Kevin Byard Previews Bears-Packers + Michigan's Kyle Whittingham Talks Transfer Portal & NIL | BWTB

Summary

Bussin’ With The Boys — January 6, 2026

Episode: Kevin Byard Previews Bears-Packers + Michigan's Kyle Whittingham Talks Transfer Portal & NIL

Episode Overview

This episode kicks off the new year with NFL player Kevin Byard breaking down the upcoming Bears-Packers clash and reflecting on Chicago’s season, followed by Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham discussing the realities of college football's transfer portal and NIL chaos. The Boys (Will Compton, Taylor Lewan, and crew) also open up about New Year's resolutions, community involvement, and the evolving landscape of football culture. The signature banter is on display, alongside interviews, locker-room wisdom, fun riffs on pop culture (Stranger Things included), and advice for fellow podcasters.

---

Key Segments & Timestamps

1. New Year's Vibes, Resolutions & The Power of Small Habits

[04:45–24:38]

• The boys share their New Year's resolutions, focusing on self-improvement, intentionality, and community.
• Themes: Turning motivation into discipline, avoiding perfectionism, and embracing micro-goals over lofty, overwhelming resolutions.
• Notable resolutions:
  • Drink more water, say “no” to unhelpful plans.
  • Nurture social circles beyond work and family; plan regular friend gatherings (“reservation roulette” idea).
  • Focus on health to combat issues like gout; develop a holistic wellness relationship.
  • Increase charitable giving and community engagement.
  • Daily acts: journaling ("one line a day"), reading books, writing more, running a mile a week.
  • “Getting jacked” is the perennial, elusive but motivational goal.
  • Tackling realistic, incremental goals (“Tron perfection” reference: “perfection is always right in front of you but you can never fully achieve it” — JP, [09:51]).

Memorable Quotes:

• “This has to be the year where you stop talking about it and you start being about it.” — Host, [06:21]
• “I want to learn to say no to people without worrying if they’re going to be upset about it.” — Clump, [09:08]
• “Getting jacked is like in Tron, it’s like perfection. It’s always right in front of you, but you can never fully achieve it.” — JP, [09:51]

2. Shoutouts, Pet Peeves, & Team Banter

[42:37–56:16]

• The tradition of “Shout out, no free shout out” returns, with laughs about white elephant gifts and holiday routines.
• Pet peeves: Delivery apps charging “priority” without real results, keeping holiday decorations up too long, and miscommunications with UberEats.
• Housekeeping: Will moving to a new house; planning a murder mystery party or cold plunge.
• Life reflections on friendship, family, building a community, and the small joys of getting the house back to normal after the holidays.

3. Football Culture, College Chaos, & MrBeast the Football Mogul?

[34:31–41:01]

• The crew debates the viral idea of MrBeast funding a “small school” to become a CFB powerhouse:
  • Will: "Keep YouTubers out of football." [34:35]
  • Host: “Look how ridiculous … There needs to be more structure taking place.” [36:32]
• Lively talk about the lack of salary caps, NIL, roster imbalances, and the inevitability of a Netflix doc about these “wild west” years.
• Discussion on Nebraska’s brand, keeping things fun, and the reality-tv-ification of college sports.

4. Locker Room: Podcast Advice, NFL Scheduling, & Football Q&A

[56:39–63:55]

• Advice to new podcasters: Consistency above all, treating the audience like best friends, engaging in comments, and staying true to the original brand/community.
• Quick thoughts on Jets vs Giants merch pricing, NFL season oddities, and transfer portal impact on college teams.
• Pop culture riff: The Stranger Things series finale debate (nostalgia vs. expectations).

---

Featured Interviews

A. Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach) — Transfer Portal & NIL Realities

[79:05–96:51]

Main Points:

• Whittingham describes the frantic pace of being a new head coach at Michigan, recruiting both high school and roster players, adapting to 5,000+ portal players: “We’re just drinking from a firehose.” [80:17]
• Portal/nil system not sustainable — budgets are “crazy,” $5M QB offers, whole new teams every season.
• Key shift: “You gotta recruit your entire team, every single year.” [80:57]
• On retaining culture: “You will become us; we will not become you — that’s becoming more challenging every year.” [84:07]
• High academic focus among Michigan’s players.
• On leaving Utah: Needed “a new voice, new leadership.” Only a few top jobs could lure him; Michigan is on that list.
• Offensive transformation under Jason Beck: More unpredictability, quick-learning systems for high-turnover teams.
• Defensive coordinator Jay Hill joined, strong ties from Utah days.
• On motorcycles & balance: “I try to steer [players] away from motorcycles…that can wait 'til later in life…but went skiing with players all the time.” [95:21]
• Insane workout streak: “6,500 days…Not a miss since July 1st, 2008.” [96:26]

Notable Quotes:

• “It’s not sustainable…prices are going crazy.” [81:41]
• “Our motto at Utah for years: 'Incoming guys, you will become us; we will not become you.' That’s more challenging every year.” [84:07]
• “It was time for a new voice, new leadership.” [87:24]

---

B. Kevin Byard (Chicago Bears Safety) — Bears Turnaround & NFL Insight

[108:49–143:19]

Main Points:

• Bears’ Season: Started 0–2, “the sky is falling” feeling. “After that [Week 2 Detroit] game, we got destroyed…had a crazy film session…But we knew the schedule could set up a run.” [110:25]
• Defense’s identity: League-best at turnovers, snowballing success; “when we take the ball away, we win.” [111:03]
• The difference in Bears' fan/media pressure compared to Tennessee: “In Tennessee, you realize how light the media is…In Chicago, it's heavy.” [113:01]
• Pro Bowl voting: “I was the fifth highest voted player for the Pro Bowl overall. That just lets you know how dope our fans are.” [114:54]
• On being an alternate: “Anytime you have an opportunity to go down there…you’re going to go, bro.” [117:01]
• On Caleb Williams’ growth: “Ben Johnson came in, tore everything down to the studs…He’s took a huge step…It’s the little things, just checking the ball down, trusting the [talented] receivers…Caleb is special.” [136:06]
• Ben Johnson’s culture: Toughest camp Byard’s had, lots of live tackling, big expectations. “He just has a certain mentality…his first meeting: shouldn’t be 'Did we win?' but 'How much did we win by?'” [130:00]
• The “good, better, best” chant: “First time we did it…guys looking around…kind of corny. Now, after winning, it’s our rallying cry.” [133:53]

On Transfer Portal/NIL (from his perspective and his brothers'):

• “A lot of it’s money, for sure…opportunity too. It’s like free agency, every day.” [125:05]
• “If the portal was around when I was in college, I probably would have left after my freshman year.” [123:43]

Memorable Quotes:

• “You know how people say, 'ignore the noise?' It’s impossible. Everybody reads [social] stuff…especially this generation.” [113:54]
• “I would almost end my career if I could get a Super Bowl, bro. I’d take the Super Bowl over five more years.” [142:04]

---

Pop Culture & Locker Room Highlights

Stranger Things Finale: Debate and Takeaways

[67:22–77:56]

• Mitch: “The finale sucked...No one died.”
• Will: “I enjoyed it. Didn’t expect huge plot twists...All the callbacks were great...reminded you we grew up with this series.”
• Consensus: Finales are always polarizing, but the wholesome send-off struck a chord for many.
• Duffer Brothers spin-off teased, but “nothing will top what we already received.” — Clump [77:50]

Community & Show-Within-the-Show Talk

• Support for local Nashville talent (Jared Beeman’s stand-up debut, all proceeds to charity).
• Encouragement for audience engagement ("Hashtag Tear Talk" for show input, building community).
• Advice for new podcasters: Consistency and audience engagement are everything. [57:23]

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “How do you turn motivation into discipline and keep this going for 365 days?” — Host, [06:21]
• “If you can get the first Pro Bowl under the belt, you gotta get there…it's gonna be on the wiki forever.” — Host, [116:04]
• “You will become us; we will not become you. That’s becoming more challenging every year.” — Kyle Whittingham, [84:07]
• “You know how people say, 'ignore the noise?' It’s impossible. Everybody reads [social] stuff…especially this generation.” — Kevin Byard, [113:54]
• “I would almost end my career if I could get a Super Bowl, bro.” — Kevin Byard, [142:04]
• “Portal opens, there’s no time to make good decisions. It’s just chaos, so you try to have organized chaos.” — Kyle Whittingham, [81:12]
• “Nebraska doesn’t need YouTube spectacle, Nebraska’s got a brand of its own.” — Will, [39:36]

---

Episode Flow & Takeaways

This is a classic, sprawling “Bussin’ With The Boys” — big laughs and friendly jabs, but also honest reflection about personal growth and the dire state of college football's transfer/financial system. The interviews with both Byard and Whittingham mix football wisdom with candid personal insight, providing a behind-the-scenes look at life in the pros and the upper echelon of CFB. From maintaining culture amidst chaos, to the joy of small-group get-togethers, to the value of grit and generosity, this is a new year’s launch worthy of the Boys’ bus: real, raw, and ready for another season of football and friendship.

---

For first-timers:
Expect a warm, irreverent tone punctuated by serious moments, inside NFL/CFB nuggets, practical life (and podcaster) advice, plus locker-room banter you can only get from the boys themselves.

---

Breakdown by Timestamps (Selected Highlights)

| Timestamp | Segment Description | |-----------|------------------------------------------------------| | 04:45 | New Year's Resolutions roundtable (motivation→discipline) | | 23:45 | Personal goals: running, reading, writing—micro-goals | | 34:31 | MrBeast “turning a G5 team into a powerhouse” debate | | 42:37 | “No free shout out” returns – team banter & gifts | | 56:39 | Locker-room: Podcast advice, audience building | | 79:05 | Kyle Whittingham interview (transfer, NIL, new Michigan culture) | | 108:49 | Kevin Byard on Bears turnaround, NFL culture, Pro Bowl voting, Transfer Portal insight | | 136:06 | Evaluating Caleb Williams’ growth, Ben Johnson’s culture | | 142:04 | “What would you do anything for?” Super Bowl confession | | 67:22 | Stranger Things finale debate |

---

Listen for:

• Real football insights but also how modern sports culture affects everyone — from the locker room to the living room.
• Balanced blend of comedy, honesty, and actionable lessons for self- and community-improvement, on and off the field.

Transcript

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Guaranteed Human.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Did you know you can opt out of winter with VRBO? Save up to 1500 dollars for booking a month long stay with thousands of sunny homes. Why subject yourself to the cold? Just filter your search by monthly stays and save up to $1,500. Book now at vrbo.com new year same.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

Extra value meals at McDonald's now get.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

A savory sausage McMuffin with egg plus hash browns and a small coffee for.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Just $5 for a limited time only. Prices and participation may be higher in.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Hawaii, Alaska and California. And for delivery.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

All right, we're good.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Be like busing with the boys hanging with the fellas betting on a game no woman's gonna tell us what to do and I over here just drinking beer and making that noise baby. I'm hanging with the fellas busting with the boys bro. Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Happy 2026.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Happy New Year everyone.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Happy New Year. Let's have the best year ever. Please do us a favor. Subscribe, Leave a Comment it helps us a lot. 2020 is going to be the best year of Bus with the Boys. We're going to speak that into existence. We're going to be going over a lot of things. Obviously the boys will have some New Year's resolutions for you. We have incredible guests. Kevin Byard is on the bus via Zoom for the third time with Bus with the Boys. Also exclusive interview with Kyle Whittingham. Yes, today, breaking down culture and your boys a little fired up about the direction.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Michigan fans and Chicago fans should be really excited about these.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah the the Midwest is going to love. Yeah these two inter these interviews. Also a couple of things that are taking place tonight, if you're watching this on Tuesday that you can get tickets for. But as years change, some things don't. And that's who we're presented by. And that is a FanDuel sportsbook. The wild card round is here and FanDuel is turning on playoff mode. All customers listen. All customers get a profit boost pack every NFL playoff game day. Each game day during the wild card round, you'll find a pack loaded with multiple profit boosts waiting for you in your apps. Your app. There's only one pick the matchup you believe in. Take your shot on an upset. Build a parlay that fits the moment. Then apply your profit boost and go after even bigger payouts while the playoffs get rolling. If you watch our NFL Breakdown show, I'm telling you there's a lot of momentum talking there something to Put in your mind if you're looking to make a couple parlays and add some profit boost to that, do me a favor. Visit FanDuel, an official sportsbook partner of the NFL and grab your profit boost pack every NFL playoff game day. Boys, tonight Jared Beeman will be at Zany's Nashville on 8th Avenue. We there's only a handful of tickets left. Huh? Clump. Only a handful of those boys coming. All the boys will be there, will be enjoying it. We're gonna have some tier one fans in there. Maybe some people just walking by after having an eighth of roast late night coffee with their significant others. They look up and they see a sign. It says Jared Beeman. They say, who's Jared?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Jared Beeman.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

You know what? I think I heard about that cat. I think he's a big up and comer in the comedy SC. He played Taylor 1 in 2025 and won a bet and didn't have to get a six pack because he's actually going after a comedy career. Let's go watch the kid.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

They call him the Demon around Nashville.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, they call him the Demon of Nashville. Is taking stage for the very first time, headlining his first show. So let's give a round of applause to Jared Damon. Damon, you can grab those tickets at the door and if you're feeling a little froggy, you can hit up zanies nashville.com to get those tickets. Every single dollar to that is raised for this will be donated to a local Nashville charity.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Right.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I got a couple in my head right now. I was talking to Taylor the other night, hey, where should we go about all these things? We will let you know where we donate and how much we donate next week or probably the week after that.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I love it. It's Jared's first, like, headliner. It's also his first time doing standup.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, right, right. And he's done a couple open mics. He says he goes and sits down these other spots, waits in line, sometimes gets up, sometimes doesn't get up. But apparently he's been dialed in on his 20 minute set for a couple of weeks now. We are on our to our playoff, the first round, the first round of playoffs, and on the flight from Oklahoma to Texas A. M. That's when Jared was kind of talking like, I've kind of got it all down now. And he's really. He's got it memorized. He's feeling a little bit.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

He's videoed himself.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Right.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

He sent it out for some, for some mentoring, some coaching.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. And it Is Monday when we're shooting this? I saw Jared this morning, Gave him a big hug. Hey, happy 2026. How you feeling about tomorrow? And his nerves are there. I'm like, buddy, it's a little too early to be getting this nervous. Wait till you get one more sleep. Game day nerves can come tomorrow. Right now, just feel more confident than ever about it. But the kid's gonna. He's gonna crush it. I don't deny that at all. I think there's gonna be pauses that come out of all of these things, man. All these things.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I'm gonna emcee. I'm gonna come up, I'm gonna talk. How we doing? I'm gonna explain everything that's going on. Maybe we're gonna give out a couple pieces of merch. G. You think? If you think about that, do what you want. Say a joke or two things out there. Say a joke, rip it a little bit. We'll have some fun. We'll have some fun with everybody. I will be writing nothing down. We'll just be having a good time.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah, just. Just embracing the atmosphere.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Just embracing the atmosphere. That's all you can do. Yeah, that's all you can do in the situations. Hit the fly move. Should we break down a little college football?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Are we talking a little college football in the later when we get past?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Sure.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Whittingham.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Maybe we should do that. Should we talk that. Move that on over?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Should we talk some new Year's resies New year's res beam and start in 2026 with a bang.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

With a bang.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

With a bang. Do you guys want to talk? Do we want to talk some new year's resolutions?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Let's see out there. Yeah. Some resy's resolutions. Anybody in the comments? If you guys have some resolutions, we'd love to hear yours. Maybe start a little brainstorm, what people are thinking. My head's kind of all over on you.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I love you. Listen, the thing I love about the new year's resolutions are this is where so much motivation is taking place on January 5th when we're filming this right now. The question is, boys, how do you turn motivation into discipline and keep this going for 365 days? This year has to be the year where you stop talking about it and you start being about it. Let's take action. Let's keep moving forward. Small 1% every single day. We just got to get better. We got a really 00 in of what we want to accomplish and finally look ourselves in The Mirror. On December 31, 2026, and be happy with the man we see in front of us, because we followed through of what we said we do at the beginning of this year. So with that being said, I saw the first person that picked up the mic was Jack McPherson. I would love to hear what you have for your news resies.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

I've got some resis, but I was going to update people on this little guy we love Matt Malone. He just tweeted recently his New Year's resolution. Oh, I think we might have got under your skin while you guys were filming this. But he says 2026 is the year of hate. Hate watching, hate tweeting, giving up on day ones, preying on people's downfalls. Never be the bigger person. Happy 2020.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Oh, that's not. That's toxic.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

And when before 30 minutes ago.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That's an energy vampire right there. Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

And about 30 minutes ago, he was saying, this is the year of respect. So something really changed. But I believe in them. We're gonna. I believe in them. The main thing is. The main thing. Me and JP have really been trying to coach Matt up on tweeting more. And he's like, I don't know what to tweet. So just to see something on paper, that's a good start.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

But you could also see it as a tough start.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

It's a tough start, but it's a start. But, yeah, my New Year's resolutions, I've got a couple not trying to break or reinvent the wheel. I. I like to stay hydrated. So it will be drink more water and drink less of everything else, whether that's beer, soda, whatever you want. I want to. I'm. I'm trying to limit my drinking intake. I feel like I'm on a good path right now over the last few months. I'm not gonna. I'm not gonna be the guy that's like, I'm going full sober. I'm doing dry January. Whether I go however long not drinking, that's fine with me. I don't want to put unrealistic expectations on anything so that you set yourself up for failure. So drink more water, less of everything else. And then my second one would be say no to people or friends, really, with, like, plans and commitments that you don't feel like is going to value what you're trying to create or. Or be in such a state of mind. So I want to learn to say no to people without worrying if they're going to be upset about it. And that's not like, you know, something at the office where it's like, hey, I need you to do this. I'm like, no, it's more just like on a Friday night. Hey, you want to come out, shoot some pool, have a couple beers? No, I'm gonna stay in. I'm gonna hang out or maybe whatever it may be. So say no more. Drink more water.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I love that. I love that. That's a fantastic. Yeah, that's a clean take.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Clean.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That's a clean take to start off January. I like that.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

And hopefully those can parlay because we all want to throw in, get jacked every single year. But I think that's the kind of.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

The God tier we all want to just look great at the end of this year.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

I think that goes more water, less of everything to say no. I think that could fall in line with, you know, just more improvement, more, more everything.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

So that.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

That's where I'm at.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Getting jacked is like in Tron, it's like perfection. It's always right in front of you, but you can never fully achieve it.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Right.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

So you just gotta keep working towards it.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yep, yep. Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Shout out Clue.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I like the vibe you're on too. With less expectation and more just habit forming.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

That's what I'm kind of like struggling. Like, man, do I want to do. I want to put stuff down that's like if I don't, you know, this is the result I need to hit if I do hit it or if I don't hit it. Like, my more so win or loss hangs on what I write down. And more focusing more on like, like habit forming stuff. Like I know I would like to. It's like 50 grams of protein within an hour of waking up in the morning, like having like, like zone two cardio. I know that's like a big thing. Like workout strength, train three times a week cardio. Like zone two cardio. Get in 150 minutes per week. Like kind of go off like a more of a per week basis than have, like things hang on. The breaking point of like day in and day out, if I don't hit it. Yeah. And then at the end of the year, you kind of see, hey, I would love to be less than 15 body fat, but I know if I hit, if I rock with these habits over the expectation or the result of less than 15 body fat, I'm positive that like those results will come.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Right. Delayed success.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah. Yeah. And I mess with you on the power of saying no. I mess with that. I feel like, we did that a lot over the past year, but now Charlie and I, we kind of sit there and we're like, we got to figure out more lanes, like, in our social world, because all we feel like we do is work and parent.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Hey, that is a big one, too. That. That goes part of the. My resolution. One of my resolutions is, like, kind of nurturing other relationships as well, other than just, yeah, the bus and you boys and then my family. Because it feels like all I do is work and then go home with my family and you. I need to be better with my time management so that I can kind of narrow in who is my close circle of friends that I'm really going to go and make sure be intentional. Hey, let's grab a cup of coffee. Let's go do X, Y, and Z. Not all the time, because I do love the older I'm getting. I'm really just enjoying going home with the age of my kids and playing with them. But how do I kind of. I can see myself right now. When my youngest is 18 years old, they kind of go off, and I am barreling down the path of, like, I got. I have nothing to do now. I have no friends, really, because I just. All I really focused on is this and them. And it's like, how do you kind of nurture. Grow more relationships outside of, like, the.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Workplace and planning it. Yeah, it's like, playing it out, because I feel like we say it all the time, but outside of, like, whether it's planning trips with the family, we're not, like, planning some intentional time to be, like, social. Because your kids, like, when you got little kids, bro, they just need so much. They need constantly, all the time.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

And then having that ability to be like, all right, we'll plan. One thing you had last year that I was like, man, I'm kind of fired up for that. Is once a quarter, once a month, whatever it is, like doing a game night or something like that. And that's kind of stuck with me is like, how do you just get a group of friends and you're just like, hey, once a month or once every other month, we're all gonna get together and just do something. Whether it's a game night, grabbing a dinner, just something simple. There doesn't be a whole lot of expectation on it. But, like, let's make sure we're staying intentional about, like, keeping us all together.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

I'd like to introduce something, an idea to that that I've been thinking I share with Clump a few months Ago. But I love this idea of reservation roulette. When in your friend group, a couple is in charge of either getting a reservation for the group and all you know is the date. Everybody assigns the date. You find out the. Where the reservation is the night of where you show up. Or say, if you and Charo, you guys book Taylor and Taylor a reservation to a restaurant that you love, they just have the day open. They don't know the restaurant until that day. Reservation, dog.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I love.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

That's a fun.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, I love that. That is awesome.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Because that is one when Tron. I like, reflect on 2025. We're like, man, we failed at the once a quarter.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. There's not a whole lot of things that I, like, followed through with. I felt good about getting jacked 2025. I feel like I was in a good path. Gout, man.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I was gonna say gout came out.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Gout came for me. I was on a great. I felt like I had for the majority. I was like, you're really on top of your. A little bit. The. The results in the mirror. You're not, like, in love with, but you, like, feel like, oh, I got a silver lining.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

I think probably for the first time in your adult life, there were some abs showing through because of gout.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

But, hey, buddy, was that.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I had to sacrifice some white, green skin.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Hey, was that. Was that abs or those. That was at my ribcage. I don't know, man.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

You look skinnier, dog.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

We were sitting there in the green room of ESPN. This is what, like, November, 5, 6, whatever it was. And I'm like, dude, Jack, I just do. Do I just, like, look incredibly thin to you? Because I've lost, like, £20. I'm feeling like prey right now. He's like, no, you. Honestly, you kind of look the same. Take my shirt off. He goes, I can see it. I can see it. I could. This is the first time in my life I've seen your rib cage. And I was like, dude. I was like that right then and there. I was like, that's exactly what I needed to be like, you've got to figure out your health. Which brings me to my resolution. It's not get jacked, obviously. Is that that North Star where you just stare at it? You're like, how do I achieve this? But for me, it's total health and wellness. Like, aside from obviously growing bustling with the boys and my family as my top two priorities of 2026, it's. Where do I just become extremely healthy, like a Healthy person that doesn't allow myself to slip up in certain areas because this gout thing, dude, I'm telling you, it is. It was the worst experience of my life as far from a health standpoint. And even this weekend, dude, I was a bit of a naughty boy. Like, in the. In the holiday season, where it was like Thanksgiving and Christmas, and once I got off of it, five, six, seven, eight days later, when I was eating kind of healthy, it kind of started. I felt my. My toe was a little sore, and I'm like, this can't be it, where I'm having ptsd. I'm freaking out a little bit. Luckily, I had the pantry this. It was this weekend, dude, where I'm like, I really got to make sure this does not happen. My ankle started to get a little swollen, and I'm like, bro, I can't do this shit again, bro. I'm thinking. I'm thinking about it might just go stubs. Might just go stubs. But being healthy is one of my big ones. For me, truly, just how do I get this body functioning and stay ahead of the chains of life and just.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Having, like, a good relationship with health.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, good relationship. Exactly. My other resolution is, this is my. This is my. Probably my bigger one this year is being more charitable. Like, how can I invest more in my community? I think we've all, like, very lucky with the job we've had. The two jobs that I've really had in my life. I feel really blessed and lucky to have those things. And this thing like Beeman where we're taking all the ticket sales for Zany's, and I see people on, you know, on the side of the road with a sign in their hand. You kind of pull out your wallet and you give them whatever you got. I was like, dude, I should really be much more intentional about, like, giving to a charity and helping my community around me, that I might have let that get away from me when I was playing football, because you're in the. The mindset of, like, self preservation at all times, even though you're making good money. It's like, how do I make this last forever? And now it's like, how do I kind of give back to not just Nashville, but, you know, the greater good of the world? That is my number one resi going into 2026.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

I think a good one for busing, too. Just, like, as our whole crew. I know we've done some stuff. You guys went to Vanderbilt, But I think there's a lot of opportunity for us to get out in Nashville and just do something with the community, Whether it's actually serving or going, like, playing with, you know, underprivileged youth, stuff like that. I fe. Like, we have enough guys here that we can make something really fun that's impactful. And I know it means a lot to guys who grew up here and who everyone calls home. So I think that's a good one for the busing.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Again, just the examples of the Jerry beaming and then going to the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital. It's like you kind of have those moments of, like, man, we should take time to think about how we can, because you see what the impact is able to do. Like, when we do. When these opportunities come up and we do do things. Because I've never been, like, tied to a specific charity or a certain charity. Usually it comes up if somebody, you know, if it's that typ time of year somebody wants to raise money, whether it's donating to the. The church. My mom was at Meals on Wheels with my grandpa, you know, donating to baseball teams. When people hit us up like, hey, would you like to donate? We usually donate, but just having more of a. Like, making that a priority. I think that would be. I think that would be sick.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. And the fans, too. Like, being able to give back to them and have opportunities to win merch, win money. Like, what? Like, I feel like that's fun for everybody. Kind of get involved with. We can just kind of give. We're in that position now. Yeah, it should be great.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Community, baby. Gotta love it. What else we thinking back there, boys?

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Mine to kind of go along with. Jack brought up Matt. My. One of. One of my New Year's resolutions is to tweet 365 times this year. It is the fifth day of the year, and I have tweeted zero times. So. But I. I gotta. I need to get better at tweeting, given that that is our job. Another one of my resolutions. This is kind of newer.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

We're ripping past that one.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Because, I mean, that's just. It needs to be done right.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I hate real quick how many times we hit Broadway this year.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

This past year, I think I was. I was over 12, but less than 20.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Oh, okay.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I think I. But like, the last. The. The last, like three or four months, like, really since football started, I think I've gone twice. But, like, this summer, it was a good.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

So at the end of the summer, you're like, damn, I kind of broke my rule.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. Yeah, you made it Six months? Five months?

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

No, I made it. I made it until August.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Eight.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Okay. Eight months ago.

[Co-host (possibly named Taylor or similar)]

A couple weekends ago.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

But I. Oh. Oh, good. Oh, good. Didn't hit it. All good.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Yeah, didn't hit it.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

New Year, new you, New Year, new me.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Going along with that. This is a new. A new resolution that I kind of came up with maybe an hour ago not be so much of an energy vampire. Oh, where did you get that? There's been some rumblings going on around that I can. I can be a fun sucker or an energy sucker. So I think I just need to change. Change my attitude when it comes to, like, hey, this is what we need, and just kind of be my.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Get.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Improve my bedside manner.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Oh, wow. Okay.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Okay, Mitch, the final one.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Tweet more better bedside manner.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

And the final one is just kind of, like, get all my financials, like, automated and everything, so I'm making money while I sleep. I would love to, like, by the end of the year, kind of be a millionaire, be in the market for a house, but that. That's very, very lofty. But, yeah, just get everything automated and. And whatnot.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Any dietary goals we want to implement. More fruits, veggies, meat.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Honestly, you got.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

You got that cast iron pan.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I do have the, like. I think now that I'm living with Brooke, it'll kind of be a. That'll come along. But, like, I would like to get back into, like, smoothies or, like, overnight oats type deal and just kind of just easy things.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

I like it.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Just got to start small.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

You got to make it attractive.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Yes.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Pack a lunch.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I do pack. I packed a lunch today.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Okay. All right, good. My bad.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

No, no. I think that, for Mitch might be the opposite. Go get lunch.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Got you. Gotcha.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Because my package.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Put yourself in a position to get a house made in a year, but also go buy lunch out more.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Ubereats.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Ubereats. Just fees.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Be like. I mean, I'm getting, like, pb. I have pb. Like, I have a PB and J today.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Like that.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Like, of course you do, but that's just who I am.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

You can't.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Right, right, right.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Can't reinvent the wheel.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Can't do it. I love it. Surely, baby.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Sherman, do you have any.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

I do. Last year's was to make mornings to conquer my mornings. I feel like it was a little bit of. I don't know, that I was cheating myself, because obviously, with the newborn coming into the picture, that was like a. That has to happen. That's not just like a. Oh, I'll choose to do that. So this year I'm trying to make a very tangible goal that in order to succeed that goal, there's got to be a lot of positive changes. It's ambitious and auspicious. Auspicious is anything leading towards success that.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Might be word of the year.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Thank you.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

So far.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

So far, I want to run a 60 second or below 400 meter dash in 2026.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Let's go. That's a great one.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

That's it.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Six second or below 40 meter.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

60 seconds. 400 meter.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Okay. Sorry. Yeah, I missed a zero. My fault.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

60 seconds or faster.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Okay, got it.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

Before December 31st, you do.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

We want to do a baseline test here soon to see where we're at?

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

Absolutely.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

I love to come and be out there. I'll film it for you. Whatever.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

The only thing that I'm worried about with the baseline is I need to like stretch for a week.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

You don't want to pull a hammy first month of the year.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

Oh, yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I'm thinking we do that today. Gotta get a baseline. It's a beautiful day. Baseline is like. Baseline is like, where are you right now? Right. So.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

So today we gotta do it quick though because I gotta pick up Scarlett at 4:30. So it's gonna be right after this. But we could do it today.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Something to think about. This week.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

Yeah, this week.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

This week.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

This week.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

But that's it. One more news resolution for me. Gamble more. Onward. What is yours, J.P. gamble more responsibly, comma, also that note. I'll be in Vegas this weekend and two weeks later, we'll be in Vegas again for the first UFC for Paramount. Plus onward.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Jp hey, you're on track.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

On track.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

You're on track. Mile Be quick. Yeah. On the same line of Sherm. I hate running this year. My goal, I'm keeping it small. One mile a week. I'm gonna run one mile a week because every. Every other year I just, I always fall short of it. And I could do one mile. Did one yesterday. One book a month. Taylor and I were talking. I started this book for my. For January because it's a long book. You know, you got to get work. The rust off of reading started it a little bit into December, so I'm already about a quarter of the way through.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

There you go.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

One book a month. And then I'm trying to think. I feel like those were my, my two biggest ones. I have a lot of goals for make it to midnight, but Those are, those aren't on the personal side, but yeah, reading, running, getting jacked.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

These are all the big ones, man.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, it is the reading, the reading portion. I'm. I'm in a crazy good position with the book reading because when speaking of reading, right now we're knocking out books left and right, brother. Reading A Wolf Called Wonder right now.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Does that count?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Bedtime.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

100 books on the year.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. We're in a chapter a night and then are like 10, 15 pages each. You know how your boy reads sometimes.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

It's like I forgot one of my. One of mine is to write more also. And I got this awesome book that's. It's like a five year journal, but it's one line a day for five years. So on the page it says January 1st and then it has a 20. You fill in 20, 26 and there's like three lines that you can write on. So it's just. I'm pretty much writing down whatever happened in that day or if I have any kind of random thought. But it takes 30 seconds and it's. Once you get started writing. The first thing in my head the past three days has been like, well, I kind of want to write more. So then I open up my actual journal and I write more of my thoughts. So I think that book of one line a day could be a game changer.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah. I really, I really like that move because I battle every year with wanting to write more.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

One line a day that I need.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Because I'll sit down. It's almost like I want to put a, like go through a thought that's in my head. But I know it's going to take time.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

And I just don't give myself. I just don't sit there. I don't like burn the boats in my head to think I'm going to sit down and do this.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yep.

[Co-host (possibly named Taylor or similar)]

G. I. I feel like the theme going on for most of them is very on par, but it's the setting expectation that is just not achievable or is achievable. But by doing the micro goals then you obviously will eventually work your way towards that. So mine is definitely being okay with doing the little things that will eventually get you to whatever you're trying to reach. I don't have exactly what those are, but it's just day to day, truly taking it one day at a time. A big one is going to be. Be like, be kinder to myself. I think that just goes along with kind of what Jack's saying. Like Be comfortable saying no to things because it's something that you want to do. I think everyone gets caught up in like the damn. Like if I don't go, people are going to think that, you know, whatever it is, be comfortable with yourself. Be kinder to yourself. And then my biggest one is going to be try to go to bed earlier. It's very hard with Call of Duty, so that just means I gotta play earlier. But yeah, go to bed earlier and be kinder to myself.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

What time for bed?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

We don't, I mean, hey, earlier.

[Co-host (possibly named Taylor or similar)]

Earlier. Earlier than the day before, buddy.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

If there's one thing my wife and I are not aligned on, it's bedtime. I she's loves to stay up late, watch a million shows. She loves it. She's about it. I would go to sleep at 8:30.

[Co-host (possibly named Taylor or similar)]

Every single night if she let me see what I. If I'm not playing Call of Duty, like if I'm not doing that, I'm on my phone, I don't watch anything because my attention span is. So that's why I'm like just go to bed because all I'm doing is doom scrolling and that's horrible for you. You end up seeing weird trends with Grok.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, so we got to get out of there. Gotta get out of there.

[Co-host (possibly named Taylor or similar)]

But so that's why I'm kind of like if I can go to bed earlier, hopefully that eliminates dumb time on my phone. Not really watching anything. Like I'll put, I put Stranger Things on. I watch five minutes and then I looked up, I was on my phone. It's like, what are you doing? So trying to minimize where my attention is, I guess.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah, yeah, I'm with you on the go. They're going to bed early because it is just tough. I goon with the boys stable. Like last night I was kind of scanning through, scanning through Landman, which by the way, Landman. Anybody who watches Land man, it's falling off for me right now.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Yeah, Mid man, to be honest, dude.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

And that is what I'm sitting there thinking. I'm like, this dude is doing this to us again. Like it's becoming a snooze fest like showing like, you know, old people homes and side relationships. I want oil and war, bro. Yeah, I want oil and war.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That bums me out because I think I watched the first two episodes and I'm way behind right now. I even brought up the table last night. I was like, hey, if we're watching let's watch Landman and get kind of back on Track. But then I see your tweet and I'm like, do I just dip on the situation? I'm kind of gonna be surprised if.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

People just start falling off, just getting off the train if they have another episode like that. I'm telling you, it's not gonna be good. It's not gonna be good.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Have you talked? Stranger things.

[Co-host (possibly named Taylor or similar)]

Hold on.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Club's got to go.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

We, I. We talked in the last episode. I obviously want to try to lose some weight, get in shape. Playing Mitch's flag football league. I think that'd be a lot of fun. One big one for me is. I can say this now, but we, my wife and I are having another baby, so. That's exciting.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Oh, yeah. Clip.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

I. I want to make sure that I know my wife, she. She like crushes it. But I want to know. I want her to know, like, she has my help when I'm home and stuff. So when I'm home, change diapers, bottles, try to be as present as I can when I'm home, which I obviously am. But I want her to feel like she's not the only person taking care of the kids, which she does right now. She's great. She's. She's a rock star. And then kind of going off that this is a new one.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

But you.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

You boys know that JJ was supposed to play football. Some health stuff came up. Kind of stinks. But he did get cleared that he can play flag football. So we signed him up for the spring. And I want to put so much energy into making him love football and having fun and teaching him how to play and have him be, like, in love with football as much as I am.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

And be a. Be a. Dan Lanning's already reached out, but I said it's a little early. A little early to recruit, but that's fair. I want JJ to. To love football. And if he doesn't, hey, he doesn't. But I'm gonna at least give every effort I can to make JJ learn and love the game of football, so. Because I think he's gonna be a stud one.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. One little tip for you for jj. If you want him to love football, maybe don't turn on the Philadelphia Eagles. Film a little bit of a snooze like you want to have some exciting ball in place.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That's ran probably the Rams. Rams is like one of Those high flying 49ers. Another high flying Drake, Maine, the Patriots, Bills.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I'm gonna. I'm gonna regret Saville the sneak.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

Going to regret saying this, but we. We went to Cracker barrel for breakfast, JJ's favorite this weekend, and we were talking about how Oregon's playing in the. In the playoffs, and there was Tennessee gear there, and he's like, no, I'm a Tennessee fan. And JJ went up and grabbed this Tennessee jersey. I'm like, God damn it, Jack. What is Jack doing? Getting in his head.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

Clubs act like he's been a fan of Oregon his whole life, but I just know.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

I think of this. I think it's awesome that Jay, like, I want him to have fandom for real, so that'll be fun. So.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

The hell indeed, dude. The battle with kids and. And fandom is tough. Like, my kids love Michigan, but they get. You know, they learned about the Washington Huskies, and they're like, I kind of like the mascot. My kids are Carolina Panther fans because of Sir Per. That's it. That's the only reason. Yeah, playoff team. Whatever, Whatever. So we gotta put them on the Titans. Hey, guys, this is. This is the team.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Welcome to Hell.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Welcome to Hell 2.0. All right. We got resi's in.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Feel good about it.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah. Again. And just for people who don't have Resis yet, I'm kind of still in that same pocket. I feel like I have to get really clear before I feel comfortable kind of saying what these resolutions are going to be. But hey, boys, to a new year. To growth and become a better version of ourselves.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I love it, dude. Ladies and gentlemen, we end up this episode to bring you Roast Sparks. Rose Sparks are a 2 in 1 prescription treatment for guys who need a secret weapon against softness. Rose sparks give guys bigger, thicker, longer erections because they get fuller after rose sparks dissolve. They work in about 15 minutes on average, if prescribed. New sexual health patients get $15 off their first order of Sparks on a recurring plan. Connect to the provider at Roe Co Busin to find out. A prescription row. Sparks are right for you. That's Ro co bussin for 15 off your first order. We're also brought to you by Neutral. Have you tried neutral? If not, you are missing out. Neutral is so much better than any other seltzer I've tried. It's made with real vodka and real juice. That's what makes it delicious. They come in a variety of flavors. This year's change, but my favorites are still pineapple and lime. Neutral is a perfect drink to bring when you're hanging with friends. It is a crow pleaser. Maybe the people are being some energy vampires out there all of a sudden. Someone pops up with a nice 12 pack of neutral. Vibes are up boys. Neutral. Let's keep it tasty. Ringcentral will completely transform the way you work. It gives you built in AI across all your business conversations. Your phone System has an AI receptionist that answers calls 24 7. Your video meetings have AI that takes notes instantly. Even your contact center has AI so you can help customers faster. It all comes together in one reliable platform for effortless AI communications. See for [e-mail] ringcentral voice of your business. One thing. Over the weekend, did you guys see somebody challenged Mr. Beast or maybe just put out a little tweet about Mr. Beast, his next YouTube video being like funding one of these like G5 or a smaller Power 4 Power 5 school and just giving them $100 million, $50 million and saying like, hey, can I turn this smaller school into a powerhouse national championship team? Do we love the idea this is just a game?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Hey, yeah. Hate it, hate it, hate it.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Why do you hate it?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

A part of me, part of me likes, but it's just keep YouTubers out of football.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

If Mr. B said I'm going to make Nebraska a national championship contender right now, you would be like, yeah, Mr.

[Co-host (possibly named Taylor or similar)]

Beast, what if it fails?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

It won't.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

There's no way it's gonna fail, buddy.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

It would fail if he put, if.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

He put a hundred million dollars into a college football roster. Ohio State, they put in 40 and one in Addie.

[Co-host (possibly named Taylor or similar)]

They lost and they lost.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Texas Tech just put in however much they did and they got, I think only did 25.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

Yeah, you got to get the right guys. 100 mil, you make it impossible. You pay every five star, five plus million dollars clump.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

So obsessed with five stars, man.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I don't know. I don't, I don't know what my thought is on why I hate it. I just, I, I feel like it's just a move that just creates more of, I guess. Yeah, creates it into more of like some reality game that everybody can participate in. Not everybody, but. But I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what my full thought is, but my initial, my initial feeling is hate it.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Right. Why do you hate it though? Because that's a possibility in college football. Like the way Mr. Beast, if you want to make that video, that is a real possibility. If he was like, you know what? I am going to give $100 million to this logo here ECU and make them a powerhouse in order for cultural to go forward. Something like this Might have to happen in order to correct itself so we can get college football back to where it needs to go. So personally, I love it. Needs to go with timeline, structure, salary capped. Kind of more of a NFL structure when it comes to like, hey, we can't just have a billion dollars, like throwing at these kids 24, 7. I'm all about kids getting paid. But when it's like, you know, you have these handful of teams that can pay players, you know, 40, 50, $60 million on one roster, and then there's a bunch of, you know, other schools that can't do that, it's like, now you're uneven. The playing field is much more uneven than it used to be. That's why you see all this weird SEC and Big Ten and then everybody else kind of vibe.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah. So you want it to happen so universally it'd be seen as, look how ridiculous.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Look how, look what's happened here. Because there needs to be more structure taking place. Because I think in 10 years or so there's going to be a Netflix documentary of like the Wild west of how the nil was. And there needs to be something similar to these two G5 teams making the playoffs this year. It's like, okay, if the two G5 teams didn't get in, maybe this same structure takes place. And I think there's more of a pressing issue now for something to get done to where we have more of a competitive 12 team playoff going into next year. And then timing, when does that happen? When does the season end without these two G5 teams? Maybe we're still looking over it until like catastrophic type things happen. So you kind of need it. You don't need something maybe this dramatic. But I love the idea of Mr. Beast, the number one YouTuber the last, what, five years in a row? Six years in a row. I love the idea of him trying to take something out of his own wheelhouse, coming into our wheelhouse and just.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Having fun with it, showing us how stupid we look.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Look how dumb you guys are. Like, you guys are a football podcast, yet you can't do this.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Like, imagine, that's why I hate it. That's why we got to defend it.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

No, man.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

Things I'm looking forward to with the Mr. Beast thing is one, the thumbnail on the video is gonna go crazy.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Crazy.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

Two, just the entire apparatus of streamers and YouTubers all adopting in, like I Show speed is going to want to be a wide receiver on the team. You're going to have all these personalities that want their hand in the cookie jar. It will be the wildest circus slash car crash to get to witness. Yeah, it'll be fun.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

And imagine he put $100 million, all the best players and they lose one game. Like, who's the team that's taking them out?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Taking the game I love, man. Let's turn it into a circus for a year.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

So it's a circus until all of a sudd end comes up. He's like, you know that Mr. Beast guy's got a point kind of. Hoger, we got something I happen over here now. Come on, Come on.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Ain't nobody gonna turn Nebraska into a reality show, man. Not my Huskers. You have turn Nebraska into reality.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

You turn it into like this thing. That's a good thing. You've shined such a light on him. And it is really a reality show. The raiola. And we got Rule, he's got a podcast. Like, Nebraska is becoming more and more reality every single year. This isn't Nebraska Midwest sitting in the background anymore. But am I wrong?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

And it's not a shot that's. Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Taylor or similar)]

Y' all don't have a reality show.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Going on in your.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

From the sense 66 year old Kyle Whitting. We got the.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

The.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

The reality show just ended in Michigan.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

That's what I'm saying. I'm trying to keep like, don't try to make this thing a joke. You saying I'm making my school a joke?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

No. You think reality TV is different than I do? I think it's like, hey, Will is shining a light on a school that if there was not a Will Compton, there's not a whole lot of thought taking place when it comes to Nebraska. They're brushed over much more if it wasn't for Will Compton raising the tide so the boats can lift a little higher.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Nebraska's got a brand on their own, bro.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

You're right.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

We're topping baseball, topping volleyball, top of basketball right now, Topping wrestling, topping bowling.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I got you.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Football's a little bit of the anchor right now in Nebraska.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, no doubt. Dragging it down.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

And you need one day at a time.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Right? Right. That's why we need to make a little bit of a spectacle out of it to make sure everyone we get this team into a Big Ten championship. JP Years and years go by, one that has a chain. This man loves the poking press. And you know what you're doing, too. You know what you're doing?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Because I'm sitting here going like, you did say it.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I said it.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

You've kind of Done that on your own. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I say that and that. Those words, that little backdraft peanut gallery thing doesn't happen. You're understanding that I'm giving you a compliment, JP Been like, oh, that's crazy. Now your Will comp brain is like.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Goes back to trying to get crazy. You try to use JP to say, hey, here's how you manipulate Will.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

You can't come up with it all your.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

You're right. Look at you, J.P. and this is puppeteering at its finest.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Dude, man, you said spectacle, not me, man.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I said, we added tv. He said, you trying to turn this into a spectacle? I say, bro, we kind of need a spectacle in Nebraska.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

You said, without Will, Nebraska doesn't have a brain.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Clearly.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I have clearly said I support Nebraska. Clearly. I had a swivel my chair on this, man, about a month ago, all right? And I've supported no matter what I'm saying extracurricular things need to happen so the block nice can become more relevant in this world of nil that we live in. And thank God Will Compton, co host of Busting with the Boys, is waving that flag. I'm the bad guy for that.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

Pull up the schedule.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

No, hey, that.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

That.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

That. That's. That's a New Year's resi. That's a New Year's res.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Trust Taylor Moore.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

No, no, no. That's a New Year's resi. Is pushing the break on.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

Push the schedule.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Schedule, release, prediction, expectations. You got to get through expectation.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

You got to get through the transfer portal before you can have any idea of what's going to happen with your school.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I'm not going to have, like, expectations.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

This a week by week year.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

This a week by week.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Like, I'm.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I'm thinking to myself, I need to get out there for a week and be in. Be in the trenches with the boys, learn a little bit more, not just be out here talking about the expectations and everything else. So I'm. I'm hold myself accountable by not getting out there and. And doing the whole. The whole schedule thing. We're going to go undefeated.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

You're going to know exactly where this team stands at the end of that week.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

It's a. It's every week is going to be. We're going to start O and O every day. Every day.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

This might be the biggest thing to happen in 26. Not just we're 10 and two, we're 10. Like, you're every week getting after it what are we going to be this week? Last week's. Don't matter. I love the idea.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Thank you.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

It's awesome. He still thinks I'm trying to get him.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

This is the way.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

His brain is still trying to find ways to be defensive.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

No, it's not.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

All right.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

You're the one assuming and talking right now.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

You're right. Let's see. Let's see. What else? Oh, yeah.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

Shout out.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

No free. Shout out. Dude. Shout out. No free. Shout out. Bringing it back early in the year, huh? First one of the year. Anybody got a shout out? No free shout. They want to kind of break down.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Shout out.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

No free. Shout out. The Nebraska basketball team, 14. 0. First time in our program's history. Best start we've ever had to a season is 10 0. So each time we get a dub, we're rewriting history. But shout out to Nebraska basketball team.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I love that, dude.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Shout out.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

No free.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Shout out.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

To the white elephant Christmas gift exchange that we did.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yes.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

That was all time. There was so many highs, so many lows. It was a great vibe for the whole. For the whole team.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, it was a lot of fun.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That game, dude, go ahead.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Was Clump's gift.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Oh, bro.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

You know, Kirkland steak. Thinking he's bringing in something extravagant.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. And so while they're opening the gift, I'm eat that back. I'm gonna need that back.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

It's in, like, eight different containers before you even get to the gift. And then somebody yanks out a Kirkland steak. It's like, clump, bro. Come on. If you want to give the guys experience, like, get them right. Yeah, get him right. For real. Because he could fool the cats who are in their early 20s, be like, oh, yeah, ribeye steak. We go to the same spots, man.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

And the young cats are thinking themselves. They just. That ribeye is a good cut of meat. That's all they. They really know.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

When there's a billion butcher shops that you can go to around here and just grab yourself a tomahawk for probably the same price. Clump.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

Yeah, I. I'll be better next year. I'm already thinking of gifts for next. Next year. But there is one. There is one thing. I'm about to leave on Friday, and I'm like, man, the fridge kind of smells. What is that? I open up the fridge. Those steaks are still sitting there. I call chef. I'm like, hey, Chef. He's like, just take them home. I can't come back to get them. They're gonna go Bad. I take them home. They were bad, so no one even ate the damn sticks. To make it even worse, bro, I texted Chef. I said if I would. What's it called? Smoking Oats Oaks. If I would have went to Smoking Oaks, it probably still would have been good till the weekend.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

But Franklin Farmers market's got some good picks down there.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

I think that we had to have the widest range of gifts of any white elephant ever. It went from a cold tub to Kirkland steaks to a phone cleaner to a meat dehydrator to a machete. To a machete and to a Playboy that Delaney was just set up. Delaney said three times ag. That's a classic.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Well, I think one of the most overlooked presents we saw was a plastic Mountain Dew cup and a size large Blink 182T shirt that would literally fit nobody in the office.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

It was metal, bad, white elephant gifts. Pet peeve.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I'm not gonna lie. When I picked this out, I'm like, oh, yeah. I'm kind of fired up about this. It's not, like, the biggest gift, but, like, I saw that mug in Spencer's, and I'm like, this rips. And then I was in the. Like, the T shirt wall, and I saw the Blink 182. I'm like, like, all they have is, like, a 4X.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Like, that would have worked.

[Co-host (possibly named Taylor or similar)]

You know those things shrink.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I know, but, like, it was the classic Blink 182 album. I'm like, this Taylor's gonna love.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

I'm cutting a clip.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Mitch was fired. White alpha started. He's like, I did pretty good when that large T shirt got held up. It's like.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

And I was.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

And Mitch looks at me and goes, I thought you would like that. I was like, yeah, if it was my size. What are you talking about, dude? I. I think that day before the wash is a crop top. I got my belly button showing.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

He's thinking of you, too. That you just all of a sudden like, bro, look at the size of this shirt. What am I gonna do with it?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Like, I'm gonna purge myself for 15 days just so I can fit into that shirt. It's crazy.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

20 pounds a couple months ago.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. And I still wouldn't fit into a large. Dude, yes, you would, bro. This rib cage is different.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

It's the thought rib cage, dude.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

I'm cutting the clip right now because bus scenes is going out tonight, and it's, like, just a clip of every single gift being opened or stolen. And when Clay opens the Mountain Dew Cup. He's holding it up and somebody in the back is like, oh. He just pan over to Mitch, and Mitch is like, he felt it. He was like, I just had to hit her. Just the man up.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Hey, I. I did. I got Will's camcorder. What is this thing called, Kim?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

The camp Snap.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

How's it been going, dude?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Kids are loving it. They're doing, like an outdoors TV show right now. They're out. They're out there in the woods doing their thing. It's so much fun. They love it.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I was so pissed.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

Kids are having fun, buddy.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

You gotta play chess in the white elephant.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Bro. It's not that deep.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Huh? What do you say?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

He said, it's not that present, bro. It's not that deep.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

He said you were being like, equity, like all this bull crap.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, that's.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

That.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That's the fun part of White Elephant.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Taylor was talking about. You got to get equity in some of these.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Oh, yeah, bro.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

No, it's like, bro, just pick a present.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I know. The energy was sucked out like a vampire in this bus right now. All I'm saying is, dude, it's fun to play the game. Look on people's faces when you snatch that away from them. Yours. Yeah. Hell yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Like, this motherfucker's not even gonna use it.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Daft him up too.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

After.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Hey, you're pretty pissed about that. He goes, yeah, I'm tired about it, but all right, cool. See, no, no, after.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

After it's over, it's like, damn, you really wanted that camera.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Was like, yeah, I did.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

He's like, that sucks, dude. Just walked away.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Got to. Got to know how to play the game, man. Got to know how to play the game.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

Yeah, I just have a shout out if we're still doing shout outs.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, we can do shout outs.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Shout out, pet peeve. Whatever, bro.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

Mine's a shout out now that holiday season is officially over. And I love the holiday season. I love Thanksgiving and Christmas, New Year's. There is also a time where you need to take down your holiday decorations, whatever day that is for you and your family. I don't really. It doesn't. As long as it's before January in, sure. I think if it's the tail end of January, that's too much. But shout out to. Once you get your house back to, like, a sense of normalcy. I took down all my holiday decorations, my tree and everything, and got just my house back to square one. And the feeling once everything's swept up and clean and you got all the things back in boxes and stored. There's some good fresh start feeling that kind of comes with that. Also with like the New Year's, I think it mixes in. But shout out to once you get your house, just back. Back to square one. And I like that. And it felt good doing it myself. So I know you guys have wives and stuff, and not that that's like, you know, has to be a wife duty. It does seem like the wife's typically. Are you taking your holiday decorations, though?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

No, I believe in blue jobs and pink jobs, so I keep going.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

But yeah, shout out to once you get everything packed away and you can kind of start the new year, get ready, get active, push forward. I guess the next one's Valentine's Day, so. But day MLK day. Of course. Yeah. Well, actually January 6th.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Moneyline King.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. The New Year's. New year really doesn't start until those Christmas decorations are down.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Okay. So really a lot of people are still living in 2025 right now.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

What.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

What is the. What's the absolute max amount of time post New Year's that you will allow your decorations to stay up?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

God, I bounce back and forth on that, man.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah, mine's more. You got to have them down by February.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

So y'. All. Is yalls tree still up and.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah, but we're moving this month.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Oh, yeah. Congratulations. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

When's the. When's the team housewarming party?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Olympics.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

We'll talk about it.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

So you want to do more things, man?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

No, I know, but we still got to get set up.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Vacant house, cold plunge in the pool. Yeah. Murder mystery party in there.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yes. I've already thought about the murder mystery.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Let's put go, dude.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Werewolves got the. Got the cold plunge coming. Getting shipped to the house.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

When's.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

When is move like, final?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

The week of January 19th.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Oh, so two weeks I drove on Will Street. That thing. Nice, man.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Oh, you went over there?

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

I. I did. I mean, there was only two houses under construction and they were both awesome. And I had an idea which one it might have been. And I mean, I. I went down this way. I was like, let me make sure. Came back again. It was. It's a double take house.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Oh, that's nice.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Fired up.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

It does.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

It does.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Whale's moving a little bit different. 20, 26, dude.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Get a little motion old house from two houses ago.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

And he said, no.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

See, it's rented right now, bro.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Pet peeve when I get on this Ubereats or this Postmates thing. And you Hit the priority, and it's like a good 20, 30 minutes difference between priority and the regular. And then it comes at the time the regular in the box, when the regular said, yeah, it's like, yo, am I getting a refund then for paying for that priority? That pisses me, bro.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

They've been.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

That's a great, Pete.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Thank you. Thank you. That's a clean take on my pet peeve.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I've been noticing the optics. They get this wide range of priority, and it chaps my ass.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Chaps.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

You can get a refund for that stuff. I don't know if you're gonna go through the trouble of doing so, but if it shows up at the same time, go on there, there. Report an issue, and you can say that your priority delivery was delivered at the wrong time. And they'll. They'll give you, like, you know, six bucks back or something. I don't know if that's in your wheelhouse, if. Or if it's more just. We want to be frustrated because accountability.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

And justice is always worth it.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

That's why I keep things in my own hands. I never leave it up to them.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

So you go out and get your food every time?

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

JP's been that way for years.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. What's the rule?

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Rule?

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

If I'm gonna. What is my rule?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

If you're gonna.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

If you're gonna.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

If you're gonna order delivery, like, you have to get out of the house to go get it, right? Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

If you order it, you gotta go pick it up. Because if I'm lazy enough not to make my food, I ought to be able to go out there and go pick it up at least.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah, that's. Yeah, that's a good principle to stand on.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah. What is it?

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Yeah, Hang on. I got a lot of rules and principles, man.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Gotta write a book.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Yeah, I gotta write a book. Maybe that's another New Year's goal. Write a book.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Shout outs, pet peeves.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

I got a little shout out. No free shout out to the people that. And now some people were saying that this was illegal. I didn't know that. But shout out. No free shout out to the people that give you the little flash of the brights, letting you know a cops up ahead. Ooh, that's a big one. And the second one. Flash the brights to let you know. Hey, your headlights are off.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Dude.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

Dude, turn those on.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That could be scary, though.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Did you. Have you guys ever heard the conspiracy? Don't know if it's true or not. If the. The Car has their lights out, and you flash them. There's some, like, gangs that, like, if you flash it, you have to kill that person. And, like, it's a gang initiation thing. That car now has to kill you. So I, like. I kind of don't do.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I have heard that maybe in some parts of the world.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Not Nashville, not my city.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

We didn't do that. Yeah, we didn't do that.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Yeah, we brought that up one time on the podcast before, and all the comments was like, what type of white person is this? No, that's not real.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Yeah, I fell for it.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

No, I fell for it too.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

And I probably will still continue to fall for it.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Right. I'll tell. You'll think twice. All of us will think twice. Next time we're driving, we see a car with no headlights on, we'll probably be like, let that one ride. Yeah, all good.

[Co-host (possibly named Taylor or similar)]

Do you flash them or do you hit the on off?

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Yeah, just like the high beam.

[Co-host (possibly named Taylor or similar)]

See, that's why y' all are getting killed. You got to hit them with the on off. When your lights are off, you let them know, hey, your shit's off. Turn them on. That's why y' all are.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

You're off.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

Get back on. Yeah, I like that.

[Co-host (possibly named Taylor or similar)]

I also do love when I, like, see someone and I pull up next to him, I'll always be like, hey, roll your window down. They're like, what? I'm like, your lights are off. And they're like, all right. Appreciate him. Like, just did my duty.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. Hell, yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Taylor or similar)]

Getting killed today.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. There's definitely a karma effect when you kind of let somebody go in front of you, let them merge. Everyone's pressing them out. Just do a little something on the road. It makes you feel good about yourself when it all gets done. Absolutely. Shout out. No for shadow. I don't know if you've guys seen it. We haven't really talked about the bus yet, but I got a new truck. Got a new truck courtesy of liftedtrucks.com and listen, dude, I'm a guy with my truck. I like to have a little custom something on it, right? Whether it's a leveling kit, some nice mini tires. I little space going there. So we have a nice little ground feel, a little foundational feel on that thing. I get connected with this dude named Dustin who's part of Lifted trucks dot com. We on the phone, he's like, hey, if you want to do a little X, Y, and Z and let us know what kind of truck and what you want on It I end up going with the truck that I got and I was like, I would love for these specific things to get done. They pull one of these boys stock out of nowhere within 10 days. 10. Anybody who's ever gotten something done with trucks, you know, it takes like a month at least. Sometimes within 10 days they had this thing dialed up, up to the T. Exactly what I asked for. Shipped it over to the Nashville location. Your boy was riding nice for a minute. Because as I get older, as my gout starts to take over my body and I realize, hey, you're not going to live forever. Something about a lug, like not a luxury but like a comfortable ride in a vehicle is starting to speak to me a little bit more than, hey, let's, let's retro car. Let's not have that. Maybe the AC doesn't work. Sometimes you're breaking down, you're running out of gas because your little deal doesn't work. It's getting a little old to your boy. So I feel my age is kind of getting up a little bit. So it's nice to be in a modern vehicle.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I'm trying to hear them subs bang, buddy.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

And they do rip too. I get in the kids with my car and they're like, let's hear it. They want it. We want to hear it go boom. So I put a little K pop demon hunter on. Hey, how it's done. And that thing blares. My kids are bouncing in the back seat, dude, how it's done? I'm like, oh, seven, dude. Put on a little Lil Wayne, crank that up to 10. I'm in there. Just perfect eard drums just ringing when I get out of that truck sometimes. Yeah, you dig?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

That was the banger, dude.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That was. And it was always the cat that had the blacked out Chevy Suburban blacked out with the subs in the back. And you hear them coming from three blocks away, pulling in, pulling into the school parking lot. You're like this. Yeah, they must be nice, dude, I'm rocking this Ford Taurus, 1994 Ford Taurus. Basic ass stereo system, you know. Anyway, onward.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah, we have some tear talk. Does anybody else have any other pet peeves or shout outs I'm gonna get off their chest. Okay, we will go into tear talk again. If you want a chance to be featured on the show, just hashtag tear talk with whatever your take, opinion, whatever your comment is. Hashtag tear talk. We will, we will feature you on the show. This one comes from big third down here. Pod as a New football podcast. What advice would you give to us? Hashtag tear talk. Also, as former players, when you are locked into a divisional game matchup, is there a. Is there a specific time or day that you are hoping for? Hashtag tier talk. Huge fans. Tier ones all day.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I mean, shut up, dude. New podcast. Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Shout out. Big Third down. Third down here.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Pod.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah, good talk.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, good pod name. I think it always goes back to what we say. Like, if you're going to do it, it, whether it's me, a weekly cadence every other week, make sure you're consistent about it. When you say you're going to come out, regardless if it's a good podcast or a bad podcast, like, put it out and engage with your fans. Just consistency is everything. So you are consistent. Yeah, backlogging, man, that's a whole.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

That's a. Yeah, that's a whole different.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Game in this world where everybody's kind of fighting for attention. If you're a football podcast, I would say if that is what your niche is, it's having, whether, whether you're previewing games or recapping games, like, you know, that's where speed comes into play. But yeah, your authenticity, obviously, I don't know the chemistry, the banter, what everybody, what their show is about, but staying true to that and then treating your audience like they are your best friend. And I do even saying that, I feel like at times, like something that our brand gets away from at times is engaging and, you know, building that community within our tier one audience. I know that there's like a. There's like hot seasons and colder seasons. I feel like during football season and when we're doing all these different things, whether it's bus and recap, football bus and keeping our show or interview show the way it is, preview shows, the locker room for the dads, inside the bus, going on espn where a lot of things to a lot of people and we kind of lose focus at times of our main audience, which is one thing I would love to challenge us on as a brand going into 2026 is just getting back, like, continuing to find ways to like spark that fire and communicate with our audience a lot more. Like, I get it in the comments all the time and I'll see if people are watching on YouTube right now. The Bojangles ad. I see the Bojangles stuff come up constantly and it makes me want to. Obviously, once you get to the point at the end of the year where you get to kind of evaluate where everything's at, things that we Want to look for in the future. The Bojangles ad is like, you know, we did something for Bojangles and that comes from YouTube. But seeing that, the whole. I'll just see people say eyes on me. Here it is again. But yeah, just like embracing your audience, like talking to your audience constantly, all the time. That's a. That's a big piece of advice we got when we first stood up busting with the boys.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, the. The brand account, commenting back with all the comments taking place on the YouTube channel, stuff like that. That was like a big thing we did in the beginning. It's kind of falling away a little bit. Making these fans feel like they're a part of it is one of the more important things.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah, yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I try to go through and like, like some comments, but I think getting back in there is like always good for like building audience and stuff like that. What?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I thought there was more another tier talk. Is Justin at. Justin. Is that an underscore? Is that Chef Chef shaft12? Hashtag tear talk at Bus with the boys. I live in North Jersey and came across this absolutely diabolical sale on jets vs Giants merchandise at Walmart. Thoughts on who deserves the higher priced merchandise? That's crazy.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

And on clearance too, which is wild. But I do believe if you were going to market merchandise and put them all in order, this would probably be a good distance between the New York Giants and the. And the jets.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah. $4.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. $4 difference.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Not a huge gap, but still a gap nonetheless.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

And we're looking at a team in the jets that didn't have an interception the entire year.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

There's nothing. When you think about the jets, there's nothing that stands out.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Other than Aaron Glenn having another press.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Conference with the Giants.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

You have Jackson Dart, you have Cam, Scatter, Boo, Malik, neighbors. You have some things. Yeah, there's some. There's some thoughts of excitement that could run through your body. Yeah. Is looking at 20, 26.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

When you think jets, you think, man, isn't it crazy that Sauce Garner went 1 and 7 with the jets, went to the Colts and now the conference is now in the Colts and he went 1 and 7 there. That's as far as your jets conversation goes. And then the interception thing, which. What was that? That bet that took place.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

So it's not.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

It.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

It didn't take place, but it just.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Kind of like wanted if you would have. This is your outcome.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

If you put on $100 every single game for the jets not to have an interception and you rolled over your winnings every single week for the entire year. You would have ended up I think the final pot was $5.7 million.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

If anybody bet on that, the jets would have had multiple interceptions this year. That's just how the game works, ma'.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Am.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That's just how the game works. Another tear Doc we have from Harvey Fent at Nick Burgers2Z's hashtag tear talk. Thoughts on South Carolina retaining sellers Dylan Stewart and Nick harbor for next season. Also gonna need at J Hovey 34 for this one. Clearly started looking at him as I was reading this. Oh how we feel massive culture mass.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Him to keep them all especially with the D line coach going to LSU. Apparently he called Coach Beamer at 11pm one night and said hey I got this offer and then he was gone the next day at 9am so not a lot of time for Beamer to find a D line coach. Make sure you keep recruits make sure you keep guys like Dylan Stewart. But he did amazing he brought in the Penn State D line coach got a great running back coach but similar to Will this is a day by day year we have we have a massive portal season coming. We had almost every single O line O lineman leave in the transfer portal. Best wishes to them but that's a position group we needed to improve on so I hope they have a nice trip wherever they're going to and I'm excited but it's day by day. We got a lot of things we got a lot of pieces we need to pick up. We got a lot a lot of guys that need to step up up But I'm fired up. I'm ready for next season already.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Come on man.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

God on this one I think they're asking about streaming last one this would.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Be our last one from from N Malta 21 on Instagram hashtag tear talk will Taylor give us GTA 6 when the game drops later this year?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah I don't see why not. We gotta definitely dial even been doing.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

It it that's if it comes out.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

This week this year this year yeah I I haven't played GTA 6 since I like the since like the third one but would be love to jump into some rockstar games once again so.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I'm sure the storyline is going to be insane. It's probably cinematic it's going to be sick.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

The the file size for the game itself is like 650 gigs which I perfect could be like the biggest game of all time.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That has to be isn't it all like Miami the actual city Itself, like, like perfectly done. That's kind of badass. Man. They got something going over there, don't they?

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

Stream of the story mode would go crazy. That'd be fun.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. Something to think about. Maybe one of the boys want to do that.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

It would only take nine months.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Will and Matt could start the 24 hours.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

Yeah, you can chop off at least 6%.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

What are you guys doing that we.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Don'T have a date?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I don't have a date yet. Stay tuned. Stay tuned to the 24 hour stream with Matt Malone and Will Compton. That'll be exciting.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

We got to stay on him.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

I know.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

They're trying to. They're trying to kick the can down the road.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

No doubt, no doubt. That's why you gotta ask right here.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Right now, no matter what, it'll have to be coordinated with wifey. So we got to figure out what it is. Yeah, like all we have right now is 24 hour stream.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, I think you guys need to figure out a date. We'll handle the rest. Yeah, we'll have, we'll have a private brainstorm as the other fantasy league and yeah, we'll handle business.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I'll see when everybody's out of town.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Right. Okay. All right. Onward. You want to get a new.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Oh, new partner?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

New partner.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Kevin's Natural Foods is coming on big with the boys in 2026. And we'll. We will be doing a Kevin's Natural food clean take throughout the entire year. On every episode, we'll be giving a clean take. And that can be about anything. Doesn't have to be about food just to spark some conversation. Just a good old fashioned clean take by Kevin's Natural Foods. The cleanest food on the planet. What pay. They got Paleo packed with protein.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

No.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

No bad chemicals, right?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Gluten free, easy to assemble. It's one of those things like JP was talking about. Like instead of ordering food and get going to pick it up, why not just take five minutes, make it. You had a healthy meal where you're still staying with your 20, 26 goals.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Right.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That's the kind of thing Kevin's Natural Foods is giving to you guys, Right.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

So if you do have big resolutions and you want to eat clean, a great way to do that is with Kevin's Natural Foods because again, they're in stores nationwide. I'm a massive fan of the orange chicken and the Korean beef barbecue. The Korean barbecue beef Korean.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

The garlic chicken for me, dude, I really enjoyed because, you know, your boy gal, that's really all I can have.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Right now, you got to stay clean. Clean ingredients.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Got to stay clean. 24. 7. It's all about the purine. For me. It's all about the purine sheet.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Take a natural clean. Take a natural clean take. Let's keep it clean.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Clean, easy.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I would say my clean take. I love the four teams left in the College Football Playoff and I feel like I love something about each team.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Right.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

They all have a story arc that I could root for at the end of the year and have a smile on my face happy that this team won the national title.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Wow.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

My clean take.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

It's a good clean take. I'll stay in. I'll stay in the College Football Playoff front. Something about Kurt Signetti, man, and what he's been able to accomplish at Indiana. Maybe the greatest turnaround in college football history. Clearly elevating himself into like, if they pull it off this year, he might already be in that goat conversation. Like somebody go from jmu, flip it around like this. And even when you're watching the portal, he's while prepping for Oregon, he is signing guys over and over hosting cats. Like the dude's not getting a whole lot of sleep. And you watch them, they are clearly the most well coached team in all of college football by far and away. Clean take. Clean take.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Mitch, the finale of Stranger Things suck.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Oh, that's. That's a bad take.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That's a negative. That's a negative take.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

That's a bad take.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That's a bad take.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

It's a bad day.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

Season five wasn't as good as the rest of them, but what show besides Breaking Bad has the final season be the best? That's a.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

That's terrible. That's it.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

Actually wholesome feeling about the final.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That's not clean.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

That's not clean.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That's an unclean take.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

That's honestly one where Mitch might be suspended for the next month. I'll give.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

We're sitting here talking, talking about eating clean, doing what's right to our body with Kevin's Natural Foods and. And Mitch is out here getting fast food. That's what I'm hearing right now.

[Co-host (possibly named Taylor or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I don't know if that's comparable, but hang on.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Why. Why did you not like the Stranger Things finale?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

The.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Oh, people haven't seen it. I don't want to ruin it for anybody who hasn't for G. Well, we gotta.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

It's open. I mean, we got to talk about.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

It because if you're there, the amount of, of like excitement that was getting built up to it like, there's for no one. Do you care if I say, like, I don't want. I'm trying to, like, creep around it.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

He's not trying to creep. He's trying to think.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Right now, for no one to die is the craziest thing of all time. Like, I. I wanted somebody to die. Well, I don't really care who it was, but, like, that just makes, like, a good. Like, it kind of just like, damn. Like, you. You would have been pissed either way. But it's like, come on. Like, you're telling me we've been fighting the Mind Flayer for five, seven years and nobody died? Other than, like, no.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

And nobody.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Big character died. Like, what are we doing here?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Vecna.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Yeah, that's the vill.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Like, the bad guy.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

The bad guy's gonna die. Like, that's just how it is.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

Sean Ashton.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

Tony Stark moment.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Yeah, exactly. That's exactly what I want, want.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

And so that made you hate the finale?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

No.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Also because by the time you're watching the finale, you already have your head wrapped around. They're not killing off characters like, it's Game of Thrones.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

No.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

So you already understand that going into the finale.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

No.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

So I didn't know what you didn't like about the finale.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I didn't like how the fight scene between, like, them and I guess just the Mind Flayer was extremely like, it. It was built up like, oh, my God, this is in another dimension. This is like, this is a fight that's gonna take a long time. And it took the Will coming out as gay was longer than the fight scene.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

He saw the meme. He saw the meme going around.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

No, but look at this thing that fit. Like, you're telling me it's gonna take five minutes to destroy this thing? Like that thing? That is something that, like, the avengers will take 20 minutes to defeat.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Feet.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

They have superpowers.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

So does L. A power of friendship, man. It all led up to this momentum.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

So how did you see it going down?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Diversity growth.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I thought, like, they get like, damn, they got one of our.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Like, to me, you're telling me about a couple holes in the season finale, but to say that it was a bad season finale, you're not.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I also didn't like how the, like, I guess you could say the action, per se, of the finale was done like an hour 15 into it, and then you still had, like, a whole nother hour.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I loved it.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I wish, like, that I liked that part, but I feel like it could have been a Lot shorter, dude.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

The nostalgia, the callbacks, the hour long send offs with each grouping character of Stranger Things. I enjoyed watching the finale because I didn't have these expectations like I did with Game of Thrones or all these, these, these.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I think that's where all time I was wrong because I had, I had an expectation and I wanted it to be so awesome because I love the show so much that I was like, I think my, yeah, my expectations were set too high. Don't get me wrong. At the end of it like the nostalgia is like, like now this show's over, I'm never gonna be it. Like there's no news.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

The finale did a great job of reminding you that we basically grew up with this series. Not like grew up from a standpoint of like we, you know, we, what was it about a decade long of watching this show, but like seeing these kids, seeing these actors as like kids watching to play what is it called? Dungeons and Dragons and having this, you know, the, the three layer universe and everything else. But the way they sent everybody off and the way they took time to send off each group in each character, I loved it. And all the little callback scenes where they're flashing back memories, seeing how far that they've gotten to have, where the relationships have, you know, they're, they're set off to do other things. And we all know as like older adults sitting there when all the, when the friend group is sitting on the roof, roof in like a, that seventies show style theme where they're on top of the water tower talking about how they're going to see each other once a month and do this and that. And every adult who's sitting there watching is like, this is how it all starts. They all think they're going to see each other once a month. Just that relatability factor from that scene. And again all of the callbacks that they did. I thought stranger things. I thought it was a good, I thought it was a very good season finale because I didn't have the expectation that it was going to be some insane plot twist. Now when Hopper sits there and he gets to his mind and he ends up pulling the trigger. That was a nice plot twist.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

But to think that you're gonna have some two hour long battle against this, this massive transformer looking creature, the spider, the, the mind flayer. We never even really saw that character versus glimpses throughout the entire series.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I, I, my expectations was too high and I wanted more action with it. I feel like they, dude, they, they.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

She sat there and took an ax to his head. 10 different times. We saw l sit there and pull a dude's gun to his face and pull the trigger on it. Like the violence we got to see with it also being like this, you know, do kids watch this show? Do they not watch his show?

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I'm with you, but I. I wanted it to be. Was hoping it was going to be more and I was let down. That's just my opinion.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

What's a bad one?

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

I have an ironic clean take that plays off of this. This weekend, my wife and I finished Severance. So my clean take was going to be a TV show finale that just got you feeling some type of way and feeling real emotion as it ends. And the end of Severance was probably the first time since like Dexter Season 4. I don't know if anyone's ever watched Dexter. Yeah, Dexter season four, the Trinity Killer. That was probably the first time I was like, I felt real emotion as an episode ended. And my wife. It was like one in the morning and we're just looking at each other. No way that that just happened. And it was.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

It was truly.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

Oh, don't get me started.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Crazy.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

But that is, that is my clean take. A TV show that has a great finale that actually makes you feel emotion that you want to see the next season and you. You feel anger, happiness, sadness, whatever it is. But Severance, man, I'm glad we. We pushed through the first few episodes.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Great show.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

Great show. Mr. Milchick, that actor, he is fan. Fantastic.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

Get him on the bus.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That's got to be a check.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I know you got some in the tank on the Stranger Things finale.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

No, I. I enjoyed it. I didn't have too much expectation because the way season five was already trending, it wasn't living up to how I felt during season four. Season one or two. The show needed to come to an end. I think the kids have gotten too old. They're probably sick of working with each other. I know some of them are. It's very weird that Millie Bobby Brown, Shannon pointed this out to me. She has so much Botox in her face that her emotion, she has none because her face is literally stuck like, like a cement wall. That kind of bugged me once. I like it was pointed out to me, but I for. Even with all of that being said, I still thought season five checked every box. I wanted to. It had a good ending. I love the wholesome moment between the four older guys or the two girls, two boys. They're on the roof of the radio tower. Just like, we gotta come meet back every year. Like, they're playing D. They get. They finally get invited to a high school party at the end, and, like, what's his name? Dustin? Gives, like, the speech that. I saw this on Twitter.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Calls back to Eddie, to Eddie, what.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

He said he was gonna do if he graduated. I thought there was many, like, cool moments that fully, like, encapsulates the show. It brings back story lines and closes them out. Like, I. I get that that monster scene probably wasn't as long, but, I mean.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Like, are we assuming that they're able to climb the mountain within five minutes to battle the. The mind?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Like, no, that's not that.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

That's not necessarily what I'm getting at. It's like, this is the final. Final battle. Like, this is gonna take a while. And, like, that's what I. If. I think if that. If that final battle was, like, three minutes longer, I would have been like, hell, yeah. Because I agree with you. With all the nostalgia and everything and, like, the throwbacks and.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

And you get to see some backstory from Henry. Like, you actually see his human element come to life.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

And he just chose, no, I'm choosing this route. Nobody's out here to save me or bring me back to the light side or anything else.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

Else.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

He's like, me and this mind flayer. Like, we are one. He kind of chose his route.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

The part that I found interesting is everything that Game of Thrones season or series finale was getting hit with, why it wasn't successful was everything that Stranger Things did a great job of, and they still got flack. So with.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I think no matter what you do, you're gonna get.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

Game of Thrones, it's like, oh, they skip through everything, and they just. They buttoned it up.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

They buttoned it up.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

And then Stranger Things, like, delves into their characters for a hot hour and a half and puts a bow on every single storyline. And then people are like that, like, can you win? I don't know.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

Now, the second or the finale was two hours and six minutes, I think, or two hours and four minutes.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

The.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

It also was announced today the Duffer brothers who created Stranger Things are now already working on. On the next adaptation of Stranger Things. It will not include any of the characters. Nothing about the upside down, the mind flare, Henry. The only element that is continuing on. And I had to look it up, but it's the flashback of Henry when he's a kid in that cave. It's this rock that he's holding right that is apparently the only thing that's transferring to the next adaptation of it. So I'll definitely watch whatever they put out of Stranger Things because it holds a special place in my heart. But. But I will never have the hope that there will be something better in the Stranger Things universe than what we've already received. And that's okay with me.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

Healthy, healthy mindset.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Clean, clean take, Jack. That was a clean take.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I'll get cleaner after my suspension.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Self imposed suspension. Yeah. Well, listen, man, boys feel good.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah. Let's get to coach Whittingham. Yeah, we have interview interviews with coach Whittingham and also Kevin Byard, Pro bowl safety from the Chicago Bears.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

The NFL, third time, third Pro Bowl.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Oh, he'll always be the mayor. Yes, bro.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

And by the way, Will, I don't know if you know this, but this interview is sponsored by Bud Light. And Bud Light is all these interviews, interviews and this and Bud Light listen. They're brewed with four simple ingredients for a clean, crisp taste. The Bud Light is the official sponsor of the NFL, the NFL Draft, tight end university, the UFC and Shane Gillis's 2025 tour, which I guess now is bleeding into 2026. Bud Light partners include Peyton Manning, George Kittle, Baker Mayfield, Emmett Smith, Shane Gillis, Post Malone, Dustin Poirier. Stock up on bud light headed www.budlight.com forward/locator to find a store near you. Easy to drink, easy to enjoy. Let's get get to the interview. Big hugs, Tony kiss. Coach Whittingham, how are you?

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Good. How you guys doing?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Outstanding. First off, Michigan alum. Very excited, very excited that you're in the amazing balloon now. Are we rolling, Mitchie boy? We're rolling at this very moment. All right. Our guest today is Kyle Whittingham. Had a 17788 record at Utah. Spent three decades at Utah. Turned something into an absolute powerhouse. We're electrocycked to have him on the bus. And the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, Kyle Whittingham, ladies and gentlemen. Big lot of applause for him. Massive. As you were, as you were popping on the zoom, I was looking at your one of the interviews you did earlier saying that things are looking good with Bryce Underwood and that we should be getting an announcement here pretty soon. Is that correct?

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

We sure hope so. Yeah, we'll find out, but I think we're trending in the right direction. How is famous last words there?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, yeah. You never want you got to wait till everything's signed right. Once you get pen on paper. How has this process been for you? You always spent like your entire life, it seems like in Utah, you come to Ann Arbor, you have the logo of the block M. You're coming after all this crazy stuff takes place with the last head coach. You're trying to retain guys while getting your coaching staff. And then the transfer portal opens. What is your day to day looking like right now?

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Right now, we're drinking from a fire hose here. We, you know, we're just getting. Getting our feet on the ground. Talking about me and the staff brought in mostly a new staff. We had three coaches that we held over from the previous staff. Outstanding football coaches. Thought that was the thing to do. They helped bridge the gap between the old and the new. But we're just trying to do what everyone else in the country is doing right now, and that's recruit your own roster and make sure you're doing your best job of retention. And really, in college football now, you've got to recruit your entire football team every single year. You got to try to retain the guys you already got on the team. You got to go to the portal, bring in some new pieces there, and you got to recruit your freshman class. And so it's a. It's a 247 recruiting job, especially this time of the year. With the portal open, the portal is flooded with players. We have close to 5,000 players in the portal right now. And so it's chaos. But you just try to have organized chaos as best you can.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Coach, you obviously love to ride motorcycles. You love to lift weights. You've been around the game for a very long time. You just mentioned that there's 5,000 guys in the portal, and coaching staffs in college football have to kind of recruit their roster all year round. It's not like it's married to a schedule like the NFL or anything else. So I just want to ask bluntly, how much of it is a pain in the ass for you at times?

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

That is very blunt. It's challenging. I'll use that word.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

There you go.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, yeah. True professional.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

One thing it's not is it's not sustainable. Something's got to change. You know, the prices are going crazy. Heard today that a quarterback has got an offer on the table for $5 million, you know, for. For next season. The. There's plenty of schools with roster budgets upwards of $40 million. And it's just. And one thing here at Michigan that is a little bit challenging for us right now is until this year, there was two portal windows. Which means you had a little safety net after spring ball. You could, you could, for example, our situation, stick around for spring, get used to the new coaching staff, see how you like them, see how things go. And if you don't like it, you got an out after spring ball because you can jump in the portal again. Now there's a one portal system where they feel like they got a gun to their head and they got to make a decision right now before they even really have a chance to gather enough information to find out what, you know, what we're all about here with our new staff. So that makes it even more challenging.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

When you're looking at this portal, this process. What has been the biggest difference for you from being at Michigan with the resources versus being at Utah?

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Not much difference at all. It's just on a grander scale here. I mean, we got, you got more resources, huge tradition here at Michigan. More, far more four and five star players on the roster. So everything's, you know, the mechanics of it all is the same. Everything's just enhanced.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

When I was gonna ask, like on the, the, the recruiting stuff, like as somebody like yourself who understands what delayed success looks like in the grind and the process and everything else, how, I guess frustrating, maybe difficult, is it too? Yeah. Oh, yeah, I guess. Pain in the ass. But just like you, you knowing what it takes in life to get to where you are and knowing that it's always a one by year thing, it feels like with college now, I'm seeing that there's two year deals getting signed, but just knowing that you have kids for one year at a time, and then when you have kids that you like and enjoy and you're like, hey, they're looking for greener grass. But also you, they, you know in your heart that the green grass could be right here if they just go through the suck a little bit longer because they might not be getting what they want immediately. How, how is your philosophy, I guess changed over time? Going from having guys for four or five years to trying to implement what you believe in culture wise, with kids that are here a year at a time now? Because 5,000 is crazy.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Yeah. It's more difficult to maintain your culture. It's more challenging. It's a, you know, where you used to have 120 kids on your roster, 20 or 25 would, you know, graduate or leave, and you'd replace them with 20 or 25. Now most schools are bringing in, you got half a new team that is different from the previous year. And so it's it's more challenging for your players that are returning to, you know, get the, the new guys up to speed, help them understand what the standard is, what the culture is. And, you know, we had a motto at Utah for years, the incoming guys, you will become us. We will not become you. And that's becoming more challenging every year because you don't have as many of the. Of the returners to, to help you with that process. But, but you still, I mean, that's what you're working towards is trying to get the. Everyone to buy into your culture, everyone to buy into your philosophy philosophies. And, you know, I think we have done a really good job. They did a really good job here at Michigan prior of recruiting really high character kids. I had a chance to meet with every one of them down at the bowl site last week individually. Took me about 20 hours to get through the entire team. But that was the common thread is there were guys that are of high character, that cared about academics. They were tuned into their academics. They all knew exactly when their graduation date was, what their GPA was, what they wanted to do with their major. It was really refreshing to have conversations where every kid literally was. Was tuned into that.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, the academic side. I remember when I got to Michigan, hey, what do you want to do? And I was like, I want to go to the NFL. Insert general studies. I don't think they offer that anymore at the University of Michigan, but it's great that they see these kids are taking a serious focus on their academics for you. And this is more of a color thing, right? When I was at Michigan, it was, you walk in the building with even a piece of. Of red, could be even your socks, you're getting in big trouble. You're catching a 6am where you're pushing plates down the field and doing roles. You've been at a school where it's your. One of your primary colors is red. Playing against a school that's blue, how has that transition been for you from a psychological standpoint?

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Yeah, it's. It's challenging as well. And, but I'm getting used to it. And I certainly understand the rivalry. I mean, don't get me wrong, I understand the intensity, the magnitude. But the color situation has been a little bit a of a, you know, a tough deal because, you know, to say go blue from where I came from, that's unheard of. That's our mantra now. Go blue. And I'm getting comfortable with that. But. But I haven't, I haven't worn any red. Or made any of those major faux pas yet, and I hope I can continue that.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Keep the. Keep it going as much as possible. Also with the. With Ohio State, during your introductory press conference, people ask you bluntly, hey, do you hate Ohio State? And you hit them with, I guess I do. Now. How. How much. How much have you gotten for that?

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

I believe, you know what, maybe a ton. I don't know, because I don't get on the Internet, don't follow social media at all. Maybe a fault of mine, but maybe I should be more tuned in. But I don't really have much of an appetite for that stuff or worry about what other people think. I just, you know, just got to put the best product on the field for Michigan and put a team out there that these guys can be productive out of here.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Where. Where were you at mentally? Like, when you retire, you're retiring and maybe there's some.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Wasn't retiring or stepping down.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Stepping.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

He was hitting the transfer portal. His words.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Okay.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Stepping down. Okay, okay. So you were. When you were stepping down, you were always on the look for what the next thing might be for you.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Well, here's what. Here's my deal. I had felt like I had run my course at Utah and accomplished all we could accomplish there. Time for a new voice, new leadership. And so I didn't want to be that guy that they had to run out of town and say, when's this guy going to leave? And, you know, out of here. And so. So that was. That was challenging or not challenging, but the reason for stepping down. When I did step down, you can count on one hand the number of schools that I would have been interested in had they call or contact me or reach out. Michigan was on that list. Michigan, you know, when my agent got together and when that started to materialize, I was excited and fired up. I wouldn't have taken just any job by any means. Like I said, it had to be a top five opportunity. And. And the stars aligned and got the opportunity about seven to 10 days later after I stepped down at Utah, and here I am. So it's like a, you know, it's kind of a surreal experience, but. But I couldn't be more excited. We've put together an outstanding staff here. We're working our tails off right now to try to, you know, for retention as we talked about, and getting ready to get into the winter conditioning here next week.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Let's go. I want. I do want to ask my.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Go ahead.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

I.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

You were at Utah for so long, so I'd Imagine you had opportunities throughout the course of being at Utah. Was there, is there a situation you look back on to where maybe a few years after turning down said job that you're like, ah, I kind of, I kind of regret not taking this job. Yada yada yada it. You kind of stay in the process now you're in a spot to where you set yourself up for the job that you want to. Where you remind yourself that was the right call at that time, that maybe in your previous life you'd be like, ah, that was, that was a job I maybe should have left for.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Absolutely not. No regrets whatsoever. Completely enjoyed my time at Utah. My kids were in the same school district, the same school system for their, you know, K through 12. I mean how often does the a coach get to do that, have his family have stability and not drag him around the country? And I was perfectly happy.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I'm.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

I'm a ski nut. That's another part of it. You know, skiing is my passion. Best snow on earth, by the way, in Salt Lake City. But, but I have absolutely no second thoughts. No, no hindsight that, hey, go. I wish I would have, you know, jumped ship when I had the chance to do that. As it turned out, wouldn't change a thing.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

That's amazing. You got come to good one back.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Going back to football scheme and everything like that. I'm sure you've turned on some Michigan tape of the last couple of years. And you watch the offensive side of the ball a very predictable, not a lot of shifts and motions, disguise of telling the defense. You don't know what we're going to do. It's more like, hey, we're going to run it down your throat, take some shots when we can, we get backed up third and long, we'll hit you with a screen or a bubble. Now you're bringing in a guy, Jason Beck, who you pulled from New Mexico the year prior and gave damp here a hell of a year. You turn on the Utah film and it's. You can. You have no idea what you guys are doing. I think you have the most personnel of any other school in all of college football. What kind of development is that going to be for Bryce Underwood? How is Jason Beck going to elevate this team as you guys go into this 2026 season?

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Good question. Jason came in and completely transformed our offense. We ended up fifth in total, fourth and scoring. Oh, second in rushing. Oh, and you know, Jason has a tremendous ability to maximize his personnel, get guys in situations to succeed, create mismatches and conflict for the defense. And yet at the same time, as complex as it is, the learning curve is, is not high. I mean, it's a, it's a very simplistic offense to learn. Every player on the field gets signaled his assignment. And so. And that's got to be the case these days when you're having as much turnover as you're having. You better have user friendly systems on both sides of the ball because you don't no longer have the luxury of having a kid soak in your system for a year or two or three before he's ready to play so he can assimilate it. You got to be able to have it, you know, something that they can learn right away. And obviously our guys at Utah picked his system up right away and we expect the same here at Michigan.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Now a flipping on the other side of the ball, on the defensive side, Jay Hill, you pulled him from byu. He was a protege of yours back in like the early 2000s. What was that conversation like? Because very rarely, and it's very funny because Kerry Combs comes from Ohio State to Michigan very rarely, you'll be able to pull a rival defensive coordinator who clearly had statistically a great season for their team last year and pull them away to head over to Michigan.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Yeah, well, me and Jay have a great relationship. I recruited Jay out of junior college to Utah. Myself and coach Gary Anderson, who was on our staff recruited Jay. He was a tremendous player for us. As soon as he finished playing, wanted to get into coaching. We hired him as a ga. Did a great job there. As soon as I became the head coach, the timing was such that when Urban left and I got the job at Utah, Jay had just finished his graduate assistant work. So we hired him full time and did a phenomenal job for us there at Utah, many capacities. He coached tight ends, he coached corners, he was a special teams coordinator. He did a bunch of stuff for us. Had the opportunity to become a head coach coach at Weber State. So we took off there, had a great run there, turned that program around, went to byu. I think he was there three years and we had maintained a relationship during that whole time and, and when I got the call with my coordinator Morgan Scally at Utah being elevated to the head coach, Jay was the natural selection to, to bring aboard here at Michigan.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Dude, that is awesome. It's starting with a player coach relationship and kind of, you know, create cutting his teeth into the game under Coach Whittingham and then going off doing his own thing and then getting A call master job, like Michigan. Like, that's a. That's a cool, like, perspective moment.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

For coach and Jay.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

And you see what I love. You're not big into social media, but I've been just absolutely refreshing my Twitter account every single moment. My algorithm has really turned into Utah and BYU and watching that fun hatred take place. But you leave, Utah and BYU fans are like, like, oh, you guys are done. You're cooked. We're going to own you forever. And then all of a sudden, J. Hill is the. The front runner for the dc and now all of a sudden, Utah fans are piling on, and it's a fun little back and forth while Utah fans in Michigan are shaking hands, going, hey, we're boys. Which is. Which is absolutely awesome to see. There's a friendship taking place. I absolutely love it. Getting back to the important thing, motorcycles. My first. My first love of my life was a freestyle motocross. I grew up in Arizona, loved riding dirt bikes and the whole thing. Are you a guy that, when you find your brand, whether it be Indian or Harley Davidson, Honda, Kawasaki, like, you just stick with that brand? Are you a guy that has a plethora of different brands of motorcycles?

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

The latter I. I have right now. I've got three. I've got the Indian, the Challenger, the Challenger Elite. Just a great road bike. I've got a ducati, the multistrada RS speedster. Got it mapped and tuned. It goes over 200 miles. Miles an hour. And I've been close to that on it. Yeah. And then I got the Triumph Rocket 4. You know, the big, big engine, the biggest production engine on a motorcycle. So I. Those are the three I got right now. And, and so, yeah, loyalty to certain brands, but more than one brand. How about that?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I love that. Here's. Here's how I imagine the first game at the University of Michigan. It's a home game. You're playing Western Michigan or some. Some muffin. And the buses are coming in, but in front of the buses is. Is Kyle Whittingham. Couple of ape hangers sitting on thing. Mason Blue, just riding it, leading the parade into the tunnel. Could we see some sort of flash like that in your future?

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

We'll see if we can fashion that and make that work.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I would absolutely, absolutely love it.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

As a. As a skier and a motorcycle rider, what are those conversations when you have players who love and enjoy skiing and motorcycle riding and they're like, hey, the time off, I'm going to. I'm going to get into some of these Extreme extracurriculars. Are there ever, like, a little bit of pause or.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I try.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

I try to steer them away from the motorcycles. That's a little bit dangerous for the player. So I say, you know what? That can wait till later in life. But I do go skiing. I did go skiing with a bunch of my players at Utah. We had a skier or a kicker, Andy Phillips, who was on the US Ski team. And so we've had, you know, this, especially the in state guys. They all ski. And so we got up there quite a bit with those guys.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I love it. That turns more into a thing of like, hey, do as I say, not as I do type of situation.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

But then he takes him skiing.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

And one might.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

You know, I'm not wishing anything bad. So my pops are these.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, you hit him with the bunny slopes, Hit him with the bunnies. Let's get you on there. You're not doing no triple diamonds with triple black diamonds. Coach Dave avloff told me 15 minutes. That is absolutely it. We can get you on longer. I know we're hitting that mark right now. We do a spring tour every single year. We'd obviously love to come up, do a deeper dive into your history, culture, family, how you develop such a. An electric culture at Utah and how you're bringing that to Michigan. Would love to hit that later, but we know you have a lot of work to do. Let's retain some boys. I see Snowden, the corner. He's coming in. He's taking himself a visit. Let's get that Henry Jr. Henry Daly. Kid. Go ahead and bring it over. Soft tish or not. Whatever injury. Head. Let's get him and let's rock.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

All right, let's go. I'm on board.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

All I have to ask is we got to get a pump in with you when we come up to Michigan. Yeah.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Come on out. We got a fantastic weight room here. Love it.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yes, sir.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

One last question before you go. One last one. There was a rumor or something about 4,000 total days of you working out every single day. Is that streak still alive?

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

It is alive and going. It's more like 6,500 right now. And so now that doesn't include Sundays. It's Monday through Saturday. I gotta have a day off in there, so. So Monday through Saturday, Not a miss since July 1st of 2008.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, even God rested for a day. All it's out is my head. Coach could kick your head. Coach, Coach's ass. Anybody who's watching, Coach, we appreciate you. Round of applause for Kyle Whittingham, the savior of the University of Michigan. We really appreciate you, sir. Enjoy the rest of your day.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Thanks guys. Appreciate you having me on.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

See.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Thanks coach. All right.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

You can't tell me you listen to that type of enthusiasm out of a 66 year old man. You don't get a little juice down below. Little six to midnight type of feel when you watch Kyle Whittingham addressed address us the way he did.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Did.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

You set up straighter the minute he came on. He said a sentence and you went.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah. Once he.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

He came. He's got that vibe.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

He's got the vibe. He's got the vibe to where Even the questions I was asking, like I know we're recording and everything else but you know he's got some, some golden one liners. Yeah. That he thinks on the pain of the ass stuff like there's got to be in my head. But maybe not. Maybe his entire philosophy. Like when he had his job at Utah, it was him understanding that he would love to be in a spot where his kids could go K through 12 at but maybe one where along the way he turned down a job that once he gets a few years removed, like maybe he thinks about that job a little bit or looks back. I was kind of like looking for a story there but then it, it turns into this story arc to where hey, all of his patience and everything worked out because he's now at the University of Michigan.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. I'll tell you what. One thing that rings true in my mind is the conversation you and I had. I think it was like mid October and you're like. To be honest, man, unless you're a fan of Michigan, it's not that fun to watch their football games. And that's something that you said that I was like. Yeah, I agree with it. Because everything they do is very predictable. Watching some of Utah's offense and Jason Beck's offense, I cannot wait. Regardless of how this transfer portal thing takes off takes place, I cannot wait to watch those boys in the fall. It's going to be a completely different program. Real coaching is going to take place in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Real development is going to correct and.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

And I'm gonna. Oh yeah. Step down. Which I was glad. I love that because again I haven't. It's not like I know I, I know he's been the guy at Utah forever, but I don't know a whole lot about him.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah. And maybe, maybe he said that. You know what I mean? Maybe he said that in other interviews. I Can't wait till we have like a longer conversation with him because I'm gonna find better because again we were compacted in the 15 minutes. But better questions of understanding how your philosophy changes over time with having guys kind of on a merry go round with implementing culture and process minded individuals door. When you got those tweener guys that you know in your mind and in your heart like they have what it takes, they're just going through something hard right now and whoever they got in their ear telling them they need to go find greener pastures because again, 5,000 guys, the portal is insane. I know, I know there are better situations for guys. So I am glad the portal is, is able to be used that way. But the fact that it's the Wild west throughout the year, 247 they've made a couple corrections like one portal window compared to two. But I'm just so fascinated to how you especially coach Whittingham again, he's what, 66. So he's been in the game a long time. Yeah, decades. To where when he's coaching his football team or he's got it for four or five years. A lot of those philosophies now have to kind of change in a way because you gotta, you gotta appease what some kid might be thinking. So that way he doesn't leave your team.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

He's the type of coach that will put you through a grueling workout, a grueling practice. And when you think I can't handle this, he comes up and puts his arm around you and be like, I'm proud of what you're doing. And you think I need to stay here. Yeah, that's.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That the guy's got leadership. The guy has something about him. True, feels like culture CEO guy and lets his coaches implement their, their strategies and coach them and oversees everything, handling personalities. He's talking about 20 hours with every single guy at a bull site two days after he takes the job. Like, this is the kind of shit, this is the kind of coaching that you're seeing early, early stages of that should make you fired up if you're a Michigan fan.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

And he brought up another, he brought up another point when he was talking about the Portal 2 to where I hadn't thought about it. I hadn't thought about it that deeply yet. But the fact that the portal opens so abruptly and it's, you know, the Coswell playoffs are still going on, so kids are hitting the portal. They're taking visits or whatnot. But to have so much a small Window to try and not only retain your roster, but bring in other guys. Like, there's no, like, I guess, like, courting. A courting window to where, you know, guys might go on visits. You know what I mean? Like, in the NFL, you might have, you know, who the big names are going to be because there is a tampering period.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Period. Yep.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

That happens. And then all the big name guys go day one because it kind of all gets figured out and set up. But free agency is open for, you know, several weeks.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Absolutely.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

To where guys are able to go and, like, take. Make very good conscious decisions. Because some of the stuff we hear, like what players ask, what they're posturing up to leverage, like, hey, we want a house here. We want travel stipends, we want all of these different things to. To where. I. I don't know. I feel like there's not a lot of time to. To spend in the process of recruiting and making these decisions to where you're making a good one on both sides. Yeah, you have.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

There's got to be a fine balance of throwing a bag at somebody and then finding a culture and then realizing, like, what is like, you brought up the house and the stipend. The stipend traveling thing. It's like, but I just, here's enough money. Let's not step over dollars to pick up dimes, because what's the end goal here? It's still to go to the NFL. It's still to get that second contract in the NFL. All of those things. Things are right in front of you. And to all of these kids at Michigan, it's like, dude, you're. You're actually going to get coached now. Like, I think we all kind of sat there and we kind of knew anytime you pop out a Michigan game, it's like, okay, they're going to run the ball two times, and if they're behind the sticks, they're going to try and throw it. And there's. That's not a winning formula. That's what gets you excited about retention. Because at the very least, if you've retained all your main players at Michigan, that's a damn good ball club. And you develop those kids and you, like, you watch. Did you watch the bowl game at all? All?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

No.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Okay, Good game, Good game. But if you're watching Bryce Underwood, you're like, this kid's clearly one of the most talented people on the field, but he just has technique and fundamental issues where you're like, if you just fix that, this kid can be something special. I truly believe, like, I think if Bryce stays, like it sounds like he's going to and we get the development, we could get a couple receivers. Like we have a. You know what I think the offense is going to be next year. The conversation is like, like, can we even bring back Bryce or is he getting that five, $7 million offer? Because he's going to be that kind of caliber player. He has that ability to at least.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

A story that I'm very excited to see develop is Utah is very much trying to go new age. They've partnered with a private equity group.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, I wanted to bring that up.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

They're making a bunch of big moves to where Whittingham very smartly was seeing the writing on the wall step down. I can't wait to see that. Old school, new school of, of. What's the trajectory of Michigan? What's the trajectory of Utah? Which one of these schools of thoughts is going to prevail?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Because you hear him putting in nuggets like as he's answering some questions. He's like the top rosters you're getting 40 plus million dollars. Yeah. Like things that are going into it strategically. The voice that you're putting out there. So that way when you're in the rooms with the people who do have the money, you're like, hey, I know you want us to compete here. Here is the dollar amount that it's taking because of everything we're hearing when we sit with these kids.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Kids.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

When you look at the portal, when you hear about how other schools are operating, it'll be.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

It'll be extremely interesting to see what takes place. Man.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

What's nuts is it's going to be a. I feel like the College Football Playoff is going to be completely different next year.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Not like every team. But the parody we now have in college football is a lot of fun to watch. There's some of just these systems and process structure that could very much get better. That helps benefit the player as well as well as like the overall product.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Can we be in agreeance that the. The transfer portal should open once the football season's over?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I don't like that.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

It'S all calendar based. Like if you get. A lot of coaches have said it. Dan Lanning, the most recent. Nick Saban's been talking about. Josh Pate's been talking about. All of our heads are wrapped around. If you can have the College Football Playoff and the season wrapped by January 1st, you then have the rest of that time a couple of weeks before the Next semester starts because there's going to be a balance of getting the calendar in line with the academic calendar as well. But if you fast track Taylor we've talked about on this podcast before, you know, maybe it's whether it's around conference championship week or that week off after, like, you move all these games up, you just get it to where the, the season of college football concludes by the new year. And then you have like two weeks, I believe, until like second semester usually starts in a lot of college programs.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I think portal open has opened up right there.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Portal window should be like that gracefully. The way Jack put it during Gooch week, like, that's when everything needs to take place.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

I feel like that, that makes too much sense as to like, why is that not a thing?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I think, I think we're, we're trudging down a barrel right now of getting, getting there as soon as this. Yeah, I think, I think it could be as early as this next upcoming season.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I was listening to Saban and Herb street talk about it on the recent college game, one of the recent college game days, because it sounds like it's not a thing where the NCAA has the power to just change the NCAA structure. They would have to go through, whether it's Congress or something like, like what it would take is for the heads of the conferences.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. Legislation would have to take place.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah. The commissioners of each conference, like get in a room and help decide, put egos aside and decide some of these calendar issues that would more so benefit the players than everybody kind of posturing conference wise to have everything a certain way.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

It's going to be so interesting. I'm just so caught up on the Michigan thing because one thing that Michigan is also running up against right now is there's an interim president taking place. And so when there's like an admissions like Michigan is, you know, regardless of what fandom, sports, everything like that, It's a top 15 public school in the world. So the, the bar of the entry bar to get into the school is very difficult now. Sometimes they make, you know, know they'll be like, okay, this guy can get in. Because X, Y and Z. When there's an interim president taking place and you have some of these, these transfer portal guys in, there is a credit issue that if they have like above 60 credits, someone has to give them, like, hey, okay, we'll allow those credits. And with an interim president, it's gonna be more difficult to have that happen. So it's gonna be interesting to see how this portal kind of takes place in this whole thing.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

You don't have the guy that just.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Signs it and says, yeah, right, yeah, because we don't have, we don't have a guy in the interim. Guys probably more reluctant to make those two types of decisions when he's, he's more of a placeholder. So it'll be, it'll be very interesting.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

We interrupt this episode to bring you Jim Beam the postseason opponents. And there's nothing like it. But the postseason can be stressful. Crushing losses, wild upsets, your unhinged six game parlay falling apart at the literal last second. Things can get rough and it can leave you feeling a little sour. But you got to look at the bright side. Once your team is out and headed to decompress, you can finally relax now. You can finally, you can actually enjoy the posting season with all of their heart palpitations. That's why we're partnering with Jim Beam and we want to help you turn that lemon of a loss into delicious, tasty Jim Bean and Jim Beam and lemonade because it's really the perfect bevy for the offseason. It's refreshing. It's got that perfect sweetness and a little bit of tang on your tongue. Best paired with stress free watching when your team is out of the playoffs. So gather the boys and grab some Jim Beam and lemonade to make the rest of the postseason just a little bit sweeter. Sweeter. Refresh your season with Jim Beam and lemonade best enjoyed together. Please drink responsibly. Jim Beam Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey 40 alcohol by volume 2025. James B. Beam Distilling Company Clermont, Kentucky. We are also brought to you by Netflix. Here's a question I want to ask you. If you walked into a stash house and I found it full and you found it full of $20 million, how much would you steal? That's the question Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have to answer. In Netflix news new movie the Rip. They play a team of Miami cops alongside Teyana Taylor, Steven Yun, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Kyle Chandler and Sasha Kaje, all trying to decide are they the good guys or the bad guys. This movie is an edge of your seat thrill ride the entire time and keeping you guessing to the very end. Don't miss the rip on Netflix only. January 16th. Let's get back to this episode of Busting with the boys. Is K.B. about to come on?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

What's good boys?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

K.B. what's up, brother?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Let me crank this volume up. I can't hear. How you guys doing?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Man, dude, we are doing lovely. Still in Nashville, bus. Still in Nashville. Still the same spot where you came and sat down, y'.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

All.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Y' all boys is global now.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Well, thank you. Maybe national. I don't know about global. People in Spain aren't necessarily subscribing to busting with the boys, but working on it.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

National enough to people. People heard me say that I don't think the Chicago Bears will make the.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Playoffs, which is crazy work, bro. It's all good, bro. I still love you, bro.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I know.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Now, kb, you can't tell.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I do have a couple questions, but.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Are we rolling right now? Okay. Let's give a big round of applause for friend of the show multiple times being here. Kevin Byer, global selection this year. We're on.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Eat your food, baby.

[Co-host (possibly named Clump or similar)]

Casual.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Eat away. Eat away.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

First time eating today.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

We. We talked about this just a couple of seconds ago, but people are getting hating on Will for saying that the Bears aren't going to make the playoffs. I was kind of sitting right there next to him, but people just started taking shots at him. Great. I love to go away. I was guessing they'd be like, I can see that happening, but dude, you guys started owing to. Statistically, we're talking about a 12.5% chance of making the playoffs. Ben Johnson, during camp, everyone's trying to break down his press conferences. He doesn't seem like he's happy about the offense taking place. Is the defense really good or are they actually just opportunistic? They're really running because they're kind of hold back Caleb Williams and you guys just kind of go on a little bit of a run. Like, what. What changed the last six, seven, eight weeks?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

I mean, honestly, bro, like, you know how it is, bro. When you, when you lose a game in the NFL, period, it feels like the whole sky is falling. You know what I mean? Like, inside the building is tense. And after that Week 2 game against Detroit, I mean, we got destroyed.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

And especially with everything that you guys have, like, you know, just the feeling of the Chicago Bears. You got Caleb Williams, first overall pick, got a new head coach, Ben Johnson. This offense should be humming. You know, they. They've both sat there and reflected back on what their relationship was like probably in training camp before the season started. But I would only imagine being in a city like Chicago and how much the fan base does love the football team. Starting off 02, you're kind of like, here we go again, right?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Yeah, no, it was early, bro. And I also think, like, as a team, like we were still trying to find our footing on like, who we were identity. The offense wasn't just humming just yet. But I don't know, bro. I think like after that week, you know, we had a crazy film session. Obviously when you get this, when you get put up 50 points on you, it was, it was one of those low light type film sessions and kind of just kept it real with each other, man. But we knew the way this schedule was kind of set up, we were going to be able to string together some wins. So obviously we had Dallas at home the next week. Then we went to Vegas and beat the Raiders and then we had like an early bye week. So we was like, man, if we just go to the bye week two and two, we can make a run. And I think our schedule kind of softened up towards the middle of the, you know, towards the middle, towards the later part of our schedule. And we got on the run, bro. Like you said, our office started to hum. Our defense was being super opportunistic. I mean, I won't call it opportunistic. We were really just taking the ball away, honestly. Yeah, we having games of four takeaways, three takeaways, four, four. And obviously we're the best in the league at taking the ball away, so. So that's been kind of like our identity this year. Like when we take the ball away, we tend to win games more often than we don't, so. Nah. But it's been a fun year, bro, to be able to win a division. Obviously after last year, man, we lost 10 games straight last year. It was terrible. So come from there. To have that turnaround that we got now with Ben and Caleb obviously playing at a very high level, man, it's been fun this year, bro.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Talk to me about, dude, you know, we played together. I played for one franchise. I'm a domesticated cat. Like, I only. I only know what I know. Tennessee Will comes over for the team formerly known as the Redskins. Comes over, he's like, hey, this media and this fan base, like, they're not as. They're not that loud. You think this is loud? This is nothing. What are the Chicago, Chicago Bears fans like? Because the you got kids still wearing Mike Dicka type of costumes during Halloween. They don't have nothing to look forward to really, but they seem like a fan base that is like a rather a fan base. So you start 0 and 2. What's that noise like in that building compared to the Titans, bro?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

It's heavy, like I will say so you know how we have like TVs. We got TVs around a facility and in our, our hydro area where the hot tubs and the cold tubs is. Three TVs in there. One TV is always like on Fox Sports or something like that. Colin Callhart, I think is his name.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

So he obviously he does his sports every day.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Colin Calhart.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

I'm sorry, I don't mean to butcher his name. My bad. But bro, this guy every single day talks about the Chicago Bears. Like, every time I feel like I go in there, he's talking about Kayla Williams and how bad the Bears suck or whatever it may be. But it's bad, bro. Like I said, in Tennessee, you really realize how light the media is. Normally if you're doing well, they're talking good about you. But it's not a whole lot of negative media. People outside of Paul Korski, we all know Paul, good fans of Paul, good friends. But no, it's heavy, bro. And it's very. It's a city that it can divide the players and the team.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Real quick because everybody hear the noise. I mean, you know how people go into the. Their, their media, their press conferences be like, you know, we're ignoring the noise. We're not like, it's impossible, bro. And anybody that says that is lying. We all know that everybody read, gets on Twitter, Instagram and sees the stuff that people say about them. Especially this generation, bro. These guys literally type their names in on social media just to see exactly what people are saying, whether it's good or bad, that it's crazy. But no, the noise is heavy. But when we winning, it's all good. Attention the fans is crazy. I mean, think about this, bro. I've had some really good years in Tennessee. Obviously we was all teammates together, but this, obviously this past year, I was the fifth highest voted player for the Pro bowl overall. That just let you know like how much our fans were voting, how much they love this team that I was able to be top five and vote me and Kayla was top five, so. And obviously I'm up there with like Travis Kelsey and all those guys and obviously I had a good year. I appreciate it. Obviously, I feel like I'm a good player, but I mean, top five is crazy. But that just lets you know, you know how good are and dope our fans are. For sure, dude.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I know, bro. Another funny Pro bowl leading the league and interceptions.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. At 32.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Year 10. 32, year 10, baby.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Dude.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Because I went down for the OGs.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yes, sir.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

I still got. Got it.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

KB had like, we were playing the Browns one year and you had like, would you have three of them things, three ints game, hit them in a little cover two kind of baited at the ball and then scooted back. Gotti a nice one. And it's like this dude's having like an All Pro type of year and the Pro bowl voting comes out and KB's not even top 10 in safeties.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I know it was always a grind for you guys in Tennessee, but if he was in Chicago during that year.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. Oh, we're talking All Pro. Yeah, I. I think it's like, you know, know you talk about Pro Bowls, like, if you're able to make a Pro bowl at the Titans, like, that's gotta. That's gotta be massive. Am I right, kb?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Because even, even I think you had made it to the Pro bowl like three or four years straight, right? And I remember the fan votes would come out. You would be like 8th in the fanboats or something like that. Like, I don't know why people didn't like you for some reason. Maybe it's because. Or something like that. I don't know. He was a fantastic player, bro. You would always get voted in, but, like, the fan votes was never. Like, we were never at the top, bro.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Bro.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Yeah, even that year you just kind of spoke about, bro. I didn't even get voted in on the initial ballot. I was like a second alternate, bro. Only got in because of like, Devin McCourty went to the super bowl so he couldn't play in it. So I got in on the technicality. Basically.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

You. You bring up a. A great point that we talked about in the locker room with Delaney Walker and Clay Matthews. So Delaney, one of these years. Delaney and Jerrell Casey are alternates for the Pro bowl. And Jerrell basically talks Delaney into, bro, we shouldn't go go. Because we should only go when we actually make it. I. I'm sitting here, over here in this conversation. I'm like, year one or two, it might have been your first year. And I'm thinking to myself, that is so stupid. Like, if you can get the first Pro bowl under the belt, bro, you gotta get there. Because at the end of the day, like, it's gonna be on the wiki forever. And like, no one's gonna question, like, oh, alternate. I was like, yo, you made the Pro Bowl. Like, have you ever been. When you're an alternate, was there ever a thought to you? Like, you know what I'm saying? I'm gonna wait Till I earn it. Or when they call and said, hey, you can come now. You're like, oh, hell yeah, bro.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

That year, I remember I was watching that playoff game. It was the AFC Championship game, Jaguars in New England. And obviously New England won it. That's when Stephan Gilmore had to tip, pass and won the game. I remember, like, right after that, the game was like, right after the game was over, like, five minutes later, I was at, like, one of my friend's house. John Robinson calls me. I'm thinking, like, what the hell is John calling me for? You know, in the middle of the offseason, he's like, hey, hey, buddy, got a call, man. You want to go into the Pro Bowl? I'm like, hell, yes, I want to go to the Pro Bowl. What do you mean? Like, I'm not about to sit here and like, don't go, because I didn't get on the first ballot. Like, anytime you have an opportunity to go down there, especially when there's an Orlando, free trip to Disney World, all that good stuff, you're going to go, bro. Now, if I'd have had maybe five or six, seven of them already under my belt, maybe I say, hey, I don't need it. I'm already a first ballot hall of Famer. Like, who cares about the Pro Bowl? But you can get your first Pro bowl, you know, regardless, if you're a third, fourth alternate, you're going to go. I mean, I remember one year, the last time I was in A Pro Bowl, 20, 21. I think every starting quarterback that got voted in literally didn't go. So we had, like, I think it was like, Mac Jones was there.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Huntley. Tyler Huntley.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Yeah, you know what I mean? Tyler Huntley. Like, bro, if you're going to go to Pro bowl, you better go. You know what I'm saying? You get that under your belt, you know, it all matters when it comes to contracts, for sure.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

We all know Delaney's got a couple screws loose. Did you see he had to paint his name nails?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

I did see that, bro. That was hilarious. So y' all brought the nail tech into the. That was hilarious.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Hey, that was all clay. Like, that kind of came in. He had the lady standing behind the set, and we didn't really know it was gonna happen. And she just came out of nowhere. Her husband was like a massive Tennessee Titans fan. And, dude, Delaney having to sit there with this and do this little gesture the whole entire time for that show, it was hilarious.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

And it says, like, in his soul, he was burning up Bro, Bro.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

It kind of looked nice, though. Like, hey, is there a world where Kevin Byard gets behind Caleb Williams and maybe in solidarity, paints them nails like just a base coat?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

So, I mean, in solidarity, I'm gonna play my hardest to make sure that we get wins. But getting the nails painted, bro, I don't know. That's. For me. It is no shade against it. You know, that's what he does. You know what I mean? It's pretty cool to me, me that he's. He's uniquely himself and all that good stuff, but I don't know if that's for me, bro. I think I'll leave that to the other guys, But I know for a fact. I know Clay's about to be talking mad trash this week, bro.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

You already know. He was out there at the draft. Bears still suck. Now you got the Packers.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

You can't write the story any better. I see it all.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

You can't write the story any better. How. How are you guys feeling going into this week? Losing the game against the Lions, it kind of pissed me off because I. I finally took you guys. But how are the vibes?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

I mean, honestly, bro, like, we. It's. It's a reset, bro. We got a reset. I mean, we've lost two straight games, bro. Nobody wants to limp into the playoffs, but that's kind of where we at right now. We lost two straight. You know, we haven't played our best ball, not on defense at all. We didn't execute well enough yesterday. Gave us too many explosive plays. But at the same time, a team that we obviously know well, we, you know, split during the regular season. That last play, the last game we played, Green Bay, felt like a playoff game. That Saturday night game was incredible. So we kind of got a sneak peek of what it's going to feel like in the playoffs. You know, you're going to have the battle between Matt LaFleur and Ben Johnson calling the plays. I think for us as a defense, man, we're gonna have to make sure that we're forcing field goals in the red zone. That's what we did good last time. I think they were over five in the red zone. I think that kind of kept us in the game to be able to win it and take the ball away. So we feel very confident going against this group because we know them so much, we know the personnel, but you got to go out there and reset, man, and, you know, it's do or die right now. We got to go out there and put everything we can into this week to go get a W, man, this is going to be. It's probably. It's going to be the most electric game in Soldier Field. I don't want to say history just yet, but listen, a lot of history in Tennessee. Like, we didn't. I mean, who was. Who was our rival in Tennessee? Would you say Jacksonville?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, probably.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Yeah. Jacksonville. No, this is different, bro. So. No, listen. So I would tell you this, bro. When I signed here last year, like, I kind of, you know, you know about the Green Bay, the Aaron Rodgers, I own Chicago, you know, all that stuff. But you don't really realize the hatred this city has towards. Has towards Green Bay. And I don't think. I don't think Green Bay feels the same way about Chicago. But Chicago hates Green Bay, bro. The first preseason game we had here, we might have been playing in Buffalo or somewhere. I don't know where we was at. But all of a sudden, just like a Green Bay sucks and Green Bay chant just breaks out of nowhere. I'm on the sideline like, bro, what is going on? Like, what are they saying? They said, no, bro. They. The fans, they hate Green Bay. It can happen randomly. We could be at a Blackhawks game, a Bulls game. Bears suck. They're just going to do it all the time. So. This city hates it. This city hates Green Bay. So.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

So.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Nah, it's gonna be crazy, bro. It's gonna be crazy. Y' all should pull up, bro. Pull up to the game.

[Co-host (possibly named JP or similar)]

I know.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

God. It seems like a fun game to go to.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

It seems like a great game to go to.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

You got a sweet, KB oh, yeah.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

I do got a sweet, bro. I do got a sweet. I thought y' all was going to be on the busing type thing. Y' all be on the sideline, media passes, field passes. But if y' all want to sweep, y' all come pull up, bro.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

It is, dude. Once you. Once you retire KB you don't know this. Like, you're. You're a seasoned vet, dude. You're calloused. I'm telling you, bro, the first six months of your retirement, you're going to turn into a pussy. Like, you just become softer. You. You look outside, it's cold out. You're like, let me put an extra jacket on. You're going to go watch drills. You're going to go to a game, whether it be a Bears or a Titans game, wherever, and you're like, I cannot believe I was tough enough to do this at one point. It's crazy how fast it just Kind of goes away by the wayside.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

It is nuts.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

And too, with the, with the NFL going to NFL games, the, the media, the access is a lot different than college. Like, we'll be going out to the college semis this week and you're able to kind of be on the sideline and kind of move up and down the sideline. With the NFL, you have to like stay in corners. And then when the game starts, I think they. Everybody. Yeah, everybody. You gotta go up to the press box.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. College is way cooler other than besides Oklahoma. About like kind of letting you do your thing and rip around a little bit. That's, that's. It's kind of a nice.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

College has always been like that. Like, even like if you're a player that was going back to like your former school, even if you're not a part of the media, like, you basically just be on the sideline with the, with the players.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Damn near coaching if you want to.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Players.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Players will come up and like. And like dap you up. You're like, yo, this is insane.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

We're in the middle of a game. All right, brother, they can score a touchdown. You can find yourself in the end zone, dude.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

While we're on the, the college football thing, obviously the transfer portal's taking place. It's crazy. Middle Tennessee is a school that you ball out. Guys are getting plucked left and right.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Absolutely.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Do you think. Think I'm sure a piece of you is like, yeah, I would have stayed at Middle Tennessee. Your ass would have been out of there.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

He been gone.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

That's a fact, bro. I probably would have left after my freshman year.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, you have a little freshman year.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

I had like, I had like four interceptions my freshman year. I would have for sure went somewhere chasing money just like everybody else. But I got two younger brothers that's in college football right now. So. My younger brother started at South Florida, two years there. He just transferred to Colorado this past year. All that. He's just transferred again, bro. He just signed, I think committed to Texas A and M. So he's gonna be at sec.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Damn.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

I got another brother that was at mtsu. He was a preferred walk on and he earned himself a scholarship this past. So it's funny cause like you got a stories like man prefer a walk on, you know. Basically spent two years being a walk on, paying for school. Just got put on scholarship this year. Got some playing time, transferring gone.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Where's he going?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

He has, he hasn't committed anywhere yet, but I think he has some visits lined Up. But no, but that transfer portal is real.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yep. So this is a great, this is a great conference. Like, what are some of the pools? Is it a lot of just money based?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Gotta be.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

And you have two.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

You have two different brothers. You got the one to walk on that probably listens to the other brother. Like, bro, you don't know what grinds. Like you out here picking schools for better Instagram posts and everything else else. Like, he's like, you got a privileged life. So you get to hear. You get to hear a lot of different conversations. Like what goes into the mind of some of these guys when they're hitting the portal.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

So, bro, I think a lot of it is. I mean, I think number one is money for sure. I would definitely put money there. Number one. And I think two, the second part probably just more opportunity, you know, I mean, like, for example, the brother that was at, you know, Colorado is obviously going to Texas A and M. Why is he leaving?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Money.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Right?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Money.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

But say, say, say Colorado was competitive. Were they competitive and trying to keep him.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

So that's something. I haven't had those conversations with him just yet, but I can guarantee it was probably some of that. But then also probably everything around him. Like, I think when I look at Colorado, I think this probably had over 20, 30 people that's leaving. So it's kind of like, I don't know, guys are just kind of like, they just don't feel motivated to stick. Stick through losing years or, you know, obviously everything falling. Like, shoot, I'm about to just jump on another team that obviously Texas A and M was just in the playoffs and all that. So I don't know. And I guarantee it's probably money motivated, bro. It's just like it's free agency every. You basically got every day free agencies.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

But you too, being a db, you gotta be thinking, why would you want to leave Coach Prime?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

But I mean, Coach Prime, I don't think Coach prime is coaching the DBs. You know what I mean? Like, obviously he's had some health stuff. I don't just talking to my brother, like, he's not like up there coaching the Ds. Like they have a DB coach, like coach Prom is kind of, kind of overseeing everything. So it's not like Coach Prom is working with the dbs in the film room every single day, giving them tips and stuff like that. So. But like I said, but then for my younger brother who's at mtsu, I don't think it's more of money motivated more than it's like, have an opportunity to probably trying to go to a bigger stage to get more opportunities, more people to see you play, to try to obviously have a chance to make it pro. So I think it's more. It's definitely both.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Now I'm pretty sure he can get more money going to a bigger school for sure, but I think he's more motivated by having an opportunity to just try to go somewhere. It really bet on himself, bro.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah, yeah.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Being a walk on getting a scholarship. He wants to bet on himself, see if he can go somewhere and earn a spot and ball out. Maybe like at a. At a Power 5 school or something like that.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Dion's definitely the guy that during practice, while they're doing individual drills, he's riding around like in a golf cart, going by the dance. Yeah.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Like one of them type of guy.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Y' all think you're nice, but you weren't like me. And then he kind of keeps rolling.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Probably kind of has to a little bit now.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

And everything else.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Get him. Get a mobile a little bit. Were you a guy? Let's just say everything's. Everything's even. You're a Philly cat. You go to mtsu, you go into the transfer portal. Are you a guy in your brain? Money's all the same. Are you leaning towards the sec? Are you leaning towards the Big Ten?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

That's funny. I'm definitely probably leaning more sec.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I didn't see that coming. I thought Philly, he'd be like, you know.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Well, it's funny because number one at.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

The top now is because becoming the Big Ten, clearly.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

But you also gotta think when I was in school, like, SEC was. Was at the top.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Yeah.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Now the transfer portal has switched up. Definitely Big Ten, you guys. Are y' all doing y' all thing? I will say that it's definitely switched up. Even though Ohio State. Ohio State just got knocked out of Miami, right?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yes.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

By Miami. But Alabama just got dominated too. So that's not. You know what I mean? So I don't know. Big Ten is definitely doing their thing. But I was always. I wanted to go to SEC coming out of high school, school being I went to high school in Georgia. You know what I mean? So I moved from Philly, went to high school in Georgia, so I wanted to go sec. And so. But I don't know if Ohio State would offer me.

[Co-host (possibly named Sherman or similar)]

I don't know.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

It had to been a different conversation, though.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Ohio State, Michigan. I get it.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I got a Chicago question for him.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Chicago question.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Go on so KB respected leader you, we got to see you come into your own when you're with the Titans. You've been a captain, you've been a leader both teams as like an observer in the team meeting room around the building. Everything else. What have you seen from Coach Johnson, what's taken place to where you guys are now in the spot that you are because again you go through all the change in the off season. Training camp happens, you start off 02, you're having tough meetings in the defensive room. The whole city's on top of you now to end the year as winning the division. What have you seen with all the experience you've had in leadership and being a great captain and everything else else to what you've seen happen in the building of Chicago to do their best to block out the noise and just focus on one game at a time. Like do you have any examples? I see a lot of stuff from Al Al Harris. Like are there things where you've sat back and you're like this, this, this staff, this team kind of knows what it's about?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

No, I would say just, I mean even just speaking on Ben, bro, he's just the accountability I think he's brought here to this organization has been needed that I think it hasn't really been here for a long time. I kind of think about just like, I mean I don't want to make the comparison to Vares or nothing like that, but just like that culture shift of when Vares came in like, you know, basically like. So I, I will use this example. So training camp, right? We probably the tough. I had the toughest training camp I ever had in my entire career of playing football, bro. Like we were doing more live tackling this year than I've ever done out of all my other previous non training camps.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah, and you're 10 KB he ain't like, oh, son of a bitch.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, KB is trying to be a leader but low key. He's getting with a respected few being like yo, this is some bullshit. Like we better this year.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

There was conversations being had. They were like what are we doing here?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

You know.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

But it was definitely needed though, bro. But like, I mean he just has this certain mentality like a lot of times, bro, offensive coaches are kind of like real cool chill guys. He has a defensive mentality when it comes to offense, bro. He's trying to destroy people. Like his first meeting that he had with us, he basically got in front of the team and said it shouldn't be a question about did we win the game, it should be how much did we win by this guy's trying to put up 40 points on teams game in and game mind. I just think that that mentality vibes well, especially with myself being on defense. But I mean obviously his play calling is like that. But just, I think just the way he connects with the team, he connects with the players. He's a players coach in my opinion. He meets with the leadership. Nah, but he's been great, bro, like I said. But on the defensive side, obviously, Dennis Allen's been calling players for a long time. He was in New Orleans and all that good stuff. And Al Harris is one of my favorite coaches on the staff. I mean this guy, he obviously played 15 years. All he talks about is taking the ball away. I mean, literally every single day we got to get four interceptions in practice a day. If we don't get four intercessions, we don't push ups into practice like that. That accountability that we're just trying to have here, that like I said the past previous years, man, it just really hasn't been there. You know what I mean? Like that's. I mean we haven't really won a lot of games here, obviously. I was here last year 5 and 12, lost 10 straight. The accountability just wasn't there, bro. So I think Ben Johnson just kind of bought that level to this team, to this organization for sure.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

So you would say that Ben's. Ben's more of like a 2018 Mike Vrabel as far as like coming in. Let's. We gotta re shift our eyes on the culture and how it's going to change a little bit.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Yeah, I would definitely compare it like that, but I mean, variable's a lot more like, you know, Variable's an asshole in a way. You know what I mean? He was a lot more intense when it came to that. I think Ben is just more like the shit we was doing last year just not going down here, you know what I mean? Like from the players. And like I said, I just think that he was. Came in understanding, like, bro, this the toughest division in football. Obviously the NFC west is really good, but he said this is the toughest division in football. So we got to make sure that every single thing we're doing, every single day is being tough. Like I said, the practices was crazy. Yeah, I mean, he's just a great coach. I think he's the perfect guy for this city.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

So when you're sitting there and you're having these live tackling drills, you're in the middle of camp. Camp, you understand that Ben Johnson is obviously a creative genius when it comes to the offensive side of the ball, but you have this intense camp. You're sitting there with a couple guys, be like, yo, this. I'm. I mean, I'm in year 10. I can't be hit like this. I need a couple days off. Then you start the Season 02. Clearly, there's going to be the. The conversation, either internally or externally with a couple of people where you're like, hey, is this, like, what are we really doing here? And then you guys make a massive turnaround. At what point in the season do you think the whole team was like, oh, this guy is legit dude who's going to be a head coach for a very long time?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

I feel like, honestly, just being real. I feel like that beforehand, just because of being with Braves, I kind of just sensed, like, the same type of stuff. I'm like, even though we weren't that good, obviously we started out season 0 and 2. I still felt that it was a way was going to get things turned around. I just kind of had to believe. But I would say just during the year, I don't know, bro. It's kind of hard to pinpoint the exact time.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

It's gotta be the. It's gotta be the time where you went from doing his chant. The first couple wins. You're in Kayakara. We're doing the chant to where you're. You're coming in the locker room. You're like, we can't wait to hit this chant now.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

I'm gonna keep it real, bro. And I've said this before, though. That chant, the first time we did it, that was one of them joints. Like, you're kind of looking around the locker room like, I don't know, boys.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Like, I know, I know.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

It was kind of corny.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Like, just being real. Like, you know, because he's like, everybody, huddle up. Bring it up, you guys. Like, I think it was at the preseason game. He's like, all right, repeat that to me. We're going to say this. I've been saying this for a long time. It's like, okay, like, what about to say. He's like, good, better, best. And we're like, good, better, best. And you kind of just looking around. It's like one of the day. Everybody kind of looking around, like, looking at each other, like, hey, you gonna say this out loud?

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Are we gonna scream this?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Or you kind of sit under your breath a little bit, but, like, you Said it's one of those joints, like after we started to win, it's like now it's our rallying crowd. Like, guys are coming in super excited. Ben is. Bro. Ben is a madman. So Ben is one of those guys that during the game, he has no emotion. So like I said, the complete opposite from like various. Various was always super animated. He's always coming up to the sideline, going to the bench, the linebackers, the DBs, the O line, coaching guys up. Ben's the complete opposite. You're probably not going to hear or see Ben on the sideline. He's going to be pacing back and forth when Caleb drops a dime for a touchdown. No emotion. Defense gets the turnovers. No emotion. I'm talking about. You don't hear nothing. And it's always, I don't care if we're winning by 30 or we're losing by 30. He has no emotion either. You're gonna see, look, he's gonna look pissed off the whole entire game. Doesn't matter. So he doesn't really show any emotion until we get into the locker room and obviously we just won the game. He lets out a huge screen, might take his shirt off, all the other stuff.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Stuff.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

But it's just kind of funny. Just like he's so always locked in, so intensified on, like. Because like I said, he literally wants to score every drive. If he doesn't score on the drive, he's pissed off. You know, I mean, like, he just had this pissed off look about himself. But no, it's pretty funny. He's a great coach.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

That's awesome.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

I do love that too. Just that the first time coming up and be like, go, better, best. I was like, what the.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah, this is kind of gay.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

What do we do with this?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

And then when you start winning, you're like, this is the.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

This is it reminds me of that. Tits out for the boys. Tits out for the boys, dude. Yeah. It's awesome to see Ben Johnson. As far as, like, Caleb goes, clearly the guy's got incredible talent. How, like, how have you evaluated just from sitting back and being like, let's just see how this kid's developed throughout this season. And being able to watch him last season, his rookie year, like, what is the biggest jump that you've seen Caleb make in these last two years with him?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

I think it's just the simple stuff. The simple plays last year, bro. Watching him as a rookie, I'm looking at this guy every single day, bro. He was making throws that I'm like, only him and maybe prime Aaron Rodgers can make bro. And obviously probably prom Matthew Stafford, but he's in that realm of like arm talent throwing on the run. But I think he's probably the most accurate quarterback on the run in the league and I think that's without question just doing special stuff. But I think you know his rookie year and obviously he showed it at usc, but like he was always playing off script, you know what I mean? So it was sometimes he was always big play hunting where it was like he might have an easy check down right here, but he's looking to get that big play. Whatever was his first read of like the quarterback said this play is being put in to throw it to this guy vertically or whatever and it might not be there. And so the check didn't be wide open, but he's still looking for the big plays. And I think a lot of times he was either leading to sacks or, you know, our oversalon obviously wasn't blocking very well last year and led the league in sacks and stuff like that. So it's the easy stuff this year. So I think Ben coming in basically tearing everything down to the studs, the footwork, the progressions, everything. And Ben was on him hard, especially beginning of the season in the OTAs. I mean when you talk about restarting plays throughout practice because of a receiver's alignment was off by a half a yard or something like that or the, the cadence was off like he was, it was, it was tough. It was like, oh man, like I don't know, but, but he was tearing everything down, kind of reteaching them, everything. And man, he's took a huge step. The big plays, the explosive plays, the special plays, that's always going to be there because that's just who Caleb is. But I think it's the little things, being able to just check the ball down, trusting this. I mean we got some talent at receiver, bro. I mean this rookie tight end Colson leveling Michigan guy, bro, he's like that. Yeah, Michigan guy for sure. He is like that. Like, I think he's going to be a future all pro very soon. Obviously when Kittle let goes of the reigns of the nfc. But he's gonna be an all Pro for sure. But, but nah, man, Caleb is special player, bro. I think he just broke the season, the single season record passing record in the Bears just yesterday. We're talking in year two. I think he only threw like six, seven interceptions this year. I mean the guy, he's, he's has incredible talent. He's Only gonna get. Continue to get better.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Man. That fires me up.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah. When you obviously, like recently I feel like like Caleb and Coach Johnson's kind of reflected on how their relationship's grown because they felt Caleb thought he didn't really mess with him. Were you having the same feeling like in training you're like, man, this dude.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Coaches riding him hard, bro, listen, I'm telling you bro, during OTAs.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Is this in meetings too? Like you know how VRA like once you're in the room with RA, like nobody's off limits except for Derrick Henry.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

And honestly you KB like it all. He was always.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

KB was always.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, he was always on his knees. He was. Yes.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

That's what, that's why when I'm like mocking Coach Bravo, I'm doing the township thing, right kb?

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, it's.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

KB was always the right KB guy.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah. Sounding off.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

I want to say we had a bet one time was like, I bet Brave's gonna say my name like two or three times. And this one mean it was so funny, bro.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

We, we started that. It was, it was literally seven and a half.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

It was crazy, bro.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

And hit the over. We're like, how many times you gonna mention KB in this meeting meetings? 25, 30 minutes long. And it's like, hey, KB, he got hit 10 times. This, this, this.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

I be sitting back like, bro, I don't know why he keep calling my name.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That's exactly why he did it too.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

No, but it's funny. Like, no, Ben's not like that. As far as calling him out aggressively, he's done it a couple times. Reference in the team in or even at the practice once. But no, it's literally like he's just so anal about the little small details cuz they all matter. You know what I mean? Like, like I said, it's literally how he gets the calls in the huddle, how he comes out of the huddle, how the receivers are getting lined up like he has no issues and no hesitant to restart an entire period plays. He's not like the overbearing. We all know Braves, like Braves is going to be shit talking the entire practice. We know that. That's just kind of who he is. He's going to be coaching every single position, talking the whole practice. You're going to hear his voice all over the practice field. Ben's not like that. But. But you will hear that whistle be blown real quick. Get back in the huddle. Start the huddle over. And like I said, OTAS was like, oh, like he was on Caleb's ass, bro. No lie. That's what I'm saying. I'm like, ah, I don't know how this gonna go, y' all boys, but like I said, I really think it was because of. He was really trying to reteach him everything as far as his system and Ben's system is not something easier to learn because I don't think it was all Caleb messing up. It was the receivers not getting lined up right. He was on everybody and he was screaming MF and people. But I think he was purposely doing that early in the OTAs to kind of see. Basically put throwing everything at the wall and see what everybody can be able to handle. And I think he's dialed it back probably a little bit and obviously gotten better throughout the year, just adding more stuff. But I think it was well needed because his scheme, in my opinion, is kind of unstoppable. Whenever I was executing.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, yeah, it's awesome. It's awesome to see like the training camp, all the press conferences where it's clear that there's something going on between Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson. And then going to this, this last game you guys had, Caleb Williams is walking in the tunnel with a Ben Johnson jersey on, which is. Which is pretty badass. I just got to hand it a note. This is from Ryan Polis, correct, the GM saying that you have a hard out. So we got to get to the last question, which is the Bud Light question. Would you like to ask it?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yes, I'd be. I'd be happy to. Kb, I think he's been part of this before, but kb, we know how anybody would do anything for an school. Bud Light. What is something that Kevin Byard would do anything for?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

What would I do anything for? Oh, man. Anything.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Anything.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Can't say family.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Okay. Nah. Super bowl, bro. Honestly, I haven't. I've accomplished a lot in my football playing career, from all pros to Pro Bowls and all that good stuff. We played in every round of the playoffs. Just haven't got to the super bowl in one. It what I would do for that.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Oh, man. Just putting this out there. This is no homo, no Paul stuff I saw we're going to take that. So I don't want to put that out there, but I would do a lot, bro. I would say if we win a Super, basically I will almost end my career if I can get a Super bowl, bro. I think 10 years, you know what I mean? Like, if there was a choice between saying, hey, you either going to extend your career extra Five years. Or win a Super bowl this year and retire. I'll take the Super Bowl.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

I love that. Could you imagine if that if Chicago wins the Super Bowl? That city him KB being a Pro Bowler. Like the Juice.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

Yeah.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Around the Chicago Bears, Mike.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

It'd be beautiful. Be something to see you in the Super Bowl. Those fingernails are painted for the parade. Parade, right.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Hell yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Hell yeah.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

I win a Super bowl, hell yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

That's how they. That's.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

I won't have to pay for another dinner in this city. So I'll take that for sure.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

We'll have to get the nail tech out there in Chicago when the parade happens.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Are you doing.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Are you still in. You still got a place in Nashville? You still Nashville living still right up.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

The street from you, bro. I'm not too far from you.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Come on now. All right. Hey, we'll get. We'll get a little something going in the off season, brother. We appreciate you. Give a round of applause for Kevin Byer.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Appreciate you guys third time on the show, bro. Let's make it four.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Well, hey, three. Three times in the show. Three Pro Bowls. Clearly you know what the expectation is to get you on the show a fourth time.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Absolutely.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Hey, bro, and congratulations on another Pro bowl, obviously playoff appearance as well. But shout out to you, man. It was watching that pick happen yesterday. I'm just sitting there smiling like this, dude. Still just doing it.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Still got it.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

I appreciate you guys, man. Like I said, I really love watching you guys from afar doing you guys thing, man. Espn, you guys all over the place, man. You guys keep growing and building, man. It's been a awesome to watch. Still remember those early conversations Will in the locker room asking guys in 2018, bro, you think I should start a podcast.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

What your boys think? Huh? You think I should do this? Yes.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

No, I'm just saying, like just know I was one of the guys to put the battery in you guys back to say, man, you guys should go for it. So.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah, bro.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Are you guys doing your thing, bro, espn. Would it help you guys or hurt you guys if we went packers over Bears? If you saw a display, it's Taylor Will and then the logo of the packers logo, would that give you guys more motivation? Would that help more?

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

No, but it will hurt me to. For you guys to go against us, but no, it won't hurt us at all, bro. Okay, you guys, do you guys do what you got? It sounds like you guys are already planning to do.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

No, no, no, no. We haven't looked.

[Kyle Whittingham (Michigan Head Coach, guest)]

We.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

We think you guys have more momentum than the packers right now.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

We're big on the moment momentum right now.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Yeah, it's, it's a nice deal.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

You guys better vote for the boys or both of us for sure.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

All right. We will take that. We will take that note. We'll put it in a box. We'll open it later and consider it. Appreciate you guys.

[Kevin Byard (NFL player, guest)]

Appreciate it, man.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Love you, too.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Love you, too. What a guy. Yeah, that's, that's awesome.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

The, the Pro bowl, man. Leading the NFL and picks. Hey, I hope you guys enjoyed the interviews with coach Whittingham and Kevin Byard. Please tune in. We have the locker room dropping later tonight. I believe you're listening to this episode on Tuesday. So yes, Tuesday night will be our college football locker room. Them NFL will come out later in the week. We also have inside the bus for the dads. All the bus and universe. All the shows will be out this week and your boys will also be on get up ESPN on Thursday morning, possibly taking the Bears or possibly taking the Bears. We I know giving the fan base Internet fodder.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

We will consider the Bears against the we will either be picking the Bears or the packers this week. Well said. Thank you.

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Yeah, yeah.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Also Tuesday. The show's coming out Tuesday. What happens Tuesday night?

[Co-host (possibly named Will or similar)]

Jared beaming.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

His first standup is taking place at Zany 7pm Doors open at 6. Doors open at 6. Show starts at 7. Your boy will be MC just coming in, dropping a little couple of nuggets, couple of Nashville local comedians coming on there. Headliner Jared Beeman. One night only. Zany's Nashville. So come get your tickets, come hang out. It's going to be a wonderful time. Let's all enjoy Jared Beeman being so nervous about his first stand up. Big hugs, tiny kisses. We will see you later.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

21 + and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Casino or 18/ and present in D.C.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

Opt in required bonus issued as non.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

Withdrawable profit boost tokens.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Restrictions apply including any token expiration and max wager amount. See [e-mail] Gambling problem. Call 1-800-Gambler or visit rg-help.com Call 1-888-78-97777.

[Co-host or guest (possibly named JJ or similar)]

Or visit ccpg.org Chattinconenetic Hope is Here gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050. For 24. 7 support in Massachusetts, visit www.mdgamblinghelp.org In.

[Co-host (possibly named Mitch or similar)]

Maryland, call 1-877-8-HOPE NY or text HOPE.

[Host (likely the main host, possibly named Jack or similar)]

NY 467369 in New York York. This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.