me it was just a one-day camp. So I'm proud of all the kids. Some of them coaches playing, some of them. Prince of buzz. And, you know, I'm just proud of all of them. And it's amazing. There's just, I left them. And when I started in '88, the kids still keep in contact with me. Some of them are still keep in contact with me. So that's amazing. They're called. They're there. Check them. We'll go eat. So I just, I just give all the credit to the law. We was blessed. I had no idea we would go have a win and see. I was just hoping for a win and see them. But in 10 years, in the first 10 years, we've been in the state championship game six times. Six times. That's amazing. That's amazing. That's amazing. That's amazing. In 1980, '88, '88, '90, '90, '90, '90. And when you got there, there were six football players. A football player sold up for the first five kids. And I was saying, "Well, I got into it." You know, I don't know. I mean, we'd go have it, but team or not today. So I was coming around. And I wanted to thank all the players for accepting them. It couldn't have stayed away. You know, whatever. Someone came on back out. You know, Coach, Rick made a comment a minute ago that really, I really want to hear you talk about for a second. You guys make the playoffs. And in the playoffs, you guys were 30 and five. 30 and five is an incredible run. What is it about? How do you figure that those guys just, when, eight a minute, we got into the playoff time, they just got better and better? How do you attribute that? What was it about those kids? And it wasn't just for one or two years. You're talking about a six-year period there, where you guys were in the playoffs and won 30 ball games in the playoffs. Yes, sir. That's amazing. I think one group, excuse me, I think one group of kids won't outdo the other group. Because they always be asking me who's the best player, who's the best quarterback, who's the best. So they always want to try to outdo. I had two sets of groups. I had the group with Sherman and Damon. All of them. And the next group was with Aaron and James, the Marco Magnir, the Andre Green. It was a break in the period one year we had missed in that time. It was amazing how they competed against each other. And then I want to say that I think it started with the seven on seven. We were able to go to Memphis City State. A lot of people over there, we won the first two plans in the seven on seven camp over here at the Memphis City State. We won the first two plans in the seven on seven camp over here at the Memphis City State. We won the first two plans in the seven on seven camp over here at the Memphis City State. We won the first plan in the seven on seven, but he asked me, he said, "Cose, that do y'all want to play?" I said, "No, I got to drive all of them back in the band." We were both undefeated. We had two teams in the seven on seven. They were both undefeated. - Wow. - They were both undefeated. - Wow. - So they're the first coaches to be the head coach at the University of Pittsburgh. I can't thank his name, man. But he was at Memphis City State. - I don't, I can't. One Jackie Sheer. - Was it Jackie Sheer? - Yeah. - Yes, sir. That's good. - That's good. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah. You know, so we laugh about that. - Yeah. - After that they say, "Man, your kid is amazing." So the kids, you know, so I think they have to, I thought I'd take them to camp. And so I put them tired with them. Going to church. We're trying to counsel them how to do right. You know, you know, stay out from the street. Don't get involved in drugs. And, you know, stay out of trouble. You can say that as a coach and a person. But you got to show them, we care them a game. We care them to college games. We spend time with them away from football practices, whatever. So that's what I believe in, too. You have to show them kid love. We wear all kind of college games from Alabama State to Texas. To Alabama, to the Army games. We try to travel so we can show them a better way than it is. At the street killing each other, body or whatever. So I think that helped you with that. When they're speaking them, they're the tired, you know, they're the tired record. So I think the kids so loved that I'd back to. And they went out there and play hard. Yeah, they did. They played extremely hard. We're talking to coach Ben Harris in our legend series. And boy, coach, I'm going to tell you, you have, you changed the lives of so many young people at Blunt High school and in the Pritchard community. And even today, as we mix and match around town and talk to guys that played at Blunt, I keep getting a guy. He had a double last name and I was looking at it. And I was trying to think who this receiver was that people said, I know, I know DeAndre Green was a fantastic receiver, but I have people tell me that Canard P. Williams was an exception. He's so special. Yeah. They call the students. Canard Williams was amazing too. He had a great hand. He ran a pump to turn it back. Kick out of the turn. And you know, we didn't have some kids really wanted to play and win. And not skipping over anything. But you know, Shama Williams played ball waves for him. Yeah. He sure did. It's the year of 1999. Because you remember now, we played hardware and hardware was about to take the lead and Shama Williams was a blocker. For fans able who went 100 yards on the intercepts. That's right. We called it the intercept though. Like I said, Lauren had to be a ball. We was about to lose the game. Fans able to make the intercept. And you can see Shama Williams making block. And that also. That's me at, you know, coaching clinic. They said Coach Ed. Shama wanted your best ball pit out of the night. See you're not in. You want to free them getting out. You know, Shama wasn't going to get hurt. You know, I just, I just believe you can serve it. Shama said Coach, I want to win. You know, I'm sorry. You know, I got it. Yeah. All of them did. Whatever it took. We got to win. Coach, we want to thank you for taking time out. I know it's been a busy day. You went to a funeral in Montgomery. You're home now. But want to thank you for being a part of PrEP Sports Report. Thank you for making a difference in thousands of young people's lives. And thank you for everything that you've done for high school football in the state of Alabama. God bless you, Coach. Yes, sir. Take out to it and go out that job. Thank you, buddy. Let's help it. That's Ben Harris. We'll be back with more on the Thompson Tractor PrEP Sports Report. This is the day of the expanding man. This segment of the Thompson Tractor PrEP Sports Report brought to you by Camp Grace. Now back to Coach Rick Cleveland. Camp Grace is located in West Mobile is the summer home of Camp Rapa Hope, Camp Mash, Camp Smile and Camp Sugar Falls. As well as the home of Outback Mobile and is shared by many other community organizations throughout the mobile area. Camp Grace is a place where God's love is bestowed freely upon others. The true definition of God's grace. You know, birthdays are fun days. And they're also reflective days. And they're also days where you start looking to the future a little bit. And just thanking the good Lord that I've been able to make another 365 days around the sun. That's a good thing. And in that 365 days, a lot of things have transpired. I started thinking about it. A lot of really good things have gone on. And some of it's been tough. And some of it's been really hard. And yet, it's always that feeling I get these days. I don't know about you, Rick. But I get the feel every day I get up, man. You know, I woke up today. God gave me a chance to wake up. And if I do get that chance, well, how am I going to use that day? There have been times in my life that I've had to -- I've struggled getting up. Not wanting to. I was reading something earlier. I heard Rodney Orr say a minute ago about picking up pieces. That dude had to pick up some pieces in his life. Because I mean, you talk about tragedy hitting in a two-hour period. Well, we've all had to figure out a way to pick up pieces in our life. And sometimes picking up pieces is not an easy thing to do. You know, I read something here. It says courage is not having the strength to go on. It's going on when you don't have the strength. I started reading that. Because sometimes, man, I just don't have -- I mean, I got to be strong and I got to face this, you know, whatever. And I can. But when I go on, when I don't have that strength, that's the real courage that God has blessed me with at times. You know? And those are the things that every day of my life, this 365 days around this sun, that I get to teach that. The only thing I can teach, Rick, is what I've been taught, what God has given me a chance to teach, to pick up pieces. Everything -- the world is not coming to an end because something went bad in my life. Much as I think, you know, I'm a master of the universe and all that kind of stuff, I'm not. But I have to pick up pieces in my own life. And sometimes, picking up those pieces are things as small as, well, I didn't get this job. Or, well, I didn't get this position. Or, well, this didn't work out for me, you know? That may be a small thing at that moment. And it's something I got to get work through. But am I going to let it ruin my happiness for the day? Because I got a job to do. And my job is to be a blessing to the people I come across every day. That's my job. And if I can't pick up my own pieces and whatever's going on in my world, then I got some real issues that I got to get straightened out because I'm not fulfilling what God gave me a chance to do seven years ago. He gave me a second chance at life that I cannot misuse. I can't, and not look at myself in the mirror. And as I heard Brody Neor talk to me, I mean, if you didn't hear that, folks, you need to go back and listen to it on this show. It's powerful. And it's powerful stuff. And a man who just distraught with what happened in his life. And look, look at what's transpired for him. We heard his grandson talk. I heard him say, now you're going to eat that muffin right there, you know? Granddaddy had made muffins for his grandson. Pretty good day. And the story of his stepson. Yeah. Man. Facing five years in prison. Now he's got his own ministry. My own ministry. I'm not sure. But man, anyway, that book, Bigger Than Bama, I want to read it when you're done. So I'm looking forward to hearing that. Yeah, we're blessed to have Rodney Orr on with us today. And you can find Bigger Than Bama. Just look up Rodney Orr and it's printed here in Alabama. It's a local publishing company. And Bigger Than Bama is a story that all of you Alabama fans will want to hear. I'm telling you, if you're an Alabama football fan, this book is full of history from Coach Bryant's days all the way to today with Coach DeBoer. But Rodney's personal story in there. The tribulations that he went through and losing his wife and his son-in-law and within two hours on an expressway in Birmingham. His wife racing to get there to see what had happened, what had transpired. And she's killed in an automobile accident, just like her son-in-law was that same day. Boy, what a story, what a tragedy. I want to say this. I went by to see Chris and Kim Garris today. And I loved talking to Tyler. Tyler and I had a little bet. And he said that Major Applewhite was a left-handed quarterback. And I remember him being a right-handed quarterback. And then you sent me the picture. So Tyler, you're in debt. You owe me. But I love going by there to see Chris and Kim and those folks. They're just fabulous people. And they want to make your car like brand new. It's over on 1177 Sledge Drive right here in Mobile. You can reach them at 251-478-4500. It is such a joy to see a vehicle like your sonata went in. Just another... Brand new? Yeah. Now it's brand new. Looks brand spanking new. And by the way, Chris, I'm bringing you another one next week. I got one of these little work. Well, it's so great to go by and visit with them. If you get a chance, go by and see them. If you haven't been to Bend it, I promise you. They'll take great care of you. What a great show this was. This shows, we're kind of dedicating it to a former coach at... Willie was a head coach at Berry when Bob Finley passed away. We lost Mike Thorson Tuesday. And Mike was a longtime assistant at Mountain Brook High School. Twenty-five years with Chris Jager and that staff. And we appreciate everything that he had to say to us. And then Rodney Orton, what a great story that is. Bigger than Bama. And then finally, the legend series with Ben Harris. What an awesome, awesome football coach. But what an awesome man of God he is. We appreciate that. Remember this. No matter what you do, no matter where you go, he is always with you. God bless you. See you here same place, same time, next week. We